"Is it meant to be this slimy?" Kate asked.
"Yes, Kate, it's the pericardium -- the outer membrane surrounding the heart," replied Ducky. With a mischievous grin he added, "We don't use the technical term "slimy" in post-mortem reports, though. We describe it as "smooth and glistening," which, I might add, is normal." The doctor deftly removed the heart from the chest cavity, and placed it in the bowl of the scale hanging overhead. "340 grams -- also normal for a man of his age and physical condition."
Gibbs stroked his jaw in thought. "So the colonel did not die of a heart attack?"
"He did not die of heart disease; he died when his heart abruptly stopped. And before you ask, Jethro, I will not be able to tell you precisely what stopped his heart until I get Abby's report on the blood and tissue samples I sent her. But I didn't call you three down here to discuss what I can't tell you," he said to the agents facing him. "Look very closely at the right side of the colonel's neck."
Tony's sharp eyes picked up the anomaly first. "Is that a needle mark, Ducky?"
"It appears to be so." Four pairs of eyes met across the autopsy table, and Ducky said, "We may be looking at a murder."
*******
"Abby! What have you got for me?" Gibbs strode purposefully through the sliding lab doors, Kate and Tony in tow.
"Not much, Gibbs. Lab results take time, you know. I have determined that Colonel Bridge's neck piercing was not decorative in nature." Her remark brought smiles to all three agents' faces, and she continued. "He was injected with...something."
"That much we assumed," Gibbs said. "Do you know what that...something is?"
"Not yet, but I have a guess."
"Care to share?"
"Gibbs! That wouldn't be professional." A twinkle lit up Abby's eyes, and she began to pace. "Okay, no syringe was found on or near the body, right?"
Kate answered, "Correct. His secretary found him in his office early this morning. She called the medic on base--"
"Who determined that the colonel was already dead," Abby interrupted.
Tony jumped in and said, "Ducky took a liver temp in the colonel's office. He said that Colonel Bridge likely died last night between 8:00 and 11:00 pm."
"Now, he was found seated at his desk, not lying in the middle of the floor, right?"
"Abbs, where are you going with this?"
"Right here, Gibbs." She walked to her desk and pulled out her chair. "Have a seat."
Gibbs complied, then gazed up in expectation. "Now what?"
"You're the colonel, and I'm the killer." Abby pulled a pen resembling a syringe from her lab coat, stood behind Gibbs, and placed the point of the pen on the right side of his neck. "Now – how did I get here?"
Tony suggested, "You were hiding in the closet?"
"The closet was six feet from the desk," Gibbs countered, "and the only door was ten feet away."
"The office was spartan; there was nothing to hide behind," Kate added.
Abby moved from behind the desk to a spot a few feet before it. "And if I walked through either door...?"
"...I'd have plenty of time to defend myself. My gun is here," Gibbs said, indicating the drawer where they had found the colonel's pearl-handled revolver. He opened it as if reaching for the weapon, then suddenly averted his eyes and slammed the drawer closed, as dots of color infused his cheeks.
Abby smiled and winked at Kate before gently chiding, "That'll teach you to go pawing through a lady's drawers, Gibbs. You never know what you'll find."
Tony's brow furrowed as the evidence began to speak to him. "Colonel Bridge knew the one who gave him that needle – but what was in the syringe?"
"I don't have confirmation yet, but my money's on potassium chloride."
"As in 'execution by lethal injection'?" Kate asked.
"Exactly."
"Why do you think it's potassium, Abbs?"
Abby began to tally her points on her black-tipped fingers. "One: it's not too difficult to get your hands on, if you know the right medical people. Two: it works ultra-fast. A high enough concentration injected straight into the jugular -- his heart would have stopped in two or three seconds. And three—" Abby placed an evidence photo on the desk in front of Gibbs. It showed the desk where the dead man's head lay, sightless eyes facing the camera. "Lack of bodily fluids. Typical reactions to poisoning are vomiting and convulsions, which would have left a mess. This scene is clean."
"Meaning he was dead before his body had a chance to react." Gibbs abruptly rose from the chair and headed toward the door, suddenly all business. "Kate, I want to know the names of every person who met with Colonel Bridge yesterday. Dinozzo, you're on his financial records: what did he have, who did he owe, and who benefits from his death. Call me when you get anything."
The two agents scrambled to follow, and Abby chuckled as she went back to work, "Hurricane Jethro strikes again!"
