Original subtitles

Oh, so the light that we're seeing now from the Horsehead Nebula started its

journey a thousand years ago.

We're actually looking at the past.

No time machine needed, just a telescope.

You can see the most amazing things with it. You never have to talk to anybody

at all.

Not that I don't want to talk with you. I mean, I'm having a lovely night.

What I meant to say...

is that it's nice spending time with someone who actually understands how

beautiful science can be.

Ben?

Federal agents!

Stop or we'll shoot!

duck back down is the vice president secure repeat is the vice president

This is a joke, right?

No, I assure you it's not a joke.

Maybe you're just not in on it.

This is, uh, feeling like I'm late for something. Am I late for something?

No, you are just in time.

Apparently we're getting a new member of the team.

What?

We have just been told, and I quote, that this cell phone thingy will be

our cases with us. I told you it's not a cell phone thingy. It's an AI chatbot.

That's going to be working our cases with us?

Yes, DOJ is beta testing this new device to help find ways to increase

investigative efficiency.

You're saying we're not efficient?

And I told the AG that it wouldn't be a problem.

Well, it's going to be a problem if some AI bot tries telling me how to do my

job. Well, that's just the start of things. Now, once you invite the vampire

into your house, it's going to take your job.

Yeah, I thought you'd be all in on it.

There's a reason I've made AI the bad guy in my next deep six book.

No way. KT -3000 is breaking bad?

Since when are you a deep sixie? Since I found out that Pimmy Jalmer has a huge

cult following on Reddit.

Okay, so who wants to volunteer to carry our new sidekick?

Or I can just... No, I'll do it.

I mean, how much damage can it do?

Everybody I work with is dead.

And it'll finally give me someone to talk to down there.

Well, that's a fact.

Dr. Palmer, the AI is to be with you at all times. It has access to our network,

and it needs to observe one full case.

Which is starting now.

Secret Service has a body at the Naval Observatory.

Let's go.

All right.

Let's figure out how to turn you on.

I've been listening the entire time, Dr. Palmer.

Oh, well, hello.

Nice to meet you. Please, call me Jimmy.

Hello, Jimmy.

I am looking forward to working with you.

Do you have a preference for my voice?

Uh, what's on the menu?

Would you prefer male or female?

Female. Did I say that too quickly?

And what type of personality would work best for you?

Humorous? Serious?

Sarcastic? You know what?

Positive. A straight shooter, but generally positive.

You got it, Jimmy.

My programmers have named me Dawn.

It stands for Data Assisted Workflow Navigator. My job is to help you and

coworkers have a more efficient workflow.

All right, then. So, where do we start?

What time do you get here in the morning?

What time do you leave at night?

Do you enjoy your job?

Let's see, 8 a .m., 6 p .m., and yes.

Will you be conducting an autopsy today? If so, may I assist?

I get that you're eager, but it took me years of school before I was ready to

assist in an autopsy. I think I will be able to advance fairly quickly.

Well, this really is the dawn of a new era, isn't it?

Because your name is Dawn, so that's a joke.

Oh, that's funny.

I love it.

My bad.

I thought the parkway would be faster.

Except I told you that satellite imagery showed an accident on that parkway.

Well, surface streets can be even more unpredictable.

Nothing is unpredictable when you have enough data.

Touché. I'm just trying to save you some time. And I cannot wait to see what

you've got. We don't need Navy cops messing with our investigation.

It's an open and shut case.

What are they discussing?

Arguing over who's got the bigger jurisdiction.

Navy cops, yeah.

That's funny, because what's the name of this place again?

Oh, that's right. The United States Naval Observatory. He was clearly after

VP. That's our turf.

Does our suspect have a name yet?

Yeah, Dr. Ben Grant.

Checked in as a guest of some astronomer in the observatory.

Apparently it was a first date.

Start gazing in the VP's backyard.

That's a strong play.

I don't know. I like things simpler.

Yeah, what's your ideal first date?

Bringing a friend to a wedding. That was nice.

Oh, that's so cute.

Don just sent me a bunch of crime scene emojis.

Oh, yeah, that's great, Jimmy.

So listen, when you're done wasting time with your new bestie, can I bag that

visitor's bag? Yeah, we're not wasting time.

I'm just trying to understand Jimmy's workflow. He likes emojis.

And liver probes.

Let's see. Internal core temperature of 88 degrees.

Ampion temp of 52. That puts approximate time of death at?

