A/N: Sorry for the delay everyone. The family and I had to deal with some serious personnel issues over the past few days. Thank you for being patient. Please enjoy and Keep the reviews coming.

Chapter 6

12th Precinct

Manhattan, New York

Jennifer walked into the bullpen the next morning wondering if the theory that Castle came up with had concept. She flopped down at her computer, logging on and checking her email. The lab report for the parentity hadn't come in yet so Jennifer closed her email, and sipped at the coffee she brought in with her. She heard Ryan and Esposito come into the bullpen.

"Morning Russell." Ryan stated as he walked over to his desk setting the coffee and paper down on his desk. He logged into his computer. "Got your text last night."

"Same here Russell." Esposito stated as he sat down at his desk as well, logging into the computer. He looked over at her. "You know what Castle was talking about."

Jennifer shook her head. "All he said he would explain it this morning."

"That he will." Kate stated as she and Castle walked into the bullpen. She walked over to Jennifer's desk and took a seat on the edge of it as everyone else got up and move towards the board.

"It came to me as we got home and we're talking last night." Castle said to the team. He tossed a look at Kate who gave him a sly smile. "What is the one thing you absolutely need when controlling a drone, a remote control aircraft, or car?"

Ryan and Esposito stared at Castle blankly for a moment before Esposito snapped his fingers. "They all need a controller of sorts."

Castle nodded. "So I talked to Joey Martinez. Their entry had an iPad controller that was with Jeremy the night he died. He didn't want to leave it in the storage locker."

"If they can get me the serial number of the iPad, I can track the Wi-Fi address." Ryan stated as he went back to his desk to place a phone call.

Esposito nodded at Castle as he went back to his desk. "That's good thinking bro."

"I have to agree with Esposito, Mr. Castle." Jennifer mentioned as she patted him on the shoulder and went back to her desk. "Hey guys were are we on those names?"

Esposito looked up from his computer. "I'm checking on them right now as we just got them."

Jennifer nodded as she saw Kate get up and look at the board for a moment before heading back into her office. Jennifer got up and followed, knocking softly at the door jam. "Captain you have a minute?"

Kate nodded and motioned her to a seat. "Sure come on in."

Jennifer nodded her thanks and moved to a chair across from Kate and sat down. She took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts before speaking. "Can I ask captain, are you checking on the progress of the case or see how I am fitting in with the team?"

"More along the line of just progress and reminiscing." Kate replied at the question. She leaned back and sized up her replacement. "I was sitting where you were 3 ½ months ago. I'm happily married, trying to make a decision about my career that could affect me and my family."

"Then the Volkov case happened." Jennifer stated getting a nod from Kate. The impact of the case filtered down to the whole department and the ramifications where still being felt. Internal Affairs was a shell of its former shelf with most investigators sideline undergoing deep background checks. Deputy Chief Jamieson retired after his sectary was outed as the informant. The rumor within the department was that Illyana Volkov was still being held at an undisclosed black site. "I heard a rumor about the team before I arrived a couple days before."

"Yes Esposito did passed on the job. You are both equal in rank, but you're senior by a few days. Don't get me wrong you belong here, but at the time I didn't want your Captain to break up the team at Manhattan North." Kate said with a smile. She leaned forward a bit in her chair. "Yet Esposito put in for a position with an international terrorism task force in the Mid-East."

"I heard that." Jennifer said leaning back and looking out into the bullpen. She took a moment before turning back to face Kate. "When will he hear anything?"

"Any day now. It's something he wanted to do and it's a great opportunity for him." Kate replied getting up from her chair and moving over to the edge of the desk. "Jennifer, look you're doing great. You slid in seamlessly, and everyone is adjusting and doing their jobs."

Jennifer smiled at Kate. "Thank you Captain."

"One piece of advice though, ease up on calling Rick, Mr. Castle. It makes him feel old." Kate told Jennifer with a smile. Kate placed a hand on Jennifer's shoulder. "Castle will work fine."

"Yes ma'am. I'll try." Jennifer replied getting up and smiling. She shook Kate's hand. She walked towards the door. She turned and looked at Kate. "How did you adjust?"

"Doing the job I was trained for." Kate replied with a smile. She then turned to face out in the bullpen a little bit. "I eased up a bit when Rick came aboard. He made every day interesting but he has been a great asset to us. Look where we are at now."

Jennifer nodded her understanding again and left the office going back to her desk where Castle was sitting on the edge of the desk looking at the board. "What you thinking about?"

Castle didn't even turn around. He got up and walked over to the map. "It's this area of the park. It's an entrance, with a roadway and walking paths.

"You're thinking the suspect picked the Ravine in particular." Jennifer asked getting a nod from Castle. She studied the map for a second, before going to her computer and pulling up a street view. "Lights over the roadway, probably enough to cast some light, but enough to hide from view."

"So the killer picked this spot." Castle stated as he came over to the computer and looked at the screen. He then looked back at the board. "He lured the victim there probably because he could be hidden because of the light factor."

"You may be right bro." Esposito said as he came over. He had a printout and put it on the board. He pointed to a picture on the paper. "Everyone on the list check out except for this guy."

"Nicholas Tolliver. Arrested for assault and battery, drunk and disorderly." Castle read the sheet that he picked off the board. He then looked Esposito. "He went to school with our victim?"

Jennifer took the paper. "Doesn't say he knows the victim."

"No but I spoke to Mr. Simons, and it turns out that Nicholas had a lot of the same classes as Jeremy." Esposito replied to the statement as he took the paper back and put it on the board. He then pulled out his notepad. "He got kicked out of school for beating a kid who spilled a drink on him."

"How was that not on his record?" Jennifer asked now shock.

Esposito looked at his notes. "His dad was a lawyer and paid off the school and the kid's family."

