Original subtitles

MAN: Bravo-Delta-Four UAV test.

In flight. Video up. Radio comm channels clear.

Commencing field exercise Bravo-Delta-Four.

Copy that. Bravo-Delta-Four is a go.

Missile activated.

Okay, people. Hold steady.

And remember this moment, because the maiden test run

of a beast like this combat UAV missile...

...is something to tell the grandkids.

Approaching target. 80 meters and closing.

INGRAM: Begin weapons engagement.

MURPHY: 70.

60...

Staff Sergeant Murphy is clear to fire.

Commence firing.

MURPHY: 50... 40...

All systems ready.

Target locking sequence initiated.

(system beeping)

30 meters out.

Sir? Sir.

Come here.

We have a problem.

Murphy, stand down.

(beeps)

Target locked. Murphy, hold!

Murphy, hold your fire!

Stand down!

Missile away.

FEMALE VOICE: Target strike confirmed.

What did you do?

♪ NCIS 17x13 ♪ Sound Off Original Air Date on January 21, 2020

== sync, corrected by elderman == @elder_man

♪ ♪

McGEE: Ah, that fleeting moment

when everything is right and good.

The coffee is half full and the phone hasn't rung yet.

No crime, no body.

Not even a hint of trouble.

JIMMY: Okay.

Can I just vent?

Oh, it was nice while it lasted.

What's wrong, Jimmy?

Dr. Mallard retired.

You're just realizing this now?

And ever since he became the official NCIS historian,

I have been doing the work of two people.

Yeah. And you do it all with a smile on your face.

Oh, that? Yeah, yeah. I've been faking that

for the last four months.

Yeah, I have such a backlog of work to catch up on,

I didn't even go home last night.

You guys, I got 14 minutes of sleep.

On an autopsy table.

I hope there wasn't a body on it.

McGEE: Jimmy, you think maybe it's time

you get your, uh, own assistant?

Yes. I m-- I mean, I'm-I'm trying to.

I-I interviewed people last week,

but, uh, it's impossible to tell

whether or not someone's gonna measure up

just by talking to them. (stammers)

Dr. Mallard instilled in me a very high

set of standards, and these, t-this is just a-a mess

of résumés. (panting)

They're just...

They're just talking heads.

Did I mention I got 14 minutes of sleep last night?

Twice.

Look, Jimmy, maybe you should just have the applicants come in

and work with you on a trial basis.

Yeah, you know, you can tell a lot about a person

when you see them in action.

TORRES: It's like my abuela said,

"You never know the measure of a man

until he's covered in blood."

Doesn't abuela mean "grandmother"?

She was a butcher. GIBBS: Grab your gear.

Got a dead body in Quantico.

Sort of.

Sort of a body?

Go. Gear. Let's go.

JIMMY: I have logged seven pieces of human remains so far.

From what I can tell, they all came from the same person.

Whoever that might be.

McGEE: All right. I got a hit over here.

(helicopter blades whirring)

Victim is Daniel Backer.

Retired gunnery sergeant. Rules out accident.

How do we know that? McGEE: A gunny would've known better

than to just walk into an active weapon range like that.

Suicide, Jimmy?

I don't think so.

Uh, the force of the explosion

clearly dismembered the body.

But the hypoxic nature of this tissue suggests

that there was no blood flow at the time of the missile strike.

Which means...

Backer was already dead when the missile hit.

GIBBS: For how long?

Dead how? Palmer!

Oh, uh, just-- I'm-I'm gonna have to get him--

all of him-- back to autopsy.

U-Uh, the post-mortem lividity here suggests

that the body was also moved after he died.

Which means...

Someone put him here.

So, I take it by your lack of uniform, you're a civilian?

That's right. I-I work for a company

called LanWar Defense Systems.

And that's their drone? LanWar makes the weapons,

the Marine Warfighting Lab tests them.

It's pretty small for a combat drone.

And extremely lightweight. It's only six pounds,

but its missiles pack a hell of a punch.

