Unexpected Appearance Chapter 8

"Look, I don't want to seem cold or anything," the super says unsuccessfully suppressing his impatience. "She was a nice lady. May she rest in peace. But it's my job to pull in as much rent from this place as I can. Obviously, she isn't going to be sliding rent envelopes under my door anymore. So can I rent the place and give the stuff to her friend?"

"Did you see who slid the last rent envelope under your door?" Kate questions.

The super shakes his head. "No, it was just there. But it was later in the day than usual. Eliska would do it before she went to work at six in the morning. This one wasn't there yet when I went to make my first rounds."

"And what friend?" Rick presses.

"The lady who gets Eliska's mail every day around lunchtime."

"Do you know her name?" Kate asks.

"No. But she has a key to the mailbox. Eliska must have given it to her."

"What does she look like?" Kate queries.

"Nice looking, blonde, late thirties, maybe early forties, but well preserved, if you know what I mean."

Rick and Kate exchange glances. "Thank you," Kate says. "But until we determine who that woman is, you can't give her any of Eliska's things. We may still have to access the apartment for investigative purposes. As you said, it's paid up through Friday. At that time, I'll send some cops to pick up Eliska's effects and put them in Property in our precinct."

"All right," the super agrees reluctantly. "But if the stuff isn't out first thing Friday, I'm going to dump it. The owner of this place isn't big on missing out."

"I'm sure," Rick mutters.

"It had to be Melissa Talbot!" Kate and Rick exclaim simultaneously as soon as they're out of the super's earshot.

"She fits the description perfectly," Rick adds.

"But we need to catch her in the act," Kate decides.

Rick grins. "Stakeout?"

"Stakeout," Kate confirms.

From the passenger side of Kate's unit, Rick stares at the entrance to the SRO. "The super said the woman shows up around lunchtime. It's almost two."

"Just keep watching, Castle," Kate urges. "You had no trouble concentrating at your book party. Who was that guy you were talking to? One of your hundreds of consultants?"

"No, actually, another author. I invited him to the shindig because I needed to ask him about something."

"You weren't discussing the case, were you?'

"Beckett, I know better than that. The NYPD would have my head or probably something lower. No. We were discussing the pros and cons of another possible opportunity. My agent confirmed the offer at the party."

"What offer?"

"It has to do with continuing the franchise of a certain British secret agent."

"That would fit in with all your spy stuff, Castle."

"Uh-huh. I got the offer because of Storm. Tom, the writer I was talking to, works in kind of the same ballpark. So I wanted his take on the opportunity."

"What take, Castle? A certain British agent is the most famous spy in the world. There's hardly an actor or comedian who hasn't riffed on how he acts, how he dresses, how he says his name."

"Which is just the point, Beckett. I'd go from creating my own character to grinding out stories about someone else's creation."

"Which I'm sure they'd pay you a fortune to do," Kate speculates.

"Oh, yeah! That's why my agent is pushing me to take the deal."

"Maybe you should, Castle. You wouldn't have to be trailing after me all day."

"Despite your efforts to discourage me, I like trailing after you and…. Blonde at three o'clock!"

"Let's go, Castle!"

Staying just far enough back not to spook their target, Kate and Rick follow the blonde into the building and to the mailboxes.

"It's a federal crime to steal mail, Melissa," Kate says as the woman pulls an envelope out of Eliska's mailbox.

The woman turns away from the row of boxes, a scarf slipping from her head. "That's not Melissa," Rick notes.

"It's Talbot's nurse," Kate realizes.

Pressing and tapping her fingers against the cold metal of the table in Interrogation One, the nurse looks up as Kate and Rick enter the room. Smacking her leather folder down at her place, Kate takes the seat opposite the nervous woman while Rick leans against a wall, looking down at her.

"So, how did you get a key to a dead woman's mailbox?" Kate demands.

The blonde sighs. "Dr. Talbot gave it to me. Look, he's a good man. I've worked for him for ten years. I know he had nothing to do with what happened to that lady."

"What did he tell you to do?" Kate questions.

"I need to explain. He kept a little apartment where he and that woman would meet. He knew it was wrong, and he broke it off with her. He tried to give her some money, but she wouldn't take it. So he decided to send her a check. He was afraid that if it was found, it would tie him to her. So he gave me a key to the mailbox so I could pick it up when it came. He only wanted me to reclaim his property."

"And the evidence that he was cheating on his wife," Rick interjects.

"The woman is dead. There was no reason for a stupid thing like a check to break up the doctor's family," the nurse argues. "Imagine putting that sweet little boy through that."

Kate extracts the envelope from her folder. "Is the check supposed to be in here?"

The nurse nods. "Doctor Talbot told me to look for an envelope stamped 'confidential,' with an address in New Jersey from his brokerage account. He wanted me to get the check so no one would put them together, that's all."

"You were helping him cover up his affair," Rick states flatly.

"It doesn't mean he killed her," the nurse insists.

Rick approaches the table, leaning on his hands beside the nurse. "When you told us that he stayed late for inventory, were you telling the truth?"

She slumps in her chair. "No. He left at six."

Kate stares down at the envelope lying on her desk in the bullpen. "According to the post office code, this came from a business park in Paramus, New Jersey."

"Is there a brokerage firm of some kind there?" Rick asks.

"There are three offices: Trueway Insurance, Chromo Diagnostic Labs Systems, and Branby Financial Group. That last one would be where the check came from if Talbot was telling the truth."

Rick studies the envelope. "I am happy to say that I've received a few checks in the mail, at least until they started to go to my business manager. The envelopes have a certain look to them but aren't usually stamped 'confidential.' That would just attract attention. And the envelopes aren't that thick. That looks more like a report of some kind than a check. How long before the warrant comes through and you can open it?"

"A couple of hours at least."

"Yo!" Esposito calls as he and Ryan get off the elevator.

"We found her!" Ryan announces.

"Who?" Castle asks.

"The woman who told a cop about Eliska talking to her kid in the park," Esposito explains.

"We talked to her," Ryan continues. "The reason she first noticed the vic hanging around the playground was because she looked kind of familiar. As it happens, they were both in the same post-delivery ward at Bryant General."

"Yeah, both babies were born on the same day," Esposito picks up. "Can you believe that? Both boys, too."

"Bryant General is where Cameron Talbot works," Rick recalls.

"Castle, you've got a weird expression," Kate notes. "What are you onto?'

"I'm not sure, but I wonder if we look into it, we'll find Zane Talbot was born there that day as well. Could you check that for me?'

Ryan nods. "It would be a matter of record."

"Beckett, did you say there is a lab at the address on the mystery mail?"

"Yes, Chromo Diagnostic Lab Systems. Why?"

Rick points down at the envelope. "I think I know what we'll find in there."