Numb3rs (2005–2010): Season 4, Episode 3 - Velocity - full transcript
A car crash into a building has ties to street racing and possibly a cold case.
(engine revving)
♪ Mmm... mmm ♪
♪ Life changes
happen every day ♪
♪ The place to make your pay ♪
♪ Life changes
happen every day ♪
♪ The place to make your pay ♪
♪ See the skyline
for the very first time ♪
Hey. Double-shot,
nonfat macchiato.
Newest copy of Shredsled.
Mm! Wow! Thank you.
Hey, Bobby. How's
your night going?
I've got nothing to
complain about, Sam.
How about you?
Beautiful night,
business is good...
What's not to like?
I hear you, bro.
(engine racing)
(tires screeching)
No.
(screaming, shouting)
MAN (in distance):
Somebody call an ambulance!
Hey, is that your stuff?
Yeah, Quantico sent it all back,
minus some files and
my date book, but...
Well, I'd really like it if
someone cleaned off my desk.
Yeah, right. Thank you.
Hey, man.
Hey.
(phone rings)
Sinclair.
I guess they didn't return
all my personal stuff.
What are you talking about?
I'm missing a paperweight
and a fishing lure.
A Wooly Bugger. A what?!
My, uh, my dad
made it for me. It's...
A Wooly Bugger, huh?
LAPD just called us
in on a car accident.
They want us to take the lead.
It was on the news last night.
A car crashed into a
crowded coffee house.
What's that got to do with us?
VIN numbers on the
car's parts don't match.
They are stolen cars
from three different states.
We've got one dead
and eight injured.
All righty, let's do it.
(helicopter passing)
(indistinct police
radio transmission)
DAVID: Miracle more
people weren't killed.
Well, who was the driver?
17-year-old, Kyle Clippard.
Critical condition
with head injuries.
Still unconscious.
What was this like, uh...
street racer or something, huh?
The tires are
wide, low profile...
That's the type they use.
Where do you
get a car like this?
I don't know. No
registered ownership.
The car's a mix of stolen parts.
The driver has a
provisional license,
not even supposed
to be driving at night.
LAPD is still questioning
the witnesses.
WOMAN: The car
came out of nowhere.
I didn't see it until
the last minute.
I don't know about this guy...
If he was racing or
just... driving crazy.
I mean, it's like he
drove right at us.
MAN: I was just
making my delivery.
It all happened so fast.
The car was on the sidewalk
and knocking people over.
Hey, careful there.
Hey. Yeah.
Just drove right into the place.
Well, the LAPD accident
analysis should tell you
how that happened, right?
Thing is, I got to find out why.
That's tricky... finding motives
in skid marks and
trajectories, you know.
That's what we
got you for, right?
MAN: I don't know
how Kyle got that car,
or why he was driving it.
So you've never
seen the car before?
No.
Does your son have any reason
to be depressed?
Was he upset about anything?
You mean, did he
do this on purpose?
No, that's not Kyle.
He's a happy kid.
He's got friends, a job...
DOCTOR: Nothing new.
We'll know more
after a few hours.
Excuse us. I need to have
a few words with the agents.
Thank you.
(door closes)
Is the kid going to wake up?
Too soon to say. Maybe not.
But here's the thing:
you're looking at
two sets of injuries.
Two?
One from the accident...
Broken clavicle,
crushed ribs,
then there's this.
He sustained heavy blows
to the left side of
his face and skull.
Is that a... a shoe print?
Somebody kicked him in the head.
Before of after the accident?
It had to be after.
I can't imagine him driving
with that type of head injury.
Somebody from
the accident scene.
Somebody with a lot of rage
who couldn't
help but express it.
DAVID: If the driver was
attacked after the accident,
how come no
witness mentioned it?
Because they identify
with the assailant.
They think the
driver had it coming.
Like that case in Texas,
where the mob killed that man
that was in a car
that injured a child.
Yeah, except by all accounts,
Kyle Clippard's a good kid.
He's friendly,
he's hard-working.
It doesn't make sense...
Mowing down all those people.
Maybe even good
kids need to race?
No one saw a second car.
Maybe because they
were too focused on the car
about to hit them.
Oh, by the way, uh, what
is Colby Granger up to now?
Uh, well, actually,
he just got offered
a great job opportunity
down at the DC office.
Really? Yeah.
He's sort of a hero now, right?
Not sort of.
He was awarded the FBI Medal
of Meritorious Conduct, right?
Yeah, though, he's not
sure he wants to leave L.A.
Why? Is there a
place for him here?
It's a little awkward, you know.
I mean, basically, he's
been reporting on all of us
for two years now, so...
ALAN: Well, you file reports
on everything you do, anyway.
Don't you? I mean, it's
all above board, right?
What do you got there, pal?
Uh, that article I wrote,
"A Mathematical Analysis
of Friendship Dynamics."
Yeah, yeah.
McCadden Books
wants to publish it...
Huh.
But not as a textbook,
as a self-help book.
What do you mean,
for regular people?
For regular people... they
say it'd be a strong seller,
something like "the
science of popularity."
Well, you better simplify
the math then, huh?
I could reach a lot of people
who would never be caught
dead reading a math book.
DAVID: LAPD
says street racing is
is big in the neighborhoods
around that coffee shop.
Mostly young, male drivers
in customized imports.
So the other racers might
know who our guy is?
Maybe even where
he got his car? Yeah.
If you guys want, I can help
you run some of that stuff down.
Yeah, that'd be great.
BOBBY: I still can't believe it.
Sam was a real good guy.
Seems like everyone knows
each other pretty
well on this street.
We see each other every day.
Making deliveries
in this neighborhood.
You get to know people.
Yeah, well, I'd like to
ask you a few questions
about what happened
right after the accident.
Sure. Anything I can do to help.
The wise old man comes
down from the mountain.
Now, listen. Firstly, I come
down not from the mountains
but from the foothills.
Secondly, I am not old,
certainly not by
today's standards.
And thirdly, being wiser
than present company
does not signify the breach
of a noteworthy threshold.
Hmm. I see that you're
reading Dr. Preskill's paper
on "Anomalies and Fermion
Masses in D Dimensions."
You thinking of a
change of focus?
I'm thinking of a lot of things,
that is, when I'm not
trying to think of nothing.
Well, listen. I have this
problem for the FBI...
Advanced accident analysis,
and I could really
use your insight,
if you're done soul-searching.
I am all booked this afternoon
during meditation,
pond maintenance
and garden duty.
I will, however, give you a
name... Raymond Galuski.
Galuski, that's
engineering, right?
Mechanical engineering.
Most engineers
love to make things,
and they hate it when
something doesn't work.
But figuring out why something
crashed, broke or blew up...
For me... is when
the fun starts.
Last accident I analyzed
was when the Mars Rover
fell into a shallow crater
during a Martian sandstorm.
Well, this occurred a
little closer to home,
although, possibly
more complicated.
Mechanical engineering...
The poetry of matter and energy,
of metal and power.
The more complicated it is,
the more beautiful it becomes.
Well, listen, we need to know
if a certain
vehicle's trajectory
was accidental or intended.
My own computer
modeling software
analyzes anything
with an engine.
(electronic trilling)
Hey, David... I've
been working on a list
of known and
suspected street racers.
Right.
Check it out. I found this.
Six cases of
vandalism in five months
on the same speed camera.
Just two blocks
from the accident site.
Yeah, someone out there
doesn't want to be
caught going fast.
Looks like you're looking
at an all-night stakeout, man.
Yeah, you up for it?
Actually, you know
what? Why don't I take it?
Why don't you
take the night off?
All right?
So, you know
what I just learned?
The first speed-trap
camera was actually invented
by a race driver
to improve his time.
Huh.
Come on, man, you better
have some conversation.
We're going to be
here a while, you know.
Nothing you want to talk about?
I don't know, I guess, uh...
the right thing to do
is take that DC job.
That depends what you
want. Yeah, well, what I want
I mean, is to go
back and start over.
Have a regular
job at the Bureau.
