NCIS (2003–…): Season 9, Episode 23 - Up in Smoke - full transcript

Previously on NCIS:

Someone was looking
for Navy secrets.

- A list.
- Of what?

Every Navy warship
that contains the faulty wiring.

- Find something?
- An explosive device

hidden on a pallet.

Unh!

- Who put you up to this, Fullerton?
- Harper Dearing.

Harper Dearing. He's the
CEO of Dorado Hills Investments.

- May I help you?
- Where's Dearing? We've a warrant.

Look, I haven't heard from him
in over a year.

You said Dearing had a son.
Did you get a DNA match?

They found a familial match.

There is 99.9 percent probability
that Harper Dearing is your guy.

Harper Dearing. Let's go.
We've got work to do.

Uh-huh. And then what happened?

Uh, I don't know. I hit her.

You must've been pretty scared.

- How badly did she hurt you?
- Well, it's all right.

You were lucky.

- Yeah, right, yeah.
- You can say that again.

Got it.

Oh, yeah.
You definitely fractured your implant.

Looks like a popcorn kernel.
I can see the pieces.

- Popcorn kernel?
- Oh, yeah.

Happens all the time.

Most people don't realize
the tensile strength of the...

- What's wrong?
- This implant isn't solid.

No wonder you fractured it.

Was that in my tooth? Heh.

- Wait. Did somebody bug my mouth?
- What did you say you did again?

I had no idea you were this anal.

- Even the inside has to be cleaned?
- No.

My line's been staticky.

I think there's dust
on my circuit board.

No room for error this week.

Well, careful you don't
electrocute yourself over there.

It's impossible. The system
uses low-voltage DC current.

It's interesting. You seem proud
to know this information.

Shh. He's back.

How many bodies
you say you found?

Now, calm down. Tell me again
what floor was the explosion on?

- I thought I heard it ring.
- Oh, come on.

You guys, just give me one hint
as to what Abby has planned.

It is my bachelor party, okay?
I've got a right to know.

Sorry, she swore us to secrecy
and she scares me more than you.

God, I think I made a big mistake
making her my best man.

Relax, Jimmy. Everything's fine.

Just make sure you're up
on your hepatitis vaccinations.

- Hepatitis?
- Get a good pair of knee pads.

And a good helmet.

You are te...
You guys are messing with me.

Are we?

- Two words.
- Abby Sciuto.

What is Abby planning?

You know, I'm still not really sure,
but maybe Ziva knows.

Miss Ziva, what is Abby planning?

I have a statement from the dentist.
And the evidence.

Agent Gibbs, I have no clue
what's going on,

- but I can assure you...
- You better hope you can.

Hey.

Stay.

- I called Gibbs, he called Ziva.
- And?

And I think I'm in a lot of trouble.

It's definitely some kind
of acoustic listening device.

Somebody thinks Dorneget
is more interesting than we do.

Dorneget said the implant
had been there for years.

Never. That device wouldn't last
more than a couple of months

in a place as inhospitable
as the human mouth.

Did he have
work done recently?

Two weeks ago. Dorneget's
regular dentist called and said

there was a recall on his implant
and that it needed to be replaced.

- Did he?
- Yes. Then yesterday,

that replacement was
knocked loose by...

Popcorn kernel.
I can see the pieces.

Tried to go back to his
dentist, but he wouldn't return his calls.

The plot thickens.

So he went to see a new dentist
and he discovered the, tsk, bug.

Can you trace the signal, Abs?

On a unit that small,
it would be a really short range.

It probably used Dorneget's cell phone
as a booster. I'll have to look.

Holy molar.

What?

Graphene.
That's the electrical source.

It looks like it's acting
as a piezoelectric substrate.

- It's genius.
- If you say so.

Piezoelectricity is the conversion
of pressure into an electric current.

- So every time Dorneget would chew...
- The pressure on the graphene

- charged the battery.
- It's brilliant.

