Castle: Episode 4x14 The Blue Butterfly
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ACT ONE
New York City, 1947
[00:00, INT. THE PENNYBAKER CLUB - NIGHT]
[Lanie sings at a ‘40s club.]
LANIE (BETSY SINCLAIR)
♫ Comes a rainstorm, put your rubbers on your feet. Comes a snow storm, you can get a little heat. Come love, nothing can be done. ♫
[Castle puts his empty glass on the bar.]
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
Keep ‘em comin’, pal. You’re doing great.
LANIE (BETSY SINCLAIR)
♫ Comes a fire... ♫
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
Say, maybe you can help me. I’m looking for a dame.
BARTENDER
Aren’t we all?
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
This one’s special.
[Castle pulls a photo out of his trench coat.]
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
You know her?
BARTENDER
Know her? I’m lookin’ at her.
LANIE (BETSY SINCLAIR)
♫ Come love, nothing can be done. ♫
[Castle turns around and sees Beckett with thick curls, red lipstick, a white fur wrap and evening gloves. He’s captured by her beauty and they catch each other’s eye.]
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
And where have you been all my life?
[Everything around Beckett fades to black.]
--
Present Day
[00:55, INT. THE PENNYBAKER CLUB - DAY]
CASTLE
Talk about a slice of history. The Pennybaker Club. You know, back in the ‘40s, all the great played here. If these wall could talk, man, the stories they would tell.
BECKETT
Yeah, but the only story we need to hear is about...
LANIE
Stan Banks. Single GSW to the sternum. I’m calling the time of death between six and eight this morning. Looks like he tried to defend himself with this.
[Lanie points out a metal bar in the victim’s hand.]
LANIE
Obviously, it didn’t work.
BECKETT
So, a robbery gone wrong?
ESPOSITO
Well, he still had his wallet, cell, and a room key from the Parksville Arms, so...
RYAN
Pockets were pulled out, indicating the killer searched the body. For what, we have no idea.
BECKETT
That’s weird. He’s got an SRO key, but his driver’s license has him living on 34th Street.
RYAN
We’ll hit the SRO. See if there’s anything we can find out about him.
BECKETT
Thanks.
[Beckett hands Ryan the wallet. Ryan and Esposito exit.]
BECKETT
You lookin’ for a drink, Castle? ‘Cause I’m pretty sure the bar is closed.
CASTLE
Actually...
[Castle’s head pops up behind the bar.]
CASTLE
I was looking for a clue. I think I found one. Some homeless guy’s squat, and...
[Castle pulls out a newspaper as Beckett joins him behind the bar.]
CASTLE
...today’s Ledger. He was here this morning.
BECKETT
Well, whoever he is, maybe he saw something. I’ll get patrol units to canvass the area.
--
[01:52, INT. PARKSVILLE ARMS, STAN'S ROOM - DAY]
SRO MANAGER
Stan’s dead? (sigh) Well, that’s just great. What am I supposed to do with all his crap?
RYAN
We’ll be taking some of it off your hands as part of our investigation.
ESPOSITO
You know of anyone who’s been threatening Stan lately?
SRO MANAGER
I’m the manager here, not the den mother.
RYAN
Okay, then. When was the last time you saw him?
SRO MANAGER
Uh, this morning. Stand was all smiles. Gave notice he was moving out ‘cause his ship was coming in.
RYAN
What ship?
SRO MANAGER
Oh, I don’t know, the Titanic from the looks of things.
ESPOSITO
Well, if you can remember anything else, can you please give me a call?
SRO MANAGER
Don’t hold your breath, hot shot.
RYAN
I think she likes you.
--
[02:24, INT. INTERVIEW ROOM - DAY]
MRS. BANKS
I have no idea why Stan was at the Pennybaker Club. But we’ve been separated for almost a year, so god knows where he’s been.
BECKETT
And when was the last time you spoke with him?
MRS. BANKS
Two months ago, which is crazy, ‘cause there was a time we couldn’t go two hours without talking. But then Stan had to go and find that doubloon.
CASTLE
A doubloon, as in old Spanish coin?
MRS. BANKS
He dug one up on a beach in North Carolina. And after that, he got the bug. And it only got worse after he saw this stupid documentary about Clyde Belasco, the treasure hunter.
CASTLE
Yeah, that’s the fellow who found that sunken Confederate ship ten years ago.
MRS. BANKS
Stan was so inspired, he quit his accounting job to search for lost antiquities. I mean, even the last time we spoke, all he could talk about was how he was close to finding a blue butterfly.
CASTLE
A blue...like an insect?
MRS. BANKS
Who knows?
BECKETT
Was he having problems with anyone that you know of?
MRS. BANKS
He had money problems, I know that. I got a call two days ago from some guy looking for Stan, said that Stan owed him $10,000 and that he’d better pay...or else.
--
[03:25, INT. PRECINCT, BULLPEN - EVENING]
CASTLE
There’s nothing in Stan’s personal effects about butterflies, blue or otherwise.
RYAN
Just a bunch of books about mobsters and Manhattan in the ‘40s.
BECKETT (hangs up)
That’s all right, because I got a hit on that threatening money call to Stan’s wife, and it turns out it came from a dry cleaners.
RYAN
Maybe clothes aren’t the only thing they’re laundering. I’ll check it out.
BECKETT
Thanks.
[Castle chuckles gleefully. Beckett looks at him.]
CASTLE
Uh, this diary in Stan’s stuff, it’s also from the ‘40s. It sounds like it belonged to a private eye. Listen to this. “Usually wives turn on the waterworks when shown pictures of their husbands stepping out, but not this dame. She wanted payback. So what’s worse, that I pitched woo with a client, or that I invoiced her for services rendered after?”
BECKETT
Cute.
CASTLE
Cute? I mean, this guy sounds like a hard-boiled P.I. right out of a Raymond Chandler novel. I wonder why Stan had this?
EPOSITO
Hey, yo, Beckett. Still got no word on that homeless guy, but a bodega owner saw a white mustang parked in the loading zone right outside the club for the past three days.
BECKETT
Okay. See if anyone saw those license plates.
EPOSITO
Right on.
BECKETT
Okay.
[Esposito leaves.]
CASTLE
Um, Beckett? Can I take this home for the night? I mean, it might be the key to what Stan was looking for.
BECKETT
You just want to read it because you think it’s cool.
CASTLE
Yeah, well, that, too.
BECKETT
Okay, just so long as...you...
[Castle is already walking off with it.]
BECKETT
Bring it back in the morning.
--
[04:41, INT. CASTLE LOFT - NIGHT]
[Castle sits at his desk and pours himself a drink to set the mood.]
CASTLE (V.O.)
“June 18, 1947. The day began like every other, pulling awake in my office chair with a Cream of Kentucky bottle, a dry throat, and a head that was ringing like church bells. So, I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone with a little hair of the dog that bit me.”
