As they were leaving Ms. Hendrickson's house, police units from 107th pulled up. Detective James La Rue thanked them for their help and informed that she was relieved of the case for two reasons. The murders were not in the 12th area and the murders involved her daughter. One she would have fought tooth and nail but the second was spot on and she could not deny. Jordon, Castle and Beckett had a personal connection to the murders in the way of the 6 degrees of separation.

Beckett and Castle drove back to the 12th in silence. Well, silence on her part. Castle was expounding Milgrams's small world theory and it's relation to the shrinking world which is also called the 'human web' as well as the 6 Degrees of Separation. He thought it rather humorous in a macabre sort of way that the father of Jordon was related to him which made Castle related to Jordon and through Jordon to her mother which he had met prior to knowing about Jordon. "Castle. Shut up!"

Castle wound to a stop, observing his partner for a moment before laying a gentle, warm hand on her thigh. "I'm sorry, Kate. You have probably noticed when I can't think of anything to say I have a tendency to fill the silence with theories and factoids."

Beckett didn't smile back but patted his hand before removing from her thigh. "I have a lot of questions right now and no answers." She heaved a sigh and began enumerating them. "Presupposing that he knew Jordon was his …"

Castle took up the question. "How did he know where to find her?" How did he …"

"Know that she was his daughter, too? Why did…."

"He kill at least two people. Because the …."

"Genital stabbing on the younger victim suggests…."

"There was a personal element to all of it."

They both paused and grinned at the other. If nothing else they had their mojo working overtime. Beckett's eyes sharpened and she slid a tense peek at Castle. "You didn't know who your father was, but you had your mother to take care of you. What if your brother didn't? What if he was in foster care with Mrs. Reynolds?"

Castle ran theories and possibilities through his mind. "Kate, what if he knew who you were from the start and followed you? It is possible he had a crush on you in the 'loved you from afar kind of way.' "

"That's called 'Stalker' in legal lingo." Beckett frowned and then shivered a little. "If he knew I was pregnant, why didn't he contact me?" She tossed a confused look at Castle then grinned. "If your supposition is accurate, I must be bait to Castles'"

Castle grinned heatedly. "Castle is the name I legally changed mine to when I was in college. As I told you before it was Richard Alexander Rodgers, but you aren't bait. You are the ambrosia from the gods. You are pure sweet honey calling to a hungry bear. " His smile dropped and thought about the first part of her question. "Maybe Jordon wasn't in his scenario. Maybe he was too young to support a child then. The last name bit on the envelopes? A little over the top, but it could have been his way of connecting with his daughter."

"Or he could just be crazy. I seem to attract those." She quickly ran her eyes over him. "Alexander. Your middle name and his last name? There has to be a connection." She pulled up in front of the precinct. She pulled the key from the steering column and twisted in her seat to look at Castle.

"Mother, where are you now?" Castle said into his cell phone and listened for a moment. "Kate and I will be home shortly and we need to talk to you." He hung up, looked at his partner. "Will you be able to find out if there are fingerprints on the envelopes and to whom they belong?"

Beckett swung out the door of the car. "Of course" and pulled the envelopes from her back pocket and held it up. It was in a sealed evidence bag. "I am sure Ryan or Lanie can do this."

Castle grinned happily at Beckett. "Cool."

Beckett reported back to Captain Montgomery and told him since the 107th was taking over the case she was going back on family leave. He leveled a look at her in patent disbelief. "Detective La Rue would like to question Jordon." At the first sound of denial, he held up his hand. "You would do the same thing."

Beckett shrugged and sighed. "I'll call him and set up an interview time."

Castle waited for his boys to make an appearance. He wanted to find out if they found anything after he and Beckett had left to question the neighbors. Apparently, Mrs. Reynolds had several photograph albums of various children. Each photograph was a wealth of information. Beneath each photo was a name, case number and dates. Castle smiled. They might have just caught a break. His smile dropped when he realized they would have to go to the 107th to view the new evidence.

"We need to go to the 107th."

"We need to go to the 107th."

Beckett and Castle said at the same time as she rounded her desk heading for Ryan, Esposito and Castle. The boys glanced at each other and shook their heads. Someday they would get used to this thing with their boss and the writer, but today was not the day. Their eyes followed the verbal tennis match between the two …. friends.

Castle crossed his arms and hitched his hip onto Ryan's desk. "Why?"

Beckett mimicked the pose on Esposito's. "You tell me first."

"I asked first."

"I have a gun."

"You win. But someday…" Castle gave Beckett a narrowed eye glare, his jaw squaring then smiled. "There are photographs with names, dates and case numbers."

Beckett grinned. "Detective La Rue wants to question Jordon." She tossed the evidence envelope to Kevin Ryan. "Think you can pull prints off that?"

Before Ryan had a chance to pick it up, Esposito swooped it up. "I'll take it down to Lanie, but weren't you supposed to turn all evidence over to the 107th?"

"I forgot I had it. And since I had it I thought I would save them the trouble of running it for prints and do it for them." She gave them all a sincere face. "I will give them the information just as soon as we have it to give them."

The girls were playing 'Halo' in Alexis' room. Alexis said Jordon was a natural. Martha, Castle and Beckett sat in his office. Martha's face had whitened to the point of new fallen snow when she heard the questions asked by her son. She knew that he was not going to let it go. She gulped back tears and realized that she had to tell him about everything she had lied to him about since the day of his birth. Her life during that time was like the first line in the Tale of Two Cities 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.'

"Stephen Alexander was your father's name. I met him through your grandfather at a business dinner. Stephen was married and I adored him from the moment I saw him. I thought he loved me too." They could see Martha was no longer in the here and now but in the there and past. "He was a business associate of your grandfather. It wasn't until later that I discovered that my father was not the doting, loving man I had grown up believing he was and that his association with Stephen was far from legal or ethical."

