NCIS s15e02 Episode Script
Twofer
1 (forklift beeping) All right, three down, three to go.
This doesn't seem right.
Are you still bellyaching? I chose this career to help good people transition peacefully into the hereafter.
It was this or brain surgeon, huh? And here we are moving dead folks around like checkers on a board.
All to make room for another damn lane on the interstate.
At least traffic's one less thing you'll have to complain about.
I'll think of something else.
All right.
Nice and easy.
Careful, Phil.
Whoa, whoa, whoa! - Watch it! - Damn it.
(shouts) What in the hell NCIS 15x02 Twofer Your numbers are good, Gibbs, despite the weight loss.
Nothing a few weeks of fireplace T-bones won't put back on you.
- Got a head start on that, Doc.
Uh-huh.
I figured as much from your red count.
But all in all, I'd say you're good to go for full duty.
Not so fast, Dr.
Nuali.
That is, once Dr.
Confalone has added her seal of approval.
Hey.
- How are you? - Good, boss.
Passed with flying colors.
Got a clean bill of health.
Yeah, go figure, huh, Tim? As I was just saying to Agent McGee Paraguay.
Really? We go where we're needed.
Exactly what I said.
Yeah, which is doubly great since Director Vance needs mandatory psych evaluations from each of you.
I assume you would prefer sooner rather than later.
- Uh, tell you what I'd prefer.
- A root canal, I know.
What say you we skip our usual dance? I was gonna say this afternoon.
Oh.
Great.
Um (phone beeps) want to do 3:00? I'll be there.
Okay.
Um Agent McGee, I can get you right after Gibbs.
(phone ringing) Oh.
Sorry.
One second.
(Grace laughs) I have to say, you seem, I don't know, sunnier than I expected.
Sunnier? You had a lot of people praying for you.
- You know that.
- Well - I guess it worked.
- Don't be glib.
We were worried sick we might never see you again.
It's good to be seen.
Never mind.
Cloudy as ever.
Bishop wants to know if we're available.
Says they've got something, uh, weird, apparently.
Oh, so it's up to me, now? It is up to you.
Well, I suppose a return to normalcy wouldn't hurt.
Perhaps a temporary exception could be made.
- Okay, Bishop - On the condition that you both keep your appointments.
No one blows me off today, understand? Understood.
And, you can't be boss, either, Gibbs.
No supervisor role until we've had our little chat.
All right, Bishop, you're boss.
We're on our way.
WOMAN (over P.
A.
): Attention, Michael, to Admitting.
(elevator bell dings, door opens) (bird caws) (siren wails) TORRES: Oh, that's nasty.
Yeah, two bodies, twice the smell.
Yeah, and twice the nasty.
The way they're cuddled up like that.
I was gonna go with "stacked," but now that you said "cuddle," I can't really un-see that.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
And welcome back.
JIMMY: Yeah, the conquering heroes.
DUCKY: Just try keeping them away.
Good to be back.
Back where you belong.
In a cemetery? No, not a cemetery I'm sorry, did Gibbs just try to make a joke? We are all very happy that you found your jacket.
Fits better than I thought it would.
Where do you want us, Bishop? Oh, no, no, no, that's that's okay, Gibbs.
You can, you can take the lead.
GIBBS: No.
No, I can't.
No, still you, Ellie.
You know, Bishop did a fine job filling in for you, Gibbs.
I had my doubts, but, you know, she actually surprised me.
Hmm, I surprised you? Well, not surprised, but You had your doubts.
Yeah, well, I mean, experience alone.
I-I risked my life as an undercover agent for years while you were still crunching numbers at NSA, that's what I'm saying.
Mm, that's right.
Because my time in Afghanistan, I mean, that was, like that was like spring break.
Ellie.
Where do you want us? (sighs) Uh, you two stick with me.
Torres, go talk to the groundskeepers.
Oh, is that how we're playing now? You surprised? Wow.
Wow Amazing how nothing's changed.
Oh, it's changed plenty.
It'll be so nice to finally get back to normal.
- Whatever that is.
- Who's our victim? Dog tags I.
D.
him as Richard Coyne, a Navy lieutenant reported U.
A.
from Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling a year and a half ago.
Who's the woman? BISHOP: That would be the casket's rightful owner, Edna Stone, 87.
She died two years ago, according to her headstone.
How the hell did he get in there? PHIL: I have no idea how he got in here.
The funeral homes bring us sealed caskets, and we bury 'em.
There's no one with access in between.
Y'all remember burying that one? Yeah, right.
You remember what you had for lunch last Thursday? Meatball hero.
Dang, maybe you should work here.
Look, the thing is, we maintain every inch of this place.
And I know for a fact there's been no unauthorized digging.
Not on our watch.
Some stupid digging, maybe.
Stupid how? Moving bodies is bad juju, man.
You mess with the dead, they mess with you.
Like Poltergeist.
Can't be good for anyone's karma.
DUCKY: The old "two bodies in one casket.
" (chuckles) Yeah, conjures up a wave of nostalgia.
JIMMY: You've seen this before? DUCKY: Oh, quite a few times.
Yeah, it was a common means of hiding dead gang rivals in London back in the '70s.
Now (bagpipe ringtone playing) Oh, leave me alone, will you? Cause of death? It's hard to say.
There is a pretty deep blunt force trauma right over here.
Ooh, I could never work at a cemetery.
Too boring for you? No, man, not boring enough.
You know, all these weird vibes.
You mess with the dead, they mess with you.
- Seriously? - Dead serious, man.
My-my grandmother used to believe in all that spooky stuff, so superstitions are in my DNA.
Nothing boring about that.
Well, I'm with Ducky.
This has "mob hit" written all over it.
And we've all seen enough mob movies to know it's easier to dump a body in the woods than it is to dig up an existing grave.
Yeah, except bodies in the woods usually get found.
Somebody didn't want us to find this one.
You okay? Yeah.
You? I'm glad you guys are.
Still can't get over you being back.
TORRES: Yeah, really.
It's like it never happened.
And as pleased as I am that you are both back to work, I trust that you will keep your appointments today.
Planning on it, Director.
Good.
Clean slates for everybody.
From here on out, we go by the book, or we go home.
Yeah, I got it.
Bishop is in charge.
That's right.
Update.
See? By the book.
McGEE: Lieutenant Richard Coyne.
32, married, no kids.
Once a SEAL candidate.
He was forced out of BUD/S training due to a shoulder injury, though he continued to train for triathlons.
Tracked down his wife, living in Falls Church.
Reported him missing 18 months ago.
That's one day after his command reported him U.
A.
What? Nothing.
So, he just disappeared for no apparent reason? Oh, no, there was a reason, but the cops couldn't prove it.
Coyne disappeared one week before he was supposed to testify as a key witness at this drug dealer's trial, Leo Vairo.
Six months before, Lieutenant Coyne stopped a robbery at a local health club.
A masked man shot and wounded the owner of the health club, Pete Wilkins, before Coyne jumped him.
Robber escaped, but Coyne managed to see his face and I.
D.
Vairo for the cops.
Multiple drug arrests, burglaries.
Jail terms.
He was looking at three strikes.
Yeah, and without Coyne's testimony, he walked.
No record of him since, and his whereabouts are unknown.
ALL: BOLO.
BISHOP: So, uh McGee and I will notify Coyne's wife.
Gibbs, you and Torres go to the cemetery, talk to the funeral director.
Wait, wait, wait, why do I have to go back there? BISHOP: Well, you said the groundskeepers bury sealed caskets, so it seems to me we should talk to whoever sealed that old woman's.
Oh, I know, but why, why do I have to go back there? Is this is this about me doubting you again? Yes.
I'm kidding, Nick.
Okay, if you're that spooked, I can go.
Oh, no, I-I'm not spooked.
I-I didn't say "spooked.
" Oh, Gibbs! Cemetery it is.
I-I knew it.
I knew he hadn't just run off.
I knew he had to be dead, but somehow hearing it BISHOP: Mrs.
Coyne How is it possible? How'd that creep sneak him into the cemetery? That creep being Leo Vairo? I don't say his name, but who else? Have you arrested him yet? We will when we find him.
Saving a man's life, it wasn't enough.
I begged Richie not to testify.
Why? Had he, had he been threatened? No, but I know he felt it.
As the trial got closer, he got physically ill with the strain.
His bad shoulder, his back, his stomach.
But he wouldn't back down.
Richie always had to be the hero.
