Previously on "Fringe"
Olivia Dunham, FBI.
They're calling these events
"The Pattern".
As if someone out
there is experimenting
Only the whole world is their lab.
Anybody you need, you can have.
His name's Walter Bishop.
- My father.
- He worked out of Harvard.
He was part of a classified
US Army experimental program
In an area called 'Fringe Science'.
You're telling me my
father was Dr. Frankenstein.
So much happened here,
And so much is about to.
Are those notes you're writing, Ben?
I thought we talked about this.
You know, about taking
a break from the music.
So you'd have time for other things.
Maybe something new.
Dad, don't get mad at me
But the windshield wipers,
can you slow them down?
Slow them down?
The tempo.
It's messing me up.
Sorry bean, I can't.
I need to be able to see.
Stop, I need help.
What is it?
Don't know.
Let's see.
You okay?
Oh I'm fine.
I can't say the same for my car.
It kind of shuddered
and then stopped.
And my phone's dead.
Oh, hold on.
Be right back.
Thank you.
Of course! It's not a night you
wanna get stuck out here.
Yeah, uh, I need a tow.
I'm on Route 12, about two
miles north of Fair Oak.
Yeah, Massachusetts plate
All right, thanks!
Ah, they're busy.
It's gonna be a while.
Then I'm definitely gonna be late for that
meeting which would normally be a blessing
but this one's important.
Listen I-I know hardly
a thing about cars.
But why don't you let me take a look?
- No, no, you've done enough.
- No. That's alright.
Transmission's dry.
Some kind of electrical short.
Hey, easy.
Didn't mean to scare you.
It's okay. I didn't,
I didn't hear you.
Yeah listen,
sorry it took so long.
Hey man, you okay?
Where's her car?
Ben.
Ben?
Ben!
Main Edits: VeRdiKT
Corrections: Isocrate
"The Equation"
The boy's name is Ben Stockton.
According to his father,
they were driving home
from a school function last night,
when he saw a woman having car trouble.
The father claims that while he was looking
at the woman's car, something happened.
He said it was like time jumped.
And his son, the woman and
her car were suddenly gone.
So he just blacked out.
In the statement, he gave police,
he insisted he never
lost consciousness.
So any other witnesses to
back up the dad's story?
No, but this is not the
first time this has happened.
These are from the files of
three other missing person cases,
dating back ten years.
In each one, witnesses
describe seeing the same woman.
We've tried running facial
recognition software.
Nothing.
So what happened to
the other victims?
The first was found wandering the
shoulder of I-91 near Northampton.
The second in the supermarket,
curled up in the freezer bin.
- Meaning what? They were let go?
- Apparently.
But not before whatever'd been
done to them, drove them insane.
Two weeks after she was found...
One of the victims actually tried to
lobotomize herself using a butter knife.
And all of them completely incapable of
recalling what happened during the abduction.
Even under hypnosis.
So they're all academics.
A probability theorist...
Structural engineer...
If we're looking at
a serial abduction,
then a ten-year-old kid
really doesn't fit the bill.
No, but other than that the details
surrounding his disappearance
are identical to the others.
Interacting with the
woman in the sketch,
then experiencing an
interval of lost time.
Peculiar flashing lights.
Green green green red.
Like Christmas lights.
How did you know that, Dr. Bishop?
I don't know.
- But that's what happened, isn't it?
- Yes.
Think you might be able
to jog your mind Walter?
Could be kind of helpful.
Christmas lights.
That's all I can recall. Sorry.
I know what it sounds like.
Like I'm crazy. I'm not.
I talked to her.
I touched her car.
Police grilled my brother for hours.
They treated him like a suspect.
I know what I saw. She was real.
Why doesn't anybody believe him?
You're wasting time.
We need to find Ben.
Yeah, I believe you.
In fact we think that the same woman may
be involved in a number of other abductions.
This has happened before?
Why would anyone want to take my son?
I don't know.
Honestly, he doesn't really fit
the profile of the other victims.
For one, they were all adults.
And another they
were all academics.
Experts in various fields.
What?
Ben is kind of an expert himself.
What do you mean?
Nine months ago, my wife
was walking Ben to school.
Some idiot late for a dentist
appointment ran a red light.
And they were hit in the crosswalk.
Abby was killed.
The doctors told me they didn't know
if Ben was gonna make it either.
He was in a coma for six days.
And when he woke up--
It's easier if I just show you.
This is the day I took
him home from the hospital.
He hadn't spoken,
said even a word
since I told him his mother died.
And we got home...
And he just sat down at the
piano and started to play.
He's very talented.
Before this, he had never
taken a single lesson.
His doctors told me there
had been other cases.
People with severe brain traumas.
Waking up with the ability to do
things they'd never done before.
Two weeks later, he was
composing his own music.
One piece in particular.
Stopped being interested
in everything else.
You said the other people that had been
taken, were accomplished at something.
Do you think that-that's
why they took Ben?
I don't know.
Thank you so much for your time.
Uh, Agent Dunham...
After Abby died, my brother...
He barely held it together.
Without Ben, I don't
think he'll make it.
I'll do everything I can.
How are you feeling, Ben?
I wanna go home.
I just wanna see my dad.
Well, I have something
better for you.
There's someone else here who
would very much like to see you.
I don't care!
I wanna see my dad!
Well, your mother will be very
disappointed to hear that.
My mom's dead.
Are you sure about that?
Hey, Walter?
Don't you think it's a little early
in the season for the yuletide cheer?
I'm reciting christmas carols
in an attempt to jar loose
some details from my subconscious;
to remember where I heard mention
of the green and red lights.
But sadly, it hasn't yet worked.
So you thought it would be more useful to
work on your Christmas tree decorations?
Though I-I cannot recall
where I heard of the lights,
it did give me an idea a theory
as to how the boy was taken.
I was hired to design a technology...
An intricate pattern
of flashing lights,
intended to create a
suggestible state of hypnosis.
Theoretically, the test subjects
will do what ever commanded.
