NCIS (2003–…): Season 17, Episode 17 - In a Nutshell - full transcript
♪ ♪ Yeah
♪ I got to run
♪ Yeah...
Dylan, don't
make a mess.
Calm down.
It's, like, four crumbs.
Four crumbs in my mom's car
that she doesn't know we took.
[phone dings]
Um, hello?
Now... don't freak out.
I never freak out.
Jenn got into Harvard.
I'm freaked out.
My parents literally
built a wing at Dartmouth,
and I get waitlisted,
and she gets into Harvard.
It's Insta-official, babe.
[thud][gasps] What was that?
Whoa! Oh, my God.
What just happened?
I think you killed Bambi.
One of us should go check.
All you.
Me? Doesn't Dartmouth like
socially responsible students?
Get your camera ready.
Prepare for Insta-woke.
We need more light.
Oh, my God.
I don't think that deer
is a deer.
♪
Mm-hmm. Look, all I'm saying is
we all agreed to do this
on the next rainy day,
and I don't think
you did it right.
Everyone's a critic.
There is a very particular way
you're supposed to decide
if you're gonna keep something.
Now, Marie Kondo says...
I know what she says.
She's says
if you hold it in your hands
and it doesn't
bring you joy, adios.
Are you trying
to tell me how to Kondo?
No, but... Look, all I'm saying is
I don't have a lot of stuff.
And the stuff I have...
I like.
You are a pack rat.
Um, I don't even know what's
in this box, actually.
Delilah Kondo'd for me.
Made me promise
not to open it.
Okay, I don't think you
did it right.
It's my favorite shirt.
McGee, we're supposed
to donate this stuff to charity.
You can't donate that.
That's the opposite of charity.
This is my Atari 2600 joystick.
Oh, what's Delilah thinking?
I don't know, I mean,
she understands
that you're not 11 years old?
Or are you?
Are you kidding me?
This is Quelldorf.
Quelldorf, the leader
of the Benhibity,
ruler of...
All right, it's an '80s
comic book character
that never really
found its footing, okay?
Hey. Morning.
Morning. Wow.
Speaking of pack rat.
This is nothing.
I got five more
loads in my truck.
Kasie is really
gonna regret ever
volunteering to bring all
of our stuff to the V.A.
You Kondo'd.You Kondo'd real hard.
I just followed the rules.
I mean, this stuff
doesn't bring me joy.
And I no longer
have room in my life
for things
that don't bring me joy.
And that's junk. This is not junk.
This is a warm, loving
memory in my childhood.
It's a ratty T-shirt
with holes in it.
It's worthless.
No, it's not.
Old shirts make
great shop rags.
Thanks, McGee.
Let's go.
Got a body.
DYLAN:
Life, you guys,
is so fleeting.
These past couple of hours
have really changed me
as a person, and...
All right, you can't film
a crime scene. Come on.
Stop. Not cool. I want to keep it 100
with my followers.
There's, like,
a lesson here somewhere, bro. Yeah,
there's a lot of lessons here.
The first one being
listen to a federal agent.
Secondly... TORRES:
Having a driver's license
when you drive.
I didn't like the picture.
Did you say crime scene? Yes.
Vehicular manslaughter
is a crime.
And if there's negligence,
it's a felony crime.
And by "negligence" you mean...
Like driving with
your eyes closed
or being on your
cell phones.
McGEE: So,
do you mind telling us what you were doing
before the accident?
BISHOP:
So, we've got
a couple of credit cards,
what used to be receipts, and...
whatever this was.
DUCKY:
Sorry I'm late.
Dr. Palmer had a seminar
on the lasting effects
of fentanyl
that he didn't want to miss.
Who would?
So he asked me to fill in
at the last moment.
Well, well,
well, well.
Huh. Who do we have here?
GIBBS:
Petty Officer Third Class
Noah O'Donnell.
Would you please
tell your agents
to stop asking me
so many questions.
No.
He's acting like I committed
some sort of crime here.
You don't have to answer,
but he still gets to ask.
He wants my cell phone. Yeah,
we need to determine...
It was an accident, okay?
People have accidents.
You're all acting
like I killed somebody.
Okay, what I mean is
I didn't mean to kill anyone.
As it turns out, you didn't.
Duck?
He was already dead
when he was hit by the vehicle.
As they say...
Double-tap to the chest,
and...
one to the head.
He was murdered?
Nope.
Executed.
[shutter clicks]
McGEE:
Petty Officer Noah O'Donnell.
Intelligence Specialist
at Quantico.
Last seen
at a local community center
where he also taught
self-defense classes.
He live on base?
No. He, uh, rents an apartment
with his younger sister Claire.
They live in a small town
called Fillmore.
Sister been notified? Well, that's where
it gets interesting.
We, uh... we can't find her,
and cell tower records say
that she turned her phone off
just before the murder.
TORRES:
You think that's interesting?
That was Noah's C.O.
He says some, uh, detective from
Fillmore came into his office
asking questions
about Noah's death.
But get this.
Before the detective left,
he told the C.O.
to not tell anyone
that Noah was dead. Got a name?
It wouldn't be Detective
John Fischer, by any chance?
Yup, that's it.
I was searching
the petty officer's
family history,
and I found this.
"Double Homicide
Rocks a Small Town."
Noah's parents were
murdered ten years ago.
They had one suspect...
A homeless man,
history of mental illness.
And the lead detective on
this case was this Fischer guy.
Well, what's he doing
poking around now?
Not what I was thinking.
Why does he want
to keep Noah's murder a secret?
That's what I was thinking.
McGee, you keep
looking for the sister.
Torres, community center.
Bishop, come on.
You're with me.
Detective Fischer,
Special Agents Bishop...
I know who you who are.
Feds who called my precinct
looking for me.
What do you want?
Petty Officer O'Donnell.
Not your case.
Never said it was.
So... why were you talking
to his C.O.?
I investigated what happened
to his folks back in the day.
Double homicide
ten years ago.
Mm-hmm. We heard.
Kids woke up
to find their parents shot dead
in the living room.
I never found the killer.
Do you think
there's a connection
between Petty Officer
O'Donnell's murder
and his parents' case?
Just heard Noah's name
on the radio this morning,
wanted to see if it was
the same kid I met a decade ago.
That's it. Well, if that's it,
why tell Noah's C.O.
to keep the murder quiet?
'Cause unlike you D.C. bigwigs,
I care what happens
in this town.
When Noah's parents
were killed,
well, that kind of thing
doesn't happen around here.
The, uh, press
circled like vultures, and...
then there was this podcast.Yeah.
The Fault in Fillmore.
That's when
the weirdos showed up,
turned this place
into a three-ring circus.
If people find out
there's another murder
in the same family,
well, then, the, uh,
circus comes back
to town, so, uh,
yeah, I wanted to keep it quiet.
Well... we done?
Petty Officer O'Donnell's
sister Claire...
Do you know
where we can find her? Claire?
Last time I saw her was...
Here we go.Thanks.
Almost a decade ago.
Wish I could help you. No,
I don't think you do.
Want to help us, back off.
Let us do our jobs.
I'll tell you what.
You find the bullets...
I'll back off.
[door bells jingle]
What the hell does that mean?
Hey, Jimmy, any chance
I'll be able to borrow
the keys to your car?
Or as I call it,
the Dad Mobile.
Yeah, the keys
are on the shelf there.
Any time.Thanks. You're a lifesaver.
Oh, thank you
for volunteering to take all
those donations down to the V.A.
