MUSIC IN:
INT. AUTOPSY LAB – NIGHT
(SFX: DOORS SLIDE OPEN)
DUCKY: Corporal Liam Michael O’Neill. That’s a good Irish name. I’m from Scotland myself. I hope you won’t hold that against me. Twenty-four years old. Too young for us to be meeting on this chilly morning. United States Marine Corps. Found face down in a snow drift in Montrose Park. Well, how did you end up there, at six o’clock in the morning? Not stumbling home from a big night out, I trust. Now that would be a tragic waste of a young life. This is the place where death rejoices in teaching the living. Liam, what can you teach us? (LONG BEAT) Ooh. A wee bump. Oh, perhaps I spoke too soon. Perhaps you weren’t the architect of your own destruction.
(SFX: TEA KETTLE WHISTLES B.G.)
(SFX: LIAM GASPS)
DUCKY: Ah!!
(MUSIC UP AND OUT)
(THEME MUSIC UP OVER OPENING TITLE/SCENES/ CREDITS AND OUT)
MUSIC IN:
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
“ICEMAN”
TONY: There is nothing lucky about waking up during your own autopsy, Probie.
MCGEE: Least you know you’re not dead.
TONY: Ducky’s the one who’s lucky.
ZIVA: Why is Ducky lucky?
TONY: Well, well. Look who’s finally here.
ZIVA: Oh, like you’ve never been late, left early, or gone mysteriously missing.
TONY: Oh no, that’s my point exactly. Tardiness is my middle name. In fact, it’s expected of me. You, on the other hand, have become the poster girl for punctuality.
(SFX: ZIVA LAUGHS)
TONY: Late night?
ZIVA: Early morning. Run. New route. Took longer than I expected. Will run faster tomorrow. Now why is Ducky lucky?
TONY: We found a dead man walking.
ZIVA: I’ve had enough of dead men walking.
MCGEE: No, this one was really dead. Ducky was about to start the autopsy and he came back to life…. like Lazarus.
TONY: No, like Liam. Liam O'Neill. Corporal.
MCGEE: Who was a communications specialist attached to Marine Supply Division/Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad.
TONY: On a fifteen day leave from his unit in Iraq. Third tour.
ZIVA: Hardcore Marine.
TONY: Due to fly back to Baghdad day after tomorrow.
ZIVA: How does a man who is not dead, end up on Ducky’s autopsy table?
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. AUTOPSY LAB - DAY
DUCKY: It was the Metro Police. They reported a dead man, not an unconscious one. You know, there’s an old paramedic saying, “They’re not dead until they’re warm and dead.” Can’t really blame them. Face down in a snow drift, core temperature twenty degrees below normal. No discernible heartbeat. Could have been there for hours. It’s not an unreasonable conclusion under the circumstances. (SFX: TEA KETTLE WHISTLES B.G.)
GIBBS: C.P.R.?
DUCKY: By their estimation, he was long dead. C.P.R. is for the recent dead. Never crossed their minds. You know, the physiology is very interesting. Faced with imminent death, the brain begins to switch off the lights to preserve the last flicker of life and hope.
GIBBS: Prognosis?
DUCKY:
DUCKY: Well, children have been known to make a full recovery after being pulled from freezing rivers, ooh, two hours after they’ve apparently drowned. Adults are rarely so lucky.
(CONT.) He’ll be on a ventilator, and the hospital will constantly check his condition.
GIBBS: Got nothing for us here, Duck.
DUCKY: Well, on the contrary. He had a lump on his left temporal area, and bruising on the back and sides of his neck. He didn’t fall into that snow drift. No, he was struck on the side of the head. His face was pushed into the snow, violently held by his neck and the back of the head. Probably until he stopped thrashing. How’s that for starters?
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
EXT. PARK CLEARING – DAY
MCGEE: Not much to see.
ZIVA: I wouldn’t say that.
(SFX: TONY TALKS INTO TELEPHONE B.G.)
MCGEE: He sure calls her a lot.
ZIVA: Oh, she calls him more often than he calls her.
MCGEE: Meaning?
ZIVA: Commitment issues. She is. He’s not.
TONY: (INTO PHONE) What time? Okay. Are you going to give me a clue about this mystery date? Jeanne, gym shoes is not a clue. Naked is a clue. You want me naked? All right, you don’t want to see me naked. All right. I’ll bring you gym shoes. ‘Bye.
ZIVA: Glad you could join us.
TONY: Well, there’s not much to see.
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Appreciate it. (TO ALL) Corporal O’Neill was wearing a light shirt, and no jacket. What’s that tell you, McGee?
TONY: Jacket was stolen?
ZIVA: Or he left it close by.
GIBBS: Or someplace warm.
MCGEE: There’s no houses nearby. Service road’s close, though.
TONY: Car!
