Chapter 4

Palmer had finished his autopsy. "Six stab wounds in the back, all puncturing the lungs," he said. "I think this one was the first hit because of the bruise," he continued, pointing to a circular bruise that surrounded a stab wound. "There were carpet burn marks on his hands, which says he was hit in the back, he went down, and the attack continued," Palmer said, demonstrating.

"What about the ones in the front? How'd he get those?" Gibbs asked.

"Found a bruise on his elbow, consistent with hitting someone or something, possibly his attacker," Palmer said, pointing to the commander's bruised elbow.

"So he manages to get his attacker off enough to hit him with his elbow, then roll over," Gibbs said.

"And the attack continued. Based on the stab patterns, I'm saying frenzy," Palmer said. "This person was mad. And whoever it was, Commander Lavery had no issues with turning his back to this person." He pointed to the stab wound on the commander's neck. "I counted fourteen stab wounds. This was the fatal one. It hit his carotid artery and he would have bleed to death within minutes. The blood on his hands say he died holding his neck. I also scraped his nails and sent that up to Kasie. We might get lucky."

"What about signs of sexual activity?"

"I did find traces of condom lubricant on him," Palmer said, nodding. "And I did find a stray pubic hair, again sent up to Kasie. Did you meet the wife?"

"One very angry lady," Gibbs said.

"Understandable," Palmer said.

"Any idea what he was stabbed with?" Gibbs asked.

"Something with a serrated edge on one side, and no handle," Palmer said. "I made some impressions of the wound and sent them up to Kasie. From what I hear, she has her hands full."

Gibbs grunted. "Should have see the size of the carpet we brought back."

"I did. Should have heard the foul words she was using," Palmer said, grinning. "And Torres."

"Shouldn't have threatened to tease Kasie about it," Gibbs shot back, walking out of the room.

"Been running Ami Lavery's cell phone, boss," McGee said, as Gibbs strode back in, coffee in hand. Torres was still busy helping Kasie process the carpet.

"And?"

"And starting three months ago, she started exchanging a lot of texts and phone calls to a number that the cell towers are saying it's in the same area as Fort McNair, which just happens to be where Corporal Lavery is posted," McGee said.

"How much is a lot?" Gibbs asked.

McGee threw an image on the plasma and highlighted certain numbers. "Both too, and from, started as a trickle with a few calls and texts every other day or so, then became daily, and the texts look like almost every other hour or so, especially during what looks like Ami's lunch break," McGee said. "I ran her credit cards and didn't see anything unusual, and I'm still trying to find her bank accounts, seeing as how both she and Commander Lavery had separate accounts, and his bank has no record of her."

"Is it possible that Commander Lavery wasn't the only one having an affair?" Bishop asked. "I ran Corporal Lavery, and he's got a clean record. He's also a Carpentry and Masonry Specialist. That means lots of sharp tools," Bishop said. "If he was having an affair with Ami Lavery, maybe he got tired of his brother having legal claim to what he wanted, and decided to remove him from the picture."

"Find out," Gibbs said.

The elevator dinged, and Gibbs glanced up automatically. Then his eyes went a bit wide. It was A.J. Chegwidden, and he had a briefcase with him.

"I spoke to Ami, who told me what was going on," he said, cutting to the chase. "Or at least what she knew."

"And?" Gibbs asked.

Chegwidden put his briefcase on McGee's desk and popped it open. He then removed a file, which he handed Gibbs.

"And Commander Lavery is an asshole, one I would have loved to take down a few pegs," Chegwidden said, snapping his briefcase shut. "According to the private detective I'd hired, that sorry excuse of an officer was not only having affairs with other men before he'd gotten married, he'd never stopped."

Gibbs flipped the file open and found dozens of pictures of Commander Lavery with various men in rather intimate positions. Bishop joined him, looking at the pictures.

"This guy's a regular manhoe," she said.

"If that's the male equivalent of a guy who cats around, then yes, Commander Lavery was a manhoe," Chegwidden said.

"Anyone recent?" Gibbs asked.

"Check this guy out," Chegwidden said, pulling out a photo of a man with dark hair. "Unfortunately my private detective couldn't get a decent enough shot of him without getting caught, but he did get a license plate, which I haven't had time to run."

