American Crime Stories

Arc two, Chapter nineteen

As I mentioned before, Montgomery had a package of incriminating evidence in his possession. Before he left to make his last stand, Montgomery sent that package to a third party. This person tried to use this evidence to resume the old agreement Montgomery had made: Beckett would be left alone, as long as the investigation into her mother's case would end bare no new evidence."

Ryan and Esposito looked shocked again. They had not known this. "Then why was Beckett shot?" Esposito couldn't hold back his question.

"Well, it took a while until the papers reached Montgomery's friend, for this person to understand the information and then to actually struck a new deal. In the meantime, the Dragon had hired another hitman. Luckily for us, his attempt to assassinate Beckett failed."

"How do you know all this?" Commissioner Frank Reagan asked.

"Well, a few days after Beckett returned to the precinct, that third person contacted me and explained the terms of the deal. I was supposed to make sure that Beckett would not look deeper into the case." There was a shocked silence. Those who hadn't been in the know looked at Castle incredulously.

"You're kidding, Castle, right?" Esposito exclaimed. A sentiment that was shared amongst the others.

"No, Espo, I'm not." Before anybody else could say anything else, Castle spoke. "Before you all pester me with more question, please, let me get on with my briefing. I can assure you, we are far from over. In fact, it will even get worse. There are various threads of our investigation. I'd like to finish what had started with the Bob Armen's murder." Castle sighed.

"As I said, I was contacted by this man, who called him himself Mr. Smith." Some people chuckled. "Yeah, very mysterious and unique, I know." More chuckles. "So, a few days after Beckett got back to the precinct, this Mr. Smith contacted me out of the blue. He told me about the deal Roy had brokered with this Dragon. A deal Mr. Smith would apparently continue. My job would be to make sure that Beckett would not look into her mother's murder, Montgomery's betrayal and death and the attempted assassination of herself." There were several scoffs, especially from Esposito, Ryan and Shaw. Everybody in this room, even those who had never met Beckett, looked incredulously. "Yeah, I know. I had the same feeling." Castle shook his head. He didn't have to spell it out why that would never happen.

"As you might have guessed, I was left with a conundrum. I knew it was impossible to stop Beckett from investigating. At first, it turned out to not be a problem. When she came back, most traces to her shooting had gone cold. Then the active cases kept us pretty busy. I also knew that Beckett and the guys", here he pointed at Esposito and Ryan, "would be under close supervision. From 1PP who just happened to appoint the former Captain from Internal Affairs as the 12th precincts new Captain," Castle looked at Frank Reagan who looked at him with a poker face. "I had also absolutely no doubt that this Dragon had his people watching them. And of course that this Mr. Smith was having us watched, too, to make sure Beckett would stay out of the way." Castle saw some of the attendees nod in consent, it was a pretty logical assumption.

"However, I did not think that people would focus on me as much. I am, after all, just a writer." This statement gathered various reaction from the assembled people. Those who knew him or had worked with him in the past did in fact know better. Those who didn't know him personally, only his reputation, were having trouble connecting the man's reputation with everything they had learned so far. A simple writer, no matter how rich and famous, would not have been able to bring such a group of law enforcement, local and federal, together in a room. And despite the initial doubts, the tale the writer was spinning was rather believable. Horrific, but believable.

"What nobody, other than the involved people, knew was that I had started my own private investigation shortly after we found out that Johanna Beckett's actual killer had been a hitmen." Hearing this statement, Esposito and Ryan looked at Castle incredulously. They wondered why their friend had never said anything to them. And how they hadn't noticed his investigating in the first place.

"However, I did not investigate too much myself. Instead, I asked Marcus here to put together a team. Although they didn't learn much at first, everything they learned was put together. You can read all of it in the packages we have put together for you." Castle pointed to the package each of the attendees had in front of them.

"After the first meeting with that Mr. Smith, I contacted Marcus and his team. Obviously, we wanted to find out who he is and, if possible, get our hands at the evidence package. We got the chance a few months later during the investigation of Laura Cambridge's murder."

"If I remember correctly, that was the case involving the Mayor, correct?" Frank Reagan asked.

