NCIS Season 9
Episode 9.10.2
Paradox
By: Lady JenDragon
Disclaimer: NCIS isn't mine.
Author's Notes: Enjoy.
PARADOX
Part Five
Chapter Thirty-One
Walking into Autopsy, Ducky found Jethro Gibbs sitting at his desk waiting for him to return. His posture verified Jethro knew he crossed a line with Hach this evening. However, to observe her response and eventual reaction told him much about the good doctor.
Ducky walked towards his desk. "So what was the point of the kiss exactly?" He smirked. "You believed she wouldn't understand the simple chemistry between Nickson and his obsession over his obtaining the person he believes is Gwendolyn Stillman?"
Gibbs shrugged and threw his hands up in confusion and resigned himself to the incident. "It was accidental, Duck." He leaned his head back and looked up at the ceiling.
"Invading her personal space wasn't intentional?"
Gibbs sighed. "Maybe to frighten her a bit." He paused before continuing. "I just wanted to get through to her somehow." How else could he explain what happened. "Prove that she's in more danger than she thinks she understands." He shook his head. "How can she not see it?"
"She believes she's untouchable by those of lesser intelligence." Ducky nodded. "I've seen this behavior in more than one person like her before."
Gibbs did not understand the lack of common sense. "Do I have to beat it into her?"
"That might do more harm to you than to her." Ducky had tidbits to go on. "The Director of Forensics is a lesson in layers, Jethro. Hach buries herself in her work with the idea that it'll make her safe. Being the Director of Forensics, she doesn't come up against the killers you seek out through investigation. She has done some field work but it never dawns on her that it might follow her home."
"She hates me, Duck." Gibbs folded his hands. "It's cold, it's deep, and I don't know why. I see it in her eyes every time I look at her."
"It doesn't appear directed at you. Perhaps you remind her of someone from her past?" There was more than one answer to this hatred he witnessed in Hach's eyes when she glanced in Jethro's direction, Ducky surmised. "Someone who hurt her deep enough to pass along the hate to someone she doesn't even know." Ducky smiled weakly then. "You might've scared her enough to make this realization tonight." He paused at the silent reflection his friend currently pondered as he spoke. "She responded to you."
"She fought me." Gibbs pointed out.
"At first, yes." Ducky knew this was something. "But eventually she responded."
"She gave in since she couldn't fight me off, Duck." Gibbs paused then looked up and over at Ducky. "How much did you see?"
"Enough to make an educated guess." This was a turning point for Hach, Ducky realized. "She became unglued in Abby's lab just now. I went after her to observe her reaction as I inquired as to whether she was hurt or not and did she need assistance. When she realized I was there, Hach attempted to appear unphased by her 'training' session with you."
"Pissed off?" Gibbs queried.
"More at herself, I think." Ducky remembered the intimate scene. "She let her guard down for only a few seconds. She blames you for it, of course."
"Of course." He expected nothing less.
"You're intrigued by her." Ducky noted the glimmer in Jethro's eyes.
He witnessed the same response to a female before. Stephanie Flynn became Leroy Jethro Gibbs fourth wife as a result and the third he divorced. Ducky smirked at the idea of Hach falling for Jethro. Somehow he thought hell freezing over might be more plausible.
Gibbs needed to change the subject. "What I want to know is why Nickson's so hell bent on Gwendolyn Stillman?"
This subject would need to be revisited later, Ducky decided.
Ducky leaned against his desk, looking to his left at Jethro sitting in his desk chair. "Ryan Nickson lived on the next block over from Miss Stillman when he started his reign of terror. Some would argue it was that she represented innocence, his version of love untainted by society. I doubt he ever intended to harm Gwendolyn Stillman, a pure girl at the time. A majority of his victims were wayward young women, those who strayed from civilized society without anyone knowing until they went missing. Most of his victims were middle-class teenagers who thought they were untouchable."
