"Castle, what do you think of this one?" "Mmmm, Sexy!" "Sexy?" "What do you mean by sexy?" "I mean..." "Well, I-I mean sexy." "Yeah, sexy." "What's wrong with sexy?" "Oh, God, Castle." "This is my first day back at work." "I'm supposed to look normal." "No one is going to be able to tell that we're together by how you are dressed." "Oh, no?" "I only work with a roomful of detectives." "It's their job." "What about this one?" "No." "You just want me to take my shirt off again, don't you?" " What?" " Stop it." "I told you, the NYPD has a strict policy about coworkers... dating." "Yes, but since I'm not getting paid," " technically, we're not coworkers." " Oh, really?" "And you think that Captain Gates is gonna see it that way?" "If anyone finds out, and she gets wind of it" "No one is going to find out." "I haven't even told my mother or Alexis." "Yeah, that's because they're in Europe celebrating her graduation." "Yes, true." "But I haven't told them long distance." "Look, no one is going to find out." "But just to be safe, you might want to change out of those pants." "Oh, there's a murder uptown." "And looks like the pants stay on." "Castle, remember, act normal." "And when we're in public, you're single and I'm single." " Got it?" " Got it." "Thanks." "So that's a no to carpooling then?" "I'll take a cab." "Good morning, Detective Beckett." "Castle, where is my coffee?" "You already had one." "You've been bringing me coffee for the past four years." "I told you to act normal." "This is gonna look suspicious." "Don't worry." "Relax." "You're overthinking this, really." "What, no coffee?" "I forgot hers." "You forgot?" "On her first day back from suspension?" "It's all right." "I've already forgiven him." "So who's our vic?" "Local celeb." "Groundskeeper found her tucked behind this fountain early this morning." "She's actually the weather girl for WHNY--Mandy Michaels." " Mandy Michaels?" " Yeah." " Really?" " Yeah." "Oh, man." "I watched her every night." "She had the best... forecasts." "What?" "L-listen, as a single man," "I appreciated her assets." "You can't tell me people watched her for the weather." "Welcome back." "Thank you." "You--what, are you doing something different?" "No." "Why?" "I don't know." "Something's changed." "So how'd she die?" "Single GSW." "Shot was called in by neighbors last night at 10:28 PM." "Which fits lividity." "There's also signs of a struggle." "Vic has bruises on her upper arm and her blouse was ripped." "There's no sign of a wallet, purse, or phone." "Sounds like a mugging gone wrong." "I got tech pinging her phone as we speak." "Speaking of which, I'm gonna go check on that." "You guys still haven't buried the hatchet?" "It is what it is." "So according to Mandy's producer at WHNY, she was last seen by her camera crew doing a weather spot at City Of Trust Children's Hospital last night at 9:30 PM." "That's 20 blocks from here." "Yeah, and Mandy's apartment's the other direction." "So what was she doing here in the park an hour later?" "Yo." "Mandy's phone is active." "Tech tracked her GPS signal to a building on the Lower East Side." "Sounds like our mugger." "All right, you guys check in to it." "Castle and I will talk to next of kin." "Yeah, I'd pr-- you know, I'd be much" "Just--just go." "Okay?" "The signal's coming from one of the rooms on this floor." "The question is, which one?" "What the hell are you doing?" "Being a good cop, narrowing down my options." "What are you doing?" "Right here." "NYPD!" "Hands, now!" "Don't move!" "I didn't do anything." "I didn't do anything." "I swear." "That's her phone." "No." "It's my phone." "I suppose that's your purse, too?" "Jonathan Goodheart." "You have been a very, very bad boy, Jonathan." "It's Johnny." "It says here, Jonathan, that you have priors for stalking, indecent exposure." "That stalking was a misunderanding, and..." "That other thing happened on a really hot day." "Well, you just have an explanation for everything, don't you, Jonathan?" "So why don't you explain to me what you were doing with Mandy Michaels' purse." "I found it." "You found it?" "In a dumpster on Lexington and 9th." "It was soft." "I like things that are soft." "Yeah, take care, Ms. Michaels." "Hey." "You okay?" "Well, I-I just got off the phone with Mandy's parents." "They said that she spent most of her time at work." "There was no boyfriend, and they have no idea why she was in the park." "Hey, guys." "Check this out." "I was going through Mandy's purse, and I found this folded up in her wallet." ""If any of this gets out, I'll kill you"?" "I'm gonna go ahead and say she was being threatened." "That doesn't mean this is why she was killed." "All the evidence points to the fact that she was mugged." "It wasn't a mugging." "How can