NCIS s12e17 Episode Script
The Artful Dodger
All right, pay attention.
I'm watching, Dad.
Elbows in, mop close to your body.
You seeing this? Yeah, Dad, I see it.
Pretty impressive guns for an old guy.
Yes, they are.
Effort comes from the arms.
Otherwise, ten floors later, your back is aching like there's no tomorrow.
All right.
Your turn.
Dad, you know I'm only gonna be doing this till I get through school.
People call this blue-collar.
I don't care what color your shirt is.
You bring pride to the job, people notice.
Even if they don't, you notice.
Hmm? Yes, sir.
Elbows.
Them elbows.
Them elbows.
I see where the guns come from God Back office.
Lock the door.
Call Security.
Dad, w Do it! Lieutenant Pine.
You okay? Oh, my God.
Lieutenant Pine? Look out! Coming at ya! My squad room brethren.
Don't interrupt me.
I'm filing, and then I am out of here.
Wow, you are working that filing cabinet.
It's gonna be the first night in two weeks I get out of here before midnight.
Well, when you don't do your paperwork, it starts to pile up, and then you're stuck staying late.
Thanks for that, mother hen.
But not even you chattering away like Edith on All in the Family is gonna get me down tonight.
You got plans? Tonight, Ms.
Zoe Keates is teaching me how to make bread.
Is that some kind of euphemism? Possibly.
But either way, she's gonna bring the ingredients, and we're gonna do the kneading.
Look at me, guys.
I am doing paperwork, then I'm gonna go make some bread with a girl that makes me smile.
I'm evolving.
Put it on hold, DiNozzo.
But we're gonna do the kneading.
We got a dead Navy lieutenant at the DLA.
Defense Logistics Agency? That's the one.
Hey listen Operation Sourdough's a no-go.
Victim is Lieutenant Dominic Pine, the DLA for the past two years.
Doing what? Worked as an aide to Vice Admiral Janet Kleibor.
This is her office.
Better notify her.
Tried.
We, uh, called her cell.
No answer.
So we've got an agent on the way to her house.
Well, DLA police were first on the scene.
When they got here, the attacker was gone and Pine was dead.
Witnesses? Janitor and his son.
Janitor heard the crash.
Told his son to call Security.
And the boy saw a blue sedan leaving out the back window.
Gave us a partial plate.
Let's get a BOLO out.
You can set your minds to rest, dear friends.
Baby Victoria is fine.
I spoke with Mr.
Palmer, and together we diagnosed her with a low-grade fever.
First thing in the morning, she's gonna visit with her pediatrician.
I didn't know she was sick.
I thought I told you.
Oh, forgive me, Jethro.
My mind has been scattered with grandfatherly worries.
Grandfather? Mr.
Palmer has declared when the child is of speaking age, she will call me Grand-Ducky.
But to the matter in hand.
Ah.
Ah.
Blunt force trauma.
Yeah, this man has been hit on the head with some sort of weapon and then fell on what used to be a coffee table.
Computer hasn't been touched in five days.
Whoever did this wasn't after anything digital.
No sign of a robbery either.
Perhaps his death was the endgame.
Bishop what are you doing? Rule 20: "Always look under.
" Rule 20.
Rarely quoted, widely interpreted.
Could've slipped out of the lieutenant's hand when he was hit.
A pen? Standard gift for fancy people.
Bag it.
Let's go.
Finish processing.
Get some answers.
DiNozzo.
Yeah, boss.
You worked late for two straight weeks.
Yeah, boss.
Backlogged paperwork's your own fault.
Yeah, boss.
Go home, evolve, start fresh in the morning.
Thank you, boss.
Duckman, I'm gonna be making some bread tonight.
Zoe, we're on.
I'll preheat the oven.
Yeah well, that's like a phyllo pastry.
I think, right? Look, croissant, baguette, whatever it is, it's all the same to me, baby-- it's bread.
That's Dad! What are you doing here? Building manager let me in.
Don't worry.
I didn't sleep with her.
Are you listening to my breakup mix? Since you're my best man, I wanted you to be the first to know She left me, Junior.
The wedding's been called off.
Linda left me.
Oh, boy.
Zoe, we're gonna have to reschedule the bread.
Yeah, Senior was so broken up over Linda, he forgot his cell phone at home.
So he didn't tell Tony he was coming? No, he did not.
And it all happened on the first night in recorded history that Gibbs gave me the early release.
So why did Linda leave him? She probably got clued in to his line of work.
I thought he was a businessman.
Well, he's-he's he calls himself an entrepreneur, but he's kind of more like a headhunter that finds rich people by It's okay, Tim.
You can say it.
My dad is a con man.
What?! But he's so Handsome? Charismatic? Right-place, right-time? Exactly.
What are you gonna do? I don't know.
I mean I've never quite seen him like this.
He won't get out of his pajamas.
Granted, they're 100% silk-- very nice-- but still You know, maybe you should give him an activity.
You know, occupy his mind, pretend like nothing's wrong.
Like what you do for Tony when he's depressed.
Yeah.
You do? Oh, yeah.
When Ziva stayed in Israel Oh, yeah.
You asked me to help you replace that Tron wallpaper in your bedroom with the new Star Wars stuff.
Worked like a charm.
Update.
Let's go.
Uh our victim is Navy Lieutenant Dominic Pine.
Witness saw a blue sedan leaving the scene, gave us a partial plate; BOLO is out wide.
Whoever was driving that car had a radio-frequency key card that was reprogrammed to override the DLA's gate system.
Card had an embedded Trojan horse that disabled security cameras.
Yeah, breach happened four minutes before Pine arrived, so the killer must've been waiting for him.
Uh, motive could be tied to sensitive information.
As Admiral Kleibor's aide, Pine knew about the movement of supplies to Navy warships.
- The admiral? - Finally got word to her last night.
She is on the USS Madison.
Ship is in port at Naval Station Mayport in Florida.
She'll be calling in shortly.
As far as Lieutenant Pine's enemies go, we couldn't find any.
Girlfriend is Gloria Hernandez.
She's waiting in the conference room.
McGee, Bishop, go.
DiNozzo I want the admiral when she calls in.
Okay.
Have fun, guys.
Please don't be Dad.
Dad.
Dad, how are you feeling? Hello, son.
I was wondering if you could, uh, swing by here on your lunch break and-and bring me something.
We don't really take lunch breaks here.
Isn't that illegal? So what do you want, Dad? I need some nice paper.
I want to write a letter to Linda begging her to come back to me, and I thought it should be on some classy paper.
What do you think? Give him an activity.
McGee does it for you.
Junior, you there? Hey, Dad, listen, we'll work on that paper thing, but I really need you to do something for me.
You do? Yeah.
I need you to re-caulk my tub.
You mean like a handyman kind of thing? Yeah, yeah, that's it.
Um, sort of an emergency.
I heard about it on the news.
There's a recall on the caulk I used.
You're kidding.
No.
No.
It causes athlete's foot.
Nasty.
And I I know you got a lot on your mind, but No, that's all right.
Uh I'll be fine.
I-I can handle it.
Oh.
Well, thanks a million, Dad.
See you, son.
Works like a charm.
Huh.
I was in foster care my whole life.
Dominic didn't have any family, either.
But when we met, it was like this emptiness was suddenly full.
How long have you been together? Four months.
But I knew the first day he was the one.
Do you know who did this to him? Not yet.
Gloria, was there anything unusual about his behavior lately? I think something might've been going on at work, but he didn't like to talk about it.
Well, we'll update you as soon as we have something, Ms.
Hernandez.
I know what happens to people like Dominic.
They fall through the cracks because there's no family fighting for them.
Well, I'm here.
I'm fighting for Dominic.
So are we.
