Épisode L'ombre du passé S03E10

Near the East River Docks.

Woman: You've made your point, Andy. So they closed the machine shop and turned it into a espresso bar. That doesn't make you a bad provider. Look, this is crazy. It's the East River. The only thing you're gonna catch out here is a cold.

The fishing line pulls tight and the man struggles to reel it in. A body rises to the surface.

Woman: Oh, my God!

At Castle's loft.

Alexis: Can you believe my old grade school shirt still fits?

Martha: Like a glove, yes. A shirt, no.

Castle: You look like the Incredible Hulk.

Alexis: Nice, Dad.

Martha: Ah, that's what you get when you talk to him while he's writing.

Alexis: Hmm. Well, Gracie's gonna love it. It'll crack her up when she sees it.

Castle: Gracie. Little cutie whose family moved to off to, I want to say, Kansas?

Alexis: After fifth grade. She e-mailed me she was coming to town to check out FIT, so I told her she could spend the night.

Castle looks up, surprised.

Alexis: I asked you.

Castle: Was I writing?

Alexis and Martha sigh. The door buzzes and Alexis rushes to get it. Castle looks closer at his screen. He typed...

Castle: Incredible Hulk?

Alexis answers the door.

Alexis: Gracie!

Gracie's gone Goth and Alexis is wearing her grade school shirt. They look at each other in shock.

Gracie: Look at you, Greendale girl.

Alexis: Look at you!

Gracie: Hi.

Alexis: Hi… Uh, you remember Gram and my Dad.

Gracie: Sure. Hey, it's been forever… Thanks again for letting me crash with you guys.

Castle: Yeah… So, your room in the same place?

Alexis: Yeah. Same place. Same old room. You know, everything's the same. Almost.

Gracie and Alexis head up the stairs and Alexis looks back at her family with a nervous sigh.

Martha: Looks like someone's not in Kansas anymore.

Castle: What happened to the little hair band, the knee socks? (answers cell) Ah, Beckett. Excellent timing.

Near the East River Docks.

Castle: She used to be so adorable. I mean, what makes a girl, a little girl who used to play hopscotch and My Little Ponies, suddenly pierce her eyebrow? It's like she's been assimilated by the leather overlords.

Beckett: You're probably romanticizing it. And is anything ever really the way that we remember it in grade school?

Castle: Well, to be honest, beyond some baking soda volcanoes and sweaty palms, I have very little memory of it at all. You?

Beckett: Mine are mostly orthodontic.

Castle: Braces? You mean you weren't born with that dazzling smile?

Beckett: The only thing dazzling was how long it took my parents to pay for it… Body's in pretty good shape for a floater. Must not have been in the water too long.
Lanie: Well, if the river's as cold as my nose, I'd ballpark it within the last twelve hours at most. No ID, but he looks early forties. He's got a navy tattoo on his arm and a nasty crush injury along his temporal line.

Beckett: Any chance he went overboard?

Lanie: Classic indicators point to deliberate blunt force. So, I'd say no. This was no boating accident.

Castle: Then we better close the beaches. No boating accident? Chief Brody? Hooper? Seriously?

Lanie: I'll, uh, zip his prints over to the precinct for an ID. But, for what it's worth, I did find this.

Beckett: A Gamblers Anonymous medallion.

Lanie: Four years without a bet.

Castle: Ah.

Beckett: "Ah," what?

Castle: The East River? A GA chip? Relapsed gambler gets in too deep with his bookie, ends up floating in the drink.

Beckett: Are you kidding me? You just went from Gamblers Anonymous to mob hit?

Castle: This is the most celebrated body depository this side of the Jersey wetlands. Mark my words, this guy has mob ties. Case closed!

At the police station.

Esposito: No mob ties.

Castle: Are you sure?

Esposito shoots Castle a look.

Castle: Good work.

Esposito: According to his fingerprints, his name is Donald Hayes. Navy veteran, served in Desert Storm, and he's been a dock worker since '94.

Ryan: And somehow still employed as one. Our victim, Donny Hayes. Currently clocked in and on duty at the East Side docks.

Castle: Which either means he's an incredibly dedicated zombie…

Beckett: Or he's a suspect in our murder.

Near the East River Docks.

Beckett: Donny? Mr. Hayes? Donald Hayes.

Castle: What's the matter? You forget your own name?

The fake Mr. Hayes tries to escape, but Ryan covers his exit.

Ryan: Police! Don't move!

Fake Mr. Hayes runs in the opposite direction only to get clothes-lined by Esposito.

Esposito: The man said, "Don't move."

Grant Vyro: Ugh, wait a minute. Wait a minute. You just cops?

Ryan: Just cops?

Beckett: I guess that makes you just under arrest for murder.

In the interview room.

Beckett: First name Grant, last name Vyro.

Grant: I didn't kill anybody.

Castle: Then why'd you run?

Grant: I thought you's with union.

Beckett: Oh, so we're not the only ones who have a problem with you killing Donny for his union card.

Grant: What are you talking about? I bought that card.

Beckett: Do you really expect us to believe that you bought Donny's card, assumed his identity, and thought no one would notice?

Grant: Guy spent sixteen years working over on the West Side. So, I switched to the East Side docks so no one who knew Donny would catch on.

Castle: So, what does a union card go for nowadays? Since buying someone else's is illegal.

Grant: Sucker cost me twenty five grand.

Beckett: Oh, come on, Vyro. Dock workers rake in over six figures a year. Why would Donny trade it in for so little?

Castle: Unless he had a gun to his head. In which case it'd be a bargain.

