14x16 - k*ller Moves

[bunniefuu]

(siren wailing)

So, which one is your favorite?

Got to go with Jailhouse Rock.

But Blue Hawaii's right up there.

Yeah.

How about you?

Well, it's a little obscure, but I'd have to say that my favorite Elvis movie is definitely Change of Habit.

There's just something about Mary Tyler Moore dressed as a nun.

Yeah, I can see that.

SIDLE: Hey, guys.

Wow.

Viva Las Vegas.

Yeah, minus the "viva."

No encore for this guy.

Do we have a name?

George Tabin.

Business card says he's an Elvis tribute artist.

Cash is still there.

Credit cards, too.

Rules out robbery.

Looks like multiple head wounds.

No blood on the bench.

No blood pool on the ground.

No, this was definitely not the primary.

He was k*lled somewhere else, brought here, propped up on the bench, and staged.

I've got gravitational blood drops over here heading away from the body.

Maybe from the w*apon?

Well, looks like a trail.

Nice night for a stroll.

Well, end of the blood trail.

No m*rder w*apon, but looks like we have another victim.

It's been stabbed.

There has to be a connection.

Maybe the k*ller is making a reference to Edgar Allen Poe.

Well, then he needs to brush up on his birds.

This isn't a raven, it's a rook.

You see the white skin around its beak?

A rook?

Well, the weird thing though is rooks are indigenous to Central Europe and Asia.

What's one doing in Southern Nevada?

I think I made the connection.

Between a bird and an Elvis impersonator?

No, between a rook... and a king.

As in, they're both chess pieces.

As in, whoever our k*ller is has a sick sense of humor.

♪ CSI 14x16 ♪

k*ller Moves Original Air Date on March 5, 2014

♪ Who... are you?

♪ Who, who, who, who?

♪ Who... are you?

♪ Who, who, who, who?

♪ I really wanna know

♪ Who... are you?

♪ Oh-oh-oh

♪ Who... ♪
♪ Come on, tell me who are you, you, you ♪
♪ Are you!

Lost or lost in your thoughts?

Avenue D and 1st.

D1.

We found the king at Avenue C and 1st.

C1.

Now I'm lost.

We're looking for the primary, right?

Where are we going?

Uh, you want to fill me in, or...?

The squares of a chessboard are delineated by letters and numbers.

Avenue E and 1st Street-- E1.

Now, there is a chess move known as "castling."

The player moves two pieces at the same time.

The rook from its original position to D1, and the king from E1 to C1.

From Avenue E and 1st Street to Avenue C and 1st Street.

We are in the Alphabets.

Um, Greg, I-I know you were captain of your high school chess team, and-and I respect your instincts as a criminalist immensely...

But you think I'm reaching.

No.

Actually, I-I think you're a genius.

Memphis or bust?

Graceland's in Memphis, right?

Yeah.

(groans)

There is a significant amount of blood spatter in the driver's seat.

I think we just found our primary.

Maybe he wanted us to find the king's carriage as well.

Even threw in the m*rder w*apon.

So, Doc, word on the street is...

If you say, "The king is dead, "

I will kick you right out of here.

I've already had my fill of bad Elvis puns from David.

So hard to resist.

Yes, I'm sure.

Okay, C.O.D. is multiple craniocerebral injuries due to the blunt force trauma to the head.

Consistent with the tire iron we found.

Didn't have any prints on it.

Well, he was struck at least a dozen times.

Suggests rage.

With a twist.

The tox screen flagged diphenhydramine in his system.

Wow, at these levels, even the real Elvis would've been unconscious.

Yes. There, uh... was no pill residue in his gastric contents, but I found this.

An injection site.

So, he was drugged before he was beaten to death.

Premeditation, careful planning.

Just like a chess player.

Well, that's very astute of you.

(imitating Elvis): Thank you very much.

Out. Get out.

I know you're a fan of fungi, but are you also a fan of nonvascular plants?

Specifically bryophyta?

Should I be?

Well, if it helps us catch a k*ller, yes.

I found what I thought was a hair on the king's jumpsuit.

Didn't match our vic, so I ran it.

And you found out that it was moss.

Yes.

In this case, a small, but mighty variety capable of consuming 20% of its own weight in fluids.

Sounds like my college roommate.

(laughs)

I know that guy.

It's a little strange, isn't it?

I mean, you can't grow moss in Vegas; it's a desert.

You need moisture.

I found traces of sodium lauryl sulfate and shea butter on the stem.

