Chapter 21

The next morning, they met up to confer on where to go next, but there was something Gibbs needed to take care of, first.

"Abby, what you did was stupid," he said. "What if you're right and Sherman Wight is involved somehow? You invited him right into the room!"

"But, Gibbs, Geri was right outside!"

"And what if he'd had a gun? What good would Geri have been out there? What if someone else in the ICU was injured, too? You need to think!"

Abby dropped her head.

"I know I should have thought first, but I didn't, and it was okay!"

"And I'm glad, but you can't keep ignoring what we put in place to keep people safe."

"I just thought that Tim might have been trying to tell us what happened."

"And he wasn't, was he."

"No. Sherman said it was a bug in his program that he was trying to fix."

The dressing down wasn't something that Abby usually got, and Gibbs knew that Tony and Ziva were uncomfortable witnessing it.

"So it was nothing."

"No!" Abby's head came up. "No, it wasn't nothing. Tim's aware enough to want to fix something! He's aware enough to try to communicate. That means he's still there! He can get better!"

Gibbs took a breath and turned to Tony and Ziva.

"Go and ask Professor Wight about where he was during those two hours Abby found missing."

"And find out if there's something more behind his not wanting to be in the ICU," Tony finished. "You know, Boss...some people just don't like hospitals."

"I know."

"Right."

"Talk to Roger Brown about how easy it would have been to get into the security cameras...by the people in his department."

"Right."

They hurried out and Gibbs turned back to Abby. He just raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, Gibbs," she said.

He nodded and gestured for her to get back to work. That was the best he could expect from her. He knew it, although he didn't like it. Abby nodded and got on the elevator to go down to the lab. Gibbs sat down for a moment but then, he headed up the stairs to the conference room. Charles Ormond's sister had come at his request and he had to ask her questions she probably wouldn't appreciate because it would seem like NCIS was trying to drag Charles down. Even if Gibbs was angry about everything Charles had done to Tim, it really had nothing to do with it. They were just trying to figure things out.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tony and Ziva knocked on Sherman's office door.

"Come in. It's open!"

They walked in, and Sherman raised his eyebrows when he looked up and saw them.

"NCIS? Again? Is there something more you need to ask me?"

"Yes," Ziva said. "We have a few questions for you."

"All right. Have a seat."

They sat down on the other side of the desk.

"I'm sorry about the mess. This is the time of the year when things start to get close to critical mass. I can't get rid of any papers yet and there are more coming in. It's a madhouse."

"It looks like it," Tony said.

"What are your questions?"

"We need to know where you were on the day Ormond was killed between the hours of three and nine."

"Why? I thought I'd already given enough information about my whereabouts."

"Humor us," Tony said.

"Well...for most of that time, I was right here. Starting at around six-thirty, I had my students and we were working in a classroom on a project for a conference. I'm sorry, but no one can verify that. I prefer silence to music when I'm working. I tend to isolate myself in my office for long periods of time when I have deadlines." He sat back and looked suddenly uncertain.

"What is it, Professor Wight?" Ziva asked.

"Did this happen because of Tim's dissertation? I've been going over and over it my head, and I know that you may not be able to answer that question, but if he had been doing something else..."

"There's no way to know for sure. We don't even know if it was about Tim or about Professor Ormond," Tony said. "Is that why you were so uncomfortable when you visited Tim in the hospital?"

Sherman looked a bit embarrassed.

"Not really. That thought didn't hit me until I was talking with Ms. Sciuto about...mistakes. It contributed to my desire to leave, I will admit. Is that what this is about? I was too awkward?"

"It's part of it," Tony said, seeing no reason to lie. "Not all."

Sherman sighed.

"So does that mean you need to know? It has nothing to do with your investigation."

"It may not, but it will help if you tell us," Ziva said.