How much punch? Imagine if you could

stuff a Category 5 tornado

into something the size of a water bottle.

Whoever was down there didn't stand a chance.

All right, thanks.

So the victim was I.D.'d as Daniel Backer.

You knew him?

Yeah. He's, um, a retired gunnery sergeant.

He-he works for us at LanWar.

He helps us plan the demos that we run for the Warfighting Lab.

So you all knew him?

Including the Marine who piloted the drone today?

Staff Sergeant Diana Murphy. Yes.

You said she fired her missile

despite your repeated orders to stand down.

Well, I-I don't know what she was thinking.

It's ironic that it was Backer down there.

Why would you say that?

Well, they used to date.

Yeah, we're gonna need to talk to her.

Of course.

Look, I-I'm sure she was just so focused,

she didn't hear the order.

I mean, I know how that sounds, but...

I left her in the pilots' ready room.

She was pretty distraught.

She was just...

Where did she go?

Staff Sergeant Diana Murphy, 30 years old,

served in the Marine Corps for the last nine.

She started out flying drone missions in Afghanistan

but now specializes in piloting UAVs for the Warfighting Lab.

Why is she running?

Well, maybe because she killed her ex-boyfriend,

and blew up the evidence?

BOLO's out. Quantico MPs have been alerted.

We'll find her.

Service record.

Competent, capable. Nothing murdery at all, actually.

Wait, did I mention that she blew up her ex-boyfriend?

Also known as retired Gunnery Sergeant Daniel Backer.

37, decorated, well-liked.

Described as a "total Boy Scout."

After Backer left the Marines, uh, LanWar offered him a job.

Which means he spent a lot of time in the Warfighting Lab.

We think that's where he met Murphy.

You get a cause of death yet?

Uh, not yet. No, Jimmy's taking longer

than usual for some reason.

McGee, take Torres to LanWar.

See what else you can find out about Backer.

On it. On it.

Bishop. Hmm?

Find Murphy.

On it.

JIMMY: As your first test, we will start by reassembling the body.

Now, this is the phalanges mediae.

(phone chiming, vibrating) Uh...

Based on the curvature of this facet,

I believe, of the left foot.

(phone chimes, vibrates)

Would you please turn that off?

(sighs)

This work does require a great deal of concentration.

Uh, seriously. How do you do anything with these gloves on?

They're actually quite handy, for work.

Uh, would you mind

getting me the left patella?

Pass.

I have a thing about kneecaps.

Okay. Right. I'll get the patella.

You orient the left quadriceps femoris.

His left.

Not yours.

Okay, there we go. Yeah, now, just-just

rotate it in until it fits...

Look...

Mm, gonna leave now.

That's a great idea.

(grunts)

Sorry about that, Gunny.

That young lady had a stellar résumé

and absolutely no place in the SAZ.

That's the Sacred Autopsy Zone.

You didn't used to think of me like that, did you?

Cause of death.

Right. As we suspected,

Backer's C.O.D. was not a drone strike,

but rather a gunshot wound,

confirming this was, in fact, a murder.

Entry was right here. He was shot at point-blank range

with what I can only assume was a nine-millimeter bullet,

which we cannot find.

Lost in the blast. Yeah.

Any idea where he was killed?

I couldn't even begin to tell you. Gibbs,

any piece of evidence that could've given me a clue was...

Lost in the blast.

Who has a thing with kneecaps?

I'm sorry. It was a shock to us all.

TORRES: You and Backer close?

We hadn't worked together long,

but he was one of those guys you couldn't help but like.

You notice anything off with him lately?

No. His work was always top-notch.

I mean, who better to show the military how to use our weapons

than a decorated Marine?

What the hell was he doing on a live firing range?

He knew better.

Actually, it wasn't your drone that killed him.

He was shot.

What? How?

McGEE: That's what we're here to investigate.

Were you aware of the relationship he had

with Staff Sergeant Murphy?

Not really.

What I do know is they seemed more off than on.

What does that have to do with anything?

