" ("Jingle Bells" plays)" "WOMAN:" "We can get arrested for this." "MAN:" "Oh, come on." "It's one little Christmas tree." "Why pay, when we can just cut it down?" "WOMAN:" "Because this is a park." "It's Christmas!" "It's illegal." "It's what our grandparents used to do." "Hey, Lara." "What?" "I like this whole criminal sexy thing." "(chuckles):" "Stop it!" "So, what's it gonna be this Christmas, huh?" "A little naughty or nice?" "(shrieks happily):" "Dean, wait!" "Wait!" " Wait." " What?" "LARA:" "Oh, my gosh." "What's he doing?" "Hey, mister." "You all right?" "Must be freezing." "Sir?" "Sir?" "(Lara gasps)" "Call the police." "JACKSON:" "Merry Christmas, everybody!" " Loretta, thanks for the ride." " Bye-bye." " You drive careful now." " Have a good time." "Hey, Dad." "Didn't expect you till tonight." "Well, I like my pilots caffeinated and fresh." "I caught an earlier flight." "Yeah, but you should have called." "I would have picked you up." "No matter." "I made it." "Yeah, you did." "Ah." "Too many years since I was here last." "Yeah." "Whose fault is that, huh?" "We gonna do this again, son?" "Come on in." "Old place looks pretty good." "Yeah, well, it could use a coat of paint." "Couldn't we all?" "Well, look at this." "Hope you didn't get all decked out on my account." "Plenty of comfortable hotels nearby." "I'll be fine, just as long as I have a working clicker." "GIBBS:" "There's the clicker." "No cable." "Color?" "(chuckles)" "I'll manage." "Okay, that's your bed." "What happened to the guest room?" "It's not a guest room anymore." "The, uh, the cupboard's not totally empty." "Maybe I'll cook us something." "Long as it's not your Stroganoff, knock yourself out." "What's wrong with my Stroganoff?" "I'm still surprised you came, Dad." "It's good to be with family at Christmas." "Yeah." "You gonna be okay here alone?" "I'll be fine, yeah." "You go to work." "Death doesn't take a holiday." "I'll be fine." "Okay." "Leave my number right here by the phone." "You need anything, Ericson family two doors down same side of the street... they're always home." "Leroy..." "I'm glad to be here." "(door opens)" "(door closes)" "McGEE:" "It's freezing this morning." "TONY:" "Man up, Chilly Willy." "Feel that warm blood coursing through your veins." "Get in touch with your inner McGrizzly Adams." "I got hand warmers." "Give me one." "No." "I'm not cold at all." "That's because you're cold-blooded," "David, like a lady Komodo dragon." "Ice queen, frigid and deadly." "And I remembered to wear my thermal underwear." "I'll give you 50 bucks for it right now." "It wouldn't fit; you're too big." "They'll stretch." "Hand them over." "Crime scene gloves." "Triple bag for insulation." "God, there's got to be a better way to avoid frostbite." "There is." "Get to work." "Right." "On it, boss." "(gasps):" "Oh." "Marine First Lieutenant Thomas Ellis." "Married, decorated, third-generation marine." "Father's a retired marine colonel, George Ellis, who is now an ordained minister." "Second career." "Second calling." "Well, his son experienced the call of the wild." "Going barefoot and without gloves in this weather is ill-conceived, to say the least." "Was not a robbery." "Money and credit cards are still here." "Not much in the backpack, except for a towel and what I think is some soapy water." "Frozen soap residue under his fingernails confirms your discovery." "It's an odd place to take a bath." "Could have at least turned around, enjoy the view." "Yeah, if he had, it might have saved his life." "Recent footprints here indicate the attacker came from this direction." "Used a compass." " It's facing east." " Why would a marine not even attempt to fight back?" "Lift him up, Duck." "Look under his knees." "Agent McGee, if you would be so kind." "It is called a sajada." "An Islamic prayer rug." "Well, son of a preacher man was..." "Muslim." "He was praying when he was killed." "McGEE:" "As a marine," "Ellis officially changed his religious status eight months ago from Christian to Muslim." "That was clearly not just a passing interest." "Fruit of the month might be good." "Maybe a foot massager." "Gee, Tony, never