MUSIC IN:
INT. MALL/CHILDREN'S SALON - DAY
(MUSIC OVER SCENES OF GIRLS AND MOTHERS)
PAULSON: Hey.
EMILY: Hi.
PAULSON: Try that one.
EMILY: Okay.
FORNELL: Emily!
EMILY: Yes?
FORNELL: Come here!
EMILY: They haven't called our number yet.
FORNELL: I know.
PAULSON: Relax, Agent Fornell. She's fine.
FORNELL: I didn't expect to see you again until... twenty-sixty-seven.
PAULSON: Got a reprieve. You're not going to use that in front of your daughter.
FORNELL: I don't need a g*n to take you down.
PAULSON: You wouldn't hurt an innocent man.
FORNELL: I'm not looking at one.
PAULSON: That's where you and Agent Gibbs got it wrong.
FORNELL: Agent Gibbs is retired.
PAULSON: I know. Why do you think I'm talking to you?
FORNELL: I have no idea. Why don't you enlighten me?
PAULSON: I told you. You got the wrong guy. And if there's a shred of decency in you, and brains, you'll reopen my case and find the right one. Now, I'm going to walk out of here. You'll want to follow. But you'll realize something... and end up just reaching for that cell instead.
FORNELL: Really?
PAULSON: Yeah.
FORNELL: Why's that?
PAULSON: I might not be alone. (TO EMILY) See you, sweetie.
EMILY: 'Bye!
(MUSIC UP AND OUT)
(THEME MUSIC UP OVER OPENING TITLE/SCENES/ CREDITS AND OUT)
MUSIC IN:
EXT. HOUSE - DAY
"ESCAPED"
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. BASEMENT - DAY
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/GIBBS LOOKS THROUGH STORAGE BOXES/ PHOTOS)
MARNY: (V.O.) The basement needs some work. But if it doesn't shout (ON CAMERA) wine seller, I don't know what does. Have a look and I'll be right back.
GIBBS: First my wife, now my house?
FORNELL: No! No, I learned my lesson. I'm through with your leftovers. You're going to need a bigger box for that boat.
GIBBS: You come all the way out here to give me packing tips, Tobias?
FORNELL: Actually, I came to tell you that Petty Officer Derrick Paulson escaped from prison yesterday.
GIBBS: (b*at) No!
FORNELL: I haven't asked you anything yet. You caught him last time. Figured you might like to catch him again.
GIBBS: You thought wrong.
FORNELL: He came to see me, Jethro, when I was with Emily.
GIBBS: Is she okay?
FORNELL: For now. He just wanted to tell me that I got the wrong man, then strongly suggested that I reopen his case to prove it.
GIBBS: He's risking a lot for something he knows can't happen.
FORNELL: You think? I don't know what his game is, but I'm not going to get a good night's sleep until that S.O.B. is back behind bars.
GIBBS: You don't need me to find him.
FORNELL: Need? (ANGRILY) A convicted k*ller was two inches from my daughter! Handing her crayons! He touched her! We're way beyond need, Jethro! (b*at) Nice tan.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. NCIS SQUAD ROOM - DAY
ZIVA: It's really not that bad, McGee.
MCGEE: For a spy you're a horrible liar.
LEE: Ziva's right. You can hardly notice. But...
MCGEE: But?
LEE: I wouldn't let Agent DiNozzo see it if I were you.
TONY: Let Agent DiNozzo see what?
MCGEE: (MUMBLES) Nothing.
TONY: Why are you mumbling, McGee?
MCGEE: (MUMBLES) I'm not mumbling.
TONY: Well, you either just said "mimes aren't rumbling" or "I'm not mumbling." And I don't see any mimes. Agent Lee, why is Agent McGee mumbling?
LEE: He over-bleached his teeth, Sir. Apparently he fell asleep while wearing his bleaching tray, Sir.
TONY: You don't watch Friends, do you? Same thing happened to Ross. You could have learned from our friend's mistake. But you chose to read instead! Let me see the damage.
MCGEE: (MUMBLES) No.
TONY: As team leader, people, I need to be aware of any condition that might affect an agent's ability to perform his or her duties.
ZIVA: And what does having embarrassingly white teeth have to do with performing his duties?
MCGEE: You said it was not that bad!
TONY: She lied! Open up your mouth.
MCGEE: (MUMBLES) No.
TONY: Let me see the Chiclets.
MCGEE: (MUMBLES) No.
TONY: Let me see them.
MCGEE: (MUMBLES) No.
TONY: Open your - Gibbs!
MCGEE: What is...?
TONY: I have no idea.
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/GIBBS QUICKLY WALKS UPSTAIRS)
CUT TO:
INT. SHEPARD'S OUTER OFFICE
CYNTHIA: Agent Gibbs! I'm - Mister....
CUT TO:
INT. SHEPARD'S OFFICE - DAY
(DOOR OPENS/ CLOSES)
SHEPARD: Just as I was getting used to my door being treated as a door. (INTO PHONE) I'll call you back, Todd.
GIBBS: I need a temporary reinstatement.
SHEPARD: I assume you're here because of ex-Petty Officer Derrick Paulson? I read Agent Fornell's report. Why the sudden, if temporary, interest in bank robbers?
GIBBS: If you've read Fornell's report, Jen, then you already know. We're wasting time.
SHEPARD: It's not that simple, Jethro. You left. I appreciate what you did for Ziva, but this is not some gym membership that you can turn on and off.
GIBBS: No, I can't. But I'm not Director of NCIS.
SHEPARD: And the Director of NCIS already filed your retirement package with NAVY Human Resources.
GIBBS: Unfile it.
