- Ducky, on medical leave, unofficially calls for the exhumation of the body of a commander whose autopsy he conducted 12 years ago; he now suspects murder; the gang investigate another death, and they find the connection and the solution.
- While Ducky remains on a medical leave, he arranges for the exhumation of the body of a Navy commander whose autopsy he conducted 12 years ago; Duckman suddenly realizes that the dead man may have died from murder rather than excessive drinking; Gibbs and the Duck exchange heated words. Meanwhile Gibbs and the gang investigate the death of a Marine sergeant in Brooklyn, New York, who was about to make a one-way journey. First Abby confirms Ducky's suspicion, then she finds a copy of a curious document on the dead sergeant's laptop computer; Gibbs invokes rule 38 in the case of the Duck, who says that he and his cohorts must cast asunder the evil now afoot. Tony and Ziva learn about some old dust, and Abby finds an old connection between the two dead guys. Gibbs and the gang talk with a rocker, then Ducky does so. Abby finds an important link, then Ducky and the gang put the pieces together, and Gibbs sends the Duck back to his own workshop.—DocRushing
- David McCallum (Ducky) goes to Arlington Cemetery to request the exhumation of the body of Commander Bruce Roberts, a man whom Ducky had performed an autopsy on over 12 years previously. Ducky watches the exhumation of the casket and signs for the release of body. When the gentleman in charge at Arlington asks Ducky for the case number, he says that he "... never got the 27B 'stroke' 6 ..." with the official NCIS case number. Ducky says that he will have to "have a word" with Brian Dietzen (Mr. Palmer) and asks if he can have the form faxed over.
The gentleman agrees to release the body to NCIS since Ducky is a "... repeat customer ...", and he says in jest, "... though I sure hope you haven't taken up grave robbery as a hobby." [This is a subtle nod to an earlier McCallum role as 'Dr. Henry Clerval' (qv.) in the 1973 television movie, 'Frankenstein: The True Story' (qv.) in which Clerval and his protege, Viktor Frankenstein, were grave robbers.]
At NCIS, Sean Murray (Tim McGee) is lusting after a "life recorder" worn like a necklace that allows the wearer to take photos every few moment, and says he has been chosen as a Beta tester. Cote dePablo (Ziva David) comments that after the last three months some moments are better left unrecorded, and Michael Weatherly (Tony DiNozzo) agrees.
Tony starts commenting on how Mark Harmon (Leroy Jethro Gibbs) would react to McGee's having a life recorder, not realizing that Gibbs is standing behind him. Tony's comments earn him the first Gibbs-slap of Season 10. Gibbs then dispatches the team to investigate the scene for the murder of the week, a dead sergeant in Brooklyn and tells them that he will meet them there.
In autopsy, Palmer balks at sending over the "27B" and tells Ducky the exhumed body has to be returned. Ducky replies, "It's a corpse, Mr. Palmer, not a wedding present." Gibbs walks in on the conversation and dismisses Palmer so that he can speak with Ducky. Gibbs doesn't take Ducky seriously at first, saying that Ducky's "bored" and reminds Ducky that, technically, he isn't the ME.
Gibbs does give Ducky a chance to explain his reason for the exhumation. Ducky tells Gibbs about having performed the autopsy on Cmdr. Bruce Roberts. Ducky said his determination that the death was accidental didn't sit well with him, and he wanted to take a second look. At the time, based on the condition of Cmdr. Roberts' liver, it appeared that he drank himself to death. Ducky then shows Gibbs a recent obit for Landon Roberts -- the commander's father -- who died from a rare genetic liver disorder. The commander would have had the same disorder, and Ducky explained to Gibbs that there is a class of poisons that would mimic fatal alcohol intoxication in people with that condition. If Ducky had known about Roberts' liver condition, he would have handled the autopsy differently. For that reason, he thinks it is possible that the commander could have been murdered.
At the current crime scene, the team finds that the dead sergeant had plans to fly to Malta and was found by the taxi driver who would have driven him to the airport. Instead of continuing with the investigation, the three agents corner Palmer before Gibbs arrives, wanting to know about Ducky's dead guy. On the lookout, Tony tells Ziva and McGee to "look sharp" as he sees Gibbs approach. Knowing what is going on, Gibbs tells them that Ducky is "working on a cold case", and then prompts them to get on with the present case.
Palmer determines that the time of death was around midnight. Since the skin is pink, it would indicate carbon monoxide poisoning. The team also finds $50,000 cash on the dead sergeant.
Upon returning to NCIS, the new case pertains to a Sgt. Hill who was assigned to the Marine Corps Security Force regiment, providing security to high value targets. He has no record of trouble, but was not authorized for travel, so it appears that he was going UA.
In the lab, Abby tells Gibbs his retroactively approving Ducky's exhumation was kind, and then tells Gibbs that Ducky was right about the commander. She did find traces of a poison synthesized from the oleander plant. Abby also tells Gibbs that she had checked the laptop of Sgt. Hill and found that one of the last things Sgt. Hill had looked at prior to his death was a copy of Ducky's exhumation order.
