NCIS (2003–…): Season 20, Episode 9 - Higher Education - full transcript
NCIS investigates the death of a college student who was killed while running across the street, and who had connections to McGee's wife, Delilah.
Do you have any idea
how much water it takes
to grow one almond?
Why would I possibly know that?
I'm just saying if you really
cared about the environment,
you would switch to oat milk.
Says the girl who insists
on driving everywhere,
even if she's only
going two blocks.
I have plantar fasciitis.
Yeah, and last week
you had valley fever.
Um, are you seeing this?
Oh, this is so going viral.
Uh...
What are you doing?
Are you okay?
No, I was just
assaulted!
Oh, my God!
Well, don't just
stand there, call 911!
No. It is
an all-girls weekend.
All right, all
I'm saying is that
I bring a lot to the
table, all right?
Morning, McGee. Morning.
Earth to McGee.
Sorry, I was in the
zone there. Morning.
I will never
understand how you find
after action reports so...
Gripping and fascinating.
Mm-hmm.
Well, I do love a good AAR,
but, uh, no, this is more
of a personal project.
You gonna make us ask?
Thom E. Gemcity is back, baby.
Yes!
Cool.
Oh, Knight...
Thom E. Gemcity?
That's his pen name.
Yeah. Anagram of Timothy McGee.
McGee. You're a novelist?
Yeah.
So the John Grisham of
NCIS has been sitting
six feet away from
me for two years now,
and I had no idea?
Well, I like to think of myself
more as a Tom Clancy
type, but yeah.
Okay, so what mystery is
Special Agent, uh, Tibbs
embarking on next?
Are you guys messing with me?
Why would you say that?
Your lead character's name
is Special Agent Tibbs?
Yeah. Because
"Gibbs" couldn't clear
legal?
Oh, no, Gibbs and Tibbs are
wildly different people.
Okay, man, so what?
Spit it out. What's the story?
Well, since, uh, Gibbs
is off doing his thing,
I figured that L.J. Tibbs
deserves a little R and R.
You're just gonna have to
wait and see what comes next.
Fine, I'll wait.
I do have a new
character idea for you.
Yeah? Yeah.
He's a badass Miami detective
by the name of Rick Soares.
Ooh, I wonder who that could be.
Oh, uh, Detective Rick Soares is
only inspired by
me, but I do have
some cool ideas I think
you're gonna love.
Mm.
Dead body in Alexandria.
Parker will meet us there.
All right, duty calls.
Well, I guess you'll have to
save those stories for later.
Oh, it's all good. I'll
just tell you on the way.
All right, so, we
first meet Soares
in a seedy downtown bar, okay?
Now, he's undercover.
And then, like, just randomly,
this mysterious woman
rolls up and just starts
making out with him.
So then Detective Soares
wakes up in a brothel
in the middle of
the Nevada desert
with, like, multiple guns
in his face. Right? Mm-hmm.
It's cool so far,
right? Yeah, yeah.
It's good, right?
Yeah, no, very cool.
So, then, we think
he's dead, Here you go.
All right, but then
he, like, kinda like,
"I recognize, like, that guy
from the sting at the-at
the riverboat." Mm.
Hey, McGee, did I hear
that you're writing again?
I mean, it's been a while, huh?
Well, now that we're
past the toddler phase,
Delilah and I have decided
that we're gonna do, uh,
well, whatever it is
we were, uh, doing
before we had small children.
That is so great to hear.
I know you're always happiest
when you're in front
of a typewriter.
Better not be any
thinly-veiled versions of me
in your new book, McGee.
Ooh, I would never.
Well, maybe Thom E.
Gemcity's next case can be
based on our nearly
naked victim here.
Oh, yeah, okay,
Jimmy.
Tim's got plenty of great
ideas coming his way,
so, uh, what do we got?
According to the CAC
he was carrying, his
name is William Watson.
He was supposed to
participate in NROTC drills
at the base this morning,
but multiple cell phone
videos show him stripping off
all of his clothes and running
into the street instead.
No offense, Jimmy,
but doesn't sound like
a very compelling story.
Well, you haven't even
heard the mystery yet.
This guy's body temperature
was 107 degrees.
He was suffering
from heatstroke.
In the middle of winter?
Therein lies the mystery.
Well, maybe he
was trying to jump
into that fountain over there.
Any idea why the
spike in temperature?
Yeah. Drugs, poison, hot yoga.
We'll know more when we
get him back to autopsy.
This is everything
that he had on,
plus wallet and keys.
Where's his phone?
Either somebody stole it
or he wasn't carrying one.
But I did find this
receipt in his wallet.
Café in Alexandria
couple hours ago.
Paid cash.
Hey, who wants to
go check it out?
Uh, I could use
a caffeine boost.
I'll go check it
out. Are those
Watson's?
Uh, unless somebody
else left their shoes
in the middle of the sidewalk.
Ooh. Uh, why?
Because these are LV Trainers
that happen to be in
my dream colorway.
Those are nice, man.
Right? Yeah.
McGee, are you a novelist
and a sneaker head?
Oh, yeah, but, uh,
Delilah would kill me
if I paid $1,500
for a pair of shoes.
Yeah.
You know, if only
we had another way
to expand on that
shoe collection.
You know,
sometimes, when the case
is done, the victim's
families don't always pick up
their personal belongings.
That's all I'm
saying. Just saying.
Here's an idea. Let's spend
less time shoe shopping
and more on the crime
right in front of us.
Yeah. Yeah.
I will take those.
And I'll see if I can
find our victim's phone.
And I'll see if I can find out
what he was doing at the café.
Let's not bury the lede here.
We need to find out
how a midshipman
can afford $1,500 shoes.
So I ran Watson's
financials, or lack thereof,
and there is no credit history,
no savings and no
checking accounts.
And yet his shoes cost more than
most people make in a week.
And no traditional
phone plan either.
Uh, the wireless company said
he had a pay-as-you-go account.
Uses burner phones, pays cash.
So, multiple witnesses
at the café report
seeing Watson hanging
around the back alley
early this morning.
Could have been dealing.
Café have any cameras?
Well, none that work.
But I was able to score
some security footage
from a business
across the alley.
Well, there's our victim.
Back alley is a good
place for a drug deal.
McGee.
Isn't that your wife?
Tim, what is Delilah doing
meeting with our victim?
That's a good question.
She's not answering.
My wife just met with a drug
dealer, and she's not answering.
Possible drug dealer.
Oh, thank God, it's Delilah.
She's okay?
Yeah. I don't know
why I-I panicked.
Well, maybe because
she just met with
a possible drug dealer.
No, I forgot she had class.
Back alley meeting class?
Fundamentals in
Cryptography. She's teaching.
Since when?
Well, since the, uh,
twins started school.
Something she
always wanted to do
and she was offered a
part-time professorship
at Waverly, so...
Waverly University?
Yeah.
Our victim went to that school.
He must have been
one of her students.
A student she never mentioned?
Well, Delilah tells me
about all her students,
just not by name.
Pull up the roster.
There he is.
Why would she and a
student sneak into
an off-campus café
through the back door?
Delilah doesn't sneak anywhere.
That café isn't
wheelchair-accessible,
so she would have had to
go through the kitchen.
The kitchen?
Yeah. Sucks, but we run into
that type of thing all the time.
That's not cool.
Yeah, whose heads
are we busting?
Busting heads
sounds about right.
Or I've got a friend at
DoJ's civil rights division.
He can help file a complaint.
Oh, give me that number.
After we solve the case.
Whether she's involved
or not, Delilah may be
our best lead on this right now.
Torres, Knight, keep
digging into our victim.
McGee, with me.
Where to?
To find out what
your wife knows.
So, to review,
Alice and Bob first
need to decide
on a prime modulus
and a generator,
where P is prime
and G is a primitive root mod P.
You have any idea what
she's talking about?
Not a clue, but
they're eating it up.
She's good, isn't she? Unless she
has one of their secret integers.
And that is Diffie-Hellman
in a nutshell.
We'll leave it there for today.
Tim, what's going on?