He smiled and tapped a piece of paper with a license number on it.

"McGee?" Gibbs said, handing him the paper.

"Running. Got. And dead end," McGee said. "It's a fleet truck from an insurance adjuster."

"An insurance adjuster? How the hell would Commander Lavery cross paths with an insurance adjuster?" Chegwidden asked.

"Why don't we ask the current JAG director?" Bishop asked. "He should know what cases the commander was working on."

McGee grinned. "Think we can pick on Bud again?"

"Bud Roberts?" Chegwidden asked.

"One and the same," McGee said. "He's the commanding officer at the Regional Legal Service Mid-Atlantic at Norfolk, these days."

"Good for him. He and Harriet still married?" Chegwidden asked.

"Far as we know," McGee said.

"Call him, and the JAG director," Gibbs said. "What else did Ami have to say?"

"She said to tell you about what she wanted from the divorce," Chegwidden said.

"Which is?" Gibbs asked.

"Her freedom, no alimony payments from either side, and a written promise that he would stay away from her and not harass, slander, or otherwise cause trouble for her, be it as a person or her reputation in the trades, as a Journeyman Electrician," Chegwidden said. "She didn't even want the house. Basically, get the hell out of her life, both personally and professionally, and stay out."

"Or?" Gibbs asked.

"Or all these pictures would find their way into the hands of the general public, and everyone, including Captain Lavery, would find out just what kind of a man he really was, especially since I recognize the uniform of one of these men," Chegwidden said, tapping one photo. "He's a junior, and a senior officer messing around with a junior officer is still a big no-no."

McGee whistled. "That would do a number to his reputation," he said.

"And according to what some little birdies were telling me, he is not popular with either junior officers or officers of his rank," Chegwidden said. "Over the last four months, his behaviour has gotten worse, and he's had numerous complaints laid against him by other officers about his behaviour, in and out of the courtroom."

"Anyone particularly pissed at him?" Gibbs asked.

"One fellow that I know of, dirtbag by the name of Miles Moses, a private doing time for petty thief. He was part of a ring that was operating both inside and outside of the Marines, and in exchange for leniency, he told Commander Lavery who else was in the ring," Chedwiggen said.

"Commander Lavery screwed him over," Gibbs guessed.

"He did. When the case went to court, Commander Lavery recommended the harshest punishment possible, not even mentioning the deal, and the judge agreed. Lieutenant Commander Jewell, who was Defense, objected loudly, and the commander basically told him to shut up. When the judge found out about the deal, she asked for proof, but the paperwork had mysteriously 'disappeared'. Lieutenant Commander Jewell filed a complaint, and from what I heard, the investigation was still ongoing," Chedwiggen said.

"That, alone, would really do a number to Commander Lavery's reputation," McGee said.

"Do you know if Ami Lavery was having an affair?" Gibbs asked.

"I'm afraid I can't answer that," Chedwiggen said. "And no, it's not 'won't', it's 'can't'. What I can tell you is this; if this divorce had gone to the table, it would have gone through, because I would have made sure of it. Ami just wanted her freedom from this asshole. Don't come after her unless you've got a damn good reason, and you can actually convince me, because I will defend her."

"Understood," Gibbs said. "Thanks." And Chegwidden left, after wishing them good luck on their case.

"Boss, does the name Davey Jones sound familiar?" McGee asked, having just gotten off with the insurance adjuster company that owned the fleet car that was seen at their crime scene.

"It does," Gibbs said.

"That was the name that was in the log book at the hotel," Bishop said.

"According to the log book at the insurance adjuster's motor pool, that was who signed the car out," McGee said. "And get this; the guy said the truck's trailer hitch was dinged up."

"I want a look at that truck," Gibbs said.

"Done, but the guy warned us it had been cleaned recently, so I don't know if we'll get anything useful," McGee said.

"Have Kasie check anyway," Gibbs said.

"Will do. She's going to love us," McGee said.

"And find out where Corporal Lavery is and bring him in," Gibbs said.

"On it," Bishop said, heading for her desk.

Gibbs went to his desk to place a few phone calls of his own, and go through the file Chedwiggen had brought them. Maybe, just maybe, they might be able to find an actual suspect.