Numb3rs (2005–2010): Season 2, Episode 10 - Bones of Contention - full transcript

♪ Slip through these
fingers melt away ♪

♪ Make me melt away ♪

♪ Follow ♪

♪ Follow to lead ♪

Hello?

Is anyone there?

Technically, this museum
sits on federal land.

99-year lease.

Figured we'd call you.

Got ID?

Jennifer Abernathy. She was
one of the researchers here.



What do you say, Megan?

The only trauma I can
see is the head wound.

Yeah, see, this has
got blood, right here.

She's missing a shoe.

What do you think, being chased?

Yeah.

Who found her?

Night watchman.

Hey, how you doing? LOPEZ: Good.

I'm Don Eppes with the FBI.

Frank Lopez.

Frank, what can you tell me?

I was just doing my rounds.

Things seemed pretty
routine till I got down here.



Found her like that.

Didn't hear anything?

No, it's the graveyard shift.
Just me for the whole place.

I didn't even know she
was working last night.

Was there anybody else here?

Well, there's a security
sweep after we close.

Cleaning crew comes in.

They usually knock
off about 11:00.

After that, it's just me.

If it's okay with you,

we'd like you to go
with one of our deputies,

see if we can get you changed
into some street clothes?

What, you want my
uniform? Yeah. Is that okay?

Sure.

Thanks.

Building is locked
down after hours.

No sign of a forced entry.

Security cameras?

Front door, lobby
and loading dock.

So far, there's nothing.

It doesn't make any sense.

There's money, credit
cards, ID. It's all here.

It's probably not
a robbery, then.

So, someone was after her.

Or something. Right?

She gets in the way.

Yeah.

Check this out.

Some kind of calculations.

Yeah, the deputy
said she did research.

Last entry's today.

"Last entry" is right.

We all use math every day.

To predict
weather, to tell time,

to handle money.

Math is more than
formulas and equations.

It's logic.

Math is more than
formulas and equations.

It's rationality.

It's using your mind

to solve the biggest
mysteries we know.

I am officially
RSVP-ing for myself

and one Alan Eppes,

who said he'd be delighted
to come to your dinner party.

It's just, it's been a
while since I entertained.

I hope my hosting
skills haven't atrophied.

Although atrophy implies a
certain level of strength to begin with.

Hey, boys, how we doing?

Hey. What's for breakfast?

Toast and tori.

Tori? What do you mean?
That looks like Cheerios.

Tori, plural of torus, a
shape with a hole in it.

Well, topologically speaking.

Mind if I have a rectangle?

Uh... Help yourself.

My math abilities might be

a biological adaptation,
because from an early age,

I've been deprived the nutrition

necessary to become
a professional athlete.

They say, you know, people who
eat a low-calorie diet live longer.

Is that what they
say? They do say that.

Hey, I'm looking
out for you, bro.

In exchange for what?

Yeah, um...

This woman who works for the
Heritage Museum was killed last night.

We found this on
her, but the thing is,

we can't make
heads or tails of it,

so, thought maybe you could.

Hmm.

I can already tell
you what those are.

Equations related to
quantitative archaeology.

Yeah? Archaeology is just
another form of detection.

The artifacts are the clues,

and the history they
reveal is the solution.

And this is carbon dating.

These are formulas for
calculating the age of an object.

I consulted on a
paleontology project once.

Carbon dating
uses radiation, right?

All living things

absorb radioactive
carbon-14 into their bodies,

plants through photosynthesis,
animals from the food chain.

But like any
radioactive material,

the atoms decay
at a steady rate,

only replenished if
the organism's alive.

You know how some refrigerators
come with built-in icemakers?

So let's say the
icemaker's programmed

to keep 50 ice cubes
in it at one time,

but we use five
ice cubes per day.

Now, as long as that refrigerator's
connected to the water supply,

it'll create new cubes

to make up for
the ones we've lost,

keeping the total at 50.

Death is like cutting
off the water supply.

No more ice cubes get made.

