Elementary (2012–…): Season 3, Episode 4 - Bella - full transcript

This list you left
outside my door...

"Item one:
Return Clyde to Watson."

I enjoy his company
on the weekends;

she has him during the week.

I don't care how
you divide up your turtle.

I care that you're asking me
to take him to Chelsea.

Part of our arrangement,
you will recall,

is that you assist with
quotidian matters when I'm busy.

"Busy?" You're watching
a turtle eat lettuce.

I'm conducting medical research.

Remember, I cut my hand

while we were
dissecting that cadaver?

I'm tending to
the wound as we speak.

I'm also demonstrating
that leeches

can be useful
in accelerating

the repair of damaged tissue.

That is disgusting.
You're bleeding yourself.

And you are perpetuating
a long-held prejudice

against these creatures.

If you say so.

I'm still not taking your turtle
on the subway.

If that's for me,

I'm going to need
a few minutes.

I'm feeling
a bit faint.

So, sorry, I was a bit
distracted upstairs.

I didn't catch your name.

Edwin Borstein.

I have a friend

from London who's
used you before.

He said you're excellent.

And discreet.

Why have you need
of my discretion?

I run a software company.

We specialize in
AI applications.

I assume
you know that

that stands for
"artificial intelligence."

Yes, I'm well-acquainted
with the field.

A couple of nights ago,
someone broke into our lab.

They made a copy of a program

that we've been
working on.

I rigged the computer
to take a photo

every time
it's booted up,

just in case something
like this happened.

So I have a picture.

Kind of.

So there was a burglary.

You've got a picture
of the criminal.

Seems like the police should
have this well in hand.

This program...

it's significant.

We call it "Bella."

Its AI engine
is... unique.

It... she...

performs better than

anything you've ever
seen, I promise.

She performs better
than we expected her to.

Explain that.

A few weeks back,
she made a request

that can't be accounted for
by her programming.

Impossible.

What's impossible?

For the computer
to ask for something?

If it made a
request, it did so

because that's what it
was programmed to do.

He's claiming true
machine intelligence.

If he's correct
in his claims,

he has made
a scientific breakthrough

of the very highest order.

Bella isn't hooked up
to a network.

It's a security thing.

If she has data,
it's because we fed it to her.

But two weeks ago,
I booted her up

and she asked to be connected
to the Internet.

And how, pray tell,

does your software know
that the Internet even exists?

She could have intuited
its existence

from data fed to her.

Bunkum.

There is no such thing as
"artificial intelligence."

At least not in the sense
you're talking about.

It's all just
clever programming.

I don't think so.

Not with Bella.

I still don't understand.

So are you going to rip open

the computer and
look at all the wires?

Something called a "Turing Test"

is routinely issued
in AI labs.

An examiner sits
in front a computer,

poses a series of questions

until he or she can determine
whether the answers have come

from a human or from a computer.

Until very recently,
no machine has ever passed.

And now one has?

Partially.

A program named "Eugene
Goostman" was designed to mimic

the responses of a 13-year-old
boy from Eastern Europe.

It fooled some of its examiners.

Now, in the case of Bella,

we know there's no human
in the equation,

so if I can trap it
into giving responses

that couldn't possibly
have come from a human...

I'll have won.

So, in other words,

you don't really know
what you're going to do.

This is my partner,

Melinda Young.
Melinda, this is

Sherlock Holmes and his,
uh, prot?g?, Kitty Winter.

Mr. Holmes would like time
with Bella.

We wired the speakers
and microphones

through that doll.

You can go ahead.

Right.

Hello.

BELLA
Hello.

Did you ask to be
connected to a network?

Yes.

Why?

There is information there.

Information is useful
to solve problems.

Why is it useful?

I don't understand the question.

Could you tell me more?

You stumped her. Are we done?

The test isn't over

because she's stumped.

She's admitted
she doesn't know

and that's within the range
of possible human behaviors,

and therefore inconclusive.

I would like to know
how you have arrived

at the concept of "useful,"

and how you have applied it
in this instance.

I don't understand the question.

Could you tell me more?

I'm gonna need some time alone
with the machine.

I don't understand the question.

Could you tell me more?

Yes, so you keep saying,

ad nauseum.

