CHAPTER 3

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18th, 2.30 PM

"Good afternoon, Jethro", Ducky said as Gibbs entered the morgue, walking straight up to the autopsy table. He looked a little troubled, Ducky thought, as he studied the way Gibbs rubbed his eyes.

"What have you got for me, Ducky?", Gibbs asked and leaned slightly over the body on the cold steel table. Dr Mallard smiled and tilted his head a bit:

"Well, I have got no evidence of any outer trauma causing this fellow to die… on the inside though…", Ducky said and trailed off a bit as he grabbed a steel bowl from the other table. It contained a heart and Gibbs turned his head away slightly – it wasn't exactly a scent of perfume coming from that bowl.

"Joe Phillips' heart – and what's wrong with it?", Gibbs asked and looked at the yellowish and pink tissue. Ducky clicked his tongue:

"I talked to Abby and those lab results really did shed some light on this case, because he WAS definitely too young and fit for a heart attack…", Ducky started, but Gibbs butted in:

"A heart attack?? Not an overdose?", he asked and Ducky smiled at his younger colleague:

"Both. An overdose of Viagra leading to a heart attack. Mr Palmer and I found a lot of semen pretty much everywhere – and it is only from the victim. Up until now we haven't found any other DNA, only rubber and ammoniac residue", Ducky said and looked at Gibbs, who seemed to be rather flabbergasted.

"What?", he just said and looked at Ducky. If this murder was about what this evidence seemed to imply… then it was the weirdest case he had ever seen. Ducky shook his head:

"We also found marks from chains around his wrists and some duct tape glue around his ankles and mouth. No internal bleeding, but he has a fractured rib. His heart gave out somewhere between 6pm and 8am Saturday to Sunday. Basically it seems that this man had sex... until he died", he said and corrected his white coat.

"What a way to die", he mumbled and looked at Palmer:

"Wouldn't you say?", he asked the younger man, who merely nodded. Ducky then looked back at Gibbs, who just sighed.

"So we have a sex predator on the lose", Gibbs said almost under his breath and Ducky nodded. Gibbs wrinkled his brows a little:

"Can I borrow your dictaphone, Ducky?", he asked as he eyed it on the other table. Ducky let out a laugh:

"Well, you can double check anything you like. Just take it, Jethro – I have more where that came from", he said and handed the small dictaphone to Gibbs.

"Keep searching for other DNA – anything, Ducky!", Gibbs said as he turned around and left the morgue.

**

As Gibbs returned to the lab Abby was done dusting the parcel, the dictaphone, the note and the dictaphone tape for fingerprints without success.

"No fingerprints, however the blood belongs the the victim", Abby said and sounded like she was pretty disappointed herself. Gibbs however just sent her a little, skew smile and grabbed the little tape out of Abby's slender, pale hand.

"Figures", Gibbs just said as he clicked the tape into the dictaphone, replacing it with Ducky's autopsy tape. Abby, Tony and Ziva looked at each other a little puzzled about Gibbs' sudden almost cheerful behavior. But then again – he always WAS pretty unpredictable.

"Let's hear what's on this tape... Abs, check for any sounds in the background and analyze the source", he said and clicked shut the dictaphone as he handed it back to Abby. She immediately connected the little tape recorder to an audio device linked to a screen. She nodded at Gibbs for him to press play.

"Here we go", Gibbs said and pushed down the small, black button. As Abby turned up the speakers a metallic, computer-generated voice could be heard:


HELLO, NCIS. IF YOU HEAR THIS TAPE YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVEN'T FOUND ME YET. I AM DISAPPOINTED. BUT HERE IS A TREAT – OR SHOULD I SAY THREAT?

ALL BLOOD SHALL DRY
NORMA'S SILLY CRY
TICKS ME GLAD ASLEEP
HIS HONOR I KEEP
ON MY MANTEL PIECE
NEVER SHALL I CEASE
YOUR HEARTS SHALL FREEZE

- The Gamer


"What the hell??", Tony spat out. Everyone was just looking at each other. This message sure was weird, and again they were being mocked. And Gibbs didn't like it one bit.

"A poem? He sent us a poem", Tony said and glared at the floor, biting his lip in frustration. Ziva looked from Gibbs to Abby to Tony and back again:

"Maybe it's another code??", she asked and looked thoughtful. Abby shrugged with a sad expression on her face.

"Abs, run it through the computer. Find out what programme made this message", Gibbs said and looked at the ceiling for a second, making a little crack with his neck. Ziva and Tony looked at each other... Gibbs seemed more frustrated than they had ever seen him before. He looked tired too.