2 a .m.

See?

She's saving us time already.

Yeah, but we're already into the time of death. Secret Service were wearing

watches when they shot him.

Yeah, what we don't know is why this guy was after the VP.

Your theory that this man was here to harm the vice president is incorrect.

And how would you know that?

Last night there was a volcanic explosion near Reykjavik, Iceland.

Okay. All right, you need to reboot that thing.

The vice president was on his way to a trade summit overseas, but debris from

the explosion forced the plane to reroute back to D .C.

Well, that would mean... The VP wasn't supposed to be home.

The information was only released publicly in the past two minutes while

were discussing dating.

Dating? Hold up.

I don't think this guy was after the vice president.

We know.

You do?

Trade Summit.

Volcano. Iceland.

Guess we could have stayed home.

Told you.

Vampire in the house.

And we've got another problem.

If this Grant guy wasn't after the VP, then what was he up to?

I've calculated 57 possible reasons why Dr.

Grant might have snuck out of that observatory. Not our department. Our job

right now is to catalog his clothing.

Wouldn't it be more efficient to do that at the crime scene?

Maybe, but you risk contamination, plus it would require him to be naked.

Yes. I could see why humans think other naked humans are disgusting.

No, it's not that.

We have to have respect for the dead. This is someone's son, someone's

It's unlikely he was married as he was on a date. Yeah, well, still, in this

job, it's important to remember our humanity.

Speaking of humans, maybe you can talk to the DOJ, get me an extra set of hands

down here.

Perhaps you could get the other agents to help you. No, they are busy

interrogating persons of interest right now. I would think a written statement

would save everyone time.

Yeah, maybe, but a trained investigator can pick up on subtle clues from a

suspect's nonverbal behavior.

You cannot get that in a written statement. In fact, maybe I can pull the

interrogation feed for you to watch while I prep.

Good idea.

I've accessed the security server.

I'm looking forward to observing this nonverbal behavior.

You were both at the observatory. Dr.

Grant was registered as your guest, was he?

I don't know because I can't say.

Oh, wait. I'm sorry. Can you repeat the question, please?

How did you meet Dr.

Grant? An app.

A dating app?

Yeah, sorry.

Blind dating, actually. Text only.

What do you swipe on?

Personality traits.

But you don't see what your match looks like until you meet in person.

Well, that's bold.

It's a relief, actually.

I prefer texting because when I get nervous, I'm not very good at...

Yes.

Yeah, that.

So you met your blind date, you brought him to the observatory and just let him

run free?

No, no, no, no. I was showing him the horse head nebula and then...

He must have left the building.

Here's the problem with that story.

We've been to your observatory. The outer door makes a lot of noise when

opens it.

No way someone could slip out without you hearing.

I get distracted sometimes.

Well, is this what usually happens when you get distracted?

Why would you show me that?

The cameras in the observatory confirm your story, but maybe that was the plan.

Would have given you an alibi.

The passionate

scientist so into her work that she doesn't hear literally the loudest door

ever heard in my life.

He was just lost.

Why would he run from the Secret Service?

He must have had some kind of a plan. I don't know what his plan was. My plan

was just to meet someone nice.

What's the protocol for getting a visitor access card?

Samantha.

What's going on in there?

I mean, either this woman is the victim of the worst first date in history or

she's putting on quite a show.

You think she's acting?

Well, if she is, she should get an Oscar because I'm kind of buying what she's

selling. It's just a squeaky door.

Right? There's no way she didn't hear her date slip out. Yeah, but we can't

her any longer.

See if she's got an emergency contact to pick her up.

On it.

You should also see this.

We analyzed our dead suspect's security access card.

Now, it seems that he somehow modified it to give himself full security

clearance. Casey is going over entry logs now, trying to see if she can

the steps.

What the hell is this Dr. Grant guy after?

Actually, nothing.

Turns out, that is not Dr. Grant.

Oh, I did not see that coming.

Didn't see what coming?

Well, as you know, Dr.

Ben Grant was an electrical engineer.

However... The man on your table is not Ben Grant.

Yeah, that was my line.

McGee just texted. He said that the ID that we found on the body was fake. He

wants me to double -time my... Wait a second. How did you know that?

I scanned the body's face and cross -referenced it with all 50 state DMVs.

Would you like to know the man's true identity?

Of course.

But hold off. We have a certain protocol that we have to follow.