MCGEE: Silver ninety-seven Mustang. License plate delta zulu one five lima three seven…
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
EXT. PARKING LOT – DAY
MCGEE: Bingo on the jacket. The motive wasn’t robbery. Sequentially numbered bills. Freshly minted. Five hundred dollars.
ZIVA: Heater is set high, ignition is on. Must have sat here with the engine running.
TONY: Guess he left in a hurry.
GIBBS: Well, he didn’t leave fast enough.
CUT TO:
INT. ABBY'S LAB - DAY
ABBY: Good afternoon, Gibbs.
GIBBS: Well, good afternoon, Abs. How did you know it was me?
ABBY: Because I found something. And whenever I find something, you always know. Then you come see me.
GIBBS: I do?
ABBY: Well, yeah. If I didn’t then you wouldn’t be here. Have you been listening?
GIBBS: You found what, Abs?
ABBY: This. In his left trouser pocket. It’s organic.
GIBBS: Illegal?
ABBY: We could smoke it and find out. Kidding. I’m going to let the mass spec smoke that. But I also found this, a receipt from a restaurant in Baghdad.
GIBBS: Corporal’s on his third tour, Abs.
ABBY: But he’s been on leave for three weeks. So what was he doing in Baghdad three days ago? See the date? I think he had a falafel…
GIBBS: That’s a good catch, Abby.
ABBY: Do you think it’s ESP? I mean, that you always know when I find something? And if it is ESP, are you reading my mind or am I sending you some sort of weird brain thoughts out of my head and into yours? Come back, Gibbs. Come back, Gibbs.
(GIBBS WALKS O.S.)
CUT TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
MCGEE: Boss, I got it. I cross-checked it with ICE. O'Neill left the country eight days ago using his own passport. He was traveling as a private citizen. Arrived back in the country two days ago.
GIBBS: Record of travel?
MCGEE: Direct to Frankfurt, then on to Baghdad. Came back the same way.
TONY: Wouldn’t call Baghdad one of your top ten tourist destinations.
MCGEE: Especially if you’ve just come from there, and you’re going back.
ZIVA: And people shooting at you.
TONY: Or trying to blow you up.
GIBBS: Airline?
MCGEE: He didn’t fly commercial. Flew there and back with an air freight company called Fast Flight. Operates out of the warehouse near Dulles Airport.
GIBBS: Address. Ziva?
CUT TO:
INT. WAREHOUSE – DAY
TAYLOR: (INTO PHONE) The landing fees are a rip-off. Damascus then. Well, what about Cairo?
VOICE: (V.O./FILTERED) I’ve already checked.
TAYLOR: (INTO PHONE) Look, you’re just going to have to find me a better gas station right now or I’m going to have to push that damn plane all the way home.
VOICE: (V.O./FILTERED) I’ll find you something, Taylor. Don’t sweat it.
TAYLOR: (INTO PHONE) You do that! (TO GIBBS) Who are you?
GIBBS: Federal agents.
TAYLOR: NTSB?
GIBBS: NCIS.
TAYLOR: (LAUGHS) Right. You gotta love those acronyms. Maybe that’s what this company needs. Huh? An acronym.
ZIVA: Bad day, Mister Taylor?
TAYLOR: I guess that depends on what you want. Excuse me.
GIBBS: Liam O'Neill. You flew him to Baghdad and back this week.
TAYLOR: All legal. Had a passport, cleared customs. Filed the paperwork.
ZIVA: Why did he fly with you?
TAYLOR: Fast Flight. Oh, F.F. There’s an acronym for you. Stands for free flights.
ZIVA: You flew him free of charge?
TAYLOR: Ex-Royal Air Force, a good deed for a serving Marine. Don’t get a lot of people hitching a ride to Baghdad.
ZIVA: Why was he going to Baghdad?
TAYLOR: Ah, said he was on leave. He just found out his unit had been hit. One of his buddies was wounded. Wanted to see him. What’s he done?
ZIVA: Someone tried to kill him.
TAYLOR: (BEAT) Is he going to be okay?
ZIVA: Maybe.
GIBBS: Something you want to add?
TAYLOR: Some guys met him outside Baghdad International Airport.
(SFX: CELL PHONE RINGS)
GIBBS: What guys?
ZIVA: (INTO PHONE) Yes.
TAYLOR: (SPELLS) B.A.G.s. Bad ass guys. With guns. (SFX: ZIVA SPEAKS QUIETLY INTO THE PHONE)
GIBBS: Plenty of them in Baghdad. You ask him about it on the flight home?
TAYLOR: Wasn’t very talkative. His buddy didn’t make it.
ZIVA: Someone’s with Corporal O'Neill at the hospital.
GIBBS: Next of kin?
ZIVA: He has no next of kin.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM – DAY
FRANKS: Hello, Probie.
