CBs
Chapter 34
Staked by Richard Castle Investigations, Hayley Shipton sat at a poker table in Atlantic City. Her nature demanded she do her best to win, but her purpose was to observe every move of the professional dealer. Grateful for Castle's part in the uncovering of the murderer of his partner and the recovery of stolen funds, the owner of the Sapphire, Charlie Turner, was willing to vouch for Hayley as an experienced dealer. But she still had to learn to play the part. It required a calm and passivity that were the polar opposite of her high energy style. "Alexis or Castle might have been more suited for this," she thought wryly. But Alexis was too young to be convincing and right now Castle's face was too well known to pretend to be anyone but himself. So she would play a dealer, and a damn good one.
The best part of the night was that she was taking some major pots. Her experience in games with Castle's mystery writing colleagues and her own interrogation skills put her in good stead. Tells from the smallest twitch of a lip to a slight shift forward in a chair were easy for her to detect. She wouldn't need those perceptions as a dealer, but they were keeping RCI out of the red. Charlie Turner had comped her a nice room too, complete with spa privileges. Sometimes, especially when he kept his mouth shut, working with Richard Castle wasn't half bad.
It was another day in court as the testimony about the deadly bribe to Ridley Mason was winding up. Clark Murray, Castle's Doctor Death was testifying, while a paid expert forensic pathologist sat at the defense table putting together a list of questions to be asked on cross examination.
Emily again sat at Kate's side and had chosen to hold Kate's hand through most of the proceedings. Kate was amazed that she was beginning to feel comfortable with the girl's small fingers encased in the gentle curl of her own. She held tighter when on cross examination the Trimp attorney attempted to make Murray admit that Mary Brodsky's injuries could have been caused by a fall prior to the collapse of the staircase. Murray was too experienced a witness to compromise his testimony and at the completion of cross examination there was still nothing to convince the jury that Mary's death was anything other than the direct result of substandard construction. The Trimp attorneys conferred and requested a recess, which Judge Goldberg denied, instructing them at a sidebar that they couldn't request a recess simply because their case was going badly.
Sam Waterman called the next witness, Bart Frampton. Bart was led in wearing shackles, Emily gazed at the large man in the orange scrubs and turned her face into Kate's arm. In a whisper, Kate asked the girl if she'd like to leave for a while, but Emily resolutely shook her head and fixed Frampton with a glare. Wary of being accused of leading a witness, Waterman asked Frampton to give a narration of the circumstances leading to Ridley Mason's death, in his own words. Frampton told of being informed by Trimp that Mason was about to blow the whistle and Trimp's request that Ridley be taken out of the picture.
On cross examination, one of Trimp's more fiery attorneys, Lee Burkowitz, noted that Frampton had been given a plea in exchange for his testimony and insisted that Trimp had never solicited the murder at all. Frampton stood firm, and on redirect Waterman produced the note from Trimp and asked Frampton to verify its authenticity.
On recross, Burkowitz got Frampton to admit that the note didn't specify that he should murder Trimp, but Frampton stuck to his story that those were the orders he'd received from Trimp.
Emily looked up anxiously at Kate. "Do you think the jury believed the Scary Man?"
Kate studied the jury's faces. Some of them at least, were staring angrily at Trimp. "I'm not sure, but I think so," she answered as honestly as she could. It was enough reassurance for Emily.
The judge declared an adjournment and Emily was again led with her brothers to Esposito's car. She waved goodbye to Kate as she climbed in.
"You know Kate," Castle offered, "I think you're a lot better with kids than you give yourself credit for. Or at least you are with Emily. She really likes you and more than that, she trusts you."
"I lost my mother at a much later age than she did, but I understand how she feels," Kate confided. "Other than our wedding day, the day I saw Bracken convicted was the best day of my life. I waited a long time for that kind of closure. I don't want Emily to go through that. She and her brothers should have their answers now."
"Answers are always good," Castle agreed, holding Kate's gaze,"for all of us."
At the table in Castle's loft, Hayley prepared to deal the cards to Castle, Alexis, Kate, Martha, and Martha's friend Austin Winshot. Winshot had just finished filming a movie about underground gambling and was still steeped in the culture. He had a pad by his side for notes to give Hayley at the end of the evening. As was his custom for games, Castle had a fully stocked bar, but Hayley sipped club soda with lime, determined to turn in a perfect performance. Hayley washed the cards, spreading them randomly across the table. Then she collected them and squared them into a deck. She riffled them twice before boxing them together them riffled them again. Finally she cut a card and placed it on the table. Then she cut the deck onto the card to prevent the bottom card from being seen. She flipped the cards to the players, low and close to the table to avoid any chance of accidental revelations. Austin nodded approvingly.
As was usually the case in poker games at Casa Castle, Rick took most of the hands. Martha folded almost every time the cards were dealt but both Alexis and Kate were bolder, fighting Rick to the flip of the last card. At the end of the night, they both had respectable piles of chips in front of them as did Austin Winshot. Austin and Hayley retired to Castle's office to go over Austin's observations. Alexis and Martha left and Rick and Kate cleaned up the drink glasses and and snack fragments. "You didn't seem to be playing it as close to the vest as you usually do," Castle observed.
"I was just trying to give Hayley a good game," Kate responded.
Castle shook his head. "No, I think you're loosening up. I don't mean your tells are any clearer, I wish they were. But you seem more relaxed, somehow. Or maybe relaxed isn't the right word. I think open is a more accurate description. I'm just wondering if a certain little girl had anything to do with it."
Kate's mouth gaped. "You mean Emily?"
"Has there been another one?" Castle asked.
Kate laughed. "No. I think Emily is enough. But yeah I guess there is something about a child that takes you out of yourself a little bit. They need so much, they sort of take over your brain. I thought I'd hate that, but I don't. It feels - I don't know - snuggly."
"You think you'll still feel snuggly after the last of our guests have departed?" Castle asked, alternately wiggling his brows suggestively.
Kate ran the tip of her finger over his lips. "Babe, I'd put money on it."