Castle (TV Series)

Much Ado About Murder (2016)

Jon Huertas: Javier Esposito

Quotes 

• Richard Castle : Is that Zane Cannon?

  Javier Esposito : Yep, star of the "Apocalypse Runner" movie franchise.

  Richard Castle : I love those movies.

  Javier Esposito : Yeah, me too. Even though, no disrespect to the dead, this guy couldn't act to save his life.

  Richard Castle : Quite literally, by the looks of things.

• Richard Castle : A quill pen? Odd choice for a murder weapon. Unless, of course, the murderer was the ghost of William Shakespeare killing Zane for butchering his words. It's all the talk on Broadway that Zane had no business performing the Bard's most famous role.

  Javier Esposito : Why cast him then?

  Richard Castle : Because movie stars sell tickets. Just ask my mother. She can't stop talking about the Hollywood-ization of Broadway.

• Javier Esposito : Ms. Fox? NYPD. We need to ask you a few questions.

  [Naomi doesn't reply] 

  Javier Esposito : Ms. Fox.

  Richard Castle : [to Esposito]  Um, may I?

  [to Naomi] 

  Richard Castle : Ophelia?

  Naomi Fox : Aye, My Lord?

  Richard Castle : These fair gentlemen are constables and wish to speak with you in matters regarding the murder most foul and unnatural of Zane Cannon.

  Naomi Fox : 'Tis too much to bear to think on it.

  Kevin Ryan : How now, fair Ophelia? We have queries, and thou shall answer, or we shall force perforce be moved to make a Star Chamber...

  Javier Esposito : Stop. We are so not doing this. Look, Naomi, we know that you were having a showmance with Zane. He dumped you, and then you busted up his car.

  Naomi Fox : My Lord, he speaks with a curious tongue. Car?

  Richard Castle : It's what he's gonna put you in the back of when he arrests you for murder.

  Javier Esposito : So stop the Daniel Day-Lewis routine and start talking or...

  [holds up handcuffs] 

  Naomi Fox : [dropping her act]  Okay, look, I wasn't in my right mind when I smashed up Zane's car, but I didn't kill him. You have to believe me. I was out late last night bar-hopping with some of the cast. You can check it out.

  Kevin Ryan : Bar-hopping? So you're not full method.

  Richard Castle : Unless she was drinking mead and eating with her fingers.

• Kate Beckett : Do we have a suspect?

  Javier Esposito : Not yet. Naomi's alibi checked out. But we do have a lead on this mystery woman that Zane was seeing. His financials came in. They say that he rented a limo yesterday morning.

  Richard Castle : Which makes sense, since Naomi trashed his DB9.

  Kate Beckett : And where was this limo going?

  Javier Esposito : I don't know yet. I'm still waiting for the driver to call me back. But hopefully he knows who this woman is.

  Kevin Ryan : [approaching]  I have already found her. It turns out that Zane was renting a suite at the Black Door Hotel under a fake name.

  Richard Castle : Ah! The Black Door. Yes, very fancy.

  Javier Esposito : Mmm-hmm

  Richard Castle : Known for being discreet...

  [sees their expressions] 

  Richard Castle : ... Is what I've heard from other people who were once single, now married.

• [searching for the victim's 'mystery woman' at his hotel suite] 

  Javier Esposito : NYPD. Police.

  [they quietly look around and see someone under a blanket on the bed] 

  Javier Esposito : Psst.

  [whispering] 

  Javier Esposito : There's a ginger in the bed.

  [Esposito turns the lights on and the startled person gasps and sits up] 

  Richard Castle : [shocked]  Mother?

  Martha Rodgers : Richard?

• Martha Rodgers : [sighs]  I, um--I got tired waiting for Zane last night, so I just, uh, crawled into bed. Never could I imagine what happened to him.

  Richard Castle : Mother, why are you--

  [sighs] 

  Richard Castle : Why-- Why--

  [Esposito pokes him] 

  Richard Castle : Why were you in Zane's bed?

  Martha Rodgers : Because he was late for our session.

  Kevin Ryan : What kind of session?

  Javier Esposito : Is that what they call it?

  Richard Castle : That's enough.

  Javier Esposito : Okay.

  Richard Castle : Mother, are you saying you were sleeping with Zane Cannon?

  Martha Rodgers : Oh, drop the gavel, Richard! I was his acting coach, certainly not his mistress. The poor boy was out of his depth trying to play Hamlet, so he was referred to me.

• Kevin Ryan : I just hope I wasn't too obvious back there. I'm just such a big fan of Erin Cherloff.

  Javier Esposito : Who, the director?

  Kevin Ryan : Yeah! She's amazing. I'm- Just speaking with her, I got this great idea for the play at Sarah Grace's preschool, where I'm a parent volunteer at.

  Javier Esposito : Wait, preschools have plays now? My preschool was going to work with my mom every day.

  Richard Castle : Oh, same here. I grew up in hallways just like this. Spending time in my mother's dressing room, experimenting with her costumes, her makeup.

  [Ryan and Espo both look at him weirdly] 

  Richard Castle : Oh, get over it. Anyway, maybe our method actress has gone a little *too* method. In the play, Hamlet drives Ophelia mad. If this is life imitating art and she's gone full Ophelia, we should be ready for anything.

• Javier Esposito : Yo! Just heard back from that limo driver that Zane hired the morning of his murder. You'll never believe where he went. Sing Sing Penitentiary.