*******
"Lieutenant Crocker seemed like such a straight arrow, you know?" Kate closed the folder containing her final reports on the case. "Why would someone trash his own life and military career, just to get revenge?"
"Well, Kate, love will do strange things to a guy. Besides, with all he knew as a medic, he figured his plan was foolproof."
Tony returned to the odious task before him: getting his paperwork finished before Gibbs got back from his meeting with Director Morrow. His shoulders slumped when he heard the elevator bell, but his spirits lifted when Abby stepped through the doors.
"Hey, guys. Where's Gibbs?"
Kate responded, "Meeting with Morrow."
"Is he going to be long?"
"God, I hope so," Tony muttered, eyes never lifting from his computer screen.
Kate giggled and asked Abby, "Anything I can help with?"
"No, it's OK." She walked behind Gibbs' desk and placed a folder on it. "I'll just write him a note; he can call me if he has questions." Abby sat down and sighed. "I love lumbar chairs," she said as she lazily rotated back and forth.
"Why don't you order one?" Kate asked.
"Are you kidding? I'd never get any work done!" Remembering her original purpose, Abby sat up and looked around the desk. "Where does Gibbs keep his sticky notes?" As she opened his top drawer, a cacophony of sound assaulted her.
"Abby, NO!"
"Don't open that!"
"BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP..." A high-pitched alarm shot from the drawer Abby had opened, softening somewhat once she slammed it closed. Heads popped up from cubicles with eyes crinkled in amusement, and Abby sank further into the chair to avoid their gaze.
Kate tried to both suppress her own laughter and soothe Abby's embarrassment. She explained, "Gibbs walked in last Monday morning, opened his desk drawer and found half his supplies gone. He was so mad, he rigged his drawer with a car alarm."
Tony's delight was apparent in his brilliant smile. "He also warned that the one who set it off would find a pink slip in his or her inbox. But I'm sure he didn't mean you..."
His voice trailed off as a familiar pair of ice-blue eyes peered around his cubicle's divider. "My report ready, Dinozzo?"
"Almost finished, Boss."
Abby rose from the chair, jutting out her lower lip at Gibbs in an attempt to look penitent. Shaking his head, he reached into his pocket, fished out a key ring, and pressed a button that silenced the wail. "That's what you get for sticking your hand in my drawers," grinned Gibbs.
"Yes, Kate, it's the pericardium -- the outer membrane surrounding the heart," replied Ducky. With a mischievous grin he added, "We don't use the technical term "slimy" in post-mortem reports, though. We describe it as "smooth and glistening," which, I might add, is normal." The doctor deftly removed the heart from the chest cavity, and placed it in the bowl of the scale hanging overhead. "340 grams -- also normal for a man of his age and physical condition."
Gibbs stroked his jaw in thought. "So the colonel did not die of a heart attack?"
"He did not die of heart disease; he died when his heart abruptly stopped. And before you ask, Jethro, I will not be able to tell you precisely what stopped his heart until I get Abby's report on the blood and tissue samples I sent her. But I didn't call you three down here to discuss what I can't tell you," he said to the agents facing him. "Look very closely at the right side of the colonel's neck."
Tony's sharp eyes picked up the anomaly first. "Is that a needle mark, Ducky?"
"It appears to be so." Four pairs of eyes met across the autopsy table, and Ducky said, "We may be looking at a murder."
*******
"Abby! What have you got for me?" Gibbs strode purposefully through the sliding lab doors, Kate and Tony in tow.
"Not much, Gibbs. Lab results take time, you know. I have determined that Colonel Bridge's neck piercing was not decorative in nature." Her remark brought smiles to all three agents' faces, and she continued. "He was injected with...something."
"That much we assumed," Gibbs said. "Do you know what that...something is?"
"Not yet, but I have a guess."
"Care to share?"
"Gibbs! That wouldn't be professional." A twinkle lit up Abby's eyes, and she began to pace. "Okay, no syringe was found on or near the body, right?"
Kate answered, "Correct. His secretary found him in his office early this morning. She called the medic on base--"
"Who determined that the colonel was already dead," Abby interrupted.
Tony jumped in and said, "Ducky took a liver temp in the colonel's office. He said that Colonel Bridge likely died last night between 8:00 and 11:00 pm."
"Now, he was found seated at his desk, not lying in the middle of the floor, right?"
"Abbs, where are you going with this?"
"Right here, Gibbs." She walked to her desk and pulled out her chair. "Have a seat."
Gibbs complied, then gazed up in expectation. "Now what?"