Bark like a dog,
dance a jig, wash the car.
US government had you
working on mind control?
Not the government.
It was an advertising agency.
They hoped to broadcast the
flashing lights during commercials
so that the viewers would have no
choice but to buy their products.
Unfortunately, it
merely caused nausea.
Which was unfortunate because
apparently, people don't like to shop
when they feel like
they're going to throw up.
Miss!
Where is the remote?
Oh, hey! Walter! Walter!
Walter, dial it down
a notch, all right?
Now I posit that the flashing lights
witnessed by the father
induced a-a hypnagogic trance
during which stage
the child was abducted.
I thought you said the
experiments were failures.
Oh, yes.
But I focused solely on the timing and
intensity of the flashes, not the colors.
The green and red.
Now I suggest that those
wavelengths are the key to success.
Come.
Let me demonstrate. Come.
What do you want me to do?
Just... stare at the lights.
Sorry, Walter.
Better luck next time.
Anyone ready for lunch?
What's up, chachi?
Did you do this to me?
You did.
Dunham.
It's me.
Based on the
description by the father,
I ID'd your kidnapper.
Name's Joanne Ostler.
She was a neurologist studying at MIT.
She would have been
thirty this March.
What do you mean, would have been?
Uh, according to
DMV Department of Records,
Joanne Ostler died ten years ago.
Are you sure it's the same woman?
Looks identical to the
woman from your sketch.
And she doesn't have a
twin because I checked.
So what happened to her?
Apparently her car went off
the bridge in November of '98
Eight months, before
any of the abductions.
How is that even possible?
Here's the thing.
The car was recovered but
her body was never found.
So then it's possible
that she survived.
Either that or Broyles
has you chasing a ghost.
# Dashing through the snow,
In a one-horsed open sleigh #
# O'er the fields we go-- #
Hey, what the hell's he doing?
He thinks it'll help him remember where
he's heard about the red and green lights.
- Okay.
- We've got good news.
We think we understand how
it was that Ben was abducted.
Those red and green flashing lights
They put the father
into a hypnagogic state.
And we think we may have
ID'd the woman responsible.
I have it!
Christmas. Christmas.
Leading to Christmas Carols
one of which is Jingle Bells,
which leads naturally to
dashing through the snow,
which of course
inevitably leads one to dash.
- To dash?
- Dashiell Kim...
The man who mentioned
the lights to me.
I'm sure of it.
Where is he, Walter?
Can we talk to him?
I guess that would depend
on whether he has succeeded
in killing himself or not.
What are you talking about, Walter?
Who is this guy?
A fellow inmate of mine
at St. Claire's Asylum.
I think we may have
ID'd another abductee.
Dashiell Kim. Headed up
astrophysics at UMass.
Went missing in May 2006.
Turned up a week later at
his home outside Clarksburg,
where he had a psychotic break.
Bludgeoned his wife to
death with a tire iron.
He was committed to
St. Claire's Hospital.
He was there at the
same time as Dr. Bishop?
Walter Bishop claims he remembers Kim
telling him a story about a woman
who put him to sleep
with a Christmas tree
and then took him away.
- Green and red lights.
- And he fits the profile.
Expert in a scientific field.
But I need you to get
an interview request
pushed through legal so we
can arrange a visitation.
Any specific things that Kim
might remember about the abduction.
Like where he was taken maybe.
That might take some time.
How come?
Says here, Dashiell Kim is a 1027.
Yeah what's that?
with knowledge of State secrets.
Apparently, Kim had a sideline
consulting the defense contracts for JPL.
You can't get in to talk to
him without official clearance.
And how long will that take?
If we go through channels,
six weeks minimum.
I've got a contact at Justice.
I'll tell him it's urgent.
I don't know how a guy that
could do this to his own wife
is gonna help you find a missing kid.
You've never looked at it
in that order, have you?
No.
Hi, bean.
Mom?
He did this to his own wife?
By all accounts they seemed happy.
Until Dashiell showed up after he
was abducted and beat her to death.
Did I hear mention of
my old friend Dashiell?
Of course.
I'd recognize his handiwork anywhere.
You mean, he killed others?
Well he tried--a patient
at the institution Jasper
but actually I was
referring to the equation.
Dashiell was obsessed with it.
Obsessed in what way?
He couldn't complete it.
I tried to help him solve it once
and he came at me
with a plastic spork.
What are you thinking?
You know, Ben's father said that Ben became
obsessed with this one piece of music.
And he couldn't complete it either.
I've been listening to it.
It's very beautiful.
He's light years ahead of
where even you were at that age.
Walter, take a look at this.
See this function?
It appears here, here, here--
It just keeps on
repeating over and over.
Yes yes it's a
recurring expression.
Or it's a rhythm.
Well yes I suppose.
Are you suggesting--
Can you convert that into
standard musical notation?
Oh-oh-oh, I can try.
What's going on?
Music is a mathematical language.
Chords have numerical values
and their notes
quarters, eights, sixteens,
they're all just fraction variables.
Okay, I took the oboe for
six months and then quit.
Almost there, Peter.
That's nine bars.
Okay, listen to this.
Sound familiar?
That's Ben's song.
Yes.
Ben's piece is the musical equivalent
of Dashiell's mathematical formula.
So how is that possible?
They'd never even met each other.
It's not so surprising actually.
Curious minds often
converge on the same idea.
Newton and Leibniz, independently without
knowing each other, invented calculus.
The relevant question is,
what is it?
What is what?
What is it that both Ben and
Dashiell are trying to solve?
How is this possible?
Are we in heaven?
No honey, we're not in heaven.
But I don't understand.
I saw you get hurt.
I don't understand either.
But I do know that I'm here.
And I've missed you so much, bean.
For me to stay, you have
to do what this woman says.
You have to finish the song, bean.
You need to finish it.
It's important, Ben.
Okay.
I love you, Mom.
I love you too, bean.
- Dr. Sumner.
- Hello.
Thank you so much for taking
the time to speak with me.
