An Embarrassment of Bitches - Recap

The scene opens with a dog show is in progress, and famous dog-trainer and judge, Francesco, presides the show. While the owners await his decision with their dogs, a celebrity named Kay Capuccio catches the media’s attention. She is with her manager and boyfriend, and she endorses her perfume lineup. Finally, Francesco announces the positions. Meanwhile, Castle’s daughter is getting ready for her trip. She announces that she plans to take his Ferrari, and they are hooking up with a bunch of guys they found on Craigslist. Castle doesn’t find that cool, and what’s her friend’s name – Buttons? And her mother, who is going with them is a responsible woman?

Castle and Beckett arrive at the crime scene. Dog trainer Francesco has been strangled to death using a leash. It turns out they have a window for estimating the time of death. The attendant had gone to get some snacks for Francesco around 5:15, but when he came back to the dressing room about 20 minutes later, he found him dead. When the detectives check up with the show organizer, he explains some dog owners may have been upset with Francesco’s decision, but they wouldn’t go this far. However, they have someone who was so angry with Francesco’s decision that his vein on his head was visibly throbbing. It turns out he is still upset his dog didn’t win, but he was at his grooming station with his god, and no, he didn’t kill the man. However, he blames Francesco for bribery – something that big betters in Dog Shows practice. And Francesco was connected to some of the bad people in Vegas.

Esposito comes with a middle-aged woman and asks her to tell Castle and Beckett what she told them. She might know who killed Francesco – she saw a woman leave the dressing room around the time Francesco was killed. She also has a video of her. It turns out Kay Capuccio leaves the dressing room in a hooded fur jacket and a pair of sunglasses, and the timestamp is a match. When Beckett and Castle arrive at Kay’s apartment, she is busy with a shoot for her magazine, and hardly has any time to answer questions. However, Beckett makes sure she does. It turns out she hired Francesco for training her dog, who can get aggressive at times. However, he returned the dog around 10 am. He seemed visibly upset and complained about who Kay might be working with. When Kay went to confront him about his refusal that evening, he was already dead. Surprised, Beckett wants to know why she didn’t call 911.

She did, but after she got into the Limo – after all she can’t afford to be caught in the media with a dead body. When they get back to HQ, they can understand why someone wouldn’t want to do business with Kay, but why did Francesco mean by ‘who’s she working with?’ Ryan points out there might a connection to the bribes he might have got. It turns out from Francesco’s accounts, that he bagged a number of $10,000 deposits in the recent months. However, they have to get to Francesco’s place looking for dog food because his dog, who is apparently the murder witness, is not eating anything Dr. Parish has for him. As Ryan leaves for Francesco’s place, Beckett and Castle interview Francesco’s doctor. However she is not talking about him, she is actually his dog’s doctor. She plans to get a closer look at Royal (Francesco’s dog) and find out if he wants to communicate something. Meanwhile, Ryan finds electronic bug sweepers at Francesco’s place. It is a clue that he was being spied on.

Before long, Esposito points out that from the bug sweepers, they can find out exactly where Francesco went earlier on the day he was killed. While Francesco’s dog’s vet tries communicating with it, Castle sits by wondering what’s happening. When Beckett arrives at the place Francesco is believed to have visited, she is with Esposito, who after gaining access to the place with a swiping card that belonged Francesco, pretends he is not scared of the growling shepherds. However, they pounce soon and Beckett and he run for their lives. Sometime later, the warehouse person comes in yelling “What are you doing in my warehouse?” When Beckett and Esposito ID themselves and ask his name, he replies he is Jack Patterson, and works for Francesco. He reveals Francesco was trying to gain success on a new breed of dogs. He had no hobbies, and he was dedicated to his work, which was all he had. And the bucks they found deposited in his account are advance bookings from clients who desperately wanted the new breed. When he came in the previous day, he was trying to sweep the place of bug infiltrators. He suspected that one of the dog breeding rival companies was using one of his clients to infiltrate the place. It turns out the client they were using is Kay Capuccio. When she is brought in for interrogation, it appears she is oblivious to what Beckett and Castle are implying. However, Ryan has something more interesting. As Kay walked past Ryan’s desk with her dog, she set off his bug sweeper. It obviously means she is carrying the spy bug with her. However, it turns out it is hidden in her dog’s collar, and that is news to her. She cannot believe someone has been seeing her naked, in the bath, and without make up all this while, because her dog is always with her. The detectives figure out they need to find the person who has planted the spy camera. So they decide to go through pictures of her on tabloids and magazines.

Later, Beckett and Castle cannot resist taking Francesco’s dog to their places. They end up agreeing to a shared custody. Next day, when Esposito sits with Kay flipping through her tabloid pictures, she is able to identify one of them to be taken on the day when her dog slipped through her hands, and landed in some stranger’s hands. After some time, Esposito figures out who planted the spy bugs. It is a young man named Marcus, and he has been in trouble for helping the paparazzi and the like. The detectives catch him taking a glimpse of Kay working out at her place, and bring him to the interrogation cell. He confesses what he knows, but he did not put the bug cam in the dog collar and he did not kill Francesco. He spied on him, and could figure out he was talking about bringing stuff from Argentina, and getting them past customs. Before long, the detectives get the warehouse man Jack Patterson to interrogation. He comes clean about what they might find in the warehouse. All the narcotic drugs, and the new breed of dogs was a lie. Besides, his real name is Kenney Weiser.

He is a US customs agent. He lets on that Francesco’s methods were amazing. And he was training sniffer dogs. The drugs came in from Argentina and the family supplying it was the Vasquez. Beckett points out they are one of the largest suppliers, and Weiser tells them Francesco’s death would be of great advantage to them, because they couldn’t make anything off him. Later, when the detectives are trying to unravel the mystery, Francesco’s dog is pawing the floor, which as they have just learnt from Weiser, is what they do when they smell drugs. However, no one’s carrying drugs around. Soon Beckett points out she is wearing Kay’s gift perfume, which uses poppy seeds – an ingredient in heroin. Before long, Ryan comes in announcing Kay was reported to have been modeling in Argentina recently.

Castle and Beckett watch the video with Kay. Ryan and Esposito watch and realize that she incriminates herself. Esposito gets a call from Customs with information on the Vasquez Family. Inside the interview room, Castle tells Kay that she has been selling to a known heroin drug cartel. She tells them that she had no idea. Esposito comes in and tells Beckett to come with her. Kay says that this is a nightmare and Kay says that it was Reggie’s idea of going with Francisco. Esposito tells Beckett that Reggie is the connection and when they look his way, Reggie runs. Castle stops him with Royal and tells him to get him. Esposito catches him and arrests him. Beckett goes up to Castle and tells him that Reggie confessed to everything. Beckett and Castle try to see which home Royal should go to. They have Royal choose, but he chooses Kay and her Chihuahua. Kay tells Esposito that it was nice meeting him and he says that if she needs anything, to call him. Later that night, Alexis comes in and Castle asks how her trip was. He says that he wants to get Alexis a dog. However, she is leaving for college soon. Castle says that he can come home and visit it. She tells him that he doesn’t have to worry about it because she will visit all the time. He laughs and the episode ends.

Written By David Sibert

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