Moment in Time Part 3

Chapter 14

What Lies Beneath

Part 2

Joining Kate and Rick for an early morning meeting at the loft, Vikram drops into a chair at the table. "I thought it would be better to discuss this here," Kate explains. "Reed's organization may have ears at the precinct. Vikram, were you able to run a search for any fentanyl or oxycodone with a signature matching what we confiscated from Meeker's cell?"

"Fentanyl, only near matches. They might not stand up in court. But for the oxycodone, I found one with the exact same impurities in the same amounts. But it wasn't from a seized shipment. It was routine quality control for pills sent to pharmacies and hospitals."

"So Meeker was getting the medical-grade drug?" Rick questions.

Vikram nods. "That's what the analyses say."

"So the question is," Kate figures, "was Meeker receiving shipments sent directly from China, or was he stealing them in transit?"

"As far as I could tell, no thefts from that particular batch were reported," Vikram replied. "But Reed was involved in ordering drugs for the VA. So he might have diverted shipments to his dealers."

Kate chews on her fingertip. "If those drugs were meant for the VA, Reed could have had them sent all over the country. But there would have to be a paper trail. No federal administration does anything without piles of forms."

"I'm already looking into it," Vikram acknowledges. "But I can concentrate locally. The VA has three medical centers, two outpatient clinics, and five veterans centers in the metro area."

"Look into them," Kate urges. "And you should go ahead to the precinct now. We shouldn't arrive together."

"So," Rick asks after Vikram departs, "you want to talk about the murder Ryspo is investigating? You didn't give me much in the way of details before our interests turned to more personal matters. Do you have an ID on the victim?"

"He was going by Dwayne Johnson."

"Like the Rock? Not very original."

"In fact, you're a fan of his originality, Babe. He was actually P.J. Moffat."

"Moffat's death is a great loss. But, you know, I met him once. We were at a writers' conclave at a lodge in Vermont. All very hush-hush. He avoided anyone on the staff. The rest of us ate in the dining room, but he had his meals left outside his door. The only time he showed up was for meetings where only the other writers were allowed in. And we were sworn to secrecy about his presence. But I can understand why he would keep to himself. A couple of the other writers made jokes about Igor and Marty Feldman when Moffat wasn't around."

"Why?"

"P.J. Moffat's a hunchback. I would think the boys or Lanie would have mentioned that."

"They didn't. Would he be able to work as a janitor?"

"I doubt it. Moffat limped around and didn't lift anything heavier than a mini-laptop. And why would he? 'Song of the Butcherbird' is required reading for almost every lit major in the English-speaking world. And last I heard, it was translated into forty other languages. So he should still have a comfortable income stream from his royalties."

Kate pulls out her cell. "Hang on, Babe. I want to get the crime scene photos. After a few minutes, Kate holds up her phone for Rick to see. "Is this P.J. Moffat?"

"He's not even a look-alike. I don't know who that is, Kate. But it's not the P.J. Moffat I remember."

Wendy springs out of her chair in the 12th's lounge. "What do you mean my husband wasn't P.J. Moffat?"

"The captain has a witness who met the real one, and we double-checked with Moffat's publisher," Ryan replies apologetically. "P.J. Moffat is alive. I'm afraid your husband lied to you."

"But he was doing research on a book. I read some of it."

"Research about what?" Esposito presses.

"The Mafia."

"Working as a janitor?" Ryan questions.

"Yes. He was looking into union kickbacks. He said the Scarpella family was competing with the Irish Mob to organize cleaning services in government buildings. They figured they could use the members as sources of information. My husband said he even met with one. He had a funny name like Circo or something."

"That tracks. Johnson was a janitor at City Hall," Esposito recalls.

"Cicero," Ryan interupts. "Milton Cicero?"

"I think so."

Esposito gestures toward the door. "Partner, I need to talk to you for a minute."

"Who's Milton Cicero?" Esposito demands as soon as he's out of Wendy's earshot.

"He's a liaison between the Italian and Irish mobs. When I was undercover in Narco, he helped keep the peace. But Cicero has his ear to the ground like no one you've ever met. So if Dwayne Johnson, or whoever he was, tried to pull a number on him, he would have known it. And he would have known who to talk to about it."

"So you think something Johnson went to Cicero about got him killed?" Esposito presses.

"Cicero wasn't big on hits, but that didn't always stop the families," Ryan explains. "Johnson could have come up with something the mobs didn't want him to put on paper."

"We need to find a way to talk to Cicero," Esposito declares.

Ryan grins. "Not us, Castle. The guys in Staten Island used to joke about Cicero being hooked on Derrick Storm. He even showed up at some of Castle's book readings. If Castle knocks on Cicero's door, the man will let him in."

Esposito blows a stream of air between his lips. "The captain won't like us putting her husband up-front like that."

"But Castle will love it. He's used his books as an in with a mobster before. Remember the guy whose brother killed the doctor girlfriend? Beckett was OK with that."

"She was with Castle when they talked to the guy."

"We'll be with him this time. We'll be backing him up all the way. He can convince her."

Kate's eyes shoot darts at her detectives. "Before you guys decided to make my husband shill for you, did you try approaching Cicero yourselves?"

Esposito stares at the ground. "Captain," Ryan protests. "Cicero's estate has three layers of security, not counting his personal bodyguards. He's never let a cop in to see him willingly, and we don't have anything that would qualify for a warrant."

"So based on what was most likely a lie the vic told his wife, you want to send Rick to see a mobster?"

"He wants to go, Captain," Esposito interjects. "Ask him. He already has plans to use the meeting in his next Heat book."

Kate picks up her phone. "If you guys used the least bit of coercion to draw him into this, you'll be filling out forms for the next month. Get out of here while I talk to him."

After a few minutes, Kate motions Ryan and Esposito back into her office. "All right, we can do this. But I'll be with Rick. So you guys will be back up. And if anything goes wrong or this is a bust, be prepared to glue yourselves to your desks."

"Yes, Captain," Ryan and Esposito declare together.

"And Ryspo," Kate adds, "cut that the hell out!"

Face cracking into a grin; Cicero greets Rick. "Richard Castle! I've been hoping to talk to you someday. And you brought your new muse. Come in! Come in!"

As soon as Rick and Kate are inside, Cicero signals a burly bodyguard to block the door. "Now, Castle, tell me, and it better be a good answer. Why the hell did you kill off Derrick Storm?"