Numb3rs (2005–2010): Season 3, Episode 16 - Contenders - full transcript

Look alive! Look alive!

Get out of that!

Get up. Get up.

Back him up. Back him up.

Watch your head.

Back off...

Stop!

Stop!

Stop! Back off!

What the hell is wrong with you?

You're a sparring partner.



You okay, Pete?

Pete!

Come on.

There's no pulse.

Three sixes.

Beat that.

Flush. All hearts.

You should have folded. Hmm.

I was feeling lucky.

There was a less than an 18%

probability that you were
gonna complete that flush.

You really should have...

should have folded. Charlie,

how long are we
gonna play poker?



The Texas Hold 'Em
tournament is coming up, yeah?

Yes, I know, and
you promised Larry

that you would defend his title.

That's right, against
Professor Novich.

Okay, who's practically a
professional poker player.

A big jerk.

Your father is out of
town for the weekend,

and we have the
house all to ourselves.

Wait. You know what?
Hold that thought.

I think that's dinner.

That's okay.

I'll take it from
here. Thank you.

Uh... Dad...

I-I caught the delivery boy

at the door.

My meeting was over, so
I, uh, caught the last plane.

I, uh, think I'm interrupting.

I should... I, uh, I...

I-I should leave.

No, um,

you should... have
dinner with us.

There's... there's plenty.

Charlie always orders
too much food anyway.

Really?

Because I'm starving.

I'm looking for
Larson, Homicide.

Thanks.

Hey. David Sinclair, FBI.

I got your call.

One of my suspects
dropped your name.

Called you as a courtesy.

Dropped my name?

Guy over there... Ben Ellis.

So, you do know this guy?

Yeah, I know him.

What happened?

How much have you heard
about mixed martial arts fighting?

Um, it's like, uh, kickboxing

with some judo and stuff, right?

Yeah, kind of.

Anyway, the deceased,

Pete Munson, was gearing up

for an All-Out
Fighting qualifier

against Ken Bainsworth.

Qualifier for what?
Mind if I take a look?

Go ahead.

If he beat Bainsworth,

he was gonna get
a shot at the champ.

And Ellis?

Training partner.

Landed a punch,

Munson went down, never came up.

Fighter dying in
a ring is a tragedy,

but not necessarily a homicide.

ME's talking about
Munson being drugged.

Drugged? With what?

Won't know until the autopsy.

Why is Ben a suspect?

Same thing happened
six months ago.

Ben was in a training
match in Vegas.

Other guy, fighter
named Octavio Lopez,

also died in the ring.

Was Lopez drugged as well?

We're looking
into that right now.

Meantime, we're putting
together a list of everybody

who was at either gym
the day of each death.

Mind if I talk to him?

Be my guest.

Guys, have a second?

Yeah. No problem.

Long time no see.

Look, I didn't know
who else to call, all right?

So is it bad?

Cop says it's a murder.

Murder?

I just threw a couple punches.

That's it.

Is that right?

Yeah, that's it.

Cop told me about
the other fight.

The guy in Vegas.

Look, I have no
idea what's going on.

I swear. LARSON:
Just talked to a witness

who said you threatened
Munson earlier today.

I didn't threaten anybody.

Then you won't mind giving me

a statement at the station.

What? You're arresting me?

Just want to hear your side.

If you want, Agent
Sinclair can be there.

You just don't say
anything till I get there.

Okay?

Raise ten. I'm out.

Too rich for me. Ten
dollars is too rich for you?

Yeah. Unlucky in love.

I didn't plan on any of this.

Oh, Charlie, I'm kidding.

I'm having a great time. DON:
Yeah, well, you're winning.

Of course you're having
fun. I'd be having fun, too.

I'm out.

I'll get it.

I got it!

You know, you have a
seriously strange concept

of a romantic evening.

Who the hell is this now?

Hi.

I'm sorry to bother
you so late, Don.

What? Everything all right?

I kind of want to talk to
Charlie about something.

Yeah, yeah, come on in.

What's up, David? Hello, David.

How you doing, Mr. Eppes?
Sorry to interrupt you guys.

