NCIS

Previously on NCIS.

Ali.

Careful, Lily.

Parker, you have to talk to somebody, especially if you're seeing ghosts.

Her name is Lily.

Who is she?

That's the problem.

I have no idea.

I'm ready, I guess, to talk about how your mom rarely died.

She drove off in a rage with me, hollering to never come back.

Turns out Lily is not a ghost.

She's real.

So I found his mother's original death certificate.

Jess, something doesn't add up.

Please, I just want to talk.

I knew you were in there. Open this door or I'll open it for you!

You think I want to find you? You're too late. She's long gone. Where is she?

Somewhere you'll never find her.

Where is she?

I'll teach you to speak your nose in my business.

Good morning, Santa's helpers.

Uh, yeah, that's us.

Ho, ho, ho. Oh, come on. Nick, this toy drive is your baby, so let's get in the

spirit, because I just scored the hottest, hard -to -find, must -have gift

the season for one lucky kid.

Give a guess what it is.

Blaze a dragon.

Triangle box, give it away.

That and, uh, apparently the must -have gift of the year is not that hard to

find after all. We have three blazes.

Make that four.

And I was so proud that I found this, too.

More the merrier, I guess.

I am also here to see if your ears are burning, Agent Knight, or is that

tingling? Someone talking about me?

Your CO at NCIS Elite just called to update me on your training, which she

claims that you were, how does she put it, crushing?

Really? You sound surprised.

No. No, I'm not. Thank you. I love training.

Just... Really kind of starting to chomp at the bit for that first assignment.

Well, just be patient, because like these blazes, you'll wish for one,

end up with four.

Actually, director, I believe that blaze makes number five.

Yeah, great minds think alike.

Well, maybe next year our great minds can make a plan and coordinate.

So where is Agent Parker, anyway?

Autopsy. With Jimmy.

Kind of why we're not in such a jolly mood.

That's right.

Parker's mother.

The exhumed her remains.

And Jimmy's getting back the autopsy results now.

Talk about a Christmas buzzkill.

Well, let's just all hope that Parker gets the closure that he needs.

Amen to that.

I assume you didn't want to see the actual... No.

No, Jimmy, I don't.

Good, because 50 years.

Did you wear any rings or anything resembling an heirloom?

Just wearing a dress.

Kind of blue. Why?

I don't know. I was just looking for some connection.

Yeah.

I just spent most of my life thinking of her running out and me and my sister,

and then here we are all of a sudden in the same room.

This may be your mother's body, Agent Parker, but it's not her. This is not

spirit. Her spirit lives on in your memory. I know.

This sounds like standard grief speak, but I believe it.

I appreciate that, Jimmy. I do. It's just that...

The few memories I have of my mother are exactly Norman Rockwell material.

On to the findings.

Yeah, sure. What do we got? We've got a broken clavicle, bruised sternum, severe

burns, most everything consistent with a car crash and the resulting fire.

Most everything?

Yes, the anomaly being these two crux injuries to the occipital bone caused by

cylindrical object such as a bat or a pipe.

The original coroner's report was accurate.

The depth of these injuries would have been immediately fatal.

Your mother was most likely murdered.

Murdered.

Case, you okay?

Yeah, I just didn't want to interrupt.

No, no, please, interrupt.

Unless you've got worse news.

Worse? No, it honestly might not even be that bad, depending on... Just say it.

That's not your mother.

Say that again?

Her tissue sample came back inconclusive for alcohol, and since drunk driving

was listed as the cause for the crash, I ran her DNA, and it wasn't a match to

you or to the sample provided by your sister.

Okay, so the cemetery sent over the wrong remains. I mean, that does happen.

It does, but it didn't.

I checked with the cemetery and the local ME. Everybody did everything

It's the right grave, the right casket.

Just the wrong occupant.

So, this is not my mother.

No. Who is this?

I don't know.

I'm hoping that after some further DNA testing... It's further testing, isn't

it? If some maniac crushed this woman's skull, whoever the hell she is, what did

it do with my mother?

