Papa Jack Chapter 17

"A little early to come calling, Son," an already fully dressed Jack remarks when Richard arrives at his apartment.

"I wanted to talk to you before I go meet Off, um, Detective Beckett at the 12th Precinct."

"About the event you're planning with Martha Rodgers?"

Richard's eyebrows jump. "How did you? Never mind. By now, I should know not to ask. I don't even know if that fundraiser's going to come off yet. I was talking to Jim Beckett, Detective Beckett's father, concerning some of the legal considerations. I'll have to make sure they're covered before we go forward. Actually, what I wanted to ask you is how close an eye the agency keeps on congressmen."

"We monitor their activities when they travel out of the country. We do that with all government employees possessed of information that might be helpful to our adversaries."

"How about at home?"

"Monitoring American citizens on American soil isn't in our portfolio, Richard."

The writer snorts. "Uh-huh. So how much do you do of it?"

"How about if you get to the point, Son? What congressman, and why should we be watching him?"

"William H. Bracken. He used to be the Manhattan DA."

"And you think he was dirty?" Jack queries.

"We, Beckett and I, found some information that might point in that direction. It would be helpful to know where he got the money to run for Congress."

"Which you and the good detective suspect might have been illegally obtained."

"Yes."

"Which, if so, would make him a security risk, which could make it agency business."

Richard grins. "Exactly! So, could you find out, Dad?"

"I can poke around a little and see what comes up."

Throwing his arms around the older man, Richard gives his father a firm hug. "Dad, you always know what to do."

Jack thinks back on at least a half dozen missions when he barely escaped with his life. "I've been able to learn a few things. Now, go check out Beckett's detective digs. I'm betting you'll be spending a lot of time there."

Kate runs her finger around the edge of her desk in the bullpen. The metal is scarred, showing a few dents where a suspect may have gotten a bit out of hand. Her desk chair bears the imprint of the previous owner, whose rear end was apparently wider than Kate's well-shaped but slim derriere. Fortunately, the drawers all work and hold an assortment of pens, pencils, legal pads, and sticky notes. A faint odor of tobacco still clings to the inside of the top drawer. She guesses that's where the previous owner stashed the cigarettes he was forbidden to smoke inside the building. Her combination tote-purse is already in the bottom drawer. She imagines she'll have to find another spot for it as she begins accumulating files. As with every transition in the NYPD, the new detective has a mass of paperwork to complete. She hopes to finish it before receiving her first official case.

The doors to the elevator open, and Kate spots Castle looking around before trotting toward her. "Good location, Beckett! Handy for trips to the restroom and for making a quick exit." Richard seats himself in a beat-up chair next to Kate's desk. "So, did Captain Montgomery drop a new and exciting investigation on his rising star?"

Kate indicates her stack of forms. "So far, those are all he's dropped on me."

Richard smacks his palm against the top of her desk. "Things are bound to pick up. Montgomery's not about to waste a precious resource like his newest detective."

Montgomery's office door opens, and he shouts across the bullpen. "Beckett, in here! Oh, Castle's here. Bring him with you."

"Close the door," Montgomery instructs as Kate and Richard enter his office. He picks up a file from his desk. "Robbery homicide. Jewelry store. Happened last night but wasn't discovered until this morning."

Detective Raglan told me he's investigating two jewelry store robbery homicides out of the 23rd," Kate recalls. "He's calling them and two similar cases at electronics stores, random events."

"Which makes him either lazy or stupid," Montgomery declares. "Smash and grabs as random, sure. Scumbag spots an opportunity and takes it. But felony murders hitting three jewelry stores and the electronics stores doesn't sound random to me. Still, I'm not about to step on Captain Mayfield's toes without evidence the cases are connected. So go investigate. Find out what's going on. And Castle, if your writer's observational skills that I've heard so much about pick up anything, give it to Beckett to check out." Montgomery hands Beckett the file. "All right, you two, now get out of here."

"Yes, Sir," Kate responds briskly. She strides out of the office with Richard right behind her.

Lanie Parish looks up from a body on the plushly carpeted floor of Lehman's Jewelry Emporium. "Hey, girlfriend! Your first case as a detective? And is this your shadow?"

Richard bends slightly in a shallow bow. "Richard Castle. Beckett is supposed to exploit my writer's eye."

"What do you know about the victim, Lanie?" Kate inquires.

"It's Mr. Stuart Lehman, the owner. He still had his wallet with his driver's license in it. The picture matches. There was also a card with his emergency contact, his wife, Phyllis. TOD 11:35 last night," Lanie reports.

"Wow! You must be an amazing ME, to be that exact," Richard exclaims.

"From the location and penetration of the bullet in his head, he would have died instantly," Lanie explains. "And his watch broke when he fell."

"Maybe a little less amazing," Richard comments.

"What else?" Kate asks.

"From the wound, I'd say he was killed with a 38, but I'll be able to confirm that when I dig the bullet out. No powder burns or stippling, so the killer probably fired from a distance. It appears that the victim was behind the counter when he was shot."

"Jewelry stores aren't usually open that late," Richard offers. "What would he have been doing behind the counter?"

"He has some ink on his hand like he was doing paperwork," Lanie says.

Richard nods. "Inventory, maybe."

"I don't see any lists," Kate notes.

"Maybe the killer took them," Richard suggests, "to keep track of his ill-gotten gains."

"I'll have CSU dust for prints," Kate decides. "Maybe we'll get lucky. And they'll need to check the alarm system. If Mr. Lehman was working here by himself, he should have had it on." Kate sighs. "And I'll need to notify Phyllis Lehman and see if she can tell us why Mr. Lehman was here last night and if anyone had been threatening him."

"If someone had been threatening him, wouldn't he have made sure the alarm was on?" Richard questions.

"We'll find out," Kate says. "But we need to leave the scene as uncompromised as possible so CSU can do a thorough job. We can come back for another look after they've finished."

"Are we going to see Phyllis Lehman now?" Castle asks as Kate unlocks her freshly assigned unmarked unit.

"I'm going to see her, but I've talked to many cops who have done notifications. They've told me it can be rough. You might not want to come along."

"It's all part of what happens when you investigate a murder, Beckett. If I'm going to get a full understanding of the process, I need to be with you."

"All right, Castle. Observe, but don't interfere."

"You won't even know I'm there."