NCIS s14e02 Episode Script
Being Bad
1 Oh! Everybody I never wanted to see again, all in one room.
So, tell me why we're here again? Um (stutters) Uh (clears throat) Right.
'Cause the dream never dies.
Well, uh uh, nerds are supposed to be cool now, right? Yeah.
Yeah, maybe, you know.
(indistinct conversation) (exhales) Let's see if we're grandfathered in.
(sighs) Yeah.
Oops.
Sorry.
Come on, man, aren't we a little too old for that now? Too old for what exactly? Um too old to fall back on an outdated social hierarchy that penalizes achievement and rewards mediocrity.
(chuckles) Oh.
That sounded like an insult.
I think.
Um Whoa, it's No, don't.
Don't.
my life coach, so Okay.
Ooh.
Come on.
Wow.
(groans) Looks like it's just me and you.
It's the same as the emotion Yeah, you know.
That and your teensy, weensy, little (grunting) Give me your heart, make it real or else Hey, so what'd you end up doing after high school? I joined Special Forces.
Got my CPA degree off the GI Bill.
You should check it out.
I'm gonna kick your ass.
Yeah, good luck with that.
Um you meant today, right? (groans) Whoa.
(groaning) No.
Hey.
Hey, hey, hey.
Hey.
Hey Hey, hey.
Hey.
Oh.
Oh, no, no, no.
Oh.
Somebody call 911! Call 911! NCIS 14x02 Being Bad @elderman (elevator bell dings) Oh.
What's Torres doing here? I don't know.
He and Quinn don't officially start till Monday.
Hey, Torres.
Hey, what's up? Hey, you know, uh you know it's Friday night, right? TORRES: Yeah, I know.
Just not really sure how this whole desk thing works, so, uh figured I'd drop off a few things early.
Starting with a picture of yourself.
Yeah.
It's a reminder.
Of? Something I like to be reminded of.
(watch beeping) Hmm.
Okay, we got to go.
Talk to you Monday.
Oh, you guys are late to spinning class or something? Uh, no, Gibbs is famous for coming in just before the weekend starts and saying Grab your gear.
That a well-timed illustration, boss? Got a death at Quantico.
(quietly): Okay.
GIBBS: Are you coming? I'm not much of a varsity letters guy.
TORRES: James Bruno.
Graduated Puller High 15 years ago.
Barely, from what I hear.
His father was stationed at the motor pool on base.
TORRES: So, what do you think? Involuntary manslaughter? Yeah.
Maybe.
Jethro Gibbs doesn't like to commit.
That's why it's the perfect job for him.
Thanks for calling me.
I'm ready to get started.
Get started.
Okay.
All right, what did I miss? Your jacket.
Okay.
Oh, I don't know, he looks fine.
Just fine.
Who is he? Oh, that's Agent Torres.
Oh, that's great.
Who are you? A-Agent Quinn.
I swear, I barely touched him.
I mean, I just did a controlled throw so that he would think twice about touching me.
So, what started the fight? Nothing.
He's just that kind of guy.
He's just always starting something.
When was the last time you saw him? Uh, I haven't seen him since high school.
15 years.
(groans) Looks like nothing's changed.
The teenage years are fraught with peril.
The frontal cortex is responsible for self-regulation.
It develops gradually over adolescence.
Unfortunately, in some adults, well, it never occurs.
You aren't talking about anyone in particular, are you, Doctor? 'Cause I was only popping that bubble wrap to see if it was still The victim, Mr.
Palmer.
I was referring to the victim.
GIBBS: What about him? Well, I don't see anything obvious, but this hypersalivation suggests there's some sort of poison at work.
Boss, we got a problem.
What do you got, McGee? Talked to one of the eyewitnesses.
They saw Bruno arrive early, put something in one of these lockers and it wasn't a math book.
Stand clear.
TORRES: Yeah.
I think this guy had issues.
So, this button moves forward; this one moves backwards, and this is the âOops, How Did That Get There?â button.
The what? We push it when Gibbs asks for the impossible to distract him.
I-It's preloaded with pictures of his ex-wives or Jimmy Palmer making turducken, stuff like that.
(chuckles) And you think he doesn't know what you're doing? He's good.
He's not that good.
All right, Jim Bruno.
Let's go.
BISHOP: Jim Bruno, born James.
Left home after high school, never came back.
Yeah, he got a job teaching shop at a community college.
Ended after a burglary conviction.
Wrong button.
Oops.
BISHOP: Bruno's never paid taxes, never voted, and has no recent home address we can find.
Yeah, your doc confirms that he was poisoned to death.
Are we sure the explosive was his? We are now.
A base surveillance camera shows him assembling a bomb in his car.
Bomb squad's sending it to Abby.
Said there's enough explosives in there to level the gym.
Bruno would've ended up killing his entire high school graduating class.
McGee and Quinn.
High school records.
On it.
Bishop and Torres, go talk to his teachers.
See who remembers him.
Uh Yeah? What desk should I be at? GIBBS: Right here.
My old desk.
Putting baby in the corner? That's where you sat when you were a probie.
Since when do you sit down? Oh.
Uh There's five of us here now.
Gonna have to rearrange some stuff.
You try to do what you can for these kids, be sensitive to their needs but some of them are just, well, beyond reach, you know? Hey! Hey! Don't just pull the poster down! Take the tape off the wall! Idiots.
(sighs) Sorry, where were we? You were just telling us how sensitive you can be.
Hey, I did what I could for that kid.
His senior year, I spent eight weekends in a row in Saturday detention with him, trying to whip him into shape.
Nothing took.
Always causing a ruckus.
Recent contact? No but it's a tight community.
I heard a rumor he was renting a room from an old substitute teacher.
Do you think he was targeting anyone in particular? Take your pick.
That punk had problems with everyone in the school.
How many had problems with him? What, you're looking for a list or something? His death wasn't accidental.
He was poisoned.
(sighs) Well, then you got your work cut out for you.
Everyone had problems with that kid.
(elevator bell dings) Abbs, McGee said you had something for me.
Yup.
Yup, I do.
Yeah.
Behind your back.
No no, this is some it's nothing.
It's just Well, it's my it's my high school yearbook.
I thought I would, you know, get in the mood for the case.
It's a very bad move.
I don't want to talk about it.
Works for me.
It's just that high school, you know? It's where I found my I don't know, style? And realized my obsession with blood-spatter patterns.
Speaking of which It just wasn't a great combo for making friends and influencing people.
I had a lot of, um, alone time in high school, but let's just leave it at that 'cause I said I didn't want to talk about it, remember? Yes.
Okay.
Good.
On to happier subjects.
This is the explosive device that Bruno was going to use to commit mass murder.
It has a wireless receiver and it was built from a toy remote-control car kit.
Can you trace it? Hopefully or eventually.
Don't be so impatient.
How close did Bruno need to get to trigger the explosive? Well, it's a long-range transmitter, so he wasn't, like, suicidal, if that's what you're thinking.
As a matter of fact, he was trying to quit smoking and that is what actually killed him.
The killer spiked his nicotine patch with a cyanide analogue about 20 minutes before he put it on, according to the adhesive oxidation.
That rules out everyone at the reunion.
I know.
Ducky said that Bruno was already wearing the patch when he got there.
That's good news.
'Cause it narrows down our suspect list.
Yeah.
To zero.
If I never see a retired substitute teacher again, it'll be too soon.
How many are left? Well, five down, six to go.
Quinn's got another five.
(clangs) Ma'am, hello.
NCIS.
I'm, uh, Special Agent Timothy McGee and this is Special Agent Bishop here.
Hi, there.
Uh, are you currently renting a room to this man? (chuckles) Aren't you two cute.
I'll take two boxes of Skinny Mints and two boxes of Peanut Butteries.
