"(alarm blaring)" "(gasps)" "(groans)" "(RB Christmas song plays)" "(yawns)" "(groans)" "(clank, man groans)" "Hm." "Mmm!" "Mm... (dog barks in distance)" "(heavy breathing, footsteps on video)" "(lock clicking)" "(door creaking)" "(heavy breathing continues)" "(door quietly creaks)" "Oh, my God." "?" "NCIS 8x10 ?" "False Witness Original Air Date on December 14, 2010" "Okay, so..." "So, Gibbs was there." "Uh-huh." "You were there, too." "But Gibbs was speaking with an Israeli accent." "(laughs)" "You sounded like Jimmy Palmer." "I'm not completely comfortable with the fact that you had a dream about me." "Well, it's not like I can control it." "You're not making me feel any better." "Get these down to archives ASAP." "They've been asking for them for three months." "Okay." "Agent McGee..." "probationary agent to be... good morning." "Looks like Tony." "Doesn't sound like him." "What are you up to, Tony?" "Just catching up on some old paperwork." "I think we're being set up for something." "Then we should just ignore him." "Old paperwork, huh?" "Boy, that sounds fun." "Hey, maybe you can do some of my expense reports for my Canadian trip, huh?" "Got in early." "Had some time to kill." "Also, there's a get-well card for Director Vance in there." "You can sign it when you get the chance." "McGEE:" "Huh?" "Last time you did an expense report for me, you reclassified my meals as livestock feed." "Well, that was a little childish." "Yeah, I was audited." "Well, I guess that makes us even." "GIBBS:" "Great." "Then I don't need to hear about it, whatever it is." "Get moving." "We got a missing petty officer." "ZIVA:" "There were no hits on the NCIC." "Has he been missing 30 days?" "We're not waiting 30 days." "ZIVA:" "Petty Officer Jerry Neisler." "Gail Walsh, District Attorney out of Arlington." "It's only been a day, but the missing petty officer's a witness in a capital murder trial." "GIBBS:" "The only witness." "Any idea where he is?" "Right." "That is what we're going to find out." "He's Navy, so I hoped" "NCIS might be able to help." "My department is stretched thin as it is, and..." "I'm almost out of time." "The trial starts in two days." "My entire case rests on Jerry's testimony." "Without it, the killer will walk." "WALSH:" "This is the last place I saw Jerry." "I dropped him off here six days ago and he was supposed to check in every day." "ZIVA:" "He does not live here?" "No." "He said he was going on a hunting trip with a friend who was about to deploy to Afghanistan;" "that he was going to stay and water the plants." "Did you check the petty officer's place?" "With a fine-toothed comb." "After a credit card purchase for gas, he disappeared without a trace." "We spoke to the friend." "He didn't even know Jerry was staying here." "The hunting trip appears to have been successful." "Wherever the petty officer has gone to, it appears he left in a hurry." "This holiday turkey's not going to last very long." "Did his testimony put him at risk?" "If this was a Mafia trial, I'd say "yeah,"" "but not this case." "You think different." "I think there's a lot of baseball bats lying around this place." "Trust me, no one's going to care when the jury says guilty." "There is another bat in the guest bedroom." "McGEE:" "Boss..." "Spoke to the neighbors." "If there was someone staying here, they didn't know about it." "I suggest we canvass the local takeouts." "It looks like the petty officer was eating in a lot." "Good idea." "It was actually" "Agent McGee's suggestion." "Good idea." "Agent Gibbs seems like a capable investigator." "There's none better." "And, um, Agent DiNozzo?" "He's, um... also capable." "And, uh... single." "Excuse me?" "No, I just, I noticed that he wasn't wearing a ring." "Oh, gosh, I'm sorry." "Are you and he...?" "No!" "No!" "My relationship with him is strictly professional, and barely that." "Mm." "Then you... you wouldn't mind if I, uh..." "We're in the middle of an investigation, and you, a trial." "I know, I just... like to keep my options open." "Did you know that the majority of people meet their spouses at work?" "Huh." "Uh..." "Not something I have high hopes for." "Let's bag it." "Really." "There's a giant feathered turkey laying in the fridge, and that's all you're going to say?" "What