I understand you're interested
in talking to one of my patients.
Although I-I can't imagine what help
Dashiell Kim could be to the FBI.
We're investigating a
Missing Persons' case--
A kidnapping.
And we believe that
before coming here,
Mr. Kim may have been the
victim of an abduction himself.
Possibly by the same person
that we're looking for.
I suppose you came by this information
through a former patient of mine.
Dr. Walter Bishop?
You're the agent who
took him three months ago,
aren't you?
Yes.
And you should know Dr.
Bishop is doing quite well.
He's been assisting us
since he checked out.
He has no business being
out among the rest of us.
Well, I appreciate your concern
but I'm not here to
talk about Dr. Bishop.
I respect your discretion.
Provided you respect mine.
The mental health of my patients...
Is my primary concern.
And subjecting them to
open-ended interrogations
by FBI agents is
hardly prudent therapy.
I appreciate your position.
And I'd like to help.
But I can't subject Dashiell
to new faces right now.
Dr. Sumner, I'm here because a
child's life may be in danger.
There may be a way
we can work this out.
I'm listening.
You've assured me that
Walter Bishop is doing fine.
If that's the case,
I'll allow Walter Bishop
to talk to Mr. Kim
and ask your questions.
It might do Dashiell good
to see a familiar face.
Olivia, there is nothing to discuss.
But it's the only way we can
make contact with Dashiell Kim.
- Absolutely not.
- Peter--
You want to send my already
mentally unstable father
back to the institution
that made him that way.
We don't have a choice.
We need to speak to Dashiell.
And without Sumner's
permission, we need a subpoena
which is going to take time.
Even if he speaks to Dashiell,
what makes you think he's gonna
remember a word that he says?
The man can't even remember
what he had for lunch.
I have noticed,
that you have a habit of referring
to me as if I'm not in the room.
Does anyone care what I think?
Yes, Walter.
What do you want to do?
I'd rather not go.
- Walter--
- Olivia, he said "no."
That is incorrect.
I said, "I'd rather not go."
But I will.
Every moment that passes,
is another moment that little
boy's life is in danger.
Isn't that correct,
Agent Dunham?
Then we should go.
Well, are you ready?
When you get out,
we'll be right here.
Good luck, Walter.
Come with me.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
I can't help you.
Dr. Bishop, how you been?
You know I'm not really back.
Yeah, well, it's nice
to see you anyway.
You have ten minutes, Walter.
Dashiell.
It's me, Walter.
Walter Bishop.
Walter?
You look different.
It's the beard.
And you look different too somehow.
That smile.
Have they altered your medication?
Wouldn't surprise me.
These medieval quacks are more proficient
at phrenology than psychopharmacology.
I miss your jokes, Walter.
And I miss your stories.
The one about the woman who took you
away with the green and red lights.
Dashiell, look at me.
This is important.
The woman, where
exactly did she take you?
I'm sorry.
I don't know what
you're referring to.
You must be mistaking
me for someone else.
Now, if you'll excuse me,
I want to sit here and finish
my butterscotch pudding in peace.
You were always
trying to solve it, huh?
Yes.
I don't do math anymore, Walter.
Mathematical formulations are not
conducive to my mental stability.
That's fine, but if you
recognize the equation.
Do you not remember the woman
with the red and green
lights where she--
I don't do math anymore!
You used to tell me
the story all the time.
- No!
- You used to drive me crazy.
I don't do math anymore.
I don't care about math.
Dr. Bishop.
No, I need to know where
she took you, damn it.
That's enough! It's time to go.
- Where is she?
- I've got him.
Please, Dashiell,
it's only--
What do you mean, you sedated him?
Walter is legally in my custody.
You have no right to keep him here.
Not only do I have
every right to hold him,
I have a responsibility to hold him.
He accosted Mr. Kim.
If I release him and
something else happens--
I can assure you that's
not going to happen.
He's under our supervision.
Perhaps that's what
compounded the problem.
Meaning what?
I had some time to talk to Dr. Bishop.
After he calmed down about
his work assisting you,
and it is clear that exposing him to
the pressures of criminal investigations,
while indulging his fantastical
pseudo-scientific notions
has exacerbated the worst
features of his mental illness.
- Really?
- Really.
'Cause after some of the things
I've seen in the last three months
Walter strikes me as being one
of the sanest people I know.
Is that so?
I'm gonna make this
really simple, Dr. Sumner.
Walter Bishop is assisting
us in a criminal investigation
which you are currently obstructing.
So either you release
him into our custody,
or I will get a court order.
You go get your court order, then.
Welcome back, Walter.
Where are we on that
tip from Rochester?
Local agents are heading to the
convenience store where they saw the boy.
They're hoping video surveillance can
confirm it really was Ben Stockton.
Okay well, have
we set up checkpoints?
No, they're working on it.
So far nothing.
I have the general counsel's
office on the phone.
It's about Dr. Bishop.
This is Agent Dunham.
No, I wanted you to
work around the protocol.
Please, I need your help.
I need to get Bishop out.
Okay, 7:00 AM.
- Thank you.
- What was that?
Okay we have to wait till morning for
the court order to have Walter released.
But then he's out.
I promise. And I'm sorry.
And obviously, you were right.
No, this was Walter's choice.
Okay.
So if you want to go down to reception,
someone can arrange a ride
and then at least one
of us can get some sleep.
The woman who abducted Ben...
Joanne Ostler--
Up until now everybody
thought she was dead right?
Yeah.
Well she's been walking
around for the last ten years.
She must have been
using somebody's name.
We didn't get any hits
on an alias search.
What'd you base the search on?
On the anagrams.
Like combinations of
different family names.
It's what most people use if they
want to change their identity.
Thanks, I know that I've
done this once or twice myself.
Why doesn't that surprise me?
The best lie, the one
that's easiest to remember
with consistency is the
one that's based on the truth.
Whenever I would do this,
I would base it on my own last name.
Bishop. So Peter King.
Peter Knight.
