01x17 - The Truth is Out There

Episode transcripts for the TV show, "NCIS". Aired: September 2003 to present.*
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The cases of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
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01x17 - The Truth is Out There

Post by bunniefuu »

FADE IN:

INT. WAREHOUSE CLUB - NIGHT

(MUSIC PLAYS B.G.)

(MUSIC PLAYS AS JOHN WALKS ACROSS THE ROOM)

CUT TO:

INT. STAIRCASE - DAY

(VOICES B.G.)

(JOHN RUSHES TO THE MEN'S ROOM/ URINATES)

(ACTION CONTINUES: JOHN MOVES THE TRASHCAN TO THE MIDDLE OF THE ROOM)

(MUSIC OVER ACTION/CEILING COLLAPSES)

(MUSIC OUT)

(THEME MUSIC UP OVER OPENING TITLE/SCENES/ CREDITS AND OUT)

FADE IN:

EXT. WAREHOUSE - DAY

"THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE"

TONY: Kate, I've been meaning to ask you something for a while.

KATE: What's that?

TONY: What do you do with your leftover cereal when there's not enough to eat but there's too much to throw away? Because I was having Captain Crunch this morning and I was...

KATE: (OVERLAP) Tony, I'm really not in the mood today.

TONY: Well, I was just trying to take your mind off him.

KATE: Who?

TONY: The one that got away.

KATE: Tony, I'm not thinking about that damn t*rror1st.

TONY: Sorry.

KATE: Look at Gibbs. He's been growling like a wounded bear since that night.

TONY: Well, he is wounded, and he always growls like a bear. It's his way of never letting anyone know when he's hurting. Yours is being moody.

KATE: (V.O.) I'm not moody!

CUT TO:

INT. WAREHOUSE - DAY

TONY: Oh, what do you call it? I feel sorry for whatever his name is.

KATE: Sorry?

TONY: Yeah. I wouldn't want Gibbs on my ass.

KATE: We're never going to see that guy again.

TONY: Maybe not. Gibbs will.

CUT TO:

INT. STAIRWELL - DAY

COP: (V.O.) Identification?

GIBBS: Gibbs. N-C-I-S.

COP: Right through here, Sir.

TONY: Kate, have you ever been in a men's room before?

KATE: No. Have you?(TONY CHUCKLES)

CUT TO:

INT. MEN'S ROOM - DAY

DUCKY: Where've you been, Jethro?

GIBBS: Someone knew a short cut, Duck.

TONY: G.W. Parkway was like a parking lot this morning.

DUCKY: I came on the G.W. Parkway after stopping at the hospital to visit with Gerald.

GIBBS: How is he?

DUCKY: He's going to be in rehab for months. I want that t*rror1st on my table, Jethro.

GIBBS: Kate?

KATE: Photos.

GIBBS: Tony?

TONY: Laser sketch.

GIBBS: Talk to me about this case, Ducky.

DUCKY: Oh, it's an odd one. Yes, our young friend here expired at approximately one a.m.

GIBBS: Do we have an I.D.?

DUCKY: Petty Officer First Class Chris Gordon. He's a S.K. stationed at Pax River.

GIBBS: All this happened from him falling out of the ceiling?

DUCKY: Hardly. He suffered multiple traumatic injuries. His fall through the ceiling only added insult to injury.

GIBBS: I'm still waiting for the odd part.

DUCKY: Someone dressed him after he was k*lled.

GIBBS: That's odd.

DUCKY: Well, I'll know more when I get him on the table.

GIBBS: Where'd you find that?

DUCKY: Safety glass, I think.

GIBBS: Did you find his cell phone?

DUCKY: What makes you think he had one?

GIBBS: Scrape marks on his belt where he carried it.

DUCKY: No. No cell phone.

GIBBS: One obvious question, Duck. How did Petty Officer Gordon end up in the basement ceiling?

CUT TO:

EXT. WAREHOUSE - DAY

TONY: Blood.

GIBBS: There's a trail leading out to the parking lot.

TONY: What about inside the door?

GIBBS: We'll get there. Tony, do a hundred meter perimeter search. Kate, you keep snapping.

TONY: Hey boss, check this out.

GIBBS: Brake marks?

TONY: That's what I thought when I was first walking up. But if they were brake marks, they'd start out light and gradually darken.

GIBBS: Front wheel drive. He was accelerating.

KATE: It looks like somebody ran over Petty Officer Gordon when he came out of the club, then hid his body.

TONY: And nobody saw it?

GIBBS: At least one person did, whoever ran him down. Preserve this area for evidence. Where's the guy who runs this nightclub?

COP: We took his statement, then let him go.

GIBBS: Are you in the habit of letting material witnesses go before they talk to investigators?

COP: He had to leave.

GIBBS: Why did he have to leave?

CUT TO:

EXT. SCHOOL - DAY

(SFX: BELL RINGS B.G.)

GIBBS: Darin Spotnitz?

DARIN: Maybe.

GIBBS: How about now?

DARIN: Definitely.

GIBBS: Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS. Special Agent Todd, Special Agent DiNozzo.

