Castle s07e11 Episode Script
Castle, P.I.
Richard, you're dressed.
Well, it is morning, isn't it? Well, it's just that ever since you were banned from working cases with Katherine, you and your pajamas have seen an awful lot of each other.
Well, I think you're exaggerating.
I admit, I've taken the occasional day off to recharge, but hardly think it's fair Wow.
Castle, you're dressed? Yes, I'm dressed! I did not think it would be such an event.
Hey.
Morning, babe.
Does this mean you have something special planned for today? As a matter of fact, I do have something special lined up.
A surprise, actually, for you.
Really? What kind of a surprise? Well, now if I told you that it wouldn't be a surprise.
But trust me, you're gonna love it.
Okay, now, why does that scare me? Because you're smart.
Hmm.
Come on, Castle.
Spill.
Master interrogator like yourself, and that's the best you've got? Maybe I'm just getting started.
Or not.
Beckett.
Victim is Shana Baker.
According to her pay stubs, she worked at Eastbourne Preschool.
Point of entry is a window in her bedroom.
Somebody broke the glass.
She would've heard that, and based on her body position, it doesn't look like she was trying to run away.
No, she wasn't.
No signs of defensive wounds or struggle.
Just a single gunshot to the chest.
Which means our killer was in here when she came home.
How a woman so astute could choose to marry Castle Ah, come on, Perlmutter, admit it.
- You miss him too.
- Please.
Just knowing he's not gonna be here makes coming to work sheer bliss.
All things considered.
Time of death? Well, lividity and liver temp suggest between 9:00 and 10:30 last night.
Neighbors were out, which is probably why no one heard the shot, but CSU, they did find this.
A cigarette butt.
Yeah, it was in the fire escape outside the bedroom window.
And the neighbors above and below are not smokers.
Neither was the victim.
Not with pearly whites like these.
So, if our killer had time to grab a smoke, then this wasn't a B and E.
Our killer was lying in wait.
Which means, this was premeditated.
Where's the dog? Dog's gone.
Might've been scared off by the gunshot.
Or, like Lassie, Sparkles is out there trying to track down our killer.
Really? Lassie? Someone has to provide us with out-of-the-box thinking now that Castle's not around.
Thank you, but I'll take it from here.
Castle? What are you doing? You know that you're not allowed to be here.
Actually, I am.
Because I'm no longer Richard Castle, ordinary citizen.
I am now Richard Castle, private investigator.
You got your PI's license? Without telling me? I took an online course.
Finished last night.
Are you surprised? Can we talk for a second? Excuse me.
Castle, the PI's license doesn't change anything.
The DA's still not gonna let you investigate with us.
Oh, you see, that's the brilliant part.
I'm not going to be investigating with you.
No! Instead, I'm gonna conduct my own parallel investigation alongside yours.
Nice try, but you know that's not gonna fly.
Actually, it will fly.
You see, as a licensed PI, I'm legally entitled to investigate this case on behalf of my client.
Ah.
So who's your client? I'm sorry, that's confidential.
I'm sorry, so is this investigation.
I'm afraid he's right.
PI's license or not, this crime scene is closed.
So, you're gonna have to go.
That's fine.
I've already seen everything I need to here, anyway.
I'll conduct my investigation elsewhere.
Elsewhere where? I'm sorry, that's confidential too.
Huh.
Is he serious? I think he is.
And I think I'm getting a headache.
Um, Ryan, see if you can get a hold of this building's superintendent.
Look for any security cams and try to reach out to her next of kin.
Espo, you and I should go to the school that she worked for, see if they can tell us anything else about Shana's life.
You really didn't know about this PI thing? No, I mean, I saw him spending hours on the computer, but I just figured he was playing Terra Quest.
Mmm-hmm.
So, what're you gonna do? Well, there's not much that I can do.
Look, I know that he's doing this to spend time with me, and I don't wanna hurt his feelings.
I don't know, maybe it'll be harmless.
Harmless? This is Castle we're talking about.
Okay, but he knows nothing about the case or the victim.
So, how much trouble can he be? We're about to find out.
Castle, how did you get here? Well, it turns out the subway really is faster than morning traffic.
No, I mean, how did you get here? To the school where Shana worked? Oh! Well, the neighbors didn't know very much.
I figured her work would be your next stop.
So, I've heard about this place.
It's the feeder school in the city.
The only place to be if you're three years old and connected.
Isn't that Spalding Elliot over there? The State's top prosecutor.
He's on the short list for Attorney General.
And behind him, James Kallman, Internet billionaire.
Even spotted Diddy in the carpool lane.
Well, this place is a bastion of the city's elite.
Wonder what our victim did here, what foul schemes she was tangled in.
Uh, Castle, you can't just follow me inside and sit in on my interview.
Well, actually, um, I was here first, so, really, you're following me.
Shana was our admissions director.
Parents, kids, everybody loved her.
How did she seem to you recently? Any changes in her behavior? Actually, I don't know.
She hadn't been around the past few days.
Why not? She'd been working long hours to finalize admissions for our new students.
She'd just sent the acceptance letters out last week, so she took the past couple of days off to recover.
If acceptance letters went out, does that mean rejection letters went out as well? Look, I know what you're thinking.
And, yes, parents can get a bit emotional, especially when it comes to their kids being turned down.
But nothing has ever risen to the level of something like this.
Well, maybe this year it did.
There's something you guys gotta hear.
You think you can ruin my kid's life? Bitch, I know where you live and you'll never see me coming! This was left on Shana's voicemail a few days ago.
And pretty much describes what happened to her.
Doctor Matthews, do you recognize this voice? I'm afraid I don't.
Okay, check with the rest of the staff, see if anyone else does.
We'll also need copies of the school's phone records, as well as a list of parents that received rejection letters.
Of course.
Can I get a copy of that list too? I'm gonna take that as a "no.
" Can't say that I'm shocked.
Group of powerful people not used to hearing the word "no.
" Come on, Castle.
You really think that rejection from preschool qualifies as motive for murder? With a feeder school like this one? A rejection from here could mean not getting into the "right" elementary school, which affects high school, which affects college, and Oh, my God.
People do insane things for their kids.
You'll see.
Where are you off to? Back to the precinct.
Oh.
Look, Castle, if it was my choice Oh, please.
Why would I wanna go to the precinct? No, a PI's work is done in the field, and I've got lots of leads to follow up on.
Okay, I'll see you tonight.
See you tonight.
So unfair.
A private investigator? I swear, sir, I had nothing to do with this.
Yet he showed up at your crime scene! Let me remind you, the DA was very explicit.
Ever since he worked that case for the mob, Mr.
Castle can no longer take part in our investigations.
He's not.
I mean, technically he's conducting his own investigation.
And since he's licensed, legally, there's not much that I can do to stop him.
Okay, Detective.
But let me be perfectly clear.
You cannot help him either.
And that goes for you too.
I'm sorry? No sharing of information, no granting access.
Nothing.
Or there will be hell to pay.
Understood? Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
Good.
"How much trouble can he be?" Trust me, once he finds out that he has to work this case without me, he's gonna get bored and he's gonna move on.
He found our victim's school without you.
Yeah, but that was easy.
He doesn't have access to financials, to phone records, to street-cam footage.
I mean, how far is he gonna get? You know what would really suck? If Castle solved this case before we did.
And that is not possible.
Yeah, but what if he did? Well, then we'd never hear the end of it.
Uh, no, you would never hear the end of it.
You're the one who has to go home to that guy.
Listen, there is no way that he can solve this case before us.
All right, who are you and what are you doing with a dead woman's dog? Think you can get the drop on me? You don't know who you're messing with.
Who are you? Why're you following me? I can't answer if I can't talk.
Okay, my name is Richard Castle, and I'm a Oh, I can show you.
No! Pepper spray? Why did you do that? I thought you were reaching for a gun! No, I was reaching for my PI license! You're a PI? Oh, man.
I'm sorry.
Here, come here.
I was mugged last week, all right? You can't trail people like that.
Sorry.
I'm looking into the murder of Shana Baker.
Whoa, hey.
Shana's dead? Yes.
She was my friend.
Hey, who killed her? Brian Whitman.
Senior partner at Tenzer Capitol.
We traced the threatening call to his office.
