30 years ago
on a cool autumn night, just like this one,
a group of friends,
like you kind folk,
got tucked into sleeping bags for a peaceful night's rest.
Little did they know, they were not alone.
For in these woods,
the devil had emerged from his den,
and he was hungry.
And this beast,
the Cujo of black bears,
sated himself
that night
on human flesh.
Nature's calling.
Even today, we're getting reports of an erratic bear
traipsing through the woods.
So, keep your bear spray close.
What happened?
Are you okay?
Don't be disappointed. It all goes to a worthy cause.
Yeah, well, what I donated was worth a lot more
than what it got.
Good morning, fellas. Yeah.
Oh, Nick, sounds like you need this coffee
a lot more than I do.
Yeah, Nick joined me last night
at Victoria's autumn auction.
In fact, he donated one of the prizes.
Not just a prize.
The best prize. Which was?
Lunch with a badass NCIS agent.
And they only bid ten bucks.
And the dude already emailed me trying to set something up.
The winning parent was, uh, Max Lautner?
You know him?
I know his kid, Cole, is a nose-picker.
Ugh. Dad's gonna be super annoying.
Kind of like McGee's school-dad friends.
Hey, no need to drag my dad-bros into your failure as a prize.
Okay, that's enough from you, all right?
Fortunately, I had much better luck.
I scored a deluxe spa weekend
at this adorable little B&B in the Chesapeake.
Someone say "spa weekend"? 'Cause sea-salt scrubs?
Mmm. I have always wanted one of those.
Yeah, um, could you...?
Come here. Can you come... come here?
They know we all know, right?
Know what?
That's good. Mm-hmm. Right?
Yeah, so, hey, uh, we've been date...
We've been doing this for a few months now.
Yes. This. We have.
Successfully, I think.
Successful is an apt word.
And I don't know what our label is or isn't, but
I was hoping that you might join me at this place.
No pressure, though, so...
Like a... like a... a weekend away?
Like a whole, two-day,
entire weekend. You're mulling.
I... I am mulling.
Is this a good mulling or a bad mulling...?
Oh. Parker's got a body.
Um, talk about this later?
Yes. Okay.
And I will... I will keep mulling.
Oh. You get lost on the trail?
Nah. Just delayed. Couldn't find my, uh, 500-millimeter lens.
You, uh, do know our crime scene kits have these in 'em, right?
Oh, this baby's not meant to shoot bodies.
It's meant to shoot the rarest of birds.
The elusive scarlet tanager.
They live high in the trees here
in the Shenandoah, and today
is the day that I digitally
bag one. Yeah.
But not until we get our sailor here taken care of.
Petty Officer Third Class Aaron Thomas. What do we know?
Camper and her guide stumbled across the body.
Guide is convinced it was a bear attack.
Apparently, in the last 24 hours,
there's been multiple sightings of a black bear behaving oddly.
: Oddly how, Boo-Boo?
Like stealing a pic-a-nic basket?
Well, in order to get away with murder,
he'd have to be smarter than the av-er-age bear.
No, but bears do, do their business out there in the woods.
They don't open bathroom doors, nor
do they kill with knives.
So our petty officer was stabbed to death?
Three precise stab wounds
at three key arteries.
He bled out about 12 hours ago.
And... no defensive wounds.
So our victim might have known his killer.
Or was surprised by 'em.
So our killer certainly knew how to use a knife.
Could be a hunter.
All right, thanks, Doc.
Yeah.
Park rangers are talking to the campers, but
they didn't see anyone on the trail.
So our suspect left the scene off-trail,
which means he could have gone anywhere.
I think he headed southeast.
Spotted a possible exit route from up there.
Any chance you also spotted a scarlet tanager?
No, but the trail leads this way.
Go. I'll coordinate with the Park Service Rangers on-site.
And stay out of the trees!
The trail's leading down to the water.
About time you caught up, Tripsie.
Knight, you know this guy?
Yeah, we may have crossed paths a few times.
This is, uh,
Special Agent Gage Winchester.
