02 April 2011, 01:20pm:

'You know our deal, it applies for this conversation too, not a word should leave this room,' a newly determined Castle says.

'You need to tell somebody about it!'

'I will, but I wont be rushed into something either. I will wait and see where this investigation goes.'

Martha leaves the room, maybe even more shocked than her son.

Upstairs Alexis makes the phone call to Beckett, blissfully unaware of the events downstairs. 'Hello, Kate. It's Alexis … He made it home, badly shaken by the case. What is this case about? … That explains why he grabbed a bottle of whiskey … I know, you don't approve of this behavior, but the way he looked he needed a good stiff drink … I will send him tomorrow to the precinct after he sobered up … Bye Kate.'

02 April 2011, 01:35pm:

On the other side of the city Beckett finishes the call and turns around. 'Where were we', she asks Crawford.

'We have a possibly match, Brandon Simmons, his parents called it in this morning around 8am. I have send a picture of our boy to the lead investigator and if he think it is his boy he will bring the parents for a positive identification at 3pm', she replies.

'Till then we can compile a list of suspects, known sex offender near the crime scene, their home and if it is him where he spent his time. What do we know about the family and the way he disappeared?'

'The father is a broker, the mother worked in a law firm till 2008, when she gave birth to a daughter', Crawford surmises, 'and no news from Perlmutter so far.'

02 April 2011, 02:05pm:

Lanie stops at Esposito's desk, 'I want to let you two know that I head out.'

'Why would you do that', an intrigued Esposito asks.

'That murdered child is top priority and our case got put into the back log and all tests of physical evidence has to wait. They telling me "Your mummy isn't as time sensitive as the boy." Damn it, they playing these games even with dead people.'

'Calm down, Lanie. Take a breath and tell me what you have got so far.'

'The only thing I could do was to start a search for missing woman matching the description, but that turned up as a blank in the tri-state-area. So now it runs nation wide and it will take time. I also asked a technician to run a facial recognition against criminal records, but till later he has no resources.'

'What could you make out of the injuries on one side of the victim?'

'I don't know, I don't have enough staff this weekend to run a X-ray. I could cut up the injuries and take a look, but that would be against protocol and may destroy evidence.'

'Not an option than, you will be in tomorrow?'

'Yeah and hopefully I'll get some work done.'

02 April 2011, 02:55pm:

'Hello, Kate. How are you doing?'

Beckett looks up and sees a familiar figure, 'Will? What are you doing here?'

'I'm here as the lead investigator in the disappearing of Brandon Simmons. Judging by the pictures Lanie has send me, it is the boy. The parents are downstairs making the identification', with that he puts a manila folder down.

Reluctant Beckett flips the folder open, after a quick glance of it's content she says, 'You are right it is our missing boy. What can you tell me about the case from your side so far?'

'I can't put my finger on it, but it was from the beginning a weird case...'

'Weird case', she repeats as he stopped.

'Yeah, you know with your guts that something is amiss. The boy vanished out of the house last night and no traces of forced entry. We couldn't check the typical suspects because the boy was found so fast.'

'So you suspect the parents are involved into his death?'

'No, not directly at least. They showed both guilt, but not that of a killer and honestly I don't know what to think about them. I guess you want to talk with them after they officially identified the boy?'

'After your introduction into this family you can bet on that.'

02 April 2011, 03:12pm:

Mr. and Mrs. Simmons take seats in the interrogation room, showing various signs of distress. Beckett takes her usual seat at the table, wishing that Castle would be here with her. Despite his skills at going on her nerves he showed in the past a great empathic capacities in these situations, she likes the way he supports her while talking with the grieving families. ' I'm sorry for your loss Mr. and Mrs. Simmons. And I'm sorry to harass you now, but what can you tell me about what Brandon did yesterday?'

'He was with his friend Lenny the last couple of days, he just returned yesterday evening', Mrs. Simmons answers with tears in her eyes.

'Do you have the contact details for his parents with you?'

'I think I have the number in my cellphone, but Daphne told me as she dropped Brandon off, that they will be at a family party this weekend and they will be back tomorrow morning.' She gets her cellphone out of her handbag and Beckett puts the contact details on her notebook.

'Do you had problems in the past like suspicious persons near your house, or threats against you?'

The two exchange a glance and then Mr. Simmons answers, 'No, we didn't see someone in our neighborhood who didn't belong there. And why are you interested in threats against us, MY son is dead.' Then he hits the table with his fist.

'Mr. Simmons, you as a broker may have made enemies who come after you through your family', she states the obvious.

'Indeed, I'm a bond broker, but our fond didn't take such a big hit in the last financial crisis. Our customer had minimal loses and they know it. And before you ask your follow up question my wife was only an assistant from many in the law firm before she stopped there and she had no direct contact to anyone outside the firm.'

