Murder, She Wrote (1984–1996): Season 10, Episode 5 - A Virtual Murder - full transcript

I feel as if I were
inside Hastings Manor.

MICHAEL: We don't call
this virtual reality for nothing.

We're not going
for a writing award.

I'm going to do my
best to fix your program.

You're destroying Michael.
You know that, don't you?

I want a signing
bonus of 300,000.

Now, wait a minute. I'm not
about to pay you another penny.

I believe what you do
is known as extortion.

DELCANTO: So, you discussed it
again, and argued, and you killed him.

I think you're terrified that
you're going to be the next target.

The man was that crazy.



I hack my way inside? Total
piece of cake, Mrs. Fletcher.

Welcome to the mind
of the total paranoiac.

(LAUGHING)

JESSICA: Thank goodness
it's nonstop from Boston.

SETH: To Silicon Valley, huh?

Now, let me get this straight.

You've made up an
arcade game, is that it?

What is it? One of those

mind-numbing, blast-the-enemy
space ships gizmos?

Or, perhaps it's the
one where one little face

goes running around eating
up all the other little faces.

Oh, of course not.
Stop it. This is very fresh.

It's a whole new technology
and they call it virtual reality.

They? What, these computer
experts? This Michael what's his name?



Michael Burke,
Hallie Burke's boy.

You remember, from
Kennebunk. Michael's her son.

One of the brilliant
young men in the field.

Of children's game. I can't
believe you're doing this.

Seth, we're about to
enter the 21st century.

I mean, we've
got to stay with it.

I mean, to begin with,
this isn't just for children.

It's partly a game,
partly an environment.

(LAUGHING) It's really
quite an experience.

Technology,
environment, experience.

Oh, Jess, come on!

Listen to me, Seth.

Now, you wear these electronic goggles that
are really rather like little TV screens.

Then, you put on this glove,

and suddenly you're in a world
that only exists inside of a computer.

Oh, for heaven's sake, how
do you expect me to... Except...

Except that it feels quite real.

It's a bit disorienting,

as if you're visiting this
strange, almost alien place.

It's rather wonderful. You're completely
surrounded by it, moving through it,

and yet, you're simply
standing there, when...

And you wrote all this?

Well, just the script. And
then these young programmers

turned it into virtual reality.

JESSICA: The game's called
A Killing At Hastings' Rock.

MAN: Get them packaged...

JESSICA: Michael, I'm so excited to
be part of this new frontier with you.

MICHAEL: It's your words and imagination
that has brought it to life, Jessica.

(BEEPING) JESSICA:
Well, here we go.

Oh, Michael, it's breathtaking.
The realism is incredible.

Oh, good evening.

Welcome to Hastings' Rock.

I trust you will find
your stay here intriguing.

Oh, Jeremy Hastings is
perfect. Exactly as I wrote him.

What about the
setting and ambiance?

JESSICA: Just as
I imagined them.

(GASPS) I feel as if I
were inside Hastings Manor.

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

Well, that's the idea. We don't
call this virtual reality for nothing.

MAN: Graphics are working. WOMAN 1: There's
a full wrap-around with peripherals.

WOMAN 2: So, there's
six tactile electrodes.

My compliments,
Michael, James, everyone.

It's amazing. MICHAEL:
Why, thank you, Jessica.

Please, go on.

Excuse me, Mr. Salisbury
is waiting in the...

(STUTTERING)

Have I done something wrong?

No. Alex, are you
picking up anything?

No, sir. The glitch is in the
program. I tried to tell you that, but...

Hold it, Alex, please.

Jessica, there seems to be a problem in
the programming. Turn away and try again.

Let's just pray it doesn't
cost us any money.

Relax, David.
We're almost there.

Excuse me, Mr. Salisbury
is waiting in the...

(STUTTERING)

We have a major problem.

Shut it down.

You can come out, Mrs. Fletcher.

Oh, God.

MAN ON PAGER: Alex Porter,
please return your mother's call.

Damn it.

MAN: I... I think you're right.

You left your pager again, Alex.

That bug never
should have happened.

In a perfect world,
Alex, maybe not.

No, Mrs. Fletcher, that's a no-brainer.
Any high school hacker would have...

SECRETARY ON PA: Alex, will you please
remember to keep your beeper with you?

And, Alex, return
your mother's call.

She's been like this
ever since I was a kid.

