NCIS: Origins (2024) s02e07 Episode Script

1
HERM: My Grandma said you can
keep using her shed.
She mentioned something
about you building a boat.
MARY JO: You know
he's only dating that Diane
because he can't take
the thought of losing you.
- You're never home.
- That's over. For months now.
- OAKLEY: How's the family?
- WHEELER: Oh, Shelly thinks divorce
is for people
with more disposable income.
("CRAZY LITTLE THING
CALLED LOVE" BY QUEEN PLAYING)
This thing ♪
OLDER GIBBS: Cliff Wheeler.
He was the kind of guy that spent
- a lot of time alone.
- (DOOR CLOSES)
Alone in his big office
with the door shut.
I must ♪
He spent a lot of time
alone at home, too.
Least, that's what I heard.
Crazy little thing
called love ♪
There goes my ♪
Even though I saw him
every day back then,
he was kind of a mystery.
But from what I could tell, he
didn't seem like the kind of guy
that liked being alone.
He seemed like the kind of guy
that wanted to be heard.
- I'm not taking responsibility.
- That is my fault?
- No.
- That is your fault!
OLDER GIBBS: Seemed like
even a "How was your day?"
probably would have
gone a long way.
And get on my tracks ♪
But I never really heard
anyone ask him things like that.
We asked him things about
budget cuts and protocol,
but that probably
only made him feel
more like what he already was.
A guy that didn't like
being alone.
Called love ♪
A guy that wanted someone to ask
about his day
and care about the answer.
If Cliff Wheeler
had somebody like that,
well, he probably would have
been a whole new man.
I ain't ready ♪
SHELLY:
You've been seeing him again.
Called love, crazy little ♪
We need to talk.
Yeah, yeah ♪
Crazy little thing
called love. ♪
- DIANE: Ready, and go.
- GIBBS: No talking this time.
- Song!
- Song!
- RANDY: Yes, okay.
- GIBBS: Uh
- DIANE: Uh, little. Baby.
- "Baby Got Back."
- "Baby Baby."
- "Baby Love."
- JUNIE: "Be My Baby Tonight."
- Is it a baby?
- Amy Grant. "Baby Baby."
- "Baby Love," "Baby Love."
- Is it a baby?
- Weasel!
DIANE: Is it a baby?
- "Ice Ice Baby"?
- Uh
- Do something else!
- (RANDO SHOUTS)
Seriously?
The news said no more blackouts.
No, I heard this morning that
if as this heat sticks around,
- blackouts are imminent.
- I got some flashlights.
Hey, sit your ass down.
I made this whole blackout kit
and I put it in your cabinet.
I'm gonna get us another round.
In case anyone was wondering,
it was "Sweet Child o' Mine."
Clearly, I was being a child.
GIBBS: Well, it looked like
a rodent to me.
(QUIETLY): Hey. He really likes you.
I can see it on his face.
Yeah. I-I really like him, too.
(LOUDLY): Except I hate that he refuses
- to show me his secret woodshed.
- (LAUGHS)
- It's a guy thing.
- Oh, no, don't rope me in.
Okay. That's horribly exclusionary,
so I'm gonna change the subject
to Junie and how much
I psychotically love your dress.
- She made it. Mm-hmm.
- What?
That's incredible. (GROANS)
My wardrobe's about to get so boring
if I get any of these
corporate accounting jobs
I'm applying for.
No, you can be cute
- on the weekend.
- GIBBS: Okay,
- are we doing this, or
- RANDY: Yes! Quick,
before he changes his mind. Ready, go!
- Uh
- ALL: Movie.
RANDY: Got to move your body, bud.
- Thumb.
- JUNIE: What the hell is that?
- Back to the Future.
- Yes. Yes.
- What?!
- DIANE: Yes,
- yes! That was awesome!
- RANDY: Are you kidding me?
- RANDY: I'm impressed.
- Thank you.
- RANDY: What the
- (LAUGHING)
FRANKS: You need a hand with something?
Uh, I forgot my razor.
Mary Jo said
she'd be right down with one.
You never forget your grooming tools.
Yeah, well, I had a night last night.
Wife? You want to talk about it?
I can plug my ears
if you want to talk about it.
- I don't want to talk about it.
- MARY JO: Here you go.
WHEELER: (SIGHS) What took you so long?
That's a horrible question
to ask someone
who just moved heaven and earth
to get you a grooming tool.
So, you know I have to leave
for an hour this afternoon.
Dang blackout took out my oven.
- You love that oven.
- I know.
Repair guy's coming at 2:30.
I'm hoping he can fix it.
