A/N: Hey guys. So, I haven't heard from Jo yet but I know he's been busy so maybe he hasn't had time to read my next chapter yet. But because I'm gonna be off to meet some Castle friends (Yay, I'm soooo excited!) I didn't want to wait any longer to upload the next chapter. I hope you'll enjoy it.

I know that you probably already hate me for not giving you enough Caskett moments and I'm sorry! I just got caught up in the case! (hahaha, yeah, I almost felt like Beckett xD) But hey, I promise you, I've got a big treat for all of you in the next chapter!

Btw. I like how you're trying to figure it all out xDD

Okay, I'll stop blabbing and let you read. Thanks for all the reviews I got so far! It's really great to hear what you think!

Chapter 6

"Yo! I think we got it all figured out now! Or at least some of it…"

It was late afternoon already and the team had been working non-stop. They had only allowed themselves a short half-hour lunch break to eat a sandwich in the break room and then went straight back to work. Mrs Downing's background was for some reason hard to track so at some point the boys had decided to just forget about her past and start digging closer to the present.

Kate had been calling Mr Downing's colleagues. Of course not all of them were available right away but she did already get the answers she needed and that was that the guys alibi was crumbling away slowly.

Nicole didn't have any luck either. On the murder board she and her father no longer belonged to the "persons of interest" but to the suspects although maybe the motives weren't too clear yet. But at least it was something to go on. The reason Nicole was there on that list was that the doorman to their building had seen her come home but he'd said that it must have been at least 12.15am by the time and that was right in their kill zone. And since the crime scene was only 5minutes away and Nicole had been seen close to the crime scene shortly before 11pm with the victim she was their prime suspect for now.

The mother had cleared out for the murder. Her doorman confirmed that she had come home completely wasted at 10pm. He had had to help her get up to her apartment and he said she almost fell asleep on the hallway floor.

Beckett looked over to Esposito now, an eyebrow raised in question and the detective made his way to her desk.

"Wait," she said, "let's wait for Castle or you'll have to tell everything twice, you know how he is." The writer had gotten slightly bored watching Beckett making phone calls and since their lunch had been small and already quite some time ago he had offered to get some Chinese and no one had objected.

"Can you make him hurry up then? I'm starving!"

"You're always starving," Ryan cut in and made Beckett grin. The boys and food. That was a matter of its own. Castle had been gone about twenty minutes so she knew he could be back any time now and as if he had known they were impatiently waiting he stepped out of the elevator, his arms and hands overloaded with food bags.

"Just in time, bro!"

"Yeah, perfect timing!"

Beckett smiled at her two hungry detectives and got up from her chair.

"Come on then, we have news and you have food, let's swap," she said and motioned to the conference room.

They helped Castle unload the stuff, each grabbing chopsticks and some of the food and then sat down.

"Okay, news. Good or bad or interesting or helpful?" Castle asked and took his first mouthful.

Esposito was already chewing and pointed at Ryan with his chopsticks who at that moment shoved Mushu pork in his mouth and wasn't able to speak either. Beckett shook her head but smiled.

"You guys look like you haven't had anything to eat in like a week…"

"Yweah, wewll wyou wknow us…" Espo said, chewing his bit of food, then swallowed.

"Ahhh, what a blessing. Okay, case. We're still running Mrs Downing's past but what we have found out is that she's absolutely and utterly broke. There's not a single penny left in her bank account. Or I rather have to say in any of her bank accounts. I haven't found out yet how she lost it but I think my guess is as good as any and I would say it is gambling or she very badly dealt in stocks. And I don't really believe that." He finished the sentence and stuffed his mouth again.

"I have also found something interesting. Matthew wasn't born in America he was born in a private clinic in England. They needed one of the best paediatric doctors because apparently there had been complications with the pregnancy so the whole family moved there for a year."

"Was that the interesting part?" Beckett asked and swallowed her meal.

"No, the interesting part is that they went to Europe on a longer business trip. Nicole being as young as she was, was taken with them and so the whole family was there. The Downing's are a well-known family around here, they are quite often in the press but there was never a single word about Carrie being pregnant again. Only when they didn't come home from that business trip they announced that they were expecting another child and that they would stay in Europe until it was born."

"And what exactly is weird about that now?" Castle asked.

"The fact that in the following year there was never a single word about Carries condition or about the family in general. It was as if they had disappeared from the face of the earth."

They all ate in silence for a while not quite sure what to make of this this information. Why would they hide the second pregnancy when the first was so huge in the press all the time? Castle remembered it only too well since it was the time that Meredith had been pregnant too and it sometimes was a huge public press fight of which woman would be in a magazine more often.

"That is weird…So what's the problem with Frederick's alibi? I just know you said it was crumbling before I left." He looked at Beckett who was chewing her food. She nodded and swallowed before speaking.

