Original subtitles

J-1: 32 of the best international players are gathered here, engaged in a fight to

determine who will have the honor of facing the reigning world champion.

J-2: Yes, the air is electric here at the Embassy Hotel

where the contenders tournament takes place,

and I might as well tell you that things aren't going to

calm down over the next 7 days. J-1: Indeed, the competition is ready to go

and all the teams are here.

The entire place will rock with the rhythms of this week's losses.

Hold on, I'm being signaled that the referees are going to kick it off.

REFEREE WOO: Blacks, start the clocks. Let's go!

PAUL: (William, let's see the more important match,

Shun Naito vs. Mikael Koroleva!) WILLIAM: (Okay.)

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hMIKAEL KOROLEVA

SHUN NAITO\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h

(Oh, excuse me!)

IVANA KORLEVA

PANICKED MURMURS

IVANA: Mikael? Mikael? Mikael? What is it?

PAUL: Move back, I'm a doctor!

- What's wrong with him?

- Sir? Look at me. Look at me! Can you hear me?

Sir, move your head if you hear me.

Sir? Stay with me!

Can you let me know you hear me?

- (Is he?)

- I'm sorry.

William. Call your woman friend, the cop. - Technically, Astrid's not a cop-

- (I'm not kidding.) I have good reason to believe that this man was poisoned.

ANNE: I'm in prison, he lives with his uncle.

He's separated from his brother.

Niels had to get through some very difficult times you know.

- Oh.

- So, when I heard you offered to take care of him...

- A night, a night only. Tuesday.

- Yes, I know, Astrid.\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h

BISHOP SACRIFICE

- It's already\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h extraordinary.\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h

You don't realize what it means to him.

- Mm-mmm.

I'm not against it.

- I had my brother on the phone,

he'll drop Niels off Tuesday at 7 pm.

He will pick him up Wednesday at 8 am to take him to school.

- Tuesday is tomorrow. - Yes.

Are you sure you want to do this, Astrid?

I know what this kind of situation costs you.

- I have never been responsible for anyone else.

- I trust you, Astrid.

- You were there? - I never miss a chess competition.

I hope I'm wrong, but I'm almost certain I identified signs of poisoning.

- It's crazy! Paul really likes chess!

Whereas, normally it's me who... Oh! A bit of a stereotype, isn't it?

- Emergency Services are here, preparing to move the body.

- Ladies and gentlemen? Don't touch anything-- police. Thank you.

- We don't have a rogatory letter.* * JUDGE'S REQUEST FOR COOPERATION

- Yes, but they don't know that, Astrid.

- Yes.

ARNAUD: I remind you that I am the tournament president.

- Yes, so I was told. - So I'm responsible here.

BRIGHTLY - Yes, I know.

- So I require that you have documents attesting to

your legitimacy to act on the premises. - So, as I already told you, sir, um...

we had an administrative dispute but, I just had my superior on the phone,

I can confirm to you that we have the prosecutor's approval.

Thank you, goodbye. - Yes. Except as authorized.

You are not authorized. - (That, I understood.)

- Yes, I lied.

I'm begging you, Fournier: tell me this was criminal,

or the Commissioner will be very, very angry.

FOURNIER: No, your opinion's not wrong.

The symptoms are of poisoning by botulinum toxin.

- It is the most devastating poison in the world, a few nanograms

are enough to cause paralysis leading to death in just a few seconds.

- Absolutely, that's it, it's the underlying cause.

How'd they infect him? No poison was found in his glass of water.

And he had nothing else before his death.

- He administered it himself. His nails:

FOURNIER: Hmm? - They're shortened, meaning that

he often had them in his mouth.

It was enough to poison an object that he touched regularly.

RAPHAELLE: Like the chess pieces. Put that down right now! Nico!

FOURNIER: A bag, put it in a bag!

And your gloves.

NICOLAS: Astrid, if your theory is correct,

the culprit had to know Koroleva would have White.

Well, that's assigned by the referee at the start of each match.

Please?

Could you come over?

