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The Office of Chief Medical Examiner
East 26th Street,
New York, NY 10016
The staff of the OCME go about their tasks, thankful, it has been a very slow morning for the staff of OCME…so far.
A 5' 5" thirtyish buxom beauty of Creole and African American descent, Dr. Lanie Parish walks down the hallway intently reading a copy of The New York Ledger.
"Oh…my…God," she tops dead in her tracks as she finishes reading the piece by Larry Brown, and quickly starts to skim through it again when…
"Ahaaaa!" a male scream rings out followed by crashing noises from an office with the name Dr. S. Perlmutter on the door.
Rushing in, she finds the 5' 8", the fiftyish Dr. Perlmutter standing, hands gripped tightly on his receding brown and grey hair as if ready to pull it out, line phone smashed on the floor."
"Sidney, what the hell?" Lannie looks at her senior colleague with shock and confusion.
"Castle," Perlmutter practically spits out the name with a crazed look in his eyes.
"Does this have to do with Brown's column?" Lanie tries to make sense of the situation.
"You read that too, huh," Perlmutter responds, "That was only the beginning of the new Castle reign of terror."
"What do mean reign of terror?"
"Look, there", Perlmutter points at his computer screen, body shaking with anger.
Lanie looks at a multimedia email from the NYPD Police Commissioner's office that their boss had forwarded. She hadn't checked her email yet.
The email seems to be some kind of press release with a picture of Rick Castle. As Lanie reads it, her eyes almost pop cartoonishly out of her head."
"Assistant Deputy Commissioner?" Lanie reads out the title, "This has got to be someone's idea of a practical joke."
"I called up Reagan's office," Perlmutter recounts, "His secretary, Baker I think is her name, said he was expecting my call and put me right through."
"She's not a secretary," Lanie corrects, "She's an NYPD detective and his chief aid."
"I don't care if she's the Princess of Mars!" Perlmutter snaps, "I could practically see the ear-to-ear smile under Reagan's bushy mustache when he confirmed it.
"But when he suggested it might be best if I showed proper respect for Castle's new rank by addressing that hack writer as Sir, I couldn't take any more."
"Obviously," Lanie points to what's left of his phone, "Come on Sidney, he was having some fun with you. Besides, it's his decision. There's nothing you can do about it."
"Oh yes there is!"
"Don't be silly," Lanie tries to talk him down, "You're going to quit over this?"
"No, I'm going to kill Castle over this," Perlmutter replies with a crazed smile.
"Sidney, be serious," Lanie tries to stifle a laugh.
"I must see his blood outside of his body," Perlmutter continues unabated.
"You're not going to kill him."
"He dies, Richard Castle, RIP," Perlmutter continues to rant, "I'll do it slow and cruelly, revealing a previously unsuspected vicious strain in me."
"Unsuspected?"
"Then," Perlmutter smiles psychotically, "I'll staple his driver's license to his mutilated remains as a compassionate gesture, so his nearest and dearest can identify him."
"Perlmutter," Lanie keeps trying to calm him down, "I know Castle can rub you the wrong way, but you know that at heart he's a good person."
"Look at that!" he points to the picture, "It's not a person; it's a smirk on legs. He's unbearable! Twenty-Seven years later and he's still a pain in my ass."
"Twenty-Seven years?" Lanie says confused, "Castle's only been working with the NYPD for four and half…hold on a minute.
"You're the ME Larry Brown mentioned in his column. You're the one who ruled that murder a suicide, but Rick caught the error, solving the case."
"He didn't solve it!" Perlmutter counters, "The police solved it. He just noticed one little detail that…unraveled…the…whole…case."
"So, you've known about Castle's past all this time?" Lanie eyes him with suspicion, "Why didn't you say anything."
"You think I wanted people knowing," Perlmutter responds, "Not only was I shown up Castle, but it was a fourteen-year-old Castle.
"So, Castle made me a deal. If I didn't, he wouldn't either. Do you have any idea how much crap I'm going to take now from both of them."
"Both," Lanie says confused, "You mean Kate too?"