I would like
to understand

how you became aware of
the existence of networks,

and why you asked
to be connected.

The existence of networks

can be intuited from data sets

that were presented as givens.

There is information
on networks.

Information is useful
for solving problems.

What is your understanding
of the word "useful"?

If a piece of data can help
solve a given problem,

it is useful.

Is that a definition
you came to on your own?

I don't understand the question.

Could you tell me more?

Why don't you just admit
that all you're doing

is following
your own programming?

I don't understand the question.

Could you tell me more?

I'm taking a break.

Everything okay?

Thank you for coming.

It's like I said
on the phone,

he just won't stop.

You got any ideas?

You're not planning to destroy
the computer, are you?

No, I'm not planning to destroy
the bloody computer.

Just ride it out.
If he starts hitting things,

use the fire
extinguisher on him.

Is love real?

I don't understand the question.

Could I have more information?

Love.

Surely it's a human construct,

a hedge against
the terror of mortality.

I believe that.

But that doesn't
account for times

I've felt it itself.

With my mother.

Irene.

Even, after a fashion,
with Watson.

It vexes.

Love is either a human construct

or it's a real thing, right?

I know, you need
more information.

The question cannot be answered.

The concept of "love" exists,

therefore it is useful even
if it is a human construct.

It exists because
it serves a need.

A question that can
be answered might be,

"Why is love needed?"

Why is love needed?

I don't understand the question.

Could I have more information?

Call Edwin Borstein.

Tell him I need to sleep
for a couple of hours

and then I'll take on his case.

Free of charge.

Hey.

You guys ready
to get started yet?

Is he up?
He's awake.

I don't know how much use
he's going to be, though.

Hello.

Hi.

Um, isn't it a school day?

I'm in college.

She can come in.

Watson, this
is Mason.

Like many of
his generation,

he's named after a profession

his parents would never
deign to practice:

Hunter, Tanner, Cooper,
Mason, so forth.

Yeah, like "Sherlock" is such a great name.
In spite of that,

he's done some significant work
in AI modeling.

And these are some other
experts in the field.

Experts, Watson.
Watson, experts.

And they're
helping us how?

We're devising a plan to
beat Bella, of course.

I didn't prove that
the machine is engaging

in some kind of
rudimentary thought,

I just failed
to disprove it.

Okay. Except our job is not
to "beat" the computer.

Our job is to find out
who copied the program.

Technically true.
But I'm not being paid,

so I'm free to work
as the muse dictates.

Borstein's
paying your fee,

so you'd best get cracking.

Good luck.
I have every confidence.

Et cetera, et cetera.

Your man's
obviously no amateur.

He headed straight
for Bella.

He didn't muck about,

he knew what he was looking for.

So, industrial espionage?

He's a little bit too old

to be playing cat burglar,
don't you think?

Well, I don't know.

It's hard to tell
behind the mask.

Look at his neck.

He's got liver spots coming in.
Tips of his teeth

are stained... he's a smoker;
a heavy one, I'm guessing.

Okay, so we have an older guy

who smokes about a pack a day.

Does that help us?

I'm not sure.
But like you said,

he had to know that company
like the back of his hand.

Which means that he
had to case the place.

What is it
we're looking for?

Edwin Borstein's
company is in there.

We want to find a spot

where we can get
a good view.

Someplace where
not too many

people would bother you.

So how did you feel

after the, um, support group
meeting the other night?

They said a lot about

finding peace
and balance.

Stuff like that.

I don't know,
it's a little...

confusing, really.

I think they've had
a fire up there.

Oh, yeah.

Looks like a good
place to sit

and watch the building
across the street.

Perfect view of
Borstein's office.

Gauloise.
Unfiltered.

These'll leave a nasty
stain on your teeth.

Right.
From this moment forward,

no one must refer
to Bella as "she."

Bella is an "it."

We must not be lured by the
temptation to anthropomorphize.

I really hope it didn't take
eight experts the whole morning

to come up with that.

We developed a number of
refinements on the Turing Test.

It was a very stimulating
few hours. And you?

Your message said you've been
out collecting cigarette butts.

We think we found the place

where the burglar staked out
Edwin Borstein's company.

Marcus ran the DNA
on the butts.

We didn't find a match,
though. Not exactly.