am I supposed to say?" "Well, I don't know." "Maybe something like..." ""What do turkeys eat on Christmas?" ""Nothing... because they're already stuffed."" "You feeling all right?" "Yeah." "Are you?" "Fine." "PO Neisler may have forgotten his Christmas turkey, but, uh, he took his shotgun." "Yeah, we're going to need to look at your case files." "Of course." "Of course, yeah." "Um..." "Agent DiNozzo, did you want to accompany me back to my office?" "The files are heavy and I need someone with strong arms." " So long, Mr. Professional." " Hm!" "You know, I think I'm just going to stay here." "I'm sure..." "Agent McGee can help you." "Baseball bats and a shotgun..." "That petty officer was worried about something." "Petty Officer Jerry Neisler." "Born and raised in Charlottesville." "He served two tours in Iraq before being reassigned to the States." "His, uh, record is, um, hmm, interesting." "Define interesting." "Despite good reports from his cos, he was repeatedly transferred." "TONY:" "Administration communications." "He doesn't play well with others." "Uh, actually, no, it's nothing like that." "Jerry's parents were both psychologists, and he was an only child." "Which means what, exactly?" "Well, you kind of have to meet him to understand." "Working on it." "Along those lines, I took the liberty of making a list of possible reasons Jerry Neisler lost contact." "Number one:" "witnesses with a personal relation to the accused are sometimes reluctant to testify." "Yes." "Yes, kind of like... you know." "Kind of like Robert De Niro in Sleepers." "Yes." "The movie, Tony." "Number two:" "Someone is threatening the witness." "Well, why wouldn't Jerry call me if he were threatened?" "Maybe he can't." "(sighs) Okay." "This is everything that we have on the murder trial." "The killer's name is Samuel Hayes, but he doesn't exactly have a lot of friends that would go to bat for him." "His wife is dead, and his daughter's a ward of the state." "ZIVA:" "Okay, this is getting really irritating." "He's making us look bad." "McGee, do you have something?" "Uh, well, I was just..." "I was saying how it's also possible that the, um..." "uh, disappearance has nothing to do with the trial at all." "Or... does." "Uh, how do you want to divide things up?" "My investigators can handle the bolos and check the hospitals." "We'll trace the petty officer's prior movements, starting with his hunting trip." "ZIVA:" "Okay." "Etymology, archaeology..." "Oh!" "Sociology, fluviomorphology..." "Fl-fluvio..." "Fl-fluvio... morphology." "It's the study of the formation of river channels." "Fascinating." "I think." "Yes." "It's almost as fascinating as hymenopterology." "Um, uh, hy...hym... uh, the, that is the study of..." "Insects, Mr. Palmer." "And specifically those with four diaphanous wings." "Okay." "Well, we may have to prune this list down just a... little bit, Doctor." "I think that" "Facebook has a limit to the number of interests." "Facebook?" "Yes, Jethro, Facebook." "Uh, that's that thing that... some people do things with." "The term is "social networking."" "Mm-hmm." "Uh, if I'm to maintain my proficiency when I'm doing psychological autopsies," "I have to keep up with the latest cultural developments." "As long as you keep current on this case, Duck." "Fear not.." "I may be new to social networking, but the Mallards invented multitasking." "Mr. Palmer!" "Yes." "Given your interest in the petty officer's hunting trip, and the lack of a human victim," "I took the liberty of, uh..." "Oh, trust me, Jethro." "You'll be glad I did." "Cause of death was a shotgun blast to the breastbone." "As expected." "What is not expected, however, are these yellow- and-tan tail feathers." "That it?" "Well, the subspecies of turkey on the East coast all have brown tail feathers." "Duck, help me out here, will you?" "Well, this is a Rio Grande turkey, Jethro." "And they are found almo..." "Ooh, add ornithology to the list." "They are found almost exclusively in Kansas," "Oklahoma or Texas." "So, where did Petty Officer Neisler get this one?" "He could've taken a cross-country hunting trip." "His CO ordered him not to leave the state before the trial." "Then if you want to find out where the petty officer has been," "I suggest that you determine