NCIS (2003–…): Season 17, Episode 18 - Schooled - full transcript
The team searches for answers when the body of a well-regarded Navy technician in the Reserves is found floating in a lake where a popular community event is being held. Also, Sloane is caught off-guard when her daughter, Faith (K...
All right! Welcome,
everybody, to
the Eighth Annual Duck Dunk!
Are you ready for some action?
Five...
four, three, two...
one!
And they're off, and it's a verycrowded field this year!
Yeah!
It looks like Sir Quacks-a-Lot
takes an early lead!
But Hot Wings
is right on his tail!
Looks like anyone
can win this thing.
If they get their ducks
in a row.
Couldn't resist a little pun.
Hey, Allen.
Where have you been?
Sorry, took longer
than I thought
to wire up the motor.
Happy Go Ducky
is on the charge...
I know we want to win this thing.
Of course, we aren'treally winning.
We're cheating.
Perfect.
Now that we're
actually doing this,
I'm starting to have
second thoughts.
The prize is $500.
Do you know how many Robux
we could buy with that?
Yeah, good point.
And good thing
I don't believe in karma.
It can go faster, man!
Make it go faster!
Uh-oh, let me guess.
You're trying
to decide which twin
gets which color backpack again.
What's that?
You've got that
look on your face.
It says you're-you're weighing
some serious pros and cons.
Well, whatever it is,
just buy it.
I'm not shopping.
I'm stressing.
Got an invitation to my 20-year
college reunion.
Ooh! 20 years?
Wow, you're gonna
start to rust soon.
McGEE:
Tell me about it.
One day you're acing
your midterms...
And the nextyou're making up
poop songs for your kids
in the break room.
You guys heard that?
Okay. Okay, you guys heard that.
Well, that is actuallyone of the cons.
See, Delilah and I
are in the middle
of potty training the twins,
and I'm not sure
that I can leave her alone.
I mean,
things might backslide,
you know?
So don't go.
I mean, reunions are
overrated anyway.
What? No, he's not
missing his reunion.
Why not? It's just
a bunch of people
rubbing in your face
who you used to be.
Or worse, rubbing
in your face who they are now.
Exactly, it'sa perfect opportunity
to rub faces.
You're a federal agent, baby.
Then act like one.
Gear up! Got a body.
I had a dream once
that started this way.
I was swimming naked in a lake
surrounded by thousands
of rubber duckies...
McGEE: Then you realized
you should stoptelling this story?
Yes, I very much did.
Talk to me.
Well, boss, uh, meet
Petty Officer First Class
Jeremy Whistler, or, uh...
that's whathis military I.D. says.
I'll be able to
confirm the I.D.
once his finger pads
dry out a bit.
Call said drowning.
Well, not according
to these ligature marks here.
I'm gonna go with strangulation,
at least for now.
And it looks like
the body's been
in the water about, uh...
about two days.
How he'd get there?
Nobody we spoke to saw anything.
Except for two punks who aregonna need some serious therapy.
Parking lot had cameras.
Yeah, they've been
out for weeks.
And footprintsare out, too.
Must've been about 300 people
through here since this morning.
So we got nothing?
Or maybe not.
Strangulation usually
means a-a struggle.
And I always find DNA
from the attacker
under the victim's
fingernails, which...
is actually highly unlikely
in this case because
he's been submerged
for two days, so, um...
Yeah. Yeah, we probably
got nothing.
I think I might've
found something.
Looks like it could be the victim's phone.
Anything on it?
Several missed text
messages, one voice mail.
But... phone's locked.
And with the latestencryption, this is,
it's gonna beimpossible to open.
Or you could do that, yeah.
All right, I see you, Gibbs.
Well, looks likethe missed texts
are from his wife,
wondering where he is.
And the voice mail is
from an unknown caller.
You scumbag, I'm gonna
pull your entrails
out of your ass and stuff them
down your throat
the next time I see you!
You are dead!
Well, is that a lead or what?
I'm gonna pull your entrails
out of your ass
and stuff them down your throatthe next time I see you!
You are dead!
Whoa, you must've
really pissed
someone off. Hi!
Oh, no, that?
T-That was for a case. I was doing a profile.
Please, come in.
Thanks. Uh, would youlike a seat?
Oh, no, I'm okay.
Nice elephant.
Thanks.
I, uh, used to have an ink blot.
Like any good psychologist.
So did you stop by to bring memore Valentine's Day chocolates?
Thank you, by the way.
It was really thoughtful.
It was my fiancé's idea,
actually.
"Fiancé"? Yeah, to thank you
for filling out all those
medical history forms for me.
I'm sure you've been wondering
what that's all about.
It has crossed my mind, yes.
That's why I'm here.
Um, it's kind of
weird to talk about.
Even though I know, technically, you are my biological mother.
I just started
fertility treatments.
And you're smiling about it.
Oh, that's great... I-I mean, no.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry,
uh, so there's just so much
going on here.Uh...
So you're not dying? No!
You're just tryingto have a baby.
And you're engaged and that's
just all really fantastic.
Um... not exactly,
because we've run into
some complications.
Which is why the doctor wanted
the full medical history.
I understand, and I am here...
Whatever you need.
I'm so glad
to hear you say that.
Just name it... anything.
Great.
Um...
who's my father?
So we've confirmed the petty
officer's identity.
But we don't have
an I.D. yet on the womanwho threatened him.
Call was placed using
a voice-over-IP portal.
Or as normal people call it...
Skype.
We're, uh, still trying
to track it down.
Who's the victim? TORRES: Well, according to
everyone we've talked to,
pretty much a saint. He was
an electronics technicianin the Reserves.
C.O. said he was one
of the best in the unit.
He was an A-plus student
at a trade school
called Aspire Technical College.
Which is a sign that someone
should go to their reunion.
Says the guy who'snever changed a diaper.
And finally, uh, according
to his Facebook page, he was a Scout leader.
McGEE: Who rescued injured kittens.
And a volunteer at
a local soup kitchen.
Yep.
See? Saint.
Obviously, somebody
didn't think so.
Well, his wife's
in the conference room.
Maybe she knows something.
Bishop, with me.
I'm sorry.
I just can't keep it together.
I've been with
Jeremy since middle school.
He wanted to put a Ring Pop
on my finger.
Like, none of this
makes any sense.
Your husband mentionany fights recently?
No. He was
the greatest guy ever.
And the best daddy.
How many kids do you have?
Uh... just Evie.
She's eight.
God, I can't believe she's gonnagrow up without her father.
Are you sure you don't recognizethe caller on that voice mail?
No.
And I can't even imagine
who would leave it.
Everyone loved him.
You know he worked
at a soup kitchen?
Yes, we, uh, we heard.
Look, I-I'm sorry
to even ask this, but...
is there any chance your husbandwas having an affair?
Mm-mm.
No, no way.
Gambling?
Drug use?
Jeremy?
No. Never.
We're just looking
for anything that might
explain the threat on his life.
Yeah, you know, maybe it was one
of those kittens he rescued.
McGEE: Actually, we thinkit may be one
of the teachersat the college.
Boss, we I.D.'dthe voice mail.
Beverly Berkshire.
You know her?
No. Well, what are you
standing here for?
Go find her!
And figure out maybe...
Jack, I'm on the...
I'm gonna have to call
you back, Madam Secretary.
Faith wants to know
who her father is.
What did you tell her?
I stalled.
What was I supposed to do?
Hey.
I think you already know.
Leon, I swore
that she would never find out.
Yeah.
And I understand why.
But, Jack, this is, um...
this is not
an easy genie to keep
in the bottle these days.