pegged you as a catalog shopper." "Well, that's 'cause I'm not, Tiny Tim, but desperate times call for desperate measures." "Took these from my neighbor's doorstep." "You stole them?" "Doorstep's considered a common area." "I would never steal mail." "That's a federal offense." "Ooh, hold the phone, Malone." "Little bit of lingerie." "Nice." "What do you get for the shrew who has everything?" "This for the, um, Secret Santa?" "How did I end up with Delores Bromstead in Human Resources?" "She's a miserable grinch of a woman." "Can't argue with you there." "Once wished her a happy Valentine's Day, she claimed sexual harassment." " You ever seen her smile?" " No." "Stop it, both of you." "She is a single, middle-aged, lonely woman." "Have some compassion." "Must be tough living up there on Mount Crumpit." "Scheming to take Christmas away from poor Cindy Lou Who." "Why do I bother?" "Careful, or I'll take your present back." "We have a rule, remember?" "No presents." "But if I had gotten you one, you'd be sorry." "(phone ringing)" "DiNozzo desk." " GIBBS:" "DiNozzo!" " Hey, boss." " You know where the Ellises live?" " Uh, n-no." " Find out." " Yes." " Get there." " I'll meet you there." " Now." " Right away." "Gibbs?" "Yeah, he wants me to meet him over at Colonel Ellis's house." "Don't touch my catalogs." "MAN:" "Was it a hate crime?" "GIBBS:" "Don't know yet." "It's a possibility." "TONY:" "How long were you and the lieutenant married, Mrs. Ellis?" "Uh, two years." "Thom had just gotten back from his second tour, so we hadn't really spent any real time together." "Nothing tests a marriage like the Corps." "Nature of the beast." "I forgot you were a marine, Agent Gibbs." "I remember you, Colonel." "It's Reverend now." "Why the change?" "When my wife died, I wanted to be closer to God." "Now he's taken my son, as well." "If you don't mind my asking, Mrs. Ellis, when did you and Thom meet?" "College, here in Maryland." "Um, he swam, and I played softball." "After he joined the Corps, things changed." "He, uh..." "He started studying the Koran, and he said it would make him a better marine." "Within the first year, though, he was, he was reciting prayers, and he was thinking about converting." "I blame myself for this." "Did I push my beliefs on Thomas?" "Was all of this Islamic study just to spite me?" "I asked a friend of mine, a Muslim Navy chaplain, to reach out to him." "Maybe he can make some sense of all this." "Merry Christmas, everyone." "This is my younger son Patrick." "What-What happened?" "What's wrong?" "Thomas is dead, Pat." "Your brother's gone." "Come here." "Lieutenant, when you knelt to commune with your maker, did you have any idea you'd be seeing him so soon?" "I think not." "Is it true that Muslims pray five times a day?" "To be called Muslim, yes." "It's one of the Five Pillars of Islam." "I don't do anything five times a day." "Salaat, as it is called, certainly takes dedication." "Yeah, perhaps if humanity focused less on what separates us from one other and more on what we could learn from our differences, we would stop killing one another." "That is what I pray for." "You're not the only one, Duck." "What do you got?" "Well, I'm waiting for the cleric until I begin the autopsy proper, but cursory examination indicates blunt force trauma to the parietal lobe, and multiple lacerations to his shoulders and neck." "It's deep." "Yeah, and oddly angled." "The blow was delivered in a downward slicing motion." "Delivered with what?" "Ah, good question." "Whatever it was was cylindrical." "We found paint residue and some kind of thread in the wound." "Yeah, well, we'll have to wait until Abby is done with her analysis." "However, there is still much to surmise." "The lieutenant has minor scratches on the soles of his feet." "And due to soap traces on his lower appendages, it appears that Lieutenant Ellis cleansed his feet again before returning to prayer." "Which means he most likely knew his attacker." "Trusted him enough to turn his back on him, Duck." "And paid for that misplaced trust with his life." "Mmm." "These chocolates are delicious." "GIBBS:" "Hey, Dad." " TONY:" "I