MUSIC IN:
EXT. COUNTRY ROAD – NIGHT
(CAR BRAKES TO A STOP)
(JULIUS WALKS TO THE CAR)
JULIUS: Hi. Is everything okay?
WOMAN: Can you just call Triple A? My cell phone can’t get a signal out here.
JULIUS: What’s the problem?
WOMAN: I don’t know. The car just stopped.
JULIUS: Mind if I look under the hood? I’m a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy, stationed in Oceana. Just want to help, okay?
(WOMAN GASPS)
JULIUS: Relax. I was just getting my I.D. I’m a dentist, I don’t carry a gun.
(SFX: WINDOW LOWERS)
WOMAN: I do.
(MUSIC OUT)
(THEME MUSIC UP OVER OPENING TITLE/SCENES/ CREDITS AND OUT)
FADE IN:
INT. NCIS SQUAD ROOM – DAY
“THE GOOD SAMARITAN”
KATE: (V.O.) It’s my sister’s number. I always use her as my emergency contact. (INTO PHONE) No, she lives in Miami. What difference does it make if she’s local or not? Well, no. Of course… I could … I could get a number of somebody in town. It’s just that…I’ll have to call them first to make sure it’s all right. Fine, I’ll call you back.
(SFX: HANGS UP PHONE)
TONY: I’ll be your emergency contact.
KATE: Thanks, I’ll get somebody else.
TONY: What’s wrong with me?
KATE: Where do I start?
TONY: They never call. They just need a number.
KATE: How do you do that?
TONY: First team varsity, Ohio State. So what do you say?
KATE: Fine. Just don’t make a big deal out of it.
TONY: Great! So what are my responsibilities? Are there any financial ramifications? Do I need to give blood if you get hurt?
KATE: See? This is what I was talking about making a big deal out of it.
TONY: (OVERLAP) Maybe I should go by your house and check out the floor plan.
(SFX: DRAWER SHUTS)
KATE: Oh, forget it! Forget it, okay?! I’ll just um… I’ll ask Abby.
TONY: Suit yourself.
ABBY: Whoa! Are you guys Libras?
KATE: No.
TONY: No.
ABBY: They are so screwed this week!
(ABBY WALKS O.S.)
TONY: Why don’t you ask Gibbs?
KATE: Maybe I will. Why is he carrying two cups of coffee today?
TONY: I don’t know, and I don’t want to know. But it probably has something to do with one of his ex-wives.
(SFX: PHONE RINGS)
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Gibbs.
(HANGS UP PHONE)
GIBBS: We have a possible execution-style murder of a Navy Lieutenant Commander in Grayson County. Let’s call Ducky.
TONY: You know I have call waiting. For emergencies. I don’t think Gibbs even knows what call waiting is.
CUT TO:
EXT. ROADSIDE – DAY
GIBBS: Gibbs. NCIS.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Hello Gibbs, NCIS. You got a first name?
GIBBS: Jethro.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Your parents had a sense of humor. Who’s the rest of your posse?
GIBBS: Special Agent Todd, DiNozzo. Our M.E., Doctor Mallard.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: What can I do for you?
GIBBS: I understand a Naval officer was killed here last night.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: That’s right.
GIBBS: If it’s all the same to you, Sheriff…
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Charlie.
GIBBS: ….since the victim was a Naval officer, we’d like to take over the investigation.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Well it isn’t all the same to me, Jethro. The voters of Grayson County didn’t elect me sheriff so I could cede jurisdiction to some out-of-towners – no matter how good looking one of them might be.
GIBBS: We’ll share jurisdiction.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: A murder on a state road in my county? I don’t think so.
GIBBS: With all due respect, Sheriff...
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Charlie.
GIBBS: …the forensic resources of NCIS dwarf those of Grayson County.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Well, I’ll tell you what. I’ll handle the local investigation; you can have custody of the physical evidence for forensic purposes and do the on-base investigation. But any prosecution will take place in Grayson County, everything runs through me, no exceptions, and I get full credit. It’s an election year.
GIBBS: What have you got?
CUT TO:
EXT. GRASSY AREA – DAY
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Looks like Commander Julius got a flat, pulled over to fix it, somebody came along, robbed him and killed him. No clothes, no wallet, no watch. We traced him through the car registration.
GIBBS: Kate, photos. Tony, laser and sketch.
DUCKY: This reminds me of the tale of the traveler who was beaten and left by the highway.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: How so?
DUCKY: Oh, a man from Samaria came by. Yes, he saw the poor fellow, picked him up, carried him in his arms to an inn. He bathed his wounds, bandaged him and left money to feed him. This was unusual because the Samarians were considered outcasts and of low moral fiber. Yeah, but from then on he’s been known as the “good Samaritan.”
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Man you can talk.
DUCKY: Perhaps over dinner?
SHERIFF DUPRAY: You’re cute. You’ve got no chance, but you’re cute.
DUCKY: Don’t be too swift in your dismissal, Charlie. Destiny has brought us together.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: You might want to check those tarot cards one more time.
DUCKY: This Samaritan wasn’t one of the good ones, was he, my friend?
GIBBS: What have you got, Duck?
DUCKY: Single gunshot to the back. One, two… oh, no exit wound. Based on the blood splatter, I’d say he was shot where he dropped.
GIBBS: Shell casings?
SHERIFF DUPRAY: None that we could find. We set up grids and went over each one using a metal detector. Found zip.
