Limelight - Recap
<-- Previous EpisodeNext Episode -->Beckett points out a story in the news about Castle getting back together with his ex-wife. It was just a meeting though and he says these rumors would be stopped if they announced their engagement. Beckett doesn't want to be a public figure though. Pi rings the doorbell and asks Castle about his letter of recommendation. Castle hasn't started it and it's due tonight. He promises to have it done by lunch. As soon as he starts, Beckett's phone rings.
Castle and Beckett arrive at the scene where pop star Mandy Sutton has died. There are a ton of paparazzi around that bother them with questions. They meet up with Kevin outside Mandy's apartment. The doorman found her body near a door she would sometimes use. Parish states that it was a murder and Castle thinks she was sneaking out or meeting someone she knew. Beckett tells them to see if paparazzi have any photos and warns them not to talk to the press. Mandy's personal assistant runs up but Javier tells her she's not allowed at the scene. Beckett still needs to take her statement and asks about her next of kin. The assistant names Mandy's mother/manager as Marilyn Sutton.
Beckett and Castle sit down with the assistant and Marilyn. Mandy received many letters and any aggressive ones who given to security. They hadn't spoken to her in two days because she was partying. She had been clean since being in rehab and met a man who builds houses for the poor. A few nights ago she got drunk and made out with an old boyfriend. Mandy broke up with Zack when he saw photos in gossip magazines. Beckett suggests they speak to Zack since he must have known how to access the door where Mandy was killed.
Kevin and Javier speak to Zack at a construction site. He was at a lumber yard at the time of her death and hasn't seen her in two days. He suggests they talk to Mandy's ex-boyfriend Jesse Jones because he has previous manslaughter charges. He's the one who got her into drugs and the last time they broke up he threatened to kill Mandy.
Beckett questions Jesse about his relationship with Mandy. He claims he didn't see Mandy after the night he saw her in the bar. His alibi is that he was at a pool hall in Queens with some friends. Parish calls Beckett to tell her a problem. Marilyn is at the morgue and insists the body isn't Mandy.
Beckett debriefs the team on their current situation. The body belongs to Claire Samuels, an aspiring actress and Mandy's decoy. No one has seen Mandy or been able to contact her. Gates thinks the killer may be out to finish the job by killing Mandy. Castle suggests they can't find her because she has already been killed but the assistant rushes in to say Mandy has been found. She's checked into a hotel under one of her aliases.
Castle and Beckett arrive at the hotel room and find Mandy lying unconscious on her bed. They bring her back to the station and explain the murder case to her. Castle tells her that she was the intended target but she doesn't have any enemies. Beckett asks about anyone she may have insulted during her binge but Mandy doesn't remember. Marilyn isn't happy that they can't announce Mandy is alive because she has a tour coming up. Mandy doesn't seem so thrilled about her comeback tour. Beckett hopes to have everything cleared up in a few days. Kevin enters with a letter that threatened her and also has photos of Mandy sleeping.
Castle takes Mandy to the break room where he makes her a cup of coffee. He understands what it's like to have paparazzi but on a much smaller scale. Alexis arrives and asks about Pi's letter of recommendation. He hasn't written it yet and apologizes. Alexis brings up Mandy and says how she loved her but she became a hot mess. Mandy takes her hood off and Alexis realizes she's right there.
Javier tells Beckett that it was Claire who ordered the limo to Mandy's apartment last night. He says Claire's room mate says she has been upset and crying for the past few days. Kevin found the location that the photos of Mandy were printed and says they belong to Ken Castor. He has done time for assault and had a restraining order for stalking Mandy. Kevin went through the paparazzi photos and found Ken at Mandy's apartment when Claire got out of the limo.
Kevin and Javier enter Ken's apartment and find him hiding in the closet. They tackle him to the ground and arrest him. In the closet there are hundreds of photos of Mandy on the wall.
In interrogation, Ken states that he was protecting and watching over Mandy. He waited for the limo but knew it wasn't Mandy. Usually when the other girl goes in the front, Mandy goes in the back but that night she didn't. The only person he saw was a motorcycle going into the alley and five minutes later it left. He explains the motorcycle with great detail.
Beckett doesn't think Ken was the killer but thinks he may be their best witness.
While walking with Pi, Alexis checks her phone for news from Castle about the letter. It rings and she realizes it isn't her phone. It's Mandy calling to say they must have switched their phones. She's at the hotel and gives Alexis the room number.
