Numb3rs (2005–2010): Season 2, Episode 23 - Undercurrents - full transcript
The bodies of young Asian girls wash up on the beach, including one with bird flu. Amita gets a job offer.
Hardly anyone out.
You complaining?
No, it's just that
big storm last night.
I think I read somewhere
that runoff is toxic.
That's fascinating.
Are you always such
a chick in the morning?
Come on.
Hey.
Look.
Oh, my God.
All right, so you're good?
All right, good. Bye.
So, Dad's all right.
He's gonna take the
shuttle back from the airport,
and he... he... he appreciates
that we at least tried to pick him up.
All right, well, I'm sorry I
had to drag you out here.
Oh, believe me, I don't mind.
Charlie, don't forget this
is a crime scene, all right?
Right. Don't go
touching anything.
Stay out of your way.
Hey, guys.
There are four
bodies that washed up
on the beach early this morning.
All Asian, all female, no IDs.
Any idea where they're from?
It can't be too far away,
otherwise the bodies
probably would've
drifted further apart.
Coast Guard called us in.
They're calling this a
crime on the high seas.
Over there with Megan
is a marine science officer.
He's supposed to know something
about the local currents out here.
All right.
What's Charlie doin'?
No idea.
It was a big storm,
but we've had
very few distress calls in
the past 24 hours. Yeah.
Hey, this is Special Agent
Eppes. Hey, how're you doing?
And why is that, you think?
A storm that big keeps
all the small craft in port.
And we had nothing up near
Palos Verdes that explains this.
Wait. Why there?
The prevailing
current in this area
moves down from the north.
If they were in the
water less than 24 hours,
they had to go in off Palos
Verdes to end up here.
Uh... What's up?
Yeah, but a flow from the north
wouldn't be sustaining
rip currents in this bay.
Well, that's true, but, uh...
I'm sorry, who are you?
He-He's all right, he's with us.
You see those surfers there?
They're struggling
against a significant riptide.
So I... I would say
that the coastal flow
is moving counter to the
prevailing currents from the south.
We do get rips when
the southwest swell starts
to push against the...
What is that in the water?
Hey, I got a heartbeat here.
Paramedic!
Come on, breathe.
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.
Any theories on how these
girls ended up on the beach?
I don't think they
were out for a swim.
Yeah, it's tough to
swim with your shoes on.
All right, so nothing
from the Coast Guard.
No witnesses, no distress calls.
And what about the girl
you pulled from the ocean?
Still unconscious.
Actually, someone
should check her status
and someone should
talk to the coroner,
see we can get those
autopsies fast-tracked, you know?
You want to draw straws?
Nah, I'll take the morgue.
You can owe me one.
Thanks. COLBY: Hey, Don.
Charter company called for
you. They said your boat's ready?
Oh, right.
Your boat?
♪
So we need to keep dropping
these buoys at one minute intervals.
Right, and I am
recording the ID numbers.
Then what?
Well, then we use the
drift routes to identify
what I hope will be an atypical
shift in the local currents.
Charlie, do you really think
we're gonna see any
of these buoys again?
It's a very big ocean.
Yeah, but for our objective,
we really only need to be
looking for them in one place.
Right. The beach where
the girls washed up.
Charles,
is this practical exercise
really necessary?
We could have produced
a highly functional
theoretical result
and never left dry land.
Larry, without your
kinematic flow mapping,
we wouldn't know where
to drop these buoys.
No, I know, I know. I know.
All right, I'm going below deck
in a desperate search
for more Dramamine.
So last night ended up
being pretty fun, huh?
Yeah, that was fun, for a lecture
on theories of axiomatic sets.
Yeah, not exactly
the obvious outcome.
No.
You know, Claude Faugert
is giving a lecture next week
on point-set topology.
Want to go together?
Sure, why not?
It could be like, um...
Like a math date.
I like that. Mmm.
Maybe there's hope for us.
Hey.
So you were at the hospital?
She's in ICU.
Yeah, and?
There's complications
from the hypothermia.
What, like, as in
not gonna make it?
That's what the doctor
says. It doesn't look good.
All right.
Claudia? How you been?
David.
I didn't expect to
see you so soon.
Look, do you have
any idea who's handling
the four girls from the beach?
Yeah. Me.
Claudia?
Been catching a lot of
homicide cases, okay?
You have a cause of death?
Mmm, they drowned.
Well, not that surprising,
but all four showed
signs of acute dehydration.
That's crazy. You're surrounded
by water, but still you're dehydrated?
Well, sea water actually
accelerates dehydration.
It's the salt,
but I'd say tissue
retraction started
before they went in the water.
Meaning?
Meaning you can
rule out a luxury cruise.
You have any idea
where they might be from?
From what little
dental work there is,
I'd say these three are
from Mainland China.
But this one over here,
she's had extensive
orthodontic work.
I'd say she's American.
Or at least grew up here.
She's also older than the
other girls. Twenty-five or six.
The rest are
still in their teens.
How'd she end up in the water
with three teenage
girls from China?
If you can figure out where she got
the tattoo, might help you answer that.
This was done recently.
The bottom of her
foot. How recent?
The skin's fully healed,
but from the keloid scarring,
I'd say, couple months.
Maybe three.
I'm sorry I can't
be more specific.
Nah, don't be.
♪
It's so quiet.
It's so early.
It's damn early.
Thanks for coming
out here with me again.
Glad to help.
It's actually nice to
be away from school.
What would you think of doing
something else outside of school,
like seeing a movie?
Are you asking me
out on a non-math date?
Yeah, is that weird?
No.
I would like that.
But, um...
But what? Don't say "but."
Come on, I know we've
had our problems this year.
No, Charlie, it's not that.
Susan Berry was not a big thing.
She was here briefly
and she couldn't wait
to get back to the UK.
Look, Charlie, I've
been offered a... a job.
Uh, it's
an assistant professorship
in the math department.
It's, um, at Harvard.
Harvard?
It's a three-year appointment.
Massachusetts Harvard.
That's the one.
That's...
I mean, that's
really amazing.
Thanks.
Three years is a long time.
Hey.
Isn't that a third buoy?
What? Where? There.
C-8.
Well, that's enough data
to sustain your theory.
Currents have shifted.
Which means the Coast Guard
was looking for witnesses and
survivors in the wrong place.
Colby get any
hits on the tattoo?
Nothin'. It seems that
the trail's hit a wall.
Maybe Charlie's
high seas adventure
will give us
something, you think?
Yeah, we could use a break.
Even if it does
require a math lesson.
Can we help you?
That is, uh, Claudia Gomez
from the coroner's office.
Oh, from the "you'll take the
morgue and I'll owe you one"?
Excuse me?
Ah, it's... it's nothin'.
I brought over the
pathology reports.
I didn't think it should wait.
What happened?
One of the girls from the beach,
I found the H5N1
strain in her system.
H...
H5N1.
It's bird flu.
The Center for Disease Control has
looked at this and so far we've been lucky.
The last pandemic flu killed
almost 50 million people.
Right. And I didn't think the
bird flu was contagious for people.
Okay.
H5N1 mostly effects
avian populations,
but it spreads very quickly,
and it will infect people
if they come in
contact with birds.
So it can adapt.
And rapidly.
Now, the current strains of
the virus settle deep in the lungs,
too deep for a cough
to get it airborne.
But if it mutates...
It could spread rapidly
through a human population.
That's our fear.
And most of us think that
it's only a matter of time.
Well, we think these
girls are... are Chinese.