love chocolate." " Stop making my team fat." " I'd really like another one." " Gibbs, why didn't you tell us your father was coming?" "I didn't think he'd actually show." "Go ahead." "Have another one, bubble butt." "My metabolism is slowing with age." "It's nothing a post-holiday cleanse won't cure." "Come on, it's just candy for the holidays." "Homemade." "Best in Stillwater." "Ms. Hannigan, huh?" "She's been after you ever since Mom died." "She means well." "Been cooking for me lately." "She does put together a hell of a care package... when people are hurting." "TONY:" "Our instincts were right, boss." "The widow did have a fling while the lieutenant was overseas with a banker named James Hanlin," " from Chevy Chase, Maryland." " Any recent contact?" "Uh, not that I can tell." "Called it off when the husband found out." "Assalamu alikum." "Wa alikum assalam." "I'm Chaplain El-Sayed." "I'm looking for Special Agent Gibbs." "Thank you." "Most people don't know that the marine code is not unlike the code of Islam, as written in the Holy Koran." "Honor, courage, commitment." "Same three philosophies that Islam teaches." "Yet, ignorance and bigotry remain a problem in the military." "Well, ignorance isn't unique to any one group, Agent David." "All we can do is try our best to educate and pray for acceptance as a whole." "Lieutenant Ellis..." "he find acceptance?" "Like many of the Islamic marines I counsel, Thomas tried, but opposition can be overwhelming." "Yet, he stuck with it, determined to become a Muslim." "Because I think he found something that was missing in his life." "Thomas referred to his awakening as a devout epiphany." "That's when he became Tareef Bashir." "Yes." "And how did the rest of his unit react to his conversion?" "Well, some were open to it, others not so much." "They found his need to pray multiple times a day inopportune and dangerous." "Was any one marine more vocal about it than any other?" "Thomas did ask me to personally speak to a First Sergeant Louis Tibbens." "Successful?" "Well, let's just say that some battles can never be won." "Spoke to Ellis's C.O." "He was on vacation with his family, but he did confirm that Tibbens and Ellis did not get along." "Hmm." "Louis Tibbens, home on leave." "Athens, West Virginia." "Population: 900." "Bigger than Stillwater." "But does it have the charm?" "Or the perpetual smell of coal?" "GIBBS:" "I always liked that smell." "Keep going." "Yes, uh... no criminal priors, boss, uh, but Tibbens does have two njps for being disrespectful to a superior officer." "Tony, you and Ziva find Tibbens." "McGee?" "Look into Ellis's Muslim life." "As Tareef Bashir?" "Let's see if two names means he's leading two lives." "How the hell can you sit like this all day?" "No, I'm serious." "You'd think, after all these years, they'd give you a couple walls, some privacy." "Come on." "Got a job for you." "Where are we going?" "It's a surprise." "Here." "You're building toys." "Wow." "No." "We're building toys." "So, when did you get into the spirit?" "Oh, I don't know." "For me, it's more about the wood." "Though having that deadline of the 24th has been good." "You don't believe in Santa, but you believe in hobbies." "As long as you believe in something, I guess." "Settles my mind, Dad." "Keeps my hands busy." "(grunts)" "So, you want me to finish all this, paint it and put it together, huh?" "If you want." "It's up to you." "If it settles my mind." "You want to let those kids down at the children's hospital, go right ahead." "You're trying to Tom Sawyer me into whitewashing a fence for you." "No, not for me." "With me." "If you feel up to it." "Go to work." "There's a steak in the fridge." "We'll talk when I get back." "Yeah, yeah." "Hey, Dad." "I mean that." "Okay." " (country-rock plays)" " TONY:" "If Santa's looking for Rudolph, think I know what happened." "ZIVA:" "Tibbens' sister described this place perfectly." "So this is where a red throat would hang out after being overseas for months." "It's not "red throat," it's redneck." " Oh." " And I think we found the entire cast of Hee Haw." "ZIVA:" "Over there." "That's