No lying, no pretending.
You know? Well,
then the question is
is can you be happy with
a regular job at the Bureau?
I mean, that's
what I set out to do.
If I wanted to be a spy,
I would have applied
somewhere else.
Look, most of us have to
do undercover at some point.
Yeah, but not in
your own office.
I don't know, what do
you think of the chances
of me coming back
to work for the team?
Check it out.
Let's go, buddy.
Whoa, whoa, wait...
Put your hands
Got anything that's gonna
hurt us? behind your back.
No, uh-uh. What's your name?
Ernie. Ernest Fuller.
You got a race tonight, Ernie?
Nah, I don't know what
you're talking about.
Oh, you don't know
what I'm talking about?
(engines revving,
tires screeching)
(driver yelping)
I have a feeling those guys know
what we're talking about.
Is this the dude from
that big crash? Yeah.
You know him?
I've seen him around.
The night of the crash,
what did you see?
Who was out racing?
Um, I don't know.
I was home, I was
working on my car.
All right, maybe
you were out there
with Kyle Clippard
when he crashed.
No, 'cause I wrecked
my car two weeks ago.
You can ask around.
Who was racing Kyle?
I... I don't know.
Uh, maybe if you
described the car?
Does Kyle Clippard own that car?
You know what,
that's hard to say.
Okay, you've got to understand.
The guys, they
trade cars all the time.
They win them in races.
Maybe he borrowed
it or, you know,
he could've stole it.
You're going to
give me the names
of the people that
race that neighborhood.
Why the hell should I?
The man that died
had a lot to live for.
He gave up his life
protecting a little girl
from somebody just like you.
50,000 street racers
just like yourself,
they die in crashes every year.
Only problem I have with that is
every now and again
they hurt somebody else.
So listen, you.
You smarten up and you
give me some names right now.
Okay.
But, uh...
the cops, they know
most of them already.
(engine revving,
tires screeching)
Well, that was craptastic.
That's one way
of putting it, yeah.
This model should recreate
the events of the accident,
but it's not working.
Hey, Charlie?
Where's the oil pan?
I have to change
the oil in my car.
Oh, wait a minute,
wait a minute.
Doing it yourself, good for you.
Few things in life
more satisfying
than performing basic
auto maintenance.
ALAN: Yeah, also it's cheaper,
and I'm ensured
that it gets done right,
if you know what I mean.
You, sir, are a man of a deep
and profound common sense.
(Charlie chuckles)
Well, thank you.
Dad, this is Dr. Ray Galuski
He's helping me
perform a mathematical
analysis of this crash here.
Where's the math?
I just see a couple
of lines on a road.
It's embedded in the model.
A computer simulation is just
a mathematical
representation of the real world.
Sir Isaac Newton...
He observed a
real-world event: gravity.
He then created a
mathematical model
to represent that phenomenon,
which he could then extrapolate
to predict the
orbits of planets,
the general structure and
movements of galaxies.
The problem is, our
model doesn't match reality.
Car's not crashing.
It's not the friction
circle expressions, right?
I mean, they seem dead-on.
ALAN: Friction circle theory!
Yeah, planners use it to
analyze soil slope stability.
You know, for, uh...
building foundations.
One and the same, my friend.
Friction keeps a car on
the road during a turn.
CHARLIE: The car in this case
broke the friction, so it had
to have been going faster,
or been heavier than reported.
About 260 pounds heavier.
So where did this 260 pounds go?
Why wouldn't they haved
returned all of Colby's stuff?
I don't know.
Maybe somebody
thought it wasn't important.
I guess his dad can make
him another fishing lure.
Colby's dad died when he was 15.
Oh.
So, we've come upon
the slightest conundrum.
This is Dr. Raymond Galuski.
Ray. Some call me Ray-Ray.
Okay.
Ray-Ray is a
mechanical engineer.
He's helping me with
the accident analysis.
I just make it look
cool on the computer.
CHARLIE: We think
that the car from the crash
was 260 pounds heavier
during the accident
than it is now.
What would account for the
weight? GALUSKI: No idea.
We just know it was there.
Are you sure that there wasn't
a second person in that car?
260 pounds, that's
a really big person,
but I guess it's possible.
And if there was
a second person,
maybe he could tell us
who attacked the driver.
Or maybe it was driver
and the injured kid
was a passenger.
Maybe there was a
dead body in the trunk.
A dead body that got up and
walked away after the crash?
(chuckling): I'm
just an engineer.
Give me.
I know, she's letting me win.
Now, Larry, that is not true.
Amita, you're coddling me.
No, she's strangling you.
Sorry, Larry, it's a trap.
ALAN: You see, your
problem is you keep
thinking of other
things when you play.
That's not true... Other
things keep thinking me.
Now, wait a sec,
what if I move...?
Nah, you're, you're a goner.
Are you looking for Charlie?
No, actually, I was
looking for you... I found this
and I thought you might need it.
Thank you. ALAN: Yeah.
I've been looking for this
every... where did you find it?
On the hallway floor.
Oh, sorry.
Hmm?
I'll try not to leave
my stuff lying around.
No big deal, we're all adults.
When I was your
age, I was married...
and I already had a kid.
Larry, how are things
with you and Megan?
Oh, going beautifully, I think.
I mean, we're spending
all of our time apart,
so it's a little
difficult to assess.
Does that address your question?
MATT: David.
Look, these weld points?
They mean that
the original front grill
was replaced with this one.
So this grill used to
be on a different car?
Exactly, and when I
looked a little closer,
I found, ta-da!
Traces of hair and
blood in the crevices.
But not from this recent crash.
DNA matches two
victims of an unsolved
hit-and-run that
happened three years ago.
That's Daniel and Caren Kaufman.
Nothing was found
at the crime scene.
This is the first
evidence in this case.
CHARLIE: I don't think
Kyle Clippard did that,
'cause he would've been
14 years old at the time.
Three years ago, this grill was
on a car involved in a fatality.
Right now it's on a second car,
also in a fatal accident?
That's some kind
of coincidence. Not
if street racing was
involved in both cases.
GALUSKI: There's one
thing about street racing...
Those dudes crash.
Oh, Dr. Galuski?
I'm sure you could
make your point
without getting grease stains
all over the FBI's nice office.
Do you know what this is?
Uh, it's a differential.
It's a...
Okay,
so you know that when a car
makes a turn, the wheels
don't all turn at the same speed.
Because of a phenomenon
related to centripetal force.
You know, when a car
turns, it's on a circular path.
So the farther from
the center of the circle,
the greater the
distance traveled.
It's like on a carousel
where a horse on the
outside travels further
than one on the inside,
so it's got to go faster,
same with the drive
wheels on a car.
The outside
wheels travel further,
to keep up with the inside
tires they have to spin faster.
If a car didn't
have a differential,
the outside tires
couldn't keep up.
They'd be dragged
across the pavement.
Is there something
unique about this one?
LSD.
Limited Slip Differential.
Two-way clutch
type used by drifters.
Drifters are street racers
who take high-speed turns,
and then they let
the rear wheels
slide out on purpose.
And this one's
an OX Gekko Ultra Lock.
Only a few places
you can get one.
And I'm guessing, Ray-Ray,
that you know a
few of those places?
(hip-hop beat playing)
♪ Hey ♪
♪ This is my block ♪
♪ Hey ♪
♪ Where everybody know you ♪
♪ And they show
you what's good ♪
♪ Gotta love the feeling... ♪
Looking for a Dominator
fuel injection system.
That's illegal on
California streets.
How about an Ultra Lock Two-Way?
Strike two... Ultra
Lock's not distributed
in the States.
I guess we came
to the wrong place.
Hey, hold up.
That's not to say
that the Ultra Lock
can't be bought.
Can we take one home today?
Just stay right there.
Actually, how about
you stay right there.
FBI.
(clanging)
Hey, get back here!
Get down! Get over here!
Hey idiot, this
guy's with the FBI.
Where you gonna
go? Come on, man.
I just work here. Huh?
