07x09 - Last Action Hero

[bunniefuu]

(OBJECT CLANGS)

(CLATTERING)

Oh, my God!
It's Lance DeLorca.

Really? This was in
fashion in the '90s?

Yeah, I used to rock that
in school with my Doc Martens.

You do realize we have a full
range of All-Clad at home?

Except this one's my favorite.

My nonna used to make me
scrambled eggs in it

when I was little.
Gotcha.

Okay, so I'm gonna leave the
rest of this kitchen stuff here

for when my cousin
Sofia moves in.

You know, I don't think
I'm gonna miss this place.

What do you mean?

Well, the floors creak,

and we can hear everything Mr.
Kubiak does in his bathroom.

You never said anything
about it before.

That doesn't matter now.
You're moving out.

(CELL PHONE RINGS)

(CELL PHONE BEEPS)

Beckett.

(INDISTINCT SIREN WAILS)

(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)
BECKETT: Thanks.

CASTLE: You okay?

Yeah, sure. I'm fine.

ESPOSITO: Which can't be said
for our dead guy.

Usher was closing up last night around
11:30, saw someone fleeing the scene.

That's when he found the body.

Did he see what that
someone looked like?

Just a figure in a dark coat.

As far as our vic goes, there's
no wallet, no ID, no cell.

But the usher thinks
he might be...

Lance DeLorca.

Who's Lance DeLorca?

He's that guy!

He's one of the biggest
action heroes of the 1980s,

and a huge role model
from my youth.

Okay, well, he does
look a little familiar.

A little? He's the star of
all the Hard k*ll movies.

Ex-Navy SEAL,
Zen master Rico Cruz,

with the catchphrase,
"Time to hit Cruz control"?

Yeah, I was never a fan.

RYAN: Me neither.
What's he done lately, anyway?

Yeah, right?
b*at leukemia.

Yeah, he hadn't acted in years.

Suffered a couple of setbacks

due to dr*gs, alcohol,
and some box office flops.

But Lance lived in LA. I wonder
what he was doing in town.

And at this theater. Did he come
here to watch one of his own movies?

The usher said no.

And there was no ticket stub
found on the body.

There is perimortem bruising
on his hands and torso.

Castle's idol must have gotten into a
fight not too long before he d*ed.

Cause of death is clearly
strangulation by ligature.

A narrow ligature,
from the looks of it.

RYAN: Made by a thin wire,
tied to two wooden dowels.

CSU found this in the dumpster.

A garrote?
Who would use one of those?

Special Forces will sometimes,
when you want to k*ll quietly.

The bigger question is, how'd they
get the drop on Lance DeLorca?

Uh, Lance played an action hero, Castle.
Doesn't mean he was one.

(SPEAKING FRENCH)

Lance was born in Spain,

where, before he became an actor,
he was a member of the CNI.

The Spanish Intelligence Agency.

He was Black Ops.
This man was a lethal w*apon.

Yeah, well, not lethal enough.

Have CSU take a look at the
m*rder w*apon for prints.

I'll get ahold
of his next of kin.

We'll see if they know who
might have done this to him.

Every man has his price, El Jefe.
Name yours, and we can end this.

There he is.

Lance DeLorca, as Rico Cruz,
squaring off with El Jefe,

the ruthless drug lord,
played by Henry Boothe.

See, in this scene,

El Jefe has just abducted a
brilliant but buxom archeologist

from a dig in Cartagena.

Now, Rico is trying to pay him
ransom to get her released.

EL JEFE: You play
a dangerous game, senor.

I got your zero, Rico. You need
backup, just say the word.

"You need backup,
just say the word."

I'll take 'em all out.
(GIGGLES)

I was raised by a single mother.
Hard k*ll was how I got my bro-time.

That explains so much.

Mmm-hmm.

That's Rico's partner
in all the Hard k*ll movies.

Booker Dane, played
by Brock Harmon.

Yeah, the guy from The
Indestructibles movies.

Where all the bad-ass action heroes
band together for one last mission.

Before they die of old age.

Hey! That's a great film.
And so is the sequel.

El Jefe's henchwoman, played
by Brock's wife, Naomi Duvray.

The one in the black.

Get your hands off me.

Shut up!

There she is, Mr. Cruz.
Your precious archeologist.

The redhead? She's an archeologist?
That strains credibility.

Yeah, in a good way.

Hard at work
investigating, I see.

Uh, actually, I just called TSA.

And Lance flew into town
two weeks ago.

We're still trying to run down
where he was staying.

ESPOSITO: And I had CSU
take a look at that garrote.

There's no prints or DNA, but it's made
out of a high-strength monofilament.

And I found the next of kin.

The archeologist? Yeah,
Lance married the actress.

Her name is Kat Kingsley.

I know what her name is.

While you were having your B-movie
festival, I tracked her down.

She's in New York.

She's sh**ting a film,
and she's on her way in now.

