Strange and Beautiful
Chapter one
"So long as man is protected by madness - he functions - and flourishes." - Emile M. Cioran
The team's day had been rather uneventful until late afternoon when a call came in about a dead marine found in local parkland. The body was revealed to be that of Lance Corporal Gregory Mathews. A group of youths had discovered the body at 14:42 as they were on their way through the park.
Whilst gathering witness statements, a female witness had reported to Ziva about seeing 'a man in uniform, stumbling through the park gates early that morning'. Abby had found that the marine had ridiculous amounts of alcohol in his blood, which seemed to confirm the witness's statement.
The marine initially looked as though he had suffered a blunt force trauma to the back of the head that on closer examination was most likely caused by a rock, especially since gravel and sand were both found in the wound. It looked like the victim's death was probably an accident but Ducky believed that because the post-mortem lividity on the marine's body was inconsistent with how the body was found, the marine had definitely been moved since his death. Leaving the question - if the marine had in fact fallen and accidentally killed himself, why was the body moved at least 4 hours post-mortem?
The victim's body had been found on a pleasant grassy, wooded section of the park. No evidence of the gravel or sand that were found in the marine's head wound could be found where the body was discovered. This explained why McGee and Tony were currently at said park, searching for a rock-like weapon or at least a rocky area where the marine could have fallen.
"This is getting ridiculous Probie! We're looking for a rock! You know how many rocks there are out here?!" Tony dramatically threw his hands up in the air in frustration.
"I know. I'm just glad we've found something other than grass." McGee answered truthfully. They'd been searching for what seemed like ages. It was a very large park. That much was clear.
"Hey Tony, check out that guy over there. He's definitely homeless by the look of it." Tony looked to where the younger agent was pointing and murmured in agreement.
There was an grey, old man sat under a tree situated next to a small rocky alcove. The area looked very well hidden from the rest of the park. Litter and random objects, presumably the man's belongings, were strewn out around his slumped form. As Tony and McGee got closer to the man, they see he was wearing dirty, tatty clothing and looked like he need a damn good wash. His hair was white, with streaks of grey and was stuck out on end, making him look slightly mad. This image of course wasn't helped by the fact you could hear him muttering angrily away to himself.
"How dare he…it's my spot. Always been Joe's spot. The filthy drunk." McGee shot Tony a questioning look as they approached the grumbling man, which Tony answered with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Excuse me sir, we'd like to ask you a few questions about a body of a marine that was found nearby in the park this afternoon. Do you live here?" McGee asked as he peered down at the man.
Tony began looking around the area finding nothing of particular significance. There was an old grubby sleeping bag, some blankets, old food cartons and packaging. It definitely looked like the old guy slept rough out here. The old man pointedly ignored McGee and carried on muttering to himself whilst rooting through what looked like the remains of an old rucksack. Tony's patience was beginning to wear thin. He was desperate to wrap this case up - he'd had a crap night's sleep and wanted to get back home.
"Joe is it? Look Joe, we've been searching for an area that fits this…well…sort of this area's description. Without the junk of course. You wouldn't have happened to have seen a dead body this morning would you Joe?" Tony impatiently quizzed, emphasising his point by pushing a pile of empty containers with the toe of his boots.
McGee rolled his eyes at Tony's straight to the point questioning but kept quiet. If this got them back to the bullpen quicker, he wasn't complaining. The elderly man looked up at Tony in surprise as though he'd only just realised both the agents were stood there.
"How do you know my name? For gods sake! Nothing's safe anymore. Your identity, name…this is my spot you realise. I'm not moving! Not even for suits like you!" Joe snapped as he struggled to his feet.
Joe moved towards Tony, put his hands to his chest and roughly pushed him backwards.
"Whoa! Calm down there scruffy!" Tony exclaimed as he righted himself, feeling slightly winded.
McGee glanced down to where the man had been sitting.