They tell me to sell the stuff.
Is that what your
boss is going to say?
Okay, so I make
a little on the side.
But you don't want
me. Oh, we don't, huh?
No, I'm a nobody. I'll give
you the guy who sells to me.
He sells to, like,
half a dozen shops.
Tell me this, did
you sell an Ultra Lock
to this kid?
Okay, yeah.
Yeah, three weeks ago.
That's awesome. Come on.
DAVID: Did you know your son
like to go to street racing meets?
That he bought auto
parts designed for racing?
No. Mm-hmm.
He told me he was
out with friends.
That they went to
movies, other kids' houses.
I trusted my son.
What if you're wrong about Kyle?
You don't know
why that car crashed,
or why Kyle was in it.
Somebody tried to kill my son.
We don't know his side of it.
He can't tell us what happened.
COLBY: Hey, Megan.
I got something.
So street racers are
into posting their videos
of their races online.
I figure if our crash
had anything to do
with that, it might be worth
checking a few Web sites.
I found this video posted
a couple hours ago.
GIRL: Oh, my God.
Someone filmed
the accident? Yeah.
And they couldn't have been
more than 25 feet north of the site.
This is all that
was posted online,
but I'm thinking
there might be more.
Oh, my...
COLBY: Hey, Nitrogurl.
That's you, isn't it?
What you girls looking at?
Oh, sweet... that's
really nice camerawork.
GIRL: Oh, man.
The coffee shop
crash. You recorded it.
There's a lot of
races around there.
I just got lucky, that's all.
Oh, would you call it luck?
When one man lay dying and
another seven were injured...
And instead of calling
911, you filmed it?
(car tires screeching)
(glass shattering)
GIRL: Oh, my God!
Whoa, whoa, where
were you going?
That's Kyle Clippard.
He was in the trunk.
Charlie's right
about there being a
second person in that car.
But that kid is no 260 pounds.
And that our driver
wasn't our real driver.
All right, so who's this guy?
Do you really believe no
one saw the real driver?
He took off at the
height of the chaos.
And everybody was
in a state of shock.
How you doing,
Matt? Almost there.
It's a good thing
I keep Amita's image
enhancement algorithms on hand.
COLBY: So I figured out
why Clippard was in the trunk.
It's a street
racing hazing ritual
called "trunking," where
they make the new guy
ride in the trunk before
he can sit up front.
Now, why would they do that?
I guess it's tougher to clean
the vomit off the front seat.
MATT: Tasty.
All right, here we go,
it's a pretty good
look at the guy.
MEGAN: So this
is the real driver.
Now we have to hope that
somebody recognizes him.
I do. It's Frank Fisher...
The guy that sold the
Ultralock to Kyle Clippard.
And we still have
him in custody?
Released him this morning.
(engine revving)
(tires screeching)
This is really starting
to frost my shorts.
The Scandinavian
flick didn't work.
Ray, I take it
that's a racing term,
and not what it sounds like.
Yeah, it's another name
for the inertia drift maneuver.
A driver comes into a curve,
turns out of it, then
he whips back in,
using the centripetal force
on the back half of his car
to slide it out and drift.
We know there was
another person in that car.
Frank Fisher.
But he weighs 140, not 260.
And our math model is telling us
that there's 120 pounds
unaccounted for here.
I know, and that's significant.
120 pounds I can't account for.
Maybe it wasn't dead weight.
If this was a race,
and there was a second car...
You're talking
about a collision.
The extra force came
not from weight in the car...
but from the briefest
contact between two vehicles.
Hi, Charlie. Ray. Hey.
Hi. So, uh, how's
the analysis going?
It's going good... we got
racing, we got we got drifting...
Maybe some demolition derby.
Hope you don't mind my
watching. I'm very fascinated
with this stuff.
It is fascinating.
Been a long time since
I took engineering
in, uh, college,
and, uh, I think I lost a lot.
Thousands of years ago,
we started with rocks,
sticks and bones.
Now we got computer chips,
spacecraft, nuclear fusion.
It's not just human nature
to understand the world,
but also to interact with it.
You see, that's why
we build machines.
Because that's the way
we interact with the world.
I mean that's our, uh,
that's the way we play.
(quiet laugh)
I'm starting a seminar next week
on current challenges in
mechanical engineering.
You should come sit in.
No, no.
I think I'm a little
old for college.
GALUSKI: I was a
mechanic before I started.
I started... I was 30.
But, hey, where wouldn't you
be older than most other people?
A rest home?
Uh, Ray-Ray, hey,
so, just get back to, uh...
Wait a minute.
Fisher is gone.
Along with a new street
car he doesn't own.
Damn it. He knew
we were coming back.
I'll put it out to the police.
Thanks.
Kyle Clippard woke up.
I just wanted to ride along.
See what it's like.
But, Kyle, why?
Looked like fun.
Frank said to get in the trunk.
It was a race?
Yeah, with some guy Frank knew.
I-I think he called him Ernie.
Ernie Fuller, right.
And what caused the accident?
No idea.
Last thing I remember
was being in the trunk
and wishing I wasn't.
Kyle, somebody hurt
you after the accident...
Do you have any idea who?
What?!
Isn't this from the crash?
Somebody tried to kill you.
Why?
I-I wasn't even driving.
You looking into
the hit-and-run?
Yeah, the Kaufmans,
the couple that died.
They have no living relatives.
Nobody to push the
case once it went cold.
Yeah.
You know, David, when I
was out on that freighter,
I kept thinking
if I die out here,
a lot of questions
go unanswered.
My story never gets told.
I'd just really like to find
these people an answer.
What about Frank Fisher?
Maybe that grill came
off a car he used to own?
Yeah, only he's got an alibi.
When they were killed,
Fisher was out in Pomona,
winning a NHRA-approved race.
We gotta find out where
that grill came from.
Yeah, there's
something else, too.
At the cemetery
where they're buried,
somebody puts
flowers on their grave
on the anniversary
of the accident.
That's somebody with
a guilty conscience.
And another thing:
Shortly after they died,
somebody made an anonymous
donation to their church
in the amount of $7,000 cash.
♪ Shorty, what you gonna do? ♪
(engine revving)
♪ Are you gonna get in? ♪
♪ Are you gonna ride... ♪
♪ Baby? ♪
♪ Baby, what you gonna do? ♪
♪ Yeah, what you gonna do? ♪
♪ Are you gonna get out? ♪
You can't drift
without gas, Ernie!
(overlapping chatter)
Fisher's over on the right
talking with Ernie Fuller.
Okay. Bring it on, guys.
We're going in. We're going in.
FISHER: Get out of my car!
Damn, man! I'm sorry.
I'm... Listen to me!
(siren whooping)
DAVID: FBI!
FBI! Don't move!
FBI!
I got the driver!
I got the driver!
AGENT: Get back here!
(car tires squealing)
(tires screeching)
(Don grunts)
(siren wailing)
(engine revving)
CHARLIE: So the second
car hits the crash car
and causes it to lose control.
It's called a PIT maneuver.
I know, I-I've seen it on TV.
Police cars do it
to fleeing vehicles
during high-speed chases.
You watch police chases on TV?
Hell, yeah. You don't?
Download them off the Net.
All variables accounted for...
The end result
matches the sample.
And that is geek
speak for "bingo."
Ernie, everybody we talk to
says you and Frank
race all the time.
You were racing him the night
of the coffee shop
crash, weren't you?
You don't know that. No?
No, Frank didn't tell you,
and nobody else saw me there.
Nice one, Ernie.
I want you to look at something.
What is that? I mean,
how'd you get that?
Who filmed that? Is that film?
Doesn't matter.
That's what happened.
Frank's car killed a
man, but you caused it.
It was an accident.
I wasn't trying to hit Frank.
He's my friend; I
helped him build that car.
Where is Frank now?
I have no idea.
Hey, Larry!
A little time off
from the monastery?
Uh, actually, I'm
letting the monks
take a little break from me.
How are your own
meditations coming along?
It's hard to say.
You know, work keeps
getting in the way.
