NCIS (2003–…): Season 19, Episode 5 - Face the Strange - full transcript

Is it too late
to change my mind?

Out.

So, like, where's
the facility, bruh?

You're looking at it...
bruh.

Where the hell
you come from?

Let's go.

No, there's no way
I'm going in there.

Listen up.

You all may be juvies,
but apparently

you're all such badasses,
you're being charged as adults.

But the court gave you a choice.

In there with me
for a week...

or the big house.

Take your pick.

I'm eating rabbit for dinner
either way.

Yo, wait up!

So what's the plan, exactly?

We play Survivor for a week
and then become

fine, upstanding citizens?

Yeah, where do we sleep?

Yeah, I'm not eating
no rabbit.

Then you don't eat.

And the plan is,
is that you learn

to get your head on right, son.

By murdering Thumper?

By learning to live for
something besides yourselves.

I read your psych evals.

You all think the world
revolves around you.

But out here,
if you don't work together,

you die together.

So you gonna learn
to become a team.

No matter what comes our way,

we stand as one.

Run!

Run!

Okay.

Wow.

Nice.

Dude, this looks so fake.

♪ ♪

Can you please
pace somewhere else?

You are going to
wear down the carpet.

Well, it needs replacing
anyways.

Where is he already?

Maybe text him
another ten times?

Morning.

Morning? Like, uh,

just like everything's
normal morning?

Why haven't you answered
any of my texts?

I'm sorry, I just got back
from Alaska, okay?

I'm a little jet-lagged.

Guess what the next
question is.

How could you leave
Gibbs behind?

I didn't leave him behind,
okay, he wanted to stay.

And you agreed to this...
why again?

Because he seemed happy.

Happy?

As in, like, happy?

Well, I've got some more
of that to go around.

Uh, I'm sure you'll all
probably be happy to hear

that I've decided not to
take Director Vance up

on his offer to join your team.

And I'm guessing that's
the first you've heard of it.

I was waiting for
Agent McGee to return

before I filled them in.

And you're early.

Oops. Sidebar?

Uh, I appreciate the offer,
Director, but I'm not ready

to jump into anything new
just yet.

Perhaps you'd like to spend some
time in the field with the team

before you make your
final decision?

I already made it.

Plus, I got tickets to
a Simon and Garfunkel

reunion concert later today,

and I've been waiting
a long time for that baby, so...

Hey, why are you guys
standing around here?

Haven't you guys heard?

Whoa, what's up?

A Navy petty officer apparently
turned into a zombie.

A zombie?

Yeah.

Crawled out of the ground
and everything.

You guys really
didn't get the call?

That kind of thing happen
a lot around here?

First for me.

Ooh. All right, get your gear.

Well, it looks
like the train's leaving.

I'd consider it
a personal favor

if at least you'd spend
the morning on it.

Well, I don't think I'll
change my mind, Director,

but, uh, yeah, okay, sure.

I still got time.

Zombie it is.

Not a zombie.

Just a victim who suffered
from extreme dehydration

and exposure before he died.

Who is this guy again?

Well, according
to his prints,

he was Petty Officer First Class
James Bolton.

Whoever dumped the body

barely covered it up.

Except he wasn't a body
when he was dumped.

Apparently, this guy
was still alive.

Died shortly after
Ranger Rick stepped on him.

And he died of what?

Based on the nasal froth,
I'd say it was

poison that probably
put him into

a cataplectic coma.

Probably fooled whoever
tried to bury him here

into thinking that
he was dead.

It happens. I'll know
a little bit more

when I get him back to autopsy.

Speaking of which,
can I get a hand

with the body and the gurney?

I gave myself a grade-two sprain

inflating a bouncy house.

It happens.

You need help
getting the Night King

into the van, too?

Well, aren't you thoughtful.
Yes, I do.

Ready?

You know, I-I looked up
how many injuries

are caused
by bouncy houses.

Hey, Tim.

It's a lot.

When you said that
Gibbs was happy...

what did you mean?

I don't want to
talk about it.

Look, you can't-- you can't
leave me hanging, bro.

I'm sorry, it felt
kind of private.

Well, is he gonna be okay?

