Original subtitles

Okay, Jake, let's give it a little gas.

Now it's brake.

I know, Dad, but you told me to be careful with your car. On the road.

We haven't even left the driveway yet.

Now come on, show me what this baby can do.

What are you doing? This is pointless.

I don't need to learn to drive.

What are you talking about? How are you going to get to school?

Take the bus.

I like the bus.

What about after school, meeting up with friends?

I hang out on Discord.

Where? It's online. Look, forget it, Dad. Listen, Jake, I know the world is

changing, and I don't always understand it, but trust me, some things never

change. Sooner or later, you're going to have to drive.

What the... You've got to be kidding me.

You stay here.

Hey, man.

You're going to have to pay for any... Whoa, man!

Step away from the car.

Forget I said anything.

Wait. What are you doing?

Don't hurt my son or my car.

Drive.

Wait. What the... What are you doing?

And then if you read a little further down the page, you can see where the

coroner notes acute trauma to the occipital bone. In a front -on

would there be an injury to the back of her head?

I know seatbelts weren't exactly a thing back then, but even that wouldn't

account for an injury such as this.

So I hope you can understand why I thought it was time to show you this.

You think my mom was murdered?

This does bring up a lot of questions. In order to get answers, we may need to

move on to the next step. I would need to exhume your mother's body, with your

permission, of course.

I don't understand.

Well, I would need to see her body in order to verify these injuries. No,

what I don't understand is why we're even talking about this.

No, I don't understand. I asked you to find my mother's grave. That's it.

not track down the death certificate or the coroner's report, and I certainly

didn't ask you to make a federal case out of it and share it with the entire

team. No, of course you didn't, but I just saw all these discrepancies, and

I did what Dr. Mallard trained me to do. No, no, no, don't blame Ducky for this.

I told you I was looking for closure. This is the opposite of that.

I wanted to close an old wound, not open a new one.

I am so sorry. I did not mean to... I just thought that you would want

This was your mother.

You didn't know my mother, and if you had, you'd understand. I don't want

kind of answers.

Nothing good can come from this.

All right,

we've got a case.

I'll grab my things. Don't bother.

We don't need you on this one.

Hell kind of operation is the Navy running anyway.

You don't have enough wars to fight overseas that you got to launch an

on Broadview Terrace? Mr. Larson, I understand that you're upset, but we

your help finding your son.

Does Jacob have a phone that we can track? Yeah, I told him to leave it in

house during the driving lesson.

What about his car? Is there a GPS?

She's a 73 -month -day.

Do you know anyone that might have reason to kidnap your son?

What? No.

Well, this wasn't a kidnapping. This was a carjacking.

You think this guy did all of this just to get your Mustang?

Look at her.

She's a thing of beauty. Do you know how many offers I've gotten to buy her off

me? I never tell her. Charlene's like a daughter to me.

That's just a nickname.

You people name ships, right?

Oh, yeah. You know, how about we get back to your other child?

My wife.

Please. Please find my son.

Charlene, huh?

We have the police manning checkpoints in every highway, 20 -mile radius.

Everyone's looking for a paratrooper. All right, well, what do you think? Who

are we looking at? All right, if you ask me, someone who's watched way too many

Tom Cruise movies. Except it's not Maverick. It's Kingfisher.

Paratrooper's call sign. Ran through our database.

Real name came back. Lieutenant Max Winger.

The leapfrog. I thought it was a kingfisher.

Leapfrogs are the Navy's performance skydiving team.

They do shows for civilians, you know, football games, air shows. This guy was

on the ground before 8 a .m., a little early for a show. I spoke with the CEO.

Apparently, leapfrogs had a practice jump this morning out of a trap mill.

said that Winger broke away from his team midair. No warning, no explanation.

We don't really think he did all this to steal a car, do we?

Well, if he did, he's really bad at stealing cars.

Incoming. Incoming, incoming.

Stop! Stop! Stop! Hey! Stop! Stop!

Hey! Hey! Jake!

My baby!

Step back!

NCIS! Out of the car!

Hands up!

It's just me.

I'm alone.

I'm so worried.

Wait. Is that a scratch?

What the hell happened?

Uh, more importantly, where's the guy who kidnapped you? I dropped him off.

