NCIS (2003–…): Season 1, Episode 12 - My Other Left Foot - full transcript
In Clarksburg, West Virginia, a dumpster diver finds a severed right leg, apparently from a Marine; Gibbs and company investigate; Ducky estimates that the leg was still attached to a live person not more than 24 hours earlier. The leg contains a titanium replacement ankle, traced to a Marine, aged 22, who, according to a death certificate, died two years previously; that person was said to have died of a heart attack, yet no autopsy took place, and the nearest relative caused the body to be cremated. Abby makes major contributions to the solution of the crime. The team figure it out, and they get a confession. Tony expresses interest in tattoos.
(SQUEAKING)
Hey, how was your date last night?
How did you know I had
a date last night?
You talk very loud
when you're on the phone.
- I've been meaning to say something.
- You mean, you eavesdropped?
- Guess it didn't go too well?
- He had to cancel.
- What excuse did he give?
- Surgery.
That's a good one.
I've got to remember that.
What was wrong with him?
He didn't have surgery, Tony,
he performed it.
Hey, how was your big date last night?
- What'd I say?
- Date never happened.
- What excuse did he give?
- Surgery.
(CHUCKLING)
It's a good one.
Grab your stuff.
- Where are we going?
- West Virginia.
"Almost heaven.
Take me home, country road."
Old John Denver song.
I'm gonna grab my gear.
- Clarksburg.
- What's in Clarksburg?
Junk dealer. Stumbled onto a leg.
We're driving to West Virginia
to look at a leg?
- It belongs to a marine.
- How can you tell from a leg?
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
- Gibbs. NCIS.
- How do?
- This is how you found the leg?
- Yes, sir.
Mr Green found it in that dumpster.
When he realised what he was holding,
he tossed it to get rid of it.
Landed here. Kind of funny, ain't it?
- What?
- DAWSON: How it landed.
Like it was climbing the stair.
You think finding the severed leg
of a marine is funny?
No, sir. No, sir, I don't.
- Find the rest of the body?
- Not yet.
Local chief of police has
his boys checking all the dumpsters
and the town garbage pit.
Well, I'll leave you all to it.
- Tony, laser and sketch.
- Got it.
- Kate, take photos.
- TONY: Yeah.
What have we got here, Duck,
other than the obvious?
With the absence of hemorrhagic tissue
around the point of injury,
I'd say the limb
was severed postmortem.
- Time of death?
- (SCOFFING) From a leg?
I'll tell you what, Gibbs.
You find me a liver in that leg,
and I'll estimate you a time of death.
What's that wedged in the sole?
"From a small seed
a mighty trunk may grow."
There's not much more
for me to do here.
I saw a great antique store
around the corner.
Give me a shout if you need me.
GIBBS: Ducky! Need you here.
Jethro, I refuse to speculate
on the time of death
of the marine missing that leg.
However, I will tell you
that the limb itself
has been dead more than...
No, less than 24 hours.
I'll shout if I need you.
- You find the boot?
- I was just looking for junk.
Stuff people throw out.
- Like a boot?
- Yes.
No law against taking stuff
folks thrown out.
Why are you putting on rubber gloves?
- We're going to need your prints.
- For what?
Separate them from those we find
on the leg.
You can take fingerprints off a leg?
I don't get the whole tattoo thing.
I'll add that to the ever-growing list
of things you don't get.
Being stuck with a needle thousands
of times for a piece of artwork.
No, thank you.
It's more than just artwork, Tony.
- On a woman, maybe.
- What?
You know, on a woman.
It means she's up for anything.
Abby's got tattoos.
- No comment.
- All right, what about me?
- You think I'm up for anything?
- Yeah, you don't have a tat.
And if I did, then that would just blow
your theory to hell now, wouldn't it?
Okay, say for a minute
I believe you've got one.
Where is it?
Nowhere you will ever see.
DUCKY: Necessity,
the mother of invention.
I suspect the inventors of super glue
never imagined that when heated up
and applied to surfaces
in gaseous forms,
its bonding capabilities would enable us
to obtain fingerprints from a human leg.
I like that commercial where
the guy put super glue on his hardhat
and then glued his head
to the beam and hung there.
I tried that with my little brother.
I sense this anecdote doesn't
have a storybook ending.
It does if you like your stories
to end with bald seven-year-olds.
He still gets mad when I call him Kojak.
(CHUCKLING)
So I pulled a partial off our leg
that isn't the junk collector's.
- Could be the victim's.
- Run it through the military database.
- So any other body parts show up?
- No.
- Isn't that a little bit hinky?
- It's more than a bit.
All we've got is a tattooed leg,
a sock and a boot.
You're forgetting about our interesting
little bit of botanical evidence.
Oh, yeah. That. Yeah.
Well, I want the life history.
Family, where it grew up.
- College transcripts, I know.
- Yeah.
Our victim had a titanium ankle joint
which I'm about to remove.
He's too young for arthritis.
Yeah. It was most likely due
to an accident.
- Auto, motorcycle, skiing.
- Polo.
- Polo's a very dangerous sport.
- Yes, the joint will have a serial number
traceable to the doctor
who performed the surgery.
- Anything else?
- Well, as I suspected,
our marine was
dismembered postmortem.
Yes, the jagged teeth pattern
on the femur bone
suggests that a saw was used.
- Ouch.
- He didn't feel it, Tony.
It still makes me wince.
Yes. Given how straight
and clean the cut was,
it was almost certainly some kind
of power saw.
I wonder if they still have
the Eurail pass.
Yeah.
In the summer of my 18th year,
my grandfather gave me a Eurail pass
to celebrate my advancement
to university.
I travelled to nine different countries.
Met an Austrian girl named Gisella
who left her fingerprints on my heart.
Visited all the major museums
of Europe.
The artwork was extraordinary.
Da Vinci, Rembrandt,
Van Gogh, Renoir.
- Botticelli.
- I like saying Botticelli.
And that brings me to Christy Brown,
the Irish poet and painter.
Yes, he suffered from cerebral palsy.
Learned to paint with his foot.
Quite remarkable.
He wrote an autobiography,
My Left Foot
which became an exceptional film
starring Daniel Day-Lewis.
That's the right foot.
So it is.
Oh, well.
Serial number of the ankle joint
is 3274015.
- WOMAN: One moment please.
- I'll hold.
Doing something case related?
Joint replacement database site
targeting orthopaedic specialists,
search referenced to hospital privileges
and surgical records.
All right, DiNozzo.
Is it on your butt?
- I told you, I was kidding.
- You only said you were kidding
because you were embarrassed
you told me.
- I don't have a tattoo.
- It's a butterfly, isn't it?
You seem like a butterfly kind of girl.
Yeah, it's a butterfly. On my hip.
Yes. I'm still here.
Thank you.
The manufacturer shipped
our marine's titanium ankle
to the naval hospital in Bethesda in '99.
It was signed for by
Captain Brent Peters, May 14th, 2000.
I'll call Gibbs.
It's not a butterfly, is it?
(PHONE RINGING)
PETERS: I remember that surgery.
We usually fuse the ankle
and implant a metal splint
in our young servicemen.
But his ankle was literally crushed
in an auto wreck.