Hello, fair coworkers.
- (LALA GASPS)
- MARY JO: (GASPS) Your hair.
Oh, my God! You look hot, señorita.
Thank you. My curls kept
getting caught in my helmet.
Plus, I rewatched, uh,
Working Girl this weekend,
and, uh, you know how I love me
some Tess McGill.
(IMITATES MELANIE GRIFFITH): "If
you want to be taken seriously,
- you need serious hair."
- (LAUGHING)
I liked it how it was before.
FRANKS: Oh, come on, Cliff.
Get your head out your ass
and give the woman a compliment.
(REGULAR VOICE):
No, it's okay, I don't need it.
What I need from you, sir,
is a recommendation.
- For what?
- Joint Criminal Intelligence Team.
Personnel from FBI, DEA, CID, NIS,
sharing information
to take down bad guys.
It's happening in D.C.
They're looking for somebody
to head it up.
Sounds right up your alley.
How long would you be gone for?
Well, it's a
it's a permanent assignment.
- What?
- No, it's okay.
You all can come visit me.
- Party in the U.S. capital.
- You're trying to move
across the country
and you didn't tell me?
Well, I didn't tell her yet, either,
but she looks pretty stoked.
- (BOTH LAUGH)
- (PAGERS BEEPING)
Dominguez, let's roll.
Hey.
It's not even for sure yet.
You think she's really mad at me?
WHEELER: Yes.
RANDY: Ooh. Gibbs!
- It's a hot one, eh?
- Yeah.
Power's still out at my place.
Pager woke me up.
Yeah, last night was a blast, man.
Oh, Junie sent a gift for Diane.
Left it in the trunk. Hey.
You hear Vera got a haircut
and might be moving to D.C.?
- What?
- SAWTELLE: Morning, gentlemen.
The body is straight east,
behind the barracks, past the tree line.
Your people are already out there.
Victim was ID'd
as a 21-year-old lance corporal.
Natasha Horvat.
- (CHATTER IN DISTANCE)
- She lived in this building.
- Any witnesses?
- No.
Game warden came upon
her body this morning
- while he was doing his rounds.
- (PEOPLE CLAMORING, SHOUTING)
She's counting on us! Go!
Save Mary Poppins!
What's going on over there?
They call themselves
cougar crazies, sir.
You ever hear of Number Three?
Female cougar,
lives here in the floodplain.
Couple months ago,
a kid wandered off in the area,
broke his leg.
Rescuers said they saw
this cougar watching over him.
Group of civilian delinquents
found the story to be
- life-altering.
- Cat groupies. Got it.
They get high, hop the fence,
try to catch a glimpse of Mary Poppins.
- That's the cat?
- Yes, sir.
They call her that 'cause
she looked after that kid.
is not guilty!
GIBBS: The hell are they yelling about?
- Mary P.
- SAWTELLE: Sorry,
- is not guilty!
- I buried the lede.
The cougar killed your victim.
They don't want it to be euthanized.
MAN: We love you, Mary Poppins!
PRICE: Cougar attacks
on humans are rare,
but when hunting dries up,
they start showing up
where they don't belong.
No trauma to the neck, though.
Quite the hoopla going on back there.
Yeah, those cougar crazies
are a bunch of nutjobs.
They think Female Three
floats around on an umbrella,
entertaining kids.
They got zero understanding
of territorial behavior.
Doc Tango, Kent Price.
Game warden. How you doing?
So, what did you mean about the neck?
Well, you got
your telltale dirt and leaves
to deter from scavengers,
but cougars suffocate their prey.
You think there'd be trauma
around the neck.
BANKS: Excuse me.
Can you help me out? I got
to get to that transformer.
- GIBBS: Whoa.
- Whoa. Hold up.
GIBBS: We need to clear the area first.
- Is the power out here?
- Yeah, yeah.
- Since yesterday.
- (GASPS)
Hey, is that one of those
Whatever Weather pens
that can write in the rain and stuff?
Yeah, it is. Take it.
They give them out to us.
GIBBS: Randy, quit stalling.
- We need to get them out of there.
- RANDY: Yeah.
I thought maybe if we waited over here,
the MPs would get it calmed down.
That's really their purview.
I don't like physical action
in the heat.
I get rosy real fast.
I think it's calming down.
Save Mary Poppins!
She didn't mean to eat that girl!
TANGO: Got a foreign
object inside this wound.
- LALA: The tip of a knife?
- FRANKS: Dominguez.
Got two sets of footprints back there.
Possible she was with someone
else when she was attacked.
We got a knife here.
It's projecting through the left lung.
