Lanie's Report

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: No, no and no. Rating: K. Time: Between Season Two and Three

"Very sweet. I can see why she liked it."

"Tell me about it." Castle said.

"I don't know the poem, Rick." Kate looked at him and saw his smile. "Oh, you want me to tell you about it." Kate carefully examined the poem. "It's not on computer paper, so she didn't print it out. This is heavy stock, expensive. And it's printed in copperplate script. Very fancy. The Declaration of Independence was printed in copperplate script. So, this meant something to her. Perhaps a gift from an admirer."

"An admirer, Detective?"

Kate smiled and shook her head. "This isn't from some random lover, one of her many. This is from someone who was telling her she meant everything! This is from her boyfriend. Someone was in love with her."

Rick smiled at her. "You're good, Kate, you're very, very good. And someone who was in love with Lisa, knowing how many men she'd slept with and was sleeping with, that someone would be very jealous. Jealous enough for murder? And one more thing. This wasn't printed, it was hand written, I'd guess by our mysterious lover."

"Let's see if we can find any more evidence of her lover."

They searched Lisa's apartment thoroughly, and found something. "Rick come into the bathroom. I've found something."

"What is it?" Rick said, sticking his head into the bathroom door.

"In the toilet tank. There's a Tupperware box in the water. Can you get it out?"

"Why me?"

"Because I'm the cop."

"That doesn't…" Rick could see he wasn't going to win this. He reached in and pulled the box out of the tank, and opened it. "And inside our mysterious box, are…Some envelopes, heat sealed in plastic bags. Lisa didn't want this to get wet. What now?"

Kate thought. "I'm done in the bedroom and her closet and here. Are you done with the living room, the kitchen and the hall closet?"

"Done."

"Let's take this back to the station and open it there."

Once back at the station, they went to a small office they'd taken over as theirs. Rick cut open the plastic bag and took out the envelope inside and opened it. "Nice toilet paper." he said softly.

"Hundred dollar bills? Even you aren't that rich."

"Patterson and Cannell together aren't that rich. How much is in here?"

In minutes they had their answer.

"Seventeen thousand, seven hundred dollars, and a notebook with names in it."

"Blackmail!" Kate and Rick said together.

"But why?" Castle asked. "After all the years she spent, um, giving it away, why start blackmailing men now?"

"She turned thirty recently. She would have noticed a few lines in her face that weren't there when she was in her twenties. Her boobs would have started to sag just a bit. Her butt wouldn't have been as tight as it was. She was getting old and she knew she'd only get older. What would happen when she was forty? All she had was her body. When that started to go…"

"Not a pretty picture. Of course, you're over thirty, slightly, and you're still gorgeous. More than gorgeous, in fact…"

"Enough, Castle." Kate said with laugh. "I still plan on sleeping with you tonight, you don't have to go overboard."

"Who's going overboard? I'm being scrupulously honest. Scout's honor."

"You were never a scout." Kate checked her watch. "Andrea should be coming on her shift at the Super Colossal Ice Cream parlor."

"Kate!" Rick said in a shocked voice. "It's called the Palace of Earthly Delights. For some of us, ice cream is a sacred thing."

"In that case, you can buy me some ice cream. Come on."

The Palace of Earthly Delights was designed to look like a 50s ice cream parlor, complete with a jukebox, an old fashioned Coke machine and waitresses in poodle skirts and beehive hairdos.

"Which one is Ms. Archer?" Late asked.

"The one who stands out."

Kate looked around and saw Andrea Archer at once. She was tall, with a mane of blonde hair, and unlike the other waitresses, she had on a mini-dress. A very short mini-dress, Kate noted. She also showed a great deal of cleavage. "This is the one you didn't want me getting any preconceived ideas about?" Kate said under her breath.

"Exactly. Now don't go judging her just yet."

The two walked towards Andrea who smiled at their approach. "Can I get you two a booth? And some menus?"