Well, that's a great idea if your
last name is as simple as Bishop.
What do you do when it's Ostler?
Is there a computer
around here I could use?
This is a serial
abductor so she's smart.
She's probably switched
cars since then.
I want a record of every stolen
car from the last 36 hours.
Hey, where does this print?
Thanks.
Every gas station from
Middletown to Rochester.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItrIHJWsD4M
And pull all the
credit card receipts.
"Ostler":
Middle English for "Innkeeper."
Hold on.
Middle English.
The point is "innkeeper"
got me to hotels,
so I cross-indexed last names that
match hotels with her first name.
Joanne Ritz.
No photo, just a
PO Box in Clarksburg.
PO Box.
Criminals don't really like people
like you knowing where they live.
Can you expand the grid search
for Ben Stockton to Clarksburg?
What is it, Ben?
What's wrong?
I--
I just-- I don't see it.
It's okay, bean.
You're doing great, honey.
I can't.
I don't know how it ends.
Mom.
No.
Please, I don't want to go away.
Well, that's up to Ben, isn't it?
Mom.
Stop!
What are you doing to her?!
If you lose her again,
you'll only have yourself to blame.
Mom!
I'm sorry I upset you last night.
Go away.
There's a little boy out there.
He's in trouble.
We're his only hope.
I don't want to talk
about math, Walter.
Okay.
I don't need to talk
about the equation.
I need to know about the woman.
Where she took you.
You're wrong.
There was no woman.
Dashiell.
If you don't, the boy...
He'll end up like us.
Walter, please.
I can't!
Yes, you can.
It was so beautiful.
She promised me things.
What I wanted most of all.
But when I couldn't
solve the equation...
She took it away.
Everything she promised.
It was all a lie.
None of it was real.
She hurt me.
She put me in a dungeon.
She filled my mind with
images of the people I loved...
And then tortured them,
ripping them apart...
All the while, trying to suck the
answers she wanted out of my head.
But I couldn't--
I couldn't give her what she wanted.
Where were you, Dashiell?
I told you a dungeon.
No, no, no, no, no.
Not some fantasy, you nitwit.
Where were you really?
Dungeon! A dungeon in a red castle!
You listen. You answer me.
Don't you understand?
No, listen.
This is the only way we find him.
None of it happened.
It was just a dream.
Just a bad dream.
You're making a terrible mistake.
Despite whatever strings
you've managed to pull,
your father is not mentally fit
to be released from this hospital.
Thanks for the advice.
My personal assessment is that he's
safer with me than he is with you.
He may not be the picture of sanity,
but yesterday when I saw
him come through that door,
I saw him change.
He was afraid.
So what are you saying?
Are you saying that I somehow
managed to intentionally harm him?
Office of Homeland Security.
How'd you pull this off?
Meaning?
Meaning that since you
were here last,
I learned a little bit about you.
Enrolling at MIT, based
on fraudulent credentials,
starting businesses and failing and
then running away from the consequences.
Do you have a point?
You are not a fit
guardian for Walter
and I'm going to petition the state
to have him removed from your custody.
Excuse me?
Whether you're willing
to recognize it or not,
Walter is a danger--
Both to himself and to others.
Then I guess the apple
doesn't fall far from the tree.
'Cause you may think you
know what he's capable of,
but you have no idea
what I'm capable of.
Are you threatening me?
I'd like to see my father now.
Walter?
Are you okay?
I'd like to go now.
Of course,
we're gonna go right now.
I've... I've failed.
It was all for nothing.
Dashiell went on and on
like an incoherent loon
about being taken to
dungeons and red castles.
Son.
Is that what it's
like to talk to me?
Walter.
Let's go home.
Excuse me, ma'am.
I'm Special Agent
Francis with the FBI.
I was wondering if
you'd seen this boy.
His name's Ben Stockton.
He's ten years old.
No, I'm sorry.
What happened to him?
This is Dunham.
Hey, it's me.
I want you to know he's out.
Oh, good!
How's he doing?
Yeah he's okay,
but I hope you got a lead there
because this was a total bust.
I'm sorry.
So he wasn't able to
connect with Dashiell?
No, he's taking it pretty hard.
He's beatin' himself up pretty good.
Did he get anything?
He just said the guy was babbling on,
talking about red
castles and dungeons.
You know he did what he could.
I--I'm just
glad he's okay.
Yeah, me too.
Okay, if any red castles appear,
I'll let you know.
Sure.
It's not a drawbridge,
but it's close.
This place looks like it
hasn't been used for a while.
It's Francis.
Need you to pull up a property
search on an address for me.
- Charlie?
- Yeah.
I think I found something.
Watch yourself.
Oh, thank God!
You're going to be okay.
Stop!
Put your hands in the air!
You okay?
She was just there.
Nice to be home, right?
This place is filthy.
Did you have a party
while I was gone?
No, Walter,
I did not have a party.
I don't want you to
take this the wrong way,
but I need space.
Sorry to spring this
on you so suddenly,
but these quarters
are very cramped.
I think I am ready
for my own room.
That's--that's
not a problem.
I can talk to Olivia tomorrow about
getting you some on-campus housing.
That would be very beneficial.
You know what you did
by going back into that place
was very, very brave, Walter.
Thank you, son.
Got it.
Now let's see if it really
does what you said it would.
Where's the equation?
Seems crazy that some numbers
can make a machine like this work.
Look around your house,
your office, your kitchen--
Numbers make everything work.
Here we go.
It worked.
That's incredible.
It worked.
Ben, are you hungry?
'Cause there's a vending machine in the
hall and I've got a roll of quarters.
No, I'm okay. Thanks.
- Sure?
- Hmm.
- Ben?
- Dad?
- Ben?
- Dad!
Release forms.
As soon as he signs,
they're free to go.
Yeah, oh--we should
maybe just, uh,
Let them have a minute.
I really need to
call Peter and Walter.
After what Walter went through,
he'll be happy to know
that Ben's all right.
Good work.
