Chapter 53

Matthew Castle leaned back in his well-worn chair behind his desk at Connor, Castle & Mann, and regarded the two agents sitting across from him.

“I’m not at all surprised to have the FBI questioning me about my nephew, Avram,” said Matt. “I’m only surprised that it took this long for it to happen.”

“What, exactly, do you mean by that, Mr. Castle?” asked Sherman Dixon.

“I mean that I think he’s a dangerous and unscrupulous man. I’ve known him since he was born. He was a horrible child. He beat his brother, Marc, so severely he had to be hospitalized when they were boys. My sister, Miriam, took him to a psychiatrist for a while. The change in Avram was astonishing. He never did anything wrong after that. At least, not while anyone was watching. He was solicitous, and overly polite to Miriam…it was sickening…I thought it bordered on mockery. But my sister drank it in like a thirsty plant.”

“Were there any more incidents between the brothers?” asked Sherm.

“No,” said Matt. “Marc was afraid of Avram. He stayed away from him.”

“All the charitable work Avram Solomon does,” said Bob Branson, “how do you explain that? It doesn’t seem to square with your description of the man.”

“It’s an act, in my opinion,” said Matt.

“Does your firm handle any legal business for Solomon Chrysler?” asked Bob. “Are they clients?”

“Not any more. Not since Milton Solomon retired,” said Matt. “There was only the one dealership then, here in the city.”

“So Avram Solomon is responsible for the expansion to two other locations,” said Bob. “He must be a good businessman, at least.”

“Oh, he’s smart. No question about that,” said Matt.

“Would you happen to know what law firm Mr. Solomon switched to, Mr. Castle?” asked Bob.

“I understand they’re with Cardenas & Shaw,” said Matt.

Bob Branson jotted that down.

“Are you personally aware of, or do you suspect, any illegal activity related to Avram Solomon or his business?” asked Bob.

“No,” said Matt. “As I said, it wouldn’t surprise me, but I don’t know of any illegal activity involving Avram.”

Sherman could tell that Bob Branson was essentially done with questioning Matthew Castle. He wasn’t, however.

“The island, Castle Cay. It originally belonged to your family?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Matt. “My father left it to Miriam, who was the oldest. She left it, in trust, to Marcus. Against my advice, she named Avram as trustee. I suggested my partner, Tom Connor, or myself. She thought that Avram was smart, and he would be ‘a good conservator’.”

“What do you know about the island?” asked Sherm.

“Nothing, really. I know a cruise line has made an offer to buy it. I haven’t personally been there since I was a child. Frankly, I didn’t like Milton Solomon very much. And, as I mentioned, I didn’t like being around Avram at all. So, I had no desire to vacation there with them.

”Miriam generally came to visit me at home. She frequently brought Marc. My wife was fond of him and he got along well with my kids. Miriam would never bring Avram to my house, though. We never spoke of it, but she knew I didn’t want him there.”

Neither agent could think of anything else to ask Matt Castle that would be useful. Obviously, the man had strong negative feelings about Solomon, but that didn’t help them any.

“Well, thank you for your time, Mr. Castle,” said Sherm. “Please give us a call if you think of anything else.” He gave him a card, and they all shook hands.

Sherman shook his head as they made their way back to Bob’s car in the parking garage across the street.

“I hope we get more useful information from the Soldanos, Bob,” said Sherm. “Sorry. I guess we wasted time with Matt Castle.”

“No, we didn’t,” said Bob Branson. “We found out that Solomon has a mob lawyer…John Cardenas.”

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