"=ÆÆÀÃÐÜ×ÖÄ"×é=- Ê±¼äÖá:" "Breezy" "?" " i?" " but?" " ok?" "" "?" "?" "?" "b?" "and?" "I just love ya'll." "I love you." "All right, give it up, give it r Hunter and 2..." "Yo, people, what ya'll clapping for, huh?" "This mediocrity?" "You giving it up for a sellout and a wannabe?" "Cut the mic." "You's a chump!" "I'm tired of this fool." "Get this bitch off the stage!" "All right, all rig, all right, all right, yo!" "Alright, hey, it's enough, it's enough!" "It's not the place." "It's not the place, t him out- back up!" "Yo, that's 'cause I'm real witty, yeah!" "I got skills!" "I ain't no wangster, ain't no punk bitch, either!" "Get him out, get him out." "We came toave a good time, right?" "All right, it's my damn birthday." "Let's get this thing started." "Come on." "Hey, hit the music!" "Yeah." "* That lolli..." "Pop!" "What, what, what!" "* That lolli, lolli, lolli" "* Please, Lor have some mercy *" "* This girl is throwing Judy, I think she... *" "Hey, so what do you think?" "I mean, I can probably just take the 110 to the 105, and there shouldn't be too much traffic, right?" "Yeahyeah, the Dodgers are in Houston." "The rush hour wi be long over." "Okay." "If you want, we can run an aggregated speed density function, do a mesoscopic traffic simulation..." "Charlie, give the abacus a rest." "The 110 to the 105 will be just fine, Amita." "Do y want me to come with you?" "Uh, I mean, my parents are going to be exhausted." "They're getng off such a long flight." "I think we should just hold off till tomorrow." "You're worried they're not gonna like me?" "No." "I think we should just wait till tomorrow night." "Um, what are you gonna wear tomorrow?" "She is worried they're not gonna like me." "Charlie, you're gonna make her late." "All right, I'll wait up for you." "Oh, um, no, no, I don't know." "I mean, I think it's kind of weird me staying here while my parents are here." "Well, they'll be at a hotel." "I mean, how would ey ever know?" "Yeah, I know, I didn't say it was rational." "You know, I just..." "it feels weird." "My dad knows you spend the night." "Tha's never been weird." "Well, it's weird now, thanyou very much." "I'll call you later." "Okay." "Bye." "Drive safe." "Okay, thanks." "Bye-bye, Alan." "Good-bye, Amita." "Hey, Hunter, what about it, man?" "You coming up to B's house, keep this thing going?" "No, man, I'm gonna head on home, man." "Ya'll take it easy, man." "Thank you, brother." "Hey, man, everything cool, you good?" "Yeah, I'm good- what n't good, right?" "I guess, man." "Ya'll take it easy, man." "Yo, chill." "Agent Warner, what brings you out?" "Hey, I'm the one who called you, Granger." "What do you say, Liz?" "Hey." "So the victim's a multiplatinum rap star on CenteMass Records." "FBI drug squads have had an eye on the lab for about six months- can't say it's related, but LAPD's agreed to let us roll on this one, see where it goes." "Any idea if it was random, targeted, what?" "Well, one of the valets noticed the shter's car idling in the lot over there, so it sounds like it was waiting for him." "They didn't get a plate number, thgh." "No other witnesses?" "Probably, but none talking to us." "That's my husband, that's my husband." "Ma'am, you don't ed to see this." "ok ok?" "" "Easy, ma'am, just relax, just step back, okay?" "Mrs. Hunter, listen to me, do you know who might have done this to your husband?" "Rival crew, gang?" "My husband wasn't like that, okay?" "He wasn't a gang member, didn't pretend to be." "Okay, all right, what was he?" "Wait, how about...?" "Why don't you help us t, then?" "What good is that gonna do, me helping you out?" "Is that gonna bring Hunter back?" "Well, don't you want to see his killer caught?" "That's your job." "Mine is to make arrangements to bury my husband." "What have you got there?" "This guy's a musician." "Having two iPods, is that weird?" "I don't care what your taste is." "That is not music." "Yeah, this encryption code isomewhat elementary." "Okay, ther" "Looks like some kind of similarity or a string metric, I'm pretty sure." "Does that mean like an algorithm?" "Yeah, uh, it looks for commonalities in complex systems." "It's used in a lot of things." "Plagiarism detection programs, for one." "You know, a book is a compl system." "It's made up of individual wordand letters, but comparing thoswords and letters would be meaningless." "To detect plagiarism, you need to look at the larger strings:" "sentences, paragraphs, entirepages." "A string metric