High Potential

I always knew this day would come, right?

And I did everything I could to prepare, I just--

Don't worry, Mom. She'll be fine.

And let's remember to keep those hands at 9:00 and 3:00.

Nine and what?

I'm kidding. Relax, I got this.

- -Oh! Okay.

So, why don't we stop up here, and we'll practice your parallel parking?

Good, good, good.

Okay, so check in the mirrors...

-Okay. Yep. -...put it in reverse...

You should probably lower the deductible on our car insurance.

What happened to "she'll be fine"?

-Pop it? Oh. - No. All right, keep going.

-Going harder right. - Harder right.

- A little fast... Too fast! - Sorry, Mom.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah. -Wait, wait, turn!

I'm confused. You want us to pull over your daughter?

We're not traffic cops, Morgan.

-Good morning. -Morning.

Ava doesn't even have her license yet.

No, she doesn't,

but my daughter and I are much more alike than she thinks,

and trust me, when her license does land...

- -

Hey, don't make me slam these brakes, you thirsty bitches.

Whoa, the back seat is very, um...

-Spacious? -Yeah.

- -Whatcha got, Five-O? Let's do this.

-Whoo! -

We just all need to be prepared, okay?

All right, listen up.

Some of you have yet to RSVP for the police gala,

and you know who you are.

Oh, I got that email.

I got that too. What is that though?

It's an annual gathering of city officials,

detectives, officers.

Decent music, open bar till 10:00. Right?

Sorry, Lieutenant. I have plans.

Change 'em.

I want the top brass to see all of Major Crimes represented.

So that means every single one of you

is going to be there and looking sharp.

I'm only going to see if Oz makes a fool of himself again this year.

I knocked over one ice sculpture four years ago.

Daph won't let me live it down.

There's photos, if you ever wanna see 'em.

-Of course I wanna see 'em. -

Detective Karadec.

Uh, no, I did not. You just sent it?

Okay, we'll check it out. Thanks.

-Everything okay? -LAPD tipline

flagged an email to Major Crimes that just came in.

"Spencer Wallace wouldn't

play with me, will you?"

Open the attachment.

"Two hours to make your move."

"Two hours to make your move."

Sounds like some kind of game.

Yeah, a game Spencer here

does not look like he wants to play.

We don't know when it was taken.

We don't know who it is, we don't know if it was staged.

I mean, for all we know, this is just someone trying

to send us on a fool's errand.

Found him. Spencer Wallace, 37 years old, born in Riverside.

Runs a small interior design firm. Unmarried.

A couple of parking tickets, that's it.

He's in a room with no windows.

Look, see how the only light's coming from the camera flash?

Yeah.

Let's hope this is someone's bad idea of a good time.

-Find out. - Yeah.

Here you go.

Spencer, it's LAPD!

If you're home, we need you to open up.

Buildings this nice usually deliver packages

to the mail room, right?

"Let's play."

Most puzzles will give you a picture

of what it'll look like when it's done.

Well, whoever left this for us

clearly wants us to figure it out.

-Or waste more of our time. -Only one way to find out.

Okay, give me a minute.

She means that literally, doesn't she?

It looks like an elevation map. Contour lines, color gradients.

Yeah, yeah, and these could be roads.

That's definitely Mulholland Trail.

I hiked up there last week.

- One piece is missing. -Maybe it fell?

No, I don't think so.

That's part of the game. It's missing on purpose.

Whoever took Spencer Wallace wants us to try

and find him right here.

Then that's exactly what we're gonna do.

Oz and Daphne, find out everything you can

about Spencer Wallace.

You two go for a hike.

So we're looking for what exactly?

You know, probably nothing.

We get thousands of calls like this a week.

People get a kick out of sending cops on wild goose chases.

Makes you feel grumpy?

All right. So what games did you play as a kid?

Yahtzee. Yahtzee was my jam.

-Yahtzee? What? -Yeah.

Okay, it is painfully clear

I will not be inviting you to my next game night.

Looks like you won't have to.

"Loco Ocho." You have to match the color or the number,

and try to get rid of all your cards.

Hmm.

I don't like it when you're impressed by me

when I haven't done anything impressive.

"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Pick a card and then you'll go.

Down a path and through the shade.

Before dear Spencer starts to fade."

Yeah, see how this path veers off into two?

Yeah. You take one, I'll take the other.

I don't think it's gonna be that simple.

You telling me we gotta play a game

to figure out which one to take?

The two-hour countdown started when the email came in.

We have 34 minutes to make our move.

Last card's a two. Okay.

That must mean we take the second path.

How do you know there weren't other outcomes to these hands?

-You wanna play again? -Absolutely not.

Hey, we're still searching out here.

Daphne and Oz found insulin shots

in Spencer Wallace's apartment.

Our vic is a diabetic.

That means two hours could be how much time he has

before going into diabetic ketoacidosis without it.

That gives us just under half an hour

before Spencer could die.

This is real.

I'll call you back.

You got something?

She's got something.

It's addition and multiplication.

It's either hopscotch for hikers,

or hopscotch for second grade algebra teachers.

It's azimuth and elevation.

-Telling us where to go? -No, telling us where to look:

240 degrees and a negative ten.

The horizontal direction and vertical angle.

"Valley Day storage."

And you know what storage units never have?

Windows.

Everybody start banging on doors. Use your ears.

- Spencer! - Spencer! Spencer.

- Spencer! - Spencer!

-Spencer! -Spencer!

-Spencer! -Spencer!

Spencer!

-Spencer! -Spencer!

Spencer.

Spencer, you in there?

Unit L4! L4!

The manager said he rents unit L4. Daph!

This is it. This is him. Spencer?

Spencer? Spencer, can you hear us?

Spencer?

Spencer?

Spencer. Hey, buddy. Hey, hey, hey. Hey.

Hey. We're with the LAPD.

Paramedics are on their way. You're gonna be okay.

I have your insulin from your apartment.

I'm gonna administer it in your arm, okay?

- -Okay.

Thank you.

I wish I didn't remember, but... I do.

It's okay. Take your time.

I was walking up to my apartment when someone came up behind me.

It happened so fast I didn't even see their face

before they got some bag over my head.

And when it came off, I was in this dark room...

Then what happened?

They made me play games.

At least, they tried to make me play.

I was shaking too much.

I mean, they're moving these pieces around a game board

while I'm begging for my life.

I... I was too scared to play.

Did you get a look at the person?

They were wearing a white anime mask.

Rosy cheeks, real big eyes.

The room was too dark to see anything else.

-And what about the sound of their voice? -They never spoke.

Whoever they were, they must not have been having much fun.

Why do you say that?

Well, they got frustrated I wasn't taking the game seriously

and they knocked me out. I woke up in my storage unit.

Yeah, about that storage unit. Why is it empty?

Like, usually people get a storage unit

and they fill it with stuff.

I rented it with James.