The clock is about to strike 12. A young ad exec named Val Butler fears for her life. Once midnight arrives, she believes she’s going to die. The lights in her apartment flicker. Val calls 911. She screams. It’s 12 o’clock. Just as she’d feared, Val is now dead. Castle notices the apartment shows no sign of a break-in, or a break-out. The victim’s face bears a look of sheer terror. It’s as if she got scared to death.

Val’s roommate, Amanda, says the victim had been acting paranoid for the past three days. Castle notices the apartment is filled with items used to ward off evil spirits. Should they be looking for someone who did the killing or something? Val’s bad news ex-boyfriend, Freddie Baker, says she accused him of sending her a package. It contained DVD. Castle watches the video. It’s filled with disturbing images as well as an unsettling message. A voice says, “Midnight on the third day, you die.” Castle believes Val was killed because she watched the DVD. Now he’s seen it, too. That can only mean he’s next.

Castle’s freaking about suffering a fate similar to those victims in the movie The Ring. Beckett isn’t a believer. She watches the DVD without fear, but does admit that it’s pretty creepy. The symbols that are seen represent rebirth and resurrection as if something that has come back from beyond the grave. A man named Jason Bennett in Jersey also received a copy of the DVD. Indications are that he also died three days after watching it. Beckett wonders what the connection is between the two victims.