Chapter Seven
Effox
If any of the agents are surprised to awaken in the morning to find they had not received the threatened late night summons, they're wise enough not to tempt fate.
When they're assembled in the bullpen, Gibbs brings them up to date on the case and Florida's contribution, or rather the lack of it.
"DiNozzo."
"Working on Devlin alive, boss."
"Compiling what we know of her death," Ziva reports.
"I'm on the fictitious Burns," McGee says.
"Should be right up your alley, Gemcity," Gibbs says, turning to Palmer.
"I'm still working on Narz, up to the point where she disappeared. Maybe she wasn't completely erased. If she kept a vestige of her old life–"
"Less talk, more work. When you four have everything there is on them, start working on how they link together." He's out of his chair, heading for the exit.
"Where can we reach you, Boss?" DiNozzo calls.
"Autopsy."
xx
"I need you to get some records from Metro," Gibbs says as Ducky, by his desk, empties his pockets into a drawer, preparatory to changing for work. "Last week a woman was thrown or fell out of a van on Highway 1 in Maryland. Her name is Cynthia -" Ducky hands him a file folder "- Devlin."
"Good morning, Jethro," Ducky reminds him pointedly, not really expecting a reply in kind. "Yes, Anthony alerted me last evening that you'd want it. I had Dr. DeForte fax me over a copy."
"What was the Cause of Death?"
"About what you would expect from being run over by nine sets of tires bearing a collective 10,000 pound load at 65 miles an hour. The driver did apply his brakes, but by the time the truck stopped it was already past her. There was catastrophic damage, 76 percent of her body was crushed."
"Did the ME run a tox screen?"
"Oh Jethro, when someone comes in in that condition, the ME is hardly likely to look for toxicity of any kind."
"You would."
"Well, yes, I would at that," he admits with a smile, "but I'm the exception. NCIS investigates accidents - and suicides - as murder so I am compelled to take the extra step. Any other ME, having 15 to 20 bodies to examine, is going to take a look at that crushed body and pronounce her as having been killed by the truck.
"The only reasons this case remains in the open file are the rather dramatic circumstances of the incident and unaccounted bruising on her upper arms which seem to indicate hands tight about her arms."
Gibbs can't believe this. "And you couldn't tell me that first?"
"Ah, but then I would lose the opportunity to defend the good name of the Forensic Pathology profession."
"I've never given you a 'wake up call'."
"A very wise choice with someone who spends so much of his time surrounded by sharp objects."
They are interrupted by a chortle from across the room, both having quite forgotten about Palmer.
x
"Yes, well, the report does indicate subdural bruising on her upper arms. Now contrary to popular myth, bruising does continue to develop after death. Therefore, what was not apparent at the time the body was examined at the scene was very evident by the time it was autopsied. Metro PD theorizes she was forcibly restrained, then hurled from the van when it was in the optimal position."
"Ducky, do you think Abby might be able to find anything? Like a fingerprint, for instance?"
"I truly couldn't say. It would depend upon how long she was restrained and numerous other factors. I suggest you ask Abby."
"Oh, I will. In the meantime, we need to get an order to exhume the body. What can you tell me about Burns?"
x
"She is something of a mystery. I obtained her medical profile because there were certain things in her autopsy that were unusual, but even those do not compare with the inconsistencies in her records."
"Such as?"
"Such as being comprehensive in the important things but lacking in the minutia. Operations, serious problems are documented, minor things are not. I then checked with her physician of record and, lo and behold, she doesn't have one, at least not a registered physician."
"That's because there is no 'Margaret Burns'."
"I figured that out last evening. Do you know who the young lady actually is?"
"NCIS Special Agent Mary Narz, out of Pensacola."
"Oh dear."
"Right. Jenny's furious, Pen was running an Under Op right in our back yard, 'Eyes Only' to the SECNAV."
"I take it this would not be a good time to put in for a vacation."
"You've too much to do. How long will it take to do an autopsy on Devlin?"
"It would be very useful to know what I was looking for."
"The last time we came across her she was running secret deliveries and outrunning us. Did she manage to get anything that could identify her killers, something Metro missed?"
"I shall endeavor to find out." He doesn't want to tell Gibbs just how long it will be - assuming the body can be exhumed today.
"Ducky, I want you to release Narz's body to the Mortician under the name Burns. NCIS will make the arrangements for the funeral. Can you have it ready today?"
Ducky and Jimmy stare at him, unable to believe they just heard this.
xxx
"Abby..."
The woman immediately raises a hand. "Take a number, Gibbs."
"Number 1."
She contains a sigh. He is, after all, her favorite. "Works for me, I guess. What can I do about you?"
When he reaches her he sees she has a woman's right arm on the table before her.
"I was going to ask if you need a hand, but since you've already got three..."