I guess you just really needed a ride.

So you're telling me that this guy dropped 15 ,000 feet, hijacked

a car just to get a ride to his own house?

What, did he leave the stove on?

Not exactly.

When we got to the house, we found a body.

Navy Captain David Cruz.

We shot three times. We found three spent casings and a gun at the scene.

Navy says it was issued to our leapfrog. So you think Lieutenant Winger was the

shooter? Looks that way, but he was long gone by the time we showed up. We put

out a bow, but...

Winger is a highly trained Navy SEAL. You know, I thought that name sounded

familiar. Wasn't Winger captured by the Taliban during the withdrawal from

Afghanistan? That's right. They held him captive for over two years. Right,

until the State Department negotiated his return last December. This guy's a

hero. Yeah. Now that hero looks like a murderer.

So what do you think caused him to snap? Did Winger serve with his victim? No.

There's no indication they even knew each other. Then what the hell was Cruz

doing at Winger's house?

That might be a question for Mrs. Winger.

We found Cruz's body in the master bedroom, shirt untucked.

Sheets were a mess.

Maybe Mrs. Wenger got lonely and he finally found out. Might explain why he

in such a hurry to get home.

Oh, my.

You think I'm cheating on my husband?

I wasn't even home when this happened. I was at a PTA meeting at my son's

school. There are dozens of witnesses.

Miss Winger, we're not disputing your alibi for the murder. We're trying to

figure out why Captain Cruz was in your home. I've never seen this man before in

my life, let alone in my house. He must have been trying to rob us and Max

stopped him. There was no sign of forced entry.

I love my husband.

I took a sacred vow when I married him and I will never break it.

And Max would never kill anyone.

Unless they were a threat to him or to us, he would do anything to protect his

family. Mrs. Winger, do you and your husband still live in together?

When we were searching your house, we noticed that all your husband's clothes

were missing.

Like he moved out.

We've been... struggling since he came back from Afghanistan.

You can't imagine what he went through over there.

The Taliban starved him.

Beat him, made him sleep in filth.

So when he came back, he was a different person.

Different husband.

We started counseling with the Navy chaplain.

And for a while it was working.

Max was more affectionate with me. He was playing with Oliver.

But three weeks ago he just left.

Said it was for the best.

Do you know where he moved to?

An apartment in Anacostia.

Addresses in my phone.

You can check my texts, emails, whatever you want.

Thank you.

My husband is a good Christian man.

Agent Knight, he's not a killer.

Casey confirmed it. Based on her ballistics report, the bullets that

Captain Cruz came from Lieutenant Winger's gun. The irony is that Captain

is already knocking on Death's door.

A bullet was not the only thing I found in his brain. Look at this.

That is a glioblastoma.

Tumor? Yeah, an aggressive one.

My guess is he probably would have only had about 12 months to live.

Did he know about it? His medical file didn't mention any cancer at all.

Maybe Parker was right.

What you don't know can't hurt you.

Yeah, yeah.

Heard you talked to Parker about his mom.

I messed up, Tim.

He didn't take it well. Yeah, I heard. I heard that too.

Listen, don't beat yourself up, okay? You thought that you were doing the

thing. You thought you were helping him. I did the exact opposite. I hurt him.

Parker said that I reopened an old wound.

I'm sorry, Jimmy.

We should have been there to back you up. You guys warned me. That was a risky

road to go down.

I just kept walking.

You're a medical examiner. It's what you do.

As far as I'm concerned, you got nothing to be sorry about.

But I'm still glad it wasn't me that he yelled at.

You got some case?

Oh. Yes, I think I found a connection between Winger and our victim.

Using cell phone records, I retraced both Winger and Cruz's locations over

past week. I discovered they coincided at one place and one time.

Two days ago, at the Navy Yard Chapel.

So maybe the chaplain knows something.

All right, thanks, Case. Jimmy, it'll be okay.

I'm getting flashbacks to all the base chapels my dad used to drag me to as a

kid.

A tourist tonight has checked out Winger's apartment.

No sign of him there.

Sorry, gentlemen.

You just missed the pre -deployment blessing.

NCIS. We'd like a word with the chap.

Of course.

He's currently taking confession in the chapel right now, but he should be out

shortly.

