A Dance with Death
ANNOUNCER
Welcome to A Night of Dance, America’s favorite dance competition, with your host—Brad Melville!
[Melville enters the stage to applause.]
BRAD MELVILLE
Hey, hey, hey! Good evening, America. It’s dance-off time, and the theme is Latin. As always, tonight’s challengers were handpicked by the judges. Max, are you looking forward to watching these two rumba?
MAX RENFRO
I’m looking forward to Santino redeeming himself for his samba-inspired solo dance last week. Pathetic.
[The audience protests.]
PIERRE DUBOIS (French accent)
It was like a terrible dream my dog would have after eating the leftovers of my Brazilian dinner.
[The audience laughs.]
BRAD MELVILLE
Well, then. You know our semifinalists. Our matchup is—Santino versus…Odette. Can the arrogant bad boy best America’s sweetheart? Let’s get right to it. Tonight’s elimination dance between Santino and Odette will mean the end of the road for one of them. One will be eliminated on Monday’s results show. The other will be guaranteed a spot in the final two. Ladies and gentlemen…Santino and Odette!
[The audience cheers as Copacabana plays and Santino rumbas down the stage steps. He strikes a pose to introduce Odette, but she’s not in the spotlight or anywhere on stage. The cast look around for her.]
--
[A stage manager walks briskly to Odette’s dressing room and knocks on the door.]
STAGE MANAGER
Odette, are you in there?
[The stage manager opens the door to find Odette shot dead in her makeup chair. She screams bloody murder.]
[Martha enters as Castle is typing.]
MARTHA
Guess who I ran into at the beauty parlor today?
CASTLE
Mother, I’m at a critical juncture and—
MARTHA
Oona Marconi.
CASTLE
Oona Marconi the theater critic?
MARTHA
I thought I might invite her to dinner, ask her to give a little mention to my acting school, put it into one of her columns. It would be invaluable publicity.
CASTLE
Yes, well, that would depend on the mention. You aren’t forgetting her blistering review of your performance of Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof are you?
MARTHA
That was 1983. I think I’m over it.
CASTLE
“Martha Rodgers as Maggie the Cat is more of a helpless kitten, mewing and flapping her hands when she doesn’t get her way.”
MARTHA
You memorized it?
CASTLE
I couldn’t help it. You walked around the apartment quoting it for months. Mother, I’m just saying, maybe it’s not a good idea to ask an important favor of someone who’s been so…unkind to you in the past.
MARTHA
The operative word here is “past”. I think I can rise above. Besides, my acting school is more important to me than some old grudge.
CASTLE
Well, that’s very mature of you, Mother.
MARTHA
Thank you.
[Martha turns to leave.]
CASTLE
“If Tennessee Williams knew what crimes Martha Rodgers had committed against this audience in his name, he would have her arrested for assault.”
MARTHA (sigh)
Rising above.
--
BECKETT
Come on, Castle. How mean can this critic be?
CASTLE
I’m just afraid that she’s gonna get her heart broken, you know? I mean, you know my mother. On the exterior, she’s a tough cookie, but underneath all that bravado – gooey center.
--
[INT. A NIGHT OF DANCE, ODETTE’S DRESSING ROOM – DAY]
BECKETT
Hey, Lanie. So, who’s our victim?
LANIE
Odette Morton. Cause of death is a single G.S.W. to the heart. Probably a 9 millimeter. She died instantly.
[Castle sees the bullet hole in the mirror.]
CASTLE
The bullet went right through her.
BECKETT
Well, unless our killer used a silencer someone must have heard the shot.
ESPOSITO
Not necessarily. According to the stage manager, this area clears out once taping starts. Plus, the opening pyrotechnics could’ve covered a gunshot.
BECKETT
Well, that’s assuming that she was shot just as the show started.
LANIE
It looks like she was.
[Esposito checks his notes.]
ESPOSITO
Yeah, the, uh, makeup girl finished with Odette at 2:45, taping starts at 3:00, and she was discovered at 3:04.
CASTLE
Nineteen minutes. That’s not a very big window.
BECKETT
All right, see if the crew saw anyone near this room around that time.
ESPOSITO
You got it.
BECKETT
Hey, Ryan. Can I get a list of all the guests that were invited to tonight’s taping along with anyone that checked in at security?
RYAN
Uh, already on it, but that’s not the only way in here. There’s an exit door to the alley down the hall. The crew guys like to prop it open so they can go out for a smoke.
CASTLE
So either our killer got lucky and found an unlocked door…
BECKETT
Or this was an inside job.
LANIE
That gets my vote. Odette was a lock to win this thing. I bet it was one of her backstabbing rivals that did this.
[The others stare at her.]
LANIE
What? I watch the show. Odette was my favorite contestant. She was an heiress raised by her rich grandpa, a party girl headed down the wrong path, then a brush with death made her wake up and change her bad-girl ways.
CASTLE
That’s a great story.
LANIE
Except for the ending.
[Lanie indicates the body in front of them.]
RYAN
I gotta say Dr. Parish, I never figured you for a fan of A Night of Dance.
LANIE
I’m not exactly. It’s just…when I was young, more than anything, I wanted to be a prima ballerina. If I wasn’t dancing, I was thinking about dancing.
CASTLE
So what happened?
LANIE
The girls game along when I was thirteen.
[Lanie indicates her chest.]
LANIE
Not that many top-heavy ballerinas out there.
[Castle and Ryan nod understandingly.]
CASTLE
Well, I think there should be.
BECKETT
Of course you do.
CASTLE
That’s not what I meant. Although…
[Castle turns to Ryan, who nods eagerly in agreement.]
BECKETT
Does Odette have any next of kin?
LANIE
Um, Paul Morton, her brother.
BECKETT
Okay, great. Bring him down here. And talk to the rest of the contestants. I want to see if anyone is taking this competition just a little too seriously.
--
[Ryan and Esposito interview two of the contestants in costume.]
ESPOSITO
We understand that you and Odette were rehearsing your dance most of the day. How did she seem?
SANTINO
On edge. We both were. I mean, one of us was about to be eliminated, which is why I can’t believe she just left rehearsal at eleven and took off for half an hour.
ESPOSITO
To do what?
SANTINO
She wouldn’t say. But everything was riding on this dance.
JEANINE
She told me she had to meet a friend. She asked me to cover if anyone was looking for her.
