Chapter 9. Pieces Coming Together
Vance, Sacks, and Fornell divided their time between Ziva interrogating Kort and DiNozzo. DiNozzo divided his time between Ziva interrogating Kort and his phone. The other three men all thought that it appeared that DiNozzo was almost willing his phone to ring.
After an hour, DiNozzo sent a message to Ziva's PDA, telling her to take a break. And in no way did Ziva even allude to Gibbs being targeted.
When she entered Observation, DiNozzo simply looked at her and answered her unasked question. "You could have questioned him for days and never get a real answer. Besides, aside from the bill of lading, we don't know what questions to ask, yet."
Ziva only nodded and left the room, mumbling about having to use the "little women's room." DiNozzo felt his gut churn. It wasn't indigestion. Something was missing. He had started to trust his gut more and more lately, especially since Gibbs' "vacation" and subsequent return. And right now, it was screaming at him.
"I'm headed for coffee," he said, making his way to the door. The rest decided to stretch their legs, but none were fast enough to catch DiNozzo as he stepped into the elevator. He pressed a button without even thinking, just letting his body take him where it wanted to.
This time, it took him to autopsy. As he entered, his mind was miles ahead of his body, and it took him a moment to bring it back.
"Good morning, Anthony. Mr. Palmer," Ducky said, looking at his assistant, "could you brief Anthony while I wash up?"
"Certainly, Doctor," a surprised Palmer said. DiNozzo nodded to Ducky as he passed him, grinning at him at the real reason for him stepping outside. Ducky had been grooming Palmer for years, and with Palmer almost done with his studies, he was ready for him to take over his own autopsy lab, except for confidence. DiNozzo inspired that confidence more than Gibbs did, and the two had been tag teaming Palmer, without his knowledge, for the past eight months.
"What do you have, Jimmy," DiNozzo asked as he stepped up to the table.
"Well, Tony, Dr. Mallard and I can say for certain that Carmichael was hit with a hard metal object. It could be a shovel, but there are no identifying marks, aside from a slight concave shape to the pieces of the skull we put back together. It's not one hundred percent, but it's really close. We're still missing some of the pieces."
DiNozzo nodded and moved to where the x-rays were mounted. "Show me," he ordered gently.
Palmer started to point to the pieces of bone they had replaced, and the shape they showed. "The hit was hard enough that even if he hadn't been shot, he wouldn't have lived. Dr. Mallard is pretty sure that the cracking on the skull was enough to kill, or at least make him an life long invalid."
"Is that what you both think, or do you disagree?"
"I agree, although I don't have Dr. Mallard's experience to know for certain."
"Then say that, Jimmy. Put yourself out there, okay? Don't be afraid to take a chance."
Palmer nodded. There was a pause while both studied the x-rays. "I don't fully agree. I think it would have killed him slowly, but he wouldn't have made it to a hospital."
DiNozzo nodded and smiled as he turned away. "Good work, Jimmy." He knew, without looking back that Palmer's face was stretched in a wide smile. As he stepped to the elevators again, his phone rang.
"DiNozzo," he said once it was open.
"Tony, its McGee. I did some checking into Homeland Security's intraweb. There's no sign that Carmichael ever left the country, although we do have copies of the forms he supposedly signed. There's no way he could have set up the account in Geneva."
DiNozzo stepped into the elevator. "Then who did?" Once it got moving, he stopped it so he wouldn't be interrupted until he was done talking to McGee.
"I checked the entire roster of personnel at the warehouse. The only person that came up was the Executive Officer, Lieutenant Commander Aaron Davis. He took leave at the time the account was set up and he is on the Customs exit list headed to the Bahamas, and entering from Switzerland."
"Good work, McGee. I need you back here. Work with Abby and locate every penny of that money."
"Wait, Tony, there's more. I checked the signature card that we found in Carmichael's security deposit box, again. The signature was of someone right handed."
DiNozzo's eyes opened a little bit wider. "And Carmichael was left handed. How did we miss that?"
He could hear McGee shrug over the phone. "We were sure we found our guy. I'm headed back now, one of the agents will sit in the room in case Gibbs wakes, he knows to call if anything changes. I gave him my number, just in case."
"Good work, McGee," DiNozzo said as he started to hang up. Then a thought hit him. "Wait, McGee. Does Commander Davis have any relatives?"
"Yeah, a cousin named Michael. He works for the CIA."
Alarm bells went off in DiNozzo's head. "Let me amend that, McGee. Great work. Get your ass back here as quick as you can. Drive like Ziva. I'll get Abby started before you get here, then you take the lead."
With that, he hung up and started the elevator again, headed to the Forensics Lab. McGee didn't even try to answer, knowing that he'd hang up now that his orders were given.
As DiNozzo stepped into the lab, he dialed Ziva's cell phone.
"Ziva."
"Ziva, get over to the warehouse and pick up Lieutenant Commander Aaron Davis. He's the XO. Take Sacks with you."
She looked at the phone in amusement and mild fury. He'd hung up on her. On her. When this was over, revenge would be the order of the day. And it would be sweet. As she found Sacks and told him what they would be doing she had a pleasantly horrible thought. At least I can take some of it out on him. "I am driving."
Sacks, for his part, looked completely horrified when he realized what those three words entailed. He was glad he hadn't eaten recently, knowing her driving habits. They weren't leaving the Navy Yard, but it was far enough for Ziva to get the car up to light speed at least.
