Despite the early hour Esposito and Ryan both were in before Castle and Beckett. The detectives looked up when the two came off the elevator, and even from that distance Beckett knew they had some information. She and Castle walked over to Esposito's desk, and he didn't make them wait.

"Andrew Mahr has only existed for five years."

"What?"

"We checked into his background, trying to find family or anything else, and what we found is a very good history – with a million holes in it."

Ryan nodded.

"His background goes all the way back to birth, but when we started checking on some of them – like his education and old jobs – none of those came back as authentic up until about five years ago."

"So it is an alias," Beckett said.

"Definitely looks that way. Sorry I doubted you, Castle."

The writer shrugged.

"It's understandable."

"Linda probably is really Bridget, then, too," Beckett pointed out.

Esposito nodded.

"We ran her info as well. Same thing; last five years are verified but anything before that is definitely false information."

"So Jimmy the Cane dies five years ago and these two are using fake names from about the same time?" Castle asked. "That can't be a coincidence."

Beckett shook her head.

"No way. We just need to figure out what they have in common."

"Any way we can find out if Jimmy has been under an alias, too?" Castle asked.

The detectives hesitated, but eventually Esposito was the one that shrugged.

"Maybe. Doubtful, though. Unless someone puts in a missing person and it comes in as a match to him."

"CSU did find his fingerprints in the store, though," Ryan said. "Not in the room that Castle was in, but in the main store."

"Makes you wonder if he had something to do with-"

"I followed him in there," Castle said suddenly. "I saw him and followed him. I remember the back hallway…"

"Then what?" Beckett asked.

"I don't… Jeremy was there…" He sighed. "I don't remember anything else, though. It's black."

"Well, Dr. Cutter said that the bruises on your cheek are older than the cut on your head," Beckett reminded him. "Maybe Jeremy knocked you out…"

"If that's the case, you probably won't ever remember whatever happened next," Ryan said. "Because you didn't see it. Maybe even some of what happened after that, since you'd have probably been disorientated from the blow."

"That's not very encouraging."

"What isn't?" A new voice asked. They all turned and saw that Montgomery had walked up to them, having just arrived to the precinct.

Beckett told him what they had so far – and then she added what Castle had remembered about whatever the gift was. Montgomery listened intently, and then frowned.

"We don't know what this gift is?"

"No."

"Castle? You sure it was gift and not present or package or something?"

The writer shook his head.

"I remember Bridget saying that she stole the gift and that Jeremy was going to kill her if he found out."

"Given that Jimmy the Cane was a fence, maybe the gift was something that was stolen? Five years ago?" Ryan suggested.

Montgomery nodded.

"It's worth looking into. Start with that; look for old art or jewelry thefts that fit the timeline."

"Just here?"

"Start here and work your way around the rest of the country."

"Yes, sir."

"What can I do?" Castle asked, as Esposito and Ryan both headed for their computers.

"You have a doctor's appointment in my office," the captain told him. They all looked that direction, and Beckett and Castle saw that Gerald Cutter was watching them through the window of the office.

"When did he get here?" Castle asked, waving at his friend without lifting his arm too high.

"He came up the elevator with me."

"That's some seriously good service," Beckett said. "We only called him on our way in."

"That's what he said," Montgomery told them. "He has reason to get Castle healthy, though. We're playing in a round robin next week and if Castle can't lift his arms, he's not going to be much good."

Beckett smiled at that, and walked with the two men over to Montgomery's office. Cutter smiled at her, first, and offered her his hand and another of those amazingly warm smiles.

"Good morning, Detective. You look lovely today."

"Thank you," she said, feeling just a little warm at the compliment – although it was almost certainly the smile. The man exuded charm and sex appeal. Add to that the way she woke up that morning and she was just a little off kilter enough to fall for at least some of it. "Do you guys want me to leave you alone for this?"

"Not at all," Cutter told her. "You've been with Rick more than anyone else, so you'll be the one to tell me how he's been doing."

"I can tell you," Castle pointed out.

"Except that you might lie to me, and I doubt Kate here would." Another charming smile. "You did say I could call you Kate, right?"

"Sure."

"I'll leave you to it," Montgomery told them. Besides, he wanted coffee.

As soon as the door was shut, Cutter had Castle sit on the edge of Montgomery's desk so he could check his stitches. He asked several questions which Castle answered as well as Beckett would have, and then he had Castle open his shirt so he could check the rest of the bruises.

"How are your shoulders?"

"They hurt," the writer admitted.

"Yeah, they will for a while. Unfortunately, there isn't much we can do beyond painkillers."

Castle shook his head.

"They don't hurt that much."

"What's with the splotch on your neck?" Cutter asked, frowning. He reached out to touch it and looked at his finger. "Makeup?"

Castle shrugged.

"I had Beckett hid a couple of bruises. You know, so it wouldn't look so bad."

The doctor frowned.

"I don't remember you having any bruises there."

"I did. I do."

The doctor raised an eyebrow, and looked at Kate, who looked everywhere but at the two of them.

"Okay…"

"I need to be able to get my head wet, Gerald," Castle said, changing the subject. "My hair needs washed."

"You can't get it wet until the stitches come out. At least a few more days." He reached into the black bag he'd brought with him and pulled out a bottle. "I figured you'd need this."

Castle looked at it and found it to be some shampoo that apparently didn't require water – or even rinsing out. He'd never heard of any such thing, but Beckett had. She took it from him and nodded.

"That should work."

"How's the memory, Rick?" Cutter asked.

"It's still full of holes," Castle told him. "I'm having some dreams…"

"You will. It's your subconscious trying to help you remember. If it's getting too bad, let me know and we can get you something to help you sleep. You look tired." He looked at Beckett. "And so do you, my dear," he chided. "Are you having trouble sleeping, too?"

Beckett shook her head.

"I'm fine."

"I'm a doctor, you know…" Cutter reminded her, reaching out and touching her forehead with the back of his hand. "I'll tell Roy to let you have the afternoon off and maybe you can go home and take a nap or something. Let Rick take care of you for a change."

"I can do that," Castle agreed. He thought she looked tired, too.

"I don't need to take a nap," Beckett disagreed. "I'm-"

"Going to get sick if you don't get enough sleep," he interrupted, and now he was not as much charming as he was doctor worried about someone not taking care of themselves.

"You might as well do what he says," Castle told her. "He'll just tell Montgomery who will tell you to take the day off. If you don't force the issue, we can still be in the loop if the guys come up with something…"

Beckett scowled, but she finally nodded.

"Fine."

"Good. Any questions? Concerns?"

Both of them shook their heads.

"Thanks, Gerald."

"Don't thank me until you see my bill, Rick," the doctor told him with a grin. He left, then, and they watched him head toward the break room and Montgomery.

"What now?"

"We go see if Ryan and Esposito found anything – before Montgomery decides to give me the day off."