Chapter 189

Tension was again visible in Kate before work the next morning, and Castle was quick to notice. She was dressed and ready to go very early, and he held her for a long moment before kissing her lovingly, knowing that usually relaxed her at least a little bit. Then he pulled her back closer to him and said softly, "Go to work and kick some lazy cop butt this morning and then see if you can let it go. We'll take the kids to the park after you get home, then make them happy with pizza and ice cream."

She didn't move an inch from the comfortable cove of his arms, but she chuckled and asked. "Who do you think you're kidding? We'll be making us happy with pizza and ice cream, too. You're a really bad influence."

"Hey, I take exception to that. We'll have meat, vegetables, dairy products…"

"Of the worst kind," she answered, poking him in the ribs without moving too far.

"They usually get good meals with good, healthy ingredients. It won't hurt to indulge them once in a while. Besides, I'm pretty sure you're going to need your babies and comfort food by the time you get home."

"You know me well. I love you. I think I'm relaxed enough to get to work without it all blazing back in the middle of traffic." She looked up from where she still hadn't tried to escape his arms and asked, "Will you give me one more of those relaxing kisses before I go?"

Castle obliged, then she sighed contentedly and said, "That should get me to work."

"Call me if you get too worked up." With a little eyebrow action he added mischievously, "I'll tell you what I'm wearing."

"Different kind of worked up," she answered with a grin. "Going to work now. Thank you for getting up so early with me and talking me down. Go back to bed and see if the kids will let you sleep a little while longer. It's barely light. I love you." She gave him another quick kiss and left him smiling in her wake as she left for work.

Being there early, the two lazy, disrespectful objects of her wrath weren't in the precinct yet. After calling Sergeant Chambers and asking him to let her know when they arrived, she managed to accomplish some mundane tasks that didn't require heavy thinking. Chambers called, and she met the two detectives at the elevator, ordering, "My office. Ten minutes. Bring the file." Then she turned away from their smirking faces and went back to her office.

She didn't go and drag them in from the bullpen, but made note that they showed up twenty-five minutes later, with the smirks still there.

"Sit down," she demanded, pointing at the chairs.

She leaned against her desk and held her hand out for the file. Banks handed it to her with a self-satisfied smile.

Pushing the power button on the recorder, she stated her name, the detectives' names, the date and time, and told them, "To be transparent, in view of your open hostility toward me, I'm going to record this meeting to accurately cover both sides of this exchange. Was that clear to you? Banks?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Houston?"

Houston looked uncomfortable and looked at Banks, who glared at him. But he answered, "Yes, Ma'am."

"I gave you a direct order. You were to follow up on the alibi for Alton Woods and have documented evidence of its authenticity in my hands before the end of your shift yesterday. Why didn't that happen?"

"We got your evidence, but it took more time than that, and you were gone when we got back."

"Well, sign and date your new evidence and give me back the file."

They both signed and dated each of the neatly typed pages, and Banks gave it to her with exaggerated and unconvincing politeness.

Beckett opened the file and looked at the entries. The witness statements had the right names, but the information was slightly altered from what she had seen before; and the account of the alibi investigation had names, the information each had provided, and contact information.

Beckett took the file and called the first number, identifying herself and asking to speak to the person who was listed as having provided the information. "Do you know that person?" she asked the man who answered the call.

"No. You must have been given the wrong number, or maybe have a digit wrong or something."

"Thank you for your time, Sorry to have bothered you." Houston had looked uncomfortable before, but now he looked a little twitchy. She called another number, getting and providing the same sort of response. Then she called a third number and said, "Ms. Ogden?" The two men in the room looked at each other , seeming surprised. "This is Captain Kate Beckett. Could you clarify something else for me?"

"Sure, Honey. Anything you need to help Alton."

"Would you verify for me that these people are or have at any time been on your staff?" She read the list of names, one being listed as director of the center, and Ms. Ogden recognized none of them. "And was anyone else from my precinct there at any time yesterday afternoon?" The answer was another no.

"Who was that?" Banks asked when she disconnected the call.

