Chapter 4
A/N: Okay, so sorry for not being able to update for a few days. I promise though that I will find more time to write! And hey, the story is picking up- hopefully the agents will come to some sort of finding this time! Hope you enjoy! Thanks for the small wait!
Gibbs struts into the squadroom with McGee at his heels. He had gotten Ducky's call only about ten minutes ago and he had already began wondering what was up. He needed answers and he needed them now.
"McGee, I want you to talk to Mr. Phax's wife. See what she knows. I'm going to go check with Duck and Abs." He asserts, before heading back towards the elevator again.
McGee watches him go before heading towards his desk.
Great. I really didn't want to be the one interrogating this Rebecca Phax woman.. He thinks mildly to himself. He then glances towards Tony and Ziva's desks.
Huh.
Now where have they gone? He questions.
Perhaps they found another lead?
Who knows.
He pushes his chair into his desk before making his way towards the interrogation rooms. Time for some answers.
"Duck, what do you-" Gibbs begins as he practically leaps into autopsy with curiosity buzzing through his head for vital answers- except he is cut short at the loss of his friend from the room.
Ducky was not in autopsy.
Hmm. Gibbs then turns on his heel and takes the elevator to Abby's lab.
Once the doors slide open, he hurries into her room where oddly enough there was no music playing loudly.
Something was definitely up.
His eyes however does come to finally meet both Abby and Ducky; their figures practically shoulder to shoulder as they stood in front of one of Abby's machines as if on edge for some sort of explanation.
Within moments Abby's head looks up at her newest visitor. "Gibbs!" She greets before rushing towards him for a usual hug.
Ducky now raises his head as well and gives an acknowledging nod towards his friend. "Jethro, you've managed to arrive just in time." He beckons Gibbs over with a hand before turning back towards Abby's machine.
"Duck, what's going on?" Gibbs questions as he comes to stand by his Scottish friend- with Abby at his side.
"Well, Ducky found some of this stuff on our dead Lance Corporal's hands. And he wanted me to run it, so now we're waiting for my Major Mass Spec to finish analyzing the substance so that we know what we're exactly dealing with." Abby explains hurriedly, before adding, "And I WILL get back to the evidence downstairs... it's just that Ducky really wanted me to-" She's cut off though from her rambling by Gibbs.
"Hey, so what is going on?" He asks again- clearly not understanding the situation at hand.
Ducky takes the wheel this time and exhales. "Well I was going through with the autopsy rather casually, until I noticed this substance upon our dead marine's hands Jethro. I mean, I don't know what is it or what it might be just yet, but my guess is that this stuff is perhaps the reason for our marine's demise." He concludes with a firm nod and at this Gibbs frowns before shifting on his feet.
It was a lot to take in.
"Wait, so you're telling me that our guy didn't die from gunshot wounds?" Gibbs questions next, his eyes stern.
Ducky only gives a mutual nod in reply.
It is then when finally Abby's Major Mass Spec gives a loud blaring beep.
Abby is instantly at the machine's side and is practically coddling it. "See? See how fast he decides to work with an audience, guys?" Abby grins while Ducky and Gibbs just stare at her. She then lets her smile fall before turning towards the machine.
"Might we know what we've found my dear?" Ducky asks rather impatiently as Abby simply goes to view the results finally.
She nods before turning to her computers next and she hurriedly busies herself away with typing. Gibbs and Ducky shift into a better viewing position before sharing a glance with one another.
They were about to finally get some answers.
McGee lets out a rather bothersome sigh as he grips the door handle to the interrogation room where Rebecca Phax awaited him. He needed to make this smooth and perhaps gain some answers from her because Gibbs did not seem too happy earlier...
We could all use some real answers here. He tells himself pensively.
He takes one more deep breath before finally opening the door. A confused and rather worried looking Rebecca Phax sits painfully erect within her chair; her eyes gleaming with fear.
