The next month and a half went by rather quickly. Besides work keeping Jethro busy, DiNozzo, Mac, and Maddie all had birthdays. His daughter was also delving fully into wedding planning, pulling both Jethro and Shannon into the happy chaos. In addition to Kelly simply being extremely excited, with the possibility of Michael being deployed or transferred, the couple understandably wanted the wedding soon rather than later.
Tobias and his team had also caught a lead that would hopefully mean the end of them having to deal with the Reynosa cartel before long.
That Monday though, his team was working cold cases and, surprisingly, managed to catch what seemed to be a solid lead on one of them. Jesse Mclaughlan, a Navy Petty Officer, had been shot and killed in his own home while on leave. The initial case had, unfortunately, gone nowhere.
"Gibbs, you should see this." Before he could reply, DiNozzo got up and brought a file over to Jethro's desk where he was currently seated, slowly making his way through the mountain of paperwork that came with being acting director. He really wasn't in the mood to lock himself away in the office, though, so his desk it was. At least Vance was well on the mend and would be back soon.
He glanced up from his computer screen. "What is it, Tony?"
"This case probably would've been solved years ago if the original investigators had done their jobs," his Senior Field Agent explained. "It looks like they skipped over the most important detail in the file." DiNozzo handed the manila folder to him and once Jethro opened it the younger man pointed to a letter that he had just finished reading. "It's from the victim's wife. I'll just tell you what it says." Jethro nodded his approval. "The wife admitted to stealing the victim's money and identity for her lover. At the end of it, the wife wrote she'd do anything to be with her lover, including killing the victim."
"Maybe she did not kill him," Ziva commented, "but that -" She gestured to the letter the wife had written. "- seems like motive enough for the husband's death to me."
His Senior Field Agent nodded. "My point exactly, Ziva."
He frowned. "And it was never looked into?" That's the first thing I'd look into.
"No," DiNozzo informed him, clearly unimpressed. "They really dropped the ball on this one, Jefe. The wife wasn't even interviewed."
Jethro nodded, agreeing with his Senior Field Agent's assessment. The original police work had been more than a little sloppy. The case was a couple of years old now, but hopefully, they'd be able to get answers this time around.
"So," McGee said, "what's the plan, Boss?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Rule #3: Don't believe what you're told. Double-check." Jethro then eyed DiNozzo. "Tony, call the wife and get her in my chat room asap."
"On it, Boss!" DiNozzo said before taking the file back and returning to his desk.
"Ziva." He turned to the field agent in question as he spoke. "The original investigators on the case; I wanna talk to them." Jethro then turned to McGee. "And see if there are any more letters or emails we can use."
"On it, Boss!" the pair chorused, immediately moving to do as instructed.
He glanced down at his watch and, noting the hour, decided he should probably order everyone lunch. It was already 1325 but his team still had yet to eat. They had eaten take-out from General Lee's Chinese restaurant the day before so checked in with his team before running out to grab everyone burgers and some coffee for himself.
After lunch, Jethro chipped away at the files on his desk, making the most of the time that he had before getting to speak with the original case agents.
Neither of the original case agents had been particularly helpful though and Jethro was only marginally less irritated by the incompetence when the petty officer's wife arrived and he finally had the chance to question her.
Taking the seat across from Amanda Mclaughlan in Interrogation One, Jethro assessed the woman. He had the original notes as well as the ones from his Senior Field Agent in a manila folder on the table in front of him. However, he opted to leave it closed for now and to try for a read of the woman instead. She was currently eyeing him with a mixture of nervousness and irritation, undeniably giving off the impression of being someone who had something to hide. She'd been Mirandized right after her arrival, so she definitely knew that she wasn't simply at NCIS for a chat.
"When was the last time you saw your husband?" he asked.
"Before Jesse headed to work," Amanda said. "The day he passed."
"And that was at seven that morning?" he pressed.
"About that time, yes." After the woman replied, she eyed him with concern. "I told the agents everything that I know back in '02. So, what's this about, Agent Gibbs?"
"You were having an affair," he stated with a pointed look.
"I made mistakes," she said, "but I'm no killer. I could never hurt Jesse. I had ended the affair anyway. What reasons would I have to kill my husband?"
He opened the manila folder. Jethro then picked out the letter that the woman had written and pushed it across the table towards her.