Guy's a big shot with even bigger anger-management problems, including slamming his Tesla into this driver who cut him off.
Anyone at the school recognize him? No, but I had unis show his picture around Shana's building.
The same day he left that voicemail, neighbors saw him banging on her door, yelling obscenities.
He promised he'd be back.
So, I was a little aggressive when Miss Baker didn't let my son into that school.
But that doesn't mean I killed her.
"Bitch, I know where you live and you will never see me coming.
" That sounds like a death threat to me.
I was being dramatic.
How were you being when you shot her? Look, you don't understand.
And neither will a jury.
I had no reason to kill her.
She changed her mind about my son.
She decided to let him in.
Mr.
Whitman, we have the school records This just happened two days ago.
Call down there.
You can check.
I even have the letter she wrote me.
Your son had already been rejected.
So why would Shana change her mind? I don't know.
She just did.
Whitman's alibi checks out.
He was on an investment call to Hong Kong at the time of the murder.
And the school verifies his claim.
Shana did reverse the decision on his son.
Do you think she gave in to Whitman's threats? Nah, the headmistress said that Shana would never cut a deal.
If she felt threatened, she would've notified the school or the police.
Unless there's more to the story.
Let's dig into Whitman.
See if there's anything else that connects him to Shana.
He's hiding something.
Well, looks like our victim might have been hiding something herself.
According to this bank statement, she withdrew $3,000 in cash out of her account the day before she died.
And I take it that's not her normal pattern of withdrawal? No, in fact, it nearly cleaned out her savings account.
So what would Shana Baker be doing that she needed that much cash? Shana was going out of town.
That's why she wanted me to keep Sparkles.
I'm assuming you're better with dogs than you are with people.
Where'd she go? No idea.
In fact, the whole thing was sort of weird.
How so? Well, usually when I take Sparkles, she tells me weeks in advance.
But this was really sudden.
I had to take him right away.
And she always tells me where she's going, but she didn't tell me this time.
Do you think her trip had something to do with why she was killed? Well, seeing as how she dropped her dog off with you and the very next day she was murdered, my guess would be, yeah, the two were related.
Where do you think she went? Ah! Castle! Perlmutter.
What are you You're looking at my victim's chart! Well, I'm just making sure you filled it out properly.
And may I say, for a man, you have exquisite handwriting.
Oh.
Give it back! Hey, hey, hey.
Look, look, look! You could make this a lot easier on me, Perlmutter.
Oh, because that's what I live for.
I just believe that your victim traveled somewhere before she died.
Is there anything in the autopsy that indicates where? I would rather switch places with her than tell you.
Now, give me that! I am warning you, Castle Here it is.
"Stomach contents.
"Two ounces of peanuts, partially digested pretzels, "blood contains trace amounts of over-the-counter sedative.
" She was on a plane.
She flew somewhere.
Thanks for your help.
This isn't over! What? It's Beckett.
We're trying to explain some anomalies in our victim's financial records.
Are there any signs that she traveled recently? Well, as a matter of fact I was just discussing that with the writer you married! Castle was at the morgue? How the hell did he find out our victim had left town? I don't know, but Perlmutter was right about the air travel.
According to TSA records, Shana took a 4:30 flight to Boston two days ago.
What was she doing in Boston? She doesn't have any family or friends there.
And I spoke to the school, she wasn't there for work.
But she paid for the trip in cash, like she was trying to keep it secret.
It says here that her return flight from Boston landed yesterday at 6:00 p.
m.
Just hours before her murder that night.
Meaning this mystery trip might have something to do with her death.
Yeah, and look at this.
According to her cell records, right after she landed, she made a call to the New York Ledger's news desk.
What's a preschool admissions officer doing calling the Ledger's news desk? Maybe she uncovered something she thought was a story.
But I checked with them over there, nobody remembers talking to her.
We got to find out what she was doing during that trip.
Yeah, we do.
Before your husband does and makes us all look bad.
I can help with that.
The last charge that Shana made on her credit card was for a lunch at a restaurant two days ago.
That's right before she left town.
She split the bill with this woman, Nicole Morris.
She's an attorney at Harrison and Reid.
That's one of the top law firms in the country.
Why would Shana be meeting with an attorney? I don't know, but a high-powered attorney, a secret trip paid for in cash, and a phone call to a news desk.
This is starting to smell like conspiracy.
Well, I hate to admit it, but baby Castle over here might be right.
Conspiracy or not, if this lawyer met with Shana just before her trip, she may know something about it.
So, where can I find her? Her assistant says that she's out all day with some clients, but you might be able to catch her at her 3 o'clock.
Here's the address.
Okay, thanks.
Nicole Morris? Uh, Detective Beckett, NYPD.
I Castle? What are you doing here? I work here.
Welcome to Richard Castle Investigations.
When were you gonna tell me that you had an office? Uh Eventually.
No, we're married.
Married people tell each other things.
Yeah, but you weren't exactly thrilled when I got my PI license.
'Cause you didn't tell me! And what is she doing here? Oh! She had lunch with the victim, right before the victim left town.
No, no, no, I mean, how did you find her? Ah.
I was checking the victim's credit card for plane ticket charges to see where she flew, and instead I found a lunch charge Wait a minute.
You checked her credit card records? How? Okay, we're getting into kind of a gray area here, so let's just say it involved her mother's maiden name and a serviceable falsetto.
Uh, I'm sorry.
I have another appointment.
Is this gonna take much longer? Be right there, Miss Morris.
So, Detective, so long as you're here, would you care to sit in on my interview? I had no idea she had been killed until you called.
It was quite a shock.
Miss Morris, how well did you know Shana? Not very.
I met her a few months back when I toured Eastbourne School for my daughter.
We hit it off, but I decided not to apply this year, so I was surprised when she called the other day.
She said it was urgent, that she needed to meet before she left town.
Did she say where she was going? Boston, I think.
Something about Radnor University.
Did she mention why she was going there? No, and frankly, after the questions she was asking, I didn't really wanna know.
Why? What did she ask about? Murder.
Specifically felony statutes covering murder in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
What qualifies as accessory to murder, conspiracy to commit murder, what's the difference between murder and manslaughter, that sort of thing.
I was hoping her interest was theoretical.
But now that she's dead, maybe it wasn't.
Again, thank you, Miss Morris, for your time.
Of course.
Please, call me if I can help in any way.
I will.
Did you hear that? Felony law about murder.
Do you know what this means? Yes, that there's a hell of a lot more to Shana's trip than we know.
And whatever trouble she got involved in up there, I'm betting it followed her home.
Okay, if that's the case, then I'm I'm sorry, Castle, we shouldn't be doing this.
Doing what? Uh, this.
You, me, theorizing together.
It's not right, especially here, after this whole PI thing, I No! Shh! Don't think about it.
Just think about how it feels when we work together.
Besides, we have the place to ourselves.
Who's gonna know? Yeah.
Yeah.
It's work.
Don't answer it.
No, but I have to.
Hi, Espo.
What's up? So, you asked me to dig deeper on Brian Whitman, see if there were any other connections to Shana.
Well, you'll never guess what I found.
No! No, you're right, that can't be a coincidence.
What's not a coincidence? Okay, bring him in.
Bring who in? I'm sorry, baby, I gotta go.
Mwah.
You're not gonna tell me anything? You said married people tell each other things! Who the hell do you think you are, Detective? Why am I back here? Uh, Mr.
Whitman, please.
You know, you're a generous man.
You support charitable causes, you sit on the board of numerous esteemed organizations, including Radnor University.
So? So, just before Shana Baker died, she took a trip to Radnor.
You know anything about that? - Sorry, can't help you.
- I think you can.
Her trip, your position on the school's board and her helping getting your son into that preschool.
I think those three are related.
And you're gonna tell us how.
Or we're just gonna find out anyway.
Then we're gonna take your ass down for obstruction and maybe accessory to murder.
Not to mention what's gonna happen at that preschool when they find out you refused to cooperate on an investigation of one of their employees' deaths.
I don't think your kid is going to be enrolled there for much longer.
Okay, okay, okay.
Look, look, look, she came to me, okay? She wanted me to pull some strings at Radnor, and in return, she got my kid in.
What strings did she want you to pull? She wanted me to contact the Dean of Students.
Tell him Shana was coming to see him, and that she needed help with something.
