MUSIC IN:
EXT. CLEARING – DAY
(MUSIC PLAYS B.G.)
CHUCK: (ON VIDEO) All right, dudes. This is it. This is going to be epoch.
HAT: If we pull this off, Johnny Knoxville will be asking us for a job.
SCOTT: The only job anyone’s asking you for--
CHUCK: Guys, shut up and concentrate. You let me go before I find that line and things are going to get ugly.
SCOTT: Are you sure that line’s where you need to be?
CHUCK: I did the math, bro. All right, Zack, you ready? All right, guys, (ON VIDEO) I’m Chuck Mannis and this is the Human Sling Shot! (ON CAMERA) Okay guys on three… one, two, three!
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/CHUCK FLIES THROUGH THE AIR)
(CHUCK SHOUTS/LANDS ON THE GROUND)
SCOTT: Ho!
FRIEND: Chuck!
SCOTT: Chuck!
(ALL RUN TO THE CLEARING)
HAT: Chuck! Hey! Chuck, man, are you all right? Dude, are you hurt? Dude…
CHUCK: That… was… awesome!
(LAUGHTER)
(CAMERA ANGLE ON THE CORPSE)
(CUT TO BLACK)
(THEME MUSIC UP OVER OPENING TITLE/SCENES/ CREDITS AND OUT)
FADE IN:
INT. CLEARING – DAY
“SPLIT DECISION”
DUCKY: Odd coincidence how nature and circumstance have conspired to place you in this position, my friend. Though I imagine the irony isn’t of much interest to you now.
GIBBS: What do you see, Duck?
DUCKY: Well, some blood and tissue residue on the stump, though not nearly enough for this to be the impaling instrument of his demise.
KATE: He had that hole in him before he landed there?
DUCKY: Precisely, yes.
TONY: Plain old ring-toss doesn’t cut it for some people.
GIBBS: What put the hole in him?
DUCKY: Well, it’s approximately eight inches in diameter, metallic shrapnel residue, organ and tissue damage consistent with a high velocity object. I’ve only seen this one time before – in a Somali village called M’butatu. A young sheepherder made the mistake of impregnating the daughters of a local warlord.
TONY: And they cored him out like an apple?
DUCKY: I can assure you, Tony, they take such things very seriously in Somalia.
GIBBS: What’d they do it?
DUCKY: Good old fashioned Soviet technology. A shoulder-fired anti-tank missile at twenty paces.
KATE: It’s what they use to shoot our helicopters down in Iraq.
TONY: Red, white, and blue version’s called the SMAW – shoulder-launched multi-purpose assault weapon.
GIBBS: The safety backblast on that weapon is a hundred meters. Yeah. Yeah, they fired from right in here someplace. He was there. The warhead damage should be somewhere on this line.
TONY: On it.
KATE: What are you looking for?
GIBBS: This.
KATE: What is it?
GIBBS: Igniter cap. When the SMAWs fired, this is ejected out the back. Get some scrapings off the tree for Abby. Duck, what are you estimating on time of death?
DUCKY: That’s tricky, Jethro. Given the massive and rapid loss of blood, the body temp, lividity and rigor aren’t any much use in establishing P-M-I.
GIBBS: Yeah but?
DUCKY: What makes you think there’s a but?
GIBBS: Well, with you there always is.
DUCKY: Yes, that’s right. Yeah well as they say in the high country markets of Sri Lanka, there’s more than one way to skin a mongoose. Actually, there are three.
GIBBS: Ducky…
DUCKY: After death, the red blood cells in the eyes break down, forming potassium. Now this cloudiness is a byproduct of that. Yes, I’ll be able to get an accurate determination when I test it in the lab. Best I can do for now – past twenty four hours.
TONY: I got something. H-E-D-P. Residue should confirm.
GIBBS: Take samples and measurements.
TONY: Yep.
KATE: Subtitles?
TONY: The SMAW fires two types of warheads: H-E-D-P, high-explosive dual purpose, and H-E-A-A, high explosive, anti-armor. The D-P leaves a crater. A-A leaves a hole.
KATE: Wow, you really do keep something besides comic books in your bathroom.
TONY: Hard to believe, huh?
KATE: Impressive.
TONY: Thanks a lot.
KATE: I was talking about the crater.
CUT TO:
INT. AUTOPSY ROOM – DAY
DUCKY: Note the signs of hematoma on the victim’s face and upper torso.
JIMMY: Signs of hematoma on the victim’s face and upper torso.
DUCKY: He was beaten before he was murdered.
JIMMY: He was beaten before he was murdered.
DUCKY: Well before
JIMMY: Well before. (BEAT) It’s bothering you?
DUCKY: I was going to suggest you leave the recorder next to me, that way you don’t have to repeat everything I say.
JIMMY: Good plan, Doctor.