- Someone should patent this.
- Maybe somebody did.

I like how you think.

Got a hit.
A patent was filed for 18 months ago.

By who?

Harper Dearing.

Oh, dear.

The newest addition
on our Most Wanted Wall.

And I just got my blood pressure
under control.

Harper Dearing, 61 years old,

CEO of a multinational
venture capital group,

- headquartered out of Virginia.
- That's, of course, his day job.

He's been very busy
building up a new r?sum?.

First, he burns down warehouses...

Almost blows up two Navy ships.

- Steals Dorneget's molar.
- We're looking for him.

- He's watching us.
- Dearing wanted to keep an eye

on our investigation,
then why bug a probationary agent?

Dorneget's a floater
in every department.

And he's a talker.
If Dearing had bugged Gibbs...

Yeah, all he'd hear is wood
being sanded.

Hi. Something told me
you could use my help.

So I brought some.

Ah.

You're wondering how I knew.

A girl's gotta have her secrets.

Mine is I can read your mind.

So since our CEO-turned-terrorist
has gone MIA,

his company
has been run by its president,

a man named Vincent Maple.

Wink?

- Go for it.
- Oh, yeah. Sorry.

I brought you NSA intercepts

of Dearing's last communications
with Maple from a year ago.

Thought they might help.

DiNozzo, Ziva, talk to Maple. See if
there's been any new contact. McGee.

I'll pick up the dentist that put in
Dorneget's fake tooth. On it.

- How did you know?
- Fine, you big baby.

DoD flagged Abby's search
of the patent office.

Dearing's public enemy number one.

- We're all looking for him.
- Could've told me.

Yeah. Where's the fun in that?

Okay, stick around, doc.

- You could end up being helpful.
- I already cleared it with SECNAV.

Hey, I told you
I could read your mind.

I don't care what Customs says.

No, we need those containers
on the shipping platform ASAP.

Call me back to confirm.

- Sorry to keep you waiting.
- We heard.

Now, I already told NCIS everything
that I know last week. I mean...

Yeah. Yeah, go for Maple.

He'll call you back.

All right,
can we just make this quick?

You told NCIS

since Dearing disappeared,
you've been running the company.

Yeah, all by myself.

And you have no clue where he went.

You care to explain this?

The last e-mail communication
between you and Dearing.

He says,
"I'm enjoying a mai tai on the beach

where you and I had gone surfing."

It seems like a clue to me.

Ah, well, no, not really.

I didn't mention it, I had
no idea what he was talking about.

We never went surfing.
I'm not exactly a beach kind of person.

Sand is itchy.

Guys, look, I'm cooperating, okay?
He may be my boss,

but I actually have family
serving on Navy ships right now.

Well, you think this reference
to surfing might be code?

L... Who knows?

Dearing had been saying odd things
for months before he disappeared. Ah.

I think he might be losing it.

I think that boat has already sailed.

Ship. But, yeah, close.

I'm Special Agent Gibbs.

And I'm here to tell if you're lying.

- Am I under arrest?
- Should you be?

No. But your agents didn't say
what you wanted to talk about.

It's funny, you didn't ask.

He a patient of yours?

I'm sorry, I can't discuss that.

- Doctor-patient confidentiality.
- Waiver.

Yes, he's a patient.

I replaced a molar implant of his
two weeks ago.

I had some concerns
about sterility issues

with the manufacturer
and was just being cautious.

Are you aware that your replacement
implant had a bug in it?

- No.
- He's lying.

No, I'm not.

You don't know who he is either.

I've never seen him before
in my life.

- Lying.
- I'm not lying.

Look, Ned was a patient.
I replaced an implant. End of story.

Now, I don't know anything
about any bugs.

And I certainly don't know
who that is.

Sorry to interrupt.
There's a call for Dr. Berman.

Take a message.

Boss, it's Dearing.

He's on the screen in MTAC.

Let's go.

Hello, Dr. Berman.