DUCKY: That’s odd.
GIBBS: What?
DUCKY: His hands were bound after he died. If they were tied before he was killed, it would’ve restricted circulation and the blood would have pooled and been unable to escape.
GIBBS: Making his hands redder than the rest of his body.
DUCKY: Precisely.
GIBBS: Time of death?
DUCKY: Oh, Jethro, you’ve really got to have some patience.
(DUCKY AND GIBBS WALK O.S.)
SHERIFF DUPRAY: What’s his story?
KATE: What do you mean?
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Well is he single, available?
KATE: Uh, he’s single. As far as available, I wouldn’t know.
(SHERIFF DUPRAY WALKS TO THE CAR)
SHERIFF DUPRAY: I saw a car with its trunk up so I pulled over. Didn’t know I‘d be rolling into a crime scene. What’s that cologne you’re wearing?
GIBBS: Not wearing any.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Oh, that’s me. New perfume. You like?
GIBBS: Got a tow truck we can borrow?
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Sure, doll.
(SHERIFF DUPRAY WALKS O.S.)
GIBBS: Don’t say it, DiNozzo.
TONY: I wasn’t going to say anything.
GIBBS: Don’t think it.
TONY: Too late.
(PASSAGE OF TIME)
GIBBS: When we get to Oceana, I want you to search Julius’ apartment.
TONY: What are we looking for?
GIBBS: Motive to kill him.
KATE: You don’t think it was a crime of opportunity?
GIBBS: His hands were tied behind his back after he was killed.
KATE: Well maybe it was part of the killer’s ritual.
GIBBS: Kate, that’s why we’re going to Oceana.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Jethro! I need to know how to get hold of you.
GIBBS: The number’s on the card I gave you.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: What about after hours?
GIBBS: Uh… they can find me.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Is this NCIS’s idea of cooperation?
CUT TO:
INT. AUTOPSY ROOM – DAY
DUCKY: Based on the width and edges of the entry wound and the absence of an exit wound… I’d say you were killed by a hollow point bullet. Oh, Gerald, it’s a conundrum.
GERALD: What’s that?
DUCKY: How a society can develop cures for all sorts of diseases can be the same society that develops a bullet that does this kind of damage. Do you know why they call them dum-dum bullets?
GERALD: Uh… no.
DUCKY: In the late eighteen nineties, the British military developed them in India at the Dum-Dum arsenal. Yes, their use in warfare was banned at the first international peace conference in eighteen ninety nine and the Hague.
GERALD: I actually find that interesting.
DUCKY: As opposed to what?
CUT TO:
EXT. MEDICAL CLINIC – DAY
(DOOR OPENS)
GREEN: How did he die?
GIBBS: He was shot in the back. Any idea what he was doing out there?
GREEN: His sister lives in Kentucky. He might have been on his way home from a visit.
GIBBS: How long had he been stationed here?
GREEN: About five years. Been with the Navy almost fifteen years. It was his life.
GIBBS: Never married?
GREEN: Well, if he was it was before he arrived here.
GIBBS: How well did you know him?
GREEN: Not very.
GIBBS: You’re his Commanding Officer.
GREEN: Commander Julius was a bit of an odd duck, if you know what I mean.
GIBBS: I don’t.
GREEN: He was a competent dentist, but he wasn’t one of the boys.
GIBBS: Didn’t like to go out and hoist a few, huh?
GREEN: Exactly. He would rather sit in front of a computer screen surfing for collectibles.
GIBBS: What kind?
GREEN: I don’t know. I could ask around.
GIBBS: Know anybody who had a grudge against him?
CUT TO:
INT. JULIUS’ APARTMENT – DAY
(DOOR OPENS)
KATE: I wonder who Commander Julius’ decorator was.
TONY: Siegfried and Roy?
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/TONY AND KATE LOOK AROUND THE ROOM)
TONY: Oh, yeah. Nice gear. Hey, what do you think of this? (READS SLOWLY) Igottoomany….
KATE: I got too many.
TONY: Oh, yeah. Thanks. What do you think that means?
KATE: I have no idea.
(TONY WALKS TO THE BEDROOM)
(DOOR OPENS)
TONY: (V.O.) Kate, he got too many.
CUT TO:
INT. BEDROOM – DAY
KATE: He collects lunch boxes?
TONY: They’re collectibles.
KATE: Yeah, but they’re lunch boxes.
TONY: Well, so he has an unusual hobby. My grandfather collected buttons. He always said, “Anybody can collect coins or stamps. But buttons…” Oh! Magnum P.I. lunchbox! Mag PI. I love Magnum P.I. I had one of these in elementary school. Tom Selleck was the man!
KATE: Are they valuable?
TONY: Probably. Why?
KATE: Could be a motive.
TONY: Ah. Lunchbox deal gone bad?
KATE: People have killed for a lot less.
TONY: I think I may know what those numbers were on the computer post-it.
CUT TO:
INT. LIVING ROOM – DAY
KATE: What is this going to tell us?
TONY: He buys and sells lunch boxes on E-bay. We can check his feedback rating, and see if anyone has a beef with him. Haven’t you every bought anything on E-bay before?
KATE: Have you?
TONY: Just some buttons for my cousin Petey. Hundred percent. So much for a lunchbox motive.
CUT TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM – NIGHT
KATE: Somebody’s popular.
TONY: Not me. Clerk screwed up again. And they seem to be from Sheriff Dupray.