And what exactly did she need help with? She wouldn't tell me.
She just asked me to make the phone call to the Dean.
That's all I know.
I swear.
So, we're good, right? I mean, my son's still in? The Dean confirmed that Shana was there yesterday, requesting access to Radnor campus police files.
Police files? Which ones? He didn't know, but according to their records room, she looked through incident reports from 1999.
Huh.
Why would she be looking at I bet Castle knows.
Are you kidding me? There is no way he's ahead of us on this.
Hey.
He got to the morgue before us, and that lawyer.
Ryan, he is resourceful, but he is not that resourceful.
He got you to marry him, didn't he? Call him.
Let's see where he's at.
I just cut him out of the case.
I can't call him and ask him what he knows.
Then don't ask him.
You're a detective.
Detect.
Thank you for picking up dinner.
Didn't want you to starve on that PI's salary.
So, how's your first case going? Did I tell you I got pepper sprayed today? You say that like it's a good thing.
Yeah, I mean, now I'm kind of stuck.
I know our victim took a trip to Radnor University, I just have no idea why.
I hacked into her social media accounts Wait, you know how to hack into social media accounts? Hacking might be overstating it.
Her password for everything is "Sparkles," her dog's name.
Point is, without police resources, the best I can do is go through her friends' online posts and look for some connections to Radnor University.
Are there any? Just one thing, but it happened 15 years ago.
I have no idea if it's even relevant.
I just wish I knew what Beckett had.
Mmm! Richard Castle Investigations.
Hey, babe.
Just checking in.
What are you doing? Oh, just hanging out at the office.
How about you? He has an office? Uh, just wondering how your day's going? Good.
Really good, actually.
How about yours? Yeah, mine's good too.
Really, really good.
That's good.
Great.
I should have said, "Great.
" Mine's great.
Great.
That's Okay, so I'll see you tonight.
See you tonight.
He knows something.
She has something.
And you have to find out what.
And I'm gonna find out what.
Oh, hey, there.
You're home early.
Hey.
I couldn't wait to see you.
So, I picked up a bottle of wine on the way home.
It's your favorite.
Oh, that is such a big glass.
What's the occasion? No occasion.
I just figured this would be a great way for you to unwind after a long day at work.
Oh, that's so nice.
And where's your glass? Oh, it's over there.
Well, why don't we top that off for you, shall we? Once we get all nice and relaxed, unwind There we go.
You can tell me all about your day.
Yeah.
Wait a minute.
You're not trying to ply me with wine to find out what I know about this case, are you? Of course not.
That's not what you're trying to do, is it? No.
Okay.
Because if you were trying to find out what I know, that would mean you're stuck.
I'm not stuck.
Good.
Because I'm not stuck either.
So you do know something.
So you do know something.
Maybe.
Maybe.
All right, this is crazy.
If we both have something, why don't we just trade? Castle, I can't.
You know that.
Oh, can't! What happened to that rebellious girl with the leather jacket and the motorcycle? Would she say "can't"? She enforces the law now, and drinks expensive wine.
Then think about our victim.
Are you really gonna let a couple of silly rules stand in the way of bringing Shana justice? Okay, fine.
We'll do it just this once.
For her.
You first.
You first.
We'll go at the same time.
Ready? Yeah.
She was looking into old police records Shana had an old boyfriend who died at Radnor University.
Wait.
She had an old boyfriend who died at Radnor University? How long ago? Fifteen years.
His name was Jeff Whalen.
He drank too much at a party and fell out a window.
If she was looking into old police records And interested in homicide laws She must've thought that his death was more than just an accident.
She was investigating a murder.
And somehow that got her killed.
Oh, my God.
I missed this.
Last night was amazing.
Wait.
Are you talking about the put-together we did on the case, or That.
But the put-together, that was pretty amazing too.
It's been forever since we tried that.
I forgot how creative you can get.
We're not talking about the case anymore, are we? Mmm-mmm.
Hey, Ryan.
Great.
Okay, how long before the file Before it gets there? Before what gets there? You were about to say "files," weren't you? No! Oh, you texted Ryan last night about Shana's old boyfriend and told him to get those old police files for you, while you were in bed with me.
Ryan, I'll be right over.
Well, you're gonna let me take a look at those files, right? I mean, that's only fair.
Castle, I can't.
That would be crossing the line.
You didn't seem to care about lines last night.
No, last night, it was anything goes.
Yes, Castle, and it was great.
Come on, we both know it was just a one-time thing.
You know, I thought we had something special! Is that the file? Yeah, and it looks like your 2:00 a.
m.
hunch paid off.
What were you doing up so late anyway? I was working on the case.
Huh.
Well, I don't know what Shana was looking to find in that report, but it refers to witness statements taken at the party where Shana's boyfriend, Jeff Whalen, died.
But the witness statements, as well as the list of people who gave them, they're all missing.
The file's been tampered with? It looks that way.
When I called over to Radnor, they said that those pages must have been lost when their records were digitized 10 years ago.
What about the officer that wrote the original report? Passed away a few years back.
Okay, if the information is missing, then what did Shana learn from this report that got her killed? According to the guy in the records department, when Shana finished with the archive, she asked for directions to the alumni office.
Now, I placed a call over there, but they don't open for another half an hour.
So Oh.
How'd it go with Castle last night? Is he ahead of us or behind us? Uh, we're definitely on top of him.
Without access to those police files, they are gonna leave me in the dust.
I thought you became a PI to work with Beckett.
When did it become a competition? When she took something beautiful that we'd built together and shared it with another man.
What? Investigatively speaking.
But I may have found a way to catch up.
I have been looking for any mention of Shana's boyfriend's death.
Wading through newspapers, public records, and the like.
And, check this out.
It's from the Radnor University Daily.
Do you notice anything unusual about this ad? That people were ever actually afraid of Y2K? Yes, that, and the ad is above the fold.
I worked on my school paper, that's layout 101.
You never place an ad above the fold on the front page, unless something changed last minute, creating a space to fill.
Like the lead story was shortened.
Something was pulled from it just before they published.
And I bet it relates to this case.
You could track down the reporter, see if he could tell you.
Except the story is credited to Staff.
But there is someone else who knows.
Who? The person who ordered the article shortened in the first place.
The editor.
Frank Jackson? Yeah, the guy at the alumni office said that Shana came in requesting all of his contact information.
Frank Jackson.
Why does that sound so familiar? Because he is now a reporter at the New York Ledger.
That's who Shana was calling the day she died.
And I can tell you why.
Fifteen years ago, Frank Jackson was the president of the exclusive Tiger Claw Social Club, the organization that hosted the party where Shana's boyfriend died.
So, Shana called Frank as part of her investigation.
She knew that if he was president of that club, he must've been at the party that night.
And if there was a cover-up, he would've been in on it.
Then he could be our killer.
Excuse me, Mr.
Jackson! I wanted to talk about an article you edited about 15 years ago, about a student who died at the Tiger Claw Social Club.
I'm sorry, I'm late.
Another time.
You left something out of that article, didn't you? Something about how Jeff Whalen really died.
Who did you say you were again? I'm Richard Castle.
I'm a private investigator working the Shana Baker murder.
Okay, not here.
I know somewhere nearby.
It's more private.
We still can't find Jackson.
He's not at his apartment and he's not answering his phone.
Okay, put out an APB.
If he's Shana's killer, then he may try to run.
Yo, that was the Ledger.
One of Jackson's co-workers said that he saw him leave the building about an hour ago, with some guy who looked like Castle.
Then Castle found Jackson? And he has no idea how dangerous he is.
Damn it, Castle, answer.
Why can't he just stay out of this? When have I ever stayed out of anything? Oh, thank God.
Now, what are you doing here? I know the rules, but given who I'm with, I thought we might make an exception.
I knew this day would come.
When Shana called the other night, I was almost relieved.
Just tell Detective Beckett what you told me.
About why she called.
It was about her boyfriend.
She wanted to know how Jeff Whalen really died that night at Radnor University.
Jeff was pretty wasted.
He went upstairs to get some air, and the next thing I remember was the scream.
Now, I didn't see what happened, but I know Jeff wasn't alone in that room when he fell out the window.
You think that he was murdered? All I know is the next day I was pressured to change the story.
I was told to take out any mention of who was in the room with him.