Kate showed her badge. "Detective Kate Beckett. This is Mr. Castle. We're helping Chief Brady with the Lisa St. Croix murder. We'd like to ask you a few questions."

Andrea smiled. "I knew someone would be coming around. I thought it would probably be old Officer Johnson. He does love his ice cream, you know. Not that I'm not glad to see you two. You're a big improvement over Johnson."

"Is there someplace where we can talk privately?" Kate asked.

"Sure, follow me." Andrea led them to a cramped alcove in the back. There were two stools there and Andrea took one. Beckett took the other.

"When did you last see Ms. St. Croix, Ms. Archer?"

"Monday evening. From about four in the afternoon to maybe seven thirty or so, I had to get ready for my shift."

"You were at her apartment?"

"Yes."

"What were you doing there?"

"We were fucking each other's brains out."

"Pardon?"

"We were having sex, detective."

"She's familiar with the concept." Castle added, unhelpfully, in Kate's opinion.

"I was under the impression that Ms. St. Croix liked men, that's all." Kate said, glaring at Rick.

Andrea shrugged. "We're sort of mirror images of each other. She likes, that is, liked men, but appreciated what a woman could do for her. I like women, but I appreciate a man now and again."

Kate felt a sudden pressure on the back of her calf. Archer had was rubbing her foot against her calf. Archer had also let the hem of her skirt ride up, exposing a tiny triangle of red panty. She was also leaning over so far her boobs were in danger of falling out.

Kate smiled coldly and moved Archer's foot away. "Thank you, but I'm spoken for."

Andrea smiled. "Oh, the invitation was for both of you. He's scrumptious."

"He's mine." Kate said, barely controlling her temper.

"Andy," Castle broke in, "did Lisa say anything to you about her life, anything that might give us a clue as to who shot her?"

"The only thing she mentioned was that Mr. Angstrom, her boss, had made some sort of a deal with some big New York gallery to show some of their artists here. Apparently it was a big deal."

"Why was it a big deal?" Rick asked.

"I don't know."

"Didn't she say anything else?"

"No, she just screamed."

"Thank you Ms. Archer. If you think of anything else, please call Chief Brady."

As they walked out, Kate noticed that every eye was following them. "Why are they all looking at us? And don't tell me it's because I'm so gorgeous."

Castle stifled a laugh. "Usually, when people go into the back with Andy, it's for a quickie."

"They think…The three of us…That we…?"

Kate tried to turn around, but Castle grabbed her and pushed her out the door. Then he threw his arms around her and kissed her very thoroughly. As they kissed, the patrons of the Palace of Earthly Delights spontaneously broke into applause. Castle noted that Andy seemed to be leading the applause.

When they broke the kiss, Kate whispered, "I think we should go home."

Once back at Castle's house, they found Lanie, Martha and Alexis sitting in the kitchen, enjoying some drinks, wine for Lanie and Martha, and lemonade for Alexis.

Lanie had obviously been telling stories about Rick and Kate. "So Castle is telling me, don't take the stake out, the vampire will come back to life."

"I just don't like to take chances, that's all." Castle said.

"Richard! You're back. How was the investigation?"

"We have some leads." Kate said, cutting Castle off. "We really shouldn't discuss them."

"Of course, of course." Martha said, obviously disappointed.

"Can I talk to you two alone?" Lanie asked.

"My office, upstairs?"

Lanie nodded. "I'll be back, girls. I have lots of things to say about Richard here."

Once settled in Castle's office, Lanie took a file from his desk and handed it to Kate. "I worked up here when I got back. There are three things of interest. One, time of death was between four AM and seven AM on Tuesday. Second, cause of death was a single GSW to the head. Powder burns and stippling indicates she was shot from very close range. I'm sure the shooter was sitting in the passenger seat. I recovered the slug, it was a 9mm. I had Chief Brady send it to a friend of mine at the NY State Police crime lab so ballistics got done very quickly. The gun isn't in the system. Last, but not least, your vic was pregnant. Six to eight weeks along, I'd guess."