Castle

Expect the worst. These guys are beyond dangerous.

Let's go.

Don't move! Show me your hands!

Is that all the guys you brought?

How you holding up, kiddo?

Ohhh.

This separation thing is getting really old.

I know.

But Katherine is at a crossroads.

The loss she suffered when she was young

has just changed her in ways

that she is just now beginning to realize.

Can your mother give you a little unsolicited advice?

- No. - Too bad.

I need to work on my material.

- Your material? - Didn't I tell you?

I'm writing a book.

"Unsolicited advice" by Martha Rodgers.

That's...

That's actually a great idea.

I know. Isn't it?

Oh, and your agent loved it, too.

- My agent? - Never you mind that.

Just listen.

Have faith.

Things between you and Katherine

have a tendency to just work themselves out.

I think it's probably good

that she's out of town for a couple of days

because a little time apart is just what you need.

What I need is a distraction.

The burglary at what has been labeled

New York's most secure building is clearly a black eye

for billionaire developer Ronald Booth,

who's keeping quiet about exactly what was stolen

But had this to say earlier.

Hi. Welcome to Richard Castle Investigations.

Wow.

You grew up nice.

I'm sorry... do I know you?

Old friend of your dad's... Ethan Slaughter.

Of... of course.

Yeah, let me just tell him you're here.

Defcon one. Slaughter is here.

Here?

Like, right behind the door here?

Yeah.

- What does he want? - I don't know.

He just said he was an old friend.

That can't be good.

Is that the old friend

who almost got you killed a few years ago?

Yeah, like six times.

Okay, uh, I, uh, uh...

Oh, I'll... I can... I can handle this.

I'll just...

I'll just tell him...

I'll just tell him I'm not interested in,

uh, in whatever he... whatever it is.

Hey, Sherlock. Long time, no see.

Hey! Slaughter!

Buddy. How you been?

Not enough shootouts, but otherwise, stellar.

Yeah.

You're not gonna find many shootouts around here.

- Huh. - So, good seeing you.

You should come back again sometime.

Oh, not so fast. We got some business to discuss.

What kind of business?

Ma'am, I don't believe we've had the pleasure.

Don't "ma'am" me, darling.

I'm Martha Rodgers. Richard Castle is my son.

And the last time - you two did business together,

he was on antianxiety medication for a month.

She's kidding. Kidder.

It's just... it was just a few weeks.

Well, you got a real mama lion here, Sherlock.

But no reason to worry.

What I'm here about won't put you in a lick of danger.

I promise.

Hmm. And what's that?

The case I'm working on and need help with...

a high-end burglary in this big, shiny building in midtown.

The most secure building in New York?

I just watched a news report about it.

Yeah, seems, uh, somebody was able to bypass the alarm system

and steal themselves some sort of top-secret microchip.

The whole... the whole thing's above my intellectual pay grade,

so I thought Sherlock here could help me out.

I-I thought you were gang task force.

Oh, yeah, I got tired of that.

I moved on to a whole new class of dirtbags.

I-I'm flattered you thought of me,

but I'm just... I'm... I have my... my schedule is so full.

- Yeah, we're swamped. - Completely swamped.

Completely.

Okay.

You don't have to tell me twice. I got it.

Great to see you again, Sherlock.

I had some stories I was gonna tell you

to help you with your next book,

like this time I was chasing this cartel hit team

through the sewers for three days.

But that's just gonna have to be for another time.

Ciao.

Cartel hit team?

Be strong, Richard.

In sewers?

- Ohh! - Slaughter!

- Aah! - Wait!

I'm in.

Outstanding.

What's our first move?

Lower east side... guy I know named Victor Lee.

Victim's name is Victor Lee.

30-year-old male.

Died of exsanguination

from that giant knife in his neck.

Killed between 10:00 and 2:00 last night.

All right. Let's find out who the victim was talking to.

What about that bruising on his face?

That's older.

Looks like someone worked Mr. Lee over within the last 24 hours.

Any hope of getting a print off that murder weapon?

Doubtful. Looks like it's been wiped clean.

Hey, Espo.

Guess who the last person our victim called was.

Do you know how hard it is for me to not say "your mama" right now?

Slaughter?

Hey.

What the hell happened to my guy?

Castle. Slaughter.

This is not a pairing I would have expected.

I know, right?

Huh?

I mean... together again!

Yay!

You got any leads?

Yeah... we got our victim calling you last night.

Care to share what you talked about?

Victor was my C.I.

Best damn snitch I ever had.

'Cause he wasn't a criminal. He managed some burger joint.

But he grew up with a rogues' gallery of lowlifes,

and they were just too stupid not to keep bragging to him

about all the crimes they were committing.

So, what was he calling you about?

Ah, he was doing some digging

on this burglary I'm investigating.

Well, looks like that digging might have got him killed.

Are you saying this is my fault?

I... well, was Victor talking to anyone else besides you?

No, he said he was gonna go meet someone.

He didn't give me that name.

All right, then, our first step is to identify that guy.

No, that's our job. This is a homicide investigation.

Tough! It was my case first. Victor was my guy.

So we're gonna find the rodent that killed him together.

Come on, Sherlock.

All right, but, Slaughter,

you're gonna keep us in the loop on every move you make.

Of course.

I'm a team player.

I totally lied to those guys.

I already got a line on who Victor might have met with last night.

Don't you think that's information we should share

with Ryan and Esposito?

Nah.

Isn't this fun?

You and me together again.

Like Butch and Sundance.

You know they die at the end of the movie, right?

Yeah. But what a way to go.

I can't believe it. I just talked to him yesterday.

What did you talk to him about?

Getting back together.

We broke up a few months ago.

I got sick of him not keeping his word.

But he said it was gonna be different this time.

Told me he was about to come into some big money.

We were talking about taking off together...

California.

I always wanted to live on the beach.

Did he say where this big money was coming from?

No.

Would you excuse us for a second?

Do you think Victor might have been involved

in stealing that microchip?

No way. He was a straight arrow.

I know you liked the guy,

but he was working a minimum-wage job

while all his criminal buddies were pulling in big cash.

Is it so impossible to believe

that he might have given in to temptation?

Yeah, it's possible.

I just hate the idea he was playing me.

Did Victor say who he was meeting with last night?

Some guy named Trucco.

So, I looked into Slaughter's burglary case.

The burglars made off with