"You're right, Commissioner. I will come back to Bob's role in this conspiracy later. Let's continue with Mr. Smith's first." Reagan nodded.

"So, when Smith called me during the investigation and told me that we had to meet again, I went there prepared. First, I went there wearing a camera. Something similar like that you, Agent Shaw, wore after my escape from the 12th precinct." Castle looked at Shaw who nodded to him. Castle could see some curious faces. They had never gone into the details how Shaw got involved. They always told people who asked that Castle had surrendered to the FBI.

"But that was not all. We had a team waiting on the perimeter of the meeting. And this team followed Smith after he left."

"So you found out who he was and what he knew." It was a statement, not a question. And it was the first time, Special Agent Fallon had spoken during the briefing.

"Yes, we did, but not immediately. Obviously we had tried to find him after the first time he contacted me. However, we didn't know anything about him other than that he knew Montgomery somehow. That was not much to go on. Anyway, the investigators from SSI followed him and were able to identify him." Castle pointed to Harmon Rabb, John Reese and Sameen Shaw who didn't react.

"However, we couldn't just contact and confront Smith. So we did an in-depth background check on the man. It turns out that the man actually used his real name. His name is Michael Smith."

"He used his real name?" ADA Reagan asked surprised.

"Yes. Maybe it was supposed a sick joke, being the mysterious Mr. Smith that had contacted the mystery writer. Maybe it was his arrogance that he thought said writer would never be able to find out his identity. I don't know and frankly don't care much for his reasons." Erin Reagan nodded, as did some others.

"Anyway. We researched him to find everything we could about him, his connections to all known parties of the conspiracy. When we thought that we had all the information gathered we prepared for a meeting. We knew that we had only one chance to get it right, so we prepared extensively. A few weeks ago we decided to finally confront him. Color him surprised when he came home and found us sitting in his office drinking coffee." Some people were shocked with the blasé manner Castle confessed to breaking and entering. But they also remembered what he had told them at the beginning of his briefing. They had heard about the violations of regulations earlier, now here was a clear act of breaking the law.

One person however, had another thought. "That's where you were at the night of Gina's murder." Hearing Jordan Shaw's statement, several people looked between her and Castle.

"What do you mean, Agent Shaw?" Ryan asked.

"Well, a few days ago Castle told me that he had lied about his alibi. That he had contracted some people to find a person of interest. He told me that at that night he had a meeting with said person and his contractors." Everybody immediately put together the truth.

"Why didn't you anything during your interrogation?" ADA Reagan asked heatedly. That case had not been good for the reputation of the DA's office, and especially not for her.

Castle sighed. "What should I have told you? That at the night of my ex-wives brutal murder I was breaking the law at another part of the city. That I had been in a clandestine meeting with a, well, let's call him an informant, for now. That said informant had information about a conspiracy that ranged back nearly two decades. A conspiracy that involved not only the murder of at least one FBI Agent, three lawyers, a highly decorated Captain of the NYPD with a dark past, two decorated cops with an even darker past, and the failed assassination of an Detective at her former Captain's funeral?" Castle asked sarcastically. "Look, not only would nobody have believed me. Well, except Espo and Ryan, and Beckett of course. But if I had said anything at all, that information would have put said detectives, those four and their families," here Castle pointed to the members of SSI, "and most importantly my family at risk. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the Dragon would have gotten the information that I was investigating the case before you had filed the report. I couldn't do that. To be honest, at first I was convinced that the Dragon had been behind Gina's murder and was framing me for some reason. That was until Tyson decided to grace me with his nightly visit." There was a shocked silence after Castle rant. Until know he had been very composed while talking to the group.

Castle sighed and took a breath to calm down. "Sorry, Erin. I know that it was a legitimate question. My initial plan was to stall for as much time as possible to give those four," he pointed at the members of SSI again, "as much time as possible to review all the information we gathered and to hand them over to trusted law enforcement officers. But Tyson's visit changed the plan, and we all know how that night ended." People nodded. Before anybody could ask anymore question, Castle went on.