"That was Ms. Ogden. She's been the director there for ten years, and she didn't recognize any of those names. That's where Alton was at the time of the murder."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because when I went to pick up my lunch at Blake's Diner yesterday, the two of you were in the corner booth in the back, drinking coffee and completely oblivious to my presence. I asked the cashier how long you had been there, and she told me you'd been there over an hour, had several coffees, and had just ordered lunch. That tells me you spent at least two hours there after I had given a direct order to follow up on Alton Woods' alibi immediately. I called there when you didn't show up with the file and was told the two of you finally left around four. If I canvass some of the bars near the precinct, would I find someone who remembers you from one of them. If I call every contact number you just signed your names to, would anybody I call recognize the name of the person I call for?"

Both men looked away.

"Did you sit in that booth in Blake's and concoct these bogus lists and laugh at what you thought you'd get away with?"

She was the recipient of a sullen glare from Banks.

"Do you know what I was doing during the four hours you were at Blake's?"

"No, but I guess you're going to tell us," Banks answered.

"I was doing your jobs. In that time, I visited Alton, got the information I needed, followed it up with enough people at the community center to convince me he was there, and left with a copy of time stamped security footage that proves it. It shows Alton working in several parts of the building for a little over half an hour before and after the shooting. He was nowhere near it. He had worked there in a children's tutoring program when he was in high school and the staff couldn't say enough good things about him." She told them about the party for Ramona and that he not only helped with it, he bought decorations and a gift for her himself. "Everything I needed was within two blocks of the center. In two hours I had completed the questions at the center and spoken to his boss at the restaurant, where he's earning money for college. The boss said he's personable, dependable, and smart. I still had time to canvass a few businesses near the murder site to see if anybody could identify the someone who fit the witnesses' description. I made note of the original witness information and contact numbers from your original file. The statements there now have been slightly altered from the overall description you gave me before. I did phone interviews with all three, all of whom described a light-skinned African-American man wearing a black hoodie and khaki pants…who was six inches taller than Alton. Alton's skin is dark, and when you picked him up for questioning, he was wearing blue jeans and a red T-shirt with the community center logo. That's what he was wearing in the video corroborating his alibi. I also went to his high school and found that when he was there, he was a model student…solid B+ average, never in trouble. Same kind of response from calls to his neighbors. A good kid. And I was back here by the time you left the diner. If you had done what you should have the week before I was here, none of this would be happening. The gist of it is that you picked up a man who didn't match your witnesses' descriptions when all he was doing was walking home after his volunteer time at the center…and didn't even have the decency to check on his alibi. Do you have anything to say to explain that?"

"No," Banks answered.

"Houston?"

He opened his mouth, but Banks glared at him and he answered, "No."

Holding up the folder, Beckett said angrily, "This is outrageous. It's so far beyond unprofessional that, even if you were just trying to put the new captain in her place as a power play, it can't be excused. Did you ever intend to set the record straight, or were you going to leave this fine young man in a jail cell until he either was acquitted or sent to prison for the rest of his life? Would you have actually tried to see him convicted because the two of you couldn't be bothered to get off your lazy butts long enough to do your damn jobs?"

Banks sneered at her and snarled, "We thought he did it."

"There are several problems here. First, good police work is never based on 'We thought he did it.' It's based on finding evidence that proves it. Second, what you just did is called falsifying evidence. I'm not going to save you from that. I still don't have an answer as to whether you intended to correct anything later. Third, from the time you arrested him to the time you turned in the file on the investigation was five days. While you were taking your own sweet time, an innocent nineteen year old boy has been sitting in a jail cell where he should never have been in the first place; and the real shooter is still in the wind and could kill again before we can find him. Alton spent a sixth night in jail last night, but I started the paperwork to have him released yesterday afternoon and picked it up very early this morning. At six, I picked Alton up and took him home...and apologized to his parents on behalf of the twenty-seventh and the NYPD. Fourth, the entire department and the city will be lucky if his family doesn't sue at least the NYPD for false imprisonment. If that happens, your names will be in the sights of everybody all the way up to Chief Dawson…and possibly front page news."

Both men paled at the last comments.

"I have to consult with people who have more experience with this sort of thing than I do. I suspect some of this was petty revenge tactics toward me; but the arrest had nothing to do with me, and the end result is so much bigger. I can't ignore it. For now, you're both suspended without pay until the end of next week. I can't guarantee what will happen after that."

"Lautrec just took the damn files and didn't question them. Then you come in and have to get on your high and mighty perch and start giving orders on how we do our jobs."

