432. Chapter 432

After In Plane Sight

Episode 7.21

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Yes! I DO own Castle. Sorry, I don't. I just always wanted to say that. Rating: K Time: See above.

First it was the weight on top of him, closely followed by something soft, warm and wet demanding entrance to his mouth and a hand sliding under his boxers.

"Hey! I'm a married man!" He screamed, struggling out from under the covers.

"Glad you remember that." She said, and then dissolved in giggles.

"Kate! What are you doing in London? And in my bed?"

"If you don't know what I'm doing in your bed, I'm really glad I decided to come to see you."

"That's not what I meant. Why are you here?"

"When you brought Alexis back from Paris, I told you to never do anything like that without me again."

"I didn't do anything!" He protested. "It was so not my fault."

Kate slowly shook her head. "That's right, Writer Boy. Try to talk your way out of it. I should have known that you'd find some way to get yourself in trouble if I let you go to England without me. Which is why I came to see you. To make sure you didn't get into any more trouble here."

Rick pulled her close and kissed her. "What was it you were doing again?"

An hour later he was up, showered, shaved and dressed. "Are you tired from the flight?" He asked her.

She shook her head. "I slept on the plane, but I am hungry."

Castle checked his watch. "In that case, I recommend an authentic English breakfast, even though my stomach tells me it's more like dinner time. Needless to say, I didn't get any sleep on the plane."

"Where's Alexis?"

"She has friends in London. She didn't even take a nap before she went off to see them. I wish I had that kind of energy."

Kate smiled at him. "I didn't find anything wrong with your energy."

He took Kate downstairs and ordered breakfast of bacon, fried eggs, fried tomatoes, sausages and baked beans. The traditional tea was replaced with coffee.

"We can go shopping now that you're here. And I have a surprise for you."

Kate sighed. She didn't care that her husband was rich, but he seemed to feel that he had to spend money on her for any reason or none at all. "Castle, you realize that if you spend too much money on me, you'll have to spend more time writing to make up for it." She lowered her voice to a sexy purr. "And you know what we could do with all of that time?"

"I just like doing things for you. Besides, there's something that I have to get you or you'll really be mad."

"Castle…" She began.

"We'll start at Harrods." Castle said cheerfully.

Kate was happy to have gotten Castle to leave Harrods by lunchtime, although he did insist that they have lunch there. He tried to get her to stay for high tea, but she declined.

"Castle, if you buy me anything else, we'll have to charter another plane to take us back home and we'll need another loft to store everything in."

"Good idea." He said, turning around, just as she had gotten him near the front door. She took his hand in both of hers and pulled him towards the door. "Look! A Harrods' police teddy bear!" He said excitedly.

"Castle, we do not need a London Bobby teddy bear!"

She lost that argument, but got Castle out of the store. The teddy bear seemed happy to be going with them.

"Now for the surprise." He said, smiling. "You're going to love this."

"We don't need anything else." Kate said in her best I-mean-it-Castle voice.

"Of course you do. We have to get you your costume."

"Costume?" Kate said, not understanding.

"I've been invited to a meeting of the Sherlock Holmes Society. Of course everyone dressed as if its 1891."

"Let me guess. You're going as Sherlock Holmes."

Castle's happy smile faded. "Regrettably you have to be a member to be Sherlock. I'm to be Sir Henry Baskerville. You'll be Lady Baskerville. Quick, Beckett! The game is afoot."

"You know that was originally written by Shakespeare, not Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle?" She asked as she followed him to a cab.

"The line is from Henry V, Act 3, Scene 1, the siege of Harfleur." Castle said. "Once more unto the breach, dear friends…" Castle began, amusing the cab driver immensely.

An hour later, Kate was looking at herself in a long, dove grey dress that was tight through the bodice, but fell in soft folds from her waist down. "Is Alexis coming also?" She asked.

Castle nodded. "Of course. She'll be Miss J. Wilson, a member of the Redheaded League."

"Who else would she be?" Kate laughed.

Later than night they arrived at the premises of the Sherlock Holmes Society and were introduced to the other guests. Among them were Mrs. Hudson, Irene Adler, Inspector Lestrade, several Baker Street Irregulars, Mary Morstan, and assorted other inhabitants of London of the 1890s, including a very presentable Sir Arthur Sullivan and Sir William S. Gilbert. In fact, after a light meal, they were to be entertained by a performance of songs from the Pirates of Penzance.

