Chapter XIV - Incident at Potomac Park
2055 Local_0155 Zulu
Interrogation Room One
NCIS Headquarters
Washington, DC
Harmon Rabb, Junior sat in the darkened charcoal NCIS interrogation room. A single set of lights shone on the table illuminating him and the chair across from his seat where Leroy Jethro Gibbs sat. When the aviator/lawyer had arrived, Gibbs had led him directly here. Harm had been waiting for this to happen. Gibbs had talked to everyone else about Loren and dismissed them as suspects so that meant that Harm was his next target.
Harm eyed the senior NCIS agent. "So what makes you think I would be involved in any way other than professionally with Lieutenant Singer?"
Gibbs smirked at his audaciousness. He had heard about JAG poster boy Harmon Rabb and his courtroom antics. "You're more comfortable asking the questions than answering them, huh?"
Harm smirked back at him. "I guess I'm not used to being a suspect."
Gibbs looked genuinely offended. "A suspect. Who said you were a suspect? Have I read you your Article 31 Rights?"
"No, you haven't. Which means you're playing a very risky game, Gunny." Harm said warning him.
Lawyers. Gibbs hated them. His ex-wives had used them to make his life miserable. In his mind, they were all the same. "I'm not smart enough to play risky games with a lawyer of your caliber, Rabb," he replied cuttingly.
Harm decided to play the officer card. "That's Commander Rabb or Commander, or sir, Gunny. I believe as a reservist you're still technically in the Marine Corps."
Gibbs hated it when suspects pulled the 'officer card' with him, especially lawyers. "I am an NCIS Special Agent, and I don't have to salute you, or sir you, or give you any military courtesy, but you know that. So who's playing the games here?"
Harm got up and walked over to the two way mirrored wall in the room. He peered into the mirrored surface for a moment before he slammed the palm of his hand against the two-way window making the tech wince from the microphone feedback and Vivienne Blackadder flinch.
Gibbs chuckled at his attempt to try and control the situation. "Quite the control freak," Gibbs observed.
Harm nodded as he turned away from the widow, satisfied he had made his point. "That makes two of us."
Vivienne silently mouthed. "Asshole," still shaken by Harmon Rabb's slap against the two way window. The door opened and Vivienne turned to see Tony enter the darkened room.
About that time Harmon Rabb picked his cover off the table and turned toward the door. He opened it to leave.
"Since I'm not a suspect, I see no reason to continue wasting my time here …" like the aggravated officer that he was.
Gibbs picked up the receiver to the phone on the desk and began punching numbers.
"I wonder how the Admiral would feel about his top JAG attorney not responding to an investigation into the disappearance and attempted murder of one of his officers." Gibbs said sounding like he was thinking out loud.
The veiled threat had its intended affect. Harm sighed and closed the door.
Gibbs gave the former Top Gun a wry smile as he spoke on the phone. "Jessie. One coffee black?" Gibbs shrugged and looked at Harm having bluffed him into thinking he was calling the Admiral. He motioned for Harm to sit. Harm put his cover back down on the table. "Make that two, Jessie. Thank you," Gibbs added charitably.
Harm sat down in his seat. Gibbs hung up the phone.
In the observation room Tony and Vivienne continued to watch the interview.
Harm was the first to speak in round two of this test of wills. "I don't know who fathered Lieutenant Singer's baby and I don't know who tried to murder her. So what else, Gibbs?"
"What did your investigation show?" Gibbs asked.
Harm shook his head. "Hey, you were there. The Admiral ordered me to stay out of this."
Anything this lawyer could do, Gibbs could do better. "Oh, I'm referring to the investigation you gave Commander Manetti to do – on Lieutenant Singer's love life prior to her deployment."
Harm didn't say anything to that. Tony and Vivienne exchanged glances.
Tony smirked. "Oops."
Vivian had her own cruel smile as well. It was always fun seeing the dirtbags trip over themselves. But there was a danger too, and apparently Tony and Gibbs didn't see it. It was up to the woman to point it out to them. "Yeah, 'oops' is right. Without reading him his rights, we're gonna lose all this stuff in court,"
Tony knew that Viv just didn't understand how Gibbs does things. She'd learn. "No, no, no, we've got this stuff, Viv. Gibbs is setting Rabb up."