I think he probably hasn't
been this okay in a long time.

What about that guy?

Can you believe Director Vance

offered him Gibbs' job already?

He's a solid agent.
Experienced.

The man's desk
is not even cold.

Well, it's just gonna get colder
with Gibbs in Alaska,

and we do need the body.

McGee, help me out here.

Tim, this is where
you use more words.

Sorry, I'm all out.

And I'm all out of time.

Oh, leaving us so soon?

Yeah. And I'm sure you're
real broken up about it.

But can't keep
Mrs. Robinson waiting.

Agent McGee, I wish you
the best of luck.

Been a blast.

That kind of thing happen
a lot around here?

Where are they?

I've been worried sick.
Thank God you're okay.

Don't worry,
Kasie, we're fine.

What happened?

Your vic had some kind
of bomb on him,

that's what happened.

Where's Knight?

And what was the dead guy
doing with a bomb?

She's towing what's left
of the van

into the evidence garage, trying
to figure out what happened.

Feel free to go help.

Roger that.

This is all I could dig up
on your dead petty officer.

It's not much.

Let's see what we got.

Hey, it's Parker.

Yeah, it's not much.

Petty Officer Bolton,
born in St. Louis.

Studied computer
science in college,

and the rest is redacted.

Uh, yeah, I'm gonna be
a little late.

I don't even recognize
that assignment code.

It's a transitional code

that our new space force
just started using.

Yeah. No, no.
No, I-I'll see you there later.

Okay.

And you know this how?

I did some work integrating
their network

into the FBI's Operational
Technology Division.

Happy to hook you up
with a guy there I know.

He can probably give you
some more intel

on your petty officer.

You know, it'd be faster
if you made the call.

I'd love to, but, uh,
I'm already gonna miss

half the warm-up act, so...

Okay, I still got time.

While we may never know
the true origin

of the Humpty Dumpty
nursery rhyme,

you can rest assured,
Petty Officer Bolton,

we shall put you together again.

Yes, lateral malleolus.

Thanks for helping while
I have my own lateral issues.

It's just
like old times, huh?

I don't recall the M.E. van
blowing up before,

so... no.

Well, the good news is,
you'll be getting a new one.

I kinda liked the old one.

You shouldn't have
let it be blown up.

Oh, we're doing that
again, are we?

So, we were kinda hoping
for an update,

but I can come back
if the two of you...

Oh, no, no, no. It's fine.
It's fine. Dr. Mallard?

Yes, well, one item
of note is an anklet

that the petty officer was
wearing on his left foot.

It appears to be some kind
of wearable USB device.

Kasie is examining it now.

She also identified the
explosive that destroyed, uh...

...certain things.

It was azidoazide azide,

a compound so powerful
and unstable,

only crazy people use it.

And, apparently, criminals.

Only a few ounces can
totally destroy a vehicle.

Or a van.

Ounces?

No wonder we missed the bomb
on the body.

Oh, we didn't miss the bomb,

because it wasn't on the body.

See, the blast trauma
to the thorax

projects outwards,
meaning that the explosion

emanated from inside
the G.I. tract.

Are you saying our victim
swallowed the explosive?

It appears so.

Reminds me of a few heroin
smugglers I busted once.

Except Petty Officer Bolton
wasn't smuggling heroin.

He was concealing an explosive,

presumably to get past
some sort of security.

Agent Knight, we believe
that this was

a bombing attempt gone wrong.

Given the location
of the explosive,

most likely a suicide
bombing attempt.

By a member of the
United States military.

Yes, we're still trying
to figure out

the target, Madam Secretary.

Yeah, I'll let you know
as soon as we do.

Thank you.

I heard we have
an official cause of death

for Petty Officer Bolton?

Blood poisoning.

Jimmy thinks that the explosive

accidentally leaked
into his system

and killed him before
he could detonate himself.

Oh, this could have been
a lot worse.

Uh, any idea
who dumped the body?

Not yet, but Bolton was
obviously working with someone.

All right, let me know
when you find out who.

Is there something else?

You're not gonna like it.

Try me.

You should've never
offered Parker the job.

And why is that?

You gave up on Gibbs
too quickly.

Nobody gave up on anyone.
Gibbs moved on.

