Another Chance

Chapter 59

A voice crackles from Clancy's walkie-talkie. "We have a visual on the two men who abducted Ivan Bender. They're approaching the pier where the Fun Festival ship is moored."

"Ivan isn't with them?" Clancy queries.

"No, sir."

"Nicholas must have made a deal," Clancy muses to himself. He instructs his men to arrest and hold Ivan's two former captors. The video is ample evidence that they committed a crime within his jurisdiction. Now he'll have to determine if Nicholas and Ivan are safe and what their relationship is with the captured men. He'll also need to find out if the men were either crew or passengers on the ship. Not sure if any official contacts with the line are to be trusted, he texts Kate.

Castle studies the faces Clancy sent to Kate. "I don't remember seeing these men aboard, do you? Of course, that wouldn't mean much if they didn't want to be seen. I don't know if Bob Crockett cares, showing up at the luau the way he did. He probably thinks he can't be discovered. But these guys are henchmen."

"Henchmen?" Kate repeats.

"Sure, thugs who work for a bigger criminal. They'd have paranoia in their veins. They probably stay below decks most of the time. They might even work below decks, in the engine room or something. That way they wouldn't mix much with the passengers. And we don't know how much of the crew is in on this. Even the captain could be involved or the first officer; just about anyone but the yeoman purser we talked too. He wouldn't have just given Crockett away to us if he was."

"You know, you're right, Castle. What was his name?"

"Grady, I think. F. Grady. And I believe I know just what to say."

"They returned your wallet to you? Yes, that was very nice," Grady agrees. "It's funny that you got a picture, but you didn't get names."

Castle shrugs. "They didn't know Kate took the picture. And I guess they were just being humble. They told me not to give it another thought. But everyone who works on the ship is so nice that I thought they might be members of the crew. I'd like to do something nice for them if I can, or at least sing their praises to the captain."

"They are members of the crew," Grady confirms, but they haven't been aboard long. They just joined us on the cruise before this one. They work in maintenance, which is probably why you've never seen them at guest activities. It's ship's policy that maintenance is supposed to be performed out of sight of passengers. It adds to the fantasy element of the cruise if it doesn't look like anything ever needs fixing."

Castle nods thoughtfully. "Yes, I suppose it would. Listen, if you can tell me where to find them, I'd like to thank them personally."

"Passengers aren't allowed in the parts of the ship where they do their work, but if I remember, those two are sharing a cabin." Grady punches a few keys on his computer terminal. "That's right. The Squire Deck, cabin SQ-12. They haven't checked in. That's strange. But you can probably find them there tonight when they're off duty. They're Tom Murdock and Jerry Malloy. Tom's the shorter one."

Kate flashes Grady her brightest smile. "Thank you ever so much!"

Once she and Castle are back in the privacy of their cabin, Kate immediately pulls out her phone to call Clancy Bulrush. The island police captain assures her he'll get right on investigating Tom's and Jerry's histories.

The law office of Betty Jane Freeberger doesn't look like much. It's an old building that's been minimally refurbished. The floors are scuffed and the elevator creaks. B.J. herself is not at all how Alexis pictured her. If anything she looks more like a southern belle than a native New Yorker. Her hair is shiny black, and her eyes are an even deeper blue than Alexis' father's. B.J. greets Alexis quickly and waves her toward a well-worn chair. "You said Jim Beckett put the idea of exploring disability law in your head and referred you to me. As you can probably guess, it's not exactly the most lucrative branch of the profession. Most of my clients are nearing the end of their wits and their financial resources. I deal a lot with parents trying to get the necessary instruction and services for their children. There's no question that the kids are entitled to a free and appropriate education. That's been federal law since 1976. Forcing public school systems to obey it, is another thing entirely. All the states enforce it differently, as do counties, cities, school districts, and even individual schools."

Alexis leans forward in her chair. "Why don't the schools want to give the kids their education? I mean it's got to be easier and cheaper to help them when they're young than to try to support them if they don't have any skills when they're older."

"Alexis, you've just shown more wisdom than about 95 percent of the officials I deal with. The truth is that a large percentage of the prison population has a disability that was either never caught or not addressed when they were growing up. It can be anything from being visually or hearing impaired, to learning disabilities, to mental illnesses. And believe me, incarceration is much more expensive than education and treatment.

"I also deal with incarcerated and newly released clients, helping them obtain whatever they require to find a job and someplace to live in the community instead of ending up back behind bars. Sometimes it's as simple as getting them a computer that understands spoken language and other environmental cues. Well, that's not really that simple. That technology has a long way to go before it provides everything that some people need."

Alexis springs out of her chair. "It's amazing that you should say that. I mean that's just what my fiancé and I - mostly my fiancé - are working on, an electronic companion that can do that."

"If you succeed, there's a huge gap out there, waiting to be filled. But there's also a need for solutions to all kinds of obstacles that persons with various disabilities face. And there's the equally difficult problem of making sure people who need those solutions can access the funding to gain some sort of independence. Often it's easier to have people warehoused in care facilities than to do the work it requires to allow them to live productive lives on their own - with some supports here and there."

"Ms. Freeberger, between you and Mr. Beckett, I think you've led me in just the direction I need to go. If I'm going to try to practice the kind of law you do, would Columbia be a good law school to apply to?"

"A great many law schools are developing disability law programs. Columbia has courses. But what you'd want to do while you're studying is to get involved with a disability law clinic. Law students there get hands-on and sometimes tearing out their hair experience. I give time to one. So if you need a mentor or just someone to vent to who won't take your inevitable anger at the unfairness of the system personally, give me a call. And that fiancé of yours sounds like a keeper."

Alexis can't keep the grin from her face. "He is, Ms. Freeberger, he is. And I plan on keeping him for at least the next century."