--
New York City, 1947
[05:08, INT. JOE FLYNN’S P.I. OFFICE - DAY]
[Hung over, Castle sighs and opens the blinds. His secretary enters.]
MARTHA (FLORENCE KENNARD)
Damn it, Mr. Flynn. Why have an apartment when you drink yourself to sleep in the office every night?
[Martha fixes Castle’s tie.]
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
That way, I’m never late for work. Say, what gives, anyhow?
MARTHA (FLORENCE KENNARD)
We have a potential client, so be nice.
[Martha takes the glass from Castle.]
MARTHA (FLORENCE KENNARD)
I’d like to make next month’s rent, if you don’t mind.
[Martha puts the glass and bottle into a desk drawer while Castle puts on his suit coat.]
MARTHA (FLORENCE KENNARD)
All right?
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
How do I look?
MARTHA (FLORENCE KENNARD)
Like a star.
CASTLE (V.O.)
“Just another day on the Isle of Manhattan...}
[Martha opens the door for Alexis.]
CASTLE (V.O.)
“Until she walked in with a case that changed my life. Wearing T-strap shoes and a country suit, I could tell that redhead was a hick fresh off the cob.”
[Alexis speaks in a southern accent.]
ALEXIS (SALLY SCOFIELD)
Hello. My name’s Sally Mulqueen. I mean, Scofield. Sorry, I’m a newlywed. Still gettin’ used to the name.
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
Joe Flynn, Mrs. Scofield. So tell me, what has you knocking on my shingle?
[Alexis looks at Martha.]
ALEXIS (SALLY SCOFIELD)
I talked my husband into honeymoonin’ up here in the big apple, but not because I wanted to climb skyscrapers and see Broadway shows. I had myself another reason. See, I’m lookin’ for my big sister, Vera. Vera Mulqueen. There was bad blood back home, and Vera ran off two years ago with dreams of being a showgirl up here in the big city.
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
She send you a wire, postcard, anything with a return address?
[Alexis shakes her head.]
ALEXIS (SALLY SCOFIELD)
Can you find her, mister? Mama’s sick, and, um...doesn’t have long.
[Alexis dabs her eye.]
MARTHA (FLORENCE KENNARD)
Well, of course he can...for fifteen bucks a day, plus expenses.
ALEXIS (SALLY SCOFIELD)
Only...can we keep this quiet? Like I said, there’s bad blood back home, and if Vera hears from a stranger that the family’s looking for her, it might push her farther away.
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
Mrs. Scofield, if I’m anything, I’m discreet.
[Alexis hands Castle a photo.]
CASTLE (V.O.)
“And that’s when I saw her.”
[Castle gazes at the black and white of Beckett with thick curls.]
CASTLE (V.O.)
“Looking at that photograph, all I could think was...what a beautiful doll.”
[The voice over fades into old, fuzzy shots of New York City.]
CASTLE (V.O.)
“Sally said Vera had dreams of being a showgirl. Maybe she made it. Stranger things have happened in this town.”
--
[07:21, INT. THE PENNYBAKER CLUB - NIGHT]
[Castle pulls up to the club in a convertible and enters. Lanie is singing in the background.]
CASTLE (V.O.)
“My last stop was the Pennybaker Club. I was hoping my favorite performer, Satchmo, was blowing, but--”
[Someone bumps into Castle.]
FELLA
Excuse me, pal.
CASTLE (V.O.)
"No such luck. Couldn’t complain, though, because Betsy Sinclair was up there, and that songbird’s got golden pipes."
LANIE (BETSY SINCLAIR)
♫ Nothing can be done. ♫
[Castle goes to the bar.]
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
Whiskey.
[The bartender serves the drink.]
CASTLE (V.O.)
“I’ll be damned if all that walking didn’t get the shrapnel in my hip buzzing. But I knew where to get my medicine.”
LANIE (BETSY SINCLAIR)
♫ Blow a tire, you can buy another shoe. Come love, nothing can be done. ♫
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
Say, maybe you can help me. I’m lookin’ for a dame.
BARTENDER
Aren’t we all?
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
This one’s special.
[Castle pulls a photo out of his trench coat.]
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
You know her?
LANIE (BETSY SINCLAIR)
♫ Don’t try hiding ♫
BARTENDER
Know her? I’m lookin’ at her.
LANIE (BETSY SINCLAIR)
♫ ‘Cause there isn’t any use. ♫
[The singing fades as Castle turns around and sees Beckett with thick curls, red lipstick, a white fur wrap and evening gloves. Beckett takes a drink from a waiter’s tray. Castle is captured by her beauty and they catch each other’s eye.]
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
And where have you been all my life?
CASTLE (V.O.)
“What was I thinking? This dame was trouble on two legs. I kept telling myself to look away.”
[A tough-looking man steps up next to Beckett.]
CASTLE (V.O.)
“She was with Tom Dempsey, for crying out loud - the most ruthless mob boss New York has ever given birth to.”
[Beckett kisses Dempsey on the cheek.]
CASTLE (V.O.)
“Dempsey sent over two of his gorillas - an Irishman and a Cuban on loan from some Havana mob family.”
[Ryan and Esposito tough-walk over to Castle at the bar.]
RYAN (IRISHMAN)
The boss wants to see you, boy-o.
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
Sorry, boys. My dance card’s full.
ESPOSITO (CUBAN)
This isn’t a request, compadre.
[Ryan and Esposito each grab one of Castle’s arms and throw him against a wall in narrow corridor.]
TOM DEMPSEY
You know who I am?
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
The waiter? I’ll take a whiskey. The boys here can share a sloe gin fizz.
RYAN (IRISHMAN)
Better watch yourself, there, boy-o.
ESPOSITO (CUBAN)
Hold your tongue, or I’ll cut it out.
TOM DEMPSEY
Mm, a wise guy.
[Dempsey punches Castle in the gut.]
TOM DEMPSEY
I hate wise guys about as much as I hate crumbs eyeballing my girl. It’s rude, uncivil. That’s all right, friend. The boys are gonna teach you some lessons.
RYAN (IRISHMAN)
Okay, boy-o, first lesson.
[Ryan punches Castle. The fight progresses to the kitchen and ends with Castle getting tossed over some trash cans in the alleyway. Esposito and Ryan return to the club. Castle braces himself against the brick wall to get up and one of the bricks falls out. ]
CASTLE (V.O.)
“There I was, covered in the discards of the blue plate special, asking myself, ‘Was it worth it?’”
[Castle hears a door open and sees Beckett coming toward him.]
CASTLE (V.O.)
“It was. She was worth every punch.”
BECKETT (VERA)
Are you hurt?
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
What, this? It’s nothin’. You should see what my face did to the other guy’s fist.
[Castle puts on his hat and Beckett chuckles.]
BECKETT (VERA)
So, what’s your name, tough guy?
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
Does it matter, doll?
ESPOSITO (CUBAN)
Vera! Que passando?
RYAN (IRISHMAN)
You know you’re not supposed to leave our sight with the boss’s hardware on.
