Épisode Eau trouble S03E21

At Castle’s loft.

Castle: "As he saw the dark figure approaching, he rose up for a better view little knowing he was heading for his doom."

Martha: Ooh.

Alexis: Wow.

Castle: I know, right? Oh, and listen to this? "To my mentor, Richard Castle, without whose support and guidance this book never would have seen the light of day."

Martha: All you did was give Alex Conrad a few notes on his manuscript and send it to your publisher. He was the one who wrote the book.

Castle: Mm. That's your version. In my version, I gently fostered the glowing embers of talent, fanning them into a literary wildfire. He's gonna be in town and asked to get together with me. He wants to learn more about my writing process.

Martha: And by "process" you mean your procrastination until the very last second.

Alexis: And then writing out of a desperate panic in a caffeine-induced haze?

Martha: That one?

Castle: No, not that one. The one where I find authenticity by doing hands-on research with the NYPD. So, I'm having Alex meet me at the precinct later on today.

Martha: Beckett'll be thrilled with that.

Castle: Beckett? I'm sure she won't mind.

Alexis: You haven't told her yet?

Castle: I am sure she will be fine with it.

At the swimming pool.

Beckett: Fine with it? Why would I be fine with it?

Castle: Okay, I'm sorry. Come on, he's a writer. How much trouble could he possibly be? So is that a yes? Is… Is that a no?

Beckett: Hey, Lanie.

Lanie: Hey.

Beckett: Who's this?

Lanie: Zack Lindsey, stand out on the UNY swim team. Or he was before he drowned.

Castle: How does a champion swimmer drown?

Lanie: He had help.

Beckett: Burns?

Lanie: From a caustic substance. Someone put a rag to his face soaked in the stuff. He passed out from the fumes, then was dumped in the pool to drown. Based on water and body temp, I'd say between one and five this morning.

Beckett: And what was the substance?

Lanie: I won't know till I get him back to the shop.

Beckett: Who found him?
Ryan: Zack's teammates, when they showed up for 6 a.m. swim practice.

Beckett: Alright, let's talk to his teammates, find out if anyone had it in for Zack and let's figure out where they were between 1 and 5 a.m. I'll go talk to Zack's coach.

Coach Rome: It just doesn't seem real seeing him lying there like that.

Castle: What was he doing here so late?

Coach Rome: Training. Couldn't keep that kid out of the pool. Two weeks ago, he got food poisoning right before a meet. Sick as a dog, just puking his guts out. I told him to withdraw, but he toughed it out. Won all his events. That was Zack. He was gonna be the next Rob Tredwyck or Michael Phelps.

Beckett: Did he have any personal problems?
Coach Rome: He was a kid from Bensonhurst, you know. It got him a partial scholarship, but he lived on his own all the way out there because it's all he could afford.

Castle: What about his parents?

Coach Rome: His Dad's gone. His, uh, mom had to move to Atlantic City for work. I… promised I was gonna look out for him.

Beckett: What about the swim team? There must have been some rivalries there.

Coach Rome: He and Brian Morris were our two best chances to win the tournament this week, but there was no bad blood. Not with Brian or anyone on the team.

Beckett: Okay, I'm still gonna need a team roster and a list of all the people who had access to this pool.

Coach Rome: Excuse me.

Beckett: Mm-hmm.

Castle: This is why Alexis is never going to college.

Esposito: Hey. You want to hear something crazy?

Beckett: Yeah.

Esposito: I was talking to the night janitor. He was here till 1:30 last night, but he saw Zack with another guy.

Beckett: Do we have a name?

Esposito: We have a picture, too. "Rocket" Rob Tredwyck.

Photographer: Give us a big smile, mate. Yeah, like that. You love this man. You want him.

Beckett: That's funny. I want him, too.

Beckett badges them.

"Rocket" Rob Tredwyck: The guy was invincible in water. I can't believe he drowned.

Beckett: How did you know him?

"Rocket" Rob Tredwyck: From a tournament three years ago. Zack was a freshman while I was headed to Beijing. I could tell he was special. It was like looking at a younger version of me.

Castle: He was really that good?

"Rocket" Rob Tredwyck: Yeah. But, uh, that's not what I meant. Most kids in this sport, they come from money. Zack and me, we both grew up hard. So, I took him under my wing.

Castle: Sounds like you were kind of a mentor to him.

"Rocket" Rob Tredwyck: Yeah, I was just looking out for my own.

Beckett: So, what were you doing at the pool last night?

"Rocket" Rob Tredwyck: Zack said he wanted to run drills, and I figured, what the hell? Now that I'm retired, I don't do enough time in the water. But I think he just really needed a friend.

Castle: Why is that?

"Rocket" Rob Tredwyck: He just had the talk with his girl.

Castle: Where do babies come from?

"Rocket" Rob Tredwyck: No. Not that talk. The one I had with my high school girlfriend back in Wilmington. If you want to get to the top, you can't take everyone with you. So, some people you have to leave behind. So, you have the talk.

Beckett: And how did she handle that?

"Rocket" Rob Tredwyck: She took it hard. So did Zack. But he was worried about her. Worried that she might do something stupid.

Beckett: Do you remember her name?

"Rocket" Rob Tredwyck: Bridget. Bridget McManus.

Beckett: And what time did you leave the pool last night?

"Rocket" Rob Tredwyck: A little after midnight.

Beckett: And where were you between 1 and 5 a.m.?

