NCIS (2003–…): Season 4, Episode 10 - Smoked - full transcript

MAN 1: Check that eyebolt.
Let's hook that come-along.

MAN 2:
Okay, set up the belt.

All right, get ready, ladies.
Put your backs into it.

Come on, I could do this
when l was your age by myself, huh?

MAN: Sure you could.
- See these pythons?

I could lift a 400-pound load
back in the day, huh?

I even remember her name,

- Lisa Scarpizzi.
MEN: Ha-ha-ha.

Yeah, but she was
a hell of a woman, though, huh?

All right. Let's move this thing
out of here.

I got a furnace waiting to go in.
Push it out, guys.

Come on. Here we go.

Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.

- Hey, Mannie?
MANNIE [OVER RADIO]: Yeah.

Looks like a partial obstruction
in the smokestack.

Yeah, I see it from up here, boss.
Probably carbon buildup.

- All right, clean it out.
- Do it right now.

Anybody who doesn't wanna make
an ash of themselves, step back.

[MOTOR WHINING]

MEN:
Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Hold it up, Mannie. We've got more
than just carbon coming down here.

Copy that.

[LAUGHS]

- Finished McGee's book yet?
- Halfway. You?

I'm on Chapter 7, Page 103.

"Maybe someday,
Lisa would find the courage

to tell Agent Tommy
about her dream.

The two of them together,
their bodies covered in sweat

as they made love on the crystal
white sands of her homeland."

- I'm gonna kill him.
GIBBS: Kill who?

McGee. Have you read this book?

Apparently, McGee thinks Ziva's
in love with me.

There's a reason they call it fiction,
DiNozzo.

Just got a call from dispatch.
Construction crew found a dead body.

- Where?
- Chesty Puller High School, Quantico.

- Student?
- Uh-- Not sure.

GIBBS:
Take the truck. I'll meet you there.

How many times do I have to tell you?
It's not about you guys.

I'm driving.

Comfortable back there,
Gore Vidal?

[ENGINE STARTS]

For the last time, Deep Six is fiction.

Fiction based on us, yes?

No. Look, if you don't believe me,

read the disclaimer
in the front of the book.

Are you buying that, Lisa?

[CHUCKLES]

Didn't think so.

Nice knowing you, probie.

Ziva?

[TYRES SQUEALING]

[GRUNTS]

McGEE:
It's just a book.

[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]

You know, in Chapter 8
of McGee's book,

your character does the exact
same thing to Agent Tommy.

Turns out she has this whole
secret photo album of him.

Fascinating, Tony,
but I wasn't taking a picture of you.

I'm more interested in the wildlife.

[GASPS]

We've pulled rats, cats, and birds
out of chimneys before, Agent Gibbs.

Hell, one time,
even a Saint Bernard.

But this is my first mummy.

Reminds me of that urban legend.

- Which one is that?
- Guy dresses up like Santa.

You know, for Christmas Eve
to surprise his girlfriend.

But he never shows.

She's convinced
that the bastard dumped her.

Badmouths him all over town.

DUCKY: Until they find the
poor soul's body months later

still clutching a little box
with her shiny new engagement ring.

And the moral, of course, is:

It's never a good idea to get married.

No, it's best not to judge someone
until all the facts are in.

I like mine better. Any of your crew
touch or move Kris Kringle?

No, most of them were halfway
to Manassas

before the dust even settled.

There's no ID on him.
Judging by what's left of the mullet,

it's safe to say he wasn't
in the military.

You think, DiNozzo?
Hey, I need a TOD, doctor.

Considering we've been working
together for over ten years,

I am well aware of that,
Agent Gibbs.

When he gets one,

run it through missing persons
over the same time period.

Where are you going, boss?

To the roof, to figure out how
he ended up there in the first place.

What happened to you?

Creative differences
with my coworkers, boss.

GIBBS: A lot of that going around
these days.

Don't you think it's about time
you and Gibbs made up, Ducky?

Made up?
I wasn't aware we were fighting, Ziva.

TONY:
Come on. Ever since he retired--

Gibbs didn't retire. He quit.

Okay, so he quit.

But he's back now.

You need to cut the man some slacks,
Ducky.

I agree. Except, the term is "slack."

Judging by the decay
and the condition of his skin,

l tentatively place the time of death
at two to four months ago.

Works for me.

Time of death
was two to four months ago, boss.

Bag and tag the ashes, probie.

