Original subtitles

[LAUGHING]

[GRUNTS]

- Housekeeping, Tony. - Well, keep it to a dull roar, will you?

- I got a hot beverage here. - Keep it over there, please.

I'm backing up three years of case files.

The bulk of our lives is in these cables right now,

flying back and forth in zeroes and ones.

And you do understand that I am the ones, and you're the zeroes.

[PUNCH CLICKING]

Meadowlark Lemon.

Harlem Globetrotters.

ZIVA: What? - No.

Look at all this.

Hey, careful with the liquids. Please, I told you, it's very sensitive.

Well, so am I, McZero.

What, you think I'm a complete klutz?

- Oh. I might spill-- - No, no, no.

Don't--

Curly Neal. That worked.

GIBBS: Yeah, about the phones. They work? I've been calling.

Actually, they do not.

[PHONE BEEPING]

No, no, no.

The unit's getting power, but the line tone's gone.

Must be a problem with the router.

TONY: It's not my fault. I didn't do this.

- Freeze. - No need for that.

- Tobias, what's going on? - It's a shutdown, Gibbs.

A few months ago they pulled a body out of the bay.

P.D.'s had him on ice while they were tracking down a DNA match.

GIBBS: Yeah, and?

Body's been positively identified as René Benoit.

La Grenouille? He's dead?

Murdered.

This entire unit is under investigation.

This is ridiculous.

- We're prisoners in our own lockup. ZIVA: We're not prisoners.

We're evidence, so we're locked up.

Why are we being guarded then? I mean, we are being guarded, right?

You are being very guarded about whether or not we are being guarded.

Abby, relax. I'm sure you're not a suspect.

Well, then who is their suspect?

The FBI is not ready to walk anyone out in handcuffs.

They're trying to keep it quiet.

They don't even know what they're looking for.

So what? We're supposed to just hand them their first clue?

Not us. Gibbs.

GIBBS: How did you land this job, Tobias?

Intimate knowledge of the case history made me the obvious choice.

And your personal relationships with the people involved?

FORNELL: Not gonna be a problem.

Evidence led to somebody in this building.

What evidence?

Other side.

Sir?

MAN: I don't drink coffee.

Don't seem too shocked. Grenouille is dead.

- Knew it wasn't over. - Hoped it was?

We have determined that you and your team

had significant contact with Grenouille on the day he died.

That morning, there was an earlier attempt on his life.

He wasn't the target, his daughter was.

Somebody was taking things personally.

You ever figure out who that somebody was?

No.

Final entry in your official report has you, McGee and David

raiding a yacht where Grenouille was thought to be staying.

- Yeah, we just missed him. - Did you?

Because the time of death roughly coincides with your visit.

Ziva, McGee and I were here all night securing a warrant.

I'm sure their reports will verify the time line.

Is it my alibi you're after, Tobias?

Before that, I was at the director's house.

With Jenny Shepard?

And the deceased?

Her phone records put them in contact the night he died.

Were you part of their little chat?

Here we are at last, face to face.

You believe the story that my father took a bribe?

I'm sorry. That's not a story, it's fact.

Because I paid him.

No.

You killed him.

He left. I left.

Come on, Jethro.

Can't be that simple. What the hell were you all doing there?

- He wanted protection. - Maybe you should have provided it.

Are you protecting anybody now?

JEN: I have been trying for a decade to bring him down.

What did he do to you, Jenny?

It's not my alibi you're after.

Can you account for the director's whereabouts and actions

after you left her residence that night?

JEN: No.

- You killed him. GIBBS: It's not loaded.

If it was loaded and I wasn't here, would you have pulled the trigger?

I guess we'll never know.

If you're gonna accuse the director of NCIS of murder,

that evidence better be damn good.

Do you think I'd be here if it weren't?

We both know that her connection to Grenouille

had nothing to do with the job, never did.

This might have been her mess, but she spread it all over this place.

When this is done, and she's cleared, I wanna see that file.

When this is done, if she's cleared,

I just might let you.

Take him back down.

Long way from San Diego, Leon.

SECNAV felt this warranted a plane ticket.

You interrogating my agents?

I assume you have a suspect.

And you've been brought in to oversee.