Those are commonly found in shampoos and bath oils.

I give up.

Where's this moss from?

Not to shill for the Mediterranean Hotel, but they recently stalin live-moss bath mats in all of their rooms.

Part of an "environmental chic" design.

Now, I checked.

Our Elvis impersonator is persona non grata at the Mediterranean, but perhaps our k*ller isn't.

Bit of a long sh*t, don't you think?

Not if I told you that the Mediterranean is currently hosting an international chess tournament.

Ah.

WOMAN (over P.A.): Welcome to the King's Crown Tournament.

All players, please show your USCM I.D. cards at the registration desk.

Hi.

MAN: Check.

MAN 2: Damn it.

(laughs)

Come on, man.

You really think that one of these guys took a tire iron to the king?

SANDERS: What?

Too nerdy to k*ll?

Well, yeah. I mean, look at them.

I doubt if half of these guys could even hold a tire iron over their head, much less swing it.

Chess is by definition a sequence of captures, ambushes, sacrifices and att*cks.

It's v*olence played out.

Uh, ink it's just a board game.

LVPD?

Yes.

I'm Jenny Carroll, the tournament director.

I believe I spoke with one of you on the phone.

That would be me.

I'm CSI Sanders. - Hi.

CSI Stokes.

Thank you for your time.

We just want to ask you a few questions, okay?

What about?

Well, actually, it's about a homicide.

A homicide connected to the festival?

You mentioned on the phone that this tournament is part of a promotional tour?

Yes, we are trying to broaden the appeal of the game.

Just make it sexier.

Oh, well, no offense.

You might want to try getting re women in the joint.

(laughs)

Oh, I agree.

Chess has been pretty much a man's game.

It would be nice to open it up.

Can't say I disagree with that.

Uh, excuse me.

STOKES: He, uh... he played chess in high school; he-he gets really excited.

Check.

Kid?

I should've known that you would've been here.

Hey, do you mind?

Man's an old friend.

A player once, too.

Well, if that's the case, then you should know enough to show some respect for the game.

People should show respect period.

We're done.

He's, uh... intense.

From the looks of it, he had already lost anyways.

I assume you're not here for the tournament.

I'm sorry, I still can't believe anyone here would be involved in m*rder.

Well, I've seen stranger things.

So, how long is the tournament in town?

Since Monday. We're on the eighth stop of a 12-city tour.

STOKES: And how many players do you have?

150 signed up in Vegas.

Well, if you don't mind, I'm gonna need a list of all their names.

Including a list of all your vendors.

Quite frankly, anything associated with the chess tour, okay?

Okay, sure.

I-I still think you're looking in the wrong place, but whatever you need.

Who is this guy?

What's going on over here?

It's called a "simul."

Um, man in the middle is former champion Karl Schrute.

He's playing against everyone seated.

He's playing everybody at once?

Yeah, he's our star attraction.

Ah, that's a pretty cool trick.

Amateurs come from all over to play against him.

So, former champ.

Has anyone ever b*at him doing that?

Never.

What about you?

Looks like you could b*at him pretty easy.

Okay, I'll start working on that list. (laughs)

Okay.

MAN: "Chess Freak Kills the King."

Would certainly make for a great headline.

Maybe I can see it.

At first, the game gets in your blood.

Then it gets in your head.

It can drive you to madness.

Any idea who you're looking for?

I've already told you everything I can tell you, Max.

Heard that before.

Day you told me you were turning your back on the game.

(sighs)

It's good to see you again, Max.

Good to be seen.

(timer ticking)

SIDLE: Nick got a list of all the participants and the vendors at the King's Crown.

There are a lot of names to go through.

Let's pull people from day shift and swing.

More eyes, the better.

You know, if you want to play by yourself, there's, uh, computers for that.

Yeah. Actually, do me a favor.

Come here.

Sit down for a sec.

Take a look at the white pieces.

Tell me what you see.

Looks like you castled your king.

On the queen's side, just like the k*ller.

But what else?

SIDLE: You moved your pawns, your knight, the bishop and the queen.

If you want to castle, you have to move those pieces.

Because castling can't be an opening move.

Which means if the k*ller is following the rules, our Elvis impersonator would not be his first k*ll.

And if that's true, then our job just got a lot harder.

We're not just looking for a suspect, we're looking for more victims.

Hey.

Hey.

Oh, sorry.

It's okay, I'm on hold.

I've been looking at all of our open cases for the past year.

None of them seem to have anything to do with chess.

What about outside Vegas?