But I'm afraid there are no weapons allowed inside the chapel.

You are the chaplain's assistant?

Stephen Morris, religious programming specialist.

Do you recognize these men?

Yes, I do.

Why, is everything okay?

We think they were both here two days ago.

Do you have any idea why?

No, I don't, but, um, well, you can ask him yourself.

He's here right now.

Lieutenant Winger is here in the chapel now?

With the chaplain, yes, sir.

It's CIS.

Javelin.

Special Agent Parker, are you all right?

I'm fine.

But if you're looking for Lieutenant Winger, he isn't here anymore. He gave

confession and left at the back.

Wait a moment.

What did Winger say? Did he say where he was going? Well, I'm afraid I can't

tell you that.

Excuse me? Everything Lieutenant Winger told me, including his whereabouts, is

confidential. It's protected by the seal of confession.

With all due respect, Chaplain, Lieutenant Winger murdered someone this

so if you know where he's going, you need to tell me. Well, then it looks

we have a problem, Agent Parker, because the way I see it, I don't have to tell

you anything.

I answer to a higher authority.

No, you don't see that every day.

Am I missing something?

I mean, are we even allowed to interrogate him?

Technically, no.

Then why is he here, McGee? Because by the time I got back to the chapel,

already had him cuffed.

He handcuffed? A chaplain. Oh, man, we're getting struck by lightning. We're

fired, but that seems to be a risk Parker's willing to take.

Commander Charles Gage.

Charlie the chaplain.

Yeah, I've heard that before. I'm more of a Buster Keaton fan, if I'm being

honest. Fits you, though. Why's that?

Because you're not talking.

That's very funny. No, we've been over this, Agent Parker.

SecNav instruction 1730 .11 protects private communication between clergy and

those seeking counsel.

Tell that to Captain David Cruz.

Nothing protected him. He was murdered this morning by this man, Lieutenant Max

Winger, who was last seen talking to you.

Not talking, confessing. Yeah. Yeah, I bet. Murder, kidnapping, grand theft

auto.

How many Our Fathers and Hail Marys was that?

Are you a man of faith, Agent Parker?

We're not talking about me. Except I need you to understand.

We're not just dealing with the laws of man here.

The seal of confession is inviolable. It extends even into the hereafter. And

I'm talking about the here and now. This man is a trained killer. What else is

there to understand?

You like war movies?

Okay, just stop changing the subject. No, I'm not.

When I was growing up, I loved war movies.

Patton, Platoon, The Dirty Dozen. I saw them all.

Then I saw the real thing. Iraq, 2007, The Surge.

Lost a lot of good men.

But they taught me something no movie ever could.

In battle, you put your faith in the men serving alongside you.

You trust them with your life. So when a service member...

walks into my chapel, and tells me his deepest secrets.

He trusted me with their life.

If I betray that trust, I put him in danger. I put the entire unit in danger.

We're not just talking about protecting Lieutenant Winger. We're talking about

protecting all of the men and women who serve.

Nice sermon.

My dad would have approved.

He liked war movies, too.

But this isn't Iraq, Chaplain, and Lieutenant Winger is not at war.

Still, people are dying.

Captain Gage, I am NCIS Director Leon Vance. I'm sorry you've been detained.

Please accept my apology for this inconvenience.

Seems that there's been a misunderstanding.

I agree, Director.

You're free to go.

And I assure you that Agent Parker will get a refresher on Navy regulations.

No harm done.

Agent Parker was just trying to do the right thing, as am I.

Agent Paulson will see you out.

The hell were you thinking? I was thinking that the last time a priest

on me, it turns out he was an international drug lord.

He's a base chaplain, not a padre.

You should have cleared this with me. Why?

I know what you would have said. Same thing you've been saying for months.

Tread lightly.

Keep it low key. We don't need bad press. We don't.

Well, imagine how bad it's going to be if Winger kills again.

Do you ever consider that I have a good reason to say those things? If you're

ready to share, Leon, I'm ready to listen.

Wow. Yeah, it was biblical.

And it wasn't just the chaplain.

Vance, too.

Parker's on a tear today.

He could have gotten into a lot of trouble for arresting the chaplain.

wasn't about the chaplain.