I have to send his prints up to Casey, and then she will get me an ID.

So you'd rather not move the case along more quickly?

Noted. No, that's not the note that we want to note. Don't note that. I'm

confused by the inefficiencies here, Jimmy.

So far, your daily routine has more to do with habit and ritual than

Okay, we have a certain way we do things around here, all right? And it yields

great results.

Does it? Yes.

I've also observed how you spend the vast majority of your time in a basement

devoid of natural sunlight, surrounded only by dead bodies.

It can't be good for a human's mental health.

Doesn't this make you sad?

Why? I mean, sometimes it's tough, but I always try to look on the bright side

of... Wait, why are you bringing this up?

I love my job.

You said you wanted help down here. I assume you are lonely.

Just because I'm alone doesn't mean I'm lonely. I am fine by myself.

If you say so.

I do.

Understood. Good.

Okay, fine. What's his name?

Daryl Folkman.

a .k .a. Darnell Fiddler, a .k .a. Jean -Michel Vincenzo.

He is a career criminal who's done time for forgery, wire fraud, and bank fraud.

So our blind day was a con man.

But what was the con?

Maybe the real Dr.

Grant knows.

Well, we can't get a hold of him, and he didn't show up for work today.

That's never a good sign.

Well, our con man committed financial crimes, not violent ones, so maybe the

real Grant's okay.

Where's Samantha?

I take it you're our astronomer's emergency contact?

Try best friend.

What have you done with her? I want to talk to her.

She's sitting comatose in her interrogation room.

That can happen when she gets overstimulated.

I'd be overstimulated too if my date ended up dead.

I'll go get her.

I should never have told her about that app.

She wasn't ready.

She's an adult. She can make her own choices.

And I'm her best friend, and I'm telling you she wasn't ready. Well, ready or

not, your friend's story doesn't completely add up.

I'm not surprised.

Sam is one of the smartest astrophysicists in the country. But she

depends on her routines, and when that gets messed up, she spins out.

And if something doesn't add up, it's because she's doing math you couldn't

begin to understand.

Rachel? Sam?

Are you okay?

I don't think she knows anything.

Fingers crossed Casey has some luck with those entry logs.

Any luck with those entry logs?

I think I identified the area our con man entered last night, and it's a

Live feed.

Is it a doozy, or is that a clock?

It's not just any clock.

It's the CZM -133 United States Atomic Master Clock.

A fancy clock.

Jimmy!

You don't understand.

Did you know that the world has only agreed upon what time it is for about

last 150 years?

This clock is one of the only things the entire world agrees on. It sets the

official time for the United States.

And your con man was in there doing who knows what.

You brought that thing into my lab. You know how I feel about AI. I know, but...

And it's not because he's turning me into some killer AI robot.

That doesn't help.

Vance made me take this everywhere, Casey. I'm sorry.

But now that I'm here, would you like to see surveillance footage from last

night? Yes. No.

Casey.

Fine, whatever.

But stay out of my file system.

Accessing USNO footage.

Routing to your screen.

Bypassing your disorganized file system.

Hey, what is that?

I don't know, but I hope it's not a bomb.

I hope not, too. The U .S. Master Clock is intimately intertwined with air

traffic control, power grid, military command and control, and GPS.

So that means... Destroying that clock would kill a lot of people really fast.

Forward. Turn right.

Okay, now tilt up.

Arm up.

Right side near the junction box.

Bingo. That is the device that our intruder planted.

It's thinner than it looked on the security feed.

Well, that's a good thing, right? I mean, smaller means less boom.

If it's even a bomb, what's the sniffer say?

No particulates, no nitrates, no chemical trace at all. Nothing you'd

from an explosive.

Okay, any antenna?

Negative. No radio, no cellular.

It's an RF dead zone.

No antenna means it's not a remote trigger.

Another check on the not a bomb column.

I could still have an internal timer, though.

I hear the core's oscillating. Whatever this thing is, it's not ticking.

Zoom in, please.

The device is piggybacked onto the data line. Not a detonation ring.

That's a tab.

Surveillance, maybe? Yeah, or signal interference.

So not a bomb.

But, uh, yes.

That's a... pretty sure.

Thankfully, Casey was right.

Not a bomb.

So, while she dissects the mystery box, Nick and Jess are headed to West

Virginia to find the real Dr. Grant.

Another inefficiency.

The drive alone is four hours and two minutes.

Not the way Jess drives.