"Rocket" Rob Tredwyck: At Buda Bar with half the ad agency. And we partied till dawn.

Photographer: We're ready for you, Rocket.

Rocket Rob takes off his jacket, leaving nothing but a gold medal and a Speedo.

"Rocket" Rob Tredwyck: Man. Hell of a day to sell a cologne.

Castle: What were you looking at?

Beckett: Nothing.

In the interview lounge.

Lorraine Dinovi: First day I put him in the pool, he was two years old. Took to it like a fish. Do you have kids?

Montgomery: Two daughters and a son.

Lorraine Dinovi: It's what we do for them, right? When his dad left and I was feeling lower than dirt, you know what he told me? He said, "I'm gonna be someone one day for you, ma. So you can walk down the street and be proud." Who did this? Who killed my son?

Montgomery: We're doing everything we can to find out. Ms. Dinovi, what can you tell me about Bridget McManus?

Lorraine Dinovi: Her and Zack have been an item since high school. What's this got to do with Bridget.

Montgomery: Maybe nothing. We're just checking everywhere. Did he mention anything else? Any trouble he might be in?

Lorraine Dinovi: Zack knew what trouble was. He'd want no part of it. Even coming out of our neighbourhood, Zack was gonna make it. My baby, he was going to make it.

Near the bullpen.

Beckett: Captain.

Montgomery: Zack's mom.

Beckett: Anything about the girlfriend? Not that she knows of. She seemed to think everything was okay.

Ryan: Uh, then there was a lot he wasn't sharing. Check out the text messages that Bridget fired off to Zack on the night he was killed.

Castle: Ooh. Not a lot of LOLs in there.

Beckett: "Zack, if you leave me, I swear to God, I'll kill you."

Castle: She has a way with words.

Beckett: And a record to go with it.

Ryan: Disorderly conduct. Mostly minor stuff. Uniforms are bringing her in now.

Montgomery: It says here she's five foot two. You really think she could overpower Zack?

Ryan: Uh, no, but her brothers could. In grand Irish tradition, she has four of them, each over six foot. Each with his own claim to fame. Assault.

Castle: Ooh.

Ryan: Ag assault.

Castle: Bad.

Ryan: ADW.

Castle: Eee.

Ryan: Battery.

Castle: Mmm.

Ryan: Assault on a city employee parking enforcement.

Castle: Doesn't count.

Montgomery: Easy.

Ryan: Dude.

Castle: Uh… Just jokes!

Beckett: Alright, find out where her brothers were between 1 and 5 a.m. Castle and I'll talk to Bridget. Thank you, sir.

In the interrogation room.

Bridget McManus: Kill him? I've loved Zack Lindsey since the 9th grade.

Beckett: You have a funny way of showing it.

Bridget McManus: I was pissed. For five years I cooked his steamed chicken breast, I put his pasta in the Tupperware at four in the morning, I kept him company at the gym, and then he tells me, "Sorry, Bridge, I can't have any other voices in my head." Like, suddenly, I'm a distraction! Like, suddenly, I'm not good enough for Colorado Springs?

Castle: So, you threatened to kill him unless he took you back?

Bridget McManus: That's how I talk, okay? But there was something going on. And it had nothing to do with swimming.

Beckett: What do you mean?

Bridget McManus: Lately, he'd been stressed, secretive. Add that to him saying, "This is my time, and the way those rich college girls looked at him," I wasn't born yesterday, I can do the math.

Beckett: You thought there was someone else.

Bridget McManus: Oh, yeah. So, I followed him out of his apartment the other night, ready to fight some queen bitch from Connecticut for what's mine. Only, it wasn't another girl.

Beckett: Well, who was it?

Bridget McManus: I don't know. Some scary looking guy. They met under the L and they went at it. Yelling and screaming. I couldn't tell about what, though, 'cause the guy had, like, and accent.

Castle: What kind of accent? Spanish? Asian? Russian?

Bridget McManus: Do I look like I work at the U.N.? Not Brooklyn. Okay?

Castle: Okay. No, um...

Bridget McManus: Anyways, I asked Zack about it afterwards and he said it was nothing. But it wasn't.

Beckett: Do you think you could describe this guy to our sketch artist?

Beckett: So, Lanie confirmed no drug in his system, performance enhancing or otherwise. And, from the high levels of chloride ion in his blood, she is sure that the burns came from chlorine.

Castle: Hmm. So, our heavily accented killer rendered Zack unconscious with a chlorine soaked rag.

Beckett: We don't know that he's the killer.

Castle: Is this the face of an innocent man? He had a heated argument with our victim the night before he was killed.

Beckett: And what would his motive be, exactly?

Castle: He… It…

Esposito: I may have a line on that. I'm looking at Zack's financials. The guy only had a partial scholarship, he still paid for most of his tuition, book, and living expenses, all without taking student loans. He didn't have a job, and his mom was just squeaking by.

Castle: And NCAA rules preclude him from receiving any financial assistance from outside his family.

Esposito: So, where did he get that money?

Castle: You think maybe he borrowed money from the wrong guys to finance his dream?

Esposito: And when he couldn't make the payments, they came after him.

Castle: That would explain the argument.

Beckett: We don't even know that there was an argument. And the only evidence we have is a sketch of a man that Bridget claims she saw.

Esposito: Alright. Thanks. Uniforms just got to Zack's place. Looks like it's been tossed.

At Zack's apartment.

