Chapter 5
The elevator dinged and Gibbs emerged.
"What do we got?" he asked Kasie and Torres.
"My knees have rug burns on their rug burns," Torres groaned as he stood up, wincing as his back complained.
"Ugh," Kasie groaned. "I swear, I am taking a steam cleaner to my carpet when I get home. All the creepy crawly stuff I just found…" She shivered. Gibbs stared at them, waiting impatiently. "Okay, so someone had sex on the carpet, before the murder, and I will be running that," Kasie said. "But it looks like Commander Lavery definitely bleed out here. Based on the blood spray that we found in the room, the final hit was on the floor. I have blood samples galore, which I think will be ninety-nine percent Commander Lavery's."
"And the bedspread?" Gibbs asked.
"The UV light found traces of bodily fluids, which we got. And Palmer told me he sent me some wound impressions from the victim, so hopefully we can determine if that metal knife we found was the actual murder weapon," Kasie said, pointing to the table, where a metal knife had been found, along with a matching spoon and fork. "And we got prints off of those, as well as DNA. Same with the plastic cutlery we found."
"We found the truck the suspect drove," Gibbs said. "It's on it's way in, and the fleet mechanic says it was cleaned recently."
"So no hope of prints?" Torres asked.
"Won't know until you check," Gibbs said. "What about prints from the hotel room?"
"IAFIS hasn't dinged anyone yet, but we did confirm that Commander Lavery was in the room," Kasie said. "Found his prints on the plastic cutlery from Jimmy John's, and the receipt that shows he signed for it," she continued, pointing to various evidence bags.
"How's our suspect list doing?" Torres asked.
"Still too many, but if we can find out who drove the truck, we can narrow it down," Gibbs said.
"What about the wife?" Kasie asked.
"Still a possibility, but we did confirm her alibi around the time of the Commander's death and when he was at the hotel. Over a dozen people saw her, including the gate guards at Fort McNair," Gibbs said.
"She still could have hired someone to take him out," Torres said.
"Except for the fact that Palmer says the stabbing was done in anger," Gibbs said.
"Which could be mistaken for a blitz attack, which wouldn't rule out the wife for hiring the killer," Torres pointed out. "In fact, if I was going to kill someone like the commander, a blitz attack could work, especially if he was comfortable turning his back to me."
"Then why not just shoot him?" Gibbs asked.
"Weapon of opportunity?" Kasie asked. "The knife we found looks like it's part of a lunch cutlery set."
Gibbs picked up the evidence bag and looked at the knife. It looked like a stainless steel table knife with a black plastic handle.
"Hard to believe something so harmless-looking could be a murder weapon," Kasie said.
"I knew someone who once killed someone with a credit card," Gibbs said easily. "If you need help in the lab, yell at McGee or Bishop," he said, heading for the elevator.
"Thank you, and will do," Kasie said.
Upstairs, the current JAG director had a few choice words about Commander Lavery, and he had invited Gibbs and his team over to JAG to talk to his staff.
"According to Bud Roberts, Commander Lavery was this-close to being charged with legal malpractice and possibly attorney misconduct over the Moses case," McGee said, when Gibbs rejoined them. "His wife, Harriet, is still friends with a few people at JAG, and she was quite happy to share some scuttlebutt."
"And?" Gibbs asked.
"And a lot of the junior officers hated him," McGee said. "He was known for making subtle sexual harassment jokes and saying he was just joking, if anyone objected, especially the women, and if anyone complained, he would say that if they couldn't handle the jokes, then they didn't deserve to be there, more so the women."
"Sounds like he didn't think women belonged in the Navy, like his father," Bishop said. "That was what happened; too many complaints of sexual discrimination, and he was forced to retire, or lose his pension."
"Bet Sarah loved that," Gibbs said.
"Oh yeah," Bishop said. "And, again, according to scuttlebutt, Captain Lavery did not go quietly. In fact, there were more than several officers who were glad to see the back of him."
"What about him and Commander Lavery?" Gibbs asked.
"Braggart all the way. Commander Lavery could do no wrong, especially once he started sitting First Chair in court," Bishop said.
"Harriet said there were rumors flying around that Captain Lavery may have had a hand in pushing Commander Lavery faster up the promotion ladder than he should have been," McGee said, "which caused some resentment amongst the officers, but a lot of them felt like they couldn't do anything about it."
"Until someone did," Gibbs said.
"Oh, and Corporal Lavery will be coming in tomorrow, but we've been advised he's on bereavement leave, due to Commander Lavery," McGee said. "And it's a good thing, too, because that number that we saw on Ami's call log, that belongs to Corporal Lavery, and according to the gate guards, three weeks ago, Ami did not leave Fort McNair at the end of the work day. In fact, she didn't leave until the end of the next work day, and she was seen wearing a grey Army shirt that was two sizes too big for her."
"She could have spent the night at his place, on the couch," Bishop offered.
"Except for the hickey mark on her neck," McGee said. "The guard was sure it hadn't been there the day before, and Ami apparently blushed when she saw him looking at it. When he made a comment about workplace accidents, she said that wire lashes were a bitch."
After that, there wasn't much they could do until Kasie finished running her tests and they had a look at the cases Commander Lavery had worked on.
The next day, Kasie had some answers.
"Okay, the prints came back with no hits in IAFIS, other than the commander's," she said, once the team joined her in her lab. "DNA, however, kicked back a familial match to Private Miles Moses, who is currently doing time in Leavenworth for robbery."
