Papa Jack Chapter 79
Kate lays a small stack of papers in front of Roy Montgomery. "My psych and medical evals, all signed off. I want to go back to work."
Her captain eyes Kate with a questioning stare. "From the references to 'consultants' in Ryan and Esposito's reports, it seems to me that you jumped the gun. You and your shadow were all over the Donnelly-Snodgrass murders."
"The guys bounced a few things off of us," Kate concedes.
"Yeah. Uh-huh," Montgomery responds, skepticism still evident in his tone, "like, who did it. Well, get your ass out in the bullpen so you can start getting your name back on cases. Castle can have his spot by your desk again if he wants it. And next time he springs for pizza, I like sausage and mushrooms."
"Yes, Sir. I'll pass that on."
As Kate is returning to her desk, Richard steps off the elevator. "I see that you have reassumed your rightful place."
"Half-reassumed, Castle. I can't go out to crime scenes or knock on doors of potential witnesses yet."
"Not for long, Kate. As hard as you're working on your rehab, you will exceed all expectations for a swift recovery. But in the meantime, did Montgomery say I could go – to further observe police procedures."
Kate rubs her fingertips against her bottom lip. "He didn't say you couldn't."
"And I don't suppose there would be any reason I couldn't call you for your take on what I observe," Richard offers.
"None that I can think of," Kate allows.
Richard winks. "Then consider me your boots, or at least your eyes, on the ground."
"Castle, you don't have to do that," Kate protests.
"Sure I do. Writer, remember? I'm doing myself a favor. Enriching my stories with authentic details is vital to my craft."
Kate rolls her eyes. "Uh-huh. If you say so. But no fresh case has…." Ryan's landline jangles. After a quick exchange, the slim cop springs to his feet, waving his notepad. "Got a fresh one." He turns toward Esposito. "Come on, Man. There's a body at a fancy new conference space called Loftview."
"Did you say Loftview?" Castle asks. "That's where my big fundraiser with Martha Rodgers is going to be."
"Do you know the layout?" Ryan asks.
"Inside and out. Learning it was part of our contingency planning."
"Then you should come along," Ryan decides. "At least you'll recognize what you're looking at."
Esposito glares at his partner. "We don't need a shadow. And Beckett just officially came back. Shouldn't Castle be hanging with her?"
"Until you bring back something new, I'll just be reviewing old reports," Kate says. "And it can't hurt to have someone already familiar with the crime scene. Castle should go with you."
As he joins the two male detectives on the elevator, Richard mouths, "I'll call you," at Beckett.
"You'd better," Kate mutters.
Uniformed officer Maris uses his thumb to indicate a shaken-looking woman sitting on a chair in a small office off the lobby where a man's body lays on an upscale tiled floor. "She calls herself Ms. Nekras. She told me that she found the victim when she came in this morning. From what she said, she's usually the first one to arrive. She opens up the building."
"Did she know the vic?" Esposito inquires.
Maris shakes his head. "Said she'd never seen him before."
Richard beckons Ryan a few feet away from where the officer is giving his account. "I know Ms. Nekras. I was working out a lot of the details about the fundraiser with her. She might be more comfortable talking to me."
"You're not a cop. You can't take an official statement, Castle," Ryan reminds the writer. "But you should stay with me while I question her. Witnesses recall details better if they're relaxed."
Richard enters the small office with the Irish detective. "Ms. Nekras, this is Detective Ryan from the 12th Precinct, where I research my books. He needs to ask you a few questions."
"All right, Mr. Castle," Nekras responds. "I'll do my best to answer them. Detective Ryan, is it? What do you want to know?"
Ryan flips a page in his notebook. "Ms. Nekras, you told Officer Maris you'd never seen the dead man before. Is that right?"
"He's a complete stranger," Nekras insists.
"And you are the one who opens up the building?" Ryan continues.
"On most days," Nekras says. "The maintenance manager, Sauley Fisk, has keys. I'll call and ask him to do it sometimes if I'm running late."
"Anyone else have keys?" Richard inquires gently.
"No. Um, wait. We had the HVAC system checked to make sure the air conditioning would be ready for warmer weather and the ducts were clean. A few spores and when the system starts up, people can start coughing. It can be very disruptive to some presentations, so we are trying our best to prevent it. The HVAC contractor was supposed to return any keys when the work was finished, but you'd have to check with Sauley to see if he got all of them back."
"Is Mr. Fisk here?" Ryan asks.
"No. He called me last night and said his wife was going into labor, and he wouldn't be in. He's probably at the hospital."
"We'll check on that," Ryan says.
"Is there anything else you can tell us about how a strange man could have gotten in or why he might want to, Ms. Nekras?" Richard asks.
"People have been fascinated by our venue, Mr. Castle," Nekras replies, "especially the view of the moon. "I've told you about that before. I suppose that someone might try to get in to see it. But there would be no reason for anyone to kill him."
"The reasons for a murder often seem unfathomable," Richard says. "But sooner or later, motives become clear. Thank you for your help."
"Mr. Castle, this terrible thing isn't going to stop you from having your fundraiser here, is it?" Nekras queries.
"Not unless the place is still sealed as a crime scene," Richard says. "But the NYPD and the crime lab people are usually way too efficient to tie up a venue that long. And with the strange attraction people have for the morbid, the murder might even increase interest in the event. Right now, I wouldn't worry."
Richard and Ryan rejoin Esposito near where Lanie Parish is kneeling over the body. "He had no ID on him," the ME reports. "No phone and no jewelry either. But it doesn't look like a robbery. He had cash in his pocket."
"What was the cause of death?" Ryan asks.
"I don't know," Lanie admits. "There are no signs of strangulation or blunt force trauma. No apparent bullet or stab wounds. I'll have to get him back to the lab to figure it out. But I can give you a tentative TOD. He died between four and six AM."
"This facility doesn't officially open until nine in the morning – or at least Ms. Nekras didn't take appointments before then," Richard recalls. "No events are scheduled earlier than nine AM either and usually later than that. Both the murderer and the victim would have known the place would be empty."
"But why the hell would the victim come here to begin with?" Esposito wonders.
"Perhaps the murderer lured him," Castle suggests.
"If you guys are done speculating and want some real evidence, I need to get the body out of here," Lanie proclaims.
"Yeah, right," Esposito agrees.
Jack scans the latest intelligence. A Russian agent of the non-rogue persuasion disappeared the night before. He was last spotted headed toward lower Manhattan. As far as the company analysts know, he had no specific assignment other than to keep his eyes on various operations in New York. The hair on the back of Jack's neck rises. Given Anatoly's plans for that part of town, that Russian agent might have stuck his nose in the wrong thing at the wrong time. Jack will see what he can do to find out.