Gibbs and McGee talk to Ducky outside the building, telling Ducky that the new case overlaps his cold case. They need to know who Ducky had talked to about the exhumation, and they need his files on Roberts. Ducky agrees to turn over the information to them for the investigation. Ducky believes he's been side-lined again until Gibbs cites Rule 38: "Your case, your lead."
Back at NCIS, Gibbs tells the agents that Ducky has point on the case. They then brief Ducky about Roberts, who was an avionics instructor in Annapolis. Roberts had applied several times, but couldn't get into NASA's flight training program. At the time of Roberts death, he was a widower who came from money who was survived by a daughter. Ducky asks about her, and Ziva tells him that the daughter is on her way. In the meantime, Ducky tells the team look back through his old files to see what else they can find.
Ziva accompanies Ducky to the meeting with the commander's daughter. Surprisingly, the daughter opens with: "He's dead because I killed him." Actually, the daughter was supposed to stop over to see her father the night he died, but was detained at work. She said her father wasn't a big drinker, he just had a bad day: he'd just been rejected again by NASA. Ducky tells her that it now appears her father may have been murdered. Showing her a picture of Sgt. Hill, the commander's daughter says that she doesn't recognize him. Ducky promises the daughter that they will find out what happened to her father. After she leaves, Ziva points out to Ducky that the daughter had inherited $14 million from her father and that she might be the killer.
In autopsy, Palmer briefs Gibbs and Ducky, telling them about finding old chemical burns on Sgt. Hill's hands consistent with burns from the poison that killed Cmdr. Roberts. Hill is now the prime suspect in Roberts' death. It now looks as though Hill was running to keep from being tagged for Roberts' murder. While they're in autopsy, the radiation alarm goes off in Abby's lab, and Gibbs rushes to her.
As Gibbs enters the lab, Abby is already on the phone with security, telling them that it is a false alarm. Abby tells Gibbs that she found dust on Roberts' jacket that is a radioactive substance called JSC1, found on fake moon rocks. The JSC1 had set off the alarm. Abby then gives Gibbs the name of a man who would know about JSC1 and the moon rocks.
Rene Auberjonois (Dr. Felix Blackwell), is a NASA scientist who identifies JSC1 as having been made by Johnson Space Center for create fake moon rocks to be used in lunar engineering studies. Blackwell told them the irradiated stuff was supposed to be disposed of since it could be used to make a dirty bomb.
Back at NCIS, Ducky recaps with the team Hill's killing Roberts and the information about JSC1. The answers raise more questions including why Roberts would be in possession of a substance that could be used to build dirty bombs, and McGee and Tony pay a visit to Roberts' CO.
Tony and McGee find Roberts' CO at the firing range. Tony tries to talk to her, but the CO perceives Tony as wanting to trash Roberts and refuses to tell him anything. She turns back to the target, and McGee steps up beside her. McGee fires six shots straight into the head of the target in front of him. He gets the CO's attention and she is willing to talk to him. The CO calls Roberts her finest officer. When McGee points out that everyone has some imperfection, the CO says that Roberts didn't take rejection well, and Roberts made some veiled threats against the DOD after his third rejection for flight school and NASA. She recognized the threats as Roberts' venting and knew that he would not cause any harm. When McGee mentions that there are no letters in Roberts' file, the CO tells McGee she kept the letters out of Roberts' file, but acknowledges that she kept copies of them.
In the lab, Abby explains that Hill's carbon monoxide detectors were disabled by a virus that infected the system that was triggered remotely. She also says that she found some emails on Roberts' old computer, arranging a meet with Hill to buy something, and that Roberts was really paranoid about the police. In a later email, Roberts threatened to turn Hill into the Feds. With the "dirty bomb" information, they wonder if Roberts and Hill were part of a WMD smuggling ring.
That evening, Palmer shows up at Gibbs' house. Palmer starts telling Gibbs that he thinks Ducky is "losing it". Ducky had yelled at him and was issuing orders like "Atilla the Hun". Gibbs drops what he has in his hand and steps aside. Palmer can now see Ducky sitting in the corner of the basement. Palmer nervously tries to explain himself, "That ..., that was just ...." Ducky interrupts, saying, "... wishing you weren't here ...." Palmer wishes them a good evening and makes a quick exit.
As Palmer leaves, Ducky says Palmer is "... managing quite admirably, but he is slightly overwhelmed by his new position." Ducky then frets about the way things are going with the case and that he is '... not up to the task." He finally tells Gibbs, "Funny ..., I was dismayed that the world could get on without me. Now it seems ... well ..., it just might be better off." Before Gibbs can respond, his phone rings. Abby has found an email from another buyer.
Gibbs heads out to follow up on Abby's lead. When Gibbs arrives, he finds Tony laughing at McGee. At first, McGee says it's nothing, then explains to Gibbs that he was mistaken about being picked as a beta tester for the life recorder. Tony chimes in, "It was no mistake 'cause you've gotta have a life to get a life recorder."
