05x23 - The Human Factor

[bunniefuu]

(WIND WHISTLES)

There you go.

(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)

(KE YS JANGLING)

(DOOR CLOSES)

(CAR ALARMS BLARING)

CASTLE: An expl*si*n!

Is this incoming a*tillery fire
from above?

No! Rommel's troops have lured
our boys into a minefield!

Will the M4 Sherman t*nk's armor

be able to withstand this
cowardly barrage from below?

Yes, it can!

And the Sherman smashes through
the n*zi lines to reach the...

Whoa, that is not the Suez Canal.

(WHIRRING)

Ooh.

If you're trying to decide what to wear,

just keep wearing
what you're wearing now.

Or less.

(WHIRRING CONTINUES)

(CHUCKLING) Pervert!

That is Field Marshal Pervert to you.

(CELL PHONE RINGING)

BECKETT: Castle, can you grab that?

Got it.

(CONTINUES RINGING)

This is Detective Beckett's office.

Seriously? A car b*mb?

(SIRENS WAILING)

Wow. Talk about
heightened police presence.

(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)

BECKETT: Wait a minute. What is this?

Something's not right.

Hey, Espo,

why are they taking the car away?

CSU's not done with it, is it?

They were barely started before feds
came in and seized the vehicle.

CASTLE: Why would
they seize the vehicle?

ESPOSITO: I tried to ask
but they iced me out.

- Who is in charge?
- See that guy over there?

Name's Agent Guerrero.

But trust me, he's not gonna budge.

BECKETT: Agent Guerrero,

I'm Detective Beckett...

Let me save you the trouble.
We're taking the car.

BECKETT: CSU hasn't finished
processing it yet.

This is a m*rder scene.

I'm gonna need to find out
who the victim was...

I'm sorry, but that vehicle is part
of a federal investigation.

And if you people hinder us in any way,
we'll arrest you for obstruction.

(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING)

BECKETT: What the hell
is going on here?

Why is Homeland Security involved?

I don't know, this whole thing stinks.

According to witnesses,

those two guys were staking out the car
even before it blew up.

And Homeland Security isn't letting me
talk to them.

A mysterious car bombing,

feds giving us the boot,

- and now men in black.
- (CAR DOOR CLOSES)

- I'll say it, I'm intrigued.
- (ENGINE TURNS OVER)

Who are you guys? Identify yourselves.

CASTLE: Hey, guys, you get this a lot?

Agent J, Agent K?

Why were you guys surveilling that car?
Who was in it when it exploded?

- Hey! Hey!
- (TIRES SCREECHING)

Well, we don't have a body,
we don't have a crime scene,

we don't have any witnesses, but...

At least we have each other.

We still have a homicide to solve.

And that.

Hey, I think I got an ID on our vic.

Uniform found his wallet,
blown about half a block down that way.

Matches the description of the guy
that witnesses saw get in the car.

His name is Dale Tanner.

BETH: I always knew
this day might come.

(SNIFFLES)

Dale did, too.
It was one of the hazards of his job.

What kind of a job would lead to this?

When Dale was 16, his father
was convicted of m*rder in Texas.

Wrongly convicted.

Right before the retrial,
his father d*ed in prison.

So, fighting for the underdog,
that kind of became his life's mission.

So about 10 years ago,
he started the website

Whistleblower Anonymous.

I know that site.

He exposed the waterboarding memos,
the Orton-Geo fracking scandal.

I had no idea he was the one behind it.

Dale felt it was more important

to keep attention on the issues
rather than himself.

Was your husband working
on anything recently?

Yeah, I think he was planning
on posting some documents.

Whatever they were,
they were making him nervous.

Where are the documents now?

Probably at his law office in Queens.

Why would Homeland Security
be interested in your husband?

Half the government was interested
in my husband.

After he posted those photographs
of Abu Ghraib,

they tried to get him
to reveal his sources.

They harassed him,
followed him everywhere he went.

It got so bad that two months ago,

he actually moved into
our rental unit in Queens.

He said that he was concerned
about our safety.

And now he's dead.

BECKETT: Mrs. Tanner,

witnesses say that your husband
parked on Mercer just before 8:00,

waited on the sidewalk till 8:15,
and then he got back in his car.

Do you know what he was
doing downtown?

I have no idea.

He felt like the less we knew, the better.

I should've talked to him more.

Did he work with anyone else that might
have known what he was involved in?

He had a partner.
But I don't know who it was.

Why are we even talking to them, Mom?

The government k*lled my father
and you're helping them cover it up.

