Castle (2009–2016): Season 5, Episode 7 - Swan Song - full transcript

(BAND PLAYING ROCK MUSIC)

MAN: Testing. One, two, three.

- (FEEDBACK WHINES)
- Damn it!

- Hank, be careful with it, man.
- Sorry, man.

- KEITH: Yo, here it is!
- What?

- The review from last night's show.
- Do we want to hear it?

Only if you like being called
the next Nirvana.

- Yeah, right.
- Dude, he's not kidding.

"Holy Shemp's future is now.

"They're about to explode just like

"one of singer Keith Blue's
signature screams."

Yeah!

Whoo! Did you hear that?
We're taking off, baby!

Hey, hey, where's James?
They're comparing him to The Edge.

Uh, he's probably still asleep.

Let's go wake his ass up!

ZEKE: Oh, my God. Is this real?

Jimmy! Come on, guys.
It's gonna be good.

Wakey-wakey, Jimbo,
I'm coming in with a camera. Come on.

I seriously hope his junk is not flapping
in the breeze like last time. Come on.

In here, come on.

Help! Help!

Help me! Help me!

(POLICE RADIO CHATTER)

(SIRENS WHOOPING)

Ryan, get rid of the cameras.

Yeah, I'll take care of it.

Hey, Officer,
we need to lose these cameras.

You know that. No press allowed!

No, they're not press.
They're shooting some kind of movie.

No, they're filming a documentary
about the band.

And you are?

I'm Hank Rogers.

I'm one of the roadies.

You knew the victim? All right, well,
I'm gonna need a statement, okay?

(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING)

Are you kidding me?
They're in here, too.

I asked them to leave, but he said that
the director told him to shoot all this.

How'd you like to try to film
with a cracked lens, huh?

All right, Espo, just go get their director,
tell him to get the crew out of here.

- Hey, Esposito.
- (MUTTERS)

Someone didn't get their coffee.
What's this?

They are making a documentary
on the band.

Yeah, just ignore them.

Richard Castle, novelist.

My latest, Frozen Heat, in stores now.

Have you met Nikki Heat's inspiration,
Detective Beckett?

Lanie, what else do we know?

Victim is James Swan.
He's the lead guitarist of Holy Shemp.

They must be Three Stooges fans.

Based on lividity,

I'd say the time of death
is between 12:00 and 2:00 a.m.

Look at that.

"Observe."
An unheeded call to vigilance.

So, that's the murder weapon?

CASTLE: Mmm.
It's a Gibson Les Paul.

'59 Flame Top, if I'm not mistaken,
and I'm rarely mistaken.

(SLURPS)

(INHALES SHARPLY)

It's hot. (INHALES)

Tell me about this guitar.

Well, the Flame Top is his favorite.

Uh, last night after the show, I tuned it
and I dropped it off at his trailer.

He likes to compose on it.

All right. Well, what time was that at?

Was around 11:30.

All right, was, uh, he alone at the time?

Yeah. Yeah.
And we chatted for a second.

He was always really nice to me.
It was all about the music with him.

Was there anyone
hanging outside the trailer?

Maybe someone you didn't recognize?

I saw a white van. Went around
the block a couple of times.

Oh, did you get a plate number?

I'm sorry. It was dark.

All right. Um, don't go anywhere.

(POLICE RADIO CHATTER)

No. I...
You can't pull your funding.

- Yo! You the director?
- (CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING)

Yeah, no. You...

Look, we are sitting on gold,
here, okay?

This is part rock-doc, part, uh...

This is a crime scene. You gotta
get these cameras out of here.

All right. Look, I gotta go.
Just call me if you can get that thing.

Look, you gotta help me out here, okay?

I've been following these guys
non-stop for three months.

Not anymore. Police procedure, sorry.

And if you've been
following the victim 24l7,

- I'm gonna need to see to that footage.
- No, Detective!

Look, (SIGHS)
I'm in a spot here, okay?

James Swan was that band.

With him gone,
no one is gonna care about these guys

or wanna see this film.

So unless I can reinvent it
as some kind of thriller,

you know, a hunt for the murderer...

People love that stuff.

Listen to me.

A guy's dead here.

- (CELL PHONE RINGING)
- Lf you don't get rid of these cameras,

I'm gonna break one over...

One second, sorry. Yeah, go ahead.

Oh, great. Okay, hang on, I'm gonna
give you to a detective.

Hello?

CASTLE: This was a crime of passion.

There was an argument,
things got heated.

The killer grabbed the nearest
heavy object and felled poor Mr. Swan

at the tragically young age of...

