Lt. Jane Doe (NCIS)

Infobox Television episode | Title = Lt. Jane Doe
Colour =
Series = NCIS
Season = 2
Episode = 4


Airdate = October 19, 2004
Production = 02x04
Writer =
Director = Dan Lerner
Guests =
Episode list = Episode chronology
Prev = Vanished
Next = The Bone Yard

Lt. Jane Doe is the 4th episode [http://tv.yahoo.com/ncis/show/35460/season/39847] of the second season [http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/business/la-striketvgrid-html,0,1749384.htmlstory?coll=env-oscars] of the television show "NCIS" [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364845/] .

Plot

As the team begins an investigation into the murder/rape of a Lt. Jane Doe at Norfolk, Tim briefly meets up with an old friend, Petty Officer Cluxten - the person responsible for the initial crime scene work. Ducky does an initial time of death, and a quick analysis of the body, but, being in a hurry to catch his plane for a meeting in London with the Society of Medical Examiners, he states he’s going to leave the confirmations and autopsy to another ME. Just before he leaves the scene a chance comment by Gibbs has Ducky heading back to check the body for something specific, and looking very distressed when he finds it.

Back at headquarters the team strikes out in all the avenues they’ve pursued to identify the naval Lt. Jane Doe; then Ducky (who had given up his trip to London) reveals that he’s been holding back information from the team – the victim isn’t a “Lt.”. There had been an almost identical murder/rape 10 years earlier, and ~that~ Lt. Jane Doe had never been identified, in part because she wasn’t a “Lt.” at all. She wasn't even military. The murderer was never caught, the body never identified, and 10 years later her ashes were still a possession of Dr. Mallard, who deeply regretted he was never able to “send her home”, or let her family know what had happened to her.

The relationship between the old case and new continues to develop as the DNA from the semen taken from both bodies matches, and a note, very similar to one found near the first crime scene, is found at the second as well. As one very promising suspect is ruled out, Tim and Tony head out to check another – a former enlisted man who had just been released from prison 2 months earlier. However, there’s a problem – he had died 5 weeks prior to the second murder/rape.

Tony and Kate canvass the bars surrounding the base and identify the second Jane Doe as a drummer at a lesbian bar nearby; meanwhile Petty Officer Cluxten takes the opportunity to observe a real forensic lab at work (where Abby shows a few “claws” over Cluxten’s rapport and history with Tim).

Things take a turn for the worse - for although the team had identified the body, all they have are dead ends when the new note shows no fingerprints or DNA, and both of their suspects have been cleared. No-one’s quite sure what direction to go in next (not even Gibbs) until the results of another DNA match Abby was testing came in – the dead man’s DNA matched the DNA from both the semen found on both victims. Puzzlement and confusion fade as the team realizes the semen at the second crime scene was taken from the stored evidence of the first crime scene and planted to send investigators hunting after a “serial rapist and murderer”.

While watching the records from the evidence storage lockup the day before the second murder, Tim discovers that Cluxten is the one who removed the evidence and then makes several connections. Firstly, he remembers that Petty Officer Cluxten used her mother’s name rather than her father’s (who happened to be the investigating NCIS agent of the first case). Secondly, Cluxten had had a friendship with the victim that observed the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Gibbs confronts Cluxten with these facts, the video from the evidence lockup, and, finally, with the death of the murderer of the first victim 5 weeks before the second murder, that of Cluxten’s lover, and Cluxton's scream of rage in response pretty much sums up the fact that she is guilty

Production notes

* This is the first episode to use the black and white end shot at the start and end of each act.

References