MISS FRIMKES: My apologies.
I don't see so well these days.
I could've sworn you said you were selling cookies.
(chuckles) Wishful thinking, I guess.
I do love Skinny Mints.
Mmm, I do, too.
So how long has Bruno been living here? Several years now, poor thing.
Would you like some coffee? Uh, no, thanks, I'm okay, ma'am.
Heard on the radio what happened.
Don't buy a word of it.
BISHOP: Really? Why not? James Bruno was such a nice boy.
Always paid his rent on time.
Wouldn't hurt a fly.
Cream? Uh, no, ma'am, I actually said I didn't want coffee.
Cream it is.
McGEE: Uh did you know that he had a criminal record? I'm blind, honey, not an idiot.
I did my background check before I rented the room.
Which is back this way, if you want to see it.
(door creaks open) I didn't learn anything I didn't know already, though.
I remember that boy from high school.
We heard he was trouble back then.
Oh, he was.
Everyone hated him.
But then he changed senior year.
Out of the blue, he started dating one of the most popular girls in class.
It was the darndest thing.
She turned that boy's whole life around.
And his attitude.
He ended up being quite well-liked.
Here you go.
You got a key? No.
I don't go in there.
He likes his privacy.
Boys and their boy antics.
(Bishop and Miss Frimkes chuckle) What a tragic ending.
But I don't believe for a second he's capable of murder.
I can't imagine why anyone he went to school with would want to kill him.
Or why anyone would at all, for that matter.
Know what I mean? All right.
He was a good kid.
BISHOP: Not that good.
McGEE: Look at this, iPads, jewelry, paintings.
MISS FRIMKES: Oh, where he get all that stuff? McGEE: Good question.
ABBY (through bullhorn): Okay, people, we have fine art on table A.
Electronics on table B.
Jewelry and household goods, tables C There's a lot of stuff here, how much do you think this is all worth? All these wonderful prizes are worth tens of thousands of dollars and they can all be yours, Timothy McGee, if you can answer (elevator bell dings) the NCIS bonus question.
Where'd it come from? (airhorn sound) Actually, boss, I can answer that.
Burglaries.
All over the city.
Torres dug up this report.
Metro PD's been tracking a citywide theft ring for over half a decade.
GIBBS: This is all they got? Yup.
Clearly Bruno didn't do all this himself, but Metro never generated a single lead on whoever was involved.
ABBY: Well, I have one.
Not to brag.
All the fingerprints that I found in the room belonged to Bruno.
But I also found this, which did not, according to Ducky.
Bruno had a visitor with a really bad case of pityriasis capitis.
AKA dandruff.
Left flakes everywhere.
Like snow.
That teacher see anyone? I don't think she's seen anyone since the '90s, boss.
She did say Bruno would have an occasional visitor.
Said it was, âA man or maybe a woman, I think.
â Whoever they are, I'll bet you dollars to donuts that they are gonna be coming back for this stuff.
Take Quinn, McGee, eyes on that house 24/7.
Abbs? Don't even think about it.
(airhorn sounds, elevator bell dings) McGEE: So how long has it been since you've been on stakeout? QUINN: It's been a while.
But I-I'm good to go.
I taught yearly seminars on it.
Oh, I I remember.
Oh, that's right.
I did forgot one crucial element.
What's that? Hydration is your enemy.
Ah, yeah.
Well Men's room.
Ladies' room.
No.
I am not at DEFCON 1 yet.
But you will be the first to know.
You will be the one with the bag on your head.
(door creaks open in the distance) McGEE: What is she doing? We told her to stay in the house.
Well, we told her to do what she normally does, so Does she normally water the bird feeder? QUINN: Aw, be nice.
She's a lonely old lady.
(gasps) Which reminds me, Bishop told me you're going to propose to your girlfriend.
Congrats.
Thanks.
Tho uh, those two things reminded you of each other? Oh.
When are you gonna pop the question? When it's time.
And when is that time? I don't know.
(nervous chuckle) I'm not exactly sure yet.
I know I'm just gonna feel it out and you know, I I think I'll just know, you know? - Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
- Right.
No.
I'll know that it's time when it's time.
When might that be? (chuckles) I Ooh, I see something.
Yeah, it was really good chatting.
Oh, yeah.
(chuckles) (car door closes) Ooh, I got to go.
McGEE: She won't tell us who she is.
TORRES: Yeah, still no hits on her prints.
Abby confirmed that it's her dandruff in our dead guy's room.
Any I.
D.
? Only thing she had on her was her purse.
TORRES: Yeah, and I have been to drug-lord torture rooms less scary.
Me? (door opens) Oh.
Yup.
What's your name? Okay.
Where do you live? (quietly): Okay.
What were you doing in Jimmy Bruno's house? All right, we can sit here all day doing this Hey.
Are you hungry? Yeah? Here you go.
(door opens) Hey.
How's the interrogation going? Well, just as you thought.
Gibbs is slow walking it.
Seeing if Torres will pick up the pace.
Hmm, how's he doing? Well, he interrupted Gibbs.
Took me four years before I got up the nerve to do that.
(through speaker): Thank you.
But he's got her talking.
TORRES: Don't thank me too fast.
We're about to charge you with murder.
Bruno was my friend, I would never hurt him.
Okay, well, then help us find out who did.
I don't know anything.
Did you know your friend tried to murder 50 people? GIBBS: And maybe you were planning it with him.
No! Hey! TORRES: Then why were you running? (grunts softly) I wasn't.
Really? Sardines, underwear? Looks like you were planning a trip somewhere.
Or, you know what? I don't even want to imagine what else.
Let's just go with running.
You're wrong.
That bomb couldn't have been Bruno's.
He wouldn't do something like that.
His fingerprints were all over it.
Then you made a mistake! He's a thief, but not a killer.
So you do know something.
You're a thief, too, huh? Well, somebody's going down for Bruno's murder and guess who the Wheel of Misfortune just stopped on? I helped Bruno sell some stuff, that's all.
It's none of my business where he got it.
How long you been fencing for him? We have video of your friend building that bomb.
He's not who you think he is.
(scoffs) No, he's not who you think he is.
You you see him as you want to see him.
He's got a lot of bark, yeah, but no bite.
If he really did plant that bomb, then someone made him do it.
He was tricked or something.
And while you're wasting time in here with me, whoever manipulated him could be out there trying again.
Did you ever think about that? DUCKY: In some ways, Bruno, I envy you.
When I was a child, I often fancied living the life of a daring cat burglar.
Fortunately for me, yeah, at age of nine, on my maiden voyage, I fell off our neighbor's roof, yeah.
Landed on my coccyx.
And that was the end of that.
You're lucky it ended so quickly.
One time when I was in high school, I spent a night in jail for Uh, for (stammers) Never mind.
For what exactly, Mr.
Palmer? Just-- it's funny, I-I said the word âjail.
â I meant to say, um Vail.
Yeah, I was-I was a big skier in high school.
Were you now? Oh, yeah.
Yeah, I loved the-I loved the, uh, snow.
I loved-I loved, (elevator bell dings) uh, skiing and-and What I'd do is I'd-- Vail! You look like a man on a mission.
Got an alibi for the murder.
She was nowhere near Bruno when he was poisoned.
Oh, and so it goes.
Got us to thinking, maybe there's a second bomber.
We could use a lead.
Well, let's see what we can come up with.
This man has told me quite a bit about himself.
Starting with these burns.
They're quite old, probably inflicted when he was a teenager.
Military records indicate that his father died of lung cancer, excessive cigar smoking.
Yeah, so we can put two and two together.
He had a rough childhood.
And also a rough week.
Well, yeah.
He's dead.
Yes, but days before that, he was in a fight where he suffered severe body blows.