Sean, please.

No, I'm not gonna call this a cover-up,
but I will say this.

The feds are not helping us out.

They won't tell us what evidence
they found in Tanner's car.

Okay, so we'll just work it
from other angles.

We know that he had a partner,

why don't we look into his
phone records, see who it was?

RYAN: Because they're not being
released to us.

Neither are Tanner's financials.

Maybe we can get it from his law office?

RYAN: We tried to search there,

they sealed the place
and they took his computers.

Wow. I'm starting to see what you mean
by the feds not helping.

Then we're just gonna solve this
without their help.

Where are we on motive?

RYAN: Oh, there's plenty of that
to go around.

Tanner wasn't afraid
to take on the big boys.

Banks, big oil, dirty politicians.

In the past year,

he posted highly damaging,
and I might add, truthful, information

on 30 corporations,
government agencies and individuals.

And that's just what I found
before his site was taken offline.

With no solid information,
it's hard to even know where to start.

We start with the manner of death.

We know we're dealing with a b*mb,

a b*mb that was already
in Tanner's car.

Right, because if he stayed
near the vehicle,

no one could have tampered with it.

And whoever planted the b*mb

had to have access to the car
at an earlier point.

Like in his garage.

That's where the car was
before Tanner drove it downtown.

And when I talked to neighbors,

one of them saw
an unfamiliar motorcycle

jet out of the garage
last night at 1:00 a.m.

Did they happen to get a plate?

No,

but this traffic cam did.

Bike's registered to a Monica Lane.

And get this, she works as
a security contractor at Orton-Geo.

That's the fracking company that
Tanner almost put out of business.

Man, the camera really does
add 10 pounds.

You were coming from an apartment
building garage before that was taken.

What were you doing there?

That's none of your business.

It became our business
when Dale Tanner got blown to bits.

What? He's dead?

RYAN: Yeah.
And I bet the company that you work for

likes him a whole lot better that way.

Look, I had nothing to do with his death.

This is not what you think.

Then what is it, Monica?

He and I were seeing each other.

ESPOSITO: Really?

You and Dale Tanner?

We met in the park a few months ago.
We just connected.

Yeah, I can see you're real busted up.

You were spying on him.
Isn't that what this is really about?

Okay, Orton-Geo lost
half a billion dollars

in contracts because of Dale Tanner.

My job was to get close to him and find
out who was leaking him information.

But it did not involve k*lling him.

Was anyone else after him?
Besides you, of course?

Oh, God,

his wife.

He said she had called,
she'd just found out about us.

She threatened to k*ll him.

I felt betrayed. Don't you see,
I stood by him for 24 years.

You withheld that
he was having an affair.

And then you went out of your way
to make it look like

his work got him k*lled.

Because it did.

All right, look, I admit it.

Okay? I said some things to Dale,
but I was upset.

Besides, I didn't go near that apartment.
I didn't.

You could've hired
someone else to do it.

With what money, huh?

Really,

it's not like Dale and his website
ever made anybody rich.

(KNOCK ON DOOR)

Beckett, there's something
you need to see.

So CSU just sent this over.

Based on what little they had,

they were able to piece together
where the expl*si*n originated.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here

and say the expl*si*n
originated in the car.

RYAN: Right. Well, normally,

a car b*mb is placed inside
the engine compartment or underneath.

But this one went off near the front seat.

So it was planted inside the car?

Actually, it wasn't planted at all.

CSU found these metal fragments

and they were able to trace it
to a very specific device.

They put together this reconstruction
of the expl*si*n.

- Is that a m*ssile?
- Specifically,

the kind of m*ssile deployed
from an unmanned aerial vehicle.

Dale Tanner was taken out by a drone?

RYAN: One second, Dale Tanner's
sitting in his car, the next, boom.

Poor guy didn't even know what hit him.

This couldn't have been a drone strike.

- There's gotta be a mistake here.
- There isn't.

CSU found PBXN-112
expl*sive residue

and fluoridated aluminum
from a m*ssile casing.

There's no way that a m*llitary drone
could fly over New York City

and smoke a guy.

BECKETT: Actually, it could.

There's a drone training facility
at Fort Drummond.

Ryan, while Castle and I look into that,

can you talk to anyone
that knew Tanner?

Let's see if we can find out
who his partner was.

What, you and Castle are going
to Fort Drummond?

Yeah. The head of the drone program
agreed to a meeting.

(ELEVATOR BELL DINGS)

What is going on here?
Do you think the m*llitary took him out?

I don't see how they could.