She's coming here?

I had her poster
on my wall for, like...

For about a minute.

Hmm.

You know, maybe you should
sit this one out, Castle.

This doesn't seem real.
Like it's just a bad dream.

Miss Kingsley,
do you know of anyone

that would have wanted
to harm your husband?

No, of course not.

And when was the last
time you talked to him?

It was a week ago.

We tried to meet for lunch,
but it never worked out.

A week ago? The two of you
weren't staying together?

We were getting a divorce.

I saw Lance through
his cancer treatment,

but after all the years, the highs, the
lows, neither of us had anything left.

I mean, it was all amicable.

Do you know
what he was doing in town?

He was sh**ting a film with his
old partner, Brock Harmon.

What film?

Uh, the next Indestructibles movie.
Brock's directing.

In fact, Lance
was staying with him.

So if there was trouble,
Brock would know about it.

MAN: Go, go, go!

(MEN GRUNTING)

This is so cheesy.
(SHUSHING)

And by "cheesy,"
she means amazing.

Come on, behold the
miracle of cinema.

The real miracle is how a girl like that
is hanging out with a bunch of guys

who are old enough
to be her grandfather.

That's Serafina.

The mixed-martial-arts star. She
could b*at all those guys to a pulp.

Who's that guy?

Didn't you make me watch
a movie with him in it?

CASTLE: Rolf Magnus.

He's a Nordic bodybuilder,
card-carrying member of Mensa.

I don't know, Castle. Maybe I
just like the old-school guys.

You know, like Eastwood, Bronson, McQueen.
Real actors.

Well, then check out Clay Biggs.

Graduated top of his class at
Juilliard, in contrast to Brock Harmon,

who made his on-screen debut as a
p*rn star known as Brock the...

Cut! That's a cut.
(BELL RINGS)

Steve, get me something
that works, or get a new job.

(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)

Thank you.
(SIGHS)

Mr. Harmon, Detective Beckett.
This is Mr. Castle.

Hi, Mr. Harmon.
Huge fan. Huge fan.

(STAMMERING)
It's an honor to meet you.

The honor's mine.

I've passed many an hour in
the john reading your books.

We're here about Lance DeLorca.

Ah. Sad day for me.
And my family.

NAOMI: Here you go, darling.

Thanks, babe.

Well, if you're a fan of mine,
you know my wife, Naomi Duvray.

And her jewelry line, too, I hope.
(NAOMI CHUCKLES)

She just launched a
spring collection. Nice.

You were just outstanding as El Jefe's
henchwoman in Hard k*ll. I was... Ooh.

Oh, That is so sweet.
(CHUCKLES)

I had a mean roundhouse kick,
but I wasn't much of an actor.

Well, never stopped me.

(ALL CHUCKLE)

Oh, uh, this is my son, Trey.

Good to meet you.

Uh, Mr. Harmon,
could we speak privately?

Oh, sure.

(GRUNTING)

BROCK: Transplant from
a bone-marrow donor.

That's what put Lance
in remission, saved his life.

He knew he'd been
given a second chance.

He got sober,
cleaned up his act.

That's why I gave him
a part in the movie.

This could have
been his big comeback.

So we understand that
he was staying with you.

How did he seem?

Quiet.
Secretive, I'd even say.

Lance was always a man of few words,
but even fewer this time out.

Any idea what he was doing on the
Lower East Side last night at 11:30?

I didn't even know
he was in town.

You said he was
staying with you.

Right, Lance wrapped last week.

I was told transportation took him
straight from the set to the airport.

Okay, well, my detectives will
need to speak with the driver,

along with anyone else
that Lance knew.

'Course.

Um, what exactly happened?
How'd he die?

Um, he was strangled.

With a garrote.

Does that mean something to you?

You know Lance was CNI, right?

BECKETT:
Spanish Intelligence.

But what does that
have to do with his m*rder?

Everything.

He was a CNI assassin.

That was his signature. He
k*lled people with a garrote.

Which is why it was
used to k*ll him.

Lance was m*rder*d because
he's the Spanish Jason Bourne!

Why, Castle? Because a B action
movie star in a kimono said so?

Because it makes sense.

Lance was drawing on his experience
as a ruthless CNI operative

to play action heroes.

But his shadowy past
caught up with him.

Maybe it was revenge for a
hit he did back in the day.

k*ll him the way he k*lled.

Castle, he left
CNI 30 years ago.

Why would his past
catch up to him now?

Mr. Castle might
just be right about CNI.

Ah-ha!

How am I right?

Esposito and Ryan are off
interviewing folks on the set,

but before they left,
they got on to something.

They pulled Lance's
phone records,

and the day he d*ed, he made a
phone call to Interpol in Spain.

To the office of
one Enrique Gomez.

What does Gomez
have to do with CNI?

According to his bio,
Gomez used to work there.

At the same time
Lance DeLorca did.