GIBBS: Hello, Mike. You know this Marine?
FRANKS: He’s my son.
(MUSIC UP AND OUT)
FADE IN:
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM – DAY
(SFX: STEADY BEEP TONES B.G.)
ZIVA: Here you go. Black. No sugar.
FRANKS: Thanks.
GIBBS: You never told me you had a son.
FRANKS: Didn’t find out ‘till a couple of years ago. Got a phone call one day. It was him. He tracked me down. We met. Had a few beers. He was just about to deploy. Didn’t hear from him again until a couple of days ago. Said he was in trouble.
GIBBS: What kind of trouble?
FRANKS: Didn’t say. You wouldn’t know it now, but he’s got his mother’s hair. Used to blow across her face and get in her eyes. She’d get so pissed! And I’d laugh. She died a few years ago. We were only together the six months. Didn’t even know she was pregnant when she left.
GIBBS: What do the doctors say?
FRANKS: What doctors always say. Not much that makes any sense. Doing tests. Brain waves and reflexes. All that neurological stuff. Do you know who did this, Probie?
GIBBS: Not yet.
FRANKS: Guess you wouldn’t tell me if you did.
GIBBS: No. You need a place to stay tonight, Mike?
FRANKS: Might just stay here with my boy.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. ADMISSIONS – DAY
GIBBS: Is there any hope?
LEISTEN: As I was just explaining to your colleague, the patient is unresponsive to external stimuli.
GIBBS: His name’s Corporal O'Neill.
LEISTEN: Corporal O'Neill. There’s still more testing to do, which will determine if there’s any cerebral circulation present. But at this point, it would e wrong to offer any hope.
GIBBS: When will you know for certain?
LEISTEN: Tomorrow.
ZIVA: Thank you.
LEISTEN: Sure.
(LEISTEN WALKS O.S.)
ZIVA: He knows?
GIBBS: He knows.
CUT TO:
EXT. CLIMBING WALL – NIGHT
JEANNE: Didn’t I say gym shoes?
TONY: Oh, yeah. Well, you know me. Always following doctor’s orders.
JEANNE: Did you ever climb one of these before?
TONY: No.
JEANNE: Nervous?
TONY: Should I be?
JEANNE: It’s a long way up.
TONY: Oh, yes is it. And once you’re up, it’s a long way down.
JEANNE: Oh, you’re all strapped in. You’ll be fine.
(SFX: TONY GRUNTS/GASPS)
TONY: (GASPING) Oh, you want to ease that one off a little bit? Thank you.
JEANNE: I’ll be climbing beside you. Let me just….
TONY: Okay.
JEANNE: Good look for you. Okay.
TONY: Is this going to be a race?
JEANNE: No, speed climbing is for the experts.
TONY: Experts like you?
JEANNE: When you’re ready.
TONY: Huh. Okay.
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/CLIMBING)
(SFX: LAUGHTER)
TONY: So what do I get if I beat you to the top?
JEANNE: You get to tell me you love me.
TONY: If I don’t beat you?
JEANNE: You still get to tell me you love me.
TONY: So is that followed by other physical pursuits?
JEANNE: If you’re not too tired.
TONY: Oh. I’m never too tired.
JEANNE: Hey, wait!
(MUSIC OVER ACTION)
JEANNE: Cheater! You told me you’d never climbed before!
TONY: No, I said I’ve never climbed one of these before……
(MUSIC OVER ACTION)
TONY: Oh, I’m going to beat you. And I’m there! You’re good!
JEANNE: You’re better. How can I ever trust you again? Where did you learn to climb?
TONY: There was this big ol’ pine tree in my back yard. It was about three times higher than we are now. And I used to climb it all the way to the tippity top. One day I refused to come down and my mom called the fire department.
JEANNE: Why didn’t you want to come down?
TONY: The view was too beautiful. Just like it is now.
JEANNE: (LONG BEAT) You beat me to the top. You know what that means.
TONY: Other physical pursuits? Last one down is on top.
(SFX: TONY RAPELS DOWN THE ROCK FACE)
CUT TO:
INT. ABBY'S LAB - DAY
ABBY: It’s just so sad, you know? You have a son you never knew about for all those years. And then right when you find out. Oh, it doesn’t seem fair. Maybe you should call all your old girlfriends, you know, just to check.
MCGEE: That won’t take long. What I mean is, I can’t imagine any of them having a baby without telling me. Tony, on the other hand…
(SFX: CELL PHONE RINGS)
ABBY: Last ten numbers called and received.
MCGEE: And voicemail.
(SFX: COMPUTER BEEP TONES)
MCGEE:
MCGEE: The voicemail is protected by a pin number. And it’s going to take some time. Okay, a bunch of international calls. Prefix nine six four. It’s Iraq’s country code.
