Kensi's phone had gone straight to voicemail; Hetty was in a meeting she couldn't leave yet.
"What about the twins or Mama C?" Sam asked, "Should we call them?"
"I would if I had a phone number. I hate to just call the club and leave a message."
Sam rubbed at his temple, a sure sign that he was getting tense, "With the connections they have, they probably are already at the hospital anyway."
The Beverly Hills policemen who had arrived with the ambulance returned after Sam called to let them know about the body.
Sergeant Holliman and Officer Baker were polite and helpful – something the NCIS agents were not use to. The pair offered to interview the patrons of the bistro while Callen and Sam examined the woods while they waited for the coroner.
"It's like … The Stepford Wives but with cops." Callen shuddered.
"Yeah," Sam agreed, "it's weird but kind of nice for a change."
Callen found a dime and two pennies, Sam, a lighter with a Jack of Spades embossed on it but that was all they discovered.
The NCIS coroner arrived in the big silver van and got to work on the body quickly.
"I've got three more waiting in the box." she explained.
Rose confirmed the cause of death, "Unless there is something I'm not seeing, he died of a broken neck. I'll call you if I find anything interesting once I get him on the table."
After the coroner moved the body they found a cell phone.
Callen flipped it open, "Five missed calls, four voice mails and four text messages today. He was a popular guy."
"Anything interesting?"
"Four of the calls are from someone named Chris Santori, text messages from people named Chris and Beth. Looks like the Chris person really wanted to get in touch with him."
They went back and spoke with the police officers who were finished interviewing the patrons. All of the eyewitnesses had said essentially the same thing – Marty had been sitting at one of the tables talking on his phone doing the usual Hollywood thing, dropping the names of actors. It appeared that he was waiting for someone.
When Robert Lansing crossed the patio, nervously looking around, Marty had followed him to the trees and then returned about thirty or forty-five minutes later looking like as one of the witnesses had put it "… he'd had a deliciously wicked time".
Kensi had shown up shortly after that and then the police and ambulance. No one recognized either man, nor had they seen anyone else enter or exit the woods.
"Great." Callen grumbled, "Everyone around here is so blasé about everything that even a murder has no effect on them.
"Blasé, that's a pretty fancy word for you." Sam teased.
"Word a day calendar," G explained, "Kensi got it for me for a housewarming gift."
"She got you a housewarming gift?"
Callen smirked, knowing he was getting to his partner, "Hetty gave me a bird bath."
"I'm going to get you a couch." Sam grumbled.
They thanked the Beverly Hills police for their cooperation and assistance on the case.
"Let us know if there is anything else we can do to assist you". The older of the two officers said.
His partner, Baker, who looked to be about eighteen years old, nodded and smiled showing off his impossibly white teeth. "Anything at all."
"I guess the next stop is his house." said Callen.
"Let's hope we can find something there."
XxXxXx
Robert Lansing's home was a small white bungalow on Willow, near the San Diego freeway. The noise was constant and somewhat annoying. The small yard was neatly trimmed, as were the ornamental bushes that were planted around the house. A large deck behind the house faced the freeway.
The front door was painted glossy black, matching the small shutters that framed the windows. Callen tried the knob, it was unlocked and he swung the door open slowly. The interior of the house was a mess, furniture was overturned, entertainment components pulled from the shelves and DVDs were out of their cases and scattered on the floor.
"I'd say we weren't the only ones hoping to find something here." Callen mused.
Sam stepped carefully through the chaos in the living room to the small kitchen beyond. It was just as messy. The cabinet doors and drawers were all open, the contents strewn on the floor. Broken glass and crockery was covered with flour, cereal and pasta.
"Whoever it was, was pretty thorough." said Sam, walking back to the bathroom. "They didn't miss a thing."
Soap and shampoo made a gaudy collage of colors on the white tile. The contents of the medicine cabinet filled the sink. Every single container, no matter what the contents, had been opened and emptied. Towels were pitched in the bathtub and the shower curtain had been ripped from the rings and tossed on top of them. Even the toilet paper had been unrolled, the cardboard tube shredded.
The entire house, small as it was, had been thoroughly ransacked. It looked like a tornado had touched down inside. Framed photographs had been pulled off the wall, the frames and glass shattered, photos ripped and strewn about like confetti.
In the cramped bedroom, the computer components had been smashed and thrown on the floor, disks flung everywhere. Clothing from the dresser and closet had been pulled out and tossed down.
"Check this out, G." Sam pointed to the top of the dresser; scratches marred the dark walnut surface. "What do you suppose was up here?" He looked around at the devastation.
"It wasn't the computer." said G. "all the wire and cords are on the desk on the other side of the room.
"Something small and heavy. Let's ask his friend Chris what Robert kept on his dresser."
Callen called the number he'd found on Robert's phone and explained that he was a Navy investigator and needed to meet with him, G refused to explain why. After hanging up he relayed the address Chris had given him to Sam.
XxXxXx
Chris Santori's house was large enough that three of Robert's could have fit inside it. The neighborhood was better but the house had a neglected air to it. The lawn needed to be mowed and the flowerbeds had been overgrown with weeds. Not noticeable from the street, but once you were on the porch, you could see that the house could use a fresh coat of paint.