"W-What's going on? Where is Jerry? Did something happen to him?" She immediately begins vomiting up questions at McGee and the Probie just gives her a look as he takes a seat within the authoritative chair across from her.
"My name is Special Agent Timothy McGee, and I am-" McGee tries to introduce himself slowly, not wanting to frighten the woman at any cost, but Rebecca only cuts him off- her voice taut with arising dismay.
"No, I want to know what I am doing here sir. Please, what is this about?" She snaps and McGee could tell that she was on the brink of tears- her voice cracking between words.
For goodness sake, she needs to cool down. McGee thinks rather irritably. They were never going to get anywhere with her cutting him off like she did.
"Hey, I am here to help, Mrs. Phax. Just calm down." McGee assures her and the woman sniffles a bit, glancing around rather awkwardly. She tries to get herself together before glancing back at her questioner.
"Well, what am I doing in here?" She finally steadies her voice and McGee feels a small sense of relief wash over him.
Rebecca had red-brown hair that came down to her shoulders and large hazel eyes. She still seemed like she were about to break out into tears at any given second and she wasn't even too appealing to look at. She didn't look like much of a suspect...
Could she really have murdered her own husband? Her? McGee thinks to himself in much disbelief.
He then just shakes his head of his thoughts and forces himself to focus on the interrogation. "So, um, Mrs. Phax, when was the last time you saw your husband?" He sets the role with his first question and this causes for Rebecca to shake a little- perhaps out of her being so upset.
"I-I saw him yesterday evening. That's when I last saw him..." She trails off as if deep in thought and McGee is staring at her. "Anything else? More details? Like, what time exactly?" He asks firmly.
The woman gapes for a moment before shrugging. "Around three? Three in the afternoon I think?" She begins stuttering a bit and McGee starts to feel a little impatient.
This is going nowhere. He thinks before writing down the time she had given him upon a small notepad.
Keep calm Tim.
He then returns his gaze onto her. "You are aware that your husband is..." He bravely tries to inform her of her loss but he can't pull himself to do it. How could she not have already known though? If this were true of her not knowing, then perhaps she really wasn't the suspect.
Rebecca stiffens and her eyes harden now, clearly she held a sense of what was going on. "Is Jerry alright? Is he missing? D-Don't tell me he's dead..." She practically chokes out her last words before turning to look at the wall to her left.
McGee bites his tongue simply before nodding slowly. "H-he was found... dead this morning in a grocery store named 'Foods Fresh From Afar'." McGee finally releases the info, and immediately Rebecca lets out a startling gasp.
"Foods Fresh From Afar?! What?! Jerry is dead?!" She obviously is familiar with the store. "B-But I always shop there!" She wheezes, as if her whole life has been a lie or something...
"Yes. I am sorry for your loss. I-" McGee tries to console her but she places a hand to her mouth and begins to sob.
She groans in agony while staring at the table- her expression going emotionless.
With this though, McGee has finally had enough.
He rises to his feet and gives her a look. "Mrs. Phax we need your cooperation to help catch whoever may have murdered your husband." He explains with a rather small voice. He didn't feel right exactly yelling at someone who was only crying over someone they had lost.
I can't handle this... McGee concludes, and with this he heads for the door- leaving one sobbing Rebecca Phax to sit in the interrogation room alone.
Once the door closes behind him though he sighs. He looks at his notepad to see that he only had one piece of info written down.
Gibbs is gonna kill me. He thinks wretchedly. However, he had at least found something out throughout his time with Mrs. Phax.
She obviously didn't kill her own husband... He decides simply before heading off down the hallway. Perhaps someone else like Tony could get more out of the woman later on. As of now? McGee was finished with her.
Ziva yanks the car to a halt before gladly shifting into park. They had finally made it back to the grocery store where the murder had taken place at. Beside her, Tony whips his door open and leaps out into the open air before stretching wildly- his head tipping back to let out a dramatic yell. "I lived! I can't believe it!" He screeches before casting her a look.
