Numb3rs s02e14 Episode Script
Harvest
In looking around this auditorium tonight, I am reminded of a comment that Sir Isaac Newton made to the Royal Academy of Science.
Newton told the group that doing math was like standing on the shoulder of giants to see the future.
But then of course, in Newton's age, all the men wore shoes with buckles and four-inch heels.
Each year, we conclude this symposium by announcing the Milton Prize.
And Professor Charles Eppes, a past winner will present this year's award.
I didn't know Charlie won a Milton Prize.
Well, he was still at Princeton Shh! This is important.
Sorry.
It is a great honor to present the Milton Prize.
This year in particular, because I happen to know the winner.
To me, this person has become much more than a colleague.
We have collaborated closely together on a number of projects.
So without any further ado, the winner of this year's Milton Prize is Amita Ramanujan.
Amita! It's you.
Thank you all so much.
I can't believe it.
You got something else you want to do tonight? It's Friday night, we're running down anonymous tips.
It was a call to Homeland Security actually.
Something going on in a basement here.
It's the garment district.
Yeah? I'm thinking someone with a sweatshop wants help putting the competition out of business.
Well, maybe we can oblige them.
Gentlemen.
Yeah, hey.
You with the hotel? If this is about your luggage, we're doing everything we can to find it.
It's not about our luggage.
You're not with the convention group? That's right.
We received a tip about suspicious activity in your basement.
Suspicious act? What does that mean? It means you show us the basement.
Right this way, sir.
So this is it.
Careful, the floor is the floor's a little uneven.
What's in there? Uh, just some more rooms.
Let's go.
Okay.
Seems pretty quiet.
If the Health Department was down here They'd condemn the place.
I don't think the Health Department's ever been down here.
What's in there? Storage, I think.
Never been inside.
Open it.
Whoa.
Against the wall.
Where are the lights? - Right there.
- Turn them on.
Hands behind your back.
Behind your back.
Let's go.
Yeah, we got a lot of blood down here.
We got a whole scene.
I want backup.
Requesting backup immediately.
It's freezing in here.
See this car battery? What the hell happened down here? Looks like some kind of nightmare.
Hey, you hear that? This way.
This is the FBI! We need you to come out with your hands where we can see them.
This is the FBI.
Hey.
Okay, all right, all right, take it easy.
Hey, we're with the FBI.
You're okay.
It's okay.
We're with the FBI.
I'm not going to hurt you.
We need an ambulance.
Hotel Barclay, downtown L.
A.
If you know what you're doing, you can do a lot of damage with a car battery.
Is that a professional opinion? You see some things working Military CID in Afghanistan.
Things you'd rather not see.
You really think this is about torture? That would explain the girl.
She's been traumatized by something; I can't get through to her.
Begs the question what it is she knows.
And who else wants to know it.
Hey, guys, I just got off the phone to Washington.
They want us wall to wall on this.
So I think you should get back to that hotel, see if you can find anyone who saw anything.
It's a big place.
A lot of people coming in and out of there.
Megan, how's the girl? Acute stress disorder.
Showing signs of avoidance.
I'm nowhere with her.
Any idea where she's from? Right now I have her listed as a foreign national, unknown circumstance.
How about this car battery? I mean, what do you make of it? Well, that would explain why she's not even making eye contact with me.
All right, so what do we do? I mean, how do we reach her? Charlie, Don's probably busy right now.
We can tell him tomorrow.
We're not going to be long.
He's going to be so happy that you won.
Whoa, look at you.
Whoa, look at both of you.
What's going on? Hi.
What's up? What are you doing? We have dinner reservations nearby, so we just thought we'd stop by and say hello, that's all.
Is it a special occasion? Amita just won the Milton Prize for her dissertation.
That's a really big honor and it comes with a cash award, so That's great.
So I guess you're paying for dinner, huh? Congratulations.
Thank you.
I wasn't expecting it.
No? What happened here? That's the $64,000 question.
You think that ice has anything to do with it? Yeah, something.
I mean, why? If I can take two of these photos, I can probably tell you how long the ice has been there.
That'll at least give us a starting point.
Yeah.
See this plastic? This plastic is a non-wetting surface.
So I can do an interval analysis of the pooled water that would help us determine the rate of flow.
Right.
From there, we can work backwards to determine when the ice first started to melt.
Well, how long would that take? Depends.
The tricky part is figuring out how fast the ice was melting.
But once we know that, we can determine how long it took the puddle to grow, which is the result of two competing forces - the melting and the surface tension.
Surface tension? Molecules on the surface of water exhibit strong cohesive properties.
It's why certain bugs can run over the top of a pond or why raindrops are round.
It's like a balloon.
The rubber surface of a balloon acts much like a puddle does- it constrains what's inside.
So as air flows into a balloon, it gets bigger.
While how fast the balloon grows depends on the rate of air going into the balloon versus the strength of the balloon's surface.
Same thing goes for a puddle.
As more water flows into a puddle, it gets bigger.
But the surface tension constrains the shape of the puddle.
All right, wait, just, just what do you need from us to do this? Um, if I can take the first crime scene photo and the last.
I mean, that'll give us the greatest interval of time.
Thanks, Charlie.
Does that girl have something to do with this? Yeah, she does.
Why? She said something to me.
She spoke to you? Yeah, when I first came in.
I think she was asking for help.
Wait, in English? No, in Tamil.
My family moved to the United States from Chennai in Southern India.
Tamil is what they speak there.
What did she say? I'm not sure.
I think she's asking for help.
Honestly, I haven't heard much Tamil since I was really little.
I think she may have said something about her sister.
Okay, um I'm going to get a translator.
We can Wait.
Megan.
Is it okay if I stay with her? Yeah.
Yeah.
Hi.
My name is Amita.
My name is Santi.
I don't remember seeing anything unusual.
I was on the main level most of the evening.
Okay, maybe you heard something - banging, screaming? Nothing like that.
Is there more than one ice machine in this building? Just the one on the third floor.
That means the ice didn't come from the hotel.
Cubes are the wrong shape.
What's this room usually used for? Nothing.
It should've been locked.
A long time ago, it was a laundry room.
But we outsource all that now.
You have your laundry delivered? Yes.
What else do you guys have delivered? Uh, staff uniforms, morning papers, and a bakery brings the bread for the continental breakfast.
All right, we'll need to see a schedule of all your deliveries.
No problem.
All right, we got the same humidity.
What else do we need to know? Uh, we need to know the heat-exchange rate as determined by the thermal boundary layers of the ice.
In essence, how fast ice melts.
Right.
Now we've replicated all the variables involved, but the ice was sitting on, ice purity, humidity, air movement, room temperature Hey, what are you two doing? Hey, Dad.
It's freezing in here.
We're watching ice melt.
Yeah, Don got us a temperature reading from the crime scene.
We set the house's thermostat to match.
Crime scene? What, did someone kill an Eskimo? The ice is liquefying.
Got a rather gruesome mystery here.
Ooh yeah I can see that.
What was it? We don't know.
But whatever happened, it happened between 7:15 and 7:30 this morning.
So we've got a time for the crime.
And depending on what happened, the time may be very important.
