There are two kinds of folks
who sit around thinking about how to kill people,
psychopaths and mystery writers.
I'm the kind that pays better. Who am I?
I'm Rick Castle.
Castle.
I really am ruggedly handsome, aren't I?
Every writer needs inspiration and I found mine.
Detective Kate Beckett.
Beckett. Beckett.
- "Nikki Heat"? - The character he's basing on you.
And thanks to my friendship with the mayor,
I get to be on her case.
I'd be happy to let you spank me.
And together we catch killers.
We make a pretty good team, you know.
Like Starsky and Hutch. Turner and Hooch.
You do remind me a little of Hooch.
You meet up with that baby last night?
- Yeah. - Yeah? No sleep again?
Never. No sleep, baby. That's how we do it.
Chef? Chef!
Check his pulse.
- What broke? - A stupid glass.
Remind me to get smarter glasses.
Somehow I feel that the glass is not quite the problem.
I got invited to the Hamptons with Lacey's family
and a couple of other friends.
Well, that sounds like fun.
So why do you look like someone who just got voted off the island?
AP tests are next week, so I really need to study all weekend.
But I really wanna go to the Hamptons.
The eternal struggle between work and play.
The trick is, when you grow up, find work that feels like play.
Speaking of work
what are you doing up and dressed so early?
No reason. Just thought I'd get an early start to my day.
Mm-hmm. Bye.
All right. So, um, I'll see you tomorrow night?
- Yeah, good. OK. See you. - OK.
What's Demming doing in our break room?
Is there something wrong with the coffee downstairs?
Well, you're the one who bought us the cappuccino machine, Castle.
Yes, but I bought it for homicide, not the entire precinct.
Oh.
What's tomorrow night?
What?
Oh, Tom was wondering if I wanted to get together tomorrow night.
Why? Is that a problem?
Why would I have a problem with that?
Excuse me.
Beckett.
OK. Be right there.
Tom.
- Right. - The murder is at Q3?
This place has only been open three months.
I can't even get a reservation here.
I've been dying to eat here.
Well, evidently, you're not the only one.
- Where are we? - In the kitchen.
Victim's name is Balthazar Wolf, he's the head chef here.
Big Bad Wolf? Winner of Kitchen Wars, Season Six?
- I know, right? - Aw, man!
I never got to taste his foie gras sandwich.
He was found this morning by the pastry chef, Spike Ridenhauer,
and one of the dishwashers, Juan Costa.
- Whoa! - Castle, stop!
D-do you not see the little orange cones around the body?
Is that actually his hand?
That's the effect of LN2,
commonly known as liquid nitrogen, a cryogenic refrigerant.
It instantly freezes anything it comes in touch with,
including Mr. Wolf. Made him fragile as glass.
This is, both literally and figuratively, cool.
Uh… Wolf was a follower of molecular gastronomy.
It's using the science to manipulate the…
And you don't care.
It's usually pretty safe unless someone dumps it on you.
Time of death?
Well, all our normal indicators
are contaminated by the LN2.
I'll see what I can do once I get to the morgue,
but we're gonna have to let him thaw a bit
before we can move him.
- Looks like there was a struggle. - Robbery?
No, no sign of forced entry, nothing's missing.
According to Mr. Ridenhauer and Mr. Costa here,
our victim stayed at the restaurant long after everyone else had left.
- And what time was that? - It was around 11:00.
One of our clients had special ordered a cake,
and Wolf stayed behind to finish it up.
Aren't you the pastry chef?
Yeah, but I don't do crazy stuff like Wolf does.
I just… I made the cushion, and he sculpted the crown,
the heart and the jewels.
That's probably why he had the rotary evaporator out
and the liquid nitrogen.
All right, after Perlmutter gets the body out,
I'm gonna want CSU to come in and sweep for fibers and prints.
- Yeah. - Yo, Beckett.
The owner's here.
- Say there's been an accident. - Madison?
Becks? What are you doing here?
I'm a homicide detective.
- Shut the front door. - I know.
I know, right?
What a messed up way for us to reconnect.
Madison Queller, this is Richard Castle.
- Hi. - Hi. Please call me Rick.
- How do you two know each other? - High school.
Ninth grade French.
I can't believe the biggest scofflaw at Stuy became a cop.
Yeah.
So I'm gonna need contact information for all the restaurant staff.
Come on, Becks. You think somebody here might have done it?
You know, no forced entry usually means
that the killer either knew the chef, or was someone who had keys.
So I'm gonna need alibis from everyone.