You know what, I'm gonna go check that BOLO.
(quietly): Okay.
And you're saying he'd been buried? Like, in a coffin and everything? (door closes) JENSEN: I came in as soon as I heard.
Let's go to my office.
Things like this just don't happen, Agents, not in all my years.
Well, it happened, Jensen.
Anything you can tell us on the old lady's funeral, Edna Stone? Yeah, let's see.
Edna passed away uh, two Christmas Eves ago.
Uh, platinum package, no viewing, small service, 26 mourners.
Service take place at the gravesite? Uh, no, at our in-house chapel.
It was a brutal winter.
Ground was frozen solid, making it impossible to dig, so we stored our winter decedents until the spring thaw.
Uh, May 11, in Edna's case.
Coyne went missing May 8.
Yeah, sometime between then and May 11, his body got into Edna's casket.
Can't imagine how.
I-I personally lock each one.
There's no way anyone could've done that without being seen.
You have more of these around? JENSEN: You're welcome to check all our video, but our system only saves the last few months at a time.
Surely, it's been recorded over by now.
There you are.
Excuse me, ma'am, we're in the middle of something right now - Don't you "ma'am" me.
First you move my mother's grave.
Now, I hear she's had a roommate all this time? You're Edna's daughter.
How quickly they forget.
TORRES: Ma'am, any connection between Lieutenant Coyne and your mother, or any reason why your mother's coffin was targeted? What do you mean "targeted"? Who is Lieutenant Coyne Who are you? NCIS.
This is a criminal investigation.
- Any connection, ma'am, between - Okay.
Wait a minute.
Now you think my mother ran with criminals? Let me tell you this: that woman drove us all nuts, but she never (phone rings) missed a day of church.
Ever.
- Uh, yeah, Bishop.
- Do you know what that means? BISHOP: No hits on the BOLO yet, Gibbs.
Uh, McGee has a "thing," so I was gonna head over to Coyne's gym, scene of the crime.
You want to meet me? Uh, no, you know, I kind of got a thing, too, so I'm gonna send Torres.
All right, what is with you guys and these things.
We all know it's therapy.
Let's just call it what it is.
Uh, no, no, no.
It's a psych evaluation.
Okay? So technically not therapy.
Well, I wish I was in therapy.
(knocking on door) Come in.
Hey.
I know I'm early.
Uh, Gibbs, is everything okay? No, I just got here faster than I thought.
You want me to wait out here? No, no, no.
Don't leave.
Stay, sit.
I mean, I mean, um g-grab a seat and get a water, and (dialing) (quietly): Hey, um, I hate to do this, but do you think you could try and catch my 3:00 and postpone? Um, apologize for the short notice.
Family emergency.
Thanks.
I thought I was your 3:00.
Who knew you'd show up? Like I had a choice.
Never stopped you before.
Been getting stared at a lot since we got back.
I'm sure.
For most, it's likely disbelief, and gratitude that you're home safe.
And for me, it's that, and that you're here at all.
How does it feel? To be stared at? This mean we're starting? Yes, Gibbs, my assessment of your mental health has begun.
Commence with the one-word answers.
Now who's being glib? Sorry.
Where were we? How I feel being stared at.
And? Uh I-I don't know.
I-I feel (chuckles) - Happy.
- Happy? Yeah.
To be alive.
- Grateful.
- Grateful.
Yeah, look, I-I've survived worse.
I cheated death a bunch, but this was different.
(exhales) I thought it was over.
I feel different.
You seem different.
I mean, what did I call you this morning-- sunnier.
Hey, it's not like I'm whistling rainbows or anything like that, I I mean, maybe, I don't I don't know.
Even after they tortured you? It's in your file.
Torture, starvation.
I can't even imagine.
We can talk about that.
I'm more interested in where it left me.
I don't know why or how, but it's not where I expected.
I feel like I just want to savor being back.
What is so funny? I'm not laughing, I am smiling.
- Well, why you smiling? - Well, why not? If you'll pardon the cliché, Gibbs, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you just might have a new lease on life.
You think? You've just said more to me about how you feel in the last two minutes than in all the time that I've known you.
If that's not a new you, I don't know what is.
(rock music playing) Hey-- ooh.
Everything okay? TORRES: Yeah.
Peachy.
Crazy lady yelled at me at the funeral home.
You? BISHOP: Mm.
Sounds like you're having quite the day.
I hate cemeteries, okay? Mm.
All that messing with the dead stuff.
It just gets in your head and you can't shake it.
All right, well, forget the dead.
Look, you are amongst the living.
Yeah.
Thank you.
So much life here! (grunts) (tire thuds) (chuckles) (grunting): Okay.
Ooh.
Your back? Nope, I'm fine.
The dead can't mess with me.
Just a little tight.
You okay? Oh.
Yeah, oh, I'm fine.
(chuckles) I'm totally fine.
Just an old injury from, uh, stopping a-a drug lord.
Whole cartel, really, you know, the whole gang.
It's no big deal.
Hmm.
(sighs) - Hi.
- Hi.
Do you know where the owner is, Pete Wilkins? He's here.
I just saw him heading for his office.
Uh, I'm with a client, or I'd take you myself.
No, that's okay, we'll find him.
Just right up the stairs.
Just be sure to knock.
He's with his girlfriend.
Ooh.
And you mind that old injury, Jason Bourne.
Most definitely.
BISHOP: See? Jason Bourne, your day is getting better already.
PETE: I can't wait for Hello? (knocks on door) Pete Wilkins? Mrs.
Coyne? Oh, God.
This must look terrible.
Oh, it looks worse than that.
PETE: The first time we met was when she and Richie came and visited me at the hospital.
After he saved your life? Yeah, if he wouldn't have stepped in front of Vairo, I would've been dead for sure.
So there was no love triangle.
Never.
Pete and I barely knew each other before Richie went missing.
That's the crazy part.
Richie was just a member at Pete's gym.
He risked his life for an acquaintance.
That's just the kind of guy Richie was.
We, uh, got a lot closer after he saved my life.
We started rehabbing together.
Your gunshot wound? And Richie's shoulder.
He threw it out when he tackled that creep.
The pain, it was worse than ever.
How could I not feel responsible? Now, he-he was really in pain, so we, uh, we worked out here most every day.
BISHOP: Until he went missing.
And that's when I got to know Pete.
We were so concerned about Richie.
PETE: We were so disgusted seeing Vairo go free.
So we, uh, Donna and I, we, uh, we, you know, we kind of came together to comfort each other.
And after a year and a half, uh, what can I say? We fell in love.
PETE: And now with Richie turning up dead, look, just promise me that I get to testify at Vairo's trial this time.
Okay? As soon as we find him.
That bastard shot me over $200 in my safe.
If I'd have just given it to him, none of this would've ever happened.
And your friend would still be alive.
I think about that more than ever.
Me, too.
GRACE: Uh, yes, this is Dr.
Confalone for, uh, Director Vance, please? WOMAN: One moment.
Thank you.
VANCE: Dr.
Confalone.
Oh, yes, Director, I'm sorry to bother you.
It's not Gibbs? No, it's not about Gibbs.
In fact, I'm signing his psych eval as we speak.
- What is it? - I'm afraid it's about Agent McGee.
(elevator bell dings) McGee.
Hey.
You're back at work.
Yeah.
Oh.
Are you sure it's not too soon? I'm not sure of much, to be honest with you.
So, how's the casket? You mean the Rolls-Royce of caskets? That Edna was one lucky lady.
This is, by far, the cushiest casket on the market.
- Selling it or examining it? - I mean, if it wasn't "pre-owned," I'd be all over this thing.
Mine at home is getting so lumpy.
How did Lieutenant Coyne's body get in here? Not with the help of anyone from the funeral parlor or the cemetery.
- How do you know that? - Because this beauty was pried open.
See these marks right here? It took several times to break the lock.
Probably why it opened so easily when it was dropped.
And no one at the cemetery has a crowbar? Not when it's, like, a million times easier to just use a casket key.
They'd be the only ones that would have one.
You have one.
I also have a casket.
DUCKY: This indignity will soon be over, Edna.
And we'll have you back to your resting place.
No further disturbance, I promise.
And a lot more elbow room.
How's it coming, Dr.
Palmer? Uh, not bad, once my eyes stopped watering.
This guy is ripe.
Another ringing endorsement for the virtues of embalming fluid.
(bagpipe ringtone plays) (grunts) JIMMY: Hey, Doctor, I don't mean to be nosy, but, uh, you've been grumbling about those phone calls all week.