Let's flip her.
- I got it, I got it.
- Oh
(GROANS)
(STRAINING)
Handle's broken off.
KENT: It could be she was fighting
the animal and fell on her knife.
No.
I count three stab wounds.
She was dead
before the cougar got to her.
MAN: She's just an animal!
The hell's going on over there?
(SHOUTING, CLAMORING)
Okay. We've got to get
this area clear! Please
GIBBS: Get these guys out of here.
We need to get to the transformer.
We need to get the power on.
Yeah.
Don't let them kill Mary Poppins!
(GRUNTING)
Mary Poppins must live!
It's way too hot for this.
- Yeah.
- You murderers! Aah!
Should be quiet now.
MPs transported
the cougar folks off base.
Hopefully, the power
will be back on soon.
Natasha said someday her grandkids
would show this picture off.
GIBBS: Is there a
fourth lady living here?
PHILLIPS: It's just the three of us.
We have the whole floor to ourselves.
We're all in different battalions,
but since there's so few women,
they put us together.
LALA: He knows.
- Marine.
- Oh.
Gibbs.
You mind helping Franks
and Randy out there
going through Natasha's car?
(DOOR CLOSES)
I'm one of you.
I used to bunk over in 21 Area.
You guys ever had any problem
with any men in the building?
Anyone sneak onto the floor?
Off-color pranks?
Pressuring you in any way?
You know how it is.
But Natasha was tougher than
both of us put together.
And really smart.
Yeah. Saw the crossword puzzles.
She was starting a new
temporary additional duty.
She was in here all day
yesterday prepping for it.
What was the assignment?
Signal intelligence.
It was all super classified.
They recruited her
'cause her dad was Croatian
and she spoke the language.
So, she was here in the morning
and then she reported for duty?
She was panicked
'cause her car wouldn't start,
but the colonel came
to pick her up himself.
Lieutenant Colonel Montgomery.
He's the signal battalion CO.
We-we figured she just went home
to her mom's after work.
We were both in and out all day, but
we never saw her come back.
Lieutenant Colonel Casey Montgomery.
According to Natasha's roommates,
he picked her up for a new TAD.
That was the last they saw her.
- Sold. Let's bring him in.
- It's not that easy.
Colonel Montgomery is heading up
a highly classified op
with satellites over Europe
and the former Soviet Union.
With the breakup of Yugoslavia
- The guy's in Yugoslavia?
- LALA: No, Mike.
I told you, he picked up our victim
from her barracks yesterday.
Okay, you ain't got to get snippy.
- I wasn't getting snippy.
- You were just getting snippy
on account of you being mad at Vera.
- I'm not mad at Vera.
- Sure you are.
She's making life moves
without telling you.
Boss, the colonel
has a lot of connections
in a lot of high places.
If we question him
without giving a heads-up
- to his superiors
- So, you think we're gonna get blowback
for bringing this clown in
and Cliff's gonna stomp around
- with his little Cliff feet.
- GIBBS: Yeah.
Why didn't you just say that, Dominguez?
(DOOR OPENS)
Oh. Thank God for the ceiling fans.
Don't stop what you're doing.
I just got to hand this off
before I forget.
- Oh.
- Is that evidence?
No. No, it's totally non-work-related.
Junie made it for Diane.
Junie made this? For Diane?
Pretty sure that's what
the man just said.
I know, but I didn't know
Junie and Diane
were close enough
to exchange handmade clothes.
I mean, that's nice. Isn't it?
I feel like you're mad
about the Vera thing, so
I don't know what to say.
Woman stuff, probie.
There ain't no right answer.
Come on. Let's go run
this Yugoslavia crap past Cliff.
Hey. Franks. There you are.
I've been looking all over for you.
Watch it, Carl, men at work.
Franks, I got an update
relevant to your case.
I received a call
from Game Warden Price.
Uh, he, uh, caught wind
of my renowned work at Fish & Wildlife.
Great, Carl, you should tell
your ma about it
- when you go home tonight.
- Warden Price
recruited me for his cougar task force.
Once he has eyes on, uh, Female Three,
he'll activate me, we'll track her,
see if we can locate any evidence
that she might have dragged or buried
outside of your crime scene.
Good to know.
And if you're looking for Wheeler,
he's in the rec room.
MARY JO: Now, Cliff,
- Oh
- I'm not gonna pretend to know
- No
- what's going on with you,
but I can't have you
hiding out in here day-drinking.
I tried to work, but everyone
keeps coming into my office.
I-I need a moment.
Am I not allowed
to have a moment, Mary Jo?
FRANKS: The hell are you doing in here?
