Shared Obsession Chapter 167
Castle can't help thinking that if there is a stereotype of a mobster, Frank Cana appears to fit it – not a boss, just a henchman who follows the big man's orders without question. Castle can only watch Cana's interrogation from Observation. The subject of the interview has merely a direct tie to a robbery, not Finch's murder, so Demming is running the show. Of course, the jerk invited Kate, but made it known he didn't need her "shadow." Castle has had the term applied to him before, but not quite as triumphantly as Demming had used it. The man is obviously interested in Kate, but her relationship with Castle is still officially not mentioned at the 12th, and apparently no one had brought it up unofficially. Castle hasn't had a moment with Kate in private to ask how she met Demming, either.
The writer's jaw tightens as he watches Demming nod to Kate to begin. "Thank you for coming in, Mr. Cana."
Cana regards Kate the way a kid looks at a candy display in the checkout aisle. "Call me Fred."
"Obviously, we're going to do everything we can to help you obtain your stolen property," Demming inserts. "But we're unaware of the nature or value of your loss."
"What exactly was in the box, Fred?" Kate queries.
"Stamps," Fred announces.
"Stamps?" Demming repeats.
"Yeah, I collect 'em," Cana insists.
"Then I'm surprised it took you so long to reach out to us," Demming says. "The folks at the bank said they'd left you a half dozen messages over the last couple of days."
"Well, I've been busy. I work a lot," Cana claims.
Kate smiles sympathetically. "And what is it you do, Fred?"
Cana shifts in his chair. "I'm in, uh, private security."
"This stamp collection, how much was it worth, exactly?" Kate inquires.
Cana pulls at his collar. "Well, it's hard to put a price tag on an item like that because of, you know, sentimental value."
"And who else knew you were keeping it at the bank?" Kate asks.
"Just a select group of other stamp enthusiasts with whom I formed, uh, relationships over the years."
"So, how long you been a philatelist, Fred?" Demming questions.
"Hey, watch your mouth!" Cana growls. "Fred Cana don't go that route."
"Philately is the study of stamps, Mr. Cana," Demming explains, "which you would know if you were, in fact, really a collector."
"Come on, Fred," Kate cajoles, "what was really in the box, huh? It must have been pretty valuable. The thieves left stacks of cash untouched. So, what did they steal from you?"
Cana's face flames. "I don't have to take this crap. I'm the victim here."
Fed up with watching Demming, Castle stalks to the bullpen. "Hey!" Ryan greets him.
"Hey!" Castle returns. "You guys been rounding up the usual suspects?"
"Yeah, and every hood in Harlem says Finch has been out of action for years," Esposito reports. "What's Beckett doing?"
"She and Demming are in the box with Fred Cana."
Esposito lunges out of his seat. "Cana?"
"Yeah," Castle confirms. "He's the guy who rented the safety…." Castle stops short at the thundercloud forming on Esposito's face.
His hands curled into tight fists, Esposito strides toward the box. Ryan and Castle follow as Esposito yanks open the door.
"Officer Esposito!" Cana greets him.
"Actually, it's Detective Esposito now, Fred," Esposito corrects.
"Congratulations," Cana replies.
"Fred here is a bagman for Victor Racine," Esposito declares.
"Who's Victor Racine?" Castle asks.
"He's a syndicate man," Demming explains. "Made the leap from organized crime to legitimate businessman while no one was looking."
"Racine is connected and untouchable," Esposito spits out.
Cana grins at the fuming detective. "You oughta know. Esposito and his old partner tried to touch him a few years back."
"How about I touch you instead?" Esposito rushes toward Cana but Ryan and Castle grab onto him before he can get in a punch.
"Come on! Come on, tough guy," Cana taunts as Ryan and Castle start to steer Esposito back to the door.
"Let's go, Man," Ryan urges his partner. "Come on. Take a walk. He's not worth it, Man."
Kate joins the men outside the box, slamming the door behind her. "What the hell was that all about, Javi?"
"He works for Victor Racine!" Esposito grinds out.
"So?" Beckett presses.
Esposito shakes loose from Ryan and Castle. "Racine killed my partner. His name was Ike, Ike Thornton. We partnered up when I was back at the 54th. We worked the organized crime task force. Victor Racine was our target – until one day Ike didn't come into work."
"Did you find a body?" Kate asks.
"No. It's like he just disappeared. And to make it worse, IA came around talking like Ike had gone over to work for Racine. That was a bunch of bull. Then a couple of days later, some kids found Ike's car out by the docks. It was shot to hell, blood all over the seats."
"All the hallmarks of a professional hit," Ryan notes.
"Yeah," Esposito agrees, "only we couldn't tie it back to Racine. Wherever his guys had dumped the body, we could never find it. The department shut down the whole operation after that. I was transferred here. But I know one thing. If Fred Cana had a safety deposit box, he was holding something for Racine."
"He said the box was full of stamps," Castle says.
"Stamps," Esposito snorts. "Sure, and I'm Marc Anthony."
Ryan puts his hand on Esposito's shoulder. "Come on, Man, I'll take you outside to cool off."
"He wants blood," Beckett says, watching the partners go.
"I don't blame him," Demming says from behind her. "From the look of it, Racine had Finch tortured and killed for stealing from him."
"Yeah, but that's a definite change of style," Castle observes. "In the cases of both Ike Thornton and Finch, the vehicles turned up. Finch's body was with his, but Ike Thornton was never seen again. The theft of the unknown contents of a safety deposit box would hit the cold case file in days and probably languish in the basement forever. But leaving Finch's body there like that launches a homicide investigation. Why not just disappear it like Thornton?"
"Maybe it was left as a warning against anyone who tries to come up against Racine," Demming proposes.
"Except that Racine was at most, tangentially tied to the theft. If Esposito hadn't gone off on Cana, it wouldn't have been tied to Racine at all. Not much of a warning," Castle argues.
"And we couldn't force Cana to tell us what was really in the box," Kate points out. "He was right about being the victim, not a perpetrator, at least officially. We have no power to make him tell us anything. Unless he files a phony insurance claim or something, he's not involved with a crime." She rolls her eyes. "And I can just see him doing that. But whatever Racine had stolen from him, he had Finch tortured to get it back. He wants it bad. But how would he get on to Finch pulling the job?"
"If he's as connected as Esposito said, he must have his sources," Castle replies. "And if Finch's MO was clear enough for Detective Demming here to recognize, Racine could have picked up on it too. Castle turns toward the robbery cop. "Apparently, Racine decided to have Finch, um, questioned, before you guys could get around to it."
"What are you implying, Castle?" Demming demands.
"I'm not implying anything. I'm saying it. You made it clear that you recognized Finch's MO. He wasn't in the wind. It didn't take Esposito any time to track down his address and contact his wife. So if you guys had been on the ball enough to pull him in for questioning right away, he might not be dead. And we might even know what was in the box. But now what we've got is a body and a lot of unanswered questions."
"I don't need to take this kind of crap from some hack writer," Demming declares heading for the stairs. "Detective Beckett, I'll call you if I get any additional information."
"Castle," Kate says, as Demming retreats, "Robbery did put us onto the motive for Finch's murder."
"Yeah," Castle agrees, "after they let it happen."
