Castle (2009–2016): Season 3, Episode 15 - The Final Nail - full transcript

Castle's old boarding school friend is accused of killing his wife. It was later found out that he was accused of killing his father several years earlier.

I can't believe you
elbowed me in the face, D.

It was an accident, Charles. Come inside.

I'll get you an ice pack.

Vicky, I've got Charles with me.

Vicky.

Damian.

Vicky.

I'm just saying,

the first Valentine's Day
you spend with somebody

is important.

Yeah, but Lanie doesn't
care about that stuff, bro.

All women care. Beckett, you and Josh...

You got big plans for
Valentine's Day, right?

Josh is a surgeon. I'm a cop.

In the unlikely event that we
have a couple of hours free

on Monday night, we might go to dinner.

See?

Hey, Castle. It's Beckett.
Call me when you get this.

Ooh, Castle's gonna be sorry
that he missed this one.

Why? Rich people, man.

Society murders are always the freakiest.

The call came in about an hour ago.

The owner of the house, Damian Westlake...

Says all was well when
he left at 5:00 P.M.

To meet his neighbor,
Charles Utley,

for a game of pickup.

When the men returned at 6:00 P.M.

Victoria Westlake was dead. Murder weapon?

Nail gun. It's over there.

See? Told you. Freaky.

The back door was ajar.

Officers found what appears to be

a gang tag on the rear wall of the building.

The paint's fresh.
I'll reach out to the gang unit,

see if they can I.D. it for us.
And I'll talk with Mr. Utley.

The Westlakes have a dog.
So if neighbors heard barking,

we might be able to
pinpoint a timeline.

We've canvassed,
and nobody heard the dog.

The M.E. tentatively
puts time of death

between 4:30 and 6:00

which means she
might have been dead

before the husband left the house.

Where is Mr. Westlake? Thank you.

Mr. Westlake, I'm detective Kate...

Castle.

Castle, what are you doing here?

Damian Westlake is
an old friend of mine

from boarding school.

He knows about my
relationship with the NYPD.

He just called me to
give him some support.

Which is when you should've

called me to let me know. I just got here,

and I had no idea this
would be your case.

Well, now that you do,

is there anything
you want to tell me

that might be pertinent?

Uh, nothing. I'd never even met Vicky.

But now at least I can tell Damian

the finest detective
in New York city

is working his wife's case.

Everything was fine when she left.

The last thing she said to me was,
"have a good game."

Mr. Westlake, do you know of anyone

that might have
wanted to harm Vicky?

No, everyone loved her.

Someone spray painted
your back wall.

Did you notice anyone suspicious

hanging out when you left?

No. Vicky shouldn't
even have been here.

She came home early from
work with a headache.

Hey. We're gonna catch the
guy who did this, okay?

I promise.

What did she do for a living?

Interior design.

And you?

Uh...

Damian's a writer.
Anything I might have read?

No, I've never been published.

How long were the two of
you married? Five years.

And would you characterize
your relationship as happy?

Whoa. Why would you need to ask that?

It's all right, Ricky.

I loved my wife very much.

She was my whole world.

Mr. Westlake, I'm sorry,

but I'm gonna have to ask you

a few questions about the
murder weapon. Okay. Um...

Why would you need to ask him

about the murder weapon? Castle.

The nail gun, was that yours?

No. We've been doing
some remodeling.

Any tools in the house

belong to the workmen.
Did you ever have any...

Were there ever any
issues with these workmen?

Yeah, uh, I overheard
Vicky on the phone

with someone last Friday evening.

She told him he was fired
and he shouldn't come back.

You know his name?

No, I asked her about it.
She told me it was nothing.

Talk to Amber Patinelli.
Amber works for Vicky.

Look, if... if you don't mind,
I really need to call

Vicky's ex-husband
Simon and her kids.

I'm sure the press is
gonna be all over this,

and I don't want 'em to
hear about it on television.

Of course. Excuse me.

Hey. Why are you mad at me?

I'm just looking out for my friend.

You challenged my authority
in front of a suspect, Castle.

Since when is Damian a suspect?
Right now everyone is.

You know that. That's how I do my job.

I will not have you get in the way

of an investigation. I won't.
I won't. I promise.

But now can we get on to
real suspects, like workmen,

like, uh, mystery gang members?

Question away. Look...

I promised Damian we would
get the guy that did this.

Let me help you. Please.

Yo! Castle.

Hey, you made it.

