Criminal Minds (2005–…): Season 4, Episode 24 - Amplification - full transcript
The BAU co-work with the U.S. Army to find the perpetrator behind an anthrax attack on a park in Annapolis, Maryland.
What's this?
Ooh, is mommy gonna get Danny?
Is mommy gonna get Danny?
Let's see if mommy can get Danny!
Oh, mommy's got Danny!
Mommy got Danny!
Mommy loves you. Ohh...
- That was fun.
- Get him! Get him!
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
He got it!
Nice hands! Ha, ha, ha!
Schooled you! Schooled you!
Hey, Abby, wait up.
Hey, let's stop here.
I like this view.
Hey, watch it.
Seriously?
Mommy got Danny!
You OK, Danny?
I'm sorry, baby. We must
have caught something today.
You're burning up.
Abby?
Abby!
Case must be local.
JJ said not to bring a go bag.
What's the Army doing here?
What the hell is going on?
Guys, this is Dr. Linda Kimura,
Chief of special pathogens,
with the CDC.
Hello.
Hello. I'm sorry to meet
under these circumstances.
-What circumstances?
-We need to get started.
Last night, 25 people checked
into emergency rooms,
in and around, Annapolis.
They were all at the same
park after 2 PM yesterday.
Within 10 hours,
the first victim died.
It's now just past 7 AM the next day.
We have 12 dead.
Lung failure and black lesions.
Anthrax?
Anthrax doesn't kill this fast.
This strain does.
What are we doing about
potential mass targets...
airports, malls, trains?
There's a media blackout.
We're not telling the public?
We'd have a mass exodus.
The psychology of group panic
would cause more deaths
than this last attack.
Yeah, and if it does get out,
whoever did this
might go underground or
destroy their samples.
Or if they wanted attention and didn't
get it, they might attack again.
Doesn't the public have
the right to know that?
If there is another attack,
there's no way we'll be
able to keep it quiet.
Our best chance of
protecting the public
is by building a profile
as quickly as we can.
What do we know about this strain?
The spores are weaponized,
reduced to a respiral ideal
that attacks deep in the lungs...
odorless and invisible.
A sophisticated strain. Only a
scientist would know how to do that.
These lesions are doubling
in size in a matter of hours.
It's not the lesions
I'm worried about.
It's the lungs.
We don't know how to combat the
toxins once they're inside.
And the reality is,
we may lose them all.
The remaining survivors
have been moved
to a special wing at
Walter Reed Hospital.
Our offices will become
a small command center.
We'll be working with military
scientists from Fort Detrick.
General Whitworth is coming here?
He's in charge of site
containment and spore analysis.
Determining what strain this is
will help inform who's responsible.
My team is in charge of
treating all victims.
Reid, go with Dr.
Kimura to the hospital.
Interview the victims. Morgan and Prentiss,
there's a HAZMAT team
that will accompany you
to the crime scene.
There's Cipro. Everybody needs
to take it before we go.
We don't know if it's
effective against this strain,
but it's something.
This is really happening?
We knew this could happen.
We've done our homework.
We've prepared for this.
This is it.
Jin Dan.
May you live 100 years.
Mommy got you!
"It will become fine dust
over all the land of Egypt
and will become boils breaking
out with sores on man and beast
through all the land of Egypt."
Exodus 9:9.
Do you have those files
I've been looking for?
Did you see this memo
from the Director?
Office phones and emails
are being monitored.
Yeah, they're trying to protect
the media blackout. Files?
Uh, yeah, right here.
Thanks. I want to see what
kind of medical treatment
the victims received before
I head to the hospital.
Why do you think
the suspect in 2001
stopped sending the letters?
I have no idea, but if he hadn't,
it would have been much worse.
The worst part was not knowing
when it was gonna be over.
Feeling safe opening mail again.
5 people died. Many more
exposed and sickened,
including a baby who was
admitted to the hospital
after lesions appeared on his skin.
How did he contract it?
I have no idea. Must have
come into close contact
with a tainted letter or crossed
paths with the unsub himself.
How old was the baby?
7 months.
Did he survive?
I gotta run. Kimura's waiting.
- I'll call you from the hospital.
- Spence.
Did the baby survive?
Yeah, but, I mean,
that was a curable strain.
This thing's entirely different.
Agent Jareau.
Uh, call me when he gets
through security. Thanks.
The General's here.
Is there bad blood with him?
He was very critical of the way
the '01 Amerithrax
investigation was handled.
Because of what happened
with Dr. Hatfill?
Among other things.
And this is the list of
victims you asked for.
No high-profile jobs.
No. Just ordinary people
frolicking in the park.
Any word from the CIA?
They said there are a few
overseas terrorist groups
with funding and capability.
They're working international.
We've got domestic.
We need to look at anyone
who could profit from this.
People who have patents
on anthrax vaccines.
- Garcia.
- Yes, sir.
And add to your list
anyone with access to
weaponized spores...
universities, scholars working
in bioweapons research.
Employees of labs who
keep germ collections.
Be back in a few.
Right in here, sir.
Thank you, Agent Jareau.
General.
Agent Hotchner.
This is SSA David Rossi.
My scientists are
decoding the strain.
The additives used to strengthen
the bacterial capsules
do not exist at our research labs.
Are there any other labs
using these substances?
No.
I'd like a list of
all the scientists
in your anthrax program.
I just said we don't
use those additives.
Sir, we can rule out your lab samples,
but not your people.
We're looking at someone
who has the ability
to manipulate and
weaponize anthrax.
Your scientists make that cut.
Now, we all know what happened
the last time your team
looked into my people.
Sir, our team officially
ruled out Dr. Hatfill.
I'm sorry if Justice
didn't listen to us,
but the profile was accurate.
Well, I'm outranked by someone
who believes in your profiles.
I'll get you your list. Lieutenant.
Hi, Abby.
You feeling any better?
OK.
This is Agent Reid, from the FBI.
If you can, will you talk with him?
Abby, I'd like to try to do
a memory recall exercise with you
to take you back to the park,
if that's OK.
I need you to close your eyes.
Yesterday afternoon,
you rode your bicycle to the park.
How did the sun feel on your skin,
the breeze through your hair?
Can you describe for
me what you heard
and the people that you saw?
It was warm, windy.
There were guys... football.
Kids...
I see free...
me seen fee me.
free knee.
s... sin knee.
All right, Abby.
That's OK. You just rest now, OK?
me mock fee key me free.
Shh, shh, shh. You just rest.
OK? Thank you.
What's causing her aphasia?
The poison is infecting
the parietal lobe,
impairing her speech.
Some of the other patients
displayed the same symptoms
shortly before they died.
None of the drug
combinations are working?
The only thing that's helping them,
right now, is the morphine.
What are you telling people
about why the park is closed?
Methane buildup in
the sewage system.
And they believe it?
Oh, well, yeah, of course,
why wouldn't they?
Hot zone and all surrounding
areas have been neutralized.
You're safe here.
Huh. Are you sure?
Yes, ma'am.
Thank you.
OK, check it out.
High levels tested over there.
That's probably where the
unsub released the attack.
And there was a prevailing wind
out of the northeast yesterday.
Airborne spores scattered that way,
hitting everyone below it.
This park doesn't scream
"target" to me.
Terrorists usually
target symbols...
White house, Pentagon,
World Trade Center.
I mean, it's a nice park,
but it's not a symbol.
OK, so, maybe it's
symbolic for the unsub.
Well, we know Kaczynski sent bombs
to Berkeley, where he taught,
Michigan, where he went to school,
and Chicago, where he lived.
