Poručík vojenského námořnictva je pohřešován již takřka deset let. Nikdo už nedoufal, že by se mohl vynořit, nebo že by se alespoò podařilo najít jeho ostatky, když přijde zpráva o jistém "lovci jelenů", u něhož se voják našel. Tým NCIS se okamžité vydává na místo za záhadným lovcem. K jejich úděsu najdou už jen mumifikovanou mrtvolu hledaného poručíka. Před vyšetřovateli stojí těžký úkol. Musí zrekonstruovat celý příběh, který se možná udál už před desíti lety a především musí zjistit, co se stalo s jedním milionem dolarů, které měl pohřešovaný na své lodi.

Gibbs shows up at HQ just long enough to collect his team and haul their butts out of there again. He pauses long enough to provide us a with a helpful map view of Saint Mary's River State Park, which is presumably where Mr. Sportsman found our mummy. There is amusing banter regarding Tony's status as "Gas The Truck Boy". We skip the middle part and arrive at the park, where the local police are all over the scene and Mr. Sportsman is standing to the side, looking a little silly with his bow in his hands. Ducky theorizes that the aircraft drop tank in which our mummy friend is located must have been airtight. Gibbs goes to chat with Mr. Sportsman, who says he thought it was a missile or bomb of some kind.

Gibbs verifies what Mr. Sportsman touched and did not touch and requests his fingerprints for exclusionary purposes. He is very nice. Must be the weather. Kate is taking pictures; Tony is sketching. He reports proudly that he knows what this is - a 314 gallon external fuel tank from an F-14 Tomcat. Here we learn that tomorrow will be the second anniversary of Tony joining NCIS. Then we learn that our mummy is a Lieutenant, meaning that the bag in the pod could not be his. Kate is to ride back to HQ with the pod on a flatbed.

In the evidence garage, Abby slices the pod open with a power saw. She has gotten some partial prints off the hatch that did not belong to the hunter. She should also be able to obtain a serial number from the bottom of the pod. Gibbs wants the TFOA report for this pod. Abby finishes cutting, and Gibbs and Tony lift the lid of the pod away. Abby evinces glee -- "sailor on the half-shell!". There is discussion about the mummy's shoeless state and examination of the pod contents. From the mummy's dog-tags, he is identified as Lieutenant Mark Schilz. The golf bag is labeled as belonging to Lieutenant Lynch.

Kate comes up with Schilz's service record; he was reported missing off the USS Eisenhower on March 4, 1994. Schilz was labeled a deserter 30 days later and received a dishonorable discharge after being charged in absentia with the theft of $1.2 million from the ship safe; Schilz had been the ship disbursing officer. Tony arrives back with the TFOA report; LCdr Farnsworth turns out to have been the pilot of the Tomcat that dropped the pod. Lt. Lynch turns out to be Farnsworth's Radar Intercept Officer. There is discussion of the plot so far. Kate theorizes that Schilz was trying to make his getaway in the cargo pod. Gibbs disagrees; the air would be nearly unbreathable at flight level for an F-14, and the missing money was not in the pod. Tony is set to locate the on-board NCIS agent from the Eisenhower investigation; Kate is set to locate Schilz's widow.

Gibbs goes to autopsy. We learn that the unfortunate deceased suffered a postmortem broken jaw from one of the golf clubs hitting him in the face when the cargo pod landed. We also learn that, four years ago, Gibbs' third wife hit him over the head with a baseball bat. We also learn that Schilz apparently bled to death internally, probably stabbed with something small and thin (like an ice pick, maybe?) Which means that Schilz was murdered and then stuffed into the cargo pod. Back in the bullpen, Kate still has a great smile, and she uses it on Gibbs. They discuss the murder. Gibbs thinks an accomplice may have murdered Schilz, if he had been killed in the disbursing office, it would be next to impossible to transport his body to a cargo pod across a ship carrying 6,000 people. Kate locates Schilz's widow and from a helpful shot of her computer monitor, we learn the proper spelling of his name... and then we edit the recap.

