My apologies for not updating this for a few days. It's been insanely busy on the farm and the crazy weather isn't helping things. Hoping to return to a semi-normal schedule next week.

Compared to the previous night, Happy Gary's was deserted the next morning, most of the smoke that had been clinging heavily to the air having dissipated for a precious few hours.

The bartender from last night was back, dressed in fresh clothes but looking just as distraught as he did prior.

Since their visit, a handwritten note had been put up, explaining that Harrison had been murdered and that the bar had started a fundraiser to honor one of their regulars.

"Mister Friedman, you don't remember anybody new that has been hanging around for the past few weeks, somebody who was shadowing Donny?"

The older man shook his head, lips pursed as he ran a nervous hand across his broad neck.

"Like I told you last night, lady, everyone loved him. And Wednesday's crew was just the regulars, just like Donny. You have to understand, we're like family here."

"And just like family…sometimes, feuds can break out. Are you aware of any issues Lieutenant Harrison could have had with one of the regulars?", Castle pried and leaned heavier against the bar, trying to ignore the stench of stale beer that hadn't left from the previous night.

"There were no fights. I already told you, he hardly ever talked to any of the others. This was his place to get away from work. He came here to enjoy himself. He was acting just like his regular self last night, waved at me as he left and just…just walked out the door."

Unable to contain his emotions any further, the bartender wiped a hand over his red-rimmed eyes, weeping at the loss of a patron and friend. Beckett watched him for a few moments, contemplating if there was anything else worthwhile she could pry out of the other man but decided against it for now, considering that he'd gone out of his way to supply her with a list of the regulars from the previous night.

Just how exactly they would find out who some of these people were would be a different issue altogether, but she was hoping to leave the task of finding the real identities of "short brown hair, drinks well whiskey straight" and the likes to Ryan and Esposito.

Ryan.

As though the detective had read her mind, she could hear her cell phone ringing.

Stepping off to the side when she heard Castle ask the bartender another question regarding any recent complaints about the establishment, Beckett answered the phone after the second ring.

"What have you got?"

"You're going to like this. So, I traced some of the phone calls that Harrison made these past few days and while most of them were either to his home or work related, one of them stuck out. And it's the same place I am still trying to get some more information on. He made several calls to the Veteran's Support Network Center in Manhattan, namely to the main Psychiatrist there called Doctor Lafayette. He did so yesterday before he went to the bar. The phone call lasted just over eight minutes. And it was the last call he made before he was killed."

"Eight minutes? What do you think he called the doctor for?"

"I am still trying to establish some of that. It said on the initial information that Harrison was a supporter of this place, but I am hitting roadblocks when it comes to how he supported it and what his relationship was to this doctor."

"Ok, Ryan, let's go ahead and pull everything we can on this…this Doctor Lafayette and any banking information on this place. Something tells me that his death had something to do with them."

"Will do.", Ryan answered swiftly before hanging up the phone again, leaving Beckett with an even longer list of questions.

Having noticed her finishing the call, Castle fell quiet, his eyes searching hers for any updates.

"I think Ryan stumbled across something.", she explained cryptically, then reached for the list of patrons from the previous night and headed toward the door, "Come on Castle, I'll fill you in on the way back."