Vivian ignored Tony and furiously wrote on her PDA and then hit enter.
The PDA in front of Gibbs beeped, but he didn't take his eyes off the aviator/lawyer.
Harm had given himself a moment to get his thoughts in order. The NCIS agent was good – unlike the others he had tangled with in the past. "Well Colonel MacKenzie's investigation into Lieutenant Singer's pregnancy wasn't going well. Mac and I are old friends. I thought I'd help."
Gibbs nodded. "A reasonable answer."
Harm nodded back. "The truth usually is."
Truth eh? Well let's see what he thinks about this... Gibbs smiled at the aviator/lawyer like 'we're all friends here'. "So you wouldn't mind giving us a DNA sample?"
Harm's good humor vanished. "For what purpose?" he demanded.
"Paternity test," the Head of the DC Major Case Response Team shot back at him.
"I didn't even like Lieutenant Singer," Harm declared.
Gibbs shook his head while smiling puckishly at the Commander. "I wouldn't say that during a murder investigation," he gently admonished.
That annoyed Harm more than anything else he could have said. "No, you can't have my DNA," he stated emphatically.
"If you're not guilty…" the gray haired NCIS agent let that thought hang in the air.
"General principle," Harm said in response, quashing any hopes of cooperation.
Gibbs nodded. Okay Rabb, you had your chance, "Okay. No DNA," the special agent replied as if checking the item off a list.
Gibbs glanced down and read the message from Vivienne on his PDA. 'READ HIM HIS RIGHTS' And promptly ignored it. "When was the last time you saw Lieutenant Singer?"
Harm fought the urge to sigh. Did they really have to go through this again? The lawyer in him knew why Gibbs was doing this-to make sure he was telling the truth. "First week in January before she was supposed to leave for San Diego."
Gibbs fired the next question at him. It was like a tennis match. Only the game being played was a lot more interesting. "What'd you talk about?"
Harm returned his 'serve' "We swapped the usual lies between two officers who have nothing in common." Harm decided if he was going to the truth, he should be totally honest.
Tony grinned as he nudged Viv's shoulder. "Here it comes," Boy, he loved it when Gibbs lured them in with a false sense of security and then hit them right between the eyes.
"That was the first week in January?" Gibbs continued.
Harm nodded. "Sounds about right."
"That was the last time you saw her?"
"That's what I said."
Gibbs delivered his next question with a deadpan expression. "At Benzinger's?"
Harm eyes widened. He didn't say anything.
"Ooh, buggered." Tony had picked up the phrase from Ducky, but it meant the same in any language. FUBAR, screw up, screwing the pooch…in other words, Gibbs had caught Harmon Rabb, Junior, Navy lawyer, flatfooted.
About that time, Abby walked in the darkened room. She looked at her boss grilling this navy officer. "So Rabb's prints? All over Singer's convertible." To Tony and Vivienne, this was more than enough to hold the Navy Commander on attempted murder.
Harm meanwhile had recovered from Gibbs' latest 'hit'. "Who told you we were at Benzinger's?" he demanded. He didn't know that Jennifer Coates had witnessed their whole argument and told Gibbs this. By law, she had to or risk being put in prison herself.
Vivienne Blackadder energetically wrote again on her PDA and hit enter.
Gibbs meanwhile was zeroing in on the kill. "You did meet her there, didn't you?"
"Yeah." What else could he say?
PDA on desk beeped asking for the NCIS Agent's attention.
Vivienne's words practically screamed at him. 'RABB'S PRINTS IN CAR! READ HIM HIS RIGHTS!' He ignored her again. When all this was over he was going to have to refresh a certain former FBI Agent about his rules concerning suspect interrogations and not interrupting his train of thought.
There was a knock at the door. This interruption was expected.
"Yo," Gibbs called out. The door opened and an agent brought in two paper cups of coffee. Gibbs gave one to Harm.
