I hope you enjoyed yesterday's episode... Thank you all for the reviews, it's always a great pleasure to read your comments!
1821 ZULU
Marines Corps Base Hawaii
Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii
To accelerate the investigation's process, the elite lawyers from JAG had decided to split up. Mac and Sneakers were questioning the suspect while Harm and Bud were gathering the deposition from the principal witness, Sergeant Ethan Clark. The three men were sitting in the conference room in the legal services building.
"Sergeant," Harm began in a neutral tone, "we've been told you were the one who found Major Graham's body. What happened exactly?"
"I was walking on the beach with my fiancée. It was her last day at the base, her vacation was over and she needed to go back to work, so we wanted to benefit from the last sunset on the shore together. I saw the major in the water, playing with her son..."
"How could you be sure it was her?" Bud interrupted him.
"I recognised her long blond hair. She's the only one on base, the few other women here are either brown or red," Clark continued. "Marty was sitting in a little boat and she was pulling it into the waves. I can still hear them laughing. I was getting further on the beach when I heard a splash. Marty had just jumped into the sea and was having fun throwing water at his mom." The sergeant flashed a half-hearted smile. "I remember telling Jodie, my fiancée, that I wanted to have time like that to play with our children later, but then we started fighting because she's not ready to have kids yet. Well, we didn't wait for the sunset and we headed back to the base, and that was the moment I saw the major, dead."
"What did you do at that moment?" Harm pressed on.
"I told Jodie to go and call for help. She was frozen in place – I had to ask her several times before she could move. I started CPR, but it was too late. Her pulse never resumed beating." Clark closed his eyes. "Since that day, I have visions at night. I see her on the stretcher, her face bearing strange traces of white, red and blue. And I think of that poor little boy, who will never see his mother again."
"Did you see anybody around when you found Major Graham?" Bud questioned.
"Not really, I was focusing on the CPR manoeuvres. I think I heard some noise, but I would be incapable to identify it."
"Thank you, Sergeant Clark," concluded Harm. "You've been a great help."
Clark saluted and exited the room, leaving the two attorneys discussing. "You really think he helped us, sir?" Bud asked, uncertain.
"Well, Bud, I wasn't hoping for much more. Mac is the one questioning the suspect. We are just gathering information on the circumstances. For now, it seems to corroborate what Sneakers told us. We'll see later what the coroner has to say."
"The coroner, sir?" the young man asked, uneasy.
"Sure Bud, he might be able to tell us more about who killed Major Graham. We'll all meet him at 1400, right after lunch. Maybe you would prefer to eat lightly, just in case..." Harm said, smiling, before they left the room.
* * * * *
Christopher Lewin was sitting on a cold metal chair in the humid examination room. He already knew Major Alberts, who was sitting across from him, but he had never seen the female lieutenant colonel pacing silently in the small cubicle. From her demeanour, he was sure she was the one conducting the interview. He was ready to answer any question coming from the attorneys – at least he thought he was.
"Captain Lewin, are you an alcoholic?" Mac asked, out of nowhere.
"Uh, no Ma'am," he responded, his voice less steady than he wanted. She had caught him off-guard.
"So, tell me why you showed up drunk when you brought Marty back from a weekend at your place two weeks ago. Oh, and why don't you explain the reason your ex-wife decided to divorce?" she continued, placing her palms on the stainless steel table and looking directly into his eyes.
"I was playing poker with some guys from the battalion, drinking scotch and smoking cigars, Ma'am, like the Mafiosi in the old movies. Suddenly, I realised I was getting late to bring Marty back, so I took my car and I drove him home. I know I shouldn't have done that, but it was only a block away, a five minutes ride. I didn't want him to walk alone, mostly because the sun was setting," Lewin explained.
"Then what happened?" Mac pressed on.