So, by subtracting the number
of ice cubes we have left...

Let's say, like, uh, 35,

from the total
original number of 50,

and then dividing by
five ice cubes per day...

The icemaker's been
dead for three days?

The icemaker's a
more linear example,

and, uh, radiocarbon
decay is exponential,

but y-y-you get the idea?

Yeah, I mean, she was
trying to date something.

But that's the thing,
we don't know what.

It's not in her office,
it's not in her lab, so...

I mean, that's the problem.
Whatever it is, it's gone.

Have you asked the
victim's co-workers?

If whatever she was
working on got her killed,

then those co-workers
are potential suspects.

Right.

Well, I should... I should,
uh, be able to figure out

at least the parameters of
the research detailed here.

All right. Why don't
you hold onto it.

But take care of it. It's
our only copy, all right?

Okay. Thanks.

Oh, Don, I'm... I'm having
some people over this week.

If you wanna...

Oh, yeah? What's the occasion?

Just, I've sold my house and I
wanna kind of say goodbye to it.

This dinner have a color scheme?

Look, my predilection for
white food is not pathological.

Or at least not just yet.

The, uh, menu will manifest

all the colors of
the spectrum, yes.

Well, the visible spectrum.

All right, well, consider
me there, Larry.

You'll call me? Yeah.

Oh, my God.

She broke her neck.

No compression
marks on the skin,

so I'm assuming the
injury resulted from the fall.

You think it was an accident?

Depends what you
mean by "an accident."

I found defensive bruises on
her forearms and her wrists.

Now, whether that
person intended her fall,

that would be
purely speculation.

What about sexual assault?

No vaginal
tearing or irritation,

but she did have
intercourse earlier in the day.

Most likely was consensual.

What makes you say that?

I found trace evidence
of a spermicidal gel.

Jennifer had access to all of our
facilities at one time or another.

Mmm-hmm.

And this is the only lab with
carbon-dating equipment?

Yes, that's right,

but I think it would be
fairly odd for Jennifer

to be down here
by this terminal.

Oh? Why's that?

Well, we have technicians
who operate the machine.

And procedure would be for
Jennifer to inventory an item

and then let the
technicians do the testing.

And she didn't do that?

Not that I'm aware of.

I also would've been notified if
any item needed carbon dating.

Is there any way to tell when
the machines were used last?

Yes, there's a computer readout.

1:34 a.m.

That's right around
the time she was killed.

We don't have any
technicians working at that hour.

Okay.

Hey, Charlie?

I thought you were at work.

W-W-What you doing back here?

Just looking for something.

Oh, yeah? Yeah.

What?

Um, a book on Native
American artifacts

that I remember
you... you used to have

'cause you used to find old
things when you worked for the city.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You dig a
foundation for a new building,

you know, you come
up with all kinds of stuff.

And I liked to look up
what they actually were.

Hmm.

What... What do you need it for?

I'm... I'm just trying to
get an idea of the math

used by archaeologists, and
I remember you had a book

that... that said
something about that, so...

Yeah, yeah. They're
in the boxes...

They're right by...
Actually, I already found it.

I found it already.

What... What are you doing?

Dad, uh... What?

I thought you gave all of
Mom's clothes to charity.

No, I said I was
going to. I will.

All right, well, Don helped
you box this stuff up,

like, six months ago.

You know, hard as it may
seem for you to believe,

a man of my age
does have a life.

I was busy.

Dad, you're dating again.

I mean, what if you meet someone

and she finds out that
you're still hanging on...

I would tell her it's
none of her business.

Which is exactly what
I'm telling you right now.

So she rented from
you for about a year?

Lovely girl.

So smart. Well-spoken.

How awful for her family.

You say she was pretty quiet.

Except in the shower.

In the shower?

You could hear her singing
all the way down the hall.

She had many gifts,

but a voice wasn't one of them.

Her specialty was Native
American antiquities.

Unopened mail, dry
cleaning still in the bag...

She spent all her
time at the museum.