allows us to compare two systems and expose the plagiarist." "Okay, so what uid a rap star be doing with onef these equations?" "Well, the narc guy said they had an eye on Center Mass." "So, what, maybe drugs?" "Could be..." "I don't know yet." "I did a full run on the vict, Robert Hunter, and like his wife says, um, he's clean." "I mean, even his music, it's no more violent or provocative than anything else th's out there." "Well, look, something got him killed." "Here's my card- if you hear anything, I'd appreciate it." "All right, how'd you do?" "I think if these were Travis Tritt fans," "I might have better luck." "Probably not your peeps, huh?" "Hey, for what it's worth, by the way, I just wanted to tell yo" "I'm glad you're working this one." "I mean, I get you transferring out, the whole thing with Don and all that, but I've always liked woing with you." "Oh, than, Granger." "Now, I wish I could say the same thing about you." "Who's this guy?" "Name's 2BY4." "He's another artist on Center Mass Records." "Hunter, you were loved and will be missed, homie." "And this won't go unanswered." "Word is bond." "Excuse me." "Might as well pack that badge and home." "We handle our own family business." "Yeah, what business is that?" "Cycle's in motion." "Hunter got killed 'cause of what went down at the party." "Now there's gonna be retaliation for that." "That's the cycle, baby," "Circle of Life, know what I'm sayin'?" "What's up, baby?" "So what went down at the party?" "Guess it's just one of those things where you had toe there." "MA Mr. Blanchard, those Feds are here." "Over here." "I have a very busy schedule." "Hope you don't mind if I do this while we talk." "For Hunter's funeral?" "Yeah, I gotta show him all the respect." "Yeah, we'll be mourning his loss for a long time." "Financial loss, too, I would imagine." "He's one of your top money makers, right?" "See, that's the bitter irony" "Hunter's new album pops in three weeks." "And when it does, i'll be our biggest release ever cause he got shot." "And tell me how I'm supposed to feel good about that." "Well, maybe you do sething for him in return." "Help us catch his killer." "I'm sorry, I was not there when he got shot." "Come on." "Someone of your stature?" "I goa figure nothing goes down without you hearing about it." "Oh, I might hear, but I don't point fingers." "Ah." "Look, you already lost one artist to the grave." "2BY4 goes for revenge, you're gonna lose another." "Yo, Howe, take a break." "You might want to check out a dude named Derek." "All right, who's he?" "A hothead with limited talent." "Always pestering me to sign him to the label." "He showed up that night." "Look, I'm not saying anything happened, but an event like that, a lot of people with cell phones." "People shooting video." "Maybe one of these videos winds up on a Web site." "BLANCHARD 2BY4!" "Whoo!" "All right, so that's him right there." "His full name's Derek Raines." "H's no Boy Scout, but nothing big." "Mainly juv stuff." "Vandalism, minor assault." "Anybody ever heard about this guy?" "Apparently, he's been rapping for years and puts his own stuff out independently." "But not even in the same league as Hunter and 2BY4." "Seems a little pisd about it, don't you think?" "Oh... you know, why don't you grab Liz and go check him out, huh?" "Okay." "Hey, Colb'." "You, uh, talk to Megan, by any chance?" "You know she asked ASAC for a week off?" "No, she didn't say anything to me." "I can give her a call if you want." "Yeah, why don't you do that?" "DEREK That's 'cause I'm real witty!" "Yeah, I got skills!" "I ain't no wangster, ain't no punk bitch, either!" "Hey, Larry." "How was the departmental breakfast?" "It was less than stellar." "I was running late." "And the only seat available was next to Professor Hindslaus." "The slurper." "You know, all he had was the fruit plate, and he was deafening." "Have you had time to distill any of my data from the Hadron collider?" "Ooh, no, I haven't." "Sorry, it's just that" "Don's got me doing this, and I've been so preoccupied over my dinner with Amita's parents." "So..." "Oh, th's right." "They're in town." "I spent thwhole night plotting a dinner strategy." "A little game theory." "A little Sun Tzu." "The Art of War?" "What are you so worried about?" "I'm not Indian, for one." "Listen, her parents were both schooled here." "They raised her here." "I'm sure they're very intelligent, cosmopolitan pple." "They tried to arrange a marriage for