"This place is creepy…"

Esposito nodded, looking over Beckett's shoulder and into the little room.

"Can you imagine being held in here in the dark?" The detective shook his head. "I'm surprised Castle can even close his eyes."

Beckett couldn't agree more, but all she did was nod.

"Did the crime scene guys find anything helpful?"

"They found blood on the broken rod," Ryan said. "They're saying it looks like the manacles were looped over the rod and his hands were clamped together with the combination lock. Chances are the rod eventually broke – or was broken – and either used to hit him or hit him when it broke. They'll let us know when they figure it out."

"Good. Anything else?"

"There was a lot of stuff," Esposito said. "They're going through everything they pulled, but it could take a while."

Beckett sighed, but she knew her frustration was only because she was so anxious about Castle and figuring out what happened to him. The three of them poked through the place, looking around for anything that the CSU guys might have missed. Not that they really expected to find anything – the CSU people were pros, after all – but it would also give anyone who might have seen something the chance to hover around the outer edge of the perimeter that had been created by the police tape and maybe talk to them as they were leaving.

Eventually, somewhere around lunchtime, they decided that the place had been picked over fairly thoroughly, and that they weren't going to find a hidden clue anywhere. No one had been seen hanging out hoping to talk to them, either, which was too bad, really, because that certainly would have been better than relying on Castle's less than dependable memory.

"Well, let's head back," Beckett decided with another sigh. "I want to talk with Lanie and see-" Her phone rang, interrupting her, and she looked at the display. "Speak of the devil." She answered it, listened for just a moment, and then ended the call.

"What is it?" Esposito asked.

"Lanie has the identity of the man found with Castle's wallet. She wants us to meet her at the precinct."

"Let's go."

OOOOOOOOOOOO

"Lunch, Rick?"

Castle stretched as well as he could and looked up from the computer. After a couple of hours looking at the screen with only a few breaks, his eyes were ready for lunch even if he wasn't all that hungry.

"Yes," he told Montgomery, standing up with more creaks than Beckett's chair. "I could use a break."

"We'll have to have something delivered. Pizza? Chinese?"

"Hold that thought, guys."

They looked over and saw that Lanie Parrish was walking toward them. She had a folder in her hand and a satisfied look in her eyes.

"Doctor?" Montgomery asked, looking at the folder. "What is it?"

"Some information," she replied. "I asked Beckett to meet me. I had hoped she'd be here so I wouldn't need to-"

"We're here," Beckett said, coming over with Esposito and Ryan right behind her. "What do you have?"

"Two things. CSU confirmed Castle was in that room. Forensics matched the blood on the wooden rod to his type – they're going to compare the DNA just to be sure."

"And the other thing?" Beckett asked.

"The dead man we pulled from the water is James Kane."

"Jimmy the Cane?" Castle asked, surprised that he recognized the name.

"You know him?" Beckett asked, taking the folder that Lanie handed her and opening it.

"Yeah. He's a fence. Correction, he was a fence. He died like five years ago."

"That's not possible, Castle."

Of course, as messed up as his memory was just then she shouldn't have been too surprised.

"He's right," Lanie told them. "When we got his name, I looked. He was supposedly killed in a house fire almost five years ago."

"But then who is our dead man?"

"James Kane. Apparently whoever died in that fire wasn't Jimmy the Cane."

"How do you know this guy, Castle?" Ryan asked.

"I spent quite a bit of time with him six or seven years ago." He noticed Beckett's look and rolled his eyes. "Not fencing stuff, but learning about it. He was pretty open about his work and I learned a lot – for a novel I was writing."

"Tell me about him," Montgomery said.

"High end fence. Really high end."

"What, like diamonds and things?" Beckett asked.

"Jewelry and art were his specialty," Castle agreed. "Things that would be well known. Guy was a past master at making something vanish and replacing it with a lot of money."

Beckett frowned.

"We're sure it's him, Lanie?"

"Positive."

"What's this guy doing with Castle's wallet?" Esposito asked.

"And what does it have to do with our dead woman and Andrew?"

"Jeremy," Castle corrected.

"Did you find him?" Beckett asked.

"No. Not yet."

"Then how-"

Esposito raised a hand to stop her question in order to ask one of his own.

"If Castle was in a cab on the way to the Old Haunt and saw someone he knew who was supposed to be dead walking down the street, do you think that would be reason enough for him to tell the cab driver to stop and let him out?"

Kate stopped and looked at Castle. So did the others.

"Would you have recognized him? After so long?"

"Maybe. Probably."

"What would that have to do with our dead woman? Or why Castle was being held captive?" Ryan asked.

"What kind of relationship did you and Kane have, Castle?" Beckett asked. "Would he have any reason to want you injured or want to keep you captive?"

"No. We got along pretty well. Our parting was amicable. He even told me he liked the book once it was out."

"Did you see him again after that?"

"No. Never."

Beckett sighed.

"None of this makes sense."

"We need to find Andrew," Ryan said.

"Jeremy," Castle corrected.

"Whoever he is, you're right," Montgomery told them. "Find him."

Beckett nodded.

"We can check with the witnesses again and talk to the-"

"Not you, Beckett. You take Castle back to the safe house. Ryan, Esposito? You two follow up on Mr. Kane and go back over the evidence from the fire he supposedly died in. Figure out why he would fake his death – or if someone else might have done it for him."