But who pressured you? Someone big.
He said he was just trying to protect his son's reputation.
He told me he could ruin my life, or he could do great things for me.
I was a kid and I was scared.
And since the cops already said that it was an accident, I figured why ruin two lives? Only it wasn't an accident.
By the time I realized the investigation had been rigged, I had already helped to cover up a murder.
And if you had come forward, your career as a journalist would be over.
Yes, sir.
I can't hide from it anymore, you know? Who were they protecting, Frank? Who pushed Shana's boyfriend out the window? The last person I told that, um, wound up dead.
I mean, you sure you really wanna know? Let me get this straight.
You think federal prosecutor Spalding Elliot killed Shana Baker? The events support it, sir.
According to Mr.
Jackson, right after Shana spoke to him, she went to confront Elliot about his role in her former boyfriend's death.
And he's a parent at her school, so she knew where to find him.
Look, it's no secret that Elliot is being groomed for bigger things.
So, maybe he needed to silence Shana to keep her from destroying him.
Detective, if you're gonna go after the top federal prosecutor in New York, you're gonna need more than just the word of a compromised journalist.
You're gonna need bulletproof evidence.
And you don't have it.
What if we can place Elliot at the crime scene? We found a cigarette butt with DNA evidence on it.
Which you're gonna match to his how? I doubt if he's gonna volunteer his DNA if he's guilty.
We'll find a way.
Tread lightly, Detective.
You're hunting big game here.
And until we have a stronger case, we cannot afford to attract any attention.
Which means, Mr.
Castle, you cannot be involved in this at all, even in your private investigator capacity.
Sir, we never would have gotten this far without Oh, no, actually, she's right.
Rules are rules.
As a matter of fact, I shouldn't even be here right now.
Well, that was easier than I expected.
Yeah.
Huh.
Come on.
Come on.
There.
One sample of damning DNA evidence coming right up.
Sorry, Sherlock.
Not this time.
Pros will take it from here.
I A cigarette butt? Is that supposed to mean something? It was recovered at the scene of Shana Baker's murder.
Preliminary DNA tests indicate it's yours.
That's not possible.
It is.
Because you were there.
You killed her, Mr.
Elliot.
That's ridiculous.
I didn't even know her.
Why would I kill her? Because she knew the truth about what happened that night at the party.
About Jeff Whalen's murder.
We know that she tracked you down.
And when she confronted you, you had her silenced.
Okay, listen.
Okay, she did track me down.
And she practically accosted me in front of my office the other night.
And I told her the truth, all right? That I Yes, I was in the room the night that Jeff fell.
But I did not push him.
It was an accident.
It's in the report.
Then why did your father cover it up? Because he knew that the truth wouldn't matter.
That I would be convicted in the court of public opinion just for being there.
And then my political career would be over before it ever started.
So you swept it under the rug, and then when Shana came along Shana.
Do you think she was the first? Listen, my enemies have been circling around this story for years.
And you wanna know why the media's never run with it? Because there's nothing there.
Until now.
I'm being set up.
Mr.
Elliot Shana said somebody contacted her and told her that I pushed Jeff.
They urged her to "look into" the truth.
And then she ends up dead, and you find this at the scene? You're claiming someone is framing you? I'm a criminal prosecutor.
Do you honestly think that I would be stupid enough to leave a piece of evidence like this behind? Look, I made my name fighting corporate greed.
And my political ambitions are no secret to anyone.
This Don't you see? This is the perfect way for my enemies to destroy me.
Okay, there's only one problem with that theory, Mr.
Elliot.
In order to frame you, a person would need to know that you were there at that party 15 years ago, and know that Shana Baker had just come from seeing you an hour earlier.
Maybe there's a simpler explanation.
There is no conspiracy against you.
You killed her.
I couldn't have killed her, because I was at a fundraiser that night.
Yeah, we checked into that.
You got there at 11:00.
Shana was dead by 10:30.
I swear to you.
I am being set up! I'm sorry, I'm afraid I have no other choice but to arrest you for Wait! He's telling the truth.
Spalding Elliot is not our killer.
Hi.
Was I not clear when I told you to stay away from this case? Okay, I can see you're upset.
But I promise, in a moment you'll understand.
Jeremy.
This is Jeremy.
He is the victim's friend and dog-sitter.
Oh, so, Jeremy is some sort of a witness? Not quite.
Jeremy, if I may? Oh, the dog? The dog is the witness? Mr.
Castle Just watch.
Castle, what are you doing? I'm proving this man's innocence.
Castle! Mr.
Elliot, if I may Please, no.
See, I remember reading in a profile of Mr.
Elliot that he has a severe allergy to long-haired dogs.
And the victim's apartment was covered in dog hair.
Exactly.
Now, does this seem like the kind of man who could wait in Shana's apartment? Let alone smoke a cigarette while he did so? Please.
No, but I mean, he could be faking the whole thing.
Please.
Please, get him out of here, before the hives start! I think that ship has sailed.
Okay, yeah, definitely not faking that.
Now, here is Spalding Elliot arriving at the fundraiser, the night of Shana's death.
Note the lack of red splotches on his face.
There is no way that he came straight from her apartment looking like that.
Which means Ryan nailed it before.
This is a conspiracy.
Ryan, you played the "C" card? Well, I mean, you weren't around.
Somebody had to step up.
Okay, for this set-up to work, someone had to activate Shana, and tell her about the cover-up.
Right, that way her death would create an investigative path that led straight to Elliot.
Setting him up for her murder.
My guess is we're dealing with some kind of big-money fixer, a shadowy gun-for-hire Michael Clayton type.
Well, whoever planted Elliot's DNA at the crime scene had to have gotten the cigarette butt from somewhere.
Which means they had to intersect with Elliot at some point.
If we can figure out where and when "We," Mr.
Castle? Really? But I I brought On a silver Fine.
I'll show myself out.
We were all after the same thing, justice.
Trouble is, when it came to me, Lady Justice had different plans.
While Beckett and the boys closed in on the killer, I'd been kicked to the gutter, like yesterday's trash.
It just didn't seem fair.
You're right, it's not fair.
Hey, Beckett! I was just listening to some notes I made for the I just What are you doing here? You know, we took another look at the cigarette butt, the one with Elliot's DNA.
It turns out it had traces of barbecue sauce on it.
I thought you said you couldn't share.
I can't.
But if you hadn't shared, then we'd still be looking at Elliot as our killer.
And besides, we got the place to ourselves.
So, who's gonna know? So, I assume Elliot has had barbecue recently.
Just last week, at a rib joint Uptown.
We scrubbed the security video, and you'll never guess who we found digging through the ash can for one of Elliot's cigarette butts.
No way! That's our Michael Clayton? Likely hired by whoever's behind all of this to befriend Shana, whisper in her ear and urge her to investigate.
And who ensured we followed the trail to Radnor.
Oof.
I wish I could see the look on their face when you slap the cuffs on them.
Yeah, well, maybe you can.
Mr.
Castle, I got an urgent call to meet you here regarding Shana Baker.
Yes.
Yes, just one final question, Miss Morris.
Who hired you to kill Shana Baker and frame Spalding Elliot? What are you talking about? I think you know.
That's you retrieving Elliot's cigarette butt so you could plant it at the crime scene after you killed Shana.
Nicole Morris, you're under arrest for the murder of Shana Baker.
You know, I always heard Harrison and Reid were a killer law firm.
Now, I know why.
Case closed.
You think we'll ever know who Nicole Morris works for? Ah, she's not gonna tell us.
But we did find several large payments wired to her account, and Elliot is determined to find their source.
I would be determined, too.
That guy would be spending time in jail, if it wasn't for a dog named Sparkles.
And a PI named Castle.
I'm proud of you.
I just I thought this was another one of your larks.
A way to kill time.
But you impressed me.
You know, I kind of impressed myself.
I got all sorts of ideas for my new book.
Just one thing didn't work out as planned.
You know that if this was up to me, we would be working together, right? Yes, but since it's not, and we can't, I was wondering how you'd feel if I kept with this for a while.
Don't move.
Hmm.
What's this? It's my answer.
I am so gonna wear this to work tomorrow! Keep going, there's something else.
So, maybe you can use that to locate an actual client.
I can see something I like better already.
You care to go into the other room and share? On one condition.