KATE: Thought you gave her your cell.
GIBBS: Guess I forgot to turn it on.
TONY: What does she want?
GIBBS: She wants to video conference.
CUT TO:
INT. MTAC ROOM – DAY
GIBBS: What can I do for you, Sheriff? (BEGIN TELEPHONE CONVERSATION)
SHERIFF DUPRAY: (ON SCREEN) Jethro, if you’re not going to call me Charlie, we’re going to have a difficult time working together.
GIBBS: Okay, Charlie.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: (ON SCREEN) There was a murder two counties over, very similar to Commander Julius. In fact, almost exactly the same.
GIBBS: How so?
SHERIFF DUPRAY: (ON SCREEN) The victim was found off the side of a country road, nude, bound, one gunshot in the back, no shell casings found.
GIBBS: Who was the victim?
SHERIFF DUPRAY: (ON SCREEN) A David Truly. He wasn’t in the Navy, but he was a civilian employee at Naval Air Station Oceana. I think we’ve got a serial killer on our hands.
(MUSIC UP AND OUT)
MUSIC IN:
INT. MTAC ROOM – DAY
TONY: This reminds me of a case I worked once. Guy hated mailmen.
KATE: Letter carrier.
TONY: What?
KATE: They’re called letter carriers, not mailmen.
TONY: Since when?
KATE: I don’t think there was a specific date, Tony. It just kind of evolved.
GIBBS: Is this case in any way relevant to our case?
CUT TO:
INT. STAIR CASE – DAY
GIBBS: If the Sheriff is right, we need to figure out how the killer is choosing his targets.
KATE: How does he know the cars that stop are going to be Navy connected?
GIBBS: Maybe he doesn’t. Maybe if someone pulls over who’s not Navy, he just waves them on.
TONY: Lot of east-west highways in Southern Virginia head towards Virginia Beach. It makes sense a lot of people on them will be Navy.
GIBBS: Get a hold of Truly’s personnel records. See if there’s any connection between him and Commander Julius. And check Julius’ C.O.
TONY: On it.
KATE: I know. You’re going to ask me to call the LEOs in the other county and have them ship over the evidence.
GIBBS: I wasn’t going to ask.
CUT TO:
INT. AUTOPSY ROOM – DAY
DUCKY: Yeah, the bullet entered the back through the left intercostal space, between the third and fourth ribs. The trajectory was from left to right, indicating that the shooter fired from the left. Would you weigh what’s left of the liver for me, please, Gerald?
GERALD: No problem, Doc.
GIBBS: Anything unusual?
DUCKY: Ah, it’s rather straight forward, actually.
GIBBS: That’s unusual.
DUCKY: Well, the bullet took a fairly circuitous route through Commander Julius after it entered.
GIBBS: Usable for ballistics?
DUCKY: Ah, it’s difficult to say. The bullet was a nine millimeter hollow point, sustained some fragmentation. I sent it up to Abby.
GIBBS: Cause of death?
DUCKY: Gunshot wound to the back.
GIBBS: You can’t be much more straight forward than that, Duck.
DUCKY: Well, he bled out. The bullet was a particularly nasty form of hollow point. When it expanded on impact, it’s copper jacket peeled back to form six sharp claws, one of which nicked his aorta. Excuse me.
GIBBS: Even if he made it to a hospital, Duck, he didn’t have a chance.
DUCKY: Yeah, well it wasn’t an execution-type slaying…not that it makes any difference to Commander Julius. But the GSR pattern indicated he was shot from a distance of three to five feet.
GIBBS: The killer tied Julius’ hands postmortem. Did he do anything else?
DUCKY: Well, there is no sign of sexual abuse if that’s what you’re asking. I did find traces of a powdery substance on his wrist.
(DUCKY BLOWS HIS NOSE)
GIBBS: Drugs?
DUCKY: No. I doubt it. Abby’s analyzing it now. I suspect it’ll turn out to be corn starch.
GIBBS: Used as a lubricant for latex gloves.
DUCKY: There is actually quite a controversy about the use of powder as a donning agent in gloves.
GIBBS: You know, I read that one, Doc. That’s why there are no prints. Thank you.
(GIBBS WALKS O.S.)
DUCKY: Well, you’ll find this interesting, Gerald.
CUT TO:
INT. NCIS GARAGE – DAY
(SFX: AIR HOSE HISSES B.G.)
GIBBS: Find anything, Abby?
ABBY: This is the left rear tire off Commander Julius’ car. Notice anything unusual?
GIBBS: It’s inflated?
ABBY: Is that a guess? Or do you actually know where I’m going with this.
GIBBS: What do you think?
ABBY: Well, I don’t know. That’s why I asked you.
GIBBS: Why don’t you just tell me?
ABBY: So you don’t know.
GIBBS: I want to make sure you know.
ABBY: Hmm.
GIBBS: Hmm.
ABBY: We should play poker some time.
GIBBS: Yeah, we should.
ABBY: According to Sheriff Dupray’s report, when she got to the scene the tire was flat. But I had no problem filling it.
GIBBS: Sure it’s not a slow leak?
ABBY: This is the second time I’ve filled it. And the first time I had it submerged in water. There were no bubbles. There was nothing wrong with this tire.
GIBBS: Somebody let the air out to make it look flat.
ABBY: The killer went to a lot of trouble to make a crime scene look like something else.
