I love combining my two favorite things into one story… Dance and Castle! This chapter is like all case solving but I promise you an interesting twist.
…
Beckett's Apartment
Castle's eyes quickly shot open when he heard Beckett's phone ringing on the side table.
"Hey Ryan."
"Castle? Why are you answering Beckett's phone?" The detective asked.
"Kate's asleep right now but I'll wake her up if you have any leads," Rick replied.
"Yeah, actually I do have a lead. We unlocked our vic's phone and pulled up her phone records. She received five calls from the same number around 10:30 the night she was killed."
"That's right in our time frame, isn't it? Can you track this number?" Castle asked.
"Yeah, some guy named Jacob Tournet. Uniforms are bringing him now."
"Okay, Beckett and I will be there soon."
The 12th Precinct
"What was your relationship with Mia Wilson?" Esposito asked Jacob Tournet.
Jacob hesitated and looked from Ryan to Esposito. "I would like to know why I'm here. I didn't do anything."
"Answer the question, Jake," Ryan replied impatiently.
"Okay, okay. I was Mia's boyfriend."
"Mia didn't have a boyfriend. Her mother and sister would have mentioned that," Esposito said.
"We were secretly dating… no one knew. With her doing ballet, her mom didn't want her distracted by anything," Jacob spoke.
"How can you prove that? You could be the killer just trying to cover your tracks."
"No, I would never kill her! I would never kill anyone, trust me. I… I'm sure some of her friends at her studio know. Someone had to of known about us, besides her."
"Why did you call Mia right around the time she was murdered?" Ryan questioned.
"Do I need a reason? I was her boyfriend for God's sake…"
"Wrong answer, Jake. Are you looking for an uncomfortable bed and some fellow cell mates?" Ryan said.
"No! You can't arrest me!"
"No, but we can charge you if you don't speak up… now."
"Fine," Jake sighed before he began again, "I called to check in on Mia. She had gone to a party in celebration of her getting the lead in the studio's next performance. Everyone who got a part was there, but I was worried about her."
"Why did we find her body in a back alley then?" Ryan asked.
"I don't know."
"Why didn't she answer any of these calls?"
"I don't know! She had been irritated lately… at what I don't know."
Ryan gave him a look and Jacob looked down at the table, in thought.
"We were in a fight… she must have been mad at me. But she was the one who started this fight… after she became so moody and impatient," Jacob said quietly.
"You said you were her boyfriend?" Esposito asked quickly.
"I was."
"You could have told us that before and made this whole thing a lot easier. But now you just look guilty."
"I swear I didn't kill her!"
"When did her mood start to change?"
"About a month ago. It was screwing our relationship up. Look detectives, someone was messing with her and I didn't know how to stop it. That person was probably the person who killed her," Jacob replied.
"I'm going to need you to give me the address of her dance studio and where that party was held. Meanwhile, stay in the city. We don't want you looking anymore guilty than you have to be," Ryan finished.
As Ryan and Esposito got the information from their only suspect, Castle and Beckett arrived.
"Jacob was our vic's secret lover. About a month ago, she became irritable and Jacob believes someone was messing with her head," Esposito filled them in.
"He still could have killed her. We have no proof that they were in a relationship," Beckett replied.
"No, but we do have an address to her studio where she spent most of her time, and we know where she was before she ended up in that alley."
"Alright, you and Ryan question the workers at the venue where the party was held, while Castle and I talk to her friends at the studio," Beckett announced.
Dance Studio
An older, proper woman saw Castle and Beckett entering her studio and she came to greet them.
"Hello, I'm Jessica Gazer. Can I ask you what brings you to my studio on this fine afternoon?"
"I'm Detective Kate Beckett and this is Richard Castle. We are investigating the murder of one of your dancers, Mia Wilson."
"Oh, yes. We are extremely devastated that she is gone. You may talk to anyone you need to. I'll call everyone to the lobby for you," Jessica said softly.
"Thank you," Beckett said.
"I think she did it," Castle whispered to his partner.
Kate gave him an angered look telling him this wasn't a time for jokes. Although, she did want to laugh, she held it back.
The duo began asking random people in the lobby about the victim.
"Did you know Mia well?" Kate asked one brunette.
"Not personally, but I know she was talented. She had the lead in the show and the most amazing fouettés on pointe."
"Do you know anyone who would possibly want to harm Mia?"
"Well, every one of us hoped she would break something and not be able to perform."
"Excuse me?" Beckett asked.
"It's nothing personal. When someone gets the lead, people have thoughts like that. Some people want it so bad they will do pretty much anything to get it," she replied.
"Even murder?"
The brunette shook her head. "I, personally, would never go through that much trouble just for a part."
"Who did she talk to here?"
"She had a so called 'best friend', Elaina over there," she looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping, "but, Elaina was secretly putting laxatives in her food."
"I think we should bring Elaina to the precinct," Beckett said to Castle before turning back to the dancer, "thank you for answering our questions. You helped a lot."
Kate called Esposito and informed him of their next move. "Did you get anything?" She asked after she filled him in.
"Yeah, actually a caterer saw our vic leave the party after 10:30 pm with a tall, Caucasian guy with black hair."
"She left the party with Jacob? Around the same the same time her was calling her?"
"Yeah, looks like he left something out of his interrogation," Esposito announced.
Wow, I just figured out how to get that text divider! ^ (Natural blond here)
And a special thanks to moi for knowing ballet terms! Although, it only played a little part in this chapter, it pays to being a ballerina for 12 years.
PS: I'm so excited for Castle tonight! An hour and a half for us east coasters! :)