So Lance reaches out
to another ex-agent,

and he's k*lled with a garrote?

Mark my words, (SIGHS)

this case is gonna lead us into
a labyrinthian world of deceit,

villainy and
international espionage.

This is better than
one of his movies.

After what I saw,
it'd have to be.

Yeah, thanks.

Update.
I contacted Interpol

to track down that guy Lance
called, Enrique Gomez.

Well, it turns out Gomez is here in
New York for a meeting at the UN.

Where was he
last night at 11:30?

On a red-eye in from Madrid.
He arrived early this morning.

So he's not our k*ller.

But Interpol will send him
over here for an interview.

He might have
insight on the m*rder.

Well, I talked to CNI to ask
them about Lance's time there,

about missions that he was involved
in, enemies that he might have had,

and they are stonewalling me.

Intelligence agencies like CNI

avoid disclosing information
on their employees.

But I do have contacts
in the State Department.

Let me just ask around.

Great. I've reached out to my
guys in Washington as well.

Hey, Beckett. I think we got
something from that movie set.

We talked to the driver
who took Lance to the airport.

Only that's not what he did.

Lance asked the driver
to drop him off

at some seedy hotel
on Broome Street.

ESPOSITO: And he didn't want
anybody to know about it.

He paid the driver 100 bucks to lie
and say he dropped Lance off at JFK.

Why would he go to this hotel?

Well, that's where
it gets weird.

The unis we sent to canvass said

that Lance had rented a room
there for the past week.

Under the name Rico Cruz,
his character from Hard k*ll.

Uh, okay, have unis check for
security video at the hotel,

and let's round up any of Lance's
personal effects from his room.

RYAN: Yeah.

Thanks, L.T.

You know, I don't understand.

Why would Lance leave Brock
Harmon's Fifth Avenue digs

to go stay in a flophouse?

And without telling anyone. He
was definitely up to something.

Hey! A Hard k*ll DVD.

Looks like Lance was trying
to relive the old days.

RYAN:
"Time to hit Cruz control."

You know, maybe that's
what I need. A catchphrase.

"Time to mete out justice."

"Time for prison time."

Yeah, you keep
working on that, bro.

"Time to pay the bill
for doing the k*ll."

Okay, on second thought, don't.

Hey, building schematics?

There's a bunch of
weird stuff in this box.

Soldering iron,
blue craft paint,

a microphone, a USB drive.
Both empty cases.

Looks like he was
building something.

Like a recording device.

And then he added
stickers to it?

Stickers?
What the hell is that about?

I don't know, but the
two and five are missing.

Hmm.

"Trey." Hey, this must be Trey
Harmon, Brock Harmon's kid.

Why would Lance call him?

He wanted to ask me about
the New York club scene.

That's my thing.
I'm a club promoter.

But I kind of shut him
down, to be honest.

Why is that?

After the cancer, he got sober.

No way I was gonna help him

fall off the wagon
and start partying again.

Hmm.

Do you recognize this?

Think it might be the
floor plan to a club?

(MAN GROANING)

BROCK: I barely touched you.
(CLATTERING)

I don't know. I can't
really tell what that is.

Did Lance have this?

Yeah, and we don't think
that he wanted to party.

Did he explain to you why
he was interested in clubs?

Not really.

He just said that there was something
he needed to take care of.

CASTLE: "There was something
he needed to take care of."

I have a theory!

Great! 'Cause right now,
I could use one.

It's a classic
action movie plot device.

Lance, his Black Op
days long behind him,

decides to go on
one final mission.

To vanquish his old nemesis.

Which would be?

Uh, it's a rival assassin, who was once
his best friend but then betrayed him.

Or, actually, a
Blofeld-style supervillain,

who k*lled Lance's wife
and then disappeared.

Yeah, but Kat Kingsley
is still alive.

No, Lance's other wife from his
tragic but secret CNI past.

Now, I admit I'm a little
sketchy on the details

of the mission and the nemesis,

but bottom line is,
Lance embarked on a mission.

The years had caught up with
him, he had lost his step.

So he was dispatched
by another operative

who was younger,
quicker and deadlier.

And possibly female.

Tory screened that security cam video
from the hotel and found this.

That's Lance leaving through the hotel
lobby on his last day on Earth.

And 10 seconds later,
this woman goes after him.

That's her!
That's the operative!

She's wearing a dark coat, just like
the person who left the crime scene.

She must have
trailed Lance from the hotel,

then moved in for the k*ll.

She's blond, but she
might be wearing a wig.

Take a look at her sunglasses

and the way that she's angled
her face away from the camera.

She didn't want to be ID'd.

She may have gotten her wish.
(CELL PHONE CHIMES)

Tory said there's not enough
here to run facial recognition.

You know, she's wearing an earring. See
if Tory can do something with that.

Enrique Gomez is on his way up.

Maybe he knows who she is.

GOMEZ:
No, I don't recognize her.

I'm sad to learn
of Lance's death.