Castle looked as his mother. She had aged decades in just moments. Her blue eyes fixated on her son. "Stephen and I had an affair that had lasted over three years. I was 28 when I got pregnant with you." She blinked back tears. Beckett handed her a tissue and held on to Martha's hand. Castle silently observed his mother with intent eyes. "He told me to abort you. That he still wanted me but he didn't want any more brats. I refused and he hit me. He told me I had one week to get an abortion or he would make me suffer." She blotted her face with the tissue. "I really thought it was just the shock of learning I was pregnant and he would come around."

Martha's face became rigid. "Eight days after him telling me to get an abortion, my father died in a car accident." She looked at Beckett. "He called me after the funeral and told me he had made arrangements for an abortion with a doctor he knew. He said he was tired of women like me trying to take advantage of him and if I didn't I would be next. He said that my father had refused to talk sense into me and had to be punished."

Martha sat in silence for a few minutes allowing everyone to catch their breath. Castle came from around his desk and kneeled in front of his mother. "I went to the doctor, but he couldn't do it. He said it I was too far along." She cradled her son's face in her soft hands. "I am so sorry. I never wanted you to know. I tried to make it up to you, but I failed at every turn."

Richard Castle reached forward and pulled his mother into his arms allowing her to sob freely into his shirt. He didn't know how he felt. He always knew that there was more to the story than she had told him. One fact always remained with him. She was his mother and she loved him. He had never doubted that.

Martha pulled back and continued with her story, gripping his hands. "I told him what the doctor said. He looked at me then slapped me. He told me he didn't want me dead so when the kid was born I was to put it up for adoption. He told me where to live and where to go. I was afraid of him, Richard, and prayed daily that he would relent. I still loved him. I still wanted him. I thought he would change."

"A few weeks before you were born, he came to me and told me his wife had given birth to a son." She gave him a shaky smile. "He told me he had changed his mind. That he didn't want me to give you up for adoption. I was thrilled. By this time I wanted to be as far away from him as possible. He told me he was going to take you and raise you with his son. When I protested he told me that he could simply kill me and take the child. He wanted the money my father had left me and you as my heir were the key to get it. Apparently, his fortune had taken a downturn after my father's 'accident'. He said soon his wife would have an accident and we would marry after a decent interval. He would have her assets and by marrying me he would have mine and yours."

Beckett looked at Martha, confused. "What assets are you talking about? Why would he have access to your money? How much are we talking about here?"

"My mother died about two months before my father. My father had a very old fashioned view of women. He left half of his fortune to me and the other half to any child I had, but he didn't trust me to administer it. My money was to be administered by his lawyers until I married and then my husband would control it. If my child was a boy, he would have control of both my money and his own at the age of 25 if I were unmarried. In the meantime, I had a stipend to live on. All of my child's living expenses would be from the interest of his or her portion." Martha paused. "Anyone want a drink?"

Castle went over to the liquor cabinet and poured his mother her favorite poison. He handed her a glass and sat down beside his mother. She sipped it, holding it in both hands. "Richard's portion upon his birth with cash, assets, stocks, bonds and other things I don't even begin to understand was just shy of 300 million. Of course, he has touched none of it. He and Alexis live on what he earns. So I have no clue what his net worth is now." She took a sip of her drink. "Of course, I have no money because my last husband took it all." She looked at Beckett's staring eyes and offered Kate her glass of Scotch which Kart refused, still bugged eyed at her fiancé.

"Kate, we will talk later and I did try to tell you. Daddy Warbucks remember?" Castle offered.

Martha picked up where she left off. "I was eight months pregnant when I walked out of my family's townhouse and disappeared." She looked at her boy for a moment before continuing. "Richard, I loved your father beyond anything I have ever felt. I could have married him, but the man was psychotic. He would have eventually killed me and I had no doubt that he would have killed you eventually. I left him because I loved him and didn't want to hate him anymore than I did already. I never knew that you could love someone and despise them at the same time. Nor how the love of mother for her child changes her perception of life." She smiled and shook her head. "Never get between a mother and her child. Imagine if it were Alexis and you."

"Where is my father now?" Castle asked his mother quietly.

"Your father's wife died about a year after you were born. He had been looking for us but now that she was dead he had redoubled his efforts. That is why we moved so frequently until you were nine. Two days after your ninth birthday he found us."

"The man on our fire escape in Philadelphia just outside my bedroom." Castle murmured. "I thought it was a nightmare."

Martha nodded. "Oh, it was a nightmare. He was going to take you. He had you by the collar and one arm. You were fighting him. I was pulling you back by the other arm. He let go of you and …"

Castle's eyes went foggy. "He pulled out a gun and fired it at you. I tried to tackle him and we both fell."

Martha nodded. "He died that night." She relaxed and placed her empty glass on the table. "You had a concussion and a broken arm. He broke his back and neck." She hugged her son. "His death freed me from looking over my shoulder. I could now use the money my father left us and provide a decent home for you."

"I killed my father." Castle's voice was matter-of-fact.

Beckett swooped in. "No, it was an accident. He died and you lived." She shook him. "Rick, look at me. It's was an accident." She didn't want him agonizing over something that had happened almost 30 years ago.

Castle hugged her tight allowing what he had believed to have been a childhood nightmare fade from him. He reached out an arm to his mother and pulled her into a three way embrace. "What happened to your brother after his father died?" Beckett asked, her voice muffled by Castle's chest.

"We really need to get a hold of those photographs from the Reynolds' place." Castle said as he released her. "But first I have some questions for our little girl."