Well, that was before
I knew Bishop was donating
the better part
of her existence.
You sure your car will
be able to handle it?
Oh, I once fit Breena, Victoria,
a jogging stroller, luggage
and two mannequins in there
with room to spare.
I think you should have
plenty of wiggle room,
especially now
that McGee has backed out.
Should I be more concerned
about McGee or the mannequins?
You know, I think
he's just having
a little separation anxiety.
Which is a true shame,
because that vintage
Atari joystick has.
Kasie Hines
written all over it.
Hey, maybe you could have
a little chat with him,
help him let it go?
It's too self-serving
if I do it.
Done. In fact... Hey, Jimmy,
did you dig the bullets
out of the body yet?
Well, it's funny you should ask.
With no exit wounds,
you'd expect
to find several bullet fragments
inside, right?
But you didn't? Killer must've
removed them.
Probably using
some sort of, uh... Really long tweezers.
Right again. And aren't you
putting the "special"
in "special agent" today.
How did you guess?
Well, Gibbs asked me
to do dive deep
into Noah's parents'
murder case from ten years ago.
Does Gibbs think the
murders are connected?
Well, he will now.
I mean, both parents
were shot at close range,
execution style, and the bullets
were removed with long tweezers.
Same M.O. as our victim.Yeah. You don't
know the half of it.
According to the
police report here,
Noah and his sister
ran out of the house
after finding
their parents' body.
When police finally caught up
with them,
they were out
in the middle of the road,
exactly where
we found Noah's body.
So, either there is a
copycat out there, or...
Or the killer's back.
Yeah.
I can't believe Noah's dead.
He was just with me last night,
punching the bag.
What time did he leave?
About 7:00. What happened?
That's what we're
trying to find out.
How long did Noah work here?
About two years.
We all have other gigs.
We just teach part-time.
But Noah and I...
We got pretty close.
I'm gonna need a list
of all the students
and the staff.
Did Noah have any enemies?
No way. Everybody loved him.
But if you're looking
for someone
who's trouble in his life,
I'd start with his sister.
We've been looking
for her. She's got issues.
Always has. What kind of issues?
Well, can't hold a
job, sleeps all day,
walks around the
town at night.
Noah only moved in with her
to keep an eye on her.
But all that did
was drag him down, too.
Huh. You know where
we can find her?
Like where she hangs? No clue.
I never met her, ever.
How do you know so much about
her... podcast? I heard the stories,
just like
everybody else in town.
You make her sound like
she's some kind of urban legend.
Around here, she is.
Little girl finds
her parents dead,
then walks the streets at night
like some zombie?
Oh, did you try their place?
The house where their parents
were murdered. Well, the police said
that place has been
abandoned for years.
You want to talk about legends?
One of them is that she has
lurked around that place
ever since her
parents were killed.
How's that for creepy?
Nine out of ten.Yeah.
It was bought and sold a few
times after the parents' murder,
but could never
keep an owner.
I don't think
that "condemned" sign
is kidding.
It's not.
Rain got in, rotted everything.
Yeah.
Ooh!
You feel that?
A hundred eyes
on the back of my neck.
Rule 35, Bishop.
[sighs]
Yeah. Uh.
Always watch the watchers.
You think we should talk
to the neighbors?
Not yet.
You worried about what
that detective said,
about people finding out
there's been another murder
in this family?
Well, I'm thinking, the less
everybody knows, the better.
Bishop, on my six.
"C.O."
As in Claire O'Donnell?
[lock clicks]
BISHOP:
Yeah, I think this is Claire's.
And yeah, I think
she may have some issues.
You think?
What is this place?
Some kind of workroom.
For what?
Dollhouses?
I have never seen
a dollhouse like this.
SLOANE:
Hey.
Hmm? I'm gonna go with...
murder-suicide.
Jack Sloane, you are correct![whoops]
And congratulations. You beat
Special Agent Torres' time
by... 15 seconds!
Oh, honey, I'm just warming up.
Don't let me interrupt you.
Hey.
Care to take a stab?
No one's gotten this one right. Hey,
an idea.
How about some work?
We got a suspect to find.
That's what we're doing.
Totally working. Really? You two look like
you're playing with dollhouses.
They're not
dollhouses, Jethro.
They're modern-day nutshells.
What the hell's a nutshell?
I'm glad you asked.
Back in the 1940s,
there was a brilliant woman
by the name
of Frances Glessner Lee.
KASIE:
Ah! Huge fan.
A pioneer, really. DUCKY: Pioneer.
Yes. Perfect word
to describe her.
Okay, great lady.
Got it.
She created a series
of crime scene miniatures
which she called...
[soft chuckle]
"The Nutshell Studies
of Unexplained Death."
They were used
to train homicide detectives
and forensic students
to analyze crime scenes.
Your suspect
is emulating Ms. Lee's work.
These reports are
all from crime scenes
committed in the immediate
vicinity of Claire.
And these reports
became those nutshells. KASIE:
These three
are solved cases. DUCKY:
And Claire is using them
to sharpen her skills.
For what?
To construct the most personal
nutshell of all.
Ah, her parents' crime scene.
DUCKY: Indeed. This
is the only unsolved
crime scene nutshell here.
Claire is using this
to find her
parents' killer.
Tell me what I'm looking at.
The same thing that Claire saw
on Christmas morning
ten years ago.
She could be a hobbyist
with a normal interest
in true crime.
In that case, it would be only
natural that she would make
a nutshell
of her own family tragedy,
maybe as a way
of coping with it. KASIE: But
we found these in her workbench.
SLOANE: Jimmy said that they
are the same kind of tweezers
that were used to remove the
bullets from Noah's body.
The evidence suggests that
Claire killed her brother
in the same manner that
her parents were killed.
Why?
We can't speculate
as to motive, Jethro.
You'll need
to get that out of her.
Yeah. Working on it. DUCKY:
One more thing.
You-you see that logo?
I have an old friend
there that might know
where Claire is.
I was delighted
to hear from Dr. Mallard.
I haven't seen my old friend
since our last community pool
high-diving
competitions years ago.
Hmm. Please tell me
you have pictures.
I do. Would you
like to see them? No.
Well...
Claire O'Donnell.
You know her?
Yeah.
She's the most recent member
of our miniatures group.
Why do you ask?
We're trying to locate her.Well...
she'll show up.
She always does.
Got a feeling she's more than
a recent member of your group.
I knew her parents.
They were
good friends.
I kept an eye
on both Claire and Noah
after their passing.
With the ten-year anniversary
of the murders
bearing down,
Claire started to spiral, so
I introduced her to the group.
I thought it would
give her purpose.
How'd she go from dollhouses
to nutshells?
Nutshell.
Uh, she came upon a book
about a woman who created
miniature crime scenes. Oh, yeah.
We're familiar. Now, Noah's never needed
much guidance,
but Claire... she...
she struggles with darkness.
Her parents used to tell her,
"Come into the light,"
but after their
deaths, she, uh...
She was all but lost.
She is so fixated on
her parents' murder.
Kind of don't blame her.
She needs closure.Hmm.
More than you know.
She believes
that the killer isn't done
with her family, either.
[phone chimes]
Excuse me.
[clears throat]
Ugh. Gibbs, we have a problem.
DYLAN [on phone]: You guys,
is so fleeting. These pastKid
from the crime scene posted
couple of hours
have really changed methe footage he shot.
As a person, and... All right, you can't
film a crime scene.
Come on. DYLAN: Not cool...
JIMMY: So much for keeping
Petty Officer O'Donnell's death quiet.