her." "Yeah, that had slipped my mind." "What ever happened to him?" "He married some" "French chick he met in Belgium." "It doesn't mean they don't have someone else in mind." "I'm sure all they want is what is best for Amita." "They will spend some time with you, and they will soon be singing your praises." "That's why he had the algorithm." "So, this program is meant to analyze music." "No kidding." "And its mechanism is inspired." "It's brilliant, actually." "It can process any song and predict its expected level of success." "You're saying it can tel whether a song's going to be a hit or not?" "Yeah." "Yeah." "What?" "Within a certain, uh, level of statistical probability, yeah." "No, no, come on, look." "Music is subjective." "It's visceral." "There's no way an equation can tell you if a song's good or not." "Well, we all like to think that we have our own unique tastes, but we don't." "There are certain rhythms, certain key changes, chord patterns that we all, as humans, respond to." "Just like there are-are smells that we all find pleasant or not." "This programamples thousands and thousands of hit songs, analyzes what they all have in common, and then from there creates a fairly accurate statistical guess as to what will be a hit and what won't." "I agree with him; where's the art?" "It's not art." "This is about business." "Okay, so you're saying that Hunter was carrying this thing around, trying to engineer his songs to be hits?" "Maybe, but from what I can tell, he hadn't analyzed his own tracks yet." "I mean, the data folders were set up, for his album and for 2BY4'as well." "But, but the analysis was never run." "All right, so how about we run it?" "Well, the albums haven't been released yet." "So..." "Get a subpoena." "Okay." "FBI, Mr. Raines." "Mind stepping outside so we can chat?" "I got a choice?" "You got a choice where we chat." "Now, you've done this before." "You grow up around here, cops just looking for a chance, know what I'm saying?" "What's this you carrying?" "Right away you just assume I got a gun." "No, it's my recorder." "I use it for my rhymes." "Step inside." "Gotta say, you're not someone I expected to find here." "Nina Hunter." "The victim's wife." "So what?" "Love triangle's the oldest motive in the book." "Hold on, man, you got that all wrong." "Mrs. Hunter, why don't you and I go talk in thether room here, okay?" "Come on." "Figures the FBI sent a brother to come talk to me." "What, you, like, thresident rap expert?" "I go the more Curtis Mayfield, James Brown, early Stevie direction." "You know, guys you're alys stealing from." "All right, you said you wanted to chat." "Chat." "I saw a video of what went dn at the party last night." "You have an alibi for where you were after you got tossed out?" "Derek and Hunter were inseparable." "All three of us were." "I used to hang out while they worked on rhymes together and laid down tracks." "But you were always with Hunter." "There's nothing going on between Derek and me, if that's what you mean." "Why are you so angry, Derek?" "Your magic career didn't blow up like Hunter's?" "Nah, man, that's not even my styl" "I taught Hunter everything he know" "Yeah." "Yeah, we used to be real tight before he sold out." "'m here because I wanted to be around somebody who knew Hunter the way I did." "Were Derek and Hunter still in contact?" "No." "Hunter triedeaching out, but Derek wouldn't return his calls." "o much pride." "Why was Hunter reaching out?" "I mean, why now?" "Let me ask you something." "I mean, you got so much spite for these guys, right?" "Why'd you crash their party?" "Yo, I ain't crash nothin'." "I was invited." "Yeah, Blanchard's been sweatin'e for years, trying to get me to sign to Center Mass Records." "He knows I'm the superior product." "Is that so?" "So, but you chose all of this here instead." "What do you know about a complex ma program he was carrying?" "An analytical program?" "Nothing at all." "I chose to make my music my way, so I control like..." "You okay?" "Yeah!" "Damn it!" "You see the shooter?" "No, not enough." "Derek!" "This is Agent vid Sinclair." "Yeah." "I ne an ambulance to, uh, 632 Oxnard." "?" "2BY4's real name is Theodore Durenberger." "Bad-conduct discharge from the ay." "Assault charge from Vegas PD." "He as good as promised he was going to go after Derek." "Yeah, but you guys can't ID him." "And Raines, how's he?" "He'll pull through." "All right, so what, Derek pulls a drive-by on Hunter, and-an2BY4 returns the