American Crime Stories
Arc two, Chapter twenty
"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."
Hearing those word, Esposito and Ryan looked at each other and chuckled. Their reactions didn't go unnoticed.
"What is so funny?" Jamie Reagan asked.
It was Ryan who answered the question. "We know those words. Normally they are followed by either an outlandish theory – most of the time involving aliens, zombies or the CIA." Hearing those words people looked dubious between him and Castle who stood there smiling. "Or it is followed by a theory that helps us to identify our killers," Esposito finished the explanation rather begrudgingly. There were some doubtful looks but Castle didn't mind them.
"Thanks guys," Castle said sarcastically.
"As time went by, I wondered why we did get the case. Laura Cambridge could have been killed or dumped in any other part of the City so that a different precinct would have got the case. But she wasn't, and in the end, we got the case. After months of radio-silence, it's a perfect time for Smith to get in contact with me again. My friendship with Bob is publicly known. So, there is no stretch of imagination that I would be emotionally involved in the case. Hell, I shouldn't have been involved at all. It was a bad situation. Smith contacting me suggested the involvement of the mysterious Dragon. I couldn't tell the others about Smith's warning, as nobody knew about Smith at all. I'd have to tell Beckett all about the deal and so on. Then Beckett would have been hell bent on identifying Smith to get to the package with information. And I think you can all guess what she would have done with that. So, not only would she have been in danger, but Ryan, Esposito, myself and our families as well. On the other hand, I wanted to keep my friend, the Mayor, out of trouble. Of course, I wanted to find Laura Cambridge's actual killer, too. The case didn't go especially well. Although we learned that she had heard something on digital recordings. Something that would turn out to be an explosive story. A scandal involving a very prominent, very powerful New Yorker. Something that would rock the city to its very foundations. Those recordings disappeared, so we don't know what actually was on it for sure. And then Smith called me again and told me that he wanted to meet." Here Castle chuckled. "I think the meeting was another ploy to appeal to me, as it was like it happens in movies or in one of my books: shadowy parking deck, trench coat, disguised voice." Castle shook his head. He didn't know whether Smith had thought that he was so easily fooled or not. It had not felt important enough to ask the man that question.
"Anyway, during that meeting Smith told me that to prove Bob's innocence, I should listen to the evidence which was B roll of Bob at City council meetings, playground openings or backstage at a press conference. That that's what Laura had done."
"Listen? Not watch?" Agent Fallon asked. There was an instant response as almost all people instantly understood the meaning of the question.
"Exactly!" Castle exclaimed. "As I said, I was too emotionally involved to understand the meaning of those words. However, Harm here," Castle pointed to Harmon Rabb, "understood immediately and pointed it out to me. Smith told me to listen to the evidence, not to follow the evidence. Obviously, that brought up a bunch of new questions: How did Smith even know that there was a taped conversation? We did not make that public. How would he have even known about the content of the tape? He must have seen it. How would he know of the importance of what was on the tape? The simplest answers were that Smith had to be the one behind it in the first place." There were some gasps but others just nodded. The way Castle had spoken about the last part had given them some ideas on where he was going with the story.
"That tidbit got us thinking. It was Smith who had told me about the deal and my role in it. He told me that he was doing it as a favor to Roy. In fact, he told me that several time, making me think that he didn't much care about Beckett's welfare. He was fulfilling a debt he owed Montgomery. So, when Bob dropped a hint of running for governor in one of his speeches, Smith must have decided that he didn't like that. As I mentioned before, Smith had told me that whoever was behind the murder, did it so that Bob would have to stay on as Mayor of New York City. That was true, although it wasn't the Dragon as he wanted me to think. The guilty one was actually Smith himself, for the reasons I've covered before." He could see that the others were following his logic.
"Knowing that you made a deal with him? Setting him up with a new ID?" Commissioner Reagan asked. There was no way that he would let a murderer go. Even if the evidence was substantial, at best.
Castle had expected that question. "Don't worry, Commissioner. Marcus here has a team on him 24/7. We know exactly where he is and what he is doing." Frank Reagan nodded. Castle checked the time.
"Alright. We have covered a lot already, but we're not finished by a long shot. However, I think it is time to take a short break. Is it alright with anyone to be back in ten minutes?" People nodded. "Alright. See you in ten," Castle said and then went straight out the door. He knew that he would have to answer a lot of questions, if he stayed here. Questions that would be repeated in the group setting again. So, he had decided before the meeting that he would go straight to an office where he wouldn't be disturbed.
