Title: A Tale of Two Cities
Author: scgirl_317
Genre: Drama, hurt/comfort with romantic tendencies
Summary: Crossover with Law and Order: UK and NCIS. An American living in London is killed, and her brother—a US Navy lieutenant—is the chief suspect. DS Ronnie Brooks and Matt Devlin head to Washington, DC, where he returned after visiting his sister. When they get there, however, they find themselves going up against NCIS Agent Jethro Gibbs and his team, who are investigating the lieutenant's murder. They soon find that the two cases are entwined, and both teams must work together, or else a killer will go free.
Author's Note: I was watching NCIS and this idea came to me. Not sure how this is going to go, but I couldn't resist the idea of a L&O: UK crossover. Also, if I mess up any British vernacular, forgive me. I have a fondness for British TV, but I'm still a Yank.
"You hear about things like this happening, but you never expect it to happen in the flat next door," the woman said, earning a sympathetic look from Matt Devlin.
The Detective Sergeant looked down at the notes in his hand. He and his partner, DS Ronnie Brooks, had been called to the apartment of an American woman who was a physics professor at University College. Her upstairs neighbor had complained to the building caretaker of a smell coming from below, unaware that her neighbor had been dead for days.
"How well did you know Amy Collins?" Matt asked.
"Not as well as I would have liked, looking back on it. She preferred to work from home whenever she could, said there were fewer distractions. She's hardly left her flat since classes ended. She's incredibly smart, but she could be a bit scatterbrained, so I would check on her every few days. She could get on these tangents when she was working, sometimes she'd forget to eat. When I started to smell something drifting up, I just assumed she'd forgotten to empty her bin again. The poor girl."
"Do you know if she was seeing anyone?" asked Ronnie.
"I've lived above her for almost two years, and I've never seen anyone come here. Her brother came to visit, last week. That's it."
"All right, well, thank you. We'll let you know if we need anything else," Matt assured her.
"Amy was a sweet girl. Find whoever did this."
With a nod, Matt and Ronnie left the hallway and entered the apartment that had been cordoned off. In the middle of the living room floor laid Amy Collins, a single bullet wound between the eyes the only blemish on her otherwise perfect face.
"Almost seems execution style," Ronnie remarked.
"We found the bullet embedded in the wall over there," pointed out Joy Ackroyd, dressed in the blue jumpsuit that was standard among the crime scene technicians. She handed the bullet to Ronnie in a small plastic bag. "It's a bit mangled, but it's a nine millimeter, so probably from a handgun. Teddy can tell you better than I can."
"All right, thanks, Joy," Ronnie replied, looking from the recovered bullet to the body before him.
"So, what is an American professor involved in that would get her killed like this?" Matt asked to no one in particular.
One thing was for sure. This case could get very ugly very fast.
Back at the Major Investigations Unit office, Matt and Ronnie sat at their desks surrounded by files containing profiles and bios.
"What have you got, boys?" DI Natalie Chandler asked, walking up to the two.
"We've got a whole lot, I'm just not sure how much of it is useful," Ronnie muttered.
"Amy Collins has lived here for three years," Matt supplied. "She's got a laundry list of degrees, including three PhD's, and an IQ that borders on savant. She taught at MIT for five years before she was invited to teach at UCL. The only family she has is a twin brother, Adam, who still lives in the States. Their parents died fifteen years ago in a car crash."
"According to the neighbor, Adam was just here on a visit," Ronnie added as Matt answered his phone. "Manages to get over once or twice a year. Apparently that's the only anomaly, recently."
"Okay, thanks," Matt told the caller, hanging up and turning back to the others. "According to the medical examiner, Amy was dead for about four days before her neighbor noticed the smell. Adam returned home the same day."
"Could be a coincidence," Natalie pointed out, not convinced, but she knew that grin on Matt's face and knew he had more.
"Could be," he admitted. "Forensics confirmed that the bullet that killed Amy was a nine millimeter round, most likely fired from a Beretta M9."
"What are you getting at, Matt?" Ronnie asked, knowing his partner hadn't shown all of his cards yet.
"Adam is a lieutenant in the US Navy. Guess what make his service weapon is?"
And there it was. That explained the cat-that-got-the-canary look on Devlin's face. That still didn't solve all of their problems.
"But we're still left without a motive," Natalie noted.
"I tracked him after he left Amy's flat. His flight left Heathrow and landed at Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC, where he works at the Navy Yard. I've got his address in Maryland."
"You two need to tread carefully with this one," Natalie cautioned them. "The Home Secretary's breathing down my neck to make sure this doesn't become an international incident. He's assured the American Embassy that we can handle the investigation, but there's no telling how long that will hold them off."
"Let me go to Washington, talk to Adam," Matt pressed. "If it wasn't him—and that's a big 'if'—then maybe he knows something that could help us."
Natalie narrowed her eyes at the young detective. He could be very passionate, and if she let him go alone, there could very well be an international incident.
"Both of you go," she said. "If you don't come up with anything in two days, you're to come back, understood?"
"Yes, Gov," Matt and Ronnie replied simultaneously, knowing she'd have both their hides if they argued.
"Well, Matty," began Ronnie once Natalie had walked away, "grab your passport. Looks like we're going on a little adventure."
"I'm just saying, it's not natural," Tony Dinozzo argued as he exited the elevator with his teammates.
"What is so wrong with it?" Ziva David countered, following Tony through the bullpen to their desks. "I think it's good that McGee wants to take care of himself and look good."
"Thank you, Ziva," Timothy McGee replied, exasperated at Tony's lack of progressiveness.
"Hey, I'm all for looking good," Tony shot back, "but I draw the line at facials. It's just not right. Guys aren't supposed to get facials."
"Lots of guys get facials, Tony. Some even go as far as getting manicures," McGee replied, grinning as his partner shuddered at the thought.
"Grab your gear," called out their boss, the indomitable Leroy Jethro Gibbs, appearing out of nowhere as he was wont to do. "Got a dead lieutenant in Shipley."
The three NCIS agents grabbed their bags and turned back the way they came, following their boss.
They left the Navy Yard and crossed the river into the residential area of Shipley. The house had been blocked off by Metro PD and the NCIS medical examiner's van was parked out front, indicating Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard and Jimmy Palmer were already there.
"Lieutenant Adam Collins was found this morning by his roommate, Marine Major Michael Harper," Gibbs told them.
He offered no more information, but he didn't need to; his team knew what they needed to do. McGee went for Collins' computer, Ziva went in search of the roommate, and Tony followed Gibbs toward the body and began taking photos.
"Whatcha got, Duck?" Gibbs asked the ME kneeling over the body.
"Well, cause of death looks fairly obvious," Ducky replied, pointing to the single gunshot wound between Collins' eyes. "Rigor has had time to release, so I would say this poor fellow's been dead for approximately two days."
"How did his roommate not notice a dead body in the living room for two days?" Tony asked, pausing from capturing the scene.
"Major Harper is stationed at the Pentagon," Ziva supplied, joining them. "He spent all weekend at work, hasn't been home since Saturday morning."
"Must be a job requirement at the Pentagon," Tony mused. "'Must be workaholic.'"
"Ziva?" Gibbs looked at her, noting she stood closer to Tony than he did.
"Of course," she replied, understanding his request.
She reached over and slapped the back of Tony's head.
"Hey!"
"Shut up, DiNozzo," Gibbs ordered.
"Yes, boss," Tony replied, somewhat akin to a child who had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
Ducky chuckled, shaking his head. They certainly were an unorthodox bunch he worked with, but he had to admit he enjoyed it. They may act like squabbling kids sometimes, but they were good at what they did.