[Beckett looks back at Castle and he sees the blue butterfly necklace.]
--
Present
[10:29, INT. CASTLE LOFT - NIGHT]
CASTLE
The Blue Butterfly. It’s a necklace. That’s why Stan Banks was killed. Why am I narrating?
[OPENING TITLES]
--
ACT TWO
[10:51, INT. PRECINCT, BULLPEN - DAY]
BECKETT
So, anything on that threatening call to the dry cleaners?
RYAN
Yeah, the owner claims he doesn’t know anything about Stan or blue butterflies. However, a guy named Ray Horton rents out a back room. Turns out Ray is a bookie on parole.
BECKETT
Okay, so maybe Stan was trying to meet Ray at the Pennybaker so that he could pay off some debts?
[Castle arrives.]
CASTLE
Uh, Stan was not there because of his debt. He was not even there about a blue butterfly. He was there about The Blue Butterfly. It’s a necklace. A butterfly-shaped centerpiece made entirely of...
[Castle holds up a black and white photo of the necklace.]
CASTLE
Blue diamonds worth about a million dollars, easy.
BECKETT
Where are you getting all of this?
CASTLE
From the P.I.’s diary.
RYAN
So, Stan was on a treasure hunt.
CASTLE
Exactly. I did a little research.
[Castle hands Ryan an article.]
CASTLE
Turns out the Blue Butterfly disappeared sometime in the ‘40s, and rumor has it, it’s hidden somewhere in The Pennybaker Club. If he found it…a million dollar-necklace? Talk about motive for murder. By the way, Ryan, say “boy-o.”
RYAN
Boy-o.
CASTLE
“Boy-o.”
RYAN
Boy-o.
CASTLE
“Boy-o.”
RYAN
Boy-o.
CASTLE
“Boy-o.”
RYAN
Boy-O.
CASTLE
Anyway. Did some searching on the net. There wasn’t a lot there, but I found it’s supposedly cursed, and at one time belonged to an S.S. officer’s mistress. After the war, made its way stateside and into the hands of mob boss Tom Dempsey, who owned the club, which is why we need to go back.
BECKETT
We do?
CASTLE
Yeah. You remember the, uh, green rod we found in Stan’s hand?
[Castle takes the photo of the rod in Stan’s hand off of the murder board.]
CASTLE
Apparently, Dempsey’s downstairs office was painted shamrock green. Stan had to have gone down there. Also, according to the diary, the Blue Butterfly was kept in a secret safe in Dempsey’s office. It’s very possible we missed something. We never really looked down there.
BECKETT
Okay, Ryan, you see if you can get a hold of the bookie. Castle and I will go back to the crime scene.
RYAN
Okay.
CASTLE
Boy-o.
RYAN
Boy-O.
CASTLE
Boy-o.
RYAN
Boy-O.
CASTLE
Like a leprechaun.
RYAN
Castle!
CASTLE
Sorry.
--
[12:32, INT. THE PENNYBAKER CLUB - DAY]
CASTLE
So, the P.I. tells Sally that he found her sister here at The Pennybaker Club.
BECKETT
And did Sally go talk to her sister?
CASTLE
Well, no. Joe could tell that Sally, being an innocent girl from the country, she was a little bit nervous about dealing with mobsters, so he offered to go back and make contact with Vera.
BECKETT
Out of the goodness of his heart, I’m sure.
CASTLE
Can you blame the guy? I mean, she was gorgeous. So, anyway, Joes tells Sally he’s gonna go arrange a meeting.
[They enter the basement office.]
CASTLE
Sally agreed, but again, insisted that Joe not tell Vera that she was looking for her, because of all the animosity back home. Ah. I was right. I bet that’s where he got the steel rod…
[Castle points to the window.]
CASTLE
Which is probably what he used to pry open the secret safe.
BECKETT
Hate to burst bubbles, Castle, but this hasn’t held anything in years.
[Beckett looks in an open safe behind a painting.]
BECKETT
Looks like Stan was disappointed.
CASTLE
Yeah, he probably would’ve been, if that was the secret safe.
BECKETT
That’s not the secret safe?
CASTLE
Here’s a fun fact - people often kept two safes, one that was easy to find for minor valuables, and a second safe that was much harder to locate for the extra specials, like Blue Butterflies.
BECKETT
Castle, where’s the secret safe?
CASTLE
Coming to that. So, it’s five days since Joe and Vera met, and they were very much in love.
BECKETT
After only five days? Come on.
CASTLE
Well, people didn’t waste time back in the ‘40s. Matter of fact, they were so much in love…well, they risked it all.
BECKETT
So, what does that have to do with our secret safe?
CASTLE
And it happened backstage…
--
New York City, 1947
[13:51, INT. THE PENNYBAKER CLUB - NIGHT]
[Beckett waits backstage as Lanie sings in the background.]
CASTLE (V.O.)
…right upstairs. They were stealing a moment together, which was dangerous, because she was Dempsey’s girl.
[Castle sweeps Beckett into his arms.]
CASTLE (V.O.)
As they stared into each other’s eyes, Kate’s heart quickened.
[The sound of a record scratching to a halt.]
--
Present
BECKETT
Did you just say, “Kate”? Are you picturing the P.I. as you, and me as the gangster’s moll?
CASTLE
What? No. And I didn’t say “Kate”. I said “Fate”. “Fate’s heart quickened.” I was being poetic. (chuckles nervously) God. Anyway, as I was saying, they were just about to kiss when…
--
New York City, 1947
[14:22, INT. THE PENNYBAKER CLUB - NIGHT]
ESPOSITO (CUBAN)
Oye, chico!
BECKETT
Who’s that?
RYAN (IRISHMAN)
Hey, boy-o. You must be a slow learner.
[The boys prepare for a fight. There’s applause in the background as the song ends. Lanie steps through the curtains.]
LANIE (BETSY SINCLAIR)
There’s my baby.
[Lanie pulls Castle into a kiss.]
ESPOSITO (CUBAN)
He’s with you, Miss Sinclair?
LANIE (BETSY SINCLAIR)
Yes, and I don’t appreciate you lugs mopping the floor with him the other night.
RYAN (IRISHMAN)
Not for nothing’, but you need to keep this on the hush-hush. Dempsey’s not too keen about mixed laundry.
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
Well then, we’ll just keep this our little secret. What do you say?
LANIE (BETSY SINCLAIR)
All right, fellas.
[Ryan and Esposito leave.]
LANIE (BETSY SINCLAIR)
You better wise up, Vera. Dempsey will have you butchered if he finds out. I mean, he’s a hell of a smoocher and all, but, damn it, girl, is this yum-yum really worth it?
BECKETT (VERA)
He’s the cream in my coffee.
LANIE (BETSY SINCLAIR)
You two are a walking fairytale. Good lord.
[Lanie leaves.]
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
Come on.
[Castle and Beckett rush around a corner.]