You're thinking that if our k*ller is connected to the King's Crown Tour, maybe our cases that we're looking for are in cities where the tour has stopped.

Yeah. I'm on hold with San Francisco PD right now.

Yeah. Oh, Detective Ettinger.

Yeah, I'm looking for unsolved murders the week of February 17th.

Right, bodies found near numbered streets or avenues.

Uh, there is one other parameter.

It's gonna sound a little crazy, but the crimes are gonna have some sort of association with chess.

Yeah, like, the victim could be a bishop or a priest or maybe some kind of queen.

I know it sounds crazy.

Look, any help that-that you could give would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

(laughs)

I do not envy you.

Well, misery loves company.

Mm.

We... have six more cities to call.

SIDLE: Russell, you were right.

Our Elvis impersonator was not the k*ller's first victim.

Morgan and I found six other murders that look to be chess-related-- not in Vegas, but in the last three cities that the chess tour visited.

Portland, San Francisco and Reno.

SIDLE: In Portland, a woman on horseback and a homeless man.

RUSSELL: Knight and a pawn.

SIDLE: In San Francisco, a drag queen and a priest.

SANDERS: A queen and a bishop.

And in Reno, another homeless person and a priest.

RUSSELL: Another pawn and a bishop.

All the bodies were dumped at intersections of numbered and lettered streets.

So we have seven victims.

Seven chess murders.

Mm-hmm.

But I don't believe that the murders are capture-kills.

The k*ller is not eliminating pieces.

I believe that these murders are chess moves.

SANDERS: Like our dead Elvis-- king to C1.

He wasn't eliminating the king... just moving him.

So we have a serial k*ller who's playing a game, and every time he makes a move, somebody dies.

Yeah. Well, based on what I can see, the game's just beginning.

I knew you'd be back.

Same old Max.

How many games have you played just staring at that board?

Why don't you sit down... find out?

I told you.

I don't play anymore.

You play every day.

You just don't do it on a chessboard.

The only game I'm playing right now is "catch a k*ller."

And I need your help.

This is a list of chess moves.

I need to know what move comes next.

You already know it.

In here.

I really don't.

I only have one side of the board, and I don't know any of the opponent's moves.

Remember what I told you all those years ago?

Don't play the board, play the man.

Greg, the board is the face of your opponent.

You can know a man just by watching him play.

I knew you the minute you put your money down to play me.

You don't know me.

You come here every day after school.

You're not at football practice, you're not in the parking lot getting high.

You're different from the other kids.

You think differently, you're not in the parking feel differently.

You want different.

What do I want?

You want to be the best!

But to be the best, you've got to go through me.

School's in.

SANDERS: Come on, Max.

We're not back in the park.

This isn't a lesson here.

There are people's lives at stake.

This game has already been played.

16 years ago.

These are the opening moves in the championship match between Karl Schrute and Troy Parker.

Karl Schrute-- that's the guy doing the dog and pony show, playing simuls in this tournament here.

Man's got to make a living.

All right, what about, uh, his opponent, Parker?

(chuckles)

Troy Parker was the greatest American player since Bobby Fischer.

Till he lost that championship in '98.

After that, he went off the rails.

Just disappeared.

Back in '98... what was Parker's next move?

Bishop to E3.

Mm, yes.

It was Parker's fatal move, actually.

A mental mistake.

Uncharacteristic for someone so gifted.

And it was that move that gave you the game?

Yes, yes.

He had me on the ropes until then.

Only a few moves away from victory.

And it wasn't just the end of the game. No.

It was the end of him.

The man became a ghost.

Do you think he might harbor any resentment toward you about the game or even try to... engineer some kind of a rematch?

Troy Parker was not a violent man.

Okay.

So can you think of anyone else out there who might have an unhealthy interest in your old match with Parker?

I can think of hundreds of people that cannot stop talking about that match.

And as far as "unhealthy interest, "

I get a letter a week from some crackpot.

Really?

Have you, uh, received any recently?

You know, I did receive an odd missive when I first arrived at the hotel.

I didn't think twice about it.

What kind of missive?

It was a note wishing me well, wrapped around a chess piece.

Um, it was sort of, mm... handmade.

It was a bishop.

Do you still have it?

I believe so.

Unless they've emptied the trash.

♪
♪

I processed the hand-carved bishop sent to Karl Schrute.

It wasn't hand-carved so much as it was hand-sculpted.

Made from papier-mâché.

A curious stew of toilet paper, laundry soap and water.