Crossed paths? Really?
He's also my ex-boyfriend.
Been a long time, Jess.
Yeah. What's it been? Like, three, four years?
Howled at half a dozen wolf moons without you,
but who's counting?
So you are Agent Winchester of the, uh...?
U.S. National Park Service Investigative Services Branch.
Uh, ISB is the us of National Park Service.
Oh, nature cops.
That's cool.
Well, I'm Agent McGee,
and this is Agent Torres.
Yeah, can I interest you in a shirt?
Perhaps, uh, some pants?
Nah. Prefer to air-dry first.
Of course you do. Mm-hmm.
Uh, what are you doing here, Gage?
Same thing you are-- investigating a murder.
I thought you were based in Colorado.
I am, but I was running a training op up in Maine.
When I heard about the body, I hopped on a redeye
so I could start the ISB investigation.
So you flew overnight to be the first one on the scene here?
And spotted the same path the killer took down here.
How'd you end up in the water? Yeah, naked.
Well, trail went cold, and I was smelling a little ripe
after that flight, so I hopped in for a quick nature bath
just as you caught up.
As one does. Yeah. No. It makes sense to me.
Hey, guys. I need your official signature to release the body.
That's not a dead body.
That's a very healthy-looking body.
Whose body is that body?
Uh, Jimmy, this... Uh, Dr. Palmer,
this is, uh, Agent Winchester.
Oh.
Gage... Winchester.
Of National Park Service. Good to meet you, Doctor.
Yeah. McGEE: You know, Jimmy, funny thing.
Uh, Gage and Knight actually know each other.
Yeah, actually, quite, uh...
quite close.
And we are just dying to get the full scoop here.
We are, yeah.
Right.
Jimmy, Gage is my ex-boyfriend.
Oh. What a small world of federal agents.
You two met how?
At FLETC training in New Mexico.
You know, we would, uh, spend weekends together... camping.
And then, you know, we had a couple of years of...
of long-distance relationship, but you know,
our assignments would just keep us apart.
Your assignment.
We were accepted to be Rangers together, but, uh,
Jess turned down their offer to join NCIS.
Which is why we are here-- because
there is a dead petty officer.
Why send the ISB to investigate?
There's been a recent uptick in homicides in national parks.
My superiors are looking for answers.
How many murders and where?
The Everglades, the Great Smoky Mountains,
and now here in Shenandoah.
Three victims in eight weeks.
You're thinking that they're all connected?
No idea. We haven't been able to solve one yet.
Come on, Tripsie.
You and I together again?
I know we can find this killer's trail.
Who's Tripsie? Sorry. It's an
old nickname I had for Jess.
Oh, you had nicknames. How cute.
Uh, well, you know, Ga-Gage isn't wrong.
If we find the killer's
exit route, then we might be able
to find some clues about their identity.
All right, well, we'll head back and, uh,
start digging into Petty Officer Thomas.
Yeah, yeah, and I'll-I'll see you later, Gage.
I'll see what I get off the body back at autopsy.
Let's go, Tripsie.
Victim is Petty Officer Aaron Thomas,
23 years old, served as a gunner's mate on the USS Mahan.
What was he doing out at the park?
C.O. said he was an avid outdoor enthusiast.
If he wasn't on the ship,
he was building campfires.
He go out there with anyone?
Bunkmates said he preferred camping alone.
Two dozen sailors crammed into a single berth?
I'd want a little me-time, too.
Well, Thomas's minimal security clearance gave him no access
to vital intel.
So, it's unlikely that he was targeted
because of his job in the Navy.
Why was he killed?
And why was he killed in the middle of a national park?
No one around for miles to catch 'em in the act.
All right, Torres, start with this.
Who was in that park in the last 72 hours.
McGee, license plates,
credit cards, anything
to give us IDs that we can cull.
Gentlemen, I just got off the phone with
my counterpart at the National Parks Service.
What did the, uh, flat hat brigade want?
To team up, and since their man was first
to the scene, I agreed.