How old was he?

Twenty-seven.

Wow. Another one for the club.

- What club?
- Twenty-seven Club.

Memberships include
some of the greats.

Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison,
Janis Joplin. And the list is extensive.

Castle, we kind of need a different list,

like, who might have been
in this trailer last night.

(KNOCKING)

I think I know where to start.

(WHISPERING) Lanie.

(KNOCKING CONTINUES)

Go. Go, get out of here.

(BEEPS)

(SIGHS) Oh, my God, thank you.

The guy was a total genius.

I followed the band for six months
trying to meet him.

A couple weeks ago,
James and I got together.

And every night since I'd meet him
in his trailer right after the show.

So you were in his trailer
when it happened?

I guess. I mean, um...

I don't remember anything.

I'm sorry, how can you not remember?

I passed out.

I guess I partied a little too hard
during the show.

(VOICE BREAKING)
I'm sorry, I wanna help.

Listen, Miss...

- Butterfly.
- Butterfly.

This is very important.

Do you remember anything
about that night, anything at all?

(BUTTERFLY EXHALES DEEPLY)

In his trailer,

I heard a horse.

CASTLE: Um...

A horse as in whinnying?

No. I heard the sound of horse hooves
crunching in the snow.

Like, crunch, crunch, crunch.

Okay, can we, uh, just focus on what
happened just before you passed out?

Did he seem like he was upset?

Did he seem like
he had been fighting with anyone?

Actually, the opposite.

He'd been complaining a lot

about the other guys in the band
recently, you know?

The arguments and the tension.

(SOBS)

(CRYING) But last night,
he seemed happy.

You know,
like he'd found some kind of peace.

BECKETT: I don't know if that girl
could swing a guitar with enough force

to kill anyone, but I still gotta check
her clothes for blood spatter.

I'm more interested in what the band
members were fighting about.

Hey, what are you guys doing here?
Huh? Get out of here, now.

This is a police investigation.
You have no right to be here.

MITAS: Uh, actually, that's not true.
(CHUCKLES)

GATES: I'm sorry, Detective,
but it's out of my hands.

City Hall has decided it's good PR.

What about the case? They're
going to compromise the investigation...

I feel the same way as you do.

But a decision has been made
and I expect you to comply with it.

Fine. Then just have them
stay out of my way.

Hi.

Uh...

Welcome. I'm Captain Gates,
head of the 12th Precinct.

In cooperation with
the NYPD's Public Affairs division,

I am happy to grant you full access
to the department.

I think you will find everyone here
more than accommodating.

Welcome.

Welcome.

CASTLE: Come on,
what's the big deal? Lt'll be fun.

Look, Castle, what we do here,
this is mine.

And just because they wanna invade
my privacy,

it doesn't mean that
I have to help them do it.

Okay, well, that may be,

but these cameras,
they're not going anywhere.

They're gonna see something.

I just want them to see what I see.

Hold up, why do you need our alibis?

Because we understand that
there was some tension

between Mr. Swan and the band.

Of course there was tension.
You spend every second together,

it's not always gonna be pretty.

ZEKE: We've been together
for five years. If you had any idea

the kind of crap you go through
trying to make it in this business.

It has a way of bonding people.

Or making them
really, really sick of each other.

Hey, we looked out for James.

He was a middle-class kid from Ohio.

He didn't know what
he was getting into with this life.

Yeah, well,
we're still gonna need statements

about where you were last night.

Fine. I was in my trailer.
I went there right after the show.

- ZEKE: Me, too.
- We were all in our trailers.

All right. We have reports that
there was a white van in the area.

Did James ever mention
anything about that?

No. But he did think
someone was following him.

Yeah, uh, it was a month ago,
right around the time we played lthaca.

He was acting all paranoid, he was
talking about hiring extra security.

Did he say who he was afraid of?

KEITH: No. But, um,
he hadn't brought it up recently,

so I just assumed
everything was normal

- until he pulled that stunt yesterday.
- Yeah.

What happened yesterday?

He blew off our 1:00 band meeting.

We didn't see him again
until sound check at 6:00.

The guy never missed a band meeting.

Did he say where he was going?

No.

But I do know this.

The camera guy that was following him

said that James ditched him
on purpose.

So whatever he was doing,
he didn't want anyone to know.

(DOOR OPENS)

Yo, you guys got a sec?

ESPOSITO: So I've been going through
the documentary footage of our victim.

Check this out.

(BEEPS)

Most guys will tell you that they
learned to play guitar themselves,

but I had a mentor.