At the hotel, Alexis apologizes to Mandy about what she said earlier. Mandy explains that she became a hot mess because it happened when she wasn't looking. She regrets messing things up with Zack and Alexis suggests she stop drinking. When Mandy's sober though she feels and she doesn't like what she feels. She wishes she could just disappear and Alexis agrees with her. She also wishes she could disappear from her life.
While Beckett talks to Castle about the case, Javier enters and says they've caught him. They found the shop where the motorcycle was customized and that it belongs to Josh Greenberg. Josh sold the bike three days ago to Jesse Jones. He wasn't at his place though so they need to talk to Mandy.
Alexis stresses to Mandy about her relationship with Pi. She hasn't had anyone to talk to and opens up completely to Mandy. She receives a text from her friend Sam who wants to talk about the girl who died. Alexis warns her not to leave but Mandy wants to help find the killer. She agrees to bring Alexis along to do the talking for her.
Kevin calls Beckett from Mandy's apartment and says she's gone. Beckett insists on finding Mandy before Jesse figures out he killed the wrong person. Marilyn walks up and ass what's going on.
At the bar where Sam works, Alexis gets his attention and asks if they can talk in private. He agrees when he sees Mandy. Sam says that Claire was in last night and wanted Mandy's number to warn her that someone was trying to hurt her. She got mad when Sam wouldn't give Mandy's number away. Claire insisted on talking to Jesse. Some people in the club notice Mandy and start taking photos.
Javier calls the limo company to see if Mandy asked for a ride. She didn't but the company told him he wasn't the first one to ask that. Beckett suspects it was Jesse. She turns on the TV where a news report gives Mandy's location away. She worries that Jesse will also know where to find her.
Jesse sits in his truck when he receives a car about Mandy's location. There's a handgun sitting on the seat next to him.
Kevin points out that the news report also shows Alexis with Mandy. Castle is confused by this and tries to call her. Meanwhile, Alexis and Mandy escape the club but are confronted by Jesse. He points a gun at them and orders them into the truck.
Jesse drives to a deserted area and tells them to get out of the truck. He states that someone is messing with him and thinks Mandy is involved. Jesse admits that he was paid $25,000 to make out with Claire the other night. Mandy wasn't aware of this because she was drunk so just assumed it had been her. Alexis suggests she was drugged so that she wouldn't remember. Jesse asks who killed Claire because he was promised an extra $25,000 if they both kept quiet. Claire was thinking about talking so Jesse went to speak with her. When he arrived he found Claire dead. The police arrive and order Jesse to drop the gun. Alexis runs to Castle, who assures her it's over.
Javier tells the team that it's true Jesse deposited $25,000 into his bank account five days ago. They don't know who paid him yet though. Castle thinks the photographer who shot the photo was in on the deal.
Javier and Kevin finds James Lockhart on the street outside a restaurant. They ask about the photos he took and says he wasn't paid. He admits he was given a tip about it but refuses to tell them. Javier threatens to follow him around all day so he agrees to talk.
Back at the station, Harvey Stryker is revealed as the man who set the photo up and also ran it on his website. Castle says Mandy's problems drove a lot of visitors to that website but she has recently been getting her life in order because of Zack. He staged the photo so that Zack would break up with her and drive Mandy back to her old life. He was the one at Mandy's apartment waiting to silence Claire.
Castle and Beckett interrogate Harvey. He denies knowing who Claire is and claims innocence. Beckett asks how he knew they were at that bar and says a phone call told him about Mandy and Jesse at the bar.
Javier finds the call came from a burner phone but whoever owns it forgot to disable GPS data. The phone was in the alley the night of CLaire's murder.
Beckett reveals to Mandy and Marilyn that the person who set up the photo was also Claire's murderer. Castle explains that whoever owns the burner phone made one mistake, they forgot to get rid of it. Beckett calls the number and Marilyn's phone rings. Mandy asks how she could do this to her. Marilyn did this so that she would break up with Zack because he was going to end her career. Marilyn couldn't allow Claire to ruin their relationship so she killed her. Beckett arrests Marilyn, who says she did all of this for Mandy.
Before Mandy leaves, Castle stops her and tells her not to run and hide. She thanks him for all they did and asks Castle to thank Alexis. Castle doesn't know where she went to because she just left. Alexis arrives with Zack and the two reunite. Castle hands Alexis Pi's letter of recommendation but she hesitates. She says she's not sure she got it right and leaves.
