Numb3rs (2005–2010): Season 2, Episode 9 - Toxin - full transcript

Hey, kids.

Watch this. BOY: Check out Dad.

♪

Look at Dad.

Not bad.

Rob? My inhaler.

Damn pollen.

Better?

Rob?

Rob! Rob, oh, my God!

Boys, call 911.



Rob!

Somebody help me!

Hey. MEGAN: Hi.

What do we got?

Rob Evans, 34.

Apparent stroke victim.

What do you mean, "apparent"?

The National Institute of Health

has identified four
unusual seizures

in Los Angeles in a
little over two weeks.

So they called us.

They think it's
product tampering.

All the victims were on
over-the-counter medications

when the seizures struck.



What do you say, David? Evening.

NIH identified the
toxin as Primalect,

an ephedrine-based pain reliever

known to cause strokes.

All these drugs were poisoned
with a different drug? Yeah.

That's not even
the scariest part.

It's not the same
product every time.

One occasion was a nasal spray,

another was a cough suppressant

and on two occasions it was
an asthma inhaler called Truften.

So this is random attacks on
three totally different products.

Purchased off the shelf at
four separate pharmacies

across L.A. County.

So no way to do an
effective recall. Right?

Which leaves anyone
needing medication

completely
vulnerable to a maniac.

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.

Primalect was
discontinued four years ago

after clinical trials.

Developed as a
basic pain reliever,

it was found to cause
strokes and arrhythmia

in a statistically
significant number of cases.

And who would have
access to it now?

Well, after clinical trials,
pharmacists, doctors,

nurses, hospital staff.

The good news is, I don't
think he intended to kill.

Why?

A narrow-gauge syringe

suggests some
level of competence.

Wouldn't that make him
more dangerous, though?

Yeah, but he could've
used strychnine,

or cyanide or any
one of a hundred toxins

that were available that
would have caused fatalities.

Right. So he just
chose a product

that would only be harmful to a
percentage of those who used it.

Which does not describe
a homicidal intent.

It's more like he's trying
to communicate with us.

Hey, Charlie. Well, I
can't speak to intent,

but I can shed a little light
on the methodology used.

Okay, so start with
Megan's assumption

that our poisoner

is trying to communicate
with us, right?

He's... he's trying to
provide information

by tampering with
these medications.

Now, the commonality,
the point he keeps repeating,

is his choice of medications.

Yeah, but we didn't find a connection
between any of the three products.

Three? No, Don, four.

Four. You guys are forgetting
about the contaminant itself.

The Primalect. The Primalect.

Yeah, but they don't
even sell that anymore.

Maybe not, but
information theory indicates

that there is a connection.

So what's information theory?

Information theory. It's
about getting a message

from, uh, point A to point B.

Picture a three-piece jazz combo

playing a certain song.

There are many different
ways to hear the same song.

♪

And each method will
reproduce the music differently,

but the tune, the tune
remains discernible.

♪

Now, if tampering medications
is our poisoner's music,

then Primalect is the
key he's playing it in.

Wait, you think it was
more than just a weapon.

I think it's the key
to the message.

The Primalect controversy
was over four years ago.

We pulled that from the market.

Not before it caused

a significant number of strokes.

Well, that's what clinical
trials are for, Agent Reeves.

But it's my understanding
that the product tampering

isn't limited to the Truften
inhalers our company makes.

Please. Thank you.

No, the product was
also used to contaminate

cough syrup and nasal spray.

The patent for the nasal spray

was developed at Tallridge Labs,

a subsidiary of Graybridge,

and the cough syrup is
also a Graybridge product.

All three products tampered with

and the poison used

can be traced to your company.

You're being
targeted, Mr. Brindell.

What would you suggest we do?

What would we suggest?

A total recall of
all your products.

You expect me to pull
hundreds of medications

over four instances
of tampering?

Two kids almost lost their dad.

A college student with a cough

almost never made
it back to class.

These aren't instances.

Graybridge develops
and manufactures

13 percent of the
nation's vital drugs,

including the most efficient
heart medications on the market.

We provide the Third World

with large quantities of
medicine at low and no cost.

Well, that sounds like you have
a hell of a press release prepared.

20 million people have asthma,

nine million of
which are children.

You want to do some real damage,

make people so scared

that they don't take the
medicines that can help them.

We understand that your
company's worked very hard

to keep this out of the news.

To avoid a public panic.

And in the absence
of hard facts,

the FDA and the FBI are
willing to go along with that.