And that guy was incredible.
Much better than I'll ever be.

MAN: What's he think of the band?

You know, we lost touch a ways back.

(BEEPS)

There. You see that guy?

That was taken over a month ago.

These are more recent.

All right?

(WHISPERING) Just move back
a little bit. There we go.

(NORMAL VOICE)
Boom. Boom. Boom.

Yeah, looks like our vic had a stalker.

Check out this one.

This is from yesterday.
Look what he's leaning against.

A white van.

We've got you now, you son of a bitch.

(EXHALES DEEPLY)

I'm sorry, can I even say son of a...

RYAN: So we blew up
the picture of the white van

wide enough to get a license plate.

It's registered to an address
somewhere around here.

Make a right up ahead.

No, I'm going another way.

What do you mean?
There's only one way.

No, there's a different way.
There's a back way.

- There's no back way.
- Trust me. Trust me.

I know how this might look, but we
actually make a pretty good team

because we each have, uh,
different strengths.

That's true.

For example, I'm former military,
which makes me a expert marksman.

I'm usually first through the door.

Well, yeah. But somebody's gotta know
which door to go through.

I'm a little bit more, um, circumspect,
uh, than my partner here.

I'm kind of like the nerve center
of the team.

I'm definitely the physical one.
I stay in sick shape.

Boom! Have you been to the gun show?
(CHUCKLES) I'm just kidding, I'm just...

Seriously though, I'm in sick shape.

Dude, what's with the shirt?
It's really tight. Did you change it?

I spilled something on it.

Ah, here it is.

Slow approach.

(WHISPERING) Stay close.

I think he saw us.

(OBJECTS CRASHING
AND RATTLING)

(GRUNTS)

I got this!

(PANTING)

- (GRUNTS)
- (GROANS)

Let's go check out the van.

(MAN GRUNTING)

MAN: Ahhh!

(HANDCUFFS CLICKING)

What do we have here?

Uh-oh.

I'm pretty sure that ain't ketchup.

Hey, is that our stalker?

Ex-stalker. He won't be
seeing daylight anytime soon.

RYAN: Uh, L.T.,
could you please take him

to the interrogation room? Thank you.

You should watch from observation
while I tear this guy apart.

So, uh, we like this guy?

We found blood-stained overalls
in his van.

We sent them to be tested to see
if they match the blood from our vic.

Oh, they match. Trust me, bro.

You don't have to worry about this
creep hurting anyone ever again.

That's a gift, from me to you.
You're welcome, America.

ESPOSITO: You've a lot of nasty things
in your van, Joe.

CASTLE: I miss anything?

BECKETT: No, they're just
getting started.

Rope, gasoline...

You wanted to do nasty things
to James Swan.

JOE: I don't know
what you're talking about.

Oh, I think you do.

I'm gonna give you a second
to get your facts straight.

Ooh, the time-out. That's a classic.
Interrogation, it's really an art form.

I mean, Detective Beckett here,
she is a master.

I have watched her crack
countless cases in this very room.

Remember that guy
who killed his gardener

because he cut his roses too short?

- Mmm-hmm.
- RYAN: We found your overalls.

They had Swan's blood all over 'em.

That's not his blood, it's my blood.

I cut myself
when I was working on my van.

Oh, come on, Joe.
What do you think, we're stupid?

We've got you on video,
following him for weeks.

We've got your van at the crime scene.

So why don't you cut the innocent crap
right now?

You want me to admit it? I admit it.
I followed him, I did.

I was just planning to grab him.

And that's when your plan
went sideways.

(GROANS)

You tried to drag him to your van.
But he didn't want to go.

That's not how it happened.

Not how it happened!

ESPOSITO: That's when you got mad

and that's when you busted
his head open.

JOE: No, I didn't kill anybody! I just...

(VOICE BREAKING) I just...

(CRYING) I just want my little girl.

Your little girl?

(EXHALES)
My daughter.

She quit herjob to become a groupie.

Threw her whole life away.

I was afraid she was gonna
get pregnant, or worse.

All I wanted to do was grab him.
I wanted to scare him a little.

I wanted him to stay away from her.

- Your daughter?
- Yes,

I haven't seen her in weeks.

I don't even know if she's alive.

Does she go by the name of Butterfly?

Yes.

I think we can help you find her,
if it's okay with my partner.

Well, looks like our stalker
was telling the truth.

Prelim shows that the blood
on his overalls was his. Sorry, partner.

Huh.

Well, at least grabbing the guy up
wasn't a total bust.

I don't know. Seems to be
the definition of a total bust.