Tony returns with the name of the NCIS agent, Richard Owens, who is currently located at NCIS Pearl Harbor. He puts his foot in his mouth when he describes the 37-year-old Owens as being "considerably" younger than Gibbs, and we all wonder how Tony's managed to make it two years without Gibbs firing him yet. In Owens' report, we learn that on the night of the robbery, there was a report of a man overboard. A life vest beacon was seen in the carrier wake; Schilz's shoes were found in the life vest hold. In his notes (which are attached to the file), Owens theorized that Schilz faked falling overboard and hid out on board until the carrier put in to Norfolk. Tony continues to irritate Gibbs. Something that Tony is a master at.

Kate interviews Schilz's widow; she is remarried with a daughter who is Schilz's daughter, born the same day Schilz went missing. We learn that Mrs. Schilz did not get any death benefits or dependent support from the Navy for her daughter due to Schilz's dishonorable discharge. We get our first glimpse of Kate's bleeding heart, and we learn that Schilz called his wife in the hospital from the Eisenhower the morning he disappeared (which was a big deal in those days). In MTAC, Gibbs and Tony talk to Owens via video conference. Gibbs casts a number of aspersions on Owens' investigation and the more Gibbs talks, the more incompetent Owens looks. Owens is a little unhappy about this. Gibbs orders Owens to report to the Eisenhower in Norfolk on Saturday morning.

In the evidence garage, Abby has been examining the pod. She has learned that the pod, which is attached to the Tomcat by two hooks, was deliberately set up to fall off the plane; whoever set it wanted it to fall off in the ocean but succumbed to epic fail. Tony continues to needle Gibbs about his age. Kate arrives back from Mrs. Schilz's house, bleeding heart on her sleeve. She tells Gibbs that Schilz called his wife at 0533 on the morning of the robbery; the call lasted twelve minutes. We learn here that the assistant disbursing officer was an Ensign Wiles - who, oddly enough, is the former Mrs. Schilz's new husband.

Saturday morning finds Tony doing the crossword while waiting with an impatient Owens for Gibbs to show up. Gibbs and Kate are at a shooting range, interviewing former Ensign Randy Wiles. We learn here that Mrs. Wiles does not know that her husbands served together. In a move straight out of a lame romantic comedy (Bounce, according to our self-referential scriptwriters), Wiles fell for his former shipmate's widow and never told her who he was. Gibbs points out that a more believable plotline might include stealing the money, setting Schilz up, killing him, getting away with it and marrying Schilz's wife. Wiles points out that he works the shooting range during the day, does accounting at night, sends Alicia to public school, drives a crappy car and lives in a rented house, none of which would be true if he had a stolen million dollars. Gibbs inquires after the disbursing clerk, Petty Officer Toner. Wiles explains that Toner enlisted to catch an officer.

Gibbs arrives at the Eisenhower and discusses the case with Owens. Owens explains that Wiles and Toner could not have committed the theft; Wiles was at an all-night poker game, and Toner was under figurative lock and key - that tour was the first time females were allowed at sea on extended cruises, and they were (supposedly) carefully watched; Gibbs inquires how many of those females came back pregnant. The answer: quite a few. Kate calls, advises Gibbs that Farnsworth and Lynch were both killed in a ramp strike two years ago. Gibbs says if they were still in the Navy two years ago, they probably weren't involved in the theft. She has traced Toner to Westchester, PA and is on her way there to question Toner.

She arrives at a country club just in time to interrupt Toner's tee-off. She sits down for a nice chat about the expensive country club Toner belongs to and the expensive house she lives in. Toner, who seems to enjoy calling Kate "honey," smirks and provides a winning Ohio Lottery ticket and newspaper article to go with; she claims she won $2 million. Cut: Abby enters Autopsy, shouting "Fore!" and causing Ducky to duck out of reflex. We learn that Abby does not like being called Abigail, and a niblick (it's a golf club with a very specific shape) is not a sex act. We further learn that the unfortunate Lt. Schilz died of a puncture wound to the chest caused by a thin, sharp object, and had odd post-mortem hairline fractures to the pelvis and lower lumbar. Ducky asks Abby to recheck that area of Schilz's uniform for any anomalies.

