Papa Jack Chapter 14
Joe Pulgatti's eyes widen as Kate and Richard approach his cell. "Johanna? No, it can't be. They killed you."
"Mr. Pulgatti," Kate says softly. "I'm Kate Beckett. Johanna Beckett was my mother."
Pulgatti sucks in air. "Yeah, of course. She talked about you. She was very proud of having such a brilliant daughter. She didn't say how much you look like her. Are you a lawyer like her? Picking up where she left off?"
"No, Mr. Pulgatti, I'm a cop, not a lawyer. But in a way, I am picking up where she left off. You told her you were framed for undercover FBI agent Bob Armen's murder. She believed you. Why did she believe you, Mr. Pulgatti?"
"Because I told her the truth, and the police version of what happened wasn't worth sh*t."
"So what's the truth?" Richard questions.
"Who the hell are you?" Pulgatti demands.
"This is Richard Castle. He's helped me uncover some new evidence in my mother's murder," Kate explains.
"She was investigating your story," Richard adds.
"So," Kate continues, "you could help me, and maybe even yourself, if you tell us everything you told my mother. Just start at the beginning. Why did the police hang Bob Armen's murder on you?"
Pulgatti sucks in more air. "When Bobby was killed, I had no idea he was a cop. I had no reason to kill him. All five families were under a truce back then cause all of our guys were getting kidnapped and held for ransom. There wasn't much action going on. So, we both hung out at the Sons of Palermo Club. We played pool together. We were buddies. The club didn't allow smoking inside. The owner had asthma or something. Bobby and I would go out in the alley behind the place to smoke a ciggie. He was killed in that alley."
"That's the same alley where my mother was killed," Kate realizes.
"That can't be a coincidence," Richard asserts.
"How was Armen killed? Who killed him?" Kate questions.
"I was the only one in the alley with Bobby when it went down – the only witness," Pulgatti declares. "It wasn't a hit. It was another one of the kidnappings gone sideways. I guess I must have been pretty well known as an enforcer because these guys in black masks were after me. Bobby tried to intervene and was shot. Then, the guys in the masks took off. Not long after that, I was arrested by Detective John Raglan."
"He's the same detective who attributed my mother's death to random violence!" Kate exclaims.
"Yeah, well, that wasn't all he did," Pulgatti goes on. "The only ones in that alley when Bobby was killed were him and me and the kidnappers. It was a blind alley. So how did Raglan know I was there?"
Kate takes a step toward the metal mesh between her and Pulgatti. "You're saying that Raglan was one of the kidnappers?"
Pulgatti meets her eyes with a knowing stare.
"But your file says you pleaded guilty," Richard recalls. "Why do that if you didn't kill Armen?"
"Because the DA back then, William Bracken, said if I didn't, he'd demand the death penalty. I've never liked needles."
"There hasn't been an execution in New York since 1963," Kate points out. "Why would he do that?"
"Bracken had to have been in on the kidnapping scheme," Richard asserts. "If Armen's murder had gone to trial, he could have been exposed."
Kate shakes her head. "That's quite a leap, Castle."
"Have you got a better explanation?" Richard queries.
"That Mr. Pulgatti here killed Armen and made this whole story up," Kate offers.
Richard's voice drops almost to a whisper. "Your mother didn't think so."
Kate's fingernails dig into her palms. "No, she didn't."
"So, what are you going to do, Beckett?" Richard asks as he aims the Taurus back toward New York City.
"The whole story of my mother's death centers on John Raglan. He was the one who told me she was dead. He signed off on the bogus random violence theory. Raglan accused Pulgatti of Armen's murder. I need to talk to him. But as a cop going after another cop, I'd be a pariah before I even get my detective's shield. No one on the NYPD would talk to me about anything."
Richard stares at the road ahead. "Montgomery said the Chief wants to have a little ceremony when you get your detective's shield, didn't he?"
"Mm-hmm. I wasn't sure he'd want to come, but I invited my Dad."
"How about other cops who have been important to you?"
"Right, like my training officer, Mike Royce, and Captain Montgomery. I want them there, too."
"Could you insert Raglan into the group? You could talk to him in a non-threatening environment."
Furrows appear between Kate's eyes. "That could be hard on my father. He associates Raglan with the news of my mother's death."
"And if you tell him ahead of time that you need to talk to Raglan to solve her murder?"
"He might go along with it. He needs the closure of seeing the bastard caught – maybe even more than I do. All right. I'll talk to him and see what I can set up. And you're coming to the ceremony too, aren't you, Castle?" The corners of Kate's mouth tweak upward. "A second set of eyes."
"Officer, soon-to-be Detective, Beckett, I would be honored."
His contributions to Support Starving Actors having earned him a backstage pass, Richard knocks on the door of Martha Rodgers' dressing room. A grand "Come in!" vibrates through the wood. "Richard Castle! What brings you to an actor's refuge?"
"I have a proposition for you."
Amusement dances in Martha's eyes. "I know the rumor is that I like them young, Richard, but usually with at least a touch of gray in the mane."
"I actually have a few if you look closely enough. But, as charming and attractive as you are, I didn't mean that kind of proposition. I was hoping we could work with each other on a joint event to benefit Support Starving Actors and Support for Starving Writers. Creative forces should stick together."
"It is an interesting idea," Martha mulls. "But I'm always starving after a performance, and I'm expected at Sardi's. If you serve as my escort, we can discuss it over a late supper. I am rather partial to the Fruitwood Smoked Salmon."
"Sounds enticing." Richard offers his arm. "Ms. Rodgers, I would be delighted if you would dine with me."
"And I would be delighted to accept."
Anatoly watches Richard leave the theater with Martha Rodgers. A friend, perhaps? She had introduced him to the audience at the catastrophe at Madison Square Garden. Richard's friendship with her could be useful. Accompanying a highly visible figure will make the jackal's whelp easier to track. Anatoly is determined that the cell will yet carry out its mission – and its revenge.