Harm took sip and then pointed with the cup. "Who's prompting you from behind the mirror?"
Gibbs ignored his query as he pressed a button on the PDA and a number popped up
011-7095-655-273
He turned the PDA to show Harm.
"You recognize that?" Gibbs asked.
"Should I?" Harm replied with seeming innocence.
Gibbs 'shoved' him hoping for a reaction. "You dial it often enough."
Harm, instead of reacting, dodged the question. "Well, I call so many numbers." he said off-handedly.
"It's your brother's cell phone number in Moscow," Gibbs reminded him sharply. "Immigration records show that he was here when Singer got pregnant, and again three weeks ago."
Harm got to his feet. He had had enough of Special Agent L. Jethro Gibbs.
"Sergei did not try to kill Lieutenant Singer," he said defensively.
"Is he the father?" Gibbs pressed.
Harm 'shoved' back this time. "She said he wasn't."
Rather than giving him another 'shove', Gibbs pulled back. "And he believed her?"
Harm confirmed what he said. "Yeah."
Gibbs picked on the unspoken comment in his tone. "But you didn't?"
Harm hedged like any good lawyer would. "I'm not sure. The important thing is, he believed her. And he swears to me he hasn't spoken to her or seen her since early January when she called."
Gibbs seemed to be thinking aloud. "Why would he give Singer his Moscow number?"
Harm was not about to let Gibbs think Singer did that. "I did that. I wrote it on a napkin at Benzinger's bar."
Gibbs stood up. That was all he needed.
"Commander, you are suspected of having committed attempted murder on Lieutenant Loren Singer,"
Harm looked back at him in shock. "What?!"
Gibbs had seen this before and wasn't fazed. All that was left was to hear them claim passionately 'I'm innocent!' "You have the right to remain silent and make no statement."
In the observation room Tony and Vivienne left and headed over to the interview room.
Harm tried talking over Gibbs' recitation. "You think I tried to kill Lieutenant Singer?"
Gibbs though, was unfazed. "Any statement you do make could be used against you in a court martial-"
Tony and Viv entered the interrogation room. Tony quietly put handcuffs on Commander Harmon Rabb, Junior.
Harm was frantic to be heard. "I know my Article 31 rights and I waive them!"
Vivienne picked up Gibbs litany. "You have the right to consult a lawyer prior to any-"
Harm forcefully barked over her oration. "I said I waive them!"
Gibbs was not ruffled by Harm's outburst. He had heard suspects do it a million times. "She used to be FBI," he dryly informed the Commander
Former FBI Agent Blackadder continued the litany.
Harm got the Head of the DC MCRT to look him in the eye. "How long have you been doing this, Gibbs?"
"Nineteen years," Gibbs shot back confidently.
Harm had one last card he could play. "Can you tell if someone's guilty by looking in their eyes?"
Gibbs matched his challenge. "Yeah, I can."
Harm got in Gibbs' face and stared at him as Tony secured the cuffs. "Yeah, well, look in mine. Ask me. Ask me!"
Without missing a beat Gibbs fired right back at the Commander "Would you kill for your brother?"
Harm looked at Gibbs with a stunned expression as Tony and Vivian started to manhandle him out of the room.
xxxivxx
Faith and Jack hurried over to the elevator once they had passed through the NCIS security checkpoint.
"What is the matter with you?" Jack asked as the elevator opened and the stepped in. "You ran at least three red lights getting here. What's so all fired important that we have to risk getting killed to get here?"
Faith blew out a frustrated sigh. "If you had been doing your job rather than ogling me, you would have realized that Harmon Rabb, Junior was not the assailant,"
Jack McBurney snorted. "Ogling you? Oh, that is rich! And so what? I'm so star struck by your looks, that I just assume JAG's poster boy is the guilty party by ignoring all the evidence? Or maybe I'm jealous of your interest in him, so I want to nail him just for that! Okay Commander, where is your evidence?"
Faith whirled on him and gave an icy look that would have frozen the Sahara. "You were at the same interviews as I, Major. Based on what we've learned; the Commander didn't try to kill
her-"
"What? Based on the statements from a young petty officer with hero worship in her eyes? Your case is weak, Commander Coleman, and Special Agent Gibbs has made more of a case for his guilt than you have for his innocence!"
