Tony glanced up occasionally, while he continued working at his desk on paperwork related to the crime scene and Colletti case.
But Gibbs didn't seem to notice. He seemed like he was trying to be busy. And answering emails, if the several times pounding his keyboard was any indicator.
Finally, he stood up, with an impatient growl, looking directly at McGee. "You find anything else yet on Colletti, McGee?"
Tim looked up, wide-eyed and a bit startled, "N-no. Not yet Boss." McGee had honestly not found much to help the case, and had been intently concentrating on his searches.
"Grassman?" Gibbs said next, as Tony stood up and walked towards them, knowing the lead Agent was growing frustrated.
"Ah…well…Grassman and his wife Joanie have lived on the estate for fifteen years. They have a daughter, Michelle, who they filed a missing persons on last year in November. She's 25, and the case was closed when she was found to be living in LA with her boyfriend. Nothing more was written up on that. Grassman has two drunk and disorderlies, and one DUI all within the last three years. Joanie Grassman has a clean record. She is employed at a Finance One Bank n Middleton. Grassman is employed as an equine veterinarian in his own business…for some very high end clients, owning anything from stock breeds to racehorses."
Gibbs continued to stare at him.
"I'll…ah…keep looking…"McGee murmured while going back to his screen.
As Gibbs was about to say something else, Tony said, "Hey, I bet Abby's got somethin' Boss…" he smiled cheerfully, wincing very slightly as Gibbs turned the glare toward him.
"Yeah, DiNozzo? Hope you win that bet," he said gruffly, storming out of the bullpen towards the Lab, with Tony trailing after, shooting McGee a reticent look.
Marilyn Manson.
"Of course, suits the case," Tony said to himself softly with a small chuckle, as they entered the lab.
The music was loud as per the usual, as they approached and saw her looking through a scope, tapping her 5" heeled black boot on the floor, while various machines twirled and hummed around her, drowned out by "The Dope Show". Onscreen, in full Technicolor as one of the photos of the odd symbols that had been burnd into Colletti's skin.
Gibbs perched the Caf-Pow on the counter next to her, as she actually jumped back a bit, clutching her heart.
"GIBBS! It is NOT NICE to sneak up on an Abby like that!" she was slightly breathless as she looked at him intently with her pale eyes.
Then she looked at the Caf-Pow, "Of course, all can be forgiven, now that you have brought me the nectar," she grabbed the cup and took a sip, "of the Gods." Then she took a breath and smiled a little wanly. She grabbed the remote to turn down the music.
"You spooked, Abs?" Gibbs asked her gently, with his head tilted.
Tony was interested in the answer, since not much scared Abby. Besides the Caf-Pow machine running out. And being forced to wear anything from Dress Barn.
She hesitated for a moment. "Well, this case…it's a little hinky. And by hinky, this time I mean super creepy and extra yucky. Or maybe, I should come up with another word besides hinky, that describes super creepy and extra yucky?" She caught Gibbs' brow going up. "And I'll work on that...after we solve this case."
Tony smiled. "What have you got, Abs?"
She walked to her monitor. "Well, I have a lot still running in the machines, between the body itself, the blood and tissue sample, the footprints from the scene…which by the way were many, so I don't have the full picture on those yet. But I guess first I will start with the symbols." She stood at her keyboard, placing her black painted fingertips on it.
Gibbs and Tony got closer as she spoke and scrolled through the symbol photos.
"Each one is a blend of an Enochian glyph, and an astrological symbol," she began, blinking under her dark bangs.
"Hmmm. The Elf Lord was right," Tony murmured, as Gibbs glared at him to shut up before turning back to the screen.
"Well, this is unusual because, most pagans who go in this direction, would not blend Enochian symbols with astrology, since the Enochian symbols already have astrology mapped in."
"What does that mean?" Gibbs asked.
"The angels themselves have planetary rulerships, so one would be the ruler of Mars, or Jupiter, etc. And just to clarify Enochian, which is called the language of angels, and was created by John Dee who was sort of a scientist-slash-magician, and Edward Kelly, a medium, in the late 16th century. They claimed to transcribe the language through direct contact with angels…but of course, that's up for debate. They claimed this was the universal language before the Confusion of Tongues at the Tower of Babel. But…anyway – the symbols and language are used by different pagan groups, sometimes including people from formal organizations like the Golden Dawn or generally Wiccans studying all forms of occult knowledge…but…"she bit her lip a little.
"But what, Abs?" Gibbs asked softly.
