Shared Obsession Chapter 21
"What have you got?" Roy Montgomery asks when Kate and Castle return to the 12th Precinct.
"Two-term Councilman, Jeff Horn," Kate reports.
Montgomery palms his face. "Just what we need, politics in a murder investigation. He turns to Castle. "You're in with City Hall. You know this guy?"
"Only from his ads. I can't remember him showing up at a meeting to support Bob Weldon's library initiative. As far as I know, he didn't push anything I had an interest in. And Weldon never suggested I send Horn a campaign contribution. So I would assume they weren't pals."
Montgomery refocuses on Kate. "The press is going to be all over this the minute anything gets out. Does Horn have a family?"
"I did a quick Google," Castle interjects. "Wife and daughters. And the wife, Laurie, is political royalty of sorts, kind of a newer, scaled-down version of what JFK's mother was in Boston. Her grandfather was mayor in the 1950s. The family's been embedded in city government ever since. And apparently, they managed to sock away funds unaccounted for by public service salaries. Over the years, the Ledger tried to do a few exposés, but could never pin anything down well enough to get a DA to act on it."
"How about Horn? Is he clean?" Montgomery asks.
"Nothing much online yet except for his opposition to building a hotel. Other than that, his career on the council is far from notable. But the campaign isn't far enough along for any October surprises," Castle adds.
"Beckett, after you notify Ms. Horn, dig into her husband. Where there's politics, there's usually dirt somewhere, maybe enough for a motive. And check out the thing about the hotel, too."
"Yes, Sir."
"Castle, can you call Weldon and give him a heads up? I'm in the middle of trying to squeeze blood out of the stone of our budget."
"I can do that," Castle agrees, pulling out his phone.
"What did Mayor Weldon say?" Kate asks as Castle joins her on the way to the elevator.
"Not to jump the gun and tell him we have the killer like Montgomery did on two of our last cases."
"Ouch! No wonder Montgomery wanted you to make the call."
"Well, Bob was embarrassed. In both, Montgomery told him that the killers wouldn't pique the public's attention. That's what he dropped at City hall. And then the murderers turned out to be the Tisdale scion and the son of a very wealthy, influential family. It was like throwing out chum for the press. He doesn't need any more hassles like that, especially if he's going to get the programs that can help this city into gear."
"Yeah, I get it," Kate allows, leading the way to her unit. "It was nice of you to run interference for Montgomery, but are you sure you've got time to follow me around today, Castle? Don't you have to prepare for a reading or something?"
"Compared to writing my words, reading them is the easy part. And I think I know what passage I want to use. I just have to remember to show up on time for whatever meet and greet Gina has planned. In the meantime, the death of a political figure also can make for a good story. And if I'm running around after you, I won't be tempted to pick up the phone to call Dr. Murray."
"I understand. But watching me tell Laurie Horn her husband was murdered won't be much fun."
"Yeah, I get that."
Kate leans forward from her seat next to Castle on a faultlessly upholstered antique couch. "Mrs. Horn, I know this is difficult, but when was the last time you saw or spoke to your husband?"
"I called him last night. He was finishing up a fundraiser and heading back to the office."
"Did he always work that late?" Kate queries.
"He did a lot. He always told me that he believed that it was a politician's obligation to get the work done, even when running for office." Laurie Horn explains. "He had a foldout couch he could use to catch a few hours. He kept fresh clothes at the office too. And his private bathroom has a shower. He could make early morning meetings without having to come home first. So when he wasn't here this morning, I didn't think anything about it. But when Frank called…."
"Who's Frank?" Kate asks.
"Frank Nesbit, Jeff's campaign manager. He was looking for Jeff. He thought he might be here. That was strange because Frank always knows where Jeff is. But neither one of us thought…." Laurie presses an embroidered handkerchief to her eyes.
"Mrs. Horn, when you spoke to your husband last night, how did he sound?" Castle inquires gently.
Laurie shakes her head. "I don't understand. What do you mean by how did he sound?"
"Did he seem troubled, as if he was worried about something?"
"No, he seemed happy. He said the fundraiser went well and the campaign would be able to do everything he and Frank planned." Laurie twists her handkerchief. "None of this makes sense. Jeff was a good man and a good father. Every day he'd go out there and try to make the city a better place. And for him to die like that…. Oh, God! My girls are at school. How am I going to tell them?"
"You might want to bring them home now," Castle suggests. "It's better if they hear what happened from you than if it pops up in a newsflash on someone's phone."
"You're right," Mrs. Horn agrees. "Please excuse me."
"You OK?" Castle asks Kate as she starts the car.
"Yeah."
"It can't ever be easy to break that kind of news. Six years ago I had to tell Alexis that her grandfather, my first wife's father, died. She hardly even knew the man. She was only nine, and she'd only spent a little time on holidays with him. But my stomach was still in knots."
"How did she take it?"
"She asked me if I thought he was in Heaven."
"And what did you say?"
"That to have had patience with her mother's antics all those years, he probably was. That seemed to satisfy her."
"Is that what you really thought?"
"You don't know Meredith, Alexis's mother, but if you did, you'd understand. If there is a heaven, he deserved to go there."
"Says the ex-husband."
"Granted. So what's your next move, Beckett?"
"You should know that by now, Castle. We always start by building a timeline. Lanie gave us the time of death. We find the last person who saw him alive."
"Who by definition would be the killer. Isn't that the point?"
"Not entirely. We're also looking for the person who saw the victim close enough to the TOD to lead us to the killer. So let's get started and find out who that would be."
"OK. That makes sense. I'm still trying to tie down your character's process for my next book."
"That female detective of yours, just how much will she be based on me?"
"She'll be attractive and smart enough to know better than to drink the sludge the precinct passes off as coffee. She also picks the doughnuts with sprinkles, so she doesn't get powdered sugar on her clothes. She'll be focused and methodical, sometimes too methodical."
Kate throws him a sideways stare. "What does that mean?"
"She'll need another character to push her to think outside the box a little."
"Let me guess. That character would be based on you."
"In some ways. We writers can't help putting something of ourselves into our characters. But we'll just have to see what develops."