Forced Entry is the ninth episode in NCIS Season 2 as well as the 32nd episode of the entire NCIS series.
Synopsis
A night in for a Marine's wife turns deadly when an intruder arrives in her home, forcing her to shoot him in self-defense with her suspected attacker being taken to hospital for treatment. NCIS investigate and discover that the woman might have lured the guy to her home under the guise of a date but when the body of a man is found, evidence soon emerges which determines that the man and his "sister" are not who they appear to be.
Prologue
It opens on a 1950s movie with a woman screaming. Marine wife Laura Rowens then gets up and grabs some beer but once she sees Jeremy Davison standing in front of her, the beer falls to the ground.
Jeremy edges closer, only to find that Laura has produced a gun.
She then fires twice, causing Jeremy to fall to the ground with blood emerging from his wounds.
It then cuts to Laura who's sitting on the coach, panting with her gun still raised.
Act One
The area is now a crime scene and the NCIS Major Case Response Team have arrived to investigate.
As Leroy Jethro Gibbs heads into the house, warning Anthony DiNozzo Junior not to drink his coffee or else, DiNozzo and Caitlin Todd grab all the necessary belongings from the truck with Timothy McGee later emerging.
Realizing that McGee will get in trouble, DiNozzo gives him Gibbs's coffee which McGee unknowingly accepts and Kate is just amused at that.
Inside the house, Marine Corps Sergeant Chris Hegarty is giving Gibbs information on the case.
Tony who's getting a sample from the blood on the floor remarks that given that the guy in question lost so much blood, he's lucky to be alive.
Gibbs is then informed that Mrs. Rowens is with a next-door neighbor and once he's told a statement will be needed, Hegarty orders Mrs. Rowens be brought to the front of the house.
The team then focus on the gun used to shoot the intruder and Hegarty tells them the serial number matches a gun that's listed to Rowens's husband, Major David Rowens and that the Major is currently in Iraq, having gone there five months ago.
Gibbs then puts the gun in a box while checking the rounds from the magazine.
Kate and McGee arrive in, informing Gibbs that there's no sign of forced entry although Gibbs remarks that after today's shooting, the women who live in the Base will be a lot more careful from now on.
Gibbs then orders Kate and DiNozzo to go to the base hospital to get the dirtbag's personal effects and prints.
When Gibbs asks McGee if he's enjoying the coffee, McGee realizes that the coffee is Gibbs's and angrily rounds on Kate and Tony who ask him about Rule 23.
Hegarty helpfully reveals that it's: "Never mess with a Marine's coffee if you want to live" and as McGee, DiNozzo calls, "Dead man walking!" at McGee's retreating back.
Gibbs is in the bedroom when he sees that the computer which is on has gotten three IM messages from someone named "Redstart286" which has Gibbs puzzled.
Later on, in the kitchen, Gibbs is taking Mrs. Rowens' statement although it's clear she's still struggling to cope with what's happened.
She then insists on being called "Laura" which Gibbs does. He tells her that the guy she shot may dead but despite this, Laura never saw him before in her life.
She also reveals that her husband taught her how to shoot and that they've been married for four years although in Laura's opinion, it feels more like two.
Laura tells Gibbs that she's going to stay with her mother in Maryland.
Gibbs then gives her his card and tells Laura she can call or email him any time.
DiNozzo and Kate have arrived at the base where Lt. Pam Kim shoots DiNozzo down by revealing that she's engaged. She further hampers their investigation by refusing to let them talk to the victim although she does give them the clothing they got from the victim.
Tony then uses a little trick to get Kate into the room so she can get fingerprints of the victim while he charms Lt. Kim much to her dismay.
Back on the Base, McGee's talking to Hegarty about how the guy got onto a Marine despite there being armed guards everywhere. Hegarty remarks that the guy must have a death wish.
Gibbs then appears and tells them he's nearly finished except he wants to know the suspected rapist got on base.
"I've been asking myself that same question, Agent Gibbs", Hegarty admits.
Gibbs then orders Hegarty and his men to go check every car within a five mile radius of Laura Rowens' house and to make sure that their military details are current and that they match with the car's plates.
If any cars don't check out, then Hegarty is to call Gibbs.
Once he's finished, Gibbs then throws a ball back to two youngsters who were playing football.
In the base hospital, Kate who's managed to get into the hospital room is busy taking photos of the rapist, having already obtained his fingerprints.
She then takes more photos but gets a shock when the guy awakens, grabbing her wrist.
Although he's weak, he manages to tell her it was just a game, that Laura Rowens invited him over and that he thought she loved him before he passes out again.
Jeremy Davidson's fingerprints on Kate's right wrist.
Kate then glances at her hand and it's shown that the rapist's fingerprints are now on her right wrist.
Act Two
In the bullpen, the next morning, Kate's telling McGee and Tony that the rapist believes that Laura Rowens invited him over.
DiNozzo then tells her that rapists are liars, a tip he picked up from a cop in Baltimore.
McGee disagrees, stating that they shouldn't rule anything.
Tony then gets in McGee's face, asking if they should bring Laura Rowens back in for questioning.
McGee insists he didn't say that but DiNozzo believes that they should and it's not like that Rowens has been through enough crap.
"You would know. You're the master of giving it", McGee snaps.
Tony warns McGee to watch his lip.
It looks like it's about to get nasty but Kate interjects, stating that the two are worst than her brothers and that they're practically psychotic.
She gets them back on track by stating that they've got to ID the rapist and that they get a connection between him and Laura Rowens, then Rowens will be brought for questioning.
Gibbs interrupts by announcing that the guy's name is Jeremy Davison and that Hegarty found his car outside the Quantico rear gate with Davison's key, ID and wallet all inside.
He assigns DiNozzo to run Davison's phone records and find if he ever spoke to Laura Rowens while McGee is to get a search warrant for Davison's place.
Once they're gone, Gibbs asks Kate if her brothers were really like DiNozzo and McGee.
"Sadly, yes", Kate replies.
"Explains a lot", Gibbs states.
Kate just heads back to her desk.
In the lab, Abigail Sciuto is busy running Jeremy Davison's prints through all the databases but nothing's coming up which has Gibbs remarking that it might be because Davison's never been caught.
He then tells Abby to run the DNA from Davison's blood and cross-reference it with every database she can think of.
Abby states that because there's no central DNA database, that could take months and months.
"Then you'd better get started", Gibbs says.
"You think he did it?", Abby asks.
"Kind of depends on your definition of IT", Gibbs replies before leaving the lab.
"Spoken like a true politician, Gibbs", Abby calls.
Up in the bullpen, as Tony's eating a sandwich, Kate takes a pill for a possible headache before resuming her work. Gibbs walks in and Tony reports that he's still going through Davison's phone records but there's nothing so far from Davison's home, office or cell phones.
McGee announces that he's gotten the search warrant to Davison's apartment which is in Alexandria.
Tony believes that he's going but Gibbs orders him to stay on the phone, gives McGee the order to do a full background check on Davison before choosing Kate to go with him which has DiNozzo dismayed and Kate smugly grinning at him as she grabs her gun.
A while or so later, Gibbs and Kate are at Davison's apartment.
Once realizing that there's no one in sight, they then begin searching the apartment for evidence. Kate comes across a picture of a woman on Davison's laptop and believes that Rowens sent it to her although Gibbs wonders that Davison might be a photographer.
Kate continues and finds more emails which detail how Rowans feels about meeting Davison but she stops reading them upon realizing that they're very "specific".
She then gives Gibbs an email and he agrees with her, ordering her to bag it.
Suddenly, the sound of a door has the two Agents reaching for their guns and hiding.
They then meet a young woman who's stunned to see them and who identifies herself as Michelle Davison, Jeremy's sister.
Michelle tells them that her brother went on a date last night with someone he met on the Internet.