And you let it happen.

I know that Gibbs is
a father figure to the team.

And it's hard
when a father leaves,

especially, perhaps, for you.

If I needed a shrink,
I would have called

Dr. Grace, Director.

Agent Torres, may I remind you
that I'm free to hire

who I want, when I want?

Well, did you even
consider McGee?

I did more than consider him.

What is that supposed to mean?

That's outside your pay grade.

Oh, okay.

Well, I'm telling you
that Agent Parker is

the wrong guy for the job.

Then you should
tell that to Gibbs.

He said he was the guy?

We spoke just after
Eberhart's arrest.

Let's just say I think Parker
made an impression on Gibbs

in Alaska, as well as on me.

So, we done?

Director, we got a problem.

And you're not gonna like it.

Get in line.

Whoever dumped
the petty officer's body

took his wallet and keys.

Well, it's no surprise.
It makes it harder

to make an ID.

But they left another
set of keys behind.

It's the USB drive
Jimmy and Ducky found.

The body dumper probably thought
it was just a piece of jewelry.

'Cause Navy petty officers

are so totally known
for wearing anklets.

Okay, get to the point.

The drive appears to be

some kind of master key

to an e-commerce site that
Bolton runs on the dark web.

Dark web?

That's great.
What was he selling?

Uh, it seems our
computer science major

has been moonlighting as a
one-man Geek Squad for bad guys.

This guy does everything.

"Corporate hacking,
$1,000 an hour.

Ransomware attack"?

Mm-hmm.

Even has a weekend special
on tracking your spouse.

You're right, Ms. Hines,
we got a problem.

This isn't the problem.

Most of Bolton's posts
have been about

the finer points
of identity theft,

until a few months ago.

He mentions he got
a new partner.

Then his posts started
getting political.

Then extremist.

Then he says he and his partner
have something big planned.

Like "take down the system" big.

And you know what
that target is?

Maybe.

And I hope we're wrong.
All right, thanks, Fish.

My contact at DoD says that
Bolton's day job was

working as a high-level coder

for the Wideband Global
SATCOM system.

One of the satellite networks

our military uses
to communicate.

Bolton's clearance level
gave him access

to a highly sensitive
server room

that runs the entire system.

Not the sort of place you'd want

a bomb to go off in,
I'd imagine.

If that was Bolton's target...

And you really have no choice
but to assume that it was.

He's trying to take down
our satellites.

And his partner's
still out there.

You believe Petty Officer Bolton

was planning an attack
on his own country?

Why?

Well, our working theory is
that Bolton got radicalized

by this mystery partner
of his.

Who clearly had some issues
with the military.

SATCOM handles
tactical command,

control comms,
missile targeting.

And if any of those
systems go down,

our troops' ability
to defend themselves abroad

could be hobbled.

Uh, if I may, General,

I've worked with the SATCOM
system before.

I recall.
You brought the scones.

And if I recall, it uses

Hyper-V clustering
for redundancy.

Taking out any one facility
won't immediately

degrade the system.
We have some time.

Which we need,
'cause we might have

more suicide bombers
out there.

Might?

We found several posts

indicating that Bolton
and his partner

were trying to recruit
more people.

What if they recruited
someone else with clearance?

We can't be doing
full body searches

at every federal facility.

Director Vance,
I'm authorizing an emergency

rapid response task force
to be run out of NCIS.

Understood.

Agent Parker...

Actually, it's former
Agent Parker.

I don't care.
You know the systems,

you're running the task force.

If there's any recruits
out there,

I want you to find them.

Funny thing, I got tickets...

Scratch that.
Understood, General.

Well, that sucks for me.

You know the systems.

Hyper-V clustering.

Torres, mystery partner.

McGee's already got
potential targets.

Knight, we need to know if
anyone else has been recruited.

Okay, let's go.

Right. Um...

...the 411 may play better
coming from you.

Listen, guys, Agent Parker...

Former.

Former Agent Parker
has been assigned by the DoD...

Let me guess.

Be in charge?

Temporarily.

But for the record,
against my will.

But here we are.

