Evelyn

Chapter 24

Evelyn takes a long draw from a glass of iced tea. "It was nice of you to meet me here, Alexis. I'm trying to get a prosthetic out to a woman who's been fighting the system for months. I think I've just about got it pushed through, but I have to stay on top of it, which means being within shouting distance of my boss."

"It's great that you're doing that, Ms. Montgomery." Alexis sticks an extra-wide straw into her chocolate milkshake. "And this place is wonderful. You don't usually find salad bars and ice cream bars in the same restaurant."

"You're right," Evelyn agrees. "I bring my girls here sometimes. They love it. This place actually used to be two restaurants. People would feel righteous eating salads, then go next door and reward themselves with dessert. So about five years ago, the owners decided they could cut expenses by merging. It worked out. I think at least half the people in my office building come here for one thing or another. In the winter, they add a soup bar."

"Sounds perfect." Alexis looks at Evelyn expectantly as the conversation falters. "Captain Montgomery said you wanted my help with something, and Chief Osnitz from the crime lab said it would be a good experience for me. So what do you want me to do?"

Faced with the earnestness in Alexis' eyes, the words push themselves from Evelyn's lips. I'm adopted, and until your dad and Kate started looking into a murder I saw as a little girl, I couldn't remember my birth parents. I couldn't recall anything about my life before seeing the killer."

"Are you talking about the guy with the scythe we analyzed?" Alexis queries.

"That's right," Evelyn confirms. "And I heard you did an excellent job working on that. Your father and Kate – do you call her your stepmother ?"

Alexis shrugs. "Mostly I went from calling her Detective Beckett to calling her, Kate. But I guess you could call her that. She's around a lot more than my mom is."

"OK. Anyway, they followed the leads you turned up. And I need you to turn some up for me. I've started to remember my birth parents now, but they were also killed. I think your dad and Kate are investigating that too. I had my D.N.A. done, and I'm trying to find out who the rest of my family is and what happened to them. About five black history months back, my kids started asking questions about their heritage. Roy's been able to share some things from his side, but aside from some things about my adoptive family, I've come up empty."

Alexis pokes at a blob of ice cream with her straw. "I know how that feels. When I had to do a family tree for school, 25% of it was missing. Gram never knew who Dad's father was. He told me he didn't mind, but I think he missed a lot. You did too. I'd be honored to help if I can. Do you have a copy of the report you got from the lab?"

Evelyn pulls an envelope from her purse and hands it across the table. "Here. And I put my cellphone number and private email in there too."

Alexis shoves the packet into her own bag. "I'll call you as soon as I have anything."

Evelyn reaches for the teen's hand. "I really appreciate this."

Alexis flushes. "No problem."

"No rap sheet for Jerrold Evans," Kate reports, regarding her computer screen, "at least not a Jerrold Evans who would have been around in 1970."

"If he covered his tracks that well, maybe he wasn't the idiot Jenkins thought he was," Castle suggests.

"Or he got others to do his dirty work," Kate considers.

"If he was going to do that, he must have reached out somehow, a pamphlet, a manifesto, an ad campaign. Oh, wait! The book where I found White Wall had a thing about recruiting. The white nationalists loved using the gun mags. They still use them, but a lot of their pitch has moved online to the forums, chat rooms, and social media. If we look for where the guys whose idea of expressing themselves is the open carry of an AR-15, it could be Evans' hunting ground. We could try some white supremacist codewords, like a few Jenkins had on his arms, as search terms. We can make an uglies list and split it up."

Kate pulls a legal pad out of the drawer of her desk. "Sounds like a plan."

The occupants of the bullpen hit the floor with guns drawn as Rick hurries to mute the sounds emanating from his phone. "Sorry, false alarm. That was an online magazine announcing itself. Searching for the bad guy. Nothing to worry about."

"You pull a stunt like that again, and you will have something to worry about, Castle. You'll be trying to call home on a phone with a bullet in it," Esposito warns, picking himself off the floor.

"Message received," Castle acknowledges, as the rest of the cops grumble to their feet.

"How many pizzas do you think it's going to take to make up for this?" Rick whispers to Kate.

"At least Giovani's output for a week," Kate guesses. "Did you find anything, or was that just a way to almost get yourself killed in a police station?"

Rick scrolls through the text on his display. "Booyah! There's a list of supporters of the organization that puts out this rag, including one Jerrold Evans. And there's an email for him. Shouldn't we be able to trace that?"

"Let's go see the new tech and find out."

Tori Ellis looks up from her keyboard. "Detective Beckett and Mr. Castle, right? It looks like I missed some excitement. I didn't know anything happened until I looked out. With the sound deadening doors closed, I can't hear much from out there. But with some of my new auditory analysis equipment, it helps to damp the sound levels in here. What can I do for you?"

"Track down the owner of an email, I hope," Kate responds, handing Tori a copy of the address.

The tech studies it. "This goes to a forwarding service. You'll probably need a court order to access any personal information. But you could try sending a message. I may be able to trace where it goes, especially if you get an answer with data attached."

"Great idea!" Castle exclaims. "But it should look like it comes from someone a slimeball like Evans would view as a kindred soul."

"You figure out a backstory, and I'll put together an email address to match it," Tori offers.

Rick wiggles his eyebrows. "This will be like writing a minor villain for Derrick Storm. The email will come from the toady the mastermind sends out to do his violent deeds, while he stays safe in opulent surroundings. Except, I'll have to make sure the name sounds real. How about William Jones? That's pretty pedestrian."

"That should work," Kate allows.

Alexis brings up the Combined National D.N.A. Index System, on her laptop. It's not the only D.N.A. search tool, but it's the best place to start. One of the stories that Evelyn Montgomery wants is of her grandparent with Scandinavian roots. There are several parts of the U.S. with heavy concentrations of immigrants from that part of the world. Hopefully, the trail will lead to one of them. Look at that! Evelyn has cousins.