607. Chapter 607

After Inventing the Girl

Episode 2.03

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I did not invent Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

"You are Ms…..?" The secretary asked politely.

"Miss Tatiana Romanov. I have appointment with Ms. Joseph."

The secretary decided that the Russian woman had been a model. She was tall, leggy, slender with great cheekbones and eyes. Her short red dress was exquisitely tailored and accented her body perfectly. She smiled professionally. "Ms. Joseph will be with you in just a second. Please sit. Would you like some water?"

Before Tatiana could answer, Ms. Joseph walked out of her office. "Ms. Romanov? I'm Joyce Joseph. So glad to meet you."

"Thank you, but call me miss, okay. Tatiana want everyone to know she's not married." Tatiana frowned. "Although still share business with ex-husband."

"Oh, you poor dear. I know what men can be like."

Tatiana smiled at her. Although if our intelligence is right, she knows what an enormous number of men are like. She thought.

Tatiana followed the woman into her office. Then she opened her garment bag and put four dresses on the desk. Joseph gasped. "My god. These are perfect copies of Mr. Gordon's new dresses. But he just showed them at the Paris show yesterday. How could you have copied them so quickly?"

Tatiana laughed. "This Gordon is cheap. He makes dresses in…What is expression? Sweat stores?"

"Sweat shops." Joseph supplied for her.

"Yes. Sweat shops in southern Balkans. Pays seamstresses little and hires fat, sweaty managers who always put hands under girls' clothes. Tatiana goes to bar near factory, buys drinks. Tells girls how they can make one thousand Euros in one night. We have new dresses before Mr. Gordon. Hire same girls, more money, to copy."

Joseph nodded. "And your prices are as stated?"

Tatiana handed her a price list.

"We can do this. Our clientele is hardly the elite of Manhattan who could afford Mr. Gordon originals, but these will sell to secretaries, shop girls and the like. Anyone who wants to look nice on a budget. When can you deliver and how many?"

"My ex-husband, Oleg Kerensky, handles business end. I call him if you want. You know my ex-husband? We work out of London now."

"They call it Londongrad because of all of the Russians there don't they?" Joseph joked. "But, no. I'm afraid I've never heard of him."

"I call Oleg and get back to you later today, okay?" Tatiana left, but never called Ms. Joseph back.

And later…

"I'm David Schiller, Miss Romanov. Care to show me what you have?" He said with a leer. Schiller was once handsome, but he was well past his prime, with a receding hairline and an expanding stomach. He didn't think he was past his prime, however.

Tatiana opened her garment bag and brought out two men's suits. Schiller began to examine them very closely. The more he looked the more he smiled. "I don't believe it. The quality of the materials, the stitching, the style…They're magnificent. And they are definitely from Carroll of London. You can't possibly supply these to me at the prices you quote."

Tatiana smiled. "Tatiana tell you secret. In his, oh so fancy shop in London, Mr. Carroll tell everyone that he uses tailors with thirty, forty, fifty years experience. He can even show you two old men in back of shop, cutting and sewing. But he really has his bespoke suits made in Portugal. Tailors there make a tenth of what tailors in London make. Some of these men are greedy. And Tatiana is very generous."

Tatiana felt a hand on her ass, gently stroking it. She smiled at Schiller and gently removed the hand. "Americans say, business before pleasure. Right?"

Schiller sighed. "But we will get to pleasure?"

"I give you my hotel number maybe. But if you want suits, I need to talk to business partner, Oleg Kerensky in London. You heard of him, maybe?"

"I've never heard of him and I have no desire to. If we're going to do business, I insist that you and I do business together."

She smiled. "That can be arranged. Sounds like fun. Tatiana love fun."

Schiller ordered suits that he hoped he would later sell as genuine Carroll of London suits at a huge markup. However, when he got to Tatiana's hotel room and knocked on the door he found a large African-American man was the only occupant. He wondered what had happened to his deal.

Leaving Schiller's office, Detective Kate Beckett got into the back of Ryan and Esposito's unit. She was happy to find her boyfriend in the backseat as well.

"How'd it go?" Castle asked, just a bit worried.

"Nothing. No reaction at all when I mentioned Oleg Kerensky of London. He's not the one either."

"Maybe he's just being cagey?"

She took his hand, making sure Ryan and Espo couldn't see them in the rear view mirror. "No, by this time they must be desperate for product. When we find the right one, he'll bite."

Castle ostentatiously checked the time. "Why don't you guys drop me off at my place? You can take Beckett back to the precinct. Okay?"

By the time Kate Beckett was done for the day and got back to her apartment, Castle was there with dinner already made and the wine decanted. It was the perfect end to what had been a very disappointing day.

The next morning Tatiana had an appointment with Rick and Nora James, who ran a small but exclusive boutique that always needed bargains. Tatiana showed them a selection of high end fashions that could be had very cheaply, if you didn't care where they came from.

"Your supplier can get a regular supply of these from Europe?" Rick James asked.

Tatiana nodded. "High end dresses come to his country through JFK airport. Sometimes accidents happen. Shipment is lost or destroyed. Insurance pay owners. Then, funny thing. Workers find dresses. What to do? Insurance already paid. Tatiana and partner buy cheap."

"They fall off the back of an airplane?" Nora laughed.

"Exactly."

"Who is your business partner?" Nora asked.

"Oleg Kerensky, of London. Maybe you hear of him?"

Tatiana was rewarded by two smiles. "Why yes we both have." Nora said slyly. "Do you by any chance have any other products from Mr. Kerensky?" Nora very carefully enunciated the word products.

"Just this." Tatiana took an expensive leather coat from her garment bag and handed it to Nora.

"Would you mind if I examined this one more closely in my office. Rick can keep you company." Without waiting for a reply, she took the coat to the office. Sewn inside the lining she found a plastic bag with a white powder in it. She smiled. Within a few minutes a simple chemical test had confirmed that the bag contained heroin, and very pure heroin at that.

She returned the bag to the lining of the coat and quickly sewed in back up.

"I think we can do business with you and Mr. Kerensky." Nora said, walking out of the office and handing Tatiana the coat. "How much, what's the cost and when?"

'I call Oleg in London. Make all arrangements. Call you this afternoon?"

"Excellent." Rick said. "We'll be expecting you."

Kate went back to her unit and her Rick. "Bingo. They bought it. Once Burroughs finds out that the infamous Oleg Kerensky is muscling in on his territory, he'll come out of hiding and will be looking for Kerensky and Tatiana, and we'll get our killer."

Much, much later.

"I loved this dress on you." Castle said, holding his wife's short, black dress up and admiring it.

"The only reason you liked it was because it showed you my legs and when I bent over you could see my ass. That's all you were interested in back then."

"I'm deeply wounded. I was fascinated with you from the first day we met. By the time I saw you in that dress, I was in love with you."

"You were not." Kate laughed.

"I was."

"You were in love with my ass, Castle. Don't try to fool me."

"I was madly in love with you. I was and you can't prove otherwise."

She smiled at him. "Perhaps Reekee can prove to Tatiana that he loved her then? Or maybe Reekee didn't love poor Tatiana."

"I'll do my very best to prove it."

Author's note: I wish they'd bring back Kate's Russian party girl character from Deep in Death, who I've called Tatiana Romanov.