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TRANSCRIPT:
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[Text reads: 16 Banks Robbed, 2 Suspects, $2,700 Average Take, 0 Weapons Used]

[Fade in: Black and white security footage of a man in a baseball cap. A rectangle in white appears around his eyes, along with ‘G12’. Then we go to footage of another man, this one with sunglasses and a mustache. A rectangle appears around his eyes, along with ‘E12=0,G12’. Then there’s a shot of both of them leaving a bank, side by side.]

[Cut to: New footage of an older man and a man with a short beard and sunglasses approaching a bank teller.]

VO: CHARLIE: Bank robbers, creatures of habit.

[A rectangle appears around the eyes of the man with sunglasses, along with ‘(F12/E12)’. The teller hands them a bag, and they leave, the older man putting on a baseball cap as they go.]

VO: CHARLIE: Once they develop a successful routine, they stick to it. Time of day, day of the week, choice of weapon, disguise, region. These will be the same again and again.

[A shot from above of the two men exiting the bank with the bag. The shot dissolves to a shot of the koi pond behind the Eppes’ house.]

CHARLIE: It’s actually a lot like these fish. Given enough time, it’s possible to discern a distinct pattern that each one will follow.

LARRY: Well, mathematicians, they do so love finding these patterns, don’t they? Tell me, what have you gleaned from this set of repeated crime phenomena?

CHARLIE (sprinkling some fish food into the pond): An equation for the FBI that predicts when and where…

[Cut to: A shot of Arroyo Seco Bank.]

VO: CHARLIE: …these two particular robbers will strike next.

[Don is sitting in an unmarked vehicle, watching from across the street.]

VO: CHARLIE: I told my brother they’d hit today.

DON (into transmitter): Curtis, you see anything?

[Cut to: A different street corner, where Curtis is standing watch undercover at a payphone.]

CURTIS: Clear.

[Cut to: Don.]

DON: Keith?

[Cut to: Across the street from Don, where Keith is standing watch undercover at an ATM.]

KEITH: Clear.

[Cut to: A shot of a map with a red dot labeled ‘Location 1 Arroyo Seco Bank’.]

VO: CHARLIE: At one of two locations.

[With a beep, the shot slides over, and another red dot comes into view, labeled ‘Location 2 Central Los Angeles Savings Bank’.]

[Cut to: Central Lost Angeles Savings Bank. David stands watch outside with a cup of coffee. MCKNIGHT is sitting nearby at a table. Like Don, Terry is standing watch in an unmarked vehicle parked on the street.]

[Cut to: Security footage from the beginning, of the bearded man and the older man taking the bag from the bank teller.]

VO: CHARLIE: They’ve hit sixteen banks in eight months.

[The screen splits, and on the lower half appears the same two men taking a bag from a teller at a different bank.]

VO: CHARLIE: The FBI’s nicknamed them the Charm School Boys…

[The top half of the frame freezes and becomes the central photo on a shot of the Los Angeles Chronicle, headline reading ‘Charm School Boys Hit Pacific Mutual Bank’.]

VO: CHARLIE: …because they’re so nice and polite.

[Cut to: More security footage of the two men leaving a bank.]

VO: CHARLIE: They don’t use weapons or threats. They say please and thank you. They even open doors for other bank customers on their way in and out.

[Security camera footage of the men holding the door for another customer, ‘IF(G12=0’ and ‘IF(E12=0,G12,(F12/E12)-1))’ appearing on the screen.]

[Cut to: Larry and Charlie in the Eppes’ backyard.]

CHARLIE: Using a combination of probability modeling and statistical analysis, I’ve pinpointed the next robbery.

[Cut to: Outside Central Los Angeles Savings Bank. David checks his watch.]

DAVID (into transmitter): It’s 1:30. If these guys actually show up within the time window Charlie’s predicted, it’s kind of amazing.

[Cut to: Terry, in the vehicle.]

TERRY: Yeah, I know.

OS: DON: Wanna hear something wild?

[Cut to: Don.]

DON: When I was in college, I played baseball. Charlie could predict the amount of walks I was gonna get just by my stance.

[Cut to: Eppes’ backyard.]

LARRY: Charles, I have no doubt in your ability to predict the movements of fish and men. But I would offer one cautionary note, just colleague to colleague.

CHARLIE: Hmm, what’s that?

LARRY: Don’t mistake the ability to predict with the ability to control.

CHARLIE: Yeah, I think I know the difference.

LARRY: Oh, to be young and brilliant and full of yourself.

CHARLIE: Just consider, these Charm School Guys or Boys or whatever, they have no idea what’s about to happen to them. But my equation does.

[Cut to: The two ‘Charm School Boys’ walking up to the Central Los Angeles Savings Bank.]

DAVID: I have the targets.

[Cut to: Don.]

DON: Positive I.D.?

[Cut to: David.]

DAVID: Two Caucasian males, mid to late thirties, baseball cap and sunglasses.

[Cut to: Don, starting his car.]

DON: I’m on my way. Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go.

[Cut to: Terry, climbing quickly out of her car.]

[Cut to: Outside Arroyo Seco Bank, Don pulls away from the curb with a screech. Keith and Curtis both abandon their posts and start moving.]

[Cut to: Outside Central Los Angeles Savings Bank. David stands.]

DAVID: Team two, Baker, you got ‘em?

[Cut to: Inside Central Los Angeles Savings Bank. A woman seated at a desk, disguised as a worker, watches the men pass.]

BAKER: Got ‘em. Teller number three.

[Cut to: Outside the bank.]

MCKNIGHT: We’re movin’.

[He discreetly slips his hand under his coat and waits. Terry makes her way to the bank entrance. David walks toward the door.]

DAVID: Everybody watch your line.

[He waits by the entrance as well.]

[Cut to: Inside the bank. Baker keeps an eye on the two men as they speak with the teller.]

BAKER: Subject one is asking the teller to hand him the cash drawer.

[Cut to: Outside the bank. The three agents are waiting in position.]

[Cut to: Inside the bank. The two men take the bag from the teller and move to leave.]

