Shared Obsession Chapter 24
Castle scans the document accompanying the pictures. "The name on the report is Bruce Kirby."
Is there an address?" Kate asks.
"No, but there's a website. Modern times." Castle pulls out his cell phone. "He's got an office in Hell's Kitchen, Suite 3C, 346 W 35th Street. It must be above one of the stores."
Kate turns left. "Damn, the traffic's picking up. It'll probably take us at least half an hour to get there. And who knows how long it will take to get anything out of this guy?"
"Will that interfere with your plans for the evening?" Castle asks. "Got a hot date?"
"Why do you care, Castle?"
"It would add another dimension to your character. You said you like motorcycles. A biker?"
"No, he's never been into motorcycles. He's probably had to settle too many accident suits."
"You're seeing a lawyer?"
"Yeah, Castle, I'm seeing a lawyer – my father. I try to check in on him at least once a week. He took my mother's death hard and didn't deal with it well. I tried to help him as much as I could. And he's making his way back, slowly. But sometimes it still comes back on him – like a ton of bricks."
"Is that why you wear his watch, to remind you that you're not the only one affected by your mother's death?"
"To remind myself that the fight isn't over. But anyway, I was planning to pick up some takeout and bring it to him at his office. He likes to work late."
"Easier than going home where he's alone?"
"Uh-huh."
"I don't know how much it will help, but I know some of the quickest takeout places around. When you have a daughter who brings home the French Club or the Math Team, you adapt."
"Thanks, Castle. I may take you up on that. What are you still doing on your phone? Looking up more about Bruce Kirby?"
"As far as I can tell, all his social media just plugs his P.I. business. No real information. But there's something else I need to take care of." Castle swipes triumphantly. "There! That should do it."
Balding, with rheumy eyes, Bruce Kirby looks like a character from a P.I. movie – the kind that goes straight to DVD. He pours three fingers from a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label and fixes Kate with a smarmy smile. "Are you sure I can't tempt you?"
Kate resists the temptation to push her chair back from his desk. "No thanks, Mr. Kirby. I'm on duty."
Kirby shrugs. "Never stopped me."
"You were on the job?" Kate asks.
"Twenty years out of the 134th. Of course, back then, we had other cops as partners, not second-rate novelists."
"Mr. Castle is observing to research a book," Kate explains.
Castle gazes around the room at dirty walls and warped linoleum flooring. "And describing you and this office would paint the perfect picture of a fourth-rate P.I."
Kate suppresses the smile threatening to upturn her lips. "I have examined some of your work, Mr. Kirby. How long were you investigating for the Bollinger campaign?"
"Only a couple of weeks, but it was a fun time. "Mr. Family Values tells his wife that he's going to work late and probably crash at the office. Twenty minutes later he's, um, polling his constituency."
"And what about the woman?" Kate queries.
"From what I could see, she was worth every cent."
"She was a pro?" Kate probes.
"You saw the pictures," Kirby smirks. "You don't think with a body like that she's going to swoon over his stump speeches."
"Henry Kissinger said, 'Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac,'" Castle inserts. "And considering that he dated Jill St. John, he had a point."
"Yeah, well Horn was no Henry Kissinger," Kirby retorts. "And with what I brought Bollinger, he wasn't even going to be a councilman much longer."
"But Horn's wanderings make you wonder what else he had a taste for," Castle suggests.
"And what it led to," Kate adds. "Do you have an address for the woman?"
"It's a changing world," Kirby muses. "Whores used to have street corners. Now they have websites."
"Like you," Castle points out. "But she's a lot better looking – and apparently worth her fee."
Castle slams the passenger side door and jams the buckle of his seatbelt closed.
Kate stares at him. "Kirby really pissed you off, didn't he? Don't like being called second-rate?"
"I've been called a lot worse by people with much more impressive vocabularies. Bad reviews are an occupational hazard. No, what pissed me off was his blithe acceptance of working drunk as a cop. And apparently, he got away with it for 20 years. How the hell can cops ever get the bad guys if they're busy pouring booze down their throats?"
"Most of us don't drink on duty, Castle."
"I'll take your word for that, Beckett, despite the flask I spotted in Montgomery's desk. But if Celia's murder or your mother's slipped through the cracks because someone was too busy getting soused to do a thorough investigation, that's unforgivable."
"Do you really think that's what happened, Castle?"
"I don't know. But with cops like Kirby, it's possible."
"As long as we're talking about those murders, have you heard from Dr. Murray?"
"I texted him this morning. He said he'll probably have the models of the weapons for us tomorrow."
"Then, what we should be doing now is concentrating on Horn's murder. We need to find the website for his lady of the night. Ryan's really good at that kind of thing."
"It's always the innocent-looking ones."
Esposito stares over Ryan's shoulder at his computer screen. "Man, who would have thought there would be that many sites for escort services?"
"And that doesn't even count the entrepreneurs who run their own operations," Ryan adds. "After a while, the faces all run together."
"You're looking at the faces?" Kate asks. "In the pictures, the woman we're looking for had a tattoo that would just be visible above…. There! I think that's it!" Kate holds up one of Kirby's photos for comparison. Yes, that's her! She's got an 800 number. We should be able to trace who it's registered to. Ryan?"
"On it, but it usually takes overnight to get a response from the carrier to that kind of request."
"Well then," Kate declares, "We can start bright and early." She gestures Castle over to her desk. "Listen, were you serious about the take-out?"
"Yeah, of course. What does your dad like?"
"He likes to keep it simple."
"Burgers, fries, chili?"
"He loves a good bowl of chili as long as it isn't too hot."
"And where will this chili be going?"
"Garment district. His office is in one of the buildings that used to be a sweatshop until the city closed it down."
"There is some truly excellent chili in that neck of the woods. I can give you the address or better yet, come along to put in a good word for you."
"Castle, when I go see my father, I do it alone."
"I understand. Hey, we can pick up your food, and you can make your visit. I can bring something back to my domicile. Alexis usually doesn't eat dinner when she has a violin lesson. She says she fills herself with the music. But she's usually voracious later. I can make sure the refrigerator is well stocked. Deal?"
"Deal."
Castle's phone dings a text alert. He frowns as he reads the message.
"Problem?" Kate asks.
"Not exactly. But a lot of the books that spilled out in the accident aren't salvageable for retail sale. So Gina's pushing my reading back again. She's not sure when the store will be supplied. She's supposed to let me know. But I may not get more than a few hours' notice, and I like to make sure I can work these things around Alexis' activities. I hope my reading won't conflict with her fencing tournament."
"Alexis fences?"
"We both do. Growing up, I didn't have someone to take me out and teach me how to throw a football or a baseball. So when I did play, I sucked at it. But several of my schools taught fencing and had fencing teams. I liked it, and I could imagine myself as a Jedi with a lightsaber. I guess I passed the bug on to Alexis. And it's something she can practice with dear old Dad. Sometimes Mother even plays what she considers mood music, kind of like accompaniment to a silent movie. We have a good time."
"I bet you do. And I hope you don't miss Alexis' tournament. But are you ready to head out?"
"All aboard the chili express!"