him." "TONY:" "Hmm." "With his brother Darryl and his other brother Darryl?" "First Sergeant Tibbens." "Call me Tibbs." "They call you Mr. Tibbs?" "Who the hell are you?" "NCIS." "Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo." "This is my probationary sidekick," "Agent Ziva David." "What's the problem?" "Thomas Ellis." "He's dead." "Allah didn't save his ass, huh?" "Guess he should have gone back to Iraq, where he belonged." "Where were you at dawn this morning?" "Why, do I need an alibi?" "Couldn't hurt." "I was in a hunting blind." "With these two." "Can you prove it?" "Got a six-point buck in the bed of my pickup." "How's that for proof?" "But I bet a pretty little thing like you never killed nothing before, huh?" "(chuckles)" "I'll never tell." "Oh, boy." "Uh, you're going to have to come down to NCIS with us." "Come on." "Got a better idea." "How about this one comes back to my place and... decorates my tree?" "Oh, no." "Happy Hanukkah." "Now, let's go." " (Tibbens groans)" " Ziva, no!" "Easy, easy." "Heel." "(handcuffs clicking)" "(grunting, groaning)" "(Tony yells)" "Sit down." "(grunting)" "My turn." "(man groans)" "(Ziva grunting)" "Red throats." "Rednecks." "Whatever." "# #" "What people believe in is their own business." "But the brass knows having a devout Muslim riding patrols could blow up in our faces." "Really?" "Why?" "Hajis think when a white marine starts reciting the Fatiha, he's mocking them, and they hate him for it." "And they hate us even more, so we get concerned." "You get concerned..." "enough to kill?" "Wasn't me." "So, if it wasn't you, who was it, then?" "He knows something." "Could be anyone." "Who?" "Look, somebody out there felt strong enough to offer us money... good money... to get Ellis to quit the Corps for good." "So someone paid you guys to be bigots?" "It was for the safety of the unit." "So somebody offered you money." "Who?" "Don't know." "Traveled word of mouth." "We answered to a PO box, got wired the money." "No questions asked." " (women laughing)" " ABBY:" "Oh, my God." "Remember freshman year..." "Miss Santa?" " (laughing) -("The Little Drummer Boy" plays)" "McGEE:" "Abby?" "McGee, you're here." "Hey, got any, uh, specifics on the metal we pulled from Ellis's wound?" "It's, uh... mass spec's working on it as we speak." "But there's someone you have to meet." "This is one of my very bestest friends in the whole world." "We went to college together, and she's the lab tech over at the VA now." "Carol Wilson, Special Agent McGee." "How goes it, McGee?" "Goes great." "Much better than this guy." "(chuckles)" "Santa..." "I don't know why he did the LAP-BAND." "I told him not to." "Well, you know, Santa... can't have a LAP-BAND, you know." "He's got to be..." "Doesn't work." " What are you drinking?" " Um, Caf-nog." "It's an old family recipe." "Speaking of families... tell him." "Oh." "This is my nephew Fisher." "How cute is he?" "His mother, my sister, is stationed on a naval destroyer in the Indian Ocean." "Fisher has been staying with Carol until she gets back." "I took Fisher to the mall today." "Watched as kid after kid sat on some lame-ass Santa's lap and asked for toys, video games." "But not Fisher." "(sighs) All Fisher asked for was to see his mom on Christmas Eve." "On a destroyer?" "Yeah, so..." "we thought you could help." "(sighs)" "Look, I sympathize, okay, but satellite feeds to the Indian Ocean are restricted to all but the highest priority communications." "What's a higher priority than a little boy that wants to see his mom on Christmas?" "McGee... he's, like, a miracle worker." "If anyone can do this, he can." "Right, McGee?" "(sighs)" "(elevator bell dings)" "Boss, I've been running bank records on each marine in Ellis's unit." "So far, only two marines, including First Sergeant Tibbens, accepted a bribe..." "four grand apiece." "Ho, ho, ho." "Merry Christmas." "All the money was drawn from the same overseas account and deposited around the same time." "It's a dummy corp." "Interpol is checking into it." "Tell them to check faster." "You do it." "Not you, boss." "You." "I mean, how many languages do you