- What are you insinuating, that the referee tampered

with the outcome of the draw? - Cmdr Coste is making no insinuation.

She only formulated a hypothesis as part of the investigation.

- Uh, it's that- Mr Woo always brings the pieces to the stage for our federation.

He is irreprochable.

- Could you answer for us how all this unfolded, please?

- Yes. I did the usual coin flip, heads to the older player, Mr Naito,

and tails to the younger, Mr Koroleva.

I took my choosing coin, the same one I've had for 15 years,

always in my right pocket. Look.

Th- there's a problem.

CARL: Two tails.

- It had to have been swapped before the match.

The referee didn't notice anything.

We'll keep looking for his game coin. He had access to the pieces.

- Has Forensics confirmed the presence of poison on the chess piece?

- Yes.

- And that one? - It was in the victim's pocket.

- Also poisoned? - Not at all.

Evidently it's a piece that wasn't part of the game.

I don't know, it's a gray area.

NORAH: The victim's coach is in the interview room.

She's his sister; she's a little shaken up.

- I'll see her. - Great. Thank you.

- I've never seen it. I'm sorry.

It's some kind of lucky charm or something, right?

- Mikael didn't have a lucky charm.

He worked non-stop to be the best.

I should have been more attentive.

But he was usually calm and concentrating before the match.

That morning he was angry, stressed.

Almost aggressive.

- Do you think he knew he was in danger?

- That someone was threatening his well being, yes.

No wonder, given his own craziness.

For everyone else it was a struggle.

- So you're saying he could've been killed by a rival?

We're talking about chess-- excuse me, sorry, but

it's kind of light as a motive for murder, don't you think?

- Do you think a million dollars is 'light'?

That's the prize for the world champion.

Any other questions?

I played too. Believe me.

Chess is more than a game for the players in this tournament.

Playing is an obsession.

It's their whole life.

I know many who would be ready to kill for that.

- I thank you. - Thanks.

- Impossible.

TETSUO: What's impossible?

- Planning enough configurations in advance,

so that you can make the right decision.

For every shot I make,

you can respond with countless ripostes.

OK-- I can respond, but not to dozens that you could make.

I can't put together a mental decision tree.

- You make diagrams to prepare yourself for difficult conversations.

But this situation is totally different.

- So how can you?

- Perhaps, it is necessary to play without anticipating my moves.

You have to think about the range of the moves you can make,

creating an intimacy with the adversary.

PAUL: (I say that in the world of chess

you can learn more about someone in 2 hours of play

than in 20 years of friendship.)

(Naito, for example. He's a tricky player, who likes long games,

smothering the adversary bit by bit.)

(Like a boa.)

(He's playing Matt Brown, an American blitz expert,

he's out in the open, very aggressive.)

(Wesley Ramos, a Filipino.)

(Undoubtedly one of the most creative players on the circuit.)

(Ramesh Matil, from India.)

(Amos Pegnoir, the king of simultaneous games in parallel tournaments.)

(Last year he played 5 players at the same time. He beat them blindfolded.)

(Luis Dumuraille, the positional* archetype.) * CONTROL OF KEY POSITIONS

(Always favors defense over attack, not even worrying about it.)

(He lets his opponents exhaust themselves before showing his hand.)

- Mm-mmm! Something- - (Shh, sh-shh!)

- (Something is wrong.)

(Naito is looking at his watch, he's not concentrating.)

He's a foreign player, maybe he forgot to adjust it when he came here.

- (Mm-mmm. He hides it up his sleeve.)

(Every time he checks the time, it shows times that don't make sense.)

- (She's right. He adjusted it to say 7:45.)

- (Yes. And 3 minutes read 3 pm,

the time before at 6:20 am, the time before 7:18.)

- (It's a code, right?) - (Mm-hmm.)

- (What's the point of sending information with his watch?)

- (It's the chess pieces! 8 columns, 8 rows.)

(I know what he's transmitting.)

(If he uses the hours, minutes, and seconds hands

he must be able to communicate any position for any piece.