Okay. That sounds improvised.

By someone with a lot of time on his hands.

Say, a prison inmate?

The laundry soap in our bishop is specifically formulated to work with the hard water at Ely State Prison.

Good work.

All right, so we need to cross-reference the list of people who attended the chess tour with the population of Ely, right?

Already done.

I have a face and a name.

You are on fire.

"Lee Crosby."

So you're just gonna to sit there?

Not gonna ask why you're here?

You'll tell me when you want to.

Or maybe you already know.

That's a photo It shows you two nights ago on the corner of Avenue C and 5th.

Four blocks away from here.

A bold opening.

It's aggressive.

I usually find when an opponent leads with a big move, they don't have much of a game to back it up.

We're not playing chess here, Mr. Crosby.

And the fact of the matter is, we have plenty.

I guess this is the part where I call my lawyer.

Five bills an hour--

I say save the money, indulge the cop.

STOKES: We know you spent five years at Ely for possession, and that most of that time was spent in a rehab program that taught you how to play chess.

Some inmates find God.

I found the Royal Game.

CRAWFORD: You know what we keep finding?

You.

In Portland, San Francisco, Reno.

All stops on the chess tour.

Cities where bodies have been dropping.

Like little chess moves on a board.

Admittedly, I am a bit insane... about... chess.

(chuckles)

Yes, I have been following the tour, but, like, riding buses at night.

That's all I've been doing.

You know who Troy Parker is, right?

Heard of him.

At Ely, you ordered over a dozen books on him.

Including his book on the game.

CRAWFORD: Sounds like an obsession to me.

I bet you know every move this guy's ever made.

I bet you even think that you're better than him.

Parker was the best, at the top of his game, but he made a mistake, a single bad move, and it was his undoing.

Won't catch me making that same error.

Promise you that.

You've been following the chess tour.

You've been dogging Schrute, trying to get him to play you one-on-one.

There's a lot of people that want to play Schrute, okay?

STOKES: Everyone is not obsessed with his old adversary, Troy Parker, the way that you are.

So obsessed... that you're replaying their match from '98.

And you've taken it to a whole nother level, Mr. Crosby.

You're k*lling people.

In some sick, twisted little fantasy.

You're right.

I would love to play Schrute.

God, I would love to replay his famous match with Parker.

And you can forget about "as good as Parker, "because I am better.

I got something that he never had.

CRAWFORD: What's that?

k*ller instinct. Mm-hmm.

And this is just between you and me.

I'm no k*ller.

What do you think?

Is he our guy?

Well, he's got the arrogance.

Delusions of grandeur.

Greg said he's got quite a temper, too.

All right, let's have Crawford sit on him while we get a warrant, check out his place.

(phone ringing)

Yeah.

We're definitely gonna need something more to connect him to one of the victims.

What is it?

(sighs)

Another move has been played.

SANDERS: Hey, Sara.

So what's going on?

I think we have another chess k*ller victim.

The next body dump was supposed to be near Avenue E and 3rd.

Yeah, I know.

But, uh... you need to see this.

Victim's name is Chris Shatlock.

I found his wallet tossed on the floor.

Work card says that he does a dinner show at the Four Kings.

Take a look. I found his wallet tossed on the floor.

Security guard discovered him.

Run through from back to front.

Found his uniform in the back.

Take a look.

He's a Knight of the Round Table.

SANDERS: A knight?

But next victim should've been a bishop.

Bishop to E3.

That's what Schrute said; it was Parker's next move.

Yes. But... he has an injection mark on his neck, just like our dead Elvis.

And take a look at the wall.

Knight to A4-- that's a chess move.

k*ller's changed his pattern.

He's changed the game.

♪

RUSSELL: Troy Parker--

I thought he was a ghost.

Are you sure about this print?

Yep.

Which means we are holding the wrong guy for these murders.

At least the, uh, Knight of the Round Table.

T.O.D. says he was k*lled at the same time we had Lee Crosby in the box.

So what are we thinking?

That Troy Parker is staging his comeback?

Replaying the game he lost to Karl Schrute?

Only to him, it's not a game.

He's making his moves by k*lling people.

Okay, so the guy's a grandmaster.

Right? He thinks he's smarter than his opponent.

Right now, his opponent is us, so we need to make the next move.

What do we know about him?

Anything?

Where is he?

Well, since '98, he's been pretty much of a recluse, and, uh, nobody has laid eyes on him in the last five years.

Nick did pull some trace from the dead knight's car.