DUCKY: Yes, note the variations in color of the bruises. These were inflicted on several different occasions within the past three to four weeks. Additionally, the bruising is not only uniform, but there are no indications of any points of acute trauma…
(SFX: CELL PHONE CONTINUES RINGING)
DUCKY: …such as would have occurred from the contact of bare knuckles on unprotected skin. I believe further examination will reveal that our victim was a student of the “sweet science.”
JIMMY: Sweet science?
DUCKY: A pugilist, if you will.
JIMMY: He was a boxer?
DUCKY: Precisely. Do you want to get that?
JIMMY: Can I? (INTO PHONE) Mom?
DUCKY: Oh, please!
CUT TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM – DAY
(SFX: ELEVATOR DINGS/DOORS SLIDE OPEN)
TONY: McGee! Are you nuts!?
MCGEE: What?
TONY: You’re at Gibbs’ desk touching his computer. That’s like touching…. the Ark of the Covenant! `
MCGEE: Gibbs knows I’m doing this.
TONY: He said you could use his computer?
MCGEE: Uh-huh.
TONY: Really? When mine fried he wouldn’t let me touch his.
GIBBS: Because your fingers are always greasy from fried chicken and pizza. How’s it going?
MCGEE: Bringing it online now, boss.
TONY: What?
MCGEE: Yearbook photos from every British university taken between eighty seven and ninety seven.
TONY: Who said our terrorist was British?
GIBBS: Ducky thought his syntax suggested a higher education in the British Isles.
TONY: Well, maybe he just grew up watching tons of Cary Grant movies. Okay, why the decade between eighty seven and ninety seven?
KATE: Because I estimated his age to be thirty three and added five years on either side for safety.
TONY: Ah, you spend college summers working carnies as Madame Natasha?
KATE: I’ve always been good at guessing ages.
TONY: Yeah? How old am I?
KATE: Based on chronology or maturity?
TONY: Yeah, that’s very funny. Come on. How old?
KATE: Thirty two.
TONY: You saw my file.
KATE: Nope.
TONY: Well how old is Gibbs?
GIBBS: That’s great work, McGee.
MCGEE: Anytime, boss.
TONY: Look at that. He gets a pat on the back, I get a smack on the head.
KATE: Ah, it doesn’t seem fair, does it?
TONY: No.
KATE: But it is. Fax from AFIS came in. Our victim is Staff Sergeant Thomas Grimm. He was an Armorer attached to the Ordnance Maintenance Center at Quantico. Responsible for weapons inventory and custody cards.
GIBBS: Makes sense, given the way he died.
KATE: And Ducky was right. He was a boxer. Top rated middle weight on the Quantico boxing team.
CUT TO:
INT. GYM – DAY
WASHINGTON: Staff Sergeant Grimm was a hell of a fighter and a great Marine. Hands up, Marino!
KATE: I saw Grimm’s record. Very impressive.
WASHINGTON: Seventeen and oh since he joined the Corps. Every last one was a battle. All right, if you two are going to dance, you join the Air Force! Now let’s see some action in there!!
TONY: Do you have a list of Grimm’s opponents?
WASHINGTON: You think his death had something to do with his boxing?
TONY: Everything’s on the table until we rule it out.
WASHINGTON: I’ve got a list in my office.
KATE: I’ll wait here.
(TONY WALKS O.S.)
(KATE WALKS ACROSS THE GYM)
KATE: Where’d you learn how to box?
MCCLAIN: Five older brothers.
KATE: Self-preservation.
MCCLAIN: Are you here about Staff Sergeant Grimm?
KATE: I am. Special Agent Todd. NCIS. You are?
MCCLAIN: Corporal McClain. Any idea what happened?
KATE: We’re working on it. Did you know him?
MCCLAIN: Mostly from seeing him around the gym.
KATE: Good guy?
MCCLAIN: From what I could tell. He was a good boxer. Killer left hook.
(MCCLAIN BOXES)
MCCLAIN: Look, if it’s okay with you, I’ve really got to…
KATE: No problem.
CUT TO:
INT. NCIS LAB – DAY
GIBBS: Looks like a serial number. (MUSIC PLAYS LOUDLY B.G.)
ABBY: It’s part of one.
GIBBS: Good part?
ABBY: You can’t go straight for dessert, Gibbs. You have to eat your peas first.
GIBBS: I hate peas.
ABBY: The serial number indicates the manufacturer, the lot number and the year that it was built. You only have a partial, so we only have part of the picture.
GIBBS: The good part?
ABBY: It’s ice cream time. The weapon that killed Staff Sergeant Grimm definitely came from the Armory at Quantico.
CUT TO:
INT. APARTMENT – DAY
(DOOR OPENS/ CLOSES)
TONY: Staff Sergeant Grimm could’ve used a little help from the boys on “Queer Eye.”
KATE: I doubt that rug would have made the cut.
TONY: Actually, this was the only thing I kind of liked.
KATE: I’ll add that to the list of reasons I never want to see your apartment.
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/TONY AND KATE LOOK THROUGH THE APARTMENT)
TONY: Nothing in the bedroom. What’s with the computer?