Yeah. So I talked with

Damian Westlake's friend,
Charles Utley.

He said Damian was distraught

when he found his wife's body,

but he also says that during
their normally friendly game,

Damian was unusually
tense and aggressive.

So maybe he shoots his wife,

then goes to shoot some hoops,

injures his friend, brings him
inside to establish an alibi.

You know, Vicky
Westlake had an argument

with one of her workers on Friday.

A worker who, and I'm just speculating here,

may have some experience
with nail guns.

Maybe we should go run
and check out that lead

before we rush to judgment
on an innocent man.

I'm sorry. Is this you
staying out of the way?

This is me simply making a point

about remaining objective.

Excuse me. Amber Patinelli?

I'm detective Esposito.
This is detective Ryan.

We'd like to talk with
you about Vicky Westlake.

Of course. Oh, my God.
It's just so terrible.

Vicky's husband said
that she had a fight

with one of the
workmen at her house.

She fired the carpenter,
Morris Hasberg.

Oh, my God. You don't think
that Morris did this?

We're looking at several suspects.

What did Morris do to get fired?

He stole her engagement ring.

Vicky was afraid of getting mugged,

so she didn't wear it much.
Vicky looked for it

in her jewelry box last week,
and it was missing.

Jewelry box? My fiancé never
takes her ring off her finger.

Is your fiancée's ring 11 carats?

Morris was hired to make a
cabinet for the master bath.

He was the only
person in the bedroom.

Vicky told him,
if he didn't return the ring,

she'd have to call the police.
Morris went crazy.

Crazy how? He came to the
house on Monday morning,

and he made a scene.

He said that if she
didn't stop telling lies,

bad things would happen.

Morris Hasberg?

Turns out the Westlakes' carpenter

learned his trade at Sing Sing,

where he did eight to
ten for armed robbery

back in the late '90s.

Witnesses report seeing
his truck in front of

the Westlakes' town house
on the day of the murder.

Do I see two men jumping on
a hot workmen-related lead?

That sounded a lot dirtier than I...
than I wanted it to.

We'll bring him in. Okay.

Oh, actually, those were... those...

See? I told you it wasn't Damian.

I never said it was.

In fact, I would be very
happy if Morris was our guy.

You have wrong guy.

Morris, forensics came back on the nail gun.

Your fingerprints are all
over the murder weapon.

I must use nail gun for carpenter.

Well, then what was your truck

doing parked on her
street on Wednesday?

She say come, uh, see her.

You expect us to believe

that Mrs. Westlake invited
you back into her house

after you stole her ring and threatened her?

Mrs. Westlake, she find ring.

She called to me and
say to come there,

and then she say sorry to accuse.

She cry.

She cry... She cried?

Is true.

Hasberg's alibi

is truth.

Shut the front door. C.S.U.
inventoried the jewelry,

and the engagement ring is there.

But there were other
prints on the weapon.

Partials, but none of
them are in the system.

Okay, so what's our new theory?

Who's our new suspect?

Oh, come on. Not Damian.

Castle, bad guys

breaking into houses
bring their own weapons,

dogs bark at strangers,

and over one-third

of domestic female homicide victims

are murdered by their husbands.

I don't care about statistics.

I am telling you,
Damian is not capable of murder.

You know, I could say that
about maybe three people

that I've met in my entire life.

What is it about this guy that...
that warrants

this unshakable faith
that you have in him?

When I was 14, my mom sent
me to Edgewyck Academy.

I... I was homesick,
and I didn't have any friends,

so I wrote about it.

One day, I submitted a story
to the literary magazine.

Damian Westlake was the editor.
And he published it.

More than that.

He called me down to his office,

he sat me down,
and he said, "Ricky..."

"You have a great talent."

No one had ever said anything
like that to me before.

Damian, he encouraged me,
he critiqued me, he...

He always made me
dig a little deeper.

Without Damian Westlake,
I'm a lawyer,

I'm a grifter, I'm a rodeo clown,

but I am not a writer.

Without him, I'm not me.

Yo. I ran a standard
background check

on Damian Westlake.

Turns out Vicky isn't
the first family member

that he's lost to violence.
You mean his father.

When Damian was 19,
his father was killed

at the Westlake vacation
home in Puerto Rico.

Not killed, Castle. Murdered.

And you didn't tell us?

Tell you what?

H-how is the tragic death of Damian's father

over two decades ago

in any way relevant to this case?

I'll tell you how.