You recognize him now?

I, um...

No point in lying now, doctor.

You have my permission to tell NCIS
whatever they wanna hear.

Your cooperation may well carry
some weight with the judge.

How gracious.

I try to be considerate, Dr. Ryan.

Mark Twain said, "Always do right.

This will gratify some people
and astonish the rest."

Is that why you called?

To quote Twain to your dentist?

Agent Gibbs,
nice to finally meet you.

No, I did not call specifically
to speak to Dr. Berman.

I called specifically
to speak with you.

- About?
- It's important to know thy enemy,

- don't you think?
- I'm not your enemy.

Says the man who'd certainly kill me
if he had the chance.

Turn yourself in.

Nobody else needs to die.

Well, that's where
you're wrong, agent.

People die for a cause
every minute of every day.

These are innocent Navy personnel
being targeted.

Explain the cause.

Ask Agent Gibbs.

After all, this is all his fault.

I called because I think
he should know that.

- What did we miss?
- I don't know,

but it looks like Dorneget's
about to wet my chair.

Oh, you're sure you didn't discuss
any classified material

- in the last two weeks?
- No.

Wait. Is that a trick question?

No, she didn't ask one yet.

Maybe that's the trick.

How'd Dearing know
the dentist was here?

We're sweeping the entire building
for more bugs, Agent Gibbs.

I wanna know how Dearing
punched through MTAC's firewall.

- Dearing was in MTAC?
- Oh, yeah, bigger than hell.

Dorneget, get out of here.

- Did you learn anything from Maple?
- Well, Dearing's nuts.

Not nuts. Just a sociopathic,
paranoid narcissist.

I don't know why Abby asked
what kind of tattoo I want.

I'm not getting a tattoo, Breena. L...

Did you say dragon? Because
a dragon would be kind of cool.

- Boss, I talked to the dentist.
- Did he talk back?

He sang like a canary
after the call to Dearing.

- Did he admit to bugging Dorneget?
- Yeah, he claims he was forced to.

He said one of Dearing's guys
roughed him up.

Told him if he didn't implant the bug,
they'd kill him.

Dearing paid him for his troubles,
though. Ten grand in cash.

- Get a description?
- Even better.

- DiNozzo, BOLO.
- On it.

Ziva, get down to Abby.

Get her the money.
See if she can pull prints off it.

Hey, no matter what Dearing said,
you know this isn't your fault, right?

- Yeah, yeah, I know.
- Unfortunately, I get the sense

that Dearing actually believes it.

Hey.

I know.

Hi, Abby.

Hi, Jimmy.

So I was just thinking

that with all of this stuff
that's going on right now,

maybe tomorrow night
isn't such a good idea.

We're not canceling
your bachelor party.

What? No, no, no.
Who said cancel?

I already put down
a nonrefundable deposit

on 50 gallons of scented body lotion,
so...

Just postpone for a long, long,
long time or longer.

Look, I know with ships blowing up
and a crazy terrorist on the loose,

that it seems like
the worst possible time for a party.

Yes, I couldn't agree more.

But if there's one thing
that we've learned

working around all this death,
is that life must go on.

Right, and what exactly
does life going on entail, exactly?

With details.

Just trust me. It will be a night
that you'll never forget.

Assuming you don't have some
sort of head trauma or memory loss.

Okay, I'll... It just...
The joke is over. The joke is over.

I need to know what you have planned
for my bachelor party.

No, you want to know.

If you needed to know,
I would tell you.

Hold that thought. I got a hit
on my facial recognition program.

- Bachelor party or case?
- Case.

- Thank God.
- I've been running Dearing's face

against every database I can think of,
like traffic lights, airport cameras.

He's been laying low, but I thought
if I could find out where he's been...

You might find out where he went.
So where's he been?

Jimmy, that's a Navy Yard camera.

- Dearing was on the Navy Yard?
- No, not was. That's a live feed.