I told her, "Slow
down, smell the roses,"

but young people...

Maybe she had a reason
to sing in the shower.

Mmm.

So, did Jennifer
have a boyfriend?

Well, I'm not one of
those nosy landladies,

but her boss sometimes
dropped her off at night.

Her boss.

Her married boss.

Hmm.

The museum director told
me it was unusual for her

to be using the equipment,

and she wasn't notified
that anything needed testing.

So she's in there
alone, at night,

testing something
nobody knew about.

Thanks. Well, look,
someone knew something.

I mean, she was murdered, right?

The landlady told me she
might've been seeing her boss

on a
less-than-professional basis.

Oh, yeah? Well, let's find
out where he was that night.

I can tell you where
he was supposed to be.

With his wife.

Kenneth Hill?

Yes.

Agent Reeves, Sinclair.

Are you the ones who
called about Jennifer?

It's a terrible thing.

How well did you know her?

I was her boss.

How about other
than as her boss?

I'm not sure exactly
what you mean.

You know we're not interested
in messing up your marriage

any more than you
already have, Dr. Hill.

But a woman's life
has been taken here.

We had a relationship.

But, um, I had nothing to
do with what happened to her.

I was home. You can ask...

Your wife?

I'd prefer that you not do that.

Oh, I'm sure that you would,

but at this point that
really can't be avoided.

Unless, of course, you
were willing to cooperate

and then we probably
wouldn't have to reveal

the full extent of your
relationship with Jennifer.

Fine.

What was she doing
there that time of night?

On occasion, we get
asked to date a private piece.

Private piece?

Something that's dug
up in the field locally.

Okay, but why at that hour?

Because certain parties
sometimes lay claim to these finds.

Native Americans, for example,

often exercise tribal claims.

And they can only do
that if they know about it?

I mean, these finds are...
are sometimes reburied

without allowing
for any testing at all.

Why? The existence of
something older than the tribe itself

would bring into question the
validity of their claims to the land,

to being the first
inhabitants to begin with.

So what was Jennifer testing?

I wish I knew.

You know, I just remembered,
when I was in Albuquerque,

we... we busted a guy for
robbing tribal burial grounds.

Yeah, the law passed in 1990.

Any artifacts
have to be returned

to whatever tribe
they came from.

The museum director
said she didn't think

they had anything
that needed testing.

That's because what your
victim was carbon-dating

wasn't part of the
museum's collection.

It was a new find.

A new find?

A very old new find.

I analyzed Jennifer
Abernathy's calculations

and it's clear.

Whatever she was describing
had to be extremely old.

I don't think she
wanted anyone to know

what she was testing.

Why not?

I assumed that these
numbers were measurements,

so I ran them against
a program used by

forensic anthropologists
called FORDISC

to see if they matched
anything human.

Well, they did.

Yeah, that's a skull, huh?

A 10,000-year-old human skull.

What did you say? 10,000 years?

What your victim was testing

were fragments of a
skull that would make it

the oldest human remains
ever found in this area.

And from what Hill just told me,

that would be enough
of a reason to kill.

Right this way, Agent Reeves.

Thank you for seeing
me, Chief Clearwater.

I'm sorry to keep you waiting.

This is my attorney,
Thomas Morris.

Your attorney?

History has taught
us to exercise caution

when dealing with the
federal government.

And an MBA has taught me
the value of expert counsel.

How can we help you?

A woman was murdered the
other night at the Heritage Museum.

I'm very sorry to
hear about that.

Please.

At the time of her death,
she was in possession

of a significant
archeological find.

A Native American find.

I understand that in the past,

you've exercised similar
claims to items like this?

If your great-grandmother's
possessions were dug up,

would you want them back?

Yes, I would.
That's why I'm here.

Are you seriously accusing us...

You didn't let me finish.

I also understand
that these artifacts

can be worth a lot of
money on the black market.

Unfortunately, there are
those who don't respect

the sanctity of
our burial grounds.