No, it's all right.
I wanted to know

if I could get some
help on something.

A guy I know got into
a little bit of trouble.

What kind of trouble?

He's a mixed
martial arts fighter.

He was in a sparring session;

he threw a punch;

and, uh, the other
fighter... he died.

That's awful. Yeah.

It gets a little worse.

Um, six months ago,

the same thing happened.

Another sparring session,
and that guy died, as well.

Trouble seems to
follow your friend.

Yeah, always has.
Um, LAPD thinks

the two fighters could
have been drugged.

So they're looking
at your friend for this?

Yeah. What can I do?

I'm hoping you could do
something like what you did

with the Syntel shareholders

when that-that corporate
whistleblower was killed.

Okay, so you have a large
list of potential suspects.

Yeah. Actually, I have two.

This list is everybody
that was at the gym tonight.

And I'm waiting on a second
list to come in from Las Vegas

where the other fighter died.

I know it's a lot, Charlie,
but there's a lot of overlap.

About 100 names.

Spectators, trainers,
some fighters.

What if we construe

the precipitating events for
the two murders as appropriate

for a Kruskal Count?

That's creative.

We could, um,
look for the linkages

and find any key pattern.

You know, you may help us

narrow down the lists to a few

key suspects.

Mm-hmm. Or maybe just one.

I mean, um... your friend.

My witness says you
threatened Munson.

Said you'd kill him.

Wasn't like that.

So, you don't deny saying it?

Why don't you tell

the detective what it was like?

We were just talking

about what would happen
in the ring... me and him.

And you said you'd kill him.

It's a figure of
speech, Detective.

Doesn't look like a
figure of speech to me.

Does it look like
a figure of speech

to you, Agent Sinclair?

Are you ready to charge him?

No, I'm not.

So he's free to go then.

You need to stay in Los Angeles,

Mr. Ellis.

Why?

Because you're
a material witness

in a murder investigation.

You need to get
yourself a lawyer.

So this is how it's gonna be?

Just get yourself a
good lawyer, Ben.

You don't know anybody,

I'll make a phone call.

I should have known
you would take their side.

I am down here

in the middle of the night
helping you out, am I not?

Yeah.

At least that much has changed.

So, more people

watched a mixed martial
arts fight on pay-per-view

than a baseball playoff
game on network TV.

Yeah, this is big business.

I saw Larry Alston

on the news the other night.

Well, who's that? Larry Alston?

He's the guy that partnered
up with all the big casino money

and bought the
All-Out Fighting League.

He's trying to clean it
up, take it mainstream.

Yeah, well, this whole
thing ain't gonna help, huh?

Yeah. Neither is
losing his fighter.

I mean, it's not that Munson
could have taken Tino Alva.

Oh, who's that?

Alva's the AFL's champion.

Well, so, how you know all this?

The guys I teach Krav
Maga to are way into it.

They were so excited for
that Alva-Bainsworth rematch.

Why are we looking at this?

I thought the thing with
David's friend was LAPD.

Yeah, well, it might be two
murders in two states, right?

Meanwhile, we're just playing
a supporting role for now.

Just got off with the Vegas ME.

They found a heart
defect in Lopez's autopsy.

The death was ruled accidental.

So, the other fighter
wasn't drugged?

They stopped looking
once they found the defect,

so they're gonna pull
an archived tissue sample

and take another look.

All right, meanwhile,
Charlie's gonna need data,

so we'll start looking
into their background,

and we'll talk to this
guy, uh, Larry Alston?

I thought this was
an LAPD Homicide.

Yeah, key suspect's a guy I
know from the old neighborhood.

New York, right?

Yeah, Bronx.

What can you tell me?

Munson was killed
with 1080 poison.

Poison?

1080 is the brand name
for sodium fluoroacetate.

Disrupts the body's
ability to process oxygen,

induces cardiac arrest.

To be honest, I
almost missed it.

So, it's pretty hard to detect?

Unless you're looking for it,

but Munson had a
strange allergic response,

so I was looking.

And how do you get your
hands on 1080 poison?