speak, anyway?" "Including the language of love, ten." "(phone ringing)" "Yeah." "Gibbs." "JACKSON:" "You have to come home." " Dad, I can't." " I need you here." "I almost burned your house down." "You did what?" "!" "MAN:" "Sir, everything's okay." "Hey, guys." " Thanks." " No problem." "Dad... you okay?" "JACKSON:" "When was the last time you-you cleaned that flue?" "The damn fireplace was all clogged." "What is all this?" "Boxes." "Decorations?" "They're your mom's stuff." "No use leaving them at home." "I had them shipped for the tree." "It's a beauty, isn't it?" "Yeah, yeah, it's good, it's fine." "Will you please stop patronizing me?" "If you don't like what I'm doing, speak up." "Dad, I am trying to make this work." "And I'm not?" "(beeping)" "Will you please put that box in another room?" "I don't like being around what's in it." "It's secure." "It's dangerous!" "Why won't you do what I ask?" "How come everything with you ends up in an argument?" "For just once, will you listen to what I'm asking you?" "!" "All right." "All right, I'll move it." "I'm going for a walk." "You want some company?" "I'm all right." "I'm fine." "(cell phone ringing)" "(sighs)" "(door opens, closes)" "Yeah." "Gibbs." "Spoke to Interpol, boss." "Got the account that was paying those guys to pressure Ellis." "Got a name?" "Colonel George Ellis." "His father?" "How dare you guys come in here and accuse a decorated marine... a reverend, no less... of hurting his own son." "It's a fact." "It's a lie." "Not according to the bank." "People do things for such misguided reasons." "Well, marines aren't just people, sir." "You're right, Pat, they're not, but they abide by the same laws." " Your father didn't." " Tina, we need to get in touch with James Hanlin." "You have his number, right?" "I mean, I understand." "You needed a shoulder to cry on and he was happy to talk, among other things." "Where were you the morning" " Thom was killed?" " With friends." "And Patrick was at school." "Why are you doing this?" "Because you're not being straight with us." "GEORGE:" "It's okay, Tina." "They have a right to know everything." "(sighs)" "You're correct, Agent DiNozzo, but I didn't want him discharged." "I just wanted this Muslim nonsense to end." "You paid off the men he trusted with his life." "Because I thought if Thom knew he was putting them in danger, he would stop being selfish." "What I did was wrong, but well-intentioned." "And if it led to my son's death, then God forgive me." "And Thom's God, too." "One and the same, Colonel." "(door opens)" "Do you really think the colonel was involved in his son's death?" "Well, he has a congregation." "Humiliation can do irrational things to people." "(phone ringing)" "DiNozzo." "WOMAN:" "Agent DiNozzo, this is Delores Bromstead... (whispers):" "It's her." "...from Human Resources." "(chuckles):" "Hi, Delores." " Is something wrong?" " No, I... l-I just, l-I have a cold." "(whispers):" "Delores." "Uh-huh." "Human Resources, the grinch." " Oh." " Watch, watch, watch." " This is gonna be really good." " (Tony chuckles)" "You crack me up." "That is..." " Not funny." "My office..." " No, it's not..." " That's not funny." " Be there." "Of course I'll be there." " (chuckles)" " With bells on." " Big silver bells." " Yeah, good-bye." " Okay." " (dial tone)" "(chuckles)" "Someone broke my cover." "Oh." "She knows I'm her Secret Santa." "McGee, you wouldn't do that." "Ho-ho-ho." "She wants me to meet her at 6:00 on Christmas Eve." "To exchange gifts?" "To wrap me in a cocoon of ivy and suck the Christmas joy out of me." "ZIVA:" "Okay, I'm going to say this again." "She is probably someone who just lacks social skills, so be nice, get her something special, kill her with kindness." "Or with a stake of holly through the heart." " (phone ringing)" " What should I get her?" "David." "GIBBS:" "Ziva, meet me in Abby's lab." "All right." "Any of these things could kill, but none of them did." "Any luck I.D.'ing the murder weapon?" " ("Joy To the World" plays)" " This job is not about luck." "It's about the keen eye of science." "Abby." "Would I have called you down here if I didn't