Gentlemen, where are you in your investigation? At the beginning, Admiral.
We're hoping you can move us along.
Pine was killed in your office.
I'm here congratulating a friend on the commissioning of the Madison.
I forgot his gift in my office.
The pen.
Yes.
I asked the lieutenant to pick it up before he was to join us onboard this morning.
He's dead because of me.
He was in that office because of me.
Abb? What are you doing? Didn't you hear? Tony's dad got dumped.
And since he won't get out of his pajamas, I dug up my old sewing machine to make him another pair.
So at least he has an alternate.
You dig up anything else? I did.
So if you look at the crime scene photos, they tell a pretty clear story.
Once upon a time, Lieutenant Pine got hit on the head, his blood spattered on the wall, he crashed through a coffee table and he lay on the floor, dead.
The end.
Not great for bedtime.
Believe it or not, the most twisted thing about this story is this painting.
It's called The Chesapeake, and it's been hung on many impressive walls over the last 50 years.
Right now it's on loan to the admiral from the Navy's art collection.
And? And look at the blood spatter.
Stopped short of the painting.
Yeah.
Based on the pattern, the blood should've at least reached this frame, but there's nothing here.
And P.
S.
, this painting is supposed to be from 1962.
The paint isn't nearly that old.
P.
P.
S.
, this gallery tag is aged with tea.
Gibbs, this painting is a fake and it was hung on the wall after Lieutenant Pine was killed.
Killer was there to steal the original.
Which is exactly what he did.
Well, that's great work, Abbs.
Hey, why don't you make up a pair of those pants for the Grand-Duck? That's a good idea.
Working theory is the thief broke in to steal the painting.
He thought the place would be empty, but Lieutenant Pine showed up to pick up a gift for the admiral.
Pine wasn't the target.
Wrong place, wrong time.
Junior? Dad.
I feel horrible that you good people have to see me like this, but you know what a jackass love can be.
Uh-huh.
I'm really sorry about Linda, Mr.
DiNozzo.
Oh, no.
Excuse us.
Dad, hey, Dad, um You still wearing your pajamas? What are you doing here? I came to tell you that the tub is fine.
Oh, you fixed the tub? No, I hired a young kid from the hardware store with the emergency cash you keep in your moisturizer drawer.
Moisturizer drawer?! Okay, well, that's great.
Good job.
Um, what we're gonna do now is I'm gonna call you a cab, and we'll get you back to the apartment.
Oh, no, no, no, listen the truth is, Junior, I was feeling better when I was doing that caulk thing.
But then when Javier left, I realized I didn't want to be alone.
Dad Huh that's a Cantor Howell, isn't it? Yeah.
Yes, uh, it's called The Chesapeake.
Photo was taken to document it for the Navy's collection.
Howell did slices of American history.
Yeah, last year, there was a profile on him in View magazine.
Made his paintings spike in value.
Enough to make this one worth stealing.
You know, when I did my European wingding of '86, I had a healthy peek at the underground art world.
Oh, I'm sure you did.
Uh I I could give you a tutorial, if you'd like.
No, no, no, we're all set here, Dad-- we got work to do.
Say good-bye, Dad! Dad! Well, Junior, I don't really want to go back in the apartment DiNozzo.
Yeah? Tutorial couldn't hurt.
Oh.
Black market art is a small world.
All the players know each other, even across the ocean.
All we need is a single line to get inside.
Hey, Junior.
You're late.
Sit down.
How'd you get your suit back? There's a gung ho messenger named Todd who works in the building.
I know Todd.
That's my stapler, pencil holder and desk lamp.
Mr.
DiNozzo, who do these guys sell to? Anyone who has money.
Yeah.
A good thief quietly puts the word out to the community that he's acquired a piece.
That way he's able to find the buyer who's willing to pay the most.
She's sharp and she's beautiful.
So what we do is we step in, we offer the thief a better price than the one he's already got.
- Bingo, boss.
- Okay, this all sounds terrific, but how do we make an offer to a guy if we don't know who that guy is? If you'd have been here on time, Junior, you'd know.
Feelers.
- Feelers? - Yes, feelers.
Your father put out feelers in his network, saying he heard The Chesapeake might be available and that he's highly interested in buying it.
Son, uh, your art thief is gonna come to your papa.
"Come to your papa"? What does that even mean? Let's get it done.
Hey, hold on.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
What's happening? Gibbs already divvied up the work.
You were late.
I was preparing his ride for when this is over.
The cab was two feet from the door.
He doesn't need a cab; he's with me.
What?! He's got an art forger friend in DC.
We're gonna show him the fake, see if he can tell us anything about it.
Tony, black market art is a small world.
The USS Chesapeake was launched in 1799 as one of the original frigates of the United States Navy.
What do you see, Duck? Well, the true value of art.
Our forefathers built that ship to protect a new nation.
Cantor Howell was inspired by that resolve to create this painting and now we stand here, looking at his work and feel a sense of Pride.
Yeah.
Yeah.
The lieutenant? Yes, well, as I surmised, cause of death was blunt force trauma.
But take a look at this lower part of the wound.
It's curved.
Which suggests a murder weapon with a rounded edge.
That it? Well, for the present, yes.
But Lieutenant Pine's past had something to say.
This is his left knee.
Had a pin in it.
Uh, two, actually.
Yes, apparently he received a waiver to enter officer training and-and these records show that he was in a serious car accident as a boy.
Lost both parents and his sister.
That's why he had no family.
Yes, but Lieutenant Pine rose above his wounds, both physically and emotionally, to become an extraordinary young man.
And now he's no longer with us because someone took a look at that painting and saw only dollar signs.
So, uh, where is he? Oh, he likes to make an entrance.
And by the way, he doesn't like cops, for obvious reasons.
I'll say you're my son.
Doesn't he know your son's a federal agent? None of my associates know that-- it makes them uneasy.
I tell them that Junior's a catalog model.
Anthony! Ah, Perry.
This is great.
I can't believe this.
Perry Swann.
You're looking great.
Come here.
Good to see you.
Meet my son.
No.
Tony, the famous catalog model? That's me.
Well, he he has your chiseled features.
How about a pose? I'm sorry? I'm a painter.
I'm always looking for a solid pose.
Inspiration, you know.
Don't be shy about your talent, son.
Go ahead.
Pose.
Powerful.
Anthony, it really is terrific to see you.
I don't get many visitors these days.
What are you talking about? This place has seen more soirees than that barn we renovated in Brussels.
Yes, but then, one day, the phone goes quiet, and all you have left is the work that you worked so hard on.
Turns out it's just a pile of fake Monets.
Yeah.
Mm.
Mr.
Swann, uh, can you tell us anything about this painting? You don't waste any time, Anthony.
I just got your e-mail saying you were interested in The Chesapeake, and now, here it is.
No, Perry.
That's a fake.
You're right.
This gallery label was made from a template that I created for my own fakes.
Caught on like wildfire in the community.
Wait, is this an evidence bag? Are you working with the police? No.
No.
I purchased this bag online to preserve evidence.
See, the man that painted this picture-- I would like to find and I would like to hurt him.
That's, uh, awfully violent, son.
Dad, please.
The man stole my model girlfriend.
I would like to hurt him.
I've been there, Tony.
I'll make some calls.
Leave me your number.
I'll serve you that guy on a platter.
Great.
Hey, Tony.
Great to see you.
How's the baby Palmer? Much better, much better.
The doctor confirmed it was a low-grade fever, but honestly, it felt more like a five-alarm fire.
There was a lot of crying.
I cried a lot.
So, anyway, what'd I miss? Dead lieutenant, stolen painting, my dad is consulting as a black market art expert.
It's pretty much torture.
How come? Oh, I don't know.
