Numb3rs (2005–2010): Season 6, Episode 4 - Where Credit's Due - full transcript

♪ She's been waiting ♪

♪ For the summertime ♪

♪ Now she's saving herself ♪

♪ For another guy ♪

♪ Speak soft, shut it off ♪

There.

That might help.

All right, I never claimed
to be an outdoorsman.

Yes, you did.

Yesterday, when I told
you I was going on this hunt.

Guys'll say anything



if there's a chance
they might get lucky.

And you think
you've got a chance?

♪ She's been waiting ♪

♪ For the summertime ♪

♪ Now she's saving herself ♪

♪ For another guy... ♪

So what's the
point of this whole,

uh, scavenger hunt thing again?

Well, you know,
there's no point.

I just like doing it.

It's kind of a way to
connect with people

without actually having
to deal with them.

That's weird.

No... that's a wooden crate.



What's weird is driving
way out here to find it.

Real excited about
this, aren't you?

Well, usually it's
something small,

like a little tin
or a coffee can.

I've never seen
anyone do this before.

There's something
buried in here.

Oh! Aah...!

Just kidding.

So, let's open it up, tough guy.

It's this ring.

It has a funny effect on me.

You closed the door.

Yes, I did.

Did you lock the door?

I hope I'm not interrupting.

But as my imminent departure

grows more imminent...

Oh, you finally decided
where you're going.

You bought five tickets.

Greenland,

Australia,

Greece, Alaska, Italy.

- Larry.
- That's it.

You still have no idea
where you're going.

Larry, I was afraid you
might be gone already,

and I didn't get
to say good-bye.

No, I'm still here.

Ironically, uh,
simplifying one's life

requires a more
complicated extrication.

Larry... why do all
these tickets leave

from Las Vegas?

- Planning a little last hurrah?
- Hardly that.

Being a sentimentalist,

I just didn't want to say
good-bye from home.

Well, I'm here on a much
simpler quest, I hope.

There's a new movie opening
this weekend... Bixel Street.

Oh, yeah, I actually
want to see that.

Well, here's your chance.
Someone pirated a copy of it

and released it on the Internet.

Was hoping you guys could
help me track the bootleggers?

Yeah, we'll take
a look at it tonight.

Uh, we'll make a date of it.

That'd be great, thanks.

Larry, just in case
I don't see you.

Hey, where are you going?

Greenland, Greece,

Australia, Alaska...

Or Italy.

Message said we
caught a weird one.

You weren't kidding, huh?

When do I ever kid, Granger?

Rope and a knife.

Guess the killer wanted
to make sure, huh?

There's a bullet hole
in the temple, too,

and that's just the beginning
of weird on this one.

See this stuff?

You know those little packets

you find in a box when you
buy a new TV or cell phone?

Look like sugar;
say "do not eat."

It's a desiccant;
it's designed to suck

the moisture out of
whatever it's packed with.

There's not a cell
in this guy's body

that hasn't dried
out and collapsed.

Okay, why? What's the point?

Make our jobs tougher, maybe.

With the condition
of the corpse,

it's near impossible to peg
a cause or time of death.

Even an I.D. is
gonna be a long shot.

Here's one for you.

Why does the killer
cover up the details,

- then lead two kids right to the body?
- Showing off.

Trying to tell us he's
smarter than we are.

Oh!

Oh.

Oh, for Pete's sake,

you gotta be kidding me!

Why do you torture
yourself with this stuff?

It's not by choice, believe me.

I don't understand; you never
needed a computer before.

Yeah, well, I do now,
if I'm going to find a job.

Every firm I talked to requires

that you have to
know how to do this

geospatial simulation stuff.

Charlie, why don't you at least
offer to walk him through it?

Because it's just,
it's better this way.

- Hey, Cole, what's up?
- Hey, Don.

I caught a weird
one today; I thought

you should take a
look at this right away.

- Hey.
- Hey, you guys.

- How you doing?
- Good.

This is on federal
parkland out near Palmdale.

Is that a rope around his neck?

Yeah, plus a knife in the chest,

and a bullet in the head.

Why does he look mummified?

Well, that's the white
stuff that he's packed in.

- It's a...
- Desiccant?

Check it out.

Yeah. How'd you
know that, Charlie?

Liz gave us this
movie. Take a look.

Let's open it up, tough guy.

Wait a minute,
that's it; I mean,

this is exactly it.