Getting back to business, the guys tell Gibbs that they have traced the email from a "DF" to a cell phone, which led to a PO box, which led them then to the building across the street. Ziva then walks up behind McGee after having checked the back of the building for an entry.
Tony and Gibbs head inside through the front entrance, with Ziva and McGee entering the back of the building. Inside, the music is blaring, and they find an aged British rocker. His posters cover the walls. Michael des Barres (Del Finney) identifies himself. Del Finney is a one-hit wonder from the 80s and is now the maintenance man for the building where he was found.
The team takes Finney to NCIS for interrogation. Gibbs hands Ducky the file, and they enter the interrogation room. Tony, standing outside interrogation says flatly, "This should be entertaining."
Ducky starts off by calling Finney by his real name. He replies, "Finney ..., Del Finney." Then Ducky shows him the photo of Hill and asks, "Do you know this man?" Finney denies knowing him. Ducky doesn't call Finney a liar, but says, "Oh really? I can see the carotid artery pulsing in your neck. The moment this photo appeared, your heart rate shot up to ... oh ..., I'd estimate 130."
Gibbs then asked what Finney bought from the man. "I don't know what you're talkin' about." Finney said he had been keeping a low profile because of fans. Finney tells them about his popularity and to having people on his doorstep wanting an autograph to which Ducky replies, "Or looking for payments on overdue bills? You owe a lot of people a lot of money. Were you hiding from fans ..., or where you hiding from creditors?" Ducky then takes a more empathetic approach after again using the man's real name, Ducky says, "Yeah, Finney ... Del Finney ... It must be really hard for you ..., I mean ..., so much talent ..., the adulation ..., and now it's all over. I mean ..., what happened?" Finney starts talking about the things he bought "... a zoo ..., a lighthouse ..., a few other things ..., ... and then, you know ..., the checks, they stopped comin' in ...".
When Gibbs asks Finney if he bought "... that other stuff ..." from Hill, Finney says he thinks it's time for a lawyer. Ducky says, "Perhaps it is time to see a lawyer ..., on the other hand, maybe it's time to ... (starts singing) "Stand up Johnny, be a man...." Finney picks up the next line, singing, "... Don't run from the truth, even if you can ...:" Finney says to Ducky, "You know my song." Ducky says, "Yes ..., the question is, do you?"
Returning to the NCIS bullpen, Tony walks in singing Ducky's praises. "Hey, you guys ..., you missed it. It was classic ..., beautiful. Ducky ... is an artist." Tony and Gibbs report that Hill was selling moon rocks. McGee comments on how valuable they are and says it's illegal to buy them. Then McGee remembers that about twelve years earlier one of the rocks had been taken from a museum break-in, but it was quietly recovered two years later from a janitor.
Abby confirms that the rock Finney bought is a knock off. Sgt. Hill was running a con. Ducky says from his notes on Finney's interrogation that Hill gave Finney a sample to send to a NASA lab for testing. Abby points out there's no way any NASA scientist would have mistaken the knock-off for the real thing. The question becomes who would have been the person who tested the rocks. The clues lead back to the expert.
Gibbs and Tony pay another visit to Dr. Felix Blackwell, who comes from racketball, but picks up a cane when he sees them. Gibbs grabs the cane, and Tony says to Blackwell, "Did you Keyser Soze us? [A reference to the 1995 movie, 'Usual Suspects' (qv.)] I can't believe I fell for that." Gibbs shows Blackwell Hill's photo. Hill worked security at the NASA rock verification lab when Blackwell ran it. Blackwell asks for his lawyer.
Back at NCIS, Ducky explains to Ziva and McGee how the final pieces to the puzzle came together, pleased with the conclusion of his case. Alluding to another bit of McCallum filmography, Ducky smiles as he says, "La fin de l'affaire" (the end of the affair) [This refers to 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.' (qv.) 1964-1968, in which each episode was called an "affair".] McGee graciously congratulates Ducky and tells him that he is "a natural". Ducky replies that he can't help but think there is something that he's forgotten. Ziva tells him, "It has not forgotten you. Remember the promise that you made." Roberts' daughter has come back to NCIS and thanks Ducky, giving him a hug.
When Roberts' daughter walks away, Gibbs tells Ducky that his fun is over. Instead of letting him finish the paperwork, Gibbs tells Ducky that the only place he's going is back to autopsy. Ducky has been cleared for duty and can return to his job as ME. As Ducky walks away, Ziva says to Gibbs, "We are finally whole again."
In autopsy, Ducky watches Palmer, flustered, talking on the phone, talking about reports he needs to do, the liver he's misplaced and other problems, and then Palmer drops his files in the floor when he sees Ducky. Palmer asks if he can help, and Ducky answers, "No, but maybe I can help you." When Ducky tells him he's cleared for duty, Palmer is relieved.
There's a body that has been sent over from another coroner wanting a second opinion about a subdural hematoma, and Palmer hands Ducky the striker saw. Ducky tells Palmer he should check to see if the fellow was on anti-coagulants, and Palmer leaves. Ducky then looks down at the corpse and says, "... you wait here a moment while I change into something more comfortable."
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