Yeah, Claire just went
from prime suspect
to potential victim,
and we're worried
all this publicity's
gonna scare her away.
If a killer's after her,
maybe it's best
if she just stays away.
Speaking of which,
you got any new suspects?
Well, maybe. Look at this
social media post I just found.
It's from a neighbor
across the street
from the old O'Donnell house.
That is Detective Fischer.
What is he doing
at Claire's old place?
I don't know, but
Bishop's tracking him down now.
Oh, by the way,
you can leave now.
Excuse me? I know what
you're really doing here.
Kasie wants my box.
What?
[laughing]: What?
[laughs]
No!
No.
[laughs]
No, I-I told her I just...
I was gonna help her to...
to organize... the donations.
Ah. Gotcha.
Well, if you're looking
to stage interventions,
I suggest that you start
with Bishop.
Whoa.
Nick wasn't kidding.
Yeah. I don't know
if that's spring cleaning
or a giant cry for help.
Ooh.
You know, I'm-I'm just gonna
start with this box over here.
I... Oh. No. Hey!
[mutters]
[laughs]
It's understandable for Young
McGee to be a little sad.
[grunting]
But this is gonna bring a lot
of joy to someone else.
It's for charity...
Mature McGee.
I know. Yet, you're still
holding on to the box.
Uh-huh.
You've got bigger
problems right now.
McGEE:
It's an active crime scene.
Here.
[phone beeps]
Boss, yeah, we got
a problem here.
[indistinct chatter]
Back off. Keep an eye out for
Claire, get 'em off the lawn.
Off the lawn!
Off the lawn! Come on. Special Agent Gibbs.
NCIS.
We need you off the lawn.
We're allowed to
be here, you know. Back up. Phone off.
This is the site of an
active investigation.
Duh. Why else would we be here? TORRES:
Because you like
sick things that most people
don't even want to think about.
GOTH WOMAN: Oh, please. Everyone rubbernecks
a car accident. Phone down. Down.
It's a societal norm.
And don't you think
a double homicide
is a buttload cooler
than a fender bender?
I think society should
mind their own business. It's a homicide
investigation, it's
not a photo op.
We're not here for photos. We're
here for Claire.[crowd voicing assent]
And when she comes tonight,
she'll be safe
because we're all here.
Yeah, what makes you
think she's coming here?
She always returns to
the scene of the crime.
She came to this house
every single night for years
after her parents were killed.
And now,
with her brother's murder...
It's only a matter of time
before she shows up.
WOMAN: That's right.
[laughs softly]McGEE: If Claire
always returns
to the scene of the crime...
Then we're at the wrong
crime scene.
Boss? Guard the house!
[indistinct chatter]
[muttering]
[vehicle approaching]
It's him. It's him.
I have your gun. Noah.
Noah, I have your gun.
I have your gun.
I can end this. Claire?
Don't come any closer. Special Agent Gibbs,
NCIS.
I just want to talk. I said,
don't come any closer! I don't
want to hurt you.
Lower your weapon.
Just leave me alone.
Your parents would
not want this.
Oh, yeah?
How would you know
what they would want?
They would want you to
come into the light.
[soft grunt]
Gibbs said he found her
on the side of the road
talking to her brother?
What, was she expecting
him to talk back?
I don't know.
But imagine finding both your
parents murdered as a child.
She clearly hasn't recovered.
You know, I thank
my lucky stars every day
my kids were able to weather
the storm as well as they did
when we lost Jackie.
That wasn't luck, Leon.
They still had you,
and you're a hell of a dad.
Yeah, it's like every
day's a new failure.
So tell me, am I looking
at a victim or a suspect?
BISHOP: Well,
still trying to figure that out.
Torres is running down
where Claire says
she's been the
last couple days.
Apparently,
all the places she went
with her parents
when they were alive.
If you'll excuse me,
I got a sudden urge
to call my kids.
Hey, speaking of urges,
I heard you've had
a major urge to purge.
Oh, my God. Not you, too.
I'm simplifying.Okay.
But while Nick does look nice in
your Oklahoma State sweatshirt,
we're simply wondering
if there's more to it than that.
Well, there isn't.
[door closes]
Know why you're here?
Claire? You want to know
if I killed my brother?
Did you?
Yes.
You gonna tell me why?
Has anyone you loved
ever been killed?
It's about you,
not about me.
Why'd you kill
your brother?
I couldn't stop thinking about
our parents' murder,
and I thought if I made
a nutshell about it,
I could... find peace.
I asked Noah to help me.
He'd do anything for me.
He actually... got more
into the nutshells than I did,
and started digging
into our parents' case.
And digging and... digging.
He must have found something.
Something someone didn't
want him to find.
You didn't kill your brother.
I might as well have.
I'm the one who asked him to
help me recreate their murders.
What did he find?
I don't know.
He wouldn't tell me.
All I know is
he's dead because of me.
Noah was definitely
looking into something.
I was finally able to
pull out some latent ink
on these papers
you found at the crime scene.
Well, looks like
an evidence custody document.
Well, Claire did
say he was digging
into their parents' murders. Well,
digging for what?
I mean, you were
in Claire's workshop.Yes.
I'm still having nightmares.
She already had every bit
of evidence
from her parents' case.
Well, maybe some
went missing.
That creepy cop could've
made that happen, easy.
Or weare missing something.Ah.
What are you wearing?
Hmm? What? What are you wearing?
Oh. Bishop didn't
want it anymore.
It's... so soft. [Laughs]
Plus, you know, I'm
a sucker for vintage T's.
Okay, you know
that she once told me
that was her favorite shirt?
I'm telling you,
something strange is going on
with this girl. TORRES:
Yeah, tell me about it.
That girl is weird as hell.
What's she giving away now?
Oh, Bishop? No, this is not
Bishop. This is Claire's.
These are the old case files
for her parents' murder.
Uh, Gibbs wants us
to go through them.
Whatever
Petty Officer O'Donnell found,
he wants us to find it, too.
[computer trills]Oh, good luck.
If you'll excuse.
Mass spec calls.
So, did Claire's
alibi check out?
Oh, she had an alibi.
Girl's got her
own hashtag.
WheresClaire.
Half a dozen people posted
sightings of her that night, but
she was nowhere near
Noah when he was killed.
KASIE:
Well, Claire may have an alibi,
but the tweezers
from her
storage container don't.
I found traces of blood.
It's a match to Noah.
These could have definitely
been used
to dig out his bullets
postmortem. Well,
if Claire's not our killer, how
did they end up in her workshop?
#FrameClaire? Can I vote for creepy cop?
Well, he did visit that property
when Noah was killed.
Wait, the creepy
detective?
The one sitting in our
conference room now?
Wh... He's what?
Yeah, he came in about
three minutes ago,
demanding to speak to Gibbs.
Why are you holding Claire?! Why were you
at O'Donnell house
the night Noah was killed? Look,
I don't answer to you. You know what?
You've been lying to me
from the minute I met you.
What were you doing
at that house?
I was looking for Claire.
You know, I barely even remember
my own wedding day.
The day I met those kids...
Day I'll never forget.
Scared out of their mind,
wandering alone
out there in the...
middle of that damn road.
Which road? Same road where
you found Noah's body.
That's where the cops
finally caught up with them.
They took off running as soon as
they found their parents dead.
Where have you been
the last two days?
I've been looking
for Noah's killer.
I owed that to Claire.
I failed her back then.
The look on that kid's face...
It's... something
I'll never forget.
