Criminal Minds s15e07 Episode Script
Rusty
Oh.
Thank you for picking me up.
Yeah.
Of course.
Oh, I don't know how long Esther's gonna be in the shop.
The mechanic, she says they have to get a special part from California because, you know, Esther runs on biodiesel, but when that part is inside Esther, she's gonna run like a dream.
She might run for another 100,000 miles.
Isn't this place great? It is.
Yeah.
I've never been here before, but I ordered exactly what you told me.
Yes! Usually, I'm a tea gal, but their nitro cold brew here is everything.
Order for Emily.
Oh.
This is us.
Ooh! Uh, question.
Did you watch the show last night? No.
I'm behind.
Spoiler alert.
May I? - Go ahead.
- Ok.
The blond one, she died twice last week! It was crazy with a "K"! All right.
So there was that battle, right, and they needed her to have a secret identity.
Well, after that race car thing, and then this week, she's back at work.
Wait.
She's already back at work? Yes, because she has special healing powers, remember? She gets back to work, and she professes her undying love to her boss Steffi, and I, like, screamed, "they're gonna do that now? Now?" I mean, she has loved her for years and years.
Remember that one case they had, and they went on the date afterwards Not a date.
It was a non-date date, but still And then Sergio, he puked up a fur ball on some clean laundry because he's diabolical, but you're here, and I'm here, and it's a beautiful Wednesday morning Penelope, that isn't your first coffee, is it? Well, it doesn't count if you brew it yourself.
I'm cutting you off now.
Fair play.
Morning.
Hey.
Another day, another dollar.
Yep.
Good old-fashioned government dollar.
I can tell Garcia hit up her favorite coffee truck on her way to work.
I had to cut her off.
Wait.
Don't you have a budget meeting this morning? Uh, yes, I do.
Emily.
Yeah? You buried the lede.
Flowers? That Andrew Mendoza's a keeper.
Mm-hmm.
- Can't be late for that meeting.
- Mm-hmm.
This fiscal year, the bureau saw a $46 million reduction.
The BAU was first against all other units in direct and indirect costs for your travel.
I think unit chief Prentiss can better speak to their needs.
Yes, of course.
Uh, this fiscal year, the BAU's costs have increased Prentiss.
You have a second to go over with requests with the director? - Absolutely.
- Maybe grab some lunch.
I know he's been wanting to speak with you.
I'd love to.
- I thought that went well.
- Yeah! Do you think she'll get to school on time? It's not far, right? No.
They'll make it.
Kara's a great kid.
Her foster mom's taking really good care of her.
She adores you.
Becoming an uncle 5 years ago was a big surprise, but now, man, I can't imagine my life without her.
You're gonna be a great dad.
Thanks.
Um, how long does this usually take? A while, so just hang in there.
Brenda, I can't thank you enough.
It's my pleasure.
- I'll be in touch.
- Great.
Oh.
You're following me now.
It's so awkward when this happens because we already said good-bye.
No.
I get it.
You wanted to spend a few extra minutes with me.
You could have just asked, Sean.
Oh.
I wish I had the time, but actually, I'm running late for a meeting.
Maybe next time.
- This is me.
- Oh.
- Bye, Sean.
- Bye.
Everything is wrong! Everything you know is wrong And this is proof! Pretty gruesome stuff.
Yeah.
This is the third killing in the last two months? Yes.
The Denver division invited us in.
They've got 3 men dead.
Each was decapitated.
Heads nowhere to be found.
The first two were killed in public yet secluded areas, one on a bike path, the other at a park.
This the first time this guy's left a message? Yeah.
Nothing like this was found at the other crime scenes.
Yeah, and speaking of this message, it was filmed on the victim's phone, so there's no way to track it.
The unsub's not afraid of being seen.
We should take the partial we have of his face, run it through ViCAP, and see if it hits.
And what did he mean by "everything you know is wrong" and this is proof"? Proof of what? Power, control, his dominance over the victims.
Well, his word choice plus that head, it feels like a taunt directed at he viewer, not the victim.
If it was a taunt directed at the general public, he would have uploaded it somewhere.
Then it must be law enforcement.
Either way, the distinct lack of empathy and remorse in his voice plus his general demeanor and the nature of his crimes tells us that he's an organized offender with a specific psychopathology.
One that includes taking his victim's heads.
Nothing here says he's close to being done.
Wheels up in 10.
Denver, huh? Yeah.
Mendoza call you directly? Uh, no actually.
It came through official channels.
So You and Andrew long distance How's that been going? Kyle! You're getting closer.
"History has a way of altering villains" "so that we can no longer see ourselves in them.
" Adam Serwer.
Go ahead, Garcia.
Ok, fam.
We got dossiers on top of dossiers.
Our first victim is Manny Rodriguez Late thirties, divorced, no kids.
He was a twice-elected city councilperson.
Politics can be messy.
He may have ruffled some feathers.
Perhaps, but our second victim Isaac Wiley was in his late 20s.
He worked for a tech firm.
There's nothing in his file that could be considered controversial or political.
Our latest victim Sean Mcafee was an architect, early 30s, single, never married, no kids.
So all 3 had different jobs and lived in different parts of town.
Garcia, have you found any overlap socially? Do I have to start calling you newbie again? Ok.
So you would have led with that.
Shut the front door.
Andrew Mendoza signed this report.
Andrew Mendoza is Prentiss' boyfriend.
He's the head of the Denver field office? Uh, yes.
He has been for the past, uh, two months.
Um, his daughter and ex-wife moved to Colorado a year ago, and he'd been waiting for a transfer so he could be closer to Keely.
She starts high school soon, so But you guys are, um you're good? Yeah.
Yeah.
It's all good.
Anyway, we have bigger fish to fry than my personal life, so when we land, Simmons, Rossi, and I will set up at the Denver division.
JJ, Reid, check out the latest crime scene.
Tara and Luke, you will go to the M.
E.
's office.
So we're just not gonna talk about that tall hunk of water you call your bae? No.
I have so many questions.
Like, is he left-handed? What does he sleep in? Is he allergic to cats? Bye, Penelope.
Was he ever in band? Hey.
I got to go, all right? Dave, good to see you.
Same here.
- How you doing? - How are you, brother? - Good to see you.
- You, too.
You, too.
And Chief Prentiss.
Oh, hi.
Yeah.
Andrew, uh, what have you got for us? Well, first off, we got you guys set up over here, and waiting to be interviewed are the friends and family of the first two victims.
Also a woman named Alice Clarke is coming in.
She's the last known person to speak to Sean Mcafee.
Great.
We'll just need a few minutes to set up.
All right.
Hey.
I missed you.
It's good to see you.
Uh-huh.
Think we need to talk.
We will when the case is over.
All right.
Thanks.
So, uh, neighbors reported seeing an older Ford station wagon in the area.
Hopefully we can get plates.
Did you see the additional home surveillance? I did.
I just watched all the footage.
Hopefully, the extra angles can help Garcia with her facial recognition search.