GIBBS: Any luck with the tire track?
ABBY: That depends on your definition of luck.
GIBBS: You’re particularly feisty today.
ABBY: Thanks for noticing. I ran the track through the tread assistant database. The CD-Rom has over ten thousand tire tracks for comparison. It’s great for parties. On top is the partial we cast at the scene.
GIBBS: You matched them.
ABBY: I did. Here’s the bad news. This particular brand is like the prom queen of tires. It’s very cool. It fits all kinds of mid-size cars and SUVs. I hate getting behind SUVs. You can’t see anything.
GIBBS: Do you have a list of the models that use that tire?
ABBY: It’s in your email. And I included the tire distributors in the Virginia Beach area that sell that brand. So Julius’ prints are all over the car as you would expect. I did find some unidentified prints on the hood.
GIBBS: Did you run them through….?
ABBY: (OVERLAP) Run them through AFIS?
GIBBS: Feisty and psychic.
ABBY: It’s a killer combination. I didn’t get any hits on the prints. The interior is clean – there’s no blood, there’s no bodily fluid. But I did find something peculiar on the trunk lock.
GIBBS: Corn starch.
ABBY: Ducky. Hmm. There’s just no way that this was a crime of opportunity. Whoever pulled it off put a lot of thought into it.
CUT TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM – DAY
KATE: Ah! I called the county clerk’s office to see about getting the records sent over and I get a recording.
TONY: Really?
KATE: And the recording tells me to call another number, which I do, which gives me another recording that directs me to dial the first number that I called.
TONY: Look on the bright side.
KATE: What bright side?
TONY: That’s just an expression.
(DOORS SLIDE OPEN/CLOSE)
KATE: Big mistake turning off the cell.
TONY: Ah, Charlie. I almost didn’t recognize you.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Like getting out of that uniform. Evidence from the other murder. Special delivery.
KATE: Wow! We never get this kind of cooperation!
SHERIFF DUPRAY: It’s not a problem. Where’s Jethro?
GIBBS: Right here.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Surprised to see me?
GIBBS: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Surprised is one word that does come to mind.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Case files and photos from the Halifax County murder.
GIBBS: I appreciate that.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Jethro, I think you owe me a dinner.
GIBBS: Have you always been so shy?
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Well, Jethro, there are two kinds of people in this world. The ones who go after what they want, and everybody else. Where are we going?
GIBBS: The cafeteria.
(GIBBS AND DUPRAY WALK O.S.)
(PASSAGE OF TIME)
(DOORS SLIDE OPEN)
GIBBS: Do you have something to say?
KATE AND TONY: No.
GIBBS: What do we got here?
KATE: Well, these photos are almost carbon copies of the ones I took in Grayson County. Charlie put together a profile of the killer.
TONY: White male, age twenty five to thirty four, of at least average intelligence, possibly a military background.
KATE: Also makes reference to a sub-type of serial killer, the mission-oriented type. He seeks out a specific group that he believes the world would better without.
GIBBS: Doesn’t narrow it down much.
KATE: They also recovered a slug. Nine millimeter hollow point.
GIBBS: What’s the condition?
KATE: It’s too damaged to try and match.
GIBBS: Does it say anything in there about the bullet having six sharp claws?
KATE: No, but they don’t have access to the equipment that we do. Abby might have better luck.
TONY: Here’s something you don’t read everyday. One of the patrolmen noticed a wet patch of ground. Someone took a whiz on the side of the road.
GIBBS: While they were waiting for the car to come along.
TONY: They dug up the whole patch, sealed it, tagged it and sent it for DNA analysis.
GIBBS: And?
TONY: Hasn’t been tested yet because of the backlog at the state lab.
GIBBS: Get them to send it to Abby. And remember, two killings don’t make a serial killer.
CUT TO:
EXT. ROAD – NIGHT
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/BODY FALLS TO THE GROUND)
(PASSAGE OF TIME)
TONY: Z-four. Nice. Three point oh liter, two hundred and twenty five horse power, dual overhead cam. Twenty four valve in line, six cylinder engine, double-VANOS variable A-valve timing. Oh, I love cars!
KATE: There’s no flat. All the other victims’ cars had flat tires.
TONY: It wouldn’t matter. She’s got run-flat tires. They come standard.
GIBBS: Hey Charlie. Thanks for the call.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: My pleasure, Jethro.
GIBBS: What do we got here?
SHERIFF DUPRAY: A motorist called nine one one. Said they saw a car pulled off the side of the road with the emergency flashers on. They sent a patrolman. This is what he found.
GIBBS: Victim been I.D.ed?
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Lieutenant James Seeger. Aviator at Oceana.
KATE: Sure looks like the work of our guy.
DUCKY: Well, I beg to differ, Kate. This young man was killed between two and three yesterday afternoon. The body has double lividity. The blood settles twice.
GIBBS: He was killed someplace else and dumped here.
DUCKY: Precisely.
TONY: Copycat?
DUCKY: Well, the details have all been in the press. They match in almost every respect. It’s nearly impossible to come to any other conclusion.
KATE: That means we have two killers on the loose.
(MUSIC UP AND OUT)
FADE IN:
EXT. FIELD – DAY
DUCKY: …three.
GIBBS: I think we’re looking for a woman.
TONY: Female serial killer goes against the odds. But not unheard of.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: What’s your thinking, doll?
GIBBS: Most men prefer hands-on killing…. strangulation, stabbing. Women prefer hands-off killing.