- May of 2000, you said.
- According to our research.
Here it is. May 15th, 2000.
I implanted that ankle in
Marine Private First Class
Thomas Dorn.
- What can you tell me about him?
- I can tell you a lot about his ankle.
- I don't even remember the rest of him.
- Seems to be a recurring problem.
- The ankle?
- No, the rest of him.
His leg was found in
a Clarksburg, West Virginia trash bin
early this morning.
- Just the leg?
- So far.
- How deteriorated was the leg?
- It wasn't.
The ME estimated he died
within the previous 24 hours.
There a problem?
According to his military record,
PFC Dorn died two years ago.
TONY: PFC Dorn's service record.
He was only in the corps 11 months
before the accident.
He was about to get
a medical discharge when he died.
Got the death certificate.
Signed by a Dr Sylvia Chalmers
in Harmony, West Virginia.
Harmony?
Yeah, population, 1,600.
Sounds cute, doesn't it?
Cause of death, myocardial infarction.
- Heart attack at 22?
- As Abby would say, pretty hinky.
TONY: I do believe the die is cast,
however.
If your parents and grandparents live
to be old, so will you.
- I had an aunt who died at seven.
- Just a theory.
- Where's the autopsy report?
- There isn't one.
- You mean you didn't find it.
- No. I mean no autopsy.
The doctor signed a death certificate,
but that was it.
Small towns.
You can get away with murder.
The hell you can!
You find the doctor in Harmony,
why there was no autopsy report.
Find out where this body is buried.
You get a court order
to dig up PFC Dorn
and you have that body
shipped back here to Ducky.
- DUCKY: Abby!
- Ducky!
- Find anything?
- Nothing yet.
I'll tell you one thing, though,
this guy had huge feet.
I could wear this sock as a leg warmer.
- What are you implying, Abby?
- I'm not implying anything.
You know what they say about guys
with big hands and big feet, right?
What?
They're clowns.
(CHUCKLING)
I got something.
- What are you so happy about?
- I'm just looking forward to Harmony.
You really like small towns?
Peace and quiet. A place
where people know you by name.
No Blockbuster or Starbucks
on every corner. What's not to like?
It's too quiet.
Everybody knows your name.
There's no Blockbusters
or Starbucks on every corner.
Your big city just can't give you
what small towns can, Tony.
It's a simpler way of life.
A slice of Americana.
One that doesn't include
50-yard-line seats to the Redskins
or women with full sets of teeth.
Yeah, it always comes back
to that, doesn't it?
See? You do get me.
Hey, Gibbs.
I ran the partial we pulled off the leg
through the military database.
- Yeah?
- No match.
But I did find
a piece of straw on the sock.
- What kind?
- The hay kind.
Just your regular basic straw.
- Sorry.
- Thanks, Abs.
- This is just how I pictured it.
- This is just how I pictured it.
- Can I help you?
- I'm sure you can.
I'm Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo.
NCIS.
You can call me Tony.
We'd like to talk to Dr Chalmers.
Darlene.
Okay.
Why don't you just give her
a breast exam?
In good time.
Our seed matured and fell in late fall.
It comes from a monoecious
yellow flower. Not too showy.
The male and female appearing
in March to April
in separate spherical heads.
The leaf is palmately veined,
it's four to eight inches wide,
ovate in shape,
and has three to five lobes.
Abby, are we ever going
to get to the tree?
Platanus Occidentalis.
Or more commonly known as...
- A sycamore tree.
- I'm afraid so.
Pretty much grow everywhere,
don't they?
Yup.
CHALMERS: It was a tragedy.
He was such
a nice looking young marine.
- Had you met him before?
- No, no.
- He didn't live around here.
- Just walked in?
Well, I was the only doctor
for 40 miles at the time.
Dr Burger on the sign,
is he a new addition?
He's buying out my practice.
I still see some of the older patients
who don't trust a young doctor.
He's only 37.
And who brought PFC Dorn
into your office?
I believe he just walked in.
Thelma could have told you.
Thelma Bowman, my nurse.
She died last summer. Stroke.
We were together, doctor and nurse,
for nearly 30 years.
- I'm sorry.
- So am I.
You saw that young thing
Dr Burger hired to replace her?
Sure did.
I'm sorry. Go on.
Well, Thelma brought
this young marine into my office,
set him right down there in that chair.
He couldn't catch his breath.
He was suffering extreme chest pains.
Classic heart attack symptoms.
Why didn't Thelma just take him
to an examination room?
Well, we only have one. And, let's see,
I think the Thomas twins
was in there with the measles.
Well, anyway,
before I could get up from this chair,
he'd collapsed.
Right where you're standing now.
And I administered CPR
while Thelma called county looking
for the ambulance.
Only it was over at
a car accident way out in Turtle Creek.
The county only has one ambulance?
You've never lived in a small county,
have you, son?
- (CHUCKLING) Fortunately, no.
- Well, it has its compensations.
Anyway, by the time
the ambulance got here,
young Dorn had expired.
Why didn't the coroner do an autopsy?
Well, I...
I didn't feel there was a need to.
- You're the coroner?
- CHALMERS: I was.
It's pro bono work.
Dr Burger's coroner now.
I did do a blood test
and found elevated levels
of cardiac enzymes.
That and his symptoms
seemed sufficient.
Not anymore. We're getting
a court order to exhume the body.
Oh, my.
I'm afraid that's going to be impossible.
- You had it cremated?
- No, I didn't. His sister did.
She was so upset
when she identified the body.
She didn't have the money
to ship him home
and she wanted to scatter his ashes
over the Blue Ridge Mountains.
I told her I really
should do an autopsy, but,
she was so distraught over the...
The thought of him being cut up.
- You let her talk you out of it?
- I have known the pain of loss.
I'm afraid I let hers affect me more
than it should have, professionally.
That never happened to me
in all my years as a doctor.
That was when I decided it was time
to retire and sell my practice.
You recognise this marine?
No, I don't. Why? Should I?
That's PFC Thomas Dorn.
- What are you thinking?
- Estée Lauder.
- The perfume?
- She was wearing it.
Older ladies seem to like it.
Had an ex-girlfriend who used it.
- Is that why she's an ex-girlfriend?
- Exactly.
How does a sister
misidentify her brother?
She doesn't.
We going to have to report
the autopsy screw-up?
Do I detect
a soft heart thing happening here?
That's it, isn't it? The tattoo's a heart.
We're back on that again.
I just can't imagine you getting
a tattoo, that's all.
- I was drunk.
- I can't imagine you drunk either.
- So, if it's not a heart...
- It's a rose on my butt.
- Can we move on now?
- Sure.
- So we are done with this then?
- We are done.
TONY: Kate, which cheek is it on?
- GIBBS: What killed him?
- ABBY: Digitalis.
- The heart medication?
- Yup.
The tox level in Dorn's leg alone
was enough to kill a bull.
Would an overdose give
the symptoms of a heart attack?
Not just the symptoms.
Okay. So you think our leg
and that marine that died two years ago
of a heart attack are tied together.
I do not believe in coincidences.
What about that rock formation on the
moon that looks like Jay Leno's chin?
- TONY: It's perfectly normal.
- On a race track maybe.
