Friday 1st June 2007

21.00–22.00Continuing this evening is the third season of the hit drama series following a team of special agents who investigate Navy and Marine Corps-related crimes. In tonight’s instalment, the agents race against time to catch a stalker threatening the safety of one of their own. NCIS receives a call when a couple checking into a navy lodging facility at a Marine base make a grisly discovery. As they are shown to their room, they are appalled to find blood and fragments of flesh strewn throughout – the apparent signs of a recent massacre. The scene is so messy that Tony suggests it could be a hoax, but field tests prove that the blood is human. “If it’s a prank, it should be animal blood,” Tony reflects. “If it’s a satanic ritual, where are the pentagrams?” After analysis of the scene, Ducky postulates that the tissue was skillfully removed from three different people. “You’re looking for a trained medical practitioner,” he concludes. But it seems there are more surprises to come, as McGee discovers a case full of what looks like cocaine. “Find out what happened here,” demands an impatient Gibbs. Back at HQ, Ziva runs checks on the prints recovered from the scene and finds that all 15 belonged to the room’s previous occupants. Of those 15 people, two remained in the area but both have alibis. An examination of the guest records at the Marine base also fails to provide any leads. But it is Tony who makes the first breakthrough: the pattern of the blood on the walls of the room suggests that the crime scene was staged, and the victims must have been killed elsewhere. Ducky then identifies a quantity of vascular tissue – the type of material found in a medical disposal bin after surgery. “We’re being set up,” says Gibbs. “So it seems,” agrees Ducky. “But set up for what?” The supposed setup, however, soon becomes far more sinister. Having recently returned from court where she was providing testimony for an ongoing case, Abby sets to work on the drugs found at the base. Suddenly, she identifies the smell of cyanide gas and McGee drags her from the lab before shutting down the area. It emerges that thewhite powder was cut with potassium cyanide. After she is given the all-clear by the doctor, Abby expresses her embarrassment at having had what she calls a “newbie accident”. But her attitude changes when the other agents march into the room with some alarming news: “we think whoever set up the crime scene might be after Abby,” says Ziva, gravely.

It is only then that Abby reveals she has been having some trouble with an exboyfriend. Mikel Mawher, a professional crime scene cleaner, reacted badly to rejection after a few dates with Abby, and has been hassling her ever since. The situation has become so serious, in fact, that Abby has taken out a restraining order.

Despite Abby’s insistence that her ex cannot have been responsible for the attempt on her life, Gibbs and his team head straight for Mawher’s office. He claims to know nothing of the case, and seems to have an alibi: he has been working for DC police for the last few days. Gibbs is not convinced, but the alibi checks out – Mawher has cleared eight crime scenes in the last four days, and has been surrounded by detectives the whole time. Now back at square one, the agents desperately search for clues.

While Ziva checks medical waste facilities for reports of robberies, Tony runs checks on the staff at the navy lodge. McGee, meanwhile, is ordered to take Abby home with him to look after her. Still convinced she is in no danger, Abby realises she has forgotten her toothbrush and convinces McGee to go and retrieve it. While she is alone, Mawher finds his way into the apartment and claims that he wants to save Abby from danger. Luckily, McGee returns in the nick of time, causing Mawher to flee.

The race is now on to track Mawher before he can get to Abby. It seems that Gibbs’s suspicions were correct once more, unless the case has one final twist yet to reveal...

Executive Producers Mark Horowitz, John C Kelley Director Dennis Smith A Belisarius Production in association with Paramount Network Television


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