- (If the victim discovered this cheating, that makes for a hell of a motive, right?)

- (Uh, yes! Especially since the penalty for cheating is equivalent to

ten years' suspension. It would mean certain professional death.)

(No cheater could return from such a ban.)

- (Norah.)

(If a player receives information via a connected watch,

is there a way to know from whom?)

- (I think so.) - (Okay.)

- (5:12)

- Hello! Crime Squad.

I need immediate access to this computer.

- You know, it's often slow going.

- Not for me.

Commander? - I'm listening.

- There's an encrypted wi-fi connection,

though no specific devices are connected to the network.

This could be it.

The info being sent can't be seen, the encryption is too complex.

But I can tell you where it is.

Room 316.

A computer sending commands though not connected to the network.

- Thanks.

RAPHAELLE: POLICE! NICOLAS: HERE! MOVE IT!

- I'm not doing anything!

"I can explain!"

- There are actually 3 of you playing Matt Brown:

you; Shun Naito; and-

- An artificial intelligence.

RAPHAELLE: Connected to Naito's watch.

- Check.

- He's abandoned.

- Oh yeah, that's for sure.

It's harder to win without your computer.

- We'll grab him before he gets to his room.

Take care of him.

They said 307? WATCH IT!

- There it is.

- POLICE! OPEN UP!

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- POLICE!

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- POLICE!\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- NAITO!

- No.

Shit!

FOURNIER: Ugh. It's not suicide, Coste.

He was held by the wrists, and hematomas on his midsection.

No, in my opinion he was beaten up and then pushed.

- The safeguards on the window of Naito's room

were removed so that it could be opened wide.

It's preparation that took time. We're not just dealing with murder,

but with premeditation.

- Nico... the maintenance guy.

The one you bumped into.

- That could be him. Yes. - Yeah, it could be, right?

ASTRID: Dr Fournier? - Yes?

On his throat. It looks like swelling, look in his mouth.

It looks like something is in his throat.

- What is that...?

Here we go...

Holy cow, what's this?

- Good cow.

A queen.

CARL: The pieces are red, is that a signature?

- In any case, it's a link.

Tomorrow everyone with red pieces on them--

a bishop,

and a queen.

- That looks like a series.

- Astrid is searching for elements that would explain this.

- And the maintenance man in the corridor, anything new?

- We found out he was hired by the hotel 15 days ago.

He's a discreet employee, no issues, nothing.

- 15 days gave him enough time to study the place,

meaning that he had access to everything behind the scenes at the establishment.

Perfect for rigging a window or poisoning chess pieces.

- We discovered Naito was given a different room at the last minute.

I think he arranged for him to get the room with the tampered window.

- You've done very well. Why isn't he in custody?

We checked his identity and found nothing.

He got hired with false ID.

We found his fingerprints in the staff areas, he's not on file.

- We need to find answers, Nicolas.

This case is already in the headlines. - I know, Commissioner.

- There's no section where we see his face?

- It's like he knows where all the surveillance cameras are.

A real ghost.

We can see parts of his face on older videos, but they'll be harder to exploit.

- What in the world? Shit.

- What do you mean, 'our investigation started 2 years ago, not yesterday'?

- Raphaëlle, I didn't say 2 years ago,

I said 26 months ago. - BEGRUDGING Yes.

- Two years and 2 months.

- Do you see Niels this evening? - Yes.

- Are you okay? - I don't know.

- I mean... how are you approaching it?

Even if I anticipate Niels' presence in my apartment from a logistical point of view,

I don't know how I will succeessfully manage social interactions

with someone his age for an entire evening.

- He's a kid. - Exactly.

I acquired a number of scenarios and social skills

to be able to interact with all neurotypical people.

Only...

Children constitute a category of people who are difficult to understand,

with which I struggle to find the appropriate tone,

and appropriate responses.

- Astrid, I'm sure it will go well. - Raphaelle...

You can't be certain.

- Ah- - Back to the investigation please.

- Yes, of course.

- Marcus Koenig is a former chess player

who left the professional circuit 8 years ago.