We'll pick you up after we coordinate
with the MP3.

PALMER: Doctor, I'm going
to be laying the bag out here

and the burrito over here.

Palmer, I need a favour.

You want a ride back with us.

How did you know?

| read your book.

And for your information, I've never
had sexual relations with a corpse.

That character
was not based on you.

His name was Pimmy Jalmer,
McGee.

Well, he's French Polynesian.

Doctor, I'm going to get
the gurney now.

McGEE:
It was only a dream.

Come on. Haven't you ever heard
of symbolism?

Ha-ha. The life of an artist
is never easy, McGee.

They'll all get over it eventually.

Thanks, Ducky.

By the way, do you know if Tony
has finished it yet?

- Not yet.
- Well, him I'd watch out for.

ZIVA: None of the local
missing-person reports

match our John Doe's description,
Tony.

And there's no record of anyone
going missing on base,

civilian or military, during that period.

Are you even listening to me?

TONY:
I'm getting close to the end, Ziva.

[CHUCKLES]

You know, McGee is really starting
to nail your essence here.

"Stakeouts. Long endless hours
fuelled by cheap food

and even cheaper coffee.

But tonight, Mossad Officer Lisa
didn't seem to mind,

because she was getting to spend it
with Agent Tom."

You're behind me again, aren't you?

- Lucky guess.
- Uhn!

You know, I think McGee's right.

He was, was he?

It takes almost all of my willpower

to resist the urges I have
when I'm around you, Tony.

Maybe

it's about time | just give in, yes?

- And by "give in," you mean...?
- Letting loose.

- Ah. Heh-heh.
- Doing what comes naturally to me.

I thought I was picking up that vibe

the first time we went undercover
together.

- You were?
- Uh-huh.

In fact, I almost did it the first night
in the hotel room.

- Really.
- But my father wouldn't approve.

Because I'm not Jewish.

Because he gets very angry
when I kill a coworker.

Ha-ha-ha. Like I believed you
for even a second.

[CHUCKLES]

- I'm sure you didn't.
- Are you two done playing grab-ass?

ZIVA: Oh, he started it.
- I'm ending it.

Oh, |--

The next person who mentions
this book will be deep-sixed by me.

- I can completely live with that.
GIBBS: My point exactly.

You ID our victim yet?

We're running him
against missing-person cases

reported over the last six months.

TONY:
No hits yet.

I'm afraid that's my fault.

It seems my initial time of death
wasn't completely accurate.

As you will see,
his body is almost perfectly preserved.

Perfectly preserved
for a rotted corpse, that is.

The guy looks like
a piece of beef jerky, Duck.

Gum tissue rots faster
than the outer flesh

due to the high degree of bacteria
inside the mouth.

As you can see,
his gums are almost intact.

Maybe he was just a good flosser.

Shutting it, boss.

How'd he die?

DUCKY:
Well, the how I'm still working on.

It's made particularly difficult

by the means by which
his body was preserved.

He was quite literally smoked
inside that chimney.

- Smoked?
DUCKY: Yeah, like a fine cut of meat.

So he really is a beef jerky.

DUCKY:
In a manner of speaking, yes, Tony.

It's also the reason
why my time of death was so far off.

More than two to four months,
Ducky?

- It would seem so.
- How many?

I would say we're looking at closer
to five or six.

Don't be so rough on yourself,
doctor.

We're already running
the past six months.

Not months.

Years.

McGEE:
Abby, they hate me.

They don't hate you, McGee.

Ziva tried to kill me yesterday.

Well, you did base all the characters
in your book on us

and didn't ask our permission.

Deep Six is a work of pure fiction.

You described everything
in my bedroom.

Not everything. You still have those.

[COMPUTER BEEPING]

Fantasize later, Hemingway.

I got a match on two
of old Smokey's fingerprints.

- Whoa.
- What's wrong?

The match file is restricted.
I can't access it.

That's not possible.
NCIS has top-level clearance.

- McGee, | work here too.
- Can you tell who's blocking it?

I could if they weren't in the process
of deleting the file from the server.

What the hell is this?

l was wondering that myself.

We got matching fingerprints
from the victim

and AFIS just kicked us out.

And now they're deleting the file.

- How?
- Working on it, boss.

It looks like some agency
doesn't want us to know

who your mummy is, Gibbs.

JEN:
Inbound G5 from Ibiza, Spain.

Tango 8, I want every bag
coming off that plane

tagged with a GPS marker.