"Gwendolyn wasn't anything like them at that time." Gibbs read the file extensively. "She had a rough time as it was hiding her intellect from her mother. She was probably just as smart as Dr. Hature is if…" He left the rest unsaid but continued. "Her step-father was no better than the mother. He was a known drunk in the neighborhood and spent more time in a bar than at home." He realized he left out an important piece of information. "I met her…their parents today."
Ducky hoped for more information regarding both the victim and Hach. "And?"
"Hach maintains a distant relationship with her father that's out of obligation not love." Gibbs wondered how Hach survived her early years. "Sam Hature was never allowed near Gwendolyn after the divorce though it's clear he wanted to know more about his daughter. Her mother thinks Hature's the walking devil among us. How she viewed Gwendolyn is beyond me."
This was his area of expertise. "Gwendolyn would've been considered the 'good' daughter. Hence the reason she took young Gwen in the divorce." Abby told him Gibbs forced Hach to visit her parents with him earlier in the day. "Though it's no surprise how her mother treated Hach when you went to inform her of Gwendolyn's death. They haven't had contact with one another since the divorce. There could also be some lingering anger on Deborah Stillman's part towards Sam Hature." Ducky knew some of Hach's history. "I'm not surprised she focused all of her hatred for both her ex-husband and Hach's abilities solely on the surviving twin in attendance during your visit."
Gibbs jerked his head towards Ducky. "How do you blame a six-year old for learning quicker than other kids, Duck?" It confounded him, Gibbs realized.
"Are you appalled with Hach or for her?"
Gibbs shook his head. "Ah…maybe both." He got to his feet suddenly uncomfortable with the subject. "My parents were never like that."
"Not everyone should be parents, Jethro." Ducky nodded. "What of the father's career?"
"He rose through the ranks quickly." Gibbs found that odd. "Five years as a seal and he becomes Captain? He was in line for an Admiral's position. Something's off, Duck."
Little surprised Ducky these days. "No doubt due to Hach's abilities and their military applications."
"She clearly holds it against him." Gibbs saw that much. "There's no warmth between them. Did you know Hach was seven when she started college?"
Ducky watched Jethro closely. "I know a good deal about her. We socialize in the same professional circles through NCIS. We met a few times at conferences and meetings but rarely conversed in a more intimate setting as colleagues. Did you know Hach operates at the PhD level in nineteen subject areas?" He needed to pause. "Many of which neither you nor I care to dabble in."
"And yet she grew up in that…" Gibbs lost the ability to describe his meeting with her parents.
"An environment you don't comprehend." Ducky understood Jethro's concern. "I don't pretend to understand the depths of a brilliant mind when I see one. But I do know her world will fall apart if Nickson gets a hold of her. She's no longer the innocent he once thought of Gwendolyn Stillman as. Ryan Nickson wants to take possession now." It had to be said. "He'll kill her when he finds out she isn't Gwendolyn. He'll remember his former victim far better than you or I ever could from reading a file."
Gibbs nodded and knew he had to find Ryan Nickson before he found Hach and learned the truth. He paused leaning forward to stand. "Who's Jay?"
"Godson." Ducky knew more than he realized. "He just turned twelve recently. Hach became his guardian a little more than a year ago after his mother was killed in a helicopter crash in the Pacific. Lt. Samantha Case was the pilot when her copter crashed off the starboard side of the Reagan. She was also Hach's cousin. A daughter to an aunt on her father's side, as I understand it. Young Jason Whitmere was away at school at the time."
Gibbs shook his head that people chose to send their kids away during the formidable years of development. "Boarding school?" He stood up ready to leave Autopsy in order to go find an available couch to sleep on for the night.
"College, Jethro." Ducky smirked this time. "He's a prodigy much like Hach though not nearly as accelerated. But I think Hach slowed him down on purpose."
"You met him?" Gibbs found the idea of Dr. Hature being a guardian to a child almost laughable.