you tell?" "Blood spatter on her blouse indicates the shirt was ripped after the gunshot." "What about the bruising?" "Postmortem." "To make it look like a mugging." "Someone's trying to cover their tracks." "Speaking of which," "I figured out what's different." "You're having sex." "Excuse me?" "Oh, don't try to deny it." "There's a glow." "I know that glow." "So who's the guy?" "Yeah, Beckett, who's the guy?" "Nobody that you would know, okay?" "Are you sure?" "I know a lot of guys." "I'm sure." "Anything else?" "As a matter of fact," "I found makeup on Mandy's blouse that's much lighter than the shade that she wears." "The position indicates close contact, like she fought with someone." "Rounding up all the women in the city who wear lighter makeup is a pretty wide net." "It isn't just any makeup." "It's formulated for high-definition cameras." "Like the ones they use at TV stations." "In the meantime, authorities are still on the hunt for suspects in the Mandy Michaels slaying." "Though few details have been released, we can confirm that she was shot to death late last night in Paley Park." "Speaking on behalf of the entire broadcast community, the 5-day forecast just won't be the same." "Chuck?" "Thank you, Miles." "We'll bring you more on this difficult story as events unfold." "But coming up next, your morning coffee could be killing you." "We'll have that story when we come back." "And we're out to commercial." "Everyone here is devastated." "We're like a family." "What kind of family, happy or dysfunctional?" "What do you mean?" "Meaning, as the station manager, you would know your personnel." "Did she have any conflicts with anyone?" "Sure, but I-I can't imagine that has anything to do with what happened." "Well, who was it?" "The other weather girl, Rebecca Fog." "Is Fog her real name?" "And what was the conflict?" "Rebecca was the new meteorologist." "She was ambitious and nipping at Mandy's heels." "Had anything happened recently?" "As a matter of fact, they did just get into a bit of a scuffle." "Really, when was this?" "Last night." "I'll show you." "Sorry, Chip." "We need the bay." "Yeah, sure, Harvey." "What's up?" "Bob, I need the unaired footage from Mandy's segment last night at City Of Trust." "The police need to see some tape on Mandy." "Yeah, that was a terrible thing." "Whoa." "Talk about New York's finest." "She really a cop?" "Yes, she's really a cop." "Chip Chambers." "I do sports." "And you can arrest me anytime." "Yeah, well, maybe I will." "That's it." "Well, that's your weather, folks, straight from my lips to your living room." "This is Mandy Michaels reporting live from the toy drive at the City Of Trust Children's Hospital." "And we're clear." "Rebecca?" "What the hell are you doing here?" "You know exactly what I'm doing here," " you conniving bitch!" " Hey, knock it off." "You have no idea who you're dealing with." "What happened?" "The cameraman turned off his camera and broke up the fight." "Did he see Rebecca leave?" "No." "Once they settled down, he left them there talking." "Well, it must have been a hell of a talk." "An hour later, Mandy was dead." "Look, Mandy Michaels was a lazy, entitled, big-boobed bimbo." "I've been picking up her slack since the minute I got here." ""Harvey, "I can't go in the helicopter for 'traffic live!" "'" ""because of my asthma." "Make Rebecca do it."" "I mean, did I hate her?" "Yes." "But I would never kill her." "Except now that she's dead, you get to trade in 4:00 AM shift for the coveted and lucrative evening news spot, right?" "Oh, please." "I didn't need to kill her for that." "I just needed to wait." "She was already past her sell-by date." "Well, according to Harvey, she still had a very loyal audience." "Sure." "Yeah, people who cared about how many buttons on her blouse were open." "But at her age in high def, she was running out of buttons fast." "Then what was the fight about, Ms. Fog?" "Look, I'm a certified meteorologist." "Okay?" "I have a brain." "Mandy was just set dressing with cleavage." "My forecasts were way more accurate than hers, and people were starting to notice." "So last week, to get back at me, she breaks into my office, she steals a bunch of my equipment." "I mean, that's why I went to confront her." "But that's it." "That's all." "Where were you at 10:28 last night?" "Home sleeping." "I mean, I have the 4:00 AM shift, remember?" "And besides, she left the children's hospital before I did." "You want to find out who killed Mandy, ask the person in the silver G-Wagon who picked her up." "What person?" "I don't know." "Beats me." "The car had tinted windows, but it sure seemed like she knew them." "So Rebecca was telling the truth about where she was." "She paid for the cab with a credit card, and the