Eagle 6, remain in oven/vatch.

Tango 8 is on his own
unless I clear you for backup.

MAN: Solid copy. Eagle 6
remaining in oven/i/atch position.

Bring up Tango 8's feed
on the big screen.

Hey, there. How y'all doing?

Toss them down, bro.

Oh.

TONY:
Louis Vuitton.

Y'all aren't too friendly, are you?

This is Eagle 6.
Cabin crew are exiting.

Tango 8, La Grenouille's people
are about to deplane.

[CHUCKLES]

[CLEARS THROAT]

There 's more luggage.

Yes, sir.

Good flight?

Very nice, Kort. Very nice.

Martin, where's he been
keeping you?

The African market.
Cape Town, mostly. Not bad.

Good.

I need to see the passengers.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

Isolate and freeze-frame.

KORT:
How long have you been here?

Well, long enough to put your luggage
in the trunk.

How long have you been
working the line?

I haven't seen you before.

Oh, about five months, I'd say.

You know, part-time, weekends,
nights, that sort of thing.

Can you keep your eyes off her
next time?

Probably not.

An honest man.

Thank you, sir.

Eagle 6, confirm four GPS markers.

Eagle 6,
four GPS markers confirmed.

Signals are long and strong.

Bravo Zulu, Tango 8.

[MUMBLES]

Two hours.

Gibbs is gonna murder me.

[TYPING]

How long has Tony been
doing errands for the director?

Pretty much since you retired.

She trusts him.

To do what?

You'd have to ask Tony that.

ABBY:
Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs, I did it.

Well, you mean "we."

| traced the connection to the system
that deleted the fingerprint match.

It's a government server in Arlington.

Routed into AFIS,
directly at the source.

McGEE: Our mystery hacker is--
- The FBI.

Yeah. Sounds a little anticlimactic
when you say it.

How did you know that?

I'm looking at them.

You've got something
that belongs to me, Gibbs.

Petri dish, Mr. Palmer.

There's something weird
in this young man's stomach.

PALMER:
Is that--? Is that what I think it is?

A distal interphalangeal joint.

- A human toe.
FORNELL: He was a cannibal, Ducky.

And a serial killer.

I've been hunting this bastard
for 12 years, Gibbs.

What's his name?

You don't know.

We know the prints
you ran through AFIS

matched two of the prints
from his crime scenes.

FORNELL:
Fourteen kills.

All women.

Drugged, strangled and left to rot
on your rural interstate highways.

Every one of them missing the toes
on their left foot.

They were gnawed off.

How'd he die?

- We're still working on that.
FORNELL: I can tell you when.

Sixty-six months ago.

Five and a half years.
It's a pretty accurate guess.

It wasn't a guess.

It was the last time he killed.

You wanna know
why I restricted access to his prints?

For starters.

We didn't want local LEOs
trying to bring him down on their own.

That sounds like the FBI.

Oh, this guy was a ghost, Jethro.

Fourteen murders.

All we ever got from him
was two partials

And we never even got close.

I am more interested in what he
was doing on my Marine base, Tobias.

As soon as | find out,
you'll be the first to know.

We got a deal?

I'll have my ME swing by,
pick up the body.

After I find out who he is
and how he died.

I spent 12 years
working on this case.

Well, then, waiting a few extra days
shouldn't be a problem.

Is there anything else I can do for you
while you're grinding the knife in?

I'm gonna need a sample of that hair
and copies of your file.

A few bottles of bourbon
would be a nice gesture.

What do | get besides a headache?

Tobias, I am going to show you
what your serial killer looks like.

ABBY:
I've been rehydrating

Smokey the Bear's head
since yesterday.

It makes it easier for identification.

And I've uploaded
every local missing person's sketch

and photo into the comparison field
since the killing stopped.

As soon as their rendering algorithm
is complete,

we should have a fairly accurate
likeness of what Slim Jim looked like

when he was still alive.

As long as the system and scales are
within the programme's prescribed--

McGee, less talk,
more the computer chip doo-da.

Making with the doo-da, boss.

FORN ELL:
"Doo-da"?

GIBBS: It's a technical term, Tobias.
You wouldn't understand.

Pretty cute
for a serial-killing cannibal.

Oh, I've got an 86 percent match
on a Charles Bright,

reported missing from Dale City
five years, seven months ago.

Our profiler was convinced

he'd have at least one body
buried near his home.

