The owner of a magic shop, Zalman Drake, is found murdered in a water tank in his shop. A suicide note is found, but under a black light it is discovered to be an invoice for explosives. Drake worked creating illusions for other magicians, including Tobias Strange. While searching his workshop, Castle and Beckett meet Edmund Drake, Zalman’s twin brother.

Zalman was struggling financially. He took a job from Christian Dahl, a billionaire running a Ponzi scheme, to make it appear as he was killed in a plane crash. Drake enlists a partner to build a mechanical arm for the plane. Zalman works with Dahl to make it look as he has passed, but he is found at his own funeral by the detectives.

Beckett gets help from Tobias Strange and Edmund Drake to freak Dahl out and admit to murdering Zalman to secure that no one would know he was alive.

Lanie and Esposito are dating and believe that no one knows about them. Turns out that everyone already knows and are enjoying pretending not to know a thing.

Castle breaks up with Gina because he is not in love with her. Beckett overhears his phone call breaking up with her and invites him to get food after work.