Castle (2009–2016): Season 2, Episode 23 - Overkill - full transcript

CASTLE: 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.

(SCREAMING)

"Her scream pierced the air,

"falling only on the deaf ears
of the dead."

- Really?
- A little too over-the-top?

I think you've been writing too long

not to know that it's "l"
before "E" except after "C."

- Ever heard of spell-check?
- Yes, of course.

She's got red hair,
she's wise beyond her years,

and she's about to tell her dad
what she thinks

of the latest chapter of his new book.

I loved it, especially the part

with Nikki and Rook
in the aircraft carrier.

- Awesome.
- Stop it. You're embarrassing me.

I do have one note, though.

This new character,
the Robbery detective?

Schlemming. What about him?

He seems like he kind of
came up out of nowhere.

Yeah, I can't argue with that.

- He's coming off a bit like a doofus.
- You think?

I think you should lose him.

If only it was this easy.

Thank you for your help, sweetie.
I am so behind on my deadline.

That's 'cause you always find
new ways to procrastinate.

Or they find me. Hello, Mother.

Hi, guys. I can't stay.
I'm just picking up a dress.

Chet's taking me
to the theater this evening.

What are you seeing?

New Petrofsky play,
Edge of Awakening.

Wait a minute.
Didn't you audition for that?

Yes. And that wonderful actress
Madge Vance got my part,

the way she usually does.

She's not even really your friend.

- It's nice that you go and support her.
- I know.

And I have to go soon,
because it's closing.

The critics are saying it's a
(WHISPERS) train wreck.

There's the Martha Rodgers I know.

(CELL PHONE RINGING)

It's Beckett.

Please tell me there's been a murder,
otherwise I'll have to continue writing.

People always say
they want to die in their sleep.

What you want is a good,
clean shot to take you out

before you know what hit you.
Not this poor guy.

Bullet missed the heart.

He didn't die for quite a while.

CASTLE: Looks like he was
reaching for the phone to call for help.

Until our doer took that to his head.

Probably didn't want to risk
the neighbors hearing a second shot,

and so he grabbed the nearest thing
and finished him off.

There's blood spatter on the clock.

Must have been knocked off
the nightstand during the attack.

10:34. At least we know what time
the festivities started.

There's no signs of forced entry.

He probably left this open
so he could get a breath of fresh air.

And there's no security cameras either.

And I didn't see any on the way in.

Cleaning lady found him this morning.

She said that usually Wilder would've
left for work by the time she got here.

Wilder? Damian Wilder?

- Yeah, you know him?
- I know of him.

This is a photo
from one of his ad campaigns.

He runs a line of boutique
men's skincare products.

You mean, like, bathroom stuff?

He has got a toner,
totally alcohol-free, fantastic.

He's got a shaving cream
that is ridiculous.

I'm good with the drug store stuff, man.

No, no. Hang on.
This stuff will change your life.

- It's hot.
- It's hot.

- It's hot?
- It's hot.

- How do they do that?
- Magic of modern chemistry.

It's like getting a shave from a barber.

Matter of fact, that's the tagline,
"barber in a can."

So it's probably expensive, huh?

It's 50 bucks a pop, but it's so worth it.

- Absolutely.
- Totally.

- Yeah.
- BECKETT: Guys?

A man has been murdered here.

And we are honoring his legacy.

It's like Sex and the City,
only with boys.

Maybe you guys can
check in with the neighbors,

see if they saw or heard anything?

- Oh, yeah. All over it.
- Yeah, I'm on it.

Come on, Castle.
Let me show you what I found.

(POLICE RADIO CHATTER)

Something was stolen
from these cases.

CASTLE: Hmm.
Those are humidity controls.

Whatever it was was very valuable,

because the killer passed up
the plasma TV and the Blu-ray player.

Robbery gone wrong?

Looks that way, doesn't it?
And then there's this.

Is that an "E" or an "O"?

"Murdero," is that Spanish for murder?
"Murdere." The killer was French.

The thing I don't get about it
is why would a thief take the time

to write a message
out of our vic's blood?

Especially that message.
I mean, we know it's murder.

The dead body's kind of a giveaway.

So we're still canvassing,
but I thought you'd want to hear this.

Neighbor said she was on her treadmill
last night listening to music.

So she didn't hear the shot?

No, but she did open her
back door to let the cat in,

and she saw someone
hopping over the fence

on their way out of Wilder's yard.

You get a description?

Yeah, "a foot disappearing
over the fence."

Did you get a time at all?

10:52 on the button.
It was still on her alarm box.

She forgot she set it
when she opened the door.

So now we know what time
last night's festivities ended. 10:52.

All right, have CSU sweep for prints
and fibers,

and make sure they hit
the backyard as well.

