Numb3rs (2005–2010): Season 2, Episode 12 - The OG - full transcript

♪

You ready?

Let's go!

Yeah.

For those of you that want
to know what we're all about,

it's like this, y'all, come on.

♪ This is 10 percent luck ♪

♪ 20 percent skill ♪

♪ 15 percent
concentrated power of will ♪

♪ 5 percent pleasure,
50 percent pain ♪

♪ And 100 percent reason
to remember the name ♪



♪ He doesn't need
his name up in lights ♪

♪ He just wants to be heard ♪

♪ Whether it's the
beat or the mic ♪

♪ He feels so unlike
everybody else, alone ♪

♪ In spite of the fact that some
people still think that they know him ♪

♪ It's not about the
salary, it's all about reality ♪

♪ And making some
noise making the story ♪

♪ Making sure his
clique stays up ♪

♪ That means when
he puts it down ♪

Let's go, let's go, let's go.

With a score of 2-1 in the second
period, the Seals have been dominating...

Donny, when did you get here?

Just now. Thought I'd
watch the end of the game.

Where're you going?



He's going on a date.

Oh, yeah? Yeah.

You know that girl, Donna? Yeah.

From Val's wedding.
You know the, uh, caterer?

Mmm-hmm. Yeah, her.

Oh, hey, listen, I wanted to
ask you guys something. Um,

it's her birthday coming up,
and I wanted to get her a gift.

You know, something...

I don't know, I just
don't know what.

It's just a question of
what you want to say.

Well, how about,
"Happy birthday?"

You know, two mathematicians
from University College in London

actually recently addressed
this very same question.

Mathematicians?
English mathematicians?

They used game theory to analyze

the best characteristics
of a courtship gift.

Yeah, well, no offense, Charlie.

It sounds to me like two math
geeks who don't date much.

I do take offense.

Yeah, all right, shut
up. So, keep going.

Well, assuming that the goal
is the female's receptiveness.

Yes.

They found that
an extravagant gift,

one that's costly to the man,

but of no real financial
value to the woman,

offers the best
chance of success.

So, why don't you buy her
some flowers? You know what?

Take her to dinner
in a fancy restaurant.

Okay, that's doable.

See? You guys still
doubt the power of math?

Yeah, well, when it comes
to female receptiveness, yes.

Huh.

Eppes.

Right. On my way.

What is that?
Shooting. Gotta go.

Hey, have fun with, uh...

Donna. Right.

Thanks, guys. Appreciate
it. You're welcome.

Hey, what's going on?

Looks like a drive-by.

What, are you kidding
me? Why'd they bring us in?

Just got down here myself.

Cops on the scene say they
were told to sit tight and wait.

For what? For me.

Lieutenant Gary Walker,
LAPD Gang Impact Team.

Hey. Don Eppes, FBI. Agent...

No badges. US Attorney doesn't want
the locals to know FBI is on the scene.

Oh, yeah? And why is that?

Well, apparently, they don't
want anyone to blow his cover.

Though personally,
I think it's a little late.

But I'm not calling the shots.

His name is Anton Rhimes.

Worked an extortion case
together down in Long Beach.

Don, he's FBI.

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.

Agent Rhimes was part of
a multi-agency task force.

He'd been working
undercover for ten months.

As a gang member?

Yeah. He'd infiltrated
the 23rd Street syndicate,

and was providing information
regarding their leadership.

So, they took him out?

Be my guess.

You find any casings?

No, but that's not unusual.

They tend to stay in
the car in a drive-by.

All right, I'm gonna
talk to the US Attorney.

Meanwhile, you guys should just keep
taking care of the evidence, all right?

Restaurant was
pretty busy all day.

We couldn't pull
a single witness.

Oh, that's kind of the way it
is with these people, Agent.

It's kind of us versus
them out there.

I meant lawmen versus civilians.

Right.

Don't know what
we're waiting on.

An undercover FBI agent gets
whacked, we all know what happened.

23rd Street bangers found out
his identity and had him killed.

In my opinion, we ought
to hit them back hard for it.

The longer a thing like
this goes unanswered,

the more dangerous it
gets for all of us out there.

I appreciate your sense
of outrage, Lieutenant,

but we need to confirm
that Agent Rhimes' cover

really was blown
before we make a move.