Are the kids okay?
Kids are fine. Kids are fine.
Then why are you showing
up at my work unannounced
with that look on your face?
You must be Delilah's husband.
Uh, you must be Evelyn.
I am.
You a student here?
Well, I consider myself
a lifelong learner.
But I am actually
Delilah's T.A.
I cannot believe
that I am finally meeting
the famous Agent
Tim McGee in person.
A federal agent and
a best-selling author?
I can see why
Delilah married you.
Uh, I'm the one that married up.
No disagreement
there. But, uh,
this isn't a social
visit, Evelyn.
We, uh, we need to have
a word with Delilah.
Evelyn, how about we start
grading last week's assignment
on AES? It'll be
just a minute.
Consider it done.
Again, so lovely to meet you.
So, what's going on?
We're here about William Watson.
Oh, he's not here.
He had some NROTC
training today.
He was hit by a
car this morning.
What? Is he okay?
Afraid not. He didn't make it.
What? Oh, my God.
He had so
much potential.
He was one of my
brightest students.
He reminded me of you, actually.
I'm sorry, honey.
You met with Watson
this morning?
We met every week.
So this was ongoing?
No, it's-it's fine.
She can be with a student
without it being a thing.
Thank you, Tim.
So why, exactly,
were you meeting?
To discuss his research project
on modern cryptologic
uses for dead languages.
Did you notice anything
out of the ordinary
this morning?
Why? I thought you said
he was hit by a car.
After he, uh, stripped
off his clothes
and ran into the street.
Vanilla latte, extra hot.
I love that you know
my coffee order.
I love that you
are secure enough
to unashamedly drink
vanilla lattes.
Life's too short for bad coffee.
Mm. Cheers to that.
Give me the good stuff.
Well, speaking of
the good stuff, uh,
Kasie just sent down
Watson's tox report.
Anything interesting?
Only if you count
incredibly high levels of
methylenedioxymethamphetamines,
more commonly known as...
MDMA. Mm-hmm.
Ecstasy.
But even levels that
high wouldn't kill him.
Not that I'm speaking
from personal experience,
because I wouldn't want you
to think that I've dabbled,
because I wouldn't assume
that you've dabbled. Oh, no.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
Um, yes, I have.
Um, it was a clinical trial
for science.
Closely monitored by
medical professionals.
I was broke and it
really paid well.
We should come back to that.
Yeah, I think so.
Watson's very high
body temperature
was not caused by MDMA.
It was caused by
serotonin syndrome.
It's an incredibly
rare complication when
MDMA interacts with
MAOI antidepressants.
So you're saying this was just
an unfortunate accident?
I don't know. I-I
don't know of anyone
who takes this amount of
MDMA at 8:00 in the morning
unless they're
Hunter S. Thompson,
and I did not see
gonzo journalism
on this kid's class list.
His school records did say that
he was, uh, pledging
a fraternity.
Maybe hazing gone wrong?
Hi, we're... Yo, someone's
parents are here.
Ouch.
Do I have crow's
feet or something?
No, you look beautiful.
So do you. Thank you.
We're no one's parents.
NCIS.
We're not the alcohol police
but we are gonna
need to see some IDs.
We're here about
Will Watson. Will?
Hasn't been here all day.
And you are?
Logan. Will's roommate.
You find Will, let him know
Mike's looking for him, too.
Why are you looking for him?
Since he went MIA I had to do
my own laundry this morning.
This was my favorite shirt.
You're supposed to use
non-chlorine bleach
when washing colors.
And you'll speak when
spoken to, pledge.
Soon as Will walks through
those doors I'm gonna kill him.
Well, you're gonna
be waiting a while.
I can't
believe Will's dead.
He was such a good guy.
A little stiff, but cool.
Did the active
brothers subject you
to any kind of
hazing? Not really.
Just normal stuff like
writing their papers,
running errands, doing laundry.
That doesn't feel
like hazing to you?
Well, the beer's free.
But that's the only
drug we do here.
What about Will? Did
he take anything?
You obviously never met Will.
He was too
straightlaced for that.
The straightlaced are always
the ones hiding something.
that's probably the
dean's list announcement.
We were gonna celebrate
after we made it.
The guys in this
house don't strike me
as the honor roll type.
Most of them aren't.
But Will was different.
He knew there were
more important things
to being a Delta Pi Beta.
Though none of that seems
important right now.
Hmm. What do we have here?
I've never seen that before.
Well, let's see what's on it.
Do I really want to know
what a college freshman
is hiding on a computer
underneath his bed?
Get your mind out of
the gutter, Knight.
I have no idea what this is,
but it is the last
thing I expected.
Oh, you don't read C++?
Uh, we're not nerds.
Oh...
And I mean that in
the most
loving way possible.
But what is it?
Wait a minute.
This is a root-based algorithm
belonging to the U.S. military.
And ROTC midshipmen
don't have access
to classified intel.
So, how did Watson get it?
And why was he hiding
it under his mattress?
This could be why.
Restricted coding libraries
for several government agencies.
DIA, CIA, NSA?
Well, that doesn't sound good.
They're each pretty
harmless on their own, but
somehow this kid found a way
to use them to build an
incredibly power cipher.
Kasie. How powerful?
Think a digital key that
could be used to bypass
any security measure imaginable.
From simple passwords to
state-level encryption.
Well, that definitely
sounds bad.
A universal key like
this could be used to
rob banks, to hold
entire cities'
power grids hostage.
Take down planes?
In the wrong hands,
it could create
global chaos.
How could a single
college kid compromise
so many government agencies?
Anacostia's home to the DIA.
It's possible that Watson
used his base access
to get into their system.
From there he could
have leapfrogged
from one agency
server to another.
Homeland security
is in the process of
changing the access codes
across all government servers.
That's gonna take
some time. Right.
Meanwhile, their director's
breathing down my
neck for answers.
JBAB technicians just confirmed
that all servers
there are secure.
Well, that rules out
DIA as an access point.
So how the hell did
this kid get in?
There's a possibility that
we have yet to discuss.
I can't believe
Vance and Parker think I have
something to do with this.
Honey, we wouldn't
be doing our job
if we didn't look into
this, given your proximity
to Will and your
government clearance.
I'm-I'm sure there's
nothing there.
Do you realize how dangerous
this thing could be
in the wrong hands?
Of course. I told them
you'd never be this reckless.
Will wouldn't either.
He was a first-year
computer science major.
I mean, he was brilliant,
but this is beyond.
He could not have done this.
Well, maybe he had help.
What? You-you okay?
He did have help.
You see this?
Yeah, it's how Will was able
to hop from server to server.
This is a program I
wrote in grad school
that would allow computers to
talk to each other offline.
I could never get it to
work. I guess Will did.
How did he get your code?
He was struggling and-and
wanted to drop the class
and I thought that
maybe showing him
some of my past failures
would help him realize
that we all start somewhere.
He must have copied it.
Well, you had no way of knowing
what he was gonna do with it.
But that doesn't change the fact
that I'm responsible for this.
I could lose my job, my
government clearance.
I could go to prison.
Honey, you are not
gonna go to prison.
Listen, I will explain
to the director that
you were an unwilling
participant, okay?
I just wish you hadn't
kept him a secret.
You know, it makes it harder
to get out in front
of this thing.
I didn't keep him a secret.
Well, you didn't tell
me about him either.
I'm sure I must have
mentioned him at some point.
Delilah, I would have
remembered you having weekly
off-campus meetings, okay?
What are you getting at?
Uh, forget I said anything.
Never-never mind.
Sounds like you're
jealous. I am not jealous.
Tell me what it is, then.
You know what, I'll give you
some time to think about it
while I go explain
to the director
what's going on
myself. Delilah, wait.
Don't follow me, Tim.
We'll finish this
conversation tonight.
Oh, uh, i-is it just me
or was it exceptionally
brisk this morning?
I felt a chill
this morning, yes.
Alexa, how cold is it outside?
Today in
Washington D.C.,
expect a low of 44
degrees Fahrenheit.
I would have said 43.
