Castle (2009–2016): Season 2, Episode 14 - The Third Man - full transcript

There are two kinds of folks

who sit around thinking
about how to kill people:

Psychopaths and mystery writers.

I'm the kind that pays better.
Who am I?

I'm Rick Castle.

Castle. Castle.

I really am ruggedly handsome,
aren't I?

Every writer needs inspiration
and I found mine.

Detective Kate Beckett.

Beckett. Beckett.

- "Nikki Heat"?
- The character he's basing on you.

And thanks to my friendship
with the mayor,

I get to be on her case.

I'd be happy to let you spank me.

And together we catch killers.

We make a pretty good team,
you know.

Like Starsky and Hutch.
Turner and Hooch.

You do remind me a little of Hooch.

Excuse me, baby. Oh, boy!

Home sweet home.

Can we get Midnight
from the kennel now?

We'll get him as
soon as we're settled, okay?

I'm hungry.

Let Mommy get situated, then
I'll make you a bowl of hot cereal, okay?

- Okay.
Come here.

Honey, you said you were gonna
wash the dishes before we left.

Didn't you make the bed
before we left?

Someone's been sleeping in our bed?

Someone's been sleeping
in my bed, too, and he's still there!

What? Baby, go wait in our room.

Is he asleep?

Oh, ho! Yeah!
That's what I'm talking about!

Darling, must you talk so loud?
Some of us are still waking up.

What's all the excitement about?

Only The New York Ledger's annual
10 Most Eligible Bachelors list,

and guess who's on it?

- Who?
- I don't know,

but he must be the president
of the Really-Good-Looking Club.

Huh! Ranked number nine.
Weren't you number seven last year?

Yes, and thank you for pointing out
my shortcomings once again, Mother.

That's my job.

Nothing. It's the secret dream
of every 16-year-old

to have their father crowned one
of the most available hotties of the year.

Well, according to this,
your father may not be on the market.

- You didn't read the blurb here?
- Mmm-mmm.

"Though claiming to be single,
Richard Castle is rumored

"to be romantically involved
with NYPD Detective Kate Beckett. "

- What?
- "The inspiration for Nikki Heat,

"the heroine of his latest
best-selling novel.

"Bachelor number nine
may not be eligible for next year's list. "

- Where did they get that?
- Let me see.

I didn't say anything like that
in my interview.

Detective Beckett
is not going to love this.

Well, maybe she'll just laugh it off.

How is it, for a man
who is surrounded by women,

that you know so little about us?

Speak of the devil.
Okay, either Beckett's calling

because there's a dead body,
or because she read the article.

Pray for murder.

Good morning.

Dead body, I'm good.

No one else had access
to you home, not even your maid?

No. Nothing.
Nobody like that? Okay.

Okay. Okay. Thank you.

And your daughter... Your daughter's
school, they knew about...

They knew about you guys
going out of town?

- What?
- What, what?

So, what've we got?

Your guess is as good as mine.
John Doe. No ID.

Approximate time of death is between
9:00 last night and 1:00 this morning.

The family found him
after returning from vacation.

Apparently, he made himself
quite at home.

How so?

Well, we found his food in the fridge,
toiletries in the bathroom,

even some of his clothes in the dryer.

A real-life Goldilocks.

Mmm-hmm. It looks as though
he even slept in the parents' bed.

Well, of course. That one was too hard,

and Baby Bear's bed was just right.

- Looks like he struggled.
- Unsuccessfully. Here, you see that?

It's a needle mark from a syringe.

Probably was injected with something
that stopped his heart.

I'll run toxicology.

As soon as I can pinpoint a COD,
I'll give you a call.

- Great, thank you.
Mmm-hmm.

Hey.

You know who kills with syringes?
Mad doctors and B-movie Nazis.

- Why not just use a gun?
- Guns are loud.

I've seen squatters in abandoned
buildings, but nothing like this.

And then someone sneaks in
and kills him with a needle. Weird.

- How're the Dysons doing?
- Mom and Dad are pretty shaken up.

Little girl doesn't really know
what's going on.

Did anyone know
they were leaving town?

Just people from work,
daughter's school, stuff like that.

- We're running them down.
- Hey, check this out.

Dysons found this in the kitchen.
Said it's not theirs.

This is here.
Yeah. Weird, huh?

Why would he take pictures?

So he could put everything back
the way he found it.

He was hoping nobody would know
that he was here.

Almost as though he was hiding.

All right, have a tech
pull the memory card.

See if any of the deleted photos
can tell us who he is.

- Ooh! She's gonna kill him.
- He's dead.

So, Castle, is it true?
You finally off the market?

Guys, seriously, if you breathe a word
of this, I swear I will make you...

Montgomery's up to speed.

