Slaying the Beast
Chapter 29
Kate sighs as she puts down her phone. "The administrator at Full Bellies Means Full Hearts says a Dick Koonz is working there, but he hasn't shown up in a couple of days. The organization isn't aware of any theft, but they haven't had an audit yet this fiscal year, and that's where it would show up. She's going to put her accountant on it. She gave me Dick's contact information. I doubt that we'll find him at his apartment, but he might have left clues behind, or his neighbors might have some idea where he is. Let's go."
Castle slips his coat back on over his custom-made purple and white striped shirt. Kate likes this one, probably because of the purple, but Bracken's mentor tailor also does some damn fine work. When he has the time, he may order a few things from him - maybe even his next tuxedo. He would have liked to burn the turquoise one, but Mother convinced him to donate it to a struggling improvisational theater company. No doubt an actor can come up with a reasonable scenario or two using it as a jumping off point.
Kate has little trouble getting a warrant since she has probable cause to believe Koonz is at the very least, guilty of grand theft. Koonz's apartment is forty blocks uptown. It would be a long walk but it's a short ride and Kate is riding the limit of a safe speed. No one answers the door - no surprise there. The harried super is in the midst of fixing a cranky furnace but stops working long enough to let them in. As Kate had assumed, it is clear that Koonz is gone. All of his clothes are missing, and the toiletries are gone from the bathroom. Sheets, towels, food, and pots and pans are still there, as are some books and knick-knacks. Koonz left in a hurry. If he didn't have time to map out his departure, his trail should be easier to follow.
As far as Kate has been able to determine, Koonz has no car, but he does have a driver's license. He could have rented a vehicle. She has a watch on his debit and credit cards.
Castle makes a slow circuit of Koonz's apartment, noting some sports memorabilia. "Kate, Koonz is a hockey fan. The Canadiens. If I were one and I wanted to get away from New York, and possibly this country, I'd head for Montreal."
"He might have, Castle. We can check flights. And he would have had to use his passport. We can check those records too. But if he is in Montreal, we'll have to work with the RCMP and extradite him to get him back here."
Castle rocks on the balls of his feet. "I've loved the Mounties ever since I saw my first Dudley Do-Right cartoon."
"Castle, the real Mounties are very different, but I'm hoping we don't have to deal with them and that Koonz is still in the United States, hopefully somewhere in New York.
Dick Koonz is stuck in Niagara Falls - on the wrong side. He was planning on driving over the border, but a snowstorm and a cascade of accidents closed the road. He had no trouble finding a hotel. There aren't too many honeymooners this time of year. But he isn't unremarkable as a single. He has too much luggage. He should have left some of his clothes behind, but he wasn't thinking all that straight.
He hadn't planned out what he did to Chelsea very well, either. It wasn't like him. He scheduled getting away with the money he took from FBMFH, perfectly. He started skimming it right after the last audit, and by the time they got around to the next one, he would have thoroughly covered his tracks. He hadn't counted on leaving New York City so soon either. He'd had visions of keeping Chelsea in his bed until he did, but then she had to start snooping. She was suspicious of how he could afford Italian shoes and the newest iPhone while working for a charitable organization, and started checking the deposit receipts in the pockets of his jackets.
Of course, he denied that he had done anything wrong, but she didn't believe him. It was bad enough that she broke up with him, but he could always get another girlfriend. Her threat to go to the cops was too much. He isn't sure if he'd really intended to kill her, or just frighten her, but when she wouldn't back down, he had no choice. The blood ruined his good blue shirt too. He had to throw it away before he picked up his rental car.
Kate scans the report from CSU. The stain on the shirt the unis found in a dumpster two blocks from Koonz's apartment matches Chelsea Meadows' blood. If the DNA from the very sweaty collar is a match to Koonz, they'll have him nailed. They just have to find him.
His financials show no charge for renting an automobile, but he did make a cash withdrawal sizable enough for the required deposit to obtain one. Rent a Ride reported a cash transaction with an R. Koonz, and the driver's license number matches him. The idiot might just as well have used a credit card for as much as his attempt to cover his trail worked. There are no charges along any highway, but he didn't disable the GPS on his rental.
Koonz is in Niagara Falls. She can have the State Troopers pick him up, and while she's waiting for him to be transported back to the city, she and Castle can double check the information in Bracken's mysterious box and run down Bracken's son. It shouldn't be too hard. There are a lot of pharmaceutical companies around New York City, but not many of them should have employees named Joshua Pelletier.
Susan Collinwood's voice is trembling more than usual as she meets Joshua for coffee. She was hoping that she'd be able to encourage him to work on her project to create a cheaper method to synthesize fentanyl, so she could get away from importing her supplies from China. He has no idea that she's asking him to sign on to an illegal operation. Her story is that she'd invested in a startup, but Joshua wants no part of the increasingly deadly drug. He thinks he's on the edge of a breakthrough for a new asthma treatment, which holds a special place in his heart because his best friend growing up could never stray far from a rescue inhaler.
For the moment, Susan decides to cease her verbal efforts to get him to join her, but she wants to keep Joshua close - and she needs to cut ties with her Chinese connection. Bringing product in by sea doesn't leave much of a trail - especially since as a senator, she continues to ensure there isn't enough money appropriated for adequate inspections of cargo containers. Still, it is a trail, and one day she could be unlucky. She can't push too hard. Joshua has inherited stubbornness from both her and Bill.
Nevertheless, he'll come around. She'll just have to make it impossible for him to stay where he is. She has connections in the FDA who can lean on his employer. She can make his present position untenable, or make it disappear entirely. Working for her will be better than not working at all.
