Chapter Five

As Beckett and Castle were being filled in by Lisa and Sheryl , Ryan and LT arrived on campus.

"I have no idea where to start." Ryan complained.

"Well I will go speak to the switchboard operator, maybe you could search around the theater?" LT said more as a question than a statement.

"Sounds like as good a plan as any. Call if you find something." Ryan said as he got out of the car and started to walk by the theater.

"You can't make me do this. Aaron just was killed it's disrespectful to force this on me now. He was my best friend." Ryan heard someone say before he turned the corner of the building.

"You signed a contract Aiden. You signed stating that you would take Aaron's place should he be unable to perform." A second voice replied.

"Unable to perform!? He is dead Max. If you would have let him out of his contract when he wanted this might not have happened." Aaron retorted.

"Well…you will go on as Barnaby next weekend. Then I will re-evaluate the wording of our contract regarding this play. But that doesn't change the contract for the troupe Aiden. 4 more years or $40,000 your choice." Max said.

Ryan walked around the corner in time to see who he assumed was Max go around the building away from him.

"Mr. Michaels?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah who are you?" Aiden snapped.

"Detective Kevin Ryan N.Y.P.D. Meredith Black mentioned you were her fiance's understudy." Ryan said as he showed his badge.

"Oh I'm sorry Detective I didn't mean to be short with you. Just a long couple days ya know. How can I help you?" Aiden asked as he shook Ryan's hand.

"Who was that man you were just speaking with?" Ryan asked.

"Max Heart. He is the producer and owner of our theater troupe." Aiden replied.

"And you were arguing about Aaron?" Ryan questioned as he pulled out his notepad.

"Yes..and no. I was Aaron's understudy for this play. Sometimes he was mine. When you get accepted into this troupe you have to sign a general contract. As an understudy you have to sign one stating no matter what you will go on if the leading actor is unable." Aiden said. "Max added another weekend onto the show and is enforcing that contract. He doesn't care that my best friend was just murdered."

"You said if he had let Aaron out of his contract this wouldn't have happened? What did you mean by that?" Ryan asked.

"About two weeks ago Aaron told me he received an offer he couldn't refuse. He said he had to get out of his contract. I reminded him that he still had three years of his contract left. There was no way Max would let him out early. He said he had to it was the only way and he would find the money. He didn't say much after that. In fact I didn't see him much after that either." Aiden commented.

"Only way for what and what money?" Ryan asked more to himself than Aiden.

"I don't know what only way meant, but the money I can explain. We sign a five year contract to get into this troupe. If you want an early release it's a cancellation fee of $10,000 a year that's left. Max knows we don't make enough for that so no one ever really leaves. Detective I heard Max on the phone the day before Aaron was killed. I don't know who he was talking to but he said "the only way out is to pay or die". I assumed it was just words but now I don't know." Aiden said as he walked away.

Ryan picked up his phone just as it rang.

"Hey LT what's up…ok I will be right there." Ryan said as he walked across the campus.

When he met up with LT he saw LT holding a box. "What did you find?" Ryan asked.

"Campus security found it actually it almost fell on one of them actually." LT explained.

"Fell on them?" Ryan questioned.

"Off the telephone pole. Must have been attached somehow and wiggled free." LT replied as he handed it over.

"Nice job. I think we got what we came for. Let's head back to the station so I can fill in Beckett." Ryan started to walk to the car.

"As you can see Detective the box is pretty banged up I'm not sure what you will be able to get from it. I did, however, call it in to Espo already to see if he could track down the serial number." LT stated.

"That's smart. Ok. Then hopefully my partner can tell us where it came from and will lead us to our killer." Ryan claimed as he hopped into the car and drove to the station.

Esposito sat at his desk getting frustrated. He felt like he had already been through these financials with a fine tooth comb. Seven days mainly the same thing. A $60 withdraw from an ATM around 10 am. A debit at Java Coffee at around 5 pm for $5.98. Maybe a charge for something from a random store, but that was only once or twice and nothing jumped out at him. He went back another week and it was the same thing.

"How did this guy end up with two fiancee's? He is one boring man." He thought to himself. "Alright I'm gonna just amuse myself and go back one more week. Get a jump on Beckett asking me too."

"What! Woh! Would ya looky here. I gotta show this to Beckett." He said aloud.