cabbie dropped her off at her apartment before Mandy was killed." "Okay." "Yeah, so check traffic cams and surveillance in the area for the silver G-Wagon." "Yeah, I mean, if we're lucky, we'll..." "We might actually get a plate." "So, uh, were you able to track down the phone records to see if she made any calls that night?" "Mm-hmm." "Okay." "Richard." "Richard Castle." "Kristina." "Oh, I have not seen you... since..." "Since I interviewed you on the red carpet and you promised to do my show." "Oh, that's right." "I did." "Fred Willard canceled on me tonight." "I don't have a guest." "I feel like it's fate." "Okay." "I gotta go, Espo." "Bye." " Tonight?" "Wow." " 9:00 o'clock." "I'm not taking no for an answer." "Well, then I won't say no." "Good." "I'll see you soon, Ricky." "All right." "Oh, that's just their entertainment reporter." "She's..." "My agent has been haranguing me to promote "Frozen Heat," so..." "Isn't she the reporter that shows up to cover stories in her bikini?" "Yeah, y--I don't--is-- I didn't notice that." "You want to try it again, make it sound a little more convincing?" "No, I'm good." "Okay." "So the boys are running down our mystery car." "In the meantime, they found something on Mandy's phone records." "She was getting calls from an anonymous burner cell." "In fact, the last call she got before her murder" " was from that number." " But there's no way to trace it." "Yeah, there might be." "There's a pattern on the calls, and most of them came in on weekdays between 2:00 and 4:00." "That's right before her broadcast." "Which means she was here." "Yeah, Mandy was here between 2:00 and 4:00." "She needed all the time in that chair she could get." "When a woman hits mid-30s, those HD cameras can turn on you fast." "Faster-than-my-ex-husband in-the-sack fast." "You know, we were wondering about a series of phone calls that she might have gotten while she was here." "Ah." "Her secret man." "Secret man?" "Mandy was always open about her love life, but when this guy would call, she'd leave the room." "She was keeping it on the down low." "Yeah, you always think you're being so discreet, but trust me, people know." "So do you guys have any idea who he is?" "Yeah." "A few weeks ago I went outside to get a nutter butter from the vending machine, and I overheard them talking about his big game." "He's an athlete?" "More like an MVP of a very well-known local basketball team." "Does the number 17 ring a bell?" "Reggie Blake?" "She was dating Reggie Blake?" "Castle, isn't he married?" "Yeah, not only is he married, but rumor has it, he has a very strict no-cheating clause in their prenup." "Based on his income, it'd be very costly if he got a divorce." "And guess what he drives." " A silver G-Wagon?" " Yep." "All right, pick him up." " Make a hole." "Make a hole." "Give him room." " Hey." "Good to see you, Reg!" "Ah, thanks." "Appreciate it." "Oh, good to see you, man." "Let me take the lead." "Whatever." "What?" "I got more experience." "Yo, Javi, do you mind if we call a time-out while we collar this guy, huh?" " A'ight." " Take care, Reggie." "Reggie." "Fellas." "No autographs today." "We're NYPD." "I don't give a hobo's crap if you're CIA." "No autographs." "We're not here for autographs." "We're here for Reggie." "And you're obstructing our investigation." "So move." "That's what I thought." "Oh, hell." "You're not taking Reggie anywhere." "Get out of the way, man." "Shouldn't they be back by now?" "Well, maybe they hit traffic." "Or each other." "Either way, Reggie is going down." "Unis canvassed Mandy's building, and neighbors said that they heard her in a yelling match with a guy the day that she was killed." "They said it sounded like a lover's quarrel." "Relationship goes bad, his marriage is threatened..." "So Reggie threatens her with the note." ""If this gets out, I'll kill you."" "She refuses to play ball, so Reggie does what he does best-- starts shooting." "Don't ask." "Look, man, I'm sorry." "My security guys are protective." "We get a lot of nut bars hanging around the block." "Apology not accepted." "Now sit down." "Look, I told you," "I didn't have anything to do with her murder." "And yet, we have witnesses that saw Mandy get in to your car shortly before she was killed." "We know about the affair, Reggie." "Can't imagine your wife would be too happy if she found out, so you made sure she didn't." "What are you talking about, affair?" "Yeah, I knew Mandy." "So did my wife." "We were friends." "That's all." "You really expect us to believe that, Reggie?" "It's the truth." "If you don't believe me, ask my wife." "Oh, we will." "So I imagine it was just a coincidence that you happened to be driving by the hospital right after Mandy's segment ended." "No." "We're both