866. Chapter 866

After The Fast and the Furriest

Episode 5.20

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: it's a myth that I own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

Big Heat

By

Richard and Katherine Castle

"Nikki, just look at the evidence. Will you?" Rook asked.

Captain Nikki Heat rolled her eyes. "I have looked at the evidence. Our vic was killed by a blow to the head."

"Which could have been from a blow by a Bigfoot."

Nikki gave her husband a mild glare. "Or a million other things. Lauren hasn't given us a cause of death yet."

"Secondly, a strand of hair, as yet unidentified, was found near the victim. It could be from a Bigfoot."

"Or not!" Nikki shot back. "This is New York. People wear coats made of all sorts of things. For all we know, it's somebody's Hyena jacket shedding, or something."

"And, we have a witness who says that the person she saw leaving the murder scene was huge and hairy."

"Rook, our witness is six years old. Everyone is huge to her. And all she could say was that he had a lot of hair. How many people in New York do you think there are with lots of hair."

"And there have been reported sightings of Bigfoots…." Rook stopped and frowned. "Bigfeet?" What is the correct plural for a Bigfoot?"

"It doesn't make any difference because there isn't even one Bigfoot so there is no need for a plural."

"Boss, we have something." Detective Miguel Ochoa interrupted.

Nikki gladly turned around to face Ochoa. "Is it a Bigfoot come in to confess?"

Ochoa shook his head. "No. Neighbors said that Ms. Crow had a huge fight with her boyfriend last night, a James Powell. They said she threw his stuff out of her apartment and told him to never come back. And he made threats against her."

"That sounds good." Nikki smiled.

"Even better, Mr. Powell is a martial arts instructor. A black belt or better in just about every martial arts you can think of. He could have easily killed her with a blow to the head."

"Pick him up. Let's see what he has to say for himself." Nikki turned to Rook. "See? No killing by a mythical beast. Just an ordinary killing by a boyfriend who couldn't handle rejection."

"Oh, he couldn't handle rejection, all right. But he has a pretty good alibi." Detective Ochoa said, returning much earlier than Nikki expected.

"We'll break it. What is it?"

"Sergeant Nicholson in the drunk tank." Ochoa replied.

"Sergeant Nicholson of the 20th Precinct. How is he involved in the alibi?"

"Powell couldn't handle rejection, so he went to a bar around the corner and got hopelessly drunk. The bartender called the cops when Powell collapsed. Officer Nagata got barfed on trying to move Powell out of the bar, so he took him in. Nicholson was tucking him into the drunk tank just before our time of death window. He has a solid alibi from the time he got to the bar until now."

"Okay, take him to interrogation. Maybe he knows something that can help us. Rook and I will talk to him."

Powell started crying as soon as he found out that Liz Crow was dead. It took a good half an hour for Nikki, playing the concerned, helpful woman to get Powell to talk rather than cry.

"Do you know anyone who'd want to hurt Liz, James?" She asked, softly.

"Just Harriet Schneider. They've hated each other since high school. Harriet's the daughter of Sam Schneider, the real estate mogul. They went to York Prep together, but Liz was a scholarship kid. They were the top two students in their class from freshman year to college at Columbia. But Liz always did just a little better than Harriet. Just last week Liz was notified she'd been accepted at Harvard Law. Harriet wasn't." Powell suddenly looked horrified. "Oh my god! This is all my fault."

"How is that, James?" Nikki asked.

"Liz has been studying for her LSATs, the Law School Admission Tests and sending in applications for weeks. I was feeling lonely and unappreciated and I was drinking alone. And then Harriet showed up and the next thing I knew, we were at her place and I was in bed with her. She took some photos of us and sent them to Liz. That's why Liz broke up with me."

Nikki called in Detective Raley. "Let's see if we can find where Ms. Schneider was at the time of Liz Crow's death."

By the next day Raley had a good idea of where she'd been. "She was at some political fundraiser with her dad and a gazillion other members of Manhattan's wealthy elite. Everyone says she was there, but no one can say for sure when. The hotel where it was held is only two blocks from Liz Crow's apartment. Schneider could have walked there easily, killed Crow and gone back."

"Okay, scrub security and traffic cams. See if we can spot her, Sean."