But if you're stonewalling
us, when this news comes out,

that's going to
be a big part of it.

I respect your passion.

I respect your
job. I respect you.

But, please, don't threaten me

or my company.

We've done nothing wrong.

The guy's poisoning
over-the-counter drugs

and... and we're keeping quiet

because the manufacturer
convinced us to.

I mean, boy, if that
doesn't say something.

About?

Corporations, their influence.

You know, research
costs a lot of money.

Without companies
with resources,

you can't get any development.

So, what, you think it's okay
for someone like Graybridge

to sell drugs that are
potentially harmful to people?

No, I'm saying nothing
is completely safe.

You know, peanuts
can kill some people.

If that were the standard
to releasing drugs

then you wouldn't
have any drugs,

prescription or otherwise.

Okay, eight-letter word for, uh,

egotistical.

"Conceited."

"Conceited" is a
nine-letter word.

C-O-N-C-E-T-E-D.

Another person might think
that our educational system

has failed you
completely, Charlie.

You see, in urban engineering,

every time you build a bridge

it destroys someone's property.

Every bypass hurts
someone's business.

I mean, you know that going in.

You just have to weigh the
benefits against the risks,

and hope to hell that you're
doing more good than harm.

I don't buy that. I mean, there's
got to be something we can do.

You know, I mean,
if it were one drug,

believe me, we would put
out a... a public warning,

but the thing is, how do you
warn against random attacks?

Well, there's random and...
and then there's random.

The difference being what?

Here, give me that.

Pencil, pencil.

Okay. Here we have

a stream of information, right?

A string of letters.
Okay, so what is it?

It's S-T-E?

All right, so what's
the next letter?

Well, uh...

Well, that depends on

a seven-letter word
for "ciliate protozoan."

Dad, ignore the clue.

Well, it could be anything.

It could be, uh, "stencil,"

uh, "steeple,"
uh, "stellar," uh...

It could be anything.

Not anything, Dad.
Just... just a lot of things.

See, absent other
information, clues,

we really... We... we don't know
what the next letter's gonna be.

But since there are
letters that are more likely

to be the next letter in
the sequence than others,

like "A" or "E,"

or like "R"...

I see what you're saying.

So it's not completely random.

It's called information entropy.

See, you're bounded
by the alphabet.

26 possibilities.

Further bounded by the
inventory of the English language.

So what is our
poisoner's boundaries?

Right. Well, I mean,
look, he only messed

with Graybridge's drugs.

So that's one boundary. Okay.

Now, you might make geographical
assumptions as well, right?

I mean, it's not likely he's
going to jump on a plane to Idaho

for the next attack.

Yeah, but you're still
casting a very wide net.

Can you narrow it down
using your entropy thing

so that we could pinpoint
where he might hit next?

Well, given the limited
data set you're talking about,

all the work I have to do,

I mean, it's not like
I can just, you know,

whip up a magic formula for
every single problem, you know.

Well, that's not what
you said last Friday.

Well, he did have a
couple beers in him, so...

Actually, it was four beers.

And, uh, it's "stentor."

What? What is stentor?

Ciliate protozoan.

You know, as a law
enforcement officer,

I shouldn't be this shocked
at how many people shoplift.

Come on, I'm concentrating here.

I'm trying to find a
product tampering needle

in 500 hours of video haystack.

Hey, guys, the
Assistant Director

wants this treated as a
serious extortion case, okay?

Not as a public health crisis.

Which means total
press blackout remains.

Well, someone should
have told the bad guy.

What, are you kidding me?
What, he tipped a free weekly?

Yeah.

"The Toxic Manifesto,
Part One of Ten"?

It lists all the drugs
he's tampered with,

plus hundreds more he
says he intends on poisoning.

I guess this guy got tired of
waiting around for us to figure out

what he was trying to say. Yeah.

And left anyone in need
of these medications

to play Russian
roulette with their life.

"The Toxic Manifesto."

I mean, he gives really
specific details in here

as to why the attacks occur.

Apparently, the FDA cleared
Primalect for clinical trials

despite Graybridge
knowing the risks.

Knowing how?

They had reports
on the potential

for strokes and heart attacks,

and they somehow cajoled the
FDA into going forward anyway.

It's really great when big
business and government

work so closely together.

What do you think his
next move would be?

Well, it doesn't
say here in part one,

but it might in parts
two through ten.

It's a low-rent bar.

