Shared Obsession Chapter 179

Esposito and Ryan stroll from the elevator to Kate's desk. "Beckett, we checked the sign-in log at the building where Jennifer Wong dropped off Wolf," Esposito reports.

"What did you find?" Kate asks.

"Turns out he was seeing a guy named Simon Haim, Esquire," Ryan says.

"He had the backpack with him. Was he using cash to employ a lawyer?" Castle wonders.

"Well," Ryan replies, "Haim remembers the backpack but he said Wolf didn't even open it or mention the cash."

"So why was he there?" Kate questions.

"He wanted to get out of a contract. Specifically, he wanted to leave Q3 and get his investment back from Madison Queller," Ryan explains.

"For a restaurant just starting out, that could be a huge financial blow. But the restaurant is doing really well. Why would he want out?" Castle wonders.

"According to what Wolf told Haim, creative differences," Ryan says.

"Wolf was planning to sue," Esposito adds.

"Madison built the restaurant on Wolf's reputation. If he left, especially under a cloud like that, she would have lost everything. So what happens to Q3 now that Wolf is dead?" Castle asks.

"That's the good part," Esposito says. "She has key man insurance on him. With the payout, she gets the restaurant free and clear."

"Wolf's death protects her from losing $2 million in real estate, appliances, and fixtures," Ryan continues.

Castle looks sympathetically toward Kate. "There's the money, again. Looks like your old high school friend had a $2 million motive for murder."

Maddy gazes at the unforgiving walls of Interrogation where two uniformed cops deposited her. "Becks, what am I doing here?"

Gritting her teeth, Kate stares across the table. "Madison, you lied to me. You knew that Wolf wanted out of Q3 and that he was going to sue you."

"Wow!" Maddy exclaims. "You know about that?"

"Yeah," Kate confirms. "It's called investigation. That's what cops do. So why did you lie to me?"

"I didn't lie," Madison argues. "I just didn't say anything about it – like you didn't say anything about your crush on Brent Edwards in our English class until I started dating him."

"There was no murder involved with that," Kate protests.

"You never would have known it from the way you acted," Maddy retorts. "You know how hard it is to open a restaurant in Manhattan," she appeals to Castle. "If word got out that Wolf was trying to leave, it would have ruined me."

"But if he died, with your insurance policy on him, you make out just fine. So what happened, Maddy?" Kate demands. "Did you guys get in a fight? Did you throw something at him? Because I remember you throwing things when you got angry."

"That was when I was 15," Maddy reminds her. "And don't you have rules against using personal knowledge against suspects?"

"Actually, no. So you'd better start being straight with me," Kate warns.

"Becks, I didn't kill him. Two weeks ago, completely out of nowhere, Wolf tells me he wants out of the restaurant biz. He said he wanted to change his life. But I thought he was being poached." She turns to Castle again. "You know restaurants do that all the time, right?"

"I do recall when Bobby Bray tried to grab one of the Sanchez twins – I don't remember which one."

"See, Becks!" Maddy declares triumphantly. "So I started offering him better equipment, a bigger piece of the business, whatever he wants. He insists that he's really getting out and that I can't change his mind. It was like something changed in his life. He didn't have a passion for cooking anymore. So I was going to let him out of his contract. But I needed time to find a new chef I could hang the restaurant's reputation on. I told him that. But I swear I didn't kill him."

"You don't really think she did it?" Castle asks after Beckett allows Maddy to leave.

"Well, it doesn't matter what I think, until I can rule her out," Kate says. "She has motive."

"But you already ruled Maddy out," Castle reminds her. "She was in the Hamptons all night. With the best traffic conditions, that's a ninety-minute drive back to the city. And sometimes, it can be more like three hours. If she disappeared long enough to kill Wolf, someone would have noticed."

"Maybe, but I'm going to recheck," Kate insists. "In the meantime, I told her not to leave town."

"If she's trying to put a new chef in place, that's the last thing she's going to do," Castle figures.

"You know, getting all that cash, selling his stake in the restaurant," Kate considers, "it sounds like Wolf was getting ready to run."

"Maybe, but if he was setting up to take off, why bother doing all that work on a special cake? And why give Domingo $5,000? If he was going to settle someplace new without a job, he would have needed every cent. By the way, did you give Domingo back the money?"

Kate shakes her head. "Until we close this case, it's still evidence."

"Yo, Beckett," Esposito yells trotting over to Kate and Castle. "I just got a tip from one of my CIs who runs paper for a ring of bookies – and's a fan of Kitchen Wars. He remembers seeing Wolf doing business with one of his, uh, clients, at the Two Bridges bar. From what he saw, Wolf liked to bet big."

"That could explain the old bruises," Castle realizes. "If he was in deep, a bookie might have sent someone to, uh, persuade him, to make good on his debt."

"Good job, Espo," Kate says. "Does this bookie have a name?"

Kate holds her badge at breast level where it will catch the attention of a pool player. "Wesley Slade? Detective Beckett, NYPD. We're investigating the murder of Balthazar Wolf."

"Never heard of him," Slade claims.

"Really?" Kate presses. "Given the marks on his body after the beating your boys gave him, I think you have."

Slade smirks. "You really think I'm gonna tell my business to a cop?"

Kate shrugs. "It's either that or you face murder charges. That can't be good for business."

Slade lays down his pool cue. "All right. Let's say – hypothetically – that I made book for him. And let's say for the sake of argument that he owed me a lot."

"How much – hypothetically?" Castle inquires.

Twenty-five thou, which maybe he couldn't pay. So maybe he needed some encouragement."

"Maybe the encouragement went too far," Kate suggests.

"Or maybe it was the right amount," Slade responds. "So he paid what he owed and went on his merry way."

"When?" Kate asks.

"The day he dies he comes in with a backpack, puts 25 thou on the table, and asks for his ring back."

Castle's brows take a sudden jump. "Ring? What ring?"

"Diamond engagement ring."

"And why – hypothetically – did you have it?" Kate questions.

"Couple of weeks back I sent my guys to collect. Wolf didn't have the money. Gave some sob story about a woman, how he spent everything he had on a diamond ring. So when my guys go to give him some encouragement, what do they find? A nice diamond ring. Must have set him back 10, 15 grand of my money."

"So your guys took it as collateral," Castle assumes.

"As incentive," Slade corrects. "And it worked. I got my money. He got his ring, and he goes home alive – hypothetically.

Castle gestures Kate to a corner of the room. "An engagement ring makes perfect sense. That's why he broke things off with Sandra Meyers. That's why he took $15,000 out of his account two weeks ago."

"Then where is it?" Kate asks. "He went to the restaurant right after and we didn't find it at the crime scene."

"Unless," Castle smiles at a sudden epiphany, "we found it and we didn't know it."