Under and Over Chapter 27
"The judge was in a generous mood," Kate announces in the break room. "Between Leonard Philpot being at the scene during the kill zone and my detection of gun oil in his apartment we're getting Leonard's financials."
Rick looks up from crafting a foam heart on Kate's morning vanilla latte. "When will they be coming in?"
"Probably in an hour or two."
"Then I think I'll hang back here until they arrive. I have my laptop with me and I want to get some writing done."
"OK. I'm going to run a deeper background check on Philpot."
"While you're at it you might check some of the conspiracy sites where militia members like to hang out," Rick suggests. "I can give you a list off my computer. I visit them sometimes for ideas for Storm characters."
"OK, I'll give it a shot."
Her latte roils in Kate's stomach as she regards one of the conspiracy sites on Rick's list. It suggests that patriots, as it calls them, may have to take matters into their own hands to get the perverts and poison merchants off the streets. What's worse is that the text doesn't sound like a psychotic manifesto. If anything, it's got the vibe of well-constructed online marketing. That probably means someone poured a lot of money into getting out the desired message.
Kate selects the "About us," tab. She doesn't find any useful information, but a link pops up to a video. She hits play. Again, the work has a professional touch. There's no sign of a shaky camera and the shots are all in focus. Defying her disgust for the subject matter, she lets the message run to the end before freezing it and squinting at the tiny font at the bottom of the screen. "Paid for by Future Forward."
"What the hell is Future Forward?" Kate mutters to herself, entering the name into a search engine. She scrolls past the official website to several articles below. Recognizing the name of The Ledger's investigative reporter, Gary Sherling, she clicks on the link. The piece is part of a series on Russian intrusion into American politics. Breath slowly hisses through Kate's lips as she reads.
Sherling freely admits that he's missing the type of details a prosecutor would need to secure a conviction. However, he outlines Moss' facilitation of the laundering of drug money through Blacklux and describes the Russian connection. He also highlights Moss' support for Bracken and the disgraced politician's possible involvement in the scheme. Much of the monies laundered through Blacklux found their way to Future Forward, which had originally planned to support Bracken, but is now supporting causes to further Moss' political agenda. That includes funneling funds to groups and militias supporting various conspiracy theories.
Kate sinks back into her chair. Moss could have recruited Philpot to take out Turnbull. But suspicion isn't proof. An email alert chimes from both her phone and computer. Philpot's financials. The proof she needs may be there.
Rick runs his finger down the lines on a printout. "Aside from food, clothing, shelter, and the occasional trip to catch a movie at the Regal, Leonard spends his money on a place called Always Ready and trips to Ohio. You think he has family there?"
"Always Ready is a shooting range. The deep background on him didn't show any family in Ohio or anywhere else," Kate replies. "Philpot's parents are deceased and he has no siblings. Any gun purchases?"
Rick sweeps his finger further down the page. "Bingo! Philpot slithered through the loophole that forbids selling automatic weapons online. He bought several firearms. You or Esposito will know exactly what they are. And he bought the kits to convert them."
The writer flips up the lid on his laptop. "I want to check something. Oh, I thought I remembered that from the last time I looked into militias for a Storm. Ohio has more of them than any other state, even Texas. If Leonard wanted to play soldier, that would be the place to do it. Did the article you found about Future Forward specify support for any particular militia group in Ohio?"
"No, it didn't. But it was supposed to be part of a series. And Gary Sherling may know a lot of background stuff he didn't put down."
"With Gary, probably file cabinets and hard drives full of stuff. He's obsessive about research."
"You know him?"
"We're not exactly buddies. We occasionally occupied adjacent carrels in various reference libraries. He implied that he thought I was wasting time and resources just to produce something as frivolous as light reading."
"With freedom of the press and shield laws and all, do you think he'd be willing to talk about what he knows about Ben Moss and his possible connection to the Turnbull murder?" Kate wonders.
"Maybe. I doubt he'd consider an investigation of a murder, even of a low-level rug dealer, frivolous. And if there is a Moss connection, he'd probably jump at a chance for an exclusive."
"He's got to know I can't discuss details of an ongoing investigation," Kate cautions.
"I'm sure he does. But it won't hurt to promise that when you can talk about it, he'll be your first call."
"Isn't Ben Moss a little out of your lane, Castle?" Sherling inquires over coffee in a café near The Ledger.
"I put my flashers on quite a while ago," Rick responds. "Helping Detective Beckett get the goods on William Bracken put me on a whole different highway. But it's all related, and I think you know that. To finish the job, we need Moss. And evidence that he's behind the Turnbull murder could be the arrow we need to pierce the corporate veil. Look, I read what you've written on the whole tangled web of the Russians, politics, and power so far. You want to expose Moss as much as we do. So let's help each other."
Sherling shifts his gaze to Kate. "What do you need to know, Detective Beckett?"
"To start with, anything you can tell me about Ben Moss' connections to militia groups in Ohio."
"He isn't connected to all of them, just one based outside Columbus, KOFF, Keepers of Freedom's Flame."
"Our suspect flew in and out of John Glenn Airport in Columbus," Rick recalls. "What can you tell us about KOFF?"
"Pretty typical as groups like that go. It hopped onto the three Gs bandwagon. They're for God and guns and against gays, or any LBGTQ. Lots of guys dress up like GI Joe, go on supposed training missions, and believe they're going to save the country from a bunch of traitorous, drug-pushing, baby-eating pedophiles."
"And Moss funds this?" Kate probes.
"Through Future Forward."
"Do you know if Moss has ever visited in person, met with any of the members?" Kate presses.
"He was the special guest at a rally the group held supporting a politician – not Bracken. It was one of the more fringy ones, Jordan Ames. He ran against the incumbent senator from the other party and lost. It was quite a blow to Moss. That senator is a big supporter of workers' rights."
"Which Moss isn't," Rick figures. "Low wages and lack of reasonable benefits are two pillars on which he's built his corporate empire."
"Exactly," Sherling agrees. "But while Moss was with KOFF, he did a lot of gladhanding, meeting with the troops as he called it."
"Then it wouldn't have been hard for him to recruit idealists who thought that knocking off targets Moss convinced them were evil would be the honorable thing to do," Rick speculates.
"It wouldn't have been hard at all," Sherling confirms.