Strange how things work out but even though this chapter covers 2 episodes, it's still relatively short! Hope you still enjoy it.

Thanks to all those who've reviewed so far, I really appreciate you taking the time to do so.

Disclaimer: Castle belongs to ABC & Andrew Marlowe & probably a lot of other people but none of them is me.

Chapter 16

An Embarrassment of Bitches & The Blue Butterfly

Kate had eagerly anticipated her weekend off. She'd been so busy at work over the last couple of weeks, it made a pleasant change to be able to catch up with the basic household chores, grocery shopping, cleaning her apartment, laundry and then just to spend time relaxing, reading and watching some mindless TV. As she was channel surfing, she came across one of the plethora of reality shows. She normally avoided these shows like the plague but today she paused and allowed herself to ponder. After a few minutes, she went to the drawer and took out her diary. Her last two cases had caused her to think a great deal about just what is real and what fake. Now she needed to get those thoughts down on paper.

When I first came across Richard Castle, I made the mistake of accepting his public persona at face value. He came over as an arrogant jerk and I treated him as such. It didn't take me very long to discover that the public face of Richard Castle was not, in fact, the true picture. The real man is a loving son, totally devoted father, loyal partner and a man who will do anything and everything he possibly can for a friend. I initially pegged him as a selfish jackass but, boy was I wrong. He is completely selfless and seems to have infinite levels of patience. I'm the one who's the selfish jackass. I've put him through so much and he's shown me nothing but love and devotion. I'm still lying to him about the shooting. I want to tell him the truth, that I heard what he said but I'm still not sure I'm ready for the consequences. Sometimes I just think,

To hell with it, Kate, just take a leap of faith and dive in.

But then, the brain takes over from the heart and I shut myself off again. I know I'm making progress but sometimes I'm terrified that I'm going to take too long; that his patience will wear out before I'm ready.

Anyway, I seem to be rambling here; good, honest thoughts, though, so maybe this is as it should be.

Perceptions of reality and truth were very much at the heart of our last two cases.

First was the murder of well-renowned dog trainer, Francois Pilar; a man who, on the surface, appeared to live a lonely existence with his only real friend being his dog, Royal. It was quite likely true that Pilar got on better with dogs than people but, behind the scenes, he was doing a valuable job for law enforcement. He was training the best drug-sniffing dogs U S Customs have ever had and, ultimately, it was this that got him killed. The success of Pilar-trained dogs was causing a massive loss of revenue to the Vasquez drug cartel and they had him murdered.

That brings me to Kay Cappuccio and Reggie Starr. How the hell does a woman have her own perfume line, an army of paparazzi outside her apartment, millions of twitter followers and dozens of magazine covers, all with no discernible talent to account for it? Here is where I may be guilty of repeating the mistake I made with Castle. Kay Cappuccio's public persona is of a woman who lives to be seen but during the course of this case, it became obvious that the image comes with major drawbacks. It has to be said, the woman would not be winning any prizes for her intellect and in many ways that was actually quite endearing. She really did, genuinely, have no idea what was going on. Esposito was entranced by her but it was he who pointed out to me that, in spite of all her followers and hangers-on, Kay was in fact a lonely woman, imprisoned by her popularity.

One of those hangers-on was her fiancé, Reggie. Although the gossip was that the two of them were getting married in the near future, Reggie knew he was on his way out. As a consequence of this, he was the one who strangled Francois Pilar with a dog leash for the Vasquez cartel, working on the principal that if he was being pushed off one gravy train, maybe he could board another. I considered it very fitting that it was Pilar's dog, Royal, who gave us the clue we needed to nail Reggie.

Oh Royal! I love that dog. Lanie brought him into the precinct after she'd gathered all the forensic evidence from him that she could but then we were left with the question of what to do with him. Castle wanted to keep him as a precinct mascot, which wasn't a bad idea but he could hardly live in the bullpen! I've always loved dogs but have never actually owned one; well, it wouldn't exactly be fair to keep a dog locked up all day in my apartment when I can never be sure when I'm likely to get home. I was just about to volunteer to look after Royal for the night when Castle piped up that he'd take him. My disappointment must have been obvious because Castle saw it immediately. Anyway, the upshot was that we decided to share custody for the night.

When Castle finally appeared with Royal, an hour late, I might add, he was quick to tell me about all they'd done together. I feigned being the strict owner who has no intention of letting the dog have too much freedom but, who was I kidding. Just before Castle left, though, we had a moment; I don't really know how to describe it any other way. Castle was telling me about how Royal loves to be rubbed on his forehead and before I was aware of what was happening, he was giving a demonstration. He took my hand in his and ever so gently began to rub his thumb in small circles on the back. The feeling was electric. I felt as though I'd been struck by lightning. Our eyes met and I knew he was just as affected as I was. I don't think either of us could breathe. Finally, I managed to say his name, although it came out far huskier than I intended, and the spell was broken. I really have no idea what I was going to say but he pulled away and beat a very hasty retreat, leaving me staring at his back as he left. For a brief moment, I just wanted, wanted everything Castle could offer but then I was just left with Royal for company and my own thoughts of what might have been.

