Double Down
52
Cards
186,184
Combinations
3
Players
1
Tell
Espa and Don Eppes had been at dinner with Susanne Bosman and her husband. They had just ordered dessert when Don was called into work. Espa was not surprised. It had been a rather slow work week for him and he was on call that night.
A kid had been shot in the back part of a casino parking lot near his car. David greeted Don on the scene. There had been three other robberies there before and there were cameras they hoped would show something.
There were several notebooks in a bag in the car. He was a Huntington Tech undergrad, named Yuri Chernov, a Russian Immigrant from Moscow, only nineteen. Young for a high roller. Wrong time for a study break.
NUMB3RS
Espa had a mid-morning class. After she was found by Charlie who wanted to show her something in the lecture hall he was preparing for his students. She came in and watched him as Larry and Amita joined them.
Espa looked at Charlie pulled on a disposable rain coat and pulled out some mentos and diet soda.
"Well, I've heard about this, but never actually seen it demonstrated." Larry said as he leaned against the lecture all professor's desk.
"My dad says it is fun." Espa said as she looked at Charlie acting like a kid as he got ready for it.
"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Amita asked.
"Oh, absolutely." Charlie said opening the bottle.
Espa looked up as she saw her husband coming down the ramp toward them. She smiled. "Hey, Charlie, I've been looking for you." Don said. "Guys…Honey…" He smiled as his wife came to stand at the base of the ramp. He gave her a quick kiss before going over to investigate what his brother was up to.
"Hey, hey, hey. Come on, come over here, man." Charlie said excitedly. "Um so this is for a lecture I'm preparing, 'Math and Molecules: An Introduction to Fluid Dynamics."
"It looks like mints and soda to me." Don said leaning over before stealing a mint to eat. He looked at the other four as he popped it in his mouth.
"Well, two words, surface tension." Larry said.
"The stuff that gives soda its fizz is a gas, carbon dioxide." Amita said. "What holds the gas inside is surface tension." Don nodded looking up at his wife who just shrugged at him.
"And we all know the importance of surface tension in fluid dynamics." Charlie said.
"We do?" Don said arching an eyebrow. Espa and Don shared another look.
"Bubbles of gas in the soda experience viscous drag force from the surrounding liquids." Charlie explained. "The mints hyper excite the thermodynamic equilibrium of the supersaturated CO2, weakening the surface tension, causing the gases to escape rapidly. Very rapidly!"
"But of course…" Espa said rolling her eyes at Charlie and then looking at her husband and using her finger to make a popping noise in her mouth. Don smirked.
"And you guys actually get paid for this?" Don asked.
Charlie chuckled as Larry smiled. "You know, despite your brother's adolescent grin, this is actually very sophisticated math here." Larry said.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to do this." Charlie said pulling up his hood. "Are you guys ready?"
"Step back." Larry said stepping back a few feet.
Espa went to her husband's side as Amita and he stepped back a few paces.
"Sure you don't need a permit or something for this?" Don asked watching as he stepped protectively in front of his wife a little as he leaned back sub-consciously protecting her. Amita cringed a little. Don took another step back tripping a bit on the chair as Espa put a hand on his shoulder and looked at display around him knowing he would pull her back if she stepped away from him.
"Okay." Charlie dumped in the mints and the soda exploded and the foam went up into the air about eight feet.
Espa looked up. "Wow…" She said moving to her husband's side as he wrapped an arm about her.
Charlie laughed and clapped. "Ha ha. Yeah!" He threw back his hood. "That's awesome."
"Yeah, that was pretty cool." Don said rubbing his wife's back as he walked forward. Amita and Espa chuckled. "So, uh, who cleans all this up now?" He asked looking at the mess on the counter as he walked forward to his brother.
Charlie shrugged. "I am…gonna…clean it. Probably…Later." He said looking as Espa walked forward. "Uh, I'm assuming you're not here for the show."
Don smiled a little and then turned to his file. "Um, yeah. This is Yuri Chernov who was actually a math student at Huntington Tech." He said bringing out a picture.
"Oh, they're got a brilliant undergrad program there." Larry said leaning in.
"Mmm-hmm…" Charlie said.
"Well, he was murdered last night and we found this in his car." Don continued as pulled out a book. Charlie sighed as he took it. "Though maybe you could figure out what it means." He said watching his brother and Larry.
"Those are probability calculations." Amita said. Espa looked over her husband's shoulder before dropping into a seat near them to watch them.