If you look carefully, you can make out the imprint of a fist.
Well, his knuckles don't look too bad.
Yes, well, oddly enough, he didn't seem to fight back.
Even more odd was the fact that we removed a diamond earring from this lobe.
Well, men are piercing their ears now, Duck.
Yes, but I'm referring to the fact that the hole was closed up from disuse.
Yet he forced the earring in anyway.
Ugh That must've hurt like a mother.
I'm sure it has some psychological significance, but I'm not sure what.
However, Abby came up with a second set of DNA on the earring.
So, I imagine you'll find out soon enough.
Well, is that a good enough lead for you? (elevator bell dings) Hey, so, you're the world-famous Abby Sciuto I keep hearing so much about.
Oh, well, guess we can skip the âI thought you'd be tallerâ part.
I'm Agent Quinn.
For what's it worth, I thought you would be exactly five feet, six inches.
I made a 3D avatar of you, using NCIS security camera footage.
And the hairs slowly went up on Agent Quinn's neck.
Oh, no, no! I just I needed to know your sizes, because I'm knitting you a âWelcome to NCISâ sweater.
Oh! (chuckles) But until it's done, welcome to NCIS.
Well, thank you very much.
Do you want a tour? I do, uh, but later, 'cause Gibbs wanted me to He wants to find out where the earring came from.
Of course he does.
Well, right now, all I can tell you is that the prior owner was a female.
Okay, so do you know how long Bruno had it in his ear? I have been waiting for someone to ask me that.
The impurities in the gold caused our victim's skin oil to oxidize.
And by measuring that amount, I could determine that he forced the stud through his ear, like, right before he went into the reunion.
To kill 50 people.
Then was poisoned to death.
Okay, so whoever owns the stud, maybe she knows something.
Well, I'm running the DNA through CODIS right now.
But I've also been looking at this, trying to find pictures of women.
I found this in a trench coat in Bruno's closet.
Unfortunately no women yet.
Huh.
Are these the homes that he robbed? Yeah.
Looks like he was casing them for a few days.
There's also a few pictures of his feet and some pictures of some other people that I haven't identified yet.
Ho-Hold up.
Go back one.
That's Neal Sherwood.
You know him? Well, he was at the reunion, and he had a fight with the victim right before he died.
Well, that's important.
Uh, yeah, because Neal said they hadn't seen each other in 15 years.
Oh.
(phone rings) Where is he? McGEE: With his suitcase, wherever that is.
Neighbors said he split right after the reunion.
McGEE: Left in a hurry.
He's running.
Quinn, BOLO.
McGee, freeway cams and credit cards.
Find him.
BISHOP: We found something.
Abby got a hit on the DNA from the earring Bruno was wearing.
(beeping) TORRES: Katrina Cooper.
A high school classmate of Bruno's.
Former prom queen, married the school jock, active social life.
How did Bruno get her earring? Could've stolen it, but if he did, she never reported it.
They have any recent contact? No.
No calls, no texts, no Snapchat doggie faces.
The only connection we could find was from high school.
They had a Saturday detention together, once.
15 years ago? Thin, I know.
Talk to her.
Find out why her DNA was in our dead guy's ear.
Round two, everybody! We got soccer meatballs, lacrosse stick hot dogs and pigskin pizza pockets.
Who's hungry? BISHOP: Mmm.
I am.
Hi.
You must be here for Katrina.
Why would you say that? That's what happens when you marry the most popular girl in town.
Everybody's here for Katrina.
Hmm.
She's over there, in the huddle.
(laughter) (chuckles) They're like little footballs.
KATRINA: And I told the guy, âGive me Louis Vuitton, or give me death.
â (laughter) (laughs) I got this.
Okay.
Um, Katrina Cooper? How you guys doing? You guys have fun? NCIS Special Agent Torres, Bishop.
Hi.
Can we have a word with you? Of course.
Let's not disturb the party, shall we? Excuse me.
Let's not do that.
They're little footballs.
They're good.
KATRINA: And how can I help you? (beeps) Do you know this guy? Mm, no.
Am I supposed to? Well, you guys went to high school together.
Oh, in fact, he actually died in front of you.
At your high school reunion, two days ago? Interestingly enough, wearing one of your earrings.
It was stolen.
Oh.
You didn't report it stolen.
I am now.
You know, I bet you and me had something in common in high school.
(chuckles): I don't think so.
We both liked bad boys.
The badder the better, except, I grew out of it.
I don't think you did.
Your husband know that you and Bruno have been sleeping together? Excuse me? What I'm wondering is if you knew how bad Bruno really was.
TORRES: You know, if he told you about, for the last several years, he's been robbing people in the city.
Yeah, I think it's time for you to go.
Cheers.
Have one more question No.
No, no, no more questions.
I don't know anything about any robberies, I'm not cheating on my husband and I have no idea where Neal Sherwood is.
Okay? Well, that was actually my next question, which I haven't asked yet.
(chuckles) Oh, right.
Hmm.
Where is he? (gunshot) (screaming) Get down! (exhales) Found him.
NEAL (over speaker): The cops are outside right now.
It's over.
To be honest, it's kind of a relief.
(grunts, sniffles) I am willing to set the record straight, but I cannot go to prison.
I just can't.
(laughs) I can't have it, my family can't have it.
So I'm sorry.
(beeps) Shot himself with a flare gun.
That's a new one.
Did I miss the part where he set the record straight? Maybe it's on the laptop? Go-Go Abby fingers.
Hey, so, um (clears throat) You, um liked bad boys in school, huh? (chuckles) I'm sorry, I just I just painted for you for more of a goody two-shoes, uh, prom queen type.
Actually, I was the prom queen.
Wow.
So you played us both.
Nice.
Except, I was voted in as a joke.
Kind of like Carrie, but without the blood.
Bishop, that's like the worst thing I've ever heard.
Yeah, I didn't have any friends in high school, I was too me, I guess.
(beeping) I got something.
Okay, it's a text document.
Neal made it right before he shot himself.
Looks like some kind of confession.
It's even double-spaced and everything.
TORRES: What exactly is he confessing to? McGEE: According to Neal, he and his high school friends are the ones behind Metro's theft ring.
With each friend playing a very specific role.
Adam Cooper, former jock, ended up running a sports betting company.
That's where he would identify the wealthy marks.
BISHOP: Katrina Cooper, his prom queen wife, would flirt her way into the homes to get info on their security systems.
Bad boy would do the actual robberies, and this woman, who we've now identified as former classmate, Angela Russell, would fence the stolen goods on the street where she lived.
Finally, there's Neal Sherwood, the accountant.
And he laundered the money.
Yep.
According to Neal, they came up with the idea to start a robbery gang back in school, after they met at a Saturday detention.
BISHOP: He said they talked about it as a joke at first, as a way to âget backâ at their parents.
Eventually they realized, if they pooled their talents, they could make some real money.
JIMMY: All of this seems very familiar.
JIMMY: Yeah Yeah, I'm v-very interested in this case, here.
We got five different high school kids from varied social backgrounds all coming together on their Saturdays, for detention.
(laughs) You know, it kind of reminds me of, uh You've You don't Not important.
Sorry.
(clears throat) Anyway, the different social groups was part of the reason Metro was never able to crack the burglary ring.
They were never able to find a connection between the players.
Congratulations, we just solved Metro's case.
What about our own? We have no clue who killed our victim! Actually, not true.
The prom queen ain't talking, but the fence is.
She thinks she knows who killed Bruno.
Two days ago, your wife gave Bruno that earring.
I don't believe you.
Welcome to the club.
You were the only one not at the reunion.
You were the only one that had the opportunity to poison Bruno.
Prosecutor's gonna file charges today, unless you have something to tell us.