"Tony, what does this look like to you?" He asked whilst he searched in his bag for his kit. The senior field agent moved wearily around Joe to look at the ground where McGee had pointed.
"Joe, is there a reason why there seems to be what looks an awful lot like blood, on the ground where you've been sat?" Tony turned to ask the homeless man. Joe averted his gaze and began to mutter to himself again.
"Hey! Could you speak up Joe? McDeaf over there can't hear you!" McGee looked up at this and caught Tony pointing at him and flashing him a cheeky DiNozzo smile. Joe scowled and repeated himself.
"I was saying that he was in my spot. Just there." Joe motioned to where McGee was currently bagging the evidence. "The cheek of that man. He was so drunk; I had to move him myself. Heavy guy too."
"So hang on a minute, you admit that there was a body here?! By the looks of things Joe, the guy must have been bleeding. A lot. Didn't you notice? You know, red stuff? Coming out of his head?" Tony asked incredulously, waving his hand around his own head.
"Can't say I did. I must admit though, he didn't shift much as I threw him over my shoulder." Tony snorted, not quite believing what he was hearing.
"Joe, is this the man you found here and moved?" McGee questioned as he leant forward and showed the homeless man a photograph of the dead marine.
"Yeah, that's the one. Look, I'm not in trouble am I? I haven't killed no one, I only moved the guy." A panicked look crossed Joe's face as the realisation of what was being said hit him.
"We didn't say…" McGee began but was interrupted by Tony shouting his name. Looking round, the senior field agent was nowhere to be seen.
"Probie! Up here!" McGee looked up in the direction the voice came from to see Tony leaning over the high overhang above the rocky alcove, waving down at him.
"The ground's been disturbed near the edge. Also, there appears to be what looks like human hair caught in this over growth. I think our man fell from here McGee." Tony once again disappeared from sight.
Just as the thought of calling Gibbs crossed McGee's mind, his cell rang.
"Tell me you found something McGee." McGee swore the man was a mind reader - either that or he was watching them, which was a frightening thought.
"Yes Boss. We've found what we believe to be blood from the victim and Tony thinks he's found where he might have fallen from. We also have the reason the marine's body was moved talking to us at the moment. A homeless guy called Joe. We'll be bringing him in for questioning but I think he's telling the truth to be honest." McGee explained, hoping it was enough to keep Gibbs happy.
"Well, hurry back here with your new friend. We ain't got all day McGee." Gibbs replied, hanging up.
"Was that Gibbs per chance?" Tony piped up from behind him, making McGee jump.
"Bloody hell Tony, I thought you were still up there! Yeah, it was. He wants us to hurry back with Joe for questioning. I don't suppose there's any particular reason why you're standing so close to me?" Tony was peering over his shoulder, his chest virtually touching McGee's back. McGee quickly stepped away, willing his heart to slow down. The shock wasn't the only thing making his heart race.
"Just breathing in your manly scent Probie. Abby's right. You do always smell nice." Tony quipped absently as he grabbed the camera from McGee's kit. McGee blushed, stunned from the slightly odd, off-handed compliment.
"I'll photograph - you can bag. Then we can take our scruffy friend to meet the boss." Tony expertly delegated before wandering off to the overhang, leaving McGee frozen to the spot.
After a few moments, McGee eventually came to and sighed quietly to himself. Tony could still leave him reeling with just a few words. He could never properly figure him out, and that gave the younger field agent many a sleepless night mulling over the strange comments Tony would sometimes dish out at him. Was the previous comment a genuine compliment or a joke at his expense? A shrill whistle from the object of his thoughts unfortunately interrupted his current inner musing.
"Probie! You coming or should I get Joe to help me?! I bet he'd make a good McGeek replacement. Kinda looks like you if I squint…"
McGee smiled to himself, grabbed his kit and headed off to join Tony - storing all his thoughts for later dissection.
~ Please read and review! I need something to feed the gnawing McNozzo plot bunnies chomping on my ankles... :3 *chomp*