Do you have any idea
how much water it takes
to grow one almond?
Why would I possibly know that?
I'm just saying if you really
cared about the environment,
you would switch to oat milk.
Says the girl who insists
on driving everywhere,
even if she's only going two blocks.
I have plantar fasciitis.
ESME: Yeah,
and last week you had valley fever.
Whatswrongwithme.com is not your friend.
Um, are you seeing this?
Oh, this is so going viral.
(PANTING)
Uh...
What are you doing? (GASPS)
Are you okay?
- No, I was just assaulted!
- (HONKS)
Oh, my God!
(PEOPLE EXCLAIMING)
Well, don't just stand there, call !
♪ ♪
(CHUCKLES) No. It is an
all-girls weekend.
All right, all I'm saying is that
I bring a lot to the table, all right?
- Morning, McGee.
- Morning.
Earth to McGee.
(HITS KEY)
Sorry, I was in the zone there. Morning.
I will never understand how you find
after action reports so...
Gripping and fascinating.
Mm-hmm.
Well, I do love a good AAR,
but, uh, no, this is
more of a personal project.
You gonna make us ask?
Thom E. Gemcity is back, baby.
(GASPS)
(GASP) Yes!
Cool.
Oh, Knight...
Thom E. Gemcity?
That's his pen name.
Yeah. Anagram of Timothy McGee.
McGee. You're a novelist?
Yeah.
So the John Grisham
of NCIS has been sitting
six feet away from me for two years now,
and I had no idea?
Well, I like to think of myself
more as a Tom Clancy type, but yeah.
Okay, so what mystery
is Special Agent, uh, Tibbs
embarking on next?
Are you guys messing with me?
Why would you say that?
Your lead character's name
is Special Agent Tibbs?
- Yeah.
- Because
- "Gibbs" couldn't clear legal?
- (CHUCKLES)
Oh, no, Gibbs and Tibbs
are wildly different people.
Okay, man, so what?
Spit it out. What's the story?
Well, since, uh, Gibbs
is off doing his thing,
I figured that L.J. Tibbs
deserves a little R and R.
You're just gonna have to
wait and see what comes next.
Fine, I'll wait.
I do have a new character idea for you.
- Yeah?
- Yeah.
He's a badass Miami detective
by the name of Rick Soares.
Ooh, I wonder who that could be.
Oh, uh, Detective Rick
Soares is only inspired by me,
but I do have some cool
ideas I think you're gonna love.
- Mm.
- (PHONES CHIMING)
Dead body in Alexandria.
Parker will meet us there.
All right, duty calls.
Well, I guess you'll have to
save those stories for later.
Oh, it's all good.
I'll just tell you on the way.
All right, so, we first meet Soares
in a seedy downtown bar, okay?
Now, he's undercover.
And then, like, just randomly,
this mysterious woman
rolls up and just starts
making out with him.
So then Detective Soares
wakes up in a brothel
in the middle of the Nevada desert
with, like, multiple
g*ns in his face. Right?
Mm-hmm.
- It's cool so far, right?
- Yeah, yeah.
- It's good, right?
- Yeah, no, very cool.
- So, then, we think he's dead,
- Here you go.
all right, but then
he, like, kinda like,
"I recognize, like, that guy
from the sting at the-at the riverboat."
Hey, McGee, did I hear
that you're writing again?
I mean, it's been a while, huh?
Well, now that we're
past the toddler phase,
Delilah and I have decided
that we're gonna do, uh,
well, whatever it is we were, uh, doing
before we had small children.
That is so great to hear.
I know you're always happiest
when you're in front of a typewriter.
Better not be any
thinly-veiled versions of me
in your new book, McGee.
Ooh, I would never.
Well, maybe Thom E. Gemcity's
next case can be
based on our nearly naked victim here.
Oh, yeah, okay, Jimmy. (CHUCKLES)
Tim's got plenty
of great ideas coming his way,
so, uh, what do we got?
PARKER: According to the CAC
he was carrying, his
name is William Watson.
He was supposed to participate
in NROTC drills
at the base this morning,
but multiple cell phone videos
show him stripping off
all of his clothes and running
into the street instead.
No offense, Jimmy, but doesn't
sound like a very compelling story.