She keeps on calling,

so Lindstrom devised this system
so that everybody's messages

go directly to their pager.

Well, sounds sensible to me.

Yeah, but I have to
remember to take it with me.

(CHUCKLING)

I don't make mistakes
like this, James.

The servant girl was
your responsibility.

Look, both of you, I don't
give a damn whose fault it was.

Can we just fix it?

Michael, I want you to
understand that I would never...

Sharon.

Get yourself together. Go get
a cup of coffee or something.

It's not your fault.

I'm afraid we have to
reprogram the servant girl.

Well, we still have 24
hours before the introduction.

And if we hit a cascade, we'll
be lucky to solve it in 24 days.

The risk is that sometimes
reprogramming one element

creates a kind
of snowball effect.

A cascade of glitches that
messes up the whole program.

(SIGHS) Oh, gosh... Michael,
we can't spend another dollar

on this project. We
just don't have it.

Well, I've got an idea.

And a buggy product, Mrs.
Fletcher, means returns,

angry customers and retailers,

and a loss in faith in the
publisher and the programmer.

If you would have
taken time to beta test...

Fix it, James.

Not with my
reputation on the line.

Cancel the reception.

We can't. It's a done deal.

We have media and buyers
coming from all over the country.

Why don't you just
change the script?

Why don't you just be a good
little intern and call your mother?

No, he may have something.

No time, Michael. No time.

Look, I may be
right off base here,

but would it create the
same danger of a cascade

if I were to simply write the
servant girl out of the story?

A literary solution
to a binary problem.

It might work.

How long will it take?

Well, I'm not sure. The servant
girl runs right through the story

and provides a lot of the clues.

I'd... I'd have to give a lot of her
dialogue to the other characters.

Look, I should get back to the
hotel if I'm going to start this.

Alex, just stay with her.

Yeah, sure.

Mrs. Fletcher, keep it simple.

We're not going
for a writing award.

Mr. Lindstrom, I'm going to
do my best to fix your program.

And don't worry,
David. It's on me.

(LAUGHS) Come on, Alex.

Well, there's not much more we
can do until Mrs. Fletcher gets back,

whenever that may be.

Why don't you finish
up and stand by?

I'll see you later.

I'm not an expert on masochism,
but I'm learning more every day.

Oh?

Watching you put up with an SOB
like Lindstrom just to be near Michael

when you don't stand a chance.

Well, if that were true, we wouldn't
be discussing it, now would we?

Subject departs Marathon
Images by car, 7:17 p.m.

The car is a late model
aqua Corvette convertible.

Oh, Alex, could you please stop
pacing? I'm having enough trouble as it is

trying to find someone
else to give this glove clue to.

Sorry.

(ALEX SIGHING)

Man, I'm really
bummed, Mrs. Fletcher.

None of this had to happen.

What do you mean?

Well,

I designed a program to
test the game at high speeds.

But Lindstrom, the prince
of paranoia, nixed the idea

because I would have had to
have used his source codes,

which he guards like Fort Knox.

When people turn 25, is there a
suspicion gene that suddenly kicks in?

Oh, Alex.

I'm sorry, Mrs. Fletcher.

By the way, have you considered
giving that clue to Mr. Macauley?

Mr. Macauley?

Well, sure. He was down in the wine cellar
just after the servant girl was there.

Wasn't he?

Which means that he could
have seen the Colonel's glove.

(LAUGHS)

Thank you, Alex.

Where's Lindstrom?

He took off.

I just tried him.
He's not in his office.

MAN ON PAGER: Michael Burke,
there is a call for you on line eight.

Michael Burke. Oh,
hi, Carl. How are you?

No, we're excited out of
our minds. You'll love it.

No. It'll be worth
the trip, I promise.

And don't forget your checkbook.

(LAUGHS) Okay.
I'll see you. Bye.

(SIGHS)

Not the first time
we've been here.

Your father's garage?

Four in the morning, a virus
gobbling up the program.

We thought our careers
were over before they started.

But we got through that.

And then we went to the
beach and watched the sunrise.

Seems like a lifetime ago.

Not to me.

Mrs. Fletcher just called.

She's done the rewrite.

Oh, that's great.

Now, where the
hell is Lindstrom?

Subject arrives, Redwood
Concepts, 11:05 p.m.

What do you know? It seems
Mr. David Salt of rival Marathon Images

has business in the same place.

James, what's your problem?