Castle: This place looks like my first apartment. We used to have cockroach races. Wonder if that's how Kafka got the idea. Looks like Zack didn't do his chores.

Beckett: Zack was killed and then his place gets trashed? Not a coincidence.

Castle: You think maybe this was part of a debt collection effort?

Beckett: Well then, why'd they leave the TV and the laptop?

Castle: Or the medical supplies. Dental pick. You think plaque slows you down in the water?

Beckett: They were looking for something specific. You don't rip through a mattress unless you've run out of places to look. Maybe they didn't find what they were looking for.

Castle: Maybe it's still here, but it's just too well hidden.

A door closes somewhere and Castle sees a poster move on the wall.

Beckett: What?

Castle takes down the poster, revealing a hole gouged out of the wall. He pulls out a bag of meds.

Beckett: Medication?

Castle: Only one thing I know of comes in little bottles like that. Anabolic steroids.

Beckett: Zack's clean. Why would he have steroids?

Castle: Maybe he's not as clean as we thought.

At the autopsy room.

Lanie: Yep. It's steroids, alright.

Beckett: I thought you said Zack wasn't using steroids.

Lanie: The tests wouldn't pick up stuff like this.

Castle: Why not?

Lanie: It's loaded with masking agents and designed to beat the tests. Virtually untraceable unless you look for it specifically.

Beckett: So, he was using.

Lanie: Nope. I went back and tested for this, too. Your boy is steroid free.

Beckett: Well, if he wasn't using steroids, then what was he doing with them?

Castle: Virtually undetectable? Where does a drug like that come from?

Lanie: There's been some talk about a new "beat the test" performance enhancing drug being developed somewhere in eastern Europe.

Castle: Eastern Europe. Home of the hard to identify accent.

Near the bullpen.

Beckett: Given how great everyone says Zack was, this whole steroids thing just doesn't make sense.

Castle: Well, we know he needed the money. If he wasn't using, maybe he was dealing.

Esposito: Well, it definitely would have given him the cash he needed to make ends meet.

Beckett: Yeah, but he only had a couple of vials.

Castle: Maybe he was low on inventory. And the man Zack was arguing with, our secretive Slav, he was the distributor.

Beckett: If there even was a man. For all we know, Bridget was lying.

Ryan comes in roughed up.

Ryan: Well, she wasn't lying about her brothers. Talked to all four of them, one Irishman to another, and another. Anyway, they alibied out. They were in New Paltz when Zack was killed.

Beckett: All of them?

Ryan: Mm.

Beckett: For what?

Ryan: They were at a sporting event of, uh, sorts.

Beckett: Which was?

Ryan: Leprechaun toss. Don't ask. Anyway, the, uh, older brother, he got first place.

Ryan sees a rip in his suit jacket.

Ryan: Oh, man.

Castle: Well, the merits of Irish culture aside.

Ryan: Hey.

Castle: Sorry. Perhaps this suggests that Bridget was telling the truth about our illusive Estonian.

Ryan: I'll run the sketch past Narco and Vice, see if they recognize him.

Beckett: Okay, and check if Zack was on their radar. And, Esposito, can you talk to Zack's teammates about the steroids, find out what they knew?

At the swimming pool.

Aaron Choi: Zack would never touch steroids. None of us would.

Esposito: Mm-hmm. Look, the fact of the matter is, Zack was clean. But we found steroids at his place. We're just trying to figure out why.

Brian Morris: Are you saying you think Zack was a dealer?

Aaron Choi: Look, it's not enough that he's dead? Now you got to drag him through the mud. Let me tell you something about Zack Lindsey. He was the heart and soul of this team. He was a person we wanted to be. So, if you found drugs, they were there for another reason.

Near the bullpen.

Castle: Whatever the reason, he was up to something. And statements from three of his neighbours say that he was going out and staying out all night.

Beckett: Yes, to the pool to train. We already know that.

Castle: Except half the time he was leaving without his gym bag. So, where was he going?

Beckett: I'm hoping that you're asking that just for effect, because you already have an answer.

Castle: I… I got nothing.

Alex Conrad: Maybe you're looking at it wrong. Maybe the steroids have nothing to do with his murder. Maybe they're your red herring.

Castle: Alex, so glad you made it. Alex Conrad, please meet Detective Beckett. Detective Beckett, Alex Conrad, my protégé.

Beckett: Nice to meet you.

Alex Conrad: It's a real pleasure, Detective. I have read Heat Wave and Naked Heat so many times, I feel like I know you. The piercing intelligence, the self-assured beauty.

Beckett: Oh, um, thank you. Uh, so what were you saying about the steroids?

Alex Conrad: Well, nothing, really. I was just looking at the board and I noticed that this swimmer kid, he's caught between two worlds. Now, if I were writing the story, the steroids would just be a red herring and the real killer would be someone from the old neighbourhood. Uh, yeah, but that's just me. Clearly I'm new at this.

Castle: Alex, don't worry. It takes years of experience.

Beckett: No. No, you're right. We don't have any proof that this has anything to do with the steroids. We've just been assuming. We do need to look into Zack's old neighbourhood as well.

Alex Conrad: Seriously, I was helpful?

Beckett: Yes. Yes, you were.

Castle: Yes, but you probably have lots of questions, so we should get going.

Alex Conrad: Hey. Uh, if it's not overstepping, uh, just in the interest of keeping it real, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions for the case I'm coming up with for Seriously Dead.

Beckett pulls out her business card.

Beckett: Why don't you just give me a buzz when the two of you are done.