[Jeanine gives Esposito a flirty smile and he flirts back.]
RYAN
Um… do you have any idea why she was being so secretive?
[Jeanine directs her answer to Esposito.]
JEANINE
The producers don’t like us to leave the studio on show day. So, it must have been important.
ESPOSITO
Well, the NYPD thanks you for your cooperation.
RYAN (to Santino)
You, too.
[Santino and Jeanine leave.]
RYAN
Damn. Did you see that?
ESPOSITO
Mm-hmm.
RYAN
She acted like I didn’t even exist.
ESPOSITO
You don’t. Not since you put that ring on your finger. Get used to being invisible to single women.
--
PAUL MORTON
I’ve never seen her happier than these past couple months. I can’t believe that my sister’s dead.
CASTLE
We understand she had some…difficulties in the past.
PAUL MORTON
A few years ago, our grandfather passed away, and Odette took it hard. Uh, she quit school, she broke off her relationship with a nice guy, started hanging out with a bad crowd.
BECKETT
What kind of bad crowd?
PAUL MORTON
You know, partiers and druggies. She was arrested several times. But after the accident, she left all of that behind.
CASTLE
That was her brush with death?
PAUL MORTON
It was a train derailment last year. Odette was on board. She made it out alive, but it scared the hell out of her. She turned her life around. Six months of dance training, and the next thing that I know, she’s auditioned for A Night of Dance and been accepted. She finally found a direction in life. She was so close to realizing her dream.
BECKETT
Was there anyone in Odette’s old life that could’ve come back to cause trouble for her?
PAUL MORTON
Not that I’m aware of.
CASTLE
What about on the show? Anyone she didn’t get along with?
PAUL MORTON
Uh, uh, she did mention someone, another contestant. I think she said his name was Eddie.
JASMINE
Detective Beckett, they’re waiting for you.
BECKETT
Thank you.
[The secretary leads them to the judges’ office.]
--
[06:51, INT. A NIGHT OF DANCE, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER’S OFFICE – DAY]
[The three judges stand as Beckett and Castle enter.]
MAX RENFRO
Detective Beckett, as co-creator and executive producer of Night of Dance, I have instructed my staff to provide you with anything and everything you need to help solve this terrible murder.
PAM FRANCIS
Anything.
PIERRE DUBOIS (French accent)
Absolutely anything.
BECKETT
Thanks. Now, Odette told her brother that there was someone on the show that she didn’t get along with.
MAX RENFRO
Eddie Gordon, but he’s not here anymore. Last week, Eddie and Odette performed a Bob-Fosse-inspired number for the elimination dance-off. We voted and sent Eddie home. He was upset.
BECKETT
How upset?
MAX RENFRO
Well, you have to understand, all the contestants are cast on this show to tell their unique yet familiar stories. Odette was the poor little rich girl, and Eddie was the kid from the wrong side of the tracks. We cast Eddie to bring the drama. Eddie brought the drama, and not just for the cameras. He was furious when we sent him packing, and we all got an earful about it.
PAM FRANCIS
Oh, and he was so rude.
PIERRE DUBOIS (French accent)
I had to call security.
BECKETT
Was he threatening?
MAX RENFRO
Let’s just say, I was relieved when he was gone. Ironic, really.
CASTLE
How so?
MAX RENFRO
Well, according to the rules, when a contestant is unable to continue, the last eliminated dancer returns to take his or her place.
CASTLE
And that dancer is Eddie Gordon.
--
EDDIE GORDON (show recording)
Let me tell you something about Miss Sweet-and-Innocent Odette. She threw me under the bus tonight. She blew off rehearsals all week, then messed up her footwork and blames it on me. Where I’m from, we know what to do with lying bitches like that.
[Eddie makes a handgun gesture on the video. Esposito pauses the video.]
ESPOSITO
That was Eddie’s exit interview. Contestants are encouraged by producers to speak freely.
CASTLE
He certainly took their advice.
[Ryan enters.]
RYAN
Eddie has got a record back home in Rochester, and one of the assistants at A Night Of Dance says they remember seeing him in the studio the afternoon Odette was murdered.
BECKETT
Okay, so Eddie was eliminated, but he knew that if Odette was out of the running, he’d be asked to return and take her slot.
CASTLE
So he went back and eliminated Odette…permanently.
[OPENING TITLES]
--
[Beckett reads Eddie’s file out loud as she and Castle enter.]
BECKETT
B&E, robbery—you were pretty busy up in Rochester, Eddie.
EDDIE GORDON
Yeah, but that was a long time ago. When I started dancing, I gave up thug life.
BECKETT
Yeah, well, that didn’t stop you from going off on the judges when you were eliminated.
EDDIE GORDON
Me going home was the wrong call, and I said so. Maybe I said it loud, but that don’t make me no killer.
CASTLE
Now that Odette can’t finish the competition, the last eliminated contestant will be asked to return, and that’s you, Eddie.
EDDIE GORDON
Like my daddy used to say, “The universe works in mysterious ways.”
BECKETT
And maybe you decided to give the universe a little just a little shove. So, what were you doing at the studio on show day?
EDDIE GORDON
I went by early to see my boy Santino, give him support on his big day.
BECKETT
You got an answer for everything, don’t you, Eddie? And do you know what else you got? You got motive and opportunity.
EDDIE GORDON
Man, I was across town when that mess happened, meeting my agent. But last week, something was going on with Odette…something that didn’t have nothing to do with dancing.
BECKETT
What do you mean?
EDDIE GORDON
She was out of it. Missing easy steps, she’d say she going to the ladies’ room, then be gone for half an hour.
CASTLE
What do you think she was doing?
EDDIE GORDON
I know what she was doing. I saw her go out the back door, meet some guy in the alley. They talked real serious for a minute, then she handed him a roll of bills. Looked like three grand, easy.
BECKETT
You get a good enough look at this guy? You think you can provide us with a sketch?
EDDIE GORDON
Yeah. I can do that.
--
[Ryan hangs up the phone.]
RYAN
Hey. So, Eddie Gordon spoke the truth. He was meeting with his agent when Odette was shot.
CASTLE
So maybe he was also telling the truth about the guy he saw Odette with in the alley.
RYAN
Mm. Well, he gave us a sketch.
[Ryan holds up the sketch.]
RYAN
Pretty generic, though. “Handsome, Caucasian, dark hair.”
