Confession Chapter 7

Montgomery looks up, his expression darkened with annoyance. "Castle, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be looking in on Beckett or something? We're in a crunch. My other detectives have no time to answer questions from a shadow."

"Actually, I wasn't planning on asking your detectives any," Castle says. "I'm looking into something that goes further back than any of them do. But I think you've been around long enough."

"If that's your way of implying I'm old, I get more than enough of it from my kids."

"I know, teenagers, right?" Castle commiserates. "But no, I just need a little history. Do you remember a D.A. named Bracken?"

Tiny dots of sweat create a sheen on Montgomery's high forehead. "That is going back, Castle. But I can't tell you much. He was around when I came on as a rookie. I didn't deal with him."

"Who did?" Castle queries.

"Some of the more senior cops at the time, maybe, if they had to testify in a case. Like I said, I didn't have anything to do with him."

"Do you remember the names of cops who did?" Castle presses.

"Castle, I'm sorry, it was a long time ago and I had enough to cope with just learning how to take care of things on the street. And I have a sh*tload of paperwork to get through right now. I can't give any more time to old news. So please, go back to doing whatever you do when you're not here."

"All right," Castle agrees. "Say hello to Evelyn and the kids for me."

Montgomery swallows. "Yeah, I'll do that."

"Older cops," Castle mutters to himself on his way to leave the precinct. His eyes stray to the desk sergeant whose silver streak in otherwise thick dark hair gives him a rakish look. "Hey, Harry, I'm doing some research. If I want to talk to some cops who go back a couple of decades, where would I go?"

Sergeant Harry twiddles his pen. "Best place to get them talking would be one of the older cop bars. You could try Joe Nepo's on Cedar. Place has been around since the '80s."

Castle grins. "Thanks, Man. That helps a lot. Anything I can do for you?"

"Just keep the deliveries of the good doughnuts coming."

"You've got it."

"And tell Detective Beckett everyone's pulling for her," Harry adds.

"Absolutely."

At the dismissive glances Castle receives on entering the bar, he immediately wishes he'd come with a cop or two. But given the current atmosphere at the 12th, he's asked Ryan and Esposito to do more than enough. Fortunately, the time is shy of what passes for happy hour, when the price of beer drops, so Castle easily finds space at the bar.

"What'll you have?" the aproned white-haired bartender asks brusquely.

Castle surveys the line of bottles on a shelf next to a huge array of snapshots. The scotch is far from his favorite and the majority of the clientele seems to be sticking with beer. "Whatever you have on tap will be fine."

A hangdog-looking man on the next stool pushes his empty mug forward. "Hit me again."

"Tough day?" Castle inquires.

His drinking mate shakes his head. "Tough doesn't even begin to describe it. My mother-in-law is coming and my wife's going crazy trying to get the place cleaner than a hospital. Tossed me out afraid I'll get lint or fingerprints on something. She says when she was growing up, she had to do the bounce-a-quarter-off-the-bed thing and her mother checked her room with an actual white glove. To this day, she can't stand white gloves. When I wore my dress uniform, I couldn't put the gloves on when I was anywhere around her."

"You were a cop?" Castle asks as the beers arrive. He lays some bills on the bar. "They're both on me."

"Thanks, Man, I appreciate it," Castle's new friend says before gulping from his fresh drink. "Yeah, I was a cop. Put in my 30 and just retired a month ago. Thought I could kick back, enjoy catching a game, have the guys over for cards."

"But Hurricane Mother-In-Law sent your plans all to hell. Damn shame. You guys earn a rest." Castle extends his hand. "I'm Rick, by the way."

"Cleton. Rick, hey, aren't you that writer who follows that hot detective, Beckett, around?"

"Guilty as charged," Castle acknowledges.

"I heard she got shot. In Chicago, right? She OK?"

"She's getting there. She wants the guy who did it and the Chicago cops have nothing. But she was digging into a homicide cold case that might be connected. While she's out of action, I'm trying to help her. You ever hear of cops named Raglan or McCallister?"

"Heard of them. Stayed as far away as possible. They were into all kinds of dirty sh*t. Should have been hauled up on charges maybe half a dozen times, but they were always kicked loose. I think the D.A. back then was covering for them. Real piece of work that guy. And now he's a U.S. Senator, can you believe it? Maybe D.C. is where he belongs with the other crooks."

"Sounds about right," Castle agrees. "Any cops besides Raglan and McCallister linked up with him?"

"At least half a dozen, probably more. Most of them worked out of Washington Heights. Like I said, I stayed as far away from all of that as I could. But maybe if you check the old rosters from the 34th Precinct, they should be on them."

"Would those all still be around?" Castle wonders.

"They'd have to keep employment records for cops drawing pensions or disability payments," Cleton figures. "And the NYCLU keeps a database of complaints going back to 2000. I'm guessing some of those guys might be in there. Just how hard are you willing to work at turning up what Beckett wants?"

"As hard as I have to," Castle responds. "At least now I have a better idea where to look. Thanks, Cleton."

"Hey, you and Beckett brought some respect back to the NYPD, put some people on the side of law enforcement again. I appreciate that. I just wish I could figure out how to keep my wife on the right side of my mother-in-law."

"Why's the old lady so tough, anyway?" Castle asks.

"From what I understand, her mother was one of those crazy hoarder ladies, so she vowed to go the opposite way. She was an army drill sergeant, one of the first women graduates in 1972."

"How long since your wife has seen her?"

"Not since before we were married 25 years ago. Once she was out of school and able to fend for herself, she kept as far away as she could."

"So maybe there's a chance the old drill sergeant's mellowed a bit," Castle suggests.

Cleton throws back the last of his beer. "I sure as hell hope so."

"I hear a celebration is in order," Castle announces when Graciela lets him into Beckett's temporary quarters. "You're allowed to get back to regular food again?"

"As long as it doesn't have too much salt, sugar, or fat," Graciela cautions.

Castle winks at Kate. "She does take the fun out of things, doesn't she? But as it happens, I stopped by Veggie Heaven for pasta primavera. All the lovely nutrients to make Beckett strong and healthy while still maintaining a taste for the angels – assuming angels like veggies."

"Let me see that," Graciela demands.

"The nutritional information is in the bag," Castle says as Kate rolls her eyes.

Graciela studies the list of ingredients. "This should be all right. Just not too much at a time. You brought enough for an army."

"An army marches on its stomach," Castle declares. "And Beckett, I'm guessing that the sooner you can start marching again, the happier you'll be."

"I need a fork," Kate demands.

"As I recall," Castle says, "the silverware drawer here is full of them."

A/N Guest, I didn't say anything about passing the Regents, I said "acing it." I was writing from personal experience. Getting an A on my Physics Regents bumped my grade up from a B+ to an A. That is the sort of thing that would concern Alexis.