Sean had cameras all over his house, but based on the unsub's behavior, he had no idea he was being filmed.
That means the unsub probably wasn't stalking him.
This was all impulse.
He ransacked the place after killing Sean.
In the video we saw, he clearly wasn't looking for anything.
He just lost it.
Did you see the way that he kept squinting and shielding his eyes even though there was no light above him? Light sensitivity.
Plus emotional outbursts.
Pretty clear he's going through some kind of psychotic break.
That could make him easier to spot.
We should ask eyewitnesses about strangers exhibiting any innocuous, repetitive behaviors.
There were no defensive wounds, no signs of torture or ligature marks, so it's unlikely he was held.
Did you run a tox screen? Came up clean just as in the previous two murders.
Well, if our unsub didn't drug Sean and he didn't fight back, then he must have incapacitated him somehow.
Yeah.
Perhaps with a sharp bump to the back of the head.
Was the C.
O.
D.
decapitation? I believe so.
He most likely used some kind of a heavy blade, a broad or a felling ax.
That was my thinking, as well, and it was done perimortem.
Sean was alive when this happened? Yeah, and this killer knew what he was doing.
A couple of clean strikes, and kktt He was finished.
That feels quick, almost transactional.
Yeah.
He didn't want to prolong the experience.
He was focused.
He wanted to get it done with.
And check out this latent bruising.
At first, I wasn't sure if it happened during the attack or when he fell, but it appears to be some kind of marking.
The unsub must have pressed it into his chest.
Dr.
Martinez, did you find anything similar on the other victims? There was some latent bruising in the same vicinity, but I'm not sure about symbols or markings.
Are the bodies still here? Yes, they are.
- Well, let's take a look.
- Ok.
Ms.
Clarke, thank you for coming in.
Have a seat.
I understand you worked with Sean Mcafee.
Yes, that's right.
We're working We worked on the same project together, this high rise going up downtown.
And he called you yesterday afternoon? Yes.
He was running late.
He just wanted to let me know that I should start the meeting by myself.
I was surprised, but he also has a lot of personal things going on in his life, so Oh, yeah? Like what? He has a sister that just went to jail for 10 years Drugs or something.
Sean was filing for custody of her daughter Kara.
He wanted to raise her.
That's why he was late because he was having lunch with his niece and the case worker.
It was their first sit-down.
Sean was gonna be a father.
We got to bring that case worker in.
Yes, and like our other two victims, Sean was last seen with or around a child.
They're fathers or father figures.
That's why the unsub is targeting them.
Yeah.
Watch your head! Hey, hey.
I got it.
I got it.
Thank you.
Hey.
Come on, bud.
Let's go.
Even Lionel Messi has to practice.
Coming! So it turns out that there was latent bruising on the torsos and chests of all 3 victims.
A closer analysis of the contusions revealed that they're some kind of characters.
Now taken together, we think they may be mathematical symbols, perhaps part of a larger expression.
Schrodinger's equation.
They form the basis of Schrodinger's equation.
Well, I've heard of Schrodinger's cat.
Both describe potential energy.
Schrodinger's equation is the basis of quantum mechanics.
It describes the probability that a particle will behave in a certain way in a certain place in a certain time.
The implications of this gave rise to the many worlds theory of the universe.
Which is that reality as we know it is only one of many possible universes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm with you.
I watch "Doctor Who.
" Ok.
So does our unsub think he's in a parallel universe? What does killing dads have to do with parallel universes? I mean, maybe he's mad at his own? Even if he is, why take their heads? It doesn't line up.
You know, we said these kills are transactional.
Maybe the heads are sacrifices or tokens of some sort, something the unsub needs to do in order to pass between realities.
I mean, it only has to make sense to him.
Yeah.
Matt's right.
Most serial killers engage in some kind of fantastical thinking, right Bundy, Dahmer.
Son of Sam thought he saw a talking dog, but this particular delusion that this unsub is experiencing, it comes from somewhere.
Not to mention, outside of our boy genius, most people don't know that equation.
Yeah.
We should be looking for people with a background in theoretical physics and quantum mechanics.
And fast because based on the markings on those bodies, his equation isn't complete.
He hasn't finished his proof yet.
Yes, honey.
I got the onion pakora and the mango chutney, too, extra hot.
Ok.
All right.
Then she can have my butter chicken.
All right.
See you soon.
Love you.
Unh! Ha ha ha! You have to mark him, Kyle.
Thanks.
Victim's name was Dan Montgomery.
He was picking up food for his wife and son.
Did he have the same kind of latent bruising on his chest as the others? Yeah.
The next symbols in the equation.
Ok.
Thanks.
Look.
I'm not saying it was a walk of shame or anything, but, uh, these are yesterday's clothes.
Oh.
Sounds like a hell of a night.
This is Kevin Patterson.
He was in the bar next door last night.
- What'd you see? - I had a few drinks, uh, met a woman.
We got to chatting.
Things were going well.
I was pretty sure she liked me.
Anyway, I stepped outside while she was in the restroom.
Then I saw this guy across the way.
He, uh, had something in his hand, I think, a large stick, but I heard him say, "isn't this enough?" Why isn't this enough?" Who was he talking to? Nobody.
I just figured he was some homeless drunk, but then he turned to me stone-cold sober and said, "I need to get back.
" Freaked me out, and the girl I met came out of the bar.
We left together.
Uh, I never saw a body or anything.
I didn't think about it again till this morning when I saw the news.
All right.
We're gonna need the name of the woman you left with.
And, Kevin, I'd like you to work with one of our sketch artists.
Is that all right? Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Of course.
- Great.
- Right this way.
Our unsub's psychosis is getting worse.
He's hallucinating now.
Yeah.
He's not even concerned about a potential witness seeing him either.
Well, what was the last thing Kevin heard him say? He needs to get back.
So let's put this all together.
Parallel universes, wrong timeline, get back as in cross over.
I think I know how this is all connected.
We need to deliver the profile.
We're looking for a male in his late 30s or early 40s, who we believe is killing in order to cross over into a parallel universe.
This unsub is a man living inside a delusion, a fractured reality that he believes is wrong.
The idea that we're living in the wrong timeline is most commonly described as the Mandela effect.
The Mandela effect is a psychological phenomenon similar to false memory syndrome.
It's so called because a significant number of people have a very clear memory of Nelson Mandela dying in prison in the 1980s when we know that not to be true.
He did, in fact, survive, was released, and made president of South Africa until he passed away in 2013.
Scientists and psychologists haven't figured out this phenomenon yet.
But a popular theory on line is that we are currently living in a parallel reality, that at some point in the recent past our world or timeline shifted, and the evidence is all around us.
Things we collectively remember to be one way are actually another.
Names of childhood books, authors, certain phrases, even brands.
"The Berenstein Bears" while others recall "the Berenstain Bears.
" Unh! Unh! Unh! Or Curious George do you guys remember a tail or no tail? A tail.
Got to have a tail, right? He's a monkey.
No tail.