- I'm having a moment.
- Well, we'll be quick, then, sir.
Just need you to clear a path
for us to interview a suspect.
FRANKS: He's one of
those SIGINT big shots.
Name's Colonel Montgomery.
Hey. I thought the foosball tournament
- was postponed till next week.
- It is.
Cliff's just in here clearing his head.
Oh, phenomenal. I'll be quick.
Sir, about that rec for D.C
- I w
- Sir, MPs faxed over the files
on their encounters
with these cougar crazies.
A lot of them have records.
And we know they've been
hopping the fence,
getting in trouble
with all these Marines on base.
Just saying, the colonel
isn't our only suspect,
so you can spin it like that
when you make your phone calls.
Sir, the game warden's office
just couriered this over.
I need your signature here and here
to officially place me
on the cougar task force.
Okay, back of the line, Carl.
I was here first.
Oh, is this about the D.C. thing?
I said I was sorry.
- No, you didn't.
- MARY JO: Okay!
Let's give Cliff a minute.
Go upstairs, form a line,
he'll meet you up there.
(ALL CLAMORING)
MARY JO: I just asked
you all to form a line!
(VOICES DISTORTING, ECHOING)
MARY JO (CLEARLY): Form a line.
For the love of God!
Can I please have a moment
with my Rob Roy?!
My wife of 17 years
is divorcing me, for frick's sake.
Hey!
Everyone out here get that?!
I've become a statistic!
I'm getting a frickin' divorce!
Congrats on the cougar task force, Carl.
RANDY: Okay, good times,
things are happening.
Colonel's on his way in.
Got a few more files
on his super-secret job. Hey.
Am I the only one
that can't stop thinking about
the look on Wheeler's face?
You think he was having a breakdown?
I've never seen one in real life before.
Well, at least he set us up
to bring in the colonel before he left.
He didn't go home willingly, you know?
I heard Mary Jo used,
like, a Jake the Snake
DDT-kind of move to (IMITATES THUD)
get him into the taxi
- and she quick-shut the door.
- VERA: Hey.
If you two boys can't work quietly,
I'm-a have to ask you
to get the hell out.
Can we bring the big fan with us?
No, Randolf.
Colonel encouraged Natasha
Horvat to be a cryptographer.
They were gathering intel on the
conflict in the former Yugoslavia.
- Op was called Iron Phantom.
- How are you getting that?
The only thing that's not
redacted on mine
was the colonel was a hero
in Grenada '83.
You think someone could have killed her
because she knew too much?
After one day on the job?
How'd you come to know
Lance Corporal Horvat?
I screened her myself when she
was in basic SIGINT training.
Fluency in Serbo-Croatian is a rarity.
She was a bright kid.
Her proficiency marks were exemplary.
It didn't hurt that she was a woman.
Different perspectives
are valuable to my team.
This was for your
new operation, Iron Phantom?
Classified, but yes.
It was her check-in day.
What exactly are y'all into over there?
Signal intelligence.
The amount I can share is in the files.
That don't amount to much, does it?
Why'd you pick her up at her barracks?
She called my office at 0800
because her car wouldn't start.
I offered to give her a lift.
You drove her home, too?
Affirmative.
About 1830.
When she got out of the car,
she started talking to someone outside.
Male, civilian clothes,
short brown hair.
- Six foot, give or take.
- She knew him?
She seemed to. She was smiling at him.
Where'd you go after
you dropped her off?
Temecula.
I got back this morning at 0700.
What's in Temecula?
Classified.
Anyone verify that you were there?
No. I went alone.
Where'd you stay at, Colonel?
I dropped Lance Corporal Horvat
at her barracks.
She started talking to a young man.
That's your lead.
I suggest you follow it.
(DOOR OPENS)
- You're home early.
- I made an ass of myself at the office.
Mary Jo put me in a taxi.
(KEYS CLATTER)
You okay?
What if I stop seeing him?
I did it once, I can do it again.
Noah Oakley isn't the problem here.
Cliff, you know I'm right.
No, it's just, um
I've never heard you
say his name before,
so that makes it real.
Listen to me.
This isn't the end of the world.
Our son will be fine,
I will be fine
and so will you.
People will talk.
They'll ask questions.
What will I say?
I love you so much, but
I can't take that on anymore.
(CLEARS THROAT)
I need to go in early tomorrow.
Sensitive case, some big shot
colonel's a suspect.
You know how it goes.
LALA: I'm telling you,
I know the colonel
was weird about his alibi,
but any one of these cougar people
was crazy enough to kill somebody.
Uh-huh.