Wait a minute, I was told we
were talking about a single case.
We're investigating
several deaths,
one case of the flu so far.
So what about linking the
girl to an outbreak in China?
Yeah. Well, Chinese government
hasn't exactly been open
about their health issues.
And what about a quarantine?
Agent Eppes, we haven't had a
case of avian flu in North America yet,
and what you're telling
me doesn't change that.
So you're just gonna quash this?
Our containment
protocols are useless
if we don't know where
the girl contracted the flu.
All right, wh-what do you
suggest we do, cover it up?
I'm not saying this isn't
serious. It is deadly serious.
But I don't think it's worth
causing a widespread panic
until we have more
information on the girl.
So here's my theory.
The storm caused
a sandbar to form
at the north end of the bay.
Right. The shift in
the bottom features
disrupted the tidal flow.
All right, so it's
like a car race.
The flow around the track
is even and thus predictable.
But let's say there's a crash.
The flow is disrupted.
The cars have to steer
around the wreckage.
Now if they don't
clear that raceway,
the flow is permanently changed.
The parallel isn't exact,
but you get the idea.
All right. The currents shifted.
So where... where'd
the girls come from?
Well, they were dumped in
the inbound shipping lanes
and these are the
approximate coordinates.
All right, well, I mean, the Coast Guards
are gonna have to do another search.
Hey, look, if the girl
with the flu was on a boat,
then there's a high probability
she came into close
quarters with other people.
Right. If that virus
was able to mutate...
I know. It might be
spreading big time.
Hey, guys.
Hey.
If you're looking for Charlie,
I think he's at the FBI.
Ah, shoot. Yeah, I was.
Don wanted me to drop off these
search grids from the Coast Guard.
Oh, I can take them
and give them to him.
Can you? Yeah.
Thanks. Sure.
Hold on, let me get those.
There you go.
Boy, that's a strange tattoo.
Hmm. Thanks.
Hey, wait a second.
These characters, are
these from the I Ching?
You know, we don't know
what those are, actually, uh...
What's the I Ching?
Oh, it's an ancient book
of Chinese divination.
It's still pretty influential.
I... I think these
are from there.
Is this related to
the drownings?
Yeah, it's a tattoo we
found on the bottom
of one of the dead girls' feet.
That's a strange
place for a tattoo.
Yeah, that's what I thought,
too. It's like a toe tag.
But it got me thinking.
I remembered there were
these guys in Special Forces
that used to have their dog
tags tattooed on their bodies
in case their heads
were... You know?
In case...
And you think this young woman
might have similar inclinations
toward post mortem
identification?
Maybe.
Do you have any idea what
those characters might mean?
No. But...
Well, I'm afraid
my own expertise
is not that specific.
But you may be correct in thinking
that it does mean something.
How's that?
If I could just get you
to hold that. Mmm-hmm.
See, each of these
characters, that has its own
unique correspondence
to its own unique number.
For instance,
you're looking at 31.
Wait a minute, if
these are all numbers,
do you think it's possible
this is some kind of code?
Well, if it is, Charlie's a
code-breaking machine,
and he should be
back really soon.
Yeah, that'd be great,
we could use his help.
You know, it's perfectly
understandable,
a soldier's reasons
for tattooing himself.
He's walking into war.
But this girl, now her
tattoo begs the question,
what was she walking into?
Hey. Hey.
Been going through the ship
information from the port authority.
There are more than 30 ships
in the area Charlie gave us.
All right, well, the coroner
said they were Chinese.
Why don't you try
anything from Asia?
All right.
Yeah, that cuts it down
a bit, but we've still got,
what, four or five cargo ships.
Right, well, it wouldn't
be the first time
we found bodies in
those things, right?
Yeah.
Oh, Don, take a look at this.
One of these ships can carry, what,
3,000, maybe 4,000 containers each.
Do you realize we could be
talking about 20,000 containers?
No, David, we're talking
about one container.
We've tried every permutation
possible for a Caesar shift.
Reading from left to
right, from right to left...
You know, the I
Ching is Chinese.
Maybe we need to
consider phonetic characters.
I already did. And?
There's only 37 symbols.
Yeah, yeah, which
doesn't get us a 55 or a 61.
Okay, I know. I do get it.
We've been at
this for six hours.
Nope, six and a half.
Mmm. Uh-oh, this
doesn't look good.
No. Our breakthrough eludes us.
What, are you
guys still thinking
this is some kind of
encrypted message?
It's too short to
run a crypt analysis.
If it were longer, I could
run a Kasiski exam,
or... or... or try an
index-of-coincidence assessment.
All we have is a
mere ten digits.
It's just not enough for
a frequency analysis.
Well, maybe the problem is
the underlying assumption.
I don't know, maybe she's right,
maybe we're looking
for complexity here
when all there
really is is simplicity.
Well, wait, how do you mean?
Maybe it's not a code.
Charles, it's a phone number.
It's ringing.
It's going to voicemail.
This is Susan Lim.
If you've reached this
message, then, I guess I'm dead.
Please call Jeremy Wang,
he's a reporter at the Tribune.
Tell him what happened.
That's a message
from a dead woman.
She's one of five women that
washed up on a beach yesterday.
We don't know who they
are or where they came from.
Her name's Susan Lim.
We worked together.
I'm sorry.
Um, do you have any idea
how this might have happened?
She called me maybe
three weeks ago.
She'd gotten as far as Shanghai,
and her cousin helped
her find a snakehead.
Um, a "snakehead"?
Yeah, someone who would
arrange for her to get on a cargo ship.
She said there was, uh, 20
women on an 8-by-40 foot container.
Twenty women? Yeah.
Did she say the
name of the ship?
I don't think she knew.
She was working on a story?
A book.
Last year we did a series of
articles on the underground sex trade.
We heard how they
were bringing the girls in.
She convinced the
publisher to back an expose.
And just like that she could pull
off going undercover in China?
Susan's first-generation Chinese-American,
she grew up speaking Mandarin,
and, uh, her mother's family's still in
Zhejiang province, in the countryside.
They helped her.
Last thing she told me,
she pulls this off, she's
a lock for a Pulitzer.
Well, I'd really like
to look at her notes.
So who is she?
Who's who?
Charlie, whenever
you look like this,
it's always a
problem with a girl.
Look like what?
Michelle Robinson, remember her?
Seventh grade? Yeah.
When she wouldn't go with
you to the dance at school?
You looked just
like this for a week.
Amita got offered a job.
A great job.
But it's back East.
Amita, huh?
I thought you two weren't, um...
We weren't.
But lately... Oh, I see.
So you decided not
to try so hard, huh?
I guess that's part of it.
It just felt like things were
finally starting to happen.
So, she might get a
job back East, huh?
Well, she hasn't
decided, but it's Harvard.
How can she pass that up?
Mmm.
Well, you know, "starting
to happen" is, um...
That's not really
worth fighting for.
I think when you focus on your
feelings about her, your real ones,
that, uh, you'll...
You'll know what to do.
Can you pass the milk?
♪
Eight million containers pass
through this port every year, man.
Wow.
How we supposed
to find just one?
I don't know.
Given what might be in it,
we'd better figure that out.
We think the ship might
have sailed from Shanghai.
Shanghai. Well, that
narrows it down to two.
The Li-Po, still
here, but unloaded.
The other ship, the
Nanking, 75 percent clear.
All right. Well, we're
going to need you to search
all the cargo
still on that ship.
But you're talking about more
than a thousand containers.
I'd have to pull every able-bodied
man I have for something like that.
