Castle

Oh, my God, ice cream? Are you trying to kill me?

At least you'll die happy.

Oh...

- Kate? - Mm!

Oh, no, thanks, I couldn't, not after this

amazing meal that you guys just stuffed us with.

Oh... darling, I'm sorry. Dessert is not optional,

not after I traipsed all over town

to find Richard his favorite flavor of ice cream.

Potato chip fudge?

Yes!

Beckett, dig deep.

Come... you would not quit at mile 25 of a marathon.

You know what? Why don't we take a break

- and you and I do dishes? - Oh...

Oh, don't even think about it.

Gram and I have it covered.

Okay.

You are not letting them do dishes

after they just cooked.

- They want to. - You're seriously milking this whole

"I've been missing for two months thing," aren't you?

They are glad to have me back,

and if fussing over me makes them happy...

enjoy it.

Like you ought to be enjoying this

potato chip fudge ice cream sundae.

It's got that whole salty/sweet thing going on.

It's just... just like me.

Mmm!

- I'll... I'll get yeah. I'll get it. - Mm.

Beckett's phone.

Look, I know that you've only been back

for a few weeks, and we're all still trying to process it,

but I gotta say,

Alexis waiting on you hand and foot...

it's just it's a little odd.

Hey, you know what's really odd?

Ice cream truck in the middle of nowhere.

There's no kids lining up to buy bomb pops around here.

Yeah, this couldn't have been the driver's route.

Not even close. I just got off the phone

with the owner of the ice cream truck...

Sergei Vetotchkin.

The victim is his son... Anton, 22.

They found him behind the wheel around 5:00 p.m.

Is nothing sacred?

I mean, who kills an ice cream man,

a symbol of childhood innocence?

Maybe someone wanted his money.

Except that today's cash receipts were still in the van.

And whoever did this shot him at close range.

Two g.s.w.s to the chest with powder burns.

We figure the shooter boarded the truck

and shot Anton, knocking him back into the shifter.

Went into first, and that's why the truck rolled here.

Killer probably bolted out the back.

Anyone see it?

We got unis canvassing for witnesses,

but it's not exactly an area where people hang out.

And what about street cams?

Coverage is spotty. We'll get really lucky if we get a hit.

What was this kid doing here in the first place?

I don't know why our son would be in that neighborhood.

That's not where we do business.

Well, is it possible that he was involved

in something that would take him down there,

something dangerous?

No. Anton was... A good boy.

Never got in trouble.

Were there any troubles on his route?

Anything unusual going on in his life?

He came home early from school.

What school did he go to?

He was taking night classes at the community college

in the Bronx for graphic design.

Since he was a boy in Abkhazia, he loved to draw.

But last night, he came back from class

very upset, like something was wrong.

Yeah, there was definitely something wrong.

I'd never seen Anton like that before.

Could you tell us what happened?

Yeah, I'd given the class an assignment,

and Anton was working at his station like everyone else,

and all of a sudden he started shaking

- like he was terrified. - Because of what?

I don't know. He ran out of the room.

But I saw him later in the parking lot

getting into a car with some guy.

What guy? Can you describe him?

No, it was too dark, but...

I-I do remember the car.

It was bright green, an old Camry.

Did you happen to get a license plate?

I-I got a 3, an "E," and a "K."

You said this all started when he was at his station.

Can we take a look at what he was working on?

Uh, yeah. I have to log you into the system.

What the...

his portfolio is gone and all his...

projects have been deleted.

Did Anton delete them? Why would he do that?

I have no idea.

It's C.S.U. Ryan.

Ryan?

Hey. C.S.U. Got us a lead.

See how this cabinet door is open?

Just like in these crime scene photos.

Okay. So?

So when the cabinet door is closed...

There's blood spatter on the door panel behind it.

Which means the door was closed when Anton was shot.

Yep. Now, see this smear of blood

on the inside edge of the door?

C.S.U. Said that this came from a finger,

so somebody grabbed the door from the inside,

pulling it open.

If someone was in there when Anton was shot...

- They saw our killer. - A witness.

Yeah, not only that, I think our witness might be a kid.

What?

They left that on the inside of the cabinet.

It's a permission slip for a class trip.

No usable prints on it,

but it does have today's date.

Kennedy elementary.

That's less than a mile away.

Assuming an afternoon dismissal,

Anton was shot at 5:00 p.m.

Someone from that school was in this van when Anton was killed.

Someone from miss Ruiz's second grade class.

I can't imagine it's one of Mrs. Ruiz's students.

Why would they even be in that area alone?

Well, we'll know more once our youth officer

is done talking to them.

Now, what time did...

Mrs. Ruiz's class let out yesterday?

At 3:00 p.m., and each child was picked up

by a parent or authorized guardian.

Okay, and I'm gonna need a list of all of their names

so we can determine where they were at 5:00 P.M.

Of course. Detective Beckett?

Mrs. Ruiz and I talked to all the students.

None of them seems to be your witness.

Except one of them has to be.

You know, maybe we should talk to them again.

If they're afraid to come forward, that's not gonna help.

Or perhaps they didn't see anything.

Either way, these children shouldn't be subjected

to endless questions. I know, I understand,

but we have to find this witness.

In cases like this, a child is often more likely

to open up to somebody who's not an authority figure...

a classmate, a friend.

So, basically, we're looking for someone

who won't intimidate them.

An adult presence in the classroom

that 8-year-olds will view as a peer,

someone that they can consider one of their own?

Okay, but where would we find someone like that?

Got it.

Easy.

S07E04 Child's Play

Thank you, Mrs. Ruiz,

for letting Castle spend time in your classroom.

I wasn't given much of a choice.

Well, then we apologize for the imposition,

but we do need to figure out who this witness is.

And just how are you going to do that?

You know we spoke to all of them already, right?

Yes, but being 90% kid myself,

I have an ability to get into the minds of children.

And I have the perfect plan.

Trust me, there is no such thing.

Have you ever been in a room

with 20 second-graders, Mr. Castle?

I appreciate your concern, Leslie.

May I call you Leslie?

- "Mrs. Ruiz" is fine. - Excellent.

I'm sure I'm more than capable of handling

anything these little charmers can throw my way.

Hmm.

In this case, is an eraser.

Hey, what do you got?

We chased down that partial plate that Anton's teacher gave us.

That car she saw?

Looks like it's registered to a retired cop named Clark Jaffe.

- A cop? - Yeah.

Anton placed a call to him that night from

the pay phone outside the college.

Okay, bring him in.

That's gonna be a problem.

Jaffe's dead. Shot to death.

He was shot, too? When?

Yesterday, about eight hours before Anton.

And I ran ballistics. It's a match.

It's the same shooter.

Okay. I'm on my way.

Hey, everybody. Atten...

Attention, everyone! Hello! Attention!