"No." Ducky smiled. "I just started asking questions about him when she mentioned him in a conversation on my trip to Pearl earlier this year. I joined Abby for the first few days of the forensics conference only since my duties here called me back sooner. Abby and I cornered her after a seminar to ask about inconsistencies in the Perfecto case. Abigail had a much easier time relating to Hach than I. I don't think Hach meant it to slip about her godson. But she does act like a proud parent of young Jay and she's overly protective of who knows about him."
Gibbs guessed why. "I would too."
With that he walked towards the doors to exit Autopsy. Ducky watched Jethro leave with his arms folded and his head turned slightly.
Chapter Thirty-Two
The clock ticked over to twelve-thirty in the morning. Ziva David and Tim McGee were sleeping in Abby's back room on sleeping bags that were kept in stock at the lab for last minute overnight stays. Apparently this occurred often enough Abby kept seven under the table in case the entire team was required to stay at the Naval Yard. She was mildly aware that Tony DiNozzo and Agent Gibbs was off somewhere else in the building stretched out on a couch or sofa where they found one available.
She did not want to face Agent Gibbs at the moment so she relented to allow Gibbs' team to watch over her. Abby, Jimmy Palmer, and Dr. Mallard were ordered to go home for the night and return the next day. Protection duty was a job for NCIS agent's not forensic staff despite Abby's protest to join the slumber party.
Hach sat watching her computer monitor without really seeing it. Her face in her hands, she took a deep breath to steady her nerves. She sighed again unable to think clearly. The lesson with Gibbs remained fresh in her mind and hated herself for allowing it to happen.
"I just have to let it go…"
She left her thoughts alone suddenly afraid of them. Her fingers tapped at the keyboard blindly but somehow the keystrokes were in order. A photo of Director Jenny Shepard popped up onto the screen. Her eyes narrowed and turned cold.
Hach wanted nothing to do with the DC office for whatever reason Shepard wanted her here for. "Why did you want me here in DC all those years ago?"
She brought up several photos from an archive found on the flash drive she plugged into the computer. Photos of Jenny Shepard and Jethro Gibbs sitting in a car stared back at her. The street could be any in the world but she knew it to be Paris. It had been dark and the temperatures plummeted when the photo was taken all those years ago. A freak rainstorm blew through the region prior to her making that final decision. It was the late 90's if she remembered correctly. Newly assigned to Special Agent Gibbs' team in Europe, Hach was on her mandatory recovery vacation when she snapped the photo. She allowed the photos to flash every three seconds. The pair appeared far friendlier than NCIS agents should be together.
"What were you up to?" Hach felt incapable of thinking about anything useful to the case. "Why is this happening now?"
But she stopped herself from thinking about the subject any further. Hach did not allow the trivial occurrences like kissing fellow NCIS agents, dating and deciphering human relations to affect her work. To harbor such emotional responses to these unavoidable incidents was juvenile. Deciding that her interlude with Agent Gibbs meant nothing, she dismissed it from her mind.
"I'll figure out what you were up to." Hach frowned at the singular photo of Jennifer Shepard and whispered. "You always had a plan for everything."
But she never bothered to find out the plan.
With that, Hach stroked a few keys and the pictures disappeared and she removed the flash drive from the computer. She hit a few buttons and got back to work. A string of chemical formulas and DNA results popped up in a window that began an upward scroll across the screen. There was little she could do at the moment but she was not allowed to go home without a NCIS escort. She was damned if she was going to sleep with strangers in her house. And that was a few hours drive one-way.
Chapter Thirty-Three
The next morning, McGee checked the records, again finding nothing useful. No matter where they looked, all they hit were dead ends. Now that they knew where Stillman ended and Benack started, they could link the timeline for her movements. Ziva and Tony were not having any better luck pursuing their usual lines of investigation than he was at the digital versions. Gibbs arrived with his morning coffee.
"Boss!" Tim looked up from his screen. "There's literally a four-year gap between the last trail left by Gwendolyn Stillman and her becoming a tenant of the Bethesda Psyche Ward as Benack."
