Chapter 10
A/N: So thrilled to write more! Happy people are wanting to figure this out too. Thanks for reviewing and please enjoy!
Tony DiNozzo leans in as his victim, Rebecca Phax, stares continuously at the warehouse photo he had given her.
A break through was about to be made here. Obviously this woman knew of the place. But how? The warehouse seemed abandoned for who knows how long.
On the other hand, McGee, who stands onlooking in Observation Room One, now had his face practically against the glass. A connection had been made! Perhaps they were finally going to gain some answers to this bewildering case!
I can't believe it! Tony actually managed... He thinks gruffly to himself as the Senior agent shifts forward a bit within his chair.
Tony's mouth was killing him to press her for the information concerning her knowledge on their newest crime scene- but he also knew he had to take it slow with this woman. She might crack under pressure and refuse to give anything away.
"Rebecca?" At last he speaks, and the woman barely takes her eyes off of the photo.
"...W-What?" She practically snaps- as if the walls around her were beginning to cave in or something.
Tony exhales.
Take is easy.
"Do you perhaps... know of this place?" He finally gets straight to the point and Rebecca Phax just lowers her gaze to the floor.
She's definitely holding something back. Look at her... Maybe she even has an idea of the killer! At these thoughts, Tony rises from his chair to come and squat down beside the woman. He needed for her to trust him. If they were ever going to find out who killed her husband and make the arrest- they'd need her to cooperate.
"Mrs. Phax. Please. What do you know about the warehouse?" He points his index finger back at the photo that was still lying on the table.
Rebecca purses her lips for a moment before exhaling slowly. She squirms in her chair a bit before opening her mouth. "I-I may know of the place, yes. B-But so what? What's with this picture? Why are we not focused on the grocery store where my husband was killed!?" Rebecca's voice begins escalating and Tony begins to feel like he's losing her.
Come on Rebecca. Keep it together. We're almost there.
"Rebecca, we are trying to get to the bottom of things here. But we can't unless you agree to cooperate, alright?" Tony stands to his feet now before straightening his suit.
The woman looks to him before sagging her shoulders. She even hangs her head a little. "Well... You see..." She clears her throat and Tony's attention is completely captivated.
"When I was much younger... I would explore and play around that b-building..." She pauses and her eyes gloss over.
Tony only listens intently.
"And... well, it was rather stupid really. But me and my best friend would go there often. W-We weren't aloud to go out past nine o'clock but we would sneak out of our homes and meet there anyways." She sniffles once before adding, "It was... insane but always fun."
At this, Tony whips out a notepad and pen and begins scribbling notes down onto it. His mind was already churning from her words. This place clearly meant something to this woman. It was like something from her youth. And now all of a sudden her husband ends up dead and two kids are killed in the meet-up joint of her childhood?
There was an unmistakable connection to all of this.
"Hmm, and uh, was this best friend of yours perhaps Jerry?" The Senior agent questions while still writing on his notepad- his brain swarming with newfound questions.
Rebecca falls quiet for several moments before softly replying, "No."
Tony's head jerks up.
That must be it. Perhaps this long-lasting best friend of hers has become indifferent to her in some way? Maybe this guy had been jealous of Jerry?
It makes perfect sense now. His mind reels as he throws himself back into the seat across from Rebecca and he looks her straight in the eye.
"Well, if I may ask, what ever happened to this former 'best friend' of yours?" He inquires and Rebecca only averts her gaze.
"Y-You think that this might have something to do with... him?" She trails off as she practically sobs before bringing a hand up to her forehead.
Tony only leans forward, itching for more from this woman. Evidently, she was the key that connected these two murder cases together.
"Hey! Rebecca please! I need to know the name of this friend of yours." He insists sternly as the first tears begin twinkling down her cheeks. He didn't want for her to cry but he needed answers. He needed for her to get a grip and help out.
"I-I..." She exhales and inhales rapidly. "H-He's a good man, honest! We've stayed friends ever since! For years! I-I just never really..." Rebecca begins stuttering. "I... But then, when I saw that picture of the warehouse... Our secret meeting place..." She shakes her head and finally gains her bearings before sighing. "His name is Garret Halsworth."
Ziva nods as Kim Hayes finishes her statement on the two kids' crime scene incident. She hadn't expected for the woman to go on and on about her whole morning before actually getting to the scene- but she didn't argue.
"And that's when my dog took off! My cute little Muffsie here-" Kim gestures to her Pomeranian dog. "She like dragged the leash from my hands and like bolted towards that spooky building!" She throws her hands wildly into the air before going to scoop her dog up within her arms. "Probably smelling the nasty blood... That's the last time I'll take this route to work, eh?" The rather large woman chuckles and Ziva only smiles wryly.
