Chapter Four : A Shot in the Heart
It was 8 o'clock in the morning on a Thursday in May, and Petty Officer Sarah Miles-Potter got up from her bed, and saw that her husband hadn't come home last night yet. Harry was out celebrating with his fellow graduates after graduating from college yesterday. She walked out the bedroom, and found Friday sleeping soundly by Brian's crib. "Come on, Friday," she whispered. The dog perked up, and followed Sarah to the balcony door. Sarah opened the sliding door, and the dog hurried down the patio steps into the yard. 'Guess she really had to go,' Sarah thought. She closed the door, and headed outside. She opened the garage door for Harry knowing she would be out when he would come home. His garage door opener has been on the fritz, and they haven't gotten a new one yet.
She found Brian wide awake, and ready for his morning bottle when she walked back into his nursery. She picked him up while cooing at him, and carried him to the kitchen. She took a bottle from the fridge, and stuck it in the microwave to heat up. While she waited for the milk to warm up, she grabbed her shopping list to make sure she had everything on it that she needed. It was going to be a quick stop at the market. The microwave beeped, signaling the milk was done. Balancing Brian on her hip, she got the bottle out of the microwave, and tested it on her arm. Satisfied with the temperature, she began the feeding process. Brian took the bottle nipple, and began to suckle the warm milk down. Sarah chuckled as Brian smiled at her with Harry's smile. She looked out the window to check Friday who was barking at a squirrel up in a tree before pulling the finished bottle out of Brian's mouth. "All full?" she asked her son, turning him onto her shoulder. She lightly pat his back, and she was rewarded with a burp. "That's my boy," she cooed. "Alright, mommy's going to take a shower while you sit in your play pen." She carried Brian to his nursery, and sat him in his play pen.
Sarah left the door open so she could watch him, and went to the bathroom across the hall. She turned the water on, and began to take her clothes off. Stepping into the shower, she began her with her hair, and never heard the phone ring. 'This is Harry and Sarah, and little Brian. We can't come to the phone right, but if you leave your name and message we'll get back to you.' their machine message played, and then there was the beep.
"Hey, baby, it's me," Harry's voice rang through the house. "You're either in the shower or still sleeping. I'm on my way home, so I'll see you soon. If you leave before I get there, I still haven't gotten my garage button to work, so if you'll leave the door open, that'll be great. Love you, give kisses to Bri." The message ended and Brian giggled. Sarah finished with her shower, and wrapped a towel around her body. She dried her hair, and went into her and Harry's bedroom, giving Brian a little wave as she passed him. After getting dressed, she went into Brian's nursery to grab him, and yelled out when she saw someone who didn't belong in the house.
"Who are you?" she asked. "Get out of my house!" The stranger lunged at her in fury and anger, and there was a struggle. All Sarah could think of was to protect Brian. She lashed at her attacker's face, slashing the side of it, drawing blood. She was smacked in the face with a gun, and fell to the floor. Brian let out a distress cry, and tried to reach for his mom through the play pen. Sarah got up on her knees before feeling the barrel of a gun at the side of her head.
"Say goodbye to your son," her attacker said.
"Please don't hurt him," she pleaded.
"I'm only interested in you." And with that, the attacker's finger pulled the trigger, and Sarah fell to the floor with a bullet in her head. Brian's cries got louder at the gunshot, and a hand rested on his head. "Daddy'll be home soon." The killer took one last look at Sarah's dead stare before leaving the room, not seeing the footprint that was left in Sarah's blood. Brian could only look at his dead mother, getting no response to his cries. He tried cooing at her, knowing she liked it when he did it, but got no response. The phone rang down in the living room, and the machine picked up. Soon, Harry's voice was heard again.
"Hey, I got a flat on the highway," he said. "I'll get it changed and be there soon. If you want, I can go with you to the market. Sarah? You there?" The message ended at that, and Brian was left alone again.
Harry sighed as he finished changing the tire, and climbed back into his car. He drove for another fifteen minutes, and called Sarah on her cellphone. It went straight to voice mail, something that rarely happens. "Sarah? I'm calling to tell you I'm officially on my way, tire fixed and everything. Call me when you get this, okay?" He pulled off the highway, and headed toward Georgetown. It was another fifteen minutes to their house, depending on the traffic, and from the looks of things, he was going to be awhile. He pulled out his cellphone again, and dialed Sarah's number. He got voice mail again. Now he was really worried. He hung up without leaving a message, and called the house. He got the machine. "Sarah, it's Harry. Are you okay? Hello? Call me, I'm getting worried." He finally made it through the traffic, and pulled onto 34th St. He found his house awful quiet. The garage door was open, and he pulled in. He found the door to the house inside the garage unlocked, and headed in calling out for his wife. "Sarah?!" he shouted. Just then, he heard Brian's crying, and it wasn't his hungry cry. He was able to tell between Brian's sad cries and hungry cries, and whatnot, and he ran upstairs. He made it to the nursery, and nearly screamed at the sight of his wife on the floor. "Sarah? No, no, no, no, no." He felt the tears coming as he checked her neck for a pulse, even though he knew it was pointless. He knew a gunshot wound when he saw one after working an internship at the FBI building. He looked to Brian, and picked up his son. He checked for any injuries but found none. He stepped out of the nursery knowing it was a crime scene, and pulled out his cellphone. He dialed 911, and reported it to police. "My wife's been shot. She's dead."