But, before the performance, the lead singer, who was to sing the part of Mable Stanley, staggered out from back stage, clutching her stomach. Blood dripped down her white dress. She gasped and fell to the floor.

Kate rushed to her at once, checking her neck for a pulse. "She's still alive. Call an ambulance."

A tall, imposing man stood over her. "The lady is dead, Lady Baskerville."

"She's alive!" Kate snapped.

"She's dead. I am Doctor John Watson and she is dead."

Kate felt something tapping her knee. She looked down to see the "corpse" look up at her and mouth the word "dead", then wink.

Kate stood up. "Of course, doctor. You're correct." She went back and sat between Rick and Alexis.

"Who could have killed this poor woman?" Dr. Watson said portentously. "Who would have killed the lovely and talented Mary Poole? I regret that my friend, Sherlock Holmes could not be with us, so we must solve this ourselves. "

"We have three suspects, the only people backstage. " Inspector Lestrade said, as a London Bobby brought out three men. "The first is Patrick Brennan."

Mr. Brennan, dressed as a workingman, took off his cloth cap and spoke. "Honest, it wasn't me. I was in the back by the dressing rooms, having a wee tipple." He pulled out a small bottle of cheap gin to demonstrate.

Lestrade snorted. "Mr. Brennan has been by the ladies dressing rooms before. Sometimes, in their haste, the ladies sometimes accidentally leave the door ajar and Mr. Brennan tries to see them en dishabille, the cad."

"T'wasn't me." Brennan sobbed. "I liked Miss Poole."

Lestrade continued. "Next is Mr. David Pryce. Mr. Pryce is a pianist for another company. He has no business being here and he was seen arguing with Miss Poole shortly before her death." Pryce was a handsome young man and it appeared he knew he was handsome, and from his clothing, a bit of a dandy.

"Arguing? Hardly." Pryce said coldly. "We merely differed over the piano accompaniment to her solo. I thought it was gauche. As to why I'm here, I came to see some of my mates."

Lestrade glared at Pryce, but turned to the third man. He was expensively dressed, but older and a bit pudgy. "Mr. George Sinclair, a banker. Since he was widowed several years ago, he's developed a taste for light opera and for singers young enough to be his daughter. Several people have said that he had expressed an interest in Miss Poole."

"Just because I have a taste for a bit of enjoyment does not mean I'm a murderer, my good man." Sinclair said with a superior air.

Before anyone could say anything, Alexis stood up. "May I examine the body, please, Inspector Lestrade?"

Lestrade nodded. "Of course, Miss Wilson."

Alexis knelt by the "deceased", an act made a bit comic when the deceased giggled. "Sorry. I'm ticklish." She said sotto voce.

Alexis stood up. "Miss Poole comes from money, I see?"

Lestrade nodded. "Her father is a wealthy manufacturer in Liverpool. How did you know?"

"The diamond bracelet. If it were part of her costume, it would be fake, but those are real diamonds. And I believe that Miss Poole was recently abroad, probably in the more southerly of Her Majesties Dominions."

"Again correct, Miss Wilson. She recently returned from a tour of Australia. Again, how did you know?"

"There is a narrow strip of skin on the ring finger of her left hand where one might wear a ring that is lighter than the remainder of her hand. That indicated to me that she had been exposed to the sun. As it is spring here in England, I decided she had been in the southern hemisphere. And a lady would only wear an engagement ring on the ring finger of her left hand, but she had no ring. That indicates the engagement was recently broken off."

Alexis turned to Mr. Pryce. "Referring to your friends as "mates" is common in Australia, isn't it, Mr. Pryce? I suggest that you are a fortune hunter who hoped to snag a rich wife in Miss Poole while in Australia. She must have discovered what you really were and broken off the engagement. It was just bad luck for her that she ran into you in London. You killed her to keep her from exposing you, didn't you?"

Inspector Lestrades hand landed on Pryce's shoulder. "I think you should come with me, sir."

Alexis was congratulated by one and all. Miss Poole recovered from her tragic death and sang for them, accompanied by Mr. Pryce on the piano.

"How did you figure that out?" Rick asked his daughter once they were back at the hotel.

"You won't like it." Alexis warned.

"Tell us anyway."

"I had to go to the bathroom shortly after we arrived. The walls are very thin and I heard them explaining the clues to each other so they got them right. In short, I cheated."

Kate smiled. "You still got a confession. I must be rubbing off on you." Kate said smugly while looking at Rick through her eyelashes.

"You must be…." Rick stopped. "Of course that's it."

The two women just smiled.