Castle (2009–2016): Season 2, Episode 19 - Wrapped Up in Death - 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 would 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.

(Siren wailing)

♪

(man shouts indistinctly)

(Horn honks, brakes squeal)

Sorry. Sorry. I'm sorry.
What the hell is wrong with you?!

Can't you see
I'm driving here?

♪

(gravel rustles)

♪

(gravel rustles)

(Squish)

Hmm. Initial impact size
is...

14 inches.

What are you doing?

We're studying

the practical application
of science at school.

I'm focusing on forensics,

specifically the physics
of spatter patterns.

Oh.
What's wrong?

Well, we usually do all your
science projects together.

You remember
the volcano we made,

the flatulent robot?

Ew. I'm sorry, dad.

I just got excited about it...

(Camera beeps, shutter clicks)
And you weren't here.

Oh, that's okay. I can help you finish.
Yeah--

(cell phone rings)

(Ring)

Beckett?
(Beep)

Yeah. Um...

I can stay home.

Go ahead. I'll be fine
without you. (Grunts) Ooh.

.5...

Severe concussion...

(Camera shutter clicking)

I guess I don't have to ask
about cause of death.

He's not even my first death
by fallen object this month.

Two weeks ago,
an investment banker

took a frozen sausage
to the head

from a tenth-floor window ledge.

Well, it's a pretty old building.
Maybe it just fell.

Maybe it got
a little help from someone.

There's markings
here on the stone.

What, a chisel?
Or a crowbar.

I found marks up on
the parapet as well.

I got C.S.U. dusting it
for prints.

That's a long way to go
for a murder.

Who'd want to drop
a gargoyle on someone?

Well, someone who wants to
make it look like an accident.

He'd have to make sure our
victim stood there long enough.

Had someone tampered with
the front door lock

when you guys arrived?
Give that man a prize.

Yeah, we had to pop the lock
to get in the building.

Super says our victim's name
is Will Medina.

He's got an apartment
up on four,

and guess who's got
the keys.

I do.

(Police radio chatter)

This place looks like
a museum.

Well, that's because Mr. Medina
was the associate curator...
(Ryan speaking indistinctly)

at the New York
History Mseum.

Well,
that would explain this.

and I thought
a 100-inch flat screen

would be the ultimate
bachelor accessory.

Well, he wasn't
a total bachelor.

What makes you think that?

The... second toothbrush
in the bathroom.

The scented candle on the tub.
The pair of high heels under his bed,

all suggesting
that he was in a casual

but steady relationship.

Hmm.

Nicely played.

However I do think
you misjudged the relationship

only slightly.

"Eat, pray, love."

Judging from the condition,

I'd say she's read it
more than once,

meaning that she's a woman
on the other side

of a search for identity--
a romantic,

someone who wouldn't
be satisfied

with just
a casual relationship.

And who's to say that
that book isn't his?

Oh, I love that book.
Neighbor on two

says the front door worked
just fine at 7:00.

(Beckett) Which means
that the killer must have

tampered with it after then.
(Esposito) Beckett, calendar.

Check out today's date.

(Beckett) "C.T. 5:30.
1127 Avenue of the Americas."

5:30. That's two hours
before the murder.

(Ryan) It's
an office building downtown.

Let's check it out
after we finish our sweep.
Okay.

You know, we might want to
swing down by the museum,

see if any of his colleagues
can shed some light

on who might want to drop
a gargoyle on Mr. Medina's head.

Either you're being
a good cop,

or you just want to go
to the museum.

They have dinosaurs there.

(Laughs) Let's go.

Oh, man. I love this place!

When Alexis was little,

used to come here
every Sunday.

We would run around here
for hours

pretding like we were
on safari in Africa

or looking for dinosaurs
in China.

You know, Castle, sometimes
I forget that you have

such a capacity for
pure innocence in your life.

Yeah. Plus, it was
a great place to pick up chicks.

And then you open your mouth
and you ruin it.

Hi. I need to speak
with someone about Will Medina.

I just can't believe
Will's dead.

Dr. Raynes, how long did you
and Mr. Medina know each other?

Two years.
The first thing I did

when I got the job
as museum curator

was to hire him away from
the U.S. Geographic Institute

to lead
the Kan-Xul expedition.

Kan-Xul?
The legendary Mayan king.

What you see here represents
the single most important

archeological find
in Mayan history--

his burial chamber--where he
was entombed with a dozen

of his mummified slaves.

So kind of like a Mayan King Tut?
Exactly.

You know, the exhibit opens
in less than a month.

I-I can't imagine having to
do it without Will.

He's the one
that discovered the site.

When was the last time
you saw Mr. Medina?

4:30 today.

And how well did
the two of you know each other?

Why?
I'm gonna have to contact
his next of kin.

His parents are both dead,

and I believe
he was an only child.

And what about
his girlfriend?

Last I heard,
he was single.