KATE: No desktop. No operating system.
TONY: Maybe it’s busted.
KATE: Or maybe somebody reformatted the hard drive.
CUT TO:
INT. NCIS LAB – NIGHT
ABBY: We can rebuild it. We have the technology. Hello? Steve Austin? The Six Million Dollar Man? See, that’s the problem with the world today. No respect for history.
GIBBS: Can we just concentrate on the present?
ABBY: Kate was right. The hard drive was completely reformatted.
GIBBS: So we have nothing.
ABBY: Actually, no. When you write data onto a hard drive, it’s triggered electronically and magnetically onto a hard drive plate.
TONY: What would that mean in something Kate would understand?
ABBY: That even though the drive was reformatted, all the information it contained is still here. It’s just a matter of “Humpty Dumptying” it.
TONY: I thought they couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
KATE: That’s because the King only had horses and men.
ABBY: I ran the data through the computer and was able to construct a virtual hard drive containing the information from Staff Sergeant Grimm’s computer.
GIBBS: You got everything back?
ABBY: Since the day he bought it.
GIBBS: Hey, let’s start with the most recent stuff.
ABBY: Okay, the last file Grimm edited was a JPEG.
GIBBS: (BEAT) Whoa. A lot of firepower. It isn’t exactly standard armory floor covering.
TONY: It’s not. That’s Grimm’s living room.
(MUSIC OUT)
MUSIC IN:
INT. SQUAD ROOM – DAY
KATE: I ran the LUDS on Staff Sergeant Grimm’s phone. The day before he was killed, he placed seven calls to Abe’s Pawn Ship. None of them lasting more than a minute.
TONY: Setting up the meet?
GIBBS: Could be.
KATE: Pawn shop’s local. LEOs said that the previous owner, an Abe Hargrove, is currently doing three to five at the F-C-I in Butner for interstate trafficking. Daughter’s running it now.
GIBBS: Well, maybe the daughter is following in daddy’s footsteps.
TONY: Undercover time?
GIBBS: For me.
TONY: Not a good idea, boss.
GIBBS: Yeah? Why is that, DiNozzo?
TONY: You’re thinking renegade enlisted bearing gifts straight from the source.
GIBBS: Yeah, I was.
TONY: We don’t know the daughter’s involvement with Grimm yet. Approaching her this soon as another Marine gone bad might make her suspicious. Which brings me, actually, to another option.
GIBBS: Uh-huh.
TONY: Complete and total sleaze. Pure pawnshop material. And let’s face it, I’m a more believable scumbag than you.
KATE: No argument here.
TONY: Me, disheveled. You high and tight. Me flaky. You solid citizen.
GIBBS: Yeah, I get the point. Have Abby do a full background and an I.D.
TONY: Sure.
GIBBS: What?!
TONY: For you?
GIBBS: For you, DiNozzo. For you.
TONY: Yeah!!
GIBBS: Kate, what’d you get from Staff Sergeant Grimm’s C.O. at Quantico?
KATE: Well, part of Staff Sergeant Grimm’s job was to evaluate weapons. If they were beyond repair then he would transport them to a facility to be destroyed. But once they were out of Quantico, they were out of the system.
GIBBS: Out of the Quantico system. They still have to be signed into wherever they were going.
KATE: Well, these are Staff Sergeant Grimm’s S.R.B and duty records. I’ll go through everything.
GIBBS: Yeah, you will.
KATE: You know, Gibbs, I know that you’re bothered that the terrorist got away. I am too. But … but you might want to think about, you know, trying to be a little bit less of a Gloomy Gus.
GIBBS: Gloomy Gus?
TONY: (V.O.) I love Gus!
CUT TO:
INT. NCIS LAB – DAY
TONY: It’s very strong. What do you have to go with it?
ABBY: Um… Louie?
TONY: Gus Louie. It sort of sounds like a salad.
ABBY: Yeah. How about um… Bricker.
TONY: Gus Bricker. That’s tough. Gibbs says put some military in the background.
ABBY: Hmm… dishonorable discharge, of course.
TONY: How about some time in Leavenworth?
ABBY: What’s the crime?
TONY: Something that fits my persona.
ABBY: How about violation of federal obscenity laws?
TONY: That’s funny. No, I meant my new, sleazy gun-running profile.
ABBY: Drugs are always a safe bet.
TONY: Yeah, drugs.
ABBY: You got three to five for possession. Out on parole in two.
TONY: There is no justice in this world, Abs.
CUT TO:
INT. NCIS SQUAD ROOM – DAY
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/KATE SEARCHES THE REPORT)
CUT TO:
INT. PAWN SHOP – DAY
(DOOR BUZZES OPEN)
DILLON: Come on, lady! That’s not fair.
STONE: Life’s not fair.
DILLON: This sucks.
STONE: Sucks.
DILLON: All right, whatever.
STONE: See ya.
(DILLON WALKS O.S.)
TONY: You drive a hard bargain.
STONE: Not really. Stuff’s probably not worth much more than I paid for it.
TONY: Looking for Abe.
STONE: Not here.
TONY: When do you expect him back?
STONE: Anywhere from three to five.
TONY: Busted?
STONE: Yep. Life’s not fair.
TONY: Damn.
CUT TO:
EXT. STREET – DAY
STONE: (V.O./FILTERED) You a friend of my father’s?
TONY: (V.O./FILTERED) More like a business acquaintance.
CUT TO:
INT. PAWN SHOP – DAY
STONE: Well maybe we can be business acquaintances.
TONY: Thanks, but I’ve got other buyers.
STONE: Whatever my father paid I’ll better it.
TONY: Now why would you do that?
STONE: To prove to guys like you that I’m serious.
TONY: Abe paid top dollar.
STONE: Why don’t you bring me what you’ve got and then we’ll talk price.
TONY: It’s already here.
CUT TO:
EXT. STREET – DAY
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/TONY AND STONE WALK FROM THE BUILDING)
(SFX: CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS)
(VAN DOORS OPEN)
TONY: Two cases of M-sixteens and a case of LAWs.
STONE: Where’d you get this stuff?
TONY: Do you want them or not?
STONE: I might be interested.
TONY: It’s not everyday you get a chance to buy these kinds of weapons.
CUT TO:
INT. PAWN SHOP – DAY
TONY: What’s that?
STONE: It’s called scanning fingerprints. I need to know if you are who you say you are.
TONY: Forget it.
(SFX: DRAWER OPENS)
STONE: Not an option.
CUT TO:
INT. NCIS LAB – DAY
DUCKY: Abby, I’m surprised. I’d had you pegged for more the anarchist type.
ABBY: Actually, I used to be an anarchist.
DUCKY: What happened?
ABBY: Too many rules. No, I’m just trying to help Tony narrow down possible buyers for Staff Sergeant Grimm’s Guns-R-Us operation.
DUCKY: I’d have thought of gangs.
ABBY: Well, you would have been right up to the point of shoulder-fired anti-tank and aircraft weapon.
DUCKY: It’s overkill for even the local Crips set.
ABBY: Terrorists came to my mind first, but they wouldn’t risk a U.S. Military connection. There’s too many outsiders. These guys, however, are all about the military.
DUCKY: Did you know that militias were once a legitimate and necessary source of defense for this country?
ABBY: Well, according to these guys they still are. It’s not like they have any new ideas, you know. It’s all so…
DUCKY: “The Song Remains The Same?”
ABBY: Exactly. And bonus points for the gratuitous rock reference.
CUT TO:
INT. GYM – DAY
(SFX: BOXING B.G.)
KATE: She’s got skills
WASHINGTON: Yeah, she’d have a lot more if she’d just listen.
KATE: What do you mean?
WASHINGTON: Let’s just say Corporal McClain likes to be the one giving the orders.
KATE: Corporal McClain, I need to talk to you.
MCCLAIN: I’ve got fifteen more minutes with the pads.
KATE: It’ll have to wait.
MCCLAIN: What can I do for you?
KATE: Tell me why you lied to me.
MCCLAIN: I didn’t.
KATE: You gave me the impression that you barely knew Staff Sergeant Grimm.
MCCLAIN: Look, I said what I said. You drew your own conclusions.
KATE: You think this is a game, Corporal?
MCCLAIN: No.
KATE: Three days ago you and Grimm took a shipment of weapons from Quantico to be destroyed.
MCCLAIN: That’s right.
KATE: Yeah, well one of those weapons didn’t make it. I want to know what happened.
MCCLAIN: I don’t know.
KATE: Is that your final answer? (BEAT) Turn around.
MCCLAIN: Wait… wait. I don’t know. Okay? Really. Can we just…
KATE: You’re on the log. You signed the shipment out at fourteen hundred hours on the sixth.
MCCLAIN: I was there. I was… I wasn’t. Grimm and I picked the weapons up at the armory, but he dropped me off as soon as we got off base.
KATE: He dropped you off?
MCCLAIN: My boyfriend is Army. Third division out of Fort Bragg. He was shipping out for Iraq the next day. Look, this was Grimm’s idea. He said it didn’t take two people to drive a truck. He told me he could handle it himself.
CUT TO:
INT. PAWN SHOP – DAY
TONY: What about you?
STONE: What about me?
TONY: How do I know you’re not a cop?
STONE: You don’t. But if I was, don’t you think that’s something you would have wanted to ask a while ago. Are you always this subtle when you’re leering at women?
TONY: Leering, by definition, isn’t supposed to be subtle.
CUT TO:
INT. CAR – DAY
STONE: (V.O./FILTERED) Do you always move this fast?
TONY: (V.O./FILTERED) Only when there’s nothing to slow me down.
CUT TO:
INT. PAWN SHOP – DAY
(SFX: COMPUTER BEEP TONE)
STONE: Oh. Gus Bricker. Born eight July, nineteen seventy two. Enlisted in the Marine Corps, nineteen ninety three. Dishonorable discharge. Three to five years in Leavenworth for possession of methamphetamine six months later.