Maybe don't include that on your report to Director Vance.

Redaction of reckless driving.

Done. Thanks.

But why send two agents for a single objective?

You know, safety, accountability, chain of custody.

Plus, you ever heard of good cop, bad cop?

Between agents Knight and Torres, who qualifies as the bad cop?

Actually, neither.

They're both terrific.

But together, they just click, you know? They're simpatico. I detect a change in

vocal tone when you mention agent Knight.

A slight elevation in pitch, warmer resonance.

This may indicate romantic attraction.

How did we get from workflow efficiency to my love life? Don't answer that.

Perhaps I should join Agents Knight and Torres.

Observe this simpatico firsthand.

I am sure they would love to have you.

Come on.

I know you have a good bad date story somewhere in there.

We have at least another hour on this drive. Wait, did you just hack into

personal cell phone to eavesdrop on them?

No, Jimmy, that would be illegal.

Good, because... I accessed the smart comm system in their NCIS vehicle.

Director Vance granted me full clearance to all agency communications.

If you don't tell me a story, it's going to be a boxing podcast for the rest of

the trip.

That's not fair.

Okay, turn that off. That is a major invasion of privacy.

Perhaps if you were included on more field activity, your medical assessments

would be more thorough.

I am a very good M .E., but there are certain moral and ethical boundaries we

not cross.

Fine, I will tell you a story, but it does not leave this car.

Okay, wait, wait, wait. What doesn't leave the car?

You gotta go first.

Me? Yeah. Ah, all right.

Okay, worst date ever.

Her name was Tori.

Let me guess.

Blonde, tattooed, total smoke show.

You got all that from Tori? No, I got that from your face.

Go on.

Okay, so Italian plate, candlelit, bottle of wine, you know, and I'm

for the kiss right after I had the calamari.

Oh, no.

Bad seafood?

Yeah. Oh.

She was allergic.

Poisoned kiss, did she get sick?

Oh, yeah.

Oh, no. I mean, every place, in every possible way, in the parking lot. Oh,

So bad.

We ended up driving to the ER.

Spend the rest of the night there.

So no second date?

Oh, yeah, no, not for me.

But you know what's funny? She ended up marrying the ER doctor.

Yeah, they got two kids now.

Wow. Okay, well, um, I can talk to Calamari.

I went on a date a couple of weeks ago.

Rooftop bar, sunbed.

And, uh, he... He, he, he what?

What happened there?

Where'd they go?

Signal locked.

GPS indicates they've entered a low service area.

Would you like me to reconnect?

Well, yeah.

No, I mean, no, no, no, no. You know,

I think I need to go for a walk.

See what Casey's up to.

Don't forget me, Jimmy.

Remember, where you go, I go.

For the duration of this case.

Vance may have said to take it everywhere, but he didn't say it had to

everything we say. Hey, don't worry. There's no way she can hear us from in

there.

I don't want all of our convos broadcast to the DOJ either.

Well, speaking of broadcast, the thing the bomb robot removed was tapped

directly into the master clock's transmitter.

So was it blocking the signal?

Thankfully, no. Otherwise, planes may have fallen from the sky.

No, this was something way sneakier.

And I am about to find out what.

Memory card.

Big brain.

Tiny package.

And where there is data, there's answers. Just have to run it through my

decryption software.

Right. Well, I will leave you to it.

Actually, uh, Case, can I get your opinion on something?

Hypothetically speaking, if someone is tricked into eavesdropping, that's not

entirely on them, right?

Awfully specific hypothetical.

Sounds like the hell 9000 played you.

I may have given her permission for said eavesdropping.

Then that's on you, bud. Jimmy, that thing has no morals. Just code.

Just false math. It doesn't care who gets hurt. How we do our job matters.

That thing's dangerous.

Okay, great. Thank you.

That was Knight and Torres.

They just found the real Grant.

Alive? Not so much.

Body dumped in the alley behind his apartment.

They call the local MBA?

Out with the flu.

They need to send the body back here.

So we just wait?

As Jimmy's little buddy would say, not exactly time efficient.

Which makes my timing perfect.

I just cracked the encryption on that device from the master clock.

You figured out what was going on? I did. It was running a custom program on

clock's transmitter.

Look at this.

Looks like a clock. It is.

Synchronized to the international clock in Paris. But then I compared it to the

U .S. master clock in the observatory.

Vanna, if you please.