DARIN: What's NCIS?

TONY: Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

DARIN: Is this about last night?

GIBBS: It is.

DARIN: Look, I already told the police all I know.

GIBBS: Then tell us.

DARIN: I didn't see anything. Don't know nothing.

TONY: Let me guess - honors English?

GIBBS: Recognize him?

DARIN: There were like five hundred and thirty seven people there last night.

GIBBS: You didn't answer my question.

DARIN: No, I don't recognize him. I wasn't working the door.

GIBBS: Who was?

DARIN: Antwane.

GIBBS: Hmm. Does Antwane have a last name?

DARIN: Mann. With two n's.

TONY: How do we find Antwane Mann with two n's?

GIBBS: Nice P.D.A.

DARIN: Actually, it's a Motorola A-three eighty eight. It's a P.D.A. plus cell phone and internet connection. Here's his home number, cell number, business number, fax number and address.

GIBBS: Kate.

KATE: Right.

DARIN: You want me to beam it to you?

KATE: Sure.

GIBBS: How old are you?

DARIN: Eighteen. (b*at) Seventeen (b*at) -- two months.

GIBBS: You run this moving nightclub by yourself?

DARIN: That's right.

GIBBS: Do you have any employees?

DARIN: Well, I hire them as subcontractors. That way they're responsible for a hundred percent of FICA and Medicare. Not just half.

GIBBS: I'm sure they appreciate that.

DARIN: Yeah, well any business school professor will tell you that the objective of any company is to motivate your employees so that they provide superior goods and services. That's why professors rarely ever succeed in business.

KATE: But you do.

DARIN: Yeah. I have no fixed costs. My direct costs are controllable. My purchases are two ten net thirty. My break even is two hundred and twelve people. My sh*ts are dispensed by a machine to prevent any free drinks and I have internal controls to insure that all cash is accounted for.

TONY: What's the deal with your hair?

GIBBS: How do you think a guy from Lexington Park ends up an hour away at a party in Alexandria?

DARIN: It's easy. It's a Darin Spotnitz party. I put a name brand on it, you know. It's a name brand. No on ever thought to put a brand name on a party until I did it.

(SFX: CELL PHONE RINGS)

DARIN: Oh, sorry. I should take this.

GIBBS: I wouldn't.

DARIN: Or they could just leave a message.

KATE: So what exactly does a Darin Spotnitz party mean?

DARIN: k*ller music, great drinks, and hottie factor off the charts.

GIBBS: How do we get in touch with you?

DARIN: (b*at) Are you going to tell my parents about this?

KATE: They don't know?

DARIN: Well, it's kind of illegal for me to be in a nightclub.

(KATE/TONY AND GIBBS WALK O.S.)

CUT TO:

EXT. SCHOOL PARKING LOT

KATE: So, if his breakeven is two hundred and twelve people and he had five hundred and thirty seven...

TONY: Twenty five dollars a head...

KATE: That means he cleared eight thousand, one hundred and twenty five dollars in one night. Huh!

TONY: I should have majored in business.

CUT TO:

INT. ENLISTED QUARTERS - DAY

VOICE: (V.O.) Petty Officer Gordon's quarters are around the corner, second door on the right.

CUT TO:

INT. GORDON'S QUARTERS - DAY

(DOOR OPENS)

GIBBS: Somebody tossed this place.

TONY: How can you tell?

GIBBS: The furniture indentations on the carpet. No fingerprints or smudges on the ice box or the microwave.

KATE: No sign of forced entry. Who would have access to his room?

TONY: The guy he shares a head with.

GIBBS: Or his C.O.

KATE: How do you know he shares a bathroom?

TONY: E-five and below you have up to four roommates - you share a head. E-six, you get your own space but you share a head. E-seven own room, own head.

KATE: Like a sorority.

TONY: Yeah. I wonder what they were looking for?

KATE: I wonder if they found it?

GIBBS: I wonder when you two guys are going to stop yakking and get to work.

(MUSIC OVER ACTION/GIBBS/ KATE AND TONY LOOK THROUGH THE APARTMENT)

TONY: Looks like this guy was burning DVDs. That reminds me I've got to return Grease. It's a week overdue.

CUT TO:

INT. BATHROOM - DAY

KATE: Apparently he was immune to germs.

CUT TO:

INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY

TONY: Ah, this guy was way into reality shows. Real World, Simple Life, Punk'd...

GIBBS: Punk'd?

KATE: Geez, Gibbs. Even I know what Punk'd is.

TONY: Punk'd is an MTV show where they play tricks on celebrities while secretly filming it.

GIBBS: Like Candid Camera.

TONY: What's Candid Camera? (b*at) What is it, boss?

GIBBS: The funny thing about stereos, you can't hear the music unless the speakers are connected.

(MUSIC OVER ACTION/GIBBS OPENS THE SPEAKER)

(MUSIC OUT)

FADE IN:

INT. GORDON'S QUARTERS - DAY

KATE: Forty thousand dollars. All hundreds. Non-sequential.

TONY: Now we know what they were looking for.