Corrected by: Isocrate
Olivia Dunham, FBI.
They're calling these events
"The Pattern".
As if someone out
there is experimenting
Only the whole world is their lab.
Anybody you need, you can have.
His name's Walter Bishop.
- My father.
- He worked out of Harvard.
He was part of a classified
US Army experimental program
In an area called 'Fringe Science'.
You're telling me my
father was Dr. Frankenstein.
So much happened here,
And so much is about to.
Are those notes you're writing, Ben?
I thought we talked about this.
You know, about taking
a break from the music.
So you'd have time for other things.
Maybe something new.
Dad, don't get mad at me
But the windshield wipers,
can you slow them down?
Slow them down?
The tempo.
It's messing me up.
Sorry bean, I can't.
I need to be able to see.
Stop, I need help.
What is it?
Don't know.
Let's see.
You okay?
Oh I'm fine.
I can't say the same for my car.
It kind of shuddered
and then stopped.
And my phone's dead.
Oh, hold on.
Be right back.
Thank you.
Of course! It's not a night you
wanna get stuck out here.
Yeah, uh, I need a tow.
I'm on Route 12, about two
miles north of Fair Oak.
Yeah, Massachusetts plate
All right, thanks!
Ah, they're busy.
It's gonna be a while.
Then I'm definitely gonna be late for that
meeting which would normally be a blessing
but this one's important.
Listen I-I know hardly
a thing about cars.
But why don't you let me take a look?
- No, no, you've done enough.
- No. That's alright.
Transmission's dry.
Some kind of electrical short.
Hey, easy.
Didn't mean to scare you.
It's okay. I didn't,
I didn't hear you.
Yeah listen,
sorry it took so long.
Hey man, you okay?
Where's her car?
Ben.
Ben?
Ben!
Main Edits: VeRdiKT
Corrections: Isocrate
"The Equation"
The boy's name is Ben Stockton.
According to his father,
they were driving home
from a school function last night,
when he saw a woman having car trouble.
The father claims that while he was looking
at the woman's car, something happened.
He said it was like time jumped.
And his son, the woman and
her car were suddenly gone.
So he just blacked out.
In the statement, he gave police,
he insisted he never
lost consciousness.
So any other witnesses to
back up the dad's story?
No, but this is not the
first time this has happened.
These are from the files of
three other missing person cases,
dating back ten years.
In each one, witnesses
describe seeing the same woman.
We've tried running facial
recognition software.
Nothing.
So what happened to
the other victims?
The first was found wandering the
shoulder of I-91 near Northampton.
The second in the supermarket,
curled up in the freezer bin.
- Meaning what? They were let go?
- Apparently.
But not before whatever'd been
done to them, drove them insane.
Two weeks after she was found...
One of the victims actually tried to
lobotomize herself using a butter knife.
And all of them completely incapable of
recalling what happened during the abduction.
Even under hypnosis.
So they're all academics.
A probability theorist...
Structural engineer...
If we're looking at
a serial abduction,
then a ten-year-old kid
really doesn't fit the bill.
No, but other than that the details
surrounding his disappearance
are identical to the others.
Interacting with the
woman in the sketch,
then experiencing an
interval of lost time.
Peculiar flashing lights.
Green green green red.
Like Christmas lights.
How did you know that, Dr. Bishop?
I don't know.
- But that's what happened, isn't it?
- Yes.
Think you might be able
to jog your mind Walter?
Could be kind of helpful.
Christmas lights.
That's all I can recall. Sorry.
I know what it sounds like.
Like I'm crazy. I'm not.
I talked to her.
I touched her car.
Police grilled my brother for hours.
They treated him like a suspect.
I know what I saw. She was real.
Why doesn't anybody believe him?
You're wasting time.
We need to find Ben.
Yeah, I believe you.
In fact we think that the same woman may
be involved in a number of other abductions.
This has happened before?
Why would anyone want to take my son?
I don't know.
Honestly, he doesn't really fit
the profile of the other victims.
For one, they were all adults.
And another they
were all academics.
Experts in various fields.
What?
Ben is kind of an expert himself.
What do you mean?
Nine months ago, my wife
was walking Ben to school.
Some idiot late for a dentist
appointment ran a red light.
And they were hit in the crosswalk.
Abby was killed.
The doctors told me they didn't know
if Ben was gonna make it either.
He was in a coma for six days.
And when he woke up--
It's easier if I just show you.
This is the day I took
him home from the hospital.
He hadn't spoken,
said even a word
since I told him his mother died.
And we got home...
And he just sat down at the
piano and started to play.
He's very talented.
Before this, he had never
taken a single lesson.
His doctors told me there
had been other cases.
People with severe brain traumas.
Waking up with the ability to do
things they'd never done before.
Two weeks later, he was
composing his own music.
One piece in particular.
Stopped being interested
in everything else.
You said the other people that had been
taken, were accomplished at something.
Do you think that-that's
why they took Ben?
I don't know.
Thank you so much for your time.
Uh, Agent Dunham...
After Abby died, my brother...
He barely held it together.
Without Ben, I don't
think he'll make it.
I'll do everything I can.
How are you feeling, Ben?
I wanna go home.
I just wanna see my dad.
Well, I have something
better for you.
There's someone else here who
would very much like to see you.
I don't care!
I wanna see my dad!
Well, your mother will be very
disappointed to hear that.
My mom's dead.
Are you sure about that?
Hey, Walter?
Don't you think it's a little early
in the season for the yuletide cheer?
I'm reciting christmas carols
in an attempt to jar loose
some details from my subconscious;
to remember where I heard mention
of the green and red lights.
But sadly, it hasn't yet worked.
So you thought it would be more useful to
work on your Christmas tree decorations?
Though I-I cannot recall
where I heard of the lights,
it did give me an idea a theory
as to how the boy was taken.
I was hired to design a technology...
An intricate pattern
of flashing lights,
intended to create a
suggestible state of hypnosis.
Theoretically, the test subjects
will do what ever commanded.
