Original subtitles

GIBBS: Take the back, McGee.

[MUSIC PLAYS OVER SPEAKERS]

McGee?

In position, boss. Back door's open.

Federal agents. We have a warrant.

[GLASS SHATTERS]

[BARKING]

[McGEE GRUNTING]

GIBBS: Clear. - Clear.

We gotta stop serving warrants after lunch.

Ten bucks says McGee spills it on this one.

Where is McGee?

[GUNSHOT]

McGee?

[WHIMPERS]

MAN: Looks like a flesh wound.

It's a good thing McGee's not a better shot.

When did you last have a tetanus shot?

Probably after that time Dicky Newsome and I

were fighting over the Galactic Hunt Obi-Wan Kenobi.

So last year sometime?

It was a while ago, Ducky.

Yeah, well, a trip to the infirmary is in order.

Should we take him to the vet?

GIBBS: The dog is going nowhere but back to the lab.

- It's covered with evidence. TONY: Great.

Abby will have a field day combing that for evidence.

It is not an "it" or a "that," it is a "he." And he is in pain.

Yes, well, this should alleviate that.

Actually, Dr. Mallard, it would be more effective in the back of the neck.

Really?

Actually, you should pinch the skin up

so the needle doesn't hit the muscle mass.

Where did you learn that, Mr. Palmer?

I spent two summers as a veterinary assistant

during college.

DUCKY: Wonderful.

Well, I should have no problem patching him up.

- Unless you would rather-- - No, no. Carry on.

I have a body with which to acquaint myself.

GIBBS: Not the only one.

DiNozzo, Ziva, come on.

Boss. What about me?

Take the evidence back to Abby.

Petty Officer Kyle Hanson, military working-dog handler

with the Pax River Master-at-Arms Force.

- Drug Enforcement Unit. - Enforcing everyone but himself.

Well, given the prevalence of bite marks,

torn flesh, puncture wounds,

I'd postulate that Petty Officer Hanson was the victim of a dog attack.

Really going out on a limb there, Duck.

That assumption is further substantiated

by the presence of a dog at the scene of the crime.

[IN ENGLISH ACCENT] By cracky, Dr. Mallard,

I believe you've solved the case.

Did you wake up in the wrong bed this morning?

[IN NORMAL VOICE] if your question is,

did I wake up on the wrong side of the bed,

the answer is no. But my mood did sour somewhat

when I walked in and found that our chief suspect was dead.

And it appears he's been dead for at least 36 hours.

That explains his disappearance

and why he did not show up for his dog-handling duties.

Doesn't explain why his dog turned on him.

It's just too bad, you know?

If we had more time, we would've been able to bust this guy

and find out who was shipping drugs through this base.

Unfortunately, thanks to Semper Fido,

he's never gonna roll over.

Sorry, boss.

Play dead.

ZIVA: Gibbs?

I can help. Sorry. Sorry, boss.

- Room with a view. - Hey.

Cocaine?

GIBBS: Well, you tell me.

TONY: Looks like someone was in a hurry to rip into it.

GIBBS: Or bite into it.

That would explain why the dog went all Hannibal Lecter.

Sorry. I know. Movie reference.

Cocaine.

TONY: Aha! And a generous allowance.

If Hanson wasn't dead, we'd have enough to arrest him.

Hey, McGee.

Oh, my God. What happened to you?

- I was attacked by a vicious dog. - Are you okay?

- Yeah. Careful, careful. - Sorry. Did you provoke it?

Well, if you consider serving a warrant provoking.

- What happened to the dog? - He was shot.

What?

McGee? Poor thing.

Abby, Abby, careful. That is one vicious dog.

ABBY: Hi.

Yeah, McGee. He's really vicious.

Well, Ducky and Jimmy sedated him.

I'm hoping you can get some evidence off of him.

ABBY: There, that's better. Who would shoot this cute little dog?

Look at you. You're--

It was self-defence. It was self-defence.

- You shot that cute little dog? - He's not cute and little.

He's vicious and large.

How could you shoot an innocent animal, McGee?

Abby, that dog is not innocent. He killed someone.

Dogs don't kill people. People kill people.

People with dogs that kill people kill people.

You didn't kill anybody, did you?

No.

McGEE: That's my Hugo Boss.

Hey, don't you think that you're compromising the evidence

with my $500 jacket?

If you think that I can't distinguish the fibres on your stupid jacket

from the evidence on the dog, you don't know me, McGee.

And right now, I don't wanna know you.

Good dog.

Bad McGee.

Jethro. I just got a call from Pax River.

The base commander's talking like the case is closed.

GIBBS: No, that's a dead end. It's still open.

He claims we got our man.

Got one link in a bigger chain. Still got five suspects.

From his point of view, both the cocaine and the trafficker

were found. Problem solved.

Is that your point of view?

I can sympathise with the commander's impatience.

Well, you sympathise. I'll keep investigating.

The suspect's dead. You played your hand.

The rest of the team closed up shop.

I can't afford to waste resources if the trail's gone cold.

Director, the only thing that's cold is that body in autopsy.

Clock's ticking.

I will inform the base commander

that you will be prudent in your disruption of his operations.

Something else?

- Hey, they check you for rabies? - No.

- What? - Cujo.

You know, the movie, based on the novel by Stephen King?

A perfectly friendly Saint Bernard contracts rabies,

bites up everyone in this town.

I mean, people's brains start swelling up,

Ieaking out of their ears. People are foaming at the mouth.

- Define "foaming." ZIVA: You do not have rabies.

You're getting him all worried for no good reason.

She's right, McGruff.

What you should worry about is whether our dead petty officer,

whose blood was all over the dog, might have had some disease

like herpes or hepatitis or malaria.

I hadn't thought about that.

Have any of you thought about how to pick up the pieces to this case?

Well, the one piece that we did have, Petty Officer Hanson,

is now lying in pieces, thanks to a possibly rabid dog.

- Bad timing for us and for him. - What do we know, McGee?

We know that Hanson recently called a known cocaine trafficker,

Diego Gallante in Panama,

and that Gallante has recently disappeared.

- Hiding. - Or dead.

We also know Gallante claimed he had bribed a flight crew,

and that he had access to Coco Solo Naval Air Station in Panama,

where C-130s make regular supply flights from Pax River

every week.

When we crosscheck which flights match that pattern, we come up with--

Suspects. One or more.

- Any of them call Gallante? - No, just Hanson.

Gallante would've ditched his cell by now.

I think it's time we go in and lean on those guys.

GIBBS: Not yet.

- McGee-- - I know, boss.

Oh, boss, we already been through all this. I mean, I got no leads.

Ziva's flirted with every seaman on the base.

And McGee's watched a hundred hours of Petty Officer Junction.

Hundred and fifty, actually.

Go back to Pax River and talk to the other dog handlers.

TONY: See if one of them barks. I know.

Hey, McGee.

You okay?

Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine, boss.

ABBY: You're a clean boy. Okay.

Be a good boy while Abby swabs the inside of your mouth for DNA.

Who's a good Jethro?

GIBBS: I'm a good Jethro.

Don't be mad. Be flattered.

He's just so strong and handsome and quiet,

so I named him Jethro.

Abby.

Well, "Butch" was just too, you know, butch.

And don't worry, because I got enough blood

and hair and fibre samples before I cleaned him.

I don't have results for you yet, but I know how much you love results.

- Abs? - That's not what you're here to tell me.

You're here to tell me,

"Abby, don't get too attached to the dog,

because he doesn't belong to us,

and we don't know where the evidence is gonna lead us."

- Okay, good. I won't have to tell you. - No, you don't.

- Abs, the dog belongs in a kennel. - No, he doesn't, Gibbs.

He shouldn't be behind bars. He's innocent.

Okay, come on.

Get inside.

I'm gonna prove it to you. I took a swab from Jethro,

and I took a swab from the victim's neck.

When I get the results back,

I'm gonna show you that they don't match.

We'll see.

GIBBS: The dog stays in the kennel, Abs.

ZIVA: Do you know him? - Lieutenant commander, flight crew.

- Don't know them all. Don't know him. - His name is Warfield.

- Do you know Lieutenant Bowen? - No, ma'am.

Can you tell me what kind of people Hanson was associating with?

Did he say anything to you before he went UA?

Your shoulders work much better than your mouth.

- I work with dogs, ma'am. Not people. - You worked with Hanson.

Did anything about his behaviour or activities seem suspicious to you?

You don't like us being here, do you?

Is it because we are cops interviewing other cops?

Or is it because you guys could not sniff out

who was smuggling drugs, and we have to do your job for you?

Sorry, ma'am. I just didn't get to know Petty Officer Hanson all that well.

Ha-ha. Obviously, you did not converse with him on a regular basis,

but surely you must have noticed something about the man.

Hanson was a showboat. He liked to flaunt the cash.

TONY: How long you been a dog handler?

MAN: Draw your own conclusions.

TONY:Dogs you work with ever bite? - Not mine.

What about Hanson's?

Kyle was a friend. I don't like to speak ill of anybody,

especially not somebody who died a horrible death like that.

So you're covering because you know he's guilty?

No, sir.

Just couldn't keep complete control of his dog, is all.

Got aggressive on me and others on occasion.

What would happen if a dog got a taste of some cocaine?

Is that what happened? It would be bad, sir.

Dog handling must be a pretty rough job.

I don't wanna dog you with a lot more questions,

but if I need to sniff around some more,

is there a number I can call, or...?

The folks inside keep track of me pretty good.

You can call them.

What about this one, Dr. Mallard?

Those wounds are glancing.

Too much tearing, I'm afraid.

No, what we're looking for is a representational bite-hold. Ah!

Oh, this one will do.

You know, Mr. Palmer,

a number of these puncture wounds are exceedingly sharp.

Certain breeds, especially shepherds, can have needle-sharp teeth,

capable of inflicting severe puncture wounds.

As on the clavicle here.

Did you get your shots, Timothy?

I feel like a dartboard.

Guess that's better than being a chew toy.

If you're looking for my findings, I'll be done momentarily.

Actually, Ducky,

I was wondering if you could tell me what the symptoms of rabies are.

Yes, well, I will yield the floor to young Palmer here

and allow our resident dog expert to explain to you

why you do not have rabies.

PALMER:You ever heard of Cujo? There's something...

- You got it? - Well, I've got enough.

Oh, no, no. We need to do this one together.

Ducky.

[NELLIE McKAY'S "THE DOG SONG" PLAYS ON COMPUTER]

ABBY: Hey, Gibbs. Hey, Ducky.

- Did you meet Jethro? - Quite a number of years ago.

ABBY: No, not Gibbs. Jethro.

- Say hi to him. - Hello, Jethro.

Say hi to Ducky.

[BARKING]

GIBBS: Abs. - Good boy.

Ducky has his initial findings.

Yes, well, Petty Officer Hanson was mauled.

He had a neck wound that severed his carotid artery

and that made him bleed to death.

You understand what he's saying to you, Abs?

Well, yeah. Hanson was killed by a dog.

- It doesn't say this dog. - Abby, come on.

Jethro is innocent.

I found pieces of Hanson's flesh in Jethro's teeth.

Well, that sounds innocent.

Flesh that had hair follicles on it from Hanson's arm, not his neck.

Well, that's hardly surprising.

We found multiple perforating injuries on most of Hanson's extremities.

Well, that hardly suggests the dog was innocent.

It shows that Jethro was trying to drag his owner.

He was trying to save Hanson.

Or Hanson was putting up his arms

to protect himself from a dog that was killing him.

We don't know that. There's still a lot of evidence that has to be processed.

There's the castings.

I haven't gotten the DNA match yet on the dog's saliva.

Butch?

Butch.

TONY: Wait. Go back.

Tolliver just handed something to Sanchez.

ZIVA: Small package.

Could be drugs.

What's he doing?

ZIVA: He's opening it.

He's examining it.

- He's eating it. - Looks like Funyuns.

What do we got?

A sudden urge to hit the vending machines.

- McGee? - Besides eye strain, not much, boss.

No pressure, but I just got word

the Pax River five are shipping out to Panama in 36 hours.

We'll lose access to them for at least a week, maybe two.

- Bring them in? - No.

We go to them. Catch them off guard.

- Shake the tree, see what falls. - Ziva, DiNozzo, let's go.

[PHONE RINGS]

Boss?

- Yeah, Gibbs. ABBY: Gibbs, I've got something.

I'll meet you in the car.

Gibbs, look in the microscope.

Found cocaine in the dog.

Just look in the microscope, Gibbs. Do it.

GIBBS: It looks like a bug. - It's not just a bug, Gibbs.

It's a flea.

GIBBS: Okay.

Look.

Ducky found that flea on the deceased.

Mm-hm.

I went over every inch of Jethro. Not one flea.

Which means he is totally clean. Which means he's totally innocent.

Flea could've jumped off the dog, landed on the dead guy, Abby.

That kind of wild conjecture would never stand up in court.

Did you read the rest of Ducky's report?

Well, sometimes Ducky's wrong.

I mean, not often.

Maybe one time.

Abs.

We have to give the dog back.

Gibbs, you know what that means.

You can't keep the dog, Abs.

But--

Okay.

Okay.

I'll give him back after I finish getting all the evidence off of him.

How much more do you need, Abby? You found cocaine in the dog.

You got the victim's flesh on the dog's teeth.

Dog's saliva on the victim. He attacked McGee.

Gibbs.

Look at his eyes.

Does he look like a killer?

You are just making this rougher on yourself, Abs.

DUCKY: if you have a moment...

- Can I help you? - Petty Officer Erica Perelli.

Dog handler, Pax River.

You the one that shot Hanson's dog?

Uh...

- Looks like he bit you pretty bad. - I've been bitten harder.

By dogs. I love dogs. I'm a dog person, really.

What kind of dog do you have?

I don't.

Yet. But I might.

Will. Soon. Very soon. I just need to find the right girl.

Dog. Girl dog. I want a girl dog.

- I do like boys, though. - Don't ask, don't tell, McGee.

Hey, boss. This is Petty Officer Perelli. She is here to...

To collect the dog, sir. I'm sorry to say he has to be put down.

I wish there could be another way,

but it's Navy policy in fatal dog-mauling cases.

Boss, I can take Petty Officer Perelli down if you like.

You can call me Erica.

Timothy.

There have been a lot of tough assignments over the years,

but this is one of the toughest.

It's probably not gonna get any easier.

Abby, our forensic scientist, has become a bit attached to the dog.

How attached?

Abby?

Abby.

GIBBS: NCIS.

Gather around, kids. We're gonna have a little chat.

We have a training mission.

Not anymore.

ZIVA:We know without a doubt that a major cocaine-smuggling operation

was run out of this aircraft.

Name Diego Gallante ring any bells?

Major drug trafficker in Panama.

He was supplying to someone on this aircraft.

MAN: This is bull crap. - Sir.

If by "bull crap," you mean your worst freaking nightmare,

then, yeah, this is bull crap.

WARFIELD:Those contrabandistas down there will say anything.

Doesn't make it true.

Well, doesn't make it false.

SANCHEZ: So I heard some rumours.

Some local guy bragging he bribed a flight crew.

You didn't believe him?

Nobody could bribe a whole flight crew.

He only had to bribe one.

TONY: As loadmaster,

you're in charge of everything brought aboard the aircraft?

Yes, sir.

So you could sneak aboard whatever you wanted?

ZIVA: You seem nervous. - Don't like being questioned by cops.

Because you did something?

Because they can cause me trouble, even when I didn't do something.

As flight engineer, I'm in charge of every moving part of this aircraft, sir.

Gives you access to every nook and cranny.

A lot of hiding spaces on a C-130, huh?

If I was smuggling drugs, I'd be living it up in Georgetown,

not slumming it in the barracks, sir.

I don't believe any of my men are involved in this.

But even the best aircraft commanders have a limited field of vision.

It's your crew, your responsibility.

Do you know how long a prison sentence you'd be facing?

- Life. - Life.

TONY: if you're not involved,

you don't wanna go down with the person who is.

If you are involved, and you talk, you will get a reduced sentence.

A limited-time offer. Otherwise...

We're like a locked-on missile.

The only question is who we take down.

TONY: Think they're all involved? GIBBS: No.

- Think we rattled them? - We'll see.

[ROCK MUSIC PLAYS ON CAR STEREO]

- Can I help you, ma'am? - I'm looking for fleas.

Fleas?

Yeah.

Yes, ma'am.

[MUSIC STOPS]

ABBY: All right, Jethro. We're just gathering evidence.

It's for your own defence.

Jethro.

Jethro. Jethro!

I'm Jethro.

ABBY: Jethro!

Jethro, come here.

Jeth--

Jethro.

Never do that again.

[JETHRO GROWLING]

[PHONE RINGS]

- Hey, McGee. McGEE: Where'd you take the dog?

- Abby? - I'm at the Naval base, McGee.

You better get down here. I think we have another body.

DUCKY: Careful, Mr. Palmer.

We're trying to take bones out of the ground, not put mine in.

PALMER: Of course.

That dog should have a muzzle on it, Abby.

Put a muzzle on yourself, McGee. It's not like he shot you.

All right, I know I shouldn't have taken him out without authorisation,

but time was of the essence.

And besides, Jethro might have uncovered an important clue.

Or maybe it's another one of his victims, and he's confessing.

- Or maybe it's his lunch. - Only if he was a cannibal, Jethro.

I wasn't talking to you.

And you may wanna cover your eyes.

What's here is not human.

It's canine.

Criminal investigation is really an art.

It involves creativity and inspiration. Don't you think?

You found a clue, Tony. That does not make you Picasso.

[TONY CHUCKLES]

I'm sensing a little frustration here.

Envy. Let it go. It's counterproductive.

Boss, I got something.

The pilot we talked to, Lieutenant Commander Warfield,

has a cousin stationed at Pax River.

Petty Officer Phillip Granger.

Warfield listed him as his emergency contact.

Granger was busted for cocaine possession two months ago.

Failed to appear to face charges. He has fled.

Family business. Warfield supplies to his cousin.

Maybe.

- Worth another chat with him. GIBBS: Keep digging.

I have more on Lieutenant Commander Warfield.

You do?

Fetch.

TONY: What'd you find? ZIVA: A little inspiration.

TONY: Hey. - Hey, Timothy.

McGEE: Hey, Erica. - Timothy?

I guess she prefers McGee's scent.

Ha! She'll eat him alive.

[ZIVA LAUGHS]

Let it go, Tony.

Sorry you had to make two trips out here.

I don't mind.

Besides, the last thing I wanna do is put down a dog.

[THE CURE'S "THE LOVECATS" PLAYS OVER SPEAKERS]

[GROWLS]

[KNOCKING]

Pay no attention to him, Jethro.

Abby, open the door.

Jethro has to go now.

- Abby. - I can't hear you, McGee.

If you can't hear me, why did you answer?

[MUSIC PLAYS MORE LOUDLY]

I am not opening the door until Jethro is proven innocent.

Abby, do not make a scene.

Too late, McGee. I am in full scene mode.

You can't stay in there forever.

I'm fully stocked on both Caf-Pow! and kibble.

I'm good for at least a few days.

So now you're trying to pick us off one at a time, huh?

Right now, it is not about us, it is about you.

You are the one with a cousin busted with cocaine.

That what this is all about? My loser cousin?

We're not even close.

Close enough to give him some of the blow you smuggled in.

I didn't smuggle anything.

We know that your plane brought it in every three weeks

for the past three months like clockwork.

Two months ago, I was in a sickbay in Panama.

And I didn't fly the aircraft back. I hopped on a transport a week later.

If you'd checked properly,

your own records would prove me innocent.

[CHUCKLES]

Records can prove one's guilt or one's innocence.

Damn straight.

ZIVA: Like this record from that sickbay in Panama.

Three consecutive days,

you signed out from 2 to 5:00 in the afternoon.

Guess you were not too sick to meet with your supplier.

- You got it all wrong. - Hm.

One phone call, and I can get every record out of Panama,

every single person on that base interviewed,

every single step you took retraced.

You don't want me making that phone call, do you?

Where were you?

I will make that call.

I was seeing a woman.

Rosa, a translator.

- I was helping her out. - By sleeping with her?

I care about her.

She's a single mom with a 6-year-old.

Her boy had a respiratory infection real bad. Drowning in his own lungs.

That's sad.

No, that's leverage.

ZIVA: So you went to sickbay, complaining of a respiratory infection.

- You did it to get drugs for the boy. - He could've died.

Illegal transfer of prescription medication.

Dereliction of duty. Conduct unbecoming.

[ZIVA WHISTLES]

I smell a dishonourable discharge in your future.

Question:

Do you like being a pilot?

I will forget everything you just told me

if you remember who in your crew has been acting suspiciously.

You are willing to give up your entire career

for somebody else's crime?

- No. - Then give me a name.

I don't have a name.

- You are lying. - I'm not. I don't know.

He's telling the truth.

Mm-hm. Any way you translate it.

Your investigation?

Moving along.

You've been looking at me all week like you wanna ask me something.

Any health issues?

I'm fine.

Are you sick?

My health is fine.

Yours, however, could take a turn for the worse

if you don't wrap up this investigation.

[MUSIC PLAYING OVER SPEAKERS]

[KNOCKING]

Go away, McGee.

Abby.

Director.

[MUSIC STOPS]

- Do we have a problem? - Nope.

- No problem. - Good.

Then could you open the door?

Thank you.

He doesn't look very good, does he?

ABBY: I think it's because he knows he's on death row.

That would put a damper on anybody's spirits.

I suppose you're gonna order me to give him up, huh?

Is that what it's going to take?

If I had more time, I could prove that he didn't do it.

You seem to be the only one around here who thinks so.

So what? So what if I am?

You have to stand up for what you believe in.

You have to stick to your guns until you can make a wrong right.

Sometimes things aren't so simple, Abby.

Sometimes you can't control the outcome.

Sometimes you have to look at the reality in front of you

and accept it.

I can't.

I won't.

He really doesn't look good, does he?

[DOGS BARKING ON VIDEO]

- Finding inspiration? - Whenever I can.

He's my personal McMuse.

When Dogs Attack! That's very funny.

All bark, no bite, like the rest of my team.

Oh, hey, I just got an e-mail from Abby with teeth.

Lab results from the cocaine we found in Hanson's house.

"Wrappings contained minute traces of hydraulic fluid."

The crew member who comes into contact most often with hydraulic fluid

is the flight engineer.

Petty Officer Bidwell.

Boss?

Come on.

Flight Operations said Bidwell was working on a plane.

Check inside.

NCIS.

ZIVA: Petty Officer Bidwell?

Accident?

GIBBS: Not?

McGEE: Looks like that's the lever that unlocks all the pallets.

Standard ops is lock as you load.

Jittery partner.

So we know that Bidwell brought in the drugs.

And Hanson helped get them through the base.

We don't know anything until we know everything. You keep looking.

Probie-Wan Kenobi.

McGEE: Wait a second.

What, do you want me to dust the whole plane by myself?

Just the flat surfaces where you can lift a print.

Yeah. The whole plane.

- Ducky, I need help. - What happened?

I don't know. He was acting funny, and then he started coughing up blood.

Get the x-ray machine, Mr. Palmer.

- Is he dying? - I don't know.

- That's not a good answer. - You must calm down.

PALMER: In the stomach, right there.

- What is it? - Something that doesn't belong.

Prepare to sedate, Mr. Palmer.

You'll find everything you need in my bag.

PALMER: Right away, doctor. - We're going to have to operate.

ABBY: Is he gonna be okay?

The inside of a dog's stomach is like a sewer.

Survival rates are not good.

Well, then both our expertise are going to be challenged.

Ducky, you know what you're doing, right?

Yes, well, the fact that he's breathing

does put me somewhat out of my element.

But we don't have a choice, now, do we?

What do we need?

PALMER: Uh... The suture materials. Metzenbaum scissors.

Hemostats.

And scalpels, Number 10 blade.

All right, thank you.

You may wanna leave now.

- No. DUCKY: All right.

I need to make an incision posterior to the xiphoid cartilage.

- Retracting the peritoneal fat. - Oh, clip that bleeder, Mr. Palmer.

- Yeah. Hurry, hurry, hurry, please. - All right, all right, I see.

Got it.

- Got it. - Good, good.

Now pull up the inner mucosal layer. There you go.

All right, now...

Got the little rascal.

Is that what I think it is?

- Well, your Jethro may be the first PALMER: Autopsy.

To survive a trip to the autopsy.

- Ducky. DUCKY: Wait.

We're not out of the woods yet.

PALMER: Yes, sir. He's here. I'll put him on. Dr. Mallard, it's Agent Gibbs.

- Clean this off for me. PALMER: Yeah.

- Can you sew him up? PALMER: Absolutely.

Jethro.

GIBBS: Duck, need you at Pax River Air Station.

- I got a dead petty officer. DUCKY: Uh, certainly.

But we have an interesting development here, Jethro,

that you will find fascinating.

- The dog from Hanson's house-- - Jethro.

DUCKY: You'll never guess what he swallowed.

It's the tip of a knife, Gibbs.