Well, it would've been if I hadn't
just spoken to him in holding.

Seeing as how he was tailing our victim,

he knew exactly where Swan was
on the afternoon of his death.

Great. Where?

He was in a bank in SoHo,

and then he went into
a residential building

on the corner of Lafayette and Broome.

CASTLE: Yes, but why?

Swan eluded his cameraman
to go on a clandestine errand.

An errand so important
he missed a band meeting.

He was acting erratically,
went to the bank right beforehand...

This all points to one thing.

- Drugs.
- Drugs... Drugs...

That's an interesting theory,
but that is pure speculation.

Actually, it's not.

Pure speculation would be Swan
purchasing thermonuclear technology

to have a scientist make him an
amplifier that went all the way to 12.

- This, musicians buying drugs...
- (CELL PHONE BEEPS)

...that's just
Monday morning's crossword.

I'll pull a list of tenants,
see if anyone pops.

Lanie's got something
she wants us to see.

Lanie? Who's Lanie?

Uh...

Uh, Lanie is our medical examiner
and she works at the morgue.

And she's got information that
she wants us to see

and we are keeping her waiting.

Still a little stiff.

It's early. She could tighten that up.
But she's getting better.

LANIE: Victim's blood panels
came back.

- Let me guess. Drugs.
- Nope.

This was one clean-living rock star.

In fact, it's not what he put in his body,
it's what he didn't.

James had no antibodies for polio.

He never had the polio vaccine?

Wait, everyone born since the early
1960s got that vaccine.

That's what I thought.

He also had no antibodies
for tetanus, measles,

whooping cough,
all standard immunizations.

What else?

Isn't that enough?

Lanie, usually if you have something
like this for me,

you just call me over the phone.

(SCOFFS) Well, I thought
it was worth the trip.

BECKETT: Ryan, can you look into
our vic's medical records?

I wanna find out
why he was never vaccinated.

On it.

Okay, I think I figured out
why James Swan went to that building.

He knew a guy who lived there.
A Sam Spear.

Dude has an outstanding lawsuit
against our vic.

What kind of a lawsuit?

Well, he claims that James stole
one of the band's songs from him.

And James must've thought
he had a case,

because when he stopped at a bank
on his way to see this guy,

he took out 25 grand, cash.

CASTLE: Sounds like
he's trying to settle out of court.

ESPOSITO: Yeah,
and I'm guessing it didn't pan out.

Sam Spear bought a ticket
to last night's show.

So, he was at the theater
right before Swan was killed.

Time to pay this guy a visit.

No, no. I got this.

You stay here and work
on your little research project,

you being the nerve center and all.
Castle?

Uh, you coming?

No, I'm good.

CASTLE: Wait up.

It's not this one.

Spear's in 3-M.

You know, Detective Beckett
is not an unfriendly person.

She's just got walls.

Let's call them layers.

Layers upon layers of, uh, well, walls.

But once you scale those walls,
(SNAPS) the effort is worth it.

(WHISPERING) Castle,
keep your voice down, please. All right?

I've already had one guy
bolt on me today.

Element of surprise is key.
See, I can be circumspect.

Folks would be lost without me.

(LAUGHS) He went the wrong way.

- (GUNSHOTS)
- (WOMAN SCREAMING)

It's 3-M. Spear's place.

MAN 1: Drop your weapon!
Let her go, right now!

NYPD! Nobody moves!

(SCREAMING AND
GUNSHOTS CONTINUE)

- Get your hands up!
- MAN 2: Hey, oh, yeah, yeah!

Let me see your hands!

Okay, what is this?

Drop your weapon!

(SCREAMING AND
GUNSHOTS CONTINUE)

It's just a bad movie.

I'm just composing a score.

- This is all a misunderstanding.
- ESPOSITO: Let's review.

You sued James Swan over a song.

Then he came to see you
about it yesterday.

A few hours later,
he was killed right after his show.

- What?
- A show that you attended.

But we worked all that out.

He was gonna give me half
the publishing for that song.

I was gonna drop the complaint
as soon as the papers were signed.

That doesn't explain
the 25 grand he brought to you.

Twenty-five...
I don't know anything about that.

Look, he wanted me to write for him.

It'd be pretty stupid to kill off
an employer in this job market.

You were writing songs for him?

Yeah. Here, look.

I already started.
I got pretty far on that one.

ESPOSITO: Let me see that.

I do like the vocal line on this.

You read music?

What, you think 'cause I'm a cop,
I can't sing?

No, I think you can't sing
because I've heard you sing.

