Beckett and Castle arrived at the grey building camouflaged in the middle of city where Daniel Bernard worked as a real estate agent, while Ryan and Esposito where out to get Diana.

"He quit, actually, a few days ago. Gosh, this is devastating, he was very liked here" Amanda Jones, Danny's boss, lamented "He was supposed to pick up his stuff, but we assumed he forgot, so we kept it here for a little longer, you know, courtesy for a friend . Here, I'll show you"

"Thanks Amanda. Why did he quit?"

"He just said his life was about to give a huge twist"

"And are you sure he didn't have any enemies here? Maybe an unsatisfied client?"

The skinny blond lead them through cubicles to a corner, where a box was sitting next to the lost and found. "No, not at all! He was a sweetheart to everyone. A good buddy, exemplar employee, flirty in the right amount" She was tearing up again and decided to leave after Beckett thanked her again

"If he was such a nice guy, why did he deserve such a horrible death?"

"Maybe this will tell us" Beckett pointed to the pile in front of her. There was a picture of him, Annabelle and a woman, light skin, silky brown hair. Diana. They looked like a happy family; it just didn't make sense, what had torn it all apart? They needed to find the odd sock, any lead. Castle put aside some other pictures, bills, a newspaper, charts "Haha! Found it!"

"What?"

"An odd sock" Becket stared at him. Was she thinking out loud again? There was the damn connection again. Not that she didn't like it. Quite the opposite, but sometimes it was just creepy, like now. He handed her an envelope he had found at the bottom of the cardboard box.

"Two airplane tickets to England?"

"In the names of Daniel and Annabelle Bernard and due tonight" She looked inside the envelope again, to the passports and other documents as she spoke up

"Castle, this is not an odd sock. So what, they were going on a family vacation"

"So why was this hidden? And most importantly, what was he doing alone with Belle on an abandoned house?"

"Right, you've got a point." Her voice faded when she removed the files inside the brown wrapper "Castle. These are adoption papers"

"What?" She handed them to him "Daniel was recognizing Annabelle as his daughter? Why would he adopt his own child?"

"I guess he isn't the father after all" She dialed Ryan "Hey, when you get back to the precinct, could you do me a favor? Please look into Belle's birth certificate. I want the hospital files from the day she was born, everything you can find. Yeah, thanks"
She then looked inside her folder. They had found an apartment in his name and were heading there.

"Again, if he had a place, why was he at the house? This freaking house"

She smirked. "Maybe he thought it was safer?"

They were making their way when Esposito called. She put him on speaker. According to him, Diana's house had been desert for a few days and all they had was the old doorman. However, he turned out to be more helpful than expected. The senior confided that Diana left a couple days ago with a suit case in one hand and the pequenina in the other and never returned. Yesterday Mr. Grayson also left and hadn't returned yet.

"And Mr. Grayson would be…?" She left the sentence hanging

"Exactly what you're thinking: Diana's husband. And by the looks of it, Belle's father."

"Ok, thanks Espo, go get a warrant for the place"

Beckett nodded on the door of 27B. A college girl answered it

"How can I help you?"

Beckett flashed her badge "NYPD, can we come in?" Much to their surprise, the girl freaked out

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, it was just one time, I was really going through a lot and my friends said it would be good for me to just relax and…" The girl's confession was frantic. Castle had to suppress his grin

"Mrs….?"

"Call me Sara, please. Here arrest me" She extended her fists and shut her eyes.

"Sara, we're not here for drugs. We're homicide. And we're investigating the murder of Daniel Bernard. Do you know him?"

"Oh." She was quiet for a while "Yes, he's my landlord. I just rented it here, he wasn't asking for much and it's close to school"

"Have you heard from him?"

"No, I just deposit the money on" She turned her back to them, went to the bedroom and returned with a small piece of paper, a number written over it "this account"

Beckett copied it and left to the hospital. Annabelle was finishing her lunch when they found her and Larissa at the cafeteria

"Oh, you're here" Larissa said. Belle, now wearing a social service uniform, on the other hand, hugged both of them and offered her fries. Beckett pulled Larissa aside when her phone rang. She handed it to Castle

"Could you answer that for me, please?"

He was shocked "Are you sure"

"Yes, Castle, I need to speak with Mrs. Kaye"

"Castle speaking"

"Castle, who let you answer Beckett's phone?" Ryan asked

"Why, the lady herself"

"If you say so…check this out: Belle's birth certificate was recently altered in a registry office by Diana herself. The original says that Grayson Bernard is the father. She changed it after a paternity test that she ordered"

"Bernard? Isn't that Danny's last name?"
"Yup. He's Grayson's brother."

"No way!"

Beckett looked over her shoulders. She had asked Larissa about the test results and had been assured that everything was fine. The girl was wary, but aside from a bruising on her upper arm, everything else seemed fine and the test for rape was negative. That lifted a huge weight off Kate's shoulders she didn't even know she had been carrying.

"Listen, I need to take her-"Castle interrupted and took Beckett's folder from her hands "Sorry, I need this" Before she could even protest, he sat next to the girl again "Ryan can you run this bank account?"

"Ok, thanks, bye"

"As I was saying, I need to take her to the precinct and interview her"

"You can't, she needs to meet with a psychologist first. I don't think she's ready to talk"

"And I don't think you understand that there's a murderer on the loose and it's my job to find him"

"I do understand it, detective" There was disdain in her voice "But it's my job to protect this child. This isn't like any other of your cases"

"I am protecting her."

"Annabelle, let's go" said Kaye, brushing past Kate, leaving her behind. Again.

"But I wanna go with Rick and Kate, I don't wanna go with you"

Beckett knew there was no way she could win this so she suggested the first thing that sprung to mind

"How about we talk to her with a psychologist on the room? He can interrupt me if he finds something inappropriate"

Larissa was reluctant at first, but finally accepted the condition. And yes, Annabelle could ride the car with her so called friends. The assistant left to her office and promised to call in later. Castle held Belle's hand

"Castle what did Ryan said?" He said he'd tell her when they were back

"You look cute when you're mad. Maybe not this mad, though" She suddenly stop and hit the back of his head with her folder. Annabelle burst out laughing

"Just thanks for reminding me why I don't let you answer my phone"