(Dramatic music playing)

(Lightning crackles)

(Music continues)

(Rumbling)

(Birds squawking)

(Music continues)

(Squawking continues)

(Click)

(Motor whirring)

(Dramatic music plays)

(Music stops)
(Coughs and spits)

What are you doing?! This
mummy's over 2,000 years old.

(Motor whirs)
Exposure to air
in an unfiltered environment

could be catastrophic.
Sorry. I-I didn't--
I didn't know. This--

Rachel. It's okay.
He's with the police.
(Glass shatters)

Rachel Walters is
our mummification expert.

She worked with Will.
Did something happen to him?

Uh...

He was killed
earlier tonight.

That--that's not possible.

Were the two of you close?
Only professionally.

Stanford--
it doesn't mean anything.

It's just
a terrible accident.

Actually, we believe
he was murdered.

(Man) It wasn't murder.

It was the curse.

Detective Beckett,
Mr. Castle,

Rupert Bentley,
our co-financier...

Pleasure.
Of the expedition.

I'm sorry,
did you say "curse"?

Tell them, Stanford.

Tell them what was written

at the entrance
to the burial chamber.

"All who gaze on the face
of the Mayan king

shall be struck down
by his wrath."

Mayan king?
This Mayan king?

That very one.
They all looked inside,

and they're all dead.
There were other incidents?

All easily explainable.

One of our grad students,
Nicole Graham,

was mauled to death by a Jaguar
outside the dig site.

And Professor Fisher
died of dengue fever.

Which is common
in that region,

as are curses
written above grave sites.

It's how they kept people
from robbing them

for thousands of years.
Well, I can assure you

that whatever killed
Mr. Medina was very human.

Do you know if he had
any enemies?

Will was passionate.

Nothing could stop him
from getting what he wanted.

It's what made him
such a great archeologist,

but it also rubbed some people
the wrong way.

What do you mean?
The indigenous Mayans
he worked with

claimed that he tricked them
into revealing

the location
of the burial site.

He'd received death threats.
And how do you know that?

I'd received one, too.

It's written in ancient Mayan.

This is just like the one that
we found in Medina's apartment.

What does it say?

"Death awaits
the robber of graves."

♪ Castle 2x19 ♪
Wrapped Up in Death
Original Air Date on April 5, 2010

Great. Thanks.
That was the lab.

They didn't find
any fingerprints

on either one
of the death threats,

which means all we've got
to go on is the postmark.

So we're looking for
an angry Mayan

who mailed a death threat from
Spanish Harlem three days ago.

How tough can that be?

Well, I called
the Mexican Embassy

and asked them

to put their feelers out to
the indigenous rights community.

You never know. You might
get a decent tip.

You know, this guy Medina--

when he was a grad student,
he walked into the Amazon

with nothing but a backpack
and some satellite images.

He walked out a month later
with the golden head of Yax Pac.

This guy is like Indiana Jones,
but with space-age technology.

Ooh! Which would've been
such a better movie than that last one.

(Ryan) Hey, Beckett.

Hey, did you guys get lucky
with the mysterious "C.T."?

Eight people
with the initials C.T.

work out of
1127 Avenue of the Americas.

None of 'em
have heard of Medina.

(Ryan) And there's a coffee shop
on the ground floor.

Maybe he met C.T. there,

but none of the waitresses
recognized Medina's photograph.

Anything on the girlfriend?
No one from the museum

can even verify that
Medina had a girlfriend.

And that second set of prints
that we found at his apartment

doesn't match anything
in our system.

So far this case
is nothing but dead ends.

Mm. You know why?
Why?

Because Castle's cursed.

You had to tell them,
did you?

Yes. Yes, I did.

Well, gentlemen,
you'll be happy to know,

I don't believe in curses.

Seriously, bro,

I saw a special on tv.

Bunch of the guys
who found King Tut's tomb

ended up dying
under weird circumstances.

Yes, and there's
an explanation for that.

Evidence shows that some toxins
were released

when they opened
the sarcophagus.

Well, didn't you say that
that mummy smelled kinda funny?

Well, yes, but there was--

and you did gaze upon
the face of the mummy?

You guys, there is no curse.

Ow. (Lips smack)
Paper cut.

Mm-hmm.

Yes, the curse
gave me a paper cut.

These things start small.
Then they snowball.

Mm.
Yep.

My abuela always said...

(Speaks Spanish)
(Ryan) Mm-hmm.

Bad luck
always comes in threes.

Threes, like celebrities.
They always die in threes.

(Lips smack) I'm living
in the dark ages here.

Why don't you guys
check with Lanie

and see if
she found anything, okay?
(Esposito) Mm-hmm.

Medina's cell phone.
It was in his jacket pocket.

I doubt gargoyle attack
is covered under his warranty.

Get it--phone, warranty?

I'll have tech
pull the SIM card.

Speaking of gargoyles,
we found trace amounts

of a substance
by the chisel markings.