That karaoke machine was busted.
I'm gonna sing for y'all later.

If this was just about writing songs,
why all the secrecy?

He never said, but I had my theories.

Especially because his new stuff
was such a musical departure for him,

as I'm sure you noticed.

Yeah.

Taking the music in a new direction

but he didn't want the rest of the band
to know.

Of course. Swan was going solo.

Makes sense.

The director said that Swan was
the creative force behind the group,

that if he left the band
they would flounder.

What if one of the other members
found out and confronted him?

They argued, and things got ugly.

Right. He wasn't about to stay.

And they weren't about to let him

play George Michael
to their Andrew Ridgeley.

- Andrew who?
- Exactly.

So they pick up a guitar,
(SNAPS FINGERS) and wham!

(PLAYING MUSICAL STING)

It's what I do.

That's not bad.

- It gives it weight.
- Yeah.

(BAND PLAYING ROCK MUSIC)

(FEEDBACK WHINES)

Got yourself a new guitarist.

We're trying someone out, yeah.

CASTLE: Well, that was fast.

Though I guess you had this audition
lined up already, didn't you?

What are you talking about?

Come on, Keith,
you knew James was going solo.

Is that true, man?

No, of course not.
How would I know that?

BECKETT: We met with a woman
from the record label.

She says that she's your girlfriend.

She said that she had a meeting
on the books with James

about making some changes

and that there were rumors that
he wanted to leave the band.

CASTLE: All those years
struggling side by side.

Now, success finally at hand,

he wanted to take all the glory
for himself? I know I'd be mad.

I'm not gonna stand here
and let you accuse me

of killing one of my best friends,
all right?

(SHOES CLOMPING)

You hear that sound?

Kind of like horse hooves
crunching on snow.

Just like what Butterfly heard
in Swan's trailer.

BECKETT: (EXHALES) Look,
we know he's got a temper.

So if we can get him angry enough...

Actually, why don't you
talk to Keith yourself?

Why?

Because I want to give you room
to operate.

And strut your stuff.

You got this.

She's got this.

Really? You gotta film this, too?

They can film whatever they want,
Keith. You signed a release.

You're lucky the cameras weren't rolling
when you killed James Swan.

Look, I already said, I didn't kill him.

Yeah, and you also said that
you didn't know that he was going solo

and that you didn't see him
after the show.

But I have a witness that places you
in his trailer at the time of death.

(SIGHS) All right, look,
I did go to his trailer, okay?

But it was like you said, I heard
rumors he was cutting out on us,

I went to see if it was true.

And then after that, you lost control.

No! We just talked, okay?

And James denied it,
he said that he wasn't leaving.

He said he was working on something
that'd be good for all of us.

And what exactly was this something?

(SIGHS)

Look, I used to think I knew that dude,

but he hasn't been the same
since lthaca.

I'm telling you, something happened.

Keith, I'm not talking about lthaca.

I am talking about
what happened in that trailer.

We talked, I left, I went back
to my trailer for the rest of the night.

I was with this girl. You can ask her.

What's her name?

I don't remember her name.

A phone number then?

Anything, so I can get a hold of her?

They come to me.

Keith, you're gonna have to do
a lot better than that.

(SIGHS)

(LAUGHS)

Okay, all right.

I may not remember her name,

but I can prove that we were together
that night.

(MOANING)

CASTLE: They were together, all right.

Tommy Lee's got nothing on this guy.

GATES: I like to check on the case
every once in a while.

No point in chaining myself to that desk
when all the action is right out here.

You want action, check this.

Hey, hey. This is
inappropriate workplace behavior.

This is evidence, sir.

Our suspect's alibi hinges on this.

Oh. Oh!

BECKETT: So does his story pan out?

Yeah. It seems like he's covered
for the entire time-of-death window.

GATES: I hope you're not going
on the time-stamp on this video.

That could be faked, you know.

It's not the only thing on this video
being faked.

ESPOSITO: TV's on
in the background, sir.

And that is the news. Which means
I can verify the time-stamp using that.

Okay. Good job, everyone. Keep it up.

No. Too easy.

So it looks like
we're back to square one, huh?

I wouldn't say that.

I was looking into our vic's medical
records. My little "research project."

Turns out he has no records.
(CLICKS TONGUE)

Birth, medical,
student transcripts, nothing.

The first time James Swan pops up
was when he was 17.

He was hospitalized for a car accident
in lthaca, New York.

Why does lthaca keep coming up?

Because that's where he's from.

I checked the address
in the ER records,

traced it to a 20-acre compound

owned by
The Church of Worldly Enlightenment.