TONY: I have authority issues.
STONE: Three to five for a first offense on possession? It seems a little steep.
TONY: The Corps has higher standards.
STONE: They took you.
TONY: I like playing games with you. Just not this kind. So are we going to do this or what?
STONE: I’ll get your money.
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/STONE OPENS THE SAFE)
(INTERCUT SCENES OF GIBBS WALKING TO THE SHOP)
TONY: NCIS.
STONE: ATF.
(CUT TO BLACK)
FADE IN:
INT. PAWN SHOP – DAY
GIBBS: Drop it.
STONE: You drop it.
GIBBS: You’re outnumbered.
STONE: I can still kill him.
GIBBS: Go ahead. Easy. Search her.
TONY: Boss.
GIBBS: Got it.
STONE: Very thorough, Special Agent…?
TONY: Tony DiNozzo. Well, you can’t be too careful, Special Agent…?
STONE: Melinda Stone. I.D.’s under the stereo.
TONY: You weren’t seriously going to let her shoot me, were you?
GIBBS: Nah.
TONY: You had a plan, right?
GIBBS: Yeah.
TONY: It’s the real deal.
GIBBS: Tell me about this op you’re running.
STONE: A-T-F knew they were moving a lot of illegal weapons. I figured we’d leave it open, see what crawled through. Put me in as Abe Hargrove’s daughter.
GIBBS: Where’s your backup?
STONE: You’re looking at it. We’re stretched as thin as everybody else since Nine Eleven.
GIBBS: Tell me about Staff Sergeant Grimm.
STONE: Who?
TONY: Thomas Grimm. Armorer at Quantico.
STONE: Never heard of him.
TONY: He placed seven calls here two days ago.
STONE: He said his name was Jeff Conklin. That he had access to high powered weapons.
GIBBS: What were you going to do with them?
STONE: Well, I was working with one of Abe Hargrove’s former buyers.
GIBBS: Who?
STONE: No name. All I had was a phone number and a voice. Since your armorer sent me digital stills, I set up the buy.
GIBBS: Did you ever see the weapons?
STONE: Mm-mm. He never showed up. Guess he got cold feet.
TONY: That’s not exactly how it went down. Thanks to a SMAW, he’s got cold everything now.
CUT TO:
EXT. TRAINING FIELD – DAY
(SFX: MORTAR EXPLOSIONS CONTINUE B.G.)
KATE: Staff Sergeant Rafael? Special Agent Todd, NCIS.
CUT TO:
EXT. DIRT ROAD – DAY
RAFAEL: (V.O.) Once the request is approved from Division, all non-operative weapons are reported to (ON CAMERA) DEMIL center in Crane, Indiana, on a NAVMC ten forty eight.
KATE: Then what?
RAFAEL: Inventory is transferred here to Camp Geiger and stored, pending orders for destruction.
KATE: Did you contact Indiana when you received the weapons?
RAFAEL: Yes, Ma'am. It’s procedure.
KATE: Did you contact them when Staff Sergeant Grimm brought his inventory here?
RAFAEL: Like I said, Ma'am, it’s procedure.
KATE: Yes, you did, Sergeant. But I’m asking specifically about the weapons Grimm signed out of Quantico three days ago.
RAFAEL: Ma'am, I am a Staff Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. I don’t know how it is at NCIS, but I follow all orders and procedures laid out for me under this command.
KATE: You still haven’t answered my question. Did you inspect Staff Sergeant Grimm’s manifest, sign for the weapons, and contact Indiana?
RAFAEL: Yes.
KATE: That wasn’t so hard, was it, Staff Sergeant?
RAFAEL: Will there be any more questions, Ma'am?
KATE: No. Not here. I want to see you in Washington. I’ll call your C.O. Find out what the procedures are.
TONY: (V.O.) I like a girl with spunk.
CUT TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM
STONE: Is that right?
TONY: First girl I ever kissed… kicked me right in the…
STONE: Way above the shins?
TONY: Painfully above.
STONE: Hmm. I hope you learned your lesson.
TONY: I did. Next time… I waited ‘til after she swallowed her Gummy Bear. (STONE GIGGLES)
GIBBS: DiNozzo! Agent Stone! You’re working with us on this. Call your office for verification. Not now. We found evidence on Grimm’s computer he was putting photos of his goods on the Internet, see what interest he could draw.
STONE: You think my buyer found him first?
GIBBS: I think it’s a possibility.
TONY: Cut out the middle man, save some dough. Only the dal went south somehow --
GIBBS: Yeah, well someone has still got enough firepower out to do some serious damage. DiNozzo, find us some weapons to sell.
TONY: On it.
GIBBS: Agent Stone, with me.
TONY: (MOUTHS) Go!
GIBBS: Call your buyer. Tell him you found a new supplier.
STONE: If my boss verifies that we’re working together.