Amanda immediately blanched as what the document before her was dawned on her. Attempting to cover up her rather obvious nervousness, the woman pushed the letter back towards him. "I didn't write that."
"How original," Jethro said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "And also a lie." He eyed her. "You never ended the affair."
She frowned. "So now ending a relationship is a crime?"
"No," he said, "it's not." Jethro then grabbed two of the printed-out emails, courtesy of McGee, between Amanda and her lover. He then proceeded to push both of the emails towards the woman. Rule #16: If someone thinks they have the upper hand, break it! "But murder is." He gestured to the two emails. "Between those emails and the letter, you're done. I get it, though. That amount of money would be tempting. And with a prenup, you wouldn't have seen a dime."
The woman glared at him. "I deserved that money. Jesse never had time for me. Was always keeping secrets. Still, I stayed. And what do I get for it? Five wasted years."
"Where'd ya get the gun?" he inquired.
"Bought it at a pawn shop," she explained.
Jethro dipped his head slightly. "You throw some stone, Amanda. You got your revenge and the money in one go."
"He deserved worse," she fired back. "I wasted years of my life on him."
A small smirk played on Jethro's lips as he got up and started walking around to the other side of the table. He was satisfied that they now had more than enough to make the charges stick. Pulling the metal restraints out of his left jacket pocket, he began to cuff the woman.
Ziva and DiNozzo booked Amanda Mclaughlan and the MCRT spent another hour doing reports before finally calling it a night just after 1700 that evening.
He walked into their home and immediately registered that his wife was working away intensely at the coffee table. Not the first time she'd had marking and lesson planning to do at home.
Taking his blazer off, Jethro hung it over the back of the recliner chair. Shannon's eyes immediately flickered between him and the blazer.
Not needing to be an investigator to get that none-too-subtle hint, he grabbed his blazer and hung it up on the coat hanger a couple of feet away. Jethro then walked over and gave Shannon a kiss on the cheek. "How goes the marking?"
"Unending," she replied, sounding more than a little exhausted.
"Ah," he said. "Dinner? You could use the break."
Shannon's right eye twitched. "You have got to be kidding me."
"What?" he asked, genuinely confused by what had set her off.
"Jethro!" she said, glaring at him. "I can't do everything. For the love of God, -"
"Shan, I -" What the hell did I say?
"No," she instantly shot back. "Don't bother. It would probably kill ya to help out more around here anyway. And with all the planning going on, -"
Ah. Now I get it. It seemed that the stress from work and Kelly's wedding planning as well as everything else had finally caught up with her. It had been a very hectic month for everyone. "Stop," he said firmly in an attempt to get Shannon's attention.
Unfortunately, the attempt clearly failed because his wife continued her out-of-the-blue rant completely unperturbed. "Not like you could even wait for five God damn -"
Not wanting the one-sided fight to go any farther, considering the fact that Jethro was more than a little familiar with the results of that, he raised his voice. "Stop!"
That got her attention. "What?" she fired back, still irritated.
He gave her a reassuring smile. "Breathe, Shan."
She rolled her eyes but did as suggested.
"Good," he said. "Can I speak now?"
It took her a second but she decided to indulge him. "Fine."
"As I was saying," he said, "you need to eat at some point. If you're hungry now I'll go make ya some chow. If you're not, we can wait a bit." Jethro gave her a pointed look. "But running on empty ain't gonna solve a thing. You're exhausted. Take ten."
She visibly deflated. "I feel like an idiot."
"You sounded like one," he said with no bite to his tone.
Shannon looked at him with an awkward smile. "How can I make it up to you?"
He chuckled. "Help me get outta eating Dad's Stroganoff the next time the man insists on making it." His old man had a few phenomenal recipes in his repertoire but his Beef Stroganoff was definitely not one of them. With that being said, his father made it far too frequently in Jethro's opinion.
His wife laughed in earnest, smiling much more warmly now. "Deal."
"Perfect," he replied. Jethro then pulled the very stressed redhead in for a bear hug and kissed her gently on the forehead. "I'll go deal with dinner."
"Thank you," she said as he started to walk away.
Jethro raised his right arm up in acknowledgment, glad his wife was feeling a bit better and hoping that the rest of the evening would go smoother. They'd exchanged gifts for Valentine's Day that morning, and he had intended to take her out, but she clearly was not feeling up to it. He was fine with that but didn't want their evening entirely ruined due to outside interference. "Don't mention it."