Simply that the deal David
presented was with John Crowley.

Now I discover it's really
with a certain Charles Crowe.

(LAUGHING)

A legal name change?

Reinventing oneself is about as
American as mom's apple pie, no?

I took the liberty of hacking
into the FBI mainframe.

Three years at Marion for
extortion and attempted murder.

For the past seven, chief of
operations for Levitt Games International.

It seems that the Justice
Department has a very keen interest

in the rather gross
methods you employ

to convince casino owners
to use Levitt slot machines.

James, why are we
rehashing the past?

This is a new day, it's a
new place, it's a new industry.

Very good. Fair enough.

Your offer is
basically acceptable.

But I want a signing
bonus of 300,000.

(LAUGHING) Forget it.

Ciao.

Come on, James, this is wrong.

Listen to him, Lindstrom.
My people won't like this.

Now, I know you're not stupid,

so I can only conclude
that you must be very naive.

Remind your people they're not
dealing in one-armed bandits anymore.

And the ones with two arms,

they don't scan
in this business.

(DOOR CLOSING)
David, you are in trouble.

You couldn't come
up with some money?

Davey, based on your
representations to me and his word,

which is clearly
worth very little,

I have put my tail on the line with some
people who have an even lower threshold

of sympathy than I have.

So tomorrow, if I am
unable to announce

Lindstrom's defection
to Redwood Concepts,

you are going to be in far
deeper trouble than I am.

There's another way.

There always is.

If you had Lindstrom's
source codes,

the ones he wrote for
Marathon's VR game,

you wouldn't need him at all.

Sharon, we're running
out of time. Just set it up.

We're going to get
started without Lindstrom.

What do you think you're doing?

Obviously I'm looking for your
codes so we can get started up there.

The rewrite's on its way.

My codes are right here,
where they always are.

I'll meet you on the bridge.

Now, get out.

Okay. That should
do it. Back it up, Alex.

Done and done.

All right.

Thanks, everyone. Let's
go for a final run-through.

Oh, Jessica. You know, nobody
will fault you if you want to go

to your hotel and
crash till the reception.

Oh, I'd never be
able to sleep a wink.

Michael, is it too late to change
one word of Mr. Macauley's dialogue?

It's no problem. Oh, great.

Your tinkering is becoming
tedious, Mrs. Fletcher.

Well, it's just part of
the creative process.

What is it that disturbs
you, the disorder?

You could say that, yes.

The beauty of the binary system is that
everything is reducible to zeros or ones.

It either is or it isn't.

Clean, precise, exact.

Words that hardly apply to
human behavior, wouldn't you say?

I mean, gray areas, such
as feelings, emotions,

irrationality.

Eventually we'll
codify all of it.

Computers that not
only think, but feel?

The future. Tell me the truth,

won't that be far more preferable
than the chaos in which we now exist?

I suppose it would.

If control was what I lived for.

In the scene where Mr. Macauley
is talking about Victoria Hastings,

will you please change
the word "lust" to "love"?

JAMES: (SIGHING) Another
glitch and we've had it.

Bite your tongue.

And then pray. Ready, people?

Up and running.

MICHAEL: Here we go, Jessica. And no matter
what happens, thank you for everything.

I have a feeling it's going to work
fine this time. No glitches, no crashes.

Good luck.

MICHAEL: Take it, Jessica.

JESSICA: Fine so far.

Oh, good evening.

Welcome to Hastings' Rock.

I trust you will
find your stay here

intriguing.

MICHAEL: How's it looking, Jess?

No servant girl,
no hors d'oeuvres.

I'll miss those little hot dogs,

MICHAEL: Fine so far.

(CLEARING THROAT)

I'll meet you in
the drawing room.

(CHUCKLING) If you're lucky.

JESSICA: (LAUGHING) Now, all I
have to do is find the drawing room.

The Hastings family has a long
history of military service in the cavalry.

Could we change the battle
axes to crossed sabers?

Bring up the weapons file.

SHARON: We've
got crossed sabers.

MICHAEL: Keep
your eye on the axes.

My compliments.

My lawyer made him
write me back into the will.

Meet me in the garden at 10:00.

JESSICA: I'll be there, Carrie.
But I happen to know that you won't.

SHARON: Still looking good.

(EXCLAIMS)

Shut the door!

(CHUCKLING) Exactly
in character, Miss Devers.

Michael, this door won't open.

And I don't recall writing doors

on both sides of the hall.

