Is it too late to change my mind?
Out.
So, like, where's the facility, bruh?
You're looking at it... bruh.
Where the hell you come from?
Let's go.
No, there's no way I'm going in there.
Listen up.
You all may be juvies, but apparently
you're all such badasses, you're being charged as adults.
But the court gave you a choice.
In there with me for a week...
or the big house.
Take your pick.
I'm eating rabbit for dinner either way.
Yo, wait up!
UPTOWN: So what's the plan, exactly?
We play Survivor for a week and then become
fine, upstanding citizens?
Yeah, where do we sleep?
Yeah, I'm not eating no rabbit.
Then you don't eat.
And the plan is, is that you learn
to get your head on right, son.
By murdering Thumper?
By learning to live for something besides yourselves.
I read your psych evals.
You all think the world revolves around you.
But out here, if you don't work together,
you die together.
So you gonna learn to become a team.
No matter what comes our way,
we stand as one.
[man gasps]
[screaming]
Run! [screams]
Run!
[mutters faintly]
[chuckles] Okay. Wow.
Nice.
Dude, this looks so fake.
♪
KNIGHT: Can you please pace somewhere else?
You are going to wear down the carpet.
Well, it needs replacing anyways.
Where is he already?
Maybe text him another ten times?
Morning.
Morning? Like, uh,
just like everything's normal morning?
Why haven't you answered any of my texts?
I'm sorry, I just got back from Alaska, okay?
I'm a little jet-lagged.
Guess what the next question is.
How could you leave Gibbs behind?
I didn't leave him behind, okay, he wanted to stay.
And you agreed to this... why again?
Because he seemed happy.
- TORRES: - Happy?
As in, like, happy?
Well, I've got some more of that to go around.
Uh, I'm sure you'll all probably be happy to hear
that I've decided not to take Director Vance up
on his offer to join your team.
And I'm guessing that's the first you've heard of it.
I was waiting for Agent McGee to return
before I filled them in.
And you're early.
Oops. Sidebar?
Uh, I appreciate the offer, Director, but I'm not ready
to jump into anything new just yet.
Perhaps you'd like to spend some time in the field with the team
before you make your final decision?
I already made it.
Plus, I got tickets to a Simon and Garfunkel
reunion concert later today,
and I've been waiting a long time for that baby, so...
Hey, why are you guys standing around here?
- Haven't you guys heard? - Whoa, what's up?
A Navy petty officer apparently turned into a zombie.
- A zombie? - Yeah.
Crawled out of the ground and everything.
[phone rings] You guys really didn't get the call?
That kind of thing happen a lot around here?
First for me.
Ooh. All right, get your gear.
VANCE: Well, it looks like the train's leaving.
I'd consider it a personal favor
if at least you'd spend the morning on it.
Well, I don't think I'll change my mind, Director,
but, uh, yeah, okay, sure.
I still got time.
Zombie it is.
Not a zombie.
Just a victim who suffered from extreme dehydration
and exposure before he died.
Who is this guy again?
Well, according to his prints,
he was Petty Officer First Class James Bolton.
Whoever dumped the body
barely covered it up.
McGEE: Except he wasn't a body when he was dumped.
Apparently, this guy was still alive.
Died shortly after Ranger Rick stepped on him.
And he died of what?
Based on the nasal froth, I'd say it was
poison that probably put him into
a cataplectic coma.
Probably fooled whoever tried to bury him here
into thinking that he was dead.
It happens. I'll know a little bit more
when I get him back to autopsy.
Speaking of which, can I get a hand
with the body and the gurney?
I gave myself a grade-two sprain
inflating a bouncy house.
[straining]: It happens.
You need help getting the Night King
into the van, too?
Well, aren't you thoughtful. Yes, I do.
Ready?
JIMMY: You know, I-I looked up how many injuries
are caused by bouncy houses.
Hey, Tim. It's a lot.
When you said that Gibbs was happy...
what did you mean?
I don't want to talk about it.
Look, you can't-- you can't leave me hanging, bro.
I'm sorry, it felt kind of private.
Well, is he gonna be okay?
I think he probably hasn't been this okay in a long time.
