Poison Pen
Chapter 32
"What did I miss?" Castle asks, puffing from the elevator to Kate's desk in the bullpen. "Alexis put together a bunch of stuff for her art class collage, so I helped her get it all to school."
Kate looks up at him, satisfaction lighting her face. "Actually, your timing is perfect. A uniformed unit spotted Fruman's limo from my BOLO. It was parked in the closest lot to a subway station, and there were a few traffic cam captures of him along the route from Speedy Lifts to that lot. We also got last night's platform video. Fruman was on it. Tech is using facial recognition on the footage from nearby stations. We should turn up the one closest to where he lives, pretty soon."
"That's still going to give you a pretty big haystack," Castle realizes. "The stations are about half a mile apart or more. A little back of the envelope geometry would have you canvassing every domicile in over ¾ of a square mile."
"We've had a lot bigger search areas," Kate points out, "and fortunately, in this one, there are a lot of businesses and not that many residential buildings. As soon as we have the exact radius pinned down, we can take Ryan and Esposito and get over there. It should be in the jurisdiction of the 54th. They're already involved in Luther Frontiere's murder. Kinney will give us whatever help we need."
"The last time I went from door to door, I was taking Alexis around to sell Girl Scout cookies, and I ended up buying three cases of Thin Mints for myself," Castle recalls. "But I'm game."
"Ooh, I love Thin Mints! You wouldn't still have any stowed away, would you?" Kate wonders.
"Gone in the proverbial flash, but I didn't eat all of them," Rick explains. "Alexis hosted an all-night Monopoly Marathon. As I remember, the youngsters represented by the car and the cat were the most enthusiastic consumers. I'd suggest taking a few Girl Scouts with us to induce cookie cravers to open their doors, but sadly it's the wrong time of year."
"There are very few standalone homes in that area, mostly apartments and condos. We can save a lot of time by showing Fruman's face to building managers and supers," Kate assumes.
"But they won't be nearly as glad to see us, as they would purveyors of boxed deliciousness," Castle asserts.
"Probably not," Kate agrees, "but we'll manage,"
Margaret Langhorn shoves her wrench into her leather toolbelt and squints at the image on Kate's phone. "Yeah, I recognize him. Clogged up his toilet three damn times. But then men can be full of sh*t." Margaret glances up at Castle. "No offense."
"None taken," Castle assures her. "I've observed the phenomenon, especially when the Beany Burrito truck shows up at the precinct."
Kate clears her throat. "What apartment is Mr. Fruman in, Ms. Langhorn?"
Margaret points to Fruman's picture. "This guy rented his place as Palmer, Leroy Palmer, not Fruman, but he's in 6C."
Kate leads Castle up the steps from the basement and to the front of the building as she calls in Ryan and Esposito for backup. "We'll wait for the boys here and go up to the sixth floor together when they arrive. That way, if Fruman tries to leave before they get here, we'll spot him."
"Good strategy," Castle acknowledges, "but it looks like he's coming not going. Isn't that him walking this way?"
Kate hastily pulls her blazer over the badge on her belt and molds her face into her brightest smile. "Excuse me. We're a little turned around. Can you tell me where the nearest subway station is?"
Fruman shifts a drugstore bag containing travel sizes of toothpaste, shampoo, and deodorant to his left hand and points with his right. "You go four blocks that way, and you can't miss it."
Kate reveals her badge and reaches for her weapon. "You can't miss this either. Milton Fruman, you are under arrest for conspiracy to commit theft. Turn around. You have the right to remain silent," Kate intones, snapping her handcuffs on Fruman as Ryan and Esposito arrive. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you? With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me?"
"I'll speak to you to tell you you've got the wrong guy," Fruman claims. "I'm Leroy Palmer."
"When we check your fingerprints and DNA, we'll see about that," Kate assures him.
Kate slaps a file on the table in Interrogation. "You were telling the truth that you're not Milton Fruman. But you're not Leroy Palmer either. According to the national database, you are Percy Redfern, and you're wanted in Florida for theft, fraud, and conspiracy. But Percy, we'll worry about that later. Your activities, or those of one of your co-conspirators, precipitated a murder."
"I didn't kill anyone," Percy protests.
"But you may have knowledge of who did. Your cohort, Dominic Farrell, appears to have met his end as a result of rifling through cars on your instructions. He found something that got him killed."
"Look, I told him not to tangle with those people. I begged him to send it back, to grovel if he had to. But he didn't listen. Dominic's death was his own damn fault. I had nothing to do with it."
"If you want to prove that, tell us who killed him," Kate demands.
"It was a hitter for the Dragon. From what I've heard, there are two of them that carry out his regular contracts. Word is, they compete with each other. If you want to do business in this town, you know about them and what happens if you piss them or the Dragon off."
Kate shakes her head. "The Dragon is an urban legend. Cops have been chasing their tails over it for years."
If he's a legend, then Dominic wouldn't be dead," Fruman insists. "The hitter who took him out goes by Hal Lockwood, or at least that was the name on the papers for his long-term rental from Comfort Ride. Tall guy, he was driving a Kia K900, the car with the most legroom. Dominic found something that belonged to Lockwood, or maybe worse, the Dragon himself."
"A book?" Castle queries.
"Yeah, a book, a ledger, whatever you want to call it," Percy confirms. "Lockwood or the Dragon sure didn't want it floating around."
"Who's the other hitter, and who's the Dragon?" Kate demands.
"The other hitter is called Rathborne, but that's probably an alias. I'm not high enough on the food chain to know who the Dragon is. That's healthier for me — people who spill that kind of information end up like Dominic. You get Lockwood and he'll know. But watch out, Detective. Dragon's fire can burn you alive."
"Do you believe him?" Castle asks as Kate hands off Percy to L.T. to be escorted to holding.
"About the Dragon? I don't believe in a mythical all-powerful crime boss, but there have always been signs in this city that someone very connected holds a lot of power." Kate strides to the murder board. "Regardless, what's in front of us this moment are the murders of Dominic Farrell and Luther Frontiere. We start with talking to Comfort Ride about Lockwood, and go from there."