The North Island JAG shook her head in frustration. Jack was momentarily distracted by her looks which he had been working hard to ignore since they started working on this case. He liked seeing her angry, maybe he had even provoked her into this display. He was wondering just what kind of freak he was and almost missed what she was saying to him.
"…switched covers."
"Wait back up! Are you saying Commander Lindsey might have a motive for doing this?"
As the doors to the elevator opened Faith looked at him like he grown another head. "Were you not listening to me?"
"I-I just wanted to be sure I understood you correctly, counselor," He said covering up for his trip to the ozone.
As they walked into the NCIS bull pen area, Faith turned her head back towards him and quirked an eyebrow at him. "Right," she said blandly. He could tell she didn't believe a word he said.
When he didn't say anything, she turned and looked at Agent Chris Pacci whose desk was closest to the elevator. "Where is Special Agent Gibbs?" she demanded.
Pacci who had been eating a pastrami on rye sandwich, swallowed his mouthful and pointed down the hallway. "Interrogation room one," he said a little flustered. He hadn't expected his late dinner to be so rudely interrupted by two JAGs. He'd probably need antacid tablets later.
He watched as the SJA Major and NCIS liaison JAG officer hurried down the hallway toward the interrogation room. Part of him wanted to go see what they wanted with Gibbs, but other part of him wanted to finish this sandwich. This investigation of Lieutenant Voss looked like it was going to cost him yet another night of sleep.
xxxivxx
Jack and Faith met Leroy Jethro Gibbs and his agents as they were coming back down the hallway with a handcuffed Harmon Rabb.
Gibbs had seen it in Harm's eyes. This man could not have done it. But he didn't have any evidence to the contrary so for now he was their suspect. As they were about to lead Harm downstairs and take him to a Minimum Security holding cell here at the Naval Yard, Faith Coleman and Jack McBurney walked up to them.
McBurney looked at Gibbs and his team. "Commander, have you been advised of your Article 31 rights?" he said addressing the group.
Vivienne was the first to respond though Gibbs wished she hadn't been. "Of course he has. He's now in custody on the attempted murder of Lieutenant Loren Singer." Because her statement now that put them in an adversarial relationship with the JAGMan Team.
"Major, Commander-" Harm started to say.
"Commander, don't say anything else," Faith warned him. "Special Agent Gibbs, we need to talk to you, now."
Gibbs blew out a frustrated breath. He really hated lawyers and their tactics. "Fine." He turned to Tony and Vivienne. "Put Commander Rabb in interrogation room two."
Tony and Vivienne looked like they wanted to say something, but when they saw the look on their boss's face they decided it was better to remain quiet. Without saying a word, they lead Harmon Rabb over to conference room two and closed the door behind them.
Gibbs was annoyed. Already he was having doubts about Harm being the assailant, but without any hard evidence saying otherwise who else was he going to charge? When the trio got back into conference room one, he motioned to two chairs. They remained standing.
"Okay counselors what do you have?"
"He didn't do it, if that's what you mean," Faith replied.
"What evidence do you have?" the Head of the DC MCRT clarified.
Jack decided that for now he'd go out on this limb with Faith Coleman. "What evidence did you find that lead you to charge the Commander?"
Gibbs hated it when he had to give an account of his actions. He wouldn't be leading a team if he did things based solely on hunches. "Only two sets of prints were removed from the car: Lieutenant Singer's and Commander Rabb's."
"When did the Commander claim to have last seen Lieutenant Singer?" Jack hated doing this to Gibbs, but if all he was relying on for a conviction was fingerprints, then that was a shaky case at best.
"He claimed to have spoken to his brother that same night." Gibbs replied
Now it was Faith's turn. "Did he ever explain why?" If he had, and Gibbs had ignored that the Commander could be released tonight, and then they could focus on finding the real assailant.
Gibbs trashed that hope. "No." It wasn't going to be as clear cut as that. JAG Corps top attorney was making this difficult, why, Faith didn't know.
