- While the gang investigates a murder at the Dim Sum restaurant below Emerson's office, a woman from Emerson's past reenters his life. Meanwhile, Olive and Chuck discover that Ned has twin half-brothers.
- Young Ned (Field Cate) plays roulette, betting with chocolates a note in the box told him were from his dearly departed mother. He lost and never gambled again - except by opening a pie shop when love of carbohydrates was out of fashion.
Chuck (Lee Pace) invents new pies while Olive (Kristin Chenoweth) asks who the strange square-shouldered man in the booth is. Ned says the man gives him that feeling of shivering while you pee. The man is Dwight Dixon (Stephen Root), a friend of Ned's parents. Olive thinks the stranger is cute. Dwight is looking for Ned's dad. Ned is not inclined to help.
Meanwhile Emerson (Chi mcbride) falls into a food coma from beef balls and cuttle fish. Until he opens his fortune cookie and it says "Help Me Emerson Cod." He goes down to the dim sum place and runs into Simone (Christine Adams), the dog trainer he once had the hots for. They chat and he heads off to find a weeping woman. She's La Di Ting (Mae Hi), married to the chef, who's dead now. She wants to hire Emerson to find who killed Bao (Ping Wu). One night he couldn't sleep, complaining of "pressure." Ironically, he was killed by an exploding pressure cooker.
They visit the morgue, where he has a pole through his head. Ned gives him a poke and Chuck (Anna Friel) questions him in the Mandarin she apparently speaks. The man with the pole through his head pops up, freaking out that someone is going to kill him. He's not sure how or when, but it's coming because he lost a bet.
At the restaurant, their daughter Mei (Andrea Lui) thinks her dad died accidentally. She introduces Robbie Wu (Blake Kushi), the manager of the Dim Sum and her fiance, who she doesn't seem too thrilled about. They both deny he had a gambling problem.
Olive's aglow because Dwight stopped by again. She tries to guilt trip Ned into helping him. Chuck also suggests he give it a try. Ned gives her his dad's address, which he's had since he got word at boarding school dad moved on and started a new family.
An elderly Chinese man enters the Pie Hole. He heard Emerson at the restaurant and has information. That place ran an illegal gambling establishment since it opened.
Emerson says he searched the place already, but he returns with Ned and Chuck. At the sight of Simone at one of the tables, Emerson hides behind the curtain. Ned notices no one at the table is eating. Instead they are rotating covered bowls on a lazy susan and betting with soy beans -playing poker with food.
At his office, Emerson talks to Simone, who explains how the game is played. She doesn't know anything about Bao's death but gives him the run down on the shady players at the table (and Jim, the plumber). Simone was at a dog show the night of the murder. As she leaves, she says he's denying what's going on between them. Emerson explains that the more he's into someone the worse it'll end, and by that logic, they'd end very badly. In response, she kisses him. He attempts to remake his argument, thinks better of it and then goes against that better judgment.
Meanwhile, Olive and Chuck make a surprise pie delivery to Ned's dad. A teenage boy welcomes them in and climbs into a box, popping out in another one. But then he pops out of the first as well. Twins, Maurice (Alex MIller) and Ralston (Graham Miller). They're there alone, dad left a few years ago. But they have Ned's eyebrows.
Basking in super-attentive afterglow, Emerson reviews pictures of the restaurant and notices something. He calls Ned. The busboy is wearing an expensive watch. And now he's on the run. Emerson, Chuck and Ned follow him as Chuck tells Ned about her visit. He knew about the half-brothers, but not their names. He has no desire to know them.
Emerson finds the newly repaired bun steamer about to blow again. A pipe shoots off, nearly beheading Emerson, who shimmies out of the way with a Soul Train move, and it ends up impaling the busboy.
Ned gives him a tap and the busboy turns out to be Perry (Allen C Liu), an insurance adjuster who was undercover. He's pleased to have been murdered, because that's a big payout. He tells them Bao had taken out a $200,000 policy the day before he died. The beneficiary was his daughter.
When they try to talk to her, the poker goons intervene. A waiter brings Emerson another fortune cookie with a note telling him to meet across the street. He finds Mei, who asks why she'd ask him for help if she killed her dad. She says her mom doesn't know about the gambling. Mei's afraid of a poker goon named "Shrimp Boy (Ron Yuan)." She tells Emerson about the bet her dad made: Her dad gambled on credit and bet if he lost his daughter would marry Shrimp Boy's socially handicapped cousin, Robbie. 20 minutes later, Mei was engaged.
At the Pie Hole, Emerson says they need to question Shrimp Boy, but can't get past the body guards. Ned suggests contacting Simone and lots of middle school giggling about Emerson doing it ensues.
Chuck and Olive apologize to Ned for going behind his back to his brothers' house. Ned says he doesn't want to meet them because it might make his dad happy somewhere.
Emerson waits outside the Dim Sum, hiding when he sees Simone. But he gets an idea. Meet the new waitresses: the ethnically dressed Chuck and Olive. They begin with green tea and herbs that make you pee. Chuck serves the bodyguards, who soon get up to go. Olive locks them in the can.
Emerson and Ned come in. Emerson dressed like Linc from "The Mod Squad" and Ned like a cowboy. They chat up Shrimp Boy about the girl he won. He says Bao tried to win his daughter back but had nothing to bet with. Emerson and Ned whisper at the table with Chuck stopping by. They now think Bao must have tried to bet someone else, possibly Robbie so he could cash in Bao's life insurance once married to Mei.
Emerson distracts himself by accidentally winning a hand and Robbie comes over with a gun on him.
He ties up the Pie folk and Mei as Shrimp Boy and the poker goons watch, thinking Robbie won Mei fair and square.
The facts were these: Robbie suggested Bao bet his life insurance policy to try to get Mei back, but he lost that too when Robbie came up with an amazing hand.
Mei realizes her dad was trying to fix things and Ned realizes he might not know the whole story of his dad abandoning him (it's a semi-poignant moment coming with Ned wearing a fake mustache).
Suddenly, in walks Simone with Bubble Gum. No one locked the door. She fails to register the five people tied to chairs and instead chews out Emerson for dodging her earlier. She catches on when the poker goons pull their guns on her.
Robbie starts to untie Mei when Bubble Gum starts begging from him. Simone guesses he has food in his pocket. Chuck confirms she saw him stuff food in there while she was waiting on him.
Shrimp Boy, able to forgive homicide, kidnapping and illegal poker, draws the line at cheating. He agrees the bet was non-binding and allows everyone to go. Robbie goes off to jail.
Mei gets the insurance money who gives some to her mother who gives some to Emerson who goes in search of Simone. He suggests she show him her cards and he'll show his.
Ned and Chuck visit his half-brothers house. He admits it's harder to admit he doesn't know why what happened with his dad happened.
The twins answer. "Hi, I'm Ned, I thought I'd stop by because basically we have the same dad." Group hug.
From a car on the street, Dwight sits with a gun.
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