ABBY: Why?
- Something for him to gloat over, Ab.

Relive the rush
anytime he wanted to.

That's good, Gibbs.
We need an address.

[TYPING]

[BOTH HUMMING,
SINGING "DOO-DA"]

GIBBS:
That address still good?

Wife still lives there. Karen Bright.

She's the one
who reported him missing.

There you go, Fornell.

You're turning the case over?

No, ljust want you to get
my search warrant for me.

[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS]

[SACKS LAUGHING]

I do miss you.

I do.

Ha-ha-ha. Stop.

SACKS:
Oh... Oh.

- What's wrong with this picture?
- Besides being late over two hours?

Why is the spawn of the FBI
sitting at my desk?

Warrant just came in via the FBI.

I made sure NCIS was a co-server.

- Warrant for what, Lee?
- The serial killer's home.

It covers the grounds and residence.

Serial killer?
| only missed, like, two hours.

Snooze, you lose, DiNozzo.
Grab your gear.

TONY:
Already have my gear.

- I'll fill you in on the way. Let's go.
GIBBS: Today, DiNozzo.

Jeez.

- What do we tell her?
- The truth. We found her husband.

And the whole
serial-killing-cannibalism thing?

Not until we have to.

Hi. Your mom home?

WOMAN:
Who is it, Amy?

It's the police, Mom.

Mrs. Bright, I'm--

He's FBI Agent Fornell.
I'm NCIS Special Agent Gibbs.

You found him, didn't you?

You found my husband, Charlie?

His body was discovered yesterday
in Quantico.

It was an accident, wasn't it?

He was a building inspector.

The cause of death
is still undetermined.

He would have never abandoned us.

Everyone else thought it

but I always knew
it couldn't be true. Oh.

They found Daddy.

They finally found him.

[KAREN CRYING]

Sorry about that, Jethro.

She could have been a twin
to some of his victims.

The loving husband

murdering and eating women
who look like his wife.

It'll probably be McGee's
next best seller.

FORNELL: It amazes me how the truly
sick ones are always the best-liked.

The pillars of the community.

They're successful
because they blend in.

They go to church,
they coach Little League.

l was on the team that nailed Bundy,
Gibbs.

And I'm familiar
with sick, charming bastards.

That's probably
why we get along so well.

TONY:
Oh, I found something, boss.

Found some bone fragments.

Our serial killer
spent the last five years

getting smoked and tenderized
in the Puller High School chimney,

only to fall out during the installation
of the new furnace.

I wanna know how he ended up
that way, DiNozzo.

Boss, he was a building inspector
for the DOD.

When he disappeared in April 2001,

he was checking structures
at Quantico and Little Creek.

- Puller High School was on his list.
- Could've been an accident.

He could have fallen to his death
while inspecting the school.

How? Think about it. He couldn't
just walk onto a military base.

If he drove, they'd have found his car.

2000 Honda Accord
disappeared with him.

Fourteen victims spread out
from 1993 until his death.

All of them looking
pretty much like his wife.

Number 15 found in his own back yard
by yours truly,

with the FBI digging for more.

Why are we letting the FBI
dig for more?

GIBBS:
They're doing our manual labour.

[INDISTINCT
POLICE RADIO CHATTER]

[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]

Well, this is the last one, Ducky,
unless they find more.

Yeah, well, this one's also female,

judging by the width
of the pelvic bones.

Yeah, with the almost
complete lack of tissue,

I think I'll refrain before I offer
a tentative time of death.

Especially after the last time.

Yes, I do deeply apologise for that.

ZIVA: No problems, Ducky.
We all make mistakes, yes?

Did I ever tell you about the time

l shoved a French police officer
off a cliff?

TONY:
There was a lake below.

DUCKY:
Yes. The man was all right,

but they still issued a warrant
for my arrest.

Gibbs and I managed
to keep two steps ahead of them.

Eventually, we escaped across
the English Channel in a sailboat.

You and Agent Gibbs
were fugitives?

Yes, for a short while.

Until a young upcoming NCIS agent
had the charges dropped.

Jenny. Heh.

I mean, Director Shepard.

Yeah, she was the one
who commandeered the boat.

Director Shepard stole a boat?

She wasn't the director of NCIS
at the time, McGee.

KAREN:
Everything's gonna be okay.

- This is all a big mistake.
- Mrs. Bright,

I need to know how your husband
ended up in Quantico.

He worked at all the bases.

Don't you people understand

you have him confused
with someone else?

Some kind of monster.

Sweetheart,
go get your brother, okay?

We're gonna go to Grandma's house.
Go on.

AMY:
Can't they just leave?

My husband was one of the most
loving men on the planet, Agent Gibbs.

He treated everyone
with kindness and decency.

Ask anyone who knew him,
Agent Gibbs. Anyone.

They're removing four bodies
from your backyard.

Do you know how many old
unmarked graveyards are in Virginia?

When was the last time
you saw him?

He was driving to Little Creek.

He was supposed to call
when he got to his hotel.

That's a long way from Quantico
where he ended up.

I know.

I knew something was wrong
when he didn't call.

Did you ever have
one of those feelings?

When you know something terrible
has just happened?

Once.

And did it?

He didn't do these things,
Agent Gibbs.

I'm sorry, but there's nothing
you people can do or say

to ever make me believe this.

[SOBBING]

Stashing four bodies in the yard.

That's more than just gloating,
Gibbs.

Well, they could be his first kills.

PALMER:
I think we're running out of room.

Yes, it won't be lonely
in the Mallard Inn tonight.

How could someone do the things
this man did, doctor?

In some cases,
there's a physiological defect

in the hard-wiring of their brains.

A mechanism that precludes the ability
to feel genuine emotion.

Did you find anything weird
in this guy's brain,

like a tumour
or a physical abnormality?

- I did not.
- Then how do you explain him?

I can't.

There is also evil in this world,

and even armed
with all our science and degrees,

it remains impenetrable.

Perhaps because its depths
are unfathomable.

There's a very good book that |--

Oh, I seem to have left my bag
in the van.

Be a good lad and fetch it for me
before you leave for the night.

You got it, doctor.

[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS]

[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS]

[BOTH GIGGLING]

PALMER: Ahh.
LEE: Oh.

[CREAKING]

[FOOTSTEPS]

I thought you might be needing
a refill.

Thanks.

Today certainly brought back
a lot of memories.

Yeah.

It also made me realise
that since your return,

- I've been acting a little like a--
- An ass?

Well, something like that.

I didn't notice.

You and I have been through a lot
over the years.

Look, I hate to use marriage
as an analogy--

Then don't.

Just tell me what I did
to piss you off.

The night you retired,
you asked me to drive you home.

You didn't say a single word
the entire trip.

No explanation.

Not even a goodbye.

l was kind of still recovering
from the coma, doctor.

And Kelly? And Shannon?

All those years
of friendship together

and somehow you failed to mention
that you have a family.

I had.

Had a family.

You know how I feel
about apologies, right?

They're a sign of weakness.

Not between friends.

I am sorry, Ducky.

I should have told you.

Well, I should have told you
something months ago.

Welcome home.

Thanks.

[MUSIC PLAYING OVER TW

[KNOCKING ON DOOR]

[SIGHS]

I hope you had a better day than I did,
Miss Jeanne Benoit.

Thinking a lot about you lately.

And I'm really, really trying
to figure out a way

to not screw this up.

[DOOR UNLOCKING]

- Tony.
- Hey. I thought you were sleeping.

I was.

So how was your day?

Well, you ever see
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre?

- Original or remake?
- Either.

- Neither.
- It was a lot like that.

But worse.

How about you?

Kind of like a cross between
Trains, Planes and Automobiles

and The Muppets Take Manhattan.

That is a heady, heady brew
of strange cinematic references

and I don't know what to make of it.

I interned at the Children's Ward
today.

- Ah.
- I felt kind of like that too.

Beautiful and clever.

So why aren't you kissing me?

And she's a mind reader.

I'm not exactly stop--

[MOANING]

[BOTH CHUCKLING]

[GIGGLING]

JEANNE: Whool
TONY: Uhn!

[JEANNE GIGGLES]

[WHISTLING]

ZIVA:
Are you on medication?

Just had a good night last night.

Doing what?

The usual.

The usual what?

Night.

[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS]

[LAUGHING]

- You had sex, didn't you?
- What?

It's okay to admit it.
I mean, we're all adults here.

That's a subject I'd be willing to debate,
Officer David.

Where's Gibbs?

He must have known
you were coming

because he's not here.

It was really more of a courtesy call,
DiNozzo.

Letting him know about
these orders from Justice.

The ones where the FBI
is taking over your case.

Ahhh.

You sure he's not around?