(CONT.) Five calls back and forth to Fast Flight. Second to last dialed and second to last received are the same number. In the name of Pagoda Investments. It looks like we might have a money trail.
CUT TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
MCGEE: Company is owned by Jalil Shaloub. Known to his friends and enemies as “Jimmy.” Small time investment advisor, big time loan shark. Also on Homeland Security’s watch list. Iraqi father. Lebanese mother. Moved here after the first Gulf War.
ZIVA: Any active surveillance?
MCGEE: None that anyone is admitting to. Shaloub channels money into a Beirut investment bank, which may or may not support Hezbollah.
ZIVA: Hezbollah? He walks a dangerous path.
TONY: What’s the connection with Corporal O'Neill?
ZIVA: Could be software, hardware, troop deployments, timetables. O'Neill could be a seller.
MCGEE: Or a buyer.
TONY: Either way he keeps bad company.
MCGEE: You think Franks knows?
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. JIMMY SHALOUB’S OFFICE
ZIVA: Know him, Mister Shaloub?
JIMMY SHALOUB: Marine Corporal Liam O'Neill. He came to see me.
GIBBS: When?
JIMMY SHALOUB: Two days ago.
GIBBS: About?
JIMMY SHALOUB: What all of my clients come to see me about, Agent Gibbs. Money.
GIBBS: You give him any?
JIMMY SHALOUB: No, I decided he was too risky a proposition.
ZIVA: What interest rate do you charge?
JIMMY SHALOUB: Why? Do you need a loan?
ZIVA: (CHUCKLES) Fifty per cent? One hundred percent? Two hundred per cent? I would say the risk is theirs. How much did Corporal O'Neill want?
JIMMY SHALOUB: Twenty-five thousand dollars.
GIBBS: For?
JIMMY SHALOUB: My policy is not to ask.
ZIVA: Maybe you didn’t have to.
JIMMY SHALOUB: We met, we drank coffee, we did not do business. He told me nothing about why he needed the money.
GIBBS: How soon did he need it?
JIMMY SHALOUB: Immediately.
GIBBS: Cash?
JIMMY SHALOUB: Of course, all my clients prefer cash.
GIBBS: Even the ones in Beirut and Baghdad?
JIMMY SHALOUB: I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful. From all the questions you’re asking, I can only assume that Corporal O'Neill is involved in some criminal activity, Agent Gibbs.
ZIVA: You mean like you?
JIMMY SHALOUB: If you believed that, Officer David, we would be meeting in your office, not mine.
GIBBS: (V.O.) Is there someone you can call?
CUT TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
ZIVA: Might have a friend in Tel Aviv.
GIBBS: Make it happen, Ziva.
ZIVA: Shared intelligence.
GIBBS: I’d settle for any. McGee? Turn over the rock on this guy: company records, IRS, bank details.
MCGEE: I’ll check the Homeland Security file. What am I looking for?
GIBBS: You’ll know it when you see it.
(ELEVATOR DINGS/ DOORS OPEN/ CLOSE)
GIBBS: How is he?
FRANKS: They’re done testing. Liam mixed up with him?
GIBBS: McGee.
FRANKS: Who is he?
GIBBS: Can’t say.
FRANKS: Whatever he’s done – good or bad – he’s still my boy.
GIBBS: Nothing else I can tell you.
FRANKS: It’s not why I’m here.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. ABBY'S LAB - DAY
ABBY: That’s everything – apart from his clothing, and his car. We’re still checking that for prints.
FRANKS: Said it belonged to his mother. Her religion… and mine. It’s war and peace. Can you release these? I need one more thing, Probie. A witness.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM – DAY
(SFX: STEADY BEEP TONES B.G.)
(SFX: BEEP TONES QUICKEN)
FRANKS: That’s okay.
(SFX: CURTAIN CLOSES)
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/FRANKS PLACES THE ROSARY IN LIAM’S HAND)
(SFX: STEADY BEEP TONE UP AND OUT)
CUT TO:
INT. ABBY'S LAB - DAY
ABBY: I waited for you, Gibbs.
GIBBS: You got something.
ABBY: I do. And you’re not going to like it. The print on the left was lifted from inside Liam’s car. The print on the right is a match from our data base. Franks was in the car, Gibbs.
(MUSIC UP AND OUT)
FADE IN:
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
MCGEE: How much did Franks know?
ZIVA: Not enough to save his son.
TONY: Maybe not much at all. You ever tell your dad what you were up to, Probie?
MCGEE: Everyday.
TONY: Wrong person to ask.
ZIVA: Liam flew to Baghdad, met some bad guys. Flew back, and someone tried to kill him.
MCGEE: Succeeded.
ZIVA: Deal gone wrong, maybe?
GIBBS: Dealing what?
ZIVA: He was a communications specialist – equipment, software, secrets.