"Yeah well, he did meet his colleagues for a business meeting and they did carry on till late that night. The problem is that after 12am no one recalls seeing him anywhere in the club they went to.

I still haven't reached three of his co-workers but I'm hoping that one of them can clear things up some more."

Once they were done eating they were all so satiated that they could hardly move so they just sat at the conference table for some while longer leaning back in their chairs.

Ryan was on his phone, texting his wife. They still were inseparable just like before the wedding. The amount of texting Ryan did was almost insufferable at times. The team had learnt to live with it though and teased him with it just about as often as with his nickname.

Castle had his brow furrowed and was brooding over something. He felt Beckett's eyes on him and looked up.

"Hm?"

"What are you thinking about?" she asked him and he shrugged his shoulder.

"Just that what Ryan said really is weird. Had Meredith and Carrie known each other personally back then I would swear one of them would have killed the other. They were constantly fighting over some other magazine article and the fact that that didn't happen with Carrie's second pregnancy bothers me."

"Maybe she really had complications."

"Maybe…" he trailed off again and didn't realise when the detectives all got up and went back to their desks. A little bit startled at the fact that he was alone in the room he quickly cleaned up and went after them.

Beckett already had a cup of coffee ready for him, something that was normally his job. He smiled at her.

"Thank you."

"No problem."

He took a sip and sat down in his chair, taking out his phone since Beckett was already back at calling Frederick Downing's co-worker.

"Ha!"

He looked up at her, again a little startled and raised an eyebrow while she almost slammed the receiver down.

"So apparently Mr Downing left his co-workers at around 12am just as the other ones had said. The others never saw him leave but this one did. He said he had had the feeling that Mr Downing didn't want to be seen leaving so early."

"Okay, so he doesn't have an alibi…but what would his motive be? Why would he kill his son?"

Beckett shrugged her shoulders. "I have no idea as of yet…but this is reason enough to go talk to him and his daughter again. I think Nicole could clear a lot of things up for her mother too."

"Beckett?" the confused voice of Ryan carried through the bull pen.

Castle and Beckett both looked up and to Ryan's desk where the detective just got up and made his way to them.

"I found something else. Apparently Carrie has a younger sister but there is absolutely no record of her anywhere! It's like she never existed."

"God, can this case get any more weird?" she asked in frustration.

"I know! But it's kinda cool!" Castle said with a half-smile. He would find it much better if he didn't know the family.

Beckett lightly shook her head and looked back at Ryan. "Can you try and find anything? Castle and I need another talk with the ex-husband and the daughter."

Ryan nodded. "I'll see what I can do."

They were once again back at the Downing's apartment. Frederick and Nicole weren't at all happy to see them back which wasn't surprising.

Beckett tried to make it quick and went straight to the point.

"Nicole, you lied to us. You said you went straight home but your doorman said you got home at around 12am. Where were you between eleven and twelve?"

Nicole hesitated. She had been caught lying so now she had to be careful of what to say.

"I was upset, okay? I was so upset I needed a walk so I strolled around for an hour or so. I know, it's not a very good alibi but it's the truth." Beckett nodded, still not quite believing the girl. She seemed too nervous about all this like something was keeping her from telling what she really wanted to.
"And there is another question concerning your mother."

"You've seen us today, Detective. There is nothing I have to say about my mother."

Beckett gave the girl a sympathetic smile. "It could help us find your brother's killer."

"How on earth should that help you?"

"We found out that your mother was broke. Maybe she got in with the wrong kind of people and they wanted to hurt her through hurting someone she cared for?"

"My mother was a wreck. That's all there is. She lost it after Matty disappeared. I just couldn't take care of her anymore. I had always taken care of Matty, I didn't want to have to take care of someone else again. And she was a handful, believe me. She kept the drinking in check but the gambling? I was glad my dad still paid for the school and I could eat there, cause my mom hardly managed to feed herself. The weekends she mostly spent in Atlantic city, losing all the money she just got from dad. And when she'd lost it all she hid in the flat, drinking or doing nothing. Sometimes she had lucky days and would win only to spend it on unnecessary TV channel merchandise. Sometimes she spent it on food too and we had the biggest meals with Caviar and all for three days and then she'd lost it again. I told her I wouldn't be there for her anymore and I moved back to dad's. Last week she lost the apartment, she has to be out by tomorrow. That's all there is!"

Nicole had rattled all that down in no time. The further she got the angrier her voice was. It was very obvious that she loathed her mother for what she did to her and in a way Castle could totally understand her. Hadn't he been in a similar situation as a teenager? His mother coming home from a performance, drunk and the next morning desperately in need of a Bloody Mary? But unlike Nicole he'd never had an option and he'd loved his mother no matter what because she tried to be a mother. She at least tired.