Dearing is on the Navy Yard.
Right now.

That's right, a total lockdown.
Every gate, window and access tunnel.

Start a perimeter search.
Two-man teams.

Probably armed.
Definitely dangerous.

Armed and dangerous. Yes.

We'll find him.
Couldn't have gone far.

Far enough.
He didn't come here to get caught.

Anybody got anything?

Sir, all stations report no sighting.

Continue the lockdown and search.

- Ziva.
- Dearing signed in at the gate

- as a civilian contractor.
- He had all the necessary credentials.

- Not hard for him.
- Guard says he left immediately

- after he arrived.
- Did he bring anything in?

- Just a briefcase.
- McGee, let's see the tape. Dorneget.

Supervise a sweep
of the surrounding area.

He wanted us to see him.

Ryan did say he was a narcissist.

Could be a contact poison.

Or another bug.

Boss.

That looks just like...

Is that your boat?

Yeah.
Right down to the spade rudder.

You know he's just trying
to get inside your head,

- throw you off-balance.
- Noticed.

You know,
I gotta admit, I kind of like his style.

Well,

that's because it's yours.

Let's see.

Either of us having any luck?

No.

Nope, solid as a rock.

Which is a compliment to rocks.

I need to know
what's making this guy tick,

what's his endgame.

Of course you do.

Luckily, it's my specialty.

You know Dearing had a son
in the Navy, right?

Yeah.

Yeah, he was killed in a suicide attack
on board ship while it was in port.

Already looked into it.

That's not the whole story.

There was a defect
in an early warning system.

Could've stopped the attack.

The Navy was in the middle
of replacing it on dozens of ships, but...

But we were also
in the middle of a war.

Mm-hm. Only so much
that they could do.

My guess is,
Dearing doesn't see it that way.

- So this is about payback.
- In a way.

I mean, all his attacks
have exploited flaws in the fleet.

I think, in his mind, Dearing
is trying to teach the Navy a lesson.

By killing more sailors?

Look, DiNozzo said it, he's nuts.

And obsessed.

That's why, I think,
he's fixated on you.

Aside from your handsomeness.

Every hero needs a bad guy.

And since you're seemingly in charge
of the investigation...

I'm the black hat.

I think so. I mean, l... It's thin.

I'm working on it but,
I'd be careful, Gibbs.

I mean, the fact Dearing
has gotten this close

suggests he's got something cooking,
something more substantial.

How long you know about this?

Well, I know about a lot of things,
Agent Gibbs.

I share them
when I think they're relevant.

Who decides that?

You are sounding
like a broken record.

I would just like some straight answers
to straight questions.

I'd like you to turn it off, for once.

Well, it's...

It's not as easy
as you make it sound.

It may be mind games to you,
but my work is no game.

Do you turn it off
when you come home, Gibbs?

I've been in your basement.

You don't turn anything off.

You marinate in it.

You want me to let you in.

Then let me in.

- Yeah, it's Gibbs.
- Hi, boss.

I didn't interrupt anything, did I?

Pretend I didn't ask.

What, DiNozzo?

BOLO came back on the guy
who blackmailed Dorneget's dentist.

Local LEO found the car.

Boss?

Saved by the cell.

Telling you, Ryan was there.

So what if she was?

I was happy to gossip
when things were getting started.

But now that they're a couple,
I think we should just back off.

How are you not interested
in other people's private lives?

Okay, DiNozzo...

What do we got?

The vehicle is registered
to a man named Frederick Fountain.

He's a cop. Well, ex-cop.

He was kicked off the force
for taking bribes.

He served some time.

Mm.

- What?
- Nothing.

It's just that, you smell like...

...someone that isn't...

...you. Um...

- Did I mention he served a little time?
- Yeah.

And he's about to serve some more.

Uh-oh.

He made us.

Federal agents, freeze!

Was it something we said?

- You're under arrest.
- I don't care.

We just gotta get out of here.

