Original subtitles

A murder of a 42-year-old wife and mother took place

on Singaporean-owned property this weekend.

The man who committed that murder is also threatening my life

and the life of the president of the United States.

That guy pays me 500 dollars to rent that place for him in my name.

-What guy? -I've never been to Sugarloaf.

They were using an encrypted chat to communicate.

He wanted us to reach out.

Why?

'Cause he wants us to read that.

You ever thought about moving up the ladder?

Lieutenant? Captain?

Oh, me? Are you joking?

You know me to make jokes?

No, I mean... No, not really, no.

Your main problem...

-I have many main problems, sir. -...is you sell yourself short.

You make jokes because you're insecure.

I didn't realize we were doing a whole FBI psych profile.

When what you really are is a natural leader.

Don't have disdain for ambition.

No, I mean, I don't know if disdain is the right word.

-Might use a... -Ronnie.

That's the end of that conversation.

Hi, Nancy.

Yeah.

Yes, press conference is at 11:00.

Though, they'll probably want ten to 15 minutes of picture-taking before.

Yeah, I should be there on time.

Traffic out of Sacramento was nonexistent.

Okay. Yeah, just straight down the five.

Oh, we still need to lock in the location for the fundraiser.

Okay. Yeah. Thanks, Nancy.

Bye.

We are running language analysis now on where some of these key phrases come from.

Are they biblical? Are they on news programs, talk radio?

Did they come from websites, literature?

If we can pinpoint how he arrives at his wording,

what sources may be feeding his mania,

then we may be able to open new avenues of investigation.

That's book purchases, where stations broadcast, what time...

When would he have heard those words.

Similarly, do these hieroglyphs show up in any other popular works?

Did he come up with these intersecting triangles on his own or did he have help?

That's some good work.

-Detective Finau. -Sir.

Where are we with the canvassing in Sugarloaf?

I'm exchanging with local PD daily.

They're talking to restaurant owners, grocery chains,

anyone near Hammerhead Cabins.

-Any progress? -Slow going.

Did they give 'em the dates when T.K. rented the cabins?

Yes, sir. Confirmed.

Okay, good. Stay on it.

Sir, CHP officers in Kern County are on the phone for you.

The governor's press secretary was killed at a gas station 20 minutes ago.

The CO?

Sir, back there.

How are you doing?

Detective Mark Meachum, LAPD.

This is Oliveras with the DEA. Special Agent Bell with the FBI.

-And, uh, Detective Finau. -Sergeant.

Also LAPD.

Damn. That's a lot of acronyms thrown at us.

Yes, it is. We're a federal task force working a case that might be related.

Lucky us.

Val Sparks. Detective from Bakersfield.

Along with Smitty here.

Tooks and Gambol are CHP officers.

What do we know so far?

Uh, victim turned from the pump after filling her tank.

Took a high caliber bullet to the forehead.

Shot from where?

Not exactly sure where.

None of the witnesses heard the shot, so shooter may have been using a suppressor.

But angle of entry and exit suggest somewhere out towards the hillside.

We're still trying to locate the exact site of the shooter's nest.

Looking for shell casings, footprints, tire prints, hair, fiber.

But, you know, big area.

Eyewitnesses?

Collecting statements. Others fled.

Any idea on ballistics?

We haven't recovered the round. Likely broke apart after exit.

We'll put a rush on the coroner postmortem.

Do you think this might be some kind of DC sniper thing?

What makes you say that?

Uh, just that I read about task forces,

and I know that means a real FUBAR type of scenario.

Uh, Tooks, right?

That's right.

All right, Tooks. Well, uh, we can't disclose details of the case right now,

but if and when we do decide to bring other departments up to speed,

we'll make sure CHP is involved.

I appreciate that.

Detective Sparks, can we help with witness statements?

Absolutely. This way.

I'm Special Agent Nathan Blythe with the FBI.

This is Ryan Fitzgerald, with Secret Service.

-Is there anyone here I can speak to... -Hi.

I'm, uh... I'm one of the managing partners.

Kara Gonzalez.