So, now, this is a joint investigation
with ISB Agent Winchester.
But it's a Navy victim!
No. No. No way, man.
You tell the NPS
to back off and let us do what we do.
Is there going to be a problem, Agent Parker?
Look, it's just that, uh, me
and the NPS haven't always seen eye-to-eye.
About what? About a mild
trespassing allegation.
Define "mild." Golden Gate National Park,
summer 2016.
It was the biggest western snowy plover mating season in years.
Snowy what? Bird-nerd alert.
Maybe I climbed a fence
with a "Do Not Climb" sign to get a shot of the nesting area,
but this was one for my wall, okay?
You understand? This was a framer.
Yeah, until you got caught by the NPS.
And put on a list. All right, well, you cooperate
with Agent Winchester on this case,
and maybe we can get you off that list.
Agent Knight is out now at the park
with her ISB ex-boyfriend trying to track the killer's trail.
Rewind.
Agent Knight had some kind of
previous personal relation to Agent Winchester?
You need us to define "personal"?
Does Palmer know?
Oh, yeah.
Is that gonna be a problem?
Well, let me put it like this.
Uh, I know each of Delilah's exes.
No problems there, but
if Gage Winchester was one of 'em?
Yeah, she could keep that one to herself.
Then somebody should give the good doctor
a heads-up that we'll be seeing a lot more
of Agent Winchester.
I don't understand the issue.
Well, I could push back a little harder.
The two of them working together is a clear conflict of interest.
Was it a conflict of interest
when you were working with your ex-wife three months ago?
Uh, look, from what I understand,
Agent Winchester has a unique skill set
that will really aid in this investigation.
The fact that he and Knight
were...
...camping together-- that doesn't bother you?
Why would them camping together a lifetime ago bother me?
I don't mean camping-camping. I mean...
I know what you meant,
but Agents Knight and Winchester are trained professionals.
I'll trust they'll keep things
professional out in the field.
Just like you and Knight keep things professional here.
Let's move on to my report.
Well, definitely not bear claw marks.
A four-inch hunting blade severed the carotid artery,
the femoral artery, as well as the inferior vena cava
deep inside of his abdomen.
Exsanguination would have occurred within minutes.
Killer bled him out efficiently.
The attacker was six-foot, six-foot-two
based on the angle of the wounds.
Can we trace the knife?
A four-inch blade is far too common
to narrow it down to a make and model.
However... Ooh.
Can't sneeze at a good "however."
The expert lethality of the wounds really got me thinking.
Ah, these are the other park murders
Winchester was looking into.
Right. The Everglades victim was barbecued in a campfire,
while the Smoky Mountains victim was shoved off of a cliff.
Gross. And grosser.
I think I might have found something
the other M.E.s may have overlooked,
probably because of the severity
of the wounds to the victims' bodies.
But I think these injuries...
were covering up other wounds.
I think each one of these is a stab wound.
Each one of them hit a major artery.
Each with a four-inch blade.
Just like our victim.
Yeah, I had Kasie scan all of these photos
to render a 3D composite image.
Now, the angle of the wound would suggest
a six-foot-ish attacker.
Same M.O. Could be the same person.
Which would mean that we have a serial killer who's hunting
in our national parks.
Mmm. I forgot what fresh smells like.
Don't tell me this NCIS posting's turned you city.
Let's just say that I am no longer opposed to certain
urban creature comforts.
Like?
Endless hot showers,
or 2:00 a.m. Kabob Palace delivery. Mmm.
Long gone are the days of you catching your own dinner, huh?
Just because I don't, doesn't mean I can't.
It's not like it's a skill that you for...
Paw prints.
Black bear. Guessing an adult male.
Except the palm pad isn't uniform.
It's like there's a second print on the inside.
Clean oval shape.
It's a shoe.
Someone is stepping in the bear prints,
using it to mask their own.
That has to be our suspect.
Then we follow the bear.
Guess you haven't gone city after all.
Let's just hope this isn't a Yellowstone repeat.
That moose attacked me unprovoked.
It was courting a cow.