Where did they come from?

There was a static moment.
I thought I'd experiment.

Can we erase them?

No, we cannot.

But we changed the
axes. Why not the doors?

LINDSTROM: The
axes were an appendage.

The doors are an integral
part of the structure.

Well, a locked door that cannot
be opened is unfair to the players.

I mean, they'll assume that
it holds some significance.

James... We're talking
major reprogramming.

Jessica, it's too risky.

I promise we'll fix it
after the press reception.

I understand, Michael.

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

Attention, please, attention.
I would like to make a toast.

To Sharon, James, Kate, Alex,

(ALL LAUGHING) Alex's mother,

and of course to Jessica,

without whose
intriguing, playful mystery,

all of this never would
have come into existence.

(BEEPING) Cheers.

MAN ON PAGER: Call, Michael,
on four. Wouldn't give his name.

Excuse me a moment. Could be a live
one, or a guy with an identity problem.

(ALL LAUGHING)

Michael, I've got a lot of
work to do. I'll see you later.

Okay.

Likewise.

Hello.

I figured I'd better report in.

I spent last evening
tailing Lindstrom.

Okay, so where does it stand?

Lindstrom isn't
your only problem.

What are you saying?

We're talking a new
case file, Mr. Burke.

A sweeter pot.

Now, wait a minute. I'm not
about to pay you another penny.

You know where to
reach me. Think it over.

Porter!

I think we could
all use some rest.

We've got a big day ahead.

And here we have Marathon's
patented game glasses and gloves,

along with the total audio
experience sound system.

It's a full service package featuring
software and hardware that we believe

will change the face
of arcade gaming.

Thank you. I'll see you later.

Well, yes, in a novel the
author does get to direct the...

The reader's attention,

as opposed to this
virtual reality game,

in which the player
gets to make the choices.

Mrs. Fletcher will be glad to answer
all your questions after you've played

Killing At Hastings' Rock.
We'll go on-line shortly.

Thanks, Kate. I wasn't quite ready to
have a discussion about alternate realties.

Don't blow smoke at me.

You were with John Crowley last
night. What I want to know is why.

Maybe you should find yourself
a better private investigator.

James, don't do this.

Well, why don't you find
out from the horse's mouth?

I don't believe this.

Where the hell did you get that?

Gee, I suddenly can't remember.

(LAUGHING) I don't know.

Why, is it a crime to
check out the competition?

Get out before I have
security throw you out.

With the virtual reality glasses on,
you simply look in any direction you want.

To move through the game you move
your body forward, backward, to the left,

or to the right. You will
be in booth number one.

(DOOR BEEPING)
MAN 1: All right, fellas.

You will be in booth number two.

MAN 2: Move over this way.

Alex, could you check
this door, please?

Yeah, sure. Just a minute.

MICHAEL: Welcome to
the world of cyber-tech, folks,

where everything works
perfectly until people get involved.

(PEOPLE LAUGHING)

(PEOPLE EXCLAIMING)

Those source codes, you're sure
Lindstrom had them on his person?

No, I mean, I can't be sure.
He did have them last night.

But he had to have had them to
boot up the game on the computer.

Yeah, but he would have put
them back in his pocket, too.

He was totally 'noid about them.

Paranoid.

Paranoid. That
covers a lot of territory.

ALEX: Well, like, you'd have to
kill him to get them away from him.

Are they really worth
killing a man for?

Sergeant, the codes are
the basic operating system.

A good programmer could change
the elements, make it a cruise ship,

new characters, create
a whole new game.

Yeah, it'd be almost
impossible to prove it was stolen.

Unless you had the codes.

Well, you boys here in the
valley are pretty competitive.

Any ideas?

John Crowley, Redwood Concepts.

ROSSI: Sergeant.

The security guard saw Lindstrom
enter the virtual reality deck at 4:30.

No one else was
inside at the time.

DELCANTO: Did he see
anybody else go in after that?

He took a 10-minute coffee
break and returned at 4:50.

We didn't lock the
deck, just the bridge.

I heard Lindstrom
being paged at 4:45.

I was coming out of the tape
library and I checked my watch

because I didn't want
to be late for the preview.

Follow it up. If Lindstrom
didn't respond to this page,

at least we have the shooting
narrowed down to a 15-minute window.

All right?

Got you.

Until I give the word, everybody
remains available for questioning.

Any problems with that?