What about that guy?
Can you believe Director Vance
offered him Gibbs' job already?
He's a solid agent. Experienced.
The man's desk is not even cold.
Well, it's just gonna get colder with Gibbs in Alaska,
and we do need the body.
McGee, help me out here.
Tim, this is where - you use more words. - Sorry, I'm all out.
And I'm all out of time.
Oh, leaving us so soon?
Yeah. And I'm sure you're real broken up about it.
But can't keep Mrs. Robinson waiting.
Agent McGee, I wish you the best of luck.
Been a blast.
[alarm blaring]
That kind of thing happen a lot around here?
[sighs] Where are they?
[elevator bell dings]
I've been worried sick. Thank God you're okay.
Don't worry, Kasie, we're fine.
What happened?
Your vic had some kind of bomb on him,
that's what happened.
Where's Knight?
And what was the dead guy doing with a bomb?
She's towing what's left of the van
into the evidence garage, trying to figure out what happened.
- Feel free to go help. - Roger that.
This is all I could dig up on your dead petty officer.
It's not much.
- Let's see what we got. - Hey, it's Parker.
Yeah, it's not much.
Petty Officer Bolton, born in St. Louis.
Studied computer science in college,
and the rest is redacted.
Uh, yeah, I'm gonna be a little late.
I don't even recognize that assignment code.
It's a transitional code
that our new space force just started using.
PARKER: Yeah. No, no. No, I-I'll see you there later.
Okay.
And you know this how?
I did some work integrating their network
into the FBI's Operational Technology Division.
Happy to hook you up with a guy there I know.
He can probably give you some more intel
on your petty officer.
You know, it'd be faster if you made the call.
I'd love to, but, uh, I'm already gonna miss
half the warm-up act, so...
Okay, I still got time.
While we may never know the true origin
of the Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme,
you can rest assured, Petty Officer Bolton,
we shall put you together again.
Yes, lateral malleolus.
Thanks for helping while I have my own lateral issues.
It's just like old times, huh?
I don't recall the M.E. van blowing up before,
so... [chuckles] no.
Well, the good news is, you'll be getting a new one.
I kinda liked the old one.
You shouldn't have let it be blown up.
Oh, we're doing that again, are we?
So, we were kinda hoping for an update,
but I can come back if the two of you...
Oh, no, no, no. It's fine. It's fine. Dr. Mallard?
Yes, well, one item of note is an anklet
that the petty officer was wearing on his left foot.
It appears to be some kind of wearable USB device.
Kasie is examining it now.
She also identified the explosive that destroyed, uh...
...certain things.
It was azidoazide azide,
a compound so powerful and unstable,
only crazy people use it.
And, apparently, criminals.
Only a few ounces can totally destroy a vehicle.
Or a van.
Ounces?
No wonder we missed the bomb on the body.
Oh, we didn't miss the bomb,
because it wasn't on the body.
See, the blast trauma to the thorax
projects outwards, meaning that the explosion
emanated from inside the G.I. tract.
Are you saying our victim swallowed the explosive?
It appears so.
Reminds me of a few heroin smugglers I busted once.
Except Petty Officer Bolton wasn't smuggling heroin.
He was concealing an explosive,
presumably to get past some sort of security.
Agent Knight, we believe that this was
a bombing attempt gone wrong.
Given the location of the explosive,
most likely a suicide bombing attempt.
By a member of the United States military.
Yes, we're still trying to figure out
the target, Madam Secretary.
Yeah, I'll let you know as soon as we do.
Thank you.
I heard we have an official cause of death
- for Petty Officer Bolton? - Blood poisoning.
Jimmy thinks that the explosive
accidentally leaked into his system
and killed him before he could detonate himself.
Oh, this could have been a lot worse.
Uh, any idea who dumped the body?
Not yet, but Bolton was obviously working with someone.
All right, let me know when you find out who.
Is there something else?
- You're not gonna like it. - Try me.
You should've never offered Parker the job.
And why is that?
You gave up on Gibbs too quickly.
Nobody gave up on anyone. Gibbs moved on.
And you let it happen.
I know that Gibbs is a father figure to the team.
