NCIS returned with a new episode that involved apartment hunting and a British spy. When the episode began, a family who worked in the mortuary business was unloading a shipment of caskets when they discovered someone had been sleeping inside the container, which had been at sea for around two weeks. One of the boxes had been opened and they found a body inside.
At NCIS headquarters, Ellie and Tim were working on trying to apartment hunt for him and Delilah. However, seeing the price only made them realize how difficult it would be to find something affordable. Tony came in to work, but when he had nothing to contribute and mentioned mortgage payments, they realized he owned his own apartment, which Tim mentioned he had since before he joined the team 13 years ago.
Gibbs came in to let the team know about the body and they went to the business to see what was up. While Tim and Ellie found evidence that involved prison jumpsuits, Tony and Gibbs discussed the victim, who was a prison guard from Britain named Sandra Billingsley and had been a hostage during a prison break weeks earlier. Tim found out the missing inmates were Cassio Chavez and a former MI6 British spy named Jacob Scott.
Before they can continue, Fornell and the FBI arrive to inform Gibbs they have jurisdiction over the case. However, the team continued to work the case, with Tim still tracking down information on Tony’s apartment and how he could afford it. Meanwhile, Fornell came to have a meeting with Vance over who would be in the front of the investigation.
Gibbs and Fornell see ex-NCIS director Tom Morrow, who is now the Director of Homeland Security. After discussion, Vance informed Fornell that his boss at the FBI had said Gibbs’ team would take the lead. Fornell appeared to be annoyed, but outside the office, Gibbs knew Fornell wanted them to take the case since he seemed like he had somewhere else he wanted to be. But before Fornell can make his escape, Vance informed him that he has to work with them, too.
Tim found Ellie as she got off the phone with Cassio’s father, who had wanted information on where his son was. Ellie informed her co-worker that Cassio’s father had once worked at a British port so he could have actually helped the men escape inside the shipping container.
In autopsy, Ducky hadn’t had a chance to find cause of death yet, but he informed Gibbs that the victim had been taking progesterone, a hormone to aid in getting pregnant.
The team looked into who visited Jacob Scott often and found he had a visitor named Miranda Okafor, who ran a kid’s activity center called the Laser Zone. Gibbs and Fornell went to investigate, where they found two people had been killed, including Miranda.
Coming to investigate, Tony realized there was a hidden door that led to a secret room where guns and cash had been taken. They look into Miranda and find out she had trained Scott in MI6. Since Tim and Ellie are unable to find anymore leads, they decide to put off apartment investigating so as not to anger their boss.
Morrow and Vance discuss Scott, who had been incarcerated for selling nuclear intel to a woman who worked at a Russian embassy in Turkey named Nika Razin. She had been killed in an NCIS raid that was meant to lead to her arrest.
While going down to see Ducky, Gibbs noticed Fornell’s new cell phone going off and had an awkward conversation with his friend about online dating. They arrived at autopsy where Ducky informed them the victim died slowly of asphyxia. She had an asthma attack and had no way of getting help while in the container.
Abby told Tony she found evidence that Sandra had taken part willingly in the prison break. There were pillows and other items that had been pre-packed in the container that could not have been easily done by the prisoners. Plus, a magazine with part of the label ripped off was found and Abby was able to determine with enough information from the label that it belonged to Sandra.
Ellie and Tim were waiting for Tony to return to his apartment with food under the guise of doing surveillance work when they wanted to snoop around the apartment. However, they couldn’t find anything to tell them why Tony had his apartment so cheap. The only thing Ellie noticed was the piano, which was placed awkwardly in front of the double doors. They went back to work and saw that Jacob Scott and Cassio Chavez had parted ways after meeting at the Lazer Zone.
The next morning, Vance was making a stop at his favorite donut place when his phone went static while talking to his assistant. Before he could do anything, Scott was in his car with a gun pointed at him.
Without knowing what was happening to their Director, Ellie and Tim continued working, telling Gibbs and Fornell that Vance had told his assistant to begin with MTAC meeting with Morrow and Chester Grimm with the prison service. In the meeting, Grimm is adamant that Sandra did not play a role in the prison break, but they assure him evidence showed otherwise.
Working down in the lab, Abby and Tony found a photo of Miranda with Scott and an unknown blonde woman. They tried to figure out why Miranda would have helped Scott if she was making a life for herself in the US.
Meanwhile, Jacob got Vance to drive him to an unknown location and took his card. In MTAC, a security breach was found so Gibbs and Fornell went to have Tim find out what happened. Tim noticed a facility in Anacostia had been breached and someone used a duress password. They became alarmed to see it was Director Vance who was in danger.
Tim, Fornell and Gibbs went to the facility and found Vance alive with Scott long gone. He wondered why his duress didn’t signal a breach immediately, but they told him he probably would be dead if that happened. Tim looked to see what Scott stole and it looked like an old file.
Ellie told Vance and Gibbs the file had a name of six NCIS agents who had taken part in an MI6 operation back in 2002. They aren’t sure what the case was or why Scott wanted the list so Vance subtly told Ellie to hack into the case file since they wouldn’t have clearance.
Tim went to Tony in the elevator after figuring out how his apartment was so cheap. It had been the scene of a triple homicide and he deduced it after realizing Gibbs, Fornell and Abby knew about it. Tony mentioned the piano covered an area where he couldn’t get blood off of the floorboards. Tim made a comment about not needing to give information on the murders after all these years if he wanted to sell.
They arrived in Abby’s lab, where she had discovered Sandra put down a deposit to a fertility clinic in the United States under an alias for Lila McLane. She had found the address and Fornell and Gibbs went with the FBI team. While they discussed Fornell trying to be ready to date, they noticed Cassio Chavez coming toward the house.
After he was arrested and questioned, Gibbs and Fornell realized the baby Sandra was preparing for was with Cassio himself. He told them he had killed Miranda and the janitor after getting high and wanting more cash. The break out hadn’t been his idea and he had met Scott while doing kitchen duty. They realized Cassio had been played when he told them Scott introduced him to Sandra. Cassio told them Scott wanted revenge on NCIS for killing his wife.
Ellie and Tim talked about the case file and the operation, known as Juniper Strikes. It was a raid in Turkey that took the life of Nika Razin, the buyer for the nuclear intel. They aren’t sure how this is connected to Scott, until Tony recognized her from a photo he had seen of her with Scott and Miranda. Gibbs and Fornell came in to let them know that she was Scott’s wife and that the names were on a hit list. The first possible victim was the NCIS director at the time, Tom Morrow.
Gibbs and Fornell went to Morrow’s home, where his wife appeared as though nothing was wrong. She let them know where Tom was but when they entered his office area, they found him dead with a bullet hole in the back of his head. He had been shot through the window.