- Including you, sorry. - No. No, I, uh, I understand.
I was at a party until the wee hours. Lots of people saw me.
Now, did you know if Wolf had any enemies,
anyone that wanted to do him harm?
He was the bad boy America loved to hate.
I was a guest judge, that's how we met.
Seriously? You never heard of Kitchen Wars?
Uh…
No, I don't really get a lot of time to watch TV.
This, from the girl who'd spend hours watching Saved by the Bell reruns?
Really?
What else did she spend hours doing?
Castle, real crime scene.
Not mystery writer research time, OK?
- Later. - Did you notice anything unusual
about Wolf lately? Anything at all.
There was one thing.
Wolf usually worked nonstop.
You couldn't tear him away from the kitchen.
But for the last couple of weeks, he'd disappear around 3:00
and come back just in time to prep at 5:00.
- Did he say where he was going? - No.
He said it was personal.
Hey, guys. I found something.
Juan, the dishwasher, was the last one here last night,
and he swears he finished every single dish.
Two dirty bowls, two spoons and a soup pot?
Looks like Wolf had some late-night company.
It's popcorn soup. It's Domingo's specialty.
- Domingo? - Our line chef.
He must have come back after everybody left.
That means he's the last one to have seen Wolf alive.
- Do you have an address? - Of course.
All right, track down Domingo and see why he was here so late,
and what he saw.
I'll also need the contact info for Wolf's next of kin.
High school friend, huh?
I bet she knows where all your bodies are buried.
You can dig all you want, Castle, my secrets are safe with her.
How can you be sure?
Because whatever she knows about me, I know worse about her.
We used to hang out, big group of us, had a good time.
And what's a good time?
Well, if you don't know by now, I'm sure it's too late to show you one.
Here's Wolf's emergency contact, David Nicolaides.
Wolf didn't have any real family.
He spent most of his childhood in and out of foster homes,
which is why we're listed as, uh, next of kin.
My girlfriend, Cecily, and I are about as close as it gets.
They were like brothers.
- How long did you know each other? - Since our teens.
My dad gave him a job in our restaurant as a busboy,
and when he got out of juvie,
it didn't take long to tell that he had a real gift for food.
Been like family ever since.
Did he have any enemies that you know of?
He had a bad-boy image from the show, but he was actually sweet.
Winning Kitchen Wars must have been huge for him.
How was he handling it?
He loved it, the fame, the fortune.
It was everything he ever dreamed of.
- Except… - Except what?
I-I think he might have had some financial troubles.
What do you mean?
When my dad passed away a few months back,
he left his restaurant to Wolf and me.
It was nothing fancy like Q3. It was just a little diner in Queens.
But about two weeks ago,
he came to me asking if I would buy him out.
I tried to talk him out of it.
I even told him that I would loan him the money,
but he refused.
In the end, I gave in and I bought out his share.
For how much?
$40,000.
Didn't he just win a lot of money on Kitchen Wars?
Well, he put it all into the new restaurant.
I tried to tell him to hold some of it back,
but he was an all-or-nothing kind of guy.
Jennifer, Wolf,
we've scored your dishes, and although it was very close,
Balthazar Wolf, you're the winner of Kitchen Wars New York!
Look at his face.
- See how happy he is? - Hmm.
He had no idea in eight months, he'd be dead.
Well, the bank has the warrant,
so we should have his financials in a couple of hours.
If he was having money troubles, we'll find out.
- Beckett. - Hey.
How'd it go with the late-night soup maker?
- You guys find him? - Oh, we found him all right.
In line at the airport with $5,000 cash in his suitcase,
and a one-way ticket to Ecuador.
Hmm, nothing says, "I'm guilty," like an attempt to flee the country.
The next time you decide to go all Mr. Freeze on someone,
you should really clean up after yourself.
We found your bowls in the sink.
- I don't understand. - We found you with a packed suitcase,
plane tickets to Ecuador and $5,000 in cash.
That is not a crime. I have a passport.
Which you were using to flee a murder.
Murder? Who do you think I killed?
Your boss in the big white hat.
Wolf?
Wolf's dead? How?
Mr. Verdugo, sit down.
I did not kill anyone.
We know you came to see him last night.
Yes, I came back to the restaurant last night.
My sister, she's in Ecuador. She's very sick. She needs surgery.
I came to ask Chef if I can go home.
$5,000 is a lot of money.
Where did you get it from?
Chef Wolf gave it to me for my sister's operation.
I told him he was crazy, but he insisted.
