The Sheraton Hotel desk clerk was happy to help them when Tammy and Carter showed her their badges. A key card got them access to the room and both agents gloved up.
"Okay, Patton can take a look at her computer," Carter said. "How did Rayhanah know about this binder?"
"Same way she knew about this whole thing to begin with; Ensign Fontenot told her, probably showed her," Tammy said, poking around the room. "No phone, so the ensign probably had it with her; hopefully we can track it down or at least get the call history."
"Nothing special here, and we already know this isn't our primary crime scene," Carter said.
"Nothing in her suitcase," Tammy said, poking through the bag. "Not even her uniform, and once we get back to NCIS, we'll find out where she was currently stationed."
"Christopher didn't strike me as the kind of person who would be involved in a so-called psychic," Carter said, checking out the bathroom.
"Hey, if it weren't for half the stuff I saw when hanging around Ray, trust me, I wouldn't have believed it either, but when we get back, look up both the First Baptist Church Field Women case and a nutter by the name of Remi Simoneaux, a serial killer Ray helped us capture." Tammy sighed. "Ray took Chris' death hard because he had loved her for who she was, one of the few who did. When Chris died, Ray was able to repeat, word for word, exactly what Loretta said Chris had said, right before he died, and she was at the hospital entrance when he passed. There was no way she could have known, not like that."
"Could Loretta have told her?" Carter asked.
Tammy shook her head. "We checked the cameras; at the exact moment the heart monitor said Chris' heart had stopped, Ray was seen acting as if she was seeing something she didn't want to see, then dropping to her knees and screaming in grief. We later found out she had seen Chris, heard him talk to Cade about going fishing, then faded away, and that was when she knew he'd died. Look, I know I'm asking a lot for you to accept Ray, and it's crazy as hell, but she's the real deal, and sometimes these dead have been known to hurt her. I once saw her with three bruises on her chest, in the exact same spots our victim had been shot."
"Ouch. Hmm. Well, for now, for the sake of your friendship with her, I will give her the benefit of the doubt, but make no mistake; I will be watching her closely," Carter said.
"Fair enough. Now, let's get this stuff back to NCIS, along with her car. King and Hannah are gonna want to know about this."
Back at NCIS, Pride was back, along with his wife, Rita Devereaux, Patton, Sebastian, and Hannah. When Pride was brought up to date on Ray's visit and subsequent trip, his face lit up.
"How is she?" Pride asked.
"She seemed okay. Stood up to Carter, saying he was about as intimidating as a pitbull puppy," Tammy said, grinning mischievously.
"He's as cute as one," Hannah said, grinning at Carter.
"Not going there. So we have a new victim?" Pride asked.
"Ensign Eva Fontenot. So far, cause of death is strangulation; we sent her body to Loretta. She was found behind a library, and police are saying no one heard anything, no one saw anything," Carter said. "We've made arrangements for her vehicle to be towed to the labs, and this is her computer." Patton took the laptop but didn't leave the room.
"Ray says there's a black and blue zippered binder missing, and she's currently at the library, trying to see if Ensign Fontenot will show her what she was looking for. I figure we check the hotel cameras, see if anyone was following her, and if she had that binder when she left the library," Tammy said. "She's got our numbers, so she'll call us if she finds anything."
"And, of course, having a fake NCIS badge will no doubt help her," Carter said, raising an eyebrow at that.
"Not fake. Ray is officially listed as an NCIS special consultant and paralegal," Pride said. "She only ever used that badge when working on cases for us, so she could go to places where civilians couldn't, and we trusted her not to abuse it."
"Wow," Rita said. "Was she the one who sent that nice bouquet of flowers in that pretty antique vase?"
"That was her. I was seriously thinking about going to her place if I didn't hear from her soon," Pride admitted.
"Ray did say you can bend her ear in exchange for a bowl of your jambalaya," Tammy said.
"Done. In the meantime, let's see what we can learn about Ensign Fontenot," Pride said.
Half an hour later, Patton had answers. Sort of.
"Okay, Ensign Fontenot was doing research into her family's history," he said. "Her great-grandparents, Charles and Eva Fontenot, lived in New Orleans during the 1900's, and possibly had land here as well. The problem is, Ensign Fontenot could not find any trace of the Fontenots before 1902, which is the year of their marriage. No birth certificate, nothing. She did find a picture of the couple, and I can see where Ensign Fontenot got her looks from." Patton toggled a button and an old photograph appeared on the plasma, of a black woman dressed in the clothes and fashion of the early 1900's. "She also had an email from AncestryDNA, that DNA company that traces your ancestry. According to the email, Ensign Fontenot has cousins currently living in Washington, DC."
"And that is where she's supposed to be stationed, at the Washington Navy Yard," Sebastian said. "She was attached to the Judge Advocate General Corps, as a legal aide. I spoke to her commanding officer, Captain Collins, who said she had requested and received time off but hadn't gone into detail about her plans. In fact, he had no idea she was even in New Orleans. Beyond that, she was a good sailor with a future in law, should she choose to go that way."
"I just thought of something; that library Ensign Fontenot was at? If you want to find historical records, that's a good place to start," Tammy said.
"So would City Hall Department of Records," Sebastian said.
"Which Ray would be intimately familiar with," Hannah realized. "She used to work there as a paralegal, before the Hamilton business," she explained to Carter and Rita.
"Hence the paralegal thing," Rita guessed.
"She knows her way around that place better than I know my closet," Hannah said. "As well as a few people who have been known to scare the hell out of the janitors and security guards."
"I went there, once, with her at night, and I swore I would never, ever do that again," Tammy said. "Foot steps, cold spots, cold breezes, oh hell no. And Ray was very matter-of-fact about it."
"What about Ensign Fontenot's phone?" Pride asked.
"It's either off or destroyed, because I can't locate it," Patton said. "I did pull up her call and text history, and that's where it gets interesting." He sent an image to the main plasma, showing a series of text messages.
"Stop sticking your nose where it doesn't belong, or someone will cut it off," Sebastian read.
"The past doesn't concern you. Back off NOW," Hannah read.
"We used to hang black folks who didn't do what their masters told them to do. I will be very happy to do the same to you, bitch, if you don't stay the hell away," Tammy said. "Wow. That screams white supremacy issues."
"And they're all blocked or unlisted numbers," Patton said. "I was able to track them to D.C. but that's where the trail ends."
"There's something someone did not want Ensign Fontenot to dig into," Pride said. His phone rang; it was an unfamiliar number. "Pride."
"Is Sebastian still working in the labs?" