Twisted Timing

Chapter 14

Wednesday, April 23, 1997

1945 Local Time

Chris Ragle's Apartment

Pleasant Hill, NW

When Sarah came to, she was puzzled as to where she was at first. The only light being in the room came from the dining foyer. The back of her head ached something fierce. When she reached her right hand to feel the source of the pain, she felt the gun, that she didn't know she was holding, come in contact with her head. She immediately brought her hand in front of her. When she saw the gun, she was horrified and instantly dropped it. That's when she saw Chris' body. In the semi-darkness of the room, she couldn't see the hole in his chest and that his skin had assumed a deathly pallor. She crawled over to him and shook him. When she didn't get a response she checked for his pulse at the carotid. She despaired when she didn't feel one. Then she saw the hole in his shirt that was oozing blood.

"Oh Chris!? What the hell happened?"

Sarah still had that sharp pain at the back of her head. She clutched the back of her head with both hands and bent her face onto her knees and cried. She came out of her mourning state when she heard someone yell, "Freeze, police!"

She looked up and saw an African American policewoman pointing her gun at her. She heard another female officer speak out, "Rest of the apartment is clear."

The second police officer came in and snapped the lights in the living room on. They took in the crime scene which showed Chris' body and the gun on the floor behind where Sarah knelt.

The second officer said, "Miss stay on the floor and keep your hands behind your head."

She took out her hand cuffs and went over to Sarah. She took hold of each of Sarah's wrists in the cautionary way and handcuffed her wrists behind her back. He helped Sarah stand and then sit on the couch.

As the officer stepped away from Sarah she said, "Miss you have the right to remain silent", and went to read the rest of the Miranda warning to her.

Sarah said, "I'm an attorney with the Marines. I need an ambulance. I was struck on the head from behind. Look at it."

She bent over to show the officer the growing bump at the back of her head.

The officer bent over and nodded at seeing it. Then she keyed her portable radio microphone at her epaulet saying, "This is 22 Echo, we need a bus and the medical examiner at this address. We have a DOA and one injured suspect."

Sarah glanced up at being called a suspect but said nothing. The first officer asked, "Miss, can you tell us what happened."

Sarah replied with one word, "Lawyer!" Then she put her head down onto the sofa cushion to try and alleviate her pain.

It wasn't long before the EMTs, the medical examiner and a couple of detectives showed up. The two original officers took Sarah away. While one officer went into the ambulance with Sarah, the other followed in the squad car to the hospital emergency room.

2030 Local Time

Providence Hospital

1150 Varnum St, NE,

Washington, DC

While the attending ER doctor, a tall female with red hair, examined Sarah, a nurse took Sarah's pedigree including her ICE (in case of emergency) phone numbers. When she gave the nurse the phone numbers, Sarah asked, "Could you please call them both?" The nurse readily agreed.

After examining her head the doctor ordered x-rays and a CAT scan. While they waited for the x-rays to come back, Sarah was left to lie under the police officers' guard on a gurney. They took the precaution of cuffing one of Sarah's wrists to the bedrail while they let her hold a cold compress to the back of her head.

It wasn't long before Sarah heard a very familiar and very welcome voice calling out, "Sarah?" The privacy curtain parted to reveal Harm, in 'peanut butters', and Diane. They went over to the gurney.

As Diane bent to hug her sister, she noticed the cuffed wrist and said rather indignantly, "What the hell is this?!"

The police officers guarding Sarah replied, "She's under arrest on suspicion of homicide."

Harm had to shake his head in disbelief before he said, "No way. What happened?"

"We found her at the apartment of the decedent Chris Ragle…" was all the officer got out before Diane interrupted her with.

"What, Chris is dead, how?"

"Someone shot him," Sarah replied.

Going into lawyer mode Harm said, "Sarah, don't say anything else. We need to investigate to sort this out. Let me call Admiral Chegwidden."

"And I'll call Gibbs. He needs to get NCIS involved. Sure as shootin', Director Morrow will not let my team investigate this," Diane said acerbically.

As Diane and Harm made their calls the attending ER doctor came into the curtained area with the CAT scan and x-ray films. "Well Miss Mackenzie, it seems you sustained a concussion as you have a very large bruise from a blunt object over a hairline fracture of your skull. (The doctor showed the x-ray film pointing to the hairline fracture.) You're lucky your skull wasn't caved in. Is your head still hurting? Are the bright lights irritating you?"

