Castle and Beckett are called to look into the murder of Jay Hixton, a winner of 117 million dollars in the lottery who was found dead in his apartment and the safe containing his winnings empty. As they look into the victim's past spendings and charity, discovering he was trying to make up for the mistakes he made. Martha meanwhile has inherited a million dollars from her former partner Chet and wants to find some way to honor his memory.
- The Aggressive Drug Dealer: Oz is described as preying on the children of celebrities, got Hixton's daughter addicted, and then went after her again once she got out of rehab.
- Asshole Victim: Not the murder victim, who mostly comes across as trying to be a better man, but the above mentioned Oz. No-one's in much of a hurry to book the two guys who beat him up.
- The Butler Did It: Teased but subverted.
- Character Development: Castle just can't stay out of Beckett's personal life. But this time, he asked permission before opening the fund in her mother's name.
- Comically Small Bribe: Shawn York saw the victim giving him his car as this, given the lottery stakes.
- Due to the Dead: One of the first things Hixton did after winning the lottery was construct a mausoleum for a dead neighbor. Considering that the guy was the rightful owner of the lottery ticket, this was likely motivated partially by guilt.
- Ethnic Menial Labor: Despite his name, Todd Shipley, the janitor at Hixton's apartment, is Hispanic.
- Fake Charity: Beckett displays strong skepticism about the "relief fund" of convicted scam artist Logan Meech (which Hixton donated money to) and while this is never confirmed, she's probably right.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: As they describe how they beat up Oz, the Page Brothers mention how he'd threatened to burn them alive, laughing it off. Mere seconds later, there's an explosion outside; the Page Brothers car, which they might have been in if the police hadn't detained them for questioning.
- Good Stepmother: While it never got as far as marriage, Hixton's neighbor was this to Shawn York, the son of his ex-girlfriend, and even made his birthday part of his lottery ticket.
- The Help Helping Themselves: One of the suspects in Hixton's death is his butler, who stole a rare Charles Dickens book from his employer; Hixton didn't read, just liked the look of the books, and the butler considered taking it a "stupidity tax." He returned the book, however, after becoming concerned that Hixton's bad luck would be contagious.
- In Vino Veritas: One night Hixton the victim got drunk and confided in his butler what his real lottery numbers were, alerting the guy to his deception.
- It's All My Fault: Hixton's daughter worries this after her drug dealer becomes a suspect in her dad's murder.
- Justified Criminal: Hixton hiring thugs to beat up his daughter's aggressive drug dealer is portrayed this way.
- Laser-Guided Karma: The victim attempted to avert this by using the money for the greater good.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Beckett does a good job playing the Brainless Beauty type during a sting operation to catch Oz selling drugs.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Oz admits to having gone to Hixton's apartment to harm him but claims to have left due to the presence of a witness who saw him coming up.
- Stranger Behind the Mask: Teased, but subverted. At the end of the episode, the detectives seemingly have a great motive, as well as opportunity for a character who hasn't been seen or mentioned at all earlier in the episode, the son of Hixton's neighbor, and the rightful heir to the lottery ticket only for him to reveal that someone they've already met, Shawn York is also implicated by those same factors.
- Tempting Fate: Interestingly averted in one key aspect (for perhaps the only time in the series). The person Beckett declares she thinks is the murderer right before the first commercial break is in fact the killer.
- Those Two Guys: Possible suspects are a pair of brothers who has an agenda against the victim for getting them arrested.
- Unexpected Inheritance: A subplot has Martha inheriting a million dollars form her dead boyfriend Chet. She ultimately uses it to start an acting school.
- Wealthy Philanthropist: Hixton was turning into one, giving away large amounts of money at soup kitchen (so much that the manager had to ask him to cut back a little to avoid drawing in people just after free money), and when Shawn York is pulled over for driving his car, he reveals that Hixton gave it to him and even has a receipt.
