NCIS s22e07 Episode Script

1
(DISTANT SIREN WAILING)
(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING)
DANNY: I'm telling you,
Harry, this program is no joke.
I'm taking Intro to Forensics,
Theories of Criminal Behavior.
Oh, my professor said the FBI recruits
straight out of Waverly's
Criminology Program.
That is how good it is.
I'm not set on the FBI just yet.
You know, that's why
I'm doing this internship.
See how it is to be a private eye.
Not exactly Raymond Chandler, is it?
Who? (SIGHS)
Listen, kid, the client doesn't need
700 pictures of his wife
standing in a window.
He just wants one picture
of the wife with the boy toy.
That's the money shot.
Harry, come on,
we have been here all night.
Nothing is going to happen.
(CHUCKLING): Trust me, kid,
people will screw each other
any time of day.
Hmm?
Okay. Showtime.
(CAMERA BEEPING)
Come on, kid, take the picture.
I-I think the battery died.
For crying out loud.
How many times I got to tell you?
Always bring a backup.
Come on, lover boy.
Show me your pretty face.
(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING)
(CHUCKLES)
Gotcha.
♪
No, Mrs. Anderson, I get it.
Okay, you're upset,
and your daughter's upset,
I completely understand,
but you got to
Well, Mrs. Anderson,
I don't know what you
expect me to do about this.
It's just a game.
You know, it's-it's a kid
Hello?
Hello?
Good morning?
Yeah, not so much.
Who was that?
That was Mrs. Anderson,
the third parent
to call me this morning.
Huh. Sounds like somebody could
use a chausson aux pommes,
the original apple turnover.
No?
You know, 400 years ago,
these babies saved
an entire French village.
No, thanks, I'm not hungry.
You know what the crazy thing
about this is, too?
I volunteered for this.
You volunteered to be
yelled at by angry parents?
No, I volunteered to be a referee
in my kids' local soccer league.
(SNORTS) Oh, no.
MCGEE: I mean, I thought it'd be fun.
You know? Good for the kids,
nice cardio for me.
So, that's why when Jimmy
asked me to do it, I said yeah.
Hold it.
Jimmy is a ref, too?
Oh, he's not just a ref,
he is the head ref.
Yeah, don't remind me.
Whenever Jimmy puts on
those knee-high socks,
he becomes a different man.
(CHUCKLES) JIMMY: Okay.
Oh, here comes, uh, Dr. Palmer
- and Mr. Hyde now.
- JIMMY: Okay. Yeah.
No, I hear you, Bob.
Yeah, I do, you are yelling.
Look, I think it might be better
if we just continue this
after you've had a chance to calm down.
And maybe not while you're
driving your kids to school.
Although, you know, they have learned
some fun new words today, haven't they?
Okay, all right, you have
a good day, Bob, all right.
Bye-bye.
Mmm. Chausson aux pommes.
Huh? You know, these
things saved a village.
Mais oui.
KNIGHT: So what'd you guys
do to piss off all the parents?
No, it's nothing really.
Just a little disagreement
about a call we made.
It was a call that decided
the championship game.
Ah.
Kids were crying. Parents were yelling.
I don't know, it was kind of awful.
It's all part of being a ref, Tim.
It'll blow over. You'll see.
(DEVICES CHIMING)
All right, that's kickoff, folks.
We got a dead Naval researcher
in an Arlington park.
Jimmy, see you there.
Anyone heard from Nick?
PARKER: Call him on the way.
All right, we got Dr. Roger Carnahan.
He's the new head of Warfare and Weapons
at the Office of Naval Research.
He's only had the job about ten months.
ONR. Isn't that near here?
MCGEE: Yeah,
it's about a ten-minute walk east.
The doctor's house is about
a ten-minute walk west.
- (PHONE CHIMES)
- (GRUNTS)
Well, Torres finally got back to me.
Said he's not feeling well.
Can't remember
the last time he was sick.
Well, the good news is,
I don't think you guys
are gonna need four agents
to solve this one.
Call it, ref.
Got a gun near his hand.
A bullet near his temple.
This looks like a suicide.