What? The hat stays on.
Mmm!
Well, it is morning, isn't it? Well, it's just that ever since you were banned from working cases with Katherine, you and your pajamas have seen an awful lot of each other.
Well, I think you're exaggerating.
I admit, I've taken the occasional day off to recharge, but hardly think it's fair Wow.
Castle, you're dressed? Yes, I'm dressed! I did not think it would be such an event.
Hey.
Morning, babe.
Does this mean you have something special planned for today? As a matter of fact, I do have something special lined up.
A surprise, actually, for you.
Really? What kind of a surprise? Well, now if I told you that it wouldn't be a surprise.
But trust me, you're gonna love it.
Okay, now, why does that scare me? Because you're smart.
Hmm.
Come on, Castle.
Spill.
Master interrogator like yourself, and that's the best you've got? Maybe I'm just getting started.
Or not.
Beckett.
Victim is Shana Baker.
According to her pay stubs, she worked at Eastbourne Preschool.
Point of entry is a window in her bedroom.
Somebody broke the glass.
She would've heard that, and based on her body position, it doesn't look like she was trying to run away.
No, she wasn't.
No signs of defensive wounds or struggle.
Just a single gunshot to the chest.
Which means our killer was in here when she came home.
How a woman so astute could choose to marry Castle Ah, come on, Perlmutter, admit it.
- You miss him too.
- Please.
Just knowing he's not gonna be here makes coming to work sheer bliss.
All things considered.
Time of death? Well, lividity and liver temp suggest between 9:00 and 10:30 last night.
Neighbors were out, which is probably why no one heard the shot, but CSU, they did find this.
A cigarette butt.
Yeah, it was in the fire escape outside the bedroom window.
And the neighbors above and below are not smokers.
Neither was the victim.
Not with pearly whites like these.
So, if our killer had time to grab a smoke, then this wasn't a B and E.
Our killer was lying in wait.
Which means, this was premeditated.
Where's the dog? Dog's gone.
Might've been scared off by the gunshot.
Or, like Lassie, Sparkles is out there trying to track down our killer.
Really? Lassie? Someone has to provide us with out-of-the-box thinking now that Castle's not around.
Thank you, but I'll take it from here.
Castle? What are you doing? You know that you're not allowed to be here.
Actually, I am.
Because I'm no longer Richard Castle, ordinary citizen.
I am now Richard Castle, private investigator.
You got your PI's license? Without telling me? I took an online course.
Finished last night.
Are you surprised? Can we talk for a second? Excuse me.
Castle, the PI's license doesn't change anything.
The DA's still not gonna let you investigate with us.
Oh, you see, that's the brilliant part.
I'm not going to be investigating with you.
No! Instead, I'm gonna conduct my own parallel investigation alongside yours.
Nice try, but you know that's not gonna fly.
Actually, it will fly.
You see, as a licensed PI, I'm legally entitled to investigate this case on behalf of my client.
Ah.
So who's your client? I'm sorry, that's confidential.
I'm sorry, so is this investigation.
I'm afraid he's right.
PI's license or not, this crime scene is closed.
So, you're gonna have to go.
That's fine.
I've already seen everything I need to here, anyway.
I'll conduct my investigation elsewhere.
Elsewhere where? I'm sorry, that's confidential too.
Huh.
Is he serious? I think he is.
And I think I'm getting a headache.
Um, Ryan, see if you can get a hold of this building's superintendent.
Look for any security cams and try to reach out to her next of kin.
Espo, you and I should go to the school that she worked for, see if they can tell us anything else about Shana's life.
You really didn't know about this PI thing? No, I mean, I saw him spending hours on the computer, but I just figured he was playing Terra Quest.
Mmm-hmm.
So, what're you gonna do? Well, there's not much that I can do.
Look, I know that he's doing this to spend time with me, and I don't wanna hurt his feelings.
I don't know, maybe it'll be harmless.
Harmless? This is Castle we're talking about.
Okay, but he knows nothing about the case or the victim.
So, how much trouble can he be? We're about to find out.
Castle, how did you get here? Well, it turns out the subway really is faster than morning traffic.
No, I mean, how did you get here? To the school where Shana worked? Oh! Well, the neighbors didn't know very much.
I figured her work would be your next stop.
So, I've heard about this place.
It's the feeder school in the city.
The only place to be if you're three years old and connected.
Isn't that Spalding Elliot over there? The State's top prosecutor.
He's on the short list for Attorney General.
And behind him, James Kallman, Internet billionaire.
Even spotted Diddy in the carpool lane.
Well, this place is a bastion of the city's elite.
Wonder what our victim did here, what foul schemes she was tangled in.
Uh, Castle, you can't just follow me inside and sit in on my interview.
Well, actually, um, I was here first, so, really, you're following me.
Shana was our admissions director.
Parents, kids, everybody loved her.
How did she seem to you recently? Any changes in her behavior? Actually, I don't know.
She hadn't been around the past few days.
Why not? She'd been working long hours to finalize admissions for our new students.
She'd just sent the acceptance letters out last week, so she took the past couple of days off to recover.
If acceptance letters went out, does that mean rejection letters went out as well? Look, I know what you're thinking.
And, yes, parents can get a bit emotional, especially when it comes to their kids being turned down.
But nothing has ever risen to the level of something like this.
Well, maybe this year it did.
There's something you guys gotta hear.
You think you can ruin my kid's life? Bitch, I know where you live and you'll never see me coming! This was left on Shana's voicemail a few days ago.
And pretty much describes what happened to her.
Doctor Matthews, do you recognize this voice? I'm afraid I don't.
Okay, check with the rest of the staff, see if anyone else does.
We'll also need copies of the school's phone records, as well as a list of parents that received rejection letters.
Of course.
Can I get a copy of that list too? I'm gonna take that as a "no.
" Can't say that I'm shocked.
Group of powerful people not used to hearing the word "no.
" Come on, Castle.
You really think that rejection from preschool qualifies as motive for murder? With a feeder school like this one? A rejection from here could mean not getting into the "right" elementary school, which affects high school, which affects college, and Oh, my God.
People do insane things for their kids.
You'll see.
Where are you off to? Back to the precinct.
Oh.
Look, Castle, if it was my choice Oh, please.
Why would I wanna go to the precinct? No, a PI's work is done in the field, and I've got lots of leads to follow up on.
Okay, I'll see you tonight.
See you tonight.
So unfair.
A private investigator? I swear, sir, I had nothing to do with this.
Yet he showed up at your crime scene! Let me remind you, the DA was very explicit.
Ever since he worked that case for the mob, Mr.
Castle can no longer take part in our investigations.
He's not.
I mean, technically he's conducting his own investigation.
And since he's licensed, legally, there's not much that I can do to stop him.
Okay, Detective.
But let me be perfectly clear.
You cannot help him either.
And that goes for you too.
I'm sorry? No sharing of information, no granting access.
Nothing.
Or there will be hell to pay.
Understood? Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
Good.
"How much trouble can he be?" Trust me, once he finds out that he has to work this case without me, he's gonna get bored and he's gonna move on.
He found our victim's school without you.
Yeah, but that was easy.
He doesn't have access to financials, to phone records, to street-cam footage.
I mean, how far is he gonna get? You know what would really suck? If Castle solved this case before we did.
And that is not possible.
Yeah, but what if he did? Well, then we'd never hear the end of it.
Uh, no, you would never hear the end of it.
You're the one who has to go home to that guy.
Listen, there is no way that he can solve this case before us.
All right, who are you and what are you doing with a dead woman's dog? Think you can get the drop on me? You don't know who you're messing with.
Who are you? Why're you following me? I can't answer if I can't talk.
Okay, my name is Richard Castle, and I'm a Oh, I can show you.
No! Pepper spray? Why did you do that? I thought you were reaching for a gun! No, I was reaching for my PI license! You're a PI? Oh, man.
I'm sorry.
Here, come here.
I was mugged last week, all right? You can't trail people like that.
Sorry.
I'm looking into the murder of Shana Baker.
Whoa, hey.
Shana's dead? Yes.
She was my friend.
Hey, who killed her? Brian Whitman.
Senior partner at Tenzer Capitol.
We traced the threatening call to his office.
Guy's a big shot with even bigger anger-management problems, including slamming his Tesla into this driver who cut him off.