Okay, so I'm not really sure
what I'm supposed to be doing,

but if I'm the one
who's looking for

new suicide bomber recruits,

I've got Petty Officer
Bolton's laptop.

But it's locked.

It may have information on it
that's relevant to our case.

I'm just waiting for someone
to... do that.

I just needed to enable
route access.

That's normally McGee's thing.

Oh, I don't mean
to step on any toes.

No, no, it's okay.

But as long as you got it open,

Kasie flagged a name
on Bolton's server.

Told someone he was gonna
"check the guy out."

You thinking it's a recruit?

If it is,

Bolton should have
a file on him.

And there you go.

Royman Beesbo?

You're being groomed to be
a suicide bomber, Royman?

Let's see, he's single,
has no social life.

Said he almost died
of a heart attack last year.

Dying man, no family.
That fits the profile.

Torres, Knight, check him out.
McGee, dig into the laptop.

Find out who
Bolton's mystery partner was.

And-and, hey, look, um,

I just want you all to know
I-I know this is weird.

Okay, I get it.
But we got to get

past that so we can
get this job done.

And with a team like you,

we're gonna do it
better than anyone.

The only question I have is,

do you guys ever go to the
bathroom, and where is it?

Because I'm literally
about to wet myself.

Hey.

Hey, bud, can I ask you
something?

Uh, now?

Well, time isn't really
on our side,

and I wanted to clear the air.

You know, I probably had,
like, three cups of coffee

this morning, but...

Why didn't you make a play
for Gibbs' job?

Well, because it was
Gibbs' job.

At least as of
a few days ago.

Come on.

The writing was
on the wall for months.

You know, it was probably,
like, four cups...

And you never thought
about making team leader

a permanent gig?

Um, yeah, yeah, sure.

I-I imagined it happening
one day, yeah.

And then Vance offered you
the job, and you said pass. Why?

The job wasn't what
I thought it would be.

You know, not,
not nearly as fun.

Hours were even worse.

Don't get to go out
in the field as much.

Uh-huh.

Plus, there's all that
paperwork.

Nobody likes paperwork.

Right?

And that's it?

Yeah, well, what else is there?

You tell me.

No, that's it.

Hey, uh, next time
you want to have

a private conversation with me,
maybe pick somewhere

a little more appropriate.

Maybe a stopped elevator
or something.

That's got to be Royman.

Ow.

Are we sure he's single?

Don't be mean.

I'm sorry, I'm feeling
a little mean.

You got to give Parker a chance.

Do I?

After what he did
for Gibbs in Alaska,

I'd say he earned it.

Recruit me to be
a suicide bomber?

Me?

This is a joke, right?

Has anybody strange
contacted you online recently?

Pretty much nonstop
after I dipped my toe

into online dating.

It was like I had
a catfish target

on my back for some reason.

At least until I met Helen,

and then I erased
all my dating apps.

So you're not single?

Well...

I mean, it's, it's kind
of hard to explain.

Is Helen someone strange

that you met online
by any chance?

No.

At a bus stop.

We just started talking.

I don't know how that happened.

Then she smiled,
and it was like

a lightning bolt
went off in my head.

And I know she felt it, too,

because she gave me
her number.

And then what happened?

And then I lost it.

I've been trying
to remember it, you know,

by doing...

Oh.

So you are single.

Do you recognize this guy?

Yeah. Yeah, that's
the cable guy.

He came by a few weeks ago,

said I needed a new
router or something.

That's not the cable guy.

Wait, is that your suicide
bomber recruiter dude?

Oh, my gobsmacker,
he-he was in my house.

We had lemonade.

Wh-Why-why was he
trying to recruit me?

What do you do, exactly, again?

Are you some kind of
a court reporter?

Uh, not quite.

Try a Silverstar-ranked
federal stenographer.

What does that mean?

I work on sealed cases only.

I'm one of only 50 local stenos
cleared to record depositions

that involve classified
material.

Does that mean you go into
high security federal buildings?

Yep.

Different ones every week.

I see a lot of
really high-tech... Oh.

Where are you going next?
It could be a target.

I can't actually answer that
without a subpoena.

That's part of being a Silver...

Silverstar-ranked federal
stenographer. Got it.

But you're more than welcome
to hang till you get one.