favor?" "I don't know about that." "Derek grows up in a really rough neighborhoodright?" "He defies the odds all these years, stays out of any real trouble." "Then he pulls off a drive-by execution in front of a crowded club." "I mean, that's a hell of a first step." "Yeah, I'd still like to know what Hunter was working on before he was killed." "We get anywhere with that iPod yet?" "Speak of the devil." "What do you got?" "Got the subpoena." "So, Charlie can run the analysisn the music, but the catch is, the recordings c't leave Center Mass Records." "All right, guys, I'll let them know you're here." "So much for popular culture." "Yo, yo, check this out." "The comic book store's down the street." "I haven't heard of any of these artists." "And it's t like I've been living in a cave." "No, just the space station and a monastery." "And, oh, yeah, the steam tunnels." "All right, point taken." "This iProfessor Eppes and Fleinhardt." "They're the ones who'llctually be doing the analysis." "Hey." "Pleasure." "Hey." "Sorry you had to come all the way down here." "It's just, uh, I'm kind of nervous." "These albums are set to drop in a couple weeks, and..." "I don't want tlet them out of my sight." "No proem." "We totally understand." "Good." "Well, Kilo here should be able to help you with everything you need." "Thank you." "All right, see you later, guys." "Follow me." "So, I, uh..." "All right." "Well, I guess we'll just, uh..." "Is it okay if we sit up here?" "I know you, you know." "You know me?" "No." "You" "Eppes." "I bought your book." "The one on making friends." "Oh, my goodness." "Uh, did it help you out at all?" "I'm a fairly charismatic guy to begin with, you know what I mean?" "Now, this here is Reese." "And that cat there, that's Repete." "They're gonna run the joints for us." "We're gonna start with one of Hunter's cuts." "Is that cool?" "Yeah, sure." "Yeah." "let's, uh, kick it off with one of Hunter's joints." "Man, first hibbie's so tight, heads'll be losing they minds while we stack chips like Lays, you heard?" "Yeah." "Oh." "My man." "All right, drop the joint." "Feel the vibe?" "Sugar, you want to get with the playa, just say so." "You ain't gotta be chasing me around like this." "Thanks, yeah," "I'll make a note of it." "You go for a drive earlier today?" "Maybe by Derek Raines's house?" "Yeah, I heard someone 'bout put his punk ass down." "But you had nothing to do with it, right?" "Nothing you could prove." "Yeah, well, wh if it hit Nina?" "You think you'd be showing" "Hunter some great respect by capping his wife?" "If Nina was at Derek's, bitch gets what she deserves." "Sleeping with the enemy." "Not with us, against us, know what I'm saying?" "?" "" "Loveo talk some mo, but life is calling." "I gotta roll." "?" "" "I don't forget being shot at, okay?" "Next time I come to see you, you are done." "?" "I'm sorry." "Just for clarification here, please." "You know, earlier we said that being "corrupt" was a good thing." "But now here, suddenly it carries this, uh, negative connotation." "It's not about what you say, it's about how you say it, right, Kilo?" "Look at the Professor dropping' knowledge." "Hey, maybe you ought to come through the lab one day, lay down some friendship math rhymes." "Oh." "Trust me, I don't think either of us wants to hear that happen." "Hey, you what?" "I think I have it." "I" " I think we got whate need." "Okay, well, thank you for the education." "No doubt, my man." "Okay." "Uh..." "Word!" "The hit prediction algorithm from Hunter's iPod correlates, within a fairly narrow range, with how commercially successful a song will be over 80% of the time." "The problem is, 2BY4's songs invariably fall into the other 20%, so..." "Yeah, you lost me, Charlie." "Okay." "Uh..." "Candy bar, nice." "And..." "What is that?" "Flavored tofu chips." "This is perfect." "So I tested both rappers' music." "Hunter's scored high marks." "His raps are like candy bars." "At least, according to the algorithm, they'rexactly what you'd expect people to want." "They're big sellers." "However, 2BY4's songs scored significantly lower." "So, according to the algorithm, 2BY4's stuff is like musical tofu." "Aah, you stole my punch line." "Ho-Ho-Hold on." "So why do they sell?" "Well, maybe some people like tofu." "Not enough to make him rich, noenough to make him a star." "Oh, no..." "Oh, my dinner." "Uh, bye." "Dad..." "Yeah, no, I'm on my way." "I know. just looked at my watch." "Okay, so maybe 2BY4 found