As the team entered the bathroom, they were greeted by emptiness and stark white light that reflected off of the white linoleum floor. There were footsteps of blood leading away from the last stall.
"McGee, get photos of those footprints and make sure someone takes a print. Let's go check out the body." Gibbs said. Cameras started to flash and people started to dust for fingerprints. Putting on a pair of gloves, Gibbs eased open the door. The marine sat on the stool, blood coming for the wound in between his eyes.
"Everything is consistent with a single wound to the head. There is one thing that doesn't match up though." Gibbs said, reaching forward to pull out the wallet from the Marine's breast pocket.
"What's that boss, besides from the obvious? Ladies and Gentlemen, meet Petty Officer Robert Paulson." Tony said and eased the wallet into an evidence bag.
"If he was in the bathroom, don't you think his pants would be down Tony? Can't exactly get very far with his pants up." Gibbs said and stepped away from the stall. "I want a complete workup of the bathroom. Make sure you dust the door for prints, both the stall and the entry, and look for any shell casings. McGee, make sure you get photos of Petty Officer's body position for Ducky. Ill be back, I want to get everyone out of this mall and shut it down so its just us. I dont want any expected guests in my crime scene."
Three hours had gone by in a flash. Everyone was wrapping up the crime scene and Paulson had been taken out by Palmer and Ducky. Ducky had done his usual "Oh my" with some random knowledge he had picked up from his travels.
"You guys ready to go, I know we've got some computer work to do. I'm also ready to get out of this bathroom." Ziva said. Everyone seemed to agree and started to pack up their gear and any evidence collected.
"Before we go, I'm going to go and hit the head. I'll go in the women's to make sure I don't destroy any potential evidence. I gotta hurry before they open it back up." Tony said.
"Hitting the head? Wait, what does that mean? It sounds dirty" Ziva said and grabbed Tony's shirt sleeve.
"Ziva, it just means I'm going to the bathroom. Okay? See you learn new things everyday." Tony said and headed towards the door.
"Ziva, maybe we should get you a book of American euphemisms and slang that you can study so Tony can't screw with your head so much." McGee said.
"I don't let him mess with my head. I just like to give him a false sense of security to make him feel a little manlier." Ziva said and gave that coy smile of her's. She followed in Tony's suit and grabbed a bag, headed for the door.
"Understandable. Wait, Ziva, do you do that to me when I correct you? Ziva!" McGee screamed. He scrambled after Ziva, grabbing a few bags on his way out.
After making sure that the bathroom was clear and still shut down, Tony almost ran into the nearest stall.
"Oh thank you Lord, I've been holding this in for-freaking-ever." He said while relieving himself. He was just finishing and about to zip his pants up when he felt something jammed against the back of his head on the right. Knowing automatically that it was a gun pressed up on his head, he slowly put his hands up. His belt was still unlatched and his zipper was only about halfway up. He would be lucky if he made it out of this situation alive, his pants up, and his dignity still intact.
"Who are you!" screamed a female voice from behind him. The woman was close enough he could feel her hot breath on the back of his neck. She was panting in short breaths, as if she was nervous.
"Okay calm down." he said.
"Don't tell me to fucking calm down. I want to know who you are." she screamed again. Tony was hoping that someone was hearing this and about to send in the cavalry. He hoped that there was still someone left in the mall.
"Okay, I'm Tony DiNozzo. I'm a member of NCIS. My badge is in my left pocket. Go ahead and pull it out." He said. He felt the pattern of her breath change, as if she was relaxing. She reached into his pocket and pulled out his badge along with his wallet. After checking both his badge and drivers license, she threw them to the ground.
"You're not going to hurt me, are you?" she said, her voice quivering.
"I'm not going to hurt you. Just--" Tony slowly turned around, "give me the gun." he said. She dropped her arm and placed the gun into Tony's hands. Tony set the gun on the ground and pushed it away with his foot, never taking his eyes off of her. She had a wound on the corner of her forehead, as if someone had banged her head into the wall. Before Tony could reach forward to check the wound, she fell forwards into his arms, sobbing.
"They killed him, THEY KILLED HIM!" She screamed. Tony gently eased her down to the ground. She kept going on and on about how they killed him when finally Gibbs burst through the door with McGee and Ziva behind him. All three had their guns drawn, which caused the girl to panic. She screamed and tried to run, pulling Tony with her.