Look at this.
This woman was a kindergarten teacher.
She was responsible for shaping
the youth of America.
Assaulted an MP with her hiking stick
because they told her
she couldn't hop the fence
to chase a mountain lion.
I thought the colonel said your victim
was talking to a guy, not a lady.
He did. Brown hair, six foot.
That's what I'm looking for.
(PATRONS EXCLAIM)
- Oh, Lord, not again.
- (SIGHS)
Can I tell you
what happened with my oven?
LALA: Vera's here?
Seriously?
Oh, yeah. I invited you both
so you could smooth things over.
Hey.
Didn't know you'd be here.
I invited you both
so you could smooth things over.
- No. No need. I'm good.
- Yeah.
I'm good, too.
Well, that's a load of BS,
but let me tell you about my oven.
- Mm.
- (PAGER BEEPING)
Be right back.
I was supposed to go
and meet the repair guy,
but then when Cliff had his breakdown,
- I felt like I couldn't leave the office.
- Oh, no.
So, I called my neighbor,
I said to her, "Lonnie,
just tell him to fix it."
Guess what he did.
He took out the whole dang thing
and trashed it.
Now I got to get a brand-new oven.
Yeah.
(CHUCKLES) Hey.
You know Lala hurt me, too,
not being happy for me.
Right? But this?
- I can't take this.
- All right, thanks.
Shh, shh, shh, shh. She's coming.
There was a cougar sighting.
Carl is abandoning night duties
so he can do his task force thing,
so I got to go take over.
I'll see you guys later.
Sorry, honey, I tried.
I could just let her
punch me in the face.
Carl.
You can go now.
I'm here.
- Carl!
- (KEYS JINGLING)
What took you so long?
Oh my God.
(LAUGHING)
- What?
- I-I
I like your hat.
It's all fun and games till someone
gets mauled by a cougar
because they weren't properly outfitted.
(DOOR OPENS)
(DOOR CLOSES)
Aw
Oh. Damn.
Ugh.
- (BANGING ON DOOR)
- MAN: Please!
I hit my head! I need help!
What happened?
I hit my head. I need help.
You're one of those
cougar advocates, right?
Look what I found.
It's from the knife
that killed that girl.
Even the news said that it
that it was a person
that killed her, not a lion.
Set it down on the desk
and raise your hands
- for me, okay?
- What?
No, no. I-I found it.
I-I Look. Look, it's
I I found it in the dirt.
You can't kill Mary Poppins cat.
She didn't do anything wrong.
Put it down on the desk.
No one is going to kill that cougar,
I promise.
You're lying! You're-you're
You lie. You lie.
- You lie!
- Put it down!
You lie!
- Put it down!
- You're gonna kill her!
I don't want to live if she's dead!
You lie. You lie.
- (TWO GUNSHOTS)
- (GASPS)
(GUNSHOT)
Drop it.
Slide the weapon to me
or I will shoot you.
I don't want to live if she's dead.
Slide the gun to me.
Slide it!
MAN: She's just a cat.
She didn't do anything wrong.
On your stomach now.
I found y'all that knife handle.
You should be thanking me.
- Coming in hot, Randolf.
- Whoa, okay.
- Shut the door. Shut the door.
- Okay.
If you're trying to ward off predators,
- (DOOR CLOSES)
- Kowalski's bread is already gone.
You hear what happened
with Lala last night?
No. What?
One of those cougar crazies
showed up with a bleeding head
and the handle from our murder weapon.
Then he pulled a gun.
He accused her
of wanting to kill the cougar,
took off running.
Next thing you know pop!
Pop, pop! He fires three rounds
into a filing cabinet, and what?
What happened?
She neutralizes him without incident.
Also, the power was out,
so, it was a big, scary deal.
Can't believe she didn't tell you.
- Is she okay?
- Yeah.
Oh, wait. Um, she didn't tell
you 'cause she's still upset
you didn't share
your D.C. dream with her.
D.C.'s not even for sure yet, okay?
I'm-I'm still waiting for the right time
to get Wheeler to recommend me.
Is he back yet or is he still
having his divorce meltdown?
You know what, never mind.
Leave me be.
Copy.
Lala, Vera's in the kitchen
if you want to tell her
- what happened last night.
- Knife handle's with Forensics.
Cougar crazy from last night
is on an involuntary psych hold.
His name is Huck Crowley.
He doesn't match
the colonel's description
of the guy that was talking to Natasha.
Plus, his alibi checks.
We saw this guy at the crime scene.
He was screaming about Mary Poppins.
Yeah, I think he was just off his meds,
he happened to find the knife handle,
and he loves that cat
an unhealthy amount.
(GASPS)
You guys!
Come on. I've had crazier nights
than last night.
(SHRIEKS)
The apple-butter lotion is the best.
- Who did this?
- Ah, sorry.
This is for Junie.
It's from Diane.
It's a thank-you for the dress.
Thanks.
That's nice.
(PHONE RINGS)
(DOOR OPENS)
We confirm the colonel's alibi?
RANDY: Classified red tape, boss.
We're waiting on some calls back.
I spoke to Horvat's bunkmates.
None of them saw anyone
that looked like the guy
the colonel described.
Dominguez, you were a lady
Marine. Let's work that angle.
Remember what I taught you, Mike?
You don't say "lady Marine"
or "woman Marine." We're just Marines.
Right, but I'm asking you to get inside
the lady Marine's head.
Suppose we believe the colonel.
Who was she talking to
when he dropped her off?
You think I'm psychic?
Women's intuition, Dominguez.
You got some of that or not?
That was Phil. He's got something.
Woody's not here.
I keep a more serious tone in the lab.
I'm asking you both
to adhere to that, please.
Last time he was out of town,
you kind of lost your marbles.
He isn't out of town.
He is down the hall
in the biohazard lab,
processing the ungodly amount
of cougar feces
that Carl dropped off
from his tracking expedition.
Can he take a shower
before he comes back in here?
Ah, your bigger concern
should be your evidence,
don't you think, Leroy? Here.
Put these on, take a look.
As you can see, the handle that
your cougar enthusiast dropped off
pairs with the murder weapon.
Break pattern matches exactly.
Those goggles look ridiculous
on you, by the way.
Yeah, I know.
- Pull any prints off the handle?
- Negative.
Thing was smudged to hell.
(BEEP)
That'll be Woodrow. Yeah.
(WOODY SCAT SINGING)
(LAUGHS) What is up, y'all?
Daddio is in the scat room.
You get it?
Scat, like cougar dung,
but also (SCAT SINGS)
Yeah, we got it, Woody.
Do you have something?
Okay, Sir Philip, I'm sensing
you're in there trying
to do your serious tone.
Great.
Listen, uh, I just finished
digging through
this big old pile of poop.
I can definitely confirm
that this cat
ingested pieces
of your dead Marine.
You want specifics?
We're good.
D'okey dokey.
I'm gonna hit the showers, then.
Oh, did you show them
the thing, Phil?
No, because you said you wanted
to talk to them about it.
No, I didn't want
to talk to them.
I just wanted to do the
scatting, like, timed perfectly
to when you toss it to them.
Ready?
(SCAT SINGS)
Woody pulled that out
of the cougar excrement.
- Oh.
- We've sanitized it, for God's sake.
FRANKS: It's a challenge coin, huh?
GIBBS: "America's Battalion.
1983." Grenada.
That's the same unit
Colonel Montgomery served in.
This is his coin.
That puts him at the scene.
WHEELER: Mike!
- You're back. Good for you.
- So you know, I'll be observing
your interrogation of the colonel.
You're afraid I'll flip a table
and ruffle some fancy feathers
or is it 'cause folks are still
bugging you in your office?
(SIGHS) Both.
Look, we got evidence on the guy.
Just don't flip the table, all right?
- Hey, Cliff?
- Yeah?
You know, when Tish left,
everyone thought
it was Gary Callahan
that got me through.
There's truth to that, sure.
What also kept me going was knowing
that even though it was over,
it mattered.
The memories they mean something.
Ain't nothing can take that away.
You and Tish broke up?
Mike, you want some company in there?
Yeah, let's go.
Lieutenant Colonel Montgomery.
How you doing?
- MONTGOMERY: Confused, to be honest.
- Sir.
Do you want to explain to me
what I'm doing here again?
You need the room to hide out?
I can watch the tape later.
FRANKS: Tell you what, Colonel.
- We respect your position.
- Okay.
We are grateful for all
you've done for this country.
'Cause of all that,
I ain't gonna B.S. you.
LALA: Turned up at the crime scene.
I understand how this looks.
Did you have an interest
in Lance Corporal Horvat
beyond a professional one?
No. Gave her this coin as a gift.
She was feeling out of her depth
on the project.
I had very similar doubts
back in Grenada.
Gave her this coin to make her
feel part of the team.
You said you asked for her.
Said you picked her
'cause she was a woman.
Seemed like
you had a real special
Is this how he usually gets
before he flips the table?
(FRANKS CONTINUING INDISTINCTLY)
Hey. Bartender from
Campion's Pub called in a tip.