"When she opened the door, Maria slapped me in the face, yelling that I could have killed her son. I told her he was also my boy, but she just slammed the door shut in my face. A few seconds later, she opened slightly the window in the living room and told me I would never see my child again, that she was calling her attorney to have sole custody. I think that is the moment I threatened to kill her if she kept Marty from me, but I don't really remember, because the alcohol was getting to me. The next thing I remember, though, is that I had to pay 3000 bucks to get out of jail and that I couldn't get within 100 feet from Maria nor Marty," the captain finished, his fists clenched, a strange mix of anger and pain in his tone. All he wanted was to see his son, to make sure he was alright, but his ex-mother-in-law had refused to bring Marty to the brig.
The female officer was still pacing the room in measured steps, while Alberts was taking notes on his legal pad. "Let's see if I understood everything, Captain," Mac started, her arms crossed in front of her, her voice sharp. "You were drinking alcohol and gambling while your five year-old son was at your place. Then you drove him home, completely drunk behind the wheel if I believe the alcohol level measured at the police station: two times the authorised level. And when your ex-wife said you were not a good father, you threatened to kill her. Right?" Lewin just nodded, so she continued. "And now, for the divorce issue. The major left you because of your drinking problems, or because of the gambling?"
Lewin suddenly jumped to his feet and tried to get to Mac's neck with his shackled hands, but Sneakers had been faster and had pinned him to the ground before Mac could fight back. Within a second, two security guards were in the room, tying the prisoner down on his chair. Barely impressed by a man merely taller than her, the colonel carried on with her speech, while the captain was being subdued by the guards. "Well, I think I know the answer now. It was probably because of violence. We'll see you in court, Captain."
With that, the female Marine and Major Alberts left the room with the two sentinels. Once he was alone in the moist room, Christopher Lewin broke down and started crying, tears of fury side by side with tears of grief.
* * * * *
2315 ZULU
Marine Corps Base Hawaii
Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii
Mac was really feeling uncomfortable in morgues. She hated the odour of antiseptics and the cold light giving everybody a greenish look. The white walls and the metallic tables looked so... sterile. When she saw a man eating his sandwich three feet away from a corpse the last time she had to get information for a body, she had to run out of the room not to throw up.
This time, unfortunately for them, the only coroner on base had retired the week before the incident and his substitute, Colonel Miller, was a physician who had never seen a murder case in his life. He was waiting for an expert to arrive at the beginning of the next week, but until then, he had followed precise instructions to collect fluids and examine the body carefully. The preliminary analysis showed no signs of alcohol in the victim's blood, but a slight hypokalemia (a potassium level lower than usual) and acidosis. According to the doctor, the long scrapes on her shoulder-blades were probably coming from the nails of the attacker. The strangulation marks were visible in front and on the left side of her neck. Her face had taken a faint violet colour from the hypoxia. She had four broken ribs, but the physician was yet incapable to determine if the wounds were pre or post-mortem. The fractures might have been caused during a fight or during CPR, but they were not the cause of death. Major Maria Graham died of cardiac arrest caused by a lack of oxygen.
As soon as the doctor had finished his explanations and had closed the door of the refrigerator where he had returned the corpse, Mac led the way out of the autopsy room, closely followed by Bud, Sneakers and Harm. "So, everybody agrees that there is more than sufficient evidence to call an Article 32 against Captain Lewin?" she asked to break the silence.
"If you say so," Harm responded, unconvinced. "You're the one in charge of the investigation."
"Ma'am, if I may," Bud intervened, "shouldn't we call the admiral to inform him of our findings before it gets too late in Washington?"
"Nice thought, Bud," Mac answered calmly, ignoring Harm's comment, "but it's already late in Washington, and don't forget it's Sunday. We'll call him early tomorrow morning. Now, gentlemen, if you'll excuse me," she continued, her face straight, but with sparks in her eyes, "some young ladies are waiting for me." That being said, she left and couldn't help but smile when she heard Bud addressing Harm.
"Maybe you would like to spend the evening with the kids and me, sir. I heard Harriet saying it was girls' night tonight and believe me, you don't want to be around..."