Maybe it was about the chaplain's boss.

You think Parker's got beef with God?

After the year he's had, wouldn't you?

Where are we at with Winger? We have agents outside his apartment and his

His wife and son have a full security detail. What about bank accounts? He

get far without cash. Well, no recent transaction, but there's not a lot to

from. The Wingers are living paycheck to paycheck.

Phone records? That's where it gets interesting.

Winger preferred to use an encrypted messaging app. It turns out he received

voice message just minutes before his leapfrog jumped this morning.

Well, now we're talking. Play it. We don't have the actual message. The

is citing customer privacy and demanding a court order.

And I'm going to get a court order.

Winger's psych eval. Go.

Conducted by a Navy psychologist after Winger's release from Taliban custody,

they diagnosed him with post -traumatic stress, but found him remarkably stable

given the trauma that he'd been through. I bet they'd like to revise that

assessment now.

Especially since they found more trauma.

This is Lieutenant Junior Grade Liam O 'Brien.

He's a leapfrog, just like Winger. He fell to his death three months ago.

Parachute malfunction.

According to the leapfrogs that we spoke to, Liam and Winger were really close

friends. And losing a body that soon after being a Taliban prisoner, it's a

You in for a Navy SEAL? Sure, but parachute malfunctions don't happen

Are you thinking foul play?

I think that in light of what we now know about Winger, we can't rule

out. Keep digging.

Watch out, Katy Perry. Jessica Knight is ready for blastoff.

Funny, but no, not quite.

This is NCIS Elite's new jumpsuit.

It's been five months. Do you even know what you're training for?

Well, on some days, it is hostile extractions. Other days, it is CBR and

response. But really, it's still just an astronaut waiting to go to space.

Well, it's better than pointing back to the Earth. Just ask Liam O 'Brien. Oh,

Winger's friend.

These were his parachute rigs? Yep. So what caused the malfunction?

Oh, for starters, the main chute experienced some broken suspension

They snapped clean, sent Liam into a spin.

Don't leapfrogs train for that? They sure do. And Liam knew the drill. He cut

his main away, pulled his reserve, and didn't deploy.

Because of this pin.

It dislodged and caused a horseshoe malfunction.

That's where the shoe won't leave the bag. Leapfrog's trained to clear those

also, but at that point, Liam was under 400 feet and dropping fast.

Just didn't have enough time.

So was it an accident? The preliminary investigation found no evidence of

sabotage, but... You did your thing. I did my thing.

Swallow for touch DNA, dust it for prints. Only found Liam's DNA and

except on this pin where I also found... wingers.

Damn, Casey, maybe you should be in the lead. Oh, count me in. You know I love a

good costume.

I agree, Jess.

A little touch DNA doesn't mean that Winger killed his friend.

But if he did, it means whatever was going on with him happened long before

stole that car this morning.

You gotta wonder what he's been hiding.

Uh, yeah.

Look, I gotta go. I'll see you in the morning.

Okay.

Hope you don't mind the intrusion.

That depends.

You're here to confess?

In a manner of speaking.

Come in.

Impressive.

You're like Bruce Dern in Silent Running. If you mean the guy whose

becomes a crime scene, well, you're closer than you think, Batner.

Of course.

That's actually why I'm here. I owe you an apology. I didn't realize it at

first, but I know you, Agent Parker.

I helped arrange your father's burial at sea.

I even met your sister, the Vice Admiral.

She talked at great length about your father and you.

So that's it? You just came here to apologize?

Well, apology accepted.

Agent Parker, are you familiar with Hillel, the elder?

Jewish scholar.

There's a proverb of his that I find myself returning to.

If I am not for myself, then who will be for me?

Meaning? Help yourself so that you can better help others.

Your pulpit is showing, Preacher.

Losing a father is hard at any age, and especially the way you lost yours.

I was wondering if perhaps you'd talk to anyone about it.

Your sister found comfort in faith and prayer.

I thought it might help you, too.

My father prayed every night.

He read his Bible, too.

This one.

Oh, yeah.

The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

He was a man of faith?

Yes, he was.

What good did it do? Because he was murdered right here in that chair.

So thank you, chaplain. I don't need your thoughts and prayers.