Well, you haven't even heard
the mystery yet.
This guy's body temperature
was degrees.
He was suffering from heatstroke.
In the middle of winter?
Therein lies the mystery.
Well, maybe he was trying to
jump into that fountain over there.
Any idea why the spike in temperature?
Yeah. dr*gs, poison, hot yoga.
We'll know more when
we get him back to autopsy.
This is everything that he had on,
- plus wallet and keys.
- Where's his phone?
Either somebody stole it
or he wasn't carrying one.
But I did find this receipt
in his wallet.
Café in Alexandria couple hours ago.
Paid cash.
Hey, who wants to go check it out?
Uh, I could use a caffeine boost.
I'll go check it out. Are those
Watson's?
Uh, unless somebody else
left their shoes
in the middle of the sidewalk.
- Ooh.
- Uh, why?
Because these are LV Trainers
that happen to be in my dream colorway.
Those are nice, man.
- Right?
- Yeah.
McGee, are you a novelist
and a sneaker head?
Oh, yeah, but, uh, Delilah would k*ll me
if I paid $ , for a pair of shoes.
Yeah.
You know, if only we had another way
to expand on that shoe collection.
MCGEE: You know,
sometimes, when the case
is done, the victim's families
don't always pick up
their personal belongings.
- That's all I'm saying.
- Just saying.
Here's an idea. Let's spend
less time shoe shopping
and more on the crime
right in front of us.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
I will take those.
And I'll see if I can
find our victim's phone.
And I'll see if I can find out
what he was doing at the café.
Let's not bury the lede here.
We need to find out how a midshipman
can afford $ , shoes.
KNIGHT: So I ran Watson's financials,
or lack thereof,
and there is no credit history,
no savings and no checking accounts.
And yet his shoes cost more than
most people make in a week.
And no traditional phone plan either.
Uh, the wireless company said
he had a pay-as-you-go account.
Uses burner phones, pays cash.
So, multiple witnesses
at the café report
seeing Watson hanging around
the back alley
early this morning.
Could have been dealing.
- Café have any cameras?
- Well, none that work.
But I was able to score
some security footage
from a business across the alley.
Well, there's our victim.
Back alley is a good place
for a drug deal.
McGee.
Isn't that your wife?
Tim, what is Delilah doing
meeting with our victim?
That's a good question.
- (LINE RINGING)
- (SIGHS) She's not answering.
My wife just met with a drug
dealer, and she's not answering.
Possible drug dealer.
(PHONE VIBRATES)
Oh, thank God, it's Delilah.
She's okay?
Yeah. I don't know why I-I panicked.
Well, maybe because she just
met with a possible drug dealer.
No, I forgot she had class.
Back alley meeting class?
Fundamentals in Cryptography.
She's teaching.
Since when?
Well, since the, uh, twins
started school.
Something she always wanted to do
and she was offered a part-time
professorship at Waverly, so...
Waverly University?
Yeah.
Our victim went to that school.
He must have been one of her students.
A student she never mentioned?
Well, Delilah tells me
about all her students,
just not by name.
Pull up the roster.
There he is.
Why would she and a student sneak into
an off-campus café
through the back door?
Delilah doesn't sneak anywhere.
That café isn't wheelchair-accessible,
so she would have had to
go through the kitchen.
The kitchen?
Yeah. Sucks, but we run into
that type of thing all the time.
That's not cool.
Yeah, whose heads are we busting?
Busting heads sounds about right.
Or I've got a friend at
DoJ's civil rights division.
He can help file a complaint.
Oh, give me that number.
After we solve the case.
Whether she's involved or not,
Delilah may be our best lead on
this right now.
Torres, Knight, keep digging
into our victim.
McGee, with me.
Where to?
To find out what your wife knows.
DELILAH: So, to review,
Alice and Bob first need to decide
on a prime modulus and a generator,
where P is prime
and G is a primitive root mod P.
You have any idea
what she's talking about?
Not a clue, but they're eating it up.
She's good, isn't she?
Unless
she has one of their secret integers.
And that is Diffie-Hellman
in a nutshell.
We'll leave it there for today.
Tim, what's going on? Are the kids okay?
Kids are fine. Kids are fine.
