A woman writes something on the floor in her own blood, then dies.
At Castle’s loft, boxes are piled all over.
Alexis: Okay, one last box, and I'm ready for college.
Castle: Sweetheart, this is a lot of stuff. You do realize, you don't have to take all of this stuff with you to your dorm room? Like this. What is this?
Castle pulls out a gold medal on a blue ribbon.
Alexis: Remember? I wanted to ride my bike without training wheels, like the big kids, and I did. So you got me my very own gold medal.
Castle: Oh, well, honey, that is…
Castle stops Alexis from putting on the medal.
Castle: That's a very sweet memory, but your dorm room is only so big. You're gonna have to leave some of this stuff behind.
Martha comes down the stairs.
Martha: Don't listen to his, darling. Everybody needs their stuff.
Castle looks from Martha to Alexis.
Alexis: See?
Alexis goes to the kitchen. Castle smiles gleefully and turns to Martha.
Castle: My little girl is going to college.
Martha: Seems like just yesterday, you were checking under the bed every night, promising her that monsters aren't real.
Castle: Well, I lied. Monsters are real. They're the boys in her freshman dorm.
Martha: Oh, speaking of which, before Alexis leaves, don't you think you should have the, um... Talk with her?
Castle: You mean the sex talk? Mother, I covered that ages ago. I learned so much.
Martha: I mean the you-and-Beckett sex talk.
Castle: Mother, Beckett and I ar…
Martha puts up a hand.
Martha: Save it, Richard. I knew the morning I walked in here and the poor girl was hiding in the cl…
Castle: You knew that!
Castle freaks and knocks the box in front of him, almost knocking it over.
Martha: Shh.
Castle: How did you know that?
Martha: Shh, shh, shh. Mothers know these things. But I don't think you want Alexis to walk in unannounced and find you and Beckett... Out of the closet. And by "out of the closet," I…
Castle: I… I, no, I… I know what you mean by "out of the closet."
Martha: Okay, so...don't you think you should tell her?
Alexis stands up with in the kitchen with a spray bottle in her hand.
Alexis: Tell me what?
Castle and Martha turn in surprise, then look at each other.
In a street.
Beckett: You told Alexis?
Castle: I didn't want to. Mother used her Jedi mind tricks on me.
Beckett: She knows, too? Castle, do they realize what's at stake here? Because if Alexis tells Lanie...
Castle: Alexis won't tell Lanie.
Beckett: Lanie's gonna tell Esposito, Esposito can't keep his mouth shut with Ryan, and Ryan's gonna blow it out of proportion, and then Gates is gonna find out, and we won't be able to work together anymore.
Castle: Trust me. She knows what's at stake, and our secret is safe.
Beckett accepts his statement with a nod.
Beckett: So, how did she take it... Us being together?
Castle: She was too preoccupied with her move to even comment. I mean, it's ridiculous. She's got boxes and boxes of stuff, and apparently, all of it's important.
Beckett: Yeah, well, we all need our stuff, Castle. I've got boxes and boxes of it. It's comforting. It reminds me of my past.
Castle: Your kinky past?
Beckett: I've got that box, too.
Castle pauses for a moment to let his imagine takeover while Beckett enters the hotel, then he follows.
Beckett, Castle, and Lanie look at the body on the floor while CSU takes crime scene photos.
Lanie: Housekeeping found her this morning. Name's Wendy Dupree, twenty-five years of age, single gunshot to the chest from a nine millimeter.
Lanie holds up the evidence bag.
Lanie: Unfortunately, she died slowly.
Beckett: Yeah, long enough to write the word "Lie." So, our killer wasn't a pro. She wouldn't have been left breathing.
Castle: A dying declaration, but what does it mean?
Lanie: Hey, that's your department.
Lanie walks away.
Castle: Well, did someone lie to her? Perhaps it's the killer's initials.
Beckett: Mm.
Castle: Maybe a grammatical error. She should've written "Lay."
Beckett gives Castle a look.
Esposito: Yo, Beckett.
Beckett and Castle turn to look. Esposito holds up a green bag.
Esposito: Victim's wallet.
Beckett goes to Esposito and Castle crouches down by the body.
Esposito: She came a long way to get killed. She's a Philly girl.
Beckett: How long was she here for?
Esposito: Front desk says she checked in yesterday afternoon alone.
Ryan stands up with an envelope full of cash.
Ryan: She wasn't alone. She brought 4,000 of her closest friends.
Esposito: That kind of cash, what's she doing in a dump like this?
Beckett: All right, run financials. See what you guys can find.
Esposito: Yeah.
Beckett: Castle, what do you think?
Castle: I think, as much as I love a good mystery, she could've left a more helpful note.
Esposito: Here's a message that needs no interpretation.
Esposito reads a text message.
Esposito: "You think you can lie to me?"
Castle: Ah. Maybe that's the lie.
Esposito continues reading.
Esposito: "Run all you want. I'm gonna find you and make you pay." It's a 2-1-5 area code. That's Philly.
Beckett: Pull a warrant for the cell phone. I want to know who sent that text.
In the interrogation room.
Joel Pratt: Yeah, I sent it. You bet I did.
Beckett: Well, sounds like you had a big problem with her.
Joel Pratt: Hell, yeah, I had a problem. Wendy's a waitress at my place, Joel's Cheesesteaks - the best in Philly.
Castle goes to close the door.
Castle: "The best in Philly"? That's a tad presumptuous.
Joel Pratt: Well, it is.
Castle's expression freezes at being heard.
Joel Pratt: So yesterday I sent that fraul to the bank to make a deposit for the restaurant, right? But does she make the drop? No. She hightails it up here with four thousand of my dollars.
Castle: That’s a lot of cheesesteak.
Beckett: So you followed her to New York to get your money back.
Joel Pratt: Damn right.
Beckett and Castle exchange a look.
Joel Pratt: I tried to be nice. Finally, she calls me, and she’s like, “I’m sorry. It was an emergency. I… I’ll pay you back double when I get back.” Screw that. She stole from me.
Beckett: And for that, she deserved to die?
Joel Pratt: Yeah.
Castle raises his eyebrows and shock dawns on Joel’s face and he looks at Beckett.
Joel Pratt: Wait. What?
Beckett puts Wendy’s crime scene photo on the table.
Joel Pratt: Oh, no. No.
Joel sits down.
Joel Pratt: I didn’t do this. Nah. I couldn’t even find her. No, I… I just got off the train from Philly, a… An hour before yous guys picked me up.
Beckett places Joel’s photo on the murder board.