Yeah, newspaper's
in the back room.

Strange place to put out
a free weekly newspaper.

Come on, man! You have
no right to be doing this.

Come on!

Who do you think you are!

Get out of my files!
Come on! DAVID: FBI!

What's going on here?

This guy just came in here...

Whoah, whoah!

He started going
through my stuff.

Gun, David.

Put your hands up. You. Easy.

David. I have a permit for that.

Hope you don't exactly mind
if I don't take your word for it.

Grab a piece of the desk.

I get a couple pounds
of manifestos, exposes

and conspiracy
theories every week.

Probably would have
recycled this one with the rest.

Then the guy calls me,

starts giving me details.

Well, the manifesto and any other
materials he might have sent you,

those are gonna be evidence now,

so I'm gonna need
you to turn them over.

You know,

I do have First
Amendment protections.

Yeah, but those don't
even seem to protect

real journalists these days.

You publish record
reviews and phone sex ads.

Want to try your luck?

My luck?

My luck is that the story
that could put me on the map

gets my office trashed and me
threatened with imprisonment.

Hey, man, you wanted
front row, you got front row.

So much for the
public's right to know.

Bill Yardley,
Promethean Security.

All right, thank you.

Your permit checks out,

but that still doesn't explain

what the hell you're doing here.

I'm under contract to
Graybridge Pharmaceuticals.

And?

And I'm assisting them with
their tampering investigation.

By roughing up a reporter
and tossing his office?

I'm not limited by the same
constraints you people are.

Kid doesn't want
to press charges.

See?

We find you anywhere
near our investigation again,

and I will charge you with
obstruction of justice myself.

Are we clear?

Don't forget my gun.

Young Eppes, your very own
copy of "The Toxic Manifesto."

Unabridged. Okay.

Uh, we've quite
clearly established

that English isn't my forte,

but, Don, this looks
like gibberish to me.

It's only 219 pages,

but Megan says
it goes to motive,

so I'm thinking it
might be helpful

with your information
theory thing.

Hmm. The entropy angle
is... is a blunt instrument,

but if I could just... If I
could refine it with his intent...

There you go.
Now you're in gear.

The thing is, uh, I've got papers
to grade and classes to teach.

The guy put people
in the hospital

and says there's gonna be more,

so, I know you're busy, but...

I... I understand.

Larry. How are you?

Don. I'm very well, thank you.

Charles, can I pick your brain?

You're more than
welcome to whatever scraps

my brother leaves behind.

"Toxic Manifesto."

Hey, hey, can I
see this, please?

This is about the...
the medicine scare.

Yeah.

Yeah, 'cause the news was vague.

It sounded like it was a... a
hoax, urban myth or something.

More like "something."

I mean, The Outrage is
retracting, Graybridge is denying

and the word for me on high is not
to encourage an "irrational panic."

Well, should there
be a rational panic?

Yeah, well, that's the question.

Excuse me. Eppes.

I just got the phone records
from the Melrose Outrage.

They have our suspect calling
the paper from Sibley, California.

Turns out the
manifesto was mailed

from the same location, so I
called the postmaster up there

and he remembers the
guy who mailed the package.

A middle-aged black man.

Yeah, Sibley, why
does that sound familiar?

Small town, Angeles
Crest Mountains.

Oh, yeah, right.

That's where the U.S.
marshal got killed last year.

Yeah, the marshals got into
a standoff with Bob McHugh,

a local rancher who was
there selling tainted beef.

McHugh shot one of the marshals,

and then disappeared
into the mountains.

Right, right. What,
you think he's our guy?

Well, McHugh's white,

and the guy who mailed
the package is black.

And the postmaster remembers
him asking where to find McHugh.

So the question is, what is a
poisoner doing up in Sibley?

And what does he
want with McHugh?

Well, I mean, he's on the run.

McHugh knows how to disappear.

Well, If he's trying to disappear,
he sure picked the right spot.

Well, let's get Colby
and David up there, okay?

Already on their way.

Man, there are some
nice views up here, though.

This makes me a
little bit homesick.

Yeah? This is what
Winchester, Idaho, looks like?

Yeah, pretty much.

My hometown is a small town.

All right, so we
need to figure out

why a poisoner's trying to find

a federal fugitive.

I guess a better question is
how he intends to find him.

Best people to answer
that question are the ones

who've been looking for him
for the past seven months.

Sinclair.

Edgerton. How you doing, man?

This here's Agent Granger.