Several minutes later, two police officers came to the house. They took Harry's statement, asking him some questions about his wife. Harry told them she was just a petty officer who was a clerk for the Judge Advocate General office, and that she really didn't have any enemies. "At least, I thought she didn't," he said sadly as he cradled Brian closer to him. "It makes me sick that this bastard did this in front of our son." The officer nodded before going over to the detective who just came in.
"Victim was in the navy," he whispered to him, "Looks like a job for NCIS." The detective nodded and had the officer call it in to NCIS.
Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs walked into the Potter home with his mind made up on the case; the husband did it. However, the moment he saw Harry Potter crying and sniffling on the couch, with the young baby on the floor at his feet, he changed his mind. Agent Gibbs was the head agent in the General Crimes Unit in NCIS. He's been with NCIS for 16 years, and was a former Marines sniper. He was one of the best agents in NCIS. He sent Special Agent Vivian Blackadder up to process the crime scene as he walked over to talk to Harry. "Mr. Potter?" Harry looked up to the agent who's hand was out. "Special Agent Gibbs." Harry lightly shook Gibbs hand, and allowed him to sit down next to him. "I'm sorry we couldn't meet under better circumstances."
"I know."
"I know you gave a statement to the police, but I'm going to need to hear it, too," he said. "I'll be investigating your wife's murder." Harry nodded as Gibbs got out a pencil and pad.
"I was out celebrating my graduation with friends," he said. "I didn't get away until this morning. I called the house, but got the machine, so I left a message thinking nothing was wrong at the time." Gibbs nodded. "I got a flat tire on the way home, and I called the house, and got the machine again. I was a little worried, and I even called out to her."
"Did your wife have any plans today?"
"Just going to the market," Harry said.
"Go ahead."
"I called her cellphone when I came off the highway, but got her voicemail which is rare because she always answers her cellphone."
"What happened after you got home?" he asked seeing his ME coming in with his assistant.
"I pulled into my garage, and got into the house. I knew something was wrong from the way Brian was crying out. I ran upstairs to his nursery to find Sarah ..." he trailed off not being able to say anything more. Gibbs nodded as he finished up. Vivian had finished processing the scene, and signaled for Gibbs.
"Sit tight, Mr. Potter," he said. Harry nodded as Gibbs patted his knee. The agent stood up, and walked over to his younger agent. "What's up?"
"I found a bloody footprint, but it looks too small for a Male's," she said giving Gibbs the print she got off the floor. He looked at it before giving it back to her.
"Killer was female," he said. Viv nodded. "So, are we looking at jealousy here?"
"Could be," she said. "Someone who felt that Mr. Potter belonged with them instead of the petty officer."
"If this person wanted to have a family with Mr. Potter, they would've killed his son, too." Viv nodded her head in agreement. "Get everything you have to Abby."
"Right away." Gibbs headed up to the nursery, and knelt next to Ducky.
"What's up, Ducky?" he asked. Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard was the medical examiner for NCIS, and has none Gibbs for ten years. Originally he's from Scotland, and went to Eton College and Edinburgh College. Before becoming an American citizen, he work as the ME for the Scotland Yard, and then came to America. He was known to start stories in the middle of case.
"Cause of death seems pretty obvious, Jethro," he said. "Single gunshot wound to the head. The bullet entered here above her left ear. It appears she was forced into a kneeling position in front of her son."
"Sick bastard shot her in front of her son," Gibbs said. "The last thing she saw was her crying baby." He let out a sigh of disgust. "How long ago?"
"No less than a couple of hours ago I'm afraid, Jethro," Dr. Mallard said. "Her hair is still wet from her morning shower. What did the husband have to say?"
"He didn't do it, Ducky," Gibbs said, "His tears are real, and he wouldn't take his son's mother away."
"I'll know more when I get her back to autopsy," Ducky said.
"All right. Carry on, Ducky." Gibbs headed back down to the living room, and sat back down close to Harry. "Did your wife have any enemies?"
"Not that I know of," he said. "I mean, she worked at JAG as a clerk for the commanding officer there. Everyone loved her, or so I thought," he added. Gibbs nodded as he wrote everything down.