What was your relationship
with him, Mr. Gomez?

We were close as young men.
Less so recently.

Yet he called you just
before he d*ed. Why?

Well, he needed a bodyguard.
Somebody he could trust.

And I know such people.

But none of them were available
on such short notice,

so I couldn't help him.

Why would Lance
need a bodyguard?

He didn't tell me, I didn't ask.

You think maybe he was
going on one last mission?

Or perhaps his CNI past
was coming back to haunt him?

Well, that would be rather unlikely.
(CHUCKLES)

You see, Lance
didn't have a CNI past.

Why is everyone
saying that he did?

Well, we grew up together, but I
was the one who went into CNI.

And when Lance came to America,

he asked me to use my backstory

to make himself more
mysterious and interesting.

(CHUCKLES) I'm so...
I'm sorry, are you...

Are you saying Lance DeLorca
wasn't a CNI operative?

Before he started acting, he was
a goat-herder. In the Pyrenees.

Hey! So Enrique Gomez's
story checks out.

And with his authorization,

CNI confirms that Lance
DeLorca was never an agent.

My hero was a liar.
And a goat-herder.

Yes, well, despite this
deeply personal betrayal,

we still have a m*rder to solve.

How? We're back to square one.
Not necessarily.

I mean, there's still that mystery woman
that followed Lance from the SRO.

She may not be
a mystery anymore.

Is she a goat-herder?

Oh, my God.

I didn't get anywhere with the earrings.
They're too common.

But that got me
focused on her ear.

Okay. What about it?
Looks normal.

It is. But ear biometrics,
size, shape, configuration,

are almost as
unique as fingerprints.

An entire field of study
is devoted to the subject.

Earology.
Earology.

How did you know that?

FBI seminar.

So you used her ear
to identify this woman?

Yes, by isolating the ear and running
it against the mugshot database.

When nothing popped,

I ran it against photos of women

who had any connection
with Lance DeLorca.

The computer analyzed thousands of
images and finally found a match.

With a 99.2% probability
that it's this woman.

That's Kat Kingsley!

Lance was k*lled by his
soon-to-be ex-wife?

Hey, so we heard Kat
Kingsley was here. Whoa!

RYAN: Now that is a sexy
outfit for an interrogation.

It's her costume. They took her
right from the set of her movie.

RYAN: Man, she is really...
ESPOSITO: Hot.

Holding up well.
Well.

RYAN: What's the movie?

It's direct-to-video. She
plays a female Indiana Jones.

She's an archeologist again?

Would it be weird if I
asked her to sign this?

When?
On her way to jail?

(SOFTLY)
It would mean so much to me.

What would her motivation
be for k*lling Lance?

Well, it seems their
divorce was a tad messier

than she led us to believe.

So what role are you playing
now, Miss Kingsley?

Not the grieving widow.

I need to get back to set

or they're gonna shut down production
on Raiders of the Nubian Temple.

Yeah, well, you've got
bigger problems than that.

So I talked to Lance's lawyer,

and he said that your divorce
was anything but amicable.

We're actors. We're passionate people.
Things got stormy at times.

Because you wanted the Malibu house,
and he didn't want to give it to you.

That home has
sentimental value to me.

Along with monetary value.

I mean, after 20 years,
it's worth $8 million.

And with Lance out of the
picture, it was all yours.

You think I k*lled my husband.

BECKETT:
You tried to before.

Remember the incident where you
discharged a firearm? At him?

I was cleaning it.

I know bad acting when I see it.

This is you, Miss Kingsley,

following Lance
hours before he was k*lled.

I was not following him.

He asked me to meet with him.

And he told you
to wear a disguise?

I couldn't be seen with him.

After the g*n thing, we
were told to avoid contact.

But Lance begged me.

He needed cash.
$200,000.

He asked you for a loan?

His assets were all
tied-up with the divorce.

I inherited some money.
He knew I had access to it.

It wasn't a loan. He sold me
his half of the Malibu house.

Are you telling me that he traded
you $4 million for 200,000?

How could I pass up a deal like that? I
have the promissory note to prove it.

Why did he need the money?

He said he needed
to set something right.

That he wanted to live up to the
characters he'd played, I think.

I wasn't really listening.

I just wanted him to
sign over the house.

I'm just being honest.

Okay, fine. If you're being honest,
then why don't you tell me this.

We have a witness that saw a dark
figure fleeing the crime scene.

Was that you?

Yes.

Do you want to
elaborate on that?

(SIGHS)

Lance called me that night.
From a payphone, I think.

He said he was in trouble and
that people were after him.

What people?

He didn't say.

But he asked me to pick him up at
this theater playing Hard k*ll,

that it would be easy to find.

He sounded so desperate.
But when I got there

(LOWERED VOICE)
he was dead.

Why didn't you
tell us this before?

(SOBBING)
I panicked.