Alex Conrad: I mean, if it's okay with you.

Castle: Why wouldn't it be okay?

Beckett: Okay.

Alex Conrad: Okay.

At Castle’s loft.

Castle: It's so not okay. After everything I've done for him, he goes and tries to steal my muse.

Alexis: Muse thievery. What's the punishment for that? Five to ten in mythology jail?

Martha laughs.

Castle: Yes. You laugh. Go ahead. Laugh all you want. But now I finally know what Obi wan Kenobi felt like when Darth Vader turned on him.

Alexis: No.

Castle: I should've seen this coming. You know what they're calling him down at Black Pawn Publishing?

Alexis: Alex Conrad.

Castle: The next Richard Castle.

Martha: Oh.

Castle: Yes. I thought it was a compliment. But no. He's trying to replace me.

Martha: What are you going to do?
Castle: I am going onto Richard Castle.net. I am going to remove my glowing review of Dead Serious and replace it with cover art for Heat Rises. That ungrateful little weasel.

Alexis: Dad, you ever think that, maybe you're overreacting a teensy bit? You ever think that, maybe he admires you so much that spending time with Beckett is to understand you better?

Castle: Don't confuse me with your reasonableness.

Alexis: I'm just saying, maybe he's not the nefarious muse-snatcher you think he is. Maybe you should give him a chance.

Castle: Maybe you're right.

Near the bullpen.

Beckett: Okay, great. Thank you for your cooperation.

Castle hands Beckett her coffee over a basket mound of mini muffins.

Beckett: Thank you. So, Bridget McManus says Zack didn't really run with the Bensonhurst crowd anymore, but she did give me a list of all his old neighbourhood buddies.

Esposito: Oh, how about I run it down?

Beckett: Yeah, great.

Esposito: Yeah.

Esposito snags some muffins and heads off.

Castle: Muffins.
Beckett: Mm-hmm. Alex Conrad sent them to me.

Castle drops the muffin he had picked up.

Castle: Alex.

Castle picks up and reads the note in the basket.

Castle: "Thanks for last night." I guess you two got together last night.

Beckett: Yeah. We talked about procedure.

Castle: Oh. So, nothing special.

Beckett: Well, I don't know. He said he was going to use it all for his next book. He said, next time he wants to talk about cases.

Castle: Next time?

Ryan: So, something came up on our victim. Not sure what to make of it.

Beckett: About steroids?

Ryan: No.

Castle: About our mysterious Moldavian?

Ryan: No, not that either. Vice and Narcotics struck out on Zack and the sketch, but I ran Zack's fingerprints through the unsolved latent database, his prints match a set found on a car stolen in Queens two weeks ago.

Beckett: Who's the owner?

Castle: A Patricia Farrell.

Beckett: Name doesn't ring a bell.

Castle: I think I know what these are about.

Castle pulls the medical supplies found in Zack's apartment out of a box on Beckett's desk.

Castle: Yeah, it's a… A video I saw on an underground website awhile ago.

Beckett: Not surprising.

Castle: Just watch. Here.

Castle pulls up the video online. A man places a blood pressure pump in a car door crease, pumps it up, and uses a dental pick to pull up the car lock.

Beckett: So, that's how Zack made tuition and rent all without a job.

Castle: Oh, Zack had a job, alright. He was a car thief.

Near the bullpen.

Castle: Now we know how Zack made his money. While he was out all night he was playing Grand Theft Auto.

Esposito: Yeah, the live action version.

Beckett: Maybe he boosted the wrong car and got in trouble with the people he was working with.

Castle: Our lethal Lithuanian, perhaps?

Esposito: Guess again, bro. I ran the names of Zack' pals from Bensonhurst . One of them has a prior for auto theft. Thomas Marcone.

Beckett: Tommy Marcone? Bridget said that that was Zack's best friend in high school.

Esposito: Well, lots of car thieves run in pairs.

Beckett: Let's go to Bensonhurst.

In Bensonhurst.

Beckett: That's it. Scanlon's bar, Tommy Marcone's unofficial hangout.

Castle: Looks like the neighborhood is mourning their local hero.

Beckett: Yeah, well, at this point I'm not sure that's what he was.

Castle: Man born into hardship struggles to reach for something greater, only he can't escape the demons of his past. It's Oedipus. It's The Godfather. The Beverly Hillbillies.

Beckett giggles

Castle: Well, it wasn't that funny.

Beckett: No, I'm sorry. I just got a message.

Castle: From who? Conrad? It is, isn't it? What'd he say?

Beckett: Nothing. He was just seeing what time we can meet up tonight.

Castle: And that made you laugh?

Beckett: Yeah. He's funny.

At Scanlon's Bar.

Beckett: Tommy Marcone. NYPD.

Tommy Marcone: You got the wrong guy.

Beckett: Remember when?

Beckett shows him his mug shot on her phone.

Beckett: You're still on probation, aren't you? Got a couple questions about Zack Lindsey's murder.

Tommy Marcone: Why you gotta sweat me in front of the whole bar?

Beckett: What do you want me to do? Take you downtown? I know that the two of you were stealing cars together.

Tommy Marcone: You can't prove that.

Beckett: I know that the two of you were friends. I know that I've got Zack's prints on a stolen car, and I also know that you have priors.

Castle: And since you two were friends, we thought maybe you'd care that Zack's laying on a slab and thought you might want to help him.

Tommy Marcone: He's dead. Ain't nothing I can do now.