"I…I…I…if I could, these…these equations, they just seem a little familiar to me." Larry said reaching for the book.
"Have you worked with these equations?" Charlie asked.
"I…I don't know." Larry said lifting a hand. "If I could just examine them more closely." He started to walk away from the little group.
"All right, let me…let me just, uh, make a copy in your office?" Don said. They watched him flip through the pages.
"Hey, Larry?" Charlie said.
Larry stuttered something and then passed the book to Don who was holding out his hand. "I'll bring it right back. I'm gonna make a copy, all right?" He nodded to Espa to follow him so he could talk to her on the way there and back. He had not had time with her, other than her sleeping body when he had gotten home, and he wanted to check in with her. Whatever time he could get while on duty with her was treasured.
She followed him up the stairs and out into the hall as Larry stood there with a perplexed look on his face.
NUMB3RS
Megan talked to the girlfriend. Yuri was into gambling and liked playing the "player" role. She was not sure how she was going to tell them that Yuri was dead. Megan offered to help, but she wanted to do it alone.
Don and Megan went to the crime scene. Don had to bark at a cleaner to stop so they could think. Yuri was shot by a nine millimeter at close range. There were no casings found.
It felt different to them both from the robberies. A thirty-eight caliber was used before.
Colby and David came up with fake IDs from Yuri's dorm room. He had different looks in each one of the IDs. He was a strait A student and a math geek. It did not match the player role that he seemed to be playing.
The security cameras had nothing. The car was in a blind spot. Don sent David and Colby to look at the club's Eye in the Sky. They left to look into the tapes and other stuff at the crime scene.
NUMB3RS
Charlie, Larry, and Amita talked about the kid dying. Charlie somewhat blamed himself because of a lecture he gave on gambling.
Larry came out with that he was a card counting black jack stud. He recognized the books as calculations for black jack. He was caught at it and he knew what the clubs could do to people.
Charlie dragged him in to talk to Don about what he knew. He explained the strategy for fooling the house. A spotter was used to help out. The high roller looks for the numbers to play from the spotter.
Then a Latino kid came up with a girl. He played with the spotter as well. They had a whole card counting ring making a lot of money per night.
Outside David, Megan, and Don talked about the team. They needed to find the partners to prevent them being killed. David was sent to Huntington Tech to see if he could track down the other two kids. Megan told Don they needed to try to find the backer. Don agrees that the person was a suspect, but he also did not want to rule out the club. They could have gone after kids cheating them as well.
NUMB3RS
Colby and David sat down with the online face book from Huntington Tech. They could not get their heads around Larry, the player. They got two names. Jason Brewer from West LA and Ignacio Nadal from South America.
Megan talked to the manager of the club. He pointed out that they were cooperating. He told her that he would have escorted out the 'cheaters' or card counters. He would not kill them. He would not go to jail for a few hundred. Megan asked for the security personal files. He agreed.
David and Colby went to the Brewer's home. Jason had been living in the guesthouse. Inside there was a made up casino set up as well as calculation boards. There were disguises in a bag. The mother, who had let them in, did not know what it was all about, but she had known Yuri and Ignacio.
NUMB3RS
Colby gave the boards to Charlie. Charlie, Amita, and Larry sat in the Eppes living room, among the baby toys looking at the boards.
Espa was making pizza for them to eat as she held her baby to her side in the sling as she did. She had sent Alan to the market to fetch for her some peppers and sausage.
"Now, if I can take data here and isolate the student's gambling history, maybe I can analyze the money flow, maybe find a pattern." Charlie said.
"You could use multivariate time series analysis to break the money down by specific days, even hours." Amita said
Larry was studying the boards.
"That's a really good idea. Wow." Charlie said.
The door opened. Espa came out of the kitchen with Zephyr who was cooing and eating a baby cookie. She came out holding Zephyr.
"Once again my living room has become a CalSci annex, huh?" Alan asked. "Y…your living room." Alan said seeing Charlie's look
Espa smiled. Little Zephyr reached for her grandfather and he took her in his arms.
"My garage is full." Charlie said. "All my cognitive theory work, so…"
"Why am I not surprised?" Alan asked. He set down his bag and sat down to play with his granddaughter. "What is this?" He asked looking up from the floor as Espa took the groceries back into the kitchen.
"Well, the student who was murdered, he and his two friends were members of a card counting team." Amita said. "Don asked Charlie to have us look at this data to see if we could discover who was bankrolling them."