Grant: There were no guns. I needed a job, Donny needed cash.

Beckett: For what?

Grant: He didn't say. And I didn't care.

Beckett (answers cell): Beckett.

At the autopsy.

Lanie: I was right about the blunt force trauma. A single blow caved in the ridge here along Donny's squamosal suture. And whatever did the damage was kind enough to leave this shard of red glass embedded in his skull.

Castle: Maybe a heavy vase or bottle?

Beckett: I'll have forensics take a look at it, see if they can find a match.

Lanie: Based on lividity and water temp, I've narrowed time of death to between 4 and 6 a.m. this morning.

Beckett: What happened here, on the shoulder?

Lanie: Buckshot. I found several double aught pellets lodged in the flesh of his left arm.

Castle: So, someone conked him on the head and shot him?

Lanie: That's where it gets weird. Scarring indicates the pellets have been there about two to three weeks.

Castle: And he just left them in there?

Lanie: Well, he certainly didn't seek treatment. Could have been he was in something illegal or scared of whoever shot him.

Beckett: Or both.

Near the bullpen.

Ryan: Forget Vyro. His alibi cleared. And we tracked down his personal check for twenty-five thousand, endorsed and deposited by Donny last month.

Castle: Vyro paid Donny with a check?

Beckett: No mob-y enough for you, Castle?

Ryan: CSU's still combing Donny's place, but no broken red glass, no signs of foul play, and no next of kin, either.

Beckett: What about the Gamblers Anonymous chip? Any sponsor?

Ryan: Yeah, but he says he hasn't heard from Donny for months.

Beckett: So then, maybe Castle was right. If Donny was desperate enough to sell his union card, then maybe he fell off the wagon and got in over his head.

Castle: Yeah, to the tune of twenty-five grand.

Esposito: Yo. Uh, that'd be low-balling it, bro. Donny's account shows that he deposited Vyro's check about a month ago, adding it to his existing balance of a hundred and twenty five thousand. All of which, wait for it... is now gone.

Beckett: Gone?

Castle: All of it?

Esposito: Except for the remaining balance of six dollars and twenty three cents, all 150K was spent in one giant check made payable to a Wilbur Pittorino, listed here as owning several properties as well as a waste management business in Garfield, New Jersey.

Castle: Oh! Waste management.

Beckett: Any priors?

Esposito: Yeah. Back in 1977, Billy Pitt spent ten years in Federal for assault and racketeering.

Castle: And what?

Esposito: Racketeering. As well as shaking down business owners where he operated his, uh, bookmaking operation.

Castle: His what now?

Esposito: Bookmaking operation.

Castle: Oh. So, an ex-gambler dumps his life savings on an ex-con ex-bookmaker and ends up X-ed out.

Beckett: Sounds like Donny was late with his 150 grand for Billy Pitt and he ended up paying for it with his life.

Castle: I think I just said that.

Beckett interrogates Billy Pitt while the boys watch from behind the one-way glass.

Beckett: You know, you might have gotten a little greyer, Mr. Pitt, but it seems to me you haven't changed much at all.

Billy Pitt: must be all them Pilates classes.

Beckett: Do you recognize this check?

Billy Pitt: Of course. It's from Donny Hayes. So?

Beckett: So, I'm wondering if Donny didn't owe you more money and you didn't flash back to your old racketeering days.

Billy Pitt: Cut the breaks, sweetie. Whatever the hell you dragged me down here for, I want to tell you right now that I paid my tab with Johnny Law a couple lifetimes ago and he's got nothing on me since.

Castle chuckles as he takes notes.

Castle: Oh, this guy is gold.

Billy Pitt: If you don't believe me, why don't you ask...Donny? Is this about Donny?

Beckett: He was found dead in the East River this morning. Now, back to the money. What was it for? Was it a payment or was it a gift?

Billy Pitt: A purchase.

Beckett: For?

Billy Pitt: He bought my bar Downtown. He loved the place.

Beckett: Really? Enough to drop everything and dump his whole life savings into it?

Billy Pitt: Kid was practically raised in the joint. By his grandfather, Leo the Legend.

Castle: Leo the Legend?

Montgomery: You heard of the guy?

Billy Pitt: City's best bartender since the days when "gay" meant "happy". He was the only father Donny knew.

Beckett: And where do I find Leo?

Billy Pitt: Resting in an old silver shaker behind the bar. Leo was kind of the bar historian and when he kicked in '97, we figured, hey, why not make him part of it?

Castle: Ashes behind the bar.

Beckett: Which is why Donny decided to buy the-- what is it called?

Billy Pitt: The Old…

Billy Pitt/Castle: Haunt.

Esposito: The Old Haunt?

Castle: Don't tell me you never been to The Old Haunt. It's legendary. All the great writers drank there.

Ryan: We're cops. We go to cop bars.

Castle: Your loss.

Billy Pitt: Donny was there every night, anyhow. We were all the family he had.

Beckett: So, what prompted the sudden sale? I mean, it seemed like Donny had to gather money pretty quickly.

Billy Pitt: The bar had been weighing down my ledger sheets for years. I had an offer from one of them T.J. McChucklenuts franchises when Brian, my bartender, put together some investors and made an offer of his own. I was going to sell it to him and then Donny outbid him.

Beckett: And how did Brian feel when Donny bought the place?

Billy Pitt: He wasn't thrilled about it, but at least he wasn't working for T.J. McChucklenuts.

Near the bullpen.

Beckett (hangs up): Lanie just swabbed the shard of glass and found trace amounts of alcohol.