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
Betsy’s right, you know? Dempsey’ll scrag us for sure if he catches us turtle-doving.
BECKETT (VERA)
You gotta get me away from here, Joe, away from Dempsey, away from all of it.
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
Oh, yeah, and go where? We can blow this town, sure. Only, how far are we gonna get when we’re both flat broke?
BECKETT (VERA)
We’re not broke, Joe. We’ve got all the money we need and more around my neck. All we gotta do is take it away with us.
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
What, are you daffy? You got at least two brunos with you at all times when you’re wearing that thing.
BECKETT (VERA)
It’s funny. Back when I was a cigarette girl, I’d watch Dempsey coming in with his girlfriend wearing this thing around her neck, and I wanted it. Pretty soon, I was his girl and I had it. But it’s not a necklace, Joe. It’s a diamond noose, and it’s getting harder to breathe.
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
Then we gotta turn that noose into a lifeline. The question is, how?
BECKETT (VERA)
When I’m not wearing it, Dempsey keeps it in a secret safe, and I know where it is.
--
Present
[16:07, INT. THE PENNYBAKER CLUB - DAY]
BECKETT
And?
CASTLE
And…that’s it. That was the last entry in the diary.
BECKETT
What do you mean, that’s it? What happened to Joe? What happened to Vera?
CASTLE
I don’t know.
BECKETT
Well, why would you tell a story when you don’t know the ending?
CASTLE
If you wanted a beginning and a middle and an end, I have 27 novels you can choose from.
BECKETT
Ugh. Okay, so where is this secret safe?
CASTLE
I don’t know, but I think Stan must have found it. Maybe that’s why he needed that rod, to pry open a wall or something.
BECKETT
Castle, look at the molding.
[Beckett walks over to the wall.]
BECKETT
What…
[Beckett pulls off a wooden panel, revealing a safe underneath.]
BECKETT
It’s unlocked.
CASTLE
Stan found it. That’s why he was killed. But by whom?
--
[16:55, INT. PRECINCT, INTERROGATION - DAY]
ESPOSITO
Ray Horton. Assault, battery, and now you’re using a dry cleaners to front your bookmaking operation.
RAY HORTON
Whoa. Slow your roll. A man on parole like myself can’t be mixed up in bookmaking.
RYAN
How about murder, Ray? Is it okay to get mixed up in that?
[Ryan tosses a photo of Stan’s body at the crime scene on the table.]
RAY HORTON
Stan? And who-who killed him?
[Ryan tilts his chin down and looks at Horton.]
RAY HORTON
Me? Why would I kill my business partner?
ESPOSITO
Your business partner? Come on.
RAY HORTON
It’s true, man. One of my clients hooked us up. He knew that I was looking to diversify and that Stan needed financing to find this lost necklace. Stan told me he needed ten Gs for expenses and to buy this old private detective’s diary. SO, I agreed to back him for half the profits.
RYAN
Well, if that’s true, then why did you threaten Stan’s wife?
RAY HORTON
Because Stan was ducking me. I thought I got played. And then he came up to me two days ago, and he told me what was up. He said he found the man with the missing piece of the puzzle to the Blue Butterfly.
RYAN
And who’s this man?
RAY HORTON
I don’t know. But if Stan found the Blue Butterfly, that’s probably who killed him.
--
[17:56, INT. PRECINCT, BULLPEN - DAY]
CASTLE
So, I traced the diary. Stan did his research. He purchased it from the granddaughter of Joe’s old secretary, a woman by the name of Ruth Huntsacker.
BECKETT
So?
CASTLE
So, I spoke [?] Mrs. Huntsacker. She said, she might still have some of the P.I.’s old papers and they might be able to tell us what happened. She’s gonna have her son look for them and then call me back.
BECKETT
Look, Castle, I admit that Joe and Vera’s story is fun and romantic, but whatever happened back in 1947 has nothing to do with who murdered Stan.
RYAN
Uh… (chuckles) I’m not so sure about that. Our bookie alibied out. But ballistics came in, and we got a match. The .38 caliber revolver that killed Stan was used in an unsolved double homicide…in 1947.
CASTLE
I knew there was a connection.
BECKETT
Who were the victims?
RYAN
Uh, some lady named Vera Mulqueen and a private detective named Joe Flynn.
--
ACT THREE
[18:51, INT. PRECINCT, BULLPEN - DAY]
[Castle writes on the murder board.]
CASTLE
Murdered. That’s too bad. I really thought those two crazy kids were gonna make it.
BECKETT
Yeah, not exactly the ending I was hoping for.
CASTLE
I didn’t even know ballistics went back that far.
BECKETT
Oh, yeah. Since the ’20s.
RYAN
Being that it’s an old case, there’s not much in the system. The remains of Joe Flynn and Vera Mulqueen were found in Flynn’s car. It was parked in the alley of The Pennybaker Club. Both victims were shot with a .38 revolver and the car was set on fire. Only suspect was Tom Dempsey, but there was never enough evidence to arrest.
BECKETT
You know what? I bet you Dempsey caught the two of them trying to run away together, and he killed them. But how does Stan’s killer get Dempsey’s gun sixty years later?
RYAN
Unless Dempsey killed Stan. He’d be, what, like 90 years old? But it’s still possible.
CASTLE
Couldn’t have been Dempsey. He died of a heart attack four months after Joe and Vera were killed.
RYAN
Ah.
CASTLE
Still…we should dig up that 1947 police report. There could be something in there about the gun that could shed some light on Stan’s murder.
RYAN
All right. I’ll go to the warehouse and I’ll pull up the old case files.
CASTLE
Oh, oh, uh…I want to go.
RYAN
Uh…okay.
CASTLE
Can I drive?
RYAN
I don’t care.
[Beckett chuckles and Castle leaves with Ryan. Esposito enters.]
ESPOSITO
Hey. So…I did a search of guns Dempsey used to own. Turns out there was an estate sale where a treasure hunter named Clyde Belasco bought all of Dempsey’s firearms, including two .38s.
BECKETT
Wait, Clyde Belasco? Stan’s wife said that the two of them watched a documentary about him, and that inspired Stan to become a treasure hunter.
ESPOSITO
Well, the connections don’t stop there. Belasco flew in from France a week ago, and I just found an article that said that he searched for the Blue Butterfly for fifteen years.
BECKETT
That bookie said that Stan found someone who had the missing piece of the puzzle.
ESPOSITO
Well, maybe Belasco’s that someone.
--
[20:25, INT. EVIDENCE WAREHOUSE - DAY]
[Castle pulls an evidence box off a shelf.]
CASTLE
Here it is. This has been dusted off recently.
RYAN
Looks like we’re not the only ones interested in this case.
CASTLE
Stan was here. Had to be. Think about it - the diary, the murders…all we’re doing is walking in his footsteps. This is the next piece of the puzzle.
RYAN
Huh. Crime scene photo of Vera and the P.I.
[Ryan hands Castle the photo of the burned bodies in the car.]
