Castle s05e07 Episode Script

Those eyes that smile was my demise Testing.
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Damn it! Hank, careful with that, man.
Sorry, man.
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! Is this real? Jimmy! Come on.
This is gonna be good.
Wakey, wakey, Jimbo.
I'm coming in with a camera.
Come on.
Come on.
I seriously hope his junk is not flapping in the breeze like last time.
Come on.
Help! Help! Help me! Help me! 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.
Uh, they're not press.
They're shooting some kind of movie.
No, they're--they're filming a documentary about the band.
And you are? I'm--I'm Hank Rogers.
I'm one of the roadies.
You knew the victim.
All right.
Well, I'm gonna need a statement, okay? 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.
- Huh? Espo, just go get their director.
Tell him to get the crew out of here.
Hey, Esposito.
Someone didn't get their coffee.
What's this? They are making a documentary on the band.
Yeah, just ignore 'em.
Richard Castle, novelist.
My latest, "Frozen Heat," in stores now.
Have you met, uh, 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 AM.
Look at that.
"Observe.
" An unheeded call to vigilance.
So that's the murder weapon.
Mm.
It's a Gibson Les Paul.
I'm not mistaken, and I'm rarely mistaken.
That's hot.
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.
Uh, what time was that at? It was around 11:30.
All right.
Was, uh, he alone at the time? Yeah.
Yeah.
We chatted for a second.
He's always really nice to me.
It was all about the music with him.
Was there, uh, anyone hanging outside the trailer, maybe someone you didn't recognize? I saw a white van.
It 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.
Yeah.
No, I-- you can't pull your funding.
Yo.
You the director? Yeah.
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 outta here.
All right.
Look, I-I gotta go.
Just call me if--if you can get that thing.
Look, you gotta help me out here, okay? I-I've been following these guys nonstop for three months.
Not anymore.
Police procedure.
Sorry.
And if you've been following the victim 24/7, I'm gonna need to see that footage.
Look, Detective.
Look I'm in a spot here.
Okay, James Swan was that band.
With him gone, no one is gonna care about these guys or want to 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.
So if you don't get rid of these cameras, I'm gonna break one over your-- One second.
Sorry.
Yeah, go ahead.
Oh, great.
Okay, hang on.
I'm gonna give you to a detective.
Yeah.
Hello.
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? Wow.
Another one for the club.
What club? The 27 club.
Memberships include some of the greats-- Jimi hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin.
The list is extensive.
Castle, we kind of need a different list, like who might have been in this trailer last night.
I think I know where to start.
Lanie.
Go, go, go, go.
Get outta here.
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, I, um, I-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.
I'm sorry.
I want to help.
- Listen, Miss - Butterfly.
Butterfly, this is very important.
Do you remember anything about that night? Anything at all? In his trailer I heard a horse.
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--the arguments and the tension.
But last night, he--he seemed happy, you know? Like--like he'd found some kind of peace.
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 outta here now.
This is a police investigation.
You have no right to be here.
Uh, actually, that's not true.
I'm sorry, Detective, but it's out of my hands.
- City hall has decided it's good PR.
- Wait.
What about the case? They're gonna compromise the investig-- 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.
Come on.
What's the big deal? It'll be fun.
Look, Castle, what I do here, this is mine.
And just because they want to 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 on.
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.
We've been together for five years.
Like, if you had any idea the kind of crap that 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 the hell 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.
- Me, too.
We were all in our trailers.
All right, well, 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 Ithaca.
He w--he was acting all paranoid.
He was talking about hiring extra security.
Did he say who he was afraid of? 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 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.
Yo.
You guys got a sec? So, uh, I've been going through the documentary footage of our victim.
Check this out.
Most guys will tell you that they, uh, they learned to play guitar themselves.
But I had a mentor.
And and the guy was incredible.
You--much better than I'll ever be.
What's he think of the band? You know, we lost touch a ways back.
There.
You see that guy? That was taken over a month ago.
These are more recent.
All right.
B-- just move back a bit.
There we go.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Yeah, it 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.
I'm sorry.
Can I even say son of a-- 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-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 an 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 kinda like the--the nerve center of the team.
But I'm definitely the physical one.
I stay in sick shape.
Boom.
Have you been to the gun show? 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 I spilled something on it.
Ah, here it is.
Slow approach.
Stay close.
I think he saw us.
I got this.
Let's go check out the van.
What do we have here? Uh-oh.
