Ian 2
Chapter 10
Castle stepped off the elevator at the 12th Precinct. He felt a lot better than he had the last time he'd been there. Observing an interrogation would definitely be more fun than being the object of one. He wished Kate could be with him, but Mrs. Mays was faithfully watching over her, and he'd promised to tell her every word that Johnson said, the moment he returned home.
As Castle peered through the two-way mirror, Johnson did not look perturbed. If anything, he was gazing at Ryan and Esposito in what appeared to be amusement. Esposito slapped a thick file on the table. "You can wipe that smile off your face, Johnson. We have you cold. Your fingerprints were on the knife that killed Marci Romer. You were spotted at the scene of Angelica Warren's murder. When we searched your apartment, we found a shirt with Marci's blood on the cuff. And then there's this." Esposito withdrew a thick sheaf of paper bound by rings, from his file, and passed it to Ryan.
The blue-eyed cop flipped through the pages. "Chronicles of the king, is that what you'd call these, Johnson? That's how you refer to yourself when you describe the details of the killings."
"Those weren't just killings; they were sacrifices," Johnson protested.
"Sacrifices to who?" Esposito demanded.
"To the old gods, Detective," Johnson explained. "They still reign wherever blood flows freely - in Africa, in the Middle East. Their power is rising again in Europe, and even here, where I am their chosen. More of their power flowed through me with every drop of blood that blessed my blades, and I have been anointed to claim this city as my domain."
Esposito snorted. "The only domain you're going to claim is an eight by ten cell."
Ryan leaned across the table toward the prisoner. "Look, Johnson, your gods are not helping you now, but we can. You are going away for the rest of your life, but where and how is still up for grabs. There are facilities where I wouldn't want to send my worst enemy, and there are some with a semblance of civilization." Ryan tapped his finger on the account that Johnson had written. "You gave your minions in here, pet names. It was easy enough to figure out Galt, but we need to know who the others are. You tell us that, and we'll ask the D.A. to cut you the best break he can."
Castle felt nausea rising in his throat as Johnson grinned. "Detectives, that will just have to remain one of the mysteries of my kingdom."
Esposito waved at the uniformed officer at the door. "Take his royal highness back to holding."
At the table in the conference room, Castle pored over the handwritten document Ryan had presented to him. "I gotta say, Johnson put a lot of attention into his penmanship. This is almost calligraphy. Another way to exert his grandiosity, no doubt."
"But can you figure out who the other killers he mentions are, Castle?" Ryan asked.
Castle ran a finger down the page. "This one, Blue Star - not very creative on Johnson's part. It's Hughes. He has a large blue star tattooed on his chest. I don't know why, except that it has Greek letters around it so it might have been a fraternity thing." Castle quickly scanned the ornate pages. "I was expecting to see Tarrant, but he's not here. He might have really just been at the club because he gets off on old knives. Oh, this one, Hirsute, I think he's a guy named Miller, also a member of the Ancient Weapons group. Heavy beard, lots of hair on the arms, I could see a mat of it peeking out of the collar of his shirt, too. He fondled my keris like it was his mistress. I think he might even have come when he handled it." Castle read a little further. "And Gurney, I think that's taken from Gurney Halleck. In Dune, he's Paul Atreides' trainer. He must be Mike Bridges. I didn't think he was involved, but the way he put everyone through their paces, I suppose it makes sense. He seemed to genuinely enjoy inflicting pain with his traumatic tasks and putrid potions. Then the faithful but stupid retainer, that's got to be Halsey. Doesn't look like he killed anybody. He was just fawning enough to stroke the egos of the psychos that did. As far as I can tell, the rest of the membership of The Forge, aside from being wacko, is in the clear, and it looks like they had no idea what Johnson and the others were doing."
"We'll check all that out," Ryan said, "Thanks, Castle. Couldn't have broken this case without you. You can get out of here, now. And tell Kate we miss her."
"Least I could do, after what Galt did with my knife. And yeah, I'll tell Kate you miss her. She misses you guys too."
"You're right Castle," Kate sighed, "I do miss the precinct. I wish that after Amelia is born, I could take her to work with me, but it's not like I can investigate a crime scene carrying around a baby. And as great a job as you've done with Ian, I'm not about to let you raise our child on your own."
"I appreciate that, but there could be an alternative," Castle suggested.
"What do you mean, Babe?"
"I'm a consultant, and I've worked with the boys even when you weren't with me. I fit doing that around Ian's schedule, my writing, and of course, being with my beautiful wife. You could be a consultant too. It's not like we need the money. We could share childcare duties, maybe get a little help at times - not too much. I'm not a fan of having nannies raise children. But I'm willing to bet Montgomery will take whatever help he can get from us, as long as he doesn't have to shoehorn it into his budget. The boys won't mind having access to those keen Beckett crime-solving insights either."
"Castle, you may be right," Kate considered. "Montgomery might go for it. We'll just have to see what we can work out. So, do the boys think they'll be able to nail all the killers from The Forge?"
"They're going to do their best. The Founders of the Forge are horrified by the whole mess. They're going to help in any way they can. There's also a good chance Halsey will be a good witness. As far as we can tell, he didn't really do anything wrong, but he kept track of all comings and goings of the members and the staff. He could be very helpful in building timelines. Until all the murderous players can be collared, they'll be under surveillance, so there won't be any more sacrifices to Johnson's bloodthirsty gods."'
Kate nodded, "I guess that's the best we could hope for."
"When Ian gets home, we can have another celebration," Castle suggested, "and not just about the break-up of Johnson's murderous band. I got a call from him on my way home. He aced that projects he's been toiling over at SVA. His teacher said he managed to impart incredible emotions to the characters in his drawings. SVA is already talking to him about continuing his studies there after he finishes high school."
"What about his reading?" Kate asked.
"They're willing to make accommodations, just like they'd do if he was hearing impaired or disabled in some more physically obvious way. And I don't think they'll have to make many. His program will be almost all about the art, and he doesn't have any problems with that. As soon as he gets his diploma, he'll be set."
"Babe, that really is something to celebrate."
"Good, because I stopped at Carlucci's on the way home. They are sending over a feast, including strawberries and whipped cream, the real stuff, not from a can."
Kate reached up to pull Castle in for a kiss. "Sounds like heaven."