Confession Chapter 64
"You think Maurice did it?" Castle asks Kate as the door out of Interrogation closes behind them.
"No," Kate admits. "For one thing, the only place his prints were found was on that wall, which backs up his story. There's no proof he was ever inside."
"And he has no motive," Castle adds. "Whoever killed and carved Victoria up that way, is psychotic. Maurice may have some lofty ambitions but he's not over the edge. And I believe he was telling the truth when he said she listened to him."
"But if Maurice didn't do it, that leaves us with no suspect," Kate says.
"Maybe not. While I was waiting for you to call me in for Maurice's interview, I looked a bit more deeply into Victoria. You remember the Stellus Foundation grant that was in her profile?"
"Uh-huh. Her brother explained why she couldn't finish the last sculpture."
"Right. But what he didn't mention was that she beat out some serious competition. You called me in before I had time to look any of them up. But …."
"But if they thought Victoria had ruined their careers by getting that grant…."
"And to add insult to injury, didn't finish the work it was based on, that could spawn some serious jealousy. And if their artistic lives failed after that…."
Kate nods. "We've seen murders with a lot less motive. Do you have a list of the artists she beat, Babe?"
Castle grins. "Absolutely."
The bright colors on Sylvia Chen's screen glow, even from across the room. Thoroughly engrossed in her work, nothing but her mouse moves as Kate and Castle approach. "Ms. Chen?" Kate asks.
Sylvia holds up a delicate hand. "Shhh. Just a minute. I've almost got it. There. All right. That's it." She swivels in her ergonomic chair. "Who are you and what do you want?"
"Nothing like the direct approach," Castle quips.
Kate taps her badge. "I'm Detective Kate Beckett. This is Mr. Castle. We need to ask you some questions about Victoria Masterson."
"She's dead, murdered," Sylvia states matter-of-factly. "I saw it on my phone this morning."
"Yes, she's dead," Kate confirms. "And we're investigating her death."
"That's got nothing to do with me," Sylvia asserts.
"You were also up for the Stellus Foundation grant she received, weren't you?" Castle asks.
"A grant? Oh, yeah, I applied for that one. Didn't get it. I never got the grants I applied for back then. Practically no one in the," she holds up finger quotes, "'art world' even understood what I was doing. And the tools we had for computer-generated art were from the dark ages. But I didn't need grants. Doug Woo, Mickey Mitlap and I formed Serpentine Screw."
"I remember Serpentine Screw!" Castle exclaims. "You put out Spikey Nitwallow. I played that on Cushy Halloran's computer. Those were the old days! No hard drive. The whole game was on two 5-and-a-half-inch floppies. Those things are collector's items now. But the game was great, digging all sorts of treasure out of the mud wallow. We played for hours. Whatever happened to your company?"
"We sold out to Sony and took the money," Sylvia waves around the room, "to form this company, Computer Generated Wonders."
Castle's eyes widen. "You started CGW? That's amazing! I love the Hall of the Dwarfen King! And you went public three years ago. I bought in on the IPO. Great investment. Stock's tripled since then. And I'll bet you got some great options."
"You'd win your bet," Sylvia says. "And I still get to work on exactly what I like doing, without worrying about any small-minded grants."
"You may not worry about grants," Kate says, "but can you think of any of your Stellus Foundation competitors who would?" Kate asks.
Sylvia shrugs. "All the others, I guess. That world can be dog-eat-dog, and I don't mean spirit wolves. But you might want to start with Lee Wadsworth. He comes from the kind of family that expects," she makes air quotes again, 'great things.' From what I heard, he was very upset about losing. He even filed a protest."
"What happened to him?" Castle asks.
"I heard his parents wanted to send him off to Greece to study with Alekos, but I don't know if he went. Not really my interest area."
"We'll check it out," Kate says. "Thanks for your time, Ms. Chen."
Sylvia points at the screen. "This is going to be a new weapon, the banishing sword. When touched by the point, a character is banished to the caves of Muldaur. What do you think, Castle?"
"Very cool," Castle acknowledges. "Too bad it's not that easy to banish a killer in the real world."
We need to track down Lee Wadsworth," Kate says on the way back to her unit.
"Shouldn't be that hard," Castle asserts. "The Wadsworth clan has a mansion on Central Park South. It's right across the street from one of the loading zones for the horse-drawn carriage rides. I've been there a couple of times for fundraising events."
"If the family has that kind of money, why would Lee Wadsworth have needed a grant from the Stellus Foundation?"
"Because the mansion was built before the depression hit. The family managed to hang on to it – just barely. It was a boarding house for a while. Now they manage by renting it out as a venue for weddings, parties, that kind of thing. That's why the fundraisers were there. From everything I've picked up, the family is a lot richer in history and prestige than it is in money. It could be that Lee never made it to Greece because they couldn't scrape together the funds. After losing the grant, that could make for a certain degree of bitterness."
"Yes, it could," Kate agrees.
A woman in a black dress and tight bun answers the door at the Wadsworth Mansion. "Mr. Lee is in his studio, but he only sees people by appointment."
Kate holds up her badge. "We're investigating a murder. We don't need an appointment."
"Then wait here," the woman instructs. "I'll see if he's ready to receive you."
"It doesn't matter if he's ready to receive us or not," Kate insists. "Just take us to his studio."
The woman's lips thin to a hard line. "Very well, follow me." She leads Kate and Castle up a wide staircase and down a long hall to the back of the mansion and knocks on a heavy door. "Mr. Lee, you have callers."
A voice comes back. "I'm not in the mood for callers, Miriam. Tell them to make an appointment to come back another time."
Kate pushes the door open. "Mr. Wadsworth, I'm Detective Beckett. This is Mr. Castle, and we don't have time to make an appointment. We're investigating a murder. So we can either talk here or we can talk at the 12th Precinct, your choice."
Dropping a sculpting tool on his work table, Lee turns to face Kate. "Who was murdered?"
"Too immersed in your art to catch the news?" Castle asks. "Victoria Masterson, an old competitor of yours, I believe."
"Victoria Masterson.," Lee repeats. "Yes, I remember her. But that was a long time ago. What could her death possibly have to do with me?"
"That," Kate replies, "is exactly what we are here to find out."
"I don't understand," Lee claims. "What do you want to know?"
"You can start," Kate instructs, "by telling us about your application for the Stellus Foundation grant."