Nice to meet you.
How are you? Pleasure.

You here for the McHugh search?

Uh, in a way.

I got the call
about a month ago.

I been in and out of a bunch
of towns on this mountain.

But McHugh's from here,

so we think he'll be back.

Have gun, will travel, right?

You have time for
an information swap?

Yeah, let me get unpacked.

I'll buy you a cup
of coffee. Welcome.

Thank you.

That's Edgerton?

Yeah, he helped us out on
a sniper case last year. Why?

That guy was a sniper
legend in Afghanistan.

You'd see his work
everywhere, you'd never see him.

The Colonel in Special Ops
said he was the bastard son

of Clint Eastwood and Yoda.

I'll get you an autograph.

All right.

Yeah, I remember
seeing him in the diner.

A black guy kind of
stands out here in Sibley.

There was nothing particularly
suspicious about him, though.

There's a good chance
that he's our poisoner.

Yeah, we traced the
manifesto that was published

back to the post office up here.

And the postmaster says
he was asking about McHugh.

That's like going to Orlando
and asking about Mickey Mouse.

Yeah, still, we think there might
be some connection, though.

They've turned McHugh
into some kind of local hero.

Yeah, last of the
independent ranchers

fighting the big,
bad government.

Never mind that he
was selling tainted beef.

Never mind that he
shot a U.S. Marshal.

His wife still
lives around here.

She's got a lot of
friends among the locals.

And these days, McHugh
is the second largest

source of income for this town.

Really? What's the first?

Housing and feeding all the
FBI agents looking for McHugh.

How long have
you been after him?

About three weeks now.

You've had any luck yet?

Yeah, I picked up
his trail a few times,

but after 30 years of living here
and seven months on the run,

he knows this place
a lot better than I do,

plus he's got his local fans.

Can you give us a description
of this unidentified black male?

How about a picture?

David, do me a favor. Keep me
in the loop on this one, all right?

If your guy has a plan
for finding McHugh,

I want to know what it is.

Oh, hi, Agent Reeves.

Professor Fleinhardt.

I don't think Charlie's here.

Well, you know, actually,
I came to talk to you.

Oh, if you have
come to offer me a ride

in that car of yours,
I can't go right now.

No, no. Actually, I came
to talk to you about that.

The manifesto?

Yeah, um, you see,
I'm... I'm a reader,

and readers read, and I just...

I happened upon
Charlie's copy of this,

and, let me tell
you, I was riveted.

Well, then we have slightly
different literary tastes.

Well, why don't you tell me,
what you make of this author?

Uh, well, the use of the word
"manifesto" in and of itself

would suggest an
inflated sense of destiny.

Paranoid, delusions of grandeur.

Yeah, but... but his... his discussions
of quantum chemistry, I mean,

these... these sent me
back to my reference books.

And this man not only
knows whereof he speaks,

some of his scientific
arguments are...

Well, I mean, they're
downright revolutionary.

You're saying he's a scientist?

Oh, oh, a gifted one.

And... and what was
particularly interesting to me

was his... his mention
of this man McHugh.

Yes, yes, Bob McHugh. Yeah.

He's a federal fugitive,

and we think he's
trying to contact him,

but we have no idea why.

Right, and Charlie mentioned
there was some confusion there,

and that's really why I'm here.

Now listen, you can throw
me out at any moment,

because obviously
you're the expert,

I'm... I'm just an amateur,

but this is just what struck me.

Graybridge Pharmaceuticals

is this man's
Frankenstein monster.

And he will not be
swayed from his path

until that monster
is laid to rest.

So you're saying the connection

isn't between
McHugh and this man.

The connection is between McHugh
and Graybridge Pharmaceuticals.

Well, at least in his
mind that's the case.

Riveted, huh?

Yeah, well, I read it straight
through. I mean, twice.

Because, in case
we were going to...

You know, if we...

You know, to show
that I knew what...

I just wanted to make sure I
knew what I was talking about.

I've never heard
you when you didn't.

Yeah.

So, based on Professor
Fleinhardt's opinion,

I refined my search to people
with a higher education in chemistry

who might have had a grudge
against Graybridge Pharmaceuticals.

Well, that could be anybody
who was ever fired by them.

Pretty much, but then I can refine
the search further to Edgerton's sketch,

and refine it down
to male blacks.

And I find Mark Brott.

Lead chemist, Tallridge
Lab, since 1994.

The company that
developed Primalect.

