Navy Lieutenant Darren Murray is murdered at the second line funeral procession for a Navy sailor, James Boyd, who had been killed in a car accident. Murray was a casualty assistance officer (CACO), and there is no obvious motive for killing him.

When LaSalle and Percy investigate his house, however, LaSalle is attacked and is nearly killed, only being saved by a misfiring gun. The attacker leaves behind a bag of 250-year-old bones. The team determines that a very old crypt was robbed, and the robbers need the bones to authenticate the stolen property.

LaSalle spots and captures his attacker, who confessess to his part in the looting, and says that James Boyd was his partner. The team decides to exhume Boyd's body, only to discover it has been unexpectedly cremated. Tests reveal that it wasn't even his body.

They later realize that Boyd faked his death and attended his own funeral. The medical examiner confesses to falsifying the paperwork and gives them the clues they need to set up a sting to capture Boyd. Later, the team attends the second line funeral parade for Lt. Murray, even LaSalle who expressed a lack of interest in such things.

Percy and Pride are concerned for LaSalle's lack of concern over his near-death experience.