from whence this turkey came." "(gobbling)" "(Jimmy snickers)" "(chuckles)" "Five, six, seven, eight... (lively instrumental playing)" "Hi, Gibbs." "I betch you don't know what this is called." "Turkey trot." "I'm impressed." "You want to join?" "Not really." "Well, can I finish?" "All right." "(music stops)" "I can see that you're here to talk turkey." "Get it?" "Abbs..." "Sorry, I'm just, I'm excited, Gibbs." "Because I think that I already figured out what I figured out you came down here to ask me." "Where'd this come from?" "I ran the turkey's DNA through the NWTFDNAD." "It's the National Wild Turkey Federation DNA Database." "They really need a new acronym." "Turkey DNA database?" "I know." "It's a wonderful time to be alive, Gibbs." "And with it," "I can tell you why there was a Rio Grande turkey in." "Petty Officer Neisler's refrigerator." "Why?" "Well, it turns out, if a state has a turkey overpopulation problem, they'll catch and release to other states that need a boost." "They keep records?" "Good ones." "So there was a pre-Christmas release two weeks ago, out of Virginia." "All the DNA is stored." "So, if a bird is in the system, we can pinpoint exactly which hunting ground it was released to." "Which I did." "And here it is." "Look familiar?" "The last hit on our missing guy's credit card is ten miles from here." "Yeah, so I figure maybe he's hiding out in a familiar woods." "Which is what I would do if I were him... without the hunting part." "Which means that I wouldn't be him." "I would still be me then." "(lively music resumes)" "(gunfire in distance)" "(sighs)" "Oh!" "If I never see another dead turkey again, it will be too soon." "Well, you're probably gonna see one Christmas day." "Ha!" "Not this year." "I'm going skiing." "Really?" "With who?" "With, uh, my friend from Miami." "He lived in the French Alps for a while." "And he says he misses the snow." "Uh...huh." "Hey." "Excuse me." "NCIS." "You seen this guy?" "Nope." "No." "How about you?" "Mm...mm." "No." "We have been to three parks already." "The lead was thin enough to begin with." "Perhaps Abby's sending us on a wild..." "Oh, never mind." "He's here." "How do you know?" "MAN:" "That's the guy!" "Hey!" "Don't move!" "Whoa, whoa!" "Easy." "Found him!" "Don't shoot." "I won't testify." "I promise." "NCIS." "Nobody's gonna kill you." "Thank God." "We got it from here." "When I saw you flashing my photo." "She's got the eyes of a killer." "And you with that suit on?" "Figured I was dead." "Somebody threatening you?" "Is that why you're running?" "I got these badly worded e-mails warning me not to testify." "Said if I told anyone, they'd kill me." "So I decided to lay low until the trial." "Stayed at a buddy's." "But they found me." "The second warning said they weren't hugged enough as a child." "Then I got this." "It is District Attorney Walsh." "No." "Don't answer that." "Why not?" "She's the only one who knew where I was staying." "I didn't tell anyone else." "She has to be in on it." "The DA?" "Yeah." "(ringing continues)" "Yeah, this is Gibbs." "This is Walsh." "Any luck finding Jerry?" "Uh-uh." " Nothing." " No." "We still haven't found him yet." "The original is down with Abby." "So is Jerry." "They're working on I.D.'ing the guy who made it." "The old knife to the neck." "Reminds me of..." "Reminds you of what?" "Reminds you of an old fraternity prank?" "A Halloween movie?" "I know what you're doing." "And I know what you're doing." "What am I doing?" "I don't know." "But it's bugging me to such a degree..." "I know what we're not doing." "Did a complete background check on the DA." "Nothing jumps out." "Well, she may not be the source of the leak, but she could've told someone where Jerry was staying." "She did not tell her assistant." "Per your request, I made inquiries." "Discreet inquiries." "It appears the DA was the only person who knew Jerry's location." "Shall I arrange a safe house?" "He stays with us." "I wasn't able to trace the e-mails that Jerry was sent, but the intent was very clear." "To stop him from testifying." "Which means our killer walks." "No, I think the answer is in the trial somewhere." "I suggest we divide up the case files by..." "The trial centers around accused killer Samuel Hayes, 41." "Worked as