"Okay. Well, it's nothing exciting. I hate the ICU. Really hate it. My younger brother had cancer. Untreatable. He was in an ICU for the last three months of his life, and we would go there every day...and just watch him get weaker and weaker. This was over twenty years ago. I'm not feeling the trauma by any means, but I hated sitting next to him, knowing that there was nothing anyone could do. We just had to watch him deteriorate. It's a hard thing to do." Sherman took a deep breath. "When I realized where Tim was, although I should have thought of it sooner...where else would he be given the situation, I couldn't help but think of my brother. I didn't want to be there, and I left when I could, although I'm glad that Tim is improving rather than the alternative. If you need to verify that, my brother's name was Anthony Wight. He died in 1988, in Seattle. He was going to be in the Marine Corps. Got all signed up, but then...cancer."

"I'm sorry," Tony said.

"It's all right. Like I said, it was a long time ago, but I've never liked going into an ICU since then. I'm sure no one really likes the ICU, but I know that my reaction to it is extreme."

"Thank you for telling us," Ziva said.

"I hope I wasn't too much of a distraction. I do want you to be able to find the person who killed Charles."

"We'll find whoever it was," Tony said. "Thanks for your time."

They got up and left Sherman's office and headed for Roger's.

"I'd bet that Wight was being sincere."

"I would, as well," Ziva agreed. "It is easy to check if he is lying about how his brother died."

"Yeah. Let's get this other stuff done."

They knocked on Roger's door, but there was no answer.

"He's in class right now. You're the NCIS people, aren't you? I think I saw you here before."

They turned and saw a student. He looked familiar.

"Arnold George, correct?" Ziva asked.

"Y-Yeah. You remember? I saw you for like three seconds."

"I have an excellent memory," Ziva said.

"And we've been investigating," Tony said.

"Oh. Right."

He seemed very uncertain.

"D-Do you need to know where he's teaching? I can...I can tell you."

Tony looked at Ziva and smiled. They were thinking the same thing. He's like Tim as a probie.

"Do you know how long his class will go?"

Arnold looked at his watch.

"Only about twenty more minutes. Hey...do you...know how...how Tim is doing? We heard that he was waking up and stuff...but..."

"He's still asleep more than awake," Tony said. "He's getting better, but it's going to take a while."

"I... Lancer kept his head when we found them. I totally freaked out."

In fact, he looked a little green just thinking about that night.

"It's okay," Tony said. "Some people do. It doesn't make them bad."

"Wussy, though," Arnold said.

"Actually, you remind us of Tim a few years ago, when he was relatively new to NCIS."

"Really?" Arnold asked. "Why?"

"There are just some similarities. Some in the way you look..."

"The little bit of uncertainty," Tony added. "...and the fact that you're probably at least twenty times smarter than we are."

Arnold flushed a little, but he looked less distressed.

"Have you spoken to anyone about your experience?" Ziva asked. "If you are not trained for it, seeing a dead body can be very difficult."

Arnold shook his head.

"No. Lancer and I have talked a bit about it to each other. The other students have asked us a lot of questions...and I'm pretty sure Lancer doesn't like it. He's been having a hard time, too, although he doesn't want to talk really. He said that he can't forget how it felt to touch a dead body."

Ziva looked at Tony significantly. These were two students. Yes, they were competent adults, but this was something completely out of their experience and both of them could probably use some help.

"If you'd take our recommendation," Tony said, "you should both take the time to talk to someone. If you can't get anyone yourselves, ask us. We can get you someone to talk to."

"Thanks," Arnold said. "Did you need to talk to anyone else besides Roger?"

"Actually, are there any other students around right now?"

"Sure. In the common room."

"Show us?"

"Sure."

Arnold led them to the common room. There were six students sitting around, talking, working. When they saw the NCIS agents, however, they fell silent.

"Hello, we're from NCIS," Tony said. "I'm Agent DiNozzo. This is Agent David. We just have a question to ask all of you."

"All of us?"

"Yeah."

"What is it?"