KATE: And didn't find.

GIBBS: Forty grand seems like a pretty good motive for m*rder.

TONY: How does an E-six Petty Officer making two thousand three hundred and ten dollars a month manage to squirrel away forty grand in cash?

GIBBS: Good question.

KATE: I'm guessing it's not because he's frugal.

CUT TO:

INT. SUPPLY WAREHOUSE - DAY

(SFX: FORK LIFT B.G.)

NUTTER: Can I help you?

GIBBS: Master Chief, NCIS. Do you got a minute?

NUTTER: Is this about Petty Officer Gordon?

GIBBS: It is.

NUTTER: Keep your eyes open. These guys drive like they're at Indianapolis.

GIBBS: You were Petty Officer Gordon's section chief.

NUTTER: Yes, Sir.

GIBBS: Good worker?

NUTTER: He was one of the best. He was a bit of a practical joker. I occasionally had to remind him of the time and the place.

TONY: Did he get along well with his mates?

NUTTER: Oh, yeah. There were four guys in particular he was in tight with. I called them the five musketeers.

TONY: Are they here?

NUTTER: No, they work the sixteen shift.

GIBBS: We looked over Gordon's quarters. We found forty thousand dollars in cash. Any idea where he could have got that kind of money?

NUTTER: No, Sir.

GIBBS: Master Chief, according to your records, you've been here ten years. I'm sure you know what goes on at this base more than most.

NUTTER: That's correct, Sir.

GIBBS: If you had to come up with a way that an E-six could accumulate that kind of money...

NUTTER: dr*gs, maybe. Although I'd bet my last dollar that Chris wasn't involved with dr*gs. I don't suspect gambling neither.

KATE: You don't think sailors gamble?

NUTTER: I'm sure they gamble, but it's dollar ante. If there was a regular big game, I'd know about it, Ma'am.

GIBBS: Gordon was in supply. Any chance he was getting kickbacks?

NUTTER: No chance at all. He wasn't high enough up the food chain to influence who got contracts or what was purchased.

GIBBS: Ah, he'd have to be at what, your level?

NUTTER: Yes, Sir.

CUT TO:

EXT. WAREHOUSE - DAY

KATE: Gibbs wasn't real subtle with that kickback comment.

GIBBS: I wasn't trying to be.

CUT TO:

INT. AUTOPSY ROOM - DAY

(SFX: DOORS SLIDE OPEN)

GIBBS: Ducky, you got some good news for me?

DUCKY: Well, it depends on your definition of good news.

GIBBS: Not the answer I was looking for.

DUCKY: It seems the more I delve into our young friend here, the more bewildered I become.

GIBBS: It's usually the other way around.

DUCKY: Yeah, Petty Officer Gordon had multiple lower leg fractures; tibia, fibia. Massive abdominal bruising and echymosis and a subdural hematoma from a skull fracture.

GIBBS: Consistent with being hit by a car?

DUCKY: Entirely.

GIBBS: So that's pretty straight forward. What's the mystery?

DUCKY: There was a white substance on his hands. I sent it up to Abby. I could venture a guess as to what it might be.

GIBBS: Sure. Venture away.

DUCKY: Baby powder.

GIBBS: Powder? Was this powder applied or from incidental contact?

DUCKY: Most definitely applied.

GIBBS: Why?

DUCKY: I haven't the faintest idea. And that's not all. This sliver of safety glass is one of many I extracted from his skull.

GIBBS: What's that stuck to the tip?

DUCKY: Latex, I believe. Abby will be able to confirm. But the latex was between the glass and his skull.

GIBBS: Meaning he was wearing something rubber on his head when he was hit?

DUCKY: We know someone dressed him after he was k*lled, based on the condition of his clothes and the bloodstain patterns.

GIBBS: I can see why you're confused, Duck.

CUT TO:

INT. NCIS OUTER LAB - DAY

(MUSIC PLAYS B.G.)

ABBY: It's grey latex.

GIBBS: Rubber?

ABBY: One and the same.

GIBBS: Probably couldn't be used as a hat.

ABBY: Yeah, well, not if you grew up in Dorkville.

GIBBS: I grew up just west of there.

ABBY: Latex is very popular in certain circles.

GIBBS: Yeah? What kind of circles.

ABBY: Oh hey, Gibbs. I don't know if you're ready for this. It might upset your delicate sensibilities.

GIBBS: Oh, I'll stop you.

ABBY: Okay, maybe he was wearing a latex hood. Like bondage gear, S and M fetish.

GIBBS: Mm-hmm.

ABBY: I dated this guy once who just wanted me to bounce up and down on a balloon...

GIBBS: Okay, stop!

ABBY: Gibbs, that is no weirder than a three hundred and fifty pound guy with half his body painted yellow and the other half painted green wearing nothing but shorts in ten degree weather and a big plastic piece of cheese on his head saying, "Go Packers!"

GIBBS: Ah, that's just apples and oranges.

ABBY: There's a fetish for that, too.

GIBBS: What do you got?