Because they wouldn't cross that line?

Because in my experience,

huge bureaucracies don't act
with that kind of efficiency.

Well, that's comforting.

No wild theories about
the m*llitary-industrial complex?

I just don't want to believe my country
could do something like this.

(ELEVATOR BELL DINGS)

- (DOOR OPENS)
- Me neither.

HOOPER: Detective Beckett, Mr. Castle,
thank you for visiting Fort Drummond.

So we gather that you believe
that there was an incident

that occurred in the city that...

No, not an incident. A m*rder.
From a drone strike.

That's an outrageous
accusation, Detective.

What do you base it on?

Forensic evidence at the crime scene,

it's consistent with
a drone-fired m*ssile.

How many drones were
in the air this morning?

That information is classified.

Colonel Fortis, was there a drone
flying over New York City at 8:15 a. M?

That's classified.

CASTLE: Okay, how about this?

Did anyone else have access
to the drones?

Any federal agencies? Corporations?

- That's classified.
- That's classified.

Okay, then I'd like to take
a look at your flight logs...

This meeting is over.

HOOPER: Keep in mind,

the waivers you signed prohibits you
from discussing what was said here.

Nothing was said here.

Well, then we shouldn't have a problem.

Touche.

That man over there,
he was at the crime scene.

Who is he? Does he work for you?

CASTLE: Don't bother.

It's classified.

(SCOFFS)

(DOOR OPENS)

You know, I don't know what
the hell you guys are up to,

but I promise you, I will find out.

Now might be the time for wild
m*llitary-industrial complex theories.

And here's one.

Tanner was about to post
super-secret m*llitary documents,

they took him out with a drone
and now they're covering it up,

which, actually, isn't so wild.

I don't know, maybe they just fired
the m*ssile by mistake.

And just so happened to hit
a vocal critic of the US government?

And the guy from the crime scene
shows up at our Kafkaesque meeting?

I don't think so.

I don't even know why
they took that meeting.

All they did was stonewall.

(CELL PHONE RINGING)

Beckett.

Yo. I got a call from CSU.

Feds just came in and seized

all materials related to the Tanner case.

What? The expl*sive residue?
The fragment samples?

- All of it.
- BECKETT: We've been played.

They just met with us to find out where
everything was and what we knew.

And then they grabbed all the evidence.

And now we have no proof that
a drone strike ever happened.

And we're no closer to figuring out
why it happened or who did it.

Maybe Tanner's partner can tell us.

Do you know who it is?

RYAN: Turns out
Tanner taught law classes

at East Borough College
to make ends meet

and his colleagues said
they remember seeing

a former student named Omar Dixon
hanging around.

I talked to Omar's girlfriend.

She said that he did work for Tanner
but it was all hush-hush what he did.

And where's Omar now?

The girlfriend said she has no idea.

But Sean Tanner might.

He attends East Borough, too.

He used to drop by and see his dad.
Maybe he knows Omar.

CASTLE: Oh, I think he does.

Remember what he did when you
asked if he knew his dad's partner?

He changed the subject.

Boom.

SEAN: I'm telling you, I don't know him.

I don't know anyone
named Omar Dixon.

RYAN: Look, Sean,

I know that law enforcement
hasn't always been on your guys' side.

- Try "never."
- But we're not the feds, Sean.

We're the guys trying
to solve your dad's m*rder.

And no matter what you think,

we're not gonna stop
until that job is done.

ESPOSITO: Here's the thing, bro.

If your dad was k*lled
for what he put on that website,

your boy Omar is in danger, too.

Help us out, Sean.

(SIGHS)

Yeah, I met Omar. I knew him a little.

- He worked with my dad.
- Where can we find him?

My dad gave me a number for him.

We need you to call that number,
tell Omar you'd like to meet.

Omar? I'm Detective Kate Beckett.

Whoa. Where's Sean?

He couldn't make it.

I need to ask you a few questions
about Dale Tanner.

I'm not getting involved.

Omar, you are already involved.

Well, then I'm not getting
any more involved.

It's bad enough I saw his
blown-up car on the news,

now I got people following me.

- And not just you.
- What people?

I have no idea, lady.
No idea who they are.

Who k*lled Tanner?

Was it 'cause of the documents
that he was gonna post?

How the hell should I know?

You're his partner, aren't you?

His partner? Is that what people think?
Is that why they're after me?

BECKETT: If you're not his partner,
then who were you?

His assistant. I'm his part-time IT guy.

I set up his website.

He gave me files, I upload them,

and for that the cheap bastard
paid me 15 bucks an hour.