The cops that were
investigating that case

named Damian as the prime suspect.

Castle, it's one thing for you
to look out for your friend.

It's a completely different story

when you hide vital
information from me.

I wasn't hiding it.
I just didn't think it mattered.

You didn't think it mattered

that Damian was a suspect
in a previous homicide?

I didn't know he was a suspect.

And since he was never arrested,

and that case is still unsolved,

I'm guessing those cops
have a lot of theories

and no evidence, like another
detective I could name

right about now.

You know, if this was anybody else,

you'd be asking me

why I hadn't already
slapped the cuffs on 'em.

But it isn't anyone else.

And I'm telling you,
you are way off base on this one.

What's going on? Mom and dad are fighting.

Who's winning?

We agreed that you would
stay out of my way

on this. Yes, but I did not agree

I would stand by and let
you railroad my friend!

Castle, you are too close to this one.
You need to go home!

Now!

Yeah... Ryan, Bill.

Really appreciate that. What about fibers?

Yeah, as soon as possible. Thank you. Okay.

Let's get ahold of Philip
Westlake's case file.

I want to find out why no arrests were made.

And Vicky Westlake's ex-husband,
Simon Campbell,

let's bring him in.

Sorry. I... I had
to get outta there.

I keep thinking I'm gonna hear Vicky's voice

or I'm gonna come around the corner

and see her curled up on the sofa.

Listen, Damian, I'm sorry.

Something's come up
in the investigation.

Your father's murder... You were a suspect.

Some creep broke into our house,

robbed the place,
and shot my father.

The cops decided on day one
that it must have been me.

Were you there?

I was at college, 2,000 miles away.

I know you and your
father didn't have

the, uh, the best relationship.

It only got worse after
my mother passed away.

And when he died, you inherited...

Everything.

Detective Beckett thinks,
I got away with murder once,

now I've done it again,
doesn't she?

Ah, Damian, you should've told me.

I'm not a cop. I'm your friend.

That's right. You are.

Remember when you first
came to Edgewyck?

I remember.

I was the one that told
them to give you a chance.

I'm looking for the
same chance now.

Mr. Campbell, how did you
get along with your ex-wife?

Well, it was hard for a while. I was bitter.

Vicky left me for him, you know?

Mm-hmm. We had a home.

We had two kids going
into their teens,

and she fell madly in
love with Damian Westlake

and left me.

And what did you know about him,
about his past?

I know he doesn't work.
Comes from money, I guess.

Mm-hmm. A typical spoiled child

that grew into a spoiled man.

I know Vicky regretted
marrying him.

And why would you say that?

Vicky's business

is on the ground floor
of our brownstone.

I still live in the top
two floors with the kids.

I would see her every day,
you know, singing a little tune

or gazing fondly at some new
bauble he had gotten her.

Then lately, there was less
singing and more crying.

Monday, she told me she thought
she had made a mistake.

We even talked about
getting back together.

What, you think it's a coincidence

that two days later, she was dead?

Richard, I thought you
went to bed hours ago.

Couldn't sleep.

Couldn't sleep because of
your fight with Beckett

or because there's a possibility

your old friend Damian
may be a double murderer?

Both, and thank you for
putting it so bluntly.

Richard, you know...

Don't. Don't say it.

I know what you're thinking,
'cause I'm thinking it, too.

What are the chances
Damian's father and wife

are both murdered
in home invasions,

but he had nothing to do with 'em?

So what do you think?

I know, if he is guilty,

I'll need to be convinced
beyond a reasonable doubt.

I will need solid evidence,

not just coincidence
and speculation.

Have you ever known Beckett
to settle for less than that?

No.

Then I think you
should face it, kiddo.

You may owe that
woman an apology...

Especially if you want
to stay on the case.

Oh, no.

Ugh! Oh.

Can I give you a hand with that?

I got it.

You just... all you do...

Castle, I said I got it. Okay?

What are you doing here?

When I told Damian

the best detective in New York
was working his wife's case,

I meant it, and I'm...

I'm sorry to have doubted you.

If you let me back, I promise,

I will do my best
to remain objective.

Well, that might be
harder than you think.

The Westlakes' financial records.

This is their prenuptial agreement,

and it's pretty clear
that if they got divorced,

Damian would get nothing, but with her dead,

he inherits $10 million. Yes,

but you're forgetting that
Damian is already rich...

The money he got
when his father died.

When his father was murdered,

and also, that money is gone.

Last of his cash, Damian spent wooing Vicky.