He was found dead from asphyxiation at his home on July 16, 2020.

What got my attention when I scanned this folder-- and I know the folder--

is that despite traces of fibers taken from Marcus Koenig's throat,

indicating being suffocated on his couch,

his body was found sitting on a chair in the middle of the room.

- Mm-hmm.\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h : :

He was moved.

- Irrefutably.

The investigation did not reach a determination.

But what caught my attention today is what is found in the background.

- Mm-hmm?

- Come see.

Look: on the desk, there.

- A red piece? - Correct.

With the facts at the time, investigators had no reason to pay attention to this detail,

it is only put into perspective with the two red pieces found at our crime scene.

There is a cluster of consistent clues which seems

to indicate that we are not dealing with 2, but 3 murders.

- So our case began 2 years ago? - Mm-mmm!

- 26 months. - Mm-hmm! Yes.

RAPHAELLE: You got my message? - Yeah.

I found quite a few things about this Marcus Koenig on sites dedicated to chess.

He'd left the scene because of quite severe depression,

and lived as a recluse at home or in a nursing home.

- Did you find a link to the victims? - Well... hundreds!

They played together all the time.

They're in the same clubs, the same circles.

Even if the chess world isn't very big, there are tons of connections.

- Where are we with the chess pieces?

Is it a signature? It'd be nice to find their symbolic meaning.

Except chess is older than the bible, the symbolism is definite.

For the Russians the rook represents a boat.* * MOVES HORIZ, UNLTD DISTANCE

In cosmology the queen embodies the changing soul.

And the symbolic links between chess and Freemasonry are too many to count.

NORAH: Commander?

Maybe a new link between the two victims at the tournament.

- Oh, it's light, but totally worth it.

- 'Light' how? - Between 15 and 25 g.

The morning they died, Koroleva and Naito received packages

at the hotel from the same shipping company.

The receipts indicate weights of less than 30g.

What do you think? - Chess pieces.

Wait-- do you think the killer sent the red pieces by parcel?

- It explains why Koroleva had been so irritable.

Hold on-- these pieces; they aren't a signature.

They're threats.

- Well, if that’s the case you need to get to the hotel as fast as possible.

Ivana Koroleva just got a package. - (Shit. Quickly.)

Hello.

Ivana Koroleva's room, please.

MAN: Koroleva? - Yes.

- Quickly please.

- Uh... 504.

But you won't find her in her room, she must be at the pool, she goes there every day.

Just past the spa!

CRACKLING, BUZZING ELECTRICITY

CRIES OUT

- Ivana? No no no no, - Hold on...

don't move; I know, I know... What do we do?

- Ivana? - Ivana?

(Shit.)

NICOLAS: Send an ambulance to the Embassy Hotel, right now!

RAPHAELLE: Yes, yes... there.

RAPHAELLE: Oh! Yes, thanks. (Thanks.)

- The contents of Ivana's package. Norah was right.

What does Emergency Services say?

She's stable. She's still unconscious.

On her way to the hospital.

- The killer deactivated all the lockers. Except this one.

She swims, she comes to put on her clothes.

She enters the code to open it, triggering the electrocution device.

RAPHAELLE: Very elaborate. NICOLAS: Yeah.

As we'd expect.

So the killer knew Ivana's habits.

- 'C4.'

Rook.

Rook to C4.

I-I understand.

- Wait, we don't understand- Astrid?

- Here.

Numbers are assigned to columns, and letters to rows.

When Mikael Koroleva was poisoned,

he was sitting at C1.

And Naito-san fell from the 3rd floor,

from 1, 2, 3-- the 4th window from the left.

1, 2, 3-- A, B, C, D.

D3. He fell from D3.

Each murder corresponds to a chess piece on a square:

knight F2, bishop C1,

queen D3, rook C4.

Raphaelle?

The killer isn't writing in code.

He's playing . Hmm-hmm!

RAPHAELLE: We've linked the 4 victims.

- Mm-hmm!\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h

A chess match.

Each letter-number references the position of a piece on the board.