"Well, this might actually help…" Beckett said. If Carrie was indeed gambling and losing a lot she might have an angry loan shark somewhere who had threatened her. And since Carrie seemed to have known that her son was still alive, he'd be a good target.

"Mr Downing, your alibi doesn't check out either. You were seen leaving the bar where you were with your colleagues at around 12am. Where did you go after that?"

The man swallowed hard and threw a hesitant look at his daughter. It seemed rather weird to Beckett but when he cleared his throat she could guess where this was going.

"You didn't go alone, did you…" she stated and he nodded.

"I left alone…but I didn't go home, I met…someone."

"Mr Downing, you do realise that you lied to us just like your daughter did. We need that someone's name."
Castle could feel that Beckett was slowly losing her patience with this family and he completely understood her. None of them ever seemed to tell the truth.

Mr Downing was uncomfortably sitting on his couch while Nicole scrutinized him. She didn't really mind her father having another woman, she was actually glad but she thought it was weird that he would keep it a secret from her especially since her mother was so open about her relationships.

Beckett raised an eyebrow at Frederick Downing and he sighed.

"Her name is Giovanna Servente, she started working at my firm about a year ago and we started dating a few months after that. I know, it's unprofessional at work but we managed to keep it secret, so if you wouldn't mind…"

"I can't promise you that, Mr Downing, the investigation will lead us where it will lead us and sometimes that does compromise some private stuff."

Mr Downing nodded. He understood, even if he didn't like it.

"One last question. You're ex-wife has a sister, right? Can you tell us anything about her?"

"God, this case is so frustrating!" she grumbled in desperation once they were back in the car on their way to the precinct.

"Instead of answers all we get are more questions! And we've completely neglected the whole kidnapping thing today! I feel like we're getting nowhere…"

It had been a while since he last saw her this irritated by a case but she was right. They had nothing and the murder had happened almost two days ago.

"We'll find something…I'm sure of it! We've always managed to find something!" he assured her.

"Not always…" She almost said it in a whisper, he could easily have missed it but he didn't and he hated himself for the last comment. She was right of course. Not always. Not in her case. Not in her mother's case.

And he hadn't gotten any further either although he tried, he really did. When he wasn't with her on a case, spending time with his family or writing, he was standing in front of his own murder board trying to find any link, any kind of hint that would help him. Anything that would keep Kate safe. And yes, of course, try tearing that wall down that she had spoken off that day on the swings. Then again, he knew that those walls were crumbling anyways, she seemed to have accepted that she needed to move on, that somehow her mother's murder might never get solved, that she might never get more closure than knowing that the hit man who killed Johanna Beckett was dead.

"Castle?"

She lightly touched his elbow and jolted him out of his thoughts.

"You're so very much in your own thoughts lately. Is everything okay with you?" she asked, real worry in her tone.

"I'm fine, Kate, don't worry. It's just like you said, the case is kinda frustrating and I'm trying to find anything that might help but I'm somehow just blank, totally out of ideas."

He didn't know why Johanna's case suddenly burned in his thoughts again. Yes, he had it in his mind pretty much all the time but never with this intensity. And he felt guilty about it. He knew how much it meant to Kate. Again he had to tell himself he did it for a good reason, to protect the woman he loved, he only hoped that if she ever found out she would realise that.

He got out of the car and followed her back to the precinct.

Once they were in the bull pen again Beckett stared at the murder board and she stared at it as if she was about to murder it. Castle came to her side and handed her a coffee, one that she badly needed.

"Thank you" she murmured and hastily took a sip.

"It's h…"

"Ouch!"

"hot" he finished his now unnecessary warning and grinned.

"Too late…" Her tongue burned from the hot liquid and she bit it to cover the pain with another one. It only helped a little.

"Ryan!" she called out and the detective looked up. "Have you found anything new on Carrie's sister?"

He shook his head. "I can't even find her name!"

"Well, that much I have. Go look for Melissa Payton."

"You're kidding me, right?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Melissa? You know Carrie's full name is Carissa? God, what imaginative parents…"

Beckett grinned. Ryan was right, how could someone name their children with so similar names. It was almost surprising she wasn't called Marissa.

Mr Downing had only very cautiously given them the name and only after Beckett pushed him to.
Nicole had sat there in disbelief. "I have an aunt?" she had asked and Beckett and Castle had looked at each other, both thinking "more mysteries".

"While you're at it, can you also check for a Giovanna Servente? She's supposed to be Downing's new alibi!"

Ryan gave a curt nod and strolled off to his desk once more and Beckett started to stare at the murder board again.

"You know, you'll only burn a whole in it…"

"Very funny, Castle. Got a better idea?"

