Castle Episode 6.16 Room 147

Castle tries to convince Alexis to move back home now that she's broken up with her boyfriend. Pi, we hardly knew ya. Alexis is dead-set on staying out on her own. Speaking of things that are dead and set, Justin Marquette was found murdered in a hotel room from a gunshot wound to the chest. The victim had no luggage and no reservation when he checked in. He insisted on staying in Room 147.

The victim is an actor in some off-off-off Broadway productions. Justin had recently been threatened by a woman outside a coffee shop after talking to a big, bald man. Her name is Anita Miller. Before Beckett can even begin her interrogation, the woman admits to killing Justin. Case closed, right? Wrong. Anita was somewhere else at the time of the murder. So why is she confessing to a crime she didn't commit in vivid detail? Anita says she's an alcoholic who has been sober for four years. The last few weeks, however, have been a bit blurry.

Anita said the confrontation at the coffee shop was all about the awful feeling she had that she was going to hurt Justin. Now she fears she did so even though she really didn't know him. It's a completely confusing case. Castle doesn't even have any wild theories to offer. The last two weeks of Anita's calendar have been erased. A psychologist finds her mentally competent, but she may have experienced a traumatic event recently—like perhaps killing Justin Marquette. Too bad a man named Sam Carson also confesses to the murder in vivid detail. He even knows the room number—147. Carson's last two weeks have been hazy, too. He also has an alibi.

Castle suggests that the two suspects may be psychically-linked to the real killer. Make that three suspects. CPA Dwight Caruthers also confesses to the crime. Beckett tells the guy to take a number. A big, bald man in a red van was seen outside both Anita's and Sam's apartments. As for Dwight, he has a Celtic triangle on his hand that looks like a symbol Anita drew before. He recognizes the red van as having been parked outside his place, too. The vehicle is registered to Miles Madsen. The guy is currently in the wind.

Madsen is an independent contractor for a company called Eternal Horizons that provides enlightenment to others. The cult-like place is run by a guy named Dr. Gustavo Bauer. The company's symbol is the one identified by several of the suspects. Castle and Beckett are surprised to learn that Bauer is expecting them when he arrives at his office. He talks to them via video link from Stockholm. He says Madsen hasn't worked for him in years. Castle realizes that the three suspects have had problems that Bauer's company claims to heal. He believes they may have had their memories erased.

The precinct psychologist says the three suspects all have traces of a drug that can alter memories. Castle believes the real murderer implanted the crime into each suspect's head. It's possible they were shown the murder via video. Some of the details of what they all say lead Castle to conclude that whatever they saw didn't happen in Room 147. It happened at another hotel where Bauer's business was holding an event. The company's founder was seen on surveillance with the victim.

As it turns out, Dr. Bauer isn't really in Stockholm. He's pulling a “man-behind-the-curtain” trick from right there in his office. Bauer admits he hired him as an actor to be in a movie where he gets shot. It was to help his clients shoot away their problems by shooting Justin. The program was halted when it became too dangerous. Bauer claims he knows nothing about the murder. He believes someone is targeting his company. That would be a woman in Justin's acting group. Her brother was killed in an Eternal Horizons initiation tragedy. She wanted revenge. She wanted someone to pay. Case closed.

Beckett worries that the reason Alexis doesn't want to move back home may be her. That's not it at all. Alexis is upset that all the things her dad said would happen when she moved in with Pi actually happened. She feels the need to punish herself for her mistakes. Beckett assures her that she most certainly does not. Alexis gets the message. That's why she asks her dad if she can come home. Castle literally welcomes her in with open arms before closing them tight to give his little girl a great big bear hug.