Women will never understand
taking a little car ride
and trying to beat your best time.
- I hate it when men do that.
- See, this is a woman thing.
- How did you do?
- Pretty good.
I beat my time by four minutes.
Including construction detours.
In Harmony.
Doc Chalmers
is a very sweet little old lady
who unfortunately also happens
to be the local coroner.
Small town, boss. Small town.
A woman claiming
to be Dorn's sister IDed the body
and then conned her into skipping
the autopsy and cremating the body.
Cremation. It's a dead end.
What?
This woman must be
some sweet talker.
Well, it's more Dr Chalmers
is a very connable little old lady.
Probably gets her roof shingled
and her driveway tarred every year.
Does Dorn even have a sister?
His military file indicates
his only living relative
is a half-sister, Melissa Dorn.
Put a trace on her?
I did the best I can balancing my laptop
while pulling five-G turns.
That's an exaggeration, boss.
I mean, maybe three Gs once.
- 10 Mill Road, Comus, Maryland.
- Keys.
What?
I can't drive because Kate's a chicken?
I'm not a chicken.
You can't drive
because you're not going.
That's different. Why aren't I going?
Because you're gonna be doing
a background check on Melissa Dorn.
Kate, you coming?
Abs, do you know
where Kate has her tat?
Yup.
Watch her body language.
What are we looking for,
short of a confession?
Sometimes, it's not what they say,
it's what they don't say.
Which translates into,
we don't have a search warrant
and this is the easiest way in.
- What's wrong?
- You know what kind of tree this is?
Botany was my weakest subject.
Sycamore.
Hi. Can I help you?
You already have.
(CLOCK CHIMING)
MELISSA: You would have liked
Tommy. He was the life of the party.
- KATE: He was your half-brother.
- Yeah.
We were raised by our father.
You have any brothers and sisters?
- No.
- An only child?
- I figured as much.
- How so?
You have all the classic traits
of a first-born.
Confident, pays attention
to detail, perfectionist.
- Difficulty sharing.
- Guilty, guilty, guilty.
(LAUGHING)
Depends.
- So why the visit after two years?
- We're working on another case.
- There might be a tenuous connection.
- How can I help?
Do you have any
of your brother's personal effects?
Anything that I didn't donate,
I threw away.
It would've made me sad.
Where are my manners?
- Would you like some coffee?
- Yeah, I'd love some coffee.
None for me, thanks.
This may be
the cleanest kitchen I've ever seen.
Well, that's because
it's never been used.
- You're not the domestic type, huh?
- No.
I eat over the sink,
so I don't have plates to wash.
- Do you even have plates?
- Paper.
- This is a big house for one person.
- And two cats.
- Do you like cats?
- They don't much like me.
- How can you tell?
- By the way they look at me.
(LAUGHING)
I hate to break it to you,
but cats only have one expression.
- Thank you.
- You should actually try it
before you thank me.
- Yeah, it's perfect. Thank you.
- Really?
You're right.
I like your tattoo.
(MELISSA LAUGHING)
- It means...
- Peace, health, prosperity.
You know Chinese.
Any other hidden talents
I should know about?
I can sample the frosting on a cake
without leaving a fingerprint.
Wow.
This is going to sound terrible, but,
I hope whatever you're investigating
is tied to Tom.
Why?
Well, then I wouldn't need
to make up an excuse to see you.
You weren't buying any of that,
were you?
- Any of what?
- You know, her charm.
Is it really that hard to believe, Kate,
that I might be attractive to a woman?
That's not what I meant.
Did you find us anything
to get us a search warrant?
Well, she told you that she lives alone,
but the toilet seat was up
in the downstairs bathroom.
(LAUGHING) You can tell that one to
the judge.
Okay, well, Abby found
a piece of straw in Dorn's sock
and there is a barn around the back.
Okay, I found nothing
to give us probable cause.
Maybe, I did.
GIBBS: Question.
Can you match DNA from trees
- like you can with humans?
- Absolutely.
Plant DNA, like human DNA,
is unique to each plant.
So you can distinguish
one sycamore tree from another.
Okay. Try matching these
to the seed we found in Dorn's boot.
Is the other sample
from another location?
No, same tree.
- So you want me to run the test twice?
- Yeah.
Okay. How long before you
have something on both samples?
Depends on whether or not
you want it fast or you want it right.
- Both.
- Both.
You need four to the seven divided by...
- Six hours.
- Clock's ticking, Abs.
Six-letter word for reason
to commit a crime?
Come on, don't tense up.
Starts with "M."
- Murder.
- No. Motive.
Murder is a motive.
What do you have?
Six-letter word for reason
to commit a crime.
- DiNozzo.
- That's seven letters.
Works for me. What do you got?
PFC Dorn.
Purchased a term policy for $750,000
two months before his heart attack
in Harmony.
- Beneficiary is his only living relative.
- His half-sister, Melissa.
She and Dorn fed some sucker digitalis
and dropped him off in Harmony.
Harmony, a small, crappy town where
she identifies the sucker as her brother,
cons the old lady coroner with
crocodile tears into cremating the body
and not performing an autopsy.
The insurance company paid the claim?
- It sure did.
- Get the name of the adjuster?
Stanley Borden,
Rexford Mutual, Baltimore.
Why are you two still here?
TONY: Come on, Kate. You're only
going 10 miles over the limit.
And that's pushing it.
What good is it being an armed
federal agent if you can't drive fast?
- You get to shoot bad guys.
- True.
You should have seen Gibbs
with Melissa.
- He threaten to shoot her?
- No, just the opposite.
He was flirting with her.
- I didn't think he had it in him.
- He had it in him at some point.
He has been married three times.
- All redheads.
- But Melissa's a redhead.
Explains it.
Wait, so is that woman who picks
him up now and then. Who is she?
Not a clue.
So he could really
be attracted to Melissa?
You can't control
who you're attracted to.
That whole Julia Roberts,
Lyle Lovett thing proves that.
- Billy Joel, Christie Brinkley.
- I get it.
- Angelina Jolie, Billy Bob Thornton.
- You haven't answered my question.
Paulina Porizkova and that guy
from The Cars. If you're asking me
whether Gibbs could get involved with
a murder suspect, the answer is no.
Three redheaded ex-wives shows
his judgement is a little questionable.
None of them were murder suspects.
Although, I don't know
about the redhead
who picks him up now and then.
A 22-year-old marine buys
a term life policy for $750,000,
then kicks two months later
from a heart attack?
(LAUGHING)
There's no way I wanted
to pay that claim.
But you did.
I was overruled from upstairs.
$750,000 question. Why?
The sister threatened to sue.
See, juries get angry
when insurance companies don't pay.
Especially to the only survivor
of a marine injured
while serving his country.
They tend to award very large
multimillion-dollar payments
as punishment.
- Cheaper to pay her off.
- It's our form of insurance.
Anything turn up in the investigation?
- Nothing that would convince a jury.
- Try us.
Okay. But you two think like her lawyer.
Why'd he buy a big policy
at such a young age
and name a half-sister beneficiary?
Half-sister or not,
she was his only living relative.
Then why'd your salesman sell it to him
if it was so unusual?