And you've bought
some of these items

from the black market
in the past, correct?

Your casino profits
allowing you to do that.

If the authorities
were more aggressive

in prosecuting these grave
robbers, we wouldn't need to.

If you could just
give me their names,

then I can follow
up on this case.

We are a sovereign nation.
You can't compel us...

I'm not compelling
you to do anything.

I'm asking.

I think that's what my
great-grandmother would have wanted.

If you throw one
of those near me,

you are a dead man.

I have better aim than that.

What's the matter?

Kepler got the flu,

and I had to teach his class

on the structure and
dynamic of galaxies.

His lecture notes are a mess.

Kepler's a little
disorganized, huh?

Hey, I'm organized.

Enough.

Yeah.

Have you seen
your office lately?

There's a symmetry
to my chaos, okay?

My system is chronological
by height. Where is...

That's a pretty poetic
description of clutter.

It's more than just...
just clutter, though. We...

There exists this...
this need to hold on to...

To things.

Are we talking about
the skull, Charlie?

My dad has my mother's personal
belongings packed in the garage

and he was supposed
to have given them away.

Sounds like he's not
ready to let her go yet.

He seemed to be handling
your mother's death pretty well.

I think that's what
he'd like us to think,

but it's clearly not true.

Yeah.

Well, did you talk
to him about it?

If you can believe it, he told
me to mind my own business.

Your father,

he came from this generation
where the heads of households

were supposed to show strength.

Don't dare show weakness.

He's just not gonna
come to you for help.

Even if he needs it.

Charlie, you need
to talk to Don.

This involves your whole family.

That's the kill hole,

to release the
dead person's spirit.

And where would you
get something like that?

I mean, it looks like
it's from a burial site.

All my items come
with provenance

showing that they were found
on private land, all perfectly legal.

Now, how does that work exactly?

I mean, you pretty much have
to take the word of the person

who brings it in, don't you?

I'm sorry, but what's
your interest here?

Oh, um...

Yeah.

I have documentation
for everything in the store.

Really? Because we heard
that you would sell items

without documentation.

Items to the Wiyana
nation, for example.

Maybe I should
speak to a lawyer.

Or maybe we should
put you in a position

where you need
to talk to a lawyer.

A skull was stolen.

10,000 years old.

Maybe you heard about
something like that being up for sale.

I'm sure I haven't.

There are people
that you could call.

A woman's been murdered.

We want their names.

Lawyers cost about $200 an hour.

Goodwill would
cost you a lot less.

Well, my lawyer charges $300.

10,000-year-old human
skull found on the Pacific coast

with these dimensions.

Pretty big find, right?

Assuming it's not a hoax

and assuming it
was a local find.

Well, what do you mean by that?

Well, it's obvious that your victim
was working with regression equations,

maxillary sinus volume,
high cheekbone placement.

These are measurements
we use to estimate ancestry.

Like race?

Not exactly. Race is
a cultural construct.

Scientifically speaking,

ancestry is more
about geography.

For example,

the midface areas show
variations in structure

that result from
adaptation to cold, aridity,

allowing us to
classify the skull.

As...

As being of European origin,

African origin, Asian origin.

What does that one tell you?

I've entered the data

into a program that reconstructs

what this individual
might have looked like.

That's funny, he doesn't
look Native American to me.

For good reason.

Native Americans fall
under the Asian classification.

But this skull has
characteristics

we associate with
European origin.

I see that. He looks
European, right?

Who apparently was in California

about a thousand years before
the Wiyanas' creation stories claim

he should have been.

So you're saying this skull
wasn't Native American?

No, I'm saying
it's a possibility.

So what was he?

Well, the anthropologist
thinks European.

He was a white guy?

No, it's more of a
geographic thing.

Apparently, race
isn't really a factor.

They need to
circulate that memo.

I ran that list of names we
got from that antiquities dealer.

Guess whose name is on the list.

Dr. Ken Hill.

Jennifer's boyfriend?