So pull 'em.
What exactly are
you guys looking for?
About 15 Chinese girls
locked up in a container.
That's not gonna be enough.
Excuse me?
Look, I hate to say it, but a
few undocumented workers,
it's not a priority for us.
We're more worried about a bomb.
Now, look, this may qualify.
I don't follow.
We already found one of
the girls from the container.
She had the bird flu.
You gotta be kidding me.
No, I wish we were.
Okay. We'll impound every
container left on the Nanking.
Maybe we get lucky,
your girls are still onboard.
And if they're not?
Who unloaded the ship?
Uh, longshoremen from 151
worked both ships.
Jack Morrison's the rep, but I
wouldn't count on much help.
Why is that?
Guys who work the docks,
not exactly boy scouts.
I got a message you're not
releasing Susan Lim's notes.
After you left, I
started thinking.
Why is the FBI so
interested in these girls?
Because a reporter, your
partner, was probably murdered.
I get that, but you were already
on the case when this was just
a Chinese girl being
brought in for the sex trade.
I don't see how that matters.
When we were doing our story,
we saw 12-year-old girls
being sold by their families.
Prostitutes beaten by their
pimps, left on the sidewalk to die.
We knew who was behind it.
But they were hidden behind dummy import
companies, and we couldn't get to them.
I don't see where this is going.
We called the FBI.
They said if it wasn't
terrorism, it wasn't a priority.
But here you are now, the
same FBI, wanting her notes.
It's just a murder
investigation.
Agent Reeves, if... if what you're
looking for is related to Susan's death,
these boxes are important.
I can subpoena these boxes,
and her notes, and all
of your notes, all of it.
You know my paper won't
give them up without a fight.
The courts could take weeks,
months even, to sort it out.
I just want to know
what happened to her.
I'll give you the rest of the
story, but you can't run with it
until after I close the case.
Nail whoever did this.
The FBI are the reason
my guys on the Nanking
are sittin' on their butts?
That ship should have
been unloaded by now.
We wouldn't be holding
you up if it weren't important.
Important, huh?
Poll numbers slipping
in Washington?
We need your help
finding a container.
It came off either, uh,
the Li-Po or the Nanking.
We just take 'em off the
ship. We don't look inside.
You run the dockworkers' union,
and you've never heard anything
about contraband coming
off these ships, huh?
That's right.
So we look into your finances,
we won't find anything
but union dues?
We're looking for a
container that just came in.
It's full of Chinese girls.
I don't know about
anything like that.
I'll have a warrant for your
books in less than an hour.
Okay, okay.
I'll talk to the guys who worked
the ships, see what I can find out.
If something got through
the port that shouldn't have,
you ought to be
talking to customs.
They have a new security system.
Uses some kind of algorithm to
figure out what boxes to search.
I'm sorry. Did you
just say algorithm?
Hey.
Dad just told me.
Yeah. It stinks. Oh!
Well, not for Amita, but...
It's a great opportunity
for her. I just...
Well, look, I mean,
maybe you should just go.
What?
Well, you know,
you get all those, uh,
visiting professor
offers, right? So go visit.
Man, we haven't even gone
on a halfway decent date.
I can hardly go chasing
her across the country.
What's up? What do you need?
That container, it's gone.
It's already been unloaded.
But the ports say they use
some kind of a security algorithm.
Yeah. Yeah, it analyzes
a probability matrix
for high-risk or
dangerous cargo.
Ranks containers
according to threat potential.
All right, good,
you know about it.
I was on the team
that designed it.
No way. Oh.
You want to know if you
can use the algorithm,
work backwards, to
find this container?
Yeah. I mean, we have
15 girls, they're goin' out
into the workforce,
and... and...
I mean, they might have
this... this deadly virus,
so I don't know what else to do.
You realize the initial rate of
transmission for a disease like influenza
amongst prostitutes is...
Even I can do that math.
So, let me know
what you get, all right?
And don't worry, you're
gonna be all right. It'll be fine.
Think this tip's gonna pan out?
I will if Morrison
believes your threat
about gettin' a
warrant for his finances.
That was no threat.
♪
Hey, guys, I'll
be right with you.
Jack Morrison sent us over.
That's your guy
right over there.
Wait a minute. You're
serving drinks to that kid?
He said he was 21.
What else did he say?
Well, last couple nights, uh,
he comes in about
this same time.
Um, gets drunk
as fast as he can.
Then he starts crying about,
uh, throwing girls off a ship.
Did you call the police?
I didn't think he was serious.
Not until, uh, Morrison came
by, asking about Chinese girls.
Hey! Raymond!
Raymond!
FBI!
FBI, Raymond!
Hands behind your back.
Why do they always run?
'Cause we wear suits, man.
You always figure you
can outrun a guy in a suit.
Let's go. Come on, buddy.
You work on the Li-Po?
In the kusina.
Since I leave Manila.
Well, I just spoke
to the hospital,
and that last girl
didn't make it.
So I'm lookin' at
you for five murders.
I don't understand
what you're...
I... I didn't hurt them. It
doesn't matter. You were there.
You want to tell me what
happened? Maybe I can help you.
One girl, she was sick.
The captain call the people
who pay him to bring the girls.
They say kill the sick one.
Who did he call?
You know who he called?
The other girls that went
overboard, they were sick, too?
Five of them come
on the ship together.
I don't know what that means.
Farm... Farm girls?
Farm girls? Right.
They... We throw those away,
then wait, see if any else get sick.
You'd throw them away?
The captain says he lose too
much money if he kill them all.
And where are they now?
Another box.
I-In a box.
Container?
Yeah.
And where is that?
It's gone.
Okay.
Cobbled together some code.
It will parse the cargo data.
I appreciate the help.
Is that the stuff
from the reporter?
Yeah. Megan brought it over.
It's the reporter's notes on the
illegal sex trade in Los Angeles.
It's fairly disturbing.
And you're gonna use that
to reconsider the risk variables
for the port security algorithm?
Yeah.
Is that gonna be enough data?
No, but this will be.
Yeah. It's more of
the same from the FBI.
Hey, uh, you know what?
I know it's late, but can
you do one last thing for me?
What do you need?
This is a list of the companies
that were used to launder money.
Uh, there's already a table
for that in the database.
You already put it in?
Yeah. I mean, I figured
that you're trying to find
the owner of this missing
container, and you needed a way
to connect the import-export
business with the sex trade.
All right.
We work pretty well
together, don't we?
Actually, you're a little bossy.
I'm bein' serious.
Serious about what?
Greg Michaels is taking
a three-year sabbatical.
Yeah, I heard.
And to cover his course load, they're
creating an assistant professorship.
You'd be a perfect
candidate for that job.
What? Did I say
something I shouldn't have?
I don't know, Charlie.
It's just that my job
is starting to feel like
it's all about your job.
Coast Guard just called.
Pulled another body out
of the water this morning.
Another girl?
No. Captain of the Li-Po.
Really? Mmm.
You think somebody noticed the
kitchen boy went missing from the ship,
and decided to start
cleanin' up some loose ends?
Yeah, it seems that way.
Whoever's doing the cleanup's
got to know that Nipay's talking to us.
Yeah. Well, what do you
think about that union guy?
Morrison? Yeah.
I don't know. Why give
us Nipay in the first place?
Wait a minute.
Even a cabin boy
gets a phone call, right?
Yeah. Let's find out
who Nipay called.
So, the port security algorithm
analyzes potential terrorist threats.