The body today, the murder...

It was copied exactly
from this movie.

Killer did his homework.

Looks like he
nailed every detail.

Right. I mean, they've
obviously seen the movie.

Well, great, with a pirated
copy on the Internet,

I mean, that narrows
our suspect pool,

what, to, uh, like a
couple hundred thousand?

Uh, I could get you guys
a ballpark figure just based

on the actual number of
downloads that were logged.

Hold on. The pirated version

went up on the Web
only five days ago.

You really think someone
could pull this off that fast?

That's a good point.
You gotta plan it,

you gotta get the supplies,

you gotta pull it off, and then

have enough time
for it to dry out.

So it had to have been
someone who saw the movie

- before it was pirated.
- And the coroner? Anything with that?

The cause of
death is a coin-toss.

And thanks to the desiccant,

all the normal methods
of dating are useless.

Why not let the desiccant
give us our answer?

I mean, it's not gonna
tell us when he was killed,

but it will tell us how long
he was packed in that crate.

See, every desiccant has its own

rate of absorption,
its own level of thirst.

So you find the rate of
this particular desiccant,

calculate how long it
took to suck this guy dry.

Well, it's a little more
complicated than that

because the rate of
absorption changes,

as does the body's willingness
to release its moisture.

Okay, let's say a big, stray
dog showed up at your house.

He's ravenously hungry.

You're happy to feed
him, so you generously

put out food and
he gobbles it up.

The more he eats, the
less hungry he becomes.

He keeps eating, but
the rate slows down.

Likewise, as you run low
on food, you become stingier,

offering smaller
and smaller portions

which further slows the rate.

The dog will clean you
out but at nowhere near

the ravenous rate
at which he began.

Now, I'll have to make
additional allowances

for temperature and
ambient humidity, but...

How long?

Faster with Larry's help.
I'm gonna go get started.

Does the timing of
this bother anybody?

The body pops up
just a couple days

before this movie's released,

right in the middle of
their marketing push...

So you think this is some
kind of publicity stunt?

You're not really
suggesting my studio

would have someone
killed to promote a movie.

Well, you've got over a
hundred million bucks on the line.

You know, we've seen people
killed over a hundred dollars

I have to admit there
have been some stinkers

that could've used the
hype... But not Bixel Street.

It's hot; hottest
release of the year.

And this is Chris McNall.

Already got him working

on the sequel, that's
how hot this picture is.

You're the writer.

You're the FBI.

I wrote an FBI picture once...

Blood and Badge...
You've probably seen it.

No.

- Really.
- Hey, no offense, but what I have seen

of Bixel Street so far,
definitely left me wondering

uh, what kind of sick mind
came up with that stuff.

Now you know.

So you guys are, uh,
investigating my copycat.

I mean, that's pretty wild, huh?

You sound almost
pleased about it.

He's a writer.

They crave any
validation they can get.

All right, well, let me ask...

Aside from
yourselves, of course...

Who would've known the scene

well enough to be
able, uh, to recreate it?

It takes hundreds of
people to make a film.

Even beyond the immediate
crew, copies of the script get out,

circulate around town.

In some cases, they
can make the rounds

for years before getting made.

That was not the
case with Bixel Street.

I pitched it to Carolyn.

She hopped on board,

pushed it into production,

and I don't know, the whole
thing took, like, nine months...

Which is unheard
of, just so you know.

See what I mean
about validation?

Look, I can, uh, get you a copy

of the crew list,
if that'll help.

Thanks.

- Yeah, that won't be enough.
- No?

Nah, I researched the
perfect crime to write my movie.

If this guy copied it

as accurately as I heard,

you're not gonna catch him.

Cool case, though. Good luck.

Should be fun.

That should be good.

Hey, good choice.

Permeability of
banana peel, very similar

- to human skin.
- Uh-huh.

To approximate muscle tissue...

and... as a control.

And... not on the list,

I just liked the idea
of dried apricots.

How's Alan doing?

Any luck on the job search?

Yeah, you know, I think
it's been a little more trouble

than he anticipated because
these, uh, design firms,

they require CAD
proficiency now.

Yeah.

He's having a little trouble

with the automata algorithms.

You know, it used to
be, a planner simply stood

on the raw land
and drew inspiration

from his surroundings;

but no, now it's all
done on a computer.

Once again, technology
is impeding pure thought.

