Chapter 7
"Now where was I..? Ah yes, we find our minstrel taken from the party and is now ensconced in the constabulary's interrogation room..."
"...Richard the Minstrel was no stranger to an interrogation room of a police house. Some of his more youthful indiscretions had seen him on the receiving end of a questioning or a severe talking to from members of the constabulary. It would have been all right if his indiscretions were consigned to his long past youth but there were some indiscretions that had occurred in recent times which had attracted the attention of the constabulary.
The room he now found himself in was a little better than some of the ones he had been in. It looked far more cleaner, even though the walls were in need of a fresh coat of paint. He was pleased to note there were no thumbscrews or other implements of confession extraction to be found anywhere, not like some interrogation rooms he could mention that he had discovered along his travels.
The delightful Detective Beckett had deposited him in this room some time ago and had left him to sit and wait. He did not know long he had been waiting but at a guess he would have said a long time. He was seated at the table facing the only door into the room. His hands were folded together on the table and he was trying not to fidget.
Before departing from the Great Hall in the company of the the delightful constabulary detective he had made sure that his daughter made her way safely home. He had entrusted that task to his mother and despite her intentions this evening he knew her well enough to know that she would make sure his daughter got home safe and sound. The Lady Martha did not bother to question him about why he was leaving the soiree. She had espied the detective hovering close by and immediately thought that her son had found company for the rest of the evening.
Thinking of his daughter brought a smile to the Minstrel's face. If he had accomplished anything this night he had made a convert in his daughter to his campaign to bring the word 'gadzooks' back into every day vocabulary.
Richard the Minstrel would have been most amused to learn that the fair Kate was at her desk not all that far away from the interrogation room. She was desperately trying to keep her face all business like as she slowly reviewed the file that had come up from the Archives. The file she was perusing belonged to none other than Richard the Minstrel.
The fair Kate was still finding it hard to believe that she had finally met the famous minstrel. Well, that is not exactly true as the Minstrel and the detective's paths had crossed once before. It had been some time ago when a new book of his had come out. The fair Kate had purchased a copy of his latest offering and then had waited in line for and hour and maybe more to have the book signed by the author himself. She doubted if the Minstrel would remember that meeting. She certainly was not going to mention it.
The fair Detective Kate Beckett had arrived at the Great Hall of The Guild Of Minstrels trying ever so hard not to appear like the numerous devotees of the Minstrel's works who were standing at the barriers, many of which were young women but the majority were older, shouting and screaming as the invited guests paraded along the red carpet and into the Great Hall.
She could have easily have joined those devotees at the barricades doing the very same thing, shouting and screaming. For unbeknownst to many in her circle, the fair Kate was a total aficionado of Richard the Minstrel and his works. That she did not was a credit to herself and her abilities to rein in her excitement. She reminded herself that she was there on official constabulary business. On the outside the fair Detective Beckett was as all business but her stomach was twisting in all manner of knots as the realisation struck her that she was about to meet her favourite author.
As she approached the front entrance a pair of liveried doormen, prettied up gate guardians tasked with ensuring that only the invited guests gained entrance into the Great Hall moved to together to block her entrance. Producing her shield she held it in their faces for them to see who see was.
"Police business." She crisply informed them and punctuated her words with a stern look that left the doormen in no uncertain terms what would happen if they did not move aside. The two doormen could not separate fast enough to allow her entrance into the fabled Great Hall of the Guild of Minstrels.
The fair Detective Beckett was almost bedazzled at the sights and sounds that greeted her. The Great Hall had been decorated in a multitude of bright coloured ribbons and bunting. In between the colonnades were large portraits of the Guilds most famous members who were looking down upon the gathered throng. Wandering troubadours strumming lutes serenaded guests with verses of their songs before moving off to find others guests to sing to. Jugglers moved amongst the guests while keeping three or four coloured balls revolving around in the air. Upon the raised stage where Richard the Minstrel had held court sometime ago there now was a quartet of troubadours providing background music. Serving wenches moved about offering cups of wine or bites of food to the guests. The fair Detective Beckett recognised a number of well known faces amongst the gathered people.
It took the fair Detective Beckett a little while to find Richard the Minstrel. He was by the bar talking to a girl with red hair which she took to be the Minstrel's daughter. As Kate approached she could not help but think that the pictures of this famous Minstrel did not do him justice.
The fair Kate suddenly closed the Minstrel's file. Her mind had been wondering back to the Great Hall of the Guild of Minstrels. Even though she had been reminiscing she had read enough of the file before her to be more than a little astounded at what the file contained.
Rising to her feet she picked up the Minstrel's file and those of her latest case. She tried to quell the fluttering in her the pit of her stomach as she approached the door to the interrogation room. The fair Kate had to remind herself once again to school her face, the man seated in the interrogation room was here because of his connection to the murder of the young woman.
Opening the door the fair Kate breezed into the room looking for all the world that she owned the room. Richard the Minstrel looked up at her with a small grin on his face. The fair Kate could have easily gazed upon his ruggedly handsome face for ever and a day but she did not. Instead she opened the first file.