Who is that? Edinburgh University.
It's that time of year when they seek an increase in my alumni dues.
They'll just have to get by with my current levels of generosity.
Oh, how generous is that? Now you are being nosy.
GIBBS: Hey, Duck, what do we got? Whew! Wow, that's gotten worse.
Yeah, I was thinking about hanging a warning sign out there.
Leave the door open.
Nobody's gonna get off the elevator.
Jethro, these little fibers will hopefully point us to whomever intruded into Edna's casket.
Oh.
What about the lieutenant? Oh, yeah, the, uh, the blunt force narrowly missed his squamosal suture, which likely contributed, but I highly doubt it was the cause of death.
(coughs) Yeah, all this decay has got me off to a really slow start, but, yeah, I should have plenty to send up to Abby.
Okay, keep me posted.
Oh, oh, Jethro, Jethro.
I know it's been said many times of late, but do allow me to echo the resounding chorus of our peers in welcoming you Duck, Duck, come on.
Echo faster, huh? It's good to have you back.
Yeah, thanks.
Yeah, I'm glad to be here.
(chuckles) You did that on purpose.
Well, I meant every word.
(chuckles) BISHOP: Any updates? McGEE: Abby's still working on the casket.
GIBBS: Ducky and Palmer are mid-autopsy.
Whew.
Uh, you might want to burn that jacket.
What do you got? Uh, trying to link Leo Vairo to any of our players here.
Social media, hometowns in common, schools.
But there's no connections so far.
We may not need connections.
Our BOLO? Virginia State Police just picked up Leo Vairo working at a used car lot in Springfield.
Let's get him in here.
LEO VAIRO: I was the victim.
Mistaken identity.
That Navy fella might have picked me out of a lineup, but he got it wrong.
TORRES: Well, your criminal record makes that really hard to believe.
LEO: Yeah, I screwed up plenty.
But I've been clean 18 months now.
18 months.
About the same time Lieutenant Coyne disappeared, you avoided a third strike.
That was a miracle, I know, but it scared me straight.
You think Coyne disappearing is a miracle? LEO: It was to me.
I had nothing to do with it and have no idea where he went.
Nor do I care.
Well, you should care, 'cause he's dead.
He's dead? You found him? Take a guess where.
Is that why you got me down here? TORRES: Damn.
You figured that out all by yourself? In that case, I need a lawyer.
Yeah, I'd say he needs one, too.
McGEE: I can definitely imagine this guy prying open a casket or two.
Oh, he's lawyering up for a reason.
Is there a reason for this afternoon, Agent McGee? Oh, my, uh, psych eval.
I'm all ears.
I was actually headed there, um, but something came up at home.
Delilah and I are, you know, trying to get back into the swing of things.
Understandably.
Actually, I was hoping, um, I could make it home tonight for dinner if there isn't anything else case-related keeping me here.
Good by me.
Leon? Of course.
Of course, you will see Dr.
Grace by end of day tomorrow.
Or just stay home until you do.
Yeah.
(door closes) JIMMY: So much for getting used to the smell.
(exhales) If I didn't know any better, I'd swear it's getting worse.
Just as too much salt will dull the taste buds, a lifetime of autopsies has dulled my olfactory nerve.
Yeah, but a salt factory don't taste bud.
Come again? Paper cut floor action Ducky? Step away from the body.
Do it now.
Get away from the table! (alarm ringing) Ugh.
The plastic helps, Ducky, but the smell's not much better.
GIBBS: Trust me, it's a lot better.
It wasn't the smell that took him out.
His delirium points to something far worse.
Wait, wait, I was delirious? DUCKY: Incoherent.
You called me Ducky.
Palmer, what's the last thing you remember? Let's see, I was taking a sample from the liver.
And then the smell got bad and then it got much worse.
And now I'm laying on an autopsy table.
DUCKY: Since the liver acts as a filter, a concentration of toxins built up, enough to fell a seasoned professional.
Thank you, Doctor.
What kind of toxins are we talking about? Well, that's up to Abby to ascertain once I've cut out a sample.
I suggest you two leave and take Dr.
Palmer with you.
What? No.
Absolutely not.
Whatever did this to me, Doctor, I-I want it.
Bad.
Oh.
Spoken like a true medical warrior.
Ooh.
All right.
You're on your own.
(sighs) And to think they actually enjoy this.
Uh-huh.
Face it, we all enjoy this.
How'd your psych eval go today? Not not specifically, just in terms of you resuming "boss" duties.
I thought it went well.
I haven't heard.
I mean, no clearance yet.
If you want to go home for the night, I can stay.
Are you kidding? This is your first day back.
No, Torres and I will stay.
I don't mind.
Well, I mind.
And I'm still boss.
So you go home, Gibbs.
That's an order.
(elevator bell dings) And take a shower.
(chuckles) (knocking on door) Is it safe to come in? All clear.
Jimmy hasn't brought the sample down yet.
(grunts) I'm not taking any chances today.
Did you hurt your back? Yeah.
I tweaked it flipping this, um, like, giant tire.
Now, why would you flip over a giant tire? It was there.
Any other questions? Yeah.
You still on about this whole "messing with the dead" thing? Okay, how does this happen? I tell one person, now everybody knows? Okay, you told three.
And dead people can't mess with you, Nick.
Actually, they're in a very unique position not to.
Yeah, okay, go ahead and tell that to Jimmy.
Actually, I have a theory on that.
It sounds like a Toxic Lady case to me.
Toxic Lady? Yeah.
In the mid-'90s, there was a woman who was being treated for cervical cancer.
And she got rushed to the E.
R.
for chest pains and trouble breathing.
When she was getting her blood drawn, all the hospital staff that was near her got a strong whiff of something, and they all got violently ill.
- What was it? Well, eventually, the theory was that there was a cocktail of the cancer medication that had gotten clogged in her bloodstream, and then it crystallized when it was exposed to oxygen.
It made this toxic gas, and it took out half the room.
Um, there's still debates (elevator bell dings) about the hows and the whys.
Those hows and whys sound good to me.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Am I supposed to wear one of those, uh, Abby's space suits or? No, you're good, Nick.
I-I sealed these babies up tight.
And, plus, you're not staying.
So, out.
Hey, no argument here.
Uh, argument: I need to know.
(blows) (insects chirping) (dog barks in distance) (doorbell rings) Since when do you lock your door? Ah.
Right.
(door locks) Problem sleeping? Oh, I could ask you the same thing.
Not enough to show up at your place at 3:00 a.
m.
Well, I didn't want to keep Delilah up another night with my tossing and turning.
What's going on? Well, maybe it's all that time we spent sleeping on that cell floor.
Mattresses are hard to get used to again.
Yeah.
How's Delilah doing? How's the baby? McGEE: Baby's good.
Delilah's fantastic.
We came from an ultrasound a few days ago.
We don't want to know what we're having, but, uh, baby's growing.
So what are you doing here? We spent two months, Tim, getting beat up, tortured, starved.
All that time I never saw you as scared as you are right now.
I'm not scared, boss.
To be honest with you, I don't know what I am.
I don't know what to feel or why I'm feeling like I do.
So why'd you blow off Grace? Boss, we can't all be you, okay? You came home from Paraguay like it was nothing.
But maybe I can't do that.
And you had it worse than I did.
And you're cracking jokes and smiling like you never have before.
Who said that I had it worse? Gibbs, you were beat more, you were tortured more.
And you had to watch.
Just because I'm cracking jokes, Tim, doesn't mean I'm okay.
I'm okay enough.
Maybe.
Enough to pass your psych eval.
Yeah.
You don't think you will? What if I don't? What if I can't fake it like you? Fa-Fake it? Wait, no, no, who's faking it here? Boss, I'm sorry.
I didn't mean it like that.
Look, all I'm trying to tell you is I feel like I feel like the guy who's avoiding the doctor because he doesn't want to find out how sick he is.
No, you're not like that guy, McGee.
You are that guy.
Just go.
Just go.
(phone ringing) What if I have to keep going? I'll see you there.
I guess.
ABBY: Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, I was right.
Toxic Lady.
GIBBS: Who? Blunt force trauma may have knocked out Lieutenant Coyne, but it was a cocktail of drugs in his liver that killed him.
ABBY: Fentanyl, dimethyl sulfoxide and a whole bunch of ibuprofen.
JIMMY: It was a triple dose, most likely for the pain in his shoulder.