Apparently, Dr. Hill has
supplied these type of artifacts

to this dealer in the past.

So his interest
wasn't purely scientific.

When you told me Jennifer
might have been testing a new find

the night she was
murdered, you failed to tell me

that you were the
one who found it.

And I know it was a skull

and I know how old it is.

A local construction
crew found it,

digging a foundation
for a school.

I was called in to examine it.

I knew right away what it was.

So you just took it?

It was the find of a lifetime.

And they'd already
made a decision

to turn it over to the Wiyanas.

That is a federal law, Dr. Hill.

Those bones belong
to the local tribes.

Without testing, without proof,

it is just political correctness
without regard to science.

So then you just gave it
to Jennifer to do the test?

I never thought
she was in danger.

We were just trying to
preserve a scientific record.

I could have you arrested
for taking that skull.

Oh, I've lost everything,
Agent Reeves.

My wife,

my reputation.

Even Jennifer.

So what you do to me
doesn't matter anymore.

But the real irony is,

without the skull,

neither one of us
has any evidence.

Hey. Hey, you know, that skull
might actually be European.

Really? Yeah.

What are you doing
here? You got something?

I just wanted to
talk to you about...

You know what? It's so not...

It's not even... Whatever.
It's not... It's nothing.

Wait... Wait a minute,
Ho-Hold on. What's going on?

Mom's stuff.

What?

You came over, you
helped Dad box Mom's stuff.

Everything. Yeah.

Right. Like, six months ago.
He gave it all away, right?

He didn't give it away.

He kept it.

I found everything.

It was all hidden
away in the garage.

Hidden? Yeah.

He clearly didn't want
me to see he still had it all.

You say anything?

He was very defensive.

All right, I'll talk to him.

I... I already tried.

Yeah, well, I get paid to
make people talk, you know?

Yeah, but how many of
your suspects grounded you

for breaking the
neighbor's window?

Never proven.
I'll take care of it.

Hey, guys, Hill said
there was a court case.

What do you mean? What kind?

Between him and the Wiyanas

over the bones found at
the school construction site.

Hill lost,

upshot being he would never get
the test to carbon-date the remains.

So he went back
and stole the skull.

Without testing, how could anyone
have any idea of what they'd found?

Well, according to Hill,
this is the whole point.

If the Wiyanas aren't the
region's original residents,

it opens them up to a
challenge on the land use rights...

Gaming interests.

This skull could
destroy the tribe.

♪

Uh-oh.

Who wants dessert?

Oh, wow. What... What is that?

Liquid nitrogen.

Plus milk,

cream,

sugar,

and a little vanilla.

It's a fast and simple
way to make ice cream.

Oh, ice cream.

Man, I... I knew it
would be interesting,

but this is
definitely out there.

That looks
prehistoric, doesn't it?

Yeah.

Well, let me
understand something

about this Indian artifacts case
of yours. I mean, about the skull.

Yeah. Do you really
think that it was taken

to preserve land rights?

Yeah. Well, I mean, you
know, it's a working theory.

They had to be pretty
desperate to kill someone.

What do you mean?
People have killed

for a lot less than
that, you know?

I mean, it's a billion-dollar
gaming industry.

Yeah, yeah, yeah,
but there sure seems

like there's more than
money at stake here.

I mean, the... the
age of that skull

flies in the face of the
Wiyanas' notion of creation.

Uh-oh. Science versus
religion. That could get ugly.

Well, certainly science
doesn't require religion

to change its basic concepts,

just to reconsider the
mechanisms involved.

Yes, yes, but sometimes the
mechanisms are just the point.

I mean, Galileo spent the last
years of his life under house arrest

because he declared that the sun
does not revolve around the earth.

Yeah, but look, hey,
for certain people

religion is just that, you know.

I mean, by definition,
it is unconditional,

so it doesn't matter
what science says.

Though many famous scientists,

like Einstein, believed in God.

All right, you know,
since I was taught

never to talk about religion
over the dinner table,

I would just like to
take this opportunity

to express my appreciation
for this fine meal

by doing the dishes.

