A couple are walking their infant son at 2am down by the waterfront. The husband wants to sit as he's tired so his wife tells him to sit for 5 minutes and she'll come back for him. He wants 10 minutes and as they talk about it, they hear gunshots. The husband walks towards them as their son awakens and begins to cry. He hears a woman cry for help and sees her kneeling down, holding the head of the man shot, on the ground.

At the squadroom, the elevator opens and Tony exits. He is all excited as he's reading a message on his cell phone. Ziva thinks Tony has a date. Tony tells her that something special is happening to Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo today. "Who are you seeing?" Ziva asks. Tony tells her "Kurosawa" and Ziva thinks it's an Asian woman. "Kurasawa is a dude," Tony replies. "I did not know you were into Asian dudes," Ziva responds. Tony tells her Akira Kurosawa is an Asian filmmaker and he's in town and having a little festival of his films. Ziva holds up a book she's reading and says, "This is a work of art." "Oh yeah, you reading a new Judy Blume? I always liked Are You There God? It's Me Margaret," Tony replies. "This my friend is the Declaration of Independence. My citizenship test is coming up and I wish to pass with swimming colors," Ziva says. "Flying colors," McGee says as he walks towards his desk. "Any colors will do McGee," Ziva responds. "Ah Timmy, you look a little rough around the edges there. You up all night playing video games again?" Tony asks McGee. "Well I will admit that maintaining my state of the art status is exhausting but you are looking at a man who has his whole apartment wired to a single remote control," McGee says with a smile. Tony is amazed and wants to know if he has everything wired. McGee says he does, including his microwave. Tony says it's like the clapper, "clap on clap off" (single device attached to lamps activated by clapping your hands). "I am living the dream baby," McGee says as he gets to work. Gibbs walks in with his coffee in hand and says, "Ah no clapping yet. Norfolk, dead Navy officer." McGee wants to know if Gibbs minds if he grabs some coffee real quick. Gibbs says he does, they have no time and tosses McGee a candy telling him to suck on this. Tony watches as McGee catches the candy, opens it and pops it in his mouth. It takes McGee a second before he realizes what Gibbs said. Tony, whose walking alongside him replies, "Suck it up McGee."

The team arrives at the crime scene and exit the car. Homicide Detective Philip McCadden says, "Well look at this, the Calvary has arrived." He walks over and exchanges comments with Gibbs. McCadden lifts the crime scene tape and in a flirtatious tone says, "Good Morning Agent David." In the same tone Ziva responds, "Good Morning Detective" as she ducks under the crime scene tape. Tony watches the exchange then gives orders to McGee and Ziva. McCadden lets the crime scene tape slip and it whacks Tony in the face and catches Gibbs. "Sorry boss, if there's anything you need, I'm right here," Tony says to Gibbs as he holds the tape up for Gibbs to walk under it. McCadden tells Gibbs about the witnesses, the couple with their baby who heard the shots but didn't see the assailant. He points to the fiancee of the victim, whose sitting on a bench nearby, back to Gibbs. McCadden says she's been there all night and is rattled pretty bad. The team begins to process the scene, taking photos and collecting evidence. "Put that insidious device away Mr. Palmer. This is a crime scene not a chat room," Ducky tells Palmer. Palmer apologizes and then tells Ducky she texted him 'yes'. Ducky is excited for Palmer. Tony says, "Palmer's em-bomber said yeah huh? Little funeral home girl. Listen Palmer, girls who work down there in the Mortuaries like to do it in the dark so what you want to do is...." Gibbs interrupts and tells Tony to focus.

McGee pulls out the victim's ID. It's Navy Captain Joseph Norton who lived in Norfolk and McGee finds a lot of cash box in his wallet. There is a ring box beside him but the box is empty. Ducky points out the multiple gunshot wounds to the torso and there was significant blood loss. Ducky starts to tell him time of death but Gibbs says they have a witness so there's no need. Ducky and Palmer prepare the Captain for his 'final voyage." Gibbs asks McCadden if he minds if he talks to the witness. McCadden looks and sees Ziva sitting with her and says, "She's yours now, just keep me in the loop."

