Castle was more than eager to go through the mysterious file but was almost disappointed when he found not only that all that was inside was a newspaper article but also that it was written in Japanese. Now a small part of him was excited by this of course because he figured that if Jasmine didn't show this file to her roommate then it had to be big but if it was all written in a language which very few people in New York read then it had to be huge.
"So I went through Jasmine's school records apparently she's originally from Nagoya Japan but we still can't track down her mom" Esposito informed Castle and Beckett who were currently sitting at Beckett's desk trying to find something on the file written in English, with no luck.
"Well if she's from Japan that would explain why this is in Japanese" Beckett said closing the file and handing it to Esposito
"Ask Tori if she can translate this also there's a symbol drawn on the inside cover see if maybe it means anything" she said and Esposito nodded before leaving to do his work.
"Why would Jasmine come all the way from Japan to study criminal justice?" Castle questioned, sort of amused by the sight of his fiancée sitting there deep in concentration, holding a pen to her mouth but not yet chewing on it.
"I don't know but if she brought that folder with her then something tells me she came here looking for something" Beckett responded.
Splinter gently brushed his thumb over the symbol on the pocket knife his sons had brought to him.
How could this happen? How was this even possible? He and his children were all that was left of the Hamato clan, or so he had thought.
"I do not know who this young woman you describe could have been, but one thing is clear. Although we did not know her she was a part of our family" Splinter said so the boys lowered their heads.
The dojo became silent. Kneeling on the floor all five of them mourned the deceased girl, they did not know her name but they knew that she deserved their respect. She had never once seen them and may not have even known that they existed but they were all members of the same clan, they were family.
When the moment had passed Mikey was the first to break the silence
"Could we have trusted her?" He asked, it was an odd question but it was one which had been pestering him ever since they discovered the symbol.
They knew better than to trust humans, April, her father, Casey, Kurtzman and Murakami were the only ones. But this girl had been a member of their own clan, a family whom they did not know. What if there were others like her, could they be trusted? Or were they supposed to hide from the rest of the Hamato clan, the humans of their family?
It was getting later into the day when Ryan approached Beckett's desk with the file.
"So Tori translated the newspaper article into English, turns out its sixteen years old and it's about a fire that broke out in a home in a town called Chiba. Apparently two people died in the fire, a woman named Tang Shen and her five month old daughter Miwa, Shen's husband was the only one to survive" He explained
"Wait Jasmine was nineteen she would've been three years old when that happened. Why does she care so much about it?" Castle questioned although the minute he said it he regretted it, there could be a million reasons as to why Jasmine cared.
"Maybe she knew the family, any word on her mom?" Beckett asked but Ryan only shook his head
"No not yet but we did manage to find out her name, Aika Suzuki. Other than that we've got nothing the woman's a ghost" he said just as Esposito joined them
"And she's not the only one" the former Special Forces cop said getting the attention of the others.
"I tried getting Jasmine's school records from back in Japan but she doesn't have any" he said
"What do you mean she doesn't have any?" Beckett asked standing up
"Well I asked the college for the letter of recommendation she sent in with her application along with her transcripts, transcripts were bogus except for senior year and I couldn't find any records before high school. It's like the girl didn't even exist until about two and a half years ago" he continued to explain.
"So a woman and her daughter live off the grid in Japan their entire lives and then all of a sudden the daughter shows up dead in New York?" Castle questioned, the other's looking at him just knowing he had some insane theory forming in his mind.
"Well isn't it obvious?" He asked but didn't bother waiting for an answer
"Jasmine comes from a family of spies, sixteen years ago when the fire happened something must have been stolen, something precious. Now the man who started the fire has appeared in New York and Jasmine came to take back what he stole" Castle theorized but the three cops around him each gave him a look he hardly ever received for his theories, a look of consideration.
"That's actually a reasonable theory Castle" Beckett finally said
"It is?" He asked just as shocked as anyone to hear that
"Well the spy stuff is a little out there but Jasmine must have somehow known the victims of that fire and if she didn't then her family did. She lived off the grid before coming to New York; something must have made her come out of hiding" Beckett began before turning to Ryan
"Ryan what did the article say was the cause of that fire?" She asked
"A lit candle had been sliced in half so they thought it was intentional" he answered
"So maybe Jasmine did come to New York to go after the person who started it" Esposito mused not wanting to admit that Castle was probably more right than wrong.
"Didn't you say Shen's husband survived the fire?" Castle asked Ryan
"Yes but according to the article he told the police that a man named Oroku Saki started it" Ryan explained
"Ok but if he was caught then why would Jasmine hunt him down?" Castle asked
"Maybe he got out" Esposito theorized
"Or they never got him" Beckett suggested quietly but loud enough to hear.
"Ok you two look into Shen's husband and Oroku Saki if Saki did do it I want to know why and if he didn't then I want to know why he was blamed. Castle and I will talk to Jasmine's professors and friends, maybe some of them can shed some light on where she came from" Beckett instructed so the two guys left and Beckett sat back down at her desk to make some calls to the school.
"Don't I get a thank you?" Castle asked with a grin on his face, proud that he may have actually been right for once.