Chapter Five
That evening, Castle studied the glowing images on the electronic board. Looking for the same names on long lists was a thing computers did very well. With the electronic board, you could actually see the process happen, see the name on the lists rushing past each other. As common entries appeared on two or more lists, the names were highlighted and moved to the center of the board. Most of them were then shuffled off again if they didn't meet all the criteria. When the sorting was done, three names were left glowing and pulsing in the middle. Castle touched them one by one. He knew them all.
"Holy crap!" he thought, as he looked at the names. "If any one of these is Mr. Big, it's as explosive as C4 on a short fuse."
One had been a smart young member of the Gitano crime family twenty years ago; now he was a rising don in his own right, locked in a turf battle with the Irish Westies. The second had been a municipal judge, and now, after a distinguished career on the bench, was on a very short list for the U.S. Supreme Court. The last, an ambitious assistant DA, had eventually run for and won a hard-fought election for NYC district attorney, then rose to his current position as the district attorney for New York state. He was rumored to be priming himself for a run at the governor's seat in Albany come next year.
Wake Beckett? He turned and saw her watching him, studying him. She blushed to be caught staring, but Castle grinned and walked over.
"Wanna hear what the Easter Bunny brought us?"
"Whoa," laughed Beckett. "If Jordan Shaw hears you call her the Easter Bunny, she's liable to take you out.'
"It'll be worth it," Castle replied, and told Beckett of the results of the sort. "Let's look at the financials on each and see if we can figure out where the money came from," she said.
"Ah," said Castle. "Cherchez la moolah!"