Chapter 7
Gibbs and Tony are back at the NCIS building. The team is at the work area trying to figure out where Larry may have stashed the bodies. Each of the team members are sitting at their own desk.
"Tony… Do you know why Larry started this game with you?" Ziva asked.
"It's kinda weird that he did, considering the victims appeared to be random when he began his killing spree." McGee stated.
"I honestly don't know." Tony said.
"I think you do know." Gibbs stated.
"The man is a psychopath… How would I know?!"
"Maybe you came close to something." Ziva said.
"No solid evidence was ever found to link him to any of the murders."
"But he chose to play a game with you, so there must be a reason." McGee said.
"Maybe he just wanted to piss me off."
"Or taunt you." Gibbs added.
"I can see the taunting me cuz I never really found anything."
"What if it's not so much the fact that you couldn't find solid evidence? What if it was more for the fact that you were close to finding the bodies?" Ziva asked.
"How do you mean?"
"From the day we first met to the first day you received a pair of eyes, between that time what did you do differently?" Gibbs asked.
"I had this stupid idea… Since the eyes were soaked in Zinc, that maybe it had something to do with a Zinc mine."
"That doesn't sound like a stupid idea." McGee stated.
"It's a stupid idea when you gather a team and search all Zinc mines within the surrounding states and come up with nothing."
"You checked the perimeter of the Zinc mines?" Ziva asked.
"Yes. And still nothing. No signs of anything that pertains to the case."
"That's what you did differently between those two times?" Gibbs asked.
"Yes!"
"How many Zinc mines were searched during that time?" McGee asked.
"Three."
"Where were those three located?" Ziva asked.
"They're in Lower Pennsylvania, around the area where Larry was born and raised."
Suddenly, Jamie steps off the elevator. She walks toward the work area where the team is.
"It's possible that…" McGee begins to say.
"Look… The mines were checked! The perimeter was checked! There were no signs of anything. No blood. No clothing. Nothing! Those mines are completely deserted!" Tony exclaims.
Tony then notices Jamie walking over. He immediately becomes sad and begins gathering a couple of his things.
"Don't worry Jamie; I'm going to the lounge." Tony stated.
Before Jamie could even open her mouth to say something, Tony was already on his way to the lounge. Jamie walks to her father and stands in front of his desk.
"Any luck yet?" Jamie asked.
"I think we have something, but I'm not exactly sure." Gibbs said.
"I was thinking about this whole situation and I wanna help. Use me as bait."
"No! Absolutely not."
"I have several GPS locators on me, so why not? You'll always know where he takes me."
"There's no chance in hell I would put you in a situation like this. It's great that you wanna help, but using you as bait isn't a good idea."
"I agree, definitely not a good idea." McGee stated.
"Besides, what if Larry decides the kill you the exact minute he gets hold of you?" Ziva asked.
"Three to one. We win. You're staying here." Gibbs said.
"I want Tony back. So how close is this to being over?" Jamie asked.
"We just got done probing his mind a bit…" Ziva begins to say.
"And?" Jamie asked.
"Something seems to be rather odd about how this whole thing started." McGee added.
"We think Tony may have been close to finding the bodies, so Larry began to taunt him. And it's possible that the taunting was to throw him off his game." Gibbs stated.
"What did you get out of him?" Jamie asked.
"He searched the inside and the perimeter of three Zinc mines before pairs of eyes started to be sent to him." Ziva said.
"But no evidence was ever found. Nor was any evidence found at the other Zinc mines." McGee said.
"What do you think Dad?" Jamie asked her father.
"I think this game has something to do with one of those three Zinc mines. I think Tony was close to finding the bodies, but he just doesn't know it." Gibbs stated.
"But if no evidence was found in or near the mines, then how can it have anything to with the location of the bodies?" McGee asked.
"Wait… The eyes were soaked in water that had a high concentration of Zinc. It's possible that one of those Zinc mines runs along an underground river." Jamie said.
"That's genius!" Gibbs exclaimed. "McGee, find out if any of those Zinc mines have an underground river…"
"On it Boss!" McGee gets to work on looking up the Zinc mines.
Gibbs looks to Jamie.
"I didn't even get to finish my sentence." Gibbs said. "What made you think of that underground river stuff?"
"Don't know. It just popped into my head." Jamie said.
"I'm surprised I didn't think of it. If an underground river does run alongside one of these Zinc mines, then it could bring Zinc-filled water pretty far away from the mine itself."
"And maybe there's a cave somewhere that exposes that underground river."
"It's a long shot, but hopefully…"
"Boss! One of the Zinc mines was closed due to the flooding caused by an underground river!"
Gibbs immediately stands up.
"Then that's the one where we need to figure out where the river goes to." Gibbs stated. He looks to Jamie. "You just solved this case." He walks around the desk and kisses Jamie on the forehead.
Jamie smiles as the team is preparing the leave. Ziva and McGee go to the elevator while Gibbs walks to the lounge to get Tony.