"Richard the Minstrel you have an astounding record for a most famous Minstrel and author." Kate remarked, glancing at the open file. "Disorderly conduct, drunk in a public place...resisting arrest..."
"Alas what can I say?" Richard the Minstrel replied with a boyish grin affixed to his face. "Boys will be boys."
Kate sat herself down on the other side of the desk. She glanced at the file again.
"It says here that you stole a police horse."
"Borrowed, my dear detective, borrowed not stole." The Minstrel corrected.
"And you were naked at the time?"
"It seemed like a good idea at the time." The Minstrel shrugged his shoulders. "I do to recall that it was spring."
The fair Kate closed the Minstrel's file and looked at the man.
"Each and every time the charges were dropped."
The Minstrel smiled at the delightful young woman sitting on the other side of the table. "What can I say, his Lordship the Mayor is a great devotee of my work." The grin on the Minstrel's face suddenly turned mischievous as he leaned forward. "If it appeases you, I'd be delighted to let you spank me."
The Minstrel saw the detective's eyes narrow as she stared at him. He could tell well that his offer had not gone down too well with her. This time she leaned towards him her eyes glaring.
"Minstrel, this naughty boy affectation you have going may impress ladies, princesses and their mothers. Me? I work for a living. So that make you one of two things in my world. Either you are the gentleman who makes my life easier or the gentleman who makes my life more difficult." Kate paused a moment to let her words sink in. "I speak truly when I tell you that you do not want to be the gentleman who makes my life more difficult."
Richard the Minstrel was surprised by the vehemence in the detective's voice but at the same time he rather liked it. Those green eyes blazing briefly with anger had him entranced. A look of pure innocence appeared upon his face as he mouthed the word okay.
Having made her point the fair Detective Beckett opened the second file she had brought in with her and slid a picture across to the Minstrel. He picked up the sketch and studied, a smile slowly came to his face.
"Alison Tisdale daughter of property developer Lord Jonathan of Tisdale." Kate informed him.
"She's comely."
"She's dead."
That piece of news had Richard the Minstrel looking up from the picture to the detective for a moment and then back to the picture. He kept his face neutral but inside he felt a sadness come over him as he wondered why anyone would want to extinguish the life of this young woman.
"Did you ever meet her?"
The fair Detective Beckett's question made the Minstrel put aside his thoughts and look at the detective.
"A book signing, charity ball perhaps, a storytelling performance?"
"It is indeed possible." Richard the Minstrel conceded as he set the picture down on the table and looked at the detective. A mischievous grin leaped to his lips as he added. "Alas she is not in my little black folio if that is what you are inquiring."
The fair Detective Beckett reached into the file and produced another picture which she slid over to the Minstrel.
"What about this gentleman?"
The minstrel looked down at the picture of a man in his late forties with rapidly receding hair and dressed in the black of a courtroom advocate.
"Marvin Fisk, a small claims lawyer." Kate informed him.
"My dear detective you will find that most of my claims are inclined to be on the large side." Richard the Minstrel remarked with a grin.
That remark earned the Minstrel a roll of the fair detective's green eyes. Once more his body simply forgot how to breathe for a moment or two. He wondered how could a simple roll of the eyes could captivate him so? He never felt that way with his former wives. Whenever they rolled their eyes at him it was always the harbinger of another round of verbal fisticuffs with him ending up on the losing side.
"So what has this got to do with me?" He inquired of the fair Detective Beckett.
"Fisk was found murdered in his office a couple of weeks ago."
"A disgruntled client, perhaps?" The Minstrel ventured.
"It was a theory we looked at the time." The fair Kate replied. "However I didn't put it together until we saw the Tisdale crime scene tonight."
The detective slid a picture of the Tisdale crime scene across the the Minstrel. She watched him as he picked up the picture and studied it.
"Blossoms For Your Crypt." Richard the Minstrel muttered.
"And this is how we found Fisk." Kate slid another picture across to the Minstrel. "Straight out of Coven Of Fury."
Richard the Minstrel held the pictures of the two crime scenes in his hands as he looked from one picture to the other. A smile came to his face.
"It appears that I have a devotee." He said.
"Indeed a most unbalanced one." Kate agreed eagerly.
"I don't believe you are unbalanced."
"What...?" The fair Detective Beckett faltered.
"Coven Of Fury? Angry witches out for blood?" The Minstrel chuckled. "Only my extreme devotees read that particular tome."
The fair Detective Beckett stared wide eyed at the Minstrel stunned at his perception. She could feel a blush rising to her cheeks. She silently cursed the Minstrel for doing this to her. Desperately she tried to recover her composure.
"Do any of these extreme devotees write you letters, Minstrel? Disturbing letters?"
"Oh my dear detective, you'll find all of my devotees' letters are disturbing. An occupational hazard I'm afraid to say." He said with a smile.
The fair Kate came to the sudden realisation, if she did not know better, the Minstrel was flirting with her. She reined in the smile that threatened to break across her lips. She forced herself to concentrate on the matter in hand.