"Card counting. Isn't that called cheating?" Alan asked.
Everyone sighed.
"Card counting is not cheating. It is the application of probability theory to a game." Larry said.
Espa walked back into the room wiping her hands on a towel at her waist tucked into her apron.
"Yeah, well, all those schmucks who play the game for fun, they think it's cheating." Alan said looking at his granddaughter.
Charlie rolled his eyes.
"Well, those are the same schmucks that should stick to slot machines." Larry said.
"Well, you see, that's why I like to playing poker." Alan said. "'Cause I can handle the ones that try to take advantage. Poker, I mean, you gotta have a mind, a pair of eyes." He looked at his daughter-in-law. "Dinner smells good, honey." He smiled and walked to the table.
Espa smiled. "I am hoping Donnie can get here." She looked at the other three. "If not there will be extra for Larry."
Larry smiled at her. "These probability grids, they go way beyond simple high-low counting." Larry said.
"These were math students, Larry." Amita said.
"Oh, oh. This….this is not undergraduate work." Larry said.
"You're saying someone helped them?" Charlie asked.
"You know, this is reminding me of someone." Larry said. "There was this guy, Leonard, and he and I were in graduate school together. You know, when the casinos opened in Atlantic City, we were there the very first day. We were using counting systems, probability grids like this, though these are at a much higher level. Leonard Philbrick."
"Well, why haven't we heard this name before, Larry?" Amita asked.
"I don't…It's just not a…a part of my life that I'm particularly proud of." Larry said. "I mean, I've moved on from my obsession. But not so with Leonard. He lost his wife, he lost his career, and he was a man of great promise." He sighed. "I'll tell you something. Whoever did this was a mathematician." He said. "You can bet on that."
A buzzer went off in the distance. Espa got up. "Dinner is ready kids."
"Oh, good." Larry hopped up to follow her.
NUMB3RS
Morning had Don, David, and Colby walking into work. Ignacio's mother was reached, but he had missed his call home. Two kids were missing. Ignacio had cleared out of his dorm room before Colby and David could check it out. Two kids in the wind and in danger.
Charlie met up with them and had a name. Leonard Philbrick, the man Larry suggested. They think he might be the backer. Don started to send David and Colby to go check it out when he got a call that they had just found Jason Brewer.
Megan met them there. The kid was killed with a nine millimeter like Yuri in the bathroom. He had a book with him as well. Philbrick had bought him a ticket to Vancouver. No casings. The book had card sequence lists.
Megan and Don went to the high school where Philbrick taught math. He was the last one to see Jason alive. He wanted to see a lawyer, but they confronted him about his crew with the card counting. Don told him they had phone records talking to the three Huntington Tech undergrads. He was shocked the kids are dead. He had no idea where Ignacio was.
Don grilled him hard, but he did admit he helped them, but they had come to him. Ignacio was on the run. He backed them until a month ago. They had a new banker. He would not harm the kids. He was their teacher.
Megan and David met with Colby in the war room. Colby had spotted the girl on the arm of Ignacio. She had been with all the boys. She had a necklace that said Brandi with an I. Colby had found her place of work. She worked at the Bareback Club as the star attraction.
Megan set them to go to the club to talk to her.
David and Colby went to club. There were a ton of men there for the mid day. After her dance, which Colby insisted on, they grabbed Brandi. She was with them all to help them pull off their act. She knew because no one was that was lucky. She had told them they would get made. She got money. She does not seem to be really a suspect because she was with another man, a married man. Also she was shocked when she was told that Jason and Yuri had been killed.
NUMB3RS
After a talk with Larry and Amita in the lecture hall, Charlie went to the FBI and met Don and Megan in the war room. Follow the money. The backer was using the casino to launder the money. The kids never got more than 10,000 a night, but played for six or seven a week. It did not have to be reported. In total that was over two million washed through the club.
Charlie, Amita, and Larry went to the club to do field work in the 'poppy field'. They all had fun, but Larry made a ton of money, but it was addictive for him. He wanted to keep playing long after the other two were done.
The club put in a new deck at the end of every shift change to keep players from marking the cards. The shoe made random patterns of cards, but a machine could not make truly random patterns. It could be broken.
NUMB3RS
Don had taken his wife out to dinner to make up for him leaving her with her friends. The dinner was quiet and they enjoyed each other's company. Being married to an FBI agent, Espa knew that it would not be an easy home life, but she loved her husband dearly and he her.