I convinced myself Senior was changing, you know? That we were starting to connect, but then I see him like this and it just reminds me that anything could be a scam.
Tony being a dad is hard.
Yeah, I know.
I'm barely a month in, I can't stop worrying about Victoria's pacifier or her prom date.
It's like you discover these whole new planets of worry.
I think they're only get bigger.
I'm saying you should cut your dad some slack, huh? Talk to him.
No, we can't have a productive conversation till he's been here for two days and screws up something huge, but it did help talking about it with someone who's got it together.
Wait, did you say you think I have it together? Yeah, you've got it all, Gremlin.
You're kind of my idol.
Uh Uh What? Keep that to yourself.
What's happening? Got a hit on the BOLO for the blue sedan.
Bish and Gibbs are meeting me there.
Uh, uh, meeting who where? What blue sedan? I hate being out of the loop.
Hey.
Where's the blue sedan? I don't know.
Least we got the plates, huh? Yeah.
Cop spotted them in a homeless guy's cart, saw they matched the partial from the BOLO.
Where did the homeless guy get 'em? Killer dumped 'em.
I guess one of us is gonna have to go through the Dumpster, huh? Got something! Size looks right.
Could be the frame from the original painting.
- Anything else? - At least, with the septic tank, I knew what to expect.
Yeah, it's the not knowing what lurks beneath.
Plays with the mind.
Oh, my God.
I'm standing in a pile of chili! At least I hope it's chili.
Aah! Cockroach! Big cockroach, and he brought backup.
Thanks for getting us a probie, boss.
Welcome.
Huh.
I got something else.
We have ourselves a murder weapon.
Any prints? Yup.
I ran it through AFIS, and I got nothing, which normally would make me want to say, like, five bad words in a row, but I was pulled out of the darkness by this frame.
Killer ditched it after he stole the painting.
Mm-hmm.
Makes the piece easier to carry and hide.
Now, I found Lieutenant Pine's blood spatter here-- exactly where it should be-- but ask me what else I found.
What else did you find, Abbs? Another blood profile.
I found microscopic specks of someone else's blood on that frame.
Meet Brian Khosa.
He's CIA.
Was CIA.
He was working undercover in Pakistan when he was killed last year.
Gibbs, I don't know how or why, but it looks like our missing painting was witness to two murders.
Tony, you heard from McGee? No.
I'm gonna wait for him to call me, though.
You know, extended periods of exposure to my dad can make you real delicate.
Hmm.
Maybe we should check on him.
Oh, no.
He's probably just locked himself in a bathroom with his head between his knees.
I'm not gonna bother him.
Hey, are you getting kind of a chili odor from my shoes? What do we have on Khosa? Uh Brian Khosa grew up in Illinois, got a full ride to Harvard, started working at the CIA as a NOC at the age of 26.
Spoke Urdu fluently, and was deep undercover when he was killed in Pakistan last year.
Doing what? Well, he was infiltrating a growing terror cell, one that was pretty tech-savvy.
Group calls themselves Al-Zalim-- they've reprogrammed radio frequency key cards in the past.
Same way our killer broke in the DLA.
None of this tells us why Khosa's blood was on that frame.
Abby is tracking The Chesapeake's travel history.
She confirmed it was in the U.
S.
Embassy in Islamabad at the time when Khosa was killed.
The details to Khosa's death are compartmented.
I put a call in to his supervisor at the CIA, an Officer Dale Harris.
Good.
Let's go.
Uh, go to We don't sit around waiting for return calls, Bishop.
Tracking down Officer Harris.
Right.
You heard from McGee? Uh, no.
I think he's probably just locked in a bathroom with his head between his knees.
Whew.
When you struck that JC Penney's pose, I knew we were in.
Well, the set-up was all you, Mr.
D.
We made a hell of a team in there.
You know what? I think we did.
I'm gonna take a gander at my e-mail.
Maybe one of my feelers got a bite.
So, you really, uh, think that the thief is gonna hear you want to buy The Chesapeake? With my network, the sky is the limit.
Password?! Now, why would Junior lock this? Let me take a look.
I guessed Tony's password-- "Italian Shoes 007.
" You know, the idea of Linda and I getting married-- I felt it made Junior really proud.
It did.
Yeah.
Ever since he was born, I've been chasing this moment where I walk into a room, and he announces me with his head held high.
I just can't seem to earn it.
I really miss Linda.
You know, maybe you could try promising her that, you know, that you won't do it anymore.
Won't do what? The questionable stuff.
Questionable stuff? Well, yeah, I mean, you know, the the conning stuff.
Conning?! Linda thinks that I'm conning somebody? No.
No.
I I don't know.
I Tony said that Linda might have left because of your conning.
She left because she met an architect with fancy glasses who bought her a ticket to Acapulco.
Is that what Junior tells people? That I'm a con artist? I'm sorry.
I should get back to the office.
Sorry.
Agent Gibbs? Special Agent Bishop.
Like I said, your timing isn't ideal.
I have ten minutes.
We're not looking to chitchat.
You have Brian Khosa's blood on the frame of a missing Navy painting? How does that help me? All due respect, Officer Harris, we can't know that until you You gonna brief us or not? Khosa was in deep with the terror cell Al-Zalim.
They accepted him? He was still convincing them of his loyalty.
He was chosen to shadow a mission, but was kept in the dark about the details.
Sameer Aziz.
One of Al-Zalim's rising stars, still at large.
He was heading up the mission.
What was the plan? Break into the U.
S.
Embassy in Islamabad, plant a device.
Khosa managed to alert me, but he got made in the process.
He was killed inside by Aziz and his men before they fled.
What were they trying to plant? We don't know what they were trying to plant.
Embassy was swept, nothing was found.
Official position is that Khosa thwarted the mission, but I have my doubts.
Gibbs, your CIA friend was correct to doubt.
Khosa didn't thwart anything.
The terrorists accomplished their mission, and this is what they planted.
A bug.
An undetectable, voice-activated recording device.
It's smaller than a-a hamster's bow tie.
The only downside is that it can't be remotely accessed.
It has to be physically retrieved.
How do we know they planted it? Because Al-Zalim has a server farm in Senegal.
It's, like, crazy protected.
I mean, it is unbreak-in-able.
Yeah, but you broke in, didn't you? I did.
Only for, like, nine seconds, but I got the specs for the bug and its intended location-- the south side of the ambassador's office.
And guess what was hanging on that wall? Bug is in the painting? All the more reason to steal it.
Now, the most logical place to hide the bug would be in this frame, but there's no evidence that it was ever here, so it must be in some other part of the painting.
What's recorded on it? Hey.
Just got back.
What'd I miss? A lot.
Before the painting was donated to the Navy, it hung in the Secretary of Defense office for, like, two months.
Gibbs, that recording device could have big, security-threatening secrets.
Wow, I missed quite a bit, huh? What did you get? Uh, well, we, uh I am waiting to hear back from Senior's art forger.
McGee, we don't sit around waiting for return calls.
Right.
Get DiNozzo.
Have him brief you on the way.
Got it.
So, this guy thinks you're me, huh? Yeah.
Oh, and, uh, he thinks you're a model.
So that means he thinks you're a model? What's going on with you, Tim? You barely said two words on the ride over here.
Do we need to have a talk? Okay.
It's your dad.
Oh, no.
Did he sleep with someone in my bed again? No.
We were having a really nice talk and I kind of sort of, accidentally, said that you called him a con artist.
I feel horrible.
He was so hurt.
Wait a minute-- you had a nice talk? Yeah.
It takes me two days of torture before I have a nice talk with him when he visits.
That's not the point.
Yes, it's exactly the point.
You were with him for, what, an hour, and you had a nice talk? Tony! Ah.