We're just devastated.

I can imagine. I'm very sorry for your loss.

I mean, who would wanna hurt Hope?

Well, that's what we're here to investigate, ma'am.

We're just... We're all in shock.

Can you tell us what she was working on?

Um, yeah, she was helping to nail down the logistics

for President Hanover's fundraiser in a few weeks with Governor Shelby.

We assist Hope now and then on a purely volunteer basis

ever since the governor started ramping up his...

Was this gonna be at a private residence or a public venue?

A private residence,

but she was keeping that schedule, so I don't really...

-Oh, God. -If you have access

to any files you think might have some...

Yeah. Um, we have a branch out of Sacramento that Hope works out of

just to be closer to the governor,

and I'm sure that they would have any of that information.

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God. Reilly, I'm so, so sorry.

I can't. Why would...

Reilly, these are FBI agents.

How the hell did this happen?

Why weren't you protecting her?

-You and Hope are... -Married.

-How can... -It's okay, Reilly. You're gonna be okay.

Ma'am, we're very sorry for your loss.

W-Was this a hate crime?

Make it make sense.

We will be investigating it with every resource available.

Let's get you some water, okay? Find you a chair.

Find who did this.

Come on.

This is the clerk that was manning the cash register at the time of the shooting.

Hey, what's your name?

Troy.

-Troy what? -Ballard.

Okay. Why don't you tell us what you saw, Troy Ballard?

Yo, man. Can I, like, ask a question though for real?

Can I go talk to those news cameras over there when you guys are done?

-Why? -Just, like, that would be sick.

Why would you want whoever did that to know who you are?

I didn't think about that.

All right. Let's start over. Tell us what you saw.

Oh, uh, yeah. Sure, man.

So, uh, you know, keeping it straight up.

I didn't hear nothing, you know?

No gunshot, just, uh, some screaming started.

I heard that, and then, uh, I saw some of them people running,

like high-key bolting away from there.

And then, uh, someone came in and screamed "Active shooter," like that.

I used to do these, uh, shooter drills at Kern High,

so I just got down behind the register and stayed down.

I was not getting up.

You didn't see where the shot came from or who was hit?

-I saw nothing. -What about those cameras?

We have video of everything?

Y-Yeah. Yeah, we got a security room,

but, uh, Mr. Dockman keeps the keys, so...

So you just stayed down?

For, like, 20 minutes for real, until the cops showed up.

It wasn't 20.

Yo, it was.

More like ten.

Nah. Twenty. It was.

Hey.

Oh, that's him. Mr. Dockman. He's the owner.

Mr. Dockman. Mr. Dockman.

-Yes. -Do you have keys to the security room?

Sure, yes. Follow me.

Great.

So, the bullet comes in from here.

Head snaps back at this angle,

so shooter had to be in the hills east of the freeway.

That's what we believe, yes.

Yeah, it's definitely a sniper shot.

Can you run it forward? I wanna see our response time.

It was 20 minutes.

It wasn't 20 minutes.

Uh, yeah. Yeah, hang on.

Okay.

Sixteen minutes, 12.

-Not 20. -Wait. Bell, go back a few minutes.

Yeah.

What do you got?

I saw something.

-There. -Yeah.

Who is that?

Holy shit.

Did he take something from her car?

We're gonna need to confiscate this video.

We've used every bit of enhancement software that the bureau has,

plus a few from open source AI, and this is as clear as the video's gonna get.

Great. Can't tell if the beard is fake, if he wears glasses...

Can't even tell what color his hair is.

Well, these cameras are ancient.

I mean, this one had a bug die in front of the lens who knows how long ago.

Looks like Todd knew where the cameras were. You see that?

Never turns his face flush.

You think he scouted out the kill site?

That would mean that he knew her schedule. Her habits...

Yeah. Not just flying by the seat of his pants.

-Where's Blythe and Fitz? -They were summoned to Sacramento.

Governor Shelby.

Nathan, what the hell happened?

The investigation is on...

My press secretary Hope Miller gets shot down in cold blood.