We don't know what sparked our unsub's interest in the Mandela effect, but when we find that, we find him.
Do we have a theory on why he's targeting fathers or father figures? Well, as of right now, given the violence, he seems driven by a hatred perhaps towards his own father.
This man is dangerous.
He's isolated, and he's mission-oriented.
We have to issue a warning to the public not to confront him.
He's out there.
Let's get to work.
Thank you.
Aah! Why won't you let me see him? You can't see what you refuse to look at, Kyle.
You're running out of time.
Coffee? Yes.
Thank you.
Look, guys.
We are banging our heads against a wall here.
I mean, Denver is littered with colleges, and we've already worked our way through most of the academics and scientists.
Well, you know what? We just need to step back and look at things differently.
The Mandela effect is a unique psychological construct, right? I mean, there's got to be a good reason why he latched onto it in particular.
Well, creation of dissociative realities can often be a crutch for people who've suffered extreme trauma.
Ok.
Let's run with that.
We're looking for a loss triggered by an event likely caused by the unsub himself, and then this inability to accept this reality would be a defense mechanism for a mind racked with guilt.
So unable to face reality, our unsub has created his own.
Still doesn't explain why he's killing father figures, though.
Unless it does.
Say his own guilt is a major factor in a break like this.
That would mean that he's picking out dads out of some kind of self-loathing.
This isn't about his hatred toward his own dad.
These men are surrogates for him.
He's angry at himself.
Our unsub's the father here.
Hey.
What happened to you last night? I thought you'd come by.
I texted you.
Um Oh.
Here.
Come with me.
Talk to me.
I don't know what to say.
Well, maybe you start with why you canceled your trip a couple weeks ago.
Like I said, there was an abduction.
Emily, there's always gonna be a case, and you know I know, ok, but you were supposed to come for the weekend, finally meet Keely.
Mm-hmm.
And now you're back to dodging my calls and texts.
Did I do something wrong? No, and thank you for the flowers.
Oh, you're welcome, but if not, then what is it? This has just been harder than I thought it was gonna be.
You know, I never wanted moving here to change anything between us.
What I want Is you.
I want us, but right now, it feels like you're Pulling away.
Ohh.
Are we breaking up? No.
That's not what I want.
Well, then what do you want? Tell me.
I'll do it.
We're at work.
Before you go back to D.
C.
, I just want to know where we stand, ok? Oh, hey.
I was just looking for you.
What's up? Penelope found something hinky in regards to the social worker who was helping Sean Mcafee.
She's bringing the others up to speed now.
Ok.
Great.
Go ahead, Garcia.
Ok.
So our initial interview with Sean's case worker Brenda Hacker didn't raise any red flags, but she was the last person to see him alive, so I did some additional spelunking.
And? Welcome to the thunderdome.
I looked at Brenda's financial records, her phone records, her case records.
She specializes in a very specific clientele, single dads who are fighting for custody of their child or children, and she has an unusually high success/placement rate.
How unusual? Like, get yourself to Vegas, call your bookie, the fix is in unusual.
You think she's greasing the wheels? Oh, she's lubing them up big time.
Uh, stop smiling, Luke Alvez.
I can feel it.
That joke was not for you.
What I'm saying is her testimony holds a special kind of weight with the judge.
She's got her finger in the cookie jar somehow or another.
We should bring her back in.
Doesn't seem like a coincidence that she works with fathers and our unsub might be one.
Good work, Garcia.
Penelope.
New phone.
Who dis? Thank you.
You should worship at my throne, Luke Alvez.
Oh, but I do.
I do.
You know I do.
What does that even mean? Another time.
Come on, Dad.
Mo would let me drive.
I have my learner's permit.
Yeah.
Let her, Dad.
Here.
You can start the car, but that's it.
Dad, that's so lame.
That's all you're gonna get for now.
I'll take you out later when it's just the two of us.
Unh! Unh! Ohh! Dad?! Aah! Aah! Oh, no! Aah! Aah! Aah! - Dad! - Drive, drive! - Drive now! - No, no! Go! - Aah! - Drive! Wow.
This place really clears out at lunch.
Yeah.
This granola bar will do it for me.
Hmm.
Me, too.
So you're not having lunch with Andrew? 3 months ago, Andrew asked me to move to Denver with him, but I'm happy where I am.
I'm not ready to leave the BAU.
I haven't even met his daughter yet.
Why? You've been seeing him for over a year.
Keely was already in Colorado, and the couple of times she visited last year, the timing just didn't work out.
Hey.
You're putting up walls.
I know because I've put up plenty myself.
Uprooting my whole life? Moving halfway across the country? That's just not something that I ever had in my plans, and what if it doesn't work out? Take it from a guy who just married his third ex-wife for the second time.
All of this work is worth it.
You deserve this.
Be honest with him.
Tell him how you feel.
Sorry to interrupt.
Denver PD just found another decapitated body.
The head is missing, and so are the man's two kids.
JJ and Reid are en route.
The fact that he left his vehicle behind means he has no intention of coming back.
He's never really hidden from us, but this just feels like the final straw.
He's finished one way or another.
Based on his equation, these are his final 3 victims.
Ok, but then why the change in M.
O.
? Why abduct two teenagers? Probably has something to do with the loss that he suffered.
Oh.
Look at this.
Oh, Ethan.
I've been leaving you messages.
I hope you're getting them.
I've been trying to explain to you that there are an infinite number of realities, branches, and 7 years ago, our universe, it branched into another one.
It it was another timeline.
It was the wrong one because you aren't here, but I've figured out a way to cross over to get back to you.
I'm coming for you.
It's all gonna be ok.
Don't be scared.
Dad is coming.
So it was his son that he lost.
He'll do anything to get back to him, even kill, maybe even trade one kid's life for another.
Son's name is Ethan, right? Ethan was the final piece of the puzzle.
Our unsub's name is George Kyle Peters.
He goes by Kyle.
He's a former high school physics teacher, and his son Ethan died when he was 7 years old in a horrific car crash.
I'm sending you the info now.
It says here that Kyle was driving his 7-year-old son home from a movie when he struck a patch of black ice and lost control.
Ethan was Decapitated.
Rusty! Two months ago was the 7-year anniversary of this death.
The anniversary was his trigger.
Kyle was in a coma for months following the accident.
When he woke up, his son was gone.
Well, that's a hell of a stressor.
Kyle's mind would not let him process this grief.
No matter what kind of support he might have gotten, he could not conceive of a world that did not have his son in it, so he created a new one, one where Ethan was still alive.
Where's Kyle been the last 7 years? In and out of institutions.
He was released 4 months ago.
I did everything you asked! I brought you their heads as proof.
7 lives for the 7 years that have passed.
The two teens that he kidnapped, Emma and Colin Choi, Colin's 14.
That's the same age his son would have been if he survived.
Looks like we caught a break.
Garcia wanted us to pull hard copies of all of Brenda Hacker's files, the ones that hadn't been digitized.
Turns out 12 years ago Brenda was assigned to help Kyle Peters get custody of his son Ethan.