No, no, no, no, please.
Come on, that's not necessary.

Nonsense.

Yeah. A-Actually,
I'll give you a hand.

You're gonna help
with the dishes?

Sure. Why not?

We should eat at someone
else's house more often.

Let me have your bread plate.

So, Larry,

when you move,

what are you going
to do with all this stuff?

I don't know.

Hey, would you two like to
take home your dishware?

You want to scrape or wash?

Uh, well, I think I'll wash.

Although Mom used to get me
to scrape and then she'd say,

"While you have the
plate in your hand..."

This is your subtle
way of telling me

that Charlie talked to
you about the boxes?

He was a little
concerned, that's all.

Yeah. And you're not?

Dad, hey, I... I don't
care about the boxes,

but you know, I mean, the
way he said you reacted...

He was prying into something

that he had no business
being involved in.

Well, come on. I
mean, she's our mother.

And my wife.

Look, what I want to do with her
things, well, that's my business.

Of course it is, but
then, why hide it?

I wasn't. I don't
have to hide anything.

Exactly. You don't.
So I... I just think

you know, I mean, it
would be healthier if...

Oh-ho. Look who's lecturing
me about emotional health.

Wait. Hold... Hold on. What...
I don't understand. What's up?

What's up?

If you think I'm gonna listen
to my two unmarried sons

lecture me on how to deal
with the loss of my wife,

well, that's as
ridiculous as it sounds.

So much for those
superior people skills, huh?

You failed to mention the fact

that you were in a
court battle with Ken Hill

over the bones found at
the school construction site.

We had no way of
knowing it was relevant.

Really? Even after I
mentioned the skull.

Are you implying
that one of my people

killed this woman for a skull?

All we had to do is pick up
the phone and call the police.

Mr. Clearwater's right.

Under the law, those
remains belong to us.

Unless, of course,

a carbon-dating test
proved otherwise.

How could they prove otherwise?

What Thomas means

is that the Great Spirit gave our
people this land at the beginning of time.

Any remains would have to
be the remains of our ancestors.

With all due respect, I'm not that
interested in a historical debate.

What I am interested in

is who killed
Jennifer Abernathy.

Then I think you
should consider motive.

If Dr. Hill removed that
skull from that site illegally,

any results would
be legally invalid.

Clearwater. MEGAN: Legal or not,

if those results
were made public,

they could cause a great
deal of trouble for you.

When?

I'm leaving now.

There's been a
break-in at my home.

Mrs. Clearwater
surprised the intruder.

Apparently, he hit her in the
head with the butt of a gun.

Did she get a look at him?

Yeah, it was Hill.

Hill? According to the wife,

he went straight
for the tribal records.

What is he looking for?

I don't know.

Megan.

You understand now what
we've been dealing with?

While you accuse us of murder,

this man's allowed to attack
Chief Clearwater's wife?

We're going to find him. We are.

Let them do their jobs, Thomas.

This man's obsessed with
destroying us, do you understand?

Either you find him

or we will.

Sheriff's Department says
Hill's the registered owner

of a Colt .38 and a
Remington hunting rifle.

All right, so he's armed
and he's in the wind.

Heading where and
looking for what?

Maybe his alibi wasn't
as legit as we thought.

Hill staked everything
on those bones, right?

His career, his reputation,

the life of his lover.

And he lost all three.

So he goes back to Clearwater's
house to find the skull?

I mean, what are the odds that
he's actually gonna find it there?

Well, maybe he's
looking for something else.

What exactly did Mrs. Clearwater
tell the police was missing?

Tribal records. You
know, histories, maps,

population studies.

He's looking for the
skull somewhere else.

Yeah, or whoever took it.

I have these calculations
that we got from Hill's office

and a list of references that were
stolen from Clearwater's house,

but that's it.

Hey, already, I
recognize this equation.

It's used in water
current analysis.

Yeah, it's used in
the study of planets,

determining how they
might have looked in the past,

how they may look in the future.