This isn't where I imagined I'd be after high school.
Ah.
Welcome to the club.
I wanted to be a pro football player.
You? Painter.
Really.
Really? Yeah.
Really.
Painter.
Loved to paint.
Watercolors, mostly.
I took every art class that school had.
Water colors? It's hard to imagine a grown man So what happened? Life.
Life.
I paint with wood.
It's close enough.
Not for me.
I suspected Katrina and Bruno had started up again, but I didn't want to believe it.
But if she really gave him her earring it's game over for us.
It's worse than that.
I think that witch tried to kill me.
The last house we knocked over, Bruno snagged a painting worth over a million bucks.
My wife kept joking we should take out our partners, keep the money for ourselves.
Said we should bomb the reunion, and make it look like a terrorist attack.
I honestly thought she was joking.
She must've talked Bruno into it.
He was always a sucker for her.
No way he would come up with something like that on his own.
Hell, he was even gonna pretend to let Neal kick the crap out of him at the reunion as a goof, to impress some girls.
Bruno was bad on the outside, but good on the inside.
My wife? The opposite.
What about you? All I can say is I'm not a murderer.
I didn't kill Bruno, and I wasn't anywhere near him when he was poisoned.
(elevator bell dings) Hypothetically speaking, how would you feel about a betting pool on whether his alibi checks out? Hypothetically? How'd Ducky bet? Guilty.
How'd you bet? I'm not a gambling man.
(laughs) And I have no idea.
TORRES: I mean, who are these people? Living double lives like this? I mean, yeah, I mean, I I lived as someone else, for the most of the last decade, but I had an excuse, I was, uh I was undercover.
Which version is the real them? Which version is the real you? You're looking at it.
Am I? You created all those covers.
It wasn't random.
(laughs) Wait, you're saying that a part of me wanted to be a, uh, mafia-tied, vegan juice-bar owner? Eh You just couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you? You tried to kill us all! Oh, could everyone just please stop fighting? Shove a Pixy Stix up your nose! BISHOP: McGee is taking them to Metro not a moment too soon.
And Miss Congeniality denied having anything to do with the bomb attempt, even though we found the detonator in her car.
Unfortunately, her husband's alibi came through.
Like he said, he was nowhere near Bruno when he was poisoned.
The fight with Neal was staged.
TORRES: If none of them killed Bruno, then who the hell did? All right, let's go back to what we do know.
He's dead.
I feel pretty confident about that.
What else do we know? We know who didn't kill him.
And a million-dollar painting is missing.
We find the painting, we find the killer.
Checked everybody's houses.
Nobody has it.
Everyone insists Bruno has it.
He didn't.
He could've hid it.
Maybe in a storage unit in the area.
Yeah, safe-deposit box.
Start looking.
TORRES: All that work and we're back to square one.
Tell me about it.
What about the fight Ducky said he was in? Maybe he came back to finish the job.
Our only witness is dead.
Okay, what would I tell my students in my GPS forensics class? I would have them go back and reconstruct a timeline of Bruno's movements.
Maybe we can find another witness.
Do it.
There goes my evening plans.
Were they exciting plans? Uh, cooking class? Oh, well, don't cancel that just yet.
You.
I have goodies, come on.
You know Even though you just met her, you already kind of wish she was your sister? Well, I was just going to say I like her boots, but hey, I'll take another sister.
I was finally able to trace the remote detonator that Bruno used in his explosive.
It took me a long time because there are parts missing.
Someone tampered with it? Yeah.
And according to touch DNA, Bruno did.
It's like he built this bomb, and then he disabled it.
His girlfriend's remote detonator wouldn't have even worked.
Bad on the outside, good on the inside.
Maybe he got cold feet and decided he didn't want to be a depraved mass murderer after all.
See, this is why I'm a people person.
'Cause the good on the inside, it always-- Abbs.
Quinn cooking class? Right.
Sorry.
Okay, so the receiver was made from a rare Lazarus 1941 hobby car.
It's available in only two stores in the area, one of which happens to be across the street from a bank with a brand-new, hi-def security system.
Voila, Bruno.
His entrance isn't very exciting, but he made quite an exit.
Personally, if I was looking for Bruno's murderer, I would start with that guy.
Can you enhance it? Yeah.
Who can't these days? BISHOP: You found out Bruno was robbing people, you tracked him down, you asked to be cut in.
When he refused, you went to his house the next day, and you poisoned him.
Oh, yeah? Is that what I did? Yeah, that's what you did.
What it's gonna look like to a jury.
We have a witness that places you in his front yard.
(sighs) Where's the painting, Vic? The what? Wait, wait, wait.
Slow down here.
This is just a total misunderstanding, okay? I was at the hobby shop because I made a promise to James Bruno 15 years ago.
To what, poison him to death? No, to kick his ass! I devoted my life to those kids.
Bruno in particular.
I spent eight weekends in a row in Saturday detention with that smug, arrogant little-- Actually the records say seven.
Eight! It was eight! And all that kid did was blame other people for his problems, whining about his mom and his dad.
Making my life miserable.
So I promised him I would find him one day and pay him back.
And that's what I did.
I'm glad you're a man of your word.
Judge all you want.
I've been in combat.
High school is worse, mister.
Wait, no, wait, wait, wait! I did not go to Bruno's house to poison him, okay? I went to apologize.
(door closes) When I confronted Bruno, he didn't fight back.
He seemed, like, resigned.
Almost like he wanted me to hit him, like he deserved it.
And that's not what I wanted.
So I went to his house to say I was sorry.
Anyone see you talk to him? Bruno wasn't there.
Just that nasty old witch, Frimkes.
She saw the bruise on my knuckles, figured I was the guy that beat up Bruno, and threatened to call the police.
So I got the hell out of there.
She saw that? Yeah.
She did.
(door closes) Come on now, baby.
Come on.
I got my first pair of reading glasses when I was 45.
But your medical records show that you have perfect eyesight, and hearing.
Agent McGee, it's good to see you again.
I-I was just, um-- Walking without a cane? No.
Skipping town with a million-dollar painting? No! Going to jail.
(siren approaching) Dang! McGEE: So in addition to being a chemistry teacher who knew 50 different ways to poison somebody, she kept a pretty active retirement life.
She totally Keyser Soze'd us.
She what? Keyser Soze'd.
Uh, Usual Suspects, the movie? Oh, I'm not much of a movie guy.
You know, she told us on the drive back that she knew Bruno was a thief, but she didn't want to go to the police because he was trying to get clean.
(elevator bell dings) She claims she found the painting and was going to bring it back to the police.
TORRES: Yeah, killed Bruno and kept the painting for herself.
Whoa, whoa, what? (gasps) Better.
Better! Who who Who do you think? I kind of like it.
I don't.
Wait a sec, wha what's the point of moving desks if were were just gonna move desks? Seriously, I mean to do something like this without consulting anyone? I am the senior field agent.
You realize that Boss, what was that for? It comes with the territory, Senior Field Agent.
Did he just physically assault you? TORRES: Hey, Gibbs, I feel like you'll want to see this.
We found a laptop in Bruno's car.
He was writing an e-mail to the police.
He was going to come clean, turn everyone in.
Guess he figured which version was the real him.
The good guy.
I'm just not that into movies.
So what do you do for fun, besides disrupting people's workplaces? Broadway musicals.
Okay, if you start singing show tunes, I am going to shoot you, and then probably shoot myself.
Oh, okay, well, what do you like to listen to? I thought you'd never ask.
(up-tempo Latin music playing loudly) Ah.
(singer singing in Spanish) Go! Hey! TORRES: Hey, hey, hey! Hey.
Boss.
TORRES: Hey! Oh.
Hey.
(music stops) Ha! Hey.
