Eye of the Storm
Chapter 10
Castle stared at the black goo he had sneezed into his handkerchief. "Don't they ever dust this place?"
Kate ran her finger over the top of a filing cabinet. "Not very often. But at least the records are here from 1994. Now, all we have to do is find Ms. Gunderson's logs. "
Castle pulled out a drawer and started hunting through the folders. "I think I found them. I must say Ms. Gunderson has lovely penmanship." He paged through a sheaf of papers. "Wow, there were a lot of sick kids. Mostly bad colds, the flu, sore throats. Oh! A bunch of kids went home with food poisoning. That must have been a fun day for the teachers - and the janitor. So far, no jaun… Eureka! Here it is. Dean Anderson, third grade. That would have made him about eight. So, he would be about 27 now. Ms. Gunderson was right on the button."
Kate pulled her phone out of the pocket of her slacks. "We have a name, a description, and an age. If Dean Anderson drives a car, we should have him nailed." Lines formed across Kate's brow as she stared at the screen. Castle, there was a Dean Anderson fitting that description, but he changed his name."
"Sure it's the same guy?" Castle asked.
Kate nodded. "Same description and same Social Security number, but now he goes by Abir bin Nafadh. Looks like we've got a homegrown killer and possible radicalized terrorist on our hands. With any luck, maybe we can pick him up before he's able to put anything into action."
Castle blew out a deep breath. "Fingers crossed."
A woman answered Kate's knock. "Abir bin Nafadh? No, he moved out."
"And you are?" Kate inquired.
"Kathy Wilson. I'm subletting the apartment."
"How long have you been here?" Castle asked.
"A few months," Kathy replied.
"If you're subletting, you must be sending your rent to Abir. Where do you send it?" Kate queried.
"I don't," Kathy answered. "He comes by to pick it up, around 7 p.m. on the first of the month. He's always right on time, too. It's not like I have to sit around waiting for him. But I have to pay him in cash. You know, under the table. I don't think his lease allowed for subletting. I'm a gypsy, a dancer. I've got a gig in town now."
"The "Cats" revival?" Castle asked.
"Uh huh," Kathy agreed, "but mostly I work out of town with touring companies. I can't get anything but a sublet, and I've had all kinds of crazy arrangements. This one isn't as weird as some."
"I understand," Castle said. "My mother is Martha Rodgers, and when I was a kid, and she was touring, we'd live in all kinds of places."
"She's one of the few in the game that really made it," Kathy noted. "I saw her last play. She was wonderful."
"I'll tell her you said so, but tomorrow is the first. We need to talk to Abir. Are you expecting him?"
"I am, but I have a rehearsal, so I'll just put a note on the door and leave his money in the mailbox. He still has a key. So, if you're looking for him, he should be coming to pick it up."
"Looks like we have a stakeout tomorrow evening," Castle observed, as he and Kate headed for the elevator after Kathy was back behind her front door.
"Looks like we do," Kate agreed.
"I got your message, Bennie," Jordan Shaw said, standing in the doorway of the forensic accountant's office. "What have you got?"
"The Bank of Cypress came through faster than I thought they would. I guess they were embarrassed by that business with the Ukraine and they're trying to make nice. Anyway, they sent us the transactions on the account where Yousuf bin Ibrahim's money went. As you might have expected, a lot of it was routed to Iraq, Syria, and Niger. But some of it came back to the United States. It looks like it was involved in the failed attack in Pennsylvania, but over the past year, there have been regular transfers to several accounts in New York. They're too small to be flagged by the IRS, so they would have been under the radar."
"Any names on those accounts?"
"They're LLCs: Brighter Day, Sand Storm, Five Pillars and Winning Side. I traced down the ownership. The principals are Saladin bin Salaam, Fahim al Jabar, Cadmael Ali, and Dean Anderson, aka Abir bin Nafadh, respectively. I've been checking out the purchases on all the accounts. Agent Shaw, bin Nafadh gets regular paychecks deposited in a private account from a mainstream analytical laboratory, but Winning Side buys chemicals."
"What kind of chemicals, Bennie?'
"I don't know. I was an accounting major. The lab wasn't my thing, but I have the names of the supply houses. One of our science guys should check it out."
"Thanks, Bennie. I'll put someone on it."
Abir bin Nafadh," Kate repeated when she and Castle had a return engagement with Jordan at the diner. We came up with him too, as the primary suspect in Yousuf bin Ibrahim's murder. And we have an idea where he'll be tomorrow night. Your guys are still following us around, but you might want to be there too."
"I wouldn't miss it," Jordan declared. "But there is the other matter of the suspected terrorist target. You believe that it might be The First Responder Families Benefit at the garden?"
"It seems a more likely time and place than most," Kate confirmed.
"But we have no idea how it might be done," Castle admitted. "An event like that these days, any big concert really, people are searched. I don't know how a terrorist could bring anything in."
"You write scenarios like that all the time, Babe," Kate reminded him. "And you're at least as creative as any terrorist."
"Maybe, Kate," Castle replied doubtfully. "But when I write about how things like that are done, I do a ton of research - besides following you around. And I make up the details to go with what I discover. For a real-life location like the garden, I'm not sure where to start."
"I may be able to help you there," Jordan put in. "Our boy Abir likes to play with chemicals."
"Chemical weapons?" Castle asked. "We have reason to believe that the nerve gas from the operation in Pennsylvania is no longer available."
"And I'm sure you can't tell me what your reason is," Jordan responded.
Castle shook his head apologetically.
"I don't think we're talking about nerve gas either," Jordan continued. "My people tell me that takes a very specialized plant to synthesize, and as far as we can tell, there isn't one anywhere near New York that Abir would have access to. Chances are, whatever he's making, he'd be able to do in a small facility of his own. Our guys are still trying to find out what he has and what he might be able to make with it, but as soon as I hear something from them, I'll pass it on in case you get a storm in that strange brain of yours."
"I'm not sure if I should be flattered or insulted," Castle remarked. "Hopefully we can come up with something before tomorrow night. If Kate has information like that to work with, there's no way Abir will be able to come out of time in the box with her without a deep set of grill marks.