SHEPARD: It doesn't work that way, Jethro! It would take weeks to reinstate you! And that's even if you manage to pass your --
GIBBS: My Psych Evaluation? Or are you talking about my Firearms Proficiency Exam?
SHEPARD: No. That one I'm not worried about. (b*at) Wait! (LONG b*at) Let me at least ... validate your parking.
(SFX: DRAWER OPENS)
SHEPARD: (GASPS) That's strange! I could have sworn I filed this! Your retirement package! I must have accidentally put in for your unused leave time instead. Of which, it seems, there are six days left until it has to be filed.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. NCIS SQUAD ROOM - DAY
TONY: Come on, don't tell me you don't eavesdrop, Cynthia. Every director's assistant eavesdrops.
ZIVA: (OVERLAP) He's coming! He's coming!
TONY: Hey, Gibbs. Just visiting the neighborhood, or... taking your desk back?
TONY: Let's go.
(PHONE RINGS)
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) You should have been here half an hour ago.(BEGIN TELEPHONE INTERCUTS)
(SCENE CUT)
FORNELL: (INTO PHONE) Yeah, I'm just getting Emily settled...
(SCENE CUT)
FORNELL: (V.O./FILTERED) ...at my mom's place.
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) You want me to send an agent over?
(SCENE CUT)
FORNELL: (INTO PHONE) How many can you spare?
(CAMERA ANGLE ON TONY)
TONY: Okay, I've got an idea. Maybe he lost his memory again, and forgot he quit his job.
MCGEE: Wouldn't he be sitting at his old desk then?
ZIVA: If Gibbs wanted us to know what he was doing, he would have told us.
TONY: Oh, right! Because he would never expect us to figure out for ourselves!
(ELEVATOR DINGS/ DOORS OPEN)
SHEPARD: (V.O.) Gibbs is back (ON CAMERA) on temporary assignment. The Paulson case.
ZIVA: Paulson?
TONY: Petty Officer Derrick Paulson. Knocked over a bank. k*lled two of his accomplices. Money was never found.
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Paulson's prison cell. I want to see what was in it.
FORNELL: (V.O./FILTERED) Already had the contents sent over. Maybe your techs can find something mine couldn't.
(SCENE CUT)
EMILY: 'Bye, Daddy!
FORNELL: (INTO PHONE) I'm worried.
GIBBS: (V.O./FILTERED) She'll be fine, Tobias.
(SCENE CUT)
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Paulson isn't after her.
(SCENE CUT)
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) I ruined his life, Jethro. We don't know what he's after.
(END TELEPHONE INTERCUTS)
CUT TO:
INT. ABBY'S LAB - DAY
GIBBS: Anything good?
ABBY: Yeah. It's a jail-house appeal from some escaped convict. The guy really knows his forensics. (b*at) (GASPS) I knew it! I knew it! I won't need these anymore now that you're actually here! I knew you'd come back!
GIBBS: I'm not back.
ABBY: Of course you're back. I can feel your badge. It is your badge, right? You are back.
GIBBS: Reinstatement's only temporary, Abs. Until I can find Paulson.
ABBY: We'll see about that. So what can I do for you, Temporarily-Reinstated Agent Gibbs?
GIBBS: Process the contents of Paulson's cell.
ABBY: What am I looking for? Oh, right! Anything to help you find him.
GIBBS: I want to know what he was up to before he escaped. Unless the three of you have any other suggestions?
CUT TO:
INT. NCIS SQUAD ROOM - DAY
TONY: Uh... hey! We were... we were just eavesdropping like little girls. But we do have suggestions.
CUT TO:
INT. ABBY'S LAB - DAY
ZIVA: (V.O./FILTERED) Prison records show ...
CUT TO:
INT. NCIS SQUAD ROOM - DAY
ZIVA: .... that only one person ever came to visit Paulson in jail.
MCGEE: Mickey Stokes. Seventy-two. Former Navy Sailor.
ZIVA: And since Paulson has no family, we should assume that he'll try to contact Mickey.
TONY: And I already have an address.
CUT TO:
INT. ABBY'S LAB - DAY
GIBBS: Tony, Ziva, you're with me.
CUT TO:
INT. NCIS SQUAD ROOM - DAY
TONY: McGee, stay here and--
GIBBS: (V.O./FILTERED) Stay here and help Abby.
TONY: Help Abby....process Paulson's belongings.
CUT TO:
INT. ABBY'S LAB - DAY
GIBBS: Then gargle this before the rest of us go snow-blind.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
EXT. MICKEY'S HOUSE - DAY
(SFX: CAR BRAKES TO A STOP)
(SFX: CAR DOORS OPEN/CLOSE)
TONY: Gibbs seemed awfully quiet in the car.
ZIVA: Well, it's not like you were giving him a chance to talk, Tony. Are you nervous he's going to want his old job back?
TONY: No, I'm just bringing him up to speed on the latest protocols.
(DOOR OPENS)
MICKEY: What took you hot-sh*ts so long? He's been waiting over an hour! Hey, shoes off!
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/ALL MOVE INTO THE HOUSE)
TONY: Clear!
ZIVA: Clear!
GIBBS: Where is he?
MICKEY: Well, I never said he was here.
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Gibbs.(BEGIN TELEPHONE INTERCUTS)
PAULSON: (V.O./FILTERED) I didn't expect to hear...
(SCENE CUT)
PAULSON: (INTO PHONE) ...your voice. I heard you quit.
(SCENE CUT)
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Retired.
PAULSON: (V.O./FILTERED) Ha ha. At your age?
(SCENE CUT)
PAULSON: (INTO PHONE) That's quitting.
GIBBS: (V.O./FILTERED) Why don't you...
