♪ ♪ Yeah
♪ I got to run
♪ Yeah...
Dylan, don't make a mess.
Calm down. It's, like, four crumbs.
Four crumbs in my mom's car that she doesn't know we took.
[PHONE DINGS]
Um, hello?
Now... don't freak out.
I never freak out.
Jenn got into Harvard.
I'm freaked out.
My parents literally built a wing at Dartmouth,
and I get waitlisted, and she gets into Harvard.
It's Insta-official, babe.
- [THUD]
- [GASPS] What was that?
- Whoa!
- Oh, my God.
What just happened?
I think you k*lled Bambi.
One of us should go check.
All you.
Me? Doesn't Dartmouth like socially responsible students?
Get your camera ready.
Prepare for Insta-woke.
We need more light.
Oh, my God.
I don't think that deer is a deer.
- Mm-hmm.
- Look, all I'm saying is we all agreed to do this on the next rainy day, and I don't think you did it right.
Everyone's a critic.
There is a very particular way you're supposed to decide if you're gonna keep something.
Now, Marie Kondo says...
I know what she says.
She's says if you hold it in your hands and it doesn't bring you joy, adios.
Are you trying to tell me how to Kondo?
No, but... Look, all I'm saying is I don't have a lot of stuff.
And the stuff I have...
I like.
You are a pack rat.
Um, I don't even know what's in this box, actually.
Delilah Kondo'd for me.
Made me promise not to open it.
Okay, I don't think you did it right.
It's my favorite shirt.
McGee, we're supposed to donate this stuff to charity.
You can't donate that.
That's the opposite of charity.
This is my Atari joystick.
Oh, what's Delilah thinking?
I don't know, I mean, she understands that you're not years old? Or are you?
Are you kidding me?
This is Quelldorf.
Quelldorf, the leader of the Benhibity, ruler of...
All right, it's an ' s comic book character that never really found its footing, okay?
Hey. Morning.
Morning. Wow. Speaking of pack rat.
This is nothing.
I got five more loads in my truck.
Kasie is really gonna regret ever volunteering to bring all of our stuff to the V.A.
- You Kondo'd.
- You Kondo'd real hard.
I just followed the rules.
I mean, this stuff doesn't bring me joy.
And I no longer have room in my life for things that don't bring me joy.
- And that's junk.
- This is not junk.
This is a warm, loving memory in my childhood.
It's a ratty T-shirt with holes in it.
It's worthless.
No, it's not.
Old shirts make great shop rags.
Thanks, McGee.
Let's go. Got a body.
DYLAN: Life, you guys, is so fleeting.
These past couple of hours have really changed me as a person, and...
All right, you can't film a crime scene. Come on.
Not cool. I want to keep it with my followers.
There's, like, a lesson here somewhere, bro.
Yeah, there's a lot of lessons here.
The first one being listen to a federal agent.
- Secondly...
- TORRES: Having a driver's license
- when you drive.
- I didn't like the picture.
- Did you say crime scene?
- Yes.
Vehicular manslaughter is a crime.
And if there's negligence, it's a felony crime.
And by "negligence" you mean...
Like driving with your eyes closed or being on your cell phones.
MCGEE: So, do you mind telling us what you were doing before the accident?
BISHOP: So, we've got a couple of credit cards, what used to be receipts, and... whatever this was.
DUCKY: Sorry I'm late.
Dr. Palmer had a seminar on the lasting effects of fentanyl that he didn't want to miss.
Who would?
So he asked me to fill in at the last moment.
Well, well, well, well.
Huh. Who do we have here?
GIBBS: Petty Officer Third Class
Noah O'Donnell.
Would you please tell your agents to stop asking me so many questions.
No.
He's acting like I committed some sort of crime here.
You don't have to answer, but he still gets to ask.
- He wants my cell phone.
- Yeah, we need to determine...
It was an accident, okay?
People have accidents.
You're all acting like I k*lled somebody.
Okay, what I mean is I didn't mean to k*ll anyone.
As it turns out, you didn't.
Duck?
He was already dead when he was hit by the vehicle.
As they say... Double-tap to the chest,
and... one to the head.
He was m*rder*d?
Nope.
ex*cuted.
[SHUTTER CLICKS]
MCGEE: Petty Officer Noah O'Donnell.
