Backstabber doesnt benefit from the coincidence; not when the prospect of a Beckett-lessCastleis suddenly very real.
And thats a shame, because Hayley Shipton was long overdue her moment in the spotlight.
This episode does succeed in beefing up Hayleys relatively thin character a HackerTM, who has Done ThingsTM.
Credit: Mitch Haaseth/ABC
Hayley feigns interest in Castles renowned deductive abilities to gain access to the crime scene at Manchester Energy.
(Why would an international spy think she could learn something from a mystery writer?
Flattery will get you everywhere.)
Finding Marcus there, she goes into self-preservation mode.
When Hayley steps away to call Bryce, he has little to offer but a number shes been dreading.
Everythings gone to hell, Bryce tells her.
Alexis serendipitously stops by Hayleys place just as her new (only?)
friend is about to beat it out of town.
Alexis pleads with Hayley to stay and fight for her life instead of going on the lam.
She and Castle watch his interview, where the man claims complete ignorance of Marcus.
He was just a horny guy doing a mindless thing.
(Hayley waterboarded Ned.
I did no such thing.
It was more of a swirly.)
Hayley offers up Bryces name and gives Beckett their brief espionage history.
Theres a commotion as they approach, and Hayley finds her old mentor dead.
Lanie calls attention to the location of his stab wound; between the very same vertebrae as Marcus.
(What are we going to do without Lanie?
These corpses arent going to examine themselves.)
Bryces warning wasnt an overreaction, and Hayley is the logical next target of the killer.
Or maybe shes something else.
Shes gonna need a miracle to stay out of jail, Beckett tells Castle gravely.
He takes Hayley to his panic room to hide out while they figure out how to clear her name.
Eccentric rich guy tastes pay off yet again!
To the horror of his daughter, Castle finds the corset that Carla was wearing by Hayleys description alone.
(Nikki Heat research.)
Rysposito review the lingerie stores customer data and ID Beth Wynne, a career con artist.
This was just a job for her, Beth tells them.
It was for Marcus too; he was taking orders from a mystery man called Edgar.
Beth didnt get it either, but Edgar specifically requested their presence.
Before the motel, Richard Castle Investigations is paid a visit by an active MI6 agent, Steven Mallory.
Mallory reads Castle the riot act about abetting Hayley.
She isnt who she claims to be, Mallory insists.
Shes a skilled and inhumane operative who allowed her partner to die during a mission.
Listening from the panic room, Hayley winces at this, and Alexis notes it.
But Hayleys had enough sharing for the day, and she begs off of elaborating on this former partner.
He and Alexis will allow her one more secret.
The spyware that Hayley installed on that Manchester Energy computer was really a devastating computer worm.
She takes Marcus laptop off Beths hands to see if she can crack the code and identify its author.
For once, the two shoes drop at the same time.
One: Hayley discovers that the code is one of her own creation.
Mallory fills in the gaps and confesses some earlier truncating of the truth.
Haley and Wesley wrote this code together and unleashed it on the Iranian nuclear arms program on MI6s orders.
Hayley thought shed left her partner to die, and she left the agency because they abandoned him.
They need to know where their closest safe house is.
Hayley is already there, attempting to reason with Wesley.
The Iranians didnt finish the job, but they did torture and disfigure him.
And in case you hadnt guessed yet, it drove him insane.
Going quietly isnt an option.
Wesley wont entertain the idea of incarceration again, in any country.
She shoots him and collapses over his body.
The wrap up is tidy.
But, for this episode at least, I bought it.
