The Other Path Chapter 87
"Was that call from Cyrus?" Rick asks as Kate shoves her cell into her pocket. "He should be happy. The raid on the purple prostitution palace made the front page of The Ledger. It said there's a vault in there full of video recordings. Even if a jury doesn't believe the girls, they'll have to believe their eyes."
"Unfortunately, opening that vault opened a huge can of worms," Kate reports. "Cyrus says he's received calls from three state legislators, two congressmen, and one senator pushing him to slow-walk the case or find a reason to drop it entirely."
"Wow! We thought Bornstein was connected, but nothing like that. What's Cyrus going to do?"
"Proceed full steam ahead. The court's arraigning Brix and Viveca today. And Cyrus wants security on the girls doubled. He's also caching the video in a secret location. He doesn't want anyone slipping a guard a few bucks to sneak into an evidence room."
"All excellent precautions. Any idea when the actual trial will be?"
"You know how slow the courts can be, Babe. And Cyrus's team needs time to scrub all that video and evaluate any other evidence from the house. But he's hoping to get the case against Borstein on the docket in the next few months."
"Then the trial may come before the baby does?"
"It's possible. So, how are the stories coming?"
"For your class?"
"Uh-huh."
"Well, I didn't want to stick with Beckett cases that initially pegged the wrong suspect. I figured that making you sound like less than the incredible cop you are, would send the wrong message. And I was thinking about that cop Feeney you told me about, also about Montgomery's case, the one where a politician's lawyer sent a guy off to jail to protect his boss. I wanted to hear more about old-timers. So I had a conversation with Detective McGinty."
"The detective who retired from the 54th three years ago?"
"More like was forced to retire. Esposito told me what he heard of the story at the time. He didn't know the despicable details. But I know them now. The captain at the 54th, Coleridge, had the worst closure rate five years running and was about to be forced out. He was so desperate to turn things around that he let his precinct know they were to use any means possible to elicit confessions. Some of the detectives were more than eager to oblige."
"But not McGinty."
"No, not McGinty. He fought for fair treatment of suspects. But no good deed goes unpunished. Coleridge told him he either had to retire quietly and take his pension or he'd be brought up on obstruction charges and lose everything. McGinty's wife had cancer and they couldn't afford to lose their medical coverage. So he went along and kept his mouth shut."
"But he talked to you."
"His wife passed on and Coleridge retired to Florida. He was killed last month by a lightning strike on the golf course. Talk about divine retribution! So, when I called, McGinty couldn't wait to unburden himself. He told me about three confessions he thought were obtained under particularly egregious circumstances. I used my subscription sources to check them out. One of the men involved was cleared by the innocence project. But he still lost years of his life. The other two are dead. One got hooked on drugs in prison and died of an overdose. The other one got shanked. I've been crafting those stories into narratives for you to read to your class, Kate."
"Oh, come on, Babe! I'm not Nikki Heat. I wasn't a theater major. When I read, I sound like someone standing up in class because the teacher made me do it. But when you read, you're mesmerizing. Even the men at your bookstore readings have tears in their eyes."
Rick cups Kate's cheek. "That's because they've seen the price of my hardcovers."
"No, it isn't. They could always listen and then buy the books for Kindle, and you know it. But they don't. They stay, they talk to you and ask for your autograph because they want to hold on to the magic. I need some of that magic for my students."
"All right, but don't tell Paula. I don't want her getting any ideas about me making any more appearances."
"My lips will be sealed."
"What the f**k is going on, Hitch?" Gomer Richland demands. "You and your people were supposed to keep that asshole Cyrus in line."
"We tried," Hitch pleads. "Everyone we have on the hook in New York called him. I called him myself. He's not moving. And we can't threaten to primary him. He's from the other party."
"Well, do something," Richland orders, "or you know what will happen to your campaign funding. And the rest of what you want swept under the carpet could make a sudden appearance."
"I'll do what I can," Hitch responds.
"You'll do what you must," Richland retorts.
"Beau!" Hitch yells through his door, slapping his burner phone to his desk.
Drawing a deep breath, Chief of Staff, Jefferson Beaufort, steps into his boss' office. "Yes, Sir. What do you need?"
"Something I can use against that f***ing New York DA, Lymon Cyrus. We need to stop him from going after Bornstein, now!"
"Sir, I've had three staffers looking into Cyrus. That boy scout's so clean you could eat off him."
"Then the hell with the staffers. If they can't find any dirt, we'll need someone who can make some. I want to talk to Xi Wing."
"China's 12 hours ahead. It's the middle of the night there."
Pens jump as Hitch pounds his desk. "I don't care what time it is there. Get him for me, now – on the encrypted line."
Yes, Sir. I'll try."
"Don't try, Beaufort," Hitch warns. "Do it!"
Rick studies the classroom full of cadets. Some of them remind him of one of Alexis' study buddies. The boy received acceptances from every college to which he'd applied and regarded himself as peerless. Unfortunately for him, he had many peers from around the country who had also been accepted across the board. Out of high school, he wasn't top dog anymore, more like the runt of the litter. After six months he was on a bus from Brown University back to New York with his tail between his legs. Eventually, he enrolled at New York College and apparently is doing well there. But he's many steps down from the Ivy League where he'd pictured himself writing his own ticket. Considering the possible parallel, Rick figures it's better for the trainees to get knocked down a few notches now, than when they meet the harsh reality of real policing.
Kate taps on her podium for attention. "I want to introduce our guest speaker, Richard Castle. As well as being a best-selling author, Mr. Castle has served as a consultant to the NYPD for seven years. During that time, he has assisted in closing over 100 cases. Mr. Castle's interview and research skills are arguably unmatched. I'm calling on those skills today. Mr. Castle is here to share cases not that he closed, but were erroneously closed by cops. These cases are real, and you can hear for yourselves what happens when cops overreach. Mr. Castle."
Rick clears his throat as he exchanges places with Kate. "Good morning. I have three stories for you. One has what might be considered a happy ending. But nevertheless, they're all tragic. Let's start with the sad tale of Winthrop Jones, who had the misfortune of vaguely matching the description of the suspect in a robbery. And I say vaguely because he was two inches shorter and forty pounds lighter. But his skin color was the same. That's all it took for Winthrop to end up in cuffs.
