Chapter 2

When Don and Agent Carson got back to the office, after retrieving the files she had on her case, Lt. Walker and Colby had returned with security footage from a store across the street from where Agent Michaels was killed. It was playing on the screen, with all of them watching. David noticed something and paused it.

"Hey Megan, isn't that one of the guys from our list?" he asked, pointing to a guy in the video.

"Yeah, I think so," she replied, rummaging through the files they'd put together. She found the one she was looking for. "Here it is. Yeah, his name's Frank Thomalson."

"Oh good, you already had his name," Charlie said as he entered the room, carrying maps and his computer. "He had one of the highest probabilities on my list, so I went on and mapped a hot zone he might be in," he continued, David and Colby grabbed the map to hang up on the board.

"Just when I think you can't surprise me," Walker joked.

"Nice to see you again too," Charlie replied.

"Oh, Agent Carson, this is my brother Charlie. He's a professor of applied mathematics at CalSci, he does some consulting work for us," Don told her. "Charlie, this is Agent Carson."

"Nice to meet you," Charlie said, shaking her extended hand.

"You too," she replied. After Charlie had walked back over to set up his computer Carson turned back to Don. "A math professor?" she inquired skeptically.

"Hey, he does a lot of work for us. He's a big help, you'd be surprised," Don said defensively.

"No, that's not what I meant," she clarified. Charlie began rambling some math mumbo-jumbo about how he was able to find the hot zone. Carson took a seat by Don and whispered, "What I mean was, if I'd had a math genius brother growing up, I would have tied him up and duck-taped his mouth shut." Don silently laughed.

"I tried," he told her with a smile. "Unfortunately our parents caught me." She smiled too.

"How long were you grounded?"

"A month." They both silently laughed as Charlie finished his explanation.

"So using that, I was able to produce this hot zone," Charlie told them, pointing to the section of the map. "I can say with 86 certainty that you'll be able to find him within this area."

Agent Carson got up and went to get a closer look at the hot zone Charlie had produced. She seemed slightly confused.

"Is there a problem?" Charlie asked her.

"Hey Reeves, can I see that picture of Thomalson from his file?" Carson asked, ignoring Charlie's question.

"Sure." Megan handed her the picture.

"What's up?" Don asked, walking over to Agent Carson, trying to figure out what she was thinking.

"I know him," she answered. "He goes by Frankie T, he's a bookie. 18th Street makes all their bets go through him."

"You sure it's him?" Don asked, looking over his file.

"Positive," she replied. Turning back to Charlie, she answered his earlier question. "He lives here," she said, pointing to a spot on the map outside the hot zone.

"What?" Charlie asked in shock.

"Are you sure?" Don asked, surprised.

"I'm positive. I've been to his house before," Carson told them confidently. "He lives here," she reinforced, pointing to the spot on the map again.

"But...but..." Charlie was starting to stutter. "That spot had a less than 1 probability."

"Well, then your math is wrong," Agent Carson shrugged.

Charlie was thoroughly stunned. David and Colby looked at one another, not sure whether to be shocked that Charlie was wrong or humored by the fact that Agent Carson had told him that bluntly. Megan and Lt. Walker were trying to hide their smiles, obviously humored by Charlie's face. Don also saw Charlie's face and tried to reassure him.

"Don't worry about it, buddy. You probably just had bad data," he said, patting his brother on the shoulder. Don turned back to his team. "David, you and Colby go pick up this guy. I wanna talk to him."

"On it," David replied. He and Colby got up and left.

"Carson, you look through your files, see what you can find. I want you to help Megan get together anything we know about this guy." After she complied, Don turned back to Charlie. "Look, they're going to get you some better data, then you can have another go. OK?"

"Yeah, OK."