Kate Beckett, Investigator Chapter 36

Lulu breaks off a piece of her coffee cake and savors it on her tongue. After washing it down with Castle's morning brew, she looks questioningly at Kate. "You said you think there might have been a problem that a master electrician would believe he could fix while the boss' back is turned? Honestly, I don't see it. I mean, if it was something like an incorrectly installed outlet, an inspector could catch it. And there wouldn't be enough time to fix something like the wrong gauge of wire while a watchdog takes a leak. Could your murder victim have seen something that wasn't connected to the wiring or even to that particular job?

"It's possible," Kate considers. "I haven't finished checking out everyone connected with the job site yet."

Lulu pops the last of her coffee cake into her mouth. "Then I will leave you to do it. I have a job site of my own to supervise this morning."

Kate stands and extends her hand. "Thank you so much for coming. You've given me a new direction for my investigation."

"And your husband's given me a coffeecake no bakery in the city's managed to come up with. Fair trade."

Castle winks. "I'll wrap up the rest to go."

"Beckett, if Calen did see something, maybe it wasn't about that particular job site," Castle suggests after Lulu departs. "Day laborers like that work on a lot of them, don't they? Maybe he saw someone he recognized that he shouldn't have."

"Maybe he did," Kate allows. "I can check out a few more contacts before I have to leave for class."

"You can leave me a list of what you can't finish," Castle offers. "Something might jangle my brain."

"I'll do that."

After traipsing after Eleanor as she deposits one of her toy animals in every nook and corner she can find in the loft, Castle finally gets her settled with an animal sounds push-button box and starts on Kate's list. Nothing he can find catches his eye until he gets to Bertram Zeblocher. Bertram had been employed by multiple organizations, with a fairly long string of jobs behind him. One, however, jumps out – he'd supervised a project for Nesgadol. But if Castle remembers accurately, and he's pretty sure he does, Zeblocher was never tagged in any of the suits or questioned by the DA's office. He probably believed he got away clean from the whole mess – until Calen stepped off the morning van.

"Babe," Kate asks, "are you saying that you think Calen spotted a crook who worked for Nesgadol, and it got him killed?"

Eleanor looks up from her activity table. "Crook!"

Castle stares at his daughter. "Crook! Kate, that's her first real word! How fitting for a Beckett-Castle offspring. She's a chip off both blocks."

"I shudder to think what her next one will be," Kate says. "I hope you've been watching your mouth around her."

Castle smacks his hand over his lips. "I think I have. I hope I have. Regardless, this is a milestone. I need to write it in her baby book."

"Baby book? I thought you were keeping track of everything on the computer and your phone."

"I am, but I can't put a lock of hair or a baby tooth into a computer file. And we both know how screwed-up digital records can get. I have a baby book for Alexis. Someday, she might want to show it to her children or grandchildren. There's no reason why Eleanor can't have the chance to do the same."

"She just said her first word, Castle. Already you're giving her grandchildren?"

Castle gazes up at the mezzanine and Alexis' empty room. "Time goes fast with kids, Kate. And if you lose out on preserving a key moment, you can never get it back."

"Well, it sounds like Calen may have preserved a key moment too well. Ryan and Esposito already know that Calen worked despite being undocumented. I won't be spilling any confidential information when I tip them to Zeblocher."

"Good, you call them. Then maybe we can see what other words we can coax from Eleanor. Maybe we can get a Mama or a Dada."

Kate pulls her cell phone out of her pocket. "I wouldn't count on it."

Kate watches through the glass in Observation as Esposito glares across the table at Bertram Zeblocher while a mild-expressioned Ryan sits next to his partner. "So, Bert," Esposito begins, "you've been a busy boy."

"If you mean that I work hard, I do," Zeblocher replies. "But I don't know anything about any murder."

"But you knew Calen Sisi," Esposito presses. "He worked for you."

"Probably a lot harder than you did," Ryan adds.

"I wouldn't know," Zeblocher insists. "The workers come, the workers go. I don't know their names. I don't care. I just make sure the job gets done right."

Esposito leans into Zeblocher's face. "Is that what you did for Nesgadol, made sure the job got done right?"

Zeblocher swallows. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Esposito glances toward the mirror and nods.

Kate strides into the room, grasping her faithful black leather folder. She pulls out a document and plants it in front of Zeblocher. "Then let me refresh your memory. This is a copy of your employment history. You worked on a number of projects for Nesgadol, in charge of, among other things, paying off the day laborers. But a lot of them didn't get paid, did they? Or they got paid a fraction of what they were owed. Was Calen Sisi one of the day laborers you cheated?"

"Who the hell are you?" Zeblocher throws back. "I don't see no badge."

Ryan smiles at Zeblocher. "This is Kate Beckett, a civilian investigator with a special interest in this case. And she also holds the record, as an NYPD detective, for the highest homicide case closure rate in the city."

"So answer her question," Esposito orders.

Zeblocher crosses his arms in front of his chest. "I want a lawyer."

"I'm sure you do," Kate responds. "You're going to need one."

"So, did you and the boys nail Zeblocher?" Castle asks, pulling a pan of lasagna out of the oven.

"Mostly the boys did," Kate reports. "They pulled the traffic cam footage from around where the body was dropped and spotted Zeblocher's truck. Also, Perlmutter had found DNA on the body but couldn't match it to anyone in CODIS."

"But it matched Zeblocher," Castle assumes.

Kate grins. "Yes, it did. In the face of the evidence, his lawyer advised him to take a plea."

Castle returns Kate's grin. "Another one bites the dust."

The smile fades from Kate's face. "I just hope Soraya will get some peace out of knowing we caught Calen's killer."

"How about her immigration status?"

"I can't discuss any details of that with you. You know that. But I can tell you there are a few factors that are looking up."

"Good to hear. And you know what else was good to hear? Eleanor came out with another word today, and it was one entirely appropriate to the situation at the time."

"What? Did she finally say Da-Da?"

"Nope. As I said, entirely appropriate to the situation. She said 'poop.'

"So, what do you think the next one will be?" Kate wonders.

"Given her heritage and that it also has a double O, I'm hoping for 'book.'"