It is difficult for Beckett to get the interview back on track, but she manages, gaining information about where Brandon was going to school, favorite things to do in his spare time and so on. After she let the parents go, she leans at the door frame and thinks that Will was absolute right, they may not be the killer but something is weird with them. They were sending out such mixed signals Beckett don't know what to do with them. With a sigh she straightens herself up, bringing her cellphone out she starts trying to reach the parents of Lenny to set up an interview with them and him.

Night 02/03 April 2011:

Castle sits in his chair. His eyes are fixed at the building on the other side of the street. The whiskey stands untouched on the table, all the energy he had to get drunk has fled his body after his mother left the room. In the beginning his mind drifted fairly often back to the beach and his way home. But with time he could get a grip onto them and now he can stare out of the window without thinking about anything of importance. Only one thought comes up often 'Don't fall asleep!' He knows what will happen if he can't stay awake and he has no need for that. The lights on the other street side help a lot, first they went on and after a while they turned off on by one. The longer he stare the more he got the impression of watching one of these fast motion videos or are his thoughts in slow motion. He doesn't care. And then they went on in a irregular pattern again. Only to be replaced by the blinding reflection of the sun. He is so absorbed into his not thinking he didn't notice that the door to his study opens.

'Dad, are you awake and decent', Alexis asks and takes with a glance from the threshold his state in. She steps into the room. 'You are already up, that is better than expected, especially after you vanished with a bottle of …', seeing the untouched whiskey she continues, 'OH! You didn't get drunk?'

Castle is at a loss, his thoughts still crawling slower as a snail through his brain and they can't keep up with his daughter. 'Yeah … I .. I .. had to .. think. Why? .. How can .. I help you, pumpkin', he gets out.

'You are expected at the precinct, you have a case with a mummy if you remember.'

'Right, right. Can you make coffee, please?'

'Sure Dad, I will', she turns around and heads towards the kitchen, relieved that he can't see the worry on her face.

03 April 2011, 9:15am:

Castle is a real spoil sport in the precinct, mopping around in his chair, which he has pulled up to be next to Ryan's desk. Only following the conversations between Ryan and Esposito with one ear and making none committing sounds, when he thinks it is necessary.

He has the chance to overhear Perlmutter reporting to Beckett, that the boy indeed was drugged with a derivation of Rohypnol, which Perlmutter needs to test further.

'Hey Castle, are you listening to us', Esposito interrupts him eavesdropping. 'You don't seem to have brought your A-game today.'

'It seems that I have caught some cold', Castle evades him.

'Do you want some coffee?'

'No, thank you. I had already enough coffee today.

Esposito heads over to the break room and pours himself coffee into his cup. On his way out he meets with Beckett, 'Something is wrong with Castle today, he don't enjoy the case as he should, no wild guesses how the girl ended up in the storage room, only sitting there and grunting.'
'Maybe he is only hungover. Alexis told me that he headed to his study yesterday with a bottle of whiskey.'

'That would indeed explain it.'

'Excuse me, but I have to interview the McDermids', Beckett finishes the conversation and walks over to the interrogation room.

Castle could see the two out of the corner of his eyes, silently moaning as he sees Beckett making some sipping motion with her hand. 'Someone has told her about my behavior yesterday', he thinks. With his elbows resting on the desk he puts his hands over the eyes, missing Esposito glance at him and the following knowing nod.

Beckett and Crawford take seats and introducing themselves to the McDermid family. They perform the routine questioning like they were doing it a long time together. And to sum it up nothing new came up, till they came to the last day the two boys were together. 'So tell us Lenny all about Friday.'

The boy, although pretty shaken, has done a good job so far answer without hesitation, 'It was a normal school day and after mom picked us up and brought home, we played a little bit in the garden. And then my mother brought him home.' Tears building up in his eyes he states, 'I think I will never play hide and go seek again, it is our favorite game … and the last game we played together.'

The cop and the FBI agent turn their head in disbelieve and Beckett mutters, 'How could he now that?' Beckett nearly springs out of her chair and is out of the room in no time. As soon as she is in the bull pen she shouts, 'CASTLE, to me NOW!'

04 April 2011, 10:05am:

Castle walks down the quite hallway following the prison guard. Neither of them is in a chatty mode so both are relieved that the other don't try to begin a conversation. Castle is anxious his hands tapping at the steam of his trouser. After what seemed miles of walking the guard stops in front of a door and opens it, 'He will be with you in a couple of minutes.' Castle nods and steps into the room, it is one of these standard visitor rooms with thick glass panes separating the two sides. Castle takes a seat and begins to drum with his fingertips on the wood panel in front of the window.

AN: I had serious trouble writing this chapter, a real nice writers block. And I am pretty sure I could have make a better one, especially the night scene with Castle sitting in his office didn't come around the way I would like. But at least I have this nice cliffhanger at the end. An explanation will be given in the next chapter why Castle is in the visitor room of a prison.

In your opinion am I jumping around different locations / person to much?