(SCENE CUT)
GIBBS: ...turn yourself in? You can tell me about this in person.
(SCENE CUT)
PAULSON: (INTO PHONE) Turn myself in for what? I'm an innocent man.
(SCENE CUT)
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Try broken record.
PAULSON: (V.O./FILTERED) So you're...
(SCENE CUT)
PAULSON: (INTO PHONE) ...not going to reopen my case?
GIBBS: (V.O./FILTERED) We both know what I'll...
(SCENE CUT)
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) ... find if I do. So why don't you tell me what you really want?
(SCENE CUT)
PAULSON: (INTO PHONE) I already got it, Agent Gibbs.
(END TELEPHONE INTERCUTS)
CUT TO:
INT. HOUSE - DAY
TONY: So what does he really want?
GIBBS: Our car.
(MUSIC UP AND OUT)
MUSIC IN:
INT. HOUSE - DAY
ZIVA: They appear to be close.
TONY: Well, they say a way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Meals on Wheels. Looks like Paulson was a volunteer.
ZIVA: He volunteered to put... meals on wheels?
TONY: They bring food to the elderly, Ziva.
(PASSAGE OF TIME)
MICKEY: Of course I helped him! Derrick was like a son to me. I was the closest thing he had to family. What would you do if it was your kid in trouble?
FORNELL: I would have told him to give himself up before he got hurt.
MICKEY: Well, I'm glad you ain't my old man, Fornell. Shoes off!!
FORNELL: And I certainly wouldn't let him steal my car.
GIBBS: Didn't. It was Dinozzo's car.
MICKEY: He just wants you to re-open his case! You been reading my letters the past four years? You bozos got the wrong guy.
FORNELL: Paulson took advantage of you, Mickey. He only brought you food because you lived near the bank he was casing.
GIBBS: You wasted your life savings defending the wrong guy.
MICKEY: Hey, not my computer! I've got an online date tonight!
FORNELL: Where is he, Mickey?
GIBBS: He doesn't know.
FORNELL: Are you sure? Want to hit him for aiding and abetting?
GIBBS: He did shelter Paulson and gave him money.
TONY: I say we use him as bait. Give Mickey a pass, put a man on him in case Paulson comes back.
GIBBS: You're the boss.
(PHONE RINGS)
TONY: (INTO PHONE) Yeah. Where? Anything in it? (SFX: MUFFLED VOICE B.G.)
(SFX: HANGS UP PHONE)
TONY: (TO GIBBS) D.C. Metro just found our car half a mile from here. The only thing missing was my laptop.
GIBBS: And every file we had on Paulson.
MICKEY: I told you! He just... he just wants to work on his case.
FORNELL: Except he's had all his case files since the trial.
ZIVA: Perhaps ours have something his didn't.
GIBBS: They do.
TONY: The addresses of the witnesses who testified against him.
MICKEY: He's not a thr*at to anyone! He's on the run and unarmed.
ZIVA: Do you keep any weapons in the house?
MICKEY: Oh, great. Now you're going to pin another crime on him? Just my old Colt.
FORNELL: Where is it?
CUT TO:
INT. ABBY'S LAB - DAY
LEE: Paulson could be after any one of a half-dozen witnesses. I've never seen a convicted felon file so many appeals. It's an abuse of the system.
ABBY: We're all entitled to our day in court.
LEE: Not according to Agent Gibbs. I've been going over his case files. He seems to prefer a more... Biblical approach to things. If you ask me, the agency is better off without him.
(ABBY SLAMS THE BOOK ON THE COUNTER)
LEE: Oh!
ABBY: I like you, Michelle. So I'm just going to pretend like you didn't say that! NCIS is lucky to have Gibbs back!
LEE: Except he's not staying.
ABBY: You do realize--
LEE: You can k*ll me without leaving any forensic evidence behind? Yeah. You mentioned that.
ABBY: Good then. It's settled. Gibbs is staying. He has to. Right, Gibbs?
GIBBS: What do you got for me, Abby?
ABBY: Paulson's fingerprints on the g*n case and on Mickey's computer.
LEE: And he's also visited over a dozen people search sites. I think he was looking for someone.
GIBBS: Yeah, I got that part.
ABBY: No names yet, but I'm using the F.B.I.'s mainframe to decrypt the search cache. Well, you always did have really good timing.
OLD WOMAN: (ON MONITOR) Mickey! Where the hell is Mickey, you tramp!?
ABBY: Mickey isn't here! (TO GIBBS) It's Mickey's online playmate. She keeps tunneling through my firewall.
GIBBS: Russell Nash.
LEE: Apparently he's...
GIBBS: The only accomplice Paulson didn't k*ll.
LEE: Yeah, and the one he really should have. Nash copped a plea and testified against Paulson. Paulson got life, and Nash walked in eighteen months. Skipped out on his parole. Hasn't been seen since.
ABBY: Well, if the money was never found, then maybe Paulson is looking for Nash because he thinks Nash has the money.
GIBBS: Or maybe Paulson is looking for something a little more... Biblical.
CUT TO:
INT. NCIS SQUAD ROOM - DAY
ZIVA: (INTO PHONE) Thank you. I'll let Agent Gibbs know immediately, and I'll see you Saturday. Okay.
(HANGS UP PHONE)
MCGEE: Hey, was the F.B.I. able to warn all the witnesses?
ZIVA: All except for one. Is this your third Caf-POW!, McGee?
MCGEE: It's my fourth. How do they look?
ZIVA: Ooh. Maybe you should switch to blueberries. Anything good on our tip hotline?
MCGEE: Is there ever? Half our callers don't know what a tip is.
CUT TO:
INT. STAIRCASE - DAY
ZIVA: (V.O./FILTERED) Have you spoken to Gibbs yet?