And the Amerithrax suspect sent
letters to 2 pro-choice Senators,
whose politics he opposed.
They can't help attaching
a personal motive
to the places they've targeted.
OK. So, what does this
place mean to our unsub?
38-year-old high
school history teacher.
Leaves 2 kids behind.
17 out of 25 dead.
This strain is duplicating
every 30 to 45 minutes.
It's poisoning the lungs,
causing massive hemorrhaging
and organ failure.
Extreme bacterial amplification.
Whoever created this had to,
at some point,
go to the trouble of testing it.
- What do you mean?
- Think about the way
scientists work their
way up to human testing.
They start with rodents,
then advance to larger mammals,
and then, at some point,
they do a very small trial run with people.
There's no way this was
his first human test run.
We would have heard about
a previous anthrax attack.
Not if it presented
itself as something else.
The General's briefing a
Congressional committee,
and the Director's meeting
with the President
in an hour and wants our input.
I don't know how to do this.
I can't stop thinking about Henry.
He goes for a walk
almost every single day
at Potomac Park.
What type of mother am I,
if I don't at least call
and tell him to stay at home?
JJ, we can't.
I know, but...
how do I not?
I understand that you
want to protect your son.
But if we all called home
and used this information
to give us an advantage that
other people don't have...
is that the right thing to do?
We need to call Reid.
He said this may not
be the first attack.
Hello?
Uh, Reid, you have me,
Rossi, and Hotch.
Kimura made some calls.
It turns out
that 2 days ago, 2 people
in 2 separate Baltimore ERs
and one person in a Philadelphia ER
slipped into comas
and died suddenly.
Now, the COD on all of
them was meningitis.
Doctors didn't test for anthrax
because the illnesses presented
themselves as meningitis,
but I think it can
be caused by anthrax.
Did they show symptoms that
we're seeing now... the lesions?
They wouldn't have if the bodily
functions expired as quickly as they did.
How quickly?
All dead within 3 hours
of being admitted.
But the first patient died
yesterday at 10 hours.
Here's the thing... if they inhaled a
higher concentration of the strain,
it would cause a quicker death.
Organ failure without
exterior physical symptoms.
What are their names?
Gale Mercer, 31,
Martha Finestein, 48,
Albert Franks, 52. What next?
See if they visited the
same place on May 8th.
Gale Mercer made a
credit card purchase
at the book front,
owned by Albert Franks.
We need to find General Whitworth.
He needs to sent a team out there.
Mm-hmm.
Alright, JJ, I got it. Thanks.
Look at all these people
just going about their lives.
If they only knew what
we were doing here.
Better that they don't.
JJ says the store's been
closed since the owner died.
Gale Mercer's credit card purchase
happened right before closing.
Well, that explains why
only 3 people were hit.
We tested hot.
I'll alert command.
This was his test run.
He's gotta have a
history with the place.
We need to get a list of
current and past employees,
customers with grievances
against the owner,
see if any one of them
had a science background.
Can you believe there is only a
quarter-inch-thick pane of glass
between all of us and a WMD?
Attack anthrax wasn't made to
kill 3 people inside a bookstore.
It wants to be right
out here in the open,
where it can feed and multiply.
Just a small amount could
wipe out everyone here.
And they'd never see it coming.
It feels like the plagues of Egypt.
10 scourges created by God.
Plague 6 was unhealable boils
believed by biblical scholars
to be caused by anthrax.
Never missed Sunday school,
did you?
Actually, never been before.
How is she doing?
She's a fighter.
She's held on this long because
she's young and strong.
But she's started to
bleed into her lungs.
One of 4 left.
We're running into another problem.
When the next of
kin have questions,
what do we tell them
about cause of death?
Yes, sir.
We'll do what we can
in the time we've got.
Thank you.
There are problems
containing the story.
What happened? I don't know,
but the President may have to
make an announcement tonight.
What did you hear
from the bookstore?
Ran names of former employees,
customers with grievances.
No one with the science
background we're looking for.
Garcia's still digging.
Do we have everyone we
need for the profile?
Oh, yeah. Entire Defense
community is here.
Never seen so many alpha
males in one room.
Let's get started.
Because the locations hit
are not symbolically significant,
we believe that these
attacks are personal.
Understanding the significance
of these locations will be the key
to identifying him.
This personal element
strongly indicates
a home-grown terrorist.
Like the Amerithrax case,
we believe
this is someone from the
science or defense community.
That's why you're here.
We think you may know him.
He may be one of us.
These home-grown terrorists
are myopic zealots,
ideologues that believe
that their work
is of the greatest importance.
He may have preached
about the threat
of an attack on America.
His coworkers would
describe him as histrionic,
paranoid, secretive.
With all due respect,
that's a little vague.
What are we supposed to do
with something that generic?
Sir, we're not finished yet.
He may have logged
excess hours at work,
in the past weeks,
preparing for the attack.
We believe he's taken the full
dosage of anthrax vaccines
over the recommended
18-month schedule
and had yearly boosters.
This guy has his own work space
where he makes his
product in privacy.
He also has access to large,
expensive,
industrial-grade equipment at work.
He's written about the
threats of anthrax attacks,
published papers.
Yet he feels no one is listening.
And that angers him.
Now, he may have
recently experienced
some sort of
professional humiliation,
like being demoted or fired.
Now, that would have
been his trigger,
the moment he decided to go rogue.
And he may have betrayed his
loved ones to his cause.
He may be recently
separated or divorced.
This is somebody who
knows every detail
of the 2001 anthrax attack
and has talked about
what that suspect did,
right or wrong.
He's watching the news very closely
to see how the country reacts.
Please share this with your
departments. Thank you.
There's something I
think you should see.
January '02. Classified
hearing with the subcommittee
on Defense and Homeland Security.
Dr. Lawrence Nichols.
He used to work at the institute.
He left in '02.
He didn't leave. He was forced out.
5 people died.
If you ask me,
we're lucky it was just 5.
We're lucky that whoever
sent these letters
used cheap, porous envelopes
and not a... crop duster.
America's enemies
are capable of wiping
out entire cities.
And we are woefully unprepared.
I'm looking at your proposal.
- Every household needs gas masks
- Yes, sir.
and a 2-month supply of Cipro,
for each resident.
Every major city needs hospitals
with bio-safety
decontamination capabilities.
Regarding the budget you
propose for this operation...
Anything short of 50 billion
would be grossly negligent.
Dr. Nichols, you've got to
realize how unrealistic that is.
Unrealistic?
We can't justify spending
that kind of money
on an attack that may not happen.
You people are in denial!
Doing this would incite fear
and panic among the public.
This country should be panicked!
We should live in utter
fear of being attacked!
Dr. Nichols, please sit down.
I will not sit down.
We live in a time of war
and WMD proliferation.
If you continue to be blind
to our lack of preparedness,
then Americans will die,
and I will have no problem
in pointing the blame at you!
Committee said he was
becoming unstable, fanatical.
Which is why they removed
him from Fort Detrick.
And railroaded from other
prominent positions.
Dr. Nichols is well-respected
in our community.
He believes in preparedness,
not proliferation.
Well, he obviously felt like people
weren't listening.
Maybe he was just
trying to prove a point.
He had access,
lost a prominent job, got divorced.
Fits your profile.
We need to bring him in.
He works for a company
called Bio-Design Technology.
We subcontract them.
They don't work with anthrax.
They deal primarily with the flu.
Dave, you and Prentiss
go to his office.
Morgan, pull Reid from the
hospital and go to his home.
We need to speak with Dr.
Lawrence Nichols, urgently.
Well, he's not in today.
We need to see his lab.
Follow me.
Clear so far.