TONY: Only had limited access. Didn’t know any secrets.
(PHONE RINGS)
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Yeah. Gibbs. (BEGIN TELEPHONE INTERCUTS)
(SCENE CUT)
FRANKS: (INTO PHONE) Any news for me, Probie?
GIBBS: (V.O./FILTERED) Could be, Mike.
(SCENE CUT)
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Come on in. I’ll brief you.
(SCENE CUT)
FRANKS: (INTO PHONE) Why don’t you come to me?
GIBBS: (V.O./FILTERED) Where?
(SCENE CUT)
FRANKS: (V.O./FILTERED) Fourth and H by the South Beach Freeway.
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) I’ll be right there. (END TELEPHONE INTERCUTS)
TONY: Need any backup, Boss?
GIBBS: Friend, not foe, Dinozzo.
TONY: We hope.
(SFX: TELEPHONE BEEP TONES)
JEANNE: (V.O./FILTERED) Hey, you’ve reached Jeanne. Leave a message.
TONY: (INTO PHONE) Hey, this is your friendly neighborhood stalker leaving his third message of the day. I hope everything’s okay. Call me when you can. Ciao.
ZIVA: Did she give you the cold elbow?
TONY: Shoulder. And no. She has very warm shoulders to me.
ZIVA: Are you two fighting?
TONY: We don’t fight.
ZIVA: Well maybe she does and you haven’t even noticed. Or maybe you said something that hurt her. Or maybe you said nothing, when you should have said something.
TONY: Hmm. She’s just busy. High stress job. Not a lot of time for phone calls. Do you mind?
ZIVA: Of course.
TONY: Thanks. (INTO PHONE) Hi, I’m trying to contact Doctor Jeanne Benoit. I was wondering if you might--
OPERATOR: (V.O./FILTERED) Oh, I’m sorry. She’s already left for today.
TONY: She has? What time?
OPERATOR: (V.O./FILTERED) About an hour ago. Would you like to leave a message?
TONY: (INTO PHONE) No. No message.
OPERATOR: (V.O./FILTERED) Okay, then.
TONY: (INTO PHONE) I’ll call her at home. Thanks.
OPERATOR: (V.O./FILTERED) You’re welcome.
CUT TO:
EXT. INDUSTRIAL AREA – DAY
(SFX: CAR BRAKES TO A STOP)
GIBBS: Found your prints in his car, Mike.
FRANKS: Figured you probably would.
GIBBS: You should have told me you saw him.
FRANKS: Didn’t want you asking me too many questions.
GIBBS: About?
FRANKS: What my son was involved in.
GIBBS: Are you going to tell me?
FRANKS: I saw him a couple of days ago. He needed money. Just about cleaned me out. But I got it for him. Twenty-five thousand. He took five hundred, asked me to hold the rest. Said it was safer that way. Said he would call me when he needed it. Never called.
GIBBS: What’s this about?
FRANKS: Wouldn’t tell me.
GIBBS: He wouldn’t tell you, or you won’t tell me?
FRANKS: We’re getting more alike, you and me, Probie. Even feeling the same pain. I don’t know how you didn’t go crazy when you lost your little girl. Maybe you did for a while. Maybe you still are. I just know I got to do what’s right for my boy. I owe him that.
GIBBS: Let me handle it. You got to be somewhere?
FRANKS: I want the body sent to my place in Mexico when Ducky’s done with it. Can you arrange that for me?
GIBBS: I don’t want to have to come after you, Mike.
FRANKS: Then don’t.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. JEANNE’S APARTMENT – DAY
(KNOCK ON DOOR)
(DOOR OPENS)
TONY: Hey. (SFX: MUSIC B.G.)
JEANNE: Hey back.
TONY: I left some messages. I was getting kind of worried.
JEANNE: I’m fine.
TONY: I’m not getting that “I’m fine” feeling from you, Jeanne.
CUT TO:
INT. APARTMENT – DAY
TONY: I was going to bring you flowers…. (DOOR CLOSES)
JEANNE: Where are they?
TONY: Uh… I didn’t want to stop. Big mistake. Jeanne, this is about uh… about what I didn’t say when I beat you to the top, right?
JEANNE: I wanted to believe it… you didn’t understand what I was saying. I wanted to give you a second chance. And a third chance, and a fourth chance. I’ve… said it now, Tony, and you never have.
TONY: Well, that’s not true.
JEANNE: “Love you” after “other physical pursuits” is not the same as “I love you.” And please, don’t insult either of us by saying it now.
TONY: Even if I mean it?
JEANNE: I don’t think you know if you mean it. I love you. Now you need to figure out if you feel the same way.
TONY: I don’t want to hurt you.
JEANNE: Then just go now and figure out what it is that you want for us.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
GIBBS: Ziva, talk to your friend yet?