MCGEE: (V.O./FILTERED) What about?
ZIVA: (V.O./FILTERED) You're not wondering why he's back?
MCGEE: (V.O./FILTERED) To help Fornell. Like he helped you.
GIBBS: Taking a little break, Dinozzo?
TONY: Oh, I think you know exactly what I'm doing, Agent Gibbs.
MCGEE: (V.O./FILTERED) Why do you think he's back?
CUT TO:
INT. NCIS SQUAD ROOM - DAY
ZIVA: I don't know but I'm hoping it's more than just Fornell. Let's just say I'm getting sick of the...
CUT TO:
INT. STAIRCASE - DAY
ZIVA: (V.O./FILTERED) ... campfires.
TONY: Showtime.
CUT TO:
INT. NCIS SQUAD ROOM - DAY
MCGEE: I wouldn't let Tony hear you say that.
TONY: Say what, Agent McGee?
ZIVA: Yeah, I was telling McGee the F.B.I. was able to...
TONY: ... warn all the witnesses from Paulson's trial except for one?
ZIVA: Right! The only one they couldn't find was--
GIBBS: Russell Nash.
TONY: I have much to learn still, Master. Campfire! There you go. (TO GIBBS) It's sort of a new thing I like to do. I find it focuses the group better than just...you know, shouting across the bullpen. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Let's focus on Russell Nash.
ZIVA: The inside man.
MCGEE: Worked for the bank that Paulson knocked over.
ZIVA: Our only missing witness.
GIBBS: According to Abby, he's the one Paulson's after.
MCGEE: If we find Nash...
ABBY: ...we find Paulson.
TONY: Campfire over.
JIMMY: (V.O.) And the last question.
CUT TO:
INT. AUTOPSY ROOM - DAY
JIMMY: In your own words, the difference between ethics and morals.
DUCKY: Well, the ethical man knows he shouldn't cheat on his wife. Whereas the moral man actually wouldn't.
(SFX: DOORS SLIDE OPEN/ CLOSED)
JIMMY: You're going to ace your oral exams, Doctor.
GIBBS: Going back to school?
DUCKY: I never stopped.
JIMMY: The doctor's getting a degree in forensic psychology.
DUCKY: Yes, and with it I'll be able to add the psychological autopsy to my arsenal. I'll not only be able to uncover the "hows" of our patients' demise, but the why's as well. I mean, what motivates us can be a very tricky thing. I was wondering when you were going to come down and see me.
GIBBS: I've been busy.
DUCKY: Or avoiding me. I wonder why that could be.
GIBBS: I'm not staying.
DUCKY: Oh, I didn't think you were. I'm aware that when Leroy Jethro Gibbs makes up his mind, his mind's made up. So... why are you here?
GIBBS: The Paulson case. How much do you know?
DUCKY: Well, I took the liberty of examining the M.E.'s reports on Paulson's two m*rder*d accomplices.
GIBBS: Anything bug you?
DUCKY: It's about as watertight a case as I've ever seen, pathologically thinking. Why? Do you suspect foul play in the foul play?
GIBBS: No.
DUCKY: Yet you're down here asking me if anything "bugs you" about the case. Are you getting one of those famous gut instincts again?
GIBBS: I've already had that. And it said that Paulson was guilty.
DUCKY: When Leroy Jethro Gibbs makes up his mind, his mind's made up. Too bad for Petty Officer Paulson. Let's hope things work out better for you in Mexico.
(PHONE RINGS)
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Uh-huh?
TONY: (V.O./FILTERED) No word on the Russell Nash...(BEGIN TELEPHONE INTERCUTS)
(SCENE CUT)
TONY: (INTO PHONE) ...BOLO, but we got something off the top hotline on Paulson.
GIBBS: (V.O./FILTERED) What?
MCGEE: Paulson.
(SCENE CUT)
PAULSON: (V.O./FILTERED) Hey, Jethro. So you got a tip hotline to find me, but nothing on...
(SCENE CUT)
PAULSON: (ON TAPE) ...my original case. Not cool. I'm going to have to do something about that. But for now...
(SCENE CUT)
PAULSON: (V.O./FILTERED) ... I'm just calling to say thanks for the car.
(SCENE CUT)
PAULSON: (ON TAPE) I left you a token of my appreciation in return. I'm sure you'll find it soon.
(SCENE CUT)
TONY: (V.O./FILTERED) Called his own tip hotline.
(END TELEPHONE INTERCUTS)
CUT TO:
INT. NCIS SQUAD ROOM - DAY
TONY: I'm starting to like this guy.
ZIVA: We're getting an address from the back-trace now.
MCGEE: We've got it. It's in the city. Forty-two...
CUT TO:
INT. AUTOPSY ROOM - DAY
MCGEE: (V.O./FILTERED) ...forty-two...
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) ...Adams Boulevard.
CUT TO:
INT. NCIS SQUAD ROOM - DAY
TONY: You been there before, Boss?
GIBBS: (V.O./FILTERED) Yeah.
CUT TO:
INT. AUTOPSY ROOM - DAY
GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) That's where Paulson k*lled his two accomplices.
CUT TO:
EXT. ALLEY - DAY
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/CARS BRAKE TO A STOP)
LEE: Is Agent Gibbs aware a warrant hasn't officially come through yet?
MCGEE: I think he got it by the fifth time you told him, Lee.
FORNELL: Got my teams out front. Any idea what his game is this time?
GIBBS: Not a clue.
TONY: Okay, McGee, Ziva, fire escape. Lee....
GIBBS: ... watch the cars.