Guys, this is Robin Brooks.

She's the Assistant US
Attorney running the task force

that Rhimes was on.

What I was suggesting was
that we grab as many of these

23rd Street bangers as
we can for questioning.

Which would be as
good as telling them

that Rhimes was a federal agent.

Look, Counselor, let's not
forget. We have a man down.

Where I come from,
that means something.

Look, the 23rd Street
syndicate is responsible

for dozens of homicides,
extortion, drug trafficking...

I'm sorry, but I am
not about to blow

a 14-month investigation
to make you feel better.

Let's... Let's just take
a breath here, okay?

I mean, an agent did give his
life for this case. But I agree.

There's no point jeopardizing
what he was working on

until we absolutely
have to, right?

Let me see what you got.

Like a lot of gangs, 23rd
Street's branching out.

They've set up shop
in over nine states.

We've had to turn to federal
racketeering provisions to stop them.

So you're building a RICO case?

Same way we've gone after
traditional organized crime.

Take down the leadership.

It was Agent Rhimes' job

to identify the shot-callers
within the 23rd Street syndicate.

This is a map of
local gang territories.

None of the boundaries are exact,
as they vary as bordering gangs battle.

They're random
and unpredictable.

Actually, they're...
they're neither.

Economists have several
math models that we can apply

to analyze how
gangs partition territory.

Now, one of them was actually originally
designed to predict plant growth.

In situations of
dense population,

plants struggle
against each other.

They fight to obtain sunlight,
to establish dominance...

And it turns out,

that the same equations
designed to predict plant growth

apply themselves remarkably well

to borders between rival
human populations, as well.

W-W-What are these flags?

These are
gang-related shootings.

Now, over what time
frame? How many years?

Years? Mmm-hmm.

This is just six months.

Six... Six months? There's almost...
There's almost 100 shootings.

And those are only the shootings that
are related to the 23rd Street syndicate.

You want total gang shootings,
we're talking more like 1,000.

I'm sorry. In six months?

Yeah.

Wow. Well, I'm assuming
the LAPD hasn't analyzed

this with a regression tree or run it
through a Poisson clumping analysis.

Well, considering that I
have no idea what that means,

I'm gonna say no.

He's a mathematician. You
know, they have their own language.

Charlie, what, do you
see something here?

There is a lot of
information here,

and I'm already
detecting a pattern.

Now, if I could just get all
the files on the shootings,

I might be able to tell you if Agent
Rhimes' murder was part of a pattern,

or an anomaly.

Don, we have the video
surveillance from the restaurant.

All right.

All right, so that's Rhimes
on the right, but who's that?

That's Travis Watts.

He's high up in the
23rd Street structure.

He's a suspected shot-caller.

Well, it looks to me like he
took Rhimes out for a last supper,

set him up for execution.

I... I don't know.

What about a warrant sweep?

I mean, you do it all the time.

We could play it low
profile, you know?

So, we run down 23rd Street
members on open warrants,

use that leverage to find Watts.

That way, no one knows
about Agent Rhimes' cover.

Okay.

LAPD!

♪ Yo, wake up, wake
up. It's a new day now ♪

♪ Sidestep, right, left,
move when I breakdown ♪

♪ How I get down,
make them all sit down ♪

♪ Either that or have
them hurryin' to skip town ♪

♪ Rock to the rhythm ♪

♪ Got to give a lot
more than the minimum ♪

♪ Rock to the rhythm with
'em, got to give it to 'em ♪

♪ Got to give a lot more ♪

Oh, this garage!

Do you have any idea how many
deadly forms of mold live out here?

Do you have any idea how
many gang-related shootings

there were in Los Angeles
in the past four years?

Obviously, I don't have that exact
figure, but something tells me you do.

Well, take a guess.

Just go ahead. All
shootings, non-fatal and fatal.

Go ahead, take a
guess. How many?

Okay. Over the last four years?

I don't know. Let's
say a thousand.

Almost 8,000.

Really? Yeah.

2,000 of those
resulted in deaths,

and most of them occurred
10 or 12 miles from here.

Those numbers are overwhelming.

They are. There's a
lot of data here, Larry,

but the police know
who the players are.

And if I can just find the key attributes
to connect one crime to another,

I can write an algorithm to connect the
shootings to the gang members involved.

But Charlie, these issues,
they're just so complicated.

And you know... I mean,

what you're describing, that
seems like a lot to ask, even for Don.

Well, Don did only ask
for help with this one case,

but, uh, don't all these
other victims deserve justice?

Guys.

Game over.

Man, get back, man.
We'll let you get winners.

Nah, that ain't gonna
work, bro. We got now.

I need you all to get
down on the ground. Yo!

Hit the ground.

Come on. You know the drill.

I got him! Hey!

Get back here!

Hey, stop!

Hey! Hey! You, stop, you!

Stop right there!
Stop. Hands up.

Turn around! Hands
up. Hands on your head.

What the hell's going on?

I said, what the
hell's going on?

Ma'am, I've got everything
under control, okay?

You've got what under control?

Ma'am, everything is fine.

I'm just doing my job.

Do you have a warrant?

Excuse me?

I'm the director of
this community center,

and I'm responsible for
what happens in this building.

No, I don't have a warrant, and I
don't need one to pursue a suspect.

John, take the kids
back in the room.

Come on, guys, let's go.

This doesn't have anything
to do with us. Come on.

Are you all right?

Uh, he ran after
me. I ain't do nothing.

He was told to stop, and he ran.

Well, maybe the gun had
something to do with it?

Kids come here to
get away from violence.

You need some help?

Everything's under
control, Lieutenant.

Ma'am, I have a job to do,
and you need to let me do it.

Everything's fine.

You see what I'm talking about,
about the lack of cooperation.

So, guess what. Anthony here has got
not one, but two outstanding warrants.

Isn't that right, Anthony?

If you say so, man.

Yeah, man, I say so.

Only good news is, today we might
give you a chance to change your luck.

How is that?

We're looking for
a friend of yours,

somebody you might
roll with. Travis Watts.

Anthony, you help us,

maybe we worry about
these warrants another day.

What's it gonna be, Anthony?

Where were you the
night before last, Travis?

Um, a lot of places. I get
around. You know how it is.

This is you and
Anton Rhimes at 06:20.

Only at 06:45, Anton is dead.

Yeah. So, I was with him.

But not when he got shot.

I went back for my cell phone.

That's kind of lucky for you.

Hey, why are you asking me
all these questions anyway?

You were there when
he was murdered, right?

And what happened
to him will be dealt with.

What's "dealt with"?

I'm not saying anything
that would incriminate me.

But right about now,
there's some shaved heads

in Hoover Park
getting a message.

So, 23rd Street's retaliating.

You take one of mine, I'm
gonna take five of yours.

If 23rd Street
really is retaliating,

there's no way they
knew Rhimes was FBI.

Just got off the
phone with Walker.

A gang unit in Hoover Park just confirmed
three separate drive-by shootings.

23rd Street's suspected.

So, Rhimes' cover
was still intact.

But if his cover wasn't blown,
why the hell was he killed?

If Rhimes' cover wasn't blown...

Then on the street, he was
just another gang member.

What got him killed then?

Turf dispute? Wrong tattoo?

Well, 23rd Street retaliated
against Hoover Park

because they think
that they killed Rhimes.

These two gangs have
been going at each other hard,

ever since 23rd Street ripped off a drug
shipment from Hoover Park's supplier.

Yeah, but your guys keep
track of all gang rivalries, right?

An enemies list. Every
time a name comes up

in a beef with a rival
gangbanger, we write it down.

Well, I'd like to take a
look at those field reports,

see if Rhimes was targeted for
being 23rd Street or it was personal or...

You know, maybe we should
look into the personal side.

Maybe he had a concern
that he didn't tell the prosecutor,

but maybe he told his wife.

Definitely worth checking out.

Don, Charlie's here. He's
got something to show you.

Now, what you're seeing is a
behavioral sequence analysis.

It's a sequential representation of
shootings over the past four years.

And what does it get us?

Well, this kind of dynamic graph
is an amazingly good predictor

of what I've been
calling "shooting chains."

Shooting chains?

Shootings that are linked.
One to the next, then to the next.

You mean retaliation shootings.

We already know about all those.

Well, what I'm saying is
that it might be possible

to follow these shooting chains
back to the original shooter.

Without witnesses
and without testimony?

