Kyle Boone, thought to be responsible for the murders of 22 young women in the 1990s, is on death row in a high-security Virginia prison.As the date of his execution approaches, he requests a meeting with Gibbs, the man who caught him ten years ago, offering police the location of the bodies of his victims in return.Acting under direct orders from the secretary of the navy, Gibbs begrudgingly heads to the prison.While Gibbs and the killer himself both seem to want the execution to go ahead as planned, Boone’s lawyer intends to bargain for life imprisonment.A short interview with Boone convinces Gibbs that he has become no less arrogant over the years and is intent only on wasting NCIS time.As Gibbs is about to leave, however, Boone makes a claim that cannot be ignored, saying that there are far more than 22 bodies to be found and only he knows their whereabouts.With this new information, Gibbs and the team, which includes new agent Paula Cassidy, head to Boone’s family farm to search for evidence.It is not long before they have found a macabre scrapbook documenting Boone’s heinous crimes.

On his return to the prison, Gibbs is greeted by John Briggs, a writer who has spent many years trying to understand Boone in order to write his biography.

Briggs seems a little obsessed with the killer and is exasperated when ordered to leave, but Gibbs is adamant that Boone is to be indulged no longer.

Boone knows that Gibbs has found the scrapbook and asks to see his work, but instead earns himself a transfer to a secure unit at NCIS HQ, where he will spend the remainder of his time alone.

Back at the lab, Abby and McGee set to work on the scrapbook and are soon able to identify most of the victims from missing-person reports filed during Boone’s reign of terror.

Using a satellite-imaging technique based on geographical features visible in the photographs, McGee comes up with a possible location for the bodies and the team rushes off to investigate.

Upon arrival at the woodland location, the agents find something that throws the case into disarray: among the bones of Boone’s old victims is the body of a young woman killed only a week ago.

Boone’s incarceration means that he cannot have been responsible for this new murder, yet the killing is in his distinctive style – the girl’s tongue has been removed and a heart shape has been carved into her back.

What is more disturbing, however, is that McGee recognises the victim as the last entry in Boone’s scrapbook.

It seems that a copycat killer is now on the loose, continuing Boone’s murderous work.

Gibbs now finds himself in the unenviable position of needing help from Boone, and Boone knows it only too well.

He attempts to use his knowledge to bargain for a stay of execution, but his plan fails as Gibbs nonchalantly shrugs off his predicament and insists that the investigation can wait until after Boone’s death.

The psychological game between Gibbs and Boone takes a dramatic turn, however, as Cassidy disappears.

Tony and McGee initially assume that she is lost, but a Polaroid image showing the agent bound and gagged is found at the scene – Cassidy has been kidnapped by the copycat killer.

With another of his agents now in serious danger, will Gibbs be forced to swallow his pride and plead with Boone for clues?

So begins a frantic race against the electric chair.

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