Maybe the pressure of
the new job got to him?
So what are we thinking?
He was walking to work when he decided
to stop here and kill himself?
Why even start walking to work
in the first place?
Oh, it's a great park.
You know? I mean, I'd like to
have a nice view before I die.
- KNIGHT: Jimmy?
- Yeah?
Help me lift up his head.
I'm trying to unlock his phone.
Oh, sure, yeah.
It's not all that uncommon
for suicides to occur
outside of the house.
It spares their loved ones the cleanup.
Doesn't look like
the good doctor was married.
I don't see a ring.
Then what's that?
Looks like a ring.
There's a tan line from
where it used to be.
All right, we need to talk to his wife.
I'm in his phone. I can look up her
Wow.
What? What is it?
I think I might know why
Carnahan killed himself.
(SIGHS)
Oh, hey, guys.
What are you doing here?
Was gonna ask you the same question.
We need to speak to Mrs. Carnahan.
AMBER: Nick? Is everything all right?
(LAUGHS)
It's not what it looks like.
MCGEE: Jimmy puts
Dr. Carnahan's time of death
between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m.
He received the photos of you and Amber
just before that.
Who sent these?
Don't know. They used
an encrypted messaging app.
Nick, I want to give you
the benefit of the doubt,
but you got to realize how this looks.
Tell me you're not having an
affair with our victim's wife.
Amber's not a fling.
She's a confidential informant.
She's your C.I.? Since when?
Remember that party that SECNAV
threw a few weeks ago?
Yeah, I remember making
an excuse to get out of it.
Yeah, me, too.
Oh, really? Well,
that's great, guys. Thanks.
- Just What happened at the party?
- What do you think happened?
I got bored.
Filled up a plate with food.
I went to the terrace thinking,
hey, I'm gonna lay low here.
Except Amber had the same idea.
Started to talk for a while,
then she finally
told me that she had evidence
her husband was gonna commit a crime.
She couldn't talk in front of
him, so I slipped her my card.
Why didn't you come to us?
'Cause she was scared.
Trust me, if I would've brought you in,
she would've pulled away.
- How do you know that?
- Because it's what I do, Parker.
You cultivate orchids,
I cultivate C.I.s.
All right, how did you end up
at this fine establishment?
Amber called me,
she said she wanted to meet.
I showed up, we talked,
but she was still too scared.
PARKER: Skip to the end.
What was her husband planning to do?
I don't know. You knocked on the door,
you screwed everything up.
Yeah, can you blame us?
It's my fault.
I didn't know where else to go,
so I checked in here.
Roger's always been the jealous type.
He must've hired someone to follow me.
How could you have known?
He's done it before.
Amber, I'm sorry for your loss,
but considering the sensitive nature
of your husband's work
we need to know everything.
You can trust them. It'll be all right.
Director Vance, I'm already
having a hard enough time
accepting that Roger Carnahan
took his own life,
but now you also expect me
to believe that
he was planning to sell
top secret research?
I don't want to believe it
either, Dr. Lythcott,
but the allegations are serious.
What is your source?
Uh, Dr. Lythcott, I'm afraid
that we can't reveal our source
while the investigation is ongoing, but
they mentioned a project
that the doctor was planning to steal.
Does the "MAD Falcon" ring any bells?
- Alarm bells.
- What can you tell us?
Nothing. It's-it's top secret
with a capital everything.
You'd need authorization.
Let me worry about that.
Right now, we need you
to lock down ONR's systems.
We're sending a computer
forensic specialist to do a sweep.
Of course, Director.
But before I go,
how is Mrs. Carnahan doing?
I can't imagine
what she must be going through.
Don't worry, Doctor.
She's in good hands.
I'll await your specialist.
Good hands?
I take it you saw the
photos from the motel.
I have.
Let's just hope the press
never sees them.
I want to know who took them,
and I want them contained.
I'll get Kasie on it.
Torres.
Was he out of bounds?
No.
But it's still a mess.
(DOOR OPENS)
(DOOR CLOSES)
You're doing the right thing.
The right thing?
The right thing got Roger killed.