BAKER: They’re coming out.

[Cut to: Don, driving.]

DON: David, what’s your status?

[Cut to: Outside bank.]

DAVID: They’re coming out, Don. We have to move in.

OS: DON (over transmitter): Go.

[The two men come out of the doors, and all three agents pull their guns.]

ALL: FBI!

MCKNIGHT (enunciating): FBI!

[The two men stand calmly for a moment, and the older one tips the bill of his hat to them. Out of nowhere, a bullet hits McKnight, who falls to the ground. A man who’d been standing off to the side pulls out a gun and starts firing. The civilians all hit the ground. David and Terry use the bank walls to hide themselves as they fire at the men with weapons. The two men with the money walk calmly away down the sidewalk.]

[Cut to: Don, driving, listening.]

OS: TERRY (on transmitter): David, how many shooters?

DON: All units, what’s going on?

[Cut to: Outside bank.]

TERRY: Shots fired. Multiple shooters. Agent down.

[She looks at McKnight’s body, which isn’t moving.]

[TITLE CREDITS]

[Fade in: Central Los Angeles Savings Bank. Don pulls his car up to the curb and climbs out, gun at the ready. He moves forward towards some civilians on the steps.]

DON: Get down! Get down! Stay small!

[Cut to: Inside the bank, a bullet hits the glass door and it shatters.]

TERRY: Get back! Get back!

[Cut to: Don on the front steps.]

DON: Get back!

[He makes his way to the bank’s entrance.]

DON (to Terry): You all right?

[She nods.]

DON: Cover me.

[They move forward, guns firing.]

DON (yelling to David): What do you got?

DAVID (pointing): Agent down!

DON: I’m gonna go for McKnight. You cover me with this, all right?

[David signal’s he’s ready, and Don slides his weapon across to him, getting back behind the wall for cover only just in time to avoid more bullets. We then see a shot of the crime scene from above, which then transitions into a helicopter shot of the gunfight on a news report, shown on the Eppes’ television in their kitchen.]

REPORTER (on TV): This is a live breaking report form the Channel 8 News…

LARRY: I also have a post doc who needs help with some references on an article. Maybe you could recommend a couple of math students?

CHARLIE: Well, wait. Let’s clarify. This is the redhead post doc? Red hair and she rollerblades?

LARRY: Yeah, you know, really brilliant theoretician.

CHARLIE: Well, forget the undergrads, I’ll help her.

[Larry notices the news report on the television.]

REPORTER (on TV): …injured in the crossfire where a shootout between federal agents and suspected bank robbers is in progress. I see several people who are lying on the ground…

[Charlie is shocked, and rushes out of the room.]

[Cut to: Bank shootout. Don is preparing to go in for McKnight’s body.]

DON: Ready?

DAVID: Move!

[David fires to cover Don as Don rushes in and grabs McKnight by the ankles and pulls him out of the danger zone. He checks for a pulse, then shakes his head.]

DON: They’re covering their exit! Terry, go!

[He looks to David.]

DON: Ready? Move!

[They all step out, firing at the shooters. David spots a man about to pull gun and shoots him proactively.]

[Don rushes out at one of the robbers.]

DON: Get you hands where I can see them! Get those hands up!

[The man complies as Terry rushes forward as well.]

TERRY: Freeze! Don’t move!

[The robber starts to back up, holding his handheld radio above his head with a raised hand.]

DON: Drop that radio! Drop it!

[The robber runs off as a nearby car bursts into flames, throwing Don to the ground. The car alarm starts blaring. Don spots the men climbing into a car.]

DON (into radio): I got two suspects fleeing in a silver sedan, license…

[He hears other voices on the radio.]

POLICEMAN 1 (on radio): Kidnapping in progress. Eight-year-old female. All available units, please respond.

POLICEMAN 2 (on radio): Uh, this is one-Adam-six. Shouldn’t we secure the area before we pull out?

DON (into transmitter): They’re in our system! They’re in our communications system! They’re making false reports!

WOMAN (on radio): Any available unit report to…

[Don spots one of the men disappearing around a corner.]

DON: Secure the area!

[He moves towards Terry.]

DON: He went that way. Come on, come on!

[They run after him, down a street leading to a basement. Entering, guns at the ready, Don passes the body of a man on the floor. He sees the man in the baseball cap run at him from the side, and attempts to shoot him. Don falls to the ground, and the man shoots at him with Don’s gun. Terry shoots at the man to defend Don, and to save himself, the man pulls a set of shelves down on top of Don as he runs off. Terry rushes toward him.]

TERRY: You hit?

DON: He got my gun! Go that way!

TERRY: You hit?

DON: Go that way!

[Cut to: Don and Terry walking through the basement.]

DON: Where’d he go? I mean, how could we miss him?

[Don spots something down a passageway and walks toward it. On the floor lies a small ball of some strange material. Don lifts it to eye level with a pen and looks at it.]

[Cut to: Outside bank. Firefighters are attempting to control the flames on the car. Charlie walks through the wreckage, all sound kind of muffled and faded into the background.]

TERRY (background): This is an active crime scene, do you understand? I asked five minutes ago, and…

POLICE OFFICER (to Charlie): Stop right there.

TERRY: It’s okay, let him through.

[Charlie passes and walks up the steps. A man helps and injured woman past, and Charlie watches. He continues up the stairs, past a crime scene marker labeled ‘06’ next to some bullet casings. Terry approaches him from behind.]

TERRY: Charlie? Charlie?

[Appearing not to hear her, he watches as they zip McKnight’s body into a body bag.]

CHARLIE: Where is Don?

TERRY: He’s over there.

[Cut to: The back of an ambulance. Don is perched on the end of it, an EMT bandaging his arm as Terry and Charlie approach.]

TERRY: Hey.

DON: Hey. Hey, Charlie, how you doin’?

[He notices the way Charlie’s looking at his injury.]

DON: It’s okay, really. It’s fine.

CHARLIE: They weren’t violent. There were two of them. Why sixteen robberies exactly the same, and then this?

