NCIS: Origins (2024) s03e05 Episode Script
Baila Esta Cumbia
1
- RANDY: Did you and Lala hook up?
- GIBBS: Yeah, we kissed,
but I don't know where it's going.
But you're hoping it goes somewhere.
Missed you, too.
- Who's that?
- OLDER GIBBS: Lala Dominguez.
She died a long time ago.
BISHOP:
The tracker who found you
been used by the CIA for years.
Roan Briggs is holed up
in a hotel in Baltimore.
Let's roll.
OLDER GIBBS: You
haven't done this in a while,
so you almost forgot.
In this line of work,
it always comes down to a chase.
[TIRES SCREECHING]
♪
Chasing cars.
Chasing bad guys.
Chasing answers.
Gibbs, I'm heading east on Key Highway.
OLDER GIBBS [OVER PHONE]:
I'm on your six.
[VOICE-OVER]:
Some chases are simple.
A tracker tracked you down.
Now it's your turn to hunt him.
[TIRES SCREECHING]
[CAR HORN HONKS]
[CAR HORN HONKS]
Damn it, Gibbs.
I'm losing him.
I got him.
[TIRES SCREECHING]
Out of the car!
Hands up now!
Out of the car.
Turn around.
[GRUNTS]
Yeah.
Surprise, right?
Know your target, dude.
Takes more than one shot
to kill this guy.
OLDER GIBBS:
Some chases are simple.
But some are more complicated.
Sometimes you don't
realize who you're chasing
till you catch 'em.
RANDY: She's got your eye thing.
I've never met anyone but you
with two different colored eyes.
Does it kind of spook you out a bit?
Does it spook you out
when you see a dead redhead?
Kinda.
[FRANKS WHISTLING TUNE]
LALA: Someone's in a good mood.
Gary Callahan learn a new trick?
[LAUGHS] I didn't have Gary last night.
But I did have a nice time with Swanson.
A gentleman don't tell tales,
though, Rando. What do we got?
A hiker discovered
the crash early this morning.
By the time the EMTs got here,
she'd been dead for hours.
They found the bullet wound, called us.
We have blood on the door handle here,
so she must've been shot
before she got in the car.
Could be she was fleeing
the shooter when she crashed.
Or she was trying
to get herself to the hospital.
No brake marks between here
and the road. I think she passed out.
She got an ID on her?
LALA: No wallet, purse, or registration.
Y'all done yakking yet?
Can we do our thing?
FRANKS: Looking good this morning, Doc.
[LAUGHS] What got into you?
Gary learn hisself a new trick?
[LAUGHS]
If a gentleman were to tell tales,
spectacular.
Okay.
GIBBS: Guys,
found a purse.
Dang, that sucker was tossed far.
ID?
Bunch of makeup, gum,
couple rolls of quarters.
Damn. Nice sneaks, bro.
I came straight from a thing.
I forgot my boots.
By thing, he means dance lessons.
LALA: Really? You?
Did you know about this?
Yeah. Kumbaya.
Some kind of Spanish deal, like salsa.
Cumbia. It's Latin.
FRIEDMAN:
Hey, can I get a hand over here?
I need some muscles!
- Yeah.
- Thank you!
Cumbia, huh?
Yeah.
Salsa's usually the go-to
for curious white boys.
Well, not so predictable after all.
FRANKS: On three.
One, two, three.
[BOTH GRUNT]
Thank you.
FRANKS: Take it easy, boys.
- FRANKS: Damn.
- Oh.
FRANKS: She's pregnant.
FRIEDMAN: Poor girl looks to be
more than eight months.
Okay.
The hell?
Well, damn.
Okay, um
Plot twist, kids.
["SWING BOULEVARD"
BY JERRY MENGO PLAYING]
Ta-da!
- [MUSIC STOPS]
- RANDY: Whoo!
I didn't see you guys there.
You were staring right at them, Phil.
Your feet are magical.
Like tiny drum kits.
Well, Gail said that
Gibbs is taking dance lessons.
It motivated me to get
my old clackers out of storage.
Yeah, heard he was learning
the sultry art of cumbia.
Is that on account of
his undying love for you?
That's where my mind jumped as well.
Looks like you got a lot of stuff
over here. Let's talk about that.
All right, solid redirect.
Indeed, well played.
Turns out, our Jane Doe wasn't
just faking her pregnancy.
Check these out.
PHIL: So, she had a wig, fake eyelashes,
chicken cutlets. The color
of her eyes wasn't even real.
Friedman found a colored
contact in her left eye.
The one on the right must've
popped out during the car crash.
Phil and I were thinking,
maybe she's an actress
on her way home from a gig. Or a cop
working undercover.
Cops' prints are in the system,
and hers aren't.
Spy? Prints would be classified.
- We did find a bug on her.
- Really?
Well, not the spy kind of bug.
Sorry, Phil can't resist
a juicy forensic pun.
No, we found these beauties
in the treads of her shoes here.
Black soldier fly larvae.
Based on the level of dehydration,
- she probably stepped
- [TAPS]
on them shortly before she died.
Where are these flies found?
PHIL: Oh, lots of places.
Uh, pest control, fish bait,
animal feed, composting.
I mean, the list goes on and on.
Yeah, and on and on.
- Would you like him to continue?
- No, we'll take it from here.
- Thanks, guys.
- Thank you.
- And a one and a two and a
- No.
RANDY: Our crash site's here.
LALA: Friedman said
the bullet nicked an artery.
Subclav-something.
She bled out in 20, 25 minutes max.
Assuming she was
driving like a bat out of hell,
she could've gotten, what,
- ten miles?
- At the most.
Wherever she got shot,
it's somewhere in here.
That's a big-ass circle.
Ran the Ford's VIN number.
Owner's Sid Dimassa.
Just talked to him. He owns a horse
ranch called the Rancho Del Oro.
That's near Junior's day care.
- What, husband or something?
- GIBBS: Landlord.
She rents his guesthouse
on the property.
Said he also lets her borrow his car
because he didn't like the idea
of a pregnant lady taking the bus.
- He tell you her name?
- Lucy Williams.
Moved here from Connecticut
three months ago.
Single. That's all I know.
Rancho Del Oro's in our circle.
You think horses eat fly larvae?
One way to find out. Let's roll.
Let's roll.
I like that.
Yeah, felt good. Might use that again.
- Ain't no blood spatter.
- GIBBS: Killer could've cleaned it.
FRANKS: Ain't smelling bleach.
- Don't think this is where she was shot.
- [DOOR OPENS]
Dimassa took us all over the grounds.
No sign of a struggle out there either.
Said Lucy kept to herself.
Couldn't have asked
for a better roommate.
Her name ain't Lucy.
Lily Wiggins.
Minus the wig and
colored contacts, this is her.
Guys, check this out.
Not sure what's going on here,
but it looks like it's all about
this dude.
GIBBS: "Oil magnate
"and philanthropist Victor Banks
passed away Friday."
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]
FRANKS: Some kind of family tree.
RANDY: "Belinda Banks Miller, 32.
Daddy calls her Bebe.
Bought her a pony,
Daisy, for her sweet 16."
Looks like the son-in-law
had a taste for poker.
Says he was into his bookie
for 50 large.
GIBBS: Maybe Lily was a reporter,
going undercover, working on an article.
RANDY: Faking a
pregnancy for an article?
GIBBS: You got a better idea?
SAMUEL: You're still my little chingona,
all right?
It's just you and me, kid.
Hey. What happened?
Talk to me.
I messed up, Pa.
[SIGHS] How so?
He knew the Mickey Mantle was fake.
Uh
It's okay, Lala. It's okay.
We'll find another mark.
You'll do better next time.
Better than this?
[LAUGHING]
Your face, Pa.
Okay. Okay, you got me.
You got me, but I knew you could
do it. I knew you could do it.
- Because you're my little what?
- Chingona.
- You're my little what?
- Chingona.
Chingona. [LAUGHS]
- Hell yeah. Let me see.
- [RATTLING SOUND NEARBY]
It's okay. Don't worry.
Mama and Estela are at the mall.
Our secret is safe, okay?
I'm proud of you.
You had me worried there
for a little while.
[LALA GIGGLES]
Hey, you promised Mom you'd quit.
Never said when.
[SCOFFS]
SAMUEL: Where's the rest of the cards?
LALA: He wanted all of them.
- That's how I closed the deal.
- [OPENS CAN]
This is all you got?
For everything?
I'm sorry.
Hey, hey, hey, hey.
Hey, don't look so sad.
You're still
my little chingona. All right?
It's just you and me, kid.
It's just you and me.
Yeah, me and you.
This guy Victor Banks was loaded.
I think Lily was roping his family in
to pull a Royal Bastard.
- A what?
- You convince
a dead rich dude's family
you got knocked up by him.
Get a piece of the inheritance.
And you worked a case like this before?
Should I tell them?
Ain't my life.
My dad was a con man.
I used to be his partner.
- Like Paper Moon?
- Yeah, only Mexican.
RANDY: I knew you and your
dad were into some sketchy stuff,
but I thought
it was like picking pockets,
not pulling Boston Robs.
LALA: Boston Robs aren't really a thing.
RANDY: Are you sure?
You're awful quiet.
That must have been hard.
Yeah, and I can tell you
from personal experience,
this case is about
to get real complicated.
- I'll run point, okay?
- Yeah.
Try to keep up.
LALA: Victor Banks
left behind three daughters
and a wife. The fourth one, by the way.
I know he's an oil magnate, but, damn,
that's a lot of ex-wives
to have on the teat.
Well, the teat's worth
over a hundred million,
so he wasn't hurting. And
the whole family lives
on the same gaudy compound,
and it's in our crime scene radius.
You thinking his death
was foul play, too?
- Nope.
- [HANGS UP PHONE]
Tango pulled some strings,
got Victor's autopsy report.
He had a stroke golfing
at his country club,
spent three months
on life support, then passed.
Just pulled Lily's record.
She's never been arrested,
but her dad's got
a bunch of fraud charges.
- And?
- And she was listed
as a possible accomplice
in a few of 'em.
Cops just didn't
have enough proof to charge her.
Daddy's probably
mixed up in this somehow.
Let's haul him in.
Mm, he's in prison.
Doing a 15-year bid for identity theft.
- [SIGHS]
- This father-daughter
Paper Moon thing
happen a lot, Lala?
I guess at least twice, Randy.
The Banks daughters just arrived.
And per your request, Franks,
they brought Daddy's will.
It's a whole damn encyclopedia.
Better divvy it up.
I meant in thirds.
MARY JO: We're in the land
of the silver spoons now.
They asked Gail to prep the
conference room with Perrier.
Give 'em a straw,
tell 'em to blow bubbles.
[BOTH LAUGH]
Hear what I said, Rando?
Give 'em a straw,
tell 'em to blow bubbles.
[LAUGHS]
All right, before
we start these interviews,
let me tell you how
this Royal Bastard thing works.
Floor's yours, Dominguez.
A good con artist
never approaches the mark.
They get the mark to come to them.
That's the rope.
She waltzed into Daddy's funeral
in this tacky black dress,
belly out to here,
crying like Tammy Faye Bakker.
No one was listening to the eulogy
I spent weeks writing.
I was furious. Like, who's this bitch?
LALA: Once you rope them in,
you spin the lie.
You'll have done enough research
to pepper it with details
so it rings true.
AUDREY: That nasty little
ho-bag said she met my husband
at a Vegas strip club
The Candy Palace.
Called herself KitKat.
But I can't pretend I was shocked.
I'm wife number four,
and I used to be a masseuse.
You do the math.
But no matter how great your story is,
it's never good enough.
You got to have the proof.
BELINDA: Well,
I didn't think Daddy'd be dumb enough
to fall for a gold-digging stripper,
but she had these letters he wrote her,
promising to take care of her
and the baby.
That's Daddy's handwriting exactly,
right down to the wiggly way
he made his Gs.
Please don't read them out loud.
They're really graphic.
At the heart of every con
lies something fake.
Fake art, fake deal, fake baby.
You need a ready excuse
to keep your marks
from pulling back the curtain.
No way I was splitting my inheritance
without a paternity test.
But that skank refused to take
one until the baby was born.
Said it might cause a miscarriage.
A con will never work
unless you pick the right mark.
The best targets
are as greedy as the con man.
Waiting for the birth would have
tied up Daddy's estate for months.
I needed that money yesterday.
We convinced her to accept $500,000 cash
to settle out of court.
She had no idea that if she held off,
the baby's share
could've been worth $15 mil.
You paid her 500 grand?
We didn't find any cash.
I bet that shady lawyer took it.
- Who?
- JEFF: A few days before we paid
that village bicycle,
she sent this ambulance chaser
to shake us down. Some Mexican guy.
He was disgusting,
spitting his chewing tobacco
into the good china.
- What was his name?
- Juan Perez.
BELINDA: I can't believe
we let that sewer rat play us.
I mean, who fakes a pregnancy?
We're gonna need you
to give our sketch artist
a description of this lawyer.
- [DOOR OPENS]
- Wait here.
Yeah, gladly.
[DOOR CLOSES]
- GIBBS: Hey.
- [LALA SIGHS]
Lala.
You okay?
Lily had her dad.
Now her dad's locked up.
She needed a new partner.
We got to track down this Juan Perez,
if that's even his name.
You think this guy killed Lily
to keep the score for himself?
Get Dalton Basement
started on that sketch, okay?
YOUNG LALA: Dad, dinner!
Have I told you lately
how proud I am of you?
Hey, are you up for another adventure?
Yeah, right. I wish.
Well, let's do it, then.
Listen, this
will be the biggest score
we've ever made.
And this mark
she won't stand a chance
against my chingona.
Huh?
But, Dad, we can't.
Mom caught us last time.
Ah, don't worry about it.
That was like one time out of a million.
She's sick, Dad, and we promised her.
Lala, between Mom's medical bills
and Estela's tuition, we're broke.
- All right?
- I know my babysitting
doesn't pay that much.
I can get a second job.
No, Lala, you can't get a second job.
You need to go to school, and you
need to help me with Gabriela, so
We can't do this.
You know what, chingona?
You're right.
I'll get a loan, okay?
Everything's gonna be okay.
It's just you and me, baby.
It's just you and me, kid.
Tú y yo.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Ah, okey.
Heading to Daly's to percolate.
I think I'm just gonna head home.
Wish you wouldn't.
I don't speak much español,
but I picked up on enough.
You think Lily's partner
could be your daddy?
These Royal Bastard cons
are my dad's bread and butter.
I know he's posed as a lawyer before,
I'm sure he never quit dipping,
and the Mexican part
definitely checks out.
But my dad's not a killer.
Know this one must be
dredging up a lot up for you.
Mike, I'm good.
You ain't gonna like it,
but I'm gonna say it.
The way your pops treated you
his own daughter
don't it make you wonder
what he could do to a stranger?
SAMUEL: You're still my little chingona,
right?
[ECHOING]: It's just you and me.
"The memory of licking chocolate sauce
"from your beautiful belly
got me through another family reunion."
That is disgusting.
Wasn't that guy like 80?
Yeah, no one over 50 should ever
get into that sort of thing.
It's too early for me to be hearing
the words "belly licking."
Besides, Victor Banks
didn't write those letters.
Lily had them forged.
I've done that before. I have.
LALA: Got my copies, Gail?
Right here. But FYI,
these letters were forged.
Thanks for the heads-up, Gail.
Two of the daughters alibied out.
Belinda was at a polo match,
Beatrice was flying home
from Fashion Week in Paris.
So the richest crap imaginable.
That's all you got, probie? Come on.
So that leaves us the youngest
daughter, the son-in-law,
the wife, and whoever
Lily's partner was.
Feast your eyes
on how these people grieve.
[IN SNOBBY ACCENT]: One daughter
gets the Chrome Cathedral
Victor's collection of Bentleys.
[IN SNOBBY ACCENT]: Obviously.
FRANKS:
Another gets the Ocean Duchess.
I mean, who doesn't love
inheriting a yacht?
The third daughter gets Thornwood Hall,
and the wife runs away with the
[IN REGULAR VOICE]: Pearl on the Pond.
And not to mention they all get
a whole lot of stock.
Merck, Vaughn, Philip Morris.
Every one of 'em's sitting on millions,
so even if Lily stole $500,000,
why kill her for it?
Guys, listen up.
- Is that what you had on yesterday?
- Yeah.
I was out all night trying
to track down my dad's old pals.
Thought they might know
who forged these letters.
- Told you we was percolating.
- Yeah, so was I.
There's only one guy in town
who's talented enough
to have forged letters this well,
and get this, he's our CI.
The Bagpiper.
I thought he was a fence.
He's a Renaissance man, probie.
You and Dominguez, go talk to him.
Me and Randy'll search
the Banks' compound.
We're just waiting
on a warrant to come in.
Speak of the devil.
Warrant's still processing, Franks.
But Dalton faxed over your sketch, Lala.
[LALA EXHALES SHARPLY] Okay.
The earmarks of this whole thing
got me thinking that Lily's partner
could possibly be my dad.
Is that what he looks like?
No.
No. But my dad loved disguises.
He used a new one for every job.
We got to get eyes on him, Dominguez.
You got an address?
He was down in TJ.
Gabriela said that she wrote
to him a few months ago,
but the letter got returned to sender,
so he could be anywhere.
Warrant's in, Franks.
Rando, with me.
SAMUEL [ECHOING]:
It's just you and me.
Can I ask you something?
You had all ride.
Yeah, I was working up to it.
I know your dad pulled a lot of scams.
Was he violent?
In his line of work,
you've got to know
how to handle yourself.
With you?
- Did he ever?
- No.
But he did his damage.
CALLUM: Uh-oh, what'd I do now?
Looking good, Lala.
Thanks, Callum.
- You wanting a cold one?
- We're good.
Who's the new guy, Lala?
This is Gibbs. He dances cumbia.
Really?
Us white boys usually go for the salsa.
- These look familiar?
- [SIGHS]
- Nope.
- Really?
Forgery this good could only
come from a genuine artist.
[EXHALES SHARPLY] Seriously, dude,
close the garage.
It's a free world.
LALA: We're not trying to bust you, Cal.
But the woman
you made these for is dead.
GIBBS: Just trying to
figure out who killed her.
Think it might have been her partner.
LALA: A Mexican guy?
She seemed like a nice girl.
She brought in some handwriting samples,
paid me to forge a few letters.
- And the partner?
- She mentioned
someone gave the handwriting sample
to her, but I never met a partner.
I gave her the letters
and the fake
1912 George Washington stamp
she asked for. That's it.
They were planning a second con.
- A King Farouk.
- GIBBS: What's that?
- Selling fake stamps?
- Or rare coins,
baseball cards,
anything collectors want.
Thank you,
I appreciate your time, Callum.
How the hell do you know
what a King Farouk is?
Something wrong?
No, it's all good, baby.
[POUNDING ON DOOR]
Lala,
go back to your room.
Hey, hey, hey, easy.
Easy.
You don't take a loan
that you can't pay back.
Where's my money, Samuel?
I'm getting it, I'm getting it.
Okay, I'm get I'm getting it!
[GRUNTS]
- Hey.
- Yeah,
- you said that already.
- [GRUNTING]
- Stop!
- [BLOWS LANDING]
Please!
Stop, you're gonna kill him!
- Stop it!
- One week
or you're dead.
Mi amor, are you hurt?
Mm-mm.
It's okay, my girl. I'm fine.
I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.
Okay. Okay,
one more job.
We pull one more King Farouk,
and we'll make back
everything and then some.
Okay? Okay?
Just you and me. You and me.
Stamp's not in here.
Why is this guy messing around,
selling fake stamps
if he just made off with 500 grand?
Most of these people,
the thrill's as big a deal as the money.
You and your dad ever do
one of these King Farouks?
We did.
It was the last job
we ever pulled together.
How long since you've talked to him?
Five years.
Longest it's been.
Do you want to?
I definitely have a lot to say.
But it doesn't matter.
I don't have his number anyway.
FRANKS: Y'all have any luck?
No, there's nothing in here.
How'd it go at the Banks estate?
Four damn houses over there,
ain't one of 'em was a crime scene.
Rich folks are nuttier
than a pecan tree.
After the Bagpiper, I don't want
to hear anything about nuts.
The youngest daughter
had a whole damn bedroom
just for her ferret.
This last box is from the grifter
lady's car wreck, not her house.
What was the ferret's name?
- We didn't ask, Gail.
- Bartholomew.
Hey. Check it out.
There's a stamp collector's
expo in town this Saturday.
I bet Lily and her partner
were gonna sell that stamp together.
- Think the partner will sell it alone?
- Yeah.
And we're gonna buy it.
I was about to get super pumped
about conning the con man,
but then I caught myself 'cause
the con man might be your dad.
And I love you so much.
FRANKS: What happens
if it is your old man?
Ain't no daughter should have
to arrest her own daddy.
I think you should let us do
the takedown just in case.
If it's him, Mike,
I'm putting the cuffs on.
You want me to fork over $30,000
- to pay a con man?
- Yes, sir.
- [HAMMERING]
- Is this some kind of a joke?
- RANDY: No, sir.
- The plan won't work
- without the money, sir.
- Can't this wait, Cliff?
No, it cannot. This seal
has been months in the making.
It is a symbol of everything
that we've overcome.
- It's beautiful.
- Breathtaking.
- That ought to do it.
- WHEELER: Thank you.
Lookee there, Cliff. You've
got your fancy new NCIS seal.
What do you say we make
that "C" stand for "cash"?
- Is it a hair crooked?
- Cliff.
Okay, please explain to me
how this whole plan is supposed to work.
To con the con man,
we have to manipulate him
into approaching us at the stamp expo.
Why is Randolf making me uncomfortable?
This is the rope, sir.
Do it. Come on, do it.
[FRANKS GRUNTS]
- Okay, please stop.
- Okay.
FRANKS: Rando's gonna
pose as a gullible trust fund baby
with a snooty
future father-in-law to impress.
GIBBS:
When Randy starts flashing cash,
paying too much
for mediocre stamps,
word will spread fast
he's a sucker.
VERA: I just convinced
that jacked ginger over there
to pay me a grand
for a canceled Ben Franklin.
Archie? He paid you how much?
[LAUGHTER]
FRANKS: Then I'll heat things up.
You got my stamp?
Oh, man, I'll give you
$1,200 for that bad boy.
The hell you doing, boy? That's twice
- what the stamp's worth.
- How about you mind
your business, you dumbass hick?
- Dumbass?
- [IMITATING FRANKS]: "Duh, that's twice
what the stamp's worth, boy."
You know what?
You're just jealous
because for some of us,
these are just fun coupons.
Now it's time for the squeeze.
We create a sense of urgency,
make the con man think
he has to move fast.
Sir, if we don't leave
for the airport soon,
you'll miss your flight to Miami.
Give me a minute, Buckley.
I need one more of these beauties
to wow my girl's dad.
LALA: Then we wait for
our con man to come to us.
SOMMERS: Your father isn't coming,
Cecilia.
He's a smart man.
He knows grand larceny
is up to ten years
in prison, so he's on the run.
Am I going to jail?
That depends
on if you tell us the truth.
Where'd your dad go?
I don't know.
Would you tell me if you did?
No.
This King Farouk you just
helped your dad pull
conned a coin collector out of $49,000.
My mom is sick. We needed the money.
The judge wants to place you
into juvenile detention.
You can't. My sisters need me.
Who's gonna take care
of everyone if I'm gone?
- Okay, then start talking.
- I told you,
I don't know where my dad is.
What about his partner?
You know where we can find him?
What do you mean?
I'm his partner.
Have you seen this man before?
[GRUNTING]
LALA: Stop! Stop it!
SAMUEL: You're still my little
chingona, all right?
No.
You sure?
He's been working cons
with your dad for years.
Look again.
I've never seen him.
SOMMERS: You have one minute.
[CRYING]
SOMMERS: Sorry,
no physical contact.
VERA: Lala.
Lala.
Did you just see Randy call Franks
a dumbass hick? It was awesome.
What are you doing up here?
Oh, no, my work down there is done.
Oscar-worthy performance, obvi.
Plus, honestly, I-I didn't want
to leave you alone.
Randy's jacket.
That's the signal.
There, guy in the hat.
He must have the stamp. Come on.
Let's go.
RANDY: Federal agents!
- LALA: Hands!
- Hands!
- Show me your hands!
- [CLAMORING]
GIBBS: Stop! Federal agents!
LALA: Hey!
Hey! Hey!
Stop!
[BOTH GRUNT]
I got him. I'm on him.
- GIBBS: Lala, you good?
- Yeah.
You can put the cuffs on.
It's not him.
1912 one-cent George Washington.
PABLO: I didn't even sell the stamp.
FRANKS: We don't care about the scam
you're pulling here.
We're here to bring you in
to talk about
the murder of Lily Wiggins.
What?
You think that I killed Lily?
No, Lily was a dear friend of mine.
Okay? I was devastated when
I heard about it on the news.
Yeah, we know you pulled the
job with her on the Banks family.
Kept the half million for yourself?
No, no, no, you guys got it all wrong.
Okay? She hired me to play the lawyer.
Okay? That's it.
I left town right after that.
I-I just got back
into town this morning.
You got proof of that?
- Uh
- That's what I thought.
Okay, okay, listen.
The day that Lily was killed,
I was in Cape Cod pulling a Dirty Groom.
- [SCOFFS]
- RANDY: A what?
I married an old rich widow, okay?
I was working on her for months.
I've got, I've got witnesses and
I've got the photos to prove it.
Dirty Groom's alibi checks out.
That's a sentence
I thought I'd never hear.
Lily just brought him in
to pose as the lawyer,
paid him with the fake stamp.
Claims she got the handwriting
sample from someone else months ago.
Victor Banks' stroke
didn't hit the newspapers
until three weeks ago.
Family kept it a secret.
So how'd Lily know
to target them back then?
This was an inside job.
Means we missed something
with these rich pricks.
Somebody in the family
stood to gain by working with Lily.
Come on, let's go.
No, no need to be embarrassed, Bethany.
Thanks.
All three daughters have alibis now.
FRANKS: I thought
Bethany was home alone.
Yeah, she rethought that.
She didn't want to say
she was at the doctor
having an STD scare.
Turns out, the clap is a great alibi.
Well, they have pills for that.
I talked to Black Kenny.
He plays poker with Jeff the son-in-law.
Said the guy's still in debt.
Hasn't been at the tables.
Don't rule him out for sure,
but it puts him lower on the radar.
LALA: Just talked to Maria,
the Banks' former cook.
She quit, opened up her own bakery.
Gave us a parting gift.
Oh, these snickerdoodles are deluxe.
Yeah, business is booming,
but get this before she quit,
she overheard Victor screaming
at his wife for cheating on him.
- Cheating with who?
- One of the staff.
Trainer, ferret walker, could be anyone.
But Victor said he was cutting
his wife out of the will.
Well, must've not gotten around to it.
Her bequest is in the part
that I just read earlier.
Yeah, here it is. "To my wife Audrey,
"I leave my 20,000 shares
of Vaughn Pharmaceuticals
and my Pearl on the Pond."
Get me the address of that Pearl.
Vaughn, Vaughn,
Vaughn Vaughn.
Price is a fraction. One over 64.
- The hell's that mean?
- Means her shares are worth
$312.50.
Pearl on the Pond's a fishing cabin
at 4242 Mission.
Uh
That's right outside of Buena Vista,
smack between the crash site
and the Banks' compound.
RANDY: I thought they were rich.
Everything in that area is dirt-poor.
Stock's worthless, land's worthless.
The old man left 'em with nothing.
Audrey gets Lily
to lie about the pregnancy,
then she convinces the greedy
stepdaughters to buy Lily off.
She kills her,
takes the $500K for herself.
Theory tracks, but
we ain't got no way to prove it.
GIBBS: What about the flies
that Woody found on Lily's shoes?
- The soldier fly larvae.
- The soldier fly larvae.
It's the exact kind of bait you
would find at a fishing pond.
Break out the UV lights.
We ain't coming up empty this time.
FRANKS:
Audrey Banks had the $500K
stuffed in a crawl space
in a fishing cabin
her husband left her.
She bleached
the crap out of the place.
When we hit it with
the luminol and the lights,
there was a blood trail
right out the door.
They met at the cabin
to split the money,
- but Audrey had other ideas.
- She shoots Lily,
but the girl's a fighter.
Takes off in her car,
but she never made it to the hospital.
This case was a bucking bronco, Mike.
Great job staying on.
Dominguez ran point.
Faced a lot on this one.
I'm proud of her.
You bet on her.
You pushed me to hire her
despite everything.
And I'm glad you did.
Still wish
she hadn't gone through it all.
But in our line of work
all them doings with her daddy
they're a feature, not a flaw.
VERA: Hey,
congrats.
I just saw Kowalski counting
the half mil upstairs.
He make that same joke
about running off to Belize?
VERA: Oh, yeah.
He's a one-trick pony, that guy.
Yeah.
Hey, so, listen, I don't
typically use my, uh,
profiling superpowers on the homies,
but because I love you,
I am willing to make an exception.
Oh, boy.
Yeah. When I look at you,
I see a brave, resilient badass
that I am proud to call my best friend.
Okay, good start. Back at you.
Yeah. But I also
see a tortured kid
who is still
carrying around all the crap
her dad dumped on her.
We all have our stuff.
Yeah, my dad left my mom
when I was 15,
started a whole new family.
That's stuff, La.
You've been through hell.
I'm still here.
Oh
hell to the yeah, you are.
But all his betrayals,
all his empty promises,
every time he pulled you in close
with "It's just you and me, kid,"
and then he let you down?
That is a whole lot of weight to carry.
What do you want me to do, Vera?
I want you to know that it's okay
to just let it all go.
It's okay to trust.
Because if you don't let it go, La,
there will never be
any room for new love to grow.
- [BILLIARD BALLS CLACK]
- [LIVELY CHATTER]
[MUSIC PLAYING FAINTLY]
Hey.
Hi.
Where is everyone?
Uh, I only asked you.
I wanted to talk to you.
Thanks, Smitty.
You're very welcome.
What's this?
Your dad's number.
How'd you get this?
Whether or not you call
is none of my business.
I just wanted
to give you the opportunity.
Thank you, Gibbs.
We're partners.
Do you have a quarter?
I'll be here if you need me.
♪
[MUSIC STOPS]
["BAILA ESTA CUMBIA" BY SELENA PLAYING]
Come on, white boy, show me those moves.
Nadie se quede sentado ♪
Todos vamos a bailar ♪
Siento algo que me mueve ♪
Un ritmo que me hace bailar ♪
Tomen todos su parejas ♪
Todos vamos a gozar ♪
Baila, baila esta cumbia ♪
Mueve, mueve la cintura ♪
Todos, las manos en alto ♪
Y griten, griten con locura ♪
Hey, hey, hey, hey ♪
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey ♪
Baila, baila esta cumbia ♪
Un ritmo, ritmo sin igual. ♪
[CRYING]
Safe house.
You with the Agency?
Not right now.
ROLAND: I was just
hired to track you down.
I didn't pull the trigger.
BISHOP: No, we know.
- Who did?
- [SCOFFS]
Come on, you know
these people don't give names.
And even if they did,
my business depends on discretion.
You see the tools and
the plastic over there?
That's for you and me.
All right, he was a white guy.
Average everything.
He found me on
the dark web, paid in crypto.
Said he wanted to find two former Feds.
BISHOP: Why?
He didn't say, but it seemed personal.
I thought we killed you,
and then the girl was next.
What girl?
Cecilia "Lala" Dominguez.
Your old partner.
She's dead.
Cessna 172.
Downed in the Sierras,
four passengers, no survivors.
I'm an expert at finding people.
All that took was a quick Google.
So why is this guy after a dead woman?
I wondered the same thing.
Showed him her obituary,
thought it was over.
But he didn't even read it.
He just smiled and said
she wasn't on that plane.
[GRUNTS]
It's the truth.
- RANDY: Did you and Lala hook up?
- GIBBS: Yeah, we kissed,
but I don't know where it's going.
But you're hoping it goes somewhere.
Missed you, too.
- Who's that?
- OLDER GIBBS: Lala Dominguez.
She died a long time ago.
BISHOP:
The tracker who found you
been used by the CIA for years.
Roan Briggs is holed up
in a hotel in Baltimore.
Let's roll.
OLDER GIBBS: You
haven't done this in a while,
so you almost forgot.
In this line of work,
it always comes down to a chase.
[TIRES SCREECHING]
♪
Chasing cars.
Chasing bad guys.
Chasing answers.
Gibbs, I'm heading east on Key Highway.
OLDER GIBBS [OVER PHONE]:
I'm on your six.
[VOICE-OVER]:
Some chases are simple.
A tracker tracked you down.
Now it's your turn to hunt him.
[TIRES SCREECHING]
[CAR HORN HONKS]
[CAR HORN HONKS]
Damn it, Gibbs.
I'm losing him.
I got him.
[TIRES SCREECHING]
Out of the car!
Hands up now!
Out of the car.
Turn around.
[GRUNTS]
Yeah.
Surprise, right?
Know your target, dude.
Takes more than one shot
to kill this guy.
OLDER GIBBS:
Some chases are simple.
But some are more complicated.
Sometimes you don't
realize who you're chasing
till you catch 'em.
RANDY: She's got your eye thing.
I've never met anyone but you
with two different colored eyes.
Does it kind of spook you out a bit?
Does it spook you out
when you see a dead redhead?
Kinda.
[FRANKS WHISTLING TUNE]
LALA: Someone's in a good mood.
Gary Callahan learn a new trick?
[LAUGHS] I didn't have Gary last night.
But I did have a nice time with Swanson.
A gentleman don't tell tales,
though, Rando. What do we got?
A hiker discovered
the crash early this morning.
By the time the EMTs got here,
she'd been dead for hours.
They found the bullet wound, called us.
We have blood on the door handle here,
so she must've been shot
before she got in the car.
Could be she was fleeing
the shooter when she crashed.
Or she was trying
to get herself to the hospital.
No brake marks between here
and the road. I think she passed out.
She got an ID on her?
LALA: No wallet, purse, or registration.
Y'all done yakking yet?
Can we do our thing?
FRANKS: Looking good this morning, Doc.
[LAUGHS] What got into you?
Gary learn hisself a new trick?
[LAUGHS]
If a gentleman were to tell tales,
spectacular.
Okay.
GIBBS: Guys,
found a purse.
Dang, that sucker was tossed far.
ID?
Bunch of makeup, gum,
couple rolls of quarters.
Damn. Nice sneaks, bro.
I came straight from a thing.
I forgot my boots.
By thing, he means dance lessons.
LALA: Really? You?
Did you know about this?
Yeah. Kumbaya.
Some kind of Spanish deal, like salsa.
Cumbia. It's Latin.
FRIEDMAN:
Hey, can I get a hand over here?
I need some muscles!
- Yeah.
- Thank you!
Cumbia, huh?
Yeah.
Salsa's usually the go-to
for curious white boys.
Well, not so predictable after all.
FRANKS: On three.
One, two, three.
[BOTH GRUNT]
Thank you.
FRANKS: Take it easy, boys.
- FRANKS: Damn.
- Oh.
FRANKS: She's pregnant.
FRIEDMAN: Poor girl looks to be
more than eight months.
Okay.
The hell?
Well, damn.
Okay, um
Plot twist, kids.
["SWING BOULEVARD"
BY JERRY MENGO PLAYING]
Ta-da!
- [MUSIC STOPS]
- RANDY: Whoo!
I didn't see you guys there.
You were staring right at them, Phil.
Your feet are magical.
Like tiny drum kits.
Well, Gail said that
Gibbs is taking dance lessons.
It motivated me to get
my old clackers out of storage.
Yeah, heard he was learning
the sultry art of cumbia.
Is that on account of
his undying love for you?
That's where my mind jumped as well.
Looks like you got a lot of stuff
over here. Let's talk about that.
All right, solid redirect.
Indeed, well played.
Turns out, our Jane Doe wasn't
just faking her pregnancy.
Check these out.
PHIL: So, she had a wig, fake eyelashes,
chicken cutlets. The color
of her eyes wasn't even real.
Friedman found a colored
contact in her left eye.
The one on the right must've
popped out during the car crash.
Phil and I were thinking,
maybe she's an actress
on her way home from a gig. Or a cop
working undercover.
Cops' prints are in the system,
and hers aren't.
Spy? Prints would be classified.
- We did find a bug on her.
- Really?
Well, not the spy kind of bug.
Sorry, Phil can't resist
a juicy forensic pun.
No, we found these beauties
in the treads of her shoes here.
Black soldier fly larvae.
Based on the level of dehydration,
- she probably stepped
- [TAPS]
on them shortly before she died.
Where are these flies found?
PHIL: Oh, lots of places.
Uh, pest control, fish bait,
animal feed, composting.
I mean, the list goes on and on.
Yeah, and on and on.
- Would you like him to continue?
- No, we'll take it from here.
- Thanks, guys.
- Thank you.
- And a one and a two and a
- No.
RANDY: Our crash site's here.
LALA: Friedman said
the bullet nicked an artery.
Subclav-something.
She bled out in 20, 25 minutes max.
Assuming she was
driving like a bat out of hell,
she could've gotten, what,
- ten miles?
- At the most.
Wherever she got shot,
it's somewhere in here.
That's a big-ass circle.
Ran the Ford's VIN number.
Owner's Sid Dimassa.
Just talked to him. He owns a horse
ranch called the Rancho Del Oro.
That's near Junior's day care.
- What, husband or something?
- GIBBS: Landlord.
She rents his guesthouse
on the property.
Said he also lets her borrow his car
because he didn't like the idea
of a pregnant lady taking the bus.
- He tell you her name?
- Lucy Williams.
Moved here from Connecticut
three months ago.
Single. That's all I know.
Rancho Del Oro's in our circle.
You think horses eat fly larvae?
One way to find out. Let's roll.
Let's roll.
I like that.
Yeah, felt good. Might use that again.
- Ain't no blood spatter.
- GIBBS: Killer could've cleaned it.
FRANKS: Ain't smelling bleach.
- Don't think this is where she was shot.
- [DOOR OPENS]
Dimassa took us all over the grounds.
No sign of a struggle out there either.
Said Lucy kept to herself.
Couldn't have asked
for a better roommate.
Her name ain't Lucy.
Lily Wiggins.
Minus the wig and
colored contacts, this is her.
Guys, check this out.
Not sure what's going on here,
but it looks like it's all about
this dude.
GIBBS: "Oil magnate
"and philanthropist Victor Banks
passed away Friday."
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]
FRANKS: Some kind of family tree.
RANDY: "Belinda Banks Miller, 32.
Daddy calls her Bebe.
Bought her a pony,
Daisy, for her sweet 16."
Looks like the son-in-law
had a taste for poker.
Says he was into his bookie
for 50 large.
GIBBS: Maybe Lily was a reporter,
going undercover, working on an article.
RANDY: Faking a
pregnancy for an article?
GIBBS: You got a better idea?
SAMUEL: You're still my little chingona,
all right?
It's just you and me, kid.
Hey. What happened?
Talk to me.
I messed up, Pa.
[SIGHS] How so?
He knew the Mickey Mantle was fake.
Uh
It's okay, Lala. It's okay.
We'll find another mark.
You'll do better next time.
Better than this?
[LAUGHING]
Your face, Pa.
Okay. Okay, you got me.
You got me, but I knew you could
do it. I knew you could do it.
- Because you're my little what?
- Chingona.
- You're my little what?
- Chingona.
Chingona. [LAUGHS]
- Hell yeah. Let me see.
- [RATTLING SOUND NEARBY]
It's okay. Don't worry.
Mama and Estela are at the mall.
Our secret is safe, okay?
I'm proud of you.
You had me worried there
for a little while.
[LALA GIGGLES]
Hey, you promised Mom you'd quit.
Never said when.
[SCOFFS]
SAMUEL: Where's the rest of the cards?
LALA: He wanted all of them.
- That's how I closed the deal.
- [OPENS CAN]
This is all you got?
For everything?
I'm sorry.
Hey, hey, hey, hey.
Hey, don't look so sad.
You're still
my little chingona. All right?
It's just you and me, kid.
It's just you and me.
Yeah, me and you.
This guy Victor Banks was loaded.
I think Lily was roping his family in
to pull a Royal Bastard.
- A what?
- You convince
a dead rich dude's family
you got knocked up by him.
Get a piece of the inheritance.
And you worked a case like this before?
Should I tell them?
Ain't my life.
My dad was a con man.
I used to be his partner.
- Like Paper Moon?
- Yeah, only Mexican.
RANDY: I knew you and your
dad were into some sketchy stuff,
but I thought
it was like picking pockets,
not pulling Boston Robs.
LALA: Boston Robs aren't really a thing.
RANDY: Are you sure?
You're awful quiet.
That must have been hard.
Yeah, and I can tell you
from personal experience,
this case is about
to get real complicated.
- I'll run point, okay?
- Yeah.
Try to keep up.
LALA: Victor Banks
left behind three daughters
and a wife. The fourth one, by the way.
I know he's an oil magnate, but, damn,
that's a lot of ex-wives
to have on the teat.
Well, the teat's worth
over a hundred million,
so he wasn't hurting. And
the whole family lives
on the same gaudy compound,
and it's in our crime scene radius.
You thinking his death
was foul play, too?
- Nope.
- [HANGS UP PHONE]
Tango pulled some strings,
got Victor's autopsy report.
He had a stroke golfing
at his country club,
spent three months
on life support, then passed.
Just pulled Lily's record.
She's never been arrested,
but her dad's got
a bunch of fraud charges.
- And?
- And she was listed
as a possible accomplice
in a few of 'em.
Cops just didn't
have enough proof to charge her.
Daddy's probably
mixed up in this somehow.
Let's haul him in.
Mm, he's in prison.
Doing a 15-year bid for identity theft.
- [SIGHS]
- This father-daughter
Paper Moon thing
happen a lot, Lala?
I guess at least twice, Randy.
The Banks daughters just arrived.
And per your request, Franks,
they brought Daddy's will.
It's a whole damn encyclopedia.
Better divvy it up.
I meant in thirds.
MARY JO: We're in the land
of the silver spoons now.
They asked Gail to prep the
conference room with Perrier.
Give 'em a straw,
tell 'em to blow bubbles.
[BOTH LAUGH]
Hear what I said, Rando?
Give 'em a straw,
tell 'em to blow bubbles.
[LAUGHS]
All right, before
we start these interviews,
let me tell you how
this Royal Bastard thing works.
Floor's yours, Dominguez.
A good con artist
never approaches the mark.
They get the mark to come to them.
That's the rope.
She waltzed into Daddy's funeral
in this tacky black dress,
belly out to here,
crying like Tammy Faye Bakker.
No one was listening to the eulogy
I spent weeks writing.
I was furious. Like, who's this bitch?
LALA: Once you rope them in,
you spin the lie.
You'll have done enough research
to pepper it with details
so it rings true.
AUDREY: That nasty little
ho-bag said she met my husband
at a Vegas strip club
The Candy Palace.
Called herself KitKat.
But I can't pretend I was shocked.
I'm wife number four,
and I used to be a masseuse.
You do the math.
But no matter how great your story is,
it's never good enough.
You got to have the proof.
BELINDA: Well,
I didn't think Daddy'd be dumb enough
to fall for a gold-digging stripper,
but she had these letters he wrote her,
promising to take care of her
and the baby.
That's Daddy's handwriting exactly,
right down to the wiggly way
he made his Gs.
Please don't read them out loud.
They're really graphic.
At the heart of every con
lies something fake.
Fake art, fake deal, fake baby.
You need a ready excuse
to keep your marks
from pulling back the curtain.
No way I was splitting my inheritance
without a paternity test.
But that skank refused to take
one until the baby was born.
Said it might cause a miscarriage.
A con will never work
unless you pick the right mark.
The best targets
are as greedy as the con man.
Waiting for the birth would have
tied up Daddy's estate for months.
I needed that money yesterday.
We convinced her to accept $500,000 cash
to settle out of court.
She had no idea that if she held off,
the baby's share
could've been worth $15 mil.
You paid her 500 grand?
We didn't find any cash.
I bet that shady lawyer took it.
- Who?
- JEFF: A few days before we paid
that village bicycle,
she sent this ambulance chaser
to shake us down. Some Mexican guy.
He was disgusting,
spitting his chewing tobacco
into the good china.
- What was his name?
- Juan Perez.
BELINDA: I can't believe
we let that sewer rat play us.
I mean, who fakes a pregnancy?
We're gonna need you
to give our sketch artist
a description of this lawyer.
- [DOOR OPENS]
- Wait here.
Yeah, gladly.
[DOOR CLOSES]
- GIBBS: Hey.
- [LALA SIGHS]
Lala.
You okay?
Lily had her dad.
Now her dad's locked up.
She needed a new partner.
We got to track down this Juan Perez,
if that's even his name.
You think this guy killed Lily
to keep the score for himself?
Get Dalton Basement
started on that sketch, okay?
YOUNG LALA: Dad, dinner!
Have I told you lately
how proud I am of you?
Hey, are you up for another adventure?
Yeah, right. I wish.
Well, let's do it, then.
Listen, this
will be the biggest score
we've ever made.
And this mark
she won't stand a chance
against my chingona.
Huh?
But, Dad, we can't.
Mom caught us last time.
Ah, don't worry about it.
That was like one time out of a million.
She's sick, Dad, and we promised her.
Lala, between Mom's medical bills
and Estela's tuition, we're broke.
- All right?
- I know my babysitting
doesn't pay that much.
I can get a second job.
No, Lala, you can't get a second job.
You need to go to school, and you
need to help me with Gabriela, so
We can't do this.
You know what, chingona?
You're right.
I'll get a loan, okay?
Everything's gonna be okay.
It's just you and me, baby.
It's just you and me, kid.
Tú y yo.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Ah, okey.
Heading to Daly's to percolate.
I think I'm just gonna head home.
Wish you wouldn't.
I don't speak much español,
but I picked up on enough.
You think Lily's partner
could be your daddy?
These Royal Bastard cons
are my dad's bread and butter.
I know he's posed as a lawyer before,
I'm sure he never quit dipping,
and the Mexican part
definitely checks out.
But my dad's not a killer.
Know this one must be
dredging up a lot up for you.
Mike, I'm good.
You ain't gonna like it,
but I'm gonna say it.
The way your pops treated you
his own daughter
don't it make you wonder
what he could do to a stranger?
SAMUEL: You're still my little chingona,
right?
[ECHOING]: It's just you and me.
"The memory of licking chocolate sauce
"from your beautiful belly
got me through another family reunion."
That is disgusting.
Wasn't that guy like 80?
Yeah, no one over 50 should ever
get into that sort of thing.
It's too early for me to be hearing
the words "belly licking."
Besides, Victor Banks
didn't write those letters.
Lily had them forged.
I've done that before. I have.
LALA: Got my copies, Gail?
Right here. But FYI,
these letters were forged.
Thanks for the heads-up, Gail.
Two of the daughters alibied out.
Belinda was at a polo match,
Beatrice was flying home
from Fashion Week in Paris.
So the richest crap imaginable.
That's all you got, probie? Come on.
So that leaves us the youngest
daughter, the son-in-law,
the wife, and whoever
Lily's partner was.
Feast your eyes
on how these people grieve.
[IN SNOBBY ACCENT]: One daughter
gets the Chrome Cathedral
Victor's collection of Bentleys.
[IN SNOBBY ACCENT]: Obviously.
FRANKS:
Another gets the Ocean Duchess.
I mean, who doesn't love
inheriting a yacht?
The third daughter gets Thornwood Hall,
and the wife runs away with the
[IN REGULAR VOICE]: Pearl on the Pond.
And not to mention they all get
a whole lot of stock.
Merck, Vaughn, Philip Morris.
Every one of 'em's sitting on millions,
so even if Lily stole $500,000,
why kill her for it?
Guys, listen up.
- Is that what you had on yesterday?
- Yeah.
I was out all night trying
to track down my dad's old pals.
Thought they might know
who forged these letters.
- Told you we was percolating.
- Yeah, so was I.
There's only one guy in town
who's talented enough
to have forged letters this well,
and get this, he's our CI.
The Bagpiper.
I thought he was a fence.
He's a Renaissance man, probie.
You and Dominguez, go talk to him.
Me and Randy'll search
the Banks' compound.
We're just waiting
on a warrant to come in.
Speak of the devil.
Warrant's still processing, Franks.
But Dalton faxed over your sketch, Lala.
[LALA EXHALES SHARPLY] Okay.
The earmarks of this whole thing
got me thinking that Lily's partner
could possibly be my dad.
Is that what he looks like?
No.
No. But my dad loved disguises.
He used a new one for every job.
We got to get eyes on him, Dominguez.
You got an address?
He was down in TJ.
Gabriela said that she wrote
to him a few months ago,
but the letter got returned to sender,
so he could be anywhere.
Warrant's in, Franks.
Rando, with me.
SAMUEL [ECHOING]:
It's just you and me.
Can I ask you something?
You had all ride.
Yeah, I was working up to it.
I know your dad pulled a lot of scams.
Was he violent?
In his line of work,
you've got to know
how to handle yourself.
With you?
- Did he ever?
- No.
But he did his damage.
CALLUM: Uh-oh, what'd I do now?
Looking good, Lala.
Thanks, Callum.
- You wanting a cold one?
- We're good.
Who's the new guy, Lala?
This is Gibbs. He dances cumbia.
Really?
Us white boys usually go for the salsa.
- These look familiar?
- [SIGHS]
- Nope.
- Really?
Forgery this good could only
come from a genuine artist.
[EXHALES SHARPLY] Seriously, dude,
close the garage.
It's a free world.
LALA: We're not trying to bust you, Cal.
But the woman
you made these for is dead.
GIBBS: Just trying to
figure out who killed her.
Think it might have been her partner.
LALA: A Mexican guy?
She seemed like a nice girl.
She brought in some handwriting samples,
paid me to forge a few letters.
- And the partner?
- She mentioned
someone gave the handwriting sample
to her, but I never met a partner.
I gave her the letters
and the fake
1912 George Washington stamp
she asked for. That's it.
They were planning a second con.
- A King Farouk.
- GIBBS: What's that?
- Selling fake stamps?
- Or rare coins,
baseball cards,
anything collectors want.
Thank you,
I appreciate your time, Callum.
How the hell do you know
what a King Farouk is?
Something wrong?
No, it's all good, baby.
[POUNDING ON DOOR]
Lala,
go back to your room.
Hey, hey, hey, easy.
Easy.
You don't take a loan
that you can't pay back.
Where's my money, Samuel?
I'm getting it, I'm getting it.
Okay, I'm get I'm getting it!
[GRUNTS]
- Hey.
- Yeah,
- you said that already.
- [GRUNTING]
- Stop!
- [BLOWS LANDING]
Please!
Stop, you're gonna kill him!
- Stop it!
- One week
or you're dead.
Mi amor, are you hurt?
Mm-mm.
It's okay, my girl. I'm fine.
I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.
Okay. Okay,
one more job.
We pull one more King Farouk,
and we'll make back
everything and then some.
Okay? Okay?
Just you and me. You and me.
Stamp's not in here.
Why is this guy messing around,
selling fake stamps
if he just made off with 500 grand?
Most of these people,
the thrill's as big a deal as the money.
You and your dad ever do
one of these King Farouks?
We did.
It was the last job
we ever pulled together.
How long since you've talked to him?
Five years.
Longest it's been.
Do you want to?
I definitely have a lot to say.
But it doesn't matter.
I don't have his number anyway.
FRANKS: Y'all have any luck?
No, there's nothing in here.
How'd it go at the Banks estate?
Four damn houses over there,
ain't one of 'em was a crime scene.
Rich folks are nuttier
than a pecan tree.
After the Bagpiper, I don't want
to hear anything about nuts.
The youngest daughter
had a whole damn bedroom
just for her ferret.
This last box is from the grifter
lady's car wreck, not her house.
What was the ferret's name?
- We didn't ask, Gail.
- Bartholomew.
Hey. Check it out.
There's a stamp collector's
expo in town this Saturday.
I bet Lily and her partner
were gonna sell that stamp together.
- Think the partner will sell it alone?
- Yeah.
And we're gonna buy it.
I was about to get super pumped
about conning the con man,
but then I caught myself 'cause
the con man might be your dad.
And I love you so much.
FRANKS: What happens
if it is your old man?
Ain't no daughter should have
to arrest her own daddy.
I think you should let us do
the takedown just in case.
If it's him, Mike,
I'm putting the cuffs on.
You want me to fork over $30,000
- to pay a con man?
- Yes, sir.
- [HAMMERING]
- Is this some kind of a joke?
- RANDY: No, sir.
- The plan won't work
- without the money, sir.
- Can't this wait, Cliff?
No, it cannot. This seal
has been months in the making.
It is a symbol of everything
that we've overcome.
- It's beautiful.
- Breathtaking.
- That ought to do it.
- WHEELER: Thank you.
Lookee there, Cliff. You've
got your fancy new NCIS seal.
What do you say we make
that "C" stand for "cash"?
- Is it a hair crooked?
- Cliff.
Okay, please explain to me
how this whole plan is supposed to work.
To con the con man,
we have to manipulate him
into approaching us at the stamp expo.
Why is Randolf making me uncomfortable?
This is the rope, sir.
Do it. Come on, do it.
[FRANKS GRUNTS]
- Okay, please stop.
- Okay.
FRANKS: Rando's gonna
pose as a gullible trust fund baby
with a snooty
future father-in-law to impress.
GIBBS:
When Randy starts flashing cash,
paying too much
for mediocre stamps,
word will spread fast
he's a sucker.
VERA: I just convinced
that jacked ginger over there
to pay me a grand
for a canceled Ben Franklin.
Archie? He paid you how much?
[LAUGHTER]
FRANKS: Then I'll heat things up.
You got my stamp?
Oh, man, I'll give you
$1,200 for that bad boy.
The hell you doing, boy? That's twice
- what the stamp's worth.
- How about you mind
your business, you dumbass hick?
- Dumbass?
- [IMITATING FRANKS]: "Duh, that's twice
what the stamp's worth, boy."
You know what?
You're just jealous
because for some of us,
these are just fun coupons.
Now it's time for the squeeze.
We create a sense of urgency,
make the con man think
he has to move fast.
Sir, if we don't leave
for the airport soon,
you'll miss your flight to Miami.
Give me a minute, Buckley.
I need one more of these beauties
to wow my girl's dad.
LALA: Then we wait for
our con man to come to us.
SOMMERS: Your father isn't coming,
Cecilia.
He's a smart man.
He knows grand larceny
is up to ten years
in prison, so he's on the run.
Am I going to jail?
That depends
on if you tell us the truth.
Where'd your dad go?
I don't know.
Would you tell me if you did?
No.
This King Farouk you just
helped your dad pull
conned a coin collector out of $49,000.
My mom is sick. We needed the money.
The judge wants to place you
into juvenile detention.
You can't. My sisters need me.
Who's gonna take care
of everyone if I'm gone?
- Okay, then start talking.
- I told you,
I don't know where my dad is.
What about his partner?
You know where we can find him?
What do you mean?
I'm his partner.
Have you seen this man before?
[GRUNTING]
LALA: Stop! Stop it!
SAMUEL: You're still my little
chingona, all right?
No.
You sure?
He's been working cons
with your dad for years.
Look again.
I've never seen him.
SOMMERS: You have one minute.
[CRYING]
SOMMERS: Sorry,
no physical contact.
VERA: Lala.
Lala.
Did you just see Randy call Franks
a dumbass hick? It was awesome.
What are you doing up here?