CASTLE: Whoa, guys, wait a second.

I've heard about this place. It's a cult.

That's why he doesn't have
any vaccinations

and that's why he doesn't have a family.
He grew up in a cult.

And the only way to leave was to
escape. The compound is walled.

And the cult practices strict obedience.

Everyone tattoos the word "serve"
on their forearm.

CASTLE: "Serve."

Remember James's tattoo? "Observe"?

He must have added the "O" and
the "B" sometime after he got out.

But when the band played lthaca,
maybe somebody recognized him.

BECKETT: Which is why he was afraid
that someone was following him.

James had reason to be afraid.

John Campbell, the cult's leader.

The guy is a total psycho
with a violent past.

He did 10 years for murder
before starting the whole church scam.

BECKETT: Do we know
where Campbell is now?

Well, I can tell you where he was.
I checked passenger manifests...

Let me see that.

For all the nearby airports.

He flew into JFK two days ago.

Yep.

Wait a second.
That's the day Swan died.

So John Campbell was in town

with a few days to kill.

See what I did there?

That was good. Use that.

Not the part where I said,
"See what I did there." Cut that out.

Do a hard fade to black.
(SNAPS FINGERS) Musical sting.

(HUMS MUSICAL STING)

Hey, are we close
on locating Campbell?

Well, his picture is out
to all patrol cars citywide,

and I've sent his photograph
to all the hotels in our database.

Yeah, but the trouble is he uses aliases
in order to stay off the DEA's radar.

Well, why's the DEA interested?

RYAN: The Church of
Worldly Enlightenment

isn't just
your friendly neighborhood cult.

It's also a 20-acre pot farm,
run by the 300-plus members,

all for Campbell's personal profit.

Why don't the Feds shut him down?

They've tried. Something about
freedom of religious expression.

Can we get anything else on the cult
that can help us find him?

Detective Beckett's working an angle
right now, sir.

(INAUDIBLE)

Hey,

any luck?

Yeah, I just got off the phone
with Cult Watch

and they're gonna hook us
up with someone else

who escaped Campbell's compound.

WOMAN: I was a kid. Drifting.

Campbell promised me meaning,
a spiritual focus.

But in return he took away everything.

Caroline, are you worried
about these cameras?

- 'Cause if you want them gone...
- No. Mmm-mmm.

I want the world to know
what a monster this man is.

How did Campbell react
when James Swan escaped?

He was furious. He used to love James.

That's why it was such a betrayal
when he left.

I heard Campbell swear he'd get
revenge, no matter how long it took.

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

Hey, guys, I think I got something.

The manager of the Widmark Hotel said
that Campbell checked in two days ago.

Did you send a patrol car?

He checked out the next morning.

But guess who came to visit him
soon after he arrived there?

- James Swan.
- BECKETT: When?

5:00 p.m.
The same night that Swan was killed.

He killed James. I knew it.

If James was running from Campbell,
why would he agree to meet with him?

To buy his freedom.

- Let me guess, for $25,000?
- That's right.

Do you have any idea
where we could find Campbell now?

If he is in town,
he might be at this youth hostel.

He recruits there.
It's where I first met him.

Right, let's go get him.

(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING)

Excuse me, what are you doing?
What are these cameras for?

We're looking for John Campbell.

Uh...

No, sorry.
There's no one here by that name.

WOMAN: Excuse me,
that's a private room.

And you can't go back there. Excuse me!

Mr. Campbell, we have a few questions
about James Swan.

Mr. Campbell, where were you between
midnight and 2:00 a.m.

The night that James Swan was killed?

I was in my hotel room.

Can anyone vouch for that?

Well, I was meditating. Solitude's a very
important part of my evening ritual.

CASTLE: So that'd be a no.

BECKETT: So, what are you
doing in town?

Working for my church.

Fundraising, recruiting mostly.

CASTLE: "Fundraising"?

Interesting term for making
James Swan pay you for his freedom.

It's no secret that James and I had met.

But he certainly didn't need
to buy his freedom. We're all free.

Mr. Campbell, we know that James
had 25 grand in cash with him

when he went to see you

and that he no longer had that money
once he left.

James may have made a donation
to the church,

but I make it a point
not to discuss those matters.

Okay, so then
why don't we discuss lthaca?

- (MOUTHING) Here we go.
- About a month ago,

James and his band
had a concert there.

And he said that afterwards
he was concerned

that someone was coming after him.

Now, I think that that someone was you.

I'm sorry, but I had no idea
James was in town last month.

