XVII

The Waldorf

Everybody

"I swear to you man, she was swimming buck naked" Ryan exclaimed.

"I think you are dreamin' Bro. She is hot, but way out of your league" Esposito rejoined. "

"Yeah, whatever, she said that Eric had some dirt on a guy named Benny Smythe. She said that this Smythe guy had called up and threatened Browning.

"So you think Smith…." Esposito said

"Smythe" Ryan corrected.

"Okay Smythe, you think Smythe off'ed the guy.? I don't know Bro, Benjamin Smythe is a pretty hefty dude, and about the same height as Castle. My money is on Miles Dixon, he is shorter and Eric cost him millions not to mention prestige."

"It was Professor Plum in the Conservatory with the lead pipe" Beckett supplied. "Guys how about we look for Evidence rather than guessing like Castle, go over to the victims apartment and see if there is anything there that might point toward a solid motive for a killer."

Beckett's phone rang. It was the Captain; after the murder fell into to Beckett lap he had taken his wife home and gone back to the precinct to await his detective's progress on the case. He had called from the precinct and asked Beckett to come by to 'discuss the case', which to Kate sounded somewhat ominous She made sure the detectives on the scene were continuing to take witness statements. She shuddered to think of all the statements she would have to sift through before the case was closed. She quietly prayed that they would catch the killer and get a confession so she did not have to plow through all that vapid High Society drivel.

###

Castle sat down beside Alexis and Martha with a relieved look on his face. He had secretly been afraid that in his fugue state had actually killed Eric. While he was no longer considered the prime suspect he was still a 'Person of Interest' and would need to stay clear of the investigation.

"Dad, are you okay?" Alexis asked concerned.

"Yeah, switchblade, I'm not going to the Pokey today."

"I meant, about your episode.. Kate said they found you in the showers down by the gym."

"I am doing alright, Alexis, it wasn't as bad as the last one. I only lost an hour or so not the whole afternoon."

"Do you need your meds?"

"No, I'll be okay. I'm more upset that one of my Friends or Frienemies is the killer. Eric had turned into a real sleazeball but he did not deserve to die."

"So what was his deal? Why were you and he so angry at each other? Esposito said that you and he had been enemies for years." Alexis inquired.

"To tell the truth I am not quite sure what he had against me. It could have been the fact that his family had been rich and lost it all while I have gotten richer. The last time we really hung out was back in grade school. One day we were hanging with Bricks the next he was swearing that we were enemies."

"And you have no idea why?" Martha prodded

"His family definitely went through the ringer over the oil crunch back in the seventies and then the bust in the nineties. If I can remember clearly around the time of our 'crisis' you had just sent me a very nice care package of food for my roommates. I believe that you had just been nominated for a Tony, and I remember that you had a very generous Gentleman Friend who had just purchased a stereo for my room….. Oh! I've got it….. I think I know what it was, I had just gotten the letter from Boy's Life, and they were going to publish my short story."

"You wrote for Boy's Life?" Alexis asked.

"It was a contest in the magazine, the best entry would get published and the Author would get a one hindered dollar savings bond. I still have that Bond in my office, somewhere, I think."

"What was the story about?" asked Alexis

"Oh it was a fairly juvenile story about two boys trapped outside during a storm."

"Well, you were a juvenile, dear. I remember being so proud that you had won the contest. I wore out a copy of that letter, showing to all my friends. You were my budding journalist. And look what you turned out to be a two bit hack." Martha opined

"This two bit hack put a roof over your head and food in your mouth…. Oh my God, I have just become my mother. Please, Alexis put me out of your misery now." Castle lamented.

###

Kate could not explain why, but she felt some trepidation walking into the Captain's office. Normally she had not problems walking into Captain Montgomery's office and speaking to him but there had been something in his voice that made her feel like she was going into the principal's office. Captain Montgomery sat at his desk reading through some report as she walked in. When she sat down he stood and went and closed the door. Her uneasiness went up a notch.

"Detective Beckett, Thank you for coming, how goes the investigation?"

"As well as can be expected, we have two hundred or so witnesses and no one saw anything. Dr Parish and the CSU guys were able to determine that Castle was most likely not the killer. It appears that some one went to some fairly extensive lengths to implicate him in the murder."

"Detective I am going to be blunt. Do I need to remove you from the case?"

"Sir?" Kate was blind sided.

"Are you looking too hard for another killer and exonerate Castle?"

"Excuse me, Sir?"

"It has come to my attention that you are in a relationship with Castle."

"And how has this happened?" Kate asked angrily.

