Castle

Testing. Testing. One. Two. Three. Testing.

Damn it!

Hank, careful with that, man.

Sorry, man.

Yo, here it is!

- What? - The review from last night's show.

Do we want to hear it?

Only if you like being called the next Nirvana.

Yeah, right.

Dude, he's not kidding.

"Holy Shemp's future is now.

"They're about to explode, just like

one of singer Keith Blue's signature screams."

Yeah!

Whoo! Did you hear that? We're taking off, baby!

Hey, hey, where's James? They're comparing him to The Edge.

Uh, he's probably still asleep.

Let's go wake his ass up!

Is this real?

Jimmy!

Come on. This is gonna be good.

Wakey, wakey, Jimbo. I'm coming in with a camera.

Come on.

Come on.

I seriously hope his junk is not flapping in the breeze

like last time.

Come on.

Help! Help!

Help me! Help me!

Ryan, get rid of the cameras.

Yeah, I'll take care of it.

Hey, officer, we need to lose these cameras.

You know that. No press allowed.

Uh, they're not press. They're shooting some kind of movie.

No, they're--they're filming a documentary about the band.

And you are?

I'm--I'm Hank Rogers.

I'm one of the roadies.

You knew the victim. All right.

Well, I'm gonna need a statement, okay?

Are you kidding me? They're in here, too?

I asked them to leave,

but he said that the director told him to shoot all this.

How'd you like to try to film with a cracked lens, huh?

- All right. - Huh?

Espo, just go get their director.

Tell him to get the crew out of here.

Hey, Esposito.

Someone didn't get their coffee.

What's this?

They are making a documentary on the band.

Yeah, just ignore 'em.

Richard Castle, novelist.

My latest, "Frozen Heat," in stores now.

Have you met, uh, Nikki Heat's inspiration--

Detective Beckett?

Lanie, what else do we know?

Victim is James Swan.

He's the lead guitarist of Holy Shemp.

They must be Three Stooges fans.

Based on lividity,

I'd say the time of death is between 12:00 and 2:00 AM.

Look at that.

"Observe."

An unheeded call to vigilance.

So that's the murder weapon.

Mm. It's a Gibson Les Paul.

59 flame top if I'm not mistaken,

and I'm rarely mistaken.

That's hot.

Tell me about this guitar.

Well, the flame top is his favorite.

Uh, last night after the show,

I tuned it and I dropped it off at his trailer.

He likes to compose on it.

All right. Uh, what time was that at?

It was around 11:30.

All right. Was, uh, he alone at the time?

Yeah. Yeah.

We chatted for a second.

He's always really nice to me.

It was all about the music with him.

Was there, uh, anyone hanging outside the trailer,

maybe someone you didn't recognize?

I saw a white van.

It went around the block a couple of times.

Oh, did you get a plate number?

I'm sorry.

It was dark.

All right. Um, don't go anywhere.

Yeah. No, I--

you can't pull your funding.

Yo. You the director?

Yeah. Yeah, no.

You--look, we are sitting on gold here. Okay?

This is part rock doc part, uh--

This is a crime scene.

You gotta get these cameras outta here.

All right.

Look, I-I gotta go.

Just call me if--if you can get that thing.

Look, you gotta help me out here, okay?

I-I've been following these guys nonstop for three months.

Not anymore. Police procedure. Sorry.

And if you've been following the victim 24/7,

I'm gonna need to see that footage.

Look, Detective.

Look... I'm in a spot here.

Okay, James Swan...

was that band.

With him gone, no one is gonna care about these guys

or want to see this film.

So unless I can reinvent it as some kind of thriller,

you know, a hunt for the murderer--

people love that stuff.

Listen to me, a guy's dead here.

So if you don't get rid of these cameras,

I'm gonna break one over your--

One second. Sorry. Yeah, go ahead.

Oh, great.

Okay, hang on.

I'm gonna give you to a detective. Yeah.

Hello.

This was a crime of passion.

There was an argument, things got heated,

the killer grabbed the nearest heavy object,

and felled poor Mr. Swan

at the tragically young age of...

How old was he?

27.

Wow. Another one for the club.

What club?

The 27 club.

Memberships include some of the greats--

Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin.

The list is extensive.

Castle, we kind of need a different list,

like who might have been in this trailer last night.

I think I know where to start.

Lanie.

Go, go, go, go. Get outta here.

Oh, my God. Thank you.

The guy was a total genius.

I followed the band for six months

trying to meet him.

A couple weeks ago, James and I got together,

and every night since,

I'd meet him in his trailer right after the show.

So you were in his trailer when it happened?

I guess. I mean, I, um,

I-I don't remember anything.

I'm sorry.

How can you not remember?

I passed out.

I guess I...

partied a little too hard during the show.

I'm sorry. I want to help.

- Listen, Miss... - Butterfly.

Butterfly, this is very important.

Do you remember anything about that night?

Anything at all?

In his trailer...

I heard a horse.

Um...

A horse as in whinnying?

No.

I heard the sound of horse hooves

crunching in the snow.

Like, crunch, crunch, crunch--

Okay, can we, uh, just focus on what happened

just before you passed out?

Did he seem like he was upset?

Did he seem like he had been fighting with anyone?

Actually, the opposite.

He'd been complaining a lot

about the other guys in the band recently,

you know, the--the arguments and the tension.

But last night,

he--he seemed happy, you know?

Like--like he'd found some kind of peace.

I don't know if that girl could swing a guitar

with enough force to kill anyone,

but I still gotta check her clothes for blood spatter.

I'm more interested in what the band members

were fighting about.

Hey, what are you guys doing here? Huh?

Get outta here now. This is a police investigation.

You have no right to be here.

Uh, actually, that's not true.

I'm sorry, Detective, but it's out of my hands.

- City hall has decided it's good PR. - Wait. What about the case?

They're gonna compromise the investig--

I feel the same way as you do,

but a decision has been made,

and I expect you to comply with it.

Fine. Then just have them stay out of my way.

Hi. Uh... welcome.

I'm Captain Gates,

head of the 12th precinct.

In cooperation with the NYPD's Public Affairs division,