BECKETT: Did he tell you
what he was working on?

I didn't know and I didn't care.

It was just a gig for me.
And right now, I'm sorry I ever took it.

- (COCKS g*n)
- Don't move.

That's him! That's one of the guys
that was following me.

Omar! Omar!

Steady.

You're under arrest.

He's awfully calm for a guy
walking around with a silenced p*stol.

BECKETT: Yeah, well, he's been
in rooms like this before.

- CASTLE: Hey.
- Hey.

So what do we know
about Robert Williams?

- His ID is fake.
- What about his prints?

There's no record of them
in the system.

I don't know who this guy is.

CASTLE: As is my way,

I'm gonna go with
"government assassin."

Well, time to find out.

(DOOR OPENS)

What's your name?

Does it matter?

It's not like we're gonna get
to know each other.

Who had Dale Tanner k*lled?

Were you a part of it?

Or was your job just
to clean up the mess?

You're tenacious.

I respect that.

- Was Omar Dixon a part of the mess?
- He went into hiding.

By the way, how did you manage
to draw him out?

I'll be asking the questions.

You just won't be getting the answers.

We'll see.

I can keep you for 24 hours
and I fully intend to do so.

You have me for five more seconds.
Use them well.

(KNOCK ON DOOR)

RYAN: Beckett? You got a phone call.

Time's up.

This is Detective Kate Beckett.

- (WOMAN SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
- I'm sorry, what? Hold for who?

(ATTORNE Y GENERAL SPEAKING
INDISTINCTLY OVER PHONE)

Good evening, Mr. Attorney General.

Yes, it is.

Yes, we do.

Release him? I...

Look, sir, with all due respect,

a man has been k*lled
and he is a person of interest.

Fine. But then I'm gonna want
something in return.

Yes, sir. I fully understand.
Thank you, sir.

Well played, Detective Beckett.

So what do you want to know?

Why don't we start with who are you?

Jared Stack.

Special Investigator for
the Attorney General's office.

- I've never heard of it.
- You're not supposed to.

BECKETT: And what's your connection
to Dale Tanner?

Tanner was under scrutiny by the FBI,
DHS and the Pentagon,

not to mention the NYPD
Counter-Terrorism Unit.

Somebody objective needed to look
into his death, so they picked me.

When did you realize that he was k*lled
by a drone and not a car b*mb?

Once our people examined
the wreckage.

Why the fake ID?

I didn't know where this was headed.
The AG needs deniability.

"The secretary will disavow
all knowledge of your actions."

It's Mission: Impossible.

Pretty much. I'm even wearing a mask.

- Really?
- No.

BECKETT: You claim
that you have no idea

where this is headed,
but it seems pretty clear to me.

The m*llitary launched
an att*ck against Tanner.

I went over the logs at Fort Drummond.
It didn't come from there.

Where did it come from?

That's what I'm trying to find out.

The fact is, we've lost
a number of drones,

some of them have fallen
into enemy hands.

So one of our enemies k*lled Tanner?
With a drone?

CASTLE: That theory
is highly improbable.

And coming from me,
that's saying something.

Think of it this way,

let's say our government
wanted Tanner dead,

why not just g*n him down
in the streets?

Why use a drone?

Why get rid of him in a way
that could bounce back on them?

BECKETT: Same reason most K*llers do.

Because they think
they're gonna get away with it.

(CELL PHONE RINGING)

Stack.

What?

You're sure?

All right, send me a link to that feed.
Thanks.

What is it?

That was one of my colleagues.

The drone wasn't from Fort Drummond,
but it was one of ours.

STACK: This is a video feed off a drone
on a routine training run

from an Air National Guard base
near Syracuse at 8:16 this morning.

Would you mind shutting those blinds?

Who's flying the drone?

Funny you should ask.

The pilot lost control
nine minutes earlier over Long Island.

Whoa, what do you mean,
"lost control"?

Take a listen for yourself.

PILOT: I don't know, sir.
It's not responding to any commands.

MAN: Okay.
Try rebooting the CO MM software.

PILOT: I already rebooted.

That didn't fix it.
Do we need to notify TSA that...

MAN: Wait, what the hell is that?

Are you running a targeting protocol?
On that vehicle?

PILOT: No! I'm not doing anything!
I don't know what's happening!

Oh, my God!

Somebody hacked into that drone
and took out Dale Tanner.

RYAN: Why is it so hard to believe?

People hack into banks all the time.
The Pentagon, NASA.