* * * * *
Mattie was really enjoying her night, even though it was just beginning. It has not been an easy task to find animated movies on a Marine base, but Harriet had succeeded and had also rented Monsters Inc for little AJ. Mattie laughed so much trying to imagine the actress speaking "Whale" behind Dory's character in Finding Nemo that tears were rolling on her cheeks.
They had eaten pizza during the movie, and now the four girls were sitting around the kitchen table in the larger cabin. Harm had finally accepted Bud's invitation when he saw all the junk food Chloe and Mattie had brought into the house, and the guys were sipping a beer on the porch of the other cabin. Mattie was staring at tons of fruits and other delights in front of her when Chloe got up and started speaking on a solemn intonation. "Mattie Grace, since you are new to our girls' club, you will have to pronounce your official oath before we can even get started. Please, raise your right hand, place your left hand over the fondue pot and repeat after me: I, Mattie Grace..."
"I, Mattie Grace..." she replied, not absolutely sure what she was going through.
"To join this private club, I promise to answer all the questions with the truth, all the truth and nothing but the truth..."
"To join this private club, I promise to answer all the questions with the truth, all the truth and nothing but the truth..." Mattie was feeling the same way she felt in court just before Christmas, with knots in her stomach.
"I won't try to elude any question and everything that will be said here will never be repeated."
"I won't try to elude any question and everything that will be said here will never be repeated." She was getting more and more nervous, wondering if she should run away or stay there.
"Now, Mattie, to seal the pact, we'll all take a sip of this beverage," Chloe finished, handing her a mug in which Mac, Harriet and she had just drank. Mattie took the cup and brought it slowly to her lips, closed her eyes and swallowed a small mouthful of the dark and thick liquid. With surprise, she opened her eyes when she recognised the taste of sweet cocoa. The three others were looking at her with large grins on their faces.
"So Mattie," Mac started, dipping a piece of pineapple in the melted chocolate, "it wasn't that bad, after all, was it?"
"Well," she answered, doing the same with a piece of peach, "I was worried it could get serious. Mmm, this tastes really good! What's your secret?"
"But this is serious," Harriet said with concern. "We can discuss everything here, knowing it will stay between the three, uh, four of us now."
"By the way, Mattie, a secret should be something that wouldn't be shared," Mac teased, "but to prove my goodwill towards you, I'll tell you mine. Maple syrup! It enhances the sweet taste of chocolate. So, for your first girls' night, you ask the first question."
"A question?" Mattie asked, surprised.
"One at the time," Chloe explained, "we address a question to someone else. She has to answer; she has no way out. So, what will be your first question, and for whom?"
"I'm not sure what kind of question to ask, but I'll begin with something simple. Mac, since when do you eat fruit? I thought you only liked junk food."
"Well, fruits are not so bad, mostly when coated with chocolate. But please don't tell Harm – he'll make sure I buy a salad next time we have lunch together, although I doubt it's going to happen anytime soon," Mac's expression sobered with the last words and her voice faded into a whisper.
"I thought you two were getting along better since Christmas?" Harriet ventured.
"I thought so, too," Mac answered, "but it seems I was wrong. He screwed up everything Friday morning." She was looking at a strawberry in her plate, avoiding the others' glances.
"How?" Mattie asked, wondering what Harm might have done to the woman who made it possible for him to become her guardian. She would be eternally grateful to her for that, how couldn't he be too?
Mac was still quiet, so Chloe pressed on. "Mac, you swore to be honest and to hide nothing from us. We can help you feel better. What did he do to you again?"
Mac finally looked up at the other girls and tossed her plate away aggressively. "You really want to know what he told me?" She was almost yelling. "He thinks I'm the kind of girl who gets naked in front of any jerk!" That being said, she broke down in tears.
The others stared at her for a moment, gaping open. Harriet finally got up to comfort Mac and the young girls disappeared silently in their room. Mattie was scolding to herself, 'How could a simple question as food preferences end up that disastrous?' She only wanted to get to know Mac better, not to hurt her in any way. 'I know I vouched not to tell anyone about what had been said tonight, but I'll need to ask Harm how he could say something that mean to her.'
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