"Let's get back to our meeting with Mr. Smith. As I said, he was very surprised, and angry obviously. After a bit of back and forth with various threats we could convince him that if I, a simple writer could find him that easily, a man such as the Dragon would eventually be able to so, too. So, we struck a deal. He would give us all the information he had and I would help him disappear. We sat him up with a new identity and enough money to live the rest of his life very comfortably." Again, there were people shaking their heads at the blatant admission of breaking the law. However, this time it was bit more serious than breaking and entering. But nobody said anything, as it was made clear that Castle had covered his back with an immunity deal.

"And we did find Smith just in time. As some of you know, a few days ago someone broke into the Montgomery home. We now know that the only thing missing is an old wedding album. Someone obviously tried to find Smith. However, this avenue will be of no help to them as we have scrapped all pictures of Smith from Montgomery's house, as soon as we found out who Michael Smith actually was." There were some raised eyebrows at that statement, as some people were impressed at Castle's thoroughness. However, Castle could also see two angry pairs of eyes, belonging to Espo and Ryan. Castle knew that there would be an uncomfortable conversation in his near future with his two friends. But he couldn't focus on that now, as he had to continue his briefing.

"During the investigation, evidence came to light that pointed to the involvement of Beckett's would-be assassin, Cole Maddox. Thanks to Esposito's old Army contacts, we now know that his real name is Cedric Marks. Just like Dick Coonan and Hal Lockwood, Marks is a veteran. After his release from service, he became a special operations contractor for Orantis Solutions." Hearing the name, Agent Danberg interest piqued, but he remained silent.

"Sadly, Maddox is on the run after nearly killing Detectives Esposito and Beckett." Castle shook his head at the events that had taken place. He knew that Beckett, and Esposito, had been lucky to get away alive.

"Although we had hoped to have more time to verify all the information we gathered and investigate further, the proceedings of the last few days have made it abundantly clear that time is running out. The Dragon is cleaning his pit." Castle sighed. "And that is the reason we're here. Despite the amount of data we have gathered and verified, we are not law enforcement. I'm sure some of you think that we shouldn't even have started to investigate. But let me remind you that early on, it was clear that someone was pulling strings in the background. Someone who was connected and had the ability to hire a first class hitman to kill Johanna Beckett and her colleagues. After that fact become public knowledge was able to hire a hitman to kill several cops, one of them a Captain. And following that course of action, another mysterious character appears in the story. The fact of the matter is that we didn't know who to trust, even in law enforcement. And when we come to the information we have learned thanks to the dossier from Montgomery, you will understand what I mean. To be honest, it took time to find people we thought we could trust and then to make sure that there are no connection to this conspiracy."

"You had us investigated?" Danny Reagan asked heatedly. It had been difficult for him to stay silent throughout the briefing. When his sister had told him about her last meeting with Castle, he had been sure that the writer was grandstanding. And he was very angry that the writer was involving his deceased brother into whatever schemed he had planned. He had actually thought to confront the man and to tell him in his usual diplomatic way – cough – what he thought about the man. As usual, he had made his opinion known to his family. It had been his father who had told him to not disregard the writer so easily and go into the meeting with an open mind. He had said it in a way that made clear that Frank Reagan knew something that he didn't. So, he decided to come to this meeting with as much an open mind as he could muster. Seeing the various cops and federal agents had surprised him. He knew the two detectives from the 12th precinct, having worked together in the past. He also knew Jordan Shaw, or better her reputation. And he knew Marcus Steele, having met the man and some of his people during previous investigations.

"Of course I had you investigated." The simple answer threw Danny for a spin. He had not actually thought that the man would confess to it so easily. Then again, he had confessed more serious crimes.

"As I said, I had to make sure nobody had here had any connection to this conspiracy." That didn't sit well with most of his audience. Especially the Reagans, as he had told Erin that the murder of Joe Reagan had been part of the conspiracy. In other words, Castle actually had thought it possible that someone could have part of the murder of their brother, son or grandson.

"Look, I know how that sounds, but after everything you have learned so far, are you really that surprised?" They nodded, but didn't look happy.

"Alright, let's get back to Mr. Smith and his role in this whole conspiracy. Then we can move on the actual evidence we have so far." Several people nodded.

