Papa Jack Chapter 72
"Do you think she did it?" Richard asks as he and Kate continue to observe Lorna Charles. "She looks more pissed off than guilty."
Kate stares through the glass at the suspect. "She could be both. But if the boys want to make a case they can bring to the DA, they'll need a lot more than the video. There must be hundreds, maybe thousands of women in New York of about that height and weight with that hair color. And it wouldn't be unusual to see someone in running clothes that time of the morning."
"Also," Richard adds, "the picture from the video shows the woman approaching the building, not entering it."
"Right," Kate agrees. "The guys can hold Lorna while they check the prints she put on the photo. A match for prints in Donnelly's apartment would prove that Lorna was at least there. And they can search her apartment for the murder weapon or anything else incriminating. Still, if they can't come up with something new, even a fresh-out lawyer could get Lorna released on a habeas writ. But if Lorna didn't kill Donnelly, who else have we got?"
"By we, you mean you and I are still looking into the case?" Richard inquires.
"Let's say I'm still thinking about it," Kate allows. "Who else would have a motive?"
"There's always the spurned lover we don't know about," Richard considers, "but I don't recall Eric ever mentioning a woman scorned. When we relate possible plots over a pot at writers' gang poker games, Cannell is always asking what the twist is. Lorna's and Melissa's motives would be pretty straightforward – money. In Lorna's case, a little spurned adoration might enter the mix, but her motive would still be essentially run-of-the-mill. But if we concentrate for a moment on Eric Donnelly as a writer, that would open up new possibilities."
"Such as?" Kate questions.
"I went back and reread the piece Eric wrote on knife counterfeiting. He wasn't explicit about it, but he implied he had a whistleblower, someone within the counterfeiting operation who fed him information."
Kate shakes her head. "Why would a whistleblower want to kill Donnelly?"
"Fear of exposure maybe – unless – unless someone killed both of them. Does the NYPD have a list somewhere of open murder cases?"
"Yeah, but until I'm back on active duty, I can't get into it. We could try asking the boys, but…." Kate shifts uncomfortably on her stool.
"You've had to perch on that thing way too long," Richard decides, taking a quick glance around before lifting Kate down. "And if Ryan and Esposito come up with solid proof that Lorna killed Eric, then we won't have to ask them anything, just celebrate their victory. But if not…."
"If not," Kate picks up, "they'll be anxious enough for a new lead that they'll agree to a fresh place to look."
"And in the meantime, we can bide our time," Richard says. "There's a marathon of 1950's sci-fi movies at the Angelika. How would you feel about sharing a giant tub of popcorn while taking in Forbidden Planet?"
"I want my own tub of popcorn." Kate declares.
Richard suppresses a grin. "Detective Beckett, anything you say."
You know," Richard says as he and Kate join the flow of moviegoers leaving the theater, "there was a scene in 'Spock's Brain' that was almost a direct steal from that movie."
"Uh-huh," Kate agrees, "there was one in 'Babylon Five,' too – the miles of underground power generation."
Richard nods. "I remember that. No doubt CGI, but impressive nonetheless. I wonder how impressive the boy's evidence-gathering is getting. You think they've had enough time to search Lorna's apartment?"
"They've had enough if they got a team of unis to help. I did searches sometimes when I was in uniform. I think seeing the crazy ways suspects tried to hide evidence helped me become a detective. For some reason, there are a lot of squirrels."
Richard's eyebrows jump. "Squirrels?"
"They hide things in nooks the way squirrels hide nuts, often in suspended ceilings – as if cops would never think to look up there. Usually, the tiles are fragile enough that they're chipped or dented around the hiding place, or they sag under the weight of something like a gun. Either way, it takes maybe a minute to spot a cache like that. If Lorna hid a chef's knife, it's probably turned up by now. But the guys may still be waiting on prints and DNA."
"And if nothing turns up, how long do you think it will take before one or the other of us gets a call?" Richard wonders.
"Until tomorrow morning, at least. Longer if they're still hoping for DNA. But if they did find something, we should get calls crowing about their success anytime now."
"Which one of the guys do you think will pick up the receiver?" Richard asks.
Kate presses her fingers to her still-buttery lips. "If they found conclusive evidence against Lorna, Esposito. If they've got nothing, Ryan will be more willing to admit it."
"So, are you hoping to hear first from Esposito or Ryan?" Richard asks.
"I want the case solved, so I guess, Esposito," Kate says unconvincingly.
"But it would be more interesting to hear from Ryan," Richard asserts.
"Yeah," Kate concedes, "it would."
Richard checks his watch. "It's getting late. You want to stop for coffee before I take you home?"
"I'd rather have a milkshake."
"So you shall have one."
The next day, as late afternoon approaches in the bullpen, Esposito flips through the Donnelly case file in disgust. "No murder weapon! No prints! No DNA matches! And Tech says there's only a 50% chance the video is actually of Lorna Charles. We're screwed, Bro."
"Maybe Lorna Charles was telling the truth that she didn't do it, and we need a new suspect," Ryan suggests gently.
"Who?" Esposito growls. "We can't check out everyone who lost money on Chef's Edge. And that may not even be the motive."
"Then maybe we need a new motive," Ryan offers.
"Like what?" Esposito snaps. "There wasn't enough female DNA in Donnelly's apartment to suggest he was having an affair with a woman. There weren't any signs of sperm that wasn't his either, so he wasn't swinging the other way. We don't have a suspect murdering for money or love. So what's left?"
Ryan shrugs. "Don't know, Bro. But I know we're stuck. And before Montgomery gets on our asses, it wouldn't hurt to ask for help. Castle never seems to run out of motives in his stories, and he knew Donnelly. Maybe he's got something else."
Esposito tosses a pen on his desk. "Like what he's given us has worked out so far."
"At our briefing this morning, Montgomery said that the press is already all over this case, and 1PP is demanding action," Ryan reminds his partner. "You want to tell him we're nowhere?"
Esposito slumps sullenly in his chair.
"Yeah. I don't either." Ryan picks up his phone. "I'll call Beckett. At least she's a cop. And if she brings Castle into it again, it's not on us. But," the slim detective adds with a hint of a smile, "if he does give us something we can use, we'll still get the credit for closing the case."
Esposito glares at his copy of the case file. "Yeah, man. We'd better."