Gibbs said nothing more as Tony and Ziva arrived in the office side-by-side from the direction of the locker rooms after they showered and changed. They carried their toiletry bags back to their desks and placed them in side drawers, taking their respective seats. Despite spending the night on a couch, DiNozzo rested comfortably and apparently felt good this morning. Tony whined about his back aching from the couch in the conference room before heading off to the showers earlier. He noted the back still ached his senior field agent as he sat down behind his desk.
Currently, he was aware that Dr. Hature, Hach, stayed up most of the night running samples from other cases and went to sleep around six this morning. She would be up later in the morning since Abby arrived just after seven to take over the lab analysis pertaining to the case. Hach was under the Director's orders not to touch anything from their case. Protocols were to be strictly adhered to until the case was closed. They did not want anyone to slip through the legal loopholes should Hach touch something that tainted the evidence. That and it would make Abby angry. Gibbs smiled at the idea of Abby angry over Hach tainting evidence making said evidence inadmissible in court.
"We didn't find anything out from her neighbors from her last known address as Stillman." Tony sighed as he glared at his computer screen. "They barely knew she existed and she never went out during the day."
Ziva found Stillman's living arrangement habits odd. "She didn't really live there. It was more of an address for mail. Her mother ended the lease and cleared out anything left when Miss Stillman went missing before she turned up at Bethesda."
"No boyfriends or family was seen coming or going from the apartment." Tony looked through his notepad. "In fact, few people realized someone even lived there."
There was something odd about Miss Stillman's habits.
"She was hiding from someone." Gibbs reminded his team. "Nickson was part of her past."
"So, someone else besides Nickson." Ziva realized this made sense. "He was in jail without the possibility of parole. Ron Banks was charged, convicted, did his time, and now works as a mechanic."
"Track him down." Gibbs looked at the map of Virginia hung up beside the photos at his desk.
Tony and Ziva exchanged a glance then collected their field bags, weapons and IDs. This was a line of investigation everyone seemed to have missed. The team was off their A-game recently. This brought up another question in Gibbs mind.
He asked out loud. "How did Nickson know Hach was in Norfolk?"
Tim looked to Ziva and Tony getting ready to leave to find Ron Banks. Neither of them had an answer to Gibbs' question. But he wanted them to find that answer so Tony and Ziva headed toward the elevator and Tim pondered how he could find the answer Gibbs was looking for.
A beep on his computer got Tim's attention. "Uh, boss." Tim looked towards the plasma. "I got the unregistered number Stillman called five times in a row from the payphone outside the ward."
Gibbs looked at the plasma realizing the name flashing at the bottom of the screen: Guinevere Hature.
Chapter Thirty-Four
The mechanics shop in western West Virginia appeared abandoned when Tony and Ziva arrived at the facility. 'Bob's Repair' shop and aging sign were seemingly devoid of people. Vehicles in various states of repair were scattered across the property. They exited their Dodge Charger with an eerie sense of dread.
"Something's off." Tony quickly surveyed the building.
"Besides the fact no one's here?" Ziva missed what Tony was talking about.
Still, he had a police sense. It never steered them wrong in the past. So she was willing to go along with the intention to treat this Ron Banks, the former CO of Gwendolyn Stillman.
"Yeah that and the fact that it's a weekday and no one's here to even get a quote for auto repair." Tony glanced at the two-lane highway they drove on to get here. "I don't see Banks' vehicle here."
Ziva glanced around. "You're right." She glanced at her notepad. "He's has a 1998 Buick Regal."
They approached the front of the building cautiously. If someone wanted them to think Ron Banks was here, they were going to do things by the book.
Tony glared into the front windows of the shop finding no one moving around inside. "His roommate said he was here."
Ziva opened the front door, unholstering her SIG as Tony past her moving inside. She gripped her weapon in both hands once inside the shop's customer receiving area. Four chairs were lined against the dirty blue walls. There was a long counter with a liftgate for mechanics to enter/exit the back area. Now was not the time to let her guard down.
"NCIS!" Ziva called out. "Anyone here?"