He showered her with expensive presents...

The engagement ring,
a tennis bracelet, diamond earrings.

And then by the time
they got married,

Damian was tapped out of money.

Vicky was paying for all the bills.

According to Damian's
credit card receipts,

he spent her money on good scotch,

box seats, and Cuban cigars.

Meanwhile, most of her charges are

for her design business...

Appraisers, a rug place, refinisher... So?

So maybe Vicky got tired of being his A.T.M.

Maybe she threatened to cut him
off just like his father did.

Castle, I read the Philip
Westlake case files.

The cops were sure it was him.

Yes, but they were wrong,
just like you're wrong now.

Oh, I'm sorry.
Is this you being objective

or is this you staying
out of my way?

This is me saying,

maybe we could broaden our
suspect pool a little bit.

Certainly there's someone
else we could be looking at.

I think I might be
able to help with that.

The gang unit I.D.'ed the tag

on the back wall of the Westlakes'.

It's a personal signature.
The guy's name is Omar Lincoln.

Please, please tell me
he's a very bad man.

Well, he did two years for
assault with a deadly weapon

in a B&E in 2007. Huh?

Called the Graffiti Squad.
They've been tracking this guy.

Got a pop on his location.

All right. Let's go
get this guy, huh?

Okay, go. I got it. Thank you.

Yo, Omar.

Come here.

NYPD, come on down.

So long, Detective. Oh!

Hey! Yo! Hey! Hey!

Hey, wait a minute! Ooh! Oh, no. Oh!

NYPD! Stop the truck!

Stop! Stop the truck! Stop!

Stop the truck!

Get down!

Yo, if this is about
that dead rich lady,

I don't know nothin'.

All right. Come on. Let's go.

Okay, I was at the house, yeah.
But I didn't kill her.

Here's what I think happened, Omar.

You were back there
tagging the wall.

Mrs. Westlake opens
the door and sees you.

You shove her inside and you
grab the first weapon you find

so that she doesn't call the cops

and you don't get
busted on your parole.

No, no. Look, I tagged the wall.

Right after that,
I hit the flower shop on 63rd.

Owner sees me, pulls a .38,
I get outta there hella fast.

You could ask him. What time was this?

Quarter to 5:00, about.

You make this vandalism
charge go away,

I'll tell you fine
detectives who did it.

Okay.

Her husband. Ah, come on.

Castle.

All right, Omar, talk to me.
I heard them two fighting.

I mean, Beezy had
her Park Avenue on.

"You're a liar. You're a thief.

I'm sorry I ever met you. I want a divorce."

If I was him,
I woulda killed her, too,

just to shut her up.

I... I mean...

Don't write that.

I can't believe you're taking
Omar Lincoln at his word.

I'm taking the word of Dan Samuels,

who confirms, at 4:50 P.M.,
he was at his flower shop

pointing a .38 at Omar Lincoln,
and that Omar ran north,

which is in the opposite direction

of the Westlakes' townhome.

Yes, but maybe he doubled back...

Omar says that he overheard the Westlakes

having a knock-down-drag-out,

and that she used the "d" word.

Damian told us that things
were fine between them

and that the last thing
that Vicky said to him

was "have a good game."

They had a fight.
Married people fight.

Well, then why did Damian
lie to us about it?

Maybe he was afraid you'd,
I don't know,

suspect him of murder.
Or maybe he was afraid

that we'd figure out
what the fight was about.

These are Damian's
credit card charges.

Yeah, we went over those.
Uh, cigars, scotch, box seats.

This is a different card.
Took us a while to find it

because Damian paid the
bill from a pocket account,

and he kept it a secret from Vicky.

And given the charges,
I'm sure he's keeping other secrets.

There's a florist,
some jewelry store at the mall,

and he rented a playroom at the Varick Club

at least once a week. What's in a playroom?

Not much more than a bed.

Yes, I'm a member.

So why would Damian rent a bed

when he had a nice big town house?

There's gotta be a-a reasonable explanation.

Well, let's go see
if we can find it.

Mr. Castle, welcome back.
It's been a long time.

Yes, well, I've been, uh,
working a lot. No time for play.

Ah. We're actually here about

another one of your members.

Damian Westlake.

Apparently he would come here often,
rent a playroom.

I should probably get my supervisor. I...

Callie, it's okay. You can tell us.

Was Damian meeting someone here?

Um...

We're not supposed to get
involved with members,

especially married members.