have something?" "Hold that thought." "Go ahead, taste one." "I'm sorry, Abby, I could never eat you." "I'll take one to go." "For my dad." " Aw." " Abbs, I hope you have something more than a gingerbread cookie." "Yeah, I have aluminum and titanium." "I found minute particles in Lieutenant Ellis's head wound." "How about a baseball bat?" "That's a very good guess, Gibbs." "So I used the angle of impact, the depth of the wound and the density of bone to work my way backwards to simulate the kill." "SANTA (over monitor):" "Ho-ho-ho!" "What's that?" " On Dasher..." " Oh." "Oh, you weren't supposed to..." " Merry Christmas!" "...see that." "Um, okay, here." "So check out the death blow." "It's the speed at which it impacts" "Ellis's skull that's what's impressive." "Watch this." "Whoever killed Lieutenant Ellis was definitely athletic and knew how to generate some serious momentum." "Mrs. Ellis, your father-in-law said you were here." "I wanted to see where it happened." "I'm Agent David from NCIS." "I hope you don't mind." "Can we talk?" "What could you possibly ask me that your friends don't already know?" "Look, I know we have brought up some personal issues." "The affair you had while your husband was overseas... did he know about it?" "Eventually." "He knew that James and I were good friends." "You are in excellent shape, yes?" "Agent David, what is the purpose of this?" "Do you still play softball?" " I'm sorry?" " Your husband... he was killed by a blow to the head, possibly by a bat." "The angle of the blow was unique." "And you think that I did it?" "Well, you returned to the crime scene." "Look..." "I have a funeral to plan." "A military funeral for a hero and a husband that I loved very deeply." "Now, if you'll excuse me." " (both laughing)" " And by... by the time I got there," "Leroy had fallen asleep and left the gate unlocked." "(both laughing)" "I don't remember what happened next." "Well, I spent the next 25 hours trying to round up 26 missing sheep." "That's right." " Hello, Jethro." " That's right." "Your father has been regaling me with stories of his youth." "We have a lot in common." "Naive heartbreak, tales of adolescent... (laughing):" "chivalry." "Oh, oh, and fond memories of skinny-dipping as children." " Duck." " Uh?" "Come on, getting late." "Oh, yeah, time to go." "Yes, there is Christmas shopping to be done and a roose to be goasted." "(laughter)" "A goose to be roasted." "Ah, a pleasure to finally meet you." "Pleasure is all mine." "DUCKY:" "Where's my coat?" "(mutters)" "(chuckles)" "Okay." "What a sweet, lovely man, Jethro, and certainly much warmer than you depicted him." "And in many ways, more accessible than you are." "Duck, please." "My dad?" "Well, you understand I cannot make a firm diagnosis on the basis of such a short meeting." "But... (sighs) there is most definitely something wrong." "Well, how bad?" "That's an interesting question." "I doubt what you experienced was any kind of dementia." "I mean, despite his disorientation, your father shows no signs of impaired recognition, has no trouble solving problems." "He certainly doesn't have any symptoms of motor aphasia." "Well, what the hell is wrong with him?" "Something far more old-fashioned, I believe." "(sighs)" "Your father... is under significant emotional distress, the kind one sees when one loses a loved one or..." "I mean, has he experienced any kind of trauma recently?" "Well, it's nothing personal, Jethro, but I don't think he came here for your uplifting holiday cheer." "Martha Stewart you are not." "Why'd he come?" "Well, the answer to that question is not in my purview." "You are, when all is said and done, the investigator." "I prescribe some phone calls back home on your father's behalf." "They just might prove enlightening." "Okay, so you're telling me that Ensign Blake cannot be reached on board?" "Well, you know what?" "This is an emergency." "I have direct orders from Admiral..." "Nicholas Whitebeard." "Yes, yes, that is his name." "He's the admiral that oversees the Northern Polar regions." "Great." "Okay, get back to me as soon as possible, please." "Thank you." "Misplaced