Beckett: So, Amtrak confirms that Pratt was ticketed yesterday, but they can’t be sure of what train he was on, so we’re double-checking his alibi.
Castle: Have them check on that cheesesteak, too. There’s no way that it’s the best in Philly.
Beckett smiles in amusement for a moment.
Beckett: Anyway, even if it was him, it doesn’t explain Wendy’s mysterious emergency, the stolen cash, the sudden trip to New York City.
Castle: Mm. Why she would write “lie.” You don’t write a dying message in blood just for kicks. There had to be a reason.
Beckett drinks her coffee and Castle looks at the cup.
Castle: Are you out, too? Want some more?
Beckett: Yeah. Uh, you know what? I’ll go get it.
Castle: Oh.
Beckett takes his mug and heads toward the break room.
Beckett: Okay.
Castle: Thank you.
Beckett: Mm-hmm.
Castle shrugs happily with a grin on his face at the change of being served. Then he turns toward the murder board.
Castle: Long Island Expressway. Literary Institute of Excellence. Love Is Everything. Oh, did I just say that? I’m getting soft.
Castle turns away from the murder board and Beckett’s phone rings. He picks it up.
Castle: Detective Beckett’s phone.
In the precinct, in the autopsy room ant near the bullpen.
Lanie: Castle? You’re not allowed to answer Beckett’s phone.
Castle: Yes, I am.
Lanie: Since when?
Castle: Since I… Can… Is there something I can do for you?
Lanie: Yeah. Write this down. I’ve got a partial off the shell casing. No matches in the system or from Mr. Pratt, but I did find some trace DNA.
Castle listens, intrigued.
Lanie: Are you writing this down?
He’s not.
Castle: Yes.
Lanie: Castle!
Castle: Okay, hang on.
Castle opens Beckett’s desk drawers looking for a pen and paper. He pulls a stick/rock figure in one drawer and chuckles. He turns around in the chair, holding the figure, and sees Beckett standing there with two cups of coffee and furrowed brows.
Beckett: What are you doing?
Lanie: Ohhhh, you are in trouble.
Castle: I’m not in trouble.
Castle hangs up.
Castle: Lanie got a partial print. It is not a match for Pratt. He is not a match for Pratt. He is not our guy.
Beckett: Who said that you could answer my phone? And why are you going through my drawers?
She takes the figurine from him.
Castle: I was just looking for a pad of paper.
Beckett: Sure you were. Stay out of my stuff, Castle.
Beckett puts the figurine away.
Castle: Your stuff? Need I remind you, I’ve already seen… Your stuff.
Beckett: Yeah, well, some of my stuff is still private.
Castle: Oh, I get it. And old boyfriend made that for you.
Beckett: No.
Castle: Really? ‘Cause it’s totally cool. I wouldn’t be jealous. Okay, maybe a little bit jealous. Not an old boyfriend?
Beckett: Mnh-mnh.
Castle: You got it from a crime scene. That is a keepsake from the first murderer you ever collared.
Beckett: I told you, Castle, it’s private.
Beckett leans over Castle and grabs her coffee cup.
Castle: Maybe it’s the actual murder victim from a stick man convention.
Beckett: Really? That’s the best that you can come up with?
Castle steps a large step closer to Beckett.
Castle: Challenge accepted.
Ryan: So…
Castle and Beckett pull quickly away from each other and Beckett eyes Castle and Ryan to see if Ryan picked up on their flirting.
Ryan: … Nothing in the financials to explain why Wendy needed four grand in cash, but I might have figured out what she was doing in town. She used her credit card for a cab ride to 8th and Market yesterday.
Castle: The day she was killed.
Ryan: I spoke with a cabbie. Wendy took his business card. Said she was going to call to have him take her back there today.
Castle: Bet we find our answers there.
Between 8th and market street.
Castle: A self-storage warehouse?
Beckett: What’s a girl from Philly doing in a place like this?
Storage Owner: Oh, yeah, yeah. She was here. A lot less bloody when I saw her, though. She signed up for the auction.
Beckett: Auction?
Storage Owner: Every month we auction off repossessed storage units. You know, from deadbeats that don’t pay their bills. One going on right now.
Castle: That’s what the four thousand dollars was for. She was gonna bid on a unit.
Beckett: Which unit?
Storage Owner: Beats me. Could be any one of the fourteen we got up for bid.
Beckett: So there’s no way of telling which one she was interested in?
Castle: Actually, there is a way.
Castle takes the crime scene photo from Beckett.
Castle: We misinterpreted Wendy’s message. It’s not “LIE.” We were looking at it upside down. It’s “3-1-7.” That’s what she was trying to tell us. Is unit 317 up for auction?
Storage Owner: Oh, as a matter of fact, it is. Probably auctioning it off as we speak.
Castle: Wendy was killed trying to buy that unit. If we let it get sold off…
Beckett: Then we’ll lose our best shot at finding out who the killer is.
An auctioneer opens unit 317 as Beckett and Castle approach.
Auctioneer: 317. You have 60 seconds to look, and then we start the bidding.
Beckett: Yeah, Ryan, so the owner of the unit was Johan Fleming. Can you run that? Okay, thanks… We need you to stop this auction.
Storage Owner: As much as I’d like to help, I’d like my money more. So, unless you got a warrant, I don’t have to stop jack.
Auctioneer: Okay, 30 seconds.
Beckett: Castle, what do you see?
Castle: Uh, not much. Just a…just a bunch of junk.
Beckett: Yeah, well, the key to Wendy’s murder might be in that junk, and we’re about to lose it. There’s no way I can get a warrant in time.
Castle: You may not have a warrant, but I got something better. Checkbook.
Castle holds his checkbook up.
Storage Owner: Auctions are cash only, hotshot.
Castle: Oh, no. What are we gonna do? Is two grand enough?
Castle pulls out a money clip.
Beckett: What are you doing with two grand in your pocket?
Castle: I’m a best-selling author. Why wouldn’t I have two grand in my pocket?
Auctioneer: All right. What do you want to give for it? Who’ll start us out? A hundred dollar bid. Who’s gonna go a hundred dollars one time?
Castle: Right here.
Auctioneer: One-hundred. Now who’ll go two? Two hundred. Two-hundred dollar bid now.
Woman: Yep-yep.
Auctioneer: Two-hundred, thank you. Thank you very much. Now who’s gonna go three? Looking for a three-hundred dollars…
Big Percy: I got it three on it.
Auctioneer: Big Percy’s in for three-hundred dollars. Now who wants to go four?
Castle: Right here.
Auctioneer: Who’s going four? Pretty boys back, and he’s in for four-hundred dollars.
Whistle.
Auctioneer: Frankie’s got five-hundred. Now who’s gonna go six? Looking for six-hundred dollars…
Woman: Yep, yep.
Auctioneer: Peggy’s in for six-hundred. Thank you very much. Now who’s gonna go seven? Seven-hundred…
Castle: Next hundred.
Auctioneer: Seven-hundred dollars, thank you very much. Who’s going to go eight? Eight-hundred one time…
Big Percy: I got eight on it.
Auctioneer: Big Percy’s got eight. Who’s gonna go nine?
Whistle.
Auctioneer: Frankie’s got nine. Now looking for a thousand dollar bid. Who’s going a thousand dollars one time? Do I hear a thousand dollars from anybody here? Go a thousand dollar bid one time.
Castle: Fifteen-hundred.
Auctioneer: Fifteen-hundred dollars. Anybody gonna top that? Anybody anywhere? Fifteen going once. Fifteen going twice.
Felix Gozarian: Sixteen-hundred dollars.
The other onlookers ooh at the bid. A man walks towards the storage unit and the onlookers make room.
Auctioneer: Sweet sixteen gets in just under the wire. Now who'll go seventeen? We got sixteen hundred. Now who'll go seventeen? Looking for a seventeen hundred dollar bid. Anybody for seventeen?
Castle turns to Beckett.
Castle: I've only got two thousand dollars.
Beckett pulls Castle's checkbook out of his pocket and opens it.
Beckett: Here. Sign it.
Castle signs it.
Beckett: Keep bidding.
Castle raises his eyebrows as he turns back towards the auctioneer. Beckett turns to "Big Percy".
Beckett: Hi. Hi. Big Percy, right? What would it take to get all the cash you have on you?
Big Percy: Depends on what you offering.
Beckett: How about a check?
Percy rolls his eyes.
Beckett: No, it's good. I swear. It's signed by the millionaire mystery novelist Richard Castle.
Big Percy: Yeah, right.
Beckett: No, really. He's right behind me.
Big Percy: For real?
Beckett: Yeah.
Big Percy: My moms loves his books.
Castle: Yes.
Big Percy: Okay. I'll give you sixteen hundred. But it'll cost twenty-five.
Beckett: Eighteen.
Big Percy: Twenty-three.
Beckett: Two grand and he'll name a character in his next novel after your mom.
Castle turns around.
Castle: What?
Beckett jabs her elbow into him.
Big Percy: Sold.
Beckett: Here you go.
She rips out the check.
Beckett: Thanks.
Beckett turns back to Castle with the cash.
Beckett: We got thirty-six hundred. Now make it work.
Auctioneer: Who'll go twenty four and a half? Give me twenty-four and a half one time.
Castle: Watch this.
Auctioneer:... Twenty-five. Do I hear twenty-five anywhere anyway.
Castle: Three-thousand.
Auctioneer: Three-thousand dollars.
Beckett: What are you doing?
Castle: Trust me, I got this.
Auctioneer: Go thirty-one hundred one time. I think he might buy it. Who'll go 3100.
Felix Gozarian: Three-thousand fifty.
Auctioneer: Thirty-fifty. Now you want to go thirty-one hundred. You go thirty-one hundred one time? What do you say?
Castle: Thirty five hundred.
Auctioneer: Thirty five hundred dollars. Now you want to go thirty-six?
Beckett: Castle we've only got thirty six hundred!
Auctioneer: Go thirty-five, go thirty-five and a half.
Castle: You know what? I can do this all day. I'll outbid myself. Thirty-six hundred.
The onlookers ooh, and Beckett looks sharply at the other bidder.
Auctioneer: Thirty-six hundred dollars. Anybody gonna top that? Anybody anywhere? Thirty-six going once. Thirty-six going twice. Bid now or forever hold your peace.
The other bidder looks between Castle and the auctioneer, uncertain.
Auctioneer: Sold right there to pretty boy for thirty-six hundred. Thank you very much.
Onlooker: Woo-hoo!
The bidders disperse.
Beckett: How did you even know that was gonna work?
Castle: Well, as a champion poker player, I am a student of body language. I could tell easily by looking at him…
Beckett: You had absolutely no idea.
Castle: Not a clue.
Big Percy slaps his hands on Castle's shoulders and gives a squeeze.
Big Percy: Congrats. All that junk is yours.
Castle: Yeah, thanks.
Big Percy: Oh, and, uh, my mother's name...
Big Percy fingers the check.
Big Percy:... Is Eunice.
Castle freezes.
Big Percy: Excuse me.
Big Percy walks between them and exits. Castle looks at Beckett.
Castle: Eunice.
Castle turns to his new property in the unit and begins pulling out a mattress box spring.
Castle and a uniform haul the mattress box spring down the hallway.
Esposito: Damn, bro. You actually bought all this crap?
Castle: All this crap is gonna crack this case wide open… Thank you LT.
Castle turns to Beckett.
Castle: You are so going to owe me for this.
Beckett: Castle, I don't know if the department's gonna be able to reimburse you for all of this.
Castle: That's not the owing I mean.
Beckett holds in a smile. Her expression drops as Ryan enters.
Ryan: Ran down the name on Unit 317, Johan Fleming. Address is bogus. Name is bogus. The guy doesn't exist.
Beckett: Then whose stuff is this?
Castle enters the conference room filled with the storage unit junk.
Castle: Well, the answer's right in front of us. His stuff will tell us who he is. Look, there's a box of maps. Um, he was a geography buff. He enjoyed travel.
Ryan enters.
Ryan: Maybe he was a trucker.
Castle: Ah. See? Progress.
Esposito pulls something out of the pile.
Esposito: Ooh. Yo, climbing gear. He's an outdoorsman.
Castle holds up an ugly doll.
Castle: A super creepy outdoorsman.
Esposito cringes at the ugly doll. He looks at the climbing gear as he puts it back down.
Esposito: Hey, this is high-end stuff, Castle. Can I have this?
Castle: No.
Esposito: Why not? You're not a climber.
Castle: I spent a lot of money on this stuff. You want something, make me an offer.
Gates arrives at the door.
Gates: What the hell is going on here? Whose junk is this, and what the hell is it doing in my precinct?
Esposito: It's Castle's, sir.
Esposito looks at Castle with spite.
Gates: Mr. Castle.
Gates steps toward him menacingly.
Beckett: Uh, sir, actually, it's a part of an ongoing investigation.
Gates: I don't care. I want it gone, all of it.
Gates turns back to Castle and sees the ugly doll in his hands.
Gates: Is that...?
She reaches toward the doll.
Gates: Oh, it is. Do you know what you have? How rare that piece is?