Why was he cremated
before an autopsy could be performed
at the sister's request?
Coroner thought
an autopsy was unnecessary.
Many people prefer cremation
over tombs.
- Do I need to go on?
- No, you made your point.
If you can prove this was a scam,
we'll recover something.
If only satisfaction.
Six cups and it isn't even noon.
- Duck, this one's bothering me.
- Yeah, so Abby said.
You have her doing the same test twice.
Dorn's leg shows up in a trash bin.
Tox screen shows digitalis
which is probably
what he and/or his sister
gave the marine in Harmony two years
ago to pull off an insurance scam.
- Sounds reasonable.
- So who killed Dorn a few days ago?
Why toss his leg into a trash bin?
And why can't we find
the rest of his body?
You know, I recall a case
in the Forensic Journal
where the only evidence was a thumb
found in the coin return of a pay phone.
- Yeah? And?
- Well, that's the only part I remember.
Ducky, this is not helping me.
Have you identified the body
the sister claims was Dorn's?
Cremated and spread over
the Blue Ridge Mountains.
- That does pose a problem.
- Duck.
Who would you get
to pose as a marine?
You.
Yeah. Yeah.
I would.
Match.
(BEEPING)
It's not from the same tree.
The manual says it takes three minutes
to change a tyre on a LAV-25.
The manual was written
by an army pogue.
(ALL CHUCKLING)
I say marines can do it in less than two.
- What do you say?
- Oo-rah!
Make it happen.
Gunny Vestman.
Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS.
I recall an MP Gibbs at Lejeune.
- Long time ago.
- Could be.
- He was high and tight.
- It's not exactly long and shaggy, Gunny.
Seen sheep dogs shorter.
- Don't recall you.
- Court Street. Jayville.
I broke up a lot of brawls there.
Yeah, I was one of them.
Got me a week in the brig.
Gonna hold that against me?
Nah.
He was one of the better prison chasers.
He gave us smoke breaks on our
work detail. That's why I remember you.
45 seconds!
- How can I help you, Gibbs?
- PFC Thomas Dorn.
Ain't heard that sandbagger's name
since he ODed a couple years ago.
- Death certificate says heart attack.
- Coke induced, I'll bet.
If he was a cokehead,
why didn't you boot his butt out?
- Car accident beat me to it.
- He have any buds?
A couple.
He was tight with a Corporal Morgan.
- He went UA same time Dorn kicked.
- Bet you never found him, right?
Not that I heard of.
Probably holed up
in some backwater-ville
with that redhead they used to run with.
- Melissa.
- Yeah, that's her name.
She was a fox.
And both Dorn and Morgan
were shacking up with her.
- You know her?
- Oh, yeah. Yeah, I know her.
- Dorn's half-sister.
- She didn't act like no sister.
A minute-30!
Why you asking me about this now?
Dorn's leg was found deep-sixed
in a dumpster two days ago.
Two days?
- Some ghoul dig him up?
- No. He had beaucoup life insurance.
From what you just told me,
it looks like he and Melissa
killed Corporal Morgan.
She identified the body as Dorn,
cremated him, claimed the insurance.
- Who killed Dorn?
- Well, foxy lady may be a black widow.
Oo-rah!
You want to tell them?
- Oo-rah!
- Oo-rah!
GIBBS: Hey.
- What's wrong?
- Look at it.
Looks like a match.
- Precisely.
- Good work, Abby.
No, it's not.
You gave me two samples
from the same tree.
"B" matched and "A" didn't.
I screwed up.
Sycamore "A" was from
a tree down the street.
What?
The idea of matching plant DNA
was a bit hinky for me.
"O ye of little faith."
Abby, come on.
All I did is give you a blind test.
Well, you could have done that
by not telling me
which sample came
from the suspect sycamore.
I didn't think of that.
This puts Dorn at Melissa's house.
You know what that means?
You've got probable cause.
Tony, you take the barn.
Kate, you got the house.
What're you gonna take?
That didn't come out right.
Not what I meant.
Yeah, I know what you meant.
Well, was my coffee that good?
We're here to execute a search warrant.
For what?
My brother died two years ago.
His body was cremated.
Don't you mean it was Corporal
Morgan's body that was cremated?
This has to be the cleanest barn ever.
If she uses a service,
I got to have that number.
I really don't know
what you think you're going to find here.
Why do you keep staring at me?
I could never have killed Tommy.
I loved him.
A Gunny who knew both of you told me
the same thing.
Funny, though. He didn't know
that you were brother and sister.
(BEEPING)
Looks like you could use
a glass of water.
Thank you.
Have Abby compare her prints
with those on her brother's leg.
Blood on the floor.
Nicks in the concrete.
Looks like they were made
by a power saw.
Got to be where she did
her slicing and dicing.
- What?
- There's someone else.
(SIGHING)
Who else is here?
Who else is here?
Boss, I'd like you
to meet Dr Sylvia Chalmers
who loves Estée Lauder.
Dr Chalmers!
Good afternoon, Agent Todd.
- You were in on it.
- In on what, my dear?
- They know, Mama.
- ALL: Mama?
They didn't know I was your Mama
till you told them, dear.
I know I should
have told you all back in Harmony,
but the mother in me had
to protect my only child.
It was wrong, I know that.
But her wicked half-brother
intimidated her
into defrauding an insurance company
when his friend had a heart attack.
Brought on by an overdose of digitalis.
What in the world
would make you think that?
Couldn't be from a forensic test.
Melissa had his body cremated.
Notice how it's all you, Melissa?
A marine has a heart attack in my office.
Melissa identifies him
as her half-brother who I've never met.
Now, how am I involved?
- Mother.
- Melissa.
You defrauded an insurance company.
I'm afraid you're gonna
have to take their punishment for that.
And only that.
Boy, oh, boy, you are good.
But so are we.
We found your digitalis
in Thomas Dorn's leg.
My digitalis?
Every doctor and hospital
in this country uses digitalis.
Each order has
its own chemical marker.
How else would a manufacturer recall
a specific batch
if they had a quality control problem?
You shouldn't have done it, Mama.
Calm yourself, Melissa.
Just calm yourself.
They can only prove that you defrauded
an insurance company.
No, Mama.
They can prove everything.
They know you killed them with digitalis.
They know you cut up Tommy
into little pieces
and they know you threw him away
in the garbage.
She's just hysterical.
You can't use any of this in court.
She was read her rights.
She waived them.
GIBBS: We can use it all. We will.
You little fool.
They couldn't prove anything.
I don't care anymore, Mama.
I loved Tommy and you murdered him.
(SIGHING)
They just found the left arm
in the garbage dump at Chiefton.
So where does that leave us?
That's a right arm from Katy Lick,
a torso from Marshville
and the original leg
from the dumpster in Clarksburg.
Still no head or left leg?
Well, which I'm betting
are gonna be turning up
around Lake Floyd or Jarvisville.
Did you check Hooterville?
- Where's Hooterville?
- You guys, Petticoat Junction.
Green Acres. Hooterville.
- I prefer TV shows from this century.
- Come on, they're hilarious.
When we were in college,
we had this drinking game and
the drugs collect in a solvent layer
and that leaves only proteins
and biological material behind.
That's great, Abby.