KATE: Like these.
GIBBS: Women are meticulous about leaving the crime scene free of material evidence.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Which would account for why we found no shell casings or fingerprints.
GIBBS: What would cause a man to pull over on a dark road at night?
KATE: Damsel in distress.
GIBBS: Exactly.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Handsome and smart.
GIBBS: I think our answer is in Oceana. Go through base records for any disgruntled civilian employees, dishonorable discharges, anybody with a chip on their shoulder.
KATE: What are you going to do?
GIBBS: I’m going to talk to Lieutenant Seeger’s RIO.
KATE: Can I ask you a question, Gibbs?
GIBBS: Is this one of those questions where it’s not going to matter if I say no?
KATE: I was just wondering if there was any rhyme or reason behind how you divide up assignments.
GIBBS: Yeah.
CUT TO:
EXT. NAVAL AIR STATION – DAY
WALLACE: Jimmy liked to take his Z-Four up to the Blue Ridge Parkway, drop the top, crank up some country tunes, and just whoppin’ it out.
GIBBS: Something funny about that?
WALLACE: I hate country music. We were always arguing about that. Sometimes he’d take his Fatboy up there.
GIBBS: His what?
WALLACE: His Harley. That was Jimmy, you know. Fast cars, fast jets…
GIBBS: The need for speed.
WALLACE: Exactly. He had a bad boy vibe. That was part of his appeal.
GIBBS: When was the last time you saw him?
WALLACE: Two days ago. We were doing night F.C.L.P.
GIBBS: Yeah, I read his service records. His fit-reps were all outstanding.
WALLACE: He was a helluva pilot.
GIBBS: Do you know anybody who would want to kill him?
WALLACE: His wife.
GIBBS: Do you want to take a minute to think about that?
WALLACE: Don’t need to.
GIBBS: Any specific reason?
WALLACE: There’s a laundry list. At the top, they’re going through a particularly nasty divorce. I guess I should say they were going through a divorce.
GIBBS: How nasty was it?
WALLACE: Mutual restraining orders, yelling and screaming, each one accusing the other of cheating.
GIBBS: Any truth to that?
WALLACE: I can’t speak for Laura. Jimmy was a man’s man. He loved the ladies and the ladies loved him. But I never saw him cross the line, and I think he would’ve told me if he did.
GIBBS: Because he told you everything.
WALLACE: And I told him everything. When you trust your life to someone, literally, you usually don’t keep any secrets.
GIBBS: Normally, when someone kills their spouse, there’s a financial upside. Jimmy have a second job?
WALLACE: No. He had a very successful grandfather. He was the original U.S. importer of Swiss Army Knives. Made some serious coin.
GIBBS: Jimmy was the beneficiary?
WALLACE: Along with his brother and sisters.
GIBBS: How well did you know the wife?
WALLACE: Well enough to know she’s crazy.
GIBBS: How crazy?
WALLACE: She hired a Haitian priest to put a curse on Jimmy.
GIBBS: When was the last time Jimmy saw her?
WALLACE: About a month ago, I think. They did most of their talking through lawyers. You know that song, “Thin Line Between Love and Hate?”
GIBBS: Nope.
WALLACE: Doesn’t matter, the title kind of says it all. Whoever wrote that had Jimmy and Laura in mind.
CUT TO:
EXT. SEEGER HOUSE – DAY
(KNOCK ON DOOR)
(SFX: DOG BARKS B.G.)
(DOOR OPENS)
GIBBS: Laura Seeger?
LAURA: That’s me.
GIBBS: NCIS. Special Agent Jethro Gibbs. Special Agent Katelyn Todd. Do you have a minute?
LAURA: Sure. Come on in.
CUT TO:
INT. LIVING ROOM – DAY
LAURA: His death hit me hard. Much harder than I imagined.
GIBBS: Given the tone of your divorce proceeding, I would guess much harder than anyone imagined.
LAURA: I may not have been in love with Timmy anymore, but I still loved him.
GIBBS: Is that why you hired a Haitian priest to put a curse on him?
LAURA: I see you’ve been talking to Lieutenant Wallace.
KATE: Is it true?
LAURA: I told him that but it wasn’t true.
GIBBS: Why tell him that then?
LAURA: Jimmy’s lawyers were playing hardball. It was gamesmanship on my part.
KATE: When you were together, did you get along?
LAURA: (LAUGHINGLY) We fought like cats and dogs from day one. It was part of the appeal. There was always a certain energy, a certain juice between us.
KATE: What went wrong?
LAURA: We grew apart. I know it sounds like a cliché, but that’s what happened. It got to a point where Jimmy would rather spend time out back in his woodshop than with me.
GIBBS: Did anyone else fill the void?
LAURA: If you’re asking me if I had an affair, the answer is no. Can we cut to the chase?
GIBBS: Yeah. By all means.
LAURA: I’ve read enough books, watched enough T.V. to know that when a husband is killed under suspicious circumstances, the wife is the first suspect. So please don’t feel like you need to beat around the bush. Ask me what you came to ask me. I have nothing to hide.
GIBBS: Did you kill your husband?
LAURA: No, I didn’t.
KATE: Where were you yesterday afternoon?
LAURA: Oh, I had a half dozen errands to run; dry cleaners, bank, supermarket, hardware store. I can give you a list with the approximate times.
GIBBS: Would you be willing to give us a DNA sample?