"Because it looks like you've forgotten how. So while the man was mourning his wife, you decided to take advantage and just stop making any effort? And is that supposed to explain why you tried to pass that file off on me? Do I bear any vague resemblance to Captain Lautrec? Until recently, did he accept such a low level excuse for police work?" What you did was unscrupulous, unethical, dishonorable…" She took a deep breath and calmed herself, speaking more quietly. "This puts me in the position of needing to re-evaluate at least six months of your cases to see if you've left anybody else in the position you left Alton Woods. I'll expect you to be out of the precinct in the next ten minutes, which will not translate as twenty-five minutes this time. An officer will escort each of you out. Take any personal belongings you need with you. You won't be allowed back in the precinct until a week from Monday. We'll see what happens between now and then. Is there anything you would like to say in explanation?"

"No," Banks answered.

"Houston?"

"No."

She then turned off the recorder.

As the two men left the captain's office, Beckett called Sergeant Chambers for two officers to be sent as security escorts immediately, then she followed toward the bullpen. Banks shouted over his shoulder, "I don't need you or an officer to escort me out, Bitch."

"I'd like the original pages from the file before you go." Beckett said calmly. Instead of following the two detectives, she went to another team who presently had the highest homicide convictions in the precinct and asked them to meet her in her office when she left the bullpen and watched to see that no documents went with them. When two officers left the elevator, Beckett briefly explained what they were to do and to watch for and went back to her office, followed by Lieutenant Cain's team.

"I know you have an open case right now. Where does that stand at the moment?"

"If the man we have scheduled for an interview this afternoon tells us what we expect him to, we could make an arrest later today. But to have only two letters, 'if' is a big word," Cain told her.

"Understood. I have an awkward situation on my hands, and I need your help."

"We suspected something awkward when a detective was calling the captain names and officers came to escort two detectives out of the building," Cain answered. "Not your average day at the precinct."

"It is what it is, and I have to deal with it. We have a murder that's ten days old. The wrong man was arrested, so the real murderer has been out there scot free for that long." She explained the situation and told them, "As soon as your present case is finished, I need you on this one. I have contact information for the three witnesses on record. Eyewitness accounts are iffy immediately after the crime, but all three of these people, from three different vantage points, gave the same description. I'd start with looking for cameras within a block or two on each side of the murder site. With any luck we might find a few that haven't already recorded over everything from that night. If we don't have anybody on camera, the next best thing would be getting a sketch artist and hoping the witnesses remember his face well enough to help. Canvass the businesses in the area about an hour before and after the time of the murder and see if anybody remembers someone they might recognize by name. Start the file over, I'll give you everything I have from yesterday that eliminates Alton Woods and describes the suspect. I'm sorry to drop this on you; but at the moment, we don't know if the murder was over a personal grievance or if the shooter might be out there wanting to do it again. There isn't much information on the victim. Right now, your team looks like our best chance."

"We'll do our best, Ma'am," Cain answered, and the others made sounds of agreement.

"Let me know how the interview goes this afternoon. Finish what you're working on and get to this mess as soon as you can." She ran both hands through her hair, looking tired before ten in the morning, then she smiled at them. "I have confidence in you. Thanks for your cooperation. Let me know if I can do anything to make it easier for you."

The team went back to work, and Beckett closed her door and called Castle.

"Hey. How did it all go?"

"I suspended them without pay through the end of next week. That gives me time to figure out how to handle the problems. I'll tell you about it after the kids are asleep. I just needed to hear the voice of somebody I know is on my side."

"Always, Kate. Always on your side."

"It isn't even lunch time, and I'm already wrung out."

"Don't go out or order lunch. The littlest munchkin and I will bring Remy's to you."

"Hugging you and my littlest munchkin will be better than the strawberry milkshake."

"Then we'll show up feeling really special," he answered.

"See you at lunch, then. Love you."

xxxxx

Beckett went to the Robbery floor to roam among the teams and see what was going on there, and all of the activity on cases looked blessedly open and above board. She took a little time for brief personal conversations and some joking around here and there. For the most part, the ones who had been wary were relaxing a little bit. Suspension of two detectives and having them escorted out of the precinct would be common knowledge by the end of the day, though. Time would tell what that would do to the slowly improving rapport.

