Title: Unfortunate Ambassador
Rating: T. Some language, nothing too graphic with imagery or language.
Disclaimer: Gibbs, McGee, Tony, Kate, Ducky, and Palmer do not belong to me. The other characters are mine.
Summary: The team faces an international mystery. McAbby implied.
Author's note: While the beautiful maritime province of Prince Edward Island is indeed known for (among other things) its unique red soil, and while there is a CFB (Canadian Forces Base) Halifax, our largest naval base for the Royal Canadian Navy, the HMCS (Her Majesty's Canadian Ship) Diefenbaker does not exist. And please be gentle, some of my plot points may be questionable, so just enjoy the story for the story!
Out of Their Jurisdiction
"What have we got, Ducky?" Gibbs asked briskly, as he walked into autopsy.
"Well, Jethro, Mr. Palmer delivered a DNA sample to Abigail for analyses and possible identification. No word on dental records as yet though. She has Timothy working with her in the lab. They do have a composite photograph of what he most likely looked like in life. That would appear to be our best chance, if indeed he's listed anywhere in the missing persons database."
"Well then Duck, what else can you tell me?"
Ducky sighed. "C.O.D. is a bit tricky to determine right now, due to the advanced state of his decomposition. I'm afraid he did not travel well, Jethro. But my initial observation based upon the state of his internal organs, and the apparent lack of…"
Gibbs was impatient. "Cut to the chase, please Ducky," he said, sounding tired.
The older man sighed. "Exsanguination, Jethro. I do believe that something happened to make him bleed to death."
Gibbs sighed. "Well, that's a start. Anything else?"
Ducky smiled humourlessly. "Yes, in fact. He does appear to be a sailor of some kind, judging by the remnants of his uniform. But, it seems off, somehow, the uniform, I mean. Oh, and his features are unmistakably Native American."
McGee entered autopsy with Abby, a file folder in his hand. "Actually, Ducky, he's not Native American. He's First Nations. Plains Cree, to be more specific." Gibbs scowled at him. "What the hell's the difference, McGee?"
McGee looked at Abby, sharing a knowing look with her, the look that allowed them to roll their eyes at Gibbs without actually rolling their eyes at Gibbs. "The difference, Boss, is that Native Americans are, well, American. And First Nations is how they are referred to in Canada. The uniform is Royal Canadian Navy," McGee announced.
Gibbs turned and looked at them, eyebrows raised. "He's CANADIAN?" he said, in disbelief.
"I think he's out of our jurisdiction, Gibbs," Abby said, with a shrug.
Gibbs looked at McGee, expectantly. McGee tilted his head and obliged his boss. "It took some doing to ID him, Boss. Obviously there's no record of him with the U.S. Navy. So we had to dig a little deeper, consider that maybe he wasn't American," McGee reached into his folder and pulled out a large 8x10 of something faded and obscure. "Especially considering this," he said.
"Wanna guess what it is?" Abby asked, giddily, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet. Gibbs frowned at her, and took the picture from McGee's offering hands. "It looks like some sort of insignia badge. No… wait, it's discoloured but it looks vaguely like a flag of some kind." McGee nodded, satisfied. "The Canadian flag, to be precise. From our vic's uniform." Abby nodded, and continued, "AND, if he was this far from home, in what we assumed was a uniform, at least, what was LEFT of a uniform…" She paused as Gibbs glared at her. She glared at him back, and finished, "You want the whole story, don't you? Didn't anyone ever tell you that patience is a virtue, Gibbs?" Gibbs frowned. "Do I LOOK virtuous to you, Abs?" Abby ignored the reprimand, and finished, "We started at the most obvious place, geographically speaking, and also based on his race, and worked our way out. Didn't take long after that, considering he's just from north of the border." Gibbs glared at them impatiently.
McGee opened the folder in his hand, and read from the page on the top of the stack. "Able Seaman Matthew Moonchild. Born and raised on a Plains Cree reservation in central Saskatchewan, joined the Royal Canadian Navy right out of high school. He was stationed at Canadian Forces Base Halifax, and he'd been deployed to Afghanistan on the HMCS Diefenbaker, but returned to base with his ship 6 months ago. During his deployment he was awarded a commendation for saving three of his shipmates during an on-board fire. He was living on the base with his wife, and his commanding officer reported him AWOL two weeks ago. He was scheduled to return to base after a 7 day leave, but he was a no-show, and his wife insisted that something must have happened to him." Just then, Tony walked in, with Kate.
"Captain Jackson Douglas, Moonchild's C.O., reports that he was an exemplary sailor. Never a sniff of trouble. Apparently it's not like him at all to just up and bugger off like that, especially considering that he has a newborn son and a gorgeous wife. The Captain has nothing but good to say about him, Boss." Tony paused, then continued, "He says he's had a bad feeling since Moonchild failed to report back to base, and when his wife reported him missing, that only confirmed it for him," said Tony. He looked at McGee, who glanced into his folder, and continued, "They've been actively searching for him ever since. The RCMP even got involved at first, jointly with the Navy, since he vanished without a trace during leave, and was last reported seen off base, in civilian territory." He looked at Tony, cueing him to continue. "Unfortunately, from a forensics standpoint, it rained most of that week in Halifax. So of course, once the Mounties had found out all they could from their end, what little evidence they'd managed to dig up that the rain hadn't obliterated, was turned over to the Navy, as well as the investigation itself."
Kate nodded, and said, "We're still trying to find out for how much of his leave his presence was accounted for. That could leave his TOD at anywhere from 2 to 3 weeks. Too big of a window, if you ask me."
"We will be able to help you with that soon enough," Ducky volunteered, from the table.
Gibbs glared at nobody in particular. "How the hell did an active duty Canadian sailor from Nova Scotia end up all the damn way down here, on Ducky's table?"
Nobody had an answer. "Virginia IS quite a jump from the east coast of Canada," McGee said, observantly, realizing that Gibbs' question was mostly rhetorical, but nonetheless wanting to break the awkward silence.
"Well, gentlemen, ladies," Ducky said, "if you will kindly excuse Mr. Palmer and myself, perhaps we can find more answers for you, to unravel our mysterious neighbour's presence on our doorsteps."
"We need to get our findings sofar back to Halifax, Boss," Tony said. "His Captain needs to confirm our identification, so his wife can be informed. And we still need to determine if it's up to us or not to investigate. The RCN is pretty far out of our jurisdiction." Kate nodded. "If we can determine how and where he died, and if it was foul play on American soil, we may have justification to continue. That might put this back in our laps again. Otherwise, if it turns out he died in Canada and somehow ended up here post-mortem…" she trailed off. Gibbs finished, "We'll have to send him back without answers."
Gibbs turned and led the way out of autopsy. "Give us a reason to continue this investigation, Duck. I want to know how and why he ended up here, dead. The sooner the better. He has a long journey back home again."