Anything back from the Dysons'
workplace or the kid's school?

I ran background checks
on everyone

who knew the family
was gonna be out of town.

So far, everyone's come back clean,
but I'm gonna keep digging.

- Anything on the canvass?
Whole lot of nothing.

No doorman in the building.

None of the Dysons' neighbors
noticed anything out of the ordinary.

Shocker.
I've lived in my spot eight years,

I couldn't pick my neighbors
out of a lineup.

Well, that's Manhattan
for you.

Nobody notices anything
unless it affects them directly.

- Unless it's in the paper.
- Excuse me. Beckett.

Great. Okay, good.
Got a hit off of John Doe's fingerprints.

Douglass Bishop. He's in the system.

Douglass Bishop.
Arrested once, 10 years ago.

Misdemeanor, drunk and disorderly.

Charges were dropped.
Besides that, he's clean.

All right, find the next of kin.
After they ID the body,

maybe they can tell us what the hell
he was doing in that apartment.

I got the results
back from the lab.

He was injected with an anesthetic,
ketamine.

Special K?
He was killed by a club drug?

Not in this dose.

Whoever shot up Mr. Bishop
was not looking to get him high.

Gave him enough to put down a horse.

The victim's sister is here.

I'm Detective Beckett.
Thank you so much for coming down.

Is that him? Is that Doug?

That's what we'll need you to verify.

None of this makes any sense.

I mean, why would Doug be living
in these people's apartment?

He's got his own place out in Hoboken.

Is it possible that your brother
was in trouble?

- That he was hiding from someone?
- No, everybody loved Doug.

Did he owe anybody money,
or have any financial problems?

Not that I know of.

I mean, his hours at the travel agency
got cut back,

- but he was getting by.
Travel agency?

Maybe that's how
he knew the Dysons were out of town.

But if he were in trouble
he would've raided his scuba fund.

Yeah. He was always saying that
someday when his ship came in,

he was gonna get himself
a little scuba shop down in Jamaica.

Doug was saving up for it.

He would put a portion of his paycheck
in an account every month.

When was the last time
you saw your brother?

Not since the holiday party.

Doug's agency threw it
out by the airport,

which is where Stan works,
so we all went.

You just never think something
like this is gonna happen,

so you don't make time.

It's okay.

Okay, thank you.

That was the travel agency.

If Doug was hiding from someone,
he wasn't doing a very good job.

Apparently, he hasn't missed a day
of work until yesterday.

What about the Dysons' trip?

They booked it
through a different agency.

- The scuba fund?
- Didn't touch it.

So, he wasn't in hiding,
he didn't owe anybody any money,

and he had no discernible way

of knowing when
the Dysons would be out of town.

Hey, Beckett. The geeks managed
to pull the deleted photos

from our squatter's memory card.

Care to take a look?

Stuff on counters, inside cabinets.

That's not the Dysons' place.

He's done this before,
but in other apartments.

Maybe he does it for the thrill.

Maybe someone found out
and got mad.

Yeah, but he'd still have to know
when they were away.

Unless Doug Bishop isn't our squatter.

That's definitely not Doug Bishop.

Who is he?

He's probably our killer.

What kind of psychopath takes pictures
of himself and his murder weapons?

Some killers keep trophies.

In his defense,
he did delete these photos.

.45 with a silencer.

- I wonder what he had lined up for this.
- Nothing good.

Has CSU pulled the prints
off of the camera and personal effects?

Yeah, they don't match Doug Bishop
and they're not in the system.

Which means
he doesn't have a record.

Well, if Doug wasn't our squatter,

what was he doing
in the Dysons' apartment?

He had to have known
the squatter somehow.

If this squatter was so meticulous
about putting things back,

why'd he leave all this for us to find?

You're right. It makes no sense.

What? No grand theatrical theory
to spin for us?

Honestly, I got nothing.

More importantly,
we don't have any prints or leads.

- How are we gonna catch a ghost?
- By finding out how he haunts.

If we can figure out how the squatter
knew his marks were out of town,

find something that connects him
to the other places that he's stayed,

then maybe we can
narrow down the field.

We'll keep going through these.
With any luck, we'll find something

that can tell us
whose apartments these are.

Okay, great. Thank you.

Hey.

- Hey.
- What are you doing?

Looking to see
who won the game last night.

We won.

Do you even know what game
I'm talking about?

Sure I do. The big game.

Okay, Castle. What's going on?

Yo, Beckett. Check this out.

He took a picture of the inside
of someone's medicine cabinet.

You can almost make out the name
on these prescription bottles.

Have IS take a look at it.
See if they can enhance the photo.

Oh, God!
He went through my medicine cabinet?

Please tell me
he didn't go through my diary.