It is a good thing that
you are a federal agent
and not a meteorologist.
Oh. Oh, hey.
Hey. Um, how much of
that did you hear?
Ninety percent, tops.
I'd say about 95. Mm.
I hate to add to your
problems right now,
but we got a big one.
Well, lay it on me.
Metadata from Watson's laptop
shows the key was downloaded
to an external drive.
He made a copy.
But we didn't find any
external drives in his room.
So where is it?
I didn't think anything
about it at the crime scene,
but it looks like something's
been ripped off here.
Uh, Kase, pull up the CCTV
footage from the alley.
Punch in.
There it is.
It looks like a USB drive.
It's gone now.
Someone could have stolen it.
Any DNA or prints
on the key ring?
Uh, no, it was wiped.
Super wiped.
With bleach.
Remind me again what
happened to your shirt.
I accidentally used bleach
instead of laundry detergent.
That's not a crime.
Well, some would say a
grown man not knowing
how to wash his own
laundry is a crime,
but potato,
"potahto."
I think you used the
bleach on purpose...
to wipe off Will's keys.
Why would I do that?
To cover up the fact that you
took something off of them
before he died.
I mean, you did say that
you wanted to kill Will.
I was being funny.
That was hilarious.
I never touched Will's keys
and I didn't give him drugs.
You can't arrest me for
something I didn't do.
What could we arrest him for?
Obstruction of justice?
Oh, that's a good one.
That's, like, five.
Ten years, actually.
Especially if the obstruction is
related to domestic terrorism.
Terrorism?
Ooh, you know what that means.
Mm-hmm. Supermax.
Okay, okay, I'll tell you
whatever you want to know,
but I didn't kill him.
Okay, let's try this again.
What's missing here?
Some kind of flash
drive, I think.
I don't know what's on it.
You spent almost every
waking moment with Will.
He never mentioned
anything about it?
He never mentioned
anything to anyone.
I tried to be a good
brother, get to know him,
but the dude was
weirdly secretive.
Paranoid, even.
What makes you say that?
How about the time will
punched Jared in the face?
Which one was Jared again?
He's the one who called us old.
For the record, she
and I are very young.
Why did Will punch
Jared in the face?
Will found Jared
poking around his room,
assumed he was stealing,
just started whaling on him.
Did Will get
written up for that?
Yeah, that's not how it
works. And to be honest, that
dude was bound to get
punched eventually.
Elaborate on that.
So, pledges are supposed to wait
on active members hand and foot.
Jared was never around.
Other guys had enough
picking up his slack.
Will wanted to report him
to the national board.
So you're saying that
Jared killed Will
because Will was
gonna tattle on him?
You're the investigators.
You tell me.
There's a lot about
Jared Baker that doesn't add up.
First red flag:
he has about
$500,000 tied up in
an offshore account.
Where'd he get
that kind of money?
The money was deposited
right around the same time
as he joined, uh, Delta Pi Beta,
six weeks after the rest of
the pledge class. All right.
So Jared somehow finds out
about the access key, then
joins the fraternity
to get close enough
to Watson to steal it?
Maybe that's why Jared was
poking around his room.
And why Watson punched
him in the face for it.
Technology like
that would sell for way more
than 500K on the
black market, right?
Well, could be a down payment.
And Jared could be getting
the other half on delivery.
All right, then
let's scoop him up
before he has a chance
to close the deal.
Circled the perimeter.
House seems pretty quiet.
Probably out on
a beer run. Mm.
Parker, anything?
Torres, where's
that pizza from?
Pizzeria Diablo. Why?
That's the best
Neapolitan place in town.
Frat parties have changed
since I was in college.
I'm guessing a lot has changed
since he was in college.
Guessing you, uh, didn't mean
to say that one out loud, huh?
You
guessed correctly.
All right, Torres, Knight,
there's our guy.
Hey, Jared.
You remember us?
Got a runner! Stop!
He's headed your way!
All right, we got him.
NCIS! Stop!
He's going for the van!
Damn it!
Parker, let's go.
Don't bother.
Hey, what the hell was that?
Did that kid just
carjack a dog groomer?
No, he did not.
Molly's Mobile Dog
Grooming is a fake business
used for undercover operations.
Undercover operations by whom?
The FBI.
We've been chasing an agent.
NCIS should have been read in
the minute this
became a murder case.
I'm supposed to be the one
who's mad here. Your team almost
blew my cover. Agent Clarkson,
might I remind you
Director Sweeney himself sent
you over here this morning
so you'd cooperate
with our team.
So, what's an undercover FBI
agent doing in a frat house?
I'm part of a special
unit responsible
for ferreting out foreign
spies on college campuses.
IP theft has become one
of our biggest national
security concerns.
Not a bad gig.
You try being 37 and
living in a frat house.
Did he say thirty seven?
Hey, you called me old.
I didn't use those words.
And I'm sorry about
the "parents" dig,
but I had to maintain my cover.
Yeah. Sure, whatever.
How do you keep your
skin that smooth?
More importantly,
how does an NROTC midshipman
factor into a
collegiate spy ring?
Our intel says
that Will Watson was recruited
by Belarus to build
the access key.
I was placed in the frat
house to recover it.
I assume you didn't succeed
or we wouldn't be here now.
No, but I was able to clone
the burner Watson used
to communicate with his handler.
You got an ID on the handler?
They used a cipher so advanced
that even our best
techs haven't been able
to decode the messages.
Well, maybe NCIS can
make some progress
where the FBI could not.
Look, I'll give
you whatever I have
if it means I never
have to step foot
in that disgusting
frat house ever again.
We have already tried
every cipher known to man.
I'm out of ideas.
Well, we could try a
brute force attack.
And be here till next Wednesday?
Oh.
You know who we should call?
No. No, no, no. She's
been through enough.
It is very nice that you are
trying to protect your wife,
but this is Delilah's
exact area of expertise.
I am sure she'd like to help.
Delilah does not need
my protection, okay?
And we can handle
this on our own.
Please tell me you
apologized for yesterday.
I did. But I'll be
honest with you.
I don't feel great about where
we left things last night.
I don't feel great
about it, either.
I was just about
to tell you that...
Kasie called me 20 minutes ago.
You know what?
I am going to...
Alexa, what's on my
to-do list for today?
You have one
item on your to-do list.
Drink more water. Thank God.
Um, Kasie? You heard the lady.
I got to hydrate.
You have a fridge
full of bottled water.
We are in a climate
crisis, McGee,
and I'm trying to reduce
my carbon footprint, so...
Can't argue with that.
Please fix this by
the time I get back.
We have work to do
and we need her help.
Well, Kasie's right.
We got work to do.
We need to talk.
We can't work together
unless we're gonna be
honest with each other.
I wasn't intentionally
keeping anything from you.
I'm so sorry.
No, I-I... I know you weren't.
And I'm the one that's sorry,
okay? I-I feel terrible.
Oh, not as terrible as I feel
watching you torture
yourself over this novel.
What do you mean? The
novel is going great.
I'm just, you know,
having some trouble
getting started.
You've been stuck on
page three for weeks.
In fact...
you've barely written a word
since Gibbs left for Alaska.
Hey.
Gibbs is not what
makes you great.
Yeah, but Thom E. Gemcity
may never have another
idea without him.
You are the most creative
person I have ever met.
You will have more ideas.
You just need a new muse.
Yeah, you're probably right.
You usually are.
I wish you would have
told me this earlier.
I could have helped.
Well, you've been so happy
since you started teaching.
I didn't want to bring
you down with me.
I love solving
problems with you, Tim.
We're a team.
Well, can we work on solving
this particular problem
a little bit later?
I think Kasie's water bottle
is probably overflowing by now.
Mm-hmm. Okay.
Our victim was a spy?
The FBI believes that
Watson was recruited by
Belarus after he got to campus,
by a handler who was already
embedded at the school.
Assuming they stuck to
their regular schedule,
Watson was supposed to meet
the handler the day he died.
Well, maybe our
handler's the killer.
Oh, that makes sense.
Once the access
key is operational,
Watson becomes more of a
liability than an asset. Ah.
