Very Castle Celebrations
Chapter 31
Carl Ward emanates power. As far as Castle can tell, there's no physical reason why he should. The man is at most, five seven with thick-soled shoes. He's balding but has chosen to comb over a few strands rather than assume the shaved head look that is becoming ever more popular. His skin is doughy and his fingers short and chubby. Nevertheless, it is impossible not to feel Ward's presence in a room.
Ward exerts his psychic force at poker, as well. Castle had rented a conference room at the Four Seasons for the game and Ward is at the head of the massive table. Almost equally massive is the pile of winnings in front of him. Castle is not upset by that. Despite the enjoyment he generally takes in dominating the game, he came prepared to lose - at cards anyway. He feels well on his way to winning in his quest for information. He brought up the mysterious dead body as casually as he could. That was enough to start a discussion about the chances of the vice president, or his presumptive opponent, Gary Newcomb, securing the nomination.
Ward states straight out that whether Newcomb is nominated or not, Vice President Parcival doesn't have a chance. When pressed, he merely adds that Parcival is doomed to lose the backing of a certain god-fearing segment of the electorate. Castle is hoping to squeeze out more details after a few more scotches have passed through Ward's lips, but he can already read between the lines. In more ways than one, Parcival was caught with his pants down.
When Castle and Ward are the only ones remaining players, Castle probes further about what Ward knows about Parcival's finances. Ward immediately comes up with the fact that Lower Battery Bank is merely a front for the Bank of Cypress, with money flowing into its pipeline from all over the world. Raking in the final pot, he tells Castle that if he had to make a guess, the laundered lucre finding its way to the Parcival campaign is coming from an overseas pharmaceutical manufacturer. Ward notes that while Parcival was in the House of Representatives and later the Senate, he worked hard to minimize the requirements for generic versions of drugs to enter the marketplace. His assumed patron is the largest manufacturer of generic drugs in the world. With the U.S. consuming 75 percent of the planet's prescription medications, easing American approvals means big money and has apparently earned Percival big rewards.
Castle still needs to uncover the identity of operative and possible hitman for a drug company, whom Lisa was bedding, and even more vital, who would order the hit. He has no doubt that the Southern District is on the money trail to try to obtain answers, but there might be another route. What Parcival could have done that would incur the severe wrath of the hardliners in the religious community is an interesting question. Based on the fall of previous champions of public piousness Castle's first guess would be doing the nasty outside of the marriage bed. But it couldn't just be straight sex. Parcival could always make the standard speech begging the forgiveness of his family and his savior and get away with it. But some perceived form of perversion might be enough to derail his campaign and possibly the rest of his career. Castle has a few ideas who would know about that too. It just might be time for a trip to Dungeon Alley.
The grooves are forming in Kate's forehead again. "Dungeon Alley? Castle I thought you were fed up with that place after the monkey bars murder. Her eyes shift from brown to green as she runs her fingertip down the front of his shirt. "But if you need a little discipline, I can always arrange it."
Castle is more than willing to discuss that later, but he needs a source of information on the sexual quirks of powerful men. He has a feeling Lady Irina would be a good one, from her experience in both the boardroom and the bedroom. He has sent a couple of his kinkier acquaintances her way, and he suspects that as long as she is not revealing information on her own clients, she might very well be forthcoming - especially if he shells out for a session or two. Kate agrees but promises him that she is going to check every inch of his body for unexplained marks - and Mistress Red lipstick. He's looking forward to it.
Even without the leather bustier and the six-inch spike heeled boots, Irina would be compelling. Castle has no doubt that men fall at her feet and bark, roll over and desperately beg for her approval. His transaction with her, however, will be strictly monetary. She admits that like most professions, hers has a grapevine, although names are rarely mentioned. Politicians are among the most frequent clients of the dominatrix sisterhood, with bible-thumpers leading the pack. She heard a story about a particularly highly placed federal officeholder seeking punishment for his sins. There weren't many details, but she learned enough to know that the man's misdeeds, and in his case even Irina considered them serious transgressions, involved minor boys. From what Irina could gather, most of the action took place in DC, but there were incidents in New York, L.A., and Peoria.
Peoria rings an instant bell for Castle. Parcival is from Kickapoo, just west of that Illinois city. Castle can't help but think that it makes sense that the name of Parcival's hometown would imply that his shoes are covered in the brown stuff. If what he suspects is true, Lisa was murdered so Parcival could dodge a shit storm, but if Castle has anything to say about it, he won't dodge it forever.
Despite the fun the baby has with Buttons Dutton, Castle is both pleased and a little ashamed that Jackson is so obviously glad to see him. He has been spending too much time away from his son, chasing a mystery. Well, he's not about to go to Kickapoo or Peoria. He wouldn't get very far in an investigation anyway. Parcival is a favorite son in that part of the country. It is unlikely that anyone would say anything against him and any official reports involving a minor would be sealed. But he can let his fingers do the walking, even if he has to clean the slime off his keyboard.
Normally he would consider it execrable that pedophiles have online networks, but for this case there is an upside. If he can build himself a convincing enough persona, he may be able to break into the perverted brotherhood. If Percival is victimizing underage boys, there will be a sign. There may even be an element of pride that one of their own has risen high enough to have a shot at the highest position in the land. Hell, they might even campaign and vote for the sonofabitch. There will be a web of posts and retweets. He'll just have to find the strand that will lead him to the center. The trail may be tedious and even torturous, but in the end, it will guide him to the venomous predator. He just hopes there will be evidence substantial enough to smack the arachnid flat.