For starters, we can tell the FBI when witnesses might have seen something.
Yeah, I see.
You think you can get this crime scene cleared up before breakfast? Charlie says the ice arrived yesterday right around this time.
Which means this delivery guy might have been here then, too.
Hey, are those still warm? You want one? Help yourself.
Thanks.
I thought cops ate donuts.
Well, we're FBI.
You make a delivery here yesterday morning? And the morning before that and the one before that.
We're only interested in yesterday, though.
Did you notice anything unusual? Nothing sticks out.
What about somebody carrying in an unusually large quantity of ice? Ice? No, I think I would've remembered something like that.
Sorry, guys.
The ice had to get in there somehow.
Somebody had to deliver it.
Hey, you didn't see anybody else down here? It's just usually me in the morning.
But there was an ambulance.
An ambulance? I think it was a private company.
It was parked over there.
Thanks for your cooperation.
You bet.
All negative.
I can run through them again if you want.
Hey, you guys get anything from the 911 logs? Not that puts an ambulance anywhere near the hotel.
What about where it went once it left? I could try the emergency rooms.
- Yeah.
Let me know.
- Okay.
Excuse me.
I'm looking for a girl that might have been brought in last night who was Indian; extensive internal injuries.
Dr.
Jenloe was the attending.
LAPD? FBI.
The LAPD forwarded me your report.
What can you tell me about the Jane Doe? Late teens, early 20s, Southeast Asian, came in with severe internal bleeding.
Do you know how she was brought in? I don't know.
You'd have to ask at the front desk.
They do all the admitting paperwork.
And what about her injuries? You don't know? Don't know what? I just figured that's why the FBI was interested.
Interested in what? She was hemorrhaging and in shock.
There wasn't anything we could do.
They had to break a rib.
That's not uncommon in this sort of procedure.
Whoever performed it either didn't know what they were doing or they made a serious mistake.
What kind of procedure are we talking about? Someone removed this girl's kidney.
So the coroner just confirmed what the ER doctor told me.
The artery was severed when they removed a kidney.
And the blood in the hotel matches the dead girl.
All right, organ theft.
I always thought that was an urban legend.
It's no legend, man.
We were working the villages outside Kandahar, these girls would show up with new passports.
They'd leave and come back with new scars.
Called them "transplant tourists".
And these girls did this willingly? What's "willingly" when you're poor and desperate, you know? Pay 'em a thousand bucks, it's like two or three years salary for their families.
So we're thinking someone's got the girl's kidney, right? Yeah, but who? It's not like they're going to come forward now.
Right.
If they knew how the kidney was acquired, that would make them an accessory to murder.
Well, there's transplant lists.
Maybe you could see if someone took themselves off the last few days.
I'll look into it.
Thanks for coming.
No problem.
I think I'll actually be helpful.
I think you will.
She really seemed to connect with you last night.
You were the one who figured out she spoke English.
I didn't actually figure it out.
She just started talking to me.
Is Santi under arrest? No, but we do have to hold her at least until I get her story.
The situation wasn't ideal, but it was the best one I had.
Thank you.
Sure.
Hi, Santi.
I'm Agent Reeves.
You remember Amita? Hi.
We think we know what happened at the hotel yesterday.
It's okay.
Agent Reeves is her to help.
You asked me about your sister? You found her? You found Prita? We found her last night.
No I'm so sorry.
This isn't my sister.
This is Sonali.
There were three of you? Four of us.
Prita, me, Jaya and Sonali.
And you were all here to sell your kidney? It's okay, Santi.
Anything you tell Agent Reeves will help her find your sister.
A man came to our village, promised us each $1,000.
Do you know who he is? Do you know what his name is? No.
He was from the city, from Chennai.
How long have you been here? Five days.
Where have you been staying? At the hotel.
You mean where we found you? In a room upstairs.
Later, they bring us to the basement.
It's okay.
For the kidney, I was next, but something happened to Sonali and everyone started to yell.
And I think they forget me, so I ran.
How did you get back to the basement? When I stop running, I am alone.
You went back? Prita was still there.
Hey, so there were four girls staying at that hotel.
Two of which are still missing.
So that night manager held out on us.
Yeah.
You and David should go over and pick him up, huh? Hey, by the way, did David get anything off those transplant lists? He did, yeah.
There's a guy named Benjamin Riley.
Took himself off the list.
Ends up in ICU with complications from his new kidney.
Dr.
Bainsworth? I'm Alan Kelley.
I'm with the hospital's legal office.
Dr.
Bainsworth intends to cooperate.
And you're just here in the spirit of that cooperation? What is it you'd like to know? For starters, how did you patient obtain an illegal kidney? I advised him very strongly against doing this.
Oh, so he just showed up with a black-market organ.
You don't know anything about it? I had nothing to do with his transplant.
But I still have a responsibility to my patient, even if he chooses to ignore my advice.
You always do so what your doctor tells you, Agent Reeves? We're not talking about lowering my cholesterol.
A girl was killed.
Lawrence, don't respond to that.
Where was she from? India.
It's not surprising.
There's an area outside of Chennai.
It's called "Kidney village".
So you're saying there's regular traffic in human organs? There are over 80,000 people on the transplant waiting list in this country and, every day, 17 of them die waiting.
I'd really like to speak to your patient about who performed this operation.
His transplant took place in less-than-ideal circumstances.
He has post-operative sepsis; a severe infection.
He's in critical condition.
So, what, he's too sick to talk? Andy knows what he did was illegal.
Whoever sold him the kidney coached him to keep silent.
I doubt he'd speak to you even if he could.
Then I want his bloodwork and tissue samples and everything you have on him.
The night manager was a dead end.
He quit the same day we interviewed him.
So he was in on it.
Well, yeah, with him in the wind, that leaves us with no connection to these two girls.
Well, the paperwork from the emergency room said that the victim was brought in by ambulance.
Oh, so we trace that 911 call.
I did that.
There as no 911 call.
The ambulance was there at the hotel waiting for him.
The driver was in on it.
Santi said something went wrong.
Maybe the ambulance was supposed to transfer an organ, ended up transporting a body as well.
What's up? It's the Milton Prize winner.
Hey.
You you okay? Yeah.
You know, we should reschedule our celebration.
Yeah.
I don't know.
I'm not really in the mood to celebrate.
Is it okay if we hold off maybe? Yeah.
You're upset for that girl you met at the FBI, aren't you? I went to see her this morning.
You know, Megan thought a familiar face might help her cope.
But I mean, how do you cope with something like that? Besides, you know, there's really not that much in common between us.
She comes from the same place as your family.
She does.
But you know, I grew up in California, Charlie.
I know more about surfing than I do about India.
When I was little, you know, kids used to make fun of me because I was different.
But I didn't want to be different.
My grandmother used to tell me stories about what it was like.
I just tuned her out.
And I wanted to push away that part of who I am.
You wanted to fit in here.
But now, you know, seeing this girl and what she's going through, I have to help her, but I don't know how.
I don't know what to say and I don't know what to do Well, maybe you should ask your grandmother.
I mean, she seemed to have some good ideas.
And even if you didn't used to listen to her Thank you, Charlie.
You really are a genius.
Are you the manager? Yeah.
