MUSIC IN:
INT. HOTEL DINING AREA – DAY
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/CAMERA PANS AROUND THE GUESTS)
(SFX: ZIVA SLAPS TONY)
TONY: Ow!
ZIVA: We’re not here to eat. We’re here to protect the Director.
TONY: Ziva, this is probably the most secure building in the whole country right now. CIA, DSS, ATF, F.B.I… the whole alphabet’s here. Not to mention State Troopers, Metro Cops and NCIS’ finest….me. (BEAT) And you. But “me” is hungry. These are public servants like us. This is free food.
ZIVA: Some are defense contractors.
TONY: Beltway Bandits who make a career of standing in front of the public trough.
ZIVA: Politicians.
TONY: Have you ever seen a skinny politician?
ZIVA: Too late. Our guest of honor has just arrived.
CONVENOR’S: (V.O.) Ladies and gentlemen, the retiring Secretary of Defense of the United States of America!
(SFX: APPLAUSE)
TONY: I’m going to get something to eat.
(SFX: VOICES MURMUR B.G.)
ZIVA: (SHOUTS) Director!
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/ZIVA RUNS TO SHEPARD/ KNOCKS HER OUT OF HARM’S WAY)
(SFX: VOICES B.G.)
(MUSIC UP AND OUT)
(THEME MUSIC UP OVER OPENING TITLE/SCENES/ CREDITS AND OUT)
MUSIC IN:
INT. DINING AREA – DAY
“ONCE A HERO”
TONY: Exactly thirty seven minutes…
POLICEMAN: Yeah, that’ll do.
SHEPARD: Good morning, Gibbs. McGee.
GIBBS: Director Shepard.
SHEPARD: Our gatecrasher was a Marine. Sergeant Brian Wright. The hotel was in lockdown and he wasn’t a registered guest. He took a dive from up there somewhere. SecDef staff are worried that it was an attempt on the life of their boss.
GIBBS: Are we worried?
SHEPARD: If it was an assassination attempt, he’s a lousy assassin. He used his body as a weapon and missed by seventy-five feet. (V.O.) Ducky’s doing the preliminaries. I’ve got Tony liaisoning between Metro (ON CAMERA) and hotel management. And we have a witness. Andy Nelson. Ziva’s with him. He’s an aide to a congressman. Nelson claims he was attacked by the deceased on the sixth floor just before the incident.
GIBBS: Do you believe him?
SHEPARD: He works for a politician. What do you think? I’m officially handing over. I’ve got my own fires to put out. This happened in our backyard. It’s making a lot of people nervous. I’d appreciate a quick result on this one.
(SHEPARD WALKS O.S.)
MCGEE: The question is, did he jump or was he pushed? Guess that’s what we’re here to find out.
GIBBS: Go.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
EXT. HOTEL – DAY
NELSON: Enough. It’s okay.
ZIVA: Mister Nelson has been explaining how he got injured.
NELSON: He just came at me. He hit me. I fell down and he ran away.
GIBBS: Did you see him fall?
NELSON: I just got out of there. I was down in the lobby to report it when he fell.
ZIVA: Why were you on the sixth floor?
NELSON: I was delivering a briefing paper to a defense contractor in one of the suites. Norforce Systems. I was walking towards the elevator.
GIBBS: Did you see him before?
GETZ: Every day. Congressman Getz. (BEAT) Well not the deceased, just sad souls like him. The homeless.
ZIVA: Unconfirmed.
GETZ: And a war veteran, or we’d be talking to Metro Police and not NCIS, Agent…
GIBBS: Special Agent Gibbs, and he was a Marine.
GETZ: We need to do more to help the ones who come back broken.
GIBBS: Yes, you do.
GETZ: Let’s get that X-rayed, Andy. Unless Agent Gibbs has more questions about this unfortunate incident.
(GETZ AND NELSON WALK O.S.)
ZIVA: Did I just miss something?
GIBBS: The Congressman thinks our Marine was crazy and jumped.
CUT TO:
INT. HOTEL DINING AREA – DAY
GIBBS: Dinozzo…
TONY: Boss?
GIBBS: Stop eating the evidence.
TONY: Right, Boss.
GIBBS: Got preliminaries?
DUCKY: I find the ones who fall are the saddest. Such a long last moment to contemplate one’s end. And no chance to change one’s mind. Well, the injuries are consistent with a fall. But scraped knuckles, possibly in a fight before he went over the edge. Missing a shoe, no wallet, although he had some dollars in his pocket. And a begging note asking for help. The only real surprise is this…. a Bronze Star for valor.
GIBBS: And a Purple Heart.
DUCKY: Two Marine Stars, that means he was wounded three times in battle. I can’t tell you why he died, but I can perhaps tell you how he lived. The man was a hero.
(SFX: CELL PHONE RINGS)
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Yeah, Gibbs.
MCGEE: (V.O./FILTERED) Hey, Boss. (INTO PHONE/FILTERED) I think this is where he launched. (INTO PHONE) Shoe must have come off when he went over the side.
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Okay.
ZIVA: Nelson said he was back downstairs when Wright fell. The question is, what was Sergeant Wright doing?
TONY: Deciding whether to jump.
GIBBS: Photographs?
TONY: Got it.
GIBBS: Dinozzo. The stairs.
ZIVA: Maybe the congressman was right. Maybe Sergeant Wright was crazy and jumped.
GIBBS: Or the Director was right. Politicians lie.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM – DAY
MCGEE: (INTO PHONE) And we will need a copy of his medical records.
ZIVA: You’re disgusting. How can you eat that?
TONY: You see, Ziva, the human body is a finely tuned engine. None more finely tuned than mine. Even the best engine needs oil.