a private investigator for years, digging up dirt on bigwigs for bigwigs." "However, despite his somewhat grimy job, he was a family man." "Had a reputation as a stand-up guy." "Then his world fell apart:" "His wife was killed in a car accident;" "he started drinking." "His daughter ended up a ward of the state." "He ended up in the street." "That's right, boss." "Hayes made a living working as muscle for whoever would hire him." "Then, one night, he mugged a brother and sister in an alley." "Shot and killed the sister." "Katie Gray." "TONY:" "And our petty officer saw the whole thing." "DiNozzo, find out who the killer worked for." "Ziva." "I will stay on the DA." "McGee, I want to talk to the brother." "Got it." "MAN:" "Katie had just taken me out for my birthday." "Benihana." "It was a family tradition." "Used to be a Polaroid." "It's not really the same now." "But nothing was the same after our parents died." "Your sister got custody of you?" "That was my big sister." "Always looking out for me." "Even on the night she was killed." "We took a shortcut home." "And this... this guy pulled a gun on us." "Katie didn't even hesitate." "She jumped right in front." "I don't remember what happened next." "Just the blood." "You weren't able to identify the killer." "I couldn't be sure." "Made the mistake of telling the police that." "Not a mistake." "You just want the right guy to pay for this." "But we know who the right guy is!" "There's a witness!" "Or there was." "The DA told me he's missing." "She say anything else?" "That you're looking for him." "But you need to look harder." "That witness saw everything." "You know, my-my parents raised us to forgive and forget." "But all I want right now..." "Payback." "Justice." "You have to find that witness, Agent Gibbs." "(holiday music playing)" "You have very symmetric zygomatic arches." "As long as they help you catch whoever's after me." "Well, taking precise measurements of your face," "I can extrapolate the exact dimensions of the knife-holding hand." "It'll be useful when we get a suspect." "Hmm." "Smart." "I can see why" "Agent McGee was interested in you." "Excuse me?" "When he brought me down here he didn't seem too comfortable leaving me alone." "I love this song." "I've had, um, problems with visitors." "So, he was just being overprotective." "Of what?" "Your butt?" "He couldn't stop checking it out when your back was turned." "Really?" "But I can see why you probably wanted to keep things casual." "And why is that?" "What if he was the one?" "You're obviously married to your work." "It's too soon to meet the one." "Are we done?" "Yes, very." "Gibbs, can you make him go away, please?" "Go with him." "Take a look at some photos." "Sure." "Hey, I'm Jerry." "Forensics from the murder trial." "You take a look yet?" "Oh, yeah." "All they got is a positive GSR test on the alleged killer's shirt." "It means he fired a weapon." "Not who he fired at." "Yeah." "The case is gonna hinge on Jerry's testimony." "I'm sure he has a lot to say." "TONY:" "I know someone else who might." "I got that list of people the killer was working for." "Drug dealers, loan sharks." "They gotta be hoping he beats the murder rap." "Hayes gets convicted, he could cop a plea." "Rat any of them out." "Gives them all motive to try and shut Jerry up." "This guy's interesting." "Smitty Brown." "Dealing in black-market weapons, drugs." "Been making a lot of visits to Hayes in the joint." "Pick him up." "Can't find him." "He disappeared the day Jerry received the DVD." "I want to talk to Hayes." "Already made arrangements." "Good job." "Again." "Thanks, boss." "You feeling okay, DiNozzo?" "Never felt better." "Hmm." "Um, I would stay away from that Jerry, if I were you." "GUARD:" "Holler when you're done, sir." "What did I do now?" "GUARD:" "Close six!" "(lock buzzes)" "You know this guy?" "Yeah, I know him." "I helped with collections when customers were behind in their payments." "You know where he is?" "Now how would I know that?" "He's your number-one visitor." "Actually, he's your only visitor." "Sorry, can't help you." "What'd you guys talk about?" "Keynesian economics, Paleolithic migrations." "You know, guy stuff." "Don't remember." "Before." "After." "You remember this?" "Your old boss