Gibbs, Kate and Tony descend on Abby's lab with the evidence taken from Jeremy Davison's home. They've gotten Davison's laptop and Gibbs tells Abby that McGee's bringing Laura Rowens' laptop in too.
Gibbs tells Abby he needs the evidence now before leaving while Tony is busy reading the emails Rowens seemingly wrote and is taken aback by them, requesting Abby make copies for him.
Kate stops Tony by snatching the emails out of his hands.
McGee comes in with Laura Rowens' computer and he and Abby spend the next few minutes talking about online Internet affairs.
Kate's stunned by that, remarking that while she and Tony will leave them, Gibbs won't so they'd better get to work.
As she attempts to leave, Kate's pissed to find that Tony's reading another email. He tells her that he's doing it because it speaks to the suspect's state of mind.
Kate snatches it off him again, stating that she read them and that they're all pretty much the same.
Tony remarks that he's only read two and that Kate thinks they're all the same, then he and Kate need to talk.
"Well, twelve years of Catholic school says that ain't ever gonna happen", Kate remarks and leaves.
"Do you still have the pleated skirt?", Tony asks.
As they leave, Abby orders McGee to get the hard drive and asks about what's going on.
Abby tells him that they've got a cybersex attempted murder kill thing going on which McGee remarks as cool.
In the bullpen, Gibbs, Kate and Tony are busy eating Chinese food and discussing the possibility that Davison could be a psychopath who clung onto Laura and didn't want to let go.
They're interrupted by McGee and Abby who head into the bullpen and tell them that they've traced the emails Rowens and Davison sent to one another back to a website called "The Scarlet Secret".
They've also found that Davison and Rowens have the same fetish in common which happens to be Rape Fantasy, a revelation that leaves the team stunned.
A while later, as Laura Rowens waits in Interrogation, McGee, Tony and Kate discuss the rape fantasy.
McGee tells Kate that it's not common with Kate remarking that it's actually sick and disturbing.
Gibbs finally arrives in Interrogation and begins grilling Laura for information on how she knew Jeremy Davison.
He then drops the damning evidence of her photo of Jeremy Davison's laptop and the emails she sent him. Laura insists she's innocent, stating that she actually sent the photo on Davison's laptop to her husband in Iraq.
When Gibbs presses further about the Scarlet Secret website, Laura insists over and over again that she's innocent and that she didn't cheat on her husband.
As this goes on, Abby arrives in Observation and despite the team warning her that Gibbs doesn't like to be interrupted during Interrogation, she insists that Gibbs has to be called because this is an emergency and that they've screwed up big time.
In Interrogation, Laura freaks out about what's going on and tells Gibbs she's never flirted with anyone named "Nice Guy".
The talk is then interrupted by Kate who on the intercom tells Gibbs that they need a word with him.
Now pissed, Gibbs arrives in Observation where Abby tells him that Laura Rowens was telling the truth all along. She didn't write the emails but when pressed, Abby admits that she doesn't know who did it.
In Interrogation, Rowens is crying.
It then cuts to Gibbs who looks annoyed.
Act Three
The next morning, as Gibbs is escorting Laura Rowens to the lift, McGee tells Tony and Kate that Laura was telling the truth and that Jeremy Davison actually thought he was talking to Laura Rowens the whole time.
Kate's dismayed at the thought of Davison being lured onto a Marine base to rape a Marine wife.
"Well, closest thing to a death sentence I can think of", Tony replies.
Gibbs comes in and grimly announces that they're all to gather Abby's lab right now.
In the lab, Abby tells Gibbs that there's no back trace of the hacker's machine. McGee agrees, stating that the email trial was created right around the time that Rowens shot Davison.
"Like I said, this guy's good", Abby states.
"This guy's a dirtbag, Abby. I want him", Gibbs growls.
McGee tells him that in order for them to get to the guy responsible, they need access to the Scarlet Secret's web servers.
Abby then states that a warrant will take months given that they've got a rep fighting any attempt to legally breach the privacy of their members.