GIBBS: Dinozzo.
TONY: Boss?
GIBBS: Anything from the hotel registry?
TONY: Seven hundred and two names. None of them Sergeant Wright.
GIBBS: Ziva, the congressman’s aide…
ZIVA: Single. No criminal record. He worked for the congressman for the past seven years, and according to Norforce Systems, a briefing paper from the congressman’s office was delivered to their suite, but they can’t put a time on it.
MCGEE: Boss, I just got off the phone with Wright’s doctor in Bethesda. He did two tours in Iraq. He was wounded three times. Last time was the worst. His Humvee was hit by an IUD. Suffered shrapnel wounds to the head. He’s been on medical leave for four months, but according to the hospital records, he’s missed his last three weekly appointments.
GIBBS: No one noticed?
MCGEE: Said he fell through the cracks.
GIBBS: Family?
MCGEE: Divorced. No kids. His doctor said he stayed with friends, at hostels. Sometimes on the street.
ZIVA: What kind of doctor?
MCGEE: Psychiatrist.
ZIVA: Treated for?
MCGEE: Depression.
TONY: Some way to treat a war hero.
MCGEE: I thought Marines looked after their own?
ZIVA: How does a homeless man get past the security agents, local cops, hotel staff, into a locked-down building?
GIBBS: Well, maybe he was already there.
CUT TO:
INT. HALLWAY – DAY
GIBBS: Luis Romero.
ROMERO: Yeah.
GIBBS: Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS.
ROMERO: Is this about the jumper?
GIBBS: So you saw him jump?
ROMERO: No.
GIBBS: But you saw him.
ROMERO: No.
MCGEE: Corporal Luis Romero, United States Marine Corps. One tour, Afghanistan. Honorable discharge eighteen months ago. Since then, hotel maintenance supervisor.
ROMERO: So I’m a former Marine. Lot of guys are.
MCGEE: Not at this hotel.
GIBBS: We look after our own, don’t we, Luis?
ROMERO: All right. We served in the same unit three years ago. He didn’t have a place to sleep.
MCGEE: So where did you put him?
ROMERO: Oh, we always got a couple rooms down for maintenance. Didn’t see any harm in it.
MCGEE: How long had he been here?
ROMERO: A couple times a week for the last month. Didn’t cause any trouble. Semper fi, you know?
GIBBS: Show us the room.
CUT TO:
INT. HOTEL ROOM – DAY
(SFX: ELECTRONIC BEEP)
(DOOR OPENS)
MCGEE: Wait at the door, please. Anyone else been in here?
ROMERO: No, just him.
MARIA: (V.O./FILTERED) Luis! Luis!
ROMERO: (INTO PHONE) Yeah.
MARIA: (V.O./FILTERED IN SPANISH) Something’s happened! You need to come here quickly!
ROMERO: Um… something’s happened!
(MUSIC OVER ACTION)
CUT TO:
INT. HALLWAY – DAY
MARIA: (IN SPANISH) I don’t believe it! I don’t believe it! Luis, there! There in the room. In the bed. Mother of God…
(GIBBS AND MCGEE WALK INTO THE ROOM)
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. LIMO – MOVING
SHEPARD: (INTO PHONE) I understand, Chief, but we believe the two cases are linked.
CUT TO:
INT. HOTEL ROOM – DAY
CHIEF: (V.O./FILTERED) Do they have any proof?
SHEPARD: (V.O./INTO PHONE) No, not yet. We’re still collecting evidence.
CHIEF: (V.O./FILTERED) They’ll send us a report?
SHEPARD: (V.O./INTO PHONE) Yes, absolutely.
CHIEF: (V.O./FILTERED) Okay.
CUT TO:
INT. LIMO – DAY
SHEPARD: (INTO PHONE) And if anything changes, we will hand over everything we have.
CUT TO:
INT. HOTEL ROOM – DAY
CHIEF: (V.O./FILTERED) So if you can’t tie them together, you’ll turn it over to my people?
SHEPARD: (INTO PHONE) That’s right. And cause of death hasn’t been determined yet, either.
CHIEF: (V.O./FILTERED) Fair enough. Let me know.
CUT TO:
INT. LIMO – DAY
SHEPARD: (INTO PHONE) Thank you, Chief. I will.
CHIEF: (V.O./FILTERED) Thank you. (SFX: MUFFLED HANG UP)
SHEPARD: (INTO PHONE) Did you get all that, Jethro? (BEGIN TELEPHONE INTERCUTS)
(SCENE CUT)
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Got it.
SHEPARD: (V.O./FILTERED) Metro Police will want to see results.
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Add them to the list.
(SCENE CUT)
SHEPARD: (INTO PHONE) It’s a long list.
(SCENE CUT)
SHEPARD: (V.O./FILTERED) And it’s getting longer.
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Working on it. (END TELEPHONE INTERCUTS)
CUT TO:
INT. HOTEL ROOM – DAY
ZIVA: There’s something on her cheek. Looks like saliva. Kiss and kill.
MCGEE: No bag. Maybe the killer took it.
ZIVA: Maybe she just didn’t have a bag.
MCGEE: Every woman has a bag.
ZIVA: Do I have a bag, McGee?
MCGEE: No, but you’re not a … well, I mean, you’re a woman. You’re just… you’re not…. not a normal…. (BEAT) You are right. Every woman does not have a bag.
GIBBS: How old?
ZIVA: No I.D. No pocketbook. And no bag, either.
TONY: The room was booked to Michael Lo. Sounds Asian. Single occupancy. Room was paid for in cash in advance.
MCGEE: Sounds fake.
