NCIS: NEW ORLEANS "SONGBIRD" Written by Emily Wahlund 612.281.5463 [email protected] COLD OPEN FROM BLACK: FLASH - TWO TONE OF PRIDE CONTEMPLATING WHO WANTED THE VICTIM DEAD... PHOOF TO BLACK: FADE IN: EXT. FRENCH QUARTER - NIGHT UP-TEMPO JAZZ plays over sweeping views of a crazy night life. New Orleans is alive! The streets are lit up. People are out looking for a good time. A GROUP of HOT GIRLS pass a group of ROWDY GUYS, giving each other cat calls. Musicians are on the corner rockin’ out while people sing and clap. It’s a party everywhere you look. INT. GOOD TIMES BAR - NIGHT QUICK POPS of the busy bar... - Rowdy CUSTOMERS cheering and laughing. - Band members JULIO ESPINOZA (31, Mexican, handsome, great smile) on guitar, LAURA GIBBONS (33, tall, pretty, exudes strength) on bass, and MAX YOUNG (30, slim, nerdy, nebbish) on piano play the up-tempo song. It’s clear they love what they do. - BARTENDERS pouring shot after shot. - CUSTOMERS dancing like no one is watching. END POPS PETTY OFFICER TESS BRADY (31, African American, beautiful, with a voice that would stop anyone in their tracks) SINGS in a sexy red dress. TESS And I said, baby, take one last good look at me! Cause I gone done cried the last tear over yoooooouu!!!! Brady holds the last note and the crowd goes wild. With one sharp THUD of the bass drum, the song is over. 2. INT. GOOD TIMES HALLWAY/BAR - NIGHT BEN YOUNG (50’s, simple man, kind face, always looks tired) WHISTLES the same song as he closes the door to the office, walks down the hallway and out to the main bar. Tess is on the STAGE sitting at the piano. Still in her sexy dress, she’s surrounded by sheet music and is plunking out a new, slow ballad. TESS (singing to herself) Our love is the dangerous kind... BEN Killed it tonight, Tess. TESS Thanks, Ben. I won’t be too much longer. Just wanna finish this verse. BEN Take your time. Lock up when you leave. Ben SHUTS OFF the bar lights and leaves. The stage is DIMLY LIT by a GHOST LAMP. TESS (singing) If love is a crime then we’re both the criminals. The silhouette of a SHADOWY FIGURE stands in the hallway leading to the back entrance behind Tess. The figure slowly creeps closer to Tess as she plays. TESS (CONT’D) (singing) Sharing the blame... CLOSE UP on the GARROTE in the figure’s hand. Tess stops playing the piano, picks up a nearby PENCIL and writes on the sheet music in front of her. Suddenly, the garrote is around Tess’s neck. The shadowy figure pulls TIGHT. Tess fights back, failing. Sheet music flies everywhere. As they struggle, they both inadvertently hit PIANO KEYS making a dissonant sound. 3. The figure takes Tess to the ground, hitting Tess’s head HARD on the piano bench on the way. After one more long, fierce pull, Tess succumbs and lies motionless. ANGLE ON Tess’s face in the FOREGROUND, the shadowy figure running away in the BACKGROUND and exiting out the back door. END OF COLD OPEN SMASH CUT TO: MAIN TITLES FROM BLACK: INT. NCIS OFFICE - DAY It’s morning. TAMMY GREGORIO just sits down to her desk with a CUP OF COFFEE in hand. She takes a moment to enjoy the QUIET. Moment over. She HEARS CHRISTOPHER LeSalle and SONJA PERCY approaching from outside, mid-argument. PERCY (O.S.) I’m entitled to my own opinion. LESALLE (O.S.) Just know that your opinion is wrong. PERCY (V.O.) Did you ever think for a second that maybe your opinion is wrong? LESALLE No! Gregorio, with a roll of her eyes, starts her daily paperwork. LeSalle and Percy enter, still going at it. LeSalle (CONT’D) Percy, Willie Mae’s is the best fried chicken. Hands down. The Coco- Cola brine cannot be beat! PERCY It’s good. I admit. But I still like Dooky Chase better. 