Castle: A container of alcoholic beverage, a resentful bartender…

Beckett: And given the location of The Old Haunt, a potential crime scene just two blocks away from the river.

Castle: Convenient for all your body dumping needs.

Beckett: So, Castle... Can I buy you a drink?

Castle: Why, Detective Beckett, I thought you'd never ask.

At The Old Haunt.

Beckett: So, how well do you know this bar, Castle?

Castle: Oh, I haven't been here in years. Not since Alexis. But I wrote most of my first novel in one of these booths.

Beckett: Oh. Okay. Well, that explains a lot.

Castle: It sold over three million copies.

Beckett: No, I mean, why you're so excited.

Castle: It's loaded with history. First as a blacksmith, then as a bordello. It only became a bar during Prohibition as a speakeasy, and it was one of the best. I swear, you can still feel the vibration of every notorious episode of glamour and debauchery in its walls.

Beckett: Oh, easy, Castle. It's just a bar.

Castle: No, no. T.J. McChucklenuts is just a bar. The Old Haunt is the last of a dying breed. A proud institution standing up to ruthless gentrification. It's a classic…

Castle stops as he sees Beckett putting on lip gloss and letting her hair down.

Castle: What… What are you doing?

Beckett: Well, I'm not going to get much out of Brian looking like a cop.

Castle: Undercover. I like it. You might want to pop one more button just in case.

Beckett pulls open her jacket and undoes one more button, letting her bra show, before heading down into the bar. Castle lets out his breath before following.

At The Old Haunt.

Castle: This is how a bar should smell.

Beckett: Mmm, yeah. Stale beer.

Castle: You know, I would write in more bars if there were more bars like this.

The piano man changes up his tune when he sees Castle.

Castle: Nice to see you Eddie. It's been a long time. Thank you for remembering.

Castle tips him.

Castle: Come over here, check out the wall of fame. Who is that handsome devil just two over from Hemingway, directly above the infamous booth where In a Hail of Bullets was born.

Beckett: Oh my goodness, Castle, you were so cute back then.

Castle: Back then?

Beckett's smile drops. She looks at Castle, then head over to the bar. Castle follows.

Castle: A lot of memories.

Beckett points at the vase behind the bar.

Beckett: That's old Leo.

Beckett's gaze shifts to the photo of an old man and young boy smiling for the camera.

Beckett: Which would make that young Donny. But I don't see any red bottles.

Castle watches the bartender drops a lime into the sink to join other limes and some cherries.

Beckett: What are you looking at?

Castle: Nothing.

Brian Elliott: Welcome to The Old Haunt, folks.

Beckett: Uh, is Donny here, by any chance?

Brian Elliott: Not yet, but he will be. And he won't mind one bit that you're sitting in his regular spot.

Beckett: You know, I knew this place felt right for a reason. I'm Kate. I'm one of his old friends. And this is Rick.

Brian Elliott: Brian. And any old friend of Donny is a new friend of mine.

Beckett: Tell me, Brian. Um, you don't, by any chance, carry a liqueur? It's really delicious and it comes in this red bottle.

Beckett picks up a cherry and puts it in her mouth seductively.

Castle: Oh! Yeah. That, uh, red bottle we shared down in that little cantina in Tierra del Fuego.

Brian Elliott: Red, huh? Uh, let's see. No red here. Just your standard brown, green, and clear. Let me check the other end of the bar.

Beckett: Did you see that?

Castle: How could I miss it? Can't he see we're together? Undercover.

Beckett: No. His reaction. When I mentioned Donny. I don't think he knows.

Castle: Maybe he's just a good liar.

Brian Elliott: Ah, no luck. Maybe I could interest you in a blue vodka?

Beckett: Oh, no. Thank you. Way too early for vodka.

Brian Elliott: Well, think about it, folks. I'll be back in a sec.

Beckett: Actually, Brian, we're not really here for a drink.

Beckett holds up her badge.

Brian Elliott: How could Donny be dead? I was just with him last night.

Beckett: What time was that?

Brian Elliott: 4:30 a.m. I locked up on my way out and Donny went to do the books in the office, like always.

Beckett: Are you sure he was alone when you left?

Brian Elliott: Positive. This is crazy. That guy was like a brother to me.

Castle: Even though he bought the bar out from under you?

Brian Elliott: You know about that?

Castle: I mean, he didn't even offer you to be a partner. That doesn't sound very brotherly to me.

Brian Elliott: Hey, any beef I had with Donny was short-lived. We hashed it out.

Castle: So, now you're just stealing from him.

Brian Elliott: What?

Beckett: What?

Castle: Couldn't help but notice your trick with the fruit, Brian. You pretend to ring up a drink, you stuff the money in the till, and you keep track of it by throwing pieces of fruit into the sink. Cherries are ten. Limes, what? Twenty? At nights end you tally up your fruit so you know how much to put into your tip cup before you lock the register. So, what happened, Brian? Donny catch you stealing? Things get physical?

Brian Elliott: Over an extra thirty or forty bucks? It's not even stealing, it's skimming. Donny understood.

Beckett: The owner understood?

Brian Elliott: We'd all been family long enough. Donny knew I had to get creative to make my rent once in a while.

Beckett: I'd like to see his office.

Brian Elliott: Sure. It's in the basement.

Castle: The basement? I've never seen this.

Brian Elliott: No one knew it was there until the flood of '98. Billy Pitt pulled up the old linoleum and there it was.

Castle: A hidden basement. How cool is this?

In the basement.

Castle: Did I say cool? Make that awesome. Perfect place for a murder. No one can hear you scream.

Beckett: No one can help you carry the body up the stairs, either.