CASTLE
Damn it, Joe. You old sap. Dizzy with a dame and got yourself cooked.
RYAN
So, Mr Bogart, what exactly are we looking for here?
CASTLE
Our 1947 murders and our present-day murder have to be connected by more than just a gun. Somewhere in here is that connection.
--
[21:04, INT. PRECINCT, INTERROGATION]
CLYDE BELASCO
Yes, I bought several of Tom Dempsey’s revolvers. And by all means, test fire every last one of them as you wish.
ESPOSITO
We will. Now…how do you know Stan?
CLYDE BELASCO
You have to understand that I’m on television. Articles are written about me. Because of this, the amateurs come a-knocking. It’s a…occupational hazard.
BECKETT
And what was the purpose of Stan’s visit?
CLYDE BELASCO
Why, the Blue Butterfly, of course. He must have read of my exploits searching for it and decided to burden me with his preposterous story.
ESPOSITO
And what story was that?
CLYDE BELASCO
That he had found an old private investigator’s diary, which held missing clues.
ESPOSITO
You didn’t believe him?
CLYDE BELASCO
Of course not. When I asked to see the alleged diary, he refused, and yet, he wanted access to all my research on The Pennybaker Club. I mean, really, the whole thing was absurd. He even asked to exit out the back door, said a car was following him. It was a white mustang. I guess someone else was interested in the Blue Butterfly, too.
--
[21:59, INT. EVIDENCE WAREHOUSE - DAY]
RYAN
It feels like we’re looking for a needle in a haystack, except for, we can’t find the haystack.
CASTLE
Who needs a haystack when the needle is right here? This is a statement from Joe’s secretary, Mrs. Kennard. It was taken right after his death. “Mrs. Florence Kennard, secretary to the victim Joe Flynn, attested to bearing witness to the following conversation between both victims on the morning of June 24, 1947.”
--
New York City, June 24, 1947
[22:20, INT. JOE FLYNN’S OFFICE - DAY]
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
I’ve worked this from every angle, doll. There’s no way we can crack Dempsey’s secret safe.
BECKETT (VERA)
Well, then how are we gonna get it?
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
Easy. You’re gonna walk right out the door with it tonight.
BECKETT (VERA)
How? It was hard enough shaking Dempsey’s hatchet men this morning. It’s gonna be that much harder when I’m wearing the Blue Butterfly.
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
It’ll be a cakewalk. Trust me. Especially with our friend Jimmy Doyle helping us out.
BECKETT (VERA)
And who’s Jimmy’s Doyle?
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
He’s a prizefighter, and tonight he’s taking on Sugar Ray Robinson for the welterweight title.
BECKETT (VERA)
So?
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
So every clover-loving Irishman worth his salt will be huddled around a radio tonight, cheering good ol’ Jimmy on. You’re gonna wait till a rousing part of the fight. Then you’re gonna excuse yourself. Whoever’s assigned to be watching you surely won’t be paying much attention. That’s when you slip right out the back door, where I’ll be waiting for you.
[Beckett steps towards Castle.]
BECKETT (VERA)
Oh, Joe. It’s perfect.
[Martha enters.]
MARTHA (FLORENCE KENNARD)
No, it’s crazy. What are you thinkin’, Mr. Flynn? And I can tell you, this Jane’s no good.
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
Now, what are you on about? Look at me. I’m a new man. I’m a better man. I haven’t even had a drink since I met Vera, and if that’s not a minor miracle, I don’t know what is.
MARTHA (FLORENCE KENNARD)
You would be better off with the booze than with this chippy. A-and what are you basing a relationship on, huh? A robbery and a lie?
BECKETT (VERA)
What lie?
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
Well, I guess it’s time to come clean, huh? Look, doll, it’s no coincidence I met you in the club that night. I was hired to come find you, see? Only I couldn’t tell you who. It’s just…
BECKETT (VERA)
Cut the corners, Joe. Who hired you?
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
It was your sister.
BECKETT (VERA)
Joe…I don’t have a sister.
--
Present
[23:52, INT. EVIDENCE WAREHOUSE - DAY]
RYAN
What happens next?
CASTLE
I don’t know. That’s the end of the statement.
RYAN
But if Sally wasn’t Vera’s sister, then who was she?
CASTLE
Sally set up the P.I. It’s a classic film noir twist.
RYAN
But why?
CASTLE
I don’t know.
RYAN
What was Sally up to/
CASTLE
I don’t know.
RYAN
Do you think she was connected to Dempsey?
CASTLE
I don’t know, but isn’t this great?
--
[24:08, INT. PRECINCT, BULLPEN - EVENING]
ESPOSITO
Yo, Beckett.
BECKETT
Hey.
ESPOSITO
So, our uniforms got a line on that homeless guy who was squatting in The Pennybaker. A hot dog vendor IDed him, said the guy goes by the name of West Side Wally. I put a want out on the guy.
BECKETT
Great. That might be the break we need to catch Stan’s killer.
[Cell phone rings.]
ESPOSITO
Excuse me.
BECKETT
Mm-hmm.
ESPOSITO (answers cell)
Hello? (listens) What? When? All right, I’m on my way. Thank you. (hangs up) That was the manager of Stan’s residency hotel. A guy driving a white mustang just forced his way into Stan’s room, and he’s still there.
--
[24:34, INT. PARKSVILLE ARMS, STAN'S ROOM - NIGHT]
BECKETT
NYPD! Show us your hands!
ESPOSITO
Show us your hands! Now!
[The intruder raises his hands.]
BECKETT
Turn around slowly.
[The man turns around. It’s Tom Dempsey.]
BECKETT
You’re Tom Dempsey.
TOM DEMPSEY III
Yeah, that’s me.
--
ACT FOUR
[25:04, INT. PRECINCT, INTERROGATION - NIGHT]
BECKETT
Tom Dempsey III.
CASTLE
Dead ringer. Complete doppelganger.
TOM DEMPSEY III
It’s DNA, guys. It’s not a magic trick. I’m his grandson. All right, look, I’m sorry I broke in a door. I’ll pay for the damages. It’s no big deal. Why am I still here?
CASTLE
Well, we were just curious to see if you inherited anything else from your grandfather, aside from his looks.
BECKETT
Yeah, like one of his .38 revolvers that you used to kill Stan Banks.
TOM DEMPSEY III
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. That didn’t happen. Look, Stan came to me, only he told me his name was Nathaniel Jenkins. He said he was a biographer, said he wanted to do a story about my grandfather. He promised not to focus on his underworld dealings, just on the-the good stuff, like how my granddad was a pillar of the community.
CASTLE
More like a killer of the community.
BECKETT
And so when he made his pitch, you, wanting to rehabilitate your family name, cooperated.
TOM DEMPSEY III
Yeah. I gave him access to all of Granddad’s old papers, and everything was cool…until I found out the whole thing was a lie.
BECKETT
And how’d you do that?