They came home to find the house free of everyone. Zephyr was next door with the neighbor until they picked her up or Alan did.
Don smiled as he locked the door. His wife was stripping clothing as she walked up the stairs. He smirked as he gathered it up and followed her. She walked into the bathroom and started the water running.
Her husband leaned against the door watching her as she got in and started a bubble bath. He walked into the bedroom and put the clothing in the hamper. He removed his tie, shirt, and slacks and pulled on a pair of FBI sweats.
He smiled as he heard the water turn off. He walked back to the bathroom and shut the door as he leaned against it looking at his wife. The bubbles swirled about her breasts as she turned to look at him her hair piled onto her head with a large toothed double munchie.
She looked up at him. "Hello there." She smiled looking at his well muscled chest with the small bit of hair. She smiled as he came forward and dropped to his knees beside her.
"Hello." He smiled and reached for the wash cloth. He gently washed her back and neck with a tenderness she knew he had, but she knew few people knew. He was not the total hard-assed boss special agent to the FBI, at least not all the time. He did, however, like to be in charge and that never changed. He was master of the office and bedroom and she liked it that way. It kept their sex lives fresh and fun.
He bent and kissed her neck as his hand wandered down and he caressed her causing her to shiver even in the hot water. "Are you enjoying?" He asked knowing the answer before she could nod. He smiled a little as his hand moved between her legs and caressed her. She looked at him startled as she felt a bolt of pleasure and her legs shifted on their own.
"Don…" She whispered.
"Just relax and let me do the work." He grinned as he playfully strummed her like an instrument in tune to the music he was playing. They locked eyes as she quivered beneath him. There were times he could be very cruel.
She gasped as her peak came. He then decided he needed her, NOW! "Don…" She gasped as he reached in and fished her out with a heave, splashing water on himself and the floor.
He smiled and kissed her as he stood her up on the rub. His eyes swirled with love and lust as he dried her a little before lifting her again in his arms.
"Don…I need to…wash my hair…" She said trying to struggle, but only lightly
"You would just have to wash it again." He smiled as he carried her into their bedroom and locked the door after playfully tossing her on the bed. He looked at her naked body like a leopard looked at an antelope. She crawled up the bed watching his predatory gaze as he walked toward her.
NUMB3RS
Don woke the next morning to a rumpled bed, his wife sleeping on her side, and the empty bottle of whipping cream on the night table. He smirked. The best dessert he had had in a while was whipping cream licked from his wife's belly button as she squirmed under him because it tickled her.
He went to work after a quick breakfast with Alan who had had the baby in his room. He had not realized if and when his elder son had come home. Don was not about to tell him either.
The team was in the war room with Charlie as Charlie wrote on the board. The book found was card counting cheat sheets. The shoe they had at Jason Brewer's home was used to do shuffle-tracking. They looked at the mechanism. They also had figured out the adding of the new cards at shift change.
Megan found out that Philbrick had made the algorithm for the shoe. That proved that they were cheating and the club motive to kill them.
Don had Philbrick brought in. Marius, the manager knew because he had caught them. Marius went to Philbrick and demanded a share. Philbrick told them he had connections to drug traders on the east coast. He saved himself and the kids and did the money laundering.
Robberies were a cover for Yuri's murder, they followed Jason, and Ignacio was next. The killer did not want witnesses
Don and David went to the club and found Marius dead. That makes him free of the killings.
Charlie noticed that the parking was wrong. Yuri got there at the beginning of the afternoon. There was no reason for his car to be back in a blind spot unless he was being set up.
Don and Megan went to the club again and spoke to the valet. When threatened the kid said that a man with Yuri had him park his car in the back for five hundred dollars. The killer was Ignacio. They had one witness left to go after.
Colby and David went to warn Philbrick. They followed Philbrick to his car and arrested Ignacio before he could kill Philbrick. Ignacio bet wrong and was now going down for killing his friends and Marius.
NUMB3RS
Espa was at the FBI with Larry. She had been the only one he could find to answer her phone. She had been in her office and so she drove them. There was something Larry wanted to do, but he needed backup. Espa was willing to help.
Leonard Philbrick gave his statement to Don and was on his way out when Larry walked towards him with Espa standing with him.
"Well, I see once again you've escaped all responsibility for your actions. Oh, Leonard, you must be very proud of yourself." Larry said.