It was probably on the killer's
clothes and was transferred

to the statue
when he pushed it over.

What is it?

The lab says they've never
seen anything like it.

It's a mixture
of mostly organic compounds,

including trace amounts
of pollen.

Medina's apartment's
not far from the park.

Maybe our killer cut through
there on his way to do the deed.

Nice idea, but this pollen is from
a particular kind of calabash

that only grows in the lowlands
of the Yucatán Peninsula

where the dig site was.
Oh, it gets better.

We found trace amounts
of the same pollen

on both death threats.

There's a good chance,

whoever sent this
is your killer.

And it's unlikely

he would still have
trace amounts of pollen on him

unless he had been
in the Yucatán

sometime in the last few days.

(Beckett)
Uh, yes, we'll hold.

Why is this taking so long?

How many Mayans
from the Yucatán lowlands

could possibly have flown
into the New York area

in the last few days?
T.S.A. computers are down.

Oh. Well,
that's reassuring.

You know, Castle, this Kan-Xul
was no joke. Legend has,

he personally conducted
hundreds of human sacrifices.

You know why his burial chamber
was so hard to find, right?

Because his own people buried it
so that he couldn't

come back from the grave
and get them.

Yes, yes, yes. Scary mummy,
I get it. Thank you.

(Metal clanks and thuds)

You okay?

(Whispers) Yeah, yeah.
It's an old chair, that's all.

Just, uh, keep telling yourself that.
(Groans)

Yes.

Okay. Uh, great. Could you
fax it over right away?

Thanks.

T.S.A. reports that
a Mayan named Cacaw Te

arrived in J.F.K. four days ago
on a tourist visa.

Cacaw Te? Cacaw Te?
C.T.!

His visa application puts
his home address

right in the middle
of our pollen zone.
(Fax machine beeps)

I'm guessing that guy was not
class clown in High School.

This is a local address.
Let's go get him.

(Ryan) Ooh, can I drive?
(Esposito) No.

Can we call you Mr. T.?

It's Te. Cacaw Te.

(Beckett) You've got
quite a résumé, Mr. Te.

According to
the Mexican Embassy,

you were arrested in 2007 for
assaulting a group of tourists.

They were trespassing
on sacred Mayan soil.

You sent two of them
to the hospital.

Things got out of hand, but that's not
why I'm here, is it?

Sending death threats through
the U.S. mail is a felony.

Oh, and so is murder, or as your
ancestors like to call it,

human sacrifice.

I don't know
what you're talkin' about.

Does this jog your memory?

(Sighs) Medina refused to see me
when I went to the museum.

I sent that because he
left me no other choice.

And he needed to be told

that the museum
must return the artifacts

that they stole
from my people.

Those items weren't stolen.

Your government made a deal
with the museum.

But not with us.
The Mayans are not a dead race.

There are seven million of us
in Mexico and Central America-

the direct descendants
of Kan-Xul.

His remains and all that was
buried with him belong to us.

Is that why you sent
the death threat to Medina?

It wasn't a threat.
It was a reminder

of the fate that awaited him

if he did not return
what he stole.

Where were you last night
between 7:00 and 8:00?

I didn't kill him.
I didn't need to.

Because all who suffer
from the mummy's curse

are doomed to die.

(Ryan) Hey, Beckett.

Looks like Cacaw Te
isn't our C.T. after all.

He was uptown meeting with
a Telemundo reporter

about the, uh, injustice
of the exhibit at 5:30.

He didn't finish
until after 8:00.

Well, what about the pollen?
Turns out the area where
the expedition was camped

would've been covered
with the stuff.

Lanie says it's a safe bet

that there's traces of it
all over the exhibit.

Okay, but let's hold him
on the death threats.

I got a feeling he knows
more than he's letting on.

Contents of Medina's phone.

There was nothing interesting in
the call list or the calendar.

But we hit the girlfriend
jackpot with the photos.

He's sleeping with a mummy?

Ye--what? No.

Oh, sorry. You have to flip
to the last one.

Bam.

That's Rachel Walters.

No one at the museum knew
they were seeing each other?

Maybe she's got
something to hide.

Like murder?

It started
after we got back from Mexico.

Why did you lie
to everyone?

I didn't want
to get fired.

Why would Stanford
fire you?

Because he and Will
hated each other.

Why?

Stanford blamed Will
for Nicole's death.

The girl who was killed
in Mexico?

Stanford put Will in charge
of all the grad students.

He wanted Will to teach them

how to survive in
such a hostile environment.

When Nicole died,
Stanford was devastated.

He felt Will
had betrayed his trust,

letting her go alone
into the jungle at night.

And ever since we got back,

Stanford's been trying to
get rid of Will, but he can't,

because Will's the one who
discovered the burial chamber.

Do you think he would've gone
as far as murder

to get rid of Will?

Stanford told me

that Will is the one that
should've died that night,

not Nicole.