Intelligence Specialist at Quantico.
Last seen at a local community center where he also taught self-defense classes.
He live on base?
No. He, uh, rents an apartment with his younger sister Claire.
They live in a small town called Fillmore.
Sister been notified?
Well, that's where it gets interesting.
We, uh... we can't find her, and cell tower records say that she turned her phone off just before the m*rder.
TORRES: You think that's interesting?
That was Noah's C.O.
He says some, uh, detective from Fillmore came into his office asking questions about Noah's death.
But get this. Before the detective left, he told the C.O. to not tell anyone
- that Noah was dead.
- Got a name?
It wouldn't be Detective John Fischer, by any chance?
Yup, that's it.
I was searching the petty officer's family history, and I found this.
"Double Homicide Rocks a Small Town."
Noah's parents were m*rder*d ten years ago.
They had one suspect...
A homeless man, history of mental illness.
And the lead detective on this case was this Fischer guy.
Well, what's he doing poking around now?
Not what I was thinking.
Why does he want to keep Noah's m*rder a secret?
That's what I was thinking.
McGee, you keep looking for the sister.
Torres, community center.
Bishop, come on. You're with me.
Detective Fischer, Special Agents Bishop...
I know who you who are.
Feds who called my precinct looking for me.
What do you want?
Petty Officer O'Donnell. Not your case.
Never said it was.
So... why were you talking to his C.O.?
I investigated what happened to his folks back in the day.
Double homicide ten years ago.
- Mm-hmm.
- We heard.
Kids woke up to find their parents sh*t dead in the living room.
I never found the k*ller.
Do you think there's a connection between Petty Officer O'Donnell's m*rder and his parents' case?
Just heard Noah's name on the radio this morning, wanted to see if it was the same kid I met a decade ago.
- That's it.
- Well, if that's it, why tell Noah's C.O. to keep the m*rder quiet?
'Cause unlike you D.C. bigwigs, I care what happens in this town.
When Noah's parents were k*lled, well, that kind of thing doesn't happen around here.
The, uh, press circled like vultures, and...
- then there was this podcast.
- Yeah.
The Fault in Fillmore.
That's when the weirdos showed up, turned this place into a three-ring circus.
If people find out there's another m*rder in the same family, well, then, the, uh, circus comes back to town, so, uh, yeah, I wanted to keep it quiet.
Well... we done?
Petty Officer O'Donnell's sister Claire...
- Do you know where we can find her?
- Claire?
Last time I saw her was...
- Here we go.
- Thanks.
...almost a decade ago.
- Wish I could help you.
- No, I don't think you do.
Want to help us, back off.
Let us do our jobs.
I'll tell you what.
You find the b*ll*ts...
I'll back off.
[DOOR BELLS JINGLE]
What the hell does that mean?
Hey, Jimmy, any chance
I'll be able to borrow the keys to your car?
Or as I call it, the Dad Mobile.
Yeah, the keys are on the shelf there.
- Any time.
- Thanks. You're a lifesaver.
Oh, thank you for volunteering to take all those donations down to the V.A.
Well, that was before I knew Bishop was donating the better part of her existence.
You sure your car will be able to handle it?
Oh, I once fit Breena, Victoria, a jogging stroller, luggage and two mannequins in there with room to spare.
I think you should have plenty of wiggle room, especially now that McGee has backed out.
Should I be more concerned about McGee or the mannequins?
You know, I think he's just having a little separation anxiety.
Which is a true shame, because that vintage Atari joystick has
Kasie Hines written all over it.
Hey, maybe you could have a little chat with him, help him let it go?
It's too self-serving if I do it.
- Done. In fact...
- Hey,
Jimmy, did you dig the b*ll*ts out of the body yet?
Well, it's funny you should ask.
With no exit wounds, you'd expect to find several b*llet fragments inside, right?
- But you didn't?
- k*ller must've removed them.
- Probably using some sort of, uh...
- Really long tweezers.
Right again. And aren't you putting the "special" in "special agent" today.
How did you guess?
Well, Gibbs asked me to do dive deep into Noah's parents' m*rder case from ten years ago.
Does Gibbs think the murders are connected?
Well, he will now.
I mean, both parents were sh*t at close range, execution style, and the b*ll*ts were removed with long tweezers.