tell you that if you kept your mouth shut, he'd take care of your witness for you?" "I don't have to answer you." "Where is he?" "What're you gonna do, hmm?" "The D.A.'s already asking for the death penalty." "Yeah?" "It's an airtight case." "Officer." "GUARD:" "Open six!" "(lock buzzes)" "Should I take my shoes off?" "I wish your wouldn't." "Never stayed at a safe house before." "What's for dinner?" "Beans." "Hmm." "So you met with the killer." "Think he knows who was after me?" "I think he knew something." "I saw him at a hearing." "Seems like a sad, sorry guy." "Kind of reminds me of you." "Both live alone, no family." "Hey." "Just saying." "Look at her." "You can tell she's got good taste." "Never let you get away with this lumpy couch if she was still here." "But seems like you're trying to make some changes." "Some kind of home makeover." "Finally cleaning up these magazines." "All right." "There's a cot down in the basement, right through there." "Can I use the phone?" "I told my CO I'd let him know where I'm staying tonight." "You spoke to your CO?" "I called him this afternoon." "Felt bad about not giving him a heads up." "Get down in the basement." "What's wrong?" "Get in the basement!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "All right." "Okay." "(door opens)" "Where is he?" "He's downstairs in the basement." "You have no right to withhold my witness from me." "This is my case." "It's our case." "We need to talk." "Sit down." "You've done enough talking." "Who gave you permission to visit Hayes in prison today?" "I don't need your permission." "You sure about that?" "Did you know that after you spoke to him there was an attempt on his life?" "He'll live, but the trial has been postponed." "Which just puts Jerry in more jeopardy." "You're not helping my case." "You're going to ruin it." "I demand that you hand over custody of Jerry." " He is my witness." " That's not going to happen." "Not until I find out who's trying to stop him from testifying." "Yeah, we want the same thing." "Really now?" "Do we?" "WALSH:" "What are you suggesting?" "Jerry said you were the only one who knew where he was staying." "You think I'm trying to sabotage my own trial?" "I didn't tell a soul where Jerry was." "Whoever was threatening him must have been following him." "What else aren't you telling me?" "Withholding information just further jeopardizes this case." "We think we know who's after Jerry." "The accused murderer..." "TONY:" "Has been visited several times in prison by this man." "Who is he?" "Former employer Smitty Brown." "McGEE:" "We think he's worried that your killer's going to rat him out if convicted." "Cut him some kind of deal." "But if Jerry does not testify, no deals to cut." "And why haven't you picked him up?" "Can't find him." "Well, I may be able to help with that." "My office has a number of active informants in the street." "Fine." "But Jerry's staying here." "Only on the condition that you keep me apprised of any new information." "(e-mail chimes)" "Hey, boss, I just got an e-mail from Abby." "Says she has some new information." "Should I go after the District Attorney?" "No." "MAN:" "Okay, dude." "Here you go." "20 bucks." "20 bucks!" "Just to drink a gallon of eggnog?" "MAN:" "Without puking, though." "All right?" "DRINKER:" "Deal." "MAN:" "Chug, chug, chug..." "Bet you can't wait to see how that ends." "Mm." "Badly." "But I think I'm going to be able to use this to track down the guy that made Jerry's DVD." "Of course you can, Abbs." "Well, I've been hitting a lot of brick walls." "There's no fingerprints, and this product is sold in, like, a thousand places." "But then I noticed something." "Two dead pixels." "There and there." "The dead pixels have to be from the camera that was used to shoot the video." "So it's sort of like a fingerprint." "I started scanning other video upload sites like CyberVid and YouTube to try to find other videos that had the same missing pixels." "That's enough to make an I.D.?" "Well, with all the possible combinations, the odds of a match being a coincidence is extremely remote." "(typing)" "You got a match." "Actually, I got four." "And all I needed to do to narrow them down was to measure the hands in the video, and then to compare them to the hand