McGee, Ziva & Vance are in Chicago after Tyler's body is fished out of Lake Michigan. A prostitute goes to a hotel room in Chi-Town (leaving her bodyguard in the hallway). She goes into the bathroom and the bodyguard sees a note that is slipped out to him under the door that says 'Bend over and read this note.' The man bends over, is stabbed in the back and dragged away by Ziva and McGee. The woman opens the bathroom door and sees Vance (she knows him). He tells her that she can go with him voluntarily, or he will carry her out. Ducky tells Gibbs about Tyler. Ducky says the body was found in Lake Michigan with multiple gunshot and stab wounds.


Tony calls out to McGee and Ziva, realizes that they are in Chicago working on the case, then turns to the rest of the staff and asks if they found his wallet. After Gibbs walks in, Tony tells him McGee has set up a video conference for him and Vance. Vance tells Tony that he wants him to question a woman named Tara that could have information about the case; her safety may be compromised if it is known she is talking to the police. Vance then tells Gibbs that Tyler was his friend, a marine, who vanished over a week ago. He tells Gibbs he is going to work the case himself and asks Gibbs to sit this one out. Meanwhile, Gibbs tries to get information about the case from Abby. She tells him that she can't tell him about the five bullets that were removed from Tyler's body and that he was weighed down by weights, and that she should know how long he was in the lake. Gibbs comments that the murder wasn't a result of a mugging but Abby says she can't talk to him about it and tells Gibbs to find something to do to take her mind off of things. Abby then closes herself in a soundproof room; they use sign language to talk, then Gibbs leaves.

Director Vance, Ziva and McGee go to a boxing gym and learn that Tyler was revered by everyone there. Ziva notices some of the dumbbells are missing while Vance then gets into the ring and challenges a man to a fight. Vance then tells a kid named Spit that he used to carry the buckets like he did before asking Ziva if she wants to fight, she declines. Vance then talks to Ike, an old friend and the owner of the gym, reminiscing and talking about Tyler. Ike doesn't think Tyler threw himself in the lake and says he hadn't seen Tyler in a long time until he showed up a few weeks ago. Ike thinks one of the fighters named Banks got sick of Tyler being top dog. Vance tells Ike that he plans on luring Banks to him.

Tony picks up Tara and asks if she had a relationship with their new director. She tells him that Tyler was her brother and then asks if he lost something. They arrive at the headquarters and Tara says she saw Tyler a week ago at an exhibition game she attended with a man named Joe Banks. She says she works for Banks by doing anything he asks. Tara then tells Tony she can help him. She says she sees a man in need, then Ziva walks in and tells Tony she is there to relieve him.

While Ducky and Palmer examine the body, Gibbs walks in and Ducky tells him the time of death was more than four days ago. Gibbs thinks something is missing and Ducky realizes Tyler has no military record and thus Vance may have over stepped his authority. Vance goes to Ducky and looks at Tyler's body. Ducky tells him that Tyler went down fighting. The powder burns on his hands indicate he was holding the barrel of the gun when it was fired at him; the following shots killed him rapidly. Vance realizes the killer was untrained. Ducky asks about his relationship with Tyler. Vance asks what Gibbs's issue was and Ducky tells him that there is little evidence that Tyler was a marine. Vance tells Ducky not to believe everything he hears. Vance visits Abby and Palmer and they tell him that Tyler was killed 11 days ago. Vance realizes that was fight night at the gym and that was the last night Ike saw Banks. Abby says she got organic material from Tyler's hands, a bird feather, but it could have gotten lodged there when he was in the water. Vance asks if Abby has anything else to tell her and Abby says no.


When Tara tells Vance that he doesn't have to protect her, she realizes he is using her as bait to lure Banks there. She then tells Vance that he abandoned her and Tyler, and asks if he would have even seen her again if the murder hadn't happened. Tara says she knows Banks had nothing to do with Tyler's death, but Vance says if she really knew Banks, she would have quit him years ago. Vance then asks Ziva to escort Tara to a safehouse.

Vance is greeted by his children when he returns home, and he gives them chocolates and boxing gloves. Vance kisses his wife and she asks why he didn't tell her that he had a friend coming over. Vance then sees Gibbs and scolds him for interfering with the case. Gibbs tells Vance that it is dangerous to use his position for a personal agenda. Vance asks Gibbs if he really has that big of an axe to grind. Gibbs demands to know who Tyler was to him. Vance's wife interrupts and tells Gibbs that he is staying for dinner. They sit down and Vance's wife tells Gibbs how she and Vance met at one of Vance's fights. She says Vance had detached his retina while training for a boxing match. The team drives Tara to the safehouse. Tony finds his wallet and shows Tara that he is no longer in need. Tara notices a ring shape in his wallet and Tony grabs it back. Ziva notices a towncar and tells Tara to get behind her. Gibbs tells Vance he has a nice home and family. Vance tells him that his kids want to rescue a pitbull. Gibbs says they can be good dogs if you treat them right and don't lie to them. Vance assures Gibbs that Tyler was a Marine.

As McGee escorts Banks to the interrogation room, Gibbs smacks Tony for talking nonsense. Tony enjoys the physical contact, since Gibbs hasn't smacked him in a while. Vance walks into the interrogation room and introduces himself. Banks hears the name and tells Vance he could have been a big time fighter. Banks tells Vance he tried to retire, but he still holds his belt. Vance shows Banks a picture of Tyler and Banks says he heard about the tragedy. Vance then runs down a list of murders that Banks was accused of, but found not guilty. Vance tells Banks he represented everything that Tyler hated. Banks says Tara will never speak out against him. Stunned, Vance yells at Tara for marrying Banks. She tells him that he changed. Vance asks what happened to Tyler but Tara says she doesn't know. She says Tyler was family and Banks wouldn't have killed him. She says Tyler lost his drive. Vance thinks someone must have been behind him waiting to take over. Meanwhile, Gibbs tells Ducky about having dinner with Vance. Gibbs then asks Ducky to re-examine Tyler's body and look for evidence of surgery. Gibbs then goes to Vance and Vance tells him he owes Tyler his life. Gibbs tells Vance that the reason for Tyler's murder may not have been as complicated as he thinks. Vance then realizes that the feathers on the body were from a coat. Vance walks into Abby's office and she freaks out. He asks if the feathers were from a coat and she says yes. Vance calls Ike and Ike sees Spit's dead body in his gym. Vance realizes that Spit was the murderer. He tells Gibbs that Spit was bragging about how he took down the champ.

Vance tells Gibbs he is going back to Chicago for Tyler's funeral. Tony asks how Tara can see through his disguise. She asks how long it has been since he's had a date. Tony admits it has been a long time. He says he's had a lot of dates, but he scares them all off. She tells him to open up and cry on someone's shoulder. She tells him the solution to his problem is easy and he just needs to pick the right woman. Ziva then asks if everything is okay and Tony tells her it's fine. Vance speaks at Tyler's funeral service. Meanwhile, Ducky tells Gibbs that there was evidence that Tyler had surgery for a detached retina. Gibbs pulls out his file on Vance. He starts to open it, then decides not to break the seal.