Seeing the furious Vincent cursing on the deck of the ten-thousand-ton salvage ship through the drone's surveillance footage, Castle knew he must have encountered some technical difficulties. It's likely because of the explosives set by the German submariners when they scuttled the submarine, making Vincent extremely cautious, fearing that one wrong move could blow up his lifelong dream.
Although Castle remembered from his previous life that this guy did manage to retrieve the submarine intact and store it in a warehouse near New York Harbor, he had no knowledge of the specific process involved. So, even though he was certain that Vincent Adler would eventually succeed in salvaging the submarine, the exact timing was beyond his control. Thus, he had to rely on the chubby guy to keep a close watch on Vincent.
Due to Vincent's caution, Castle knew that, at least for the next few days, Vincent wouldn't risk losing everything by attempting another salvage without a proper plan. Therefore, he decided to use this time to return to the police station. With Mozzie and the chubby guy keeping an eye on things, he could handle the matters with Beckett first.
Because of Johnny Wang's defection a few days ago, the 12th Precinct had obtained an arrest warrant for Nick Coonan. Beckett, at Castle's urging, had suppressed her urge to immediately arrest the man who killed her mother. Since it seemed that Vincent wouldn't be able to salvage the submarine without damaging it in the short term, Castle decided to use this opportunity to deal with Beckett's issue.
With his mind made up, Castle openly explained his situation to Mozzie, who fully supported Castle's decision to handle the police matters first. After informing Gianna and John, Castle drove back to the 12th Precinct in Manhattan and found Beckett, who was preparing for the arrest.
"You say we can arrest Nick Coonan now? You've got the final evidence?" Beckett asked curiously, wondering why the person who advised against rushing into the arrest just yesterday had changed his mind overnight.
Seeing Beckett's wide eyes demanding an explanation, Castle reluctantly confessed: "Yes, I've got the evidence to bring down William Bracken directly. Don't worry about arresting Nick Coonan or Vulcan Simmons causing the senator to interfere. Just bring those guys in, and if Senator Bracken doesn't get the picture and tries to intervene, he's as good as dead!"
Beckett was eager to know what evidence Castle had that could topple a sitting senator, but Castle wasn't about to reveal it while Montgomery was still the captain of the 12th Precinct. He didn't want to admit to stealing something from someone else's safe. At least, not until Montgomery was promoted to the NYPD's headquarters. Only then, with Beckett as the precinct captain, could he use the evidence to take down a corrupt senator.
Moreover, Montgomery wouldn't be so easily entangled by his past if he were in a higher position. Although he hadn't colluded with the corrupt cops back then, he couldn't deny that he knew about their actions and didn't report them. Currently, his position was too low, but once he became a deputy commissioner at NYPD headquarters, he would have some political immunity in a storm. Whether he would get caught up in the scandal due to his past wouldn't be Castle's concern.
Castle was only considering Montgomery's situation because he'd taken care of Beckett for years and the document would build a firewall to protect her. Otherwise, Castle wouldn't have given much thought to Montgomery's fate.
Montgomery had always known who killed Beckett's mother but had kept it from her. It's possible that he thought Beckett couldn't take on a senator, but Castle suspected Montgomery might have had some close ties with those corrupt cops back then and later distanced himself from them.
Therefore, while Castle supported Beckett in arresting Nick Coonan and Vulcan Simmons for drug trafficking, he wouldn't reveal the final evidence that could bring down William Bracken yet.
For now, they would probe their enemy's defenses by arresting Nick Coonan, a small pawn. This shouldn't alarm Senator Bracken, but arresting Vulcan Simmons would. As Bracken's bagman, Simmons's arrest would immediately alert the senator. Hence, the timing had to be perfect.
Castle advised Beckett to first arrest only Nick Coonan. Even if they brought him in, they shouldn't immediately revisit the four cold cases from a decade ago. They should charge him with drug trafficking. Once Beckett took over as precinct captain next month, she could then reopen those cold cases and start investigating. At that point, she wouldn't need to report to anyone and could proceed with arresting Vulcan Simmons and investigating Senator Bracken's involvement.
This approach would minimize risks and maximize their chances of catching their opponents off guard.
After seriously considering Castle's advice, Beckett nodded, recognizing that Castle genuinely had her best interests at heart. Although she didn't understand why Castle wouldn't show her the evidence, she trusted him.
With a plan in mind, Beckett decided to follow Castle's advice. She had already obtained the arrest warrant for Nick Coonan, and now it was just a matter of bringing him in.
Before setting off, Beckett needed to steady her emotions to avoid losing control when facing her mother's killer.
Taking her subordinates and Castle along for support, Beckett headed to Nick Coonan's export company.
Unaware of what awaited him, Nick Coonan didn't realize that the woman reading his arrest warrant held a deep-seated grudge against him. He only knew that his drug trafficking operation had been busted, and Johnny Wang had ratted him out. Though furious, he didn't feel particularly alarmed. After all, he could afford good lawyers, and with powerful political backing, he didn't resist when Beckett cuffed him and took him to the station.
Even in the interrogation room, Nick Coonan wasn't worried. He believed that his guilt would be determined by the court, not the police. His lawyer was on the way, and he expected to be bailed out soon. So, what was there to worry about?
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