Between social media
and-and online DNA sites,
she's gonna figure
this out eventually.
I know, I know, I just...
I just want to protect her.
Of course you do,
because you're her parent.
Please, barely.
No.
There's no middle ground.
You either are or you're not.
Okay, Director Yoda.
So what the hell do I do?
Like I said...
I think you already know.
Ah, that college smell.
Doesn't it make you
all nostalgic?
Can we just focuson the case?
Ready for something new?
Aspire is ready for you. Excuse me...
you know where
we can find the dean?
Oh! You found him.
Dean Patterson.NCIS.
Oh, great. The career day
speakers are right this way.
The students are very excited.
Actually, that's notwhat we're here for.
Ooh, wait, is that,
is that a MakeltMax Pro?
Now can you just focus
on the case? Actually,
that is the MakeltMax Quantum.
One of only five in the state.
Right. Well, we're not herefor career day.
We're looking for
Beverly Berkshire.
Know her?
Of course.
We're a new school,
and still pretty small,
so I know all of our students.
Student? We thought
she was a teacher.
And one day maybe she will be.
At Aspire Technical College,
we have students of all ages,
but we cater to people
looking to make a fresh start
in their lives.
If you're ready for something
new, Aspire is ready for you.
We have a student loan seminar
starting in five.
Do you want to sit in?
Beverly.
Berkshire.Ah.
She should be in computer lab
about now.
I hope she isn't
in any kind of trouble.
So does she.
Yeah, I left that voice mail.
But you guys
are totally overreacting.
You threatened to shove
Petty Officer Whistler's
intestines down his throat.
And then you said,
"You're dead."
I was beingmetaphorical.
Well, now he's dead.
Whoa.
That guy is totally dead.
Can we help you?
I, um...
I got locked out again.
You literallywrote the password on your arm.
Now shoo! Oh, that's right.
That's my new lab partner.
Jeremy was my oldlab partner.
He didn't show up for class
last week, so I got assigned
Stephen Hawking over there.
So what happened?
You mean, aside from you sayingyou were gonna kill him,
and then somebody killing him?
Voice mail.
Talk. Like I said,
Jeremy and I shared a computer.
Last week, I noticed someonehad used our log-in
to hack into the school network.
They were capturing
student financial data.
And you're suggesting
that that was
Petty Officer Whistler.
Well, it sure as hell wasn't me.
And Jeremy was the only other
person that had the password.
If you thought that Whistler
was hacking the school,
why not report him? Nobody would've believed me.
Look, I was tutoring
half the class for free.
Everyone thought Jeremy
was a saint.
And I might have a prior.
Or two.
For...?
Bank fraud.
See the problem?
So when I found out what Jeremywas doing on ourcomputer,
I lost my cool.
But all I wanted was
for him to stop.
So why do you think
Petty Officer Whistler
was trying to access
student financial information?
Are you kidding me?
Do you not know who he is?
I thought that's why you guys were really here.
Who is he?
TerrorCastor.
TerrorCastor? The hacker?
You're kidding.
We shared a computerfor two months.
I saw his raw code.
I'm telling you,
he's TerrorCastor.
Okay, pretend like you're
talking to someone cool.
TerrorCastor is number nine
on the FBI's
Cyber Most Wanted list.
He likes to target food stamprecipients and old grandmas.
I thought you said
he was a saint.
I said people thoughthe was a saint.
But that guy was the devil.
So, our victim wasn't
Mr. Nice Guy after all.
I could've told you that.
Oh, yeah? How?
Thin lips. Is that a thing?
Nana Palmer always said,
"You never trust a man
with thin lips."
Or an FBI task forceafter them.
Let's hear it.
FBI just sent over their
case files on TerrorCastor.
This is definitely our guy.
They've been after
him for years.
He's done everything
from bank phishing
to the Nigerian prince scam.
Mostly targetsthe elderly.
Maybe he pissed off
the wrong nana.
What abouthis lab partner?
Her story checks out.
She's got an alibi
for the time of death.
Run down his victims.
Someone looking for revenge.
Boss, there's a lot
of names in this file.
It's gonna take a while.
Get Jack to help.
Well, she hasn't shown up yet.
Which actually is
really strange,
'cause usually she's
the first one to work.
Tim.
I'm on it.
You confirm C.O.D.?
Our Navy Reservist was
definitely strangled to death.
But I'm having a tough time
figuring out by what.
These, uh, ligature marks
are unlike any rope or wire
that I've ever seen.
What's that?
Oh, that is why we call
you Eagle Eye Leroy.
We don't... we don't
really call you that.
I just made that up.
That's a knife wound.
Uh, based on the
scar tissue, I'd say
it's no more than
a few months old.
Based on the angle
of the injury, I'd say
it was definitely an attack.
And, Gibbs, a wound
in this location
would've been impossible
to hide from his wife.
I think she knows more
than she's been telling you.
Got a second? No, not really.
I just came to pick upa few of my husband's things.
You can talk to us now,
or you can talk to usin interrogation.
You lied to us.
Look, we know your husband
was a wanted hacker,
and we're guessing
you know that, too.
No. He was a soup kitchen... Soup kitchen cat hero,
and you can't think of anyone
who'd want to hurt him.
Somebody did.
He was stabbeda few months ago.
Yeah, now he's dead.
So, if you want to find out
who made that happen...
Talk.
Who stabbed him?
No, no. Don't you
dare stand here
in your fancy clothes
and judge my husband.
He was a good man.
He was a criminal.
He did what he had to do
to protect his family.
From what? Having to
make an honest living?
Our daughter was sick.
She was born with
a neuroblastoma,
and we nearly went
bankrupt trying to pay
for her doctor bills.
So, yeah, we were desperate.
Jeremy wasn't a...
you know, a rocket scientist.
He was a blue-collar guy,
and the only way that he could
make the money that we needed
was to cut a few corners.
He cut too many.
Is any of that even true?
Okay, clearly, you don't get it.
Jeremy hated what he did.
He was looking to
make a fresh start.
Why do you think he
was going back to school?
He was looking for new targets.
He was stealing credit card
info from his classmates.
Who stabbed him?
Hell, it was probably you.
No.
No, it wasn't me.
And fine, yeah,
I know who stabbed him.
His best friend.
Taye Tanner, the bestie.
These two
were pretty tight.
They both got twin juvie recordsfor, uh, petty larceny.
In high school, they
started a gang called
the Twin Tornados.
Then they joined
the Navy together.
How'd that work out? Well,
Taye was caught skimming
Social Security numbers
from his shipmates.
He was dishonorably discharged,
then dropped off the map.
Ah. I see
why you're down here now.
You can't find him.
There's a rumor you have a lead.
As it turns out, I have been digging
in the dark webfor posts by TerrorCastor.
But I ended up finding
a lot more by this guy
who calls himself
TerrorPollux.
I think that's your bestie.
Okay. Why? Uh...
Hello? Castor and Pollux,
the two brightest stars
in the constellation Gemini.
If Whistler is your Castor,
Pollux has got to be
this Taye guy.
Were you ableto get an IP address
on the posts?
Uh, no. It is the dark web.
I am lucky
that I made it out alive.
But TerrorPollux
does havean Instagram feed.
Now, he never posts
a photo of his face.
But I noticed, every
day, without fail,
he posts a photoof mint chocolate
ice cream.
Okay, I'll callthe REACT team.
All right, hold your horses,
McSarcasm.
Notice how he's doing
something different every day
before he gets his fix?
"Rocking the mint chip
after hitting the gym."
"Nothinglike peppermint bonbons
after a sweat lodge."
Wednesday is laser tag day.
Now, look at what he posted
the same day last week.