ZIVA: Shaloub is a person of interest, but that is all. No known terrorist links. More concerned with money than ideology.
GIBBS: It’s Mike Franks’ rental. Put a BOLO on it.
ZIVA: Well, if he has been here, he’s probably booked into a hotel or motel.
GIBBS: Start checking. McGee.
MCGEE: I’m still trying to crack Liam’s voice mail security code. It’s a matter of time.
GIBBS: It’s something we don’t have. Dinozzo.
TONY: Boss.
GIBBS: You help Ziva.
ZIVA: Hey, not good?
TONY: Not good.
CUT TO:
INT. ABBY'S LAB - DAY
ABBY: Gibbs! You shouldn’t be here. I don’t have anything for you, and I didn’t send out any “calling Gibbs” vibes.
GIBBS: I’m not psychic, Abs. Just checking. Did Mike try to get any information about the case?
ABBY: I barely saw him.
GIBBS: Hasn’t phoned?
ABBY: No. You thought he might try to sneak a peek at the evidence?
GIBBS: I would.
ABBY: Well then why didn’t he – seeing as you two are so much alike? Peas in a pod, Gibbs. Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum.
(SFX: BEEP TONES)
ABBY: Whoa, Gibbs! You knew before I knew it knew! Before it knew it knew! The green compound we found in Corporal O'Neill’s pants pocket. That’s what I was going to call you about. This is getting really spooky. Lawsonia inermis. More commonly known as Henna. It’s used in body art. Mostly in the Middle East. It’s beautiful, but it doesn’t last. Not like a real tattoo.
GIBBS: Other uses?
ABBY: A hair dye. But the tattoos are really cool. They have a lot of intricate patterns and shadings. I should probably get one. What do you think? Don’t answer out loud. Just think it.
(GIBBS WALKS O.S.)
ABBY: I’ll take that as a “no.”
CUT TO:
INT. AUTOPSY LAB - DAY
DUCKY: Well, here we are again, dear boy. Not the outcome for which either of us had hoped. No more miracles, just answers.
(SFX: DOORS SLIDE OPEN)
DUCKY: You’re two hours early, Jethro. I’m only just beginning.
GIBBS: I need tattoos, Ducky.
DUCKY: Ah, a direct query demanding a direct response, which in this case, is a direct no. Somewhat surprising for a young Marine.
(PHONE RINGS)
DUCKY: (INTO PHONE) Autopsy.
MCGEE: (V.O./FILTERED) Is Gibbs with you, by any chance?
DUCKY: (INTO PHONE) Yes, he is.
MCGEE: (V.O./FILTERED) Tell him I cracked the code, okay?
DUCKY: (INTO PHONE) Indeed. (TO GIBBS) Timothy says to tell you that he’s cracked the code, whatever that may mean.
(SFX: DOORS SLIDE OPEN)
DUCKY: No peace. Even for the dead. Just wanted to make sure.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
MCGEE: There’s only one message in Liam’s in-box.
VOICE: (V.O./FILTERED) Hey, buddy. Your package arrived at the end of the week. If you want to pick it up, the price just doubled.
ZIVA: Nick Taylor.
MCGEE: The last call that Liam made was to Fast Flight. Maybe it was to arrange a meeting.
TONY: They meet. They argue. They fight.
ZIVA: Logged into FAA, Gibbs. Fast Flight – F-F- seven-one-six freight service from Baghdad. We have a problem. It landed an hour and a half ago.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. WAREHOUSE – DAY
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/ALL MOVE INTO THE WAREHOUSE/ SEARCH AROUND CONTAINERS)
ZIVA: Clear!
TONY: Clear!
MCGEE: Clear.
ZIVA: Somebody beat us to it.
(MUSIC OUT)
MUSIC IN:
INT. WAREHOUSE – DAY
DUCKY: Multiple victims. Multiple wounds.
GIBBS: Pray and spray.
DUCKY: Possibly. But dead in a matter of fifteen or twenty minutes before you arrived. Jethro, do you think…
GIBBS: I’m not speculating, Duck. I want evidence.
ZIVA: Gibbs. Blankets, pillows, water bottles.
MCGEE: All the comforts of home.
ZIVA: Human cargo.
MCGEE: Looks to be three of everything.
ZIVA: But only two bodies, assuming Taylor was already here at the office.
GIBBS: One got away.
ZIVA: The shooter?
GIBBS: Maybe.
MCGEE: Boss…
(GIBBS LOOKS AT THE SMALL BOOK)
GIBBS: Arabic.
ZIVA: That’s a Koran.
CUT TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
ZIVA: The FAA says all the paperwork was in order when the flight landed.
GIBBS: Customs?
ZIVA: Only checked the cargo manifest. No X-ray, no physical search of air containers. It was unloaded and taken straight to the warehouse.