CASTLE
You know, that missing half-hour when Odette left rehearsal the day she was shot—maybe she was with him.
RYAN
Mm. I’ll have uniforms circulate the sketch around the studio, see if anybody recognizes him.
CASTLE
Okay, so if Odette had straightened up after the train accident, what was she doing behind the stage door secretly giving some guy a roll of bills?
RYAN
Could be a drug deal. Maybe Odette was falling back into old habits. Any recent withdrawals in her bank statement?
BECKETT
Yeah, not for that amount of money, but check out…
[Beckett shows them a document.]
BECKETT
…these credit card payments. For the last six months, Odette’s credit card spending was pretty much steady, and then about a month ago, it suddenly shot up.
CASTLE
No kidding. Her cards were maxed out. Over a hundred grand in charges? What was she spending all that money on?
--
BECKETT
Thank you for coming in, Mr. Lynchberg. You were Odette’s business manager as well as the executor of her grandfather’s estate?
SAMUEL LYNCHBERG
And now I have the unfortunate task of handling Odette’s estate as well.
BECKETT
And who inherits her share of the family trust?
SAMUEL LYNCHBERG
Per Odette’s wishes, it goes to the Graham Morton Foundation. It’s a charitable organization.
BECKETT
You know, I noticed a pretty big spike in her spending over the last month. Do you have any idea what that was about?
SAMUEL LYNCHBERG
I’m sure you know that after Odette’s grandfather passed away three years ago, she went through a bad period.
BECKETT
Yeah, her brother filled us in—parties, drugs.
SAMUEL LYNCHBERG
A particular concern to me during that time was her spending. Odette would get drunk and spontaneously buy a car or put a bid down on a new apartment. She paid for a friend’s nose job—just whatever struck her fancy. But then, after the train accident last year, all that stopped. It was, uh, refreshing to those of us who cared about her. I was worried that last month’s credit card charges indicated that she might have been backsliding.
BECKETT
What was she buying?
SAMUEL LYNCHBERG
Clothing, mostly. The bulk of the charges were over two days at one particular 5th Avenue department store.
BECKETT
I’d like to see the original receipts.
SAMUEL LYNCHBERG
Of course.
--
[Beckett looks at the receipts at her desk.]
BECKETT
This is the weirdest spending spree I have ever seen. Odette spent tens of thousands of dollars on clothes, but nothing in her size according to these receipts. Everything’s in size four.
ESPOSITO
And I went through her apartment. I didn’t see a hundred grand worth of new clothes. Maybe she hid ‘em.
CASTLE
Sounds to me like the old gas card scam.
BECKETT
What do you mean?
CASTLE
Your parents put you on a strict allowance, but they give you a gas card so you can fill your car. Well, you fill your friends’ cars, and they give you cash. Some of my buddies in boarding school nearly doubled their allowance.
BECKETT
Uh-huh.
CASTLE
Not me, of course.
[Beckett gives Castle a knowing look.]
CASTLE
That…
[Esposito gives Castle a knowing look, too.]
CASTLE
Don’t tell my mother.
ESPOSITO
So, if Odette needed cash in a hurry to, say, maybe pay off some guy in an alley--
BECKETT
But the monthly stipend from her family trust wasn’t enough to cover it.
CASTLE
So, she charges the clothes, sells them to her friends, instant cash flow.
ESPOSITO
Which is still not enough. The cards max out, the money train stops, and she can’t make payment to whoever she owes. She ends up dead.
BECKETT
Yeah, but do you guys think that Odette actually had one size four friend willing to pay a hundred grand for a bunch of pegged jeans and a faux rabbit purse?
CASTLE
Did you say “rabbit”?
--
[A faux rabbit purse sits on Jasmine’s desk.]
BECKETT
Jasmine. We need to talk.
--
BECKETT
Where’d you get the bag?
JASMINE
A friend gave it to me.
BECKETT
Your friend Odette Morton? We talked to the salesperson, Jasmine. She said that you were with Odette when she dropped a hundred grand on clothes for you.
JASMINE
Odette was very generous.
BECKETT
She’s also very dead, and I know a blackmail scheme when I hear one.
CASTLE
Maybe Odette had something going on in her life she wanted to keep secret. You found out about it, told her the price for your silence was a closet full of fancy duds.
JASMINE
But why would I kill her?
CASTLE
Maybe she couldn’t give anymore, you got frustrated, you killed her. Maybe she decided to come forward herself, accuse you of blackmail, you killed her. Jasmine, these are just off the top of my head.
BECKETT
We can finish off this conversation at the precinct.
JASMINE
Wait. Last month I was here working late, and I happened to see Odette walk by my desk real fast, like she was upset. Next thing I know, here comes Brad Melville, like he’s looking for her.
CASTLE
Brad Melville, the show’s host? Why would the host of A Night of Dance be looking for a contestant? Aren’t they not supposed to fraternize?
JASMINE
That’s why I followed him. Brad and Odette were in the stairwell having a fight.
BECKETT
About what?
JASMINE
I’m not completely sure. But when I bluffed Odette that I was going to tell Max about her and Brad, she got really nervous. She offered to buy me some stuff I wanted if I’d keep quiet, and I thought that sounded like a good deal. But that’s it. I would’ve never hurt Odette.
BECKETT
You’ll have to pardon me if I don’t take you at your word.
JASMINE
Look, if anyone had a reason to murder Odette, it was Brad.
[Jasmine digs in her faux rabbit purse.]
JASMINE
Just listen. I recorded the two of them.
[Jasmine plays the recording on her phone.]
BRAD MELVILLE (recording)
We had a deal.
ODETTE MORTON (recording)
And I’m willing to stand by it if you are.
BRAD MELVILLE (recording)
I have worked too hard to get where I am. If anyone finds out about this, Odette, I swear, I’ll kill you.
[Jasmine stops the recording.]
BECKETT
If Max Renfro found out that Brad Melville was in a relationship with one of the contestants, what would happen?
JASMINE
She’d be thrown off the show, and he’d be fired.
CASTLE
Motive for murder, anyone?
BRAD MELVILLE (recording)
If anyone finds out about this, Odette, I swear, I’ll kill you.
[Beckett stops the recording.]
BRAD MELVILLE
That is completely not what it sounds like.
BECKETT
What it sounds like, Brad, is you threatening Odette Morton’s life a few weeks before she was murdered.
