Looking for Lisa
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: No, I own none of it. Rating: K. Time: The summer after Season Two
As they headed inside, Lanie asked. "How long have you two been together? Tell me all about it."
Once Lanie was settled in, Castle called Chief Brady. Then he talked to Kate and Lanie. "Okay, Dr. Muir has been advised to expect you. According to Chief Brady, he's thrilled a real ME is going to take over. He's really conscientious, so you should have no trouble with him. I don't know if he has all the equipment you'd expect, though."
Lanie shook her head. "Don't worry about a thing. Do you think I brought all of those suitcases for my one night at castle Castle? I have everything I think I'll need. If not, I have a pal over in Jersey. She'll do anything for me that I can't do here. You two will have the best coroner's report the Hamptons have ever seen, promise you."
"Chief Brady also said the uniforms have finished their work. He'll have their report when we get in. Although after the coroner's report, I'm not sure what use the report will be." He sighed deeply. "I'd hate to have to bring Esposito and Ryan up here as well."
"Esposito and Ryan? Are you out of your mind? Why not just take an ad out in the Ledger? Kate Beckett is now at liberty after being fired by the NYPD. Castle, I don't know what…" Kate looked over at Castle and saw he was laughing. "Lanie, you won't have to worry about being kept awake tonight. I have the feeling things will be very quiet in the master bedroom tonight."
"Um, Kate, honey? I'm sorry. I should…"
"Take us to the police station. Now!" Kate managed not to laugh until Castle had turned around and headed for the door.
They dropped Lanie off at Dr. Muir's and headed for the police station. Their worries about the quality of the uniform's report were justified.
"Haven't these guys ever heard of spellcheck?" Castle asked rhetorically.
"I thought the three pages about the weather at the time of the murder was a nice touch." Kate said sarcastically.
"Well, we do have the names and twenties of two people who saw her the day of her murder. Her boss, Joseph Angstrom, who owns an art gallery, an one of her friends, Andrea Archer, a waitress at a local ice cream parlor."
"She had women friends? I'm surprised. I thought the whole female population of the Hamptons would have been her blood enemies."
Castle shrugged. "I'll let you judge for yourself. I don't want you to get any preconceived ideas from me."
"And that means?"
"Just what I said."
"Castle, are you angling to sleep in your office tonight?"
"No, my only goal in life is to help the best detective on the planet in every way possible, including making sure she's in a very good mood tomorrow."
"In that case, I intend to make you work very hard at making sure I'm in a good mood tomorrow."
Castle just smiled.
"Okay, who'd first? This is your town?"
Castle thought. "We'll call The Palace of Earthly Delights and see when Andy Archer will be in."
"The Palace of Earthly Delights? That sounds more like a bordello than an ice cream parlor."
"The ice cream is truly sinful."
Andrea didn't go to work until the evening shift, so Kate and Rick went to Angstrom's Art Gallery.
"Mr. Angstrom? I'm detective Kate Beckett, NYPD. I'm assisting Chief Brady on the St. Croix murder. Mr. Castle is assisting me. May we ask you some questions?"
Angstrom was a tall, well-dressed man in his early fifties, grey haired with a ruddy complexion. He oozed a certain air of wealth and breeding that went well with the Hamptons. "Certainly, Detective. Perhaps we should go to my office? It's more private."
Angstrom's office was surprisingly Spartan. Bare walls, inexpensive furniture, industrial carpeting.
"Lisa St. Croix worked for you here?" Beckett began
Angstrom nodded.
"In what capacity?"
"Customer relations."
Castle almost laughed.
Kate glared at Castle, then turned back to Angstrom. "Could you be more specific?"
"Lisa's duties were many. This is a small gallery. She showed art to customers…"
"Was she knowledgeable? Did she know a great deal about art?"
Angstrom tried to cover a distasteful look. "Her idea of art was a painting of Elvis on black velvet."
"As a resident of the Hamptons, perhaps I could enlighten you, Beckett?" Castle asked.