Look, I know
they say it's just...
it's just one case, but, uh,
sometimes you pin it all
on one donkey, you know?
Why the games, Fischer?
We're on the same team. Oh,
the hell we are.
The only reason I didn't
solve her parents' murder
in the first place
is because of you.
[laughing]:
Oh. Me?
Yeah, or guys just like you.
Several years after Claire's
parents were killed,
I got a lead.
I uncovered some new DNA.
And all I needed to do
was match it
against the one suspect
we had at the time. Transient
in the area.
Yeah, I read the case file. The guy fit
the profile...
History of mental illness,
multiple arrests.
He up and died.
Exhume the body, pull his DNA.Yeah, well,
it's not that easy
where I come from.
He was buried
in a federal cemetery.
And some bigwig like you
was whining about budget cuts.
He didn't give a rat's ass
about some
cold case in some...
small town he'd never heard of.
I'm gonna solve.
Noah's case,
with you or without.
Your... your agent said
that Noah was digging
around his parents' homicide.
We think he was doing more
than digging.
We think he found something.
Talk to Claire.
Claire says she doesn't know.
You know, I've been
keeping an eye on her
since she was a little kid.
[sighs] I'm willing to bet
she knows more than she s...
she says she knows,
especially about her brother.
So, you...
you talk to Claire.
Wow.
These are so intricate.
I'd never be able to do
something this delicate.
I'm all thumbs.
[exhales]
Claire,
has anyone ever talked to
you about social phobia?
It's the fear
of being judged
or analyzed publicly.
And who could blame you, right?
You're a legend, after all.
Hey. I know
building these is cathartic.
I get it.
I know a guy who builds boats.
But it's not enough.
You think it will be fast?
What will be fast?
I don't want to wait
ten years to be murdered, too.
That's not gonna happen.
Claire, we're putting you
in protective custody
until we find your
brother's killer.
Hey.
Um, she hasn't slept for days.
It's just setting in
that her brother
is actually gone.
She just needs
a little time to process.
Do we have time, Jack?
We've been spinning
our wheels
on her parents' case.
If her brother
found something, we
need to know about it.
Okay.
Just one bit of advice.
Try to connect with her first
before you, um,
act like you.
[whispers]:
You got it.
GIBBS:
Your woodwork...
is really good.
Good enough to solve?
GIBBS:
Murder-suicide?
I heard
you can do better than that.
Low-end appliances.
High-end shopping bags. [Woman screaming]
Stack of bills [man shouting]
On the kitchen table. [Gunshot]
Financial dispute.
CLAIRE:
What else you got?
Kidnapping.
Entered through the window.
At that height...
WOMAN:
Put her down!
Had to know it was unlocked.
Kidnapper knew the family.
GIBBS: Murder. [Man screams]
[fire ignites] Probably blunt force.
Robbery
and arson.
SLOANE:
The inscription on the back
reads plain, old
electrical fire.
Inscription's wrong.
He thought so, too.
That's why Noah built it.
Wait.
Noah built this?
Great.
We've been looking
into the wrong case.
BISHOP:
Okay.
All right.
Thanks.
Okay. That was
the clerk's office.
Gibbs was right.
Noah was not investigating
the murder of his parents.
He wanted the raw case notes
on this electrical fire.
Why? McGEE:
That's a good question.
Just met with
the fire inspector.
He said that he traced
the source of the fire
to an old fuse
and bad wiring.
Even had very
convincing photos.
Forget about the fire.
We're talking about
what happened before the fire.
Hmm.
Well, looks like
the room was ransacked.
BISHOP: Victim must
have been incapacitated
before the fire. TORRES:
Yeah.
Someone broke in
and robbed the place.
McGEE:
And killed the homeowner
and started an electrical fire
to cover it up.
Why does it matter to Noah?
What do we have on the victim?
Louise Fitzgerald.
63. Recently widowed.
Worth millions. Neighbors
say she was quiet
and kept to herself. BISHOP:
She sounds
like the dream target.
She have any connections
to Noah?
None that I could find.
Wait, did you say Louise?
Fitzgerald, yeah.
You know her?
No.
But Noah did.
She was
in his martial arts class.
Okay. You ever find yourself
in this position,
it's real simple.
You take a step
behind your opponent,
and you stand up.
[grunts]
MAN: Oh, wow. WOMAN: Oh.
All right, pair up.
Give it a try.
[indistinct chatter]
NCIS.
I thought I'd see
you guys again.
Oh, yeah? I heard you arrested
Claire O'Donnell.
About time someone
got her off the streets.
Glad I could help. You can help us out
with something else.
We have, uh, a few questions
about a student of yours.
Louise Fitzgerald.
You know her?
Sure. Had a lot of spunk
for someone her age.
Such a tragedy.
Love my older students.
Noah was pretty fond
of Louise himself.
Yeah, she, uh, she sent meals
to him and Claire
after what happened
to their parents.
Sure does pay
to have good neighbors.Mm-hmm.
How'd she die again?
An electrical fire.
Yeah.
Oh.
Look at what your day job
just happens to be.
Electrician.
You see where
we're going with this?
[grunting]
[gun cocks]Stay down!
Don't move.
What?
[chuckling]
That was a lucky shot, okay?
Sure it was.
Well, either way, your luck
has definitely run out.
Well, actually,
I'd say that
it ran out last year.
You want to tell us about this
bankruptcy filing we found?
I had a gambling problem.
I lost everything.
Not my finest moment. But then,
a few months later...
you were flush with cash. Well,
that's the thing
about gambling:
You just need one good bet. Or maybe
one rich student
who has a very expensive
jewelry collection.
McGEE: Louise
Fitzgerald. You robbed her
and you murdered her.
Started an electrical fire
to cover your tracks.
Now, most people
didn't bat an eye.
Except Noah wasn't most people.
He started making nutshells
with his sister.
He knew Louise,
decided he'd start
with her case,
but some things didn't add up.
He asked his electrician buddy
how to stage an electrical fire.
But then
his buddy...
panicked. So his buddy
killed Noah, staged it
to look like his parents'
killers were still around.
Mm. That's as much
as an urban legend
as it gets.
Look a little pale, there...
buddy.
Thank you.
For everything.
Thank you, Claire.
You and your brother
helped solve a case
that no one
even knew existed.
I don't know
what I'm gonna do without him.
Ah. You can start
by calling this number.
She's expecting your call.
She can help.
Yeah.
And then you can call me.
You have
a real eye
for forensics.
We should talk.
I think I'm done
with the nutshells.
Though someone did offer me
ten grand last month
to build their daughter
a dollhouse.
Ten grand?[chuckles]
Maybe I'm in the wrong business.
Oh, come now, Kasie,
it's never too late
to start riding a new pony.
You know,
these are extraordinary.
But, uh...
well, that's not why I'm here.
I took the liberty
of calling in a favor.
Detective Fischer
now has approval to exhume
the one remaining suspect
in your parents' murder.
SLOANE:
He never gave up on
your parents' case,
Claire. He-He's on the way
to the cemetery
as we speak.
Course, we can't be sure
as to the outcome,
what it will produce.
Hopefully, it'll be the same
justice
that you helped
deliver for Noah.
Thank you.
Oh, hold up.
I, uh, I heard Claire and that
detective are having lunch.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, aren't you gonna ask me
about my donation, too?
They are just things
that I don't need anymore.
People evolve.
And...
I'm not the same person
I was when I first started.
Bishop...
you got to evolve.
You can't erase it all.
Hang on to this.