We're not sure, Ms. Langford.
Are you sure you don't recognize him?

Yeah, I'm positive.

And you don't know the Dysons?

No. The only person that knew
I was even out of town was my mother.

Everyone else thought
I was on sick leave.

You won't tell my boss that, will you?

Did you notice anything unusual
when you returned?

- Oh, that totally explains it.
What?

My faucet.

For weeks I've been asking my super to
fix my leaky faucet, but he never came.

And then when I got back, it was fixed,
so I just assumed that he finally did it.

But then later
when I saw him on the stairs,

he didn't even know
what I was talking about.

The squatter fixed your sink?

Yeah. And there was this bottle of,

like, weird strawberry champagne
in the fridge.

And I just assumed
that one of my friends had left it

during a dinner party I had before I left.

But none of my friends
would have bought such a...

- Cheap bottle of booze.
- Exactly.

So, he makes repairs,
leaves hostess gifts.

He's the Gentleman Squatter.

Who killed a man, so don't make him
out to be the houseguest of the year.

Thank you for coming in, Ms. Langford.

By the way, that photo in the paper
did you no justice.

- You're much better looking in person.
- There's a picture of you in the paper?

So, are you the detective girlfriend?

- I'm sorry, the what?
- He is such a catch.

Don't.

Show me, now.

- Romantically involved?
- Rumored to be.

- What did you tell them?
- Nothing! Why would I do that?

Do you have any idea
what this does to my reputation?

Your reputation?
What about my reputation?

I am just as upset as you are.
I'm on your team!

This is shoddy journalism,
and I am two seconds away

from canceling my subscription!
My subscription.

Do you have any idea how hard it is
to be a female cop?

The last thing I need is for you
to give them more ammo to...

- Yes, The New York Ledger, please.
- What are you doing?

Langford said that the only person
who knew she was on vacation

was her mother, but that's not true.

If she was actually pretending
to be sick,

the last thing she'd want is newspapers
piling up at her front door.

She had the papers held.

Yes, your subscription department,
please.

Anyone with access
to vacation-hold information

would know exactly who was out
of town, and for exactly how long.

Yes, I would like to verify
vacation-hold information

on two of your subscribers, please.

Who am I? I'm...

I sometimes forget
I'm not actually a cop.

I don't.

Hi, this is Detective Kate Beckett
with the NYPD.

I'd like to speak with your supervisor,
please.

I can't really say he looks familiar,
but you gotta understand,

we have hundreds of employees.

Well, how many of them had access
to vacation-hold information?

Well, you got about a dozen
in subscriptions,

another handful in billing,

and of course
the newspaper boys themselves.

I'm gonna need
to see a list of their names.

Sure, follow me.

Donna?

Richard, what are you doing here?

You're not mad
about number nine, are you?

I told my editor to keep you at seven.

No, no, it's not that.
I don't care about that, much.

It's... I just... Why did you say
I was dating Detective Beckett?

Oh, well, I just assumed. You kept
bringing her up during the interview.

- No, I didn't.
- Sure you did.

You went on and on about her.

"Beckett said the funniest this,
she's the best that. "

Really? I did that?

Last year, all you did
was talk about yourself.

Well, Donna, I am very, very single.

Really? Because if you aren't involved,
Bachelorette Number Three

asked about you this morning.
Did you see her?

No.

Or are you one of those people
who never goes below the fold?

I go below the fold, it's just, lately,

I've been very busy with
my second Nikki Heat novel and I...

- Oh, my God.
- Mmm-hmm.

Amanda Livingston.

So, do you want her number?
'Cause she wants yours.

Hey, we got a match.
Mickey Carlson, delivery boy.

Both the Dysons and Michele Langford
are on his route.

Delivery boy, knew it.

Anyway, he didn't show this morning,
another carrier had to cover.

You know, there's no address
on this application.

Do you have one on file?

No, he never gave us one.
And now I know why.

Says there that payday is tomorrow.

Does Mickey
do direct deposit or does...

Or pick up his own check?
Like clockwork.

Payroll comes in at 10:00
in the morning, Mickey's here at 10:01.

A delivery boy with a silencer
and syringes full of ketamine?

His job's just a front
for whatever business he's really in.

Here's a list of all the vacation-holds
on his route.

He could be squatting
at any one of them.

He's armed, so make sure your teams
use extreme caution.

Castle and I will set up at the paper,
in case he shows.

If he's out there, we'll find him.

It's ironic, you know. People put in
vacation-holds to avoid break-ins.

Good use of irony.

- So, who's your friend at the paper?
- Oh, Donna Vincennes?

She's the one who
wrote the blurb about us.

- There is no us.
- I know that.

Did you tell her that?