Wait a minute.
The same person was the case worker for our third victim Sean and our unsub? We thinking that's just as coincidence? Well, actually, it might be.
Social workers here, they're forced to see a lot of clients, cover a lot of ground, and we haven't seen any connection between her and our other victims, so Hold on.
It says here Kyle was arrested on two DUI charges in college.
He sought help for a drinking problem.
And yet Brenda still managed to get him custody.
Like I said, call your bookies.
That would indicate a classic narcissistic savior complex.
Brenda likes that these men need her, and she uses it against them.
Penelope, I need everything you've found on her so far.
Got it.
Coming, coming.
Is Brenda here? Just arrived.
Put her in my office.
Ok.
We need to check out Kyle's home and last knowns.
Talk to his former co-workers and neighbors.
He's taken these kids someplace, likely somewhere personal.
I did everything you asked! Now it's time to make the trade! Who's he talking to? He's crazy.
There's no one there.
We've got to get out of here.
How? Help me with my tape.
That's not what we agreed to! You told me that this would be over with! Wait a minute.
She was making money off these guys? Yep.
Extortion plain as day.
What? All these calls, all this time together.
Maybe it didn't stop there.
Well, Brenda's smart.
She's not gonna incriminate herself.
Well, we can't give her an out.
Brenda knows our unsub and well.
Right now, she's our best bet at finding those kids.
Brenda, when was the last time you saw Kyle Peters? 10, 12 years ago.
But you were aware that his son passed away? Yeah.
I heard.
I didn't know him very well.
I was just his case worker.
According to cell phone records, you called Kyle 7 years ago.
I don't really remember.
And prior to that when you were handling his case, you called him 4 or 5 times a day from your personal phone, sometimes after hours.
That sound like work to you? Uh, it does not.
I think you knew Kyle a lot better than you're letting on.
Perhaps you saw each other socially.
I'm not comfortable with this conversation.
Brenda, these are financial records, yours.
Uh, you'll see that there are a large number of cash deposits during the time period in question, and what's interesting is that they match up with these records here, which are Kyle's bank records.
They show withdrawals from the same time period.
I don't like what you're implying.
Ms.
Hacker, Kyle has killed 5 people.
He's abducted two teenagers, most likely with the intent to kill them, too.
I don't know anything about that.
I haven't done anything wrong.
Well, now that's not entirely true, Brenda, is it? You target single men, like Sean, fathers who are desperate to retain custody of their children.
You get them to slip you a little cash under the table, and in exchange, you doctor their files.
You can't prove that.
Not yet.
You convinced a judge that Kyle should get custody of his son despite his history with alcohol abuse.
My guess is he was drunk on the night of the accident, and when he woke up from his coma, you called him, and you helped him fix his story.
You added in that bit about the black ice.
Now it's pretty clear that story was to protect you, not him.
You didn't want anybody digging into Kyle's past and finding something that you worked so hard to hide.
The way I see it, that's child endangerment.
So, Brenda, do yourself a favor.
Sit back down and tell us about your relationship with Kyle, and we'll take your cooperation into consideration.
What do you want to know? Everything that wasn't in his case file.
Now we agreed, Rusty.
It had to be.
That's what you said! Aah! Ugh.
Brenda told us that Kyle and his son loved to explore an area around an abandoned gold mine in the foothills.
Yeah.
They went every weekend.
That makes sense.
Kyle was a scientist.
He wanted to foster a similar love in his son.
We're sure this is where he would take Emma and Colin? It's ideal.
The mine's secluded.
It's been vacant for decades.
We need to be careful.
We're gonna be on his turf.
This is it, Kyle.
This child for yours.
Please don't hurt me.
I just I I can't.
I'm sorry.
I can't.
Don't you want to see your son again? Ohh, ohh.
Please.
This child for yours.
Please.
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry, Ethan.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry, Ethan.
Ohh! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry, Ethan.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
These tracks lead inside.
This has got to be it.
According to the map, there's another entrance at the north.
We should split up.
Lewis, Alvez, Simmons, see if there's another way in.
I'm sorry.
Kyle Peters, FBI! Drop the ax! Put it down! Kyle, look at me.
You don't understand! He is on the other side, he is trapped on the other side.
He needs me! I am his father! I do understand.
I know what it's like to have someone you love stuck in another world, wanting one thing, having another, but really having neither, afraid to face the truth.
You have to face it, Kyle.
Kyle.
No.
He said this the only way to get him back.
He said a boy for a boy.
It's not.
Everything is wrong.
No.
That's what you think, right? Err! That these sacrifices you've been making will help you get your son back, but they won't.
- It's not real.
- Err! Look again.
Kyle, you have to face the truth.
Oh, no.
What is the truth? He's gone.
Ohh! Ethan is gone.
I just wanted to see him again.
We need medics asap.
Come on.
Oh, god.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry! I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Mom! Mom! Mom! All this talk of alternate realities.
Who do you think you'd be in a parallel universe, you know, in one of your imagined futures? I don't know.
Come on.
If you weren't an FBI agent, what would you do? You promise not to laugh? A cowboy.
- A cowboy? - Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
I'd, um, you know, have some horses, a few cattle, be surrounded by nature.
And what would you do with cattle? Well, you know, look at them, pet them.
I I hadn't really thought about that, but I'll I'll figure it out.
Wow.
I was was not expecting that.
Ahem.
And, uh, you're there with Will and the boys.
You run the flower shop on Hickory Street.
It's this cute, little street in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, and Rossi's there.
He runs a saloon, which he lives above, and Garcia has a sanctuary for wounded animals.
May I interest anyone in a beverage? Wow.
That's timing.
So, uh, Dave, in another life, what would you be? Oh, that's easy.
A boxer.
Hmm.
In fact, there was a time I was having dinner with Muhammad Ali, and we were having a discussion just on this subject Roads taken or not taken in this life.
And what did he say? I don't quite remember because I was drinking for the two of us, and it was the best scotch I'd ever had, and that's saying A lot.
So to paths not taken.
To paths not taken.
Get the stove, all right? You know daddy likes to burn stuff.
Hi.
I thought you left.
The team did, but, uh, I wasn't ready to go.
In fact, I was hoping we could have dinner tonight.
Uh, well, my daughter and I are just about to eat.
Oh, of course.
I I'm sorry.
I didn't mean to intrude.
Hey.
I'd love it if you'd join us.
Heh.
I would love to.
Thank you.
Keely, this is Emily.
Emily, this is Keely.
Hi.
I have heard so much about you.
And I've heard so much about you.
You did not oversell it, Dad.
- Keely.
- Dad.
Oh! Ha ha ha! Uh, I would actually really like to hear more about that.
What exactly did your dad not oversell? Maybe we should compare notes.
I like her.
Maybe we shouldn't compare notes.
How about that? No.
I think that's actually a perfect idea.
Here you go.
There we are.
"We must be willing to let go" "of the life we've planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.
" Joseph Campbell.