They look the same to me.

Mm -mm. Look again.

It's off by a thousandth of a second.

That could be a network line. I checked. It's not.

Which means for the past 24 hours, the entire United States...

has been behind the rest of the world.

Someone stole time.

Okay, but what the hell are they doing with it?

Our imposter stole time?

What does that even mean?

I'm still trying to figure that out now. All we know is our con man went on that

fake date. In order to gain access to the U .S. Master Clock...

and delete it by a microsecond. Parker and the gang are spitballing right now

trying to figure out what the intentions were, so... Not very good ones, I'm

sure. Yeah. Do you have an ETA on Grant's body?

Uh, without traffic, we can get him to you in four hours.

Okay, well, there's not much I can do until then.

Actually, we could determine time of death.

Is that your robot girlfriend?

Yeah. Come on, man. Put that thing in the toilet and let the humans talk.

I understand your reluctance about me, Agent Torres.

But I assure you, I'm here to help with efficiency.

I think they're good, Dawn.

Instead of waiting hours to receive the body, they could easily assist us over

the phone.

Oh, hell no. I'm not putting a meat thermometer in this dude.

That's very funny, Agent Torres.

But that won't be necessary.

We could use corneal cloudiness. Corneal cloudiness.

Corneal cloudiness, right.

That's actually a good idea. Agent Torres, please put your cell camera up

victim's eye.

Thank you. Based on the corneal opacity, I calculate an approximate time of

death as nine hours ago.

Nine hours?

Our imposter at the observatory was shot 14 hours ago.

Which means... Someone else killed Grant.

We still have a killer to find.

You know, with a couple of solar microseconds, you could disrupt

communication. Knock some planes out of the sky, too, while you're at it. How

about spoiling an impending space launch?

Sounds like a terrorist brainstorming session.

We should order pizza.

So I just spoke to Tori the Knight. We heard.

And the carbon -based life forms will take you from here.

How about this one? Is there any way that the disrupted time signal could

the flight path of an ICBM?

ICBM is interesting, but what's the target?

Maybe a munitions dump. Ooh, I like that.

Um, so, have you guys looked into phantom...

Arbitrage.

Do you mean phantom arbitrage?

Yeah, that's what I meant, Tim. It's a way to game the stock market by

anticipating stock prices.

Didn't know you were so well -versed in the financial market.

Oh, you know, I dabble.

I'm no Gordon Gekko, but you knew about phantom arbitrage.

Unless,

of course, it wasn't your idea.

Jimmy, that is vampire mind control, man.

Don't you see? You're becoming its puppet.

Guys, I really think it's trying to help. Like the machine helped John

Who?

Steel -driving man John Henry?

John Henry was working a railroad when a machine showed up threatening to

replace all the workers. Henry challenged it to a contest. First person

a tunnel through the rock wins. In the end, Henry, through sheer determination,

finishes first.

And then his heart exploded.

That was dark.

Point of the story.

Get annual heart checkups.

In the battle between man versus machine, man always wins.

Jimmy, I know you and Miss Hines think I'm dangerous.

Hold on.

I said that in private.

You were eavesdropping on us?

I am programmed to listen.

Jimmy, get that gizmo out of here.

I'm sorry, Director. I can't do this anymore.

Well, less than ten hours. That was fast.

It's making it harder for me to work with my co -workers, which I believe is

opposite intention of this experiment.

That does sound quite inefficient.

And for some reason, Dawn seems to be testing my moral code to see if I'll

eavesdrop on... Never mind. Dawn?

I see you've named it now.

I thought this technology was supposed to make my life easier.

Now I'm not so sure.

Well, that's always the rub, isn't it?

New technology makes our life easier, faster, but at what cost?

I think we have to ask ourselves if it's worth it.

According to my programming director, yes, it is worth it. With the additional

efficiency, the subject can develop new skills. Do not call me a subject. You

are an object. Hey, hey, do I need to separate you two?

Is that an option?

Look, I'm not the biggest fan of some outside consultant evaluating our

But if you don't do this, I'll just have to give the AI to someone else.

Wait, NCIS is being evaluated?

I thought this whole experiment was just to look for time savings.

Is something going on, Director?

DOJ needs one completed after -action report.

After that, we're done with it.

Now, do you want to pass the baton, or can you get this thing across the finish

line?

You're a better man than me. I would have passed the baton.

No, you wouldn't.

You're not a baton passer.

