AN:Thank you again to everyone for following, favouring, and reviewing this story. Here's the next chapter everybody, enjoy. Don't forget to Review. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or it's characters.
I didn't find Waldo, but I did find Someone
I was walking to school today, well riding my skate board, and decided to cut through the park. Sometimes it was fun taking the scenic route, also I feel this way goes faster than traveling through the streets.
I came up to one part of the park where there's a gigantic bush that grows beautiful irises. It was my favorite bush out of the whole park, but today something was different. There was a foot sticking out from behind it.
I wondered why no one has noticed it, but usually at this time of the day there aren't many civilians around. I decided to investigate and see if it was a homeless man just taking a nap behind the bush. I went around the bush and saw a man dressed very suave and in business attire.
He was definitely not homeless and he was definitely not taking a nap. According to his super pale skin, I'd guess he's probably dead. It's cold out here but not that cold. Just to make sure my calculations were correct I tapped the guy's foot with my own. After a minute without a reaction, I deducted that my assumption was correct.
Now here comes the hard part, how do I call the cops? I don't have a cell phone, and its 2011, where am I going to find a payphone close to the scene. Thankfully I noticed a jogger around my aunt's age coming this way. I would think she'd have a cell phone, especially since she had earphones in her ears.
I came out from the bush and flagged down the jogger. She slowed down and took out her earphones.
"What's wrong? Are you lost?" she asked.
"No not lost ma'am, but I need to use your cell phone," I said.
"What for?" she asked looking skeptical.
"There's a dead body behind that bush, my aunts a detective. I can call her and let her know," I said.
She laughed at me and I kept my serious facial expression.
"You're serious?" she asked looking a little nervous.
"Go take a look if you don't believe me," I said hitching a thumb towards the bush.
She went behind the bush timidly and the next thing that came out of the lady's mouth was a high pitched scream made for any horror movie.
"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God," she kept saying.
"Calm down, ma'am. We need to call this in," I said.
"How… How are you so calm?" she asked.
"This is not my first body, like I said my aunts a detective," I said.
She nodded and said, "Here take my phone and I'm going to go over there and get some fresh air."
She gave me her phone and quickly walked over to the other side of the walk way, where she started puking in the trash can. I quickly looked away from her, letting her have some privacy to up chuck. I dialed my Aunt Kate's number and it rang twice before I heard the phone click to signal she answered.
"Detective Beckett, who is this?" she asked suspiciously.
"Aunt Kate it's me, Emily," I said.
"Emily? Whose phone is this?" she asked.
"Some lady in the park," I said.
"Why aren't you at school?" she asked.
"Instead of beating around the bush," I snickered to my self-making a horrible pun, "I found a dead body."
"A dead body?" she asked.
"Yeah, he looks pretty wealthy if you ask me," I said.
"Are you sure he's dead?" she asked.
"Well I tapped his foot a few times and he's pretty pale. Also the smell he's emitting makes it pretty clear he's dead," I said.
"Great just great, I'll tell the captain and you stay put," she said.
"Rodger that, I'll clear the scene and make sure no one goes near the body," I said.
"Have you been watching those cop shows again?" she asked.
"Maybe," I said.
"Emily just stay away from the body, don't touch it, and just don't cause any trouble," she said.
"Me trouble? Believe me Aunt Kate this scene is safe in my hands. I'll make sure it's secure and I'll keep the onlookers at a minimal," I said.
"Emily Marie…" my aunt started before I promptly hung up.
Well that went well, I looked around and saw it was still me and that jogger. The jogger looked a little better not as pale as earlier. She finally got her composure and made her way over to me. I handed her the phone and she took it.
"What did your aunt say?" she asked.
"She said she was going to tell her captain and that her team and uniformed officers will arrive shortly. Meanwhile, you can help me keep this location secure and try to keep on lookers to a minimal. We cannot let the scene get compromised," I said.
"You watch too many cop dramas kid," she said.
"So I've heard," I said with a small smile.
About fifteen minutes later my aunt, Castle, Esposito, Lanie, and uniformed officers arrived. Uniformed police secured the scene and put crime tape around the area. Thankfully there weren't too many on lookers who came by, but as soon as the cops arrived, the number rose steadily.
Esposito was taking a statement from the jogger and I was with my aunt.
"How'd you find the body?" she asked.