The fact that he said you're absolutely gorgeous.
Thank you for picking me up.
Yeah.
Of course.
Oh, I don't know how long Esther's gonna be in the shop.
The mechanic, she says they have to get a special part from California because, you know, Esther runs on biodiesel, but when that part is inside Esther, she's gonna run like a dream.
She might run for another 100,000 miles.
Isn't this place great? It is.
Yeah.
I've never been here before, but I ordered exactly what you told me.
Yes! Usually, I'm a tea gal, but their nitro cold brew here is everything.
Order for Emily.
Oh.
This is us.
Ooh! Uh, question.
Did you watch the show last night? No.
I'm behind.
Spoiler alert.
May I? - Go ahead.
- Ok.
The blond one, she died twice last week! It was crazy with a "K"! All right.
So there was that battle, right, and they needed her to have a secret identity.
Well, after that race car thing, and then this week, she's back at work.
Wait.
She's already back at work? Yes, because she has special healing powers, remember? She gets back to work, and she professes her undying love to her boss Steffi, and I, like, screamed, "they're gonna do that now? Now?" I mean, she has loved her for years and years.
Remember that one case they had, and they went on the date afterwards Not a date.
It was a non-date date, but still And then Sergio, he puked up a fur ball on some clean laundry because he's diabolical, but you're here, and I'm here, and it's a beautiful Wednesday morning Penelope, that isn't your first coffee, is it? Well, it doesn't count if you brew it yourself.
I'm cutting you off now.
Fair play.
Morning.
Hey.
Another day, another dollar.
Yep.
Good old-fashioned government dollar.
I can tell Garcia hit up her favorite coffee truck on her way to work.
I had to cut her off.
Wait.
Don't you have a budget meeting this morning? Uh, yes, I do.
Emily.
Yeah? You buried the lede.
Flowers? That Andrew Mendoza's a keeper.
Mm-hmm.
- Can't be late for that meeting.
- Mm-hmm.
This fiscal year, the bureau saw a $46 million reduction.
The BAU was first against all other units in direct and indirect costs for your travel.
I think unit chief Prentiss can better speak to their needs.
Yes, of course.
Uh, this fiscal year, the BAU's costs have increased Prentiss.
You have a second to go over with requests with the director? - Absolutely.
- Maybe grab some lunch.
I know he's been wanting to speak with you.
I'd love to.
- I thought that went well.
- Yeah! Do you think she'll get to school on time? It's not far, right? No.
They'll make it.
Kara's a great kid.
Her foster mom's taking really good care of her.
She adores you.
Becoming an uncle 5 years ago was a big surprise, but now, man, I can't imagine my life without her.
You're gonna be a great dad.
Thanks.
Um, how long does this usually take? A while, so just hang in there.
Brenda, I can't thank you enough.
It's my pleasure.
- I'll be in touch.
- Great.
Oh.
You're following me now.
It's so awkward when this happens because we already said good-bye.
No.
I get it.
You wanted to spend a few extra minutes with me.
You could have just asked, Sean.
Oh.
I wish I had the time, but actually, I'm running late for a meeting.
Maybe next time.
- This is me.
- Oh.
- Bye, Sean.
- Bye.
Everything is wrong! Everything you know is wrong And this is proof! Pretty gruesome stuff.
Yeah.
This is the third killing in the last two months? Yes.
The Denver division invited us in.
They've got 3 men dead.
Each was decapitated.
Heads nowhere to be found.
The first two were killed in public yet secluded areas, one on a bike path, the other at a park.
This the first time this guy's left a message? Yeah.
Nothing like this was found at the other crime scenes.
Yeah, and speaking of this message, it was filmed on the victim's phone, so there's no way to track it.
The unsub's not afraid of being seen.
We should take the partial we have of his face, run it through ViCAP, and see if it hits.
And what did he mean by "everything you know is wrong" and this is proof"? Proof of what? Power, control, his dominance over the victims.
Well, his word choice plus that head, it feels like a taunt directed at he viewer, not the victim.
If it was a taunt directed at the general public, he would have uploaded it somewhere.
Then it must be law enforcement.
Either way, the distinct lack of empathy and remorse in his voice plus his general demeanor and the nature of his crimes tells us that he's an organized offender with a specific psychopathology.
One that includes taking his victim's heads.
Nothing here says he's close to being done.
Wheels up in 10.
Denver, huh? Yeah.
Mendoza call you directly? Uh, no actually.
It came through official channels.
So You and Andrew long distance How's that been going? Kyle! You're getting closer.
"History has a way of altering villains" "so that we can no longer see ourselves in them.
" Adam Serwer.
Go ahead, Garcia.
Ok, fam.
We got dossiers on top of dossiers.
Our first victim is Manny Rodriguez Late thirties, divorced, no kids.
He was a twice-elected city councilperson.
Politics can be messy.
He may have ruffled some feathers.
Perhaps, but our second victim Isaac Wiley was in his late 20s.
He worked for a tech firm.
There's nothing in his file that could be considered controversial or political.
Our latest victim Sean Mcafee was an architect, early 30s, single, never married, no kids.
So all 3 had different jobs and lived in different parts of town.
Garcia, have you found any overlap socially? Do I have to start calling you newbie again? Ok.
So you would have led with that.
Shut the front door.
Andrew Mendoza signed this report.
Andrew Mendoza is Prentiss' boyfriend.
He's the head of the Denver field office? Uh, yes.
He has been for the past, uh, two months.
Um, his daughter and ex-wife moved to Colorado a year ago, and he'd been waiting for a transfer so he could be closer to Keely.
She starts high school soon, so But you guys are, um you're good? Yeah.
Yeah.
It's all good.
Anyway, we have bigger fish to fry than my personal life, so when we land, Simmons, Rossi, and I will set up at the Denver division.
JJ, Reid, check out the latest crime scene.
Tara and Luke, you will go to the M.
E.
's office.
So we're just not gonna talk about that tall hunk of water you call your bae? No.
I have so many questions.
Like, is he left-handed? What does he sleep in? Is he allergic to cats? Bye, Penelope.
Was he ever in band? Hey.
I got to go, all right? Dave, good to see you.
Same here.
- How you doing? - How are you, brother? - Good to see you.
- You, too.
You, too.
And Chief Prentiss.
Oh, hi.
Yeah.
Andrew, uh, what have you got for us? Well, first off, we got you guys set up over here, and waiting to be interviewed are the friends and family of the first two victims.
Also a woman named Alice Clarke is coming in.
She's the last known person to speak to Sean Mcafee.
Great.
We'll just need a few minutes to set up.
All right.
Hey.
I missed you.
It's good to see you.
Uh-huh.
Think we need to talk.
We will when the case is over.
All right.
Thanks.
So, uh, neighbors reported seeing an older Ford station wagon in the area.
Hopefully we can get plates.
Did you see the additional home surveillance? I did.
I just watched all the footage.
Hopefully, the extra angles can help Garcia with her facial recognition search.