Seriously, Charlie,
why won't you help him?

Because it won't work.

You're not embracing the "old
dog, new tricks" adage, right?

I mean, Alan is perfectly
capable of learning.

Yeah, I know he
is. But the whole

son-teaching-father
dynamic doesn't work for us.

Trust me.

Come on, Charlie.

It's bad enough what
happened to Alan's savings.

All right, I'll do it,

but I am telling you,
it will end in tears.

Hey, did you ever wind up
seeing Sullivan's Travels?

I did put it in my
Netflix queue,

but just I keep bumping it down.

The main character

is this big-time
Hollywood director

played by Joel McCrea,

and, the whole movie,
he's-he's wrestling

with whether movies
should be art or commerce.

I gotta tell you, there ain't
a whole lot of art in these.

Hey, man, I'm doing
those, uh, checks

on the cast and crew.

You would be
surprised, you guys,

how many deviants they hire
to make movies these days.

This guy right here...

He's a grip,
whatever that means...

And he spent two years
in County for assault.

Well, coroner was
able to I.D. our victim.

I thought we didn't have

- enough good DNA.
- They found some

in the pulp of one of the teeth.

Guess it was sealed
up, so it didn't dry out.

Victim's name is Brett Fuller.

He's a producer.

He's got a few cheesy credits.

Nothing I ever heard of, though.

Brain-Dead Donna,
The 17th Level,

Love, Lace and Loss.

See what I'm talking
about here, Colby?

No, hang on a
second. I know those.

Oh, but Sullivan's
Travels you've never seen.

No, no, no, one of the
crew guys I just ran...

He's got a bunch of
those titles in his credits.

Victor Stokes... He did
props on Bixel Street,

and he's worked on three
of Brett Fuller's movies.

So he would know our dead guy.

And he'd know the murder

well enough to
be able to copy it.

Check him out.

Looks like we got three.

Victor Stokes!

- FBI! We want to talk to you.
- Got a runner.

I'll take the back.

- Ready?
- Yeah.

FBI! Don't move!

Like you were going to.

Clear.

Where're you going, Victor?

Nowhere, I guess.

Hmm.

It's a prop.

What did you think?

A guy like me killing somebody?

Oh, come on.

Okay, so you want

to explain why you ran, then?

I'd rather not say.

Okay.

I might have spent some...

prop money at a local
massage establishment recently.

Counterfeiting?

Oh, I... I look at
it as bartering.

Their... services for
my movie memorabilia.

You have a
license for all these?

And then there's that.

Yeah, licenses take time.

Producers, directors, they...
they want everything yesterday.

What are you going to do?

When was the last time
you saw Brett Fuller?

Geez, like... a year ago?

He had some movie
lined up overseas.

Malaysia, I think.

You have any idea why
somebody would want him dead?

Dead?

Well...

the guy was good at talking
people out of their money.

Anywhere else, you'd
call him a con man.

Here, he's called a producer.

Oh, so you're saying
he wasn't legit?

Eh, he got movies made, I guess.

Although...

th-th-this is a little weird.

He said, after the
Malaysia thing,

he was coming back
to make this movie.

What do you mean, "this movie"?

Bixel Street.

He said he had the rights,
he was going to produce it.

Obviously, that never happened.

Oh, wait... whoa, whoa... now!

- What... What just happened?
- You jumped to the z-axis.

- No, I didn't.
- Yes, you did.

- No, I-I-I...
- Well, the computer

didn't do that
on its own, did it?

You should not have
rotated on the y-axis,

- I told you.
- Oh, that just doesn't make any sense.

The whole program doesn't
make any sense, you know.

Well, look, I'm just trying

to show you how
it works, all right?

Did I write the program?

- I didn't write the program.
- I know that, Charlie.

You don't have to patronize me.

You see, the problem is,

a planner just
doesn't think this way.

Man, I could've done it by hand.

I could've drawn the whole thing

- by hand in half the time.
- Hey, Charles.

I did some early
numbers on the desiccant.

You should see this.

Go, go, go.

Check your dried fruit.

No one filed a missing
persons report on Fuller.

Last anyone remembers,
he was headed to Malaysia.

Which matches what
we got from Stokes.

Only the movie never happened.

The financing fell through.

Victor also said Brett Fuller

was supposed to
produce Bixel Street.

Guy's supposed to
produce the movie,

then he gets killed in a
scene stolen from the movie?