- Same M.O. as our victim.
- Yeah. You don't know the half of it.
According to the police report here,
Noah and his sister ran out of the house after finding their parents' body.
When police finally caught up with them, they were out in the middle of the road, exactly where we found Noah's body.
So, either there is a copycat out there, or...
Or the k*ller's back.
Yeah.
I can't believe Noah's dead.
He was just with me last night, punching the bag.
What time did he leave?
About : . What happened?
That's what we're trying to find out.
How long did Noah work here?
About two years.
We all have other gigs.
We just teach part-time.
But Noah and I... We got pretty close.
I'm gonna need a list of all the students and the staff.
Did Noah have any enemies?
No way. Everybody loved him.
But if you're looking for someone who's trouble in his life, I'd start with his sister.
- We've been looking for her.
- She's got issues.
- Always has.
- What kind of issues?
Well, can't hold a job, sleeps all day, walks around the town at night.
Noah only moved in with her to keep an eye on her.
But all that did was drag him down, too.
Huh. You know where we can find her?
- Like where she hangs?
- No clue.
I never met her, ever.
How do you know so much about her... podcast?
I heard the stories, just like everybody else in town.
You make her sound like she's some kind of urban legend.
Around here, she is.
Little girl finds her parents dead, then walks the streets at night like some zombie?
Oh, did you try their place?
We're keeping an eye on their apartment.
No. The house where their parents were m*rder*d.
Well, the police said that place has been abandoned for years.
You want to talk about legends?
One of them is that she has lurked around that place ever since her parents were k*lled.
How's that for creepy?
- Nine out of ten.
- Yeah.
It was bought and sold a few times after the parents' m*rder, but could never keep an owner.
I don't think that "condemned" sign is kidding.
It's not.
Rain got in, rotted everything.
Yeah.
Ooh! You feel that?
A hundred eyes on the back of my neck.
Rule , Bishop.
[SIGHS]
Yeah. Uh.
Always watch the watchers.
You think we should talk to the neighbors?
Not yet.
You worried about what that detective said, about people finding out there's been another m*rder in this family?
Well, I'm thinking, the less everybody knows, the better.
Bishop, on my six.
"C.O."
As in Claire O'Donnell?
[LOCK CLICKS]
BISHOP: Yeah, I think this is Claire's.
And yeah, I think she may have some issues.
You think?
What is this place?
Some kind of workroom.
For what?
Dollhouses?
I have never seen a dollhouse like this.
- SLOANE: Hey.
- Hmm?
I'm gonna go with...m*rder-su1c1de.
- Jack Sloane, you are correct!
- [WHOOPS]
And congratulations. You b*at Special Agent Torres' time
by... seconds!
Oh, honey, I'm just warming up.
Don't let me interrupt you.
Hey. Care to take a s*ab?
- No one's gotten this one right.
- Hey, an idea.
How about some work?
We got a suspect to find.
- That's what we're doing.
- Totally working.
Really? You two look like you're playing with dollhouses.
They're not dollhouses, Jethro.
They're modern-day nutshells.
- What the hell's a nutshell?
- I'm glad you asked.
Back in the s, there was a brilliant woman by the name of Frances Glessner Lee.
KASIE: Ah! Huge fan.
- A pioneer, really.
- DUCKY: Pioneer.
Yes. Perfect word to describe her.
Okay, great lady. Got it.
She created a series of crime scene miniatures which she called... [SOFT CHUCKLE]
"The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death."
They were used to train homicide detectives and forensic students to analyze crime scenes.
Your suspect is emulating Ms. Lee's work.
These reports are all from crime scenes committed in the immediate vicinity of Claire.
And these reports became those nutshells.
KASIE: These three are solved cases.
DUCKY: And Claire is using them to sharpen her skills.
For what?
To construct the most personal nutshell of all.
Ah, her parents' crime scene.
DUCKY: Indeed. This is the only unsolved crime scene nutshell here.
Claire is using this to find her parents' k*ller.
Tell me what I'm looking at.
The same thing that Claire saw on Christmas morning ten years ago. She could be a hobbyist with a normal interest in true crime.
In that case, it would be only natural that she would make a nutshell of her own family tragedy, maybe as a way of coping with it.
KASIE: But we found these in her workbench.