All right, keep me posted.
This guy just had people over
for a charity event last month.
We should probably take
a look around anyway.
Ow.
What's he doing in there?
When was the last time
you saw Dr. Nichols?
3 days ago.
That's before the bookstore.
Yeah, Prentiss, what's up?
Uh-huh. Yeah, we're here now.
Sorry. What?
The lab is clean?
You're sure?
All right.
They got nothin'...
Reid.
Reid!
Reid?
Reid?
Reid!
Morgan, get... get back! Get back!
- What are you doing?
- Get out of here!
- No, don't!
- What's wrong?
- What's wrong?
- Believe me, get back.
Reid, open the door!
I'm sorry.
Morgan, how's Reid?
There's white powder in the room,
and the air was blasting.
Get a decon team suited up.
Secure a gray zone
outside that door.
Clean him up and get him
in the ambulance fast.
I should have been
right there with him.
Morgan, there's no time for
second-guessing. What do we know?
Nichols is dead.
Blunt force trauma to his head.
Reid thinks he's been
dead 2 or 3 days.
Well, then he couldn't have
been responsible for the attack.
Reid took Cipro today,
so he's gotta be OK, right?
I don't know. It was precautionary.
It's not helping
patients at the hospital.
Yeah, but they didn't take it
until after they were exposed.
Reid took it before.
Yeah, but we've never
tested this strain
on a Cipro-ready subject.
We just don't know.
Reid.
Hotch, I really
messed up this time.
Reid, we need to get you
out and to the hospital.
No. I'm staying right here.
No, you're not, Reid.
I'm already exposed.
It's not gonna do me any good
to stop working the case.
He's already infected.
Now, if Nichols created the strain,
he may have also created the cure.
My best chance is to stay here,
see if there's a cure,
try to figure out who
killed Dr. Nichols.
Come on, Hotch,
say something to him.
He's right.
His best chance is inside.
We're gonna get a suit and
mask in to you right away.
Don't bother. It's not gonna do me any good.
I'm already infected.
This thing killed the first
3 victims within hours, JJ.
Garcia, stop.
Please. I... I can't
think about it that way.
He took Cipro.
He's got help. He's gonna be fine.
I'm not good at this part.
Every time you guys go away, I...
I know you're in all kinds
of ginormous danger,
and all I can do is
sit here in my bubble,
and I hope and I pray, and I will
my babies to come back to me...
I try to stay positive, but...
I don't know how to do this.
If you could do anything
to keep your family safe,
even if it meant breaking
procedure, would you?
Yes.
What procedure?
Never mind.
Reid, what do you see in there?
I see cages filled
with dead animals.
I see signs of a struggle,
probably before Dr.
Nichols was murdered.
Equipment's missing.
There's a large desk.
Clutter all over the surface.
But in the corner,
there's a smaller desk.
It's organized, functional.
2 different work spaces?
2 sets of handwriting.
I'm looking at instructions on
how to boil lab-grade broth,
sterilize lab equipment,
and transfer spores.
Nichols would know all that.
He has a partner,
maybe even a protege.
Go back to the BAU, try to
figure out who this partner is.
Hotch, why don't you go?
I'll stay with Reid.
Funnel all the information
you get to me.
Hotch says Nichols may have had
a protege who turned on him.
I think we should
tell the supervisor
that this is about anthrax.
That's not our call to make.
Screw protocol. Reid's in trouble.
If we tell this guy the truth,
he might be able to help us.
Look, I want to help Reid, too.
But our job is to do the best
we can within our boundaries.
Who was Dr. Nichols close to here?
Oh, no one, really.
He worked on his projects alone.
Is he OK?
Does he mentor anyone?
Not that I know of.
Did he ever work on anything
other than the flu here?
No. Why?
Did he ever have samples of
anything he shouldn't have had?
Look, I really need to
know what this is about
before I answer any more questions.
We'll get back to you.
Hi, we're not home right now.
Please leave a message.
Uh, hey. It's... it's me.
Just calling to...
see where you are.
Um... give me a call. OK?
Love you.
Hey, Reid.
Gee, wow, no, uh...
No witty Garcia greeting for me?
I can't be my sparkly self
when you are where you are.
Garcia, do you think you
can do something for me?
Anything.
I, uh...
I know I can't call my mom
without, uh...
without alerting
everyone at her hospital.
What do you need?
I, uh...
I need you to record
a message for her
in case anything happens to me.
Oh, nothing's going
to happen to you.
You're gonna... brilliantly
find out who did this,
and we're gonna treat this strain.
I hope you're right,
but if you're not, I just...
I really want to make sure
that she hears my voice.
OK. Just, uh, give me a second.
Are you ready?
Ready.
Hi, mom. This is Spencer.
I just, um...
I just... really want you to know
that I love you
and...
I need you to know that I
spend every day of my life
proud to be your son.
Reid?
Prep the victim for transfer.
I gotta go.
Dr. Reid.
You look nice.
I haven't been in this
outfit for a while.
How are... how are
the patients doing?
Let's worry about you.
I actually... I feel fine.
OK, if you feel any pain,
I could give you something.
No, I... I'd rather not
take any pain medication.
We can at least make you
feel more comfortable.
I am comfortable, and I don't
want to take any narcotics.
OK.
Tell me how I can help.
I think the cure for this strain
is in here somewhere.
Well, shall I start here?
Dr. Nichols is a former
military scientist,
which means he's
most likely secretive
and most likely a little paranoid.
He would have protected the cure
and probably would have
hidden it from his partners.
So look for something innocuous,
something you would not suspect.
All right.
Hello.
How's it going in there, kid?
I've seen better days.
Well, you got me and Garcia.
Hey, Reid.
Reid, stick with me.
Listen, Prentiss and Rossi don't
think the partner was a coworker.
Can you tell us
anything else about him?
I tol... I've already
been through everything.
Come on, now, kid, I know
you're not thinking straight,
but the Reid I know
wouldn't stop looking.
All right, all right.
I see a, uh, a framed photograph
of Dr. Nichols teaching.
I see a...
I see a binder with syllabi.
Course assignments
going all the way
back to the 1970s.
All right. So he kept a scrapbook
of himself as a professor.
That tells us that he values
himself as an educator.
A teacher.
I saw something earlier.
I didn't...
I didn't make a connection
to it or to the partner,
but he has a study on anthrax.
He has an annotated bibliography,
table of contents.
It's formatted like a thesis
and has writing in the margins,
in red ink,
like the way a teacher
grades a paper.
Now, Nichols wouldn't have
let just anyone in here,
but he may have opened his lab
for educational purposes,
as a teacher.
So the partner must have
appealed to him as a student.
Nichols is helping
him with his thesis.
I... I can look up local Ph.
D students.
Yeah, check the sciences.
Biochemistry, microbiology.
Uh...
Cross-checking with names
of former employees or
customers with grievances
at the bookstore.
Nothing, my doves.
Listen to this.
"This country is
woefully unprepared.
Every household should have
a 2-month supply of Cipro.
Hospitals are in need of
bio-safety level 4 decon wings."
That's verbatim to what
we heard from Nichols.
The partner's adopted
Nichols' views as his own.
The chapters are on
setting up triage
and mobile emergency rooms.
I don't think this paper was
written by a science student.
It's about city
preparedness and response.
So, Garcia, check with students
in the social studies...
public policy, urban planning.
Hot to trot. There's a Chad Brown,
School of Public Policy at U of M.
Matches a Chad Brown,
former employee at the book front.
That's gotta be him.
Totally. He's been in the doctoral
program on and off for 5 years.
Nix on a steady job.
Was slapped with a restraining
order from his former girlfriend
and has been arrested
and released twice
at protest rallies in DC.
I'll tell Hotch.
Kid, you did real good.
Now get the hell out of there.
Bye.
Dr. Reid.
You said the cure would
be hidden somewhere
we wouldn't suspect.
What about Nichols' inhaler?
Chad Brown applied for
a civilian position
at Fort Detrick 4 different times.
His employment application.
He never got past the psych evals.
"Is it appropriate to sacrifice
the lives of the few
to save the many?"
He answered yes.
Every time. Why he never got hired.
Well, if he couldn't
get into Fort Detrick,
then being close to Nichols
was the next best thing.
We talked to his thesis adviser.
In his proposal,
he was gonna write about the
ease of making homemade anthrax
and interviewed Dr. Nichols
just to prove his point.
Get the address to
Prentiss and Rossi.
Yes, sir.
OK.
Yeah, they're hosing him down now.
All right.
They're checking out Brown's house.
Go help Hotch.
Hotch has plenty of
people helping him.
He needs you more than I do.
Reid, I'm gonna see you
off to the hospital.
I'm about to get naked so
they can scrub me down.
Is that something you
really want to see?
I'll check on you later.
Take good care of him, please.
Get this to the lab.
I hope you're right about this.
So do I.
Dr. Reid, did you cut yourself?
Let's go.
Excuse me!
What's going on?
Why is he in that suit?
Ma'am, please stay back.
My kids are home.
Do I need to get them out of here?
It's pretty bad.
Emily.
The house is infested
with toxic mold,
and they can't start taking down
the walls without protection.
But there's no danger to you.
Are you sure?
Yes, ma'am, I'm sure.
OK.
Don't Emily me.
How are you feeling, Dr. Reid?
My throat's a little dry.
But other than that, I feel...
flee...
feel fin.
I feel... I fleel fin. I...
Dr. Reid, OK. Driver, faster.
Like I said, a home lab
in a shed in the back.
It's being secured as we speak.
And in here?
The house is totally clean,
but there's something
in here you should see.
I found a white powdery
substance here and here.
I performed an instant field test.
It's not anthrax.
It looks like he might be
testing his dispersal device.
Rossi.
He's using light bulbs
to carry spores.
He throws them on the ground...
anthrax bombs.
And I know where
he's going with them.
Derek...
Dr. Kimura called.
Reid's in trouble.
What do you mean?
He got way sicker on the
way to the hospital.
He's in respiratory distress.
Listen, he's with the people
who can help him the most.
I need everybody's
head here right now.
OK, so, uh, we spoke
to Brown's sister.
They've been estranged for years.
Did she say anything about
the park or the bookstore?
Quiet Hills Park was where he
proposed to a girl. She said no.
The bookstore's where he worked
to put himself through college.
I guess he's bitter about
not being promoted.
So, both locations
represent rejection to him.
So, what's our next move?
Prentiss and Rossi found maps
of transit systems at his house.
Here we go.
Dr. Nichols wrote
a classified study
commissioned by the US Senate.
It simulated a mock anthrax attack
on the DC train systems.
Now, he emphasized the main line...
the red line...
as most vulnerable to an attack.
Forceful tunnel winds,
biggest crowds,
highest mortality risk.
Now, I deployed teams to
every stop on the red line.
I don't think he's
targeting the red line.
But you said he adopted
all of Nichols' ideas.
Wouldn't he want to
prove this theory?
We also said that he chooses
locations that are personal to him,
ones that represent rejection.
What is the one place that's
rejected him over and over again?
Fort Detrick.
It'd be impossible
for him to get in.
He wouldn't have
to attack the fort.
He could go after the
people that work there
or on their commute.
The closest station
to the Marc train is Frederick.
Get on the line to
Maryland Transit.
But the study said the red line.
The profile says he's
going to Frederick.
That's where I'm going,
and I could really use your help.
No gas masks. Repeat, no gas masks.
Rush hour crowd sees anyone in a mask,
there's gonna be a stampede.
Morgan, I want you to stay
aboveground and help the crowds.
I'm gonna go down by myself.
Not a chance, Hotch.
Morgan, we're a man down.
If the area's infected,
we can't risk losing
both of us as well.
We are a team.
We're gonna go down as a team.
Hey, Lisa.
Hey. I haven't seen you all day.
Locked up in level 3.
How did it go?
It's pretty fascinating stuff.
Seal the exits and
clear the station.
I've got it. Clear the train.
OK, I need everybody to listen up.
I am FBI. I need you
to exit the train now.
What's happening? Oh, my God.
Please, everyone,
through this far door only.
Chad Brown, don't move.
Don't come any closer!
Chad, put the bag down.
Far door. Let's go.
I can kill everybody here!
And I will kill you before you do.
No! No!
Weapons down.
General, what are you doing?
Call your Director.
Order from the President.
The US Army is taking
this man into custody.
General, the Army has
no authority here.
We do now.
He helped create this strain.
He's the only one who can
show us how it was made.
Sir, he is a danger to the country.
He is an asset to this country!
And by Presidential order,
I'm taking him in.
Sir, please come with me.
Where?
Fort Detrick, sir.
You want me to go to Fort Detrick?
We need you, sir, please.
I helped create this.
You have to name it after me!
Of course.
Standard practice.
Now, hand me the bag so
we can go on our way.
Are there any other
samples present?
No.
Move in.
You understand why I
had to show everybody
how vulnerable we are.
What are you doing?!
General!
General!
I can help recreate this for you!
So how did I do?
You were effective.
I can't believe it worked.
The profile said he
needed validation,
especially by someone
from Fort Detrick.
Well, I'll give
credit where it's due.
I'm glad I listened to you.
We, uh, got our bullpen back.
Yeah.
Look, I'm, uh...
Sorry about Emily-ing you
back at that house.
No, it's all right.
Is it?
Hey, I toed the company line,
didn't I?
Do you think people
would be better off
knowing everything we've
prevented since 911?
Would it make them feel safer,
or more vulnerable?
You did the right thing.
Yeah, I know that.
I know it wouldn't
have helped anything
if that woman knew what was
happening across the street
from her and her kids.
I lied because it was my job,
and I wanted to protect her.
So what's eating at you, then?
Uh...
am I naive to wish that lying
is never the right thing to do?
With this job...
Yeah.
Sometimes, our job sucks.
Yeah.
And yet, next time I probably
won't hesitate to lie again.
We got a lot of things to
take with us to the grave.
Oh, so he ate the peas, too?
Yeah, he is a good eater.
I'll be home in about an hour.
You're gonna keep him
up for me, right?
Good.
I just really need to
spend some time with him.
I missed him today.
Yeah.
Hey, it's me.
I know it's late, but, uh,
is Jack still awake?
Do you mind if I speak to him?
Thanks.
Hey, buddy.
What are you doing up so late?
Oh, yeah?
Right.
You're eating Jell-O?
Hmm.
Hey, kid.
Hey, Doc. Look who's back.
Is there any more Jell-O?
Hey.
Not so fast.
What happened?
You're gonna be all right, kid.
And we got Brown.
It's over.
How's Abby?
She's on the mend.
So are the 3 others.
You were right about where
to look for his cure.
Why was Dr. Nichols making
anthrax in the first place?
He was a brain scientist
downgraded to working on the flu.
Brown comes along asking
for help on his thesis...
would have been more than
happy to share his knowledge.
There was no indication that Nichols
had any idea what Brown was planning.
His strain and its cure
are getting locked up in
containment at Fort Detrick,
with all the other bio-agents
people don't know about.
Hmm. Really.
What else do they have
locked up in there?
