A Murder in the Mosque

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Castle. Wish I did, though. Rating: K+ for some soldier's language. Time: After Season Eight.

Kate had barely finished her cup of coffee at the precinct the next morning when she got a phone call.

"Lanie wants to see us." She announced to her expanded team. She turned to Randolph. "Dr. Lanie Parish is our…"

"Medical examiner and your best friend." Randolph finished for her. Seeing her look, he smiled. "What? You think I don't interest myself in my family?" The last sentence was whispered so that McCarty and Peake couldn't hear.

Lanie remembered Peake from his prior visits and had heard of McCarty. She accepted Kate's statement that Randolph was a civilian observer looking for best practices in homicide investigations. She didn't fully believe her best friend, but said nothing.

"Meet Teodoro Vasquez, who was a member of Los Assessinos del Norte until two gunshots to the back of the head cancelled his membership. He was shot at close range by a .25 caliber pistol. Time of death was a few hours before Mullah al Amriki's murder."

"Is there a connection with the al Amriki murder?" Kate asked.

Lanie smiled.

"There is. I asked for a favor from CSU and got ballistics results back just now. They're a match to your other murder."

"The murder of a gang member puts this in a different light." McCarty said. "Anyone know anything about Vasquez?"

"Low level drug dealer." Lanie said. "I've had a few of Los Assassinos in here before and know a little about them."

"Should we go talk to Los Assassinos?" McCarty asked.

"It won't do any good." Kate said. "They'll lawyer up and claim they were all at Mass and they never heard of Teodoro here."

"There are other ways." Peake said softly.

"Not in my precinct there aren't." Kate snapped.

"One other thing." Lanie said, smiling again. "He was shot just a block and a half from Finn Rourke's place in Hell's Kitchen."

"Rourke is the head of an Irish gang called the Westies. He won't allow drugs in his territory and he has a really effective no drugs policy." Castle added. He smiled at Kate. "He kind of owes you for taking out Coonan and I think he's kind of sweet on you."

Kate gave a dramatic shudder.

"That's all I need. A thug who likes me."

"I bet he doesn't do paperwork." Rick added. That got a glare from Kate.

Finn Rourke was leaning against the bar in his place when they all arrived.

He turned and looked over the newcomers.

"Captain Kate Beckett and her husband. And Mr. McCarty, the Green Beret. A good Irish soldier, I'm bound." He looked at Peake. "And this one is one of yours, McCarty. Plus we have Ryan and Esposito. An Irish cop and…Well, at least he's Catholic."

He turned to Randolph.

"You I don't know."

"I'm Scott Randolph. I work for Crimalistics. We have a contract with the Department of Justice to study homicide units with the best records to set out best practices. The DOJ then…"

"If you're some bloody scribbler, then I'm the fookin' Pope. You're one of them, of some sort. Don't lie to me, boyo." He nodded to McCarty and Peake.

"We need to talk to you." Kate broke in. Randolph had looked like he was getting angry at being called a liar.

"Always glad to talk to you, Captain Beckett."

"Could we go someplace private?"

Rourke shook his head.

"I like to have witnesses. There are fewer problems with who said what that way. My table is over there."

They all sat down and Rourke waved to the barman.

"Tommy, a round for all of us. But no pickled eggs for Mr. Beckett, I think."

Castle would have said something, but Kate's glare stopped him.

"We're on duty. We can't drink."

"Now, Captain Beckett, your husband isn't a cop, so he's not on duty, nor are Mr. McCarty and his pal. And your so-called scribbler friend surely isn't a cop. That leaves you and your detectives. One thing you must have learned in your years on the force is that you can't talk to an Irishman without drinking."

The barman put a beer in front of each of them. Randolph, McCarty and Peake took a long sip. Castle took a small sip after Kate looked away. The three detectives didn't touch their beer.

"A man named Teodoro Vasquez of Los Assassinos del Norte was shot to death not more than a block and a half from here. We were wondering if you knew anything about that?" Kate asked.

"Now why would I know about such a thing?" Rourke countered.

"You're a pillar of the local community." Kate said sarcastically. "I'm sure you hear things."

"Teodoro was dealing drugs. Your dislike of drugs is well known." Rick added.

'True. As any civilized man is, I have no use for drugs. They're a danger to the community and to civilization itself. Now, I myself would call the police should I hear of any drug dealing around here. But, there are others who might take a less law abiding path. I have no idea who these men might be, but I have heard of their methods. If a drug dealer is found by them, he's given a sound beating and told to never come back. If he does come back, he'll end up in the hospital. Only if he's so stubborn as to come back a third time might these men resort to deadly violence. Might, I say. Other than that, I can't help you. But do come back any time, Captain Beckett. And do bring your husband. We'll make a good Irishman of him yet."

Knowing they'd get no more from Rourke, they left.

"Do you believe him?" Randolph asked Kate.

"Yes. The Westies methods are well known. We'll check to see if Vasquez was in any ER lately just to make sure, but I believe Rourke. For now."

Back at the precinct they were met by Tory Ellis, from CSU's video unit.

"I found something on a surveillance video from a store across from the mosque." She said. "Remember it was a ten year old boy who reported the shooting?"

"We talked to him." Kate said.