"Larry Fleinhardt." Philbrick said. "And who is that with you? A new wife?" He asked.
"No. I am a friend." Espa said speaking for herself.
"Well, what's it been, twenty-five years?" Philbrick asked.
"Twenty-two, Leonard." Larry said.
"I see your name in journals." Philbrick said. "Academic life has treated you well."
Larry shrugged. "Well enough."
"What are you doing here?" Philbrick asked looking from Larry to Espa and back.
"I'm just waiting on you. How could you do it? You know what the game did to us." Larry said. "How could you visit such a fate upon young gifted minds?"
"Those kids came to me." Philbrick said.
"And instead of sharing your wisdom, two are dead and another's going to prison." Larry said.
"These kids were a second chance for me." Philbrick said. "Come on." He scoffed. "Don't tell me you don't remember what it felt like to beat the house at their own game. You were the best I ever saw, Fleinhardt, and you just walked away."
"That's right. And I never looked back." Larry said. "When the number are running you, instead of you running the numbers, its time to take your money off the table, Leonard."
"Men make choices they have to live with." Philbrick said straightening to his full height.
"Well, you know, I know two who will never get that chance." Larry said. He looked at Espa and turned around putting his hands in his pockets.
She walked up to him and rubbed his back looking back at Philbrick. "And you are a better man for it all Larry." She told him softly.
He looked up at her and smiled a little. "Thanks."
NUMB3RS
Don came home about eight at night. He had grabbed a quick bite to eat out with the team since Espa, Charlie, Larry, and Alan were munching on leftovers in the fridge.
Don came in and found Larry sitting on the floor clapping for Zephyr to come to him. She crawled over and smiled at him as he pulled her into his arms and playfully bounced her.
Don chuckled as she saw her father and squirmed to go to him. He picked her up and tossed her a little making her squawk in pleasure. Then he passed her to her mother who was ready to nurse her as he went into the kitchen to get a beer.
Espa sat down at the table as Larry joined her next to her.
Don walked back in holding two beers. "So Philbrick cut a deal. Two years probation." He said clinking his bottle with Larry as he went to lean against the wall. His wife came over lifting her face towards him. He smiled and gave her a kiss and rubbed her back softly.
"He got lucky." Alan said.
"Yeah." Don nodded.
"Oh, yeah, if you wanna call it that." Larry said. Don opened his beer with a hiss as his wife stood with him. "Again, I apologize for not coming forward sooner."
"Ah, it's all right." Don said waving his hand. He watched his wife take a sip of his beer as she stole it from him before passing it back. She nodded. It was a bit better than his normal selection. But then she was spoiled having lived in Germany and Austria where beer was religion.
"No I was…I was tormented. I was mortified." Larry continued.
"Look, you stepped up ultimately." Don shrugged.
"Larry, do…do you realize that without your help we would have never figured out those students were money laundering." Charlie said.
"Yeah, not to mention giving Charlie, uh, a taste of real action at the tables." Alan said.
"And that is a good thing?" Espa asked.
"Hey, what are we talking about blackjack for? Let's play a real game." Alan said.
"A real game?" Don asked.
"Like what Cribbage?" Espa asked. She looked at her husband. "Though that is our game."
"Poker!" Alan smiled. "Where all the math in the world is useless against a good read, and steady nerves."
"Oh I am so out of that." Espa said seeing Charlie's look of excitement.
"You know what? I have had enough action to last a lifetime. Besides, poker is for professional card players and underemployed celebrities." Larry said.
Charlie waved him off.
"Yeah." Don chuckled. "I'm out, too, actually. Last time I played with you, I ended up eating mac and cheese for a week." He smiled at his wife holding their baby girl. "And I have a family now I have to think about." He smirked at Charlie. "Come on. We'll go sit outside, you can tell me about the gambling days." He clapped Larry on the back. "You comin'?" He asked Espa.
She nodded. "In a sec."
"I guess it's you and me." Alan said.
"Texas Hold 'em. No limit." Charlie said.
Espa whistled as she pulled out a burping cloth.
"What do you say we bet the house?" Alan asked.
Charlie smiled as Espa blinked and walked back to the door. ""You're not…You're not serious about betting the house?"
"I'm always serious." Alan said.
Espa shook her head and went to join her husband and Larry out on the porch. She dropped onto Don's legs with a smile and a grunt from him as he looked at her. "Well?" He asked.
"It will be a while and we may have a different owner." She smiled at him.
He chuckled and kissed her.