If we can figure
out where they met,
maybe we can ID the handler.
Well, Watson lost the USB drive
somewhere between the café
where he met Delilah and
the street where he died.
Yeah, we did our best
to track his movements,
but there is a ten-minute period
where he's unaccounted for.
So, if the handler did
steal the access key
they would have done so
within a five-block radius
of the café.
That still leaves us
with hundreds of suspects.
I don't like those odds.
Well, our odds are about
to improve significantly.
I know how we can decode the
messages on Will's burner.
How?
Use Will's own
invention against him.
FBI techs said the messages
were undecipherable,
even with Watson's access key.
Which is why I made my own.
Watson developed his key
using pieces of a program
that Delilah created
15 years ago.
I could never
get it to work back then,
but after seeing the
way Will modified it,
I realized my mistake.
Does creating an even
more powerful cipher
sound like a bad
idea to anyone else?
Oh, it's a very bad idea.
Which is why we are going
to destroy the cipher
immediately after
we figure out who
Watson was working with.
And the rest of you are going
to forget you ever saw this.
That will not be a problem.
I don't even know what this is.
All right. Here we go.
Nice work, Delilah.
Seems like NCIS hired
the wrong McGee.
You got to be kidding.
You know who the handler is?
Yeah. We've met.
Hello, Evelyn.
Agent Torres.
You know Agent McGee.
Tim, hi.
Oh.
I mean, Agent McGee.
I'm sorry. I just feel
like I know you so well.
Thanks for, uh, coming
in on such short notice.
Are you kidding?
This is so cool.
I feel like I'm in
one of your books.
Yeah, and tell me
something, Agent Torres.
As an investigator yourself,
how accurate is the
Deep Six series?
All right, let's leave
the book club thing
till after we're done, yeah?
Of course.
I am more than
happy to assist NCIS
in your investigation.
Great.
All right, well, let's start
with, uh, where you were
between 7:30 and 8:00
a.m. on the day Will died.
Uh, in the library prepping
for Delilah's class.
Okay, we'll have to have
an agent verify that.
Mm, uh, yeah, go ahead.
Why would I lie?
Well, you've been lying
to us this whole time,
so, why stop now?
I'm telling the
truth, Agent Torres.
Okay, then what can you tell us
about your
relationship with Will?
I mean, outside of
grading his papers,
I didn't really know him.
Do you often text coded messages
to people you don't really know?
Ugh.
Okay. Okay, that's
what this is about?
Oh. I can explain.
Well, I can't wait to hear.
Yeah, it was for class.
So, um, everyone
created their own code
and then swapped to see
whose they could break.
Will's code is
pretty sophisticated.
I know, right?
I was really impressed.
It's actually what attracted
me to him in the first place.
Ah, so you two were involved?
If anyone found out, I-I
could lose my scholarship.
So-so we just figured that if...
if we communicated
using his code,
we'd keep our secret.
Hmm. Yeah, that's a cool story.
Except the messages
tell a different one.
We decoded them.
Yeah. Okay.
Now who's lying, Agent Torres?
That's impossible.
For most people.
Yeah, his wife is
not most people.
See, the real story is that
Will Watson was a foreign
agent and you were his handler.
But you two had
different ideologies.
You were mission-focused
but Will was starting to care
more about having a traditional
college experience and he
felt bad about using Delilah.
He became a liability,
so you had to take him out.
You poisoned him and
you stole the USB drive.
Mission accomplished.
I already told you I was in
the library, Agent McGee.
Will was never in the
library that morning, was he?
Really got to hand it to her.
She's a phenomenal liar.
I know. I thought she was
a cheerleader from Fresno.
By way of Minsk.
She left out that part.
Breaking her
is the only way we're
gonna find the key.
Let's not waste
our time, Director.
She was telling the
truth about one thing.
She really was in the library?
Yup. Her alibi checks out.
She is a foreign agent but she
could not have killed Watson.
Which means that access
key is still out there.
The FBI thanks
you, Ms. Fielding.
Is thanks really enough?
I mean, you should be
sending her a fruit basket.
I did kind of catch a spy
for them, didn't I? Hmm.
But we still have to
find that access key.
Can you text the
nanny and tell her
we will be home late?
Uh, no, but I can ask
her to watch the kids
while you go home
and get some rest.
Are you
being serious right now?
I am not going anywhere
until we find the key.
Hey, if Delilah is offering
to help, we'll take it.
Not that you're not enough
all by yourself, McGee.
So, where are we?
Classic dead end.
Watson's classmates are
the obvious suspects.
They're the only ones
who might have understood
the value of the access key.
We triple-checked their
alibis, and they're all solid.
There's got to be
something we're missing.
Not something. Someone.
This isn't the original roster.
There was this kid...
Um, Logan...
Who failed the first project
and-and quit the
class after that.
You mean this Logan?
Yeah, that's him.
That's Watson's roommate.
Where do we find him?
I'm logging in to
his student account.
This is strange.
Looks like Logan
backdoored his way
into Waverly's main
server two days ago.
Well, he must have
used the access key.
What was he after?
On Waverly's server?
Could be anything from
government R and D to
contact information of the
nation's top officials.
Well, it looks like
we didn't get rid
of all the Waverly spies.
All right, let's
go finish the job.
Anyone have
eyes on our target?
Cell phone ping puts
him within 50 yards.
Negative. Knight?
Negative.
A lot of civilians.
I don't like it.
That's why we got to move fast,
take him down without weapons.
So, I have a question.
With all the undercover
agents and foreign spies,
are there any students who
actually go to Waverly?
I don't know, but if we lose
this guy to another dog groomer,
it's gonna be
bye-bye, calm Torres.
Ooh, what would Dr. Grace say?
McGee, got a visual
on, uh, the suspect.
Guy on a scooter.
All right, I'm on him.
Oh, he made me.
If you can slow him
down, I got him.
No problem.
Sorry. Official
government business.
NCIS! All right, back off,
back off. Give us some room.
Get up.
Way to improvise, Knight.
Your aim is impeccable.
Thanks. I was captain
of the disc golf
team in college.
Where's the USB drive?
It's in my pocket.
I-I would have given
it back if you'd asked.
Well, you didn't give us a
chance to. You started running.
I thought you were gonna arrest
me for giving Will drugs.
I did it so I could
get to his flash drive.
I didn't know he'd have
that kind of reaction.
That's the least of
your problems right now.
You know what's
worse is violating
the Computer Fraud
and Abuse Act.
Or the Espionage Act.
You're not a very good spy.
- Spy? That's because I'm
not one. - Yeah,
that's what they all say.
All right, look, just
hold up, hold up.
Logan, right?
If you weren't spying
then why did you access
the school's server?
Changing his grades?
Like Matthew
Broderick in WarGames?
Yup. Solid reference,
by the way. Hmm.
Well, I guess it's nice to know
at least one of my students
was just a cheater, not a spy.
Logan said he didn't
consider it cheating.
Said he would have gotten
all A's if he hadn't spent
so much time pledging DPB.
Nowhere in the multiverse is
that kid getting straight A's.
Well, I'm just glad
the last few days
haven't ruined your passion
for teaching, you know?
I mean, you're so good at it.
Well, I might have you
do background checks
on future students.
Hmm. But
I don't know, how
many professors
get to say their side gig is
catching spies with
their husband? Hmm.
Tim?
Hmm?
You okay?
Yeah. Sorry. I'm,
uh, I'm just tired.
You can't
stay up all night
staring at a blank page.
I'm really starting to worry.
Well, if it makes you feel
any better, I actually
got more writing done last
night than I have in months.
Yeah?
Yeah. You were right.
Just needed a new muse.
That's so great. Mm.
Oh, and your fans
will be so excited
to read a new Deep Six mystery.
L.J. Tibbs is retired,
remember? Yeah.
So I have a new main character
that I think the fans are gonna
love just as much as I do.
Well, are you gonna
tell me about him?
It's a her.
She is a beautiful,
brilliant, cryptologist
by the name of Delena Fleming.