(SIGHS)

I'm trying to restart my career.
I just knew how it might look.

Well, that's because it's
exactly how it does look.

(GROANS)

CASTLE:
Well, not to me it doesn't.

(SIGHS) I don't think
she's our k*ller.

Yes, she's just an
innocent archeologist.

My opinion is not affected
by her skimpy outfit.

I'm speaking as an
objective investigator,

someone who has set their
personal feelings aside.

Along with your poster?

Who told you?
It was Ryan, wasn't it?

Castle, Kat Kingsley admitted
to being at the crime scene.

Yeah, when she didn't have to.

Why admit to that if
you're actually guilty?

To make herself look not guilty.

Look, she had motive.

But parts of her
story still check out.

The promissory note, the withdrawal
from her bank for $200,000.

Lance said he needed the money
to set something right.

He needed to live up to
his on-screen persona.

Yes, according to
our m*rder suspect.

So here's Lance meeting
his bone-marrow donor.

Perhaps surviving leukemia

changed him, drove him
to become a better man.

A man more like
the hero he portrayed.

That's why when he registered at
the hotel, he did so as Rico Cruz.

Because he became Rico Cruz.

What does that even mean?

That despite being an ex-goat-herder
with no formal Black Ops training,

Lance took on a mission.

Oh, okay. So we're back
to "one last mission," now.

Why else would he
have the schematic?

Or the listening device? Or why
would he need a bodyguard?

To protect himself
from Kat Kingsley.

Yeah, except for
her story is still holding up.

That call she
says was from Lance,

came from a payphone six
blocks from the movie theater.

All right, canvass for witnesses that saw
Lance or anyone else by that payphone.

And if he was in trouble,
as Kat said,

then let's find out
where he was coming from.

We'll get into it. But we might not
have anything till the morning.

Okay.

(SOFTLY) You told her
about the poster?

I didn't know it was a...
(GROANS)

I don't know. Maybe it's the way
that he said it that struck a nerve.

Well, tact isn't exactly
the man's middle name.

Okay, but it's my place,
you know? It's not Castle's.

Who cares if he never liked it?

I don't know why I got so upset.

Because. To him this is just an
apartment with creaky floors.

But to you, this is where
you rebuilt your life.

Where you solved
your mother's m*rder.

Where you fell in love.

Well, to the best
apartment ever.

To the best apartment ever.

RYAN: So we struck
gold on that canvass.

Someone saw Lance
using the payphone?

No, but they saw him before that,
running like hell from an alley.

Which leads us to this
security cam video right here.

(MOUSE CLICKS) You gotta
see it to believe it.

These four guys have
got Lance cornered.

Oh, this can't be good.

Who are those guys?

RYAN:
I don't know,

but you should wonder what Lance
did to have them come after him.

Four thugs against an
aging Lance DeLorca?

I don't know that I can watch.

Did you see that?

What Lance just did?

That belongs in one of his movies.
He annihilated them.

Yeah, but not for long. Half an hour
later, someone annihilated him.

Ah, well, right. But at least
this explains the phone call.

When Lance called Kat Kingsley

and said, "I'm in trouble
and people are after me,"

this is what he
was talking about.

And whoever these guys are, they
must have caught up to him.

We find these guys,
we'll find our k*ller.

BECKETT: We can't ID any of these
guys off of the surveillance video.

Tory says that the image quality is
too poor to run facial recognition.

Or ear recognition.

The key is finding out
what happened to Lance

before he wound up
in that alley.

Something that required $200,000
and a listening device.

But whomever he went up against sent
those four sides of beef after him.

And after seeing the ass-whooping
they got, I checked nearby hospitals.

Turns out that an ambulance was called
to that area during our time window.

They brought in a
heavyset dude to the ER.

He was unconscious, bruised,
and had a possible broken jaw.

All right, let's go talk to him.
ESPOSITO: We can't.

He woke up and checked
himself out of the ER

before they could
even get his name.

Does the hospital have cameras?

I'm glad you asked that.

This guy

definitely looks like one
of the guys from the video.

Wait a second, I know that guy.

Yeah, from the film set. He
was dressed in Afghan garb.

Brock Harmon barely
tapped him in the face

and he screamed like a baby.

Perhaps because
he has a broken jaw.

(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)

AD says his name is Ernest Howe.

He's playing !sis
Militant Number 12.

Not for long. You know what time it is?
It's Ryan time.

Please, just stop.

My name is Ryan,
and I hate lyin'.

Ernest Howe?
NYPD.

We're here to talk to you
about Lance DeLorca.

Yeah, it's a bummer
that he d*ed.

A little problem with
your jaw there, Ernest?

A little TMJ.

You sure it's not from that little
altercation you got into the other night?

Look, I don't want
any more trouble.

Well, you got trouble.
Ryan trouble.

I don't know what that means.

We have you on video.

You and those three
mooks att*cked Lance,

and he put the
hurt on all of you.