What's the rush, Fred?

I'll tell anything you wanna know,
about the next attack.

Just get me the hell out of...

If ever there was a time
for the dead to talk, it would be now.

I heard he said something
about an attack.

Yes, but unfortunately,
he was a tad short on details.

Yeah, speaking of details,

has Abby mentioned anything to you
about my bachelor party?

Mr. Palmer, this is hardly the time.

You're right, of course.
I'm sorry. I just...

Besides, all I know
is that she asked to borrow

the autopsy rotary saw
for tomorrow night.

The one with the 15-foot cord?

No, 20.
She said 15 wouldn't be long enough.

- Tell me you got something, Duck.
- Yes, unfortunately I do.

Abby found some rather disturbing
physical evidence.

Traces of an explosive from a swab

I took from under
our guest's fingernail.

RDX?

Yeah, that's disturbing.

That's a very powerful explosive.

I shudder to think
of the damage it could do.

- He was gonna tell us.
- Yes, I read the report.

Someone made sure he didn't,
a very elusive someone.

- You find the bullet?
- No.

Killer used a frangible round.
It shattered on impact.

No brass either. Nothing to trace.
Which was the point.

So it reminds me of a story
of German spies

behind enemy lines in World War II.

They traveled in pairs
using the buddy system.

In the event of capture,

their orders were to kill their buddy
to prevent him from talking.

Well, if that was the plan, it worked.

No, but the dead do
still speak, Mr. Palmer.

I took that
from Mr. Fountain's forearm.

- Look familiar?
- Come on, Duck, you can't be serious.

Very. I'm pretty sure
it's another Watcher Fleet microchip.

And judging by the surrounding tissue,
it was only recently put in.

Put in for what?

Well, I imagine
that would depend on what's on it.

No, we haven't ID'd a target.

All we know is RDX might be
involved in the attack.

Yeah. I think bomb-sniffing
dogs would be a good idea too.

Alarm bell has been sounded.

I sent everything we have to
Director Vance in Prague.

Good time to be at a
NATO security conference.

Not much anyone can do
without more information.

- McGee.
- Well, I've confirmed

that this is in fact
a Watcher Fleet microchip.

It's actually the exact same one
we pulled out Agent Levin's arm.

- How'd Dearing get one?
- Must've bought it.

Cole and Latham were selling it
to the highest bid.

- That was almost a year ago.
- Among other things, the chips

revealed vulnerabilities
in our Naval fleet.

Now that we have one, we might have
better idea what Dearing is targeting.

Well, we would, except
all that information's been erased.

- What was on it?
- It's hard to tell. It's in code.

- Encrypted?
- More like the second set of books

that a front company might use
when doing something illegal.

- That's a lot of dollar signs.
- A huge sum of money

is involved, all of it coming
from Dearing's company.

There's also what looks like purchases
of specialized machining equipment

and raw materials.

He's building something.

I doubt it's a Cuisinart.

What is that number?

It appears repeatedly.

I think it has something to do
with the shipping manifest.

I'm not exactly sure. I'm not really sure
of any of it, to be honest with you.

Send it to Ryan.

Have her bring a hard copy
to Maple's office.

Unbelievable.
I mean, this is just unbelievable. Huh?

No, I wasn't talking to you.
Where'd you get all this?

What's unbelievable?

Well, these purchases are all charged
to our company accounts,

but we have no record
of any of it.

You're saying that Dearing
is stealing money from his

- own company?
- And buying a lot of equipment with it.

These are all delivery codes

for deep hole drillers,
bottle borers, CNC routers.

You're right, he's building something.
A lot of something.

Any idea what?

I can only think of two things
with this combination of machinery.

One, building a fuel pre-burner
for the space shuttle.

- I think we can rule that out.
- Yeah. And two, artillery shells.

Naval artillery shells.

I think we can rule that in.

But why on earth would Mr. Dearing
be building Naval artillery shells?

What?

No.