on the hospital charity board." "I was stopping by the toy drive." "I'm telling you, we were just friends." "Well, there sure are a lot of phone calls to Mandy, considering y'all are just friends." "Mandy and I... we both had a ticking clock on our careers-- her looks, my knees." "It was nice to chat with somebody who understood." "Okay, say you were just friends." "Why didn't she want her coworkers to find out about you?" "Because that's how rumors get started." "I know what you're thinking." "I'm a professional athlete, she's a blonde weather girl, but it wasn't like that." "She wasn't like that." "Those kids at City Of Trust, to other celebs, they was just a photo op." "Not to her." "She cared." "You shoulda seen her last week, asking them questions, listening to their stories." "People think she's some kind of bimbo, but she wasn't." "Anyway, I-I saw her hailing a cab." "I offered her a ride." "She asked to be dropped off at the park." "That happened around 10:00." "Where were you at 10:28?" "I was across town at X Bar, promoting my new shoe line." "Check it." "Mandy mention why she wanted to get dropped off at the park?" "No." "She seemed nervous." "Maybe it had something to do with what happened a couple of days ago." "What happened a couple of days ago?" "She called me for a ride from the emergency room." "I asked her what happened, but she wouldn't say." "Wait." "She was there as a patient?" "Yeah." "She didn't look hurt, but she seemed pretty upset." "Do you actually buy this whole "Just friends" thing?" "It's possible." "Yeah, it's possible, but it's not probable." "I don't know." "You and I were just friends for four years." "Yeah, except you were trying to sleep with me that whole time." " What?" " Mm-hmm." "Excuse me." "It was you that was trying to sleep with me." "Wh" "Don't tell me you dress like that for Esposito." "What's for me?" " Nothing." " Don't worry about it." "Reggie's alibi is solid." "He was already at the X Bar buying shots for everyone when Mandy was killed." "His wife confirms that they were all just friends." "In fact, she's the one who bought him that prepaid cell phone because his was hacked or something." "Okay, then touch base with the ER doctor that treated Mandy a couple of days ago." "Whatever landed her in emergency might have caught up with her last night." " Hey, guys." "I found out who Mandy" " Yo." "Are you wearing makeup?" "No." "Really?" "Because an hour ago, you and I both had black eyes, and now you don't." "No, this is not makeup." "This is tinted moisturizer." "Jenny just stopped by, she happened to have some in her purse, and I figured since the, you know" "Fine." "Just judge all you want." "So I found out who Mandy was fighting with at her apartment the day she died." "The store across the street from her building uses surveillance." "There was no sign of Reggie, but I did see another familiar face" "WHNY reporter Miles Haxton." "Yeah, that's me." "So what were you doing at her place?" "Mandy's neighbors overheard the two of you fighting." "What was it about?" "Our relationship." " You were dating?" " Mm-hmm." "Why didn't you tell us this before?" "'Cause I couldn't take the chance that it would get out." "The--the reporter and the weather girl?" "No." "This--this station has a very strict policy about interoffice dating." "And even--even with what happened to Mandy," "Harvey still would've suspended me." "How long had the two of you been seeing each other?" "Couple months." "What went wrong?" "Well, here's the thing about a secret workplace romance, okay?" "In the beginning, you're on a high." "Every stolen moment feels like a-a shot of adrenaline straight to the heart." "You--you get butterflies on your way into work." "It's exciting and dangerous, and the sex is amazing." "And then what?" "And then it imploded." "We were never gonna keep up the secret." "We were already drowning in all the lies we had to tell." "Did--did your coworkers ever find out?" "Uh, not yet." "But I-I had to stay out in front of it to keep it from destroying both of our careers." "I mean, I still have a-a shot at a national desk." "And Mandy didn't want it to end." "She could've threatened to tell Harvey." "What?" "No, no." "Are you kidding?" "No, Mandy didn't want this to get out any more than I did." "You're not gonna tell, are you?" "Where were you last night at 10:28?" "Uh, at a press party at the Ritz-Carlton for the launch of the Vega smartphone." "Did Mandy say anything to you about going to the ER a couple days ago?" "No, she didn't mention it, but then again, she was acting pretty strange last week." "What do you mean?" "Well, she wouldn't tell me, but I had the feeling it was more than just us she was upset about." "There's something else that was bothering