You know, actually, my
own state of quiescence
has been disturbed by
this rather indelible image.
A boot print to be more precise.
From the Clippard beating.
Yeah, Charlie described
told me about the case.
These would be the
photos of the tread marks
on the young man's
face? Only have a partial.
It's kind of hard to get a
good match on the boot print.
Ah, well, enter Fleinhardt.
Have you, by any
chance, heard of
a study from the University
of Sheffield, in England?
Now they're using
mathematical techniques
to extrapolate full
boot and shoe prints
from partial samples.
(phone rings) Larry,
that'd be great, man.
There'll always be
an England. Sinclair.
Okay, thanks.
(sighs)
They just found Frank Fisher.
(door opens)
Hey, do you have a minute
to, uh, take a look at something?
Secret spy stuff?
I'm kidding.
What is it? Well, I'm
trying to track down the grill
on the car from the
cold case hit-and-run
'cause the same
grill was on the car
that Frank Fisher was driving
when it hit the coffee shop.
And that's got to be more
than a coincidence, right?
Well, yeah, I mean,
you know, it's possible
that Fisher could have
just found the
grill at a junkyard,
but, yeah, I'm hoping
that there's more to it,
although...
I know you really don't put much
stock in hope, do you? Colby,
there have been math
problems I've worked on
that have gone unsolved
for hundreds of years,
so believe me, man,
I'm all about hope.
All right, well, good,
because I keep thinking
that there are things
the cold case can tell us
about the recent crash,
and the recent crash might
help us solve the cold case.
Yeah, so like a unifying theory.
No, I think that's
worth testing.
Well, here's what
I have so far...
A list of cars that
were on the road
three years ago with that grill
and then a list of
known street racers.
You're checking for a match.
Right, basic cop stuff.
But what I was wondering
is if there might be
some other kind of search
you might recommend.
You know, just a bigger one.
Just throw in more
data. You never know
where you're going
to find connectivity,
so think of anything you can...
Not just the cars and
their owners but people
from both incidents
who don't seem
directly involved.
Then friends and family
and witnesses and...
Fisher was found by
a maintenance man,
kicked in the head,
same as Kyle Clippard.
Yeah, it happened
fairly recently.
Even looks like
the same boot print.
Fisher didn't have
any defensive wounds,
so it's got to be
someone he knew, right?
I'll spring the news
on Ernie Fuller,
see if he has any idea
where Fisher might have been.
Uh-huh. Hey, David,
what have you got?
Larry's getting an
image of the boot print
from both crime scenes,
and I'm questioning those
crash witnesses again,
using what we
learned from the video.
How about you, Colby?
Just running links
between the cold case
and the Fisher
crash. All right. Good.
This could all be a
random coincidence, but...
No, these deaths
are related somehow.
Hold it lightly, like a bird,
then just let it fly
straight to the nest.
Now, you see?
Unfortunately,
my bird keeps attempting
to nest in the hallway.
Fleinhardt, I hear you
got a sweet little ride.
Yeah, a 1931 Ford Roadster.
Nice.
You got to bring it
around. Yeah, well,
maybe in time.
Only three runs in
the computer lab,
and we got a sufficient
abrogated score.
Well, it's a lot easier
to extrapolate on
these partial boot prints,
now that we've got
a second sample.
Too bad a second person
had to die for us to get it.
Gentlemen, we have the results.
Diet?
Oh, come... that's...
You know, Frank
knew a lot of people.
I got no idea where
he's hanging out.
Yeah, how about his car?
He had a custom grill on there.
You know where he got it?
No, his grill... he could have
picked that up anywhere.
Okay, you have to ask him
and if you can't find him,
that's not my problem.
Oh, we found him.
Frank's dead.
What? He crashed?
Somebody beat him to death.
Special Agent
David Sinclair... FBI.
I want to ask you a
few more questions.
You know, Ernie, the
guy that killed Frank
also beat a teenager
at the crash site.
Did Frank know somebody
at that coffee shop?
Uh, maybe, yeah.
It was his idea to race,
and he always liked to
just race by people he knew.
Like who? Mostly hot chicks.
And, um,
this dude he knew, who
was like an old friend of his.
We have a video of the incident
that shows you 30 seconds
after the crash,
walking toward the car.
What happened
when you got there?
I went over to...
look at the driver,
but I didn't touch him.
Somebody did.
Tell me who it was.
(sighs)
Okay, if I adjust
the translational
and rotational invariance...
CHARLIE: And then generate
an edge direction histogram...
And that, my young
friends, is a boot.
That measures out to a size 12.
That's one big dude.
The dude used to race a lot,
but then he quit and he
said Frank should stop, too,
but, for some reason, it
really pissed Frank off.
(laughing): Frank would just...
he would just, like, go
blowing by him and yell stuff.
Sam was dead.
We were all angry.
It could have been any of us.
But it was one guy.
You give me a name,
or I will arrest you
right here for obstruction.
This is so weird.
Hey, Megan. Yeah?
The grill from the cold case,
it was for a 1994 Honda Civic.
And check this out.
I just found a
known street racer
who owned that identical car,
who was present at
the coffee shop crash,
but he wasn't
one of the drivers.
Ernie just gave me a name.
How much you want
to bet it's the same guy?
(phone rings)
Megan, I know. I'm right here.
Hey, the guy
who usually works this
route... Where is he?
Apparently, he
comes here every day.
Robert Lowell, do you
know why we're here?
Yes, I know.
BOBBY: Three years ago,
I was racing around the
Silver Lake Reservoir.
I hit two people.
And I killed them.
Every night I go to
sleep, I see their faces,
how they looked at me
right before the car hit them.
I took my car apart,
and I sold the pieces.
Right. The grill to Fisher.
The money I got
from the parts...
I sent it all to the church
those people belonged to.
You put the flowers
on the graves.
Why don't you tell us what
happened at that coffee house?
(tires screeching)
People were running everywhere.
It was terrible.
I was just looking
to see who was hurt.
I saw the kid near the car.
I was sure that
he was the driver,
that he had done this...
and I just exploded.
MEGAN: But the kid
wasn't the driver.
Frank was.
He told me yesterday.
I realized I nearly
killed the wrong guy.
And then Frank tells me...
he was racing around
the corner because of me.
I felt like I was in a daze.
Then I hit him and he went down.
And I just kept kicking him.
This has got to stop.
I'll, uh, request
a suicide watch.
Hey, Don. Hey, buddy.
Want some coffee?
Yeah, that'd be great, thanks.
Just want to let you know
that I turned down the DC job.
Oh, yeah?
That's what you wanted, huh?
I mean, what I want is
to stay here and
work with you guys...
People I know.
But I know that decision's
not entirely up to me, so...
All right.
I'll check into it.
♪ ♪
CHARLIE: I mean, my
advice to you has always been
never to concentrate
on coincidences.
But for once, at
least in this case,
everything was connected.
Yeah, but, uh, the root
cause was meaningless, huh?
(chuckles) Yeah,
reckless driving.
That's crazy.
So, what, are you
writing that book? Yeah.
The work is pretty
much almost done.
I just have to write the preface
and simplify some
of the math passages.
Is that Dad? Yeah.
Did you invite him
down here? Hello, boys.
Boys, meet CalSci's
newest student.
What do you mean?
You're taking a class?
No, I was just auditing.
GALUSKI: Alan just
got through his first day
of Elements of Mechanical
Engineering. Yeah.
Wait a second,
you're telling me that
I've spent years trying
to get you interested
in advanced mathematics and
now, suddenly, you're taking a class?
It depends on who teaches it.
DON: Oh, psych! Ooh, that's low.
That's cold. GALUSKI: It's
got nothing to do with me.
What would most
people rather do?
Solve the Riemann Hypothesis
or build lasers and robots?
DON & ALAN: Lasers
and robots. Of course.
Algebraic geometry,
ergodic theory,
automorphic forms...
The list goes on and on.
You people have no idea
what you're missing out on.
Yeah, and we'd like to
keep it that way, Charlie.