ABBY: I matched the tire track. It turns out it's not real popular, but not terribly unpopular.

CUT TO:

INT. INNER LAB - DAY

ABBY: Kind of like my little brother in high school.

ABBY: Those are the five cars that come equipped with that tire.

GIBBS: Next.

ABBY: All the blood samples from the bathroom, the parking lot, the ceiling, the stairs, were all from the victim. No dr*gs. And the blood alcohol level was point one zero.

GIBBS: Legally drunk.

ABBY: In all fifty states including the District of Colombia.

GIBBS: That might explain how he ended up where he did in the parking lot.

ABBY: Been there, done that.

GIBBS: What about the stuff he had on his hands?

ABBY: Baby powder.

GIBBS: Any ideas why?

ABBY: I don't know. Guys have all kinds of strange rituals before they go out. This one guy... he does a full upper body workout just seconds before his date so he can be all pumped.

GIBBS: Does Tony know that you know?

ABBY: Does Tony know that you know? You know, maybe it came from the car.

GIBBS: The baby powder?

ABBY: No, the latex. Latex has a lot of commercial applications. I'm having a computer program emailed to me that'll recreate the accident based on the injuries. It'll give me a better idea.

GIBBS: Let me know.

ABBY: Hey Gibbs, do you have any fetishes?

ABBY: I have three ex-wives. I can't afford fetishes.

CUT TO:

INT. NCIS SQUAD ROOM - DAY

KATE: Tony, are you a G S nine or a G S eleven?

TONY: I can't tell you.

KATE: Why not?

TONY: Because if I do you'll know how much money I make.

KATE: So?

TONY: That's personal and confidential.

KATE: I'm sorry, um... you give me every single detail about your dates. You leave out nothing.

TONY: That's bragging. Money's personal.

GIBBS: It's fifteen twenty.

TONY: We're quitting early? (b*at) We're going to PAX River.

KATE: To pick up Gordon's buddies who come on at sixteen hundred.

GIBBS: The four musketeers.

CUT TO:

INT. OBSERVATION ROOM - DAY

BOWMAN: (V.O.) We um... we drove to the club after hearing about it from a guy on the Eisenhower, Sir.

GIBBS: (V.O.) Why all the way to Alexandria?

BOWMAN: We were bored with the clubs around Lexington Park. We knew everyone there.

CUT TO:

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - DAY

BOWMAN: And we wanted to meet some new people. Plus we heard this guy Darin Spotnitz threw some awesome parties.

GIBBS: Hmm. How'd you get there?

(PASSAGE OF TIME)

MORGAN: I drove.

GIBBS: You only took one car?

MORGAN: Yes, Sir. We got there around eleven.

GIBBS: Okay, then what?

MORGAN: We paid our twenty five bucks, went inside, did a lap around the place, had a few drinks.

GIBBS: Petty Officer Gordon was with you the whole time?

(PASSAGE OF TIME)

CARTER: Until he met a babe.

GIBBS: Do you know her name?

CARTER: No, Sir. Sorry.

GIBBS: She and Gordon hit it off, huh?

CARTER: Oh, yeah.

GIBBS: What time did he leave?

CARTER: Around midnight. With the girl. I figured he just went home with her.

GIBBS: And you were headed for PAX River.

(PASSAGE OF TIME)

WONG: Our deal was if one of us got lucky, he was on his own in terms of getting back to base.

GIBBS: That happen often?

WONG: Not really.

GIBBS: We found forty thousand dollars cash in Gordon's room.

WONG: Forty thousand!? You're kidding.

GIBBS: Any idea where he got all that money?

WONG: No, Sir.

GIBBS: What kind of car do you drive?

(PASSAGE OF TIME)

CARTER: Audi A-six.

(PASSAGE OF TIME)

BOWMAN: Three fifty Z.

(PASSAGE OF TIME)

MORGAN: Escalade.

(PASSAGE OF TIME)

WONG: Taurus.

CUT TO:

INT. OBSERVATION ROOM

KATE: Taurus is one of the five cars that uses the tire.

WONG: (V.O.) ...two years.

CUT TO:

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM

ON PDA: TAURUS IS ON THE LIST

GIBBS: Is your car on base?

WONG: It was. I loaned it to my brother a few days ago.

GIBBS: Where is he?

WONG: On his way to Phoenix to visit a girl he met on the Internet.

CUT TO:

INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY

KATE: A bunch of guys go to a club, one of them meets a woman and leaves, then turns up dead.

TONY: Their stories are pretty consistent.

GIBBS: A little too consistent.

TONY: Do you think they're lying?

GIBBS: I think they're well rehearsed.

KATE: But if that's what really happened and they're telling the truth, then their stories should match.

GIBBS: They all gave a consistent description of the mystery woman. Eyewitness accounts always widely vary.

KATE: These guys are in the m*llitary, Gibbs, so you'd expect more accuracy from them than you would the general public.

GIBBS: They're storekeepers, Kate, they're not SEALs. We know what happened to Gordon. What happened to the girl?

KATE: We have no name and the description was basically, "she's super hot." So it doesn't narrow it down much.