Pretty sure that ain't ketchup.
Hey, is that our stalker? Ex-stalker.
He won't be seeing daylight any time soon.
Uh, LT, could you please take him to an interrogation room? Thank you.
You should watch from observation while I tear this guy apart.
So, uh, we like this guy? We found bloodstained overalls in his van.
We sent 'em to be tested to see if they match the blood from our vic.
Oh, they match.
Trust me, bro.
You won't have to worry about this creep hurting anyone ever again.
That's a gift from me to you.
You're welcome, America.
- Hey.
- Hey.
A lot of nasty things in your van, Joe - I miss anything? - Duct tape No.
They're just getting started.
- Rope, gasoline.
- Hey.
You wanted to do nasty things to James Swan.
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.
You remember that guy who killed his gardener because he cut his roses too short? Found your overalls.
They had Swan's blood all over 'em.
It'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 crapright 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.
You tried to drag him to your van, but he didn't want to go.
That's not how it happened.
- And that's when you got mad-- - That's not how it happened! That's when you got mad and that's when you busted his head open.
I didn't kill anybody.
I just I just I just want my little girl.
Your little girl? My daughter.
She quit her job 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.
It seems to be the definition of a total bust.
Well, it would've been if 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 at a bank in SoHo and then he went into a residential building on the corner of Lafayette and Broome.
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.
- Dr-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-- that's just Monday morning 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.
- Certainly, she could tighten that up, but she's getting better.
The 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.
Well, I thought it was worth the trip.
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 have 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.
Sounds like he's trying to settle out of court.
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, 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.
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-- let's call them layers.
Layers upon layers of uh, well, walls.
But once you scale those walls the effort is worth it.
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.
He went the wrong way.
Aah! Aah! It's 3-M.
Spear's place.
- Drop your weapon! - You ready? Let her go right now NYPD! Nobody moves! - Get your hands up! - Yeah.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Let me see your hands! What is this? Drop your weapon! It's just a bad movie.
I'm just composing the score.
This is all a misunderstanding.
Let's review-- you sued James Swan over a song, and 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.
I--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.
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? Uh, yeah.
Here.
Uh, look.
I-I already started.
I got pretty far on that one.
Let me see that.
I do like the vocal line on this.
You read music? What, you think, because 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 this new stuff was such a musical departure for him, as I'm sure you noticed.
Yeah--just one sec.
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? And 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 and wham! It's what I do.
That's not bad.
- It gives it weight.
- Yeah.
Those lips those eyes that smile was my demise your mouth made promises but your heart was filled with lies lies everything you said was lies call me when you finish lies everything is always lies wake up Got yourself a new guitarist.
Trying someone out, yeah.
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? 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.
All those years, struggling side by side.
And 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? You hear that sound? Kind of like horse hooves crunching on snow? Just like what Butterfly heard in Swan's trailer.
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.
All right, look, I did go to his trailer.
Okay? But it was like you said.
I heard rumors that 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 out something that'd be good for all of us.
And what exactly was this something? Look, I used to think I knew that dude, but he hasn't been the same since Ithaca.
I am telling you, something happened there.
Keith, I'm not talking about Ithaca.
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 ahold of her? They come to me.
Keith, you're gonna have to do a lot better than that.
Okay.
All right.
I may not remember her name but I can prove that we were together that night.
Well, they were together, all right.
Tommy Lee's got nothing on this guy.
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, hey, hey, hey.
This is inappropriate workplace behavior.
This is evidence, Sir.
Our suspect's alibi hinges on this.
Oh.
Oh.
So does his story pan out? Yeah, it seems like he's covered for the entire time-of-death window.
I hope you're not going on the time stamp on this video.
That could be faked, you know? That's not the only thing on this video being faked.
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? Well, I wouldn't say that.
I was looking into our vic's medical records-- my little, uh, research project.
Turns out, he has no records.
Birth, medical, student transcripts, nothing.
The first time James Swan pops up is when he was 17 when he was hospitalized for a car accident in Ithaca, New York.
Why does Ithaca 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.
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.
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.
"Serve.
" Remember James' tattoo? "Observe"? He must have added the "O" and the "B" sometime after he got out.
But when the band played Ithaca, maybe somebody recognized him.
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 ten years for murder before starting the whole church scam.
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.
Yeah.
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.
Don't use the part where I said, "See what I did there?" Cut that out.
Do a hard fade to black.
Musical sting.