When she returned to the homicide floor, she asked Fenn and Pegram, the other two members of Banks' team to her office.

Once they were seated, she asked, "What part did the two of you have in investigating the Davis case, the one Alton Woods was accused in?"

"None," Pegram answered.

"Those two used to have us do all the grunt work while they sat here or went out for coffee, but they'd take all the credit; then they cut us out completely a few months ago," Fenn said. "They got too lazy to even give us the work they didn't want to do, but I don't think it's ever been as bad as this. They were being real quiet about it, but we heard what they had done before they saw you this morning. I know we're all supposed to stick together, but you gotta draw some lines. That kid shouldn't have been in jail."

Fenn joined in. "We don't want to be painted with the same brush, Captain. They were congratulating themselves this morning about what they had done to put one over on you, I guess it didn't work out the way they thought it would."

"Whatever you did to them, they probably deserved it," Pegram agreed.

"If Banks hasn't been giving you assignments. What have you been doing with your time?" she asked.

"Lieutenant Cain had us helping other teams," Fenn answered. "It's a long day if you're doing nothing."

"Did know anything at all about the case they were talking about this morning…the Davis murder?"

"No, Ma'am. We were off the day they were called in for that one. We asked what they wanted us to do, but they said they had it; so Lieutenant Cain put us to work on something else. A couple of years ago, he would have gone to the captain with the problem, but a lot of times lately, he'd just deal with it the best he could on his own. No disrespect intended toward the captain,"

"Most of us felt bad for Captain Lautrec," Pegram added. "He wasn't over his wife's death, and Banks and Houston…and maybe a few others took advantage of that. A couple of years ago the captain would never have allowed it."

"I hate to see what's happened here, and I have to assume it's affected morale," Beckett responded. "But grief is an unpredictable and individual thing, and I have some personal insight into how it could happen. I appreciate your candor. As far as the precinct, this conversation will stay between us; but it's likely that somewhere in the very near future, someone else may want to talk to the rest of Banks' team."

Both men nodded in understanding.

"I'd like to see how you handle a case on your own. It will be just the two of you on your team until at least a week from Monday. The next case that comes in will be yours. You can get back to some standard detective work."

"Yes, Ma'am," Fenn answered.

"Everything okay?" another detective asked as Fenn and Pegram returned to the bullpen.

"Yeah, Pegram answered. "She didn't just automatically assume we were part of whatever mess Banks and Houston left. She said they'd be gone until at least a week from Monday. We get the next case…get a chance to prove ourselves."

"Maybe she'll be what we need here," the other detective speculated.

"You still need help with those financials?" Fenn asked, and they were back at work again.

About an hour later Castle and their little Beckett clone exited the elevator on the homicide floor and headed straight for Beckett's office. A few people waved or spoke to him, and he smiled and called one of them by name. Castle held a drink carrier and a bag of burgers and fries. Jo walked beside him proudly holding a smaller bag containing brownies for dessert.

When Lieutenant Cain asked if she was helping Daddy, she smiled and said, "We're gonna eat lunch with Mommy. I have brownies." She held up the bag as evidence.

"I'll bet your mommy will like that," Cain offered and got the full baby Beckett smile in return before she picked up her pace to keep up with Daddy.

"Are you meeting people, Peanut?"

"Uh-huh," she answered.

"Just be sure you're close to Mommy or Daddy when you talk to somebody new."

"Okay." She was close enough to see Beckett at her desk, and ran the rest of the way to her mother. "We brought you lunch, Mommy. Jamie is with Grandpa John and Granddaddy. They went somewhere else and Daddy and I went to Jamie's school."

"Want to tell her what Mrs. Hammond said?" Castle asked.

"She said when Jamie goes back to school, I can go, too," she told her mother enthusiastically.

"Wow! That's pretty exciting, isn't it?" Kate answered, picking up her little girl. "I'll be sure I'm there to walk both of you to school that morning to see you go to school like a big girl."

Castle put the bag and the drinks on her desk and stood back to watch his girls. He saw the signs of tension on his wife's face relaxing as Jo wrapped her little arms around Kate's neck and smacked a kiss on her cheek.

"Rough morning?" he asked.

"Yeah. Rough morning. It's better now." She kissed Jo's head and wiggled her fingers at Castle. "Strawberry milkshake, Writer-Man," she demanded with a grin, and he smiled back and handed it over.