He's dead because of me.
Come on, stop.
If you're gonna blame someone,
blame me.
I should've seen we were being watched.
If I had, this would've never happened.
No. Hey.
You were there for me
when I needed someone.
Sorry to interrupt.
Just wanted to let you know that
we found hard drives taken from the ONR
hidden under the floorboards
of your house.
You were right.
So does this mean
that I can go home now?
Well, the place is crawling
with federal agents.
Do you have any friends or
family that you can stay with?
No family, and, um
I really don't have any friends Whew.
Whoa. You all right?
Yeah.
I just haven't eaten anything
since yesterday. (SIGHS)
Well, then let's get you some food.
(WHISTLE BLOWING)
Huh.
- Jimmy.
- Oh.
Hey, sorry, Tim. I was just
practicing my tones.
I don't think I have the
end-of-play triple blast down.
(WHISTLE BLOWING)
Oh, there it is. (LAUGHS)
Remember,
your whistle is your voice on the field.
Don't be afraid to use it.
- (CHUCKLES)
- Yeah.
Hey, Jimmy, um, the call
that we made this past weekend,
do you think that maybe we got it wrong?
Do you think we got it wrong?
I don't know,
I keep replaying it in my head, right?
I see the shot on goal,
and I see little Susan
Finley leaps for it.
And she saved it.
Look, Tim, all of these parents saying
they saw the ball cross the goal line,
they don't make the call.
Okay? We make the call.
Simple as that.
Right, right, but
I think they may be right.
(BLOWS WHISTLE) Whoa, time-out.
Sorry, I know there's
no time-outs in soccer.
But, Tim,
what you're going through right now,
it's natural.
I felt the same thing
when I first started reffing.
You know, doubting myself,
questioning every call,
wondering if I had what it takes.
Now, trust me, it will pass.
But until it does,
you can't let these parents
get under your skin. Okay?
Yeah, yeah. You're right.
Besides, we totally made the right call.
I'm not sure I can say the same thing
about Dr. Carnahan here.
What do you mean?
Well, I pulled up his medical records.
A few weeks ago,
he went to see an orthopedic surgeon
about a torn rotator cuff
- in his right shoulder.
- Mm-hmm.
Now, raising a gun up
to shoot himself in the head
at the angle he did,
would've been nearly impossible.
Speaking of angles,
take a look at this.
Now, if he had shot himself,
you would expect the bullet
to pass through on a horizontal plane,
but in this case
The bullet passed through
at a downward angle.
Someone else was holding the gun.
Which would make this murder.
When Roger was offered the job at ONR,
that was huge.
But it meant that
I had to quit my job in L.A.
and move across the country with him.
And what did you do in L.A.?
You're gonna laugh.
Try me.
I was an on-air pitchwoman
for the Buy Now Home Shopping Channel.
I knew I recognized you.
You know, I think
I actually bought a blender
from you at 3:00 a.m.
(LAUGHS) Yeah, that was me.
Blenders, vacuums, mops.
I could sell anything.
Roger thought it was
stupid.
"Frivolous" was the word he used.
Not like his work.
And he had a point.
So I quit, and here I am.
For better or for worse, right?
Amber, did he ever hurt you?
I, um
I had a lot of coffee.
Where's the, um
Just through that door.
- Hi.
- Sorry.
Mm-hmm.
(SIGHS)
You okay?
I'm fine, yeah.
It's Amber I'm worried about.
Her husband.
Yeah, a real piece of work, huh?
It took a lot of courage
for her to speak up.
And she's really lucky
that she found you.
I know you've only known her,
for a couple of weeks,
but you've been really protective.
Yeah, well, I've known
men like Carnahan.
(PHONE VIBRATES)
Mm, it's Parker.
Jimmy just ruled
Carnahan's death a homicide.
And Cyber Division confirms
he stole files from ONR's system.
Must've killed him for those files.
AMBER: Help!
Help!
(SHOUTING)
Help me, Nick!
(TIRES SCREECHING)
No shot, no shot!
- Anything?
- We've put a BOLO out
on the van and MPD
is setting up a perimeter.