Their last breakup, that seem amicable to you?

Looks like you have something to say.

A couple of days ago, Danny and Diana

got into a fight in the lab.

And?

And I thought it was gonna come to blows.

I almost called the MPs.

What was it about? I don't know.

You know where Diana is right now? (phone rings)

Look, she's a tough lady, but I've never seen anything

that would make me think that...

Everybody has off days. Everybody has fights, right?

Mm.

That doesn't make her a killer.

Right, totally, so back to my question.

Do you know where she is now?

I do.

MPs found her.

Where?

SLOANE: So, she ran back

to her ex-boyfriend's place

after she blew up his body?

I'm sure you got some kind

of psychological theory.

If she's our killer, maybe that's

where Backer was originally murdered.

Some killers like to return to the scene of the crime

to revel in what they've done.

Not much revelry going on in there.

One of your agents said it was

Danny out there in that weapons field-- is that true?

Is he dead?

It's true.

But maybe you already knew that.

Staff Sergeant Murphy,

why did you leave the crime scene?

W-What?

Why'd you run?

I wasn't thinking straight.

I'd just killed someone with a missile.

No, you didn't.

Danny was already dead by the time your missile hit him.

He was shot.

But I'm thinking you already

knew that, too, didn't you?

Diana?

What, what is it?

BISHOP: You didn't answer my question.

Diana?

Hey!

Why did you run back to Backer's apartment

after the missile strike?

For help-- he's the only

person that I trust. Or...

you and he got into a bad fight.

You shot him.

And you tried to cover it up

by dumping his body

in a weapons range that you knew was scheduled to be hit.

When his body was discovered,

you raced back to his apartment to

cover any evidence that was left behind.

No.

You know, there is something off about her responses,

but I can't quite put my finger on it.

BISHOP: Ingram ordered you to stand down,

so why did you fire that missile?

I didn't know anyone was out there.

You were ordered to hold your fire three times.

Why'd you disobey the order?

W-What?

Why did you disobey the order?

I didn't kill Danny.

I loved him.

Semper fi, Marine!

(door opens)

What'd I miss?

Uh, just-just Gibbs being Gibbs.

Semper fi.

Ooh-rah!

She can't hear. She's deaf!

Wait, can you still be a Marine if you're deaf?

No. No, you can't.

All right, that concludes the hearing test.

You can, uh, take off the headphones now.

Ian?

Would you get me the test results, please?

Hey, I was told this job

was for an assistant M.E.

As in... dead bodies.

My apologies for being alive.

Yes, Ian, once in a while, we are

called upon to help in other medical areas.

So, would you, please?

This is a waste of time.

Danny's killer is out there still.

Or in here.

Wait... "killer"?

Does that mean you have some dead bodies? Where?

How bad is it? JIMMY: Still waiting

on the test results. Ian, would you...?

Yeah, I'm sorry.

I never made a good gopher.

Like I said before,

cutting up dead bodies is...

more my jam.

You know, the sound of a bone saw

early in the morning, first thing

in a nice sterile room like this... Okay. Yeah.

I think I have all the information I need.

Uh, you go have a good day.

I won't be in touch.

I am so sorry about that.

How bad is it?

JIMMY: According to this test,

you have lost almost 100% of your hearing.

In both ears.

TORRES: But you already knew that.

I read that it can get better.

Unfortunately, not with this type of hearing loss.

Though I see you've gotten quite good at reading lips.

She had to.

If she was gonna hide it from her superiors.

Or her ex-boyfriend-- you know, the one she blew up.

Maybe he found out.

He was gonna rat her out to her C.O. and...

she had to take him out.

Or maybe he's the one that

caused her hearing loss in the first place.

Making his murder an act of revenge.

I can read your lips in the reflection.

Okay, fine.

Y-Your file here says that you and Backer

were involved in some sort of accident

a few months ago? Does it?

Some kind of a weapons test that went sideways.

I don't want to talk about it.

Look...

I get it, I do.