It did not need you peeping on its mating ritual.
We certainly had some adventures together.
Definitely was hoping we'd have more.
Simmer down there, Moosie.
It's easy to remember the good times first.
We did have our share of the not-so-good.
Yeah. Most of those were on me.
Takes two to tango.
And I stepped on your toes plenty.
Still, I wasn't easy to be with when I was a younger man,
but I'm not that same man now.
I hope that's true.
For your own happiness.
I am happy, but call me Pinocchio
if there ain't something missing.
Whoa.
Thanks.
Sure.
That's smoke.
There aren't any campsites out here.
Damn it. We must've just missed him.
Yeah, maybe he heard us and decided to run.
Burned some evidence.
Nice save.
Got something.
Anything good?
Looks like a map of the park.
What the hell? What is it?
It's you.
Why does our murder suspect have your photo?
You can't kick me off this investigation!
We're not, but you might be a potential target
so you are to remain in this building,
and you will support Agent Parker's team from here.
Thanks to you and Knight's quick work,
we've got some evidence from that fire we can process.
Hopefully, we can get an ID on who tried to destroy it.
If you want to find this guy,
you get me back out there with Jess
so I can pick up the trail.
I've made my decision.
Fine. You're the boss.
Agent Winchester?
My counterpart at NPS said another ISB agent,
one right here in D.C., was supposed to take this case.
Apparently, you pulled rank so that you could take lead.
I've been working these murders for weeks now.
Except you didn't rush to the other two
crime scenes on a redeye.
This one you did.
What's your point?
Well, we're curious to know
if the fact that NCIS
would be on this particular murder
played a factor
in your swift call to action.
If you mean Agent Knight?
I came here to catch a killer,
not to catch dinner with a former flame.
So everything between you two is just ancient history?
Old as a giant sequoia.
Great. Thank you, Sheriff.
Okay. Knight and Gage found that evidence-burning fire here.
Nick?
Oh, sorry, man. I just can't with this guy-- Max Lautner.
Ah. The school parent that won the lunch with you?
Yeah, he keeps, uh, texting me trying to set up a date.
Unsolicited advice?
Get it over with, like, yesterday.
Otherwise, it is a sword hanging over your head.
Yeah, I'll text him later, try to set something up
right after we finish this case.
All right, now you see this, uh, steep terrain around
the suspect's fire? Yeah, probably hiked out of the park
towards, uh, Route 33.
Put out a BOLO, ten-mile stretch.
Maybe someone saw 'em hitching
or something. Hey.
Have you guys seen Jess?
Uh, she's with Kasie down at the lab.
Great. Hey, uh, Jimmy?
Yeah? Listen, you, uh...
You know we were just kind of having fun with you
back at the crime scene, right?
Oh, you're talking about Agent Winchester?
So, how are you doing with this whole
situation?
Uh, the only situation I'm aware of is
that, uh, they were once in a relationship,
and that relationship is no more.
Well, that is a very mature response.
Oh, so you're really not worried
about this, uh, ghost of boyfriends past?
I don't see why I should be.
You know what?
'Cause you're too nice of a guy to stalk him,
but I am not.
Aside from having the coolest name ever,
he's got a life to match.
I mean, look at all the cool stuff he does.
Okay, not that it's a competition,
but you guys know I have the goods, too, right?
Accomplished doctor, devoted father,
very dependable friend.
Let's see. I'm a bio-terror attack survivor.
Okay, Jimmy. I...
Jimmy, trust me, man. We know.
The list of humble brags-- I mean, goes for miles.
But you know what makes you a great guy?
What? Lift up your shirt.
Oh, shut up, Nick. Oh, come on, man.
Show McGee what you're bringing to the competition.
Damn. Oh, my God, man.
Jimmy, how long you've been rocking those guys?
Okay, guys, look.
Jess and I might not have a label, all right?
But I have zero fear about this ex-boyfriend of hers
coming back into her life.
It's fine.
Did you see this? Oh, my God.
Fingerprints don't like heat, so fire is not their friend.