I got, I got nachos. Huh?

Well, how long's a subpoena
gonna take?

That's too long, Judge.

Anyplace this Royman
guy goes next

could be a bombing target.

Royman? I don't know, Irish?

No, no, don't put me
on hold again!

Well, what do you think?

I think it's impressive
that an agent has

finally gotten some
Bluetooth earbuds.

I'm asking you about
Director Vance's offer

to him to take over the team.

Am I on hold? Did you
put me on hold again?

Uh...

I don't know.
It'd be different.

Which would be, uh, you know...

different.

Yes, it would.

Is that a problem for you?

Speaking of the opposite of
different, how great has it been

having you down here
this week, huh?

What do you say we get
the band back together,

like, permanently,
you and me.

Autopsy is
your bailiwick now, Jimmy.

Yeah, but it could
be ours again.

They put me on hold.

How can we help you?

We're still trying
to track down

Bolton's mystery partner.

I heard you found something
that might help.

We think we may have found
a piece of the bomb's detonator.

If so, then Kasie
may be able

to trace it back to this partner
for whom you're looking.

She's also made some headway
on tracing the actual explosive.

An Albanian cartel is selling it
on the black market.

Goes for $30K a gram.

Even with his side gig,
Bolton couldn't afford

half of what was in it.

So, either

the mystery partner
had deep pockets, or...

Or he won the lottery.

Or he won the lottery, sure.

No, I'm saying

our dead petty officer
won the lottery.

Really?

Three times,
three different states

over the past year,
over 100 grand total.

I don't know anyone who's
won the lottery three times.

I don't know anybody
who's won the lottery once.

It's actually four times,
if you count an hour ago.

Which is, you know, impossible.

This place is way more
interesting than the FBI.

When I found out how much
Bolton's suicide bomb cost,

I realized he must have
another source of income.

Domestic terrorism
ain't cheap.

Mm-hmm. Then, an agent
found these in his gun safe.

They're lottery picker cards

from all over the
Eastern Seaboard.

And lo and behold,

these three match
actual wins.

Four, if you count
an hour ago.

Which is, you know,
impossible.

Except Bolton was a hacker.

You think he hacked the lottery
to pay for those bombs?

If he did, this guy is like
the Frank Abagnale of hackers.

Remember, Leo--
oh, he was cute--

played him in
Catch Me if You Can?

He was a doctor,
he was a lawyer...

And I was in the FBI.
I know who Frank Abagnale is.

Thing is, if Bolton
did hack the lottery,

he wasn't the one
cashing in the winning tickets.

He had someone else do
the pickups for him.

I'm thinking that's the partner
you've been looking for.

Her name's Lillian Beck.

And if there's any more
bombings planned,

I imagine she'd know
about them.

Luckily for us,
she has some new winnings

to cash in tomorrow.

It's stakeout time, baby.

Nice work.

Uh, I'm gonna need this.

Mm-hmm.

Just one more thing.

A little birdie told me
that you preferred to try

and negotiate with LeMere at
this particular point in time.

That's not quite...

I don't know what's

going on with you here
or whatever,

but let's get
one thing straight.

If there's ever
a crazy assassin

holding a sharp object
to my neck again,

I'm gonna need you
to shoot first,

ask questions later.

If you can do that,
then we're good.

We good?

We're good.

Good.

What do you think makes someone

become a suicide bomber?

Well, I think
if you're angry enough,

you can get talked into
just about anything.

Sitrep.

Got eyes on our suspect.

In line. About to cash a ticket.

Copy.

You're getting good at that.
"Sitrep. Copy."

Thanks.

Been practicing
in the mirror.

It's so good that
it makes me not buy

what you told Parker
in the bathroom.

He told you about that?

No.

Okay, then, what,
were you, like,

listening at the
bathroom door?

Oh, my God, seriously.

Were you listening at the door?

It doesn't matter.

The point is,
is all that noise about

you not wanting the big chair
because of the extra hours.

Yeah, homie don't buy that.

I can't believe it--
you're sitting there, like,

just listening through
the bathroom door.

Hey, don't change the subject.

What subject?
That I don't want

to be team leader
because I'm not Gibbs?

