Castle fic: "the high crime of being Patsy Tamour"
Title: The high crime of being Patsy Tamour (part two)
Author: Keenir.
Characters: Alexis Castle, Kate Beckett, Richard Castle, Owen,
Rating: PG-13
Summary: There's more than one way to skin an egg...or a novelist.
Disclaimer: If there is a real Patsy Tamour, I apologize. At the time of writing this, all characters within are fictional, and no resemblance with real people, institutions is intended.
Disclaimer: I do not own Castle, the characters, or the products from them.
Spoilers: series 1 finale, episodes 2.01-2.03
Author's Notes:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MORNING:
"So, Earl," Beckett said as she and Ryan sat across from him in the interrogation room, "why don't you tell me about who hired you to play dead?"
"I may've mentioned to nobody in particular that I'm between jobs at the moment," said Earl, who was an actor, or tried to be one as often as he could. "And she came over and told me that she could arrange an introduction to the director - who's doing the casting himself - of a new show they're making."
"So why were you playing dead?"
"This director, she says he doesn't like auditions - bad experiences with roles or something - and he's more likely to give me a role if he sees how well I can perform."
Ryan considered standing up, leaning on the table to stare down the perp/vic, and saying hey! the lady asked you a question! to be more than a little clicheed. "So what does this have to do with how we found you?"
Earl shrugged. "She said the guy's a fan of zombie movies. So if I play dead reallll good..."
"You get the part."
"That's what I hoped."
"So what did you think we were?"
Another shrug, this one weaker and more hesitant than the last. "I don't know... some of this director's crew, seeing how well I acted, maybe...or more actors like me, sent, like me, to that spot." He sighed. "She told me to wait there, on the grass, between the streetlamps."
"Her name wouldn't by any chance be Nikki Heat, would it?" Beckett asked.
"N-Nikki Heat's a fictional character, officer," he said. "She said her name was Patsy Tamour."
Well, at least she's honest and not hiding behind her characters, Beckett thought to herself. "What happened?"
"We got out to the grass, and I laid down, and she crouched by my head and thanked me."
"What did she say?" Ryan asked.
"'Thank you.' That's it, I swear."
Behind the one-way glass, Castle said, "'Nikki Heat'? Where did that come from?"
"From the only business card in his wallet that didn't have his name on it. Nobody by that name in New York or Jersey, and I've got a broader search running, just in case." He looked at Castle. "But we both know nothing'll come up."
Castle nodded. "Patsy Tamour's behind this."
"The phone number on the card's a real one - goes to a rented one-room apartment. We've got guys over there now."
"It could just be a red herring," Castle said.
"I don't know, man, aren't you better-known for the false leads?"
"Ah, but that's only because a novel gives one room to move about in, it affords plenty of time." Hearing something Mr. Grey said, Castle leaned against the glass. "Did he just say 'Nikki Heat: the Series'?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EVENING:
Castle said absolutely nothing as he waited - Beckett had proven herself to be just as terrifying the second time she heard that Nikki Heat was the intellectual property of two people (neither being herself) as the first time she'd heard that.
Beckett hung up the phone, looking around the table at the three seated men - Castle, Esposito, and Ryan. "That was forensics. No fingerprints at the one-room. Just a sheet of printer paper with this on it," and showed them what she'd copied down: what the head forensic examiner on the scene had told her:
SO
LONG
ALEXIS
CASTLE
"That's it," Beckett said.
"No punctuation?" Castle asked.
"None."
"Why Alexis?"
"Maybe you're too big a fish," Ryan offered.
"So Tamour's going after his family?" Esposito asked.
"Too cliche?"
"If I were writing, absolutely," Castle said. "It's practically a tv trope for that reason. Still, as the three of you enjoy reminding me, this is the real world, and not a story."
"I wish it was, bro," Esposito said.
"Thanks. Granted, I probably wouldn't have gotten past chapter two."
"If you're done now," Beckett interjected, and would have told them something else -
But Castle's phone rang. "Castle," he said, answering it. "Mother, calm - calm down, mother," he said. "They took - who took Alexis?"
So much for that theory, Esposito thought to himself, having been trying to look at recent events on another angle.
"Yes, yes I know Alexis would have come over to say she was going out," Castle said. "Yes, I'm at the police station right now. Oh you bet I'm going to file a report."
Nobody had to mention just how much pull Richard Castle had with the Mayor and everyone else who could tell the police what to do.
Once Castle had hung up, Beckett asked him, "Alexis was kidnapped?"
"She told me that she had a date tonight," Castle said. "And while my mother says Owen didn't show up, she also informed me that she didn't go to the door until she noticed how quiet our apartment had become."
"You think she was kidnapped by the guy who she took to the prom?" Ryan asked. "I mean it's just as likely, but -"
"I told you he was a serial killer!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
tbc.