Yes, I did. Which worked out, actually,
really well for me.

As it turns out, Most
Eligible Bachelorette Numero Tres,

very interested in meeting me.

Once the infotainers
get a hold of her with me,

they're gonna forget
all about you and I.

I can just see the headlines now,
"Nine meets Three at dinner for two. "

Believe it or not,
there's a lot of women in this town

who like the idea of being
romantically linked to me.

I have no life.

No, Mr. Bishop has no life.
That's why he's on my table.

- I need a date.
- What?

A date, a guy, a man.

You're always trying to set me up
with people, so here I am.

I'm game. What do you got?

Okay, what's gotten into you?

I get so wrapped up in work. All I want
to do is go home where it's quiet.

And I'm so tired of quiet, I want loud.

Okay.
I have the perfect prescription for you.

- A bradekker?
- No, no, baby. That's Brad Dekker.

That firefighter
I wanted to set you up with.

Is he cute?

He was Mr. July in last year's
New York Firefighter's calendar.

- July, huh?
- Mmm-hmm.

They always put the really hot ones
in the summer months.

Exactly.

Well, then, shall we say around 8:00?
All right. Me, too.

Good night, Amanda.

- Sorry I missed dinner.
- There's quiche, if you're hungry.

Sweet, or savory, actually.
So, how was your day?

I had a truly great day.

I got pulled out of class and called
to the vice-principal's office.

- Why? What did she want?
- You. Here's her number.

- Her number?
- Oh!

And my German teacher,
Fr?ulein Sonnenberg

wanted me to tell you,
auf Deutsch, "Du hast Sexappeal. "

She's two years from ordering
off the senior menu,

but here's her number, too.

Fr?ulein Sonnenberg?

Too old? That's okay, 'cause my friend
Sloan thinks you're real choice.

She is 17,
but she'll be legal in three months.

Hey, maybe we could double?

Oh? You hate me a little bit right now,
don't you?

Just a little. What'd Beckett say?

Oh! I'm sure she'll be fine with it.
Maybe even a little flattered.

Flattered.

I was just gonna eat that.

10:15. Maybe he's a no-show.

Patience, Castle.
Hey, have you ever heard of Drago?

Yeah, it's on The Ledger's
Top 10 Most Romantic Restaurants.

It's pricey,
and impossible to get a table.

Unless you know someone. Why?

- Just looking for a place to go.
- What? Like on a date?

Yes, on a date.
Why do you sound so surprised?

No, I just never figured you
for a Drago kind of girl.

Really? What kind of a girl
do you figure me for, Castle?

Oh! There's your boy.

Mickey Carlson? I'm... Hey! Hey!

Mickey Carlson, you're under arrest
for the murder of Douglass Bishop.

This is the ketamine
that you used to kill Doug Bishop.

No, no, no. That's not mine.

Pretty smart, not using the gun, Mickey.
That would have been too messy.

That's not my gun.
Look, I didn't kill anybody, I swear.

I'm not a criminal, all right?
I was just squatting there.

Well, technically, squatting is a crime.

Yeah, a victimless crime,
especially the way I do it.

If you didn't kill Doug Bishop,

then how did he end up dead
in the Dysons' apartment?

Guy from the Maitlans' apartment
must've killed him.

And who are the Maitlans?

People whose apartment I stayed in
before the Dysons'.

Okay, why don't you start
from the beginning

and take us through it from there.

Maitlans put a week hold on their
paper, which I was psyched about,

because they live on East 27th,
which has amazing Indian restaurants.

So, I pick the lock,
I start taking pictures,

so I can return everything
to its original state.

So, I'm taking pictures
when I find these syringes on the table.

Kind of weird, but I'm thinking

maybe one of the Maitlans must be
diabetic or something, right?

So, I keep going,
and then, bam, it hits me.

What's a gun with a silencer
doing out on the bed?

And next to it, I see all this gear.

- Gear?
- Mountain climbing equipment.

At this point, I'd seen enough.
I decide to get out of there.

But just as I'm grabbing my stuff,
I hear the door unlock,

and I barely reach the closet in time.

I could see them through the slats.
There was three of them.

Was this guy, a plain-looking dude,
and a tough-looking SOB, man,

he had a scar on his face,
looked like a crescent moon!

A crescent moon?

I know, right? It's crazy.
Anyway, they head into the back,

I take the opportunity to grab my stuff
and get the hell out of there.

I end up at the Dysons'.

Take a load off, I get comfortable,
when out of nowhere,

the front door opens
and him and his friend come in.

- Who, Crescent Moon Scarface?
- No, the other guy, the plain one.

They grab me and demand
that I give them their phone back!

- Their phone?
- Are you making this up as you go?