He said, "Go take care of your sister."
Look, five years, I've worked with Wolf. He's my friend. I didn't kill him.
And he just happened to have five grand on him?
Yes, in his backpack.
Look, I promised to pay him back.
He had that much money in a backpack?
Yeah, he had more, a lot more.
Look, I told him he shouldn't carry so much cash,
he could get
killed.
There was no backpack at the scene.
Maybe that angry lady stole it. Maybe she's the one who killed Wolf.
- What angry lady? - One of his girlfriends.
- I left when she came. - When?
After midnight, like around 12:45.
Do you know her name?
No, but she came into the restaurant all the time.
Can you describe her?
So the kitchen staff confirms
that Wolf did have a backpack with him yesterday,
and the only reason that they noticed it is because he didn't usually carry one.
So, Domingo was telling the truth.
Well, just because the backpack exists
doesn't mean that the rest of his story is credible.
No, but he's telling the truth about the money.
Wolf's financials came in.
There's nothing out of the ordinary over the last six months,
but then, bam, two weeks ago,
he withdraws all his savings from his checking account.
$15,000.
Two weeks ago?
That's about the time that Wolf asked
his foster brother, David, to buy his share.
Yeah, and as soon as that check cleared, he withdrew that $40,000 in cash.
On the day he was killed.
Why would someone need $40,000 in cash?
Well, nothing legal.
You know, Madison said that he would disappear every day
between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m.
Maybe where he went had something to do with the money.
Why don't you guys talk to the kitchen staff again
and let's look into his credit card receipts.
Maybe we can figure out where he was going.
And where are we on the phone records?
Oh, the SIM card was damaged from the freezing,
tech's seeing what they can salvage.
And we subpoenaed his phone records from the provider.
- We're waiting on those. - OK.
Mmh, she looks kind of sketchy to me.
That's Sandra.
She and her husband are in every Saturday.
- Husband? - Yeah.
Domingo hinted at a romantic relationship.
Which has to violate several health codes.
Do you remember their last name?
No. No, but her information should be in the reservation book.
How you holding up?
Huh, I'm still reeling, and I have no time to grieve.
Wolf was a friend, but like it or not, I have to interview replacement chefs.
I still haven't found that customer slip for that cake Wolf was making,
and I have this charity event tomorrow night at Rocco DiSpirito's.
If I don't show up, people will think Wolf's death means the death of Q3.
Hey, maybe you should come with me.
I could use the moral support,
and maybe we can catch up on old times.
You know, I would love to, it's just that I have something.
"Something"?
You know, I'm available for moral support,
and I've been dying to try out Rocco's new place.
A charming raconteur,
that's just what the doctor ordered. Thank you, Rick.
Unless that's a problem.
No, not a problem.
Oh, here it is.
Sandra Myers.
What was the exact nature of your relationship with Wolf?
Food turns me on.
Not as a sex toy, but the sensual act of cooking.
When I saw Wolf on Kitchen Wars,
how passionate he was with his ingredients, I fell in lust.
My husband and I were the first through the doors when Q3 opened.
And when Wolf came by to check on our meal,
I slipped him my number.
Did you always have sex in the restaurant?
Wolf did his best work in the kitchen.
And your husband never suspected?
When he's not working nights at the ER,
he's conked out on sleeping pills.
I could shoot porn in my living room, he'd have no idea.
Are you gonna tell my husband?
You're the primary suspect in a murder investigation.
Your husband is the least of your worries.
So what happened that night, Sandra?
The sex turn deadly?
No, there was no sex.
Two weeks ago, Wolf called me out of the blue
to tell me we were through.
Two weeks?
I tried calling him, but he wouldn't call me back.
So, I went to the restaurant last night to find out why.
And?
He said he was done screwing around,
that it was time to grow up, turn over a new damn leaf.
- And that clearly made you angry. - Sure.
But I didn't kill him.
Mrs. Meyers, you cheat on your husband on a regular basis,
why should we believe you?
Ask the doorman at my building.
I was back before 1:30.
When I left the restaurant at 1:15, Wolf was alive.
Yo. Doorman confirms Mrs. Meyers' story,
and the hospital has Dr. Meyers logged as working the graveyard shift.
Our lying, cheating wife was telling the truth.
Yeah, but until we figure out Wolf's time of death,
she's still our best suspect.
Hey, so I ran down Wolf's daily disappearance.
His credit card records show a charge at Cafe Rex
every day the last couple of weeks around 3:45.
Cafe Rex? That's on 2nd in the 70s.
