Disclaimer: I do not own Castle. No copyright infringement is intended, no profit is being made.

A/N: Again, thank you for all the fabulous reviews! I appreciate them, and all the encouragement. Sorry about the long delay... This chapter was fighting me tooth and nail, and I'm not really super thrilled with how it turned out, but at least it's something. On the plus side, though, three updates all in a row!

None of the cameras had caught anything. One night guard thought he'd seen the victim walk by at around eight thirty, and mentioned that he'd had a backpack on at the time- Esposito had sent one of the uniforms to see if anyone had found a backpack near the scene. No one had seen anything suspicious, no one had heard a commotion. Total bust.

Heading back to the station, Esposito sincerely hoped Beckett and Castle were having better luck than he was. Sitting down at his desk to grab a quick lunch, he waited for Beckett to check in- if he didn't hear in by the time he'd finished lunch, he'd start going through the evidence collected at the scene. His phone rang just as he was crumpling up the paper his sandwich had been wrapped in.

"Esposito," he answered brusquely.

"Castle and I are headed back to the station now," Beckett said without preamble. "Good tip on the backpack- one of our guys found it beside the library steps. There was blood on the stone nearby. Looks like it was probably where the attack started. We found a school I.D. in one pocket- our victim is Sean Matthews, he was a senior at Irving Waide Preperatory."

"IWP," Esposito said, making the connection. "The ribbon was from his school."

"Looks that way," Beckett agreed. "Castle and I are following up on a lead- I need you to head down there, see if you can get a number for his parents, talk to the administrators. I want to know why no one's reported him missing yet."

"On my way," he replied, snapping his phone shut. It was the work of a few minutes to figure out where, exactly, the school was, and he headed out as soon as he had the address.

The grounds were nice, a carefully manicured patch of green surrounded by high white walls. The buildings seemed designed to mimic the Greco-roman style without being obvious about it, sporting white stone facades and sculpted fronts that hinted at columns. A uniformed security guard directed him to the administration building at the center of the campus. The principal, a slender, balding man by the name of Marcus Brixby, looked honestly devastated when Esposito broke the news.

"I should have known... He's never absent without a good reason, I should have known when he didn't call in," Brixby said, leaning back heavily in his chair. "It's just terrible; who would have done something like this? He's a good kid, he really is."

"When he didn't call in? Do your students usually have the option of excusing themselves from classes?" Esposito asked, a hint of disapproval in his tone.

"No, no, of course not," Brixby replied, waving a hand as though to dismiss the very notion. "Sean's a special case. We had to do something, after all, after his parents... well. You have to understand, Sean's one of our best students. He's- he was- going to graduate this year, and he only just turned sixteen three months ago." Brixby paused, and Esposito waited, watching the shadows of grief flicker over the man's narrow face. Unusual, that- most principals, in his experience, would be upset, but not on a personal level. "He was waiting to hear back from Harvard about his admission... And about the scholarships he'd applied for. Wanted to be a lawyer." Another pause, followed by a weak smile. "We were all very proud of him, very lucky to have him here. I worked with him to find him volunteer positions with the DA's office, and with a few of the bigger law firms. Pierce and Rowlins made a point of telling him to come back as soon as he'd passed the bar, they'd find a place for him. He inspired that sort of confidence in people; we all believed he'd go far."

"It sounds like he was quite the student."

"He was. But he wasn't just a good student, you know. He was very compassionate, he made a point of treating everyone he met like they mattered to him. His peers are going to be devastated."

"What about his parents? I'll need their information from you... They haven't reported him missing. Any idea why that would be?" Esposito didn't miss the spark of anger that crossed Brixby's face, and he raised an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation.

"Well, I'll get you their information, but it won't do you much good to talk to them. He wasn't living with them, hadn't been for the last two months or so. That's why we made allowances for him, why he was the one to call in if he was sick."

"What do you mean?" he asked with a frown, somewhat surprised. So far, nothing that Brixby had said suggested that Sean was the sort to run away, and he was certainly too young to be living on his own.

"His father threw him out," Brixby answered, lips forming a tight line. "Some people, Detective, are just unbelievable. Do you know, Sean came into my office practically in tears- and he wasn't the sort to break down, let me tell you- and told me his parents weren't going to pay for the rest of the school year, that he needed my help to transfer into one of the public schools... I asked him why, of course- bright future like that, I wanted to make sure he had the tools he needed to go where he wanted to- and the whole story came pouring out. His father had found out about his boyfriend, and thrown him out of the house, he didn't have anywhere to go and he couldn't afford the tuition on his own, he didn't know what he was going to do. He was a mess, it was heartbreaking. Absolutely heartbreaking."

"I see," Esposito replied, jotting down notes as quickly as he could, his own expression closed. For the moment, he had no reason to doubt what Brixby was telling him, and he rather agreed with Brixby's assessment. He wished he found it harder to imagine that the parents of a smart kid with a bright future would throw him out because of something so stupid- but unfortunately, he'd seen people make worse calls. Some people really were just unbelievable. "If he couldn't afford tuition, then how was he still enrolled?"

"Detective, please. I wasn't going to let him get lost in the public school system, not when his family had already turned their backs on him." Brixby looked honestly offended by the thought, and Esposito decided that he kinda liked the guy. Wasn't often he encountered a school official who was genuinely interested in their kids. "I told him we'd put him on a scholarship for the rest of the year. He protested, didn't want to be 'a drain on school resources'. I told him he could pay for it by working in the office for a few hours each week."

"Where was he staying, if he wasn't at home?"

"He was staying with his boyfriend, Tory. I've got his address here, as well; I'll give you his information before you leave."

"And... things seemed stable, between Sean and Tory?" Esposito asked delicately.

"I was honestly surprised by how supportive Tory was," Brixby answered, before frowning sharply. "You don't think he had something to do with this, do you? I don't believe it... No, he was involved, supportive. I think he's the only reason Sean didn't completely break down."

"Can you think of anyone else who might have wanted to hurt Sean? Any enemies, classmates he didn't get along with?"

"Other than his family, no. I can't think of anyone. The student body was very supportive when they found out what was going on- like I said, they'll be devastated. He was well-liked, and our kids are good kids. They went out of their way to make sure he felt supported by everyone. Irene, the student body president, even organized a week-long GSA event." Brixby reached into his desk drawer, and took out a multicolor ribbon, just like the one they'd found on Sean. "He was quiet about it, but I know it meant a lot to him, that everyone was on his side like that."

"Thank you, Mr. Brixby, you've been very helpful." Esposito closed his notebook, and stood up. Brixby stood up as well, and motioned to the door.

"I'll have Mrs. Hunter pull the information you need. I don't know how I'm going to break this to the rest of the kids..." He paused, and shook his head. "He deserved better."

"He did." Esposito gave Brixby a look, intense and sincere. "We're going to find the individual responsible for this."

"Thank you, Detective. I hope you do." Brixby retreated back into his office as the secretary pulled up the information on Tory and Jason and Patty Matthews. She sniffled as she handed the printouts over to him; apparently Brixby wasn't the only one in the office who cared. Walking out to his car, he heard the P.A. system sound, calling the students to an assembly.

As he drove away, he wondered how Bribxy was going to break the news.