CUT TO:
INT. HALLWAY - DAY
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/AGENTS MOVE DOWN THE HALLWAY)
(DOOR CLOSES)
TONY: (WHISPERS) Get back!
FORNELL: I imagine you'd rather be enjoying a nice drink in a cantina right about now.
GIBBS: The thought had crossed my mind.
FORNELL: Mine, too.
TONY: Any bets on Paulson's token of appreciation?
FORNELL: Let's hope it's not Russell Nash's head on a stick.
GIBBS: (SHOUTS) Federal agents!
CUT TO:
INT. HOTEL ROOM - DAY
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/CAMERA PANS AROUND THE ROOM)
(MUSIC UP AND OUT)
MUSIC IN:
INT. HOTEL ROOM - DAY
ZIVA: It appears ex-Petty Officer Paulson is attempting to highlight the discrepancies in his crime scene.
GIBBS: Yeah. I picked up on that.
ZIVA: For a guilty man, he's unusually intent on trying to convince us of his innocence.
NOTE: SECOND sh*t IN SECOND VICTIM FROM HERE.
FORNELL: Picked up on that, too.
NOTE: WHY DIDN'T ANYONE HEAR?
ZIVA: No one heard the sh**ting?
FORNELL: Well, it's not exactly a Neighborhood Watch kind of place.
NOTE: DNA PLANTED UNDER THE FINGERNAILS
ZIVA: And the fact that Paulson's DNA was found under this victim's fingernails, but there was no other sign of a struggle?
GIBBS: Mm-hmm. See that about a quarter of the time, Ziva.
CUT TO:
INT. HALLWAY - DAY
GIBBS: Why isn't he running?
FORNELL: Good question. What's that gut of yours say?
GIBBS: Four years ago? That Paulson is guilty.
FORNELL: Didn't mean four years ago.
GIBBS: Paulson isn't after Nash for the money from the bank job.
FORNELL: He's after Nash because Nash is the one man who could exonerate him. So was your gut wrong four years ago? Or is it wrong now?
ZIVA: Our job is not to reopen Paulson's case. Just catch him.
GIBBS: Paulson's already reopened his case, Ziva.
FORNELL: Doesn't matter what our job is, if we want to figure out his next move.
GIBBS: Now we have to reopen it, too.
FORNELL: He's a smart kid.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. NCIS SQUAD ROOM - DAY
SHEPARD: The public defender who represented Paulson is out on maternity leave.
TONY: Prosecutor?
ZIVA: Naval reservist. Deployed to Iraq two years ago.
MCGEE: k*lled by an IED last month.
LEE: Unless we find someone familiar with the Paulson case, it'll take us days just to catch up to speed, much less anticipate Paulson's next move.
SHEPARD: Relax. Gibbs brought in Mickey Stokes. No one knows Paulson better than him.
LEE: Is he even a lawyer?
TONY: Well, we can't all be lawyers, Agent Lee.
(GIBBS WALKS WITH MICKEY THROUGH THE SQUAD ROOM)
MICKEY: So what changed your mind about my boy? Great Oz finally give you guys a heart?
GIBBS: Who said I changed my mind?
MICKEY: It definitely wasn't a brain.
GIBBS: If Paulson was framed, we need to find out how.
MICKEY: Well, maybe it was a brain. Either way, thank you. I've waited a long time for someone to listen.
GIBBS: Don't thank me just yet. Jury had two weeks. They didn't buy it that Paulson was framed. You have one day to convince our forensic scientist otherwise.
ABBY: You must be Mickey.
MICKEY: Well, I'll be whoever you want me to be!
GIBBS: Mickey, you'll do just fine.
MICKEY: I like your outfit.
ABBY: Thank you.
MICKEY: My dog has a collar like that.(ELEVATOR DOORS SLIDE CLOSE)
CUT TO:
INT. NCIS SQUAD ROOM - DAY
TONY: For the sake of argument, let's say that Derrick Paulson was framed.
SHEPARD: That makes Russell Nash your prime suspect.
TONY: Exactly, Director. Hey, Gibbs! Why don't you come on over and join us for a little campfire.
(GIBBS WALKS O.S.)
LEE: Where's he going?
ZIVA: Basement.
MCGEE: Fornell.
TONY: Whiskey.
SHEPARD: Not tonight. His real estate agent is fumigating his house. Apparently Gibbs got termites.
CUT TO:
INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT
FORNELL: I'd offer you the sofa, but I told Emily you were staying over, she insisted you take her room. Even said you can sleep with her Raspberry Rumtart doll.
CUT TO:
EXT. CAMPGROUND - FLASHBACK
KELLY: Hey, watch! You may now kiss the bride!
CUT TO:
INT. EMILY'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
FORNELL: So it was four wives. Unless there's anything else you want to tell me.
GIBBS: Is there something you want to know, Tobias?
FORNELL: You had a family, Jethro. I know you like to play it close to the vest, but... hell, I was married to your second wife!
GIBBS: I tried to warn you.
FORNELL: I know, I know. I didn't listen. If I did, I'd still have a house with a guest bedroom for you. I know it's not our usual stuff. So we screwed up.
GIBBS: Wait and see what Abby says.
FORNELL: We screwed up. Big time. I'm sure it wasn't the first time. I know it's not going to be the last.
GIBBS: My last.
FORNELL: At least we could still make it right.
GIBBS: (V.O.) If Russell Nash did frame Paulson, he's not going to come clean when Paulson finds him. (ON CAMERA) He's going to k*ll Paulson.
FORNELL: I know it. I said we screwed up, didn't I? It's funny how things work out. When I was a kid, all I ever thought about was being an F.B.I. agent. Now, not a day goes by I don't think about being a kid. I don't pay much attention. The way I figure it, anyone doesn't want to quit this job, isn't doing it right.