Beckett: Sir? Are you a collector?
Gates: Ever since I was a kid. I have searched… For years.
Castle: Well... Search no more.
Gates: No.
Castle: Yes. It's yours.
Gates: Really? Well, I… I don't know wh… I…
Castle: Say you'll accept.
Gates takes the doll.
Gates: Oh. Thank you.
Gates stares at the doll, about to leave with it. She turns back to Castle.
Gates: Thank you very much.
Gates turns her focus back to the doll and waves.
Gates: Uh... Carry on.
Gates exits, staring at the ugly doll like a precious treasure. Beckett stares at Gates as she leaves.
Esposito: Oh, you can give her something, but you can't give me something?
Castle: Yeah, you already like me.
Ryan: Hey, guys. Mother lode. Tax returns. Looks like Johan Fleming's actually Wendell Dupree.
Beckett: That's the same last name as our victim.
Castle: Yes, and the same date of birth, too. They must be twins. Wait. Twins.
Castle snaps his fingers.
Castle: Of course. It all makes sense now. Wendell's secret identity - Johan Fleming - is the same secret identity of Zan, the male half of the Wonder Twins.
Beckett raises her eyebrows, not getting the reference.
Castle: Wonder Twins.
Castle turns to Ryan and Esposito, but they stare at him like he's crazy. Castle turns back to Beckett.
Castle: The Super Friends?
Beckett shrugs her shoulders. Castle turns back to R&E.
Castle: Seriously, you guys, do you not watch TV?
Esposito ignores Castle's comment.
Esposito: If this unit belonged to her brother, then why was Wendy bidding on it?
Ryan: And why did he stop making payments? And why was he using an alias?
Beckett: Why don't we track down Wendell and ask him?
Beckett exits and Castle follows, muttering under his breath.
Castle: Why don't you buy a TV?
Esposito watches something through the window as Ryan joins him at the table.
Esposito: Who knew that Gates had a softer side?
Gates is baby talking to the ugly doll in her office.
Gates: Oh, god. Just beautiful.
Esposito: It's um...
Ryan: Creepy. Very, very... Creepy.
Ryan stares at Gates through the window.
Esposito: So where are we on the brother?
Ryan: Oh, turns out the twins had a hard knock life.
Ryan hands Esposito a file.
Ryan: Their parents died in a car crash when they were teens. It's like Wendell never really fully recovered. He moved from town to town, getting in scrapes with the law.
Esposito: So where can we find him?
Ryan: In an urn.
Esposito raises his eyebrows and stops sipping his coffee.
Ryan: He died six weeks ago. Hit by a subway train.
Esposito: Ouch. Explains why his storage bill wasn't paid. It says here it was an accident?
Ryan: Well, the subway cameras were broken, so there's really no way to know for sure. If his death is related to Wendy's, we could be looking at a second murder.
Beckett hangs up the phone with a sigh.
Beckett: Okay, so that was one of Wendy's fellow waitresses from Philly. According to her, Wendy was convinced that her brother's death wasn't an accident. Apparently, he was involved in something dangerous.
Ryan: What kind of dangerous?
Beckett: Wendy didn't say, but according to this waitress, just before the subway accident, Wendell called his sister and said it was over and all of their problems were solved.
Esposito: And yet, he ends up dead and she was desperate enough to risk everything - her job, jail - just to go after her brother's storage unit. Why? I mean, we've been through all this stuff.
Castle is still searching through the junk, a beer hat on his head.
Esposito: It just seems like a bunch of random junk.
Beckett: Well, maybe it's just that we don't know exactly what we're looking for. I mean, whoever killed Wendy most likely came from Wendell's world. So what do we know about him?
Ryan reads from a file.
Ryan: For the last three months, using his Wonder Twin alias, Wendell worked as a chauffeur for one Angelica Henley, a wealthy socialite.
Beckett looks at the file.
Beckett: Okay. Then let's start here.
A fancy party is going on as Beckett and Castle enter.
Kirby Smith: Good evening.
Beckett and Castle turn around to find the butler with a tray of champagne as he closes the door behind them.
Kirby Smith: May I help you?
Beckett: Uh, we were hoping to speak with Ms. Henley.
Beckett shows him her badge.
Kirby Smith: The lady in the purple cocktail dress. May I take you to her?
Beckett: Uh, you know what? I think we can manage.
Castle: Champagne?
Castle grabs a glass from the butler's tray as they walk toward Angelica.
Beckett: I'm on duty.
Castle: Ah, alas, I'm forced to drink alone.
Castle takes a sip as they approach Angelica.
Beckett: Angelica Henley.
Beckett shows her badge.
Angelica Henley: "Anhelica." The "g" is silent.
Castle: Wouldn't that make it An-elica?
Angelica Henley: "Anhelica."
Beckett: Well, I'm Detective Kate Beckett, and this is Mr. Castle. Could we have a word?
The butler closes the door to shut out the party noise for them.
Angelica Henley: What's all this about? I have guests.
Beckett: Now, I understand that you employed a man named Johan Fleming.
Angelica Henley: Yes, and I was so heartbroken when the poor boy died.
Beckett: Well, were you aware that his real name was Wendell Dupree?
Angelica Henley: No, I wasn't.
Castle: Did he have any enemies?
Angelica Henley: No, I… I don't think so. Wait. You mean, his… His name was Wendell?
Beckett: Was he in trouble? Was he involved in any illegal activities?
Angelica Henley: No, no, no. The police cleared him.
Beckett: Of what?
Angelica Henley: Oh, well, two days before he died, I was robbed. Somebody broke in here and cracked my wall safe.
Castle: What did they take?
Angelica Henley: My bracelet made out of pink diamonds that was worth over four million dollars.
Castle: Wendell stole the bracelet.
Beckett: That's what's in the storage unit. That's why he was killed.
Castle enters to find boxes piled up in the living room.
Castle: Oh. Whoa-ho.
Alexis looks up from her bowl.
Castle: Whoop.
Castle ducks behind the boxes playfully.
Castle: Whoo.
Castle pops back up. Alexis looks back at her bowl, stirring the spoon gloomily.
Alexis: What are you so happy about?
Castle: There is a four million dollar diamond bracelet buried in my auction winnings. I'm rich. Or richer.
Alexis: Till Detective Beckett takes it from you and returns it to its rightful owner.
Castle: Yes, but not even that can ruin my day because tonight is my very special last-night-before-college dinner with my daughter.
Castle smiles happily.
Alexis: About that. Can we cancel?
Castle: What? Whoa. What? Why? Alexis, we made these plans months ago. Do you know how hard it is, even for me, to get reservations…
Alexis: If it's the reservations you care so much about, why don't you just take your girlfriend?