Said he saw someone matching
Natasha's description there
two nights ago drinking with a guy.
- They sure it was her?
- Yeah.
Clothes and description matched.
Hey, uh, is this escalating?
'Cause I-I think it's escalating.
- Answer the question!
- I have, I've answered every
You were nowhere near Temecula!
You were here on base,
killing that girl!
Negative, sir.
I dropped her off at 1830.
LALA: Colonel Montgomery, look at me!
With this new evidence, we got clearance
to look at the schedule
for every sensitive mission
occurring on base this month.
There were no classified happenings
in Temecula two nights ago.
I dropped Lance Corporal Horvat
off at 1830.
She was very much alive and
talking to the man I described.
I drove straight
from Pendleton to Temecula.
I stayed at the Gardenia Motel.
He's lying,
or he would've said that before.
LALA: Can anyone verify that?
The motel can.
I stayed in room 228 all night.
The room was rented out
to an Alex Vernon.
FRANKS: You made up a bogus
mission because she was married?
No.
Alexander Vernon.
I was with him all night.
You saying you're gay?
I'm saying Alex can vouch for me.
Did not see that coming.
Mary Jo, get me General
Alvin Jeffers on the phone.
I need to make a report of misconduct.
(DOOR OPENS)
I told you to get me Jeffers.
I know what you told me.
I'm not doing it.
You have no idea
what's going on here, Mary Jo.
Oh, I got an idea, honey, believe me.
If you report the colonel for being gay,
he could be discharged.
His homosexuality makes him
vulnerable to blackmail.
It's a potential security risk.
- He can lose his benefits.
- I know that.
- He could lose everything.
- I said I know that.
Yeah, well, it seems like you forgot.
This isn't your concern, Mary Jo.
Go back down to your desk,
please, and get me
General Jeffers on the phone.
No.
I know about you, Cliff.
And I'm not gonna let you do this.
I You know what about me?
I know about you.
I know about you and Noah Oakley.
And I know you're standing there
thinking the same thing I am.
What if that were you
in the colonel's shoes?
Barrett could strip you
of your security clearance,
he could take your job.
And I don't know if you think
you have some sort of duty
to report this man,
or maybe you think
you've got something to prove,
but if you do this, Cliff,
you'd never forgive yourself.
I can't stand by and let that happen.
This conversation is over.
- Cliff.
- I told you to get me Jeffers,
and that is an order.
So, for once in your life,
stop doling out unsolicited advice
in rooms that are above your station,
and do your job.
I'm gonna walk out of here
and I'm gonna keep
this whole place running,
because that's the job I do here.
But I tell you what, Cliff.
You can dial your own damn phone.
(DOOR CLOSES)
(CLEARS THROAT SOFTLY)
Alexander Vernon confirmed he
was with the colonel all night.
Yeah, hotel receptionist
put him there, too.
His alibi checks.
He didn't kill Natasha.
Article 125 says homosexual
conduct should be reported.
- FRANKS: Colonel's alibi check?
- Yeah, boss.
- Yeah.
- All right.
Whether or not
he gets reported for being
a little light in the loafers
it's above our pay grade.
Let's get cracking.
One of y'all tell me
who killed our lady Marine.
Uh, just Marine, boss.
- Okay?
- You know what I mean.
Colonel's off the table.
Who could have done this?
Bartender from Campion's was right.
Natasha was definitely there
the night she died.
I spoke with the whole staff.
Three of them saw her drinking
at a table with a white guy,
mid to late 20s, brown hair.
Could be the same guy
the colonel saw her talking to
outside her barracks.
The barback remembered
cleaning this off the table
at the end of the night.
Who does thinking games at a bar?
Well, Natasha liked crosswords.
She had a bunch in her locker.
- You dig this out from the pub trash?
- LALA: Yeah.
It was traumatic. But I found this, too.
The barback said he was pretty sure
that was on Natasha's table.
If her and this guy
were doing the puzzle together,
maybe we can pull his print off it.
Is that a Whatever Weather pen?
FRANKS: Public Works
Department gives you boys
all them pens you need, huh?
So y'all can write in whatever weather?
Hands on your head.
FRANKS: Aw, hell.
- Probie, you mind?
- Nope.
(GRUNTING)
Get off me!
WHEELER:
Public Works Department employee
- Ow, ow!
- Wilhelm Banks
was apprehended by our agents
earlier today.
We searched his truck,
found blood evidence.
He then confessed to the murder
of Lance Corporal Horvat.
According to his statement,
he saw Horvat outside
her barracks earlier in the day.