But Damian...

We couldn't help it. We fell in love.

Did he tell you that he
planned on leaving his wife?

Yeah. Did he tell you about
the problems with the money?

N-no. Uh, Mrs. Westlake did.

You spoke to Mrs. Westlake?

She came to the club
Wednesday morning.

She said that she
had figured it out,

about Damian and me,

and she wanted to warn me.

About what? Mrs.Westlake said that

she was going to leave Damian,

and then he wouldn't
have any money.

She said he couldn't
live without money,

so he would find someone else,

you know, a woman who
could support him.

And did you tell Damian

about the conversation
you had with his wife?

And what did he say?

He said he loved me

and that nothing
would keep us apart.

Then I heard about Mrs.
Westlake on the news.

Did you talk to Damian

after you heard about
his wife's murder?

Just once.

He said we couldn't see
each other for a while,

until things calmed down.

He told me that he didn't do it.

But then he said, you know,
if the cops ask me,

that I should say that
we weren't together...

That it could make him look bad.

What am I supposed to think?

Callie's alibi checks out.

She was at work on Wednesday until 7:00 P.M.

Uniforms are bringing
Damian in now.

Look...

Maybe Damian is a cheater
and a bum and a bad husband.

Maybe? But that doesn't make him a killer.

And you keep looking at me like
I'm crazy for believing in him,

but that's just because
you don't know him.

Castle, neither do you.

The Damian that you think you know

doesn't exist.

You made him up, just like
you made up Derrick Storm,

just like you made up Nikki Heat.

He's a character in a story
that you told yourself

when you were a homesick
14-year-old little boy.

Maybe it's time to let him go.

You can watch from observation.

You don't want to be
in there for this.

You know, people keep telling
me I should hire a lawyer.

I say, I'm innocent.
I-I shouldn't need a lawyer.

If you're innocent,
Mr. Westlake, why is it

every time I turn over
a rock in this case,

some dirty secret of yours
slithers out? I didn't do this.

That's what you said to the
cops in Puerto Rico, too.

Isn't funny how you
keep finding yourself

in the same situation,
telling the same stories?

I've got a story, too. You want to hear it?

My story is about a
handsome little prince

who only ever wanted to live well,

so he killed his dad, the king,

and he stole all of his gold,
and he spent it

and he spent it until
it was all gone.

I didn't marry Vicky for her money.

I loved her.

And what about Callie?

That's right, Damian.
We talked to her.

She said that you
were in love with her

and that you told her

that you wanted the two
of you to be together.

Vicky was leaving you soon.

You'd be free to have
your happily ever after.

But there's just one problem.

Once again... you were out of gold.

Vicky stood between
you and a fortune.

And we know what happens to
people when they do that.

You were the last one
to see her alive.

You were the only one with motive.

But I didn't kill her!

Damian Westlake,
you are under arrest...

You're making a mistake.
For the murder of Victoria Westlake.

You have the right to remain silent.
I didn't do this.

You have the right to an attorney.
If you cannot...

Is Alexis up and gone already?

Oh, yeah. She wanted to window
shop before her violin lesson.

It's her first Valentine's
Day with Ashley,

and she's feeling the pressure. Ah, yes.

She wants a gift that says
"I love you,"

but nothing that says,
"I love you more than life itself.

Please don't leave
me or I may die."

Well, that's why you guys go for
the chocolates and the flowers.

I wish the choice I had to
make today was so simple.

I realized, I have the choice to
believe in two terrible things.

Either Damian is a killer

or Beckett's arrested
an innocent man.

Just thinking about it's
making my head hurt.

Well, then forget your head.
Listen to your heart.

Ricky.

I keep thinking back to when I was a senior.

You were off at Harvard.

You'd send me pages you were
working on for your novel,

and they were good, Damian.

Man, you had talent.
Why'd you throw it away?

Ah, you were the writer,
Ricky, not me.

I didn't have anything to say.

After I inherited all that money,

I just didn't even
want to try anymore.

But when I look back at my life,
I hope you won't mind

if I list you as one of
my few accomplishments.

You should've told me about Callie.

I swear to you,
I didn't kill my wife.

All right.

Can you think of anything
we might have overlooked,

anything that might speak to your innocence?

I slept in, I went to the gym,

I had lunch in a café
on the West Side.

When I got home,
Vicky was already there.

She had been to see Callie.
We fought... God... for hours.

She said she wanted a divorce.