So what, you're getting
a degree or something?
Well, actually...
I'm just having fun.
♪ Mmm... mmm ♪
♪ Life changes
happen every day ♪
♪ The place to make your pay ♪
♪ Life changes
happen every day ♪
♪ The place to make your pay ♪
♪ See the skyline
for the very first time ♪
Hey. Double-shot,
nonfat macchiato.
Newest copy of Shredsled.
Mm! Wow! Thank you.
Hey, Bobby. How's
your night going?
I've got nothing to
complain about, Sam.
How about you?
Beautiful night,
business is good...
What's not to like?
I hear you, bro.
(engine racing)
(tires screeching)
No.
(screaming, shouting)
MAN (in distance):
Somebody call an ambulance!
Hey, is that your stuff?
Yeah, Quantico sent it all back,
minus some files and
my date book, but...
Well, I'd really like it if
someone cleaned off my desk.
Yeah, right. Thank you.
Hey, man.
Hey.
(phone rings)
Sinclair.
I guess they didn't return
all my personal stuff.
What are you talking about?
I'm missing a paperweight
and a fishing lure.
A Wooly Bugger. A what?!
My, uh, my dad
made it for me. It's...
A Wooly Bugger, huh?
LAPD just called us
in on a car accident.
They want us to take the lead.
It was on the news last night.
A car crashed into a
crowded coffee house.
What's that got to do with us?
VIN numbers on the
car's parts don't match.
They are stolen cars
from three different states.
We've got one dead
and eight injured.
All righty, let's do it.
(helicopter passing)
(indistinct police
radio transmission)
DAVID: Miracle more
people weren't killed.
Well, who was the driver?
17-year-old, Kyle Clippard.
Critical condition
with head injuries.
Still unconscious.
What was this like, uh...
street racer or something, huh?
The tires are
wide, low profile...
That's the type they use.
Where do you
get a car like this?
I don't know. No
registered ownership.
The car's a mix of stolen parts.
The driver has a
provisional license,
not even supposed
to be driving at night.
LAPD is still questioning
the witnesses.
WOMAN: The car
came out of nowhere.
I didn't see it until
the last minute.
I don't know about this guy...
If he was racing or
just... driving crazy.
I mean, it's like he
drove right at us.
MAN: I was just
making my delivery.
It all happened so fast.
The car was on the sidewalk
and knocking people over.
Hey, careful there.
Hey. Yeah.
Just drove right into the place.
Well, the LAPD accident
analysis should tell you
how that happened, right?
Thing is, I got to find out why.
That's tricky... finding motives
in skid marks and
trajectories, you know.
That's what we
got you for, right?
MAN: I don't know
how Kyle got that car,
or why he was driving it.
So you've never
seen the car before?
No.
Does your son have any reason
to be depressed?
Was he upset about anything?
You mean, did he
do this on purpose?
No, that's not Kyle.
He's a happy kid.
He's got friends, a job...
DOCTOR: Nothing new.
We'll know more
after a few hours.
Excuse us. I need to have
a few words with the agents.
Thank you.
(door closes)
Is the kid going to wake up?
Too soon to say. Maybe not.
But here's the thing:
you're looking at
two sets of injuries.
Two?
One from the accident...
Broken clavicle,
crushed ribs,
then there's this.
He sustained heavy blows
to the left side of
his face and skull.
Is that a... a shoe print?
Somebody kicked him in the head.
Before of after the accident?
It had to be after.
I can't imagine him driving
with that type of head injury.
Somebody from
the accident scene.
Somebody with a lot of rage
who couldn't
help but express it.
DAVID: If the driver was
attacked after the accident,
how come no
witness mentioned it?
Because they identify
with the assailant.
They think the
driver had it coming.
Like that case in Texas,
where the mob killed that man
that was in a car
that injured a child.
Yeah, except by all accounts,
Kyle Clippard's a good kid.
He's friendly,
he's hard-working.
It doesn't make sense...
Mowing down all those people.
Maybe even good
kids need to race?
No one saw a second car.
Maybe because they
were too focused on the car
about to hit them.
Oh, by the way, uh, what
is Colby Granger up to now?
Uh, well, actually,
he just got offered
a great job opportunity
down at the DC office.
Really? Yeah.
He's sort of a hero now, right?
Not sort of.
He was awarded the FBI Medal
of Meritorious Conduct, right?
Yeah, though, he's not
sure he wants to leave L.A.
Why? Is there a
place for him here?
It's a little awkward, you know.
I mean, basically, he's
been reporting on all of us
for two years now, so...
ALAN: Well, you file reports
on everything you do, anyway.
Don't you? I mean, it's
all above board, right?
What do you got there, pal?
Uh, that article I wrote,
"A Mathematical Analysis
of Friendship Dynamics."
Yeah, yeah.
McCadden Books
wants to publish it...
Huh.
But not as a textbook,
as a self-help book.
What do you mean,
for regular people?
For regular people... they
say it'd be a strong seller,
something like "the
science of popularity."
Well, you better simplify
the math then, huh?
I could reach a lot of people
who would never be caught
dead reading a math book.
DAVID: LAPD
says street racing is
is big in the neighborhoods
around that coffee shop.
Mostly young, male drivers
in customized imports.
So the other racers might
know who our guy is?
Maybe even where
he got his car? Yeah.
If you guys want, I can help
you run some of that stuff down.
Yeah, that'd be great.
BOBBY: I still can't believe it.
Sam was a real good guy.
Seems like everyone knows
each other pretty
well on this street.
We see each other every day.
Making deliveries
in this neighborhood.
You get to know people.
Yeah, well, I'd like to
ask you a few questions
about what happened
right after the accident.
Sure. Anything I can do to help.
The wise old man comes
down from the mountain.
Now, listen. Firstly, I come
down not from the mountains
but from the foothills.
Secondly, I am not old,
certainly not by
today's standards.
And thirdly, being wiser
than present company
does not signify the breach
of a noteworthy threshold.
Hmm. I see that you're
reading Dr. Preskill's paper
on "Anomalies and Fermion
Masses in D Dimensions."
You thinking of a
change of focus?
I'm thinking of a lot of things,
that is, when I'm not
trying to think of nothing.
Well, listen. I have this
problem for the FBI...
Advanced accident analysis,
and I could really
use your insight,
if you're done soul-searching.
I am all booked this afternoon
during meditation,
pond maintenance
and garden duty.
I will, however, give you a
name... Raymond Galuski.
Galuski, that's
engineering, right?
Mechanical engineering.
Most engineers
love to make things,
and they hate it when
something doesn't work.
But figuring out why something
crashed, broke or blew up...
For me... is when
the fun starts.
Last accident I analyzed
was when the Mars Rover
fell into a shallow crater
during a Martian sandstorm.
Well, this occurred a
little closer to home,
although, possibly
more complicated.
Mechanical engineering...
The poetry of matter and energy,
of metal and power.
The more complicated it is,
the more beautiful it becomes.
Well, listen, we need to know
if a certain
vehicle's trajectory
was accidental or intended.
My own computer
modeling software
analyzes anything
with an engine.
(electronic trilling)
Hey, David... I've
been working on a list
of known and
suspected street racers.
Right.
Check it out. I found this.
Six cases of
vandalism in five months
on the same speed camera.
Just two blocks
from the accident site.
Yeah, someone out there
doesn't want to be
caught going fast.
Looks like you're looking
at an all-night stakeout, man.
Yeah, you up for it?
Actually, you know
what? Why don't I take it?
Why don't you
take the night off?
All right?
So, you know
what I just learned?
The first speed-trap
camera was actually invented
by a race driver
to improve his time.
Huh.
Come on, man, you better
have some conversation.
We're going to be
here a while, you know.
Nothing you want to talk about?
I don't know, I guess, uh...
the right thing to do
is take that DC job.
That depends what you
want. Yeah, well, what I want
I mean, is to go
back and start over.
Have a regular
job at the Bureau.
No lying, no pretending.
You know? Well,
then the question is
is can you be happy with
a regular job at the Bureau?