What was Wolf doing there?
Why don't you guys head up and see if he was meeting with anyone?
Beckett.
OK. We'll be right there.
Come on. Perlmutter found something.
How's our corpse-sicle?
Thawing nicely.
In spite of the obvious challenges, I found enough unaffected tissue
to narrow time of death to between 2:00 and 4:00 a.m.
That knocks out both Domingo and Mrs. Meyers.
Now, once we got him under the heat lamps,
some bruising began to present.
At first, there were significant contusions along his back and legs.
Wow, this looks like a pretty bad beating.
Did this happen the night of the murder?
Uh, these bruises are at least two weeks old.
Bruising on the body, $40,000 in cash,
sold his shares in the diner to his foster brother…
All within the same two-week time span.
I also found a fresh bruise from a blow he suffered just before he was frozen.
I went through the crime scene photos from CSU,
and the bruise pattern matches one of the objects from the kitchen.
Rotary evaporator.
It's a tool that chefs use to distill and extract flavors from…
And again, you don't care.
Yeah, we didn't find any prints on the body of the appliance,
but there were some partials on its shattered glass tube.
Now, the guys in the lab were able to Humpty-Dumpty together a usable print.
Didn't match any of the restaurant employees,
but when they ran it through AFIS,
they got a hit.
- Jennifer Wong. - No.
Who's Jennifer Wong?
You knew I was using the veal,
so you went straight to the butcher and bought everything he had.
You think I care about sabotaging you?
I can cook you off the show with one hand tied behind my back.
You lost because you cook with your head.
I cook with my soul.
He's a liar. He stole that recipe from me.
I swear to God, if Wolf wins, I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch.
He stole that recipe from me.
I swear to God, if Wolf wins, I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch.
Sounds like you and Mr. Wolf had quite the rivalry.
- What about it? - Whoa, come on.
It had to be difficult, watching him walk away with that $100,000 prize,
not to mention the publicity and fame that catapulted his career.
And it's not hard to believe that the resentment
was building up over the past couple of months
until the pressure finally put you over the edge.
Wait, you think I killed him?
That rivalry between Wolf and me, it was just an act.
An act?
I thought that Kitchen Wars was a reality show.
Emphasis on "show."
And win or lose, you want people to remember your name when it's over.
That's how you build your brand.
And who doesn't remember a great villain?
Exactly. Hey, we made for great TV.
Why do you think they kept us on until the final two?
- But then he won. - Personally, I was shocked that
your oven-roasted pork belly glaze didn't take top prize.
That was… just…
Uh, look, we both won. Yes, Wolf got his own restaurant,
but I secured financing for a catering company,
and I'm doing great.
Then if you didn't kill him, maybe you can explain
why we found your prints at the scene.
They were all over the appliance used to bludgeon Mr. Wolf to death.
Are you talking about the rotary evaporator?
My prints are on it because it's mine.
I loaned it to him the day before yesterday.
He said he needed it to make something really special.
Wait, you saw him the day he died?
He called me early in the morning and asked to meet.
Uh, was he carrying a backpack?
Yeah, he seemed in a rush,
like he had a lot of things to do and not a lot of time to do it.
I gave him the evaporator,
and then he said he had a meeting in Midtown.
He asked me to drop him off on my way home.
And where was that?
Uh, the northeast corner of 47th and Lex,
one of those big office buildings.
Jennifer's employees confirm that she had a catering job in the Hamptons,
and that she stayed the night.
Well, just as well.
Her culinary talents would've been wasted in a prison kitchen.
You guys, I need you to check on the tenants at this address.
423 East 47th?
Apparently, Wolf visited someone there the day that he died.
And he had the backpack with him.
Hey, how'd things go Uptown?
Well, we talked to every waiter, busboy and manager at Cafe Rex.
They remember Wolf coming in,
and said he sat at the same table out front, but he was always alone.
- What was he doing? - Sipping tea, staring.
- Sometimes he ordered the brioche. - That's right.
That's it? Every day for the last two weeks?
Why would he go all the way to the Upper East Side just to sit there alone?
Maybe he had a rendezvous with destiny, and it stood him up.
Which reminds me,
what color shirt do you think Madison would like on me?
Going out with Beckett's old friend?
- That's a mistake. - Well, Beckett didn't seem to mind.
- Oh, honey. - Do you want to hand me an apple?
Stop frowning, Alexis, or your father will freeze your face like that.
He doesn't have to. I just found out I have to study slides
with a microscope for my AP Chem exam.