Agricultural companies,

chemical suppliers, nurseries.

It's mostly used to protect
crops from animal pests,

but it's not regulated.

All right, and how
was it delivered?

Munson's reaction

was localized to the
tissue in his mouth.

So what? You think
maybe he drank it?

Probably, but the LAPD checked

all the water
bottles in the gym.

They came up clean.

Okay, so, uh, we
have a generic chemical

and no forensics on delivery.

Sorry there's
nothing more specific.

You and the suspect old friends?

Yeah. Back during grade school,

me, uh, Ben Ellis
and another kid...

We were pretty tight.

And now?

Uh, you know, Ben and I sort
of drifted apart after high school.

You know how that is.

How about the other kid?

Earl's, uh... Earl's dead,

so...

Sorry.

Thank you.

Mm.

Appreciate it.

It's tough to determine linkages

when these two seem to
have almost nothing in common.

Yeah, the first fighter
killed, Octavio Lopez,

is Hispanic; he's from Colorado.

And the other, Pete Munson,
is a white guy from Wisconsin.

Fighting seems to be
the only thing in common.

Well, then... then that's it.

What's it?

That the common
link is fighting.

I mean, look at the
fighters' histories.

I have to assume that the motive

in both of these deaths involves

the fighter" rankings, right?

What?

David's friend, Ben Ellis...

With Lopez and
Munson out of the way,

he moves to the top of the list.

Yeah, you're right.

Stanley, you're a long way
from the Biochem Department.

Amita, you remember
Professor Novich.

Hi.

I hear you're taking
Fleinhardt's seat

in the Texas Hold
'Em Tournament?

I am considering it.

Well, you should think again.

With Fleinhardt in space,
I'm in line for the title.

I don't think that's
the way it works,

but okay... okay.

Well, I've seen
your game, Eppes.

Won't make it

at the big table.

My game has vastly improved.

Been practicing, have you?

I've been working

on a specialized
training program.

Should make me more than
ready by tournament time.

Guess we'll just see about that.

What was that?

Geek trash talk?

Actually, what that was,

was terribly rude,
terribly inappropriate.

He has a lot of nerve coming
in here with that attitude.

Oh, come on, Charlie.

He's trying to psych you out.

Just ignore him.

So Tino Alva... He's
been the AFL champion

for quite a while now, right?

Alva's 22 and one.

He hadn't lost a fight

since he took the championship
away from Bainsworth.

So what's the deal?

This guy Pete Munson,
he would've been up next?

If he could've gotten past
Bainsworth in the qualifier.

Pete was

a promising fighter.

If you could get past the
tattoos, he was a good kid.

Charismatic.

College degree...
our sport's not

as brutal as it looks.

His death was an aberration.

How about Octavio Lopez?

His death an aberration, too?

We're gonna be looking
into his death as well.

What, do you think
they're related?

They were fighting
the same guy. Look...

we're in the middle
of filing a petition

to the State
Athletic Commission.

Trying to put our
best foot forward.

It would be
extremely unfortunate

if it were to get out that
these deaths were connected.

I understand.

We're not gonna rule
out anything at this point.

Agent Sinclair.

Glad you joined us.

I appreciate the call.

Results from the Vegas
medical examiner on Lopez

came back positive
for 1080 poison.

Wanted you to be here for this.

Here for what?

We just confirmed
the original hit.

This is your friend's
locker and gym bag.

These markers indicate
traces of sodium fluoroacetate.

That's 1080.

I just wanted you to see
for yourself who it was

you helped walk out
of the station last night.

Find a judge.

Get a warrant to
pick up Ben Ellis.

Right away, sir.

Thanks a lot.

So looks like that
credit card trace paid off.

Manager says
he's up in the room.

You notify LAPD?

They're on their way.

I don't want to wait.

I'm gonna bring
him in right now.

Ben! It's David.

Open up. Let's go.

Get your stuff, man. Let's go.

Why? Where we going? Jail.

But I told you, I
didn't do anything.

They found traces of the
poison in your gym bag

and your locker... now,
get your stuff, let's go.

Poison?

Yeah, you're under arrest.

