Shared Obsession Chapter 113

"We'll need a warrant to search Greg's room," Beckett says. "But given what we have so far, that shouldn't be hard to get."

"Markway?" Castle asks.

"He's probably our best bet," Kate agrees. "But Castle, you should stay out of it. Your past relationship with the suspect's fiancée could be taken as bias."

"So what do you want me to do?" Castle demands.

"Sit tight until we see what the search turns up. If we find some objective evidence, you can step back in without muddying the waters."

"How long?"

"I'll give you a call as soon as we have something solid. Promise."


Greg opens the door of his hotel room to Kate's knock. "Detective Beckett, I'm more than willing to cooperate, but I've told you and your people everything I know."

"Everything?" Kate repeats. "It seems that somehow it slipped your mind to mention that you and Sophie Ronson had a history – a romantic history."

"Kyra is upset enough. I had no reason to bring that up. Besides it's irrelevant," Greg argues.

"I don't think so," Kate responds, "and neither does the judge." She holds up a document. "I have a warrant to search your room. There's an officer in the hall who can keep you company while detectives Ryan, Esposito and I conduct the search."

Esposito urges Greg toward the door. "Go on, Man."

Kate shines her Mag Lite over the durable but luxurious carpeting. Gold glints in the beam. She crouches to study the source. "This is Sophie's missing earring. She was definitely here. Look for anything else you can find."

Ryan points to the top of the bureau. "Beckett, tie bar."

"It looks like the right shape to make the abrasions on Sophies back. Bag it for analysis. If CSU finds Sophies blood or skin cells, we've got a slam dunk. And they can see if it matches the profile the FBI found on the trace for the wounds. But while they're working on that, the earring is enough to bring Greg in for questioning."

Before starting her car to return to the precinct, Kate makes her promised call to Rick.


"Maybe you should watch from Observation, Castle," Kate suggests, as LT settles Greg in the box.

Jaw tight, Castle shakes his head. "No way, Beckett. If that sonofabitch killed Sophie and pulled Kyra into a murder, I want to be eye to eye with him when he admits it."

"Fine," Kate allows reluctantly. "But we have to stick to the evidence. That means the earring and whatever else should be coming back from the lab. If you introduce personal stuff into this, any defense attorney could grab it and run with it. Actually, I'm surprised Greg hasn't asked for a lawyer already."

"Maybe he's afraid it will make him look guilty," Castle speculates. "But it's too late. He already does."


"This is crazy," Greg insists. "I did not kill Sophie Ronson."

"Then how did her earring end up in your room?" Castle questions.

"You have a chance to come clean here, Greg," Kate says. "If I were you, I'd take it."

"I got back to my room about one am. I was pretty drunk," Greg explains. "Next thing I know it was two in the morning and somebody's in my bed with me and they had their hands down my pants. I thought it was Kyra. I figured she'd changed her mind about spending the night apart."

"Did Kyra have a key to your room?" Castle asks.

"No," Greg admits. "She had one to the bridal suite where we were going to spend the night after the wedding, but not to mine."

"So why would you think it was Kyra?" Castle presses.

"I don't know!" Greg retorts. "No one else had a key either and like I said, I was pretty drunk. I wasn't thinking about keys."

"After you realized someone was in bed with you, what happened?" Kate asks.

"I saw it was Sophie."

"So you figured why not love the one you're with?" Castle accuses.

"No!" Greg protests.

"Oh come on Greg. Sophie was a beautiful girl, and you were hours away from strapping on the ball and chain for life," Castle argues.

"No. I love Kyra. I would never cheat on her," Greg claims, "especially with Sophie."

"Why especially with Sophie?" Kate asks.

"You've slept with her before?" Castle inserts.

Dark anger flashes in Greg's eyes. "Why's he here? He's a writer, not a cop."

"Answer the question, Greg," Kate commands. "Did you ever sleep with Sophie?"

"Once or twice," Greg admits, "but it was before Kyra and I even met and we both agreed it was a mistake."