ESPOSITO: Yeah, but a drone?

Maybe the pilot was just pretending
that he wasn't flying it.

No, no. You can't fake
that kind of panic.

I agree. He was having
a pants-soiling moment.

But there is one possibility
we are neglecting.

The drone itself.

It's rise of the machines.

Not unlike Skynet in The Terminator.

The machines have
achieved consciousness

and they are pissed.

Sorry to disappoint, Mr. Castle,
but it's a human perp we're after.

NSA picked up an encrypted signal

that was sent out the exact moment
the pilot lost control.

That signal basically
overrode the controls

and allowed the hacker
to take over the drone.

And where did the signal come from?

From the lower half
of the state of New York.

NSA is trying to narrow that down
as we speak.

So for all we know,

we're looking for some 14-year-old nerd
with a computer?

STACK: It's not likely.

Whoever did this had to know how
to defeat the signal encryption

and have the software to run the drone.

Warburg.

What's a Warburg?

No, it's not a what, it's a who.

He's the only guy
that could've pulled this off.

Okay, how do we find him?

He's been off-grid for about a year.

The guy's a real ghost.

You'll never find him,
but you know what?

I might by tracing the signal.

Maybe we can work on this together.

Hey, I agreed to tell you what I knew,
which I've done.

It's been real fun, Detective Beckett,

but I'll take things from here,
all right?

Wow. And here I thought
we all had bonded.

If Warburg hacked that drone,
then he's our m*rder suspect.

And I am not buying Stack's word
that we can't find him.

Let's dig into this guy,
and see who we're dealing with.

Right.

ESPOSITO: Simon Warburg.
A programming legend.

Overcame severe OCD to become

chief designer for the operational
software used in m*llitary drones.

And then what?

Well, he got busted
for sabotaging that software.

But he fled before the FBI
could arrest him.

Warburg. He sounds like
a Bond villain, right?

Petting his cat while formulating
a plan for world domination.

And what is that plan, you ask?

- Actually, I didn't ask.
- Talking to the boys.

To create a drone army.

A drone army that can think.
That possesses awareness.

And who better than the programming
genius who designed their software

to give them that spark of life?

Castle, you don't actually believe that.

And keep in mind, if you say "yes,"
I will find you less attractive.

Well, it is conceivable.
And I have to say, a far better story.

Yo, check it. Warburg posted a video
just before he went into hiding.

People don't understand why
I tampered with the drone software.

That's Warburg? I was expecting...

Dr. Evil?

Or someone a little less nerdy.

It's because I've seen the future.
And I know their plan.

Here it is, building a drone army.

They'll introduce surveillance drones
to monitor traffic.

Seems harmless enough, right?

So we let it happen.
Next, there'll be security drones.

Because who doesn't like to feel safer?

And then, armed drones
to protect our skies.

And by then it's too late,

because the system to monitor,
to control, to k*ll any one of us

will already be in place.

Someone has to stop this.

Even if that someone is me.

He wasn't building a drone army,
he was preventing one from being built.

I was pretty close.

If by close, you mean opposite.

Warburg believed that drones were
gonna be used to target US citizens.

That's why he k*lled
an activist like Dale Tanner.

To show us that the future
is already here.

This guy basically framed
the government to try to stop drone use.

BECKETT: So we get Warburg,
we're gonna get our k*ller.

And I think I know how.
Guys, look at those books.

All on science. All first editions.
That's Origin of Species.

- So?
- So he was a book collector.

A book collector with OCD.
A habit like that would die hard.

RYAN: I'll start checking antique
bookstores in the morning,

see if Warburg contacted any of them.

(DEVICE WHIRRING)

Beckett?

No t*nk is gonna get me.

Beckett!

Beckett, get up. We gotta go.

(LAUGHING)

You totally fell for it.

You were acting like it was
rise of the machines.

No, I didn't.
I didn't think it was rise of the...

If that was actually a k*ller t*nk?
You bailed.

I went to get the bat to protect you,

- to eliminate the thr*at.
- Really?

There's a camera here, Castle.
I saw the look on your face.

(CELL PHONE RINGING)

(LAUGHS)

Beckett.

Hey, Beckett. Sorry to call you so late,
but I think I got something.

BECKETT: Ryan, what are you doing
at the precinct?

Well, I was looking at websites
of antique bookstores.

And I was checking out
one near Woodstock

and I think I've noticed a pattern.

What kind of a pattern?

According to this inventory grid,

the bookseller sold seven books
on the same day last month.

And I see all seven of those books
on one shelf of Warburg's bookcase.