Exactly. And Brott kept
sending memo after memo

to Taylor Brindell warning
him that the drug was unsafe.

And he was fired?

Two weeks before the FDA
approved the clinical trials,

Brott was let go for
"poor job performance."

So they just
screwed this guy over

because he was a whistleblower.

After that, he disappears.

No address, no phone
records, no credit cards.

Last seen in Sibley, California,

looking for Bob McHugh.

But what's the connection

between a fired drug
company chemist

and a fugitive cattle rancher?

On page 189 of
"The Toxic Manifesto,"

Brott talks about McHugh.

"The government abandoned
its duty to the public,

"like it abandoned McHugh."

Abandoned him how?

That part's unclear.

But what is clear is that
Brott hasn't killed anyone yet,

and McHugh has.

Brott was, what, looking for
someone to fight the government with?

Yeah, and he picked a murderer.

Mr. McHugh has
barricaded himself

inside the cabin that
you're looking at...

A year ago, Bob McHugh
was selling tainted beef.

When the USDA and the
marshals showed up at his house

to shut him down, he
barricaded himself in.

On day three of the standoff,

Channel 8 managed to get
a camera phone in the house.

I followed every
one of their laws.

My cattle were checked,
given their antibiotics,

the government knows that.

And they're still trying
to send me to jail.

They say you intentionally
sold tainted beef.

I have been eating my own
damn beef my whole life.

And I'm still standing.

What's really going on...

McHugh, we have
the cabin surrounded.

Come out with your hands up.

What's really going on
is the federal government

wants me out of the way.

On day four, McHugh
shot one of the negotiators.

Now, the raid
team hit the house,

but he somehow managed to slip
past them and into the mountains.

Right, but, I mean, as far as we
know, McHugh and Brott never met.

I mean, we don't even
know if they communicated.

And what, all we have on Brott

is a possible motive
and a sketch on a napkin.

Placemat.

Plus his face on
our plasma screen.

We went back to the
drugstore security footage

looking for Mark Brott...

Hit four for four.

All right, well,
Brott's our guy.

Yeah, but I don't think
he's coming back to L.A.

Watch what happens when you put
the tamperings in chronological order.

Yeah, I see what you're saying.
What, he's working his way north?

That's right.
Straight up to Sibley.

So contacting McHugh
was always part of the plan.

All right, so you're Mark Brott.

Graybridge fires you for blowing
the whistle on the defective drug.

You retaliate by
poisoning their products.

You write "The Toxic
Manifesto" to expose Graybridge.

And the federal government
for allowing Graybridge

to sell dangerous products.

Now, he and McHugh
definitely have a common enemy.

There's a lot of anti-government
people out there. Why McHugh?

Well, there's got to be
something about McHugh.

Something that Brott is
fixated on or identifies with.

So are we looking for
McHugh hoping to find Brott,

or do we look for Brott, and
figure we might find McHugh?

Both.

Hey, Don.

Hey, guys. Sorry, I don't
have enough open floor space

in my apartment.

Yeah, I know. I've
been to your apartment.

You don't have enough
floor space, period.

Wait. You have an apartment?

Ha, ha.

What is this, dude? This
is the Angeles Crest, right?

Crystal Lake, the San
Gabriel Reservoir, Mt. Wilson.

Yeah. You still go up here?

It's got the greatest
hiking trails.

And there's pretty good
fishing up there, too.

'Cause we got this fugitive

who's been hiding
out around here

for, like, seven months now.

Bob McHugh? That's right.

Go to the post
office on a Monday,

you got a lot of time to
look at "wanted" posters.

It looks like the poisoner
went up there looking for him

so that's where I'm going.

The thing is... I mean,
you remember Edgerton?

So he's up there tracking him,

but, I mean, he can't find him.

Edgerton? The
FBI sniper instructor.

Yeah. He's also the
Bureau's best tracker.

But the problem is
we got, you know,

over 650,000 acres
of mountain here,

and... and apparently,
McHugh's trail

never crosses the
same place twice.

Hmm.

You know,

there's a famous problem
in... in graph theory

called The Seven
Bridges of Konigsberg.

The city of Konigsberg
included two islands

connected to each other and
the mainland by seven bridges.

The problem? To try to cross all
seven bridges once and only once,

and end up where you started.

Leonhard Euler
proved mathematically

that it was
impossible to do that.

If there's an odd
number of bridges

to even one of the islands,

then you can't
cross every bridge

without crossing the
same bridge twice.

