469. Chapter 469

After He's Dead, She's Dead

Episode 3.02

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle, I don't own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

"Come on, Beckett. You know you will."

"No, Castle, I won't."

"You need to."

"I most certainly do not need to!"

He smiled at her. "I'll do it for you."

She rolled her eyes. "That'll be the day."

"You need to do this, Beckett. How can you not do it, and right now?"

"Castle, you know I'm carrying a gun."

"It won't do you any good."

Martha had finally had enough. "Will you two get on with it while I'm still young?"

"Martha, I won't wear your old wedding ring. What if something happens to it?"

"My second husband gave me that ring and then he stole every penny I had. I only keep it around so I'll remember how stupid I was. If something happens to, so much the better." Martha smiled at the thought of something happening to that ring. "Oh! Dear, you should wear this diamond bracelet and matching earrings." She held them out.

"Martha! I can't. Those are too valuable! I'd never forgive myself if something happened to them."

"Oh, nonsense, Katherine. Richard gave me those years ago. If something happens to them, he can just by me some replacements. Better replacements." She added with a wistful smile.

"Better?" Castle asked. "To quote John Wayne, Buddy Holly and Detective Kate Beckett, that'll be the day."

"Martha, this is all too much."

"Kate, you're supposed to be going undercover as a woman married to a very wealthy man. And, that kind of woman would…"

Castle was interrupted by Alexis coming through the door of the loft. "Wow! Looking good, Detective Beckett. Is that a Dior dress you're wearing?"

"No, it's a knockoff that was seized by the NYPD. I'm wearing it for some undercover work."

"It's not a knock off, dear. More like an homage. Top of the line material, excellent seamstress work and a flawless copy of the design. Except for the lack of a label, this is as good as anything the real Dior ever made."

"And, if you want to present the image of a very wealthy woman, a very wealthy married woman, you need this." Before Kate could say anything, Castle took her left hand and slipped the wedding ring onto her ring finger. "There. That wasn't so bad was it?"

Kate said nothing, but felt a sudden, odd feeling in her stomach when Castle put the ring on her finger.

"Why is Detective Beckett getting all dressed up?" Alexis asked.

Kate would have just said it was for a case, but Castle had to elaborate and spoke first. "A Mrs. Kinsmen was murdered. She was a very wealthy and flighty woman. She loved to go to psychics, fortune tellers, mediums and the like. We're pretty sure that one of them got together with Mrs. Kinsmen's nephew, Jimmy Wolle, and convinced her to change her will to make Jimmy the main beneficiary, then they killed her and split the take. The problems is, we don't know which of the people she went to is the other guilty party. So, Beckett is going hunting, complete with a philandering husband, "Castle smiled, "that's me. And there'll be a non-existent family friend in need of ready cash."

Castle turned to Beckett and offered her his arm. "Ready to go, Mrs. Castle?"

In spite of the odd feeling in her stomach again, Kate replied, "It's Mrs. Beckett. When going undercover, Castle, you have to play your part."

The first psychic they went to was a Madame Sydney who had a nice office in Midtown. Nice, but not the best, but being a psychic obviously paid.

"Madame Sydney?" Kate said, breathlessly. "I've heard so much about you from Angie Fellows, Grace Downs, Marie Trent, and so many others. I'm so happy to meet you." The names were three women who had been identified in the course of the investigation and who would all be out of the country and unavailable for some time.

"Glad to meet you as well." Madame Sydney said with a small bow. "I like to start with a tarot reading. The cards can tell us many things."

As Madame Sydney slowly dealt the tarot cards, she chatted with Kate and soon came up with some things that anyone could have told from Kate's accent, speech patterns, vocabulary and dress. Madame Sydney said she was a native New Yorker, well educated, wealthy and somewhat footloose, the last wasn't the case at all.

When Madame Sydney had dealt the cards, she looked at them, then spoke. "I will have to analyze what the cards have said in more detail. Could we meet again in two days?"

Kate immediately agreed.

As Kate was getting up to leave, Madame Sydney put her hand on Kate's arm. "One thing I feel very strongly. You are not as happy in your life as you could be, but you have already met a man who will help you find that happiness that has eluded you."

When Kate walked to the car, she saw Castle was smiling broadly.

"You were listening to what the wire picked up?" She said as he drove away.

"Of course."

"And you must know that's just the kind of garbage that phony mystics dole out. I'm not as happy as I could be? How many people are as happy as they could possibly be? And I'll meet a man who'll help me find happiness. She didn't say when, so it could be in ten years and the mark would think she was right. And would help me find happiness? How much help? How much happiness? You'd have to be pretty gullible to fall for that, Castle."

But Castle just smiled at her.

The next two psychics were of the low rent variety and Kate mentally crossed them off of her suspects list, although she would continue to see them, just in case they were smarter than they appeared to be.

The last stop that day was Miss Elsye who lived in an average middle class neighborhood in Brooklyn. Miss Elsye was tall, slender, and dressed in what Kate would have called business casual. She had long black hair and a dark completion. Kate couldn't decide if she was a light skinned African-American, a Native American, from the Middle East or Southern Europe, or possibly India.

Miss Elsye sat Kate down on her couch and chatted with her. To Kate's surprise, she talked mostly about herself and hardly at all about Kate. As their half hour session was closing, she suddenly took Kate's left hand. "The man who put this on your finger loves you very much."

"You mean my husband, Mr. Beckett?" Kate asked.

Miss Elsye shrugged. "I just know that the man who put this ring on your finger loves you very much."

Kate knew that Castle would give her a hard time when she got to the car, but he surprised her by saying nothing.

Much, much, much later.

Kate relaxed on Castle's lap while sitting by the beach in the Hamptons.

"You still refuse to believe that those women told you the truth?" He said.

"Castle, we've been over this. What Miss Elsye said is what any so called psychic would have said. The man who gave me the ring loves me very much. Duh! It was a wedding ring. Of course he man who gave it to me would love me."

"Still…" He began.

"Still, nothing, Castle. They're phonies." But I did meet a man who's given me more happiness than I ever imagined I'd ever have. And the man who put that ring on my finger does love me very much, as I love him. That is magic, and I really have found magic, but it's not the kind any psychic can find for you.