"Yes doctor it is and yes I'm starting to get irritated from the lights."

The doctor dimmed the lights from the wall switch as she said, "Your CAT scan also showed a bruise on your brain, which is what a concussion is. We're going to keep you here over night, for observation. I'll have someone get you transported up to a room."

Diane heard that as she disconnected her call. She said, "Good that will give Gibbs' team time to sort this out. Coincidently he was already at Chris' apartment. The DC police detective called NCIS when he heard that a Marine lawyer was involved. He handed the case over to us. He's sending the new guy on his team Dinozzo over to interview you."

Harm had come over after his call with Chegwidden ended. He said, "Again Sarah as your attorney, I'm advising you to not say anything. The admiral is going to start a JAG-man investigation alongside NCIS. I told him I was defending you."

"Well that's good. Right now though I'm going to take the doctor's orders and get some sleep. Depending where I'm going to be tomorrow, we'll get together and talk how you're going to defend me, because I didn't do it."

At that a couple of orderlies came and started helping Sarah get changed out of her street clothes into a hospital scrub pants and a tee shirt and transfer to a hospital bed. The police officer took the handcuff off to facilitate that. She put it back on when Sarah was through changing and transferring. Then Sarah was rolled to the acute care portion of the hospital.

Harm and Diane left the hospital. They went to NCIS to confer with Gibbs.

2230 Local Time

NCIS Headquarters

Washington Navy Yard, SE

Gibbs was able to get Chris' body transported to the NCIS morgue. The DC authorities were very eager to keep another homicide off their books.

When they arrived at the NCIS lobby Diane told Harm, "Listen let me do the talking with Gibbs. He hates lawyers. One of his rules is, 'It's never good when lawyers get involved.'"

"Fine by me Di," Harm agreed.

They went and met Gibbs in the portion of the bullpen where his team worked. Gibbs was conferring with a female agent with long curly red hair tied back in a ponytail. Diane went up to them and asked, Gibbs, Blackadder, what have you got?"

"Well between the time you left Providence Hospital and came here, Tony met with your sister. She let him swab her hands for gunshot residue and he took her clothing in for analysis as well. The major had residue on her right hand. Abby Sciutto will tell us if there is any on her clothes. We bagged the .38 revolver. Again Abby will tell us whose fingerprints are on the gun."

"Shit!" Diane said at hearing that there was residue on Sarah's hand.

"So far there is enough evidence to say that Sarah pulled the trigger," Gibbs concluded.

"Damn," Diane exclaimed out loud.

Gibbs went to mollify her a bit with, "Don't worry, we're just getting started. We're going to investigate Ragle as well. There maybe someone among his associates that may want him dead. And don't forget about your sister's head wound; from what Tony also told me, it didn't look self-inflicted."

"Yeah there's that. Okay Gibbs, we're going to go home and get some sleep. Call me please if you find anything else."

"May I make a suggestion?" Harm asked.

Gibbs turned to him and asked, "And you are commander?"

"Rabb I'm with JAG and I'm Sarah Mackenzie's attorney."

Gibbs put on a sour face and turned to Diane and said somewhat in chastisement, "You brought the suspect's attorney with you?"

"Harm is practically a member of the family. He's seeing Sarah romantically. Don't worry, you would have to let him have any evidence anyway under the Brady Law," Diane patiently explained.

Gibbs grunted in surrender at that then he asked, "What is your suggestion Rabb?"

"Being that I believe Major Mackenzie was set-up, I want a Marine guard on her hospital room. Whoever did shoot Ragle, may come and finish the job of getting rid of a loose end."

"There is a DC Police officer at her room," Gibbs explained.

"That may well be, but another set of eyes would help. Besides another guard there will ensure that she doesn't try to skip custody," Diane interjected.

"Okay do what you like. Just stay out of the way of the investigation," Gibbs ordered.

"Okay on that," Harm said then he walked away and called Chegwidden. The admiral agreed to have a Marine, in civilian clothes as a guard outside Sarah's hospital room.

Harm and Diane then went home to try and get some rest. They rightly figured that they wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight.