It had been a productive hour with Rachel. She had gotten Tony to think about why people like Gibbs trusted and valued him, about why people like McGee and Bishop looked up to him. She had gotten him to think about why people like Abby loved him and cared for him. When he had left, Tony was happier than he had been in a very long time. He was sure that he would be confident in time if he continued to see Rachel.
"Tony, you okay?"
Tony shook his head and looked to Gibbs. "Sorry?"
"Did you even hear a word of what I said?"
"Not really."
"That's alright. It wasn't important. What were you thinking about?"
"Oh, uh, just a few things Rachel said to me today. At the start of this, I wasn't sure about spilling my guts to someone when I wasn't sure I believed in psychology. But, now, I think I underestimated how much of a help therapy can be. Rachel is really good at getting me to realise things I wasn't even aware of. I know she hates listening to what happened to me, but she hides it really well and she's always professional. It's no wonder she has such a good reputation."
"Nice to hear that you're actually working with Rachel and not against her." Gibbs returned his attention to his computer screen. "But right now, I need you to focus. We've got a lead on some of those reports from David's case."
"Anything useful?"
"One woman, a neighbour, said she heard David screaming for help once. She called 911 and reported it, but they showed up to find a calm home and a father/son quality time happening. They didn't find anything suspect, David didn't make any complaints, and he had no bruises on his body. Yet, the next day, the neighbour saw David limping over to help her with some work in her garden, and she noticed bruises all over his arms. She again called the police, but nothing happened. I want you to check into that, find out who came out for the call and then see why nothing was done. And, Tony, I want you to tell me if you need off this case, alright?"
"I'm good. I'll get right onto it. Where's Bishop and McGee?"
"McGee's home, looking after Delilah. She got sick over the weekend. Bishop's in MTAC. When she gets down here, I'll give her another of the leads to work on."
"Okay. I might call McGee, check in on Delilah while I'm working."
"Good idea. Tell McGee I said he can take the rest of the week off too, if he needs."
Tony nodded. He picked his phone up and quickly sent a text to his friend, then used his desk phone to call Metro PD.
Half an hour later, Tony was finally taken off hold and his friend answered the call.
"Detective Matthew Jones speaking. Who is this?"
"It's Tony, Matt. Are you able to talk for a moment?"
"Of course. Are you alright? Do you need me to come after your father again?"
"No. I'm following up on a lead for a case. I need to know who came out to a domestic violence call at the residence of Corporal Harry Wallace. The incident in question was on the night of July fifth, a little after ten pm."
"Give me a second, Tony."
Tony waited while Matt typed on his computer.
"Got it. The responding officers were Janet Arnold and Steven Inglan. Since that call, Inglan has been promoted to detective in the same precinct as me, so I'll get you his number."
"What about Arnold?"
"Still an officer. I'll see if I can find a number for her supervisor."
"Thanks, Matt. There was a second call out the next day, around lunch time, to the same address. Was it the same officers that responded?"
"Yes," Matt said a moment later. "Both incidents were written up as paranoia on the neighbour's behalf. What's going on, Tony?"
"The kid that was the victim for both calls, plus countless others, killed his father last Friday in self-defence. The corporal was abusive. We're trying to figure out why the situation had to reach this point when it could so easily have been prevented if the police had just done their jobs."
"Let me see what else I can dig up, Tony. I'll call you if I find anything, and I'll email you the details for Detective Inglan by the end of the day. If I can find Arnold, I'll send her details as well."
"Thank you, Matt. It's nice to have a friend in Metro."
"Good luck, Tony. And, if you need to talk, just tell me. I'm happy to help."
"I know. But, I'm good at the moment. I've got Gibbs here if I need anything."
"Alright. Tell Gibbs I said hi, and I'll call when I get something."
"Bye, Matt."
"Bye."
Tony hung up and gave Gibbs a smile. "Matt says hi."
"Did he provide you with any information?" Gibbs asked.
"Not a lot. He found the two officers that responded to both call outs. One is a detective in his precinct now so he's going to email me the details. The other is still an officer, he'll email details if he finds the supervisor. And he's going to do some digging to hopefully find anything useful."
"Great. Now, while you wait, why don't you try to do digging as well? I'll call the neighbour and see if she is willing to talk to us."
"Of course, boss." Tony smiled happily. Normally, Gibbs would have given that task to McGee, just to stop the other agent from getting upset. He was excited at the prospect of being able to show off his computer skills.