The fact that Will and I
didn't get along

doesn't mean I killed him.
Not getting along with someone
is a lot different

than blaming him
for a girl's death.

You thought he should've done
a better job watching over her.

No, I thought
he shouldn't be

sneaking into the jungle
to have sex with her.

That's why she was out there
the night she died.

Only Will stood her up,
and she paid the price.

And how do you know this?

I caught them together
two days before she died.

I told him to break it off--
he was her boss--

but he refused.

That girl
had a bright future.

And his carelessness
took it from her.

Where were you
when Medina was killed?

Right here, working.

You can check with security,
ask the staff.

I'm basically living here
until the exhibit launches.

Great. Then we'll know

where to find you in case
your alibi doesn't check out.

Thank you.

What happened to Will
wasn't the curse.

It was karma.

Do you believe that people
get what they deserve?

Well, if they do,
then I must have done

something pretty terrible
to be punished with you.

Funny.

Mr. Castle, Detective.

Seen our new ad campaign?

"Do you dare see...

The mummy
of the Mayan king."

Tasteful.

Come on, Detective. You gotta
give people what they want.

They are eating the curse up.

Ever since the story broke,

ticket presales
have jumped 20%. (Laughs)

Yeah, but what about when
people come and see the mummy

and then they get hit by a car
or slip on a banana peel?

Then they're gonna Sue you.
I have to make a call.

Okay. Thanks, Bill.

Hey, did you get
a confirmation

on Stanford's and Rachel's
alibis?

Museum security
has them both logged in,

but I haven't been able
to find anyone

who could definitively state
that Stanford or Rachel

were there during the hour
it would've taken to kill Will

and get back to the museum.

Yo. I think
I found something.

Turns out our victim deposited
10 grand into his bank account

four days
before he was killed.

Where'd he get
that kind of money?

Unknown, but he withdrew
the same amount

the morning he died.
$10,000 in, $10,000 out.

Sounds like
he's laundering money to me.

Okay, you guys
check with the bank

first thing in the morning.

Let's see where that money came from.
(Loud bang)

(Dish shatters,
screams indistinctly)
(Esposito) Ow!

Ow!
(Steam hisses)

What happened?

I don't know. I was
just gonna make a coffee,

and... the cappuccino machine
started shaking.

And just as I hit the deck,
it exploded.

You could've been killed.
I know!

(Cappuccino machine squeals)
Mm.

(Snickers)

(Esposito giggles)

(Ryan, Beckett and Esposito
stifling laughter)

Oh, very--okay.
Very funny.

Yes, you got me.

Ooh. I'm Castle.
I don't believe in curses.

(Ryan, Beckett
and Esposito laugh)

What, did you get bomb disposal
to rig something up?

Yeah, it was all flash
and no damage.

And the chair?

I just pulled a couple of screws
and let gravity do the rest.

Night, Castle. (Laughs)
(Laughs)

(Snickers and laughs)

I'm not cleaning this up!

(Cup piece clatters)

I better clean this up.

That was so mean.
Oh, I knew the whole time.

Oh, sure you did.
You know, there are some mysteries

that science can't explain,

like Stonehenge
and Déjà Vu.

And some curses are real,
like the scottish play.

Oh, here we go.

There's no one more
superstitious than an actor.

(Sighs)
The "scottish play"? Are you
talking about "Macbeth"?

No, darling.
You never say the name.

"MacBeth."
No. (Spits)

To do so...

Is to invite grave misfortune.
No, I am serious.

You know, I didn't--
I didn't know it at the time--

I was in
my High School drama class,

I said the name,
I wasn't thinking.

For the next two days,
nothing went right.

I mean, lady MacBeth
twisted her ankle,

the three witches
caught pneumonia.

Finally the director said,

"all right, this is
what you have to do."

I had to run around

the outside of the theater
building counterclockwise,

knock on the door
till someone let me in. Mm-hmm.

Well, I'd love
to stand around

and tell scary stories all day
'cause I'm really good at it...
(Alexis laughs)

But I have a date
with a murder investigation.
Mm.

It's lucky your father
doesn't believe in the curse.

Why?
Because he's going into
a building...

(Whispers) Full of guns.
I heard that.

Hey, guys. What'd you
find out at Medina's bank?

Well, it turns out the deposit

and the withdrawal
were both made in cash.

The bank manager remembers
the withdrawal

because he had to
personally authorize it.

The bank manager
was pretty sure

Medina with somebody
at the time,

so he pulled
the surveillance video,

revealing this shining example
of thuggery.

Any idea who he is?

Do you wanna? You sure?
No, bro, you caught it.
Yeah, it's yours. Go ahead.

You know, whenever you guys
are done being cute.

(Clears throat
and makes beeping sounds)

No, he didn't.
(Esposito) Yeah, he did.

Aruba is nice
this time of year.

Meet Mr. Norton Grimes.

He recently had the privilege
of doing two years

for drug trafficking
at Franklin correctional.