You have the right
to remain silent.

If you can't afford
an attorney...

You all right?

Hey, I just heard from
this homicide detective.

What's going on?

Ellis got away.

Yeah, well, this I know.

It was my fault.

Well, what's going on, David?

Is it too much?

Don, it wasn't anybody's fault.

And we're on it.

We got pictures at the airport.

We're monitoring
his credit card.

Caught him with
his credit card once.

He's not gonna make
the same mistake twice.

All right, so where's he go?

He doesn't have any
immediate family in L.A.,

but we might have some
mutual friends out here.

We could pull his phone records.

Do it.

You said, "Just ignore him."

Right?

Well, obviously, I didn't think

this was gonna happen.

Novich is...

a world-class authority on
animal defense mechanisms.

This says that my office
has been contaminated

with a derivative
of thioacetate.

That's the stuff that gives
skunk spray its smell.

Says I can't go back in until

they determine
the level of toxicity.

Okay, well, when will that be?

Minimum of three or four days.

And my laptop is in there,

which means I can't work
on my poker training program.

Hi. Hey, you guys.

Hey. What happened in here?

I don't want to talk about it.

Is this the file on Ben Ellis?

Yeah. What is that smell?

He got skunked.

Okay, look, is he familiar

with the Los Angeles area?

Well, he fights out of
New York, but he's been

out here training
for about a month.

So Ellis' knowledge of the area

will give us a prior
distribution on his location.

We can start with
his training regimen,

who he works for, who he knows.

We should also
factor in the people

that David knows from
the old neighborhood

who might now be in L.A.

Because if they were

old friends, then
Ben's escape routes

might go through
points in common.

Yeah. That's exactly

what David was thinking.

There you go. Good. Thanks.

Bye.

Hey, you knew this
guy Ben Ellis pretty well?

Something on your mind?

You really think he's
capable of a double murder?

These murders do move
him to the top of the rankings.

I'm sensing you don't
think he fits the profile.

I think our killer has to be

methodical.

Planned out two
murders in advance.

Well, he spent two years in
a youth correctional facility.

And that's just for starters.

You're a psychologist.

You know what those kind
of places can turn you into.

What did he do

to get in?

Three of us went to a movie.

It's me, Ben Ellis and...

another kid, Earl Day.

After the movies, I
decide to go home,

and Ben and Earl went
to hang out with Earl's lady

over at this burger
spot she worked at.

Ben got into it with
some guy over there.

As usual.

Gun came out,
and Earl was killed.

And you blame Ben?

So did the State of New York.

So next time, we'll get into

strong type versus end-point
weak type estimates.

Look, I just want
to thank you all

for dealing with the
change of venue.

I know it's a little strange.

Drive safely, okay?

Hey, Dad, this is my graduate
harmonic analysis seminar.

Bye-bye. In our living room?

Yeah, we usually meet
in my office, but, uh,

kind of locked
out at the moment.

How'd you get locked out?

Oh, it's a long story.

Okay.

But I can tell it quickly.

There's this professor,
who's my competition

in the Texas Hold
'Em tournament.

What do you mean?
He stole your keys?

No.

He turned my office
into a toxic swamp.

He's a biochemist.

He works with skunks.

What are you saying?

You got skunked?

He's trying to psych
me out, you know.

Yeah, well, you
know they always say:

the best defense
is a good offense.

Yeah.

Yeah, you know what?

That's a great idea.

I'm gonna call Amita.

Hey, we have messages.

Yeah, Don Eppes, please.

I thought you
were calling Amita.

I was, but I think I
just figured out a way

to help Don catch his fugitive.

I have all these computers
networked for you.

I have 50 phone numbers

from Ben Ellis' phone
records ready to go.

That's awesome.

Here is the program
with the algorithm

that I constructed
on Amita's laptop.

Do you mind telling me
what we're doing with it?

Oh, we're just
gonna find Ben Ellis

by identifying his call pattern.

But he hasn't used his phone

since he got away
from David and Colby.

Yeah, doesn't mean he
hasn't been making any calls.