Ziva asks the witness if she saw the assailant's face. The woman, who has her face covered with her hands, says no it all happened so fast and it was dark. Gibbs walks up and Ziva introduces him. At the mention of Gibbs' name, the woman looks up. We see flashbacks of the woman, much younger, holding a child. Both Gibbs and the witness look a bit uncomfortable. "Jethro, this is a surprise," the woman says. Ziva is surprised to find out they know each other. Gibbs introduces Joann Fielding, his mother-in-law. "Ex. mother-in-law," Joann corrects him. Gibbs says she's Shannon's mother; "Kelly's grandmother", Joann adds. "So, when was the last time you two saw each other?" Ziva asks. "The girls funeral," Joan replies.

Back in the squadroom, McGee, Ziva and Tony are huddled together. "Alright McNosy what do ya got?" Tony asks McGee. McGee says from what he can gather Gibbs and Joann Fielding are estranged. Ziva reminds them that Joanna lost her daughter and granddaughter, and now her fiance has died in her arms and her former son-in-law is investigating, Tony and McGee should show her some sympathy. "Maybe she's cursed, like a Kennedy," Tony whispers. McGee mentions a case, which Ziva refers to the shooter being in the 'suppository.' "Depository," Tony corrects her. "That's what I said," Ziva replies. Gibbs walks up quietly and says, "I'm listening." McGee tells him they checked the cameras covering the waterfront but the cameras caught nothing. Ziva tells him it means the killer is familiar with the cameras patterns and knew how to avoid them. "Which means?" Gibbs asks. Tony says the killer is familiar with the promenade so they should start questioning employees, Marina shopkeepers and residents. McGee gives a rundown on the victim. Captain Joseph Norton, Supply Corp, 63 years old, no family, 6 months away from retirement with a spotless service record and never been married. "He was about to me, what about the engagement ring?" Gibbs asks. McGee pulls up the receipt on the engagement ring (3 carats, grade E, flawless, one minor inclusion). Tony tells him they have BOLO out on the ring and McCadden is checking in with local fences (Pawn shop owners). "That's good work DiNozzo," Gibbs says. Tony and Ziva exchange looks and Tony mouths, "What?" "You heard me," Gibbs says without looking at him. Director Vance walks up and tells Gibbs his mother-in-law is waiting in the conference room and he'd like to speak with Gibbs afterwards. "You come all the way down here to tell me that Director?" Gibbs asks. He gives instructions to the team and head up to the conference room. "Uh-oh, he complimented me twice," Tony says. "Very un-Gibbs," Ziva adds. "I better keep an eye on that guy. Don't you agree Director?" Tony asks Vance. "Is that your decision Agent DiNozzo?" Vance asks. "It's not mine to make sir," Tony replies. With a smile, Vance says, "You got that right."

Gibbs walks into the conference room and places a glass of water in front of Joann. She comments that he's drinking the same old coffee. "Keeps my engine running," Gibbs says. The two make small talk as Joann asks about Gibbs' father and he asks about her husband. She tells him they divorced two years after Shannon and Kelly's death, he was never the same after they died. "How about you? You know you didn't have to go through this, alone," Joann says. "Oh I called Joann. You'd never call me back," Gibbs replies. "That isn't exactly how I remember it," Joann answers. Gibbs opens his notepad and begins asking questions about the night before. Joe and Joann went to a retirement party for a friend of theirs. Joe wanted to go for a walk by the waterfront and it was there he proposed. Joann was looking at her ring when a young white male in his 20's came from nowhere. Joe went for his gun and Joann wanted to help. Ziva knocks and walks in with the sketch artist. Gibbs places his hand on Joann's left arm and asks if she's okay to do this. "I want to do anything to help," Joann chokes out. Gibbs gets up and Joann watches as he walks out.

Gibbs walks into Vance's office and says, "This won't take long." "I'll be the judge of that," Vance responds. Gibbs mentions Protocol is he's related to the witness so he should step aside. He tells Vance this is where he asks Gibbs to step aside. "Okay, I'm asking," Vance says. "I'm declining," Gibbs replies. Vance is worried that Joann is the victim of another terrible crime and how it must affect Gibbs. Gibbs feels it was a long time ago and he's fine. Vance tells Gibbs he knows what pushes his buttons and this could be a problem. Vance allows it when Gibbs wants to speak off the record. "I want to do this for Shannon. She would've wanted it," Gibbs says. Vance agrees but if Gibbs' judgement comes into play just once, he'll remove him from the case.