LAURA: Absolutely.
CUT TO:
INT. AUTOPSY ROOM – DAY
DUCKY: I thought I was going mad. The two autopsies were nearly identical. It was déjà vu all over again.
TONY: Hey, that’s a Yogi Berra quote.
KATE: The cartoon character?
TONY: Not Yogi Bear, Yogi Berra.
KATE: Well, judging by your reaction, he’s either a sports person or a bouncer at a strip club.
TONY: Gentlemen’s club.
GIBBS: This autopsy give us anything the other one didn’t?
DUCKY: Uh…the bullet was in better shape. And I noticed something peculiar in his nose so I did a swab.
GIBBS: A swab, Duck? Kind of old school, isn’t it?
DUCKY: Oh, I just go where the evidence takes me. I recall a case in my early career, before we had the benefit of all this marvelous technology. A young man, barely twenty years old, he had jelly from a donut on his face…
GIBBS: Ducky?
DUCKY: Yes?
GIBBS: What did you find in his nose?
DUCKY: Uh… cellulosic fiber, lignin…
GIBBS: Wood.
DUCKY: Well, sawdust to be precise.
TONY: Hey boss, don’t you have some kind of weird thing about women and sawdust? I don’t think it’s weird.
DUCKY: Laura Seeger said that her husband had a wood shop out back.
GIBBS: Yeah, well she also said he hadn’t used it in a month. I mean, it wouldn’t still be there in his nose after a month, would it, Ducky?
DUCKY: No, that was recent.
TONY: Well, he could’ve been woodworking somewhere else.
GIBBS: Yeah, he could’ve.
DUCKY: Something else showed up on the swab. A dog’s hair.
KATE: Laura Seeger had two dogs in the back. But she seems to have a solid alibi.
GIBBS: One of her errands was to the bank. Charlie could get us the surveillance tapes. They’d all be timed stamped.
KATE: Yeah, but if she was guilty, why would she just offer up her DNA so freely?
GIBBS: Because she didn’t know we had something to match it to.
CUT TO:
INT. BALLISTICS LAB – DAY
(ABBY SHOUTS)
ABBY: Oh, Gibbs! Didn’t your momma teach you not to sneak up on people?
GIBBS: Obviously not.
ABBY: An ex-boyfriend snuck up on me once, and he was walking funny for a week. Or should I say, funnier.
GIBBS: What do you got for me, Ab?
ABBY: If it’s what I think it is, something is going to rock your world.
GIBBS: Well, don’t keep me in suspense.
ABBY: I just need a minute and… ha!
GIBBS: That’s a match.
ABBY: That’s right. Ranger Talon.
GIBBS: This was supposed to rock my world?
ABBY: Pay attention, class. The left bullet Ducky pulled from Commander Wade Julius. The right bullet was recovered not from David Truly, the victim from two counties over, but from victim number three, Lieutenant Seeger. Now would anyone like to tell the class what this means?
CUT TO:
INT. NCIS SQUAD ROOM – DAY
TONY: There wasn’t a copycat murder?
GIBBS: No. All three were committed by the same person.
ABBY: We matched the bullets from Julius to Seeger.
TONY: Wait, that doesn’t make any sense. Why was Seeger killed somewhere else and then dumped if he wasn’t a copycat?
KATE: Do you think Laura Seeger could have randomly killed two people to make it look like a serial killer in order to cover up killing her husband?
GIBBS: Yeah. Two. Or three.
KATE: You think she’d kill again to keep up the serial killer ruse?
GIBBS: Yeah, sure.
ABBY: That’s so cold.
TONY: Ice cold.
GIBBS: How are we doing on the DNA sample?
ABBY: I just got it two hours ago.
GIBBS: And?
ABBY: And you can’t rush science, Gibbs. You can yell at it and scream at it, but you can’t rush it.
GIBBS: How long until you have something, Abby?
ABBY: Bare minimum – eighteen hours.
CUT TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM – DAY
SHERIFF DUPRAY: All right, let’s get this party started. They had two different cameras in the main lobby. I figured you might be able to doctor one, but not both.
GIBBS: Have you looked at ‘em?
SHERIFF DUPRAY: I can’t watch movies alone. I stopped by Blockbuster in case those are boring. Got “Sleepless in Seattle.”
GIBBS: Well, let’s see if Laura Seeger’s alibi holds up.
Yep -- (VIDEO PLAYS)
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Is that her?
GIBBS: Yep.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: I don’t like her shoes.
GIBBS: Two thirty three, p.m.
KATE: Ducky said the time of death was what, between two and three?
GIBBS: She’s in the bank right in the middle of it. It’s exactly when she says she was there.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Guess that means she’s got an alibi. She couldn’t have gotten from the bank to the murder site that quickly. No way she could be our killer.
(MUSIC UP AND OUT)
FADE IN:
INT. SQUAD ROOM – DAY
KATE: Obviously, Laura Seeger couldn’t have done it.
TONY: Two different angles, both of them lock. She entered the bank at two thirty three p.m. She left at two forty p.m.
GIBBS: Only one thing we can do. Go over everything again from the beginning.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Like my daddy always said, every path has its puddles.
GIBBS: Do you know what kind of video system the bank uses?
SHERIFF DUPRAY: No, why?
GIBBS: Because if it’s a central system, all the time stamps would be the same. You’d just have to change one.
KATE: You think she had somebody inside the bank?