Beckett: Why don't you tell me where you were between 1 and 5 a.m. the night of the murder.

Tommy Marcone: You're wasting your time.

Castle: You ever see this man?

Castle puts the sketch of the eastern European on the bar.

Tommy Marcone: No. And your watch is too expensive for cops. So, Detective, who's this guy?

Castle sees the bartender look at him and then down at the sketch on the bar.

Castle: Just a guy buying a round for the house.

Beckett: Tommy, if you know something, you should talk.

Castle: Hey, everybody! A round for the house in memory of Zack Lindsey!

The bar cheers and the bartender slips Castle a note as he hands over the cash.

Bartender: Zack was a great kid. Everybody around here loved him. Tommy included.

Castle opens the napkin. It reads "Jimmy Lennon."

In the precinct.

Esposito: Well, the guy in the sketch is definitely Jimmy Lennon. Grand theft auto, conspiracy to sell stolen vehicles, assault, assault with a deadly weapon. He immigrated to the U.S when he was 28, but he was born Janusz Lenedovsky, in Minsk, Belarus.

Castle: Belarus. I knew it. That's right next to Lithuania.

Esposito: Says here that he owns a auto repair shop on Avenue U. Watch your backs on this one. This guy's dangerous.

At auto repair shop.

Jimmy Lennon: Come on, man.

Beckett: Jimmy Lennon. NYP… Hey!

Lennon runs to a side door, but Ryan and Beckett enter through it.

Esposito: Hey!

Lennon runs back and Beckett catches him and pins him down.

Beckett: Round up the others, call Burglary Auto.

Ryan: Hey, hey! NYPD!

Jimmy Lennon: It's clean business. I fix these cars.

Beckett: Really? I bet the people who own them would be surprised to hear that. Now, I want to know about Zack Lindsey.

Jimmy Lennon: I know nothing.

Beckett: Not the best three words to have falling out of your mouth, Jimmy.

Castle: I was half expecting Moose and Squirrel.

Beckett: You're going to jail. How long depends on you.

Jimmy Lennon: Jail in your country is vacation.

Beckett: Then I will make it very difficult. Here's what I think. I think that Zack stole cars for you, but he had bigger plans and he told you he wanted out. You were worried he couldn't keep his mouth shut. So, you threatened him and told him there's no walking out of this. And when he didn't change his mind, you followed him to the pool and you killed him. Is there anything you want to add to that? You should help yourself, Jimmy. This is your last chance.

Castle: Swim for gold.

Beckett: What?

Castle: There's a car over there with the license plate SWM4GLD.

Castle pulls off the sheet revealing an antique Stingray.

Castle: Ho, ho, ho!

Beckett: This car is registered to a Brian Morris of Greenwich, Connecticut.

Castle: Brian Morris. That's one of Zack's teammates. It's his main rival. So, either Brian needed his engine rebuilt or...

Beckett: Or this car is stolen. So, why would Zack steal Brian's car?

Castle: I don't know. But I know why it gave Brian a motive for murder. Those steroids we found in Zack's apartment that he wasn't taking? Maybe...they're Brian's.

Castle holds up an empty steroid bottle.

In the interrogation room 1.

Tommy Marcone: Why you got me in here? I didn't do nothing wrong.

Beckett: No? Zack's rival on the swim team, Brian Morris, we found his Stingray at the chop shop. The one you stole.

Tommy Marcone: I don't even know what that means.

Beckett: Zack's prints were on it, and so were yours. So, stop playing around.

Castle: Why did you boost the car?

Tommy Marcone: Because Brian Morris is a silver spoon licking punk. He hated Zack for being a better swimmer. Two weeks ago, he spikes Zack's pre-game meal to make him sick. Zack won the meet anyway. Didn't take him long to figure out it was Brian, though.

Castle: So, you took the car out of revenge?

Tommy Marcone: SWM4GLD? Vanity plates? I mean, can you get anymore douchey? Brian's up in Greenwich with his own training pool, private coaches, whatever he needs. Meanwhile, Zack's stuck here boosting cars just so he can eat 'cause he can't take a nickel of outside money or else he's done.

Castle: How'd you find the steroids?

Tommy Marcone: You always search a car. You never want more than you bargained for.

Castle: Like a dead mobster in the trunk.

Tommy Marcone: Stuff happens. We searched the car like always, Zack found a bag underneath the seat, and he knew right then and there Brian was juicing.

Beckett: Did Zack have any plans for this information?

Tommy Marcone: Well, yeah, he hadn't figured that out yet. It was kind of a big deal, you know? I told him he should turn that cheating bastard, Brian, in. Get his ass banged.

Castle: Guess he never got the chance.

Tommy Marcone: I guess not.

Beckett: Zack was supposed to be your friend, Tommy. Why didn't you tell us this from the start?

Tommy Marcone: I don't know. Maybe I was scared.

Beckett: Alright. Stick around. I'm not done with you.

In interrogation room 2 /Observation room.

Beckett: You recognize this, Brian?

Lawyer: If it's gonna be adversarial from the outset.

Beckett: How is this for adversarial, Counsellor? Zack Lindsey was killed after he found a cash of illegal steroids in your client's car.

Lawyer: A car he apparently stole.

Beckett: And, oddly enough, your son never ever reported that.

Montgomery: She's like a tiger in there. I never get tired of watching her.

Beckett: Why is that?

Castle: Me neither.