"I…uhm…no." He fell silent and stared as well. Beckett let her eyes roam over the pictures, the suspects, the alibis, the motives. She stopped at the x-Ray pictures of the boy's broken bones. She had a gut feeling that if the case had nothing to do with the family story it must have to do with the kidnapping and she was determined to solve both crimes.

"Let's dig some more in the family history tonight, tomorrow we'll start digging again in the kidnapping. I'm sure there's something we've overlooked!" she said, half to herself, half to Castle.
"There must be something."

He nodded his agreement. She was right, the kidnapping was too easily overlooked, there sure as hell had to be something. And he knew they could find it if they just looked hard enough.

What Castle had learned about police work over the last four years of his shadowing the detective was that most of the work was boring paperwork. Researching, looking through records, finding pieces of evidence through calling people, etc., etc. Fieldwork was only a small amount of what they had to do. He had come to accept that sometimes there really wasn't anything to do for him but to sit, watch and wait at the precinct. He knew Beckett had hated it at first, him watching her do paperwork. It was creepy, she had said. Now she was always glad that he was there to keep her company, bring her coffee and sometimes distract her from her work.

And it was back to paperwork for them once more now. Research was no problem for him, he was used to doing that from writing books back then when he didn't have a muse and he even now had to do some extra research now and then. That's why he tried to help the team as much as he could and sometimes he really enjoyed it like with the McClaren house. Sure, Beckett had not appreciated it too much but it had helped in the end.

So now he was helping with research again. He couldn't use the police computer since he didn't own one. Yes, it kind of annoyed him, he was sure he could be a lot more help if he was allowed to use one at all times but Captain Gates would never allow it! So he used his phone most of the time. There was always something to be found on the internet.

Beckett was making some more background checks on the Downing's. Mostly Mr Downing, his firm and his financials. Ryan was still working on Giovanna Servente and Melissa Payton and Esposito was doing god knows what. So Castle did the one thing he could think of, he googled both Giovanna and Melissa. The moment he had typed in Giovanna's name he realised why Beckett's mother's case was so present in his mind again. Giovanna, the Italian version of Johanna. He sighed and tried to let it go.

There were lots of Giovanna Servente's to be found on Google. Not surprising, in Italy it seemed to be a popular name. Finding the one Giovanna Servente in New York was hard since he didn't even know what the woman looked like and also here there were a few women called like that.

Melissa was a different matter. The Downing's were a well-known family but so were the Payton's and Melissa, she had been a rebel. Castle found several articles in magazine archives that showed her drunk or drugged, most of the time in company with men and in fights with her sister. Carrie had apparently always been the good one in the family and it didn't surprise him when he found an article about the fact that the sisters had had a public fight and were never seen together again. Melissa had by then gotten into the wrong people's hands, dealers and such and also spent some time in jail for drug possession. And then, all of a sudden there had been nothing more in the papers. She seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth when she was twenty eight and out of jail.

"The records are sealed." Ryan stood behind Castle and looked at Beckett. "I found Melissa's records but they are sealed."

"How come?" Beckett asked, irritated.

"I don't know, they just are. There's nothing I could look at…"

"I have something," Castle cut in. "She was a handful, there are a lot of articles about her around. Naked pictures and all included."

That got him a raised eyebrow from Beckett, of course, but he never meant it like this so he just looked at her with a not-like-that-look and went on.

"She even spent some time in jail and then, all of a sudden, there is nothing anymore."

"Can this family get any more mysterious?"

"Actually…it can…" Ryan said with a hesitant tone. "Giovanna Servente may not be a family member, but well…even if she were…she wouldn't be."

Castle and Beckett both looked at him as if he'd completely lost it. "English please, Ryan," Beckett said.

"She doesn't exist. There is no record of a Giovanna Servente anywhere. Apart from the fact that she works at Downing Corporations but that is all. I mean, there are a few women with the name but none of them fits the descriptions and none of them works at Downing Corporations."

"Then how did she get into the firm in the first place?" Castle asked curiously.

Beckett ran her fingers through her hair with closed eyes and it was obvious to Castle that she was very frustrated.

"Maybe we should call it a night," he suggested, "start fresh tomorrow."

"The questions will still be there tomorrow, it doesn't really matter…" she answered, eyes still closed.

"But you can go if you want, it's getting late." She meant what she said but there was also a slight plea in her voice to make him stay. She only had to think about him leaving for a while to already miss him. It was pathetic and she shook her head lightly at her own thoughts. She had just gotten so dependent on the guy but wasn't able to voice it.

"It's okay, I can stay."

And we're done for today xD Yes, yes, I know, it's a very weird case and I guess not all of it makes sense xD (not yet!)

I hope you enjoyed it and again, I promis you, the next one will be far far less case related! Far far less! =)

Hit the review button ;)