Ep 12. Housekeeping

The ninth season of NCIS, the American police procedural drama, follows the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) agents as they solve various complex cases related to the US Navy and Marine Corps. The twelfth episode of season 9, titled "Housekeeping," is another intriguing plot that revolves around the mysterious murder of a navy commander.

The episode features special agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, played by Mark Harmon, and his team members Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly), Ziva David (Cote de Pablo), Timothy McGee (Sean Murray), Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette), and Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum). The team is called upon to solve the murder case of a navy commander, and the clues around the investigation lead them to some crucial findings.

The episode begins with the naval commander, Jerry Smith, found shot in his house, full of bullet holes. As the NCIS team reaches the scene, they start to investigate all possible leads, including Smith's work and personal life, to find any clues that might solve the case. Gibbs soon finds that Smith's place had extensive security and that the killers might have been people who were familiar with his whereabouts.

Meanwhile, Tony and Ziva visit the deceased's office to investigate the potential motive behind the crime. As they go through his work files, they spot that Smith was closely involved with a construction company that was handling a multimillion-dollar government contract. They also learn that the project had been facing delays as a construction worker, John-Ross Semple, had been missing for about a year.

This new piece of information sets the investigation on a different path as the team starts to track down Semple. Soon, they find out that Semple had been working on a secret project that involved developing blueprints for a highly sophisticated weapon system. As they pursue leads in the case, the team discovers that Semple had been hiding in a stolen cell phone, and they eventually find him holed up in a motel.

As the team interrogates Semple, they realize that he had nothing to do with Smith's murder and that he had gone underground to protect himself and his family. He reveals that he had spent over a year hiding from a vindictive cartel, who were constantly trying to kidnap him into revealing classified information about the weapon system.

Armed with this new information, the NCIS team begins to look through Smith's computer files and communication logs, where they find evidence of his collaboration with the cartel. As the team digs deeper into the case, they realize that Smith was involved in laundering money for the cartel and had even volunteered to provide them with classified information about the weapon system.

After discovering the corrupt dealings of Smith, the team starts to pursue leads that lead to one of Smith's co-workers, who had also been visiting the same motel as Semple. The team concludes that Smith's co-worker was the one who murdered him, as he had links to the cartel and had killed Smith to cover up his involvement in the money laundering scheme.

The episode ends when the NCIS team arrests the co-worker of Smith, who confesses to the murder. The team also recovers information about the cartel's whereabouts and operations, which they use to collect intelligence and thwart the cartel's activities. Overall, the episode "Housekeeping" has an intriguing and complex plot that keeps the viewers engaged and enthralled. It showcases the team's prowess in solving challenging cases and brings to light the never-endings battles fought by the NCIS agents to keep America safe.