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Monday, 13 May 2013, 10:00 A.M.
Break Room,
4th Floor, 12th Precinct
Manhattan, New York City, New York
"Is the PC out of his freaking mind?" a 6'3" well-built man with short dark, hair and sporting a detective's badge, blurts as he enters the room.
"Hey Demming," Detective Kevin Ryan greets as he's preparing a cup of coffee.
"I guess you saw the email," Esposito adds, preparing his own cup.
"Yeah, I saw it," Detective Tom Demming retorts, "What the hell is going on?"
"Why ask us?" Ryan answers, "We're not included in the PC's hiring decisions."
"Seriously," Detective Tom Demming responds skeptically, "Castle didn't give you any kind of heads up on this?"
"Not a peep," Esposito informs, "Captain Gates seems to know something, but nobody's nuts enough to ask her."
"What about Kate?" Demming suggests, "She must've known something."
"She's not in this morning," Ryan answers, "And her phone goes straight to voice mail."
"Lanie can't reach her either," Esposito adds, "She wanted to go over to Beckett's place, but Perlmutter isn't taking the news well so she's on suicide watch."
"That I believe," Demming says pouring a cup for himself, "35,000 cops to choose from, why Castle?"
"Didn't you catch Larry Brown's column this morning?" Ryan asks.
"Yeah," Demming rolled his eyes, "It's all anyone was talking about until the email."
"Well," Ryan continues, "Brown said the PC has been wanting to give him a position for a while. I guess Castle decided to accept."
"Hey, what about the other stuff in the column," Demming realizes, "Is Castle really as close to the Commissioner as it said."
"Apparently," Ryan replies, "Renzulli says the Reagan family sort of unofficially adopted him."
"Wonderful," Demming sighs, "And you couldn't have told this back when Kate and I were together?"
"Hey, don't blame us," Esposito counters, "Castle hid that from us too. The column was the first we heard about it."
"You're kidding."
"Nope," Ryan smirks, "But I get how it would've been good to know when you were stealing his girlfriend."
"He wasn't even dating Kate then," Demming responds defensively, "He even said there was nothing between them."
"Keep telling yourself that, pal?" Ryan's needles him some more as the three walk back into the bullpen.
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James Patterson's Private Jet
Westchester County Airport
County of Westchester, NY
240 Airport Road
White Plains, NY 10604
"We're circling the field," A female cockney accent says over the speaker, "But there's a couple of birds ahead us before we can get down."
"Thanks, Ike," Rick responds over the intercom.
"Why is the pilot named Ike?" Jackson Hunt asks.
"Parents worked in Culzean Castle in Scotland," Rick replies, "She was conceived in the Eisenhower Suite."
"Seriously?"
"Would you make up a story like that?" Rick replies, "If I'd been a girl, mother considered naming me Astoria."
"At least she didn't name you Waldorf," Jackson chuckles.
"By the way," Rick ignores the barb, "You're sure Ike didn't see you board the plane in DC and has no idea you're here?"
Jackson reacts with a you got to be kidding me look.
"Humor me," Rick requests.
"Yes, I made sure she was in the terminal," Jackson recounts, "And only then got into the cargo hold which is surprisingly roomy."
"Good, knowing Ike," Rick smiles, "Before the end of the day, she'll be gossiping with her pilot friends about my trip to break up trip.
"With luck, she'll even recount how I made sure she kept the cockpit door sealed so I could wallow in misery all by myself."
"Misinformation is much more convincing when the person relaying it thinks it's true," Jackson nods.
"Ike and I won't get off until after we're in the hanger," Rick continues, "You can get back in there right before."
"That's fine," Jackson shrugs, "But just out of curiosity, where did Patterson find a gorgeous 6' tall female British pilot named Ike?"
"Jim didn't, I did," Rick corrects, "If I'm going to borrow a jet, I consider it only fair to pay for the fuel and provide my own pilot."
"Of course, you do," Jackson smirks.
"Meaning?" Rick says still focused on reading the files on his laptop.
"You seem to have a type," Jackson replies, "A tall, leggy supermodel type with chestnut brown hair and unforgettable cheekbones."
"We're making our final approach, Rick," Ike says over the speaker.
"My first marriage ruined redheads for me," Rick responds before blurting, "Damn it!"
"What?"
"I got sloppy, forgot my ABC's," Rick huffs, "Assume nothing, Believe no one, and Check everything."
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Homicide Bullpen
4th Floor, 12th Precinct
"I have to ask," Demming says, "Do guys even know an Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Confidential Investigations even do?"
"Not a clue," Esposito shrugs and calls out, "Hey Renzulli, has there ever been an ADCCI before Castle got the job?"