You got it.

(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS)

(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)

- Demming.
- Castle.

CASTLE: You guys use boards
down in Robbery?

Sure, yeah.

Come back tomorrow.
It'll be full of all sorts of murder-y stuff.

Beckett asked me to assist
in the investigation, so...

Really?

Yeah, because of
the robbery component.

Of course.

I tracked down Wilder's next of kin,
his cousin Blake.

He's in the interview lounge.

BLAKE: You know how he got
in the business he did? Acne.

As a teenager,
he had it something terrible.

When he asked me to lend him
money to start up a business,

I was happy to do it.

(CHUCKLES)

He was one of the good ones.

I mean, why somebody would do
something like this, I...

Blake, we were hoping that you could
help us with something.

The display cases in the living room
were broken into

and their contents were missing.

That's where he kept his books.

He was a collector. Rare printings,
signed first editions, things like that.

Those could run into the thousands,
even tens of thousands.

BLAKE: So it was robbery?

Somebody killed him to take his books?

Well, it's possible
there's another motive.

We found a message
written on the wall.

- That's odd.
- We're still working on that.

What we could really use your help on
is with the missing books.

Did he have a catalogue
of his collection?

Sure. Damian looked to me

to help him out with
the business side of things.

The insurer he used is a friend of mine.
He'll have a catalogue.

As far as we know,
the only thing missing were the books,

which suggests the perpetrator went
there knowing what he was looking for.

Could be he had an opportunity
to case the apartment.

Well, the kitchen... I mean,
Damian had the entire thing renovated.

The place was crawling
with workers for weeks.

DEMMING: Killed for a fortune
in stolen books.

So I'll run the work crews
and see if anybody has priors.

Thanks, Tom.
I appreciate your help on this.

I'll let you know if anything turns up.

I'm not sure why everybody's
jumping to the conclusion

that this murder
was about the stolen books.

Maybe because they're missing.

The message on the mirror
suggests an intention to kill,

a motive of some kind.

Stealing books,
just a crime of opportunity.

And now who's jumping
to conclusions?

I just hate to see anybody
waste their time.

The key here is the message,
not the books.

I think we should pursue
both lines of investigation.

- He's your boyfriend.
- Excuse me?

I'm sorry.
Am I jumping to conclusions again?

It's none of your business.

ESPOSITO: Yo.

Ran a background check on Wilder.

Found this incident report that he filed
with the police three days ago.

Somebody vandalized his apartment.

Poured red paint all over his stoop.

Yeah, it turns out that
his company was being picketed

by animal rights protestors.

But all of his stuff is
labeled "no animal testing."

The problem was with
one of his subcontractors,

who was doing some of
the manufacturing for him.

Wilder didn't even know about it.

That's what the message was.

It wasn't misspelled. It was unfinished.

They were writing "murderer."

So you think that one of
the animal rights activists killed him.

Sure. One of them had enough
with the fake blood, decided,

"I'm gonna send a message
using the real thing."

Maybe we should pay
Wilder's office a visit

and find out more
about those protestors.

We were looking
for another manufacturer

to replace the one we had been using.

But apparently, we weren't doing it
fast enough for these protestors.

Mr. Wilder wanted to do the right thing.
He really did.

He just needed a little more time.

The paint-throwing incident
at Damian's house Thursday night

was the last straw.

He scheduled a press conference
for this morning.

He hadn't told anybody,
but he was planning to announce

a substantial donation
to the animal rights movement

as a sign of the company's good faith.

They got everything they wanted,
but they killed him anyway.

Well, to be fair, Miss Jenkins,
we don't know that definitively.

The incident on Thursday,
was that the first time

that Mr. Wilder
had been targeted personally?

Usually, they just picket
outside the building.

It got so bad, we actually hired
a private security firm for a while

to run down some of the threats
we got in the mail.

Is there a chance we could take a look

at the information they developed?
It could be helpful.

Of course. Yeah.
Daphne will put it together for you.

We'll also need to see a copy
of Mr. Wilder's date book

for the last couple of weeks.

Absolutely. Anything you need.

DAPHNE: Here you go, sir.

I cannot believe
that you asked for samples.

She said anything we needed.

Besides, it's not for me.
It's for Ryan and Esposito.

Don't you mean Charlotte and Miranda?

Wait a minute.
That would make me Carrie.

You're so metrosexual
for even knowing that.

I only watched that show
out of the corner of my eye

when my mother had it on.

That so did not come out right.

According to these notes
from the private security firm,

most of these folks seem like average,
everyday, tree-hugging vegetarians.

I mean, so far, the worst
any of them has done

is break into a lab
to free a bunch of mice.

You come up with anything?

There are a handful of recent entries

in Wilder's calendar
for someone named Natasha.