I mean, that's
what I set out to do.
If I wanted to be a spy,
I would have applied
somewhere else.
Look, most of us have to
do undercover at some point.
Yeah, but not in
your own office.
I don't know, what do
you think of the chances
of me coming back
to work for the team?
Check it out.
Let's go, buddy.
Whoa, whoa, wait...
Put your hands
Got anything that's gonna
hurt us? behind your back.
No, uh-uh. What's your name?
Ernie. Ernest Fuller.
You got a race tonight, Ernie?
Nah, I don't know what
you're talking about.
Oh, you don't know
what I'm talking about?
(engines revving,
tires screeching)
(driver yelping)
I have a feeling those guys know
what we're talking about.
Is this the dude from
that big crash? Yeah.
You know him?
I've seen him around.
The night of the crash,
what did you see?
Who was out racing?
Um, I don't know.
I was home, I was
working on my car.
All right, maybe
you were out there
with Kyle Clippard
when he crashed.
No, 'cause I wrecked
my car two weeks ago.
You can ask around.
Who was racing Kyle?
I... I don't know.
Uh, maybe if you
described the car?
Does Kyle Clippard own that car?
You know what,
that's hard to say.
Okay, you've got to understand.
The guys, they
trade cars all the time.
They win them in races.
Maybe he borrowed
it or, you know,
he could've stole it.
You're going to
give me the names
of the people that
race that neighborhood.
Why the hell should I?
The man that died
had a lot to live for.
He gave up his life
protecting a little girl
from somebody just like you.
50,000 street racers
just like yourself,
they die in crashes every year.
Only problem I have with that is
every now and again
they hurt somebody else.
So listen, you.
You smarten up and you
give me some names right now.
Okay.
But, uh...
the cops, they know
most of them already.
(engine revving,
tires screeching)
Well, that was craptastic.
That's one way
of putting it, yeah.
This model should recreate
the events of the accident,
but it's not working.
Hey, Charlie?
Where's the oil pan?
I have to change
the oil in my car.
Oh, wait a minute,
wait a minute.
Doing it yourself, good for you.
Few things in life
more satisfying
than performing basic
auto maintenance.
ALAN: Yeah, also it's cheaper,
and I'm ensured
that it gets done right,
if you know what I mean.
You, sir, are a man of a deep
and profound common sense.
(Charlie chuckles)
Well, thank you.
Dad, this is Dr. Ray Galuski
He's helping me
perform a mathematical
analysis of this crash here.
Where's the math?
I just see a couple
of lines on a road.
It's embedded in the model.
A computer simulation is just
a mathematical
representation of the real world.
Sir Isaac Newton...
He observed a
real-world event: gravity.
He then created a
mathematical model
to represent that phenomenon,
which he could then extrapolate
to predict the
orbits of planets,
the general structure and
movements of galaxies.
The problem is, our
model doesn't match reality.
Car's not crashing.
It's not the friction
circle expressions, right?
I mean, they seem dead-on.
ALAN: Friction circle theory!
Yeah, planners use it to
analyze soil slope stability.
You know, for, uh...
building foundations.
One and the same, my friend.
Friction keeps a car on
the road during a turn.
CHARLIE: The car in this case
broke the friction, so it had
to have been going faster,
or been heavier than reported.
About 260 pounds heavier.
So where did this 260 pounds go?
Why wouldn't they haved
returned all of Colby's stuff?
I don't know.
Maybe somebody
thought it wasn't important.
I guess his dad can make
him another fishing lure.
Colby's dad died when he was 15.
Oh.
So, we've come upon
the slightest conundrum.
This is Dr. Raymond Galuski.
Ray. Some call me Ray-Ray.
Okay.
Ray-Ray is a
mechanical engineer.
He's helping me with
the accident analysis.
I just make it look
cool on the computer.
CHARLIE: We think
that the car from the crash
was 260 pounds heavier
during the accident
than it is now.
What would account for the
weight? GALUSKI: No idea.
We just know it was there.
Are you sure that there wasn't
a second person in that car?
260 pounds, that's
a really big person,
but I guess it's possible.
And if there was
a second person,
maybe he could tell us
who attacked the driver.
Or maybe it was driver
and the injured kid
was a passenger.
Maybe there was a
dead body in the trunk.
A dead body that got up and
walked away after the crash?
(chuckling): I'm
just an engineer.
Give me.
I know, she's letting me win.
Now, Larry, that is not true.
Amita, you're coddling me.
No, she's strangling you.
Sorry, Larry, it's a trap.
ALAN: You see, your
problem is you keep
thinking of other
things when you play.
That's not true... Other
things keep thinking me.
Now, wait a sec,
what if I move...?
Nah, you're, you're a goner.
Are you looking for Charlie?
No, actually, I was
looking for you... I found this
and I thought you might need it.
Thank you. ALAN: Yeah.
I've been looking for this
every... where did you find it?
On the hallway floor.
Oh, sorry.
Hmm?
I'll try not to leave
my stuff lying around.
No big deal, we're all adults.
When I was your
age, I was married...
and I already had a kid.
Larry, how are things
with you and Megan?
Oh, going beautifully, I think.
I mean, we're spending
all of our time apart,
so it's a little
difficult to assess.
Does that address your question?
MATT: David.
Look, these weld points?
They mean that
the original front grill
was replaced with this one.
So this grill used to
be on a different car?
Exactly, and when I
looked a little closer,
I found, ta-da!
Traces of hair and
blood in the crevices.
But not from this recent crash.
DNA matches two
victims of an unsolved
hit-and-run that
happened three years ago.
That's Daniel and Caren Kaufman.
Nothing was found
at the crime scene.
This is the first
evidence in this case.
CHARLIE: I don't think
Kyle Clippard did that,
'cause he would've been
14 years old at the time.
Three years ago, this grill was
on a car involved in a fatality.
Right now it's on a second car,
also in a fatal accident?
That's some kind
of coincidence. Not
if street racing was
involved in both cases.
GALUSKI: There's one
thing about street racing...
Those dudes crash.
Oh, Dr. Galuski?
I'm sure you could
make your point
without getting grease stains
all over the FBI's nice office.
Do you know what this is?
Uh, it's a differential.
It's a...
Okay,
so you know that when a car
makes a turn, the wheels
don't all turn at the same speed.
Because of a phenomenon
related to centripetal force.
You know, when a car
turns, it's on a circular path.
So the farther from
the center of the circle,
the greater the
distance traveled.
It's like on a carousel
where a horse on the
outside travels further
than one on the inside,
so it's got to go faster,
same with the drive
wheels on a car.
The outside
wheels travel further,
to keep up with the inside
tires they have to spin faster.
If a car didn't
have a differential,
the outside tires
couldn't keep up.
They'd be dragged
across the pavement.
Is there something
unique about this one?
LSD.
Limited Slip Differential.
Two-way clutch
type used by drifters.
Drifters are street racers
who take high-speed turns,
and then they let
the rear wheels
slide out on purpose.
And this one's
an OX Gekko Ultra Lock.
Only a few places
you can get one.
And I'm guessing, Ray-Ray,
that you know a
few of those places?
(hip-hop beat playing)
♪ Hey ♪
♪ This is my block ♪
♪ Hey ♪
♪ Where everybody know you ♪
♪ And they show
you what's good ♪
♪ Gotta love the feeling... ♪
Looking for a Dominator
fuel injection system.
That's illegal on
California streets.
How about an Ultra Lock Two-Way?
Strike two... Ultra
Lock's not distributed
in the States.
I guess we came
to the wrong place.
Hey, hold up.
That's not to say
that the Ultra Lock
can't be bought.
Can we take one home today?
Just stay right there.
Actually, how about
you stay right there.
FBI.
(clanging)
Hey, get back here!
Get down! Get over here!
Hey idiot, this
guy's with the FBI.
Where you gonna
go? Come on, man.
I just work here. Huh?
They tell me to sell the stuff.
Is that what your
boss is going to say?
Okay, so I make
a little on the side.