Visualize a tabletop
covered with dominos.

The first domino to fall is
the start of a shooting chain.

Shooting chains can be short,
shooting chains can be long.

Some shooting chains
initiate other branching chains.

Now we're looking at these
shooting chains after the fact,

after all the
dominos have fallen.

And reconstructing these
chains is going to be difficult.

But there is a way.

By using hierarchical network
graphs in combination with

Poisson clumping, we can
work our way backwards.

Back to the original
dominos that started the chain.

Which means we could
identify the inciters,

gang members most
prone to violence.

That's correct.

And if we could somehow
remove them from the loop...

Theoretically, we
stop future shootings.

You got it. That's it.

Hmm. Well, that's
an interesting notion.

Interesting, yet you
don't seem interested.

Well, it's a
matter of priorities.

18 percent of these shootings
killed or injured innocent bystanders.

I think some of those
people were ten years old.

35 percent of the victims
were 16 years old or younger.

Yeah, I know. I'm at those
crime scenes, and I don't like it.

But no matter how many
gangbangers we pull in,

more are gonna come
to take their place.

And frankly, to most
people, stopping bad guys

from killing bad guys
isn't a major priority.

Yeah, again, some of these
shootings involved innocent people.

All right, Charlie, hey...

That's fine. Excuse
me. That's fine.

You know, you'll just
have to forgive me

if I feel that citywide gang
violence isn't something

that one mathematician can stop.

I'm gonna have to run
and brief the next team.

All right, well, I'll
talk to you later, Gary.

Hey, I'm not here to
start trouble with anyone.

Listen, listen, all right?

Let's just concentrate
on Rhimes for now, okay?

I mean, you gotta
give the guy a break.

He's been at this for, you
know, over 20 years now.

We were planning a family.

It was gonna happen right after
Anton's undercover assignment was over.

I'm really sorry.

It's funny, you know,
he hasn't been home

all that much these
last few months, so...

Not having him around,
it really hasn't hit me yet.

I was hoping I could ask
you a couple of questions.

Sure.

Has your husband mentioned
being afraid of anyone

or anything in the
last couple of weeks?

Anton afraid?

He didn't have the gene.

I mean, I'm the one
who did the worrying.

So he never mentioned anyone.

We didn't talk very much lately.

Like I said, he
hasn't been around.

I'm in my last year of
architecture school, and there just

never seemed to be enough time.

I understand.

But I could tell he was excited.

You know,

he'd get that way

whenever he was getting close.

I think the people he was
after were starting to trust him,

starting to let him
make decisions.

I can't even

give him the
funeral he deserves.

Can't even bury him with honor,

because they still don't
want to blow his cover.

That's quite a job you have.

This is another FBI project,

judging from the references
to firearm violence.

Yeah, well, an FBI
agent was killed.

I'm trying to identify
possible motives.

By identifying all the links
and patterns, is that it?

So many of these
murders are connected

that I'm having... I'm
having trouble seeing past

the initial relationships.

Looks like they're
chain reactions.

I'm calling them
shooting chains.

You're trying to solve
all the shooting chains,

is that right? Not just one.

Uh, yeah. Maybe.

Oh, Charles, consider Galileo.

Now he was interested in
a single, specific problem.

Getting a closer
look at the planets.

So, he built the most
powerful telescope of his time.

That's right, and he
saw the moons of Jupiter,

thus proving that not everything in
the universe revolved around the Earth.

The point,
Fleinhardt, the point.

The point, Mr. Eppes, is
that formulating a grand theory

is often best done by focusing
on a single, small question.

Why did you print
out all these photos?

I don't know.

I was looking at the
ages of the victims and

I wanted to see their faces.

All right, Daryl.

Bye, Mr. Owens.

All right, David.

Theodore, over here!

♪

Let me give you a hand there.

Thanks.

You're the one that was
chasing that kid earlier.

That's right.

Who are you after now?

I'm not after anyone.

Don't get me wrong,
those that run need chasing.

It's the kids I worry about.

They can still be saved.

John Owens.

David Sinclair.
Nice to meet you.

The lady I was
talking to earlier...

Olivia?

Is she still around?

Olivia's always around.

She's probably inside.

Thanks.

Hope you didn't come
by to make more trouble.

No, I just wanted to ask
you a few questions, that's all.

