Shared Obsession Chapter 156

"I've got two uniforms posted outside," Esposito tells Beckett as he enters an alley.

"Castle, you got practically no sleep last night. You want to stay in the car?" Kate offers.

"And do what besides itch?" he asks. "If you're going to nail Medina's killer, I want to be in on it."

"All right," she agrees, "but stay back." She glances toward Ryan and Esposito. "OK, ready, go!"

"NYPD!" Esposito shouts as they enter a basement apartment.

"Norton Grimes, police, show me your hands," Kate commands.

A loud growl comes from somewhere inside the apartment and a fiercely barking German Shepherd rushes forward, taking a menacing stance in front of Castle.

"Nice doggy, nice doggy," Castle responds. "You be good and I'll buy you a big T-Bone. And I know a poodle who's hot to trot. I can introduce you."

Another growl rises in the dog's throat as it springs forward.

"Run, Castle, run!" Esposito shouts.

Rushing out of the apartment, Castle starts climbing on top of Kate's unit, narrowly making it to the roof as the dog chomps off a mouthful from his most comfortable and mercifully loose jeans.

"Just stay put, Castle," Kate calls up to him as Ryan and Esposito urge Grimes into the back of their unit. "I'll call animal control."

Castle gazes down at the still-menacing animal. "Tell them to hurry. I need to pee."

Ryan ushers Grimes toward the box as Castle leans on Beckett's desk trying to hold his jeans together. "I hope that dog didn't have fleas. I don't need anything else to make me itch."

A female officer walks by and wolf-whistles at Castle's partially uncovered posterior. "I need to go home and change," he says, "and get another shower. Hey, you think Montgomery would let me keep a locker here so I'd have spare clothes like you and the guys do?"

"They're NYPD equipment which would make them for NYPD use only," Kate says.

"Yeah, yeah, and I'm not a cop." Castle sighs. "See you later."

"Yeah, Babe, take care."

Castle gratefully turns on the water in his oversized shower. Usually, he finds police work exciting, even if he's just sitting next to Kate's desk helping her work through the elements of a case. But at this moment, he's not excited, just weary. He almost smiles to himself as he remembers the scene where Marion, in a borrowed sexy nightie, finally shows signs of wanting to make out with Indie. But instead, she flips the mirror and hits him in the chin. At least after that, Indie finally fell asleep. Castle wishes he could be that lucky.

"Look, lady, you've got the wrong guy," Grimes insists from his seat in the box. "I dropped out of the drug game after I left the joint."

Kate zips open her folder. "You know that's funny because I've got surveillance photos showing you taking $10,000 in cash from Will Medina on the day that he was murdered. And given your rap sheet, I don't think it would be too difficult to convince a jury that you were involved."

Grimes throws up his hands. "OK, OK hold on. I didn't murder anyone, and I don't smuggle drugs anymore. I used my connections to get a new gig – antiquities."

"Really? And why would Will Medina be buying antiquities from you?" Kate questions.

"Not buying, selling," Grimes returns. "I met him at a museum fundraiser last year and gave him my card. I told him that I'm always interested in rare items that may need a new home. He gave me a call a few weeks later. He said he had a box of Incan arrowheads that had just been sitting on the shelf since the 1940s. I found him a buyer and we made a nice little profit."

"And what were you buying this time?" Kate asks.

Grimes grins. "A mummy."

"A mummy? Who would want a mummy?" Kate questions.

"A collector in Taipei. So I stop by the museum. You know, I thought he'd say no," Grimes confides. "But Medina jumped at the opportunity."

Kate gives Grimes a skeptical look. "Didn't he think anyone would notice a missing mummy?"

Grimes shakes his head. "He said all the attention was being paid to the mummy of the Mayan king, not to slave girl number six. She was destined for the storage room in the basement. So it'd be years before anyone went looking for her, at which point her disappearance could never be linked to him."

"And this $10,000 was a down payment?"

"Of a quarter of a million payout," Grimes confirms.

"But then you showed up and took it back. Why?" Kate queries.

"My client changed their mind. Guess they didn't like the mummy."

"Why not?"

Grimes shrugs. "I don't know. All I know is they sent someone down to the museum to take a look."

"Who did they send?"

"I have no idea, I swear. But whatever their guy told them turned them off. Maybe the mummy was too short. Maybe it didn't have enough teeth. These private collectors, they're very particular. They want exactly what they want and nothing else."

From observation, Montgomery knocks on the one-way mirror. "How stupid does he think we are?" he asks Kate as she joins him.

"I know what you mean," Kate says. "The drug story is a lot more plausible. But it just doesn't seem to be Medina's style."

"There's one way to find out. We get samples from this mummy's sarcophagus," Montgomery instructs. "If they test positive for drugs, Grimes is lying and most likely our murderer."

Kate quietly opens the door to the loft to find Castle wearing a fresh pair of jeans and staring into the refrigerator. "How are you doing, Babe?"

"About the same, except for the lack of unnecessary ventilation. I was looking for something tempting."

"Any luck?"

"Not really. So how did it go with Grimes?"

"He claims Medina was selling something, only it was a mummy, not drugs. Montgomery sent CSU over to the museum to sample the insides of the sarcophagus."

"Rachel Walters is going to go ballistic."

"They can arrange with her to do it in filtered air or something. It shouldn't affect the tests one way or another. But Lanie called me with something weird. She said the lab identified all the components besides the pollen that were on the gargoyle that killed Medina. It had," Kate pulls out her phone to check her notes, "sodium nitrate, iron oxide, decomposed hemp fibers, and, um, ancient human tissue."

"Ancient human tissue? Is she saying Medina was killed by a mummy? Anyone check her temperature to see if she's delirious?"

"She's not running a fever. She thinks whoever killed Medina came in contact with a mummy. Grimes claimed Medina tried to sell him one. If that's true, it would put him on the list."

"Yes it would," Castle agrees, "but it wouldn't take museum personnel off the list."

"No, it wouldn't. But Rachel Walters reacted like a lioness guarding her cubs when you looked at Kan-Xul's remains. Who else would be able to get close to mummies?" Kate wonders.

"Medina himself, but he didn't commit suicide. Maybe employees that help transport, unpack, and store mummies. Maybe some of the grad students on the expedition," Castle figures. "But what motive would any of them have to kill Medina?"

"Don't know, Babe. We'll just have to wait to see what CSU comes back with and take it from there. If the sarcophagus was used to smuggle drugs, then Grimes is probably our murderer."

"And if not?"

Kate sighs. "I don't know."

A/N If any of you read my new book, please, please leave a review on Amazon. You don't have to make me out as the new Castle. Just be honest. But I need reviews. Amazon uses the number of them to rank books on searches. I need at least 20 to get anywhere. And I do value your opinions.