That's what the money was for.
Mexico is cocaine central.

What better way to sneak drugs
into the country

other than inside
an archeological shipment?

Medina was in bed with a
drug trafficker, got him killed.

You know, there's
a current address here.

What's say we go see if he's awake?
Let's do it.

Come on, Castle. Let's go.
Can I drive?

Are you kidding?
You're cursed.
(Laughs)

I got two uniforms
posted out in back

in case he decides
to rabbit.

Castle, you sure you don't
want to stay in the car?

We don't want
the curse to get you.

I'm good to go.

(Beckett) Okay. Ready?

(Exhales deeply)
(Whispers) Go.

NYPD.

(Beckett) Norton Grimes.
Police. Show me your hands.

(Dog growling)
(Ryan) Dog!

(Esposito) Castle.
(Castle) Nice doggy.
Good doggy.

Castle, look o!
Ah! He got me! He got me!

(Beckett) Castle, run!
Aah!

Oh!
(Growling and barking)

(Growling and barking continue)

Right this way, Mr. Grimes.
I could've been killed.

(Singsong voice)
But you weren't.

(Normal voice) Look,
you go through enough doors,

at some point, you're gonna
find a dog on the other side.

Yes, but it didn't happen
at some point, did it?

It happened today...
(Cell phone ringing)

Right after I gazed into
the face of the mummy.

Okay, I admit that the timing
was a little troublesome,

but I promise you,
there is no curse.

Beckett. Oh, hey.
(Lowered voice) It's Lanie.

(Normal voice) Okay.

Right.

Well,
what does that mean?

What?
Are you sure?

What?
Thanks.

(Cell phone beeps)
What? What'd she say?

Nothing.
That was not nothing.

Okay. Fine.

The lab identified the substance
found on the gargoyle,

and it was a combination
of sodium nitrate, iron oxide,

decomposed hemp fibers
and... (Mumbles) Tissue.

I'm s--I'm sorry. What?

Ancient human tissue.

Mummified tissue?

Like mummy flesh?

Which means at some point,

our killer came into contact
with the mummies

and somehow transferred
the substance

onto his or her clothing
before killing Medina.

Or maybe...

The mummy himself
has risen from the grave

and is roaming New York
seeking vengeance.

I'm kidding.

Sort of.

You know, if Medina was
trafficking drugs for Grimes

through the sarcophagus,

then maybe Grimes got
the substance on himself

when he went to get
the drugs out.

(Wolf whistles)

(Police radio chatter)

You mind flying solo
on this one

while I head home
and change my clothes?

I think I can manage.

Hey, Castle.

Watch out for the mummy.

Really?

Dog attack? Icing on the cake.

Yeah, it was sort of like
a little bonus, wasn't it?

You had to mess with the curse,
didn't you? Trying to be funny.

You know what kind of hell
I'd catch if Castle got eaten

in the line of duty?

Don't tell me you really
believe in that stuff, sir.

You know what I believe in,
Detective? There's no upside

in screwing with things
that you can't explain.

First year of homicide, right,
my partner tackles a suspect

through the window
of a gypsy smoke shop.

Owner's furious, threatens
all kinds of hexes on our houses

if we don't personally go
and clean it up,

and we tell her, "yeah,
take it up with the city."

Two hours later, my partner
drops dead--heart attack.

And you think
it was the hexes?

No. The man ate bacon
with every meal.
(Snickers)

But the next morning,
I went over there,

fixed that window,
and you know why?

(Both)
Because there's no upside

in screwing with things
you can't explain?

And don't you ever
forget it.

Okay.

You know, if our boy Grimes
saw the face of the mummy,

it's likely he's cursed, too.

Yeah, well, I'd rather suffer
a thousand curses

than go up against Beckett
in the box.

Lady, you got the wrong guy.

I dropped outta the drug game
after I left the joint.

That's funny,

because I've got
surveillance photos

showing you taking $10,000
in cash from Will Medina

the day
that he was murdered.

And given your rap sheet,

I don't think
it would be too difficult

to convince a jury
that you were involved.

Okay, okay, hold on.

I didn't murder anyone, and I
don't smuggle drugs anymore.

I used my connections
to get a new gig--

antiquities.

Really?

And why would Will Medina

be buying antiquities
from you?

Hmm. Not buying. Selling.

I met him at a museum
fund-raiser last year.

I gave him my card. I told him
I'm always interested

in rare items
that may need a new home.

He gave me a call
a few weeks later.

He said he had
a box of Incan arrowheads

that had just been sitting
on a shelf since the 1940s.

I found him a buyer, and we
made a nice a little profit.

And what were you buying
this time?

A mummy.
A mummy?

Who would want a mummy?

A collector in Taipei.
So I stop by the museum.

You know,
I thought he would say no.

But he jumped
at the opportunity.

Didn't he ever think that somebody
would notice this missing mummy?

He said all the attention
was being paid

to the mummy of the Mayan king,
not to slave girl number six.