He's gonna learn to love it.
Shh.
(computer beeps) @elderman
So, tell me why we're here again? Um (stutters) Uh (clears throat) Right.
'Cause the dream never dies.
Well, uh uh, nerds are supposed to be cool now, right? Yeah.
Yeah, maybe, you know.
(indistinct conversation) (exhales) Let's see if we're grandfathered in.
(sighs) Yeah.
Oops.
Sorry.
Come on, man, aren't we a little too old for that now? Too old for what exactly? Um too old to fall back on an outdated social hierarchy that penalizes achievement and rewards mediocrity.
(chuckles) Oh.
That sounded like an insult.
I think.
Um Whoa, it's No, don't.
Don't.
my life coach, so Okay.
Ooh.
Come on.
Wow.
(groans) Looks like it's just me and you.
It's the same as the emotion Yeah, you know.
That and your teensy, weensy, little (grunting) Give me your heart, make it real or else Hey, so what'd you end up doing after high school? I joined Special Forces.
Got my CPA degree off the GI Bill.
You should check it out.
I'm gonna kick your ass.
Yeah, good luck with that.
Um you meant today, right? (groans) Whoa.
(groaning) No.
Hey.
Hey, hey, hey.
Hey.
Hey Hey, hey.
Hey.
Oh.
Oh, no, no, no.
Oh.
Somebody call 911! Call 911! NCIS 14x02 Being Bad @elderman (elevator bell dings) Oh.
What's Torres doing here? I don't know.
He and Quinn don't officially start till Monday.
Hey, Torres.
Hey, what's up? Hey, you know, uh you know it's Friday night, right? TORRES: Yeah, I know.
Just not really sure how this whole desk thing works, so, uh figured I'd drop off a few things early.
Starting with a picture of yourself.
Yeah.
It's a reminder.
Of? Something I like to be reminded of.
(watch beeping) Hmm.
Okay, we got to go.
Talk to you Monday.
Oh, you guys are late to spinning class or something? Uh, no, Gibbs is famous for coming in just before the weekend starts and saying Grab your gear.
That a well-timed illustration, boss? Got a death at Quantico.
(quietly): Okay.
GIBBS: Are you coming? I'm not much of a varsity letters guy.
TORRES: James Bruno.
Graduated Puller High 15 years ago.
Barely, from what I hear.
His father was stationed at the motor pool on base.
TORRES: So, what do you think? Involuntary manslaughter? Yeah.
Maybe.
Jethro Gibbs doesn't like to commit.
That's why it's the perfect job for him.
Thanks for calling me.
I'm ready to get started.
Get started.
Okay.
All right, what did I miss? Your jacket.
Okay.
Oh, I don't know, he looks fine.
Just fine.
Who is he? Oh, that's Agent Torres.
Oh, that's great.
Who are you? A-Agent Quinn.
I swear, I barely touched him.
I mean, I just did a controlled throw so that he would think twice about touching me.
So, what started the fight? Nothing.
He's just that kind of guy.
He's just always starting something.
When was the last time you saw him? Uh, I haven't seen him since high school.
15 years.
(groans) Looks like nothing's changed.
The teenage years are fraught with peril.
The frontal cortex is responsible for self-regulation.
It develops gradually over adolescence.
Unfortunately, in some adults, well, it never occurs.
You aren't talking about anyone in particular, are you, Doctor? 'Cause I was only popping that bubble wrap to see if it was still The victim, Mr.
Palmer.
I was referring to the victim.
GIBBS: What about him? Well, I don't see anything obvious, but this hypersalivation suggests there's some sort of poison at work.
Boss, we got a problem.
What do you got, McGee? Talked to one of the eyewitnesses.
They saw Bruno arrive early, put something in one of these lockers and it wasn't a math book.
Stand clear.
TORRES: Yeah.
I think this guy had issues.
So, this button moves forward; this one moves backwards, and this is the âOops, How Did That Get There?â button.
The what? We push it when Gibbs asks for the impossible to distract him.
I-It's preloaded with pictures of his ex-wives or Jimmy Palmer making turducken, stuff like that.
(chuckles) And you think he doesn't know what you're doing? He's good.
He's not that good.
All right, Jim Bruno.
Let's go.
BISHOP: Jim Bruno, born James.
Left home after high school, never came back.
Yeah, he got a job teaching shop at a community college.
Ended after a burglary conviction.
Wrong button.
Oops.
BISHOP: Bruno's never paid taxes, never voted, and has no recent home address we can find.
Yeah, your doc confirms that he was poisoned to death.
Are we sure the explosive was his? We are now.
A base surveillance camera shows him assembling a bomb in his car.
Bomb squad's sending it to Abby.
Said there's enough explosives in there to level the gym.
Bruno would've ended up killing his entire high school graduating class.
McGee and Quinn.
High school records.
On it.
Bishop and Torres, go talk to his teachers.
See who remembers him.
Uh Yeah? What desk should I be at? GIBBS: Right here.
My old desk.
Putting baby in the corner? That's where you sat when you were a probie.
Since when do you sit down? Oh.
Uh There's five of us here now.
Gonna have to rearrange some stuff.
You try to do what you can for these kids, be sensitive to their needs but some of them are just, well, beyond reach, you know? Hey! Hey! Don't just pull the poster down! Take the tape off the wall! Idiots.
(sighs) Sorry, where were we? You were just telling us how sensitive you can be.
Hey, I did what I could for that kid.
His senior year, I spent eight weekends in a row in Saturday detention with him, trying to whip him into shape.
Nothing took.
Always causing a ruckus.
Recent contact? No but it's a tight community.
I heard a rumor he was renting a room from an old substitute teacher.
Do you think he was targeting anyone in particular? Take your pick.
That punk had problems with everyone in the school.
How many had problems with him? What, you're looking for a list or something? His death wasn't accidental.
He was poisoned.
(sighs) Well, then you got your work cut out for you.
Everyone had problems with that kid.
(elevator bell dings) Abbs, McGee said you had something for me.
Yup.
Yup, I do.
Yeah.
Behind your back.
No no, this is some it's nothing.
It's just Well, it's my it's my high school yearbook.
I thought I would, you know, get in the mood for the case.
It's a very bad move.
I don't want to talk about it.
Works for me.
It's just that high school, you know? It's where I found my I don't know, style? And realized my obsession with blood-spatter patterns.
Speaking of which It just wasn't a great combo for making friends and influencing people.
I had a lot of, um, alone time in high school, but let's just leave it at that 'cause I said I didn't want to talk about it, remember? Yes.
Okay.
Good.
On to happier subjects.
This is the explosive device that Bruno was going to use to commit mass murder.
It has a wireless receiver and it was built from a toy remote-control car kit.
Can you trace it? Hopefully or eventually.
Don't be so impatient.
How close did Bruno need to get to trigger the explosive? Well, it's a long-range transmitter, so he wasn't, like, suicidal, if that's what you're thinking.
As a matter of fact, he was trying to quit smoking and that is what actually killed him.
The killer spiked his nicotine patch with a cyanide analogue about 20 minutes before he put it on, according to the adhesive oxidation.
That rules out everyone at the reunion.
I know.
Ducky said that Bruno was already wearing the patch when he got there.
That's good news.
'Cause it narrows down our suspect list.
Yeah.
To zero.
If I never see a retired substitute teacher again, it'll be too soon.
How many are left? Well, five down, six to go.
Quinn's got another five.
(clangs) Ma'am, hello.
NCIS.
I'm, uh, Special Agent Timothy McGee and this is Special Agent Bishop here.
Hi, there.
Uh, are you currently renting a room to this man? (chuckles) Aren't you two cute.
I'll take two boxes of Skinny Mints and two boxes of Peanut Butteries.
MISS FRIMKES: My apologies.