GIBBS: This time you’ll bring your supplier. He’ll think you’re covering your ass.
STONE: The buyer won’t like it.
GIBBS: No, he won’t. But you’re gonna give him a background that checks out.
STONE: Will Agent DiNozzo be the supplier again?
GIBBS: Well, unfortunately, it looks like DiNozzo doesn’t fit the profile. He’s more scumbag type.
KATE: Gibbs.
GIBBS: Special Agent Todd. Special Agent Stone. A-T-F. She’ll be working with us on this.
STONE: Possibly.
GIBBS: Give me a minute.
KATE: Two things. McGee checked out Corporal Patty McClain’s alibi. Her boyfriend shipped to Iraq just like she said. When Grimm was killed, they were shacked up in a motel.
GIBBS: Second thing?
KATE: Staff Sergeant Raphael’s holding out. I can feel it in my gut.
GIBBS: Guts are good.
KATE: He’s having a little time-out in the interrogation room, so when you’re ready I’ll go over all my notes with you.
GIBBS: Got to work up an I.D. with Abby. I’m afraid Staff Sergeant Raphael is all yours.
KATE: You always do the interrogations, Gibbs.
GIBBS: Not this one.
CUT TO:
INT. NCIS LAB – DAY
(MUSIC PLAYS B.G.)
GIBBS: Abs, I need an I.D.
ABBY: There’s a lot of that going around. Is this the A-T-F lady who’s working with us?
STONE: News travels fast around here.
GIBBS: You have no idea.
ABBY: Shoot.
GIBBS: Arms dealer. Ex-military.
ABBY: D.D.?
GIBBS: Honorable discharge. Give me a medal.
ABBY: Silver?
GIBBS: Bronze.
ABBY: Silver would be better. You’re more of a winter. You never had your colors done, did you?
GIBBS: Not unless I was unconscious.
ABBY: Your colors are arranged seasonally based on your skin tone. You’re a winter. Bronze is more of an autumn. It’s important, Gibbs.
GIBBS: I’m sure it is.
ABBY: You scoff but there’s scientific…
GIBBS: (OVERLAP) Silver’s will be fine, Abs.
ABBY: Wise choice. Okay, your work history.
GIBBS: Civilian contractor. Nicaragua, Nepal, Greece.
ABBY: Kazakhstan – that would be a good addition.
STONE: Another winter thing?
ABBY: Don’t be silly, A-T-F lady.
GIBBS: Abs, leave a few gaps. Don’t make it so neat.
ABBY: Please, Gibbs. I’ve been making fake I.D.s since I was fifteen. What kind of name do you want?
GIBBS: Anything but Gus.
CUT TO:
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM
RAFAEL: Are we gonna do this, Ma'am?
KATE: You were paired with Grimm at the Armorer’s school in Aberdeen, is that right?
RAFAEL: Four months training starting June, oh-two. Spent ten hours a day learning maintenance, repair and evaluation.
KATE: Were you and Grimm close outside of school?
RAFAEL: We had a few beers on the weekends…. along with other guys from our class.
KATE: What about now? Few beers on the weekends?
RAFAEL: No, Ma'am.
KATE: Talk on the phone?
RAFAEL: No, Ma'am.
KATE: (INTO PHONE) I’m going to need the last three months of Staff Sergeant Raphael’s phone records faxed over from Camp Geiger. Thanks.
RAFAEL: We talk a little. It doesn’t make me a criminal.
KATE: What do you talk about? Sports? Girls?
RAFAEL: Yeah.
KATE: Guns?
RAFAEL: Sometimes we talk work. That involves weapons.
KATE: We found Staff Sergeant Grimm’s body yesterday. He’d been blown apart by a weapon – a SMAW. The serial number on the SMAW that killed him matches the inventory on his NAVMC ten forty eight, a copy of which you signed and sent to Crane. Now, how can this weapon be at Camp Geiger, but not be there.
RAFAEL: Stuff gets misplaced once in a while.
KATE: So you stand by what’s on your report?
RAFAEL: I have no reason not to.
CUT TO:
INT. LAB – DAY
(MUSIC B.G.)
GIBBS: Make your call.
CUT TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM – DAY
STONE: The buyer shows a group of abandoned factory buildings somewhere in the middle of nowhere.
TONY: Smart. They’d spot backup anywhere close.
STONE: Yeah.
GIBBS: Our cell phones have G-P-S technology. They’ll take them, sweep us for a signal, make sure we’re not wired.
STONE: So what’s that?
GIBBS: It’s a locator. I won’t activate it unless they move us.
TONY: Very James Bond. Does it tell time, too?
GIBBS: You can lay back and track us from a safe distance.
CUT TO:
EXT. INDUSTRIAL AREA – NIGHT
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/CAR BRAKES TO A STOP)
(SFX: PHONE RINGS)
STONE: (INTO PHONE) Yeah? (BEGIN TELEPHONE INTERCUTS)
(SCENE CUT)
TONY: (INTO PHONE) Team’s in place.