That combo of drugs was put into pill form, which crystallized when Jimmy cut into the liver and the fumes just knocked him out.
JIMMY: Now, ibuprofen is sold over the counter, but where would Lieutenant Coyne go to get all those other drugs? No.
Question is, who would've slipped them to him? We can think of someone.
Ah.
I tried to get here early, you still beat me in.
Ah, no, I never left.
Showered in the gym.
I keep a change of clothes in my locker.
Yeah, that's a good idea for a boss.
I don't feel so boss.
Digging into Vairo's record and there's not one hint of him ever dealing with the drugs Abby found last night.
All his busts were for pot and coke.
And no DMSO? What is that? D-M-S-O.
Look that up for me.
So, last night I was putting sports cream on my back and I was wishing I had this stuff that, uh, that a doctor in Colombia gave me last time I tweaked it.
BISHOP: "DMSO, AKA dimethyl sulfoxide.
" Yep.
Sound familiar? BISHOP: Yeah, it's what Coyne had in his system along with fentanyl and ibuprofen.
They're all types of pain killers.
Now, we know Coyne was in pain, but you don't take DMSO as a pill.
Yeah, yet he took all three.
McGEE: Saw Vairo's lawyer on my way in.
Says her client is not talking and she wants him out now.
Ah, doubt he'd be much good to us, anyway.
He's not exactly the sports injury type.
What are you thinking, Gibbs? I am thinking that Vairo won't have to say much.
That we'll do all the talking after you look up one more thing.
Mm-hmm.
(Bishop typing) ATTORNEY: Premeditated murder is a long way from armed robbery, agents.
Mr.
Vairo isn't talking until we see some basis for your allegations.
Cool.
Well, our basis are a list of these drugs that were found in Coyne's system.
Recognize any of them, Leo? Can't hardly pronounce them.
Yeah, we doubt you sold them.
I mean, you dealt mostly in recreational drugs, right? Weed, blow.
I was good, too.
Mr.
Vairo.
BISHOP: We thought maybe that's how you knew the gym owner.
Turns out Pete was hit with a misdemeanor coke possession a few years ago.
TORRES: Wasn't your coke on him, was it? I mean, he told us he didn't even know who you were before, uh, before the robbery.
- Pete said that? - Leo.
TORRES: Rock and a hard place, Leo.
You admitting to knowing Pete and you're pretty much confessing to shooting him.
BISHOP: Yeah, I don't know, Leo.
I mean, you seem, you seem smarter than that.
How stupid would you have to be to rob a gym? TORRES: Seriously.
The guy didn't even have 200 bucks in the safe.
I mean, you got to be an idiot to shoot a guy over that.
It was way more than that.
Look, I didn't kill this Navy guy.
I get why you think I did, but I didn't.
TORRES: Then help us figure out who did.
Why did you rob the gym? (stammers, stops) Oh, go for it.
I knew Pete back in the day.
Sold to him a few times.
A couple years ago, I hear he's making a bundle off this wonder drug, importing it from South America.
Some kind of miracle pain killer.
PETE: Look, guys.
Richie was my friend.
He saved my life.
I mean, what, are-are you gonna believe some trigger-happy drug dealer? TORRES: We normally don't, but now Okay, did-did he happen to say how I got the body in the casket? Much less the cemetery? Now here's a good shot.
I don't touch my stuff, please.
(chuckles) Look at that.
Gorton Poly High School, 2001.
Varsity football.
There you are.
Number 2-5.
Look at the size of your neck.
Where have I seen this before? Oh, that's right, um I know.
The, uh, the yearbook we dug up online trying to connect our suspects.
- What? - How could I be a suspect? Check this out.
Good-looking kid, huh? Let's see where's that, uh, team photo? Oh, wow, look at that.
It's the same shot.
You're not just a football player, you were a co-captain, Pete.
There you are.
Huh? Who's your buddy there? I needed the money, okay? Well, so much for taking one for the team.
He's spilling his guts out.
(sighs) Look, just leave Phil out of this.
He didn't have anything to do with it.
All he did was get me access to the casket and then he just he looked away.
TORRES: That miracle drug did a real number on your other buddy.
Look, I was just trying to help him.
Richie was in so much pain.
His shoulder was killing him.
TORRES: Yeah, sure, along with everything else when you started helping him.
No.
Nobody else had a reaction like that.
I didn't know Look, I didn't know what to do.
You take him to the hospital.
Oh, but he couldn't do that, Gibbs, 'cause they'd find out that Rich was poisoned.
No, he wasn't poisoned, okay? And I got rid of my supply after After you killed him.
No, I didn't kill him.
It killed him, and it was an accident.
All right, look, Richie comes by the gym after-hours one night, on his way to the base.
And he's in pain and he's blaming me.
And then things just got out of hand and we got physical and, uh, the next thing I know, Richie just he just fell.
He fell? Yeah.
He just fell.
I'm assuming he fell on something heavy and hard.
He hit the barbell rack.
He didn't even hit it hard enough for it to kill him, but he, uh he was dead.
What about Donna? Does Donna have to know about this? I mean, with everything she's been through.
You okay? I want to testify at his trial.
Lingering effects? Oh.
No, I'm fine.
Thanks, Doctor.
I was just thinking about that poor woman.
Loses her husband and then falls for the man who killed him.
"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal.
Love leaves a memory no one can steal.
" That's nice.
It was carved on a headstone in Ireland centuries ago.
Yeah.
No one does death quite like the Irish.
You really should write a book.
Yeah, yeah.
In all my free time.
ABBY: Registered letter for "The Esteemed Dr.
Donald Mallard.
" I signed for it.
It's from the University of Edinburgh.
Must be important.
Hardly.
Thank you, Abby.
To the circular file, please, Dr.
Palmer.
No, I'm not throwing this away.
Now you're being ridiculous.
Oh, please don't.
He doesn't want us to know how much he gives to his old school.
- Because it's none of your business.
- "To the Honorable Dr.
Mallard" Yada, yada, yada.
"Attempts to reach you have failed.
" Not well enough.
Doctor this is not a solicitation, this is an invitation.
ABBY: "The University requests your presence "at a weekend honoring its most distinguished alumni.
" JIMMY: "At which you will be a guest of honor "and awarded the honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters.
" Has to be a prank.
It's not a prank.
You're the bestest, baddest, Duckiest, most legendary medical examiner of all times, and, obviously, they know.
JIMMY: It's pretty cool, Doctor.
How much do you donate, by the way? Shame on me.
What? For allowing my cynicism to reject all those phone calls.
That's true.
You might never have known.
But now that you do know? I wouldn't miss it for the world.
(chuckles) Delilah has been a champ.
You know? She was a total rock while I was gone.
Can't say enough.
Yeah, you've been saying it for most of the hour.
We've got five minutes left, Tim.
Tell me why you're not sleeping.
I told you I don't know.
Pretend you do.
Take a chance.
What is it you don't know? (sighs) I don't know why I've been worrying so much since we got back.
It was hard enough surviving Paraguay, but you'd think there would be nothing left to fear after that.
You certainly had reason to be afraid down there.
That was different.
We stared death in the face every day, but I knew that, somehow, we'd get back.
A wife at home, baby on the way.
Perhaps fear wasn't an option.
There was no time to be afraid.
But now you have time.
I just can't shake this feeling like the other shoe is gonna drop.
Like I've run out of luck and something's bound to go wrong.
There's some big scoreboard out there that keeps track of who's had enough hardship and who's owed some more? Sounds crazy when you put it like that.
Maybe a little.
Misfortune is pretty arbitrary, after all.
Well, I don't know about that.
Some people seem to just skate by while others are magnets for disaster.
Which one are you? Somewhere in the middle, I guess.
We're all in the middle, Tim.
Despite appearances, everybody's got a story to tell.
No one gets through this life unscathed.
Is that is that supposed to help me sleep? Worry's a bully.
It gives you nothing, it only takes.
- Just wish I could enjoy the ride more, you know? Quit obsessing about what lies ahead.
All the danger that you've faced over the years, Tim-- that experience was put to the test down there.
And you passed with flying colors.
So whatever lies ahead, you're more prepared to deal with it than you've ever been before in your life.
And I will file your paperwork later tonight, and let Director Vance know you're good to go.
That'd be great.
Hey, boss.
Told you I'd see you here.
Been here the entire time? About ten minutes.
Keep getting here early.
But she's got good magazines.
You ready? And able.