No one answered.
"I don't like this." Tony moved to the lift gate counter taking his SIG into his hand.
He held the lift gate up for Ziva to pass him. She checked behind the counter for anyone they could not see and nodded that no one was on the floor. Ziva waited for Tony to pass through the lift gate and replaced the counter back down. She noted the office with no other egress routes off to her left. There was a window looking into the back repair shop. Only two vehicles were visible from their vantage point.
"Clear." Ziva whispered looking inside the tiny office. "I don't see anyone in the back from here."
"Let's take it slow." Tony replied.
Entering the vehicle repair shop, Ziva and Tony went fast but efficiently. They cleared most of the open area immediately finding little to impede their visibility. Coming around the corner, they found the legs of a mechanic sticking out from underneath the bright red Ford currently waiting for a brake job.
"Hey!" Tony straightened letting down his guard.
Ziva did not like the fact the guy did not move. "You think it's Ron Banks?"
Tony shrugged moving towards the mechanic. He kicked the legs gently once he was in range but nothing happened. He sighed knowing they were too late. Squatting down, he pulled on the boot, finding the body on a flat dolly. The body came out from beneath the vehicle easily, the name 'Ron' silk-screened into the patch over his left shirt pocket. There was a hole in the center of his forehead. A brown squarish piece of paper was pinned to his shirt over a button with the unmistakable letter 'R' written in black ink.
Tony took out a photo from his inner pocket and compared it to the face of the body. "It's Ron Banks alright."
"The Reaper?" Ziva frowned. "Why would he kill Ron Banks?"
"I don't know." Tony shrugged as he stood up and found his phone. "This case keeps getting weirder and weirder by the hour."
Dialing a number, he lifted the phone to his ear.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Gibbs strolled into Autopsy, coffee in hand, needing to escape the confines of the office since they were nowhere closer to finding the link between Gwendolyn Stillman, Ron Banks, and how The Reaper knew either of them. Ducky had Ron Bank's insides currently in various stages of removal. The cloth with a tray of utensils over the hip area reminded him Ducky was only about half done with his examination.
"Duck."
Ducky glanced up at him. "He was killed late yesterday afternoon. Around four pm according to the thermometer."
"Cause of death?" Gibbs took a drink of his coffee.
Ducky looked up at him. "The hole in his head is more than clear, Jethro."
"The Reaper shot Ron Banks point blank?"
"I'd say The Reaper had a vendetta against Mr. Banks." Ducky looked inside the body. "There's an indication that our victim suffered a massive beating prior to his death. X-rays confirmed four ribs, his left ankle, right ulna, and left femur all display an array of fractures and breaks he received prior to the bullet ending his life."
Gibbs considered the possibility. "Stillman." He paused. "The Reaper knew her somehow."
"Seems apparent to me he did." Ducky glanced up at Jethro. "Perhaps more than knew her?"
That led Gibbs to conclude. "She had to know his identity."
Ducky shrugged. "Maybe not initially." He had been thinking about it since he learned that Ron Banks body was in route to NCIS Autopsy. "I suspect Miss Stillman discovered his identity later on and made the effort to run."
"It was The Reaper who found Gwendolyn Stillman." Gibbs looked down at Ron Banks. "Not Nickson."
"You're referring to the paper found in her pocket?"
Gibbs nodded. "It had the words 'I found you' on it."
"Yes." Ducky stopped what he was doing and nodded. "We, at one point, thought it was from Nickson."
"This changes everything." Gibbs hated the idea of The Reaper playing with another of his cases. "He's playing with us, Duck."
Ducky watched Jethro leave Autopsy in a hurry.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Vance eyed Agent Gibbs clearly annoyed by their recent findings. It was alarming that the Reaper was finding his way around NCIS people easily. That there was a close connection to Dr. Hature alarmed him. How Secretary Jarvis would take this…well that remained to be seen.
"Let me get this straight…The Reaper killed Ron Banks?" He needed to get the information clear. "He put a bullet in Gwendolyn Stillman CO's head?"