her." "Well, it looks like those makeup ladies were right about Mandy's affair, they just had the wrong guy." "Castle, what about the other stuff that they said about how secret romances are impossible to keep hidden?" "I mean, you heard Miles." "I don't want to drown in a sea of lies." "Well, if it's any comfort to you, I do know mouth-to-mouth." "Hey, Espo." "Found something weird." "The ER doc that treated Mandy?" "It turns out it was for a severe asthma attack." "That's not weird." "We know that Mandy had asthma." "That's why she couldn't go up in the station helicopter." "Which brings me to the w-weird part." "She arrived at the ER in the WHNY news chopper." "She landed on the helipad, and the pilot walked her inside." "Okay." "Thank you." "With her asthma, what was she doing up there and why did no one know about it?" "There is one person that knew about it, the helicopter pilot." "Whoa, whoa, whoa." "Where you going, pretty boy?" "It's 8:30." "It's time for your segment with Kristina." "Gotta get you into makeup." " Um..." " It's okay." "I'll take care of it." "Okay." "D-don't solve the case without me." "Look, I wasn't supposed to, okay?" "But a few days ago, she showed up with an envelope stuffed with 1,000 bucks, said she needed the chopper only for 20 minutes, and nobody could know." "Did she tell you why she needed it?" "No, but it must have been important." "Look, I liked Mandy." "Bubbly, easy on the eyes." "I wanted to help her out." "But then we get up there, she's got all this equipment, and she wants to fly over Jersey." "Why New Jersey?" "Beats me." "All I know is, it's more fuel, and my boss might notice." "Okay, so did you do it?" "Yeah." "We were over Jersey for a few minutes, but then she started breathing heavy." "She didn't have her inhaler, so I flew straight to the hospital." "D-do you have any idea what she was up to?" "No." "When I told her I didn't want to leave New York, she said, "It's a matter of life or death."" "I guess maybe she was right." "That was-- that was the last time" "I took my laptop into a coffee shop." "So... as a handsome, best-selling author," "I'm sure you must have women throwing themselves at you all the time." "Well, we all have our crosses to bear." "Yes, you are such a martyr." "So no one special in your life right now?" "I, uh..." "No." "Uh, actually, no." "No one special." "I'm single right now." "That's good, because there's a question" "I've been wanting to ask you." "Will you have dinner with me tomorrow night?" "Oh, um..." "Wow." "Wow." "I'm flattered." "But I have to decline." "Come on, Castle." "There's only three seconds until commercial." "I, uh, uh..." "Exactly." "What are you waiting for?" "Hello." "We're gonna need an answer." "No." "Uh, actually, I would love to." " It's a date." " Great." ""Frozen Heat"-- it's on bookshelves now." "We'll have more with Richard Castle after the break." "I'm telling you, it's the perfect cover." "No one's gonna suspect us if they know I'm going out with Kristina." "Yo, Castle, nice work with Coterra, bro." "See?" "Perfect." "Yeah, it's perfect." "So how far do you plan on taking this date with her?" "I'm taking her out to a fancy dinner, someplace romantic where everyone will see us, maybe even end up on "page six."" "How great would that be?" "Yeah, that'd be so-- that'd be really great." "You are okay with this, right?" "Yeah." "Yeah." "Why?" "Just askin'." "So what did we learn about Mandy's helicopter ride?" "Well, we found the equipment that she used in her apartment." "It turns out, it's all the stuff she stole from Rebecca Fog." "Rebecca Fog." "But you mean, it wasn't a prank?" "I mean, she actually used this stuff?" "Why?" "Well, we were hoping you could tell us." "Uh, well, if she was up in the chopper, she must have been using the direct tox monitor." "The direct tox monitor, of course." "You have no idea what that is." "No, not a clue." "Uh, it's an instrument to test air quality." "But she was a glorified spokesmodel." "What the hell was she up to?" "Is there any way to find out?" "Yeah, the, uh, monitor stores measured data." "Whoa." "Wait." " Well, this can't be right." " What?" "It's indicating high levels of styrene." "And is that unusual?" "Yeah, styrene's a dangerous chemical." "Prolonged exposure could lead to severe respiratory problems." "Like asthma." "Mandy had an asthma attack right after she did that test." "And remember Reggie's statement?" "He said Mandy was hanging out at the hospital with those sick kids." "Maybe there's a connection." "She was really nice." "She said she had asthma, too, and that it didn't have to hold me back." "When the doctors come in, they only talk to my mom." "The weather lady, she actually wanted to talk to me." "And what kinds of things did she ask