Anyone at the school recognize him? No, but I had unis show his picture around Shana's building.
The same day he left that voicemail, neighbors saw him banging on her door, yelling obscenities.
He promised he'd be back.
So, I was a little aggressive when Miss Baker didn't let my son into that school.
But that doesn't mean I killed her.
"Bitch, I know where you live and you will never see me coming.
" That sounds like a death threat to me.
I was being dramatic.
How were you being when you shot her? Look, you don't understand.
And neither will a jury.
I had no reason to kill her.
She changed her mind about my son.
She decided to let him in.
Mr.
Whitman, we have the school records This just happened two days ago.
Call down there.
You can check.
I even have the letter she wrote me.
Your son had already been rejected.
So why would Shana change her mind? I don't know.
She just did.
Whitman's alibi checks out.
He was on an investment call to Hong Kong at the time of the murder.
And the school verifies his claim.
Shana did reverse the decision on his son.
Do you think she gave in to Whitman's threats? Nah, the headmistress said that Shana would never cut a deal.
If she felt threatened, she would've notified the school or the police.
Unless there's more to the story.
Let's dig into Whitman.
See if there's anything else that connects him to Shana.
He's hiding something.
Well, looks like our victim might have been hiding something herself.
According to this bank statement, she withdrew $3,000 in cash out of her account the day before she died.
And I take it that's not her normal pattern of withdrawal? No, in fact, it nearly cleaned out her savings account.
So what would Shana Baker be doing that she needed that much cash? Shana was going out of town.
That's why she wanted me to keep Sparkles.
I'm assuming you're better with dogs than you are with people.
Where'd she go? No idea.
In fact, the whole thing was sort of weird.
How so? Well, usually when I take Sparkles, she tells me weeks in advance.
But this was really sudden.
I had to take him right away.
And she always tells me where she's going, but she didn't tell me this time.
Do you think her trip had something to do with why she was killed? Well, seeing as how she dropped her dog off with you and the very next day she was murdered, my guess would be, yeah, the two were related.
Where do you think she went? Ah! Castle! Perlmutter.
What are you You're looking at my victim's chart! Well, I'm just making sure you filled it out properly.
And may I say, for a man, you have exquisite handwriting.
Oh.
Give it back! Hey, hey, hey.
Look, look, look! You could make this a lot easier on me, Perlmutter.
Oh, because that's what I live for.
I just believe that your victim traveled somewhere before she died.
Is there anything in the autopsy that indicates where? I would rather switch places with her than tell you.
Now, give me that! I am warning you, Castle Here it is.
"Stomach contents.
"Two ounces of peanuts, partially digested pretzels, "blood contains trace amounts of over-the-counter sedative.
" She was on a plane.
She flew somewhere.
Thanks for your help.
This isn't over! What? It's Beckett.
We're trying to explain some anomalies in our victim's financial records.
Are there any signs that she traveled recently? Well, as a matter of fact I was just discussing that with the writer you married! Castle was at the morgue? How the hell did he find out our victim had left town? I don't know, but Perlmutter was right about the air travel.
According to TSA records, Shana took a 4:30 flight to Boston two days ago.
What was she doing in Boston? She doesn't have any family or friends there.
And I spoke to the school, she wasn't there for work.
But she paid for the trip in cash, like she was trying to keep it secret.
It says here that her return flight from Boston landed yesterday at 6:00 p.
m.
Just hours before her murder that night.
Meaning this mystery trip might have something to do with her death.
Yeah, and look at this.
According to her cell records, right after she landed, she made a call to the New York Ledger's news desk.
What's a preschool admissions officer doing calling the Ledger's news desk? Maybe she uncovered something she thought was a story.
But I checked with them over there, nobody remembers talking to her.
We got to find out what she was doing during that trip.
Yeah, we do.
Before your husband does and makes us all look bad.
I can help with that.
The last charge that Shana made on her credit card was for a lunch at a restaurant two days ago.
That's right before she left town.
She split the bill with this woman, Nicole Morris.
She's an attorney at Harrison and Reid.
That's one of the top law firms in the country.
Why would Shana be meeting with an attorney? I don't know, but a high-powered attorney, a secret trip paid for in cash, and a phone call to a news desk.
This is starting to smell like conspiracy.
Well, I hate to admit it, but baby Castle over here might be right.
Conspiracy or not, if this lawyer met with Shana just before her trip, she may know something about it.
So, where can I find her? Her assistant says that she's out all day with some clients, but you might be able to catch her at her 3 o'clock.
Here's the address.
Okay, thanks.
Nicole Morris? Uh, Detective Beckett, NYPD.
I Castle? What are you doing here? I work here.
Welcome to Richard Castle Investigations.
When were you gonna tell me that you had an office? Uh Eventually.
No, we're married.
Married people tell each other things.
Yeah, but you weren't exactly thrilled when I got my PI license.
'Cause you didn't tell me! And what is she doing here? Oh! She had lunch with the victim, right before the victim left town.
No, no, no, I mean, how did you find her? Ah.
I was checking the victim's credit card for plane ticket charges to see where she flew, and instead I found a lunch charge Wait a minute.
You checked her credit card records? How? Okay, we're getting into kind of a gray area here, so let's just say it involved her mother's maiden name and a serviceable falsetto.
Uh, I'm sorry.
I have another appointment.
Is this gonna take much longer? Be right there, Miss Morris.
So, Detective, so long as you're here, would you care to sit in on my interview? I had no idea she had been killed until you called.
It was quite a shock.
Miss Morris, how well did you know Shana? Not very.
I met her a few months back when I toured Eastbourne School for my daughter.
We hit it off, but I decided not to apply this year, so I was surprised when she called the other day.
She said it was urgent, that she needed to meet before she left town.
Did she say where she was going? Boston, I think.
Something about Radnor University.
Did she mention why she was going there? No, and frankly, after the questions she was asking, I didn't really wanna know.
Why? What did she ask about? Murder.
Specifically felony statutes covering murder in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
What qualifies as accessory to murder, conspiracy to commit murder, what's the difference between murder and manslaughter, that sort of thing.
I was hoping her interest was theoretical.
But now that she's dead, maybe it wasn't.
Again, thank you, Miss Morris, for your time.
Of course.
Please, call me if I can help in any way.
I will.
Did you hear that? Felony law about murder.
Do you know what this means? Yes, that there's a hell of a lot more to Shana's trip than we know.
And whatever trouble she got involved in up there, I'm betting it followed her home.
Okay, if that's the case, then I'm I'm sorry, Castle, we shouldn't be doing this.
Doing what? Uh, this.
You, me, theorizing together.
It's not right, especially here, after this whole PI thing, I No! Shh! Don't think about it.
Just think about how it feels when we work together.
Besides, we have the place to ourselves.
Who's gonna know? Yeah.
Yeah.
It's work.
Don't answer it.
No, but I have to.
Hi, Espo.
What's up? So, you asked me to dig deeper on Brian Whitman, see if there were any other connections to Shana.
Well, you'll never guess what I found.
No! No, you're right, that can't be a coincidence.
What's not a coincidence? Okay, bring him in.
Bring who in? I'm sorry, baby, I gotta go.
Mwah.
You're not gonna tell me anything? You said married people tell each other things! Who the hell do you think you are, Detective? Why am I back here? Uh, Mr.
Whitman, please.
You know, you're a generous man.
You support charitable causes, you sit on the board of numerous esteemed organizations, including Radnor University.
So? So, just before Shana Baker died, she took a trip to Radnor.
You know anything about that? - Sorry, can't help you.
- I think you can.
Her trip, your position on the school's board and her helping getting your son into that preschool.
I think those three are related.
And you're gonna tell us how.
Or we're just gonna find out anyway.
Then we're gonna take your ass down for obstruction and maybe accessory to murder.
Not to mention what's gonna happen at that preschool when they find out you refused to cooperate on an investigation of one of their employees' deaths.
I don't think your kid is going to be enrolled there for much longer.
Okay, okay, okay.
Look, look, look, she came to me, okay? She wanted me to pull some strings at Radnor, and in return, she got my kid in.
What strings did she want you to pull? She wanted me to contact the Dean of Students.
Tell him Shana was coming to see him, and that she needed help with something.
And what exactly did she need help with? She wouldn't tell me.