Either that's a statistical
impossibility or...

Or Warburg is rebuilding his
book collection, one shelf at a time.

Which would mean he ordered books
from this bookstore.

(BELL CHIMES)

Oh, that aroma.
Old leather and moldering paper.

It's official. I love this place.

- Castle, look, it's Storm Season.
- Mmm.

Oh, on the clearance table.

And the love fades.

Can I help you?

Yes, as a matter of fact, you can.
Do you recognize this man?

(CHUCKLES) Oh, yes, indeed.
It's Mr. Smith.

He's quite a discerning collector.

He's purchased quite a few books
from us here.

Really? Smith? That's original.

Do you have his address?
Does he get his books delivered?

No, no, he comes in
and he picks them up.

Do you know what kind
of car he drives?

Well, he usually rides a bicycle.

So he's local.

All right, I'm gonna get the boys

to look up all the properties bought
or sold in the area

over the past year
since Warburg went missing.

Seriously?

Yeah, but it's a nice book.

Thank you.

So according to Ryan,
the house at the end of this driveway

was purchased 10 months ago
by attorney.

Warburg is here. I can feel it.

Castle, you've said that about
every place we've been to so far.

Yeah, but this time I mean it.
The force is stronger with this one.

The problem is, it's private property.
And I don't have a warrant.

Just pretend you don't see the sign.

Look, we're on the cusp
of finding Warburg.

Who, at the very least,
is a person of interest

and at most a maniacal super-villain

with the power to bend drones
to his will.

And, gate's unlocked.

Burning daylight.

BECKETT: Maybe Warburg is here.
It is remote and secluded.

Yeah, I just had a deeply
disturbing thought.

Much like most of your thoughts?

What if Warburg isn't involved?

I mean, we've been played before.

What if Stack just mentioned his name
to send us on a wild-goose chase?

Castle, I don't think so.

Yeah, still, no more proof
that Warburg is involved

than there is that
the drone acted on its own.

Seriously? I haven't gotten that
Skynet thing out of your system yet?

You mock me, but mark my words,

the day will come.

Experts call it the singularity,

the emergence of a technological
super-intelligence...

- (BUZZING)
- Wait, Castle. Wait, wait.

Wait, do you hear that?

(BUZZING CONTINUES)

Like a buzzing.

(BUZZING GROWS LOUDER)

- You okay?
- (GRUNTS) Yeah, I think so.

Man, that was just like
North by Northwest!

Castle, don't get too excited.
It's coming back.

What are you doing? We gotta run!

We're never gonna make it to cover.

Soon as it gets in range,
I'm gonna sh**t it.

Okay, okay, okay.

(DRONE CRASHES)

Wow!

I can't believe you missed
with every sh*t.

Really? Do you think that
you sh*t down that drone?

With your marksmanship?

I rose to the occasion.

Wow. This time, I really did protect you.

Yeah. Along with yourself.

You know, this makes up
for what may be considered

a momentary lack of manliness.

No, I have earned my redemption.
Nothing can take that away from me.

These aren't real b*ll*ts,
these are blanks.

Blanks?

Well, I didn't know that,
so that doesn't...

That doesn't diminish
the act of heroism.

Are those really blanks?

Of course they're blanks, you idiot!

Meant to deter trespassers like you.

You just obliterated my finest drone.
I'm having the cops arrest you.

Let me save you a phone call.

We're here about Dale Tanner,
Mr. Warburg.

Knew somebody would be, eventually.

Check out the quad. It's my favorite.

Oh! Sweet!

- (WHIRS)
- Ow!

Payback for wrecking my drone.

Mr. Warburg, let's talk
about Dale Tanner.

You want to know if I k*lled him.
The answer is, yes, I did.

Would you like to tell me why?

It began two years ago. With this.

I don't understand what
a car driving through the desert

has to do with Dale Tanner.

Intelligence reports said there were

three high-ranking
Afghan militants in this car.

It was the right make and model,
traveling at a high rate of speed.

So the drone pilot was given
the green light to strike.

But then, he saw those red dots
on the trunk

and he had a feeling.
So he aborted the mission.

There were no militants in that car.
The red dots were roses.

Because the young couple
driving down that desert road

had just gotten married.

That's when I knew I could no longer
be a part of the drone program.

But I don't understand why.
The pilot didn't fire.

Because the next generation
of drones won't have pilots.

The new Al software will give
drones decision-making capability.

They'll assess the data
and take lethal action all on their own.

Really will be rise of the machines.