I can't take a microscope to the Hamptons.
So you're canceling your trip?
Well, when I'm studying, I'll want to be on the beach with the girls,
and when I'm on the beach, I'll feel guilty for not studying.
Well, don't look at me.
I'm from the "have your cake and eat it, too," school of decision making.
I say, do both.
Or maybe by this weekend,
I'll figure out a way to take this tank of liquid nitrogen
and build it into a weather machine.
I'll make it rain. Your friends will have to cancel their trip.
You won't have to choose, and then we can take over the world!
Not helpful.
But evil.
Shouldn't you be getting ready for your date?
Hmm, shouldn't you be back home with Chet?
Oh, you're right. I…
Hey… I froze time.
Maddie?
Oh, hey.
You look amazing.
Thanks. Hey, I, um, wanted to drop this off.
It's my way of saying thank you for everything you guys are doing.
Oh…
You know, it's what we do.
But we are always very grateful for cookies.
- I love oatmeal cookies. - Well, I'm glad.
Hey, Becks
do you remember when we used to like the same guy in English class?
- Yes, Brent Edwards. - Yes.
- He was very hot. - Yes.
Do you also remember what happened senior year?
Uh, yeah, why?
This date with Rick.
If you guys are at all…
Castle? No.
Are you sure?
Because I really wouldn't want
Brent Edwards to happen all over again.
Trust me, it's not.
OK. Great.
So, have fun tonight.
Thanks. You, too.
- Hey. - Hey.
- So, you ready? - No.
My lieutenant just brought down the hammer.
Fives have to be written up before shift end tonight. I'm sorry.
Uh, no. You know, I have…
I have some paperwork to do, as well. So, maybe another time.
Well, the thing is, I kind of had my heart set on tonight.
You like Chinese?
- It's my favorite. - Great. Wait here.
- Madison, I'm so sorry. - Hi.
It's a tragic loss. Wolf was a good friend.
Yeah, he really admired you.
Thanks for coming tonight. It means a lot to me.
Rocco, this is Richard Castle.
I ought to punch you in the face, Castle,
for killing Derrick Storm like that.
He was my favorite character.
But I'll admit, Heat Wave's fun, too.
Based on my friend, Kate Beckett.
I should introduce you. You guys might hit it off.
I'd like that. If she's half as interesting in person,
as she is on the page,
I think I like her already.
- You guys have fun. Enjoy your dinner. - Thanks.
Fabulous chef.
You… You really think he's Beckett's type?
Well, Becks never had a type.
She dated a guitarist in a grunge band, a med student and this French guy,
that I'm pretty sure he was some kind of royalty.
Who is she seeing now?
Oh, just some guy. I don't see it going anywhere.
This food's amazing.
Where did you get it from?
Hung's China Sea.
Oh, get out. Hung's doesn't deliver.
Well, he delivers to me.
Mr. Hung had this medal,
a 15th century Chinese medal, Ming dynasty.
It was passed down through the generations, right?
Last year, it was stolen along with some cash
and some kitchen appliances, and what not.
The only thing that mattered to Mr. Hung was the medal.
So, I got it back for him.
And because I delivered, now, so does he.
Really?
Well, then maybe I should get you to figure out
why our victim was carrying a backpack full of cash.
Well, maybe you should.
You know, I got some guys on the street.
If you want, I can put out feelers, see if anybody knows anything.
Yeah, sure.
- Excuse me, detectives. - Hey, guys.
Wow. Nice candle.
Come on in. What'd you find?
Well, we checked the sign-in log at that building
where Jennifer Wong dropped off Wolf.
Turns out he was seeing a guy named Simon Haim, Esquire.
He was delivering a backpack full of cash to a lawyer?
Well, according to Mr. Haim,
Wolf had the backpack in his possession,
but he never opened it and he never even mentioned the cash.
But he did mention your high school friend, Madison.
Apparently, Wolf wanted out of his contract.
He wanted to leave the restaurant, and he wanted his investment back.
But the restaurant just opened, why would he want to leave?
Creative differences.
But Miss Queller refused to release him,
Wolf was planning to sue.
She'd built the restaurant on his reputation.
If he left, she would've lost everything.
So what happens to Q3 now that Wolf is dead?
She had business insurance on him.
So, with the payout, Madison gets the restaurant,
free and clear.
Wolf's death protects her from potentially losing $2 million
in real estate, appliances and fixtures.
Sounds like motive to me.
Mmh.
This…
- Right? - Oh, my God.
This is…
This caviar parfait is delicious.
