Castle spilled the contents of the envelope on the granite counter. There were some newspaper clippings, papers, and a CD. Castle and Beckett exchanged a glance.
"I don't know if it really matters at this point, but I think we should wear gloves to handle these things," Kate said slipping back into cop mode. Castle nodded, reached in the cabinet under the sink, and pulled out a box of gloves similar to the kind Lanie used in the morgue.
"We use them occasionally for cleaning – or science projects," Castle said in answer to Beckett's questioning look.
They each put gloves on. Kate grabbed some of the newspaper clippings and Castle started thumbing through the papers. The newspaper clippings covered the murder of undercover agent, Bob Armen, and another article was about the conviction of Pulgatti for his murder. Beckett's mother's murder was included. One clipping described Dick Coonan's death in the 12th precinct at the hands of Detective Beckett. There were a few other articles related to the various murders Coonan had committed.
"This isn't anything new," Kate said unable to disguise her disappointment. "What do you have?"
Castle met her eyes. "Montgomery has hand-written the whole story and signed it. It was written the day before he died. He must have felt that someday his signed statement would be necessary to bring down the dragon."
"Does he name the dragon?" Kate asked suddenly hopeful.
"It's Senator Bracken," Castle replied.
Kate gasped, "He was on the short list of vice presidential candidates in 2008 and they're building him up for a run at the presidency in 2016!"
Castle nodded. "He was the assistant district attorney when the mob kidnappings were occurring. He found out about Raglan and McCallister framing Pulgatti for Armen's murder and he blackmailed them to get his hands on the ransom money. That allowed him to start his political career and he has gained incredible influence and power and yet he looks squeaky clean to the public."
Kate shook her head. "He had me fooled. He always seemed so charming. He was so at ease in his interviews and I even thought he had good ideas."
Castle shrugged, "He may have good ideas, but he's still a ruthless bastard. He'd do anything to protect his position of power and he has to be brought down."
"What else is there?" Kate asked. So far, even with Montgomery's signed statement she didn't think there would be enough to bring him down.
"There's a copy of Bracken's bank statement with two $5000 withdrawals the same month that your mother was killed. There's also an undated picture of Bracken and Coonan meeting in a deserted area at night. There are a couple of other papers I haven't looked at yet."
"What about the CD? Is there any writing on it?"
"No," Castle replied. "Let's stick it in the computer and see what we have."
The CD contained audio recordings. Castle and Beckett listened in stunned silence as Bracken ordered hits on 4 people. The first was Beckett's mother. Bracken offered $5000 up front and $5000 when the job was done. Diane Cavanaugh and Scott Murray were the next 2 on the hit list. They were both killed the same day. The last hit was for Jennifer Stewart. It was obvious there were three separate meetings.
Kate's eyes were wide, "Where did this recording come from?"
"I think Coonan made the recordings himself so he would have leverage over the senator if he ever needed it. My guess is Montgomery discovered the recordings among Coonan's possessions and added it to his little stash of evidence. I'm sure there is no mention of it in evidence discovery. Coonan made a point of mentioning Bracken's name at some point in each meeting so this is very damning evidence."
"Oh my God, Castle. We really have enough now. We can really bring him down." Tears were glistening in Kate's eyes and her chin was quivering. It was so incredibly overwhelming to know that after all these years that her mother's murderer would finally be brought to justice. Castle engulfed her in an embrace.
"Your mother would be so proud of you, Kate." That was all it took for Kate to lose it. She started sobbing uncontrollably. She cried out of relief and cried for her mother and cried because she had someone to share this moment with. Her face was pressed into Castle's chest. Her left hand was at his chest, her fist wadding up his shirt.
"It's OK, Kate. Just let it out," Castle's soothing voice broke through the sounds of her sobs. She loved his voice. It was so calming. After a couple of minutes she let go of his shirt and wiped the tears off her face trying to get herself under control. She pulled away from Castle.
"I need to get some Kleenex," she said her breath still hitching. She went to the bathroom, blew her nose and washed her face.
When she came back out, she smiled somewhat weakly at Castle. "That cry has been building for 13 years."
"I know," he said gently as he gathered her in his arms and kissed her forehead. He just held her close for a couple more minutes.
"We need to figure out what to do with this information," Castle finally said.
"What do you mean? We need to get it to the precinct, put the case together and talk to the DA," Beckett said pulling away from Castle's arms.