Not stolen

- from the movie.
- What?

It's only preliminary,
but it's already clear

the numbers are well away
from what was anticipated.

Right, see, the
desiccant... in this case,

a porous crystalline
aluminosilicate...

Is initially highly absorbent,

but there's a rapid
decline in the rate

- of moisture transfer...
- Charlie.

For the victim in this case

to be dried to the
degree that he was,

he had to have been
packed in that desiccant

for a minimum of nine months.

Nine months?

That's before the
movie was made.

That's before there
was even a script.

Art imitates life,
it would seem.

So we've been
going at this all wrong.

Killer didn't copy the movie.

Yeah, the movie
copied the killer.

Morning, Chris.

Oh, you're back.

Yeah. You're going
to be seeing a lot of us.

Well, at least you brought

a prettier partner this time.

Hey, where were
you five years ago?

I wrote a little
bank heist picture.

You would have been
perfect for Lola, the, uh,

ex-gymnast/criminal mastermind

with a handicapped son.

Sorry.

I do yoga, and I have
an able-bodied hamster.

So you know a guy

- named Brett Fuller?
- No. Who is he?

The murder victim.

Sure you don't know him?

'Cause we heard he was
supposed to produce Bixel Street.

Okay, first rule of Hollywood:

Never believe anything you hear.

There's probably a hundred guys

claiming to
produce this picture.

Yeah, but probably not

a hundred guys who wound up dead

and packed in desiccant.

The murder happened

before you wrote
your script, Chris.

McNALL: No, see, there's no way,

'cause I talked to the
coroner, and it's impossible

to establish a time line, so...

Well, I hate to
contradict your expertise,

but we happen to know that
Fuller was in that desiccant

for at least nine months.

You copied the crime,

which either means
you committed it,

or you know who did.

Hey, look, that's pure fiction,

and, you know, as much
as I'd like to stay here

and help you finish
writing your story,

I don't think you could
afford my quote, so...

Ciao.

You think he's lying?

Of course he's lying.

Charlie's timeline
could be wrong.

Nah, Chris McNall either
committed this murder,

or he's got information
on the real killer.

I believe the latter.

But if the victim really has
some connection to this movie...

It's a little too cozy
to be a third party.

All right, let's
dig into this guy.

Let's get a warrant.

Let's go after his phones,
his banking, everything.

I'll get on it.

Let's pay a visit to
the victim's house.

All right.

Make any decisions here?

Oh, I don't know
that it much matters.

They all offer the
distance I'm looking for,

away from the
clutter of technology.

You say all this stuff about
technology, but I remember

you were pretty fired
up about the Hubble.

Well, the Hubble transported
us to new corners of the cosmos,

but in an infinite universe,

how is some new corner
any better than our own?

Ah, just...

for the fresh eye of
Copernicus... gazing up,

nothing between
him and the stars,

not even Galileo's telescope.

Yeah, there is something
about the idea of just...

taking off that-that's
appealing, isn't it?

Hey.

Hey, how did the, uh,
computer session go?

As expected.

So, now, both my fiancée
and my father are mad at me.

Well, what about
Amita? Maybe she'd have

- better luck with him.
- We're going to find out,

'cause she's going
to try later today.

Part of me wishes her
luck, and the other part

of me hopes that she can
understand my suffering.

How's the case going?

Did the timeline I sent
you... Did that help out at all?

Well, we're still
working it, so...

How could anyone be so arrogant?

He commits murder,

and then he tells the
whole world about it

by featuring it in his movie.

You know, Larry, at
this point in my life,

nothing would surprise me.

See this?

- Oh, is this the guy?
- Yeah.

Yeah? Writer and
software salesman.

Huh. What is Cinepal?

Cinepal...

a collaborative
scriptwriting program.

It automatically
suggests story lines, plots

and character arcs.

More technological clutter.

You mind if I keep this?

No. Go ahead.

So the guy's been
dead nine months,

who's paying the gardener?

And who's playing his stereo?

Hey. What's up?

We're looking for
Brett Fuller's house.

Yeah, you found it.

I'm Tyson, Brett's assistant.

Mind if we come in?

Hey.

You been living here?

Uh...

Just house-sitting, really.

So when's the last time
you heard from your boss?

Uh, well, he left for Malaysia

like, um... ten months ago?

Look,

I didn't hear from him,
so yeah, I sort of moved in.