Well, Assistant Director Vance,

you gonna ask for them?

Under the authority of the Secretary of the Navy,

as acting director of NCIS, I hereby relieve you of your duties.

I'm sorry, Jenny. You're suspended.

- Hello, Leon. - Gibbs.

- Two dollars and forty-two cents. - It's for the cheese Danish.

- That was eight years ago. - Nine.

Are you the one responsible for this fishing expedition?

Bureau's doing the fishing. I'm just driving the boat.

Keep it off the rocks.

[CHUCKLES]

What do I say?

The truth, McGee. You haven't done anything wrong.

It's a "get out of jail free" card.

You're going to hack into the CIA.

This is highly illegal, and I'm not even doing it now.

You look nervous, McGee.

Where's your head at? What were you thinking about?

Um...

Nothing.

Mm.

I know you've hacked into everything

from the corner store to the CIA, McGee.

I don't care.

Jasper Shepard, the director's father.

She ask you to investigate the details of his suicide?

No.

You didn't come up with the idea on your own, McGee.

Gibbs.

The director was particularly aggressive

in her pursuit of the arms dealer La Grenouille.

Agent Gibbs was curious as to her motivation.

Gibbs doesn't get curious. He gets suspicious.

What did he suspect?

That, uh...

That she believed La Grenouille was responsible for her father's death.

Is that why she put Agent DiNozzo undercover?

To get close to him?

I can't speak to the nature of Agent DiNozzo's assignment.

Why not?

You two do have a professional relationship.

McGeek. McGoo. McGiggle. McGoogle.

[GRUNTING]

Yeah.

Yeah, it's very professional. Yeah.

Tell me about his assignment.

This is not the time to be covering for your friends.

I was not privy to any of his actions,

vis-å-vis the aforementioned undercover operation.

[OVER SPEAKER] As previously stated.

- In perpetuity. - Sure you were privy.

On at least one occasion, you were directly involved in his investigation.

McGEE: Southeastern Quebec.

- TOD, 2400. - Where's Grenouille?

Finally.

Canada.

What was the purpose of the mission?

Officer David, I know you're Israeli.

I know you were trained by Mossad too.

Well, we know what you do.

I would hate to be misunderstood.

- Does that happen often? - Once in a blue lagoon.

I think I'll be able to translate.

I'll repeat, what was the purpose of the mission to Canada?

We received intelligence that the subject would be in the vicinity.

Were you attempting to apprehend this subject who is now deceased?

Archangel has him covered.

- No. - Then why were you there?

What were your orders?

Archangel awaiting instructions.

You were there to kill him. That's what you do.

I was there to insure mission safety. I was never given a fire order.

Only because you were called off at the last moment

by a deep undercover CIA agent named Trent Kort.

JEN: Director Shepard. ZIVA: About to lose target. Director.

JEN: Stand down, Archangel. Stand down.

Well, that must have been a shock.

To discover that Grenouille was being handled by the CIA.

Regardless.

Director Shepard manufactured the entire mission to get close to him.

Why? To put a bullet in his head.

We met only once.

But I was rather taken by the man.

Dredged out of Baltimore Harbor. Dead less than two days.

Maryland ME performed the autopsy?

She's very good.

- I would like to see the body. - No.

Four eyes are better than two.

No, cause of death wasn't much of a mystery.

- Single gunshot wound to the head. - Then what do you want from me?

From time to time, you compile psychological profiles

on persons of interest.

Well, following my encounter with La Grenouille,

I was asked for my opinion.

La Grenouille is not your ordinary arms dealer.

He's not the type to settle disputes with violence.

You liked him, didn't you? Perhaps it's clouding your judgement.

Perhaps it's not my judgement that's being clouded.

Yes, by the director herself.

I'd like to know your opinion of that encounter.

Dr. Mallard?

There's a history between those two.

Something that is consuming her.

- How far? - Will she go?

As far as it takes.

She did manifest obsessive behaviour.

DUCKY: He's trying to paint a picture.

A comprehensive picture of her need for retribution against La Grenouille.

He's just confirming what he knows, Duck.

He's holding something back.

Do you think she could have done it?

I will get him another time, another deal.

I will be there, and I will get him.

Sorry, sir. You can't leave.

