As these things often did, it went from bad to worse. It wasn't exactly a surprise but it didn't make seeing it any easier.
McGee was at Stafford Hospital speaking with the Dalys, Emma's parents, the father of which had been good friends with the McGee family for years. DiNozzo and Ziva, in the same vein, headed to Washington General to speak with the families there.
As for Jethro, the combat veteran stopped by Inova Alexandria Hospital to drop off some things for his daughter and son-in-law and to check in on his granddaughter who really wasn't doing well. He felt horrible not being able to do more. His granddaughter was suffering and his daughter, well, it was beyond heartbreaking.
Unfortunately, while he was there he swiftly learned that the sick kid count was up to fifteen. Feeling agitated by the news, the ensuing call he got from DiNozzo informing him that the sick kid count was now up to twenty didn't help. There'd apparently been five more cases at Washington General in the last hour. What the hell is this thing?
DiNozzo and he quietly discussed the situation over the phone.
"Did you know that rate of reproduction puts it on par with the SARS virus?" he asked the younger field agent.
"You think it's SARS?" DiNozzo questioned.
He sighed. "I don't think anything yet. You can't ignore that it's all Military families who are affected though."
"Yeah," Dinozzo said. "And I know how you feel about coincidences." The man sighed. "SARS has never been contracted inside the U.S. There's a better chance of a targeted chemical attack than that."
They didn't like the prospect but neither agent could ignore how hard it was to look at the situation statistically and not think bioterror. The MCRT was pursuing every angle, but things really weren't looking good.
Thankfully, McGee had decided to put together a map of the known case locations on his laptop. It was a good idea and would hopefully help them narrow down where the kids were exposed to whatever the hell it was that was making them all sick.
Feeling emotionally drained already, Jethro headed back to headquarters and met with both Ducky and Palmer in the squad room.
"The last infectious disease I recall that primarily affected children was poliomyelitis," Ducky said. "Which, of course, was eradicated in this country decades ago."
Palmer turned towards his Scottish mentor. "While it was mostly children, Dr. Mallard, polio afflicts more adults than people think." Jethro tilted his head slightly as he began listening in. "Most recently during a pretty nasty outbreak in Namibia, 2006."
"Really?" Ducky said, impressed. "Namibia. Interesting."
"I took a few epidemiology classes after Agent DiNozzo's Y Pestis scare years ago," the younger man rather enthusiastically proceeded to explain. "Yeah, we studied quite a few maps that looked just like this one."
He continued flipping through the hospital reports that he was reading as he continued listening in. "There anything familiar?"
The medical examiner considered it for a second. "Well, the pattern is reminiscent of the… cholera outbreak of 1961 which devastated Indonesia."
"That," Palmer readily agreed, "or the early stages of Montreal's smallpox epidemic of 1885. That one left over 3,000 dead."
Just then their goth forensic scientist appeared on the large plasma screen. "Abby to Gibbs. Come in, Gibbs." He started to get up from his desk. "Oh, hey guys! Did I hit my Ducky button by accident?"
"Hey, Abs!" he said as he stepped in front of the monitor. "What d'ya got?"
"There you are," Abby stated happily. "You would not believe the mountains of medical data that the NMRC sent over. Carol and I could be days combing through it."
He eyed the screen. "Give me an early guess."
Carol shook her head sadly. "Too early, Gibbs."
Abby shrugged. "I mean, it's obviously respiratory, bronchial."
Palmer furrowed a brow. "Hopefully it's bacterial, not viral."
Ducky glanced between Abby and Palmer. "Ms. Sciuto, would an extra pair of hands be useful with all this data?"
Abby smiled appreciatively. "Always, Ducky. You offering?"
"Not me," Ducky countered. "But Mr. Palmer has become an expert in the field."
Palmer gave a rather nervous chuckle. "I - I don't know about expert, but, uh…"
Abby smiled encouragingly. "Come on down, Jimmy. Let's kick some epidemic butt."
"You sure, Dr. Mallard?" Palmer inquired. "You wouldn't mind?"
"Why would I mind my own idea?" Ducky replied.
Ducky turned to him. "You?"
"Don't look at me, Palmer." He waved the young man off. "Go."
"You can count on us, Gibbs!" the head forensic scientist said. "Cabby out." With that, their plasma screen went black.
Ducky gave a little hum and side-eyed him. "Namibia."
Jethro and Vance conferred not much later up in the director's office. And he sensed that Vance had something else on his mind. Vance played it off at first, but then the other man admitted the family had a visitor. As did Jackie's brother, Michael, in prison the other day. Lamar Addison; Jackie's and Michael's father. He owns a chain of used car dealerships in New York and had a lot of questions. The man walked out when they were kids and never came back. Jackie was struggling slightly with the daddy drop-in and the couple was trying to figure out just what they were going to tell- if anything - their children about the man and who he is.