We're looking for an ambulance of yours.
It was seen parked behind a hotel downtown.
You got a number? All the rigs have numbers.
No, this one dropped off a patient at the University General around 8:00 a.
m.
day before yesterday.
That'd be Proderman.
He's still out on the street.
Yeah? Has he got a radio? Yeah.
Call him back in.
Actually I don't need to.
That's him right now, pulling in the driveway.
Hey! Let's go! Unit 365.
365, go.
In pursuit of a homicide suspect driving a red-and-white van Look, it's an ambulance.
We're driving west on Normandy.
Just crossed 54th.
Requesting backup.
Copy, 365.
All units be advised.
First the night manager, now the ambulance driver? 365 requesting backup at Normandy and 54th.
Hold all radio traffic.
He's not gonna make that turn.
I don't think this dude cares.
Dispatch, suspect T.
A.
'd a taxi at 56th and Normandy.
Show us code six, requesting emergency medical assistance.
Hey, buddy, you're all right.
You're gonna be fine - why don't you just lay down and take it easy, okay? All right? You all right? Yeah, I'm okay.
Paramedics are on the way.
Well, maybe they can check and see if he's a donor.
Hi.
Oh, no, this isn't official.
We just came to see how you were doing.
Santi, this is my friend, Charlie.
Hello.
Hi.
So how are you doing? I am okay.
We brought you some stuff.
Um, some clothes.
And Here's some shampoo.
Hello? Yeah.
That's no problem.
I'll be right there.
And a hairbrush.
And um, toothbrush and toothpaste.
I've got to get back to the FBI.
You gonna be all right in this place? Yeah.
I'll be fine.
Okay.
Santi, the FBI's doing everything they can to find your sister.
Thanks for coming with me.
It will be very nice to wash my hair.
I'm so glad to hear you say that.
Um I didn't know what to get.
I You know, I don't know that much about where you're from.
You're not from India? No, I'm not.
My family is.
But I was born here in California.
Actually, I've never even been to India.
I could've gone once with my dad for business, but I didn't I didn't end up going.
And what is it you do in California? I work in math and astrophysics, at a college.
Uh, I-I'm in school.
Oh.
I was in school once.
When I was little, I liked school.
Uh, I brought you something else.
My grandmother thought you might like to have this.
For a puja.
A prayer.
Thank you.
What's the red string for? We tie a bracelet after.
To remember.
Ah, the trip log we got out of the ambulance? Yeah.
I've been through the entire thing, and every entry in it checks out against the 911 calls.
So Proderman was only recording official trips.
Doesn't leave us much to go on.
No, it doesn't - which is why I called Charlie.
He was nice enough to come down here on short notice.
Hey, Charlie.
How you doing? Thanks for coming down.
I was around here - I was at that, uh, that detention center, with Amita and the girl.
Is that that log book you called me about? Yeah, it is, but like I told you, it's just the official runs.
Well, then you were probably able to get the total distance driven by the driver on each of his shifts.
Well, yeah, the company records daily mileages for each driver.
How's that gonna help us, Charlie? He still could have gone anywhere.
No, his destinations are limited, by the total miles driven in each shift.
Okay, well, we still don't know where he went, and more importantly, where he could've taken those other girls.
Well, keep in mind that where he went couldn't have been random, you know, his choices were influenced by things: by the time of day, and his location.
So you mean like if it was noon it's likely that he went to lunch.
Exactly.
So first what we'll do is, we'll take the total mileage and plot all the possible routes, as well as all the known destinations from the ambulance log.
Then I can use a Hidden Markov Model, as well as an elliptical analysis to narrow the possibilities of the most likely hidden destinations and unrecorded routes.
It's a it's a treasure map.
We have ourselves a list of starting points, routes, destinations, times, but it's incomplete.
Not every stop is recorded.
Now, based on what information we do have, I can reveal the most likely locations and times for the unrecorded stops.
Imagine you held a candle to the bottom of a treasure map to reveal the sections written in invisible ink.
I don't know, Charlie, it still feels like we're pretty much guessing about where he went.
Okay, yeah, a little a-at first.
But this log is extensive.
I mean, it goes back several months.
So as we continue to analyze the possibilities, patterns will emerge, and with all this data, my algorithm will be able to tell us what his favorite place for lunch is, you know, where he probably gets his coffee, maybe where he shops for shoes.
Who knows? We just need it to tell us where he could've taken those girls.
Right.
Hello? Anyone home? Yeah.
In the kitchen, Don.
Hey, Dad.
I made some coffee; you want some? Nah.
I could use a drink, though.
Oh? Tough day? We just got these two missing girls from India.
India? What are they doing here? Selling their kidneys, believe it or not.
Crazy, right? I mean, they're dirt poor, they got a thousand bucks and a plane ticket here.
What? Oh, I was thinking about my friend Lou - you remember him? He used to work for the Parks Department of Recreation.
Yeah, sure.
Yeah, he died last year of, um kidney failure.
I'm sorry, Dad, I didn't know that.
Yeah.
I remember his family was so desperate, they couldn't find a match among them for a transplant.
Not even his two brothers.
You'd think brothers would match.
Well, actually, it's only one chance in four when it comes to siblings.
They even tested me.
And then they put him on this long list.
Waiting for a donor.
Must've been hundreds ahead of him.
That man could've lived.
Yeah, look, I see what you're saying, but, you know, these kids are dragged halfway across the world so some back-alley quack can cut them up for parts.
Yeah, I know, I'm not saying it's right.
I'm just saying that when it comes to looking at your own mortality, ah, you'd grab on to anything to save your life.
All right, Larry, we've reached the last few entries in the ambulance log, and we've got point C-36.
Okay? Uh, two kilometers north-south, three east-west.
You know, when I was a child, I was plagued by a nightmare involving the theft of my internal organs.
You were? Yeah.
Boy.
Uh Centering on, um on point Y-12, half a click up, one kilometer side to side.
The dreams recurred in regular intervals till I was 13 years old - it was horrible.
Well, like what? Like, was there a monster attacking you or something? Well, I mean, no.
Actually, it was my Aunt Louise.
God, I can see her even now, wearing this hair net.
All right, this is the last coordinate.
D-16.
One by one and a half.
And the 13th time is the charm.
The hospital again? Hospital again.
All right, so let's summarize.
In our analysis, University General shows up as a more likely destination than any other place? Yeah.
But it's not unusual for an ambulance to go to a hospital.
Yeah, but these were in addition to his official stops.
None of them were recorded.
Which means the ambulance driver may have had a contact at University General.
What are you Hey, you're not supposed to be down here.
Are you in charge? I'm the only one here.
You ever run into a guy named Proderman down here? Who are you? FBI.
He drives an ambulance.
You know him or not? No.
No, not really.
Sounds a lot like a yes.
I've seen him around - he's usually looking for Michael.
Michael? Michael Tolchuck - he works days in the morgue.
And nights at a hotel downtown? Where is he right now? I don't know.
I haven't seen him around.
You know, I think maybe I should just call my boss.
I think you should as well.
Excuse me? You have paperwork for four bodies right here.
So? So I count five.
Looks like she could be one of our girls.