Ah, beats paying rent, huh?

Are you kidding? I
mean, satellite TV,

a washer-dryer.

I'm in heaven, man.

And it didn't occur to you,

after ten months,
that maybe something

had happened to Brett?

Did something happen to Brett?

He's dead, Tyson.

Tyson, who's been paying you?

Brett left 60 grand cash

under the bathroom sink.

60 grand?

I take my salary out of
that... Nothing else, I swear...

And I file payroll taxes...

Okay. Hey, listen.

Did your boss know Chris McNall?

The writer?

Uh, I know they had lunch.

I do Brett's expenses.

I probably still
have the receipt.

Dude, he's dead. He's...

Here.

It's dated ten months ago.

"Lunch with McNall and D.W."

Okay, uh, who is D.W.?

I don't know.

Am I going to have
to move out now?

Forget about Charlie

and his whole x-,
y-, z-axis approach.

For me, it's best just to
put yourself in the space.

If you can imagine yourself

inside the figure
you're creating,

you get a better
reference for direction.

Does that help?

I'm sure it's supposed to.

All right, don't,
don't try to be nice.

If you can imagine yourself
inside that cube, you'd have to

imagine yourself being
crushed by four collapsing walls.

Oh, I'm sorry, Alan.

Oh, my mind just
doesn't work this way.

I mean, this is written for a
totally different generation.

Yeah, but I mean, you have
so much experience and talent.

You'd be an asset
to any of these firms.

They have hundreds of applicants
to choose from these days.

Sure, they'll find
someone with my talent

and with the ability to do this.

Do you need a job that badly?

What do you mean, money-wise?

No, I'm fine for now.

But, you know, down
the line, as things change,

and you and
Charlie get married...

Hey, there.

Hey.

Look what I bought.

Cinepal... it's professional
screenwriting software.

It's supposed to
help you write scripts.

- You're writing a script?
- I don't know.

More I'm curious
about something.

McNALL: I just feel

so fortunate that,
from the get-go,

the studio realized what
an extraordinary story this is,

and they were committed
to telling it my way.

All right.

Hey.

Got time for one more interview?

What do you think?
I sound all right?

Someone in Hollywood told me
not to believe everything I hear.

Good advice.

Yeah. Apparently.

You lied to us.

You said you didn't
know Brett Fuller,

but you had lunch with
him on January sixth.

You got someone
who saw us together?

Yeah. I talked to the
assistant who set it up,

and I have a receipt.

Oh, receipt.

Well, uh, that's interesting.

It's, it's not really
proof, though, is it?

You know, I think
you killed Brett Fuller.

I think you packed him
in desiccant, left him for us

to discover, because
you're a twisted, arrogant

ass who thinks he
can get away with it.

What-What you think, though,
isn't really the issue, is it?

The issue is what you can prove,

and-and you can't
prove anything.

So...

You should try the Danish.

It's unbelievable. Seriously.

You know, what pisses
me off most about this guy

is that he's right.

We can't prove it.

Which is how he designed it.

Well, until we get some
good evidence, there's no point

going back to him, 'cause
he's just gonna lawyer up.

I think he's enjoying this too
much to hide behind an attorney.

Check this out.

I've been going through

the writer's bank records.

On January sixth, the same day

he had lunch with the victim,

he took out 120 grand cash.

Yeah, follow that money.

All right, Brett Fuller had 60
grand cash in his bathroom.

That's half.

But there were two guys at
lunch that day with McNall, right?

The victim and this D.W.

Well, that's exactly
where I'm going.

So, the month
leading up to this lunch,

he wrote four checks to
a Deborah Westbourne.

Oh, your D.W.

If it is, we got a witness
who can put McNall

with the victim near
the time of the murder.

I'm guessing D.W.
hasn't hit the big time yet.

The glamorous side
of Hollywood, hmm?

Yeah. No kidding.

Hello? Anybody here?

FBI, Ms. Westbourne.

We'd like to talk to you.

No!

Grab my knife! Cut her down!

Liz, what are you
waiting for? Grab my knife!

- Come on!
- It won't help.

She's already dead.

There's still time. Come on.

Feel her, David. She's cold.

The chair rigged to
the door, the hanging.

It's another scene
from the movie.

We played right into it.

She was dead before we got here.

Oh.

The son of a bitch.
He is taunting us.

