552. Chapter 552

After Limelight

Episode 6.13

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Even with my glasses, I don't look like I own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above

Castle was asleep when the phone rang. He grabbed the phone off of his nightstand and looked at the caller ID. It wasn't Kate and the number was blocked. He answered it. "Castle."

"Mr. Castle? It's me, Mandy Sutton."

"Mandy. How are you?"

"Not so good. I think…." Her voice trailed off.

"You think?" Castle prompted.

"I think I killed someone."

Castle sat up in bed, fully awake. "You what?"

"I think I killed someone. I'm in my suite at the Fairwick. I woke up in bed with this guy and he has a knife in his back. He's dead. Can you help me?"

Castle shook his head to clear it. "You know that my fiancé is a homicide detective? Kate Beckett?"

"I know. But you helped me before. Can you help me? You and Alexis?"

Castle thought for a second. "I'll come with the police and I'll help solve the crime, even if that means I find that you did it. But, Alexis can't come with me. She's working on a college project in Washington DC. Is that okay with you?"

"I guess it's the best I can do."

When he hung up, Castle called Beckett to alert her, then headed for the Fairwick. He got there before the police and spoke to Mandy. "Where's Zach?"

Mandy reached for a bottle of vodka, but Rick stopped her. "You should be sober for the cops."

"Zach and I broke up. I went to a party for a guy I know. He drinks a lot. His friends drink a lot. I was feeling left out. So I drank a lot. Then I danced on the bar and did a strip tease. Zach saw the pictures and dumped me three days ago."

"Who's the corpse?"

Mandy shook her head slowly. "I don't know."

"He's naked and in your bed. You don't know who he is?"

"It happens. He's a friend of Jerry, the guy whose party I was at when…it happened."

Before Castle could ask another question, the police arrived: Kate, Ryan, Esposito, Lanie, some uniforms and CSU. Mandy repeated her story to Kate.

"Do you know anything about this Jerry? Last name, address, phone number, anything?"

Mandy shook her head. "He likes to drink at Fiddler's Green. It's a bar in the Bronx. It's where the party was for Jerry."

Kate nodded. "Castle and I'll check it out and see if we can find Jerry."

Fiddler's Green was a local neighborhood bar in the Bronx, not too fancy, but not a dive bar, either. Kate talked to the bartender. "Mandy Sutton was in here for a party a few days back with a Jerry. Is he here?"

The bartender pointed to three young men drinking at a table. "That's him facing us. Jerry Malloy and his two cousins."

They walked over and Kate showed her badge. "A little early for drinking, isn't it?"

Malloy looked up at her. "Is that against the law?"

"No. Mandy Sutton was here for a party for you. She woke up this morning with a dead body in her bed." Kate showed a morgue picture of the deceased. "You know him?"

Malloy nodded. "Bob Cebulski. Dead?" He shook his head. "Jesus."

Kate nodded. "Our ME put the time of death between midnight and two o'clock last night. Just out of curiosity, where were you?'

Malloy laughed and took a long drink. "I have no real clue. I was drunk."

One of the cousins spoke. "He was here until two AM. We carried him back to his place. Ask anyone."

"Where do you know Cebulski from?" Castle asked.

"Bronx VA hospital."

"You work there?"

Malloy lifted his pants leg to show a prosthetic leg. "I get treated there. The leg, damage to my hip, kidneys, some holes in my intestines, retained shrapnel, TBI and depression. I used to be a medic so I know the dangers of abusing pain killers. Unfortunately, so does the VA, so I self medicate. It's easier than fighting the doctors for more meds." He lifted his glass.

"Did Cebulski have any enemies? Any problems with anyone?" Kate asked.

"He said his roommate was a leach, never paid his share of things. Always had excuses. Bob said he was going to kick his ass out of their apartment."

"The roommate have a name?"

"Most people do, but I never heard it. Only saw the guy once, headed away from me to catch a bus. Skinny dude with dark hair. Not a veteran, so there'd be no record of him at the VA."

Rick and Kate got an address from Malloy for Cebulski. It was an apartment building. They talked to the manager.

"Christ? Cebulski's dead? Damn! He was a good kid."

"Can we look at his place? Is his roommate in?"

"You can look, but the roommate's not there. Saw him leaving this morning with two suitcases. Since he only came in with one, it made me wonder."

"Do you know his name? Identifying data from the lease?"

"He was never on the lease, but he got mail here. Name's Michael De Ruyter."

"Do you think you could describe him to a police sketch artist?"

"I'll try, but since I got the diabetes, my eyes ain't so good." He pointed to his thick lensed glasses.

Later, they looked at the sketch. Castle shook his head. "The guy was right. He should have a dog and a white cane. This is as generic a picture as you can get. The landlord is sure he had hair, probably dark, or at least it looked dark. The eyes? Well, he was sure the guy had no more than two. He had teeth and from that we can conclude he had a mouth. The picture is useless."

"What about CSU?" Ryan asked.

Kate looked at the CSU report. "The knife is a standard Fairwick Hotel steak knife. Mandy had a prime rib that night. No prints on the knife and the only other prints are Mandy, Cebulski and members of the housecleaning staff. The staff all have solid alibis."

Castle looked around at the detectives. "So, Mandy stabbed the guy while she was drunk? Manslaughter? She didn't intend to kill him."

"Or second degree murder." Espo said. "She willingly got so drunk she can't remember what happened. That's extremely reckless conduct and the knife was driven all the way into the guy. She intended to stab him, or that's what the DA might say."

"But she does have the money for the best lawyers around." Ryan said.

"And a reputation as a wild party girl." Castle added. "That won't help."

A uniform handed Beckett a report from CSU. She read it out loud. "This is the report from CSU on Cebulski's apartment. They found traces of blood in the carpet. They're running it to see if it's Cebulski's blood. And, they found another set of prints in the apartment that didn't belong to Cebulski. They matched it with a Michael De Ruyter, born and raised in the US, but because his parents were diplomats at the UN, he wasn't a citizen. He's Dutch. "Kate held up a photo. "And we have his picture. Get an APB out on him and call TSA."

Mandy Sutton sat across from Rick and Kate at the precinct. "So, I didn't kill anyone?"

"No, Cebulski's roommate was getting the boot, although he talked him into letting him stay a few more days. You ran into Cebulski and took him back to your suite. You got drunk and passed out, so Cebulski called his roommate to help him get back home. Cebulski was still wasted when his roommate got there, so the roommate started stealing a few items from you. Cebulski caught him and turned to tell you about it. He was stabbed in the back, staggered to your bed and died. We found his blood on the roommates clothing in his suitcases as well as some stuff of yours. He made a full confession."

"So everything is good?" Mandy asked.

Castle sighed. "Well, I do have to tell Alexis that her former boyfriend is a killer."