So I toasted my favorite pair of field boots
saving all of this stuff for nothing?
TBD. I was able to pull enough partials
to piece together a rough composite,
then fed the computer an algorithm filling in the gaps,
pulling data from those in the system
who fit the typical serial killer profile.
Like how Jurassic Park plugged the gaps with frog DNA?
Should have said that. Much easier.
I'm plugging the gaps with six-foot to six-foot-two
suspects, most likely Caucasian male,
known history of knives, yada, yada.
Okay. I will, uh, update the team.
Uh, no, no, no.
Not so fast.
You failed to mention the camping companion
from your past who's roaming the halls
is Paul Bunyan with a badge.
Why didn't it work out?
That is a long story.
One that involves my mother?
Hello, plot twist.
My mom never wanted me to get into law enforcement.
And when I did, she stopped talking to me.
But how did Gage play into that?
He was my escape.
Something must have happened.
My mom and I reached a stalemate.
And once that drama started fading...
Gage is great at playing the hero,
and he is there for you in a crisis.
But once that's over, he's only there for himself.
His loss is NCIS's gain.
It's weird seeing him here.
It's even weirder having to work with him again.
That is a delightful analysis of your past,
but it's really about your present.
Jimmy. Whatever happened with Gage
has you spooked about working with Jimmy...
if things don't work out.
The real question is,
what do you want now?
Oh. Is that a suspect match?
Saved by the algorithm.
Got a 90% hit on a convicted felon.
I will take those odds.
Our potential killer is Greg Patrick Walsh, 42,
a six-foot-one former surgeon
who got his medical start working for
Médecins Sans Frontières
aiding Central American refugees.
Knows his knives, knows his anatomy.
What got him pinched? He served five years
for medical malpractice when he operated on and killed
a patient while under the influence of narcotics.
He was released on parole a year ago.
Now Dr. Death is on a murder spree in national parks. So, uh,
what triggered this second career?
If a predator gets a taste for blood,
then spends five years dreaming about it?
He might go on the hunt once he gets out.
Agent Winchester, turns out you are not the only one
who can spot a trail.
I just found Walsh's digital one.
Credit card under his name was used to check into
a Dulles motel an hour ago, right by the airport.
He's making a run for it.
Unless we get to him first. Move out.
Not you, Winchester.
You and I have superiors to notify.
The others can handle this.
That's my suspect.
My house, my rules.
So why don't you do me a solid and break them?
Just stand down.
Listen to me, Gage.
Greg Walsh is not worth sabotaging your career for.
Go bag us that big game, Tripsie.
Well, that's a mysterious nickname.
Yeah, maybe I'm overthinking it.
Like, they went on lots of camping trips together,
and it could be that simple?
Perhaps you're overthinking, period.
It's hard not to.
We're all working on this case together.
Greg Walsh's profile
as a killer is not the reason why you invited me
for lunch.
What's the real reason?
I don't like to think of myself as a jealous person,
but, Doctor, you haven't seen
this Agent Winchester in the flesh.
I mean, he's like the walking definition
of-of Darwinian rule.
You're no slouch yourself.
Thank you, but they have a history together.
Ah. They trained together. They camped together.
They were a...
...a they.
And you want that "label"?
Yeah. I do.
Why?
Well, I want her to know that I'm committed to her.
Uh, or at least to getting to know her better.
To earning my own nickname for her.
To creating your own history with her.
Yes. Yes. Exactly.
And does Jessica seem equally interested
in knowing about you?
She does.
She's pretty great that way.
So, what does a label have to do
with actions you're both already taking?
Pardon me, but are you Dr. James Palmer?
I am. Do we know each other?
Name's Greg Walsh.
And w-what do you want, Mr. Walsh?
I want you to bring me in to NCIS.
Let's not make a habit of lunching with serial killers.
Let's just get this guy into NCIS custody.
Remember what we discussed.
I came to you because your reputation
as a physician proceeds you. Except unlike you,
I uphold the Hippocratic Oath.