out, right?" "And he was scared that Hunter would out him." "You knowtell the world his music was crap?" "So you're tnking you can make a case against... for doing Hunter?" "I don't know." "I just never sold on Derek as the killer." "And keeping Hunter quiet would definitely be a strong motivator." "Right." "With Hunter gone, 2BY4 becomes the nuer one act at the label, and tofu or not, the son of a bitch was soaking up the spotlight today." "Okay, run with it, see what we get." "Hey, Colb, so, you talk to Megan?" "I left messages for her on her home machine and her cell, but I haven't heard anything back." "There was a minimal probability that we'd be late." "I" " I don't know how I let this happen." "Charlie, there's nothing you can do about it right now, so just breathe and relax." "Last thing you want to do is show up late and sweaty." "Come on." "Yeah." "Hi." "Good evening." "Hey, listen." "I'm, uh, really very sorry." "I started what I thought was going to be a very simple, um, plumbing repair." "And before I knew it, I was up to my knees." "My sincere apologies." "Oh, it's quite all right." "Our clocks are still getting used to the time change ourselves." "Mom, this is Charlie's father, Alan." "And, uh, these are my parents, pti and Sanjay." "It's nice to meet you both." "Nice to meet you too." "And, uh, is, obviously, is Charlie." "Hi." "It's a real pleasure to meet both of you." "I've been looking forward to meeting you for quite some time." "And us, you, believe me." "Okay, well, why don't we all sit down." "Charlie." "All righ." "I'm sorry..." "What?" "He's even cuter in person." "We worry about Amita, especially now that our work has us spending so much time back in Delhi." "It's a great comfort knowing there are people here that really care about her." "Very much." "Oh, ye, we all do." "Having raised two boys, let me tell you, it's a real treat to have Amita around." "It's very impressive, Charlie, all that you've accplished." "Oh, thank you, tnk you." "You know, Amita's been a big part of a lot of it." "Well, you're going to make some lucky girl very happy someday." "Amita!" "Oh, my God, Kapil?" "!" "Ah...?" "Hi!" "Oh, my God, look at you." "What a surprise!" "I's so good to see you!" "It's been a long time." "Yes!" "Charlie, Alan, this is Kapil." "Um..." "I've known him pretty much forever." "We grew up together." "How you doing?" "I'm Alan..." "Look at you!" "I hope it's okay." "We're going to be in town such a short period of time, and when we found out Kapil was going to be here on business, too, we couldn't not see him." "We invited him to join us for desert." "Yeah, no, of course." "I'm gonna go grab a chair." "It's so good to see you." "Do you live here?" "I'm thinking about relocating.?" "I got an offer from UCLA Medical, and I think I'm gog to take it." "?" " m moving over here. ' I got to get out to the West Coast." "Really?" "Yeah, I just love it out here." "It's such a nice surprise, you guys." "I don't care what the doctor said!" "And I don't care what orders the FBI left!" "I want to see him!" "Let me through!" "Mrs. Hunter..." "Theyon't let me see Derek!" "Ok, talk to them." "Tell them who I am." "Okay, first thg you need to do is calm down." "Thanks for the call." "I got it n." "Why don't you tell me what's going on?" "What happened?" "I didn't come here to talk to you." "I came here to talk to Derek." "Come on." "Understand now?" "H's in no shape to talk to anyone." "Mrs. Hunter, what's going on?" "You found something out, didn't you?" "I don't know." "Is that your husband's computer?" "Is there something on there I should know about?" "Mrs. Hunter, plee." "You have to trust me." "Why would I trust you?" "I don't even know you." "If you know something about Hunter's death, or you know what he was working on, you have to tell me." "I don't have to tell you anything." "You owe it to your husband." "Don't you tell me what I owe my huand." "You don't know anything about us." "Hey, how you doing?" "You all right?" "I was thinking we should duck you into the ER, have somebody check you out." "I'm fine... fine." "I played it wrong, Colby." "I said the wrong things." "I talked to the bomb squad." "Um, it wasn't a sophisticated device." "It was tied to the ignition." "She turned the k, and, uh, boom." "Still, that's a little above 2BY4's pay grade, n" "He had some military training." "I mean, it could have included demolitions." "?" "" "?" "You okay?" "Yeah." "It's the laptop Nina wasarrying." "I got