Shared Obsession Chapter 163

"You had to have known Bobby Mann was here. He had the most recognizable face in comedy," Esposito insists to the owner of the Comedy Factory.

"Yeah, I know," the owner acknowledges. "I got a call on the club phone. The caller's ID's from Bobby's show. A guy asks about one of my comedians. Couple of hours later a guy shows up to see that comedian. He's got a funny-looking mustache and a baseball cap, but it looked like Bobby."

"Did he talk to anyone? Did he have a drink?" Ryan inquires.

"No. He sat in the back, left his drink ticket, and bolted out the side door after watching the comedian he came to see."

"Anything special about this particular comedian?" Ryan inquires.

"Angel Santana, the proverbial rising star? I'm assuming you heard about the incident that night."

"What incident?"

The twenty-something attractive woman on stage smiles brightly at the audience. "I'm Angel Santana. "Good night y'all." She descends the few steps to the club floor to the owner and the two detectives.

Esposito eyes her appreciatively. "Ms. Santana, I'm Detective Esposito. This is Detective Ryan."

"Oh, hey! Thanks for coming," Angel greets them. "The officer I talked to didn't exactly instill a lot of confidence."

"You want to tell us about it?" Esposito offers.

"Not much to tell. During my set that night someone smashed my bike's taillight, banged up the fenders, and scratched 'late night *****' into the tank. I mean, what does that even mean?"

"Actually, we're not here about your bike," Ryan admits.

"Ms. Santana, do you know Bobby Mann?" Esposito asks.

"You mean personally? No. Why?"

"Because he came to see your act on the night he was killed," Ryan explains. "Any idea why?"

Angel's eyes widen. "Wow! He probably trashed my bike. I've heard stories about him. I know guys he's blackballed because they did his competitor's show."

"Is there any reason why he might want to come after you?" Esposito queries.

"His producer tried to book me on his show last month, but Mickey Reed wanted me too. I had to pick. Mickey was more my vibe."

"That's one fine woman," Esposito remarks as he and Ryan leave the club.

"Little young for you, don't you think?" Ryan questions.

"That Ellie Munroe who keeps calling Castle's pretty young, too."

"And he knows better than to go near her," Ryan notes.

"That's cause he's with Beckett – and she's like 10 years younger than he is."

"And he's a best-selling author who could afford to hang around her all day until he got under her skin. What would you do with Angel Santana? Sit in the front row of her shows and drool?"

Esposito's chest strains against the confinement of his shirt. "She liked me. I could see it."

"She liked us because she thought we'd do something about her bike. But maybe Castle will still introduce you to that Ellie Munroe. She did say she has a soft spot for law enforcement."

A smile grows on Esposito's face. "Yeah, she did."


Ryan and Esposito join Kate and Castle as they huddle over the murder board. "Club owner said Bobby left at 2:30," Esposito reports.

Kate marks the timeline. "Which leaves us two hours to account for and a lot of strange behavior."

"Aren't famous people crazy and narcissistic?" Ryan asks.

"Depends on the famous person," Castle replies. "You take Stephen King. He's one of the most famous authors alive, but he holes up in Maine and doesn't say much except for disdain for particularly creepy politicians. Or Leno. He's happiest working in his garage. But you also get the assholes who only want one color of M&M in the green room and have some toady just to wipe their noses – or some other body part. I've met both kinds, but most are in the middle somewhere, pretty much like everyone else. From what I saw of Bobby and what Barbara said, he wasn't crazy or narcissistic, just very insecure. He was at the top and had nowhere to go but down."

"He hit the ground the hard way," Kate says. "And we still have no idea who put him there." She checks her father's watch. It's late and we'll have to wait on the forensics on Angel Santana's bike. Maybe we'll get lucky and get a print or some DNA from the killer. Let's all go home and get some rest."

"I hear that," Ryan says. "Maybe Jenny will make some honey milk."

Esposito rolls his eyes and shakes his head.


Kate receives an email from the lab just as she and Castle settle at her desk in the morning. "Damn!"

"What?" Castle asks.

"Forensics on Angel Santana's motorcycle are a bust. There's no fingerprints, nothing. And we still have no idea where Mann was after 2:30."

"What about his car?" Castle asks.

Ryan and Esposito were supposed to have a warrant this morning. They should be executing it now. But seeing that he parked it before he was poisoned, they probably won't find anything. With that much money and six ex-wives, getting all of Bobby's financials was complicated. But we should have everything any minute. You want to split them up?"

"OK. But he just extended his contract. Even with sextuple alimony, I doubt he was having money troubles. Buzz in the industry is that he was the network's highest-paid employee. And that doesn't even count the money from personal appearances and specials."

"Let's find out anyway," Kate says.

An hour later Kate lays down a sheaf of paper in frustration. "Nothing here that would point to a motive for murder. No unpaid bills or mystery payments."

"None here either," Castle says. "But he did have a few hefty cash withdrawals in the past couple of weeks. That's kind of odd. Usually, he used his titanium card for almost everything. At that level, the points really pay off."

"I wouldn't know about points, but usually people pay for things in cash because they don't want them traced."

"Or ending up in the tabloids," Castle adds.

"Yo, Beckett!" Esposito calls with one foot still in the elevator. "Check this out! We just finished the sweep of Bobby's car. First of all, the Bugatti. When you start that thing, holy shift! You can feel it right in…."

"But as exciting as the car is," Ryan interrupts, "I think we figured out why Bobby was so tweaked. We found this in his glove compartment." He holds up a photo of Bobby and a very young woman skin-to-skin.

Castle regards the image. "That's Kayla. She's an intern on Bobby's show."

"Looks like she's doing more than interning," Ryan says.

"You should check out the back," Esposito advises.

"If they find out, you're dead," Castle reads. "Blackmail, threats, and scandal – a trifecta."

"That explains why his behavior was so erratic," Kate figures.

"And also why he might need cash," Castle muses. "But if the blackmailer was paid off, why poison him? That's killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. And why, in the middle of Bobby's angst about an affair with an intern would he go see Angel Santana? And why trash her bike – if that was Bobby? We've still got a lot of pieces that don't fit."

"Maybe, if we find out where Bobby was those last two hours, they'll fall into place," Kate says. "But Kayla's the only new element we have. We need to talk to her, ASAP."

"At her age, she could be in school," Castle suggests.

Kate grabs her purse out of her drawer. "Let's find out."