But you don't want
me. Oh, we don't, huh?
No, I'm a nobody. I'll give
you the guy who sells to me.
He sells to, like,
half a dozen shops.
Tell me this, did
you sell an Ultra Lock
to this kid?
Okay, yeah.
Yeah, three weeks ago.
That's awesome. Come on.
DAVID: Did you know your son
like to go to street racing meets?
That he bought auto
parts designed for racing?
No. Mm-hmm.
He told me he was
out with friends.
That they went to
movies, other kids' houses.
I trusted my son.
What if you're wrong about Kyle?
You don't know
why that car crashed,
or why Kyle was in it.
Somebody tried to kill my son.
We don't know his side of it.
He can't tell us what happened.
COLBY: Hey, Megan.
I got something.
So street racers are
into posting their videos
of their races online.
I figure if our crash
had anything to do
with that, it might be worth
checking a few Web sites.
I found this video posted
a couple hours ago.
GIRL: Oh, my God.
Someone filmed
the accident? Yeah.
And they couldn't have been
more than 25 feet north of the site.
This is all that
was posted online,
but I'm thinking
there might be more.
Oh, my...
COLBY: Hey, Nitrogurl.
That's you, isn't it?
What you girls looking at?
Oh, sweet... that's
really nice camerawork.
GIRL: Oh, man.
The coffee shop
crash. You recorded it.
There's a lot of
races around there.
I just got lucky, that's all.
Oh, would you call it luck?
When one man lay dying and
another seven were injured...
And instead of calling
911, you filmed it?
(car tires screeching)
(glass shattering)
GIRL: Oh, my God!
Whoa, whoa, where
were you going?
That's Kyle Clippard.
He was in the trunk.
Charlie's right
about there being a
second person in that car.
But that kid is no 260 pounds.
And that our driver
wasn't our real driver.
All right, so who's this guy?
Do you really believe no
one saw the real driver?
He took off at the
height of the chaos.
And everybody was
in a state of shock.
How you doing,
Matt? Almost there.
It's a good thing
I keep Amita's image
enhancement algorithms on hand.
COLBY: So I figured out
why Clippard was in the trunk.
It's a street
racing hazing ritual
called "trunking," where
they make the new guy
ride in the trunk before
he can sit up front.
Now, why would they do that?
I guess it's tougher to clean
the vomit off the front seat.
MATT: Tasty.
All right, here we go,
it's a pretty good
look at the guy.
MEGAN: So this
is the real driver.
Now we have to hope that
somebody recognizes him.
I do. It's Frank Fisher...
The guy that sold the
Ultralock to Kyle Clippard.
And we still have
him in custody?
Released him this morning.
(engine revving)
(tires screeching)
This is really starting
to frost my shorts.
The Scandinavian
flick didn't work.
Ray, I take it
that's a racing term,
and not what it sounds like.
Yeah, it's another name
for the inertia drift maneuver.
A driver comes into a curve,
turns out of it, then
he whips back in,
using the centripetal force
on the back half of his car
to slide it out and drift.
We know there was
another person in that car.
Frank Fisher.
But he weighs 140, not 260.
And our math model is telling us
that there's 120 pounds
unaccounted for here.
I know, and that's significant.
120 pounds I can't account for.
Maybe it wasn't dead weight.
If this was a race,
and there was a second car...
You're talking
about a collision.
The extra force came
not from weight in the car...
but from the briefest
contact between two vehicles.
Hi, Charlie. Ray. Hey.
Hi. So, uh, how's
the analysis going?
It's going good... we got
racing, we got we got drifting...
Maybe some demolition derby.
Hope you don't mind my
watching. I'm very fascinated
with this stuff.
It is fascinating.
Been a long time since
I took engineering
in, uh, college,
and, uh, I think I lost a lot.
Thousands of years ago,
we started with rocks,
sticks and bones.
Now we got computer chips,
spacecraft, nuclear fusion.
It's not just human nature
to understand the world,
but also to interact with it.
You see, that's why
we build machines.
Because that's the way
we interact with the world.
I mean that's our, uh,
that's the way we play.
(quiet laugh)
I'm starting a seminar next week
on current challenges in
mechanical engineering.
You should come sit in.
No, no.
I think I'm a little
old for college.
GALUSKI: I was a
mechanic before I started.
I started... I was 30.
But, hey, where wouldn't you
be older than most other people?
A rest home?
Uh, Ray-Ray, hey,
so, just get back to, uh...
Wait a minute.
Fisher is gone.
Along with a new street
car he doesn't own.
Damn it. He knew
we were coming back.
I'll put it out to the police.
Thanks.
Kyle Clippard woke up.
I just wanted to ride along.
See what it's like.
But, Kyle, why?
Looked like fun.
Frank said to get in the trunk.
It was a race?
Yeah, with some guy Frank knew.
I-I think he called him Ernie.
Ernie Fuller, right.
And what caused the accident?
No idea.
Last thing I remember
was being in the trunk
and wishing I wasn't.
Kyle, somebody hurt
you after the accident...
Do you have any idea who?
What?!
Isn't this from the crash?
Somebody tried to kill you.
Why?
I-I wasn't even driving.
You looking into
the hit-and-run?
Yeah, the Kaufmans,
the couple that died.
They have no living relatives.
Nobody to push the
case once it went cold.
Yeah.
You know, David, when I
was out on that freighter,
I kept thinking
if I die out here,
a lot of questions
go unanswered.
My story never gets told.
I'd just really like to find
these people an answer.
What about Frank Fisher?
Maybe that grill came
off a car he used to own?
Yeah, only he's got an alibi.
When they were killed,
Fisher was out in Pomona,
winning a NHRA-approved race.
We gotta find out where
that grill came from.
Yeah, there's
something else, too.
At the cemetery
where they're buried,
somebody puts
flowers on their grave
on the anniversary
of the accident.
That's somebody with
a guilty conscience.
And another thing:
Shortly after they died,
somebody made an anonymous
donation to their church
in the amount of $7,000 cash.
♪ Shorty, what you gonna do? ♪
(engine revving)
♪ Are you gonna get in? ♪
♪ Are you gonna ride... ♪
♪ Baby? ♪
♪ Baby, what you gonna do? ♪
♪ Yeah, what you gonna do? ♪
♪ Are you gonna get out? ♪
You can't drift
without gas, Ernie!
(overlapping chatter)
Fisher's over on the right
talking with Ernie Fuller.
Okay. Bring it on, guys.
We're going in. We're going in.
FISHER: Get out of my car!
Damn, man! I'm sorry.
I'm... Listen to me!
(siren whooping)
DAVID: FBI!
FBI! Don't move!
FBI!
I got the driver!
I got the driver!
AGENT: Get back here!
(car tires squealing)
(tires screeching)
(Don grunts)
(siren wailing)
(engine revving)
CHARLIE: So the second
car hits the crash car
and causes it to lose control.
It's called a PIT maneuver.
I know, I-I've seen it on TV.
Police cars do it
to fleeing vehicles
during high-speed chases.
You watch police chases on TV?
Hell, yeah. You don't?
Download them off the Net.
All variables accounted for...
The end result
matches the sample.
And that is geek
speak for "bingo."
Ernie, everybody we talk to
says you and Frank
race all the time.
You were racing him the night
of the coffee shop
crash, weren't you?
You don't know that. No?
No, Frank didn't tell you,
and nobody else saw me there.
Nice one, Ernie.
I want you to look at something.
What is that? I mean,
how'd you get that?
Who filmed that? Is that film?
Doesn't matter.
That's what happened.
Frank's car killed a
man, but you caused it.
It was an accident.
I wasn't trying to hit Frank.
He's my friend; I
helped him build that car.
Where is Frank now?
I have no idea.
Hey, Larry!
A little time off
from the monastery?
Uh, actually, I'm
letting the monks
take a little break from me.
How are your own
meditations coming along?
It's hard to say.
You know, work keeps
getting in the way.
You know, actually, my
own state of quiescence
has been disturbed by
this rather indelible image.