Castle: Maybe somebody marched Donny at gunpoint down to the river, killed him there.

Beckett: Killer had a gun, why would he use a bottle?

Castle: Don't ruin my story with your logic!

Beckett: It smells like fresh paint.

Brian Elliott: Yeah, Donny had been putting in a lot of work to fix the place up. New brass rail, refurbished wood on the bar.

Beckett runs her fingers along the wall.

Castle: You find something?

Beckett tilts a photo frame to expose the wall behind it.

Beckett: These are buckshot holes.

Beckett grabs an letter opener off the desk and pries a pellet out of the wall.

Beckett: You own a shotgun, Brian?

Brian Elliott: No.

Beckett: CSU's gonna comb this place from top to bottom: blood, buckshot, broken red glass. So, if you have something to say…

Brian Elliott: Look, if a shotgun was fired down here everybody in the bar would know about it.

Castle: Not if it was after hours.

Beckett: We're talking about two or three weeks ago. Did Donny have a beef with anyone then?

Brian Elliott: You said two weeks ago?

Annie Swift: Uh, yeah. It was a couple weeks ago. I was, uh, closing up alone. I had just done my cash drop down in the basement safe and I came up and some guy was knocking on the door. Pickup Pete.

Castle: Pickup Pete? Big hit with the ladies?

Annie Swift: No, he drives a pickup.

Castle: Ah.

Beckett: Gun rack?

Annie Swift: Yeah. Regular upstate redneck. Anyway, he said that he dropped his wallet in the booth, so I let him in. Next thing you know he's got his hands all over me, he's pushing me against the bar. All of a sudden, the basement door pops open and here comes Donny like Hemingway's ghost. Guess I missed him down there, but I'm glad he showed up when he did. He grabbed a baseball bat, chased Pete out. He smashed his tail lights, put a few dents in the pickup for good measure before the jackass could drive off. Donny told me to go home and to forget about it. He said that Pete was eighty-sixed for life. That was the last time we talked about it, until last night.

Beckett: And what happened last night?

Annie Swift: Pete showed up again. Donny wasn't having any of it. He just threw that trash out. Said the next time it wouldn't be the truck he used the bat on.

Beckett: So, Donny eighty-sixed Pete for life.

Castle: Looks like Pete returned the favour.

Near the bullpen.

Beckett: Pickup Pete, aka Pete Mucha. He's got a couple of dismissed domestic assault charges and he is also the proud owner of a Remington 870 shotgun. And Ryan and Esposito are bringing him in now.

Beckett looks oddly at Castle who's scribbling in a notepad.

Castle: What do you think of "The Castilian"?

Beckett: For?

Castle: Well, The Old Haunt just reminded me of how vital tavern culture is in this town. I thought, why not open up a little tavern of my own?

Beckett: So, instead of buying a drink you're going to buy a whole bar?

Castle: My way of giving back.

Beckett: Yeah. To your ego.

Castle: The Ego.

Pete Mucha: Someone call the police!

Ryan and Esposito wrestle Pete into the precinct.

Pete Mucha: Let me go! I'm perfectly fine!

Beckett: Pickup Pete, I take it.

Esposito: Yeah, we found him getting tossed out of a bar Uptown.

Ryan: And, uh, just like the shotgun in his truck, he's a little loaded.

Beckett: Well, maybe a murder charge'll sober him up.

Ryan: Yep. C'mon.

Castle: The Castle. Just have a wee drawbridge to let you in.

In the interview room.

Ryan: Congratulations, Pete. You're our drunkest murder suspect this year. And that includes St. Patrick's Day.

Pete Mucha: What did I win?

Esposito: Well, that depends on you, Pete.

Pete Mucha: You know my name? And did you just say murder?

Esposito: Your driver's license says your from up in Courtland. What, they don't have any bars up there? Or did you get eighty-sixed from them, too?

Pete Mucha: The city's where I work, you know? Like drywall, like pipe setting. And I do some of my best pipe laying after work, if you know what I mean.

Esposito: You own a shotgun, Pete. You like hunting, do you?

Pete Mucha: Wait a minute! You after me for murdering a two point buck?

Ryan: Nah. We're after you for your little dust up at The Old Haunt two weeks ago.

Pete Mucha: The Old Haunt? That's where I was last night! Donny wouldn't let me in because that bitch bartender. For the record, she came on to me.

Ryan: That why you came back and you killed him? Because you were drunk and angry and he wouldn't let you in?

Pete Mucha: Donny's dead?

Esposito: What'd you really do last night, Pete?

Pete Mucha: Whoa! Hey! Why would I kill the guy?

Esposito: Maybe because he trashed your truck.

Ryan: And you were too drunk to shoot straight the last time you came after him with a shotgun.

Pete Mucha: Shotgun? Look, he trashed my truck, so what? He more than paid for the damages.

Esposito: He what now?

Pete Mucha: After he pounded my truck I started calling the cops. Well, he calmed down real fast and out came this fat wad and he peeled off a cool grand like it was nothing.

Esposito: Donny gave you a thousand dollars?

Pete Mucha: He had plenty more. I asked him, "What'd you score lotto?" and he was all like "Yeah, sorta." You can ask my repair guy. I paid with Donny's cash.

Ryan: Don't go anywhere. I'm gonna make a call.

Pete Mucha: Don't worry, we're gonna get this guy.

Ryan: Pete's alibi holds. He was sleeping it off at a friend's apartment over in Murray Hill.

Esposito: It's weird that a guy who only had $6.23 in his bank account had enough cash on hand to peel off a G like it was nothing.