I don't think that's accurate.

I think you're upset with him for
cutting the cord with your church.

- And so you started tracking him.
- That's not true.

He gave you a donation so that
you would leave him alone.

That's not true!

But that wasn't enough, was it?
You wanted revenge.

No. Enough.

So you followed him to his trailer and
then you killed him in a fit of rage!

Enough!
(SMACKS TABLE)

Now, if you have a solid case here,
then arrest me.

Otherwise, we're done.

You contact me again and I will sue you
for religious persecution.

(CHAIR CLATTERS)

Sir, we're sure it was Campbell.

He had motive and he met with
our victim the day that he died.

And he was lying through his teeth
about lthaca.

That's where Swan got on his radar.

Do you have proof of that?

No, not yet.

But we're checking public records
and police reports

from when the band was in lthaca
to see if there's a link to Campbell.

Well, I'm sure the DEA will be delighted
if you could help get some...

(PHONE RINGS)

- Excuse me.
- Yeah.

Gates.

Oh, no, no, DVDs will be fine.

Well, I appreciate it, Mr. Mitas. Okay.

Our film director.

As you know, it's important that this
project reflects well on the precinct.

As I'm sure it will.
(CHUCKLES)

But we did have a number of officers
watching a sex tape earlier.

- (MOUTHS WORDS)
- GATES: Still,

to ensure that the conduct of my people

meets the highest possible standard,

Mr. Mitas is sending over
all the precinct footage for my review.

All the footage, sir?

Is there a problem, Detective?

No, no, of course not.

Okay.

(SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)

Well, she confirmed it.

That's the missing piece.
You should tell Beckett.

Unless you want to.

What? No, no. You brought it home.

Nah, but you were the one
who uncovered the cult thing.

Right? I mean, this guy
broke the whole case wide open.

Yeah, but this guy was the guy who
came up with the 25 grand, right?

- Yeah, but this guy...
- CASTLE: Hey, Tango and Cash.

Is there something you guys
want to tell us or not?

- You wanna?
- Nah, go ahead.

All right.
We were going over police records

for the night that our vic was in lthaca,
we found something else.

A missing persons report
was filed by John Campbell

the day after the band left town.

BECKETT: Someone went missing
from the cult?

Yeah, a guy named Buck Cooper.

We checked with Caroline,
our Cult Watch contact.

Turns out that Buck was Swan's best
friend from his days back in the cult.

So, that's what happened in lthaca.

I mean, Swan went back to the
compound to break out his friend.

That's the real reason
Campbell went after him.

So the 25 grand wasn't for Swan's
freedom, it was for his friend's.

This guy's testimony could help us
nail Campbell.

We've been looking for him,
but he's not in the system.

But Caroline
was supposed to send over a photo.

- (COMPUTER CHIRPS)
- ESPOSITO: There it is.

Boom. Check it out. We know that guy.

It's the roadie I talked to
at the crime scene.

Well, the key to taking down Campbell's
been under our nose the whole time.

I know
I should've said something earlier.

It's just James told me
to keep my head down,

and then all of a sudden he was dead,
and I didn't know what to do.

It's okay, Buck. You're safe now.

I owe that man my life.

And now I'm never gonna get a chance
to repay him.

Actually, you... You might be able to.

You could help us
nail Campbell for his death.

I wish I could, ma'am.

(SIGHS) Lord knows,
that man's done some terrible things.

The trouble is
killing James isn't one of 'em.

When Campbell took the money
from James,

he promised not to bother us anymore.

I needed to hear that myself.
I needed to look him in the eyes.

You were with Campbell
when James was killed.

So then Campbell couldn't have killed
James, but then, who did?

I wish I knew.

Did he say anything to you
when you were in his trailer?

He said that he was ready
to make things right for me.

CASTLE: Uh...

Make things right?
Didn't he already do that?

Yeah, I thought so.

James got me out of the cult.
James got me away from Campbell.

He even gave me a job in his band.

All I ever did for the guy
was teach him how to play guitar.

You were his teacher?

JAMES: Most guys will tell you that they
learned to play guitar themselves,

but I had a mentor.

And that guy was incredible.
Much better than I'll ever be.

MAN: What's he think of the band?

You know, we lost touch a ways back.

And sometimes I wonder
what he's up to.

(BEEPS)

Don't you see?

Everything we need to solve
this murder is right there in that clip.

Do a hard fade to black.

Musical sting.
(HUMS MUSICAL STING)

Buck Cooper was James Swan's
musical mentor, right?