The female agent then jots down the last bit of the witness's statement before saying, "Thanks. Think we're done here." And with that, she storms off to find Gibbs- her hand practically aching from the long writing she had to do from that blabbering woman.
Why do I always end up with taking the statements? She thinks irritably as she enters the warehouse now and comes to spot Gibbs a little ways into the building. He seemed to be finished with taking crime scene photos.
She struts over to her boss- not even bothering to acknowledge some of the onlooking Metro cops who tilted their heads at her as she passed them.
"Gibbs. Finished with Kim Hayes' statement. And gosh was it long." She informs the silver-haired marine as she comes to stand by his side.
Gibbs looks to her with approval. "Good." He then points to an area where some matted pieces of old straw needles lay strewn about along the floor. "This was where the two kids died. Their names were Stewart and Benny." He remarks solemnly to her.
Ziva glances about the scene before shifting her gaze to one of the nearby onlooking Metro cops. Almost all of them were men- and continuously staring at her. She frowns out of excess annoyance.
"Yes, well, are we done here yet Gibbs? I have had enough of the people around here." She mutters towards him; her mind going back to the hectic Kim Hayes all at once.
Gibbs cracks a small grin before nodding. "Yeah. I'll let the Metro folk do the bagging and tagging on this one." He then turns and leads the way out of the abandoned building; his mind slowly going back to his other agents he had left behind back at base.
Hope McGee and DiNozzo have gotten a lead this time...
Tony closes the door to interrogation behind him- his head in a whirl from the news he had just gotten. He couldn't fathom that Rebecca had known of the warehouse...
He grips his notepad triumphantly before looking up.
McGee is already at his side; his mouth running like wildfire. "Tony! I cannot believe this! Rebecca knew of the place where those two kids were murdered this morning!" he breathes, his eyes wide.
Tony stifles a chuckle as the two begin to walk side by side down the hall and back towards the Squadroom.
"Uhh, yeah. I was present for that Probie." He points out sarcastically and McGee feels like frowning at him.
"Well do you think the killer is her childhood best friend?" McGee only questions rapidly. Things seemed to be making much more sense now.
"Well, I don't know yet. It seems like it though." Tony admits as they enter the bullpen. "I mean... Obviously her best friend could have easily become jealous over Rebecca marrying someone else like Jerry?" He points out rather bluntly and McGee furrows his brow as he takes a seat at his desk.
"Hmm... But then, why murder two random kids? Do you think Rebecca knows them in any way?" He asks doubtfully and Tony shrugs. "Probably not." He then pulls on a ponderous look.
"I'm just spitballing here.. but maybe this 'Garret Halsworth' is literally taking his anger out on Rebecca." Tony leans back within his chair before continuing. "I mean, from what she told me it sounded like she and Halsworth were close. And then she just goes off to marry Jerry? Come on, who wouldn't feel angered." He raises a skeptical eyebrow and almost even chuckles at his own words.
Suddenly though, the sound of elevator doors open and moments later in comes the chatting duo of both Abby and Ducky.
McGee looks up and gives a welcoming look. "Abby! Ducky! What are you guys doing up here?" He greets, and immediately Abby's attention is drawn from her conversation with Ducky.
She smiles wildly before rushing for McGee. "Oh, Hi Timmy! Gosh, it feels like its been ages since I last saw you!" She muses before throwing her arms around him in a hug.
McGee only smiles to himself- however, Tony notices this and smirks.
"Well, Abby! What about poor DiNozzo here? Man, I don't even think I've fully recovered from that poisonous stuff just yet..." Tony makes a sorrowful face while dramatically lowering his gaze towards his hands and instantly Abby rushes for him next.
"You poor thing! You're so right! How are you Tony?" She wraps her arms around him and Tony only slides a prevailing grin towards McGee.
The Probie only rolls his eyes with burning annoyance.
"Well, besides all of this hugging going around..." Ducky now inputs his voice- which causes for Abby to hurriedly break away from her embrace with Tony.
"Oh, right." She mutters before going to stand beside the Scottish Doctor again.
McGee and Tony exchange a look with each other as Ducky begins to speak. "I've come up with another theory pertaining to your case alongside Abigail's findings." He states, and Tony throws his arms behind his head with a new curious expression settling upon his face.
"Well, Abigail here was just telling me that she finished distinguishing the poisons that were found on our Lance Corporal compared to you and Ziva's poison." Ducky motions towards Tony and instinctively the agent's eyes go to his hands.
