Shared Obsession Chapter 200
Castle gazes around the cavernous space. "I feel like we've walked into a convention of sideshow acts. All they need is a barker touting the bearded lady and the sword swallower – except that this establishment appears to hawk alcohol, rather than popcorn or peanuts."
"Which would make the bartender our best hope for getting some answers to our questions," Kate decides striding through the weird revelry.
The bartender smiles appreciatively as Kate approaches. "What can I get for you?"
Kate flashes her badge and lays pictures of Chloe, Maya, and Todd on the bar. "Information. Do you recognize any of these people?"
The bartender glances at the photos with immediate recognition. "Sure, they're members of Kitty's burlesque troupe."
"Kitty's troupe?" Kate inquires. "Who is Kitty?"
"Kitty Canary. She runs this place."
"And where can I find this Kitty?" Kate presses.
The bartender gestures toward a fan dancer. "That's her on stage now."
As Kitty finishes her act, Kate holds up her badge. "Kitty Canary? I need to talk to you about some of your employees. Can we go someplace quiet?"
"This way," Kitty says, holding her fan across almost bare breasts. She begins to thread her way through the crowd, stopping as several men stuff bills into her G-string. On reaching the closed door of a small office, she motions Kate and Castle inside. "Which employees?"
Kate shows her the pictures.
"Chloe, Maya, and Todd. Are they in some kind of trouble?" Kitty queries.
"I'm sorry, but they're dead," Kate says. "Your bartender said they were part of your troupe."
"Yes, they were. Chloe would dance from time to time. Todd had a snake act."
"What about Maya?" Castle asks.
"She was more of a patron. She came for inspiration. I believe she was making a sculpture with curves based on the motions of Todd's snakes and Chloe's dance moves."
"That would have been an interesting piece," Castle speculates.
A man barges in without knocking. "I just heard."
"This is Earl, my husband," Kitty explains. "He runs the burlesque with me."
"Do you know what happened?" Earl asks Kate.
"We're looking into it," Kate replies. "Right now the only connection we can find is this club."
Kitty's mouth gapes. "You don't think someone here killed them?"
"How well did you know them?" Kate inquires.
"We were work friends. You know, 'Hi, how are you?' Although Maya and Chloe did come to the shop to get tattoos. My day job," Kitty clarifies.
"Did the three of them spend a lot of time together?" Kate asks.
"No more so than anybody else," Earl answers.
"Did they spend a lot of time with anyone else here?" Castle probes.
"Not that I noticed," Earl says.
"Do you have a mailing list of your regulars?" Kate questions.
"Yes. I can get you a copy if you want," Earl offers.
"Yes, and I'll also need one of all your employees and any other members of your troupe," Kate says.
Kitty nods, her hair brushing the feathers of her fan. "Of course."
"Can you think of any other connection between the three of them?" Kate continues.
Kitty glances toward Earl. "Well, there was the incident."
"What incident?" Kate presses.
"A couple of weeks ago, Chloe's boyfriend Evan came around," Earl replies. "Apparently he didn't like the kind of dancing she was doing here."
"Or maybe he wanted a private dancer," Castle suggests.
"He got a little rough," Earl continues. "Both Chloe and Todd intervened."
"Evan was drunk, yelling all kinds of crazy stuff," Kitty adds.
"What kind of stuff?" Kate asks.
"'I know what you're doing. I know all about it.' I guess he thought she was screwing someone else," Kitty offers.
"Funny that Evan didn't mention this place or that there might have been another man," Castle notes. "The guy is definitely not a sharer."
"Well, he's going to have to share now," Kate declares. "Big time."
"OK, so I followed Chloe to the club that night," Evan confesses from his chair in Interrogation, "but only because she was acting weird. I thought she was seeing another guy."
"Mr. Murphy, why didn't you tell us that before?" Kate demands.
"That I was fighting with my girlfriend? That I'd threatened her? I know how cops work," Evan claims. "I would have been your number one suspect."
"It's lying to us that makes you our number one suspect," Kate returns.
"How about when you found out about the other victims, and that they were all at the club?" Castle asks.
Evan pushes out of his seat. "I didn't kill her! I didn't kill any of them!"
"Sit down, Mr. Murphy," Kate orders.
He sinks back into his chair. "Well, what would you have done?"
"I would have tried to help find her killer," Kate retorts.
"But if I had told you then what you know now, would you have looked any further than me?" Evan argues.
Kate ignores the question. "Mr. Murphy, the money in Chloe's account, where did it come from?"
"What money?"
Esposito and Ryan join Kate and Castle at the murder board. "So Evan Murphy admits to the fight and the threats but claims not to know anything about the money," Castle summarizes.
"Or anything about how our victims are connected outside the events of that night," Kate picks up.
"Do you believe him?" Castle asks.
"It doesn't matter what I believe," Kate declares. "He's a viable suspect. Ryan, I need you to get a search warrant for Evan Murphy's place. Esposito, how's it going with the club's mailing list?"
"I ran the people on it for priors. Esposito clips a stack of rap sheets to the board. "These are the ones that have popped so far."
Castle watches as Kate pages through the papers and stabs his finger at a photo. "Hey, I've seen this guy's face before."
"Where?" Kate asks
Castle brings up a catalog of Maya's sculptures on his phone and holds up a photo of a bust. "See, it's the same guy."
Kate scans the rap sheet. "Xander Doyle. Weapons charges, conspiracy to distribute."
Castle grins. "And look at that. He lives in the Bowery. Bet that's where the cab brought Maya."
"We can check on that," Kate says. "I'll send some unis to bring him in."
"Beckett, it takes time to sculpt someone," Castle muses. "Doyle would have had to sit for her for hours, maybe days or weeks. He would have gotten to know her pretty well."
"And she would have gotten to know him," Kate considers. "Maybe he's the one Evan thought she was seeing."
"Or it might have been more than that," Castle suggests. "He was involved with drugs. Maybe he pulled her into his world. That's one way to come up with untraceable cash."
"But that wouldn't account for Todd or Maya," Kate points out. "What motive did Doyle have to kill all of them? So far the only one we know with a hate on for all three is Evan Murphy."
"I don't know that I buy that. Shoot Chloe because he thinks she's cheating on him, sure. But the other two, just for intervening in a fight? That's a stretch. And it doesn't account for the money. The money and the club are the two things that tie all three victims together. That would let Murphy out, but it might still leave us Doyle."
Kate presses her fingertips against her lips. "Maybe, Castle. We'll see what he says when I get him in the box."
"Beckett, do you know how dirty that sounds?"
"Only to a dirty mind."
Castle raises his hands in mock surrender. "Mea culpa."