But the file, it's quite vague.

If you really are innocent, just...

And she's completely ignoring me on purpose now.

TORRES: Diana?

Did the accident cause you to lose your hearing?

The accident involved a top secret weapons test,

so the after-action report had been heavily redacted.

But we could read enough to know that Backer was involved.

Involved how?

Looks like he was demoing some kind of new weapon.

McGEE: Diana didn't report any serious injuries,

but according to Jimmy, the timing works out.

BISHOP: Which, yes, makes Backer

look responsible for her hearing loss.

And ending her military career.

Hell of a motive. BISHOP: Problem is...

no opportunity.

We spoke to Diana's

co-workers at the lab.

BISHOP: They said that she was at work

till 1:00 in the morning the night Danny was killed.

And according to our latest time of death, that gives her

an airtight alibi.

Which makes her not our killer.

Does not make her innocent.

She's still hiding something.

Find out what.

Oh.

Why am I here?

You know I didn't kill Danny.

Why aren't you out there looking for the person who did?

Oh, we are.

Don't you worry about that, okay?

But I want to hear more about your accident.

Why?

Danny wanted to show me a new weapon

he was about to demo for the lab.

What-what was it exactly?

A long-range rifle that uses sound instead of bullets.

It disables the enemy

by heating up the cells in their body.

Wow.

Never had anything like that when I was in the Army.

Danny said it'd be a game changer.

He said that we could use it to fight wars

without killing anyone.

During the demo, Danny activated the weapon

before I had my protective earmuffs on.

Right away, I knew it was bad.

That must have been terrifying.

He wanted to take me to the infirmary, but...

I was afraid of anyone finding out.

I can't imagine the stress that put on the both of you.

At first, Danny helped me hide it at work.

He helped me to learn how to read lips.

I got good fast.

But when the ringing turned to silence,

he wanted me to tell my C.O.

And we both knew what that meant.

You'd be out of the Corps.

You're required to report that hearing test, aren't you?

Yes. Yes, I am.

Being a Marine is the only thing that I've ever wanted.

My father...

He was a Marine, too?

Yeah.

He was so proud of it.

Do you know what it meant for him to see his only child--

a daughter-- become one?

I don't know how to be anything else.

You-you do.

You know how to be a friend

to Danny.

I need you to think.

Is there anyone who might've had a grudge against him?

No.

Everyone loved him.

His friends, his co-workers.

Family?

Actually, there is someone.

He had a stepbrother.

I don't think they got along.

You got a name?

(rock music playing)

So, which one of these guys looks

like a wicked stepbrother to you?

She said the dude's name was Ron, right?

Yeah, Ronald Kepczak.

TORRES: Then that dude?

Yeah, let's find out.

Well, there he is.

Ronald Kepczak?

Who's asking?

Special Agents Torres and McGee.

Are you related to Daniel Backer? (scoffs)

Only 'cause my mom married that son of a bitch's dad.

So, I'm guessing you are not close?

No, he had already enlisted by the time my mom and I moved in.

And?

And what?

What makes him a son of a bitch?

Well, when my stepdad died,

he left the freakin' house to Danny.

That house should've been mine.

Danny barely even freakin' lived in it.

That's a, that's a tough break.

Yeah, I mean, he was cool enough about everything at first.

He used to let me record there.

Spent a ton of money building a soundproof recording studio

in a back room, and then one day out of the blue,

(mockingly): he just changes his mind.

He tell you why?

(scoffs) No, some BS reason.

It was obvious he was lying, though.

My guess is he was up to something.

Something he didn't want anyone else to know about.

He even changed the locks on me.

Doesn't really sound like the guy we've been hearing about.

Exactly! See, everybody thinks that he's this goody little

two-shoes, but what kind of a royal jackass does that?

With him out of the way, you can finally have the house.

"Out of the way"-- what, did he finally move?

He was killed last night.

Danny's dead?

Ha! (laughing)

Boy, did he have that coming, huh?