No, you're not Gibbs.

But you're Timothy freakin'
McGee, you're a cyber ninja.

When people shoot you,
you keep on coming, man.

Yeah, except it was Gibbs
who shot me.

Okay? Twice.
He put two bullets through me.

And you know what,
it saved my life.

It hurt like hell getting shot,
but I can't imagine

what it felt like
pulling that trigger.

I mean, who could do that?
Could I do that?

For someone so smart,
you can be so dumb.

Thanks, that's helpful.

Tim, the guy

who shouldn't be in charge
is the guy

who's not even asking
the question.

Doubt is not weakness,
it's a strength.

A leader without doubt?

Now, that's a guy
I'd be worried about.

Look, Nick, my point is,
I don't want to be

the guy that can pull
that trigger.

Okay?

If there's anything I've
learned from Gibbs,

it's that this job is
all-consuming.

It completely consumes you.

You know what the guy
had to do to escape?

He had to go to Alaska!

Like, Alaska.

I got a family, Nick.

That can't be me.
I can't do that.

It's that simple.

Go ahead, tell me again
how dumb I am.

Well, I have no complaints
about that.

Only respect.

Thanks, brother.

Suspect coming out.

Repeat, suspect coming out.

Now, what do you say we go
and arrest some bad guys?

Sounds pretty good to me.

Guess what I just heard.
We just caught

Bolton's mystery partner.

What are you doing?

Leaving.

Aren't we gonna sterilize
the bone saw later?

I remember that one time...

Jimmy...

Jimmy, it is time for me
to retake my rightful place

as NCIS historian.

Wait. Don't go.

Stop, stop, stop.

Is everything all right?

Is everything...?

No, no, it's not.
It's not at all.

I've had just about enough
of people leaving this year.

Just one after another.

Breena.

And then Bishop
and now Gibbs.

So you are gonna
come back in here.

You're gonna lose the hat,
and together we are gonna

go sterilize that damn
bone saw.

Jimmy...

Bone saw!

Just...

Jimmy,

yesterday is over,

sad as that may seem.

But change is
the essence of life.

I know that, Doctor, but...

this feels like a death.

I miss him, too.

But Jethro isn't dead.

From what I hear,
it sounds as if

he's starting to
live life again.

Possibly for the first time
since losing his family.

If that is the case,

I don't mourn his departure.
I'm grateful for it.

Our pain...

is a small price to pay

for his peace.

I'm sorry.

That was beautiful, Doctor.
Really beautiful.

I almost hate to
totally ruin the moment

by giving you this.

It's the results from
the detonator fragment

you found in our victim.

Uh-oh.

You know, I'm-I'm missing
my nephew's

first Little League game.

Yeah, I'm-I'm really sorry
about that.

Um, there just seems to be

a little misunderstanding
somewhere.

You think?

I bought a lottery ticket.
I won.

I don't know anything
about any terrorist attack.

What's he doing?
Did I miss it?

He is, uh, doing
the "play dumb."

Oh. That's boring.
Gonna be here all day.

So am I free to go?

Yeah.

Uh, just, um, one more question.

You want to die
by lethal injection,

or spend the rest of your life
rotting in a jail cell

that smells like soup?

Excuse me?

We know you're been
working with Bolton.

We know you're trying to
recruit more suicide bombers.

And we know that you
funded your operation

by hacking the lottery.

What we don't know is
death or soup?

That is not the "play dumb."

"I am going to jail
for accessory to murder."

Say it with me. "I..."

Look, I-I...

"...am going to jail..."

Okay, I was working--

I was working with Bolton.

"...for accessory to..."

Will you stop that?!

I'm trying to confess.

Not to murder.
I didn't kill anyone, okay?

Let's hear it.

And by the way, you don't
have any nephews.

I'm a back-end coder for
the East Coast Lottery Group.

We handle the lottery
in 13 states.

About six months ago,
I found a flaw in the system,

a-a way to preselect
the winners.

But I needed a real hacker
to do the heavy lifting.

A hacker like Bolton.

I found him online.
The guy's basically

the Frank Abagnale
of hackers.

I've heard. Go on.

That's it.

We didn't hack the lottery
to fund a terrorist attack.