"Walking over to snag
my mint 'n chip after killing itat laser tag."
Yeah. See where this is going?
Yeah. We need to find outhow many laser tag places
are within walking distanceof ice cream parlors.
Ooh.
One.
So, go arrest his ass.
And then bring Mama
back some rocky road.
Yeah.
Mm.
All right, laser tag place
said Taye left about
five minutes ago.
Must be mint chip time.
There's a lot of kids in there.
Let's waitand see if he's gonna come out.
All right.
Good by me.Yeah.
So, what does this guy do again
that he can play
laser tag all day?
Steals from old people.
Oh, wow.
Now, that's a guy
that should be ashamed
to show up to his reunion.
Which reminds me...
I really want to go.
I want to go, but I just thinkit's too much for Delilah.
Uh-huh.
Sure.
Look, do you know
that I graduated
with a biomedical engineeringdegree from Johns Hopkins?
This another midlife crisis?
You know what most of myclassmates are doing right now?
Half of themare rich CEOs
of biotech companies, flyingaround on their private jets.
What am I?
A cop with a gun.
Yeah, on a government salary.
With a gun.
You're NCIS Senior Special
Agent Timothy frickin' McGee.
You eat corrupt CEOs
for breakfast
and murderers for lunch.
Yeah, but...
No, no. There's
no buts, man.
You shouldn't be embarrassed toshow your face at the reunion.
Your-your classmates
should be embarrassed
to stand in the same room
as you.
Tim.
I'm serious, man.
You're really good
at what you do.
Man.
You should be proud.
Thanks, Nick.
Thank you, man.
I appreciate that.
Ooh, there's our guy.
Want me to take this?
No, you know what? I got him.
Thanks.
All right. They got him.
Torres and McGee
are bringing him in now.
Hey.
Tag team with McGee
in interrogation?
Work up a profile?
Jack!
What was that about?
Got no idea.
Hmm.
Was that a "no" to the interrogation with McGee?
Hey.
You okay, Jack?
Uh, Faith came to see me.
She wants to know
who her father is.
Tell her.
Hmm.
It's not that simple.
I was 19.
A sophomore in college.
Some friends asked me out.
And we went to a party,
and I drank too much.
Waytoo much.
I asked one of my friends
to drive me home.
Someone I was close with.
Someone I trusted.
And he raped me.
After it happened,
I blamed myself.
For drinking too much.
For putting myself
in that situation.
All the things that
survivors put on themselves.
Eventually,
I left school over it.
Six weeks later,
I found out I was pregnant.
Can you imagine?
After the adoption,
I joined the Army
to get my life back on track.
Tested into PsyOps.
The rest is history.
Uh, aren't you
gonna say anything?
What's his name?
Conversation's not over.
Oh, yes, it is.
Will you slow down?
It was just a question.
And you're not getting
an answer.
Why do you think I never told you before?
Because you thoughtl was gonna go kill the guy?
Because I couldn't
stand the idea
of you looking at me like
I'm some sort of a victim.
Like I'm a fragile teacup
in need of saving.
And that's exactly
what you're doing. No, I'm not.
It's a guy thing.
Okay.
This isn't about ancient
history that can't be changed.
This is about Faith today.
Look, I get that you're mad.
Okay? And all I can say
is welcome to the club.
I've been a member
for almost 30 years.
Please, I can handle
this on my own.
Um...
So, the bestie
is in the interrogation room.
But, of course, I can come back.
No, no, it's-it's fine.
We're finished here anyway.
This was my favorite hoodie.
You know chocolate stains, bro.
Yeah, I wouldn't worry about it.
You'll be exchanging it
for an orange jumpsuit
soon enough.
We know you're the hackerTerrorPollux.
Oh, is that what you know?
Yeah. And we also know
that Petty Officer Whistler
was TerrorCastor.
Wait, what do you mean "was"?
It's called past tense.
We use it when we're talkingabout people who are dead.
Or, in this case...
Murdered. So start talking.
Now. A-About what?
You're crazy if you
think I killed Jeremy.
I mean, that was my homie.
I-I would never.
You shoved a knife into him.
We got an eyewitness
that said you stabbed Jeremy
three months ago.
Now he's downin our morgue.
Do you see what
we're getting at here?
Okay. Look,
Jeremy and me just had a
simple misunderstanding.
That's all.
Over what?
Orange jumpsuit.
So, about a year ago,
Jeremy and me started selling
security software online.
To get rid of viruses
on people's computers.
Viruses that you puton their computers
in the first place.
Prove it.
Misunderstanding!
All right, so, we're
making a killing.
Dumped, like, 50 grand into
a numbered offshore account.
That sounds completely legit.
And then suddenly, the
account gets cleared out.
Jeremy acted like he had
no idea what happened,
but I'll tell you what happened.
He's the one that took it.
I mean,
that turncoat stole from me.
So you killed him?
No, no, no, no.
I confronted him.
And things got heated.
My knife might've, you know...
slipped.
The wound was four inches deep.
He lived.
And that was the last time
I saw that thief.
Look, I don't know who
killed him, but it wasn't me.
Well, he was right.
It wasn't him.
And he hasthe saddest alibi possible.
He was at a laser tagconvention in Ohio
when Petty Officer Whistler
was murdered.
Talk to the wife again.
About what?
I mean, all she's gonna do
is tell us about the amount
of kittensher husband rescued.
Our revenge theorywas a bust, too.
Most of Whistler's hacking
victims were out of state
when he was killed, and the ones that were
closer byall alibi'd out.
So I have... Nothing.
All of you got nothing.
Well, not for lack of effort.
Boss, we ran downalmost 400 names.
Well, run it down again.
Boss...
We missed something.
So recheck everything.
The crime scene.
The wife.
Computers at the school.
Somebody killed this guy!
Find out who.
Well, Gibbs is mad.
Oh, yeah. I noticed.
About what?
Jackie Sloane. My God.
What are you doing here?
How long has it been?
Haven't seen you
since Santa Barbara.
Spare me the buddy routine.
We're not friends.
And you can probably guesswhy I'm here.
Um, no, not really.
Then let me jog your memory.
You raped me.
After the homecoming dance.
You drove me homeand attacked me.
H-Hold on. You'd been flirting
with me for months.
You asked me to drive you home
because you wanted...
What I wanted wasfor you to stop!
I said no! Over and over again.
I said no!
If you had said no,
I would've stopped.
I would've... I tried to fight you off.
I even gave you that scar.
Just before you pinnedmy shoulders down.
You remember that? No.
You're remembering it wrong.
You were drunk that night.
Shut up!
That gaslighting crap might'veworked on me 30 years ago.
But not anymore.
I know the truth.
Ah, and I see that you do, too.
What do you want?
An apology?
Money?
It was 30 years ago.
What are you doing here?
There's a woman coming.
In a few days, she will ring your doorbell
and ask for your medical history,
and you'll give it to her.
Why would I give it to her?
Because halfof her DNA is yours.
After you answerall of her questions,
you'll tell herthat we had a fling in college,
it didn't work out
and we haven't spoken since.
And thenyou'll explain to her
that you have no placein your life for her.
And then you will never, ever talk to her again.
You won't even think about her.
You got that?
Good.
You have no right to
tell me what to do. Sorry?
If I want to talk
to this woman again,
I will talk to her.
She's my daughter,
too, after all.
This is a waste of time. What are we even looking for?
I don't know. But you're more
than welcome to tell Gibbs
you didn't think it
was worth the effort.Pass.
Why do you think this case isgetting under his skin so badly?
You know, I don't thinkit's the case.
Torres said he heard
Gibbs and Sloane
getting into something
on the stairs.Oh.