You know what? You're gonna have to stop me.

- Problem? - If you want it to be.

I know it's always been lost on you, Gibbs,

but they write the rules for a reason.

- I have rules too. - So I hear.

Any reason to keep us here, Leon?

I'm well aware of your relationship with Director Shepard.

I've never been comfortable with intimacy

between management and staff myself.

Me either.

LEON: If you've been interviewed by Agent Fornell, you're free to go.

Just to be clear, do not investigate this case.

Gah. That guy. Just, like, puts on a fancy suit

and expects everyone to do everything he says.

It is a pretty nice suit.

Come on, let's go. Work to do.

- On what? - We can't investigate the FBl's case.

We investigate the FBI.

Boss, Ziva's shaking the FBI tail car. She's got them running in circles.

Good. When she gets here, she can help you hack into Fornell's computer.

I'm gonna need to go to a public site. They've quarantined all my--

Here, use mine.

This doesn't have a wireless signal though.

I'll figure it out.

GIBBS: Duck.

Your friend in the Maryland ME's office.

- Dr. Hampton? - I need that autopsy report.

- I'll have to be charming. - Don't strain yourself.

Go out the back. Through the hedge.

DUCKY: It's all very exciting, isn't it? Like a cat-and-mouse game. Ha.

Reminds me of...

...a part of my life that I will share with you later.

Boss, I may be able to hook up my phone and piggyback the signal.

But I'm gonna need an ID to get access to the FBI mainframe.

- Questions? - Yeah, how do you get the boat out?

Just break the bottle.

You wouldn't be breaking the chain of evidence, would you, Abby?

On the Portman file?

Doubt it. He died in prison two years ago.

Oh. Let me know if you've got something to eat, because I'm starving.

How starving?

- Clowny Cakes. - Ooh. Tarot cards.

- Wanna see what happens next? - I am dying with anticipation.

Tony.

We are about to summon the elusive elements of the cosmos.

Concentrate.

I'm with you, call the spirits. Tell them to bring pizza.

Not yet, DiNozzo.

Gibbs gave you a mission.

Everybody's counting on you. Just do what you do best.

- Dance? - Talk.

FORNELL: Miss Sciuto?

Hm.

Abby?

[ABBY SLURPING]

Mighty generous.

I've gone over your results with regard to the case in question.

There's a problem with your theory of the crime.

Like, a big hole. I could drive a truck through it.

Well, I may not be able to drive a truck through it,

because never that great with a double clutch,

but a truck driver could just:

- Care to share? - Well, it's obvious.

I mean, you think there's a murderer here,

like, right underneath Gibbs' nose.

That whatever took place took place without Gibbs knowing.

And that could never happen.

I'm gonna share a secret with you. It's a theory I've been working on.

Off the books.

Okay, the man is magic.

Like dark magic. He has eyes and ears everywhere.

He appears like a mist.

And whenever I get a clue, he just materialises.

Maybe he bugged your lab. - No,

I checked.

What's that like? It sounds aggravating.

- No. - Does he ever get angry?

Never.

He only uses his powers for good.

[CHUCKLES]

Well, it sounds like you're a fan.

No crime like this could ever take place under Gibbs' nose.

- He wouldn't allow it. - I understand.

- If we could get back-- - I don't think you do understand.

Okay, one night, I was in my lab. It was dark and stormy.

Stop. Okay, go a smidge to your left.

All right, a smidge to your right. Back to your right.

There it is, there it is. Stop.

Are you serious, McGee?

Hold that position. I've just barely got a signal here.

This gonna work?

This thing is so ancient, it doesn't have the protocols

modern-day security systems defend against.

It's bringing back memories of playing Zork.

I'm tempted to tell it to go throw the crystal orb.

Here we go.

Whoa, what's that?

Don't move.

It's a link, indicates an eyewitness statement.

Hasn't been digitised. Doubt we could play it.

- Witness' name? McGEE: Just an address.

We need to know what this witness knows.

My arms are killing me.

- The FBI car out front. - Got it.

Mm. Ziva.

Their tyres, not their throats.

Hey, boss, if you've got a printer, I might be able to convert

some of these crime scene sketches to dot matrix.

This is going nowhere.

I've never been entirely certain she's all there.

