Notes: As advised earlier I will be updating the chapters a few times a day as I am going away from Tuesday. I am so grateful to everyone who has liked, favourited and followed this story and love reading all the comments so please leave more :)
Chapter 8:
Gibbs, McGee and Tony returned to NCIS headquarters at close to 10pm. The floor was not surprisingly clear, which was exactly how Gibbs wanted it.
"McGee, get this information and see if you can find anything about this guy. New articles, search Florida and FBI for open cases matching this description … anything."
"On it Boss."
"What do you want me to do?" Tony asked.
"Sit there, do nothing, touch nothing and try and remember anything else that might help."
Tony slumped into his chair behind his desk, placed his head on his hand and said, "Ok, but I don't think I can think of anything else."
"Then just sit there."
Tony was annoyed at being treated as a wayward child… but then again he had tried to flee his life and change his identity not three hours ago. He was not surprised Gibbs was being so strict.
"What are you going to do boss?" McGee asked, hoping it didn't involve hovering over his shoulder until he found something.
"I'm going to help you," Gibbs went over and started to (slowly) type on his keyboard. "I'm not completely computer illiterate."
"You're not?... I mean, of course you're not."
Gibbs looked over at the younger man and quirked an eyebrow. "I do know how to look up missing persons you know."
"But how do we know they are still missing?"
Gibbs sighed, "We don't McGee, we have to cover all our bases. Now enough with the chit chat and find me something on this guy."
They worked quietly for a couple of hours, with Tony occasionally standing and pacing back wards and forwards like a caged animal.
"I need to go to the toilet," he said about two hours in.
"Fine, McGee, go with him."
Tony spluttered, about to protest, "Not negotiable DiNozzo." Gibbs looked up at him and gave Tony a look that said 'don't argue with me or I will lock you up'.
"Fine, come on McGee."
McGee looked just as unhappy about the prospect, "Please tell me you only need to pee."
"Well I did, but now I think I might go number twos just to annoy you."
"Hey, this wasn't my idea you know…"
It was about half an hour after the field trip to the bathroom that McGee came across some information that appeared to be related. "I think I found something."
Both Gibbs and Tony shot up to find out what he had. Gibbs looked at Tony and pointed to his seat, "Sit!" He waited for Tony to sit before going behind Tim's desk to see what he had.
"It is an open case with the FBI. The body of Donald Hampson was found in a marsh in Okefenokee National Park in September 1984. His body was weighted down with a large rock but the gases in his body caused it to float up anyway and was discovered by one of the rangers of the park." McGee skimmed a bit further, "he was identified through dental records after narrowing down missing persons," again he skimmed. "Huh?"
"What McGee," Tony called from his desk.
"You shush," Gibbs said. "What is it McGee"
"Autopsy showed he was killed by multiple blunt force trauma to the back of the skull, most likely caused by the rock he was weighed down with based on the shape of the rock compared with the shape of the dints on the skull."
Tony shot up, "What about the hammer I hit him with?"
McGee read further, "They mention a fracture on the right side of his head, likely caused by a hammer or similar round faced object, but they say that while he was likely rendered unconscious from the blow, it was unlikely that would have killed him."
Tony put his hands on his head, shocked, amazed, confused by what he just heard, "I didn't kill him! Oh my god all this time I though I had killed him and I didn't," he jumped up and down, the relief causing endorphins to flow through his body. But then the reality hit him and the high was quickly replaced by a crushing low, "but that means … Dad killed him."
Gibbs nodded.
"Wait there is more, this murder is linked to another murder, that of the man's sister, Wanda Thomason, nee Hampson. Tony, didn't you say your step mother was Wanda?"
Tony nodded, "Yeah Wanda, we were the Thomason's at the time. I was Sean Thomason and Dad was … god what was his name? Steven I think."
McGee nodded, "Yep, husband of the deceased, Steven Thomason, is wanted in relation to both murders."
"Wait, Wanda was murdered? When? How?"
McGee clicked on another file and scanned the page with his eyes, "Wanda Thomason was found bound and gagged in her bedroom… death appears to be manual strangulation." He looked again … "they found her bank accounts were cleaned out and the only suspect is her husband, Steven Thomason."
Tony shook his head in disbelief, "No… that's not right. I mean a con man yes, but a murderer? No way my dad did that?" Tony slumped into his chair "Did he?"
Gibbs came over and leant on Tony's desk.
"Can you remember any of the other names of these women, or your father's alias'?"
Tony frowned, confused, "Why?" Suddenly it dawned on him. "You think he killed others don't you."
"It's a possibility, Tony."
"Oh my god! All this time I though I was protecting a scammer, I never even imagined he could be a killer."
"A possible serial killer at that," McGee said from his desk and received a stare of death from Gibbs and a look of absolute horror from Tony. "Sorry." He turned back to his screen and continued reading.
Gibbs placed his hand on the younger man's shoulder, "Write down as many names as you can remember, places, dates, anything that might help us find out if there are more victims."
"Tony nodded and started to jot down names."
McGee walked over and whispered to Gibbs, "Boss, if we find evidence of this, then what?"
McGee might have tried to be quiet, but Tony's hearing was better than expected.
"Then we arrest my father and lock him away for the rest of his life McGee."