LEE: (V.O.) My mother will k*ll me if she sees this.
CUT TO:
INT. ABBY'S LAB - DAY
ABBY: It's a henna tattoo. It'll come off in a few days.
MICKEY: It looks good! Of course, I love a girl with tattoos.
ABBY: I've noticed.
LEE: Can we just get this over with, please?
ABBY: Go over there. Okay, could you move around a bit? (SIGHS) All right, how about just walk back and forth?
MICKEY: Try... try it with a little attitude. A little attitude. You know, swing the hips. You know. Hey, give her something to dance to!
(MUSIC UP)
MICKEY: Swing! Swing the pelvis. Like you're walking down the street! Come on, get those shoulders...
LEE: (LAUGHING) Mickey, stop!
MICKEY: Swing the shoulders? Huh.
LEE: Okay, only 'cause it's you, Mickey.(SFX: LEE LAUGHS)
MICKEY: Hey! Hey! Hey!
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/LEE BUMPS INTO GIBBS)
(SFX: LEE GASPS)
LEE: This is not what it looks like. (TO ABBY) Abby, please turn the music off now, please? Off? I'm... so... this is what we were doing, Sir. We were working on the pos - we were...
ABBY: We were establishing a baseline of henna ink's optical reflectivity. You want to know why? (b*at) I'm glad you asked. We were trying to figure out if the evidence was planted to frame Paulson.
MICKEY: Yeah, like the DNA they found that could easily have come from some... uh... why is he looking at me like that?
ABBY: He's kind of a bottom line guy.
LEE: Bottom line, the more Mickey told us, the guiltier Paulson looked.
ABBY: Until we looked at video from the bank job. Paulson was identified by his custom tattoo. One of a kind. Unique as a fingerprint, and pretty cool.
LEE: With the corroborating evidence, it was more than enough for a jury to convict.
GIBBS: Do you think it's a copy?
ABBY: That's why we were taking the pictures. It looks like a henna tattoo.
LEE: But if Russell Nash had a copy made to frame Paulson...
ABBY: ... there would be a color mismatch.
GIBBS: Can you prove it?
ABBY: Yeah. But we're going to have to see Paulson's original tattoo for the test.
MICKEY: He'll never go for that. Not unless he believes you're serious about reopening his case, and he won't believe that until you haul in that bastard Russell Nash.
GIBBS: Working on it.
LEE: We've got a lead on that, too.
ABBY: The F.B.I. has been doing background checks on all of Nash's buddies.
LEE: Meet Gary Silverstein, Russell Nash's old roommate. He used to work at a tattoo shop. It could just be a coincidence if - wow! He hates me!
CUT TO:
EXT. STREET - DAY
TONY: No, no, no, no, no, no. Careful, Gary!
GARY: I told you to stand five steps back. Insurance reasons.
TONY: You can get insurance to be a flipper?
GARY: Human directional.
TONY: You're a sign, Gary!
GARY: Yeah, I'm the future! You know what, man? I brought in an extra ten grand last month to Broadbus Burgers. In a couple years, this is probably going to be an Olympic sport, right?!
CUT TO:
INT. CAR - PARKED
ZIVA: Do you think you could be happy flipping a sign all day?
GIBBS: I don't know.
ZIVA: I think you'd get bored.
CUT TO:
EXT. STREET - DAY
TONY: You gotta stop doing that. Stop it!
GARY: Am I under arrest?
TONY: No.
GARY: Then no, man. I work by the hour.
TONY: Gary, I can think of a lot of ways to arrest you. A lot of them.
GARY: All right. What else is there to say? Yeah, I worked at the tat shop. Yes, I lived with Nash. No, I don't know where he is, and I don't know nothing about no bank robbery. That went down after he moved out. All right? Sorry, dude.
TONY: Good luck in Beijing in oh-eight, Gary.
CUT TO:
INT. CAR - PARKED
ZIVA: I'm just saying a man of your drive and ambition needs a certain kind of--
GIBBS: I'm not staying, Ziva.
ZIVA: That obvious?
(DOOR OPENS)
ZIVA: So? How'd it go?
TONY: I'll tell you in twenty seconds.
ABBY: (V.O./FILTERED) He's already making...(BEGIN TELEPHONE INTERCUTS)
(SCENE CUT)
ABBY: .... a call.
MCGEE: Putting it on speaker.
NASH: (ON TAPE) Hey, you got Nash. Leave me a message after the beep.
TONY: I'd say that went well.
GARY: (V.O./FILTERED) Hey, Nash. This is Gary.
(SCENE CUT)
GARY: (INTO PHONE) I know you told me to call you here never, man, but there were some Feds here and they were asking questions about that....
(SCENE CUT)
GARY: (V.O./FILTERED) ....tat.
MCGEE: It's a Baltimore prefix.
GARY: (V.O./FILTERED) At least I think they were....
(SCENE CUT)
GARY: (INTO PHONE) .... Feds. I never heard of no N.C...
(SCENE CUT)
GARY: (V.O./FILTERED) ...C.I.S.
ABBY: Got it. Eighty-two West Pratt.
(SCENE CUT)
ABBY: (V.O./FILTERED) Street, apartment twelve.
TONY: I know it. Forty miles north of here.
(END TELEPHONE INTERCUTS)
CUT TO:
EXT. SIDEWALK - DAY
ZIVA: Not bad for rush hour.
TONY: Only you could make it forty miles in thirty minutes, Boss. Something's wrong.(STREET SOUNDS B.G. - SIREN B.G.)
ZIVA: Maybe Paulson b*at us here and found out the hard way that Nash wasn't willing to change his testimony.