About Anthony?

No, we cut Anthony loose.

Turns out he really
didn't do anything.

At least you admit when
you make a mistake.

There was a murder
down here the other night.

Been a bunch of
murders down here.

This one had a few
witnesses though.

I thought maybe you could help
me get someone to come forward,

give us some more info.

Help you?

Wait a minute.

Just hold on for a second.

Do you have a problem
with trying to solve a murder?

People get shot
around here every day.

Never much effort
finding witnesses.

It just makes me wonder,
why all the interest now?

Who was it that got shot?

Look, whatever you think
about me, okay, about the police,

people around here
seem to listen to you.

And I am asking for your help.

You mean you're
asking me to trust you.

Yeah. I guess I am.

And I'm supposed to do that
because you have a badge?

I'm sorry. You haven't been down
here enough for me to trust you.

A man lost his life.

I'm not here to restore
your faith in the system.

I am just trying
to find his killer.

If you think you want
to help with that, call me.

Donny.

Dad. What's going on?

Not much. Things are just
not coming together on this one.

Yeah, I know. I saw some of
what Charlie's been working on.

Charlie.

He's looking at
every gang shooting

for the last four
years, which is a lot.

Well, he follows the numbers.

The more something seems
unsolvable, the more he wants to solve it.

Well, he's wasting time.

He's looking at way too much.

Look, I don't think he
expects to solve something

that's been going on that long.

I mean, with decades
of bad urban planning,

and racism, and economic blight,

gang violence doesn't
go away overnight.

It's just that it's
Charlie, you know?

He has to get to
understand the entire picture.

Hey. Don, hey.

I got news for you.

Yeah? On Rhimes or
the 4,000 other shootings?

Both.

I was able to
discover a pattern.

Nine shootings, all of
them connected, right?

With Agent Rhimes,
you've got ten.

Connected, as in all
part of the same chain?

No. Each one of the ten is the
start of its own shooting chain.

And Don, I think they're all
the work of the same killer.

So you're saying Rhimes' killer
is responsible for ten murders?

No, far more. I mean, he may have
pulled the trigger on those ten murders,

but they aren't
his only victims.

Right, because of all the
retaliation shootings, you mean.

Right. When you include all the
victims from these ten shooting chains,

you've got yourself one person
setting off over 60 murders.

Hey, guys, listen up.

I got nine separate gang
shootings over the last two years,

Charlie thinks they are all
related to Rhimes' murder.

Related how? All
the same shooter.

- The same shooter?
- That's right.

Ten kills?

I don't care how hard-core a
gangbanger we're talking about,

this guy would be a legend.

He's right.

Plus, the shootings are spread

throughout completely
different gang territories,

exploiting totally
different rivalries.

Trust me, if Charlie's math
says they're connected,

the odds are they
are connected, okay?

I have three
different files here.

All three victims
are different races.

They also all have
a different weapon.

.25 cal. What's this, .44...
That's a nine millimeter.

Yeah, same here.
They're all different.

That's why we need to
look at this stuff fresh, right?

We need to run the
prints again, the ballistics,

anything we can, okay?

Hold on a second.

You see something?

All three of these, four,
if you count Rhimes,

are single homicides.
The victim is isolated.

Yeah, this one is,
too. How about these?

Same. Yeah, here, too.

Yeah, this one as well.

So?

So, that doesn't
happen by accident.

It might just be something
about opportunity,

or it might be part
of a bigger plan.

But either way, it
supports Charlie's theory

that there's a single killer with a
specific method of finding his victims.

All right, let's check
into this, let's go.

Professor Fleinhardt.

Oh, Agent Reeves.

Hey, Amita. Hi.

Charlie. Hey.

Wow, you have a
lot of victim photos.

A lot of victims.

Charlie, Don told
me your theory,

and, assuming that you're
right, I'm trying to figure out

how the killer is
finding his victims.

And I don't have a
behavioral model yet,

but it seems that it has to
be more than just opportunity.

And I can tell you
mathematically, yeah, it has to be.

What does that mean? Why?

Each of these murders started an
exceptionally long shooting chain.

Now, the average for a shooing
chain is about 2.8 shootings, right?

Well, these are all much higher.

Look, four, five, six,
seven shootings, even.