[OVER SPEAKER] Hey, I remembered something.

LEON [OVER SPEAKER]: Something relevant, Miss Sciuto?

Um...

Director Shepard,

she asked me personally to do some forensic work for her.

I wanna know whose fingerprints are on these.

Which is, uh, strange.

I determined that there was a dead man's fingerprints on a liquor bottle

that was left in her study.

The director's father supposedly killed himself years ago.

So I guess that doesn't really help your case.

But, um, it made it seem like somebody was trying

to mess with her head, you know?

Like the CIA maybe trying to frame her.

She's a lot smarter than you give her credit for, Agent Fornell.

ABBY: Guys? Hello?

[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

NCIS.

Buy you a cup of coffee, Miss Benoit?

DUCKY: I had hoped, René, that you and I would meet again in person,

enjoy a glass of L' Esprit de Courvoisier,

which you so generously gave me.

This is the best I can do. A confession.

I am actually a medical examiner.

And your untimely death left questions which only you can answer.

To wit.

Stippling patterns, powder burns on your forehead,

which, though diminished by immersion in saltwater,

indicate a contact wound at close range.

No defensive wounds.

So for some reason, a cautious man like yourself

allowed an armed assailant to get extraordinarily close.

Or else the gunshot wound was self-inflicted.

My colleague came to the same conclusion.

The bullet entered the frontal bone just above the left orbit,

travelled in an upward trajectory consistent with a left-handed suicide.

- Ducky, did you say something to me? - No, I didn't.

Well, I could have sworn I heard you talking down here.

I'm gonna come back when you're done.

The FBI is convinced you were murdered,

but you didn't tell them that, did you?

No, well, you were never an easy man to understand in life.

Why should your death be any different?

But I do wish you'd shed some light on this mystery,

because the prime suspect is a mutual acquaintance of ours.

Huh?

Well, that's a start.

They're expecting me at your office, Agent Gibbs.

- Well, their questions aren't mine. - Questions about Tony?

No. Questions about your father.

TONY: Well, we've been here before, haven't we, Toby?

You were saying some pretty bad stuff about me back then.

I hope you've learned a few things since then, I know I have.

Yup.

You've done some growing, DiNozzo.

The director thought enough of you to personally select you

for an extended undercover assignment.

Yup, she played matchmaker.

How did you get so close to La Grenouille's daughter?

I see where you're going with this.

You'd like to know a few pickup tricks, huh?

I wish I could tell you,

but it's kind of a family secret, and I took an oath.

- Sorry. Chip? - No.

So you reported back to the director about the girl?

Jeanne. Yes, well, her father was an international arms dealer.

A threat to the country. The world, really.

So yeah, I did what I was told.

The director ordered you to sleep with her?

- Are you attracted to her? - Yeah.

So, what's the problem?

- I wouldn't call it an order. - So you didn't have any problem

developing that kind of relationship with her?

- No, not at all. - But you developed feelings for her.

That wasn't very professional.

- How'd that happen? - Gradually.

And then all of a sudden...

Director tell you to break the girl's heart?

What'd that feel like?

[CHUCKLES]

This is more like a therapy session than an interrogation.

Why are you so interested in my feelings?

Because you had them.

It's so strange being back in the city.

I volunteered for a fellowship in Gabon.

Africa?

That's a big change of scenery.

I rode a canoe to the hospital every day.

My commute consisted of avoiding hippos.

- Did it help? - I like to think it helped some people.

But, no. I couldn't get what happened out of my head.

Whatever you told the FBI, they're convinced your father was murdered.

He was.

- How can you be so sure of that? - I thought you knew.

- What I saw that night. - What'd you see?

Duck.

- I only let Jethro call me that, Ziva. - I think she means, uh, duck, Ducky.

Oh.

ZIVA: Okay, La Grenouille's yacht.

Single shell casing was found on the deck. No blood spatter.

La Grenouille must have been standing by the railing.

McGEE: Okay, I'm La Grenouille.

Bang.

Overboard, gun goes with me. Nine-mil shell casing lands there.

ZIVA: Or,

someone approaches you with the nine.

Facing you.

Someone you know.

McGEE: And I stand here and let you shoot me in the head?

I don't flinch? Don't turn my head?