"You're going to have to come down to NCIS with us to make an official statement."
"Okay." Sarah's body was handled carefully, and taken to the NCIS building in the Washington Navy Yard. Harry rode with Gibbs with Brian in the backseat strapped in his car seat. While Viv took Harry's official statement in the squad room, Gibbs walked down to the morgue to find Ducky talking with Sarah's corpse. Something he did a lot.
"That's quite a handsome boy you have up there, my dear," he said. "He'll grow up to be big and strong like your husband. I guarantee it."
"You called for me, Ducky?" Gibbs asked.
"Yes, I did," he said. "I found a nine millimeter slug in the petty officer's head. It attached itself in her right lobe. It's in pristine condition, too." Ducky went around to pick up Sarah's right hand. "She also had skin and blood under her fingernails."
"She fought back," he said.
"Yes, and it looks like she dug deep, too. Her killer will have scratches no doubt. I also sent those samples up to Abby for analysis." Ducky carefully turned Sarah's head to the side to show something else to Gibbs. "She was rewarded for her fighting back. The gun that killed her left an imprint on her face here."
"She fought back hard then," Gibbs said.
"Precisely," Ducky said. "Her only thought was protecting her son."
"We think the killer was female," Gibbs said. "Vivian found a shoe print that looked female."
"Perhaps she was killed out of jealousy," Ducky said. Gibbs nodded as he headed out the door.
"That's good work, Ducky." Gibbs next stop was Abby, his forensic scientist. Now, Abby was not your average scientist. She dressed in goth clothing, had tattoos and wore dark make up. When Gibbs entered Abby's lab, her music was blaring loudly out of her stereo. "ABBY!" he shouted. He walked over to her stereo system, and turned it off.
"Gibbs!" she whined.
"Abby?"
"Alright," she said, "Where's my Caf-Pow?" she asked.
"I'll get one later," he said, "Got a match on the skin and blood yet?"
"Not yet, but I can definitely tell you that the shooter was a woman," she said, "And that she has size nine feet. The shoes she wore were Nike brand tennis shoes, women's of course. There was also some hair in the skin and blood. Your shooter is blond."
"What about the bullet?"
"It was a nine mil. slug that could either come from a Beretta or a Glock. You find the gun and I can match it to the bullet." Gibbs kissed Abby on the cheek which brought a smile to her face.
"Nice work, Abs," he said before leaving.
"Don't forget my Caf-Pow!" she shouted after him.
The next few days were frustrating for Gibbs and his team. They had no leads and no suspects by the beginning of the week. Everytime they did get a suspect, there were no scratches on their neck. Harry moved back into the house on Wednesday after he had Brian's nursery moved to the room on the left, and the old nursery was turned into a guest bedroom. He never went in there. It was on Thursday, after Sarah's funeral, that Harry got a suspicious visitor. Brian had just gone down for a nap, and there was a knock on the door. Harry hurried down the steps, and opened the door to find a blond woman he fairly recognized. "Hi, Harry," she said.
"Amelia?" he asked. Amelia Hart was a medium sized girl who was in Harry's Criminology class. He dated her once before he ended things. She just wasn't his type, but they remained friends, sort of.
"Yeah," she said. "I heard about Sarah, and wanted to express my condolences."
"Oh, thank you," he said. She handed him a dish that she had made. "What's that?" he asked.
"Crab cake casserole," she said. "My mother's recipe."
"I'm allergic to shellfish, Amelia," he said. "I thought you knew that." Amelia turned slightly pink at this, and giggled. Harry was getting a bad vibe off her, and decided to use a little Legillimency to get in her head. He found dark thoughts in her head, and a memory that disturbed him. He quickly got out of her head, and saw the scratch marks on her neck. "What happened there?" he asked pointing at her neck.
"Oh, my cat scratched me," she said. Harry knew she was lying, and just smiled. "Well, I gotta go. I'll see you later."
"Okay." Harry watched her go to her car before closing the door. He picked up his phone, and called Gibbs' number. It rang once before Gibbs picked up. "Agent Gibbs, it's Harry Potter," he said. "I may have some new leads about my wife's case."
Amelia Hart was sitting in an interrogation room twiddling her thumbs. She was nervous, and she had every reason to be. She was now the main suspect in Petty Officer Sarah Miles-Potter's death. She was blond, wore size nine sneakers and the scratch marks on her neck put her in the room. Especially when Abby matched her DNA to the skin and blood. Her alibi was also shaky, and they found the murder weapon in her home. Her head perked up when the door opened, and Agent Gibbs walked in. "Is this going to take long, Agent Gibbs?" she asked. "I have things to do."
"Those things will have to wait twenty five years to life, Ms Hart," Gibbs said.
"What?" she asked.