- No, no, what?
- No, no, no, I am not talking.

Unless you promise
not to get all insularly obsessive

- with negativistic features.
- You talking to me?

You can't accuse me
of holding back.

An idea popped in my head.
I'm sharing it with you immediately.

No. Actually, you're not.

One of the vulnerabilities

the Watcher Fleet microchip exposed
was a tolerance issue

in some of the larger Naval gun barrels
that used RDX as a propellant.

If the shells produced
weren't exactly to spec...

Guns could explode.

Yes, and then some.

Now, you already found RDX
on one of Dearing's men.

If he's building
his own defective shells,

has a way to get them
to the supply chain...

We could take out half our own fleet
during exercises.

- Yes.
- Let me ask you something.

You were gonna tell me this
if I didn't ask?

What do you think?

Whose side do you think I'm on,
really?

I'm calling Vance.

Exhibit A, a normal,
perfectly constructed artillery shell.

Exhibit B, an RDX shell,
which is slightly off spec,

but sill within the supposedly
acceptable tolerance limits.

- Boom!
- Ouch.

This is all gonna be blamed on me
and my bad teeth.

I know Agent Gibbs
is just biding his time

- before he sends me to Gitmo.
- No, he's not.

He knows that you're the victim in this.

In about one minute,
he'll know that you're the hero.

What? He's coming down here now?
We haven't told him what we found.

But we don't have to. He's that good.

- No, no, I'm...
- Uh-uh!

You're that good too.

This is your breakthrough.
You should be the one to tell him.

Tell me what?

Uh...

Uh...! When I was doing
some menial data entry on a report,

I noticed that the microchip

Dr. Mallard removed
from Freddie Fountain's arm

contained a private decryption key.

You don't know what that is.

I don't care what that is.

Right. Of course.

Well, think of it as a regular key,

and the call from Dearing to MTAC
as a lock that we couldn't open.

- So...
- You used the microchip

- to trace Dearing's call to MTAC.
- Exactly.

- Why didn't you just say so?
- In retrospect, I wish I had.

We got the number
to the cell phone that was used

to initiate Dearing's video call.
It's unregistered.

Unfortunately, we'll have to wait
for Dearing to call again

before we can get a location.

I can't believe I didn't think of that.

Hello, Agent Gibbs. I'm impressed.

This must mean you found
the microchip. Very good.

- I know about your son.
- Yeah?

What do you think you know?

He was a sailor.

Proud of his country.

I wonder what he would feel
about what you're doing now.

What I'm doing needs to be done.

A few must be sacrificed
for the cause.

The greater good demands it.

So, what good could
come out of this cause?

You're paying attention, agent.
How's that for a start?

You are all finally paying attention.

So tell me what you want.

I wanna hear about your cause.

You've seen the effects.

The cause will reveal itself
soon enough.

Got it.

54728 Donovan Street.

54728. That's the same number
from the shipping manifest.

It was an address.
It's where the equipment's being sent.

We got Dearing's bomb factory.

Go get him, Gibbs.

Remember, watch your fire.

If they're building munitions in there,
we don't wanna set any off.

NCIS, freeze!

Nobody move.

Well, this is anticlimactic.

Where's the equipment?
Supposed to be here.

Well, it's not, McGee.

Well, something must be here.

Your kisses smell so good
Yeah, when you kiss me

Why don't you kiss me?

NCIS.

Can I help you?

Do you know this man?

- DiNozzo.
- With pleasure, boss.

Yakov Smirnoff is processed
and waiting in interrogation.

Let him wait.

We had the right building, boss.

- Equipment was sent there.
- Where is it?

Maybe Dearing found out
we were coming and cleared it all out.

- No way. Wasn't enough time.
- Maybe he's done with it already.

If he has finished building
his defective artillery shells...

He could have
slipped them into the supply chain.

That's a lot of ships, boss.

Ziva, update Naval
Sea Systems Command. McGee.