Her office was furnished with a large desk, a couple of chairs across from it, a bookshelf and file cabinet, and a small sofa against the wall to her left. Castle pulled the small coffee table away from the small sofa and over next to the chair he had pulled up close to the desk; and he set up Jo's child size meal on the table. She scrambled down from Kate's lap to get to it and knelt on the floor to eat. He and Kate divided the rest of what was in the bag and they contentedly bit into their burgers. They talked periodically, Jo adding her voice when there was a subject she recognized.

About halfway through their meal, Fenn and Pegram appeared at the office door. "Captain, if you still want us to take it, we just got a bo…" Looking down at Jo, who was happily taking a drink of her milkshake, Fenn self-corrected and said "We just got a call."

Nodding toward her oblivious daughter, she smiled and said, "Thanks for that. And yes, it's all yours. Get to it."

"Both men answered, "Yes Ma'am," and left with what looked like enthusiasm, something not in widespread use at the precinct yet.

Beckett smiled and Castle observed, "There's a story behind that smile."

Nodding toward the door, she said, "The ignored partners of the two who were suspended. I told them the next case that came in was theirs, that I wanted to see what they could do on their own."

"Looks like they intend to prove they'll do better than the other two."

"I think they might."

"You're good at this."

"I hope so. There's a lot to do."

They talked until the burgers, fries, and brownies were gone, then Castle put all the cups and wrappers in the bag and threw them away. "We should let you get back to work."

"Can I have one of those…" Her face was turned toward his perfectly for a kiss, so he assumed that was what she was asking and gave her the kind of soft, slow kiss they shared that morning.

This time the interruption was from Salazar, the female member of Cain's team. She had been sent to let Beckett know that they were ready to make an arrest in their pending case and two of them were starting on the Davis case. "Oops! Sorry." She said just before husband and wife quickly separated.

"No, I'm sorry. PDA at the precinct isn't something I should indulge in."

"And you have my apologies, too," Castle agreed. "We didn't intend to make anybody uncomfortable." Turning to his daughter, he said, "Come on, Munchkin. Time to go. Jo gave her mother a hug and kiss, and Castle took her hand.

"Sorry about that…" Beckett started.

"Captain, no disrespect intended; but from what I saw, the last thing I'd feel about that is sorry," Salazar responded. "Your business. Not a word will leak from me, but honestly…" She grinned and fanned her hand in front of her face.

Beckett blushed and laughed good naturedly. "Well, whatever… It won't happen again. Now get back to work. Thanks for letting me know."

Still smiling, Salazar answered, "Yes, Ma'am.

As Castle and Jo walked through the bullpen, Cain smiled and waved at the little girl, and she flashed him a big smile and waved back as they walked to the elevator.

"What's with the smile?" Cain asked his partner when she returned.

"They look like a happy family. It makes the captain look as human as the rest of us. So far, I like her."

"Me, too," Cain agreed. "That was good, what she did for Fenn and Pegram.

A good portion of Beckett's afternoon was spent in phone calls. She started with Gates, who was also appalled at the file fiasco and agreed completely with the suspensions and the concern about a lawsuit.

"I really think today it was mostly about a power play," Beckett said, "but it still bothers me that neither one of them answered when asked if they had intended to correct what they had done. I can't sweep that under the rug."

"That concerns me, too. So walk me through what you intend to do and the contacts you intend to make." Gates listened to Beckett's plan and agreed with all of it. "It seems to me that you have it under control."

"I had two good teachers," Beckett answered, and mischievously added, "So thank you…Sir."

Gates laughed and ended the call, and Beckett continued with the other calls she needed to make.

xxxxx

She came home that night to a little boy who wrapped her in a hug and was ready to tell her all about his morning and his lunch with his grandfathers. Jo was in a jumping mood and bounced over to her mother. Kate was quick enough to catch her mid-bounce before she hit the floor again, making everybody laugh at the surprise showing on Jo's face as she was lifted for a hug. And of course, there was the husband who met her with a kiss, and they had a good family evening.

As promised, after the children were asleep, she told Castle about what the suspended detectives had done, and what she had to do in response. "I'm so glad I have you to come home to. It gives me the strength to go back tomorrow."