679. Chapter 679

After Secret's Safe with Me

Episode 5.03

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: The butler doesn't own Castle and neither do I. Rating: K Time: See above.

"I know who the killer is."

Lanie, who had been with the dead body for some five minutes, and Kate who had just arrived with Castle, stared at him. Even Ryan and Esposito stopped talking and looked at Castle.

"Well, share, Writer Boy."

"That's Writer Man, Lanie."

"Not if you don't tell me how you know who the killer is before I've finished my preliminary examination. Now talk."

He smirked. "Isn't it obvious?"

Kate shook her head, quickly erasing the smile from her face. "No. And I'm sure it won't be obvious when you've told us, either."

Castle looked somewhat crestfallen, but only for a second. "The butler did it!" He announced. He raised his hand for a high five with Javi only to have the detective keep his hand at his side.

"Not funny, bro."

He glanced at Kate, who was shaking her head. "Since this hotel is hosting the Brotherhood of English Butlers, North American Branch's, annual get together, the place is full of butlers, Castle. The victim is a butler, the man who found him is a butler and all of the people on this floor of the Meridian are butlers. Of course, the hotel does also have maids."

Castle got a faraway look in his eyes. "A butler murdered by a maid? A sordid tale of love and death in the servant's quarters. I'll call it Downstairs Heat.

"Why am I imagining Nikki in a sexy French maid's outfit working undercover?" Kate asked.

"Because you have a dirty mind, Detective. That's one of the things I love about you."

"Oooh! Castle!" Lanie said. "Better be careful that Gates doesn't hear you say that."

Kate looked around, worried. "Please, Castle. Be careful, okay?"

Castle mimed zipping his mouth closed.

Kate stood up. "Castle and I'll check with the head of the butler's…brotherhood? Is that what they called this? You two talk with the people on this floor and see if they heard anything or knew anything about the vic."

Reginald Faircloth was as dignified an English butler as ever drew a breath. From the slicked back hair of his receding hairline, to the slight paunch almost concealed by morning coat, vest and pants to his well shined Oxfords, he was exactly what anyone, any American, anyway, thought of when you said English butler. However, today he was visibly upset.

"This is dreadful. Arthur Balfour murdered? And at our annual get together? These things don't happen. They simply aren't done."

"This is New York City, Mr. Faircloth. Believe me, they are done. Can you tell me if Mr. Balfour had any enemies? Anyone who might have wished him harm?"

"I can't imagine…" Faircloth stopped. "There was one thing."

"What was that?"

"We are not a large organization, Detective Beckett. Most of our members work in New York, Washington, DC, Miami and Los Angeles. There are a few scattered in other places, of course. Some in…Texas. A few in Canada. And some in the Silicon Valley. But we do try to maintain the very highest standards of our members. They must be beyond reproach. Two days ago Arthur told me that he had heard something dreadful about one of our members. Something that would get the fellow expelled at the very least."

"What was it?"

"I don't know. Arthur told me that he didn't want to make any accusations until he had proof. We never spoke again."

Ryan was fidgeting since Esposito had been talking to Esmeralda, the hotel maid, for almost fifteen minutes in Spanish, a language he had little knowledge of. "What did she see?"

Espo frowned and turned to his partner. "Will you give me time? She's nervous around cops. She might be illegal or something. I have to get her trust and I can't do that if you interrupt me every ten seconds asking me what she knows." Before Ryan could say anything, Espo had turned back to Esmerelda.

Ryan thought the maid looked trusting enough of his partner. She was smiling at him and had let her skirt ride up past her knees. He guessed she was in her mid twenties, tall, slim and very good looking. He wondered if Balfour had made a pass at her or something.

Finally, Espo stood up and handed Esmeralda his card. "Gracias."

"So what did she say? What does she know about Balfour?" Ryan asked as they walked away.

"Nothing. This is her first day back after two weeks vacation back in Puerto Rico. She never even saw the dude."

"And why did you…" And it hit Ryan. "You were trying to get a date with her."

"And I did."

Back at the precinct Castle and Beckett were going over what they had on the butlers that were at the Meridian for the convention. They appeared to be above reproach. Not one of them had a criminal record, not even a speeding ticket.

"These people reek of respectability." Kate said, putting another thin file aside. She looked at Castle through her eyelashes. "Not even a stolen police horse while nude."

Castle smiled at her. "Perhaps, but here's one odd thing. An odd sock as Nikki might refer to it."

Kate tried to read the file Rick was holding, but he quickly held it against his chest. "What's the one thing that you'd expect an English butler to be?"

Kate glared at him and he handed her the file. She smiled.

Charles Gordon was as well turned out as any of the butlers they had seen and was as prim and proper as any of them.

"Thank you for coming in, Mr. Gordon." Kate said, sitting down beside Castle across from Gordon.

"You have quite a sterling record, according to Mr. Faircloth. Nothing but outstanding references from everyone who you ever worked for. You're quite the model of the modern English butler, I suppose."

"I try my best, ma'am." He said modestly.

Castle held up a file. "I find it interesting that your fingerprints show you to be a Lev Brodski from Cleveland, Ohio who served in the US Air Force in England. Care to explain?"

The suspect dropped his head down and looked at the table. Finally, he said, "I'm sorry."

"Why did you kill Mr. Balfour? Was it because he found out you weren't English?"

Brodski's head shot up. "I didn't kill the man. I'd never do that. I may not be English, but I try very hard to be a gentleman. When I was England I found I have a gift for accents. I could do a perfect middle class Londoner, or a lowland Scot, an Irishman from Liverpool. Anything. When I came back to the US, I tried acting, but I needed more than an ability to mimic accents, I wasn't a good actor. But, I got a role as an English butler in a small play. The play folded and I needed a job. I saw an ad for a butler. I took my costume and applied. I got the job, and….things just happened from there. I never meant to deceive anyone and I had no idea Mr. Balfour was on to me. I swear I did not kill him."

"Where were you between seven and ten this morning?" Kate asked.

"I was in bed."

"That's convenient." Castle said.

"Part of the time I was with someone."

"Who?"

As they left the precinct, Kate got a call from Lanie. "Sweetie, the man had sex just before he was killed. I found…."

"I know, Lanie. We know who the killer is."

Espo was unhappy. "Couldn't they have arrested Esmeralda after my date with her?"

"So she could stick a knife in you, too?" Ryan asked, grinning.

Castle put his hand on Espo's shoulder. "Esmeralda was working as a hooker in the hotel. It was perfect. She had a reason to be there and to be in and out of men's room at any time. But Balfour was cheap. He paid her and did the deed, then pulled his money out of her bra and told her to get lost or he'd get her fired. He thought she couldn't do anything about it, but…"

"She knifed him." Kate finished. "We found her bloodstained maid's uniform in her locker. She's saying that she tried to grab the money back and he attacked her. So, maybe if she has a good lawyer, she'll do a couple of years for manslaughter instead of thirty years for murder."

When Rick came over to Kate's that night, he found the door open. He walked in to find the lights were dim. "Kate?"

"Ooh la la, Monsieur Castle. It is I, Yvette, your maid."

Castle smiled.