4. LESALLE I think we need a side-by-side comparison. PERCY LeSalle, I’m not changing my mind. LESALLE Gregorio, tell Percy she’s crazy. GREGORIO In my experience, most women don’t like to be called the C-word. LESALLE Alright, fine. Then tell us your favorite. GREGORIO I don’t like fried chicken. LeSalle and Percy freeze. PERCY Okay, for real? I’m about to call you the C-word. GREGORIO What? It’s just not my thing. LESALLE Not your thing? That’s like saying happiness is not your thing. Next you’re gonna tell me you don’t like gumbo. Gregorio shrugs. LESALLE (CONT’D) Okay, we’re done here. LeSalle’s phone RINGS. He answers it. PERCY You’re asking for it, Gregorio. GREGORIO Asking for what? PERCY Christopher isn’t going to leave you alone now. New Orleans food is his thing. If he loves it, he wants you to love it, too. 5. GREGORIO Okaaaay. PERCY All I’m saying is, I hope you’re hungry. LeSalle hangs up and starts to walk out. LESALLE C’mon. We got a body. PERCY I’ll drive. LESALLE Don’t need to. It’s just around the corner. EXT. STREET - DAY LeSalle, Percy, and Gregorio walk down the street. LESALLE (to Gregorio) You have had real New Orleans fried chicken before? GREGORIO Yes, LeSalle. I used to live here. Remember? LESALLE That was a while ago. You should try it again. They say your taste buds change every seven years-- PRECY Told you, Gregorio. EXT./INT. GOOD TIMES BAR - DAY LeSalle, Gregorio and Percy approach DWAYNE PRIDE outside. LESALLE What we got? (then, to Gregorio) Besides someone who doesn’t like happiness? They walk into the bar. 6. PRIDE I just got here myself. Was over at Willie Jean getting a cup of coffee when I got the call. GREGORIO Coffee! Now there’s something I like! Gregorio playfully grins at LeSalle. LORETTA WADE is there. WADE Petty Officer First Class Tess Brady, currently on leave from Kings Bay. Pride and Wade walk to Tess’s body as they talk. LeSalle gets to work taking pictures. PRIDE Tess Brady was in the Navy? GREGORIO You know her? PRIDE We’ve never been formally introduced. But lots of people know Tess. Great singer. Draws a crowd. They kneel down by the body. CLICK - FLASH! - CLOSE UP OF TESS’S FACE WADE Body was discovered this morning by the owner, Ben Young. Based on clotting, I’d say TOD was around 3am. She fought hard with her assailant. Some pre-mortem bruising and as well as a contusion on her head. CLICK - FLASH! - THE CUT ON HER HEAD WADE (CONT’D) But I doubt that’s what killed her. My bet is that it was this-- CLICK- FLASH! - RED LINE AROUND HER NECK 7. PRIDE She was strangled. WADE No ligature was found. Once I get her back to the lab, I should be able to tell you what her killer used. Pride stares at Tess’s body, lost in thought. WADE (CONT’D) You okay? PRIDE Yeah. Just such a talent. It’s a loss for all of New Orleans. Gregorio approaches Pride. GREGORIO We got the owner over here. Pride and Gregorio make their way to Ben, who’s sitting at the bar, in shock. PRIDE You’re the owner? BEN Yeah. Ben Young. Pride shows his badge. PRIDE I’m NCIS agent Pride. This is agent Gregorio. You’re the one who found Officer Brady this morning? BEN Yes, sir. Right where I left her last night. She played her usual Tuesday night gig, but she likes to stay late and work on songs. Always felt like her creativity was strongest after a performance. I told her to just lock up when she left. GREGORIO So, you were the last person to see her? 8. BEN I guess. PRIDE She had keys? BEN Tess was considerate, she didn’t want to disturb her neighbors with her playing. I told her she could practice here whenever she wanted. PRIDE Does anyone else have keys? BEN Most of my staff do, too. I can’t be here all the time. But we’re a family around here. I trust everyone. GREGORIO Maybe that was your first mistake. Percy joins. PERCY No sign of burglary. There’s money still in the register. Pride notices SECURITY CAMERAS above with a SIGN that says, “SMILE, YOU’RE ON CAMERA”. PRIDE We’ll need to see the footage from those. BEN Oh, I’m afraid those don’t work. They did work. Before Katrina. Then water got into the wiring. I keep meaning to get them fixed. PRIDE That’s playing with fire. A busy bar’s got a lot of liabilities. BEN Oh, I know. Thankfully, people tend to be on better behavior if they think they’re being watched. 9. PRIDE We’ll let you know if we have anymore questions. Pride, Gregorio and Percy walk away. They join LeSalle on the stage. PERCY Kinda strange, isn’t it? The owner doesn’t have security cameras and gives keys out to anyone and everyone? GREGORIO He was just begging for something to happen. PRIDE Well, this something was no accident. LeSalle takes pictures of the piano bench. LESALLE I found blood over here. Pride examines it. PRIDE Probably where Brady hit her head when she was attacked. GREGORIO By a killer that could have entered from anywhere. PRIDE Sonja, check other cameras in the area, see if they picked up anything coming in or out around 3am.