One Less - Part 11
by joykatleen
Back at the Navy Yard right before lunch, Gibbs stopped in at autopsy.
"Jethro, how nice of you to visit," Ducky said as he entered. The medical examiner was sitting on a rolling stool next to one of the autopsy tables. He had files and papers spread across the table in front of him, and he was studying something. The medical reports Gibbs had told McGee to pull.
"What do you have for me, Duck?"
"A mountain of paperwork, and before you ask, I haven't had nearly enough time to give these reports more than a preliminary review."
"Tell me," Gibbs said. He pulled up another stool.
"I only have the initial reports, you understand. The material NCIS would have received immediately following the incidents as part of the investigation. Records of subsequent treatment are not readily available, though I'm certain our young Timothy will produce them as soon as he is able."
"Anything interesting?" Gibbs asked.
"As I said, I've only had a chance to read half of what's here, and certainly haven't had enough time to form an official opinion. But yes, I have found something interesting."
Ducky flipped back several pages in the yellow legal pad he'd been taking notes on. Page after page was covered with his precise handwriting, and Gibbs wondered if it was all about this case. If so, Ducky had clearly done more than a 'preliminary review.'
"I started with the most significantly injured sailors, examining their list of initial injuries. I understand you are already aware that with the exception of Major Ortiz and Lt. Hutchinson…"
"All the injuries were serious enough to cause them to retire, but not to permanently disable," Gibbs interrupted.
"Correct. For instance, in the spring of 2004, Petty Officer First Class Martin Banuelos. Three crushed vertebrae in his low back as the result of repeated strikes with a blunt object. Declared unfit for duty and honorably discharged six months later. Enough damage that the poor fellow will undoubtedly have chronic back pain the rest of his life. But he could have easily been paralyzed, had the damage occurred six inches higher up his spine. And this one: Lt. Junior Grade Dustin Nguyen, injured in Jamaica in 2003. Again, blunt object impacts, only this time both elbows and forearms fractured. Required replacing the radius and ulna bones in both arms as well as his left elbow joint with artificial bone. Declared unfit and discharged in November of that year. There was speculation by the attending physician that he had been trying to ward off blows, but I think the damage was intentionally placed on his arms."
"Why?" Gibbs asked.
"Why do I think that?" When Gibbs nodded, Ducky continued. "Picture it." He got off his stool and raised his arms in front of himself in a boxer's stance.
"You strike out at me, and I put up my arms to block you." He raised his forearms over his face. "What do I do now?"
"You turn away," Gibbs said.
"Correct." Ducky turned sideways, exposing his shoulder and the back of his upper arm. "Which would mean a continued attack would cause damage to the shoulder and upper arm. But there are no impact injuries to those areas. Only to his forearms and elbows." Ducky sat back down.
"Again, painful and debilitating enough to end a Naval career, but I doubt he had any long-term disability. It's like the attackers were doing it on purpose."
"To get them out of the Navy," Gibbs said.
"Right."
"One Less," Gibbs said.
"Precisely," Ducky said. "But why?"
"Working on it." Gibbs thought for a moment. "Would this kind of thing require special medical knowledge? To cause that kind of injury without permanent damage?"
"Not necessarily. Any military medic or reasonably competent first aider would know enough." Gibbs rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Couldn't make it easier for me," he said.
"Where would be the challenge in that, Jethro?" Ducky said.
"McGee's having some trouble getting the medical records and cause of death for Major Ortiz. Anything you can do to help him out?" Gibbs asked.
"He mentioned that. Very odd, that it would be left as unknown. You do know what that typically means?"
"Somebody screwed up."
"Yes. But probably not the way you're thinking. If his death was likely to expose the military to serious liability for instance, the medical examiner might be induced to list death as unknown cause. That would eliminate have to admit fault up front."
"What kind of fault?" Gibbs asked.
"I can think of a few things the Navy and Marine Corps would not want to freely admit: Friendly fire incidents, contaminant or toxin exposure, misdiagnosis that lead to death."
"Or a politically incorrect cause of death," Gibbs said as the light went on in his head.
"What are you thinking, Jethro?" Ducky asked. Gibbs stood.
"Not yet. Call me when you're done with these. And see if you can get us a look at Ortiz's records."
"Of course," Ducky said as Gibbs headed out.
"Politically incorrect cause of death," Ducky mused. "Hmm…" He returned to the files.