Could be someone
that he started dating.

- Hey.
- Hey.

So I ran the workmen
who renovated your vic's kitchen.

And one of them popped.

Meet Jake Cabrese.

Two of the apartments he worked on
in the past year were later robbed.

He was a person of interest
in both investigations,

but neither of them made.

Sounds like someone we should talk to.

We're running down his whereabouts
as we speak.

(EX CLAIMING) Meet Lance Newman,
arrested five times for violent agitation.

His favorite tool of protest,
the bucket of fake blood.

Isn't fake blood kind of a staple
with these types?

Last month, he painted the word
"murderer" on a congressman's car

because he voted against a fishing ban.

When the driver tried to stop him,

Newman bashed him in the side
of the head with his paint bucket.

You know, I'd like him more
if we could find something

that would connect him with our vic.

You mean, like the string of
violent letters he wrote to Wilder?

Sent to his home address?

Nice job, Castle. Let's go pick him up.

Yeah. Let's.

Mmm.

(CHUCKLES)

You've got the wrong guy.

Last Thursday night, someone pours
fake blood all over Wilder's stoop.

Three days later, he ends up dead.

It does not take a genius
to make the connection.

Yeah, but I didn't kill him.

Look, I told you already.
I went to the movies Sunday night.

Yes, yes, yes. We have someone
running down that alibi.

What about Thursday?
You got one for then, too?

Thursday, I don't remember.

Then how about you spend the night
in lockup?

Might refresh your memory.

Last Thursday, I went
over there with the paint...

(EX CLAIMS) So you admit
that it was you

who vandalized Wilder's apartment?

Castle.

Yes. Okay. I threw paint on his stoop,

which is then when I heard him
fighting with someone inside, a woman.

They were throwing stuff,

and I really thought
they were gonna kill each other.

Did you see who she was?

- No. I just heard them yelling.
- And what exactly did you overhear?

She said something
about being humiliated,

and he said something about a gun.

A gun?

"You put a gun to my head,"
I think it was.

Okay, now you're just making stuff up.

(WHISPERS)

Well, Mr. Newman, good thing
you used the automated ticket booth

at the theater Sunday night.

Your alibi checked out.

- Really?
- Really?

Really.

Okay, thanks.

Check this out.
According to his calendar,

Wilder had dinner with this
Natasha person Thursday night.

Could be that she's the person our
animal-Ioving friend was talking about.

I thought you said
that he was making all that up.

That was...

That was Wilder's assistant
on the phone.

Apparently, Wilder and Natasha Piper
had started dating recently.

- CASTLE: The girl from the print ads?
- Yep.

And she said she was
a real piece of work.

Tore up a set at a photo shoot
a couple of weeks ago

because they had
the wrong bottled water for her.

Well, seems like a good bet
she was the one

fighting with Wilder Thursday night.

Yeah. Could be she went back
on Sunday to get one last word in.

- I should pick her up in the morning.
- DEMMING: Hey.

Hey. How did things go
with the workman?

Well, found him sitting in his garage

on a couple of G's worth
of stolen power tools, but...

The night of the murder,
it turns out he was

watching his kids in a play
at church, so...

- Yeah, it's been that kind of a day.
- DEMMING: Yeah.

- You ready to go?
- Ready.

Thought we were
knocking it off for the night.

We are. We're just sharing a cab.

Good night, Castle.

- Night.
- Night.

- Hey, how was the play?
- Oh, awful.

Well, that must've made you happy.

You know what the worst part was?

Its badness made Madge's performance
all that much better.

She was wonderful.
She was like a revelation.

Mother, I'm sorry.

Thank you.

You know, I went
into the theater thinking,

"Yeah, she kind of snaked
that part out from under me."

But then I... I hate to admit it.
She deserved to get it.

I'm sure you would've been
terrific in that role.

You are so sweet.

But you know something, darling?
In life, you just have to accept the fact

that not everything
is gonna go your way.

BECKETT: Thank you so much
for coming in, Miss Piper.

First of all, let me say that
I am so sorry for your loss.

Yeah. Don't be.

How long had the two
of you been seeing each other?

I don't know. Two months.
Does it really matter?

Apparently not.

If you ask me,
he got exactly what he deserved.

- Really?
- Yeah. Really.

Bullet in the chest.

Don't forget about the bludgeoning part.

Oh, how could I?
Right upside his little head.

So why did you do it?

You seriously think I did this?

I read about it in the paper.
But he did have it coming.

Can you believe that that little toad
was cheating on me?

Me?

Okay, so why don't we just
start from the beginning?

Where were you the night
that he was killed?

On Sunday, I was in the Hamptons.

I took the jitney out in the morning

and sat next to Perez Hilton,
of all people.