Ziva only smirks before going around to the trunk to gather their things.
"This is going to be fun..." Tony mutters as he comes to stand beside her; his arms reaching for his backpack.
Ziva rolls her eyes and scoffs. "It seriously cannot be that bad for you, can it?"
Tony only blinks at her before zipping up his NCIS jacket. "Yes actually, it is! It's freezing in there, if you hadn't noticed!" He grits his teeth before turning his gaze towards the grocery store. All was quiet- except for the occasional drive by of a car.
Ziva closes the trunk once they have retrieved all that they needed before locking the car and shoving the keys into her back pocket.
She leads the way towards the building- the place where the strange murder had taken place at.
Tony follows rather hesitantly on her heels, his arms already wrapping themselves around his body to brace himself against the cold air that would soon hit his skin.
The Israeli goes for the door before pulling it open- her eyes darting into the large open room.
Just like last time, the grocery store is dark with no lights illuminating their way. And of course, Ziva instantly feels the blast of cold air come and bite at her face; her eyes going to her partner's.
"This place..." She trails off and Tony only nods- completely understanding her attempt to explain herself.
"Very creepy and ominously chilling? Yeah, I picked that up the first time I was here with McGee." He grimaces before stepping all the way into the building.
He whips out a flashlight this time- his preparedness causing for him to loosen a small smile for a moment.
Ziva follows him directly at his side, their arms practically touching as they advance into the large food store.
Nothing but the sounds of their footsteps echoes off of the walls- and both of the agents' eyes are darting every which way.
Ziva pauses in her movement for a moment before whispering, "So, which aisle are we going for?"
Tony looks to his partner before responding. "Well the murder was on aisle six." He remarks, and this causes for Ziva's eyes to glance towards the numbers that loomed above each aisle. She sets her gaze to six before heading towards it, Tony at her heels.
"Actually Ziva, perhaps Gibbs wants us to check the perimeter too. Maybe we should inspect every aisle while we're here. Make sure nothing was missed." The senior agent suggests rather thoughtfully and Ziva only nods before peering down aisle six. Darkness made it hard for her to see, so she immediately grabs her own flashlight from her pack before shining it down the walkway.
As Abby had previously mentioned, food still lined the aisle in every direction. Obviously this was the evidence that needed to be collected.
"Okay, so should we go back and try aisle one?" Ziva asks before turning to shine her flashlight at Tony. He squints at the light before just giving a nod.
Ziva begins heading back over towards the first food aisle when suddenly there comes a noise- followed by a quick grunt.
A heavy object had fallen close by, causing for the loud clamor to echo off of the walls.
Ziva nearly bolts before jerking on her heels towards Tony, her mind whirling on the possibilities of what was going on.
"Tony?" She gapes. Her sudden adrenaline for the noise however vanishes as she notices her partner gripping at his hand. His flashlight was on the ground- its light blinking as if threatening to go out.
"Tony, what's wrong?" Ziva questions quickly. She breathes a sigh of relief as she comes to realize that the sound had only been Tony dropping his flashlight though.
She walks back towards the agent before becoming overwhelmed with uneasiness at his frowning face. Something was wrong.
"Tony? What is it?" She asks again before going to pick up his flashlight for him, her eyes gluing to her partner.
Tony only stutters before finally grunting again- his attention all for his hands. "I-I'm itching again Zi... Badly!" He admits at last, before going to scratch at his skin. Ziva furrows her eyebrows out of worry for him before going to examine his peculiar hands. She shines the flashlight at him hurriedly.
What is going on...? She tries to calm herself but she cannot and she lets out a small gasp at what she finds.
Fear edges its way into her emotions as she notices Tony's hands were beginning to swell a little. They also looked rather red.
Ziva frowns and Tony only continues scratching his itch, bewilderment clouding both of their eyes. "Tony?! What's happening to you?!"
