Shared Obsession Chapter 96

"Mr. Cosway, can you think of anyone, perhaps one of your wife's patients, who would have attacked her that way?" Kate asks.

"Ah, no. She never discussed her patients," Cosway insists. "Ash was, uh, very professional that way."

"And what was she doing at her office so late?" Kate queries.

"Uh, she'd always have a couple of nights a month when she'd work late, writing case notes. I'd use the time to go out with the boys and have a boys' night. When I got back, I'd walk her home. That's why I went to her office and found her like … that."

"Did you know who she was having dinner with?" Kate asks, alert for signs of jealousy.

Cosway doesn't react. "No. She didn't say anything about it. Usually, when she was working late, she'd order in. But she might have had someone call her after we spoke."

"And when was that?" Kate inquires.

"Before I left work, around sixish. I was heading out for the game."

"Hockey games start at 7:00 pm," Castle notes. "How far from the Garden do you work?"

For a moment, Cosway seems knocked off his game by an unexpected question. But his expression normalizes and he continues. "About a twenty-minute walk. That gave me plenty of time to meet up with my friends and get settled."

"And what did you and your wife talk about before you left for your boy's night out?" Castle asks.

Lines almost instantly crease Cosway's brow. "It was just a meaningless check-in. Right now I remember I didn't say, 'I love you.'"

"And did you Mr. Cosway?" Castle questions. "Did you love your wife?"

"Of course I did!" Cosway insists. "How could you ask…?"

A knock sounds on the glass. "Thank you, Mr. Cosway," Beckett hurriedly interjects, signaling Castle to follow her out of the room.

"Got another one," Esposito says, coming out of Observation. "Pop and drop on a hundred and second."

"Another anomalous statistic," Castle observes.

"All right. You guys go on uptown," Kate decides. "Castle and I will finish up here."

Ryan sighs. "So much for my honey milk breakfast with Jenny. Did I just say that out loud?"

As Castle quirks an amused eyebrow, Esposito puts a hand on his partner's shoulder. "Come on, Bro. Let's get out of here."

Kate stares through the mirror at Jason Cosway. "He said he called his wife around six and she didn't mention she was having dinner with someone. But the receipt is time-stamped six-oh-two. His wife would have known she'd be having a visitor."

"So either she conveniently didn't mention it or Cosway's lying," Castle concludes.

"But if he was at that hockey game, he couldn't have done it," Kate points out. "Which leaves us with whoever bought the Szechuan."


Esposito slides behind the wheel of the unit he and Ryan share. "A honey milk breakfast with Jenny. That's just sad, Man."

"It's not sad," Ryan protests. "I have trouble sleeping in the daytime and it helps me relax."

Esposito snorts. "There are better ways to relax."

"Yeah, but Jenny has to go to work. So the honey milk is the best she can do – until she gets home."

"Yeah, then what?" Esposito presses.

Ryan draws himself up in his seat. "A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell."

"Yeah, right," Esposito responds. "Well, the guy uptown isn't going to tell us anything either. That's for sure."


"How are you doing, Dr. Perlmutter?" Ryan calls to an ME crouching by the body on the sidewalk.

"Shhh!" Perlmutter hisses. "The body is speaking to me."

The partners exchange looks. "What's it saying?" Esposito asks.

"It's saying someone shot me. One bullet to the midsection, a 38 caliber or maybe a 45. He was shot close up and from behind."

"That's cold," Esposito comments.

Perlmutter pushes himself up from the body. "Well, that's the living for you."

"He have any ID?" Ryan asks.

"Well, wallet's gone. No watch. No jewelry," Perlmutter responds.

"Maybe a mugging gone bad," Ryan suggests.

A uniformed officer approaches. "We found a lady from the neighborhood whose dog likes early morning walks. She thinks she recognized him. She says he's Frank Andersen, a retired teacher from IS 161."

"A school teacher," Esposito repeats. "We'll have to see if Beckett wants in on this one."


"So you want in?" Ryan asks Beckett, as he sets up a murder board.

Kate points to her own board. "Full up. I'm going to grab a few hours of sleep and get back to this." She turns to Castle. "You want to go check in with Alexis before she leaves for school?"

Castle glances at his watch. "Oh, geez! I'll just have time to make breakfast. Meet up later?"

"See you back here this afternoon," Kate agrees.


"Dad, are you working again tonight?" Alexis asks, chomping on crisped turkey bacon.

"Probably," Castle replies. "Why? Something special happening at school that slipped my overtired brain?"

"No, I just have Math Club until six. But then I wanted to take Owen out for a birthday banana split at Serendipity. I just wanted to do something special because things have been a little rocky with us lately."

Castle winks at his daughter. "Nothing smooths rocks like rocky road."

As she downs her youthenizing shake, Martha rolls her eyes.

"Just remember it's a school night," Castle continues. "Be home by midnight."

"Dad, I'll be home by nine." Alexis kisses her father's cheek. "Love you."

"Love you," Castle responds.

Wrinkling her nose at the smell of Martha's drink, Alexis lets her lips brush her grandmother's cheek. "Love you too."

"Yes, bye darling," Martha responds.

Gazing after Alexis as the teen bounds out the door, Martha sighs. "Ah, young love. First banana splits, then splitting assets."

Castle rolls his own eyes. "Mother, you are a hopeless romantic."

"Well at least one of us is clear-eyed," Martha retorts. "You look like something a cat dragged in – a cat who wasn't very picky. If you're going to stay up all night with Katherine, you should at least get to enjoy it."

"We have our moments." Castle dumps his coffee mug into the sink. "But if I'm going to help her pick up our case, I need to get some sleep."

Martha flutters her hand dismissively. "Go ahead, darling. You can always clean up from breakfast later."

Castle walks away muttering. "Or God forbid the diva should do it now."


Seated in the box, Brandi Rossi regards the receipt in the evidence bag. "Yes, I bought the food from the Szechuan Wok. Ashley and I had dinner last night. She is -was- my best friend. When I left her she was alive."

"What time did you leave, Ms. Rossi?" Kate asks.

"Around seven."

"Where did you go?" Castle inquires.

"To drinks with other members of my firm. We were at the Gansevoort bar until eleven."

"Did you and Ashley make plans to have dinner together or did you just show up?" Kate questions.

"She called me. She said she had something to talk about. But I didn't know. I mean I should have done something."

"Done something about what? Why did she call, Ms. Rossi?"

"She needed my advice as a lawyer. Something happened last Friday, something bad."

"What?"

"She said she couldn't say. But I knew it had to be one of her patients, or she could have told me the details. She wanted to get a restraining order."

"Against whom?" Kate questions.

"As I said, she wouldn't tell me. But I should have stayed with her. I shouldn't have let her off the hook. But I had no idea something would happen so soon."

"Apparently," Kate responds, "neither did she."


"Well," Castle figures, as Rossi walks toward the elevator. "if it was a patient, that would explain a lot. Maybe the psycho rapist was a psycho rapist. I don't know about the bad grammar though. Psychos can be remarkably eloquent. Look at Congress."

"If we're going to find a possible murderer in Ashley's files, we're going to need a court order," Kate says. "And judges are not big on breaking that kind of confidentiality for a fishing expedition."

"If Ashley was being stalked or something, wouldn't she have filed a complaint?" Castle wonders.

"Maybe not, if it would expose a patient," Kate considers, "but it's worth a look."