Ryan: Not to mention all the repairs he made to the bar.

Beckett: Maybe he was skimming, too.

Castle: If he was skimming that much, there'd have to be someone he wasn't paying. A supplier, distributor?

Beckett: Why don't you guys go back to The Old Haunt and take a look at Donny's ledgers. Let's find out where that money was coming from.

Uniform: Here you go, Detective.

The Uniform hands Beckett a file.

Beckett: Thank you. So, CSU processed that bar and basement and there's no indication of any broken red glass and the only blood they found was under the buckshot.

Castle: So, it wasn't our murder scene.

Beckett: It looks like Donny left that bar alive.

At The Old Haunt, in the basement.

Ryan: I don't get it. Donny got shot down here and he didn't do anything wrong. Why didn't he report it?

Esposito: The last thing any new bar owner wants is trouble with the cops. Even an accidental shooting on the premises could have cost Donny his liquor license for good.

Ryan: Mm, and probably why he shelled out for Pete's truck damage, too.

Esposito: I don't see how. His personal account isn't the only thing that's tapped out. The Old Haunt was barely breaking even, operating at a loss most days. There's no way he was throwing money around.

Ryan: And yet, he was. I've got invoices here, one for the new brass rail and one for the new wood for the bar, each totalling close to six grand. Both of them are stamped "petty cash, paid in full."

Esposito: Nothing petty about that.

Ryan: Sure there's nothing in there about him winning the lotto?

Esposito: Actually... Maybe there is.

Near the bullpen.

Beckett: A consignment receipt from Hagen and Graham Auction House?

Castle: Why is a guy like Donny doing business with a place that sells Picassos and Rembrandts?

Ryan: His business was barely breaking even. He was on the verge of losing everything.

Esposito: And, with his union card gone, it looks like he found something else to sell.

Castle: Yeah, but what? What does a dock worker have that's valuable enough for a place like Hagen and Graham's to be interested?

Beckett: Maybe something that wasn't his.

At Hagen and Graham's auction house.

Castle: Now, here's a place that honours history and values craftsmanship.

Beckett: You're pretty into this whole preserving history stuff, huh?

Castle: I think just lately I've been noticing the changes.

Beckett: You mean in Alexis's Goth friend?

Castle: No, I was thinking more along the lines of Times Square. You know, once it had a real New York grit and character and now they should just call it Times Square Land.

Steven Heisler clears his throat and Castle takes his hand off of a little statue.

Steven Heisler: So sorry to have kept you waiting. I'm Steven Heisler, associate curator.

Beckett: I'm Detective Kate Beckett. This is Richard Castle. We were wondering if you recognize this man.

Steven Heisler: Oh, yes, Donald Hayes. We don't get many dock workers here, as you might imagine. What's this about?

Beckett: He was murdered.

Steven Heisler: Murdered? Good lord.

Beckett: We understand that he put an item up here for auction. We were wondering what it was.

Steven Heisler: Are you familiar with a man by the name of Jimmy Walker?

Castle: Sure, everybody knows Jimmy Walker.

Steven Heisler: No, not the actor who played JJ on Good Times.

Castle: No, the former mayor of New York. Took office 1926. Went by the nickname Beau James. Famous for being a corrupt politician, renowned womanizer, and also openly defiant of Prohibition.

Steven Heisler: Ah, so you do know him.

Beckett: What does the former mayor have to do with this?

Steven Heisler: Donald had an item that once belonged to him. You see, Mayor Walker was rumored to have had a private liquor collection thought to contain one of the finest whiskeys ever distilled.

Castle: Unceremoniously dumped into the sewers by Federal agents when they ran him out of office.

Steven Heisler: Donald came in with the sole surviving bottle. An 1875 Saint Miriam Rock of Scotland. I knew what it was the moment I saw the JW pressed into its wax seal.

Castle: An 1875 Saint Miriam. That's the holy grail of Scotches. I would kill for just a taste of it.

Beckett: Do you have a picture of this bottle of Scotch?

Heisler pulls up their photo gallery on the computer and scrolls through it.

Castle: Where did Donny get it?

Steven Heisler: Left to him by his grandfather, Leo, who, apparently, was given it as a gift when he returned from World War II.

Heisler pulls up the photo of the red bottle Scotch.

Steven Heisler: And there you have it.

Beckett: And where's that bottle now?

Steven Heisler: It was sold, for twenty-six thousand dollars, to an internet millionaire named Jeffrey McGuigan.

Beckett: A red glass bottle at twenty-six grand.

Castle: That is one expensive murder weapon.

At Mcguigan's apartment.

Castle: How did you say this guy made his millions?

Beckett: Internet gaming. Owns about fifty sites.
Castle: The guy spent 26K on a bottle of whiskey. He could treat himself to nicer digs.

Beckett rings the doorbell.

Castle: What's his motivation?

Beckett: All I know is that this is about a body's throw away from the river.

Jeffrey Mcguigan: Speedy Wok my ass... And you're not even Speedy Wok.

Beckett: We're here about a purchase that was made at Hagen and Graham's. Is there a Jeffrey McGuigan here?

Jeffrey Mcguigan: I go by McGoo. It's my street name, you know.

Castle: Seriously, you're Jeffrey McGuigan?

Jeffrey Mcguigan: McGoo. And yeah, I've purchased a ton of crap at that place. Come on it.

A group gathers around a TV playing video games.

Castle: So, this piece of crap we're looking for, McGoo, is a priceless red bottle of Scotch.

Jeffrey Mcguigan: No, it had a price, all right. Though, it was pretty tasty.