Jethro asked if there was anything he could do but the man said that it was a personal matter and that they had it under control so he left it alone.
The next several hours were a bit of a whirlwind as things continued to get more and more complicated and messy.
He sent a quick text to his wife. 'Any change?'
The reply was immediate. 'She's still not responding to any treatment. I don't suppose you're having any luck on your end?'
He sighed. 'Unfortunately not. I'll keep you posted.'
Making his way into the squad room that evening, Jethro was getting more and more frustrated by the situation with Paisley and the lack of progress they'd made. He was doing his best not to lash out at his team for it though. Jethro knew full well that they were working hard trying to find, well, anything.
His Senior Field Agent was chatting with both Ziva and McGee. "Of course, I could cite, you know, Contagion or 28 Days Later as major influences."
Ziva tilted her head slightly. "Isn't that last one a zombie flick?"
"Oh, come on!" he said. "Like there's a difference?"
Walking up, Jethro interrupted them. "The difference, DiNozzo, is that nobody's been eaten... yet." Shooting his SFA a look to let him know he was just kidding, he directed the conversation back to their case. "Let's go."
McGee sighed. "Number is up to twenty-four afflicted kids, Boss. And other than being from military families, there's just not much common ground."
McGee's map was put up on the large plasma screen and DiNozzo chimed in with what he knew. "Only nine kids crossed paths at these four schools." The younger man made sure to gesture to the schools he was referring to.
"We are still tracking extracurricular activities," Ziva assured him. "Play dates, sports teams…. but we haven't found any significant crossover yet."
McGee suddenly chimed back in. "I may have something though, Boss."
He eyed the younger man. "What, McGee?"
The younger field agent pulled something else up on the plasma before he spoke. "So, I was checking the government watch list and I came across a recent addition named Max Comey."
He gave the younger agent a curt nod.
"He was recently fired from Labsynthe," McGee stated. "A chemical research facility in Burke. Comey was apparently accused of taking a variety of toxic mould spores that he was tasked with properly disposing of."
Well, that sounds concerning. "Taking it to do what?"
"It doesn't say," McGee stated. "While it's not exactly a crime, it was grounds enough for his dismissal as well as the placement on the government watch list. His current address is listed as an apartment on Harwood Place in Patuxent River."
That got DiNozzo's attention. "Wait a second… Harwood Place. The same street as one of these schools." His Senior Field Agent shot him a pointed look. "Coincidence?"
"I don't think so," McGee said. "Comey was also red-flagged last week for fighting with a Marine Corps recruiter after he was refused an application."
Ziva nodded. "No doubt due to his placement on the watch list."
He had to agree with that. "That sounds like motive to me. McGee, keep working things from here. Tony, Ziva, come on, let's go. You're both with me."
Comey left his front door unlocked - which DiNozzo likened to Jethro himself - so the three agents entered and cleared the place. It didn't take long as the apartment was completely empty. It looked like Comey had moved out in a hurry. After a cursory look around the kitchen, Jethro found a large Labsynthe biohazard bag in the trashcan. So, whatever Comey stole from the lab he either used or took with him.
Before that discussion could go any further, however, Jethro's cell phone began ringing loudly in his pocket. Figuring it was important, he immediately reached for it and took the call after a quick glance at the call display. "Yeah, Duck?"
"I'm afraid our mystery illness has claimed its first fatality," the medical examiner said gravely over the line.
He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. "It's not one of the kids?"
"No," Ducky reassured Jethro with a bit of a sigh. "But it may just be a matter of time. When it comes to infectious diseases, the old are just as vulnerable as the young. I'm afraid things may be getting worse before they get better."
He swallowed again. I can't think like that. "Duck."
His longtime friend recognized the tone in his voice. "We'll figure it out, Jethro. She'll be okay. The best of the best are working day and night on this."
He took a breath. "I know."
Reeling from that conversation, Jethro had his team wrap up at the crime scene and then returned to the Navy Yard to grab their personal vehicles before being dismissed for the night. There wasn't much else that they could do that night and there were still people on the job. His team wouldn't do any good running on empty. Aware of that, he made his way out to go support his family.
He didn't want to agree with Ducky, but some part of him did. If they were already starting to see casualties from it… Shaking that thought away, Jethro focused on driving to the hospital where his granddaughter was fighting for her life.
Hopefully, someone would figure out whatever the hell this was soon.