[elevator dings]
[doors open]
[phone dings]
Captioning sponsored by
CBS.
♪ I got to run
♪ Yeah...
Dylan, don't
make a mess.
Calm down.
It's, like, four crumbs.
Four crumbs in my mom's car
that she doesn't know we took.
[phone dings]
Um, hello?
Now... don't freak out.
I never freak out.
Jenn got into Harvard.
I'm freaked out.
My parents literally
built a wing at Dartmouth,
and I get waitlisted,
and she gets into Harvard.
It's Insta-official, babe.
[thud][gasps] What was that?
Whoa! Oh, my God.
What just happened?
I think you killed Bambi.
One of us should go check.
All you.
Me? Doesn't Dartmouth like
socially responsible students?
Get your camera ready.
Prepare for Insta-woke.
We need more light.
Oh, my God.
I don't think that deer
is a deer.
♪
Mm-hmm. Look, all I'm saying is
we all agreed to do this
on the next rainy day,
and I don't think
you did it right.
Everyone's a critic.
There is a very particular way
you're supposed to decide
if you're gonna keep something.
Now, Marie Kondo says...
I know what she says.
She's says
if you hold it in your hands
and it doesn't
bring you joy, adios.
Are you trying
to tell me how to Kondo?
No, but... Look, all I'm saying is
I don't have a lot of stuff.
And the stuff I have...
I like.
You are a pack rat.
Um, I don't even know what's
in this box, actually.
Delilah Kondo'd for me.
Made me promise
not to open it.
Okay, I don't think you
did it right.
It's my favorite shirt.
McGee, we're supposed
to donate this stuff to charity.
You can't donate that.
That's the opposite of charity.
This is my Atari 2600 joystick.
Oh, what's Delilah thinking?
I don't know, I mean,
she understands
that you're not 11 years old?
Or are you?
Are you kidding me?
This is Quelldorf.
Quelldorf, the leader
of the Benhibity,
ruler of...
All right, it's an '80s
comic book character
that never really
found its footing, okay?
Hey. Morning.
Morning. Wow.
Speaking of pack rat.
This is nothing.
I got five more
loads in my truck.
Kasie is really
gonna regret ever
volunteering to bring all
of our stuff to the V.A.
You Kondo'd.You Kondo'd real hard.
I just followed the rules.
I mean, this stuff
doesn't bring me joy.
And I no longer
have room in my life
for things
that don't bring me joy.
And that's junk. This is not junk.
This is a warm, loving
memory in my childhood.
It's a ratty T-shirt
with holes in it.
It's worthless.
No, it's not.
Old shirts make
great shop rags.
Thanks, McGee.
Let's go.
Got a body.
DYLAN:
Life, you guys,
is so fleeting.
These past couple of hours
have really changed me
as a person, and...
All right, you can't film
a crime scene. Come on.
Stop. Not cool. I want to keep it 100
with my followers.
There's, like,
a lesson here somewhere, bro. Yeah,
there's a lot of lessons here.
The first one being
listen to a federal agent.
Secondly... TORRES:
Having a driver's license
when you drive.
I didn't like the picture.
Did you say crime scene? Yes.
Vehicular manslaughter
is a crime.
And if there's negligence,
it's a felony crime.
And by "negligence" you mean...
Like driving with
your eyes closed
or being on your
cell phones.
McGEE: So,
do you mind telling us what you were doing
before the accident?
BISHOP:
So, we've got
a couple of credit cards,
what used to be receipts, and...
whatever this was.
DUCKY:
Sorry I'm late.
Dr. Palmer had a seminar
on the lasting effects
of fentanyl
that he didn't want to miss.
Who would?
So he asked me to fill in
at the last moment.
Well, well,
well, well.
Huh. Who do we have here?
GIBBS:
Petty Officer Third Class
Noah O'Donnell.
Would you please
tell your agents
to stop asking me
so many questions.
No.
He's acting like I committed
some sort of crime here.
You don't have to answer,
but he still gets to ask.
He wants my cell phone. Yeah,
we need to determine...
It was an accident, okay?
People have accidents.
You're all acting
like I killed somebody.
Okay, what I mean is
I didn't mean to kill anyone.
As it turns out, you didn't.
Duck?
He was already dead
when he was hit by the vehicle.
As they say...
Double-tap to the chest,
and...
one to the head.
He was murdered?
Nope.
Executed.
[shutter clicks]
McGEE:
Petty Officer Noah O'Donnell.
Intelligence Specialist
at Quantico.
Last seen
at a local community center
where he also taught
self-defense classes.
He live on base?
No. He, uh, rents an apartment
with his younger sister Claire.
They live in a small town
called Fillmore.
Sister been notified? Well, that's where
it gets interesting.
We, uh... we can't find her,
and cell tower records say
that she turned her phone off
just before the murder.
TORRES:
You think that's interesting?
That was Noah's C.O.
He says some, uh, detective from
Fillmore came into his office
asking questions
about Noah's death.
But get this.
Before the detective left,
he told the C.O.
to not tell anyone
that Noah was dead. Got a name?
It wouldn't be Detective
John Fischer, by any chance?
Yup, that's it.
I was searching
the petty officer's
family history,
and I found this.
"Double Homicide
Rocks a Small Town."
Noah's parents were
murdered ten years ago.
They had one suspect...
A homeless man,
history of mental illness.
And the lead detective on
this case was this Fischer guy.
Well, what's he doing
poking around now?
Not what I was thinking.
Why does he want
to keep Noah's murder a secret?
That's what I was thinking.
McGee, you keep
looking for the sister.
Torres, community center.
Bishop, come on.
You're with me.
Detective Fischer,
Special Agents Bishop...
I know who you who are.
Feds who called my precinct
looking for me.
What do you want?
Petty Officer O'Donnell.
Not your case.
Never said it was.
So... why were you talking
to his C.O.?
I investigated what happened
to his folks back in the day.
Double homicide
ten years ago.
Mm-hmm. We heard.
Kids woke up
to find their parents shot dead
in the living room.
I never found the killer.
Do you think
there's a connection
between Petty Officer
O'Donnell's murder
and his parents' case?
Just heard Noah's name
on the radio this morning,
wanted to see if it was
the same kid I met a decade ago.
That's it. Well, if that's it,
why tell Noah's C.O.
to keep the murder quiet?
'Cause unlike you D.C. bigwigs,
I care what happens
in this town.
When Noah's parents
were killed,
well, that kind of thing
doesn't happen around here.
The, uh, press
circled like vultures, and...
then there was this podcast.Yeah.
The Fault in Fillmore.
That's when
the weirdos showed up,
turned this place
into a three-ring circus.
If people find out
there's another murder
in the same family,
well, then, the, uh,
circus comes back
to town, so, uh,
yeah, I wanted to keep it quiet.
Well... we done?
Petty Officer O'Donnell's
sister Claire...
Do you know
where we can find her? Claire?
Last time I saw her was...
Here we go.Thanks.
Almost a decade ago.
Wish I could help you. No,
I don't think you do.
Want to help us, back off.
Let us do our jobs.
I'll tell you what.
You find the bullets...
I'll back off.
[door bells jingle]
What the hell does that mean?
Hey, Jimmy, any chance
I'll be able to borrow
the keys to your car?
Or as I call it,
the Dad Mobile.
Yeah, the keys
are on the shelf there.
Any time.Thanks. You're a lifesaver.
Oh, thank you
for volunteering to take all
those donations down to the V.A.
Well, that was before
I knew Bishop was donating
the better part
of her existence.