"Put away your guns. Listen it's all right, they are NCIS also. It's going to be okay, just try and calm down." he said while holding her arms to make her stay still. She let out a few more screams before going limp in Tony's arms. The team holstered their weapons and confusion set in.
"Base, we need an ambulance over here near the west entrance. Looks like possible head trauma and she just lost consciousness." Gibbs radioed in. "Tony, what the hell happened?" Gibbs said. Tony grunted as he picked up the girl up to carry her to an ambulance.
"Let's just say, I got caught with my pants down boss. Luckily, I got out of here alive, pants up, and my dignity intact." Tony said. With that, his pants promptly fell down.
"Nice boxers Tony." Ziva quipped. Tony put on a sarcastic smile. The EMT crew rolled in with a stretcher and both men were almost on the floor with laughter.
"1 for 3 boss, 1 for 3." Tony said and passed the girl off to the EMT. He heard a click coming from across the room and saw McGee taking a video of him and Ziva taking photos.
"Abby is not going to believe this." He said and started to laugh.
The car ride back to the office was the most uncomfortable ride Tony had ever felt since he threw up on a date after one too tequila shots. Gibbs mentioned how he needed duct tape so he could keep Tony's pants up. Getting caught with his pants down is not his example of a good day. After visiting Abby in the lab, it didn't get any better.
"The shoe from the print was a Birkenstock loafer, size 11. You can find it about in any department store. However if you find the shoe and the owner, I could tell if it was match by doing a print analysis. You see, his stride is heaver on the left side which can be seen as a unique marker." Abby said.
"Thanks Abby, I'll run this down to Gibbs and see what's up with the autopsy. And while I'm here, go ahead and ask." he said.
"Reindeer boxers? Tony it's July." she said. She tried her hardest not to laugh while saying this. She managed only a little giggle before bursting into full out laughter.
"Haven't you heard Abby, they are all the rage this summer. Better get some while their hot." he said and did a little model pose.
"Must've been laundry day." She said.
"Yeah it was. You know, I find this reversal of fortune strange. This stuff is supposed to happen to McGee, not me. It must not be my day at all. Hopefully, it's just a day." he said. He grabbed the file and walked away to join Gibbs and Ducky in the morgue.
"Whatever you say Tony. And make sure Gibbs knows he owes me a CafPow!" she yelled after him. He waved his hand up in acknowledgment. After an uncomfortable elevator ride with some of the women from earlier, Tony ran off the elevator and to the morgue. He slid in the door, doing his best Tom Cruise and hoped that no more jokes were made at his expense. He found Gibbs and Ducky already standing over the body of Petty Officer Paulson.
"According to Abby's toxicology report, it turns out that Paulson might have been drugged and then brought into the bathroom. He has some bruising on his under arms as if it was forceful. He must have fought before finally succumbing to the drug. Sadly though he was awake during the whole ordeal, even his death. He was shot at close range and this other bruising on his forearm suggests that someone was holding him while he was shot. I believe it must be defensive wounds. I checked underneath his fingernails for DNA and haven't been really lucky. He must have been only to lash out at his attackers and not hit any skin." Ducky said and imitated what looked like a drunken chick fight.
"Thanks Ducky for that marvelous reenactment. Tony what did you learn from Abby?" Gibbs asked. He handed over the file from Abby to Ducky and explained what he learned.
"Shoe was a Birkenstock loafer size 11, need to find the owner to do a reprint to see if his stride is heavier on the left side. And she says that you owe her a CafPow." Tony said and looked over the body. He seemed like a normal American boy next door. Why anyone would want to kill Paulson was beyond him.
"All right, what did McGee come up on a check of his credit report?" Gibbs asked.
"Seems clean, only thing fishy was a deposit of about 30 grand and a quick withdrawal of about 10 grand. McGee is checking up on whose bank accounts it was deposited to but no luck since. He isn't getting much cooperation with the bank since they said the account it was deposited was made under a false name so they are sending over bank surveillance so we can use our database to see if we can identify anyone. Since they are a major bank, they catalog their surveillance by your bank account. You can just enter a bank account and find the tape of anyone involved with that account. " he said.
"Get McGee and Ziva on that. I want you to go to the hospital and interview the girl. They called and said she woke up and is ready to talk. Problem is she only wants to talk to you. Says she trusts you." He said and passed the file back to Tony.