And does Delena
get to solve cases with her
equally-brilliant husband?
Well, you'll just
have to wait and see.
Captioning sponsored by CBS
and TOYOTA.
how much water it takes
to grow one almond?
Why would I possibly know that?
I'm just saying if you really
cared about the environment,
you would switch to oat milk.
Says the girl who insists
on driving everywhere,
even if she's only
going two blocks.
I have plantar fasciitis.
Yeah, and last week
you had valley fever.
Um, are you seeing this?
Oh, this is so going viral.
Uh...
What are you doing?
Are you okay?
No, I was just
assaulted!
Oh, my God!
Well, don't just
stand there, call 911!
No. It is
an all-girls weekend.
All right, all
I'm saying is that
I bring a lot to the
table, all right?
Morning, McGee. Morning.
Earth to McGee.
Sorry, I was in the
zone there. Morning.
I will never
understand how you find
after action reports so...
Gripping and fascinating.
Mm-hmm.
Well, I do love a good AAR,
but, uh, no, this is more
of a personal project.
You gonna make us ask?
Thom E. Gemcity is back, baby.
Yes!
Cool.
Oh, Knight...
Thom E. Gemcity?
That's his pen name.
Yeah. Anagram of Timothy McGee.
McGee. You're a novelist?
Yeah.
So the John Grisham of
NCIS has been sitting
six feet away from
me for two years now,
and I had no idea?
Well, I like to think of myself
more as a Tom Clancy
type, but yeah.
Okay, so what mystery is
Special Agent, uh, Tibbs
embarking on next?
Are you guys messing with me?
Why would you say that?
Your lead character's name
is Special Agent Tibbs?
Yeah. Because
"Gibbs" couldn't clear
legal?
Oh, no, Gibbs and Tibbs are
wildly different people.
Okay, man, so what?
Spit it out. What's the story?
Well, since, uh, Gibbs
is off doing his thing,
I figured that L.J. Tibbs
deserves a little R and R.
You're just gonna have to
wait and see what comes next.
Fine, I'll wait.
I do have a new
character idea for you.
Yeah? Yeah.
He's a badass Miami detective
by the name of Rick Soares.
Ooh, I wonder who that could be.
Oh, uh, Detective Rick Soares is
only inspired by
me, but I do have
some cool ideas I think
you're gonna love.
Mm.
Dead body in Alexandria.
Parker will meet us there.
All right, duty calls.
Well, I guess you'll have to
save those stories for later.
Oh, it's all good. I'll
just tell you on the way.
All right, so, we
first meet Soares
in a seedy downtown bar, okay?
Now, he's undercover.
And then, like, just randomly,
this mysterious woman
rolls up and just starts
making out with him.
So then Detective Soares
wakes up in a brothel
in the middle of
the Nevada desert
with, like, multiple guns
in his face. Right? Mm-hmm.
It's cool so far,
right? Yeah, yeah.
It's good, right?
Yeah, no, very cool.
So, then, we think
he's dead, Here you go.
All right, but then
he, like, kinda like,
"I recognize, like, that guy
from the sting at the-at
the riverboat." Mm.
Hey, McGee, did I hear
that you're writing again?
I mean, it's been a while, huh?
Well, now that we're
past the toddler phase,
Delilah and I have decided
that we're gonna do, uh,
well, whatever it is
we were, uh, doing
before we had small children.
That is so great to hear.
I know you're always happiest
when you're in front
of a typewriter.
Better not be any
thinly-veiled versions of me
in your new book, McGee.
Ooh, I would never.
Well, maybe Thom E.
Gemcity's next case can be
based on our nearly
naked victim here.
Oh, yeah, okay,
Jimmy.
Tim's got plenty of great
ideas coming his way,
so, uh, what do we got?
According to the CAC
he was carrying, his
name is William Watson.
He was supposed to
participate in NROTC drills
at the base this morning,
but multiple cell phone
videos show him stripping off
all of his clothes and running
into the street instead.
No offense, Jimmy,
but doesn't sound like
a very compelling story.
Well, you haven't even
heard the mystery yet.
This guy's body temperature
was 107 degrees.
He was suffering
from heatstroke.
In the middle of winter?
Therein lies the mystery.
Well, maybe he
was trying to jump
into that fountain over there.
Any idea why the
spike in temperature?
Yeah. Drugs, poison, hot yoga.
We'll know more when we
get him back to autopsy.
This is everything
that he had on,
plus wallet and keys.
Where's his phone?
Either somebody stole it
or he wasn't carrying one.
But I did find this
receipt in his wallet.
Café in Alexandria
couple hours ago.
Paid cash.
Hey, who wants to
go check it out?
Uh, I could use
a caffeine boost.
I'll go check it
out. Are those
Watson's?
Uh, unless somebody
else left their shoes
in the middle of the sidewalk.
Ooh. Uh, why?
Because these are LV Trainers
that happen to be in
my dream colorway.
Those are nice, man.
Right? Yeah.
McGee, are you a novelist
and a sneaker head?
Oh, yeah, but, uh,
Delilah would kill me
if I paid $1,500
for a pair of shoes.
Yeah.
You know, if only
we had another way
to expand on that
shoe collection.
You know,
sometimes, when the case
is done, the victim's
families don't always pick up
their personal belongings.
That's all I'm
saying. Just saying.
Here's an idea. Let's spend
less time shoe shopping
and more on the crime
right in front of us.
Yeah. Yeah.
I will take those.
And I'll see if I can
find our victim's phone.
And I'll see if I can find out
what he was doing at the café.
Let's not bury the lede here.
We need to find out
how a midshipman
can afford $1,500 shoes.
So I ran Watson's
financials, or lack thereof,
and there is no credit history,
no savings and no
checking accounts.
And yet his shoes cost more than
most people make in a week.
And no traditional
phone plan either.
Uh, the wireless company said
he had a pay-as-you-go account.
Uses burner phones, pays cash.
So, multiple witnesses
at the café report
seeing Watson hanging
around the back alley
early this morning.
Could have been dealing.
Café have any cameras?
Well, none that work.
But I was able to score
some security footage
from a business
across the alley.
Well, there's our victim.
Back alley is a good
place for a drug deal.
McGee.
Isn't that your wife?
Tim, what is Delilah doing
meeting with our victim?
That's a good question.
She's not answering.
My wife just met with a drug
dealer, and she's not answering.
Possible drug dealer.
Oh, thank God, it's Delilah.
She's okay?
Yeah. I don't know
why I-I panicked.
Well, maybe because
she just met with
a possible drug dealer.
No, I forgot she had class.
Back alley meeting class?
Fundamentals in
Cryptography. She's teaching.
Since when?
Well, since the, uh,
twins started school.
Something she
always wanted to do
and she was offered a
part-time professorship
at Waverly, so...
Waverly University?
Yeah.
Our victim went to that school.
He must have been
one of her students.
A student she never mentioned?
Well, Delilah tells me
about all her students,
just not by name.
Pull up the roster.
There he is.
Why would she and a
student sneak into
an off-campus café
through the back door?
Delilah doesn't sneak anywhere.
That café isn't
wheelchair-accessible,
so she would have had to
go through the kitchen.
The kitchen?
Yeah. Sucks, but we run into
that type of thing all the time.
That's not cool.
Yeah, whose heads
are we busting?
Busting heads
sounds about right.
Or I've got a friend at
DoJ's civil rights division.
He can help file a complaint.
Oh, give me that number.
After we solve the case.
Whether she's involved
or not, Delilah may be
our best lead on this right now.
Torres, Knight, keep
digging into our victim.
McGee, with me.
Where to?
To find out what
your wife knows.
So, to review,
Alice and Bob first
need to decide
on a prime modulus
and a generator,
where P is prime
and G is a primitive root mod P.
You have any idea what
she's talking about?
Not a clue, but
they're eating it up.
She's good, isn't she? Unless she
has one of their secret integers.
And that is Diffie-Hellman
in a nutshell.
We'll leave it there for today.
Tim, what's going on?
Are the kids okay?
Kids are fine. Kids are fine.
