CBs

Chapter 10

Castle came through the door of the loft with grim look on his face. Kate looked up from tearing lettuce for a salad. "Babe, what's wrong?"

Castle sighed and shook his head. "I think I may have a case that converges with the one the team is on. Normally I'd see that as a good thing, but not with this one. My stomach clenches just thinking about it. Shedding his coat to a chair, Castle walked heavily to a tall window and stared unseeing at the street below. "A little girl died, a twelve year old, Carrie Nussbaum."

Kate came from behind the counter and joined Castle at the window, putting her head on his shoulder and stroking his arm in comfort. "What happened?"

"She received a kidney transplant. Her parents thought it was some kind of miracle. She had been on the recipient list for years. Her parents both have very mixed ancestry, so she was a difficult match. The doctors were keeping her going with dialysis. Their story was in the papers and online, but no one who was tested worked out. Then the parents got a call that was supposed to have been from an international transplant board. They were told there was an organ, but it was in South America and if the parents would pay for transportation costs on a high speed jet, their daughter could get the kidney. They forked over $25,000 and wired it to a bank in the Caymans. The hospital had no idea what had happened. They just got a call that there was a kidney waiting at another hospital. They sent someone by helicopter to pick it up. Their courier was met on the roof by someone in a lab coat and holding a cooler. He didn't ask questions, he just took it and delivered it to the surgical team. Carrie had the kidney within hours and the Nussbaums wired another $25,000.

"The whole family was celebrating. Then things went to hell. Carrie developed West Nile virus, even though she hadn't been near a mosquito. With the drugs she was taking to prevent rejection, she couldn't fight it. It turned into encephalitis and she died. The hospital tried to trace what happened. Turned out the call they got about an organ was bogus. The other hospital, the one they thought harvested the kidney, knew nothing about it. Whoever it was who met the helicopter was an impostor and there is no such thing as an international transplant board. It was a black market organ and had never been screened for disease. The Nussbaums hired me to find out who killed their daughter. So I'm thinking it might have something to do with the organ trafficking by the Albanian mob. Is there anything new about that from the team?"

"There might be. The boys have an open case, a body missing a kidney. It was dropped in a dumpster. A helper at an Italian restaurant found her when he was dumping the trash and Sergei Chekov recognized her as one of the working ladies his people pulled in every so often. She went by Marlie but her name was Agnes Strasser. Her body had more kinds of DNA than the lab could separate but there weren't any prints. Lanie said the kidney was removed very skillfully but no effort was made to keep Agnes from bleeding to death afterward. She didn't have to look any further than that for cause of death. She still has the body since the case is active. I can have her screen for West Nile virus. If I call her now, she can get on it in the morning."

"Please," Castle urged.

Kate pulled out her phone. "Lanie says she can do it, but the test takes twenty-four to thirty-six hours to run. We won't be sure Agnes' case is connected with yours until then."

"I'm not going to wait that long," Castle decided. "Someone who knew Carrie's case tipped off whoever scammed the Nussbaums. They could have read about it, but they would have to have been privy to details about how the organ would be picked up, too. I'm going to find out who that someone is if I have to grill everyone in that hospital."

Kate touched his cheek. "I know you will Babe, and you know I'll help if I can."

The mood was somber as the CBs gathered in the conference room. Kate opened the meeting. "You all got copies of Castle's notes, Dr. Parrish's report, and the case records from Ryan and Esposito. We have two confirmed deaths now that can be attributed to organ trafficking, Agnes Strasser and Carrie Nussbaum. So let's get updates about possible connections to the Albanian mob."

Esposito looked at Angela Lopez who spoke up immediately. "There's been talk from the Westies that the Albanians are invading their territory. They tried to sell drugs there a couple of years back, but Finn Rourke put a stop to it. Now it looks like they're trying numbers. One of Finn's runners was missing for a couple of days and then turned up dead with his heart cut out. Finn took it as a challenge to his territory, but it wasn't done like a hit. The heart was surgically removed."

"Yeah," Kate mused. "If the Albanians grabbed him, they could have had someone type him. Then if they had a market for the heart, taken it and counted on the whole thing being written off as a routine gang killing."

"It almost was," Angela agreed.

"Robbery may enter into this too," Carl Lubens chimed in. "We've had some thefts from medical supply houses. I inquired and was told that the equipment taken could be used in the harvesting and preservation of organs and tissue."

"Anyone else?" Kate queried.

"I noticed that Castle is trying to trace the account in the Caymens as well as research the backgrounds of everyone with detailed knowledge of Carrie Nussbaum's needs and her family's resources. I can assist with the computer end of that," Bill Garrett offered.

"Happy to have the help," Castle acknowledged. "Even with the able assistance of my daughter and Hayley Shipton, the possibilities to check out are almost endless. Fortunately the Nussbaums have signed all the necessary releases so we don't run into a stone wall on their end of the privacy angle. Not so much with the hospital. Their attorneys are working overtime on ass covering."

"Given the significance of the case, we can get a court order," Kate remarked. "I'll take care of it. Alright, I know you've all got work to do. I won't keep you. Just keep everyone in the loop."

Kate stood as a sign of dismissal and the members of the team, except for Castle, filed out. "I need to go back to the office," Castle told her. "The Nussbaums will be coming in and I need to give them an update. At least I can tell them there are damn good people on this. See you later?"

"Yeah, but after my shift I want to go see Ray Edelson. He's doing better and they've moved him to rehab now. There's some captain stuff I need to talk to him about." Kate gave Castle a little bump with her hip. "Tell you what. Whoever gets home first opens the wine - red."

Crinkles formed at the corner of Castle's eyes. "You've got a deal."