"You're our suspect in the murder of Petty Officer Sarah Miles-Potter," he said. He revealed a photo of the glock that Vivian found in her apartment. "This Glock was found in your house."
"I've never seen it before."
"It has your fingerprints on it," he said, "and it's the murder weapon."
"I wasn't there," she said, "I was ..."
"At your friends?" he asked. She nodded. "We talked to your friends. They don't remember seeing you in the morning."
"They're lying," she said.
"Petty Officer Miles scratched you when you attacked her," he said showing her the picture of her scratches.
"These are from my cat," she said pointing to her neck.
"You're allergic to cats," Gibbs deadpanned. "Some of your skin and blood were under her fingernails. We matched with the DNA swab we took when you arrived. It also matches the hair we found in the blood and skin." Amelia stayed quiet as Gibbs continued. "We also found the shoes you wore that day," he said putting a picture on the table of her shoes. "You tried to wipe the blood off them, but my forensic scientist found some on the shoe lace, and they match the print we found on the floor."
"What print? I didn't leave any ..." Gibbs smiled knowing he got her. "I mean, I ..."
"Face it, Ms Hart," he said. "I got you." Amelia sighed out in disgust.
"I got to him first," she said.
"Who? The petty officer's husband?" he asked.
"Duh!" she exclaimed to Gibbs like he was stupid.
"If I remember correctly, Mr. Potter broke things up with you after the first date."
"I might have slipped up on the date," she said not sounding like she wanted to talk about it.
"Did you do something embarrassing?" Gibbs asked.
"I may have spilled the wine on his pants."
"That's it?"
"And that whole thing with his precious car was my fault." Behind the observation mirror, Harry stood with Stan Burley watching the interrogation.
"What did happen to your car?" Stan asked.
"She vomited on my new carpet, and then she pulled off a mirror or two."
"Never mess with a man's car," he said. "Yeah, I had that happen to me once. Girl decided to drive me home since I was too drunk, but she didn't know how to drive stick." Harry hissed feeling the man's pain.
"What'd she hit?"
"Telephone pole."
"Ouch." They went back to watching the interrogation which had gotten more revealing.
"I watched my man go to some other woman just days after breaking up with me," Amelia said. "I saw my future with him go down the drain."
"You only went out with him once, Ms Hart," Gibbs said. "How could you have a future with him."
"I loved him. Everything I did was because I loved him."
"So you shot his wife in front of their eight month old son?" Amelia kept silent as Gibbs gathered everything he had put in front of her. "Isn't it amazing what you will do for love?" he asked. "Enjoy prison, Ms. Hart." He grabbed his folder, and left the room.
"It's ironic," Harry said.
"What?" Stan asked.
"That my son lost his mother at eight months and I lost both my parents when I was one," Harry said.
"At least he's got you," the agent said.
"Yeah. Better one parent than none at all?" Harry asked. "I was raised by an abusive aunt and uncle, and look how I turned out."
"You seem all right to me," Stan said.
"Thanks." The door opened to the observation room, and Gibbs walked in.
"Agent Burley, arrest Ms. Hart," he said.
"Sure thing, Gibbs." Stan left the room, and Gibbs turned to Harry cutting the sound off in the interrogation room.
"What were you're plans after graduation?" he asked. "Job wise?"
"Um, well, the FBI said I got a job with them after my internship went well."
"Oh, don't go to them, Potter," he said. "The FBI are assholes, and I know from working with Fornell."
"You know, Agent Fornell did mention something about getting a good investigator before you," Harry said. Gibbs chuckled. "What do you suggest?" he asked.
"Come work here," Gibbs said.
"Here?" Harry asked.
"I could use someone like you on my team with Burley leaving in the fall. You're young, smart and you have an eye for liars, and you'd be good in undercover work."
"Well, I never thought of a career as a naval investigator."
"We also catch terrorists on our days off," Gibbs said catching Harry's eye. "Full health benefits, of course, and it'll officially give you US citizenship."
"I'll have to think about it with Brian being so young."
"Take all this summer if you have to," Gibbs said, "and call me at this number when you made a decision." Gibbs wrote his number down, and handed the card to Harry. Harry took the card, and nodded his thanks to Gibbs.
"Thank you for everything," he said. He stepped out of the observation room where Viv stood waiting for him.
"I've got an agent looking after Brian. Come on, and I'll show you out." She led Harry to the bullpen, where Brian was drawing a lot of attention from the lady agents.
"Hey, my big boy," Harry said. Brian cooed at his father which made all the women aww at him. The baby giggled as his father buckled him in his car seat, and they were escorted out by another agent. Gibbs came up behind Viv, and chuckled.
"I offered Harry a job," he said.
"Really?" Viv asked.
"Yeah, and I think we should expect him sometime in September." Viv chuckled knowing that her boss was always right in these things.