I need your help in finding a killer. Anything else is a waste of time.

I'll say goodnight now.

We are casting a wider net for Winger.

Border Patrol is doing searches at every crossing.

I still don't buy that he's on the run. Doesn't fit his psych profile.

Guy was held prisoner by Taliban for two years. I mean, who knows what's going

through his head?

So, post -traumatic stress?

It's not really much of a theory. Unfortunately, it's the only one we have

now. Except PTS doesn't make somebody violent. It has to be combined with

risk factors.

Sure. Anger issues, alcohol, drug use, yeah. And we have no evidence that

had the history of any of those things.

Special Agent McGee?

Chaplain. How can I help you?

No, I think we would have found it.

Yeah. No, we will let you know.

Let me guess.

Chaplain's looking for Parker's lost soul?

Funny. No, Chaplin was actually looking for his lost ID. I think he left it here

accidentally when he was visiting for his interrogation.

Or someone took it.

What makes you say that?

We weren't the only bit that the Chaplin had yesterday.

We are?

All right, let me pull up the Chaplin's ID logs.

Okay, last time his ID was used was yesterday evening at the Navy Munitions

Depot. Security camera?

Yeah, trying to access him now.

Parker was right. Winger was hiding more than we thought.

I found a loose floorboard in Winger's apartment, and these were hidden

underneath. A Quran?

Yeah, and a prayer rug.

But Winger's Catholic.

Yeah, but he was also a Taliban prisoner for two years. Are you saying he

converted? I'm saying that maybe he had no choice.

And it might have been more than a religious conversion.

Take a look at this.

Six minutes after the chaplain's ID was used to scan into the depot, Winger came

out of a sighting.

And he wasn't empty handed.

What exactly is in that building? It's climate controlled. Typically that means

chemicals or explosives.

Winger's wife said he came back a different man.

We're not just looking for a killer anymore. We may be looking for a

sleeper agent.

And we'll need to start decorating for Christmas soon. I'll show you where we

keep the boxes.

You lied to me.

Give us a moment.

Agent Parker, even you must know that bearing false witness is a sin.

One of the Ten Commandments, if I'm not mistaken. You told me Winger gave

confession. He did.

Except Muslims don't give confession. We found this hidden in Winger's

apartment, along with the prayer rug. You know I can't speak about the

lieutenant's personal and private beliefs, but he did request the

confession. Well, then he was just using you to steal your ID.

Or did you give it to him? It took you long enough to report it missing.

Agent Parker, I'd misplace my shadow if it weren't attached.

Winger used your ID to steal something from a munitions depot.

Possibly a bomb.

Wait, you think he's a terrorist?

Last night she said something to me.

If I'm not for myself, who will be for me?

But there's more to that quote, isn't there?

If I am only for myself, what am I?

Are you just someone that listens to people?

Or do you want to help them too?

What kind of man are you, Chaplain?

I'm a man of my word, Agent Parker.

Then whatever happens next is on you.

Agent Parker?

I heard what you said to the chaplain. The thing is, I'm also bound by

confidentiality, but I don't want blood on my hands.

Look, Morris, if you know something... Yesterday, when you asked if I had seen

Winger and Cruz, I did.

I overheard them talking into the chapel.

It's going to sound weird, but they were arguing about something called the OK

Corral. Like gunfight at the OK Corral? I don't know what it means, but Winger

also said there was going to be a high body count.

Ashambat Kandarik Air Base, a .k .a. the OK Corral, just got the file from the

DOD. It was a top -secret base located in northern Afghanistan.

Winger served there?

Yes, along with our victim, Cruz, and the dead leapfrog, Liam O 'Brien.

Why wasn't any of this in their file?

Because the OK Corral was the launch pad for covert missions to eliminate high

-value Taliban terrorists.

Looks like they were successful.

Until Lieutenant Winger was captured on one of those missions.

So Winger and his buddies killed a bunch of Taliban. The Taliban captures Winger

and now it looks like Winger's killing his buddies.

You think the Taliban are using Winger to get revenge on the people that

targeted them? I think we need to find and secure anyone else who served in

Winger's unit because he could be going after them next. I'll get the names.

Yeah, come in. Sorry to interrupt.