The SJA Major decided to focus on the facts. "Did the Commander know that the Lieutenant was pregnant?"
"He said he did." Gibbs replied. He had learned when talking to lawyers only tell what you are asked to tell.
Major McBurney pressed further. "Did he know who the father was?"
Again the answer was short and to the point. "He said he was unsure."
Now Faith took over again. "Did you ask for a DNA sample to determine paternity?
Gibbs was ready for this question. "I did."
"So was the Commander cooperative?" Jack asked, not only because it was the question to ask but because he wanted to see just how Rabb had acted. Did he act like he was guilty?
"No, he was generally uncooperative." Jack and Faith exchanged a look. The SJA Major was perturbed, but his partner wasn't so much.
Faith now understood what the aviator/lawyer was doing and had to admire Harmon Rabb's defense of privacy and the defense of his half-brother. However, intransigence on an issue like this would only earn him a long prison sentence and disbarment. Still, she liked the fact that he stuck out his neck like that for privacy rights, so she decided to focus on the big weakness they were all unwilling to discuss up to this point.
"Agent Gibbs all you really found was a car with the Commander's fingerprints, right?"
Gibbs found himself on the defensive, but he stood by the evidence he had. "A car found no less than a hundred yards from the crime scene, Commander."
Faith though wasn't convinced this was enough to label Harmon Rabb the assailant. "But no weapon, correct?"
Gibbs wasn't about to let all his hard work be thrown out just because of a doubting attorney. "Blood at the scene indicated she hit her head on a bridge railing."
Faith gave Gibbs that thin smile of hers. "Sounds like an accident to me, Gibbs. Anything to tie Commander Rabb directly to the crime scene?"
Gibbs hedged. "Not directly, no."
Faith smirked at him. It was her 'I've got you' smirk. "So you just have circumstantial evidence, coincidences…did you request for Commander Rabb's DNA profile?"
"I did, it didn't go through," the Head of the DC MCRT said passively.
Faith's smirk returned. "The ACLU might still have a problem with that. What was your intent?"
Gibbs sighed because he hated this part. Still he was going to stick to his guns. "I believed, at the time, Commander Rabb was Lieutenant Singer's assailant. My intent was justice."
Faith looked him for moment studying his face and then asked him the million dollar question. "Do you believe now that Commander Rabb is her assailant?"
Gibbs sighed and looked toward the other interrogation room where the Commander sat. "Going with my gut … I'd say no, the Commander is not her assailant."
Coleman thought about bringing up what Teddy Lindsey might have done, but if Gibbs was this shaky on the evidence they had against Commander Rabb maybe that wasn't so important after all. "Thanks for your honesty, Gibbs. You willing to talk about dismissing the charges?"
xxxivxx
Gibbs walked back into the Interrogation Room Two where Tony and Vivienne sat with their suspect. Harmon Rabb didn't look up until he closed the door. The NCIS Agent held up a folder labeled, RABB INTERVIEW, 4 February which held the transcript of the interrogation Gibbs had just conducted as well as all the evidence they had found and tied back to the Commander.
Harm gave him a surly look. "I thought the interrogation was over, Gibbs," he said sourly. "Or are you just here to gloat?"
Gibbs ignored the snide comment. "Something's been bothering me, Commander, and it's not just what's in here; it's what's missing. After you were informed of what had happened to Lieutenant Singer. I'd assume you'd make a phone call to Russia. But there is no record of that. Not from your office or your cell. Or from your home."
Harm smirked at the agent. "Well, that's what phone booths are for."
Gibbs looked at case notes again. "Went to a lot of effort to eliminate your brother as a suspect."
"That's how you got your man," Harm said carefully.
"I know." Gibbs replied. He motioned for Tony to follow him.
Harm nodded. Gibbs and Tony walked back out of the room and toward Conference Room One where Major McBurney and Commander Coleman were waiting.
Now the gray hair senior agent's mind was churning. If Rabb had gone to this much trouble to make sure his half-brother wasn't implicated, then who was getting all the evidence to point at him?
-TBC…