you about?" "Lots of things, like school and friends." "Last time, she asked me where I played baseball." "And what'd you tell her?" "Conway Field." "Did she tell you why she wanted to know?" "She thought it had something to do with my asthma." "Excuse me." "Hey, so I just talked with the mothers of all the other patients that Mandy visited with at the hospital, and they all said the same thing" "Mandy asked them about their practices at Conway Field." "Let me guess." "Conway Field's in New Jersey." "Uh, Union County to be exact." "So I spoke with admissions at the hospital, and they said that numbers for severe asthma patients are up for that neighborhood." "Well, as a weather girl and someone with asthma," "Mandy would've understood the impact of air quality on someone with respiratory illness." "The note said, "If any of this gets out, I'll kill you."" "What if Mandy found out what or who was responsible for the styrene in the air?" "It's possible they had her killed." "So based on the direction that Lenny traveled while Mandy took air samples, they flew over eight factories, all near Conway Field." "And of the eight factories, only one produces styrene" "Cazuli Carpeting." "It's a chemical byproduct of their manufacturing." "And check out the bottom of one of their bills." "Look familiar?" "Their logo has the same design that's on the death threat Mandy got." "Yeah, and the owner of Cazuli Carpeting," "George Cazuli, is no stranger to carrying out threats-- assault and battery, spousal abuse, and the attempted arson of one of his competitor's factories." "Well, then it all makes perfect sense." "A hotheaded factory owner is confronted by an idealistic weather girl who accuses him of pumping poison into the air." "And if her allegations went public, he'd face criminal charges, his factory would be shut down." "Only Cazuli shuts her down instead." "Mr. Cazuli, have a seat." "I've seen enough episodes of "Law  Order" to know how this works." "You think you're gonna trick me into saying something that ain't true?" "I'll tell you what," "I ain't saying another word till my lawyer gets here." "Not a problem." "Mr. Castle and I will just use that time to go through your file before your lawyer gets here." "Oh, yeah." "That'll be helpful." " That's a thick file, huh?" " Mm-hmm." "Okay, let's see." "Six months ago, Cazuli modified their carpet backing to create a longer-lasting product." "Who doesn't want longer-lasting carpet?" "Yes, but unfortunately, this process released a harmful chemical called styrene." "Now that's normal in small doses, but in the case of Cazuli's factory, they were way over the legal limit." "Well, that's terrible." "Did Mr. Cazuli know?" "You know, it's hard to imagine that he didn't, right?" "Anyway, according to this, local weather girl Mandy Michaels made a connection between elevated levels of styrene and an increase in asthma cases." "This is not sounding good for Cazuli." "You know, I wonder if he was aware she was looking into this." "As a matter of fact, a receptionist at Cazuli Carpeting went on record saying that" "Mandy showed up at the factory a few days ago." "And I bet you she went there to confront Cazuli." "Cazuli had to know that the cost of shutting down production to address the problem would've been sky-high." "You know, that explains the threatening note that Mandy got." ""If any of this gets out, I will kill you"?" "Hey, this matches exactly the Cazuli Carpeting stationery." "That's why she was at the park." "The Environmental Protection Agency's right around the corner." "You know what?" "You might be right about that." "When I called them, they confirmed that Mandy was on her way there to drop something in the after-hours box." "I think Cazuli killed her to keep her from turning him in." "All right, enough!" "This broad was sticking her nose into something that was none of her business." "She shows up, she's all high, she's all mighty with her stupid-ass file of evidence, and I told her," "I told her to "Scram, get outta here, beat it!" ""And if I ever see your face around here, you're gonna regret it."" "I told her." "She says to me, if I don't close everything down, she's gonna expose us." "The friggin' note-- the note was to scare her away a little bit." "Seemed to work, right?" "'Cause I never heard from her again." "Come on." "Give me a break." "I thought this mess was over with." "Thank you, Mr. Cazuli." "Oh, yeah." "For what?" "For admitting to motive and to threatening Mandy." "What?" "He's all yours, counselor." "Where you been?" "Cazuli's lawyer is looking for a plea on the styrene violation." "What about the murder rap?" "Claims he's innocent." "Yeah, but unfortunately, we got nothing that places Cazuli there the night of the murder." "Look, if