Come here.
You brought a friend.
Uh, yeah, hey.
Timothy McGeegerson.
Ah.
Another catalog model? Nah.
Just a nerd.
Well, the world needs those, too, I suppose.
Mr.
Swann, you said you would get back to us, but I couldn't find anything.
Your forger is good, untraceable.
I'm sorry.
I tried.
Tony, isn't this your cell phone number? I just found it, here in the trash.
I guess you never planned on calling back, did you, Mr.
Swann? Well, I And you thought he bought you as a catalogue model? I did a pose.
You got caught up! Don't go anywhere.
This is what always happens.
My dad says one smart thing, and it's followed by 100 dumb ones.
What was the one smart thing he said to you? Black market art is a small world.
Exactly.
You knew the artist the minute we showed you that painting, and you didn't want to turn him in.
Who is he? In case there's any confusion-- we're federal agents.
It's a woman.
I taught her a thing or two.
Her name is Gloria Hernandez.
It's Lieutenant Pine's girlfriend.
I should probably also mention that she has your father's e-mail address.
He put out feelers for the Chesapeake before you showed up with the fake.
I forwarded his e-mail to everyone in my address book.
Where is she now? She hasn't returned my calls.
Dad! All right, thanks, Abbs.
Dad! All right, Gloria's phone pinged in the area ten minutes ago.
Place is empty.
Look at this.
Lipstick.
She was here with him.
Yeah.
And took him where? What do we got? Okay.
Gloria Hernandez.
Home base is in Virginia.
She's worked at art galleries all around the world under aliases, and right now she's out there doing God-knows-what with my dad.
She's got quite a few e-mail accounts under quite a few names.
E-mails suggest she's stolen art from the galleries where she worked, auction houses, private collectors, all by swapping out the originals for her fakes.
Keep looking.
What?! That's it?! But we got to find them.
Shouldn't McGee be pinging something? Can't.
Your father left his cell phone at home, and Gloria turned hers off when she got to your place.
Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs.
I pulled a fingerprint off Gloria Hernandez's wine glass.
It matches the one from the murder weapon.
She's our forger and our killer? - You gotta be kidding.
- Sit down, DiNozzo.
Boss, my dad is out there now with some artsy murderer who probably looks great in a skirt.
Senior's toast.
All right, I got something.
Go, McGee.
Exchange between Gloria and an art collector named Smith.
He asked her to help him acquire The Chesapeake.
Looks like his e-mails were routed through an account - in Senegal.
- Senegal?! Move it, McGee.
What are you doing? Senegal is where Al-Zalim has their server farm.
I've already broke into this before.
I know what I'm doing.
Whoa.
Smith is Aziz.
Gloria stole the painting for Sameer Aziz.
He wants his bug back.
Gloria thinks he's just an art collector.
She has no idea who she's dealing with.
Do you think that maybe It's the Adams House.
Dad? Junior, I've, uh, got an update.
What the hell are you doing? That is not how I taught you to speak to people on the phone.
Dad, I'm dying here.
I'm at the Adams House, at the bar, with a, uh, dynamite gal, Gloria.
Okay.
Now, Dad, listen to me Junior she says she might know where The Chesapeake is.
A little wining and dining, I can guarantee she'll deliver.
Dad, listen to me-- Gloria is an art thief and a murderer.
Okay? This adorable thing? Dad? Dad? Junior, you probably should get down here.
She's got a gun.
Adams House.
Situation.
She's got a gun.
So, Anthony, tell me, what is it you love so much about this painting? Makes me feel like I'm someplace else.
Oh.
Gibbs.
Uh, over here.
Gloria, this is Leroy Gibbs, my accountant and the emperor to my fine art slush fund.
You ready to talk numbers? Yeah.
Excuse us? Junior It's packed in here.
Play smart.
You got it, boss.
You make the call.
Go word is "precious.
" Around the corner there's a security office.
McGee and Bishop are waiting for you.
Go.
- I don't think so.
- Gibbs, tell him to get his butt in there.
You got Junior on your earphone? Tell him I'd be more useful out here with my con artist skills.
Tell him to get in that room and have a nice talk with McGee.
Stop it.
That's enough.
Gibbs, we've got someone approaching the table.
It's Aziz.
Why am I here? Sit down.
Anthony! Come.
Meet my friend.
You keep your mouth shut.
Go word is "precious.
" You break on that.
Gentlemen, please, have a seat.
May I present Mr.
Smith? What is this? A good old-fashioned auction.
You see, Anthony here appreciates The Chesapeake as much as you do.
What interests me is who wants it more.
I paid you.
Half.
For making the painting accessible and producing a fake.
Both of which I did.
We agreed that I would pay you the rest once I had The Chesapeake in hand.
True.
But it's a woman's prerogative to change her mind.
Especially when it means a greater profit.
So how about an opening bid? Where's the painting? Acquiring it must have taken a very special set of skills.
Yes.
It belonged to the Navy.
I found an in.
He had a good heart and no family.
Lieutenant Pine was just a mark to her.
I convinced him to request The Chesapeake for his boss's office.
I got you in that building.
And I dealt with the complications that arose inside.
I believe we're even, Mr.
Smith.
Now, I suggest you start bidding.
If you are asking me to eliminate my competition I will.
Aziz is armed.
Weapon drawn.
Look, as a newly single woman, I've made it my policy never go anywhere without friends.
Some you'll see, some you won't.
We got another player.
North side of the room, blue suit, shaved head, looks armed.
Now stop playing games and give me a number.
You know, I got a friend.
He paid his dad's hotel bill once because his dad couldn't cover.
And I said to my friend, I said, "Why'd you do that? Your dad never did anything for you.
" The look on his face.
Never seen anything like it.
There was more love on his face than I ever saw.
I guess that his dad meant more to him than he knew.
What does this have to do with anything? It's precious.
- NCIS! - Federal agents! Who are you? I didn't do anything! She paid me 50 bucks to watch the table! Backup was a con, boss.
He's unarmed.
We're gonna need that painting.
I've discovered a new planet of worry.
What if someday Victoria has a best friend whose father is something awesome like a like a baseball player or a or a milkman, because they always have direct access to ice cream? I mean, how am I supposed to compete with something like that? You want me to keep talking like this? Yes.
Yes.
Because the recording device is voice-activated.
And once it heats up enough, I should be able to see it on the infrared.
Okay, well, my point is there are plenty of jobs out there that are cooler than assistant-- Whoa.
Got it.
Where? It was inserted under this mound of paint.
Whoa! Incredible.
Abby this is Officer Harris, CIA.
Go ahead and put that in a bag for him.
What? Gibbs.
Your country thanks you for your service.
With Aziz in custody, we're one step closer to bringing down Al-Zalim.
Thank you.
You two are a couple of heroes.
Did you hear that? Hmm? Victoria Elizabeth Palmer's father is a hero.
Well, I agree.
I say we go with the rustic sourdough.
There isn't fennel in that, is there? All right.
I'll see you then.
Date with Zoe tomorrow.
Oh.
Bread is forward movement.
Yes, it is.
Happy for you, son.
You want me to give you a lift to the airport? Oh, that's not necessary.
The cab's on its way.
All right.
You gonna be all right at home? Oh, I'm not going home.
All this art talk, uh, encouraged me to kick off another European wingding.
Ah.
Look at that.
That sounds like fun.
I need to tell you something.
Oh.
You don't need to say anything.
Look I've done a lot of things in my life.
I've pretended to be better than I am, I've dealt with some pretty shady folks.
But, son I am not a con artist.
I am an entrepreneur.
The difference between an entrepreneur and a con artist is that an entrepreneur believes in the dreams he's selling.
Whether my deals fell through or not, I believed in what I was selling.
There.