STONE: (V.O./FILTERED) Good.
TONY: (INTO PHONE) Tell Gibbs not to forget it’s the first two M-P Fives on the left that have live clips.
(SCENE CUT)
STONE: (INTO PHONE) Tell him yourself.
TONY: (V.O./FILTERED) I already told him four times. I think he’s annoyed.
(SCENE CUT)
TONY: (INTO PHONE) It’s his left when he’s looking down at the crate with the barrels pointing…
(SCENE CUT)
STONE: (INTO PHONE) Away from him. He knows.
TONY: (V.O./FILTERED) Well, yeah. Okay, just remind him that it’s…
(SCENE CUT)
TONY: (INTO PHONE) …the top layer of the ammo cache that’s live. Because the rest is--
(SCENE CUT)
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Hey, DiNozzo! Get off the line.
(SCENE CUT)
TONY: (INTO PHONE) Oh, okay. Good luck, boss. (END TELEPHONE INTERCUTS)
CUT TO:
EXT. INDUSTRIAL AREA – NIGHT
(SFX: LIGHTS CLICK ON)
ASSISTANT: (V.O.) Hands!
COOKE: (V.O.) Keep them up. Check ‘em.
MEMBER: He’s clean.
COOKE: You got my package?
GIBBS: Yeah, they’re right here.
COOKE: Keys.
STONE: Where’s our money?
COOKE: You’ll get your money when we test the weapons. Let’s go! Move.
MEMBER: Cell phones in the bag. Wallet, jewelry and watches, too.
GIBBS: Are we gonna get a receipt for this?
MEMBER: Get in. (SFX: HUMMERS DRIVE O.S.)
(MUSIC OUT)
MUSIC IN:
INT. HUMVEE – MOVING
STONE: Are we gonna drive to Delaware to do this?
GIBBS: Do you guys have a website? Nowadays militia groups have websites. All kinds of links to buy merchandise. You can buy coffee cups, sweatshirts, caps. It even has the Militia Babe Calendar.
(SFX: GIBBS CHUCKLES)
(SFX: TIRES SCREECH TO A STOP)
COOKE: The only calendar we have is one that marks the days ‘til the U.S. Government takes away our last Constitutional freedom. And when that day comes, and some Federal cop puts a Glock to your head ‘cause he doesn’t like your jokes, think about us.
GIBBS: I’m thinking about you now.
CUT TO:
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM – NIGHT
KATE: Here’s what I think, Staff Sergeant. Your Marine buddy called you with a proposition too good to refuse. All you had to do was sign for weapons that were useless. They were going to be destroyed. Didn’t seem like such a terrible thing to do, did it? You’re going to do time. How much depends on a number of things including what kind of cooperation I tell the JAG prosecutors you gave me.
(KATE TAKES OUT THE PHOTO)
KATE: I wonder if this were you, how you’d appreciate another Marine not speaking up to get your killer? I’ll be back to read your charges and your Article Thirty One rights.
RAFAEL: I never thought anyone would get hurt. It was only going to be one time. We were never going to do it again.
KATE: Grimm approached you?
RAFAEL: We met at a bar and it seemed pretty foolproof. All I had to do was sign weapons in and make some cash.
KATE: It was a good deal for both of you.
RAFAEL: It was a good deal for all three of us.
KATE: Three?
CUT TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM – NIGHT
KATE: McGee.
MCGEE: Kate, I realized it. I’d overlooked something in the search program. Late transfers to the school systems aren’t always--
KATE: Tell me how you checked Corporal McClain’s alibi.
MCGEE: I called Army C-I-D to verify her boyfriend was shipped out to Iraq.
KATE: The motel part.
MCGEE: Oh, uh… Corporal McClain says she spent the night of Staff Sergeant Grimm’s death at the Two Moon Motel on U.S. One with her boyfriend.
KATE: You went?
MCGEE: Well, I called. That wasn’t right? I should have gone in person.
KATE: McGee, can you put your insecurities on hold for just a few seconds.
MCGEE: I can.
KATE: What did the clerk say?
MCGEE: Corporal Thomas McKenzie signed for a room at nineteen hundred with a woman who matched Corporal McClain’s description.
KATE: You faxed him a photo?
MCGEE: Well, I hadn’t received it from Quantico yet.
KATE: When you did receive it?
MCGEE: I guess I got a little involved with this.
(KATE RUSHES FROM THE ROOM)
CUT TO:
INT. ABANDONED CLOTHING MILL – NIGHT
COOKE: Get out!
(SFX: CAR DOOR CLOSES)
STONE: What do you say we try not to push his buttons this time?
GIBBS: I’ll do my best.
CUT TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM – NIGHT
KATE: (INTO PHONE) Thank you. (TO MCGEE) The hotel clerk said that the fax photo of Corporal McClain is not the woman that Army Corporal McKenzie checked in with.
MCGEE: No, that was Corporal McKenzie on the SAT phone in Iraq. They broke up a month ago.