He blogged all about it.
You can check yourself.

We have a witness who says
that Mr. Wilder argued with a woman

in his apartment on Thursday.
Was that you?

No, that wasn't me.

So it probably means
that he was with her.

The bitch that he was two-timing me
with. The one from the motel.

- What motel?
- Oh, he did blog about it.

You two ate at the Southampton Grill?
I love that place.

Castle.

What motel?

The one in Jersey that I followed him
to Thursday morning.

I was right. He was cheating on me.

- With who?
- I don't know.

He went up to the corner room
on the second floor.

I didn't stick around to watch.

So you can't be sure that it was
a woman that he was meeting with.

No. But why else would he be there?

And just for the record,
she's gotta be some kind of dirty skank,

'cause that place was a dump.

A cheap skank at a rundown motel

is actually a better lead
than an angry ex-girlfriend.

(SOFTLY) And a much
better lead than stolen books.

What was that?

I said... My, don't you gentlemen
look clean-shaven today?

Yeah, sweet stuff, bro.

Yeah, Jenny said my face
never felt so smooth.

Barber in a can.

Okay, guys. Got it.
Comes out hot. Case?

Yeah, nothing unusual
in Wilder's financials.

His call records were clean, too.

No calls except to places
you would expect.

Ballistics report came back negative.

No unusual fibers or fingerprints
in the apartment or backyard either.

All right, talk to the neighbors again.

Find out if any of them remember

seeing him
with a woman Thursday night.

I'm wondering why a man
as wealthy as Wilder

would choose a cheap motel
in Jersey to have a tryst.

Maybe there's more going on
than just a tryst.

CASTLE: His name is Damian Wilder.

Never seen him before.
But I wasn't on duty. Benny was.

- Well, I'd like to talk with Benny.
- So would I.

He didn't show up for work today,

which is why I'm here
covering on my day off.

Do you have contact info for him?

The corner room, second floor,
who stayed in there last Thursday?

Let's see.

Paid cash up front, four nights.

Name was Scarlett O'Hara.

Scarlett O'Hara?

She's a fictional character.

It's that kind of place.

Okay. Thanks.

Benny's roommate said that
he came home from his shift,

packed a bag and left in a hurry.

Is it just me,
or is the timing a little suspicious?

I'm gonna put a want out
for him in the system.

He's gotta be out there somewhere.

You know, the clerk said our mystery
woman rented the room for four nights.

Wilder's calendar was
pretty packed the whole time.

It's hard to figure him getting
back out there to see her.

So why did she rent it for that long?

- What was going on out there?
- DEMMING: Breaking news.

Guess what just turned up
for sale online?

A first edition Catcher in the Rye
and a signed For Whom the Bell Tolls.

I take it those are both items
in Wilder's collection?

Bingo. The site belonged
to a rare book dealer.

Goes by the name of Lukas Canby.

He's got a jacket
for dealing in stolen property,

and last month, he was arrested
for assaulting another book dealer

at an auction that didn't go his way.

So he's got a history of violence
and possession of our vic's property.

You care to sit in while I get him
to confess to Wilder's murder?

Don't mind if I do.

(IMITATING DEMMING) "You care
to sit in while I get him to confess

"to Wilder's murder?"

DEMMING: $50,000 worth of books
goes missing

from a dead man's apartment,

turns up in your possession.

You can see how that's a problem.
Can't you, Lukas?

BECKETT: You want to explain
what happened?

LUKAS: Sure.

But you'll never believe me.

Try us.

I bought them from some guy
in the park.

- In the park?
- Near the 76th Street entrance.

This homeless looking guy
had them laid out on a blanket.

Didn't have a clue
what they were worth.

Gave him 100 bucks for the whole lot.
Man, was I feeling lucky that day.

Yeah, that's how I felt when I followed
that leprechaun to his pot of gold.

LUKAS: I didn't steal those books,
and I most certainly didn't kill anybody.

It was this homeless guy. Had to be.

- BECKETT: Really?
- Yeah.

You expect us to believe that
he broke in to Wilder's apartment,

killed him for $50,000 worth of books
just to sell it to you for 100 bucks.

- Doesn't add up, pal.
- Where were you Sunday night?

Home, alone.

Well, I wouldn't worry.
You won't be alone in your cell.

Rikers is overcrowded these days.

BECKETT: Let's have CSU
take samples

from Lukas' apartment and office,

run them against what they recovered.

Might be something that puts him
at the crime scene, yeah.

BECKETT: In the meantime,
we should check on his story

about the homeless guy, just in case.

It's a nice day to be out in the park.
Can I buy you a hot dog?

CASTLE: They're supposed to be
finding that homeless guy.

I don't know how they're gonna do that

when all they can do is make
goo-goo eyes at each other.