Yeah, she... she showed me an envelope

and said there were papers
inside that her lawyer

had drawn up for her to sign.

She was gonna end the marriage.

I begged her to reconsider,
and she asked me to leave.

She needed to think.
You said Vicky gave you an envelope?

What'd it look like?

I gotta get back to my route.

Just five minutes, I promise.

Ah. Hello, hello.

Castle?

Everyone, this is Blanca.

Hola. ¿Qué estás haciendo aquí?

Este loco me hizo venir con él.

Ah. Lo siento. Buena suerte.

Yeah, I don't...
I don't know what...

So first of all,

you were right.

Damian and Vicky did have a
fight the night she died.

And she did tell him
she wanted a divorce.

As a matter of fact,

she showed him a large manila
envelope full of papers

from her lawyer that
she was going to sign.

An envelope with legal papers?

There wasn't anything about
this in the C.S.U. report.

Exactly.

Blanca, please tell them
what happened to it.

Then I could go back to my route?
Yes, of course.

I was delivering the mail
on Wednesday afternoon.

As I made my way up 69th
towards Park, I passed

Mr. Westlake and Mr. Utley. I said hello.

They said hello back.
A couple of minutes later,

I get to the Westlakes' residence,
the door opens,

and Mrs. Westlake comes
running out and hands me

a large manila envelope.
She said she wanted to make sure

it went out in that day's mail.
Wait a minute. So you're positive

that you saw Mrs. Westlake
after you saw Damian?

Lady, I couldn't be more sure.

Anything else? No, that's it. Thank you.

Then I'm leaving now. Of course.

Thank you, Blanca.

So... Vicky was alive after
Damian left the house.

And he was with Charles Utley

until they came back and found
her dead. Which means...

Damian couldn't have killed her.

Got it.

The D.A.'s office just
kicked Damian Westlake loose.

And they weren't too
happy about it either.

Sir, if Westlake didn't do it,

then he hired someone else to do it for him,

just like he did the last time.
Wasn't it you that said

that bad guys always
bring their own weapons?

Not when they want it to look

like a push-in robbery gone wrong.

What about the dog
that didn't bark?

He got the dog used to the guy.

Come on. You just can't
get over the fact

that Damian was a person of
interest in his father's murder.

I won't ignore the fact that
there is a pattern here.

People close to this guy
seem to die violently.

Or maybe someone is using
Damian's tragic past

to frame him for Vicky's murder.

Now there's another suspect
right in front of you

that you're not even looking at...
Someone who had motive,

means, and opportunity.
And that would be whom exactly?

Simon Campbell...

Vicky's ex-husband.

Think about it.

Abandoned, cuckolded Simon...
Do we really know this guy?

Do we have any idea what
he's capable of? Well, do we?

All the evidence points to Damian.

Yes, but wouldn't that
evidence be less conclusive

if Damian didn't have this old
murder hanging over his head,

or better yet, if there was
proof that Philip Westlake

was killed by a random intruder? Castle,
there isn't any proof.

Not yet, there isn't.

Since you can't see through
the cloud of suspicion

surrounding Damian, I'm gonna clear the air.

I'm gonna solve Philip
Westlake's murder,

prove my friend didn't do it.

Meanwhile, you can check out Simon Campbell.

I need to go to the D.A.
with something solid.

Can you prove Westlake hired
somebody to off his wife?

I just need a couple of days.

So what's our next move?

If Damian hired
someone to kill Vicky,

then there's a money trail.

I'll find it.

Meanwhile, you guys look
into Simon Campbell.

I'm sure he'll love it.

Darling, your daughter's a genius.
I knew that already.

For Valentine's Day,
she bought Ashley a frame,

had it engraved "true love,"

and put in a picture of
his pet rat... Theodore.

Heartfelt yet humorous. Genius.

What's in the box?

This is Philip
Westlake's murder file.

I told Beckett,
I'm gonna solve the case.

- Oh, Richard. - What? You're the one
who told me to follow my heart.

Yes, but, you know... Dad,
that case is older than me.

This doesn't sound
like encouragement.

Then would you like some help?

Yes, I would.

To hire a gunman, you need cash,

and according to everything
that we've been through here,

Damian didn't have any. Yeah, well,

it's somewhere.
We just haven't found it yet.

All the expensive knickknacks in that house,

maybe he pawned a figurine.

Vicky was a designer. She was meticulous.

She would've noticed if
something went missing,

like the engagement ring.

Got something?