"Where is he now?" Castle asked.

"He has an apartment just a couple blocks from the entrance to the park that our victim approached." Esposito stated as closed his notebook. "A couple of units are going to meet us there."

Ryan came out with his own notes. "Hey guys get this, Joey Martinez called me back. The iPad that controls the drone uses not only Wi-Fi connection, but also cellphone connection as well."

"So if there isn't a connection anywhere they take it, they can still control it." Castle remarked looking at the board. He studied it for a moment. "So the motive is that Nicholas sees his school mate testing out this drone probably, they talk and instead of joining on the crew, he murders him to win the competition."

Jennifer looks at Esposito. "What's he doing now?"

"With the A and B on his record, he has had different minimum wage jobs over the past five years." Esposito replied.

Jennifer nodded and went to her desk to grab her stuff with Esposito and Ryan doing the same. They all boarded the elevator and took it down to get in the cars to head to Nicholas Tolliver's apartment.

W. 114 St. and Fredrick Douglas Blvd

Harlem, New York

"Nicholas Tolliver NYPD!" Jennifer shouted as they opened the door and moved into the apartment. They moved through the apartment clearing it. "Clear."

Ryan and Esposito nodded as Castle walked into the apartment. It was a simple one bedroom with the kitchen and living area basically in the same room. They searched through everything.

"Russell, look at this." Ryan stated as he brought over a bag with the murder weapon in it. "He hid it underneath his bed."

"They never learn do they?" Castle said as he continued to search the apartment with Esposito. Castle walked over where a laptop computer was sitting. He pressed a few keys. A wall of pictures opened up. "I think I found more of a motive."

Russell came over and looked at the computer. There was a picture of a woman and a young girl on the screen. She tapped a few buttons, but a password screen came up. "Hey Ryan, let's get this laptop to the lab and see if they can crack it."

Castle looked through some of the papers that were located on the desk. He found something and typed a name into the password box. The screen went to the desktop. "Got it. Daughter's name and birthday."

Jennifer looked as Castle held up what looked like a hospital form. She took it from Castle. "Nicholas Tolliver has a daughter named Miranda Neville."

"He's not married." Ryan replied coming over towards the group.

"He's not, but he is a father." Castle stated as he held up what looked like information sheet about a medical condition. "Whose daughter is battling Hodgkin's lymphoma."

Ryan shook his head at the news. "That's why he wanted on the team. Multimillion dollar contract can go a long way to help pay for bills."

"Alright, let's get ahold of the mother and have her meet us back at the precinct." Jennifer stated as she moved towards the door. "Also have CSU go over this place with a fine tooth comb as well."

Everyone nodded as Jennifer moved to the front hall, to leave. She stopped and stared at a picture hanging on the wall of Nicholas with his daughter at a school function of hers.

12th Precinct

Manhattan, New York

Shirley Neville, Miranda's mother sat down in the lounge area of the bullpen as Castle and Jennifer sat down opposite of her. Miranda was being occupied by a officer in the break room so they could talk.

"Thank you for coming in Ms. Neville." Jennifer stated as she pulled out her notebook and opened it. "We just have a few questions."

"I'll see if I can answer them." Ms. Neville answered as she sat back in the chair. She looked at Castle and Jennifer. "I understand you want to talk about Nicholas."

Jennifer nodded. "Yes how do you know him?"

"We dated for about a year. Couldn't make it work after Miranda was born." Ms. Neville answered as she shifted in her seat a bit. "Despite his faults, Nicholas did the best he can to support Miranda."

"It has come to our attention through our investigation that he was trying to help with your daughter's cancer." Castle remarked getting a nod from Ms. Neville.

"Yes, I told him he didn't have to, that my fiancé could pay for it. I'm engaged to an accountant, but he offered which was really sweet." Ms. Neville replied to the statement made by Castle. "He really loves her. He said just the other day he hope that a friend from school would be able to give him a job to help out."

"Ms. Neville, we have reason to believe that…" Jennifer started to say.

"That Nicholas may be a key witness to this case in which his friend was murdered." Castle stated. He completely ignored the look that he was getting from Jennifer. "Does he have a phone?"

"A prepaid cell, but I have the number." Ms. Neville said in shock as she pulled out her phone and wrote down the number and handed it over to Castle. "Please keep us updated on what's happens please."

Jennifer and Castle nodded and stood as the officer escorted Miranda and Ms. Neville out of the bullpen. Castle walked back towards the board where Jennifer caught up with him. "What was that Mr. Castle?"

"She didn't need to know the truth Russell with all that she is going through." Castle stated as he set the phone number down on Ryan's desk and walked back over. "She doesn't need to know that that father of her child is a murder suspect."

"That is not your call to make. I'm the detective, it's mine." Jennifer replied as she crossed her arms and looked at him. She organized her thoughts. "She should have known the truth about Nicholas to protect her and her daughter."

Castle didn't budge or back down. "However as a parent I can understand why Nicholas may be doing this. The one good thing he did is severely sick and needs the money for treatment. I'm not condoning it, just saying I understand it."

Esposito smiled as he came over. "Hate to break up the argument, but a security camera caught Nicholas and Jessica on security camera the night she died near the pier where we found here."

"Ok so he is good for the murder of Jessica, but what about Jeremy?" Jennifer asked as she looked over at Esposito.

"Nothing yet." Esposito stated as Ryan coming over.

"Hey, that number that Castle got, well it pinged in Central Park." Ryan said as he held up a printout to of the map of Central Park. "What would he be doing there?"

Castle looked at the group for a moment. "The drone competition."

Everyone nodded and moved quickly, grabbing their stuff before heading to the elevator to head to Central Park.

++++++++Case is wrapping up and I have figured out how they will tell the family and friends. Again please enjoy reading it and keep the reviews coming.++++++++++