Hey, you going home? I'm going to bed.
Yeah.
This doesn't seem right.
Are you still bellyaching? I chose this career to help good people transition peacefully into the hereafter.
It was this or brain surgeon, huh? And here we are moving dead folks around like checkers on a board.
All to make room for another damn lane on the interstate.
At least traffic's one less thing you'll have to complain about.
I'll think of something else.
All right.
Nice and easy.
Careful, Phil.
Whoa, whoa, whoa! - Watch it! - Damn it.
(shouts) What in the hell NCIS 15x02 Twofer Your numbers are good, Gibbs, despite the weight loss.
Nothing a few weeks of fireplace T-bones won't put back on you.
- Got a head start on that, Doc.
Uh-huh.
I figured as much from your red count.
But all in all, I'd say you're good to go for full duty.
Not so fast, Dr.
Nuali.
That is, once Dr.
Confalone has added her seal of approval.
Hey.
- How are you? - Good, boss.
Passed with flying colors.
Got a clean bill of health.
Yeah, go figure, huh, Tim? As I was just saying to Agent McGee Paraguay.
Really? We go where we're needed.
Exactly what I said.
Yeah, which is doubly great since Director Vance needs mandatory psych evaluations from each of you.
I assume you would prefer sooner rather than later.
- Uh, tell you what I'd prefer.
- A root canal, I know.
What say you we skip our usual dance? I was gonna say this afternoon.
Oh.
Great.
Um (phone beeps) want to do 3:00? I'll be there.
Okay.
Um Agent McGee, I can get you right after Gibbs.
(phone ringing) Oh.
Sorry.
One second.
(Grace laughs) I have to say, you seem, I don't know, sunnier than I expected.
Sunnier? You had a lot of people praying for you.
- You know that.
- Well - I guess it worked.
- Don't be glib.
We were worried sick we might never see you again.
It's good to be seen.
Never mind.
Cloudy as ever.
Bishop wants to know if we're available.
Says they've got something, uh, weird, apparently.
Oh, so it's up to me, now? It is up to you.
Well, I suppose a return to normalcy wouldn't hurt.
Perhaps a temporary exception could be made.
- Okay, Bishop - On the condition that you both keep your appointments.
No one blows me off today, understand? Understood.
And, you can't be boss, either, Gibbs.
No supervisor role until we've had our little chat.
All right, Bishop, you're boss.
We're on our way.
WOMAN (over P.
A.
): Attention, Michael, to Admitting.
(elevator bell dings, door opens) (bird caws) (siren wails) TORRES: Oh, that's nasty.
Yeah, two bodies, twice the smell.
Yeah, and twice the nasty.
The way they're cuddled up like that.
I was gonna go with "stacked," but now that you said "cuddle," I can't really un-see that.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
And welcome back.
JIMMY: Yeah, the conquering heroes.
DUCKY: Just try keeping them away.
Good to be back.
Back where you belong.
In a cemetery? No, not a cemetery I'm sorry, did Gibbs just try to make a joke? We are all very happy that you found your jacket.
Fits better than I thought it would.
Where do you want us, Bishop? Oh, no, no, no, that's that's okay, Gibbs.
You can, you can take the lead.
GIBBS: No.
No, I can't.
No, still you, Ellie.
You know, Bishop did a fine job filling in for you, Gibbs.
I had my doubts, but, you know, she actually surprised me.
Hmm, I surprised you? Well, not surprised, but You had your doubts.
Yeah, well, I mean, experience alone.
I-I risked my life as an undercover agent for years while you were still crunching numbers at NSA, that's what I'm saying.
Mm, that's right.
Because my time in Afghanistan, I mean, that was, like that was like spring break.
Ellie.
Where do you want us? (sighs) Uh, you two stick with me.
Torres, go talk to the groundskeepers.
Oh, is that how we're playing now? You surprised? Wow.
Wow Amazing how nothing's changed.
Oh, it's changed plenty.
It'll be so nice to finally get back to normal.
- Whatever that is.
- Who's our victim? Dog tags I.
D.
him as Richard Coyne, a Navy lieutenant reported U.
A.
from Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling a year and a half ago.
Who's the woman? BISHOP: That would be the casket's rightful owner, Edna Stone, 87.
She died two years ago, according to her headstone.
How the hell did he get in there? PHIL: I have no idea how he got in here.
The funeral homes bring us sealed caskets, and we bury 'em.
There's no one with access in between.
Y'all remember burying that one? Yeah, right.
You remember what you had for lunch last Thursday? Meatball hero.
Dang, maybe you should work here.
Look, the thing is, we maintain every inch of this place.
And I know for a fact there's been no unauthorized digging.
Not on our watch.
Some stupid digging, maybe.
Stupid how? Moving bodies is bad juju, man.
You mess with the dead, they mess with you.
Like Poltergeist.
Can't be good for anyone's karma.
DUCKY: The old "two bodies in one casket.
" (chuckles) Yeah, conjures up a wave of nostalgia.
JIMMY: You've seen this before? DUCKY: Oh, quite a few times.
Yeah, it was a common means of hiding dead gang rivals in London back in the '70s.
Now (bagpipe ringtone playing) Oh, leave me alone, will you? Cause of death? It's hard to say.
There is a pretty deep blunt force trauma right over here.
Ooh, I could never work at a cemetery.
Too boring for you? No, man, not boring enough.
You know, all these weird vibes.
You mess with the dead, they mess with you.
- Seriously? - Dead serious, man.
My-my grandmother used to believe in all that spooky stuff, so superstitions are in my DNA.
Nothing boring about that.
Well, I'm with Ducky.
This has "mob hit" written all over it.
And we've all seen enough mob movies to know it's easier to dump a body in the woods than it is to dig up an existing grave.
Yeah, except bodies in the woods usually get found.
Somebody didn't want us to find this one.
You okay? Yeah.
You? I'm glad you guys are.
Still can't get over you being back.
TORRES: Yeah, really.
It's like it never happened.
And as pleased as I am that you are both back to work, I trust that you will keep your appointments today.
Planning on it, Director.
Good.
Clean slates for everybody.
From here on out, we go by the book, or we go home.
Yeah, I got it.
Bishop is in charge.
That's right.
Update.
See? By the book.
McGEE: Lieutenant Richard Coyne.
32, married, no kids.
Once a SEAL candidate.
He was forced out of BUD/S training due to a shoulder injury, though he continued to train for triathlons.
Tracked down his wife, living in Falls Church.
Reported him missing 18 months ago.
That's one day after his command reported him U.
A.
What? Nothing.
So, he just disappeared for no apparent reason? Oh, no, there was a reason, but the cops couldn't prove it.
Coyne disappeared one week before he was supposed to testify as a key witness at this drug dealer's trial, Leo Vairo.
Six months before, Lieutenant Coyne stopped a robbery at a local health club.
A masked man shot and wounded the owner of the health club, Pete Wilkins, before Coyne jumped him.
Robber escaped, but Coyne managed to see his face and I.
D.
Vairo for the cops.
Multiple drug arrests, burglaries.
Jail terms.
He was looking at three strikes.
Yeah, and without Coyne's testimony, he walked.
No record of him since, and his whereabouts are unknown.
ALL: BOLO.
BISHOP: So, uh McGee and I will notify Coyne's wife.
Gibbs, you and Torres go to the cemetery, talk to the funeral director.
Wait, wait, wait, why do I have to go back there? BISHOP: Well, you said the groundskeepers bury sealed caskets, so it seems to me we should talk to whoever sealed that old woman's.
Oh, I know, but why, why do I have to go back there? Is this is this about me doubting you again? Yes.
I'm kidding, Nick.
Okay, if you're that spooked, I can go.
Oh, no, I-I'm not spooked.
I-I didn't say "spooked.
" Oh, Gibbs! Cemetery it is.
I-I knew it.
I knew he hadn't just run off.
I knew he had to be dead, but somehow hearing it BISHOP: Mrs.
Coyne How is it possible? How'd that creep sneak him into the cemetery? That creep being Leo Vairo? I don't say his name, but who else? Have you arrested him yet? We will when we find him.
Saving a man's life, it wasn't enough.
I begged Richie not to testify.
Why? Had he, had he been threatened? No, but I know he felt it.
As the trial got closer, he got physically ill with the strain.
His bad shoulder, his back, his stomach.
But he wouldn't back down.
Richie always had to be the hero.
You know what, I'm gonna go check that BOLO.
(quietly): Okay.