But not enough hurt, because
one of them k*lled him.

Judging by your little trip
to the ER, it wasn't you.

So why don't you give us the
name of your buddies, Ernest?

And whoever put 'em up to this.

You got it all wrong.

Those guys did this to me.

I was on Lance's side. He
hired me to be his bodyguard.

Why would Lance
need a bodyguard?

He had a meeting at Club Drift.

He wanted backup.

He brought a briefcase.
I think it had money in it.

Who did he meet there?
What was the money for?

I don't know.
They made me wait downstairs.

But the meeting ended quick.

All of a sudden, four
security dudes hustle us out,

accused Lance of wearing a wire.

A wire? Why would he
be wearing a wire?

Well, I didn't exactly
get a chance to ask.

The last thing I remember was a
guy's foot flying across my face.

Maybe Lance was wearing a wire.

That would explain the
microphone and the USB drive.

Yeah, Ernest said that
security didn't find a wire,

and there wasn't one
on Lance's body.

But let's say he was all wired
up with a briefcase of money.

What the hell was he doing?

It's like Lance was running some
kind of half-assed sting operation.

Maybe he was.
I spoke to Narcotics.

The club that Lance went to is
a major hub for drug sales.

Run by a guy that you're
familiar with, Castle.

Is it...
Is that Henry Allen Boothe?

ESPOSITO:
El Jefe from Hard k*ll?

He made a career out of playing drug
dealers, and then he quit acting.

And then he began
living the part.

Apparently, he spent so much
time with drug dealers,

researching his roles,
that he actually became one.

Narcotics hasn't been able to
make a case against him, though.

This is just like Hard k*ll, where
Rico Cruz took down El Jefe.

Only now, it's one actor
taking on the other actor.

But the other actor actually
happens to be a drug dealer!

(BREATHES DEEPLY)

But, again, why would Lance do this?
Why would he go after Boothe?

I don't know, but it's so meta.

We should really
talk to El Jefe.

Oh, believe me, we will.

Yeah, sure, I met with Lance.

BECKETT: What about?

Old times. He wanted to share a
drink, relive the glory days.

Just out of the blue?

Why not? Hard k*ll did
a solid for both of us.

Even after all these years,
not a day goes by

where some middle-aged dude doesn't
see me and shout "El Jefe!"

I suppose I shouldn't complain.
That role bought me this club.

We hear that it did more
than that, Mr. Boothe.

(CHUCKLES)

So the movie drug dealer
becomes a drug dealer, huh?

It'd be a good story
if it were true.

That being said,
I don't discourage it.

A good fiction can do wonders
for one's reputation.

I've learned that every good fiction
contains a kernel of truth.

What happened to the briefcase
that Lance brought to the meeting?

The one with $200,000 in it.

Lance had no briefcase.

And I suppose your guys
didn't chase him out of here

and then att*ck him?

Doesn't ring a bell.

We have video.

BOOTHE:
Not of my guys.

You're welcome to check. I doubt
you'll find any of them here.

And since your next question
will be where was I that night,

I'll save you the oxygen.

There are about 20
people downstairs

who can attest that I never left
the building after Lance left.

I didn't k*ll him.

Okay, thanks for your time.

CASTLE:
"Thanks for your time"?

Beckett, he was lying.

About the money, about the
meeting, about everything.

Of course he was lying.

So why didn't you push harder?
Why didn't we check his alibi?

Because we didn't need to.

Since when?

Since I figured out what the
numbers five and two meant.

The missing numbers
from the sticker sheet?

That number 52 was on a slot
car in Boothe's collection.

A blue Shelby Cobra,
to be exact.

That's what Lance was building.

He put a listening device inside a
replica of one of Boothe's cars.

He must have switched them out
when they had that meeting.

Which means that car was recording
everything that happened in that office,

including why Lance was there.

And why Boothe had him k*lled.
We need to get that slot car.

We will.
We just need a warrant first.

BROCK: I don't understand.

You're telling me you can't
get a search warrant?

Even though that son of a
bitch Boothe is behind this?

Not unless we can provide evidence
that ties Boothe to Lance's death.

And right now, we can't even
prove that the two of them met.

Look, Mr. Harmon, we were hoping
that you could help us with this.

Did Lance tell you that
he was going to the club,

that he was gonna
talk to Boothe?

Lance never said a word to me about
Boothe or the club. Nothing.

Hell, I thought he was in LA.

I wish I could help you.

BECKETT: Well, you know what?

We'll keep looking for the
men that att*cked Lance.

We're not giving up.

Castle?

How did Lance know
to bug a slot car?

Oh.

Boothe and his collection

were featured in SlotZone magazine.
Hmm.

So you really think the
proof of who k*lled Lance

is sitting in that
little blue Shelby Cobra?

Well, it doesn't matter
if we can't get a warrant.

Too bad Rico Cruz isn't around.
I bet he'd find a way, right?