"Security is mostly a superstition.
It does not exist in nature,
Nor do the children of men
as a whole experience it."
Helen Keller.
Ooh, is mommy gonna get Danny?
Is mommy gonna get Danny?
Let's see if mommy can get Danny!
Oh, mommy's got Danny!
Mommy got Danny!
Mommy loves you. Ohh...
- That was fun.
- Get him! Get him!
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
He got it!
Nice hands! Ha, ha, ha!
Schooled you! Schooled you!
Hey, Abby, wait up.
Hey, let's stop here.
I like this view.
Hey, watch it.
Seriously?
Mommy got Danny!
You OK, Danny?
I'm sorry, baby. We must
have caught something today.
You're burning up.
Abby?
Abby!
Case must be local.
JJ said not to bring a go bag.
What's the Army doing here?
What the hell is going on?
Guys, this is Dr. Linda Kimura,
Chief of special pathogens,
with the CDC.
Hello.
Hello. I'm sorry to meet
under these circumstances.
-What circumstances?
-We need to get started.
Last night, 25 people checked
into emergency rooms,
in and around, Annapolis.
They were all at the same
park after 2 PM yesterday.
Within 10 hours,
the first victim died.
It's now just past 7 AM the next day.
We have 12 dead.
Lung failure and black lesions.
Anthrax?
Anthrax doesn't kill this fast.
This strain does.
What are we doing about
potential mass targets...
airports, malls, trains?
There's a media blackout.
We're not telling the public?
We'd have a mass exodus.
The psychology of group panic
would cause more deaths
than this last attack.
Yeah, and if it does get out,
whoever did this
might go underground or
destroy their samples.
Or if they wanted attention and didn't
get it, they might attack again.
Doesn't the public have
the right to know that?
If there is another attack,
there's no way we'll be
able to keep it quiet.
Our best chance of
protecting the public
is by building a profile
as quickly as we can.
What do we know about this strain?
The spores are weaponized,
reduced to a respiral ideal
that attacks deep in the lungs...
odorless and invisible.
A sophisticated strain. Only a
scientist would know how to do that.
These lesions are doubling
in size in a matter of hours.
It's not the lesions
I'm worried about.
It's the lungs.
We don't know how to combat the
toxins once they're inside.
And the reality is,
we may lose them all.
The remaining survivors
have been moved
to a special wing at
Walter Reed Hospital.
Our offices will become
a small command center.
We'll be working with military
scientists from Fort Detrick.
General Whitworth is coming here?
He's in charge of site
containment and spore analysis.
Determining what strain this is
will help inform who's responsible.
My team is in charge of
treating all victims.
Reid, go with Dr.
Kimura to the hospital.
Interview the victims. Morgan and Prentiss,
there's a HAZMAT team
that will accompany you
to the crime scene.
There's Cipro. Everybody needs
to take it before we go.
We don't know if it's
effective against this strain,
but it's something.
This is really happening?
We knew this could happen.
We've done our homework.
We've prepared for this.
This is it.
Jin Dan.
May you live 100 years.
Mommy got you!
"It will become fine dust
over all the land of Egypt
and will become boils breaking
out with sores on man and beast
through all the land of Egypt."
Exodus 9:9.
Do you have those files
I've been looking for?
Did you see this memo
from the Director?
Office phones and emails
are being monitored.
Yeah, they're trying to protect
the media blackout. Files?
Uh, yeah, right here.
Thanks. I want to see what
kind of medical treatment
the victims received before
I head to the hospital.
Why do you think
the suspect in 2001
stopped sending the letters?
I have no idea, but if he hadn't,
it would have been much worse.
The worst part was not knowing
when it was gonna be over.
Feeling safe opening mail again.
5 people died. Many more
exposed and sickened,
including a baby who was
admitted to the hospital
after lesions appeared on his skin.
How did he contract it?
I have no idea. Must have
come into close contact
with a tainted letter or crossed
paths with the unsub himself.
How old was the baby?
7 months.
Did he survive?
I gotta run. Kimura's waiting.
- I'll call you from the hospital.
- Spence.
Did the baby survive?
Yeah, but, I mean,
that was a curable strain.
This thing's entirely different.
Agent Jareau.
Uh, call me when he gets
through security. Thanks.
The General's here.
Is there bad blood with him?
He was very critical of the way
the '01 Amerithrax
investigation was handled.
Because of what happened
with Dr. Hatfill?
Among other things.
And this is the list of
victims you asked for.
No high-profile jobs.
No. Just ordinary people
frolicking in the park.
Any word from the CIA?
They said there are a few
overseas terrorist groups
with funding and capability.
They're working international.
We've got domestic.
We need to look at anyone
who could profit from this.
People who have patents
on anthrax vaccines.
- Garcia.
- Yes, sir.
And add to your list
anyone with access to
weaponized spores...
universities, scholars working
in bioweapons research.
Employees of labs who
keep germ collections.
Be back in a few.
Right in here, sir.
Thank you, Agent Jareau.
General.
Agent Hotchner.
This is SSA David Rossi.
My scientists are
decoding the strain.
The additives used to strengthen
the bacterial capsules
do not exist at our research labs.
Are there any other labs
using these substances?
No.
I'd like a list of
all the scientists
in your anthrax program.
I just said we don't
use those additives.
Sir, we can rule out your lab samples,
but not your people.
We're looking at someone
who has the ability
to manipulate and
weaponize anthrax.
Your scientists make that cut.
Now, we all know what happened
the last time your team
looked into my people.
Sir, our team officially
ruled out Dr. Hatfill.
I'm sorry if Justice
didn't listen to us,
but the profile was accurate.
Well, I'm outranked by someone
who believes in your profiles.
I'll get you your list. Lieutenant.
Hi, Abby.
You feeling any better?
OK.
This is Agent Reid, from the FBI.
If you can, will you talk with him?
Abby, I'd like to try to do
a memory recall exercise with you
to take you back to the park,
if that's OK.
I need you to close your eyes.
Yesterday afternoon,
you rode your bicycle to the park.
How did the sun feel on your skin,
the breeze through your hair?
Can you describe for
me what you heard
and the people that you saw?
It was warm, windy.
There were guys... football.
Kids...
I see free...
me seen fee me.
free knee.
s... sin knee.
All right, Abby.
That's OK. You just rest now, OK?
me mock fee key me free.
Shh, shh, shh. You just rest.
OK? Thank you.
What's causing her aphasia?
The poison is infecting
the parietal lobe,
impairing her speech.
Some of the other patients
displayed the same symptoms
shortly before they died.
None of the drug
combinations are working?
The only thing that's helping them,
right now, is the morphine.
What are you telling people
about why the park is closed?
Methane buildup in
the sewage system.
And they believe it?
Oh, well, yeah, of course,
why wouldn't they?
Hot zone and all surrounding
areas have been neutralized.
You're safe here.
Huh. Are you sure?
Yes, ma'am.
Thank you.
OK, check it out.
High levels tested over there.
That's probably where the
unsub released the attack.
And there was a prevailing wind
out of the northeast yesterday.
Airborne spores scattered that way,
hitting everyone below it.
This park doesn't scream
"target" to me.
Terrorists usually
target symbols...
White house, Pentagon,
World Trade Center.
I mean, it's a nice park,
but it's not a symbol.
OK, so, maybe it's
symbolic for the unsub.
Well, we know Kaczynski sent bombs
to Berkeley, where he taught,
Michigan, where he went to school,
and Chicago, where he lived.
And the Amerithrax suspect sent
letters to 2 pro-choice Senators,
whose politics he opposed.
They can't help attaching
a personal motive
to the places they've targeted.
