Chapter 2

"I suppose a campfire is out of the question?" Tony asked hopefully.

"Yes!" McGee and Ziva said in unison.

"It was just a thought."

"What've you got?" Gibbs asked, walking in unnoticed.

"No sign of his gun in his locker or in the break room, boss. Guys in security verified that he had it when he left on his rounds."

Ziva added, "No one broke into his locker. And no one at the building seems to have had a grudge against him."

At Gibbs' look, McGee said, "I got shots of the security guards arriving: all of them check out. After the shutdown, there's a fuzzy shot from one of the outside bank cameras of maintenance people arriving. I verified that they'd been called in by the manager. I can't resolve the images, but no one seems out of place, boss."

"Obviously, someone was."

"Maybe it was someone from the Corps. They knew where he'd be and took the opportunity," Tony suggested.

"You and Ziva check it out. McGee, go back to the building and check with bank security and then with the maintenance people. We're missing something. Find out what it is."

While the team scattered, Gibbs headed down to Abby. "You got anything, Abby?"

"I was just about to call you, Gibbs. There were no fingerprints on the colonel's holster. Whoever took his gun was wearing gloves or very careful."

"Is that all?" Gibbs asked.

"Of course not, Gibbs. The two bullets Ducky pulled from Matheson aren't from the same gun. They're both 9mm, but the striations are completely different." She pulled up the images. "See? Two different guns. Whoever killed Colonel Matheson didn't do it alone."

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"Okay, but what's this area here? I don't remember seeing it when we were down there." Tim was with the building manager, Anthony Ehrlich, looking at the blueprints. Bank security had been extremely unhelpful so he had decided to go back to Ehrlich before heading to the maintenance company. He pointed to what looked like an extra level below the crime scene.

"The basements were originally designed to go further down, into the tunnels, but the designers decided to change the layout at the last minute. Most of the steam tunnels are down there, and so maintenance still needed occasional access. They added in a concrete floor with access points scattered throughout the area." Ehrlich grimaced. "You need prybars to even get the slabs up. It's not very handy. They're only marked by three holes drilled in the center of the slabs, but they wouldn't listen to me when I complained at first. Now, they're planning on changing the layout yet again to add stairway-access to the tunnels. We'll be lucky to be finished by the end of the year at this rate."

"Are the steam tunnels blocked off like the rest of the basements?"

Ehrlich started to nod, but then stopped. He blinked and then looked more closely at the blueprints. "You know, I've never been down there myself. I don't think they are. The blueprints don't show any walls."

"So, if someone wanted to get into another part of the building, such as the bank, maybe, they'd just have to know about the tunnels?" At Ehrlich's surprised nod, he added, "I'd like to take another look at the scene, and maybe go down into the tunnels."

"Sure, but that's a two-man job. I'll get James to go down with you. He can give you any help you need." He pulled out his radio. "James! Report to my office, please."

"Yes, sir." When he came in, Wheeler still seemed flustered. Tim put it down to having discovered Colonel Matheson. If it had been his first experience with a dead body, it was no wonder he had been shaken by it.

"Take Agent McGee down to the crime scene and give him any help he needs."

For just an instant Tim thought Wheeler looked panicked as he nodded his assent, but it passed so quickly he decided it was his imagination. The silence as they headed down was distinctly uncomfortable and he decided to try and loosen him up a little.

"How long have you worked here?"

"Since last year."

"You like it?"

"Pays the bills. Usually."

There was no doubt about it. Wheeler was nervous. Tim thought maybe it was a reluctance to see the blood stain where the colonel had lain. "Did you know Colonel Matheson well?"

"Huh? Oh, no. Not really. He was a nice guy, just doing his job."

"It must have been a shock seeing him like that."

"Like what?"

Tim was confused. "Uh, dead?"

"Oh. Right. Um, yeah. There was more blood than I expected."

Suddenly, there was faint thump. "What was that?" Tim asked.

"What? I didn't hear anything."

Tim put his hand on his gun and strode out ahead of the security guard. "I'm sure I heard something, and no one should be down here right now. It's still a crime scene." Intent only on reaching the basement, Tim didn't notice Wheeler's expression which was now definitely panicked.

As Tim rounded the corner, he saw a concrete slab lying next to a hole near the center of the room. A large duffle bag was on top of it. A man in a maintenance uniform was halfway out of the hole, blood spattered on his clothes. For a moment, everyone was frozen with surprise. Tim recovered first. He pulled his gun and started to turn toward James. "James, call–" He was interrupted by James hitting him in the head with the butt of his gun. Tim fell to the ground, on the verge of blacking out. The meaning of the conversation that went on above his head was garbled.

"Why didn't you just shoot him?"

"I couldn't. Besides, someone might hear."

"Great, James. He's seen us and he's still alive. What are we going to do with him?"

"You said no one would get hurt, Mick. Now two people are dead and I'm not going to make it three."

"Those two were necessities. Jody was getting greedy."

"We're not killing him."

Mick looked ready to make it an even four, but then he took a deep breath. "Fine. We'll dump him down there with Jody. If they find him, they find him. If not, we didn't kill him. We'll be long gone in any case."

Still dazed, Tim made vague motions toward getting up. Mick kicked him once in the chest, dropping him to the floor again. Then, he kicked him hard in the head, knocking him out completely.

James winced, but nodded, "Fine."

"Good. Give me a hand." Mick bent down and grabbed an arm.