TONY: They’re going to review the security tapes, and send us what they’ve got.
MCGEE: Boss?
GIBBS: Mister Romero, recognize this?
ROMERO: It’s um… the keycard I gave Sergeant Wright. It’s a master key. It opens up every room in the hotel.
(MUSIC UP AND OUT)
MUSIC IN:
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
ZIVA: Are you okay?
TONY: Never better.
ZIVA: You look run-over.
TONY: The term is rundown. I do?
ZIVA: Maybe you need servicing.
TONY: Clearly, we’re still having some problems with the idiosyncrasies of the English language.
ZIVA: The finely tuned engine, I think you called it. You should see a doctor.
(SFX: CELL PHONE RINGS)
TONY: (INTO PHONE) Hello? Hi! Yeah. No, it’s not a bad time. This afternoon would be great. Well, I will see you then. Okay, ‘bye.
ZIVA: Two cell phones, huh?
TONY: Uh… one for each ear. No, it’s a spare. This one has sort of been on the fritz. That’s another word you probably don’t know the meaning of.
ZIVA: Act up?
TONY: I’m impressed. Uh… all right. I’m heading out. Going to see the doctor…. about being run-over. Down.
ZIVA: Don’t forget Fritz.
TONY: Oh!!
CUT TO:
INT. ABBY'S LAB - DAY
ABBY: Fingerprints solve ten times more cases than DNA. Did you know that, McGee?
MCGEE: Yeah, I told you.
ABBY: You did?
MCGEE: Yeah.
ABBY: You did! You gotta love fingerprints. Especially this one from the keycard. A pristine index with the almost perfect whorl and three… I mean, count them, three, McGee, equally spaced deltas. Ah… it’s a work of art. Then we have the short and curlies. The hair. There’s no follicle, and no DNA. So I am checking it for drug history. If it is Sergeant Wright’s, considering his extensive medical records, this should read like a drugstore inventory. And if it doesn’t, he ain’t our man.
MCGEE: What price valor?
ABBY: Eighteen bucks. For real. I looked it up on eBay. Bronze Star. Eighteen bucks.
MCGEE: No wonder he got depressed and started living on the streets. And begging. One minute you’re a hero, the next you’re a…
ABBY: Suspect. But don’t give up on him yet, McGee.
MCGEE: Whoa.
ABBY: Where’s Gibbs?
(PASSAGE OF TIME)
GIBBS: What am I looking at?
ABBY: Nothing.
GIBBS: Nothing? Nothing’s good, right?
MCGEE: Oh, yeah. Nothing is very good.
ABBY: If this was Wright’s hair, it would be like looking into a window of his drug history. But all this shows is…
GIBBS: Unknown trace elements.
ABBY: Too minute to be picked up by the mass spec equipment. So it’s probably not Wright‘s.
MCGEE: Oh, we can’t be sure they’re not there, unless we get a better microscope.
ABBY: We’re talking nano-particles, here, Gibbs. We need a…
MCGEE: An infrared microspectroscopy unit. It’s the only thing that gets down to the nano level.
GIBBS: Okay, get one.
MCGEE: They cost about a hundred grand.
GIBBS: Yeah, so?
SHEPARD: So it’s not in the budget. Maybe next year.
GIBBS: She needs one now!
SHEPARD: Sorry.
ABBY: I could haggle. My Uncle Horace, he was a great haggler. They used to call him Horace-the-Haggler. (LONG BEAT) Or I could borrow one. (LONG BEAT) I’ll try and borrow one.
(SFX: COMPUTER MESSAGE TONE)
ABBY: It’s the fingerprint from the keycard.
MCGEE: Oh, that’s not good. It puts him in the dead girl’s room.
SHEPARD: Sorry, Jethro.
GIBBS: Find out who owns that. (TO SHEPARD) Come on.
SHEPARD: Don’t start. Do you know how many people want money for things?
GIBBS: Did I say anything?
(SHEPARD AND GIBBS WALK O.S.)
MCGEE: How are you going to get loaned an infrared microspectroscopy unit?
ABBY: Good question, McGee. Good question.
CUT TO:
EXT. STREET – DAY
JEANNE: I love window shopping. How about you?
TONY: Oh, yeah. Me, too. (BEAT) Only when I’m with you.
JEANNE: Cold?
TONY: It’s invigorating.
JEANNE: Chilly?
TONY: Freezing.
JEANNE: Oh, poor Tony. I dragged you out here to go window shopping. Next time maybe you should choose.
TONY: Hot tub.
JEANNE: I know something else we can do to stay warm.
TONY: Really?
JEANNE: Mmm.
TONY: I wonder what that could be?
VENDOR: (V.O.) One cappuccino, one latte.
TONY: Coffee?
JEANNE: Mmm. Dancing.
TONY: Dancing? Dancing would make you warm.
JEANNE: Then tonight we dance.
TONY: Tonight.
JEANNE: Don’t tell me you have to work.
TONY: Tonight dancing, tomorrow work.
JEANNE: You don’t seem too happy about that.
TONY: I’m worried.
JEANNE: Worried about what?
TONY: Well, we’re going dancing tonight, and I haven’t got a thing to wear.
JEANNE: Has anyone ever told you you’re an idiot?
TONY: Yeah, my boss, all the time.
JEANNE: Hmm.
CUT TO:
INT. CONVENTION CENTER – DAY
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/ABBY WALKS THROUGH THE FAIR)
ABBY: Oh, I’m sorry.
MAN: Sorry.
ABBY: Yes!
PEARSON: Just leave it on the table.
(SFX: ABBY PLACES THE CUP ON THE TABLE)
PEARSON: That’s not juice.
