Ian 2
Chapter 21
Castle looked up from his chair, as Ian dragged into the loft. "Uh oh, weren't you drawing Fleur this afternoon? Why the frowny face?"
"Dad, have you ever had a girl's mom hate you?"
"You mean besides your Grandmother Blaine? A few, but I could usually charm or grovel my way out of it. Why? Did you meet up with Fleur's mother?"
"That's just it. I haven't met her, but she hates me anyway. From what Fleur says, her mom hates any boy who gets near her. I don't know what to do."
Castle stroked the stubble forming on his jaw. "Sometimes you can't do anything. Sometimes people just act like that because they've been hurt somehow. If you really like Fleur, you have to go along with whatever rules her mother sets and hope that things will eventually smooth out. But maybe there's something Kate and I can do, if we can meet up with her parents socially. Absolutely by accident, of course. What do you know about them? Last name?"
"Clary, or at least that's Fleur's last name. They're from Martinique. I think her Dad works for a bank - or did on Martinique. From what Fleur said about him, he sounds okay. I don't know what her mother does."
"Hmm," Castle considered, "a bank. He couldn't have moved to the U.S. without a job, and if a bank transferred him to New York, he's likely to be highly placed. I have friends who move in financial circles; I'll see what I can find out."
"Just don't get Fleur in trouble, Dad," Ian cautioned.
Castle put a hand on his son's shoulder. "I won't, I promise."
Castle stared at the Moses Shannon mini-novel slowly taking form on his screen. With the tortured look on Ian's face still swimming in his brain, he was having a hard time concentrating. The strains of Macho Man that alerted Kate that she was getting a call from Esposito drifted in from the bedroom. Stiffly, he pushed out of his chair and walked the few steps it took to reach his wife.
Kate saw Castle come in and thumbed the speaker button. "For once I think Ryan's right," the irascible cop, on the other end of the call, declared. "You and Castle should try for the Powerball. You definitely defied the odds. There was only one receipt for an Emerald Card at The Pink Bootie, and it was for an M. Seligman. We ran facial recognition on the picture Castle sent. Her name is Mona Seligman. She's in the system from a teacher's ID, but you don't get no coat like that on a teacher's salary. Teachers don't qualify for Emerald Cards either. That woman has big bucks coming in from somewhere. The paint is just part of it."
"It's the part of it we care about, Espo. So, did you get a street address?"
"Uh huh. Up on the border of Harlem, the gentrified part, one of those refurbed brownstones. Ryan and I are gonna go pick her up."
Castle held up his hand for a high five and Kate slapped it enthusiastically. "Let me know when you have her, Javi."
"You got it, Beckett!"
With Amelia quietly in her carrier, Kate and Castle gazed through the window in observation as Mona Seligman fidgeted opposite Ryan and Esposito. "We've traced your transactions. Ms. Seligman," Ryan stated. "The paper trail is clear. You imported cadmium containing paint into this country and arranged for it to be sold without the proper warnings. As a result, at least one person has died, and a number were sickened. As we investigate further, no doubt we'll find more victims."
"I didn't know about anything hazardous," Mona insisted.
Esposito shook his head as he opened a file. "These say you did. Shipping manifests. Paint, cadmium yellow, cadmium red. And here, the customs forms, listing the pigments as iron oxides which would be legal to import. You falsified those records. That makes it a federal offense, and not your only one. You sold across state lines."
"We've already liaised with the FBI," Ryan continued. "As far as both the D.A. of New York and the Feds are concerned, about the only way you can help yourself now, is by helping us trace down every tube of that paint before you hurt or kill anyone else."
"I want a lawyer!" Mona declared.
"Yeah, well You better call a good one," Esposito retorted.
Castle gently laid a sleeping Amelia in her bassinet, and he and Kate quietly backed away, before turning toward the kitchen. Castle filled two mugs with coffee. "I guess Amelia isn't the only one being put to bed. Between, Ryan, Esposito, U.S. Customs and the FBI, Mona Seligman is going to be down for the count. And I don't think she's going to be allowed to wear ermine over her orange scrubs. It would clash anyway."
"You are not displaying your usual enthusiasm over a closed case, Babe," Kate observed.
Castle raked back his hair. "I'm trying to figure out a way to help Ian. I checked up on the Clarys. Ian was right about Roger Clary being a banker. He was a vice president of the Martinique branch of the Banque Française. Helped launch quite a few successful businesses, which is why he was transferred to New York. No one seems to know much about Fleur's mother, Jacqueline, other than her family has been on Martinique for generations, and her father was a big shot of sorts but became estranged from the rest of his family after suffering a fall from grace for some reason. 'I'm sure there's a lot more to that story which may account for Jacqueline's attitude toward men."
"So, what are you planning to do?" Kate queried.
"There's a cocktail party coming up, the celebration for the closing of a merger underwritten by the Banque Française. I hold enough stock to wangle an invitation. Maybe I can strike up a conversation with Roger. If you're comfortable with having a sitter stay with Amelia for a couple of hours, or letting Ian watch her, you could come with me. If Fleur's mother is there, she might be willing to talk to another woman."
"Um. I don't want to put watching Amelia on Ian until she's a little older. But maybe Evelyn would like to take Amelia for an evening. I could ask her. Or maybe Helen Mays, since she's right in the building. It's been a long time since we had a night out, and I'm curious myself about the family of the girl who has so entranced my stepson. "Yeah, go ahead and set it up, Babe."
Castle returned to his laptop, whistling. He had a brand-new idea for Moses Shannon. The archaeologist P.I. could be on a dig on an isolated island, with expedition underwritten by a shady financier with a mysterious wife. Perhaps she would believe she was the reincarnation of some goddess whose powers would be restored by the unearthing of ancient artifacts. She could convince her husband that the dig would make him rich beyond all imaginings, but they would have to eliminate all pretenders. Moses would figure out the plot and defeat it. Castle had to admit to himself that the story was a little Scooby-dooish, but then the books were supposed to be friendly to young adult readers. Now, if he could only induce Fleur's family to be friendly. Hell, Kate had gained the confidence of most apprehensive witnesses on murder cases. If anyone could win over Jacqueline Clary, she could.