Castle: Tasty? You describe a 135-year-old bottle of Scotch as... Tasty?

Jeffrey Mcguigan: I mean, you know, after I mixed in a little root beer.

Castle bristles and Beckett puts her hand out to hold him back.

Beckett: Yeah, okay. McGoo, let's see that bottle.

Jeffrey Mcguigan: Seriously? You're just gonna walk into my crib and start bossing me around?

Castle: Well, I don't see it here. You didn't happen to break the bottle over...something?

Jeffrey Mcguigan: Now, what is this about? You know, I may have dropped out of Cornell when my company went public, but I still know my rights.

Beckett: That bottle that you purchased might have been used to commit murder. So, unless you want to learn your Miranda rights, you better quite stalling and show us where it is.
Jeffrey Mcguigan: Yeah, okay. Cool. I'm not stalling.

Beckett: Great.

Jeffrey Mcguigan: Yeah.

Jeffrey Mcguigan reaches for the trash.

Castle: You were throwing it out?
Jeffrey Mcguigan: It's in the blue bucket. I recycle.

Beckett: Well, it's still intact, unless a sliver of glass came out when it hit.

Jeffrey Mcguigan: Man, nobody hit anybody.

Castle: Yes, well, keep mixing root beer with fine Scotch, that may change.

Beckett: Okay, Castle. Let's go.

Castle: Just saying.

Beckett: Thank you.

Castle: Cretinous little uncultured palate, doesn't deserve… Did you hear what he said? Root beer? If I was fifteen years younger, I'd give that kid such a pinch.

Lanie examines the broken glass from the crime scene.

Lanie: Same glass. But the shard in Donny's head is way too big to have come from this bottle.

Castle: Which means it can't be the only remaining bottle in the world.

Beckett: Clearly not.

Castle: Which means I still have a shot at getting a taste.

Beckett: Which means that Donny came across a second bottle.

Castle: Yeah, upside his head.

Beckett: Okay. So, maybe Leo gave a bottle to a relative or a friend and, once Donny learned how much it was worth, he went after it.

Castle: And got more than he bargained for.

Beckett: I think I'm gonna do a little research on Leo, see what we can dig up on Mayor Walker and his mystery whiskey.

Castle: Research. I'm gonna do that too. Yeah.

Lanie stares at Castle being obsessive over the bottle of Scotch.

Castle mixes drinks at home, the book Great Cocktails of New York open on the counter.

Castle: It's called the Sidecar. One of the best drinks to come out of the Prohibition era. A time when getting a drink meant secret doors, gangsters, and bootleggers.

Martha: Rick, I'm loving this idea. You know, our town could use a throwback joint. Ooh, perfect name for it, "Rick's Café American".

Castle: Mother, that's perfect. I was trying to come up with a Bogie reference myself. All I could think of was "Castleblanca". I thought it was a little too on the nose.

Alexis: I need a drink. H20. Dirty.

Castle: Tap water it is.

Martha: So, where's your dark shadow?

Alexis: She went out with some people she met at FIT. I was not invited.

Castle: I don't know whether to be delighted or outraged.

Alexis: Me neither. She's really defensive and she makes fun of everything that's important to me. I keep looking for the Gracie I knew, but she's just not there anymore.

Martha: Well, you're not the same girl you were back then, either. You know, maybe she's just responding to how you've changed.

Alexis: I haven't changed.

Martha: Oh, darling, please. Look at you. You are tall, beautiful, sophisticated. You have a glam Gram and...

Martha looks at Castle making a funny face as he tries to open something.

Martha:... Him. And a boyfriend. Now, did it ever occur to you that might be rather intimidating to a girl from Kansas?

Alexis: Intimidated? When I asked where she got her gloves she said it was a place I wouldn't go to.

Martha: Now, you took that as an affront and she was just probably being self-deprecating.

Castle: Mm-hmm. You know what, I think someone needs a virgin Mojito. Go grab me some more mint. It's in the fridge.

Martha: Here's looking at you, kid.

Castle: And you.

Alexis opens the fridge and a bunch of food falls out.

Alexis: Whoa! You could have told me you booby trapped it.

Castle: Oh. Yes, that's just how I protect my stash from G-men and mobsters.

Alexis: Mmm. At least help me reload them.

Castle: Right. Reload.

Castle chuckles with glee as he pulls out his cell and dial Beckett.

Castle: Reload. (on cell) Beckett? I think I know how Donny was shot.

At the Old Haunt in the basement.

Castle: Take a trip with me, to a simple yet dangerous time.

Beckett: Castle, CSU already swept through this entire basement. And we were just tucked in with my laptop.

Castle: We?

Beckett: Josh and I. He was helping me research.

Castle: Anyway. A dangerous time when Prohibition was law and bootleggers, the lawless, often going to extreme measures to protect their liquid treasure.

Beckett: Can you get to the point?

Castle: Yes. Do you remember when Donny jumped up and rescued Annie from Pickup Pete? She said she completely missed him when she was down here doing her safe drop.

Beckett: It was late. She was tired. I can relate.

Castle: Well, maybe he wasn't down here at all. Buckshot wall.

Castle points to the wall.

Castle: Wall directly opposite.

Castle points to the wall with the wood shelves.

Castle: Help me move the shelf.
Beckett: And what, exactly, are we hoping to find?

Castle: The truth. Same thing Donny was hoping for. In all the stories that Leo ever told as bar historian, what if he saved one story, just for Donny? A story that Leo himself could never verify, because the trap door to the basement wasn't discovered until after he died. When Billy Pitt decided to sell the bar and T.J. McChucklenuts was going to buy it, Donny realized he had to find out before it was too late.