And it's hard when a father leaves,
especially, perhaps, for you.
If I needed a shrink, I would have called
Dr. Grace, Director.
Agent Torres, may I remind you that I'm free to hire
who I want, when I want?
Well, did you even consider McGee?
I did more than consider him.
What is that supposed to mean?
- That's outside your pay grade. - Oh, okay.
Well, I'm telling you that Agent Parker is
the wrong guy for the job.
Then you should tell that to Gibbs.
He said he was the guy?
We spoke just after Eberhart's arrest.
Let's just say I think Parker made an impression on Gibbs
in Alaska, as well as on me.
So, we done?
Director, we got a problem.
And you're not gonna like it.
Get in line.
Whoever dumped the petty officer's body
took his wallet and keys.
Well, it's no surprise. It makes it harder
to make an ID.
But they left another set of keys behind.
It's the USB drive Jimmy and Ducky found.
The body dumper probably thought it was just a piece of jewelry.
[scoffs]
'Cause Navy petty officers
are so totally known for wearing anklets.
Okay, get to the point.
The drive appears to be
some kind of master key
to an e-commerce site that - Bolton runs on the dark web. - Dark web?
That's great. What was he selling?
Uh, it seems our computer science major
has been moonlighting as a one-man Geek Squad for bad guys.
This guy does everything.
"Corporate hacking, $1,000 an hour.
- Ransomware attack"? - Mm-hmm.
Even has a weekend special on tracking your spouse.
You're right, Ms. Hines, we got a problem.
This isn't the problem.
Most of Bolton's posts have been about
the finer points of identity theft,
until a few months ago.
He mentions he got a new partner.
Then his posts started getting political.
Then extremist.
Then he says he and his partner have something big planned.
Like "take down the system" big.
And you know what - that target is? - PARKER: Maybe.
And I hope we're wrong. All right, thanks, Fish.
My contact at DoD says that Bolton's day job was
working as a high-level coder
for the Wideband Global SATCOM system.
One of the satellite networks
our military uses to communicate.
Bolton's clearance level gave him access
to a highly sensitive server room
that runs the entire system.
Not the sort of place you'd want
a bomb to go off in, I'd imagine.
If that was Bolton's target...
And you really have no choice but to assume that it was.
He's trying to take down our satellites.
And his partner's still out there.
You believe Petty Officer Bolton
was planning an attack on his own country?
Why?
Well, our working theory is that Bolton got radicalized
by this mystery partner of his.
Who clearly had some issues with the military.
SATCOM handles tactical command,
control comms, missile targeting.
And if any of those systems go down,
our troops' ability to defend themselves abroad
could be hobbled.
Uh, if I may, General,
I've worked with the SATCOM system before.
I recall. You brought the scones.
And if I recall, it uses
Hyper-V clustering for redundancy.
Taking out any one facility won't immediately
degrade the system. We have some time.
Which we need, 'cause we might have
more suicide bombers out there.
- Might? - We found several posts
indicating that Bolton and his partner
were trying to recruit more people.
What if they recruited someone else with clearance?
We can't be doing full body searches
at every federal facility.
Director Vance, I'm authorizing an emergency
rapid response task force - to be run out of NCIS. - Understood.
Agent Parker...
Actually, it's former Agent Parker.
I don't care. You know the systems,
you're running the task force.
If there's any recruits out there,
I want you to find them.
Funny thing, I got tickets...
Scratch that. Understood, General.
[sighs] Well, that sucks for me.
- You know the systems. - Hyper-V clustering.
Torres, mystery partner.
McGee's already got potential targets.
Knight, we need to know if anyone else has been recruited.
Okay, let's go. [claps hands]
Right. Um...
...the 411 may play better coming from you.
Listen, guys, Agent Parker...
Former.
Former Agent Parker has been assigned by the DoD...
TORRES: Let me guess.
Be in charge?
Temporarily.
But for the record, against my will.
But here we are.
Okay, so I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to be doing,
but if I'm the one who's looking for
new suicide bomber recruits,
I've got Petty Officer Bolton's laptop.
But it's locked.
It may have information on it that's relevant to our case.
I'm just waiting for someone to... do that.