Montgomery: Seems like Alex Conrad feels the same way.

Brian Conrad: ... Didn't know it was gone.

Beckett: A classic car worth over 70 grand goes missing, and you are telling me that you had no idea it was gone.

Brian Conrad: Why would I? I barely even drive it.

Beckett: You knew that car was stolen. You didn't want police to recover it in case they found more of these.

Benjamin Morris: You have no proof of that. Zack could have planted steroids in Brian's car.

Beckett: But he didn't. You know, I think that Zack confronted you about those steroids and you knew if he reported you, you could kiss your Olympic dreams goodbye, and so you killed him. Brian? You killed Zack. And then you broke into his apartment and tried to cover your tracks.

Brian Conrad: To my recollection, at no point did Zack Lindsey and I discuss any performance enhancing substance. And I have no idea who killed him.

Beckett: Not a gold medal performance, Brian. Where were you between 1 and 5 a.m. the night of the murder?

Benjamin Morris: We've been over all this. I was at the practice pool at my parents' house.

Lawyer: This DVD is from a camera mounted above the training pool. It has the date and time running in the corner.

Beckett: Easily altered.

Lawyer: Furthermore, his family and staff also swear Brian was at home, and I have affidavits.

Beckett: I'm sure you do.

Lawyer: So, unless you're charging my client, we're done here.

Benjamin Morris: My son will go to the Olympics, and no one's going to derail that, Detective.

In the hallway.

Castle: Well, Brian had means, he had motive. That's at least two. But what about opportunity?

Montgomery: Well, clearly, his father would do whatever it takes to cover for him so he can keep on swimming.

Beckett: Well, with the kind of team Brian had, there's no way we'll be able to prove that he was at the UNY pool.

Castle: Maybe because he wasn't. Look what kind of guy Brian is. Pampered, protected, dominated by his father? This is not a man of action.

Beckett: So, what are you suggesting?

Castle: That he's not the kind of guy to get his hands dirty.

Montgomery: Maybe Daddy cleaned up his mess.

Castle: Or he hired someone to do it for him.

Beckett: Ryan, can you look into the Morris's financials? Look for large payments made around the time of the murder. Especially cash withdrawals.

Ryan: Already on it. The dad is a hedge fund manager. So, you practically need an MBA to follow the money. But, there was something about the kid. There was a bond.

Castle: As in bail bond?

Ryan: As in savings bond. Three days after Brian's car was stolen, he cashed in a savings bond in the amount of $25,000.

Montgomery: That's enough to hire a hit man.

Castle: Especially in today's competitive job market.

Esposito: Did Brian Morris cash that bond at Greenwich Federal Bank?

Ryan: As a matter of fact, he did. What do you got?

Esposito: We just searched Thomas Marcone's place found tools of the auto theft trade, but we also found this.

Beckett: That looks like 25 grand.

Esposito: And guess where it's from?

Castle: Greenwich Federal Bank.

In the interrogation room.

Tommy Marcone: I didn't kill Zack.

Beckett: Tommy, it seems like every time you open your mouth, another lie falls out.

Tommy Marcone: But I'm not lying.

Beckett: Then why did you take 25 grand from Brian Morris?

Castle: A man you characterized as a cheating bastard, as I recall.

Tommy Marcone: Okay, I may have gotten Zack killed, but not the way you think.

Castle: It was blackmail. You blackmailed Brian Morris.

Tommy Marcone: Him being on steroids, I figured that knowledge was worth something.

Beckett: Was Zack in on this?

Tommy Marcone: He would've kicked my ass up and down 18th Avenue if he found out.

Beckett: And been justified.

Tommy Marcone: Look, Brian didn't know me. And I figured, he wouldn't pay if he got blackmailed by some anonymous mook.

Beckett: So, you pretended to be Zack

Tommy Marcone: I used the library computer and Zack's e-mail account. I e-mailed Brian saying I had his 'roids and I was going to rat him out unless he put 25 grand into a paper bag and left it underneath the bench at the quad. When the coast was clear, I picked it up. I never meant for anyone to get hurt. I'd like that phone call now.

Near the bullpen.

Beckett: Okay. So, Zack stole Brian's stash and, because of Tommy, Brian thought that Zack was blackmailing him. Brian's motive just keeps getting stronger and stronger.

Castle: Almost like it's on steroids.

At Montgomery's office.

Montgomery: Ms. Dinovi…

Lorraine Dinovi: Tommy Marcone called, said you had him in here. He said Brian Morris killed my son.

Montgomery: No, we don't know all that. We just know he's a person of interest.

Lorraine Dinovi: So, why didn't you arrest him?

Montgomery: We don't have enough to hold him.

Lorraine Dinovi: And he's the son of a millionaire. I bet that doesn't hurt either.

Montgomery: Around here, it's about the evidence, no how fat someone's wallet is.

Lorraine Dinovi: Yeah, well, I live in the real world, and I know that boy's family, and they're gonna do whatever it takes to protect him because they can. Captain, Zack's all I had.

Near the bullpen.

Beckett: We can't figure out if Brian is connected to the murder until we find the real killer.

Montgomery: Then you're gonna have to dig deeper. If Brian and his family are involved, then there's got to be a connection, and I want it found.

In the conference room.

Beckett: Alright, great. Thank you. Struck out again. The Morris's house in Connecticut is gated and the security company says that nobody left the night of the murder. These guys have everything covered.

Castle: Hmm.

Beckett: What?