Kevin reads Castle the latest newspaper article to involve him. It's an engagement announcement for Castle and Beckett. He doesn't understand how this happened but Beckett admits she was the one who broke the news.
Castle and Beckett arrive at the scene where pop star Mandy Sutton has died. There are a ton of paparazzi around that bother them with questions. They meet up with Kevin outside Mandy's apartment. The doorman found her body near a door she would sometimes use. Parish states that it was a murder and Castle thinks she was sneaking out or meeting someone she knew. Beckett tells them to see if paparazzi have any photos and warns them not to talk to the press. Mandy's personal assistant runs up but Javier tells her she's not allowed at the scene. Beckett still needs to take her statement and asks about her next of kin. The assistant names Mandy's mother/manager as Marilyn Sutton.
Beckett and Castle sit down with the assistant and Marilyn. Mandy received many letters and any aggressive ones who given to security. They hadn't spoken to her in two days because she was partying. She had been clean since being in rehab and met a man who builds houses for the poor. A few nights ago she got drunk and made out with an old boyfriend. Mandy broke up with Zack when he saw photos in gossip magazines. Beckett suggests they speak to Zack since he must have known how to access the door where Mandy was killed.
Kevin and Javier speak to Zack at a construction site. He was at a lumber yard at the time of her death and hasn't seen her in two days. He suggests they talk to Mandy's ex-boyfriend Jesse Jones because he has previous manslaughter charges. He's the one who got her into drugs and the last time they broke up he threatened to kill Mandy.
Beckett questions Jesse about his relationship with Mandy. He claims he didn't see Mandy after the night he saw her in the bar. His alibi is that he was at a pool hall in Queens with some friends. Parish calls Beckett to tell her a problem. Marilyn is at the morgue and insists the body isn't Mandy.
Beckett debriefs the team on their current situation. The body belongs to Claire Samuels, an aspiring actress and Mandy's decoy. No one has seen Mandy or been able to contact her. Gates thinks the killer may be out to finish the job by killing Mandy. Castle suggests they can't find her because she has already been killed but the assistant rushes in to say Mandy has been found. She's checked into a hotel under one of her aliases.
Castle and Beckett arrive at the hotel room and find Mandy lying unconscious on her bed. They bring her back to the station and explain the murder case to her. Castle tells her that she was the intended target but she doesn't have any enemies. Beckett asks about anyone she may have insulted during her binge but Mandy doesn't remember. Marilyn isn't happy that they can't announce Mandy is alive because she has a tour coming up. Mandy doesn't seem so thrilled about her comeback tour. Beckett hopes to have everything cleared up in a few days. Kevin enters with a letter that threatened her and also has photos of Mandy sleeping.
Castle takes Mandy to the break room where he makes her a cup of coffee. He understands what it's like to have paparazzi but on a much smaller scale. Alexis arrives and asks about Pi's letter of recommendation. He hasn't written it yet and apologizes. Alexis brings up Mandy and says how she loved her but she became a hot mess. Mandy takes her hood off and Alexis realizes she's right there.
Javier tells Beckett that it was Claire who ordered the limo to Mandy's apartment last night. He says Claire's room mate says she has been upset and crying for the past few days. Kevin found the location that the photos of Mandy were printed and says they belong to Ken Castor. He has done time for assault and had a restraining order for stalking Mandy. Kevin went through the paparazzi photos and found Ken at Mandy's apartment when Claire got out of the limo.
Kevin and Javier enter Ken's apartment and find him hiding in the closet. They tackle him to the ground and arrest him. In the closet there are hundreds of photos of Mandy on the wall.
In interrogation, Ken states that he was protecting and watching over Mandy. He waited for the limo but knew it wasn't Mandy. Usually when the other girl goes in the front, Mandy goes in the back but that night she didn't. The only person he saw was a motorcycle going into the alley and five minutes later it left. He explains the motorcycle with great detail.
Beckett doesn't think Ken was the killer but thinks he may be their best witness.
While walking with Pi, Alexis checks her phone for news from Castle about the letter. It rings and she realizes it isn't her phone. It's Mandy calling to say they must have switched their phones. She's at the hotel and gives Alexis the room number.
At the hotel, Alexis apologizes to Mandy about what she said earlier. Mandy explains that she became a hot mess because it happened when she wasn't looking. She regrets messing things up with Zack and Alexis suggests she stop drinking. When Mandy's sober though she feels and she doesn't like what she feels. She wishes she could just disappear and Alexis agrees with her. She also wishes she could disappear from her life.