ABBY: Well, the coffee bean comes from the coffee cherry. So that’s technically a fruit. So the case could be made that coffee is more fruit than bean. It’s coffee… juice. Caf-pow.
PEARSON: Caf-pow?
ABBY: Yeah. Two words hyphenated in the middle.
PEARSON: Can I help you with something?
ABBY: I was hoping to get a demonstration of your infrared microspectroscopy unit.
PEARSON: You don’t work here.
ABBY: Like this place would hire me?
PEARSON: Sorry. I’ll set up a sample.
ABBY: No, no. I have one. I brought my own. See, I work for NCIS in D.C. But we don’t have anything that can get down to the nanogram level, which is what I need to figure out what the hell is going on with my sample. You don’t mind that I said hell, do you?
PEARSON: Hell, no.
ABBY: Oh, good. I mean, some people do. And then you get into the whole hell, and death and dying mortality thing. It freaks them out. Can you help me?
PEARSON: If you want to leave it with me.
ABBY: No, no! I can’t. Chain of evidence. I have to do it with you. Not with you, but alongside you. I have to be with you. I have to ….be with you while you do it. While you test it.
PEARSON: I normally like to know who it is I’m working with. Marty Pearson.
ABBY: Abby Sciuto.
PEARSON: Nanograms, eh?
ABBY: Yes. Pesky little nanograms.
PEARSON: Is that a--?
ABBY: Yes, it is.
PEARSON: Cool!
CUT TO:
INT. AUTOPSY ROOM - DAY
(SFX: DOORS SLIDE OPEN)
(SFX: DRAWERS SLIDE OPEN/ CLOSED)
LEE: Wright, Sergeant Brian. Records, medical.
DUCKY: Oh, splendid. Uh… I’m a little post autopsy. Mister Palmer will sign it.
LEE: Sure.
DUCKY: We must get you down here more often, Agent Lee. There’s always room for another bright young mind. Not that there’s anything wrong with the legal department. It’s an essential cog in the engine, so to speak. It can’t be much fun for a hands-on type like you.
GIBBS: You think? (LONG BEAT) Done?
DUCKY: Done indeed. Intrigue, mystery, and a surprise or two. Yes, I’ve estimated our victim’s age at about fourteen. Death was due to strangulation. She had bleeding in her throat, and the hyoid bone was fractured. There’s some bruising on the sternum that has me a bit puzzled. Possibly postmortem…
(DRAWER OPENS)
GIBBS: Conscious?
DUCKY: Well, superficial scratching and ante mortem bruising suggests that she put up a struggle of sorts. But toxicology indicates that she was drugged… and for some time.
GIBBS: Hours?
DUCKY: Well, possibly days. There are traces of sedatives, and Rohypnol, the drug of choice for date rapists. And before you ask the question… yes. She was. But he must have worn a condom. The really good news is that I’ve identified her.
GIBBS: By name?
DUCKY: No, by country. She’s Chinese. Yes, you’re less than impressed. But what if I told you that four weeks ago she was working on the family farm in a coastal region of southern China? In Fujian Province, to be precise.
GIBBS: Well, now you have my attention, Doctor.
DUCKY: It was her extremities that gave her away. The Chinese dentistry is quite distinctive. Her dental work is very new…. five, or maybe six weeks ago. And … her feet are calloused, indicates that she was a farm worker. We also found traces of chromium six in her digestive tract. It’s a bi-product of chlorate. It causes cancer and respiratory problems. Guess where the biggest chlorate chemical factory is in Asia?
GIBBS: Fujian Province.
DUCKY: Well, there you have it. The body as road map.
GIBBS: Anything else?
DUCKY: Yes. Her likely killer Sergeant Brian Wright. We had a positive DNA match from the saliva we swabbed from her. I’m afraid our hero is more than a little tarnished. (SFX: DRAWER OPENS)
(MUSIC OUT)
MUSIC IN:
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
MCGEE: How does a homeless guy who’s staying illegally in a hotel order room service?
TONY: This wouldn’t be a trick question, would it, Probie?
MCGEE: No.
TONY: He calls room service.
MCGEE: (INTO PHONE) Room service, hi. This is the homeless guy staying illegally in room six-oh-seven. Yes, the room shut down for maintenance. I’d like to order some breakfast.
TONY: That was definitely a trick question.
MCGEE: So give me a tricky answer.
TONY: Somebody brought it to him.
MCGEE: Not very tricky. I’ve got to talk to Ducky.
(SFX: TONY MIMICS MCGEE)
(SFX: ZIVA PLACES THE CASSETTES ON TONY’S DESK)
TONY: What is with everybody today? (READS) Hallway camera D. The title needs work. Who’s in it?
ZIVA: Hopefully the Asian guy who booked the room. Looks like the doctor kept you…
TONY: Busy waiting room. Lot of sleeping sickness going around. Or lack-of- sleeping sickness.
GIBBS: Ducky thinks our victim is a Chinese National, probably in the country less than a few weeks.
TONY: Well, her fingerprints drew a negative on the immigration database. So she’s here illegally.
ZIVA: Smuggled in. Maybe for the sex trade. Asian, cute, underage.
TONY: It’s a goldmine! Pimp pays cash, sets her up in a room during a nice big convention, feeds her clients.
ZIVA: And then one of them kills her.
GIBBS: Sergeant Wright doesn’t fit that profile.
ZIVA: Wright didn’t need to pay to get into the room. He had a magic key. He saw an opportunity. He took it. Perhaps because of his mental state he lost control. And afterwards, regret, and he took his own life.
TONY: Fits the facts, Boss.
GIBBS: Only the facts we know, Dinozzo. Any word from Abby?