A morgue is actually a great place to hide a body.
It's ironic.
Immigration showed Santi the fax; this isn't her sister.
Yeah, well, she's a lucky girl, 'cause he just gave me his preliminaries.
Both kidneys were taken.
Liver, corneas, even bone tissue.
Well, if they took more than a kidney, something's changed.
Murder wasn't part of the deal before.
I think when the first girl died, it was an accident.
And after that, Tolchuck just decides to cover his tracks.
Makes the witness problem a payday.
He said that parts were worth over 300 grand.
$300,000? The organs are valuable if they have a recipient match.
And biotech firms use skin, bone, even fat tissue to make all sorts of implants and prosthetics.
Well, if that's the case, Santi's sister is worth more dead than alive.
As long as he finds matches for her organs.
Which should give us a chance to find Tolchuck first.
Yeah.
Mike, we'll see you later; thanks.
Thank you.
Doctors and hospitals use an Optimization Theory developed at Johns Hopkins to determine the best matches between organ donors and recipients.
If we only consider a single variable- let's say, blood-type- then the match between only two items is simple to acheive.
But transplant doctors are trying to find complex matches for entire immune systems, based on a number of variables: blood-type, a crossmatch and a range of inmuno-proteins.
An Optimization algorithm is used to determine what donors are best suited for each patient.
Okay, so how do we use any of this? Santi told me that each of the girls was given a blood test to find a match for their kidneys.
Now, the National Organ Sharing Network keeps blood-type, crossmatch and HLA compatibility information on every patient waiting for a transplant.
So, what, we run the sister's results against that to find out where the kidney will wind up? Exactly.
We might be able to determine the transplant patient before the surgery takes place.
Yeah, but there's one thing.
What's that? We don't have any bloodwork on the missing girl.
No, we don't, but we can run blood and HLA - compatibility tests on Santi.
We can use her results; they're sisters.
From what I understand, there's only one in four chances that siblings will match.
Well, a one in four chance is better than no chance at all.
Sorry, Amita, but Santi's data just isn't producing a result.
Well, then let's test the algorithm against known matches.
We already tried that.
Amita, I don't think the equation's the problem.
Then the database of patients waiting for transplants must be an incomplete set.
You know, if we consider we're dealing with a black market, it's possible, even probable, that we're looking for a patient who cannot obtain an organ in the normal way.
So they wouldn't be on any official lists.
Yeah, but it's much more likely that Santi isn't a match for her sister.
I was hoping this would work.
Yeah, well, we all were.
Well, we aren't giving up.
Wow, this doesn't look good.
I assume you guys haven't found anything yet.
No.
Well, you know, we're only working with a 25% chance of success to begin with.
And absence of proof is not the same thing as a proof of failure.
Yeah, she's right about that.
She's right about what? We don't know that Santi isn't a match for her sister.
We only know that we aren't getting any results from this current set of patients.
Well, David and Colby found some data on the patients in Tolchuk's computer at the morgue.
Let me see.
This is a potential list of customers? We think so.
Our elusive black-marketeers? We have a match.
Thank God.
Well, now that we know where the kidney is going, what I need to do is find Santi's sister before she gets there.
Dad these people, they're from the FBI.
They want to ask you some questions.
What kind of questions? Sir, I'll make this as quick as possible.
Are you aware that buying human organs is a Federal crime? I don't know what you're talking about.
Mr.
Eckworth, two women have been murdered.
There's still another girl out there.
Who happens to be a perfect donar match for you.
What girl? What are talking about? We're investigating a murder of two girls who were killed for their body parts.
I said I don't know anything.
My father really isn't well, and I need to get back to work.
So, if there's nothing else All right.
Thanks.
He's lying.
You saw that.
Yeah.
So why did you take us out of there? I don't think he's going to talk.
And I think she's been in the dark until now, you know? So he really thought people we're trying to find are gonna save his life and he's never gonna talk? You see the way she looked when you said "murdered"? You think I should talk to her? I think he made the choice, and she's finding out what it entails.
My father told you he didn't know anything.
Right now, I'm not that interested in what your father knows.
Without a new kidney, my father will die.
But he has a blood disorder that disqualifies him from getting a transplant.
I know this is difficult.
Difficult? Every day I watch as my dad dies a little bit more.
You know, he raised me.
It was always just the two of us.
You know, none of this wouldn't be happening if I were a match, if I could give him a kidney.
I'm sure you'd do anything to save your father.
But two girls have already been killed.
I don't know anything about that.
Maybe not before, but now you do, and there is another girl out there just waiting to be carved up.
Look, I'm sure you would do anything to save your father, but this may not be the best way.
The last person who received a transplant from these people died a few hours ago from massive infection.
He told me that I need to be ready to pick him up to take him to the hospital.
From where? And when? At a hotel.
Tomorrow.
In Romania, I was a surgeon at the best hospital in Bucharest.
Now I'm reduced to washing my hands in a toilet.
I made one mistake on a patient who would have died in six months anyway.
Tomorrow I'm retiring.
What do you plan to do with your share? Forget I asked.
FBI! FBI! Drop that scalpel! Drop it! Turn around! Put your hands behind your back- Prita? Jimmy, put them up! Prita? Jimmy, get in here.
Prita, can you hear me? We need a medic! How did you know she would be okay? You gave us the information we needed.
And I believe in the people that were looking for her.
And, uh Thank you.
Mmm, that smells so good.
I hope it's good.
It's embarrassing, but I actually had to ask my grandmother what to get.
It was absolutely uneccessary for you to buy dinner for us.
Well, after what Don did to get Prita and Santi out of the detention center, it's really the least I can do.
Where is Don anyway? He should be here by now.
So, what's gonna happen with these girls, Amita, huh? What? Amita is using the money from the Milton Prize to Why don't you tell them? I'm going to use the money to pay for the girls to go back to school.
That's an admirable use of your award - let me know if I can contribute in any way.
That's sweet, but it's actually not necessary.
I'll have enough money to pay the tuition and have extra left over for a trip I want to take.
You're going to India.
Yeah, with my grandmother, over spring break.
Hey, that's, that's great.
Hey, guys, sorry I'm late.
I got stuck at the DMV.
What were you doing at the DMV? Oh, I'm now officially an organ donor.
Check it out.
Hey, look at that.
- Cool.
- Nice, huh? So now I get treated with a little more respect around here, huh? You know, more people took that simple step, can you imagine the ramifications? Basic economic theory: Black markets rely on a shortage of a regulated commodity.
That's right.
Increase the supply, the black market disappears.
Here's a couple extra applications in case anyone wants.
That's all right.
I already got my sticker.
Yeah, look, I've been an organ donor for years.
Yeah, me, too.
What about you, Charlie? I don't know.
I kind of want to hold on to my internal organs, you know.
Uh, Charlie, they don't actually take them until you've finished with them.
I'm aware of that, Father.
Yeah, well, there's nothing to worry about.
It's just, you know, what if I'm not dead and they think I'm dead, because I, like, look dead? Yeah, well, in your case, I can see that happening.
Don't worry, Charlie.
You got your family around to make sure something like that never happens.
Yeah, Chuck, we got your back.
Your spleen I got his heart.