These equations can tell us the
effect of water flow on topography.

Well, he also stole
some tribal histories

and population studies.

Now, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Topography. CHARLIE: Mmm-hmm.

Population studies.

Yes? What?

What, you think he may be doing
a settlement-pattern analysis?

Yeah, just trying to infer

where Native American
settlements might be located.

Does that mean he's
looking for more remains?

Well, if he no
longer has the skull,

there's no other way for
him to document his find.

So could you duplicate
his work from this?

Could you tell me
where he's gone digging?

I think the best method
would be Voronoi diagrams?

Voronoi diagrams.

Yeah, used in astronomy,
biology, geography...

And archeology, where they're
used as a system for showing

the influence of a
particular feature

on a given set of
geographic sites.

So it's like with a... with a
chain of fast-food restaurants.

The location of each
restaurant within a city

is mathematically determined

by the location of other
restaurants in the chain.

So in very simple terms,
the Voronoi diagram

partitions the areas
around restaurants into cells,

and for every person
living within that cell,

the restaurant
defining that cell

would be the closest
place to get a cheeseburger.

So we do the same thing
with ancient water sources.

We try to find other
desirable natural features

to find the most
likely settlement sites,

but in order to do
that, I'm gonna need

all the information he took
from Clearwater's house.

Well, Clearwater can't be the
only tribal elder with that information.

The elders do have other copies,

but we won't be
turning them over to you.

A young woman's
murderer is still out there.

The person that broke into Chief
Clearwater's house is still out there.

I appreciate that, but the
information could also be used

to unearth our burial grounds.

That ship has already
sailed, Mr. Morris.

Ken Hill has the
information and he's armed.

You asked me to find him.

That's what I'm trying to do,

before anyone else gets hurt.

If we give the
federal government

information that leads
to other burial sites,

people like Hill

will use it for the
same purpose.

I'm sorry,

but you'll have to find
him some other way.

We got problems.

Why, what? The
math doesn't jibe?

No, the math always
works. What I realize is this.

There's way too many
possible locations.

You think Hill's working
off better information?

No. I spoke to some people at
CalSci's Social Sciences Department.

I spoke to several
anthropologists as well

and what they tell me
is what Hill is trying to do

is almost...

Well, really, almost impossible.

Why? The skull?

It's a once-in-a-lifetime find.

You can't just go
out and expect to find

ancient human
remains at other sites,

no matter how much math you do.

Yeah, but Charlie, I
mean, the guy is desperate.

But he's also a scientist.

He has to realize
the same things I did.

We still getting hits
on his credit cards?

Yeah, I have
the list right here.

I mean, there's one site where he
knows he might find what he's looking for.

Where the skull itself
was originally found?

Look at this.

The last four hits were
right by the school site.

He's gone back to the original
dig site to find more bones.

ITA336.

Positive? Yeah.

What have we got?

Positive ID. It's Hill's car.

Yeah? Yeah.

All right, Tommy, Billy, why
don't you head up that way.

David, come with me. Let's go.

Dr. Hill?

I need more time.

Look, it's over.

No, you do not understand.

They will bury it where no
one will ever find it again.

You don't understand.

I want you to drop that
tool, stand up right now.

The only chance I have is
to find another set of bones.

I'm the only chance
you have. Now, listen up.

Stand up, put your
hands behind your back.

Please.

I was just trying to make
Jennifer's death mean something.

Let's go.

He's an egomaniac

but he alibis for the
night of the murder.

All right, well, we got
him on assault and theft,

but murder?

And Clearwater
doesn't read for it.

I think we got something.
- Yeah?

A list of disenrolled
tribe members.

It was in the census
info we got at the mission.

What's "disenrolled"?

Every Wiyana tribe member

gets an annual cut of
the profits from the casino.

Only about 10 years
ago, the tribal council

started to remove
members from its records,

disenrolling them
for lack of family ties,

even if a DNA test might prove
legitimate tribe membership.