Oh, like if he borrowed a phone

or used a pay phone? Yeah.

And this algorithm will help
us identify his call pattern

hidden amongst all the other
calls made on that phone.

All those other calls
are like a symphony.

Ben's calling pattern

is like a series of notes.

If we know the notes,
then we can identify his tune

even if it's being played
on another instrument.

But we need to do that

while listening to
the entire symphony.

So what do we do now?

We just wait,

and the program will find

the new number
calling Ben's friends.

I heard you're doing

a lot of work on this
poker tournament you're in.

Yeah.

You really want to win it, huh?

The winner gets a
seat at the final table

at next year's tournament.

Larry had that seat
five years running.

I just want to make sure

it's there for him
when he gets back.

Did you get him?

We got his phone.

So whose house is this?

Turns out, Ben
has a cousin in L.A.

And he's been using
the cousin's phone?

According to Charlie's
dialing pattern algorithm, yeah.

Nobody's home.

Ben could've taken off.
He could be anywhere.

Or he could be coming
up the block right now.

Suspect spotted
approaching on foot.

Yeah, I see him.
We got a visual.

All right, move into position.

Let's take him.

On the pavement.
Hands on the back

of your head. So you
gonna shoot me now?

Ben, I said

on the pavement,
hands on the back

of your head!

Been a long time coming, right?

You haven't changed a bit.

I am not gonna ask you again.

Come on, David.

Come on!

You want to get shot,

I'm your guy.

Get down on the ground, and
put your hands behind your head.

Traces of the poison used
to kill both Munson and Lopez

were found in your
locker and on your bag.

How many times I
got to tell you this?

I've never seen that bag.

Really?

'Cause that bag
was in your locker.

Why?

Why would I kill those fighters?

Moves you up in the rankings.

So you're gonna
arrest Kurt Bordinay,

'cause it moves him up, too.

Or maybe Bill Tallridge.

He was in prison. Yeah.

But we're not talking about
either of those guys right now.

Come on, David.

You know me.

When have I ever
backed down from a fight?

Thought you'd finally step up,

take responsibility,

be a man for once.

A man? Yeah? Yeah.

What do you know

about being a man, David?

This isn't going anywhere.

That's it. Leave.

It's what you do.

Whoa, hey, hey, hey.

Come on, man. David, easy.

Hey.

Hey.

We don't have any coffee.

Yeah, what, you
don't even drink coffee.

So, now what's going on here?

That dude has
always made me crazy.

You ever know anybody like that?

Well, you know Charlie, right?

Look, you two were
close at some point?

Once upon a time.

So, I mean, is it possible?

Could he have done this?

I don't know.

I had a case, I put away a
guy for ten years... wrong guy.

I mean a day doesn't go by,

he doesn't pop into
my head at some point.

So you have your doubts,
you better run 'em down.

I'm all in.

Okay, I'll call.

I got 'em, Charlie.

Aces and Jacks.

Whatever.

Charlie, you gotta,

you gotta remember you
can't play percentages.

Remember when
Millie beat me at chess?

Yeah, she figured out
that you had a tell, right?

Right.

She played the
player, not the game.

You think Novich has a tell?

Everyone has a tell, Charlie.

I don't.

Yes, you do. Yeah,
what's my tell?

I'm not telling you.

What do you say we
knock off this practice?

No. No, no, no.

He skunked my office.

I'm taking him down.

Five more hands.

It's my deal.

So, Ben isn't the only suspect.

No, just the best one
we have at the moment.

Say he is telling
the truth, right?

That would mean the
traces found on his locker

on his gym bag
had to be a plant.

Where are you going with this?

I'm thinking

a guy's gym bag has
got to have some kind

of DNA on it, right? It should.

Did you check the bag?

I had no reason to.

Can you get me a sample?

From Ben.

For comparison.

Whoa, you're really
serious about this.

Is this still an LAPD case?

Technically, it is.

But we have Ben in our lockup.

Can't be easy having
to arrest a friend.

You okay?

I wasn't really ready

for old home week,
you know? Hmm.

Just when you think
you've gotten away.

What does that mean?