I'll call Director Vance and SECNAV.

Tell them they need to cancel
any Naval exercises.

DiNozzo.

Yakov Smirnoff
a.k.a. Ghenna Kozlov.

Russian immigrant, father of three,
pays his taxes, no record.

Apparently, he likes bingo.

He's our best lead to Dearing, but look
at him. There's no "there" there.

DiNozzo, he was found pushing a cart
with a million bucks on it.

Yeah.

Come on. There's something there.

You have to believe me.

I had no idea
what's inside that case.

Ha! Yeah, you said that.

If I did, do you think I would be
working as a night watchman

for minimum wage? Ha, ha, ha!

Uh... I mean, I'm not saying
I would have taken the money, okay?

Except you just did.

How long you been working
at that warehouse?

About a year. An agency hired me.

Get any deliveries?

Like this?

No. Never. My job is to keep eye
on the warehouse.

Once a month,
truck deliver a small case.

I have never opened them.

I had no idea what's inside.

I just hold it, then wait,
another truck comes,

- picks it up and that's it.
- Trucks, huh? I didn't see any trucks.

So where were you going with it?

I received a text on my work cell.

It told me to deliver the case
to address on M Street tonight.

To who?

It didn't say.
It just said a limousine will be waiting.

You get any other texts like that,
Ghenna?

No. Never.

McGee, night watchman's cell.
Trace the last text.

We got Dearing on the run. Changing
his routine, trying to get his money out.

He's been a step ahead of us from the
beginning. He doesn't need the money.

McGee.

The cell only received one text.

- Who?
- Not from the number

you called Dearing at before.
He disconnected that cell

- as soon as he hung it up.
- I'm sure he's got more than one.

Looks like he does.

This new cell's registered to
a holding company in this firm's name.

Ha, ha! Gotcha. The night watchman
was supposed to meet a limo.

Sounds like gazillionaire wheels.

Just got off the phone with
Director Vance.

He's en route to D.C.
Should be landing within the hour.

- He alert the fleet?
- Yes.

Navy canceled
all planned war games.

What's our war game, boss?

We are going to let the
night watchman deliver the money.

A sting. I like it.

But M Street's
gonna be pretty bananas

with all those coeds
running around, post-finals.

You guys are gonna stick out
like a sore thumb.

I usually fit right in, but, eh.

We're gonna have to cancel
Jimmy's bachelor party.

What? That's fine. That's fine.

No problem. No problem at all.

There you are.
I have been looking all over for you.

Abby, did you hear? The party...
The party's been canceled, l...

Oh, well, right?

What can we do?

What?

- The party's canceled?
- No.

No. Actually, it's not.

He didn't...

He...

No, no, I've had enough.
I've had enough.

- I've had enough.
- Yes, you can't stop drinking

- until he misses.
- Okay.

Okay, okay.

I'm watching. I'm watching.

Oh, come on. Leroy.

Oh!

- Sniper.
- Nice, boss.

- Three in a row!
- Nice.

Give me a SITREP.

Our Russian is doing fine.
The drop is set.

Copy that.

It is quiet.

- No sign of the limo.
- Keep me posted.

So, yeah, it's just...

In all seriousness,
in all seriousness,

I'm gonna talk because,
let's be honest,

this is about me right now.

I'm really happy that you guys
are here tonight.

As Nathaniel Hawthorne
once said of marriage:

"Let man tremble
at the hand of woman."

For... Ha, ha,
blah, blah, blah.

Alcohol is fun.

I thought you said
this was apple juice.

- I even watered it down.
- Guys, I wanna sing. I wanna sing.

Who wants to sing with me?
Who wants...? I wanna sing.

- Look sharp.
- Let's all get together...

- Ziva.
- I see it.

Okay, let's move.

- Now, move.
- I wanna stand up.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!
DiNozzo. DiNozzo.

This place is dead, anyway.
We're going on a bar crawl.

We're going on a bar crawl.