You got something? Remember the encrypted voice message Winger received

his jump yesterday?

We just got access. Does it explain why he killed Cruz?

Let's just say if I heard this message, I'd jump out of a plane and get home as

fast as I could.

Max, it's me. It's Sarah.

There are some men in the house. They have guns.

And they're threatening to hurt me and Oliver.

You need to come home. You need to come home or else... Or else we'd kill your

wife and son.

No cops.

I hear a siren. They're dead. Just you, Max.

Better hurry.

Sarah. Why didn't you mention this when you spoke to us yesterday?

Because I didn't leave that message.

Sounds like your voice.

Well, it's not.

And I think I would remember if I was held hostage.

If someone is still threatening you, we can help.

We can help protect you and Oliver.

It didn't happen.

You have to believe me.

Agent Parker.

Why are you here? James 2 .14. What good is faith without deeds?

Great. More Proverbs. I thought about what you said this morning. I'm here to

help. You'll tell me what Winger said?

No. I'll let him tell you. I reached out to the lieutenant and he agreed to meet

with you. Only you, Agent Parker.

Not going to happen. If he wants to meet, he has to turn himself in. No.

I vouched for you.

I told him you're a good man who just wants to help.

Is that a lie?

Senator Winger.

Special Agent Alden Parker, NCIS.

I've got agents at every exit.

The bomb squad is on site, too. I'm unarmed.

I'm just here to talk.

And I'm willing to listen.

But if you try anything, story time is over.

Something funny?

Story time.

It's what my son calls bedtime.

But I let Sarah tell the stories. I'm too afraid of mine to give them

nightmares.

I'm not a terrorist, Agent Parker. I'm a good Christian man.

So the Koran and prayer rug we found hidden in your apartment, those

weren't yours?

Are you a man of faith, Agent Parker?

People keep asking me that.

Well, I am.

Or was.

I don't really know anymore.

Something happened to me in Afghanistan, and I lost

God.

So when I got back, I tried to find him again.

Tried the old ways, church and prayer and good works. And when that didn't

I tried other ways.

The prayer rug and Koran, that was one of them.

But no matter what I tried, God doesn't seem to be listening anymore.

And boy, I did. I could really use his help now that I'm being framed for

murder.

I don't expect you to believe me.

I do, Lieutenant.

You received a message from your wife just before you jumped.

That's right.

It wasn't her.

It was a deep fake, AI -generated.

Pretty good one, too.

Almost fooled our best scientist.

Yeah, sure fooled me.

I got that message and got home as fast as I could.

Cruisers already did when I got there, and my service weapon was lying near the

body. That's when I knew I was being fed up.

Why did you run?

You had to know that would make you look guilty because it was the only way to

prove my innocence.

That's why I stole this

Slowly

it's okay. It's not what you think

I

Haven't killed anyone agent Parker

This dirt is worth killing everyone.

And it's killing me too.

So Winger didn't steal explosives. He stole soil samples?

From the OK Corral base in Afghanistan.

Before the Americans had the OK Corral, it belonged to the Soviets. I'm guessing

they left us a mess.

Casey analyzed it. That dirt is a cocktail of jet fuel, asbestos, and

uranium. Winger thinks it made him sick, really sick.

A few weeks ago, he was diagnosed with stage four malignant melanoma.

What's his prognosis?

Not good.

Doctors don't think he has long to live.

How can he be certain that the base is the plan? Because he wasn't the only one

to get sick.

Captain David Cruz served at O .K. Corral for over a year.

Our M .D. found a brain tumor while performing his autopsy.

He never said anything to me. We don't think he knew.

Your friend Liam, he knew.

Eight days before he fell to his death in a parachute malfunction, he was given

a terminal cancer diagnosis.

It wasn't a malfunction.

Liam didn't want to die slowly, so he took a quicker way out.

You're saying he sabotaged his own parachute?

I tried to stop him, tried to stick his reserve chute, but he must have double

-checked and dislodged the pit.

And you kept the truth secret so his family could receive full benefits?

That's what it all comes down to, right?

Money.

The reason I needed to clear my name and a murder charge would have voided your

pension. And if I lose that, I've got nothing to leave my family when I'm

Three people sick, but that's just a drop in the bucket.