So you were a
pretty big fan, huh?

Of Hard k*ll? No, I was average.
Ordinary fan.

Not like I had the
Hard k*ll pajamas.

Say, the g*ng and I are going
out for drinks later tonight.

How'd you like to come with us?

Castle?

Hey?

You are never gonna believe
what just happened.

Brock invited me to go drinking
with The Indestructibles.

Me. With them.

But you told them you couldn't because
you're in the middle of a case.

Right?
No. What?

No, I just... What...
Isn't it okay if I...

Castle, you really think

that I could stand between
you and your boyhood dream?

You are my boyhood dream.

Aw.
(CHUCKLES)

Well, you and drinking
with The Indestructibles.

You don't always
have to keep talking.

Right.
Yeah.

I'm gonna...
I'm gonna go.

I don't know what
I'm gonna wear.

I gotta get ready.

CASTLE: (LAUGHING)
All right. Okay.

Well, you guys, you have no
idea how excited I am to...

Did you guys just come
from set or something?

Son, we came straight from hell.
(ENGINE STARTS)

Let's roll.

So, um,

what's going on?

No warrant is gonna stop us

from getting our hands on evidence
to put away Lance's k*ller.

Somebody takes out one of
our own, we take him out.

Oh. Guys...

Hey, listen, if your plan is to go to
the club and steal that slot car...

No, no, that would... That
would taint the evidence.

Actually, we can compel
the DA to consider it

since the car technically
belonged to the victim, Lance.

You really are a
genius, aren't you?

And also, none of us
is an agent of the law.

That's one of the
reasons I chose you.

And because you
have been in Boothe's office.

You're gonna help us
find that slot car.

No. No, no.

Guys, my wife is a cop.
If I do this, she'll k*ll me.

(IMITATING CASTLE)
"Oh, my wife's gonna k*ll me!"

Is that what
Rico Cruz would say?

No, but what if we get caught?

BROCK:
We're not gonna get caught.

We're The Indestructibles.

Tense up, guys, it's showtime.

BROCK:
The plan is simple.

Once we get to the club,

Serafina, Clay, Rolf, go in through the
main entrance, take your positions.

(DANCE MUSIC PLAYING)

Serafina, alert us when you
have eyes on the rear door.

Falcon is in the nest.

Clay, you and Rolf create a diversion
to draw Boothe down to the bar.

Young fella, young fella!
We're doing bottle service.

You got some of that Angel?
You know, the champagne?

Sure do. Just gonna need
your credit card, Mr. Biggs.

If you know who we are,

then you know we haven't
paid for a drink since Reagan.

Sir, Angel's a grand a bottle.
You understand.

Son, we're here to toast
our fallen comrade.

That has-been Boothe
too cheap to pay respects?

BARTENDER: Mr. Boothe? Yeah?

Got some old friends of yours at the bar.
You should come down.

All right, I'm coming down.
Yeah.

BROCK: Once El Jefe's on the move,
Serafina, you will unlock the villa gates.

Prairie dog is on the plain.

BROCK: And Castle and I
will go for the goods,

Hard k*ll style.

Okay.

(SOFTLY)
Always check.

Okay.

I gotta get going.
Great seeing you, man.

Whoa, where are you going?

I gotta go. Anything you want...
Hey, come on, hang out.

...you can have it on me. Enjoy.

Abort! Abort! Prairie
dog pulled a boomerang.

I got it! Boothe's
on his way back up.

What? No!
Yeah.

(SOFTLY)
Prairie dog is in the burrow.

(SOFTLY) Prairie dog's gonna k*ll us!
We're gonna be k*lled by a prairie dog!

(ALARM BLARING)

I'm starring in my own action movie.
This is the best night ever.

Go!

You're telling me that this was
handed to you by a concerned citizen?

Uh...

Yes.

Castle?

This is probably one of those times
where I shouldn't keep talking.

For both our sakes.

The recording you are about to hear
will provide incontrovertible proof

that Henry Allen Boothe ordered
the m*rder of Lance DeLorca.

(CLICKS KEYS)

Sound's not working.

Hang on a second, this was...

Headphones? Aren't you
gonna let me hear it?

And reward you for your
semi-illegal behavior? I think not.

I...
Fine, I'll put it on speaker.

Seriously? Because if it wasn't
for me, we wouldn't even... What?

Lance just walked
into Boothe's office.

They're exchanging pleasantries.

And they're getting
down to business.

Oh, my God.

What is it?

Oh, my God!

What are they saying? Please just
tell me what they're saying.

This is so not what I expected.

Oh, my God!

So what's this about?

Trey, how well do you
know Henry Allen Boothe?

Well, if someone owns a club,
it's my job to know them.

I met him through my dad. They
did a few movies together.

In fact, Boothe invested
some seed money

so you could become
a club promoter.

Then, as a promoter, you had access
to all the clubs in the city.

Boothe used that access
to sell dr*gs in those clubs.