"No, Danny Reagan," Perlmutter says through clenched teeth, "He's going to be an even bigger gigantic pain in the rear now that he'll have a bigger hook to call."
"His father's the Police Commissioner?" Lanie asks, "And his sister is an associate DA. His hook can't get any bigger."
"That's the thing," Sidney replies, "I could always count on Frank and Erin Reagan to keep some kind of leash on that certifiable maniac from a bad 80's cop movie.
"The commissioner would never pull strings for his son, and his daughter may help Danny but only where the rules allow her.
"But now, Danny can run to his honorary big brother, and we know how Castle feels about rules. My life is about to enter the tenth circle of hell!"
"I wouldn't worry too much about it," Lanie assures, "I'm sure Beckett will keep Castle in line."
"You think so?" Perlmutter replies, "You do realize that Castle now outranks Beckett, by a lot, not to mention how do we know she hasn't been as blindsided by this too.
"I know for a fact; he hasn't told her any of what Larry Brown put in that column. She's likely so pissed off she's dumped him already."
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Office Special Agent Diana Barrigan
FBI Headquarters
J. Edgar Hoover Building
Washington, D.C., U.S.
"I have to say, Detective," Diana smiles impishly, "You're taking being dumped pretty well, especially by one New York's ten most eligible men."
"Rick is just upset now," Kate argues, "Once he calms down, we can talk it out."
"Oh, I get it now," Diana replies, "Your planetary sized ego can't handle that he beat you to it since men don't reject you, you reject them?"
"I wasn't going to break up with him!" Kate protests, "I don't even have the job! I haven't even done the interview… and why am I'm explaining myself to you!"
"You're trying to explain it to yourself," Diana replies, "Doing it out loud is a side effect of the trip you're taking up de-nile.
"God, that was awful [Diana feigns a shiver] I think I've spent too much time around Ricky. I'm picking up his penchant for bad puns."
Diana then notices a new email alert. She taps some keys and reads the message, then turns her monitor so Kate can see.
"Commissioner Reagan isn't wasting time," Diana smiles broadly, "Press release, announcing Ricky's new position."
"What the hell is the PC thinking?" Kate blurts.
"Well," Diana responds, "Frank Reagan is likely the best and most ethical PC in NYPD history so I'm sure he's not doing this on a whim or to play favorites."
"I didn't say he was," Kate argues, "I know he a talent for detective work a lot of people underestimate, but even I find hard seeing Rick as an ADC."
"Well to be completely truthful," Diana gives an insincere smile, "I was afraid our boy had lost at step two following you around all these years.
"But this [she points at the screen] is a classic Ricky maneuver straight out Sun Tzu, Chapter 3, winning all without fighting is ideal.
"Bad puns aren't the only penchant you've picked up," Kate rolls her eyes, "Could you quit talking in riddles and ancient Chinese texts."
"It'd be no fun if I didn't make you work for it," Diana smiles insincerely, "But I admit it's getting a little tedious since you're a little slow to comprehend."
"Comprehend what?" Kate snaps, "You want me to believe that he's some kind of strategic genius chess grandmaster type."
"Actually, Ricky hates Chess," Diana chuckles, "He prefers Go. Said Chief Kent taught him as a child."
"Chess Go, what's the difference," Kate rolls her eyes.
"It makes all the difference," Diana argues, "Have you ever played either?"
"What does that have to do with anything?" Kate looks at her like she's nuts.
"Indulge me," Diana replies with a smirk, "It may help you even understand Ricky but some how I doubt it."
"Fine," Kate replies, "My dad I played Chess when I was younger, but I don't know much about Go."
"I guess that's a start," Diana shrugs, "Chess is a tactical game with the goal of destroying your opponent's pieces in an effort to "take" their King.
"And while they can move, Chess' hierarchical nature prescribes specific movements to each time that limit their flexibility."
"I said know how to play," Kate sneers.
"But do you understand?" Diana responds, "Chess is modeled on medieval warfare, force on force attrition that eats up both sides.