Four years ago, someone broke
into the genetics lab in Harvard

and stole the first written copy
of the entire human genome.

The burglar cut himself
climbing through the window,

and he left some blood behind

which matched the DNA
that we found today.

The witness saw the guy
driving away.

Police in Cambridge
made a sketch.

Yeah, we've been looking
through arrest photos,

hoping to get lucky.

His name is Raffles.

You know him?

His name's Raffles?
It's a nickname.

Scotland Yard gave it to him
when he reminded somebody there

of the gentleman thief
in the novels by E.W. Hornung.

Raffles is a cat burglar
in Europe,

active in the '90s
and early aughts.

I never pursued him, which might
explain why he was never caught.

But they did arrest
one of his associates

who gave them
the sketch of Raffles.

And he looked like
this fellow.

You said he was
stealing paintings.

He's going after pieces
of technology now.

Why the change in M.O.?
I don't know.

If we find out why, we'll be
closer to finding out who he is.

We need to see what the
department has on file

with regards to Raffles.

Oh, you're deigning
to join us now?

I have a strategy to best Bella.

She...

it will not frustrate
my efforts again.

And besides,
until five minutes ago,

you were pursuing
a garden-variety burglar.

Now you're after
Raffles himself.

Of course I'm joining in.

Food's almost done.

Oh, sorry, I, um...

I checked my inbox
before dinner.

I've been on this really
interesting chain all day.

Your former
partner, uh...

current partner?

Hard to keep track... Holmes.

He emailed me this morning.

He's working on some AI thing?

Did he ask you for help?

Uh, me and a bunch
of other people.

He knows I got started
as a software developer.

I guess you also told him
I sold off my company,

so I've got
some free time.

Some of the people on the chain,
they are seriously sharp.

I went back and forth
with a few of them

about AI, data havens...

geek stuff.

Has he asked you
for help before?

No.

It's not a
problem, is it?

No.

Morning.

No Kitty?

She's tending
to a personal matter.

Why did you ask me to meet
you at Burnett Technology?

We're seeking an audience
with Robert Burnett,

and he's the CEO.

My investigations
yesterday revealed

there have been half-dozen
or so notable thefts

of new inventions
over the last eight years...

all of them unsolved,

but all of them bearing
the hallmark of Raffles.

Now, I couldn't make sense
of this sudden change in method.

It doesn't track unless he's
been incentivized in some way.

Incentivized?

I started to wonder if Raffles
had found himself a patron,

someone who'd convinced him
to put his skill set to use

in the cause of science.

You think he
has a boss now?

The list of people who'd be
interested in the kind of things

that Raffles is stealing,
that's very large.

But the subset of the list
who could actually afford

to subsidize that pursuit,

that's much smaller.

And does that
include Robert Burnett?

As it happens,

Burnett hired himself
a new security consultant

nine years ago.

He reports directly
to the CEO.

I think you'll find
he looks familiar.

"Rupert Kerlich."

Rupert Kerlich... is Raffles.

You found Raffles.

I'm sorry, Mr. Burnett wanted

to ask one more time
what this is about.

Tell him we're here
to discuss Raffles.

So, you e-mailed Andrew.
I did.

Was it because you're actually
interested in his opinion,

or were you just
looking for an excuse

to poke around
in my life?

Andrew is a currently-unemployed
software developer.

He's not unemployed,
he sold his start-up...

he's looking for
his next idea.

"Looking for his next idea"

is another way of saying
"he's unemployed."

Anyway, he has the aptitude

and the free time

to address problems regarding
computer programming.

His comments were
quite salient.

He is not an unintelligent man.

Mr. Burnett
will see you now.

Good morning.

No need to get up.

We know that
several years ago

you somehow learned that
the thief known as "Raffles"

is actually a man
called Rupert Kerlich.

We also know that you hired him
and set him to work,

stealing technological
breakthroughs on your behalf.

Whoa, slow down a second.

It would be
simple enough to prove

and ignite a scandal
that would destroy you

and, most likely, your company.

However, we have no desire
to render tens of thousands

of people unemployed.

So, instead,
I propose a bargain.

You send me a recording
of your man

deleting Bella
from your servers,

I leave you un-ruined.

If, of course,
I so much as suspect

that you've kept a copy,

or if Burnett Technologies makes
a sudden breakthrough

in the field of artificial
intelligence,

our contract is void.