"Very funny." Her smile implies it's not entirely sarcasm.
The plastic that had wrapped the arm from severed shoulder to hand lies spread about it. "Any idea who she is yet?"
"I'm dedicating myself to finding out. I have a crapload of fingerprints all over the plastic, can't tell you half of the players yet. I can tell you the tox screen came back positive – for curare."
This is a surprise. The exotic poison was frequently used by South American tribesmen, but he'd never heard of a modern use of it. "Careful when you tell Ducky, he'll be good for five minutes."
"Tell me about it. But since he isn't here, he missed his chance, so I'll do two minutes. You get it from drying the vine Strychnos toxifera. I'll spare you the formulas,"
"Thanks."
"but from those vines you get curine which paralyzes the muscle fibers. Does terrible things to the heart. You also get curarine, which paralyzes the motor nerve endings, most susceptible are the lungs. It'll paralyze your whole body, but it's the effects on those organs that kill you. It actually won't hurt if you swallow it, but inject it and your heart and lungs just stop.
"It was the perps' bad luck and our good that she was injected in this arm."
"I love the stupid ones."
"Don't we all. Now the cute thing is that synthetic curare has been available since WW2, but it'll contain chemical markers."
"Why curare?"
"You mean aside from it being exotic? It's one of the few truly effective poisons that can be made with virtually no technology. If you knew the formula, you could make it on however much of your boat there is now."
"Almost done."
"Ready for Christmas?"
He shrugs. "Maybe."
"Can I have a ride?"
"Maiden voyage." He looks pointedly at the arm. "What did they use to cut it off?"
"I'd say, like Ducky before me, that it was surgically amputated."
"Any chance this could be left over from the last batch?" Cdr. James Ross had dismembered a multitude of already deceased corpses, and one man not previously deceased, in a body sale scheme. Bad luck for him and his fellows about the head in a cooler.
"Doubt it. If you'd asked Ducky that, he'd've told you this dissector is right handed."
"I could bounce back and forth between you two all morning."
"Gibbs-pong. I like it." His expression tells her she's the only one.
x
"What've you got on my case?"
"What would you like?"
"A few answers would be nice."
"Okay." She rewraps the arm, sealing the plastic and putting it back in an Evidence bag, then into the cooler. "Just wish I had more time to devote to this."
"Answers are coming," he assus her when she comes back to the table. "Lieutenant Effox is flying back from Pendleton this morning; she should be in within the hour along with Kelman and her team. They'll touch down at Reagan." He doesn't say she should have been summoned the first time rather than the team going to Pendleton. Not his case, though he'd overruled Kelman and ordered the summons.
"Now, what about Devlin and Burns/Narz?"
"You know, Gibbs, this has been a great week, the best pair of mysteries I've had in–"
"Abby."
"I've got nothing."
"Abby."
"Come on, Gibbs, even a Goth's gotha get her rest. I gave you the ID, then I had to have my beauty sleep. You don't think magnificence like this comes from–"
"All right, when?"
"Give me a few hours, okay?"
xxx
A few hours are what he must give. Everyone is loaded with duties and to lean will accomplish nothing but to slow things down. He continues his own search, supplementing his teammates until his phone rings.
Lieutenant Kay Effox has been brought in through the main gate by Kenneth Templeton, her ID to be verified before she can be admitted, even under NCIS escort. Gibbs doesn't want another incident of false identity, the one they have is quite enough. Melanie Kelman and Patrick Larsen had come ahead and await Templeton and his charge in the Conference room. The separation on this occasion had been intentional, at Gibbs direction. He wants a few minutes with the team before Effox's arrival.
When Gibbs reaches the Conference room the looks Kelman and Larsen give him convey their unvoiced opinion of his unilateral move on their case. It's only his rank that prevents a discussion from beginning - for now.
"What can you tell me about this case that wasn't in your report?"
"Sir, our reports are comprehensive, sir." Kelman's voice is polite, casual and offers nothing; certainly her respectful tone doesn't reveal her feelings about his question or its implications. She is an SSA fairly recently promoted; this is her third case since recovering from a murderous attack by a traitorous agent, he has no cause to question her like a first-day probie.
x
Gibbs can well understand her concern at his decision to take action in bringing them and a principle witness back across the country. Normally he wouldn't give a damn; it's the case that's important, but he doesn't want to undermine the woman in front of her team - any more than he has to. They'll discuss her performance later.
The door opens behind him; Kenneth Templeton escorts the uniformed Lt. Effox into the room. She removes her white cover, her manner one of as much restrained annoyance as Kelman's. "First Lieutenant Kay Z. Effox reporting as ordered."
"Welcome, Lieutenant," Gibbs says an instant before Kelman, cutting her off. He doesn't notice her glare, or the looks Templeton and Larsen give him on their chief's behalf.
