Papa Jack Chapter 27

Lionel Marcus looks up sullenly as Kate Beckett enters Interrogation. "I didn't do anything. You have no right to arrest me."

Kate drops into a chair opposite Lionel. "You're not under arrest, Mr. Marcus. We're just having a little chat. You were seen entering an autobody repair shop owned by Vulcan Simmons."

"So? That's not a crime." Marcus returns.

"Your parole officer might have a different opinion," Kate counters. "Simmons is a suspected drug dealer."

"Suspected ain't nothing," Marcus insists. "No convictions means he's not a criminal."

"Tell that to all the guys on Rikers who've been there for a year waiting to come to trial," Kate responds. "Suspicion was enough to lock them up. And in your case, you have a problem besides your visit to Washington Heights. Where did you get the ring you're wearing?"

A tiny hint of fear flits across Marcus' face. "I didn't steal it!"

"I didn't say you did," Kate says. "Although it might have been better for you if you claimed you had. Maybe you heard about the guy I shot who was trying to knock over Erickson's Jewelry Exchange and shoot Erickson. It was all over the news." Kate continues as Marcus shrugs. "He was wearing an identical ring. So if he's a friend or even an acquaintance of yours, you will be going back to prison."

Marcus vehemently shakes his head. "Hold on! I don't know that guy. I never even met him."

"So, I repeat," Kate replies, "where did you get the ring?"

"I'm not saying anything without a deal," Marcus insists. "And I'll need protection. You get someone from the DA's office in here to put all that in writing. And I want a lawyer to make sure it will hold. Then I'll tell you about the ring."

Kate slowly pushes out of her chair. "I'll see what I can do."

"If you want anything out of me, do better than see," Marcus calls after her as she leaves Interrogation.

"You think the DA will go for it?" Richard asks as Kate meets him in Observation.

"I don't know," Kate admits. "The only times I've had anything to do with the DA's office were when I had to testify in court against someone I arrested. With 95% of cases pleading out, that was only about a few arrests, and it was just prep for my testimony. I've never had anything to do with making a deal. I'll take this to Montgomery. He knows a lot of people in the DA's office, and I think the new DA elected this year is a friend of his."

Richard stares through the mirror at Lionel Marcus. "A good friend, I hope. Want a supportive presence? I am the one who spotted the ring."

"I suppose having you along can't hurt," Kate decides.

Montgomery palms what's left of his close-cut hair. "Beckett, this isn't like asking for a reduction in charges for flipping on an accomplice. A deal including protection is complicated – and expensive. Are you sure it's going to get us closer to whoever is running the robbery homicides?"

"Captain, the ring, the wax, the murders, Vulcan Simmons, and WH Enterprises are all pieces of a puzzle pointing to William Bracken," Richard insists. "Bracken's a congressman. Word is he's going for the Senate. Either way, he has access to classified material. That not only makes him a party to a murderous conspiracy but a threat to the security of our country. We have to bring him down. Making a deal with Lionel Marcus could get us a step closer to doing that."

"You're making the case sound like one of your spy stories, Castle," Montgomery says.

"Sir, I don't write spy novels," Kate jumps in. "But I agree with what Castle said. Bracken is a very dangerous man with strong ties to an organization of dangerous men. We need to get at him and right now, Lionel Marcus is our best bet for building the case we need to nail him."

"All right. I can't promise anything, but I'll talk to the DA," Montgomery agrees.

Kate nods. "Thank you, Sir."

As Kate and Richard watch from Observation, the dark eyes of ADA Tina Gonzalez skewer Lionel Marcus. "Mr. Marcus. I need to make sure you understand that if anything you tell me proves to be untrue, any deal we make is null and void. Your protection will be withdrawn, and I doubt it will be any secret on the street that you talked to us. Anything less than total honesty with me, and it's your ass in a sling."

Marcus turns to his lawyer, who nods his confirmation. The suspect swallows and then takes a swig from a bottle of water before he begins. "I got the ring from Vulcan Simmons along with some waxy gunk I use to seal shipments."

"Seal shipments of what?" Tina queries.

"There's more than one kind. Drugs, after they're processed and cut to go to dealers upstate and around the country. And I seal shipments of jewelry and the good stuff from electronics stores."

"The jewelry and electronics, where do they go?' Tina asks.

"I don't know exactly, somewhere on Long Island. I give them to a guy who drives a van. He complains about the traffic on the LIE."

"The Long Island Expressway?" Tina clarifies.

"Yeah," Marcus confirms.

"And how do the jewelry and electronics come to you?" Tina probes.

"I pick them up at a drop near Pier 86. They're marked with a ring and that wax stuff, too. I look them over, package them up, seal them again, and give them to the guy with the van."

"How about the drugs?" Tina asks. "How do those come to you?"

"They come in different ways, sometimes by plane, sometimes by ship. Vulcan Simmons gives me instructions on where to go to get them. I always have to check for the mark. Then, I take them to a processing lab."

"There's more than one lab?" Tina queries.

"Two. One is in Jersey, near Port Elizabeth. The other one is in Red Hook, in an abandoned property."

"And you seal shipments from those two labs?" Tina queries.

"Uh-huh. That's the last of my end of it. After that, they go wherever they're going to go. I don't know any names or addresses."

"But you can give us the addresses of the labs," Tina presses.

Kate strides into the room, holding a legal pad. "The man with the van, the one who goes to Long Island; where and when's the next time you're supposed to meet him?"

"I'm not," Marcus claims. "After you broke up the Erickson job, hits on the stores shut down."

"So, when was the last time you met him?" Kate pushes.

"I don't remember the date, but it was a couple of days after the Lehman job."

"And where did you meet him?" Kate continues.

"Parking lot at Freedom Plaza."

"From where he could easily get to the LIE," Kate figures.

"Exactly," Marcus confirms.

At a nod from Tina, Kate takes a seat next to the ADA, poising her pen over her pad. "I'm going to need an exact description of the van, the driver, and everything else you can remember about that meeting."

Shoulder to shoulder with Richard in Observation, Montgomery gazes through the one-way mirror. "Beckett's a natural. She could become the best detective I'll ever have."

Richard leans toward the glass. "Seems like she's pretty damn good already."