South El Paso isn't the Bronx,

but I had to work pretty
hard to get out of there.

I guess you don't ever really

get all that past
behind you, huh?

Mm-mm.

Thanks for the help.

Bill Tallridge will fight

Ken Bainsworth in the qualifier.

And we all know who'll
be waiting for the winner...

Ladies and gentlemen,
the champ, Tino Alva.

So they just announced,
uh, Munson's replacement.

The guy on the
right, Bill Tallridge.

That's one of the guys
that Ben mentioned.

Said he did a few
years in lockup, right?

Yeah, three years at Pelican Bay

for aggravated
assault. Hey, Champ.

How you doing? You worried
about either of these guys or what?

No, not really.

To be honest,

I'm just tired of waiting.

I've been in training camp now

for the last six months.

I'm ready to go...

Whoever it is.

Well, Bainsworth's
been tripping around

but he said that if he
gets you in a rematch

he's gonna knock you out.

I think Ken needs to worry

about Bill Tallridge.

Don't worry about what I need.

I ain't worried about
anything here, sweet cheeks.

Ooh.

Hey, hey, hey, hey.
Ken, that's it. Sit down.

Hey, but Champ, not for
nothing you gotta give this,

the last you fought,
he did knock you down.

How 'bout I come down
there and knock you down.

Look, that fight was almost

four years ago.

Ken was at his peak.

He took me down.

I got up and I took his belt.

If Ken makes it
to the qualifier,

I'll beat him again.

He ain't taking this belt.

Looks like Tallridge
is gonna have to wait.

If there are no more questions,
we'll see you at the fight!

Hey, Megan.

Hey, Charlie.

Uh, Don's gone home already.

No, actually, I came
to see you. Me?

It's about the tournament.

I see.

Do you know what a tell is?

An unconscious gesture,
usually brought about by stress,

that reveals an inner
emotion, like your brother.

He always checks
his watch anytime

he feels threatened.

He does do that, doesn't he?

Anyway, I, I need you to tell me

how I can figure out what
Stanley Novich's tell is.

Well, simply speaking,

it's just an
observational exercise.

I have to watch Novich?

Yeah, but you have to watch him

under the right circumstances.

You have to watch him
when he's under duress.

And then I can see
his tell. Mm-hmm.

Can you help me with some
surveillance equipment?

No.

I got your message.

You said you had something.

From the DNA test.

I found three different
specimens on the bag.

Compared them against
your friend's swab.

Ben's not a match.

Somebody did plant
that bag in his locker.

Physical evidence
says he's telling the truth.

I owe you one, Claudia.

David, if Ben Ellis didn't
kill those two fighters,

who did?

And why would they frame him?

All right, so if Ellis
is in the clear...

Oh, that'll bring us
right back to square one

on who killed these guys.

Maybe somebody who, uh,
opposes the violence of the sport.

Yeah, but Charlie
seemed to think

that the motives
had something to do

with the rankings.

Didn't Ben say something

about the other fighters?

Tallridge.

Yeah, but I checked
into that; he was fighting

in Japan at the time
that Lopez was killed.

He's got a good alibi.

What if this is just

about the All-Out
Fighting League itself?

So, what, like

an attack from a competitor?

Or someone who has a grudge

against Alston. Yeah,
let's talk to him again.

We'll take a closer
look at his business.

You know, find out

what his competitors
might be worried about.

We think someone might
be targeting your fighters

as a way of getting at you.

Me? I don't understand.

These murders don't
exactly help your efforts

to clean up the sport.

Let me ask you
this, is there anyone

who might wanna
sabotage your business?

Boxing, baseball, basketball.

Our ratings make us
the fastest-growing sport

in the country.

Yeah, what about you personally?

Any threats against you?

No. I'd like to take a look

at a list of your
investors, if that's all right.

I don't see how that'll help.

Mr. Alston, if
you're not the target,

then quite possibly
somebody else involved

in your business...

They might be.

You're Sinclair, right?

Yeah.

A detective from LAPD came

to see me yesterday.

He told me about
you and Ben Ellis.

I don't think that's the issue.