I do have some important
appointments in Manhattan tomorrow.

Just so I know
where to find you.

I was wondering what a
celebrity like you was doing here

in the valley of the Klingons.

But I guess everyone can
use a few extra bucks, right?

Well, I do have a business arrangement with
Marathon, if that's what you're asking.

Cold-blooded murder.
I'm asking everything.

I've been working
this valley for 17 years.

Every once in a while, one of you
guys will flip out and attack somebody

with a spinach
salad or a floppy disk.

But preliminary reports indicate
that Lindstrom was shot with a .22.

I mean, that kind of
hitting you find up on

the Embarcadero in
Frisco by the wise guys.

Are you implying that James Lindstrom
was murdered by a professional killer?

It wasn't a spinach
salad, was it?

What time did you
leave Marathon?

Right after Michael
Burke threw me out.

The reception was still
going on and believe me,

Lindstrom was very much alive.

Burke said you were trying
to hire Lindstrom away.

We'd been discussing that, yes.

Coffee? No, thank you.

So, you discussed
it again and argued

and you killed him.

Yeah.

Come on, Sergeant, you
can do better than that.

Where'd you go after
you left the reception?

Back to my office. I had
some paper work to do.

Anybody see you?

Not that I know of.

How about your secretary?

Oh, I'd given her
the afternoon off.

No alibi?

No.

Kind of careless of you,
wasn't it, Mr. Crowe?

Excuse me, Sergeant.

I just heard from Brennan.

They found a weapon in
the bushes outside Marathon.

A .22 handgun, recently fired.

It's registered to
James Lindstrom.

All right.

But even without the codes,
can't the game still be marketed?

Well, yes, but given
its incredible complexity,

bugs can't be fixed, I
won't be able to update

and developing the next generation
will require going back to square one

with enormous development costs.

My investors are ready to jump ship already
because of our current cost overruns.

And if we don't market A
Killing At Hastings' Rock,

well, my chance of raising any
new investment capital will be nil.

(KNOCKING AT DOOR)

(SIGHS)

Oh, Sergeant Delcanto.

I was told Michael
Burke is here.

Yes, he's about to
drive me to the airport.

I suggest you call a cab.

Mr. Burke, you're under arrest
for the murder of James Lindstrom.

Sergeant, may I ask you...

The victim's gun was
the murder weapon,

but Mr. Burke's
fingerprints were all over it.

OFFICER: This way, Mr. Burke.

Have a safe flight
back to New York.

I just can't
believe it, Jessica.

Michael is maybe the
world's gentlest person.

Well, that's certainly
my impression.

(SIGHING) On the other
hand, James Lindstrom

could make almost
anyone want to take

a shot at him.

Okay, Michael's phone list.

Did you say Parker?

I think that's what I heard.

Parker.

No, no Parker.

I'm almost certain
that it started with a "P."

Porter.

Maybe that was it. Try Porter.

Porter.

"Porter Electrical.
Porter Investigations."

Investigations.
Dan Porter. That's it.

A private investigator?
What's that about?

I'm not sure, Kate. But it could be the
key that will prove Michael's innocence.

Well, you seem to have
lucked out, Mrs. Fletcher.

Happens I just finished up an
important case earlier than I expected,

and I got this little window
before I start my next one.

Well, that's wonderful,
Mr. Porter. Won't you have a seat?

Yeah, thanks.

(CHUCKLING)

Oh, by the way, how did
you happen to hear about me?

Oh, from Michael Burke.

And the police.

(STAMMERING) The police?

They had some rather
interesting things to say about you.

Wait a minute.

You said you got
someone you want followed.

I don't, Mr. Porter.

(LAUGHING) That was a ploy.

(LAUGHING) Yeah? Well, I'm not
going to play games with you, lady.

Oh, and you're going to get
a bill for this, too, you know?

See you around.

Mr. Porter,

I was interested to learn that the
most recent invoice that you submitted

to Michael Burke
included a sizable charge

under the heading of
additional expenses.

(SCOFFS) What
are you getting at?

That's how you collect far more
than your legitimate fees, isn't it?

By withholding information
that you've been hired to gather

and offering it to
the highest bidder,

whether it be your client or
the subject of your investigation?

Hey, I don't have
to listen to this.

But I think it would
be wise if you did.

I believe what you do
is known as extortion

or blackmail,

depending upon who it is you
collect from. Either one is illegal.