Right. Well, I mean,
we ain't in Konigsberg.

Which is where?

Pre-World War I Prussia.

But, Don, the point is
the beauty of graph theory

is that the shape and the
size of the grid doesn't matter,

just the number of points

and the links connecting them.

I see what you're saying.

So, you mean, eventually, he
has to cross the same path twice?

Not necessarily. He
may repeat some paths.

I can use probabilistic
graph theory to rank them

in order of likely use.

Well, I mean, I'm
headed up there tomorrow.

You think you can do it by then?

I'm gonna have to come with you,

because there's all sorts
of questions about access

that need to be answered.
Wait a minute, Charlie.

And of course, the search
methodology Charlie.

And non-recorded data, so...

Charlie, don't you
have midterms to grade?

I'll get the TAs to do them.

So, remember the
McHugh interview?

The part where he said he
gave all the infected cattle

their required antibiotics?

Guess who makes
those antibiotics.

Our friends at Graybridge.

So what if McHugh
was telling the truth?

What if he didn't know
the beef was contaminated

because he didn't know the
antibiotics he was giving them

were defective?

I mean, that would explain
what Brott wants, right?

I mean, to him, McHugh's just, uh,
another weapon against Graybridge.

Look, why don't you just follow in
that direction? I'll talk to you later.

Professor and Agent Eppes.

How can I not learn
something today?

Well, actually, we came to sit in
your classroom, if that's all right.

Absolutely. Let me
get you up to speed.

What about that?

What?

Broken branch,

not from an animal.

Someone sat here on this tree.

What, you think it was McHugh?

No. It was a woman
wearing a size-six sneaker.

McHugh's got a big foot
and an even bigger boot.

Yeah. She stopped
and had lunch here

probably less than an hour ago.

And you know that how?

She didn't like her PB and J.

The ants haven't found it yet.

What do you got?

It's a pretty old print,

but I'd like to see
where it takes us.

We'll have to backtrack,

cross the river
to pick it up again.

I mean, well, we can just cut
through this dump, can't we?

You see these tracks, how
they kind of stop and start

like someone was
riding the brakes?

The National Guard
came through here at night

with the headlights off.

They do maneuvers out here.

If they go home
with unused ammo,

their allotment gets reduced.

So they sneak over here and
they ditch the excess munitions.

There's all kinds of
explosives in there.

You don't want to try
to go hiking through that.

Well, you think
that's what he's after?

No. No, there's no sign of that.

Probably just looking
for something edible

or on his way back into Sibley.

I'm curious.

When you lose him,
what methodology

might you employ
to pick him up again?

Start where he broke trail,

a stream, series of flat rocks,

and then circle around
till I find fresh sign.

So you, you lose time, pretty
much duplicating your work

while McHugh's gaining time.

Kind of explains why
we're all still out here, huh?

Hey, Colby, take a look at this.

I've been going through the
rest of the security footage

to establish Brott's
movements, right? Mmm-hmm.

This is from the
first tampering.

Looks like Brott's
being followed.

Watch what happens.

Recognize our boy?

That's Yardley, Graybridge
Pharmaceutical's hired gun.

So?

I've just about
isolated all the trails

that McHugh could
have access to.

Charlie, did you actually
put pins in the wall?

Hmm? Yeah. Well, tape didn't work,
you know? What's with you, man?

Look, I can't tape... Well,
I mean, they find holes,

it's gonna go on
my expense report.

I tried sticking it in there...

I don't get you
sometimes. Eppes.

We got Yardley following
Brott into the first pharmacy.

He watches him go
in, then goes in himself

and asks about Brott.

So Graybridge was
having Brott followed.

That means once the
first victim got struck,

they had to be aware
it was a tampering.

And didn't say word one to us.

No. Instead, they put
Yardley on Brott's trail.

We could pick up Brindell
at Graybridge right now.

No, no. I... I think it's
better to wait, you know?

Let 'em not know
exactly what we're up to.

It's your call. I got a
warrant for Brott's computer.

We're going over it right now.

I got to go. Let me
know what you find.

Okay.

Hey. Sir, park
rangers found a body

about three miles out of town.

Description fits Mark Brott,
the guy you're looking for.

Yeah? You got a cause of death?

Appears to have fallen
about 40 feet into a creek bed.

The M.E. will have a
preliminary for you in the morning.

All right, good, Officer.
Thanks. Good night.

So, Brott's dead.

You think he fell?

Or he was pushed.