Trade you for some of my black truffle risotto with crispy shrimp.
Oh, well
- how could I resist? - Oh, my Gosh.
That is…
I'm sorry to interrupt.
- Hey. - Beckett.
What are you doing here?
I-I need to ask Madison a few questions.
Oh, pull up a chair.
Not here. Downtown.
You realize Madison and I weren't halfway through our tasting menus
when you stomped in there like the fun police?
What part of her being a suspect in a murder investigation
do you not get?
The waiter was about to come out with the duck confit en croute,
Rocco DiSpirito's pumpkin gnocchi,
not to mention the langoustine,
the lavender creme brulée that was coming up,
and don't even get me started on the wine pairings.
I won't.
I'm just saying, you could've been more civilized
and allowed us to finish our meal.
Uh-uh!
You can watch from the observation room.
And now… And now you're benching me?
You were just giggling over the risotto with our suspect.
Which was to die for, by the way.
OK. Next time I'm hitting on a guy you like,
come clean with me before I go out with him
so you don't have to arrest me to break up the date.
- Madison, that's not… - No, no, no. I get it.
You're hot for Castle.
You want to make little Castle babies.
Why couldn't you just be honest?
- Maddie. - What?
He can hear us.
- Oh, really? - Yes.
- Rick's behind the mirror? - Yeah.
Oh, like on TV?
Hey, there! Sorry we missed the pumpkin gnocchi.
They're really good.
I have to tweet about this.
Madison, put the phone down.
Sit.
You lied to me. You knew that Wolf wanted out of Q3,
and you knew that he was gonna sue you.
- You know about that? - Yeah, I know about that.
OK, but I didn't lie.
I just neglected to say anything about it.
OK, you know how hard it is to open a restaurant in Manhattan?
If word got out that Wolf was trying to leave,
it would've ruined me.
But if he dies, with your insurance policy, you make out just fine.
So, what happened, Maddie?
Did you guys get into a fight? Did you throw something at him?
Because I remember you throwing things at people
- when you got angry. - Oh, come on.
Don't you people have rules about
using personal knowledge against a suspect?
Maddie, you better start being straight with me.
Becks, I didn't kill him!
Two weeks ago,
Wolf tells me he wants out of the restaurant biz,
completely out of nowhere.
Says he's trying to change his life.
Now, I'm thinking he's being poached.
So, I start offering better equipment,
a bigger piece in the business, whatever he wants.
He insists he's really getting out, and that I can't change his mind.
It was like something changed in his life.
Now, I was gonna let him out of his contract.
I just needed time to find a new chef.
But I swear, Becks, I didn't kill him.
You don't really think she did it, do you?
Well, until I can rule her out, it doesn't matter what I think.
She has motive.
Yeah, she also has an alibi, which you're conveniently ignoring.
I'm not ignoring, I'm just re-checking.
I asked her to stay in town in any case.
Yes, I know. I heard
everything.
Uh, so, selling his stakes in the restaurant,
a backpack full of cash,
that sounds like Wolf was getting ready to run.
Yes, but from what?
Hey, guys.
Hey, I'm so sorry to cut out on you earlier.
No worries. It gave me time to put the word out on your vic.
And?
Well, a guy I know runs paper for a local bookmaking ring.
Turns out he's a bit of a foodie.
He clocked Wolf doing business with a bookie at Two Bridges bar.
Apparently, your boy likes to bet big.
He was in deep with a bookie.
That explains the beating and the cash.
Does this bookie have a name?
Wesley Slade?
Detective Beckett, NYPD.
We're investigating the murder of Balthazar Wolf.
Never heard of him.
Really? Well, given the marks on his body
after the beating your boys gave him, I think you have.
What happened? He get in too deep with you, so you had to take him out?
You really think I'm gonna tell my business to a cop.
It's either that or you face murder charges,
that can't be good for business.
All right.
Let's say, hypothetically, that I made book for him.
And let's say for the sake of argument that he owed me a lot.
How much, hypothetically?
$25,000,
which maybe he couldn't pay.
So maybe he needed some encouragement.
Maybe the encouragement went too far.
Or maybe it was the right amount,
so he paid what he owed and went his merry way.
- When? - The day he died,
he comes in with a backpack full of cash,
puts $25,000 on the table and asks for his ring back.
His ring? What kind of ring?
Diamond engagement ring.
Why'd you have it?
Hypothetically.
Couple of weeks back, I sent my guys to collect,
didn't have the money, gave some sob story about a woman,
how he spent everything he had on a diamond ring.