I just needed to enable route access.
That's normally McGee's thing.
Oh, I don't mean to step on any toes.
No, no, it's okay.
But as long as you got it open,
Kasie flagged a name on Bolton's server.
Told someone he was gonna "check the guy out."
- You thinking it's a recruit? - If it is,
Bolton should have a file on him.
And there you go.
KNIGHT: Royman Beesbo?
You're being groomed to be a suicide bomber, Royman?
Let's see, he's single, has no social life.
Said he almost died of a heart attack last year.
Dying man, no family. That fits the profile.
Torres, Knight, check him out. McGee, dig into the laptop.
Find out who Bolton's mystery partner was.
And-and, hey, look, um,
I just want you all to know I-I know this is weird.
Okay, I get it. But we got to get
past that so we can get this job done.
And with a team like you,
we're gonna do it better than anyone.
The only question I have is,
do you guys ever go to the bathroom, and where is it?
Because I'm literally about to wet myself.
Hey.
Hey, bud, can I ask you something?
Uh, now?
Well, time isn't really on our side,
and I wanted to clear the air.
You know, I probably had, like, three cups of coffee
this morning, but...
Why didn't you make a play for Gibbs' job?
Well, because it was Gibbs' job.
At least as of a few days ago.
Come on.
The writing was on the wall for months.
You know, it was probably, like, four cups...
And you never thought about making team leader
a permanent gig?
Um, yeah, yeah, sure.
I-I imagined it happening one day, yeah.
And then Vance offered you the job, and you said pass. Why?
The job wasn't what I thought it would be.
You know, not, not nearly as fun.
Hours were even worse.
Don't get to go out - in the field as much. - Uh-huh.
Plus, there's all that paperwork.
- Nobody likes paperwork. - Right?
And that's it?
Yeah, well, what else is there?
You tell me.
No, that's it.
Hey, uh, next time you want to have
a private conversation with me, maybe pick somewhere
a little more appropriate.
Maybe a stopped elevator or something.
[muttering]
KNIGHT: That's got to be Royman.
Ow.
- Are we sure he's single? - Don't be mean.
I'm sorry, I'm feeling a little mean.
You got to give Parker a chance.
Do I?
After what he did for Gibbs in Alaska,
I'd say he earned it.
Recruit me to be a suicide bomber?
Me? [laughs]
This is a joke, right?
[laughing]
Has anybody strange contacted you online recently?
Pretty much nonstop after I dipped my toe
into online dating.
It was like I had a catfish target
on my back for some reason. [chuckles]
At least until I met Helen,
and then I erased all my dating apps.
- So you're not single? - Well...
I mean, it's, it's kind of hard to explain.
Is Helen someone strange
that you met online by any chance? No.
At a bus stop.
We just started talking.
I don't know how that happened.
Then she smiled, and it was like
a lightning bolt went off in my head.
And I know she felt it, too,
because she gave me her number.
And then what happened?
And then I lost it.
I've been trying to remember it, you know,
by doing...
TORRES: Oh.
So you are single.
Do you recognize this guy?
Yeah. Yeah, that's the cable guy.
He came by a few weeks ago,
said I needed a new router or something.
That's not the cable guy.
Wait, is that your suicide bomber recruiter dude?
Oh, my gobsmacker, he-he was in my house.
We had lemonade.
Wh-Why-why was he trying to recruit me?
What do you do, exactly, again?
Are you some kind of a court reporter?
Uh, not quite.
Try a Silverstar-ranked federal stenographer.
What does that mean?
I work on sealed cases only.
I'm one of only 50 local stenos cleared to record depositions
that involve classified material.
Does that mean you go into - high security federal buildings? - Yep.
Different ones every week.
I see a lot of really high-tech... Oh.
Where are you going next? It could be a target.
I can't actually answer that without a subpoena.
That's part of being a Silver...
Silverstar-ranked federal stenographer. Got it.
But you're more than welcome to hang till you get one.
I got, I got nachos. Huh?
Well, how long's a subpoena gonna take?
That's too long, Judge.
Anyplace this Royman guy goes next
could be a bombing target.
Royman? I don't know, Irish?
