Laurie Horn

"You see those wives in the inevitable press conference, standing stone-faced next to their men and you think, "How do they do that? How do they just stand there? How do they watch as their whole world melts into a spotlight of shame?""

- Laurie Horn Laurie Horn is the main villainess from "Hell Hath No Fury," episode 1.04 of Castle.

She was played by Lisa Waltz.

Laurie Horn is the wife of Jeff Horn, a New York City Councilman who was running for re-election. As it turned out, the Horns' marriage wasn't a perfect one, as Jeff was having an affair with Tiffany, an escort. After being blackmailed by private detective Bruce Kirby, Jeff went to Laurie for the money to pay off Kirby, as Laurie had come from a wealthy family. Laurie was told that the money was for "tax reasons," but she had figured out the truth about Jeff's affair and the blackmailing scheme, so she went along and gave him the money to keep it quiet.

Despite this, however, Laurie became angry and humiliated over her husband's affair, and she feared suffering more humiliation should the affair go public. Meanwhile, Jeff's campaign manager, Frank Nesbit, had also known about the affair and saw it as the potential end of his own political career. Frank and Laurie were old friends, and after the latter confided in the former regarding Jeff, the pair decided to align together in a plan to kill him. Jeff was on his way to pay off Kirby, but while doing so, he received a call from Laurie, who informed him that Kirby changed the location of the meeting. The call was part of Laurie's villainous plan, as once Jeff got to the new location, he was shot and killed by Frank.

Laurie acted the part of a grieving and caring widow when she was encountered Richard Castle and Kate Beckett regarding Jeff's murder, but later on, a news conference revealed that Laurie was running for her husband's seat--with Frank as her manager. Though many, including Kirby and Jeff's former opponent, Jason Bollinger, were suspected, Castle began to realize that Laurie was involved, after his daughter, Alexis, responded to Castle's question about what she would do if she needed money to solve a problem--by stating that she would just go to Castle.

The episode's climax saw Laurie interrogated by Castle and Beckett, with the villainess revealing that she knew about the affair and that she gave Jeff the money to pay him, while also stating that her call to Jeff about the new location was the last time they ever spoke. However, Beckett stated that the call was part of the set up, and that the aforementioned money was at Laurie's house. She added that Laurie was enraged over the affair and that led to the scheme, and at that moment, the evil Laurie ranted about political wives standing in support of their husbands after such scandals, revealing herself as a scorned villainess. After falsely claiming that she was with her daughters, Laurie confessed to arranging her husband's murder, and named Frank as the shooter, while also stating that their plan (regarding her campaign) was to change the world. Laurie was later arrested (off-screen) for having her husband killed.