This is just days after I learn there's a threat against my life.

It is my belief the two are related, yes, governor.

So what? There's a psychopath out there just shooting people?

Well, we don't know how to characterize the shooter,

but I can assure you we're pursuing every investigative avenue.

I will say I think the threat is active and dangerous.

Mister governor, I advise you to increase your security

and stay out of public places until we can neutralize the threat.

President of the United States is coming here for a fundraiser.

It is my recommendation that you cancel the event.

Nathan.

This visit is a launching pad for me.

The president may outright endorse me as his successor to the nomination.

I understand.

You catch this asshole before then.

I'm in the middle of an investigation.

You're always in the middle of an investigation.

-Molly, I'm serious. Where have you been? -Oh, my God. All right.

I-I got your messages, but I was down in Cabo and...

I think the time change just kind of...

There is a one-hour time difference.

Well, I didn't, uh, know that.

-Okay, then I can't do this right now. -Okay. No, wait.

I'm not... I'm not... I'm not trying to do anything.

I... I actually do appreciate the concern.

I think I need a reset.

Seriously.

I know that you don't consider me a, uh, self-aware person,

but I can admit that I've been going a little hard.

Even for me.

And so I am going to just chill out

and get my feet back underneath me.

You are?

I am.

So I'll tell you what, just come over tonight,

or whenever you can, and, um,

I will be there, alone, watching bad television.

There's no more going out. For a while.

Yeah?

Yeah.

Okay. Yeah.

I will come over as soon as I catch a break.

Okay. I will... ...be there.

You better be.

I will.

Hey, boss. Uh, we think that Todd took something from Hope Miller's car.

What did it look like?

Well, it was too blurry to tell,

but he had his head inside the passenger door for a good 20, 25 seconds.

Tell me we've processed that car for everything and took an inventory of it.

CHP has it in their possession.

Great. Fitz and I are about to interview the Sacramento branch of her PR firm.

We'll see what she normally had with her and we'll compare it to the inventory.

Okay.

Do you know what Hope had in her car when she left for Los Angeles?

Uh, she would have had her, um...

her laptop, tablet, her phone.

You know, her work things.

Anything specific you can think of?

No, just papers and pens. That type of thing.

But she carried a big, um, satchel.

Leather. It was like her mobile office.

Would she have had Governor Shelby's full schedule?

Yes, of course.

Lydia, Governor Shelby's assistant, puts out a Google doc every other week

and if anything changes, it gets updated automatically.

And would she have had that on her phone?

She'd have access to it from any device.

Excuse me.

Heather.

Yeah, connect me with the Kern County detectives working this case.

Yes, thank you.

Bell, line two. State trooper from Kern County.

Special Agent Bell.

Agent Bell, this is Randall Tooks from CHP.

I remember, yeah.

I was hoping you could come out to my home

so I can share some information.

Can you email it?

Well, I'd rather do this in person.

Uh... Okay, yeah. What's the address?

1912 Seminole Way, 93307.

-All right, be there in an hour. Thanks. -See you then.

Oh, boss.

Uh, CHP officer from this morning wants to talk to me privately.

-Okay. -Probably be back this evening.

-Copy. -All right.

We have a list of probables that might have been in Hope Miller's car,

but we haven't received the inventory report from CHP.

How was the governor?

-Anxious. -Hmm.

Okay.

Boss, you got a second?

I, uh... thinking about what you said this morning, um...

I was thinking a lot about it actually and, uh...

I want you to know I... I appreciate it.

I think, uh...

I think sometimes I have a tendency to get in my own way with things.

I don't... I don't know why, but...

If you're getting serious about it, let me put in a word

for you at LAPD. I know a few of the higher-ups.

Yeah. Yeah, that would... I would appreciate that.

Hey, boss.

Um, I think that, um...

I think that Todd might be on the job.

Law enforcement?

Yeah.

Or getting help from someone in law enforcement.

Come on in.

Okay, Officer Tooks, how about, uh, telling me why I'm here?

Have a seat.

You want water?

No, thank you.