BRAD MELVILLE
But I was trying to protect her.
CASTLE
Protect her how?
BRAD MELVILLE
I knew about Odette’s troubled past - the drugs, the D.U.I.s – but I also believed her when she said she was clean now and that dancing was all she cared about.
BECKETT
Are you trying to say that that wasn’t true?
BRAD MELVILLE
What I’m trying to say is, two months ago, I walked into makeup early one morning, and found Odette shooting up.
BECKETT
Are you sure about this?
BRAD MELVILLE
100% positive. If Max knew she was using, she would’ve been eliminated on the spot.
BECKETT
But you never told Max.
BRAD MELVILLE
Odette promised she would clean up. I gave her a second chance, but I also kept an eye on her. Then a month ago, I caught her again. I told her I was going to Max, that she was on her own.
CASTLE
And did you?
BRAD MELVILLE
No, because Odette threatened me. She said that if I went to Max and told him what I’d seen, that she’d go to him and tell him that I was the one that let her off the first time. Max would’ve fired me for keeping a secret that big from him. I’d be off the show. I’d be Brian Dunkleman.
BECKETT
Who’s Brian Dunkleman?
BRAD MELVILLE
Exactly.
CASTLE
So… if Odette went down, she was taking you with her.
--
[16:01, INT. PRECINCT, BULLPEN - NIGHT]
[Ryan drops evidence bags of needles and a drug bottle on the desk.]
RYAN
Brad was right about her shooting up. Found these hidden in a false bottom underneath her jewelry box. No wonder CSU missed it when they went through her apartment.
ESPOSITO
Could be speed.
BECKETT
Yeah, except I just got off the phone with Lanie, and she said that preliminary tox screen results show that Odette wasn’t using drugs, at least none of the usual ones. So, what the hell is in this bottle?
--
[There’s laughter as the movie critic eats dinner with the family.]
OONA MARCONI (British accent)
And so I said to Sir Laurence, “Larry, that is the second best performance of Othello I have ever seen. But I’m afraid no one can improve the Orson Welles interpretation. Larry, ” I said, “You’ve simply been outdone.”
MARTHA
Oh.
CASTLE (chuckle)
ALEXIS
Wow. What did, uh, Olivier say to that?
OONA MARCONI
He said, “My dear girl, you have the makings of a theater critic.”
[They all laugh.]
OONA MARCONI
So here I am.
MARTHA
Yes, indeed, you are. Oh, by the way, I don’t know if I told you that recently, I opened my own acting school.
OONA MARCONI
Martha, how wonderful.
MARTHA
Thank you.
OONA MARCONI
How good of you to share your years and… years of experience with a new generation.
CASTLE
Yes, we are very proud.
MARTHA
And I was wondering, perhaps you might consider stopping by and sitting in on a class or two, and then if you felt so inclined, mentioning our little school in one of your wonderful columns.
OONA MARCONI
I’d be happy to do that. You just tell me where and when.
MARTHA
Well, that’s lovely.
OONA MARCONI
I just hope you’re not teaching your students your little trick of tilting your head before delivering an important line of dialogue. (chuckles)
MARTHA
I don’t do that.
OONA MARCONI
Well, you did it when you played Maggie the Cat. Oh, and you fluttered your hands like little bird wings. I kept waiting for you to take off.
CASTLE
Who wants pie? Alexis, would you--?
ALEXIS
Mm-hmm.
CASTLE
Thank you.
[Alexis goes to the counter.]
MARTHA
I believe that was the year that I was nominated for a Tony.
OONA MARCONI
Well, perhaps the American theatre wing is more tolerant of head tilting and hand fluttering than I am.
[Martha sighs.]
OONA MARCONI
Oh, Martha, I’m just teasing. You can’t possibly still be upset about that old review.
CASTLE
Yeah, let’s not say anything we’ll regret.
MARTHA
That was no review. That was a hatchet job. It was vicious and it was uncalled for.
OONA MARCONI
And it was also accurate.
[Alexis sighs in the kitchen as she cuts the dessert.]
CASTLE (whisper)
Rise above. Rise above.
MARTHA
You know what, Oona? I rescind my request. There is no way I would accept your endorsement of my school now if you begged me.
OONA MARCONI
Fat chance of that.
[Oona gets up to leave.]
OONA MARCONI
Just remember, Martha, those who can’t do…teach.
MARTHA
And those who can’t teach become theater critics.
OONA MARCONI
Ha!
MARTHA
Ha!
[Oona walks out and slams the door. Alexis goes to comfort Martha.]
ALEXIS
Gram.
MARTHA
Ohh.
CASTLE
Could’ve been worse.
--
[Castle and Beckett enter.]
CASTLE
It couldn’t have been worse. My mother exposed her gooey center, and Oona Marconi drove a stake through it.
BECKETT
Well, tell her, I feel her pain.
CASTLE
Thanks. I will. Anything new on the case?
BECKETT
Yeah, unis found the café that Odette went to at 11:00 a.m. the day that she was killed.
CASTLE
Scoring drugs off her mystery man?
BECKETT
More like scoring a fat-free latte. She met up with a friend for coffee.
[Beckett pulls out a photo of the friend.]
BECKETT
Suzanne Steiner.
CASTLE
A friend? Leaving the studio on show day was a very big deal. What was so important that it couldn’t wait?
BECKETT
According to Suzanne, she just wanted to talk about old times.
[Ryan enters.]
RYAN
Hey, we got a fax from the lab. That clear vial of liquid that we found at Odette’s apartment? It wasn’t illegal drugs. It’s insulin.
CASTLE
Odette was diabetic?
RYAN
Not according to her doctor. He said he hasn’t seen her in over a year.
BECKETT
Well, maybe she developed it recently or maybe she went to a new doctor.
CASTLE
Then why not just tell Brad Melville the truth, that it wasn’t speed, it was insulin? And why bother buying Jasmine half of 5th Avenue to keep it quiet?
[Esposito enters.]
ESPOSITO
Well, I think I can help with that. CSU report is back on Odette’s place. They only found one set of prints and they were not Odette’s. They belong to a woman named Barbra Landau.
BECKETT
Who the hell is Barbra Landau?
ESPOSITO
Not someone who would run in Odette’s circles. She was raised in foster care and was a high school dropout.
CASTLE
So she was staying with Odette?
BECKETT
We need to talk to her.