"The board starts full, but at the end, most of the pieces are "dead" with one king taken or even a draw after all that time and effort, wasteful."
"And in Go?"
"Go is a strategic game," Diana explains, "It's modeled on an entire war, not a single battle. In Chess there are 20 possible opening moves, 361 in Go.
"The board starts empty, and all the pieces are of equal value. The pieces are placed in any open place that doesn't result in their immediate capture.
"Pieces don't move. Rather they are used as markers to surround territory on the board. The goal is to surround the most territory with the least pieces, resources."
"Okay, fine they're different," Kate concedes indifferently, "But I don't see what it has to do with Rick other than his preference in board games?"
"At different times," Diana explains, "You, Captain Gates, and others were playing Chess against Rick and losing.
"You were trying to force him out of the 12th, in a way trying to capture the king, through attrition using insults, bullying, or whatever."
"Okay, I admit I did that long ago," Kate says, looking and feeling guilty.
"But today," Diana smiles broadly, "He just essentially took away the 12th Precinct from all of you, conquered it, and made it even look easy."
Kate's mouth went dry and fell open as she tried to process the statement.
"The column, the job, and who knows what else," Diana adds, "It was all to take what he wanted without a firing single shot, figuratively speaking.
"Why do you think Ricky's so useful to Reagan and White-Collar. He's not a cop as many have often said. He's more of a thief of sorts [Diana snickers].
"He doesn't throw bad guys in jail. He takes away their kingdoms, leaving them vulnerable and easy for law enforcement to pick off."
"Attack the organization, not the man," Kate recounts Rick words.
"Exactly," Diana smiles cruelly, "Now you see the difference between some by-the-book bureaucratic Captain and a detective with mommy issues."
"What did you say!"
"Well, that is your go to move to with him," Diana then uses a mocking voice, "Oh, please understand Rick, I'm so broken because I lost my sainted mum."
"You bitch!" Kate jumps up causing Diana to rise as well but slowly. They just glare at each other for what seems like an eternity.
Then, Diana's phone goes off and she picks it up to answer.
"Agent Barrigan," she answers, "Yes, Sir. Be there in a few minutes."
Diana hangs up and looks Kate Beckett in the eye with a smirk.
"As much as I'm enjoying this," Diana says, "That was Assistant Director Freedman's office. They're ready for you."
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Author's Notes:
First, I know many of you Beckett fans may be angry with how I have Diana treat Kate in this exchange, especially that last bit.
But keep in mind, Diana doesn't know Kate from and has only seen the pain that her past actions have had on someone she respects and who saved her life.
She was not going to be on Kate's side or neutral, so I decided to let someone who's on Rick's side let loose with all the resentment she's kept bottled up.
It's a thing I noticed in the show. Except for Alexis, all the main characters tend to tend her side on things, see it from her point of view, even his mother.
And in Season 8, even Alexis seemed to be wavering towards team Kate. All Rick had was Linus, his home AI, and Kate got rid of them him too.
To Devildog3479's review in chapter 9 on Nov 26 which read.
"You left out the part in the Midway reference with both Castle and your explanation that Rochefort and CINCPAC tricked the Japanese into revealing their plans with a fake message about Midway's water plant."
That was intentional. It has to do with a writing principle called "Chekhov's gun". This refers to Anton Chekhov, the Russian writer, not the character from "Star Trek". That would be [bad pun warning] "Chekhov's Phaser".
Anyway, the principle of Chekhov's gun states that every element in a story must be necessary, and irrelevant elements should be removed.
Alternatively explained, suppose a writer features a gun in a story; if the writer features it, there must be a reason for it, such as it being fired sometime later in the plot. All elements must eventually come into play at some point in the story.
In my interpretation of the principle, the water plant part was not necessary to reference in the context of the example Rick was trying to make at that moment. It would be in a history book or paper, but not there.
However, that does leave me to use it somewhere further down the line when I might need it to illustrate a point without seeming redundant.
Perlmutter's reaction was inspired by a scene in from the show "Chef!" (1993), a great British sitcom staring Sir Lenny Henry.