Hopefully, Parker left something behind.

We need to find this guy.

(knocking)

I think Troy Parker just reached out.

CSI Russell, Jenny Carroll.

Ms. Carroll is in charge of the chess tour.

How do you do?

How can I help you, Ms. Carroll?

We received this package at our reception area an hour ago.

It was sent to our grandmaster- in-residence, Karl Schrute.

Has anyone else touched this besides you?

My assistant and I.

He's the one who opened it.

It's a knight.

Has Mr. Schrute seen this yet?

No, and truth is, I can't find him.

No one can.

He's not in his room, not answering his phone.

You don't think something's happened to him, do you?

We're gonna need to keep this.

Thank you so much for-for bringing it to us.

SANDERS: He's changed the game, Max.

Why?

Why do you think?

He wants to correct the error, the fatal mistake he made the first time around, the one that cost him the championship.

Correct.

Knight to A4 was the move Troy Parker should have made in '98.

So... the guy's trying to win.

No.

He's going to win.

But it's more than that.

In '98, Troy Parker was on the verge of doing something no one had ever done before in competition.

What are you talking about?

The Osterlitz endgame.

It's like... the Holy Grail of chess.

Parker was three moves away from making history when he screwed up.

Bishop to E3.

The move that ruined his life.

You think Parker's k*lling these people, don't you?

I didn't say that.

Let me tell you something.

Troy Parker was a genius.

And... he was a fool.

The man you're looking is neither.

And it's definitely not...

Parker.

How can you be so sure?

I mean, you're the one who said it.

Chess can drive a man to madness.

MAN: You're Troy Parker?

Is it really you?

I often wonder that myself.

Do you mind?

I can't believe this.

This is awesome.

It really is you.

PARKER: Congratulations.

You want a prize?

MAN: Settle for an answer to just one question.

Bishop to E3, right?

How could I have been so stupid?

Dude, I didn't say that.

No, but you thought it... just like everyone thinks it.

But aren't we all entitled to make one mistake in our lives?

Leave me alone.

MAN: Bro, bro, come back.

All I wanted to ask was, "Why did you quit?"

Why did you quit?

How long have you been standing there?

Not long.

All these years, "captain of the chess team."

That's all you ever told us.

Didn't know you were such a chess stud.

Yeah, well, there are a lot of things you don't know about me.

(chuckles) You haven't answered the question.

I don't know why I quit.

It's just, one day...

I couldn't do it anymore.

Like him.

You know what the problem is with people like you, with the world?

You can't understand what it is to be an artist.

What it is to create beauty!

You only understand ugliness, because you can only understand yourself!

MAN: Dude, I was just trying to ask...

Get that out of my face!

Ooh.

Man holds the world in contempt.

Just the kind of guy who might see people as chess pieces.

Hey, Nick.

Yeah?

Apparently, there are no shortage of people around who have seen your little friend, cimexlectularius.

Oh, yeah? Like who?

Got a list here of motels and weeklies, all with recent infestations of bedbugs, just like the one you found when you processed the car.

Take a look at the one in Boulder City.

Manager there says he's got a resident who matches the photo we sent over of Troy Parker.

Really?

Yeah. A little older and grayer, but it's definitely him.

Good. Thanks, Morgan.

According to the manager, Parker's been here for about a year under the name Jason Winston.

He always pays his rent in advance, cash.

Keeps to himself.

Hmm. Sounds to me like a guy who didn't want to draw any attention to himself.

Saving himself for the big event?

Yeah, well, game over.

(knocking)

Troy Parker, LVPD.

Open up!

LVPD!

Parker!

(water running)

It's Lee Crosby.

What?

He's dead.

(sighs)

Damn it.

Didn't have enough to hold him.

Had to let him go this afternoon.

STOKES: Well, for somebody who studied Parker's every move, I don't think he saw that one coming.

I found these vials and-and syringes in the trash.

Probably from the drug that was used to paralyze the victims before they were k*lled.

I'll send it off to Hodges.

Talk about a dangerous mind, huh?

All these chessboards.

And it looks like they're playing the exact same game.

They are.

Except this one.

It's further along.

My friend Max was right.

It's the Osterlitz endgame.

And Parker's playing it out.

Crosby's m*rder-- it's another move.

And see the pawn there tipped over?

Parker's saying that he and Crosby teamed up for the killings.

But this whole time, Crosby was just his pawn.

And the move-- pawn to C6.

It's the part of the Osterlitz endgame where the pawn puts the king in check, only to be quickly sacrificed.