She was destined for the storage
room in the basement.

So it'd be years before
anyone went looking for her.

At which point,
her disappearance,

it could never
be linked to him.

And this $10,000
was a down payment?

Of a quarter-million-dollar
payout.

But then you showed up
and you took it back. Why?

My client changed their mind.

Guess they didn't like
the mummy.

Why not?

I don't know.
All I know is,

they sent someone down to
the museum to take a look.

Who did he send?

I have no idea. I swear.

Whatever they told him
turned my client off.

Maybe the mummy
was too short.

Maybe it didn't have
enough teeth.

These private collectors,
they're very particular.

They want
exactly what they want

and nothing else.

Selling mummies? How stupid
does he think we are?

I know. The drug story is
a hell of a lot more plausible.

But it just doesn't seem
to be Medina's style.

There's one way to find out.

Take samples from
this mummy's sarcophagus.

If it tests positive for drugs,
Grimes is lying

and most likely our murderer.
Great. Thanks.

(Footsteps approach)

Hey.
What are you doing home?

Facing my mortality.

All this curse stuff
has got me thinking--

if something were
to happen to me,

you'd take good care
of Alexis, right?

Oh, of course.

Better than you took care
of me?

Oh, please.
You turned out fine.

Look, look, look, the chances
of this curse being real

are almost nonexistent.
You know that.

Maybe.

What kind of father
would I be if I didn't do

everything I could
to make sure I stick around?

Well, then I think
maybe we should try

to figure out a way to, uh,
reverse the curse--

you know,
the mummy equivalent

of my running around
the theater.

Someone at the museum
must know that.

You have become very wise
in your old age.

(Sighs) Watch it, Buster.

No, I'm afraid there's nothing
in the literature

about reversing the curse.
(Sighs) Hey.

Castle.
What are you doing here?

Oh, nothing.
Just waiting for you.
Huh.

Detectives, are you here

to talk about reversing
the curse as well?

No, I'm here to see
a man about a mummy.

So no luck
with the curse, huh?

Look on the bright side,
Castle.

You die,
your book sales skyrocket.

Great..What did Beckett mean,
"see a man about a mummy"?

Which mummy?
The one Grimes said
Medina was trying to sell.

Fill me in.
Spare no detail.

Well, in some ancient cultures,
instead of burying--
fast-forward a little bit.

Detective, this is a significant
archeological find.

You can't just walk in here
and open it up.

I've got a warrant
that says otherwise.

This is preposterous.
Tell that to the drug dealer in my lockup

who was doing business
with your associate curator.

Please. I just have to reiterate
how fragile these mummies are.

They should only be handled
in a controlled environment.

Don't worry. It's just
a simple swab test.

I promise.
I won't damage anything.

(Motor whirring)

(Whirring stops)

Oh, my God. It's gone.

I'm not saying
I believe...

But where's the mummy?

(Siren whoops,
camera shutter clicks)

(Esposito)
C.S.U. field test shows

that there's no drug residue
inside the sarcophagus.

And all the other mummies
are accounted for.

No drugs in them either.
Well, if it wasn't the drugs,

then what's so special
about the missing mummy

(Castle) Well, maybe Grimes
was telling the truth.

Maybe Medina was trying
to sell it.

And then when Grimes
wouldn't buy it,

he sold it to someone else?

Except that one of
the researchers swears

it was in its sarcophagus
the day after Medina was killed.

Well, that could only mean
one thing.

Please don't say that it's walking
among us seeking revenge.

Okay. Don't say
I didn't warn you.

This place is gigantic.

They have over 30 million
specimens down here.

We got a canine unit
coming in to help,

but finding this mummy might be
like finding the lost ark.

If it is even still here.
All right, have C.S.U.
Sweep the area,

and see if they can get any
prints off of the sarcophagus.

Whoever stole the mummy must
have left some evidence behind.

Disaster!
P.R. Disaster!

I only hope the press
doesn't hear about this.

10 bucks says
he calls the press

just as soon as we're out
the front door.

Hey, you don't think he could've
orchestrated this whole thing

just to generate interest
in the exhibit, do you?

Murdered Medina just to
boost ticket sales? No.

That would make this
"Scooby-Doo," and I'm not Velma.

Velma? Are you kidding?
You're Daphne.

You're hot, smart
but not aggressively brainy

with long legs, short skirt--
stop.

Fine.
Now.

Got it.

No. He didn't know anything
about how to reverse the curse.

But I've decided, it's okay.
I was just overreacting.

It's like you said, the chances
of there actually being a curse

are--are virtually nonexistent.
(Motor stops)

(Elevator rattles)

(Clattering)

That was weird.
The elevator just stopped.

(Cell phone line clicks)

Mother?

Okay.

No reason to panic.

(Electricity powers down)

Small reason to panic.

(Emergency lights click)

Hello?

(Creaking)

(Laughs)

There is no curse.
There is no curse.

There is no curse.