Then why are you showing up
at my work unannounced
with that look on your face?
You must be Delilah's husband.
Uh, you must be Evelyn.
I am.
You a student here?
Well, I consider myself
a lifelong learner.
But I am actually Delilah's T.A.
I cannot believe
that I am finally meeting
the famous Agent Tim McGee in person.
A federal agent and
a best-selling author?
I can see why Delilah married you.
Uh, I'm the one that married up.
No disagreement there. But, uh,
this isn't a social visit, Evelyn.
We, uh, we need to have a word
with Delilah.
Evelyn, how about we start
grading last week's assignment on AES?
It'll be just a minute.
Consider it done.
Again, so lovely to meet you.
So, what's going on?
We're here about William Watson.
Oh, he's not here.
He had some NROTC training today.
He was hit by a car this morning.
What? Is he okay?
Afraid not. He didn't make it.
What? Oh, my God.
(SIGHS)
He had so much potential.
He was one of my brightest students.
He reminded me of you, actually.
I'm sorry, honey.
You met with Watson this morning?
We met every week.
So this was ongoing?
No, it's-it's fine.
She can be with a student
without it being a thing.
Thank you, Tim.
So why, exactly, were you meeting?
To discuss his research project
on modern cryptologic uses
for dead languages.
Did you notice anything out
of the ordinary this morning?
Why? I thought you said
he was hit by a car.
After he, uh, stripped off his clothes
and ran into the street.
Vanilla latte, extra hot.
I love that you know my coffee order.
I love that you are secure enough
to unashamedly drink vanilla lattes.
Life's too short for bad coffee.
Mm. Cheers to that.
Give me the good stuff.
Well, speaking of the good stuff, uh,
Kasie just sent down
Watson's tox report.
Anything interesting?
Only if you count
incredibly high levels of
methylenedioxymethamphetamines,
more commonly known as...
- MDMA.
- Mm-hmm.
Ecstasy.
But even levels that high
wouldn't k*ll him.
Not that I'm speaking
from personal experience,
because I wouldn't want you
to think that I've dabbled,
because I wouldn't assume
that you've dabbled.
Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no, no.
Um, yes, I have.
Um, it was a clinical trial
for science.
Closely monitored by
medical professionals.
I was broke and it really paid well.
We should come back to that.
Yeah, I think so.
Watson's very high body temperature
was not caused by MDMA.
It was caused by serotonin syndrome.
It's an incredibly rare
complication when
MDMA interacts with
MAOI antidepressants.
So you're saying this was just
an unfortunate accident?
I don't know. I-I don't know of anyone
who takes this amount of MDMA
at : in the morning
unless they're Hunter S. Thompson,
and I did not see gonzo journalism
on this kid's class list.
His school records did say that
he was, uh, pledging a fraternity.
Maybe hazing gone wrong?
♪ I'm an all star in every sport ♪
♪ Bases loaded, we running ♪
♪ Full court, it's a touchdown... ♪
- Hi, we're...
- Yo, someone's parents are here.
♪ With rings but I need more... ♪
Ouch.
Do I have crow's feet or something?
No, you look beautiful.
- So do you.
- Thank you.
♪ It's a touchdown ♪
♪ You better press record,
I'm a champion... ♪
We're no one's parents.
NCIS.
We're not the alcohol police
but we are gonna need to see some IDs.
- We're here about Will Watson.
- Will?
Hasn't been here all day.
And you are?
Logan. Will's roommate.
You find Will, let him know
Mike's looking for him, too.
Why are you looking for him?
Since he went MIA I had to
do my own laundry this morning.
This was my favorite shirt.
You're supposed to use
non-chlorine bleach
when washing colors.
And you'll speak when spoken to, pledge.
Soon as Will walks through
those doors I'm gonna k*ll him.
Well, you're gonna be waiting a while.
(SIGHS) I can't believe Will's dead.
He was such a good guy.
A little stiff, but cool.
Did the active brothers subject you
- to any kind of hazing?
- Not really.
Just normal stuff
like writing their papers,
running errands, doing laundry.
That doesn't feel like hazing to you?
Well, the beer's free.
But that's the only drug we do here.
What about Will? Did he take anything?
You obviously never met Will.
He was too straightlaced for that.
