Chapter 25
The team got back to the Navy Yard and started working. Tim and Ziva were at Abby's lab, looking at the surveillance videos. Ducky and Palmer were at autopsy. Tony and Gibbs were at the bullpen going over the statements they collected from Madeline's colleagues.
" According to the statements, she's going by Madeline Fogg now. Said she was 20-years-old. Mother of Amanda and Robert Fogg. Everyone liked her, arrives in time, works hard. Listens to what others say, but is not afraid to give opinions herself. Doesn't mention her private life much, aswell as respects others privacy. All around predictable, until a week ago. " Tony was talking while looking at his notes.
" What happened? " Asked Gibbs, drinking from his coffee.
" They don't know, but they said she was getting jumpy. Looking past her shoulder, scaring easily when others approached her. A few people asked her about it, she said she was ' probably just tired and imagining things'. "
" Obviously not. "
Gibbs phone rang. He listened for a second before shutting his phone.
" McGee and Ziva got something from the videos. "
They got to the lab to find the occupants of the room looking at a computer screen.
" What did you found? "
" We managed to gather videos from the store and the surrounding area to see what happened. " Said Tim. " Begins here. " He pulled a video of Abby at the store. " She exits the kitchen, talks for a minute, Abby leaves, she keeps looking outside, then here. " He paused the video and enlarged Madeline's face. " Her expressions changes. "
" That's fear. " Said Ziva.
Tim returns the screen to normal and let the video play.
" She runs outside. " He presses a few other keys. " From the outside camera, we see she keeps standing in the street, looking forward. " He open another video, this one shows the other side of the street. " Straight to this car. " It was a dark sedan. " We could not get a face on the driver, but we got the plates. A few seconds after she exits the store, the driver throws a small object out the window and drives away. She crosses the street picks it up and runs back inside the store. " While he spoke, he changed the video to follow what he said. " Runs back to the kitchen, less than a minute later she's back, runs to this car and drives away. "
" Wow, a 1965 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. It's not in perfect condition, but it's a nice car. " Said Tony.
" What was the object on the street? " Asked Gibbs.
Tim opened a screen with an amplified view of the object.
" Looks like a small piece of fabric Gibbs. " Said Ziva. " She recognized it. And immediately asked her colleague about the woman who babysits for her. It's probably a piece of clothing from her children, it's about the size of a sock. "
The computer biped. Tim began typing and looking through several windows of video of the same street.
" What was that? " Asked Tony.
" That car, I ran recognition on the plates. " He worked for a few seconds before speaking again. " Those plates passed by this street everyday this past week. "
" That's explain what the colleagues said about her being jumpy. The guy was watching her. " Said Tony.
" If he's after her, why the sock? Why take the kids? Why not just take or kill her? " Asked Abby.
" By taking her kids first she suffers more. He's taunting her. " Said Tim, looking in the screen to a frame of his daughter's panicked expression.
" DiNozzo- "
" Put out a bolo on on both vehicles. Got it Boss. " Tony left the lab.
" What you got Abbs? "
" I did not have much time to look at this stuff yet, Gibbs. But I can say that the note has Noelle's prints. But those are the only ones. I'm still testing the other objects, and waiting for samples from Ducky. "
" David, with me. Tim find out where she is! This guy too. "
Gibbs and David went to Autopsy.
" Jethro. I understand your urgency, but I did not have the time to give work on this woman yet. "
" Tell me what you already got. "
" Well, this poor woman was shot. And she has some bruising in her arm, like if someone held it hard. "
" Time of death? "
" I would put it around 7 o'clock. "
" That's all you got? "
" About this woman yes. But I have been thinking about what I saw in Noe, better say, Madeline's apartment. "
" What about it, Ducky? " Asked Ziva.
" Well, I could not find a single object that could be a memoir of the life she led as Noelle. And everything in the apartment is either a basic necessity or is for her kids. That is clear when we compare the rooms. Her's is bare, impersonal, only a picture of the children in the table, nothing more to decorate it. The children's room in the other hand, is full of color, comfortable, objects that would bring comfort to her children. "
" And, what do you get from that? " Asked Gibbs.
" Well, from I could see and what I know about her past, the girl is determined to be the best mother she can, to not make the mistakes her mother made. She had transformed from a girl into a mother, is her identity, she lives for them. If that's healthy is another matter, what I'm saying is, she may not have done anything wrong or violent so far, but with her children, her reason to live, in danger, if something happens to them..."
" It can trow her over the edge. " Said Gibbs, following the ME's train of tought.
" Yes. I don't doubt that her life is in danger, but the man who took her children is also. Not that I feel bad about his safety. She managed to suffer through a lot, and still be a good person. I worry what would happen with her, if she crosses that line. "