the feeling she knew something." "She figured out what Hunter was working on." "um?" "is thing is pretty trashed." "We'll have to see what the lab can salvage from it." "Sinclair." "I'll be right up." "Good-bye." "In there?" "What are you doing?" "What does it loolike, man?" "How far do you think you'll get before you're back in here?" "Far enough to do right by Hunter and Nina." "Don't..." "Don't do this." "Okay, man, don't fall into this now." "Ain't no fall, man." "I was pushed." "Itas a disaster." "It was an unmitigated disaster." "I mean, no other way to explain it." "Oh, come on." "It couldn't have been that bad." "You should've seen this guy." "I mean, he was handsome." "He was, like, tall with the perfect hair, the perfect teeth." "Hmm..." "He was like a Hindu Adonis." "Really?" "Oh, dear." "And did I mention he's a doctor?" "Because Amita's mother certainly did." "Alan, you're just in time." "Give us some objectivity." "I think Charlie may be overreacting." "Did he use the word "disaster?"" "Numerous times." "It was a disaster." "Thank you." "Oh, hey." "Excellent." "Charlie..." "Can you do me a favor?" "Take a look at this." "We think it's a spreadsheet for Center Mass." "Okay." "What are all those holes in the data?" "It's from a messed-up hard drive." "It's the best the lab could do." "But I figure, maybe, you can fill it in." "We may not need to fill it in to know what we're looking at here." "You're thinking of a Groebner basis?" "It's used regularly used in long-distance astrophotography- those amazing images we get from the Hubble." "Sure." "It's a way to ier the missing information without having all the data." "You know, like, uh, remember when were kids, and we used to sit in the cheap seats at Dodger Stadium, under the Jumbotron?" "It wasn't because the seats were cheap." "It was the best place to catch a home run ball." "Oh, yeah." "We had gloves on." "Oh, yeah." "The point is, we couldn't e the screen because we were sitting under it." "were too close." "Right?" "So think of your missing information as burned-out panels on the Jumbotron." "At that range, at a data level, it's impossible to know what the panels should be." "Using the Groebner basis is like sitting way back, and seei the screen from the box seats." "Despite the missing information, we can see the overall picture." "We can see what the system is, and once we understand the system, we're far better equipped to fill in the holes." "Yeah, yeah." "Okay." "How about you take it with you?" "Yeah." "Hey, what's, um, going on with Megan?" "I assume she arranged for time off." "That's what I'm talking about." "Is it something I need to be worried about?" "No." "She..." "Sh's fine." "She's back in New York." "Listen, more I dare notay." "Well, I willlear." "Theodore Durenberger." "This is the FBI!" "We have a warrant!" "You have one minute to show yourself beforee enter by force." "Liz, got athing around back?" "All clear." "Think I'm scared of you?" "!" "Like I'm so bitch?" "!" "You got a warrant?" "!" "Let me see your warrant!" "I want protection." "You want what?" "I want help." "Take me in." "Derek's out, man." "He's gunning for me." "Please?" "You can' let him get me." "Yo, be cool!" "These jakes can't hold me." "I'll be out in an hour!" "Word up!" "Hey, Charlie." "Hey." "Hi." "I think that went really well last night, don't you?" "Yeah." "I think my parents really liked you." "Oh, they're sweet, and the food was good." "Yeah, it was, wasn't it?" "Mm-hmm." "Did you get to try Kapil's pomegranate tart?" "Actually, I, uh..." "I couldn't get spoon in edgewise." "Amita, I have toun." "I have to go drop off some results for Don..." "Charlie, is something wrong?" "Um, let's think." "A guy shows up in the middle of our dinner." "Pretty much sweeps you ofyour feet." "Uh, wha- you can't seriously be jlous about Kapil." "Of course not." "He's only handsome and successful, and he makes you... giddy." "Charlie, he's gay." "Oh." "Well, how the hell was I supposed to know that?" "You're right." "I guess you couldn't." "Which means the whole thing must have seemed really bad." "I'm so sorry." "So... do your parents know that Kapil's gay?" "I don't know." "Probably not." "Oh, my..." "They were trying to set me up with him." "This is whack." "You don't need to trt me like a criminal." "I came in voluntarily, remember?" "Yeah, well, because you're scared." "The thing I don't understand is, I thought you were supposed to be this tough guy, right?" "This