DiNozzo entered the lab, finding Abby in her office, working on her computer. She looked up as the doors to the office opened. "Tony, the results came back. I also checked the fingerprints. They were right the first time."
DiNozzo nodded, wondering how he would find a ghost. He didn't ask if she was sure. She would have run the test again just in case. But to ask her to confirm a third time would be insulting to her.
"McGee is one his way back. Looks like Carmichael didn't set up the account, the XO of the warehouse did. McGee's going to track the money as far as he can. I want you to start, then when he gets here, take a different tack, and see where any other money from the originating account has gone to. I think Kort's involved in this more than we think he is, and I want to make sure."
Abby nodded and moved to her lab computers. She turned on the one McGee would use when he got there, and she would turn it over to him when he arrived. DiNozzo sat on the edge of her office desk, deep in thought.
Anyone watching him would imagine that he was sleeping almost upright, head hung, eyes closed, breathing deeply. But, his mind was whirling with the possibilities this case was bringing.
He suddenly stood and moved out the door, striding purposefully and ignoring Abby, except for a quick kiss on her cheek. She was almost too engrossed in her computer to notice. Almost. A small grin crossed her face, leaving quickly as DiNozzo moved out of sight.
DiNozzo, for his part, didn't even realize he was moving. His mind was still on the case while his body was on autopilot. He tried to fit together all the pieces he had and connect them to the new parts of the case. Not for the first time, he wished Gibbs was there so he could bounce ideas off him like they always did. No one else knew, except Abby and Ducky, that the two would meet secretly and discuss the case. Enough of their cases were solved this way that they continued the practice, just in case. Even when one was out of town on a case, and the other still in D.C., they would talk on the phone about the case.
Suddenly DiNozzo found himself in front of two men. The two men were NCIS Probationary Agents, and they were guarding the door to Interrogation Room Two. He stepped past them and opened the door to Observation. That was when he noticed that the hand he tried to open the door with held a cup of coffee.
He'd gone from Abby's lab, to the coffee shop, back to Interrogation, and hadn't realized it. He took a deep breath to clear his head before stepping inside.
He was greeted by two new people. Vance and Fornell had returned from Vance's office, as had Ziva and Sacks. In the window to Interrogation Two, he saw a man in a khaki uniform sitting at the desk. But, it was the two men in Observation that held his attention.
One was a tall, well built, regal looking man with silver hair. His expensive suit was instantly noticed by DiNozzo. In fact, aside from the facial features, he could have been DiNozzo's father. This instantly put DiNozzo on alert before he glanced at the other man. Shorter, heftier, and younger, the black man didn't have to say where he was from. It was obvious from his carriage.
The older man took a small step forward, and his bearing made everyone's eyes look to him. "I'm Deputy Director of Operations for the CIA, Carter Johnson. This is Special Agent Ted Johnson, Trent Kort's control officer. No relation."
Everyone's eyes turned to DiNozzo as he snickered lightly. He looked slightly embarrassed as he simply said, "Die Hard." Vance and Fornell shook their heads in despair, but not able to hide the small grins on their faces. The two Johnsons and Ziva chuckled. Sacks looked slightly murderous toward DiNozzo, but that look hadn't changed in the entire time they'd known each other.
DiNozzo looked between the two CIA men. "Guess you're here for Kort, then."
DDO Johnson shook his head, surprising everyone except for Vance and Fornell. He smiled as he stated, "You see, we're in a bit of a bureaucratic quandary. The FBI arrested him, but he's being held by NCIS. Normally, we'd cut through the red tape and just take him back, but Director Vance has been enlightening us to his recent activities. In light of that, we're in a wait and see mode at the moment."
You could have knocked DiNozzo, Sacks, and David over with a feather. DiNozzo was the one to put it into words. "Is up, down? Black, white? Is Sean Connery not the best Bond?"
Vance chuckled. "They've given us twelve hours to solve this before they take him back, DiNozzo. Its now 11 AM. We wasted a half hour waiting for you. So, let's get something going, shall we?"
DiNozzo nodded as he turned to Ziva. "Any problems with Davis?"
"None. I was even impressed with Agent Sacks. We went in to arrest him, but once he saw us, he screwed for the door."
Everyone, except the CIA men, all said at once, "Bolted."
She gave a withering and murderous glance at everyone before continuing. "If you know what I meant, why correct me?" DiNozzo was the only one with the guts, or lack of sense, to chuckle. He stopped sheepishly when her look was confined to just him. "When Davis bolted for the door, we gave chase. He was headed down a hallway, but apparently Agent Sacks found a short cut. By the time I exited the building, he had Commander Davis pinned to his car. He had beaten me there. I was impressed with him."
Sacks puffed up slightly. He had no idea that the smaller woman's compliment would mean so much. But, knowing what he knew of her, and what else he had heard, hearing it made him realize how much it meant for her to even say it.
DiNozzo nodded at her, then at Sacks. Then, he whispered in Ziva's ear and she quickly left the room.
DiNozzo stood at the window for a few minutes, regarding Davis. He was a slightly balding man with thick glasses. He looked like what DiNozzo would see in his mind when someone described a person as a "nerd" or a "geek." He remembered Lieutenant Napleton. He reminded DiNozzo of a male version of her. He hoped Davis wouldn't be as boring or uptight as she was.
DiNozzo stepped out and ran into Ziva. She handed him the file and a bottle of water. He made his way into Interrogation Two as Ziva entered Observation.