Ba-da-da, ba-na-na-na 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? 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.
Hey.
Any luck? Yeah, I just got off the phone with Cultwatch, and they're gonna hook us up with someone else who escaped Campbell's compound.
I was a kid, drifting.
Campbell promised me meaning, a spiritual focus.
But in return, he took away everything.
Uh, Caroline, are you worried about these cameras, 'cause if you want to have them gone-- No.
Mnh-mnh.
I want the world to know what a monster this man is.
How did Campbell react when James Swan escaped? Oh, 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.
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.
When? that Swan was killed.
He killed James.
I knew it.
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.
That's where I first met him.
All right.
Let's go get him.
Excuse me.
What are you doing? What are these cameras for? We're looking for John Campbell.
Um no, sorry.
There's no one here by that name.
Uh, 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 AM 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.
So that'd be a no.
So what are you doing in town? Working for my church.
Fund-raising, recruiting mostly.
"Fund-raising"? 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 Ithaca? 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 that 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.
- So you followed him to his trailer Enough.
And then you killed him in a fit of rage! Enough! 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.
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 Ithaca.
That's where Swan got on his radar.
Do you have any proof of that? No, not yet, but we're checking public records and police reports from when the band was in Ithaca to see if there's a link to Campbell.
Well, I'm sure the DEA will be delighted if you could help get some infor-- - Excuse me.
- Yeah.
Gates.
Oh.
No, 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.
But we did have a number of officers watching a sex tape earlier.
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 of the footage, Sir? Is there a problem, Detective? Yeah, no, no.
Of course not.
Okay.
Well, she confirmed it.
Well, that's the missing piece.
You should tell Beckett.
Unless you want to.
Well Uh, no, no.
You-- you brought it home.
Nah, but you were the one who uncovered the whole 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-- Hey, Tango and Cash.
Is there something you guys want to tell us or not? - Do you wanna - Nah, go ahead.
- All right.
- Yeah.
Well, we were going over police records for the night that our vic was in Ithaca, but we found something else.
A missing persons report was filed by John Campbell the day after the band left town.
Someone went missing from the cult? Yeah, a guy named Buck Cooper.
We checked with Caroline our Cultwatch contact.
It turns out that Buck was Swan's best friend from his days back in the cult.
So that's what happened in--in Ithaca.
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.
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 has 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.
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.
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? Most guys will tell you they learned to play guitar themselves, but I had a mentor, and and the guy was incredible.
You--much better than I'll ever be.
What's he think of the band? You know, we lost touch a ways back.
And, uh sometimes I wonder what he's up to.
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.
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.
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, uh, Swan commissioned from the songwriter? It's right here.
Perfect.
Working on the song a little.
See, these aren't run-of-the-mill power chords.
You'd have to be pretty good to play th-- 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.
That's right in my face.
A little lower.
Thank you, LT.
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.
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-- Ugh! I just lost it! Ugh! God! No.
You know, Pete best was a drummer.
I think Stu Sutcliffe would've 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.
The baseline is a little tricky, but I think you might be able to handle it.
Hey.
So it's true about Zeke? Yeah, I'm afraid so.
This has not been a good week.
Hey, um, I wanted to let you know, uh, 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 want to come audition Well, thanks, Keith.
Yeah.
Yeah, man.
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 think it would be catching the killer, but no.
It's Uh, Sir.
Uh, I'm sorry, Sir, about the, uh, 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.
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.
Uh, they live here at the precinct.
They dedicate their entire lives.
Uh, we are a close-knit family.
Would you call that behavior appropriate for a police precinct? - Uh, I - 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, uh, footage that you're talking about? - That--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? - No.
Not even-- no, nothing.
- We-- no, no.
- No, there's-- - Oh, for the love of What kind of foolishness is going on out there? I need to view all of this tape.
You understand? All of it.
Think of all the dreams we've been chasing driving through the sunshine driving through the rain back out on the road again drive away, drive away can't you hear it calling? Roll away, roll away it's a brand-new dawning drive away, drive away can't hear you it calling? Roll away, roll away it's a brand-new day anyone can see my heart's racing S ee, I told you I could sing.
- But now the wait is over - I taught him how to do that.
Now the wait is over - and it's us against the world - and it's us against the world When I think of all the time I've been wasting I've been wasting - I never would've made it - 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--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.
That we've been chasing, yeah I never would've made it Go ahead.
All the way to the back.
On my own Turn.
I never would've made it home Hey! Hey!