Statistically, that
wouldn't happen

if he had chosen
the victims at random.

The chains would conform
to the overall average.

So, there is a method to
how he's choosing his victims.

In other words, the
killer's choosing his victims

specifically to
maximize retaliation.

So he's trying to take out as
many gang members as possible.

But wouldn't that also endanger
members of his own gang?

I mean, they're surely going to
be the target of the retaliation.

You see, now you're making
this rather large assumption.

I mean, how do we know that
the shooter is a gang member?

A serial killer?

Targeting gang members
for the same reason

other serial killers
target prostitutes.

Because nobody really
cares about the victims.

Exactly. And then they can go on
killing for longer without anyone noticing.

I mean, this guy's been
out there for, like, two years,

and if he hadn't killed Rhimes,
we still wouldn't know who he is.

Charlie says he's been
maximizing retaliations.

He'd have to know
a lot about gangs.

I mean, about their
structure, how they function.

You're right, that's how
he knows who to go after.

All right, yeah.
Yeah, I got you.

That was ballistics.

One of the slugs we've been
testing hit on the computer.

Turns out the
same gun that fired it

was used in a liquor
store robbery-homicide.

Then let's run down the guy who
owns the gun. Find our shooter.

The problem is, this gun's not
even supposed to exist anymore.

What does that mean?

It was turned in to one of those
buy-back programs three years ago.

You know, turn in your gun,
get a free gift at Christmas time.

And those guns are
supposed to be destroyed?

Yeah, they're supposed to be,
but obviously this one wasn't.

You got this? Thank you. Got it.

♪

Ready, homes.

Could you do that for me?

Yo, Hoover Park!

This is part of the shooting chain
related to Anton Rhimes' murder.

23rd Street retaliated against
Hoover Park this afternoon.

Tonight, Hoover Park strikes
back. It's probably not over, either.

No.

Oh, man, that's Anthony, huh?

Yeah.

Been better off if
you'd locked him up.

Hey, David, let me
talk to you for a second.

Did some checking into that gun,

the one that went missing
from the buy-back program.

Yeah. Dug up some paperwork

and take a look at this.

The signature on the
bottom of that receipt.

"Lieutenant Gary Walker."

Yeah.

Could be completely innocent.
But at some point or another,

the gun that killed Rhimes
passed through Walker's hands.

Over here?

I don't think I like
what you're suggesting.

Well, it's not a question
of whether you like it,

because your name
is on the form, right?

That's your name,
it's not a forgery,

so the investigation
brings us to you, I'm sorry.

My name's on about
a thousand forms.

I've been working
the buy-back program

in my division for six years.

Collecting weapons that were
supposed to be melted down.

You know how many guns
we take in off the street?

How many lives we
save because of it?

Then why don't you tell me
how a gun that you signed for

ends up back on the street
in the hands of a killer?

Who the hell knows? Security's
not perfect at these things,

a lot of people
come through here.

Now, we probably took 50
guns off the street that day.

If one of them slipped
through, got back out,

that's still 49 others
that we took in.

I don't care about them, because
they're not in the hands of a murderer.

Oh come on, Eppes,
we're talking about

a motivated individual
out there killing.

If it hadn't been this
gun, it'd been another one,

and you and I both know that.

All right... COLBY:
Don? Excuse me.

The guys upstairs
ran a full audit.

More than a dozen guns
from the buy-back program

never made it to the furnace.

Okay, then, just tell me
how the program works.

What is the exact
chain of possession?

There's usually maybe
five or six drop-off locations.

Churches, community centers...

Community centers? Is there
any way to check each weapon

against the location
it was turned in to?

Well, just by the responsible
police officer's signatures.

And, it turns out, all these guns
were signed for by you, Lieutenant.

Which means they were all
turned in at the same location.

Right.

Which is the 23rd
Street Community Center.

You do see the obscene irony
here, don't you, Agent Sinclair?

We're one of the few
places in the neighborhood

that's really trying to do some
good, and you're coming down on us.

Ms. Rawlings, I am not
coming down on you.

The gun buy-back
is a good program.

That may be, but we still
need to see those records.

We need to know everyone
who was working here

the day the guns were collected.

These are people
who try to help out.

People who contribute.
Do you have any idea

how hard it's going
to be to get volunteers

if they can't lend a hand without
getting a visit from the FBI?