Two murders, both copied
straight out of the movie.

- Okay, why?
- Because he's a smug psychopath

who thinks he can
get away with it.

Ah, I would have
believed that before,

but the victims, the money.

I mean, there's a motive here.

Okay, what if what Victor
Stokes told us was true:

That Brett Fuller
really was supposed

to produce Bixel Street.

Maybe Deborah
Westbourne was, too.

They were both
low-level, B-movie types.

Yeah, but so was
McNall up until now.

Everything he wrote
was low-budget.

Most of it went straight to DVD.

- All right. So?
- What if McNall

took his movie idea to
Fuller and Westbourne first?

Gets in bed with them early on.

But then he gets some interest

from one of the big studios,

only the big studio doesn't
want to have anything

to do with his
low-budget producers.

So he starts by paying
them to go away.

But that doesn't work,
at least not with Fuller.

Right, so Fuller gets
the desiccant treatment.

And Deborah Westbourne
gets a noose around her neck

when she becomes
a potential witness.

Now, if I remember
correctly, um,

it was your move.

Hmm...

You do realize,
uh, by your leaving,

I'm forced to be back to
playing against Charlie.

Well, if I have any regrets,

it is leaving my friend
in his time of need.

Yeah, well, lots
of people are going

through tough times right now.

I'll find something.

I'll just have to lower
my sights some.

Well, you will never be happy
in a job that fails to inspire.

I really wish I had

your cool about heading
into the unknown.

On the contrary,

I have more than a
little apprehension.

I simply remind myself,
this is not a destination.

It is merely a stop
on the journey.

Well, I hope you find
what you're looking for.

I wish you the same, sir.

But in the meantime...
checkmate.

What are you watching?

And since when are you
working in adaptive algorithms?

Well, it's the, uh,

the screenwriting
software I bought... Cinepal.

I broke it down to
its root functions.

Oh. Now you're having a
Chris McNall film festival?

Yeah. You know, McNall's
had 11 of his movies made.

And all of them fit perfectly
into my Cinepal algorithms.

Charlie...

I'm worried about your dad

and this whole job search.

Well, I mean, you know him.

He doesn't like to be idle.

Yeah, but now he feels he
has to work because of money.

I mean, he's worried
about being able

to afford a place to
live after we get married.

- The wedding's a year away...
- No, but listen, Charlie...

My grandparents always
lived with my parents.

And I have an uncle who
stayed with us when I was born.

I'd have no problem

if Alan continued
to live with us.

Look, you know I'm not
thinking of throwing my dad out

onto the street,
but it would be nice,

if after we were married,

I had some alone time with...

with my wife.

Just you and me.

I was, uh, I was
thinking about yesterday.

At school?

Mm-hmm.

When you came into my office,

and then you kissed me.

I was wondering

what would've happened

if Larry hadn't have walked in.

Did I just hear my name?

Sorry. Maybe if you carried

your phone with you?

Don called.

He requires your help.

- Hi.
- Hi.

Hey, guys. Thanks for coming.

No problem. What do you need?

David and Colby have
been trailing the writer all day.

They lost him.

You did a cell phone
triangulation scheme

for us before.

Took you half the time
it would take our techs.

Well, we just need to access
the signal through his provider.

All right, well, I've
already got it set up.

David,

Charlie's got him.
He's about four blocks

to your northeast.

Got that. Is he in motion?

Looks like he's stationary.

Negative, David.
He's stationary.

Yeah, he...

He's on the corner of,
uh, Plumber and Orion.

Is there anybody who isn't
writing a script in this town?

There.

In the corner.

We got him.

Our boy isn't looking so good.

He just got a text message.

Doesn't look happy about it.

He's moving.

All right, I'll go get the car.

We got the phone warrants.

Why don't we look at the text?

I'd have to stop the
tracking triangulation.

I can take over.

Consider it my last
submersion into technology.

How does he find time to write?

There's over a hundred texts,

just from today.

But there were six,
including the last one,

from some number I can't access.

All of a similar ilk.

"I know what you did."

"You're going to pay."

All right, so,
blackmail... There we go.

Here's the last one:
"If you're not here

in ten minutes,
it all comes out."

Yeah. Where is here?

- Hey, don't get too far behind.
- I'm not. We're good.

- Colby, you need to get over.
- Yeah, thank you. I'm trying.

Move it up.

All right, come on.