A knight on F2 is for Marcus Koenig.

RAPHAELLE: Koenig's body was moved after he died

to place him on a specific square of carpet:

at the coordinates of... 6th column, 2nd row.

- Mmm.\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h

- F2. ASTRID: Yes.

A bishop at C1 for Mikael Koroleva.

- The position of his table in the competition space.

- A queen on D2 for Shun Naito.

- The culprit got Naito assigned to a room

where the window corresponded.

- Bringing us to C4 for Ivana Koroleva.

RAPHAELLE: The number of the locker with which she was electrocuted

- I think the culprit is reproducing a chess game

from a tournament in which the 4 victims participated.

- But can you imagine the size of the database we'd need?

- Yes. CARL: The number of moves in a game?

Times the number of games in a tournament?

Multiplied by the number of tournaments in a season?

For each country for several years? - Mm-hmm.

Yes, it's very complicated- you're right, as you know.

I know who can help us.

- And here, finally, is 2008.

- I'm a reader, but William is a collector.

- Yes, I keep them all-- but I sort them too, I dunno...

By date, country, type of publication-- almanac, fan magazine...

Thank you for coming to help with this research,

it is going to be much more complicated than finding

a needle in a haystack.

MAX: That's a metaphor, right? - Yes.

it involves finding a chess game that has already been played,

in this case the sequence

a knight on F2, bishop on C1, a queen on D3, rook on C4.

Our search is limited to the period between 2008 and 2013.

2008 was when the first of our 4 victims, Mikael Koroleva, entered a competition,

and 2013 was the date Marcus Koenig ended his career.

- Very well. Right! So...

On the right: all the tournaments in which our 4 players participated.

On the left: all we can eliminate because not all were present.

CLAPS Come on!

- Look at the big tournaments, that's

where they are most likely to be together.

It's all about the chase to get to the International Biennial.

Once you make selections, I'll explain how to read the scorecards.

- See something? What are we looking at?

- Listen, we're making progress.

I'll give you the overview, OK? - Yeah.

- This is a basic knight. I took it from one of the matches.

RAPHAELLE: Mm-hmm... NICOLAS: It's called the Stanton style,

'designed in 1949 by Nathaniel Cook,'

and approved by the International Federation.

- Basic? Yes. - Basic.

They're different from the others, look:

the knight's head is more curved.

On the bishop, it's not as skinny, it has a more, more rounded shape.

And, especially,

we have the message evoked by the color of the queen, bishop, and king.

This is the Slavic style, also called Russian Zagreb.

- Why? - Because it was popular

in the former Soviet bloc.

In 1988, a brand wanted to create- um- a 'people's game' in red,

in the Russian Zagreb style. - Was it a success?

- Not at all. They got lots of feedback, and production stopped.

This set has become almost impossible to find.

- How would you get one?

- They're only available from a dealer on the secondary collectors market.

- OK, so if we find the origin of the pieces...

- We find the killer.

RAPHAELLE: Nico? - Hmm?

RAPHAELLE: The Chess Hut: no.

- Searching in...

- Nico, did you check out Chess Variations?.

- OK, I'll note it.

- Thanks, sorry.

- The Queen's Board.

LAUGHING

- If I'm understanding, at the moment

our two tracks are ineffective.

- Like Sissa's chess board.

- Paul evokes one of the oldest chess legends, let me tell it.

Sissa, an Indian sage, once said

he invented chess at the request of a king

looking for a new way to entertain himself.

In payment for his invention

he simply asked to be paid in grains of rice.

One grain of rice in the 1st square of the first board,

two grains of rice in the 2nd for the second,

four in the 3rd, and so on,

always doubling the number of grains of rice from the previous square,

until all the squares were full.

- A gentle request.

- Except that if you double the grains of rice 64 times,

you get billions of grains.* * 9.2 QUINTILLION GRAINS

- In reality, the request was impossible to satisfy.

- What bothers me the most is that I've gone back over his moves

in all directions with all the possibilities,

and I can't understand the logic.

It's like a move for which there is no response.

