Deep Lacerations: Chapter 7

"Visiting hours end in an hour," the guard commented as he handed the three ID cards back to the agents in the dark sedan.

"Think of this as a free pass," NCIS Special Agent Tony DiNozzo said, quickly flashing his badge before rolling up the window and continuing into the base, headed toward Bancroft Hall, the main building of the United States Naval Academy.

The Academy superintendant was standing at the door with two MPs as the three agents approached, their credentials already out. "Agents," the Navy captain said with a nod. "Midshipman First Class Brenner is in the chemistry lab. We have been observing him, but haven't said anything, as you requested." He paused. "Would you like us to take you there?"

"That would be nice," Agent DiNozzo replied dryly. The superintendant nodded and led the way.

"Hey," CID Special Agent Sonja Gracy said quietly as they headed toward the chemistry department, "do you guys mind if I take the lead on this one?"

"You sure you can handle it?" DiNozzo asked with a grin. Gracy rolled her eyes.

"I may not be NCIS, but I do know what I'm doing," she replied. He glanced over at Ziva, who shrugged. He nodded his assent.

Gracy was the first through the door to the lab. "Midshipman Brenner?" she asked politely. The average, nondescript student glanced up.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, a look of confusion on his face. Gracy flipped out her credentials.

"Special Agent Sonja Gracy, Army CID," she announced. "I'm working with NCIS on the investigation into the dead body found this morning."

"The body?" he asked in alarm. "I didn't even know the guy!" His attention focused on Gracy, he missed the knowing look that passed between DiNozzo and David; it wasn't the typical response an innocent man would have given in that situation.

"We're looking into everyone who may have had contact with Officer Justin Chase," Gracy continued.

"Officer?" Brenner asked weakly. She nodded.

"Ann Arundel County Police Department," she said. "Midshipman Kerry Peete said you saw him last night."

"Kerry Peete?" he asked, feigning ignorance. Gracy rolled her eyes.

"Let me guess," she said dryly. "You don't know her, either?"

"Short, with blond hair?" he asked with a frown. "I think she was in one of the labs I tutor."

"She was," Gracy informed him. "Which you would know for sure, considering you stopped by her room last night to ask if she needed help with her lab report. Apparently, you had forgotten that you had to do something for your medical school applications, and left after about two minutes." She paused. "Those med school apps are a bitch, aren't they?"

He blinked in surprise. "I thought you said you're with CID?"

"Well, yeah," she replied. "I went to med school first. Georgetown. Where are you applying?"

"Everywhere, ma'am," he said with a short laugh. "I've been accepted to a few, but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for USUHS."

She nodded her head slowly. "Not a bad school. I think you're out of luck, though."

"Why's that, ma'am?"

"They don't have a campus at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary," her voice suddenly cold. Standing in the background, DiNozzo's eyes widened slightly. The techniques weren't the same, but Gracy was almost Gibbs-like with her interrogation techniques.

Brenner stuttered in disbelief, barely able to form words. "I don't know what you're talking about, ma'am."

"You stopped by her room last night and saw her there with Officer Chase. Now, you're a first-classman and on your way into the medical corps, so I know you're not stupid. It was after visiting hours and her roommate was gone for the night, so you knew what was going on. What was it? Jealousy? Anger? What motivated you to fill a syringe with air, attach an eighteen gauge needle, and stick it in Officer Chase's left median cubital vein?" At his surprised expression, she nodded. "Yeah, I saw the puncture wound. When I said I used to be a doctor, I should have been more specific. I was a forensic pathologist. It's not too difficult for me to figure out exactly how someone died."

A series of emotions played across Brenner's face before he sighed in defeat. "She's a rugby player," he said. "They're supposed to be crazy, wild. I met her the first time when we were plebes, and she was always so…aloof, so pretentious. I asked her out a couple of times, but she always gave some excuse. Then I saw her in her room with that, that guy, in those old combat boots and worn jeans. I don't get it! I helped her with her homework and watched her rugby games—"

"Her brother died in Iraq the spring of her senior year of high school," Gracy interrupted angrily. "His best friend came home eight months later and got a job in Maryland to watch over her and make sure she was okay. She wasn't aloof, Midshipman. She was grieving, and she didn't need a pre-med chemistry major to help her through it." She heard the catch in her voice but continued, hoping it wasn't as obvious to anyone else as it was to her. "She needed someone who knew what she was going through, someone who could explain what happened and let her know that it was going to be okay, and that person was Justin Chase. And you killed him."

"I—I—." He hung his head in defeat. "I don't know why I did it," he whispered. Gracy pulled the handcuffs from her belt.

"Midshipman Thomas Brenner, you're under arrest for the murder of Officer Justin Chase," she began. Limp with disbelief and distress, Brenner didn't even realize it when Gracy fumbled with the handcuffs, but Officer Ziva David did.