Ah, looks like little old Ronnie's luck's about to

(singsongy): change!

Oh, come on.

You don't think that I did it, do you?

I don't know, did you?

Come on, man, you said it happened last night?

There was, like, a hundred people here watching me play.

A hundred, huh?

Everybody's a critic.

We're gonna need the address to that house.

You guys stay for the show, you got it.

No.

GEARY: Believe me, sir, I know

how cold all this sounds.

I actually turned around in the parking lot twice

before I came up here.

And yet, somehow you still made it.

Because Backer's death was associated

with one of LanWar's drones...

VANCE: There's been an automatic freeze on all contracts

pending the outcome of our investigation.

And you're losing a ton of money.

Please, don't make me an ass here.

Danny was a friend.

But your bottom line kept you from driving

out of the parking lot twice.

This is about more than just lost revenue, Director.

There are men and women in uniform all over the world

that need our weapons, sir.

I'll speak to SECNAV.

You need to inform her that any more delays

are gonna negatively impact our ability to deliver...

Thank you.

He was touring around the parking lot

looking for a place to park.

I was getting coffee. And since you didn't get one for me,

I'm gonna assume that this isn't a social call.

Leon, can we hold off informing the Corps

about Murphy's hearing loss?

It's too late, Gibbs. She's already been pulled

from active duty.

What's the matter? I thought you said

she alibied out. She did.

And she lied to us and she fled the scene.

Now she's come up with a lead for us to chase?

So you think she's still hiding something.

I think we can't afford her disappearing.

Well, your gut is quite the force, Gibbs,

but you know that's not enough to hold her.

We got to cut her loose

and hope that your new lead pans out.

BISHOP: Backer's whole life

boiled down to one laptop and a busted up cell phone,

courtesy of a drone strike.

What's the next level up from busted?

'Cause this looks like what I want to do when spammers call.

But you can still get something off of that, right?

What kind of magic do you think I do down here?

I know. Okay. Sorry.

I didn't say it was impossible,

just, you know, first things first.

You found something on the laptop?

Uh, actually, no.

Your boy Backer had zero social media presence

and the last thing on his laptop

was an article about a cat that raised puppies.

Hmm. Well, I can't say I'm surprised.

There wasn't much in his apartment, either,

so we got nothing.

Actually, we have one thing.

I just don't know what it is. What is it?

You know, sometimes I feel like I'm talking to myself down here.

I mean, where did you get it?

Jimmy sent it up. I think he found it among the remains.

He wants me to tell him what it is.

All I can tell you is that it appears to be made

out of a metal alloy I've never seen before.

I asked the director to put me in touch

with someone from LanWar.

Maybe they know what it is.

Bad news, Miss Hines.

No, don't say that.

I made some calls, and I didn't get any answers.

They stonewalled you, too?

Don't they know you're the director

of a federal agency?

Welcome to my world.

But you rest assured, I'll keep pushing.

Oh, how is Mr. Palmer's assistant search going?

Uh, he's had some duds.

BISHOP: Yeah, last I heard,

he was ready to give it up.

Speaking of which,

any chance I can get an assistant?

Miss Hines, you're doing such a great job,

doesn't seem like you need any help at all to me.

You keep up the good work.

Mm. Mm-hmm.

That was a smooth no.

Mm-hmm.

(knocking)

TORRES: Why are you knocking? Let's kick in the door, baby.

McGEE: We don't have a warrant.

NCIS!

(clattering)

Ready? Yeah.

(engine starting)

Torres.

(tires screeching)

Whoever it is, they're gone.

It's got to be the killer.

We must have interrupted 'em.

What do you think they're looking for?

I don't know. Let's check the rest of the house.

Yeah.

What do you think is in there?

Keypad's got four slots.

Ten numeric options, I'd say 10,000...

I hate math.

Yeah, but you love kicking down doors.

Yeah. Yeah, I really do.

Ronnie's music studio?

McGEE: Well, maybe Backer took over the place

just to start his own band.

Yeah, I don't think so.