"The details of her attack were kept from the public. Those records were sealed by SecNav and the Director of NCIS at the time." Gibbs leaned on Vance's desk. "Only those of us who were involved with the investigation knew his name. It's not public knowledge, Leon."
Vance knew what that meant. "Under Director Morrow at the time." He got to his feet. "Unfortunately, that information is no longer protected by law, Gibbs. Anyone could've accessed the files and learned his name these days. The Statute of Limitations passed more than a year ago. Miss Stillman's change of name and current whereabouts are the only thing protected now."
Gibbs straightened hoping he would be able to interview the current Assistant Director of Homeland Security.
"You knew she was at Bethesda?"
Vance nodded. "Director Shepard permitted her to take up residence there on our dime. Miss Stillman needed protection. She felt it was the least we could do for one of our own. The psyche ward was cheaper than witness protection."
Gibbs shook his head in disbelief.
"We didn't know she had any connection to The Reaper." Vance shoved his hands into his pockets. "He wasn't on our radar till Hach brought him to our attention last year."
He lost his patience. "Great."
Gibbs left Vance's office more irritated than when he arrived.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Abby eyed Hach calmly yet anyone could tell she desperately wanted to ask a personal question. Standing at her workstation, she eyed Hach around the edge of the computer screen. She shifted on her feet more than usual watching Hach peer into a microscope, facing her.
"No evidence from Banks?" Hach inquired.
Hach knew Abby was the kind to wonder profusely when she got wind of gossip wandering around NCIS. If Ducky explained to others what he witnessed in the agents training room last night, her accident with Agent Gibbs would now be common knowledge. She was unsure how to feel about this at the moment and chose to ignore Abby's longing stare to ask her questions.
"No." Abby shook her head. "Despite having been a human punching bag, The Reaper left no trace evidence on him. Even the bullet was erased for prints."
"I see." Hach remained calm, peering into the microscope at her makeshift station. "You seem twitchy today, Miss Sciuto."
Abby lowered her head to respond when Gibbs walked into the lab.
"Tell me you have something, Abs." Gibbs almost sounded hopeful rather than the usual open-minded.
Abby abruptly turned to face him, her hands behind her back, and responded mournfully. "Sorry, Gibbs. He left nothing behind this time except his usual calling card." She turned to tap a few keys.
The brown square of paper with the black ink appeared on the large plasma screen. The 'R' left in disjointed calligraphy was recognizable and appeared a legit clue. Gibbs only gave Hach a quick glimpse then paid Abby his full attention.
"Nothing that I can trace right now." Abby sounded sad that she was useless at the moment. "I know what you're going to say, Gibbs. I checked the paper and the style of the letter. The construction of the letter 'R' matches all the other clues he's left before. Same with the paper. Dead on match. It's The Reaper all right. He's just as annoying as Perfecto."
Gibbs walked around to Hach, standing beside her. "Nothing to add, doctor?"
Hach did not look up from her microscope. "Do I have to take out a restraining order against you, Agent Gibbs?"
"How did The Reaper know your sister?" He spoke plainly.
Abby covered her mouth with both hands when Hach lifted her head then turned to face Gibbs.
"News to me." She stood up from her chair. "If you remember, she and I weren't talking."
Gibbs grabbed Hach by the arm pulling her out of the Forensics lab.
"Wonderful." Hach sighed heavily noting Abby's surprised expression as she unwillingly left the lab with Gibbs pulling on her arm. "Back to bullying tactics are we?"
In shock of the events in her lab, Abby stood for only a moment. Shaking her head, Abby went back to work pretending to not care about what was going on with those two. Still, it would be interesting if Tony, Tim and Ziva knew something she did not. All she knew was that sometime last night something changed in Hach.
And no one was willing to talk or postulate about it this morning claiming they knew nothing. Ducky was the only one who appeared remotely guilty of knowing something. However, he was far more creative about changing the subject when avoiding a direct question. That would take more conniving to get what Ducky Mallard knew about Gibbs and Hach out of him.
