South Korea: April 2010
Gibbs stands at the site of the newly discovered body and Ducky climbs in and Gibbs asks Tony and Ziva:
"What can you tell me?"
Ziva looks down at the skeleton and says:
"It is a shallow grave but whoever killed the other two men, at least took the time to bury this person, unlike Captain Harmon or Sergeant Hamilton"
Tony clicks his tongue and Jethro looks at him and just gives him a just a half- smile then asks:
"What do you see Tony?"
Tony looks down and says:
"The hands are crossed"
Ziva asks:
"What?"
Tony replies to them both:
"The hands are crossed over the chest"
Ziva asks while Time looks silently at the both of them and she asks:
"What does that mean?"
Jethro says without missing a beat:
"It means that somebody cared about this one"
Everybody goes silent and after a minute, Jethro asks Ducky:
"What do you think Ducky?"
Donald 'Ducky' Mallard looks up at him, sighs then says:
"I will have to make a through examination back at the morgue but I can say that this poor, unformatted person didn't die like the other two"
Everybody looks at each other then Jethro asks:
"What makes you say that?"
Ducky bends down and picks up the skull and rubs his hand over the surface then says:
"See? No gaping hole made by a rock or whatever sort of means of a weapon"
Tony asks a question:
"Then what?"
Tim McGee looks down in the grave, then jumps in and picks up something then says:
"I would say this"
He holds up a old, rusted pitchfork head and Ducky shakes his head in agreement.
Back in the States, Abby stands in front of a grand home and she knocks on the door and shortly thereafter, a elderly man wearing gold framed glasses, a semi bald head, a small twinkle in his eyes and he smiles and asks:
"Yes?"
Abby takes a deep breath and says:
"Hi, I'm Abby Sciuto, I work for NCIS and I'm here to…inquire about, well, a murder that's connected to the people living here"
He opens the door to let her in and then puts out his hand for her to shake then says:
"I'm Walter O'Rielly, they call me Radar around here"
She gladly shakes his hand and asks:
"Radar?"
He shrugs his shoulders then says:
"It's a long story"
She smiles and hears laughter in the next room and sees a man and woman sitting around a round table and asks:
"Who is that?"
He smiles and says:
"The people I take care of…the woman is Margaret Holihan, next to her is John McIntrye, we call him Trapper and also in there is Benjamin Pierce"
She lowers her voice to a whisper and asks:
"What are they doing?"
He looks back at them and says in a whisper:
"Playing strip poker…it isn't pretty"
He shudders and she holds in her laughter then he stands back and motions for her to sit down then asks her:
"You said this was about a murder?"
She shakes her head and says:
"Two bodies were discovered in South Korea, one was a Sergeant Kenneth Hamilton in the Marines…."
Radar looks blankly then she says:
"You may know the other one, Captain…"
He finishes her sentence:
"Oliver Harmon Jones…Spearchucker"
She looks at him and cocks her head and asks:
"Yes, how did you know?"
He smiles weakly then takes off his glasses to clean them then says:
"That's why they call me Radar, I….hear things"
She nods her head then says:
"So we found out he was from your unit and so here I am"
He puts his glasses back on then says:
"Hawkeye and Trapper knew him best"
They get up to go into the room where the trio are but Abby asks Radar:
"You take care of all of them?"
He nods his head then says:
"Not by myself, Hawkeye's daughter helps"
She asks him:
"Why aren't they in a regular veteran's home?"
He smiles and shakes his head then says:
"They were thrown out of every one between here and Boston for…conduct 'not becoming'….they pinched nurses, ran naked, got drunk constantly…"
She laughs then asks:
"Why you?"
he smiles and shuffles his feet:
"Why not? I took care of them my whole life, my wife died 6 years ago and Hawkeye and Trapper needed me, Margaret thinks she helps but…"
She asks:
"Do you think they'll remember?"
He says:
"They remember everything, these are normal old people"
They go into the room and Radar clears his throat and Hawkeye says:
"Radar, I told you to take Betsy out of your throat"
Radar looks at Abby and says:
"My guinea pig back in Korea"
Hawkeye says:
"Doesn't she have Maggie's eyes?"
Margaret says:
"You think everybody has Maggie's eyes…"
Margaret puts her hand out and says:
"Hi…I'm Margaret, this is Trapper and this one over here is Hawkeye, he thinks everybody has his wife's eyes"
She smiles and Trapper pinches her behind and she says:
"Ow!"
Margaret hits him and he says:
"I'm just testing out my fingers to see if they work"
Abby rubs her behind and Radar shakes his head then says:
"Miss Sciuto is here to ask some questions about…"
He looks at her and takes a breath then says:
"Spearchucker"
Everybody freezes in place and Hawkeye asks in a unbelievable voice:
"Spearchucker?"