Then why are you showing
up at my work unannounced
with that look on your face?
You must be Delilah's husband.
Uh, you must be Evelyn.
I am.
You a student here?
Well, I consider myself
a lifelong learner.
But I am actually
Delilah's T.A.
I cannot believe
that I am finally meeting
the famous Agent
Tim McGee in person.
A federal agent and
a best-selling author?
I can see why
Delilah married you.
Uh, I'm the one that married up.
No disagreement
there. But, uh,
this isn't a social
visit, Evelyn.
We, uh, we need to have
a word with Delilah.
Evelyn, how about we start
grading last week's assignment
on AES? It'll be
just a minute.
Consider it done.
Again, so lovely to meet you.
So, what's going on?
We're here about William Watson.
Oh, he's not here.
He had some NROTC
training today.
He was hit by a
car this morning.
What? Is he okay?
Afraid not. He didn't make it.
What? Oh, my God.
He had so
much potential.
He was one of my
brightest students.
He reminded me of you, actually.
I'm sorry, honey.
You met with Watson
this morning?
We met every week.
So this was ongoing?
No, it's-it's fine.
She can be with a student
without it being a thing.
Thank you, Tim.
So why, exactly,
were you meeting?
To discuss his research project
on modern cryptologic
uses for dead languages.
Did you notice anything
out of the ordinary
this morning?
Why? I thought you said
he was hit by a car.
After he, uh, stripped
off his clothes
and ran into the street.
Vanilla latte, extra hot.
I love that you know
my coffee order.
I love that you
are secure enough
to unashamedly drink
vanilla lattes.
Life's too short for bad coffee.
Mm. Cheers to that.
Give me the good stuff.
Well, speaking of
the good stuff, uh,
Kasie just sent down
Watson's tox report.
Anything interesting?
Only if you count
incredibly high levels of
methylenedioxymethamphetamines,
more commonly known as...
MDMA. Mm-hmm.
Ecstasy.
But even levels that
high wouldn't kill him.
Not that I'm speaking
from personal experience,
because I wouldn't want you
to think that I've dabbled,
because I wouldn't assume
that you've dabbled. Oh, no.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
Um, yes, I have.
Um, it was a clinical trial
for science.
Closely monitored by
medical professionals.
I was broke and it
really paid well.
We should come back to that.
Yeah, I think so.
Watson's very high
body temperature
was not caused by MDMA.
It was caused by
serotonin syndrome.
It's an incredibly
rare complication when
MDMA interacts with
MAOI antidepressants.
So you're saying this was just
an unfortunate accident?
I don't know. I-I
don't know of anyone
who takes this amount of
MDMA at 8:00 in the morning
unless they're
Hunter S. Thompson,
and I did not see
gonzo journalism
on this kid's class list.
His school records did say that
he was, uh, pledging
a fraternity.
Maybe hazing gone wrong?
Hi, we're... Yo, someone's
parents are here.
Ouch.
Do I have crow's
feet or something?
No, you look beautiful.
So do you. Thank you.
We're no one's parents.
NCIS.
We're not the alcohol police
but we are gonna
need to see some IDs.
We're here about
Will Watson. Will?
Hasn't been here all day.
And you are?
Logan. Will's roommate.
You find Will, let him know
Mike's looking for him, too.
Why are you looking for him?
Since he went MIA I had to do
my own laundry this morning.
This was my favorite shirt.
You're supposed to use
non-chlorine bleach
when washing colors.
And you'll speak when
spoken to, pledge.
Soon as Will walks through
those doors I'm gonna kill him.
Well, you're gonna
be waiting a while.
I can't
believe Will's dead.
He was such a good guy.
A little stiff, but cool.
Did the active
brothers subject you
to any kind of
hazing? Not really.
Just normal stuff like
writing their papers,
running errands, doing laundry.
That doesn't feel
like hazing to you?
Well, the beer's free.
But that's the only
drug we do here.
What about Will? Did
he take anything?
You obviously never met Will.
He was too
straightlaced for that.
The straightlaced are always
the ones hiding something.
that's probably the
dean's list announcement.
We were gonna celebrate
after we made it.
The guys in this
house don't strike me
as the honor roll type.
Most of them aren't.
But Will was different.
He knew there were
more important things
to being a Delta Pi Beta.
Though none of that seems
important right now.
Hmm. What do we have here?
I've never seen that before.
Well, let's see what's on it.
Do I really want to know
what a college freshman
is hiding on a computer
underneath his bed?
Get your mind out of
the gutter, Knight.
I have no idea what this is,
but it is the last
thing I expected.
Oh, you don't read C++?
Uh, we're not nerds.
Oh...
And I mean that in
the most
loving way possible.
But what is it?
Wait a minute.
This is a root-based algorithm
belonging to the U.S. military.
And ROTC midshipmen
don't have access
to classified intel.
So, how did Watson get it?
And why was he hiding
it under his mattress?
This could be why.
Restricted coding libraries
for several government agencies.
DIA, CIA, NSA?
Well, that doesn't sound good.
They're each pretty
harmless on their own, but
somehow this kid found a way
to use them to build an
incredibly power cipher.
Kasie. How powerful?
Think a digital key that
could be used to bypass
any security measure imaginable.
From simple passwords to
state-level encryption.
Well, that definitely
sounds bad.
A universal key like
this could be used to
rob banks, to hold
entire cities'
power grids hostage.
Take down planes?
In the wrong hands,
it could create
global chaos.
How could a single
college kid compromise
so many government agencies?
Anacostia's home to the DIA.
It's possible that Watson
used his base access
to get into their system.
From there he could
have leapfrogged
from one agency
server to another.
Homeland security
is in the process of
changing the access codes
across all government servers.
That's gonna take
some time. Right.
Meanwhile, their director's
breathing down my
neck for answers.
JBAB technicians just confirmed
that all servers
there are secure.
Well, that rules out
DIA as an access point.
So how the hell did
this kid get in?
There's a possibility that
we have yet to discuss.
I can't believe
Vance and Parker think I have
something to do with this.
Honey, we wouldn't
be doing our job
if we didn't look into
this, given your proximity
to Will and your
government clearance.
I'm-I'm sure there's
nothing there.
Do you realize how dangerous
this thing could be
in the wrong hands?
Of course. I told them
you'd never be this reckless.
Will wouldn't either.
He was a first-year
computer science major.
I mean, he was brilliant,
but this is beyond.
He could not have done this.
Well, maybe he had help.
What? You-you okay?
He did have help.
You see this?
Yeah, it's how Will was able
to hop from server to server.
This is a program I
wrote in grad school
that would allow computers to
talk to each other offline.
I could never get it to
work. I guess Will did.
How did he get your code?
He was struggling and-and
wanted to drop the class
and I thought that
maybe showing him
some of my past failures
would help him realize
that we all start somewhere.
He must have copied it.
Well, you had no way of knowing
what he was gonna do with it.
But that doesn't change the fact
that I'm responsible for this.
I could lose my job, my
government clearance.
I could go to prison.
Honey, you are not
gonna go to prison.
Listen, I will explain
to the director that
you were an unwilling
participant, okay?
I just wish you hadn't
kept him a secret.
You know, it makes it harder
to get out in front
of this thing.
I didn't keep him a secret.
Well, you didn't tell
me about him either.
I'm sure I must have
mentioned him at some point.
Delilah, I would have
remembered you having weekly
off-campus meetings, okay?
What are you getting at?
Uh, forget I said anything.
Never-never mind.
Sounds like you're
jealous. I am not jealous.
Tell me what it is, then.
You know what, I'll give you
some time to think about it
while I go explain
to the director
what's going on
myself. Delilah, wait.
Don't follow me, Tim.
We'll finish this
conversation tonight.
Oh, uh, i-is it just me
or was it exceptionally
brisk this morning?
I felt a chill
this morning, yes.
Alexa, how cold is it outside?
Today in
Washington D.C.,
expect a low of 44
degrees Fahrenheit.
I would have said 43.
It is a good thing that
you are a federal agent
and not a meteorologist.
Oh. Oh, hey.