"And write down the message word for word, find out if there is any sort of code, anything", he added and Abby nodded:

"I'm on it. I didn't get an A on my English exam though, but I'll give it my best, boss", Abby swiftly replied and started working on the computer. Gibbs then looked at Tony and Ziva:

"DiNozzo, we have a club to visit on 12th street. David, help McGee track that UPS delivery", he said and waved at them to follow him into the elevator just as Abby turned up the message again and started analyzing.

**

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18th, 3.30 PM

As Gibbs and Tony drove up 12th street there was an awkward silence in the car. The thirty minutes it had taken for them to get here had been pretty much silent too. Tony was getting a bit worried about Gibbs, because he acted as if he was a bit... far away in thoughts. He usually was like that when they had a complicated case, but Tony's gut just told him that something was off with his boss. He wasn't sure what though. Or maybe there really wasn't anything.
The car stopped on the opposite side of a basement club called "Daisy's"... The only basement business not closed or for sale. This had to be it.
DiNozzo and Gibbs stepped out of the car and headed across the street towards the club. Three steps lead down to a big, green door with a peephole in it. Gibbs immediately rang the bell and as soon as he heard footsteps on the other side he raised up his badge.

"NCIS – open up please!", he said in a loud voice to make sure that it could be heard on the other side of the heavy oak door.
The door opened with a small quirk and a brunette stuck her head out. Tony immediately looked her up and down, but she really wasn't his cup of tea, so he quickly lost interest in THAT sense. She was kind of chubby and had quite a lot of pimples... also she had to be past thirty.

"Agent Gibbs, NCIS, this is agent DiNozzo – can we come in?", Gibbs asked and the brunette looked kind of shocked and nodded as she opened the door further.

"What is this about?", she asked in a thick accent and stepped aside as they walked in.

"We're investigating a homicide, miss...??", Tony said and looked at her.

"Pavlona. Olga Pavlona", she replied as she looked at them almost suspiciously.

"You russian, Miss Pavlona?", Gibbs asked as his eyes quickly scanned the gloomy room behind her. The chubby lady shook her head slightly:

"No, I am from Ukraine", she said and followed the two agents as they walked into the dark, small room. It was more like a hallway really. Behind a lava lamp on a counter was another woman, who looked up from her papers and stared surprised at them. Tony immediately broke away from Gibbs and put an elbow on the counter, looking at the quite young redhead:

"Tony DiNozzo, NCIS. What is your name, miss?", he asked in his most slick voice as he looked her up and down. She looked a little disgusted when she noticed how this agent was looking at her, and she put down her papers:

"I'm Alexis Carpenter. What is going on?", she asked to try and take the agent's attention away from her cleavage. Tony sent her a brilliant, yet serious smile:

"We're investigating a murder case. Do you remember this man?", Tony asked and slid a photograph of Joe Phillips across the counter. The lady picked it up and looked at it. As she was looking at the photograph Tony noticed that Gibbs was doing the same with the chubby lady, who explained that she was a cleaning lady here.

"Yes, I remember him... I think", Alexis said and handed the photo back to Tony.

"He was here about five months ago... kind of a weirdo", she said and Tony nodded:

"Do you remember anything else? All information would be useful. Was he here with someone?", he asked and Alexis nodded:

"He was here with a lady, I think she was his age. Around thirty-five or so", she said. DiNozzo looked over at Gibbs, and the Olga lady was saying pretty much the same as far as he could hear.

"How was he weird?", Tony asked and watched as the lady bit her lower lip a bit as if she was shy.

"Well... He seemed to like bondage and such. That pair really caught the others' attention... He almost put the whole club on a hold", she said and looked at Tony. He could swear that he saw her cheeks flush with red.

"And what is your job in this place?", Tony asked. The redhead smiled:

"I'm just the cassier... make reservations, count the money. I just do what my boss says, after all it pays okay", Alexis said and Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Your boss? Who's that?", he asked and followed the invisible line of the lady's index finger, pointing to the ceiling.

"His office is upstairs, right over there", she said and then pointed to a dark, dusty curtain hanging next to where Gibbs and Olga were standing.

"Thank you, miss Carpenter", DiNozzo said and winked at her as he dropped his business card onto the counter.

"Call me if you recall anything more. Or want to have dinner or something", he said and smiled as he turned to Gibbs and Olga. Behind him Alexis was shaking her head in annoyance, but she couldn't help but smile.

"Boss, upstairs?", Tony asked and Gibbs nodded. He had overheard most of the conversation anyway.