Gibbs washes his face in the men's room. He remembers years ago, packing and leaving with Shannon and Kelly for the Marines. A younger Joann accuses him of taking her girls away from her. A younger Gibbs takes Kelly from Joann, gets in the truck with her and Shannon and drives off as a crying Joann watches. Tony walks into the bathroom and interrupts Gibbs memory. He apologizes and tells Gibbs that Detective McCadden is there. Watching Gibbs wipe his face, Tony asks if he needs anything. "You to leave," Gibbs says quietly. Tony leaves the men's room.

McGee goes over the evidence with McCadden. Tony asks what they can do for McCadden. McGee hands McCadden the witness statements and tells Tony Gibbs signed off on them. "You sure about that?" Tony asks. "Play nice kiddies, there's plenty of room in the sandbox," Gibbs says as he comes in and sits at his desk. McCadden reads Joann's witness statement. She told them she was wearing the ring when they were robbed. "You look at her fingers? She has arthritis. Try getting a size 4 ring on them," McCadden tells Gibbs. He asks what size ring Ziva wears. "Five. Every girl knows her ring size, just in case," Ziva says wiggling her left fingers in the air. McCadden asks if they ran a gun shot residue on Joann's hand. McGee explains how close she was to the victim at the time of the shooting so the test results would be useless. McGee gets a copy of the sketch done from the sketch artist so Gibbs walks to his desk. "You need help with the Bolo's?" McCadden asks. "Oh no, I think we got it covered Phil. After you," Tony says rather sarcastically. McGee runs the sketch through the facial recognition system, beginning with known felons first. McCadden remarks how they are already getting hits. "Get out of here McCadden," Gibbs says. "Happy to," McCadden replies as he turns to leave. McGee hands Gibbs the sketch and Gibbs doesn't look happy.

Gibbs returns to the conference room and places the sketch down in front of Joann. He demands to know who the man is in the sketch. Joann insists the man who shot Joseph. Gibbs tells her the man in the sketch is Kyle Buckley, a man Gibbs went to school with. Joann continues to insist it's the killer. Gibbs tells her that Kyle Buckley died 3 years ago in a car accident and demands she tell him if she saw the assailant or not.

Tony pulls up in front of a home by the waterfront. He jumps out of the drivers side, then runs over and opens the passengers door. He helps Joann out of the car and offers to see her in. She tells him she's fine, she just needs a little rest. "Well, some warm milk, a hot bath, you'll be fine in no time," Tony tells her. "I can tell your a good man Agent DiNozzo. Jethro doesn't trust many people," she tells him. Tony asks what Jethro was like when he was young. She tells him doesn't think she really ever understood Jethro, she liked him a lot and was very happy when he married Shannon. She thought they made a nice family and then everything changed. She apologizes for dragging things up, then thanks Tony as he opens the gate to let her in.

In the squadroom, Gibbs walks in and McGee tells him they retrieved Captain Norton's laptop and a few cell phones from his apartment. Two of the cell phones were burn phones. Tony wonders why a career Navy Captain needs a burn phone. "Keep talking," Gibbs tells McGee. The cell phones were purchased in Arizona and used when Norton was still assigned to South American aircraft carriers, before his transfer to Norfolk. Norton was calling Nogales, Arizona half on the U.S. border, half on the Mexico border. According to the DEA, it was a major drug smuggling point for the Cartel. McGee cracked Norton's laptop and found 3 different Zurich bank accounts dating back almost 20 years and all dormant since he was transferred to Norfolk. Tony wonders why Norton bailed on the drug business. "Because he's not taking Navy trips to South American anymore; Cartel connections," Gibbs adds. McGee found 10 years worth of encrypted emails from Mexico and wonders how Norton smuggled drugs out of there when the ships never dropped anchor in Mexican ports. "Maybe somebody wanted their money back," Gibbs says and turns away.