Beckett's a good cop. She can canvass

and make goo-goo eyes
at the same time.

Maybe we should call the motel,
see if Benny's turned up.

I just called 10 minutes ago.

Besides, chances are, this book guy
that Demming's got in the lockup did it.

- Don't say that.
- What?

Oh, you want to be the one to crack it,
not Demming, right?

Well, the guy is not even Homicide.
Doesn't that bug you just a little?

Maybe a little.
But that's not why it bugs you, is it?

Yo. Just heard back
from the phone company.

Only one call came into the motel room

during the four days that it was rented
to Scarlett O'Hara.

Let me guess. Rhett Butler? Right?

Rhett Butler? See what I did there?

Call lasted two minutes.
Came in around the same time

that Wilder's ex said
he went up to the room.

The only one who would have
known Wilder was there

would've been the woman
planning to meet him.

Maybe she called to say
she was running late.

Yeah, well, here's the money part.

The call came from Wilder's company.

He was having an affair
with someone from work.

Yeah, but unfortunately,
the way that they route the calls,

we were only able to
narrow it down to an extension

on the third floor of his building.

We can rule out all the men,
since we know Scarlett was a woman.

And most likely, it was the woman

that Wilder was fighting with
in his apartment.

There's got to be a way
we can figure out who it was.

- We could do a sound lineup.
- Sound lineup?

Yeah, we bring in the guy
who overheard the argument,

have him listen to samples
from women on the third floor,

see if he recognizes any of them.

You can do that?

We don't even need
to bring any of the women in.

We just patch in the voice mail system,
pull samples from there.

You guys, if this works, I'll keep you
both in shave cream for a year.

- Deal.
- Mmm-hmm.

Yo.

- You found him?
- Take a seat.

Yeah, we got lucky.

Apparently, Marty the junkie here

is a permanent fixture
in that part of the park.

He was panhandling right about
where Lukas said he bought the books.

Which Marty's already admitted
to selling to him for 100 bucks.

Has he admitted to breaking
into Wilder's apartment?

Well, that's where
things get interesting.

His alibi for the break-in is solid.

He picked up a few extra bucks at
a soup kitchen, cleaning up after hours.

Claims he found the books
in a garbage can.

Says he saw somebody dumping them
there a couple hours after our murder.

Which, a pretty good bet,
that is our killer.

I'm gonna sit him down
with a sketch artist now.

Come on, Marty.

- Any leads on our mystery woman?
- Actually, yes.

(VOICEMAIL MESSAGES)
Hey, you've reached Katie Marks.

I'm not at my desk right now.

Leave a message, and I'll
get back to you as soon as I can.

It's not her.

Okay. I will cue to the next one.

So did Marty the junkie
say he got a good look

at who it was that tossed the books?

- Pretty good, yeah.
- Hi, you've reached Melinda.

BECKETT: Hopefully,
one of these two leads will pan out.

- Yeah, hopefully.
- Hey, it's Samantha.

BECKETT: I'm going to go
and check on that sketch.

WOMAN: Leave a message
or try my cell.

RYAN: Okay, how about this one?

Hi, this is Jane.

I'm away from my desk,
so please leave a message.

RYAN: No dice, huh?

You've reached Sophie.
I can't take your call right now,

so leave your name and number
and I'll get back to you.

The next one.

Only three more.

Hi, this is Lisa Jenkins.

If you've reached this,
that means I'm out of the office.

Please leave a message.

That's her.

CASTLE: Lisa Jenkins. That's
the woman we interviewed. You sure?

Yeah, I'm positive.

Remember our deal, Castle.

It was Lisa Jenkins.

Wilder was fighting with Lisa...

- That's a pretty solid likeness.
- Yeah, right?

What?

It's Marty's sketch of the man
he saw tossing the books.

Wilder's cousin, Blake.

So we have a witness who says
that he heard Lisa Jenkins

in a knock-down-drag-out with Wilder,

and another one says that he saw
Wilder's cousin dumping his books.

But what we don't have
from either suspect is motive.

Easy. Lisa's affair
with Wilder went south.

They could no longer
work together side by side,

and she didn't want
to have to quit her job.

Detective Demming?

You know, it could be anything.

I don't know.
Maybe Blake didn't like the fact

that Wilder grew up to be
more successful than him.

Maybe he was sick
of getting beat at golf.

(LAUGHS)

Golf, really?

To be honest with you, I'm not that
concerned about a motive right now.

I've got an eyewitness
that saw him tossing his cousin's

prize book collection
the night of the murder.

I have a witness, too.

That heard Wilder fight

with someone three days ago.
It doesn't mean anything.

- Guys...
- At least I have a motive.

Yeah, but you can't put your suspect
at the scene.