"We find in cases such as these that the killer attempts..."
"...to contact the object of his obsession." Richard the Minstrel said finishing her sentence. "I am versed well in the methodologies of the psychopathic. It's an occupational hazard." The Minstrel paused a moment and smiled at Kate. "And do you know you have the most exquisite eyes?"
He was indeed trying to flirt with her, Kate thought to herself. Her heart did a sudden backflip at his question. Heat rose to her cheeks and her breath caught in her throat. Here she was in the interrogation room with the famous Richard the Minstrel, her favourite storyteller and the man was flirting with her. For a brief moment she considered shedding the veneer of the tough investigator and revert to the devotee of his works that she was.
However a glance down to the table and to the pictures of the two murdered people reminded the fair Kate the real reason she was in the interrogation room with Richard the Minstrel. Her devotee moment passed as quickly as it had arisen. The veneer of the tough investigator was firmly in place.
"I gather you would have no objection if we went through your mail, Minstrel?"
"Be my guest, indulge yourself."
The fair Detective Beckett gathered up the pictures from the table and returned them to the file. She slowly rose from her chair.
"Excuse me my dear detective, would it be possible at all if I could obtain copies of those pictures?" The Minstrel ventured.
"Copies?" A look of disbelief crossed the fair detective's face.
"I have this regular card game at the Guild, the more famous minstrels, you know, the Lords Patterson...Connelly...Cannell. You would have little idea how jealous those picture would make them. Would turn them green with envy." The Minstrel explained.
"Jealous?"
"That I have a copycat." The Minstrel could not contain his sudden excitement. "In my world that is the red badge of honour."
The fair Kate was incredulous. She could not believe what she was hearing. She leaned on the table and glared down at the Minstrel, her green eyes flashing.
"People are dead, Minstrel."
Richard the Minstrel nodded his head in understanding as he produced his most innocent look.
"You would have noted in my request, my dear detective I was not asking for the bodies, just the pictures."
The fair Detective Beckett rolled her eyes and shook her head. A thin smile appeared on her face as she struggled to contain her sudden anger.
"I do believe we are at an end here, Minstrel."
With that the fair Detective Beckett turned and marched out of the interrogation room.
Richard the Minstrel watched her departure with an easy smile upon his face. He could not help but notice the intoxicating sway to her hips as she walked. He had been well impressed with this young woman. She was not like many of the young beautiful women it had been his pleasure to meet. This one did not fall for his charms easily, though he did catch out her once or twice. No this one was different, vastly different. Behind that beautiful face was a mind as sharp as any swordsman's blade. This young woman would keep any man on his toes. This Detective Beckett both intrigued and fascinated the Minstrel. In that moment as he dwelled in his thoughts. He wondered if their paths would ever cross again..."
Castle used his free hand to his rub his tired eyes. He studied Kate's face and a smile came to his face when he saw that there was indeed a small smile on her face. Perhaps this story he was telling was reaching her. He released her hand and reached for the cup of coffee sitting on the side table. The coffee was now cold and he drained it in one gulp. On hearing a noise behind him Castle turned around.
Jim Beckett was leaning against the wall near the door with his arms crossed over his chest. A small smile was on his face as he looked at Castle.
"Mr...Jim." Castle said surprised at finding his partner's father standing there.
"I didn't want to disturb you while you were telling your story." Jim Beckett replied.
Jim eased himself off the wall and came over to sit down beside Castle. His smile grew.
"How...how long have you been listening?"
"A while."
Jim looked to his daughter and his smile deepened a little more. He could see the small smile on his daughter's sleeping face.
"You're quite the storyteller, Rick." Jim said. "Even when she's unconscious you can still make Katie smile."
Castle did not know what to say to that so chose the safest course and just nodded his head. He watched as Jim reached over and took hold of his daughter's hand and stroked it gently.
"How's Katie doing?"
Castle told Jim what he knew and what he had observed since the last time Jim had been in the room. Jim nodded his head in understanding.
"You know Katie never did go into great details about how you two met." Jim said breaking the silence that had descended between the two men.
"It was not the most auspicious of meetings." Castle replied. "I was a bit of an ass."
"And yet here you are still, three years later."
"Yeah, funny how things turn out."
"Before she met you, Katie never smiled." Jim told him. He turned and looked at Castle. "You should see how her face lights up when she talks about you. I can't thank you enough for making my Katie smile again."
Castle smiled and nodded his head.
"Would you mind if I listened some more to your story?" Jim asked.
"I love having an audience, Jim."
Castle started reaching for Kate's hand and then hesitated.
"May I?" Castle asked.
Jim released his daughter's hand. Castle took it once more and again stroked the back of her hand.
"Well Kate." Castle said as he resumed his story. His voice grew stronger as the tiredness washed away. "We now come to the part of the story where the fair Detective Kate Beckett and the ruggedly handsome Richard the Minstrel are paired together to become the formidable crime fighting duo."
Your thoughts are always welcome
Con