TONY: Not a peep.
CUT TO:
INT. CONVENTION CENTER – DAY
ABBY: I’ve got to get one of these babies.
PEARSON: Looks like trace elements of aluminum hydroxide and formalin.
ABBY: Aluminum hydroxide stimulates the immune system. And formalin is a preservative.
PEARSON: It’s also used to initiate antibody formation in vaccines. (BEAT) Did I just say something funny?
ABBY: No. No. I just… it’s just that we’re having this conversation about stuff that usually makes people run screaming from the room. But we’re talking about it like it was last night’s football game. You don’t like football, do you?
PEARSON: No.
ABBY: Oh, good. It’s just nice that you understand without having to go find a dictionary. You said vaccines?
PEARSON: I said vaccines.
ABBY: That’s got to be it. The vaccine for what?
PEARSON: Aluminum hydroxide is used as an adjuvant in Hepatitis A and Lyme Disease.
ABBY: There’s traces of chloride.
PEARSON: Not just any old chloride. Benzethonium chloride. It’s a preservative.
ABBY: Aluminum hydroxide, formalin, and benzethonium chloride. I know that combination.
PEARSON: How do you know that combination?
ABBY: I don’t know. It must have come through my lab or something.
PEARSON: The only thing I can think of using benzethonium chloride for as a preservative is… anthrax vaccine.
ABBY: Ooh, anthrax. Breathe in the spores and you die.
PEARSON: You don’t have an unhealthy obsession with death now, do you?
ABBY: Oh, no. No. It’s just a hobby. Anthrax vaccine. That’s why I knew it. I got one right here. Ow. Pain memory response.
PEARSON: So… good or bad for your Marine?
ABBY: It’s bad. Very bad. A lot of Marines were vaccinated for anthrax after Nine Eleven. I have to make a phone call.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. ABBY'S LAB - DAY
MCGEE: Boss, hey.
GIBBS: Sergeant Wright’s autopsy report?
MCGEE: Yeah. I was checking something. Something didn’t fit. It’s just a theory. But it’s about what Wright ate.
GIBBS: What did he eat?
MCGEE: Nothing. Not since the night before. I asked Ducky. But the room service tray on the bed was half-finished. Which raises another question. How did he get room service if he wasn’t supposed to be in a room in the first place?
GIBBS: Yeah, go on.
MCGEE: People leave trays outside their doors. I think that he found one that was half finished. He took it back to his room. Something must have happened before he could eat it. Wright’s begging note.
GIBBS: Or somebody else’s.
MCGEE: Hidden under a plate on the tray. And he found it. Must be why he went back to the room. Once a hero, always a hero.
(SFX: CELL PHONE RINGS)
MCGEE: (INTO PHONE) McGee. (BEGIN TELEPHONE INTERCUTS)
(SCENE CUT)
ABBY: (INTO PHONE) McGee, it’s Abby. I need you to pull Wright’s medical records.
(SCENE CUT)
MCGEE: (INTO PHONE) One second. I got it. What do you need?
ABBY: (V.O./FILTERED) I’m checking for an anthrax vaccine.
(SCENE CUT)
MCGEE: (V.O./FILTERED) Let’s see…
(SCENE CUT)
MCGEE: (INTO PHONE) It’s negative.
(SCENE CUT)
ABBY: (INTO PHONE) Yes! Oh, McGee, it’s not Wright’s sample.
(SCENE CUT)
MCGEE: (INTO PHONE) I’ll tell him. Thank you. (TO GIBBS) Boss, the hair found on the victim indicates the killer had an anthrax vaccination. Wright never had one. (END TELEPHONE INTERCUTS)
CUT TO:
INT. CONVENTION CENTER – DAY
PEARSON: Chalk another one up to science!
ABBY: Ah, I could not have done it without the IMS. And… and you.
PEARSON: So… who do I make the receipt out to?
ABBY: Oh, um…oh, I feel really bad, Marty. And you worked really hard on this. I um…
PEARSON: Hmm. Do you bowl?
ABBY: Are you kidding me?! I am the queen of the alley!
PEARSON: You know they’ve got a bowling alley right downstairs.
ABBY: In the hotel?
PEARSON: Right next to the indoor pool. Or…. we could do dinner.
ABBY: Oh, no! You’re just afraid of getting your butt kicked on the lanes.
PEARSON: You are on, lady!
ABBY: I can’t believe you bowl!
PEARSON: Why not?
ABBY: It’s just… it’s such a coincidence. Are you a three-quarter or a full roller?
PEARSON: It makes no difference to me. I’ve got a delicate touch.
(SFX: ABBY GIGGLES)
CUT TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
ZIVA: So the hair wasn’t Wright’s, but the saliva definitely was. DNA match. He was kissing the girl.
GIBBS: There’s more than one reason to kiss a girl.
TONY: There is?
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. AUTOPSY ROOM - DAY
(PHONE RINGS)
DUCKY: (INTO PHONE) Autopsy. (BEGIN TELEPHONE INTERCUTS)
(SCENE CUT)
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) I’ve got a question for you.
DUCKY: (V.O./FILTERED) I can’t guarantee….
Special Agent
DUCKY: (INTO PHONE) … I’ve got an answer.
GIBBS: (V.O./FILTERED) The bruising on the girl’s …
(SCENE CUT)
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) …. sternum. Could it be from CPR?
DUCKY: (V.O./FILTERED) Very…
(SCENE CUT)
DUCKY: (INTO PHONE) ….possibly. This is most probable when you weigh all the other evidence.
(SCENE CUT)
DUCKY: (V.O./FILTERED) It would explain how Wright’s …
(SCENE CUT)
DUCKY: (INTO PHONE) … saliva came to be on her.