However, it misses things like
drugs, contraband, even human cargo.
So, we could potentially
stop a dirty bomb,
but a pandemic
flu is in like Flynn?
Not anymore. Not
anymore if this works.
I love this part.
So, the security algorithm
uses inputs like point of origin,
the company shipping the goods,
the volume and type of cargo.
It highlights trouble areas.
Think of, uh, a dandelion?
You know, the ones you used to
blow into the wind when you were a kid?
The algorithm evaluates the
threat potential of each seed.
Harmless seeds are released.
Bad seeds are identified
and contained.
So if we change the... the inputs,
we can track different seeds.
Exactly, and I used
Susan Lim's research
to create a whole new
set of input variables.
So, you found the container?
Containers. Plural.
There's more than one?
No, but, uh... uh, there are limits
to how precise the algorithm can be.
I ran it against the cargo
manifest of the Li-Po,
and I narrowed it down
to four possibilities.
One of the import
companies on this list
has your container.
Raymond Nipay, he made a call
to a private club
in Little Taipei.
Yeah. And it took some
doing, but we were able
to sort through
the IRS database.
We were able to run down
an owner, Steven Jintao.
This guy not only
owns the private club
but he also owns three
massage parlors in the area.
Then we can definitely
connect him to the container?
Yeah, using the
reporter's notes.
Yeah, Jintao built this little
empire smuggling in Chinese girls.
Got their families
to pay for the freight.
Most of the time,
they had no idea
what was happening
to them on the other end.
Guy saw an opportunity to exploit
the girls on both sides of the smuggling.
He brings 'em over, and
then he puts 'em to work
in the massage
parlors and the clubs.
Right. They promise 'em
the moon, they pimp 'em out.
It's a pretty twisted version
of the American dream.
And where is he? The LAPD
says he has an office at his club.
Go get him.
♪
We're the only
white people in here.
Yes, we are.
Probably already made us.
Yeah, we don't exactly blend in.
Hi.
Are you looking
for a girlfriend?
Actually, we're looking
for this guy right here.
I've never seen him.
There's another one running.
He's moving out the back.
He's moving out the back.
Yeah, yeah. Get down on the car.
We're looking for the
girls from the Li-Po.
I don't know what
you're talking about.
Really? 'Cause I think you do.
That hurts.
I'll start the search.
You guys with me.
All right, let's do it.
Where's the container?
I want my lawyer.
That wasn't the question.
We lost his
paperwork last night,
but we're gonna have to
let him talk to his lawyer.
Fine, let the
lawyer file a writ.
We're not giving them a
technicality they can use in court.
What? Megan, we're talking
about a pandemic flu here.
I don't really care
about a technicality.
Don, we have enough information
to put this slime bag
down a very deep hole.
Well, it's not deep
enough, not yet.
Okay, Granger,
explain to me why it is
we only care about these
girls when there's a risk
that their customers
might get sick.
Captain called you.
And you told him
to throw that girl
and everyone with
her in the water.
You know how I know that?
One of those girls was
a reporter workin' a story.
You're lying.
One more of those
girls get sick...
I'd like to go back to my cell.
Yeah, well, you're not going
anywhere, you understand me, you slime.
You're gonna sit down and tell
me exactly what I want to know!
Don! Don!
Take a break, okay?
Just calm down, all right?
Let him call his lawyer, and
then throw him in that hole.
Stop it.
What?
Okay, maybe we should
just take a break, huh?
I'm all right, I'm just a little
distracted at the moment.
Yeah? What, Amita?
How'd you know?
The look. I know all your looks.
Have you been
conferring with my father?
No.
Hey, Charlie. Look,
we're in trouble here.
I mean, I... I can't get
anything out of this guy Jintao.
Those girls are still out there, not
to mention the threat of pandemic flu.
We've been working on a
destination probability matrix
using Susan Lim's notes,
your list of Jintao's businesses...
Yeah, well, that's why
I'm here. What do you got?
Something's not
right in the data
or there's a bug
somewhere in this matrix.
Because my equation
keeps returning an empty set.
Now, wait a second.
H-Hold on here.
What if, Charles,
what if the matrix
equation is working?
What if? Then we'd
have an answer.
Yeah, but what if the
empty set is the answer?
They never left the port.
The algorithm wasn't
pointing to a destination,
because the girls never
left their starting point.
Green Jade Corp?
No.
What's that, like,
strike number 12?
We just need one warehouse
to match one of
Jintao's businesses.
How about this?
Let's sort them according to,
uh, when they took the space.
Maybe Jintao had to rent
something new to store the container.
Okay, there's one
port warehouse.
Wai Gong Imports.
The company signed a lease
the day before we found
the girls on the beach.
You said Wai Gong? Yeah.
We got him. Yeah. Nice.
This is the building Wai
Gong Imports subleased.
I have movement inside.
You guys, cover the warehouse!
We got to get them out of there.
We can't, not yet.
Although, we need to get a
medic and a translator in here now!
Ladies, just give
us a minute, okay?
So your guy Jintao used
this warehouse for quarantine?
Till he decides to
cut his losses, yeah.
He just left these
ladies here to die.
So none of the girls
turned up with the flu?
Well, they're still
under quarantine.
But so far, it looks like
we got lucky, this time.
Susan's publisher
offered me a book deal.
They want me to write about what
happened to her, the girls, all of it.
Well, it's a heck of a story.
Maybe you'll be the one
who ends up with the Pulitzer.
It'd be nice to say
that Susan's up there
somewhere, looking
down, happy about this.
But...
But she was so damn competitive.
I'm sure she's furious
that I landed an exclusive.
Well, we did bring
down Steven Jintao,
and we rescued the
girls from the container.
We couldn't have done any
of that without Susan's notes.
That is something she
can be happy about.
Very happy.
May I come in?
Oh, yeah.
Yeah. Sure.
I wanted to say that I'm
sorry about yesterday.
Y-You were just trying to
help, and I was out of line.
Actually, I...
I think you were right.
Not too long ago, you
made the point that my work
and my work for the FBI
got in the way of
personal relationships.
Yeah, I... I remember.
But just... Let me finish.
And you said our
relationship could work,
but only if... if I was willing.
I was talking about Don.
I was talking
about your brother.
Were you?
It's not Charlie...
fair of me to ask you
to sacrifice your career if I'm
not willing to sacrifice mine.
Thank you for that.
This year, it turned out a whole
lot differently than I'd expected.
Yeah, for me, too.
So what are we gonna do?
Well, Harvard called.
And they need an
answer by next week.
So what are you gonna do?
I don't know.
I... I really don't know.
Charlie...
♪
Oh, that's it, that's gin, kid.
Again? Yep.
How the hell do
you get so lucky?
So you owe me 120 bucks.
What? Unless of course
you want to go again.
I'm taking you down.
Yeah? Yeah.
All right. And I'm dealing.
No, it's my deal.
No, I'm dealing.
It's my deal. No, no, you cheat.
Give me... I cheat?
Listen to this guy.
Hey, Charlie, would
you figure the odds
on your brother winning 11 games
of gin in a row if
he's not cheating?
What do you mean? He's the one
who taught me how to count cards.
Was that Amita?
Yeah. She just left.
Oh, yeah? So you
movin' back East?
No. No, I'm... I'm not
moving to Massachusetts.
Ah, come on, Bruins
games, pal. Season tickets.
What about Amita?
I'm not sure.
You all right?
I'm not sure about that either.
He's gonna love Beantown.
Especially in the winter.
Oh, yeah.