In autopsy, Ducky stops what he's doing and begins sniffing the air. He looks at Palmer who begins sniffing as well. Palmer asks if Ducky is smelling for the scent of almonds and wonders if perhaps the bullets were laced with cyanide. "It's your cologne Mr. Palmer, it is absolutely retchid," Ducky says. Palmer tells him he's trying out different colognes and disposable contact lenses for his big date. "Change is good Mr. Palmer as long as you are the motivation for the change," Ducky tells him. Gibbs walks in, "Whoa, smells like a french ***** house in here." Laughing, Palmer tells Gibbs it's him. "What are you trying to do Palmer, raise the dead?" Gibbs asks. Ducky tells Palmer to take some samples up to Abby right away and then use the Hazmat shower. "Use it twice," Gibbs says as Palmer is leaving. Ducky lifts up Norton's heart in a plastic container and remarks that he hopes Palmer doesn't end up with a broken one of those. Ducky tells Gibbs the kill-shot entered the lower left ventricle. Ducky discovered Norton's entire gastronomic track is inflamed. It was infected my a parasite you get from sand-flies that are common in third world countries. "Like Mexico," Gibbs says.

Abby is in a target room, reenacting the crime scene and fires three shots into the male mannequin when Gibbs walks in. "Cool huh? It's like the carnival. If you hit the target, you could win a stuffed animal," Abby says enthusiastically. Gibbs puts his hand under the chin of Burt the farting hippo, who is on the table with safety glasses and headphones. "Except I don't like stuffed animals much," Gibbs says. Abby shows Gibbs the blood spatter pattern from the gun shots she fired on the second mannequin and hands him photos of Joann's jacket. The blood spatter pattern doesn't match where she claims she was standing. Joann told them in her statement she was standing behind Norton when he and the assailant struggled and the blood spatter would be on her left shoulder, but her left shoulder is clean. The blood is on the lower right of her jacket, inconsistent with her story. Abby's cell phone goes off, she's gotten some results in.

In her lab, Abby hugs her Major Maspectrometer machine. "If Major Maspec was a guy, I'd totally marry him and bear his little mini-mass children," Abby tells Gibbs. Gibbs puts his arms out and wants to know what he's looking at. Abby tells him it's the results from Joann's fingernail scrapings. There is evidence from a Navy airmen's jacket with chemicals from being on a flight deck on it. However, the coat wasn't a standard Navy peacoat, it was from an officer's jacket which has epaulet's in it's fiber.

Gibbs heads off to find Joann and sits with her on a bench by the waterfront. Joann comments that it's a beautiful morning. "A member of my own family has been lying to me. Your story doesn't add up," Gibbs tells her. "Well maybe your math doesn't add up. Look, the man I loved just died in my arms, what the hell do you want from me?" Joann asks. "Respect, a little honesty maybe," Gibbs replies. Joann claims she's always given Gibbs respect. He smirks and says when Shannon was alive, maybe. "In my family you have to earn it. When those girls died, you did nothing," she says bitterly. After a moment's hesitation, Gibbs asks if Joann knew that Joe Norton dealt drugs. Gibbs tells her he had millions in drug money that he got from the same man who killed Shannon. Shannon tells him to shut up, stands and walks away. Gibbs follows saying, "Shannon, Kelly, Mexico, Norton. They all have one thing in common Joann, you." Joann slaps Gibbs in the face. "You, you are the one who took my family away from me," Joann says. "I'm a Marine. I had orders, I didn't have a choice, I had to go," Gibbs says while Joann nods her head no at him. "Because of you their dead," she tells him. "I didn't kill them," Gibbs replies. "But it was still your responsibility. Why weren't you there to take care of our girls?," she asks him. "This is about the murder of Joseph Norton, Joann," he says. "Well go do your damn job Jethro. Nothing ever stopped you before, nothing's gonna stop you now," Joann tells Gibbs.