I don't understand,
why would someone take Amber Carnahan?
We think that whoever
her husband was selling
top secret research to
must have found out
that she's been talking to NCIS.
So they killed him and abducted her.
Probably to find out
how much she told us.
And what will they
do with her after that?
Oh, God.
We're gonna find her, but it would help
if we knew what her husband stole.
What is the "MAD Falcon?"
SecDef has authorized Dr. Lythcott
to read us in. Please.
(BEEPING)
MAD Falcon is the Navy's next-
generation hypersonic missile.
"MAD" stands for Missile Air Defense.
It's the culmination
of years of research.
Is that what I think it is?
Yes, the Falcon would be
the first nuclear-capable
hypersonic missile
in the military's arsenal.
Well, that narrows our suspect list.
Russia, China, North Korea.
Carnahan wasn't hurting for money.
He didn't just wake up one day
and decide to betray his country.
I'm thinking he was recruited years ago.
It's a pretty big thing to miss
on a DoD background check.
Yeah, too big.
Makes you wonder who ran it.
Track 'em down.
Agent Parker?
Please find Mrs. Carnahan.
Tim, you find the van?
Well, uh, yes and no.
We got a hit on a traffic cam
from about seven hours ago.
This is from the Arlington park
where Dr. Carnahan was murdered.
So, whoever killed Carnahan
kidnapped Amber.
But that doesn't help us find her.
What about the motel?
- What about it?
- Remember, I told you
I saw the white van parked outside
right where the photos were taken?
Rule 39.
That's the one about
no coincidences, right?
KNIGHT: So, maybe the killer
was watching Amber at the motel
to see who she was talking to.
And then used these photos
to sell her husband's murder
as a suicide.
Kasie's been working on ID'ing
the photographer. I'll go talk to her.
Knight, I need you to pull
Carnahan's background investigation
and find out who worked it.
I want to know why
they missed these red flags.
You got it.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, Torres.
Where you going?
I'm gonna go see if Jimmy
missed anything else important.
Well, look, whoever staged
Carnahan's suicide
knew what they were doing.
This isn't Jimmy's fault.
No, it's not, it's mine.
She was my C.I., Parker.
It was my job to protect her.
Yeah, and it still is.
Jimmy's doing his job, you do yours.
Go back over Amber's statement.
Maybe there's something that we missed.
All right.
Hey, Kase.
Hey, McGee.
Hey, tell me if this is weird.
So, I just finished analyzing the
drives found at the Carnahan house.
Guess what they contained?
Top secret missile designs?
Nothing.
Well, not nothing.
I mean, like, you know, expense reports,
meeting transcripts,
a recipe for cauliflower soup.
Nothing remotely classified.
Weird, right?
Yeah, very weird.
But that's not why I'm down here.
Oh, the motel photos?
Yeah. Any luck ID'ing who took them?
Whew! It has been a journey, my friend.
So first, I started off trying to trace
the encrypted texts that put the photos
on Carnahan's phone in the first place.
No luck. But then,
I noticed something interesting
in one of the wider shots.
See that?
- Yeah, it looks like smoke.
- Uh, yeah.
And that little tendril
sent me on the hunt for some butts.
Cigarette butts. I figured
someone in the van was a smoker.
And since most vehicles
phased out ashtrays
decades ago, I assumed
they sadly did what most people do.
Toss their butts out the window.
- Drives me crazy.
- Oh, yeah, me too.
But I was right.
So, I sent Curtis to the motel,
and he found five butts,
all in the area where
the photos were taken.
Two of the butts were useless,
but three of the butts
had partial fingerprints.
So, I took all the partial prints
from the butts Oh, my gosh.
I'm saying "butts" a lot, aren't I?
Hmm. Okay.
And I ran them all through AFIS.
Still waiting. But (CLEARS THROAT)
Nevertheless,
I thought I could update you
on Refgate 2024.
"Refgate"?
Oh, yeah, I also like "Scandalball."
Yeah, Curtis told me about your
little championship confusion,
and I realized that
what you need is VAR.
Video assisted referee?
Exactly.