"Jack Mannion," Renzulli says walking up to them, "He's the only one we ever had, and it was when Henry Reagan was Commissioner."
"The Chief of Police in D.C.?" Esposito says surprised.
"And before that Newark," Renzulli replies, "But he cut his teeth in the NYPD helping Reagan put in the reforms the department needed to clean up the city."
"Helping how?" Ryan asks.
"As sort of a fixer or consigliere," Renzulli explains, "Big changes ain't easy. Manion would find the SNAFUs advise the PC on how to handle them.
"So, why hasn't there been one since?" Esposito asks.
"The then-mayor pushed out the PC," Renzulli recounts, "Likely jealous over the press attention Henry Reagan was getting so, Manion quit and went to Newark.
"Other PCs figured they didn't need a fixer, but they didn't last long either. I figure this PC Reagan wanted one but couldn't find the right guy until now."
"Hey," Demming says in realization, "No one knows who Castle's dad is. What if the current Commissioner Reagan…"
"Don't be disgusting," Renzulli makes face, "Besides, Frank Reagan was serving in Vietnam for over year before Rick was born."
"Just a thought," Demming shrugs, "But it would explain Castle getting the job."
"Seriously," Renzulli scoffs, "Not showing favoritism is like a religion with the PC. Remember Lieutenant Nash and Jamie Reagan?"
"Yeah," Ryan nods, "There was a car accident, a little boy and his mom. Kid begged Jamie Reagan to ride him with his mom to the hospital, so he did.
"But Nash had ordered Jamie to write up his report right away, so he suspended him for insubordination. The PC didn't do anything to interfere."
"If you ask me," Renzulli adds, "Nash was bullying Jamie to show he wasn't afraid of his last name."
"Isn't Nash working in Iowa now?" Esposito asks, "And he quit right after that. Didn't give a reason. You're telling me the PC didn't force him out?"
"Hell no!" Renzulli counters, "He tried to talk Nash out of it and even tried to get him back after the guy got to the Midwest. If he was scared out, it was by somebody else."
"What aren't you telling us Sarge?" Esposito asks, seeing the cat that ate the canary look on Renzulli's face.
"What you detectives call conjecture," Renzulli replies, "Ever since Rick Castle was a kid, he didn't like bullies like Captain America in the movie.
"But he never fought them head on. He'd always find a way to take one down without the bully ever seeing it coming or who was behind it.
"That reminds me Esposito and Ryan, when Demming was sniffing around Beckett, didn't the four of you kind of bully him?"
"You two are so dead," Ryan snickers a little, then sees their glare, "Hey, he's in love with Beckett, and he likes me."
"I guess they'll have to send us a postcard from Iowa," Renzulli chuckles.
Before anyone can say anything more, the attention of the four men turns to someone exiting the elevator.
He's 5' 10" distinguished looking and well-dressed African American with snow-white, close-cropped hair carrying a cardboard box.
"Holy crap," Esposito blurts out shocked, "What the hell is he doing here?"
"Got me," Demming says, the guy must have balls of steel.
"Well, if Gates sees him," Ryan responds, "They'll be rolling around her desk."
The man just walks up to them with a large grin on his face and places the box on Esposito's desk.
"Gentlemen how are you this morning," the man greets in his gravelly gregarious voice.
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James Patterson's Private Jet
Westchester County Airport
"According to these files," Rick explains, "Lockwood, his men, and Maddox never worked together before Bracken and New York."
"Typical for mercs," Jackson replies, "Unconnected men hired for a job to avoid…a trail [realizes Ricks' point]. But that's not what the Interpol report said is it?"
"No, it said they'd been suspected associates for years," Rick continues, "Someone must've planted a misdirect into their file."
"If no one looks too closely, it could trick the cops or whoever into wasting time looking the wrong way. Damn, I even used that idea in a book too."
"Iron Storm right," Jackson recalls, "Hey, I told you I read your books."
"I can't believe I missed it," Rick slaps his forehead, angry with himself.
"Hey, it got me to. What was the line you used in the book?" Jackson recalls, "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist."
"Paraphrase of a line by Charles Baudelaire," Rick responds, "I got it from the film… The Usual Suspects… [eyes go wide in realization]that's it.
"In that film Keyser Söze was a ruthless, shadowy crime lord who few could identify and still live except a lawyer named Kobayashi."
"And you equate LokSat to Söze, logical" Jackson replies, "And I've seen the movie. There's not much to do in a safe house except work out, read, and watch TV."
"Then you'll recall," Rick continues, "Söze puts together and manipulates a crew of career criminals who'd never met before using Kobayashi as an intermediary.