hard-ass." "Oh, man..." "Look, I was playing a part, all right?" "Going through the motions to sell some records." "Two murders?" "An attempted third at Derek's house?" "That's "going through the motions"?" "What murders?" "All we did was spray down" "Derek's house a little." "Had to meet my fans' expectations." "What about" "Hunter and Nina?" "Everyone knows Derek did Hunter." "Nina?" "I got nothing there." "All right, you know what?" "Cut him loose." "Derek can have him." "Come on, let'go." "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait!" "What about Blanchard?" "He and Hunter were fighting over money." "Hunter said he was being ripped off." "Blanchard has an alibi." "Does Kilo?" "Blanchard's shadow, big, massive cat- does whatever Blanchard says." "Yeah, but you got the bomb training." "Kilo handles all the pyrotechnics for the music videos." "Dude loves to blow stuff up." "Don't listen to me." "Neither did Derek." "Wait a minute." "You told Derek that Kilo killed Nina?" "Hell yeah, I did." "Dude called me, said he's coming to kill me." "You think I'm gonna keep that a secret?" "Don't move." "Looks like our boy 2BY4 handed Kilo over to Derek." "So you coordinate with LAPD." "I got Kilo and you guys the record label, all right?" "All right." "Let's go." "Now, if Blanchard stole Hunte's money, then he only has two options, right?" "Either he pays him back..." "Or he has him killed." "Yeah." "Right." "Hey, I figured it out." "y, come on." "Tell us in the elevator." "Okay." "Umso remember we were stumped by 2BY4's record sales?" "According to the algorithm, his music shouldn't be selling." "Yeah, the musical tofu?" "Right, those spreadsheets you gave me belonged to Center Mass, but they weren't meant for anyone to see." "What do you an?" "It's an accounting log." "It's a list of payola." "Blanchard's been paying off radio stations to play 2BY4's rap." "You flood the airways enough, people will buy anything." "That explains why 2BY4's muc's so popular." "Where did Blanchard get e money he used?" "He skimmed it off the artists' percentages." "Right, so en he was stealing from Hunter, right?" "Wait, wait, hold on- where are you going?" "Well, I have more to tell you." "That's all right." "You can just call me, okay?" "Hey, man, I took the FBI training course." "All right, I'm more than qualified to ride with you." "You got to put this." "Awesome." "Don't, Kilo." "You're done." "Oh, man, he to- he took Blanchard." "Derek?" "Ooh, I got him." "I got him good." "Yeah, just like you got Hunter and Nina?" "Eppes." "Don, Derek hit the record label." "He's got Blanchard." "Looks like they took off in Blanchard's car." "And Kilo?" "We got him and the gun that" "I'm guessing is going to tie him to Hunter's murder." "Wait, what?" "!" "Kilo killed Hunter?" "Why?" "I just n't believe that Kilo would do that." "What about Derek?" "Any idea where he's headed?" "No, not a clue." "Well, listen." "If we can t him on his cell phone and keep him on long enough, we can track him, right?" "All right." "It's just a suggestion." "Okay, we're all s up." "I've got Derek's cell number." "All right, dial it up, patch us through." "David, you've got the most juice with this guy, so try keeping him on the line, all right?" "All right, I'll do what I can." "We're dialing." "All right, I'going on mute." "Who's this?" "Derek, it's Agent Sinclair." "I don't want to talk to you, Sinclair." "I right, then how about you just listen, okay?" "It's not too late to turn this thing around." "Kilo's going to be fine." "You haven't killed anybody yet." "That's about to change." "Blanchard, he had Hunter and Nina killed." "This has got to be." "All right, guys, we got him." "They're headed east on Washington near LaBrea." "I these years, you've kept it about the music." "You stayed clean." "And for what, huh?" "What was the payoff?" "I got to stop kidding myself." "No, no- don't throw it away like this." "Derek, don't it." "You should listen to them, Derek." "Shut your mouth!" "They're turning onto Crenshaw." "Going south." "All right, got it." "Don't throw it away." "I'm done hearing you, Sinclair." "I'm hanging up." "Wait!" "Hey, Derek, don't hang up." "Not yet." "Who's this?" "You don't know me, but I have information for you, all right?" "I know why your music isn't selling like it should." "What're you talking about, man?" "It's Blanchard." "Just like he's been paying radio stations to play 2BY4's music, he's been payg them not to play yours." "You been suppressing