Oh.You thinkthey're breaking up?
Do we think they're even dating?
McGee, come on.
Well, I-I didn't
even like to think
about my parents dating, okay?
And Gibbs, you know,
lies somewhere between
them and Ducky.
Yeah, but...
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Shh.
You hear that?
I don't hear anything.
Exactly.
Where are the students?
Where is the school?
The entire
school was cleaned out.
Desks, computers, even vending machines.
Did you try calling?
Well, nobody's answering
the phones,
because there aren't any left.
The website is down, too.
It's like... school disappeared.
Schools don't just disappear.
Yeah, this has to be connected
to Petty Officer Whistler's
murder.
Maybe it's just
some random robbery.
It wasn't a robbery.
I just spoke
with a bunch of students.
They saw
leasing company truckspicking up
equipment from the school
when they showed upfor class yesterday afternoon.
You get the name of the company?
Yeah. I alreadyran it down.
Looks like Aspire Tech hasn't
been paying their bills, so,
the leasing company repossessed
their stuff.
Used the term "con artists."
Maybe it doeshave something
to do with Whistler.
But if this was one
of his cons...
What's the con?
I think
I have an answer to that.
And you can thank Florida Man
for clueing me in.
Come on.
Oh, come on. How can you
not know Florida Man?
Kase, I got... I got no ideawhat you're talking about.
Okay, forget my attempts
to socialize you.
All you need to know is,
last year, I did a web search
for my birthday and the
phrase "Florida Man,"
and found this story.
"Welcome to Screw U."
It's an exposé
on pop-up scam schools.
Pop-up?
Well, the concept ispretty simple.
A scammer rents a space,
then puts up a shingle
for a trade school,
and hires a bunchof teachers. Then,
they enroll as many studentsas they can, helping them
apply for as many student loansas they can.
Then when all that juicy
loan money comes in...
They let the school go bust,
start over somewhere else.
I think
that's what's happening
with Aspire Tech.
I've been digging
into their financials,
and that place is
a house of cards.
Yeah, Aspire hired real teachersand got a real school going,
but it wasn't built to last.
Aspire got loanson overextended lines of credit,
missed mostof their payments,
and when they got an extension
to hire more teachers, they hired
more loan counselors instead.
So when you say "they," you mean Petty Officer Whistler?
I'm not so sure he's the con man
we all thought he was.
Remember that offshore accounthis bestie said he cleaned out?
Mm-hmm. Well, I traced the withdrawals.
He didn't steal from his bestie.
Whistler used the money
to give refunds
to all the people they scammed.
Now, on the other hand, he was stealing credit card
information
from Aspire students, so,
he had to be involved somehow,
but running an actual school
was sort of out
of his wheelhouse.
Yeah. He had a partner.
These allegations are absurd.
I mean, do you even
have any proof?
Uh, well, Agent McGee,
do we have any proof?
Well, Agent Bishop,
uh, this is yoursignature
on this loan extension.
And, oh,
look... you personally
hired all the teachers.
Looks like you were running
the entire operation.
Okay, that's-that's justhow new schools works.
Okay, my job was to...
Blah, blah, blah.
Your job was to
blah, blah, blah.
Look, we know Aspire
Tech was a scam.
And we know you were running it.
What we don't know is...
why you murdered Petty
Officer Whistler.
What?! No!
We know he's got a habit
of ripping off his partners.
Okay, you are way off base here!
He rip you off, too? I didn't kill anybody!
All I was doing was-was... Just running a school.
Without a single credentialthat qualifies you to be a dean.
That's because
I'm not a real dean!
I'm justa previously-owned car salesman.
You're a used car salesman?
Yeah, and, well, I also doa little acting on the side.
Well, how does
a used car salesman
end up running a school?
Last year, I was sending outrésumés to get a new gig,
and I got contactedby this headhunter online
who saidhe represented these people
who were startinga new school.
They were looking for someone
who knew how to sell,
which, for the record, I do.
Hmm. I was just supposedto be a figurehead.
Show up at recruitment seminars, sign papers.
I looked at itlike an acting gig.
More like a scam gig.
I was hired to enroll students, which I did.
Everything elseis above my pay grade.
Okay, well, good luck
with that in court.
Of course, you know,
we could put in a good word
for you with the D.A.
In exchange for...?
Telling us where we can find
that headhunter.
So, the GI Bill covers almost$25,000 per academic year,
which is more than enough tocover your tuition and expenses.
And we can even help
with all of the applications
so that the money gets routed
properly.
What about legal fees?
'Cause I see a whole lot
of those in your future.
Remember me? We met
in the computer lab.
I see you found a comb,
by the way. Nice.
If, uh,
you could excuse us, okay?
Where are you going?
I was just gonna grab a bite.
Mm. Well, you might want
to pick up a new belt
while you're at it.
Yeah, we're gonna need
to test that one for the DNA
of the guy
you strangled with it.
Apparently, this is
the third school con
our bad guy pulled off
in the last five years.
So was Petty Officer Whistler
part of it or not?
Not. So why is he dead?
Because he uncovered it.
We found a bunch of e-mails
on the bad guy's computer.
Uh, looks like
Whistler figured out theschool was a con pretty quickly.
Never con a con man.
It turns out he didn't
hack Aspire's network
to steal credit cards.
He was collecting evidence.
Evidence for what?
To blackmail the bad guy.
"As long as you
"keep this place running,
I won't rat you out."
So, Portland posed
as a student to find out
who was blackmailing him.
When he found out
it was Whistler,
he killed him.
Whistler's wife wasn't lying.
He was trying to go legit.
Nice work. Pass this alongto Gibbs and McGee,
uh, wherever they are.
We don't know where Gibbs is,
and McGee just left for his
college reunion, of all things.
And I'm back.
Wait. What are you doing here?
Aren't you supposedto catch a plane?
Yeah. Well, uh,
I was about to board
when I got this text.
"Tim, we missed you
at the reunion."
It was last night.
I messed up the date.
Aah! You did not.
Well, nonetheless,
welcome back, Agent McGee.
Thank you, Director.
Yeah, apparently, I got
my potty training datesmixed up with my reunion dates.
Well, that's not impressive
at all.
Maybe it was better
you didn't go.
Yeah, but who am I reallytrying to impress?
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that
I was going
for all the wrong reasons.
So it's probably best
that I didn't end up there
at all.
Damn, son. Sounds like
I gave you the bad advice.
Oh, no, you gave me
the rocking advice.
No, I'm gonna save
that pep talk for a rainy day.
Hey.Hey.
Hey there. How you doing? Good. How are you?
Good. Good to see you. Thanks.
So, did you get what you needed?
Yeah. I did.
My doctor has all the
info she wanted, and...
I finally got to meet
my biological father.
And... how did that go?
Um, yeah, I don't know what
I was expecting, but, uh,
let's just say, I don't
think he and I will be
getting coffee anytime soon.
But, um...
I have a feeling that
there's more to the story
maybe than what he told me.
I'm not sure what you mean.
Wasn't a fling, was it?
What did he say?
Nothing. He didn't have to.
When we talked in your office,
I-I knew something was off.
The look you got on your face
when I asked about my father.
I've seen it on
enough women's faces
at the trauma center
at the hospital.
I'm so sorry...
what happened to you.
Ah, I'm sorryl didn't tell you,
but I want to tell youeverything now, okay?
When I was pregnant,
I rememberl was so scared.
I was terrified that, um,
maybe I couldn't...
love you
because of what happened.
But then you were born, and I...
didn't want to let you go.
But I was afraid I, um...
couldn't be the mom
that you deserved.
I just felt so, um...
I felt so damaged.