I'll make sure to get that in the report.
What report?
We've got Humpty Dumpty
back together?
- Most of him.
- Melon and left leg are still outstanding.
- Any more tattoos?
- Just the rose on Kate's butt.
It's not a rose.
He doesn't know.
He's lying just like he did
about the digitalis.
Okay, tell them.
Gibbs.
Hey, how was your date last night?
How did you know I had
a date last night?
You talk very loud
when you're on the phone.
- I've been meaning to say something.
- You mean, you eavesdropped?
- Guess it didn't go too well?
- He had to cancel.
- What excuse did he give?
- Surgery.
That's a good one.
I've got to remember that.
What was wrong with him?
He didn't have surgery, Tony,
he performed it.
Hey, how was your big date last night?
- What'd I say?
- Date never happened.
- What excuse did he give?
- Surgery.
(CHUCKLING)
It's a good one.
Grab your stuff.
- Where are we going?
- West Virginia.
"Almost heaven.
Take me home, country road."
Old John Denver song.
I'm gonna grab my gear.
- Clarksburg.
- What's in Clarksburg?
Junk dealer. Stumbled onto a leg.
We're driving to West Virginia
to look at a leg?
- It belongs to a marine.
- How can you tell from a leg?
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
- Gibbs. NCIS.
- How do?
- This is how you found the leg?
- Yes, sir.
Mr Green found it in that dumpster.
When he realised what he was holding,
he tossed it to get rid of it.
Landed here. Kind of funny, ain't it?
- What?
- DAWSON: How it landed.
Like it was climbing the stair.
You think finding the severed leg
of a marine is funny?
No, sir. No, sir, I don't.
- Find the rest of the body?
- Not yet.
Local chief of police has
his boys checking all the dumpsters
and the town garbage pit.
Well, I'll leave you all to it.
- Tony, laser and sketch.
- Got it.
- Kate, take photos.
- TONY: Yeah.
What have we got here, Duck,
other than the obvious?
With the absence of hemorrhagic tissue
around the point of injury,
I'd say the limb
was severed postmortem.
- Time of death?
- (SCOFFING) From a leg?
I'll tell you what, Gibbs.
You find me a liver in that leg,
and I'll estimate you a time of death.
What's that wedged in the sole?
"From a small seed
a mighty trunk may grow."
There's not much more
for me to do here.
I saw a great antique store
around the corner.
Give me a shout if you need me.
GIBBS: Ducky! Need you here.
Jethro, I refuse to speculate
on the time of death
of the marine missing that leg.
However, I will tell you
that the limb itself
has been dead more than...
No, less than 24 hours.
I'll shout if I need you.
- You find the boot?
- I was just looking for junk.
Stuff people throw out.
- Like a boot?
- Yes.
No law against taking stuff
folks thrown out.
Why are you putting on rubber gloves?
- We're going to need your prints.
- For what?
Separate them from those we find
on the leg.
You can take fingerprints off a leg?
I don't get the whole tattoo thing.
I'll add that to the ever-growing list
of things you don't get.
Being stuck with a needle thousands
of times for a piece of artwork.
No, thank you.
It's more than just artwork, Tony.
- On a woman, maybe.
- What?
You know, on a woman.
It means she's up for anything.
Abby's got tattoos.
- No comment.
- All right, what about me?
- You think I'm up for anything?
- Yeah, you don't have a tat.
And if I did, then that would just blow
your theory to hell now, wouldn't it?
Okay, say for a minute
I believe you've got one.
Where is it?
Nowhere you will ever see.
DUCKY: Necessity,
the mother of invention.
I suspect the inventors of super glue
never imagined that when heated up
and applied to surfaces
in gaseous forms,
its bonding capabilities would enable us
to obtain fingerprints from a human leg.
I like that commercial where
the guy put super glue on his hardhat
and then glued his head
to the beam and hung there.
I tried that with my little brother.
I sense this anecdote doesn't
have a storybook ending.
It does if you like your stories
to end with bald seven-year-olds.
He still gets mad when I call him Kojak.
(CHUCKLING)
So I pulled a partial off our leg
that isn't the junk collector's.
- Could be the victim's.
- Run it through the military database.
- So any other body parts show up?
- No.
- Isn't that a little bit hinky?
- It's more than a bit.
All we've got is a tattooed leg,
a sock and a boot.
You're forgetting about our interesting
little bit of botanical evidence.
Oh, yeah. That. Yeah.
Well, I want the life history.
Family, where it grew up.
- College transcripts, I know.
- Yeah.
Our victim had a titanium ankle joint
which I'm about to remove.
He's too young for arthritis.
Yeah. It was most likely due
to an accident.
- Auto, motorcycle, skiing.
- Polo.
- Polo's a very dangerous sport.
- Yes, the joint will have a serial number
traceable to the doctor
who performed the surgery.
- Anything else?
- Well, as I suspected,
our marine was
dismembered postmortem.
Yes, the jagged teeth pattern
on the femur bone
suggests that a saw was used.
- Ouch.
- He didn't feel it, Tony.
It still makes me wince.
Yes. Given how straight
and clean the cut was,
it was almost certainly some kind
of power saw.
I wonder if they still have
the Eurail pass.
Yeah.
In the summer of my 18th year,
my grandfather gave me a Eurail pass
to celebrate my advancement
to university.
I travelled to nine different countries.
Met an Austrian girl named Gisella
who left her fingerprints on my heart.
Visited all the major museums
of Europe.
The artwork was extraordinary.
Da Vinci, Rembrandt,
Van Gogh, Renoir.
- Botticelli.
- I like saying Botticelli.
And that brings me to Christy Brown,
the Irish poet and painter.
Yes, he suffered from cerebral palsy.
Learned to paint with his foot.
Quite remarkable.
He wrote an autobiography,
My Left Foot
which became an exceptional film
starring Daniel Day-Lewis.
That's the right foot.
So it is.
Oh, well.
Serial number of the ankle joint
is 3274015.
- WOMAN: One moment please.
- I'll hold.
Doing something case related?
Joint replacement database site
targeting orthopaedic specialists,
search referenced to hospital privileges
and surgical records.
All right, DiNozzo.
Is it on your butt?
- I told you, I was kidding.
- You only said you were kidding
because you were embarrassed
you told me.
- I don't have a tattoo.
- It's a butterfly, isn't it?
You seem like a butterfly kind of girl.
Yeah, it's a butterfly. On my hip.
Yes. I'm still here.
Thank you.
The manufacturer shipped
our marine's titanium ankle
to the naval hospital in Bethesda in '99.
It was signed for by
Captain Brent Peters, May 14th, 2000.
I'll call Gibbs.
It's not a butterfly, is it?
(PHONE RINGING)
PETERS: I remember that surgery.
We usually fuse the ankle
and implant a metal splint
in our young servicemen.
But his ankle was literally crushed
in an auto wreck.
- May of 2000, you said.
- According to our research.
Here it is. May 15th, 2000.
I implanted that ankle in
Marine Private First Class
Thomas Dorn.
- What can you tell me about him?
- I can tell you a lot about his ankle.
- I don't even remember the rest of him.
- Seems to be a recurring problem.
- The ankle?
- No, the rest of him.