So, I uploaded all the social media
videos of the game
into a simulator, and it generated
a 3D reenactment of the disputed play.
Kasie, this is
About as sporty as I get.
I was a clumsy child.
Um, I still can't tell if
the ball crossed the goal line.
Hmm. Wait for it.
- (WHISTLE BLOWS)
- (BOOING SOUND EFFECTS PLAY)
It crossed.
They scored?
Which means
(SIGHS) Jimmy and I were wrong.
- (EXHALES)
- We made a bad call.
So, what are you gonna do?
Ooh, got a hit on the prints.
Okay, so, meet Harold Lamb.
Retired Navy.
Now a private investigator.
And
oh.
Guess what kind of vehicle
is registered to his name?
- A white van.
- Mm-hmm.
Do we know where he is now?
♪
Someone's inside.
Federal agents! Open up!
- Out of the van!
- What?
Headphones off! Out of the van!
- Okay.
- Let's go!
Turn around.
I'm just an intern, I'm
doing this for school credit.
(SIGHS)
Daniel Simmons.
Goes to Waverly University.
No sign of Amber.
- Who?
- Where's Lamb?
He's undercover in the bar next door.
He's on a case.
So are we. Pull him out. Now.
(SIGHS)
Oh, man.
You got some nerve,
burning me like that.
Do you know how many weeks
it took for me
to set up this undercover?
And what the hell
does NCIS want with me anyway?
I've been retired
from the Navy for 30 years.
Oh.
Now I get it.
Lover boy's a Fed.
Okay, now is this the point
where we shut off the camera
and we all go and look for my teeth?
Where is she?
How should I know? I mean,
I hate to break it to you,
Casanova, but,
ten to one, she probably
tuck-tailed and went back
to her husband.
So if you want to find her,
you can ask him.
Yeah, well, he's not talking, Harry.
Oh.
(INHALES DEEPLY)
Hmm.
Well
that explains why I haven't gotten paid.
Wait a minute.
Is that why I'm here?
'Cause you think I did this?
We've got your van at the park
where Carnahan was killed.
And we got your van
at the diner where Amber was kidnapped.
Well, I don't know anything about that,
but that's not my van.
Looks like your van.
Yeah, but it's not.
I mean, there are a whole lot
of white vans out there.
Why do you think
I use 'em for surveillance?
Now, listen,
Carnahan hired me ten days ago
because he thought
he was being two-timed by her
and he wanted me to tail her.
Which I did. That's it. End of story.
What about the beginning?
What?
When did you first meet him?
I told you, about ten days ago.
Wrong answer. You met him a year ago.
You did his background investigation
before he joined ONR.
Government work is classified.
So it's not a lie
if Uncle Sam says it isn't.
Hmm. Well, it is a crime
to falsify the report.
What? What are you talking about?
Carnahan was clean as a whistle.
I got news for you, Harry
before he was murdered,
Carnahan stole top secret research.
But you already knew that, didn't you?
PARKER: And you painted a
pretty picture with this report,
which got Carnahan in the door at ONR.
And then you two hatched a plan to steal
and sell the MAD Falcon.
(LAUGHING)
You think this is funny?
(CHUCKLES) No.
(SIGHS) I think it's a setup.
And I think that broad
has got her hooks so deep into you
that you can't even see it.
We got a problem.
Oof, actually, more than one.
I've been processing the van,
and the P.I.'s hidden camera confirms
that he was in that bar
for the last five hours.
So he couldn't have abducted Amber.
And we are looking
for a different white van.
What's the other problem?
I've been trying to track Amber's phone,
and when I accessed her cloud account,
I found two files.
The first is the guest list
for SECNAV's party,
where she and Torres met.
How the hell did she get that?
And the second is
Torres' classified NCIS file.
How the hell'd she get that?
I don't know how,
but I know when she got it
a whole week before she
and Torres had their meet-cute.
KNIGHT: Lamb's right.
This is a setup.
Amber's been playing us the whole time.
PARKER: Amber's got
to be one hell of a hacker
to pull SECNAV's party list
from a DoD server.
