The Children's Corner

Chapter 1

"Do you believe the clothes Martha bought for the boys?" Kate exclaims, lowering herself into a chair at the table where Rick laid out her mid-morning snack.

"I take it you're talking about Jake and Reese, not Ryan and Esposito," Rick teases. "I think tie-dye was all the rage around the time I was born. Maybe she couldn't afford them back then, so she's making up the miss with her grandsons. Anyway, they'll grow out of those onesies soon enough."

Kate groans. "She bought three sizes."

"Maybe we can lose them – or 'accidentally' bleach them in the wash," Rick suggests. "Anyway, the boys won't mind the colors. They didn't scream when Lily shoved Gamoee in their faces. So they can probably put up with anything. At least Reese can. Jake is already swinging his little fists at the world. The genetic tests said they're identical twins, but you'd never know it from their behavior."

"They have different personalities, all right." Kate agrees. "We won't have to dress them in different colors to tell them apart."

"But they'll probably prefer different hues anyway," Rick figures. "As long as they don't end up with Mother's fashion sense. Oy!"

"I don't think they will. They both cuddled the little blankets Sully brought for them, and those are pretty tame."

"If someone gave me something that soft, I might cuddle it too," Rick offers. He strokes Kate's cheek. "But I'm more than satisfied with what I can wrap my arms around at night, assuming I get the time between changings, floor walkings, and bringing the boys to you for feedings."

"You know, it's a good thing that along with the washable walls, John suggested some soundproofing between Lily's room and the twin's room," Kate considers. "At least someone in this household gets to sleep."

"Yeah," Rick agrees. "I owe him a call. He loves to hear about his nephews – and Lily too. I think Henry grew up too fast for him. I know I felt that way about Alexis. But it was easy to block out the part about the endless laundry, lost sleep, and general exhaustion."

"Do you know you never stopped grinning while you said all that? You may be tired, but you're ecstatic," Kate insists. A complaint wails from the baby monitor. "Looks like break time is over. You think that's Jake or Reese?"

"Probably both by the time we get there, but my money's on Jake."

"The way you've described your case, it's a weird one, all right," Lorne agrees while he and Lanie catch a brief lunch together. "And it's the sort of thing Kate and Rick, especially Rick, love. Weren't you planning to go see the twins tonight?"

Lanie's eyes light up. "I was. And I wanted to bring something for Kate. Everyone is buying gifts for the boys, and I figured she could use some pampering. So I have a basket of spa goodies."

"I've never understood the attraction of that stuff," Lorne admits, "but it does make you smell good."

Lanie leans across the table for a quick peck. "I'll take it. Did you want to come along tonight? Kate said something about Rick stumbling into some Golden Age comics. So you two could nerd out together."

Lorne stuffs a stray cold cut back in his sandwich. "Sure, if nothing urgent comes up at the lab, checking out Rick's new finds could be fun."

Lorne examines the issues of Startling Comics Rick laid out on the table. "Usually, your books are graded and bagged. These look like they just came out of someone's basement."

"They probably did. The comics were part of one of those online estate sale auctions, thrown in with a 'box of contents.' I was scrolling through the sale at one a.m., trying to settle down after walking Jake, and I saw a bright-colored corner peeking out in the photo of the box.

"It called to me, and I love mystery boxes. I find all kinds of cool stuff in them. What I can't use, I give to charity, or if it's irretrievable junk, toss it. The comics are a minor jackpot. As you noticed, the grade is probably too low for them to be worth much. Still, they're a part of comic art history. The stories aren't bad either. But speaking of stories, Kate said something about Lanie having a weird case."

Crooning softly, with Reese in her arms, Lanie joins the two men. "Kate will be here in a minute. I might as well tell both of you."

"Jake's down," Kate announces, joining them. "Tell us what?"

"About the body that landed on my table this morning. I couldn't determine from the face or the clothes whether it was a young man or a young woman. But that's not too strange these days. Androgeny can be a thing. However, when I undressed it, I saw ambiguous genitalia, with male and female characteristics. A lot more babies than you might think are born that way. It's a form of intersex. But usually, whatever surgery is necessary for gender assignment is performed relatively early in life. And what was even more interesting is when we looked at the D.N.A., it was from two different sources."

"So the body is a chimera?" Rick inquires. "I was thinking about using a character like that to confuse Nikki's investigation in one of my stories. But I figured Lauren Parry would twig too quickly – as her alter ego apparently did."

"Right on target about both, writer boy," Lanie replies. "Yes, the body is a chimera."

"What's the C.O.D.?" Kate queries. "Was it a murder?"

Lanie shrugs. "Yet to be determined. The body was found on the floor of a club bathroom with no obvious wounds. There was no I.D. on it either. The preliminary tox screen was clean. C.S.U. is running a more comprehensive analysis now. So far, I haven't found evidence of circulatory disease, cancer, or anything else that normally shows up under my scalpel."

Rick wiggles his eyebrows. "How about signs of alien probing? Perhaps she was gathered as an interesting specimen."

Kate snorts. "And left on the floor of a club restroom?"

"You've got a point," Rick acknowledges. "Alien abductees would be more likely to end up by the side of a lonely country road. But Ooh! What if she is an alien or the result of an alien breeding experiment?"

"Nice try, Castle," Lanie responds, "but so far no signs of anything but human D.N.A."

"Lanie sent tissue samples from several organs to my lab," Lorne interjects. "I'll be looking for abnormalities."

"If you I.D. her, maybe her family can tell you about her medical history," Kate suggests. "Didn't you get anything from fingerprints or dental records?"

"No match on dental records, and I guess I didn't mention that the fingers have no prints."

Rick whistles the theme from X-Files.

"Burned off?" Kate asks.

"Not burned off," Lanie replies, "but there are three genetic variants that will result in smooth fingers. Two of them have other symptoms which this person didn't have. But there's a condition called adermatoglyphia that seems to fit. Actually, the lack of prints may help with the I.D. So far, adermatoglyphia occurrence is recorded in only four extended families around the world. Apparently, it's a random point mutation. So those families aren't related to each other. I've sent out queries to see if they're missing anyone. One of the families is in Switzerland. With the time difference, I'm hoping I'll get an answer by tomorrow morning."

"If the deceased is from Switzerland, that doesn't make the case any less strange," Rick notes.

"No," Lanie admits, "it doesn't."