Alexis shoves her bowl into her dad's hands and storms off.
Castle: Hold on, Alexis. That's not...
He turns around the other way to face her.
Castle: That's not...
Alexis's door slams.
Castle: That's not what I meant.
In the conference room.
Beckett: Alexis hates me?
Castle cringes with his back to Beckett.
Beckett: Is it because we're together?
Castle: I guess she feels like she's being replaced, which is weird because she's never done this before - not with Gina, not with the hundreds of super-hot girlfriends I've…
Beckett: Okay, I don't need to hear this.
Beckett exits.
Castle: Right.
Castle follows.
Beckett: So, do you think I should talk to her?
Castle: No, no, no, no. No, she'll eat you alive. Let me handle it.
Ryan and Esposito walk up behind them.
Esposito: Handle what?
They both turn around.
Beckett & Castle: Nothing.
Ryan and Esposito pause for a moment, then Beckett gives Castle a sideways look as Ryan talks.
Ryan: So... Uniforms are going through Wendell's belongings, looking for the bracelet, but Robbery finally sent over the report on the break-in on Angelica Henley's. Take a look at these.
Ryan hands them a file of photos with Angelica wearing the bracelet.
Castle: Wow. A real beauty. Certainly worth killing for. I am speaking of the bracelet in case anyone is wondering.
Ryan: It was a two-man job, pretty sophisticated, too. One suspect put a bypass on the alarm in the basement.
Esposito: The other rappelled from the roof and went in through the window.
Castle: Which explains the climbing equipment you had your eye on.
Esposito glares at Castle.
Beckett: So, Wendell was suspiciously hit by a train after stealing a diamond bracelet, and then six weeks later, his sister goes looking for his storage unit, and she ends up dead.
Castle: What if it's a "No honour among thieves" thing? You said it was a two-man job. What if Wendell's partner decided that he wanted the bracelet for himself, only he killed Wendell before he figured out where he'd stashed it?
Beckett: So he follows Wendy, she leads him to the storage unit, and then he kills her.
Esposito: Find the partner, find the killer.
Beckett: Well, maybe we already found him.
Ryan: What do you mean?
Beckett: Castle, do you remember at the auction, all of the bidders dropped out after fifteen-hundred.
Castle: Except one.
Beckett: He knew what was inside.
Castle: Why else would he bid so high?
Beckett and Esposito stand outside the apartment door wearing police vests.
Beckett: Felix Gozarian, NYPD. Open up.
Felix Gozarian: Just a second!
They hear some muffled clattering inside the apartment.
Esposito: He's making a run for it.
Beckett: Yeah. Go.
They stand back and Esposito kicks in the door.
Esposito: NYPD!
They go in, guns at the ready, and boxes topple down on them. They get to their feet, guns raised, in time to stop Felix in his tracks as he holds a baseball bat.
Beckett: Don't move.
Esposito: Drop it.
Felix drops the bat.
Esposito sits in a chair, a bat on his knees, looking around at the piles of stuff stacked around the room.
Felix Gozarian: I thought you were thieves trying to steal my stuff. I had absolutely no idea what was in the storage unit.
Beckett: Yet, unlike anyone else there, you bid us through the roof.
Felix Gozarian: Lady, that's strategy. I… I bid on a lot of things. That's how I make my money.
Esposito: So you actually...sell this stuff?
Felix Gozarian: Not yet. I'm still organizing, cataloging. There's a method to all of this-- you know, what I collect, what I bid on.
Beckett: Especially when you got inside information. You knew exactly what was in that unit.
Felix Gozarian: No, I didn't.
Esposito stands over Felix with one of the bats and swings it into his free hand menacingly.
Felix Gozarian: Yeah, you know, I was thinking, when I signed up for the auction, there was a guy. Yeah, offered me five-hundred dollars to be his proxy, get unit three-seventeen. Very specific. Three-seventeen.
Esposito: And what'd you say?
Felix Gozarian: I said no. Five-hundred dollars? I'm not in for the short money. It made me curious. Three-seventeen. Why?
Beckett: That was probably Wendell's partner.
Esposito: Mm-hmm.
Beckett: And was he at the auction?
Felix Gozarian: No. No, no, no, no. I never saw him again.
Beckett: We're gonna need you to sit with a sketch artist.
Castle reads through a book he found in his junk.
Beckett: So, Felix alibied out. But...
Beckett holds up a face sketch.
Castle: Who's that?
Beckett: Wendell's partner. Ryan and Esposito are trying to ID him now. How about you?
Castle: I have ripped through everything in this room big enough to hide a bracelet. You know what I found?
Beckett: Nothing?
Castle: Absolutely nothing. Save for these wicked nunchakus, which is how I broke the hot dog maker.
Castle points to the hot dog maker with the nunchakus and Beckett rolls her eyes.
Castle: Also some notable books - Slovakian polka music, prosthetic eye manufacturing, and my favourite, a History of Irish Travellers.
Beckett shakes her head as she walks away.
Beckett: I don't get it. All of the evidence, Wendy's murder - everything points to the fact that that bracelet should be in there.
Castle: Well, it's not. I did, however, make some headway on my little stick man theory.
Beckett: Really?
Castle sits in the chair by Beckett’s desk.
Castle: Yes. Whilst you were still an officer, you risked your life running into traffic to save an old gypsy woman.
Beckett: A gypsy woman?
Castle: An old gypsy woman. To reward your bravery, she gave you a talisman.
Beckett: Mm-hmm.
Castle: She said, as long as you keep it, no harm will ever befall you.
Beckett: “No harm will ever befall me”?
Castle: You look all right to me.
Gates: So, Mr. Castle…
Gates approaches and Castle gets out of the chair to face her.
Gates: I decided to give Frozen Heat a read, and you know what? It’s really a good book.
Castle: You liked it?
Gates: I loved it.
Beckett’s eyes widen in shock.
Gates: I, uh, do you mind?
Gates hands her copy of Frozen Heat to Castle for him to sign.
Castle: No.
Gates: I… I ordered the rest of the Nikki Heat series.
Gates and Castle chuckle and he hands the signed book back to her.
Gates: And, again, thank you for my Gemini collectable. I now have a complete set.
Gates walks off happily.
Castle: You see that? She loves me now, and I’ve got that scary little monstrosity to thank for it.
Ryan pops his head out of the media room.
Ryan: Hey, guys. You need to see this.
In the media room.
Ryan: So, Robbery interviewed a guy named Marco Vinstrolli.
Ryan pulls up Marco’s driver’s license photo on the screen.