"Maybe, the Interpol misdirect was meant to make us Lockwood recruited the men as a smoke screen to cover for their real Kobayashi."
"They'd need one," Jackson agrees, "LokSat is too obsessed with staying in the shadows to risk doing the recruiting himself.
"I can see Bracken hiring Coonan to kill people out of desperation, but assembling a merc crew requires a level of risk I don't think he'd have the guts for."
"Even if he had the guts," Rick shrugs, "He'd have screwed it up. The man doesn't have the brains God gave an inbred orangutan.
"So maybe a way to find our Keyser Söze wannabe is to find his recruiter, his condottiero. That's what Medieval and Renaissance Italians called…
"The men who recruited and led mercenary companies," Jackson smirks, "You're not the only one who reads military history, kid.
"And from my experience in the modern word, the closest equivalent to the condottieri would be Private Military Companies."
"The mercs did work for various ones over the years," Rick nods, "However no one PMC ever employed more than a couple of them, at least officially.
"And it may not even be any of those. There are a lot of them even if I just focus on the ones that had people in Afghanistan."
"Maybe the PMC put up the smokescreen," Jackson suggests, "After Blackwater's mess, those with dubious ethics, have been more careful about deniability."
"Then maybe," Rick suggests, "I could start with the ones who're on thin ice for dubious ethics and have the most to lose in government contracts from a scandal."
"Go ahead," Jackson rolls his eyes, "I know you want to say it."
"Follow the money," Rick smiles broadly, "First to the PMC then to Keyser."
"Tall order son," Jackson cautions, "It's still a long list".
"I have a contact in that world," Rick replies, "She might be able to help."
"Can you trust her?"
"To use a play on a Jack Nicolson line," Rick recounts, "Her trade may not be very reputable, but she is. In that business, she's the leper with the most fingers."
"Chinatown?"
"The Two Jakes, it's the sequel," Rick smiles, "The leper part is misleading though. She's quite pretty, French of Polish-Hungarian extraction."
"Let me guess," Jackson rolls his eyes, "Great legs, supermodel body, chestnut brown hair, and unforgettable cheekbones."
"In my defense," Rick smiles slyly, "She dies her hair platinum blonde like Gwen Stefani."
"Who?"
"You need to get out more dad," Rick rolls his eyes, "Plane's going into the hanger."
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Homicide Bullpen
4th Floor, 12th Precinct
"Larry Brown," Renzulli says with a big if nervous smile, "I have to admit, you're the last person I expected to see here today."
"I bet you are," Larry nods towards a of The York Ledger on Esposito's desk, turned to the page with his column.
"Are you nuts coming here?" Esposito blurts.
"I it is a bit like walking into the lioness' den," Brown replies, "But I figured I'd have to face Victoria sooner or later so I might as well get it over with.
"Also, I wanted to bring these over [taps on the box], a few things go well in the office of the new ADC for Confidential Investigations."
"Cool," Renzulli smiles.
"What's in the box?" Esposito asks.
"Some are official portraits," Brown replies, "They're of the 12th's Captains going all the way back to when Rick was a kid. [starts lifting framed photos one by one]
"Miller, Harris, Dietrich, Kent, both Reagan's, and of course Montgomery. And here's one of a fifteen-year-old Rick and a twenty-pound lighter Renzulli."
"Yeah, that was a great day," Renzulli gets a warm look on his face.
"What was so special about that day?" Esposito asks.
"Not all the good stories about Rick got into the column," Brown replies, "Sorry, Tony Brown says, [looking genuinely apologetic], but I ran out of space."
"It's cool Mr. Brown," Tony smiles, "Back then, a nasty character named Derask ended up dead in my sector. He and I had a sort of an unpleasant history."
"A lot of bogus evidence pointed to Tony as the shooter," Brown continues, "IA and the DA thought they had a slam dunk case."
"But Ricky latched onto an idea," Renzulli explains, "I was the only witness when a punk named Roy Milton Jr. popped a guy just for kicks."
"Roy Sr. was connected," Brown continues, "And Rick came up with the idea that he arranged the frame up to save his boy since he couldn't kill Tony."
"The department would've been all over that," Ryan states, "But discrediting him would've blown the case against Jr."
"Ricky convinced Chief Kent, a detective back then," Renzulli adds, "He check out the theory. Luckily, the guy Sr. hired was dumber than his kid."
"You're saying that fifteen-year-old kid came up with that," Demming scoffs.
"What's that line Rick used back then?" Renzulli says to Brown.
"Coincidences take a lot of planning," Brown replies.
"Funny," Captain Gates suddenly appears, "That's what I was thinking about all the events that transpired this morning."
"Good morning, Victoria," Brown says with his most charming smile.