DON: I don’t know. I mean, first of all, nobody ever tried to stop ‘em, right? And it wasn’t just two guys. You know, they had four backin’ ‘em up.

TERRY: Yeah, we had no way of knowing ‘til we confronted them.

EMT: That’s it. You’re good to go.

[Don stands.]

DON: Nothing to dad, right?

[Charlie doesn’t answer.]

DON: Charlie, don’t say anything to dad. I’ll take care of it, okay? You heard me, right?

[Charlie doesn’t answer. We see a montage of very short clips, including the fish in the koi pond, a hand writing on a chalkboard, and numbers appearing over various security footage of the two men and the shootout.]

[Cut to: FBI offices. Don is sitting at his desk as David removes his jacket one cubicle over, and Terry sits nearby.]

DON: “Charm School Boys.” I mean, I’m sorry, they came prepared for war.

DAVID: We’ve got people lookin’ at the security tapes from the previous robberies, uh, to see if the same accomplices were present at those incidents as well.

[Terry nods.]

DON: And there’s no doubt in my mind that was a detailed ambush-and-escape plan.

TERRY: They didn’t hesitate to kill.

[Don shakes his head before leaning forward and putting his face in his hands. He sighs, and looks up.]

DON: From what I understand, the last five years, this office has lost only two agents in the line of fire?

[Terry nods, and Don sighs again.]

DON: McKnight’s parents are flying in from Denver tonight. I’m gonna go talk to ‘em at the hotel. I mean, I don’t know what you say to a parent about their dead son.

[He stands.]

DON: All right. What do we got so far?

DAVID: Um, we think that their crew, uh, consists of at least six individuals. From the firearms, use of explosives, the false 9-1-1 calls, we’re assuming it’s a team with extensive tranin’ and experience.

TERRY: The gunman David shot was identified by his driver’s license as Malcolm Stapleton, thirty-six, video game designer. No criminal record.

DAVID: How does somebody go from no criminal record to firing on federal agents with an assault weapon?

DON: That’s the question we need to be asking. We need to know a lot more about this dead guy.

TERRY: Already on it.

DON: That’s the first thing we need to know, and we have to assume, with their planning and preparation, they’re not gonna hesitate to hit another bank. So, even though we’re lookin’ at this guy, Charlie’s equation, that’s still our best lead.

TERRY: Well, he was able to predict today’s robbery. He should be able to tell us where they’re gonna go next.

[Cut to: Separate FBI office. Extensive math equations are written out on a glass board in white. Charlie is staring up at it, Don standing behind him. Terry leans against a table in the back of the room.]

DON: Charlie, did you hear what I said?

CHARLIE: Oh, I’m just, um… thinking.

[He clears his throat.]

CHARLIE: Understand, this is an entirely new problem now. The pattern I was working from was a false pattern.

TERRY: No. No, not so much false as incomplete. You were able to accurately predict today’s robbery.

CHARLIE: Right, but there’s new factors now. Okay, they aren’t two unarmed guys. So the assumptions we made about them are invalid.

DON: Okay, all right, all right. Look, so you take the, uh, the new factors and you make a new equation, right?

[Charlie stands, apparently frustrated.]

CHARLIE: It’s not that easy, man. It’s not that easy because, um… There’s something else that has to be considered.

[He makes his way over to one of the rolling boards against the wall where a map is displayed, along with numerous photographs of various locations.]

DON (confused): Like what?

CHARLIE: Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle. Heisenberg noted that the, uh, the act of observation will affect the observed. In other words, when you watch something, you change it, and, uh… for example, like an electron. You know, you- you can’t really measure it without bumping into it in some small way. Any physical act of observation requires interaction with a form of energy, like light. And that will change the nature of the election, it- its path of travel.

DON: Right, all right, hold on. You know I got, like, a C in physics. So just take me through how this relates to the case.

CHARLIE: Don, you’ve observed the robbers. They know it. That will change their actions.

TERRY: Okay, so they change their M.O., but we don’t have to go back to square one. We know some things about them, we have a basis for making some conclusions.

CHARLIE: Right. Well, good. But I, um… I can’t help. I can’t do this.

[He turns away.]

OS: TERRY: Charlie, you feelin’ okay?

CHARLIE: Yeah, it’s just my… stomach’s been bothering me. A lot.

TERRY: That’s normal. It happens to a lot of us after something like today.

CHARLIE: Really? I was the only one I noticed throwin’ up at the crime scene.

[Don comes up behind him as he speaks.]

DON: Look, buddy, come here. Turn around. Charlie, listen to me. What you saw was- was bad, okay? I know. Trust me. It- it takes a while to process that, so w-what I want you to do is go home. Come on, put that down. Give me that.

[He takes the eraser from Charlie’s hand, even as Charlie attempts to begin wiping down the board.]

DON: Charlie, you go home and you get some rest. Go.

[Don starts to lead him out of the room.]

DON: When you come up with somethin’, just call us, all right?

TERRY: Charlie, call me if you wanna talk about anything, okay?

DON: Charlie?

[Charlie turns back on his way out the door.]

DON: We’re counting on you, buddy.

[Charlie leaves, and Don sighs, shaking his head. The picture disappears, replaced with the formula from before: IF(G12=0 IF(E12=0,G12,(F12/E12)-1))]

[Cut to: FBI office. Don is walking through with Terry, a man follows close behind.]

DON: What do you got?

[The man hands him a sheet of paper.]

DON: The explosive in the car bomb was C-4. Check into that batch.

[The man leaves quickly.]

DON: How are we doin’ on the fake 9-1-1 calls?

TERRY: Two individuals using cell phones with scramblers. We’re preparing voiceprints.

DON: Right, we got any hits on crews with similar M.O.’s?

AGENT: No, so far it’s unique to these guys.

DON: And- and we should be checkin’ in- into armored transport and, and jewelry, fine art, right? I mean, they could’ve started in any one of those and, uh, moved on to banks.

[He sits down and sighs.]

DON: I should be lookin’ at mug shots, right?