(SCENE CUT)
DUCKY: (V.O./FILTERED) I’ll have to confirm that, of course. But…
(SCENE CUT)
DUCKY: (INTO PHONE) … yes, that could be your answer. CPR. Which means Wright was trying to kill her, he was trying to save her.
(SCENE CUT)
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Let me know when you get a confirmation. (END TELEPHONE INTERCUTS)
TONY: So we’re looking for someone with an anthrax vaccine.
ZIVA: Instead of one suspect, we now have half a million – all of them military.
TONY: Maintenance guy?
MCGEE: Fixing a leak in the kitchen. Chefs were tripping over him all day.
TONY: Scratch Romero.
MCGEE: After Nine Eleven, anthrax was sent through the mail. Most people at risk were vaccinated: Pentagon officials, Senators, Congressmen.
TONY: Everybody at the reception.
GIBBS: And people who open their mail.
NELSON: (V.O.) Yes, I had an anthrax….
CUT TO:
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM – DAY
NELSON: … vaccination. Along with most everyone on The Hill, Agent Gibbs. They were troubling times.
GIBBS: They still are.
ABBY: After you delivered the briefing papers to Norforce Systems, what did you do?
NELSON: I walked down the hallway toward the elevator, and that’s where Wright attacked me.
ZIVA: Norforce Systems’ suite was right next to the elevator. Do you want to try this again?
NELSON: Do I need a lawyer?
GIBBS: Only if you’re feeling guilty.
ZIVA: You were walking towards the elevator because you were not coming from Norforce Systems, you were coming from a room down the hallway.
NELSON: No!
ZIVA: Yes! A room where an underage girl was killed!
NELSON: And you think I’m responsible?
GIBBS: If you’re not, then you won’t mind giving us a hair sample.
ZIVA: The killer left a calling card and we think your name is on it.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/TONY WATCHES VIDEO FOOTAGE)
(SFX: TONY JUMPS FROM HIS CHAIR)
CUT TO:
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM
NELSON: This is outrageous! I was attacked by a violent, unstable, man! If you’re looking for a murderer, you should be looking at him, and not me!
ZIVA: Are you refusing to voluntarily give us a hair sample, Mister Nelson? Because if you are, we can just get a court order.
NELSON: I didn’t kill anyone!
(DOOR OPENS)
TONY: Boss?
CUT TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
TONY: Eight seventeen. They’re all reacting to the same thing.
ZIVA: Wright dropping in for breakfast?
TONY: Nelson might have killed the girl, but there’s no way he killed Wright, Boss.
(MUSIC UP AND OUT)
FADE IN:
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM – DAY
(DOOR OPENS/ CLOSES)
NELSON: I want to make a phone call!
GIBBS: Lawyer?
NELSON: Someone much more powerful.
GIBBS: Your boss? Underage. Illegal. Dead. You really think your boss wants to talk to you? Did you kill her before or after you pushed Sergeant Wright?
NELSON: I didn’t kill her. I didn’t push Sergeant Wright. I was on the ground floor when he jumped!
GIBBS: You went to the room. Trying to save her, you attacked him.
NELSON: No.
GIBBS: You raped her. (BEAT) You killed her. You threw Sergeant Wright off the balcony.
NELSON: (SHOUTS) I never saw Sergeant Wright!!
GIBBS: Then how did he attack you?
NELSON: She hit me with the lamp. I was just trying…. just trying to stop her. I had to explain this somehow, so I said Wright attacked me.
GIBBS: Who took you up to her room?
NELSON: No one. I um… I met him outside the hotel. Paid him. And he gave me the key card.
GIBBS: A regular client? Different girls every time?
NELSON: Different girls. I ran into him downstairs…. at the elevator. And I told him she was dead. He went up.
GIBBS: Name. (SHOUTS) Name!!
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
TONY: (V.O.) Davey Chen Importing Company.
ZIVA: Kept himself pretty clean. A couple of misdemeanors. No felonies. Nothing to suggest he was involved in the sex trade of underage girls.
MCGEE: Got enough to arrest him for murder?
ZIVA: No physical evidence. His word against Nelson’s.
TONY: Well, let’s go kick his door down and find some evidence.
GIBBS: We do that, Tony, we lose those girls.
ZIVA: Could have lost them already. Slave traders move their girls all the time. They could be on their way to Vegas now. Or dead.
TONY: Send someone in undercover.
ZIVA: I’ll do it.
GIBBS: No. We need someone closer to home. Dinozzo!
TONY: Boss.
GIBBS: Get me twenty-five thousand dollars.
TONY: Check or plastic?
GIBBS: Cash.
GIBBS: On it.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. AUTOPSY ROOM - DAY
(SFX: DOORS SLIDE OPEN)
DUCKY: Mister Palmer, where did you and --
(DOOR OPENS)
JIMMY: Oh, sorry, Doctor!
DUCKY: Where did you and Agent Lee go?
JIMMY: I didn’t go anywhere with Agent Lee. I signed Sergeant Wright’s medical records, and then she left.
DUCKY: Did she sprint out of here?
JIMMY: Yeah, she was in a hurry.
DUCKY: Well, evidently so were you! When I looked up from washing my hands, both you and she had disappeared, and Agent Gibbs was standing here. Where did you hurry off to?
JIMMY: The restroom. I…
DUCKY: And you’ve been in there all this time?
JIMMY: I have a … a gastrointestinal challenge.
DUCKY: Oh! Well, I believe there’s a bottle of subsalisate…
JIMMY: I drank that!
DUCKY: What? All of it?