Lady, nobody's ever been
able to prove anything.

Till now.

But I'm sure the police would like to
hear about your part in this investigation,

since it involves
a capital crime

and you are a possible
accessory to a murder.

(SCOFFS)

(SIGHS)

Talk to me.

Tell me what it is you
weren't telling Michael Burke.

DAVID: I don't know
what you're talking about.

I think you do, David.

How much did John Crowley pay
you to bring him James Lindstrom?

Mrs. Fletcher, I
did nothing illegal.

Oh, perhaps not illegal,
but certainly not ethical.

Michael trusted you.

Look, if you'll excuse me.

I think, judging from
your haste to get

away, you believe that
Lindstrom was murdered

by a professional hit man
ordered by John Crowley.

Michael couldn't kill anybody.

I think you're terrified that
you're going to be the next target

because you can
implicate Crowley.

No.

I don't know.

I don't even know that James
Lindstrom wasn't suicidal.

And that he didn't
hire his own hit man

just so he could take
Michael down with him.

Oh, now, that is
a bizarre notion.

Is it?

The man was that crazy.

Mrs. Fletcher,

if anyone ever opened the
door to James Lindstrom's head,

I'd stake my life
they'd have found that

nothing was beyond
the realm of possibility.

(CAR ENGINE STARTING)

Open the door.

The door. Of course.

This isn't fair.

You have no right to fire me.

Wrong. Until Michael
returns, I'm running Marathon.

You have until Friday
noon to clear out your office.

You're destroying Michael.
You know that, don't you?

I'm the only one who can clean
up the mess James Lindstrom left.

Don't flatter yourself. The
valley is full of programmers.

Michael and I will survive
very well without you.

Don't bet on it.

(SIGHS)

When Lindstrom said
we couldn't 86 that door,

I remember thinking his
explanation sounded seriously bogus.

No, I mean, there's no way
it could be that hard to do.

Well, can you open it?

I hack my way inside? Total
piece of cake, Mrs. Fletcher.

(LAUGHS) As easy as the
New York Stock Exchange?

I happened to see your file
in Sergeant Delcanto's office.

Great. Can you believe after
five years I'm still on probation?

You mean you were only 11?

Well, I was just
trying to see if I could,

you know, crack their password.

It wasn't like I was
going to steal anything.

Do you know the password?

No, but I will.

Oh, man, this... It's unreal.

I've run my random character
generator, my password algorithm.

I've never met a computer I
couldn't crack in less than 10 minutes.

Alex, James Lindstrom
was a genius, right?

Oh, he told you, too, huh?

Often what stymies the
rest of us about genius

is its ability to reduce
the complex to the simple.

To the obvious.

I mean, what about
something basic, like

"open door"?

Hmm.

That's it! We're in!

(LAUGHING)

(CHATTERING)

Hmm.

All right, Alex.
I'm at the door.

Awesome. Let's go for it.

Keep going. It should just open.

Welcome to the mind
of the total paranoiac.

What you are witnessing
is not an isolated event,

but one of many similar legacies

I have put into
every single program

I have ever created.

Oh, man.

The truth to my accomplishments

will be discovered
by computer hackers

like yourself for
generations to come.

Give me a break.

(CHUCKLING) But
what of the future?

Allow me to foretell that with
a tasty little riddle that goes,

"What purpose can be
served by the mind of man

"that cannot be better
served by the binary brain?"

A lengthy meditation
may be appropriate.

(LAUGHS)

Now, that is a major nut case.

(SIGHS)

With an ego the
size of a watermelon.

Can you believe that bozo?

At least a virus
you can get rid of.

What's your take on his riddle?

Well, I was hoping that
you'd have a thought or two.

Well, the obvious.

Give artificial intelligence
a few more years,

and there won't be anything a
computer can't be programmed

to think out more efficiently
than the human mind.

Well, that's a somewhat
disquieting thought.

On the other hand,
maybe there is no answer.

Say what?

Well, certain classic mystery
stories have been based

on certain unsolvable riddles.

Conundrums whose only purpose was to lead
the reader into new channels of thought.

Well, maybe that explains
who's writing all those

indecipherable software manuals.

In any case, I'm afraid
we're back to square one.

I was hoping that
James Lindstrom

would have something
more specific to tell us.

Hmm.

Hey, listen, hacking always
makes me hungry. How about you?