"Wasn't that the case where Commander Lavery screwed Private Moses over?" Torres asked.
"It was," McGee said, nodding. "Since we know that Commander Lavery was gay, how many brothers does he have?"
"Three, and no, CODIS hasn't given me anyone," Kasie said.
"Sounds like we need to have a talk with Private Moses," Torres said.
"And Corporal Lavery, who should be in later today," McGee said.
"And the staff at JAG headquarters," Bishop said.
"What about the blood on the carpet?" Gibbs asked.
"All Commander Lavery's," Kasie said. "None of the semen on the bedspread was a match to Commander Lavery, or even had a familial match to Private Moses, but given the fact that there were traces of condom lubricant on Commander Lavery, that doesn't surprise me. Oh, and the knife is a definite match to the stab wounds on Commander Lavery. It's part of a DEVICO Portable Travel Camping cutlery set, and not cheap. Goes for about twelve bucks on Amazon. Oh, and it belonged to the commander, because I found his DNA on the fork."
"And the truck?" Gibbs asked.
"Wiped clean. They use Armor All and Lysol wipes on the interior, and the door handle had no useable prints. Same with the trailer hitch," Kasie said, a scowl on her face. "I spoke to the head fleet manager, and he admitted the insurance adjuster company was nit-picky as hell about the appearance and maintenance of their vehicles. Every single vehicle, every single time."
"So who signed the truck out?" Gibbs asked.
"They sent me a copy of their log book and Davey Jones strikes again," McGee said. "I checked their company listing, and the closest we get is a Donald Jones, but we don't know his relationship to Private Moses, not yet, anyway."
"Find him," Gibbs said.
"Love to, but he's failed to show up for work for the last three days, and he's not answering his phone or his emails," McGee said.
"What does he look like?" Torres asked.
McGee went to Kasie's computer and did some fast typing, pulling up an identification photo the insurance adjuster company had sent him. "Dark hair, just like the guy in the photo Chedwiggen showed us."
"Find him," Gibbs said. "Bishop, you and I are doing interviews at JAG today. Torres, you and Sloane talk to Corporal Lavery, find out what was going on between him and Ami Lavery. Was there anything in Commander Lavery's briefcase?"
"Just a file of blank white paper," Kasie said. "Thick enough to look like an actual casefile, but no case inside. Oh, and pen and legal pad."
"The last time he was seen, his co-workers did say he'd said he had a lunch meeting," Bishop said. "The fake case file could be just that, a fake case file to help with his fake lunch meeting."
"Talk to his co-workers," Gibbs said. His phone rang. "Yeah, Gibbs."
"It's Sarah Lavery, Agent Gibbs. Ami is as mad as hell and about to file a complaint against NCIS," Sarah said.
"Why?" Gibbs asked.
"Because someone vandalized her truck during the night, and she's blaming you guys," Sarah said.
"Why us?" Gibbs said.
"I don't know, but she said it wasn't the first time NCIS had screwed with her or her family, but it was going to be the last," Sarah said. "I convinced her to let me talk to you, first, as you seem like a reasonable man, but she's madder than a wet hornet."
"What's her maiden name?" Gibbs asked.
"Darvin. I think her mother was Annabelle, and she once mentioned a brother by the name of Liam, if that helps. She never mentioned her father, and I got the impression it was a sore subject," Sarah said.
"All right. Thanks for the heads up," Gibbs said.
"You're welcome, but Agent Gibbs, did you vandalize Ami's truck?" Sarah asked.
"No. I have no reason to, and that's not how I operate."
"I believe you, but Ami might not. Have a nice day," Sarah said, ending the call.
"Someone vandalized Ami Lavery's truck," Gibbs told his team. "And Ami is blaming us, saying NCIS had messed with her and her family before. Surname Darvin, mother is Annabelle, has a brother by the name of Liam."
McGee started typing fast. "Uh-oh," he said, eyes going wide after a few seconds. "About fifteen years ago, NCIS was investigating Ami's father, Otto, for suspected theft of a nearby Navy base. Nothing was ever proven, but the agent assigned to the case wound up getting suspended for his behaviour towards the family, which included vandalism of the family home and harassment towards Ami and her mother."
"Who was the agent?" Gibbs asked.
"This guy," McGee said, throwing a picture up. "Agent Zander Smith. He was convinced the Darvin family was in possession, or hiding, the stolen Navy vehicle parts, simply because Otto Darvin had been seen in the area around the time of the theft and has a known history of B and E's, and trespassing on government properties, plus he has several DUI's and other charges related to alcohol, including domestic assault against his wife."
"Where is Otto Davin now?" Torres asked.
"Dead. Heart attack six years ago. Brother Liam is currently doing time for petty theft," McGee said.
"And the mother?" Gibbs asked.
"No drivers licence, but her tax returns say she's living in Maryland," McGee said. "Has been for the last ten years."
"And ouch," Bishop said, reading through the casefile. "No wonder she suspects NCIS of harassing her. The stunts Agent Smith supposedly did, makes the phrase 'overzealous' an understatement. He described Otto Darvin as a walking drunk bully, and said Liam wasn't much better. His comments about Ami or Annabelle aren't exactly flattering either. Little better than trailer trash, is how he put it at one point."
"Did he ever find out who stole the equipment?" Gibbs asked, scowling.
"Agent Tami Oberon took over after Agent Smith was suspended, and it turned out the equipment had never been stolen," Bishop said. "It was a clerical error."
Gibbs shook his head in disgust.