Who here is my best friend?

I'd say I have a best friend, I don't.
Tonight I have four best friends.

So, "Puff, The Magic Dragon,"
barbershop quartet style.

Are you doing low,
or am I going low?

Move, move, move!

This is getting real.
This is getting real. This is real.

NCIS, hands in the air!

Opening the door, Dearing,
no sudden moves.

Boss, it's not Dearing.

It's Vincent Maple.

No bags, a fake ID,
and a one-way ticket to Morocco.

Perhaps because they do not have
an extradition treaty with the U. S?

- I wanna make a deal.
- Yeah, I bet you do.

We do not make deals
with terrorists.

What?

Where's Dearing?

I don't know.

How long have you been
working together?

We're not. Look,
I had nothing to do with any of that.

I told you I would help you find Dearing
and I meant it, okay?

I really do have family serving
on Navy ships.

What was all the equipment for?

Not without a deal.

Good luck at the
military tribunal, pal.

Wait.

There was no equipment.

Go on.

There was no secret
off-the-books project.

It was just a dummy account
that I had set up.

Why?

To siphon money
out of Dearing's company.

I had cash delivered to the warehouse
as accounts payable

and then laundered to
my overseas account.

I was embezzling, that's it.

- And Dearing wasn't involved?
- Not in the slightest.

You told us he was building
faulty artillery.

No, I did not. That was Dr. Ryan's
theory. I just let you run with it.

You were sitting, holding a copy
of my embezzling blueprint.

- What choice did I have?
- The choice not to be a criminal.

The real question
you guys should be asking is,

how'd you get a copy of my books?

We got the cooked books

from the microchip
inside Dearing's henchman.

Freddie Fountain.

On a hunch, we went back
to the BOLO that ID'd his car,

- found something interesting.
- An anonymous tip.

Good guess, boss.
Someone wanted us to find Fountain.

- Abby's tracing the call now.
- Traced it.

Our tipster was none other
than Harper Dearing.

It's the same cell that lead us
to the warehouse.

Dearing ratted out his own man.

He wanted us
to find the cooked books.

- He wanted us to find the warehouse.
- That's not my department.

But if any of you see Jimmy, can you
tell him that your little op doesn't count.

We still have plans
even if it's just the two of us.

Dearing must have found out
that Maple was embezzling from him.

And used it to send us
on a wild-goose chase.

He was just trying to distract us.

Distract us from what?

Yes, admiral, my team is
working directly with NCIS.

Yes, Agent Gibbs
is, uh, quite interesting.

Oh, I have a couple stories
of my own.

Uh-huh. Bye-bye.

Admiral Davis, an old friend.

So heard about Maple.

I thought we were so close.

Wanna go grab a beer
and go over it?

No.

Oh. I can see those Gibbsian wheels
a-turning, even from here. What's up?

The defective artillery theory.

That one was yours.

Yeah. Yeah, it was.

I was wrong, again.

Thanks for reminding me.

This is the point where you
usually say, you know,

"We're all human,
everyone makes mistakes."

That what it was, doc, a mistake?

Oh, what exactly are you
accusing me of, Agent Gibbs?

I don't know.

Have you lost your mind?

I don't know.

Why do you keep saying that?

Because I don't know.

With everybody else, doc, I know.

But with you...

God, I'm trying here.

Oh, and for an introverted,

intuitive feeler like you,
this must be intolerable.

Why do you always have to talk
like this?

Why can't you just be like
a regular person?

- Like a person.
- A normal person.

Like a human.

This, from the man who doesn't talk.

What is it?

It's gotta be from Dearing.
He wrote his college thesis on chess.

Something must have happened.

- Boss.
- DiNozzo, what's going on?

I was just about to call you.

- So you heard?
- I heard what?

Got off the phone
with Director Vance's security detail.

He insisted on driving home
by himself.

- But he never made it.
- He's disappeared, boss.

They have no idea where he is.