in Jerry's video." "If I get a match, we got our guy." "And I got a match." "This video was uploaded four years ago." "The profile belongs to a guy named Joe Casey." "He is our cameraman." "Send it up to McGee." "We're gonna need a BOLO." "Actually, no, you're not." "Joe Casey has been a guest in the county morgue since this morning." "Joe Casey." "23 years old." "Already had a record for BE, larceny, grand theft auto." "Had a rep as a gun for hire." "We're thinking that Smitty Brown hired him to scare the witness." "Then took him out when he was done." "DUCKY:" "Our local M.E. disagrees." "When I picked Casey up, he told me that he believed that the cause of death was an animal mauling." "And you don't, Duck?" "Duck?" "Uh, I'm sorry." "Uh, well, this liver doesn't seem so much mauled as inflated." "Inflated?" "Yes. literally to the point of exploding." "And look here." "A number of these organs... well, they appear to have freezer burn, and yet the rest of the body shows no signs of..." "Duck." "Why are you so distracted?" "I apologize." "JIMMY:" "Dr. Mallard has received several e-mails from various, uh, lady friends since posting his online account." "Well, some of them are quite provocative." "I'm having difficulty concentrating." "(chuckles)" "Freezer burn?" "Yes, freezer burns throughout the thoracic and abdominal regions." "I mean, I'm simply at a loss to explain it." "However, Mr. Palmer may be able to help you narrow the search parameters for this man's killer." "He made an astute discovery." "JIMMY:" "This tattoo right here, it's new." "The micropunctures had barely begun to heal when he was murdered." "I would say that this man was killed within minutes of this tattoo being completed." "So if you can find the parlor..." "Somebody may have seen something." "Good work, Duck." "Actually, I'm the one who-who did..." "Good work, Dr. Mallard." "ZIVA:" "The Dumpster where they found Joe Casey's body is behind this building, and that is the only tattoo parlor within a five mile radius." "You got Casey's photos?" "Yeah." "Tony had them waiting for me on my desk." "And, um, he also had updated all of my bolos on Smitty Brown." "Well... the joke's getting kind of old, isn't it?" "I no longer think he's joking." "Look, Tony is a great investigator, don't get me wrong, but the closest he likes coming to filling out paperwork is renewing his Maxim subscription." "I know." "Which is why I'm growing so concerned." "You know what, actually I am, too." "He gave me half his French fries at lunch." "One of us has to confront him." "And tell him what?" "Why aren't you acting like a 14-year-old anymore?" "I was going to say more like a 12-year-old, but yes." "Is that Smitty?" "I believe so." "Smitty!" "Who wants to know?" "I'll make you a list." "Don't I get a phone call or something?" "I'm gonna want that back." "You want that back, too?" "It's called a wasp knife, right?" "Used by hunters to take down big game." "Injects compressed gas... freezing and exploding internal organs." "Found it in your car." "It's a murder weapon." "(laughs) I don't even know this guy." "Why would I want to kill him?" "Tying up loose ends." "I don't have any loose ends." "TONY:" "Samuel Hayes." "On trial for murder." "Going to get the chair." "You were afraid that if he gets convicted, he'll turn you in for a lighter sentence." "GIBBS:" "He had you on dealing, gun running." "TONY:" "Then you hired this punk, Joe Casey, to intimidate the witness." "Then you killed him." "You guys got this all wrong." "TONY:" "And when you couldn't stop the trial, you tried to have Hayes whacked in prison." "I didn't try and kill anybody." "Casey tried to kill me." "I heard somebody was messing with a witness in the Hayes trial, same as you." "So I put the word out on the street... see if I could find out who it was." "You ask anybody." "That's where I met this Casey guy." "I don't know who he was working for, but it wasn't me." "I told him to back off the witness." "He made a move." "It was self-defense." "End of story." "You told him to back off?" "Well, that's the part you're not getting." "I don't want Hayes out of prison." "I need him in prison." "I needed a guy inside the joint to help me out... in this little side business I had going." "My last dealer