Slaying the Beast
Chapter 34
Castle checks out the story on the front page of The Sunday Ledger. "Looks like Susan Collinwood has an army of lawyers, Dershbaum, Boem, Baile, and Avenatto."
Kate takes a sip of her coffee. "Briggs expected that, Castle. Did they print her sob story?"
"In spades. The valiant woman, the fisherman's daughter - I notice she didn't mention lobster - who worked herself up despite physical disability to be a faithful public servant and environmental warrior. She claims she only knew Bracken in a professional capacity. Huh! Professional criminal and murderer!"
"Talk about polluting a jury pool - if she goes to trial. Chances are she won't. Briggs has enough to destroy her, and her band of high-flying attorneys has to know that. But on the other side, has Colby's piece come out yet?"
"Hmm. His spreads are big and syndicated. It might be in Metro or maybe the magazine." Castle flips through the sections. "Here it is! A full-color magazine cover with Bracken and Collinwood smiling at each other during a colloquy on the Senate floor. They sure look cozy. This will have a much bigger circulation than The Ledger. It will be an insert in papers all across the country." He scans through the feature. "Everything is here, Collinwood's complete history with Bracken - except for Joshua Pelletier. Good Man. Joshua doesn't deserve to have his name, or his work dragged through the mud."
"No, he doesn't," Kate agrees. "How about the drug operation?"
"Looks like Colby put in as much as he could. Briggs is probably holding onto a lot of the details either for trial or for any deal he needs to present to a judge. There's a sidebar here about the fentanyl crisis, though. It's quite comprehensive and compelling. I don't think that if Susan brought Clarence Darrow back from the dead, she'd be able to get out of the hole she's dug for herself, and Colby did a great job shoveling the dirt in on top of her."
"Jameson Rook strikes again."
Castle shakes his head. "Colby didn't need any embellishment from me." He leans across the table for a coffee flavored kiss.
Kate gazes down at her ring. "Alexis seemed to take your announcement of our engagement well."
"Mother was right. As long as she's in the loop, Alexis is on board. Honestly, I think she's looking forward to me being totally outnumbered - not to mention outgunned - again. But aside from being very patient with Mother's dissertation of her cinematic visions for the ceremony, you didn't say much about what sort of wedding you have in mind. Your mother's dress is a given, but what else? Invite the whole precinct? Confine it to the City Clerk's office? Or something in between? Personally, I've always thought a wedding in space would be cool, but it will be a few years before commercial space flight starts taking reservations. What do you think of the Goodyear blimp?"
"That it should stick to hovering over football games. Castle, I want to walk down the aisle on my father's arm. I want the people I know and love around me. I'd love to be surrounded by the scent of fresh flowers and to celebrate with my guests with good food and great music. But I don't want to be the highlight of Page Six. Can we go for just big enough for that?"
"We may have to seriously restrain Mother, but I think Alexis can help us out with that. She's a champ at creating interesting challenges and distractions. The wedding you want is the wedding you will have, but we'll need to figure out a date. When is the sergeants' exam and are you going to bury yourself in N.Y.P.D. trivia to study for it?"
"It's in two months. No internment in trivia, but there is a course I should attend, so we might want to give ourselves time beyond that for wedding planning. I think June is out. Everyone gets married then, and everything is probably already booked. July and August are when Lanie and the boys usually take their vacations."
"And Mother sometimes picks up summer stock," Castle adds.
"Right. So September?"
"Other than hating to wait that long for you to be my wife, sounds good to me. Hey! Isn't Gloria Meadows a wedding planner? The sadly late daughter was good, the mother probably is too."
"You're right, Castle. Having a professional handle the annoying details would make things a lot easier, especially if you and I are busy working on cases together. We should at least talk to her and see what kind of ideas she has. And in a way, it would be a fitting memorial to Chelsea."
Castle leans in for another kiss. "You're pretty amazing; you know that?"
"You'll be amazing too if you pass me the last cronut."
Castle gazes longingly at the lone pastry before handing the almost empty bakery box to Kate. "For my bride-to-be, the last crumb in my larder."
Briggs settles into his chair beside Lynn Neuwirth across a conference table from Susan Collinwood's counsels for the defense. "I see you haven't given up on representing sleaze, Avenatto. Run out of highly placed madams?"
"All of whom were more honorable than their clients who pounded their bibles by day and bedded her employees by night. No Briggs, I'm here because I understand the nexus between criminality and politics and stand the best chance of helping our client navigate around the tripwires and beartraps you'll throw in her path to a decent deal. She has a lot to trade, and I'm going to make sure she gets credit for every bit of it."
Briggs snorts and while Lynn rolls her eyes. "What? Did Collinwood let you sample her merchandise? You're dreaming Avenatto. We have Bracken. We've rounded up most of Collinwood's dealers. And don't forget we have your client cold on two old homicides. No statute of limitations on those. What could she possibly have to mitigate what should send her to prison for the next few centuries?"
"A road map to every corrupt official in New York. And we both know, that as hard as Weldon struggles against it, there are hands out in every department in this city. Susan's been right in the middle of cultivating them for years. She can help you clean up your town, Briggs. You won't just be a crusading D.A.; you'll be a superhero. Your possibilities statewide and even nationally will be limitless."
"And what does your client want for this miracle?" Briggs inquires.
"You drop the homicide and drug charges, get the DEA to drop the federal investigation and put my client into WITSEC."
Briggs guffaws and slaps his palm against the surface of the table. "I'll admit you have chutzpah, Avenatto, but I guess you didn't see the magazine section of the Sunday paper. You really should employ a clipping service or revamp your Google alerts. The whole freaking country knows what and who Susan Collinwood is. WITSEC couldn't hide her if they tried.
"What's more, every family who's suffered a loss from the travesty she's been inflicting on society is screaming for her blood. They'd be out for mine if I didn't give them their pound of flesh. She might buy herself a few comforts while she lives out the rest of her life behind bars, but that's the best you can wrangle, and she should count herself lucky if she can get those. Weldon's launching a task force on corruption and he's enlisted some of the city's best and brightest. Whatever your client knows will soon be yesterday's news - so whatever she's got to say, she'd better make it quick."
Briggs rises from the table and motions Lynn to follow him out of the room. "Gentlemen, I would bid you good day, except that I doubt that you'll have one."