"You're the colonel, and I'm the killer." Abby pulled a pen resembling a syringe from her lab coat, stood behind Gibbs, and placed the point of the pen on the right side of his neck. "Now – how did I get here?"
Tony suggested, "You were hiding in the closet?"
"The closet was six feet from the desk," Gibbs countered, "and the only door was ten feet away."
"The office was spartan; there was nothing to hide behind," Kate added.
Abby moved from behind the desk to a spot a few feet before it. "And if I walked through either door...?"
"...I'd have plenty of time to defend myself. My gun is here," Gibbs said, indicating the drawer where they had found the colonel's pearl-handled revolver. He opened it as if reaching for the weapon, then suddenly averted his eyes and slammed the drawer closed, as dots of color infused his cheeks.
Abby smiled and winked at Kate before gently chiding, "That'll teach you to go pawing through a lady's drawers, Gibbs. You never know what you'll find."
Tony's brow furrowed as the evidence began to speak to him. "Colonel Bridge knew the one who gave him that needle – but what was in the syringe?"
"I don't have confirmation yet, but my money's on potassium chloride."
"As in 'execution by lethal injection'?" Kate asked.
"Exactly."
"Why do you think it's potassium, Abbs?"
Abby began to tally her points on her black-tipped fingers. "One: it's not too difficult to get your hands on, if you know the right medical people. Two: it works ultra-fast. A high enough concentration injected straight into the jugular -- his heart would have stopped in two or three seconds. And three—" Abby placed an evidence photo on the desk in front of Gibbs. It showed the desk where the dead man's head lay, sightless eyes facing the camera. "Lack of bodily fluids. Typical reactions to poisoning are vomiting and convulsions, which would have left a mess. This scene is clean."
"Meaning he was dead before his body had a chance to react." Gibbs abruptly rose from the chair and headed toward the door, suddenly all business. "Kate, I want to know the names of every person who met with Colonel Bridge yesterday. Dinozzo, you're on his financial records: what did he have, who did he owe, and who benefits from his death. Call me when you get anything."
The two agents scrambled to follow, and Abby chuckled as she went back to work, "Hurricane Jethro strikes again!"
*******
"Lieutenant Crocker seemed like such a straight arrow, you know?" Kate closed the folder containing her final reports on the case. "Why would someone trash his own life and military career, just to get revenge?"
"Well, Kate, love will do strange things to a guy. Besides, with all he knew as a medic, he figured his plan was foolproof."
Tony returned to the odious task before him: getting his paperwork finished before Gibbs got back from his meeting with Director Morrow. His shoulders slumped when he heard the elevator bell, but his spirits lifted when Abby stepped through the doors.
"Hey, guys. Where's Gibbs?"
Kate responded, "Meeting with Morrow."
"Is he going to be long?"
"God, I hope so," Tony muttered, eyes never lifting from his computer screen.
Kate giggled and asked Abby, "Anything I can help with?"
"No, it's OK." She walked behind Gibbs' desk and placed a folder on it. "I'll just write him a note; he can call me if he has questions." Abby sat down and sighed. "I love lumbar chairs," she said as she lazily rotated back and forth.
"Why don't you order one?" Kate asked.
"Are you kidding? I'd never get any work done!" Remembering her original purpose, Abby sat up and looked around the desk. "Where does Gibbs keep his sticky notes?" As she opened his top drawer, a cacophony of sound assaulted her.
"Abby, NO!"
"Don't open that!"
"BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP..." A high-pitched alarm shot from the drawer Abby had opened, softening somewhat once she slammed it closed. Heads popped up from cubicles with eyes crinkled in amusement, and Abby sank further into the chair to avoid their gaze.
Kate tried to both suppress her own laughter and soothe Abby's embarrassment. She explained, "Gibbs walked in last Monday morning, opened his desk drawer and found half his supplies gone. He was so mad, he rigged his drawer with a car alarm."
Tony's delight was apparent in his brilliant smile. "He also warned that the one who set it off would find a pink slip in his or her inbox. But I'm sure he didn't mean you..."
His voice trailed off as a familiar pair of ice-blue eyes peered around his cubicle's divider. "My report ready, Dinozzo?"
"Almost finished, Boss."
Abby rose from the chair, jutting out her lower lip at Gibbs in an attempt to look penitent. Shaking his head, he reached into his pocket, fished out a key ring, and pressed a button that silenced the wail. "That's what you get for sticking your hand in my drawers," grinned Gibbs.