SLOANE: Jimmy said that they are the same kind of tweezers that were used to remove the b*ll*ts from Noah's body.
The evidence suggests that Claire k*lled her brother in the same manner that her parents were k*lled.
Why?
We can't speculate as to motive, Jethro.
You'll need to get that out of her.
- Yeah. Working on it.
- DUCKY: One more thing.
You-you see that logo?
I have an old friend there that might know where Claire is.
I was delighted to hear from Dr. Mallard.
I haven't seen my old friend since our last community pool high-diving competitions years ago.
Hmm. Please tell me you have pictures.
- I do. Would you like to see them?
- No.
Well...
Claire O'Donnell. You know her?
Yeah. She's the most recent member of our miniatures group.
Why do you ask?
- We're trying to locate her.
- Well... she'll show up. She always does.
Got a feeling she's more than a recent member of your group.
I knew her parents.
They were good friends.
I kept an eye on both Claire and Noah after their passing.
With the ten-year anniversary of the murders bearing down,
Claire started to spiral, so I introduced her to the group.
I thought it would give her purpose.
How'd she go from dollhouses to nutshells?
Nutshell. Uh, she came upon a book about a woman who created
- miniature crime scenes.
- Oh, yeah. We're familiar.
Now, Noah's never needed much guidance, but Claire... she... she struggles with darkness.
Her parents used to tell her, "Come into the light," but after their deaths, she, uh...
She was all but lost.
She is so fixated on her parents' m*rder.
Kind of don't blame her.
She needs closure.
Hmm. More than you know.
She believes that the k*ller isn't done with her family, either.
[PHONE CHIMES]
Excuse me. [CLEARS THROAT]
- Ugh. Gibbs, we have a problem.
- DYLAN [ON PHONE]: ...you guys,
- is so fleeting. These past
- Kid from the crime scene posted
- couple of hours have really changed me
- the footage he sh*t.
- As a person, and...
- All right, you can't film a crime scene.
- Come on.
- DYLAN: Not cool...
JIMMY: So much for keeping Petty Officer O'Donnell's death quiet.
Yeah, Claire just went from prime suspect to potential victim, and we're worried all this publicity's gonna scare her away.
If a k*ller's after her, maybe it's best if she just stays away.
Speaking of which, you got any new suspects?
Well, maybe. Look at this social media post I just found.
It's from a neighbor across the street from the old O'Donnell house.
That is Detective Fischer.
What is he doing at Claire's old place?
I don't know, but Bishop's tracking him down now.
Oh, by the way, you can leave now.
- Excuse me?
- I know what you're really doing here. Kasie wants my box.
What? [LAUGHING]: What?
[LAUGHS] No!
No. [LAUGHS]
No, I-I told her I just...
I was gonna help her to... to organize... the donations.
Ah. Gotcha.
Well, if you're looking to stage interventions,
I suggest that you start with Bishop.
Whoa. Nick wasn't kidding.
Yeah. I don't know if that's spring cleaning or a giant cry for help.
Ooh.
You know, I'm-I'm just gonna start with this box over here.
- I...
- Oh. No. Hey!
[MUTTERS]
[LAUGHS]
It's understandable for Young McGee to be a little sad.
[GRUNTING]
But this is gonna bring a lot of joy to someone else.
It's for charity...
Mature McGee.
I know.
Yet, you're still holding on to the box.
Uh-huh.
You've got bigger problems right now.
MCGEE: It's an active crime scene.
Here.
[PHONE BEEPS]
Boss, yeah, we got a problem here.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Back off. Keep an eye out for Claire, get 'em off the lawn.
- Off the lawn! Off the lawn! Come on.
- Special Agent Gibbs.
NCIS. We need you off the lawn.
- We're allowed to be here, you know.
- Back up. Phone off.
This is the site of an active investigation.
- Duh. Why else would we be here?
- TORRES: Because you like sick things that most people don't even want to think about.
GOTH WOMAN: Oh, please. Everyone rubbernecks
- a car accident.
- Phone down. Down.
It's a societal norm.
And don't you think a double homicide is a buttload cooler than a fender bender?
I think society should mind their own business.
It's a homicide investigation, it's not a photo op.
We're not here for photos.
We're here for Claire.
[CROWD VOICING ASSENT]
And when she comes tonight, she'll be safe because we're all here.