Gibbs is investigating the disbursing office, and begins to suspect that there may have been something going on between Owens and Toner. Owens denies it, claiming that Toner had something going on with a Petty Officer Ted Martínez, who left the Navy in June of 1994 and was a plane captain on the Tomcat that dropped the pod with Schilz's body. Kate calls to share the information about the lottery with Gibbs; she will call the state lottery board in the morning to confirm the information. The information about Martínez gives him means to stuff Schilz's body into the cargo pod. DiNozzo makes yet another crack about Gibbs' age and - WOO! First headslap ever!

Gibbs walks into Abby's very noisy lab - ("It's the Newlydeads.") - just as Abby pulls an anomalous orange fiber off Schilz's uniform. She has also matched some of the prints on the pod to PO Martínez. One print did not match Martínez; Abby is trying to locate its owner. Gibbs has a suspect; we do not learn who yet. Gibbs comes up into the squadroom and is surprised to find Owens there; Owens wants to help with the investigation. Gibbs sets him to searching for Martínez.

Kate arrives in the office around 14:00 on what seems to be Sunday afternoon. Gibbs and Tony are asleep in their chairs; Owens is still working at 'his' desk. Gibbs wakes to the smell of Kate's coffee, which he subsequently snitches almost out of her hand and drinks half of, much to Kate's horror. Owens has tracked Martínez to Guadalajara, Mexico, before losing the trail. Gibbs brings Abby coffee and asks about his fingerprint. She has nothing good enough to take to court, but she does have info on the fiber: cotton canvas, dyed Orange #7. Not a life preserver; those are made of urethane-coated nylon. Gibbs twigs: it's from an orange mail bag. In the squad room, Kate is verifying Toner's story with the Ohio Lottery; turns out, Toner did hit the lottery - for $37,000.

Owens discovers that Martínez was murdered in a motel in Piedra Negras. Gibbs sends Kate to bring Erin Toner in to HQ. She has to come voluntarily. Kate goes, feeds Toner a story about making a virtual recreation of the theft for Martínez's trial, and attempts to appeal to Toner for the sake of Schilz's daughter receiving benefits due her from the Navy; Toner suggests that they play the lottery. Kate pulls a paper out of her bag, and advises Toner that if she doesn't come to D.C. voluntarily, Kate will sign orders having Toner recalled to active duty as a material witness in the case - "All I gotta do is ink 'em, honey, and your ass is back in the Navy."

Back at HQ, Abby plays a virtual recreation of the theft showing Martínez forcing Schilz to ransack the safe and carry the money to the plane, then killing him and stuffing his body in the pod. Toner is sarcastic about the animation but claims the scenario works for her. Gibbs says it doesn't for him; Schilz would have known Martínez was going to kill him and would have resisted; Martínez would have had to kill him in disbursing. They share the mail-bag epiphany with Toner. A fingerprint match comes up on the second plasma, and he says he'll get back to it. They move forward with their theory, discussing how Martínez would have gotten attention with his body-stuffed mailbag, and Owens remembers how Toner used to turn heads on the ship. Toner tries to leave; Kate grabs her arm and says "Not till the show's over."

Abby puts a second scenario up on the plasma; this one, better animated, shows Martínez dragging the full mailbag while Toner follows behind, flirting with passersby to keep attention away from Martínez. Toner stands, says the animation is better but it isn't evidence. She threatens arrests for assault and unlawful detainment; Gibbs says she's free to go. As she moves to leave, he gets back to the fingerprint match: it's Toner's fingerprint. She asks where they found it: "Mark's uniform? All that proves is that we got it on." Gibbs says no; they found it on the pistol that killed Martínez, which they got from Mexican authorities. They threaten her: a confession, or extradition to Mexico.

That evening, in the squad room, Owens comments that in Hawaii, it takes forever to get anything out of the federales. Tony allows that they have the same problem in D.C. Owens is astonished to learn, as they all pile into the elevator, that the fingerprint match was faked. The elevator closes on smiles all around. They all have great smiles.