Ten minutes later, anybody had refreshed themselves and grabbed something to bite. Castle was standing in front of the attendees to restart his briefing. He pointed to the smart board that was showing the timeline and information he had talked about until now. "Earlier this morning, we started with the trio of kidnappers. Until now, we have mostly followed the path of one of them. Now, let me tell you what happened to the other to. Whereas Montgomery threw himself into work to atone for his sins, Raglan and McCallister went the other direction. And many other cops followed them." Hearing those words, the NYPD officers sat up straighter. Especially Frank Reagan who had a few hellish weeks after assassination of one retired detective, the incarceration of his former partner for his dirty dealings, the murder of a well-respected active NYPD Captain and the failed assassination of one of his subordinates. A detective who was well-known not only in New York, but in the whole country for her association with the world famous writer. He had known that the case was still open, although it had been transferred to Cold Cases. He hated it that they had not been able to close the case on the attempted murder of Detective Beckett or the role the death of Montgomery played in it. His internal investigators had not found any proof for Beckett or Montgomery being dirty. But now here he was, learning of Montgomery's shady past and the connection to Detectives Beckett, Raglan and McAllister. He knew this was bad, and he also knew that it would get worse. Not only for him as Chief of Police, but also as father of a murdered cop.
"We know that the so-called Dragon somehow found out about the scheme of our trio. Whereas he blackmailed Montgomery into silence, he offered the other two the opportunity to work for him. As I said at the beginning, the trio of kidnappers were not the only cops involved in shady dealing." He could see that those words struck a nerve with the Reagans. "I know that it is not a popular belief for our members of the NYPD, but it's still the truth. We have learned that our Dragon had been involved with some of those corrupt cops. Adding two Detectives who were not afraid to go against the Mafia must have been too good to pass up." Some people in the room nodded, they could see the logic in it.
"You, Commissioner Reagan, and your associates have already met a group of those corrupt cops when you arrested members of The Blue Templar for their corrupt dealings and their part in the murder of your son, Detective Joe Reagan." There was a short silence when the people turned to Commissioner Reagan and his family.
"For those of you who are unaware what I'm talking about, and I apologize to you Commissioner and your family for bringing up painful memories." Frank Reagan nodded stoically, but everyone could see the pain in his eyes. "The Blue Templar was a fraternal organization that was started as a way to police the police after Serpico and the Knapp Commission. If our information is right, you Commissioner Reagan," Castle looked at Henry Reagan, "had been one of the founding members." Those words surprised most members of the Reagan family. Of course, they had known that he had been a member of the organization, just like Frank, Joe and Danny have been. But they had never been told that he had been a founding member. Henry Reagan just nodded.
"As far as we can see is that with time many of the older members left for various reasons and new members joined. With time the Blue Templar became what they initially had been trying to fight: a group of corrupt cops with hands in various criminal enterprises like drug trafficking and even murder. That also included black op drug busts wherein they would kill the dealers and any witnesses and steal the drug money. They had no scruple in murdering their fellow officers, for example Joe Reagan or the attempt on your life, Officer Reagan." Castle looked at the youngest Reagan in the room, Officer Jamie Reagan. "We believe that that is the reason why nobody tried to deal their way out of prison or lighter sentences, or in case of Detective Sonny Malevsky, his suicide after his confession to murdering Joe. They knew that cooperating with you would get them killed, and probably even their families, too. After all, some of them had been murdering witnesses to their crimes for years." The others nodded, the logic was sound.
"Although the arrest was a win for the NYPD, you only got the tip of the iceberg. As I said before, in the early nineties there were various groups of bad cops: some were taking justice into they own hands, some were just criminals with a badge. We know that the Dragon got involved with the trio of kidnappers, but it's more than that. We are fairly certain that he had united those various groups under one banner. What was once a loose confederation of dirty cops using their badges to conduct criminal activities, turned into a criminal enterprise of corrupt cops and public officials, called Human Resources or HR for short." Castle paused for a moment to let that sink in. "HR is comprised of dirty cops and law enforcement officers, corrupt politicians, business leaders and even some mafia families as well as foreign cartels. Not only are they looking the other way at criminal activities in exchange for sharing profits, but they are actively controlling some criminal enterprises. To protect themselves, most information is compartmentalized. They work in various circles or cells, much like a terrorist organization."
"Castle, how do you know all this? Was this part of the Captain's package?" Esposito asked.
"Yes and no, Espo. The package gave us a starting point to investigate. We followed the evidence and filled in some blanks. But even better: John here," Castle pointed to John Reese, "was able to flip one of the members of HR." That statement stunned the room.
A/N: For those of you who celebrate the holidays, I wish you a fantastic time and hope that you enjoy the celebrations.
See you in 2020!