Where the hell is she?

Where

the hell

is

she?

Hey, Parker.

You doing okay?

No, Jess, I'm a pretty long way from okay.

Have you told Harriet?

My sister's on a carrier in Guam.

But thanks.

So, unfortunately, the funeral home that handled your mother's burial closed in

1983. I was able, though, to dig up the old accident report from the crash.

Signed by Illinois State Trooper, first initial L, last name Berm.

There's a trooper in the photo, but even if it's him, what are the chances this

guy's still alive?

Pretty good, actually. Illinois State Police database has a Sergeant Lester

listed as retired in 06 and nothing here about him being dead.

Well, it might be a long shot, but nothing else to go on.

Maybe the old trooper could at least fill in some blanks.

Yeah, Case.

Okay, I'm on my way.

Long shot. Sure.

Why the hell not?

What's up? You said it was urgent.

Uh, no, I didn't say it was urgent. I said it was exciting.

Which sounds urgent. So what's up? What's up is we are building a face off

skull of our mystery woman. Fifty years later, it still provides a blueprint.

Tissue depth gives us some general features.

Well, I get to add details like skin tone and expression.

Wow, that is exciting.

Look, it's a long shot, we know.

Which now makes two that I'm counting on.

It's not that long a shot. I mean, this combined with the DNA search from you

and your sister could help us locate your mother.

Plus, third long shot's the charm.

Don't dismiss the long shot, Jimmy. You didn't find a trooper already, did you?

Not only did we find him, we found that he is currently enjoying his retirement

by driving Winnebago around the East Coast, and you're not going to guess how

close he is. The Navy is.

Not that close.

Sandy Point, the Maryland coast, and McGee is currently reaching out for an

exact location.

See? That is great.

And who is this?

The trooper who filed the accident report on Parker's mom. I'm pinning my

on an octogenarian. Oh, no, his file says he's only 79.

Where there's life, there's hope.

Lord of the Rings.

It worked on Sam White.

Well, it's good enough for Tolkien.

Better than nothing.

I gotta say, once I heard from your agent McGee, I just would have gladly

to you. I mean, retirement's okay, but I sure do miss the action.

Great looking photo. Looking snappy.

I was making Sergeant Prouday.

Pretty wife.

Yeah, she sure was.

Lost her a few years ago, but pretty green eyes you've ever seen.

Did Agent McGee mention why we were coming to see you, Mr. Byrne?

Call me less. No, he didn't say, but at my age, I assume it's not about some new

case. No, it's one of your old cases.

Oh, 1972.

That's not old, that's ancient.

It was a fatal drunk driving crash off Route 9 in Deerfield.

I never saw this shot. I mean, look at that. Strapping young trooper, still

cocky and full of himself.

The truth is, I didn't know crap.

The victim that was killed in that crash was my mother, Eleanor Parker.

Gosh, son, I didn't know this was personal. I'm so sorry. No need to be

Just try and remember, please.

I mean, uh...

I rode up hundreds of crashes like this over the years, but, I mean, this was so

long ago.

What about this little girl here?

You don't remember seeing her?

No, I don't remember anything.

But, look, that's my youthful ineptitude right there. I mean, what the hell was

I doing, letting a kid like that stand around with all the other looky -loos?

Any chance your ineptitude caused you to misidentify the victim?

What? All right, Dad.

What are you saying? I never make a mistake like that. Well, someone did.

It's a long story, but basically a murdered woman's body was found in the

grave. Us coming to visit is a Hail Mary.

I don't understand. She was murdered?

Who was she?

We were hoping you could tell us.

Well, again, I wish I could, but...

I lose more of my memory every day.

That's why I wanted to hit the road, just see some country before I lose my

marble. Thanks anyway, Liz.

Agent Parker, isn't it?

I sure hope it wasn't me.

If I somehow messed up your mom's report in any way, I'd never forget myself.

You didn't do anything wrong.

Agent, please keep me in the loop.

Would you?

I mean, I won't be able to sleep until I know you've got some answers.

Will do.