And you're saying he'd been buried? Like, in a coffin and everything? (door closes) JENSEN: I came in as soon as I heard.
Let's go to my office.
Things like this just don't happen, Agents, not in all my years.
Well, it happened, Jensen.
Anything you can tell us on the old lady's funeral, Edna Stone? Yeah, let's see.
Edna passed away uh, two Christmas Eves ago.
Uh, platinum package, no viewing, small service, 26 mourners.
Service take place at the gravesite? Uh, no, at our in-house chapel.
It was a brutal winter.
Ground was frozen solid, making it impossible to dig, so we stored our winter decedents until the spring thaw.
Uh, May 11, in Edna's case.
Coyne went missing May 8.
Yeah, sometime between then and May 11, his body got into Edna's casket.
Can't imagine how.
I-I personally lock each one.
There's no way anyone could've done that without being seen.
You have more of these around? JENSEN: You're welcome to check all our video, but our system only saves the last few months at a time.
Surely, it's been recorded over by now.
There you are.
Excuse me, ma'am, we're in the middle of something right now - Don't you "ma'am" me.
First you move my mother's grave.
Now, I hear she's had a roommate all this time? You're Edna's daughter.
How quickly they forget.
TORRES: Ma'am, any connection between Lieutenant Coyne and your mother, or any reason why your mother's coffin was targeted? What do you mean "targeted"? Who is Lieutenant Coyne Who are you? NCIS.
This is a criminal investigation.
- Any connection, ma'am, between - Okay.
Wait a minute.
Now you think my mother ran with criminals? Let me tell you this: that woman drove us all nuts, but she never (phone rings) missed a day of church.
Ever.
- Uh, yeah, Bishop.
- Do you know what that means? BISHOP: No hits on the BOLO yet, Gibbs.
Uh, McGee has a "thing," so I was gonna head over to Coyne's gym, scene of the crime.
You want to meet me? Uh, no, you know, I kind of got a thing, too, so I'm gonna send Torres.
All right, what is with you guys and these things.
We all know it's therapy.
Let's just call it what it is.
Uh, no, no, no.
It's a psych evaluation.
Okay? So technically not therapy.
Well, I wish I was in therapy.
(knocking on door) Come in.
Hey.
I know I'm early.
Uh, Gibbs, is everything okay? No, I just got here faster than I thought.
You want me to wait out here? No, no, no.
Don't leave.
Stay, sit.
I mean, I mean, um g-grab a seat and get a water, and (dialing) (quietly): Hey, um, I hate to do this, but do you think you could try and catch my 3:00 and postpone? Um, apologize for the short notice.
Family emergency.
Thanks.
I thought I was your 3:00.
Who knew you'd show up? Like I had a choice.
Never stopped you before.
Been getting stared at a lot since we got back.
I'm sure.
For most, it's likely disbelief, and gratitude that you're home safe.
And for me, it's that, and that you're here at all.
How does it feel? To be stared at? This mean we're starting? Yes, Gibbs, my assessment of your mental health has begun.
Commence with the one-word answers.
Now who's being glib? Sorry.
Where were we? How I feel being stared at.
And? Uh I-I don't know.
I-I feel (chuckles) - Happy.
- Happy? Yeah.
To be alive.
- Grateful.
- Grateful.
Yeah, look, I-I've survived worse.
I cheated death a bunch, but this was different.
(exhales) I thought it was over.
I feel different.
You seem different.
I mean, what did I call you this morning-- sunnier.
Hey, it's not like I'm whistling rainbows or anything like that, I I mean, maybe, I don't I don't know.
Even after they tortured you? It's in your file.
Torture, starvation.
I can't even imagine.
We can talk about that.
I'm more interested in where it left me.
I don't know why or how, but it's not where I expected.
I feel like I just want to savor being back.
What is so funny? I'm not laughing, I am smiling.
- Well, why you smiling? - Well, why not? If you'll pardon the cliché, Gibbs, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you just might have a new lease on life.
You think? You've just said more to me about how you feel in the last two minutes than in all the time that I've known you.
If that's not a new you, I don't know what is.
(rock music playing) Hey-- ooh.
Everything okay? TORRES: Yeah.
Peachy.
Crazy lady yelled at me at the funeral home.
You? BISHOP: Mm.
Sounds like you're having quite the day.
I hate cemeteries, okay? Mm.
All that messing with the dead stuff.
It just gets in your head and you can't shake it.
All right, well, forget the dead.
Look, you are amongst the living.
Yeah.
Thank you.
So much life here! (grunts) (tire thuds) (chuckles) (grunting): Okay.
Ooh.
Your back? Nope, I'm fine.
The dead can't mess with me.
Just a little tight.
You okay? Oh.
Yeah, oh, I'm fine.
(chuckles) I'm totally fine.
Just an old injury from, uh, stopping a-a drug lord.
Whole cartel, really, you know, the whole gang.
It's no big deal.
Hmm.
(sighs) - Hi.
- Hi.
Do you know where the owner is, Pete Wilkins? He's here.
I just saw him heading for his office.
Uh, I'm with a client, or I'd take you myself.
No, that's okay, we'll find him.
Just right up the stairs.
Just be sure to knock.
He's with his girlfriend.
Ooh.
And you mind that old injury, Jason Bourne.
Most definitely.
BISHOP: See? Jason Bourne, your day is getting better already.
PETE: I can't wait for Hello? (knocks on door) Pete Wilkins? Mrs.
Coyne? Oh, God.
This must look terrible.
Oh, it looks worse than that.
PETE: The first time we met was when she and Richie came and visited me at the hospital.
After he saved your life? Yeah, if he wouldn't have stepped in front of Vairo, I would've been dead for sure.
So there was no love triangle.
Never.
Pete and I barely knew each other before Richie went missing.
That's the crazy part.
Richie was just a member at Pete's gym.
He risked his life for an acquaintance.
That's just the kind of guy Richie was.
We, uh, got a lot closer after he saved my life.
We started rehabbing together.
Your gunshot wound? And Richie's shoulder.
He threw it out when he tackled that creep.
The pain, it was worse than ever.
How could I not feel responsible? Now, he-he was really in pain, so we, uh, we worked out here most every day.
BISHOP: Until he went missing.
And that's when I got to know Pete.
We were so concerned about Richie.
PETE: We were so disgusted seeing Vairo go free.
So we, uh, Donna and I, we, uh, we, you know, we kind of came together to comfort each other.
And after a year and a half, uh, what can I say? We fell in love.
PETE: And now with Richie turning up dead, look, just promise me that I get to testify at Vairo's trial this time.
Okay? As soon as we find him.
That bastard shot me over $200 in my safe.
If I'd have just given it to him, none of this would've ever happened.
And your friend would still be alive.
I think about that more than ever.
Me, too.
GRACE: Uh, yes, this is Dr.
Confalone for, uh, Director Vance, please? WOMAN: One moment.
Thank you.
VANCE: Dr.
Confalone.
Oh, yes, Director, I'm sorry to bother you.
It's not Gibbs? No, it's not about Gibbs.
In fact, I'm signing his psych eval as we speak.
- What is it? - I'm afraid it's about Agent McGee.
(elevator bell dings) McGee.
Hey.
You're back at work.
Yeah.
Oh.
Are you sure it's not too soon? I'm not sure of much, to be honest with you.
So, how's the casket? You mean the Rolls-Royce of caskets? That Edna was one lucky lady.
This is, by far, the cushiest casket on the market.
- Selling it or examining it? - I mean, if it wasn't "pre-owned," I'd be all over this thing.
Mine at home is getting so lumpy.
How did Lieutenant Coyne's body get in here? Not with the help of anyone from the funeral parlor or the cemetery.
- How do you know that? - Because this beauty was pried open.
See these marks right here? It took several times to break the lock.
Probably why it opened so easily when it was dropped.
And no one at the cemetery has a crowbar? Not when it's, like, a million times easier to just use a casket key.
They'd be the only ones that would have one.
You have one.
I also have a casket.
DUCKY: This indignity will soon be over, Edna.
And we'll have you back to your resting place.
No further disturbance, I promise.
And a lot more elbow room.
How's it coming, Dr.
Palmer? Uh, not bad, once my eyes stopped watering.
This guy is ripe.
Another ringing endorsement for the virtues of embalming fluid.
(bagpipe ringtone plays) (grunts) JIMMY: Hey, Doctor, I don't mean to be nosy, but, uh, you've been grumbling about those phone calls all week.
