Castle and Beckett try desperately to free themselves before Maddox returns. They’d both feel totally ripped off if they were murdered now. At least they had last night, right? In other news, a suspended Esposito has been working the case from afar. His fancy detective work leads him to the office building where he frees Castle and Beckett. Of course, Espo’s wondering what Castle is talking about when he says to Beckett that they should’ve done this four years ago.

The team finds Maddox just as he opens a booby-trapped floor safe containing the NYPD file. BOOM! An explosion blows the file into a million pieces. Maddox, too. Later, Ryan shows up at Beckett’s place with the all scraps of file he could gather from the crime scene. He and Esposito put aside their differences long enough to piece together the file. They find bank documentation for an illegal payoff. The account belongs to a powerful U.S. Senator named William Bracken. This is the man responsible for Beckett’s mom’s murder.

Michael Smith pulls through surgery. He tells Castle and Beckett that Bracken is powerful and untouchable. This becomes evident when Smith ends up dead in his hospital bed. They’ll be coming after Beckett next. Castle wants to take her away, but Beckett knows she’ll never be safe. That’s why she sneaks away while Castle is sleeping to crash a political fundraiser. She’s going to confront Senator Bracken. Castle fears she’ll do more than that. He thinks she’s going to kill him.