PART-1
Castle scratched his head menacingly in the moment of leisure, leisure not derived from unoccupancy and idleness but that borrowed from the coven of persistent, bizarre thoughts his mind had gotten into. His reliable imagination that had faithfully served both as his respite and his boss at work had now turned a traitor, as it went on and on with seeing, rather dreaming of himself with the muse for the lead of his impending novel, Kate Beckett or say Nikki Heat. He was tired of convincing it knowing too well that it won't budge. Martha, his nosy mother, had come in to spy on what he was up to, n number of times or so it felt and every time he had only ended up calling her Beckett! Yes, he had called his own mother and daughter Beckett at least once but it wasn't his fault, Kate had taken over his mind and soul, his heart and the thumping of it.
And then the spiteful and the unforeseen took place, Kate herself came in through that door.
"Mom, please! Stop bothering me with sceptical glances like that for the heck of it!" He cried without on his own caring to look up at the 'trespasser'.
"Castle?" She looked on at him, her face taken over by a shock "It's me!"
"Detective?" An astonished Castle turned and stood up on his feet at once "Ermm, i'm sorry please have a seat!"
She comfortably seated herself on a cosy armchair facing him.
"And now, tell me what brings you here Miss Beckett? How may i help you? I knew you would be missing me at work today!" He said flashing a flirtatious wink.
"Not really! I haven't been bitten by a mad dog to miss you of all people! " She frowned trying really hard to conceal the fact that her heart was indeed missing him.
"So then, why are you here if you weren't?" He smirked.
"Ermm..It's about a case! "
"A case? " Kate was observing how instantly his face lit up and she smiled a little.
"Yes, apparently a case. This is about a homicide... "
"Obviously! You aren't a Detective specializing in murders for no reason! " Interrupted Castle.
"Yeah so, a man was found murdered last night. His name was Dunst, Rob Dunst" Continued Beckett reverently ignoring his previous enunciation "In his apartment, near Roosevelt Avenue and he was apparently a burglar, a tactful, clever creature who dared to steal priceless, historic ethnic Indian Jewels from the Central Museum, about a fortnight ago and even the NYPD had failed to nab him. However as of now, he lies dead and the jewels are gone. "
"A robber robbed? Ooh, this is going to be interesting! Bring it on!" Exclaimed an excited Richard "So what are you waiting for? Let's get to work babe..!" Attempting something coquettish again, he stopped at once feeling the lurking, evasive, vulnerable gaze on him and smiled widely "I mean, let's go Detective!"
~
The car halted in the parking lot of a 10 storey building in the proximity of Roosevelt Avenue and Richard Castle descended with his partner Detective Beckett. Passing many a door, they were at last in the flat, it was large, airy and roomy. Esposito along with Dr Parish were examining the body while the other officers had by now rummaged the place, looking for clues pointing towards the killer.
"Hey Castle!" Greeted an exhilarated Esposito "Good to see you!"
"Good afternoon Mr Castle!" Followed the doctor and Beckett twitched her lips and sighed at how no one really cared she was there too, something that couldn't evade Castle's keen eye. Recollecting her indifference during their previous conversation, he bent nearer to her ear and whispered cautiously
"Tit for tit!" And it all infuriated her further.
Composing herself, she looked at her buddy for some much needed diversion, in what appeared to be a demanding glare.
"So Lanie, what did the corpse have to reveal? " She asked liberally.
"He was stabbed to death, very brutally stabbed, about 10 times right in the stomach" she answered as Castle winced a bit thinking of the pain he must have gone through, he still wasn't used to these dead bodies though he never gave it away. Meanwhile Dr Parish continued "We found the knife as well, look!" She said stretching the knife towards Beckett.
"Finger prints?" Interrogated Beckett again.
"None!" Said Lanie in despair.
"This seems like a dead end, Beckett! We could find nothing, save the knife!" Said Ryan, exhausted though he looked.
"What about the knife? Just a plain one or something special about it?" Interceded Castle who had until now been on his behavioural rule-breaking spree, taking pictures and meddling with the possible clues of the crime scene.
"Plain!" pronounced the doc.
"I think this was one of this guy's acquaintances who knew well of his lair. Greed took over making him go disloyal and killing him for the jewels. " Concluded Kate.
"No, remember detective you said he was shrewd. Do you really expect him to tell anyone of his hiding place, he was wanted by the NYPD, he couldn't have taken that risk." Remarked Castle.
"So then, who according to you?"
"This is definitely an insider someone from the museum staff who was aiding Rob"
"Are you suggesting that there is a double-dealer involved?"
"How else do you think he could have managed to steal that jewellery under such tight security? Certainly someone was helping him."
~*~
