Chapter 21: CRACKED MASQUERADE
"He's been sitting like that for an hour." Torres whined. "Staring."
"It works." Tim replied. "Gets me every time."
"He's a waiter for crying out loud. They're easy to break."
"There's more to it." Bishop relayed pensively. "Gibbs knows what he's doing."
Behind them, Tori slipped from the room, walked down the corridor and forestalled before the door to the interrogation room. Gathered a deep breath allowing a cordial persona to slide into place and opened the door.
"Did not see that coming." Tim stated baffled. "Here comes the hurricane."
"She bit the bullet." Torres stated from the side. "Even I know to stay away."
"Guys look." Bishop shifted their attention. "He's being nice to her."
"Surrendering his chair, that's new."
"Oh, he's grabbing the other one, setting it next to hers." Torres narrated.
"Good cop bad cop?"
"How about sweet cop good cop."
"I get it." Bishop pointed at the mirror. "Look at the waiter's reaction. He appreciates the gesture."
"Tactic then."
"Who said chivalry's dead? It lives, apparently."
Inside the room, Tori smirked at the waiter making him feel more at ease.
"So Teddy. Can I call you Teddy?"
He dipped his chin, smile climbing ever so slightly.
"Awesome. Can you tell us what happened that evening?"
"Ms Tait arrived a little after seven. Asked for Mr Davenport. After that, they had a brief conversation and by the time it was over, she looked like she was in a daze."
"How so?" She leaned forward, showing she was genuinely engrossed with the account.
Teddy relished the attention and replied.
"Mr Davenport has that effect on women. Though this was the first time he'd walked away after such a brief meeting." He paused as something came to mind. "They'd exchanged a kiss. Abnormal behaviour for him."
"I see. How long have you known him?"
"I'd say a while." Gibbs interjected.
Tori gazed at him, eyes narrowed. "True, especially if he knows his routine."
"Yeah, and if he's the kiss and tell type."
"But he isn't, though. According to Teddy here, he knows how to swoon a woman. He would cater accordingly." She shifted her eyes back to the waiter. "No pun intended."
"Help us out, Teddy." Gibbs entreated as he gazed at him.
He flinched with the behaviour. Having had the privilege of staring at him for a long while, it triggered apprehension. He hesitated.
"You note a change in her behaviour?"
His eyes flitted from Gibbs to hers, then stayed on hers. "She had been determined, stanch in her demeanour. But after he'd left, she was stumped. Like the wind was knocked from her sails."
"Must've been some kiss." She jested to Gibbs.
He smirked. "Nah, I think it's what he said."
"Tell me more."
The veteran gestured to Teddy. "He knows. Don't ya?"
Swallowing, he extended a hand and tilted it to one side and then to the other. It was a more or less response.
"I think he threatened her." Gibbs regarded him, smiled when the man blinked. "Yeah, she provoked him."
"Oh, I bet Davenport didn't like that." Tori replied.
"Her clients denied the smuggling charges. Then after she turns up dead, they plead guilty. Strange dontcha think?"
"Coincidence maybe." She offered, knowing those ceased to exist in their line of work.
"You're kidding right?" Gibbs laughed. She smirked waywardly.
"Wait." Teddy interrupted. Both gazed at him. Both raised their eyebrows. "Mr Davenport's an investor."
"Ya think?"
"Too little I'm afraid." She quipped.
"Good one." He retorted with a chuckle.
"Thank you."
"Ms Tait was his lawyer." Teddy clarified. "He knew her as a business acquaintance."
Tori tsked. "Oh, you poor thing."
"How long do you think he's known?"
"What, that Davenport's business is less than courteous? Or that he hadn't really questioned the man's good intentions?"
"Neither."
Tori leaned back in her chair a tad astonished. "Oh."
Gibbs gazed at her, engaging in a comfortable discussion. "It took him five days to volunteer the info."
"Definitely orchestrated."
"Forfeited a pawn."
"Without question, but those charges are quite iffy."