That's the look that Gibbs was talking about.
I'm watching, Dad.
Elbows in, mop close to your body.
You seeing this? Yeah, Dad, I see it.
Pretty impressive guns for an old guy.
Yes, they are.
Effort comes from the arms.
Otherwise, ten floors later, your back is aching like there's no tomorrow.
All right.
Your turn.
Dad, you know I'm only gonna be doing this till I get through school.
People call this blue-collar.
I don't care what color your shirt is.
You bring pride to the job, people notice.
Even if they don't, you notice.
Hmm? Yes, sir.
Elbows.
Them elbows.
Them elbows.
I see where the guns come from God Back office.
Lock the door.
Call Security.
Dad, w Do it! Lieutenant Pine.
You okay? Oh, my God.
Lieutenant Pine? Look out! Coming at ya! My squad room brethren.
Don't interrupt me.
I'm filing, and then I am out of here.
Wow, you are working that filing cabinet.
It's gonna be the first night in two weeks I get out of here before midnight.
Well, when you don't do your paperwork, it starts to pile up, and then you're stuck staying late.
Thanks for that, mother hen.
But not even you chattering away like Edith on All in the Family is gonna get me down tonight.
You got plans? Tonight, Ms.
Zoe Keates is teaching me how to make bread.
Is that some kind of euphemism? Possibly.
But either way, she's gonna bring the ingredients, and we're gonna do the kneading.
Look at me, guys.
I am doing paperwork, then I'm gonna go make some bread with a girl that makes me smile.
I'm evolving.
Put it on hold, DiNozzo.
But we're gonna do the kneading.
We got a dead Navy lieutenant at the DLA.
Defense Logistics Agency? That's the one.
Hey listen Operation Sourdough's a no-go.
Victim is Lieutenant Dominic Pine, the DLA for the past two years.
Doing what? Worked as an aide to Vice Admiral Janet Kleibor.
This is her office.
Better notify her.
Tried.
We, uh, called her cell.
No answer.
So we've got an agent on the way to her house.
Well, DLA police were first on the scene.
When they got here, the attacker was gone and Pine was dead.
Witnesses? Janitor and his son.
Janitor heard the crash.
Told his son to call Security.
And the boy saw a blue sedan leaving out the back window.
Gave us a partial plate.
Let's get a BOLO out.
You can set your minds to rest, dear friends.
Baby Victoria is fine.
I spoke with Mr.
Palmer, and together we diagnosed her with a low-grade fever.
First thing in the morning, she's gonna visit with her pediatrician.
I didn't know she was sick.
I thought I told you.
Oh, forgive me, Jethro.
My mind has been scattered with grandfatherly worries.
Grandfather? Mr.
Palmer has declared when the child is of speaking age, she will call me Grand-Ducky.
But to the matter in hand.
Ah.
Ah.
Blunt force trauma.
Yeah, this man has been hit on the head with some sort of weapon and then fell on what used to be a coffee table.
Computer hasn't been touched in five days.
Whoever did this wasn't after anything digital.
No sign of a robbery either.
Perhaps his death was the endgame.
Bishop what are you doing? Rule 20: "Always look under.
" Rule 20.
Rarely quoted, widely interpreted.
Could've slipped out of the lieutenant's hand when he was hit.
A pen? Standard gift for fancy people.
Bag it.
Let's go.
Finish processing.
Get some answers.
DiNozzo.
Yeah, boss.
You worked late for two straight weeks.
Yeah, boss.
Backlogged paperwork's your own fault.
Yeah, boss.
Go home, evolve, start fresh in the morning.
Thank you, boss.
Duckman, I'm gonna be making some bread tonight.
Zoe, we're on.
I'll preheat the oven.
Yeah well, that's like a phyllo pastry.
I think, right? Look, croissant, baguette, whatever it is, it's all the same to me, baby-- it's bread.
That's Dad! What are you doing here? Building manager let me in.
Don't worry.
I didn't sleep with her.
Are you listening to my breakup mix? Since you're my best man, I wanted you to be the first to know She left me, Junior.
The wedding's been called off.
Linda left me.
Oh, boy.
Zoe, we're gonna have to reschedule the bread.
Yeah, Senior was so broken up over Linda, he forgot his cell phone at home.
So he didn't tell Tony he was coming? No, he did not.
And it all happened on the first night in recorded history that Gibbs gave me the early release.
So why did Linda leave him? She probably got clued in to his line of work.
I thought he was a businessman.
Well, he's-he's he calls himself an entrepreneur, but he's kind of more like a headhunter that finds rich people by It's okay, Tim.
You can say it.
My dad is a con man.
What?! But he's so Handsome? Charismatic? Right-place, right-time? Exactly.
What are you gonna do? I don't know.
I mean I've never quite seen him like this.
He won't get out of his pajamas.
Granted, they're 100% silk-- very nice-- but still You know, maybe you should give him an activity.
You know, occupy his mind, pretend like nothing's wrong.
Like what you do for Tony when he's depressed.
Yeah.
You do? Oh, yeah.
When Ziva stayed in Israel Oh, yeah.
You asked me to help you replace that Tron wallpaper in your bedroom with the new Star Wars stuff.
Worked like a charm.
Update.
Let's go.
Uh our victim is Navy Lieutenant Dominic Pine.
Witness saw a blue sedan leaving the scene, gave us a partial plate; BOLO is out wide.
Whoever was driving that car had a radio-frequency key card that was reprogrammed to override the DLA's gate system.
Card had an embedded Trojan horse that disabled security cameras.
Yeah, breach happened four minutes before Pine arrived, so the killer must've been waiting for him.
Uh, motive could be tied to sensitive information.
As Admiral Kleibor's aide, Pine knew about the movement of supplies to Navy warships.
- The admiral? - Finally got word to her last night.
She is on the USS Madison.
Ship is in port at Naval Station Mayport in Florida.
She'll be calling in shortly.
As far as Lieutenant Pine's enemies go, we couldn't find any.
Girlfriend is Gloria Hernandez.
She's waiting in the conference room.
McGee, Bishop, go.
DiNozzo I want the admiral when she calls in.
Okay.
Have fun, guys.
Please don't be Dad.
Dad.
Dad, how are you feeling? Hello, son.
I was wondering if you could, uh, swing by here on your lunch break and-and bring me something.
We don't really take lunch breaks here.
Isn't that illegal? So what do you want, Dad? I need some nice paper.
I want to write a letter to Linda begging her to come back to me, and I thought it should be on some classy paper.
What do you think? Give him an activity.
McGee does it for you.
Junior, you there? Hey, Dad, listen, we'll work on that paper thing, but I really need you to do something for me.
You do? Yeah.
I need you to re-caulk my tub.
You mean like a handyman kind of thing? Yeah, yeah, that's it.
Um, sort of an emergency.
I heard about it on the news.
There's a recall on the caulk I used.
You're kidding.
No.
No.
It causes athlete's foot.
Nasty.
And I I know you got a lot on your mind, but No, that's all right.
Uh I'll be fine.
I-I can handle it.
Oh.
Well, thanks a million, Dad.
See you, son.
Works like a charm.
Huh.
I was in foster care my whole life.
Dominic didn't have any family, either.
But when we met, it was like this emptiness was suddenly full.
How long have you been together? Four months.
But I knew the first day he was the one.
Do you know who did this to him? Not yet.
Gloria, was there anything unusual about his behavior lately? I think something might've been going on at work, but he didn't like to talk about it.
Well, we'll update you as soon as we have something, Ms.
Hernandez.
I know what happens to people like Dominic.
They fall through the cracks because there's no family fighting for them.
Well, I'm here.
I'm fighting for Dominic.
So are we.
Gentlemen, where are you in your investigation? At the beginning, Admiral.