JEN: These are pretty clear-cut orders,
Agent Fornell.

"NCIS is hereby ordered to turn over
full jurisdiction of the Bright case

to the FBI
by end of business today."

Who did you have to sleep with
to get these?

Director, please.

A serial killer falls down a chimney
on a Marine base.

Is that a logical way
to decide jurisdiction?

It's been working for us
since around 1882.

Sadly, Justice didn't see it that way.

The FBI has invested 12 years
in this investigation.

And my people made more progress
in just three days.

Now, I can see how that
would be embarrassing.

I'll get over it.

No hard feelings, Jethro?

Nope.

Just need you to look at something
before you leave.

You got that moustache in a box,
don't you?

It took more time
than I care to admit,

but I finally managed to solve
the riddle of how our friend died.

You may need this.

Look closely,

in the area of his abdomen.

Do you see anything
resembling wounds?

FORNELL: No.
- Well, neither did I

until I took a second look
at the CAT scan.

You see, smoking desiccates flesh.

Which is why it is the preferred
method of preserving meat

in less technologically
advanced societies--

Whoa, whoa, whoa!
How did he die, doctor?

Well, as the moisture was lost,
the victim's tissue,

which protected the vital organs,
shrank.

You see these little black dots?

Um... Um...

Oh, yeah.

He was stabbed repeatedly
and fatally.

With what?

A safety pin?

No, as ljust explained,
the shrinkage of the flesh is deceptive.

Most likely, it was an ice pick
or a Phillips-head screwdriver.

Somebody killed your serial killer,
Fornell.

On a Marine base.

Which means
it is still ourjurisdiction.

[BEEPING]

I've seen a lot of things
since I became a cop, Ziva.

But this?

Guy tortures
and murders 19 women

and then gets off
on eating their toes?

Whoever whacked this sick freak
did us and the world a favour.

And ourjob is to arrest them.

Makes perfect sense to me.

Justified or not,
it's still a crime, Ziva.

In this country, you cannot take
the law into your own hands.

Unless it's your little sister
wanted for murder, right, probie?

You know what I mean.

What if this was your sister?

Or her?

My point is that we cannot just
investigate the crimes that we want to.

McGee's right. Does anybody have
a problem with that?

- No, boss, it's just--
- Just what, DiNozzo?

Some days this job really sucks.

Yeah? Well, it's about to get worse.

Ziva, you and Tony
are with Sacks on this one.

Doing what?

Coming up with a list of people
who wanted Bright dead.

- Besides everyone in this room?
- Except for McLawyer over there.

Tony, all I was saying--

Go check on Abby,
see if she needs any help.

Running a little late today,
are we, Tobias?

You're enjoying this, aren't you?

Oh, only slightly more than a lot.
Come on.

- What?
GIBBS: Ducky's got something for us.

DUCKY: There wasn't any recoverable
tissue from any of the remains.

All four bodies were completely
stripped to the bone.

GIBBS:
Yeah, I can see that, Duck.

How long were they in the ground?

Shallow graves,
exposed to the elements...

All four women could have been there
for, ooh, decades

or for as little as six months.

We know it's gotta be
at least five years.

- Do we, Tobias?
- Yes.

Unless Bright figured out a way

to climb in and out
of that smokestack.

For what it's worth, I agree with you.
But down here, we deal in facts.

Meaning you don't know?

Well, not yet.

You couldn't have
told me that on the phone?

Yes, I could have, Jethro.

But that's not the reason
I asked you down here.

I took the liberty
of reviewing the profile

that the FBI prepared
on our serial killer eight years ago.

In order to disguise
his predatory nature,

Bright had to be methodical, precise,
cautious almost to a fault.

Your point?

Well, if the FBI's finest
couldn't get him,

it makes me wonder who did.

He knew his killer.

That's good work, Ducky.

[PHONE BEEPS]

How else could someone
get close enough to him

to stab him to death
with a screwdriver?

GIBBS: DiNozzo.
TONY: Yeah, boss.

Concentrate on the high school.

Someone there had to have
a personal connection to Bright.

- On it.
- Find him.

ABBY:
I'm a forensic scientist, McGee,

I don't need anyone
checking up on me.

What I do need
is to date those bones,

the ones that we found
in Beef Jerky's back yard.

Marty?

Yes. Why didn't I think of that?

Marty got his degree in
Forensic Botany at Penn State.

The roots grew into the bones.