"I came to you out of my own freewill." Teddy said somewhat offended.
Excluding him, Gibbs probed. "To protect himself?"
"Nah, a good citizen more like it."
"Mr Davenport's not a killer." He contended once more. "He's a good man. He takes care of his own."
"So then more than an investor." Tori surmised.
"A friend taking the fall. It's admirable."
"It's not, when they discover why they did it."
"Another accomplice behind bars."
"Unless."
Gibbs hummed his agreement.
"What?" The waiter gazed between them, puzzled.
Tori grinned at him. "Unless Davenport likes you for some reason."
"Heck why?" Gibbs grunted. "Jeez, he still sacrificed the man."
"In an amicable way."
"Civil?" He snorted. "He's a cold-blooded murderer."
"No argument there."
"I'm not following."
"Here's how we see it." She placed her elbows on the table, luring him into the deliberation. "Ms Tait delivers a blow. Davenport retaliates."
"You sure you want to include him?" Gibbs whispered as he leaned forward. "Don't think he'll be much help."
"It's too late now." Tori countered, then smiled at Teddy. "Later that evening, Mr Davenport makes good on his threat. Kills her. Drops her off at Norfolk."
"Got holes in your story there, kiddo." The veteran informed.
"Teddy, help me out here."
As a pair, they looked at him awaiting some sort of assumption.
He swallowed as he put together the pieces and once realization struck, his demeanour changed.
"He framed me for murder."
"Supposition?"
"No. A question." Gibbs amended deadpan.
"It's a fact." Teddy snarled. "He set me up to take the fall."
"So the dinner and the wine weren't the smoking gun?" Tori asked, genuinely intrigued.
Teddy shook his head, annoyed by the revelation. "His gun was."
"No sign of it on the security cams." Gibbs declared.
"She was poisoned, Teddy."
"The revolver was beneath the table when he threatened her. I overheard him asking her to touch it – as a means to show she was at a stalemate."
"I must say, it's a peculiar method to make it known."
"But effective." Gibbs retorted, attention now fully on the waiter. "What was your role?"
"To do my job. I was her server for the rest of the evening and called for a car service afterwards."
"Wow, so he's truly just a waiter." Tori declared astonished. Thumbed at Gibbs. "Gee whiz, now I owe him five bucks."
"Fifteen." He countered pokerfaced.
"What? Why?" Tori refuted appalled.
"Five bucks per theory."
"Okay, so he's not an investor."
"Aye."
"Arranged it so that we could identify Davenport."
He nodded with a chuffed smirk.
"Patsy." Teddy concluded.
"Fifteen."
He beckoned for the payment.
Tori reached for her pocket but discontinued, pretending she had thought of something. "Wait a minute. There's more."
"Oh yes, of course." Gibbs flicked his finger as if he'd come to the same conclusion. "There's a point to this."
"Exactly."
"We know the point already." Teddy said, annoyed by their banter. "I'm a bystander to murder."
He shook his head. "No, that's not it."
"He doesn't know. Be nice."
"This is me being nice." Gibbs said with a steely glare.
She winced, averted her gaze and looked at the waiter. Rolled her eyes. "My bad."
"Steven Sable."
"Nah, that's not right." She shook her head.
"Nicholas Patterson."
Her eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh yes – nope, doesn't ring a bell."
"Casey Derringer." Gibbs declared with animosity clear in his voice.
"Aubrey Davenport." Teddy corrected. "He's Aubrey Davenport."
"Ding, ding, ding. Oh, I am so sorry Theodore. No prize money for you. You lost." Tori teased, then jerked as the veteran kicked her shin. She cleared her throat, earnest expression falling into place.
"I don't understand."
"Alias' Teddy." Gibbs clarified stern and irritated. "All of them. Aubrey doesn't exist in that ideal world of yours. Whatever he promised you, he hung you out to dry."
"Did our little scheme work?" Tori asked of the waiter. "Did we entice you like Davenport did?" She lifted her hand and mimicked a scissor. "Snip, there you go."