I wantedto protect you.
You did.
You gave me up.
That was you protecting me.
Thank you.
You gave me a
wonderful life. You did.
Captioning sponsored by CBS
everybody, to
the Eighth Annual Duck Dunk!
Are you ready for some action?
Five...
four, three, two...
one!
And they're off, and it's a verycrowded field this year!
Yeah!
It looks like Sir Quacks-a-Lot
takes an early lead!
But Hot Wings
is right on his tail!
Looks like anyone
can win this thing.
If they get their ducks
in a row.
Couldn't resist a little pun.
Hey, Allen.
Where have you been?
Sorry, took longer
than I thought
to wire up the motor.
Happy Go Ducky
is on the charge...
I know we want to win this thing.
Of course, we aren'treally winning.
We're cheating.
Perfect.
Now that we're
actually doing this,
I'm starting to have
second thoughts.
The prize is $500.
Do you know how many Robux
we could buy with that?
Yeah, good point.
And good thing
I don't believe in karma.
It can go faster, man!
Make it go faster!
Uh-oh, let me guess.
You're trying
to decide which twin
gets which color backpack again.
What's that?
You've got that
look on your face.
It says you're-you're weighing
some serious pros and cons.
Well, whatever it is,
just buy it.
I'm not shopping.
I'm stressing.
Got an invitation to my 20-year
college reunion.
Ooh! 20 years?
Wow, you're gonna
start to rust soon.
McGEE:
Tell me about it.
One day you're acing
your midterms...
And the nextyou're making up
poop songs for your kids
in the break room.
You guys heard that?
Okay. Okay, you guys heard that.
Well, that is actuallyone of the cons.
See, Delilah and I
are in the middle
of potty training the twins,
and I'm not sure
that I can leave her alone.
I mean,
things might backslide,
you know?
So don't go.
I mean, reunions are
overrated anyway.
What? No, he's not
missing his reunion.
Why not? It's just
a bunch of people
rubbing in your face
who you used to be.
Or worse, rubbing
in your face who they are now.
Exactly, it'sa perfect opportunity
to rub faces.
You're a federal agent, baby.
Then act like one.
Gear up! Got a body.
I had a dream once
that started this way.
I was swimming naked in a lake
surrounded by thousands
of rubber duckies...
McGEE: Then you realized
you should stoptelling this story?
Yes, I very much did.
Talk to me.
Well, boss, uh, meet
Petty Officer First Class
Jeremy Whistler, or, uh...
that's whathis military I.D. says.
I'll be able to
confirm the I.D.
once his finger pads
dry out a bit.
Call said drowning.
Well, not according
to these ligature marks here.
I'm gonna go with strangulation,
at least for now.
And it looks like
the body's been
in the water about, uh...
about two days.
How he'd get there?
Nobody we spoke to saw anything.
Except for two punks who aregonna need some serious therapy.
Parking lot had cameras.
Yeah, they've been
out for weeks.
And footprintsare out, too.
Must've been about 300 people
through here since this morning.
So we got nothing?
Or maybe not.
Strangulation usually
means a-a struggle.
And I always find DNA
from the attacker
under the victim's
fingernails, which...
is actually highly unlikely
in this case because
he's been submerged
for two days, so, um...
Yeah. Yeah, we probably
got nothing.
I think I might've
found something.
Looks like it could be the victim's phone.
Anything on it?
Several missed text
messages, one voice mail.
But... phone's locked.
And with the latestencryption, this is,
it's gonna beimpossible to open.
Or you could do that, yeah.
All right, I see you, Gibbs.
Well, looks likethe missed texts
are from his wife,
wondering where he is.
And the voice mail is
from an unknown caller.
You scumbag, I'm gonna
pull your entrails
out of your ass and stuff them
down your throat
the next time I see you!
You are dead!
Well, is that a lead or what?
I'm gonna pull your entrails
out of your ass
and stuff them down your throatthe next time I see you!
You are dead!
Whoa, you must've
really pissed
someone off. Hi!
Oh, no, that?
T-That was for a case. I was doing a profile.
Please, come in.
Thanks. Uh, would youlike a seat?
Oh, no, I'm okay.
Nice elephant.
Thanks.
I, uh, used to have an ink blot.
Like any good psychologist.
So did you stop by to bring memore Valentine's Day chocolates?
Thank you, by the way.
It was really thoughtful.
It was my fiancé's idea,
actually.
"Fiancé"? Yeah, to thank you
for filling out all those
medical history forms for me.
I'm sure you've been wondering
what that's all about.
It has crossed my mind, yes.
That's why I'm here.
Um, it's kind of
weird to talk about.
Even though I know, technically, you are my biological mother.
I just started
fertility treatments.
And you're smiling about it.
Oh, that's great... I-I mean, no.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry,
uh, so there's just so much
going on here.Uh...
So you're not dying? No!
You're just tryingto have a baby.
And you're engaged and that's
just all really fantastic.
Um... not exactly,
because we've run into
some complications.
Which is why the doctor wanted
the full medical history.
I understand, and I am here...
Whatever you need.
I'm so glad
to hear you say that.
Just name it... anything.
Great.
Um...
who's my father?
So we've confirmed the petty
officer's identity.
But we don't have
an I.D. yet on the womanwho threatened him.
Call was placed using
a voice-over-IP portal.
Or as normal people call it...
Skype.
We're, uh, still trying
to track it down.
Who's the victim? TORRES: Well, according to
everyone we've talked to,
pretty much a saint. He was
an electronics technicianin the Reserves.
C.O. said he was one
of the best in the unit.
He was an A-plus student
at a trade school
called Aspire Technical College.
Which is a sign that someone
should go to their reunion.
Says the guy who'snever changed a diaper.
And finally, uh, according
to his Facebook page, he was a Scout leader.
McGEE: Who rescued injured kittens.
And a volunteer at
a local soup kitchen.
Yep.
See? Saint.
Obviously, somebody
didn't think so.
Well, his wife's
in the conference room.
Maybe she knows something.
Bishop, with me.
I'm sorry.
I just can't keep it together.
I've been with
Jeremy since middle school.
He wanted to put a Ring Pop
on my finger.
Like, none of this
makes any sense.
Your husband mentionany fights recently?
No. He was
the greatest guy ever.
And the best daddy.
How many kids do you have?
Uh... just Evie.
She's eight.
God, I can't believe she's gonnagrow up without her father.
Are you sure you don't recognizethe caller on that voice mail?
No.
And I can't even imagine
who would leave it.
Everyone loved him.
You know he worked
at a soup kitchen?
Yes, we, uh, we heard.
Look, I-I'm sorry
to even ask this, but...
is there any chance your husbandwas having an affair?
Mm-mm.
No, no way.
Gambling?
Drug use?
Jeremy?
No. Never.
We're just looking
for anything that might
explain the threat on his life.
Yeah, you know, maybe it was one
of those kittens he rescued.
McGEE: Actually, we thinkit may be one
of the teachersat the college.
Boss, we I.D.'dthe voice mail.
Beverly Berkshire.
You know her?
No. Well, what are you
standing here for?
Go find her!
And figure out maybe...
Jack, I'm on the...
I'm gonna have to call
you back, Madam Secretary.
Faith wants to know
who her father is.
What did you tell her?
I stalled.
What was I supposed to do?
Hey.
I think you already know.
Leon, I swore
that she would never find out.
Yeah.
And I understand why.
But, Jack, this is, um...
this is not
an easy genie to keep
in the bottle these days.
Between social media
and-and online DNA sites,
she's gonna figure
this out eventually.
I know, I know, I just...
I just want to protect her.
Of course you do,
because you're her parent.