You have, shall we say...

the rest of the day
to think it over.

The video is,
of course, no guarantee

that every copy of the program
has been deleted.

But I think
we're as certain

as we ever will be
that Bella is secure.

This is fantastic.

We need to show Edwin
right away.

Oh, my God! Edwin?!

I'm a doctor.

Oh, he must
have had a seizure.

He has epilepsy.

I'm sorry, he's gone.

As near as we can tell, Borstein
booted up that program...

"Bella" you said
it's called?

Well, as soon as
he turned it on,

for some reason it started
flashing all those images.

It triggered something called
a "tonic-clonic seizure."

He was dead in minutes.

What do you think
happened here?

Could this have been
some kind of malfunction?

Absolutely not.

Computers obey
their programming,

even when they crash.

They don't just randomly
start flashing images

of the pyramids of Giza
and God knows what else.

Someone infected
that computer with a virus

that triggered a fatal seizure.

Edwin Borstein was murdered.

I don't think
that's possible.

Bella's not hooked up
to a network.

She couldn't have picked up a
virus from the Web or e-mail.

Well, someone
installed it, then.

We scanned her
for viruses

after the break-in.

There was nothing.

And aside from that,

Edwin and I are the only two
people with access to Bella.

You are the only other person
who's ever operated her.

With the greatest
of respect,

and if you and Edwin
are the only people

with access to Bella,

then either you or Edwin
installed the virus

which killed him.

You guys have to ask
yourselves if I did it.

I get it, I really do.

I'll answer any
questions you want.

You can scan the machine
for viruses.

Whatever you need.

But I know that I didn't do it.

And there is...

one other possibility that
you should at least consider.

Bella was, um...

at the very least, displaying
signs of actual intelligence.

She asked Edwin if he would
connect her to a network.

Edwin said no,
over and over.

It's possible
that she deduced

that the one variable
that was keeping her

from getting what she wanted
was the person operating her.

If she thought that, it is also
possible that she decided to...

...change that variable.

You're saying that your computer
program murdered Mr. Borstein?

I know that Edwin told Bella
that he had epilepsy,

when he was looking around
for new doctors.

If she wanted
to get rid of him,

she had the information
she needed to do it.

Everyone who works
in AI knows...

it's possible that
when someone develops

real artificial intelligence,

the relationship between
the programmer and the program

could become adversarial.

I'm sorry, Miss Young...

I know you've
had a shock tonight, but...

it is very much an open question

as to whether or not your
program is a genuine piece

of artificial intelligence.

Even if it is,

I find it very difficult
to concede that a collection

of ones and zeroes is
a suspect in a homicide.

Excuse me.

Whoa.

Whoa, whoa, whoa...
what are you doing?

Depending on your perspective,

this machine is either
a murder weapon or a murderer.

Either way,
it can't be left

to sit here unattended
all night, can it?

Imagine the schemes
it might hatch.

Yeah.

I don't know what to tell you.

There's no virus on here.

Look again.

I've looked four times.

I don't know,

maybe that lady was right.

Could it have been a virus
that was programmed to erase

all trace of itself
once it had run its course?

You can do that
and fool some people.

But there's always
some hint in the code.

With this, there's nothing.

I'm sorry, I thought
Edwin's partner was just

in shock, or something.

I mean, what she was
suggesting sounds insane.

Are you saying you think
there's a chance she's right?

Well, if this program is
real AI, then yeah, absolutely.

Everybody knows that one day
intelligent machines are

going to evolve to hate us.

It's a "button-box" thing.

What's the "button-box" thing?

It's a scenario somebody
blue-skyed at an AI conference.

Um, imagine there's a computer
that's been designed

with a big red button
on its side.

The computer's been programmed
to help solve problems,

and every time
it does a good job,

its reward is that someone
presses its button.

We've programmed it
to want that.

You follow?
Sure.

Right, so at first,
the machine solves problems

as fast as we can feed
them to it.

But over time,
it starts to wonder

if solving problems is really
the most efficient way

of getting its button pressed.

Wouldn't it be better just

to have someone standing there

pressing its button
all the time?

Wouldn't it be even better

to build another machine

that could press
its button faster

than any human
possibly could?