"Make no mistake my little Gibbs-mates." Abby said with finality. "I will find out."
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Gibbs pushed Hach against the wall of the elevator currently locked between sub-basement floors 1 and 2. Hach could only guess why Agent Gibbs was agitated today after the body of Ron Banks, Gwen's former CO, was found. Her first assumption, he was not getting the answers he wanted fast enough.
"I'm not luggage!" Hach warned. "Stop handling me!"
"We checked the phone records!" Gibbs eyed her harshly. "Gwen called you the night before she died!"
Hach narrowed her eyes and shot back. "Well, if you checked the records then you know I didn't answer my damn phone!"
Gibbs noted the hurt look in her eyes. "She called you five times in a row!"
"And I ignored her!" Hach pushed his hands off her then walked away from him rubbing her face to keep her cool. "On purpose."
Gibbs said nothing realizing what Hach had done to her own sister.
"You don't think I haven't thought about my actions since then?" She sighed, her voice quivering. "That part of me that thought she finally felt guilty for all the years I spent searching for her and always seemed to keep one step ahead of me. She never wanted to see me before and now I was supposed to believe she was calling me at such a late hour for a family reunion?"
His demeanor suddenly changed towards her, his voice low. "Don't." Gibbs knew why Hach did what she did. "You didn't know why at the time."
"I do now." Hach refrained from crying in front of him though tears formed in her eyes. "Doesn't mean I don't feel any less crappy for it." Hach wanted revenge for her sister's past actions and she was killed before they ever got meet again. "I wanted her to feel what I felt after all these years." The regret was immense, her voice quivered. "Shutting me out, avoiding me at all costs."
Hach glanced up at the ceiling then took a moment to pull herself back together.
"It never dawned on me she was in trouble." Hach turned to face Gibbs. "By the one who eventually found and killed her. And all I could think about that night was the payback I wanted." Hach felt she deserved to be judged. "So yeah." She took a deep breath. "I never bothered to pick up the damn phone."
Gibbs sighed then. "She didn't leave a voicemail, did she?"
Hach shook her head. "No." Part of her cringed that her anger took precedent over logic that Gwen might have called in an emergency. "If Gwen was as smart as I thought she was and she was in trouble and she couldn't get a hold of someone. She would've left something behind for us to find."
That got his attention. "You've been looking?"
Then it dawned on him that she had been looking at the bed sheets from the psyche ward microscopically when he walked into the lab. It never dawned on him that anyone would leave a clue in fabric. But that did not mean it would be easy to find. The Reaper was almost as smart as his forensic staff was and seemed to pick up on where to look for clues.
"Trying." Hach shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Gwen hasn't made things easy. If she left a clue, I haven't been able to find it."
Gibbs moved and switched the elevator back into operation. "Let me know when you find something."
Hach only nodded when the doors opened and she exited the confined space. When the doors closed, Gibbs leaned against the wall, his fingers hanging just inside his pockets as he contemplated his exchange with Hach. He had her completely all wrong.
The doors opened and Ducky stood watching him.
"Just the person I needed to see." Ducky waited for Gibbs to join him.
"What is it, Duck?" Gibbs needed more than what he had.
Ducky lifted his chin. "It appears Gwendolyn Stillman gave birth to a child approximately thirteen years ago."
Gibbs looked at Ducky and sighed heavily.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Jimmy Palmer eagerly found Dr. Mallard in the hallway with Agent Gibbs near the elevator discussing Gwendolyn Stillman and Dr. Hature. He caught a word here and there as he approached them. The two men were softly conversing, clearly ignoring anyone in the hall. Jimmy felt it was imperative to break into their exchange.
"Uh, doctor?" He hated to interrupt.
Ducky and Gibbs both paused to face him. Gibbs appeared annoyed that Jimmy was once again involving himself in his investigation. However, upon seeing Jimmy's anxiousness, he was willing to listen. Ducky felt the same only he recognized Jimmy's body language and understood its importance.