TONY: Except for Wong, for second class Petty Officers, those guys have some pricey rides.

GIBBS: Put out an APB on Wong's Taurus, and talk to Antwane Mann... two n's.

MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:

INT. BEAUTY SHOP - DAY

MANN: What can I do for you, brother? Haircut? Manicure? A waxing?

TONY: Definitely not a waxing. How about you, Kate?

KATE: I'm Special Agent Todd, NCIS. This is Special Agent DiNozzo. Are you Antwane Mann?

MANN: Proprietor of Soul Clips.

TONY: Kind of ironic.

MANN: What's that?

TONY: You've got a hair salon and you're bald.

MANN: I'm not bald.

TONY: You're taller than your hair.

MANN: I shave my head.

TONY: It just seems redundant.

KATE: We understand that you were working the door last night at the Darin Spotnitz party.

MANN: That's right. My man, Darin. Boy knows how to throw a party.

KATE: So you work as a bouncer and you own this business?

MANN: Hey, I don't plan on working forever. I want to retire at fifty.

KATE: How are you going to do that?

MANN: Ah, by investing.

KATE: Really. In what?

TONY: Kate, the pictures?

KATE: Oh, right.

TONY: I want to show you a few pictures to see if you remember any of them from the club last night.

MANN: That's a waste of time. There were over five hundred peop - hey, I remember him! I notice people's hair. You know, him and his buddies were the only ones who had cuts like that.

TONY: Are these the buddies that were with him?

MANN: Yep.

KATE: Do you remember what time he left?

MANN: He didn't. He came in the club around eleven o'clock. They found him dead a few hours later.

KATE: So he didn't leave with a woman around midnight?

MANN: No. (b*at) But he did.

(MUSIC UP AND OUT)

FADE IN:

INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY

TONY: Why would all four lie about who left with the woman?

KATE: To protect Wong. Or the woman.

GIBBS: Or themselves.

TONY: From what?

GIBBS: That is the forty thousand dollar question. We're missing something. The evidence doesn't make sense.

KATE: Haven't you already run every known t*rror1st through this program?

GIBBS: I'm running it again.

TONY: We know Gordon was purposely run down in the parking lot, probably d*ed from a fractured skull, and somebody hid his body in the warehouse ceiling.

KATE: The forty thousand we found hidden in his room gives someone a motive.

TONY: A motive for who? For what? I mean, nothing ties into the money.

KATE: Do you want us to bring in Wong?

GIBBS: Nope. Not until we know where that forty thousand dollars came from.

TONY: What do we do?

GIBBS: The same thing Deep Throat told Woodward and Bernstein. Follow the money.

(PASSAGE OF TIME)

TONY: Something's bugging me about the money. It's not just forty thousand dollars in cash. It's forty thousand dollars in non-sequential hundred dollar bills.

KATE: So?

TONY: Well, why all hundreds? If it was dr*gs it wouldn't be all hundreds. Or gambling, or even theft.

KATE: You're right.

TONY: Where would you go to get all hundreds?

KATE: Bank.

TONY: Hmm. And what makes you go to a bank requesting non-sequential hundred dollar bills?

KATE: Ransom?

TONY: Blackmail?

KATE: Blackmail's good. Who was he blackmailing?

TONY: I have no idea.
CUT TO:

INT. OUTER LAB - DAY

(MUSIC PLAYS B.G.)

ABBY: This program rocks. It includes vault, fall, yaw, tip over, roll over, combined speed, linear momentum...

GIBBS: Abby...

ABBY: Oh come on, Gibbs. You know you love it when I talk tech.

GIBBS: What do you got?

ABBY: Well, at first I thought the latex might have come from the car. But the latex primer used in the car is located in the undercarriage which he never hit. So he had to have been wearing the latex.

GIBBS: I already knew that.

ABBY: Yes, but that was speculation. This is confirmation.

GIBBS: Okay, what else?

ABBY: I used the victim's measurements and the location of his injuries to determine the height of the vehicle based on point of impact. And then I used a database for vehicle grill dimensions. Can you believe someone put together a database of vehicle grill dimensions?

GIBBS: I was about to call Ripley's.

ABBY: I had this boyfriend once - not the balloon guy - but this one was like a computer genius. He put together a database of databases. Well, it seems obvious in retrospect, like the pet rock.

GIBBS: Abby...

ABBY: Yes?

GIBBS: You're spending too much time talking to Ducky.

ABBY: Okay, bottom line... the car that hit Gordon was definitely a Taurus.

GIBBS: You're positive?

ABBY: Absolutely. Unless... it was a Mercury Sable.

CUT TO:

INT. SQUAD ROOM - DAY

TONY: Huh.

KATE: Did you find something interesting?

TONY: A prepaid phone card. Why would you have a pre-paid phone card if you have a cell phone?

KATE: Well, I can think of one reason. Phone cards aren't possible to trace.

TONY: Unless you physically have the card.

KATE: So you think maybe he used his phone card in his blackmailing scheme to cover up his tracks?

TONY: That's what I'd do.