It his brain that I think people want.
Maybe we should keep that and put it on eBay.
No, that goes to a museum.
Newton told the group that doing math was like standing on the shoulder of giants to see the future.
But then of course, in Newton's age, all the men wore shoes with buckles and four-inch heels.
Each year, we conclude this symposium by announcing the Milton Prize.
And Professor Charles Eppes, a past winner will present this year's award.
I didn't know Charlie won a Milton Prize.
Well, he was still at Princeton Shh! This is important.
Sorry.
It is a great honor to present the Milton Prize.
This year in particular, because I happen to know the winner.
To me, this person has become much more than a colleague.
We have collaborated closely together on a number of projects.
So without any further ado, the winner of this year's Milton Prize is Amita Ramanujan.
Amita! It's you.
Thank you all so much.
I can't believe it.
You got something else you want to do tonight? It's Friday night, we're running down anonymous tips.
It was a call to Homeland Security actually.
Something going on in a basement here.
It's the garment district.
Yeah? I'm thinking someone with a sweatshop wants help putting the competition out of business.
Well, maybe we can oblige them.
Gentlemen.
Yeah, hey.
You with the hotel? If this is about your luggage, we're doing everything we can to find it.
It's not about our luggage.
You're not with the convention group? That's right.
We received a tip about suspicious activity in your basement.
Suspicious act? What does that mean? It means you show us the basement.
Right this way, sir.
So this is it.
Careful, the floor is the floor's a little uneven.
What's in there? Uh, just some more rooms.
Let's go.
Okay.
Seems pretty quiet.
If the Health Department was down here They'd condemn the place.
I don't think the Health Department's ever been down here.
What's in there? Storage, I think.
Never been inside.
Open it.
Whoa.
Against the wall.
Where are the lights? - Right there.
- Turn them on.
Hands behind your back.
Behind your back.
Let's go.
Yeah, we got a lot of blood down here.
We got a whole scene.
I want backup.
Requesting backup immediately.
It's freezing in here.
See this car battery? What the hell happened down here? Looks like some kind of nightmare.
Hey, you hear that? This way.
This is the FBI! We need you to come out with your hands where we can see them.
This is the FBI.
Hey.
Okay, all right, all right, take it easy.
Hey, we're with the FBI.
You're okay.
It's okay.
We're with the FBI.
I'm not going to hurt you.
We need an ambulance.
Hotel Barclay, downtown L.
A.
If you know what you're doing, you can do a lot of damage with a car battery.
Is that a professional opinion? You see some things working Military CID in Afghanistan.
Things you'd rather not see.
You really think this is about torture? That would explain the girl.
She's been traumatized by something; I can't get through to her.
Begs the question what it is she knows.
And who else wants to know it.
Hey, guys, I just got off the phone to Washington.
They want us wall to wall on this.
So I think you should get back to that hotel, see if you can find anyone who saw anything.
It's a big place.
A lot of people coming in and out of there.
Megan, how's the girl? Acute stress disorder.
Showing signs of avoidance.
I'm nowhere with her.
Any idea where she's from? Right now I have her listed as a foreign national, unknown circumstance.
How about this car battery? I mean, what do you make of it? Well, that would explain why she's not even making eye contact with me.
All right, so what do we do? I mean, how do we reach her? Charlie, Don's probably busy right now.
We can tell him tomorrow.
We're not going to be long.
He's going to be so happy that you won.
Whoa, look at you.
Whoa, look at both of you.
What's going on? Hi.
What's up? What are you doing? We have dinner reservations nearby, so we just thought we'd stop by and say hello, that's all.
Is it a special occasion? Amita just won the Milton Prize for her dissertation.
That's a really big honor and it comes with a cash award, so That's great.
So I guess you're paying for dinner, huh? Congratulations.
Thank you.
I wasn't expecting it.
No? What happened here? That's the $64,000 question.
You think that ice has anything to do with it? Yeah, something.
I mean, why? If I can take two of these photos, I can probably tell you how long the ice has been there.
That'll at least give us a starting point.
Yeah.
See this plastic? This plastic is a non-wetting surface.
So I can do an interval analysis of the pooled water that would help us determine the rate of flow.
Right.
From there, we can work backwards to determine when the ice first started to melt.
Well, how long would that take? Depends.
The tricky part is figuring out how fast the ice was melting.
But once we know that, we can determine how long it took the puddle to grow, which is the result of two competing forces - the melting and the surface tension.
Surface tension? Molecules on the surface of water exhibit strong cohesive properties.
It's why certain bugs can run over the top of a pond or why raindrops are round.
It's like a balloon.
The rubber surface of a balloon acts much like a puddle does- it constrains what's inside.
So as air flows into a balloon, it gets bigger.
While how fast the balloon grows depends on the rate of air going into the balloon versus the strength of the balloon's surface.
Same thing goes for a puddle.
As more water flows into a puddle, it gets bigger.
But the surface tension constrains the shape of the puddle.
All right, wait, just, just what do you need from us to do this? Um, if I can take the first crime scene photo and the last.
I mean, that'll give us the greatest interval of time.
Thanks, Charlie.
Does that girl have something to do with this? Yeah, she does.
Why? She said something to me.
She spoke to you? Yeah, when I first came in.
I think she was asking for help.
Wait, in English? No, in Tamil.
My family moved to the United States from Chennai in Southern India.
Tamil is what they speak there.
What did she say? I'm not sure.
I think she's asking for help.
Honestly, I haven't heard much Tamil since I was really little.
I think she may have said something about her sister.
Okay, um I'm going to get a translator.
We can Wait.
Megan.
Is it okay if I stay with her? Yeah.
Yeah.
Hi.
My name is Amita.
My name is Santi.
I don't remember seeing anything unusual.
I was on the main level most of the evening.
Okay, maybe you heard something - banging, screaming? Nothing like that.
Is there more than one ice machine in this building? Just the one on the third floor.
That means the ice didn't come from the hotel.
Cubes are the wrong shape.
What's this room usually used for? Nothing.
It should've been locked.
A long time ago, it was a laundry room.
But we outsource all that now.
You have your laundry delivered? Yes.
What else do you guys have delivered? Uh, staff uniforms, morning papers, and a bakery brings the bread for the continental breakfast.
All right, we'll need to see a schedule of all your deliveries.
No problem.
All right, we got the same humidity.
What else do we need to know? Uh, we need to know the heat-exchange rate as determined by the thermal boundary layers of the ice.
In essence, how fast ice melts.
Right.
Now we've replicated all the variables involved, but the ice was sitting on, ice purity, humidity, air movement, room temperature Hey, what are you two doing? Hey, Dad.
It's freezing in here.
We're watching ice melt.
Yeah, Don got us a temperature reading from the crime scene.
We set the house's thermostat to match.
Crime scene? What, did someone kill an Eskimo? The ice is liquefying.
Got a rather gruesome mystery here.
Ooh yeah I can see that.
What was it? We don't know.
But whatever happened, it happened between 7:15 and 7:30 this morning.
So we've got a time for the crime.
And depending on what happened, the time may be very important.
For starters, we can tell the FBI when witnesses might have seen something.
Yeah, I see.