JIMMY: I didn’t want to spend the whole day sitting in the restroom. That won’t hurt me, will it?
DUCKY: Well, no. But you’re going to feel as if you’ve been on bread and water for a week.
JIMMY: Pardon?
DUCKY: Well, the old Naval punishment of bread and water for a week was not to punish by depriving the offending sailor of food, as much as to plug up his gastrointestinal tract.
JIMMY: (LOUDLY) Oh, that is awful! Ah!
DUCKY: Mister Palmer, I’m not deaf.
JIMMY: I’m sorry, Doctor. Just the thought of punishing someone that way just sounds so… uncivilized.
DUCKY: Did those doors just open and shut?
JIMMY: I don’t think so. No.
DUCKY: Strange. Very strange.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
(SFX: DOORS SLIDE OPEN)
TONY: It’s just that she’s never been undercover, Boss.
GIBBS: She’s a highly trained NCIS Special Agent.
TONY: She’s more probie than even Probie.
GIBBS: She’s got excellent backup.
TONY: Me?
GIBBS: Ziva.
SHEPARD: You are causing quite a stir on The Hill. Underage dead girls and Congressional aides make people nervous.
GIBBS: Good.
MCGEE: Well, she looks the part, just like a…
ZIVA: Whore?
MCGEE: …Courtesan.
ZIVA: Oh.
GIBBS: Are you sure you’re ready for this?
LEE: I saw the girl in autopsy. Yeah, I’m ready.
GIBBS: Okay, McGee.
MCGEE: Separate radio transmitter and GPS built into the lining. Pressure switch on the handle turns it off if they sweep for bugs. Turns it back on when they’re finished.
SHEPARD: Chen’s going to be suspicious of everyone. Particularly if someone like Agent Lee shows up. We need something else, McGee.
MCGEE: Got just the thing, Boss.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. OUTSIDE ELEVATOR – DAY
(SFX: ELEVATOR DINGS/ DOORS SLIDE OPEN/ CLOSED)
TONY: Hey, Jimmy.
JIMMY: Hey.
(ELEVATOR DINGS/ DOORS SLIDE CLOSED)
CUT TO:
EXT. ALLEY – DAY
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/CAMERA PANS THE ALLEY)
CUT TO:
INT. CAR – PARKED
GIBBS: (INTO MIC) Dinozzo?
CUT TO:
EXT. ALLEY – DAY
TONY: (FILTERED) In position, Boss.
CUT TO:
EXT. STREET – DAY
CHEN: (INTO PHONE/IN MANDARIN) What’s the problem? Don’t worry, I’ll fix it. But tell me this… Why is he asking you about this? How can you be so stupid? You have to listen to me!
(DOOR OPENS)
CUT TO:
INT. CAR – PARKED
GIBBS: (INTO MIC) Target has entered the building.
CUT TO:
EXT. ALLEY – DAY
MCGEE: (V.O./FILTERED) GPS…
CUT TO:
INT. MTAC – DAY
MCGEE: … locked on.
CUT TO:
INT. CAR – PARKED
SHEPARD: (V.O./FILTERED) MTAC is standing by, Agent Gibbs. It’s your call.
GIBBS: (INTO MIC) We are in play.
CUT TO:
INT. WAREHOUSE – DAY
(DOOR OPENS/ CLOSES)
LEE: Excuse me!
CHEN: We’re closed.
LEE: Even for a cash customer, Mister Chen?
CHEN: What do you want?
LEE: (IN MANDARIN) My sister.
CUT TO:
INT. MTAC – DAY
CHEN: (V.O./FILTERED) Who are you? I don’t know you or your sister?
CUT TO:
INT. WAREHOUSE – DAY
LEE: Maybe this will help you remember.
CUT TO:
INT. MTAC – DAY
(SFX: STEADY BEEP TONES)
MCGEE: She’s killed the transmission. They’re sweeping her for bugs. She’ll resume the transmission when it’s clear.
GIBBS: (V.O./FILTERED) Stand by--
CUT TO:
INT. CAR – DAY
GIBBS: (INTO MIC)…Tony. No contact, in thirty seconds we’re going in.
TONY: (V.O./FILTERED) Gotcha Boss.
CUT TO:
INT. MTAC – DAY
MCGEE: Fifteen seconds. (LONG BEAT) Twenty seconds. (LONG BEAT) Twenty-five seconds.
SHEPARD: Come on, Lee. Turn us back on.
LEE: (V.O./FILTERED) Twenty-five thousand dollars.
CUT TO:
INT. WAREHOUSE – DAY
LEE: Another twenty-five when I get my sister back.
CUT TO:
INT. CAR – PARKED
CHEN: (V.O./FILTERED) And what makes you think I have your sister?
CUT TO:
INT. WAREHOUSE – DAY
LEE: It must be another Davey Chen I’m looking for.
CHEN: What’s her name?
LEE: She’s fourteen years old from Fujian Province. I don’t know what you call her, but my family calls her Xiu Mei.
CHEN: You’re a long way from home.
LEE: So is she. But I wasn’t abducted off my parents’ farm.
CHEN: Too old. That’s a lot of money for the daughter of a farmer.
LEE: I work in Shanghai. I’m good at what I do. American businessmen show their appreciation. Do we have a deal?
CHEN: Come with me.
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/LEE WALKS TO THE BACK ROOM)
CUT TO:
INT. MTAC – DAY
MCGEE: Game on.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. BACK ROOM – DAY
(DOOR OPENS/ CLOSES)
CUT TO:
INT. MTAC – DAY
MCGEE: We’ve lost the signal.
SHEPARD: She turned it off?
MCGEE: I can’t tell.