She just asked me to make the phone call to the Dean.
That's all I know.
I swear.
So, we're good, right? I mean, my son's still in? The Dean confirmed that Shana was there yesterday, requesting access to Radnor campus police files.
Police files? Which ones? He didn't know, but according to their records room, she looked through incident reports from 1999.
Huh.
Why would she be looking at I bet Castle knows.
Are you kidding me? There is no way he's ahead of us on this.
Hey.
He got to the morgue before us, and that lawyer.
Ryan, he is resourceful, but he is not that resourceful.
He got you to marry him, didn't he? Call him.
Let's see where he's at.
I just cut him out of the case.
I can't call him and ask him what he knows.
Then don't ask him.
You're a detective.
Detect.
Thank you for picking up dinner.
Didn't want you to starve on that PI's salary.
So, how's your first case going? Did I tell you I got pepper sprayed today? You say that like it's a good thing.
Yeah, I mean, now I'm kind of stuck.
I know our victim took a trip to Radnor University, I just have no idea why.
I hacked into her social media accounts Wait, you know how to hack into social media accounts? Hacking might be overstating it.
Her password for everything is "Sparkles," her dog's name.
Point is, without police resources, the best I can do is go through her friends' online posts and look for some connections to Radnor University.
Are there any? Just one thing, but it happened 15 years ago.
I have no idea if it's even relevant.
I just wish I knew what Beckett had.
Mmm! Richard Castle Investigations.
Hey, babe.
Just checking in.
What are you doing? Oh, just hanging out at the office.
How about you? He has an office? Uh, just wondering how your day's going? Good.
Really good, actually.
How about yours? Yeah, mine's good too.
Really, really good.
That's good.
Great.
I should have said, "Great.
" Mine's great.
Great.
That's Okay, so I'll see you tonight.
See you tonight.
He knows something.
She has something.
And you have to find out what.
And I'm gonna find out what.
Oh, hey, there.
You're home early.
Hey.
I couldn't wait to see you.
So, I picked up a bottle of wine on the way home.
It's your favorite.
Oh, that is such a big glass.
What's the occasion? No occasion.
I just figured this would be a great way for you to unwind after a long day at work.
Oh, that's so nice.
And where's your glass? Oh, it's over there.
Well, why don't we top that off for you, shall we? Once we get all nice and relaxed, unwind There we go.
You can tell me all about your day.
Yeah.
Wait a minute.
You're not trying to ply me with wine to find out what I know about this case, are you? Of course not.
That's not what you're trying to do, is it? No.
Okay.
Because if you were trying to find out what I know, that would mean you're stuck.
I'm not stuck.
Good.
Because I'm not stuck either.
So you do know something.
So you do know something.
Maybe.
Maybe.
All right, this is crazy.
If we both have something, why don't we just trade? Castle, I can't.
You know that.
Oh, can't! What happened to that rebellious girl with the leather jacket and the motorcycle? Would she say "can't"? She enforces the law now, and drinks expensive wine.
Then think about our victim.
Are you really gonna let a couple of silly rules stand in the way of bringing Shana justice? Okay, fine.
We'll do it just this once.
For her.
You first.
You first.
We'll go at the same time.
Ready? Yeah.
She was looking into old police records Shana had an old boyfriend who died at Radnor University.
Wait.
She had an old boyfriend who died at Radnor University? How long ago? Fifteen years.
His name was Jeff Whalen.
He drank too much at a party and fell out a window.
If she was looking into old police records And interested in homicide laws She must've thought that his death was more than just an accident.
She was investigating a murder.
And somehow that got her killed.
Oh, my God.
I missed this.
Last night was amazing.
Wait.
Are you talking about the put-together we did on the case, or That.
But the put-together, that was pretty amazing too.
It's been forever since we tried that.
I forgot how creative you can get.
We're not talking about the case anymore, are we? Mmm-mmm.
Hey, Ryan.
Great.
Okay, how long before the file Before it gets there? Before what gets there? You were about to say "files," weren't you? No! Oh, you texted Ryan last night about Shana's old boyfriend and told him to get those old police files for you, while you were in bed with me.
Ryan, I'll be right over.
Well, you're gonna let me take a look at those files, right? I mean, that's only fair.
Castle, I can't.
That would be crossing the line.
You didn't seem to care about lines last night.
No, last night, it was anything goes.
Yes, Castle, and it was great.
Come on, we both know it was just a one-time thing.
You know, I thought we had something special! Is that the file? Yeah, and it looks like your 2:00 a.
m.
hunch paid off.
What were you doing up so late anyway? I was working on the case.
Huh.
Well, I don't know what Shana was looking to find in that report, but it refers to witness statements taken at the party where Shana's boyfriend, Jeff Whalen, died.
But the witness statements, as well as the list of people who gave them, they're all missing.
The file's been tampered with? It looks that way.
When I called over to Radnor, they said that those pages must have been lost when their records were digitized 10 years ago.
What about the officer that wrote the original report? Passed away a few years back.
Okay, if the information is missing, then what did Shana learn from this report that got her killed? According to the guy in the records department, when Shana finished with the archive, she asked for directions to the alumni office.
Now, I placed a call over there, but they don't open for another half an hour.
So Oh.
How'd it go with Castle last night? Is he ahead of us or behind us? Uh, we're definitely on top of him.
Without access to those police files, they are gonna leave me in the dust.
I thought you became a PI to work with Beckett.
When did it become a competition? When she took something beautiful that we'd built together and shared it with another man.
What? Investigatively speaking.
But I may have found a way to catch up.
I have been looking for any mention of Shana's boyfriend's death.
Wading through newspapers, public records, and the like.
And, check this out.
It's from the Radnor University Daily.
Do you notice anything unusual about this ad? That people were ever actually afraid of Y2K? Yes, that, and the ad is above the fold.
I worked on my school paper, that's layout 101.
You never place an ad above the fold on the front page, unless something changed last minute, creating a space to fill.
Like the lead story was shortened.
Something was pulled from it just before they published.
And I bet it relates to this case.
You could track down the reporter, see if he could tell you.
Except the story is credited to Staff.
But there is someone else who knows.
Who? The person who ordered the article shortened in the first place.
The editor.
Frank Jackson? Yeah, the guy at the alumni office said that Shana came in requesting all of his contact information.
Frank Jackson.
Why does that sound so familiar? Because he is now a reporter at the New York Ledger.
That's who Shana was calling the day she died.
And I can tell you why.
Fifteen years ago, Frank Jackson was the president of the exclusive Tiger Claw Social Club, the organization that hosted the party where Shana's boyfriend died.
So, Shana called Frank as part of her investigation.
She knew that if he was president of that club, he must've been at the party that night.
And if there was a cover-up, he would've been in on it.
Then he could be our killer.
Excuse me, Mr.
Jackson! I wanted to talk about an article you edited about 15 years ago, about a student who died at the Tiger Claw Social Club.
I'm sorry, I'm late.
Another time.
You left something out of that article, didn't you? Something about how Jeff Whalen really died.
Who did you say you were again? I'm Richard Castle.
I'm a private investigator working the Shana Baker murder.
Okay, not here.
I know somewhere nearby.
It's more private.
We still can't find Jackson.
He's not at his apartment and he's not answering his phone.
Okay, put out an APB.
If he's Shana's killer, then he may try to run.
Yo, that was the Ledger.
One of Jackson's co-workers said that he saw him leave the building about an hour ago, with some guy who looked like Castle.
Then Castle found Jackson? And he has no idea how dangerous he is.
Damn it, Castle, answer.
Why can't he just stay out of this? When have I ever stayed out of anything? Oh, thank God.
Now, what are you doing here? I know the rules, but given who I'm with, I thought we might make an exception.
I knew this day would come.
When Shana called the other night, I was almost relieved.
Just tell Detective Beckett what you told me.
About why she called.
It was about her boyfriend.
She wanted to know how Jeff Whalen really died that night at Radnor University.
Jeff was pretty wasted.
He went upstairs to get some air, and the next thing I remember was the scream.
Now, I didn't see what happened, but I know Jeff wasn't alone in that room when he fell out the window.
You think that he was murdered? All I know is the next day I was pressured to change the story.
I was told to take out any mention of who was in the room with him.
But who pressured you? Someone big.