The gun is concealed. Your guard is down.

Still, when you bring the gun up,

I'm on a boat. Why don't I just jump overboard?

Why do I let you shoot me in the head?

- Jeanne must be going through hell. - I didn't mean to hurt her.

What other option was there? She was in love with you too, right?

- I don't know. - Come on, Tony.

You're a better liar than that.

I love you, Jeanne.

Well, you're right, Agent Fornell. I'm lying.

Everything I did with her was a lie.

Just recalling those lies, I believe that I'm lying now.

It's a...

It's a cacophony of lies, really. Are you getting all this?

[OVER SPEAKER] Because it's good stuff.

Yeah, she was in love with me.

We were in love.

What else do you wanna know?

How was it supposed to end, Tony?

I mean, there was never gonna be a happily ever after.

Earlier that morning, the day her father died,

Jeanne was almost killed twice.

[SCREAMING]

You barely managed to save her from a drug dealer

when somebody tried to blow her up.

Yeah, I know. Someone should figure that out.

- Likely one of his enemies. - Likely, he had a lot of enemies.

Any one could have caught up with him on that yacht.

Through the girl. Jeanne was the key to her father.

No one knew that better than you.

So let's talk about that night.

JEANNE: I have to go. - What'd you tell Fornell?

I told him what happened.

- When? - The night he was killed.

How do you know what happened?

DUCKY: Ziva, this mark,

what does it mean to you?

Hm.

Give me your hand.

DUCKY: It's a pressure point.

In Mossad, we call it a thumb tap.

David says she left you alone in Jeanne's apartment.

She tried to call you on the phone, but nobody answered.

Your partner did not know where you were.

- I went for a drive. - Your car was blown up that morning.

- The company car. - Where?

I needed to clear my head.

I wasn't plotting a course. I was upset.

Of course you were. The woman you love is in danger.

She's running for her life, and you can't protect her.

- You're telling me you saw who did it? - Yes.

Who?

FORNELL: She'd never be safe, not with her father around.

She knew it, you knew it. There was only one way to save her.

Who pulled the trigger?

- Tony. - Bang.

You killed La Grenouille.

I did what?

Jeanne Benoit saw Tony shoot her father?

- He had motive. - And means.

And no alibi.

He was supposed to meet us at the bar last night.

He did not arrive, did not call.

Jethro, no two suicides are identical,

but the similarities here are more than coincidental.

- Ducky. - Right down to the mark on the hand.

- I've seen that before. - Yeah, so have I.

- Jasper Shepard's suicide. - Supposed suicide.

Somebody is missing from this party.

Don't get too comfortable. You already scratched my settee.

Your agents have been tearing apart my house all afternoon,

and they wouldn't even tell me what they were looking for.

La Grenouille was killed with a 9-millimetre GLOCK.

You have a second weapon, a 9-millimetre GLOCK.

Registered for personal use, yet we can't find it.

You could have asked me.

- Where's your gun? - I gave it to La Grenouille.

You have the bullets. Take the damn gun.

- Anybody witness that? - Gibbs.

Works for me.

Grenouille took the gun. DiNozzo took it from him.

- DiNozzo? - He's in custody.

An eyewitness at the marina saw Agent DiNozzo commit the murder.

You have a positive ID, at night, in the dark, from a distance?

- I think she'd recognise her boytriend. - Jeanne Benoit is your witness?

You turn my entire department upside down based on her testimony?

- I wanna talk to her. - Absolutely not.

LEON: Okay.

Okay.

[DOOR CLICKS THEN OPENS]

My name is Jenny Shepard. I'm the director of NCIS.

Give her a little rope.

I'm the one responsible for your pain.

I ordered Tony to involve you romantically.

Involved you in something you had nothing to do with.

I'm sorry. I crossed a line.

He felt horrible for what he put you through

when he told you the truth.

My name isn't Tony DiNardo. It's Anthony DiNozzo.

This has all been a lie. Why?

TONY: You should ask him.

I think it's a first sign you're doing something wrong

if you feel bad about telling the truth.

You think Tony's a bad person?

He killed my father.

That must have been the worst day of your life.

Of anybody's life.

JEN [OVER SPEAKER]: And now you can't stop reliving it.