"Did any of you ever know of someone showing up here who had any problems with Professor Ormond?" Tony asked.

"You mean besides how crappy he treated Tim?" one of the students asked.

"Yes, besides that," Ziva said. "We are trying to figure out the motive in killing Professor Ormond. If there was someone..."

"I can't think of anyone," one of the other students said. "Eric might know better since he was hanging out with Charles more than the rest of us. He's not here right now. He's in and out a lot."

"None of you noticed anyone?" Tony asked.

They all shook their heads and mumbled negative replies.

"If you think of anything, let us know. Thanks for your time."

They left the room, but they didn't get very far. Arnold had followed them out.

"Hey...could I ask you a favor?" Arnold asked.

"Of course," Ziva said. "What is it?"

"I know Lancer is working in one of the classrooms. He's started staying out of the common room because people keep asking questions. Would you go and tell him what you told me? ...and I'd like to talk to someone. I don't think the counselors they have on campus would really be...ready for this kind of thing." He smiled a little.

"Sure. We'll talk to him," Tony said.

They walked to an empty classroom. Lancer was sitting at a table, typing away at a laptop.

"Lancer...there are a couple of NCIS agents here."

Lancer looked up and seemed wary.

"What is it? I can't think of anything I didn't tell you already."

"We were just asking the other students if they had ever noticed anyone hanging around here who might have had a grudge against Professor Ormond."

Lancer shook his head.

"No. I can't think of anyone who would have wanted to... I can't think of anything like that."

Tony sat down.

"Arnold said you'd been having some trouble with what you saw."

Lancer shrugged. "No one would like seeing that."

"But you were the one down there keeping Tim alive."

Lancer looked back at his laptop.

"Yeah. I had to touch Charles. It was... His head was crushed, you know. He was dead, but I couldn't help wondering if I missed a heartbeat because I wanted to save Tim more than I wanted to save Charles. What if he was alive and I didn't notice? What if–?"

"You can't think of it like that because you saved Tim. You kept him alive. Nothing could have saved Professor Ormond," Tony said. "There was too much damage, but Tim could have died if he had been left."

Ziva sat down as well.

"Arnold has asked for someone he could speak to about what happened on that night. I think it would be good for you to do so, too," she said. "When we have had hard investigations, we are required to speak to a psychiatrist about it. It is not required for you, but you should do so since it is obviously still hard for you."

"What do you think?" Tony asked.

Lancer shrugged a little.

"You don't think it'll just go away?"

"These kinds of things don't usually."

"Okay. I guess I wouldn't mind."

"We'll get some recommendations and give them to you."

"Thanks." Lancer looked at them briefly. "I have to finish this."

Tony could sense the dismissal and he got up. Ziva followed suit and they headed back to Roger's office to wait.

"I'm sorry that those two didn't get help sooner. They could have if we'd thought of it."

"Yes. Lancer, especially, seems upset by it. He has had too much time to think about all the possible things he could have done wrong."

Tony nodded. "I meant what I said, though. He kept Tim alive."

"I agree."

"What do you think Professor Brown will say?"

Ziva smiled. "That any person in this department could have tampered with the security cameras."

"Without leaving a trace, though? That's more than just skills. That's real skills."

"These are graduate students in computer science, Tony," Ziva said. "They must have real skills already."

"I guess so."

They waited, mostly quietly, until Roger appeared. He was surprised to see them there, but he smiled and didn't hesitate to approach.

"Agent DiNozzo, what more can I do for you?"

"I am Agent David, and we have a question we need to ask you regarding the students and faculty here."

"Of course. Come into my office."

He unlocked the door and let them in. It was larger than Sherman's office, since Roger was the department head, but it was still cluttered. He sat down and gestured for them to sit as well.

"What's your question?" he asked.

"We have discovered that the security cameras were tampered with," Ziva said. "Who in this department could have done that?"

"Anyone, probably."

"Without leaving a trace?" Tony asked.