"Gibbs," she turned to him, dismayed, "this really upsets me. I mean, besides the fact that someone is dead…because even though I go to church and believe in God, I believe in us. As in us. Our country, and our right to believe however we feel we should. I have friends who are Wiccan, and also who practice shamanism…they do not believe in hurting others...and when this happens," she turned and faced the screen, "some people associate this kind of horrible twisted action with all pagans. It's…unfair…"
Gibbs looked away for a moment, and Tony couldn't read what that meant.
"Anyway, unfortunately," she sighed, "the man who wrote the Satanic Bible-"
"Anton LaVey," Gibbs stated quietly.
Tony could feel his eyes widen a bit along with Abby's this time as they both stared at Gibbs.
"-Ah…yes, good…guess….I guess…Bossman, Anton LaVey, who wrote the Satanic Bible, included some of the symbols in it." She stared at Gibbs a moment longer, but he gave nothing else away, his blue eyes locked back onto the screen. Tony shrugged behind Gibbs and shook his head, as she frowned slightly. "Ok well," she turned back, "all five of the symbols represent angels of the elements, plus one that represents and angelic soldier, positioned on earth, named Castael. That is the symbol placed at the base of the throat. Each symbol has been combined, very specifically and uniquely," she clicked, showing them a two color drawing of each symbol, indicating the Enochian and combined astrological sign. "One with Mars, one with Jupiter, one Mercury, one Saturn. And the one for Castael has a symbol for Earth combined into it. It's like…double power. Or what the killer thinks is double power. Originally I thought this was a cult. And then later I thought, no…how many real cults do we come across?….but then looking at the symbols, and the way this poor guy was killed…"
"Genuine nuts, surely gone' fishin'," Tony said quietly.
"Yup," she nodded her head.
Gibbs remained quiet, looking at the symbols onscreen, almost as mesmerized as he was in the morning by looking at the actual body.
Abby looked at Gibbs worriedly, without him seeming to notice. Tony caught her eye again, nodding slightly for her to continue as he shifted on his feet a little.
"I know Ducky already told you the brands were given at set intervals, and I'm thinking once a week, on a specific day based on some related planetary or angelic association, and the last one, was given right before death." She turned to a different computer. "Which brings us to toxicology."
"How does a guy, get branded like that, and murdered without some signs of resistance?" Tony asked.
"I believe I can answer that," Ducky's voice chimed in suddenly. He walked over looking at Abby's screen, reading it for a moment. "Yes…I was guessing that was the culprit." He turned to them, a small bit of light reflecting off his glasses. "In looking closer at the samples of the Lance Corporal's organs and muscle tissue, I could see a good bit of damage and even cellular death. The liver and kidneys appeared as if they suffered a bout with hyperpyrexia."
Tony frowned while Gibbs just listened.
"Extremely high fever," Abby translated.
"Yes, exactly," Ducky continued, "but my first assumption was that the was some kind of depressant drug involved, due to the amount of blood still in the body…in all actuality with a throat gash like that, I was surprised the poor boy still had anything left. But in all actuality his body functions were sluggish because his organs had begun shutting down."
"He was already dead, even if they didn't cut him," Gibbs said softly.
"Yes, Jethro. And instead of a tranquilizer or depressant we have our familiar nemesis, methylenedioxy N methyl-"
"MDMA," Abby said, translating again, "ecstasy."
"So," Tony questioned, "he didn't fight back because the EX made him…what, too relaxed or happy to care what was happening to him?"It sent a chill up his spine, imagining poor Colletti, oblivious to his own impending doom, confused...had he been conscious when they seared his flesh?
Gibbs looked up curiously at Abby and Ducky.
"Well, at first…"Abby said thoughtfully, "he probably was giddy and happy, probably a little agitated, but, I think they gave him a lot so he was just…out of it. And then probably had a high fever…making him listless. He may have been lucid for some of the time but I think drugged during the...branding sessions at least..."
"Yes, precisely," Ducky said, rubbing his chin a bit. "And Abby's report shows a thorough overdose…at the point of death, thankfully, the lad knew nothing. I was surprised however…that there was not so much dehydration, or water intoxication, but perhaps the Lance Corporal's requests for water were denied only until the drugged water was given. Based on his physical condition before death and what is shown on his medical records file, he lost some twenty odd pounds from his last physical dated six months ago…we can suspect they did not feed him much, or just enough to keep him alive for their…purposes." Ducky scowled at the end. "This was almost…methodical..."
"Speaking of what they fed him," Abby said and then sighed again. She turned and pulled up another screen, as Ducky looked closer at it. "Stomach contents…well…content…was…human blood." She looked somberly at Gibbs and Tony, as Ducky's brows raised at the information on the screen. "And it wasn't his."