- We had to stop our research.

Anne Langlais's brother is dropping Niels at my house tonight at 7.

In 43 minutes. I must not be late, you must never be late.

Oh. Yes, good. Paul and me

will return to the skills workshop to continue the research,

we'll keep you informed-- if we find something relevant.

- Thanks. - No trouble, good evening.

- All right.

KNOCKING

NIELS: Hello, Astrid!

CHARLES: Here we are.

- Niels, you forgot your bag.

- If you need help with the little one, or

if you want me to come pick him up,

if something isn't going as planned-- you have my number.

- Definitely.

- Will you be all right? - ((Ha ah ah.))

I don't know.

Goodbye, sir.

You will sleep there.

- On the couch? - Yes. It is not convertible.

- I can't sleep in dad's room? - Absolutely not.

- Why?

- Because you are not dad.

I'm going to prepare dinner.

- When will it be?

- I have to tell you what to do.

- Well yes, you're the grown-up.

- Oh.

Put your bag there.

And sit on the couch.

There.

Keep it this way.

- Niels--

foods provide essential nutrients

for the proper functioning of the body. - I'm not a fan.

- I don't feel like finishing.

Only...

it is essential to eat to live.

- Why do you move your fingers like that?

- (LAUGHS)

Some call it a 'stereotype.'

I dislike it, I prefer to call it 'stimming.'

A reflexive behavior, which allows me to stimulate

my nervous system and regulate my intensity.

- I didn't understand any of that. - Oh.

I'm not always consciously aware of it.

It calms me down and makes me think.

- And why do you always dress the same?

- For more simplicity.

I have dressed like this since I was a child,

and these materials only moderately bother me.

I cut out all the labels, obviously.

- A- and why do you move your eyes like that?

- I didn't know-

that I move my eyes in a particular way.

I do know...

I don't like looking people in the eye.

I prefer to look at what is around.

I think it's related to the fact that I'm autistic.

That's the first time anyone has asked me that question.

- Shouldn't I ask these questions? Is it bad?

- On the contrary.

There is no question not to be asked.

A question is never indiscreet.

That is your answer.

- That means I can ask you all the questions I want?

- Absolutely. Only--

I don't have to answer. - Nice.

What is 'autistic'?

- There are many definitions.

It's a 'neuro-difference,' a different way of thinking.

I prefer to say that it's a part of my identity.

You should eat.

- OK, but just a little, because it is necessary to live.

- Hmm! All right.

- Want to play a game?

- Mm-mmm. I don't like games.

- Are you saying you never play?

- I play Go with my boyfriend-- only, I lack practice.

- No, not that kind of game. - Oh.

Are you talking about chess?

- No, I'm talking about playing and having fun.

Aren't we children? - Oh.

Do you know the 'Riddle of 9 Dots'?

- 'Riddle of 9 Dots'? Is it good? - Mm-hmm.

Nine points, arranged in a square,

which must be connected using only 4 lines, 1 - 2 - 3 - 4. Hm-hmm!

ASTRID: Hm-hmm! - Easy!

- You went outside the square right off.

- Did you say not to go outside the square?

- On the contrary, the answer is that

you have to go outside the square. Well done, Niels! Mm-hmm.

The first time, Raphaelle took several weeks to solve the 9 dots. LAUGHS

MOBILE VIBRATES Oh.

Yes? - Astrid, Paul has a brilliant idea-- brilliant!

- Oh. - Astrid? Do you remember

the Naito-Brown match, I told you about the simultaneous games?

One player plays several at the same time?

- Yes. WILLIAM: If we can't find the one player,

maybe it's because there were several players.

That is to say, several players playing at once! Isn't it amazing?

- I like it. LAUGHS

We had to go outside the square.

Well done!

I will join you at the social skills workshop immediately to continue the research-

INHALES SHARPLY

- Hello?

- No. I'm not available.

It's 8:30, I can't go to the social skills workshop right now to discuss the research.

- All right, tomorrow morning, as you wish.

- I am responsible.

- Yes, I know.