Bark like a dog,
dance a jig, wash the car.
US government had you
working on mind control?
Not the government.
It was an advertising agency.
They hoped to broadcast the
flashing lights during commercials
so that the viewers would have no
choice but to buy their products.
Unfortunately, it
merely caused nausea.
Which was unfortunate because
apparently, people don't like to shop
when they feel like
they're going to throw up.
Miss!
Where is the remote?
Oh, hey! Walter! Walter!
Walter, dial it down
a notch, all right?
Now I posit that the flashing lights
witnessed by the father
induced a-a hypnagogic trance
during which stage
the child was abducted.
I thought you said the
experiments were failures.
Oh, yes.
But I focused solely on the timing and
intensity of the flashes, not the colors.
The green and red.
Now I suggest that those
wavelengths are the key to success.
Come.
Let me demonstrate. Come.
What do you want me to do?
Just... stare at the lights.
Sorry, Walter.
Better luck next time.
Anyone ready for lunch?
What's up, chachi?
Did you do this to me?
You did.
Dunham.
It's me.
Based on the
description by the father,
I ID'd your kidnapper.
Name's Joanne Ostler.
She was a neurologist studying at MIT.
She would have been
thirty this March.
What do you mean, would have been?
Uh, according to
DMV Department of Records,
Joanne Ostler died ten years ago.
Are you sure it's the same woman?
Looks identical to the
woman from your sketch.
And she doesn't have a
twin because I checked.
So what happened to her?
Apparently her car went off
the bridge in November of '98
Eight months, before
any of the abductions.
How is that even possible?
Here's the thing.
The car was recovered but
her body was never found.
So then it's possible
that she survived.
Either that or Broyles
has you chasing a ghost.
# Dashing through the snow,
In a one-horsed open sleigh #
# O'er the fields we go-- #
Hey, what the hell's he doing?
He thinks it'll help him remember where
he's heard about the red and green lights.
- Okay.
- We've got good news.
We think we understand how
it was that Ben was abducted.
Those red and green flashing lights
They put the father
into a hypnagogic state.
And we think we may have
ID'd the woman responsible.
I have it!
Christmas. Christmas.
Leading to Christmas Carols
one of which is Jingle Bells,
which leads naturally to
dashing through the snow,
which of course
inevitably leads one to dash.
- To dash?
- Dashiell Kim...
The man who mentioned
the lights to me.
I'm sure of it.
Where is he, Walter?
Can we talk to him?
I guess that would depend
on whether he has succeeded
in killing himself or not.
What are you talking about, Walter?
Who is this guy?
A fellow inmate of mine
at St. Claire's Asylum.
I think we may have
ID'd another abductee.
Dashiell Kim. Headed up
astrophysics at UMass.
Went missing in May 2006.
Turned up a week later at
his home outside Clarksburg,
where he had a psychotic break.
Bludgeoned his wife to
death with a tire iron.
He was committed to
St. Claire's Hospital.
He was there at the
same time as Dr. Bishop?
Walter Bishop claims he remembers Kim
telling him a story about a woman
who put him to sleep
with a Christmas tree
and then took him away.
- Green and red lights.
- And he fits the profile.
Expert in a scientific field.
But I need you to get
an interview request
pushed through legal so we
can arrange a visitation.
Any specific things that Kim
might remember about the abduction.
Like where he was taken maybe.
That might take some time.
How come?
Says here, Dashiell Kim is a 1027.
Yeah what's that?
with knowledge of State secrets.
Apparently, Kim had a sideline
consulting the defense contracts for JPL.
You can't get in to talk to
him without official clearance.
And how long will that take?
If we go through channels,
six weeks minimum.
I've got a contact at Justice.
I'll tell him it's urgent.
I don't know how a guy that
could do this to his own wife
is gonna help you find a missing kid.
You've never looked at it
in that order, have you?
No.
Hi, bean.
Mom?
He did this to his own wife?
By all accounts they seemed happy.
Until Dashiell showed up after he
was abducted and beat her to death.
Did I hear mention of
my old friend Dashiell?
Of course.
I'd recognize his handiwork anywhere.
You mean, he killed others?
Well he tried--a patient
at the institution Jasper
but actually I was
referring to the equation.
Dashiell was obsessed with it.
Obsessed in what way?
He couldn't complete it.
I tried to help him solve it once
and he came at me
with a plastic spork.
What are you thinking?
You know, Ben's father said that Ben became
obsessed with this one piece of music.
And he couldn't complete it either.
I've been listening to it.
It's very beautiful.
He's light years ahead of
where even you were at that age.
Walter, take a look at this.
See this function?
It appears here, here, here--
It just keeps on
repeating over and over.
Yes yes it's a
recurring expression.
Or it's a rhythm.
Well yes I suppose.
Are you suggesting--
Can you convert that into
standard musical notation?
Oh-oh-oh, I can try.
What's going on?
Music is a mathematical language.
Chords have numerical values
and their notes
quarters, eights, sixteens,
they're all just fraction variables.
Okay, I took the oboe for
six months and then quit.
Almost there, Peter.
That's nine bars.
Okay, listen to this.
Sound familiar?
That's Ben's song.
Yes.
Ben's piece is the musical equivalent
of Dashiell's mathematical formula.
So how is that possible?
They'd never even met each other.
It's not so surprising actually.
Curious minds often
converge on the same idea.
Newton and Leibniz, independently without
knowing each other, invented calculus.
The relevant question is,
what is it?
What is what?
What is it that both Ben and
Dashiell are trying to solve?
How is this possible?
Are we in heaven?
No honey, we're not in heaven.
But I don't understand.
I saw you get hurt.
I don't understand either.
But I do know that I'm here.
And I've missed you so much, bean.
For me to stay, you have
to do what this woman says.
You have to finish the song, bean.
You need to finish it.
It's important, Ben.
Okay.
I love you, Mom.
I love you too, bean.
- Dr. Sumner.
- Hello.
Thank you so much for taking
the time to speak with me.