Ryan: His van got a parking ticket around the corner the night that Angelica’s bracelet was stolen. Now, they found nothing to connect him, but…
Ryan pulls up the sketch on the screen and places it next to the license photo.
Ryan: Look familiar?
Beckett: That’s our guy.
Ryan: The storage manager said that he rented Marco a unit on the same floor the day before the auction. So I… I reviewed their surveillance tapes. This is from 6:00 AM yesterday morning. Five hours before the auction.
Ryan plays the surveillance footage showing Marco opening the 317 storage unit. Castle stands up in outrage.
Castle: He broke into my storage unit. Well, it’s… It was Wendell’s at the time, but now it’s mine.
Castle watches the video continue to play. Marco wheels something out of the storage unit.
Castle: Is that a safe?
Beckett: That’s why we couldn’t find your bracelet, because it was in the safe.
Castle: My safe.
Beckett: So, do we have a license on that van?
The fantastic four’s cars screech to a halt in an alleyway where Marco’s van is parked. They get out wearing their police vests. Marco is in the process of sawing through the safe.
Ryan: NYPD, put up your hands!
Marco stops sawing.
Beckett: Take your hand off your tool, Marco!
Marco drops the electric saw. Esposito and Ryan snicker.
Beckett: Shut up.
Beckett slaps a photo of the storage unit surveillance footage on the table.
Beckett: Marco, we know that you and Wendell were partners. Your van was ticketed when you guys pulled the job.
Esposito: Robbery couldn’t prove it before, but now with these, well, we got you.
Marco Vinstrolli: Well, it seems to me like all you’ve got me for is stealing a safe. What’s the punishment for that, thirty days?
Beckett: More like thirty years, after we add Wendell and Wendy’s murders to it.
Beckett pulls out Wendell’s photo and Wendy’s crime scene corpse photo.
Marco Vinstrolli: Murder?
Beckett: Why don’t you tell us exactly what happened and we’ll get the DA to cut you a deal? But you better hurry, because they’re cutting through that safe, and when they find that diamond bracelet, you’re on your own.
Castle chuckles excitedly as the police light a blow torch to open the safe.
Castle: You know what I love about this case?
Ryan: What’s that?
Castle: Finding a pretty pink bracelet in my belongings.
Ryan: You know you’re gonna have to return that…
Castle: I know, Ryan! I know that. Can’t you just let me have this moment, this one small Treasure Island, Indiana Jones moment?
Ryan: Sorry. You got it.
Castle: Well, it’s too late now. It’s ruined.
In the interrogation room.
Marco Vinstrolli: All I did was help him break in to that penthouse. I swear to god, I didn’t even know they guy. Johan or Wendell, whatever, paid me five grand to kill the alarms, no questions asked. We did the job, he came out happy, said “Mission accomplished,” we went separate ways.
Beckett: Except you still wanted the bracelet. So you went after him and you killed him.
Marco Vinstrolli: I didn’t even know that he took that damn bracelet until I read about it in the papers. And by that time, he was already dead. So I broke into Wendell’s, but all I found was a key, marked “Storage unit.”
Esposito: And you didn’t know where that storage unit was.
Marco Vinstrolli: So I kept a close eye on upcoming auctions until I found one with Johan’s name. As soon as I saw the safe inside, I knew… That’s where he had stashed that diamond bracelet.
The lock on the safe door clanks to the ground.
Castle: Oh, I love this part – the kick of adrenaline, the quickening of the heart, those last few drops of anticipation.
The safe cracker opens the door.
Beckett opens the safe door.
Beckett: It’s empty. So where is the bracelet?
Castle: Wherever it is, it’s laughing at me.
Esposito: Maybe Marco was wrong, and Wendell sold it before he was killed.
Ryan: Well, then where’s the money from the sale? No money means there should be a bracelet. No bracelet means there should be money.
Castle: I think the question we should be asking is, how did Wendell even pull off a heist like this to begin with? Angelica said that the thief cracked the wall safe. Do you know how hard it is to crack a wall safe? Especially since Wendell didn’t even have any of the proper equipment in his storage unit. It just…
Esposito: Doesn’t make any sense?
Castle: Thank you.
Beckett: Unless Angelica wasn’t telling us the truth.
Castle enters and hands Beckett a cup of coffee.
Beckett: Listen to this. Angelica was scheduled for a bankruptcy hearing a week ago, but it was cancelled because she made a two-million dollar payment to her creditors.
Castle: That’s right after the insurance company paid her claim on the bracelet. What if this whole thing was a ploy to commit insurance fraud?
Beckett: “Mission accomplished.” That’s what Wendell said after the break-in. “Mission accomplished.”
Beckett leans forward in her intensity.
Castle: Right. He didn’t say he actually stole anything. The mission was to make it look like a robbery.
Castle steps closer to Beckett in his enthusiasm.
Beckett: And the best way to make it look real, to fool the police and the insurance company…
Castle steps closer.
Castle: Is to actually break in, yet steal nothing. Angelica set this whole thing up.
Beckett steps closer.
Beckett: And the only other person that knew was Wendell.
Castle: She couldn’t afford to let him or his sister expose her secret.
Beckett: I call that motive for murder and probable cause for a search warrant.
Beckett and Castle are both smirk with success, now inches from one another. They hold each other’s intense gaze for a moment, building with sexual tension. Then they realize they’re at the precinct.
Beckett: Oh.
Castle: Oh.
Beckett and Castle turn away from each other.
Castle: Good work.
Beckett: Thank you.
Castle and Beckett sips their coffee.
At Angelica Henley’s penthouse.
Kirby Smith: I’m sorry, Ms. Henley. They just barged in. I tried to stop them…
Angelica Henley: You people have no grounds to search my residence.
Esposito: Actually…
Esposito pulls out the search warrant.
Esposito: … We do.
Angelica Henley: This is outrageous.
Castle: She’s right. This is outrageous. And you know what you should do? Open that wall safe and prove us wrong.
Angelica blanches.
Ryan: Fine. We can just tear it out of the wall if you’d like.
Angelica Henley: No, no, no, no, no, no. No, no.
Angelica goes to the safe and turns the dial. The latch clicks open and she steps away. Beckett steps forward and opens the safe. The others wait tensely.
Castle: Well, is it there?
Beckett pulls the pink diamond bracelet out of the safe.
Castle: Hello, gorgeous.
In the interrogation room.
Beckett: This little beauty has caused a lot of trouble, hasn’t it?
Angelica Henley: That’s what beautiful things do, my dear. At least to me.