Author: Keenir.
Characters: Alexis Castle, Kate Beckett, Richard Castle, Owen,
Rating: PG-13
Summary: There's more than one way to skin an egg...or a novelist.
Disclaimer: If there is a real Patsy Tamour, I apologize. At the time of writing this, all characters within are fictional, and no resemblance with real people, institutions is intended.
Disclaimer: I do not own Castle, the characters, or the products from them.
Spoilers: series 1 finale, episodes 2.01-2.03
Author's Notes:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MORNING:
"So, Earl," Beckett said as she and Ryan sat across from him in the interrogation room, "why don't you tell me about who hired you to play dead?"
"I may've mentioned to nobody in particular that I'm between jobs at the moment," said Earl, who was an actor, or tried to be one as often as he could. "And she came over and told me that she could arrange an introduction to the director - who's doing the casting himself - of a new show they're making."
"So why were you playing dead?"
"This director, she says he doesn't like auditions - bad experiences with roles or something - and he's more likely to give me a role if he sees how well I can perform."
Ryan considered standing up, leaning on the table to stare down the perp/vic, and saying hey! the lady asked you a question! to be more than a little clicheed. "So what does this have to do with how we found you?"
Earl shrugged. "She said the guy's a fan of zombie movies. So if I play dead reallll good..."
"You get the part."
"That's what I hoped."
"So what did you think we were?"
Another shrug, this one weaker and more hesitant than the last. "I don't know... some of this director's crew, seeing how well I acted, maybe...or more actors like me, sent, like me, to that spot." He sighed. "She told me to wait there, on the grass, between the streetlamps."
"Her name wouldn't by any chance be Nikki Heat, would it?" Beckett asked.
"N-Nikki Heat's a fictional character, officer," he said. "She said her name was Patsy Tamour."
Well, at least she's honest and not hiding behind her characters, Beckett thought to herself. "What happened?"
"We got out to the grass, and I laid down, and she crouched by my head and thanked me."
"What did she say?" Ryan asked.
"'Thank you.' That's it, I swear."
Behind the one-way glass, Castle said, "'Nikki Heat'? Where did that come from?"
"From the only business card in his wallet that didn't have his name on it. Nobody by that name in New York or Jersey, and I've got a broader search running, just in case." He looked at Castle. "But we both know nothing'll come up."
Castle nodded. "Patsy Tamour's behind this."
"The phone number on the card's a real one - goes to a rented one-room apartment. We've got guys over there now."
"It could just be a red herring," Castle said.
"I don't know, man, aren't you better-known for the false leads?"
"Ah, but that's only because a novel gives one room to move about in, it affords plenty of time." Hearing something Mr. Grey said, Castle leaned against the glass. "Did he just say 'Nikki Heat: the Series'?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EVENING:
Castle said absolutely nothing as he waited - Beckett had proven herself to be just as terrifying the second time she heard that Nikki Heat was the intellectual property of two people (neither being herself) as the first time she'd heard that.
Beckett hung up the phone, looking around the table at the three seated men - Castle, Esposito, and Ryan. "That was forensics. No fingerprints at the one-room. Just a sheet of printer paper with this on it," and showed them what she'd copied down: what the head forensic examiner on the scene had told her:
SO
LONG
ALEXIS
CASTLE
"That's it," Beckett said.
"No punctuation?" Castle asked.
"None."
"Why Alexis?"
"Maybe you're too big a fish," Ryan offered.
"So Tamour's going after his family?" Esposito asked.
"Too cliche?"
"If I were writing, absolutely," Castle said. "It's practically a tv trope for that reason. Still, as the three of you enjoy reminding me, this is the real world, and not a story."
"I wish it was, bro," Esposito said.
"Thanks. Granted, I probably wouldn't have gotten past chapter two."
"If you're done now," Beckett interjected, and would have told them something else -
But Castle's phone rang. "Castle," he said, answering it. "Mother, calm - calm down, mother," he said. "They took - who took Alexis?"
So much for that theory, Esposito thought to himself, having been trying to look at recent events on another angle.
"Yes, yes I know Alexis would have come over to say she was going out," Castle said. "Yes, I'm at the police station right now. Oh you bet I'm going to file a report."
Nobody had to mention just how much pull Richard Castle had with the Mayor and everyone else who could tell the police what to do.
Once Castle had hung up, Beckett asked him, "Alexis was kidnapped?"
"She told me that she had a date tonight," Castle said. "And while my mother says Owen didn't show up, she also informed me that she didn't go to the door until she noticed how quiet our apartment had become."
"You think she was kidnapped by the guy who she took to the prom?" Ryan asked. "I mean it's just as likely, but -"
"I told you he was a serial killer!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
tbc.