No, no, no. See, in my race
to get out of the Maitlans',

I must've grabbed one of their jackets
which had their phone in it.

But I don't know how they knew.

Newer phones have GPS,

- they can track it on the web.
- Huh?

Well, I didn't want their phone,
and I tried to give it back.

The guy pulls out a syringe
and is ready to stab me with it,

but thank God for Doug. Oh, man!

Doug says,
"I didn't sign up for murder. "

Then they start arguing.
And then the syringe guy says,

"We've got three mil on the line,
he's seen too much. "

Next thing I know, they're fighting,
so I ran out of there.

I'm just saying it's a really good story.

Come on, mysterious bad guys,

crescent-shaped scars,
hiding in a closet...

It sounds like fiction,
because it probably is.

That's too bad. He's a nice guy.

So was Jeffrey Dahmer.
Didn't stop him from eating people.

- Where are we on these Maitlans?
- They're on a cruise ship.

We're getting the ship's security
to track them down right now.

All right, have them track faster.

I need their permission
to get into the place.

Can't we just get a warrant?

On the word of a possible murder
suspect? Not exactly probable cause.

But once we disprove
Mr. Carlson's story,

we'll be able to
press charges for murder.

Beckett.

Oh, hi, Brad, I...

No, no, no, no, it's not too last minute.

Actually, my plans for tonight
just fell through.

- Who's Brad?
- Hmm.

- Must be Lanie's friend.
- You know him?

Yeah, met him once.
Good guy, fireman.

Was in the FDNY calendar.
Chiseled good looks, rock hard abs.

And get this, once during a fire,
after saving the parents and the kids,

he went back in for the puppies.

- See you then.
- Did she just flip her hair?

I'm telling you, bro, puppies.
Gets them every time.

Puppies.

Yes, Mr. Maitlan?
- What?

- You're smiling.
Great. Thank you very much

- for your cooperation.
- So?

Goodbye. Hey.

We got the Maitlans.
We're good to enter.

- They're calling the super right now.
- Okay, let's go.

Stay out here, please, sir.

- We'll check the back.
- Okay.

Well, surprise, surprise.

Nothing here to verify Mickey's version.

Oh, wow! Look at this.

Did you find something?

Yeah, it's an old-fashioned dumbwaiter.
You don't see these around anymore.

Genius, too.
The Maitlans have converted it

into a hidden stereo
component cupboard.

I bet they have
an RF remote somewhere.

We're not here
to admire the place, Castle.

How can you not?
I mean, look at this place.

This apartment is pre-war, late 1800s.

Oh, you see this molding.

That is the original wood, gorgeous.

I bet the bathrooms
have marble wainscoting.

You're such a metrosexual.

Yes, well, better than being
a pin-up boy.

So you heard? And it's pin-up man,
Castle. Pin-up man.

Yes, well, have fun
with your hose-jockey

whilst I go out with Nueva York's most
eligible bachelorette number three.

I guess that means
she must be slumming it.

Her being number three
and you being a lowly number nine.

- What number were you again?
- Oh!

Place is clear.

No gun, no ketamine,
no mountain climbing equipment.

There is nothing here.

Yes, there is.
An icebox, circa late 1800s.

You see, before the invention
of modern household refrigeration,

people used to keep
their perishable items

in a box that held ice,
hence an icebox.

It's not an open house, Castle.

Oh, the Maitlans were very clever.

They converted this into a cupboard,
meanwhile, it's right next to their fridge.

I did not expect that.

Crescent-shaped scar.

Looks like there was some truth
to Mickey's tale after all.

His name is Anton Francis.

Mr. Francis here, not wanting to waste
such a sinister looking scar,

decided to round out the stereotype
with a laundry list of criminal activity,

including fencing stolen property,
stick-ups and a smash and grab.

Do we have a time of death?

Yes, between 1:00 and 4:00 a. m.
This morning,

which rules out Mickey Carlson.

We've verified that he stayed
in a homeless shelter last night.

So if Mickey was telling us the truth,

then Doug and Mr. Francis clearly
got more than they bargained for.

All by the murderous hand
of their partner,

the guy who killed Doug
with the syringe,

our mysterious Third Man.

Let's get photos of all of Anton's
known associates and former cellmates.

If Mickey saw his face,
he should be able to ID him for us.

So how does a man
like Douglass Bishop,

with no criminal record,
get involved with hardened criminals?

Simple. They needed him.

It seemed convenient to me
that the Maitlans were out of town

when all this went down,
so I did some digging.

Turns out, that cruise they're on?
They won it in a contest.

Only, there is no contest.

A phony award letter?

Yeah, when they got that and the tickets

they figured
why look a gift horse in the mouth?

So, guess where the tickets
came from.

Doug Bishop's travel agency.

