Ian 2

Chapter 63

“Kate, you should take a look at this,” Castle called.

Kate clomped in from the bedroom, where she had just pulled on her boots. “What, Babe?’

“It’s a news story, not exactly a banner headline with all the political stuff going on, but good enough to make it as human interest. There was a cooler of organs dropped off anonymously at New York-Presbyterian, complete with the tissue typing records. The hospital confirmed the test results were correct and several patients signed waivers to receive the organs, even though there was an extra degree of danger attached because the provenance was unknown. One of the patients needed a liver so badly; she would have died in a few hours without the one from the cooler. I think this may be related to the body parts in the bin. There were no organs, right? And no head either? That cooler didn’t just have kidneys, a liver, and a heart; it had corneas. Those would have had to come from the head.”

“That’s a stretch, even for you.”

“Maybe,” Castle allowed, “but could you get Perlmutter to tissue type what body parts he has and crosscheck them with the hospital? I’ll bet that if I’m wrong, the chances of a match are pretty small.”

Kate shrugged. “I can try, Babe, but you know Perlmutter. It won’t be easy.”

“Kate, I have faith. You can make the most hardened criminal crumble. You can handle Perlmutter.”

“Ex-detective, you have been with that writer too long,” Perlmutter accused. “I’m assuming this is his idea?”

“It is,” Kate admitted. “But I am officially consulting for the N.Y.P.D., and I’m the one making the request. If you want to verify that with Captain Montgomery, I’ll wait.”

“I’ll do that,” Perlmutter huffed. He turned to her a few moments later as he hung up the phone. “It seems that Montgomery shares your acceptance of your husband’s fantasies.”

“Or my husband’s brilliance,” Kate suggested. “How long will it take to get results of the tests?”

“The tests can take weeks,” Perlmutter replied sullenly.

“During which time a lot of patients would die,” Kate retorted. “What’s the fastest you can get me some reasonable results?”

“There is a queue, you know, Mrs. Castle. Those are hardly the only tests I need to run.”

“Seeing that all your patients are dead, I don’t see why the tests can’t be moved to the front of the line,” Kate argued. “You’ve already heard from Montgomery, and I did play poker with the mayor and the commissioner, last week.”

Perlmutter threw up his hands. “All right! I should have something preliminary for you by tomorrow. Happy now?”

“I’ll be happy when I have some results,” Kate replied.

Jed Marsten sat by his wife’s bed. She was already looking a lot better. Her skin was less sallow, and the shadows under her eyes had retreated. She still had months ahead of her before she’d be fully healed, but she would be healed. That was all that mattered. That was all that had ever mattered.

The records of who’d received the other organs were confidential, but as a doctor, he’d heard his share of scuttlebutt. They’d all served a good cause. He tried as hard as he could to feel sad for the donor, but he couldn’t. He could only see life and death as inextricably linked. From rotting plants fertilizing new ones to the death of one man giving new life to so many, it was all connected. It all made sense. The universe was one big recycling center. Everything was part of a grand plan. He couldn’t feel guilty for his role in that.

Ian and Fleur snuggled beneath a blanket in front of the big screen television. Chick flicks were not usually his thing. He preferred a good sci-fi story, or swords and sorcery. Fleur usually liked historical dramas, but that Friday, she wanted guaranteed happy endings, and he couldn’t blame her. They could have gone Disney or Pixar, but romance gave them an excuse to cuddle. Not that either one of them normally needed one, but what happened at the park had a chilling effect on the kind of sexual play they had been having when Jody’s screams erupted. Warmth and closeness were all either one of them wanted at that moment --- and hot chocolate. They’d made it the classical way, carefully melting shaved chocolate on the stove and stirring in cream. It was thick and didn’t really need marshmallows, but they added them anyway, the sticky sweetness covering their lips. To add to the sweet buzz, they shared a plate of dark chocolate dipped cookies, left over from the Thanksgiving feast.

Ian watched the story unfolding on the screen. It was hardly an original plot. The protagonists had been high school sweethearts but torn apart when the boy received a scholarship to a school across the country, where his girlfriend would be unable to follow him. He had been willing to reject it, in favor of staying with her, so she broke up with him rather than do what she saw as ruining his future. Years later, both divorced, they met at a high school reunion. The old sparks flew, and they ended up getting married.

Ian couldn’t help thinking about how much time had been wasted. He’d been young during his father’s unhappy marriage to Gina, but he remembered pieces of it. He remembered how many times he’d come home to the lights off because his dad had a migraine after the two of them fought.  And even when he wasn’t in physical pain, Ian could often tell his dad was unhappy, just by the tiny lines around his eyes and mouth. Gina wasn’t happy either. Ian had decided that it could never be worth it to be with someone you didn’t love, and it was worth everything to be with someone you did. He could see that with his dad and Kate. And he could feel it with Fleur. He pulled her toward him, feeling the comforting weight of her head against his shoulder. Chocolate was great, but Fleur was better.

Dr. Sidney Perlmutter gritted his teeth as he picked up the phone to call Kate Beckett. He’d been hoping she was wrong, or more accurately that that crazy husband of hers was wrong, but the preliminary tests were finished, and they checked with the data he’d obtained from the hospital. It was possible that some factors wouldn’t match when the final results were in, but the odds were against it. He already had enough of a match that an emergency transplant could have been authorized. Claude Barger’s organs had ended up on the doorstep of New York -Presbyterian.”

Castle popped out of his chair. “So, I was right!” 

“You were, Kate confirmed. “But I’m not sure how much closer that gets us to Claude Barger’s killer. The traffic cams were a bust. There weren’t any close enough to the house to pick up any car that might have been heading there, and the only thing we have to narrow down the suspects from the cars caught by cameras further away is that the voice the neighbor heard was a male.”

“You have more than that,” Castle pointed out. “Those organs were removed and kept in transplantable condition, all of them. That implies a surgeon or at least someone with advanced surgical skills. Could you run the owners of the cars in the area around the time the neighbor heard the argument against the professions of the owners?”

Kate rubbed her hand down the length of her face. “The DMV doesn’t have that kind of data. We’d have to individually check the background of the owner of each car --- assuming their owners were driving the cars. It’s a long shot, Babe and a lot of work. I’d have to access the databases available at the precinct.”

“I’m pretty sure that Ian and Fleur are going to be here pretty much all weekend,” Castle said. “If they are willing to spend some of that time looking after Amelia, I can help.”