Please, barely.
No.
There's no middle ground.
You either are or you're not.
Okay, Director Yoda.
So what the hell do I do?
Like I said...
I think you already know.
Ah, that college smell.
Doesn't it make you
all nostalgic?
Can we just focuson the case?
Ready for something new?
Aspire is ready for you. Excuse me...
you know where
we can find the dean?
Oh! You found him.
Dean Patterson.NCIS.
Oh, great. The career day
speakers are right this way.
The students are very excited.
Actually, that's notwhat we're here for.
Ooh, wait, is that,
is that a MakeltMax Pro?
Now can you just focus
on the case? Actually,
that is the MakeltMax Quantum.
One of only five in the state.
Right. Well, we're not herefor career day.
We're looking for
Beverly Berkshire.
Know her?
Of course.
We're a new school,
and still pretty small,
so I know all of our students.
Student? We thought
she was a teacher.
And one day maybe she will be.
At Aspire Technical College,
we have students of all ages,
but we cater to people
looking to make a fresh start
in their lives.
If you're ready for something
new, Aspire is ready for you.
We have a student loan seminar
starting in five.
Do you want to sit in?
Beverly.
Berkshire.Ah.
She should be in computer lab
about now.
I hope she isn't
in any kind of trouble.
So does she.
Yeah, I left that voice mail.
But you guys
are totally overreacting.
You threatened to shove
Petty Officer Whistler's
intestines down his throat.
And then you said,
"You're dead."
I was beingmetaphorical.
Well, now he's dead.
Whoa.
That guy is totally dead.
Can we help you?
I, um...
I got locked out again.
You literallywrote the password on your arm.
Now shoo! Oh, that's right.
That's my new lab partner.
Jeremy was my oldlab partner.
He didn't show up for class
last week, so I got assigned
Stephen Hawking over there.
So what happened?
You mean, aside from you sayingyou were gonna kill him,
and then somebody killing him?
Voice mail.
Talk. Like I said,
Jeremy and I shared a computer.
Last week, I noticed someonehad used our log-in
to hack into the school network.
They were capturing
student financial data.
And you're suggesting
that that was
Petty Officer Whistler.
Well, it sure as hell wasn't me.
And Jeremy was the only other
person that had the password.
If you thought that Whistler
was hacking the school,
why not report him? Nobody would've believed me.
Look, I was tutoring
half the class for free.
Everyone thought Jeremy
was a saint.
And I might have a prior.
Or two.
For...?
Bank fraud.
See the problem?
So when I found out what Jeremywas doing on ourcomputer,
I lost my cool.
But all I wanted was
for him to stop.
So why do you think
Petty Officer Whistler
was trying to access
student financial information?
Are you kidding me?
Do you not know who he is?
I thought that's why you guys were really here.
Who is he?
TerrorCastor.
TerrorCastor? The hacker?
You're kidding.
We shared a computerfor two months.
I saw his raw code.
I'm telling you,
he's TerrorCastor.
Okay, pretend like you're
talking to someone cool.
TerrorCastor is number nine
on the FBI's
Cyber Most Wanted list.
He likes to target food stamprecipients and old grandmas.
I thought you said
he was a saint.
I said people thoughthe was a saint.
But that guy was the devil.
So, our victim wasn't
Mr. Nice Guy after all.
I could've told you that.
Oh, yeah? How?
Thin lips. Is that a thing?
Nana Palmer always said,
"You never trust a man
with thin lips."
Or an FBI task forceafter them.
Let's hear it.
FBI just sent over their
case files on TerrorCastor.
This is definitely our guy.
They've been after
him for years.
He's done everything
from bank phishing
to the Nigerian prince scam.
Mostly targetsthe elderly.
Maybe he pissed off
the wrong nana.
What abouthis lab partner?
Her story checks out.
She's got an alibi
for the time of death.
Run down his victims.
Someone looking for revenge.
Boss, there's a lot
of names in this file.
It's gonna take a while.
Get Jack to help.
Well, she hasn't shown up yet.
Which actually is
really strange,
'cause usually she's
the first one to work.
Tim.
I'm on it.
You confirm C.O.D.?
Our Navy Reservist was
definitely strangled to death.
But I'm having a tough time
figuring out by what.
These, uh, ligature marks
are unlike any rope or wire
that I've ever seen.
What's that?
Oh, that is why we call
you Eagle Eye Leroy.
We don't... we don't
really call you that.
I just made that up.
That's a knife wound.
Uh, based on the
scar tissue, I'd say
it's no more than
a few months old.
Based on the angle
of the injury, I'd say
it was definitely an attack.
And, Gibbs, a wound
in this location
would've been impossible
to hide from his wife.
I think she knows more
than she's been telling you.
Got a second? No, not really.
I just came to pick upa few of my husband's things.
You can talk to us now,
or you can talk to usin interrogation.
You lied to us.
Look, we know your husband
was a wanted hacker,
and we're guessing
you know that, too.
No. He was a soup kitchen... Soup kitchen cat hero,
and you can't think of anyone
who'd want to hurt him.
Somebody did.
He was stabbeda few months ago.
Yeah, now he's dead.
So, if you want to find out
who made that happen...
Talk.
Who stabbed him?
No, no. Don't you
dare stand here
in your fancy clothes
and judge my husband.
He was a good man.
He was a criminal.
He did what he had to do
to protect his family.
From what? Having to
make an honest living?
Our daughter was sick.
She was born with
a neuroblastoma,
and we nearly went
bankrupt trying to pay
for her doctor bills.
So, yeah, we were desperate.
Jeremy wasn't a...
you know, a rocket scientist.
He was a blue-collar guy,
and the only way that he could
make the money that we needed
was to cut a few corners.
He cut too many.
Is any of that even true?
Okay, clearly, you don't get it.
Jeremy hated what he did.
He was looking to
make a fresh start.
Why do you think he
was going back to school?
He was looking for new targets.
He was stealing credit card
info from his classmates.
Who stabbed him?
Hell, it was probably you.
No.
No, it wasn't me.
And fine, yeah,
I know who stabbed him.
His best friend.
Taye Tanner, the bestie.
These two
were pretty tight.
They both got twin juvie recordsfor, uh, petty larceny.
In high school, they
started a gang called
the Twin Tornados.
Then they joined
the Navy together.
How'd that work out? Well,
Taye was caught skimming
Social Security numbers
from his shipmates.
He was dishonorably discharged,
then dropped off the map.
Ah. I see
why you're down here now.
You can't find him.
There's a rumor you have a lead.
As it turns out, I have been digging
in the dark webfor posts by TerrorCastor.
But I ended up finding
a lot more by this guy
who calls himself
TerrorPollux.
I think that's your bestie.
Okay. Why? Uh...
Hello? Castor and Pollux,
the two brightest stars
in the constellation Gemini.
If Whistler is your Castor,
Pollux has got to be
this Taye guy.
Were you ableto get an IP address
on the posts?
Uh, no. It is the dark web.
I am lucky
that I made it out alive.
But TerrorPollux
does havean Instagram feed.
Now, he never posts
a photo of his face.
But I noticed, every
day, without fail,
he posts a photoof mint chocolate
ice cream.
Okay, I'll callthe REACT team.
All right, hold your horses,
McSarcasm.
Notice how he's doing
something different every day
before he gets his fix?
"Rocking the mint chip
after hitting the gym."
"Nothinglike peppermint bonbons
after a sweat lodge."
Wednesday is laser tag day.
Now, look at what he posted
the same day last week.
"Walking over to snag
my mint 'n chip after killing itat laser tag."
Yeah. See where this is going?