I don't see so well these days.
I could've sworn you said you were selling cookies.
(chuckles) Wishful thinking, I guess.
I do love Skinny Mints.
Mmm, I do, too.
So how long has Bruno been living here? Several years now, poor thing.
Would you like some coffee? Uh, no, thanks, I'm okay, ma'am.
Heard on the radio what happened.
Don't buy a word of it.
BISHOP: Really? Why not? James Bruno was such a nice boy.
Always paid his rent on time.
Wouldn't hurt a fly.
Cream? Uh, no, ma'am, I actually said I didn't want coffee.
Cream it is.
McGEE: Uh did you know that he had a criminal record? I'm blind, honey, not an idiot.
I did my background check before I rented the room.
Which is back this way, if you want to see it.
(door creaks open) I didn't learn anything I didn't know already, though.
I remember that boy from high school.
We heard he was trouble back then.
Oh, he was.
Everyone hated him.
But then he changed senior year.
Out of the blue, he started dating one of the most popular girls in class.
It was the darndest thing.
She turned that boy's whole life around.
And his attitude.
He ended up being quite well-liked.
Here you go.
You got a key? No.
I don't go in there.
He likes his privacy.
Boys and their boy antics.
(Bishop and Miss Frimkes chuckle) What a tragic ending.
But I don't believe for a second he's capable of murder.
I can't imagine why anyone he went to school with would want to kill him.
Or why anyone would at all, for that matter.
Know what I mean? All right.
He was a good kid.
BISHOP: Not that good.
McGEE: Look at this, iPads, jewelry, paintings.
MISS FRIMKES: Oh, where he get all that stuff? McGEE: Good question.
ABBY (through bullhorn): Okay, people, we have fine art on table A.
Electronics on table B.
Jewelry and household goods, tables C There's a lot of stuff here, how much do you think this is all worth? All these wonderful prizes are worth tens of thousands of dollars and they can all be yours, Timothy McGee, if you can answer (elevator bell dings) the NCIS bonus question.
Where'd it come from? (airhorn sound) Actually, boss, I can answer that.
Burglaries.
All over the city.
Torres dug up this report.
Metro PD's been tracking a citywide theft ring for over half a decade.
GIBBS: This is all they got? Yup.
Clearly Bruno didn't do all this himself, but Metro never generated a single lead on whoever was involved.
ABBY: Well, I have one.
Not to brag.
All the fingerprints that I found in the room belonged to Bruno.
But I also found this, which did not, according to Ducky.
Bruno had a visitor with a really bad case of pityriasis capitis.
AKA dandruff.
Left flakes everywhere.
Like snow.
That teacher see anyone? I don't think she's seen anyone since the '90s, boss.
She did say Bruno would have an occasional visitor.
Said it was, âA man or maybe a woman, I think.
â Whoever they are, I'll bet you dollars to donuts that they are gonna be coming back for this stuff.
Take Quinn, McGee, eyes on that house 24/7.
Abbs? Don't even think about it.
(airhorn sounds, elevator bell dings) McGEE: So how long has it been since you've been on stakeout? QUINN: It's been a while.
But I-I'm good to go.
I taught yearly seminars on it.
Oh, I I remember.
Oh, that's right.
I did forgot one crucial element.
What's that? Hydration is your enemy.
Ah, yeah.
Well Men's room.
Ladies' room.
No.
I am not at DEFCON 1 yet.
But you will be the first to know.
You will be the one with the bag on your head.
(door creaks open in the distance) McGEE: What is she doing? We told her to stay in the house.
Well, we told her to do what she normally does, so Does she normally water the bird feeder? QUINN: Aw, be nice.
She's a lonely old lady.
(gasps) Which reminds me, Bishop told me you're going to propose to your girlfriend.
Congrats.
Thanks.
Tho uh, those two things reminded you of each other? Oh.
When are you gonna pop the question? When it's time.
And when is that time? I don't know.
(nervous chuckle) I'm not exactly sure yet.
I know I'm just gonna feel it out and you know, I I think I'll just know, you know? - Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
- Right.
No.
I'll know that it's time when it's time.
When might that be? (chuckles) I Ooh, I see something.
Yeah, it was really good chatting.
Oh, yeah.
(chuckles) (car door closes) Ooh, I got to go.
McGEE: She won't tell us who she is.
TORRES: Yeah, still no hits on her prints.
Abby confirmed that it's her dandruff in our dead guy's room.
Any I.
D.
? Only thing she had on her was her purse.
TORRES: Yeah, and I have been to drug-lord torture rooms less scary.
Me? (door opens) Oh.
Yup.
What's your name? Okay.
Where do you live? (quietly): Okay.
What were you doing in Jimmy Bruno's house? All right, we can sit here all day doing this Hey.
Are you hungry? Yeah? Here you go.
(door opens) Hey.
How's the interrogation going? Well, just as you thought.
Gibbs is slow walking it.
Seeing if Torres will pick up the pace.
Hmm, how's he doing? Well, he interrupted Gibbs.
Took me four years before I got up the nerve to do that.
(through speaker): Thank you.
But he's got her talking.
TORRES: Don't thank me too fast.
We're about to charge you with murder.
Bruno was my friend, I would never hurt him.
Okay, well, then help us find out who did.
I don't know anything.
Did you know your friend tried to murder 50 people? GIBBS: And maybe you were planning it with him.
No! Hey! TORRES: Then why were you running? (grunts softly) I wasn't.
Really? Sardines, underwear? Looks like you were planning a trip somewhere.
Or, you know what? I don't even want to imagine what else.
Let's just go with running.
You're wrong.
That bomb couldn't have been Bruno's.
He wouldn't do something like that.
His fingerprints were all over it.
Then you made a mistake! He's a thief, but not a killer.
So you do know something.
You're a thief, too, huh? Well, somebody's going down for Bruno's murder and guess who the Wheel of Misfortune just stopped on? I helped Bruno sell some stuff, that's all.
It's none of my business where he got it.
How long you been fencing for him? We have video of your friend building that bomb.
He's not who you think he is.
(scoffs) No, he's not who you think he is.
You you see him as you want to see him.
He's got a lot of bark, yeah, but no bite.
If he really did plant that bomb, then someone made him do it.
He was tricked or something.
And while you're wasting time in here with me, whoever manipulated him could be out there trying again.
Did you ever think about that? DUCKY: In some ways, Bruno, I envy you.
When I was a child, I often fancied living the life of a daring cat burglar.
Fortunately for me, yeah, at age of nine, on my maiden voyage, I fell off our neighbor's roof, yeah.
Landed on my coccyx.
And that was the end of that.
You're lucky it ended so quickly.
One time when I was in high school, I spent a night in jail for Uh, for (stammers) Never mind.
For what exactly, Mr.
Palmer? Just-- it's funny, I-I said the word âjail.
â I meant to say, um Vail.
Yeah, I was-I was a big skier in high school.
Were you now? Oh, yeah.
Yeah, I loved the-I loved the, uh, snow.
I loved-I loved, (elevator bell dings) uh, skiing and-and What I'd do is I'd-- Vail! You look like a man on a mission.
Got an alibi for the murder.
She was nowhere near Bruno when he was poisoned.
Oh, and so it goes.
Got us to thinking, maybe there's a second bomber.
We could use a lead.
Well, let's see what we can come up with.
This man has told me quite a bit about himself.
Starting with these burns.
They're quite old, probably inflicted when he was a teenager.
Military records indicate that his father died of lung cancer, excessive cigar smoking.
Yeah, so we can put two and two together.
He had a rough childhood.
And also a rough week.
Well, yeah.
He's dead.
Yes, but days before that, he was in a fight where he suffered severe body blows.
If you look carefully, you can make out the imprint of a fist.