In the squadroom, Tony is watching a movie on his PC, making faces, noises and hand movements. McGee watches Tony. "You want to learn about being a real man McGee, you gotta study the Japanese Samurai. These guys are like Gibbs, with even bigger stones and less to say," Tony says. "Is that even possible?" McGee asks as Tony's phone rings. Gibbs calls and asks what Tony is doing. Tony lies and says he was tracking down Norton's deployment history. Gibbs gives an order and hangs up. Tony tells McGee to stop what he's doing, Gibbs wants them to check some phone records on Joann Fielding, financial accounts too.

Gibbs returns to the squadroom and steps off the elevator with Tony and McGee. He asks McGee about Joann's phone records. McGee says there was nothing out of the ordinary going back 5 years except there were plenty of calls to Nogales, AZ, the U.S. side. There was only one number she called and McGee pulls it up on the plasma screen. Joann called Martin Hendricks, a retired PD, registered as a locator of missing persons. Gibbs realizes Joanna was looking for someone. Tony tells him based upon financial records, Joann was paying Hendricks on and off for 2 years both in the U.S. and in Mexico. McGee tells Gibbs that Hendricks claims a 98% success rate. He also tells Gibbs that she spent almost $28,000 on Hendricks. Gibbs dispatches Tony and Ziva to go Arizona to talk to Hendricks. "Arizona, do I have to?" Tony asks. McGee tells him his grandfather retired to Arizona and it's a dry heat. Tony doesn't look encouraged.

Ziva and Tony land in Arizona and drive to Hendricks' home. Tony gets out of the car, complaining about the heat. "Aren't you hot?" he asks Ziva. "I've been told that before," Ziva smugly replies. Tony tells her he was talking about the temperature. Frustrated, Ziva tells him to stop complaining because this is what winter feels like in Israel. "Well we're not in Israel, we're in the good old US of A my good little immigrant friend, where we like to embrace central air, not melanoma," Tony says. Ziva and Tony walk to the door, Tony knocks and identifies himself. Ziva notices something is broken off in the door knob and realizes something isn't right. She takes out her gun and tells Tony she's going in but Tony corrects her that they are going in. They kick in the door and come up against a wall of plastic. They rip it down and are immediately met by a horrible smell. "This guy Hendricks knows how to live," Tony says. "Or not," Ziva replies as they see a deceased Hendricks tied to a chair. Surveying the room with heating lamps on Hendricks, Tony says, "Looks like a homemade toaster oven." "Guess we found Hendricks," says Ziva. "Well done," Tony adds. "Thanks," Ziva replies. "Not you, him," Tony says as he looks at a rather 'fried' Hendricks.

Back at NCIS, Gibbs turns off the Interrogation tape video so it doesn't tape, then goes into interrogation to talk to Joann. He tosses down a file on the table, sits and asks Joann about Hendricks. Joann asks how Hendricks is. Gibbs takes out a photo of of a dead Hendricks and shows it to Joann. "Oh my god, what happened?" she asks. "it's just us, there's no video. Talk to me. He's dead, you connect the dots," Gibbs tells her. Joann claims ignorance and Gibbs wants to know who she spent $28,000 looking for. Joann claims she met Norton on vacation, lost his number when she returned and hired Hendricks to find him. "You took out a bank loan to go on a second date?" Gibbs smugly asks. "Don't patronize me Jethro," Joann replies. "You see the trail you're leaving? People are dead. Dangerous drug dealers are connected and you have no idea who you're dealing with," Gibbs tells her. Joann insists she's the victim. "This situation's got your name written all over it. I don't know exactly what you did or why you did it, but because of Shannon, I'll give you a chance. Do you want my help or don't you?" Gibbs asks. Joann remains quiet, so Gibbs picks up the file, gets up and as he leaves the room, wishes Joann luck.

Back at home, Gibbs looks at old photos of him, Shannon, Kelly and Joann. There's a knock on his door and he calls out that it's open. Attorney M. Allison Hart walks in and says, "You called Mr. Gibbs?" He offers her a beer and she accepts if he has a slice of cold pizza to go with it. When he heads into the kitchen, she makes small talk about her job as she sits and leafs through Gibbs' photos. He returns with a chair, as well as beer and pizza for Allison. As she bites into her pizza, she asks what it's all about, Gibbs made it sound important over the phone. He asks if she still does pro-bono work. "The price is right," she replies getting a smile out of Gibbs. He tells her his former mother-in-law may need her help. "Your kidding?" she asks. "No, and if anybody asks, we never talked. You okay with that?" he tells her. He hands her the file, then begins to head out and tells her to turn out the lights when she leaves. Flipping through the file, she says, "This may be the worst date I've ever had." Gibbs turns back and looks into the smile and the two exchange a smile.