McGEE: It looks like our retired Marine

was doing more in here than just jamming.

BISHOP: So this is the same type of weapon

that caused Diana's hearing loss?

Designed and built by LanWar.

What was Backer doing with them in his house?

Funny you should ask.

I just had a good old time at LanWar trying to get answers.

Well, what do you got?

The weapons at Backer's place? Stolen.

Did LanWar report them missing?

Well, they didn't know they were missing.

Apparently, Backer

fudged some type of,

uh, inventory report or something.

You get a copy? Nope.

They wouldn't give anything up without a warrant.

Again, what was Backer doing

with stolen weapons at his house?

Well, either he was planning the mother

of all laser tag parties...

Or he was planning on selling them.

McGEE: I'm going with the latter.

Prototype weapons like that

usually are worth a fortune.

TORRES: Looks like the Boy Scout

wasn't very good about being a Boy Scout.

You think he had a buyer already? McGEE: Oh, if he did,

that buyer could be our killer.

And deals like this have a way of going sideways.

JIMMY: So I reassembled Mr. Backer

to the best of my abilities.

You missed a few pieces.

Yeah, I noticed.

Which is why I went back to the test field

for a secondary search.

Actually reminded me of one of the first things

they teach you in M.E. field training:

Always... MAN: "Always go back

for pieces of flesh you might've missed."

I beg your pardon. Please excuse the intrusion.

I'm looking for a Dr. Palmer?

That's me. Christopher Crane,

applicant for the assistant M.E. position.

Right, right. I'm just finishing up a briefing now, so...

Say no more.

What a fascinating constitution of remains.

Yeah.

Isn't it, though?

Shall I properly attire myself so I can assist?

I'll try not to be a bother.

By all means.

Yeah, yeah. R-Right through there.

Well, isn't he enthusiastic?

Flesh you missed.

That's actually a section of Backer's torso.

And lo and behold,

I found the bullet that killed him, lodged in his vertebra.

The hell kind of bullet is that? I don't know.

Kasie couldn't even identify it.

Boss, I got something you got to see.

Warrant came back for that LanWar inventory report.

Would you like me to take over categorizing

the recovered specimens, Dr. Palmer?

Well, yes, please.

Do you prefer them ordered

by musculoskeletal or organ system?

Why, thank you for asking.

Uh, just plain old alphabetical is what we use around here.

You just start at the top

and work your way down.

Boss, what is happening? Does Ducky have

another younger brother we don't know...

McGee. The inventory report.

We had originally assumed that Backer

was the one who fudged the report

that allowed him to steal those weapons.

We were wrong. Who?

You're not gonna like it.

♪ ♪

(helicopter blades whirring outside)

You going somewhere?

It's official.

I've been medically discharged.

You recognize this?

It's an inventory report

from LanWar's weapons storage unit.

Which you falsified to help Backer steal from LanWar.

That is your signature, isn't it?

No. It's not.

Damn it. Danny must have forged it.

I-I didn't think he would go that far.

Well, he went a lot further than that. He committed a felony.

What was he doing with the weapons?

Start talking.

Talk or we will handcuff you.

For what? I didn't help him.

That's what we fought about that day at LanWar.

He wanted me to lie on the forms

and wouldn't tell me why.

I refused.

You told him you couldn't help him

and he signed your name anyway?

Agent Gibbs,

he stuck his neck out for me for three months.

He is a good man.

He must have had his reasons.

Good reasons.

Except...?

The night that we fought,

he told me that he was leaving to go meet someone.

Who? I don't know.

Where? I don't know.

Danny said the less I knew, the better.

He said it was for my own safety.

You didn't think about telling us this before?

I didn't know what to think.

The Danny that I knew served with valor and honor.

More than anyone I have ever met.

I will not jump to conclusions that might sully his memory.

That's your job.

(door opens)

KASIE: Oh, hey.

You got tired of asking people, "So tell me about yourself"?

I was tired, yes, but now I have one candidate

who has advanced to the highly selective third round.