- Goodbye.

- That's why one match didn't stand out, because it was several at once.

These are probably the last moves by the players in the matches.

- Then we have to get back to the search, with this new criteria.

ALICE: On the bright side, we have less territory to explore.

Simultaneous play is rarer than conventional.

- I found it.

MATCH NIGHT OF QUENTIN DESFRANGES

Mm-hmm!

I found it!

- Well done, Astrid!

This is who the search found: a Quentin Desfranges, here.

- 10 years ago this young man was an outsider on the French circuit.

20 years old, he had crazy computing power.

His play was instinctive, and therefore unpredictable.

- The kind of player capable of playing 4 matches at once,

and hold his own, as they say. - Mm-hmm.

ANGELE: He did this on the sidelines of the contenders tournament in 2013

in Toronto, a simultaneous game against 4 opponents.

- The group of victims.

Koenig, Naito, and the Koroleva brother and sister.

- He beat all of them.

And each of these maths have the moves we were looking for:

knight to F2; bishop to C1; queen to D3; rook to C4.

MAX: Except it went on too long.

He was having fun all night, until he was exhausted.

- So much so that when Quentin got in his car to return to the hotel,

he had an accident which prevented him from continuing the tournament--

in which he was the favorite.

- It ended his career.

- And he never returned to competition later?

- Mm-mmm. The after-effects of his accident turned out to be irreversible.

Quentin Desfranges never appeared in a competition again,

or any chess event.

- So if I may summarize...

on the one hand,

a prodigy's career was shattered by a car accident.

And on the other, his last 4 opponents are murdered 10 years later.

- It's starting to look a lot like revenge, isn't it?

- Good job. Thanks.

You think he's the one you bumped into at the hotel?

NICOLAS: Hard to say.

How do we know that’s really Quentin Desfranges?

He didn't make a fuss when we went to arrest him, now he's cooperating.

Really polite.

- And he does computer maintenance? - Yes.

A shop called If That.

- Good. And... he has alibis for each of the murders?

- Apparently.

CCTV shows him in his shop at the times of the crimes.

- Could he have doctored the video? - We're waiting for verification.

And a search warrant. - Okay.

Let's do this? - Yeah.

- You mean you have no memory of the match before your accident?

- No. No, sorry.

When I woke up in the hospital I was totally disoriented,

it took me a few days to come to my senses; still not completely.

That was 10 years ago. - Any aftereffects?

- I'm not good at too many things at the same time.

The surgeon who took care of me there told me that I was lucky

to escape an accident without having any aftereffects.

I have a cane...

- And chess?

- Yeah...

Yeah, I'm afraid to play.

At that level, anyway.

Something broke in here.

An irreversible brain injury.

Is that why you summoned me?

Because you have information about what happened that evening?

- No. No, no, it's because of what's happened to so many entrants this year-

KNOCKING DOOR OPENS

- Excuse me, Commander, I thought you should have this information right away.

Your shop, Sissa Games.

I thought it was in reference to the computing power of computers.

You haven't always been a computer store, have you?

- No.

No, no, basically it was a store specializing in chess and strategy.

But it didn't make it. Not modern enough.

- So that's why you found yourself with stock on your hands.

- Yes...

Why are you asking all these questions?

- Do you know, stock is kind of my thing.

When I worked in insurance I always found what I was looking for.

Things we hide.

That we haven't reported.

Exciting, stock .

- Was that made in 1988?

A red Russian Zagreb.

NORAH: More important is what's inside.

Four pieces are missing.

A knight, a bishop, a rook, and a queen.

RAPHAELLE: The 4 pieces found on the victims, Mr Desfranges.

- Are you sure it's him? - There is a series of things we can mention.

- Well, do you have any proof?

- Norah thinks the CCTV from his shop has been tampered with.

- All we have is tampering?

- Yes, it's difficult to prove.\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h

It's not complicated to tamper with the times on this kind of video,

especially for a computer expert.

- Excuse me, Commissioner, but we found the Russian Zagreb set in his store.