So, when my guys go to give him some encouragement,
oh, what do they find? A nice diamond ring. Nice!
Must have set him back 10, 15 grand of my money.
So your guys took it for collateral?
No, as incentive.
And it worked.
I got my money, he got his ring,
and he goes home alive. Hypothetically.
An engagement ring makes perfect sense.
That's why he broke things off with Mrs. Meyers.
That's why he took $15,000 out of his account 2 weeks ago.
Well, then where is it?
He went to the restaurant right after, and we didn't find it at the crime scene.
Unless we did find it and we just didn't know it.
- Just straight back. - Thank you.
You remember what Spike was saying about why Wolf was staying late?
Yeah, he was finishing off that cake.
A cake
with a heart-shaped mold on it.
He wasn't running away. He was going to propose.
But to who? And why hasn't she come forward yet?
Maybe she's scared. Maybe she's in danger.
Or maybe she killed him.
Who puts an engagement ring inside a cake?
- It's romantic. - It's a choking hazard.
I swear, men act as though there's some cosmic reward
for crazy proposals.
And what a woman really wants is a man down on one knee,
tears in his eyes, ring in his hand.
My proposal to Gina was very romantic.
A balloon ride is lovely, but not in February.
Her hand was shaking so much from the cold,
it was difficult getting that ring on.
It was a sign.
- Ah. - Mm-hmm.
So, have you decided?
No.
Huh.
Again, David, I am so sorry for your loss.
Hey.
Shed any light?
So, David said that he wouldn't have believed it
unless I'd shown him the ring.
He had no idea who Wolf was proposing to,
and neither did anyone else in his life.
The guy was in love with a ghost.
Ooh! That'd be cool, if it was actually a ghost.
Went back through the phone logs from the restaurant and Wolf's cell,
every call's accounted for.
- What about the cafe uptown? - The wait staff all checked out.
They're adamant that Wolf never met anybody there.
How do you have a relationship with somebody
without leaving any evidence?
Maybe the ring wasn't his.
Maybe he was holding it for a friend.
No, it had to be his. Look at his behavior.
He stops sleeping around, he was paying off his debts,
he sold the one thing in life he actually cared about,
just to get that ring back.
There's only one reason a man cleans up his act.
Ah…
Yeah, but murder isn't the usual response to a proposal.
Unless you got something to lose.
He did like married women.
All right, have CSU re-sweep his apartment.
If this girl spent any time there,
she must have left some evidence behind.
Hey, Maddie. Thanks for coming.
I thought you said I was off the hook.
Yeah, uh, witnesses have you at the party until after the time of death.
Then why am I here?
Anyone ever offered you one of these?
No. You?
Not yet.
I had no idea Wolf was even serious with anyone.
Can you think of any girl that he was close to?
Every time I saw him, he was with someone different.
It's hard to believe he'd ever commit.
The guy lived his job 24/7, it had to be somebody at the restaurant.
Not necessarily.
I've fallen in love with random women on the subway.
Well, if you can think of anyone, call me.
Yeah. And, Becks, I'm sorry
about lying to you.
And I might have come down a little harder than I needed to.
I've fallen in love with operators on the phone.
Even asked one out a couple of years ago, but she was in Bangladesh.
Yeah, I guess I wasn't seeing you as a cop, but as my friend.
You know, the girl who stole her mom's makeup to give me a makeover,
the first who told me that kissing boys might involve some tongue.
Oh, yeah.
I bought a falafel from this stand every day for two months
just so I could talk to the falafel girl.
Yeah, you mean like Demming showing up every morning for coffee
just to run into Beckett?
What?
The one who dragged me to stand outside Brent Edwards' brownstone
for hours on end just to catch a glimpse of him through the window.
Through the window.
Wolf wasn't going to Cafe Rex to meet his girl,
he was watching her out the cafe window.
That's why there were no phone calls.
He was trying to gather up the courage to propose to her.
So that's the store with the clearest view from the cafe.
Either our mystery girl works here,
or Wolf was really into women's clothes.
Maybe it's him.
Maybe that's Wolf's big secret.
That's not his secret.
She is.
- That's his foster brother's girlfriend. - Yep.
Well, it'd definitely make proposing tricky.
I don't understand. Why am I here?
How well did you know Wolf, Cecily?
He was like family.
So, you knew him for a long time.
Well, 10 years, ever since David's father hired me at his restaurant.
Did the two of you ever…
Why are you asking me this?
