Chapter 38
The Navy Yard, Washington
Jimmy Palmer drove the NCIS Emergency Response Van, as he always did on the Major Case Response Team's cases, to the crime scene in Arlington.
On this particular occasion, however, Gibbs and Palmer's official supervisor, Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard, put Boston police officer Frankie Rizzoli - and a map - in the front seat next to Palmer.
"Mr. Palmer has a tendency to get lost," Ducky told Frankie shortly before they left the Navy Yard. "I want you to help him find his way to our particular crime scene, and quickly."
"What about Jane and Maura and you, Doctor?" Frankie asked.
"There are places we can sit in the back," Ducky told him. "I want to get more acquainted with Dr. Isles, since she and I will be working together, and with your sister, since she will be one of our agents...I realize, Officer, you are anxious to speak with Jane, and with Maura, but at the moment I need you to help Mr. Palmer find our destination and on time."
As the NCIS van made its way across the Potomac, Ducky - sitting in the back with Jane and Maura - could hear Frankie directing Palmer, step by step. Maura had given Ducky a very brief work history, while Jane listened in, sitting on a folding chair.
"You sure this thing doesn't have a seat belt?" Jane said.
"Although Mr. Palmer usually needs assistance with directions, I assure you he does not have what one might call a lead foot, nor is he a dangerous driver," Ducky told Jane.
"I do realize it is a bit crowded here in the back" - Ducky sat on a bench, while Maura sat next to Jane on another folding chair in the narrow aisle - "and there is a reason agent Gibbs wanted your brother up front instead of me."
"Because he doesn't want us to talk too soon," Jane replied, speaking of her and Frankie.
"I would guess, Jane, that Agent Gibbs doesn't want you and Frankie arguing before we get to this crime scene, or during, or after," Maura said.
"Yeah," Jane responded, "because you know I'm...we're...all he's gonna want to talk about."
"Perhaps," Ducky said. "There is, of course, a time and a place, as the saying goes, for such a discussion. It will come later, though; I understand you two will ride back with Agents Burley and Cassidy. Frankie will ride back with us."
"So we don't argue on the way back," Jane said.
"There is that meeting with Lt. Cavanaugh at NCIS later this afternoon," Maura said. "What Gibbs is doing makes sense, though I don't believe Frankie would do anything that reflects badly on the department."
"I'm kinda glad he's here, and not Tommy," Jane said of her other brother. "Tommy doesn't have to worry about Boston PD's 'reputation'-"
"Jane, didn't you tell me that Tommy isn't as judgmental as you and Frankie?" Maura asked.
"Maura! I didn't say that!" Jane said.
"Jane! Maura! Dr. Mallard!" Frankie said from the front seat. "We're two blocks from the scene."
"Thank you, Officer Rizzoli," Ducky said. "It appears we will be at the scene momentarily."
"Maura! I didn't say judgmental," Jane told Maura. "I said...he, and me both, are more judgmental than Tommy."
"And how is that different than 'Tommy is not as judgmental as Frankie and I'?"
"Alright alright...you got me. I said me and Frankie are more judgmental than Tommy, okay?...Tommy accepts everybody, Maura."
"Yes he does," Maura replied. "He's not going to have a problem with us, and I think he'll help when it comes time to talk with Angela."
"I know," Jane said, as the van came to a stop, and Palmer turned off the engine. "Maur, I hope I'm wrong about Frankie."
Pentagon City, just southwest of the Pentagon, in Arlington, Virginia
Three vehicles rested in the intersection of South Hayes Street and 12th Street South, right in front of Best Buy, and it was a mess.
NCIS agents Stan Burley and Paula Cassidy were already on the scene, along with uniformed officers and detectives from Arlington County Police Department and the United States Pentagon Police.
Jane, Maura and Ducky piled out the back - all wearing NCIS gear, as did Palmer, and officer Rizzoli (who wore a special 'visiting law enforcement' I.D. badge made up for him by Tim McGee).
The scene was, in essence, a Camry losing a battle with an Expedition and a F-350.
Cassidy was taking pictures of the scene:
* two dead Naval officers in the Camry, which took the brunt of the collision
* the Expedition, which scrunched the front of the Camry and had its front fender torn completely off and its right front and rear doors shot at
* the F-350, which hit the Camry from the back, flipped over, and rested 60 yards from the car and SUV, with bullet holes in its back window
"What a helluva mess," Jane remarked as she and Ducky made their way to Agent Burley.
"Stanley, this is Detective Jane Rizzoli," Ducky said.