So, the cruise was just a scam
to get the Maitlans out of town.

The letter says that the cruise
had to be this week.

- Why this week?
- And why the Maitlans?

Well, unless our bad guys
are into pre-war architecture,

there's really nothing in that apartment
that's worth anything,

except for the audiolvisual equipment,
which was still there.

Why go through so much trouble
to get in the Maitlans' apartment?

Maybe what they wanted
wasn't in the Maitlans' apartment.

Maybe they were going to rob
someone else, but just needed access.

The audiolvisual equipment.

Access.

The Maitlans live on the second floor.

Running perpendicular to them
and whatever is below

is the old dumbwaiter shaft.

In Gathering Storm, I had Derrick Storm
climb up the dumbwaiter shaft

to bypass the Czech assassin

in order to save
the Swiss ambassador's daughter.

Maybe our bad guys
are using the dumbwaiter

to bypass the security
of whatever's below them.

Which would explain the ropes
and the climbing gear.

So what's below
the Maitlans' apartment?

A pet shop.

Why don't you come get it?

I have the largest selection of reptiles
in the city. They're my specialty.

Okay, thank you, bye-bye.

Hi, how is it? Can I help you?

- And you're sure nothing was stolen?
- Yeah, I mean, what is there to steal?

This dumbwaiter's
been opened recently.

It was open?

Mickey told us his attacker said
there was millions at stake.

Mr. Du Preez,
what's on the other side of that wall?

28th Street. Eastside Bank and Trust.

A bank heist?

It looks like the plan
was to cut into the back wall

to get into the bank vault
on the other side.

We called the bank manager, the FBI,
but our guys never made it that far.

What went wrong?

We don't know.
It could have been greed, panic.

It looks like our victims might have
been betrayed by their partner.

In the old days, you killed your partners
after you got the money.

Any leads on this Third Man?

No. We had our squatter
take a look at mug shots

of Anton Francis' associates
and we didn't find him.

What if the connection to
the Third Man isn't through Scarface,

what if it's through Doug?

The travel agent?
I thought we went through him.

We did. We checked his family,
his friends, his co-workers.

But not his clients.
Think about it, maybe that's it.

The Third Man books a trip
through Doug.

Doug starts talking,

tells him about his dream
of owning a scuba shop in the islands.

The Third Man senses his frustration,
that's his in. He tells Doug it'll be easy.

It's a victimless crime,
nobody will get hurt, insurance will pay.

Knowing the whole time
if the police investigate,

they'll track the tickets
back through to Doug, not to him.

The Third Man remains invisible
so long as Doug is dead.

That almost makes sense.

Let's run Doug's client list
for the past six months.

If anything pops,
we'll show it to Mickey.

Okay.

You know,
maybe I should cancel tonight.

You're gonna cancel on the guy that
risked his life for a bunch of puppies?

Sir, you know about my date?

Yes, and despite what you might think,
the world is not going to end

just because you disappear for a night.

And if it does,
I'm sure that those two can handle it.

Yeah.
- Yeah, go ahead.

Yeah, I need the overtime.

- Okay, but call me if anything turns up.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, have fun.

You see how ready she was
to cancel on that date?

- What's it to you, Castle?
- Yeah, why do you care?

I'm just saying. Look out, there's a...

- Neither of those.
- Hmm?

Look.

Oh, you're good.

Hey, I know that this
can be weird for you,

how parents aren't supposed to date.

I know you date, Dad.
I know you probably do other things

that I'm not going to think about
and will never, ever mention.

Fair enough. So, what's wrong?

I don't know.
I mean, I'm not gonna be here forever.

And then who's going to look
after you then?

Bachelorette Number Three?

Slow down there. Let's not go buying
rings anytime soon. It's just a date.

I know. And she seems nice and all.

But if that's who you date, I mean,
are you really going to find happiness

with the kind of person
who's a number on a list?

I already have.
You're number one on mine.

Look, it's my job to worry about you,
not the other way around.

I'll be fine.

Yeah, that's what you said
when you tried to deep-fry a turkey,

and we all know how that turned out.
I just don't want you to get hurt.

Or burn your eyebrows off again.

- I'm glad they grew back.
- They're finally matching.

Heard this place
was impossible to get into.

- Excuse me.
- Ricky!

Frankie! Come here.

- Nice to see you again.
- And you.

Your table will be ready momentarily.

Castle?

Beckett?

I take it you two know each other?

Yeah. Brad, this is Richard Castle.
We work together.

Amanda, this is Kate Beckett.
We work together.

Hi. Nice to meet you.

What are you doing here?
You knew that I was coming here.

I knew you wanted to come here.

I didn't think you could
get a table last-minute.

You got a table last-minute.