Yeah, what makes you think she's coming here?
She always returns to the scene of the crime.
She came to this house every single night for years after her parents were k*lled.
And now, with her brother's m*rder...
It's only a matter of time before she shows up.
WOMAN: That's right. [LAUGHS SOFTLY]
MCGEE: If Claire always returns to the scene of the crime...
Then we're at the wrong crime scene.
- Boss?
- Guard the house!
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[MUTTERING]
[VEHICLE APPROACHING]
It's him. It's him.
I have your g*n. Noah.
Noah, I have your g*n. I have your g*n.
- I can end this.
- Claire?
- Don't come any closer.
- Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS.
I just want to talk.
I said, don't come any closer!
I don't want to hurt you.
Lower your w*apon.
Just leave me alone.
Your parents would not want this.
Oh, yeah?
How would you know what they would want?
They would want you to come into the light.
[SOFT GRUNT]
Gibbs said he found her on the side of the road talking to her brother?
What, was she expecting him to talk back?
I don't know.
But imagine finding both your parents m*rder*d as a child.
She clearly hasn't recovered.
You know, I thank my lucky stars every day my kids were able to weather the storm as well as they did when we lost Jackie.
That wasn't luck, Leon.
They still had you, and you're a hell of a dad.
Yeah, it's like every day's a new failure.
So tell me, am I looking at a victim or a suspect?
BISHOP: Well, still trying to figure that out.
Torres is running down where Claire says she's been the last couple days.
Apparently, all the places she went with her parents when they were alive.
If you'll excuse me, I got a sudden urge to call my kids.
Hey, speaking of urges, I heard you've had a major urge to purge.
Oh, my God. Not you, too.
- I'm simplifying.
- Okay.
But while Nick does look nice in your Oklahoma State sweatshirt, we're simply wondering if there's more to it than that.
Well, there isn't.
[DOOR CLOSES]
Know why you're here?
- Claire?
- You want to know if I k*lled my brother?
Did you?
Yes.
You gonna tell me why?
Has anyone you loved ever been k*lled?
It's about you, not about me.
Why'd you k*ll your brother?
I couldn't stop thinking about our parents' m*rder, and I thought if I made a nutshell about it,
I could... find peace.
I asked Noah to help me.
He'd do anything for me.
He actually... got more into the nutshells than I did, and started digging into our parents' case.
And digging and... digging.
He must have found something.
Something someone didn't want him to find.
You didn't k*ll your brother.
I might as well have.
I'm the one who asked him to help me recreate their murders.
What did he find?
I don't know. He wouldn't tell me.
All I know is he's dead because of me.
Noah was definitely looking into something.
I was finally able to pull out some latent ink on these papers you found at the crime scene.
Well, looks like an evidence custody document.
Well, Claire did say he was digging
- into their parents' murders.
- Well, digging for what?
- I mean, you were in Claire's workshop.
- Yes.
I'm still having nightmares.
She already had every bit of evidence from her parents' case.
Well, maybe some went missing.
That creepy cop could've made that happen, easy.
- Or weare missing something.
- Ah.
What are you wearing?
- Hmm? What?
- What are you wearing?
Oh. Bishop didn't want it anymore.
It's... so soft. [LAUGHS]
Plus, you know, I'm a sucker for vintage T's.
Okay, you know that she once told me that was her favorite shirt?
I'm telling you, something strange is going on with this girl.
TORRES: Yeah, tell me about it.
- That girl is weird as hell.
- What's she giving away now?
Oh, Bishop? No, this is not Bishop. This is Claire's.
These are the old case files for her parents' m*rder.
Uh, Gibbs wants us to go through them.
Whatever Petty Officer O'Donnell found, he wants us to find it, too.
- [COMPUTER TRILLS]
- Oh, good luck. If you'll excuse.
Mass spec calls.
So, did Claire's alibi check out?
Oh, she had an alibi.
Girl's got her own hashtag.
WheresClaire.
Half a dozen people posted sightings of her that night, but she was nowhere near Noah when he was k*lled.
KASIE: Well, Claire may have an alibi, but the tweezers from her storage container don't.
I found traces of blood.
It's a match to Noah.
These could have definitely been used to dig out his b*ll*ts postmortem.