"You know, Mr. Brown" Gates continues, "From your past writing, it did sometimes occur to me that you thought Mr. Castle should be running the 12th instead of me.
"I couldn't understand why a former cop would think that about a novelist, a dilettante playing cop until I read your little history today."
"Glad you found it enlightening, Victoria."
"So, tell me Mr. Brown," Gates seethes, "Are you here to plan the official coronation?
Brown just bursts into laughter.
"I'm glad what I said amuses you," Gates says sarcastically.
"Sorry Victoria," Brown tries to control his laughter, "It's just that what you said made me think of a line from one of my favorite movies."
"Oh," Gates responds, "Would you like to share?"
"If you like," Brown responds, "Authority is not given to you to deny the return of the king?"
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Hanger
Westchester County Airport
As Rick exits the jet and walks down the boarding stairs, his blue eyes lock with a similar set, one inherited from him and they are not happy.
He puts on his best charming smile knowing it'll do no good in the confrontation that's coming.
"Father," Alexis Castle greets not too happily, leaning against the Town Car he'd arranged to bring her.
"Daughter," Rick responds.
"Why do you look like a reject from Reservoir Dogs?" Alexis asks, referring to his black suit.
"And why does your expression make me feel like I'm about to be wacked?"
Alexis holds up her phone, showing a newsflash about his new job.
"Explain."
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Author's Notes:
The show "The Finder" which I've mentioned before started out as a 2011 episode of the show Bones (Season 6, Episode 19).
In that episode the very gorgeous, if a nutty socialist raised by nutty socialists, Saffron Burrows ("Law and Order Criminal Intent") played Ike Latulippe, a pilot who works with Walter Sherman and Leo Knox though she didn't return when it became a full-fledged show.
The Eisenhower Hotel in Culzean Castle in Ayrshire Scotland is one of the most exclusive places to stay anywhere in Scotland.
It's a small, 6-bedroom country house-style hotel, located on the top floor of the Castle with a panoramic view across the Firth of Clyde towards the Isle of Arran.
The Eisenhower Suite is named in honor of General Dwight D Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe.
This was where Eisenhower stayed when visiting Culzean, staying here four times and once as President of the United States. He referred to Culzean as his Scottish White house.
The Waldorf Astoria is a historic hotel in New York.
I got the ABC thing from a BBC mystery series set in Colonial Kenya called "Heat of the Sun" staring Trevor Eve, father of Alice Eve who played Carol Marcus in "Star Trek Into Darkness" (2013).
Jack Mannion, played by Craig T. Nelson ("Coach") was the lead character on the TV show, "The District" (2000) about the iconoclast Police Chief of D.C.
Manion was Based loosely on the career of NYPD Deputy Commissioner Jack Maple who came developed the CompStat computerization and quantification program created by the NYPD and copied by so many police departments.
He and NYPD Police Commissioner William Bratton were considered the leaders who helped the NYPD lower crime massively under Mayor Rudy Giuliani from 1994 to 1996.
I and many others believe Bratton was forced out because Giuliani became jealous that his PC was getting too much of the media attention.
Many people, even those close to the former mayor, say that in Rudy's world there was only room for one hero, Rudy.
Underlings are there to take the blame, not get the credit. It's a personality trait common in narcissists like the late Douglas MacArthur.
In the show, "Blue Bloods" part of Henry Reagan's back story is that he was fired by the mayor out of jealousy over Henry getting too much press attention.
To date, William Bratton is the only man to ever head the police forces of America's two largest cities. After New York became head of the Los Angles Police Department.
SNAFU – old term for Situation Normal All F***ed Up
Consigliere – A term for the top advisor to and representative of a boss in the Mafia. Tom Hagen from "The Godfather" was the legal advisor and fixer for the Corleone family.
"I don't want to kill anyone. I don't like bullies; I don't care where they're from," from Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).
The line 1864 line by Charles Baudelaire was translated into English in 1919 by Joseph T. Shipley as "the cleverest ruse of the Devil is to persuade you he does not exist".
Still, Interesting precursors occurred even earlier such as John Wilkerson in 1836 and William Ramsey in 1856.
"What I do for a living may not be very reputable... but I am. In this town I'm the leper with the most fingers." From "The Two Jakes" 1990.
Barney Miller, Ron Harris, and Arthur Dietrich were characters from the TV show "Barney Miller" (1975 – 1982) a comedy set in the fiction 12th precinct.
"Reservoir Dogs" (1992) is another movie about a criminal boss bringing together a group of career criminals who're strangers to each other.
Though done on a very small budget, I highly recommend it. Quentin Tarantino wrote and directed and stared a lot people he would use in his later big budget films: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, and Steve Buscemi.