tidings of joy, McScrooge?" "I'm donating my time to a very, very worthy charity this year." " How worthy?" " Very." "Who are you doing this favor for, McGee?" "Abby, her friend and the big man." "Gibbs?" " Nope." " Director Vance?" "Bigger." "And rounder." "(phone ringing)" "DiNozzo." "Yes, sir." "Oh." "Got it, yeah." "That was Director Vance." "He just spoke with SECNAV." "Colonel Ellis was visiting his Chesapeake Bay home at the time the lieutenant was killed." "SECNAV's house?" "Yep." " And the daughter-in-law?" " She drove him." "Thom stayed home." "Well, that is an airtight alibi." "So we have nothing." "In a manner of speaking." "All I want for Christmas is a clue trail." "I must see Special Agent Gibbs." "Chaplain El-Sayed." "We have a problem." "I just got this in the mail." "(door opens)" "The letter came through the military postal service." "So it could have been dropped in a box on any base." "By someone who has easy access to you." "So you think the threat is real?" "Or a distraction, if we're getting too close." "NCIS will provide protection." "(sighs)" "That won't be necessary." "You have a wife and a daughter." "Whom I love very much, but I am also a Navy chaplain, a man of honor and pride." "Bullheaded stubbornness." "Look, as much as I am here to pray for the injured and the dying," "I am also here to open the minds of people." "To help them to understand the beauty and strength of Islam." "You talk to teenagers, Chaplain?" "Yes, before society dictates for them what is and isn't moral." "You see, in the Muslim religion, the most immoral thing a person can do is to not accept someone who lives by the Pillars of Islamic belief." "So, a while back, Thomas asked me to speak to his brother's prep school class." "So you spoke with Patrick Ellis?" "I did." "And let me just say, it is amazing how two siblings can be so very different." "How fun would it be to have a totally impromptu Christmas party, like, right now?" "We could decorate my test-tube tree, we could warm up dumplings in the incubator." "ALL:" "Abby!" "I know." "Typing." "I feel like Scrooge being visited by the three grumpy ghosts." "You want to see the attack again, right?" "GIBBS:" "The point of impact." "Like I said, whoever did this had agility, speed and power on their side." "Well, if I don't mind saying so," "I have many of those qualities myself." "Ha!" "Where's your generous holiday spirit, probette?" "Bah hum-bog." "Bah what?" "ABBY:" "Here's another angle, Gibbs." "GIBBS:" "Freeze it right there." "Patrick Ellis played lacrosse?" "Yeah, team captain." "Abby, try lacrosse." "Checking." "Okay, today's lacrosse sticks are a composite of aluminum and titanium, and the head is made out of nylon and leather mesh." "The exact same breakdown we found in the wound." "Abel and Cain." "He killed his own brother." "(door closes)" "(Patrick panting)" "Hey." "What's going on?" "So, Patrick, we know that you were at the park the other morning with Thomas." "I was at school." "What are you talking about?" "No." "You went there to confront him about being Muslim." "You argued, you lost your temper." "Most lacrosse players like to run with their sticks." "Where's yours?" "Dad, l-I just went on a... a run." "Is it broken, or did you destroy the evidence?" "I like the letter to the chaplain." "The cut-and-paste letters..." "very Zodiac." "Dad, you got to believe me." "Thom was embarrassing us." "People were laughing at him." "I did this for you." "Thomas just wanted to find the good in people." "Yes, he found God, his God, and that humiliated me, but he was still my son." "But I'm your son, too." "You taught us to be proud, you know." "Proud of this family." "And when Thom changed, everything changed, because the one thing this family always had was honor." "And he ruined that!" "I loved him so much, and he turned his back on us." "Mm-hmm." "I don't know." "Maybe we turned our back on him." "(Patrick mutters)" "(crying softly)" "(flames crackling)" "(footsteps approaching)" "Not very traditional." "Yeah, it is." "Let's talk." "You called Betty Hannigan?" "She told me to call the sheriff." "Ed sent you the