Who is that? Edinburgh University.
It's that time of year when they seek an increase in my alumni dues.
They'll just have to get by with my current levels of generosity.
Oh, how generous is that? Now you are being nosy.
GIBBS: Hey, Duck, what do we got? Whew! Wow, that's gotten worse.
Yeah, I was thinking about hanging a warning sign out there.
Leave the door open.
Nobody's gonna get off the elevator.
Jethro, these little fibers will hopefully point us to whomever intruded into Edna's casket.
Oh.
What about the lieutenant? Oh, yeah, the, uh, the blunt force narrowly missed his squamosal suture, which likely contributed, but I highly doubt it was the cause of death.
(coughs) Yeah, all this decay has got me off to a really slow start, but, yeah, I should have plenty to send up to Abby.
Okay, keep me posted.
Oh, oh, Jethro, Jethro.
I know it's been said many times of late, but do allow me to echo the resounding chorus of our peers in welcoming you Duck, Duck, come on.
Echo faster, huh? It's good to have you back.
Yeah, thanks.
Yeah, I'm glad to be here.
(chuckles) You did that on purpose.
Well, I meant every word.
(chuckles) BISHOP: Any updates? McGEE: Abby's still working on the casket.
GIBBS: Ducky and Palmer are mid-autopsy.
Whew.
Uh, you might want to burn that jacket.
What do you got? Uh, trying to link Leo Vairo to any of our players here.
Social media, hometowns in common, schools.
But there's no connections so far.
We may not need connections.
Our BOLO? Virginia State Police just picked up Leo Vairo working at a used car lot in Springfield.
Let's get him in here.
LEO VAIRO: I was the victim.
Mistaken identity.
That Navy fella might have picked me out of a lineup, but he got it wrong.
TORRES: Well, your criminal record makes that really hard to believe.
LEO: Yeah, I screwed up plenty.
But I've been clean 18 months now.
18 months.
About the same time Lieutenant Coyne disappeared, you avoided a third strike.
That was a miracle, I know, but it scared me straight.
You think Coyne disappearing is a miracle? LEO: It was to me.
I had nothing to do with it and have no idea where he went.
Nor do I care.
Well, you should care, 'cause he's dead.
He's dead? You found him? Take a guess where.
Is that why you got me down here? TORRES: Damn.
You figured that out all by yourself? In that case, I need a lawyer.
Yeah, I'd say he needs one, too.
McGEE: I can definitely imagine this guy prying open a casket or two.
Oh, he's lawyering up for a reason.
Is there a reason for this afternoon, Agent McGee? Oh, my, uh, psych eval.
I'm all ears.
I was actually headed there, um, but something came up at home.
Delilah and I are, you know, trying to get back into the swing of things.
Understandably.
Actually, I was hoping, um, I could make it home tonight for dinner if there isn't anything else case-related keeping me here.
Good by me.
Leon? Of course.
Of course, you will see Dr.
Grace by end of day tomorrow.
Or just stay home until you do.
Yeah.
(door closes) JIMMY: So much for getting used to the smell.
(exhales) If I didn't know any better, I'd swear it's getting worse.
Just as too much salt will dull the taste buds, a lifetime of autopsies has dulled my olfactory nerve.
Yeah, but a salt factory don't taste bud.
Come again? Paper cut floor action Ducky? Step away from the body.
Do it now.
Get away from the table! (alarm ringing) Ugh.
The plastic helps, Ducky, but the smell's not much better.
GIBBS: Trust me, it's a lot better.
It wasn't the smell that took him out.
His delirium points to something far worse.
Wait, wait, I was delirious? DUCKY: Incoherent.
You called me Ducky.
Palmer, what's the last thing you remember? Let's see, I was taking a sample from the liver.
And then the smell got bad and then it got much worse.
And now I'm laying on an autopsy table.
DUCKY: Since the liver acts as a filter, a concentration of toxins built up, enough to fell a seasoned professional.
Thank you, Doctor.
What kind of toxins are we talking about? Well, that's up to Abby to ascertain once I've cut out a sample.
I suggest you two leave and take Dr.
Palmer with you.
What? No.
Absolutely not.
Whatever did this to me, Doctor, I-I want it.
Bad.
Oh.
Spoken like a true medical warrior.
Ooh.
All right.
You're on your own.
(sighs) And to think they actually enjoy this.
Uh-huh.
Face it, we all enjoy this.
How'd your psych eval go today? Not not specifically, just in terms of you resuming "boss" duties.
I thought it went well.
I haven't heard.
I mean, no clearance yet.
If you want to go home for the night, I can stay.
Are you kidding? This is your first day back.
No, Torres and I will stay.
I don't mind.
Well, I mind.
And I'm still boss.
So you go home, Gibbs.
That's an order.
(elevator bell dings) And take a shower.
(chuckles) (knocking on door) Is it safe to come in? All clear.
Jimmy hasn't brought the sample down yet.
(grunts) I'm not taking any chances today.
Did you hurt your back? Yeah.
I tweaked it flipping this, um, like, giant tire.
Now, why would you flip over a giant tire? It was there.
Any other questions? Yeah.
You still on about this whole "messing with the dead" thing? Okay, how does this happen? I tell one person, now everybody knows? Okay, you told three.
And dead people can't mess with you, Nick.
Actually, they're in a very unique position not to.
Yeah, okay, go ahead and tell that to Jimmy.
Actually, I have a theory on that.
It sounds like a Toxic Lady case to me.
Toxic Lady? Yeah.
In the mid-'90s, there was a woman who was being treated for cervical cancer.
And she got rushed to the E.
R.
for chest pains and trouble breathing.
When she was getting her blood drawn, all the hospital staff that was near her got a strong whiff of something, and they all got violently ill.
- What was it? Well, eventually, the theory was that there was a cocktail of the cancer medication that had gotten clogged in her bloodstream, and then it crystallized when it was exposed to oxygen.
It made this toxic gas, and it took out half the room.
Um, there's still debates (elevator bell dings) about the hows and the whys.
Those hows and whys sound good to me.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Am I supposed to wear one of those, uh, Abby's space suits or? No, you're good, Nick.
I-I sealed these babies up tight.
And, plus, you're not staying.
So, out.
Hey, no argument here.
Uh, argument: I need to know.
(blows) (insects chirping) (dog barks in distance) (doorbell rings) Since when do you lock your door? Ah.
Right.
(door locks) Problem sleeping? Oh, I could ask you the same thing.
Not enough to show up at your place at 3:00 a.
m.
Well, I didn't want to keep Delilah up another night with my tossing and turning.
What's going on? Well, maybe it's all that time we spent sleeping on that cell floor.
Mattresses are hard to get used to again.
Yeah.
How's Delilah doing? How's the baby? McGEE: Baby's good.
Delilah's fantastic.
We came from an ultrasound a few days ago.
We don't want to know what we're having, but, uh, baby's growing.
So what are you doing here? We spent two months, Tim, getting beat up, tortured, starved.
All that time I never saw you as scared as you are right now.
I'm not scared, boss.
To be honest with you, I don't know what I am.
I don't know what to feel or why I'm feeling like I do.
So why'd you blow off Grace? Boss, we can't all be you, okay? You came home from Paraguay like it was nothing.
But maybe I can't do that.
And you had it worse than I did.
And you're cracking jokes and smiling like you never have before.
Who said that I had it worse? Gibbs, you were beat more, you were tortured more.
And you had to watch.
Just because I'm cracking jokes, Tim, doesn't mean I'm okay.
I'm okay enough.
Maybe.
Enough to pass your psych eval.
Yeah.
You don't think you will? What if I don't? What if I can't fake it like you? Fa-Fake it? Wait, no, no, who's faking it here? Boss, I'm sorry.
I didn't mean it like that.
Look, all I'm trying to tell you is I feel like I feel like the guy who's avoiding the doctor because he doesn't want to find out how sick he is.
No, you're not like that guy, McGee.
You are that guy.
Just go.
Just go.
(phone ringing) What if I have to keep going? I'll see you there.
I guess.
ABBY: Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, I was right.
Toxic Lady.
GIBBS: Who? Blunt force trauma may have knocked out Lieutenant Coyne, but it was a cocktail of drugs in his liver that killed him.
ABBY: Fentanyl, dimethyl sulfoxide and a whole bunch of ibuprofen.
JIMMY: It was a triple dose, most likely for the pain in his shoulder.