And she would've had to hack
one of our own
to get Nick's personnel file.
Got Curtis looking into it now.
We're missing something.
Amber's a TV pitchwoman.
She sells mops and Chia Pets,
not hypersonic missiles.
Don't sell her short.
Before moving to D.C.,
Amber worked in L.A.
for the Buy Now Home Shopping Channel.
And as part of her job,
she spent a lot of time in China
working with suppliers.
Especially this man.
Zhao Ming, a deputy minister
of Chinese State Security.
He has a history of
grooming American assets.
You're saying that Amber might be a spy?
Well, if that's true, maybe her
kidnapping wasn't a kidnapping.
Maybe it was an extraction
disguised as a kidnapping.
Kind of like a murder
disguised as a suicide.
I'm telling you,
we're missing something.
PARKER: Nick,
listen, you may not want to hear this,
but everything that she has done
all points to her playing the long game.
But what game?
Why come to me? Why
why tip me off on a crime
she's about to commit?
Look, I'm not saying
that she's innocent.
I'm just saying
We're missing something.
Well, we better find her,
get some answers.
I think I know
who might be able to help.
Oh, wow. So he-he just walked out naked?
- Mm-hmm.
- And what'd you do?
Well, my job. Took the pictures.
Uh, client never used 'em
though, I guess,
because the target's
a senator now, so
That's a warrant for all of your
surveillance on Amber Carnahan.
(SIGHS) I see.
So, first you accuse me
of murder and kidnapping,
but now you want my help, right?
The sooner we find her, the
sooner you get your van back.
We just need help
going through all of this.
Anything that might tell us
where she's going.
Oh, so she wasn't kidnapped, hmm?
KASIE: Whew.
Ah. I think that's the last of it.
Man, Harry, you got
a whole office back there.
Yeah. Office, bedroom,
occasionally a bathroom, you know?
Yeah, I, uh I-I found the jars.
Oh! I also found this.
It was buried under a stack of folders.
Wow, that's a Bronze Star.
- That's got to be a story.
- Yeah, not really.
Listen, I-I think that my intern
would do a better job of this than me,
- so
- He's already back at Waverly.
Stop stalling. (SIGHS)
Let's get this over with.
JIMMY: Hold the elevator!
(GRUNTS) Thanks.
Hey. What you still doing here?
Oh, just finished my autopsy report.
What about you? Any luck
finding Mrs. Carnahan?
Uh, unfortunately not.
Yeah, I feel for Nick.
Having someone you trust
betray you like that,
- I can't imagine.
- Mm.
Listen, Jimmy, about the game
What are you doing?
Tim, I saw the reenactment Kasie made.
So you know?
Did you tell anyone?
No.
Um
but don't you think we should?
Absolutely not.
Tim, you know these parents.
We reverse our decision,
we'll never hear the end of it.
They will question every call we make.
Our days of reffing will be over.
Yeah, but what about the kids
that should've won?
I mean, don't you think
they deserve to know?
Kids are resilient.
Trust me.
It's the parents who are fragile.
All right. Well
whatever you decide, Jimmy,
I-I got your back.
Thank you, Ref.
Oh, you got to flip the
Hmm? Oh, right.
(CHUCKLING)
Never done that before.
- Quite the power move.
- (CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
(SIGHS)
All right, what about this?
She ate lunch alone
at a café two days in a row.
She interact with anyone?
No.
- Did she leave anything?
- No.
Did you take any photos?
No, because her husband
wanted me to get a picture
of her in the act,
not while she's eating a croissant!
You know what,
I'm done with this. This
is just a waste of time.
Sit down, Harry.
Or what? You gonna arrest me?
I said, sit down.
Okay, maybe we should take a break.
You know what your problem is, Torres?
You broke the first
rule of surveillance
never get too close.
'Cause when you get too close,
you get burned.
What happened to you, man?
You served your country.
You know, they only give these
to heroes.
Look at you.
Yeah.
I served, all right.
And you know what I got?
I got screwed over.
So
I guess, me and you,
we got a lot more in common
than we thought.
Nick.
Hey.
Don't listen to him.
Why not?
