Castle

Ladies and gentlemen, the moment is almost upon us.

As world-renowned trainer Francisco Pilar

takes one last look at the finalists,

only one question remains.

Who will be this year's Best In Show?

I'm here in the audience

with Reality TV star Kay Cappuccio

and her manager and boyfriend-- Reggie Starr.

Kay, when are you and Reggie getting married?

- Oh-- - Uh--

Will it happen on the show?

I just wanna say hi to all my fans out there

and remind them that next month,

my new scent hits stores--

Kay Cappuccio's Guilty Pleasure.

Make sure he's guilty of wanting you.

Francisco is ready to reveal his decision.

One.

Two.

Three.

And there you have it, folks.

This year's Sunfare Kennel Best In Show

is the one, the only...

Buttons?

You have a friend named Buttons, a human friend?

Her mom called her that when she was little, and it stuck.

And now so is she.

Buttons and I bonded over being rejected from Stanford,

in fact, we applied to a lot of the same schools,

so we were planning to visit a few campuses together this weekend,

- make a road trip out of it. - Ah.

Okay, whoa.

Where are you staying? Who's driving?

And who is chaperoning?

We were going to take your Ferrari

and hook up with some boys we met on craigslist.

- Not cool. - Honey,

don't be such a killjoy.

I'm sure Buttons' mother is going along.

- She is and she's very responsible. - Uh-huh.

Yeah, except when it comes to picking nicknames.

Look, if you want, I could have Mrs. Dutton

stop by to meet you when she picks me up.

Yeah, I think that'd be o--

Her last name is Dutton?

Your friend's name is Buttons Dutton?

That is unfortunate.

What's so wrong with that?

Oh, come on. It'd be like calling me Rastle

or Tassel...

or No-hassle Castle. Hey.

No, I was just making a point.

Please don't call me that.

The victim is Francisco Pilar, judge of the dog show.

We found him here in his dressing room.

He still had cash on him, plus his wallet, phone,

and a key card of some kind.

Is the cause of death what it looks like?

Yep. Someone put a leash around his neck and pulled.

Do you guys have an estimated time of death?

- I put together a window-- - Excuse me?

You're doing my job now?

I didn't know you went to medical school.

But go ahead, Dr. Esposito.

Okay. The last guy to see Francisco alive,

uh, left this room at 5:15

to go get him some dinner.

Then Mr. Greene found him like this 20 minutes later.

Okay. Thanks.

- Hi. - Hi. Adam Greene.

I'm the Sunfare Show organizer.

Mr. Greene, how well did you know our victim--Francisco?

Uh, Francisco's been our judge for almost two decades.

No one cared about dogs more than he did.

Did he have any family that we could talk to?

Royal was his family.

Oh, that's a handsome pooch.

Francisco loved him very much.

The truth is,

he got along with dogs a lot better than their owners.

So dog whisperer, check.

People whisperer, not so much.

Did he have any problems with any of the owners?

What are you suggesting?

Just that he was killed about a half an hour

after he gave out Best In Show.

I'll admit, show dog owners can be passionate people,

but not to this extent.

Somebody wrapped that leash around his neck.

We'll need a list of the names

of all of the contestants, along with anyone

that might have had access to this room.

Of course.

Isn't this Francisco Pilar's dog?

Yes, that's Royal.

We thought it best to keep him out of the room.

Why is he doing that?

He was doing the same thing by the body

when we found him.

Maybe some sort of grieving process.

I'll get you that list of names.

Thank you.

So the dog was at the crime scene

at the time of the murder.

What do you want us to do, bring him in for questioning?

I'm just saying, would man's best friend

stand idly by while his master was attacked?

And if he did intervene,

maybe he got DNA or trace evidence on him

that could lead to our killer.

May have a lead of my own.

One of the losing contestants just filed this appeal

of Francisco's decision-- a guy named David Hernand.

They said he was so angry

that the vein in his forehead was visibly throbbing.

Apparently, dog shows are this guy's whole life.

Was I upset about Francisco's death?

Sure.

I was more upset about his choice for Best In Show.

That ribbon belonged to my Max.

Mr. Hernand, can you account for your whereabouts

between 5:15 and 5:35?

Yeah, I was right here at my grooming station

filing my appeal-- oh, I didn't kill him. Okay?

Given everything he was into,

I'd say, he brought it on himself.

And what exactly was he into?

Well, rumor has it...

he was on the take.

Are you saying, he was taking bribes to fix dog shows?

Betting on dog shows-- it's a big business.

And he was seen with some pretty shady characters.

People with ties to Vegas.

That's a serious allegation.

Do you have any proof to back it up?

You want proof?

That's who Francisco selected Best In Show.

Just look at that mutt.

Now back to my Max.

Now the mutt.

That's all the proof I need.

Really? There's big money riding on dog shows?

It's actually kind of ingenious.

You know, everyone's got football, basketball,

horse racing under a microscope,

looking for the slightest hint of impropriety.

Who's looking at dog shows?

I'm gonna have Ryan look into it

along with Hernand's alibi.

Whatever you're talking about, it can wait.

Ma'am, please tell detective Beckett

what you told me?

I was backstage after the show

when I saw a woman leave Francisco's dressing room.

Can you describe her?

Even better.

I took a video with my phone.

She was wearing a hood and sunglasses,

but I recognized her instantly.

It was Kay Cappuccio.

The reality television star?

Check the time stamp.

Right in the middle of our time-of-death window.

Here's what I don't get--

why would Kay Cappuccio want to kill Francisco Pilar?

Here's what I don't get-- how does this woman

have her own perfume line,

an army of paparazzi outside of her apartment,

millions of Twitter followers,

dozens of magazine covers,

all with no discernable talent to account for it?

Even more perplexing, why in almost every photo

is she posed like this?

Oh, guys.

Sorry. No time for photos.

Okay, maybe just one.

Smile.

Hey, that's not Jason Bateman.

- What? - Oh, no. Come on!

That's getting old.

You two must be the, uh, soft drink people, right?

Actually, no. We are NYPD.

We're here to speak with Kay Cappuccio.

Oh, my bad.

Why don't you just grab a squat right over there?

Excuse me?

Phoebe will bring you a goji berry juice.

You know what? I think I have a better idea.

Everybody, take five.

Whoa. Hold on a second.

Kay Cappuccio doesn't have five to spare.

How about 15 to 20?

And that goji berry juice sounds delightful.

Sure, I knew Francisco.

I hired him to do two weeks of behavior training with my dog.

Our show's gonna start shooting again soon,

and Lolita has some minor aggression issues

I wanted taken care of.

This little charmer?

I find it hard to believe--