Chapter 7: Dangerous Liaisons
"I have it." Ryan reported after an hour of checking into the family background Illyana. He walked over and set down the report. "Yuri Volkov's older brother immigrated here in 1967. Married, wife gave birth to Gregory."
"Yuri comes is born here in the United States, becomes involved in the mob by 18, gets married in 1985." Esposito also continued on to the family history of Illyana Volkov. "Illyana born in 1986."
"Alright, there is the family connect. Now we have to connect her to Gregory other than family." Beckett stated as she looked over the updated murder board.
"I got it." Castle replied after looking up everything he could on Illyana. He walked over with his notes. He posted them on the murder board as well. "She graduated with a degree in finical asset management, and got her MBA at Oxford, before running a business in Paris around the time Alexis was there."
"What was the business?" Beckett asked her husband.
"Volkov investment groups." Castle replied pulling the picture of the company logo out of the pile and placing it on the murder board too. "Cousin Illyana was laundering money for Cousin Gregory."
"Good luck proving that in court Castle." Ryan said getting a nod from everyone else.
"They shut down Paris operations around the time Illyana came here to the US." Castle said pointing to the info he had posted on the board. "When did Vladimir go to pieces?"
"Yeah still not funny Castle." Beckett remarked with a smile as she consulted the information from the FBI. "About a year ago."
"Same time Illana came here." Castle answered to the comment. He sat down next to his wife's desk and looked at her. "Know its razor thin, but it's the best we got so far."
"Yeah and her million dollar lawyer will have her out within 30 minutes." Beckett remarked with a small smirk towards her husband. "Yet you are right this is the best lead we got so far."
"Castle may be right." Ryan said from his computer. He had looked up the report on Vladimir's murder and Illyana's travel history. "Vladimir Aminev was report last seen leaving the restaurant where he was known to frequent about September of last year. Illyana returned from Paris around that time. Then other top officials with links to Vladimir Aminev started to drop all over the city. FBI and OCCB suspected either internal power struggle or the Albania's trying to muscle in"
"So Illyana comes home. Kills off the top member of the Russian mob, and his supports and takes over for revenge." Castle said looking at the board. He then looked back over to everyone else. "Toss in Martin Scorsese and you Oscar worthy movie."
"Here's your sub-plot Castle." Esposito said coming over and laying down a picture that they did not go over yesterday. "That is Nikolai Vasily. Muscle linked to Gregory and Vladimir."
"Where was he when Alexis was in Paris?"
"Doing a stint upstate for drug dealing." Esposito answered Castle's question. He looked at Beckett. "Gets out, and she is seen at all the hotspots with him on her arm. Turns out they grew up together too."
"Childhood friend. Not all that strange to be dating." Ryan replied coming over to stand next to Esposito.
"True, but when all the murders that you mentioned occurred, the primary suspect was Nikolai." Esposito remarked.
"Illyana is using boyfriend to take out potential rivals and competition." Castle remarked without being shot down. He looked at the picture on the board. "Josh said he met with a man right?"
"Yeah." Beckett remarked then she looked at the board as well, and realized the track that Castle was on. "Ryan, and Esposito, go take the picture of Nikolai to Josh and see if he can identify him as the man he met with."
Both of them nodded and grabbed their stuff before leaving. Beckett turned to Castle. "You and I Castle are going to visit this restaurant in Little Odessa."
"I'll bring my borsch." Castle remarked with a smile as Beckett smiled and rolled her eyes at the same time.
It took them 30 minutes of driving to reach Brighton Beach. They pulled their car into a parking spot and looked around.
"Not a bad little area if you look at it." Castle stated. He saw a few signs though. "If you can read Russian."
"That one is a bank and that one is a money lender." Beckett said with a smile. She walked around and met Castle on the sidewalk. "It's better than it once was."
"Tell me about it." Castle replied as they started walking towards the restaurant called Little Volga. "Why Little Volga?"
"Owner was born in Stalingrad during the battle." A waiter said in a thick accent as he was setting up tables outside. He eyed them both over. "Don't open for another hour."
"You're open now." Beckett said showing her badge to the waiter. He shrugged his shoulders and opened the door. "Where's the manager?"
"In the office in back." The waiter replied to the question.
"Thanks." Castle said to the waiter who again shrugged as they walked off. "Real friendly type."
"Doesn't trust cops." Beckett replied as they worked their way to the back. "It's from the system they were in."
