Lidé s NCIS tentokrát musí vyšetřit vraždu svého kolegy. Někdo ho zastřelil a poté doslova vykuchal. Gibbs a jeho tým zjistí, že jejich kolega rozkryl podivné okolnosti tři roky starého případu zpronevěry dvaceti milionů dolarů. Díky paměťové kartě, kterou oběť spolkla, zjistí, že se jejich kolega zajímal o jakousi ženu. Když podezřelou začnou sledovat, objeví, že žena je předělaný muž, pachatel oné zpronevěry a ke všemu teï už i vrah.

Největší ostudu si vysloužil nenapravitelný DiNozzo, který v rámci sledování podezřelé(ho) s ní(m) navázal intimnější vztah (vášnivě se líbali v restauraci) aniž by tušil, že ona je on.

Evening guards complain about false fire alarms in a building being renovated. They call the elevator to ride up and turn off the alarm. The opening door reveals a man's body, disemboweled.

Tony answers Kate's phone, and Kate catches him. Kate makes a date (with someone called Dwayne, to Tony's derision), but does not get out in time. Gibbs comes in to say a fellow agent, Chris Pacci, has been found murdered. Chris sat behind Kate. The three of them flash back to Chris trying to speak to Gibbs about a cold case.

The team finds out the CCTV does not work yet and the janitor did not see anyone come in.At the building, the team discovers Pacci was shot on the 6th floor, staggered along the hall to the elevator, and rode down. He was disembowelled in the elevator, when he was already near death. Ducky is upset to be doing an autopsy on someone he knows. We get a flashback reconstruction.

When they look at Chris' desk, they find his weapon (NCIS operatives are supposed to be armed at all times). So this suggests he had left the weapon behind when tailing someone, not wanting an alarm to be set off. Gibbs tells Kate and Tony to go to Pacci's flat that evening, so Kate has to cancel her date.

Kate and Tony arrive to search Pacci's apartment. The phone rings. Shock! It is McGee calling from Norfolk. Pacci had asked him to find civilian files on a 3-year-old car accident. Tony orders him to DC by 0700 next morning.

The bullet in Pacci is a Smith and Wesson .356. Abby tells this to Gibbs but she has no more info about what Pacci was working on.Gibbs and Ducky are in Autopsy. X-rays showed a "foreign object" that Pacci had apparently swallowed. They speculate that the killer had slashed Pacci looking for it, but didn't have enough time to find it, and was scared off by the alarm. The object, identified by the young autopsy tech, is a memory card, probably from a digital camera.

The case McGee brought concerns the death of a Lieutenant Commander Voss in a car accident. Voss's former commanding officer had spoken with Pacci recently. Voss had been under investigation for procurement fraud; about $12 million total; no money has been recovered, before or after Voss's death.Gibbs reckons Pacci swallowed the memory card because he knew Ducky would be doing the post-mortem. Later Pacci's camera, minus card, is found in the stairwell. Kate suggests Ducky looks at Voss' autopsy report 3 years on. Gibbs and Kate go to interview Voss' commanding Captain to ask about the case. The Captain explains Voss got away with the fraud for four years. Pacci had just wanted to know who Voss had dated.

Pictures on the memory card show neighborhood scenes and a striking woman. McGee uses clues in the pictures to pin down the address - only one street with the right kind of street furniture also has the right kind of mailbox with a 3 digit number and Tony then finds the woman's name (Amanda Reed) and credit report off the address. First impressions are that she is a solid citizen. Gibbs identifies the window the pictures were taken from, and they rent the apartment for a stakeout. This is the great moment when Gibbs and Tony are mistaken for a gay couple. The building manager reports seeing an identical badge - it must have been Pacci.

Back at the office, Tony discovers that the townhouse where Amanda Reed lives, and bought with cash, was previously in the Voss family for 3 generations. But Kate has no apparent driver's licence or automobile. It is established this will be McGee's first stakeout.

Alternating among office, lab, stakeout,and witness interviews. The lady takes prescription drugs, and has expensive tastes (Prada bag). Pacci's computer shows he had checked out a Bangkok visitors' website. Per the real estate agent, Pacci had contacted her, asking to be notified if the Voss townhouse went up for sale. She forgot till afterwards, but Pacci seemed happy to hear Reed had bought it. Per a check of their records, Reed had lived near where Voss was stationed, for some years. After some stakeout banter (and comparing themselves to the film Stakeout), they comb her garbage, finding nothing helpful on the first check - there are a lot of beauty products, leading to speculation that Reed is older than she looks. Later, the garbage goes to Abby to check for fingerprints.

After a sharp phone conversation with the historical society about painting her exterior woodwork, Reed comes out to work on her flowers. Tony slips out to talk with her in person, much to the others' disgust. Tony says to Reed his name is 'Stringfellow.'

Gibbs gets the tissue samples from the Voss accident case. He had been identified by a DNA match. Ducky knows the medical examiner to be competent, but Gibbs wants Abby to retest the DNA. She can tell quickly that the tissue samples are not from Voss, as the blood types do not match. So Voss is alive....."with all those millions".......

Gibbs and Kate are driving to check on the bad DNA match. The tech who certified the match, Joshua Lurie, is dead, 2 years ago in a car crash. Later, Kate finds out Lurie was Voss's high school classmate. So Voss has likely killed at least 2, the person wrongly identified as Voss, and Lurie. They realize Voss was watching Pacci watching Reed.

At the stakeout, McGee and DiNozzo see a package being delivered. Tony slips out again to see the return address. He's disconcerted to see it is anti-aging cream. Then Amanda Reed opens her door and catches him. Tony flirts his way inside; they make a date for a nearby restaurant. Gibbs rings up McGee to be told that DiNozzo is in with Reed and then manages to warn DiNozzo that he is bait. McGee follows to the restaurant, from the stakeout apartment.

As the field team is leaving for the restaurant, Abby rushes in with a shocker. All the fingerprints from the garbage are from one person, Amanda Reed -- AND Lt Commander Voss!! "She is a he...."

Awaiting their food, Tony and Amanda are flirting. Tony's cell rings, and it's Gibbs. Tony says he has to take it, but Reed goes into a passionate appetizer clinch with him instead.Amanda excuses herself to the ladies' (!) room. Tony calls Gibbs back and gets the unwelcome news. Tony confronts Amanda while McGee lurks. Amanda attacks, Tony retaliates, and is pulled off by 2 chivalrous men from the bar. There is a melee, a fine bar brawl, with McGee identifying them a Federal agents, and trying unsuccessfully to get someone to catch him-her.

Gibbs and Kate arrive just in time. Faced with Gibbs' gun at point-blank range, Amanda/Voss makes a desperate try to bring up her gun. She is shot, presumably killed. Kate waves her NCIS badge so the customers release Tony and McGee.

Back in the office, Gibbs is going through Chris' effects before they are boxed up. The others are discussing Voss/ Amanda, and transgender films like The Crying Game and Victor/Victoria. Voss / Amanda had not yet his operation. Finally Kate comes up to Tony and he, knowing she is going to tease him says: "Go on then, I can take it." So Kate says: 'What was it like, tonguing a guy?' And Tony says: 'Forget it, I can't take it.'