"I…I have something you need to see…" Jimmy pointed. "Like right now."
Gibbs glanced at Ducky.
Both were perplexed by his insistence, following him back into autopsy. Jimmy appeared overly disturbed today. The photos of the Stillman autopsy were laid out on the middle examination table where the file was hap-hazardly set in a stack. One was of Gwendolyn Stillman's ear.
"I was sifting through the photos." Jimmy stopped to correct himself. "Well, actually I dropped the file on the floor. And I was putting the photos back in order when I found this." He lifted one photo and gave it to Ducky.
Ducky was annoyed but then it faded quickly looking to Jimmy. "Are you sure?"
"Positive." Jimmy pointed towards the drawer sitting out, Gwendolyn Stillman's head currently uncovered. "If Abby hadn't shown me what she was working on before, I would've completely missed it."
Gibbs moved towards the body with Ducky and Jimmy close behind. Ducky moved around Jethro, positioning himself to take a closer look behind the left ear. He shifted Gwendolyn's head towards her right side to look for the missed evidence. Sure enough, the mark was there.
"I completely missed it." Ducky lifted his eyes to Jethro.
"I did too, doctor!" Jimmy eagerly pointed out.
"What is it?" Gibbs knew nothing of the small cuts.
"It's the call insignia of…" Ducky had to take a breath. "…Perfecto."
Jimmy looked directly at Gibbs. "Perfecto left his calling card on Gwendolyn Stillman."
Gibbs glared at Ducky with the expression of 'you're-kidding-me'. The three stood there unsure what to do next for several seconds as the enormity of the evidence sunk in.
Gibbs seemed unable to grasp the complexity of the case. "When the hell did Perfecto join in?"
He left autopsy immediately with the intention of informing one person. Ducky understood this was important and followed Jethro out. He would take the elevator to the fourth floor while Jethro took the stairs to clear his head by the time he reached the Director's office.
Chapter Forty
The Director's office was not the place to be at the moment.
Leon Vance changed since they last saw him. He now wore a black suit with white shirt, and oil-slick black shoes today. And he was not a man to be trifled with and today did not start off well with the Feds demanding a status update on the pursuit of serial killer Ryan Nickson. And now, they had to add Perfecto to the list of wanted suspects involved in the Stillman murder.
"So what you're telling me is that Perfecto killed Gwendolyn Stillman?" Vance asked Ducky directly, the pathologist standing at attention. "And The Reaper killed Ron Banks?"
Gibbs stood next to Ducky knowing the doctor could stand up against Leon's cold stare.
"It appears so, Director." Ducky knew little of what was going on with this case only that it was getting more complicated the more they investigated. "Young Mr. Palmer discovered the insignia left by Perfecto by accident. Abby showed him Perfecto's insignia from one of the victim's before on one of her breaks from the case."
Vance knew things were becoming far more complicated than he wanted them. "How was it missed the first time?"
"The insignia wasn't completed since there was not lot of time needed to hang Miss Stillman." Ducky had little to go on. "Since the body was hung, the sheet used to hang the victim pulled the skin taught hiding the remainder of the mark he cut into the skin."
"First Reaper then Nickson and now Perfecto." Vance sighed. "What else is next?"
His phone buzzed and his secretary's feminine voice spoke evenly. "Director, the White House is on line two."
Vance sighed. "Great, serial killers and mercenaries. Just what I need right now." He turned to Gibbs. "Find Reaper and Perfecto. If we tag Nickson as a result, I'll count us lucky."
Gibbs nodded as Vance moved to pick up the phone to find out what the White House wanted this time. Ducky and Gibbs walked towards the door together in silence but their eyes had a conversation of their own. Outside of the Director's office, Ducky looked to Jethro. Things were heating up at NCIS now.
Ducky felt danger lurking closer to home. "What do we do now?"
Gibbs reply was simple. "Tell Abby it's come home."
TO BE CONTINUED…
