The Other Path

Chapter 51

"If someone wanted to introduce PCP into sealed bottles, the place to do it would be the bottling plant," Rick asserts. "So, the question is, where was Marah's possibly poison potion actually produced. Possibly poison potion. Ooh! Mother would love that as a diction exercise."

"We still don't have any evidence that the PCP was in the water," Kate points out. "Perlmutter said everything in the stomach would be hit by acid, and he couldn't tell what kind of water Marah drank."

"But we're going to track the water down regardless," Rick insists. "We haven't found any other way Marah would have ingested PCP and indications are strong that he wouldn't take it knowingly. I checked for likely suspects – bottling plants, not people. There are a lot of them in the Greater Metropolitan Area. Still, most are small operations putting out artisan-type drinks like birch beer. But I found one in Teterboro, Imperial Packagers, that stood out. It does private label bottling and packaging for companies all along the East Coast, and get this! It has its own pharmacy."

"While you were at it, did you find out if Imperial bottled the water Marah drank?"

"Unfortunately, no. Imperial makes a big deal of keeping its client list confidential. According to its PR, that gives smaller companies and start-ups the appearance of a bigger footprint."

The smack of Kate's palm against her desk vibrates through the air of the bullpen. "Then I'd need a warrant to find out, and your suspicions aren't enough to get one, especially for a search in New Jersey."

"Or maybe we could just look," Rick proposes. "I checked. Imperial recently put out a new prospectus. As a significant potential investor, I could request a tour. And of course, I'd want my arm candy along."

Green sparks blaze in Kate's eyes. "Your arm candy?"

"Work with me, Beckett. If I can get us in, I can ask enough stupid questions to give you a chance to look around. Come on. It's got to be worth a shot. What else have you got?"

"Not much," Kate admits.


The calculating look in the eyes of the well-built woman who greets Rick and Kate in the lobby of the Imperial packager's plant belies her welcoming smile. "I'm Marilyn Caldicott, Vice President for Investor Relations. I'm happy to meet you, Mr. Castle, Ms. Beckett. I've seen your books, Mr. Castle," Marilyn adds, relying on the quick Google her assistant did ten minutes before the couple arrived. "I'm pleased that a best-selling author would give thought to our company."

"Well," Rick replies, "Fifty Cent made a considerable part of his impressive fortune from Vitamin Water. I thought your company deserved a look. You bottle interesting water products here, don't you?"

Marilyn's hair barely moves as her head bobs. "Yes, we do. Sparkling waters and tonics are extremely popular in the current market. Our facility contains sophisticated equipment to achieve and maintain the carbonation levels most attractive to consumers."

Rick grins. "I'd enjoy seeing that. I love gadgets."

"Of course," Marilyn agrees. "We'll get you some visitors' badges. And you'll have some paperwork to sign. Just a formality, but unfortunately, industrial espionage is a reality in the packaging world. So we have to get all visitors' signatures on agreements that they won't reveal any of the trade secrets they might observe."

"Quite understandable," Rick allows, exchanging a sideways glance with Kate.

Rick regards an endless stream of bottles being filled with blueberry and acai flavored liquid. This is fascinating, Marilyn, but I am really curious about the newest trend, alkaline water. Is Imperial riding that wave?"

Marilyn's gaze makes a split-second shift to a side door. "We have picked up some of that business, but I'm sorry, it's not in production today. Let me show you our ginger tonic. It's aimed at an older demographic, but one with considerable disposable income. Our client markets it to combat digestive difficulties as well as motion sickness. It does well in airports, and we ship it to Florida for use on cruise ships."

"I could have used some of that on my last trip into Kennedy," Rick confides. "We hit some turbulence you wouldn't believe. Even one of the flight attendants was a little green."

"I understand. I've had a few flights like that myself." Marilyn waves toward the other side of the plant. "Follow me. I'll show you the process for putting out the remedy."

"Did you notice how much Marilyn wanted to keep us away from that door?" Rick whispers to Kate as Marilyn greets one of the plant's supervisors.

"Uh-huh. I need to find a way to get a look in there."

"We'll be here a while. These things usually involve a sales pitch over lunch. We'll have time to figure out a plan." Rick's eyes rove the aisles of machinery. "Some of these setups have control panels that run on an ancient version of Windows. I'm getting an idea, but I'll need some help from a friend."


Rick views the spread, complete with chilled samples of beverages bottled on-site, set out for lunch in a conference room. "This is truly impressive, Marilyn. However, before we sit down, I could use a trip to the restroom."

"Of course," Marilyn agrees. "It's right down the hall to your left."

"Great! I shall enthusiastically return for this excellent repast."

Pulling out his phone, Rick takes a seat in a stall. "Vernon, Rick Castle. Remember when you advised me on how Storm could cause total confusion in a factory? I'm working on a similar situation. Would it be possible with internet-connected control systems running on Windows 7?"

A snort sounds from Rick's phone. "Windows 7? You're writing your villains as idiots, Rick. That relic's vulnerable as hell. A three-year-old could hack it."

"So tell me how to be as smart as a three-year-old, Vinny. What do I have my hero do?"

"I'll text you the details. Storm, Heat, or whoever you're writing can use a cell to send out the code."

"I owe you, Vinny."

"Send me a case of DynaPop, and we'll call it even."


With his phone under the table, Rick pushes send as he savors a bite of mustardy potato salad. "This is excellent. Is this flavored with Dijon or …."

As alarms scream, Marilyn lurches out of her chair. "It must be a drill. I didn't know we had one scheduled today, but I'll find out what's happening."

"That's no drill," Rick explains to Kate as soon as Marilyn's out of the room. "Every machine in this place that's connected to the net is putting out an alert for dangerous overheating. It should take the staff long enough to figure out the glitch for you to get a look through that mysterious door."

"What if Marilyn gets back before I do?"

"I'll tell her you went in search of a ladies' room. There wasn't one next to the men's room. And I'll text you to get back here. Go on, Kate. Hurry up!"

Ignored in the massive chaos, Kate makes her way to her target. She pushes open the door just enough to see inside. A worker in a hazmat suit and respirator is operating a machine filling alkaline water bottles. Kate can just make out a case of bottles marked with an X sitting in a corner. After rapidly snapping photos, she hurries back to the conference room.