- You got to move up.
- Let's go, man.

- Come on!
- Whoa!

You got to be kidding me.

Come on!

Liz? Liz, we lost visual.

Charlie's still got him.

He's headed north on Western.

Mm, the cell
signal's breaking up.

Move!

Back it up! Let's go!

It dropped out
somewhere near Franklin?

All right, we're back; we're
back up and rolling again.

- How far behind are we?
- I've got nothing. I lost him.

Liz, are you there?

What have we got?

Tell 'em we lost him.

Liz?!

Wait, wait, wait. I got it.

David, Elysian Park.

It's another scene from
the movie... the third act

when the pilot finds
the dead hooker.

That's right. Uh, it took
place at Angel Point.

David, go to...
go to Angel Point.

That is weird.

What?

The murder in the third act.

It-It's the wrong
story structure...

It doesn't fit with the Cinepal

algorithm like all
of his other scripts.

All right, so where is he?

Liz, we're gonna
need some help here.

Okay, it's down the hill,

and, uh, in the movie,

there was a statue, or a
sculpture of some kind.

Okay, that's got to be it.

I don't see anything.

Liz, we don't see
him. Where is he?

Try looking up.

What?

Where the hell is McNall?

I got him.

Liz, we got a body.

It's Carolyn White,
the studio exec.

Hey, get anything?

We've got LAPD looking.

No luck tracking his phone?

He either turned
it off or he lost it.

Forgive the presumption,

but I detect there's
more bothering you

than just his whereabouts.

I'm just trying to
make sense of it, Larry.

The murder scene in the
park... It's right out of the movie.

But McNall didn't choose
the spot; the blackmailer did.

Yeah, oh...

I admit I am struggling
with the logic myself.

Why would a studio
boss blackmail her writer,

especially if she needs
him to write the sequel?

You know, I'm not so sure

that she does need
him to write the sequel.

You know, this is the 12th movie

that McNall has written,

and all the others fit perfectly
into a predictable format,

dictated by a set of algorithms.

- You mean the Cinepal program.
- Right.

Hey, Charlie, we're in
the last act. Spit it out.

Well, it occurred to me
while we were tracking him

that this movie
doesn't fit at all.

Structurally, Bixel
Street runs contrary

to the Cinepal algorithms
at almost every story point.

So you think maybe Chris McNall
didn't even write Bixel Street?

I can't say for sure, but this
is a very strong indication.

How much longer
you want to wait?

Where else is
McNall going to go?

McNall!

Don't be stupid.

There's no way out for you.

Who is that?

The FBI!

Okay.

Okay, I'm sorry.

I'm coming out, I'm com...

Hands up, hands
up, hands over head!

I di... I didn't
know it was you.

- McNALL: I'm sorry.
- Put that gun down.

- Okay, I'm putting it down.
- Let's go, put it down.

Gun's going down.

Okay, gun is down, gun is down.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Did I...

did I... did I hit anybody?

Fortunately, you
shoot like you write.

Who'd you think we were?

You know, you just...
you can't be too careful.

Uh-huh.

You took a shot at my agents.

You have any idea the
kind of hot water you're in?

Just hold on a second,
all right? It was dark.

They didn't identify themselves.

When I fired, my state of
mind was that I felt threatened,

which is grounds for a
justifiable act of self-defense.

Oh, so now you're a lawyer?

Let me guess, you
wrote a courtroom script.

Schwimmer was attached
until the financing fell through.

I know who you were
shooting at tonight,

or you thought you
were shooting at.

The real writer of Bixel Street.

Come on.

Read the trades, all right?

Check out any of the 500
billboards around this town.

All right, my credit
is right there...

"Written by Chris McNall."

And you are desperate to
keep that credit, aren't you?

So desperate you'd rather
risk three murder charges

than just admit the truth.

You've seen Hitchcock's
Dial M for Murder, right?

Robert Cummings tells
Ray Milland that in stories,

things turn out the way
the author wants, but...

in life, they don't.

Bixel Street is my movie.

See this guy here?

He can prove it's not.

Brett Fuller and
Deborah Westbourne...

They found the
script, didn't they?

And they brought it to you.

No one would take them
seriously with their credits.

They needed
access to the studio.

Right, and you needed them gone.

I paid them, all right? I
paid them to go away.

I didn't kill anybody.

The kid did that... the one,
the one who wrote the script.

Who, Chris?