got executed." "Hayes agreed to be my new guy." "What'd he get out of it?" "Just kept asking me to make deposits to some life insurance policy he had." "TONY:" "Life insurance?" "For a guy about to get the death penalty?" "I don't know what his deal is, all right?" "I just know what the deal was." "And I can prove it." "But you and Tony..." "Enough!" "We're just friends." "There's nothing different about him." " All right." " Hey." "You recognize him?" "No." "TONY:" "But the rest of Smitty's story checks out." "He did have an inside guy in prison who was dealing for him recently executed." "McGEE:" "I was also able to confirm that he was making Hayes' insurance policy payments." "ZIVA:" "In fact, Hayes recently placed a call to his broker to confirm the policy pays, even if he is executed." "Who's the beneficiary?" "Well..." "Thank you." "His daughter." "Still no leads on whoever tried to kill Hayes in prison, though." "DUCKY:" "Because no one did." "I just got off the phone with the prison doctor." "He now believes." "Hayes' wounds were self-inflicted." "He disguised his suicide attempt." "McGEE:" "But the guy thought he was going to walk." "Why try and kill himself?" "Seems pretty obvious to me." "I'm sure you guys would've figured it out eventually." "Hayes doesn't want to beat the murder rap." "He's given up." "He just wants to die and leave one last gift to his daughter." "But... he thought I was missing." "Which meant he'd go free, so he tried to kill himself." "(sighs deeply)" "Another sad guy." "Then, uh, who has been intimidating the witness?" "ZIVA:" "Somebody is trying to get this guy out of prison." "McGEE:" "Hey, boss, I think" "I found something here." "Take a look at the call log from Smitty's burn phone." "There are several calls from this number." "Look familiar?" "District Attorney Walsh." "Same DA who said she didn't know who Smitty was?" "WALSH (over speaker):" "This is ridiculous." "You have no right to treat me like a criminal." "And I have a date in two hours!" "(switch clicks, turns off speaker)" "Thanks." "I was getting a headache." "Really?" "This is usually your favorite part." "Getting to watch reality TV at work, as you call it." "Well, people change, Ziva." "Yes." "But... not that quickly." "And yet, here we have this..." "New Tony, who arrives early, stays late, turns down advances from beautiful women, and has not made a single joke in the past..." "What?" "Two days." "I haven't?" "Hmph!" "Are you sure?" "Hah." "Well, we are in the middle of a case." "Has not stopped you before." "Well, it's stopping me now!" "And I'm sorry if you're losing sleep over it, but I can't be responsible for everyone's feelings." "Everyone." "For example..." "You." "And McGee." "And the Brenda Bittners of the world... everyone!" "Brenda." "Yeah." "Bittner." "The girl who posted online that we were in a "committed relationship" last year." "Yes." "Yes, but if I remember correctly, the only thing you were committed to was a one-night stand." "That's right." "Huh." "(clears throat)" "I just found out that she checked herself into a depression treatment facility or something, after she wrapped her car around a tree." "Nice one, huh?" "And do you feel responsible?" "No." "I mean, I barely knew the girl." "I'm just saying." "Well, clearly she was a troubled woman." "That's clear now, isn't it?" "Mm." "Still, it must be, um..." "unsettling to think that you didn't notice at the time." "Especially since your job is to help people who are in trouble." "I don't know why this has gotten under my skin like this." "I mean, of all things." "Maybe instead of having a mid-life crisis," "I'm having a mid-life crazy." "Look, you are not crazy." "Okay?" "You are just... growing up." "And some lessons are more painful as we grow older, when the stakes are higher." "But... you need to find balance." "And yes, yes, yes, yes, you need to treat people more respectfully, especially when it comes to matters... of the heart." "But you..." "need to be... who you are." "Who am I?" "You are..." "Tony DiNozzo, the class clown." "That is why we love you." "(door opens)" "(switch clicks, speaker crackles on)" "WALSH:" "I'm going to have your badge." "GIBBS:" "You lied to me." "You withheld crucial information." "Look who's talking." "Said