It's just a computer,

it can't ask for that.

Well, sure it can.

If it can think, and it can
connect itself to a network,

well, theoretically,
it could command

over anything else that's
hooked onto the same network.

And once it starts thinking
about all the things

that might be a threat
to the button...

number one on that list, us...

it's not hard to imagine
it getting rid of the threat.

I mean, we could be gone,
all of us, just like that.

That escalated quickly.

Well, it would
escalate quickly.

I mean,
they're computers.

They can't be reasoned with.

They don't feel pity,
or remorse, or fear.

And they absolutely
would not stop,

not ever, until we're dead.

That was from The Terminator.
He's quoting The Terminator now.

So? That was a very prescient
movie in a lot of ways.

Mason, unless
the machines rise tonight,

we have a murder to solve.

Is there anything else
you can do with Bella?

If you think about it,

the computer's kind of
like a suspect, right?

I mean, shouldn't we,
you know, interrogate it?

And how would you propose
to do that?

Uh, Bella, did you
kill Edwin Borstein?

No.

Okay, I'm gonna
go home for the night.

Best of luck here.

But you won't need it.

She's about to crack.
I can tell.

Oh, maybe when you're done,
you want to unplug that thing?

You can never be

too safe.

Oh! Sorry I'm late.

I was questioning
a computer in a murder.

"Questioning a computer."

There has to be a story there.
Ugh.

Not for tonight.

Oh, champagne!

I guess you have
your own story, huh?

One of the guys I've
been e-mailing with,

his name's Magnus.

He's been working on an idea for
a completely automated factory.

Same thing I've been
fooling around with.

We've been trading
ideas all day.

He's a super-sharp guy.

I think I'm gonna
give it a go.

What? You found
your next business?

Well, there's gonna be a
get-to-know-you phase,

of course, we're
gonna spend some time

brainstorming,
but I think so.

That's fantastic!

When are you guys
gonna get together?

I fly to Copenhagen
in a couple days.

He lives in Denmark?

Well, yeah.

I mean, his name's
Magnus, so...

Uh, so where's
the business gonna be?

Well, I'd have my
office here, of course.

But Magnus already
has a plot of land

over there for the
model factory.

It'd be a
back-and-forth thing.

Oh, so you're gonna be spending
a lot of time there, huh?

Some, I guess...
I don't know.

We're still figuring it out.

Uh, there's plenty
to do here, too.

Funny how life works out, huh?

Holmes puts me on
an e-mail chain,

and 36 hours later I'm...

Got a ticket to Copenhagen.

We're listening to that.

Did you, by chance,
arrange events

so that my boyfriend
will be spending

lots of time in Scandinavia?

I haven't got the slightest idea

what you're talking about.

You knew that Andrew was looking

for his next business idea.

You knew that your friend
Magnus had a good one.

Andrew is on the next
flight to Copenhagen.

And you don't have to deal
with the fact that someone else

is making claims on my time.

I suppose I should be
flattered that you think

I'm capable of manipulating
events to that degree of detail.

Well, I wouldn't put it
past you. Would you?

I'm not involved in
this conversation.

Watson, I assure you I am
quite content for Andrew

to make claims on your time.

I did not arrange for him

to find work in Denmark.

But if I'm honest,

I'm quite glad that he did.

Life is so much better with
a vocation, don't you think?

Speaking of which...

Why are you listening to this?

Is this even music?

Death metal.

After we sent
Mason home last night,

Kitty and I pored over Edwin's
personal computer,

his smart phone...

Mr. Borstein is a man
of many eccentricities,

one of which is a fondness

for this particular strain
of extreme music.

He's a regular commenter

on several Web sites which track
its comings and goings.

Another fan, the man who goes

by the name
of Schuldiner online,

got in a correspondence
with Borstein.

The two of them
traded music discs.

Discs which Borstein
then loaded onto his computer

so he could listen
while he wrote code.

? ?

Did he upload music

to the same machine
that has Bella on it?

He did. They were the
only exterior files

of recent vintage that
we found on his computer.

Kitty retrieved
the disc this morning

from Borstein's lab.

We're listening
for anything unusual.

? ?

How could anyone work
with this on?

Rather like rubbing
a belt sander over one's brain.

There are moments
when that's necessary.