A boot print to be more precise.
From the Clippard beating.
Yeah, Charlie described
told me about the case.
These would be the
photos of the tread marks
on the young man's
face? Only have a partial.
It's kind of hard to get a
good match on the boot print.
Ah, well, enter Fleinhardt.
Have you, by any
chance, heard of
a study from the University
of Sheffield, in England?
Now they're using
mathematical techniques
to extrapolate full
boot and shoe prints
from partial samples.
(phone rings) Larry,
that'd be great, man.
There'll always be
an England. Sinclair.
Okay, thanks.
(sighs)
They just found Frank Fisher.
(door opens)
Hey, do you have a minute
to, uh, take a look at something?
Secret spy stuff?
I'm kidding.
What is it? Well, I'm
trying to track down the grill
on the car from the
cold case hit-and-run
'cause the same
grill was on the car
that Frank Fisher was driving
when it hit the coffee shop.
And that's got to be more
than a coincidence, right?
Well, yeah, I mean,
you know, it's possible
that Fisher could have
just found the
grill at a junkyard,
but, yeah, I'm hoping
that there's more to it,
although...
I know you really don't put much
stock in hope, do you? Colby,
there have been math
problems I've worked on
that have gone unsolved
for hundreds of years,
so believe me, man,
I'm all about hope.
All right, well, good,
because I keep thinking
that there are things
the cold case can tell us
about the recent crash,
and the recent crash might
help us solve the cold case.
Yeah, so like a unifying theory.
No, I think that's
worth testing.
Well, here's what
I have so far...
A list of cars that
were on the road
three years ago with that grill
and then a list of
known street racers.
You're checking for a match.
Right, basic cop stuff.
But what I was wondering
is if there might be
some other kind of search
you might recommend.
You know, just a bigger one.
Just throw in more
data. You never know
where you're going
to find connectivity,
so think of anything you can...
Not just the cars and
their owners but people
from both incidents
who don't seem
directly involved.
Then friends and family
and witnesses and...
Fisher was found by
a maintenance man,
kicked in the head,
same as Kyle Clippard.
Yeah, it happened
fairly recently.
Even looks like
the same boot print.
Fisher didn't have
any defensive wounds,
so it's got to be
someone he knew, right?
I'll spring the news
on Ernie Fuller,
see if he has any idea
where Fisher might have been.
Uh-huh. Hey, David,
what have you got?
Larry's getting an
image of the boot print
from both crime scenes,
and I'm questioning those
crash witnesses again,
using what we
learned from the video.
How about you, Colby?
Just running links
between the cold case
and the Fisher
crash. All right. Good.
This could all be a
random coincidence, but...
No, these deaths
are related somehow.
Hold it lightly, like a bird,
then just let it fly
straight to the nest.
Now, you see?
Unfortunately,
my bird keeps attempting
to nest in the hallway.
Fleinhardt, I hear you
got a sweet little ride.
Yeah, a 1931 Ford Roadster.
Nice.
You got to bring it
around. Yeah, well,
maybe in time.
Only three runs in
the computer lab,
and we got a sufficient
abrogated score.
Well, it's a lot easier
to extrapolate on
these partial boot prints,
now that we've got
a second sample.
Too bad a second person
had to die for us to get it.
Gentlemen, we have the results.
Diet?
Oh, come... that's...
You know, Frank
knew a lot of people.
I got no idea where
he's hanging out.
Yeah, how about his car?
He had a custom grill on there.
You know where he got it?
No, his grill... he could have
picked that up anywhere.
Okay, you have to ask him
and if you can't find him,
that's not my problem.
Oh, we found him.
Frank's dead.
What? He crashed?
Somebody beat him to death.
Special Agent
David Sinclair... FBI.
I want to ask you a
few more questions.
You know, Ernie, the
guy that killed Frank
also beat a teenager
at the crash site.
Did Frank know somebody
at that coffee shop?
Uh, maybe, yeah.
It was his idea to race,
and he always liked to
just race by people he knew.
Like who? Mostly hot chicks.
And, um,
this dude he knew, who
was like an old friend of his.
We have a video of the incident
that shows you 30 seconds
after the crash,
walking toward the car.
What happened
when you got there?
I went over to...
look at the driver,
but I didn't touch him.
Somebody did.
Tell me who it was.
(sighs)
Okay, if I adjust
the translational
and rotational invariance...
CHARLIE: And then generate
an edge direction histogram...
And that, my young
friends, is a boot.
That measures out to a size 12.
That's one big dude.
The dude used to race a lot,
but then he quit and he
said Frank should stop, too,
but, for some reason, it
really pissed Frank off.
(laughing): Frank would just...
he would just, like, go
blowing by him and yell stuff.
Sam was dead.
We were all angry.
It could have been any of us.
But it was one guy.
You give me a name,
or I will arrest you
right here for obstruction.
This is so weird.
Hey, Megan. Yeah?
The grill from the cold case,
it was for a 1994 Honda Civic.
And check this out.
I just found a
known street racer
who owned that identical car,
who was present at
the coffee shop crash,
but he wasn't
one of the drivers.
Ernie just gave me a name.
How much you want
to bet it's the same guy?
(phone rings)
Megan, I know. I'm right here.
Hey, the guy
who usually works this
route... Where is he?
Apparently, he
comes here every day.
Robert Lowell, do you
know why we're here?
Yes, I know.
BOBBY: Three years ago,
I was racing around the
Silver Lake Reservoir.
I hit two people.
And I killed them.
Every night I go to
sleep, I see their faces,
how they looked at me
right before the car hit them.
I took my car apart,
and I sold the pieces.
Right. The grill to Fisher.
The money I got
from the parts...
I sent it all to the church
those people belonged to.
You put the flowers
on the graves.
Why don't you tell us what
happened at that coffee house?
(tires screeching)
People were running everywhere.
It was terrible.
I was just looking
to see who was hurt.
I saw the kid near the car.
I was sure that
he was the driver,
that he had done this...
and I just exploded.
MEGAN: But the kid
wasn't the driver.
Frank was.
He told me yesterday.
I realized I nearly
killed the wrong guy.
And then Frank tells me...
he was racing around
the corner because of me.
I felt like I was in a daze.
Then I hit him and he went down.
And I just kept kicking him.
This has got to stop.
I'll, uh, request
a suicide watch.
Hey, Don. Hey, buddy.
Want some coffee?
Yeah, that'd be great, thanks.
Just want to let you know
that I turned down the DC job.
Oh, yeah?
That's what you wanted, huh?
I mean, what I want is
to stay here and
work with you guys...
People I know.
But I know that decision's
not entirely up to me, so...
All right.
I'll check into it.
♪ ♪
CHARLIE: I mean, my
advice to you has always been
never to concentrate
on coincidences.
But for once, at
least in this case,
everything was connected.
Yeah, but, uh, the root
cause was meaningless, huh?
(chuckles) Yeah,
reckless driving.
That's crazy.
So, what, are you
writing that book? Yeah.
The work is pretty
much almost done.
I just have to write the preface
and simplify some
of the math passages.
Is that Dad? Yeah.
Did you invite him
down here? Hello, boys.
Boys, meet CalSci's
newest student.
What do you mean?
You're taking a class?
No, I was just auditing.
GALUSKI: Alan just
got through his first day
of Elements of Mechanical
Engineering. Yeah.
Wait a second,
you're telling me that
I've spent years trying
to get you interested
in advanced mathematics and
now, suddenly, you're taking a class?
It depends on who teaches it.
DON: Oh, psych! Ooh, that's low.
That's cold. GALUSKI: It's
got nothing to do with me.
What would most
people rather do?
Solve the Riemann Hypothesis
or build lasers and robots?
DON & ALAN: Lasers
and robots. Of course.
Algebraic geometry,
ergodic theory,
automorphic forms...
The list goes on and on.
You people have no idea
what you're missing out on.
Yeah, and we'd like to
keep it that way, Charlie.
So what, you're getting
a degree or something?
Well, actually...
I'm just having fun.