OK. So, what does this
place mean to our unsub?
38-year-old high
school history teacher.
Leaves 2 kids behind.
17 out of 25 dead.
This strain is duplicating
every 30 to 45 minutes.
It's poisoning the lungs,
causing massive hemorrhaging
and organ failure.
Extreme bacterial amplification.
Whoever created this had to,
at some point,
go to the trouble of testing it.
- What do you mean?
- Think about the way
scientists work their
way up to human testing.
They start with rodents,
then advance to larger mammals,
and then, at some point,
they do a very small trial run with people.
There's no way this was
his first human test run.
We would have heard about
a previous anthrax attack.
Not if it presented
itself as something else.
The General's briefing a
Congressional committee,
and the Director's meeting
with the President
in an hour and wants our input.
I don't know how to do this.
I can't stop thinking about Henry.
He goes for a walk
almost every single day
at Potomac Park.
What type of mother am I,
if I don't at least call
and tell him to stay at home?
JJ, we can't.
I know, but...
how do I not?
I understand that you
want to protect your son.
But if we all called home
and used this information
to give us an advantage that
other people don't have...
is that the right thing to do?
We need to call Reid.
He said this may not
be the first attack.
Hello?
Uh, Reid, you have me,
Rossi, and Hotch.
Kimura made some calls.
It turns out
that 2 days ago, 2 people
in 2 separate Baltimore ERs
and one person in a Philadelphia ER
slipped into comas
and died suddenly.
Now, the COD on all of
them was meningitis.
Doctors didn't test for anthrax
because the illnesses presented
themselves as meningitis,
but I think it can
be caused by anthrax.
Did they show symptoms that
we're seeing now... the lesions?
They wouldn't have if the bodily
functions expired as quickly as they did.
How quickly?
All dead within 3 hours
of being admitted.
But the first patient died
yesterday at 10 hours.
Here's the thing... if they inhaled a
higher concentration of the strain,
it would cause a quicker death.
Organ failure without
exterior physical symptoms.
What are their names?
Gale Mercer, 31,
Martha Finestein, 48,
Albert Franks, 52. What next?
See if they visited the
same place on May 8th.
Gale Mercer made a
credit card purchase
at the book front,
owned by Albert Franks.
We need to find General Whitworth.
He needs to sent a team out there.
Mm-hmm.
Alright, JJ, I got it. Thanks.
Look at all these people
just going about their lives.
If they only knew what
we were doing here.
Better that they don't.
JJ says the store's been
closed since the owner died.
Gale Mercer's credit card purchase
happened right before closing.
Well, that explains why
only 3 people were hit.
We tested hot.
I'll alert command.
This was his test run.
He's gotta have a
history with the place.
We need to get a list of
current and past employees,
customers with grievances
against the owner,
see if any one of them
had a science background.
Can you believe there is only a
quarter-inch-thick pane of glass
between all of us and a WMD?
Attack anthrax wasn't made to
kill 3 people inside a bookstore.
It wants to be right
out here in the open,
where it can feed and multiply.
Just a small amount could
wipe out everyone here.
And they'd never see it coming.
It feels like the plagues of Egypt.
10 scourges created by God.
Plague 6 was unhealable boils
believed by biblical scholars
to be caused by anthrax.
Never missed Sunday school,
did you?
Actually, never been before.
How is she doing?
She's a fighter.
She's held on this long because
she's young and strong.
But she's started to
bleed into her lungs.
One of 4 left.
We're running into another problem.
When the next of
kin have questions,
what do we tell them
about cause of death?
Yes, sir.
We'll do what we can
in the time we've got.
Thank you.
There are problems
containing the story.
What happened? I don't know,
but the President may have to
make an announcement tonight.
What did you hear
from the bookstore?
Ran names of former employees,
customers with grievances.
No one with the science
background we're looking for.
Garcia's still digging.
Do we have everyone we
need for the profile?
Oh, yeah. Entire Defense
community is here.
Never seen so many alpha
males in one room.
Let's get started.
Because the locations hit
are not symbolically significant,
we believe that these
attacks are personal.
Understanding the significance
of these locations will be the key
to identifying him.
This personal element
strongly indicates
a home-grown terrorist.
Like the Amerithrax case,
we believe
this is someone from the
science or defense community.
That's why you're here.
We think you may know him.
He may be one of us.
These home-grown terrorists
are myopic zealots,
ideologues that believe
that their work
is of the greatest importance.
He may have preached
about the threat
of an attack on America.
His coworkers would
describe him as histrionic,
paranoid, secretive.
With all due respect,
that's a little vague.
What are we supposed to do
with something that generic?
Sir, we're not finished yet.
He may have logged
excess hours at work,
in the past weeks,
preparing for the attack.
We believe he's taken the full
dosage of anthrax vaccines
over the recommended
18-month schedule
and had yearly boosters.
This guy has his own work space
where he makes his
product in privacy.
He also has access to large,
expensive,
industrial-grade equipment at work.
He's written about the
threats of anthrax attacks,
published papers.
Yet he feels no one is listening.
And that angers him.
Now, he may have
recently experienced
some sort of
professional humiliation,
like being demoted or fired.
Now, that would have
been his trigger,
the moment he decided to go rogue.
And he may have betrayed his
loved ones to his cause.
He may be recently
separated or divorced.
This is somebody who
knows every detail
of the 2001 anthrax attack
and has talked about
what that suspect did,
right or wrong.
He's watching the news very closely
to see how the country reacts.
Please share this with your
departments. Thank you.
There's something I
think you should see.
January '02. Classified
hearing with the subcommittee
on Defense and Homeland Security.
Dr. Lawrence Nichols.
He used to work at the institute.
He left in '02.
He didn't leave. He was forced out.
5 people died.
If you ask me,
we're lucky it was just 5.
We're lucky that whoever
sent these letters
used cheap, porous envelopes
and not a... crop duster.
America's enemies
are capable of wiping
out entire cities.
And we are woefully unprepared.
I'm looking at your proposal.
- Every household needs gas masks
- Yes, sir.
and a 2-month supply of Cipro,
for each resident.
Every major city needs hospitals
with bio-safety
decontamination capabilities.
Regarding the budget you
propose for this operation...
Anything short of 50 billion
would be grossly negligent.
Dr. Nichols, you've got to
realize how unrealistic that is.
Unrealistic?
We can't justify spending
that kind of money
on an attack that may not happen.
You people are in denial!
Doing this would incite fear
and panic among the public.
This country should be panicked!
We should live in utter
fear of being attacked!
Dr. Nichols, please sit down.
I will not sit down.
We live in a time of war
and WMD proliferation.
If you continue to be blind
to our lack of preparedness,
then Americans will die,
and I will have no problem
in pointing the blame at you!
Committee said he was
becoming unstable, fanatical.
Which is why they removed
him from Fort Detrick.
And railroaded from other
prominent positions.
Dr. Nichols is well-respected
in our community.
He believes in preparedness,
not proliferation.
Well, he obviously felt like people
weren't listening.
Maybe he was just
trying to prove a point.
He had access,
lost a prominent job, got divorced.
Fits your profile.
We need to bring him in.
He works for a company
called Bio-Design Technology.
We subcontract them.
They don't work with anthrax.
They deal primarily with the flu.
Dave, you and Prentiss
go to his office.
Morgan, pull Reid from the
hospital and go to his home.
We need to speak with Dr.
Lawrence Nichols, urgently.
Well, he's not in today.
We need to see his lab.
Follow me.
Clear so far.
All right, keep me posted.
This guy just had people over
for a charity event last month.
We should probably take
a look around anyway.
Ow.