Yeah. We need to find outhow many laser tag places
are within walking distanceof ice cream parlors.
Ooh.
One.
So, go arrest his ass.
And then bring Mama
back some rocky road.
Yeah.
Mm.
All right, laser tag place
said Taye left about
five minutes ago.
Must be mint chip time.
There's a lot of kids in there.
Let's waitand see if he's gonna come out.
All right.
Good by me.Yeah.
So, what does this guy do again
that he can play
laser tag all day?
Steals from old people.
Oh, wow.
Now, that's a guy
that should be ashamed
to show up to his reunion.
Which reminds me...
I really want to go.
I want to go, but I just thinkit's too much for Delilah.
Uh-huh.
Sure.
Look, do you know
that I graduated
with a biomedical engineeringdegree from Johns Hopkins?
This another midlife crisis?
You know what most of myclassmates are doing right now?
Half of themare rich CEOs
of biotech companies, flyingaround on their private jets.
What am I?
A cop with a gun.
Yeah, on a government salary.
With a gun.
You're NCIS Senior Special
Agent Timothy frickin' McGee.
You eat corrupt CEOs
for breakfast
and murderers for lunch.
Yeah, but...
No, no. There's
no buts, man.
You shouldn't be embarrassed toshow your face at the reunion.
Your-your classmates
should be embarrassed
to stand in the same room
as you.
Tim.
I'm serious, man.
You're really good
at what you do.
Man.
You should be proud.
Thanks, Nick.
Thank you, man.
I appreciate that.
Ooh, there's our guy.
Want me to take this?
No, you know what? I got him.
Thanks.
All right. They got him.
Torres and McGee
are bringing him in now.
Hey.
Tag team with McGee
in interrogation?
Work up a profile?
Jack!
What was that about?
Got no idea.
Hmm.
Was that a "no" to the interrogation with McGee?
Hey.
You okay, Jack?
Uh, Faith came to see me.
She wants to know
who her father is.
Tell her.
Hmm.
It's not that simple.
I was 19.
A sophomore in college.
Some friends asked me out.
And we went to a party,
and I drank too much.
Waytoo much.
I asked one of my friends
to drive me home.
Someone I was close with.
Someone I trusted.
And he raped me.
After it happened,
I blamed myself.
For drinking too much.
For putting myself
in that situation.
All the things that
survivors put on themselves.
Eventually,
I left school over it.
Six weeks later,
I found out I was pregnant.
Can you imagine?
After the adoption,
I joined the Army
to get my life back on track.
Tested into PsyOps.
The rest is history.
Uh, aren't you
gonna say anything?
What's his name?
Conversation's not over.
Oh, yes, it is.
Will you slow down?
It was just a question.
And you're not getting
an answer.
Why do you think I never told you before?
Because you thoughtl was gonna go kill the guy?
Because I couldn't
stand the idea
of you looking at me like
I'm some sort of a victim.
Like I'm a fragile teacup
in need of saving.
And that's exactly
what you're doing. No, I'm not.
It's a guy thing.
Okay.
This isn't about ancient
history that can't be changed.
This is about Faith today.
Look, I get that you're mad.
Okay? And all I can say
is welcome to the club.
I've been a member
for almost 30 years.
Please, I can handle
this on my own.
Um...
So, the bestie
is in the interrogation room.
But, of course, I can come back.
No, no, it's-it's fine.
We're finished here anyway.
This was my favorite hoodie.
You know chocolate stains, bro.
Yeah, I wouldn't worry about it.
You'll be exchanging it
for an orange jumpsuit
soon enough.
We know you're the hackerTerrorPollux.
Oh, is that what you know?
Yeah. And we also know
that Petty Officer Whistler
was TerrorCastor.
Wait, what do you mean "was"?
It's called past tense.
We use it when we're talkingabout people who are dead.
Or, in this case...
Murdered. So start talking.
Now. A-About what?
You're crazy if you
think I killed Jeremy.
I mean, that was my homie.
I-I would never.
You shoved a knife into him.
We got an eyewitness
that said you stabbed Jeremy
three months ago.
Now he's downin our morgue.
Do you see what
we're getting at here?
Okay. Look,
Jeremy and me just had a
simple misunderstanding.
That's all.
Over what?
Orange jumpsuit.
So, about a year ago,
Jeremy and me started selling
security software online.
To get rid of viruses
on people's computers.
Viruses that you puton their computers
in the first place.
Prove it.
Misunderstanding!
All right, so, we're
making a killing.
Dumped, like, 50 grand into
a numbered offshore account.
That sounds completely legit.
And then suddenly, the
account gets cleared out.
Jeremy acted like he had
no idea what happened,
but I'll tell you what happened.
He's the one that took it.
I mean,
that turncoat stole from me.
So you killed him?
No, no, no, no.
I confronted him.
And things got heated.
My knife might've, you know...
slipped.
The wound was four inches deep.
He lived.
And that was the last time
I saw that thief.
Look, I don't know who
killed him, but it wasn't me.
Well, he was right.
It wasn't him.
And he hasthe saddest alibi possible.
He was at a laser tagconvention in Ohio
when Petty Officer Whistler
was murdered.
Talk to the wife again.
About what?
I mean, all she's gonna do
is tell us about the amount
of kittensher husband rescued.
Our revenge theorywas a bust, too.
Most of Whistler's hacking
victims were out of state
when he was killed, and the ones that were
closer byall alibi'd out.
So I have... Nothing.
All of you got nothing.
Well, not for lack of effort.
Boss, we ran downalmost 400 names.
Well, run it down again.
Boss...
We missed something.
So recheck everything.
The crime scene.
The wife.
Computers at the school.
Somebody killed this guy!
Find out who.
Well, Gibbs is mad.
Oh, yeah. I noticed.
About what?
Jackie Sloane. My God.
What are you doing here?
How long has it been?
Haven't seen you
since Santa Barbara.
Spare me the buddy routine.
We're not friends.
And you can probably guesswhy I'm here.
Um, no, not really.
Then let me jog your memory.
You raped me.
After the homecoming dance.
You drove me homeand attacked me.
H-Hold on. You'd been flirting
with me for months.
You asked me to drive you home
because you wanted...
What I wanted wasfor you to stop!
I said no! Over and over again.
I said no!
If you had said no,
I would've stopped.
I would've... I tried to fight you off.
I even gave you that scar.
Just before you pinnedmy shoulders down.
You remember that? No.
You're remembering it wrong.
You were drunk that night.
Shut up!
That gaslighting crap might'veworked on me 30 years ago.
But not anymore.
I know the truth.
Ah, and I see that you do, too.
What do you want?
An apology?
Money?
It was 30 years ago.
What are you doing here?
There's a woman coming.
In a few days, she will ring your doorbell
and ask for your medical history,
and you'll give it to her.
Why would I give it to her?
Because halfof her DNA is yours.
After you answerall of her questions,
you'll tell herthat we had a fling in college,
it didn't work out
and we haven't spoken since.
And thenyou'll explain to her
that you have no placein your life for her.
And then you will never, ever talk to her again.
You won't even think about her.
You got that?
Good.
You have no right to
tell me what to do. Sorry?
If I want to talk
to this woman again,
I will talk to her.
She's my daughter,
too, after all.
This is a waste of time. What are we even looking for?
I don't know. But you're more
than welcome to tell Gibbs
you didn't think it
was worth the effort.Pass.
Why do you think this case isgetting under his skin so badly?
You know, I don't thinkit's the case.
Torres said he heard
Gibbs and Sloane
getting into something
on the stairs.Oh.
Oh.You thinkthey're breaking up?
Do we think they're even dating?
McGee, come on.
Well, I-I didn't
even like to think
about my parents dating, okay?