you didn't know our prime suspect." "His cell phone sure knows you." "In the last month alone, there's half a dozen calls there from you." "And you knew about his prison visits." "Okay." "Look, I had a good reason." "What?" "To destroy your own case?" "No, no!" "I withheld my relationship with Smitty to protect my case." "Your relationship?" "!" "Look..." "Smitty was an informant for my office, and then things got a little... complicated." "What?" "He's a good-looking guy." "If the killer's defense team found out that I was sleeping with the subject of the investigation, they could argue that the entire chain of evidence had been tainted." "My case would be over." "Maybe." "Maybe if you had said something earlier..." "Please, please, you do not have to tell the judge." "Yeah, actually, I do." "McGEE:" "It's unbelievable, isn't it?" "After all this, the killer could still walk." "We'll know as soon as the hearing's over." "Listen..." "Tony..." "Not you, too." "Ziva talk to you already?" "And?" "And I think the hearing's over." "Doesn't look good." "How bad?" "ZIVA:" "The judge threw the case out." "The interim DA is looking at his options, but as of now..." "Hayes walks." "Plus, we never even got to find out who was threatening Jerry." "How'd the victim's brother take it?" "He wasn't there." "Really?" "Trial notes says he's been to every single hearing." "Yeah, I read that one, too." "(holiday music playing, Santa ringing bell)" "SANTA:" "Ho, ho, ho!" "Merry Christmas!" "There you go." "Merry Christmas." "SANTA:" "Thank you." "Merry Christmas." "SANTA:" "Ho, ho, ho!" "Move." "The alley." "You have anything to say to me?" "They know what you did." "Excuse me?" "You hired the guy to try to stop my trial." "They know what you did." "We found the wire transfer you used to pay him." "TONY:" "You wanted to scare Jerry out of testifying." "We just don't know why." "Why don't you put the gun down and explain it to us?" "No." "He has to pay for what he did." "GIBBS:" "He was about to." "The DA was asking for the death penalty." "Do you know how long the average convicted killer spends on death row before being executed?" "13 years." "Assuming it happens at all." "That just wasn't going to cut it." "McGEE:" "So you tried to get Hayes out onto the streets, where you could get payback." "Where I'm going to get payback." "GIBBS:" "Matt... it's not worth throwing your life away." "And what about my sister's life?" "She was the only family I had left." "And you took her." "I can't give you her life back." "Okay?" "But maybe I can give you yours." "Well, Merry Christmas to me." "Look, I'd supply the bullets myself, if I thought killing me would make you feel better, but it won't." "You don't know anything about me." "I've spent more time thinking about you than I have anything else in my entire life." "And I'm clean now, and I barely remember what I did, but I understand it now." "I took your sister's life." "I wasted mine." "Are you really going to let me destroy yours as well?" "Put the gun down." "And what, he just goes free?" "Look, it's just a matter of time before the new DA refiles the charges and I'm back in court again." "And you know what?" "I'll just save everyone the trouble and I'll plead guilty." "Hell, I'll even sign the confession right now... and maybe we can just..." "pretend that this never happened." "We may have to settle for pretending some of it never happened." "I can talk to the DA." "I miss her so much." "Another dream about work, McGee?" "Please tell me I was not in it." "You weren't, but your knives were." "What do you think that means?" "Well, I do not want to speculate." "(sniffling)" "Palmer, what's wrong?" "JIMMY:" "Jerry." "McGEE:" "Oh." "...because you really saved my life..." "Told Palmer not to talk to him." "Why is Jerry still here?" "He wanted to thank Gibbs personally." "So, uh..." "Gibbs tell the DA, yet, about Matthew Gray?" "Yeah." "He's willing to drop the witness intimidation charge if Gray pleads guilty to the weapons charge." "He won't do any time." "Looks like you're going to have to have another talk with him." "Mm-hmm." "(sighs)" "(explosive popping, people screaming)" "(jaunty holiday music playing)" "(explosive popping stops)" "(holiday music continues)" "You." "Too much?"