Chapter 4
The pounding dragged Kate out of pleasant dreams, and she groaned as she reluctantly woke up. She hadn't had nearly enough sleep.
"Agent Todd!"
She didn't recognize the voice, but she got up quickly and opened the door, although she was yawning a bit.
"What is it...petty officer?" she asked.
"I'm sorry to wake you, ma'am, but the skipper told me to bring you on deck ASAP."
"What's wrong?"
"He said to bring you, ma'am."
She got it and nodded.
"Give me two minutes, petty officer. I'll be right out."
"Yes, ma'am."
She closed the door and quickly grabbed some clothes. This must be serious. The petty officer seemed upset and the skipper was asking for her presence. Hopefully, there hadn't been another ship lost. ...but if there had, it would hardly require her presence. No, this was something else, and it probably meant she should bring along her nearly-omnipresent bag. Thankfully, she hadn't needed to use it so far. Her investigations had been much more mundane, but this seemed to warrant it.
She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and then opened the door.
"Lead the way, petty officer."
"Yes, ma'am."
He led her out onto the deck. The skipper was there. The CMC and Commander Wood were both on their knees beside a tarp that was flapping in the wind and rain. Standing just out of the rain was a sailor who looked like he wished he was lying down.
"What is it, skipper?" she asked.
Capt. Jones' expression was grave.
"Rossi and Paulson."
The fact that he was pointing to the deck told her basically what she'd see. She walked over and looked down.
The two sailors they'd been discussing before the storm had hit were dead. She could see right away that they were dead. Whatever blood had been shed had mostly been washed away by the storm, but the wounds on their necks were definitely fatal.
"Murder," she said softly.
Commander Wood nodded in agreement.
"I don't see how it could be anything else. Not with their throats cut."
"This isn't what I expected to come from the problems they'd been having," Kate said.
She opened her bag and pulled out a pair of gloves. Then, she pulled out a camera and began to document what she could see.
"How much have they been moved?" she asked.
"I shifted their heads when I got here," Commander Wood said. "Verifying that they were dead. Nothing more. Ensign?"
Kate looked up. Ensign Johnson looked more than a little unstable.
"Feeling all right, Ensign?" she asked, suppressing a smile.
"Yes, ma'am," he said quickly.
"Good. Did you move them?"
"I moved the tarp. It was...tucked around the...bodies, ma'am. I'm sure that they were moved by what I did, but I didn't know they were there! I was just...moving something that was in the wrong place."
"Understood. This tarp?" she asked, pointing to the one still flapping in the wind.
"Yes, ma'am."
"All right. Is there anything else you can tell me?"
Ensign Johnson nodded. Kate stood up quickly.
"What?"
"I was walking to the deck. I'd been in the medical center and...I was...throwing up. I wanted some air."
"I understand," Kate said with a sympathetic smile.
"I was just about to open the door and someone else opened it from the other side."
"Who?"
"I didn't get a look. The person was running and I hit the bulkhead pretty hard. I yelled after him, but I didn't bother chasing him. I figured it was someone who had just realized that he was supposed to be on duty. I went out and took a breath. Then, I saw the tarp. I didn't want it blowing overboard. I tried to pick it up, but it was stuck. I pulled harder and it came loose...and I saw Rossi and Paulson."
"You knew them?"
"I was on duty when they had their fight. So I recognized them from that. I didn't really do anything with them."
"Anything else you can tell me?"
Ensign Johnson started thinking about it. He was clearly taking his time, going through everything he'd seen. Kate appreciated that. She didn't know the ensign, but he seemed to be a careful thinker.
"They were definitely dead when I saw them. I had no doubt of that." He paused again. "The person was...shorter than me, I think. I didn't get a good look, but I'm pretty tall and I'm almost positive that he wasn't as tall as I am." Another pause. "I don't think he had anything in his hands when he passed me. I'm pretty sure his hands were empty."
"Did you notice anything about his clothing?" Kate asked.
"I didn't notice anything standing out as different, and I think I would have since I was annoyed."
"So he was probably in uniform."
"I can't say for sure, but he definitely wasn't wearing anything out of the ordinary."
"All right. Thank you, Ensign."
"It should go without saying, but I don't want to hear that you've been talking about this to anyone, Ensign Johnson," the CMC said sternly.
"Yes, Chief. I really just wanted to get to my bunk. I'm on duty in four hours."
"Then, do it."
"Thank you, Chief."
Ensign Johnson left the deck, and Kate knelt back down beside Commander Wood.
"This just isn't the best thing to be happening right now," she said.
"Is murder ever happening at the right time?"
"No, but sometimes, it's more convenient. There's too much I can't do with what's available here." She stood up. "Skipper, I can't conduct a proper murder investigation on my own. I don't have the resources. I don't have the equipment necessary."
"What do you suggest?"
"Either we have to put the investigation on hold until the storm is over or we get to port...or we get an MCRT out here during the storm to investigate."
"During the storm? That's going to be difficult, Agent Todd. We're in no danger of capsizing, but the rough seas mean rough landings for any aircraft. It could be dangerous."