We're hoping you can move us along.
Pine was killed in your office.
I'm here congratulating a friend on the commissioning of the Madison.
I forgot his gift in my office.
The pen.
Yes.
I asked the lieutenant to pick it up before he was to join us onboard this morning.
He's dead because of me.
He was in that office because of me.
Abb? What are you doing? Didn't you hear? Tony's dad got dumped.
And since he won't get out of his pajamas, I dug up my old sewing machine to make him another pair.
So at least he has an alternate.
You dig up anything else? I did.
So if you look at the crime scene photos, they tell a pretty clear story.
Once upon a time, Lieutenant Pine got hit on the head, his blood spattered on the wall, he crashed through a coffee table and he lay on the floor, dead.
The end.
Not great for bedtime.
Believe it or not, the most twisted thing about this story is this painting.
It's called The Chesapeake, and it's been hung on many impressive walls over the last 50 years.
Right now it's on loan to the admiral from the Navy's art collection.
And? And look at the blood spatter.
Stopped short of the painting.
Yeah.
Based on the pattern, the blood should've at least reached this frame, but there's nothing here.
And P.
S.
, this painting is supposed to be from 1962.
The paint isn't nearly that old.
P.
P.
S.
, this gallery tag is aged with tea.
Gibbs, this painting is a fake and it was hung on the wall after Lieutenant Pine was killed.
Killer was there to steal the original.
Which is exactly what he did.
Well, that's great work, Abbs.
Hey, why don't you make up a pair of those pants for the Grand-Duck? That's a good idea.
Working theory is the thief broke in to steal the painting.
He thought the place would be empty, but Lieutenant Pine showed up to pick up a gift for the admiral.
Pine wasn't the target.
Wrong place, wrong time.
Junior? Dad.
I feel horrible that you good people have to see me like this, but you know what a jackass love can be.
Uh-huh.
I'm really sorry about Linda, Mr.
DiNozzo.
Oh, no.
Excuse us.
Dad, hey, Dad, um You still wearing your pajamas? What are you doing here? I came to tell you that the tub is fine.
Oh, you fixed the tub? No, I hired a young kid from the hardware store with the emergency cash you keep in your moisturizer drawer.
Moisturizer drawer?! Okay, well, that's great.
Good job.
Um, what we're gonna do now is I'm gonna call you a cab, and we'll get you back to the apartment.
Oh, no, no, no, listen the truth is, Junior, I was feeling better when I was doing that caulk thing.
But then when Javier left, I realized I didn't want to be alone.
Dad Huh that's a Cantor Howell, isn't it? Yeah.
Yes, uh, it's called The Chesapeake.
Photo was taken to document it for the Navy's collection.
Howell did slices of American history.
Yeah, last year, there was a profile on him in View magazine.
Made his paintings spike in value.
Enough to make this one worth stealing.
You know, when I did my European wingding of '86, I had a healthy peek at the underground art world.
Oh, I'm sure you did.
Uh I I could give you a tutorial, if you'd like.
No, no, no, we're all set here, Dad-- we got work to do.
Say good-bye, Dad! Dad! Well, Junior, I don't really want to go back in the apartment DiNozzo.
Yeah? Tutorial couldn't hurt.
Oh.
Black market art is a small world.
All the players know each other, even across the ocean.
All we need is a single line to get inside.
Hey, Junior.
You're late.
Sit down.
How'd you get your suit back? There's a gung ho messenger named Todd who works in the building.
I know Todd.
That's my stapler, pencil holder and desk lamp.
Mr.
DiNozzo, who do these guys sell to? Anyone who has money.
Yeah.
A good thief quietly puts the word out to the community that he's acquired a piece.
That way he's able to find the buyer who's willing to pay the most.
She's sharp and she's beautiful.
So what we do is we step in, we offer the thief a better price than the one he's already got.
- Bingo, boss.
- Okay, this all sounds terrific, but how do we make an offer to a guy if we don't know who that guy is? If you'd have been here on time, Junior, you'd know.
Feelers.
- Feelers? - Yes, feelers.
Your father put out feelers in his network, saying he heard The Chesapeake might be available and that he's highly interested in buying it.
Son, uh, your art thief is gonna come to your papa.
"Come to your papa"? What does that even mean? Let's get it done.
Hey, hold on.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
What's happening? Gibbs already divvied up the work.
You were late.
I was preparing his ride for when this is over.
The cab was two feet from the door.
He doesn't need a cab; he's with me.
What?! He's got an art forger friend in DC.
We're gonna show him the fake, see if he can tell us anything about it.
Tony, black market art is a small world.
The USS Chesapeake was launched in 1799 as one of the original frigates of the United States Navy.
What do you see, Duck? Well, the true value of art.
Our forefathers built that ship to protect a new nation.
Cantor Howell was inspired by that resolve to create this painting and now we stand here, looking at his work and feel a sense of Pride.
Yeah.
Yeah.
The lieutenant? Yes, well, as I surmised, cause of death was blunt force trauma.
But take a look at this lower part of the wound.
It's curved.
Which suggests a murder weapon with a rounded edge.
That it? Well, for the present, yes.
But Lieutenant Pine's past had something to say.
This is his left knee.
Had a pin in it.
Uh, two, actually.
Yes, apparently he received a waiver to enter officer training and-and these records show that he was in a serious car accident as a boy.
Lost both parents and his sister.
That's why he had no family.
Yes, but Lieutenant Pine rose above his wounds, both physically and emotionally, to become an extraordinary young man.
And now he's no longer with us because someone took a look at that painting and saw only dollar signs.
So, uh, where is he? Oh, he likes to make an entrance.
And by the way, he doesn't like cops, for obvious reasons.
I'll say you're my son.
Doesn't he know your son's a federal agent? None of my associates know that-- it makes them uneasy.
I tell them that Junior's a catalog model.
Anthony! Ah, Perry.
This is great.
I can't believe this.
Perry Swann.
You're looking great.
Come here.
Good to see you.
Meet my son.
No.
Tony, the famous catalog model? That's me.
Well, he he has your chiseled features.
How about a pose? I'm sorry? I'm a painter.
I'm always looking for a solid pose.
Inspiration, you know.
Don't be shy about your talent, son.
Go ahead.
Pose.
Powerful.
Anthony, it really is terrific to see you.
I don't get many visitors these days.
What are you talking about? This place has seen more soirees than that barn we renovated in Brussels.
Yes, but then, one day, the phone goes quiet, and all you have left is the work that you worked so hard on.
Turns out it's just a pile of fake Monets.
Yeah.
Mm.
Mr.
Swann, uh, can you tell us anything about this painting? You don't waste any time, Anthony.
I just got your e-mail saying you were interested in The Chesapeake, and now, here it is.
No, Perry.
That's a fake.
You're right.
This gallery label was made from a template that I created for my own fakes.
Caught on like wildfire in the community.
Wait, is this an evidence bag? Are you working with the police? No.
No.
I purchased this bag online to preserve evidence.
See, the man that painted this picture-- I would like to find and I would like to hurt him.
That's, uh, awfully violent, son.
Dad, please.
The man stole my model girlfriend.
I would like to hurt him.
I've been there, Tony.
I'll make some calls.
Leave me your number.
I'll serve you that guy on a platter.
Great.
Hey, Tony.
Great to see you.
How's the baby Palmer? Much better, much better.
The doctor confirmed it was a low-grade fever, but honestly, it felt more like a five-alarm fire.
There was a lot of crying.
I cried a lot.
So, anyway, what'd I miss? Dead lieutenant, stolen painting, my dad is consulting as a black market art expert.
It's pretty much torture.
How come? Oh, I don't know.
