Confessions Chapter 59

Kate barely has time to settle at her desk in the bullpen before an alert blares on her cell phone. Castle leans in, eyes widening. "What's that about?"

Kate scans the text of a message. "The van's been spotted."

"Where?"

"Up near Morningside Park."

"What the hell would it be doing up there?" Castle wonders.

Kate shrugs. "No idea. But it's being towed into Impound. I'll have CSU go over it and we'll see what turns up."

"While the lab folks are being busy bees, perhaps we should go through Blumenfeld's Springsplits files for possible suspects connected with that Morningside Park area – although that could include anyone who's ever attended Columbia."

"That's a good idea, Castle, but let's try to keep it as current as possible."

"Copy that.

Castle lets out a low whistle. "Beckett, I found something. Some Columbia alums had a startup company, Souped-Up Solar, that was one of Springsplits' clients. They were working on electronics that would make solar energy more efficient. Springsplits was supposed to recycle some of its stuff but made it part of a hazardous waste stream instead. The company tanked. The costs blew it out of the water."

"But Castle, what would they have to do with Dirk Greenway's van?"

"I haven't the faintest idea, Beckett. But it was found near Columbia. There could be a connection somewhere. Shouldn't we check it out?"

"If the company tanked, is it still around?"

"Hmm, no current address for Souped-Up Solar. But the paperwork lists the principals. We've got a Perry Linklater, a Joyce Pritchard, and a Selena Gerard. At least one of them may still be in the area."

Kate nods. "I can check the DMV database." Castle taps a pen on the desk while Beckett types. "Put that thing down, Babe. I found a current driver's license for a Selena Gerard. She's about the right age to have been involved in the startup and has an address on Staten Island."

"A lot lower rent than the trendily gentrified Morningside Park," Castle notes. "A logical retreat after a financial disaster, perhaps. Road trip?"

"Road trip," Kate confirms.

"This is the address on Selena's license," Kate says, pulling up in front of a nondescript apartment building.

Castle gazes around as he gets out of the car. "At least it's not far from the ferry terminal. Cheap and easy access to Manhattan – or at least a nice boat ride."

Kate consults the address she jotted on a sticky note. "She's in apartment 3-G."

"Oh, like the comic strip. Three women juggling their lives and careers."

Kate shakes her head. "I doubt Selena's got much of a career right now, Castle. Let's see if she's home."

A faint smell of incense, failing to cover the odor of weed, fills the drab hallway leading to Selena Gerard's apartment. Castle inhales dramatically. "Ah, takes me back to my dormitory days."

Kate throws him a skeptical glance. "I thought you lived in an off-campus hovel."

"Not until my sophomore year. As a freshman, it was strictly dorm life – the sights and especially the smells. Oh, this is 3-G. May I do the honors?"

"Knock yourself out."

Castle raps on a door badly in need of repainting. A woman's voice calls from inside. "Barry, I told you to quit bugging me. I'll have your paper written by tonight."

"It's not Barry," Kate announces loudly enough to penetrate the door. A young woman's face appears over a security chain. "Ms. Gerard?"

"Yes."

Kate holds up her badge. "I'm Detective Kate Beckett and this is Mr. Castle. I need to ask…." The door slams hard and Kate can hear running footsteps inside the apartment. "The fire escape would be her only way out! Come on, Castle! The stairs!"

Kate rushes toward a stairwell with a more pungent reek than the hallway. Castle's longer legs take him ahead of her. Exiting the building, he reaches the sidewalk a beat before she does and gazes up. Selena is vainly trying to release a ladder that would take her to the ground. Spotting Castle and Kate, she gives up and jumps, landing hard on cracked concrete.

Castle looks on as Kate tackles Selena and cuffs her. "Shame! Brilliant Columbia grad should know that running implies guilt. Perhaps if you had just answered Detective Beckett's questions…. She's not easy to fool, but who knows? You might have gotten lucky and come up with a convincing enough lie."

Straddling Selena, Kate pulls out her phone to call for backup.

Kate's black folder lands with a clunk on the table in Interrogation before she takes the seat behind it. Castle drops into the chair beside her, regarding Selena. The suspect's expression alternates between sullenness and fear. As Kate unzips her folder, revealing a stack of documents, fear takes over.

Ms. Gerard," Kate begins, sliding several stapled pages across the table, "this is a lab report concerning a van registered to Greenway Collision Repair."

"I wouldn't know anything about any van," Selena claims.

"No?" Kate queries. "Your fingerprints were found in it."

"They couldn't have been!" Selena retorts. "I've never been in that van."

"Ah, a lie. Too bad it's not a good one," Castle quips.

"There were no prints on the steering wheel," Kate continues. "You did a good job wiping that. There weren't any on the door handles either. But you must have forgotten about the control for the outside mirrors. You had to adjust them so you could see behind you when you went to drop the body."

"Whose body? I don't know what you're talking about!" Selena protests.

"Another, but also not convincing, lie," Castle notes.

"Ms. Gerard, I'm talking about Oscar Blumenfeld," Kate responds. "You poisoned him by spraying cyanide in his face."

"It would have been easy for you to get. Your project for increasing the efficiency of solar energy involved gold plating. You would have used cyanide for that," Castle continues. "Then you loaded him into the van. That wouldn't have been hard for you either. You lift weights, right? You were a contender for the Olympic team."

"Then you dumped the body in an alley near the courthouse where he ripped your company off, and covered it with garbage," Kate picks up. "But what I'm wondering is how you decided to use the Greenway van."

"I think I can figure that out," Castle says. "All the companies involved in the Springsplits bankruptcy would have had access to the paperwork. Selena here would have known who else lost big – who else would be a suspect. Then serendipitously, while trying to save herself some money, she goes to Big Box. Lo, and behold, there's the Greenway van. All she has to do is follow it and find out where Melody Snodgrass parked it. An expert in electronics wouldn't have much trouble stealing a van – especially one with an unmonitored security system. Selena kills Blumenfeld, dumps his body, then drops off the van in a familiar neighborhood. That last move wasn't too bright. You would have been a lot smarter to just drive it into the East River."

Selena suddenly turns white. "What's the matter?" Kate demands. "The story touch a nerve?"

"I -I just could never pollute a river like that. How could anyone think I'd pollute a river like that?"

"Maybe your lawyer can make a case for you as an environmental avenger," Castle suggests. "But somehow I doubt a jury will buy it."