What kind of a sick game are you playing, Walsh?
What? Hey! Winchester!
Back off.
You're lucky I let you out of your cage.
He's got a fair question, though.
Why are you surrendering?
I'll tell you everything once we secure me a lawyer.
I don't see what chips you have to bargain with.
You have no idea what's really going on,
what you're really getting involved in.
And you won't, unless...
Oh, my God, Jimmy.
You all right? You hurt?
I'm fine. I'm-I'm fine.
Although between today and being held hostage here,
I think I might find a new place to get my tuna melts.
Frankly, I'm more concerned about Dr. Mallard here.
This is ridiculous.
Doctor, you have a heart condition.
I have a hunger condition.
Before I die of malnutrition,
would you get me a fresh sandwich?
Dr. Palmer and I have work to do.
Suspects fled in a black BMW 5 series.
BOLO's out. There's got to be 100 of those in the district.
You said, uh, suspects, so plural?
Saw a shooter and driver.
Why would "anyones," plural, snipe our serial killer?
I'm guessing they didn't want Walsh talking to us.
I wonder what he was going to say.
And who he was so afraid of.
Whatever is going on,
serial killers don't usually try to cut deals.
Yeah, maybe he was just a pawn.
Taking orders from somebody else.
Our shooter's a pro.
Center mass, double tap from a moving car.
That's a very hard shot to make.
So whoever our guys are, they got skills.
All right, Winchester. Back to NCIS for you.
Why? Walsh is dead.
We have new suspects now. You still might be a target.
Yeah, but you brought me out here to help you arrest Walsh.
Now I am ordering you to support us back...
No way, you can't... ...at our offices again.
Okay. Back to the ranch.
And the rest of us,
let's work the scene,
see if we can find a connection between Walsh
and whoever just took him out.
Hey, Doc.
Agent Winchester. How can I help you?
How's Walsh's autopsy coming?
I just called Agent Parker. I just completed it.
You are a true master of your craft, Doc.
Not to toot my own horn, but, uh, I am.
Toot away.
Yeah?
You ever hear of a glandular lure?
I'm guessing it has something to do
with an animal's natural odors?
Bingo. So, take the Rocky Mountain elk.
A buck uses a musk lure
to attract a doe; but the doe,
she spreads her own to attract a buck.
I'm sorry.
Are you talking about me and Jess?
Mutual scents between you and her are quite strong.
I missed it before.
Finally picked up on it when she arrived outside that diner.
What exactly are you two?
Honestly, we're still trying to figure that out.
Crazy thing is,
a male's musk is so strong,
it often attracts another male to its turf.
Mm.
You know what happens then?
They compete for the doe.
I came here to solve these murders,
but I also came to win back Jess.
Well, you do know that she's not some prized animal
to be mounted on a wall, right?
I'm no Neanderthal, Doc.
She can choose you, me, or neither of us, but...
I came to play.
What are we playing?
Jess, hi. You're here.
Agent Knight, hello.
Hmm. Okay.
Uh, so, Parker sent me down here
to see what you got off the body.
Right.
The deceased had unusually high cholesterol,
which I would attribute to a high-fat content diet
as evidenced by the partially digested
rib eye steak in his stomach.
Also, he had a high gallotannin count in his RBCs
which would indicate
that he was a heavy red wine drinker.
What does this have to do with how he was killed?
Oh, the cause of death was two bullets to the chest,
yes, of course.
This is an example of how my thorough reporting
can uncover a whole host
of outstanding mysteries, such as...
Walsh's fingertips here.
They're coated in some sort of odd,
sticky, purple resin.
You recognize something?
Nope. Not really.
I sent a sample to Kasie.
We'll see what she comes up with.
Well...
not my department.
Thanks for the chat, Doc.
You had a chat?
Guy talk.
I know we haven't really had a chance
to talk about my past with him.
Yeah, uh...
Do we need to?
I don't know. Do we?
Honestly, not if he's just in your past.
Oh, he absolutely is.
Great. We're good, then.
Whatever we are.