Oh, I think it's right on point.

I understand loyalty.

I do.

But you're not gonna
jeopardize my business

because you're unhappy
about arresting your friend.

Yeah, well, I mean
that's a nice little speech,

but I wanna see those records.

I'll happy to cooperate with you

when you have
something specific.

Well, you better cooperate now,

or I'm gonna get
myself a subpoena.

I'm gonna take a look at your...

Fine. Fine. Fine. I'll
get you what you need.

And you might

want to know that if it weren't

for the fact that
he was in custody,

your friend Ellis... he'd
had a shot at Bainsworth.

He was next in
line for the qualifier.

We'll be in touch.

Hey.

You're welcome.

Excuse me?

Who do you think
got you out of here?

I don't even know why I
bother coming down here, man.

Maybe you trying to
make some sort of amends.

Make amends?

Look, I was in that youth
facility for two years.

Let's finally get
something straight, man.

Locking you up back then
is one of the best things

they could have done for you.

Look, I know you put the
Bronx in your rear-view,

but I would have thought
my best friend, the guy I knew

would have come to
see me at least once.

Just to find out what happened
that night. What happened?

You did the same thing, man,
I seen you do a hundred times.

I know what happened.

You know that
Earl step to that guy.

'Cause you know what happened.

You're saying that
E started that fight?

E never started a
fight in his entire life.

That guy was
messing with E's girl.

E tried to back him off.

That guy came back hard.

I don't think E even
saw the gun coming.

But I did.

Why didn't you tell anybody?

Lawyer said if I told my
side, claimed self-defense,

I'd do 20 years.

Wait. Hold on. Wait. Hold on.

I didn't know what to do.

You weren't there.

What's done is done.

Never. Never.

Say what?

You asked me before, if I ever
seen you back down from a fight.

Answer to that
question is never.

What your partner said
earlier about the rankings.

You ought to know, it
doesn't work that way.

I mean, the rankings,
they matter, yeah,

but at the end of the day,

it's Larry Alston who
decides who gets to fight.

Hey, Charlie.

Hey, check this out.

What do you got?

What is that smell?

You get used to it

after a while.

Nah, I don't think so.

Okay, so there he is, all right.

Now this is Professor
Stanley Novich,

and this is where the
door to his lab used to be.

What do you mean, "used to be"?

I had one of my dad's
contractor friends bring

in a crew late last night.

They dry-walled his doorway.

Then painted it
to match the wall.

Ah, you made his
office disappear?

Yeah, well, now watch. Oh.

See that?

That could be it right there.

That could be what?

I'm hoping that the
stress of losing his office

will force him to
reveal his poker tell.

No, seriously.

Well, he just did it again.

Gotcha.

Now, how can I
help you, gentlemen?

We actually have some
new information on the stuff

you been working on about
the fighters and their rankings.

The modified Kruskal count.

Yeah. You said before
that Ben benefited

from the other fighters' deaths

because he improved
in the rankings.

Exactly.

What if rankings
weren't the only thing

to determine who
fought for the title?

How do you mean? Ben told me

that the head of the league
sets the fights, that the rankings

are only a loose guide.

Well, we were assuming
that the rankings alone

determined the
fighting patterns.

Right, I mean, if there's an
arbitrary variable involved.

Yeah, it could
change things, right?

Big time.

Amita and I are going
to have to rework

the entire network
flow analysis.

What's all this?

Alston sent over
the business records

that you asked him for.

Hey, you could have gone.

You know?

Not much here, really.

Except that the All-Out
Fighting League is in

a fair amount of debt. I
thought it was a big success.

It is, but Alston's focus has
been on expanding the business.

What, like he's overextended?

It looks like he's using

his equity in the business
as collateral on the loans.

Right, so if he gets in trouble,

he's going to lose
everything though, huh?

We looked at almost
a hundred fighters

over the past three years

and mapped out idealized
fight trajectories for each.

Idealized trajectories?

Essentially, we used skill
level and past performance

to create an objective
rating for each fighter.

Then we compare our
results to the actual histories.

Right, and what we found, well,

it's like driving two
different directions

to the same destination.