He's, uh, organizing my microscope slides right now.

What are you guys up to here?

Well, Diana said that Backer met up with a mystery person

right after they had a fight.

Pulled GPS from his phone,

which led us to this convenience store off I-95.

Seven hours of footage, still no Backer.

Man, if I had a nickel for every shady deal

that went down outside a convenience store...

(scoffs) Mama would be...

Actually, I-I don't know what Mama would be doing.

Is it really true that the hearing-impaired

cannot serve in the military?

Yeah. The DoD has a standard that you have to be able

to hear without the use of any aid.

Yeah, but that's crazy. I mean, look at Diana.

Are you telling me there isn't some kind of, like,

non-combat role

that she could, like, kick ass in?

Okay. Is this the Angry Kasie

you warned me about that one time?

Waste makes me angry.

And stupid waste makes me stupid angry.

Other countries allow the hearing-impaired to serve.

I looked it up.

Uh, well, this might make you happy.

Look.

I think that's Backer.

There's the guest of honor.

That's one of the sonic weapon cases.

BISHOP: We need to I.D. the person

in the other car.

KASIE: Uh, yup, but for facial recognition,

kind of need to see his face, but maybe...

Bingo. Got the plate.

"Zahir Najjar."

One Zahir Najjar coming right up.

Hmm. Looks like he's a professor

of electrical engineering at M.I.T.

See? This is what happens when you don't pay teachers enough.

They become arms dealers.

NAJJAR: An arms dealer, huh?

That's an interesting theory.

This looks like more than a theory.

You recognize it?

NAJJAR: It's a sonic weapon.

A prototype.

What was it doing in your living room?

We know you got it from Daniel Backer.

BISHOP: Or was it bought?

What's the deal?

He steals the weapons, sells them to you?

And going by that cheap suit,

I'm guessing you're just a middleman.

And going by this,

it looks like you two had a falling out.

You didn't check your work, Agents.

You wouldn't do well in my class.

I didn't know Daniel was dead

until you broke down my door.

He and I did have a deal, that part is true.

But not the one you think.

The man was a patriot.

He loved the military more than life itself.

Then why the hell steal from it?

Simple.

He was trying to protect it.

Update.

Come on, let's go.

Professor Najjar had a pretty interesting story to tell.

Even if he told it in the most demeaning way possible.

Torres is still in with him.

BISHOP: He said Backer just

couldn't get over the accident with Diana.

She lost her hearing.

McGEE: Yeah, and he's the one that made it happen

when he misfired his weapon.

BISHOP: Except Backer started to think that maybe it wasn't a misfire.

And with more training, he found a design flaw

in the weapon itself, and that is what caused the accident.

He tell anyone?

Well, apparently, he tried to,

but no one would listen.

The professor gave us these. They're copies

of Backer's internal LanWar reports.

BISHOP: Yeah, but they never saw the light of day.

Backer didn't steal the weapons to sell them.

He was trying to blow the whistle.

He knew his official reports were getting buried,

so he went outside the chain of command.

Backer called up an old professor

to conduct the tests.

But they needed the weapons to test them.

Well, if he was wrong, he was risking his entire career.

Not to mention jail time.

But Backer took the risk anyway.

It was the right thing to do. Who buried his reports?

Gentlemen, I'm confused.

I was called in to discuss SECNAV

lifting the freeze on LanWar's contracts.

Yeah, we made that up.

But we thought you should know

that Staff Sergeant Murphy was cleared of Backer's murder.

She had an alibi at the lab for the night in question.

What?

So now you're back to square one?

Every day this investigation remains open,

we're losing money.

Yeah, no worries.

We got a new suspect.

Go ahead, have a seat.

Gentlemen,

I don't know where you're going with this, but...

What is that?

Gee, Agent Torres, does that look like

an internal LanWar safety report to you?

Oh, yeah. It sure does, Agent McGee.

It talks about

a design flaw

in one of LanWar's weapons.

What about this one here?