TERRY: Did you get a good look?

DON: Yeah, definitely.

[A woman approaches.]

WOMAN: Agent Eppes. That piece of evidence you found at the scene? We know what it is.

DON: Excellent.

[Cut to: Lab. The woman is laying out the evidence on a lighted tray as Don and Terry look on.]

WOMAN: It’s an ultra-thin plastic mask that you can peel off in a second, wad up, and throw away.

DON: Right. A micromask. The C.I.A. uses the stuff for covert operations.

TERRY: That explains how hew as able to just disappear.

WOMAN: HE could alter the shape of his face, his nose, making him unrecognizable.

DON: Oh, so much for mug shots.

TERRY: I’m gonna find out where you can get one of these things.

DON: All right. Thanks.

WOMAN: Sure.

[Terry and Don leave.]

[Cut to: Eppes house, garage interior. Charlie enters, and in a time lapsed scene we see him taking out various objects: a bicycle, children’s toys, an old radio. Time lapses faster, and we see the larger objects disappear, one by one. Charlie reenters with a large chalkboard and a drill. Time lapse: the board is hung up at an angle, the top half secured on the ceiling, the other half on the wall. Charlie writes on it a bit. Time lapse: Charlie writes on a board leaning against the opposite wall. Time lapse: Charlie takes that board, climbs up on a ladder, and moves to put it up as well. Time lapse: More boards appear on various walls. Charlie, on the ladder, writes on one secured flat on the ceiling. Time lapse: He secures a board in place in a blank spot on the back wall. Time lapse: Charlie stands in the center of the room, looking around at all his work.]

[Cut to: Later, in the garage, Charlie lays a chalkboard flat on the ground and begins to erase. Larry enters.]

LARRY (looking around at all the work): Charles? Charles?

[He comes upon Charlie, erasing fervently.]

LARRY: Oh, listen, I just stopped by. A-A- Amita said that you weren’t gonna be coming to campus tomorrow, and… I don’t know, I mean, surely you remember you’re giving a presentation to my graduate seminar.

CHARLIE: Larry, I’m right in the middle of a significant line of thought. Right now really isn’t the best time for me to be entering in on a discussion with anyone. No offense.

LARRY: No, no, no, none taken. It’s just that Amita said that you also said you wouldn’t be coming to school for ‘a while’? And I just think, uh, you know, considering your teaching schedule, the upcoming semifinals… I mean, uh, it struck me as rather odd. Just kind of… entirely unworkable.

CHARLIE (writing): Maybe so, but I’m close to a breakthrough on this 3-set and so I-I- I need to follow through on this line of current algorithms now while I have a fix on it.

[Cut to: Front of the Eppes’ house. Don pulls up in his SUV, and Alan comes out the front door to greet him.]

ALAN: Donny.

DON (getting out of the car): Hey, dad.

ALAN: You all right?

DON: Yeah, yeah, I’m okay. I’m fine.

[Alan touches his arm and he pulls away.]

DON: Ow, ow. Look, it’s just my arm’s a little sore. I got a- a scrape during an incident.

ALAN: Scrape? From what?

DON: Well, a bullet, if you have to know.

ALAN: A bullet?

DON: But it’s not… Dad, please listen to me, okay? Just relax. We had a- an arrest go bad and we lost an agent, okay? Three people died. Now I’m looking for Charlie. Where is he?

ALAN: He’s- He’s out in the garage with Larry. He’s upset. Now- I can see why, now.

DON: Whoa, what’s he doin’ in the garage?

ALAN: He’s just working on that problem, you know.

DON: What?

ALAN: That problem he can never solve.

DON: The ‘P versus P’ thing?

ALAN: Yeah, yeah. That’s the one.

DON: Oh, man.

ALAN: L-Let’s…

[Don starts to walk off.]

ALAN: Where- Where you goin’?

DON: I gotta talk to him. I need a new equation.

[Cut to: Eppes’ garage. Charlie is still writing fervently on a chalkboard.]

LARRY: You know what it’s considered unsolvable?

CHARLIE: Well, certainly people who have failed to solve it might think that. But we all know, minesweeper consistency is an N.P.-complete problem. So I believe that there is an answer in here somewhere.

[Don enters.]

DON: Minesweeper? What are we talking about? Computer games?

CHARLIE: Yes, but if you keep talking to me, I’m gonna lose my train of thought, so please, don’t talk anymore. ‘Cause I-I- I need to follow through on- on this- this line o- of adjacent vertices.

DON: Look, please don’t do this.

CHARLIE: Don’t do what, Don? Go ahead, g- go ahead, try and tell me what it is I’m doing. You don’t even know what it is I’m doing.

DON: No, actually, I do. The thing is, I don’t think you do.

LARRY (a little uncomfortably): Okay. I’m gonna go contemplate the koi pond.

[He leaves.]

DON: Charlie, look, you helped us find these guys once before, you can do it again. Come on.

CHARLIE: Why, so you can get shot again?

DON: No, buddy. Look, understand I appreciate you care about me, but it’s not gonna happen.

CHARLIE: Statistically, you’re dead now. You understand what that means? A man aimed a gun at your head and fired. The fact that you survived is an anomaly and it’s unlikely to be the outcome of a second such encounter.

DON: Listen to me. We don’t have many leads, okay? If you can help us predict when and if these guys are gonna hit another bank, this is the only shot we got.

[Charlie stops writing, frustrated.]

CHARLIE: Please understand, sometimes… I can’t choose what I work on. I can’t follow through on a line of thinking just because I want to or- or because it’s needed. I have to work on what’s in my head. And right now this is what’s in my head.

[He goes back to writing on the board, Don watching.]

[Cut to: FBI office. Don and Terry are working on the case.]

TERRY: This is the license we got off the guy that David shot, which I.D.s him as Malcolm Stapleton, right?

[She hands Don the license.]

DON: All right.

TERRY: This is the duplicate license of Stapleton we got from the D.M.V.

[She points at a license up on a board, but the photograph is quite obviously different.]