He can't go to Red Sox
games, though. Start.
That's the thing, right? No
Red Sox games. No cheating.
You complaining?
No, it's just that
big storm last night.
I think I read somewhere
that runoff is toxic.
That's fascinating.
Are you always such
a chick in the morning?
Come on.
Hey.
Look.
Oh, my God.
All right, so you're good?
All right, good. Bye.
So, Dad's all right.
He's gonna take the
shuttle back from the airport,
and he... he... he appreciates
that we at least tried to pick him up.
All right, well, I'm sorry I
had to drag you out here.
Oh, believe me, I don't mind.
Charlie, don't forget this
is a crime scene, all right?
Right. Don't go
touching anything.
Stay out of your way.
Hey, guys.
There are four
bodies that washed up
on the beach early this morning.
All Asian, all female, no IDs.
Any idea where they're from?
It can't be too far away,
otherwise the bodies
probably would've
drifted further apart.
Coast Guard called us in.
They're calling this a
crime on the high seas.
Over there with Megan
is a marine science officer.
He's supposed to know something
about the local currents out here.
All right.
What's Charlie doin'?
No idea.
It was a big storm,
but we've had
very few distress calls in
the past 24 hours. Yeah.
Hey, this is Special Agent
Eppes. Hey, how're you doing?
And why is that, you think?
A storm that big keeps
all the small craft in port.
And we had nothing up near
Palos Verdes that explains this.
Wait. Why there?
The prevailing
current in this area
moves down from the north.
If they were in the
water less than 24 hours,
they had to go in off Palos
Verdes to end up here.
Uh... What's up?
Yeah, but a flow from the north
wouldn't be sustaining
rip currents in this bay.
Well, that's true, but, uh...
I'm sorry, who are you?
He-He's all right, he's with us.
You see those surfers there?
They're struggling
against a significant riptide.
So I... I would say
that the coastal flow
is moving counter to the
prevailing currents from the south.
We do get rips when
the southwest swell starts
to push against the...
What is that in the water?
Hey, I got a heartbeat here.
Paramedic!
Come on, breathe.
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.
Any theories on how these
girls ended up on the beach?
I don't think they
were out for a swim.
Yeah, it's tough to
swim with your shoes on.
All right, so nothing
from the Coast Guard.
No witnesses, no distress calls.
And what about the girl
you pulled from the ocean?
Still unconscious.
Actually, someone
should check her status
and someone should
talk to the coroner,
see we can get those
autopsies fast-tracked, you know?
You want to draw straws?
Nah, I'll take the morgue.
You can owe me one.
Thanks. COLBY: Hey, Don.
Charter company called for
you. They said your boat's ready?
Oh, right.
Your boat?
♪
So we need to keep dropping
these buoys at one minute intervals.
Right, and I am
recording the ID numbers.
Then what?
Well, then we use the
drift routes to identify
what I hope will be an atypical
shift in the local currents.
Charlie, do you really think
we're gonna see any
of these buoys again?
It's a very big ocean.
Yeah, but for our objective,
we really only need to be
looking for them in one place.
Right. The beach where
the girls washed up.
Charles,
is this practical exercise
really necessary?
We could have produced
a highly functional
theoretical result
and never left dry land.
Larry, without your
kinematic flow mapping,
we wouldn't know where
to drop these buoys.
No, I know, I know. I know.
All right, I'm going below deck
in a desperate search
for more Dramamine.
So last night ended up
being pretty fun, huh?
Yeah, that was fun, for a lecture
on theories of axiomatic sets.
Yeah, not exactly
the obvious outcome.
No.
You know, Claude Faugert
is giving a lecture next week
on point-set topology.
Want to go together?
Sure, why not?
It could be like, um...
Like a math date.
I like that. Mmm.
Maybe there's hope for us.
Hey.
So you were at the hospital?
She's in ICU.
Yeah, and?
There's complications
from the hypothermia.
What, like, as in
not gonna make it?
That's what the doctor
says. It doesn't look good.
All right.
Claudia? How you been?
David.
I didn't expect to
see you so soon.
Look, do you have
any idea who's handling
the four girls from the beach?
Yeah. Me.
Claudia?
Been catching a lot of
homicide cases, okay?
You have a cause of death?
Mmm, they drowned.
Well, not that surprising,
but all four showed
signs of acute dehydration.
That's crazy. You're surrounded
by water, but still you're dehydrated?
Well, sea water actually
accelerates dehydration.
It's the salt,
but I'd say tissue
retraction started
before they went in the water.
Meaning?
Meaning you can
rule out a luxury cruise.
You have any idea
where they might be from?
From what little
dental work there is,
I'd say these three are
from Mainland China.
But this one over here,
she's had extensive
orthodontic work.
I'd say she's American.
Or at least grew up here.
She's also older than the
other girls. Twenty-five or six.
The rest are
still in their teens.
How'd she end up in the water
with three teenage
girls from China?
If you can figure out where she got
the tattoo, might help you answer that.
This was done recently.
The bottom of her
foot. How recent?
The skin's fully healed,
but from the keloid scarring,
I'd say, couple months.
Maybe three.
I'm sorry I can't
be more specific.
Nah, don't be.
♪
It's so quiet.
It's so early.
It's damn early.
Thanks for coming
out here with me again.
Glad to help.
It's actually nice to
be away from school.
What would you think of doing
something else outside of school,
like seeing a movie?
Are you asking me
out on a non-math date?
Yeah, is that weird?
No.
I would like that.
But, um...
But what? Don't say "but."
Come on, I know we've
had our problems this year.
No, Charlie, it's not that.
Susan Berry was not a big thing.
She was here briefly
and she couldn't wait
to get back to the UK.
Look, Charlie, I've
been offered a... a job.
Uh, it's
an assistant professorship
in the math department.
It's, um, at Harvard.
Harvard?
It's a three-year appointment.
Massachusetts Harvard.
That's the one.
That's...
I mean, that's
really amazing.
Thanks.
Three years is a long time.
Hey.
Isn't that a third buoy?
What? Where? There.
C-8.
Well, that's enough data
to sustain your theory.
Currents have shifted.
Which means the Coast Guard
was looking for witnesses and
survivors in the wrong place.
Colby get any
hits on the tattoo?
Nothin'. It seems that
the trail's hit a wall.
Maybe Charlie's
high seas adventure
will give us
something, you think?
Yeah, we could use a break.
Even if it does
require a math lesson.
Can we help you?
That is, uh, Claudia Gomez
from the coroner's office.
Oh, from the "you'll take the
morgue and I'll owe you one"?
Excuse me?
Ah, it's... it's nothin'.
I brought over the
pathology reports.
I didn't think it should wait.
What happened?
One of the girls from the beach,
I found the H5N1
strain in her system.
H...
H5N1.
It's bird flu.
The Center for Disease Control has
looked at this and so far we've been lucky.
The last pandemic flu killed
almost 50 million people.
Right. And I didn't think the
bird flu was contagious for people.
Okay.
H5N1 mostly effects
avian populations,
but it spreads very quickly,
and it will infect people
if they come in
contact with birds.
So it can adapt.
And rapidly.
Now, the current strains of
the virus settle deep in the lungs,
too deep for a cough
to get it airborne.
But if it mutates...
It could spread rapidly
through a human population.
That's our fear.
And most of us think that
it's only a matter of time.
Well, we think these
girls are... are Chinese.
Wait a minute, I was told we
were talking about a single case.
We're investigating
several deaths,
one case of the flu so far.