Hmm, that looks like the memo that was

sent in its place.

You want to know what it says?

(chuckles) It has your signature on it.

It's an authorization

to release those weapons for troops testing.

Weapons you knew were faulty.

And yet you gave them the green light.

See, those of us in the "bad guy busting" business

call that a whitewash.

And when Backer found out and wanted to stop you...

You killed him.

You dumped his body in a weapons range.

Figured that the evidence would be blown up.

No, no. You got it all wrong.

Really? Because it feels so right to me.

What about you, Agent Torres? So, so right.

Okay, look, okay, it's true.

I buried Backer's report.

I authorized the release of those weapons.

Come on, just let it out. You'll feel so much better.

I couldn't risk losing my military contracts. Not now.

I'm in the process of selling my majority stake in LanWar.

I went through a bad divorce and I needed the money.

But I didn't kill anybody.

And yet it's all feeling...

What was that again, McGee?

So, so right. So, so right.

You said Staff Sergeant Murphy couldn't be the killer

because she was at the lab the night of the murder.

Your point? I was there that night, too.

Overseeing LanWar's operations.

So I guess you are back to square one.

Maybe not.

Mr. Geary, who are you selling your stake in LanWar to?

George Ingram. Who is he?

He is the chief weapons developer at LanWar.

Yeah, we met already.

He was supervising the training exercise

the day Diana torpedoed her boyfriend.

Is it me, or does chief developer

seem a little below his pay grade?

Not just you. I spoke with HR at LanWar.

Turns out that Ingram doesn't normally run

the training exercises, but he put himself

on the roster that day.

Even dictated the target.

Well, that is not convenient.

Well, neither is buying a company whose star product

makes you go deaf.

Where is he now? Pinging his phone

as we speak. Yeah? And?

Ooh. Uh, we might have a problem here.

Ingram's at Diana's.

(phone vibrating, ringing)

(kettle whistling)

(vibrating, ringing continue)

♪ ♪

(grunting)

George?! What are you doing?

(shouts)

(screams)

(grunting)

(exhales) What took you so long?

How's it going with the new assistant?

Yeah, to be honest, I had completely

given up on finding anyone, and then this guy...

This guy has exceeded every expectation.

I swear, I've never met anyone like him.

(chuckles) Really?

He doesn't, you know, remind you of anyone?

I guess he puts off kind of, like, a Tom Hiddleston vibe.

You know, Tom Hiddleston never wears bow ties.

Tom Hiddleston would never. Yeah, right.

Do you know anyone

who does wear bow ties?

I mean, aside from Dr. Mallard, no.

Oh... Mm.

Yeah. No, I don't see it.

CRANE: Rest well, young warrior.

We shall never know what heights you may have climbed

or oceans you may have crossed.

Alas,

what could have been.

Okay, now I see it. Yeah. Mm.

Congratulations, Mr. Crane.

You have done an excellent job.

I would like to officially offer you the position.

Oh, dear.

Uh, actually, I was

just about to say my goodbyes. What's that?

Summer of 2015.

I was on a gondola in Venice when

the boat tipped over, and I suddenly realized

that I could swim better than I ever imagined.

You see,

one has to fully appreciate his own abilities

before he can truly know

what type of help to seek.

Mm.

Cheerio.

I have no idea what that even means.

I think it means back to the drawing board.

(sighs)

(door opens)

Thanks, Mike. You all right?

Yeah. You should see the other guy.

(chuckles)

I heard. I'm not surprised.

Appreciate you coming in. I'm glad that you called.

I didn't get a chance to say thank you.

Mm.

The Backer family wanted you to have these.

Oh, I got something else for you, too.

What's this?

Director Vance pulled some strings.

It's a job offer with the Marine Warfighting Lab.

Now that LanWar is out of the picture,

they need a civilian liaison

to design their training exercises.

Like Danny used to do.

Thank you.

Make him proud.

You make Danny proud.

Ooh-rah.

== sync, corrected by elderman == @elder_man