Gibbs scowled at the behaviour, though it seemed to have worked on the waiter. He recoiled with the action, comprehension unfolding like a budding rose.
"You're nothing to him." She hissed. "Merely someone he roped in with lies only to reward you with his mess."
"Lawyer." Teddy snarled at her, blue eyes sparkling with aggravation.
"C'mon, seriously." Tori slammed her hands on the table as she stood to her feet. "After what that psychopath did, you still choose to defend him?"
"Major." Gibbs warned.
"No. He needs to know."
She opened the folder and spread a couple of photos on the table. Teddy winced, forcing them to one side and again demanded a lawyer.
"This could've been you." She held up the image of Jeandré, next showed him Danny's photo. "He was my friend. Killed because he refused to submit. They're dead Teddy, and yet you're still alive. Why? What's so special about you?"
"That's enough!"
The veteran seized her bicep in a gentle grip, nudged her aside, and procured the familiar spot at the table. His gaze shifted from hers, down to the waiter and then he leaned his hands on its surface.
The men held each other's focus for a minute before Gibbs grinned shrewdly.
"What's the message?"
Tori scowled, bemused by what the veteran had perceived. It was possible she'd seen it too in that hour of silence, but she'd lost perspective in the final minutes. Gibbs hadn't and she was grateful he was here to make up for the rookie mistake. Then Teddy mirrored the smile. His chuckle sent a shiver down her spine. Ostensibly, he had acted his part as well.
"Congrats on cracking the masquerade."
"Message." He urged in a snarl.
"Ego problema." Teddy announced in Latin.
"I am a riddle." Tori interpreted when Gibbs grunted in frustration.
"Exploro; scrutatio."
"Investigate; search."
Teddy's lips curved into a malicious sneer. "Leo, Lupi. Illi sanguine bellum."
"To lions and wolves. To those of blood and war."
"I am not to be reckoned with." He allowed the thought to dangle, then recited the second part. "Ego ultima adversaries. Non est occultatem ego magis."
"I am the ultimate opponent. I am hidden no more."
"Hanc Sententiam. Major Tori Hatcher." The words spit like venom.
Gibbs scowled at the use of her full name. By the tone of his voice, he knew it wasn't good and silence on her part confirmed what his gut cautioned.
Tori stared at the waiter, mind mulling over what he had said and how he'd said it.
"This is the conclusion." She translated in a mellow tone.
Teddy leaned forward, eyes drilling that of the Major's. "Your weakness is mine. Fractum Erupit." He hissed.
"Fractured masquerade."
"Lawyer." He ordered for a third time.
"Where the hell did that come from?" Torres asked as he stepped towards the two-way mirror.
"Beats me." Bishop answered. "But he just rattled her, big time."
"Is that even possible?" Tim questioned. "What a performance though. Scarcely get to see that side of Gibbs."
"Tele Nova if you ask me."
"Guys this is serious. From what I've speculated, those two murders aren't the first. This goes way back for the Major."
"Without a doubt there's a connection to their recent field-trip." Tim said.
"Heard it was quite a sandstorm. Get it? Sandstorm – as in Desert Storm. Those mercs . . ."
McGee offered him a lopsided smile, then his face fell into an earnest expression. "Rule 10."
"When the job is done, walk away?" Torres questioned.
"That's no. 11." Bishop corrected.
"Never get personally involved in a case." Tim recited. "Always been a tough one."
"It didn't become so personal until Gibbs emerged from the underground sewer."
"Don't blame him. It brought back old memories."
"It happened fourteen years ago, McGee."
"Yeah, and her death a year thereafter. No one enjoys recalling their failures."
"Back then, Kate and Gibbs came to Tony's rescue." Bishop reminded him. "There are many good memories you have of them."
"But the Major's friend didn't survive." Torres spoke. "It only enraged her personal pursuit. And he, whoever he is, just openly challenged her."
"The question is." Bishop began. "What's Gibbs going to do about it?"