I convinced myself Senior was changing, you know? That we were starting to connect, but then I see him like this and it just reminds me that anything could be a scam.
Tony being a dad is hard.
Yeah, I know.
I'm barely a month in, I can't stop worrying about Victoria's pacifier or her prom date.
It's like you discover these whole new planets of worry.
I think they're only get bigger.
I'm saying you should cut your dad some slack, huh? Talk to him.
No, we can't have a productive conversation till he's been here for two days and screws up something huge, but it did help talking about it with someone who's got it together.
Wait, did you say you think I have it together? Yeah, you've got it all, Gremlin.
You're kind of my idol.
Uh Uh What? Keep that to yourself.
What's happening? Got a hit on the BOLO for the blue sedan.
Bish and Gibbs are meeting me there.
Uh, uh, meeting who where? What blue sedan? I hate being out of the loop.
Hey.
Where's the blue sedan? I don't know.
Least we got the plates, huh? Yeah.
Cop spotted them in a homeless guy's cart, saw they matched the partial from the BOLO.
Where did the homeless guy get 'em? Killer dumped 'em.
I guess one of us is gonna have to go through the Dumpster, huh? Got something! Size looks right.
Could be the frame from the original painting.
- Anything else? - At least, with the septic tank, I knew what to expect.
Yeah, it's the not knowing what lurks beneath.
Plays with the mind.
Oh, my God.
I'm standing in a pile of chili! At least I hope it's chili.
Aah! Cockroach! Big cockroach, and he brought backup.
Thanks for getting us a probie, boss.
Welcome.
Huh.
I got something else.
We have ourselves a murder weapon.
Any prints? Yup.
I ran it through AFIS, and I got nothing, which normally would make me want to say, like, five bad words in a row, but I was pulled out of the darkness by this frame.
Killer ditched it after he stole the painting.
Mm-hmm.
Makes the piece easier to carry and hide.
Now, I found Lieutenant Pine's blood spatter here-- exactly where it should be-- but ask me what else I found.
What else did you find, Abbs? Another blood profile.
I found microscopic specks of someone else's blood on that frame.
Meet Brian Khosa.
He's CIA.
Was CIA.
He was working undercover in Pakistan when he was killed last year.
Gibbs, I don't know how or why, but it looks like our missing painting was witness to two murders.
Tony, you heard from McGee? No.
I'm gonna wait for him to call me, though.
You know, extended periods of exposure to my dad can make you real delicate.
Hmm.
Maybe we should check on him.
Oh, no.
He's probably just locked himself in a bathroom with his head between his knees.
I'm not gonna bother him.
Hey, are you getting kind of a chili odor from my shoes? What do we have on Khosa? Uh Brian Khosa grew up in Illinois, got a full ride to Harvard, started working at the CIA as a NOC at the age of 26.
Spoke Urdu fluently, and was deep undercover when he was killed in Pakistan last year.
Doing what? Well, he was infiltrating a growing terror cell, one that was pretty tech-savvy.
Group calls themselves Al-Zalim-- they've reprogrammed radio frequency key cards in the past.
Same way our killer broke in the DLA.
None of this tells us why Khosa's blood was on that frame.
Abby is tracking The Chesapeake's travel history.
She confirmed it was in the U.
S.
Embassy in Islamabad at the time when Khosa was killed.
The details to Khosa's death are compartmented.
I put a call in to his supervisor at the CIA, an Officer Dale Harris.
Good.
Let's go.
Uh, go to We don't sit around waiting for return calls, Bishop.
Tracking down Officer Harris.
Right.
You heard from McGee? Uh, no.
I think he's probably just locked in a bathroom with his head between his knees.
Whew.
When you struck that JC Penney's pose, I knew we were in.
Well, the set-up was all you, Mr.
D.
We made a hell of a team in there.
You know what? I think we did.
I'm gonna take a gander at my e-mail.
Maybe one of my feelers got a bite.
So, you really, uh, think that the thief is gonna hear you want to buy The Chesapeake? With my network, the sky is the limit.
Password?! Now, why would Junior lock this? Let me take a look.
I guessed Tony's password-- "Italian Shoes 007.
" You know, the idea of Linda and I getting married-- I felt it made Junior really proud.
It did.
Yeah.
Ever since he was born, I've been chasing this moment where I walk into a room, and he announces me with his head held high.
I just can't seem to earn it.
I really miss Linda.
You know, maybe you could try promising her that, you know, that you won't do it anymore.
Won't do what? The questionable stuff.
Questionable stuff? Well, yeah, I mean, you know, the the conning stuff.
Conning?! Linda thinks that I'm conning somebody? No.
No.
I I don't know.
I Tony said that Linda might have left because of your conning.
She left because she met an architect with fancy glasses who bought her a ticket to Acapulco.
Is that what Junior tells people? That I'm a con artist? I'm sorry.
I should get back to the office.
Sorry.
Agent Gibbs? Special Agent Bishop.
Like I said, your timing isn't ideal.
I have ten minutes.
We're not looking to chitchat.
You have Brian Khosa's blood on the frame of a missing Navy painting? How does that help me? All due respect, Officer Harris, we can't know that until you You gonna brief us or not? Khosa was in deep with the terror cell Al-Zalim.
They accepted him? He was still convincing them of his loyalty.
He was chosen to shadow a mission, but was kept in the dark about the details.
Sameer Aziz.
One of Al-Zalim's rising stars, still at large.
He was heading up the mission.
What was the plan? Break into the U.
S.
Embassy in Islamabad, plant a device.
Khosa managed to alert me, but he got made in the process.
He was killed inside by Aziz and his men before they fled.
What were they trying to plant? We don't know what they were trying to plant.
Embassy was swept, nothing was found.
Official position is that Khosa thwarted the mission, but I have my doubts.
Gibbs, your CIA friend was correct to doubt.
Khosa didn't thwart anything.
The terrorists accomplished their mission, and this is what they planted.
A bug.
An undetectable, voice-activated recording device.
It's smaller than a-a hamster's bow tie.
The only downside is that it can't be remotely accessed.
It has to be physically retrieved.
How do we know they planted it? Because Al-Zalim has a server farm in Senegal.
It's, like, crazy protected.
I mean, it is unbreak-in-able.
Yeah, but you broke in, didn't you? I did.
Only for, like, nine seconds, but I got the specs for the bug and its intended location-- the south side of the ambassador's office.
And guess what was hanging on that wall? Bug is in the painting? All the more reason to steal it.
Now, the most logical place to hide the bug would be in this frame, but there's no evidence that it was ever here, so it must be in some other part of the painting.
What's recorded on it? Hey.
Just got back.
What'd I miss? A lot.
Before the painting was donated to the Navy, it hung in the Secretary of Defense office for, like, two months.
Gibbs, that recording device could have big, security-threatening secrets.
Wow, I missed quite a bit, huh? What did you get? Uh, well, we, uh I am waiting to hear back from Senior's art forger.
McGee, we don't sit around waiting for return calls.
Right.
Get DiNozzo.
Have him brief you on the way.
Got it.
So, this guy thinks you're me, huh? Yeah.
Oh, and, uh, he thinks you're a model.
So that means he thinks you're a model? What's going on with you, Tim? You barely said two words on the ride over here.
Do we need to have a talk? Okay.
It's your dad.
Oh, no.
Did he sleep with someone in my bed again? No.
We were having a really nice talk and I kind of sort of, accidentally, said that you called him a con artist.
I feel horrible.
He was so hurt.
Wait a minute-- you had a nice talk? Yeah.
It takes me two days of torture before I have a nice talk with him when he visits.
That's not the point.
Yes, it's exactly the point.
You were with him for, what, an hour, and you had a nice talk? Tony! Ah.
Come here.
You brought a friend.