Castle: Zack's e-mail account, the one Tommy used to ask Brian for a donation, the blackmail message was sent at 3:02 p.m. You think that would have caused a flurry of telephone calls, but he only made one call right after. 3:19.

Beckett: That's the father's office in New York. Do we have the dad's records?

Ryan: Yeah, got it right here. Starting at 3:21 p.m., Benjamin Morris made about a dozen phone calls, all to the same 212 number.

Beckett: Run it.

Esposito: It's a Dr. Rex Calabro, he's got a sports medicine practice. He's got a lot of big time athletes as clients.

Beckett: So, Benjamin Morris finds out that his son is being blackmailed and the one phone call he makes is to Dr. Calabro? The only reason that that would make sense is if…

Castle: Dr. Calabro knew about the steroids. Maybe even supplied them.

In the interrogation room.

Dr. Rex Calabro: I don't supply steroids to anyone. Never have, never will. I've seen the long-term damage they cause. As far as I'm concerned, the stuff's poison.

Beckett: And what about Brian Morris? Is he a patient of yours?

Dr. Rex Calabro: It's confidential information.

Beckett: His father called you seven times in a two hour period on Tuesday, what did the two of you talk about?

Dr. Rex Calabro: It's confidential as well.

Beckett: Dr. Calabro, your clientele is mostly high profile athletes. How fast do you think they'll abandon ship once they find out you were talking with us about steroids?

Castle: I'm guessing fast. And when they find out it's steroids and murder, it'll jump to light speed.

Dr. Rex Calabro: Murder? You think I'm mixed up in a murder?

Beckett: I think that it would be in your best interests to help us. Tell us what you and Benjamin Morris talked about.

Castle: And, point of fact, Brian was your patient, but I'm guessing his father was not. So, confidentiality really doesn't apply. How's this? Hypothetically, why would an over-bearing father of a steroid-using swimmer call you?

Dr. Rex Calabro: "Hypothetically," he might have asked how long a certain banned drug would remain detectible in someone's system.

Castle: Worried his son would test positive.

Beckett: And what else might have come up?

Dr. Rex Calabro: That the way an athlete can avoid testing is if he's injured and temporarily withdraws from the sport.

Castle: Hypothetically.

Dr. Rex Calabro: Hypothetically.

In the hallway.

Esposito: I'll get a warrant, check Calabro's office for steroids.

Beckett: You won't find any. Benjamin called him to concoct a strategy to protect Brian's eligibility. This is damage control, not murder.

Esposito: Well, it looks like the strategy went into effect. Brian quit the swim team. Said he injured his shoulder.

Castle: No swim team, no drug testing.

Beckett: Mm.

Ryan: So, I checked Lanie's report on the steroids against the file I got from Vice. They intercepted a shipment of similar steroids that came to New York from a lab in Romania.

Beckett: So, let's look into Brian's life, see if there's any connection to Romania. If we can find a connect, then hopefully we'll be able to find Zack's killer.

Alex Conrad: Kate, you ready?

Beckett: Yeah. Um, let me just go get my purse.

Castle: You guys are going out again tonight?

Alex Conrad: What can I say? She's a wealth of information. You are lucky to have her.

Castle: Yeah. Yeah, I am. Too bad about tonight, though.

Alex Conrad: Too bad, how?

Castle: Well, it's poker night. Lehane and Connelly are in town, I thought you might want to join us, but if you have plans.

Alex Conrad: No way. You're… You're inviting me to your mystery writer's poker night?

Castle: Come on, you're a mystery writer now, right?

Alex Conrad: Yeah, but those guys are legendary. I mean, those guys...

Castle: Yeah, they are. Ah, well, if you're unavailable.

Castle starts walking away.

Castle: Three. Two. One.

Alex Conrad: Whoa, wait, wait, wait.

Castle: Bingo.

Alex Conrad: Hang on a second.

Castle: Oh, yeah. They're gonna love you.

At Castle’s loft.

Castle: Gentlemen.

Michael Connelly: This the new guy?

Castle: Alex Conrad, Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane.

Alex Conrad: It's really awesome to meet you guys. I am a, uh, huge fan.

Michael Connelly: It's not a book signing, kid. We're here to play poker.

Alex Conrad: Alright.

Castle: Ah, oh! Whoa, whoa, whoa!

Michael Connelly: Uh!

Castle: That's Cannell's seat.

Alex Conrad: Oh.

Dennis Lehane: That's the rule. We lose a member, nobody sits there for a year.

Alex Conrad: Sorry.

Conrad sits down in the next chair over.

Dennis Lehane: So, we were just talking about our books becoming movies. Michael had Lincoln Lawyer, I had Shutter Island, Ricky has Heat Wave.

Michael Connelly: So, what about your book, kid? They gonna make it into a movie?

Alex Conrad: Oh, uh... Not yet.

Michael Connelly: So, Ricky, what's going on with the dead swimmer?

Castle: Treading water. Dennis, your bet.

Alex Conrad: Well, it reads like a crime of passion to me. I bet the girlfriend did it.

Michael Connelly: The girlfriend? You're kidding, right? You can move through the girlfriend no later than page 50.

Dennis Lehane: Yeah, the woman scorned is like the oldest rodeo clown in the book. Is he... Serious?

Castle: Oh, he's Dead Serious.

Alex Conrad: Well, you know, I just thought…

Michael Connelly: How many books have you written?

Alex Conrad: Just the one.