And Gibbs, you know,
lies somewhere between
them and Ducky.
Yeah, but...
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Shh.
You hear that?
I don't hear anything.
Exactly.
Where are the students?
Where is the school?
The entire
school was cleaned out.
Desks, computers, even vending machines.
Did you try calling?
Well, nobody's answering
the phones,
because there aren't any left.
The website is down, too.
It's like... school disappeared.
Schools don't just disappear.
Yeah, this has to be connected
to Petty Officer Whistler's
murder.
Maybe it's just
some random robbery.
It wasn't a robbery.
I just spoke
with a bunch of students.
They saw
leasing company truckspicking up
equipment from the school
when they showed upfor class yesterday afternoon.
You get the name of the company?
Yeah. I alreadyran it down.
Looks like Aspire Tech hasn't
been paying their bills, so,
the leasing company repossessed
their stuff.
Used the term "con artists."
Maybe it doeshave something
to do with Whistler.
But if this was one
of his cons...
What's the con?
I think
I have an answer to that.
And you can thank Florida Man
for clueing me in.
Come on.
Oh, come on. How can you
not know Florida Man?
Kase, I got... I got no ideawhat you're talking about.
Okay, forget my attempts
to socialize you.
All you need to know is,
last year, I did a web search
for my birthday and the
phrase "Florida Man,"
and found this story.
"Welcome to Screw U."
It's an exposé
on pop-up scam schools.
Pop-up?
Well, the concept ispretty simple.
A scammer rents a space,
then puts up a shingle
for a trade school,
and hires a bunchof teachers. Then,
they enroll as many studentsas they can, helping them
apply for as many student loansas they can.
Then when all that juicy
loan money comes in...
They let the school go bust,
start over somewhere else.
I think
that's what's happening
with Aspire Tech.
I've been digging
into their financials,
and that place is
a house of cards.
Yeah, Aspire hired real teachersand got a real school going,
but it wasn't built to last.
Aspire got loanson overextended lines of credit,
missed mostof their payments,
and when they got an extension
to hire more teachers, they hired
more loan counselors instead.
So when you say "they," you mean Petty Officer Whistler?
I'm not so sure he's the con man
we all thought he was.
Remember that offshore accounthis bestie said he cleaned out?
Mm-hmm. Well, I traced the withdrawals.
He didn't steal from his bestie.
Whistler used the money
to give refunds
to all the people they scammed.
Now, on the other hand, he was stealing credit card
information
from Aspire students, so,
he had to be involved somehow,
but running an actual school
was sort of out
of his wheelhouse.
Yeah. He had a partner.
These allegations are absurd.
I mean, do you even
have any proof?
Uh, well, Agent McGee,
do we have any proof?
Well, Agent Bishop,
uh, this is yoursignature
on this loan extension.
And, oh,
look... you personally
hired all the teachers.
Looks like you were running
the entire operation.
Okay, that's-that's justhow new schools works.
Okay, my job was to...
Blah, blah, blah.
Your job was to
blah, blah, blah.
Look, we know Aspire
Tech was a scam.
And we know you were running it.
What we don't know is...
why you murdered Petty
Officer Whistler.
What?! No!
We know he's got a habit
of ripping off his partners.
Okay, you are way off base here!
He rip you off, too? I didn't kill anybody!
All I was doing was-was... Just running a school.
Without a single credentialthat qualifies you to be a dean.
That's because
I'm not a real dean!
I'm justa previously-owned car salesman.
You're a used car salesman?
Yeah, and, well, I also doa little acting on the side.
Well, how does
a used car salesman
end up running a school?
Last year, I was sending outrésumés to get a new gig,
and I got contactedby this headhunter online
who saidhe represented these people
who were startinga new school.
They were looking for someone
who knew how to sell,
which, for the record, I do.
Hmm. I was just supposedto be a figurehead.
Show up at recruitment seminars, sign papers.
I looked at itlike an acting gig.
More like a scam gig.
I was hired to enroll students, which I did.
Everything elseis above my pay grade.
Okay, well, good luck
with that in court.
Of course, you know,
we could put in a good word
for you with the D.A.
In exchange for...?
Telling us where we can find
that headhunter.
So, the GI Bill covers almost$25,000 per academic year,
which is more than enough tocover your tuition and expenses.
And we can even help
with all of the applications
so that the money gets routed
properly.
What about legal fees?
'Cause I see a whole lot
of those in your future.
Remember me? We met
in the computer lab.
I see you found a comb,
by the way. Nice.
If, uh,
you could excuse us, okay?
Where are you going?
I was just gonna grab a bite.
Mm. Well, you might want
to pick up a new belt
while you're at it.
Yeah, we're gonna need
to test that one for the DNA
of the guy
you strangled with it.
Apparently, this is
the third school con
our bad guy pulled off
in the last five years.
So was Petty Officer Whistler
part of it or not?
Not. So why is he dead?
Because he uncovered it.
We found a bunch of e-mails
on the bad guy's computer.
Uh, looks like
Whistler figured out theschool was a con pretty quickly.
Never con a con man.
It turns out he didn't
hack Aspire's network
to steal credit cards.
He was collecting evidence.
Evidence for what?
To blackmail the bad guy.
"As long as you
"keep this place running,
I won't rat you out."
So, Portland posed
as a student to find out
who was blackmailing him.
When he found out
it was Whistler,
he killed him.
Whistler's wife wasn't lying.
He was trying to go legit.
Nice work. Pass this alongto Gibbs and McGee,
uh, wherever they are.
We don't know where Gibbs is,
and McGee just left for his
college reunion, of all things.
And I'm back.
Wait. What are you doing here?
Aren't you supposedto catch a plane?
Yeah. Well, uh,
I was about to board
when I got this text.
"Tim, we missed you
at the reunion."
It was last night.
I messed up the date.
Aah! You did not.
Well, nonetheless,
welcome back, Agent McGee.
Thank you, Director.
Yeah, apparently, I got
my potty training datesmixed up with my reunion dates.
Well, that's not impressive
at all.
Maybe it was better
you didn't go.
Yeah, but who am I reallytrying to impress?
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that
I was going
for all the wrong reasons.
So it's probably best
that I didn't end up there
at all.
Damn, son. Sounds like
I gave you the bad advice.
Oh, no, you gave me
the rocking advice.
No, I'm gonna save
that pep talk for a rainy day.
Hey.Hey.
Hey there. How you doing? Good. How are you?
Good. Good to see you. Thanks.
So, did you get what you needed?
Yeah. I did.
My doctor has all the
info she wanted, and...
I finally got to meet
my biological father.
And... how did that go?
Um, yeah, I don't know what
I was expecting, but, uh,
let's just say, I don't
think he and I will be
getting coffee anytime soon.
But, um...
I have a feeling that
there's more to the story
maybe than what he told me.
I'm not sure what you mean.
Wasn't a fling, was it?
What did he say?
Nothing. He didn't have to.
When we talked in your office,
I-I knew something was off.
The look you got on your face
when I asked about my father.
I've seen it on
enough women's faces
at the trauma center
at the hospital.
I'm so sorry...
what happened to you.
Ah, I'm sorryl didn't tell you,
but I want to tell youeverything now, okay?
When I was pregnant,
I rememberl was so scared.
I was terrified that, um,
maybe I couldn't...
love you
because of what happened.
But then you were born, and I...
didn't want to let you go.
But I was afraid I, um...
couldn't be the mom
that you deserved.
I just felt so, um...
I felt so damaged.
I wantedto protect you.
You did.
You gave me up.
That was you protecting me.
Thank you.
You gave me a
wonderful life. You did.
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