The straightlaced are always
the ones hiding something.
(CHIMES)
that's probably
the dean's list announcement.
We were gonna celebrate
after we made it.
The guys in this house don't strike me
as the honor roll type.
Most of them aren't.
But Will was different.
He knew there were more important things
to being a Delta Pi Beta.
Though none of that
seems important right now.
Hmm. What do we have here?
I've never seen that before.
Well, let's see what's on it.
Do I really want to know
what a college freshman
is hiding on a computer
underneath his bed?
Get your mind out of the gutter, Knight.
I have no idea what this is,
but it is the last thing I expected.
Oh, you don't read C++?
- Uh, we're not nerds.
- Oh...
- And I mean that in the most
- (CHUCKLES)
loving way possible. But what is it?
Wait a minute.
This is a root-based algorithm
belonging to the U.S. m*llitary.
And ROTC midshipmen don't
have access to classified intel.
So, how did Watson get it?
And why was he hiding it
under his mattress?
(TYPING)
This could be why.
Restricted coding libraries
for several government agencies.
DIA, CIA, NSA?
Well, that doesn't sound good.
They're each pretty
harmless on their own, but
somehow this kid found a way
to use them to build an
incredibly power cipher.
Kasie. How powerful?
Think a digital key that
could be used to bypass
any security measure imaginable.
From simple passwords to
state-level encryption.
Well, that definitely sounds bad.
A universal key like this
could be used to rob banks,
to hold entire cities'
power grids hostage.
Take down planes?
In the wrong hands,
it could create
global chaos.
How could a single
college kid compromise
so many government agencies?
Anacostia's home to the DIA.
It's possible that
Watson used his base access
to get into their system.
From there he could have leapfrogged
from one agency server to another.
Homeland security is in the
process of changing the access codes
across all government servers.
- That's gonna take some time.
- Right.
Meanwhile, their director's
breathing down my neck for answers.
JBAB technicians just confirmed
that all servers there are secure.
Well, that rules out DIA
as an access point.
So how the hell did this kid get in?
There's a possibility that
we have yet to discuss.
DELILAH: I can't believe
Vance and Parker think I
have something to do with this.
Honey, we wouldn't be doing our job
if we didn't look into this,
given your proximity
to Will and your government clearance.
I'm-I'm sure there's nothing there.
Do you realize how dangerous
this thing could be
in the wrong hands?
Of course. I told them
you'd never be this reckless.
Will wouldn't either.
He was a first-year
computer science major.
I mean, he was brilliant,
but this is beyond.
He could not have done this.
Well, maybe he had help.
(GASPS)
What? You-you okay?
He did have help.
You see this?
Yeah, it's how Will was able
to hop from server to server.
This is a program I wrote in grad school
that would allow computers
to talk to each other offline.
I could never get it to work.
I guess Will did.
How did he get your code?
He was struggling and-and
wanted to drop the class
and I thought that maybe showing him
some of my past failures
would help him realize
that we all start somewhere.
He must have copied it.
Well, you had no way of knowing
what he was gonna do with it.
But that doesn't change the fact
that I'm responsible for this.
I could lose my job,
my government clearance.
I could go to prison.
Honey, you are not gonna go to prison.
Listen, I will explain to the director
that you were an unwilling
participant, okay?
I just wish you hadn't
kept him a secret.
You know, it makes it harder
to get out in front of this thing.
I didn't keep him a secret.
Well, you didn't tell
me about him either.
I'm sure I must have
mentioned him at some point.
Delilah, I would have remembered
you having weekly
off-campus meetings, okay?
What are you getting at?
Uh, forget I said anything.
Never-never mind.
Sounds like you're jealous.
I am not jealous.
Tell me what it is, then.
You know what, I'll give you
some time to think about it
while I go explain to the director
- what's going on myself.
- Delilah, wait.
Don't follow me, Tim.
We'll finish this conversation tonight.
Oh, uh, i-is it just me
or was it exceptionally
brisk this morning?
KNIGHT: I felt a chill this morning,
yes.
Alexa, how cold is it outside?
ALEXA: Today in Washington D.C.,
expect a low of degrees Fahrenheit.
I would have said .
KASIE: It is a good thing that
you are a federal agent
and not a meteorologist.