The Captain produced a manila envelope and handed it to Beckett. She cautiously opened the envelope and pulled out a dozen or so, pictures of Kate leaving or entering Castles apartment building. The pictures were time and date stamped. What was really damning was the fact that in some of the pictures where she was entering the building at night and leaving in the morning she was wearing the same clothes. She looked at the return address on the front of the envelope.

"These are from Eric Brown. When did you get these?"

"They came in today's mail. I did not open this up until I got back to the office. It is very interesting that they came on the day he was killed. Is there anything you want to tell me Detective?"

"Captain, I will admit that I have been spending time with Castle, but it has been mostly as partners. And before you ask we haven't slept together." Kate hoped that she was not blushing. It was true that they had not had sex, but they had fallen to sleep together, so technically she was telling a little white lie.

"I know you are a fan of his, Beckett, and I know how good you are at your job, but in this case I'm not sure leaving you as lead investigator is such a good idea."

"I understand Captain, if you want I will let Ryan and Esposito take the lead…"

"That won't be necessary Detective, the fact that you are willing to let Ryan and Esposito take the lead, sets my mind at rest. If you had fought to keep lead then I would worry. And for the record, I don't care what is between you and Castle. As a matter of fact I would be happy for both of you if you two got together. You both certainly deserve to be happy."

"Thank you sir, I think…. Was there anything else in the envelope?"

"Just a brief note asking if we knew where 'our' detective was. It looks like a prelude to blackmail, if you ask me."

"Blackmail, That's pretty stupid, to try and blackmail the police."

"Well, stranger things have happened. With all the good press we have been getting recently, it would have been considered, just to keep the press frenzy to a minimum."

"What would have been considered?"

"Paying him off, It would seriously have been considered."

"The Police? Come on Captain. We would pay blackmail?" Kate was aghast

"Sometimes, Detective, if it is just one mosquito, sometimes it is easier to scratch the itch than to hunt down the bug….."

Kate's phone rang. It was Ryan and Esposito. They were at the victim's apartment. Kate conferred with the two and then looked back at the Captain.

"Apparently the police weren't the only ones that Browning was trying to blackmail. Eric was quite the busy beaver; he was blackmailing about ten different people. Ryan and Esposito are going to gather the evidence and meet back here. Our suspect list just got longer, but Castle is not on it."

###

Ryan used the pass key that the Apartment manager had given then to enter Browning's apartment. It was a skuzzy little place in the seedier side of the Burroughs. Even the air in the place seemed to reek of decay. It was as if Eric had died earlier in his apartment but was still able to get to the party before collapsing dead. The general messiness of the rooms screamed 'desperate sleazy reporter'. Ryan and Esposito moved purposefully into the apartment. With trained eyes they swept the apartment, looking for intruders or clues.

After clearing the apartment to make sure no human surprises were waiting, they got down to the serious task of searching the rooms for information about the victim. They were not getting anywhere when Ryan stumbled into a locked trunk. It took only moments to jimmy the lock and open the lid to see the treasure inside. What he found were a number of file folders each including copious notes.

"Hey, Javier, come see what I have found." Ryan said waving one of the folders around with a gloved hand.

"You found Eric's Playboy stash?" Esposito asked?

"Well, kinda'. It seems that Eric had been a naughty boy. There are about fifteen files in here, complete with photo documentation of some very high mucky mucks doing nasty things."

"This is disgusting" Javier opined after looking at the proffered file.

"Our little Eric had been a bad, bad boy. He has been trying to get rich the old fashion way… Blackmailing the rich." Kevin opened a small note book and thumbed through to pages full of writing and numbers. "My goodness Browning was very anal. Here is a list of all the people he had been blackmailing and how much they paid. If he wasn't dead, we would be putting him in jail for a long time."

"Is Castle in there?" Esposito asked

"Nope, there is a really thick file but no notes in the book on payments."

"I guess that there is an advantage to living you life on page six. If your crazy stuff gets reported in the paper, you can't really be blackmailed for it.. I'll call it into to Beckett." Esposito offered.

Ryan sat and sifted through the files trying to make sense of the situation. His cell phone rang.

"Ryan."

"Kevin?" the female voice sobbed over the phone.

It took a minute before Ryan placed the voice, "Roxy?"

"Kevin, oh thank God, Kevin you have to help me! There is someone in my room. I have locked myself in the bathroom and who ever it is, is trying to get in."

Kevin could hear banging in the background. "Roxy call 911 and I'll be there as soon as I can." Ryan vowed. "Javier, it sounds like someone is trying to attack Roxy, I'm heading there. I'll meet you at the Precinct." With that Ryan was out the door.

Esposito shook his head and chuckled, until he realized that Ryan had taken the car. Javier groaned and pulled his phone and called for a black and white, he was going to need help with the trunk anyway……