I mean, Graybridge
was having him followed.

You know, they got
motive for wanting him dead.

I'm gonna try to catch
some Z's, all right?

You should, too. CHARLIE: Yeah.

We've recovered
some internal e-mails

off of Brott's hard drive.

In one of them, he's
telling his bosses

that the antibiotic
they were selling

to cattle ranchers
had serious problems.

So, without getting
too technical...

Yeah, it didn't work, and
Graybridge sold it anyway, right?

And Brott also informed them
that the defective antibiotic

would be detectable in
the bloodstream of anyone

who had consumed it. Now,
wasn't McHugh bragging

about eating his
own beef for years?

Which makes him walking
evidence against Graybridge.

Brott wanted
McHugh's blood, literally.

All right, good.
I'll talk to you later.

What do you got, brother?

So, I started with the paths

we know McHugh has been
to, based on your tracking.

Now, eliminating
unpassable terrain

and areas that are too exposed,

for instance,
popular campsites...

Places where he's
likely to be seen.

Right. I applied
soap bubble theory

to develop a Steiner tree.

Say what?

You're not talking actual
soap bubbles and actual trees...

Actual soap bubbles,
yeah, yeah, yeah.

Actual trees, no. No, no, no.

I found McHugh's
most likely paths

by using isospectral geometries.

Of course you did.

Everyone knows that
the shortest distance

between two points is a...

A straight line.

Straight line. Now,
what if we wanted

to find the shortest
distance between three

or... or... or more points?

That's something that
soap bubbles can tell us.

Now, let's take these three
points that you've identified

as places that McHugh
has been at several times.

Now, imagine
each of these points

as the centre of bubbles.

The interior walls
formed by the soap's film

will intersect to create
new vertices, new angles,

new lines and points,

a Steiner tree,

which will reveal the
most efficient lines of travel.

Let's concentrate
on these three points

that you've identified.

Places we know
that McHugh's been.

Now, when connected,
using the most likely paths,

not only his likely paths

but where those
likely paths meet.

I like it.

So where these lines intersect.

And that has to be...

He keeps going
back to his own ranch.

Isn't that interesting?

Mrs. McHugh, I'm
Don Eppes with the FBI.

I assume you have a warrant?

No, ma'am, just some questions.

Oh, I thought you people shoot
first and then ask questions.

Mrs. McHugh, your husband
killed a federal officer.

He's gonna have
to answer to that,

but we have some new information

that could clear him of
those original charges.

I... I don't understand.

It seems we might
have been wrong.

We also know he's been
on the property recently.

Do you, now?

We're mathematically certain.

My husband's great-grandfather
started this ranch.

It's been passed
down three generations.

And one day you people show
up and try to take it away from him.

Now you show up and
tell me you were wrong.

Well, I'd say you're
about a day late

and a dollar short,
wouldn't you?

Well, listen...

Well, you were right,
he's been here. Yeah.

He's taking a big chance.

He's had this
place his whole life.

It's hard to just walk away.

Look, let's run this down.

I mean, the marshals
come to arrest him,

he barricades himself
inside the house.

Now, four days later, in
the middle of a negotiation,

for no apparent
reason, he opens fire.

When did crazy
stop being a reason?

The negotiator
catches one in the neck,

like, right around here.

The assault team went in
the front and the side doors.

McHugh went out that side window

and makes it to
the tree line there.

What's that?

Look at that. That's a shot.

Exit pattern from a
large-bore rifle round.

Yeah, but look at the angle. I mean,
there's no way it came from inside.

Which is where McHugh was.

Where do you think
this came from?

Judging from the angle...

Allowing for prevailing
winds, there. There.

A SWAT sniper would've been
on the other side, facing the house.

This lie

faces the raid team.

That's a perfect position
to take out the negotiator.

So the suggestion you're making

is that a second
gunman shot the marshal.

Yeah, Charlie, think about it.

I mean, McHugh is living proof

that Graybridge sold bad drugs.

The last thing they
want is him alive.

Day three of the siege,

he's looking like
he's gonna surrender,

someone shoots the negotiator

and gets the party started.

They're figuring he's gonna
go down in the gunfight.

Instead, chaos
ensues, he slips away.

That, uh, soap film of yours

runs through the hill
up here, doesn't it?

There? Yeah, more or less.

Why don't you get
back to the hotel.

Okay, but why?

Fresh sign.

One, maybe two hours.

That's why.

Crest One to Crest Two.

