Shared Obsession Chapter 79

Alexis emerges from the dressing room in a gown that would even embarrass a bridesmaid, and twirls. "What do you think, Dad?"

"You look beautiful, Sweetheart."

"You've said that about every dress I've tried on."

"Well, you do look beautiful to me. I appreciate you for who you are, not for whatever you zip yourself into."

Martha marches down the store aisle carrying another gown and regards her granddaughter. "Hideous! Just hideous!"

Alexis breathes her relief. "Thank you!

Martha holds out the dress in her arms. "All right. Here, try this. Good color for you."

As Alexis disappears back into the dressing room, Castle turns angrily to Martha. "Mother, are you trying to give Alexis body-image issues?"

Martha sweeps her hand dismissively through the air. "News flash. She already has body-image issues. It's an intrinsic part of being a woman. Every woman in the world has some part of her that she absolutely hates. Her hands are too small. Her feet are too big. Her hair's too straight – too curly. Her ears stick out. Her," Martha catches sight of her image in a mirror and smacks her derriere," oh God, butt's too flat. Her nose is too big. And nothing you can say can change how we feel."

Rick considers what he judges to be Beckett's B cup. It's a more than sufficient handful – or mouthful – for him, but is she sensitive about her breast size? Is that where her comments outside Leeds' office came from?"

Martha continues obliviously. "What men don't understand is the right clothes, the right shoes, the right makeup it … just hides the flaws we think we have. When we look beautiful to ourselves, we look beautiful to others."

"Used to be," Castle sighs wistfully, "all Alexis needed to feel beautiful was a pink tutu and a plastic tiara."

Martha nods. "We spend our lives trying to feel that way again."

Alexis glides out of the dressing room in a pale green dress that sets off her red hair and makes her blue eyes shine.

Martha stares lovingly at her granddaughter. "Oh."

Castle gazes at his daughter. "I think it's you."


At Leeds' office, Ryan looks up from a banker's box. "Staff just went through all the files. No red flags."

Esposito points at the desk he's searching. "Dr. Leeds had a weakness." He holds up a bunch of empty wrappers. "Energy bars. He volunteered at Doctors International and did pro bono work on burn victims. The guy was a boy scout. Hell, he didn't even have any porn on his computer."

"Maybe he kept it on his phone," Ryan suggests. "We never found it. I was a boy scout and…."

"He's got a locked drawer," Esposito notes, pulling a set of picks from his pocket.

"Every guy's got to stow his secrets somewhere," Ryan declares.

Esposito pulls the drawer open. "Checkbook. He locked up his checkbook."

What about all these folders?" Ryan asks, transferring the stack to the desk's surface.

Esposito starts going through the files. "Looks like wedding stuff, tux deposits, catering invoices."

Ryan picks up a folder. "Wait, these aren't wedding invoices. They're patient files. But all the patient information is blacked out. Maybe Dr. Leeds had a secret after all."

Julia examines the file Ryan found. "As Dr. Leeds' primary nurse, it's humiliating to admit it, but I've never seen this file before."

"Can you identify that patient?" Esposito asks.

"Not from his notes. Just that it was a male, 55 years old."

"How about the type of procedure?" Ryan probes.

Julia shakes her head as she studies the page. "This is impossible. I run his surgical team. He never operates without me."

"Apparently, he did," Esposito observes.

"Mario," Julia calls across the room. "Check on Dr. Leeds' calendar. What did he have for March 18th?"

Mario taps keys on the office computer. "He was supposed to be down at Mercy attending a panel on reconstructive surgery."

Julia gazes at the blacked-out page. "Why would he lie? Why would he operate without me?"


Castle hurries off the elevator to join the group gathered at the murder board. Esposito attaches the mystery pages. "According to the hospital, the procedure lasted nine hours. No one assisting, not even the anesthesiologist, was from the hospital. They were brought in by Dr. Leeds, and none were his regulars."

"A nine-hour mystery operation Leeds didn't want his own people to know about," Montgomery observes.

Beckett's teeth nibble at her bottom lip. "The hospital must have some record of the patient."

"Get this," Ryan offers, "the hospital can't find the file. It's like it never happened."

"Who did you talk to?" Castle asks.

Ryan shrugs. "Patient information."

Castle snorts. "I tried that once when one of the authors I know collapsed when we were both on a panel at a writing conference. Patient Information didn't even know he was there, even though the paramedics said that's where they were taking him. But there's one department that makes sure it gets every iota of information and puts on the squeeze accordingly – Billing. Someone had to pay for that operation, right?"


As Castle brings fresh mugs of coffee to Beckett's desk, he catches the end of her phone conversation. "Thank you. No. I appreciate it." She hangs up and takes the mug Castle offers. "Well, it looks like our mystery patient's bills were paid promptly and in full."

"By whom?" Castle asks.

"Wire transfer. Esposito," she calls across the bullpen holding up a slip of paper, "see what you can find on this account number."

"Right," Esposito agrees, taking Beckett's note back to his desk.

"You didn't have a chance to tell me. Did Alexis find a dress?" Kate inquires of Castle.

"She did and she looked perfect – and way too grown up. I can't believe my little girl is going to the prom. My only comfort now is a chance to grill Owen."

"I thought you did a background check."

"I did. He has a string of academic awards even longer than Alexis's. And he's never been arrested. But serial killers can be brilliant and avoid arrest for decades. I need to wring the truth from him."

"Castle, what do you mean?"

"You know, the time-honored hazing that goes on in the few moments we share while he and I are alone until my daughter descends the stairs."

"I remember the terror of meeting my date's old man," an eavesdropping Ryan confesses.

"What did he do?" Castle asks.

"Checked my wallet for condoms and showed me his gun collection. My hands were shaking so bad I could barely pin on the corsage."

"What did your dad do, Beckett?" Castle inquires.

She looks at him in confusion. "I don't know. I was in my room."

"How was your date when you finally came out?" Castle presses.

"Now that you mention it, he looked terrified. And the whole time I thought he was scared of me."

"Ah, good man your father. Still, given your teenage biker persona, both could have been true. But now it's my turn."

"What are you planning?" Ryan asks.

"Still ruminating but…."

"Yo!" Esposito calls across the bullpen. "You're never going to believe this."

"What?" Kate asks.

"The account the money was wired from, it belongs to the U.S. attorney's office. Whatever the procedure was, Uncle Sam paid for it."

"I guess we can rule out a boob job," Castle figures.

"Why would the D.O.J. pay for a cosmetic procedure?" Ryan wonders.

"There's only one reason," Kate declares, "to change someone's identity. They must have put the patient in WITSEC."

"And the killer tortured Leeds to find out where the witness was stowed," Castle picks up.

"Then we better find him first," Kate declares.

"How do you find someone in witness protection?" Castle questions.

"We ask the people who are protecting him," Kate decides.

Ryan shakes his head. "Ask Hard Candy? Good luck!"

"Who's Hard Candy?" Castle asks.

"Assistant U.S. Attorney, Candace Robinson," Esposito explains. "She makes mobsters cry."

"Hmm," Castle considers. "Maybe I could study her technique to use on Owen."