In autopsy, Ducky recites poetry to Hendricks' corpse. "Love is but a sweet embrace, a whispered phrase, the graceful faith," he says. When Palmer asks if it's Tennyson, Ducky says it's his, he was in a poetry competition when he was 15 and he took second place. "Very romantic," Palmer says. Ducky tells Palmer he's trying to put him in the mood, it's a pity his embomber friend can't see the body, it's very unusual. Palmer wants to know if he can bring his date to autopsy afterwards. "No. What'd he die of?" Gibbs says as he walks in. "A dry wit," Palmer jokes. When he gets a look from Gibbs, he apologizes and says that Hendricks was baked to death. After a look from Ducky, Palmer moves to the back of the room. Ducky believes the Mexican cartel made an exception in Hendricks' case because usually their executions are more public and bloody. McGee calls Gibbs to tell him that Norfolk Sanitation found Norton's cell phone in a Marina dumpster. Gibbs asks if he found anything. Two phone calls were made to Lieutenant David Shankton. According to the Firearms database, Shankton owns the same make and model firearm used to kill Norton.

Shankton is brought into interrogation with Gibbs and Tony. Shankton can't believe Norton is dead, he had just seen him at the retirement dinner. Gibbs wants to know how well Shankton knows Captain Norton. Shankton served under Norton at the supply center for the past four years and the made in the Yucotan down in Mexico over a decade ago. "You and the Captain Margarita amigos?" Gibbs asks. Shankton says it's nothing like that. Before he joined the service, he worked fishing charters, that's how they met and Captain Norton inspired him to join the Navy. "Hmm, that's a touching story. You know we compared Captain Norton's credit card statements to yours and you know what we found? You guys were both in the same town at the same time in Mexico 18 different times," Tony tells Shankton. "It's a popular place," Shankton replies. Tony reminds him the Cartels smuggle a lot of drugs out of the Yucotan. "So what's your point?" Shankton defensively replies. Gibbs asks about his 9mm and Shankton says he did own one but someone stole it out of his house a month ago. Shankton wants to know what is going on. "We think you two had a little partnership. That's what we thinks going on. Cartel gives you the drugs, you have a little rendezvous with Norton and then he brings them back to Norfolk. Except, he wasn't really sharing the wealth was he?," Tony says. A bit teary eyed, Shankton looks at Gibbs and tells him he didn't kill anyone. "You talked to him yesterday, you knew he'd be at the party, knew he was going to propose to Joann," Tony says while putting on rubber gloves. He picks up Shankton's coat and asks if he minds if he just takes a look at it. He pulls a fiber from the jacket and tells Shankton if it matches, it puts him at the murder scene. Shankton insists someone is trying to frame him. "Well if they are, they're doing a pretty good job of it," Tony says. Gibbs gets up to leave the room and tells Tony to get the sample to Abby. Tony follows Gibbs out and Gibbs tells him to get over to Joann's and to keep an eye on her. "But boss, this is our guy," Tony says. Gibbs just looks at him and Tony says, "Okay, samples to Abby, on it."

Tony pulls up to Joann's just as Attorney Hart is helping her into her car. "Well, if it isn't M. Allison Hart," Tony says. When Tony asks if they know each other, Allison tells him Joann is her client. "Oh, well you get around," Tony replies. Allison tells Tony that Joann doesn't feel safe at her home. Tony asks Joann if she's okay. Joanna tells him she'll be fine as she gets in the car. Allison shuts the door then walks up to Tony and reminds him Joann has just suffered a terrible loss and their investigation isn't helping things. Tony asks if he could speak with her client for a minute and Allison tells him no. She says goodnight, gets in the car and begins to drive off. Joann waves to Tony as they pull away.

