Directed by Dennis Smith
Written by John C Kelley, Robert Palm, Steven D Binder, & David J North
When a burned and mummified body falls out of a school furnace, the NCIS teams with the FBI to discover who killed him once he discovered to be a cannibalistic Serial Killer the FBI had hunted for 12 years.
- Actor Allusion: Fornell says he was part of the FBI team that arrested Ted Bundy, and he knows about "sick, charming bastards." Gibbs quips that "that's probably why we get along so well." Mark Harmon played Bundy in the TV film The Deliberate Stranger (1986).
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Karen Bright poses as a loving mother and a grieving widow, but, in reality, is a vicious murderer.
- Death Glare/Kubrick Stare: Karen Bright gives a particularly disturbing one to Gibbs and Fornell once she is caught.
- Evil Teacher: Subverted with Karen Bright. She's adored by her 3rd grade class, which makes the discovery of her crimes all the more disturbing.
- Faux Affably Evil: Charles Bright is thought to be wearing a mask of civility. The real mask of civility, it turns out, belongs to his wife, a serial killer.
- The Fettered: Lampshaded by Tony:Tony: A guy tortures and murders nineteen women, then gets off on eating their toes. Whoever whacked this sick freak did us and the world a favor.
Ziva: And our job is to arrest them. Makes perfect sense to me.
Tony: ...Some days this job really sucks. - He Knows Too Much: The real reason Karen killed her own husband was because he discovered her crimes.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Bright ate the toes off of the victim's left feet.
- Ironic Name: The killer's last name is Bright.
- Jurisdiction Friction: The FBI intially restricts access to the corpse's prints and later tries to take over the case due to their 12 year investment into the investigation but NCIS beats them out once they realized Bright was killed on a Marine base.
- Oh, Crap!: Gibbs has a mild one when he receives a phone call from Abby about the actual timeline of the bodies found in the Brights' backyard.
- Playing the Victim Card: Karen Bright breaks down in tears when she confesses to killing her husband after she discovered his crimes. Fornell is stepping in to comfort her, when Gibbs gets Abby's call and tells Fornell who the real killer is. Her tears dry up instantly.
- Serial Killer: Charles Bright is thought to be the killer, but it's actually his wife, Karen.
- Serial-Killer Killer / Sympathetic Murderer: Karen Bright initially tries to pass herself off as this, until Abby's discovery of how old the bones in Brights' backyard are prove to be her downfall.
- Theme Serial Killer: Bright murdered 19 women and ate the toes from their left feet.