(Clattering)

What do I do? What do I do
if the elevator falls?

Okay. I, um, I think I'm
supposed to jump in the air?

No! Lay on the ground.
(Thuds)

(Elevator bell dings)

(Beckett) Castle?

What are you doing?

(Mutters) That was--
that whole thing--

then the light--the light,
and then the whole thing went--

I thought--I thought
the elevator was gonna fall.

That wasn't you, was it?
Because that wasn't funny.

No, no. I'm not that cruel.
It's an old elevator.

You know what? Let's get
maintenance up here

and tell 'em not to let anyone
on here before it's fixed.

Are you okay?
Yeah. No. Yeah. I'm--I'm--

I'm gonna splash
some w-water on my face

and then...
Throw up a little bit.

(Creaks)

(Beckett) Rogue archeologists,
Mayan death threats

drug dealers claiming
to deal in antiquities

and missing mummies?

There's gotta be a story that
makes all of this make sense.

(Indistinct conversations)

What?

(Whispers) Nothing.

Castle.
If something
were to happen to me,

I want you to watch out
for Alexis.

She looks up to you,

and if her boyfriends
get frisky,

you can shoot them.

Nothing's gonna happen
to you.

But if it does...

Okay.

And would you also
go into my closet

and get rid of my porn
collection before she finds it?

Don't worry, bro.
I got you covered on that.

We hit a home run

with the prints
from the sarcophagus.

One popped
that doesn't belong

to anyone
who works at the museum.

But according to
the background check,

he does work
at 1127 Avenue of the Americas--

the address on Medina's calendar.
At a company called Bio inc.

And here is the best part--
his name is Charles Taylor.

(Beckett and Castle) C.T.?

Spoke to the guy
two days ago,

and he insisted
he'd never met Medina.

Lied right to my face.

No, no. I didn't lie. I swear to
you, I don't know Will Medina.

You didn't see him
two days ago at 5:30?

No. You got the wrong guy.
But you admit

that you were in the basement
of the New York History Museum.

No.

Charles, we have your
fingerprints on a sarcophagus.

So you can either start
telling us the truth now

or after spending an afternoon
in the holding cell

entertaining a meth addict
through the violent phase

of his withdrawal.

I might have been down there.

When?
(Sighs)

Okay. Holding cell it is.

Five days ago.

And Medina?

Look, I heard he was dead.

I didn't want to get
mixed up in that.

I-I was only sent there
to check out the mummy.

The mummy?

Yeah. I was sent by a private
collector to examine it.

(Lowered voice) Grimes was
telling the truth.

Medina was trying
to sell the mummy.

This is getting good.

This collector,
where is he from?

Taipei. I've done
testing for him before--

uh, uh, hominid skulls,
a mammoth tusk.

He asked me
to carbon date them,

wanted me to make sure
it was real.

And was it?

It's complicated.
We'll try and keep up.

As soon as an organism dies,
it stops taking in new carbon.

Specifically,
we focus on carbon 14,

which starts to decay
in the body as soon as it dies,

and by examining the rate
of decay, we can actually date

the age of the dead organism
with incredible accuracy.

When I tested the mummy, I took
samples from the sarcophagus

the cloth the mummy was wrapped
in and a small piece of bone,

and then I ran them through
a mass spectrometer and...

That's when things got weird.

Define "weird."

The samples from
the sarcophagus and the cloth

dated at over 2,000 years old,

but the piece of bone...
Was too young to date,

meaning that it was
less than 500 years old.

How much less?
I have no idea.

500 years is as low
as the test goes.

Are you saying that the mummy
Medina was trying to sell

was a fake?

Well, all I know is that
there was a discrepancy

and I called him
and I told him that,

and he didn't believe me.

He insisted on coming
to the office to see me...

The night that he died.

Beckett.

Uniforms
just found your mummy.

Where?
In a dark corner
of the museum basement.

Someone was doing their best to
make sure it was never found.

Medina's buyer
rejected the mummy

because it wasn't real.

And then when Medina started
asking questions, he was killed.

And now someone's trying
to make it disappear?

I think we need to take
a closer look at that mummy.

(Lanie) Your carbon dater
was right.

This girl's body is definitely
less than 500-years dead.

How much less?

She died four months ago.
If she's been dead for four months,

why does she look
just like the other mummies?

Because whoever mummified her
knew what they were doing.

Her blood's been drained,
there's an incision

on her left side, which her
killer used to remove her organs

before starting
the desiccation process.

How did she die?

Blunt force trauma. Someone
hit her in the back of the head.

She never saw it coming.

And then do you have
any idea who she is?

No, and I was unable to get
a usable fingerprint.

We don't need them.

She died four months ago.

I know exactly who this is.

Dental records confirm

that the body is Nicole Graham,
the first victim of the curse.

I thought this girl was killed
by an animal in the jungle.

Turns out they never
actually found the body.

Just her bloody clothes
and a piece of scalp.