Uh, yeah, hey.
Timothy McGeegerson.
Ah.
Another catalog model? Nah.
Just a nerd.
Well, the world needs those, too, I suppose.
Mr.
Swann, you said you would get back to us, but I couldn't find anything.
Your forger is good, untraceable.
I'm sorry.
I tried.
Tony, isn't this your cell phone number? I just found it, here in the trash.
I guess you never planned on calling back, did you, Mr.
Swann? Well, I And you thought he bought you as a catalogue model? I did a pose.
You got caught up! Don't go anywhere.
This is what always happens.
My dad says one smart thing, and it's followed by 100 dumb ones.
What was the one smart thing he said to you? Black market art is a small world.
Exactly.
You knew the artist the minute we showed you that painting, and you didn't want to turn him in.
Who is he? In case there's any confusion-- we're federal agents.
It's a woman.
I taught her a thing or two.
Her name is Gloria Hernandez.
It's Lieutenant Pine's girlfriend.
I should probably also mention that she has your father's e-mail address.
He put out feelers for the Chesapeake before you showed up with the fake.
I forwarded his e-mail to everyone in my address book.
Where is she now? She hasn't returned my calls.
Dad! All right, thanks, Abbs.
Dad! All right, Gloria's phone pinged in the area ten minutes ago.
Place is empty.
Look at this.
Lipstick.
She was here with him.
Yeah.
And took him where? What do we got? Okay.
Gloria Hernandez.
Home base is in Virginia.
She's worked at art galleries all around the world under aliases, and right now she's out there doing God-knows-what with my dad.
She's got quite a few e-mail accounts under quite a few names.
E-mails suggest she's stolen art from the galleries where she worked, auction houses, private collectors, all by swapping out the originals for her fakes.
Keep looking.
What?! That's it?! But we got to find them.
Shouldn't McGee be pinging something? Can't.
Your father left his cell phone at home, and Gloria turned hers off when she got to your place.
Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs.
I pulled a fingerprint off Gloria Hernandez's wine glass.
It matches the one from the murder weapon.
She's our forger and our killer? - You gotta be kidding.
- Sit down, DiNozzo.
Boss, my dad is out there now with some artsy murderer who probably looks great in a skirt.
Senior's toast.
All right, I got something.
Go, McGee.
Exchange between Gloria and an art collector named Smith.
He asked her to help him acquire The Chesapeake.
Looks like his e-mails were routed through an account - in Senegal.
- Senegal?! Move it, McGee.
What are you doing? Senegal is where Al-Zalim has their server farm.
I've already broke into this before.
I know what I'm doing.
Whoa.
Smith is Aziz.
Gloria stole the painting for Sameer Aziz.
He wants his bug back.
Gloria thinks he's just an art collector.
She has no idea who she's dealing with.
Do you think that maybe It's the Adams House.
Dad? Junior, I've, uh, got an update.
What the hell are you doing? That is not how I taught you to speak to people on the phone.
Dad, I'm dying here.
I'm at the Adams House, at the bar, with a, uh, dynamite gal, Gloria.
Okay.
Now, Dad, listen to me Junior she says she might know where The Chesapeake is.
A little wining and dining, I can guarantee she'll deliver.
Dad, listen to me-- Gloria is an art thief and a murderer.
Okay? This adorable thing? Dad? Dad? Junior, you probably should get down here.
She's got a gun.
Adams House.
Situation.
She's got a gun.
So, Anthony, tell me, what is it you love so much about this painting? Makes me feel like I'm someplace else.
Oh.
Gibbs.
Uh, over here.
Gloria, this is Leroy Gibbs, my accountant and the emperor to my fine art slush fund.
You ready to talk numbers? Yeah.
Excuse us? Junior It's packed in here.
Play smart.
You got it, boss.
You make the call.
Go word is "precious.
" Around the corner there's a security office.
McGee and Bishop are waiting for you.
Go.
- I don't think so.
- Gibbs, tell him to get his butt in there.
You got Junior on your earphone? Tell him I'd be more useful out here with my con artist skills.
Tell him to get in that room and have a nice talk with McGee.
Stop it.
That's enough.
Gibbs, we've got someone approaching the table.
It's Aziz.
Why am I here? Sit down.
Anthony! Come.
Meet my friend.
You keep your mouth shut.
Go word is "precious.
" You break on that.
Gentlemen, please, have a seat.
May I present Mr.
Smith? What is this? A good old-fashioned auction.
You see, Anthony here appreciates The Chesapeake as much as you do.
What interests me is who wants it more.
I paid you.
Half.
For making the painting accessible and producing a fake.
Both of which I did.
We agreed that I would pay you the rest once I had The Chesapeake in hand.
True.
But it's a woman's prerogative to change her mind.
Especially when it means a greater profit.
So how about an opening bid? Where's the painting? Acquiring it must have taken a very special set of skills.
Yes.
It belonged to the Navy.
I found an in.
He had a good heart and no family.
Lieutenant Pine was just a mark to her.
I convinced him to request The Chesapeake for his boss's office.
I got you in that building.
And I dealt with the complications that arose inside.
I believe we're even, Mr.
Smith.
Now, I suggest you start bidding.
If you are asking me to eliminate my competition I will.
Aziz is armed.
Weapon drawn.
Look, as a newly single woman, I've made it my policy never go anywhere without friends.
Some you'll see, some you won't.
We got another player.
North side of the room, blue suit, shaved head, looks armed.
Now stop playing games and give me a number.
You know, I got a friend.
He paid his dad's hotel bill once because his dad couldn't cover.
And I said to my friend, I said, "Why'd you do that? Your dad never did anything for you.
" The look on his face.
Never seen anything like it.
There was more love on his face than I ever saw.
I guess that his dad meant more to him than he knew.
What does this have to do with anything? It's precious.
- NCIS! - Federal agents! Who are you? I didn't do anything! She paid me 50 bucks to watch the table! Backup was a con, boss.
He's unarmed.
We're gonna need that painting.
I've discovered a new planet of worry.
What if someday Victoria has a best friend whose father is something awesome like a like a baseball player or a or a milkman, because they always have direct access to ice cream? I mean, how am I supposed to compete with something like that? You want me to keep talking like this? Yes.
Yes.
Because the recording device is voice-activated.
And once it heats up enough, I should be able to see it on the infrared.
Okay, well, my point is there are plenty of jobs out there that are cooler than assistant-- Whoa.
Got it.
Where? It was inserted under this mound of paint.
Whoa! Incredible.
Abby this is Officer Harris, CIA.
Go ahead and put that in a bag for him.
What? Gibbs.
Your country thanks you for your service.
With Aziz in custody, we're one step closer to bringing down Al-Zalim.
Thank you.
You two are a couple of heroes.
Did you hear that? Hmm? Victoria Elizabeth Palmer's father is a hero.
Well, I agree.
I say we go with the rustic sourdough.
There isn't fennel in that, is there? All right.
I'll see you then.
Date with Zoe tomorrow.
Oh.
Bread is forward movement.
Yes, it is.
Happy for you, son.
You want me to give you a lift to the airport? Oh, that's not necessary.
The cab's on its way.
All right.
You gonna be all right at home? Oh, I'm not going home.
All this art talk, uh, encouraged me to kick off another European wingding.
Ah.
Look at that.
That sounds like fun.
I need to tell you something.
Oh.
You don't need to say anything.
Look I've done a lot of things in my life.
I've pretended to be better than I am, I've dealt with some pretty shady folks.
But, son I am not a con artist.
I am an entrepreneur.
The difference between an entrepreneur and a con artist is that an entrepreneur believes in the dreams he's selling.
Whether my deals fell through or not, I believed in what I was selling.
There.
That's the look that Gibbs was talking about.