"A mistake that Sophie tried to repeat," Castle observes. "Or maybe she succeeded."

"No! When I saw her, I freaked. I shoved her away. She fell on the floor. That must've been when her earring came off. Before I could do anything else she ran out the door. I -I mean it all happened so fast it didn't seem like it was real."

"Why didn't you say anything when you found out Sophie had been murdered?" Kate questions.

"Because I knew how it would sound," Greg replies.

"Pretty much like it sounds now, a lie," Castle asserts.

"OK, that's it! I want him gone." Greg declares. "He's clearly got it out for me because he wants to get back into my fiancée's pants."

"I'm not the murder suspect here." Castle returns. "And is that what Kyra is to you, Greg? Pants?"

"I'm done answering questions until he's gone," Greg insists.

"You don't make demands here, Greg," Castle throws back.

"Castle, go and see if Ryan and Esposito have the forensics report back yet," Kate suggests.

Castle's chair screeches against the hard floor. "Yeah. That should speak for itself." The door slams behind him.

"Now," Kate tells Greg, "take me through it again."

"Labs aren't in yet, Bro," Ryan tells Castle. "CSU had no reason to run DNA on Sophie until now, so they didn't have anything to match. And you know the feds. The profile on the tie bar hasn't come back from the FBI."

Castle's fist rattles the papers on Ryan's desk. "Damn!"


Castle looks up from his seat at Beckett's desk to see Kate accompanying Greg and Ted Murphy down the hall toward the elevators.

Ted slaps Greg on the back. "Don't worry about this. I've got you covered."

"Thanks, Uncle Teddy," Greg replies as the two enter the elevator.

"I can't believe you're just letting him go," Castle complains as Kate joins him.

"Yeah, well, I don't have enough evidence to convict him. If he were any other suspect, you'd understand that, Castle," Kate points out. "I shouldn't have let you in the box for this one. You almost lost it in there."

"Yeah, I know. But after what that sonofabitch is putting Kyra through, I wanted to punch his lights out."

"That was obvious."

"But it's not about getting into Kyra's pants, Kate. It's never been about that. You and I …. I just hate seeing Kyra hurt."

"I get it, Castle. And when we get the lab results back, we may be able to put an end to this. Then Kyra can pick up the pieces, whatever they are. But for now, it's just as well if Greg thinks he's off the hook. That's when killers make mistakes. So how about if we go home for a while? Isn't this your zombie movie night with Alexis?"

The ghost of a smile lights Castle's eyes. "Yeah, it is."


As a hoard of zombies charges toward a group of cheerleaders, Castle's cell phone gives an email alert. Trying to keep one eye on the screen, he reads the message. "Rick, I didn't know how to get your number, but there was a contact email for you on Black Pawn's PR page. So I thought I'd try. I don't know what to do. I don't even know if I'm engaged to a murderer. Could you meet me on our roof?"

"Sorry," Rick apologizes to Alexis when he hits pause. He takes his phone over to the counter where Kate is working on her case notes and hands it to her. "What should I do?"

"What do you want to do?" Kate asks.

"She needs somebody, Beckett. She can't turn to Greg and well, you've met Sheila."

"So you want to go."

"I think I should."

"All right. But this case all revolves around Kyra. She could be involved in some way we haven't figured out yet."

"You have her under surveillance?"

"She could be a person of interest."

"Or maybe she's a person of interest to you. Sophie was a big girl. Kyra's five-two and she doesn't wear tie bars. She couldn't have killed Sophie."

"Which doesn't mean a jealous bride couldn't have gotten someone else to do it. She is a person of interest, Castle. So if you want to go hear what she has to say, do it. Just remember there's a chance that she'll use your affection for her to her advantage."

"I don't believe she'd do that, but your surveillance team can confirm it. I'll be on the roof of the Roosevelt Hotel." Castle walks over to Alexis and kisses the top of her head. "Sorry, Pumpkin. Gotta go. But you get all the rest of the popcorn and the cookies. Deal?"

"OK, Dad. See you later."