TOM DEMPSEY III
There’s this singer who used to headline at my granddad’s club- Betsy Sinclair. Couple weeks ago, she passed away. Well, I went there to pay my respects, and who do I see there but Nathaniel, chatting up this old guy. He sees me, jets out the back. I’m like, “What the hell is this all about?” Right? So I look in the guest book. I figured it out. He’d signed his real name - Stan Banks.
BECKETT
Which is when you figured out he wasn’t really a biographer.
TOM DEMPSEY III
He was just another lowlife treasure hunter, looking for the Blue Butterfly.
CASTLE
And if anybody deserved the Blue Butterfly, it was you, right? So, you followed Stan, and when Stan found it, you shot him.
TOM DEMPSEY III
No, I did not-I did not shoot him. Stan-Wait. Stan did find it?
BECKETT
Come on. You tell us.
TOM DEMPSEY III
I don’t know. I was not there. I read in the newspaper that the guy was dead. I went to his apartment to see what I could find. And I didn’t kill the guy.
--
[26:57, INT. PRECINCT, BULLPEN - DAY]
BECKETT
So, Dempsey’s alibi holds up. He didn’t kill Stan.
ESPOSITO
Well, that’s all right, because we caught a break. Unis finally tracked down West Side Wally. They’re bringing him in now.
BECKETT
Great. Maybe that can shed some light as to what happened to Stan.
CASTLE
And if he can’t, maybe Jerry Maddox can.
BECKETT
Jerry Maddox?
CASTLE
You remember how Tom the Third told us that Stan went to Betsy Sinclair’s funeral? I started thinking, why would he go?
ESPOSITO
To do research.
CASTLE
Right, but research on whom? So, I stopped by the funeral parlor. Turns out that Stan spent an awful lot of time with a friend of the deceased named Jerry Maddox. And get this-Jerry was the old bartender at The Pennybaker Club, and probably the last living link to the Blue Butterfly.
ESPOSITO
Good job, Castle.
CASTLE
Yeah?
ESPOSITO
Yeah.
--
[27:38, INT. MADDOXES’ APARTMENT - DAY]
FRANKIE
Jerry? This is Detective Beckett and Mr. Castle. They wanted a word.
JERRY MADDOX
Oh, yeah.
VIOLA MADDOX
You want some soup? It’s homemade.
CASTLE
Oh, I don’t mind if I do. That smells delicious.
BECKETT
Uh, no, thank you. Actually, we’re-we’re all right.
[Louis Armstrong plays in the background.]
CASTLE
Am I hearing “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love”
JERRY MADDOX
That’s right, kid. That’s the best version of that tune, too. You come here to talk music, did you?
BECKETT
Actually, we’re here to investigate Stan Bank’s murder, and we were wondering if you met him at Betsy Sinclair’s funeral.
JERRY MADDOX
Yeah. He-he was murdered?
BECKETT
Mm-hmm.
JERRY MADDOX
Poor kid.
BECKETT
Did he mention a necklace called the Blue Butterfly?
JERRY MADDOX
Oh, sure. Asked me all kinds of questions. Uh, where it might be, stuff like that, but I was just a bartender back then. I-I wasn’t much help.
BECKETT
Ah.
CASTLE
Now, this might seem an odd question, but in 1947, do you remember when Vera Mulqueen and Joe Flynn were murdered?
JERRY MADDOX
Of course. It was a big deal back then. Dempsey, the fella that owned the club, shot them in cold blood.
CASTLE
The same year, do you remember a woman named Sally Scofield? She was a redhead. In 1947, she would’ve been about 18.
JERRY MADDOX
Oh, I think I know who you’re talking about. Now, that’s back in ‘46. I had just got hired at The Pennybaker.
--
New York City, 1946
[28:59, INT. THE PENNYBAKER CLUB - NIGHT]
[Beckett is dressed in a vendor outfit as she carries a tray of cigarettes.]
BECKETT
Cigarettes. Cigars.
[A redheaded woman has her arm in Dempsey’s, the Blue Butterfly around her neck.]
JERRY MADDOX
Dempsey wasn’t dating Vera back then. He was going with a gal named Priscilla Campbell. Priscilla had a daughter, a redhead named Sally.
[We see Alexis on Dempsey’s other side.]
JERRY MADDOX
Sounds like she’s the one you mean. Sad story, what happened. Not long after Vera caught Dempsey’s eye, he dropped Priscilla and cut her and Sally off cold.
[Dempsey watches Beckett selling cigarettes across the room.]
JERRY MADDOX
They said it was the curse of the Blue Butterfly. Priscilla killed herself with a handful of pills.
CASTLE
And Sally?
JERRY MADDOX
Couple months after, uh, Vera and that P.I. got whacked, Dempsey died of a heart attack. The evening of his funeral, in walks Sally, all dressed up. Ordered a whiskey neat, slammed it back, gave me a big ol’ crocodile grin, said she was free. Then she strutted on out the door, and that’s the last time I ever saw her.
CASTLE
It’s a revenge story. Sally blamed Vera for the death of her mother, so she plotted to take her down. Somehow she used the P.I. to do it. She must have been setting them up.
BECKETT
Yeah, but how does any of this help us figure out who shot Stan?
--
[30:22, INT. PRECINCT, BULLPEN - DAY]
[Ryan slides his chair in front of a homeless man clutching a coffee cup.]
RYAN
So…West Side Wally. May I call you Wally?
WEST SIDE WALLY
I prefer West Side.
RYAN
Of course. West Side, we know you were at The Pennybaker Club two days ago.
ESPOSITO
Yeah, we found your squat.
WEST SIDE WALLY
Whoa. Cagney and Lacey, you can stop right there. I wasn’t living in the club two days ago. I had already gotten bought out by the other guy.
RYAN
Bought out?
ESPOSITO
By the other guy?
WEST SIDE WALLY
A few days ago, the other guy comes in, starts setting up a squat by the bar, but West Side Wally doesn’t do neighbors. So I said, “Hey, Professor, kick rocks.” He wouldn’t take no for an answer. Ended up paying me four-hundred dollars to relocate. So again, for the record this time, I wasn’t there.
RYAN
Easy, easy, okay? Did you get this guy’s name?
WEST SIDE WALLY
I didn’t ask. He didn’t say.
ESPOSITO
Can you describe him?
WEST SIDE WALLY
Medium height, medium build, white, 50s. I called him The Professor because he spoke like a pretentious jerk.
[Esposito takes a photo off of the murder board and shows it to Wally.]
WEST SIDE WALLY
Hey, it’s The Professor.
ESPOSITO
Clyde Belasco.
--
ACT FIVE
[31:21, INT. PRECINCT, INTERROGATION - DAY]
BECKETT
We know that you were at The Pennybaker Club, Mr. Belasco. You paid off a homeless man so that you could have the place to yourself.
CLYDE BELASCO
I have a condo on the Upper East side, a chateau in Bordeaux, a chalet in Gestad. Yet, on the word of some vagrant, you believe that I paid to squat in an abandoned building? Me? Clyde Belasco?