He still never found out how he and Ziva had attained such poison.
"So, there's a difference?" McGee questions with a confusing look.
Abby nods with a jerky look towards Tony. "Well... Both poisons contain urushiol which causes rashes and itching. However, the stuff on our marine's hands also contained other toxins like Manchineel sap and extracts of the oleander plant." The Goth explains with a clarifying nod.
Tony only screws up his face in uncertainty. "What? Well how on earth did me and Ziva's poison contain less... well... Poison?" He asks with a grimace.
Abby and Ducky look to each other at this.
"That, we don't know yet. I'm thinking the guy didn't have enough resources or something..." Abby guesses rather incompetently with a shrug and McGee's gaze only falls back onto Tony.
"Well I think we might have a name for 'that guy'. We just got finished with interrogating Rebecca Phax." The Probie begins. "And she said she had a childhood friend that could possibly be linked to both of our murders we're investigating..."
Ducky raises his eyebrows at the news and Abby just stares.
"You've gotten a lead?" The doctor practically smiles.
Both Tony and McGee nod in unison. "Yes. The name's Garret Halsworth." McGee informs and Abby gives a face at the name. "What a mouthful." She mutters and Tony feels like chuckling in agreement with her but he doesn't.
"Well it is simply grand that you two managed to get a leg up on this case. Maybe you're right and this Halsworth fellow is our man?" Ducky hopefully points out.
The two field agents then both start looking things up about this guy and all the while Abby feels rather sullen on helping her team out with the case. She felt like she could do more.
"W-Well everyone, I've been going over every piece of evidence that you've collected and nothing is showing up on AFIS. I think this guy wore gloves or something while doing what he did- And I mean, who wouldn't? He was handling poison for crying out loud..." The forensic scientist notifies everyone with a small disheartened look. Whoever this guy was, he was good.
"It's alright Abs. Soon we'll have this guy. I'm honestly thinking Halsworth is our killer." Tony speaks as his eyes stay glued to his computer screen. He then narrows his eyes as he comes across something interesting.
"Uhh... yeah, this has to be our guy." The Senior agent confirms, and all heads turn towards the man.
"How do you know for sure?" McGee asks curiously.
Tony looks up from his screen and sets his jaw. "Because the guy has been off the grid for a week now. Just checked his credit cards and apartment number. Nobody has seen him or heard from him in a while." He nods in confirmation and begins leaning back. He gives a confident smile. "Ahh, this is it. Perhaps we've found our man but... have we really? I mean, he's off the grid for now." The agent chuckles and McGee only frowns at him. This wasn't a laughing matter.
Ducky gives a small grunt. "Well I suggest we find this man and fast. My guess is that he's planning to use more of that poison." The doctor speculates and both Abby and McGee's eyes widen.
"Y-You think he really has more?" McGee stammers incredulously.
"Oh yes. I really do. And if what you say is true about him having no ties to these kids he probably murdered, then he is only going to murder more innocent people within due time." The Scottish man exhales hesitantly.
Tony sits up straight now and tries to give a comforting glance towards everyone. Things were beginning to seem on edge and he didn't want for anyone to start panicking. "Alright, well... we'll find him. He seems to be targeting places of Rebecca's interest- so perhaps we can start there."
It is only then when the ding of the elevators causes for all eyes to turn to meet their new arrivals.
Gibbs and Ziva both walk into the Squadroom and neither seemed too happy at the moment. They both looked rather worn out from their trip to the newest crime scene.
Tony nonetheless leaps to his feet at the sign of his boss and he prepares to spill out everything at once. He had so much to tell. He wanted to also make sure that he gained the credit for cracking Rebecca for information- but instead, Gibbs only holds up a finger towards his eager Senior agent.
This causes for Tony to bite his tongue, while Ducky and Abby step aside as Gibbs heads straight for his desk. Ziva does the same and practically throws her backpack down beside her chair with a heave.
All was rather quiet and Tony didn't like it one bit.
Finally, Gibbs clears his throat. He looks up at his entire team that were now present with an expecting look in his eyes.
"You all better have me a good lead."
A/N: Hey everyone! I feel like this chapter was a very explicit one and it's a little shorter than the last. But, the next chapter will surely pack some interesting outcomes.
I'm excited to reveal how this is all going to go down and I am very thankful to everyone who has been reading along :)
Thank you all for the support and for the tips on my writings- so helpful! Hopefully this case will be solved soon, am I right? Please stay tuned and I am exceedingly excited for everyone to enjoy!