(BOTH LAUGH WEAKLY)
- Oh.
- Oh, hey.
Hey. Um, how much of that did you hear?
Ninety percent, tops.
- I'd say about .
- Mm.
I hate to add to your
problems right now,
but we got a big one.
Well, lay it on me.
Metadata from Watson's laptop
shows the key was downloaded
to an external drive.
He made a copy.
But we didn't find any
external drives in his room.
So where is it?
I didn't think anything
about it at the crime scene,
but it looks like something's
been ripped off here.
Uh, Kase, pull up
the CCTV footage from the alley.
Punch in.
There it is.
It looks like a USB drive.
It's gone now.
Someone could have stolen it.
Any DNA or prints on the key ring?
Uh, no, it was wiped.
Super wiped.
With bleach.
Remind me again what happened
to your shirt.
I accidentally used bleach
instead of laundry detergent.
That's not a crime.
Well, some would say
a grown man not knowing
how to wash his own laundry is a crime,
but potato, "potahto." (CHUCKLES)
I think you used
the bleach on purpose...
...to wipe off Will's keys.
Why would I do that?
To cover up the fact that
you took something off of them
before he d*ed.
I mean, you did say that
you wanted to k*ll Will.
I was being funny.
That was hilarious.
I never touched Will's keys
and I didn't give him dr*gs.
You can't arrest me
for something I didn't do.
What could we arrest him for?
Obstruction of justice?
Oh, that's a good one.
That's, like, five.
Ten years, actually.
Especially if the obstruction is
related to domestic terrorism.
Terrorism?
Ooh, you know what that means.
Mm-hmm. Supermax.
Okay, okay, I'll tell you
whatever you want to know,
but I didn't k*ll him.
Okay, let's try this again.
What's missing here?
Some kind of flash drive, I think.
I don't know what's on it.
You spent almost every
waking moment with Will.
He never mentioned anything about it?
He never mentioned anything to anyone.
I tried to be a good brother,
get to know him,
but the dude was weirdly secretive.
Paranoid, even.
What makes you say that?
How about the time
will punched Jared in the face?
Which one was Jared again?
He's the one who called us old.
For the record,
she and I are very young.
Why did Will punch Jared in the face?
Will found Jared poking around his room,
assumed he was stealing,
just started whaling on him.
Did Will get written up for that?
Yeah, that's not how it works.
And to be honest, that
dude was bound
to get punched eventually.
Elaborate on that.
So, pledges are supposed to wait
on active members hand and foot.
Jared was never around.
Other guys had enough
picking up his slack.
Will wanted to report him
to the national board.
So you're saying that Jared k*lled Will
because Will was gonna tattle on him?
You're the investigators. You tell me.
KNIGHT: There's a lot about
Jared Baker that doesn't add up.
First red flag:
he has about $ , tied
up in an offshore account.
Where'd he get that kind of money?
The money was deposited
right around the same time
as he joined, uh, Delta Pi Beta,
six weeks after the rest
of the pledge class.
All right. So Jared somehow finds out
about the access key,
then joins the fraternity
to get close enough
to Watson to steal it?
Maybe that's why Jared
was poking around his room.
And why Watson punched
him in the face for it.
(SIGHS) Technology like that
would sell for way more
than K on the black market, right?
Well, could be a down payment.
And Jared could be getting
the other half on delivery.
All right, then let's scoop him up
before he has a chance
to close the deal.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Circled the perimeter.
House seems pretty quiet.
- Probably out on a beer run.
- Mm.
Parker, anything?
PARKER: Torres, where's that pizza from?
Pizzeria Diablo. Why?
That's the best
Neapolitan place in town.
Frat parties have changed
since I was in college.
I'm guessing a lot has changed
since he was in college.
Guessing you, uh, didn't mean
to say that one out loud, huh?
(EXHALES)
You guessed correctly.
- (MUSIC PLAYING)
- (ENGINE REVS)
All right, Torres, Knight,
there's our guy.
(CAR DOORS CLOSE)
Hey, Jared.
You remember us?
- Got a runner!
- Stop!
He's headed your way!
All right, we got him.
NCIS! Stop!
He's going for the van!
Damn it!
Parker, let's go.