KATE: So if we trace his calls...

TONY: We should have a pretty good idea of who he was blackmailing.

(PASSAGE OF TIME)

TONY: A list of calls sorted by phone number and frequency of calls.

KATE: Who's number one?

TONY: Bartex Corporation.

KATE: What do they do?

TONY: Let's Google them and find out.

(SFX: KEYBOARDING B.G.)

TONY: There we go. (READS) Bartex Corporation is a diversified conglomerate deriving revenues from a number of wide-ranging industries: paper and forest products, natural gas distribution, aerospace, defense...

KATE: (OVERLAP) Skip to that.

TONY: (READS) Bartex was recently awarded a two hundred million dollar design contract for the next generation of carrier fighter jets by the U.S. Navy.

KATE: Ha.

TONY: Things get curiouser and curiouser.

KATE: Seems like we're back to kickbacks.

TONY: But Master Chief Nutter said that Gordon wasn't high enough on the food chain for kickbacks.

KATE: Maybe he was lying.

TONY: Or maybe Nutter was taking kickbacks from the Bartex Corporation, Gordon found out and started blackmailing him.

KATE: That works.

GIBBS: Tony, did you check out all the Tauruses that have parking permits at PAX River?

TONY: Ah, yeah. All except for Wong's, which is allegedly somewhere between here and Phoenix. The A.P.B.'s haven't turned up anything.

GIBBS: Did you check Mercury Sables?

TONY: No. (b*at) But they're the same car. I have a list of permits here. Four Sables have base permits. And this is interesting. Master Chief Nutter drives a Sable.

GIBBS: Why is that interesting?

KATE: We think that when Gordon found out that Nutter was taking kickbacks, he blackmailed him.

TONY: It gives him motive, m*rder w*apon and accounts for the cash.

GIBBS: Easy enough to find out. All we have to do is look at his car. Let's go.

CUT TO:

EXT. PARKING LOT - DAY

GIBBS: Is the Master Chief around?

MORGAN: No, Sir.

GIBBS: Know where we can find him?

MORGAN: He didn't say where he was going.

TONY: Well what do you do if there's an emergency and you need to get a hold of him?

CARTER: We call his cell, Sir.

CUT TO:

INT. INNER LAB - DAY

(SFX: PHONE RINGS)

ABBY: (INTO PHONE) Talk to me.(BEGIN TELEPHONE INTERCUTS)

(SCENE CUT)

GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Hey, Abs. Gibbs.

(SCENE CUT)

GIBBS: (V.O./FILTERED) If I give you a cell phone number...

(SCENE CUT)

GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) ...can you trace it and give me a location?

(SCENE CUT)

ABBY: (INTO PHONE) Uh, yeah. As long as it's a newer phone with a GPS chip and not one of those ancient old bricks.

(SCENE CUT)

GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) How accurate?

ABBY: (V.O./FILTERED) Within a hundred meters.

GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Do we got to jump through any legal hoops?

(SCENE CUT)

ABBY: (INTO PHONE) Oh, it's kind of a gray area.

(SCENE CUT)

GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) How gray?

(SCENE CUT)

ABBY: (INTO PHONE) Charcoal.

(SCENE CUT)

GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) How long does he have to stay on?

(SCENE CUT)

ABBY: (INTO PHONE) All he has to do is answer.

(SCENE CUT)

GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Okay, here's the number.

(SCENE CUT)

GIBBS: (V.O./FILTERED) Area code seven zero two, five five five, zero one two seven.

(SFX: TELEPHONE BEEP TONES)

ABBY: (INTO PHONE) Okay, it's dialing.

NUTTER: (V.O./FILTERED) Hello? Hello? Hello?

ABBY: (INTO PHONE) Okay, he's at eighteen thousand nine hundred...

(SCENE CUT)

ABBY: (V.O./FILTERED) ... Beallsville Road.

GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Any idea what's there?

(SCENE CUT)

ABBY: (INTO PHONE) Bartex Corporation.

(END TELEPHONE INTERCUTS)

CUT TO:

EXT. PARKING LOT - DAY

(SFX: TIRES SCREECH/HORN HONKS)

(CAR DOORS OPEN/CLOSE)

NUTTER: Agent Gibbs, what are you doing here?

GIBBS: I was going to ask you the same thing.

NUTTER: Personal business.

GIBBS: Do you care to elaborate? (b*at) Look, you can talk to me now or we can do this in front of Admiral Barnes. It's your choice.

NUTTER: Bartex is one of our vendors.

GIBBS: And?

NUTTER: Can we keep this between us?

GIBBS: Nope.

NUTTER: They've offered me a position with their company and I'm seriously considering taking it. I didn't want to let anyone know until I made my final decision.

GIBBS: Pop the hood of your car.

NUTTER: Why?

GIBBS: Because I asked.

(SFX: HOOD POPS)

TONY: No body work.

KATE: The windshield is original equipment according to the manufacturer's specs. It hasn't been replaced.

TONY: No way this car hit Gordon.

CUT TO:

INT. CAR - DRIVING

(SFX: CARS HONK B.G.)