There are almost a thousand service members deployed to that base during the

war. McGee's running them down. This is a massive health crisis and it's flown

completely under the radar. How's that possible?

After I was diagnosed, Cruz and I began to suspect it was related to the OK

Corral. So Cruz began making waves at the Pentagon, trying to open an official

investigation.

Next thing I knew, Cruz was dead and I was being framed.

Someone is trying to silence us.

It's quite a theory.

Pentagon murders a whistleblower and then frames a war hero to cover up

crisis. Talk about bad press.

I don't give a damn about the press.

Just follow the evidence where it leads.

Yeah. What do you got, Kate?

Lieutenant Winger is wrong.

About the OK Corral? No, that place is toxic as hell.

He's wrong about why Captain Cruz was killed. It wasn't a cover -up. Cruz was

being blackmailed.

After tracing some reoccurring bank transactions to Cruz's crypto wallet, I

found some encrypted messages between Cruz and a blackmailer. Who is it? Oh,

messages don't say that, but they do say what this is all about.

Meet Ensign Riley Presenza. She's a subordinate under his command. The

blackmailer found out Cruz was sleeping with her. Well, if that got out, that

would have been the end of Cruz's career.

So naturally, Cruz was paying the blackmail payment. Until two days ago.

When he wrote the blackmailer, said he was stopping the payments and reporting

it to his superiors. I bet that didn't go over well. No, the blackmailer

threatened to kill Cruz, and the next morning, Cruz was dead. So his murder

nothing to do with the OK Corral. Doesn't look like it.

Except how did the killer know to frame Winger for murder?

NCIS didn't even know about his connection to Cruz.

Yeah, it seems like the killer knew a lot of people's secrets.

Almost like they confessed it.

So this part here is hanging a little lower. If you want to pull that top.

How's that? A little early for Christmas decorations, isn't it? Seem to go up

earlier every year. I take it you're not here to help me arrange the nativity

scene. No, I don't come bearing gifts. Only bad news. It turns out your

confidential conversations haven't been so confidential.

We isolated a large data packet coming from the chapel whenever you were taking

confessions. I'm afraid I don't speak tech, Agent Parker.

The chapel's been bugged.

And we have proof that these recordings were used to blackmail service members.

I'm sorry, Agent Parker, are you accusing me of blackmailing people I'm

to help?

No, I'm accusing him.

Morris.

It's not true, Commander.

Oh, it is.

You traced the recordings to your phone and the crypto to your bank account.

You tried to point us in the wrong direction, but it was never about the

corral. You murdered Captain Cruz after he stopped paying and set up a dying man

to take the fall.

You even framed him with his own gun.

Not hard, considering you had to remove his weapon before entering the chapel.

That's right.

No guns allowed.

Stay back or I'll shoot him. Drop your weapon!

Did you hear that, Agent Parker?

The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the

selfish.

Ezekiel?

Tarantino.

I can't thank you enough for what you've done for me.

Oh, I should be thanking you.

And after what you started, the Pentagon now knows that military personnel at

the O .K. Corral are exposed to contaminants. VA plans to extend

veterans who serve there.

I know in your case, it must be a small consolation. No, not at all. I'm proud

of my country for doing right by its service members.

And thanks to you, I have my family again.

I'm blessed, Agent Parker.

I don't get it.

Winger served his country, sacrificed everything to make the world a safer

place. He was put through hell trying to get back home.

And then when he did, how does God reward him?

By killing him.

Painfully and slowly in front of his family.

How does he still think he's blessed?

I mean, what good can come from all of this pain?

What, no proverb?

I thought at the very least you'd have an answer for that.

I'm afraid the answer you're looking for, only God can provide.

That's great.

Because I've been asking.

But the man upstairs refuses to talk.

Can I offer a suggestion?

Perhaps the man upstairs is talking.

But it's you who refuses to listen.

Answers rarely come from a burning bush or a booming voice.

Most of the time, they come from the people closest to us.

If you're truly looking for answers, Agent Parker, then you have to be

to not like what you find.

Oh my God, Agent Parker.

I am so sorry. I meant to put that away.

Believe me, message received loud and clear.

Oh, yeah, Jimmy, I'm going to need you on this one.