While dropping playful hints to Beckett about the plot of Castle's first book based on her, the two investigate the murder of a con man posing as an Arctic explorer for school children. The case takes several interesting turns, fascinating Castle and infuriating Beckett, when they suspect that the victim was actually a CIA operative and may have faked his own death. But when an old CIA contact of Castle's disputes that the victim was ever a spy, everyone wonders just who is being fooled.