You think you can get this crime scene cleared up before breakfast? Charlie says the ice arrived yesterday right around this time.
Which means this delivery guy might have been here then, too.
Hey, are those still warm? You want one? Help yourself.
Thanks.
I thought cops ate donuts.
Well, we're FBI.
You make a delivery here yesterday morning? And the morning before that and the one before that.
We're only interested in yesterday, though.
Did you notice anything unusual? Nothing sticks out.
What about somebody carrying in an unusually large quantity of ice? Ice? No, I think I would've remembered something like that.
Sorry, guys.
The ice had to get in there somehow.
Somebody had to deliver it.
Hey, you didn't see anybody else down here? It's just usually me in the morning.
But there was an ambulance.
An ambulance? I think it was a private company.
It was parked over there.
Thanks for your cooperation.
You bet.
All negative.
I can run through them again if you want.
Hey, you guys get anything from the 911 logs? Not that puts an ambulance anywhere near the hotel.
What about where it went once it left? I could try the emergency rooms.
- Yeah.
Let me know.
- Okay.
Excuse me.
I'm looking for a girl that might have been brought in last night who was Indian; extensive internal injuries.
Dr.
Jenloe was the attending.
LAPD? FBI.
The LAPD forwarded me your report.
What can you tell me about the Jane Doe? Late teens, early 20s, Southeast Asian, came in with severe internal bleeding.
Do you know how she was brought in? I don't know.
You'd have to ask at the front desk.
They do all the admitting paperwork.
And what about her injuries? You don't know? Don't know what? I just figured that's why the FBI was interested.
Interested in what? She was hemorrhaging and in shock.
There wasn't anything we could do.
They had to break a rib.
That's not uncommon in this sort of procedure.
Whoever performed it either didn't know what they were doing or they made a serious mistake.
What kind of procedure are we talking about? Someone removed this girl's kidney.
So the coroner just confirmed what the ER doctor told me.
The artery was severed when they removed a kidney.
And the blood in the hotel matches the dead girl.
All right, organ theft.
I always thought that was an urban legend.
It's no legend, man.
We were working the villages outside Kandahar, these girls would show up with new passports.
They'd leave and come back with new scars.
Called them "transplant tourists".
And these girls did this willingly? What's "willingly" when you're poor and desperate, you know? Pay 'em a thousand bucks, it's like two or three years salary for their families.
So we're thinking someone's got the girl's kidney, right? Yeah, but who? It's not like they're going to come forward now.
Right.
If they knew how the kidney was acquired, that would make them an accessory to murder.
Well, there's transplant lists.
Maybe you could see if someone took themselves off the last few days.
I'll look into it.
Thanks for coming.
No problem.
I think I'll actually be helpful.
I think you will.
She really seemed to connect with you last night.
You were the one who figured out she spoke English.
I didn't actually figure it out.
She just started talking to me.
Is Santi under arrest? No, but we do have to hold her at least until I get her story.
The situation wasn't ideal, but it was the best one I had.
Thank you.
Sure.
Hi, Santi.
I'm Agent Reeves.
You remember Amita? Hi.
We think we know what happened at the hotel yesterday.
It's okay.
Agent Reeves is her to help.
You asked me about your sister? You found her? You found Prita? We found her last night.
No I'm so sorry.
This isn't my sister.
This is Sonali.
There were three of you? Four of us.
Prita, me, Jaya and Sonali.
And you were all here to sell your kidney? It's okay, Santi.
Anything you tell Agent Reeves will help her find your sister.
A man came to our village, promised us each $1,000.
Do you know who he is? Do you know what his name is? No.
He was from the city, from Chennai.
How long have you been here? Five days.
Where have you been staying? At the hotel.
You mean where we found you? In a room upstairs.
Later, they bring us to the basement.
It's okay.
For the kidney, I was next, but something happened to Sonali and everyone started to yell.
And I think they forget me, so I ran.
How did you get back to the basement? When I stop running, I am alone.
You went back? Prita was still there.
Hey, so there were four girls staying at that hotel.
Two of which are still missing.
So that night manager held out on us.
Yeah.
You and David should go over and pick him up, huh? Hey, by the way, did David get anything off those transplant lists? He did, yeah.
There's a guy named Benjamin Riley.
Took himself off the list.
Ends up in ICU with complications from his new kidney.
Dr.
Bainsworth? I'm Alan Kelley.
I'm with the hospital's legal office.
Dr.
Bainsworth intends to cooperate.
And you're just here in the spirit of that cooperation? What is it you'd like to know? For starters, how did you patient obtain an illegal kidney? I advised him very strongly against doing this.
Oh, so he just showed up with a black-market organ.
You don't know anything about it? I had nothing to do with his transplant.
But I still have a responsibility to my patient, even if he chooses to ignore my advice.
You always do so what your doctor tells you, Agent Reeves? We're not talking about lowering my cholesterol.
A girl was killed.
Lawrence, don't respond to that.
Where was she from? India.
It's not surprising.
There's an area outside of Chennai.
It's called "Kidney village".
So you're saying there's regular traffic in human organs? There are over 80,000 people on the transplant waiting list in this country and, every day, 17 of them die waiting.
I'd really like to speak to your patient about who performed this operation.
His transplant took place in less-than-ideal circumstances.
He has post-operative sepsis; a severe infection.
He's in critical condition.
So, what, he's too sick to talk? Andy knows what he did was illegal.
Whoever sold him the kidney coached him to keep silent.
I doubt he'd speak to you even if he could.
Then I want his bloodwork and tissue samples and everything you have on him.
The night manager was a dead end.
He quit the same day we interviewed him.
So he was in on it.
Well, yeah, with him in the wind, that leaves us with no connection to these two girls.
Well, the paperwork from the emergency room said that the victim was brought in by ambulance.
Oh, so we trace that 911 call.
I did that.
There as no 911 call.
The ambulance was there at the hotel waiting for him.
The driver was in on it.
Santi said something went wrong.
Maybe the ambulance was supposed to transfer an organ, ended up transporting a body as well.
What's up? It's the Milton Prize winner.
Hey.
You you okay? Yeah.
You know, we should reschedule our celebration.
Yeah.
I don't know.
I'm not really in the mood to celebrate.
Is it okay if we hold off maybe? Yeah.
You're upset for that girl you met at the FBI, aren't you? I went to see her this morning.
You know, Megan thought a familiar face might help her cope.
But I mean, how do you cope with something like that? Besides, you know, there's really not that much in common between us.
She comes from the same place as your family.
She does.
But you know, I grew up in California, Charlie.
I know more about surfing than I do about India.
When I was little, you know, kids used to make fun of me because I was different.
But I didn't want to be different.
My grandmother used to tell me stories about what it was like.
I just tuned her out.
And I wanted to push away that part of who I am.
You wanted to fit in here.
But now, you know, seeing this girl and what she's going through, I have to help her, but I don't know how.
I don't know what to say and I don't know what to do Well, maybe you should ask your grandmother.
I mean, she seemed to have some good ideas.
And even if you didn't used to listen to her Thank you, Charlie.
You really are a genius.
Are you the manager? Yeah.
We're looking for an ambulance of yours.
It was seen parked behind a hotel downtown.