Sean had cameras all over his house, but based on the unsub's behavior, he had no idea he was being filmed.
That means the unsub probably wasn't stalking him.
This was all impulse.
He ransacked the place after killing Sean.
In the video we saw, he clearly wasn't looking for anything.
He just lost it.
Did you see the way that he kept squinting and shielding his eyes even though there was no light above him? Light sensitivity.
Plus emotional outbursts.
Pretty clear he's going through some kind of psychotic break.
That could make him easier to spot.
We should ask eyewitnesses about strangers exhibiting any innocuous, repetitive behaviors.
There were no defensive wounds, no signs of torture or ligature marks, so it's unlikely he was held.
Did you run a tox screen? Came up clean just as in the previous two murders.
Well, if our unsub didn't drug Sean and he didn't fight back, then he must have incapacitated him somehow.
Yeah.
Perhaps with a sharp bump to the back of the head.
Was the C.
O.
D.
decapitation? I believe so.
He most likely used some kind of a heavy blade, a broad or a felling ax.
That was my thinking, as well, and it was done perimortem.
Sean was alive when this happened? Yeah, and this killer knew what he was doing.
A couple of clean strikes, and kktt He was finished.
That feels quick, almost transactional.
Yeah.
He didn't want to prolong the experience.
He was focused.
He wanted to get it done with.
And check out this latent bruising.
At first, I wasn't sure if it happened during the attack or when he fell, but it appears to be some kind of marking.
The unsub must have pressed it into his chest.
Dr.
Martinez, did you find anything similar on the other victims? There was some latent bruising in the same vicinity, but I'm not sure about symbols or markings.
Are the bodies still here? Yes, they are.
- Well, let's take a look.
- Ok.
Ms.
Clarke, thank you for coming in.
Have a seat.
I understand you worked with Sean Mcafee.
Yes, that's right.
We're working We worked on the same project together, this high rise going up downtown.
And he called you yesterday afternoon? Yes.
He was running late.
He just wanted to let me know that I should start the meeting by myself.
I was surprised, but he also has a lot of personal things going on in his life, so Oh, yeah? Like what? He has a sister that just went to jail for 10 years Drugs or something.
Sean was filing for custody of her daughter Kara.
He wanted to raise her.
That's why he was late because he was having lunch with his niece and the case worker.
It was their first sit-down.
Sean was gonna be a father.
We got to bring that case worker in.
Yes, and like our other two victims, Sean was last seen with or around a child.
They're fathers or father figures.
That's why the unsub is targeting them.
Yeah.
Watch your head! Hey, hey.
I got it.
I got it.
Thank you.
Hey.
Come on, bud.
Let's go.
Even Lionel Messi has to practice.
Coming! So it turns out that there was latent bruising on the torsos and chests of all 3 victims.
A closer analysis of the contusions revealed that they're some kind of characters.
Now taken together, we think they may be mathematical symbols, perhaps part of a larger expression.
Schrodinger's equation.
They form the basis of Schrodinger's equation.
Well, I've heard of Schrodinger's cat.
Both describe potential energy.
Schrodinger's equation is the basis of quantum mechanics.
It describes the probability that a particle will behave in a certain way in a certain place in a certain time.
The implications of this gave rise to the many worlds theory of the universe.
Which is that reality as we know it is only one of many possible universes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm with you.
I watch "Doctor Who.
" Ok.
So does our unsub think he's in a parallel universe? What does killing dads have to do with parallel universes? I mean, maybe he's mad at his own? Even if he is, why take their heads? It doesn't line up.
You know, we said these kills are transactional.
Maybe the heads are sacrifices or tokens of some sort, something the unsub needs to do in order to pass between realities.
I mean, it only has to make sense to him.
Yeah.
Matt's right.
Most serial killers engage in some kind of fantastical thinking, right Bundy, Dahmer.
Son of Sam thought he saw a talking dog, but this particular delusion that this unsub is experiencing, it comes from somewhere.
Not to mention, outside of our boy genius, most people don't know that equation.
Yeah.
We should be looking for people with a background in theoretical physics and quantum mechanics.
And fast because based on the markings on those bodies, his equation isn't complete.
He hasn't finished his proof yet.
Yes, honey.
I got the onion pakora and the mango chutney, too, extra hot.
Ok.
All right.
Then she can have my butter chicken.
All right.
See you soon.
Love you.
Unh! Ha ha ha! You have to mark him, Kyle.
Thanks.
Victim's name was Dan Montgomery.
He was picking up food for his wife and son.
Did he have the same kind of latent bruising on his chest as the others? Yeah.
The next symbols in the equation.
Ok.
Thanks.
Look.
I'm not saying it was a walk of shame or anything, but, uh, these are yesterday's clothes.
Oh.
Sounds like a hell of a night.
This is Kevin Patterson.
He was in the bar next door last night.
- What'd you see? - I had a few drinks, uh, met a woman.
We got to chatting.
Things were going well.
I was pretty sure she liked me.
Anyway, I stepped outside while she was in the restroom.
Then I saw this guy across the way.
He, uh, had something in his hand, I think, a large stick, but I heard him say, "isn't this enough?" Why isn't this enough?" Who was he talking to? Nobody.
I just figured he was some homeless drunk, but then he turned to me stone-cold sober and said, "I need to get back.
" Freaked me out, and the girl I met came out of the bar.
We left together.
Uh, I never saw a body or anything.
I didn't think about it again till this morning when I saw the news.
All right.
We're gonna need the name of the woman you left with.
And, Kevin, I'd like you to work with one of our sketch artists.
Is that all right? Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Of course.
- Great.
- Right this way.
Our unsub's psychosis is getting worse.
He's hallucinating now.
Yeah.
He's not even concerned about a potential witness seeing him either.
Well, what was the last thing Kevin heard him say? He needs to get back.
So let's put this all together.
Parallel universes, wrong timeline, get back as in cross over.
I think I know how this is all connected.
We need to deliver the profile.
We're looking for a male in his late 30s or early 40s, who we believe is killing in order to cross over into a parallel universe.
This unsub is a man living inside a delusion, a fractured reality that he believes is wrong.
The idea that we're living in the wrong timeline is most commonly described as the Mandela effect.
The Mandela effect is a psychological phenomenon similar to false memory syndrome.
It's so called because a significant number of people have a very clear memory of Nelson Mandela dying in prison in the 1980s when we know that not to be true.
He did, in fact, survive, was released, and made president of South Africa until he passed away in 2013.
Scientists and psychologists haven't figured out this phenomenon yet.
But a popular theory on line is that we are currently living in a parallel reality, that at some point in the recent past our world or timeline shifted, and the evidence is all around us.
Things we collectively remember to be one way are actually another.
Names of childhood books, authors, certain phrases, even brands.
"The Berenstein Bears" while others recall "the Berenstain Bears.
" Unh! Unh! Unh! Or Curious George do you guys remember a tail or no tail? A tail.
Got to have a tail, right? He's a monkey.
No tail.
We don't know what sparked our unsub's interest in the Mandela effect, but when we find that, we find him.