G rang the doorbell; they could hear the discordant chimes through the door.
Sam raised an eyebrow, "Not much similarity."
The door was opened by twenty-something man with short cropped sandy brown hair, hazel eyes and a worried expression.
"Are you the officer I spoke with?" he asked suspiciously, bracing himself behind the scuffed white door.
Sam and G flashed their credentials.
"Can we come in?" Sam asked.
The man stepped back, "Yeah, sure."
They entered, standing in the large open room. Sunlight from the windows on the two sides of the room patterned the dingy carpet and mismatched furniture. Two men who had been perched on the couch stood up.
"These are my friends, Adam Buckner and Matt Lambert. We are all friends of Robert's." Chris led them further into the room. "What's going on? Why do you want to ask us questions about Robert?"
"We're investigating a homicide…" G was interrupted by the dark haired man, Matt.
"Robert's dead?"
Sam exchanged a glance with his partner, "He was murdered in Beverly Hills a few hours ago."
"Murdered? That's impossible!"
"He was beaten and his neck was broken. We believe whoever killed him was trying to take something away from him because the fingers of his right hand were also broken."
Matt staggered back, a hand over his mouth and his eyes wide. He glanced from Adam to Chris and back again.
"We just talked to him this morning." said Chris. "He was going to run some errands and then meet us here for lunch.
"What kind of errands was he running? Do you know why he would have been in Beverly Hills?"
"I think he was going to pick up a ring for his fiancé." Adam answered.
Chris glared at his friend.
Adam looked at Matt who shrugged.
"Beverly Hills is a pretty pricy place for a Navy Seal to be ring shopping." Callen observed.
"Robert had a ring he had inherited from his grandmother, he wanted to have the diamond reset and he was checking out a lot of different jewelers." Chris said.
"What's his fiancé's name?"
"Beth." Chris answered, "Elizabeth Merrill, she lives in Van Nuys."
"Do you know why he was meeting someone at the Bel Flur Bistro in Beverly Hills?"
"No. I've never even heard of the place. How about you guys?" Chris looked to his friends and they both shook their heads.
"Have you been in Robert's house?"
"All of us have, we played poker there every Thursday." Chris explained.
"There was something heavy that had been dragged off the dresser in his bedroom, do any of you have an idea what that might have been?" asked Sam.
The men looked at one another and Chris spoke up.
"He had a jar on the dresser; it was full of change, nickels mostly, from our poker games."
"Where were you guys this afternoon?" Callen asked.
"Here," Chris answered brusquely, "we've been waiting on Robert to show up."
Adam and Matt were looking at Chris, they nodded.
"Do you know anyone who might have a reason to kill Robert?" Callen asked.
"Robert is… was a good guy, everybody liked him." Chris said. "We don't know anyone who would have wanted to hurt him."
Sam thanked them for their cooperation and the agents left.
Callen buckled his seatbelt, "They were an edgy bunch weren't they?"
"Chris sure seemed to be eager to answer every question."
"And what was the deal with Matt immediately thinking that his friend was dead?"
Sam started the car and pulled onto the street, "That was strange alright."
"I'm going to call the girlfriend and have her meet us at Robert's house, maybe she can tell if there is anything else missing from the house."
"Good idea."
XxXxXx
Elizabeth Merrill was waiting on the front porch when they pulled into the drive. She explained that she'd been downtown, a short drive from the house and asked that they please call her Beth.
"Someone broke into Robert's house?" she asked. "Why didn't you just call Robert and ask him to see what has been stolen?"
"I'm sorry to tell you this Beth, but Robert is dead, he was killed this afternoon." Callen said.
She didn't say anything, but would have fallen to the ground if not for Sam's arm around her.
"I'm sorry," Sam said, "we didn't want to tell you on the phone."
Beth pulled away from him, tears streaming down her face. "We were going to be married next year." she straitened, wiped the tears with the heel of her hand, "Do you think whoever broke into his house also killed him?"
"We can't rule that out. Whoever killed Robert was obviously looking for something, his pockets had been searched. We hope that you can tell us what they might have killed him to get to."
Beth sniffled and nodded, "I'll do whatever I can."
Sam opened the door, "It's quite a mess."
Beth stopped and stared for a moment, her mouth open, "Oh." she said.
Callen followed her in, "We think that something may have been taken from the dresser in the bedroom."
Beth looked straight ahead as she followed Sam, tears tracking silently down her face.
She lightly touched the surface of the dresser, "He kept a basket up here that I gave him, he tossed his keys and sunglasses, things like that in it. There was a lamp and a big glass jar full of nickels, dimes and quarters."
Sam and Callen looked around, spotted the basket its contents scattered and the broken, crumpled remains of the lamp.
"No jar, no coins." Sam mumbled.
"Why would anyone break into Robert's house and tear everything up just for a jar of coins?" Beth cried, "What was so important about them that they had to … to.." she broke into sobs and Callen put his arm around her.
"We don't know, but we will find out." he promised her.