Abby sadly tells him:
"His bones were found in Korea…in a drainage ditch"
Margaret closes her eyes and says:
"Oh God"
Trapper rubs his chin and looks around then says:
"We thought that he just went on R & R then…."
He shrugs his shoulders and says:
"Escaped somehow…I imagined him back in Forest City, Georgia, that's where he's from"
Abby looks at Radar impressed with their memory then asks:
"What other things do you remember about him?"
Hawkeye says:
"Not much, he wasn't there long when he went on R & R "
Abby asks:
"He was found with the bones of Sergeant Kenneth Hamilton, did either of you know him?"
They all look at each other then Hawkeye thinks of something then gets up and says:
"Follow me"
He goes to the door to a bedroom then smiles and asks:
"Radar?"
Radar goes over and hands him Hawkeye a walking cane who takes it rather slowly then signals for them to follow and Hawkeye sits down on his bed and opens a old footlocker and shuffles around belongings then brings out a book and says:
"This is Spearchucker's, I kept it because, well, I was hoping he would need it some day but now…."
He goes through it and comes to a page then reads:
"May 1st, 1951, I have been granted leave by Henry…"
He looks at Abby and says:
"That was our C.O. at that time…"
"I don't plan to do much but enjoy myself. I have plans to meet up with a friend of mine, Ken. I'll write down what we do when I get back"
He hands the book to Abby and she asks after looking at it:
"Can I take this?"
Hawkeye says:
"Sure, will I get it back"
Abby snaps the book shut then says:
"Absolutely"
She turns to leave then sees a picture of a beautiful blond woman in khaki's and wearing a dog tag then asks:
"This is your wife?"
Hawkeye smiles and says:
"Yes, that's Maggie, she was a nurse with us…Lt. Colonel Maggie Dish"
Trapper and Margaret smile and Trapper notices how Radar hangs his head and shuffles his fit and Trapper sees the 19 year old boy in Korea and asks:
"What is it kid?"
Radar says:
"Well, I, uh, remember that last day…um, I saw Spearchucker off, he gave me a hug and I didn't mind but…I was uncomfortable"
Hawkeye comes over and says:
"It's okay Radar, things were different back then"
Trapper says:
"Yeah, you should have herd some of the things those jokers back in Georgia did"
Abby smiles and leaves the small family.
A few hours later, in another time zone, in Ducky's borrowed morgue, Jethro comes in and asks
" What have you found out Ducky?"
Ducky looks at Jethro then says:
"Well, things would have gone much quicker if I had been able to bring my assistant, mister Palmer. It's amazing how one can miss someone…."
Jethro sighs then says:
"Ducky, the body?"
Ducky looks at him and says:
"Ah, well, I had to consult with a colleague of mine here in Korea because I suspected but I had to be sure."
He goes over and pulls back the sheet over the table of a skeleton and says:
"These bones Jethro belong to a Korean but not just any Korean, sadly, a child of about 15"
Jethro's eyes bug out and he asks:
"A child?"
Ducky shakes his head sadly then says:
"And the DNA from the bones of our child matched the faint blood traces we found on this, the indeed murder weapon"
Jethro takes the pitchfork and looks it over then asks:
"Have you made a identification?"
Ducky shakes his head then says:
"Identification on bones is rather hard in Korea, especially on bones from over a half century ago Jethro but we are working on it"
Jethro turns to leave the room and says:
"Keep me updated Ducky"
Ducky says:
"Will do"
Jethro leaves and Ducky says:
"Oh, for mister Palmer to be here"
He starts to work on the identification of the body.
Jethro walks into a office that he is using temporarily and he hears a beep on the computer on his desk and he goes over and pushes a button and Abby's face appears:
"Jethro?"
He sits down and asks:
"Abby? How did it go in Maine?"
Abby smiles and says:
"A little sad but it was good, I got a excellent lean on Sergeant Hamilton and Captain Jones, apparently, they knew each other"
He smiles and says:
"Good Abby, I knew you could do it and now, I have another place for you to go to, this time for Sergeant Hamilton, there's not much left of his unit but the survivors are in the States, I want you to go there and interview them, I'll have Tony fax you the information"
She firmly nods her heads and says:
"Will do Gibbs"
She gives a salute then he says:
"I have a feeling Ducky will be sending you over some things for you to find out for him also, be on the lookout"
She says:
"Will do"
He smiles and asks:
"How's mister Palmer doing?"
She loses her smile and she says:
"Like a lost puppy dog"
He says:
"I'll tell Ducky"
He shuts off the computer and sits back. Back at NCIS lab, Abby goes back to working on various things then she hears the humming of the fax machine as she clicks her fingernails on a computer keypad then after she finishes typing, she goes over and picks up the paper then reads it and says:
"Salisbury, North Carolina?"
She puts down the paper and goes back to work.