Castle: So why didn’t you just sell it and solve all your money problems instead of hiring Wendell to stage a robbery?
Angelica Henley: I didn’t hire Wendell. I didn’t even know he was involved in all of this until you told me.
Beckett: So the fact that he broke in the same night that you called and reported this stolen, that’s just a coincidence?
Angelica Henley: Look, when I came home and saw that my apartment had been burglarized, I was… I was panicked, shocked. Until I saw that nothing had been taken. So I thought that if I simply pretended that my bracelet had been stolen… Hmph… It would solve all my problems.
Beckett: Except you created two new problems – your chauffeur and his sister – both of whom are now dead.
Angelica Henley: I think it’s time for me to call my attorney.
Near the bullpen.
Beckett: So she admitted to insurance fraud hoping to avoid murder charges. At least, I think that’s her play.
Castle: You think?
Beckett: Yeah, she’s a desperate woman on the verge of losing her wealth. That’s death to someone like her. She’s probably willing to do anything to avoid it – lie, steal, cheat, and in this case, kill.
Castle: Yeah, but that still doesn’t explain the storage locker. I mean, if Wendell didn’t steal anything, what did he put in there that his sister was so desperate to get? And if it didn’t have anything to do with her murder, why would she write the locker number in her blood?
Beckett: Castle, you went through that storage unit with a fine-tooth comb. You said that there’s nothing of value in there.
Castle: Well, yeah, nothing of value to us. But I mean, what about something of value to them?
Beckett: Like what?
Castle: I don’t know. Like a trinket, an heirloom. The answer’s in there somewhere. It has to be. Anyway. It’s getting late. I have to drop off Alexis first thing in the morning. Fresh start tomorrow?
Beckett: Sure.
Castle: Walk you out?
Beckett: Uh, you know what? I gotta stick around. I have to go over Angelica’s alibi.
Castle: All right.
Castle turns to look at Beckett and they’re struck by their goodbye restrictions.
Castle: I so wish I could kiss you right now.
Beckett: Yeah, I know.
Castle thinks for a moment, then holds out his hand.
Castle: This is me…
Beckett takes his hand.
Castle: … Softly touching your face, pulling you in for a long, slow kiss.
Beckett smiles.
Beckett: And this is me kissing you back…
Beckett rubs his hand with her thumb.
Beckett: … Running my hands through your hair.
Castle: Best handshake ever.
Beckett smiles.
Beckett: Yeah.
They keep holding hands.
Castle: I think my hand’s getting a little sweaty.
Beckett: I know. It’s kind of gross.
They let go.
Castle: Sorry.
Beckett: No worries.
Castle leaves and Beckett pretends to turn back to the murder board, but she’s not really looking at it. She walks away with a small smile.
In Alexis’s dorm room.
Martha: Oh, Alexis. My darling, farewell. God knows when we shall meet again. That’s Shakespeare, you know.
Alexis: I know.
Martha: All right. No farewells. No goodbyes. Just see ya later, kiddo.
Alexis: See you later, Gram.
Martha: I’ll be in the hall, darling.
Castle: All right.
Martha exits. Alexis sits down on her new bed.
Castle: So… This is your new home, huh?
Alexis nods, but doesn’t say anything. Castle sits down next to her.
Castle: Hey, look, I get it. I do. But whatever happens between Beckett and me, I want you to know – I mean, we could break up tomorrow, we could spend the rest of our lives together – but she will never take your place in my heart.
Alexis: Why would I be worried about Detective Beckett replacing me?
Castle is surprised.
Castle: Uh, well… You were act… I thought…
Alexis: How can you be so smart and so clueless at the same time?
Castle: Practice.
Alexis: This is no more about Beckett than it’s about the fact my mother isn’t here.
Castle: Sorry, honey, but your mom, she’s in…
Alexis: No. No, it’s fine. It’s always been fine, because no matter what, I’d wake up, and you’d be there, and I’d know that everything’s fine.
Castle: Oh, and when you wake up here…
Alexis: Then I’m here. And you’re there. Even though there is only five miles away… It’s not here.
Castle: Well, everything is going to be fine. And you are gonna be fine. And though I am there, if you need me here, here is where I’ll be.
Castle stands up and kisses Alexis on the forehead and walks toward the door.
Alexis: Hey, Dad.
Castle stops and turns around.
Alexis: I… I know it’s been a while, but, um… Could you do it… One last time?
Castle walks back toward the bed and Alexis moves out of his way. He stops at the bed, crouches down and looks under it as Alexis watches, then straightens up and looks at her.
Castle: No monsters.
Alexis: You sure?
Castle stands.
Castle: Yeah. And if there are, I’ll come running.
He kisses her on the cheek. Alexis watches him leave. He stops just outside the door and they smile bitter sweetly at each other. Castle walks off and Alexis sniffles.
At Columbia University.
Martha: Darling, are you crying.
Castle: No, it’s allergies. The pollen count is high.
Martha: The pollen count’s gotten to me, too.
They hug each other.
Castle: Right?
Martha: I know.
They hold each other for a moment. then Castle sees a student with a teddy bear backpack.
Castle: You can get home by yourself, right?
Martha: Well, I…
Castle dashes off.
Castle: Thanks! Love you, Mother!
Castle nearly bumps into the other man in the elevator as he steps out excitedly. He catches Beckett on her way to the bullpen.
Castle: I know where it is.
Beckett: Where what is?
Castle: I don’t know what it is, only where it is. Whatever Wendell stole was only of value to him and his twin sister. So he would hide it in the one place only she would look.
Castle pulls Beckett into Gates’s office.
Castle: Wendy, Wendell, twins – as in Gemini collectibles.
Castle picks up an ugly doll from Gates’s desk.
Castle: This is it.
Castle tips the doll upside down and drops it.
Beckett: Castle!
The doll shatters on the floor.
Castle: It’s empty. That’s can’t be right.
Gates enters.
Gates: What…
Beckett: Sir, just breathe.
Gates: What the hell have you done?!
Castle: I thought.
Gates: Y… You thought what, Mr. Castle?
Castle: I just thought that Wendell would’ve hidden what he stole inside the Gemini…
Gates: It wasn’t Wendell’s! It’s was mine! I brought it in from home this morning!
Castle: All right, that’s my bad. Wait. That means…
Castle turns around looking at the office.
Castle: Ah, here it is.
Castle picks up Wendell’s doll.
Gates: D… D… D…NO!
The doll shatters on the floor.
Beckett: A USB drive and a glass eye.
Gates glares at Castle.
Castle: I didn’t see that coming.
Castle leans to look through the window at Gates cleaning up the shattered dolls in her office. She looks up sharply and glares at him.