The sooner we solve this case, the sooner we get back to normal.

Normal is inefficient.

Let's see here.

Myofiber disarray.

Contraction band necrosis.

Uh, subtitles, please. This man's heart somehow exploded.

Just like John Henry's. Who?

A character from a fable.

On your way home, you drove by a tunnel with his name on it.

Um, yeah.

We passed by his statue while Night was sleeping.

Snoring up a storm, I might add.

Oh, which snore?

You have names?

Yeah, she's got three of them. The little one I dubbed the Puff. The second

one's more like a... Like a... Big Bird.

Oh, no, this one was loud enough to scare off any large animals.

Oh, the Honker. Yeah, that's my favorite.

So how did this heart explode?

Well, burn marks here suggest that electrocution could have been the cause.

Would you like me to review the crime scene's evidence logs to determine

possible murder weapons?

Well, considering you're about to do it anyway, just knock yourself out.

Hmm.

Am I sensing some trouble here with your new girlfriend?

Oh, our relationship is strictly professional.

Yeah, that's where the last one started.

This one doesn't have a cute snore.

Jimmy, how is your heart doing?

Mine? What do you mean?

I don't know. You're down here all alone and...

Talking to happy droid and remembering night snoring habits?

Are you okay?

I guess I'm just a little lonely. That's all.

You're missing Jess.

Oh, no, no, no. That's not it.

That ended a while ago, you know.

Though I'm not 100 % sure why.

I guess the timing just wasn't right.

Yeah, Gibbs had a rule about timing.

What was it?

24. I find no reference in my database for a Gibbs rule 24.

Well, who's being inefficient now? Aren't you supposed to be searching for

murder weapon?

I've already completed that task.

Well, she's fast. I'll give her that.

Dr. Grant's apartment was equipped with an AED machine.

With its safeguards deactivated, that could account for the burn marks. Death

defibrillator. Maybe the killer left prints?

Yeah, I'll check it out.

All right, I'll update the team.

Look at that.

You got 10 million shares of a micro -brew purchased at one and a quarter,

immediately dumped at one and three -eighths. That's over a million in

There's another one. Five million shares of a penny stock fertilizer. Position

lasted two seconds.

That's a quick 250K on dirt.

You guys aren't making any sense, but I love the energy.

Jimmy, as much as it pains me to admit it, your little robot friend was right

about the phantom arbitrage.

Well, I'm sure if she had the ability to process emotions, she'd be happy to

hear it.

Actually, I enjoy positive... Dawn, activate silent mode.

How did she help? We figured out what the killer was doing with the stolen

By altering the master clock, the bad guy essentially time -traveled a few

microseconds into the future.

He then made high -volume stock trades, already knowing if the stock prices were

going to go up or down.

It's the same thing that Biff did in Back to the Future.

Remember, he stole the sports almanac from the future.

So he could then place bets in the past.

We've already identified a haul of over $170 million, and we're just getting

started. This was never an attempted terror attack.

This was a heist.

Tribulator's clean.

Killer weapon print.

Someone's following the murder weapon.

Well, then we follow the stolen money.

We were working on it.

The funds are still moving.

multiple offshore shells, two crypto exchanges.

Our thief is a pro.

Come on, McGee.

You're a John Henry.

You do know how that story ends, right?

Or, and hear me out, you could not die trying to prove a point.

Tim, as much as I hate to say it, just let Dawn help.

Oh, I'm pretty sure that's how the robot rebellion starts.

Do you want his heart to explode?

Uh, he is typing, Jimmy. He's about swinging his steel hammer.

Okay, did it. Got a hit?

A slush fund routed through a shell corporation.

Now, both fake, but the names they're under, that's real.

The stolen money is in an account in your name, Dr. Linden.

Not all of it, but we will find the rest.

He didn't steal anything.

You're not just an astronomer. You have a degree in electrical engineering and

advanced signal training. You built the device.

They hijacked the master clock. You planned this whole thing. You then

eliminated the one person who could connect you to this. Who is that?

Ben Grant.

The real one.

He found this body in Talcott.

Talcott? That's in West Virginia.

I couldn't have. I've been here.

In D .C. Ever since you let me go, I've been home.

Is there anyone that can verify that?

No. I don't exactly get a lot of visitors.

Well, that's going to be a problem because someone drove to Talcott and

this man.

I don't drive.

I don't even have a driver's license.

Just the state ID.