Do we have a theory on why he's targeting fathers or father figures? Well, as of right now, given the violence, he seems driven by a hatred perhaps towards his own father.
This man is dangerous.
He's isolated, and he's mission-oriented.
We have to issue a warning to the public not to confront him.
He's out there.
Let's get to work.
Thank you.
Aah! Why won't you let me see him? You can't see what you refuse to look at, Kyle.
You're running out of time.
Coffee? Yes.
Thank you.
Look, guys.
We are banging our heads against a wall here.
I mean, Denver is littered with colleges, and we've already worked our way through most of the academics and scientists.
Well, you know what? We just need to step back and look at things differently.
The Mandela effect is a unique psychological construct, right? I mean, there's got to be a good reason why he latched onto it in particular.
Well, creation of dissociative realities can often be a crutch for people who've suffered extreme trauma.
Ok.
Let's run with that.
We're looking for a loss triggered by an event likely caused by the unsub himself, and then this inability to accept this reality would be a defense mechanism for a mind racked with guilt.
So unable to face reality, our unsub has created his own.
Still doesn't explain why he's killing father figures, though.
Unless it does.
Say his own guilt is a major factor in a break like this.
That would mean that he's picking out dads out of some kind of self-loathing.
This isn't about his hatred toward his own dad.
These men are surrogates for him.
He's angry at himself.
Our unsub's the father here.
Hey.
What happened to you last night? I thought you'd come by.
I texted you.
Um Oh.
Here.
Come with me.
Talk to me.
I don't know what to say.
Well, maybe you start with why you canceled your trip a couple weeks ago.
Like I said, there was an abduction.
Emily, there's always gonna be a case, and you know I know, ok, but you were supposed to come for the weekend, finally meet Keely.
Mm-hmm.
And now you're back to dodging my calls and texts.
Did I do something wrong? No, and thank you for the flowers.
Oh, you're welcome, but if not, then what is it? This has just been harder than I thought it was gonna be.
You know, I never wanted moving here to change anything between us.
What I want Is you.
I want us, but right now, it feels like you're Pulling away.
Ohh.
Are we breaking up? No.
That's not what I want.
Well, then what do you want? Tell me.
I'll do it.
We're at work.
Before you go back to D.
C.
, I just want to know where we stand, ok? Oh, hey.
I was just looking for you.
What's up? Penelope found something hinky in regards to the social worker who was helping Sean Mcafee.
She's bringing the others up to speed now.
Ok.
Great.
Go ahead, Garcia.
Ok.
So our initial interview with Sean's case worker Brenda Hacker didn't raise any red flags, but she was the last person to see him alive, so I did some additional spelunking.
And? Welcome to the thunderdome.
I looked at Brenda's financial records, her phone records, her case records.
She specializes in a very specific clientele, single dads who are fighting for custody of their child or children, and she has an unusually high success/placement rate.
How unusual? Like, get yourself to Vegas, call your bookie, the fix is in unusual.
You think she's greasing the wheels? Oh, she's lubing them up big time.
Uh, stop smiling, Luke Alvez.
I can feel it.
That joke was not for you.
What I'm saying is her testimony holds a special kind of weight with the judge.
She's got her finger in the cookie jar somehow or another.
We should bring her back in.
Doesn't seem like a coincidence that she works with fathers and our unsub might be one.
Good work, Garcia.
Penelope.
New phone.
Who dis? Thank you.
You should worship at my throne, Luke Alvez.
Oh, but I do.
I do.
You know I do.
What does that even mean? Another time.
Come on, Dad.
Mo would let me drive.
I have my learner's permit.
Yeah.
Let her, Dad.
Here.
You can start the car, but that's it.
Dad, that's so lame.
That's all you're gonna get for now.
I'll take you out later when it's just the two of us.
Unh! Unh! Ohh! Dad?! Aah! Aah! Oh, no! Aah! Aah! Aah! - Dad! - Drive, drive! - Drive now! - No, no! Go! - Aah! - Drive! Wow.
This place really clears out at lunch.
Yeah.
This granola bar will do it for me.
Hmm.
Me, too.
So you're not having lunch with Andrew? 3 months ago, Andrew asked me to move to Denver with him, but I'm happy where I am.
I'm not ready to leave the BAU.
I haven't even met his daughter yet.
Why? You've been seeing him for over a year.
Keely was already in Colorado, and the couple of times she visited last year, the timing just didn't work out.
Hey.
You're putting up walls.
I know because I've put up plenty myself.
Uprooting my whole life? Moving halfway across the country? That's just not something that I ever had in my plans, and what if it doesn't work out? Take it from a guy who just married his third ex-wife for the second time.
All of this work is worth it.
You deserve this.
Be honest with him.
Tell him how you feel.
Sorry to interrupt.
Denver PD just found another decapitated body.
The head is missing, and so are the man's two kids.
JJ and Reid are en route.
The fact that he left his vehicle behind means he has no intention of coming back.
He's never really hidden from us, but this just feels like the final straw.
He's finished one way or another.
Based on his equation, these are his final 3 victims.
Ok, but then why the change in M.
O.
? Why abduct two teenagers? Probably has something to do with the loss that he suffered.
Oh.
Look at this.
Oh, Ethan.
I've been leaving you messages.
I hope you're getting them.
I've been trying to explain to you that there are an infinite number of realities, branches, and 7 years ago, our universe, it branched into another one.
It it was another timeline.
It was the wrong one because you aren't here, but I've figured out a way to cross over to get back to you.
I'm coming for you.
It's all gonna be ok.
Don't be scared.
Dad is coming.
So it was his son that he lost.
He'll do anything to get back to him, even kill, maybe even trade one kid's life for another.
Son's name is Ethan, right? Ethan was the final piece of the puzzle.
Our unsub's name is George Kyle Peters.
He goes by Kyle.
He's a former high school physics teacher, and his son Ethan died when he was 7 years old in a horrific car crash.
I'm sending you the info now.
It says here that Kyle was driving his 7-year-old son home from a movie when he struck a patch of black ice and lost control.
Ethan was Decapitated.
Rusty! Two months ago was the 7-year anniversary of this death.
The anniversary was his trigger.
Kyle was in a coma for months following the accident.
When he woke up, his son was gone.
Well, that's a hell of a stressor.
Kyle's mind would not let him process this grief.
No matter what kind of support he might have gotten, he could not conceive of a world that did not have his son in it, so he created a new one, one where Ethan was still alive.
Where's Kyle been the last 7 years? In and out of institutions.
He was released 4 months ago.
I did everything you asked! I brought you their heads as proof.
7 lives for the 7 years that have passed.
The two teens that he kidnapped, Emma and Colin Choi, Colin's 14.
That's the same age his son would have been if he survived.
Looks like we caught a break.
Garcia wanted us to pull hard copies of all of Brenda Hacker's files, the ones that hadn't been digitized.
Turns out 12 years ago Brenda was assigned to help Kyle Peters get custody of his son Ethan.