DON: So, if the one we got off the body is a fake, then who is he?

TERRY: His current neighbors recognize that guy as Stapleton.

[She points at the license Don is holding.]

TERRY: Let’s go talk to the neighbors of his former residence.

DON: All right. That’s a good idea.

TERRY: Yeah.

[Don hands her the license back as they both grab their coats.]

TERRY: Hey, how’s, uh, how’s Charlie doing?

DON: I don’t know, he’s just workin’ on some famously unsolvable math problem, which is not a good sign.

TERRY: At least it’s not binge drinking and strip clubs.

DON: That’s true.

[Cut to: Apartment complex. Don and Terry are talking to a woman at the door of her apartment.]

TERRY: You’re sure this isn’t Malcolm Stapleton?

WOMAN: Yes, I’m sure because that’s Malcolm’s brother. What happened to him?

DON: He was involved in an accident. What’s the brother’s name?

WOMAN: Bill Stapleton. He showed up a few months ago, said Malcolm had gotten a job back east and wouldn’t be coming back.

TERRY: Did Malcolm ever talk about having a brother or say anything about getting a new job?

WOMAN: No. Never even said goodbye.

DON: Okay, well, thank you for your time.

TERRY: Thank you.

[The woman shuts her door, and Don and Terry walk down the hall.]

TERRY: Okay, so our dead guy is the brother of a man who was an only child.

DON: Right.

[They start down some stairs.]

TERRY: Where do you wanna start?

DON: I’m thinkin’ if he never said goodbye, maybe Malcolm never moved from here.

TERRY: Let’s talk to the manager.

[Cut to: Don and Terry walk through what appears to be the basement of the apartment building, shining their flashlights to illuminate the dark passageway.]

DON: The Super said contractors came in to do work down here, but the owner never ordered the work.

[He reaches the end of the corridor, where the wall is fresh sheetrock and not dingy and wood, like the rest of the walls.]

DON: Hey. Check this out.

[He knocks on the material.]

DON: Looks brand new.

[Cut to: Behind the sheetrock. With a bang, a hole appears, and a flashlight shines through it. More banging, and the hole grows larger, evidently being created by a sledgehammer.]

OS: DON: That’s good. Let me look in there.

[Pushing aside some loose sheetrock, Don and Terry peer into the hole. Don moves the flashlight around until it comes to rest on a body wrapped in plastic and duct tape in the far corner, partially obscured by various junk objects.]

DON: Whoa. You see that?

TERRY: Looks like we just found Malcolm.

[Cut to: FBI office. Don and Terry come in and approach David, already seated at a desk.]

DON: We found a body identified by fingerprints as Malcolm Stapleton.

TERRY: We think the man you shot killed Stapleton and stole his identity.

DAVID (standing): Good. I’d like to be there when you talk to the M.E.

DON: All right.

[Cut to: Lab. Don and David are standing behind the medical examiner’s desk, where photographs of Malcolm Stapleton’s body are laid out.]

M.E.: Malcolm Stapleton died from massive blood loss after his carotid artery was severed. The killer knew what he was doing.

DON (looking at a photo of the wound): How so?

M.E.: Well, the thing is, most people don’t know how to slit a throat. They think you pull back the head like this…

[He demonstrates.]

M.E.: …but in this position, the windpipe provides some protection to the major blood vessels. However tilt the head forward…

[He demonstrates again.]

M.E.: …the arteries are exposed. The cut was made away and down from the assailant, minimizing blood spatter. The weapon was an extremely sharp, wide-blade knife.

DAVID: Somebody with medical training?

M.E.: More like military experience.

DON: You know , the victim in the robbery, the guy in the boiler room had his throat cut exactly like this.

M.E.: The wound on that body was very similar, but here’s something new. Look at this.

[He hands Don another photo.]

M.E.: Electrical burns. This man was tortured before he was killed.

DON: All right, so they kill efficiently, they use torture, and they can execute a coordinated escape.

DAVID: You’re thinking military?

DON: I’m thinking Special Forces.

[Don’s cell phone rings, and he answers.]

DON: Eppes… We’re on our way.

[He hangs up.]

DON: Charm School Boys just hit another bank. Let’s go.

[They begin to leave, Don putting the photograph back on the table before they go.]

DON: All right, thanks.

[Cut to: L.A. street. Don exits his vehicle and meets up with Terry.]

TERRY: Hey. Same M.O., same two guys. Asked for cash, didn’t show a weapon. But when the assistant manager followed them outside and pulled out a cell phone, they shot him.

DON: Do you realize this breaks the pattern of two weeks between robberies? Excuse me.

[He pulls on gloves as he looks at the assistant manager’s body on the ground. A cell phone rings, and next to the body we see the manager’s cell lying next to a crime scene marker labeled with the number ‘3’. Don picks it up and answers it.]

DON: Hello? Uh, yeah, actually, I think you might have the right number. Ma’am, my name is Don Eppes with the F.B.I. There’s been an incident. Are you at home? Can you please stay there? We- We’re gonna come see you.

[Knowingly, Terry pulls out a notepad and pen.]

DON: What’s your address?

[Cut to: FBI office. Don and Terry are watching the security footage from the bank on a television screen. The man walks up to the camera and holds a gun up in front of it.]

DON: That’s my gun.

TERRY: Classic psych-ops technique. He’s trying to get inside your head so you don’t think clearly and dispassionately.

DON: Yeah, well, we need to look beyond conventional military. Start concentrating on Delta Force, Navy Seal units.

TERRY: I agree. Have you shown any of the new data to Charlie?

DON: No, he’s not working the case. Just that crazy math problem day and night. I mean, the last time he pulled one of these is when our mother got cancer.

TERRY: They were close?

DON: Yeah, but, I mean, when she came home from chemo, he couldn’t deal. He just s- stayed in the garage, I mean… He didn’t spend any time with her.

TERRY: What are you thinking?

DON: That he can’t stay in that garage forever.

[Don exits.]

[Cut to: Eppes house. Terry and Alan watch from inside as in the backyard, Don walks over to Charlie, who is sitting by the koi pond.]