No, no, don't put me on hold again!
Well, what do you think?
I think it's impressive that an agent has
finally gotten some Bluetooth earbuds.
I'm asking you about Director Vance's offer
to him to take over the team.
Am I on hold? Did you put me on hold again?
Uh...
I don't know. It'd be different.
Which would be, uh, you know...
different.
Yes, it would.
Is that a problem for you?
Speaking of the opposite of different, how great has it been
having you down here this week, huh?
What do you say we get the band back together,
like, permanently, you and me.
Autopsy is your bailiwick now, Jimmy.
Yeah, but it could be ours again.
They put me on hold.
How can we help you?
We're still trying to track down
Bolton's mystery partner.
I heard you found something that might help.
We think we may have found a piece of the bomb's detonator.
- DUCKY: - If so, then Kasie may be able
to trace it back to this partner for whom you're looking.
JIMMY: She's also made some headway on tracing the actual explosive.
An Albanian cartel is selling it on the black market.
- Goes for $30 - K a gram.
Even with his side gig, Bolton couldn't afford
half of what was in it.
[elevator bell dings] So, either
the mystery partner had deep pockets, or...
Or he won the lottery.
- Or he won the lottery, sure. - No, I'm saying
our dead petty officer won the lottery.
Really?
Three times, three different states
over the past year, over 100 grand total.
I don't know anyone who's won the lottery three times.
I don't know anybody who's won the lottery once.
It's actually four times, if you count an hour ago.
Which is, you know, impossible.
This place is way more interesting than the FBI.
When I found out how much Bolton's suicide bomb cost,
I realized he must have another source of income.
Domestic terrorism ain't cheap.
Mm-hmm. Then, an agent found these in his gun safe.
They're lottery picker cards
from all over the Eastern Seaboard.
And lo and behold,
these three match actual wins.
Four, if you count an hour ago.
Which is, you know, impossible.
Except Bolton was a hacker.
You think he hacked the lottery to pay for those bombs?
If he did, this guy is like the Frank Abagnale of hackers.
Remember, Leo-- oh, he was cute--
played him in Catch Me if You Can?
He was a doctor, he was a lawyer...
And I was in the FBI. I know who Frank Abagnale is.
Thing is, if Bolton did hack the lottery,
he wasn't the one cashing in the winning tickets.
He had someone else do the pickups for him.
I'm thinking that's the partner you've been looking for.
Her name's Lillian Beck.
And if there's any more bombings planned,
I imagine she'd know about them.
Luckily for us, she has some new winnings
to cash in tomorrow.
It's stakeout time, baby.
Nice work.
- Uh, I'm gonna need this. - Mm-hmm.
Just one more thing.
A little birdie told me that you preferred to try
and negotiate with LeMere at this particular point in time.
That's not quite... I don't know what's
going on with you here or whatever,
but let's get one thing straight.
If there's ever a crazy assassin
holding a sharp object to my neck again,
I'm gonna need you to shoot first,
ask questions later.
If you can do that, then we're good.
We good?
We're good.
Good.
TORRES: What do you think makes someone
become a suicide bomber?
Well, I think if you're angry enough,
you can get talked into just about anything.
Sitrep.
KNIGHT: Got eyes on our suspect.
- In line. About to cash a ticket. - Copy.
You're getting good at that. "Sitrep. Copy."
Thanks.
Been practicing in the mirror.
It's so good that it makes me not buy
what you told Parker in the bathroom.
He told you about that?
No.
Okay, then, what, were you, like,
listening at the bathroom door?
Oh, my God, seriously.
- Were you listening at the door? - It doesn't matter.
The point is, is all that noise about
you not wanting the big chair because of the extra hours.
Yeah, homie don't buy that.
I can't believe it-- you're sitting there, like,
just listening through the bathroom door.
Hey, don't change the subject.
What subject? That I don't want
to be team leader because I'm not Gibbs?
No, you're not Gibbs.
But you're Timothy freakin' McGee, you're a cyber ninja.
When people shoot you, you keep on coming, man.
Yeah, except it was Gibbs who shot me.
Okay? Twice. He put two bullets through me.