Omar Lincoln overheard
Vicky call Damian a thief,

and when Vicky apologized
to Morris Hasberg

for accusing him of stealing
her engagement ring, she cried.

Maybe she wasn't crying
because of Morris.

Maybe she was crying because
she realized that her husband

was stealing from her. C.S.U.
said the ring was accounted for.

Vicky's credit card... wasn't there
an appraiser on it? - Yeah. Why?

I think I know how
Damian got his money.

It was terrible,
what happened to Mrs. Westlake.

She came to see you
Tuesday afternoon.

What for?

Oh, she wanted her
jewelry appraised.

I'm afraid I had some
bad news for her.

The stones were imitation.
I see that quite a bit.

People need cash in a hurry,

but they don't want to
give up their jewelry.

So they sell the diamonds
and they replace them

with high-quality silicon carbide.

Was one of the pieces an
11-carat engagement ring?

Yes, the entire basket
setting had been replaced.

She said that's how she
knew something was wrong.

This whole case file

is just one long loop
leading back to Damian.

Apparently, neighbors
saw someone loitering

outside the Westlake home
the night of the murder.

Here's a sketch.

What?

Alexis, I know this guy.

Detective Beckett.

Could we talk for a moment?

Sure.

Have you come to apologize?

No.

At least you're honest.

What can I do for you, detective?

You could show me the diamonds
that you stole from Vicky.

I spoke to Wallace Benner,
the jeweler on the West Side.

He said that he replaced

your wife's diamonds
with imitation ones.

Over a period of several weeks,

he exchanged 26 diamonds
worth over $8 million

and gave you the real ones.

But doesn't this argue
against your theory

that I killed my wife?

If I have $8 million,
why wouldn't I just leave,

be with Callie? Greed.

You used the first diamond as a down payment

for the contract to kill her.

Once Vicky was dead,
you'd inherit and double your take.

You really think I'm that cold?

Personally, I have no doubt.

But Richard Castle believes in you,

and I believe in him.

So show me those diamonds.

Show me that none
of them are missing

or I will haul your
ass back to jail.

I only changed the diamonds I had given her.

Those pieces cost me
millions of dollars,

and I knew she'd have no
particular attachment to them

once we were over.

I've led....

A careless and wasteful life,
detective.

But I'm no killer.

26 diamonds... They're all there.

Detective Salazar?

I'm Richard Castle.

Thank you very much for meeting me.

I'm retired now,
so you can call me Ray.

All right.
So, Ray, what kind of man

leaves beautiful Puerto Rico

to retire in freezing
cold New York?

The kind of man
whose beautiful wife

is from Long Island.

Understood.
So you said on the phone

this was about the Philip
Westlake case? That's right.

I really hated leaving the job
with that one still unsolved.

Well, maybe I can help with that.

Did you ever manage to identify
the man that neighbors saw

outside the Westlake home

the night of the murder? Thought we did.

He looked a lot like a local tough

named Enrique Molina.

But when we brought Molina in,

the neighbors couldn't
pick him out of a lineup.

That's because it wasn't Molina.

I'm listening. Michael Rutherford

was a scholarship kid at Edgewyck Academy,

where Damian Westlake
and I went to school.

He was smart, but... a sociopath,

a thief.

Kid barely graduated.

Were Rutherford and
Westlake friends?

No. As a matter of fact,
it was Damian who turned him in

to the headmaster for stealing.

But they did run in some
of the same circles,

sometimes went to the same parties.

What if Michael Rutherford heard

about the Westlake vacation
home in Puerto Rico?

It was nearly always vacant,
full of treasure.

He could've made a small fortune

and gotten revenge on
Damian at the same time.

Hey, how'd it go?

Damian Westlake is a
thief and a cheater...

But he might not be our killer.

You guys, I hate admitting it,
but Castle might be right.

We've also been thinking
that Castle might be right.

Info's back on Simon Campbell.

Vicky's ex-husband is what they
like to call "overextended."

Campbell's real estate firm
took a big hit two years ago,

and he borrowed heavily
to cover costs.

The man needs a cash transfusion, stat.
Is Simon in Vicky's will?

He gets the deed to the Brownstone,

which is worth over $5 million.

He's also the executor of
their children's estate.

Now he was at home with the
kids at the time of the murder,

but he was on the second floor,
and they were on the third.

So he could've snuck out,
been back before anyone noticed.

Which brings us to the
Campbell Brownstone

and its very sophisticated
security system.

