Refreshed and revitalised by a whole three hours of blessed sleep, Gibbs felt almost human again the following morning. And it appeared, for once, things were working out neatly. If Tony's guess was right, and Gibbs saw no reason to doubt that, then Ardien was the source of the leak. It remained to be seen whether he got the information from Edvina willingly or otherwise, but it looked as though NCIS had saved the day. Again. Not, he thought darkly, that anyone would ever give them any credit for it.
The occasional dark thought was not enough to dim the optimism that swept through him though, and he was feeling positively cheerful by the time he had finished his second cup of coffee. Dispatching his team to their duties for that morning, he walked with Tony to the café that Edvina had said Ardien worked at.
Kate and McGee were due to brief Edvina and Isak on developments and try to arrange a couple of arrest warrants from whatever authorities needed to be contacted. The legal state of Kosovo meant that it wasn't clear who should be approached, so he had left McGee to sort out that particular minefield.
"Remind me why you came here in the first place," Gibbs asked the younger man, smirking slightly as he saw Tony flush. "I mean, it's not on the route that you and Kate said you canvassed. In fact, this café would have come under the area Kate dealt with."
"Uh, that's not really an important detail right now, is it boss?"
"Hungover?"
Tony opened his mouth to deny it, shot a look at Gibbs and changed his mind. Just because he seemed in a good mood didn't mean Tony should push his luck. "Something like that," he muttered.
Luckily for Tony, Ardien appeared at that moment and greeted them warmly. "Ah, Edvina's friend. Are you feeling better today?"
"Much better. This is my friend Special Agent Gibbs. He'd like to get to know you a little better," Tony smiled easily at their suspect. Ardien shot a quick, panicked look around him, but smiled calmly back at them. "You wouldn't mind having a little chat with us now?"
The young man shook his head regretfully. "I have to work."
He turned to go, and came face to face with Gibbs, who grinned at him. "Sit down sonny. We've got business to discuss." Ardien looked about to object, so Gibbs stepped in a little closer, and put his hands on Ardien's shoulders. "Sit down," he said, still polite but with an undertone of anger. Ardien sat down.
"So, what do you want to talk about?" the Kosovan asked guardedly.
"The usual, you know, the weather, the economy, your love life…." Tony kept smiling, although it was an effort. "Lumni Castirovic. You know the usual."
Ardien swallowed, suddenly a lot less confident. "Lumni who?"
"Don't play games with us kid," Gibbs growled. "We know you know Castirovic, and we want to know all about him, Mandic and what all of this has to do with you."
"And please don't bother with the 'I no speak English routine'," Tony said, leaning back in his chair. Ardien shot him a look loaded with hatred, but Tony smiled happily. "Well, Ardien, answer the nice American."
Another moment of silence, and Gibbs' temper frayed slightly. "What do you know about Vladan Mandic?" When Ardien again remained silent, Gibbs slammed his fist into the table, causing the Kosovan to jump. "Vladan Mandic! Now, talk!"
"I know American law," Ardien said confidently. "You cannot do anything to me. Your laws protect me." His voice may have been confident, Gibbs thought, but his eyes said he was scared. Time to play with him a little. Gibbs nodded to Tony, who was obviously following his train of thought, and grabbed Ardien's arm. Together they marched him out of the café, staying silent despite Ardien's protests. People eyed them oddly as they walked down the street, but no one said or did anything to stop them. Even a member of the KPS ignored Ardien's increasingly frantic cries for help.
They made their way to a quiet, dead end alley and let go of him. Ardien looked warily around him, evidently searching for an escape route. The only way out of the alley, however, was through Gibbs and Tony. Tony was in the process of drawing his gun, ostentatiously cocking it. Gibbs watched as Ardien swallowed, hard, his face pale. Time for stage two of the plan.
"You're right, you know," he said conversationally, slipping out of his jacket and beginning to roll up his shirt sleeves. "American laws do protect suspects in custody. They do mean that we are not allowed to torture anyone, and if we mistreat someone, that evidence is not admissible in court. But, and this is an important point, we're not in America. Isn't that right DiNozzo?"
"That's right boss. And no one knows Ardien is with us, do they?" Tony smiled brightly.
"No they don't. So no one will know what we do to him." Gibbs stepped a little closer, and Ardien backed up until he walked into the wall. "So, unless you want to talk Ardien, I hope you've got some health insurance."
"No wait!" Ardien cried out, his hands up protectively in front of his face. "OK, I tell you about Mandic! He asked me to start dating Edvina when he found out she did a lot of translating work for the Americans! I get her to tell me whatever she hears around the base, and I pass it on to Mandic! That's all, I swear!"
Gibbs glanced over at Tony, who winked back at him, before holstering his weapon. "I can't believe you fell for that old trick." Tony shook his head and laughed at Ardien. "Oldest trick in the book and you fell for it."
"Let's get him back to the hotel, and hopefully McGee will have worked out how to get arrest warrants in this country," Gibbs said, grabbing hold of Ardien's arm again. "Come on, kid, I need some coffee, so don't dawdle."
They made their way back to the Hotel Royal, Ardien hanging between them, head drooped on to his chest, the picture of defeat. Gibbs was alarmed, however, to catch a glimpse of the real Ardien, beneath the mask of repentance. The Kosovan kept his eyes on the ground for the most part, but every now and then would shoot a look of absolute hatred at Tony, who was apparently oblivious to this. Always Tony, Gibbs thought sourly, they always managed to fixate on Tony. Something about him clearly wound people up the wrong way. Gibbs vowed to keep a close eye on Ardien. That man wasn't beaten yet, despite his act, and he had no intention of losing a member of his team. It occurred to Gibbs briefly that they had no idea who actually killed Franklin and Smithson, and, at the moment, Ardien was the best suspect they had.