Those new drones would turn
that car to ash without hesitation.

That's why, when lives are at stake,

we need a man who sees roses.

We need the human factor.

And where was the human factor
when you k*lled Dale Tanner?

Let me show you something.

I wrote this program myself.

Note the user-friendly interface,
I'm rather proud of it.

Now, these red dots are individual
drones currently over New York State.

Now, if I click on one, I can monitor
the drone's function in real time.

And with the push of a button,
I can take over control of the aircraft.

Just like you did with Tanner.

I was on a bike ride that day
and nowhere near a computer.

You just said that you k*lled him.

Well, in that my software led
to his death. But I didn't do it.

In fact, I was in touch with Dale Tanner.
I wanted him to post the program.

So I loaded it onto a flash drive
and got it to him.

You wanted Tanner to post your
drone-hacking software on his website.

If the Pentagon found out, they'd have
to ground their entire drone fleet.

Precisely. It'd bring
drone development to a grinding halt.

But Tanner refused to post the program.

He sent it back, saying he didn't want
any idiot with a computer

being able to take over control
of a drone.

I realized he might have a point, so
I decided to keep the program to myself.

So if you didn't use this, and Tanner
didn't post it, then who k*lled him?

After I heard about his death,

I checked out the flash drive I sent him.

Someone copied my program
off of it onto a USB drive.

Now, it wasn't Tanner, he wouldn't
order a drone strike on himself,

and it wasn't anyone on my end
because, well, who else is there?

So then it had to be someone close
to Tanner with access to his work.

And we only know one person like that.
His assistant, Omar Dixon.

CASTLE: Okay, here's my theory.

Omar Dixon is working for Tanner,
but he's just scraping by.

Along comes Warburg's drone hack.

Tanner doesn't want it,
but Dixon sees an opportunity.

He realizes how much
a drone-hacking program

would be worth on the open market.

Exactly. He burns a copy,
learns how to use it.

The next step, real-world test.

And Tanner's a cheap
bastard anyway so...

- (CELL PHONE RINGING)
- I'll get it.

For Richard Castle, press one.
For Beckett, press two.

ESPOSITO: Yo, how about I just talk,
jackass.

We put out an APB on Omar Dixon

but it looks like
he's already in the wind.

His girlfriend said that he packed a bag,
snuck out down the fire escape.

Okay, circulate his photo to airports
and bus and train stations.

Already on it.

Detective Beckett, I sure do appreciate
you finding Simon Warburg for me.

Is that what you were hoping for
when you gave us his name?

I just thought you might think
of something that we hadn't.

When I pinged your cell phone,
I realized I was right.

FBI's picking him up right now.

Well, then it might interest you
to know he didn't k*ll Tanner.

What are you talking about?

BECKETT: We have reason to believe
that it was Omar Dixon,

Tanner's assistant.

The problem is, he's on the run.

I can help with that.

STACK: The facial recognition system
is scanning footage

over the last two hours
from all the main departure points.

How accurate is this thing, really?

STACK: Well, if he passed in front of
one of those cameras, it'll spot him.

Man, talk about Big Brother.

There's got to be a way
to b*at the system though, right?

Wear big sunglasses, let your bangs
hang down over your forehead.

It totally messes with the software.

What if you don't have bangs?

Wear heavy makeup. Paint random
colored shapes all over your face.

(CHUCKLES) Yeah, I'm not doing that.

And there he is.

JFK, international terminal,
92 minutes ago. We got him.

Now it'll track him off his face
and the color of his clothes.

Damn it.

Omar Dixon caught a flight to Beirut.
Left an hour ago.

He's gone.

We reached the airline.

Omar Dixon was definitely on that flight
to Beirut, by way of Abu Dhabi.

Why Beirut?

He's got family there on his mom's side.
And dual citizenship.

He flew out on a Lebanese passport.

Can we have him detained
when he lands?

Nope.
There's no extradition agreement.

Probably why he went there.

And it's an excellent part of the world

if you want to sell some
drone-hacking software.

Speaking of drone-hacking,
say hello to our friend Omar Dixon.

See you later, Omar.

I thought he was heading to Beirut.

He was. Until I asked
the Attorney General to contact the FAA

and have them recall
the flight back to JFK.

You know, one of the perks of working
for an 800-pound gorilla.

Did you already interview him?

Well, you are the reason we got him,
Detective Beckett.

Why don't you do the honors?

STACK: Look at that.

How she uses the silence.

She is a force to be reckoned with.

Oh, you don't know the half of it.

Omar, right now, your bags
are being searched for a USB drive.