Don't bother.
Hey, what the hell was that?
Did that kid just carjack a dog groomer?
PARKER: No, he did not.
Molly's Mobile Dog Grooming
is a fake business
used for undercover operations.
Undercover operations by whom?
The FBI.
We've been chasing an agent.
NCIS should have been read in
the minute this became a m*rder case.
I'm supposed to be the one
who's mad here. Your team almost
- blew my cover.
- Agent Clarkson,
might I remind you
Director Sweeney himself
sent you over here this morning
so you'd cooperate with our team.
So, what's an undercover
FBI agent doing in a frat house?
I'm part of a special unit responsible
for ferreting out foreign spies
on college campuses.
IP theft has become one
of our biggest
national security concerns.
Not a bad gig.
You try being
and living in a frat house.
Did he say thirty seven?
Hey, you called me old.
I didn't use those words.
And I'm sorry about the "parents" dig,
but I had to maintain my cover.
Yeah. Sure, whatever.
How do you keep your skin that smooth?
More importantly,
how does an NROTC midshipman
factor into a collegiate spy ring?
Our intel says
that Will Watson was recruited
by Belarus to build the access key.
I was placed
in the frat house to recover it.
I assume you didn't succeed
or we wouldn't be here now.
No, but I was able
to clone the burner Watson used
to communicate with his handler.
You got an ID on the handler?
They used a cipher so advanced
that even our best techs
haven't been able
to decode the messages.
Well, maybe NCIS can make some progress
where the FBI could not.
Look, I'll give you whatever I have
if it means I never have to step foot
in that disgusting
frat house ever again.
KASIE: We have already tried
every cipher known to man.
(SIGHS) I'm out of ideas.
Well, we could try a brute force att*ck.
And be here till next Wednesday?
(SCOFFS) Oh.
You know who we should call?
No. No, no, no.
She's been through enough.
It is very nice that you are
trying to protect your wife,
but this is Delilah's
exact area of expertise.
I am sure she'd like to help.
Delilah does not
need my protection, okay?
And we can handle this on our own.
Please tell me
you apologized for yesterday.
I did. But I'll be honest with you.
I don't feel great about
where we left things last night.
I don't feel great about it, either.
I was just about to tell you that...
Kasie called me minutes ago.
You know what?
I am going to...
Alexa, what's on
my to-do list for today?
ALEXA: You have one
item on your to-do list.
- Drink more water.
- Thank God.
- Um, Kasie?
- You heard the lady.
I got to hydrate.
You have a fridge full of bottled water.
We are in a climate crisis, McGee,
and I'm trying to reduce
my carbon footprint, so...
Can't argue with that.
Please fix this by the time I get back.
We have work to do and we need her help.
Well, Kasie's right.
- We got work to do.
- We need to talk.
We can't work together
unless we're gonna
be honest with each other.
I wasn't intentionally
keeping anything from you.
I'm so sorry.
No, I-I... I know you weren't.
And I'm the one that's sorry,
okay? I-I feel terrible.
Oh, not as terrible as I feel
watching you t*rture yourself
over this novel.
What do you mean?
The novel is going great.
I'm just, you know,
having some trouble getting started.
You've been stuck
on page three for weeks.
In fact...
you've barely written a word
since Gibbs left for Alaska.
Hey.
Gibbs is not what makes you great.
Yeah, but Thom E. Gemcity
may never have another idea without him.
You are the most creative person
I have ever met.
You will have more ideas.
You just need a new muse.
Yeah, you're probably right.
You usually are.
I wish you would have
told me this earlier.
I could have helped.
Well, you've been so happy
since you started teaching.
I didn't want to bring you down with me.
I love solving problems with you, Tim.
We're a team.
Well, can we work on solving
this particular problem
a little bit later?
I think Kasie's water bottle
is probably overflowing by now.
Mm-hmm. Okay.
KNIGHT: Our victim was a spy?
The FBI believes that
Watson was recruited by Belarus
after he got to campus,
by a handler who was already
embedded at the school.
Assuming they stuck
to their regular schedule,
Watson was supposed to meet
the handler the day he d*ed.
Well, maybe our handler's the k*ller.
Oh, that makes sense.
Once the access key is operational,
Watson becomes more
of a liability than an asset.