When Tony suggests hacking, Abby states it won't work because they need core-level access with full admin privileges to track the guy.
"Which means we'd have to be on the inside to do it", McGee finishes.
Gibbs advises them to find another way and Kate does, suggesting that they get a job there.
Upon seeing the qualifications, McGee wants to do it but Tony states that McGee's got cop written all over his face and unsurprisingly, volunteers himself to do it much to McGee's dismay and horror with McGee protesting.
Kate volunteers that McGee go instead but Gibbs states, "No. Not McGee".
It then cuts to Abby who looks extremely surprised.
Abby soon gets into the Scarlet Secret area and begins working on uncovering the identity of the hacker with McGee's help.
Gibbs dispatches Tony and Kate to take Jeremy Davison's statement and then gives McGee and Abby one hour to find the hacker's identity.
At the base hospital, Tony and Kate take Jeremy's statement and as they're leaving, Michelle arrives to comfort her brother.
McGee and Abby are making good progress on finding the hacker's identity.
Just as Gibbs arrives back in MTAC with a coffee, McGee soon reveals that the hacker's name is Victor Grotinski and that he lives in Woodbridge, Virginia just off Davis Ford Road.
Gibbs thanks him, tells McGee to get Abby back to NCIS and then dials DiNozzo before telling McGee that the coffee's for him.
As he goes back out, Gibbs orders DiNozzo who's picked up to meet him at this address.
Once Gibbs has left, McGee drinks the coffee, satisfied.
A while later, Gibbs, Kate and Tony descend on Grotinski's place.
However, they get a huge shock when they discover something so horrific that leaves the three of them stunned for once.
The camera then pulls up to reveal that not only is Grotinski dead, having presumably bled to death after his throat was cut but his eyes have been removed.
Act Four
The area surrounding Grotinski's place has become a crime scene with Donald Mallard, NCIS's Medical Examiner and James Palmer, Ducky's assistant arriving on scene to study the body.
While the team are processing the scene, Ducky determines that Grotinski died eighteen hours ago.
Kate has figured out that the liquid in the bottles Tony has found is Grotinski's urine and that the buckets contain the victim's crap.
Due to the disgusting task, Tony unsurprisingly passes it onto McGee, ordering the younger Agent to bag everything and once McGee's looked inside on one of the buckets, he bitterly remarks that he'll throw up.
Gibbs has found a remote control and after taking photo, bags it while ordering DiNozzo to find what it operated. He asks Kate for her opinion on the victim and she remarks that there's no defensive wounds on the body which suggests he might have known his attacker.
Tony searches the area and finds a camera hidden in one of the vents which Kate manages to get down.
They look at it and much to Kate's disgust, find that it contains footage of the victim having sex with an unidentified woman.
In Abby's lab, she replays the footage which shows the woman killing Grotinski after they both came and then it shows the woman removing his eyes, causing Abby to remark that the woman's a Black Widow.
When Gibbs prompts her with a Caf-Pow, Abby vows that she will pull out more information and with Gibbs convinced, she gets the Caf-Pow.
McGee then comes rushing in and Gibbs believes that it won't take long for the computer to start working again.
After Gibbs has left, Abby and McGee remark on Gibbs's lack of understanding all aspects of technology.
Up in the bullpen, Kate returns to her desk after exchanging her skirt for a pair of trousers.
Meanwhile, Tony's chatting up a blonde worker who isn't interested in him and when he remarks that Kate changed, Kate tells him that they're dealing with a sociopath.
Kate then suspects that the person in question likes to manipulate people but why Jeremy Davison and Laura Rowens?
Tony believes that they're both two lonely people pouring their hearts onto cyberspace with Kate believing that they found a psycho in the Scarlet Secret website.
Tony remarks that it works for him but Gibbs comes, stating it doesn't because they're played, more specifically the woman who killed Grotinski is playing them.
Tony who's in Kate's chair suggests they bring Laura Rowens back for questioning.
At the moment, Gibbs's cell phone rings and he hangs up, announcing that Ducky's found something.