KATE: Let’s go.
MCGEE: Will… will Gibbs have to know about this?
KATE: McGee, I can’t think about your ass right now.
MCGEE: I… understand. What about DiNozzo?
(SFX: ELEVATOR DINGS/DOORS SLIDE OPEN/KATE TURNS AWAY
MCGEE:(softly) Right.
CUT TO:
INT. CLOTHING MILL – NIGHT
COOKE: I could get one of these at Wal-Mart.
GIBBS: If you don’t want them, fine. Take us back.
COOKE: I didn’t say that. M-P Five is a good weapon. But these are the single fire model. I was told they’d be full auto.
GIBBS: They are. The trigger grips have been replaced with the military variant. Why do you think you’re getting such a good price on them? I could demonstrate.
COOKE: We’ll handle that.
GIBBS: Suit yourself.
(SFX: RAPID GUNFIRE)
COOKE: Three fifty per unit.
STONE: Five.
COOKE: Five’s too rich.
STONE: I’m paying him three seventy five.
COOKE: Pay him less.
STONE: Four fifty.
COOKE: The art of compromise. My M-sixties in there?
GIBBS: Echo Threes.
COOKE: They don’t make a single shot version of this. Price?
STONE: Grand per.
COOKE: Good price. What if I wanted something heavier?
GIBBS: How heavy are you talking about?
COOKE: Armor piercing ammo, heavy caliber machineguns, rockets.
GIBBS: Let me see what I can do.
COOKE: Let’s take this for a little test drive then we’ll do our deal.
GIBBS: I didn’t bring any ammo.
COOKE: Not a problem. We did. You’d be surprised how much we have in common with the Boy Scouts.
(SFX: MUNITION CLICKS B.G.)
COOKE: Get me another one.
MEMBER: Yes, Sir.
(SFX: MUNITION CLICKS B.G.)
COOKE: No firing pins. (SHOUTS) No firing pins!
GIBBS: Look, I know you’re pissed, okay? I’m pissed too! Wait! My supplier ripped me off!
COOKE: You didn’t know?
GIBBS: No, I did not know. Just pay me for the M-P Fives and let’s call it a night. Considering the circumstances, let’s lower the price. Fifty dollars a unit, all right?
COOKE: How about free?
(SFX: GUNSHOT)
(GIBBS FALLS TO THE GROUND)
ROBERTS: You tried to screw me.
STONE: No. No. He did. I can get you the weapons you need.
COOKE: I want them now.
(SFX: TELEPHONE BEEP TONES)
STONE: (INTO PHONE) I have a buyer. But we have to do it tonight.
CUT TO:
EXT. CONTAINERS – NIGHT
(SFX: CAR BRAKES TO A STOP)
(CONTAINER DOORS OPEN)
KATE: I’ll bet it was a lot easier when Staff Sergeant Grimm was helping. They say when you’re about to die, your life flashes before you. Is it the same when you’re being arrested for murder, Corporal?
MCCLAIN: What murder?
KATE: Cuff her, McGee.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. WAREHOUSE – NIGHT
STONE: They’ll be here.
COOKE: I hope so, for your sake.
(SFX: PHONE RINGS)
COOKE: (INTO PHONE) Yeah. Great. (TO GIBBS) Time for NCIS to stop lying down on the job.
(GIBBS STANDS)
GIBBS: I learned everything I know from A-T-F.
COOKE: Special Agent Todd just informed me Corporal Patty McClain and the weapons are in custody.
AGENT: (V.O.) Okay, cuff her.
TONY: Agent Stone.
STONE: Agent Dinozzo. I didn’t see this coming.
GIBBS: That was kind of the plan.
COOKE: We’ve been watching you since your last op. Too many things didn’t add up.
TONY: You killed Staff Sergeant Grimm, didn’t you?
STONE: No. Corporal McClain did. They got in an argument over his cut and she blew him away.
GIBBS: What do you want to bet she’s going to say the same thing?
STONE: It doesn’t really matter. I’m screwed either way.
CUT TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM – DAY
TONY: I really liked her.
KATE: (READS) A-T-F Agent involved in illegal weapons and murder, what’s not to like?
TONY: So quick to judge, Kate. Sure she has flaws. Sure she’s going to prison. But my instincts told me she had good qualities as well.
KATE: Two of them wouldn’t happen to live under her shirt, would they?
TONY: You’re not going to believe this, but when it comes to women, I actually look for more… complex things under the surface.
KATE: Really?
TONY: Really.
KATE: Like when you were tonguing that he/she a week ago. Lots of complex things under that surface.
TONY: I gotta go.
(TONY WALKS O.S.)
GIBBS: What’s wrong with DiNozzo?
KATE: He’s conflicted.
(CUT TO BLACK)
(MUSIC UP OVER ENDING CREDITS AND OUT)
* * * * * * * *
Prepared by C.C. Printed in USA
Calvert Continuities Aired 5/11/04