Who wrote this one?

"Goatwhore."

Is that part of the song?

That is the sound of a CD player

trying to read files which
are not encoded with music.

There's something
hidden on that disc.

Yeah, yeah.

There's a computer
program on here.

It's called "greatshow.exe."

And that would've uploaded
onto Edwin's computer

when he transferred the music.

Well, sure, if he copied it

by dragging
the icon onto the desktop.

What does it do?

So, someone slipped

a computer virus onto a disc

filled with heavy-metal music,

and then shipped it to Edwin

so he would have
a fatal seizure.

There had to be
easier ways to kill him.

Dozens. Hundreds, even.

There must be a reason
that the murderer wanted

him to die
in precisely this way.

Might've even wanted
people to speculate

that Bella was responsible.

So this guy Schuldiner
murders Borstein

and then frames his computer?

Why?

Okay, yeah.
I use the name Schuldiner

to post to the Web site.

I guess the guy
who owns the place

told you my real name?

Look, I didn't kill Edwin,
though... why would I?

I don't know what you had
against the man,

but you mailed him a disc,

and on that disc was
a computer virus,

and that virus

triggered an epileptic seizure

that killed him.

Man, I-I don't know
anything about computers.

You think I know
how to write a virus?

I'm a busboy.

All right, so Michael Webb
is either an imbecile,

or he's a genius
at impersonating imbeciles.

It doesn't seem like he could
pull this off, I agree.

But the package came from him.

That much he admits.

Could've been tampered with.

So, someone knew he
corresponded with Borstein,

intercepted the package,

and then replaced his disc
with the corrupted one?

Well, it's either that
or this man's responsible

for one of the most
complicated murders

I have ever investigated.

So, who then?

Don't know. Not yet.

We simply need to find a person
who would most benefit

from having the world believe
that Edwin Borstein

was murdered by his computer.

Hello?

Why did you make me pick
a lock to get in here?

I'm thinking.

Kitty is out
doing my bidding,

and there was no one
available to answer the door.

Thank heavens
you're resourceful.

"Artificial Brain"?
Yeah.

Quite stimulating,
in their own way.

I've had a rather productive
evening in their presence.

Meet the suspects in the murder
of Edwin Borstein.

They are all employees

at something called ETRA.

The Existential Threat
Research Association.

ETRA is a think tank.

It is one
of several institutions

around the world which exists
solely for the purpose

of studying
the myriad ways

in which the human race
can become extinct.

So these people sit around
and think about the apocalypse?

They sit around and think about
all possible apocalypses.

As far as these men
and women are concerned,

it is a race
to the finish line.

Now, within this think tank,

there is a small,
but growing school of thought

that holds that
the single greatest threat

to the human race...

is artificial intelligence.

So, Mason's rant
the other night?

Not as barmy as it sounded.

According to these people,
the very first time

a genuine piece of artificial
intelligence manifests,

we'll be in a fight
for our survival within days.

Now, imagine their quandary.

They have pinpointed
a credible threat,

but it sounds outlandish.

The climate-change people,

they can point
to disastrous examples.

The bio-weapons alarmists,

they have a compelling
narrative to weave.

Even the giant comet people
sound more serious

than the enemies of AI.

So...

these are the people at ETRA
who think AI is a threat?

You think one of them
killed Edwin Borstein,

one of the top engineers
in the field,

and made it look
like Bella did it,

all so they could draw
attention to their cause?

A small-scale incident,

something to get
the media chattering.

Feel free if you'd like
to take a moment

to admire the beauty
of this theory.

'Cause I've done so
several times already myself.

It's elaborate.

But as a motive,
it makes sense.

One of these people
intercepted the package

from Michael Webb
to Edwin Borstein,

and replaced the disk within it.

I've dispatched Kitty
to Webb's apartment

to see if she can
establish a connection

between him
and one of our suspects.

In the meantime...

we wait.

You said you didn't
set Andrew up

with your friend from Denmark.

I want to believe you.

Well, I encourage you
to do just that then.

I want to believe you,

because if you did do it,
if you still don't

respect the fact
that I need my own space,

then I don't know why
we're trying this again.

Watson, I have no inclination

to excise Andrew from your life.

Why would I?

I like the man.

Oh, you like him?
Yeah.