CUT TO:
INT. BACK ROOM – DAY
CHEN: Who do you work for?
LEE: I’m here for my sister.
(SFX: CHEN SLAPS LEE)
LEE: Ah!
CUT TO:
INT. CAR – PARKED
GIBBS: Talk to me, McGee.
MCGEE: (V.O./FILTERED) Yeah, working on it, Boss.
CUT TO:
INT. BACK ROOM – DAY
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/CHEN UNCOVERS THE TRANSMITTER)
CHEN: F.B.I.? Police?
LEE: You don’t think I came alone, do you?
CHEN: You’re alone now. They can’t hear you. This room is protected against bugs.
CUT TO:
INT. MTAC – DAY
MCGEE: That’s her backup camera.
SHEPARD: There’s interference.
MCGEE: They’re in a screened room. It’s jamming the signal.
SHEPARD: (INTO MIC) Gibbs, we’ve got a problem.
CUT TO:
INT. CAR – DAY
GIBBS: Dinozzo, cover the back door! We’re going in!
(DOOR OPENS)
CUT TO:
EXT. ALLEY – DAY
TONY: (INTO MIC) Got it.
CUT TO:
INT. MTAC – DAY
MCGEE: She’s moving. Exiting a door.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
EXT. ALLEY – DAY
(MUSIC OVER ACTION)
(DOOR OPENS)
CUT TO:
INT. WAREHOUSE – DAY
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/GIBBS AND ZIVA SEARCH THE WAREHOUSE)
GIBBS: Clear!
ZIVA: Clear!
CUT TO:
INT. BACK ROOM – DAY
(DOOR OPENS)
GIBBS: Clear. (INTO MIC) Dinozzo, they’re gone. Anything?
CUT TO:
EXT. ALLEY – DAY
TONY: (INTO MIC) Nothing, Boss. They didn’t come out this way.
CUT TO:
INT. MTAC – DAY
SHEPARD: (INTO MIC) We’re only getting intermittent video signals.
MCGEE: Aerial surveillance is negative. They’re definitely on the move.
(INTERCUT WAREHOUSE SCENE)
SHEPARD: (INTO MIC) Gibbs, check for a basement entrance. They’ve gone underground.
CUT TO:
INT. BACK ROOM – DAY
ZIVA: What exactly are we looking for?
GIBBS: Trapdoor. Anything.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
UNDERGROUND TUNNEL – DAY
(MUSIC OVER ACTION)
CUT TO:
INT. MTAC – DAY
MCGEE: All right, we’re getting picture back. Maybe some kind of tunnel.
CUT TO:
INT. TUNNEL – DAY
(DOOR OPENS)
(MUSIC OVER ACTION)
CUT TO:
INT. MTAC - DAY
MCGEE: (V.O.) There! (ON CAMERA) Playing it back.
SHEPARD: (READS) T-O-L-L- something.
MCGEE: Could be an “I”. Maybe a “K.”
SHEPARD: Toll … Tollbridge Trading! Women’s shoes.
(SFX: KEYBOARDING)
MCGEE: Twenty-five seventy Third Street Northwest.
SHEPARD: (INTO MIC) Jethro, twenty-five --
CUT TO:
INT. BACK ROOM – DAY
SHEPARD: (V.O./FILTERED) …. seventy Third Street, Northwest.
ZIVA: Gibbs.
(SFX: ZIVA SLIDES A CABINET)
ZIVA: Clear!
GIBBS: (INTO MIC) Tony, go! Go! We’ve got the tunnel.
TONY: (V.O./FILTERED) Okay!
CUT TO:
EXT. ALLEY – DAY
TONY: (INTO MIC) Two minutes, Boss. (MUSIC OVER ACTION)
CUT TO:
INT. LOADING DOCK – DAY
CHEN: (IN MANDARIN) Hurry up, we have to go.
CUT TO:
INT. TUNNEL – DAY
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/ZIVA AND GIBBS RUN DOWN THE HALLWAY)
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. LOADING DOCK – DAY
LEE: What is this? A warehouse?
CUT TO:
INT. MTAC – DAY
SHEPARD: He’s shutting down his operation!
CUT TO:
INT. TUNNEL – DAY
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/ZIVA AND GIBBS RUN UP THE STAIRS)
CUT TO:
INT. LOADING DOCK – DAY
LEE: Where are the girls?
CHEN: Put her in the truck along with the others.
(SFX: LEE STRUGGLES WITH THE BODYGUARD)
TONY: (SHOUTS) Federal agents!
GIBBS: Freeze!
(SFX: LEE AND THE BODYGUARD FIGHT)
(SFX: SHOUTING)
TONY: (V.O.) Stay down!
GIBBS: Put the weapon down.
TONY: Nice work, Probie.
LEE: They’re in the truck.
(SFX: CONTAINER DOORS OPEN)
(SFX: GIRLS VOICES B.G.)
CUT TO:
INT. MTAC – DAY
GIBBS: (V.O./FILTERED) Unbelievable.
(SFX: SURPRISED VOICES B.G.)
CUT TO:
INT. LOADING AREA – DAY
(SFX: GIRLS B.G.)
CHEN: (IN MANDARIN) The bum tried to be a hero.
LEE: The bum tried to be a hero.
GIBBS: Brian Wright. Sergeant Brian Wright. Bronze Star. Purple Heart. United States Marine Corps. He was a hero.
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/GIRLS WALK FROM THE CONTAINER)
(MUSIC UP AND OUT)
(MUSIC UP OVER ENDING CREDITS AND OUT)
* * * * * * * *
Prepared by C.C. Printed in USA
Calvert Continuities Aired 11/14/06