So what about linking the
girl to an outbreak in China?
Yeah. Well, Chinese government
hasn't exactly been open
about their health issues.
And what about a quarantine?
Agent Eppes, we haven't had a
case of avian flu in North America yet,
and what you're telling
me doesn't change that.
So you're just gonna quash this?
Our containment
protocols are useless
if we don't know where
the girl contracted the flu.
All right, wh-what do you
suggest we do, cover it up?
I'm not saying this isn't
serious. It is deadly serious.
But I don't think it's worth
causing a widespread panic
until we have more
information on the girl.
So here's my theory.
The storm caused
a sandbar to form
at the north end of the bay.
Right. The shift in
the bottom features
disrupted the tidal flow.
All right, so it's
like a car race.
The flow around the track
is even and thus predictable.
But let's say there's a crash.
The flow is disrupted.
The cars have to steer
around the wreckage.
Now if they don't
clear that raceway,
the flow is permanently changed.
The parallel isn't exact,
but you get the idea.
All right. The currents shifted.
So where... where'd
the girls come from?
Well, they were dumped in
the inbound shipping lanes
and these are the
approximate coordinates.
All right, well, I mean, the Coast Guards
are gonna have to do another search.
Hey, look, if the girl
with the flu was on a boat,
then there's a high probability
she came into close
quarters with other people.
Right. If that virus
was able to mutate...
I know. It might be
spreading big time.
Hey, guys.
Hey.
If you're looking for Charlie,
I think he's at the FBI.
Ah, shoot. Yeah, I was.
Don wanted me to drop off these
search grids from the Coast Guard.
Oh, I can take them
and give them to him.
Can you? Yeah.
Thanks. Sure.
Hold on, let me get those.
There you go.
Boy, that's a strange tattoo.
Hmm. Thanks.
Hey, wait a second.
These characters, are
these from the I Ching?
You know, we don't know
what those are, actually, uh...
What's the I Ching?
Oh, it's an ancient book
of Chinese divination.
It's still pretty influential.
I... I think these
are from there.
Is this related to
the drownings?
Yeah, it's a tattoo we
found on the bottom
of one of the dead girls' feet.
That's a strange
place for a tattoo.
Yeah, that's what I thought,
too. It's like a toe tag.
But it got me thinking.
I remembered there were
these guys in Special Forces
that used to have their dog
tags tattooed on their bodies
in case their heads
were... You know?
In case...
And you think this young woman
might have similar inclinations
toward post mortem
identification?
Maybe.
Do you have any idea what
those characters might mean?
No. But...
Well, I'm afraid
my own expertise
is not that specific.
But you may be correct in thinking
that it does mean something.
How's that?
If I could just get you
to hold that. Mmm-hmm.
See, each of these
characters, that has its own
unique correspondence
to its own unique number.
For instance,
you're looking at 31.
Wait a minute, if
these are all numbers,
do you think it's possible
this is some kind of code?
Well, if it is, Charlie's a
code-breaking machine,
and he should be
back really soon.
Yeah, that'd be great,
we could use his help.
You know, it's perfectly
understandable,
a soldier's reasons
for tattooing himself.
He's walking into war.
But this girl, now her
tattoo begs the question,
what was she walking into?
Hey. Hey.
Been going through the ship
information from the port authority.
There are more than 30 ships
in the area Charlie gave us.
All right, well, the coroner
said they were Chinese.
Why don't you try
anything from Asia?
All right.
Yeah, that cuts it down
a bit, but we've still got,
what, four or five cargo ships.
Right, well, it wouldn't
be the first time
we found bodies in
those things, right?
Yeah.
Oh, Don, take a look at this.
One of these ships can carry, what,
3,000, maybe 4,000 containers each.
Do you realize we could be
talking about 20,000 containers?
No, David, we're talking
about one container.
We've tried every permutation
possible for a Caesar shift.
Reading from left to
right, from right to left...
You know, the I
Ching is Chinese.
Maybe we need to
consider phonetic characters.
I already did. And?
There's only 37 symbols.
Yeah, yeah, which
doesn't get us a 55 or a 61.
Okay, I know. I do get it.
We've been at
this for six hours.
Nope, six and a half.
Mmm. Uh-oh, this
doesn't look good.
No. Our breakthrough eludes us.
What, are you
guys still thinking
this is some kind of
encrypted message?
It's too short to
run a crypt analysis.
If it were longer, I could
run a Kasiski exam,
or... or... or try an
index-of-coincidence assessment.
All we have is a
mere ten digits.
It's just not enough for
a frequency analysis.
Well, maybe the problem is
the underlying assumption.
I don't know, maybe she's right,
maybe we're looking
for complexity here
when all there
really is is simplicity.
Well, wait, how do you mean?
Maybe it's not a code.
Charles, it's a phone number.
It's ringing.
It's going to voicemail.
This is Susan Lim.
If you've reached this
message, then, I guess I'm dead.
Please call Jeremy Wang,
he's a reporter at the Tribune.
Tell him what happened.
That's a message
from a dead woman.
She's one of five women that
washed up on a beach yesterday.
We don't know who they
are or where they came from.
Her name's Susan Lim.
We worked together.
I'm sorry.
Um, do you have any idea
how this might have happened?
She called me maybe
three weeks ago.
She'd gotten as far as Shanghai,
and her cousin helped
her find a snakehead.
Um, a "snakehead"?
Yeah, someone who would
arrange for her to get on a cargo ship.
She said there was, uh, 20
women on an 8-by-40 foot container.
Twenty women? Yeah.
Did she say the
name of the ship?
I don't think she knew.
She was working on a story?
A book.
Last year we did a series of
articles on the underground sex trade.
We heard how they
were bringing the girls in.
She convinced the
publisher to back an expose.
And just like that she could pull
off going undercover in China?
Susan's first-generation Chinese-American,
she grew up speaking Mandarin,
and, uh, her mother's family's still in
Zhejiang province, in the countryside.
They helped her.
Last thing she told me,
she pulls this off, she's
a lock for a Pulitzer.
Well, I'd really like
to look at her notes.
So who is she?
Who's who?
Charlie, whenever
you look like this,
it's always a
problem with a girl.
Look like what?
Michelle Robinson, remember her?
Seventh grade? Yeah.
When she wouldn't go with
you to the dance at school?
You looked just
like this for a week.
Amita got offered a job.
A great job.
But it's back East.
Amita, huh?
I thought you two weren't, um...
We weren't.
But lately... Oh, I see.
So you decided not
to try so hard, huh?
I guess that's part of it.
It just felt like things were
finally starting to happen.
So, she might get a
job back East, huh?
Well, she hasn't
decided, but it's Harvard.
How can she pass that up?
Mmm.
Well, you know, "starting
to happen" is, um...
That's not really
worth fighting for.
I think when you focus on your
feelings about her, your real ones,
that, uh, you'll...
You'll know what to do.
Can you pass the milk?
♪
Eight million containers pass
through this port every year, man.
Wow.
How we supposed
to find just one?
I don't know.
Given what might be in it,
we'd better figure that out.
We think the ship might
have sailed from Shanghai.
Shanghai. Well, that
narrows it down to two.
The Li-Po, still
here, but unloaded.
The other ship, the
Nanking, 75 percent clear.
All right. Well, we're
going to need you to search
all the cargo
still on that ship.
But you're talking about more
than a thousand containers.
I'd have to pull every able-bodied
man I have for something like that.
So pull 'em.
What exactly are
you guys looking for?