It seemed obvious to the Mexican
authorities what had happened.

Instead somebody killed her
and turned her into a mummy?

Hell of a way
to get rid of a body--

hide it in plain sight, ship it
out with the other artifacts.

And no one would've ever
found out

if Medina hadn't decided
to sell the wrong mummy.

When the collector refused it,
Medina must have decided

to take a closer look.
And then that suspicion
must have tipped off our killer,

who had to murder Medina in
order to keep the secret safe.

It makes sense,
but who's our killer?

The only person with the skill
to mummify a body.

What's going on?

Four words--

eat, pray, love, kill.

Little friendly advice--

next time you kill someone,
skip the part

where you prove only you
could've covered it up.

Kill someone?
What are you talking about?

We're talking about
Nicole Graham.

You killed her in Mexico,

and then you mummified her body
in order to cover it up.

What? No, Nicole was killed
in a Jaguar attack.

Except they never found her body.
But we did.

And so did Medina when he discovered
the discrepancy in the carbon dating.

And that's when you knew
that you had to kill him.

That's insane.

What happened, Rachel?

Did you find her in the jungle
making time with your man?

A little "Girls Gone Wild"
jealousy turned deadly?

No, Nicole and I
were friends.

And whoever told you she was
sleeping with Will was lying.

Sure, she had a crush on him.
Okay? We all did.

But she backed off
when she realized

that Will
was interested in me.

But Stanford...

Stanford.

Stanford was the one
who was jealous.

Ask any of the women
down there.

He had a thing for Nicole ever
since she joined the program.

You'd always see him
standing around watching her.

It was creepy.
You were the expert, Rachel.

You were the only one
who knew how to do it.

No, I wasn't.

Everything I know
about mummification,

I learned
from Stanford Raynes.

Look, Detective, mummifying
a body is hands-on process.

I promise you,

whoever did that to Nicole
left behind some D.N.A.

I'm happy to provide
a sample.

Why don't you see if Stanford
wants to do the same?

(Beckett) Stanford Raynes.

Yes.

You're under arrest for
the murder of Nicole Graham.

And don't forget Will Medina.
You had to kill him, too,

when you caught him
sniffing around her mummy.

Only way to protect your secret.
You can't be serious.

Serious enough to get
a warrant for your D.N.A.

This is the part
where you say,

"and I would've gotten away
with it, too,

if it weren't
for you meddling kids."

(Gasps)

(Panting)

Is he actually...
Running away?

Yeah,
it's primal instinct--

fight or flight.

Should we run after him?

Eh, no need.

(Pants)

(Grunts)

(Panting)

(Grunts) Oh! Ohh!

(Rumbles and thuds)

(Footsteps approach)

(Stanford groans)

Ohh. Oh.

(Stanford) Ohh.

Still say
there's no curse?

(Stanford moans) Ohh.

Ruh-roh.

(Castle) Once Stanford
got out of surgery,

he confessed to everything--

how he lured Nicole
into the burial chamber

and how they fought when she
refused to celebrate with him.

So what happened to the mummy
he swapped for Nicole's body?

The body was so fragile
that all Stanford had to do

was strip off the wrapping
and stomp it into dust.

And then he rewrapped
Nicole's body,

stuffed it in the sarcophagus,
sealed it up tight,

and by the time it got
to the U.S. months later,

mummification process
was complete.

And when Stanford decided
to kill Medina,

he just used
one of the pry bars

from the museum
to tip the gargoyle

and hoped that Medina's death
would be blamed on the curse.

Three members
of the expedition dead,

one on the way to jail--sounds
like the curse is real to me.

Speaking of which...

(Beckett)
I have a deal to propose.

I spoke to the D.A.,

and he's agreed to drop
the felony threat charges

based on your cooperation.

What kind of cooperation?

Tell him how to reverse
the curse.

Why should I?

Because thanks to us,
Mr. Bentley has agreed

to send the entire collection

back to the Mexican Museum
after the exhibit ends.

And why would he agree
to that?

Well, let's just say
he's got

a little public relations
problem right now,

and he could use all
the good publicity he can get.

(Whispering indistinctly)

That's all I have to do?

Mm-hmm.

And one more thing.
Hmm?

I wouldn't say no
to a ride to the airport.

Let's go.

(Whistling)

You're in a good mood.

The curse has officially
been lifted.

How'd you manage that?
You don't want to know.

(Laughs)
But I tempted fate
all the way home

just to make sure.
Jaywalking?

Mm-hmm.
Even walked under a ladder.

What murderous experiments are
you performing on tomatoes now--

stabbing, filleting?
Dicing for a salad.

Want to help?

I would love to.

So I was thinking,
maybe this weekend

we could go to the museum.

It's been a while.

Yeah.

How about the zoo?

That sounds great.

Thank you.
(Squishes)

What's the difference
between cursed and clumsy?

I'll get a band-aid.

(Strained voice) Get two.