GIBBS: Air crew?
ZIVA: Oblivious. Still at the airport overseeing an engine inspection.
MCGEE: Got an I.D. on the other two victims here. Peter Thomas McLean, Private, United States Army. Reported missing three weeks ago from the U.S. Army base in Wuerzburg, near Frankfurt.
ZIVA: Missing?
MCGEE: Deserted. Unit was shipped to Iraq two days after he disappeared. Second victim is Franz Bernhard Schuler. He’s a German National wanted by Interpol for murder. Killed a cop. Believed to be trying to flee Europe for the United States.
ZIVA: Made it. Almost.
TONY: Taylor was running a passenger service for bad guys. I wonder how much the tickets were?
MCGEE: Too much.
ZIVA: Which leads us to passenger number three, Muslim and missing.
MCGEE: Terrorist?
ZIVA: Might explain all the dead bodies. Left no one alive to identify him.
TONY: Or maybe just a frightened witness who got away.
GIBBS: Anything?
TONY: Phone company can’t track him. Franks must have his cell phone off.
MCGEE: He knows we’d be trying to get a hold of him.
(PHONE RINGS)
MCGEE: (INTO PHONE) McGee.
OFFICER: (V.O./FILTERED) This is Metro. We have a hit on your BOLO.
MCGEE: (INTO PHONE) Where?
(OFFICER FILTERED VOICE B.G.)
MCGEE: (INTO PHONE) Got it. Thank you. (TO GIBBS) Metro Police just found Franks’ car.
CUT TO:
EXT. STREET – DAY
ZIVA: We could fall back and set up surveillance.
GIBBS: Ah, it’s too late.
TONY: Must be a dozen hotels within a mile of here, Boss. Parked and walked?
GIBBS: That’s what I’d do.
TONY: I’ll starting checking them as soon we get back.
(SFX: CAR DOOR OPENS)
TONY: Oh, boy! (BEAT) Recently fired.
CUT TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
MCGEE: Do you think he did it?
ZIVA: Mike Franks is a very capable man.
MCGEE: That extend to murder?
TONY: Revenge. Taylor killed his son.
MCGEE: Still murder…
GIBBS: Dinozzo.
TONY: Ah… seventeen hotels and motels within fifteen minutes walk of where we found the car. I’m e-mailing the photo of Franks now.
GIBBS: Glock?
ZIVA: Ah, registered to Nick Taylor. He was a licensed shooter.
GIBBS: McGee, you found anything under that rock yet?
MCGEE: I’m still working, Boss.
GIBBS: IRS?
MCGEE: Clean bill of health. Shaloub pays his taxes. Files his returns. Pagoda’s got a modest turnover. The more you look, the less you see.
TONY: He’s got to hide his money somewhere, Probie.
ZIVA: No association with any charities?
MCGEE: I know where you’re headed, but he’s not making any big donations to suspect charities.
GIBBS: Travel?
MCGEE: In and out of the country seven times over the last four months. Which is odd because this guy is meticulous with his tax returns. He lists all his deductions. All that travel and he didn’t claim it as a business expense.
TONY: Well someone must have been paying for him.
ZIVA: Or he wasn’t paying at all.
GIBBS: Check when and where he flew against FAA records.
MCGEE: All that’s going to tell us is what airline he flew. Typing. Same airline every time. Fast Flight.
GIBBS: Go get him.
CUT TO:
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM
JIMMY SHALOUB: Sometimes I fly Fast Flight instead of scheduled commercial flights. I wasn’t breaking the law, Agent Gibbs. Or any FAA regulations.
ZIVA: Fast Flight is only registered to carry freight, not passengers.
JIMMY SHALOUB: I wasn’t a paying passenger.
ZIVA: Taylor was doing you a favor?
JIMMY SHALOUB: Let me tell you what you clearly don’t know, Agent Gibbs. I helped finance Fast Flight. What you might call a silent partner. Not one of my wiser investment decisions.
GIBBS: When?
JIMMY SHALOUB: Twelve months ago.
ZIVA: How much?
JIMMY SHALOUB: Initial outlay was half a million dollars. I have pumped in as much again in the last six months. Free flights to Europe were the only return I was seeing on my money. The company is failing. Taylor is incompetent.
GIBBS: Was.
JIMMY SHALOUB: (BEAT) Something’s happened?
ZIVA: You should know. You were there.
JIMMY SHALOUB: Where?
ZIVA: The warehouse.
GIBBS: Three men shot dead, including Taylor.
JIMMY SHALOUB: I had nothing to do with this.
GIBBS: Why did you do it?
JIMMY SHALOUB: I just told you I didn’t!
ZIVA: Because Taylor was smuggling people into the country and didn’t tell you?
JIMMY SHALOUB: No!
GIBBS: Or you just found out and wanted a cut of the action.