About 15 Chinese girls
locked up in a container.
That's not gonna be enough.
Excuse me?
Look, I hate to say it, but a
few undocumented workers,
it's not a priority for us.
We're more worried about a bomb.
Now, look, this may qualify.
I don't follow.
We already found one of
the girls from the container.
She had the bird flu.
You gotta be kidding me.
No, I wish we were.
Okay. We'll impound every
container left on the Nanking.
Maybe we get lucky,
your girls are still onboard.
And if they're not?
Who unloaded the ship?
Uh, longshoremen from 151
worked both ships.
Jack Morrison's the rep, but I
wouldn't count on much help.
Why is that?
Guys who work the docks,
not exactly boy scouts.
I got a message you're not
releasing Susan Lim's notes.
After you left, I
started thinking.
Why is the FBI so
interested in these girls?
Because a reporter, your
partner, was probably murdered.
I get that, but you were already
on the case when this was just
a Chinese girl being
brought in for the sex trade.
I don't see how that matters.
When we were doing our story,
we saw 12-year-old girls
being sold by their families.
Prostitutes beaten by their
pimps, left on the sidewalk to die.
We knew who was behind it.
But they were hidden behind dummy import
companies, and we couldn't get to them.
I don't see where this is going.
We called the FBI.
They said if it wasn't
terrorism, it wasn't a priority.
But here you are now, the
same FBI, wanting her notes.
It's just a murder
investigation.
Agent Reeves, if... if what you're
looking for is related to Susan's death,
these boxes are important.
I can subpoena these boxes,
and her notes, and all
of your notes, all of it.
You know my paper won't
give them up without a fight.
The courts could take weeks,
months even, to sort it out.
I just want to know
what happened to her.
I'll give you the rest of the
story, but you can't run with it
until after I close the case.
Nail whoever did this.
The FBI are the reason
my guys on the Nanking
are sittin' on their butts?
That ship should have
been unloaded by now.
We wouldn't be holding
you up if it weren't important.
Important, huh?
Poll numbers slipping
in Washington?
We need your help
finding a container.
It came off either, uh,
the Li-Po or the Nanking.
We just take 'em off the
ship. We don't look inside.
You run the dockworkers' union,
and you've never heard anything
about contraband coming
off these ships, huh?
That's right.
So we look into your finances,
we won't find anything
but union dues?
We're looking for a
container that just came in.
It's full of Chinese girls.
I don't know about
anything like that.
I'll have a warrant for your
books in less than an hour.
Okay, okay.
I'll talk to the guys who worked
the ships, see what I can find out.
If something got through
the port that shouldn't have,
you ought to be
talking to customs.
They have a new security system.
Uses some kind of algorithm to
figure out what boxes to search.
I'm sorry. Did you
just say algorithm?
Hey.
Dad just told me.
Yeah. It stinks. Oh!
Well, not for Amita, but...
It's a great opportunity
for her. I just...
Well, look, I mean,
maybe you should just go.
What?
Well, you know,
you get all those, uh,
visiting professor
offers, right? So go visit.
Man, we haven't even gone
on a halfway decent date.
I can hardly go chasing
her across the country.
What's up? What do you need?
That container, it's gone.
It's already been unloaded.
But the ports say they use
some kind of a security algorithm.
Yeah. Yeah, it analyzes
a probability matrix
for high-risk or
dangerous cargo.
Ranks containers
according to threat potential.
All right, good,
you know about it.
I was on the team
that designed it.
No way. Oh.
You want to know if you
can use the algorithm,
work backwards, to
find this container?
Yeah. I mean, we have
15 girls, they're goin' out
into the workforce,
and... and...
I mean, they might have
this... this deadly virus,
so I don't know what else to do.
You realize the initial rate of
transmission for a disease like influenza
amongst prostitutes is...
Even I can do that math.
So, let me know
what you get, all right?
And don't worry, you're
gonna be all right. It'll be fine.
Think this tip's gonna pan out?
I will if Morrison
believes your threat
about gettin' a
warrant for his finances.
That was no threat.
♪
Hey, guys, I'll
be right with you.
Jack Morrison sent us over.
That's your guy
right over there.
Wait a minute. You're
serving drinks to that kid?
He said he was 21.
What else did he say?
Well, last couple nights, uh,
he comes in about
this same time.
Um, gets drunk
as fast as he can.
Then he starts crying about,
uh, throwing girls off a ship.
Did you call the police?
I didn't think he was serious.
Not until, uh, Morrison came
by, asking about Chinese girls.
Hey! Raymond!
Raymond!
FBI!
FBI, Raymond!
Hands behind your back.
Why do they always run?
'Cause we wear suits, man.
You always figure you
can outrun a guy in a suit.
Let's go. Come on, buddy.
You work on the Li-Po?
In the kusina.
Since I leave Manila.
Well, I just spoke
to the hospital,
and that last girl
didn't make it.
So I'm lookin' at
you for five murders.
I don't understand
what you're...
I... I didn't hurt them. It
doesn't matter. You were there.
You want to tell me what
happened? Maybe I can help you.
One girl, she was sick.
The captain call the people
who pay him to bring the girls.
They say kill the sick one.
Who did he call?
You know who he called?
The other girls that went
overboard, they were sick, too?
Five of them come
on the ship together.
I don't know what that means.
Farm... Farm girls?
Farm girls? Right.
They... We throw those away,
then wait, see if any else get sick.
You'd throw them away?
The captain says he lose too
much money if he kill them all.
And where are they now?
Another box.
I-In a box.
Container?
Yeah.
And where is that?
It's gone.
Okay.
Cobbled together some code.
It will parse the cargo data.
I appreciate the help.
Is that the stuff
from the reporter?
Yeah. Megan brought it over.
It's the reporter's notes on the
illegal sex trade in Los Angeles.
It's fairly disturbing.
And you're gonna use that
to reconsider the risk variables
for the port security algorithm?
Yeah.
Is that gonna be enough data?
No, but this will be.
Yeah. It's more of
the same from the FBI.
Hey, uh, you know what?
I know it's late, but can
you do one last thing for me?
What do you need?
This is a list of the companies
that were used to launder money.
Uh, there's already a table
for that in the database.
You already put it in?
Yeah. I mean, I figured
that you're trying to find
the owner of this missing
container, and you needed a way
to connect the import-export
business with the sex trade.
All right.
We work pretty well
together, don't we?
Actually, you're a little bossy.
I'm bein' serious.
Serious about what?
Greg Michaels is taking
a three-year sabbatical.
Yeah, I heard.
And to cover his course load, they're
creating an assistant professorship.
You'd be a perfect
candidate for that job.
What? Did I say
something I shouldn't have?
I don't know, Charlie.
It's just that my job
is starting to feel like
it's all about your job.
Coast Guard just called.
Pulled another body out
of the water this morning.
Another girl?
No. Captain of the Li-Po.
Really? Mmm.
You think somebody noticed the
kitchen boy went missing from the ship,
and decided to start
cleanin' up some loose ends?
Yeah, it seems that way.
Whoever's doing the cleanup's
got to know that Nipay's talking to us.
Yeah. Well, what do you
think about that union guy?
Morrison? Yeah.
I don't know. Why give
us Nipay in the first place?
Wait a minute.
Even a cabin boy
gets a phone call, right?
Yeah. Let's find out
who Nipay called.
So, the port security algorithm
analyzes potential terrorist threats.
However, it misses things like
drugs, contraband, even human cargo.
So, we could potentially
stop a dirty bomb,
but a pandemic
flu is in like Flynn?
