31/08/2008 14:59:00
Chapter 2: II
"What took you so long?" She asked snapping photos of pieces of a dead charred body that were flung into the corners of the room during the explosion. Fire extinguishers could still be heard as little flames popped up every so often, with the crackle, snap and pop of fragments being crushed by feet.
"I was sleeping," He said, shivering in his coat. It was quite drafty with the street sidewall almost fully deteriorated, gone with the force of the explosion.
"So was I," She said turning and blinding him with the flash of the camera.
"Agh," He said shielding his eyes. "What was that?" She was about to answer until their boss passed the door flung against the opposite hallway wall, and walked in.
"What do we got?" He asked in a gruff voice as he sipped a cup of coffee, shuffled under the yellow tape and used a flashlight to watch his step.
"We have a dead body with no ID. The explosion compromised most of the evidence." She said as she stopped taking pictures.
"Just bag and tag whatever you can Ziva. Tony, since you were too tired to come earlier and help Ziva, I want you to go downstairs and talk to the staff of the hotel. Try to find anything you can, including this persons' ID."
"Boss? I know I'm late, but what about McGee?"
"He's looking over the security tapes." Their boss said, walking further into the crime scene.
"What happened here Jethro?" The medical examiner asked, rolling in with a gurney, passing Tony on his way out.
"I
don't know Duck." Jethro said with a heavy sigh, taking another
sip of his coffee. He walked near the edge of the blown out wall and
looked down. People were crowding at the bottom, looking up at the
scene as vans from various news stations closed in. Stations turned
on their cameras and tried to inch their way past police crews as
curious spectators flashes went off. He sighed again and rubbed his
temple. This was not what he needed at 2:34 in the morning.
Ducky
knelt beside the head of the body.
"What happened to you?" He asked adjusting his glasses, not believing that humans would do this to each other. He laid the pieces together in a pile. Some of the skin was charred black and easily flaked off with the lightest of touches while some parts were still red and oozing with puss. The hair was singed and the clothes on the corpse stuck to the flesh. The only thing intact from the explosion was the jaw. "Mr. Palmer, " He called to his assistant, "Please help me to get these body parts on to the gurney."
"Right away Ducky." Palmer said coming to aid Ducky in lifting the torso. Palmer cringed as the not so sweet burnt scent filled his nostrils.
"Something wrong Mr. Palmer?"
"No," Palmer said, as they reached for the legs, "I just don't really like the smell of burnt objects. Doesn't it bother you?"
"Well, Mr. Palmer, as a medical examiner, you will just have to get used to it," Ducky said. He sighed a heavy sigh as he lifted the last of the body. "See you back at the lab, Jethro," He called out as he and Palmer rolled out of the crime scene, passing Ziva who was trying to find and collecting evidence.
She bent down and picked up a shell casing after taking photos of it and spotting it near the base of a wall.
"I found a shell casing Gibbs." She said examining the metallic hollowed out cylinder. She bagged it. It was the only piece of evidence that she could find with her eyes half open and her brain half asleep, in a room with only faint lighting shining from a few lanterns, flashlights and the full moon.
"Its more than nothing," He said turning to face her, "Why don't you go downstairs and help Tony."
"Sure." As she turned and left, he used his flashlight to look at the room some more. The queen size bed was tattered and the wood frame was now shrapnel and splinters in the floors, ceiling and walls. So were the wooden drawers, sliding closet door and desk. The 36" TV screen was punctured inward, with a web of cracks leading everywhere as its back was smashed against the wall, leaving a mark there too. Picture frames that hung proudly as a decoration now were shattered and scattered across on the burnt carpet floor along with the fragments of light bulbs. The victims' suitcase was literally turned inside out as their black-coated clothing littered the room. The wall dividing the room from the bathroom was gone and the shower curtain was now a pile of dust, clogging the bathtub. The showerhead and faucet were bent, sprinkling little bits of water while the toilet stood proud, with its seat slightly lodged to the side and soot covering its then white plastic. It was pretty much the only thing that was still usable. Gibbs smiled to himself, thinking how its funny that the toilet was the only thing that survived the explosion.
Downstairs, Tony was just finishing up interviewing the front desk clerk and the manager.
"Thank you for your time," He said as they walked away and Ziva met up with him.
"What did you find?" She asked rubbing her eyes. Tony flipped through his pages of footnotes.
"His name was Joseph Scott. He arrived here a week ago and he was supposed to leave in two days."
"Do they have a picture?"
"No.
"Why was he here?"
"I don't know, and neither did any of the staff. But they did say that there was a conference in town. Maybe that's why our guy was here."
"Was he with anyone?" Ziva asked as they began to make their way toward a table in the lobby.
"They don't know. Too many guests."
"Well maybe McGee had more luck." She said sitting down on a comfortable green lounge chair, relaxing and resting her eyes and body
McGee leaned back in a black computer chair as film from the hotel security played over on a screen. There had been nothing. He was going on and on, looking for nothing. He didn't know what the victim looked like, or what he was wearing. When they found the body, his clothes were indistinguishable and his face was definitely not recognizable. The screen seemed to play the same thing, nothing happened, nobody ran, nobody slinked around abnormally. He sighed as more tape played back and Gibbs barged in.
"McGee, what do you got?" He asked coming over McGee's shoulder as he sat up straight.
"Nothing boss. I don't even know what I'm looking for."
"Anything McGee."
"Right." He knew that, but it was no use.
"Well, now, stop the tape and pack it up so you can review it with Abby when we get back."
"Right away boss." McGee said stopping the DVD and placing it into a case. He followed his boss back into the lobby where Tony and Ziva were waiting for them.
"Tony, please tell me you got something." Gibbs said, not waiting for Tony and Ziva to stand up.
"Actually I did boss. Joseph Scott." Tony said catching up.
"When we get back to the office I want you and Ziva to find out as much as you can about this Joseph and McGee, I want you to work with Abby and go over the tapes again. Got it?" He asked stopping and turning around to face his team.
"Got it." They said in unison.