Well, if Claire's not our k*ller, how did they end up in her workshop?
- #FrameClaire?
- Can I vote for creepy cop?
Well, he did visit that property when Noah was k*lled.
Wait, the creepy detective?
The one sitting in our conference room now?
Wh... He's what?
Yeah, he came in about three minutes ago, demanding to speak to Gibbs.
- Why are you holding Claire?!
- Why were you at O'Donnell house the night Noah was k*lled?
- Look, I don't answer to you.
- You know what?
You've been lying to me from the minute I met you.
What were you doing at that house?
I was looking for Claire.
You know, I barely even remember my own wedding day.
The day I met those kids...
Day I'll never forget.
Scared out of their mind, wandering alone out there in the... middle of that damn road.
- Which road?
- Same road where you found Noah's body.
That's where the cops finally caught up with them.
They took off running as soon as they found their parents dead.
Where have you been the last two days?
I've been looking for Noah's k*ller.
I owed that to Claire.
I failed her back then.
The look on that kid's face... It's... something I'll never forget.
Look, I know they say it's just... it's just one case, but, uh, sometimes you pin it all on one donkey, you know?
Why the games, Fischer?
- We're on the same team.
- Oh, the hell we are.
The only reason I didn't solve her parents' m*rder in the first place is because of you.
[LAUGHING]: Oh. Me?
Yeah, or guys just like you.
Several years after Claire's parents were k*lled,
I got a lead.
I uncovered some new DNA.
And all I needed to do was match it against the one suspect we had at the time.
Transient in the area. Yeah, I read the case file.
The guy fit the profile... History of mental illness, multiple arrests.
He up and d*ed.
- Exhume the body, pull his DNA.
- Yeah, well, it's not that easy where I come from.
He was buried in a federal cemetery.
And some bigwig like you was whining about budget cuts.
He didn't give a rat's ass about some cold case in some... small town he'd never heard of.
I'm gonna solve Noah's case, with you or without.
Your... your agent said that Noah was digging around his parents' homicide.
We think he was doing more than digging.
We think he found something.
Talk to Claire.
Claire says she doesn't know.
You know, I've been keeping an eye on her since she was a little kid.
[SIGHS] I'm willing to bet she knows more than she s... she says she knows, especially about her brother.
So, you... you talk to Claire.
Wow.
These are so intricate.
I'd never be able to do something this delicate.
I'm all thumbs.
[EXHALES]
Claire, has anyone ever talked to you about social phobia?
It's the fear of being judged or analyzed publicly.
And who could blame you, right?
You're a legend, after all.
Hey. I know building these is cathartic.
I get it.
I know a guy who builds boats.
But it's not enough.
You think it will be fast?
What will be fast?
I don't want to wait ten years to be m*rder*d, too.
That's not gonna happen.
Claire, we're putting you in protective custody until we find your brother's k*ller.
Hey.
Um, she hasn't slept for days.
It's just setting in that her brother
is actually gone.
She just needs a little time to process.
Do we have time, Jack?
We've been spinning our wheels on her parents' case.
If her brother found something, we need to know about it.
Okay. Just one bit of advice.
Try to connect with her first before you, um, act like you.
[WHISPERS]: You got it.
GIBBS: Your woodwork... is really good.
Good enough to solve?
GIBBS: m*rder-su1c1de?
I heard you can do better than that.
Low-end appliances.
- High-end shopping bags.
- [WOMAN SCREAMING]
- Stack of bills
- [MAN SHOUTING]
- On the kitchen table.
- [g*nsh*t]
Financial dispute.
CLAIRE: What else you got?
Kidnapping.
Entered through the window.
At that height...
WOMAN: Put her down!
...had to know it was unlocked.
Kidnapper knew the family.
- GIBBS: m*rder.
- [MAN SCREAMS]
- [FIRE IGNITES]
- Probably blunt force.
Robbery and arson.
SLOANE: The inscription on the back reads plain, old electrical fire.
Inscription's wrong.
He thought so, too.
That's why Noah built it.
Wait.
Noah built this?
Great.
We've been looking into the wrong case.
BISHOP: Okay.
All right.
Thanks.
Okay. That was the clerk's office.
Gibbs was right.
Noah was not investigating the m*rder of his parents.
He wanted the raw case notes on this electrical fire.
- Why?
