Poison Pen
Chapter 49
Castle pushes a plate with his daily scramble aside to study the text on his phone. "What's going on, Babe?" Kate queries.
"Judge Mencas rearranged her docket. Badcock's trial is starting this morning."
"You should go," Kate urges.
The grooves flanking Castle's nose deepen. "We're right in the middle of the Medina murder."
"Yeah, but Rachel Walters hasn't had time to find or fake the artifacts that Haleem requested. I'll be tracking down more records on Medina's financial dealings and using databases that, as a civilian, you're not cleared to access. I can slog through the figures on my own or ask the boys to pitch in."
"And you'll let me know if Rachel calls our special number or anything else interesting pops up?"
"Sure." Kate holds out her hand to him. "Partners, right? And you'll keep me updated on the trial?"
"Absolutely. If there's a long enough recess, maybe we can meet for lunch."
Searching through the descriptions of past museum exhibitions, Rachel locates one featuring a Tiwanaku stone figure. There's no mention of medallions, but if they were discovered in the waters near Island of the Sun, they could have been carried on currents from Ecuador and been culturally distinct. The museum might have chosen to put them aside for future exhibitions. With changes in curators, it's possible they were forgotten entirely. Gold would have been locked up, but there are rows of old cabinets where medallions might be. She's going to have a long hunt, but it will be safer than trying to sell fakes — a lot safer.
Castle manages to find a place midway back in the courtroom. Looking around before the proceedings start, he realizes that the room, unlike the ones in the courtroom scenes on television, is reasonably large, the modern seats making it seem more like a public auditorium than the solemn seat of the law. But it's solemn enough when everyone is called to rise for the honorable Judge Judith Brody Mencas.
By shifting sideways in his seat, Castle can see Badcock at the defendant's table, talking to — or more like arguing with — his lawyer. Good, the less attention Badcock pays to his lawyer's advice, the more likely he is to screw himself. Judge Mencas proceeds quickly through the preliminary, and A.D.A. Gonzales rises to make an opening statement. Even as he settles back, trying to relax, Gonzales' words etch themselves into Rick's brain.
"Sorry we couldn't do better than this," Castle apologizes, as Kate spreads spicy mustard on her hot dog. "Judge Mencas said court would resume in an hour and I don't want to lose my seat. I can make it from this vendor back to the courtroom in five minutes, especially if I take the stairs. Waiting for the elevator at the courthouse is like waiting for Godot. The end of the trial could come without the thing ever arriving."
"It can seem like that sometimes," Kate agrees. "So, what's happened so far?"
"The prosecution made a good pitch. Gonzales projected Badcock's manifesto on a big screen while doing a dramatic reading of the craziest parts. Then she laid out how Badcock killed Connor O'Donnell and tried to kill me. Gonzales brought up Salmon Ivanovich to further establish the pattern. She also outlined the details like the shrew toxin. I could see the jury recoil at her descriptions. I thought the whole thing was well played."
"How about the defense?"
"When court resumes. How about you? Anything juicy?"
Kate shrugs. "I don't know about juicy unless you count the can of Orange Crush I got out of the vending machine. I started trying to correlate money Will Medina took in with some of his previous expeditions. His unexplained wealth is relatively recent. The funding for most of his previous digs barely covered the shovels and tents."
"You said 'most,'" Castle notes. "Were there exceptions?"
Kate dabs at her mouth with a paper napkin. "There was one. From what I could put together of the story, a wealthy businessman with political connections in Egypt, Adom Gamal, has an obsession with connecting the ancient civilizations in Central and South America with the history of Egypt."
"That makes sense," Castle considers. "A lot of people have speculated about that because of the pyramids."
"Right," Kate agrees. "But this guy takes it to a whole new level. He's thrown a fortune at proving his own little pet theories. Apparently, that's why he tied up with Will Medina."
"Does Gamal collect artifacts?" Castle wonders.
"I don't know. Nothing I've seen so far goes into that, but it's possible. What are you thinking, Castle?"
"Follow this. I looked up Abdamalek. It translates to servant. He'd be fronting for whoever Rachel and Will's buyer is. Considering that we're talking about an Arab looking for relics from South America, Adom Gamal would be a likely candidate. And if he is as obsessed as you describe, and discovered that Will cheated him, he might be angry enough to have him stoned at the gate, so to speak. That the stone employed was a gargoyle could be a red herring, a very ugly red herring."
"I'll check further into Adom Gamal," Kate decides. "Court usually adjourns around five. Meet you at the loft for dinner?"
Castle tastes mustardy heat as he grabs a quick kiss. "I'll be counting the minutes."
Defense counsel George Kirby rises to address the jury. "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm not going to insult your intelligence by disputing what Ms. Gonzalez told you. The evidence is beyond dispute. What I do want to talk to you about is what Mr. Badcock's actions represent. Simon Badcock sees this world through only one lens: that of the written word. And as with a lens, a scratch, a scrape, or even a smudge can completely distort your view. Simon Badcock's perception of what constitutes reality and indeed, right and wrong is as distorted as the image in a funhouse mirror. Yes, he committed crimes which Ms. Gonzalez called indefensible. But Mr. Badcock believed he was combating the indefensible. His standards of right and wrong rest entirely on what flows from the tip of a pen. Mr. Badcock's crimes were his way of doing the right thing, correcting offenses against the world his twisted mind inhabits. And knowing that, you must conclude that he was incapable of understanding or accepting that he was doing anything wrong."
Castle reviews the notes he made while Kirby was speaking. The verbal picture the lawyer painted makes sense on the surface, but if it were true, why would Badcock have tried to hide from his crimes. Indeed, why would he have run to the Morehouse farm? Deep down, Badcock knew what he was doing was wrong; at least he knew that he'd get punished if caught. Toni Gonzales will have to find a way to make that clear to the jury. The least Rick can do is pass on his observations, or better yet, ask Kate to do it. Most likely, the prosecutor will probably find them more acceptable, coming from a cop than a would-be victim. Rick can type up his ideas tonight, and he and Kate can put their heads together. Whether as a lover or a crime-busting partner, he can no longer imagine his home without her.
Rachel's lost count of how many collections she's gone through. Too bad she isn't looking for something bigger, like the carved stone idol the museum exhibited. A gold medallion could hide in or under anything. But at least gold doesn't camouflage itself beneath tarnish as silver would. The medallions will still shine as brightly as they did for the Tiwanaku. She just has to find them.