You sure your car will
be able to handle it?
Oh, I once fit Breena, Victoria,
a jogging stroller, luggage
and two mannequins in there
with room to spare.
I think you should have
plenty of wiggle room,
especially now
that McGee has backed out.
Should I be more concerned
about McGee or the mannequins?
You know, I think
he's just having
a little separation anxiety.
Which is a true shame,
because that vintage
Atari joystick has.
Kasie Hines
written all over it.
Hey, maybe you could have
a little chat with him,
help him let it go?
It's too self-serving
if I do it.
Done. In fact... Hey, Jimmy,
did you dig the bullets
out of the body yet?
Well, it's funny you should ask.
With no exit wounds,
you'd expect
to find several bullet fragments
inside, right?
But you didn't? Killer must've
removed them.
Probably using
some sort of, uh... Really long tweezers.
Right again. And aren't you
putting the "special"
in "special agent" today.
How did you guess?
Well, Gibbs asked me
to do dive deep
into Noah's parents'
murder case from ten years ago.
Does Gibbs think the
murders are connected?
Well, he will now.
I mean, both parents
were shot at close range,
execution style, and the bullets
were removed with long tweezers.
Same M.O. as our victim.Yeah. You don't
know the half of it.
According to the
police report here,
Noah and his sister
ran out of the house
after finding
their parents' body.
When police finally caught up
with them,
they were out
in the middle of the road,
exactly where
we found Noah's body.
So, either there is a
copycat out there, or...
Or the killer's back.
Yeah.
I can't believe Noah's dead.
He was just with me last night,
punching the bag.
What time did he leave?
About 7:00. What happened?
That's what we're
trying to find out.
How long did Noah work here?
About two years.
We all have other gigs.
We just teach part-time.
But Noah and I...
We got pretty close.
I'm gonna need a list
of all the students
and the staff.
Did Noah have any enemies?
No way. Everybody loved him.
But if you're looking
for someone
who's trouble in his life,
I'd start with his sister.
We've been looking
for her. She's got issues.
Always has. What kind of issues?
Well, can't hold a
job, sleeps all day,
walks around the
town at night.
Noah only moved in with her
to keep an eye on her.
But all that did
was drag him down, too.
Huh. You know where
we can find her?
Like where she hangs? No clue.
I never met her, ever.
How do you know so much about
her... podcast? I heard the stories,
just like
everybody else in town.
You make her sound like
she's some kind of urban legend.
Around here, she is.
Little girl finds
her parents dead,
then walks the streets at night
like some zombie?
Oh, did you try their place?
The house where their parents
were murdered. Well, the police said
that place has been
abandoned for years.
You want to talk about legends?
One of them is that she has
lurked around that place
ever since her
parents were killed.
How's that for creepy?
Nine out of ten.Yeah.
It was bought and sold a few
times after the parents' murder,
but could never
keep an owner.
I don't think
that "condemned" sign
is kidding.
It's not.
Rain got in, rotted everything.
Yeah.
Ooh!
You feel that?
A hundred eyes
on the back of my neck.
Rule 35, Bishop.
[sighs]
Yeah. Uh.
Always watch the watchers.
You think we should talk
to the neighbors?
Not yet.
You worried about what
that detective said,
about people finding out
there's been another murder
in this family?
Well, I'm thinking, the less
everybody knows, the better.
Bishop, on my six.
"C.O."
As in Claire O'Donnell?
[lock clicks]
BISHOP:
Yeah, I think this is Claire's.
And yeah, I think
she may have some issues.
You think?
What is this place?
Some kind of workroom.
For what?
Dollhouses?
I have never seen
a dollhouse like this.
SLOANE:
Hey.
Hmm? I'm gonna go with...
murder-suicide.
Jack Sloane, you are correct![whoops]
And congratulations. You beat
Special Agent Torres' time
by... 15 seconds!
Oh, honey, I'm just warming up.
Don't let me interrupt you.
Hey.
Care to take a stab?
No one's gotten this one right. Hey,
an idea.
How about some work?
We got a suspect to find.
That's what we're doing.
Totally working. Really? You two look like
you're playing with dollhouses.
They're not
dollhouses, Jethro.
They're modern-day nutshells.
What the hell's a nutshell?
I'm glad you asked.
Back in the 1940s,
there was a brilliant woman
by the name
of Frances Glessner Lee.
KASIE:
Ah! Huge fan.
A pioneer, really. DUCKY: Pioneer.
Yes. Perfect word
to describe her.
Okay, great lady.
Got it.
She created a series
of crime scene miniatures
which she called...
[soft chuckle]
"The Nutshell Studies
of Unexplained Death."
They were used
to train homicide detectives
and forensic students
to analyze crime scenes.
Your suspect
is emulating Ms. Lee's work.
These reports are
all from crime scenes
committed in the immediate
vicinity of Claire.
And these reports
became those nutshells. KASIE:
These three
are solved cases. DUCKY:
And Claire is using them
to sharpen her skills.
For what?
To construct the most personal
nutshell of all.
Ah, her parents' crime scene.
DUCKY: Indeed. This
is the only unsolved
crime scene nutshell here.
Claire is using this
to find her
parents' killer.
Tell me what I'm looking at.
The same thing that Claire saw
on Christmas morning
ten years ago.
She could be a hobbyist
with a normal interest
in true crime.
In that case, it would be only
natural that she would make
a nutshell
of her own family tragedy,
maybe as a way
of coping with it. KASIE: But
we found these in her workbench.
SLOANE: Jimmy said that they
are the same kind of tweezers
that were used to remove the
bullets from Noah's body.
The evidence suggests that
Claire killed her brother
in the same manner that
her parents were killed.
Why?
We can't speculate
as to motive, Jethro.
You'll need
to get that out of her.
Yeah. Working on it. DUCKY:
One more thing.
You-you see that logo?
I have an old friend
there that might know
where Claire is.
I was delighted
to hear from Dr. Mallard.
I haven't seen my old friend
since our last community pool
high-diving
competitions years ago.
Hmm. Please tell me
you have pictures.
I do. Would you
like to see them? No.
Well...
Claire O'Donnell.
You know her?
Yeah.
She's the most recent member
of our miniatures group.
Why do you ask?
We're trying to locate her.Well...
she'll show up.
She always does.
Got a feeling she's more than
a recent member of your group.
I knew her parents.
They were
good friends.
I kept an eye
on both Claire and Noah
after their passing.
With the ten-year anniversary
of the murders
bearing down,
Claire started to spiral, so
I introduced her to the group.
I thought it would
give her purpose.
How'd she go from dollhouses
to nutshells?
Nutshell.
Uh, she came upon a book
about a woman who created
miniature crime scenes. Oh, yeah.
We're familiar. Now, Noah's never needed
much guidance,
but Claire... she...
she struggles with darkness.
Her parents used to tell her,
"Come into the light,"
but after their
deaths, she, uh...
She was all but lost.
She is so fixated on
her parents' murder.
Kind of don't blame her.
She needs closure.Hmm.
More than you know.
She believes
that the killer isn't done
with her family, either.
[phone chimes]
Excuse me.
[clears throat]
Ugh. Gibbs, we have a problem.
DYLAN [on phone]: You guys,
is so fleeting. These pastKid
from the crime scene posted
couple of hours
have really changed methe footage he shot.
As a person, and... All right, you can't
film a crime scene.
Come on. DYLAN: Not cool...
JIMMY: So much for keeping
Petty Officer O'Donnell's death quiet.