What's he doing in there?
When was the last time
you saw Dr. Nichols?
3 days ago.
That's before the bookstore.
Yeah, Prentiss, what's up?
Uh-huh. Yeah, we're here now.
Sorry. What?
The lab is clean?
You're sure?
All right.
They got nothin'...
Reid.
Reid!
Reid?
Reid?
Reid!
Morgan, get... get back! Get back!
- What are you doing?
- Get out of here!
- No, don't!
- What's wrong?
- What's wrong?
- Believe me, get back.
Reid, open the door!
I'm sorry.
Morgan, how's Reid?
There's white powder in the room,
and the air was blasting.
Get a decon team suited up.
Secure a gray zone
outside that door.
Clean him up and get him
in the ambulance fast.
I should have been
right there with him.
Morgan, there's no time for
second-guessing. What do we know?
Nichols is dead.
Blunt force trauma to his head.
Reid thinks he's been
dead 2 or 3 days.
Well, then he couldn't have
been responsible for the attack.
Reid took Cipro today,
so he's gotta be OK, right?
I don't know. It was precautionary.
It's not helping
patients at the hospital.
Yeah, but they didn't take it
until after they were exposed.
Reid took it before.
Yeah, but we've never
tested this strain
on a Cipro-ready subject.
We just don't know.
Reid.
Hotch, I really
messed up this time.
Reid, we need to get you
out and to the hospital.
No. I'm staying right here.
No, you're not, Reid.
I'm already exposed.
It's not gonna do me any good
to stop working the case.
He's already infected.
Now, if Nichols created the strain,
he may have also created the cure.
My best chance is to stay here,
see if there's a cure,
try to figure out who
killed Dr. Nichols.
Come on, Hotch,
say something to him.
He's right.
His best chance is inside.
We're gonna get a suit and
mask in to you right away.
Don't bother. It's not gonna do me any good.
I'm already infected.
This thing killed the first
3 victims within hours, JJ.
Garcia, stop.
Please. I... I can't
think about it that way.
He took Cipro.
He's got help. He's gonna be fine.
I'm not good at this part.
Every time you guys go away, I...
I know you're in all kinds
of ginormous danger,
and all I can do is
sit here in my bubble,
and I hope and I pray, and I will
my babies to come back to me...
I try to stay positive, but...
I don't know how to do this.
If you could do anything
to keep your family safe,
even if it meant breaking
procedure, would you?
Yes.
What procedure?
Never mind.
Reid, what do you see in there?
I see cages filled
with dead animals.
I see signs of a struggle,
probably before Dr.
Nichols was murdered.
Equipment's missing.
There's a large desk.
Clutter all over the surface.
But in the corner,
there's a smaller desk.
It's organized, functional.
2 different work spaces?
2 sets of handwriting.
I'm looking at instructions on
how to boil lab-grade broth,
sterilize lab equipment,
and transfer spores.
Nichols would know all that.
He has a partner,
maybe even a protege.
Go back to the BAU, try to
figure out who this partner is.
Hotch, why don't you go?
I'll stay with Reid.
Funnel all the information
you get to me.
Hotch says Nichols may have had
a protege who turned on him.
I think we should
tell the supervisor
that this is about anthrax.
That's not our call to make.
Screw protocol. Reid's in trouble.
If we tell this guy the truth,
he might be able to help us.
Look, I want to help Reid, too.
But our job is to do the best
we can within our boundaries.
Who was Dr. Nichols close to here?
Oh, no one, really.
He worked on his projects alone.
Is he OK?
Does he mentor anyone?
Not that I know of.
Did he ever work on anything
other than the flu here?
No. Why?
Did he ever have samples of
anything he shouldn't have had?
Look, I really need to
know what this is about
before I answer any more questions.
We'll get back to you.
Hi, we're not home right now.
Please leave a message.
Uh, hey. It's... it's me.
Just calling to...
see where you are.
Um... give me a call. OK?
Love you.
Hey, Reid.
Gee, wow, no, uh...
No witty Garcia greeting for me?
I can't be my sparkly self
when you are where you are.
Garcia, do you think you
can do something for me?
Anything.
I, uh...
I know I can't call my mom
without, uh...
without alerting
everyone at her hospital.
What do you need?
I, uh...
I need you to record
a message for her
in case anything happens to me.
Oh, nothing's going
to happen to you.
You're gonna... brilliantly
find out who did this,
and we're gonna treat this strain.
I hope you're right,
but if you're not, I just...
I really want to make sure
that she hears my voice.
OK. Just, uh, give me a second.
Are you ready?
Ready.
Hi, mom. This is Spencer.
I just, um...
I just... really want you to know
that I love you
and...
I need you to know that I
spend every day of my life
proud to be your son.
Reid?
Prep the victim for transfer.
I gotta go.
Dr. Reid.
You look nice.
I haven't been in this
outfit for a while.
How are... how are
the patients doing?
Let's worry about you.
I actually... I feel fine.
OK, if you feel any pain,
I could give you something.
No, I... I'd rather not
take any pain medication.
We can at least make you
feel more comfortable.
I am comfortable, and I don't
want to take any narcotics.
OK.
Tell me how I can help.
I think the cure for this strain
is in here somewhere.
Well, shall I start here?
Dr. Nichols is a former
military scientist,
which means he's
most likely secretive
and most likely a little paranoid.
He would have protected the cure
and probably would have
hidden it from his partners.
So look for something innocuous,
something you would not suspect.
All right.
Hello.
How's it going in there, kid?
I've seen better days.
Well, you got me and Garcia.
Hey, Reid.
Reid, stick with me.
Listen, Prentiss and Rossi don't
think the partner was a coworker.
Can you tell us
anything else about him?
I tol... I've already
been through everything.
Come on, now, kid, I know
you're not thinking straight,
but the Reid I know
wouldn't stop looking.
All right, all right.
I see a, uh, a framed photograph
of Dr. Nichols teaching.
I see a...
I see a binder with syllabi.
Course assignments
going all the way
back to the 1970s.
All right. So he kept a scrapbook
of himself as a professor.
That tells us that he values
himself as an educator.
A teacher.
I saw something earlier.
I didn't...
I didn't make a connection
to it or to the partner,
but he has a study on anthrax.
He has an annotated bibliography,
table of contents.
It's formatted like a thesis
and has writing in the margins,
in red ink,
like the way a teacher
grades a paper.
Now, Nichols wouldn't have
let just anyone in here,
but he may have opened his lab
for educational purposes,
as a teacher.
So the partner must have
appealed to him as a student.
Nichols is helping
him with his thesis.
I... I can look up local Ph.
D students.
Yeah, check the sciences.
Biochemistry, microbiology.
Uh...
Cross-checking with names
of former employees or
customers with grievances
at the bookstore.
Nothing, my doves.
Listen to this.
"This country is
woefully unprepared.
Every household should have
a 2-month supply of Cipro.
Hospitals are in need of
bio-safety level 4 decon wings."
That's verbatim to what
we heard from Nichols.
The partner's adopted
Nichols' views as his own.
The chapters are on
setting up triage
and mobile emergency rooms.
I don't think this paper was
written by a science student.
It's about city
preparedness and response.
So, Garcia, check with students
in the social studies...
public policy, urban planning.
Hot to trot. There's a Chad Brown,
School of Public Policy at U of M.
Matches a Chad Brown,
former employee at the book front.
That's gotta be him.
Totally. He's been in the doctoral
program on and off for 5 years.
Nix on a steady job.
Was slapped with a restraining
order from his former girlfriend
and has been arrested
and released twice
at protest rallies in DC.
I'll tell Hotch.
