- Gibbs and company investigate the death of a woman with an ID card of a sergeant in the US Marine Corps; McGee finds that the real sergeant died in Afghanistan three years ago. Gibbs and McGee go to Kabul, sort things out, and do some good.
- Gibbs and company, including Susan, the agent from the polygraph room, investigate the death of a woman with an ID card showing her as a sergeant in the US Marine Corps; however, McGee quickly finds that the real sergeant died in Afghanistan almost three years ago. The Duck comments on the disfiguring of the face by an acid. Abby says that the victim's necklace appears to have come from Afghanistan; Gibbs and Tony learn that the impostor was an Afghan, and that Mike Franks and his daughter-in-law had a connection with her; Abby gets a lead on the killer. Gibbs experiences heavy-duty flashbacks, and he gains insight into the motive. Susan questions the suspect in the chat room. Acting on a lead, Gibbs and McGee investigate in Kabul; at a women's shelter Gibbs calls the bluff of five bullies until the cavalry arrives (with help from Tony). Gibbs returns to Andrews AFB, Maryland, with eight new friends. Mademoiselle Tavier tells Gibbs that Mike would feel proud of him.—DocRushing
- A pillow store owner (yes), comes to work and notices a drop of blood leaking through a hole in his ceiling. He looks up through the hole and sees a dead body staring back at him.
At NCIS, Palmer snoops on Tony's desk and finds a hand written letter from Tony to a woman named Jessica, apologizing for something.
"What are you, in some kind of 12 step program for recovering misogynists?" McGee asks. Tony says the last few weeks have made him think.
NCIS Special Agent Susan Grady, from the polygraph room, comes in with the body of the week. At the apartment, the victim's ID says Sgt. Patricia Moreno.
Grady is applying for a full-time criminal investigator position. Tony thinks they can't let on how much Grady annoys them or act threatened, or Gibbs will like her.
Duckie arrives with some Duckie facts on pillows, but gets shutdown at "buckwheat."
The body is corroded with acid.
McGee looks Sgt. Moreno up and finds she died in Afghanistan three and a half years ago.
Back around the big screen at NCIS, the rundown: Moreno was killed by an IED and her body was sent back to Kansas. They think the victim stole her ID to steal her identity. The ID was stolen en route.
Susan is talking to Moreno's family, but Tony tells Gibbs not to hold out much hope. He backpedals, and he and McGee both say they don't need a third person, but Gibbs asks if they're threatened.
He barks at them to get on ID'ing the body.
Down in the lab, Abby has ID'd the acid used on the body, but it's common. There's DNA on the necklace she's testing. The necklace stone is from Afghanistan, as is the inscription on the back. They look up an old job application and notice her emergency contact: Leyla Shakarji, Mike Franks's daughter-in-law.
Gibbs and Tony pay a visit to Leyla at the park with her daughter. (The kid wants to know if Gibbs is coming over to play Twister again.)
When Leyla looks at a picture of the woman, she says she doesn't know her. But they tell her the woman was murdered. Leyla says she only met her a few times, Mike asked Leyla to look after her. She never saw her again after he died.
Two Years Ago Mike drops in on Gibbs in his basement, with a Middle Eastern teenage girl named Elina, saying he needs to leave her with Gibbs for a few days. He says there's no one else he can trust, but Gibbs can't ask any questions.
In the car on the ride home, Tony thinks Leyla was holding out on them.
Abby calls to report the DNA on the necklace is from Farshad Sarabi, who has a history of domestic violence and works in a garage with acid.
Gibbs remembers waiting for Mike with Eleni, who barely speaks English. He asks her where her family is. "Sold me to man," Eleni says. And old husband, she explains.
Back in the morgue, Duckie speculates the victim died in an honor killing -- killed by her family for things like refusing to go along with an arranged marriage. The victim also has scars from a lifetime of beatings.
Gibbs remembers seeing Mike drop Eleni off with a couple.
Mike tells Gibbs about helping get a 12-year-old away from her rapist uncle in Afghanistan and becoming a sort of underground railroad for girls being moved by a women's shelter in Kabul. He asks Gibbs to put in a transport request for six refugees from Kabul to El Salvador, saying he'll do the rest.