He knew how long it would take police to respond

at the gas station after the murder. He had it down to the second.

He shoots from the hillside,

takes nine-and-a-half minutes to make his way to the scene

and then directs people away from the body

so he can take something from the car.

He even put on latex gloves so he wouldn't leave any prints.

And don't forget, Todd knew that we would try

and reach out through T.K. regarding the rental cabin.

It's like he had a plan and was just waiting for us to contact him.

-Yeah, he responded immediately. -Exactly.

And think about cabin six.

He cleans it of all DNA

and then leaves the body right there for us to find.

If he heard Patricia Perez phone the secret service tip line

and then killed her,

he knew he had enough time to scrub the place.

He could have even hid the body, but he didn't. He left it right there.

Everything that he is doing is to trigger a response,

which means he knows how law enforcement are gonna act before we do it.

Bell's with a state trooper right now.

Local detectives sent over the contents of Hope Miller's car.

Laptop, cell phone, tablet. All left untouched in the back seat.

Come on, Bell. Pick up.

Okay, look.

I didn't wanna do this at the CHP station 'cause my buddies...

well, the other officers,

they're always ribbing me about how I'm kissing tail

to superiors in other departments, which is not true.

Okay.

I'm really just trying to be the best cop I can be.

Plus, if I'm wrong about what I wanna talk about...

...well, I just don't wanna embarrass myself in front of more people,

and you looked like you were more receptive.

I know I can't just show up at task force headquarters

half-cocked and barely prepared, so appreciate you coming out.

What do you have?

A theory.

-Go on. -Okay.

See, remember when we were all crowded into the video room

and you fast-forwarded the footage to check our response time?

-Yeah, I remember. -Okay, well, see, I think I saw something.

Now, I no longer have the footage available, but I'm sure you do.

Can you show it to me?

Okay. Okay, go to the end there.

See? There.

-Yeah, he's taking something from her car. -No. No, I don't think so.

See, that's why I called you.

Is it that he took something out or is it that he put something into the car?

Back it up again.

I've always been good with details.

See? There. He's taking something out of his pocket.

And look, when he backs out...

there's nothing in his hand.

-Damn. -Right?

And you got this from one viewing in the security room?

Well, there were a lot of people in that room.

Didn't want to say anything.

Nice work, Officer.

I'll take this to my team.

You think I'm right?

I think you might just be.

Damn. Good. Uh, hey. Listen, I, um...

Sorry to make you come all the way out here. I, uh...

I just wanted to help.

Glad you did.

Thank you.

Hey, look at the video again.

Officer Tooks here thinks that Todd put

something into the car instead of taking something out.

Nothing out of the ordinary on the inventory list.

Maybe he hid it. It's not like we ordered the car to be ripped apart.

Why would he put something there?

Fuck if I know.

All right, I'll call my buddy at impound.

See if we can get her car moved from Kern County.

Probably won't be till the morning though.

-All right. See you then. -All right.

That was nice work on that law enforcement angle.

-I'm not sure. -No, I think there's something there.

That was a good deduction.

We, uh... We should grab a beer at the CoCoa Room.

Pick at your theory, see what shakes. You know?

What is the CoCoa Room?

I don't know.

I read about it online.

Uh... I'm beat.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's a terrible idea. Don't know what I was thinking.

-See you tomorrow. -All right.

-Good night. -Good night.

Molly?

Molly?

Are you here?

-Molly. -Oh, my God.

-You scared the shit outta me. -Sorry. What were you listening to?

Uh, Slothrust.

Do I even wanna know what that is?

Oh, you do actually. Come.

Uh, okay, I do.

You know what I wanna do?

What?

I wanna go to the roof of the Standard Hotel and just get royally...

-Are you out of your mind? -...f...

-I'm kidding. -Okay. Okay, yeah.

-No, fuck off. -You should see your face.

No.

This is what I wanna do.

I wanna stay in all night and listen to music

and talk to you until the sun comes up like we used to in DC.

Well, I don't know about the sun coming up, but I'm in for the rest of it.

Thank you.

For always looking out.