ALAN: You know, Don and Charlie, they graduated high school on the same day.

[He hands her a drink.]

TERRY: Thank you. Don’s mentioned it. A few times.

ALAN: Yeah. Kind of puts an edge on that sibling rivalry thing, you know?

TERRY: Yeah, I’m sure it does. But having a kid like Charlie had to put some unusual pressure on the family. How old was he when you first realized he was exceptional?

ALAN: I think he was three… when he multiplied four-digit numbers in his head. And by the age of four, he needed special teachers, special classes. My wife… I mean, his mother and I, we put a lot of time into his education. It was Don, he was the one who had to get used to taking care of himself.

TERRY: Well, he might have gotten used to it but I’m not sure he’s as good at it as he thinks he is.

ALAN: Ah, well, it’s hard for him to ask anyone for help. It’s really hard for him to ask Charlie.

[Cut to: Outside. Charlie is squatting down by the koi pond, Don standing behind him.]

DON: I mean, we- we think they have special military training and now they have struck again and killed another innocent person. Charlie? Charlie please don’t do this. Do you understand the stakes we’re dealing with here? More bloodshed, people’s lives. I mean, if I have to do this on my own, it’s gonna put me and all of my people at greater risk. Is that what you want?

CHARLIE: Their old pattern’s gone. I told you that.

[Don grabs Charlie and pulls him around.]

DON: Well, then there’s gotta be a new pattern, doesn’t there? Isn’t that the way it works? You incorporate whatever’s goin’ on?

CHARLIE: Ow.

[Don lets go of him.]

DON: I’m sorry. I’m sorry… I- I need your help, you understand?

CHARLIE: I don’t I- that I can…

DON: Charlie, I know it’s hard for you. I understand that. But it’s hard for- for everybody!

[Charlie squats back down next to the pond.]

DON: You know, I-I- I don’t know how I got in a situation where I need your help to do my job, but I- I sure as hell have! And I wish you would just snap out of your- your precious bubble for once!

[Don leaves.]

[Cut to: Inside the Eppes’ house. Charlie looks at a picture of a beautiful woman in a veil with a bouquet of flowers that’s hanging on the wall, presumably his mother. He walks into the living room where Alan is sitting.]

CHARLIE (sitting down): Dad. Uh, I’ve been working on a problem. P versus N.P. It can’t be solved.

ALAN: I think you knew that when you started.

CHARLIE: I could work on it forever. Constantly pushing forward, still never reaching an end.

ALAN: You know, sometimes you want to think that things don’t end. But they do.

CHARLIE (voice breaking): When mom was sick, I couldn’t stop working on it.

ALAN: Yeah, I know. I didn’t get it. Uh, not then. And your brother sure doesn’t understand why you spent the last three months of your mother’s life working on a math problem. But Charlie… your mother, she understood why. Because she knew how your mind worked.

[A last shot of the picture on the wall.]

[Dissolve to: Office building. Don, David, and the manager walk down a hallway.]

MANAGER: Malcolm was a top-level programmer. He worked in our division that handles software.

DON: Tracking what?

MANAGER: Financial transactions. Mostly used by banks for data processing.

DAVID: What were the circumstances of him leaving the company?

MANAGER: He was on vacation, called to say he was quitting. He had a new job.

DON: All right, thanks. We’ll talk to you soon.

MANAGER: Welcome.

[Cut to: David and Don walking outside.]

DON: All right, so Stapleton had high-level access to bank software. He’s tortured, he’s murdered, and his identity is stolen by a guy who’s a member of a bank robbery crew, right?

DAVID: That doesn’t seem like a coincidence. And consider how careful they were to make it seem like he was still alive.

DON: Right. ‘Cause you figure they’re gonna wanna avoid a murder investigation so no one knows they have access to his work.

DAVID: Maybe they’re using the software to track when banks have large amounts of cash on hand.

DON: Yeah, but the takes are varied, you know? I mean, you got a couple hundred thousand dollars in one, and- and a hundred dollars in the next.

[Cut to: FBI office. David enters with a man in uniform where Don is already seated.]

DAVID: Don, Captain Joe MacNevish, Delta Forces.

[Don rises and shakes his hand.]

DON: How are you, sir?

DAVID: Our John Doe’s fingerprints turned up a match with the army.

MACNEVISH: Former Delta Force member Master Sergeant John Anthony Galbraith. Galbraith received an honorable discharge four years ago.

DAVID: That’s the guy I shot.

MACNEVISH: One of his associates was a Robert Gordon Skidmore. I’m sure the bureau has a record on him.

[Cut to: FBI office, later.]

DAVID: Bobby Skidmore, convicted of robbing a cash shipment coming into an army base.

[He hands Don the papers, where a photo is attached.]

DON: Yeah, that’s the guy who took my gun.

DAVID: He was partners with the guy I shot, Galbraith.

DON: All right, well, we got two names. Let’s start buildin’ a crew chart.

DAVID: All right.

[David leaves, and Don takes a second look at the photo.]

[Cut to: Minesweeper board. A few clicks are made. Then we see Charlie, sitting in the garage, using his laptop. Larry enters.]

LARRY: Well, I was, uh, heartened to hear that you’ve shifted your focus off P versus N.P.

[A shot of the Minesweeper board, then back to the garage.]

LARRY: But tell me, what is it that I can help you with?

CHARLIE: I failed. I failed to notice something significant. These robberies display certain highly eccentric characteristics.

LARRY: Okay, how so?

CHARLIE: Many were conducted in under two minutes, but in many cases, the perpetrators remained on the premises far longer despite having the money. Why would they wait around?

LARRY: I don’t know. I mean, leaving quickly would seem to be the essential strategy when fleeing a felony.

CHARLIE: Now, you see this game, Larry?

[He turns his computer screen to reveal his Minesweeper game.]

CHARLIE: You’ve got to clear mines without blowing any up.

[Footage of a Minesweeper game corresponds with his explanation.]