"What does it say, Abs?" Gibbs asks in a rather demanding tone. It had taken the girl some time to sort through the specific atom types involving the substance but now she was ready to introduce Ducky's findings to everyone.
"Okay so... if I am correct, this stuff seems to be..." She trails off as her computer finds a match as to what the substance is and she blinks at the screen.
"It's... a type of poison." She finally concludes, and both Gibbs and Ducky shift forward a bit so that they can get a better look.
"Oh, this is some nasty stuff." She remarks before going to continue, her voice shaking a little. "First off, I found some urushiol in the substance. It's like a highly allergenic toxin like whats found in poison ivy." She pauses before going on. "Other contents contain sap of the Manchineel tree as well as some extracts of the oleander plant. Both plants are deadly toxic and can sometimes be lethal if ingested or touched." She finishes her explanation, her eyes growing wide. "T-This is a major mixture of some deadly toxins guys. I mean, goodness!" She breathes as she then turns to Ducky, her heart-rate racing.
"So, do you think this is how he died?" She asks horrendously, and Ducky gives a steady nod. "Well, I'll have to prove my beliefs with the rest of the autopsy; however, I did find that the man's heart had stopped beating sincerely before the bullets were fired." Ducky explains with another glance at Abby's computer screen.
"Yeah? So what was this stuff doing on our marine's hands?" Gibbs states, his eyes fixing on Abby and then onto Ducky.
Abby bites her lip and Ducky only shrugs. "Well beats me Jethro. Perhaps he touched something that already held the poisonous substance on it?" The doctor tries to theorize appropriately but Gibbs wasn't in to assuming. He wanted real answers.
He exhales before looking to Abby again- the new info causing for the gears in his head to churn.
Poison? Really? He shakes his head before shifting on his feet.
"Abs, get back to working with the evidence- call me if you find something." He demands, and Abby gives him a worrying look. "Yes Sir." She tries a small salute before slowly heading for the door. Gibbs however frowns before adding, "And make sure this stuff isn't on any of the evidence!"
This causes for Abby to stop dead in her tracks though.
The evidence.
The dead marine had been handling the food items- therefore the stuff had to be on some of the evidence downstairs...
Her heart practically skips a beat as she suddenly thinks back to Tony and Ziva.
I-I had asked for them to help with the evidence... but had they been wearing any gloves?!
Her mind is reeling now. She needed to remember- or Tony and Ziva could be in dire danger!
Gibbs all the while turns to Ducky as Abby is still pondering madly- neither of the men thinking nothing of her hesitant presence. "Hopefully whatever this guy was touching won't be consistent to what we've been dealing with, right?" Gibbs tries to gain some light on the dire subject but all Ducky can do is give him a look.
"Well, all I can think to suggest is for everyone to use gloves? I mean, I don't know where he had exactly gotten the substance... let's just hope we find out soon enough before any one of us touches the item that holds the deadly toxic."
It all made much more sense to Ducky though. His preliminary thinking had been correct. The marine had not in fact died of the gunshot wounds.
I need to get back to the body and see if I can uncover anything else that may be of use for us. And just at Ducky's final thoughts, Abby jerks her body back around and into the lab again- her eyes frantic and her heart racing.
"G-Guys!" She yells, and both Gibbs and Ducky instantly look to her.
"What is it, Abs?"
The Goth is trying to find the right words. She had practically placed her teammates in danger!
"T-Tony and Ziva! They helped me earlier today with sorting through the evidence!" She tries to explain, but neither Ducky nor Gibbs was catching on.
"And...?" Ducky raises an eyebrow. "Look Abigail, as long as nobody 'touches' the items with the toxin on-" but Abby cuts the doctor off.
"I-I can't exactly recall the two going to put on gloves! I think they touched the evidence!"
A/N: Finally! Found the time to write! And I made sure to make it a long chapter! Sorry for the wait!
Interesting though, right? Yes, it was poison. And now the team is in a sticky situation :) What will happen to Tony and Ziva?