The NCIS team raid an illegal chop shop operated by a group of sailors associated with the United States Navy but during the arresting process, Ziva makes a grim discovery in which she finds a severed human head inside a cooler in one of the recently stolen cards. This later prompts the team to launch an investigation but what should be a simple case soon becomes complicated when Tony, McGee and Ziva find a warehouse storing human body parts. Things later turn into a nightmare when Abby's tests subsequently reveal that the ashes in a urn that the Captain's wife and his young daughter have been holding onto are in fact bogus, forcing the team to find the remaining body parts belonging to the Captain and ensure those truly responsible for what happened are brought to justice.