ESPOSITO
That’s gonna be tough. Officially, Barbra Landau has been dead for over a year. Here’s her death certificate.
BECKETT
She died of blunt force trauma from injuries suffered in a train collision.
ESPOSITO
That’s right. The same train collision that Odette survived. Or did she? You see that picture of Odette?
[Esposito points to the murder board.]
ESPOSITO
Well, this…
[Esposito puts a photo next to Odette’s on the murder board.]
ESPOSITO
Is Barbra.
CASTLE
They’re identical.
BECKETT
Btu that’s impossible.
CASTLE
Impossible or the explanation to everything? The dramatic change in Odette after the accident, the need to hide being a diabetic, because Odette was not a diabetic...
BECKETT
Odette Morton didn’t survive that train crash. Barbra did.
CASTLE
And like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Barbra Landau walked away from the wreckage of that train and stole Odette Morton’s life.
--
[Beckett sits patiently and listens to Castle’s harebrained theory.]
CASTLE
Twin girls are born and put up for adoption. Odette goes to a wealthy, loving family. Barbra—not so lucky. She gets bounced around from one foster home to the next, always knowing deep inside that she was meant for something better. Then one day, the two of them meet on a train bound for Miami. The connection is instantaneous. In two days, they learn everything there is to know about each other, and Barbra can’t help but think, if only I had landed in the lap of luxury like Odette, I could’ve been anything I wanted to be.
BECKETT
Are you suggesting that Barbra purposefully caused the derailment to take over Odette’s life? With what, her crazy Wiccan powers?
CASTLE
Oh… Wow, that would be an incredible twist, but no, no. The accident happens. Odette is killed. Barbra survives. And in the midst of all the chaos and rubble, she sees her chance. She switches identification with Odette, and she changes her destiny. In one move, Barbra builds herself a better future, a perfect life.
BECKETT
Until she was murdered a year later.
CASTLE
Yeah, well, separated twin stories never end happily, except The Parent Trap.
[Ryan and Esposito enter.]
RYAN
Blood tests are back. Odette and Barbra were not biologically related.
ESPOSITO
And Barbra has no living family we could find.
CASTLE
Well, if they’re not related, how can Barbra look so much like Odette?
ESPOSITO
I don’t know. But we do have an address for her former place of employment, a strip club in Midtown.
RYAN
See, we’ve been operating under the theory that Odette was murdered because she was Odette. But what if she was murdered because she was really Barbra?
BECKETT
Find out everything you can about Barbra. In the mean time, I’m gonna re-interview Odette’s brother Paul.
CASTLE
Is he a person of interest now?
BECKETT
I’m just having trouble believing that Barbra managed to fool Odette’s only brother for over a year. He’s gonna have to convince me that he didn’t know.
CASTLE
Well, that sounds like something better done one-on-one, mano a mano. Meantime, I want to take a ride downtown with the boys, check out that strip club.
RYAN
Sorry, Castle.
[Ryan pushes Castle back down into his chair.]
RYAN
Three’s a crowd.
[Castle and Beckett are stunned as Ryan and Esposito walk to the elevator.]
ESPOSITO
What’s up? Why you freezing out our boy like that?
RYAN
I want to try an experiment. Having Castle along would mess things up.
[Ryan pushes the down button and clears his throat.]
RYAN
Here.
[Ryan takes off his wedding ring and holds it out to Esposito.]
RYAN
Wear my wedding ring.
ESPOSITO
What? Get that thing away from me, man. It’s a mood killer.
RYAN
Just wear it when we’re at the club.
ESPOSITO
What for?
RYAN
See, I’ve been talking to all my married guy friends, they say that your theory is way off. Wearing a wedding ring gets them more attention from women, not less.
ESPOSITO
So…?
RYAN
So wear the ring. I want to see if women still flirt with you and ignore me.
[They enter the elevator.]
ESPOSITO
So you didn’t’ want Castle to come because…
RYAN & ESPOSITO
All the women would flirt with him.
RYAN
I want to know if it’s just the ring that’s repelling members of the fairer sex.
ESPOSITO
It’s not the ring, bro. It’s you. See, once you’ve been married for a little while and you’re feeling a little bored and unsatisfied, the ring will get you love from the ladies. They’ll want to take you away from all that so that you can be bore and unsatisfied with them.
RYAN
Why not now?
ESPOSITO (chuckle)
Because now you’re all blissfully happy with your wife and whatnot. You have the stink of honeymoon phase all over you. No woman wants to be around that.
RYAN
How long does it last?
ESPOSITO
Well, it’s hard to say. But knowing you and Jenny, probably forever.
[Esposito puts Ryan’s ring on and they exit the elevator.]
--
SHANTELL
Oh, yeah, Barbie. All she wanted was to be a dancer on Broadway.
[Ryan tries to flirt, flaunting his ringless left hand.]
RYAN
She used to talk about it a lot, huh?
SHANTELL
More than that. She got a makeover, changed her hair, and then two years ago, she got her nose done even though her nose looked fine before.
ESPOSITO
Back in the day, did Barbra have trouble with anybody, say a customer, maybe a boyfriend?
SHANTELL
Boyfriend, yeah. Jason.
[Esposito pulls out the generic sketch.]
ESPOSITO
Could this be him?
SHANTELL
That’s him. Jason Bagwell.
RYAN
Do you know where we can find Jason?
SHANTELL
He lived over in alphabet city. He was always running some scam, borrowing money from Barbra for some new business venture and never paying her back. But she loved him. Crazy love, you know?
ESPOSITO
Oh, yeah. I do.
[Esposito shows her the ring.]
SHANTELL
Hm.
ESPOSITO
Well, you’ve been very helpful, Shantell. Thank you for your time.
SHANTELL (to Esposito)
If you wanted, you could come back later. My show starts at eight.
ESPOSITO
I could probably do that—
RYAN
He’s gotta get home to the little woman, Shantell, but we do thank you for your time and your cooperation.
SHANTELL
All right.
[Shantell leaves and Ryan and Esposito head for the exit.]
ESPOSITO
What’s wrong with you, man? Why you gotta throw salt in my game like that?
RYAN
You can’t pick up on honeys while wearing the eternal symbol of my love and commitment to Jenny.
[Ryan stops.]
RYAN
Did I just say that out loud?
ESPOSITO
Mm-hmm.
RYAN
No wonder women won’t flirt with me. I’m a lost cause, a man in love with his wife.