You got a number? All the rigs have numbers.
No, this one dropped off a patient at the University General around 8:00 a.
m.
day before yesterday.
That'd be Proderman.
He's still out on the street.
Yeah? Has he got a radio? Yeah.
Call him back in.
Actually I don't need to.
That's him right now, pulling in the driveway.
Hey! Let's go! Unit 365.
365, go.
In pursuit of a homicide suspect driving a red-and-white van Look, it's an ambulance.
We're driving west on Normandy.
Just crossed 54th.
Requesting backup.
Copy, 365.
All units be advised.
First the night manager, now the ambulance driver? 365 requesting backup at Normandy and 54th.
Hold all radio traffic.
He's not gonna make that turn.
I don't think this dude cares.
Dispatch, suspect T.
A.
'd a taxi at 56th and Normandy.
Show us code six, requesting emergency medical assistance.
Hey, buddy, you're all right.
You're gonna be fine - why don't you just lay down and take it easy, okay? All right? You all right? Yeah, I'm okay.
Paramedics are on the way.
Well, maybe they can check and see if he's a donor.
Hi.
Oh, no, this isn't official.
We just came to see how you were doing.
Santi, this is my friend, Charlie.
Hello.
Hi.
So how are you doing? I am okay.
We brought you some stuff.
Um, some clothes.
And Here's some shampoo.
Hello? Yeah.
That's no problem.
I'll be right there.
And a hairbrush.
And um, toothbrush and toothpaste.
I've got to get back to the FBI.
You gonna be all right in this place? Yeah.
I'll be fine.
Okay.
Santi, the FBI's doing everything they can to find your sister.
Thanks for coming with me.
It will be very nice to wash my hair.
I'm so glad to hear you say that.
Um I didn't know what to get.
I You know, I don't know that much about where you're from.
You're not from India? No, I'm not.
My family is.
But I was born here in California.
Actually, I've never even been to India.
I could've gone once with my dad for business, but I didn't I didn't end up going.
And what is it you do in California? I work in math and astrophysics, at a college.
Uh, I-I'm in school.
Oh.
I was in school once.
When I was little, I liked school.
Uh, I brought you something else.
My grandmother thought you might like to have this.
For a puja.
A prayer.
Thank you.
What's the red string for? We tie a bracelet after.
To remember.
Ah, the trip log we got out of the ambulance? Yeah.
I've been through the entire thing, and every entry in it checks out against the 911 calls.
So Proderman was only recording official trips.
Doesn't leave us much to go on.
No, it doesn't - which is why I called Charlie.
He was nice enough to come down here on short notice.
Hey, Charlie.
How you doing? Thanks for coming down.
I was around here - I was at that, uh, that detention center, with Amita and the girl.
Is that that log book you called me about? Yeah, it is, but like I told you, it's just the official runs.
Well, then you were probably able to get the total distance driven by the driver on each of his shifts.
Well, yeah, the company records daily mileages for each driver.
How's that gonna help us, Charlie? He still could have gone anywhere.
No, his destinations are limited, by the total miles driven in each shift.
Okay, well, we still don't know where he went, and more importantly, where he could've taken those other girls.
Well, keep in mind that where he went couldn't have been random, you know, his choices were influenced by things: by the time of day, and his location.
So you mean like if it was noon it's likely that he went to lunch.
Exactly.
So first what we'll do is, we'll take the total mileage and plot all the possible routes, as well as all the known destinations from the ambulance log.
Then I can use a Hidden Markov Model, as well as an elliptical analysis to narrow the possibilities of the most likely hidden destinations and unrecorded routes.
It's a it's a treasure map.
We have ourselves a list of starting points, routes, destinations, times, but it's incomplete.
Not every stop is recorded.
Now, based on what information we do have, I can reveal the most likely locations and times for the unrecorded stops.
Imagine you held a candle to the bottom of a treasure map to reveal the sections written in invisible ink.
I don't know, Charlie, it still feels like we're pretty much guessing about where he went.
Okay, yeah, a little a-at first.
But this log is extensive.
I mean, it goes back several months.
So as we continue to analyze the possibilities, patterns will emerge, and with all this data, my algorithm will be able to tell us what his favorite place for lunch is, you know, where he probably gets his coffee, maybe where he shops for shoes.
Who knows? We just need it to tell us where he could've taken those girls.
Right.
Hello? Anyone home? Yeah.
In the kitchen, Don.
Hey, Dad.
I made some coffee; you want some? Nah.
I could use a drink, though.
Oh? Tough day? We just got these two missing girls from India.
India? What are they doing here? Selling their kidneys, believe it or not.
Crazy, right? I mean, they're dirt poor, they got a thousand bucks and a plane ticket here.
What? Oh, I was thinking about my friend Lou - you remember him? He used to work for the Parks Department of Recreation.
Yeah, sure.
Yeah, he died last year of, um kidney failure.
I'm sorry, Dad, I didn't know that.
Yeah.
I remember his family was so desperate, they couldn't find a match among them for a transplant.
Not even his two brothers.
You'd think brothers would match.
Well, actually, it's only one chance in four when it comes to siblings.
They even tested me.
And then they put him on this long list.
Waiting for a donor.
Must've been hundreds ahead of him.
That man could've lived.
Yeah, look, I see what you're saying, but, you know, these kids are dragged halfway across the world so some back-alley quack can cut them up for parts.
Yeah, I know, I'm not saying it's right.
I'm just saying that when it comes to looking at your own mortality, ah, you'd grab on to anything to save your life.
All right, Larry, we've reached the last few entries in the ambulance log, and we've got point C-36.
Okay? Uh, two kilometers north-south, three east-west.
You know, when I was a child, I was plagued by a nightmare involving the theft of my internal organs.
You were? Yeah.
Boy.
Uh Centering on, um on point Y-12, half a click up, one kilometer side to side.
The dreams recurred in regular intervals till I was 13 years old - it was horrible.
Well, like what? Like, was there a monster attacking you or something? Well, I mean, no.
Actually, it was my Aunt Louise.
God, I can see her even now, wearing this hair net.
All right, this is the last coordinate.
D-16.
One by one and a half.
And the 13th time is the charm.
The hospital again? Hospital again.
All right, so let's summarize.
In our analysis, University General shows up as a more likely destination than any other place? Yeah.
But it's not unusual for an ambulance to go to a hospital.
Yeah, but these were in addition to his official stops.
None of them were recorded.
Which means the ambulance driver may have had a contact at University General.
What are you Hey, you're not supposed to be down here.
Are you in charge? I'm the only one here.
You ever run into a guy named Proderman down here? Who are you? FBI.
He drives an ambulance.
You know him or not? No.
No, not really.
Sounds a lot like a yes.
I've seen him around - he's usually looking for Michael.
Michael? Michael Tolchuck - he works days in the morgue.
And nights at a hotel downtown? Where is he right now? I don't know.
I haven't seen him around.
You know, I think maybe I should just call my boss.
I think you should as well.
Excuse me? You have paperwork for four bodies right here.
So? So I count five.
Looks like she could be one of our girls.
A morgue is actually a great place to hide a body.
It's ironic.
Immigration showed Santi the fax; this isn't her sister.