We hacked the lottery to...
t-to hack the lottery. Duh.

That actually is
pretty believable.

Hey. We've got a problem.

Yeah, a big problem.

Our entire case
might have just fallen apart.

Kasie found traces
of polydioxanone

on the detonator
fragment.

Plus bupivacaine
in his tox screen.

I literally didn't understand
a word you just said.

Wait, who-whose tox screen?

Bolton's. Listen, the detonator
was a pacemaker battery.

Bupivacaine is a local
anesthetic, and-- here.

Okay, and polydioxanone
is used in surgical stitches.

Surgical?

Yeah, Dr. Mallard and I
were wrong.

Bolton didn't swallow a bomb.

It was surgically
implanted.

And if it was a part
of a routine procedure,

it's possible
he didn't even know

he had a bomb inside of him.

So, if there wasn't
a terrorist attack,

what were you
recruiting people for?

I couldn't keep winning
the lottery myself, genius.

Oh, so you needed cutouts
to pick up the money for you.

And we already
had ten lined up.

We were about to be rich.

Bolton was planning
on retiring to Cabo.

The last thing
he ever would have done

is blow himself up.

Then how the hell did he end up
a human grenade?

Sorry, that's...
that's not my department.

I spoke to three of the
recruits who were hired

to, uh, pick up
the next lottery tickets.

They confirm
our suspect's story.

So, if Bolton's big plan
was to hack the lotto,

how did he end up with
a suicide bomb in him?

We're right back
at square one.

Yeah, you get used to it.

It's got to have something
to do with his website.

We should dig into
the other bad guys

who have hired him.

McGee's going through
the weblogs now.

And check this out.

Most of those bad-guy names
were encrypted.

But one name did pop up
on a wire transfer,

and you are gonna love it.

I told you, I thought
he was the cable guy.

That-That's all I know.

Please don't take this
the wrong way,

but you are totally lying.

Right after Bolton
paid you a visit,

you took out a reverse mortgage
on your house for 20 grand.

I'm doing a renovation.

One week later,
that same $20K ended up

in Bolton's e-commerce account
in the Caymans.

It was a Caribbean-themed
renovation?

Now, that's a horrible liar.

Where did you get
the Albanian explosive?

I don't know what that is.

How did it end up inside
Petty Officer Bolton?

I don't know what that means.

We have proof
that you paid Bolton $20,000

He said we wouldn't get caught.

to his offshore account.

He said we wouldn't get caught!

And you are going to tell me
what it was for.

It was for Helen.

Okay?

Helen.

The...

woman you met at the bus stop?

Keep talking.

Everything I told you was true.

Your petty officer
came over,

said he was the cable guy.

Then we had lemonade,
just like I said.

And then...

And then you told him
about Helen?

It may have come up.

When I saw her smile...

Skip that part.

He told me he might be able
to hack into a traffic cam

by the bus stop
where Helen and me met

and get a photo of her face.

And then, you know,

do some facial recognition.

Well, that's creepy.

It's not stalking if she gave me
her number already, is it?

I'm gonna go out on a limb

and say this guy is not
our criminal mastermind.

He's got to be
connected somehow.

Otherwise, why would Bolton have
an entire dossier...

Whoa.

What?

Bolton has this guy's
medical records.

Ever wonder why?

Have you had
any surgery recently?

No.

Well, I mean, sort of.
A week ago.

Where?

My doctor called and said that
my pacemaker battery was low.

You just got that last year.
It doesn't run low that fast.

It just took
an hour to swap out.

It wasn't a big deal.

It might actually be a big deal.

Evacuate the building.

Call the bomb squad.

Wait, what?

No, hold on.

I don't understand.
What is happening?

It's got to be connected
to one of your cases.

You're a stenographer, right?
What's your next case?

I can't tell you.
I'm a Silverstar-ranked...

Look, I got your damn
subpoena approved, okay?

They just haven't sent
the actual records yet.

Now focus.
What's your next case?

Okay, okay, there's
this guy...

Come on, come on.

Here they come,
Mr. Palmer. Look sharp.

McGee filled us in.

We are prepping for X-ray.

We're gonna take a look
inside you.