me, man?" "That's what I was going to tell you." "Hunter found the proof and now I have it." "You've been holding me bk?" "!" "Why?" "'Cause I wouldn't sign to your little corny-ass label?" "Yo, Derek, we can make is all good, man." "All right?" "I can fix this thing." "Don, they're now east on Adams." "Look, I'm done talking to y'all." "I'm tired." "Derek." "I'm hanging up." "Derek!" "Don, signal's gone." "Weost him." "Last we d, they were east on Adams." "Sorry, man, I tried to keepim on long enough." "I think I kn where they're headed." "Yo, Derek, you look real bad, man." "Let me get you to the hospital." "Shut your mouth." "Just go where I told you." "Yo, D, man, just imagine." "All right?" "We join forces..." "Man... you can have it all, D." "It's too late." "Nah, it's too late for all of that." "It's over for Hunter and Nina." "Now, it's over for you." "Stop the car." "Just stay in the car!" "Okay." "Derek!" "Do you hear me?" "!" "Derek!" "You think you can jump out this car before I bust a cap in your head?" "I can't make them out." "Just keep dialing." "This is stupid, Derek." "What a waste." "What you did to Hunter was a waste!" "Man, it was business." "He was going to bring the whole damn label down." "What about Nina, huh?" "That hurt me, too." "All right, but... the ball was in motion." "I couldn't stop it." "He's got something in his hand!" "No, it's okay!" "Don't shoot!" "It's just a recorder!" "got it." "I got it all." "Get out of the car!" "Get out!" "Wh'd you think I was gonna do?" "It's ok." "You did good." "Hey, you been at the hospital?" "Yeah." "Guy's either tough or lucky, or maybe he's a little bit of both, but, uh... he's gonna pull onhrough." "No way of tting around what he did, though." "He's definitely going away." "Not forever, though." "Yeah." "I'll catch up with you later." "Hey." "Hey." "So I just got off the phone with your girlfriend in the U.S. Attorney's Office." "Oh, did you?" "She's putting together a deal for 2BY4." "What's he got?" "Says he has info on Blanchard's drug business." "Time will tell." "All right." "What's the matter?" "You worried about Megan?" "I don't know." "I mean, she'll be back tomorrow, we'll see." "Probably just needed a little break." "Everybody does once in a while." "Hey, guys, so David's bailing on me." "Anyone up for grabbing a beer?" "Oh, I would, but I'm hooking up with Robin." "Leaves just the two of us, huh, Granger?" "Well, go f it." "He's not going to mess with you." "Yeah, I'm just heading out to this little dive honky-tonk in the valley." "You know, me and my eps." "Ah!" "All right, curiosity's killing me." "All right, I'm in." "All right." "Okay." "Here we go." "What is this?" "You baked us cookies?" "Yes." "I did." "Aw." "Because I feel..." "Amita, you don't have to pay penance for what happened at dinner last night." "It wasn't your fault." "Oh, now, Dad, don't let her off the hook so easy" "My abject suffering is worth a lot more than cookies." "don't know, Charlie." "These cookies are awfully good." "Thank you, Alan." "Charlie." "Hey." "Uh, yeah, come on in." "Hi." "What are you guys doing here?" "Amita, we wanted to talk to you before we flew out again." "Charlie, I think we should give them some privacy." "No, no, that's okay." "Stay." "No problem at all." "Actually, I wanted to alogize to everyone for how awkward things were last night." "But, Mom, the problem isn't that things were awkward." "The problem is that you tried to set me up with Kapil." "Kapil comes from a wonderful family, and we've known his parents a long time." "I'm sorry, but you're lobbying for Kapil right here in my house." "No, not at all." "What Tapti was going to say is that we arranged for Kapil to be there, and, yes, it was our intention." "But this was befo we met Charlie." "And that's your defense?" "That's a pretty good defense, when you think about it." "Until last night, we didn't realize how well you'd done for yourself." "Thank you." "Why don't we all just come in and sit down?" "We would, Alan, but we can't." "Our flight's early." "Yeah." "Okay, well, I'll walk you guys out, then." "Yes." "Hey, listen, it was really nice to finally meet both of you." "All right." "Have a safe flight." "Thk you." "Yeah, once again, even briefly." "Good night." "Good-bye." "So whado you think?" "Hmm?" "'m in?" "Oh, yeah, you're in." "Yeah, but you must realize, of course, that now you have to marry her." "I think I'll have one of those cookies now." "Listen to :" "Thin Lizzy"