I understand you're interested
in talking to one of my patients.
Although I-I can't imagine what help
Dashiell Kim could be to the FBI.
We're investigating a
Missing Persons' case--
A kidnapping.
And we believe that
before coming here,
Mr. Kim may have been the
victim of an abduction himself.
Possibly by the same person
that we're looking for.
I suppose you came by this information
through a former patient of mine.
Dr. Walter Bishop?
You're the agent who
took him three months ago,
aren't you?
Yes.
And you should know Dr.
Bishop is doing quite well.
He's been assisting us
since he checked out.
He has no business being
out among the rest of us.
Well, I appreciate your concern
but I'm not here to
talk about Dr. Bishop.
I respect your discretion.
Provided you respect mine.
The mental health of my patients...
Is my primary concern.
And subjecting them to
open-ended interrogations
by FBI agents is
hardly prudent therapy.
I appreciate your position.
And I'd like to help.
But I can't subject Dashiell
to new faces right now.
Dr. Sumner, I'm here because a
child's life may be in danger.
There may be a way
we can work this out.
I'm listening.
You've assured me that
Walter Bishop is doing fine.
If that's the case,
I'll allow Walter Bishop
to talk to Mr. Kim
and ask your questions.
It might do Dashiell good
to see a familiar face.
Olivia, there is nothing to discuss.
But it's the only way we can
make contact with Dashiell Kim.
- Absolutely not.
- Peter--
You want to send my already
mentally unstable father
back to the institution
that made him that way.
We don't have a choice.
We need to speak to Dashiell.
And without Sumner's
permission, we need a subpoena
which is going to take time.
Even if he speaks to Dashiell,
what makes you think he's gonna
remember a word that he says?
The man can't even remember
what he had for lunch.
I have noticed,
that you have a habit of referring
to me as if I'm not in the room.
Does anyone care what I think?
Yes, Walter.
What do you want to do?
I'd rather not go.
- Walter--
- Olivia, he said "no."
That is incorrect.
I said, "I'd rather not go."
But I will.
Every moment that passes,
is another moment that little
boy's life is in danger.
Isn't that correct,
Agent Dunham?
Then we should go.
Well, are you ready?
When you get out,
we'll be right here.
Good luck, Walter.
Come with me.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
I can't help you.
Dr. Bishop, how you been?
You know I'm not really back.
Yeah, well, it's nice
to see you anyway.
You have ten minutes, Walter.
Dashiell.
It's me, Walter.
Walter Bishop.
Walter?
You look different.
It's the beard.
And you look different too somehow.
That smile.
Have they altered your medication?
Wouldn't surprise me.
These medieval quacks are more proficient
at phrenology than psychopharmacology.
I miss your jokes, Walter.
And I miss your stories.
The one about the woman who took you
away with the green and red lights.
Dashiell, look at me.
This is important.
The woman, where
exactly did she take you?
I'm sorry.
I don't know what
you're referring to.
You must be mistaking
me for someone else.
Now, if you'll excuse me,
I want to sit here and finish
my butterscotch pudding in peace.
You were always
trying to solve it, huh?
Yes.
I don't do math anymore, Walter.
Mathematical formulations are not
conducive to my mental stability.
That's fine, but if you
recognize the equation.
Do you not remember the woman
with the red and green
lights where she--
I don't do math anymore!
You used to tell me
the story all the time.
- No!
- You used to drive me crazy.
I don't do math anymore.
I don't care about math.
Dr. Bishop.
No, I need to know where
she took you, damn it.
That's enough! It's time to go.
- Where is she?
- I've got him.
Please, Dashiell,
it's only--
What do you mean, you sedated him?
Walter is legally in my custody.
You have no right to keep him here.
Not only do I have
every right to hold him,
I have a responsibility to hold him.
He accosted Mr. Kim.
If I release him and
something else happens--
I can assure you that's
not going to happen.
He's under our supervision.
Perhaps that's what
compounded the problem.
Meaning what?
I had some time to talk to Dr. Bishop.
After he calmed down about
his work assisting you,
and it is clear that exposing him to
the pressures of criminal investigations,
while indulging his fantastical
pseudo-scientific notions
has exacerbated the worst
features of his mental illness.
- Really?
- Really.
'Cause after some of the things
I've seen in the last three months
Walter strikes me as being one
of the sanest people I know.
Is that so?
I'm gonna make this
really simple, Dr. Sumner.
Walter Bishop is assisting
us in a criminal investigation
which you are currently obstructing.
So either you release
him into our custody,
or I will get a court order.
You go get your court order, then.
Welcome back, Walter.
Where are we on that
tip from Rochester?
Local agents are heading to the
convenience store where they saw the boy.
They're hoping video surveillance can
confirm it really was Ben Stockton.
Okay well, have
we set up checkpoints?
No, they're working on it.
So far nothing.
I have the general counsel's
office on the phone.
It's about Dr. Bishop.
This is Agent Dunham.
No, I wanted you to
work around the protocol.
Please, I need your help.
I need to get Bishop out.
Okay, 7:00 AM.
- Thank you.
- What was that?
Okay we have to wait till morning for
the court order to have Walter released.
But then he's out.
I promise. And I'm sorry.
And obviously, you were right.
No, this was Walter's choice.
Okay.
So if you want to go down to reception,
someone can arrange a ride
and then at least one
of us can get some sleep.
The woman who abducted Ben...
Joanne Ostler--
Up until now everybody
thought she was dead right?
Yeah.
Well she's been walking
around for the last ten years.
She must have been
using somebody's name.
We didn't get any hits
on an alias search.
What'd you base the search on?
On the anagrams.
Like combinations of
different family names.
It's what most people use if they
want to change their identity.
Thanks, I know that I've
done this once or twice myself.
Why doesn't that surprise me?
The best lie, the one
that's easiest to remember
with consistency is the
one that's based on the truth.
Whenever I would do this,
I would base it on my own last name.
Bishop. So Peter King.
Peter Knight.