ESPOSITO
Enjoy it, my friend. A lot of men would switch places with you. Not me. Mnh-Mnh. Other men. Guys. Unhappy single guys.
RYAN
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just give me my ring back, and you can go get Shantell’s phone number.
WOMAN (background)
You’re next up.
[Esposito tries to take it off, but the ring gets stuck.]
ESPOSITO
What the… ow.
RYAN
What?
ESPOSITO (pants)
It’s stuck.
--
CASTLE
The guys are out picking up Barbra’s ex-boyfriend. I thought I’d use the time to follow up on what they learned at the club. Starting with the fact that Barbra Landau did get plastic surgery. Here is her old D.M.V. photo.
BECKETT
She’s a pretty girl.
CASTLE
Exactly. Plastic surgery didn’t make her look more beautiful. It just made her look more like Odette Morton.
[Castle shows Beckett the before and after photos side by side.]
CASTLE
You remember her accountant Samuel Lynchberg told you that Odette paid for her friend’s nose job?
BECKETT
And you think Barbra is that friend? You think they knew each other?
CASTLE
I know it. Lynchberg’s assistant confirmed that Odette paid for Barbra’s surgery plus expenses.
BECKETT
And I’m guessing you have a theory as to why.
CASTLE
You know Odette loved to party. Speaking from personal experience, I can tell you that all that constant carousing does not come without consequences, like arrests, community service hours, (chuckles) waking up in a strange hotel room with some girl’s panties on your head. That’s…
[Beckett’s smile fades.]
CASTLE
Forget that part.
[Castle puts a photo in front of Beckett.]
CASTLE
Here is Odette doing her community service hours for her second D.U.I. in 2010.
[Castle puts down another photo.]
CASTLE
Here’s Odette at a bridal shower with friends.
BECKETT
So?
CASTLE
So according to the time stamps, these photos were taken on the same day within twenty minutes of each other.
BECKETT
So it was really Barbra at the soup kitchen.
CASTLE
Odette would do the crime, but she didn’t want to do the time. So she created a faux-dette to do her dirty work for her. A job that I bet paid very well. Maybe a wild night on the town brings Odette to the strip club, where she sees Barbra – all of Barbra – and she realizes, with a little work, Barbra could be the perfect double for her, doing all the unpleasant jobs that Odette simply couldn’t be bothered to do—community service hours, drug tests—
BECKETT
And with a little training and some surgical tweaks, Barbra could do even more, like meetings with Odette’s business manager or boring luncheons with her Aunt Margaret.
CASTLE
Nobody in Odette’s inner circle could’ve known about the ruse, so that when the train crashed, Barbra saw her chance to go from understudy to leading lady, and she took it.
BECKETT
Okay, so that explains the transition, but we still don’t know who killed her.
CASTLE
Maybe we do. It would have to be someone that knew Odette was actually Barbra when he saw her on TV, someone who was looking to cash in on her new life…
BECKETT
Someone like Barbra’s boyfriend Jason.
[The elevator dings and Esposito and Ryan enter with Jason.]
JASON
I’m telling you, this is crazy. I didn’t kill anybody.
--
BECKETT
Here’s what I think happened— you realized that Barbra didn’t die in that train accident. She was alive.
CASTLE
And living as Odette Morton, which meant she was very rich.
BECKETT
You knew her secret, and you wanted to be rich, too.
CASTLE
But Barbra wasn’t the kind of girl to claw her way into the good life and then be taken advantage of by the likes of you.
BECKETT
She rejected you, and so you shot her.
JASON
See, this—this is why I didn’t come forward. I knew you’d suspect me.
BECKETT
We suspect people with motive, Jason.
JASON (sigh)
You’ve got it wrong. Barbra came to me. Two weeks ago, she showed up on my doorstep and told me the whole story.
BECKETT
Barbra had everything she could want— a perfect life. Why would she risk it all by getting in touch with you?
JASON
Because she missed me. And Odette’s life wasn’t as perfect as Barbra thought. Barbra was lonely, and she wanted to get back together. She told me she had found out some stuff about Odette, um, secrets from her past.
BECKETT
What kind of secrets?
JASON
I don’t know. But she said, if anyone found out, it would all be over for her.
CASTLE
You think this secret got her killed?
JASON
She said she could use it to her advantage. She just needed more information. Information was—was leverage, it would protect her, but she had to move fast.
BECKETT
And she didn’t move fast enough.
JASON
Barbra had been dancing since she was a little kid, and all she ever wanted was to be a start on Broadway. And she was so close.
CASTLE
So it wasn’t something from her own past that got Barbra killed. It was something from Odette’s.
--
BECKETT
Okay, so a week before her death, Barbra, as Odette, is acting odd, she’s missing rehearsals.
CASTLE
She seeks out her ex, tells him that Odette’s perfect life isn’t so perfect and that there’s something in Odette’s past that’s a problem.
BECKETT
Right. So she needs information. So where does she go?
CASTLE
Suzanne Steiner. Remember, Barbra met her for coffee the day she died? She wanted to talk to Suzanne about old times.
--
]
SUZANNE STEINER
I’m not sure what help I can be. Odette seemed fine the day that I saw her.
BECKETT
Mm-hmm.
SUZANNE STEINER
Oh, I keep forgetting that she wasn’t Odette. Oh, the resemblance was remarkable.
BECKETT
You said that she wanted to reminisce. How close were the two of you?
SUZANNE STEINER
Well, my dad was the butler in her grandfather’s home for twenty years, so…we practically grew up together.
BECKETT
And what did she want to talk about?
SUZANNE STEINER
Well, she asked about her grandfather. Well, Odette’s grandfather.
BECKETT
Mm-hmm.
SUZANNE STEINER
She talked about how close they had been. And then she asked about the day that he died.
BECKETT
He died in his sleep, didn’t he?
SUZANNE STEINER
Yeah. Yeah, he was 98. It was odd that she asked, because I wasn’t there, but she was – Odette was – along with my father, and when I reminded her of that, she asked about my dad. She said she wanted to…catch up with him.
BECKETT
Do you know if the two of them ever spoke?
SUZANNE STEINER
Well, I gave her his number, but I—I’m not sure what happened.
BECKETT
Mm.
--
[Castle rubs soap on the Esposito’s hand and Esposito tries to pry off Ryan’s wedding ring.]