Yeah, Claire just went
from prime suspect
to potential victim,
and we're worried
all this publicity's
gonna scare her away.
If a killer's after her,
maybe it's best
if she just stays away.
Speaking of which,
you got any new suspects?
Well, maybe. Look at this
social media post I just found.
It's from a neighbor
across the street
from the old O'Donnell house.
That is Detective Fischer.
What is he doing
at Claire's old place?
I don't know, but
Bishop's tracking him down now.
Oh, by the way,
you can leave now.
Excuse me? I know what
you're really doing here.
Kasie wants my box.
What?
[laughing]: What?
[laughs]
No!
No.
[laughs]
No, I-I told her I just...
I was gonna help her to...
to organize... the donations.
Ah. Gotcha.
Well, if you're looking
to stage interventions,
I suggest that you start
with Bishop.
Whoa.
Nick wasn't kidding.
Yeah. I don't know
if that's spring cleaning
or a giant cry for help.
Ooh.
You know, I'm-I'm just gonna
start with this box over here.
I... Oh. No. Hey!
[mutters]
[laughs]
It's understandable for Young
McGee to be a little sad.
[grunting]
But this is gonna bring a lot
of joy to someone else.
It's for charity...
Mature McGee.
I know. Yet, you're still
holding on to the box.
Uh-huh.
You've got bigger
problems right now.
McGEE:
It's an active crime scene.
Here.
[phone beeps]
Boss, yeah, we got
a problem here.
[indistinct chatter]
Back off. Keep an eye out for
Claire, get 'em off the lawn.
Off the lawn!
Off the lawn! Come on. Special Agent Gibbs.
NCIS.
We need you off the lawn.
We're allowed to
be here, you know. Back up. Phone off.
This is the site of an
active investigation.
Duh. Why else would we be here? TORRES:
Because you like
sick things that most people
don't even want to think about.
GOTH WOMAN: Oh, please. Everyone rubbernecks
a car accident. Phone down. Down.
It's a societal norm.
And don't you think
a double homicide
is a buttload cooler
than a fender bender?
I think society should
mind their own business. It's a homicide
investigation, it's
not a photo op.
We're not here for photos. We're
here for Claire.[crowd voicing assent]
And when she comes tonight,
she'll be safe
because we're all here.
Yeah, what makes you
think she's coming here?
She always returns to
the scene of the crime.
She came to this house
every single night for years
after her parents were killed.
And now,
with her brother's murder...
It's only a matter of time
before she shows up.
WOMAN: That's right.
[laughs softly]McGEE: If Claire
always returns
to the scene of the crime...
Then we're at the wrong
crime scene.
Boss? Guard the house!
[indistinct chatter]
[muttering]
[vehicle approaching]
It's him. It's him.
I have your gun. Noah.
Noah, I have your gun.
I have your gun.
I can end this. Claire?
Don't come any closer. Special Agent Gibbs,
NCIS.
I just want to talk. I said,
don't come any closer! I don't
want to hurt you.
Lower your weapon.
Just leave me alone.
Your parents would
not want this.
Oh, yeah?
How would you know
what they would want?
They would want you to
come into the light.
[soft grunt]
Gibbs said he found her
on the side of the road
talking to her brother?
What, was she expecting
him to talk back?
I don't know.
But imagine finding both your
parents murdered as a child.
She clearly hasn't recovered.
You know, I thank
my lucky stars every day
my kids were able to weather
the storm as well as they did
when we lost Jackie.
That wasn't luck, Leon.
They still had you,
and you're a hell of a dad.
Yeah, it's like every
day's a new failure.
So tell me, am I looking
at a victim or a suspect?
BISHOP: Well,
still trying to figure that out.
Torres is running down
where Claire says
she's been the
last couple days.
Apparently,
all the places she went
with her parents
when they were alive.
If you'll excuse me,
I got a sudden urge
to call my kids.
Hey, speaking of urges,
I heard you've had
a major urge to purge.
Oh, my God. Not you, too.
I'm simplifying.Okay.
But while Nick does look nice in
your Oklahoma State sweatshirt,
we're simply wondering
if there's more to it than that.
Well, there isn't.
[door closes]
Know why you're here?
Claire? You want to know
if I killed my brother?
Did you?
Yes.
You gonna tell me why?
Has anyone you loved
ever been killed?
It's about you,
not about me.
Why'd you kill
your brother?
I couldn't stop thinking about
our parents' murder,
and I thought if I made
a nutshell about it,
I could... find peace.
I asked Noah to help me.
He'd do anything for me.
He actually... got more
into the nutshells than I did,
and started digging
into our parents' case.
And digging and... digging.
He must have found something.
Something someone didn't
want him to find.
You didn't kill your brother.
I might as well have.
I'm the one who asked him to
help me recreate their murders.
What did he find?
I don't know.
He wouldn't tell me.
All I know is
he's dead because of me.
Noah was definitely
looking into something.
I was finally able to
pull out some latent ink
on these papers
you found at the crime scene.
Well, looks like
an evidence custody document.
Well, Claire did
say he was digging
into their parents' murders. Well,
digging for what?
I mean, you were
in Claire's workshop.Yes.
I'm still having nightmares.
She already had every bit
of evidence
from her parents' case.
Well, maybe some
went missing.
That creepy cop could've
made that happen, easy.
Or weare missing something.Ah.
What are you wearing?
Hmm? What? What are you wearing?
Oh. Bishop didn't
want it anymore.
It's... so soft. [Laughs]
Plus, you know, I'm
a sucker for vintage T's.
Okay, you know
that she once told me
that was her favorite shirt?
I'm telling you,
something strange is going on
with this girl. TORRES:
Yeah, tell me about it.
That girl is weird as hell.
What's she giving away now?
Oh, Bishop? No, this is not
Bishop. This is Claire's.
These are the old case files
for her parents' murder.
Uh, Gibbs wants us
to go through them.
Whatever
Petty Officer O'Donnell found,
he wants us to find it, too.
[computer trills]Oh, good luck.
If you'll excuse.
Mass spec calls.
So, did Claire's
alibi check out?
Oh, she had an alibi.
Girl's got her
own hashtag.
WheresClaire.
Half a dozen people posted
sightings of her that night, but
she was nowhere near
Noah when he was killed.
KASIE:
Well, Claire may have an alibi,
but the tweezers
from her
storage container don't.
I found traces of blood.
It's a match to Noah.
These could have definitely
been used
to dig out his bullets
postmortem. Well,
if Claire's not our killer, how
did they end up in her workshop?
#FrameClaire? Can I vote for creepy cop?
Well, he did visit that property
when Noah was killed.
Wait, the creepy
detective?
The one sitting in our
conference room now?
Wh... He's what?
Yeah, he came in about
three minutes ago,
demanding to speak to Gibbs.
Why are you holding Claire?! Why were you
at O'Donnell house
the night Noah was killed? Look,
I don't answer to you. You know what?
You've been lying to me
from the minute I met you.
What were you doing
at that house?
I was looking for Claire.
You know, I barely even remember
my own wedding day.
The day I met those kids...
Day I'll never forget.
Scared out of their mind,
wandering alone
out there in the...
middle of that damn road.
Which road? Same road where
you found Noah's body.
That's where the cops
finally caught up with them.
They took off running as soon as
they found their parents dead.
Where have you been
the last two days?
I've been looking
for Noah's killer.
I owed that to Claire.
I failed her back then.
The look on that kid's face...
It's... something
I'll never forget.
Look, I know
they say it's just...
it's just one case, but, uh,
sometimes you pin it all
on one donkey, you know?
