Double, Double.
Part 3.
For disclaimer and all that jazz, look at part 1.
Author's Note: The flashbacks will be written in italic.
PART 3.
NYC MISSING PERSONS DEPARTMENT OFFICE.
SEPTEMBER 10.
17:35
6 HOURS MISSING
"Aha!" Martin finally said, startling Sam, who was looking for information about the Grillows family to see if somebody could have kidnapped them - she was pretty sure it wasn't consensual - in order to exact revenge on somebody else.
"Aha what?" she asked him.
"Well," 'Fitzie' answered her, gulping the last bite from his 'dinner' - a sandwich - down, in a motion Sam found strangely endearing, "i found out who is Dr. Willows' biggest hater."
"Spill the beans, Martin."
"It's Don's ex-girlfriend, Martha Johnson." Martin said.
"And you found that out from an e-mail?" Sam asked, a little incredulous.
"Hey," Martin answered, a little picked, "first, it was a lot of e-mails, and second, she used a company-owned account."
"You mean, she has used an e-mail account given to her at her workplace?"
Martin only nodded.
"And look at her criminal history!" Sam said, looking at the information Martin popped up on the screen.
"It seems we have a new suspect." Martin said matter-of-factly.
"Well, I guess it's time to pay a visit to Miss Johnson." Sam said, picking up her coat.
After having notified Jack of the discovery, the two went to Martha Johnson's apartment.
"Miss Johnson?" Sam knocked on the door.
"Yeah?" an annoyed female voice answered.
"I'm Agent Spade from the FBI, Missing Persons Unit. Me and my colleague, agent Fitzgerald, would like to talk with you about Donald and Luke Grillows."
"What for? Did Luke report me to you?" the woman asked, still behind the closed door.
"No Miss. They both desappeared this morning."
Those seemed to be the magic words, because immediately after the door opened and a black-haired woman who seemed Morticia Addams' twin sister appeared. "You mean Donny's missing?"
"Yeah. He is. Please, can we talk?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, come in." She said, opening the door and leading them in a very Goth house.
"What's up, Martin?" Sam whispered to her colleague as they followed Martha Johnson.
"She sleeps in a coffin!" Martin answered.
"That's just a character on NCIS." she replied.
He pointed a finger at the bedroom and said "Look for yourself", directing to the funeral-home-like "living" room Martha was waiting in.
Sam did, and found out her colleague was right. "Holy Holy Holy Graal!" she said, screaming the last word in fear as she felt a cold hand on her shoulder.
Then she heard Martha's voice saying "Ah, don't worry, it's just the cuckoo clock."
Sam just shook her head and walked to the room her colleague and the suspect were in.
"OK, Miss Johnson," said Sam sitting down on the sofa, "why did you send those e-mails to Luke Grillows?"
"Well, I was angry with him, because it was him who had convinced Don to leave me, but from there to kidnapping... besides, now I understand something."
And there she gave Samantha her cellphone.
"What should I do with that?"
"Check out the messages." Martha answered her question.
Sam and Martin did, and noticed a message saying:
Chiama subito la polizia, ti prego, mi hanno rapito, sono tenuto ostaggio da C. Donald. PS: Fai in fretta!
"It's in Italian." Sam interjected.
"No problem" Martin answered. "It means... uh... 'Call the police now, I've been kidnapped, I am hostage of C. Donald. PS: Hurry!'"
"When did you receive it?" Sam asked.
"It's written here." Martin showed it to Sam: 9/10/04 12:25.
As there was no other clue to connect this woman to the kidnappings for now, they left.
"Another day, another dead end." Sam said.
"Not necessarily." Martin said. "Now we just have to find out who C. is."
Cut to Don Grillows' DOD and a line extending from it on which is written: SMS CALLING FOR HELP TO EX-GIRLFRIEND, and at the base 12:25 AM.
WAT WAT WAT
21:35
10 HOURS MISSING
Vivian decided to talk a little with Dr. James Arman.
Yeah, he was clean, but a little information couldn't hurt.
Dr. Arman arrived at the offices panting, his face flushed; it could be easily told he'd run.
"I came... as soon as... you called." he said, in between pants.
"Sorry to have disturbed you during work.", she said.
"No matter, Miss Johnson. But, may I ask, why did you call me? You told me I wasn't a suspect."
"Yeah," Vivian continued. "That's right. But we'd still need your help on describing anything particular that happened the day your colleague vanished. A fight with a patient, a colleague, a girlfriend... even some strange words he said. Everything could have caused the desappearance."
"I understand." James answered. Then began, "You know, I hadn't even remembered this until now, after your speech, but
FLASH (Flashback)
When I first got in, at 4;30 AM, after changing in the locker room, I saw Luke talking with his girlfriend, or, may I say, screaming. I don't know who was worse, if Calleigh, Luke's girlfriend, with her squeaky tone, or Luke with his deep reverberate.
Anyway, the conversation wasn't all that unusual, because Callie was trying to get Luke to move on, to put Joel's death in his past. It happened every year, this time of year.
But Luke reacted badly; he said "You're trying to avoid your responsibility, don't you?"
Then she left.
I tried to ask him what was going on, but he told me "James, I love you and all, but mind your own business, please."
FLASH (End Flashback)
"What do you think he'd meant with that?" Vivian asked.
"Well, Callie was the one to suggest for Joel to go to the WTC on 9/11. He didn't want to, because, and I quote, he said he had a 'very bad feeling' about the day. Had we listened to him..." James trailed off. "But Luke didn't make a grudge of it for her. Ever. Something should've ticked him off. Something big, because he was irritable for the whole day. This I remember right now, if I remember more I'll call."
"Thanks, Dr. Arman. You don't know how helpful you've been." the FBI Agent said as she walked James to the door.
After he left, she went to the blackboard and added a line to Luke's DOD line, and on it she wrote ACCUSING GIRLFRIEND OF BROTHER'S DEATH, with 04:30 AM at the base.
TBC