In the morgue, Ducky hands Palmer some swabs which he tells Palmer are traces of their Black Widow's DNA.
When the three Agents arrive in, Ducky tells them that Grotinski's throat was cut with a method that Gibbs understands.
Once he's gone, Tony and Kate ask Ducky what it means and Ducky tells them it's a technique that Marines are taught to kill enemy sentries with.
In the lab, while McGee quickly works on assembling a computer, Abby tells Gibbs that she's gotten highlights of the baseball cap and that it'll take an hour to filter.
Gibbs asks about the fluids Ducky sent up and Abby tells that it's going to be ten hours which leaves Gibbs furious.
McGee wonders if that Laura Rowens on the camera.
Gibbs then snaps that considering he's seen better pictures of a UFO, McGee should tell him and Gibbs then leaves the lab.
Up in the bullpen, Tony and Kate are finishing their respective phone calls with Tony informing Gibbs that Laura Rowens' mother is claiming that she hasn't seen her daughter yesterday and she isn't answering her cell either.
Kate then announces that there's no answer at phone and that Sergeant Hegarty is heading over there to check on things.
Gibbs then grabs his gun and announces that they're heading to Quantico with Tony and Kate following.
At the base hospital, Lt. Kim answers a call from Tony. She tells him Davison's resting comfortably.
Tony then tells her that anyone comes to visit him, Kim is to tell them that he's been transferred to another hospital and he assures Pam there's no problem before stating that they'll be at the hospital in fifteen minutes.
Once Gibbs has increased his driving, Tony tells Kim it'll be ten before hanging up.
Kate wonders if Gibbs is going to tell them what's up but Gibbs tells her it's his gut.
Kate's phone rings and she answers it, revealing that it's Sergeant Hegarty who has Laura Rowens in custody. Hegarty aims his gun at Rowens who drops her grocery bag in shock while also raising her hands.
Kate hangs up, telling Gibbs and Tony that Rowens is in custody and that Grotinski's eyes have been found in the kitchen as well.
In the lab, Abby's working on the DNA where a priority alert from the FBI emerges, instructing that the field office in Kansas City be contacted immediately. She then realizes what's going on and leaves.
Gibbs, Kate and Tony have arrived at the base hospital and busy interviewing Michelle and Jeremy.
When they inform the two that they've got proof of Rowens cutting Grotinski, Gibbs eyes the machine maintaining Jeremy's pulse and it goes up to 84 and 85.
With that over, the Agents leave as Michelle looks on.
Abby's trying to get through to Gibbs with little success and when McGee tells her their phones are probably off, Abby snaps that they're about to let a murderer go free.
In the room, Michelle draws the curtain shut and kisses Jeremy, revealing that the two are not even related.
Once Michelle tells him they've got to get going, Jeremy begins removing all the equipment attached to him while Michelle switches off the monitor.
Abby storms back into the lab, stating she needs to talk to Gibbs and that it's a matter of life and death as McGee looks on.
It then cuts to the computer which has finished highlighting and it's shown that it was Michelle who murdered Grotinski, not Laura Rowens.
Lt. Kim hangs up, heading into the room and finds that they're already gone.
Jeremy and Michelle have reached the exit to the Quantico Base Hospital and the two are badmouthing Kate and Tony although they're impressed with Gibbs.
Seconds later, Gibbs emerges and then Tony and Kate appear, their guns aimed at the two serial killers.
When it looks like Michelle's going for a gun, Tony tauntingly urges her to go for it with Kate adding that the first round she fires will be going through Michelle's right eye socket.
With the threat of death hanging on them, Michelle and then Jeremy eventually surrender with Kate and Tony sweeping in to arrest them.
Gibbs's phone rings.
It's Abby who reveals that the DNA they ran on Davison two days ago matches five open investigations which means that Davison is the criminal after all and he's a serial rapist and murderer while the woman, Michelle, who's accompanying him, is his accomplice.
Gibbs assures Abby that they know and they've got it covered.
