The Other Path
Chapter 52
Before returning to the conference room, Marilyn Caldicott pastes a smile meant to be reassuring but is unconvincing on her face. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Castle, Ms. Beckett, we will have to cut your visit short. Nothing went wrong with production, but a tiny problem developed in our alert system. However, I can assure you that the small glitch is entirely temporary. Still, we're clearing the plant of all non-essential personnel until our tech people straighten it out. Despite this inconvenience, I hope that you enjoyed your visit today."
"I did, very much," Rick replies truthfully, while Kate struggles to breathe normally after her dash back moments before Marilyn reappeared. "And we all encounter our little difficulties – especially when someone is watching."
"Indeed," Marilyn agrees. "I'll escort you back to the lobby now so you can turn in your badges. I hope you'll both have a wonderful day."
Rick grins. "I'm sure we will."
"Tell me everything those detective's eyes took in," Rick demands when he and Kate are back in his Ferrari.
"If Imperial isn't bottling PCP, they're bottling something dangerous," Kate responds. "A guy in hazmat gear was running the machine filling alkaline water bottles."
"Were there any with an X on them?" Rick presses.
"It looked like there were Xs on a stack of cases. I took pictures Tori may be able to use to give us a better view. But I'm pretty sure about the Xs."
"Then isn't that enough for a warrant?" Rick queries, starting the car.
"It would be if the bottles had been in plain sight. But since I had to open a door to see them, no. A judge would refuse to grant one, and any evidence that came from what I saw would be fruit of the poison tree. We need another way to introduce those bottles, and right now, I can't think of one."
"What if someone other than a cop reported something like what you saw?" Rick asks.
"Even if you had seen it, that wouldn't work either because you would have been acting as an agent of the police."
Rick's eyebrows dance above the sparkle in his eyes. "I wasn't talking about me. That plant just experienced a flood of overheating alarms. What if some vigilant citizen reported that to the fire department? They can investigate a fire hazard anytime, anyplace, without a warrant. And in a transportation hub like Teterboro, with a small craft airport, I bet they have access to a crack hazmat team. If the firefighters discover the room you found, you'll have what you need with no law enforcement fingerprints on it."
"Sneaky, but it could work," Kate considers.
"For a mystery writer, sneakiness is a job requirement."
"Booyah" Rick shouts, checking the local news feed on his phone while brewing the morning's first pot of coffee. "The fire department checked out the Imperial Packagers facility. According to this report, the inspectors noted outdated warning systems and wrote them up as requiring correction. However, they also spotted some potentially hazardous materials that went unreported on the company's mandated hazmat inventory. Those materials are being analyzed to determine if further action is required. Kate, the lab is going to find PCP or the makings of it. With what we have so far, will that be enough for a warrant?"
"It should be. But Imperial will know what the firefighters discovered. They'll try to keep it under wraps and probably dump the rest of the water bottles with PCP. By the time the judge signs off, we may not find anything."
"I don't think they'll dump the water," Rick opines. "We may not have actually gone there to evaluate the company for investment, but I noted what would have been a red flag if we did. The reason I could hack the warning system is that it should have been upgraded years ago. Obviously, the fire department thought so as well. The place was staged to look good, but peeking under the covers would reveal strictly low thread count sheets. Imperial's short on capital. That's why Marilyn was so obsequious and probably why the company's dealing PCP. They can't afford to dump it, Kate. They'll ship it, probably somewhere close to the beverage service's warehouse. Otherwise, Jamba Juice wouldn't have gotten one bad bottle with an otherwise clean batch."
"Or they might ship it to the warehouse," Kate suggests. "The trucks from there drive all over the city. They'd make a perfect distribution network."
"You're right!" Rick realizes. "But with all those trucks, which one do you follow?"
"The one that picks up bottles with Xs. We stake out the loading dock."
"Given the right snacks, that sounds like fun."
"We've been watching trucks being loaded for hours," Rick complains, rubbing the small of his back.
"I thought you said this would be fun," Kate teases.
"It was really cool watching the guys drive the forklifts – for the first hour. Then the Bob the Builder vibe faded. Who would think so many people would drink Fuzzy Mist? That stuff will rot your teeth and your brain at the same time."
Kate lifts her binoculars to her eyes. "Wait! This load isn't Fuzzy Mist. It's alkaline water. And there's an X on the side of the cartons."
"Ah, some action at last."
"Looks like the truck's going to the Bronx," Rick notes as the vehicle turns onto I-278.
"That makes sense," Kate considers. "Ryan says Narcotics is seeing a lot of PCP up there."
"And what's in the alkaline water could be used to soak joints and add to other drugs," Rick figures. "Drug dealers' secret sauce."
"It's time for the secret to be out," Kate declares.
Rick proudly points to a headline on his morning copy of the Ledger. "Accidental Death of Actor Leads to Drug Ring Bust. And your name managed to slip its way into the official NYPD release. Not mine, of course, but still, some credit where credit is due. I think this calls for a toast."
"At seven o'clock in the morning?" Kate questions.
"I can put big heads on the lattes."
Kate smothers a laugh.
"What?"
"Nothing. I'd love extra foam on my latte."
"But we'll need a better celebration than that," Rick insists. "How about one of my fluffy omelets?"
"I'm not very hungry."
"Really? You're usually ravenous at the successful close to a case. All right, I'll make the coffee, anyway."
Kate wrinkles her nose. "Ew! What did you put in that pot? Is that one of your experimental blends? It smells awful."
"Kate, it's the Arabica you like, standard roast. Oh, God! The first few months Meredith was pregnant with Alexis, the smell of coffee made her sick. Could you be…?"
"I don't think so. I haven't had my period in – well, you would know that. But I've always been irregular. Maybe it's a bug or something."
"Or a nine-month bug. We could stop at the drug store on the way to the precinct and buy a test."
"Rick, I don't…."
"Just to give your nervous husband some peace, could you pee on the stick?"
"You won't stop bugging me about it until I do, will you?"
"Probably not."
"All right. We can buy the test."
Rick gazes anxiously at the ladies' room door and checks his watch for the fourth time. It's been more than long enough. Kate slowly emerges from the women's retreat.
"Well?"