His leg was found in
a Clarksburg, West Virginia trash bin
early this morning.
- Just the leg?
- So far.
- How deteriorated was the leg?
- It wasn't.
The ME estimated he died
within the previous 24 hours.
There a problem?
According to his military record,
PFC Dorn died two years ago.
TONY: PFC Dorn's service record.
He was only in the corps 11 months
before the accident.
He was about to get
a medical discharge when he died.
Got the death certificate.
Signed by a Dr Sylvia Chalmers
in Harmony, West Virginia.
Harmony?
Yeah, population, 1,600.
Sounds cute, doesn't it?
Cause of death, myocardial infarction.
- Heart attack at 22?
- As Abby would say, pretty hinky.
TONY: I do believe the die is cast,
however.
If your parents and grandparents live
to be old, so will you.
- I had an aunt who died at seven.
- Just a theory.
- Where's the autopsy report?
- There isn't one.
- You mean you didn't find it.
- No. I mean no autopsy.
The doctor signed a death certificate,
but that was it.
Small towns.
You can get away with murder.
The hell you can!
You find the doctor in Harmony,
why there was no autopsy report.
Find out where this body is buried.
You get a court order
to dig up PFC Dorn
and you have that body
shipped back here to Ducky.
- DUCKY: Abby!
- Ducky!
- Find anything?
- Nothing yet.
I'll tell you one thing, though,
this guy had huge feet.
I could wear this sock as a leg warmer.
- What are you implying, Abby?
- I'm not implying anything.
You know what they say about guys
with big hands and big feet, right?
What?
They're clowns.
(CHUCKLING)
I got something.
- What are you so happy about?
- I'm just looking forward to Harmony.
You really like small towns?
Peace and quiet. A place
where people know you by name.
No Blockbuster or Starbucks
on every corner. What's not to like?
It's too quiet.
Everybody knows your name.
There's no Blockbusters
or Starbucks on every corner.
Your big city just can't give you
what small towns can, Tony.
It's a simpler way of life.
A slice of Americana.
One that doesn't include
50-yard-line seats to the Redskins
or women with full sets of teeth.
Yeah, it always comes back
to that, doesn't it?
See? You do get me.
Hey, Gibbs.
I ran the partial we pulled off the leg
through the military database.
- Yeah?
- No match.
But I did find
a piece of straw on the sock.
- What kind?
- The hay kind.
Just your regular basic straw.
- Sorry.
- Thanks, Abs.
- This is just how I pictured it.
- This is just how I pictured it.
- Can I help you?
- I'm sure you can.
I'm Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo.
NCIS.
You can call me Tony.
We'd like to talk to Dr Chalmers.
Darlene.
Okay.
Why don't you just give her
a breast exam?
In good time.
Our seed matured and fell in late fall.
It comes from a monoecious
yellow flower. Not too showy.
The male and female appearing
in March to April
in separate spherical heads.
The leaf is palmately veined,
it's four to eight inches wide,
ovate in shape,
and has three to five lobes.
Abby, are we ever going
to get to the tree?
Platanus Occidentalis.
Or more commonly known as...
- A sycamore tree.
- I'm afraid so.
Pretty much grow everywhere,
don't they?
Yup.
CHALMERS: It was a tragedy.
He was such
a nice looking young marine.
- Had you met him before?
- No, no.
- He didn't live around here.
- Just walked in?
Well, I was the only doctor
for 40 miles at the time.
Dr Burger on the sign,
is he a new addition?
He's buying out my practice.
I still see some of the older patients
who don't trust a young doctor.
He's only 37.
And who brought PFC Dorn
into your office?
I believe he just walked in.
Thelma could have told you.
Thelma Bowman, my nurse.
She died last summer. Stroke.
We were together, doctor and nurse,
for nearly 30 years.
- I'm sorry.
- So am I.
You saw that young thing
Dr Burger hired to replace her?
Sure did.
I'm sorry. Go on.
Well, Thelma brought
this young marine into my office,
set him right down there in that chair.
He couldn't catch his breath.
He was suffering extreme chest pains.
Classic heart attack symptoms.
Why didn't Thelma just take him
to an examination room?
Well, we only have one. And, let's see,
I think the Thomas twins
was in there with the measles.
Well, anyway,
before I could get up from this chair,
he'd collapsed.
Right where you're standing now.
And I administered CPR
while Thelma called county looking
for the ambulance.
Only it was over at
a car accident way out in Turtle Creek.
The county only has one ambulance?
You've never lived in a small county,
have you, son?
- (CHUCKLING) Fortunately, no.
- Well, it has its compensations.
Anyway, by the time
the ambulance got here,
young Dorn had expired.
Why didn't the coroner do an autopsy?
Well, I...
I didn't feel there was a need to.
- You're the coroner?
- CHALMERS: I was.
It's pro bono work.
Dr Burger's coroner now.
I did do a blood test
and found elevated levels
of cardiac enzymes.
That and his symptoms
seemed sufficient.
Not anymore. We're getting
a court order to exhume the body.
Oh, my.
I'm afraid that's going to be impossible.
- You had it cremated?
- No, I didn't. His sister did.
She was so upset
when she identified the body.
She didn't have the money
to ship him home
and she wanted to scatter his ashes
over the Blue Ridge Mountains.
I told her I really
should do an autopsy, but,
she was so distraught over the...
The thought of him being cut up.
- You let her talk you out of it?
- I have known the pain of loss.
I'm afraid I let hers affect me more
than it should have, professionally.
That never happened to me
in all my years as a doctor.
That was when I decided it was time
to retire and sell my practice.
You recognise this marine?
No, I don't. Why? Should I?
That's PFC Thomas Dorn.
- What are you thinking?
- Estée Lauder.
- The perfume?
- She was wearing it.
Older ladies seem to like it.
Had an ex-girlfriend who used it.
- Is that why she's an ex-girlfriend?
- Exactly.
How does a sister
misidentify her brother?
She doesn't.
We going to have to report
the autopsy screw-up?
Do I detect
a soft heart thing happening here?
That's it, isn't it? The tattoo's a heart.
We're back on that again.
I just can't imagine you getting
a tattoo, that's all.
- I was drunk.
- I can't imagine you drunk either.
- So, if it's not a heart...
- It's a rose on my butt.
- Can we move on now?
- Sure.
- So we are done with this then?
- We are done.
TONY: Kate, which cheek is it on?
- GIBBS: What killed him?
- ABBY: Digitalis.
- The heart medication?
- Yup.
The tox level in Dorn's leg alone
was enough to kill a bull.
Would an overdose give
the symptoms of a heart attack?
Not just the symptoms.
Okay. So you think our leg
and that marine that died two years ago
of a heart attack are tied together.
I do not believe in coincidences.
What about that rock formation on the
moon that looks like Jay Leno's chin?
- TONY: It's perfectly normal.
- On a race track maybe.
Women will never understand
taking a little car ride
and trying to beat your best time.
- I hate it when men do that.
- See, this is a woman thing.
- How did you do?
- Pretty good.
I beat my time by four minutes.
Including construction detours.
In Harmony.
Doc Chalmers
is a very sweet little old lady
who unfortunately also happens
to be the local coroner.