He's right.
She played me.
She read my file. She knew about
the man who hurt my mother.
She knew what buttons to push.
Someone came to you,
asking for help.
And what did you do?
You helped them.
Because that's who you are and
that's who you've always been.
Nick, you didn't do anything wrong.
So get out of your head.
We got a two-timing broad to catch.
Well, maybe this'll help.
A GPS tracker?
Yeah. I put it on Amber's car.
I didn't say anything because
Because it's illegal?
What was Amber doing
in a place like this?
(SQUEALING NEARBY)
You hear that sound?
It's coming from in there.
Ready?
Three, two
Dr. Lythcott?
What's she doing here?
Not breathing.
I found the van!
(MUFFLED GROANING, WHIMPERING)
(GASPS) Is he gone?
- Who?
- The man who kidnapped me.
He had me locked in there for hours.
I knew you'd come.
Drop the act.
What act?
I know you targeted me.
What are you talking about?
PARKER: The MAD Falcon.
You and your hubby stole the plans.
I have no idea
what you're talking about.
I found something
that might jog her memory.
Is that a 3D printer?
Yeah. Check it out.
They were printing parts
for a Falcon missile prototype.
Coming back to you?
Nick, it's not what it looks like.
She's right.
They didn't steal plans for a missile.
Behold the MAD Falcon.
A vacuum cleaner?
Please, I can explain.
You've got it all wrong.
Well, half wrong.
See, it turns out
you and your husband
didn't steal the MAD Falcon.
That's what I'm trying to tell you.
But you and Dr. Lythcott did.
Phone calls, and emails between you
and Dr. Lythcott going back months.
KNIGHT: The two of were accomplices.
She stole the plans for the Falcon,
and you used NCIS
to frame your husband for it.
PARKER: Lythcott killed him,
then you killed her.
No! No. I would never.
(MURMURS)
I lied when I told you that
I didn't have any friends here.
I had one:
Wendy Lythcott.
And she told me everything
about the MAD Falcon.
Would that be the missile or the vacuum?
The missile was a dud.
After five years,
and billions of dollars,
it didn't work.
When my husband joined ONR,
he shelved the project.
And how did Wendy feel about that?
How do you think?
She poured her heart and soul
into the Falcon.
One night,
we were drowning our sorrows
over a bottle of wine,
and she told me everything.
"High-speed vortex,"
"cyclonic separation."
I don't know what they mean,
but I have said those words
a thousand times
when I was selling vacuums on TV.
So, you weren't gonna sell
the Falcon to a foreign power.
You were gonna put them
on store shelves.
It was simple.
Wendy designs it,
and I use my home-shopping
contacts to get it to market.
But they were still Navy property.
You're telling me
that this was worth committing treason?
It was worth it if it meant I
finally got away from him.
He was a monster!
The Falcon was my ticket out.
I know what you're thinking,
but I didn't kill him.
- Then who did?
- I don't know!
Someone found out about our plan.
(SIGHS)
He killed Roger, then he kidnapped me.
Then he contacted Wendy
and told her, if she didn't give up
the Falcon,
he would put a bullet in my head.
But I'm guessing your kidnapper
wasn't too thrilled
when he learned that
the Falcon missile was nothing
but a high-priced Hoover.
He got angry.
He shot Wendy and got away
with a copy of the Falcon.
Please, you have to believe me.
(SIGHS) Nick!
Tell them!
Nick, please!
Please tell them. You know me! You know
I'm not a killer! (INHALES SHARPLY)
(CRYING)
Nick, please. What do you think?
Hey, she's lying.
Wasn't talking to you.
Sit down, please.
I believe her.
After everything she's done?
Yeah. Amber's not a murderer.
Somebody else killed them.
Man, seriously,
the more I study this thing,
the more I want one.
Here. Check it out. Okay.
It uses the missile's
impeller technology
to compress, and expel air,
bypassing the
need for internal combustion.
- Kasie.
- No. Hold on now. Wait a minute.
People talk about building
a better mousetrap,
but damn, this thing could
suck up mice like candy.
- Kasie!
- Oh, yes!