What does he do next?

Checkmate.

He takes down the king.

Karl Schrute is missing.

I think Parker has him.

And he's gonna k*ll him.

Not if we find him first.

♪

Morgan, you're not gonna believe this.

Try me.

The dr*gs in the vials recovered from Parker's place?

It's not the diphenhydramine Doc found in our victims.

So what is it then?

It's an experimental medication, available only in Europe and Mexico.

Used to treat people in late stages of vascular dementia.

You realize what this means, don't you?

If the dr*gs are Parker's, there's no way that he would be mentally or physically capable of committing any of those crimes.

(computer beeping)

Parker's not our guy.

Then who is?

Where's CSI Sanders?

That's not your problem, Mr. Lomax.

Your problem is you've been lying to us.

STOKES: You knew this whole time where Parker was.

And you know he can barely lift a fork, much less commit m*rder.

Through your place right now.

We're also going through Lee Crosby's.

Yeah, we know you two hooked up at Ely.

During that outreach program.

We know that you're the one who taught him how to play chess.

RUSSELL: Is that where you turned him on to this legendary match between Troy Parker and Karl Schrute?

We got your prints.

We got you for conspiracy.

So the only thing keeping you from the needle is if you stop lying.

And you tell us where Parker and Schrute are right now.

I never lied.

The only thing I'm guilty of is caring for a great man.

Now sadly diminished.

My only crime is not turning him over to you.

To protect his memory.

The world should remember him for what he was.

(chuckles softly)

Not as he is.

RUSSELL: Yeah, well, all we're concerned about, Mr. Lomax, is where he is.

And Karl Schrute.

Okay.

That's too bad.

But I'll tell you something.

For your sake, you better hope they're still alive.

Wherever they are.

Kid?

If I figured it out, and I think I have, you can, too.

But you've got to look in the right place.

Just like I told you a long time ago.

To see the endgame, you have to see the board through your opponent's eyes.

LOMAX: Come on, kid, moves are motivation.

I'm telling you what I'm doing, I'm telling you what I'm going to do. You got to stop me, make it your game, not mine.

That's it. Good.

Come on, come on.

There you go.

There you go.

Take it, take it.

Don't be afraid. Take it, take it, take it, take it.

Checkmate!

The endgame.

It's the queen.

Please be careful with those.

I'd like them to make it at least until...

Phoenix.

So, the tour continues.

Even without its star attraction.

CSI Sanders.

Still no word on Mr. Schrute's whereabouts?

Still playing games?

Excuse me?

The list of vendors you gave us--

I checked it out.

You closed out all of the accounts.

Except one.

A storage facility downtown in the Alphabets.

Don't worry about it because we closed it for you.

The same time that we rescued Karl Schrute and Troy Parker.

I get it.

Men are weak, aren't they?

Just like the king on the chessboard.

He hides while all the other pieces fight to protect him.

Lee Crosby was weak, too.

Easily seduced into k*lling for you.

Am I right?

What do you think?

You neglected to mention to us that you have chess in your blood.

Your father was a grandmaster.

You must've learned a lot from him.

I learned nothing from him.

Except that, unlike my brothers, I was worthless.

Women are worthless.

My father used to say, "Chess is a man's game because it's about power, intellect."

All things, he said, I did not possess.

But your father was wrong.

Damn right he was wrong.

I was better than my brothers.

Better than him.

And every time I k*lled, I was k*lling him.

So why Parker and Schrute?

They were just... like him.

Cut from the same cloth.

So you were better than them, too?

You know, there are 32 pieces on a chessboard-- bishops, knights, pawns, kings.

And yet which piece is most powerful?

The queen.

♪
♪

(footsteps approaching)

I was just on my way out.

Want to grab a bite?

Uh, I should... probably finish this.

Thanks though.

Okay.

Actually, um, you asked why I quit playing chess.

I used to think that it was because I didn't think I had what it took to be the best.

Well, that couldn't have been it.

(both chuckle)

And then I realized that chess... requires a lot of sacrifice.

Too much sacrifice.

And I just didn't think it was worth it.

It stopped being fun.

It requires a totally different way of thinking.

You have to retrain your mind, and... it starts to become an obsession.

Kind of like this job.

If you know what I mean.

I do.

I was not even my grade school champion, and this is kind of crazy, but, you know, Russell's got that chessboard in his office, maybe... we should get something to eat and play.

For fun?

Sure.

(chuckles)

You better go easy on me.

I'll try.

(laughs)