Forever

And we're back in "the hot seat,"

with my guest, Lawrence Creff.

Dan, the critics are simply wrong.

As C.E.O. of Halloway Corp, securing Americans

was my business.

Serving as the Undersecretary of Defense

isn't a conflict of interest.

It is the same interest.

I would never betray the trust of the American p...

What's... What's this?

So many lies, Mr. Creff.

What's going on here?

Where to start?

I think we're being hacked.

With the dinner conversation?

What I'm saying, gentlemen, is invest in umbrellas,

because next year, it's gonna be raining money.

Raining money.

Raining... money.

What the hell is this?

Shut this off!

In 1912, Guglielmo Marconi predicted

his invention the radio would put an end to war.

No more miscommunications. No more secrets.

Then, 200 million people were murdered

in the century that followed.

Meanwhile, we came up with better ways to communicate.

We'll be watching.

The Faceless.

None of which, alas, put an end

to lies, miscommunications, or murder.

Morning, Abraham.

Yes, a good morning, indeed.

When another warmongering corporate greedball

gets exposed by The Faceless, it's a damn fine day.

I'm sorry... The Faceless?

That secret hacktivist group.

"Hacktivist"?

Sometimes I forget I'm dealing with a man

who was born before they invented the steam engine.

The, um, anonymous computer guys who break into systems

to expose the lies and corruption of the powerful.

Ah.

Don't you find it ironic that the crusaders for truth

would feel compelled to hide behind a mask?

Well, I never wore a mask, even when Governor Reagan

sicced the national guard on us in 1969.

You didn't need to, with all that hair.

And that mangy beard.

Yes. Hello?

Yes, Jo, he's here.

Oh! Wait. This is technology.

Perhaps I should ask her to write you a note on papyrus.

Name's Eric Shaw.

Landlord said he was late on rent.

Nobody answered, so he let himself in.

This is what he found.

Looks like he died in his sleep.

Could be heart problems.

Lucas, think.

Burst capillaries and pink froth in the airway.

Ah... asphyxiation. Of course.

Right?

No ligature marks or contusions at the neck.

No sign of a struggle.

There's a small scratch on his forehead,

but it healed well before the time of death.

So, how does someone asphyxiate lying in bed alone?

Mercaptan.

It's a compound they add to natural gas

to give it that unique smell.

See, gas is heavier than air,

so it settles down to the ground.

It's not poisonous, but it displaces oxygen,

which can lead very easily to asphyxiation.

From the dust on these dials,

no one touched the stove in some time.

This guy doesn't strike me as the cooking type.

Oh! Whoa!

Hey, what the hell is this?

Oh. That was his alarm.

Yeah, he's got the whole place

wired on a timer through his phone.

Okay, now I smell gas.

O-kay.

Pilot's out.

Now, how would you turn this off?

Wired thermostat.

He can control that with his phone, too.

You mean someone could have

turned the gas on and off remotely?

If he can hack into the system, sure.

Oh. I think we got something here.

Uh, yeah. Y-y-you know what that is?

That's... That's the Faceless.

The computer enthusiasts from the news?

They're called hackers, doc,

and... and I believe that we should be leaving now,

because they're probably watching us as we speak.

Oh. Yep.

Yep, right there. Okay, guys, come on.

All right, maybe you guys don't have anything to hide,

but, um, I have some photos and some web searches

that I'm not very proud of,

and I'd rather not have my secrets leaked to the world.

Talked to Eric's co-workers.

Same story from everyone... Nice guy, kept to himself.

We're canvassing his neighborhood now

to see if they saw anyone.

You won't find anything that way.

The Faceless aren't nerds screwing around in the basement.

They're a secretive political organization.

Cyberterrorists is what they are.

Um, and you guys are...?

Cybercrimes Division. Can we set up here?

I didn't know you guys did murder.

Here's what we have.

We got Eric's online alias off his laptop,

which confirmed he's a member of the Faceless.

Didn't get much else

because the laptop fried itself when we touched it.

And we have the murder weapon... His thermostat.

It received a system-command reboot

that killed the pilot light at 1:00 A.M.

That activated the gas and then turned it off at 4:00.

And that's it?

Well, we have suspects.

Last year, the Faceless targeted

11 figures in business and government.

Very powerful people

with the means and motives to kill him.

We can cross-check these names

with a list of suspects that were in the city.

All due respect, detective, this isn't

the simple street stuff you're used to dealing with.

That signal could have come from anywhere in the world.

Once we have the warrants,

we can trace the I.P. path the hack followed,

and we can have a terminal point...

within the day.

And we just...?

Relax. We got this.

Relax?

I can relax.

Hm.

Great news.

Cybercrimes Division is on the case.

Cybercrimes Division? There is such a thing?

Yeah, we got computer dating, computer viruses.

Why not computer cops?

Press a button... boom. Who needs actual evidence?

What do you have?

Time of death was between 3:40 and 4:00 A.M.

Two days ago.

Victim was otherwise in good health,

with no suspicious marks or injuries.

What is that?

The victim's last meal...

Pasta nero, squid ink.

Otherwise, Eric Shaw died as he lived...

With his secrets hidden.

Maybe they're right.

Murder by computer, solved by computer.

Do you suddenly feel very old?

Yes, I do know the feeling.

Did they confirm how the gas was triggered?

Remotely, between 1:00 A.M. and 4:00 A.M.

Hmm.

So gas flows anywhere in between

120 and 200 cubic feet per hour.

Wouldn't have filled the room, but he was in bed.

So fatal density would have to reach,

say, 2 to 3 feet off the ground.

It could work.

"Could"?

Well, most likely.

But there's only one way to find out for sure.

How's that?

We go gas ourselves.

Now you're talkin'.

So, hypothetically, can you guys work it

so I can get the full NFL package

without paying for all the other stuff?

Detective, I have a master's in computer science from M.I.T.

So that's a yes?

That means I'm not the cable guy.

Got an I.P.

No relay commands.

Boom.

Detective, we got a terminal I.P.

A-a what?

The computer that killed him.

That's all there is to it?

Not bad.

Guess there are worse ways to go.

True.

Fire, for instance... every nerve in agony.

Hmm.

Drowning... the panic.

Mm.