Ms. Rawlings, I want
those names and addresses.

Anyone who had
access to those guns.

I know you do background checks.

What if I won't
give them to you?

We can get a court
order and make this public.

And, I suppose, the
community center

could find itself liable
to the victims' families

if it came to that.

I hope you're really
proud of yourself.

You're doing a whole lot to
give back to this community.

Ten people had the opportunity
to get their hands on the guns

that were turned in at the
23rd Street Community Center.

Those are the background
checks they ran.

Well, we can probably
rule out the priest, huh?

These six here strike
me as possibilities.

They could have the
necessary gang knowledge,

and the ability to pull
something like this off.

All right, so we just need to find a way
to connect one of them to the victims.

Specifically, the first victim.

Because with serial killers,

the first victim almost
always has significance.

It's the first kill.
It's a really big step.

Means it's personal, or
someone close, accessible.

So, victim number one is where
we're looking to find our link.

It's Omar Brice.

He was shot outside
of a party two years ago.

All right. Well,
I'll take the family.

You want to pull his
record, talk to his PO?

I'll see what Walker's
gang unit has on him.

Has to be a link between
him and one of our suspects.

Hey. Are you still working?

Yeah, I just needed a break.

Where's Dad? He's upstairs.

He just got home from
his date with, um... Donna.

Oh, yeah?

So? How'd it go? ALAN: Fine.

The date went fine.

Yeah? What'd you
end up getting her?

Well, according to those
London mathematicians,

you should have sprung for
the very expensive dinner, Dad.

Nah, I disagree. I think women
want something that'll last.

Something they can
remember the night by, at least.

That would be ideal.

I'm afraid to ask.
What did you get her?

Soap.

Soap?

Very expensive soap.

Yeah? How'd that go over?

Well, uh...

Honestly speaking,
she wasn't wowed.

I mean, she was
very polite about it,

but she, uh, wasn't, uh, wowed.

Ruined the whole
date, didn't it?

It didn't ruin the date.
The date was fine.

You're home at 9:30.

I didn't say it couldn't
have been better.

You look exhausted,
you know that?

I'm just killing myself
trying to find a link

between our suspects
and this first victim.

Well, at least you
have suspects.

Hey, Don, why are you...

Why are you looking to link
your suspects to the first victim?

Because when it
comes to serial murders,

there's always significance
to the first victim.

Well, I understand
that, but what I mean is

why aren't you looking
at the whole first chain?

What do you mean?

Now, remember I compared the
shooting chains to dominos? Right? Okay.

So, let's say I'm the killer,

and I have reason to want
this gang member killed.

We'll call him, Bob.

Now, I could just
shoot Bob myself.

The smarter move...

Assuming I know the
gang structure well enough,

instead of shooting
Bob, I shoot Tim,

knowing that shooting
Tim will set off a chain

that ultimately results in the
shooting of my real target, Bob.

That is smart. You're never
involved in the shooting of Bob.

Since you don't have
a motive for killing Tim,

then you're not a
suspect there, either.

Check the whole first chain,

your target's
going to be in there.

Yeah. Good, Charlie.
All right, thanks!

What are we working on?

First shooting chain. We only
looked at the first link, Omar Brice.

But what if Brice
wasn't the real target?

What if the real target was
somewhere further down the chain?

That makes sense.

At the time of Brice's murder,
LAPD focused on three suspects.

They're all Hoover
Park gang members

they had all made
threats against Brice.

"Carlos Alvarez, Jesse
Orosco and Peter Mendez."

I have the murder file on
Orosco, Jesse right here.

He was gunned down one
week after the Brice slaying.

So Orosco was victim number
two in the shooting chain.

Yeah.

Wait a minute.

Where's the file on the
Community Center volunteers?

It's right over here.
Why? What do you got?

This kid, Orosco, at
the time of his murder,

he was a suspect
in another drive-by.

One that killed a 15-year-old
kid named Brian Owens.

Kid's father, John, works
at the Community Center.

Really?

He was present at
all the gun buy-backs.

So this guy's son
gets shot in a drive-by.

He starts a shooting
chain that ends up killing

the gang banger
that's responsible.

Only the killing
didn't stop there.

Spotter says Owens
is inside alone.