VO: CHARLIE: Each time you’ve cleared a square, a numerical value is revealed. That number tells you exactly how many squares containing mines are directly adjacent to that square. This allows you to predict where the next mine will be located. And then the more boxes revealed, the more accurately one can predict the location of the mines.

[End footage.]

CHARLIE: The pattern used in these bank robberies is similar to this type of problem-solving pattern. These robbers have used the banks they’ve been robbing to tell them which ones to rob next.

LARRY: To what end would criminals be playing Minesweeper with banks?

CHARLIE: I don’t know.

[On the game, he clicks on a mine and loses.]

[Cut to: FBI office. Charlie walks into a room where Don, David, and Terry are working on the case. Don is on the phone, and David and Terry are looking at boards of maps, photos, and various evidence placed around the room.]

DON (into phone): Right. No, I don’t think that’s smart. Right. Well…

TERRY: Don.

DON: Yeah?

[She nods toward the door, where Charlie is standing.]

DON (into phone): I’ll call you right back. No, I will.

[He hangs up.]

DON: Hey, Charlie.

CHARLIE: I have some findings for you. I’m sorry I couldn’t get to this sooner.

DON: No, now’s good. Come on in. What did you do? Did you rework the equation?

[Charlie sits.]

CHARLIE: No. I think you need to be looking at a while ‘nother line of investigation.

DON: Like what?

CHARLIE: What’s inside a bank that’s more valuable than money?

TERRY: Information? Financial data?

CHARLIE: Exactly. This case… it isn’t about robbing banks.

[Shots of various security footage.]

VO: CHARLIE: Everything they did made it seem like a typical bank robbery. But, while our Charm School Boys were at the teller’s window creating a diversion, they must’ve had a third man accessing the bank’s computers. The question is: Why?

[Cut to: FBI office room. Don, David, Terry, Charlie, and two agents are gathered around a computer, which the second agent is operating.]

DON: We’re sure this is the only machine they messed with?

AGENT 1: As far as we know.

DAVID: Why risk robberies? Why not just hack into the bank’s computer?

AGENT 2: Oh, from an outside source, it’s almost impossible. These databases are guarded with intense firewalls.

TERRY: Besides, by actually robbing the banks, they’re able to gain any capital they might need in the meantime.

CHARLIE: More important, the data seems to be location-specific. So when they’re accessing data at one bank, it leads them to data at other banks.

AGENT 1: Whoa, here you go.

AGENT 2: It’s the “Y” D.S. software. The program was accessed using Stapleton’s pass code on the day of the robbery.

CHARLIE: Dollar amounts?

AGENT 1: Believe so.

CHARLIE: Bank routing numbers?

AGENT 1: That’s what they are.

TERRY: The routing numbers are all the same. The cash in this list is all going to the same bank.

DON: Which bank?

CHARLIE: That’s a special Federal Reserve routing number for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Specifically, the Los Angeles branch.

[The two agents look shocked that Charlie knows this information.]

DON: He helps us on financial cases all the time.

CHARLIE: And I tend to remember numbers.

[Cut to: FBI office area. Don is standing and pacing as he talks to Charlie, David, and Terry, who are seated.]

DON: So these heists are diversions, they’re distractions.

TERRY: That’s why Stapleton was tortured, for his confidential pass codes.

DAVID: The exact same computer program was accessed at all the banks hit by Skidmore’s crew.

DON: So how does this factor into the Federal Reserve?

DAVID: Well, the program tracks cash being removed from circulation. Old currencies, either worn or ripped. Now this retired cash is taken out of circulation at local banks. Every few months, it’s taken to the Federal Reserve Bank. Then to a secret treasury location where it’s destroyed.

CHARLIE: And that retired cash data is collated by the “Y” D.S. software which allows the bank robbers to locate other banks with the same software.

DON: So once they have enough data, they get a fix on the shipment from the Federal Reserve Bank to the treasury.

DAVID: Each shipment is maybe a hundred million dollars in untraceable cash.

[The phone rings, and Don answers.]

DON: Eppes… Right… Right, I got it.

[He hangs up.]

DON: That was the Federal Reserve Bank in Los Angeles. They got a shipment of retired currency going to the treasury in six hours, okay? I wanna know what the security is, what the route is, what the procedure is, right? Let’s go.

[David leaves, and Don and Terry get to work.]

[Cut to: A group of FBI agents getting suited up in the back of a vehicle. Charlie walks up to Don.]

CHARLIE: Hey.

DON: Hey.

CHARLIE: Just one thing. Heisenberg and his Uncertainty Principle.

DON: Right. Do me a favor, tie this.

[Charlie obliges.]

DON: What about it?

CHARLIE: Remember I told you how the act of observation will ultimately affect that which is being observed?

DON: Yes you did.

CHARLIE: These guys know you’ve studied them. They know you’re trying to out-think them.

DON: Charlie, it’s all right. Me and Heisenberg, we’re all over this.

[Don exits the vehicle, and Charlie turns to David, who gives him a reassuring smile.]

[Cut to: A vehicle loading up with what looks like bags of cash at the Federal Reserve Bank of Los Angeles. The bags are being passed into the truck to Don, who’s shelving them.]

[Cut to: A shot of an L.A. highway. The truck is driving down the road.]

[Cut to: Inside the back of the vehicle, Don and another agent load up guns.]

[Cut to: A map, where that truck is a moving red dot labeled ‘UNIT 01’. The camera pulls out a bit, and on another road, we see a moving red dot labeled ‘UNIT 02’.]

[Cut to: UNIT 02 vehicle being driven by David down a deserted back street. Terry sits in the passenger seat. David checks his watch.]

DAVID: We’ll be at Ontario Airport in about twenty minutes.

[Terry looks past an agent sitting in the back seat to the far back of the SUV, filled with bags just like those in the UNIT 01 truck.]

TERRY: Almost there.

[The truck that had been driving to the front-left of them suddenly swerves and blocks their path. David slams the brakes and swerves as well, narrowing avoiding a collision.

TERRY (into transmitter): Unit 1, Unit 2, code red. Unit 1, Unit 2, come in.