JIMMY SHALOUB: No! I had nothing to do with this, Agent Gibbs. You’ve got the wrong man.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. ABBY'S LAB - DAY
(SFX: GUNFIRE)
(MUSIC OVER ACTION)
MCGEE: What’s this white stuff?
ABBY: Calcium oxide.
MCGEE: Lime? Did you use it to dust for prints?
ABBY: No. It was already there. There were no prints. Must have been wiped.
MCGEE: So how did the lime get on there?
ABBY: Same way the crystalline silica did. And it wasn’t just on the grip. It was in the slide action. I had to clean it up before I could fire it.
(SFX: RAPID BEEP TONES)
ABBY: Ooh.
MCGEE: Bad?
ABBY: Bad.
GIBBS: (V.O.) How bad?
ABBY: The striations on the bullets match the Glock found in Mike Franks' car. It’s the murder weapon.
CUT TO:
INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY
TONY: (INTO PHONE) Thanks. (TO GIBBS) Found Franks, Boss. Booked into a hotel fifteen minutes walk from where we found the car. False name, paid cash. Manager I.D.ed him from the photo I emailed. Hotel’s at one-one-two-seven Church Avenue. Franks is still there.
ZIVA: Will we bring him in?
MCGEE: It’s glass, Boss. Crystalline silica and calcium oxide – used in glass-making. It was all over the Glock. Even in the slide-action. Abby had to clean it before she could fire it. Anyway, there is a glass manufacturer right next to the Fast Flight warehouse.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM
JIMMY SHALOUB: Agent Gibbs,
GIBBS: Take off your shoes.
JIMMY SHALOUB: What?
MCGEE: Need to look at your shoes.
(MUSIC OVER ACTION)
GIBBS: Wallet. Sequential serial numbers.
CUT TO:
INT. OBSERVATION ROOM
GIBBS: (MUFFLED) Where’s the rest?
JIMMY SHALOUB: (MUFFLED) You think you can intimidate me, Agent Gibbs?
GIBBS: (MUFFLED) McGee?
CUT TO:
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM
MCGEE: Looks like traces of calcium oxide and crystalline silica in the treads.
GIBBS: It’s used in glass manufacturing.
MCGEE: Hollander Glass Company is right next door to Fast Flight. Did you ever notice all that white stuff on the…
CUT TO:
INT. OBSERVATION ROOM
MCGEE: (V.O.)… ground behind the back of their building? That is crystalline silica and calcium….
CUT TO:
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM
MCGEE: …oxide.
GIBBS: You got it on your shoes when you dumped this into the dumpster behind their building. You should have left it at the scene.
JIMMY SHALOUB: It wasn’t me!
GIBBS: I’ve got a witness!!
CUT TO:
INT. OBSERVATION ROOM
TONY: I hope we’ve got a witness.
ZIVA: If we can find him.
JIMMY SHALOUB: (MUFFLED) I had nothing to do with the murder of that….
CUT TO:
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM
JIMMY SHALOUB: …Marine. Taylor was out of control. Trying to cash-flow his business by people-smuggling. He wouldn’t let them leave because he wanted more money. Then he pulls that gun on me. I took it off him! I was defending myself!
GIBBS: What about the other two? (DOOR OPENS/ CLOSES)
CUT TO:
EXT. STREET – DAY
GIBBS: Hey! We got him.
FRANKS: I knew you’d figure it out eventually, Probie.
GIBBS: Unfinished business. That why you went there?
FRANKS: I owed him that.
GIBBS: Paid the rest of the cash, picked up the package.
FRANKS: Came back to the hotel.
GIBBS: But you went back again, didn’t you, Mike?
FRANKS: Shaloub was already there. I heard the shots. I saw him come out of the building in a panic. I saw him wipe the weapon, and toss it over into the dumpster.
GIBBS: You were going to plant it in his car, then give me a call?
FRANKS: That was the idea. But you found my rental, and I didn’t get a chance.
GIBBS: Well, you were a witness. You didn’t need to do that, unless you had something to hide, Mike.
FRANKS: She’s from Mexico.
(GIBBS HANDS FRANKS THE KORAN)
FRANKS: We left in a bit of a hurry. They were going to be married. Her family in Baghdad said that she shamed them. She’s been in hiding for six months. He was desperate to get her out. I don’t think any of this is relevant to your case, Probie.
GIBBS: I guess not, Mike.
(SFX: BABY CRIES B.G.)
CUT TO:
INT. HOTEL ROOM
(CAMERA CLOSE ON SCREEN/ PHOTOS OF JEANNE AND TONY)
(MUSIC UP AND OUT)
(ENDING CREDITS UP AND OUT)
* * * * * * * *
Prepared by C.C. Printed in USA
Calvert Continuities Aired 3/20/07