One route has all the
normal road hazards,

uh, potholes, pedestrians.

The other considers
road hazards in advance

in order to map out
the most efficient route.

So you compared
what actually happened

to what should've happened.

In an idealized world

where fighters only advance

based on their merits.

All right, so?

What did you find?

Over the past two
years, Ken Bainsworth

has seen nothing
but green lights.

There's no way that would've
happened just by chance.

Right. So you're saying
that the fights are fixed.

No. No, the fights
are very real.

But someone's been
manipulating Bainsworth's schedule

in order to ensure
that he doesn't lose.

All right, so why?

Megan said that the
AFL's pay-per-view deal

for the Alva championship

was going to be the
richest in MMA history.

But only if Bainsworth
is the challenger.

Right. So then
Alston's got no choice

but to make it happen.

Or the broadcast company has
the right to void the entire deal.

All right, so he gets
Lopez and Munson killed...

Probably 'cause they
could've beaten Bainsworth.

Bill Tallridge broke
his hand in training.

They just pulled
him from the qualifier.

So will they cancel the fight?

No way, right? Nah,
the venue's booked.

Tickets are already sold.

If the fighter going
into that qualifier

has any chance of
beating Ken Bainsworth,

then... then he's in danger.

They announced the
replacement the same time

they broke the
news about the injury.

It's Ben.

Then they'll come
after him next.

I found traces of
a silicone polymer

in the sodium fluoroacetate
used to kill Pete Munson.

I was hoping I could use it
to pin down the manufacturer.

And?

I've been through
every chemical catalogue

in the library.

I've spoken to ten
different manufacturers.

And nothing? Mm-mm.

I even checked with
packaging companies.

Packaging?

Yeah, I figured that the
silicone might have come

from the container
the chemicals were in.

Why would you think that?

Because that silicone compound

is used to insulate
molded plastic.

You mean like that?

I assumed the 1080
was on the mouthpiece

because the victim put it in
his mouth after he was poisoned.

David's not picking up.

All right, guys,

they tested all the
water and all the bottles,

so those are all good to go.

Alston's not going
to come after me

in front of all these people.

Look, his pay-per-view
deal's on the line.

Without it, he goes bankrupt.

Then he needs
me to fight, right?

Yeah, but he needs you to lose.

Two minutes.

Let's do this.

Fighting out of the blue corner,

weighing in at 205 pounds,

the former light
heavyweight champion,

Ken "The Big Bang" Bainsworth!

In the red corner,

the challenger, with a
record of 11 wins, two losses,

from the Bronx, New York,

the pride of Jerome Avenue,

Ben Ellis!

Winner by submission...

Ben Ellis!

Expecting a different result?

We found the mouthpiece.

You're under
arrest. Turn around.

Hands behind your back.

Take him away.

Didn't lose.

No, you didn't.

Didn't die either.

Thank you.

Yo, back there, in front
of my cousin's house,

when you picked me up...

you weren't really going
to shoot me, were you?

Yeah.

You looked good out there, man.

Thanks.

So, you think you can take Alva?

Bro, we're just going to
have to see about that.

About Earl...

No, no.

What's in the past
is in the past, right?

We're cool.

Yeah. Cool.

I love you, brother.

Hey. Hi. Charlie's still in it.

Yeah? It's down
to the final two.

Dr. Eppes, the
small blind, please.

Right.

You have a large
blind, Dr. Novich.

Action to you, Dr. Eppes.

I'll check.

Check.

I bet 100.

Raise... 200.

Call.

You think Charlie's
got the cards?

He must have kings;
otherwise he would have folded.

I mean, given the percentages.

I'll bet 200.

I raise...

one thousand.

Wow.

You have the tens, huh?

I'm all in.

If you'd like to call,
you're all in, too.

I guess I'm all in, too.

Two pair.

Kings and tens.

Oh, that's not good.

I guess Charlie got beat.

Flush. Winner.

And the winner of the
25th Annual Texas Hold 'Em

Faculty Poker Tournament
is Professor Charles Eppes.

That's great, Charlie!