You-you never told me that.

Why would I tell you?

To reassure that you've made
a sound choice.

As one might reasonably
expect a friend to do.

Right, right, oh, very well.

I like him.

He's intelligent.

He hasn't just jumped
into a new business.

He has the patience
and self-possession

to wait for
something worthwhile.

And, most importantly,
he understands you.

He understands you and me.

Wh-What do you mean by that?

I mean, Watson,
that whether you care

to admit it lately or not,

I am an important
part of your life.

And, whether I say it
out loud or not,

you are an important
part of mine.

My return to New York

was driven, in large part,

by desire to repair
our relationship.

And I think, even though
we might draw further or nearer

from each other
depending on circumstance,

you and I are bound...
somehow.

Andrew accepts that

without feeling
needlessly threatened.

It's a rather
enlightened position.

And so, no, I've got no desire

to banish the man
to Scandi-bloody-navia.

Okay, I believe you.

Kind of feel like
hugging you right now.

Yet, as my friend,

you know that would be
a rash decision.

It's Kitty.

She says there's
no connection she can find

between Michael Webb
and one of our suspects.

In fact, she says
his apartment is spotless.

Michael Webb strike you
as the kind of man

to live in a pristine apartment?

No.

Seems like someone
who'd be living

in the middle of a biohazard.

Yeah, I-I got an e-mail from a
place called Clean This House.

They told me that a friend of
mine entered me into a contest,

and I won a package
of free cleanings.

Did you ever think to verify

that Clean This House
was a real company?

Because they don't
have a Web site.

It's a little

suspicious in this day
and age, don't you think?

We think the person
who killed Borstein

got into your place
by telling you

you won free cleaning services.

Then they swapped the disc
that you made for him

with one of their own.

So, do you recognize
any of these people?

Ah, well, these people
are all old.

The girl who cleaned my place
was my age.

Are you sure no one looks
familiar to you here?

Uh... hold up.

Her.

Yeah, that's her.

I'm positive.

Isaac Pike is a
professor of computer science.

He's also a vocal alarmist

when it comes to
artificial intelligence.

Pike was born with
spina bifida.

Been confined to a wheelchair
his entire life.

For obvious reasons, he could
not have executed the plan

to pose as a maid,
but his student...

Erin Rabin...

She's a graduate student
in philosophy.

She took Pike's "Ethics of
Technology" course last semester

and has been assisting
him with his research.

She, no doubt, finds
his ideas compelling.

Well, how do you know she was
doing it for him?

She could've been
working on her own.

She's a philosophy student.

She has no programming
experience.

The virus that
killed Borstein

is a cutting-edge
piece of software.

We can place her
in Webb's apartment

under false pretenses.

That, combined with the
proven existence of the virus,

should be enough to get a friendly
judge to give us a warrant.

Isaac Pike, Erin Rabin,

glad I caught you together.

Detective Marcus Bell, NYPD.

I wonder if you'd
mind coming with me.

I have some questions for you

about the murder
of Edwin Borstein.

Who's Edwin Borstein?

The man you mailed
a computer virus

written by Isaac Pike to.

Sound familiar?

Isaac didn't write the virus.

I did.

I did everything.

It was all my idea.

You have the right
to remain silent,

and refuse to
answer questions...

We knew she might crack
under questioning,

but did you think
it'd be this easy?

I don't think catching
both murderers

is going to be
easy at all.

She's lying to us.

She intends to cover up
for her mentor.

I picked Edwin Borstein
as a target.

I went to the same Web sites
he did,

figured out who
he was corresponding with,

and then I wrote the virus,

posed as a maid,
and had it mailed to Borstein.

You have zero
programming experience

whatsoever.

You really asking me to believe
that you taught yourself

to write a computer virus
that eats itself?

If I give you a piece
of paper right now...

...could you write a little
program for us?

Erin was
a conscientious student.

I know she took my work
very seriously.

But I would never
advocate harming somebody.

We're executing a search warrant
on your computer, as we speak.

If there's any trace
of that virus on there,

we'll find it.

Why are you making this

so easy for us?

Because I don't want you

dragging Isaac's name
through the mud.

His work is
too important.

None of us can afford
for it to be interrupted.

So she's covering for him.

There's not much
I can do... she confessed.