DUCKY: Yes, well, while Hanson was definitely mauled,

there was a puncture mark on his collar bone that troubled me.

I now know that that puncture mark was made by this knife, not a dog bite.

It's a perfect match.

- It wasn't just the dog that killed him. DUCKY: No, no, no.

He had a human coconspirator.

Just a minute, Jethro.

Mr. Palmer, the cervical vertebrae from the John Doe,

the one I cleaned off, where is it?

- John Doe? - The dead dog, Mr. Palmer.

- Two-oh-six. DUCKY: Stay with me, Jethro.

Yes, as I thought.

The knife point fits perfectly into the wound

on the cervical vertebrae of the dog we unearthed yesterday.

If I were a betting man, I'd say the two crimes were related, Jethro.

Yeah, Duck. Yeah. That's a bet I'd take too.

McGee.

- Are we going back? - Whoa, boss.

Two people, one mothership. This'll take all night.

Hope you brought a warm coat, DiNozzo.

Just the flat surfaces where you can lift the prints, Tony.

McGee.

Jethro is fine.

I'm taking up a collection for flowers.

Why would I give flowers to a dog that attacked me?

Um, maybe because dog is man's best friend.

Or maybe because I am a forensic scientist,

and I could boil you from the inside out and never leave a trace.

GIBBS: McGee. ABBY: Thanks.

McGEE: Boss, surveillance is a wash. I've watched all the footage.

That is Bidwell's killer right there.

The other angle's even worse.

Killer knew the plane was under surveillance.

Gibbs, I've been thinking.

We don't know for certain

that Jethro attacked Hanson. I mean, he could've swallowed the knife tip

when he was licking Hanson's wounds,

which would also account for the blood that was all over him.

- You already thought of that. - Uh-huh.

Hey, Abby, that dog tried to rip me limb from limb.

TONY: You do have that effect, McGee.

Especially when you bail on our biggest crime scene ever.

[COMPUTER BEEPING]

Got a match.

The knife tip found in Jethro came from a Navy-issue tactical boot knife.

Find out who ordered a new boot knife from Pax River in the past 72 hours.

Already on it, boss. Three people. One stands out.

Evidence locker, McGee. Get Log 421.

- Petty Officer Perelli. - Yes, sir?

What's this about?

Have you received the tactical boot knife

you requisitioned?

How did you know about--?

Not yet, ma'am.

What happened to the knife you got issued three years ago?

- I lost it. - In Hanson's body.

You knew about our investigation.

You and Bidwell needed to pin it on somebody.

You picked Hanson. Was it because he was suspicious of you?

You killed Hanson and tried to frame him for it.

You set him up by using his phone to call Gallante.

Then you planted cocaine and cash in his house for us to find.

McGEE: Tried to cover your tracks

by making it look like he was killed by his own dog.

- Then you killed Bidwell. - Because you thought he might crack.

I'm no lawyer,

but this sounds like an awful lot of conjecture to me, sir.

Your whole case is me requisitioning a boot knife.

You really think that's gonna hold up in court?

No.

Neither do I.

- You got a warrant? - In my pocket.

MAN: Seek. Seek.

- You still got that magic, McGee. MAN: Heel. Good dog.

Evidence Log Number 421, cocaine.

MAN: Good dog.

Your dog don't hunt.

Up, boy.

You killed the drug-sniffing dog and replaced him with an attack dog.

Because you needed a dog that wouldn't react to cocaine.

You're under arrest for the murders of Petty Officer Hanson

and Petty Officer Bidwell.

[DOG GROWLING AND BARKING]

[ZIVA YELLS]

You just seem to attract all the sick puppies, Timothy.

Hey, Abs.

Hey.

What's wrong?

Gibbs asked the base commander if I could keep Jethro.

- He said no? - He said yes.

- Then why are you...? - My landlord said no.

Oh. That's too bad.

I have to find Jethro a good home.

He's a distinguished veteran.

He deserves to be happy, McGee.

Abby, no, no, no.

You have been looking for a dog, Timmy.

That dog tasted my blood, and I think he liked it.

Okay, sometimes you have to look at the reality in front of you

and just accept it.

You are taking Jethro.

Accept it.

McGee, Jethro, shake.

All right, Jethro, you're gonna have to be the bigger man.

[JETHRO GROWLS]