Beckett: Find what?

Castle: Donny sold his union card and bet his life savings that Beau James… Come.

Castle points for her to move the other side of the shelf. She intertwines and stretches her fingers and then goes to help.

Castle: Help me. Ah, there we go. That Beau James's secret stash really existed… Are you pushing?

Beckett: I am pushing!

The move the shelf and Beckett turns to find a small chamber and a door.

Beckett: Okay. That's... Wow. (whisper) Oh, Castle! This is where Donny was when Annie made the drop.

They step into the chamber and pull open the door. Inside, there's an old pistol mounted facing the door. And a tunnel.

Castle: Whoa-ho. Donny pulled on this door and blam said the lady.

Beckett: Do you hear that?

Castle: Rushing water.

Beckett: If that water leads to the East River then that's probably where Donny was killed!

Castle goes back to the basement and grabs a plunger, mounts a roll of toilet paper on it, and douses it with alcohol.

Beckett: What are you doing?

Castle: We're gonna need a light, right?

Castle lights a match and Beckett blows it out.

Beckett: Not so fast, Indy. We're also going to need breathable air.

Beckett shines a flashlight in Castle's face.

Beckett: So…

Beckett hands Castle a modern hurricane lantern.

Castle: A torch would be more fun.

In the Bootlegger Tunnel.

Beckett: This must be part of the old sewer system.

Castle: Probably used these as access tunnels during Prohibition. It's incredible, isn't it?

Beckett: Yeah. Aside from the fact that it's... Damp, cramped, dark, and we are almost certainly walking in rat poop... Awesome!

Castle: Don't look at the C.H.U.D.s.

Beckett: C.H.U.D.s?

Castle: Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers. These sewers are crawling with them.

Beckett: You know, I kind of figured you more for an alligator in the sewer type of guy.

Castle: There's alligators down here?

They turn a corner to find a sledgehammer and a pile of bricks next to a freshly unblocked room.

Castle: What is this?

Beckett: Whoa. It looks like an old passageway that was bricked up a long time ago.

Castle: Yeah, until Donny got at it.

Beckett finds a light switch and flips it on. There are several shelves full of the red bottle Scotch.

Castle: Whoa-ho-ho-ho-ho!

Beckett: Mayor Walker's moniker. 1919. That's when Prohibition started.

Castle: Best time capsule ever! Imagine Donny's joy when he realized that Leo's legends were true. $26,000 a bottle, who cares Brian was skimming?

Beckett: There's gotta be a hundred bottles of Scotch on these walls.

Castle: Take one down and pass it around.

Castle reaches for a bottle, but Beckett catches him.

Beckett: Hey! That's evidence. There's already a lot that's been taken.

Castle: It's...fairly recently, too. These bottles are caked with dust and the empty spaces are relatively clean.

Beckett: Here's our murder weapon.

Castle: Hopefully with some prints on it.

Beckett: There's probably blood mixed in there, too. In case you were thinking of tasting it.

Castle: Oh, come on, I'm not that desperate.

Beckett: Mm-hmm. So, someone else finds out about Donny's treasure, follows him down here, surprises him, a fight breaks out, and the killer grabs the only weapon available.

Castle: Striking the fatal blow.

Beckett: And it looks like our killer dragged the body right back out the same way. Look at this, all the way down.

Beckett and Castle follow the trail back into the tunnel.

Beckett: And then it travels all the way...

They find a drain into the sewers.

Castle: Oh, this tunnel has everything. Secret Scotch vault, private murder nook, convenient sewage disposal.

Beckett: I bet you this water leads straight to the East River.

Castle reaches down and finds a glow stick on the ground.

Castle: This is fairly bright. Someone's been here in the past two hours.

They hear metal rattling in another part of the tunnel.

Beckett: Police! Don't move!

They see a silhouette sprint off. Beckett and Castle pursue.

Beckett: Stop! NYPD! This way, this way.

They run into a dead end.

Beckett: Where did he go?

Castle: He was right in front of us. I heard him.

Beckett: Yeah.

Beckett checks the walls for secret exits.

Beckett: This is a dead end. He couldn't have gotten past us.

Castle: There is no other way he could have gotten out.

Beckett: So, how did he get away?

Castle puts up a blueprint of the New York City sewer systems.

Montgomery: What do you mean gone?

Beckett: He was right there in front of us and then...

Beckett snaps her fingers.

Beckett: Nothing but a brick wall.

Montgomery: And there's no way this guy could have gotten past you two and snuck out through The Old Haunt?

Beckett: No, it was too narrow.

Castle: Brian the bartender, and a handful of regulars were still upstairs. They swear no one came out before we did.

Beckett: We think that our spirit loving Mayor didn't want to be seen going back and forth from his favorite speakeasy. So, he a back way entrance built to his stash.

Castle: Hidden from view. And, trust me, we looked.

Esposito: Yo. I just got off the phone with Lanie. She confirms the blood on the broken bottle is Donny's. It's definitely our murder weapon.

Ryan: But we've run the prints and we still came up empty. No matches to anyone at The Old Haunt or in our system.

Montgomery: It took seventy years to find a way down to those tunnels from The Old Haunt and somehow our killer finds another way in? How?

Beckett: There's gotta be another access point from the tunnel to the East River sewer line. The Sewer Bureau's map doesn't have anything. It's like CONA doesn't even know those tunnels exist.

Castle: That's because these are modern sewer lines. Any of the old sewer lines that didn't get patched in when the new ones were built? They just got bricked up and abandoned.