Back in interrogation, they have Farshad Sarabi in custody. Grady comes in to do the interrogation. When Tony and McGee are surprised, she also tells them the investigator job she wants is in San Diego and they relax.
They found a list of Afghan women's names linked to dead service members in Farshad's apartment. Three names have been crossed off, including the victim's.
Grady sits down with Farshad and accuses him of murder. When he denies it, Tony is ready to play bad cop, but so is Grady.
She needles him about motive until he says the women brought shame upon their family and it was god's law that they be punished. Even if they stop him, someone else will get to them.
In MTAC, Gibbs calls Lt. Thomas Gorman, the liaison to the women's rights group who says all the women on the list stayed at the same women's shelter in Kabul.
Gibbs heads to Kabul with McGee. They meet Catherine Tavier, who runs the shelter. She shows them inside and she confirms the dead woman was Nadira. She's sure her family killed her, because they're the only ones who'd "care enough" to kill her.
Catherine knew there was a conduit to the US, but now it's closed. The other women under assumed names in the US are being brought into protective custody, but they need to find out who leaked the names. Catherine tells Gibbs that Mike Franks spoke very highly of him.
Gibbs remembers back to the travel request -- but tearing it up before he submitted it.
In Kabul, McGee tries to talk to the women in the shelter to find out who might have leaked the names, but he's getting nowhere. There's one woman he hasn't spoken with yet.
Tony calls on a video conference with the other women whose names were on the list. As he talks to McGee, one of the women with Tony sees one of the women in the shelter -- it's her mother, whom she hasn't seen in two years. Catherine explains that the mother was supposed to follow to the US, but it didn't happen after Mike Franks died. Tony called immigration because the women are in the country illegally, but Gibbs tells him to file requests for asylum.
They're interrupted when someone throws a rock through the shelter window.
Gibbs remembers Mike Franks coming to him, railing at him for not submitting the travel request. Gibbs says he's a federal agent and can't get involved with human smuggling. He cites his own Rule 10: Never get personally involved on a case and Rule 14: Bend the line, don't break it.
Mike reminds him about getting Leyla and Amira into the country. Gibbs asks him where the line is, how many do they let in.
Back in the shelter, McGee tells Gibbs about the girls' stories: one was sold into an arranged marriage at 13 and one was beaten by her father for kissing a boy. Thomas gets word that there's a bonfire planned at the shelter and says they've been recalled to base. He says they can't get involved due to the rules of engagement.
Gibbs looks around at the scared, defenseless women and refuses to go. Tom says the girls will be fine, but it'll turn violent if they stay.
Back at NCIS, Tony says good-bye to the refugees, then gets a call from McGee. He and Gibbs are both staying. He asks for satellite support.
After night falls, they board up the shelter. Shots come through the windows.
Tony calls to say a UN team is on the way. He checks the satellite and reports five attackers on foot.
Gibbs remembers seeing news reports about six Afghan women killed in a similar attack, in which Catherine was the lone survivor. Mike harangues Gibbs, saying he could have gotten the girls out.
Back in the shelter, they can't fire upon the attackers because they're outnumbered and the villagers would turn on them. And there's clearly no negotiating. Gibbs declares that the men are bullies, and resolves to stand up to them. Gibbs removes his weapons and goes outside to confront the men. One of them is holding a Molotov cocktail that he hasn't lit yet.
One of the men approaches Gibbs and throws a punch. Gibbs knocks him down then stands there defiantly. The man with the bottle goes to light it, but McGee shoots the bottle. The men all aim their weapons at Gibbs, but he stares them down.
When another man approaches with a knife, Gibbs quickly subdues him. Finally, their UN support arrives and essentially shooes the men away.
"Boss, you saved the shelter," McGee says. "For now, what about tomorrow?" Gibbs asks.
Back home, Tony says the leak turned out to be one of the girls who was threatened. Gibbs returns home with Catherine -- and all the women from the shelter.
"Mike would be so proud of you," Catherine says.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content