TONY: Forty mile zone ended two miles back, boss. It's under sixty five. I only mention it because you usually drive slightly faster than Dale Earnhardt Junior. Boss?

GIBBS: What?

TONY: Do you want to stop for a burger?

GIBBS: No!

KATE: Gosh, I would have bet a month's salary it was Chief Nutter.

TONY: You would have lost.

KATE: I always lose when I bet.

TONY: Don't tell me. You had the Cubs.

KATE: Red Sox.

TONY: Ah, she bet on the Sox, boss.

GIBBS: Not again. We are not going to lose again!

(SFX: CAR TIRES SCREECH)

GIBBS: We are going back to that warehouse and we are staying until we nail whoever hit Petty Officer Gordon.

CUT TO:

EXT. WAREHOUSE - DAY

(SFX: CAR TIRES SCREECH TO A STOP)

(CAR DOORS OPEN/CLOSE)

GIBBS: They lied about coming in one car. Wong's Taurus hit Gordon. They made up the story about his brother.

KATE: They? Not Wong?

GIBBS: They were in it together.

KATE: Okay, so they were all in a conspiracy to do what? k*ll their buddy for forty grand?

GIBBS: Maybe. Or maybe they just wanted payback.

KATE: You lost me, Gibbs.

TONY: Me too, boss.

GIBBS: Tony, you check out this lot next door?

TONY: Uh...a hundred meter perimeter search didn't reach the lot.

GIBBS: (OVERLAP) Then we do two hundred!

TONY: What are we looking for?

GIBBS: Answers!

TONY: Do you have plans tonight?

KATE: Not really.

TONY: Good, because the last time Gibbs was like this I didn't go home for a week.

KATE: The sad part... that would actually be an improvement over my social life.

(KATE WALKS TO THE FENCE)

KATE: Gibbs!

GIBBS: Tony? Looks like our latex.

KATE: Must have gotten snagged when somebody slipped through the fence into the parking lot.

GIBBS: Not someone. Petty Officer Gordon. Okay, flash and bag it.

TONY: Any idea what this stuff is?

KATE: Of course.

TONY: What?

KATE: Evidence.

TONY: That's a good one, Kate.

(PASSAGE OF TIME)

TONY: I don't know, boss. This lot is trashed.

GIBBS: It's got to be fresh, Tony. Less than forty eight hours old.

TONY: Wow, what you got, boss?

GIBBS: Maybe something.

TONY: Do you think that was left by our four musketeers?

GIBBS: Oh, yeah.

KATE: Damn it, Gibbs. If you know what happened, tell us.

GIBBS: Patience, Kate. Patience. All right, keep looking everybody. Watch your step.

KATE: He doesn't know.

TONY: Want to bet?

GIBBS: Kate, get a photo.

KATE: Yeah.

TONY: I've got some fresh butts over here. Petty Officer Morgan smoked.

KATE: And Petty Officer Carter.

TONY: We'll get DNA from this. Looks like they had some kind of tripod over here.

KATE: Are you about ready to tell us what you're thinking?

GIBBS: They filmed it.

KATE: Filmed what?

(MUSIC OUT)

FADE IN:

INT. AUTOPSY ROOM - DAY

(SFX: DRAWER SLIDES OPEN)

GIBBS: Not a pretty sight, is it?

MORGAN: Did you have to cut him up like that?

DUCKY: Oh, yes. An autopsy is required in a m*rder investigation.

CARTER: Sir, can I please be excused?

GIBBS: Oh, that chance ended three days ago, Petty Officer Carter.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. OBSERVATION ROOM - DAY

TONY: Twenty bucks Carter wets his pants before Morgan.

KATE: Think this'll work?

GIBBS: Oh, it'll work. Do you have my videotape ready?

KATE: Abby's cleaning it up right now.

GIBBS: All right. Let's do this.

CUT TO:

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - DAY

(DOOR OPENS/ CLOSES)

TONY: They never put four people in the same interrogation room - ever! Do you want to know why?

KATE: Because we don't want them comparing stories or conspiring to hide the truth.

TONY: But in your case we're willing to make an exception.

GIBBS: I know what happened. Now it's just a question of time.

KATE: As in how much time you'll spend at Leavenworth if you don't cooperate with us.

CARTER: It was all a joke. It was just a stupid--

WONG: Shut up, Carter. I want a lawyer.

GIBBS: You know, if I was you, Wong, I'd want a lawyer, too.

MORGAN: What if we cooperate, Sir?

WONG: Morgan, all they have is a strip of rubber. If they can charge us, they would have already.

TONY: (V.O.) What about your car, Wong?

KATE: Do you know how hard it is to wash blood stains off a car these days?

WONG: Are you saying you have my car?

TONY: Are you saying we don't?

WONG: There's no way you have my car.

KATE: Are you sure about that?

WONG: What is this, bad cop, dumb cop? My car is long gone. My brother--

GIBBS: I don't need your car. I have this.

(DOOR OPENS)

KATE: Never put anything on videotape that you don't want to be seen.