That's why when the filmmaker asked
James about his past,

he automatically thought of
his good friend, Buck Cooper,

and how much he owed him.

Which is when he decided
to rescue Buck from the compound

and bring him on tour.

But Buck as a roadie
didn't seem fitting.

I mean, he was a better musician than
James was, by James' own account.

BECKETT: That's what James meant

when he told Buck
he wanted to make things right.

He was talking about
bringing Buck into the band.

Exactly.

That was the change in direction
he kept talking about.

It's why he told Keith it would be good
for all of them,

because Buck is a great musician.

Only Swan
didn't really mean all of them,

because if Buck was in,
then someone else was out. But who?

Esposito, do you still have that
sheet music

that Swan commissioned
from the songwriter?

- It's right here.
- Perfect.

Working on the song...

See? These aren't
run-of-the-mill power chords.

You'd have to be pretty good to play...

Especially this part.

Yeah, I can play that.

That's good news, Zeke.

Because we just so happen
to have your bass guitar,

right here.

(WHISPERING)
That's right in my face. A little lower.

(NORMAL VOICE)
Thank you, L.T.

(CLEARS THROAT)

(SIGHS)

All right, fine. I can't play it.

That doesn't prove anything.

No, but this does.

This is a dry cleaning ticket that
we found in your trailer

for clothes that
you dropped off yesterday.

There are still flecks
of James Swan's blood on them.

(CHAIR CLATTERS)

(SOBS)

Do you know what it's like to play
all those crappy street fairs,

live on nothing but Ramen noodles,
sleep in a van for 14 months?

And then he calls me to his trailer after
the show and tells me that I'm out?

I admit, I might not be
the world's greatest bass player. But...

No, but you sure can handle a guitar.

Oh, come on, man!
I didn't mean to kill him!

We're finally about to hit it big
and he wants to Pete Best me?

For some roadie? I just...

(THROWS CHAIR)

Ugh! I just lost it!

Ugh!

God! No!

(ZEKE SOBBING)

(WHISPERING) You know,
Pete Best was a drummer.

I think Stu Sutcliffe would have been
a more apt comparison.

I really appreciate
what you guys did for James.

And I'm always gonna appreciate that,

and I know he does, too.

You know, I, uh, have something for you.

I think James
would've wanted you to have it.

Bass line is a little tricky.
I think you might be able to handle it.

Hey. So it's true? About Zeke?

Yeah, I'm afraid so.

(SIGHS) This has not been a good week.

Hey, I wanna let you know,
we need a new bassist, obviously.

And I'm on my way
to meet some guys right now,

but I guess James thought
you were pretty good.

So if you wanna come audition...

(CHUCKLES)

Thanks, Keith. Yeah.

All right, man.

GATES: Listen up, everyone.

I, uh, just wanted to commend all of you
on a job well done,

as I always do at the end of every case.

It's what makes
catching the killer worthwhile.

Which is strange, because you'd think
it'd be catching the killer. But, no, it's...

Uh, sir. Uh, I'm sorry, sir.

About the footage that you were
reviewing, are you still working on that?

No, I got through it.

In fact, Detective Beckett, Mr. Castle,

my office, please.

I'm sure you both know why you're here.

Sir, if you could just let us explain...

Oh, you'd better,
because I don't find this very funny.

GATES: I am proud to say that I have
the, uh, highest rate of solving crimes

here in New York City.

That's due to, in no small part, to my
fine police officers and detectives

who take their work rather seriously.

They live here at the precinct,
they dedicate their entire lives.

We are a close knit family.

Would you call that behavior
appropriate for a police precinct?

No.

You're damn right.

Just what kind of PR debacle
are you trying to inflict on me?

I'm sorry, sir. That's the footage that
you're talking about? That's it?

That's not enough?

Is there something else
I should be looking for?

Like something on that tape
they say is missing?

(GUITARS PLAYING)

- No. No.
- Not even notice. Not that we know of.

For the love of... What kind
of foolishness is going on out there?

(MEN SINGING ROCK MUSIC)

I'm gonna need all of this tape,
you understand? All of it.

(MOUTHING) Thank you.

See? I told you I could sing.

Taught him how to do that.

(SINGING CONTINUES)

Come here. Come on.

Look, I know I'm not the easiest person
on the planet to get to know,

but you guys have been patient,
and I've got something to show you.

It's a secret. Actually, Castle doesn't
even know about it.

It's this place that I love to go to.

And once you see it, I think you guys
will understand me a whole lot better.

Go ahead. All the way to the back.

(BLOWS RASPBERRY)

CAMERAMAN: Hey! Hey!