While Beckett talks to Castle about the case, Javier enters and says they've caught him. They found the shop where the motorcycle was customized and that it belongs to Josh Greenberg. Josh sold the bike three days ago to Jesse Jones. He wasn't at his place though so they need to talk to Mandy.
Alexis stresses to Mandy about her relationship with Pi. She hasn't had anyone to talk to and opens up completely to Mandy. She receives a text from her friend Sam who wants to talk about the girl who died. Alexis warns her not to leave but Mandy wants to help find the killer. She agrees to bring Alexis along to do the talking for her.
Kevin calls Beckett from Mandy's apartment and says she's gone. Beckett insists on finding Mandy before Jesse figures out he killed the wrong person. Marilyn walks up and ass what's going on.
At the bar where Sam works, Alexis gets his attention and asks if they can talk in private. He agrees when he sees Mandy. Sam says that Claire was in last night and wanted Mandy's number to warn her that someone was trying to hurt her. She got mad when Sam wouldn't give Mandy's number away. Claire insisted on talking to Jesse. Some people in the club notice Mandy and start taking photos.
Javier calls the limo company to see if Mandy asked for a ride. She didn't but the company told him he wasn't the first one to ask that. Beckett suspects it was Jesse. She turns on the TV where a news report gives Mandy's location away. She worries that Jesse will also know where to find her.
Jesse sits in his truck when he receives a car about Mandy's location. There's a handgun sitting on the seat next to him.
Kevin points out that the news report also shows Alexis with Mandy. Castle is confused by this and tries to call her. Meanwhile, Alexis and Mandy escape the club but are confronted by Jesse. He points a gun at them and orders them into the truck.
Jesse drives to a deserted area and tells them to get out of the truck. He states that someone is messing with him and thinks Mandy is involved. Jesse admits that he was paid $25,000 to make out with Claire the other night. Mandy wasn't aware of this because she was drunk so just assumed it had been her. Alexis suggests she was drugged so that she wouldn't remember. Jesse asks who killed Claire because he was promised an extra $25,000 if they both kept quiet. Claire was thinking about talking so Jesse went to speak with her. When he arrived he found Claire dead. The police arrive and order Jesse to drop the gun. Alexis runs to Castle, who assures her it's over.
Javier tells the team that it's true Jesse deposited $25,000 into his bank account five days ago. They don't know who paid him yet though. Castle thinks the photographer who shot the photo was in on the deal.
Javier and Kevin finds James Lockhart on the street outside a restaurant. They ask about the photos he took and says he wasn't paid. He admits he was given a tip about it but refuses to tell them. Javier threatens to follow him around all day so he agrees to talk.
Back at the station, Harvey Stryker is revealed as the man who set the photo up and also ran it on his website. Castle says Mandy's problems drove a lot of visitors to that website but she has recently been getting her life in order because of Zack. He staged the photo so that Zack would break up with her and drive Mandy back to her old life. He was the one at Mandy's apartment waiting to silence Claire.
Castle and Beckett interrogate Harvey. He denies knowing who Claire is and claims innocence. Beckett asks how he knew they were at that bar and says a phone call told him about Mandy and Jesse at the bar.
Javier finds the call came from a burner phone but whoever owns it forgot to disable GPS data. The phone was in the alley the night of CLaire's murder.
Beckett reveals to Mandy and Marilyn that the person who set up the photo was also Claire's murderer. Castle explains that whoever owns the burner phone made one mistake, they forgot to get rid of it. Beckett calls the number and Marilyn's phone rings. Mandy asks how she could do this to her. Marilyn did this so that she would break up with Zack because he was going to end her career. Marilyn couldn't allow Claire to ruin their relationship so she killed her. Beckett arrests Marilyn, who says she did all of this for Mandy.
Before Mandy leaves, Castle stops her and tells her not to run and hide. She thanks him for all they did and asks Castle to thank Alexis. Castle doesn't know where she went to because she just left. Alexis arrives with Zack and the two reunite. Castle hands Alexis Pi's letter of recommendation but she hesitates. She says she's not sure she got it right and leaves.
Kevin reads Castle the latest newspaper article to involve him. It's an engagement announcement for Castle and Beckett. He doesn't understand how this happened but Beckett admits she was the one who broke the news.