This is not happening.

You're gonna be okay.

Just lie down.

I'm not gonna be okay,

You're our boss?

according to your boss.

I've been turned into a walking
time bomb by Tony Soprano.

Apparently, Royman here
just got assigned a case

against a pretty scary-sounding
Mafia kingpin.

Four of the witnesses against
him have already disappeared,

and the last one was moved
into witness protection.

All right, hold your breath.

He's in a hidden location--
tightest security possible.

I'm supposed to record
his deposition tomorrow,

and then I guess I blow up?

Was that the freaking plan?

There's the atrial lead.

There's the
pulse generator.

And something else.

Based on density,
I would say

that's our explosive.

Oh, my gobsmacker.

I've been turned into
an exploding Trojan horse.

Okay, everybody,
get out of here.

What, you're leaving?

No, no. I'll stay
until the bomb squad's

med techs arrive.

We don't have that much time.

This protrusion tells me

that the explosive is leaking.

Just like
Petty Officer Bolton here.

How much time does he have?

A day? A minute?

I mean, we have
to get it out now.

Well, what are you
looking at me for?

Your body, your call.

Um... get it out!

We're already prepped
for extraction. Light.

CHG locked and loaded.

Prepping the surgical site.

Administering 10cc's
local anesthetic.

It's okay, buddy.

Okay. Relax.

Dr. Palmer, would you care
to do the honors?

Uh...

Oh, you might want
to remove the decoration.

Right.

Oh, look at that.
It's feeling better already.

All right. Do me a favor.

Mm-hmm.

Stay very still.

In D.C. yesterday,

a murder attempt
against the star witness

in a Mafia kingpin's trial
was thwarted by agents at NCIS.

Sources say that Besnik Toptani,
the notorious Albanian kingpin,

choreographed
an elaborate plot to kill...

Toptani's people knew
Petty Officer Bolton

from his "Geek Squad
for bad guys" website.

They came up with
the Trojan horse idea

and hired Bolton to hack
into Roy's medical records.

But they only had one shot
at taking the witness out,

so they decided to use Bolton
as a guinea pig for the surgery,

but... test run didn't
go so well.

He died before
they could blow him up.

So the Albanians
ditched the body,

worked out the kinks,

and then forced Roy's doctor
to try again on Roy.

I'll spare you
the Frank Abagnale comparison,

and I'll just say

this is one for the books.

Agent Knight, will you
excuse us a moment?

Very nice work.

Thank you.

You know, I, um...

I jumped online this morning

to try to get you
replacement tickets

for that Simon and Garfunkel
concert that you missed.

Oh, yeah?

Turns out there is no Simon
and Garfunkel reunion tour.

And there's not gonna be.

I heard they hate each other.

I'm more of a Bowie guy anyway.

I see.

I just wanted to see what

a regular day
around here was like,

and I was told
it might spook the locals

if they thought
I had plans to stay.

Wasn't my idea, actually.

Whose was it?

I'm gonna take that one
to my grave.

Well...

You want the job or not?

We did one last visual exam.

Everything's all clear.

That was the third sweep
in 24 hours.

With azidoazide,
better safe than sorry.

So, spoke to the D.A.

They're willing to drop
the hacking charge

in exchange for
community service.

How much?

Well, what do you think?

Still thinking.

I know the feeling.

500 hours?

Either that or jail.

Well, it's not like
I have other plans.

Roy?

Roy, it's me.

♪ Still don't know
what I was waiting for ♪

♪ And my time... ♪

Helen.

Yeah.

You never called me.

I-I lost your number.

It was five-five...

Five-oh-one-six-two.

Oh.

Oh, I can't believe it.

I guess he
has plans now.

I kept going to
the same bus stop,

and you weren't there.

Oh, well,
'cause I changed routes.

You want to know what I think?

Hey, look, guys,
it's Helen.

I think Gibbs was a lucky man.

♪ Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes ♪

♪ Turn and face the strange ♪

I know the feeling.

♪ Ch-Ch-Changes ♪

♪ Don't want to be
a richer man ♪

♪ Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes ♪

♪ Turn and face
the strange ch-ch-changes ♪

♪ Just gonna have to be
a different man. ♪