POLICE: (V.O.) Stay right where you are... stay right there.
TONY: It's Nash.
(MUSIC UP AND OUT)
FADE IN:
INT. AUTOPSY ROOM - DAY
DUCKY: The end is never pleasant. For this young man, doubly so.
TONY: At least he had a great view on the way down.
DUCKY: I doubt that he enjoyed it, seeing that his jaw was broken as well as six of his fingers and his ... knee. And all this before he fell.
GIBBS: k*ller b*at him first.
DUCKY: More like he was interrogated. This damage is too methodical - too calculated to be a simple b*ating. Whoever did this was after information. And when he got it... he repaid his victim with these.
TONY: (V.O.) Guess we can rule out su1c1de.
DUCKY: Yes, unless Mister Nash was able to sh**t himself in the back... three times in a row.
TONY: Oh, do we have to do this now?
ABBY: (V.O./FILTERED) The slugs are Winchester hollow points! Winchester hollow points! (ON MONITOR) Hey Gibbs! Gibbs! Cool, huh? They were fired from the Colt that Baltimore P.D. found near the scene.
GIBBS: Abs, did you run the serial number?
ABBY: (ON MONITOR) It's the same g*n that Paulson took from Mickey Stokes' house. He tried to wipe it, but I found a partial print.
DUCKY: So the gentleman who asked us to prove his innocence just k*lled the one man who could exonerate him.
TONY: Nash didn't frame Paulson. They were partners, until Nash double-crossed him.
DUCKY: Our ex-Petty Officer didn't want to clear himself. He was looking for the money.
ABBY: (ON MONITOR) And he used us to take him straight to the bank. Smart kid.
TONY: But if your gut says Paulson's innocent, then maybe we're missing something.
GIBBS: The only thing that I am missing right now is happy hour at Carlos' Cantina.
(GIBBS WALKS TO THE ELEVATOR)
CUT TO:
INT. ELEVATOR - DAY
(SFX: DOORS SLIDE OPEN/ CLOSED)
(GIBBS TURNS OFF THE POWER/ TURNS IT BACK ON)
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. ABBY'S LAB - DAY
ABBY: (INTO PHONE) You are security, right? Don't let Gibbs leave the building! I already told you why, Tom!
GIBBS: Abby?
ABBY: (INTO PHONE) Nevermind! False alarm! (TO GIBBS) Gibbs, thank god! I was so sure that you'd be half way to Mexico by now. Sorry. You're a flight risk.
GIBBS: Abby!
ABBY: We're going to figure out this case, Gibbs! We always do! (b*at) You already figured it out.
GIBBS: No, but you're going to. I want to know how Paulson knows.
ABBY: Knows what?
GIBBS: Everything. Everything that we seem to.
CUT TO:
INT. NCIS SQUAD ROOM - DAY
TONY: Russell Nash hid the money from the bank job somewhere.
MCGEE: If Paulson gets to it before us...
ZIVA: ... he's gone for good.
TONY: So where is it?
ZIVA: Nash was using an assumed name. All transactions were cash only.
MCGEE: Well, it's not in a bank. Storage maybe?
ZIVA: A third party could be holding it.
TONY: I'll look at properties under an alias. Maybe he hid the money in a mattress somewhere. Campfire over.
ZIVA: Where's Gibbs?
TONY: I don't know.
ZIVA: Is anything wrong?
TONY: Uh, well, actually yeah. There's quite a lot wrong, Ziva. Aside from McGee's teeth, we have a dead man who shouldn't be dead. An innocent man who isn't really innocent. And a trail that's about to run cold because our perp has managed to stay one step ahead of us since this whole thing started!
GIBBS: Are you just noticing that now, Dinozzo?
TONY: No, it's kind of been a theme.(SFX: GIBBS BANGS THE RADIO ON THE DESK)
TONY: Careful. That's easy to...break.
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. NCIS SQUAD ROOM - DAY
ABBY: It's a shortwave RF bug. Paulson probably planted it in your Dictaphone when he stole your car. And I've been burning campfires to CDE. The Dictaphone has been in my lab pretty much the entire day.
TONY: At least now we know how Paulson tracked down Russell Nash.
ABBY: There's the little bugger.
GIBBS: Can you back track it, Abs?
ABBY: It's impossible without a private cipher. But I think I know where we can get one. Paulson's crew bugged the bank's general manager for two weeks before the robbery. It was a custom job, just like this one. The cops interviewed the bug-maker. Cleared him of any involvement. I would bet a Caf-POW! that this came from the same guy.
TONY: How can you tell?
ABBY: He signed his name.
CUT TO:
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM
STANLEY: "It is a crime for any person acting under color of the law to deprive any citizen of their legal rights." Title Eighteen, U.S. Code.
ZIVA: No one is depriving you of your rights. We are simply asking for a copy of the cipher you made!
STANLEY: "No one shall be compelled in any criminal case to a witness against himself." That'd be the Fifth Amendment.
CUT TO:
INT. OBSERVATION ROOM
ZIVA: (V.O./FILTERED) No one has accused you of a crime either.
STANLEY: (V.O./FILTERED) Then why did your goon confiscate my files?
ZIVA: (V.O./FILTERED) Because....(ZIVA CONTINUES B.G.)
MCGEE: Goon?
TONY: I told you to stop hunching your shoulders.
MCGEE: How do you know he wasn't talking about you?
TONY: It's called a mirror, McGee. (INTO PHONE) No, I said every exit, not every other exit. For the same reason you don't floss every other tooth.
(DOOR OPENS)
GIBBS: Where's that cipher, Dinozzo?
TONY: We hit a little snafu, Boss. Gibbs.
