Creepy, sure, but when you're in the business of writing wrongs, obscure gifts tend to come with the territory. Castle guesses that's true of what Beckett does, too: spend your days with stiffs and you start to become acclimated to toe-tags instead of toenail polish.

His thumb rounds the curve of the bottle in his hand. 'Clearer reflection of himself in the brown glass. "When you told me about your mom," he says. "And how reading me helped get you through what happened."