Small town, boss. Small town.
A woman claiming
to be Dorn's sister IDed the body
and then conned her into skipping
the autopsy and cremating the body.
Cremation. It's a dead end.
What?
This woman must be
some sweet talker.
Well, it's more Dr Chalmers
is a very connable little old lady.
Probably gets her roof shingled
and her driveway tarred every year.
Does Dorn even have a sister?
His military file indicates
his only living relative
is a half-sister, Melissa Dorn.
Put a trace on her?
I did the best I can balancing my laptop
while pulling five-G turns.
That's an exaggeration, boss.
I mean, maybe three Gs once.
- 10 Mill Road, Comus, Maryland.
- Keys.
What?
I can't drive because Kate's a chicken?
I'm not a chicken.
You can't drive
because you're not going.
That's different. Why aren't I going?
Because you're gonna be doing
a background check on Melissa Dorn.
Kate, you coming?
Abs, do you know
where Kate has her tat?
Yup.
Watch her body language.
What are we looking for,
short of a confession?
Sometimes, it's not what they say,
it's what they don't say.
Which translates into,
we don't have a search warrant
and this is the easiest way in.
- What's wrong?
- You know what kind of tree this is?
Botany was my weakest subject.
Sycamore.
Hi. Can I help you?
You already have.
(CLOCK CHIMING)
MELISSA: You would have liked
Tommy. He was the life of the party.
- KATE: He was your half-brother.
- Yeah.
We were raised by our father.
You have any brothers and sisters?
- No.
- An only child?
- I figured as much.
- How so?
You have all the classic traits
of a first-born.
Confident, pays attention
to detail, perfectionist.
- Difficulty sharing.
- Guilty, guilty, guilty.
(LAUGHING)
Depends.
- So why the visit after two years?
- We're working on another case.
- There might be a tenuous connection.
- How can I help?
Do you have any
of your brother's personal effects?
Anything that I didn't donate,
I threw away.
It would've made me sad.
Where are my manners?
- Would you like some coffee?
- Yeah, I'd love some coffee.
None for me, thanks.
This may be
the cleanest kitchen I've ever seen.
Well, that's because
it's never been used.
- You're not the domestic type, huh?
- No.
I eat over the sink,
so I don't have plates to wash.
- Do you even have plates?
- Paper.
- This is a big house for one person.
- And two cats.
- Do you like cats?
- They don't much like me.
- How can you tell?
- By the way they look at me.
(LAUGHING)
I hate to break it to you,
but cats only have one expression.
- Thank you.
- You should actually try it
before you thank me.
- Yeah, it's perfect. Thank you.
- Really?
You're right.
I like your tattoo.
(MELISSA LAUGHING)
- It means...
- Peace, health, prosperity.
You know Chinese.
Any other hidden talents
I should know about?
I can sample the frosting on a cake
without leaving a fingerprint.
Wow.
This is going to sound terrible, but,
I hope whatever you're investigating
is tied to Tom.
Why?
Well, then I wouldn't need
to make up an excuse to see you.
You weren't buying any of that,
were you?
- Any of what?
- You know, her charm.
Is it really that hard to believe, Kate,
that I might be attractive to a woman?
That's not what I meant.
Did you find us anything
to get us a search warrant?
Well, she told you that she lives alone,
but the toilet seat was up
in the downstairs bathroom.
(LAUGHING) You can tell that one to
the judge.
Okay, well, Abby found
a piece of straw in Dorn's sock
and there is a barn around the back.
Okay, I found nothing
to give us probable cause.
Maybe, I did.
GIBBS: Question.
Can you match DNA from trees
- like you can with humans?
- Absolutely.
Plant DNA, like human DNA,
is unique to each plant.
So you can distinguish
one sycamore tree from another.
Okay. Try matching these
to the seed we found in Dorn's boot.
Is the other sample
from another location?
No, same tree.
- So you want me to run the test twice?
- Yeah.
Okay. How long before you
have something on both samples?
Depends on whether or not
you want it fast or you want it right.
- Both.
- Both.
You need four to the seven divided by...
- Six hours.
- Clock's ticking, Abs.
Six-letter word for reason
to commit a crime?
Come on, don't tense up.
Starts with "M."
- Murder.
- No. Motive.
Murder is a motive.
What do you have?
Six-letter word for reason
to commit a crime.
- DiNozzo.
- That's seven letters.
Works for me. What do you got?
PFC Dorn.
Purchased a term policy for $750,000
two months before his heart attack
in Harmony.
- Beneficiary is his only living relative.
- His half-sister, Melissa.
She and Dorn fed some sucker digitalis
and dropped him off in Harmony.
Harmony, a small, crappy town where
she identifies the sucker as her brother,
cons the old lady coroner with
crocodile tears into cremating the body
and not performing an autopsy.
The insurance company paid the claim?
- It sure did.
- Get the name of the adjuster?
Stanley Borden,
Rexford Mutual, Baltimore.
Why are you two still here?
TONY: Come on, Kate. You're only
going 10 miles over the limit.
And that's pushing it.
What good is it being an armed
federal agent if you can't drive fast?
- You get to shoot bad guys.
- True.
You should have seen Gibbs
with Melissa.
- He threaten to shoot her?
- No, just the opposite.
He was flirting with her.
- I didn't think he had it in him.
- He had it in him at some point.
He has been married three times.
- All redheads.
- But Melissa's a redhead.
Explains it.
Wait, so is that woman who picks
him up now and then. Who is she?
Not a clue.
So he could really
be attracted to Melissa?
You can't control
who you're attracted to.
That whole Julia Roberts,
Lyle Lovett thing proves that.
- Billy Joel, Christie Brinkley.
- I get it.
- Angelina Jolie, Billy Bob Thornton.
- You haven't answered my question.
Paulina Porizkova and that guy
from The Cars. If you're asking me
whether Gibbs could get involved with
a murder suspect, the answer is no.
Three redheaded ex-wives shows
his judgement is a little questionable.
None of them were murder suspects.
Although, I don't know
about the redhead
who picks him up now and then.
A 22-year-old marine buys
a term life policy for $750,000,
then kicks two months later
from a heart attack?
(LAUGHING)
There's no way I wanted
to pay that claim.
But you did.
I was overruled from upstairs.
$750,000 question. Why?
The sister threatened to sue.
See, juries get angry
when insurance companies don't pay.
Especially to the only survivor
of a marine injured
while serving his country.
They tend to award very large
multimillion-dollar payments
as punishment.
- Cheaper to pay her off.
- It's our form of insurance.
Anything turn up in the investigation?
- Nothing that would convince a jury.
- Try us.
Okay. But you two think like her lawyer.
Why'd he buy a big policy
at such a young age
and name a half-sister beneficiary?
Half-sister or not,
she was his only living relative.
Then why'd your salesman sell it to him
if it was so unusual?
Why was he cremated
before an autopsy could be performed
at the sister's request?
Coroner thought
an autopsy was unnecessary.
Many people prefer cremation
over tombs.
- Do I need to go on?
- No, you made your point.
If you can prove this was a scam,
we'll recover something.
If only satisfaction.
Six cups and it isn't even noon.
- Duck, this one's bothering me.