report?" "Uh-huh." "(sighs)" "How about you fill in some of the details?" "(sighs)" "He rumbled up in an old fastback." "Whole town could hear him." "Yeah." "Dirt-kicker looking for trouble." "I guess." "The Dobson girl was in the store." "She had a friend visiting." "l-I never got her name." "He said he come there to rob me." "He had a gun, Leroy." "I told him to take anything he wanted from the register, but... the girls were in the corner, crouching, terrified." "He turned after them and... (sighs)" "Well, that's not the first time you fired that Winchester." "No." "It's not the first time I killed somebody, either." "But it's the first time I saw the face." "Twenty-three." "Had a kid, somebody told me." "Looks different up there in the cockpit, huh?" "Uh, yeah, yeah." "From up there, it doesn't look like much of anything." "You pull the trigger, feel the release, nothing." "I never even thought about it much." "Now, that's all I think about." "How did you do it all these years, son?" "I need to know." "This why you came?" "That and because it's Christmas." "It's not supposed to be easy." "Nobody said it would be, huh?" "No." "("Kangaroo Cry" by Blue October playing)" "Attention on deck!" "# Losing my control #" "# Here it is the day... #" "(groaning)" " I can't." "I can't." " Of course you can." " Please, I don't..." " Go back." "Go back!" " I don't want to." "I don't want to." " You... come on, Tony!" " You can't make me." "I..." " Go back!" "I don't want to do it." "I can't do it." "Special Agent DiNozzo?" "# To leave you so alone #" "# God, I'm terrified #" "Merry Christmas, Delores." "# We've lost respect for decency #" "I got this for you." "I looked in your personnel file." "Which is legal, 'cause I have that security clearance." "But I saw that when you were eight years old, all the little girls in your neighborhood... they all got this incredible doll, the-the Knee-High Cherry Pie doll." "And you didn't get one." "Uh, I guess Santa didn't make enough that year, so..." "I got this for you." "# A warm, pathetic ocean flow #" "# We have to live by #" "# We have to live by, because we have to live #" "(sighs)" "# And you choose to break our families #" "# Tell me you've used all precautions known #" "(quiet laugh)" "# And I'll stand beside the ones who stood alone #" "(laughing)" "# How long will we have to sing #" "# Until you finally bring our sons, our daughters home?" "#" "All right, Fisher." "Right this way, my friend." "Whoa." "What is this place?" "This is a very special room that only a few people know about." "It's a magic room called MTAC." "Aunt?" "Don't look at me." "See, Santa told me very specifically to bring you here." "Why?" "What's gonna happen?" "Well, let's make a Christmas wish and see if it comes true." "How about that?" "FISHER:" "Yeah." "Want you to shut your eyes good and tight." "Got 'em closed?" "All right." "Now..." "All right, I want you to think of the one thing you want for Christmas more than anything else in the entire world." "You ready?" "(mouthing)" "Oh, Fisher, baby, is that you?" "Mom!" "Oh, I love you, sweetheart." "Merry Christmas." "Look at you." "You are getting so big." "(chuckles)" "I got all the mail you sent, all your artwork." "Your pictures." "I'll make you more." "BLAKE:" "I can't wait." "I have told everybody here all about you, about how proud I am of you." "You know, we're going to have a big Christmas dinner here tonight." "(whispers):" "But I'd rather be there instead." "I wish you were, too." "Well, not bad, huh?" " Pulled it off." " (Blake murmuring)" " BLAKE:" "Would you like that?" " FISHER:" "Yeah!" "BLAKE:" "This was my favorite story..." "You would make a great Santa." ""'Twas the night before..."" "I guess you just got to believe." ""...not a creature was stirring..."" "I do believe." ""The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas..."" "# How long will we have to sing #" "# Until you finally bring our sons, our daughters home?" "#" "# We'll let the prayers start healing #" "# What time's been stealing #" "I'll go warm up the sleigh." "# Been stealing... #" "# Oh... #" "# Keep hanging on... #" "(music fades)"