The way you were feeling,

you probably just wanted to run away from it all.

Bought a plane ticket, packed a bag.

Maybe you were tempted to leave a note.

Some last words.

Before I knew what Tony was capable of.

Next thing you know, you're in the car on the way to the airport,

praying that any minute, you would wake up

and find out that none of it ever happened.

I trusted him, and he lied to me.

Even after all the deception,

do you just go?

Or do you stop and see him one last time?

Which him? Tony or the dad?

That's the moment, right?

You've been taking body blows all day.

And finally, that's the moment you actually have to make the choice.

Forget the airport, go to the marina.

- Pull the car over. - Yes, that's where I saw him.

- Your dad? - Yes.

- One last time before he's gone? - Yes.

No.

The stars aligned so that you arrived at the marina

when Tony pulled the trigger?

You're lying.

What really happened, Jeanne?

It's my fault.

I did it.

- I killed him. JEN: It feels that way, doesn't it?

But it's not true.

Believe me, I know.

You blame Tony. Now you're blaming yourself.

What really happened that night?

JEANNE: I made the wrong choice.

I wanted to see him. He was waiting for me at the yacht.

But I just couldn't. I kept driving.

- You never went to the marina. - I figured he'd come and find me.

No matter what, Dad always found me.

And then he didn't.

I just knew.

You must be angry that you can't have that one moment to live over again.

I don't know if you could have changed it.

I don't know if you could have saved him.

He loved you.

Of that, I am sure.

Who do you wanna talk to now?

- How's the case? - Falling apart, better not be here.

- Just create more problems. - No, I'm here to solve them.

Well, well, well. Mr. Kort.

From the CIA.

Your boss killed my informant.

I need your help to take La Grenouille down for it.

This is not going to end well for you.

- Your investigation ends now. - This is La Grenouille's handler.

I think the CIA would wanna know who killed him.

Grenouille was killed by an associate

who has since assumed control of his organisation.

Let me guess, you stepped up to run the whole show.

Did number two here just confess to murder?

The CIA does not assassinate people.

Not on American soil.

Let's see the "get out of jail free" card.

Eyes only.

It was sanctioned. La Grenouille wanted to retire.

- He's retired. - It's that simple?

The CIA wants it simple.

Well, I guess we're done asking questions.

KORT: That's not for you-- Aah.

Hey, just between us, who killed Jasper Shepard?

Jasper Shepard.

Anything that guy wouldn't do to keep a long-term op intact?

GIBBS: Nope.

Anything he wouldn't say

to shut this down before it got too loud?

That night, at her house,

Jenny gave her gun to the Frog.

You have the bullets. Take the damn gun.

Protect yourself.

She did.

- That explains how it got to the yacht. - It would.

And Kort used that gun to kill him.

You're right.

She's cleared.

- The file? - Maybe.

[GRUNTING]

Hey, Trent.

He wasn't just an operative. He was somebody's father.

- Be a man, Tony. - She accused me of murder.

Who is the bad guy? Be a man.

Go tell her what she needs to hear.

TONY: Hey, can you give us a second, please?

- Thank you. AGENT: No problem.

Hey.

I'm sorry you got caught in the middle of this.

Was any of it real, Tony?

No.

I wish I'd never met you.

I hope you're not rushing out on my account.

Apparently not.

SECNAV tells me you're gonna be taking

- a couple weeks of personal time. - Uh-huh.

It was never my intention to burden you with this responsibility.

Oh, I don't mind. My wife, however, is not so forgiving.

JEN: This yours, Leon? - Keep it.

You owe the bureau for two sets of all-weather radials.

Yeah, bill me.

Fairy-tale ending?

The Frog is dead and the jesters have been kicked out of the kingdom.

The queen is back on her throne.

You're expecting some sort of knighthood?

I'm sorry to say, I've misplaced my sword.

- Maybe it's with your gun. - Maybe.

A funny quirk about the Frog. Arms dealer.

- Never carried a gun. - Except that night.

Take the damn gun. Protect yourself.

You're signing my death warrant.

- Is that what happened? - That's how I remember it.

You remember it differently?

Take the damn gun. Protect yourself.

BENOIT: You're signing my death warrant.

Long live the queen.