Yeah, well, she's a lucky girl, 'cause he just gave me his preliminaries.
Both kidneys were taken.
Liver, corneas, even bone tissue.
Well, if they took more than a kidney, something's changed.
Murder wasn't part of the deal before.
I think when the first girl died, it was an accident.
And after that, Tolchuck just decides to cover his tracks.
Makes the witness problem a payday.
He said that parts were worth over 300 grand.
$300,000? The organs are valuable if they have a recipient match.
And biotech firms use skin, bone, even fat tissue to make all sorts of implants and prosthetics.
Well, if that's the case, Santi's sister is worth more dead than alive.
As long as he finds matches for her organs.
Which should give us a chance to find Tolchuck first.
Yeah.
Mike, we'll see you later; thanks.
Thank you.
Doctors and hospitals use an Optimization Theory developed at Johns Hopkins to determine the best matches between organ donors and recipients.
If we only consider a single variable- let's say, blood-type- then the match between only two items is simple to acheive.
But transplant doctors are trying to find complex matches for entire immune systems, based on a number of variables: blood-type, a crossmatch and a range of inmuno-proteins.
An Optimization algorithm is used to determine what donors are best suited for each patient.
Okay, so how do we use any of this? Santi told me that each of the girls was given a blood test to find a match for their kidneys.
Now, the National Organ Sharing Network keeps blood-type, crossmatch and HLA compatibility information on every patient waiting for a transplant.
So, what, we run the sister's results against that to find out where the kidney will wind up? Exactly.
We might be able to determine the transplant patient before the surgery takes place.
Yeah, but there's one thing.
What's that? We don't have any bloodwork on the missing girl.
No, we don't, but we can run blood and HLA - compatibility tests on Santi.
We can use her results; they're sisters.
From what I understand, there's only one in four chances that siblings will match.
Well, a one in four chance is better than no chance at all.
Sorry, Amita, but Santi's data just isn't producing a result.
Well, then let's test the algorithm against known matches.
We already tried that.
Amita, I don't think the equation's the problem.
Then the database of patients waiting for transplants must be an incomplete set.
You know, if we consider we're dealing with a black market, it's possible, even probable, that we're looking for a patient who cannot obtain an organ in the normal way.
So they wouldn't be on any official lists.
Yeah, but it's much more likely that Santi isn't a match for her sister.
I was hoping this would work.
Yeah, well, we all were.
Well, we aren't giving up.
Wow, this doesn't look good.
I assume you guys haven't found anything yet.
No.
Well, you know, we're only working with a 25% chance of success to begin with.
And absence of proof is not the same thing as a proof of failure.
Yeah, she's right about that.
She's right about what? We don't know that Santi isn't a match for her sister.
We only know that we aren't getting any results from this current set of patients.
Well, David and Colby found some data on the patients in Tolchuk's computer at the morgue.
Let me see.
This is a potential list of customers? We think so.
Our elusive black-marketeers? We have a match.
Thank God.
Well, now that we know where the kidney is going, what I need to do is find Santi's sister before she gets there.
Dad these people, they're from the FBI.
They want to ask you some questions.
What kind of questions? Sir, I'll make this as quick as possible.
Are you aware that buying human organs is a Federal crime? I don't know what you're talking about.
Mr.
Eckworth, two women have been murdered.
There's still another girl out there.
Who happens to be a perfect donar match for you.
What girl? What are talking about? We're investigating a murder of two girls who were killed for their body parts.
I said I don't know anything.
My father really isn't well, and I need to get back to work.
So, if there's nothing else All right.
Thanks.
He's lying.
You saw that.
Yeah.
So why did you take us out of there? I don't think he's going to talk.
And I think she's been in the dark until now, you know? So he really thought people we're trying to find are gonna save his life and he's never gonna talk? You see the way she looked when you said "murdered"? You think I should talk to her? I think he made the choice, and she's finding out what it entails.
My father told you he didn't know anything.
Right now, I'm not that interested in what your father knows.
Without a new kidney, my father will die.
But he has a blood disorder that disqualifies him from getting a transplant.
I know this is difficult.
Difficult? Every day I watch as my dad dies a little bit more.
You know, he raised me.
It was always just the two of us.
You know, none of this wouldn't be happening if I were a match, if I could give him a kidney.
I'm sure you'd do anything to save your father.
But two girls have already been killed.
I don't know anything about that.
Maybe not before, but now you do, and there is another girl out there just waiting to be carved up.
Look, I'm sure you would do anything to save your father, but this may not be the best way.
The last person who received a transplant from these people died a few hours ago from massive infection.
He told me that I need to be ready to pick him up to take him to the hospital.
From where? And when? At a hotel.
Tomorrow.
In Romania, I was a surgeon at the best hospital in Bucharest.
Now I'm reduced to washing my hands in a toilet.
I made one mistake on a patient who would have died in six months anyway.
Tomorrow I'm retiring.
What do you plan to do with your share? Forget I asked.
FBI! FBI! Drop that scalpel! Drop it! Turn around! Put your hands behind your back- Prita? Jimmy, put them up! Prita? Jimmy, get in here.
Prita, can you hear me? We need a medic! How did you know she would be okay? You gave us the information we needed.
And I believe in the people that were looking for her.
And, uh Thank you.
Mmm, that smells so good.
I hope it's good.
It's embarrassing, but I actually had to ask my grandmother what to get.
It was absolutely uneccessary for you to buy dinner for us.
Well, after what Don did to get Prita and Santi out of the detention center, it's really the least I can do.
Where is Don anyway? He should be here by now.
So, what's gonna happen with these girls, Amita, huh? What? Amita is using the money from the Milton Prize to Why don't you tell them? I'm going to use the money to pay for the girls to go back to school.
That's an admirable use of your award - let me know if I can contribute in any way.
That's sweet, but it's actually not necessary.
I'll have enough money to pay the tuition and have extra left over for a trip I want to take.
You're going to India.
Yeah, with my grandmother, over spring break.
Hey, that's, that's great.
Hey, guys, sorry I'm late.
I got stuck at the DMV.
What were you doing at the DMV? Oh, I'm now officially an organ donor.
Check it out.
Hey, look at that.
- Cool.
- Nice, huh? So now I get treated with a little more respect around here, huh? You know, more people took that simple step, can you imagine the ramifications? Basic economic theory: Black markets rely on a shortage of a regulated commodity.
That's right.
Increase the supply, the black market disappears.
Here's a couple extra applications in case anyone wants.
That's all right.
I already got my sticker.
Yeah, look, I've been an organ donor for years.
Yeah, me, too.
What about you, Charlie? I don't know.
I kind of want to hold on to my internal organs, you know.
Uh, Charlie, they don't actually take them until you've finished with them.
I'm aware of that, Father.
Yeah, well, there's nothing to worry about.
It's just, you know, what if I'm not dead and they think I'm dead, because I, like, look dead? Yeah, well, in your case, I can see that happening.
Don't worry, Charlie.
You got your family around to make sure something like that never happens.
Yeah, Chuck, we got your back.
Your spleen I got his heart.
It his brain that I think people want.
Maybe we should keep that and put it on eBay.
No, that goes to a museum.