"Well... probably still most of the faculty, if not all of us. Most of the graduate students, although that would be mainly the security-minded students among us. We don't teach how to hack, you understand, but when your focus is on preventing hacking, it's hard not to pick up a few skills because you have to know what to expect in order to protect against it."

That was more or less what they'd expected, but they had hoped to have the field narrowed somewhat. They weren't sharing the implications of the tampering, but they did need to have something to confine their search.

"Did you know of anyone who had a grudge against Professor Ormond?"

"Well, I know his ex-wife wasn't too happy with him. The divorce was pretty nasty, but I can't imagine her getting violent. Besides, she moved across the country just to get away from him."

"Get away?"

"I mean because the split was so...acrimonious. I never could figure out why they got married in the first place. All the time I've known Charles, they were never getting along."

"When did the divorce take place?"

"Four years ago, I think. Charles was good about keeping it out of the department. I don't even think the students knew he was married...which maybe was part of the problem. He was too focused here and not enough on his marriage."

"Is that where your date night came from?" Tony asked.

Roger smiled. "No. It predates the divorce. It happened when I became the department head."

"Anyone else?"

"No. I can't think of anyone else who might still be angry with him...and definitely not enough to kill. Charles wasn't like that."

"All right. Thank you. If you think of anything..."

"I still have your card, Agent DiNozzo. I will definitely let you know."

They all stood, shook hands and left.

"Well, that was a bust," Tony said as they got in the car. "Except for hopefully helping out Arnold and Lancer, we didn't get anywhere."

"But that was a very good thing. Tim would be glad of it," Ziva said.

"Yeah, he would."

They headed back to NCIS.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Gibbs wasn't sure which was worse. Dealing with grieving families or dealing with angry families.

...or angry grieving families.

Charles Ormond's sister was defensive and furious at the perceived implication that her brother could have been involved in anything illegal.

"I am not going to sit here and let you drag Charles' name through the mud!"

Tracy Snyder stood up, ready to storm out.

"I'm not accusing your brother of anything, Ms. Snyder," Gibbs said, keeping himself calm.

"You just asked me if he could have been involved in something that got him killed! The only thing that seems to have been related to his death is your agent! And he told me all about him; so don't try and pretend that he's this innocent angel."

"What did your brother tell you?"

Tracy sat down again.

"He lorded his different status over everyone. He acted like he didn't have to measure up to the same standard as the other students just because he was in law enforcement. He had everyone's admiration...except for Charles' and Charles knew him for what he was: he wasn't devoted to what he was doing. All he was doing was looking for something to make himself special."

Gibbs wanted to tell her just how wrong she was about Tim, but he reined himself in. All she had was what her brother had said, and she was grieving.

"Don't forget, Ms. Snyder, that my agent was attacked, too. I'm not trying to set this up as my agent against your brother. All I'm trying to do is find out what happened. If you don't know of anyone who might have had this kind of grudge against your brother, that's all I need to know."

Tracy looked ready to shout at him again, but then, she sat down.

"I'm sorry, Agent Gibbs. Charles and I...we were almost like twins growing up. To see him like he was..."

"So your brother never had any problems with debts or gambling...anything like that?"

"No! Charles would never do any of that. He was always determined to be completely in control of himself and what he did. He'd never cede that control to something or someone else. Never."

"All right."

"Do you have any idea who did this?"

"Only that it was probably the same person who killed your brother and attacked my agent."

"And are you seeing if there's anyone your agent might have offended?" Tracy asked, sounding bitter.

"We're looking into every angle," Gibbs said without giving anything away.

"Do you have any other questions for me?"

"No. Thank you."

Gibbs led her out of NCIS and then came back in. Another dead end. If Charles had been involved in something, he clearly hadn't told his sister about it.

It still seemed like this had to be related to what Tim had discovered in his program. Unfortunately, that was where things were leading. So...whoever had been the hacker was probably the killer, too.

...but who was it?