we can't physically tie him to it, then all we have is speculation." "Without evidence, he's gonna walk." "Hey." "There's something you're gonna want to take a look at." "Search warrant came through on Cazuli's office." "We found the file that Mandy left with him." "Now in her research is this picture of their smokestack." "It looks like it was taken at street level." "Exactly." "Now take a look at the timestamp." "This picture was taken last Tuesday at 5:47 PM." "Based on the position of the sun," " tech confirmed that the time was correct." " Meaning what?" "Meaning unless Mandy could be at two places at once, she couldn't have taken that photo." "She was on air at 5:47." "So who took the picture." "She had a partner." "Which is why Mandy told Cazuli "they'd" expose him." "Well, if she had a partner, then why haven't they come forward?" "Maybe they're afraid of Cazuli." "If we can find them, they might have some info on Cazuli that'll nail him." "You know what?" "Why don't we order dinner and work through?" "Wait a minute." "Castle." "Don't you have a date with Kristina Coterra tonight?" "Yes, I do." "And--oh, crap!" "I'm late." "Yeah, well, don't let us keep you." "Uh, are you sure you're okay-- are you okay with this?" "Okay?" "Are you kidding?" "It's Kristina Coterra." "Yeah, besides, since when have you let cop work get in the way of your busy social life?" "Yeah, I mean, go." "Enjoy your date." "Right." "Okay." " I'll call you later." " Mm." "To check on the case." "Okay, guys, let's just get... back... to work." "Surprise." "What are you--how--I" "I thought we were meeting at the restaurant?" "I know, but this is so much more romantic-- you, me..." "Some oysters." "Oh, wow." "You got oysters in there?" "To get us in the mood." "Also some chocolate-covered strawberries." "I..." "Well, I spoke with everyone at the station, including her boyfriend." "No one admits to being the partner or even knowing what she was working on." "There's nothing in her phone records either." "Yeah, well, there's gotta be something that we're missing." "Speaking of missing something," "Castle should be way more excited about his date tonight." "Why?" "According to "Celebrity Examiner,"" "Kristina is notorious for seducing famous men with her extensive bikini collection." "What?" "Jenny buys it, and it just happened to be open to that page on the coffee table." "What's your point?" "Isn't it obvious?" "She's totally gonna put the moves on him." "No way." "Not gonna happen." "Thank you for actually showing some maturity." "He's totally gonna put the moves on her." "Don't you guys think that he's actually evolved beyond that by now?" "He's a man, he has a pulse, so..." "No." "You know, ever since I saw you on that red carpet-- mm, that face of yours" "I have been waiting to do this." "Well, if you've been waiting that long, why not wait a few minutes more?" "Where you going?" "To the fridge to put away these strawberries." "Wouldn't want the chocolate to melt." "I can think of a better use for that chocolate." "Ha!" "Okay." "Kristina, let's talk about this for a second." "Oh, you want to talk?" "Well, I just-- what are we-- what are we-- what are we doing here?" "Hey, Castle." "How's your date?" "What are you" "Oh!" "Get back." "Get back." "Aah!" "Castle?" "Ooh." "Don't worry." "I got it." "Ah!" "Okay, I'll help." "I'll help." "Hi, you've reached Richard Castle." "Lucky you." "Now that that's out of the way, where were we?" "Um, um... oysters." "Ooh, let's skip the oysters." "Really?" "'Cause I happen to be" "Why are you playing so hard to get?" "I'm really not." "I just" " You are." " Whoa." "You know, no man has ever said no to me." "Well... there was one." "Really?" "That sounds like an interesting story." "Tell me about him." "How did he get away?" "I assure you... it had nothing to do with me." "Oh, wow." "Oh!" "Castle?" "I, uh... uh, I know who the killer is." "Look, I tried everything to get away." "I-I hid under the counter." "I was hiding in the bathroom." "At one point, I tried to pull a "Cape Fear" up under the piano." "Yet when I walked in, she was straddling you on the couch." "Right?" "She's like the Terminator of sexpots." "What is that even supposed to mean, she just keeps on coming?" "No, I--that's..." "The only reason" "I went on the date in the first place was because you made a big deal about being single in public." "Castle, I have 12 missed phone calls from Chip the sportscaster because he thinks that I'm single, but that doesn't mean that I'm gonna let him mount me in his speedos just to prove it." "You didn't tell me he called." "Really?" "You're gonna play the jealousy card now?" "Okay, look, I'll make it up to you, all right?" "Whatever you want." "What I want is not to have this image of