Chapter 14
Gneiting sat calmly in the chair facing Gibbs. It was completely silent in the room, neither party making any move to break it. On the other side of the mirror, Tim watched the interrogation with Tony and Ziva.
"What did you find in his house?" Tim asked looking intently through the glass.
"A knife, some blood and a bunch of running shoes," Tony answered, equally engrossed.
"He didn't even try to run," Ziva added. "He opened the door and sighed. He just sat in his living room while we searched. When we found the knife, he held out his hands for us to cuff him."
"By the way, McGee, who is Andrew?" Tony asked, still staring through the glass.
"My stepfather. My mom remarried a couple years after..." he trailed off as Gibbs shifted in his seat.
Then, he finally stopped staring and started to question his prisoner. They all fell silent waiting to hear the end of this strange case.
"You didn't seem surprised when we came by."
"No."
"Why not?"
"Sons have a lot to live up to when it comes to emulating their fathers. They're never quite good enough."
"Why did you kill Lt. Rivens?"
The trio through the glass expected him to deny it. Everyone tried to, at least at first. "Completeness."
"What do you mean?"
"It had to be seven, Dad said. Always seven. Seven is complete, six is not. He made me promise just before he died that I would complete his work."
Gibbs was incredulous. "You killed a man because your father asked you to?!"
Gneiting shrugged. "He was my father. I saw his work over the years. It needed to be complete, but I wasn't strong enough for it. It took two of us to get everything right at the end, and I couldn't do it all myself. Lt. Rivens, you said his name was? Lt. Rivens was heavier than he looked. I took him by surprise and cut his throat, but I had to drain him on the trail and then he was still too heavy and awkward for me to maneuver him down the stairs. I had to drop him in the living room. I should have known someone would see him there. My dad would have been ashamed."
"So your father killed the other six?"
"Yes."
"Do you know why?"
"It was his work, he told me. That's what he did."
It was the matter-of-fact way that Gneiting explained his actions that was so horrible. He didn't look at what he had done as anything but tie up loose ends.
"Why Lt. Rivens?"
Another shrug. "He was there."
Tim felt ill. He was going to have to tell Liz Rivens that her husband had been killed because he was there. That wasn't a reason. That was like saying there had been no reason at all. Something stirred inside him, something he still couldn't consciously face. He abruptly turned and walked out of the room. At nearly the same time, Tony and Ziva watched Gibbs stand up and stalk out of interrogation looking nearly as revolted.