GIBBS: How hard is it for an attractive woman to get a guy to do what she wants?
KATE: Oh, that’s easy!
SHERIFF DUPRAY: (OVERLAP) Oh, it happens everyday!
TONY: Wait… that was a rhetorical question.
GIBBS: Charlie, can you check out the bank for me?
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Yeah, Sir.
GIBBS: We also need to re-verify all the stops she made when she was running her errands.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: Now that one’s going to cost you.
GIBBS: We need to find the murder weapon and tie it to Seeger.
TONY: Yeah. I checked the federal registry, I checked gun purchase records in the surrounding five states.
GIBBS: Well then check ten! Get me a sales receipt on the ammo. Ranger Talon is an uncommon bullet.
KATE: I’ll do a full background on her.
GIBBS: Start with her parents and work forward until today. (BEAT) What are you waiting for?
SHERIFF DUPRAY: You finished with these tapes?
GIBBS: I want to show them to Abby, see if the shadows are consistent with the time stamps.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: I’ll tell ya, Jethro, I’d hate to be on the wrong side of the law with you.
CUT TO:
EXT. SEEGER HOUSE – DAY
(KNOCK ON DOOR)
(DOOR OPENS)
LAURA: Special Agent Gibbs. This must be the follow-up visit where you have a few more questions.
GIBBS: Can I come in?
LAURA: Of course.
CUT TO:
INT. LIVING ROOM – DAY
(DOOR CLOSES)
GIBBS: We ran down all your errands.
LAURA: Any problems?
GIBBS: Nope. No, in fact, if anything it was a little too neat.
LAURA: Look around. It’s pretty spotless, huh? One of my qualities, for better or worse, is that I’m very organized. Of course, Jimmy had another word for it.
GIBBS: Oh, I’m sure he did.
LAURA: It would make him mental. Jimmy was the kind of guy who would walk into a room, drop whatever he was carrying, and then leave a trail of clothes leading to the kitchen.
GIBBS: Is that one of the things you fought about?
LAURA: It’s one of the many.
GIBBS: We did an autopsy on your husband.
LAURA: I assume that’s standard.
GIBBS: Mm-hmm. Yeah, it is. What we found wasn’t.
LAURA: Do you want me to guess?
GIBBS: We found something unusual in his nose. We did a swab. We found two things: sawdust and dog hair.
LAURA: Okay.
GIBBS: You have a wood shop out back, right?
LAURA: Yeah, I told you that.
GIBBS: And from the sound of it a dog or two?
LAURA: Oh! You think Jimmy was here recently, even though I told you he hadn’t been here in a month.
GIBBS: You can see why.
LAURA: I can. (BEAT) How did I do?
GIBBS: What do you mean?
LAURA: You obviously told me that to see my reaction. Look, as I said before, I have nothing to hide. I didn’t kill my husband. I gave you my DNA. I don’t know what more you want from me. That should be enough to clear me, shouldn’t it? Unless… unless you have nothing to match it to and asking me was another test.
CUT TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM – DAY
TONY: For a Naval flyer, Jimmy Seeger had a lot of cash.
KATE: He inherited it from his grandfather.
TONY: No kidding? You know what my grandfather left me?
KATE: His button collection?
TONY: I wish. My cousin Petey got that. I got a thousand shares of stock in a dot-com company.
KATE: Well, that’s more than Laura Seeger would have gotten out of her divorce. She signed a lopsided pre-nup.
TONY: Well, I guess if he died before they were divorced, the pre-nup wouldn’t have mattered.
KATE: It sounds like a motive to me.
TONY: How did Seeger’s grandfather make his money?
KATE: Imported Swiss Army Knives.
TONY: Oh, I love everything Swiss; knives, cheese, the Alps. I even like Abba.
KATE: Abba’s Swedish.
TONY: I don’t think so. (TO GIBBS) Hey boss. Did she crack under the pressure? (BEAT) I take that as a no.
CUT TO:
INT. NCIS LAB – DAY
(MUSIC PLAYS B.G.)
GIBBS: I got your nine one one, Abs. What’s up?
ABBY: Are you ready to have your world rocked again?
GIBBS: I’m barely over the first time.
ABBY: I ran Laura Seeger’s DNA swab and I got the DNA results back from the urine sample taken at the first crime scene.
GIBBS: And?
ABBY: How about a drum roll?
GIBBS: Abby?
ABBY: Okay, forget the drum roll. Although it would have been nice.
GIBBS: Hey!
ABBY: The DNA matched.
GIBBS: Laura Seeger has an ironclad alibi.
ABBY: I know.
GIBBS: How is it possible they could match?
ABBY: They can’t, but they do.
CUT TO:
INT. SEEGER HOUSE – NIGHT
(KNOCK ON DOOR)
(DOOR OPENS)
GIBBS: We’ve got a warrant to search your house.
LAURA: I don’t understand. You said that my alibi checked out.
GIBBS: It did… for the murder of your husband.
TONY: This warrant is based on the murder of David Truly.
(DOOR CLOSES)
LAURA: I don’t even know who that is!
SHERIFF DUPRAY: David Truly was killed on U.S. Highway Fifty Eight. Your DNA was found at the crime scene.
LAURA: That’s impossible.
KATE: Not according to the lab results.
LAURA: What DNA did you find?
TONY: Well, it seems that while you were waiting for a car to come along, you had to answer nature’s call.