Did I miss the part
where you've got a motive?

Guys.

This isn't a competition.
We've got two good suspects.

Seems to me that we should
bring them in and see what they say.

Okay, fine.
Damian and I had an argument

at his apartment on Thursday night.

But I was not having an affair with him,

and I never went to New Jersey
to meet him in any motel.

Our witness said
that he heard things being thrown,

and that Wilder said something
about having a gun to his head.

No, no.
He was talking about the protestors.

You see, Damian was unhappy

because it was taking so long
for us to find a new manufacturer.

And as head of production,
he felt that was on me.

I didn't think it was fair,
and things got a little heated.

Could you tell us
where you were Sunday night?

I was out for dinner with some friends.

After dinner?

- Can you be a little more specific?
- Yeah, I can be a lot more specific.

Let's say between 10:34 and 10:52.

I was home, alone.

Though I did step out at some point.

My neighborhood has
alternate side of the street parking,

and I had to move my car,
find a different space.

Did anyone see you?

- Not that I know of.
- And what time was that?

10:15 maybe?

You live, what, 10 blocks down Lex
from where Wilder lived?

At that hour,
that drive would take you two minutes.

I suppose. I've never really timed it.

Did you see how squirrelly she got

when you asked her
where she was Sunday night?

I'll have Esposito talk to her doorman.

There might be security cam footage
that might nail down

how long she was gone
from her apartment.

Okay.

- Can I sit in?
- (LAUGHS) Yeah, right.

I can't believe that you guys
are dragging me down here

on the word of some bum.

And then accusing me
of murdering my own cousin.

Well, believe me.

We'd like nothing more
than to be able to rule you out.

So tell me again.

You said you were meeting
some friends for a drink Sunday night?

Yeah, at McDugan's, after 11:00.

That's about a block away
from your cousin's place.

Yeah.

And you say you were at home
until you went out

- to meet your friends?
- Yes.

DEMMING: Are you sure about that?

Because I'm gonna talk
to your doorman.

- I don't have one.
- I'm gonna talk to your neighbors.

I'm gonna check
your credit card receipts.

If you weren't home when you say
you were, I am gonna find out about it.

All right, fine,
I didn't go straight to the bar.

I went to a newsstand.
I bought some cigarettes, all right?

My friends think that I quit,
but every once in a while,

I get a craving that I can't put off.

So I went to the ATM, I got some cash.

I bought a pack, smoked a few,
threw the rest away.

What time was that?

I don't remember.

Well, your ATM will.

- You can take a seat.
- Excuse us.

Yeah, yeah, go ahead. I'll hold.

There she is, leaving her building.

ESPOSITO: Well,
the time stamp says 10:18.

Which would give her
plenty of time to jump in her car,

get down to Wilder's place by 10:34.

Well, we know that the killer
left the crime scene at 10:52.

So the question is,
when did she get back?

DEMMING: Yeah, got it. Thanks.

So the bank confirmed
Blake's ATM withdrawal.

- And?
- 10:39 p.m.

Right smack in the middle
of our timeline.

So that means it wasn't him.

Here she is coming home.
Let me just rewind a little bit.

And what does the time stamp say?

BECKETT: 10:47.

CASTLE: That's inside our timeline.
That's impossible.

It wasn't her either.

I was so sure.

Tell me about it.

(SIGHS) You know what, guys? It's late.
Why don't we just call it a night?

Good night.

- Hey, there.
- Hi.

What are you doing here?

Chet had one of his
ghastly political functions.

I needed my stationery.

I'm writing a note to Madge to tell her
how brilliant her performance was.

Don't do that.

- Why not?
- Mother, she's your rival.

You should be crushing her,
not giving her comfort.

Are you all right?

Yes.

No.

Give Madge my best.

Good. You're just in time.

Looks like we caught a break
on our Scarlett O'Hara.

You found her?

Found the next best thing, the clerk
who checked her in to the motel.

Police picked him up in Atlantic City
for charges of disorderly conduct.

(GRUNTS)

Morning, sunshine.

Why'd you leave town
in such a hurry, Benny?

I was feeling lucky. Wanted to get
to the craps table fast as I could.

Did you have a good time
down there, Benny?

Dude. (LAUGHS) I appreciate
you guys intervejecting

with the police down there
on my behest.

- Well, we wanted to talk with you.
- I'm happy to help.

One favor, though.
Could you not talk so loud?

My head is killing me.

Last Thursday, you were on duty
when a Scarlett O'Hara checked in.

Yeah. Yeah, I think I remember.

What did she look like?

I would've done her.

Anything else?

Um...

She was small for her size.

BECKETT: Do you recognize this man?

(LAUGHS) Yeah.
That guy is a total nut-bar.