Your best bet is to tell me the truth
before it turns up.

I told you the truth.

I had nothing to do with
what happened to Tanner.

Then why did you flee the country?

Because I like being alive, that's why.

Somebody put a b*mb in his car,
I had people chasing me.

You and I both know that
there was no b*mb.

What do you mean?

You used the software hack
to fire a m*ssile from a drone.

You're out of your mind!
Why is this happening to me?

You're actually gonna sit there
and tell me

that you had no idea about
the flash drive Warburg gave Tanner?

I had an idea, sure.

Tanner sent me to pick it up
from the dead-drop.

At which time, you copied it.

I never copied anything.
I didn't even know what was on it.

The next day,
Tanner said he didn't want it

and so he told me to return
the flash drive to the dead-drop.

So that's what I did. That's all I did.

Did anyone else know about
the flash drive or have access to it?

Yeah. Yeah, just one person.

Hey, Sean. You mind if we come in?

I guess.

(DOOR CLOSES)

Where is your mom, Sean?

She went to get groceries. What's up?

Is there news about my dad?

BECKETT: We talked to Omar.

He said you started dropping by
the office two months ago,

mostly when your dad wasn't around.

I like hanging with Omar. So what?

Or was it to connect with your dad?

I mean, two months ago,
that's when he moved out, isn't it?

Okay, all right, I'm not exactly sure
why we're talking about this.

CASTLE: Is that why you went to
the college where he taught classes?

So you could connect?

I mean, it had to be hard, Sean,
having a father like that.

So absent, so driven.

A crusader who put
his mission above all else,

even people who loved him.

Warburg's drone hack was copied
onto a four-gig USB drive.

It so happens you bought the same kind
of drive the day that copy was made.

BECKETT: You called your dad,
you asked him to meet with you

because you wanted to know
exactly where he would be.

Isn't that right, Sean?

So what pushed you
over the edge, Sean?

Was it when you found out
about the affair?

My mom held us together.

Dad was always gone.

We never had any money,
and we were being watched all the time.

No friends, because of all
the rumors and whispers.

And that was it. (SNIFFLES)

That was our life.

All so he could "expose wrongdoing"
and "hold the authorities accountable."

What about his family?

Why didn't we matter as much
as some stupid scandal?

And then, after all of it,
after everything that he put us through,

he leaves my mom for another woman?

And you wanted to make him pay.

He broke her heart!

And he broke mine, too.

What is this? What's going on?

How about a nice glass of zinfandel
when we get back to my place?

After the day we've had today,
that sounds great.

Detective Beckett and Mr. Castle.

Both the President
and the Attorney General

have asked me to convey their thanks
for your work on this case.

I don't suppose
the President's appreciation

could come in the form
of a blurb for my book?

Yeah, that's not gonna happen.

But, Detective Beckett,
could I have a word?

Yeah.

Let me ask you something.

Where do you see yourself
five years from now?

I haven't really given it much thought.

As a lieutenant? Captain?

At 1 Police Plaza, climbing the ladder?

That's not really where my heart is.

Where is your heart? In that room?

You wanna be in that room,
five years from now,

busting some k*ller's balls?

I don't know you.

Certainly not well enough
to have this conversation.

Yeah, I used to work Homicide, too.

- Really? Mmm.
- Yeah.

Chicago. Till some guy
tapped me on the shoulder.

Today, I'm that guy.

What I'm saying is this,

I think you are exceptional.

You're smart, you're strong,
you're an asymmetrical thinker.

I see bigger things for you.

Who says I want bigger things?

(HUFFS)

Practically everything about you
screams it.

There's a job opening in DC.

What job?

With the Attorney General.

We report directly to him,
we work with total autonomy

on the biggest, most challenging cases.

Cases like this, where the stakes are
high and the outcome can affect history.

Not everybody has what it takes
for the job. I think you do.

Call that number
to schedule an interview.

Think about it.

I will.

I'll be talking to you, Detective Beckett.

BECKETT: So you can rest easy,
Castle.

Looks like the rise of the machines
is still a few years off.

That's what the autonomous drones
want you to think.

Well, the fact is, an autonomous drone
would never have k*lled Dale Tanner.

Mmm. It's true.

Because with people,
all decisions are personal.

And where one person might see roses,

another may see a chance to move on
from an old life and on to a new one.

The human factor.

The human factor.

And this human needs a shower.
Care to join me?

I'll be there in a minute.

You never did tell me
what Stack wanted to talk to you about.

Nothing.

It was nothing.