And you know what, it saved my life.
It hurt like hell getting shot, but I can't imagine
what it felt like pulling that trigger.
I mean, who could do that? Could I do that?
For someone so smart, you can be so dumb.
- Thanks, that's helpful. - Tim, the guy
who shouldn't be in charge is the guy
who's not even asking the question.
Doubt is not weakness, it's a strength.
A leader without doubt?
Now, that's a guy I'd be worried about.
Look, Nick, my point is, I don't want to be
the guy that can pull that trigger.
Okay?
If there's anything I've learned from Gibbs,
it's that this job is all-consuming.
It completely consumes you.
You know what the guy had to do to escape?
He had to go to Alaska!
Like, Alaska.
I got a family, Nick.
That can't be me. I can't do that.
It's that simple.
Go ahead, tell me again how dumb I am.
Well, I have no complaints about that.
Only respect.
Thanks, brother.
KNIGHT: Suspect coming out.
Repeat, suspect coming out.
Now, what do you say we go and arrest some bad guys?
Sounds pretty good to me.
Guess what I just heard. We just caught
Bolton's mystery partner.
- What are you doing? - Leaving.
Aren't we gonna sterilize the bone saw later?
I remember that one time... Jimmy...
Jimmy, it is time for me to retake my rightful place
as NCIS historian.
Wait. Don't go.
[stammering]: Stop, stop, stop.
Is everything all right?
Is everything...?
No, no, it's not. It's not at all.
I've had just about enough of people leaving this year.
Just one after another.
Breena.
And then Bishop and now Gibbs.
So you are gonna come back in here.
You're gonna lose the hat, and together we are gonna
go sterilize that damn bone saw.
Jimmy... Bone saw!
Just...
Jimmy,
yesterday is over,
sad as that may seem.
But change is the essence of life.
I know that, Doctor, but...
this feels like a death.
I miss him, too.
But Jethro isn't dead.
From what I hear, it sounds as if
he's starting to live life again.
Possibly for the first time since losing his family.
If that is the case,
I don't mourn his departure. I'm grateful for it.
Our pain...
is a small price to pay
for his peace.
I'm sorry.
That was beautiful, Doctor. Really beautiful.
I almost hate to totally ruin the moment
by giving you this.
It's the results from the detonator fragment
you found in our victim.
Uh-oh.
You know, I'm-I'm missing my nephew's
first Little League game.
Yeah, I'm-I'm really sorry about that.
Um, there just seems to be
a little misunderstanding somewhere.
You think?
I bought a lottery ticket. I won.
I don't know anything about any terrorist attack.
What's he doing? Did I miss it?
He is, uh, doing the "play dumb."
Oh. That's boring. Gonna be here all day.
- So am I free to go? - Yeah.
Uh, just, um, one more question.
You want to die by lethal injection,
or spend the rest of your life rotting in a jail cell
that smells like soup?
Excuse me?
We know you're been working with Bolton.
We know you're trying to recruit more suicide bombers.
And we know that you funded your operation
by hacking the lottery.[laughs]
What we don't know is death or soup?
That is not the "play dumb."
"I am going to jail for accessory to murder."
Say it with me. "I..."Look, I-I...
"...am going to jail..."Okay, I was working--
I was working with Bolton.
"...for accessory to..."Will you stop that?!
I'm trying to confess.
Not to murder. I didn't kill anyone, okay?
Let's hear it.
And by the way, you don't have any nephews.
I'm a back-end coder for the East Coast Lottery Group.
We handle the lottery in 13 states.
About six months ago, I found a flaw in the system,
a-a way to preselect the winners.
But I needed a real hacker to do the heavy lifting.
A hacker like Bolton.
I found him online. The guy's basically
the Frank Abagnale of hackers.
I've heard. Go on.
That's it.
We didn't hack the lottery to fund a terrorist attack.
We hacked the lottery to... t-to hack the lottery. Duh.
That actually is pretty believable.
Hey. We've got a problem.
KNIGHT: Yeah, a big problem.
Our entire case might have just fallen apart.
Kasie found traces of polydioxanone
on the detonator fragment.
Plus bupivacaine in his tox screen.