Last week, think it was Thursday,
matter of fact,

he pulls into the motel
in a fancy foreign job.

He goes straight up to the corner room
on the second floor.

Couple minutes later, he charges down,

starts asking me all the same questions
you were asking me.

"Who rented the room?
What did she look like?"

He didn't know?

That's what I said.

I told him, if he had to ask me
whose room it was,

he shouldn't be going in there
in the first place.

He stomped off, got in his car.
He left. Boom.

Never saw him again.

And you won't either.
He was murdered Sunday night.

With that kind of attitude,
this is not surprising.

Well, if I've answered all your queries
to your satisfaction, am I free to go?

Just one more query if you don't mind.

According to the Atlantic City police,

you were arrested in
the diamond lounge of a strip club

for trying to set a rodeo clown on fire.

That was a misunderstanding and...

My question is,
how does a $9-an-hour hotel clerk

pay for a $500-an-hour VIP lounge?

I won at craps.
Like I said, I was feeling lucky.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

- That's a Damian Wilder bag.
- Who?

That's the guy who was killed.
Where'd you get that?

Where'd you get it, Benny?

- Please, just not so loud.
- Where did you get it?

I found it in the room.

Scarlett O'Hara's room?

BENNY: After checkout
on the fourth day,

I went up there on account of
she never returned the key.

The room was like
nobody'd even been there.

The bed was made,
towels were on the rack.

I gave it a quick once-over,

figured I'd tell housekeeping
not to bother going in.

I found the bag under the bed.

And what was in it?

What was in it?

(EX CLAIMS)

It was money. Lots of it.

How much?

Seventy-five grand. There.

Did you blow it all, Benny?

It was the best three days of my life.

BECKETT: A duffel bag full of cash,

an anonymous hotel room
and an angry Wilder.

All of that adds up to only one thing.

Blackmail.

It's the only scenario that makes sense.

So the blackmailer
contacts Wilder with instructions

to meet at the motel at a certain time.

Probably to show him proof
of whatever it is she has against him.

But she doesn't want him to know
who she is,

or that she works at his company.

So she calls in to the room,
makes her demands by phone.

He confronts the clerk, trying to
figure out who it is that's extorting him.

At some point in time,
Wilder returns to the room

with the duffel bag full of cash,
puts it under the bed as instructed.

Only Benny makes off with the money

before the blackmailer's had a chance
to pick it up.

Making for one angry blackmailer.

Angry enough to kill.

No, not her either.

Man, this dead guy had a lot of
good-Iooking babes working for him.

Any of them our Scarlett O'Hara?

Not her. Or her, but I'd do her.

Not her, who I would not do.

Not her.

I would maybe do her.

Hey, look. It's her.

You're sure this is the woman
who rented the room?

Yes.

Rebecca Strong.
She's a lab tech at the company.

She's got cruel eyes.

I'll bet she enjoyed
watching Wilder suffer.

(SOBBING)

What was I thinking?
I should've stayed out of it.

What did she say?

"What was I thinking?
I should've stayed out of it."

It's cry talk. There's not a girl alive

who hasn't heard it from
a sobbing, heartbroken girlfriend.

What should you have stayed out of,
Rebecca? The blackmail?

(SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)

BECKETT: You tried
to do the right thing?

Well, who wouldn't listen?
Did you have an accomplice?

Was just me.

Well, then what is this all about?

Benzophyosopheme.

I'm sorry. I didn't get that one.

Benzophyosopheme.

That's not cry talk.
It sounds like a chemical compound.

You work in product testing, right?

Were they using benzophyosopheme
in a company product?

Is there some kind of problem with it?
Is that what the blackmail was about?

So then when you said that you were
trying to do the right thing,

did you approach your superiors
about the problem?

- Yes.
- And did Wilder do anything about it?

No.

He came out with a product that has
benzophyosopheme in it anyway.

Exactly.

How bad is this stuff?

It can cause capillary damage
if you use it long enough.

So then you figured,
if they weren't gonna listen to you,

why not cash in on it?

And then you threatened
to make it public

if Wilder didn't give you $ 75,000.

Yes.

Well, you were
in over your head, Rebecca.

I know, and I want to make things right
if I can.

- It's too late for that now.
- I... What if I gave it back?

- You killed a man.
- I still have the money.

- You still have the money?
- I killed a man?

- Damian Wilder.
- I didn't kill Mr. Wilder.

You have the money?

It's still in the duffel bag
that I got from under the bed.

Wait. The money from the motel room?

$ 75,000.

Well, then the money
that Benny found...

Where did it come from?

$ 75,000.

It was in her hall closet
just like she said it'd be.

Two blackmail payoffs? I don't get it.

Rebecca must have missed
the second duffel bag under the bed

when she went to pick up the money.