It records every door opening, every window.

A friendly A.D.A. got us a warrant,

and we talked to the alarm company.

at 4:37 P.M. on Wednesday,
the front door opens.

At 5:42, it opened again.

Which means someone
left before the murder

and then returned after.

You know, I'd like to talk
to our Mr. Simon Campbell.

Well, we called his place.

He's out all evening
on personal business

and he's not picking up his cell phone.
Okay, sit on his house.

When he gets back home, bring him in. Mm.

So... what did you
decide about Lanie

and Valentine's Day?

Oh. I'm gonna play it safe
and show up with a gift.

I found this jewelry store
that sells stuff, you know,

that girlfriends like... necklaces,
charm bracelets.

What about you? What are you gonna do? Oh,
Jenny loves chocolate.

Jenny's planning her wedding.

Your girl's on a diet,

and you're gonna
give her chocolate?

Hey, hey, hey. It's Simon.

Oh, and he's got a little
Valentine of his own,

doesn't he?

Is that Amber Patinelli,
Vicky Westlake's employee?

You're sure it's her?

So much for Simon saying

that he wanted to
reconcile with Vicky.

What do you want us to do?

Thought so.

Let's bring 'em both in.

I was hoping you'd still be here.

I was just about to call you.

I think I know who the killer is.

I appreciate you coming in.
Detective, it's very late.

Oh, this will be quick. I didn't realize

that the two of you were a couple.
Well, it's very casual.

Well, for a long time, we were just friends.

I was a shoulder to cry
on after the divorce.

It's been only been
recently that, uh...

Any plans for Valentine's Day? Uh,
nothing special, no.

You were hoping to spend
it with Vicky, right?

What does that mean?

Simon?

Uh, Vicky and I have
been talking. That's all.

How is this relevant to anything, detective?

Did Vicky know about you and Amber?

No. I didn't want her to know.

So it's possible that
Vicky innocently confided

in her friend Amber,
telling her she was leaving Damian,

going back to Simon, not knowing
that he was your Simon now.

Amber, you called for
a company car at 4:15

on Wednesday afternoon.

We just talked to the dispatcher.

He says you ordered a sedan
and kept it for an hour,

a round-trip to the
Westlakes' and back.

We found a nail gun

with fingerprints that we couldn't identify.

If we compare them to yours,
do you think we'd find a match?

You didn't go there intending
to kill her, did you?

No.

I just wanted to talk.

She could have any man she wanted.

And I begged her
to let me have you.

She said no.

I love you so much.

She could never love
you the way that I do.

So you're saying that Amber
didn't even know about my past?

It wasn't a frame,
just a strange coincidence?

Or kismet.

Where are you off to?

Barcelona.

I gotta get away.

Thank detective Beckett
for me, will ya?

Congratulate her on
solving the case.

Well, actually,
we solved two cases.

What's this?

That's a sketch of
Michael Rutherford.

I found it in your
father's murder file.

Michael Rutherford?

From school?

I don't understand.

He broke into your house.
He shot your father.

Oh, my God.

They found him, Damian. He's been arrested.

After all this time?

Can they even prove that he did it?

There was a cigarette
butt left at the scene.

Detective Salazar made
sure it was preserved.

The D.N.A. is a match.

Michael made a deal, Damian.

He confessed.

Wow. This is, uh...

It's pretty overwhelming.

I got a plane to catch,

so maybe we should just
talk about this later.

Michael told the cops you
got in touch with him,

asked him if he wanted to make

a lot of money for
one night's work.

You gave him your Rolex and
your car as a down payment.

When your inheritance came through,

he got half a million dollars

and a one-way ticket
to Los Angeles.

He still has your Rolex...

And a map that you drew

of your father's house

with a path leading straight to his bedroom.

Rick, he's lying. He's lying.

Tell me you didn't do it.

Ricky, I...

Tell me I haven't been
believing in you all this time

for nothing.

That's them...

Detective Salazar and
some New York detectives.

They're here to take you in.

I told them you'd be a gentleman.

Show me a hero,
and I'll write you a tragedy.

F. Scott Fitzgerald said that.

Then it must have been
Ernest Hemingway who said,

"Man, I sure could use a
drink right about now."

Lead the way. I'm buying.

It's Valentine's Day.

Shouldn't you be in a
nice candlelit restaurant

wearing a new dress
ordering surf and turf?

I've got a couple of hours.

You okay?

Yeah. I'm fine.

Liar.