Kid, you did real good.
Now get the hell out of there.
Bye.
Dr. Reid.
You said the cure would
be hidden somewhere
we wouldn't suspect.
What about Nichols' inhaler?
Chad Brown applied for
a civilian position
at Fort Detrick 4 different times.
His employment application.
He never got past the psych evals.
"Is it appropriate to sacrifice
the lives of the few
to save the many?"
He answered yes.
Every time. Why he never got hired.
Well, if he couldn't
get into Fort Detrick,
then being close to Nichols
was the next best thing.
We talked to his thesis adviser.
In his proposal,
he was gonna write about the
ease of making homemade anthrax
and interviewed Dr. Nichols
just to prove his point.
Get the address to
Prentiss and Rossi.
Yes, sir.
OK.
Yeah, they're hosing him down now.
All right.
They're checking out Brown's house.
Go help Hotch.
Hotch has plenty of
people helping him.
He needs you more than I do.
Reid, I'm gonna see you
off to the hospital.
I'm about to get naked so
they can scrub me down.
Is that something you
really want to see?
I'll check on you later.
Take good care of him, please.
Get this to the lab.
I hope you're right about this.
So do I.
Dr. Reid, did you cut yourself?
Let's go.
Excuse me!
What's going on?
Why is he in that suit?
Ma'am, please stay back.
My kids are home.
Do I need to get them out of here?
It's pretty bad.
Emily.
The house is infested
with toxic mold,
and they can't start taking down
the walls without protection.
But there's no danger to you.
Are you sure?
Yes, ma'am, I'm sure.
OK.
Don't Emily me.
How are you feeling, Dr. Reid?
My throat's a little dry.
But other than that, I feel...
flee...
feel fin.
I feel... I fleel fin. I...
Dr. Reid, OK. Driver, faster.
Like I said, a home lab
in a shed in the back.
It's being secured as we speak.
And in here?
The house is totally clean,
but there's something
in here you should see.
I found a white powdery
substance here and here.
I performed an instant field test.
It's not anthrax.
It looks like he might be
testing his dispersal device.
Rossi.
He's using light bulbs
to carry spores.
He throws them on the ground...
anthrax bombs.
And I know where
he's going with them.
Derek...
Dr. Kimura called.
Reid's in trouble.
What do you mean?
He got way sicker on the
way to the hospital.
He's in respiratory distress.
Listen, he's with the people
who can help him the most.
I need everybody's
head here right now.
OK, so, uh, we spoke
to Brown's sister.
They've been estranged for years.
Did she say anything about
the park or the bookstore?
Quiet Hills Park was where he
proposed to a girl. She said no.
The bookstore's where he worked
to put himself through college.
I guess he's bitter about
not being promoted.
So, both locations
represent rejection to him.
So, what's our next move?
Prentiss and Rossi found maps
of transit systems at his house.
Here we go.
Dr. Nichols wrote
a classified study
commissioned by the US Senate.
It simulated a mock anthrax attack
on the DC train systems.
Now, he emphasized the main line...
the red line...
as most vulnerable to an attack.
Forceful tunnel winds,
biggest crowds,
highest mortality risk.
Now, I deployed teams to
every stop on the red line.
I don't think he's
targeting the red line.
But you said he adopted
all of Nichols' ideas.
Wouldn't he want to
prove this theory?
We also said that he chooses
locations that are personal to him,
ones that represent rejection.
What is the one place that's
rejected him over and over again?
Fort Detrick.
It'd be impossible
for him to get in.
He wouldn't have
to attack the fort.
He could go after the
people that work there
or on their commute.
The closest station
to the Marc train is Frederick.
Get on the line to
Maryland Transit.
But the study said the red line.
The profile says he's
going to Frederick.
That's where I'm going,
and I could really use your help.
No gas masks. Repeat, no gas masks.
Rush hour crowd sees anyone in a mask,
there's gonna be a stampede.
Morgan, I want you to stay
aboveground and help the crowds.
I'm gonna go down by myself.
Not a chance, Hotch.
Morgan, we're a man down.
If the area's infected,
we can't risk losing
both of us as well.
We are a team.
We're gonna go down as a team.
Hey, Lisa.
Hey. I haven't seen you all day.
Locked up in level 3.
How did it go?
It's pretty fascinating stuff.
Seal the exits and
clear the station.
I've got it. Clear the train.
OK, I need everybody to listen up.
I am FBI. I need you
to exit the train now.
What's happening? Oh, my God.
Please, everyone,
through this far door only.
Chad Brown, don't move.
Don't come any closer!
Chad, put the bag down.
Far door. Let's go.
I can kill everybody here!
And I will kill you before you do.
No! No!
Weapons down.
General, what are you doing?
Call your Director.
Order from the President.
The US Army is taking
this man into custody.
General, the Army has
no authority here.
We do now.
He helped create this strain.
He's the only one who can
show us how it was made.
Sir, he is a danger to the country.
He is an asset to this country!
And by Presidential order,
I'm taking him in.
Sir, please come with me.
Where?
Fort Detrick, sir.
You want me to go to Fort Detrick?
We need you, sir, please.
I helped create this.
You have to name it after me!
Of course.
Standard practice.
Now, hand me the bag so
we can go on our way.
Are there any other
samples present?
No.
Move in.
You understand why I
had to show everybody
how vulnerable we are.
What are you doing?!
General!
General!
I can help recreate this for you!
So how did I do?
You were effective.
I can't believe it worked.
The profile said he
needed validation,
especially by someone
from Fort Detrick.
Well, I'll give
credit where it's due.
I'm glad I listened to you.
We, uh, got our bullpen back.
Yeah.
Look, I'm, uh...
Sorry about Emily-ing you
back at that house.
No, it's all right.
Is it?
Hey, I toed the company line,
didn't I?
Do you think people
would be better off
knowing everything we've
prevented since 911?
Would it make them feel safer,
or more vulnerable?
You did the right thing.
Yeah, I know that.
I know it wouldn't
have helped anything
if that woman knew what was
happening across the street
from her and her kids.
I lied because it was my job,
and I wanted to protect her.
So what's eating at you, then?
Uh...
am I naive to wish that lying
is never the right thing to do?
With this job...
Yeah.
Sometimes, our job sucks.
Yeah.
And yet, next time I probably
won't hesitate to lie again.
We got a lot of things to
take with us to the grave.
Oh, so he ate the peas, too?
Yeah, he is a good eater.
I'll be home in about an hour.
You're gonna keep him
up for me, right?
Good.
I just really need to
spend some time with him.
I missed him today.
Yeah.
Hey, it's me.
I know it's late, but, uh,
is Jack still awake?
Do you mind if I speak to him?
Thanks.
Hey, buddy.
What are you doing up so late?
Oh, yeah?
Right.
You're eating Jell-O?
Hmm.
Hey, kid.
Hey, Doc. Look who's back.
Is there any more Jell-O?
Hey.
Not so fast.
What happened?
You're gonna be all right, kid.
And we got Brown.
It's over.
How's Abby?
She's on the mend.
So are the 3 others.
You were right about where
to look for his cure.
Why was Dr. Nichols making
anthrax in the first place?
He was a brain scientist
downgraded to working on the flu.
Brown comes along asking
for help on his thesis...
would have been more than
happy to share his knowledge.
There was no indication that Nichols
had any idea what Brown was planning.
His strain and its cure
are getting locked up in
containment at Fort Detrick,
with all the other bio-agents
people don't know about.
Hmm. Really.
What else do they have
locked up in there?
"Security is mostly a superstition.
It does not exist in nature,
Nor do the children of men
as a whole experience it."
Helen Keller.