I literally didn't understand a word you just said.
Wait, who-whose tox screen?
Bolton's. Listen, the detonator was a pacemaker battery.
Bupivacaine is a local anesthetic, and-- here.
Okay, and polydioxanone is used in surgical stitches.
Surgical?
Yeah, Dr. Mallard and I were wrong.
Bolton didn't swallow a bomb.
It was surgically implanted.
And if it was a part of a routine procedure,
it's possible he didn't even know
he had a bomb inside of him.
PARKER: So, if there wasn't a terrorist attack,
what were you recruiting people for?
I couldn't keep winning the lottery myself, genius.
Oh, so you needed cutouts to pick up the money for you.
And we already had ten lined up.
We were about to be rich.
Bolton was planning on retiring to Cabo.
The last thing he ever would have done
is blow himself up.
Then how the hell did he end up a human grenade?
Sorry, that's... that's not my department.
- TORRES: - I spoke to three of the recruits who were hired
to, uh, pick up the next lottery tickets.
They confirm our suspect's story.
So, if Bolton's big plan was to hack the lotto,
how did he end up with a suicide bomb in him?
We're right back at square one.
Yeah, you get used to it.
It's got to have something to do with his website.
We should dig into the other bad guys
who have hired him.
McGee's going through the weblogs now.
And check this out.
Most of those bad-guy names were encrypted.
But one name did pop up on a wire transfer,
and you are gonna love it.
I told you, I thought he was the cable guy.
That-That's all I know.
Please don't take this the wrong way,
but you are totally lying.
Right after Bolton paid you a visit,
you took out a reverse mortgage on your house for 20 grand.
I'm doing a renovation.
[chuckles] One week later, - that same $20 - K ended up
in Bolton's e-commerce account in the Caymans.
It was a Caribbean-themed renovation?
Now, that's a horrible liar.
KNIGHT: Where did you get the Albanian explosive?
I don't know what that is.
How did it end up inside Petty Officer Bolton?
I don't know what that means.
We have proof that you paid Bolton $20,000
- to his offshore account. - He said we wouldn't get caught.
He said we wouldn't get caught!
And you are going to tell me what it was for.
It was for Helen.
Okay?
Helen.
The...
woman you met at the bus stop?
Keep talking.
Everything I told you was true.
Your petty officer came over,
said he was the cable guy.
Then we had lemonade, just like I said.
And then...
And then you told him about Helen?
It may have come up.
When I saw her smile... Skip that part.
He told me he might be able to hack into a traffic cam
by the bus stop where Helen and me met
and get a photo of her face.
And then, you know,
do some facial recognition.
Well, that's creepy.
It's not stalking if she gave me her number already, is it?
I'm gonna go out on a limb
and say this guy is not our criminal mastermind.
He's got to be connected somehow.
Otherwise, why would Bolton have an entire dossier...
Whoa.
What?
Bolton has this guy's medical records.
Ever wonder why?
Have you had - any surgery recently? - ROYMAN: No.
Well, I mean, sort of. - A week ago. - Where?
My doctor called and said that my pacemaker battery was low.
You just got that last year. It doesn't run low that fast.
[chuckling]: It just took an hour to swap out.
It wasn't a big deal.
It might actually be a big deal.
Evacuate the building.
- Call the bomb squad. - Wait, what?
ROYMAN: No, hold on.
I don't understand. What is happening?
It's got to be connected to one of your cases.
You're a stenographer, right? What's your next case?
I can't tell you. I'm a Silverstar-ranked...
Look, I got your damn subpoena approved, okay?
They just haven't sent the actual records yet.
Now focus. What's your next case?
Okay, okay, there's this guy...
Come on, come on.
DUCKY: Here they come, Mr. Palmer. Look sharp.
JIMMY: McGee filled us in.
We are prepping for X-ray.
We're gonna take a look inside you.
- This is not happening. - You're gonna be okay.
- Just lie down. - I'm not gonna be okay,
- according to your boss. - You're our boss?
I've been turned into a walking time bomb by Tony Soprano.
Apparently, Royman here just got assigned a case
against a pretty scary-sounding Mafia kingpin.