Castle looked at her intently. "Just hear me out, Kate. Bracken will do anything to stop this information from getting out. I don't want us to have targets on our backs any more. I don't want this file connected to us in any way. I think we should make 6 or 7 copies of this and send it to 2 or 3 news agencies. We can send one copy to the FBI, one to the DA, one to the police commissioner, and keep one for ourselves. I don't know, maybe even send one to the Senate Ethics Committee. Bracken can't have everyone in his pocket and he can't kill everyone. He's a senator. If this information gets out, he will be ruined even without being convicted. We just need to make sure there are no ties to us that would make him want to retaliate against us. It's close enough to Smith's – I mean Craddock's – death that Bracken will believe Craddock had a failsafe set up in case anything happened to him. Of course he did, but no one needs to know that we were a part of that plan. Kate, there is no reason for us to be a part of this investigation any more. We haven't witnessed anything. We can't add anything to the evidence that is here."
"A part of me wants Bracken to know that Johanna Beckett's daughter is responsible for bringing him down, but I meant what I said earlier that I can't lose you now. What you're saying makes a lot of sense. With this amount of evidence, we don't need to be involved anymore."
"Castle, we have protected Montgomery so far. If we expose his statement, he will be disgraced. Maybe we could send on the evidence without his statement." Kate still wanted to protect her mentor and former captain – the man who gave up his life to protect her.
"Kate, I'll leave that up to you. I'm sure Montgomery expected this to get used at some point. Why else would he include a signed statement? The rest of the evidence should be enough to get Bracken on conspiracy to commit murder, but Montgomery's statement ties the whole story together and gives the motive for Bracken to want these people dead. He casts suspicion on Bracken for the murders of Raglan and McAllister. He even makes a case for Bracken being responsible for his own murder. It makes a much better case."
"I can't do it without talking to Evelyn first."
Castle nodded, "We'll go see her later this morning. Let's start making copies."
Just a few hours later, Castle and Beckett were sitting in Montgomery's living room. Evelyn sat nervously on a rather uncomfortable looking chair. When Beckett called she had told her their visit had to do with her husband's murder.
"So, have you found the man responsible?" Evelyn asked quietly.
"We've stumbled across some evidence that could be very damaging to the man responsible. Unfortunately, there was also some evidence that was damaging to Roy. Actually Roy signed a statement that described some illegal activities that he was involved in with some other cops. Their activities were the linchpin for all the murders that occurred later." Beckett gently laid out their dilemma for Evelyn. "I don't know if Roy ever told you the full story, but after he made some very bad decisions early in his career, he devoted his life to being the best cop possible. I have his statement here if you want to read it. I understand if you'd rather not know the details. Our dilemma is we want to protect Roy, but we are afraid that if we don't use Roy's statement that there may not be enough evidence to convict this man. We want to know how you feel about us releasing his statement knowing that he could be disgraced and you and the kids could lose your benefits."
Evelyn sat ramrod straight her hands folded in her lap. "I'd like to read his statement, please."
"We don't want you to have any more information than is necessary for your own protection. We blacked out a few pieces of information on your copy including the name of the man responsible," Beckett said as she handed over the papers. "We'll wait on the deck while you read it." Beckett covered Evelyn's hand with her own giving her a reassuring squeeze.
Out on the deck, Castle and Beckett discussed what they thought Evelyn would do. They touched on many other topics and finally Castle started playing a game on his iPhone. It was almost 45 minutes later when Evelyn finally appeared. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen from crying, but she was completely composed.
"It was very hard reading this. Roy was a good man and a great cop. It kills me that he had to live with this secret eating away at him for all these years, but in a way I think his involvement in these things caused him to become a better person to try to atone for what he did."
"I want this man to pay for murdering my husband and your mother and for trying to murder you and all the others that he ordered hits on. It will be devastating to have Roy disgraced and it will be hard to lose his pension, but we will manage. He taught his children to do what is right and since he wrote this out by hand and signed it, he surely had the expectation that this would be used one day. You have my permission to do whatever you feel is necessary." Evelyn's chin was held high and her voice was clear and sure.
Castle stepped forward and put his hands on her shoulders. "You are a very brave woman, Evelyn."
Evelyn gave him a little smile, "I learned from the best."
"Evelyn, for everyone's safety, no one can ever know that we have any of this information or that you have read Roy's statement. You understand?" Beckett admonished.
Evelyn nodded, "Thank you for allowing me to make this decision. I'm sure you are putting yourselves in danger pursuing this. I really appreciate your efforts."
"Well this time we are doing our best to keep everyone safe," Beckett replied. They each gave her a hug before they left.