A dog's love is unconditional and complete. It seems to me very rare for two humans to find that same, total, true love but in our very next case we met a couple for whom that kind of love was reality.

The second case, the case of the Blue Butterfly began when we were called to investigate a murder at the old Pennybaker Club. The victim was Stan Banks, a treasure hunter who had been on the trail of an infamous piece of jewellery called The Blue Butterfly. As it turned out, the Blue Butterfly was about as real as Kay Capppuccio's TV show, a piece of, albeit very well-crafted, costume jewellery. It's hard to believe just how many lives were destroyed by it. There was a very well-documented history but I have to wonder if a real Blue Butterfly, made with genuine blue diamonds, ever actually existed or if the legend was only ever built around the fake.

Amongst Stan Banks' possessions was an old diary belonging to a private investigator from the forties called Joe Flynn. Castle was, naturally fascinated by it and took it home so he could read it. As it turned out, the diary led us to a tale of gangsters, deceit and a wonderful love story that spanned the years. It also helped us to solve not only the murder of Stan but also an unsolved case from 1947.

The diary told the beginnings of the story of Joe Flynn and Vera Mulqueen. I think Castle allowed his writer's imagination to take over because I'm convinced that he was imagining himself as Joe and me as Vera; I have to wonder who he had playing the rest of the characters! He was telling me about part of the story when he said,

"Kate's heart quickened."

He tried to deny that was what he'd said but I know what I heard and I have to admit, maybe it did, just a little! Oh who am I trying to kid, my heart quickens most of the time I'm around Castle these days.

It appeared from crime reports of 1947 that Joe and Vera had been shot and their bodies burned in Joe's car. The chief suspect was Tom Dempsey, gangster in chief and owner of the Pennybaker Club at the time. However, we discovered that Joe and Vera were indeed alive and well and had spent the last sixty odd years living as Jerry and Viola Maddox.

Joe had been hired by a young girl who claimed she was Vera's sister. She'd come to the city to try to find Vera and heal family wounds. However this story was a load of bull. Her name was Sally Schofield (nee Campbell). Her mother had been Dempsey's mistress before his eye was drawn to Vera. It appeared that the Blue Butterfly was owned by the gangster and worn by whoever was the current flavour of the month. When Priscilla Campbell was dumped in favour of Vera, she took it badly and committed suicide. Sally was out for revenge.

Vera soon realised that being cast as Tom Dempsey's mistress was not a dream role; she discovered she was of no more value to him than the jewellery she wore round her neck, probably less in actual fact. By the time Joe Flynn appeared in her life, she just wanted a way out but could see no means of escape. Their eyes met across the room and that was it for both of them. I find it hard to believe that anyone could possibly fall in love just like that but, as Castle pointed out, those post-war years were a different time; life was precious and not to be wasted, waiting four years for something you both craved would have been considered foolish in the extreme, maybe it still is.

Anyway, Joe and Vera plotted their escape from Dempsey's control and planned to steal the Blue Butterfly to finance their flight. Just as everything fell into place, Sally and her husband, Lenny appeared to exact revenge on Vera and take the necklace as a bonus. However, in the ensuing struggle, Sally accidently shot Lenny and then, as Sally and Vera grappled over the gun, it went off, killing the girl. Joe put their bodies in his car and set it alight, thus enabling them to disappear into the darkness.

I still couldn't understand why they never tried to use the Blue Butterfly but it turned out that Vera decided it was cursed and would have nothing to do with it. Joe wasn't going to leave it for Dempsey to find, so he hid it behind a loose brick in the wall of the club where it remained until Stan Banks retrieved it. Sadly for Stan, the Blue Butterfly still had another victim to claim. Stan had found out about Joe and Vera and threatened to expose them if they didn't tell him where the necklace was, so they did. He collected it but was cornered in the Pennybaker Club by Frank Huntsacker, who worked as a carer for Joe and Vera in order to find the jewel for himself. I really don't think he intended to kill Stan but that's for a jury to decide not me.

Joe and Vera have lived a wonderful life since their meeting in 1947. They had children, grandchildren and now great grandchildren and their love is as strong as it was in the beginning. They were very concerned that I was going to arrest them in connection with the deaths of Sally and Lenny but as far as I'm concerned, they acted in self-defence and there was no way in hell I could even consider ruining their great love story.

Yes, I admit it, I'm a sucker for a good romance and Joe and Vera's story gives me hope, hope that maybe, just maybe, it is possible to find that happy ending.

Later that night, Kate was dreaming. In her dream, she was dressed in an elegant, golden, 1940's-style gown, standing in front of a burning vehicle in the arms of a tall, ruggedly handsome man, dressed very much as the archetypal 40's P.I.,

"Tell me you love me, Rick."

"Always."

She smiled, took his hand and they headed off into their future together.