Four of the witnesses against him have already disappeared,
and the last one was moved into witness protection.
All right, hold your breath.
[beeping]
He's in a hidden location-- tightest security possible.
ROYMAN: I'm supposed to record his deposition tomorrow,
and then I guess I blow up?
Was that the freaking plan?
There's the atrial lead.
There's the pulse generator.
And something else.
Based on density, I would say
that's our explosive.
Oh, my gobsmacker.
I've been turned into an exploding Trojan horse.
Okay, everybody, - get out of here. - What, you're leaving?
- PARKER: - No, no. I'll stay until the bomb squad's
med techs arrive.
DUCKY: We don't have that much time.
This protrusion tells me
that the explosive is leaking.
Just like Petty Officer Bolton here.
[Royman whimpers]
How much time does he have?
A day? A minute?
I mean, we have to get it out now.
Well, what are you looking at me for?
Your body, your call.
Um... get it out!
We're already prepped for extraction. Light.
DUCKY: CHG locked and loaded.
Prepping the surgical site.
- JIMMY: - Administering 10cc's local anesthetic.
[groaning] PARKER: It's okay, buddy.
Okay. Relax.
Dr. Palmer, would you care to do the honors?
Uh...
Oh, you might want to remove the decoration.
Right. [sighs]
Oh, look at that. It's feeling better already.
All right. Do me a favor.
- Mm-hmm. - Stay very still.
NEWSCASTER: In D.C. yesterday,
a murder attempt against the star witness
in a Mafia kingpin's trial was thwarted by agents at NCIS.
Sources say that Besnik Toptani, the notorious Albanian kingpin,
choreographed an elaborate plot to kill...
[turns off TV]
Toptani's people knew Petty Officer Bolton
from his "Geek Squad for bad guys" website.
KNIGHT: They came up with the Trojan horse idea
and hired Bolton to hack into Roy's medical records.
But they only had one shot at taking the witness out,
so they decided to use Bolton as a guinea pig for the surgery,
but... test run didn't go so well.
He died before they could blow him up.
- KNIGHT: - So the Albanians ditched the body,
worked out the kinks,
and then forced Roy's doctor to try again on Roy.
I'll spare you the Frank Abagnale comparison,
and I'll just say
this is one for the books.
Agent Knight, will you excuse us a moment?
Very nice work.
Thank you. You know, I, um...
I jumped online this morning
to try to get you replacement tickets
for that Simon and Garfunkel concert that you missed.
Oh, yeah?
Turns out there is no Simon and Garfunkel reunion tour.
And there's not gonna be.
I heard they hate each other.
I'm more of a Bowie guy anyway.
I see.
I just wanted to see what
a regular day around here was like,
and I was told it might spook the locals
if they thought I had plans to stay.
Wasn't my idea, actually.
Whose was it?
[laughs]
I'm gonna take that one to my grave.
Well...
You want the job or not?
We did one last visual exam.
Everything's all clear.
That was the third sweep in 24 hours.
With azidoazide, better safe than sorry.
McGEE: So, spoke to the D.A.
They're willing to drop the hacking charge
in exchange for community service.
How much?
["Changes" by David Bowie playing]
Well, what do you think?
Still thinking.
I know the feeling.
ROYMAN: 500 hours?
Either that or jail.
Well, it's not like I have other plans.
Roy?
Roy, it's me.
♪ Still don't know what I was waiting for ♪
♪ And my time...
Helen.
[chuckling]: Yeah.
You never called me.
ROYMAN: I-I lost your number.
It was five-five...
Five-oh-one-six-two.
Oh.
Oh, I can't believe it.
I guess he has plans now.
- HELEN: - I kept going to the same bus stop,
and you weren't there.
ROYMAN: Oh, well, 'cause I changed routes.
You want to know what I think?
ROYMAN: Hey, look, guys, it's Helen.
I think Gibbs was a lucky man.
♪ Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
♪ Turn and face the strange I know the feeling.
♪ Ch-Ch-Changes
♪ Don't want to be a richer man ♪
♪ Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
♪ Turn and face the strange ch-ch-changes ♪
♪ Just gonna have to be a different man. ♪