REPORT: POTATO HEAD BLUES (BOMB SQUAD
FILE #: 111

Trying to catch a bomber, Jarod joins the bomb squad as Jarod Nobel . In addition, he helps Rachel Newton, a photographer who had been injured during one of the bombings and thus lost her sight permanently. Now she is afraid and insecure, but Jarod helps her regain the strength she needs to continue her life.

At The Centre Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots have to take a lie detector test because Mr. Raines suspects one of the three might be secretly helping Jarod. To verify their answers, Mr. Raines has Angelo absorb each of their identities.

In the meantime, Jarod and his colleagues manage to escape another one of the “Fax-Bomber’s” attacks, which had been, as usual, announced trough a fax sent by the crazy bomber. In a discussion later at the department, all the police men get an identikit picture of the bomber, which is, however, not reliable, because no one has ever seen the man. Jarod then goes to talk to Hutchinson, the man who draws the identikit pictures. When Jarod enters, Hutchinson is just aging pictures of missing children on his computer.

The lie detector test at The Centre, meanwhile, is going on pretty uneventful, until Broots has to answer to the question if he has ever betrayed The Centre. He replies no, but Angelo notices that it’s a lie. When Mr. Raines asks Angelo if Broots is the leak, he smiles and nods.

On his monitor, Hutchinson has a Mr. Potato Head figure as his mascot, which totally fascinates Jarod. He then asks the graphic artist to age his mother’s picture 30 years. Jarod also talks to his Captain about the methods that are being used to find the bomber. Jarod supposes that the bomber is deliberately trying to lead the police onto a high-tech path of investigation, for example DNA analysis, while the right way to go would be a low-tech solution.

Miss Parker and Sydney now follow Broots everywhere he goes. Surprised, they discover that he meets a private investigator and a lawyer. Finally, convinced that Broots is playing some kind of false game, Miss Parker rushes into his apartment with some sweepers and guns. They find Broots playing with his little daughter, who is very scared and intimidated by the sudden interruption.

It turns out that Broots is in the middle of a custody trial with his ex-wife. The next day at The Centre, Broots is very upset about what happened. He tells her that he works for The Centre, that he sold his soul for this job, and that she will get into trouble with him if she doesn’t leave his daughter out of this.

By chance, the bomb squad finds a potential suspect during their investigation. They visit the man, Curtis Haring, an awkward loner who, at the age of 30, is still living in his mother’s basement. Jarod’s partner, Lester Carlson, is convinced that Haring is their man.

As he has done already before, Jarod once again visits Rachel, the blind photographer, to find out more about the day she lost her sight in the bombing. He believes that she must have seen the bomber, or at least sensed him in some other way. In order to help her remember, Jarod conducts a “simulation” with her, creating an environment that would stimulate her memory. During this simulation, Rachel remembers that she had noticed an intensive smell that reminded her of the kind of oil used by athletes. Jarod now suspects Lester Carlson, because he had seen him use such a product. The next day, a bomb explodes in Curtis Haring’s house and everybody thinks that he blew himself up. But Haring, who has survived, claims to be innocent.

When Jarod examines the pieces of the bomb, he finds out that all the wires have been cut in the same way, with the same knife. He breaks into Carlson’s apartment and indeed finds the knife, which leaves the same cut he found on the wires.

Jarod now sets up a similar bomb in an elevator, pretending it’s the “Fax-Bomber’s” work. Jarod and Carlson are the only ones to arrive at the scene. Carlson has suddenly lost his coolness and gets scared, the only bombs he has defused so far were his own . When they get onto the elevator to examine the bomb, the elevator suddenly starts moving. Jarod announces that the bomb is going to set off on about the 40th floor and accuses his so-called partner for being the real Fax-Bomber. After Carlson’s confession, Jarod leaves through the emergency exit, but closes the hatch and locks Carlson in the elevator. Scared to death, the latter is left alone with the bomb, unable to do anything and helplessly waiting for his death.

But instead of an explosion, the bomb goes: 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1 – Boom! The doors of the elevator open and Carlson faces the whole bomb squad team.

Rachel Newton is doing much better already – she has managed to find the way to the clinic’s park all by herself. Jarod also receives the aged picture of his mother and rewards Hutchinson with a box full of Mr. Potato Head accessories.

At The Centre, Angelo has been instructed to search the entire internet for information about Jarod. When Angelo finds a picture of Jarod’s mother, Raines asks if he has found anything. But Angelo quickly lets the picture disappear and gives Raines an innocent look, which immediately changes into a gloating grin when Raines leaves the room. Angelo is the real leak at The Centre…

And the screen fades to black…