Every day for the last two weeks, Wolf went to Cafe Rex,
which is right across the street from where you work.
He would just sit there and look out the window.
- Looking at you. - Now, why would he do that?
- I don't know. - I think you do.
In the last two weeks, Wolf made a lot of changes.
He'd stopped sleeping around, paid off all his debts.
And he bought this for you.
What makes a man, a self-professed bad boy,
suddenly declare himself after 10 years?
Unless something changed.
Cecily, these are your phone records.
Four months ago, you started calling your OBGYN regularly.
You're pregnant. It's Wolf's, isn't it?
No one was supposed to know. It was supposed to be my secret.
But when David told Wolf we were pregnant,
somehow he knew.
He knew.
God, you must think I'm awful.
It's not my job to judge, I'm just here to get the truth.
David's father had just died, so David went out of the country
to bury his father in his hometown.
Wolf came by.
He held my hand, and I remembered
how much I loved him,
that I'd always loved him.
If you loved him so much, why stay with David?
Because David doesn't leave,
David doesn't sleep with every girl who walks by.
You have no idea how hard it is
to love someone, knowing they're gonna break your heart.
If I couldn't trust him as a man, how could he be a father?
I had to make a choice.
Oh, God. Please don't tell David.
Are you sure he doesn't already know?
Where was he the night that Wolf was murdered?
At home with me, in bed.
All night?
- Oh, God. - What?
I have been having trouble sleeping,
so David gave me a pill, the kind the doctor said was OK.
It was the only time he's ever given me a pill.
Hey, man, take him to the hold, please?
- Sure. - Yeah, lock him up.
Come on. Let's go.
- He's not talking. - Yeah, but he didn't have to.
We found Wolf's backpack in their apartment
along with the extra cash.
We also found a pair of his shoes with cracked soles
from the liquid nitrogen.
I can't imagine the betrayal he must have felt.
It's still not an excuse to kill.
You ask me, she should've followed her heart,
left David, gone with Wolf.
You know, I can see the virtue in staying.
I mean, guys like Wolf, they come in, they upset the apple cart.
Of course he makes you feel alive,
but eventually, you know he's just gonna let you down.
So why risk it?
Because the heart wants what the heart wants.
Speaking of… I gotta get out of here.
- Madison? - No.
Actually, with everything going on,
she said she didn't have time to date. She didn't tell you that?
- Na-uh. - So,
I gotta get home.
Alexis has a little head-heart problem of her own,
and I want to be there for the decision.
- Case closed? - Yes.
Thank you so much for all of your help.
Anytime. But, you know, we never really finished our dinner.
No more Fives.
You want to grab a beer and a burger at Remy's?
You know, I would love to, it's just, um…
Can I take a rain check?
Somewhere else you need to be?
Yeah.
How about tomorrow?
Yeah. You're on.
OK.
You decided to go away for the weekend with your friends.
They're picking me up in an hour.
You don't sound thrilled with your decision.
I'm not. I feel awful about it, but either way, it's the same.
Is there anything I can do to make it easier on you?
Yes.
You can order me to stay home.
You're serious?
All right.
Alexis, your AP exams are far too important
for you to go gallivanting around the weekend
with your friends at the beach.
You have to stay home and study. I insist.
I gotta call Lacey.
Lacey? Yeah, I'm so sorry, but my dad just told me I can't go.
I have to stay home and study for exams this weekend.
Yeah, I know. I know. Can you believe it?
Yeah, so much for having a cool dad.
- Dude… - Well, I'm sorry,
and just take lots of pictures and text them to me.
OK. Bye.
Thank you.
You won't be thanking me when you see what I have planned for this weekend.
One thousand and one ways to distract someone who's studying.
- We start by freezing ping-pong balls. - Whoa! Hey!
OK, guys, let's remember to be sharp, respectful and attentive.
OK? Have a good night.
- Hey! - Hey, you're reopening.
Yes, I found a hot new chef to step into Wolf's shoes.
- Oh, that's so great. - Yeah.
Hello, Detective. You're not here to question me again?
No, I'm just here as a friend.
- Congratulations. - Thank you.
- So David killed Wolf? - Yeah.
It turns out that he intercepted a text that Wolf sent Cecily
asking about the baby.
And at first, he was gonna approach Cecily about it
until he realized that eventually she would leave him
as long as Wolf was alive.
Wow. Very Cain and Abel.
Yeah. So I take it that you're swamped.
Always. Why?
I thought that we could get a drink and catch up.
That'd be great.
Apparently, we have a lot of catching up to do.