"Don't remind me." Castle said as they stopped by the office. The door to the office opened.
"We don't open….." The manager started to say when he saw Kate's badge in his face. "What can I do for you officers?"
"Yes sir. We are wondering if this woman has frequent this establishment?" Beckett asked holding up a picture of Illyana.
"She may be a frequent customer, but we get many through here, I'm don't know them entirely." The manager replied to the picture and the question.
"Really, because I have about 30 more of these at my precinct and she seems to be quite a regular." Beckett mentioned again. She held up the picture again. "Want to try again sir?"
"Sorry, like I said, we get a lot of people so she may be a frequent customer." The manager repeated the same statement. He looked at his watch. "If you don't mind, I have to make sure the cooks are doing what they are supposed to be doing."
"Beckett nodded and let the manager head to the back. She and Castle started towards the front of the restaurant. "He's lying."
"I think so, because look at what I grabbed." Castle backed up his wife's statement by pulling out a picture from his suit jacket. Beckett saw him studying something on the wall. "Illyana invested in this place when she came back to the states."
Beckett studied the picture and saw a happy manager handing Illyana a pen to sign partnership papers. "Might be a legimate investment or a way to launder money. Have to get the records for this place." Beckett left the picture on the table and they walked back out to the sidewalk and towards the car.
"Kate, across the street, and 30 yards ahead." Castle pointed out as he moved closer to his wife. He took her hand. "Definitely not NYPD."
"Yeah I spotted them too." Beckett replied as she and Castle walked hand in hand to the car. Once in, Kate started it and left the area. To be safe she also checked her mirrors to make sure they weren't followed. "Clear."
"Think they know something is up?" Castle asked looking back to double check.
"Oh yeah." Beckett replied pulling out her phone and hitting a contact. "Ryan, what did Josh say?"
"Josh definitely says that was the guy he met with." Ryan said back from the precinct and at his desk. He looked at his notes. "Also mentioned that there was a women there, but she remained in the background, but figured because it was a girlfriend or wife."
"Did he give you a name?" Castle asked as well.
"Confirmed Nikolai Vasily." Ryan answered Castle's question. He looked around the bullpen for Esposito. "Just to be safe, we placed Josh into protective custody."
"Okay, find out where Nikolai is and get a warrant out on him." Beckett told him.
"Might be a little difficult." Esposito said now as he walked over by Ryan's desk who put him on speaker.
"Why?" Castle asked.
"Nikolai doesn't have an address. The one he gave his PO put it in the middle of the East River." Esposito answered.
"What about family?" Ryan asked.
"Only living relative lives in Florida, and that is a brother." Esposito answered.
"Kate, in that picture of the Illyana signing the investment papers, there was a door that looked like it lead to a storage area." Castle said. He hung on as Beckett spun the car around, ignoring the honks of people in other vehicles.
"Ryan, call in a warrant and meet us at the restaurant called the Little Volga." Beckett ordered as she drove back towards Brighton Beach. She hung up and looked at Castle. "There was a shelf where the door was supposed to be."
It didn't take long for the warrant to be approved. The evidence given was enough for the judge and DA to sign off. Within a hour of getting the call, the team gathered with ESU and several units from the local precinct. They walked into the restaurant with the patrons looking on.
"I told you that lady…." The manager started to say.
"We're not here for that. Move the shelf where that door is." Beckett ordered the manager who was staring at the warrant in front of his face. He hesitated. "Officer place this man under arrest."
"Detective." A member of ESU had moved the shelf and found the door. It was unlocked.
"Open it." Beckett ordered the man who nodded and he opened the door. Another ESU member went down the stairs followed by the team. "Castle stay back a minute."
"Don't have to tell me twice." Castle said smiling as his wife went down with ESU. He looked waited around and looked at some of the other pictures on the wall. He noticed another one and took it off the wall when shouts came up from downstairs.
Within a minute the team was coming back upstairs with Nikolai in tow. Esposito was leading the man out. "He didn't even put up a struggle."
"Thank you very much everyone, your patience has been appreciated." Kate said to the crowd as she started to walk out. She decided to pull a Castle. "Enjoy the rest of your lunch. Castle lets go."
"Kate, take a look at this." Castle said bringing the picture over. "Found our mystery man, and you won't believe who it is." The picture was of Detective Henderson and an Illyana cuddling up to each other.