Oh, no, my work down there is done.
Oscar-worthy performance, obvi.
Plus, honestly, I-I didn't want
to leave you alone.
Randy's jacket.
That's the signal.
There, guy in the hat.
He must have the stamp. Come on.
Let's go.
RANDY: Federal agents!
- LALA: Hands!
- Hands!
- Show me your hands!
- [CLAMORING]
GIBBS: Stop! Federal agents!
LALA: Hey!
Hey! Hey!
Stop!
[BOTH GRUNT]
I got him. I'm on him.
- GIBBS: Lala, you good?
- Yeah.
You can put the cuffs on.
It's not him.
1912 one-cent George Washington.
PABLO: I didn't even sell the stamp.
FRANKS: We don't care about the scam
you're pulling here.
We're here to bring you in
to talk about
the murder of Lily Wiggins.
What?
You think that I killed Lily?
No, Lily was a dear friend of mine.
Okay? I was devastated when
I heard about it on the news.
Yeah, we know you pulled the
job with her on the Banks family.
Kept the half million for yourself?
No, no, no, you guys got it all wrong.
Okay? She hired me to play the lawyer.
Okay? That's it.
I left town right after that.
I-I just got back
into town this morning.
You got proof of that?
- Uh
- That's what I thought.
Okay, okay, listen.
The day that Lily was killed,
I was in Cape Cod pulling a Dirty Groom.
- [SCOFFS]
- RANDY: A what?
I married an old rich widow, okay?
I was working on her for months.
I've got, I've got witnesses and
I've got the photos to prove it.
Dirty Groom's alibi checks out.
That's a sentence
I thought I'd never hear.
Lily just brought him in
to pose as the lawyer,
paid him with the fake stamp.
Claims she got the handwriting
sample from someone else months ago.
Victor Banks' stroke
didn't hit the newspapers
until three weeks ago.
Family kept it a secret.
So how'd Lily know
to target them back then?
This was an inside job.
Means we missed something
with these rich pricks.
Somebody in the family
stood to gain by working with Lily.
Come on, let's go.
No, no need to be embarrassed, Bethany.
Thanks.
All three daughters have alibis now.
FRANKS: I thought
Bethany was home alone.
Yeah, she rethought that.
She didn't want to say
she was at the doctor
having an STD scare.
Turns out, the clap is a great alibi.
Well, they have pills for that.
I talked to Black Kenny.
He plays poker with Jeff the son-in-law.
Said the guy's still in debt.
Hasn't been at the tables.
Don't rule him out for sure,
but it puts him lower on the radar.
LALA: Just talked to Maria,
the Banks' former cook.
She quit, opened up her own bakery.
Gave us a parting gift.
Oh, these snickerdoodles are deluxe.
Yeah, business is booming,
but get this before she quit,
she overheard Victor screaming
at his wife for cheating on him.
- Cheating with who?
- One of the staff.
Trainer, ferret walker, could be anyone.
But Victor said he was cutting
his wife out of the will.
Well, must've not gotten around to it.
Her bequest is in the part
that I just read earlier.
Yeah, here it is. "To my wife Audrey,
"I leave my 20,000 shares
of Vaughn Pharmaceuticals
and my Pearl on the Pond."
Get me the address of that Pearl.
Vaughn, Vaughn,
Vaughn Vaughn.
Price is a fraction. One over 64.
- The hell's that mean?
- Means her shares are worth
$312.50.
Pearl on the Pond's a fishing cabin
at 4242 Mission.
Uh
That's right outside of Buena Vista,
smack between the crash site
and the Banks' compound.
RANDY: I thought they were rich.
Everything in that area is dirt-poor.
Stock's worthless, land's worthless.
The old man left 'em with nothing.
Audrey gets Lily
to lie about the pregnancy,
then she convinces the greedy
stepdaughters to buy Lily off.
She kills her,
takes the $500K for herself.
Theory tracks, but
we ain't got no way to prove it.
GIBBS: What about the flies
that Woody found on Lily's shoes?
- The soldier fly larvae.
- The soldier fly larvae.
It's the exact kind of bait you
would find at a fishing pond.
Break out the UV lights.
We ain't coming up empty this time.
FRANKS:
Audrey Banks had the $500K
stuffed in a crawl space
in a fishing cabin
her husband left her.
She bleached
the crap out of the place.
When we hit it with
the luminol and the lights,
there was a blood trail
right out the door.
They met at the cabin
to split the money,
- but Audrey had other ideas.
- She shoots Lily,
but the girl's a fighter.
Takes off in her car,
but she never made it to the hospital.
This case was a bucking bronco, Mike.
Great job staying on.
Dominguez ran point.
Faced a lot on this one.
I'm proud of her.
You bet on her.
You pushed me to hire her
despite everything.
And I'm glad you did.
Still wish
she hadn't gone through it all.
But in our line of work
all them doings with her daddy
they're a feature, not a flaw.
VERA: Hey,
congrats.
I just saw Kowalski counting
the half mil upstairs.
He make that same joke
about running off to Belize?
VERA: Oh, yeah.
He's a one-trick pony, that guy.
Yeah.
Hey, so, listen, I don't
typically use my, uh,
profiling superpowers on the homies,
but because I love you,
I am willing to make an exception.
Oh, boy.
Yeah. When I look at you,
I see a brave, resilient badass
that I am proud to call my best friend.
Okay, good start. Back at you.
Yeah. But I also
see a tortured kid
who is still
carrying around all the crap
her dad dumped on her.
We all have our stuff.
Yeah, my dad left my mom
when I was 15,
started a whole new family.
That's stuff, La.
You've been through hell.
I'm still here.
Oh
hell to the yeah, you are.
But all his betrayals,
all his empty promises,
every time he pulled you in close
with "It's just you and me, kid,"
and then he let you down?
That is a whole lot of weight to carry.
What do you want me to do, Vera?
I want you to know that it's okay
to just let it all go.
It's okay to trust.
Because if you don't let it go, La,
there will never be
any room for new love to grow.
- [BILLIARD BALLS CLACK]
- [LIVELY CHATTER]
[MUSIC PLAYING FAINTLY]
Hey.
Hi.
Where is everyone?
Uh, I only asked you.
I wanted to talk to you.
Thanks, Smitty.
You're very welcome.
What's this?
Your dad's number.
How'd you get this?
Whether or not you call
is none of my business.
I just wanted
to give you the opportunity.
Thank you, Gibbs.
We're partners.
Do you have a quarter?
I'll be here if you need me.
♪
[MUSIC STOPS]
["BAILA ESTA CUMBIA" BY SELENA PLAYING]
Come on, white boy, show me those moves.
Nadie se quede sentado ♪
Todos vamos a bailar ♪
Siento algo que me mueve ♪
Un ritmo que me hace bailar ♪
Tomen todos su parejas ♪
Todos vamos a gozar ♪
Baila, baila esta cumbia ♪
Mueve, mueve la cintura ♪
Todos, las manos en alto ♪
Y griten, griten con locura ♪
Hey, hey, hey, hey ♪
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey ♪
Baila, baila esta cumbia ♪
Un ritmo, ritmo sin igual. ♪
[CRYING]
Safe house.
You with the Agency?
Not right now.
ROLAND: I was just
hired to track you down.
I didn't pull the trigger.
BISHOP: No, we know.
- Who did?
- [SCOFFS]
Come on, you know
these people don't give names.
And even if they did,
my business depends on discretion.
You see the tools and
the plastic over there?
That's for you and me.
All right, he was a white guy.
Average everything.
He found me on
the dark web, paid in crypto.
Said he wanted to find two former Feds.
BISHOP: Why?
He didn't say, but it seemed personal.
I thought we killed you,
and then the girl was next.
What girl?
Cecilia "Lala" Dominguez.
Your old partner.
She's dead.
Cessna 172.
Downed in the Sierras,
four passengers, no survivors.
I'm an expert at finding people.
All that took was a quick Google.
So why is this guy after a dead woman?
I wondered the same thing.
Showed him her obituary,
thought it was over.
But he didn't even read it.
He just smiled and said
she wasn't on that plane.
[GRUNTS]
It's the truth.