Not anymore. Not
anymore if this works.
I love this part.
So, the security algorithm
uses inputs like point of origin,
the company shipping the goods,
the volume and type of cargo.
It highlights trouble areas.
Think of, uh, a dandelion?
You know, the ones you used to
blow into the wind when you were a kid?
The algorithm evaluates the
threat potential of each seed.
Harmless seeds are released.
Bad seeds are identified
and contained.
So if we change the... the inputs,
we can track different seeds.
Exactly, and I used
Susan Lim's research
to create a whole new
set of input variables.
So, you found the container?
Containers. Plural.
There's more than one?
No, but, uh... uh, there are limits
to how precise the algorithm can be.
I ran it against the cargo
manifest of the Li-Po,
and I narrowed it down
to four possibilities.
One of the import
companies on this list
has your container.
Raymond Nipay, he made a call
to a private club
in Little Taipei.
Yeah. And it took some
doing, but we were able
to sort through
the IRS database.
We were able to run down
an owner, Steven Jintao.
This guy not only
owns the private club
but he also owns three
massage parlors in the area.
Then we can definitely
connect him to the container?
Yeah, using the
reporter's notes.
Yeah, Jintao built this little
empire smuggling in Chinese girls.
Got their families
to pay for the freight.
Most of the time,
they had no idea
what was happening
to them on the other end.
Guy saw an opportunity to exploit
the girls on both sides of the smuggling.
He brings 'em over, and
then he puts 'em to work
in the massage
parlors and the clubs.
Right. They promise 'em
the moon, they pimp 'em out.
It's a pretty twisted version
of the American dream.
And where is he? The LAPD
says he has an office at his club.
Go get him.
♪
We're the only
white people in here.
Yes, we are.
Probably already made us.
Yeah, we don't exactly blend in.
Hi.
Are you looking
for a girlfriend?
Actually, we're looking
for this guy right here.
I've never seen him.
There's another one running.
He's moving out the back.
He's moving out the back.
Yeah, yeah. Get down on the car.
We're looking for the
girls from the Li-Po.
I don't know what
you're talking about.
Really? 'Cause I think you do.
That hurts.
I'll start the search.
You guys with me.
All right, let's do it.
Where's the container?
I want my lawyer.
That wasn't the question.
We lost his
paperwork last night,
but we're gonna have to
let him talk to his lawyer.
Fine, let the
lawyer file a writ.
We're not giving them a
technicality they can use in court.
What? Megan, we're talking
about a pandemic flu here.
I don't really care
about a technicality.
Don, we have enough information
to put this slime bag
down a very deep hole.
Well, it's not deep
enough, not yet.
Okay, Granger,
explain to me why it is
we only care about these
girls when there's a risk
that their customers
might get sick.
Captain called you.
And you told him
to throw that girl
and everyone with
her in the water.
You know how I know that?
One of those girls was
a reporter workin' a story.
You're lying.
One more of those
girls get sick...
I'd like to go back to my cell.
Yeah, well, you're not going
anywhere, you understand me, you slime.
You're gonna sit down and tell
me exactly what I want to know!
Don! Don!
Take a break, okay?
Just calm down, all right?
Let him call his lawyer, and
then throw him in that hole.
Stop it.
What?
Okay, maybe we should
just take a break, huh?
I'm all right, I'm just a little
distracted at the moment.
Yeah? What, Amita?
How'd you know?
The look. I know all your looks.
Have you been
conferring with my father?
No.
Hey, Charlie. Look,
we're in trouble here.
I mean, I... I can't get
anything out of this guy Jintao.
Those girls are still out there, not
to mention the threat of pandemic flu.
We've been working on a
destination probability matrix
using Susan Lim's notes,
your list of Jintao's businesses...
Yeah, well, that's why
I'm here. What do you got?
Something's not
right in the data
or there's a bug
somewhere in this matrix.
Because my equation
keeps returning an empty set.
Now, wait a second.
H-Hold on here.
What if, Charles,
what if the matrix
equation is working?
What if? Then we'd
have an answer.
Yeah, but what if the
empty set is the answer?
They never left the port.
The algorithm wasn't
pointing to a destination,
because the girls never
left their starting point.
Green Jade Corp?
No.
What's that, like,
strike number 12?
We just need one warehouse
to match one of
Jintao's businesses.
How about this?
Let's sort them according to,
uh, when they took the space.
Maybe Jintao had to rent
something new to store the container.
Okay, there's one
port warehouse.
Wai Gong Imports.
The company signed a lease
the day before we found
the girls on the beach.
You said Wai Gong? Yeah.
We got him. Yeah. Nice.
This is the building Wai
Gong Imports subleased.
I have movement inside.
You guys, cover the warehouse!
We got to get them out of there.
We can't, not yet.
Although, we need to get a
medic and a translator in here now!
Ladies, just give
us a minute, okay?
So your guy Jintao used
this warehouse for quarantine?
Till he decides to
cut his losses, yeah.
He just left these
ladies here to die.
So none of the girls
turned up with the flu?
Well, they're still
under quarantine.
But so far, it looks like
we got lucky, this time.
Susan's publisher
offered me a book deal.
They want me to write about what
happened to her, the girls, all of it.
Well, it's a heck of a story.
Maybe you'll be the one
who ends up with the Pulitzer.
It'd be nice to say
that Susan's up there
somewhere, looking
down, happy about this.
But...
But she was so damn competitive.
I'm sure she's furious
that I landed an exclusive.
Well, we did bring
down Steven Jintao,
and we rescued the
girls from the container.
We couldn't have done any
of that without Susan's notes.
That is something she
can be happy about.
Very happy.
May I come in?
Oh, yeah.
Yeah. Sure.
I wanted to say that I'm
sorry about yesterday.
Y-You were just trying to
help, and I was out of line.
Actually, I...
I think you were right.
Not too long ago, you
made the point that my work
and my work for the FBI
got in the way of
personal relationships.
Yeah, I... I remember.
But just... Let me finish.
And you said our
relationship could work,
but only if... if I was willing.
I was talking about Don.
I was talking
about your brother.
Were you?
It's not Charlie...
fair of me to ask you
to sacrifice your career if I'm
not willing to sacrifice mine.
Thank you for that.
This year, it turned out a whole
lot differently than I'd expected.
Yeah, for me, too.
So what are we gonna do?
Well, Harvard called.
And they need an
answer by next week.
So what are you gonna do?
I don't know.
I... I really don't know.
Charlie...
♪
Oh, that's it, that's gin, kid.
Again? Yep.
How the hell do
you get so lucky?
So you owe me 120 bucks.
What? Unless of course
you want to go again.
I'm taking you down.
Yeah? Yeah.
All right. And I'm dealing.
No, it's my deal.
No, I'm dealing.
It's my deal. No, no, you cheat.
Give me... I cheat?
Listen to this guy.
Hey, Charlie, would
you figure the odds
on your brother winning 11 games
of gin in a row if
he's not cheating?
What do you mean? He's the one
who taught me how to count cards.
Was that Amita?
Yeah. She just left.
Oh, yeah? So you
movin' back East?
No. No, I'm... I'm not
moving to Massachusetts.
Ah, come on, Bruins
games, pal. Season tickets.
What about Amita?
I'm not sure.
You all right?
I'm not sure about that either.
He's gonna love Beantown.
Especially in the winter.
Oh, yeah.
He can't go to Red Sox
games, though. Start.
That's the thing, right? No
Red Sox games. No cheating.