Yeah.

Don't make me work so hard. Yeah?

Yeah... Deal.

-Here. Mm-hmm. -Oh, God.

Brace for impact.

Okay. You'll like it.

Okay.

-Yo. -Ooh!

Look at you stepping up.

Only the best for you, bro.

The great thing about us, Detective Finau, we understand each other.

I like to be bribed and you know just how to bribe me.

If only life were all so easy.

I had your vehicle brought down from, uh, Kern County garage.

-Uh-huh. -Evidence response team did the full run.

They say the car's clean.

You can still see, uh, fingerprint residue.

I mean, whatever we pull off it now could be tainted,

-so... I don't know. -Right.

Yeah, we think the suspect might have planted something inside,

near the passenger door.

Okay.

You sure?

He had his head inside for a good 20, 25 seconds.

Oh, he's clever.

What?

Must have read the manual.

See, the AC vent actually runs from the engine to the back seat through the door.

So you end up with this little cubby hole, if you know what you're looking for.

Is whatever's in there gonna stick me?

I don't know.

What is it?

ADIC Tostrud just arrived.

-Blythe. -Hey, boss.

Did you tell the governor's team to cancel the president's west coast swing?

-I suggested... -I got a call from the director

who incidentally got reamed out by the AG and the DHS secretary.

And have fielded calls from the LA Secret Service SAC,

the commissioner of CHP and the governor's chief of staff.

Who are you to be giving protection advice to the governor

and advocating that the president of the United States cancel a trip

to a state inside his own country?

-I just think that in light... -He is in the Middle East right now,

trying to broker a settlement between eight nations that hate each other,

and you're telling him he should be afraid to come to California?

Well, that's not how I would have characterized what I said. I...

Does that sound like a leader who is a bastion of bravery?

Or a goddamn coward?

This threat is real, Jay.

So is this one.

If you ever make recommendations to POTUS or anyone on his team

without going through me first,

I will make sure the next task force you lead is to your retirement party.

Now I'm gonna go clean up the mess you caused me.

And any contact you have with anyone in government,

it will not leave our inner circle again.

Do I make myself clear?

-Yes, sir. -Good.

So, this symbol is one that Todd used multiple times in the key code.

It signifies himself.

Essentially, this is his signature.

It's like a painter signing his work.

Yeah. It looks like it.

What's this side? It looks like it's been torn off a pamphlet.

Yeah. A tech firm in Silicon Valley has this proprietary software

that scours images online, same way our facial recognition searches faces,

matching by mathematical data points.

Now, supposedly it can search millions of photos at once

with just a scrap for a guide.

Kind of like pulling a partial print off a doorknob and running it through IAFIS.

So I reached out...

Oh, wait. The software just came in.

-Oh, good. -Yeah. Loading it now.

What's that?

Fitz knows some tech bros.

Yeah. I thought we could...

Whoa. Damn.

That was fast.

What does that flyer say?

Anyone know that bar?

Hmm. Well, it's halfway between here and Sugarloaf in the sticks.

Looks like it attracts the fringe.

How old is that flyer?

-Annoyance plays tonight. -Well, I bet that band is perfectly named.

I can, uh, reach out to my DEA contacts,

see who supplies meth to Raising Bane.

Maybe we slide in undercover?

Okay. Fitz and Shepherd stay here and work the new evidence from the gas station.

Everyone else, I suspect those flyers weren't put up

more than a 20-mile radius of that bar.

Todd knows the area, maybe somebody knows him.

He wanted us to find that signature,

but he had no idea we could match that scrap of flyer so quickly.

Okay.

This is just like where my parents took me for my eighth birthday.

Oh, yeah?

Yeah, pretty sure there's a ball pit and a indoor slide somewhere.

Bane's ain't open.

Oh, no?

-Who are all these people then? Ghosts? -They belong. You don't.

I need to talk to Mike Collins.

Who the fuck are you?

Why the fuck are you talking to me?

I'm stepping in for Toven.

-What happened to Toven? -Toven's got business.

In Matamoros. He's gonna be busy a while, okay?

