Prologue

Questions are left unanswered for many different reasons. Politicians refuse to answer
questions so that they may hide their intentions; lawyers refuse to answer because of
ongoing litigation, and criminals refuse to answer to avoid incrimination. And then,
there are those who refuse to answer because they are trying to hide the answer from
themselves. Richard Castle spent his entire career avoiding one question. Asked during
many an interview, it was the same question once asked by friend…

Kate: "You still haven't told me. Where does your fascination with murder come from?"

…and once by foe.

Jerry: "You're drawn to death. It thrills you. Now where does that come from?"

Responding with stories and silence, he kept the answer hidden for twenty eight years,
until a warm spring day in June when he walked into the 12th and found it posted on
the murder board for everyone to see.