Hey. Um, how much of
that did you hear?
Ninety percent, tops.
I'd say about 95. Mm.
I hate to add to your
problems right now,
but we got a big one.
Well, lay it on me.
Metadata from Watson's laptop
shows the key was downloaded
to an external drive.
He made a copy.
But we didn't find any
external drives in his room.
So where is it?
I didn't think anything
about it at the crime scene,
but it looks like something's
been ripped off here.
Uh, Kase, pull up the CCTV
footage from the alley.
Punch in.
There it is.
It looks like a USB drive.
It's gone now.
Someone could have stolen it.
Any DNA or prints
on the key ring?
Uh, no, it was wiped.
Super wiped.
With bleach.
Remind me again what
happened to your shirt.
I accidentally used bleach
instead of laundry detergent.
That's not a crime.
Well, some would say a
grown man not knowing
how to wash his own
laundry is a crime,
but potato,
"potahto."
I think you used the
bleach on purpose...
to wipe off Will's keys.
Why would I do that?
To cover up the fact that you
took something off of them
before he died.
I mean, you did say that
you wanted to kill Will.
I was being funny.
That was hilarious.
I never touched Will's keys
and I didn't give him drugs.
You can't arrest me for
something I didn't do.
What could we arrest him for?
Obstruction of justice?
Oh, that's a good one.
That's, like, five.
Ten years, actually.
Especially if the obstruction is
related to domestic terrorism.
Terrorism?
Ooh, you know what that means.
Mm-hmm. Supermax.
Okay, okay, I'll tell you
whatever you want to know,
but I didn't kill him.
Okay, let's try this again.
What's missing here?
Some kind of flash
drive, I think.
I don't know what's on it.
You spent almost every
waking moment with Will.
He never mentioned
anything about it?
He never mentioned
anything to anyone.
I tried to be a good
brother, get to know him,
but the dude was
weirdly secretive.
Paranoid, even.
What makes you say that?
How about the time will
punched Jared in the face?
Which one was Jared again?
He's the one who called us old.
For the record, she
and I are very young.
Why did Will punch
Jared in the face?
Will found Jared
poking around his room,
assumed he was stealing,
just started whaling on him.
Did Will get
written up for that?
Yeah, that's not how it
works. And to be honest, that
dude was bound to get
punched eventually.
Elaborate on that.
So, pledges are supposed to wait
on active members hand and foot.
Jared was never around.
Other guys had enough
picking up his slack.
Will wanted to report him
to the national board.
So you're saying that
Jared killed Will
because Will was
gonna tattle on him?
You're the investigators.
You tell me.
There's a lot about
Jared Baker that doesn't add up.
First red flag:
he has about
$500,000 tied up in
an offshore account.
Where'd he get
that kind of money?
The money was deposited
right around the same time
as he joined, uh, Delta Pi Beta,
six weeks after the rest of
the pledge class. All right.
So Jared somehow finds out
about the access key, then
joins the fraternity
to get close enough
to Watson to steal it?
Maybe that's why Jared was
poking around his room.
And why Watson punched
him in the face for it.
Technology like
that would sell for way more
than 500K on the
black market, right?
Well, could be a down payment.
And Jared could be getting
the other half on delivery.
All right, then
let's scoop him up
before he has a chance
to close the deal.
Circled the perimeter.
House seems pretty quiet.
Probably out on
a beer run. Mm.
Parker, anything?
Torres, where's
that pizza from?
Pizzeria Diablo. Why?
That's the best
Neapolitan place in town.
Frat parties have changed
since I was in college.
I'm guessing a lot has changed
since he was in college.
Guessing you, uh, didn't mean
to say that one out loud, huh?
You
guessed correctly.
All right, Torres, Knight,
there's our guy.
Hey, Jared.
You remember us?
Got a runner! Stop!
He's headed your way!
All right, we got him.
NCIS! Stop!
He's going for the van!
Damn it!
Parker, let's go.
Don't bother.
Hey, what the hell was that?
Did that kid just
carjack a dog groomer?
No, he did not.
Molly's Mobile Dog
Grooming is a fake business
used for undercover operations.
Undercover operations by whom?
The FBI.
We've been chasing an agent.
NCIS should have been read in
the minute this
became a murder case.
I'm supposed to be the one
who's mad here. Your team almost
blew my cover. Agent Clarkson,
might I remind you
Director Sweeney himself sent
you over here this morning
so you'd cooperate
with our team.
So, what's an undercover FBI
agent doing in a frat house?
I'm part of a special
unit responsible
for ferreting out foreign
spies on college campuses.
IP theft has become one
of our biggest national
security concerns.
Not a bad gig.
You try being 37 and
living in a frat house.
Did he say thirty seven?
Hey, you called me old.
I didn't use those words.
And I'm sorry about
the "parents" dig,
but I had to maintain my cover.
Yeah. Sure, whatever.
How do you keep your
skin that smooth?
More importantly,
how does an NROTC midshipman
factor into a
collegiate spy ring?
Our intel says
that Will Watson was recruited
by Belarus to build
the access key.
I was placed in the frat
house to recover it.
I assume you didn't succeed
or we wouldn't be here now.
No, but I was able to clone
the burner Watson used
to communicate with his handler.
You got an ID on the handler?
They used a cipher so advanced
that even our best
techs haven't been able
to decode the messages.
Well, maybe NCIS can
make some progress
where the FBI could not.
Look, I'll give
you whatever I have
if it means I never
have to step foot
in that disgusting
frat house ever again.
We have already tried
every cipher known to man.
I'm out of ideas.
Well, we could try a
brute force attack.
And be here till next Wednesday?
Oh.
You know who we should call?
No. No, no, no. She's
been through enough.
It is very nice that you are
trying to protect your wife,
but this is Delilah's
exact area of expertise.
I am sure she'd like to help.
Delilah does not need
my protection, okay?
And we can handle
this on our own.
Please tell me you
apologized for yesterday.
I did. But I'll be
honest with you.
I don't feel great about where
we left things last night.
I don't feel great
about it, either.
I was just about
to tell you that...
Kasie called me 20 minutes ago.
You know what?
I am going to...
Alexa, what's on my
to-do list for today?
You have one
item on your to-do list.
Drink more water. Thank God.
Um, Kasie? You heard the lady.
I got to hydrate.
You have a fridge
full of bottled water.
We are in a climate
crisis, McGee,
and I'm trying to reduce
my carbon footprint, so...
Can't argue with that.
Please fix this by
the time I get back.
We have work to do
and we need her help.
Well, Kasie's right.
We got work to do.
We need to talk.
We can't work together
unless we're gonna be
honest with each other.
I wasn't intentionally
keeping anything from you.
I'm so sorry.
No, I-I... I know you weren't.
And I'm the one that's sorry,
okay? I-I feel terrible.
Oh, not as terrible as I feel
watching you torture
yourself over this novel.
What do you mean? The
novel is going great.
I'm just, you know,
having some trouble
getting started.
You've been stuck on
page three for weeks.
In fact...
you've barely written a word
since Gibbs left for Alaska.
Hey.
Gibbs is not what
makes you great.
Yeah, but Thom E. Gemcity
may never have another
idea without him.
You are the most creative
person I have ever met.
You will have more ideas.
You just need a new muse.
Yeah, you're probably right.
You usually are.
I wish you would have
told me this earlier.
I could have helped.
Well, you've been so happy
since you started teaching.
I didn't want to bring
you down with me.
I love solving
problems with you, Tim.
We're a team.
Well, can we work on solving
this particular problem
a little bit later?
I think Kasie's water bottle
is probably overflowing by now.
Mm-hmm. Okay.
Our victim was a spy?
The FBI believes that
Watson was recruited by
Belarus after he got to campus,
by a handler who was already
embedded at the school.
Assuming they stuck to
their regular schedule,
Watson was supposed to meet
the handler the day he died.
Well, maybe our
handler's the killer.
Oh, that makes sense.
Once the access
key is operational,
Watson becomes more of a
liability than an asset. Ah.
If we can figure
out where they met,
maybe we can ID the handler.