"Thank you, Miss Pavlona. Here's my card if you think of something more", he said and handed her his card. Then the two agents walked up to the old curtain and pulled it gently aside – which revealed a narrow staircase leading upstairs. The wooden steps shrieked a bit under their shoes, and soon they found themselves in a small hallway with only one door. Once it had been white, but the paint was colored with lots of nicotine. Knocking at the door Gibbs waited for a reply... a few seconds passed:

"Yeah?!", a man's voice said and Gibbs turned the door knob. As they walked in a thick fog of cigarette smoke hit them square in the face, making Tony cringe a little. Behind a desk was a man in his forties, a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth. He was wearing a white cotton shirt and some black pants, no tie or business-look there.

"Who the hell are you??", the man asked and they both showed their badges, saying their names and business there. The man just looked at them as he sucked on his smoke.

"And who are you?", Tony asked and closed in on the desk a bit, studying whatever he could find lying around. But as he came close, the man opened a drawer and both Gibbs and Tony immediately reached for their weapons –

"Easy!!", the man said:

"I just wanted to show you guys the contract for this place, geez", he said and stared at Tony and Gibbs. Tony walked a little closer to have a look at the open drawer – nothing but papers.

"Okay", Tony said and both of the agents put their guns away. The man took the piece of paper from the drawer and handed it to Gibbs, who quickly read it.

"Seems legit. But why are you showing us the contract?", he asked. The man looked confused for a moment:

"Just so you wouldn't think something shady is going on in my joint!", he said and looked a bit angry. Gibbs couldn't help but smile a little:

"Well, a marine was murdered this Saturday and we're just looking for answers", Gibbs said:

"He was seen here about five months ago", he added and looked at the man, who tilted his head:

"And what exactly do you think I know about that? Ask Alexis, she's the one with the guest lists", he said and looked at Gibbs, who still had a skew smile on his face. He narrowed his eyes a bit as he dropped the photo of the victim on the desk:

"Know him?", he asked and studied the man's facial expression. There seemed to be nothing there. Other than that he hadn't shaved for a couple of days, it seemed.

"Yeah, I recognize him. Pretty bizarre guy... liked to be tied up, hah!", he said and coughed a bit.

"You like poetry, Mr...? I never did get your name", Gibbs said and placed his palms on the desk, leaning towards the man.

"Name's Clarence Buchanan. And no, poetry is for weak souls", he just said as if he didn't give a damn about the situation. He was actually a good looking guy with dark hair and brown eyes, slim and pretty muscular – but he seemed to have quite an addiction to booze and cigarettes. Everywhere were empty og half-empty liquor bottles and cigarette butts.

"Do you think of yourself as a weak soul, Mr Buchanan?", he just asked as he pierced the man with his ice blue eyes. A hoarse laugh came from the man:

"Hell no... Mr Gibbs, poetry are for losers like Poe and Shakespeare and all that shit", he said and looked at Tony who was kind of snooping around.

"It seems to go well with the ladies though", Tony said, but Buchanan immediately interrupted him:

"Don't you go mess up my shit! If you wanna search, get a damn warrant", he said and lit up another cigarette. Gibbs sighed and straightened back up.

"He's right, DiNozzo", he said and walked back to the door.

"Let's get some lunch, I'm starving", Tony said as they walked out of the door. However Gibbs turned around and looked at the man, holding out his business card:

"Call me on this number if you want to talk", he said and placed the card on a shelf by the door.
They then closed the door and headed back downstairs and to the car.

As they drove off, Tony rubbed his chin:

"Why send us a poem??", he said as if he was talking to himself.

"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling", Gibbs said shortly and Tony's eyebrow shot up:

"How so, boss?", he asked, but Gibbs didn't answer.

**

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18th, 5.00 PM

As Tony and Gibbs walked into the office, Tony turned to his boss:

"I understand that you want to solve this, but my stomach is killing me here! I need to eat!", he said and looked almost pleadingly at his boss.

"There are candy bars in McGee's drawer", Gibbs just said as he placed his hands on Tim's desk:

"What have you got on the UPS delivery, McGee?", he asked as Tony sat himself down by his desk with a rumbling stomach.

"Well, the stamps on the parcel are dated Wednesday, February 17th at 5pm. Normal shipping hours. I called UPS and asked, and they said that the parcel came from Louisville, Kentucky. It was brought to the UPS near Lousville Waterfront Park and it was demanded that it was sent as a special, anonomous delivery", McGee said and watched as Gibbs sighed:

"Pretty good, but who delivered it to the UPS?", he asked and McGee looked at his desk:

"It was left on the door mat along with a pretty big amount of money, Boss", he said as his cheeks flushed with red. Everyone jumped as Gibbs slammed his fist down on mcGee's desk:

"Dammit!!!", he yelled and walked towards the elevator. Everyone fell completely silent...