I tried calling, but
he's not picking up.

The dude's armed, for sure.

Talked to one of his neighbors.

Says he sees him out on
his porch at night with a rifle.

He's pretty sure it's an AK.

Yeah, plus all the guns he
got from the buy-back program.

What we need is to
lure him near a window,

give one of my
snipers a clean shot.

Shoot first, ask
questions later, right?

Lives are in danger
here, Agent Sinclair.

Lives of the people
who live here.

Don, I met this guy.

Let me see if I can talk to him.

Just give me a shot.

Maybe it doesn't end
with a sniper's bullet.

All right.

John Owens, can you hear me?

It's Agent Sinclair.

I helped you with the tables the
other day at the Community Center.

Do you remember?

Hold! Hold! Hold!

Calm down, John!
Calm down! Easy.

Lower that rifle.

MAN ON POLICE
RADIO: Red light, red light.

Get our man in position.

Right.

I got nothing to
say to you, Sinclair.

Okay, maybe you can just listen.

I know about your son.

I know what happened to him.

He was 15 years old.

15.

Only I couldn't protect him.

I know.

John, it should have
never happened.

But what you're doing, more
people are gonna get hurt.

It's too late for all that.

What about the kids?

Remember the ones you
said could still be saved?

What about them, John?

They still need you.

I'm going to jail.
We both know that.

John, listen to me.

Now, you put that gun down,
and you come on out here.

Nobody else has to
get hurt today, okay?

John.

Hey, John! Talk to me.

John, keep talking to
me, man. I'm right here!

John!

Hey, John!

John, talk to me!

David! You come
back out here, John!

David, get down! Come
back to the window!

Shots fired! MAN 2:
Stand by! Shots fired!

Roll call.

You okay?

He shot himself.

I heard.

How's David?

I sent him home.

And Colby's with him.

Your man, Sinclair,
did himself proud today.

He's got nothing
to feel bad about.

We all went home safe, and...

That's about as
much as you can ask.

I was gonna go see Rhimes' wife

and tell her what happened.

I'll see you tomorrow.

Hello!

Yeah, we're coming down.

Yeah? Where are you going?

He's got yet another date!

Yeah? With, uh, what's
her name, Donna?

I thought that wasn't
gonna work out.

Well, your brother
came to my rescue.

I bought gift number two on that
courtship study list: theater tickets.

According to those mathematicians,
you know, the British ones,

this is a sure thing.

Well, maybe not a sure thing,

but it's certainly better
than, you know, soap.

I don't need math
to figure that out.

Uh, thanks for your
insights, my little Don Juan.

So what are you up
to tonight, Donny?

Well, I thought I was going
to hang with you boys, but...

Oh, man, I wish you'd called.
I'm going to Amita's for dinner.

Larry's going to be there.
Why don't you join us?

I think I'll just grab something
to eat here and head home.

Yeah? All right. You sure?

Yeah, go ahead, have
fun. I got stuff to do, anyway.

Have a good time.

Mmm, all right.

Say someone steps right
up to you, all up in your grill.

What are you going to do?

I know what you want to do,

but what are you gonna do?

The first thing you're
gonna do is think.

What I'm trying to
get you guys to see is

there are other ways
to keep your respect

than just resorting to violence.

You got more options than that.

All right, y'all,
give me a second?

Hey, how you doing?

My assistant told me someone
was gonna take over for John tonight.

I didn't expect it
was gonna be you.

Yeah, um... Conflict resolution.

Class like that really helped
me out when I was a kid, so...

Oh, yeah?

Yeah, you know, I
was a bit of a hard-ass.

Was?

You know, you
really do like to fight.

Maybe you want to sit in.

You know, you could learn some
good ways to work things out.

And I won't even call on you.

I'll let you sit there
and just watch me.

If you want to.

Let them know when you're done,

so they can turn out the
lights when you leave.

Yes, ma'am.

And I assume an FBI agent like you
can figure out how to find my number.

What y'all looking at?

All right, where were we?

Talking about options.

Options to violence, right?

Say, you're at the
bus stop, you're in line,

and somebody steps,
boom, right on your sneakers.

♪ Just give yourself a chance ♪

What are you gonna do?

♪ It will be all right ♪

♪ And maybe love will save you ♪