- Yeah, I've got connections.
- So do I. City health inspector.

Wow! Nice abuse of power.

So, Richard, you a cop, too?

No, he's a novelist who's been
shadowing me on my murder cases.

Oh, I do a little more than shadowing.

Your table is ready.

So, you two working a homicide?

A double homicide. It's actually a rather
tricky case because the killer is...

I like to call him the Third Man.

Very mysterious.
Sounds like one of your books.

Yeah, it kind of does.

Anyway, he and his two partners...

...were going to rob a bank.

Only he turned on the other two
and killed them

before they even finished the job.

I mean,
it doesn't even make any sense,

since usually you'd wait
until you got the money

before you double-crossed
your partners.

I mean, they didn't even
have the right equipment to rob a bank.

Well, I'm sure
you'll figure it out, eventually.

You know, speaking of great mysteries,

I saw an incredible play off-Broadway
the other night.

I just wish I could figure out what
they were doing with the ketamine.

Maybe it had something to do
with the pet store.

You gonna eat that?

Just, it's not like there was
really anything to steal there.

Unless the pet store was just a front
for something else.

Waiter, can I have another glass
of wine, please?

In which case,
the owner might have been lying

when he said that nothing was stolen.

Do you want to have sex with me later?

I'm sorry, would you mind
if I made a telephone call?

- Nah.
- Thanks.

Um...

Bathrooms are out by the front, right?
Pardon me.

Have you got something?

I was just having Ryan and Esposito
run something down for me.

- The pet shop?
- Yes! How did you know?

I was thinking the exact same thing,
it's probably a front for something.

Okay, so they're going to dig up
everything they can on the owner.

It could be that he's hiding something.

Right. Well,
I should get back to this date.

- How's yours going?
- Great. Yours?

Fantastic. Well, I'll see you.

Pheasant is amazing.

- Sorry, that's the station.
- Yeah, go ahead.

- Would you pardon me?
- Bathroom again?

So, what'd they find out?

Yo, we ran the pet shop owner,
Noel du Preez?

- He came up clean.
- Really?

What about in the past couple of days?
Anything unusual?

Day before yesterday,
customs has him taking possession

of half a dozen African Gray Parrots,
four baboon spiders

and two black-tailed pythons,
all from South Africa.

Wait a minute, did you say
black-tailed pythons from South Africa?

Yeah, why?

Because black-tailed pythons,
also known as Indian rock pythons,

are not indigenous to that area.

Why would they be coming
from Africa?

Why do you care
about some motherfreaking snakes

on a motherfreaking plane?

Because as a murder mystery novelist,
I am highly paid to think like a bad guy.

Here are a few fun facts about snakes,
they are cold-blooded,

they swallow huge amounts
and they digest their food very slowly.

Perfect for smuggling.

And it wouldn't be
the first time.

If these snakes are coming in
from South Africa,

there are two things in abundance
in South Africa,

racial hatred and diamonds.

Smuggling diamonds in live snakes.

Mickey's attacker said
that there were millions at stake.

And the dumbwaiter
goes right down into the pet store.

That's why the Maitlans' trip
had to be this week.

They knew the shipment
was coming in.

- And then the ketamine...
- Was to dope the snakes,

so they could take them up the shaft
without a fight.

- And then when we came to the store...
- The owner couldn't say a word,

otherwise he'd implicate himself
in smuggling.

- So, we find out who robbed him.
- We find the Third Man.

Do they know they're finishing
each other's sentences?

Have uniforms pick up the owner,
we'll meet you at the store.

Hi, is this seat taken?

- My name's Brad.
What should we tell them?

This is going to be awkward.

They'll be okay.

Is the owner in custody?

Wife said he was here working late.
Place looks closed.

Okay, Castle, hold my purse.
Follow me.

Ready? Let's go.

Room all clear.
Here, too.

Whoa!

NYPD!

Drop the weapon!

Get down! Down!

Hey, you okay?

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Takes a lot more than that to scare me.

What about a big hairy spider
on your shoulder?

Yeah, that would do it.

I didn't know you were the police!
I have a right to defend my store.

Defend from who, Mr. Du Preez?

According to customs, you took
possession of two black-tailed pythons.

Which is not a crime.

No, but black-tailed pythons
are indigenous to India,

so why ship them in from South Africa?

My suppliers are there. There is
nothing illegal about my business.

Then where are the snakes?

They weren't in the store,

and we didn't find any invoices
indicating that they were sold.

You know what we did find?

A color grader, a UV Lamp,
and a karat weight scale.

All tools of the diamond trade.
So what happened, Mr. Du Preez?

Because we think someone
broke into your store,

came down the dumbwaiter shaft
and stole your shipment of diamonds.

Now that's your problem.