Sorry. Killer on the loose.
Okay, here we go.
So
I processed the van that you
recovered from the warehouse.
According to the VIN,
it was stolen three days ago.
Now, I found Amber's hair,
Amber's fingerprints, Amber's DNA,
but no one else's.
Whoever they are, they are smart.
Okay, but you're smarter, right?
Listen, I'm sorry, Nick,
but all I can tell you
about the killer is what
radio station they liked.
'Cause it was playing
when I started the van.
"WVUY, the official station of"
Waverly University.
See, Kasie, I told you you were smarter.
Hey, Tim.
Is Harry still with you?
When did he leave?
Hey, Harry, what's on the schedule?
Hey, kid. Uh, well, no cases today,
just a just a business opportunity.
Vacuums.
(LAUGHS) Excuse me?
Come on, kid. Don't act dumb.
I know what you did. I was looking
at the surveillance of Amber
last night, and I saw gaps
and missing reports,
all of which happened
when you were working solo
on your shift.
No. Your van's a mess, Harry.
You probably lost 'em.
No, I don't think so.
No, I think that you overheard
Amber talking about stealing the Falcon,
and you decided to cash in.
The only thing was, you didn't count
on becoming a vacuum salesman,
but, uh, I can help you with that.
No, you're crazy. I'm out of here.
Or I could turn you in to NCIS.
I leach off Amber's plan,
now you leach off mine? That it?
Way of the world, kid.
Only question is,
why did you kill Carnahan, hmm?
He was a loose end.
Ah.
Leaving him alive was the
biggest flaw in Amber's plan.
But I
thought of everything.
Get in the van.
How many times I got to tell you, kid?
Always bring backup.
Drop the gun, Danny.
It's over. We got it all on tape.
Yeah, I guess you'll get
your criminology degree
when you're in prison.
DANNY: You son of a bitch.
(TORRES GRUNTS)
Nick!
You okay?
Oh, yeah, I'm okay. I'm okay.
I'm okay.
Are you?
Yeah.
(GROANS)
(DISTANT SIRENS WAILING)
Jimmy? You down here?
(DOOR OPENING)
Hey, Tim. Thanks for coming.
- (DOOR CLOSES)
- Yeah, what's, uh what's going on?
Why are you in uniform?
I want to look official
for my last act as head ref.
I'm resigning.
What? Because of one bad call?
No. It wasn't just that.
You know I started reffing
after Breena died?
Yeah, suddenly I was a single dad,
my life spinning out of control.
And I know this is gonna
sound silly, but
the rules,
and of course, the uniform
It really helped me
through a tough time.
You know, and then everything with Jess.
I guess I just kind of doubled down.
But it's time to make a substitution.
Remember, Tim,
your whistle is your voice on the field.
Don't be afraid to use it.
Jimmy, if being a ref helps you,
you got to keep doing it.
Because you are the best head ref
this league has ever seen.
- I
- Come on. Come on.
Besides, I, uh I already quit.
These parents are crazy.
I just want
to watch my kids play soccer.
I know, right? I mean, if you ask me,
some of these people take
this stuff way too seriously.
(CHUCKLES)
(WHISTLE BLOWING)
LAMB: Well, I guess we both
got played for suckers, huh?
Well, that's what you get for
trying to do the right thing.
Hey, thanks for your help
in getting Danny's confession.
Oh, it was kind of fun,
being part of a team again.
Last time I felt like that,
I was with the SEALs in 'Nam.
Which is why
I asked you to meet me here.
You left this back at NCIS.
Harry, do you stay in touch
with any of your old teammates?
No.
Not many of 'em left, though.
Most of them that are
deserve this more than I do.
Let me ask you. Um
(SIGHS)
Why'd you do that? I mean,
push me out of the way?
You could have been killed.
You were my C.I., Harry.
It was my job to protect you.
I don't have to explain that
to a hero like you.
(LAUGHS SOFTLY)
So, um
you gonna buy me lunch?
Oh, man. There he is.
Maybe I should have let him shoot you.
(BOTH LAUGHING)
Well, that's what you get
for doing the right thing.