[Cut to: Back of UNIT 01 vehicle. Don checks his watch.]

DON (into transmitter): All right, Unit 2 to Unit 1, come in.

[There’s only radio static.]

DON (into transmitter): Unit 2 to Unit 1.

[Cut to: UNIT 02 vehicle.]

TERRY (into transmitter): Unit 1, Unit 2, code red.

[David pulls the SUV past the large semi-truck and down into a passageway. Their back-up, unmarked pick-up truck follows.]

TERRY (into transmitter): Unit 1 to Unit 2, come in.

DAVID: They’re jammin’ our radios.

[Before they can even reach the tunnel, another truck comes from the opposite direction, forcing them to stop.]

[Cut to: UNIT 01 vehicle.]

DON: I’m not getting’ any response.

AGENT: What do we do?

DON: We’ll stick with the plan.

[Cut to: UNIT 02 vehicle.]

TERRY: Go.

[They all climb out of the SUV and draw their guns. The men in the truck opposite them do the same.]

SKIDMORE: You wanna live? Drop your guns.

[None of the agents comply at first. David looks over to Terry, who nods, and he puts his gun on the ground. The other agents follow his lead, raising their weaponless hands in the air. One of the robbers takes a couple of the bags from the back of the SUV. Skidmore pulls out a knife and tears a bag open only to find that it’s filled with white sheets of paper and not the cash he expected.]

SKIDMORE: Where’s the money?

TERRY: In the bank.

[David smirks.]

OS: DON: Drop your weapons! Get on the ground!

[The other team of agents appears from behind, guns at the ready. Skidmore doesn’t even flinch, and instead looks back to his truck, on top of which a man with a very large gun appears.]

MAN: Back off!

[The agents raise their hands and back up a few paces.]

[Skidmore smirks and runs off down the tunnel. Terry nods at David, who uses a small transmitter in his hand.]

DAVID (into transmitter): Bridge team, green light.

[A shooter from up high hits the man with the large gun, who falls. The agents immediately grab their weapons from the ground.]

TERRY: Drop your weapons!

DAVID: Get your ass down!

TERRY: Get on the ground! Get down on the ground! Get your hands on your head! Don’t move.

[Cut to: Street. Skidmore climbs through a large metal fence, then takes off his grey coat and replaces it with a blue one. He walks over to a waiting car and gets into the driver’s seat. He starts the car as Don comes around the back of it. Skidmore sees him in the side mirror. Other agents suddenly appear around the car.]

DON: FBI, do not move! Do not move! Get that other hand on the wheel right now! Get it up! Do it!

[Skidmore complies. Don reaches in and grabs his gun.]

DON: This is mine. Get out of the car. Get out of the car!

[He does, hands in the air.]

DON: Get down on your face.

[He lies on the ground.]

DON: Billy, cuff him.

[As the agent does so, Don looks at his gun and shakes his head.]

[Cut to: Eppes’ house. Charlie enters the dining room from the kitchen, bowl and spoon in hand.]

CHARLIE: Here you go, pop. I got it, now you got it.

[He sets the bowl in front of Alan.]

ALAN: Thank you.

CHARLIE: Spoon.

[He sets that down as well.]

[Don enters through the front door.]

DON: Hello.

ALAN: Donny.

[He gets up to greet his son.]

ALAN: Wow, it’s good to see you.

DON: Oh, you guys ate. I’m starving.

ALAN: No, there’s plenty. Come on.

DON: Yeah? What, Terry didn’t call, tell you guys what happened?

CHARLIE: Yeah, she said you arrested every suspect. Only one shot fired, huh?

ALAN: One? How’d you pull that off?

DON: We knew roughly where they’d try to hit the next shipment and I knew they’d have an escape plan.

ALAN: That’s very clever.

DON: I guess it was inspired by a Mr. Heisenberg just like Charlie here suggested.

[Charlie brings in another bowl.]

ALAN: Heisenberg? What do you mean, the physicist?

DON: Yeah.

ALAN: Oh. Your brother goes into a dangerous confrontation with heavily armed felons and you prepare him with a lecture on the movement of subatomic particles?

CHARLIE: Yep.

[Alan just nods.]

CHARLIE: It worked, didn’t it?

[Don sits down.]

ALAN: Yes, I guess it did.

[He looks between the two of them.]

ALAN: I’m telling you, if your mother could see you two guys now, she would be so happy.

[Don looks over at Charlie.]

DON: How you doing with your P versus P thing?

CHARLIE: N.P.?

DON: Sorry.

CHARLIE: I’m not pursuing it anymore.

DON: No?

CHARLIE: I’ve got plenty of problems to work on. Ones that I think I can actually solve.

DON: Glad to hear it.

[He clinks his beer bottle with Charlie’s water glass, then with his father’s glass as well. Charlie bumps his glass with his father’s across the table, and they all drink as the camera pulls away from the table.]

DON: What, no mustard?

ALAN: I knew you’d ask. He forgot.

DON (to Charlie): What’s up? What’s up?

[Fade to black.]

--

GUEST STARS:

Matthew Yang King (FBI Agent #2)
Susan Beaubian (FBI Agent #1)
Gibby Brand (Dr. Michael Sabello)
J. Paul Boehmer (FBI Agent Team Leader)
Catherine O’Conner (Woman)
Ajay Mehta (ADS Manager)
Amanda Carlin (Forensic Technician)
Sam Wellington (Bank Manager)
David Carrera (Grim Man)
Alan Davidson (Robert Skidmore)
Robinne Lee (Agent Larkin)
Andrew Caple-Shaw (Agent McKnight)
Ken Meseroll (Captain Joe MacNevish)

REGULAR CAST:

Judd Hirsch (Alan Eppes)
David Krumholtz (Charlie Eppes)
Peter MacNicol (Dr. Larry Fleinhardt)
Alimi Ballard (David Sinclair)
Sabrina Lloyd (Terry Lake)
Rob Morrow (Don Eppes)
 

END OF EPISODE

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