Why the games, Fischer?
We're on the same team. Oh,
the hell we are.
The only reason I didn't
solve her parents' murder
in the first place
is because of you.
[laughing]:
Oh. Me?
Yeah, or guys just like you.
Several years after Claire's
parents were killed,
I got a lead.
I uncovered some new DNA.
And all I needed to do
was match it
against the one suspect
we had at the time. Transient
in the area.
Yeah, I read the case file. The guy fit
the profile...
History of mental illness,
multiple arrests.
He up and died.
Exhume the body, pull his DNA.Yeah, well,
it's not that easy
where I come from.
He was buried
in a federal cemetery.
And some bigwig like you
was whining about budget cuts.
He didn't give a rat's ass
about some
cold case in some...
small town he'd never heard of.
I'm gonna solve.
Noah's case,
with you or without.
Your... your agent said
that Noah was digging
around his parents' homicide.
We think he was doing more
than digging.
We think he found something.
Talk to Claire.
Claire says she doesn't know.
You know, I've been
keeping an eye on her
since she was a little kid.
[sighs] I'm willing to bet
she knows more than she s...
she says she knows,
especially about her brother.
So, you...
you talk to Claire.
Wow.
These are so intricate.
I'd never be able to do
something this delicate.
I'm all thumbs.
[exhales]
Claire,
has anyone ever talked to
you about social phobia?
It's the fear
of being judged
or analyzed publicly.
And who could blame you, right?
You're a legend, after all.
Hey. I know
building these is cathartic.
I get it.
I know a guy who builds boats.
But it's not enough.
You think it will be fast?
What will be fast?
I don't want to wait
ten years to be murdered, too.
That's not gonna happen.
Claire, we're putting you
in protective custody
until we find your
brother's killer.
Hey.
Um, she hasn't slept for days.
It's just setting in
that her brother
is actually gone.
She just needs
a little time to process.
Do we have time, Jack?
We've been spinning
our wheels
on her parents' case.
If her brother
found something, we
need to know about it.
Okay.
Just one bit of advice.
Try to connect with her first
before you, um,
act like you.
[whispers]:
You got it.
GIBBS:
Your woodwork...
is really good.
Good enough to solve?
GIBBS:
Murder-suicide?
I heard
you can do better than that.
Low-end appliances.
High-end shopping bags. [Woman screaming]
Stack of bills [man shouting]
On the kitchen table. [Gunshot]
Financial dispute.
CLAIRE:
What else you got?
Kidnapping.
Entered through the window.
At that height...
WOMAN:
Put her down!
Had to know it was unlocked.
Kidnapper knew the family.
GIBBS: Murder. [Man screams]
[fire ignites] Probably blunt force.
Robbery
and arson.
SLOANE:
The inscription on the back
reads plain, old
electrical fire.
Inscription's wrong.
He thought so, too.
That's why Noah built it.
Wait.
Noah built this?
Great.
We've been looking
into the wrong case.
BISHOP:
Okay.
All right.
Thanks.
Okay. That was
the clerk's office.
Gibbs was right.
Noah was not investigating
the murder of his parents.
He wanted the raw case notes
on this electrical fire.
Why? McGEE:
That's a good question.
Just met with
the fire inspector.
He said that he traced
the source of the fire
to an old fuse
and bad wiring.
Even had very
convincing photos.
Forget about the fire.
We're talking about
what happened before the fire.
Hmm.
Well, looks like
the room was ransacked.
BISHOP: Victim must
have been incapacitated
before the fire. TORRES:
Yeah.
Someone broke in
and robbed the place.
McGEE:
And killed the homeowner
and started an electrical fire
to cover it up.
Why does it matter to Noah?
What do we have on the victim?
Louise Fitzgerald.
63. Recently widowed.
Worth millions. Neighbors
say she was quiet
and kept to herself. BISHOP:
She sounds
like the dream target.
She have any connections
to Noah?
None that I could find.
Wait, did you say Louise?
Fitzgerald, yeah.
You know her?
No.
But Noah did.
She was
in his martial arts class.
Okay. You ever find yourself
in this position,
it's real simple.
You take a step
behind your opponent,
and you stand up.
[grunts]
MAN: Oh, wow. WOMAN: Oh.
All right, pair up.
Give it a try.
[indistinct chatter]
NCIS.
I thought I'd see
you guys again.
Oh, yeah? I heard you arrested
Claire O'Donnell.
About time someone
got her off the streets.
Glad I could help. You can help us out
with something else.
We have, uh, a few questions
about a student of yours.
Louise Fitzgerald.
You know her?
Sure. Had a lot of spunk
for someone her age.
Such a tragedy.
Love my older students.
Noah was pretty fond
of Louise himself.
Yeah, she, uh, she sent meals
to him and Claire
after what happened
to their parents.
Sure does pay
to have good neighbors.Mm-hmm.
How'd she die again?
An electrical fire.
Yeah.
Oh.
Look at what your day job
just happens to be.
Electrician.
You see where
we're going with this?
[grunting]
[gun cocks]Stay down!
Don't move.
What?
[chuckling]
That was a lucky shot, okay?
Sure it was.
Well, either way, your luck
has definitely run out.
Well, actually,
I'd say that
it ran out last year.
You want to tell us about this
bankruptcy filing we found?
I had a gambling problem.
I lost everything.
Not my finest moment. But then,
a few months later...
you were flush with cash. Well,
that's the thing
about gambling:
You just need one good bet. Or maybe
one rich student
who has a very expensive
jewelry collection.
McGEE: Louise
Fitzgerald. You robbed her
and you murdered her.
Started an electrical fire
to cover your tracks.
Now, most people
didn't bat an eye.
Except Noah wasn't most people.
He started making nutshells
with his sister.
He knew Louise,
decided he'd start
with her case,
but some things didn't add up.
He asked his electrician buddy
how to stage an electrical fire.
But then
his buddy...
panicked. So his buddy
killed Noah, staged it
to look like his parents'
killers were still around.
Mm. That's as much
as an urban legend
as it gets.
Look a little pale, there...
buddy.
Thank you.
For everything.
Thank you, Claire.
You and your brother
helped solve a case
that no one
even knew existed.
I don't know
what I'm gonna do without him.
Ah. You can start
by calling this number.
She's expecting your call.
She can help.
Yeah.
And then you can call me.
You have
a real eye
for forensics.
We should talk.
I think I'm done
with the nutshells.
Though someone did offer me
ten grand last month
to build their daughter
a dollhouse.
Ten grand?[chuckles]
Maybe I'm in the wrong business.
Oh, come now, Kasie,
it's never too late
to start riding a new pony.
You know,
these are extraordinary.
But, uh...
well, that's not why I'm here.
I took the liberty
of calling in a favor.
Detective Fischer
now has approval to exhume
the one remaining suspect
in your parents' murder.
SLOANE:
He never gave up on
your parents' case,
Claire. He-He's on the way
to the cemetery
as we speak.
Course, we can't be sure
as to the outcome,
what it will produce.
Hopefully, it'll be the same
justice
that you helped
deliver for Noah.
Thank you.
Oh, hold up.
I, uh, I heard Claire and that
detective are having lunch.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, aren't you gonna ask me
about my donation, too?
They are just things
that I don't need anymore.
People evolve.
And...
I'm not the same person
I was when I first started.
Bishop...
you got to evolve.
You can't erase it all.
Hang on to this.
[elevator dings]
[doors open]
[phone dings]
Captioning sponsored by
CBS.