Right, the more
money that comes in,

the less people they
have to split it with.

Yeah. There's one name
on that list that jumps out.

Frank Lopez.

What's that, the security guy?

Turns out he's part Wiyana.

Only in 1998, the
tribal council decided

it wasn't a big enough part.

My mom was Native
American. Why does it matter?

Well, it mattered
to the Wiyanas.

They cut you out of your
share of the casino money.

Hey, I was nowhere near that
girl when she was murdered.

You can check the security tape.

Yeah, you were conveniently
on the other side of the museum

when she was attacked.

You make the same
circuit every night,

which puts you
on this side at 1:30.

So why don't you tell us why
you changed the route that night?

Frank, when it comes to murder,

it doesn't matter whether
you killed her or not.

Not if you were the one
who let her killer in that night.

Is that what happened?

My mother died without a penny.

And she was buried a Wiyana.

And then some piece
of paper changed all that.

He told...

Look, he told me if I
helped him get the skull,

he'd place my mother's
name back on the tribal rolls.

And she'd be who she was again.

The declared dividend
per share was going...

Agents.

I understand you found the man

who attacked Chief
Clearwater's wife.

Yes, we did.

We also found Jennifer
Abernathy's murderer.

Hill's confessed?

Hill didn't kill her.

I don't understand.

Do you want to tell him
about it, Mr. Clearwater?

You're not serious.

This is our chief.

I've known this
man my whole life.

He'd never harm anyone.

But you did harm
someone, didn't you?

You make a mistake,

then you spend every waking hour

tracing back all the
decisions that got you there.

But why, James?

Because it had to stop.

Running this tribe like it
was a... it was a corporation.

We have a responsibility
to do what's best.

Best?

Best for who?

Who are you to decide that a
person's heritage wasn't his own?

Until that casino was built,
we were all one people.

No one cared how far
back a bloodline went.

Only that skull holds a truth
that even you're afraid of.

And knowing that I have it,

well, suddenly that
forces you to stop.

Where is the skull?

It's at rest.

In a place known only to myself.

For now.

James Clearwater,
you are under arrest

for the murder of
Jennifer Abernathy.

This way.

♪

It's sure ironic, isn't it?

That an ancient skull
could have such significance

for people today.

That a man could matter
so much to so many.

What about him?

What was his name?

How did he die on a
hillside 10,000 years ago?

Yeah, did his family
wonder what happened?

Did anybody cry for him?

Real faith cannot
transcend knowledge.

It has to adapt to
it and embrace it.

And bones...

They don't make the man.

And they sure
don't make the soul.

Are you sure about this? I
mean, you don't have to do it.

Yeah, you know, we didn't... we
didn't mean to push you to do anything.

You didn't push me.

I just realized that what I
was really trying to keep

had nothing to do with
what was in these boxes.

I just... I just
got it in my head

that giving your
mother's things away

meant something
was coming to an end.

You know, like a sign that
she didn't matter anymore.

But I'll tell you something.

Snapping at the two
of you did matter to me.

It would've mattered to her.

Yeah, it's all right,
Dad. It's all right.

You know, we, uh...

Well, we're not really a
group hug kind of family, but...

Yeah, no kidding.

That's where a daughter
would've come in handy.

Yeah, but wait, maybe
when you come back,

we should just sit down
and talk, you know?

I mean, just the three
of us. What do you think?

You want us to
come with you, Dad?

No!

I... I... I mean, I have
to do this myself.

We really gonna talk?

I brought a six-pack.

If things go south, we
can just watch the game.

You want a laugh?

That last, uh, box of stuff
that Dad packed into his car

was my stuff.

No way. Oh, no.
Yeah. I didn't...

I didn't have the
heart to tell him.

Hey, you know, I... I mean, I
don't have a problem with hugging.

I mean, I don't.

I don't have a problem
with hugging, either.

Get away from me!
Get off of me! Wait. Wait.

Get away from me! Get off of me!

Come on, plant one on me!

Just get out of here!