Shared Obsession Chapter 13

If it weren't for the blood on his shirt, the boy in the boat would look like he fell asleep after too much beer on a midnight water adventure. As Castle studies the still figure, he can see clothes that though a few months outdated for the teen set, weren't purchased at a discount store. The family has, or at least had money. Fortunately for Castle, except for an indie project now and then, his business manager keeps him to safer investments. He also has a considerable income stream from his books, translated and read in 100 countries around the world. But the recent Wall Street debacle has left many families among the formerly rich. This teenager may have been a member of one of them. The writer pulls his scarf tighter against a chill not entirely originating from the weather.

Kate strides up to Esposito. "Who's the victim?"

"Donny Kendall. According to his student ID and driver's license, he was 18 and a senior at Redding Prep," Esposito reports.

"Very exclusive and expensive private high school on Park Avenue," Castle comments to Beckett, his first impression confirmed.

Esposito snorts. "No trust fund baby left behind."

"This guy's left behind," Ryan observes. "No fancy prom for him this year."

Kate confines her attention to Donny. "I wonder what he's doing in a boat."

Knee deep in water, Lanie Parish turns to Kate. "He's getting colder by the minute, and so are my feet."

"Sorry about your feet. We'll let you get him back to a warm lab as soon as possible," Kate promises. "What have you got for us so far?"

"Single GSW, large caliber, a revolver maybe. Not much blood in the boat, so he was probably dumped there."

"So Donny was moved?" Kate clarifies.

Lanie nods. "Looks like he was dragged. He's got mud and grass on his heels. I'll have to check the weather, but so far, from his liver temp, he was shot sometime last night."

Kate surveys the area. "He couldn't have been dragged very far. Would there have been a lot of blood?"

"It looks like the bullet hit his spleen. He would have bled out big time."

"I'll get some unis to walk a perimeter looking for a blood pool and shell casings." Kate decides.


Pale-faced, the Kendalls sit together on a couch slightly too large for the room. "Do you know what Donny would have been doing in the park?" Kate inquires as gently as she can.

Mrs. Kendall grasps the sides of her skirt like a lifeline. "No. He said he and his friends were getting together to start boning up for the Regents. We were going to get him a private tutor, but it didn't work out."

Castle recalls the money he occasionally picked up tutoring other students at school. Private tutors, the professional ones, would cost a lot more.

"When was the last time you saw your son alive?" Kate asks the couple.

"Yesterday, when he left for school."

"And then he was supposed to join his friends to study?"

"He said they were going to pick up pizza somewhere first, but yes."

"Were Donny and his friends close?" Castle asks.

"Very close," Mrs. Kendall responds. "They'd been together since grammar school. He used to have them over all the time."

"But you moved recently," Castle assumes.

"Yes," Mrs. Kendall confirms, "a few months ago."

"I was a partner at Lehman when it went under," Mr. Kendall explains. "We took a big hit."

Castle gazes at the luxurious, if outsized, furnishings. "I imagine that would be pretty tough on a teenager. Some of my daughter's friends totally stress out of they can't afford the newest sneakers."

"Donny was used to a certain way of living," Mrs. Kendall agrees. "We all were. But it was no one's fault."

"So, did Donny take it hard? Do you think he was depressed?" Castle inquires.

"Donny was strong," Mrs. Kendall insists. "He said he'd find a way to get by."

Kate takes a step back toward the door. "Once again, Ms. Kendall, Mr. Kendall, I'm very sorry for your loss."


"So, how does a teenage boy who's suddenly gone from deep pockets to perceived poverty figure out a way to get by?" Castle wonders as he settles into the passenger seat of Kate's unit.

"And could whatever it was, have gotten him shot?" Kate adds.

"So what's our next step?" Castle asks.

"If his parents don't know what he was up to, his school might," Kate suggests.

"Beckett, you have no idea how clueless the administration of elite schools can be, or wants to be. If hefty enough tuition flows into the coffers, they'll see what they want to see about the little darlings whose families are the source."

"And you know this how, Castle?"

"I was kicked out of several of those schools. They took me because of Mother's name recognition, but even before her second husband struck, she never had an amount of money close to approaching the fortunes of hedge funders. I was a scholarship kid. No fiscal shield. Something happens; the Rodgers boy is out on his ear."

"From what I read about the cow stunt, you deserved it."

"For that, maybe. After a while, I just lived up to my image as a clown and prankster. Most of the time, it got me through. Aunt Celia warned me I was going to crash and burn, but I didn't feel like I had much choice."

"So you think Donny felt he didn't have much choice for whatever he was into either?"

"It's possible. But he'd only plunged from Olympus a few months ago. How deep a hole could he have dug for himself?"

"Deep enough for a grave. So let's go talk to the headmaster at Redding. He might know more than you think."


Headmaster Markum sighs. "The truth is, Detective Beckett, Mr. Castle, that these kids are icebergs. We here at Redding can only see the fraction at the surface. Donny was one of the brighter ones. But without family money, he'd still need the status of a Redding diploma to be accepted into a decent University. So when the Kendalls told us they could no longer afford to send him here, we put him on scholarship to finish out his senior year. The family had made several very generous contributions in the past, so I was able to convince the board. But I don't know what Donny was doing outside the classroom. For that, you should probably talk to his friends, or more accurately, his clique. They are a very tight group."

"And who are the members of that group?" Kate queries.

Markum points to a group of students gathered in the hallway. "There they are Amanda, Romy, Brandon, Spencer, and Max. It seems strange seeing them without Donny."

"It's probably strange to them, too," Castle offers.

"Mr. Markum, do you have a room we can use to talk to them?" Kate asks.

"You can use 103. There won't be any classes in there until later this afternoon."


"Donny knew how to have fun," Brandon declares. He holds up his cell phone to display a video of Donny. "Watch this." The video shows Donny Kendall grinning into the phone, announcing that his parents are on a trip to Abu Dhabi. He invites the gang over to raid his parents' liquor and bet on the outcome of a reality show. "Of course, that was before he had to move and everything. After that, he couldn't hang with us as much," Brandon explains.

Castle surveys the girls' designer purses and the boys' $200 haircuts. "Yeah, I wonder why," he mutters.