Shared Obsession Chapter 14

Kate's gaze flits over the teens spread out in the small lecture room. "Were any of you with Donny last night?"

Castle observes the darting glances before Spencer answers. "We hung out together after school until about five. Then we all went home," the vaguely South Asian-looking boy replies.

"You didn't go out for pizza or get together to study for the Regents?" Kate inquires.

"We all have our own tutors – except Donny didn't," quintessential preppie Brandon explains.

"But we tried to help him out when we could," a slightly nervous Romy hastens to add, grasping her high-end leather bag.

"Then do you know of any reason why Donny would be in the park?" Kate persists. "Look, guys. I went to York. I know all about the code – always protecting your friends."

"You went to York Prep?" pretty red-haired, blue-eyed Amanda questions.

Disparagement flashes in Brandon's eyes. "How does a Yorkie become a cop?"

Kate shrugs. "Things happen. My point is, I get it. You're trying to protect your friend's memory. But the faster the truth comes out, the faster we can nail the SOB who killed Donny. So the more you can tell me about what happened last night, the better."

"His family lost everything," Brandon explains, painting sympathy on his face.

"Not that we cared whether Donny had money," Amanda hurriedly inserts. "We still wanted him along when we went out."

"We offered to cover him," Romy picks up, "but you know guys. He couldn't handle it."

"He just kind of fell apart," Spencer adds.

"Fell apart how?" Kate probes.

"Come on, guys," Castle interjects. "You can't get him in trouble now."

Amanda swallows. "He kind of got into drugs."

"Drugs cost money," Castle points out. "If he was broke, how could he support a habit?"

Amanda drags her fingers across her lips. "That's why he was in the park. He was a dealer."

"You let me go on about elite schools without saying a word about going to York," Castle accuses as he and Kate return to her unit.

"That's because I didn't go to York. I was just trying to connect with those kids. I went to Stuyvesant."

"A public tech high school? If you can't pass the test, no amount of money could get you in there. Bronx Science, Stuyvesant, and Brooklyn Tech only accept about 800 out of 30,000 students that apply. But you don't seem the sciency type."

"I wanted to know enough physics and chemistry to understand how a motorcycle works. But those schools aren't just for science nerds. A lot of lawyers go there, and that's what I thought I'd be. According to my father, it was good preparation for assimilating all the information good lawyers need at their fingertips. He went there. My mother would have if she could. But when she was a teen, Science was the only one of the three that took girls, and her parents didn't want her on the subway for hours every day. So she went to Hunter."

"Also an outstanding school," Castle acknowledges. "Too bad she couldn't have lived to fulfill the potential it promised. Her death was a true tragedy, Beckett. But Donny Kendall's is one too. No one should be so invested in the trappings of wealth that they're lost without them."

"How about your daughter, Castle? Doesn't she have the trappings of wealth? She lives in your multi-million-dollar loft."

"For your information, Detective Beckett, my daughter is on a strict allowance. Occasionally her mother, my first wife, flits into town to take her on some wild shopping spree – with my alimony money. And I'll help with the occasional teenage crisis. But other than that, she has to budget what she spends. She also has to make her own bed and clean up any messes she makes in the kitchen, a discipline my mother has yet to acquire. I knew kids like Donny and the rest of Brandon's little gang. No way do I want Alexis to be anything like them."

"You said Brandon's little gang. You think he's the alpha?"

"I'm sure of it. Didn't you see how all the other kids looked to him for guidance before they said anything?"

"I did. But that one kid, Max, didn't say anything at all. He was just huddled into himself."

Castle nods. "Brandon threw him a shut up and be quiet look when we came in. I remember looks like that from ringleaders at my multiple institutes of lower education."

Kate's cell buzzes an alert. "OK. We'll be right there."

"Right where?" Castle inquires.

"The park. The blood pool the unis missed showed up."

Ryan waves from a spot near a park bench. "Hey!"

"Hey!" Kate and Castle respond in synchrony.

"OK," Ryan starts to explain. "A woman called 911 last night from about 50 yards from here. Esposito's checking it out, but," he points at the ground, "we found this. It looks like mud, but it's actually blood. We figure Donny was sitting on top of the bench. He took a bullet to his left side. Then he falls here and was dragged to the lake."

"So Donny was sitting around waiting to sell drugs?" Kate wonders.

"When I was in Narcotics, this place was pretty much regarded as an open bazaar," Ryan recalls, "especially at night."

"So it was a drug deal gone bad?" Kate asks. "Maybe a rival dealer decided to take Donny out."

Ryan rolls his eyes. "Prep school education doesn't mean you're not stupid."

"I hear that," Castle agrees. "But something's not right here."

Kate turns to him. "What are you talking about, Castle?"

"This is a very large blood pool. Dr. Parish said Donny was shot in the spleen with a large caliber bullet. So if he was dragged to the boat, wouldn't there be a sizable blood trail?"

"Maybe he was lying here for a while," Kate suggests.

"Then why would someone come back and move him?" Castle presses. "The shooter could have left him where he lay and taken off. Putting him in the boat like that makes no sense. It would increase the chance of getting caught – unless the shooter wanted to throw us off the trail for some reason."

"I don't know, Castle," Ryan admits. "I never saw a drug dealer act like that. They want to take care of business and get the hell away, not bother trying to confuse the scene. "

"So maybe," Castle considers, "it wasn't a drug dealer."

Kate sighs. "Castle, when we hear hoofbeats, we look for horses, not zebras. In a park known for drug deals, who else could it have been?"

"I don't know," Castle admits. "But if those kids were willing to admit that Donny sold drugs, that couldn't have been the whole story. They were still covering up something."

"Castle, we have to go with the information we have. That 911 caller must have seen and heard something. We need to talk to her. If the facts still don't fit, then we can talk more about Donny's pals," Kate offers.

"All right, Detective," Castle agrees grudgingly.

"Like I told Detective Esposito," Mrs. Falsigno says from her seat at a table stacked with mug books, "I was walking my dog last night when I heard the shot."

"Do you always walk your dog in that park at night?" Castle asks. "Not the safest spot for a stroll."

"Not a problem," Mrs. Falsigno insists. "Anybody tried to get near me, Maisie would take his hand off. And she likes doing her business when there aren't too many people around. That's why I was surprised to see a guy run by about two seconds later." She turns a page in one of the books "Hey, Detective, get over here!"

Esposito turns from chatting with a female detective from Vice and trots over. "See someone you recognize, Mrs. Falsigno?"

Falsigno blows out a Bronx cheer. "No, I miss your sparkling personality. This is the guy I saw, right here."

"It was dark. Are you sure?" Esposito questions.

"What, are cops taking stupid pills now?" Falsigno retorts. "You know where Maisie and I were. She likes to be able to pick her spot. It was right under a light. I saw this guy clear as day. It was him."

Kate looks over Falsigno's shoulder. "Kent Scoville, drug dealer." She turns to Castle with a triumphant grin. "So much for zebras."

Castle checks the picture's description. "Drug dealer," he grumbles to himself. "It doesn't say anything about ever shooting someone."