Well, that's a great idea if your
last name is as simple as Bishop.
What do you do when it's Ostler?
Is there a computer
around here I could use?
This is a serial
abductor so she's smart.
She's probably switched
cars since then.
I want a record of every stolen
car from the last 36 hours.
Hey, where does this print?
Thanks.
Every gas station from
Middletown to Rochester.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItrIHJWsD4M
And pull all the
credit card receipts.
"Ostler":
Middle English for "Innkeeper."
Hold on.
Middle English.
The point is "innkeeper"
got me to hotels,
so I cross-indexed last names that
match hotels with her first name.
Joanne Ritz.
No photo, just a
PO Box in Clarksburg.
PO Box.
Criminals don't really like people
like you knowing where they live.
Can you expand the grid search
for Ben Stockton to Clarksburg?
What is it, Ben?
What's wrong?
I--
I just-- I don't see it.
It's okay, bean.
You're doing great, honey.
I can't.
I don't know how it ends.
Mom.
No.
Please, I don't want to go away.
Well, that's up to Ben, isn't it?
Mom.
Stop!
What are you doing to her?!
If you lose her again,
you'll only have yourself to blame.
Mom!
I'm sorry I upset you last night.
Go away.
There's a little boy out there.
He's in trouble.
We're his only hope.
I don't want to talk
about math, Walter.
Okay.
I don't need to talk
about the equation.
I need to know about the woman.
Where she took you.
You're wrong.
There was no woman.
Dashiell.
If you don't, the boy...
He'll end up like us.
Walter, please.
I can't!
Yes, you can.
It was so beautiful.
She promised me things.
What I wanted most of all.
But when I couldn't
solve the equation...
She took it away.
Everything she promised.
It was all a lie.
None of it was real.
She hurt me.
She put me in a dungeon.
She filled my mind with
images of the people I loved...
And then tortured them,
ripping them apart...
All the while, trying to suck the
answers she wanted out of my head.
But I couldn't--
I couldn't give her what she wanted.
Where were you, Dashiell?
I told you a dungeon.
No, no, no, no, no.
Not some fantasy, you nitwit.
Where were you really?
Dungeon! A dungeon in a red castle!
You listen. You answer me.
Don't you understand?
No, listen.
This is the only way we find him.
None of it happened.
It was just a dream.
Just a bad dream.
You're making a terrible mistake.
Despite whatever strings
you've managed to pull,
your father is not mentally fit
to be released from this hospital.
Thanks for the advice.
My personal assessment is that he's
safer with me than he is with you.
He may not be the picture of sanity,
but yesterday when I saw
him come through that door,
I saw him change.
He was afraid.
So what are you saying?
Are you saying that I somehow
managed to intentionally harm him?
Office of Homeland Security.
How'd you pull this off?
Meaning?
Meaning that since you
were here last,
I learned a little bit about you.
Enrolling at MIT, based
on fraudulent credentials,
starting businesses and failing and
then running away from the consequences.
Do you have a point?
You are not a fit
guardian for Walter
and I'm going to petition the state
to have him removed from your custody.
Excuse me?
Whether you're willing
to recognize it or not,
Walter is a danger--
Both to himself and to others.
Then I guess the apple
doesn't fall far from the tree.
'Cause you may think you
know what he's capable of,
but you have no idea
what I'm capable of.
Are you threatening me?
I'd like to see my father now.
Walter?
Are you okay?
I'd like to go now.
Of course,
we're gonna go right now.
I've... I've failed.
It was all for nothing.
Dashiell went on and on
like an incoherent loon
about being taken to
dungeons and red castles.
Son.
Is that what it's
like to talk to me?
Walter.
Let's go home.
Excuse me, ma'am.
I'm Special Agent
Francis with the FBI.
I was wondering if
you'd seen this boy.
His name's Ben Stockton.
He's ten years old.
No, I'm sorry.
What happened to him?
This is Dunham.
Hey, it's me.
I want you to know he's out.
Oh, good!
How's he doing?
Yeah he's okay,
but I hope you got a lead there
because this was a total bust.
I'm sorry.
So he wasn't able to
connect with Dashiell?
No, he's taking it pretty hard.
He's beatin' himself up pretty good.
Did he get anything?
He just said the guy was babbling on,
talking about red
castles and dungeons.
You know he did what he could.
I--I'm just
glad he's okay.
Yeah, me too.
Okay, if any red castles appear,
I'll let you know.
Sure.
It's not a drawbridge,
but it's close.
This place looks like it
hasn't been used for a while.
It's Francis.
Need you to pull up a property
search on an address for me.
- Charlie?
- Yeah.
I think I found something.
Watch yourself.
Oh, thank God!
You're going to be okay.
Stop!
Put your hands in the air!
You okay?
She was just there.
Nice to be home, right?
This place is filthy.
Did you have a party
while I was gone?
No, Walter,
I did not have a party.
I don't want you to
take this the wrong way,
but I need space.
Sorry to spring this
on you so suddenly,
but these quarters
are very cramped.
I think I am ready
for my own room.
That's--that's
not a problem.
I can talk to Olivia tomorrow about
getting you some on-campus housing.
That would be very beneficial.
You know what you did
by going back into that place
was very, very brave, Walter.
Thank you, son.
Got it.
Now let's see if it really
does what you said it would.
Where's the equation?
Seems crazy that some numbers
can make a machine like this work.
Look around your house,
your office, your kitchen--
Numbers make everything work.
Here we go.
It worked.
That's incredible.
It worked.
Ben, are you hungry?
'Cause there's a vending machine in the
hall and I've got a roll of quarters.
No, I'm okay. Thanks.
- Sure?
- Hmm.
- Ben?
- Dad?
- Ben?
- Dad!
Release forms.
As soon as he signs,
they're free to go.
Yeah, oh--we should
maybe just, uh,
Let them have a minute.
I really need to
call Peter and Walter.
After what Walter went through,
he'll be happy to know
that Ben's all right.
Good work.
Corrected by: Isocrate
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