ESPOSITO
It’s not coming off. It’s like it soldered itself onto my hand.
CASTLE
Maybe it’s possessed, you know, like some kind of cursed object from a Stephen King story.
RYAN
How can I tell my wife that I’m not wearing my wedding ring because I lent it to Esposito as an experiment to see if strippers would flirt with me? Maybe she’ll see the humor in it.
[Castle and Esposito exchange a look.]
CASTLE
Not a chance.
ESPOSITO
You’re a dead man.
[Beckett enters.]
BECKETT
So, Charles Carson, former butler to Odette’s late grandfather. No record, but get this—
[Beckett places Carson’s photo on the murder board.]
BECKETT
His name rang a bell, so I looked up the guest list from Wednesday’s taping, and he’s on it. Odette called in a last-minute ticket request for Mr. Carson.
CASTLE
So he was at the show.
BECKETT
Yes, security has him going through at 2:15, but after that, no one remembers seeing him.
CASTLE
Okay, so Suzanne said that faux-dette wanted to talk about the day her grandfather died. What if this was the secret that Barbra was on to? What if Graham Morton didn’t die of natural causes and she felt somehow Charles Carson here had something to do with it?
BECKETT
We need to see Graham Morton’s autopsy report.
ALEXIS
Based on my reading of the coroner’s report, I can see why Graham Morton’s death was ruled natural causes. However—
CASTLE
Ooh. There’s a “however”.
LANIE
A very big “HOWEVER”. (to Alexis) Tell ‘em.
ALEXIS
There were some anomalies I found suspicious. Evidence of petechiae in both eyes, fresh bruising on the right side of Mr. Morton’s nose, which could have happened if, say, someone was holding a pillow over his face. All in all, I think there’s ample evidence that Mr. Morton was murdered.
CASTLE
Ample?
[Castle looks to Lanie. Lanie nods. Castle looks proudly down at Alexis.]
CASTLE
Murdered. I am just so proud.
[Castle tries to pull Alexis into a hug, but she resists awkwardly.]
ALEXIS
Dad. Work. Boundaries.
CASTLE
Right.
[Castle lets Alexis go.]
LANIE
One more thing. When I requested the file be sent over, the clerk told me that I was the second person this week to ask for it. Odette Morton was there on Tuesday.
CASTLE
So Barbra realized Odette’s grandfather was murdered and must have thought Carson the Butler had something to do with it.
BECKETT
And then when Carson figured out that Barbra knew too much, he killed her. We’re gonna bring him in first thing in the morning.
CASTLE
And arrest him for a double murder.
[Lanie taps Alexis proudly with her file folder.]
CASTLE
Good morning.
MARTHA
Speak for yourself. Oh, Richard. I really messed up. I just let my ego get the better of me. Now Oona Marconi is never gonna endorse my school. She’ll probably write something negative just out of spite.
CASTLE
Well, there is a chance you can still turn this around, but are you willing to apologize to someone who doesn’t really deserve it?
MARTHA
Darling, I don’t think a simple apology is gonna get me out of this.
CASTLE
Then in the wise words of Don Vito Corleone…
[Castle pops some food into his mouth, puffing out one of his cheeks.]
CASTLE (imitation)
You need to make him an offer she can’t refuse.
[Martha smiles.]
CASTLE (imitation)
And if there’s anything—
[Castle clears his throat.]
CASTLE
If there’s anything I can do to help, you let me know.
MARTHA
I will. I will.
--
BECKETT
Mr. Carson, you worked for Graham Morton for over twenty-five years. I understand that you were very close with his grandkids.
CHARLES CARSON
Well, as—as close as one could be while still maintaining the employer-servant relationship.
CASTLE
So when the victim called you and invited you to the Night Of Dance taping on Wednesday, you said yes.
CHARLES CARSON
I was delighted. She asked me to meet her afterwards, said that she had a question for me, but of course, as you know, they canceled the show, and I didn’t find out until the next day what had happened. I had no idea that that girl wasn’t Odette and no idea why she wanted to talk to me.
BECKETT
She wanted to talk to you about the day that Graham Morton died.
CHARLES CARSON
Why would she care about that?
CASTLE
It seems she had some evidence that Mr. Morton didn’t die of natural causes.
CHARLES CARSON
I don’t understand. Are you saying that he was murdered?
BECKETT
You were at the house that day, weren’t you?
CHARLES CARSON
Oh, good lord. You don’t think that I had—
BECKETT
You were the person closest to him. You had ample opportunity.
CASTLE
We’ve seen the will. He left you a generous bequest.
CHARLES CARSON
I would never have hurt Mr. Morton. But that woman—the woman who pretended to be Odette—she might be right about his death. In fact, it’s possible that she believed that I knew something. Tell me, how did Mr. Morton die? Was he smothered?
[Beckett and Castle exchange a look.]
BECKETT
Why would you ask that?
CHARLES CARSON
The month he died, there was tension in the household. Odette was seeing someone of whom Mr. Morton did not approve.
BECKETT
Do you know who?
CHARLES CARSON
No, but he ordered her to break it off, and of course, that day Odette was crying, she spent most of the morning in her room. At about one o’clock, Mr. Morton said that he wanted to take a nap, so I cleared the bed of all the pillows. He preferred a—a flat surface. Now, a few moments later, there was a commotion down in the kitchen. Odette had put a sandwich in the toaster oven too long, and it had caused a small fire. We put it out, and then I went back upstairs to check on Mr. Morton, and he was dead. And that’s when I noticed it.
CASTLE
Noticed what?
CHARLES CARSON
A pillow on the bed. And I was sure that I had taken them all off. So I applied to Odette about it, but she said my mind was playing tricks on me, so I let it go.
BECKETT
Mr. Carson, when you were in the kitchen, was there ever a moment that Odette was out of your sight?
CHARLES CARSON
No. I—I knew she was innocent.
CASTLE
She wasn’t innocent. She was the distraction. Odette got you down to the kitchen while her accomplice went and murdered her grandfather.
BECKETT
And then when Barbra Landau figured out the truth, the accomplice murdered her, too.
--
BECKETT
Thank you for coming in, Mr. Lynchberg.
CASTLE
Mr. Lynchberg, being the Morton family financial advisor, that must give you pretty good insight into their—their personal lives, right?
SAMUEL LYNCHBERG
Well, looking at what people spend their money on, you get to know folks pretty well.