He was working there,
on the transformer?
He returned later that night,
uh, to ask her out for a drink.
"On the way to the bar,
she saw a newspaper in my car.
"She started joking around
and doing the crossword puzzle.
We finished it together in the bar."
He drove her home, wanted more
than a kiss good night,
she fought him.
He dumped her body out there
like it was nothing.
She had her whole life ahead of her.
Sir, I'm aware
NIS can very well report me
and initiate Article 125
proceedings for homosexual conduct.
Lieutenant Colonel,
you have spent the past
two and a half decades
serving this country with honor,
and your assistance in this
investigation was invaluable.
I have no intention
of destroying your career
or your life.
Frankly, I'd never forgive myself.
Thank you, Special Agent Wheeler.
Your discretion won't be forgotten.
You headed home?
Yeah. Doing something
with Diane tonight.
Think I was supposed
to plan it. (CHUCKLES)
You know that note
she put in the gift basket?
Really meant a lot to Junie. Seriously,
it got her, like, super inspired
- with the whole dressmaking thing.
- Really?
Yeah, she's thinking about
designing some to sell now.
And, uh, I always told her
she should do it, but
I don't know.
Something about the way
Diane says stuff, man.
She's a keeper.
See you tomorrow?
Yeah, see you tomorrow.
(DOOR OPENS)
VERA (QUIETLY): Oh, God.
It's supposed to be
a fancy lotion basket,
but I didn't have time
to go to the mall.
It's all the ones I had in my apartment.
(LAUGHS SOFTLY)
Oh, yes. SPF 15 that's awesome.
Did you rub lotion here
on the side, too, or
Oh. No.
That's probably grease.
It's my popcorn bowl.
It's a really good bowl.
No, it looks like a phenomenal bowl.
Listen, I really hope
you get that D.C. thing.
They'd be idiots
to not have you head that up.
No, no va pasar.
- ¿Por qué?
- I typed up this whole thing,
you know, for-for Wheeler to say
when he was recommending me.
And-and I'm standing there,
and I'm handing him the paper,
and then I think,
"The hell would I want
to leave here for?"
I could set up my own
NIS intelligence team
with better coordination
between Pendleton
and Los Angeles
and who-whomever, and I
I am so glad you're staying.
OLDER GIBBS:
I spent a lot of my time alone.
Alone in my kitchen,
eating dinner.
Alone in my basement,
building a boat.
Oh, my God.
Your secret woodshed?
I thought it was a guy thing.
Changed my mind.
OLDER GIBBS: You spend
a lot of your time alone
you get used to it.
- (LINE RINGING)
- If you're not careful,
it starts to become a habit.
HARLAN: This is Director Harlan.
Uh, hello, Director.
This is Cliff Wheeler,
Special Agent in Charge
at NIS Pendleton.
I understand you're leading
the search for a candidate
to head up the Joint
Criminal Intelligence Team.
I am. You got someone for me?
I do. But not from my office, actually.
Uh, someone at the Bureau.
I think that Special Agent Noah
Oakley would serve you well.
We have worked together for years,
and I've seen him grow
into an outstanding leader.
No one from the West Coast has
thrown their hat into the ring.
Think he has any interest
in relocating to D.C.?
Perhaps he could be convinced.
Well, I'd have to
run it by my superiors
OLDER GIBBS: Things are
simpler when you're alone.
You got nothing to lose.
So you push people away
until they leave.
Or you go someplace
no one can follow.
Like the middle of Alaska.
Seat taken?
I decided not to report the colonel.
Yeah, I'm aware.
I discreetly made
Team Franks aware, too.
(BOTH LAUGH)
They were glad to hear it.
I don't know if you heard,
but the repair guy trashed my oven.
Before my daddy died
he taught me every recipe
he knew on that old thing.
I know an oven is insignificant
in the scheme of things, but
I didn't want to let it go.
Mary Jo.
Nothing about you is insignificant.
And anyone who kicks you out
of their office is a damn fool.
Thing about all those hours
in the kitchen with my daddy
they were sacred.
Whatever we said in there
stayed between us.
We could be ourselves,
no judgement,
no worries.
He taught me how to be like that.
When it comes to you
I'm the only one who knows.
And I don't see why
that ever has to change.
Unless you want it to.
Thank you.
You want to order food?
My oven doesn't get here till Friday.
Yes. Yes. Uh, Smitty?
- Can we get a couple of menus?
- You betcha.
OLDER GIBBS:
I learned to like being alone.
- Uh, this is on me.
- Or maybe that's just
the thing I tell myself
until someone shows up
to share a steak by the fire.