Ah. If we can figure out where they met,
maybe we can ID the handler.
Well, Watson lost the USB drive
somewhere between the café
where he met Delilah
and the street where he d*ed.
Yeah, we did our best
to track his movements,
but there is a ten-minute period
where he's unaccounted for.
So, if the handler
did steal the access key
they would have done so within
a five-block radius of the café.
That still leaves us
with hundreds of suspects.
I don't like those odds.
Well, our odds are about
to improve significantly.
I know how we can decode
the messages on Will's burner.
How?
Use Will's own invention against him.
FBI techs said the messages
were undecipherable,
even with Watson's access key.
Which is why I made my own.
Watson developed his key
using pieces of a program
that Delilah created years ago.
(SIGHS) I could never
get it to work back then,
but after seeing the way
Will modified it,
I realized my mistake.
Does creating
an even more powerful cipher
sound like a bad idea to anyone else?
Oh, it's a very bad idea.
Which is why we are going
to destroy the cipher immediately after
we figure out
who Watson was working with.
And the rest of you are going
to forget you ever saw this.
That will not be a problem.
I don't even know what this is.
All right. Here we go.
Nice work, Delilah.
Seems like NCIS hired the wrong McGee.
MCGEE: You got to be kidding.
You know who the handler is?
Yeah. We've met.
(DOOR OPENS)
Hello, Evelyn.
Agent Torres.
You know Agent McGee.
Tim, hi.
Oh.
I mean, Agent McGee.
I'm sorry. I just feel like
I know you so well.
Thanks for, uh, coming in
on such short notice.
Are you kidding? This is so cool.
I feel like I'm in one of your books.
Yeah, and tell me something,
Agent Torres.
As an investigator yourself,
how accurate is the Deep Six series?
All right, let's
leave the book club thing
till after we're done, yeah?
Of course.
I am more than happy to assist NCIS
in your investigation.
Great.
All right, well, let's start
with, uh, where you were
between : and : a.m.
on the day Will d*ed.
Uh, in the library prepping
for Delilah's class.
Okay, we'll have to have
an agent verify that.
Mm, uh, yeah, go ahead.
(CHUCKLES) Why would I lie?
Well, you've been lying
to us this whole time,
so, why stop now?
I'm telling the truth, Agent Torres.
Okay, then what can you tell us
about your relationship with Will?
I mean, outside of grading his papers,
I didn't really know him.
Do you often text coded messages
to people you don't really know?
Ugh.
Okay. Okay, that's what this is about?
Oh. I can explain.
Well, I can't wait to hear.
Yeah, it was for class.
So, um, everyone created their own code
and then swapped
to see whose they could break.
Will's code is pretty sophisticated.
(SCOFFS) I know, right?
I was really impressed.
It's actually what attracted me
to him in the first place.
Ah, so you two were involved?
If anyone found out,
I-I could lose my scholarship.
So-so we just figured that if...
if we communicated using his code,
we'd keep our secret.
Hmm. Yeah, that's a cool story.
Except the messages
tell a different one.
We decoded them.
Yeah. Okay.
Now who's lying, Agent Torres?
That's impossible.
For most people.
Yeah, his wife is not most people.
See, the real story is that
Will Watson was a foreign agent
and you were his handler.
But you two had
different ideologies.
You were mission-focused
but Will was starting to care
more about having a traditional
college experience and he
felt bad about using Delilah.
He became a liability,
so you had to take him out.
You poisoned him
and you stole the USB drive.
Mission accomplished.
I already told you I was
in the library, Agent McGee.
Will was never in the library
that morning, was he?
Really got to hand it to her.
She's a phenomenal liar.
I know. I thought she was
a cheerleader from Fresno.
By way of Minsk.
She left out that part.
VANCE: Breaking her is the
only way we're gonna find the key.
Let's not waste our time, Director.
She was telling the
truth about one thing.
She really was in the library?
Yup. Her alibi checks out.
She is a foreign agent but she
could not have k*lled Watson.
Which means that access key
is still out there.
The FBI thanks you, Ms. Fielding.
Is thanks really enough?
I mean, you should be
sending her a fruit basket.
I did kind of catch a spy
for them, didn't I?
Hmm.
But we still have
to find that access key.
Can you text the nanny and tell her
we will be home late?
Uh, no, but I can ask her
to watch the kids
while you go home and get some rest.
(SHORT CHUCKLE)
Are you being serious right now?
I am not going anywhere
until we find the key.
Hey, if Delilah is offering
to help, we'll take it.
Not that you're not enough
all by yourself, McGee.
- So, where are we?
- Classic dead end.
Watson's classmates
are the obvious suspects.
They're the only ones
who might have understood
the value of the access key.
We triple-checked their alibis,
and they're all solid.
There's got to be something
we're missing.
Not something. Someone.
This isn't the original roster.
There was this kid...
um, Logan...
who failed the first project
and-and quit the class after that.
- You mean this Logan?
- Yeah, that's him.
- That's Watson's roommate.
- Where do we find him?
I'm logging in to his student account.
This is strange.
Looks like Logan backdoored his way
into Waverly's main server two days ago.
Well, he must have used the access key.
What was he after?
On Waverly's server?
Could be anything from
government R&D to
contact information
of the nation's top officials.
Well, it looks like we didn't
get rid of all the Waverly spies.
All right, let's go finish the job.
MCGEE: Anyone have eyes on our target?
Cell phone ping
puts him within yards.
Negative. Knight?
Negative.
A lot of civilians. I don't like it.
That's why we got to move fast,
take him down without weapons.
KNIGHT: So, I have a question.
With all the undercover agents
and foreign spies,
are there any students
who actually go to Waverly?
I don't know, but if we lose
this guy to another dog groomer,
it's gonna be bye-bye, calm Torres.
Ooh, what would Dr. Grace say?
McGee, got a visual on, uh, the suspect.
Guy on a scooter.
All right, I'm on him.
(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)
Oh, he made me.
If you can slow him down, I got him.
No problem.
Sorry. Official government business.
NCIS! All right, back off, back off.
Give us some room.
Get up.
Way to improvise, Knight.
Your aim is impeccable.
Thanks. I was captain
of the disc golf team in college.
Where's the USB drive?
It's in my pocket.
I-I would have given it
back if you'd asked.
Well, you didn't give us a
chance to. You started running.
I thought you were gonna
arrest me for giving Will dr*gs.
I did it so I could get
to his flash drive.
I didn't know he'd have
that kind of reaction.
That's the least
of your problems right now.
PARKER: You know
what's worse is violating
the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Or the Espionage Act.
You're not a very good spy.
- Spy? That's because I'm not one.
- TORRES: Yeah,
that's what they all say.
All right, look, just hold up, hold up.
Logan, right?
If you weren't spying
then why did you access
the school's server?
(SIGHS)
DELILAH: Changing his grades?
(LAUGHS) Like Matthew Broderick
in WarGames?
- Yup. Solid reference, by the way.
- Hmm.
Well, I guess it's nice to know
at least one of my students
was just a cheater, not a spy.
Logan said he didn't
consider it cheating.
Said he would have gotten
all A's if he hadn't spent
so much time pledging DPB.
Nowhere in the multiverse is
that kid getting straight A's.
Well, I'm just glad the last few days
haven't ruined your passion
for teaching, you know?
I mean, you're so good at it.
Well, I might have you do
background checks on future students.
- Hmm.
- But
I don't know, how many professors
get to say their side gig is
- catching spies with their husband?
- Hmm.
Tim?
Hmm?
You okay?
Yeah. Sorry. I'm, uh, I'm just tired.
(SIGHS)
You can't stay up all night
staring at a blank page.
I'm really starting to worry.
Well, if it makes you
feel any better, I actually
got more writing done last night
than I have in months.
Yeah?
Yeah. You were right.
Just needed a new muse.
- That's so great.
- Mm.
Oh, and your fans will be so excited
to read a new Deep Six mystery.
- L.J. Tibbs is retired, remember?
- Yeah.
So I have a new main character
that I think the fans are
gonna love just as much as I do.
Well, are you gonna tell me about him?
It's a her.
She is a beautiful,
brilliant, cryptologist
by the name of Delena Fleming.
And does Delena
get to solve cases with
her equally-brilliant husband?
Well, you'll just have to wait and see.