Yeah. All good.
Okay.
Director wants an update on Walsh's executioners.
First one with good news gets dibs
on these perfectly caramelized Portuguese pastéis de natas.
Yeah, I got, uh, nada for those, uh, de natas.
Cameras by the diner were a bust.
And, uh, yeah,
nothing on the driver and the shooter.
No treat for you.
McGee,
any luck on their escape route?
Well, I hopscotched traffic cams for six miles,
but then I lost them.
No treat for you.
Pass the pastéis and save one for Kasie.
'Cause she just came through.
Yeah, did Kasie ID the purple mystery goo
on our dead guy's finger?
Uh, no. She's still working on that.
But she did find this.
So, what am I looking at?
The chemical makeup
of prop oil.
It's a lubricant designed for light-engine aircraft.
And why am I looking at it?
Kasie pulled it
from the shooter's shell casings.
So whatever he used to wipe his prints
before loading them was covered with prop oil.
So Walsh's killer is also a small-engine mechanic?
Yeah, or maybe a small-engine pilot.
Well, there are dozens of, uh, small airfields in the area.
If our bad guys were looking to make a getaway,
it's a good place to start.
Treat for you.
Ooh.
All right, where's Winchester?
Let's get him to help with the search.
Yeah, where is he?
I-I can usually smell when he's around.
What?
He smells like morning dew on a spruce tree.
It's nice.
I actually haven't seen him all morning.
Yeah, but I see
your Spidey-sense tingling.
Well, he was acting a little odd in autopsy yesterday,
but I was thinking it was just because of Jimmy.
But now...
What are the chances he's off chasing his own lead?
Too high.
Yeah?
Gage, where are you?
Not a good time, Jess!
Gage?
Here you go. Just, uh, hold steady. Get you wrapped up.
Well, that's something you don't see every day.
You okay?
I'll live, and, uh, you know, I dig scars.
I hope you dig the one you just did to your career
with this bonehead move.
Director wants to permanently dismiss you
from this investigation.
And ISB ain't so happy
with you, either.
Sorry, Tripsie. I-I thought... Don't.
Don't Tripsie me.
This is exactly why I couldn't take the next step with you.
Every time I thought that we could actually be a "we,"
you proved time and time again...
you could only ever go your way.
You're right.
I messed up. I'm sorry.
All right, let's hear it, Mr. Hero.
What's this lead you've been chasing
by yourself?
The purple stains on Walsh's fingers...
You did recognize them.
They're from the aster oblongifolius flower.
They're late bloomers to a specific area
of the park this time of year.
You were trying to find Walsh's camp.
Thought you could find something there that could, uh,
ID the men who eliminated him.
Long shot, I know, and, yeah, it was a dead end.
On the way back, I ran into Smokey over here.
This beast just charged me out of nowhere.
I thought bears rarely attack humans.
They don't.
It's like this one's possessed or something.
Well, smart of you to run
towards the nearest park ranger station.
They saved my damn life.
Took three trank darts to bring this guy down.
How many does it normally take?
I haven't seen it take more than one.
Kind of reminded me of... An addict?
High on PCP?
The ones where it takes about
a dozen rounds to stop them? Yeah.
We need to swab this bear's saliva and get it to Kasie ASAP.
You want us to collect bear spit?
I'm not asking you to French kiss him.
You want to solve this case,
or do you want to stand around and stare at each other?
Am I right?
Yep. Your bear just tested positive for cocaine.
Cocaine Bear rides again!
What, you haven't heard the tale
of the legendary "Pablo Escobear"?
In the '80s,
this drug-smuggler pilot,
he dropped like 70 pounds of cocaine into some forest.
And then, his partner was supposed to
hike in and pick up the blow,
but a bear found it first.
Pablo Escobear. Yeah, cute.
You think we got a sequel on our hands?
It's a good bet that, uh,
Walsh's shooter knows how to fly a plane.
Well, that would explain the airplane oil
on the shell casings.
And an even better bet is,
based on how high Smokey here is,
he's been dropping cocaine all over our national parks.