Montgomery: It's like the old subway lines. There are whole stations underground no one's seen for decades.

Beckett: So, basically, we need to take a look at an old sewer map and, once we figured out where our killer disappeared to, we might be able to find some witnesses on the other end.

Montgomery: Then let's find that map.

At the library archives.

Castle: This place could use a little gentrification. Or at least a copy machine.

Beckett: It's the pre-World War II archives section, Castle. Half of this probably hasn't been seen in over seventy years. It's Lower East Side, 1920. That's about when Prohibition was getting started.

Castle: Ah, you see how much nicer the neighbourhood was back then?

Beckett: You think that little box there might be The Old Haunt?

Castle: Yeah, that's where it would be. Not long after its bordello phase. I can still see the little garter belts.

Beckett: Okay, there's a sewer line running under it that wasn't on the newer map. So, that's gotta be our tunnel.

Castle: Which would put Walker's whiskey right about here. A man could grab himself a bottle, come and go without ever being seen.

Beckett: But come and go from where. Where did he start from?

Castle: Here's where our tunnel ends and our killer vanished. There's one, two, three sewer lines that branch off from that point.

Beckett: Any of which our killer could have accessed to get away from us. So, if we can figure out exactly where the three sewers end, we can subpoena traffic cams around the time the killer got away. Maybe get an ID.

Castle: Or maybe we won't need any of that. You said no one has laid eyes on these maps in over seventy years only it says here, someone checked this one out just two weeks ago. And I'll bet a bottle of Beau James whiskey that someone was trying to make their way back to the Mayor's stash just like we are.

Castle hands Beckett the check out slip.

Castle: Going once, going twice...

Heisler pounds the auction gavel.

Steven Heisler: Sold! To the gentleman in the back. Next up, we have a marvellous 1955 Chateau Restiveau Blanc. And we'll start the bidding at twelve hundred dollars. Do I hear twelve hundred? There's twelve hundred. Do I hear twelve fifty? Twelve fifty there. Thirteen hundred? Thirt…

Castle raises a numbered sign. Heisler clears his throat.

Steven Heisler: Thirteen hundred in the back. Do I hear thirteen fifty? Thirteen hundred and fifty dol…

Beckett raises her badge.

Steven Heisler: Thirteen hundred and fifty.

Ryan raises his badge and Esposito step up to the side of the podium.

Steven Heisler: Do I hear... Fourteen?

Near the bullpen.

Beckett: It's just a sad case of Donny trusting the wrong guy. He told Heisler about the Beau James stash and Heisler got greedy.

Castle: He convinced Donny that the whiskey would fetch a better price if he sold it a bottle at a time. So, Donny left the stash where he found it.
Beckett: And that gave Heisler enough time to figure out where it was hidden. When Donny caught him in the vault, Heisler panicked, hit him with a bottle.

Esposito: Yo. We figured out how Heisler disappeared on you in the tunnels.

Castle: Secret passageway!

Esposito: Basically. He had a hidden entrance that could only be opened from the other side. CSU followed it from the street to the abandoned sewer to the tunnel, just like Mayor Walker had drew it up.

Ryan: Here's, uh, three cases that Heisler hadn't gotten around to selling yet.

Castle: Eee.

Ryan: At 26Gs a pop, you're looking at just under a cool million.

Castle: I just… I mean, how might I acquire one of these for myself?

Beckett: Castle, I told you. They're evidence.

Castle: Yes, but who's to say that today's evidence can't be tomorrow's nightcap?

Montgomery: That would be me. Now, I'm sure it'll be a few months before we can figure out where this and the rest of the stuff belongs. (answers cell) Montgomery.

Montgomery steps away on his call. Alexis and Gracie walk up, Alexis is wearing a new jacket.

Castle: Look at you.

Alexis: It's it cool? Gracie took me shopping at this place I never even knew existed. And it's right down the street from here. They had the greatest stuff. She has a really good eye.

Gracie: Well, Alexis looks good in everything.

Castle: I'm glad you two reconnected.
Alexis: We just … Had to get to know the new us-es. Neither of us are ten anymore.

Gracie: Thanks for letting me crash at Chez Castle. It reminded me of the good old days. Before life got too real, you know?

Castle: I do know.

Alexis: I'm going to walk her to the train.

Castle: Bye.

Alexis: Gram's waiting downstairs.

Castle: Thanks for the warning.

Alexis and Gracie leave. Beckett approaches.

Beckett: Wow. I remember that phase. It's about when I got my tattoo.

Castle: You've… Got a tattoo? Wh… Um… It… Where?

Montgomery: Just heard from the D.A., Castle. Apparently, since all of these bottles used to belong to Beau James and he used to be our mayor, it's her opinion that they are owned by the city. But, she says if you're willing to make a generous donation to the NYPD Widows and Orphans fund, you can have one of Beau James' best for your very own. This is early Christmas, baby.

Castle: I was not expecting this.

Esposito: Are you crying?

Castle: Yes. I don't know what to say.

Beckett: Try, "Let me get my checkbook."

Castle: Yes, of course. Of course. But I… I will only accept this if you all share it with me.

Montgomery: Twist my arm.

Montgomery holds up a whiskey glass.

Castle: No. Not here. Um, at The Old Haunt. We will toast to Donny, with his family.

Ryan: Yeah, wh… What about that place? What happens to The Old Haunt?

Esposito: It's gonna go back to the bank. Which means that T.J. McChucklnuts is gonna get another shot at it.

Castle: Oh, I wouldn't worry about The Old Haunt.

Beckett: You bought it, didn't you?