- Yeah, so Abby said.
You have her doing the same test twice.
Dorn's leg shows up in a trash bin.
Tox screen shows digitalis
which is probably
what he and/or his sister
gave the marine in Harmony two years
ago to pull off an insurance scam.
- Sounds reasonable.
- So who killed Dorn a few days ago?
Why toss his leg into a trash bin?
And why can't we find
the rest of his body?
You know, I recall a case
in the Forensic Journal
where the only evidence was a thumb
found in the coin return of a pay phone.
- Yeah? And?
- Well, that's the only part I remember.
Ducky, this is not helping me.
Have you identified the body
the sister claims was Dorn's?
Cremated and spread over
the Blue Ridge Mountains.
- That does pose a problem.
- Duck.
Who would you get
to pose as a marine?
You.
Yeah. Yeah.
I would.
Match.
(BEEPING)
It's not from the same tree.
The manual says it takes three minutes
to change a tyre on a LAV-25.
The manual was written
by an army pogue.
(ALL CHUCKLING)
I say marines can do it in less than two.
- What do you say?
- Oo-rah!
Make it happen.
Gunny Vestman.
Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS.
I recall an MP Gibbs at Lejeune.
- Long time ago.
- Could be.
- He was high and tight.
- It's not exactly long and shaggy, Gunny.
Seen sheep dogs shorter.
- Don't recall you.
- Court Street. Jayville.
I broke up a lot of brawls there.
Yeah, I was one of them.
Got me a week in the brig.
Gonna hold that against me?
Nah.
He was one of the better prison chasers.
He gave us smoke breaks on our
work detail. That's why I remember you.
45 seconds!
- How can I help you, Gibbs?
- PFC Thomas Dorn.
Ain't heard that sandbagger's name
since he ODed a couple years ago.
- Death certificate says heart attack.
- Coke induced, I'll bet.
If he was a cokehead,
why didn't you boot his butt out?
- Car accident beat me to it.
- He have any buds?
A couple.
He was tight with a Corporal Morgan.
- He went UA same time Dorn kicked.
- Bet you never found him, right?
Not that I heard of.
Probably holed up
in some backwater-ville
with that redhead they used to run with.
- Melissa.
- Yeah, that's her name.
She was a fox.
And both Dorn and Morgan
were shacking up with her.
- You know her?
- Oh, yeah. Yeah, I know her.
- Dorn's half-sister.
- She didn't act like no sister.
A minute-30!
Why you asking me about this now?
Dorn's leg was found deep-sixed
in a dumpster two days ago.
Two days?
- Some ghoul dig him up?
- No. He had beaucoup life insurance.
From what you just told me,
it looks like he and Melissa
killed Corporal Morgan.
She identified the body as Dorn,
cremated him, claimed the insurance.
- Who killed Dorn?
- Well, foxy lady may be a black widow.
Oo-rah!
You want to tell them?
- Oo-rah!
- Oo-rah!
GIBBS: Hey.
- What's wrong?
- Look at it.
Looks like a match.
- Precisely.
- Good work, Abby.
No, it's not.
You gave me two samples
from the same tree.
"B" matched and "A" didn't.
I screwed up.
Sycamore "A" was from
a tree down the street.
What?
The idea of matching plant DNA
was a bit hinky for me.
"O ye of little faith."
Abby, come on.
All I did is give you a blind test.
Well, you could have done that
by not telling me
which sample came
from the suspect sycamore.
I didn't think of that.
This puts Dorn at Melissa's house.
You know what that means?
You've got probable cause.
Tony, you take the barn.
Kate, you got the house.
What're you gonna take?
That didn't come out right.
Not what I meant.
Yeah, I know what you meant.
Well, was my coffee that good?
We're here to execute a search warrant.
For what?
My brother died two years ago.
His body was cremated.
Don't you mean it was Corporal
Morgan's body that was cremated?
This has to be the cleanest barn ever.
If she uses a service,
I got to have that number.
I really don't know
what you think you're going to find here.
Why do you keep staring at me?
I could never have killed Tommy.
I loved him.
A Gunny who knew both of you told me
the same thing.
Funny, though. He didn't know
that you were brother and sister.
(BEEPING)
Looks like you could use
a glass of water.
Thank you.
Have Abby compare her prints
with those on her brother's leg.
Blood on the floor.
Nicks in the concrete.
Looks like they were made
by a power saw.
Got to be where she did
her slicing and dicing.
- What?
- There's someone else.
(SIGHING)
Who else is here?
Who else is here?
Boss, I'd like you
to meet Dr Sylvia Chalmers
who loves Estée Lauder.
Dr Chalmers!
Good afternoon, Agent Todd.
- You were in on it.
- In on what, my dear?
- They know, Mama.
- ALL: Mama?
They didn't know I was your Mama
till you told them, dear.
I know I should
have told you all back in Harmony,
but the mother in me had
to protect my only child.
It was wrong, I know that.
But her wicked half-brother
intimidated her
into defrauding an insurance company
when his friend had a heart attack.
Brought on by an overdose of digitalis.
What in the world
would make you think that?
Couldn't be from a forensic test.
Melissa had his body cremated.
Notice how it's all you, Melissa?
A marine has a heart attack in my office.
Melissa identifies him
as her half-brother who I've never met.
Now, how am I involved?
- Mother.
- Melissa.
You defrauded an insurance company.
I'm afraid you're gonna
have to take their punishment for that.
And only that.
Boy, oh, boy, you are good.
But so are we.
We found your digitalis
in Thomas Dorn's leg.
My digitalis?
Every doctor and hospital
in this country uses digitalis.
Each order has
its own chemical marker.
How else would a manufacturer recall
a specific batch
if they had a quality control problem?
You shouldn't have done it, Mama.
Calm yourself, Melissa.
Just calm yourself.
They can only prove that you defrauded
an insurance company.
No, Mama.
They can prove everything.
They know you killed them with digitalis.
They know you cut up Tommy
into little pieces
and they know you threw him away
in the garbage.
She's just hysterical.
You can't use any of this in court.
She was read her rights.
She waived them.
GIBBS: We can use it all. We will.
You little fool.
They couldn't prove anything.
I don't care anymore, Mama.
I loved Tommy and you murdered him.
(SIGHING)
They just found the left arm
in the garbage dump at Chiefton.
So where does that leave us?
That's a right arm from Katy Lick,
a torso from Marshville
and the original leg
from the dumpster in Clarksburg.
Still no head or left leg?
Well, which I'm betting
are gonna be turning up
around Lake Floyd or Jarvisville.
Did you check Hooterville?
- Where's Hooterville?
- You guys, Petticoat Junction.
Green Acres. Hooterville.
- I prefer TV shows from this century.
- Come on, they're hilarious.
When we were in college,
we had this drinking game and
the drugs collect in a solvent layer
and that leaves only proteins
and biological material behind.
That's great, Abby.
I'll make sure to get that in the report.
What report?
We've got Humpty Dumpty
back together?
- Most of him.
- Melon and left leg are still outstanding.
- Any more tattoos?
- Just the rose on Kate's butt.
It's not a rose.
He doesn't know.
He's lying just like he did
about the digitalis.
Okay, tell them.
Gibbs.