"Well, I was cutting through the park to get to school, but I always check out this bush because it's my favorite. I saw his foot sticking out from the side and I went to investigate. When I noticed the man was not responding to my attempt to wake him, I knew for sure he was deceased," I said.
"Emily stop using large words you probably can't even spell," my aunt said.
"I can spell," I said.
"Spell, deceased," she said.
"Um… D-E-C-E, Decea…, D-E-C-E-A-S-E-D," I finished.
"Huh, she's good," Castle said chuckling.
"Okay maybe that one was a little easy. Still Emily, just be a kid," she said.
"I'll try, but what is the real definition of being a kid. It's hard being a kid after everything that I've been through," I said.
"Yeah I know, but sometimes I wish you'd just be young. Most kids would run screaming from such a horrific sight, yet you stop to investigate and try to talk in police jargon," she said.
"Well at least I don't know the codes, than I'd be super unstoppable," I said.
My aunt groaned and shook her head at me. I'm guessing she's giving up on making me act like a child.
"Hey, don't be too hard on her Beckett. Alexis usually acts like an adult, most of the time she's the one taking care of me. Sometimes acting like an adult at a young age really comes in handy down the road," Castle said.
"I guess so," she said.
Esposito made his way over to us and said, "Well the jogger really didn't know too much. She said she probably wouldn't have even known there was someone dead behind the bush if Emily didn't flag her down."
"Great no witnesses. Let's go see what Lanie has so far," she said.
We made our way over to where Lanie was examining the body.
"Do you notice anything, Lanie?" my Aunt Kate asked.
"Honestly not really. I'll know more once I get him to the morgue, but he does have skin under his fingertips, but the struggle doesn't seem to be mugging related," she said.
"How comes?" my aunt asked.
"Still has wallet, Rolex watch, and cash," she said.
"Well if they weren't robbing him, why would they kill a wealthy man in the middle of the park?" My aunt rambled off.
"Maybe, he was up to more than we know. A lot of rich people have hidden agendas in their secret lives," Castle said.
We all looked at Castle with a raised brow.
"Don't look at me like that. I don't fit in that category, my life is perfectly normal," Castle said.
"Perfectly normal," my aunt said.
"Okay, semi-normal. At least I'm not on the crazy spectrum," he said.
We all looked at him again with the same expression as before.
"Hey!" he said.
We all laughed and eventually Castle joined in too. Eventually we cleared the scene and headed back to the precinct. They ran the prints of the victim and found out his name was, Joey Florence. He was a CEO at a local company and was pretty much swimming in cash. He was also known as a well-known bachelor around New York.
They had a picture of him on the investigation board and trying to figure out why a guy like him was in the middle of the park at night.
"Hey we checked out Joey's phone and found three phone calls placed all rund the same time of his death," Ryan said.
"Two numbers came from the same cell phone in the Bronx area, the other number came from a landline in Manhattan," Esposito aid.
"Do you have the addresses?" MY aunt asked.
"Yeah right here," Esposito said.
"Okay Castle and I will check out the Bronx and you two check out Manhattan," she said.
"Okay," they said and headed off.
"What about me?" I asked.
"No, you stay here. I bet you have tons of work that needs to be done, especially since you missed school today. Also remember the last time I brought you along," she said.
"All right fine," I said.
"I'll see you later," she said kissing my forehead.
"See you later mini Beckett, "Castle said waving bye.
I sighed and sat at my aunt's desk finishing work that was scheduled for today's class. I did some math, science, and English homework, but I was so wondering what was happening in the case. Eventually Ryan and Esposito came back and put some more information on the board.
I read over the information and it seemed like the business man was calling another local office in the area. I wondered why he was doing that. Apparently Esposito and Ryan talked to some guy named, Philip Houser. I wonder what his role in this is.
My aunt came back with Castle and they explained to Esposito and Ryan what they found. Apparently, his other contact was a woman, and from what Castle said a very pretty women. I didn't miss the slight irritation on my aunt's face, I wonder if my aunt has a little thing for Castle. I'm not going to pry, but… Who am I kidding, I'm so going to pry, but not now, maybe later.
My aunt's phone rang and she answered. She was talking lowly on the phone and promptly hung up soon after.
"There's been another murder," she said.
While everyone was out at the new crime scene, I decided to snoop around the precinct. I was bound to find something useful to catch the killer. I decided to take a trip down to the morgue, since Lanie will be busy at the other crime scene.