Beckett: Okay, so the photos from this USB drive are from a crime scene.
Castle: A crime scene where?
Beckett: Mercer, Pennsylvania. They’re about a decade old. It was a hit-and-run.
Esposito: What does any of this have to do with a glass eye? Weren’t the twins’ parents killed in a car crash ten years ago?
Ryan: Yeah, they were rear-ended, and their car went down an embankment.
Ryan pulls out a photo of the embankment.
Ryan: Report said that they were trapped inside and bled out, and that if the person who hit them would’ve stopped and called for help, they might have lived.
Beckett: Hey, guys. Look at this photo. It’s from the crime scene, and it’s of a broken glass eye.
Esposito: What?
Esposito takes the photo.
Castle: A glass eye? Wait a minute.
Castle looks at the photo of the glass eye at the crime scene.
Castle: Of course. It all makes sense now.
Ryan: It does?
Castle: Wendell’s obsession… Why he moved from place to place, why he came to New York, why he used a fake name, and had a book on prosthetic eyes. He was… He was on a mission.
Esposito: Yeah, but on a mission to do what?
Castle: Well, to find the person responsible for his parents’ death. In order to be sure, Wendell had to steal the suspect’s glass eye. That’s what the heist was about.
Beckett: And like fingerprints, he used that photo to compare the eyes.
Castle: A la Richard Kimble, but instead of looking for a one armed man.
Beckett: He was looking for a one-eyed man. Or in our case, a one-eyed woman.
At Angelica Henley’s penthouse.
Angelica Henley: I’m not saying a word without my lawyer.
Castle: You don’t have to, but you might want to listen.
Beckett: We know what Wendell stole
Angelica Henley: That’s it. I’m calling my attorney.
Castle: Uh… May I?
Beckett: Yes.
Castle: Thank you.
Beckett: Mm-hmm.
Castle: I’ve worked a lot of murder cases, waiting patiently for the day I could unequivocally exclaim, “The butler did it!”
Castle turns and points to the butler, who stops shining the silverware.
Kirby Smith: What?
Castle: Must’ve been a shock. All these years later, after you put all that behind you, to have someone walk into your life and stir it all back up again.
Angelica Henley: Kirby. What’s he talking about?
Beckett stops Angelica from approaching the butler.
Beckett: Your live-in butler caused a car accident and then fled the scene. Because he did, two people lost their lives. And those people were Wendell’s parents.
Kirby Smith: That is… Absolutely ridiculous. And you can’t prove any of it.
Beckett: Your DNA was on the prosthetic eye that Wendell stole. And it’s a match to the DNA found on the shell casing in Wendy’s hotel room.
Castle: It’s all over.
Kirby slowly puts down the fork he was shining.
Kirby Smith: I worked… So hard to put that night – that horrible night – behind me.
Castle: And then the break in.
Kirby Smith: Of all the things to steal, my spare eye from off my bureau. That’s when I put it all together – who the new chauffeur truly was and what he was trying to prove. But you… You have to understand… I couldn’t bring their parents back. I… I couldn’t. So why should I suffer?
Beckett: Kirby Smith, you’re under arrest for the murders of Wendell and Wendy Dupree.
Beckett cuffs the butler. And I am sure that the State of Pennsylvania will be adding two counts of vehicular manslaughter to that.
Near the bullpen?.
Beckett: Kirby name a full confession. He’d read an article about a recent mugging in the subway station, and decided to kill Wendell there because he knew that the cameras wouldn’t be working.
Castle: But the evidence that Wendell stole was still out there, so was his sister Wendy. When she started poking around storage spaces, Kirby tracked her to the hotel and shot her.
Gates looks straight at Castle.
Gates: Worthless bastard.
Castle: I’m sorry?
Gates: He took out their whole family. Good job, Detective.
Beckett: Thank you.
Castle turns to Gates with a smile, but she glares at him. His smile drops and Gates leaves. Beckett smiles at the exchange.
Castle: And… She hates me again.
Beckett: Yeah, well, those Gemini dolls obviously meant a lot to her.
Castle: Yeah, I wonder what that story is.
They walk past the conference room full of junk to Beckett’s desk.
Beckett: I wonder what those stories are. What are you gonna do with all of that stuff, Castle?
Castle: Well, I’ll give the climbing equipment to Javier, and then, uh, donate the rest, I guess. It served its purpose, brought justice to his family. But it just goes to show you that everyone and everything has a story, including your little stick man there.
Beckett opens her desk drawer.
Beckett: So…
She takes out the stick man.
Beckett: You want to take another shot?
Castle: Actually, no.
Beckett raises her eyebrows.
Castle: I thought about what you said. And you’re right. Just because we’ve been…shaking hands… A lot… Doesn’t mean that I have the right to pry. So… When you are ready, you’ll tell me.
Beckett smiles and Castle waits patiently for her response.
Beckett: Coney Island.
Castle leans his forward with his elbow on the desk and rests his face on his hand, waiting for a good story.
Beckett: We, uh, we had a reception at our place after my mom’s funeral and... It was miserable. I was miserable, and my dad… Took my hand and he said, uh, “Let’s get the hell outta here, Katie.” And we took the Q train, and we went up to Coney Island. And we walked up and down that beach, just enjoying ourselves. We were still in our funeral clothes. And the best part was that we made this little guy…
Beckett fingers the stick man.
Beckett: … Out of the twigs and twine that washed up on the shore.
Castle: Does that make that day a bad memory or a good one?
Beckett: Both. He’s a reminder that even on the worst days, there’s a possibility for joy.
Castle smiles warmly.
Castle: Nice.
Castle gets up from the chair.
Beckett: So, we’ll talk tonight?
Castle leans over Beckett’s desk and shakes her hand.
Castle: I can’t wait.
Castle leaves. Beckett smiles down at her stick man and puts it away.
Castle enters the quiet loft. He finds Alexis’s gold medal and smiles down at it affectionately.
Castle: My little girl.
Martha enters.
Martha: Alexis’ moving out got me to thinking. And after many hours of soul searching, I have made a decision.
Castle: Have you now?
Martha: Yes. I have decided, out of the goodness of my heart, that I will continue to live here…
Castle: Rent-free.
Martha: Please don’t interrupt. I will continue to live here so that you, Richard… Will never, ever be alone.
Castle presses his lips together, holding in his amusement.
Castle: You’d do that for me, Mother?
Martha: It’s a… Parent’s sacrifice.
Martha holds Castle’s face between her hands for a moment, then goes toward the living room. Castle sits down on the bottom step of the stairs, fingering Alexis’s gold medal with a smile.