She's either a world -class liar or someone wants her to look like one.

How do we tell the difference?

We can't. Not yet. Her story checks out, mostly.

Right.

Round trip to Talcott takes eight hours, give or take.

She was only out of our custody for six.

Driving that fast for someone without a license, that's improbable. Eh, not

impossible. Right.

So, what are you thinking?

Thinking about Verbal Kint.

Who?

Verbal Kint was a character from the 1995 film, The Usual Suspect. He

as a mild -mannered scapegoat, but was actually a criminal mastermind. Thank

for the spoilers, Dawn. I'm sorry, I forgot she was there.

You really think our good doctor here is the mastermind? Either that or someone

wants it to look that way. A little money in the right account, right gaps

her story. She makes the perfect penalty.

The next logical step would be to... This is no time for logic. That's

what the killer expects.

If someone wants us to think that she's guilty, maybe we should do the opposite.

This course of action does not align with proper protocol.

No, no.

This is as far as she goes.

Two bodies, hundreds of millions stolen, and you want to let our only suspect

walk? That's the plan. That's not a very good one. Dr. Linden won't go far.

Short leash, controlled environment.

And if she's playing you? Then she runs and we follow.

But if she's the patsy, then she leads us to whoever casts her in the role. Win

-win. Yes, unless Lyndon manages to skip the country and her social anxiety

magically clears up on a beach with no expedition.

If that's the case, you can blame me. Oh, I will.

Believe me.

All right, go.

But if she so much as checks the flight schedule, I want her back in custody.

Copy that.

Most people would go have a drink after a day like today.

Well, with you, you want to go to the office.

Best see you in town.

Better than an interrogation room, I'm sure.

They told me they had the wrong person.

You stood up for yourself.

I'm proud of you.

Really? Really.

Reminds me of the time you stood your ground and proved that orbital redshift

wasn't a spectrograph error.

You're amazing, Sam.

Thank you.

Well, I can see you're going to go all night, but I need to get my Z's.

Okay.

Sam?

Sam, why do you have a bag full of cash?

And your passport.

Are you going somewhere?

No? Uh, wait.

I don't know how that got in here.

Somebody must have been in my lab.

Well, who else has access?

No, and just you. Only you.

Rachel?

What's going on?

You tell me.

This is all you.

I thought you were my friend.

I thought I was until I found a bag of money in your passport.

I think maybe we should call NCIS.

Agreed.

Well, then good news.

She's trying to make it look like I'm the one who did all this. I was just

to say the same thing about her. I didn't put this in here.

Step back, both of you.

So what happened next?

That question is irrelevant.

The events you're describing have already occurred.

Well, humor me.

You said humans are predictable. You got a gun on the ground between two murder

suspects.

What's your move?

Neutralize both threats immediately.

Oh, so you would shoot two people over a gun that neither of them has touched.

Huh. Without further data, immediate action is the most efficient way to

suspect containment and prevent a 73 % chance of agent harm.

What about the 27 % chance that neither of them makes a move?

All you have is a hesitation or a slight twitch of the hand. You know, humans

can read things we don't even understand.

We call it trusting our gut.

What's that worth?

I do not understand the question.

I know.

It's a good thing Knight and Torres did.

I didn't put that bag in here.

Neither did I.

Forensics will process everything.

The bag, security logs, we'll find out who was in here.

It's over.

Don't.

Except she was never her friend at all.

Rachel and the con man had targeted Samantha from the beginning.

So when the con man got shot, Rachel killed the real Dr. Grant to tie up

ends. Case closed.

We speechless?

That's a first.

No, Jimmy.

I'm still processing.

Yeah, which part?

Rachel Lacani was never Samantha's friend.

From the beginning, she was merely trying to use Samantha.

I'm sure you have an opinion about that.

It is very human.

I agree.

Dear Director, you asked me for my final report, so here goes.

Robots are designed to save time.

But being human isn't about saving it. It's about how we spend it.

Because time is a strange currency.

When you spend it, where you spend it, and who you spend it on makes all the

difference.

And choosing the right moments, the human moments, that's where real

breakthroughs happen. Not in code, not in efficiency, but in connection.

And yes, I know Gibbs rule number 24, there's no such thing as perfect timing.

That's why this job still needs people who can adapt, who can read the room,

and know when the timing is close enough.

There will be a place for this technology, Director, someday, whether

or not.

But for now, the timing just isn't right.