a bikini-clad woman stuffing her boobs in your face." "So good luck with that." "Don't I even get credit for figuring out who the killer is?" "No." "Later in the week, we'll be seeing a warming trend." "Mr. Haxton." "Can we have a word?" "Uh, I'm about to go live with a story." "So are we." "I just had a very interesting conversation with Kristina Coterra." "She told me that you are the one man who's rejected her advances in the past." "Yep, the one man." "Well, I don't see how that's relevant." "Well, her pride was hurt so she did a little digging." "Turns out, you did have a secret relationship, just not with Mandy." "She discovered you have a boyfriend that no one here knows about." "Well, my... personal life's none of your business." "Normally, yes, but it became our business when we found out that you lied to us about why you were at Mandy's apartment and about what you were fighting over." "Now did you take this photo?" "No." "Wow, that's funny." "Because a search of your apartment turned up a camera with this and other photos on it." "She was your partner." "She was helping you with a story, so why didn't you come forward?" "Well, there's only one conceivable reason-- because you killed her." "She was a colleague and a friend." "Why would I kill her?" "Because she uncovered the expose of a lifetime." "A story that big, it has to be vetted by legal, that can take weeks, even months." "But Mandy couldn't wait that long, not while kids were getting sick." "So she decided to turn the findings over to the EPA." "At which point, you lose your big exclusive." "Now when was the last time you had a big exclusive?" "This is crazy." "No, this is crazy." "You--you think I killed someone for a story." "We know it was you, Miles." "We found gunshot residue on the clothes in your hamper, on the ski mask, the shirt." "You have to understand..." "It was an accident." "I only meant to scare her." "I thought if I could just get those files back," "I could stop her." "I'd be able to break the story like she promised." "But she fought me." "She fought me, and she went and grabbed for the gun." "Why would she fight me?" "I mean, I-I didn't even know the gun was loaded." "Well, the station manager confirmed," "Miles was on thin ice." "The only way he could save his career was to break a splashy story, so he made a deal with Mandy to help her in exchange for the exclusive." "Right, and then when she betrayed him, he snuck out of the press party to confront her, and then things just got back from there." "I've gotta say, pretty brave of Mandy to take up that cause." "Not what you'd expect from what people said about her." "It's funny how her coworkers thought they knew her so well, and she had this whole secret life she was hiding from 'em." "Yeah." "It's late." "I'm gonna get outta here." "Yeah, me, too." "Walk you out?" "Uh, no, thanks." "I'm good." "Good night, guys." " Good night." " Night." "Well, good night." "Good night." "Night, Castle." "Look." "It's Reggie." "And finally, here is number one on this week's top ten sports moments of the week-- this one sent in from a Reggie Blake fan." "This is what happens when you try to barge through to see the Blake." "Aah!" "Yeah, I'm guessing those eager fans did not get an autograph." "Yo." "You took that punch for me." "You didn't have to do that." "Well, it's what partners do, right?" "Come on." "Let's go get a beer." "I'm buying." "Cool." "Uh, anywhere but a sports bar." "Definitely not a sports bar." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "I should not have gone on that date." "I-I..." "I should've said no." "Then why didn't you?" "Well, I'm no good at this." "Pretending to be single" "Yeah, but, Castle, neither am I." "And the last thing I want to do is have to worry about you with other women." "Well, uh, for the record, I-I wasn't gonna sleep with her." "I know." "Look, that's not even the point." "The point is, is..." "I don't even know how to do this." "Do you remember when Miles said that it's inevitable that this will fall apart, that it's destined to implode?" "Uh, just a reminder," "Miles is a lying killer." "But..." "Okay, maybe people find out, and maybe we won't get to work together, and maybe we'll implode." "Or maybe we'll continue to be amazing." "The point is, we don't have the answers." "We just have to live with the questions and... find our way." "Okay, can..." "Well, can we just start here then?" "Can we say that we will talk about dating other people, but we won't actually date other people?" "Yeah." "I--no, I can do that." "Okay, good, because I have a gun, and you don't really have a choice." "Clearly, I don't have a choice." "No." "Mm." "I'm sorry." "I can't." "It's--it's too soon." "I just--I keep seeing her boobs in your face."