STANLEY: (V.O./FILTERED) Federal Code also states....
CUT TO:
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM
STANLEY: ... that not only do I have the right to remain silent, but to withhold any information....
(SCENE CUT)
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM
STANLEY: .... I see fit.
TONY: If this keeps up, we may be forced to unleash Agent Lee.
(DOOR OPENS)
(GIBBS ENTERS THE ROOM)
CUT TO:
INT. OBSERVATION ROOM
MCGEE: Well, this should be quick.
TONY: It better be. We've got a fugitive on the run with a pretty big lead. The Fugitive!
CUT TO:
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM
STANLEY: You can stare at me all day, G-man. I ain't talking.
GIBBS: You got something to hide?
STANLEY: What? So I refuse to talk, and that means I'm guilty? You ever hear of Miranda versus Arizona, nineteen sixty-six?
CUT TO:
INT. OBSERVATION ROOM
TONY: I've been here all this time. How could I have missed it? It's that simple.
(DOOR OPENS/ CLOSES)
ZIVA: Missed what?
TONY: Gibbs is clearly Tommy Lee Jones, right? I mean, there's no argument there. Which makes me Joey Pants. Initially, I was a little, you know...
ZIVA: What happened? We've been avoiding the word fugitive for the last two days.
MCGEE: He made the connection himself.
STANLEY: (V.O./FILTERED) The bottom line, eyeball.
CUT TO:
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM
STANLEY: I run a lawfully licensed spy shop. I'm not responsible for what my clientele does with my product. I don't have to answer any more of your questions, no matter what you say!
GIBBS: (LONG b*at) I've got this little girl... who wants to go home to her dad. And that's not going to happen without your help. So... please?
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
INT. OBSERVATION ROOM
TONY: Did Gibbs just say--?
MCGEE: Mm-hmm.
CUT TO:
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM
STANLEY: What did you... what did you want to know again?
MUSICAL BRIDGE TO:
EXT. YARD - NIGHT
MCGEE: Signal's strong. No movement.
GIBBS: Got eyes on the target, Ziva?
ZIVA: I did. Suspect's in the house, and he's not alone.
GIBBS: Are you sure?
ZIVA: I heard Paulson's voice.
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/ALL MOVE TOWARD THE HOUSE)
MICKEY: (V.O./FILTERED) Let me give you some more money in case you need it.
PAULSON: (V.O./FILTERED) I won't.
TONY: In position, Boss.
MICKEY: (V.O./FILTERED) Come here. Take this.
MCGEE: g*n!
GIBBS: Move! Move!
MICKEY: (V.O./FILTERED) Please, take it!
CUT TO:
INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
(DOOR OPENS)
GIBBS: Hold it! (SHOUTS) Hold it!
TONY: Don't do it, Derrick. We will sh**t you.
GIBBS: Tony, McGee, put your weapons down. (TO PAULSON) I was wrong. I know you're innocent, Petty Officer. But you're not, Mickey! Dinozzo!
TONY: You're under arrest for the murders of Russell Nash, his two accomplices in the Greater Virginia bank robbery, and last but not least, the Greater Virginia Bank robbery.
MICKEY: Is your porch light on? First you wrongly accused Derrick and now me?
TONY: We also found the bug you planted in our forensic tech's lab.
ZIVA: We were almost as surprised as you look now when the guy you bought it from pointed you out in that photo instead of Paulson.
MICKEY: This is ridiculous. Do I look like I got five million bucks laying around?
PAULSON: If he set me up, where's the money?
MICKEY: Yeah! They don't know what they're talking about.
MCGEE: It's here. It's been here the whole time. It's a Rosewood Bureau Plat desk, nineteenth century. That's thirty eight thousand dollars. First edition Huckleberry Finn, twenty thousand dollars. And it looks like in the bedroom here you've got a Chippendale mahogany case clock. That's six figures, easy. Mickey, you don't collect this stuff on a Navy pension.
MICKEY: Whoa! Whoa! Agent Gibbs.
GIBBS: Don't talk to me. I think he should sh**t you. Except he's never been a k*ller. (TO PAULSON) I don't think you're going to start now.
PAULSON: And miss his trial? Not for the world.
TONY: You're a real piece of work, Mickey.
(MICKEY WALKS O.S.)
MCGEE: (b*at) Antiques Roadshow.
CUT TO:
INT. BASEMENT - NIGHT
SHEPARD: I just came by to tell you that Derrick Paulson has been cleared of all charges. You saved that boy's life.
GIBBS: He did most of the work.
SHEPARD: Don't sell yourself short. Or is it too late for that?
GIBBS: Is this supposed to be some sort of pep talk to get me to stay, Jen? You don't want me back.
SHEPARD: No, I don't.
GIBBS: Worried you won't be able to handle me, Director?
SHEPARD: No, Jethro. I'm afraid you won't be able to handle yourself. You have already been in two comas. You might not come out of the third. The fact is, you're good. The best. When you're as good at something as you are, when you can make a difference like you can, you just don't quit.
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/SHEPARD WALKS UPSTAIRS)
CUT TO:
INT. NCIS SQUAD ROOM - DAY
ZIVA: You know, you used to be a nice person, McGee.
MAN: Good morning.
ZIVA: I think sitting at Tony's desk is affecting your personality.
TONY: For the better. McGee picked up a girl all by himself.
ZIVA: Yeah, at a funeral!
TONY: You didn't tell me that.
MCGEE: Well, you were right, man, because when women are vulnerable...you get right in there...
(MUSIC OVER ACTION/CAMERA PANS AROUND THE ROOM)
GIBBS: (b*at) What?
(MUSIC UP AND OUT)
(ENDING CREDITS UP AND OUT)