Chapter Four Witness or Killer

Disclaimer: If I claimed to own Castle, I might end up in jail. No~~: P

Thank you for the alerts. They keep me going. But what about telling me what you think? Your opinions will help me improve. So, here's chapter 4. : )

Castle wakes up to meet a ray of sunlight that shoots through curtains onto his bed. He must have drifted into a half-sleep last night, after having come back from that horrible scene and put up a fight against his disturbed thoughts. Now, it's already half to 1 in the afternoon. If Martha and Alexis were home instead of having a college trip, he could have long been shaken awake by those two lively souls. Feeling something in his hand, he raises his head up off his pillow to have a better look. A key wrapped in a rumpled piece of paper. So, it's not a dream. Damn it! He curses silently. What a mess he's got himself stuck in! He unfolds the paper cautiously, unveiling the small key under which is a corner torn from a newspaper page with printed "B03" on it.

That guy might have been discovered and very likely have become Lanie's customer by now. And if something that leads to Beckett's mother's case shows up, everything will be turned upside down. Investigating the case on his own sounds like a better idea. But he knows nothing right now. The man's name, job, address...Everything's a mystery, unless…he has a little assist.

He picks up his phone and dials a number.

"Hey. Esposito."

"Castle!" The man at the other end seems a little surprised. "Where the hell have you been, bro? You finally get tired of shadowing Beckett or just sick of feeding the birds?" He asks, never forgetting to tease him.

"Okay, neither. Actually, I've got an appointment."

"Appointment? Or date?" He chuckles.

"Whatever you call it." Laughing mischievously, Castle tries to sound indifferent and casual before finally arriving at what he really wants to talk about. "Have I missed something?"

"Not much, detective. We've got a vic shot dead at the underground parking not far from your place."

As he has assumed, the body indeed has been found. "Sorry to hear about that." He says, putting on an innocent air. "Who's that poor guy?" It makes him feel cheap, but what's the alternative?

"What? You wanna help with the case? A journalist of The Post called Marvin Williams."

So it looks like NYPD has already checked out the vic's identity. That's a good start. "Journalist? Hmmm…half writer. Who wants to kill a writer?"

"Oh, think you know that better." He teases. "Seriously, bro, is everything okay?" Esposito pauses a few seconds, and Castle can picture him looking around to make sure Beckett is not within hearing. And then he goes on, "I mean…between you and Beckett."

Castle finds himself at a loss for words, but he cannot blame him for discerning the obvious difference in his attitudes towards Beckett. "Why? …We're good." Deep down inside, he wants to kick himself for making up such a terrible lie as that.

"Fine. If you insist on saying so." He shrugs and finishes the second half in his mind. Why don't you call her then?

"I…gonna go… someone's waiting."

"No dropping by today?"

"Maybe another day."

"Okay. See you then."

"Bye."

Esposito kills the line, feeling something weird. But not being able to name that, he lets it go, diverts his attention back to his computer screen and goes on looking through Marvin Williams' finances. In his periphery, he sees Beckett approach with a cup of coffee. It's lucky she wasn't here minutes ago.

"Yo, Beckett! Got something."

"Any leads?"

"Sort of. In each of the last three months, a sum of money adds to Marvin's bank account. I mean, no-small sums. Much higher than a reporter's salary."

"The last three months? That matches the time period of Marvin's bizarre behaviors. Something did happen… " She caresses her chin subliminally, brows drawn together, lost in thoughts. "You can check out the source of the money?"

"Sorry, cannot do."

She nods and turns around on her heels, when Esposito opens his mouth, "Beckett?"

"Anything else?"

"Eh… nothing. I'll keep you posted."

"Fine…I'm gonna talk with Lanie. Heard results of the autopsy were out."

"Hey, girl." Lanie greets her as she saw Beckett push open the door. "Oh, still no news from our writer boy?"

Beckett waves a hand in the air, "He's probably somewhere…with that blonde. I didn't bother to call…To business, what have you found?"

Lanie seems a little bit inhibited, "As I've said. COD is the shot. See, there's the muzzle burn." She points at the vic's chest, "Near shot to death. But, he did struggles a while before completely going cold. Apart from that, there're no other injuries. "

"That's all?" Beckett asks, disappointed at the small amount of information.

"Well, eh…" The medical examiner takes off her gloves and lets out a small sigh, "You know…you may want to pay Castle a visit."

"Lanie…I think we're over the topic."

"Not yet…Kate," She says with a pair of solemn eyes which are somewhat unique to one who deals with people that don't talk.

However, Beckett doesn't often see that look on her friend's face. "Lanie…what happened?"

"There're…fingerprints on the wallet that don't belong to our vic." She looks at Beckett who gives her a go-on-saying nod. "They're Castle's." She slurs as quickly as possible.

"What?" Beckett feels her jaw drop. After processing the info over and over again in her head, she finally finds her tongue, "So…Castle's the witness."

Lanie shoots her friend a sad smile. She hates to say that, but they both know what the other possibility is. The Killer.

So...any thoughts?