That combo of drugs was put into pill form, which crystallized when Jimmy cut into the liver and the fumes just knocked him out.
JIMMY: Now, ibuprofen is sold over the counter, but where would Lieutenant Coyne go to get all those other drugs? No.
Question is, who would've slipped them to him? We can think of someone.
Ah.
I tried to get here early, you still beat me in.
Ah, no, I never left.
Showered in the gym.
I keep a change of clothes in my locker.
Yeah, that's a good idea for a boss.
I don't feel so boss.
Digging into Vairo's record and there's not one hint of him ever dealing with the drugs Abby found last night.
All his busts were for pot and coke.
And no DMSO? What is that? D-M-S-O.
Look that up for me.
So, last night I was putting sports cream on my back and I was wishing I had this stuff that, uh, that a doctor in Colombia gave me last time I tweaked it.
BISHOP: "DMSO, AKA dimethyl sulfoxide.
" Yep.
Sound familiar? BISHOP: Yeah, it's what Coyne had in his system along with fentanyl and ibuprofen.
They're all types of pain killers.
Now, we know Coyne was in pain, but you don't take DMSO as a pill.
Yeah, yet he took all three.
McGEE: Saw Vairo's lawyer on my way in.
Says her client is not talking and she wants him out now.
Ah, doubt he'd be much good to us, anyway.
He's not exactly the sports injury type.
What are you thinking, Gibbs? I am thinking that Vairo won't have to say much.
That we'll do all the talking after you look up one more thing.
Mm-hmm.
(Bishop typing) ATTORNEY: Premeditated murder is a long way from armed robbery, agents.
Mr.
Vairo isn't talking until we see some basis for your allegations.
Cool.
Well, our basis are a list of these drugs that were found in Coyne's system.
Recognize any of them, Leo? Can't hardly pronounce them.
Yeah, we doubt you sold them.
I mean, you dealt mostly in recreational drugs, right? Weed, blow.
I was good, too.
Mr.
Vairo.
BISHOP: We thought maybe that's how you knew the gym owner.
Turns out Pete was hit with a misdemeanor coke possession a few years ago.
TORRES: Wasn't your coke on him, was it? I mean, he told us he didn't even know who you were before, uh, before the robbery.
- Pete said that? - Leo.
TORRES: Rock and a hard place, Leo.
You admitting to knowing Pete and you're pretty much confessing to shooting him.
BISHOP: Yeah, I don't know, Leo.
I mean, you seem, you seem smarter than that.
How stupid would you have to be to rob a gym? TORRES: Seriously.
The guy didn't even have 200 bucks in the safe.
I mean, you got to be an idiot to shoot a guy over that.
It was way more than that.
Look, I didn't kill this Navy guy.
I get why you think I did, but I didn't.
TORRES: Then help us figure out who did.
Why did you rob the gym? (stammers, stops) Oh, go for it.
I knew Pete back in the day.
Sold to him a few times.
A couple years ago, I hear he's making a bundle off this wonder drug, importing it from South America.
Some kind of miracle pain killer.
PETE: Look, guys.
Richie was my friend.
He saved my life.
I mean, what, are-are you gonna believe some trigger-happy drug dealer? TORRES: We normally don't, but now Okay, did-did he happen to say how I got the body in the casket? Much less the cemetery? Now here's a good shot.
I don't touch my stuff, please.
(chuckles) Look at that.
Gorton Poly High School, 2001.
Varsity football.
There you are.
Number 2-5.
Look at the size of your neck.
Where have I seen this before? Oh, that's right, um I know.
The, uh, the yearbook we dug up online trying to connect our suspects.
- What? - How could I be a suspect? Check this out.
Good-looking kid, huh? Let's see where's that, uh, team photo? Oh, wow, look at that.
It's the same shot.
You're not just a football player, you were a co-captain, Pete.
There you are.
Huh? Who's your buddy there? I needed the money, okay? Well, so much for taking one for the team.
He's spilling his guts out.
(sighs) Look, just leave Phil out of this.
He didn't have anything to do with it.
All he did was get me access to the casket and then he just he looked away.
TORRES: That miracle drug did a real number on your other buddy.
Look, I was just trying to help him.
Richie was in so much pain.
His shoulder was killing him.
TORRES: Yeah, sure, along with everything else when you started helping him.
No.
Nobody else had a reaction like that.
I didn't know Look, I didn't know what to do.
You take him to the hospital.
Oh, but he couldn't do that, Gibbs, 'cause they'd find out that Rich was poisoned.
No, he wasn't poisoned, okay? And I got rid of my supply after After you killed him.
No, I didn't kill him.
It killed him, and it was an accident.
All right, look, Richie comes by the gym after-hours one night, on his way to the base.
And he's in pain and he's blaming me.
And then things just got out of hand and we got physical and, uh, the next thing I know, Richie just he just fell.
He fell? Yeah.
He just fell.
I'm assuming he fell on something heavy and hard.
He hit the barbell rack.
He didn't even hit it hard enough for it to kill him, but he, uh he was dead.
What about Donna? Does Donna have to know about this? I mean, with everything she's been through.
You okay? I want to testify at his trial.
Lingering effects? Oh.
No, I'm fine.
Thanks, Doctor.
I was just thinking about that poor woman.
Loses her husband and then falls for the man who killed him.
"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal.
Love leaves a memory no one can steal.
" That's nice.
It was carved on a headstone in Ireland centuries ago.
Yeah.
No one does death quite like the Irish.
You really should write a book.
Yeah, yeah.
In all my free time.
ABBY: Registered letter for "The Esteemed Dr.
Donald Mallard.
" I signed for it.
It's from the University of Edinburgh.
Must be important.
Hardly.
Thank you, Abby.
To the circular file, please, Dr.
Palmer.
No, I'm not throwing this away.
Now you're being ridiculous.
Oh, please don't.
He doesn't want us to know how much he gives to his old school.
- Because it's none of your business.
- "To the Honorable Dr.
Mallard" Yada, yada, yada.
"Attempts to reach you have failed.
" Not well enough.
Doctor this is not a solicitation, this is an invitation.
ABBY: "The University requests your presence "at a weekend honoring its most distinguished alumni.
" JIMMY: "At which you will be a guest of honor "and awarded the honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters.
" Has to be a prank.
It's not a prank.
You're the bestest, baddest, Duckiest, most legendary medical examiner of all times, and, obviously, they know.
JIMMY: It's pretty cool, Doctor.
How much do you donate, by the way? Shame on me.
What? For allowing my cynicism to reject all those phone calls.
That's true.
You might never have known.
But now that you do know? I wouldn't miss it for the world.
(chuckles) Delilah has been a champ.
You know? She was a total rock while I was gone.
Can't say enough.
Yeah, you've been saying it for most of the hour.
We've got five minutes left, Tim.
Tell me why you're not sleeping.
I told you I don't know.
Pretend you do.
Take a chance.
What is it you don't know? (sighs) I don't know why I've been worrying so much since we got back.
It was hard enough surviving Paraguay, but you'd think there would be nothing left to fear after that.
You certainly had reason to be afraid down there.
That was different.
We stared death in the face every day, but I knew that, somehow, we'd get back.
A wife at home, baby on the way.
Perhaps fear wasn't an option.
There was no time to be afraid.
But now you have time.
I just can't shake this feeling like the other shoe is gonna drop.
Like I've run out of luck and something's bound to go wrong.
There's some big scoreboard out there that keeps track of who's had enough hardship and who's owed some more? Sounds crazy when you put it like that.
Maybe a little.
Misfortune is pretty arbitrary, after all.
Well, I don't know about that.
Some people seem to just skate by while others are magnets for disaster.
Which one are you? Somewhere in the middle, I guess.
We're all in the middle, Tim.
Despite appearances, everybody's got a story to tell.
No one gets through this life unscathed.
Is that is that supposed to help me sleep? Worry's a bully.
It gives you nothing, it only takes.
- Just wish I could enjoy the ride more, you know? Quit obsessing about what lies ahead.
All the danger that you've faced over the years, Tim-- that experience was put to the test down there.
And you passed with flying colors.
So whatever lies ahead, you're more prepared to deal with it than you've ever been before in your life.
And I will file your paperwork later tonight, and let Director Vance know you're good to go.
That'd be great.
Hey, boss.
Told you I'd see you here.
Been here the entire time? About ten minutes.
Keep getting here early.
But she's got good magazines.
You ready? And able.
Hey, you going home? I'm going to bed.
Yeah.