It was missing exactly the pieces that we found at the crime scenes.

- No, that doesn't prove anything at all.

Any court-appointed lawyer will dismantle your argument in 2 minutes.

Are his fingerprints at least a match for the ones we found at the hotel?

- No.

Commissioner, you know very well that anyone

can access fake fingerprints on the Internet.

- I'll ask the question again, Coste:

do you have any proof?

- Mm-mmm. - No.

- So you know what that means.

- You want a confession. - That's right.

- That's right. Mmm.

- Who discovered the murders are part of a chess game?

- So you know they're part of a chess game?

Sort of a confession.

- You know it's not.

This whole story is all over the press. What I want to know...

is which one of you understood

- We're asking the questions here.

With you anyway.

- You're an attacker. Impulsive.

- And you're a good sacrificer. - You provoke your opponent.

You've already told me everything about yourself.

You're no better.

You're the positional archetype: nice technique, nice strategy.

But it all lacks creativity.

It's like I'm playing all alone.

I will only talk to someone who understands what happens during a chess match.

And I will only talk to them at a chess board.

- Are you sure about this? - Do we have a choice?

Italian opening.

- I didn't know it was called that.

I don't play chess.

- Do you check? - Mm-mmm.

Don't forget to play randomly though.

- I studied hundreds of chess moves,

but I never play.

However, my boyfriend introduced me to the game,

We like playing Go together,

and it turned out to be very useful in this investigation.

- You play Go? - Yes.

- It has nothing to do with this. How could it have helped you?

- It taught me

only play an opponent

who agrees to create an intimacy.

- There is no connection.

- By committing murder-- and modeling it on a chess game--

the killer revealed himself.

- What did it tell you about him? - Mm-hmm.

- That he is a poor chess player.

- You're here because he put the police are in check,

for four murders. - Mm-mmm.

Three.

The Crime Squad team managed to foil the last one,

Ivana Koroleva is still alive.

The killer... therefore has failed.

- Ivana's death doesn't matter. The killer's chess game is complete.

- I don't understand.

The objective wasn't to kill them?

- No.

No, the objective was to scare them,

to know they were on a list.

To know I was there, behind them.

- Check.

- I crossed paths with Koenig 2 years ago,

at a get together.

We were drinking.

We drank a lot.

Like old ghosts from the chess world.

Koenig had stopped competing.

The year of my accident.

- You thought you would win that year?

- I was giving my best.

I had 'it' back then, the accident ruined everything.

- It was then that Koenig told me why he had a breakdown.

Do you know why? - Mm-mmm.

- The guilt!

The simultaneous games he had organized--

were to set me up!

THEY DRUGGED ME!

THEY DRUGGED ME SO I COULDN'T GET UP THE NEXT MORNING!

BECAUSE THEY WERE AFRAID I'D BEAT THEM!! - No!

Nico- - Hold on, hold on.

THEY CONSPIRED TO GET ME OUT OF THE WAY!

- They didn't want you to have the accident.

BUT IT'S THEIR FAULT I HAD THE ACCIDENT!

BECAUSE OF THEM I'M NOW A PAWN IN MY OWN LIFE!

A PIECE THAT CAN'T GO FORWARD!

CAN'T GO BACKWARD! CAN'T GO SIDEWAYS!

- Oh wow. - THEY CONDEMNED ME!

THEY DESERVED TO DIE!

(I'm sorry.)

- Nice work, Astrid, you were incredible!

- Mmm. Thank you.

I wouldn't have made it if Tetsuo hadn't introduced me to the game.

Your tea. - Thanks.

Um...

How did it go with Niels?

Did you manage to have a good interaction? - Mm-hmm. I think so.

Communicating with him seemed simple to me.

Essentially, Niels speaks at face value.

He asks relevant questions. LAUGHS

He solved the Riddle of 9 Dots right away. - Oh?

- Yes! - He went outside the square!

- Yes, straight away. LAUGHS

Niels will come back on Tuesday.

He will come back every Tuesday at 7 pm.

Niels is no longer unexpected.

LAUGHS