"Thank you. Why the hell am I here?"
"To tell us your story," Gibbs replies directly, holding his primacy. "Take a seat, Lieutenant."
He can see she doesn't want to accept his offer of a seat, but she does, setting her cover upon the table.
"What do you want to know?"
"From the top."
"As I've told the Pendleton agents and your team," she glances at Kelman, Templeton and Larsen, "I was transferred from Little Creek to Camp Pendleton, we left last Wednesday but we'd shipped our furniture out the day before. We flew to Pendleton, were berthed overnight on the base in available quarters and then opened our new home on base a few hours before the truck arrived the following afternoon. We started unpacking, and my daughter Naomi found an insulated black bag in one of her crates, a bag that she hadn't packed with the rest of her stuff. She opened it and found that damned arm."
"What did you do?"
"By the time we calmed her down the MPs had already arrived. Our neighbors called them. MPs and your West Field Office agents took statements, pictures and the crate and bag. I've flown back and forth across the country three times and have been answering questions about it ever since."
Gibbs can see where that could be stressful. He's read the reports of the West Coast agents and will try not to belabor them, but he isn't satisfied by them either.
"What did you do in Little Creek?"
"I was in R&D."
"What was your area of research?"
"I'm sorry, sir, that's Classified. You'll have to ask Captain Lubioux."
"Oh, I intend to. I understand you didn't live on the base."
"No sir, we had a house leased not far from Little Creek. What's that got to do with this?"
"Because, Lieutenant, yours isn't the only unusual incident that's happened in Little Creek this week and I'm not a man who believes in coincidences. Do you know an NNC Ensign Margaret Burns?"
She considers for a moment. "No. Why?"
"How about a woman by the name of Cynthia Devlin?"
Effox is surprised. "Now her I do know."
'Score another for the gut.' "How?"
"She works in Little Creek, in Food Services. I don't know a lot about her but she has a house not far from us. Greg told her we were shipping out. We had a few people over for a going away dinner party and Greg invited her to come."
"So she went to your home? When was that?"
"About two days before we shipped out."
"That'd be the evening before your truck left?"
"Yes." She looks at Kelman. "I gave you people a list of everyone at the party."
Melanie Kelman is suddenly at his side. "Agent Gibbs, may I speak to you outside?"
xx
As the door closes, Kelman whirls on Gibbs, her voice low and tight. "Why am I hearing the name Devlin now?"
"She's on your list?"
"Damn it yes she's on our list! Along with fourteen other people we're looking into in Little Creek. If I'd known she was on your list we could have both saved a hell of a lot of time!"
"It wasn't until now that I realized there might be a connection."
"We could've discussed this. Instead of your coming in there asking what I know that I didn't report, you should have told me what you know that you didn't report!
"Damn it, Gibbs, we're supposed to be on the same side! I took three bullets for you; that should've bought me some consideration. I know I don't have the years that you do, I was made SSA over my own protests because of my memory and the wild talent of lightning calculation but I can't do my job if I don't have information!
"Plus the fact that you cut me out twice in front of my team. I would never do that to you and I don't know of any man or woman in NCIS, Shepherd included, that you would tolerate that from!""
"You done?"
She looks like she could find more to say but "Yeah, I guess that says it all."
"Good. I apologize."
x
She blinks up at him, quite surprised. One of the abiding truths known to everyone who works in Headquarters Division is that "Leroy Jethro Gibbs never apologizes."
"Oh, I do. On occasion. But I have to be really wrong for it to happen and this time I am. I should've given you the same respect I demand." When Martine Joswig had been murdered, Shepherd had made Kelman the S.S.A. in her place. It had been a controversial decision, though all the controversy had been outside her team. To his knowledge, no feathers had been ruffled within it, and he doubts he'll find out if there had been. "You may have been with us only a year but you're a Supervisor too and I should've brought you into the loop when I realized there were two weird things happening in Little Creek. I'm sorry."
It takes her a moment even after the end of this surprising admission to force down the last of her anger. "Okay. Apology accepted. Now, shall we see what more Effox has to tell us, then read our teams into each other's loops?"
xxx
When Gibbs, Kelman, Templeton and Larsen enter the bullpen downstairs in Operations, they have some surprises for their four counterparts. "Cynthia Devlin was a guest at a party at the home of Lieutenant Effox and her family before they shipped out to Fort Pendleton," Gibbs tells them. "It looks like Devlin was the one who put that arm into the daughter's things the evening before the truck left. A few days later someone shot her up with curare and tossed her under a truck. Have you worked out Devlin's connection to Burns?"
"I've worked out one thing," DiNozzo announces.
"What?"
"We've been working the wrong case."