BECKETT
And how well did you know Odette?
SAMUEL LYNCHBERG
As well as any of my clients. But given the lectures that I gave her about her lifestyle, maybe more so.
CASTLE
We understand, about the time her grandfather died, that Odette was dating someone, someone her grandfather didn’t approve of.
SAMUEL LYNCHBERG
Mm. Well, that’s not surprising. The two of them rarely saw eye to eye.
BECKETT
This boyfriend—do you remember who he was?
SAMUEL LYNCHBERG
No. Why?
BECKETT
Well, because we think that he conspired with Odette to kill her grandfather and then he killed Barbra when she was on the verge of figuring it all out.
CASTLE
You’re sure you don’t remember?
SAMUEL LYNCHBERG
Mnh-mnh.
BECKETT
Well, we just spoke with Odette’s brother, and he remembers. In fact, he remembers it being you. He said that the two of you wanted to get married, but Odette’s grandfather threatened to cut her off.
CASTLE
Now, a girl like Odette, she could never be happy living off a meager six-figure salary like yours. She needed to inherit. But that old man refused to die.
BECKETT
So she convinced you to go upstairs and smother him to death with a pillow while she created a distraction in the kitchen. Problem solved.
CASTLE
Except once she had her money, she left you, went back to her partying lifestyle.
BECKETT
She used you, but there wasn’t anything you could do about it. At least not without admitting to the murder.
SAMUEL LYNCHBERG
You can’t prove that. His death wasn’t even ruled a homicide.
BECKETT
No, but Barbra Landau’s was.
[Velasquez opens the door and hands Beckett an evidence bag with a gun with a silencer and leaves.]
BECKETT
Uniforms found this nine millimeter in the dumpster behind your offices. Ballistics match. This is the same gun that was used to kill Barbra Landau, and it’s got...
[Beckett sets the gun on the table.]
BECKETT
Your fingerprints all over it.
[Lynchberg processes his shock for a moment.]
SAMUEL LYNCHBERG
Last month, when her credit card bills were so high, I thought she was slipping back into her old ways, and I said to her, “We didn’t risk everything to get this money so you could let it ruin your life.” And she looked at me, and…I could tell, she had no idea what I was talking about. In that moment, I knew that she wasn’t my Odette.
CASTLE
And that’s how she got on to you.
SAMUEL LYNCHBERG
So this Barbra told me that if I kept her secret, she would keep mine. She thought we were even. She thought that she could just take the place of Odette. Wh—what—what was I supposed to do, just let some dirty stripper live in her house and wear her clothes and—and blackmail me? Odette deserved better.
--
[Castle and Beckett begin to clear the murder board. Castle contemplates Barbra’s photo.]
BECKETT
What’s going on?
CASTLE
I was just thinking how we rely on dreams to keep us going in life and how sad it is when they become the things that tear us down.
BECKETT
Yeah, well, that might be the case for Barbra Landau, but not for everyone with dreams that didn’t come true. I mean, take Lanie for instance. She wanted to be a dancer. She became a doctor. That’s not so bad, is it?
CASTLE
Hmm. What about you? I mean, I know you became a cop because your mother was murdered, but there had to be something before that. What did little Kate Beckett want to be when she grew up?
BECKETT (smiling)
At Stanford, I was pre-law.
CASTLE
So your dream was to argue a case before the Supreme Court.
BECKETT
Mm-hmm. Yep, I was on my way to becoming the first female Chief Justice.
CASTLE
Wow.
BECKETT
Mm-hmm.
CASTLE
Not bad.
[Castle regards Beckett with an affectionate pride.]
--
[Esposito grunts as he attempts to pull off Ryan’s wedding ring.]
ESPOSITO
Ah, it won’t— Yeah, you know what?
[Esposito checks his watch.]
ESPOSITO
Ooh, I’m late for my stripper date, man.
[Esposito gives up and starts to leave.]
RYAN
Whoa, whoa. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I cannot go home again without that ring on my finger tonight. My couch has a loose spring. My back--
BECKETT
Hey, did you try soap?
ESPOSITO
Yeah.
RYAN
Yeah, that was, like, the first thing we did.
CASTLE
Cooking spray?
ESPOSITO
I didn’t think about cooking spray.
RYAN
Where am I gonna find cooking spray?
BECKETT
Here.
[Beckett takes out her lotion and puts some on Esposito’s finger. Esposito rubs the lotion in around the ring.]
ESPOSITO
It’s like silk. That might work. Oh, yeah. I think it’s coming.
RYAN
Yeah?
[Esposito grunts as the ring pops off and bounces across the room. The others look at him.]
ESPOSITO
At least it’s off my finger.
[Esposito leaves and Ryan rushes to find the ring.]
--
[Oona prepares to leave.]
MARTHA
Oona, thank you so much for stopping by.
OONA MARCONI
Thank you, Martha. And I’ll be sure to find a few inches of column space to mention your little school.
MARTHA
Oh, good, thank you. I really appreciate that, dear.
[Castle enters.]
MARTHA
Oh, Richard, good. You’re just in time to say goodbye to Oona.
CASTLE
Oh. How nice to see you again.
OONA MARCONI
It’s lovely to see you as well. And I, uh, look forward to hearing from you.
CASTLE
Hearing from—
MARTHA
Well, I know you’re in a hurry, dear, and, uh, I’ll call you. We will have lunch.
[Martha rushes Oona out the door.]
OONA MARCONI
Yes.
MARTHA
Bye-bye.
[Martha closes the door.]
MARTHA
♫ Ahh ♫ All’s well that ends well.
CASTLE
Mother, why would Oona Marconi be looking forward to hearing from me?
MARTHA
Well, you did say, if there is any way that you could help—
CASTLE
That you should let me know. Exactly what did you promise her without asking me first?
[Martha picks up a box of neatly stacked papers.]
MARTHA
That you would read her novel…
CASTLE
Oh, Mother.
MARTHA
And critique it and give it to your publisher. It is the inspiring story of a young woman’s journey from department store clerk to world-renowned Broadway star.
CASTLE
Chick lit? Mother, this is really not me—
MARTHA
Oh, and darling, when you give her your thoughts, do be kind, because it’s always been her dream to be a novelist.
[Martha leaves and Castle looks at the large stacked manuscript.]
CASTLE
“Be kind.” For you, Mother…I can be kind.