  Kate Beckett : Why did he go there?

  Javier Esposito : To pick up a newly-released inmate, Johnny Toro, who also happens to be his estranged older stepbrother.

  Kate Beckett : How did we not know that Zane had a stepbrother?

  Javier Esposito : Different dads, different names. And according to Zane's publicist, he kept it quiet. He didn't wanna be associated with this guy.

• Javier Esposito : Sounds like whatever money-making scheme Zane was involved in was probably what got him killed. Only question is...

  [sees Ryan pantomime dancing] 

  Javier Esposito : What the hell are you doing, Kevin?

  Kevin Ryan : [finishing]  Yeah. Figured it out.

  Javier Esposito : What he was involved in?

  Kevin Ryan : No! no, no, no, no. The uh, new choreography for Sarah Grace's preschool play.

  Javier Esposito : Oh, good. Why don't you keep working on that while I solve our homicide?

• Javier Esposito : Jorge "El Oso" Zamacona. He's part folk hero, part demon, the rest pure monster.

  Kevin Ryan : The man kills anyone who crosses him. Cops, journalists, politicians.

  Kate Beckett : Zane must've been real desperate for money to wanna do business with this guy.

  Richard Castle : Maybe he wanted to be El Oso's new drug pipeline to Hollywood.

  Kevin Ryan : But chances are we'll never find out. I mean if the DEA, FBI, and the Mexican government can't find him, then what chances do we have?

  Kate Beckett : I'll reach out to my Fed contacts.

  Javier Esposito : Well, we'll drill down all of El Oso's stateside connections.

  Kate Beckett : Okay.

  [Ryan and Esposito leave] 

  Richard Castle : Well, I suppose that puts the brakes on our date night.

  Kate Beckett : Uh, yeah. Sorry, Castle.

  Richard Castle : Oh, no, I'm sorry for you. You're the one who put all the planning into our special evening.

  Kate Beckett : Yeah, I- I did. I... Yeah, I did.

  Richard Castle : You know what? I think I'll take my mother out to dinner. Maybe cheer her up after all this.

  Kate Beckett : You're such a good son.

  Richard Castle : And you're such a good everything.

• Javier Esposito : We got security footage from the garage, and it's not good.

  [playing the tape] 

  Martha Rodgers : [gasps]  Oh, my... Oh, my God.

  Kevin Ryan : The Escalade is registered to a shell corp that's a known front for El Oso.

  Martha Rodgers : But you can track the SUV, can't you?

  Kate Beckett : We can, but they probably swapped cars at least once by now, and with a two-hour head start, we're looking at a hundred-mile search radius. And we still have no idea what we're looking for.

  Martha Rodgers : There must be something you can do. This... this is Richard's life.

  Kate Beckett : YOLO.

  Javier Esposito : That's cold, Beckett.

  Kate Beckett : No, uh, Castle's new credit card. The kidnappers left his cell phone by the car. But he might still have his wallet with him. And the new YOLO card has an upgraded RFID chip in it.

  Kevin Ryan : And if they passed within range of a tollbooth or a gas station...

  Kate Beckett : Then it'll pick up the chip and we'll be able to track his movement.

• Richard Castle : All right, my Spanish is a little rusty, but my handy translator says...

  Javier Esposito : Hector Zamacona's been sleeping with his brother's wife.

  Richard Castle : They have been shacking up ever since El Oso went on the run.

  Kate Beckett : So, Zane might have been caught in a rivalry between the brothers, and *that's* what got him killed.

  Kevin Ryan : Hector wants more than just El Oso's wife. According to the DEA, all of his, uh, "legitimate businesses," they're suspected fronts for money laundering.

  Javier Esposito : So with big brother on the run, Hector can make a play to rule the family in his place.

  Richard Castle : But Hector can never truly own the throne until his brother is dead. A powerful family, a cartel for a kingdom, two brothers locked in a battle for control. Guys, this is just like the play. Hamlet's father is killed by his brother, who then takes the throne and marries the dead brother's wife. There's a reason they say Shakespeare endures. This is a real-life "Hamlet".

• Kate Beckett : Okay, so, thematic similarities aside, why would Hector need Zane to take down El Oso?

  Richard Castle : Because Hector didn't know where to find his brother.

  Kevin Ryan : And movie star Zane had a face-to-face with El Oso.

  Richard Castle : Making Zane the perfect Trojan horse to lead Hector to his brother.

  Javier Esposito : Why would Zane agree to do that? He wanted to star in the El Oso movie.

  Kate Beckett : Money. Hector's worth hundreds of millions. Zane needed the money now, not in three years when the movie could get off the ground.

  Javier Esposito : So Hector offers to solve Zane's money problems in exchange for Zane leading him to El Oso.

  Richard Castle : But El Oso refuses to meet with Zane.

  Kate Beckett : Then, rather than wait to see if Zane's "Hamlet" reviews are good enough to meet with El Oso, Hector decides to cut his losses.

  Richard Castle : Which, in this family, translates to murder.

• Javier Esposito : You still mad about being fired off Sarah Grace's preschool play?

  Kevin Ryan : [sighs]  Only at myself. I swore I'd never be that dad.

  Javier Esposito : What, the kind that makes an ass of himself by dancing around like a flower for his daughter?

  Kevin Ryan : No, the kind... The kind who gets caught up in what he wants, not what his kid does.