CASTLE
Pretty much.
CLYDE BELASCO
I'd like to see you prove it, sir.
BECKETT
All right, have it your way, Professor. We will see at the sentence hearing.
[Beckett closes her folder and Castle smiles at Belasco as he gets up to leave with her.]
BECKETT
You can do your TV show from prison.
CLYDE BELASCO
Wait!
[Beckett turns around.]
CLYDE BELASCO
Okay. I was there, I admit it. I was at The Pennybaker Club when Stan was killed. But I didn't kill him.
[Beckett and Castle sit down.]
CLYDE BELASCO
Like I said before, Stan came to me and asked for my research on the Blue Butterfly.
BECKETT
And you said no?
CLYDE BELASCO
Of course I said no. I searched for that necklace for fifteen years and now I'm just supposed to help him? The glory was to be mine.
CASTLE
But you knew he was onto something, didn't you?
CLYDE BELASCO
Oh, yes. I could tell he was close. So very close. Stan knew things about the club, about the necklace that I had never heard before.
BECKETT
So you staked out the club, and when Stan showed, you shot him.
CLYDE BELASCO
I didn't shoot him, Detective. Yes, I had a pistol with me and a bullwhip. They're my trademarks. Everyone knows that. But I brought a mask and gloves as well, because I was simply going to threaten him and take the prize.
BECKETT
So then what happened?
CLYDE BELASCO
I was lying in wait. Stan went downstairs, and when he returned, he was...holding the Blue Butterfly. Oh, you should've seen how it sparkled.
[Beckett gives Castle a sideways look at Belasco's crazy talk.]
CLYDE BELASCO
Magnificent. I was about to pounce when suddenly there was a--a rag put over my mouth. It had a sweet smell, like it was doused with chloroform.
[Castle and Beckett roll their eyes at each other.]
CASTLE
Chloroform? Really?
CLYDE BELASCO
It had to be. Everything went dark, and when I came to, Stan was dead. I searched his body, but whoever knocked me out took the Blue Butterfly with them.
--
[33:25, INT. PRECINCT, BULLPEN - DAY]
CASTLE
God, I hope it's him.
BECKETT
Yeah, but without a confession, our case is purely circumstantial. I'm gonna see if I can get a warrant for Belasco's place.
CASTLE
Which place, the condo, the chateau, or the chalet?
[Castle turns to the murder board to take down the pictures as Beckett picks up the phone.]
BECKETT (on phone)
Hi, yeah, this is Detective Kate Beckett, Twelfth Precinct. I'm calling for the riding A.D.A. Mm-hmm. Yeah, okay. I'll hold.
CASTLE
Well, it's kind of disappointing. I was really hoping that solving Stan's murder would give us some answers to what really happened to Joe and Vera.
BECKETT
Yeah, but we already know what really happened. Dempsey killed them both.
CASTLE
Well, that's the obvious version. But what about Sally? What's her part in all of this? And...why would she hire Joe?
BECKETT
Well, I guess we'll never know.
[Castle looks at the photo of the necklace.]
CASTLE
No, something else was going on. Something we're missing. "Wearing T-strap shoes and a country suit, I could tell that redhead was a hick off the cob."
BECKETT
Wait. What did you just say?
CASTLE
Well, that's just how Joe described her in his diary.
BECKETT
No, the--the part about the shoes?
CASTLE
T-strap. It's when the strap comes over the--
BECKETT (on phone)
Yeah. Can I just call you back?
[Beckett hangs up and grabs a photo off of the murder board.]
BECKETT
Okay. Take a look at this photo. There's a shoe next to the car. And look at what kind of shoe it is.
CASTLE
That's a T-strap. You don't think...
BECKETT
If Vera was at the club that night, she'd be dressed in an elegant dress and...
CASTLE
And heels. This isn't Vera. This is Sally.
BECKETT
Yeah, but it can't be Sally. The bartender said that he saw her months after the murders. Unless...
BECKETT & CASTLE.
He lied.
BECKETT
But that was over half a century ago. Why would he lie about that?
CASTLE
Beckett, I just realizes something.
BECKETT
Huh?
CASTLE
"I Can't Give You Anything But Love."
BECKETT
W--what?
CASTLE
That's what was playing when we interviewed the bartender.
BECKETT
Right. Right. He said that that was the best version of the song.
CASTLE
It was Louis Armstrong's version. In Joe's diary, he says his favorite performer is Satchmo. What's Satchmo's real name?
BECKETT
Louis Armstrong.
CASTLE
Put it all together, the answer is clear.
--
[35:15, INT. MADDOXES’ APARTMENT - DAY]
[Beckett and Castle knock on the door and Viola answers it.]
VIOLA MADDOX
Oh. Hello again.
BECKETT
Hello, Vera.
[Vera's face falls and Jerry appears around the door.]
CASTLE
And hello, Joe.
[Vera turns into Joe's chest.]
--
ACT SIX
[35:31, INT. MADDOXES’ APARTMENT - DAY]
CASTLE
Well, if it isn't Vera Mulqueen and Joe Flynn, back from the dead.
FRANKIE
Everything all right, guys?
VERA (VIOLA MADDOX)
Everything's peachy. Thanks, Frankie.
BECKETT
What happened? Stan figured out the truth, that you two were alive, that you murdered two people so you could disappear with the Blue Butterfly?
[Joe looks down in shame.]
BECKETT
So you lured him to the club and then you shot him?
JOE (JERRY MADDOX)
Lady, you got it all wrong. Stan cornered me at Betsy's funeral, wanting to know how I knew her. So I lied and told him I was a bartender.
VERA (VIOLA MADDOX)
But Stan was clever. He was too clever. He figured us out. He came here demanding to know where the Blue Butterfly was. He threatened to expose us.
JOE (JERRY MADDOX)
He was like a dog after a bone. So we told him what he needed to know. We told him where it was. But we didn't kill him.
CASTLE
Oh, come on, you guys. We know it's you. You used the same gun from the '47 murders to kill Stan.
[Frankie turns around to listen.]
VERA (VIOLA MADDOX)
Same gun? Oh, we keep the gun in the, uh--
JOE (JERRY MADDOX)
China cabinet drawer.
[Frankie rushes for the drawer and pulls out the gun, but Beckett's is aimed at him first.]
BECKETT
Don't even think about it.
[Frankie raises his hands.]
BECKETT
Put the gun down.
[Frankie puts the gun down.]
VERA (VIOLA MADDOX)
Francis Benjamin Huntsacker, what have you done?
CASTLE
Wait a minute, Huntsacker?
[Beckett cuffs Frankie.]
CASTLE
It was your mother who sold the diary to Stan.
JOE (JERRY MADDOX)
What diary?
CASTLE
Your diary.
BECKETT
So you read it, and all this time, you were looking for the necklace, too.