I went down and Joey's body was still out on the examination table. He was all stitched up around the chest because of his recent autopsy. I put on some gloves and checked around the body. I checked every crevice of his body, except for the parts that was totally of limits. I checked behind his ear and that's when I felt something odd.
I lifted his ear to the side and saw a small looking microchip attached to the skin. I peeled it off carefully and looked at it. I wondered what it was. I thought about all the cop shows I've watched and the only thing that popped into my head was a bug. Someone was spying on Joey.
"EMILY!" I heard my aunt yell.
I slowly turned around to face my aunt who was almost always fuming around me.
"I may have helped solve the case," I said.
She glared at me and angrily walked over to where I was.
"What is it?" she said.
"A chip was in the back of his head. It could be a bug," I said.
"Let me see it," she said.
She put on a glove and took the chip from my hand. She analyzed it and her face lit up just a little bit.
"Emily, do not mention to anybody that you found this. Got it?" she said.
"Why?" I asked.
"It could compromise the investigation. You aren't even supposed to touch the body," she said.
"Sorry," I said.
"It's fine, just go with me on this. You sometimes are a decent help when it comes to solving cases," she said.
I smiled brightly at the compliment and she smiled back. She patted my head and we made our way back upstairs.
My aunt explained what "she found" and said that it could be a bug. They went to check it out and it turns out that the bug was tied back to the other company Joey was contacting. After they made their way back from the company talking to Phillip Houser, they were still trying to figure things out about the case.
Three grueling hours of boringness later my Aunt Kate and Castle said in unison, "I know who the killer is."
I looked at them oddly and soon they were bolting out of the precinct with Ryan and Esposito following behind. They brought in Amanda, the other number he contacted right before his death and were in interrogation with her. I decided to watch behind the glass and saw my aunt drilling questions to the lady.
My aunt was totally not playing around with her, sometimes when my aunts in interrogation she seems really scary, makes me wonder why I cross her sometimes. But sometimes it's fun seeing her angry, she gets that face, that makes you want to laugh and cry at the same time.
Eventually Amanda spilled why she had done it. She poisoned him with some kind of liquor she brought with her to the park. She said she was tired of him sneaking around with her, and not making them official. She said three life of her years wasted with that man who didn't want to take of the title of the wealthiest bachelors in New York.
She said she hacked into the bug she saw one night when she was with Joey. She heard that he was trying to open another company in California and when she confronted him, he said she was just a fling. She wasn't anything special to him. That's when se plotted to kill him and decided to do it in the park for their last romantic evening.
Eventually they took Amanda off to book her and the case was closed. My aunt secretly thanked me for helping to break the case. I was thrilled that I could help once again, maybe this is what I want to do when I grow up.
Since the next day it was Saturday, I got to hang out at the precinct again. Castle walked in with a goofy grin and threw a magazine on the table.
"Guess who made number five on the top ten eligible bachelors in New York?" Castle said.
"That realtor from Manhattan," my aunt said.
"That doctor who performed a double heart surgery in one day," Esposito said.
"Ooh, or that Scientist who found that new cure for the strain of the flu," Ryan said.
We all laughed at Castle's facial expression, it was a cross between disbelief and disappointment.
"No, it's me. I'm number five, and I look ruggedly handsome in this picture," he said flipping to his page.
We laughed again at his happiness and pure joy that he was number five in the top ten of eligible bachelors in New York.
"Well congratulations Castle," my aunt said.
"Wait you didn't hear the best part," Castle said.
"What best part?" Aunt Kate asked.
"The top ten bachelorettes, Ms. Beckett you made number eight," he said.
"What!?" My aunt said grabbing the book from Castle.
She flipped to the page and stared at the picture of her.
"How?" she said.
"Well some are nominated into the book and apparently someone nominated you," he said.
She looked around and tried to find out who nominated her. I slowly slunk down in my seat and my aunt glared daggers at me.
"Emily!?" she said.
"Well, I thought it be cool," I said shrugging.
"This is a terrible picture," she said.
"I liked it," I said.
"It's not that bad Kate, you look really good," Castle said.
"Yeah you do," Ryan and Esposito said.
"I guess," she said looking over the pic.
"Wouldn't it be funny if Bachelor number five went out with bachelorette number eight," I said.
I thought my aunts eyes would fly out of their sockets and Castle just stared in shock at me. Esposito and Ryan were laughing hysterically in their seats.
I just thought to myself, too soon?