So if Marty can ID the plant,

he can probably give us
a rough estimate

as to when they were buried.

Way to go, McGee.

How did you know
what Marty majored in?

I didn't.

Who is he?

He's just a friend.

"Being with you makes me believe
size truly doesn't matter. Abby."

Okay, he's a really good friend.

Where the hell
did you learn how to type?

Do you mind? Your breath's taking
the starch out of my collar. Haah.

[IN UNISON]
What have we got?

Staff's still present from five years ago.
All claim not to have known Bright.

If they murdered the guy and stuffed
him down a chimney, not surprising.

- Tony?
- Running down a list of substitutes

- who used to teach.
- His wife's a teacher, 3rd grade.

See if she ever worked at Puller.

We checked for Brights already, boss.
Sir, there are none.

- Check her maiden name.
- Her maiden name is Burris, Tony.

Burris... Burr...

Okay, got one hit. Karen Burris.

Subbed for Social Studies
and Western History in 2001.

Social Security number listed
is the same as Bright's wife.

Wow. My mama always told me
big things come in small packages.

What a coincidence.

Mine always warned me about
tattooed girls bearing samples.

I'm talking about your lab.

- I love it.
- Yeah?

Pretty sweet, huh?

- Sweet? I'd kill for half this equipment.
- Really?

What would you do for all of it?

What's your crazy ninja sense
telling you?

She's scared.

I mean, about whether
she shanked Beef Jerky

and dropped him
down the wishing well?

What would you do
if you woke up one day

and you discovered
you were married to a monster?

Happened to my father all the time.
We usuallyjust moved.

Ah. That explains it.

[DOOR CLOSES]

Karen, you were a substitute

at Lieutenant General
Lewis Puller High School.

I've worked at a lot of schools
in the area.

What does that have to do with this?

Considering we found your husband
petrified in the chimney there.

Quite a bit.

Karen...

...we know this is hard...

...but we're here to help.

And it's important
that you tell us the truth.

When did you find out?

Find out?

That your loving husband

was murdering women
who looked just like you.

I told you.

My husband didn't do those things.

GIBBS: He removed the toes
from their left feet.

We think that you know why.

[CRYING]

Would you mind taking off your shoe
and showing us your left foot?

Please.

Karen.

Your husband was an evil man.

That thing was not my husband.

It wasn't the man I married.

It had to be stopped.
Don't you see? I had no other choice.

You could have gone to the police.

And have my children live the rest
of their lives

knowing that monster was their father?
No.

I had to.
I had to protect them from it.

[KAREN SOBBING]

MARTY:
Gaultheria procumbens.

Evergreen shrub. More commonly
known as wintergreen or checkerberry.

I need to see the photo
where the sample was recovered from.

ABBY: It was taken from between
the fibula and the tibia.

Go back to the wide shot.

Now go to that quadrant.

That's a wintergreen,
about five metres from the remains.

Judging from the thickness of the root,
annual growth rate

and the soil samples
you brought me,

you can calculate roughly
how long the body's been buried.

Plus or minus six months.

You can tell it was a live sample

by the tiny little offshoots
forming off the main root.

Wanna see?

Abby?

In her position, I can't say I wouldn't
have done the same thing, Tony.

McGee was right about
taking the law into your own hands.

She's lucky she wasn't
his last victim.

[KAREN SOBBING]

Karen, no one should have to live
through what you did.

Believe me when I tell you
that there's no jury in the world

that wouldn't sympathise with you.

[CELL PHONE BEEPING]

It's not me.

[WHISPERS]
What?

What do you wanna bet
that's McGeek?

Rule number 22: Never, ever
bother Gibbs in interrogation.

Tony, I don't think it's McGee.

Got it, Abs, thanks.

You're okay, Karen.
No, you're gonna get through this.

GIBBS:
Get away from her, Tobias.

The bodies in the yard
are not from five years ago.

- They're older?
GIBBS: No.

They're more recent than that.

Her husband wasn't the serial killer.

She is.

I gotta tell you, Jethro, that was...

- That was...
- Mm-hm.

How in God's name
could we miss that?

I don't think God had much
to do with it, Tobias.

You know what's really
got me freaked out?

If her husband's body
hadn't gotten hung up

going down that chimney
five years ago,

she'd still be out there.

We'd never have caught her.

I can do you one better than that.

No. Can't top that, Jethro.

What was a toe doing
in her husband's stomach?