FRANKIE
That's why I got this crap job. And for six months, I slowly built trust, gently acquired information. And then that jerk just waltzes in here and bullies the location of the Blue Butterfly from you? Come on!
JOE (JERRY MADDOX)
So, when you realized it was now or never, you bushwhacked Stan, took the Blue Butterfly for yourself?
FRANKIE
I brought their old .38 only as a precaution. I was just gonna chloroform Stan and steal it.
BECKETT
But you found Clyde Belasco hiding behind the bar.
FRANKIE
I pulled the gun, Stan grabbed for it... Look, I didn't mean to.
BECKETT
Let's go, Frankie. You're under arrest.
--
[37:25, INT. PRECINCT, BULLPEN - NIGHT]
BECKETT
Hey, Castle, guess what we found at Frankie's apartment.
[Beckett opens a cloth to reveal the Blue Butterfly.]
CASTLE (whispers)
Oh, my. Oh, my god. It's beautiful.
BECKETT
It's fake.
CASTLE
What?
BECKETT
We confirmed it with an appraiser. It's well-crafted costume jewelry.
CASTLE
All this time, and it's paste? That's...or maybe it's a twist on a twist. Maybe the real Blue Butterfly was switched out for this one years ago.
BECKETT
Well, whatever happened, it doesn't change the facts. We still have one more case to close.
--
[38:05, INT. MADDOXES’ APARTMENT - EVENING]
BECKETT
Okay, so now we know that Frankie killed Stan, but there are still two murders that need to be solved - Sally Campbell and whoever else you put in that car.
CASTLE
It's time you come clean on what happened the evening of June 24, 1947, the night you disappeared.
[Vera and Joe look at each other.]
JOE (JERRY MADDOX)
Tell them, Vera.
VERA (VIOLA MADDOX)
We were all huddled around the, uh, radio, listening to the Sugar Ray Robinson/Jimmy Doyle prizefight, and, uh...
--
June 24, 1947
[38:31, INT. THE PENNYBAKER CLUB - NIGHT]
VERA (V.O.)
I was building up nerve to make my escape.
RADIO
...breaks up the clinch. A slowly tiring Jimmy Doyle throws a left, another left. He isn't jabbing legally. Here comes Robinson. A left. A right. Another left to the ribcage...
BECKETT (VERA)
Moxie, I need to powder my nose.
RYAN (IRISHMAN)
Are you kidding me? Can it wait?
BECKETT (VERA)
No.
RYAN (IRISHMAN)
Ah, what do you say, boss?
TOM DEMPSEY
Yeah, yeah, yeah, make it quick.
[Beckett leaves.]
RADIO
The sold out crowd ... are on their collective feet. Robinson delivers a left, a right, a left again. Doyle punches back, but missed him by a mile.
--
[39:01, EXT. ALLEY - NIGHT]
[Castle waits for Beckett. She smiles and runs to him.]
MR CAMPBELL
Well, aren't you a picture?
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
Who are you?
MR CAMPBELL
I'm with her.
[Alexis appears and pulls a gun on them. Her southern drawl is gone.]
ALEXIS (SALLY CAMPBELL)
Put 'em up.
VERA (V.O.)
The guy was Sally's husband. She'd only hired Joe to get me away from Dempsey so she could exact her revenge.
ALEXIS (SALLY CAMPBELL)
Now you're gonna suffer, Vera, like my mother suffered!
MR CAMPBELL
Wait, Sal. Let me get the ice first.
[Campbell reaches for the necklace, but Castle grabs his wrist and wrestles with him. Alexis aims and shoots, hitting her husband.]
ALEXIS (SALLY CAMPBELL)
Lenny!
[Lenny drops. Beckett grabs for Alexis's gun.]
ALEXIS (SALLY CAMPBELL)
No! Give me the gun!
[They struggle for a moment and the gun goes off. Alexis gasps and drops.]
BECKETT (VERA)
Oh! Oh! Joe!
[Beckett runs back to Joe with the gun.]
Present
[Castle is entranced by Vera's story.]
VERA (VIOLA MADDOX)
We were hot as a pistol and--and we had had two bodies on our hands and we had to do something. And Joe...
June 24, 1947
[Beckett and Castle move the bodies into the car.]
VERA (V.O.)
...had the plan.
[Castle douses the car with a flammable liquid and lights a match.]
VERA (V.O.)
No one would be looking for those two. We needed to disappear.
[Castle tosses the match on the car and it goes up in flames.]
Present
[40:12, INT. MADDOXES’ APARTMENT - EVENING]
[Vera sighs.]
VERA (VIOLA MADDOX)
Obviously, we didn't disappear far enough. So...are you going to arrest us?
[Vera and Joe wait for the verdict and Castle and Beckett exchange a look.]
BECKETT
Why would I do that? Sounds like self-defense. Besides, we're looking for a woman named Vera, not Viola, and a P.I. named Joe, not a former bartender named Jerry.
[Vera and Joe begin to cry.]
JOE (JERRY MADDOX)
We don't know how to thank you.
CASTLE
I do. Answer two questions. One, if you had the Blue Butterfly, why didn't you take it? And two, where has it been all this time?
JOE (JERRY MADDOX)
Well, we were home free till doll face here had herself an epiphany.
--
June 24, 1947
[41:06, EXT. ALLEY - NIGHT]
[Beckett and Castle watch the car burning.]
BECKETT (VERA)
This thing really is cursed.
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
Vera, that's just fancy rock on a pretty rope.
BECKETT (VERA)
No, it's more than that. It's misery. Joe, we can't.
[Very rips the necklace off, but Joe catches her wrist.]
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
I got no love for this thing, just you. But I'll be damned if I let Dempsey get his hands back on it.
[Castle wraps the necklace in his handkerchief and puts it in the hole he knocked out of the wall earlier, covering it up with the brick.]
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
Let the bastard spend the rest of his life not knowing his prize possession is right under his nose.
--
Present
[41:50, INT. MADDOXES’ APARTMENT - EVENING]
BECKETT
Cursed or not, did you ever consider going back for it?
VERA (VIOLA MADDOX)
They don't get it, Joe. Mm. I...
JOE (JERRY MADDOX)
We got four children, seven grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and each other.
VERA (VIOLA MADDOX)
Mm-hmm.
JOE (JERRY MADDOX)
What do we need a Blue Butterfly for?
[Joe and Vera chuckle. Beckett smiles.]
--
[42:15, INT. APARTMENT HALLWAY - NIGHT]
BECKETT
Do you think we should've told Joe and Vera about the Blue Butterfly?
CASTLE
Oh, no. Why ruin it for them? No, that's the stuff that dreams are made of.
[Castle and Beckett smile at each other.]
--
June 24, 1947
[42:22, EXT. ALLEY - NIGHT]
[Beckett and Castle stand in front of the burning car and Castle takes Beckett into his arms.]
BECKETT (VERA)
Tell me you love me, Joe.
CASTLE (JOE FLYNN)
Always.
[They kiss and leave the burning car behind.]
THE END
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