Wait a minute.
The same person was the case worker for our third victim Sean and our unsub? We thinking that's just as coincidence? Well, actually, it might be.
Social workers here, they're forced to see a lot of clients, cover a lot of ground, and we haven't seen any connection between her and our other victims, so Hold on.
It says here Kyle was arrested on two DUI charges in college.
He sought help for a drinking problem.
And yet Brenda still managed to get him custody.
Like I said, call your bookies.
That would indicate a classic narcissistic savior complex.
Brenda likes that these men need her, and she uses it against them.
Penelope, I need everything you've found on her so far.
Got it.
Coming, coming.
Is Brenda here? Just arrived.
Put her in my office.
Ok.
We need to check out Kyle's home and last knowns.
Talk to his former co-workers and neighbors.
He's taken these kids someplace, likely somewhere personal.
I did everything you asked! Now it's time to make the trade! Who's he talking to? He's crazy.
There's no one there.
We've got to get out of here.
How? Help me with my tape.
That's not what we agreed to! You told me that this would be over with! Wait a minute.
She was making money off these guys? Yep.
Extortion plain as day.
What? All these calls, all this time together.
Maybe it didn't stop there.
Well, Brenda's smart.
She's not gonna incriminate herself.
Well, we can't give her an out.
Brenda knows our unsub and well.
Right now, she's our best bet at finding those kids.
Brenda, when was the last time you saw Kyle Peters? 10, 12 years ago.
But you were aware that his son passed away? Yeah.
I heard.
I didn't know him very well.
I was just his case worker.
According to cell phone records, you called Kyle 7 years ago.
I don't really remember.
And prior to that when you were handling his case, you called him 4 or 5 times a day from your personal phone, sometimes after hours.
That sound like work to you? Uh, it does not.
I think you knew Kyle a lot better than you're letting on.
Perhaps you saw each other socially.
I'm not comfortable with this conversation.
Brenda, these are financial records, yours.
Uh, you'll see that there are a large number of cash deposits during the time period in question, and what's interesting is that they match up with these records here, which are Kyle's bank records.
They show withdrawals from the same time period.
I don't like what you're implying.
Ms.
Hacker, Kyle has killed 5 people.
He's abducted two teenagers, most likely with the intent to kill them, too.
I don't know anything about that.
I haven't done anything wrong.
Well, now that's not entirely true, Brenda, is it? You target single men, like Sean, fathers who are desperate to retain custody of their children.
You get them to slip you a little cash under the table, and in exchange, you doctor their files.
You can't prove that.
Not yet.
You convinced a judge that Kyle should get custody of his son despite his history with alcohol abuse.
My guess is he was drunk on the night of the accident, and when he woke up from his coma, you called him, and you helped him fix his story.
You added in that bit about the black ice.
Now it's pretty clear that story was to protect you, not him.
You didn't want anybody digging into Kyle's past and finding something that you worked so hard to hide.
The way I see it, that's child endangerment.
So, Brenda, do yourself a favor.
Sit back down and tell us about your relationship with Kyle, and we'll take your cooperation into consideration.
What do you want to know? Everything that wasn't in his case file.
Now we agreed, Rusty.
It had to be.
That's what you said! Aah! Ugh.
Brenda told us that Kyle and his son loved to explore an area around an abandoned gold mine in the foothills.
Yeah.
They went every weekend.
That makes sense.
Kyle was a scientist.
He wanted to foster a similar love in his son.
We're sure this is where he would take Emma and Colin? It's ideal.
The mine's secluded.
It's been vacant for decades.
We need to be careful.
We're gonna be on his turf.
This is it, Kyle.
This child for yours.
Please don't hurt me.
I just I I can't.
I'm sorry.
I can't.
Don't you want to see your son again? Ohh, ohh.
Please.
This child for yours.
Please.
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry, Ethan.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry, Ethan.
Ohh! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry, Ethan.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
These tracks lead inside.
This has got to be it.
According to the map, there's another entrance at the north.
We should split up.
Lewis, Alvez, Simmons, see if there's another way in.
I'm sorry.
Kyle Peters, FBI! Drop the ax! Put it down! Kyle, look at me.
You don't understand! He is on the other side, he is trapped on the other side.
He needs me! I am his father! I do understand.
I know what it's like to have someone you love stuck in another world, wanting one thing, having another, but really having neither, afraid to face the truth.
You have to face it, Kyle.
Kyle.
No.
He said this the only way to get him back.
He said a boy for a boy.
It's not.
Everything is wrong.
No.
That's what you think, right? Err! That these sacrifices you've been making will help you get your son back, but they won't.
- It's not real.
- Err! Look again.
Kyle, you have to face the truth.
Oh, no.
What is the truth? He's gone.
Ohh! Ethan is gone.
I just wanted to see him again.
We need medics asap.
Come on.
Oh, god.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry! I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Mom! Mom! Mom! All this talk of alternate realities.
Who do you think you'd be in a parallel universe, you know, in one of your imagined futures? I don't know.
Come on.
If you weren't an FBI agent, what would you do? You promise not to laugh? A cowboy.
- A cowboy? - Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
I'd, um, you know, have some horses, a few cattle, be surrounded by nature.
And what would you do with cattle? Well, you know, look at them, pet them.
I I hadn't really thought about that, but I'll I'll figure it out.
Wow.
I was was not expecting that.
Ahem.
And, uh, you're there with Will and the boys.
You run the flower shop on Hickory Street.
It's this cute, little street in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, and Rossi's there.
He runs a saloon, which he lives above, and Garcia has a sanctuary for wounded animals.
May I interest anyone in a beverage? Wow.
That's timing.
So, uh, Dave, in another life, what would you be? Oh, that's easy.
A boxer.
Hmm.
In fact, there was a time I was having dinner with Muhammad Ali, and we were having a discussion just on this subject Roads taken or not taken in this life.
And what did he say? I don't quite remember because I was drinking for the two of us, and it was the best scotch I'd ever had, and that's saying A lot.
So to paths not taken.
To paths not taken.
Get the stove, all right? You know daddy likes to burn stuff.
Hi.
I thought you left.
The team did, but, uh, I wasn't ready to go.
In fact, I was hoping we could have dinner tonight.
Uh, well, my daughter and I are just about to eat.
Oh, of course.
I I'm sorry.
I didn't mean to intrude.
Hey.
I'd love it if you'd join us.
Heh.
I would love to.
Thank you.
Keely, this is Emily.
Emily, this is Keely.
Hi.
I have heard so much about you.
And I've heard so much about you.
You did not oversell it, Dad.
- Keely.
- Dad.
Oh! Ha ha ha! Uh, I would actually really like to hear more about that.
What exactly did your dad not oversell? Maybe we should compare notes.
I like her.
Maybe we shouldn't compare notes.
How about that? No.
I think that's actually a perfect idea.
Here you go.
There we are.
"We must be willing to let go" "of the life we've planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.
" Joseph Campbell.
The fact that he said you're absolutely gorgeous.