SECRETARY ON PA: Alex, your
mother wants you home for dinner

and she doesn't sound too happy.

Uh-oh.

Oh! I left my pager
down by the booth.

I swear, it's subconscious.

Alex, explain the paging
system to me once again.

Well, each of the pagers is
set up on a different frequency

and the messages go directly to
the personal pagers that we all carry.

Now, earlier, you
mentioned a computer virus.

What if James Lindstrom
had planted a virus?

Would there be any
way of stopping it?

Well, if he worked them into the
source codes, it'd be almost impossible.

Unless, of course,
you had the codes.

Which we don't.

Alex, could you stick
around a little longer

without getting into any
more trouble with your mother?

(SIGHS) Are you kidding? Great.

ALEX: Yeah, Mom.

I know, Mom.

Yes, I... I'll be home.

Yes, it'll be
sometime this century.

(SIGHS) She's really terrific,

except she obsesses about things
like when I eat and sleep and stuff.

It's not healthy.

Are you certain that this
will get the point across?

Oh, positive.

(PHONE RINGING)

Hello?

Yeah, this is Jessica Fletcher.

I... I was wondering
if you could help me.

I have discovered a riddle that
was left by James Lindstrom,

and for the life of me, I
can't make head or tail of it.

Well, the riddle goes,

"When do 23 and 0-0-14

"combine to penetrate stone

"and nurture a total mutation?"

I see.

Well, I had hoped that it
might be a clue of some kind.

Well, possibly it's just one of
those meant to remain unsolved.

Yes, well, thank you very much.

So, what do you think?

Alex, I think we may have started a
cascade that will bring James Lindstrom's

murderer out into the open.

(COMPUTER BEEPING)

I'm the only one
Michael can trust.

Sharon.

What are you doing here?

I'm saving Michael's dream.
Mrs. Fletcher called me.

Apparently, James left a riddle.

"When do 23 and 0-0-1-4

"combine to penetrate stone

"and nurture a total mutation?"

She didn't know what it meant.

But I did.

James has planted a fatal virus
in A Killing At Hastings' Rock.

A time bomb set to begin destroying
his brainchild in exactly four minutes.

My God.

(SIGHS) Genius
version of Last Tag,

but he didn't count on me.

His source codes.

You killed him.

Put it in.

Zero or one.

I promised myself a long
time ago that I'd never live

in that gray world in between.

It's either everything
or nothing for me.

I really had no choice.

James was going
to destroy Michael

and Michael is everything.

So after I save him
from James's virus,

I'm going to save him from you.

DELCANTO: Police! Freeze!

The VR game. The virus
is programmed to start at...

When 23 and 0-0-14 combine

at 14 minutes after
midnight on the 23rd?

No, Sharon.

There's no virus.

But... Alex composed a
riddle we hoped you'd solve.

But it was only
designed as a distraction

like the one you hoped to create by
using Lindstrom's own gun to kill him.

Your plan backfired because you didn't
know Michael's fingerprints were on it.

The reception provided
a perfect opportunity

and an abundance of suspects.

Lindstrom never saw you coming.

He was defenseless, vulnerable
deep inside the world that he created.

As you approached
him in the booth,

(PAGER BEEPING) you
heard him being paged.

MAN ON PAGER: James Lindstrom,
you have a call holding on line eight.

(GROANING)

SHARON: I threw the
gun in the shrubbery

and went back to the reception.

But in your haste you forgot about
Lindstrom's novel paging system.

You see, had you been coming
out of the tape library as you claimed,

you could not possibly have
heard Lindstrom being paged.

The only way that you could have
heard that page was if you were in

or near the VR
booth with Lindstrom.

OFFICER: Let's go.

JESSICA: Consider yourself
lucky to be alive, Mr. Salt.

Well, thank you very much
for your help, Mrs. Fletcher.

You're very welcome, Sergeant.

(LAUGHS) My mother's really stoked
about meeting you, Mrs. Fletcher.

(JESSICA LAUGHING) I just hope
it gets me off the hook for a while.

Well, so do I.

Have a great trip, Jessica.

Thank you, Kate.

Jessica, thank you
again for everything.

Have a safe flight.

Thank you, Michael.

You know,

we may just be looking at the
answer to James Lindstrom's riddle.

"What purpose can be
served by the mind of man

"that cannot be better
served by the binary mind?"

I wonder if a computer can ever
be programmed to enjoy something

as simple and as
beautiful as this?