- MCGEE: That's a good question.
Just met with the fire inspector.
He said that he traced the source of the fire to an old fuse and bad wiring.
Even had very convincing photos.
Forget about the fire.
We're talking about what happened before the fire.
Hmm.
Well, looks like the room was ransacked.
BISHOP: Victim must have been incapacitated before the fire.
TORRES: Yeah.
Someone broke in and robbed the place.
MCGEE: And k*lled the homeowner and started an electrical fire to cover it up.
Why does it matter to Noah?
What do we have on the victim?
Louise Fitzgerald.
. Recently widowed.
Worth millions. Neighbors say she was quiet and kept to herself.
BISHOP: She sounds like the dream target.
She have any connections to Noah?
None that I could find.
Wait, did you say Louise?
Fitzgerald, yeah.
You know her?
No.
But Noah did.
She was in his martial arts class.
Okay. You ever find yourself in this position, it's real simple.
You take a step behind your opponent, and you stand up.
[GRUNTS]
- MAN: Oh, wow.
- WOMAN: Oh.
All right, pair up. Give it a try.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
NCIS.
I thought I'd see you guys again.
- Oh, yeah?
- I heard you arrested Claire O'Donnell.
About time someone got her off the streets.
Glad I could help.
You can help us out with something else.
We have, uh, a few questions about a student of yours.
Louise Fitzgerald. You know her?
Sure. Had a lot of spunk for someone her age.
Such a tragedy.
Love my older students.
Noah was pretty fond of Louise himself.
Yeah, she, uh, she sent meals to him and Claire after what happened to their parents.
- Sure does pay to have good neighbors.
- Mm-hmm.
How'd she die again?
An electrical fire. Yeah.
Oh.
Look at what your day job just happens to be.
Electrician.
You see where we're going with this?
[GRUNTING]
- [g*n COCKS]
- Stay down! Don't move.
What?
[CHUCKLING]
That was a lucky sh*t, okay?
Sure it was.
Well, either way, your luck has definitely run out.
Well, actually, I'd say that it ran out last year.
You want to tell us about this bankruptcy filing we found?
I had a gambling problem.
I lost everything.
Not my finest moment.
But then, a few months later... you were flush with cash.
Well, that's the thing about gambling: you just need one good bet.
Or maybe one rich student who has a very expensive jewelry collection.
MCGEE: Louise Fitzgerald. You robbed her and you m*rder*d her.
Started an electrical fire to cover your tracks.
Now, most people didn't bat an eye.
Except Noah wasn't most people.
He started making nutshells with his sister.
He knew Louise, decided he'd start with her case, but some things didn't add up.
He asked his electrician buddy how to stage an electrical fire.
But then his buddy...
- panicked.
- So his buddy k*lled Noah, staged it to look like his parents' K*llers were still around.
Mm. That's as much as an urban legend as it gets.
Look a little pale, there... buddy.
Thank you.
For everything.
Thank you, Claire.
You and your brother helped solve a case that no one even knew existed.
I don't know what I'm gonna do without him.
Ah. You can start by calling this number.
She's expecting your call.
She can help.
Yeah. And then you can call me.
You have a real eye for forensics.
We should talk.
I think I'm done with the nutshells.
Though someone did offer me ten grand last month to build their daughter a dollhouse.
- Ten grand?
- [CHUCKLES]
Maybe I'm in the wrong business.
Oh, come now, Kasie, it's never too late to start riding a new pony.
You know, these are extraordinary.
But, uh... well, that's not why I'm here.
I took the liberty of calling in a favor.
Detective Fischer now has approval to exhume the one remaining suspect in your parents' m*rder.
SLOANE: He never gave up on your parents' case, Claire.
He-He's on the way to the cemetery as we speak.
Course, we can't be sure as to the outcome, what it will produce.
Hopefully, it'll be the same justice that you helped deliver for Noah.
Thank you.
Oh, hold up.
I, uh, I heard Claire and that detective are having lunch.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, aren't you gonna ask me about my donation, too?
They are just things that I don't need anymore.
People evolve.
And...
I'm not the same person I was when I first started.
Bishop...
...you got to evolve.
You can't erase it all.
Hang on to this.
[ELEVATOR DINGS]
[DOORS OPEN]
[PHONE DINGS]