He said he was just trying to protect his son's reputation.
He told me he could ruin my life, or he could do great things for me.
I was a kid and I was scared.
And since the cops already said that it was an accident, I figured why ruin two lives? Only it wasn't an accident.
By the time I realized the investigation had been rigged, I had already helped to cover up a murder.
And if you had come forward, your career as a journalist would be over.
Yes, sir.
I can't hide from it anymore, you know? Who were they protecting, Frank? Who pushed Shana's boyfriend out the window? The last person I told that, um, wound up dead.
I mean, you sure you really wanna know? Let me get this straight.
You think federal prosecutor Spalding Elliot killed Shana Baker? The events support it, sir.
According to Mr.
Jackson, right after Shana spoke to him, she went to confront Elliot about his role in her former boyfriend's death.
And he's a parent at her school, so she knew where to find him.
Look, it's no secret that Elliot is being groomed for bigger things.
So, maybe he needed to silence Shana to keep her from destroying him.
Detective, if you're gonna go after the top federal prosecutor in New York, you're gonna need more than just the word of a compromised journalist.
You're gonna need bulletproof evidence.
And you don't have it.
What if we can place Elliot at the crime scene? We found a cigarette butt with DNA evidence on it.
Which you're gonna match to his how? I doubt if he's gonna volunteer his DNA if he's guilty.
We'll find a way.
Tread lightly, Detective.
You're hunting big game here.
And until we have a stronger case, we cannot afford to attract any attention.
Which means, Mr.
Castle, you cannot be involved in this at all, even in your private investigator capacity.
Sir, we never would have gotten this far without Oh, no, actually, she's right.
Rules are rules.
As a matter of fact, I shouldn't even be here right now.
Well, that was easier than I expected.
Yeah.
Huh.
Come on.
Come on.
There.
One sample of damning DNA evidence coming right up.
Sorry, Sherlock.
Not this time.
Pros will take it from here.
I A cigarette butt? Is that supposed to mean something? It was recovered at the scene of Shana Baker's murder.
Preliminary DNA tests indicate it's yours.
That's not possible.
It is.
Because you were there.
You killed her, Mr.
Elliot.
That's ridiculous.
I didn't even know her.
Why would I kill her? Because she knew the truth about what happened that night at the party.
About Jeff Whalen's murder.
We know that she tracked you down.
And when she confronted you, you had her silenced.
Okay, listen.
Okay, she did track me down.
And she practically accosted me in front of my office the other night.
And I told her the truth, all right? That I Yes, I was in the room the night that Jeff fell.
But I did not push him.
It was an accident.
It's in the report.
Then why did your father cover it up? Because he knew that the truth wouldn't matter.
That I would be convicted in the court of public opinion just for being there.
And then my political career would be over before it ever started.
So you swept it under the rug, and then when Shana came along Shana.
Do you think she was the first? Listen, my enemies have been circling around this story for years.
And you wanna know why the media's never run with it? Because there's nothing there.
Until now.
I'm being set up.
Mr.
Elliot Shana said somebody contacted her and told her that I pushed Jeff.
They urged her to "look into" the truth.
And then she ends up dead, and you find this at the scene? You're claiming someone is framing you? I'm a criminal prosecutor.
Do you honestly think that I would be stupid enough to leave a piece of evidence like this behind? Look, I made my name fighting corporate greed.
And my political ambitions are no secret to anyone.
This Don't you see? This is the perfect way for my enemies to destroy me.
Okay, there's only one problem with that theory, Mr.
Elliot.
In order to frame you, a person would need to know that you were there at that party 15 years ago, and know that Shana Baker had just come from seeing you an hour earlier.
Maybe there's a simpler explanation.
There is no conspiracy against you.
You killed her.
I couldn't have killed her, because I was at a fundraiser that night.
Yeah, we checked into that.
You got there at 11:00.
Shana was dead by 10:30.
I swear to you.
I am being set up! I'm sorry, I'm afraid I have no other choice but to arrest you for Wait! He's telling the truth.
Spalding Elliot is not our killer.
Hi.
Was I not clear when I told you to stay away from this case? Okay, I can see you're upset.
But I promise, in a moment you'll understand.
Jeremy.
This is Jeremy.
He is the victim's friend and dog-sitter.
Oh, so, Jeremy is some sort of a witness? Not quite.
Jeremy, if I may? Oh, the dog? The dog is the witness? Mr.
Castle Just watch.
Castle, what are you doing? I'm proving this man's innocence.
Castle! Mr.
Elliot, if I may Please, no.
See, I remember reading in a profile of Mr.
Elliot that he has a severe allergy to long-haired dogs.
And the victim's apartment was covered in dog hair.
Exactly.
Now, does this seem like the kind of man who could wait in Shana's apartment? Let alone smoke a cigarette while he did so? Please.
No, but I mean, he could be faking the whole thing.
Please.
Please, get him out of here, before the hives start! I think that ship has sailed.
Okay, yeah, definitely not faking that.
Now, here is Spalding Elliot arriving at the fundraiser, the night of Shana's death.
Note the lack of red splotches on his face.
There is no way that he came straight from her apartment looking like that.
Which means Ryan nailed it before.
This is a conspiracy.
Ryan, you played the "C" card? Well, I mean, you weren't around.
Somebody had to step up.
Okay, for this set-up to work, someone had to activate Shana, and tell her about the cover-up.
Right, that way her death would create an investigative path that led straight to Elliot.
Setting him up for her murder.
My guess is we're dealing with some kind of big-money fixer, a shadowy gun-for-hire Michael Clayton type.
Well, whoever planted Elliot's DNA at the crime scene had to have gotten the cigarette butt from somewhere.
Which means they had to intersect with Elliot at some point.
If we can figure out where and when "We," Mr.
Castle? Really? But I I brought On a silver Fine.
I'll show myself out.
We were all after the same thing, justice.
Trouble is, when it came to me, Lady Justice had different plans.
While Beckett and the boys closed in on the killer, I'd been kicked to the gutter, like yesterday's trash.
It just didn't seem fair.
You're right, it's not fair.
Hey, Beckett! I was just listening to some notes I made for the I just What are you doing here? You know, we took another look at the cigarette butt, the one with Elliot's DNA.
It turns out it had traces of barbecue sauce on it.
I thought you said you couldn't share.
I can't.
But if you hadn't shared, then we'd still be looking at Elliot as our killer.
And besides, we got the place to ourselves.
So, who's gonna know? So, I assume Elliot has had barbecue recently.
Just last week, at a rib joint Uptown.
We scrubbed the security video, and you'll never guess who we found digging through the ash can for one of Elliot's cigarette butts.
No way! That's our Michael Clayton? Likely hired by whoever's behind all of this to befriend Shana, whisper in her ear and urge her to investigate.
And who ensured we followed the trail to Radnor.
Oof.
I wish I could see the look on their face when you slap the cuffs on them.
Yeah, well, maybe you can.
Mr.
Castle, I got an urgent call to meet you here regarding Shana Baker.
Yes.
Yes, just one final question, Miss Morris.
Who hired you to kill Shana Baker and frame Spalding Elliot? What are you talking about? I think you know.
That's you retrieving Elliot's cigarette butt so you could plant it at the crime scene after you killed Shana.
Nicole Morris, you're under arrest for the murder of Shana Baker.
You know, I always heard Harrison and Reid were a killer law firm.
Now, I know why.
Case closed.
You think we'll ever know who Nicole Morris works for? Ah, she's not gonna tell us.
But we did find several large payments wired to her account, and Elliot is determined to find their source.
I would be determined, too.
That guy would be spending time in jail, if it wasn't for a dog named Sparkles.
And a PI named Castle.
I'm proud of you.
I just I thought this was another one of your larks.
A way to kill time.
But you impressed me.
You know, I kind of impressed myself.
I got all sorts of ideas for my new book.
Just one thing didn't work out as planned.
You know that if this was up to me, we would be working together, right? Yes, but since it's not, and we can't, I was wondering how you'd feel if I kept with this for a while.
Don't move.
Hmm.
What's this? It's my answer.
I am so gonna wear this to work tomorrow! Keep going, there's something else.
So, maybe you can use that to locate an actual client.
I can see something I like better already.
You care to go into the other room and share? On one condition.
What? The hat stays on.
Mmm!