Toven sent you?

Man, what did I just fucking say?

Follow me.

-Place is not friendly. Stay on your toes. -Yep.

Wait here.

What do you think?

I think if we gotta fight our way out,

the door behind the pool table's our quickest exit.

This is them.

"Them" who?

Who are you and what the fuck do you want?

Toven's gonna be out of the game for a while, so he sent us to take care of you.

Oh, really? So if I'm to call Toven right now, he'd say, "Hey."

Sorry I can't bring your truck right now, but I'm sending these two motherfuckers

-who you've never met to do it for me"? -Yeah, that's what he'd say.

-Call him. -You know what I'd say?

I'd say bullshit.

I'd say you're both cops.

-You're Mike Collins, right? -That's right, honey.

All right.

I just wanna be sure when I tell Toven you backed out on what you owe.

-That's fine. -Okay.

Wait.

Can I have a word with you for a second over here?

Sure.

Something's off.

I'll launch if they get in trouble.

No, no. Not with them. With this place.

All right. Maybe you work for Toven.

Or maybe you're a cop like I think you are.

But look it, if you are a cop,

I get paid a grand to give you something from behind the bar.

What the fuck does that mean?

A guy came in here and gave me a grand up front.

And he said he'd give me another grand if a cop comes in here acting undercover.

And all I have to do is give said cop an envelope from behind the bar.

This is the dumbest shit I've ever heard.

I agree.

What's in it?

-What? The envelope? -Mm-hmm.

I don't know. Why?

Are you a cop?

I already told you.

Yeah, you did.

Do you want the envelope or not?

Man, I don't give a shit about your envelope.

Okay? I'm moving chalk.

I'm supposed to get cash from you and your supply gets refilled tomorrow.

That's it.

Fuck you and your envelope.

All right.

-I'll get you your cash. -Good choice.

-Volchek. -What?

Do you remember when he sent that dummy postal truck

that had all the cameras inside it so he could get eyes on us?

Yeah?

There's no cameras in here.

Right.

Dark ball cap.

At your 2:00.

-See him? He's turned the other way. -Yeah, I see him.

He was just taking pictures of Bell and Oliveras.

We're not ahead of him. All this? He wanted us here.

-Gotta get out! -Go! Bell!

He's got a gun!

Fuck!

-Was it our guy? -What did you see?

-He was taking pictures of you. -Of me?

And you.

They knew we were coming.

Yeah.

He left something for us.

...happening in the streets of every major city, I'm talking New York,

I'm talking San Francisco,

and Denver, and Atlanta, they are pushing people out.

They are pushing hardworking, taxpaying, grass-cutting, churchgoing,

work-contributing people out

and they are saying, "You are not welcome here."

Well, let me tell you something,

I'm gonna keep speaking the truth and only death will stop me.

Fucking better judgment. Such a fucking...

What the fuck's she gonna do?

I knew you were a fucking cop.

-Don't touch me! Get the fuck back. -Hey. Stay back.

-Are you fucking crazy? -Goddamn it.

Who left an envelope for the cops?

I don't know. Just some guy.

What did he look like?

Like everyone else.

Fucking white guy, with a beard, sunglasses.

-When? -Last night.

Was he here today?

No, I didn't see him.

Listen to me, you're about to get shut down for fucking ever.

Don't play games with me. Give me the envelope.

Listen, we try to serve bikers and truckers. Just...

Give me the envelope now!

Goddamn it.

He set all this up so he'd know who's on the task force.

Who's hunting him.

A task force is unique.

You're a law enforcement all-star team, and I expect you to act like it.

Leave the chest thumping at the door. No lone wolves.

No spotlight heroes.

When a team with this many smart, capable, innovative and, I'll say it,

badass individuals, come together, nobody's penetrating that shield

of safety that you hold so high.

You think your UNSUB lured your task force to this biker bar.

To do what? Take pictures of them?

Yes.

Well, we don't know if he was acting alone or part of a group.

We also suspect he could be or once was a part of law enforcement.

You think your people are in danger?

Hello?