"A short summary of what I have told you about Smith so far: shortly before he died, Roy sent a package full of damning information to a contact of his; information that he had used to keep Kate safe for all these years. Feeling indebted to Roy for some reason, Smith brokered the same deal, but he was too late. Beckett had already been shot. After her return back to active duty, Beckett starts to investigate her shooting, mostly reworking steps we had done before, so the evidence went cold pretty fast. Then Smith contacts me and tells me about the evidence Roy had accumulated against these people and that he, Smith, was now in possession of said evidence. Not only that, he tells me that he had brokered the same deal as Roy. As long as Beckett's keeps clear of the investigation into her mother's murder, and subsequently Roy's death and the attempted murder on herself, the files on the Dragon would stay sealed. And according to Smith, the Dragon accepted the deal – again. Appealing to my," here Castle paused to search the right word, "connection to Beckett, Smith told me that keeping her away from the case, or better, to make sure an investigation would not make any headway, would now my responsibility. I agreed," Castle said, but then holds out his arms. "Obviously, I lied. Well, cheated may be the better word. While I kept Beckett and the guys off of the case," Castle pointed to Esposito and Ryan, "I, well we," here he pointed at him and the members from SSI, "continued our own investigation. We accumulated background information on all the people we knew that were involved, cross-referenced them to find any connections to other people. Obviously that all took time, as we had to make sure that nobody would catch on to those background checks. And then Laura Cambridge was murdered. Even after evidence came to light that pointed to Bob's, ah Mayor Weldon's, involvement, I still was convinced of his innocence. Then Smith contacted me, warning me that Bob was being set up." Castle could see the impact those words made on his guest, ranging from interested to hurt and a little betrayal. Ah, he would have to do something real nice for the guys. A weekend with the Ferrari wouldn't cut it this time.

"Bob had gubernatorial aspirations and according to Smith, someone – he hinted to the Dragon without saying so – wanted to eliminate those opportunities as soon as possible. That was the whole purpose of implicating the Mayor in the fraud and Laura Cambridge's murder. This whole scenario suggested that the people behind Laura Cambridge's murder are also the people responsible for Johanna Beckett's death. Smith told me that whoever was behind the murder, did not want Bob out of office. They did not frame him to end his political career but to make sure that he would stay on as Mayor of New York City. And as long as he stayed Mayor, I would stay at the 12th precinct and would keep Detective Beckett from getting anywhere in her investigation."

Castle turned to Frank Reagan. "Obviously Commissioner, they didn't know about our agreement." Hearing those words, people turned surprised to the Commissioner.

"What nobody knows is that early on, Captain Montgomery and the Commissioner came to an agreement when I started shadowing Beckett. The deal was that I would only stay at the 12th precinct as long as Roy agreed. That I'd have to leave as soon as he would ask me to do so. And that the Commissioner would back that decision even against the Mayor. Roy told me about that after a few months or so. And when he died, I contacted Commissioner Reagan to tell him that I would hold on to that agreement. That I would go without making any problems, if he told me so."

"But what about Gates? She sure as hell didn't want you at the 12th precinct?" Esposito asked. Others nodded, most of them had seen or heard about Gates infamous press conference. It was clear to everybody that there was no love lost between those two. Castle chuckled.

"For all her citing regulations, demanding to follow protocol and procedure, she didn't do that herself. She didn't go through the chain of command but simply, even if reluctantly, agreed to let me stay on. Just because the Mayor told her so. As I said, if she had gone up the chain of command and if Commissioner Reagan had asked me to stop working at the 12th precinct, I would have done so."

"So, the whole murder of the poor young woman was senseless?" Henry Reagan asked, trying to come back to the briefing. "Even more so than most murders?"

"Well, we established that someone framed Bob. They tarnished his reputation just enough that it wouldn't end his political career, but that his journey wouldn't go farther than New York City. Smith's scenario made it look like the people behind Laura Cambridge's murder were the same people who killed Beckett's mother. It's a logical assumption. But what if it's not?" As he had thought, his words surprised and even shocked some people. Castle paused for a dramatic pause.

"Castle, stop being dramatic. Do you have another explanation for her murder?" Jordan asked but then sighed, knowing the answer already. "Of course you do. Then go on, tell us!"

Castle smiled for a moment and nodded. "So, here is how I would write it in one of my stories."