Shared Obsession Chapter 189
Benny is sprawled on a couch in the interview lounge, snoring loudly with drool finding its way down a scruffy chin. Kate's voice could easily carry across the bullpen. "Good morning, Sunshine!"
Groaning and rubbing his eyes, Benny slowly sits up. Castle hands Kate a container of black coffee which she passes on to the man who she hopes will become a pivotal witness. "Here, we need you awake."
"I'm awake, but can you keep it down, please," Benny pleads. "My head is killing me."
"We'll see about finding you some aspirin in a little while," Kate promises. "But first, why'd you leave town in such a hurry, Benny?"
Benny puts down the coffee and presses his fingertips against his temples. "I was feeling lucky. I wanted to hit the craps tables as fast as I could."
"Did you have a good time down there, Benny?" Castle inquires.
"Dude!" He laughs a little before wincingly turning to Kate. "I appreciate the NYPD interceding with the Jersey cops on my behalf."
"And I'd appreciate some information," Kate replies. "So, last Thursday were you on duty when a Scarlett O'Hara checked in?"
"Yeah, yeah, I think I remember."
"What did she look like?" Castle asks.
"I would have done her," Benny proclaims.
"Since we are blissfully unaware of your taste in sexual partners, could you give us a bit more information, Benny?" Castle queries, taking a seat.
"She was, um, small for her size."
Kate holds up a photo of Damian Wilder. "Do you recognize this man?"
Benny lets out another laugh before thinking better of it. "Yeah. That guy's a total nutbar. Last week, I think it was Thursday, matter of fact, he pulls into the motel lot in a fancy foreign job. He goes straight up to the corner room on the second floor. Couple minutes later he charges down, starts asking me all the same questions you were asking me. Who rented the room? What did she look like?"
Castle leans halfway out of his chair. "Wait! He didn't know?"
"That's what I said. Crazy, huh? I told him if he didn't know whose room it was he shouldn't be going there in the first place. He stomped off. Boom! Never saw him again."
"And you won't either," Kate informs him. "He was murdered Sunday night."
Benny shrugs. "With that kind of attitude, it's not surprising. Well, if I've answered all your questions to your satisfaction, am I free to go?"
Kate shakes her head. "Not yet, Benny. The cops from Atlantic City did have you under arrest. They said they picked you up in the diamond lounge of a strip club trying to set a rodeo clown on fire."
"That was just a misunderstanding and…."
"My question is," Kate interrupts, "how does a $ 9-a-night motel clerk pay for a $ 500-an-hour VIP lounge?"
"I won at craps. Like I said, I was feeling lucky." Benny grabs for a duffel bag on the floor next to the couch and starts to get up.
Castle springs into his path. "Whoa! Whoa! That's a Damian Wilder bag."
"Who?"
"That's the guy who was killed," Kate informs the nervous clerk. "Where'd you get that?"
Benny's eyes dart toward the door, "Um…."
"Where'd you get it, Benny?" Kate demands.
"Please, not so loud," Benny begs.
"Where'd you get it!" Kate yells.
"All right. I found it in the room."
"Scarlett O'Hara's room?" Castle asks.
Sighing, Benny sinks back to the couch. "After checkout on the fourth day, I went up there on account of she never returned the key. The room was like nobody's ever been there. The bed was made. The towels were on the rack. I gave it a quick once-over, figured I'd better tell housekeeping not to bother going in. I found the bag under the bed."
"And what was in it?" Kate presses.
Benny groans, putting his hands over his ears.
"What was in it?" Kate shouts.
"OK! OK! There was money, lots of it."
"How much?" Castle asks.
"Seventy-five grand." He points at the bag. "There."
Castle checks the contents, recoiling from the stench of Benny's underwear. "There's no money here. Did you blow it all, Benny?"
"It was the best three days of my life. Do I get the aspirin now?"
"I'll see what I can find," Kate promises.
Castle hands Kate a mug as she joins him in the break room. "Benny all stowed away?"
"He's in Holding. Technically, he's guilty of grand larceny, but I doubt that on what we have a DA would ever charge him. And he committed the crime in New Jersey, so it's not really our jurisdiction. But he's the only person we have who could identify Scarlett O'Hara. Somehow, she's right in the middle of everything. A duffel bag, an anonymous motel room, and an angry Wilder. All of that adds up to only one thing."
Castle nods. "Blackmail."
"So the blackmailer contacts Wilder with instructions to meet at the motel at a certain time."
"Probably to show him proof of what she has against him," Castle picks up.
"But she doesn't want him to know who she is or that she works at his company," Kate figures.
"So she calls into the room and makes her demands by phone," Castle continues.
Kate takes a step toward the door as if playing out Wilder's moves. "He confronts Benny, trying to figure out who it is who's extorting him."
Castle mimes carrying something. "At some point in time, Wilder returns to the room with a duffel bag full of cash and puts it under the bed as instructed."
Kate grabs Castle's invisible duffel. "Only Benny makes off with the money before the blackmailer's had a chance to retrieve it."
Castle throws up a hand. "Wait, Beckett. Benny said he didn't go up to the room until after checkout. Scarlett would have known when that was and probably driven straight from the Wilder offices to get the thing as soon as she got off the phone with Damian. So did someone stop her? Maybe someone else who twigged to the scheme? We're still missing something."
"You're right," Kate concedes. "And Benny's the only one who saw Scarlett O'Hara. We need him to identify her."
"Well, the boys got voice samples of all the ladies on the third floor. How hard would it be to get pictures? They probably take them for their ID badges."
Kate pulls out her phone. "I'll find out right now."
Benny stares appreciatively at a photograph. "Not her either, but I'd do her. Man, this guy Wilder had a lot of good-looking babes working for him."
"Just find Scarlett O'Hara, Benny," Kate urges.
He flips through more photos. "Not her or her, but I'd do her. Not her, who I would definitely not do. Not her. I would maybe do her. Hey, look! It's her!"
"The woman who rented the room?" Kate questions.
"Yes," Benny confirms.
Kate checks the code on the picture against her list of Wilder's employees. "Rebecca Strong. She's a lab tech at the company."
"What would a lab tech know she could use to blackmail Damian Wilder?" Castle wonders.
"We'll get her in here and find out," Kate declares.
A whine creeps into Benny's voice. "Can I finally go now?"
"Yeah," Kate agrees, "but we may need you as a witness. No more surprise trips to Atlantic City."
Benny sighs. "Nothing would ever beat the last one."
"Benny, one last question. Why try to set a rodeo clown on fire?" Castle queries.
"Dude! The strippers were all over him. He was getting all the action."
"You or a rodeo clown," Castle considers, "can't imagine why."
"No," Benny agrees. "Me either."
Kate slaps her hand over her mouth as Benny walks out.
As the clerk heads for the elevator, Castle tugs at Kate's fingers. "You can let it out now."
Kate's guffaw fills the room. "A rodeo clown. I wish I could have seen that!"
"I think it's the shoes," Castle offers. "You know people think that big feet, big ….."
"I thought that was noses."
"Either way, the clown wins."