And it was Walsh's job to hike in and pick it up.
Walsh must've ran into our petty officer
and didn't want to leave any witnesses behind.
But why would Walsh stay in the park
after the murder? Probably still looking
for the drugs.
He didn't realize the bear got to them first.
And when he couldn't find them, he surrendered to us.
He knew that his partners would try to take him out.
They sound like lovely people.
Any time you want to arrest them is fine by me.
We got to find them first.
And I know how.
The purple asters.
This is the field where the asters are still in bloom.
You may have noticed... They're not far from an RV camping area.
You thinking our drug smugglers are using an RV to blend in?
There's got to be hundreds of RVs that were in the area.
Who knows where it could be now?
McGEE: Punch in to where, uh,
Gage had the encounter with that bear.
All right, that has to be
the rough drop zone for the coke.
McGEE: It's also rough terrain.
If I wanted to get into that park,
get drugs, get out quickly... ATV.
Federal agents!
Clear.
Well, we found the haul, but no sign of who's hauling.
Hey there, boys.
Buy you some more Caf-Pows?
More than 30 kilos of cocaine were recovered.
Save whatever your furry forest friend consumed.
You get IDs on the smugglers?
Mateo Romero, Quique Morales.
They were former Special Forces with the Guatemalan Army.
We think Walsh hooked up with them
during his "good doctor" days in Central America?
He also got himself hooked on their product.
He decided to open a drug-running practice with them.
DEA's on their way.
They're hoping to use them to catch
the next bigger fish in the trafficking world.
Just glad to get their poison out of my parks.
Speaking of your parks,
I put in a call to your superiors,
and I told them how cooperative you were
in solving this case.
Without you, we wouldn't have found the bear.
Thank you.
You know, I've got some pull
with the NPS bureaucracy.
Might be able to get you taken off their naughty list.
As long as you promise to steer clear
of any western snowy plovers.
Maybe we should all steer clear of each other
in the future?
I hate the city anyway.
Good luck to you.
Thank you.
Cocaine bear. Yeah, dude, Pablo Escobear.
Got to say, Knight definitely traded up, huh?
Especially in the ab department.
Damn, Jimmy.
Right?
It's about that time.
Oh, that's right, your big date with the school luncheon dad.
Don't call it a date.
And yes, uh, Max Lautner will be here any moment.
What, you invited him here for lunch?
He insisted on a tour.
Well, I know you hate it, but, uh,
think about it like community outreach.
You're doing a good thing.
I just hope he doesn't order dessert.
Agent Torres? Yeah?
Uh, how can I help you? Hi.
I'm Max.
: You're...
You're Max Lautner?
Well, Maxine, but I prefer Max.
It is so nice to meet a live action hero
like you in person.
Oh, yes, well...
Thank you, yes, of course, and I'm just
so grateful that you're, uh...
you.
Well, as a single mum,
I don't get out very much,
but I, uh, I cleared my day for this.
Well, that's wonderful news.
Uh, if-if Parker asks,
I'm going to take a long lunch.
Follow me this way.
I come bearing bento boxes.
Have you eaten lunch yet? I have not.
That's very kind of you.
I was also asked to give you this.
It's from Gage.
He's headed to the airport to go home.
Oh.
I was super tempted to look, but I restrained.
Yeah, he's just saying goodbye.
I'm pretty sure I...
Yeah, that's-that's written in campfire ash.
Uh, so... Tripsie?
You gonna give me a hint on that one,
or you gonna make me guess?
It is short for "Triple Z."
As in Scrabble. Oh.
Because I am queen of using the ten-point "Z"
on a triple-letter, triple-word score.
Well, you are gonna have some competition
because I am a Scrabble board savant.
Color me eager to kick your B-U-T-T.
Maybe at our spa weekend away?
Yeah.
Jess.
I was being selfish before,
about needing to put, like, a label on this.
No, you don't need to apologize for that.
No, I... I was making it all about me.
And labels don't matter.
All that matters is you.
Come here, you.
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