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Episode 301: Spree, Part 1 » In part 1 of 2, a 30-year-old Texas schoolteacher and her 17-year-old lover embark on a cross-country crime spree. When the pair hit L.A., their deeds turn deadly and it becomes clear that their actions are no longer random. Joining Don in the pursuit is Agent Edgerton. Elsewhere, Alan considers moving out of the house, and Amita tells Charlie her decision about whether or not she's moving to Boston. More »
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Episode 302: Spree, Part 2--Daughters In the conclusion, Megan is kidnapped and taken hostage by a disturbed woman who wants to exchange the FBI agent for her teen lover, who is in custody on homicide and robbery charges. During the hunt for Megan, Don goes to extraordinary lengths to find her and uses tactics that surprise even him. Helping Don in the investigation is agent Ian Edgerton. Also, Amita confronts Charlie over his coolness toward her.
Math used:
spirals, law of unintended consequences, trawler problem, bell curve (normal distribution), parametric equations |
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Episode 303: Traffic » Don tries to determine whether a serial killer is responsible for seven attacks on the freeway that have claimed four lives and injured several others. Since different weapons, from rocks to rifles, were used each time, the attacks may be random, so Charlie works to uncover a pattern to the crimes. Back on campus, Charlie becomes concerned about why Larry insists on living in his office. More »
Math used:
linear Diophantine equations, quadratic discriminant analysis, craquelure, curvelet analysis |
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Episode 304: Provenance A Pissarro painting insured for $22 million is stolen from a museum, where it was on loan from a private collector, just weeks before it was to go on a major art tour. The investigation reveals the painting is suspected of being Nazi-looted art and that its current owner was recently involved in a lawsuit brought by a Holocaust survivor who claims her family owned the Pissarro before Nazis took it from them. Also, Alan worries that Charlie isn't being responsible about keeping up the house.
Math used:
steady motion algorithm, curtate cycloid, differential geometry, Oort cloud, facial symmetry, combinatorics |
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Episode 305: The Mole A young woman who worked as an interpreter for the Chinese consulate is killed in an apparent hit-and-run accident, but Don believes she was murdered. The investigation reveals the victim had a large sum of cash in a bank account and may have been a spy. Also, Don fears the woman may have worked with a mole in the Department of Justice. Back on campus, Charlie becomes concerned when he learns that Larry collaborated on a published article with someone else.
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Episode 306: Longshot A young man is stabbed to death at a horse-racing track after successfully picking 30 winners in a row. A notebook with a sophisticated formula for placing bets is found near the body and Charlie tries to decipher it. Don soon learns that the track's owner has ties to organized crime. Also, Larry voices doubts about his relationship with Megan.
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Episode 307: Blackout A series of blackouts occurs throughout the Los Angeles area when several power substations are sabotaged. One man, a nonunion worker, is killed during the first attack, and it's soon learned that the power company's workers are on strike. Don investigates and tries to determine whether terrorists are involved, while Charlie attempts to locate the next substation likely to be targeted. Also, Don's relationship with Special Agent Liz Warner heats up, which causes his dad some concern.
Math used:
set theory, center of mass, harmonic series, directed graph, load flow analysis, Dantzig-Wolfe decomposition |
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Episode 308: Hardball A professional baseball player trying to make a comeback to the major leagues dies after he is given a lethal injection of steroids. The investigation reveals that someone may have known about the victim's illegal drug use and threatened to expose him. The evidence of the player's steroid use is confirmed through an advanced system of statistical analysis created by a young man who plays fantasy baseball, and Charlie tries to determine how the stats are linked to the player's murder.
Math used:
sabermetrics, Shiryaev-Roberts change-point analysis |
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Episode 309: Waste Not » A sinkhole opens up on a public-school playground, killing a grandmother and injuring several children. The investigation reveals that students at the school have a higher than normal rate of illnesses, including cancer. Don soon discovers that the material used as pavement around the school is made from toxic waste. Also, Charlie gets a new boss who doesn't approve of him doing work for the FBI or dating Amita. More »
Math used:
groundwater flow equation, Texas sharpshooter problem, cancer clusters |
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Episode 310: Brutus A U.S. senator and a psychiatrist are gunned down by different shooters at separate locations, but Don believes the murders are related. The investigation reveals the two deaths may be linked to a former secret government program in which prisoners were used as guinea pigs in horrifying experiments. Also, Larry makes a stunning announcement that Charlie finds difficult to believe.