That could have gone better, Tony thought as he looked around the compartment he'd been assigned aboard the Roosevelt. He'd presented himself to the Officer of the Deck at the gangway check-point, been issued a temporary ship's ID, and been directed to the housing office for a berth. As a civilian and a law enforcement officer, the agent afloat was typically assigned private berthing in a compartment designed for two mid-level officers, adjacent to the NCIS office. This was partly because as neither officer nor enlisted, the agent was not in the chain of command and answered only to the Captain and his designees. Within the framework of life aboard ship, an Agent Afloat could pretty much do as he pleased. This, naturally, made it difficult to develop camaraderie with those who were duty-bound to follow every edict from the Navy and every order from anyone with more stripes or stars. But there was another reason for solo living: No one – not even senior officers – wanted to share quarters with the local constable.
Nonetheless, since DiNozzo was here to see what if anything Fredrick knew about the attacks, Capt. McNally had ordered him berthed with Fredrick. Meaning he would be sharing quarters with their main suspect. Great. This was going to be a real party. Tony prayed he'd be home before the ship sailed on Saturday.
After dropping his duffel and the linens the quartermaster had issued him on the vacant rack in Fredrick's quarters, DiNozzo had rapped smartly on the door that connected the compartment to the NCIS office and stepped through. The reception he'd received from Fredrick could have charitably been called cold, but was closer to downright hostile. Apparently no one had told the agent he was about to have company. Tony had shown him the written orders he'd picked up at administration that morning, then laid out their cover story: he was here at the request of Capt. McNally and Senior Special Agent Gibbs to audit reporting procedures in light of the delay in filing a missing person's report on Petty Officer Ferrara. He thought it was a waste of time, but what could he do, he was just a cog in the wheel.
Short story was that Fredrick had been pissed. As much as Tony tried to smooth it over, Fredrick was certain someone at headquarters was accusing him of something. Tony had worked it hard, while at the same time trying not to seem to be working it too hard, and he thought the conversation had ended in a draw. DiNozzo would start going through files and Fredrick would leave him to it.
Meantime, DiNozzo had to unpack his gear. He'd brought minimal clothing, a week's worth of khakis and NCIS polo shirts in various colors, plus one outfit that would do if there were any semi-formal events while he was aboard. Life on ship for an NCIS agent was casual, but there was still a uniform of sorts. He'd brought only a few personal items: His shaving kit, his own cell phone, his iPod, and a few paperbacks. He also had an agency laptop and cell phone that he would use for his undercover persona. The clothes went into an upright locker at the end of the pair of racks, the rest of it into the smaller locker underneath the upper rack. He made sure his regular cell was turned off before stashing it in the back of the small locker. He secured both lockers with the key he'd been given and hung it by its chain around his neck. Finally, he made the bed.
Tasks accomplished, DiNozzo set off to find the mess. It wasn't lunch time yet, but in the Navy, there's the quick and there's the hungry, and DiNozzo didn't want to miss a meal looking for the dining room.
Gibbs' next chore was one he was not looking forward to. Since discovering the identity of the most recent victim, Master Chief Goetz, Gibbs had known he would have to talk to him, and that Goetz was not likely to want to hear from him. Never mind that NCIS had obliquely accused the man of murder – twice – but then they'd failed to solve an assault that had ended his career.
At least Gibbs wasn't going to have to ask the big question. When Gibbs had hauled Goetz into interrogation in 2004 and demanded the Chief provide an alibi for the time of a murder, Goetz hadn't wanted to give one. After asking to speak off the record, he'd finally admitted that he'd spent the night on station with a friend. Even then, he'd refused to give a name. It hadn't taken much of a leap for Gibbs to understand that when Goetz said he'd spent his first night home after a six-month cruise with a friend, they hadn't spent it discussing politics. He'd told Goetz he wasn't looking to ruin careers, and it had been the truth. Gibbs had guessed that Goetz's friend was an officer – which alone would have gotten one or both of them court-martialed for fraternization – but he'd had no idea that the officer friend would also turn out to be a man.
Gibbs had kept his word. Unable to risk the friend denying Goetz's alibi to save his own career, Gibbs had taken a cheek swab for DNA comparison to their unknown suspect and used it to positively rule out Goetz as a suspect. Their paths had never crossed again, and based on Goetz's subsequent promotions to Master Chief, he had continued his successful Naval career. If someone had discovered Goetz was gay and used that as an excuse to beat him – and if Goetz had put it together – chances were the Master Chief was not going to be happy talking to the one man in the chain of command to whom he had admitted his sexual orientation.
But it couldn't be helped. As the most recent victim before Ferrara, his story would have the most value to them. Which meant Gibbs had to talk to him. And since Goetz was still an employee of the Navy – though a civilian now – chances were he wasn't going to want to talk about this to anyone who didn't already know he was gay. So Gibbs would do it alone.
to be continued...
Comments and reviews welcome, as always.