Gibbs walks into Vance's office and find McCadden chatting with Vance. "Is this an intervention?" Gibbs asks. McCadden jokes that Vance told him there would be cocktails. Vance asks if Gibbs is holding Shankton for Norton's death. Gibbs explains the evidence he has on Shankton. McCadden says that Joann probably knew Shankton when she spent time at Nortons house. Vance points out that Joann knew both Norton and Shankton and both were linked to the cartel responsible for Shannon and Kelly's deaths and they believe Joann set up Shankton. "Really Leon? That makes her awfully cleve. My mother-in-law, the vigilante," Gibbs says. Vance reminds Gibbs if his judgement came into play on the case. Gibbs says he'll take himself off the case. "Arrest her," Vance tells him.

In autopsy, Ducky tells Gibbs with the new information that Abby found, he decided to take another look at Norton's death. Given the way the bullets entered Norton's body and the blood spatter on Joann's waistline, she was in front of Norton and facing him when he was killed. Ducky apologizes and tells Gibbs that Joann fired the shots herself, he's sure of it.

Gibbs and Allison meet in his living room. He asks to speak to Joann alone, which Allison denies. She tells him he's out of beer and to get some light beer because the crappy beer he has is doing a number on her, as she sits beside him on the couch. Gibbs says they are family, he needs to talk to Joann. Allison says she'll advise Joann against it but it's up to her. "What are you up to Mr. Gibbs?" she asks. "You have been defending guilty people for to long," he responds. "As long as we battle each other and somebody wins, I have done my job," she says. He leans in and asks, "And that's okay with you?" She gets up, gets her stuff and asks if he really wants to talk to Joann. "Yeah, I want some answers. I want the truth," Gibbs replies. "Law school 101, the truth is overrated," Allison says as she's leaving.

In his basement, Gibbs pours Joann a drink. "Is this your personal torture chamber?" Joann asks. "The only person ever tortured down here is me," he replies. He sits and hands her a drink of scotch. He sits down across from her and tells her he knows everything. She couldn't get Shannon and Kelly's real killers, so she went after Norton - guilty by association. She puts down her glass and says she's not doing this. Gibbs points for her to sit when she begins to stand. He tells her the cartel killed Hendricks when they found him snooping around, so she found Norton. She found him, charmed him and killed him. Then Joann framed Shankton, planned it all like a pro. "Really, are you that smart?" Gibbs asks. "I'm just a mother who lost everything she loved," she responds. Gibbs tells her that Norton didn't kill Shannon and Kelly but he knows who did. He remembers back to killing the man who was responsible. "How'd it feel? Satisfying?" he asks. She hugs Gibbs and tells him what happened. The night Norton died, he proposed, then hugged her. She uses her finger to show Gibbs where she shot Norton, three times. She tells Gibbs nobody needs to know, they both did what they did. Gibbs pulls Joann to her feet and arrests her. Allison comes down the stairs and tells Gibbs he arrested her illegally and unlawfully. He interrogated her without proper citation of her Miranda rights and coerced a confession. If Gibbs doesn't stop, she'll pursue legal action. "The case will never stick right?" he asks Allison. "You just made a very big mistake," she replies. "Yeah, you won," he tells Allison. "Did I?" she asks. Gibbs takes the cuffs off Joann, tells her to take care. She tells him the same and he leaves his house, leaving Allison and Joann watching him.

Back in the squadroom, the team watches Gibbs return. As he goes to his desk, Vance walks up. Gibbs tells him that Abby matched the fibers to Shankton's coat. Vance says he had the means, motive and money. "The Lieutenant's a drug dealer, he deserves to do time," Gibbs adds. "Boss, what about your mother-in-law," McGee asks. Vance tells them, without looking, Joann Fielding is no longer a suspect or person of interest in the investigation. "Great, can we go home now?" Tony asks. As McGee, Tony and Ziva go to leave, Palmer walks up with his new girlfriend, Breena, a pretty little blond. Tony takes one look at her and says life is unfair. When she correctly identifies each of them, Palmer tells them he described them accurately and Breena has a photographic memory.