Abby hangs up and then asks McGee if he knew. McGee assures her that he didn't but Abby's not convinced, stating that she finds out he knew, then she's going to kill him.
Later that night, in the bullpen, Kate can't believe that they almost let the two serial killers walk and that Davison isn't even their names: it was an identity Grotinski created for them.
As Tony agrees with her, he turns the computer's camera towards her while McGee then arrives with the news that he's tracked down Hotjuggs24 who just so happens to be a middle-aged or old guy with a mustache.
As Gibbs heads into the bullpen, he tells DiNozzo that she's a real keeper.
"I wonder if he wears a sports bra", Kate states.
It then cuts to Gibbs who sits at his desk, smiling as he switches his desk lamp off.
Trivia
- While McGee and Gibbs are waiting on the street after interviewing a witness, the NCIS van is hit by a football thrown by two boys. Gibbs picks up the ball and throws it back to them, resulting in a rather long pass. Mark Harmon (Leroy Jethro Gibbs) attended Los Angeles Pierce College as a student and quarterback. He then transferred to UCLA and was the starting quarterback for the UCLA Bruins in 1972 and 1973. He was also awarded the National Football Foundation Award for All-Round Excellence in 1973. Harmon was also born to College Football All-American University of Michigan football legend and Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon. Also, the only game that Nebraska lost to that year was to UCLA under Mark Harmon as the quarterback. After that game, It is also reported that a disgruntled Nebraska fan threw a stadium cushion, that the fan owned, at Harmon and to this day he still has kept it all these years.
- Harriet Margulies, who is the audience liaison for both Don Bellisario and "NCIS" is seen playing a phone operator at Scarlet Secret.
- Gibbs: "What do you think happened to Oedipus here?" This is said after the team find the body with the eyes gouged out. It's an allusion to the famous legend of Oedipus who unknowingly killed his father and married his own mother. Upon discovering what he'd done, Oedipus blinded himself.
- This is the second time that Gibbs has bought a coffee for a member of his team. In this episode, he buys one for McGee while in the Season 1 finale, Reveille (episode), he bought one for Kate while waiting in her local coffee shop.
Cast
Series Regulars
| Name | Portrayed by | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Leroy Jethro Gibbs | Mark Harmon | An NCIS Special Agent in charge of the main NCIS Major Case Response Team. |
| Caitlin Todd | Sasha Alexander | A Secret Service Agent previously assigned to the Presidential Protection Detail on Air Force One and who is now an NCIS Special Agent as well as Tony DiNozzo's partner. |
| Anthony DiNozzo Junior | Michael Weatherly | The Senior Agent of the main NCIS Major Case Response Team and also the second-in-command. |
| Abigail Sciuto | Pauley Perette | A Goth who is also the Chief Forensic Scientist and who also works for the NCIS Major Case Response Team. |
| Timothy McGee | Sean Murray (actor) | An NCIS Special Agent previously assigned to the Norfolk Naval Base who is now the Junior Agent of the main NCIS Major Case Response Team. |
| Donald Mallard | David McCallum | NCIS's Chief Medical Examiner. |
Recurring Cast
| Name | Portrayed by | Role |
|---|---|---|
| James Palmer | Brian Dietzen | Gerald Jackson's temporary replacement as the Assistant Medical Examiner. |
Guest Cast
| Name | Portrayed by | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Laura Rowens | Megan Ward | A Marine wife. |
| Michelle Davison | Missy Yager | A murderer who also happens to be Jeremy's "sister". |
| Jeremy Davison | Neil Hopkins | A serial rapist and murderer and also Michelle's partner. |
| Pam Kim | Lindsay Price | Lieutenant in the United States Navy who works at the Navy Hospital where Jeremy Davison is treated. |
| Chris Hegarty | Sterling Macer Jr. | Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps who is assigned to the Quantico Base. |
| Devon Kane | Josh Daugherty | A man who appears in the episode. |
| Attractive Older Woman | Harriet Margulies | A woman seen working at the Scarlet Secret Headquarters. |