"I understand, skipper, but those are really our options. I have some equipment, but not much. I can interview people, but I can't process evidence, and with these bodies exposed on deck for who knows how long, we're going to need every possible advantage we can get to figure out who it was that killed Rossi and Paulson. ...and if we wait until we get to port..."
She didn't need to finish.
"Whoever the guilty party is could conceivably escape," the skipper said. "The closer we get to shore, the more likely it will be."
"And once the storm is over, it's more likely that whoever it is could get away even before we get to port."
"I see your point."
Kate didn't want to create any friction between herself and the skipper with this.
"I'll do my best regardless of your decision. If you want to wait, I'll gather as much evidence for processing as I can and start the investigation."
"What needs to be done, regardless of the decision?"
"I need to finish up documenting things here and then we need to get them off the deck and out of the rain before we lose whatever evidence there still is."
"Do it."
"Can I have Commander Wood help me out?"
"Yes... Commander?"
"We've caught up and most of the sailors are getting their sea legs back," Commander Wood said with a smile and a bit of a twinkle in his eye. "I'm happy to help."
Captain Jones nodded to the doctor and then left the deck without giving Kate his answer. She figured he had to weigh his options. She knew that there was danger in bringing someone in at this point, and she knew that the storm would likely blow itself out in another couple of days, but every moment lost was making the trail cold, and with this storm, they were starting out with the trail lukewarm, at best.
Still, it was best to get going.
"What do you need from me, Agent Todd?"
"I don't suppose you have a liver probe?"
Commander Wood chuckled. "I don't tend to need that kind of equipment. My patients are alive when I see them."
"Yeah. I figured."
"We'll just have to do our best. I don't see any sign of lividity, but that could be because Ensign Johnson disturbed the bodies. It could be because not enough time has passed, or it could be because of the weather. I'll get a couple of body bags up here and we'll move them to...storage."
Kate nodded. She continued documenting the area while the doctor moved to call for assistance. Only belatedly, Kate realized that the CMC had stayed behind. Since she would have been alone on deck while Commander Wood was getting things organized, she was glad for his presence, although there'd been some friction between the two of them from day one. Oh, it wasn't overt, but Kate had noticed that CMC Easton didn't feel comfortable in her presence. She didn't know if it was because she was female or because she was relatively new to this position...or something else entirely, but he'd been professional on the outside and she had chosen to reciprocate rather than point out the issue.
"Did you have any indication of this?" she asked as she worked.
"None, ma'am. There was no reason to suspect murder. They barely spoke to each other."
"The skipper said that you had indicated there might be trouble brewing. Why did you think that?"
"Because some of their bunkmates had noticed tensions rising and reported that to me, ma'am. I reported it to the skipper, but I had no indication of murder."
"Well, they aren't likely to have killed each other, and we already know there was a third person here. Whether that person was another sailor who saw them dead and panicked or the killer himself, there was at least one extra body out here."
The CMC said nothing. That was fine. Kate hadn't asked a question, but this was when she missed having a team to work with. It was harder when she didn't have anyone to bounce ideas off of, no one to point out other things she might have missed. It was another argument for getting the MCRT out here.
However, she didn't say anything about that. For one thing, CMC Easton might take it as a criticism of the skipper and for another, Kate trusted the skipper to make the right decision based on the needs of the entire group, not just this investigation. Instead, she got out a large evidence bag and carefully stowed the tarp in it. She wasn't hopeful that anything would have been preserved on it, but there was always a chance, and she could hear Gibbs berating her if she didn't bother based on an assumption.
After a few minutes, Commander Wood returned.
"Try to disturb them as little as possible," Kate said. "There could be evidence on them that the rain didn't wash away."
"Understood, Agent Todd."
She watched as the doctor and one of his staff placed Rossi and Paulson into body bags.
"I'll make sure they get stored appropriately," Commander Wood said.
"Thank you."
After they were gone, Kate turned her attention to the space itself. She'd already documented most of the area, but she wanted to see if there was something else.
"Agent Todd?"
"Yes?"
She didn't turn from her task.
"May I ask what more you have to do?"
"I have to go over this entire space to see if there's anything I missed."
"You've already been here for a couple of hours."
"And I'll probably be here for a couple more," Kate said. "I don't leave a job half-done...and it's half-done right now."
"Yes, ma'am."
Kate kept herself from rolling her eyes. She appreciated that the CMC was staying there to make sure she wasn't working alone, but still his presence was a bit overbearing.
She continued her work until she found something.
She didn't know if it was really something, but she was willing to try it out.
It was a piece of fabric. Small, some blue. Could be from a uniform.
Kate smiled and carefully placed it in an evidence bag.
Then, she finished up.
"Now, I'm done, Chief," she said.
There might have been the ghost of a smile on his face, but that was all. He was wet. So was she, but there was nothing wrong with being a little wet. She gathered up everything and headed back inside. The CMC walked with her all the way to her office and then left her without a word.
Kate sat down and began to think about what had happened and why.
And she waited for the skipper to make his decision.
