Shared Obsession Chapter 142
Even Avery's shoulders strain under the weight of a cardboard carton he carries into the gathering of cops and agents. Castle spies familiar artwork peeking above the rim. "Whoa, whoa, guys, listen. Not that I don't appreciate the royalties, but, uh, why do you need a hundred copies of 'Heat Wave?'"
"If our killer's obsessed with 'Heat Wave,' then so are we," Shaw explains. "Avery, Cliff Notes please."
Avery begins a matter-of-fact narration. "A real estate tycoon is killed. Detective Nikki Heat catches the case and investigates suspects who wanted the man dead. There's a trophy wife, of course, dangerous mobsters…."
"Excuse me," Castle interrupts. "It's, it's like a New York Times bestseller. I don't think there's a need to make it sound so dry. Thanks."
"Heat's life is complicated by a reporter named Jameson Rook," Avery goes on unruffled, "who's following her around for an article he's writing. Heat and Rook verbally spar and in Chapter 11 admit their mutual attraction for each other and have sex."
Kate reddens as several agents chuckle. "It's a novel," she reminds the crowd.
Avery charges ahead. "In the end when the killer is revealed, it turns out it's actually…."
"Spoiler alert!" Castle exclaims.
"In deference to Mr. Castle's sensitivities and because I don't have time to be your English teacher and give you a question not covered in the synopsis, you all can read the book to find out the identity of the killer," Shaw instructs.
"You all right?" Castle whispers to Beckett.
Kate finger rakes her hair. "Yeah. I just don't need a bunch of smirking FBI agents wondering about our sex life instead of concentrating on the case."
"Agent Shaw keeps a pretty tight rein on these guys. I don't think she'll let them stray far from the task at hand," Castle tries to reassure her.
As the computer starts beeping, Avery announces, "We've got a hit!"
"A welcome distraction," Castle mutters.
"That pinky print off the second victim's purse belongs to Donald Salt, a two-time loser, on parole for a manslaughter conviction in 2005. They just matched it to the partial pinky your team recovered from Grand Central Station," Avery informs Beckett.
"Two pinky prints?" Castle considers. "So he was at Grand Central Station and the carousel – or his pinky print was."
"Castle, what are you talking about?" Kate asks.
"Who grasps anything with their pinky?" Castle returns. "If you're going to pull a wallet out of a purse, you need humanity's famous opposable thumb, and probably a forefinger as well. So why a pinky?"
"Maybe it's a breadcrumb, like the bullets," Kate offers.
"He sees himself as one-upping you, so he might see leaving a pinky print as a taunt," Shaw proposes.
"A two-time loser who sees himself as the brilliant opposition?" Castle questions. "Something's missing here."
"You may be right, Mr. Castle," Jordan acknowledges. "When we pull him in we'll find out."
With Beckett in the passenger seat, Jordan is at the wheel of a vehicle, on her cell phone. "Yeah, OK, just pulling up now. Yep got it." She points through her driver's side window. "Salt lives in that brick building. His supervisor says he left work an hour ago. So he should be home by now. When the others get here, we'll take him."
Castle examines the contents of the back seat where he's been consigned. "Night vision goggles. The bureau isn't ahead on all the toys. I have a newer model. You know, maybe in my third book Nikki will cross swords with a good-looking yet cold-hearted FBI profiler. Call it Federal Heat. Or maybe not," he responds to Kate's warning look.
"So how long have you two been sleeping together?" Jordan asks.
"I told you that scene is from a novel," Kate protests.
"Which was not a denial," Jordan points out. "Look, other than a profiler's curiosity, the only reason I'm asking is to understand the dynamics between you two. Since we're going to be working together, it will go more smoothly if I know. So, is this a new thing, or are you an old couple?"
"Somewhere in between," Kate confesses. "But if anything, being able to use Castle's insights has helped me close cases. And he's helped – in other ways."
"I'm sure he has," Jordan replies. A taser beeps as Castle powers it up. "No more toys right now, Mr. Castle. The rest of the team is here. And you stay in the car. Captain Montgomery informed me that the NYPD has a waiver in case you get yourself killed. But the bureau doesn't. So stay put."
"Could you at least crack a window for me?" Castle asks as Jordan and Kate get out of the vehicle.
Shaw reaches in to lower a window. Kate sends Castle a sympathetic smile before the women rapidly join the new arrivals.
"Let's make it quick and bloodless," Shaw instructs.
"Go, go, go!" one of the agents shouts.
Shaw spots a man walking toward the target building. "Hang on! Stop! FBI!"
As Donald Salt runs away from the agents and toward Shaw's vehicle, Castle charges out of the back seat and shoots him with the taser. Salt screams and falls to the ground.
Castle blows on the tip of the stun gun. "See, I'm helping."
"Beckett can give you your attaboy later," Shaw promises as Kate bends over Salt.
"Agent Shaw, we have a problem," Kate calls. "His pinky finger is missing."
"I knew something was off," Castle mutters. "But the feebies never listen."
A recovering Salt looks up at Beckett and Shaw. "Which one of you is Nikki Heat?"
A creepy grin covers Salt's face as he sprawls in his chair in the box. "So I was on one of those internet barter sites, and I was looking – uh, it doesn't matter what I was looking for. But I came across the ad, 'Finger wanted. Will pay top dollar.'"
"And what's top dollar for a pinkie finger?" Beckett asks.
"Five thousand bucks," Salt declares proudly.
"Sounds like a real deal," Shaw comments.
"Hey, you get less than that for a kidney," Salt claims. "So anyway, I emailed him back. I told him I had everything he wanted."
"You gave him a finger. What more did he want?" Shaw probes.
"He wanted me to have a violent felony conviction and be recently paroled. I also had to be willing to suffer through the indignity of a false arrest. He told me Detective Nikki Heat would be coming for me and it might get physical." Salt winces. "He didn't mention anything about Captain America with the taser gun."
"So he warned you that he would be planting your fingerprint at a murder scene," Kate concludes.
"Which is why you have an alibi," Shaw adds.
"I was on my favorite stool at McSorley's every night until closing, since that man took my digit and walked away with it in his cooler," Salt confirms.
Shaw holds up the sketch of the suspect spotted at Grand Central Station. "Is this the man?"
Salt shrugs. "I'm not sure. I didn't really see him. He had a hat and sunglasses."
"Who bandaged your finger?" Kate asks.
"He did. He said you'd notice." Salt sticks out his hand for Kate's inspection. She starts to pull the bandage off. "Be gentle with me, Nikki."
Kate carefully unwraps the covering. "There are numbers here."
"He really isn't too bright, is he?" Castle asks Kate and Jordan as he trots out of Observation to meet them. "He not only admitted to being an accomplice in covering up a murder, he bragged about it."
"I told you, our killer's smart," Jordan reiterates. "He went fishing for a fall guy he could manipulate."
"And the DA may cut Salt a break on the accessory charge for cooperating," Kate says. "But he'll still probably go back to jail for a parole violation."
"No loss to the citizenry of New York," Castle comments. "Except maybe to McSorley. I hope Salt paid his bar tab."
"At least our killer sent us a clue without a body," Kate says, "if we can figure out what the numbers mean."
"He's playing with us – or with you, Beckett," Jordan figures. "We'd better decode them before he gets around to taking his next shots. Our system will run all the available crypto algorithms."
"Anyone want coffee while we wait?" Castle offers.
Kate blows out a deep breath. "Please."