Raley was back at the end of the day with bad news. "The weather was cold and windy that night. There are a dozen people who might be her, but everyone is bundled up or in hoodies, so I can't make a positive ID."

Nikki frowned. Schneider was a powerful man, but his daughter seemed to be their only lead right now. "Bring her in. I'll talk to her."

Harriet Schneider did come in and was accompanied by her father and three lawyers.

"It might look like you were prepared for this, Mr. Schneider." Nikki said, assessing the array of high priced legal talent sitting across from her.

"I'm prepared for anything, Captain Heat. May I ask why my daughter is here?"

Nikki was a bit taken aback. She had expected Schneider to be outraged and angry, not calm and cooperative. "A Ms. Liz Crow was murdered several nights ago. A review of her computer found e-mails from your daughter that were….highly unfriendly."

Harriet laughed. "We can be honest here, Captain Heat. I hated the bitch. Crow had this idea that anyone who had more than she did must have stolen it. Since I had more than she did, I must be a thief. It never occurred to her that maybe some people just worked harder to get what they wanted. Me, for instance. Crow was a certified genius, something I'm not. But I've worked hard ever since grade school to get what I want."

"Including Mr. Powell?"

Surprisingly, Harriet laughed. "That was fun. Somethings you don't have to work hard for at all. James was one of those things."

Mr. Schneider spoke up. "I believe that time of death has been set at between ten and eleven that night?"

"Yes, and we can't find anyone who saw your daughter with you at that time." Nikki said, wondering who at One PP had let Schneider know the time of death.

"You didn't ask the right people. My daughter ate something that didn't agree with her. She was puking her guts up in front of the two ladies' room attendants and then she was waiting in her underwear while the hotel staff cleaned up her dress. My attorneys are having affidavits taken as we speak. Do you have any other questions, Captain Heat?"

Niki shook her head. "Not at this time."

Rook watched the Schneiders leave. "No luck?"

"I'm sure her alibi will hold up, but I'm not convinced she's not involved somehow."

"Well, I have someone to go see about my next piece. So I'm off."

"What's it going to be about?"

Rook smiled at her. "You'll have to buy it and find out. Maybe it's about the sex lives of New York's Finest."

"It had better not be."

Rook just laughed and left. However, he went to a witness to the crime that Nikki knew nothing about. In two hours he was back at the 20th Precinct.

"I talked to a confidential informant. We should call Mr. Powell back in. He knows more than he's telling us."

Rook refused to talk about his CI, or what evidence he had until Powell was brought in.

"Mr. Powell, you weren't entirely accurate with us the other day."

Powell shook his head. "I told you everything. I didn't leave a thing out."

"Harriet Schneider wasn't the first woman who you got drunk and went to bed with, was she?"

Powell laughed. "Sure, Carol Hayes. But that was before I ever met Liz. Carol is a nice enough person, and she's kind of flirty with me, but do you really think she'd kill?"

The next day, they had Carol Hayes in the box. "Ms. Hayes," Nikki began, "we got a warrant for your computer. You have quite and active fantasy life, mostly involving ways to kill Liz Crow."

Before Nikki could say another word, Hayes leapt across the table towards her computer until the handcuffs brought her up short. "The bitch got what she deserved. I love James! Do you hear me! She had no right to him! He should have been mine."

Once Hayes had been arrested, Rook drove to meet in his confidential informant. Rather than use his Italian sports car, Rook drove a large van to a deserted building and waited by an alley.

"Are you there?" Rook said opening the side door.

In seconds, a large, furry figure got in. Rook slammed the door. "Are you okay?"

The Bigfoot nodded. "I'm headed back to the woods, Rook. Maybe Ms. Fox could have used her legal training to help us, but now that she's dead…."

"I know. We'll find some way to help you guys. Urbanization is cutting down your range to nothing. Soon everyone will know about you guys."

"I'm really sorry I couldn't be a bigger help and saved her. I just got there too late. But I did get a good description of the killer. "

"That's what got her caught. You can feel good about that. Oh, and that hair you left behind? Since Hayes has confessed, no one cares about it. They won't try to match its DNA to anyone."

"Thanks for trying to help, Rook. But take me back to the woods, okay?"