Shared Obsession Chapter 49

"OK, Castle, Fooky confirmed that Manna Publishing had dealings with Brinkman's office, which probably means Bracken. But where do we go from here?" Kate wonders. "Backroom deals aren't exactly going to pop up in the Congressional Record."

"You're right about that," Castle acknowledges, "but that doesn't mean they'd go unnoted. That especially goes for tax deals. Nothing gets the citizenry's hackles up more than believing they're paying someone else's freight. And journalists love to write about that kind of dirt. So do non-fiction writers in that genre. Actually, they're often the same. A reporter will chase down a story, and then if it's juicy enough, turn it into a book. And over the years, there have been multiple books on Brinkman and his various political machinations. I used a couple of them as jumping-off points for Storm's interventions. But I don't remember anything about Manna in those voluminous exposés. Whatever information about them that's out there would still be in the journalistic realm. That's where we'll have to dig for nuggets of truth. So I'll fire up LexisNexis, and we can get to it."

"Before we do that, do you want to talk about what Alexis said this morning?"

"There's not much to talk about. As I recall, the only words out of her mouth were 'Please pass the salt,' and they were spoken to Mother."

"How long do you think that's going to go on?"

"I have no idea. But when she was five, she threatened to hold her breath until I bought her a candy bar that she wanted. She held it for at least a minute before her survival reflexes kicked in. She hasn't changed much. But she's been angry at me before – over a lot more than a candy bar. She got over it. It just took time. And keeping the freezer stocked with Cookie Dough Chunks didn't hurt either."

Castle opens his laptop on the desk in his office. "I'm going to clone the display to the big screen so you can see it. "Logging onto LexisNexis, now."

"Use 'Manna Publishing' as your keyword phrase, Kate suggests.

Castle's eyes dart down his list of hits. "It looks like most of these are postings from one reporter, a Jeff Starcrest. The journalistic knight appears to be on a quest. Let's check out what he has. Hmm, he's starting out with the usual complaints about tax breaks going to the well-connected. He's highlighting Brinkman's office for attempts to hand out all kinds of shiny baubles."

"Castle, I don't see Bracken's name popping up anywhere."

"I'll do a name search. Look, Beckett, Bracken was careful to have other people put their names on the paperwork. In this whole series of articles, his name only comes up twice."

"Once would be enough," Kate figures, "especially if Jeff knew about stuff that never made it into print."

"Right," Castle agrees. "Most credible papers like The Ledger require at least two sources before they'll print anything like that. If Starcrest only had one, a whistleblower of some kind, he might not have been able to put what he knew into an article."

"But if it relates to a murder, he should talk about it," Kate insists.

"Maybe. The press can be very stubborn about protecting their sources, but we can give it a shot."

"Can you find out how we can reach Starcrest?" Kate asks.

"Let's see. His byline for these pieces is DC. They're for the Capitol Reporter. So he was probably in the DC area when he wrote them. But the last one dates back a couple of years, so he may have moved on. Checking for more recent articles. Oh, here we go! Beckett, this is for the Manhattan Mainspring."

"The Manhattan Mainspring?" Kate echoes. "That's quite a comedown from the Capitol Reporter, isn't it?"

"Maybe he pissed off someone who made sure the Reporter pulled the plug on him," Castle suggests.

"Someone like Bracken," Kate guesses.

"Or one of his cronies. However, as sympathetic as I am to Mr. Starcrest, his descent should make it easier to get a hold of him. If his address doesn't come up on Google, can you get it from the DMV?"

"Not until I'm cleared to go back to work."

"When will that be? You shot a murderer who would have killed us."

"A weapons discharge still has to be investigated. The deadline for the final report is supposed to be 90 days, but 24 hours for the preliminary version. I was clean for alcohol and drugs, so if the DA doesn't want to interview me, the prelim should be done by tomorrow, and unless Montgomery has some doubts, he can put me back to work."

"So if we want to get to Starcrest today, we'll have to work around your temporary lack of official status. There's a general email address for the Mainspring. We can try to contact him through that. Or we could pay the paper a friendly visit."

"Castle, I won't have my badge and gun until Montgomery returns them."

"Not a problem, Beckett. I can do it as a writer gathering background information. And you're helping me look for data on some related old cases. That's true enough, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is, Castle. But are you sure you're up to it?"

"I've got the doctor's happy pills. But I'll have to be back here before Alexis is. After what happened, She'll freak if she doesn't find me home. And do you want to drive my car? I'm not supposed to be driving on the meds."

"Mmm. I don't remember the last time I drove a Mercedes."

"Actually, I was wondering if you'd want to drive my Ferrari. It isn't much faster than any other car in midtown traffic, but you'd look cool in it. You can drive a stick, can't you?"

"Castle, you have no idea."


Stick-thin Jeff Starcrest grins and stands up from behind a battered desk. "Richard Castle! I love your books. It's always nice to think there's a hero who can mete out a little justice in this world, if only in the pages of a novel. So, how can I help you?"

"Tell me about Manna Publishing," Castle requests.

Starcrest's eyes narrow. "Unless you're interested in statistics on how many people read, or at least order, Bibles, you could be getting into some dangerous territory there. After looking into that company, I was lucky to end up here, or anywhere."

"Are you saying Manna is associated with criminal activity?" Kate asks.

"I never had any hard evidence," Jeff admits, "at least not any I could back up to the Capitol Reporter's satisfaction. But when the word got out that I was asking, I started to get threatening letters and emails. Dead rats were left outside the apartment I shared with my wife. Then, when she was coming home from work, two guys tried to force her into a car. I guess they wanted to use her as leverage against me. Fortunately, she had pepper spray in her hand, and she was able to get away. We decided to leave DC before they came after her again, but I'd been blackballed. None of the major news outlets would hire me. So here I am."

"And who do you think was behind blackballing you?" Kate presses.

"Again, I don't have any solid proof, but I believe it was Bracken, Senator Brinkman's chief of staff. He had his fingers tangled up in all the strings. From what I hear from what contacts I have left in DC, he still does."

"Would it be possible for you to give us copies of what you have on Bracken and Manna?" Castle asks.

"I could. But you'd have to keep my name out of it. My wife is expecting and…."

Castle nods. "I get it. But we believe Bracken's behind a number of murders, and Manna is directly connected to one of them."

"We'll keep your name out of it, but anything you can give us will help," Kate adds.

"All right," Starcrest agrees. "If you can nail that sonofabitch, all power to you. By the way, Castle, what happened to your arm?"

Castle shrugs. "Not much. I just provided a little distraction so Beckett could put a bullet into a desperate killer."

Starcrest chuckles. "You do spin a great yarn."