Who's the real writer?

Guy who works
for Brett... Tyson.

He's brilliant.

McNALL: He's an
artist, you know?

So did that hack
finally confess?

He didn't confess 'cause
he didn't actually kill anybody.

I'm not talking
about the murders.

I'm talking about
stealing my script.

Come on, Tyson.

Out the pool.

Why didn't you just come out

and say something
when they first stole it?

I didn't even know till I
read about it in the trades.

By then it's a
green-lit project.

If I'd have popped
up yelling "foul,"

the studio might
have backed out.

Plus, it's a better
ending this way.

Three people that
ripped me off are dead.

The fourth's going to go
down in total humiliation.

What about what happens to you?

Me? Are you kidding?

Starting tomorrow,
I top the A-list.

There's not an agent in town

that won't be
scrambling to sign me.

Yeah, too bad you'll
be writing from prison.

Locked in a cell,
no one to bother me,

I can crank out five
or six movies a year.

Oh, grab that script, will you?

Don't want to leave it out

where some other
bozo could steal it.

Bixel Street opens up tomorrow,

but they got a
midnight show tonight.

You interested?

Oh, thanks, I'm actually
going to hook up with Robin.

Let me guess, you're going to
cuddle up with an old classic.

The Travel Channel, actually.

See you, boys.

Hey.

How about you two?

Anybody up for a midnight show?

You've seen it already, right?

Yeah, well, you know, I like
the energy of the audience,

the smell of popcorn.

Weird thing is, when this
story hits the news tomorrow,

it's only going
to make that film

bigger than it already is.

All the more reason
to catch it tonight.

- How about you, Colb?
- No, I got to try

and finish this.

Since when do you read?

It's that kid Tyson's
new script... it's insane.

Looks like I'm on my own, then.

Good night.

Are you still going?

Isn't that kind of sad?

I do it all the time.

It's better than sitting at
home with the hamster.

The script really that good?

Yeah, and you got to read
it. You know what it's about?

I have no idea.

A prison break.

Thank you.

- What are you doing?
- Making a copy.

First thing in the morning,
I'm getting it to the director

of the detention center.

Yeah, well, give me the
last ten pages, at least.

You're gonna have to wait, man.

- Come on.. Come on.
- It's not happening.

I knew you were
going to do that.

- Hey, you got a minute?
- Yeah, just a sec.

I think I got this thing licked.

Really?

How? What happened?

It fell for my Rook
to Rook 6 feint.

It's the oldest
trick in the world.

Bingo.

You're playing chess.

Yeah, well, of course.
What'd you think I was doing?

Alan... Charlie and
I were talking, and...

We cannot bear the
thought of you getting stuck

in some stupid job to
pay rent somewhere.

Even after we're married,

we don't want you feeling
like you have to move out.

What if I was a technical
consultant to a software firm?

- What?
- I got a job

with the same company that wrote

that ridiculous CAD program.

You despise those people.

You were in the process

of writing them hate
mail, weren't you?

Yeah, I was, till I realized

that they were right
here in Pasadena,

so I went down to
cuss them out in person,

and they ended
up giving me a job.

I'm going to help
retool that software

to make it more user-friendly.

You know what I mean?

Congratulations, Alan.

Thank you, and
the job pays well,

so by the time you
two get married,

I'll be able to afford a
little place of my own.

You don't have to do that.

We meant what we said.

She did, anyway.

I'm kidding; I'm kidding.

I'm very, very happy for you.

- Thank you. Thanks.
- That's great.

- Thank you.
- Where are Larry's bags?

Oh, I tried to get him to wait.

He's gone?

He wasn't supposed
to leave until tomorrow.

I know, he said it was, it
was hard to say good-bye.

We don't even know
where he's going.

Well, neither does he.

♪ Leavin' my family ♪

♪ I'm leavin' all my friends ♪

♪ My body's at home ♪

♪ But my heart's in the wind ♪

♪ Where the clouds
are like headlines ♪

♪ On a new front-page sky ♪

♪ My tears are saltwater ♪

♪ And the moon's full and high ♪

Oh, no, no, no, no, no!

♪ I know Martin Eden's
gonna be proud of me now ♪

♪ Many before me has
been called by the sea ♪

♪ To be up in the crow's nest ♪

♪ Singin' my say ♪

♪ Shiver me timbers
as I'm a-sailin' away. ♪