"He talked to someone else just after he left the mosque. An adult. I got a good shot of his face, but he's not in any of our data bases."

"Perhaps we can help." McCarty said. "We may have access to databases you can't access."

From Randolph's nod, Kate was sure he had access to other databases as well.

"Okay, give them a copy of the video feed. In the meantime, we'll send out his photo and see if any of the uniforms recognizes him."

That night, McCarty, Peake and Randolph came to the loft for dinner. Over after diner coffee, Kate asked a question.

"If this concerns narcotics, do you think it might still impact on national security?"

"I talked to Langley this afternoon and got permission to talk to McCarty and Peake as well as to you and Rick, but no one else. Okay?"

Kate nodded.

"Fine with me.

"Just because narcotics may be involved doesn't mean it's not a matter of national security. The North Koreans and the Iranians manufacture and sell drugs to support their economy. Plus, any of what they call non-state armed groups will make and sell drugs, or help in their sale and distribution. Smugglers, for instance, will smuggle guns, people, drugs, gold and other minerals, oil and anything else they can make a profit on. Plenty of guerilla groups and warlords will tax drug runners using their territory to raise money. No, I don't expect some Islamic State gunman came to New York and killed those two, but someone like that could be involved. Maybe Vasquez and Mullah al Amriki saw something they shouldn't have. Maybe someone hired some local talent to take them out. That's a lot of maybes, but things like that do happen."

"And I still have two murders to solve." Kate said.

"We have two murders to solve." Rick said quickly.

Kate reached over and took his hand.

When they arrived at the precinct the next day, they found that none of the databases turned up anything. However, they did have a uniform come in and identify the young man in the surveillance video.

''His name is Hassan the Bomber, or at least that's what they call him.'' Officer Petri said. ''I don't know much about him other than the name and the fact that he hangs around the basketball courts about two blocks from Fillmore High. He's never been in any trouble, but the nickname is unusual. That's why I remembered him."

Kate smiled. "Thanks, Officer Petri. This could be the break we needed."

She called everyone into her office and explained what Petri had told her.

"Hassan the Bomber?" Rick said. "That sounds almost too good to be true."

"Things that sound too good to be true often turn out to be not true." Kate replied.

"And that's why I'm a world-famous novelist and you aren't." Rick said smugly. "Imagination."

"Regrettably, the courts don't take into consideration imaginary evidence. And we need to get going."

They arrived at the basketball courts and one young man pointed out Hassan the Bomber to them. While he was doing so, one of Hassan's friends pointed out the police to Hassan. Instead of running, as Castle had hoped he would, Hassan strolled over to them, smiling and dribbling a basketball.

"Can I help you, officers?" He asked.

"Are you called Hassan the Bomber?" Kate asked, showing her badge.

"That's me. Faud Hassan, also known as Freddy Hassan and Hassan the Bomber."

"Why do they call you Hassan the Bomber?" Rick blurted out.

Hassan laughed.

"Why? Just watch."

Hassan began dribbling the ball, never letting it get more than six inches off the ground, switching hands and even dribbling behind his back. Then he took a shot.

"Hassan shoots from way downtown. And, nothing but net. Three points for Hassan."

He then dribbled left-handed, moving backwards, then whirled around and shot.

"He shoots! He scores!" Hassan yelled. "Another three pointer for Hassan."

Then he dribbled to the three-point line and shot with his back to the hoop. Another three pointer.

He strolled over to the watching police, smiling and still dribbling the ball.

"I made the team at City College as a walk on, but I hope to get an athletic scholarship next year. Maybe I can then transfer to a four-year school. Even if I don't make it into the NBA, I'll have a good education. But I don't think you came here to talk about basketball."

"You're right about that. Did you hear about the murder of Mullah al Amriki?" Kate asked.

"Sure. Everyone's heard about that. Why?"

"We have surveillance video of you just outside the mosque where he was shot, talking to the young boy who reported the murder." Kate held out her phone which had the video running.

"That's me all right. And the kid did tell me that the mullah was dead, but he was so calm and cool about it I thought the kid was imagining things or just telling stories. I guess I should have done something, but I didn't take him seriously. Am I in trouble?"

Kate shook her head.

"No, but can you remember anything out of the ordinary that day? Anything at all?"

Hassan thought for a moment, then shook his head,

"No, nothing comes to mind at all. Sorry."

Once in her car, Castle asked Kate if she believed Hassan.

"Pretty much. If you look at the video, the little boy is just walking away from the mosque, not running. He's not acting excited, scared or nervous. And even if Hassan had gone to check, it'd have done no good. The mullah was dead, and the killer was long gone."

Once back at the precinct, Peake had an idea.

"If this is about drugs, shouldn't we be checking al Amriki's home and the mosque for drugs?"

"Good idea." Kate said. "Although I doubt he'd be involved in the drug business."

"You never can tell." Randolph said. "He could have been a double agent, or just a freelance looking out for number one."

"I'll get a search warrant and have someone from Narcotics meet us." Kate sighed. "Although this'll mean that Castle will meet Officer Traci. That's Traci with an "i"."

Rick was upset.

"So I meet some Traci? So what? I'm married to you.

"It's just that Traci is a blonde and she…Well, she dresses rather scantily."

"I don't believe this." Rick replied.

TBC