Which is why Benny found it
when he went back there later.

Yeah, but we looked through Wilder's
financials with a fine-tooth comb.

There was nothing in there to suggest
that he pulled that kind of cash.

It's hard to imagine he had it
just lying around.

What would happen if Wilder
didn't pay the blackmailer?

Well, that would mean letting
the capillary damage issue go public.

What if he didn't care?

What if he wanted to do the right thing
and pull the product,

even if it meant a huge financial hit
and possible litigation?

Then anyone with
a financial stake in the company

would have incentive
to keep that from happening.

And the surest way to do that
would be to kill Wilder

and pay off the blackmailer.

So the cousin would have
company stock worth a fortune

from when he lent Wilder
the start-up money.

Yeah, but we know he didn't do it.

And then Lisa Jenkins could be looking
at criminal liability if it got out

that she let a dangerous product
go to market.

Yeah, but we know
she didn't do it either.

- Something doesn't make sense here.
- ESPOSITO: Castle.

(CHUCKLES)

Mmm-mmm, come here.

CASTLE: What's wrong, guys?

Benzophyosopheme.

No. Not the shave cream.

Yeah, in the shave cream.
It says here right on the can.

(GRUNTS)

That's how they get it to come out hot.

Might as well just be
shaving with napalm, bro.

CASTLE: Well, she said it only
does damage long term.

You guys have only used it
the one time.

I'm still on my first can.

Could've ended up with
irreversible capillary damage.

I was...

The timeline's wrong.

Exactly. There wasn't time
to do any damage.

No, for the murder.

What are you talking about?
What is she talking about?

- I don't know.
- Where you going?

Wilder's apartment. I know who did it.

I know who killed him.

- Who?
- Who?

BECKETT: I just shot Damian Wilder
in the chest, and he's bleeding out.

It's dark.

But I still manage to sop up
some of the blood.

And I head over here

to start writing the message
implicating the protestors.

But it takes longer
than I thought it would

because I keep having to go back
in order to get more blood.

And then all of a sudden,
I hear a noise out the back.

So I stop and I think to myself,

"You know what?
I better get the hell out of here."

Hold on. You're forgetting
about the bludgeoning part.

I walk out the front door
and I let it lock behind me.

I race across the street, I hail a cab,
and it's about 10:40.

Yeah, but now you're forgetting about
the stolen books.

CASTLE: The noise outside.

You're thinking
there was someone else.

Someone who had no idea
that Wilder had already been shot.

Someone who came in
through the back into the bedroom,

and in the dark, found a heavy object
and bludgeoned him in his bed.

DEMMING: Two killers.

So it's the second killer
who steals the books.

And then getting those books
out of this display case

takes a few minutes,
after which, it's out the door,

and it's 10:52.

Giving the first killer more
than enough time to get home,

where she can be seen by,
let's say, a security camera.

And the second killer wouldn't appear
to be involved if he was, say,

buying cigarettes
when the gunshot went off.

Lisa and Blake came here
separately to kill Wilder,

and by doing that, they both
inadvertently alibied each other out.

They both knew
it was their only chance

to stop Wilder
before he stepped forward.

He was about to announce
a product recall.

DEMMING: And they each decided
they couldn't let that happen.

They both killed him,
and they both paid the blackmailer.

Which means they both had to raise
a lot of money in not a lot of time.

BECKETT: We found withdrawals
from bank accounts,

money market funds, even 401 (k)s.

All of it totaling $ 75,000
from each one of them.

They didn't cover their tracks
because they didn't think

anyone would get on to the blackmail
and come looking.

It turns out Blake was leveraged in debt
up to his eyeballs.

If the company stock had taken a hit,

the whole house of cards
would've fallen.

- And her?
- She didn't want to serve time.

She's the one who sat on initial reports

that there were problems
with the shaving cream.

Poor Wilder.

Tried to do the right thing
and gets himself killed.

Castle and Demming were right
about the two of them all along.

Nice of you to give them both
the satisfaction

of taking down their suspect.

Well, it's the least I could do.

Male vanity being what it is.

- Hey.
- Hey.

So listen, thanks...
Thanks for your help on this one.

You know, same team.

Guess I'll see you around.

Yeah.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

One murder, two killers.

That's something
you don't see every day.

Yeah. That's definitely another
one for the record books.

You guys seen Beckett?
I wanted to congratulate her.

She's the one
who cracked this one open.

I think she's in the back
processing the charges.

Thanks.

(LAUGHS)

- Bank all day.
- Nothing but net, though.

Castle.

What are you still doing here?

Hey. Just about to leave myself.
Good job closing the case.

Yeah. Well, we make a good team.

Yeah. Good night.

Thanks. Night.