My problem is that
they left two bodies behind.

Okay. Fine. You don't want to
implicate yourself, I get it.

So, I'm simply going to ask,
who knew about the shipment?

Come on, Mr. Du Preez.

Don't you want us to find them?
Who knew? Who did you tell?

- I told no one.
- Mr. Du Preez...

I picked up my cargo
at the airport personally,

and I locked them in my office.

The next day, they were gone.

Do you recognize
either of these men?

No. I've never seen any of them
in my life. It's the truth.

Robbing a smuggler.
It's almost a perfect crime.

And the victim can't go to the police
without admitting his own crime.

Someone knew that shipment
was coming in.

Someone had it planned.
Where are we on Doug's client list?

We ran every client Doug ever had
and we got nada.

Just to be thorough, we showed
their DMV photos to Mickey.

None of them were
our mysterious Third Man.

It had to be someone Du Preez
would never expect.

Someone connected to his pet store
in some capacity.

An old employee, perhaps.

He would have to have known
the shipment was coming in.

Yeah, someone who knew
his timetable.

Maybe someone Du Preez
had sent to the airport previously

to pick up a shipment.

- Out to the airport.
- What was that?

Run all of the paperwork
from Du Preez's last shipment.

Customs, Fish and Wildlife,
the shipping company, everything.

I want to know who knew what
and when.

You think someone at the airport
caught on to Du Preez's smuggling?

Decided to rob him
instead of report him?

Not only that, I think I know who.

Mr. And Mrs. Kopek,
thank you for coming in so late. Please.

Sorry it took so long.
Stan was at work when you called.

Oh, right. You said that the last time
that you saw your brother

was at the agency's party
around where Stan works.

That's right.

Could you refresh my memory,
Mr. Kopek. Where is it that you work?

It's late. Could you just please
tell us what you found out?

Well, I didn't really
put everything together

until I remembered your wife's story
about the party. At the airport.

What's this?

It's a customs form, Mr. Kopek,
authorizing the release of cargo

to a Mr. Noel Du Preez, signed by you.

Yeah, so I work for customs.
What's the big deal?

- What's going on, Stan?
- I have no idea.

Sure you do. When you realized
what Mr. Du Preez was doing,

smuggling diamonds,
you said to yourself,

"Why should I give him up
to those ungrateful bastards?

- "Why not just take care of it myself?"
Stan...

Then all you needed to do
was pull the import permits

from Fish and Wildlife to determine
when the next shipment would be.

But you needed someone with
connections to fencing stolen goods.

And so you contacted Anton Francis,
a con man

and an old high school buddy
who'd been in and out of jail for years.

The easy score was money to his ears.

But you needed to get the Maitlans
out of town for a couple of days first.

And that's when
your brother-in-law, Doug, came in.

What did you do, Stan?

Did you play on his dreams?

Tell him he could finally afford
that scuba shop he always wanted?

- Stan, what did you do?
- Nothing. Nothing. I don't know...

Mrs. Kopek,
your husband killed your brother.

- That's...
- Stan!

Hon, they're lying! That's ridiculous!

We have a witness, Mr. Kopek.
The squatter you tried to kill

identified you from a photo array
less than an hour ago.

- Oh, God.
- No. No. It was...

It wasn't supposed to
happen like this.

No one was supposed to get hurt.

Doug, he just... He wouldn't listen.
I didn't mean...

Anton, he came after me.
That was self-defense. I'm not a killer.

We have two bodies
that prove otherwise.

It just got out of hand.
Things just spun out of control.

- Get him away from me.
- Honey, it's...

On your feet.

I did it for us. It was all for us, baby.

And you guys thought
I made the whole thing up.

I believed you the whole time.

So, what happens to me now?
I go back to the holding cell?

Or am I headed to The Tombs?

Neither. For your cooperation
in the apprehension of Stan Kopek,

the ADA has agreed to a deal.
Five years probation for all your sins.

No jail time?

You have a shot at a second chance,
Mickey.

Don't blow it.

I won't. Hey, thanks
for everything. Really, thank you.

All right.

Oh, man, I can't wait to go home,
and just slip into a warm bath and...

- I...
- Don't. Please? Don't.

I was just going to say I'm starving.

We left the restaurant before
I had a chance to finish my entree.

Yeah, well, it wouldn't have mattered
if you did. The portions there were tiny.

You know, Remy's is open all night.
They've got those burgers.

Oh, and those shakes.

- Oh, why not?
- Mmm.

So, how did your date go?

She was kind of boring.
Didn't talk much.

Mr. July?

- A little self-absorbed.
- Looked it.

- Really?
- I can tell.

Some people just don't know
how to behave on a date.

- Especially on a first date.
- Exactly.