Or so we're told by Narcotics.

I don't hear you
denying this, Trey.

I didn't know about
the dr*gs at first.

And once I did, it was too late.

He owned me.

Let me guess. Boothe said
you could buy him out,

but at a price he knew
you could never afford.

What was it?
$200,000?

You didn't tell your parents
about any of this, did you?

I wanted to make my own way.

Not have Brock Harmon
come to the rescue.

But Lance found out.

He tried to buy out Boothe,
pay your ransom.

Just like Rico Cruz
did in Hard k*ll.

Yeah, and I begged him not to.

This wasn't some movie.

I knew that Boothe
wasn't gonna let me go,

and Lance couldn't just walk in there
with a bag of money and fix things.

But suddenly he
wanted to be a hero.

I told him he was gonna
get us both k*lled.

But he only got himself k*lled.
Trying to save you.

We have an audio recording
of Boothe from that night.

How?

Lance bugged his office.

After Boothe kicked
Lance out of his office,

he sent his men after him.

Lance gave them a b*at-down
worthy of an action hero.

That's when Boothe
made this phone call.

(CLICKS KEYS)

BOOTHE:
Trey, your pal Lance was here.

I think you know why.

He's on the run, somewhere near
that theater playing Hard k*ll.

He's your problem now.

You need to take care of him,
to make this right.

Or I'll take care of you.
You do that, Trey.

Get it done.

(CLICKS KEYS)

You were so afraid of Boothe

that you k*lled Lance in
order to save your own skin.

I would never do that.

It sounds like that's
exactly what you did do.

Now, what happened
after you hung up?

I freaked.

I called my mom. Told her
everything, the whole story.

She said to lay low,
that she'd call a lawyer.

And then the next morning,
Lance was dead.

I figured Boothe's
guys got to him.

Look, I was at my office all night.
I slept there.

The cleaning crew saw me.

I swear to you,
I did not k*ll Lance.

And I don't know who did.

Tell me, Trey. Why would Lance go
through all this trouble to help you?

I don't know.

He just said that the
cancer really woke him up,

and that after
all this was over,

there were some things
that he wanted to tell me.

So the cleaning crew confirmed
Trey's story. He is not our k*ller.

Well, maybe it was
one of Boothe's men.

We still haven't ruled them out.

Hey, guys. I just found
something very interesting.

The identity of the k*ller.

RYAN: No, not that.

You know how Trey said that
Lance's cancer woke him up?

Well, I just spoke
to his doctor.

When Lance got the name of his
bone-marrow donor, to thank him,

he found out there was a second
donor who was a very close match.

Take a look at that name.

(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)

Have you released Trey yet?

He had nothing to do with this.

Actually, Trey has
everything to do with this.

I'm not sure I understand.

When Lance needed
a bone-marrow transplant,

Trey gave a sample
to see if he could donate.

We all did.
It was the least we could do.

Except Trey's sample
was nearly a match.

Lance must've
had his suspicions,

because he ran a paternity
test on that sample.

Trey was his son.

No.

He would've been conceived
during the filming of Hard k*ll.

Which is inconvenient,

since you were already
married to Brock.

BECKETT: We spoke
to your doorman, Naomi.

He said that you didn't come
home until well after midnight

the night that Lance was k*lled.

So, where were you?

I didn't k*ll Lance, if that's
what you're suggesting.

CASTLE: You're more
than capable of it.

You don't just have
a mean roundhouse,

you hold two black belts.

Okay, you need to leave.

BECKETT:
We matched the wire.

The wire that you used
for your jewelry line,

like the necklace that
you're wearing right now,

it's an exact match
to our m*rder w*apon.

CASTLE: Trey told you that Lance had
something important to tell him.

You knew the truth
would come out.

Lance would have
destroyed everything.

My marriage, my family.

Everything that I spent almost
30 years trying to build.

I couldn't let him do that.

What's going on?

You might be interested to know

that Henry Allen Boothe was
just arrested by Narcotics.

I thought they
couldn't make a case.

GATES: Well, they couldn't.

But when Trey learned the truth about
why Lance really did all this,

he stepped up and decided
to testify against Boothe.

So good work, Detective Beckett.
Mr. Castle.

Don't stay late. You can finish
the paperwork in the morning.

BECKETT: Thank you, sir.

Wow.

Looks like Lance managed to
vanquish his nemesis after all.

An ending worthy
of one of his movies.

You know, maybe we should
watch Hard k*ll tonight.

In his honor.
I was just gonna suggest

the exact same thing.

We're starting
to think alike now.

That is horrifying.

Okay, uh, go cue up the movie,

open up a bottle of wine,
I'll be home in a bit.

I've just got a
stop to make first.

Well, if I'm thinking
what you're thinking,

and it's to pick up a sexy
archeologist costume, don't worry.

(SOFTLY)
I've already got the whip.

BECKETT: Thank you.
Mmm.