"Stan Burley, NCIS," he replied, shaking Jane's hand. "As you two can see, it's a pretty bad wreck. Two dead Navy officers in the car, another dead girl thrown from the truck, the two people in the SUV survived but have been taken to Arlington Central Hospital four blocks away in serious condition."
"What happened?" Jane asked.
"Four eyewitnesses say the Camry, going north and the Expedition going south had the green light; the truck was going west and had a red light," Burley said, as Jane and Ducky followed him towards the scene.
"The eyewitnesses say the truck was being chased by a red car, maybe a Corvette, and was shot at multiple times; the truck hit the Camry, flipped over, and a passenger was thrown out. The car hit the SUV head on."
"Whomever was in the car didn't stand a chance," Jane said.
Frankie ran towards her, Burley and Ducky. "The driver of the truck's awake, sitting in the back of that ambulance," Frankie said. "And he's talking to those detectives, or trying to."
"Let's see if he'll talk to us," Burley said, motioning for Jane and Frankie to follow him.
Meanwhile, Maura and Palmer were investigating the bodies of a Navy Lieutenant and Ensign, along with the medical examiner from Arlington County, Kate Clinton. [1]
"Looks to me like these folks were in the wrong place, wrong time," Dr. Clinton remarked. "Simple open-and-shut case, to me, and I expect I'll find that when I get them to the morgue."
"You do realize"-said Ducky, now standing behind Dr. Clinton, to her surprise-"these two men are Naval officers, and therefore under NCIS jurisdiction?"
"You are?" Clinton asked.
"Doctor Donald Mallard, Chief Medical Examiner, NCIS," Mallard said, extending his hand, which Clinton didn't reciprocate. "These people with you-"
"We've met," Clinton said. "Palmer is your assistant, and Isles is from Massachusetts. Chief Medical Examiner or not, you're a long way from Boston, Ms. Isles, and you're in my jurisdiction."
"DOCTOR Isles, Dr. Clinton, and she is working with NCIS, as is Mr. Palmer," Ducky replied, sternly. "While it is true that we are in Arlington County, it is equally true that these two dead men are Navy, and however the prosecution of the case is split up, it is clear they at least are under NCIS jurisdiction, and therefore they'll be heading to my morgue first."
"Dr. Clinton," Maura said, as she and Palmer examined the two dead officers' pupils, "the cause of death may not be as clear cut as you think."
"You mean to tell me they didn't die of a head-on wreck?" Clinton asked, mostly exasperatedly, somewhat sarcastically. "What on Earth killed them then?"
"The wreck probably did kill them, Doctor," Maura said. "But did you look at their pupils at all?"
"Their eyes were closed when I got to their bodies," Clinton said. "What about it?"
"If you had looked at both men's pupils," Maura replied, "you would have noticed dilation."
"Dilation?" Clinton replied.
"The driver, the Lieutenant, and his passenger both have dilated pupils," answered Maura, who proceeded to briefly describe the numerous causes of dilated pupils.
"You think they were poisoned or something, Isles?" Clinton asked.
"I would need toxicology reports, and a full autopsy, to confirm such a hypothesis," Maura said.
"What's your best guess?"
"I do not guess."
"Huh?"
"I do not guess, I do not leap to conclusions, I do not speculate, I do not theorize," Maura said to Clinton. "I make my determination based on the evidence. At this point, I can say that both of these bodies have dilated pupils consistent with some degree of drugs, alcohol, and/or poison, and to render a proper diagnosis will require blood tests as well as a full autopsy-"
"And you're supposed to be THE Chief Medical Examiner of the state of Massachusetts."
"The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and I do not understand what my status as Chief Medical Examiner has to do with-"
"I," Ducky interrupted, "am THE Chief Medical Examiner of NCIS, Doctor Clinton. Dr. Isles' point, is that the dilation indicates the possibility of some type of impairment. We of course will not be able to confirm what it is and to what degree until we run tests and perform a proper autopsy.
"And these two bodies are those of officers of the United States Navy, which means they are going to the Navy Yard, where our forensics specialist will do a full toxicology report, and where I, Mr. Palmer and DOCTOR Isles will administer the autopsy. Of that you don't have to guess, you can rest assured. Are we clear, Dr. Clinton?"
"Of...uh...I-" Clinton stormed off, in a huff.
Twenty minutes later, another NCIS van arrived, to transport the bodies of the dead lieutenant and ensign; Ducky rode with its driver back to the Navy Yard, Clinton protesting (in vain) while finding her Pinto to follow them.
Palmer drove the first NCIS van back to the Yard with Frankie riding along, while Jane and Maura got a ride with Paula in Stan's car.
[1] original character.