Well, his knuckles don't look too bad.
Yes, well, oddly enough, he didn't seem to fight back.
Even more odd was the fact that we removed a diamond earring from this lobe.
Well, men are piercing their ears now, Duck.
Yes, but I'm referring to the fact that the hole was closed up from disuse.
Yet he forced the earring in anyway.
Ugh That must've hurt like a mother.
I'm sure it has some psychological significance, but I'm not sure what.
However, Abby came up with a second set of DNA on the earring.
So, I imagine you'll find out soon enough.
Well, is that a good enough lead for you? (elevator bell dings) Hey, so, you're the world-famous Abby Sciuto I keep hearing so much about.
Oh, well, guess we can skip the âI thought you'd be tallerâ part.
I'm Agent Quinn.
For what's it worth, I thought you would be exactly five feet, six inches.
I made a 3D avatar of you, using NCIS security camera footage.
And the hairs slowly went up on Agent Quinn's neck.
Oh, no, no! I just I needed to know your sizes, because I'm knitting you a âWelcome to NCISâ sweater.
Oh! (chuckles) But until it's done, welcome to NCIS.
Well, thank you very much.
Do you want a tour? I do, uh, but later, 'cause Gibbs wanted me to He wants to find out where the earring came from.
Of course he does.
Well, right now, all I can tell you is that the prior owner was a female.
Okay, so do you know how long Bruno had it in his ear? I have been waiting for someone to ask me that.
The impurities in the gold caused our victim's skin oil to oxidize.
And by measuring that amount, I could determine that he forced the stud through his ear, like, right before he went into the reunion.
To kill 50 people.
Then was poisoned to death.
Okay, so whoever owns the stud, maybe she knows something.
Well, I'm running the DNA through CODIS right now.
But I've also been looking at this, trying to find pictures of women.
I found this in a trench coat in Bruno's closet.
Unfortunately no women yet.
Huh.
Are these the homes that he robbed? Yeah.
Looks like he was casing them for a few days.
There's also a few pictures of his feet and some pictures of some other people that I haven't identified yet.
Ho-Hold up.
Go back one.
That's Neal Sherwood.
You know him? Well, he was at the reunion, and he had a fight with the victim right before he died.
Well, that's important.
Uh, yeah, because Neal said they hadn't seen each other in 15 years.
Oh.
(phone rings) Where is he? McGEE: With his suitcase, wherever that is.
Neighbors said he split right after the reunion.
McGEE: Left in a hurry.
He's running.
Quinn, BOLO.
McGee, freeway cams and credit cards.
Find him.
BISHOP: We found something.
Abby got a hit on the DNA from the earring Bruno was wearing.
(beeping) TORRES: Katrina Cooper.
A high school classmate of Bruno's.
Former prom queen, married the school jock, active social life.
How did Bruno get her earring? Could've stolen it, but if he did, she never reported it.
They have any recent contact? No.
No calls, no texts, no Snapchat doggie faces.
The only connection we could find was from high school.
They had a Saturday detention together, once.
15 years ago? Thin, I know.
Talk to her.
Find out why her DNA was in our dead guy's ear.
Round two, everybody! We got soccer meatballs, lacrosse stick hot dogs and pigskin pizza pockets.
Who's hungry? BISHOP: Mmm.
I am.
Hi.
You must be here for Katrina.
Why would you say that? That's what happens when you marry the most popular girl in town.
Everybody's here for Katrina.
Hmm.
She's over there, in the huddle.
(laughter) (chuckles) They're like little footballs.
KATRINA: And I told the guy, âGive me Louis Vuitton, or give me death.
â (laughter) (laughs) I got this.
Okay.
Um, Katrina Cooper? How you guys doing? You guys have fun? NCIS Special Agent Torres, Bishop.
Hi.
Can we have a word with you? Of course.
Let's not disturb the party, shall we? Excuse me.
Let's not do that.
They're little footballs.
They're good.
KATRINA: And how can I help you? (beeps) Do you know this guy? Mm, no.
Am I supposed to? Well, you guys went to high school together.
Oh, in fact, he actually died in front of you.
At your high school reunion, two days ago? Interestingly enough, wearing one of your earrings.
It was stolen.
Oh.
You didn't report it stolen.
I am now.
You know, I bet you and me had something in common in high school.
(chuckles): I don't think so.
We both liked bad boys.
The badder the better, except, I grew out of it.
I don't think you did.
Your husband know that you and Bruno have been sleeping together? Excuse me? What I'm wondering is if you knew how bad Bruno really was.
TORRES: You know, if he told you about, for the last several years, he's been robbing people in the city.
Yeah, I think it's time for you to go.
Cheers.
Have one more question No.
No, no, no more questions.
I don't know anything about any robberies, I'm not cheating on my husband and I have no idea where Neal Sherwood is.
Okay? Well, that was actually my next question, which I haven't asked yet.
(chuckles) Oh, right.
Hmm.
Where is he? (gunshot) (screaming) Get down! (exhales) Found him.
NEAL (over speaker): The cops are outside right now.
It's over.
To be honest, it's kind of a relief.
(grunts, sniffles) I am willing to set the record straight, but I cannot go to prison.
I just can't.
(laughs) I can't have it, my family can't have it.
So I'm sorry.
(beeps) Shot himself with a flare gun.
That's a new one.
Did I miss the part where he set the record straight? Maybe it's on the laptop? Go-Go Abby fingers.
Hey, so, um (clears throat) You, um liked bad boys in school, huh? (chuckles) I'm sorry, I just I just painted for you for more of a goody two-shoes, uh, prom queen type.
Actually, I was the prom queen.
Wow.
So you played us both.
Nice.
Except, I was voted in as a joke.
Kind of like Carrie, but without the blood.
Bishop, that's like the worst thing I've ever heard.
Yeah, I didn't have any friends in high school, I was too me, I guess.
(beeping) I got something.
Okay, it's a text document.
Neal made it right before he shot himself.
Looks like some kind of confession.
It's even double-spaced and everything.
TORRES: What exactly is he confessing to? McGEE: According to Neal, he and his high school friends are the ones behind Metro's theft ring.
With each friend playing a very specific role.
Adam Cooper, former jock, ended up running a sports betting company.
That's where he would identify the wealthy marks.
BISHOP: Katrina Cooper, his prom queen wife, would flirt her way into the homes to get info on their security systems.
Bad boy would do the actual robberies, and this woman, who we've now identified as former classmate, Angela Russell, would fence the stolen goods on the street where she lived.
Finally, there's Neal Sherwood, the accountant.
And he laundered the money.
Yep.
According to Neal, they came up with the idea to start a robbery gang back in school, after they met at a Saturday detention.
BISHOP: He said they talked about it as a joke at first, as a way to âget backâ at their parents.
Eventually they realized, if they pooled their talents, they could make some real money.
JIMMY: All of this seems very familiar.
JIMMY: Yeah Yeah, I'm v-very interested in this case, here.
We got five different high school kids from varied social backgrounds all coming together on their Saturdays, for detention.
(laughs) You know, it kind of reminds me of, uh You've You don't Not important.
Sorry.
(clears throat) Anyway, the different social groups was part of the reason Metro was never able to crack the burglary ring.
They were never able to find a connection between the players.
Congratulations, we just solved Metro's case.
What about our own? We have no clue who killed our victim! Actually, not true.
The prom queen ain't talking, but the fence is.
She thinks she knows who killed Bruno.
Two days ago, your wife gave Bruno that earring.
I don't believe you.
Welcome to the club.
You were the only one not at the reunion.
You were the only one that had the opportunity to poison Bruno.
Prosecutor's gonna file charges today, unless you have something to tell us.
This isn't where I imagined I'd be after high school.
Ah.
Welcome to the club.
I wanted to be a pro football player.
You? Painter.
Really.
Really? Yeah.
Really.
Painter.
Loved to paint.
Watercolors, mostly.
I took every art class that school had.
Water colors? It's hard to imagine a grown man So what happened? Life.
Life.
I paint with wood.
It's close enough.
Not for me.
I suspected Katrina and Bruno had started up again, but I didn't want to believe it.
But if she really gave him her earring it's game over for us.
It's worse than that.
I think that witch tried to kill me.
The last house we knocked over, Bruno snagged a painting worth over a million bucks.
My wife kept joking we should take out our partners, keep the money for ourselves.
Said we should bomb the reunion, and make it look like a terrorist attack.
I honestly thought she was joking.
She must've talked Bruno into it.
He was always a sucker for her.
No way he would come up with something like that on his own.
Hell, he was even gonna pretend to let Neal kick the crap out of him at the reunion as a goof, to impress some girls.
Bruno was bad on the outside, but good on the inside.
My wife? The opposite.
What about you? All I can say is I'm not a murderer.
I didn't kill Bruno, and I wasn't anywhere near him when he was poisoned.
(elevator bell dings) Hypothetically speaking, how would you feel about a betting pool on whether his alibi checks out? Hypothetically? How'd Ducky bet? Guilty.
How'd you bet? I'm not a gambling man.
(laughs) And I have no idea.
TORRES: I mean, who are these people? Living double lives like this? I mean, yeah, I mean, I I lived as someone else, for the most of the last decade, but I had an excuse, I was, uh I was undercover.
Which version is the real them? Which version is the real you? You're looking at it.
Am I? You created all those covers.
It wasn't random.
(laughs) Wait, you're saying that a part of me wanted to be a, uh, mafia-tied, vegan juice-bar owner? Eh You just couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you? You tried to kill us all! Oh, could everyone just please stop fighting? Shove a Pixy Stix up your nose! BISHOP: McGee is taking them to Metro not a moment too soon.
And Miss Congeniality denied having anything to do with the bomb attempt, even though we found the detonator in her car.
Unfortunately, her husband's alibi came through.
Like he said, he was nowhere near Bruno when he was poisoned.
The fight with Neal was staged.
TORRES: If none of them killed Bruno, then who the hell did? All right, let's go back to what we do know.
He's dead.
I feel pretty confident about that.
What else do we know? We know who didn't kill him.
And a million-dollar painting is missing.
We find the painting, we find the killer.
Checked everybody's houses.
Nobody has it.
Everyone insists Bruno has it.
He didn't.
He could've hid it.
Maybe in a storage unit in the area.
Yeah, safe-deposit box.
Start looking.
TORRES: All that work and we're back to square one.
Tell me about it.
What about the fight Ducky said he was in? Maybe he came back to finish the job.
Our only witness is dead.
Okay, what would I tell my students in my GPS forensics class? I would have them go back and reconstruct a timeline of Bruno's movements.
Maybe we can find another witness.
Do it.
There goes my evening plans.
Were they exciting plans? Uh, cooking class? Oh, well, don't cancel that just yet.
You.
I have goodies, come on.
You know Even though you just met her, you already kind of wish she was your sister? Well, I was just going to say I like her boots, but hey, I'll take another sister.
I was finally able to trace the remote detonator that Bruno used in his explosive.
It took me a long time because there are parts missing.
Someone tampered with it? Yeah.
And according to touch DNA, Bruno did.
It's like he built this bomb, and then he disabled it.
His girlfriend's remote detonator wouldn't have even worked.
Bad on the outside, good on the inside.
Maybe he got cold feet and decided he didn't want to be a depraved mass murderer after all.
See, this is why I'm a people person.
'Cause the good on the inside, it always-- Abbs.
Quinn cooking class? Right.
Sorry.
Okay, so the receiver was made from a rare Lazarus 1941 hobby car.
It's available in only two stores in the area, one of which happens to be across the street from a bank with a brand-new, hi-def security system.
Voila, Bruno.
His entrance isn't very exciting, but he made quite an exit.
Personally, if I was looking for Bruno's murderer, I would start with that guy.
Can you enhance it? Yeah.
Who can't these days? BISHOP: You found out Bruno was robbing people, you tracked him down, you asked to be cut in.
When he refused, you went to his house the next day, and you poisoned him.
Oh, yeah? Is that what I did? Yeah, that's what you did.
What it's gonna look like to a jury.
We have a witness that places you in his front yard.
(sighs) Where's the painting, Vic? The what? Wait, wait, wait.
Slow down here.
This is just a total misunderstanding, okay? I was at the hobby shop because I made a promise to James Bruno 15 years ago.
To what, poison him to death? No, to kick his ass! I devoted my life to those kids.
Bruno in particular.
I spent eight weekends in a row in Saturday detention with that smug, arrogant little-- Actually the records say seven.
Eight! It was eight! And all that kid did was blame other people for his problems, whining about his mom and his dad.
Making my life miserable.
So I promised him I would find him one day and pay him back.
And that's what I did.
I'm glad you're a man of your word.
Judge all you want.
I've been in combat.
High school is worse, mister.
Wait, no, wait, wait, wait! I did not go to Bruno's house to poison him, okay? I went to apologize.
(door closes) When I confronted Bruno, he didn't fight back.
He seemed, like, resigned.
Almost like he wanted me to hit him, like he deserved it.
And that's not what I wanted.
So I went to his house to say I was sorry.
Anyone see you talk to him? Bruno wasn't there.
Just that nasty old witch, Frimkes.
She saw the bruise on my knuckles, figured I was the guy that beat up Bruno, and threatened to call the police.
So I got the hell out of there.
She saw that? Yeah.
She did.
(door closes) Come on now, baby.
Come on.
I got my first pair of reading glasses when I was 45.
But your medical records show that you have perfect eyesight, and hearing.
Agent McGee, it's good to see you again.
I-I was just, um-- Walking without a cane? No.
Skipping town with a million-dollar painting? No! Going to jail.
(siren approaching) Dang! McGEE: So in addition to being a chemistry teacher who knew 50 different ways to poison somebody, she kept a pretty active retirement life.
She totally Keyser Soze'd us.
She what? Keyser Soze'd.
Uh, Usual Suspects, the movie? Oh, I'm not much of a movie guy.
You know, she told us on the drive back that she knew Bruno was a thief, but she didn't want to go to the police because he was trying to get clean.
(elevator bell dings) She claims she found the painting and was going to bring it back to the police.
TORRES: Yeah, killed Bruno and kept the painting for herself.
Whoa, whoa, what? (gasps) Better.
Better! Who who Who do you think? I kind of like it.
I don't.
Wait a sec, wha what's the point of moving desks if were were just gonna move desks? Seriously, I mean to do something like this without consulting anyone? I am the senior field agent.
You realize that Boss, what was that for? It comes with the territory, Senior Field Agent.
Did he just physically assault you? TORRES: Hey, Gibbs, I feel like you'll want to see this.
We found a laptop in Bruno's car.
He was writing an e-mail to the police.
He was going to come clean, turn everyone in.
Guess he figured which version was the real him.
The good guy.
I'm just not that into movies.
So what do you do for fun, besides disrupting people's workplaces? Broadway musicals.
Okay, if you start singing show tunes, I am going to shoot you, and then probably shoot myself.
Oh, okay, well, what do you like to listen to? I thought you'd never ask.
(up-tempo Latin music playing loudly) Ah.
(singer singing in Spanish) Go! Hey! TORRES: Hey, hey, hey! Hey.
Boss.
TORRES: Hey! Oh.
Hey.
(music stops) Ha! Hey.
He's gonna learn to love it.
Shh.
(computer beeps) @elderman