Be careful, Charlie.

Copy, One, go ahead. Crest one.

Felt someone
following me all day.

Wondered when
you'd close distance.

You pull your
trigger, I'll pull mine.

Now, drop the rifle.

Last chance, Yardley.

McHugh!

McHugh!

McHugh, listen to me.

McHugh, listen, listen!

McHugh, listen to me!

McHugh!

Well, if he is in there,
he's sitting on top

of 300 pounds of
U.S. Army ordnance.

Wait, look, here he comes.

Anyone comes through that gate,

the dump blows, and
the forest goes with it.

All right, Mr. McHugh,
just take it easy.

No one's coming
through anything, all right?

I can set up a shot from above.

But if I do drop him...

He drops that torch,
we're all going up.

I say we pull it back.

About 20 yards.

Yeah, let's pull it back,
guys. Back, back, back.

Back it up.

What are you doing here?

I picked him up in Sibley. I
needed someone that knew the way.

I'm Agent Reeves.

Edgerton.

All right, you're not
gonna believe this.

He's actually sitting on a
National Guard munitions dump.

He's threatening to blow it up.

Well, you don't
want to kill him.

Charlie, we realize that. I mean,
he's not giving us a lot of options here.

There's, uh, there's a
whole mathematical discipline

called negotiation theory.

A good negotiation

creates a framework for
agreement that allows both parties

to make mistakes and
still come out ahead.

Yeah, we give him something
to strengthen his position

without weakening ours,

but what do we have to give him?

Information.

We could tell him what we know.

Isn't that like showing all your
cards before the bets are in?

It's counterintuitive, I know,

but here's the math.

Does this mean
anything to you two?

Yeah, only that
he's probably right.

Whoa, whoa, h-h-hold
on. What are you doing?

I'm a woman.

To a mountain man like
McHugh, I'm less of a threat.

Well, she's got a point.

She could also kick his
ass, but he doesn't know that.

I see what kind of
big brother he was.

Mr. McHugh?

Mr. McHugh?

My name is Megan Reeves.

I'm with the FBI.

And I'm alone.

Last negotiator ended
up with a bullet in the neck.

But you didn't put it there.

You'd say anything to keep
me from setting off this dump.

Yes, I would,

but there are people who'd do a hell of
a lot more to make sure you blow it up.

Graybridge Pharmaceuticals
hired a man to kill you,

and he shot that
marshal in the neck,

hoping you'd get
killed in the gunfire.

You were never supposed
to walk out of there alive.

What the hell is Graybridge
Pharmaceuticals?

It's the company that
sold you the bad antibiotic.

That's what
contaminated your beef.

The government
destroyed the herd.

T-There's no way
to prove any of this.

Actually, there is.

You ate that beef every
day. It's in your bloodstream.

You blow yourself up,

you lose the only evidence
we have to clear your name.

Please put that gun down.

Let's go see your wife.

Good job.

Thanks. You, too.

I have the best
time with you guys.

It's a little early in the day
to be stargazing, huh, Larry?

Oh. Yeah.

Just reflecting on the late,

unlamented Mark Brott.

What? He got what he wanted.

I mean, Brindell's in jail,
the case goes to court,

and Graybridge
is out of business.

He got what he wanted
at the cost of his soul.

By hurting the innocent
to forward his agenda,

he became the
very thing he hated.

I just can't help thinking
about all those people

who will never benefit
by all the medicines

that Graybridge just
might have discovered.

Some people,

not theoretical
physicists like myself,

but there are some who
might feel knowledge

is this unshakable pillar.

But, you know, it's really...

It's really this
very fragile thing.

Is that the kind of stuff
you talk about with Megan

at lunch?

Wait, h-h-hold on.

You and Megan went out to lunch?

Oh, please tell me you ordered
something other than white food.

This was a meal shared

by two inquisitive minds

in an intellectual pursuit.

Of course it was,

like all your
lunches with David.

Oh, and with... with Colby.

A gamma ray burst

will release more
energy in ten seconds

than the sun will emit

in its entire
10-billion-year life span.

Wait, I got it, what's
the Hulk's real name?

Uh, Bruce Banner.

That's right. I mean,
didn't gamma rays

turn him into the Hulk?

They come from the
furthest ends of the universe,

and after 45 years, we are
still uncertain of their origin.

And?

And we're closer
to an answer on that

than the three of you
are ever gonna get on this.

♪

Megan?

And Larry.

Now, there's an image.