LAURA: Women don’t urinate on the side of the road! Do they, Agent Todd?
KATE: I don’t.
LAURA: Someone’s setting me up.
TONY: So you’re saying that someone stole your urine while you weren’t looking?
LAURA: Yes!
TONY: And how exactly would they do that?
LAURA: I’ve given two urine samples in the last month at Oceana Base Clinic. Once for my annual physical and once because Jimmy’s lawyers accused me of using drugs.
KATE: You know that’s easy to check out.
LAURA: Check it out. I want you to.
GIBBS: Who’s your doctor?
LAURA: Commander Margaret Green.
CUT TO:
INT. CLINIC – DAY
GIBBS: You neglected to tell me Lieutenant Seeger had filed a formal grievance against you.
GREEN: I didn’t think it was germane.
GIBBS: A man has been murdered, you had a grudge, and you don’t think it was germane? (DOOR CLOSES)
GREEN: I’m a professional, Agent Gibbs. I didn’t let his compliant color my behavior.
GIBBS: Maybe you should have. According to the complaint you were sexually harassing Lieutenant Seeger.
GREEN: Lieutenant Seeger and I differed in our interpretation of the events that transpired.
GIBBS: What did the review board conclude?
GREEN: The hearing hadn’t been held.
GIBBS: The hearing hadn’t been held. Before it could be, Lieutenant Seeger was killed.
GREEN: Are you trying to insinuate something, Agent Gibbs?
GIBBS: I don’t insinuate, Commander. Did you treat Lieutenant Seeger’s wife?
GREEN: I treat a lot of people’s wives.
GIBBS: Including Lieutenant Seeger’s?
GREEN: Including Lieutenant Seeger’s.
GIBBS: She recently had a physical.
GREEN: That’s correct.
GIBBS: Well, I’d like to see her medical records.
GREEN: Only her doctor is privy to those.
GIBBS: NCIS has access to all military records.
GREEN: His wife isn’t military. She’s a dependent.
GIBBS: Doesn’t matter.
GREEN: I’ll have to check on that. Might take a while.
GIBBS: Where were you between two and three p.m. Tuesday.
GREEN: At a medical conference.
GIBBS: Where?
GREEN: D.C.
SWISH PAN TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM – DAY
TONY: We have two great suspects.
KATE: Commander Green because of the complaint filed against her which would threaten her pension and her future with the Navy.
TONY: Laura Seeger who’d get diddly if her divorce went through.
KATE: Green was in D.C. with witnesses.
TONY: Seeger was in the bank on video.
KATE: How could our two great suspects both have ironclad alibis?
TONY: I don’t know. Only one of them had DNA at the crime scene.
KATE: Well, if you believe Laura Seeger, then someone planted it.
TONY: Green had access to her DNA. She could easily have done it.
(PHONE RINGS B.G.)
TONY: I’d put my money on her. The whole sexual harassment thing… that’s just wrong.
(KATE HANGS UP PHONE)
KATE: That was Arlene in records. I think I just got the answer to the mystery.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. CAR – NIGHT
DISPATCHER: (V.O./FILTERED) Special Agent Gibbs, this is Onstar. The vehicle you are tracking is parked on Owl Creek Bridge.
GIBBS: Roger. You copy that, Charlie?
SHERIFF DUPRAY: (V.O./FILTERED) Owl Creek Bridge. Copy.
TONY: Hey boss, we made our pickup. Let’s hope we get there before someone else does.
CUT TO:
EXT. BRIDGE – NIGHT
(SFX: CAR BRAKES TO A STOP)
(SFX: CAR DOOR OPENS/CLOSES)
GIBBS: Keep your hands where I can see them!
(DOOR OPENS)
GIBBS: Step out of the car! Step away!
(DOOR CLOSES)
GIBBS: Hands behind your back! Interlace your fingers. Thumbs up.
(SFX: POLICE CAR BRAKES TO A STOP)
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/TWIN WALKS TO THE CAR)
(DOOR CLOSES)
TONY: (V.O.) Twins.
CUT TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM – DAY
TONY: The holy grail of dating.
KATE: Where do you come up with this stuff?
TONY: Although, twins that kill… not good.
KATE: I just can’t imagine killing someone for your sister. I would never kill for my sister.
TONY: Yeah, you barely return her calls.
GIBBS: Identical twins, identical DNA, identical murders. One for the books.
TONY: I’ll bet Laura was splitting Swiss Arm Knife money with Linda, that’s why Linda killed her sister’s husband.
REPORTER: (ON TV)…Sheriff Dupray’s statement…
KATE: There’s Charlie.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: (ON TV) Thank you all for coming. Before I take your questions, there is a group of people that I want to thank.
TONY: Oh, we’re finally going to get some credit.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: (ON TV) They’re sort of the unsung heroes in all of this.
KATE: Not when you start singing.
SHERIFF DUPRAY: (ON TV) I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the citizens of Grayson County, for putting their faith in me. I couldn’t have solved this triple murder without your support. Now I’ll take your questions.
(REPORTERS ALL SHOUT)
SHERIFF DUPRAY: (ON TV) Man in the second row. Go ahead, doll.
(REPORTER AND SHERIFF TALK B.G.)
GIBBS: It’s an election year.
(MUSIC OUT)
(ENDING CREDITS UP AND OUT)
* * * * * * * *
Prepared by C.C. Printed in USA
Calvert Continuities Aired 2/17/04