Well, Watson lost the USB drive
somewhere between the café
where he met Delilah and
the street where he died.
Yeah, we did our best
to track his movements,
but there is a ten-minute period
where he's unaccounted for.
So, if the handler did
steal the access key
they would have done so
within a five-block radius
of the café.
That still leaves us
with hundreds of suspects.
I don't like those odds.
Well, our odds are about
to improve significantly.
I know how we can decode the
messages on Will's burner.
How?
Use Will's own
invention against him.
FBI techs said the messages
were undecipherable,
even with Watson's access key.
Which is why I made my own.
Watson developed his key
using pieces of a program
that Delilah created
15 years ago.
I could never
get it to work back then,
but after seeing the
way Will modified it,
I realized my mistake.
Does creating an even
more powerful cipher
sound like a bad
idea to anyone else?
Oh, it's a very bad idea.
Which is why we are going
to destroy the cipher
immediately after
we figure out who
Watson was working with.
And the rest of you are going
to forget you ever saw this.
That will not be a problem.
I don't even know what this is.
All right. Here we go.
Nice work, Delilah.
Seems like NCIS hired
the wrong McGee.
You got to be kidding.
You know who the handler is?
Yeah. We've met.
Hello, Evelyn.
Agent Torres.
You know Agent McGee.
Tim, hi.
Oh.
I mean, Agent McGee.
I'm sorry. I just feel
like I know you so well.
Thanks for, uh, coming
in on such short notice.
Are you kidding?
This is so cool.
I feel like I'm in
one of your books.
Yeah, and tell me
something, Agent Torres.
As an investigator yourself,
how accurate is the
Deep Six series?
All right, let's leave
the book club thing
till after we're done, yeah?
Of course.
I am more than
happy to assist NCIS
in your investigation.
Great.
All right, well, let's start
with, uh, where you were
between 7:30 and 8:00
a.m. on the day Will died.
Uh, in the library prepping
for Delilah's class.
Okay, we'll have to have
an agent verify that.
Mm, uh, yeah, go ahead.
Why would I lie?
Well, you've been lying
to us this whole time,
so, why stop now?
I'm telling the
truth, Agent Torres.
Okay, then what can you tell us
about your
relationship with Will?
I mean, outside of
grading his papers,
I didn't really know him.
Do you often text coded messages
to people you don't really know?
Ugh.
Okay. Okay, that's
what this is about?
Oh. I can explain.
Well, I can't wait to hear.
Yeah, it was for class.
So, um, everyone
created their own code
and then swapped to see
whose they could break.
Will's code is
pretty sophisticated.
I know, right?
I was really impressed.
It's actually what attracted
me to him in the first place.
Ah, so you two were involved?
If anyone found out, I-I
could lose my scholarship.
So-so we just figured that if...
if we communicated
using his code,
we'd keep our secret.
Hmm. Yeah, that's a cool story.
Except the messages
tell a different one.
We decoded them.
Yeah. Okay.
Now who's lying, Agent Torres?
That's impossible.
For most people.
Yeah, his wife is
not most people.
See, the real story is that
Will Watson was a foreign
agent and you were his handler.
But you two had
different ideologies.
You were mission-focused
but Will was starting to care
more about having a traditional
college experience and he
felt bad about using Delilah.
He became a liability,
so you had to take him out.
You poisoned him and
you stole the USB drive.
Mission accomplished.
I already told you I was in
the library, Agent McGee.
Will was never in the
library that morning, was he?
Really got to hand it to her.
She's a phenomenal liar.
I know. I thought she was
a cheerleader from Fresno.
By way of Minsk.
She left out that part.
Breaking her
is the only way we're
gonna find the key.
Let's not waste
our time, Director.
She was telling the
truth about one thing.
She really was in the library?
Yup. Her alibi checks out.
She is a foreign agent but she
could not have killed Watson.
Which means that access
key is still out there.
The FBI thanks
you, Ms. Fielding.
Is thanks really enough?
I mean, you should be
sending her a fruit basket.
I did kind of catch a spy
for them, didn't I? Hmm.
But we still have to
find that access key.
Can you text the
nanny and tell her
we will be home late?
Uh, no, but I can ask
her to watch the kids
while you go home
and get some rest.
Are you
being serious right now?
I am not going anywhere
until we find the key.
Hey, if Delilah is offering
to help, we'll take it.
Not that you're not enough
all by yourself, McGee.
So, where are we?
Classic dead end.
Watson's classmates are
the obvious suspects.
They're the only ones
who might have understood
the value of the access key.
We triple-checked their
alibis, and they're all solid.
There's got to be
something we're missing.
Not something. Someone.
This isn't the original roster.
There was this kid...
Um, Logan...
Who failed the first project
and-and quit the
class after that.
You mean this Logan?
Yeah, that's him.
That's Watson's roommate.
Where do we find him?
I'm logging in to
his student account.
This is strange.
Looks like Logan
backdoored his way
into Waverly's main
server two days ago.
Well, he must have
used the access key.
What was he after?
On Waverly's server?
Could be anything from
government R and D to
contact information of the
nation's top officials.
Well, it looks like
we didn't get rid
of all the Waverly spies.
All right, let's
go finish the job.
Anyone have
eyes on our target?
Cell phone ping puts
him within 50 yards.
Negative. Knight?
Negative.
A lot of civilians.
I don't like it.
That's why we got to move fast,
take him down without weapons.
So, I have a question.
With all the undercover
agents and foreign spies,
are there any students who
actually go to Waverly?
I don't know, but if we lose
this guy to another dog groomer,
it's gonna be
bye-bye, calm Torres.
Ooh, what would Dr. Grace say?
McGee, got a visual
on, uh, the suspect.
Guy on a scooter.
All right, I'm on him.
Oh, he made me.
If you can slow him
down, I got him.
No problem.
Sorry. Official
government business.
NCIS! All right, back off,
back off. Give us some room.
Get up.
Way to improvise, Knight.
Your aim is impeccable.
Thanks. I was captain
of the disc golf
team in college.
Where's the USB drive?
It's in my pocket.
I-I would have given
it back if you'd asked.
Well, you didn't give us a
chance to. You started running.
I thought you were gonna arrest
me for giving Will drugs.
I did it so I could
get to his flash drive.
I didn't know he'd have
that kind of reaction.
That's the least of
your problems right now.
You know what's
worse is violating
the Computer Fraud
and Abuse Act.
Or the Espionage Act.
You're not a very good spy.
- Spy? That's because I'm
not one. - Yeah,
that's what they all say.
All right, look, just
hold up, hold up.
Logan, right?
If you weren't spying
then why did you access
the school's server?
Changing his grades?
Like Matthew
Broderick in WarGames?
Yup. Solid reference,
by the way. Hmm.
Well, I guess it's nice to know
at least one of my students
was just a cheater, not a spy.
Logan said he didn't
consider it cheating.
Said he would have gotten
all A's if he hadn't spent
so much time pledging DPB.
Nowhere in the multiverse is
that kid getting straight A's.
Well, I'm just glad
the last few days
haven't ruined your passion
for teaching, you know?
I mean, you're so good at it.
Well, I might have you
do background checks
on future students.
Hmm. But
I don't know, how
many professors
get to say their side gig is
catching spies with
their husband? Hmm.
Tim?
Hmm?
You okay?
Yeah. Sorry. I'm,
uh, I'm just tired.
You can't
stay up all night
staring at a blank page.
I'm really starting to worry.
Well, if it makes you feel
any better, I actually
got more writing done last
night than I have in months.
Yeah?
Yeah. You were right.
Just needed a new muse.
That's so great. Mm.
Oh, and your fans
will be so excited
to read a new Deep Six mystery.
L.J. Tibbs is retired,
remember? Yeah.
So I have a new main character
that I think the fans are gonna
love just as much as I do.
Well, are you gonna
tell me about him?
It's a her.
She is a beautiful,
brilliant, cryptologist
by the name of Delena Fleming.
And does Delena
get to solve cases with her
equally-brilliant husband?
Well, you'll just
have to wait and see.
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