TONY: Just ask Paris Hilton.

GIBBS: You had your chance to come clean. It could help with the sentencing.

CARTER: Wait. I'll talk, Sir.

MORGAN: It was an accident. We didn't think anyone was going to get hurt, Sir.

GIBBS: Whose idea was it?

BOWMAN: It was Gordon's, Sir. He was planning it for months. It was payback for the time when Wong set him up on a blind date with a tr*nsv*stite.

WONG: Don't you see what they're trying to do here? We have to--

CARTER: Gordon is laying on a slab down there because of us, Wong.

MORGAN: Yeah, maybe you can live with that. I can't.

GIBBS: Who was the girl? Somebody's girlfriend? Hooker?

BOWMAN: She was a call girl, Sir.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. CLUB - FLASHBACK

GIBBS: (V.O.) You hired her to lure Wong out of the club into the parking lot for your joke.(MUSIC B.G.)

ZOE: Oh! I'm sorry! Or maybe not. Do you want to dance? Come on!

(WONG AND ZOE DANCE)

ZOE: Is your car in the parking lot?

WONG: Yeah.

ZOE: Let's go!(ZOE AND WONG WALK FROM THE CLUB)

GIBBS: (V.O.) That must have been some girl, Petty Officer Wong.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - DAY

GIBBS: Who was in charge of the set up in the vacant lot?

MORGAN: It was me and Gordon, Sir.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. PARKING LOT - FLASHBACK

GORDON: This is going to be legendary!

MORGAN: Yeah it is, dude. Let's do this.

GORDON: Man, Wong is going to piss his pants!

(LAUGHTER)

CARTER: Hurry up, man. She's going to bring him out, soon.

MORGAN: Hey, where's the camera?

CARTER: I thought you had it.

MORGAN: You left it in the car, you moron! Let's go!

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - DAY

GIBBS: Seems like you guys had it all organized. What went wrong?

BOWMAN: Wong panicked, Sir.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. PARKING LOT - FLASHBACK

(WONG AND ZOE KISS ON CAMERA MONITOR)

CARTER: You go, girl! It's show time.

CUT TO:

INT. WONG'S CAR - FLASHBACK

ZOE: What's wrong?

WONG: Did you see some lights?

ZOE: No.

CUT TO:

EXT. PARKING LOT - FLASHBACK

MORGAN: (INTO PHONE) Cue the dry ice. Tell Gordon to haul ass.

(MUSIC OVER ACTION/WATER VAPORIZES ON DRY ICE)

MORGAN: Wong is going to have a heart att*ck!

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM

KATE: You don't seem like the type that scares easily, Petty Officer Wong.

WONG: I didn't know. I didn't know it was Chris.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. WONG'S CAR - FLASHBACK

ZOE: What's that sound?!

(SFX: LIGHTS CLICK ON)

WONG: What the hell is that?

ZOE: Oh, my god! Oh, he's coming right at us! Do something!

WONG: Where the hell are my keys?(ZOE SHRIEKS B.G.)

WONG: I can't find my keys!(LAUGHTER)

(SFX: CAR STARTS)

(SFX: CAR TIRES SCREECH)

(MUSIC OVER ACTION/CAR CRASHES INTO MORGAN)

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - DAY

MORGAN: He was our best friend, Agent Gibbs.

CARTER: And we k*lled him.

GIBBS: That was a pretty good practical joke. Too bad your buddy d*ed.

WONG: It was an accident, Sir.

GIBBS: What about the forty grand? Are you telling me no one knew about that?

BOWMAN: Sir, none of us had any idea that Gordon had that kind of money.

MORGAN: We never should have tried to hide the body. But it was an accident, Sir.

GIBBS: Is that true, Petty Officer Wong? No one knew about it?

WONG: The only thing I am guilty of here is manslaughter. You saw the tape.

GIBBS: Is he talking about this tape, Tony?

TONY: I think he is, boss.

GIBBS: Oh, this isn't your tape.

KATE: But you're in it, Wong.

(VIDEOTAPE PLAYS)

GIBBS: Twenty two year olds cashing forty thousand dollar inheritance checks is something bank tellers tend to notice. Hmm. You noticed it too.

WONG: It was... it was an accident.

GIBBS: We have a witness.

(DOOR OPENS)

KATE: Did Wong know that it was a prank?

ZOE: Mm-hmm.

KATE: How much was he giving you to keep your mouth shut?

ZOE: A thousand dollars.

CARTER: He knew it was a prank?

ZOE: He said his friend was trying to get even with him.

BOWMAN: You knew it was Chris.

MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:

INT. SQUAD ROOM - NIGHT

TONY: Hey, you got any plans tonight?

KATE: I did. Too late now.

TONY: Want to grab some Chinese at the new place down the street?

KATE: Sure. Want to ask Gibbs?

TONY: He's busy.

KATE: Doing what?

TONY: Same thing he does every night.

(MUSIC OVER ACTION/PICTURES FLASH ON THE SCREEN)

(MUSIC OUT)

(MUSIC UP OVER ENDING CREDITS AND OUT)
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