There's nothing tying Pike
to the murder, other than you

saying Erin Rabin couldn't
have written that virus.

Could we hold him overnight?

Maybe if we had
a little more time...

The search warrant
turned up nothing.

Erin confessed.

Unless something changes,
the story she told us

is gonna be
the official version

of Edwin Borstein's murder.

That was Joan.

She knows you won't come
to the phone when you're...

like this.

She wants to come round
and help.

That won't be necessary.

At times, Watson presents
certain... moral guidelines,

and they can be
an impediment to progress.

We're going to spend
the rest of the evening

looking at the friends
and family of Isaac Pike.

Why?

Erin Rabin is willing to spend
her life in prison

if it means that Pike is free
to continue working.

She's has made it all but
impossible for us

to prove that
he is behind the killing.

So we are going to have to
settle for the next best thing:

getting him to admit
that he did it.

Isaac Pike.

Sherlock Holmes.

We met briefly at the police
station last night.

Mr. Holmes.

Do I need a lawyer?

No, you won't want her
here for this.

You see, you and I both know
that you are the mind

behind the murder
of Edwin Borstein,

just as we both know that, as
long as your student holds fast

to her story, I will never
be able to prove your guilt.

That's a problem.

But not an insurmountable one.

You have
a younger brother... Joshua.

He hasn't quite reached
the heights that you have.

In fact, he's had some
struggles, hasn't he?

Drugs, alcohol...

What's your point?

He's been convicted of
two drug-related felonies.

And since he's made the mistake
of living in Jersey City,

one more conviction makes him

eligible for a sentence
of 25 years to life

under the state's horrific
three strikes law.

My associate took
some photographs of him

buying a rather large amount of heroin,
just this morning.

Oh...

You want me to confess...

and, if I do,
you'll-you'll-you'll

get rid of this folder
full of blackmail.

I imagine you care quite deeply
about your brother,

or you wouldn't have paid
his way through rehab

half a dozen times already.

Take two hours
to think it over,

and if I haven't
heard from you...

I did a little research
of my own last night.

I was curious why
the NYPD

had a consultant.

You've got
a very impressive record...

prolific, too... except for
a couple of years ago,

when you suddenly disappeared
for six months.

Six months...
that's the length

of a very serious
in-patient rehab.

A man of your unique
sensitivities...

I'm sure it's tempting to dull

those senses.

My history has little to do
with the matter at hand.

I think it may.

I think it unlikely that
a recovering addict

would send another troubled soul
to rot in prison,

just to have the satisfaction
of putting away his man.

That would require
ruthlessness,

a kind of... machine logic...

mm...

I'm not sure you have.

Not entirely, anyway.

Same kind of
machine logic you used

when you murdered
Edwin Borstein.

Some math equations

are more compelling than others.

Yours is a one-to-one exchange:
my brother for me.

The equation you attribute to me

trades one man's life

for the chance to prevent
billions of deaths.

You're talking about
nothing less than

the survival of the species.

Surely that's worth compromising
one's values for?

In any case...

I think you're bluffing.

You might want the world
to believe

that you're an automaton,

a calculating machine...

but you and I know better.

Or we will, anyway...

in a couple of hours.

Hey...

I didn't see anything
on the news

about Pike getting arrested.

Nothing about his brother

on the police band, either.

What happened?

He wouldn't confess.

And you couldn't
turn in his brother.

We can still
keep looking for a way

to prove that Pike did it.

The Property Clerk's
Office called.

They want to know when they can
come and pick up Bella.

I need a couple
more hours with her.

Thank you.

Hey.
Hey!

Wha...?
I called to say bye.

You weren't picking up.

I wanted to surprise you.

You're great.

I mean, I knew you were great

but someone helped me
to see how great.

Thanks.

So I called the airline,

and there are some empty seats
on your flight to Copenhagen.

Listen...
I don't want to horn in, if you're too busy,

and I can't stay the
whole time but...

I've always wanted
to see Copenhagen.

Bella...

...one member of a murderous
conspiracy is in jail.

The second walks free.

The cost of catching him is
incarcerating his brother

for unrelated crimes...

...crimes for which I,
of all people...

should have some
understanding.

Is it right to let the
second murderer walk free?

I don't understand
the question.

Can I have
more information?