Kate nodded. "Please do."
"Lisa worked here to attract wealthy New Yorkers, men, of course. She'd show them the art, then she'd show them Lisa. The men could hardly spend so much time at an art gallery without buying, their wives would get suspicious, and so they'd drop a few thousand every once in a while. Everyone was happy with the arrangement. Especially Mr. Angstrom."
Angstrom smiled. "You make it sound so mercenary, Mr. Castle. I only gave Lisa an opportunity to do what she would have done otherwise and to earn a better salary than someone of her limited intelligence and abilities would otherwise have secured."
"Did you sleep with her?" Kate asked.
"About once a week." Angstrom held up his left hand to show he wore no wedding ring. "I was divorced well before I moved to the Hamptons."
"Do you know of anyone who would have wanted to murder Ms. St. Croix?" Kate asked.
Angstrom shrugged. "Every married woman in the Hamptons?"
Walking away from the gallery, Kate asked Castle. "What did you think of him?"
"He didn't look the type to kill the goose that laid…Well, maybe not the golden egg, but…"
"I get the picture, Castle. Anything else?"
"He's a born liar. "Oh, yes, Mr. Moneybags. Paintings of dogs playing poker are very avant garde. You are truly a Renaissance man. A Lorenzo the Magnificent."
"Ruler of Florence during the Renaissance. A renowned patron of the arts. Da Vinci and Michaelangelo were at his court."
"You never cease to amaze me, Kate."
"And I never will cease to amaze you."
"Andy won't be at the Palace of Earthly Delights for a while yet. What should we do?" Castle asked.
"Can we go check the vic's apartment?"
"Sure. But the uniforms already searched it."
"The same unis that included a three page weather report in their report?" Kate said sweetly.
"This way to Lisa's apartment."
Mrs. Conway, the landlady, was more than happy to let the famous author, Richard Castle and his detective friend see Lisa 's apartment. "I just love your books, Mr. Castle. I loved those Derrick Storm books, but that Nikki Heat is even better. And to think that this is the real Nikki Heat right here. She is so beautiful and a detective, too."
"Nikki Heat is fictional, Mrs. Conway." Kate said. "I'm just the real me, not the real Nikki Heat."
"She's even better than Nikki, Mrs. Conway." Rick added. "Smarter, tougher, and hotter."
Kate glared at him, which he ignored. She turned back to the landlady. "Mrs. Conway, can you tell us about any men that visited Ms. St. Croix. Especially her regular visitors?"
Mr. Conway shook her head. "There weren't any. Oh, I know all about Lisa's reputation, and I know it was well deserved, but I haven't seen a man come by her apartment since I asked Hugh Glass to come by to fix her toilet about six months ago."
"Hugh Glass?"
"He's a local handyman I use if the tenants complain. And I'm sure there was no funny stuff with Glass. He's in his fifties, is about half beer gut and doesn't bathe or brush his teeth near often enough. Lisa had some standards after all."
"Thank you for letting us in." Kate said, and closed the door on Mrs. Conway.
"Okay." Rick said. "A one bedroom. Nicely furnished in Ikea, nothing that indicates someone with Lisa's reputation lives here. I'd have expected a disco mirror ball in the living room and a heart shaped bed. Nice, but nothing special is my take."
"Well, look around. We might find something." Kate started with the bookcase, which held a TV, a lot of DVDs that appeared to be mostly romantic comedies or period dramas. She checked the DVDs inside the cases to see that the contents matched the cases. They did.
"Look at this." Castle said. "She has a poem here on her desk, with her computer."
Kate read it.
The life that I have
Is all that I have
And the life that I have
Is yours.
The love that I have
Of the life that I have
Is yours, and yours, and yours
A sleep I shall have,
A rest I shall have
Yet death will be but a pause,
For the peace of my years
In the long green grass
Is yours, and yours and yours.
Author's note: No, I did not write the poem, although I wish I did. It was written by Leo Marks as a poem code during World War Two. Google Leo Marks. It's an interesting story.