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Episode 311: Killer Chat » Don hunts for a serial killer after a man is found tied up and beaten to death in an unoccupied house that is for sale, the third such murder to occur in six weeks. The investigation reveals that all three victims may have met their killer through internet chat rooms and were lured to the houses with the promise of having sex with an underage girl. Also, Larry learns that he may be pulled from NASA's space mission because of his recent bizarre behavior. More »
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Episode 312: Nine Wives Don searches for the leader of a polygamous group who is suspected of beating and raping a 14-year-old girl found nearly dead on a desert road. The probe reveals the suspect may be fleeing to Canada, where some members of his cult live. Charlie and Amita cut short plans to attend a math conference at Stanford to help with the investigation. When they return to Charlie's house, they are surprised to find Alan there with a tipsy Millie.
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Episode 313: Finders Keepers Don investigates when a deep-sea salvage diver turns up dead in the net of a fishing boat with a bullet hole in him. The probe reveals the victim may have been trying to locate a sunken racing yacht worth millions, or he may have been involved with drug smugglers. Also working the case is Don's former flame, Liz Warner. Even more surprising to him is the fact that she's been reassigned to the L.A. office. Back at home, Alan prepares to play chess with novice Millie.
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Episode 314: Take Out Two police officers are gunned down in a restaurant by robbers who strike upscale eateries. Charlie tries to figure out a pattern to their crimes so they can be stopped, but the investigation reveals something much more sinister is going on. Back at the office, Don is ordered to see a psychologist due to his involvement in several recent shootings. Also, Charlie is troubled when he learns Millie wants him to help her secure funding from a pharmaceutical company with a shady past.
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Episode 315: End of Watch The badge of a police officer who disappeared in 1990 is found on a vacant lot, and his body is later discovered, shot in the head. Don's investigation reveals that two weeks before the cop went missing, he killed a gang member, and the victim's brother swore revenge. Back at home, Alan is sued over a driving-range project he worked on. On campus, Charlie confronts Amita after she turns down an opportunity to chair an important committee.
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Episode 316: Contenders » A mixed-martial-arts fighter dies in the ring while sparring with a partner, and the police believe he may have been drugged. The chief suspect is the victim's sparring partner, who was boyhood friends with David. The investigation reveals a similar death occurred six months earlier in Las Vegas, also with David's friend in the ring. Back at the Eppes house, Charlie prepares to play in a poker tournament, even though he's a novice player. More »
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Episode 317: One Hour A record-company owner's 11-year-old son is kidnapped while delivering newspapers and his two bodyguards are gunned down. The kidnappers demand more than $3 million in ransom money to be delivered in one hour, or they will kill the boy. The investigation reveals the boy's father is the target in three separate police investigations involving drugs, organized crime, and gangs. Meanwhile, Don talks to a psychologist about his work and team members.
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Episode 318: Democracy A statistician friend of Charlie's claims three people she worked with on a project have been killed over a two-week period, and she fears she is next. Charlie doesn't know how seriously to take her concern, since she is known for wacky ideas and theories. The investigation reveals all of the victims did consulting work for a billionaire businessman.
Math used:
statistics, brute force search, probability theory, metadata, bootstrap methods, organizational theory |
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Episode 319: Pandora's Box A corporate jet crashes in a forest and Charlie tries to determine the cause by analyzing the plane's flight computer.
Math used:
Itô-Stratonovich drift integrals, Poisson process, deconvolution, squawk code, M.C. Escher, strange loop theory, wavelet deconvolution |
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Episode 320: Burn Rate Don and Charlie hunt for a serial letter bomber and disagree over whether a key suspect, who eluded conviction once before, is responsible for the latest murder.
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Episode 321: The Art of Reckoning A former mob hit man, now on death row, agrees to cooperate in the investigations of several unsolved murders and show agents where he buried some bodies, but Don questions the man's motives. Also, Larry returns from his space travel.
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Episode 322: Under Pressure Don and his FBI team investigate a possible terrorist attack on Los Angeles after they learn that a deadly substance may be in the city's water supply.
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Episode 323: Money for Nothing Thieves hijack a truck filled with medical supplies and $50 million targeted for a relief effort in Zambia. Making matters more difficult for Don and his FBI colleagues, a second group of robbers is also after the stolen goods.
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Episode 324: The Janus List Don and Charlie are in a standoff on a bridge with a mysterious bomber who claims to have a so-called Janus list that reveals the names of spies and double agents. The man uses codes to communicate and Charlie frantically tries to decipher them. The probe reveals that the man once worked for Britain's MI-6, and it also uncovers a buried secret that threatens to shake up the FBI team.
Math used:
Merkle-Hellman, wheat and chessboard problem, straddling checkerboard, substitution cipher, Bacon's cipher, knapsack problem, Lorentz force, k-level thinking |