Dennis Lehane: And this… And this one book made you, like, a crime solving genius, did it?

Michael Connelly: You know what I did after I wrote my first novel? I shut up and I wrote twenty-three more.

Dennis Lehane: I can tell you, a case like this, guilty party is usually the guy with the biggest secret.

Michael Connelly: You know, Dennis is right. Aside from Brian, who has the most to lose if this steroid use gets out?

Castle: You know, I think I might just know.

In the interrogation room.

Coach Rome: This is ridiculous. I was in my apartment in faculty housing that night. You can just ask around.

Beckett: We know you were in your apartment that night.

Coach Rome: Okay. So then, why am I here?

Beckett: Do you know what this is, Coach?

Coach Rome: Oh, yeah. Everybody in my business does. But nobody on my team takes that stuff.

Castle: Brian Morris does.

Coach Rome: That's not true.

Beckett: Apparently this is his steroid of choice. It comes from Romania. I understand you've been to Romania four times in the past two years.

Coach Rome: My wife's family is from Bucharest.

Beckett: So, you're trying to tell me it's just a coincidence?

Coach Rome: Yeah.

Beckett: So, if I search your apartment and your office, you're telling me that I wouldn't find any of these vials.

Coach Rome: You don't understand. Brian Morris was a lock to win it all. He had the body, he had the talent, the money to make himself the best. He's the reason I came to coach at UNY. But last year Brian peaked. Started fading at the ends of races and, from out of nowhere, Zack became the guy to beat.

Castle: So, you decided to give Brian an extra boost, so he could catch up with Zack.

Coach Rome: Brian's father came to me. He asked if there was anything more I could do. He said he'd donate millions to the program if that answer was yes.

Castle: Yeah, but it wasn't just about the money, was it? Every coach knows he has to hitch his wagon to a star. In fact, you'd done it before with somebody very special.

Beckett: Before going to UNY, you were coaching in Wilmington.

Coach Rome: That's right. So?

Castle: You ever give that same boost to your swimmers there? They keep those old samples, don't they?

At the swimming pool.

"Rocket" Rob Tredwyck: Um, thank you so much for the interview. Detective Beckett, Mr. Castle. How goes the investigation? Any new leads?

Beckett: Actually, we think we caught a break.

"Rocket" Rob Tredwyck: Well, that's great.

Beckett: Mm-hmm.

Castle: Yes. It is. Well, for everyone except you.

"Rocket" Rob Tredwyck: I... I don't…

Castle: Drop the act, Rob. We know how you got to be "the Rocket." Coach Rome told us about how he gave you rocket fuel back in Wilmington. It didn't stop until you went all the way.

"Rocket" Rob Tredwyck: What the hell are you talking about? I have never juiced, I have the test results to prove it.

Beckett: Yeah, but they weren't testing for the right thing. We checked your blood samples from the last gold medal race you won against the designer steroids that Zack found in Brian's car. It came back positive.

"Rocket" Rob Tredwyck: There was a mistake.

Beckett: And then, off of that, we got a warrant to your hotel room where we found a shirt with chlorine on it. Pure chlorine. The kind that killed Zack. We're waiting for DNA tests results right now.

"Rocket" Rob Tredwyck: No, I was at Buda Bar the whole night.

Beckett: And it was packed there. You could've easily slipped out and come back without anyone noticing.

"Rocket" Rob Tredwyck: This is ridiculous. Why would I kill Zack?

Castle: Because when Zack found steroids in Brian's car, he was conflicted about what to do. So, he sought counsel from the one guy he knew he could trust. Captain America. Chest full of medals. Guy on the serial box. Only, you realized Coach Rome had given Brian the same steroids he had given to you.

Beckett: And you knew that, if Zack talked, you would be found out.

Castle: They'd erase your name from the record books. They'd take away all your medals. You would lose everything. And there's no way you were gonna let that happen.

Beckett: Turn around. Take a long look, Rob. Where you're going, I don't think they have pools.

Near the bullpen.

Castle: You know, it is ironic. The one man Zack thought he could trust, his mentor, turned out to be his killer.

Beckett: Yeah, speaking of mentor, I heard that you guys were pretty hard on Conrad last night.

Castle: Hard on him? No, no. It was just a little friendly hazing.

Beckett: To hear him describe it, it sounds like someone was trying to teach him a lesson.

Castle: What? Why would I want to do that?

Beckett: Because you didn't want him to spend time with me.

Castle: That is completely…

Beckett: True?
Castle: Yes. Fine. It's true. I'm jealous. There, I said it. I… I want you all to myself, and to have you spending time with another writer, that upsets me, and if… If that makes me petty, so be it. Guilty as charged.

Beckett: Actually, I kind of think it's sweet.

Castle: You do?

Beckett: I do. And that's why you don't have to worry about me hanging around with Conrad anymore. From now on, I am a one writer girl.

Castle: I do feel kind of bad. He is my mentee, after all. He really didn't do anything wrong.

Beckett: I wouldn't feel so bad.

Ryan: And then he said, "They used to do this to me for talking in class."

Conrad, Ryan, and Esposito laugh.

Ryan: Hey. Since, uh, we, uh, closed the case, I figured we'd take Conrad on a little field trip up to Rikers.

Alex Conrad: Yeah, I have a pretty heavy prison scene in Seriously Dead and I want to get all the facts right.

Castle: Will you still send me your writer's draft?

Alex Conrad: Yes. As soon as I change the killer.

Castle: Girlfriend?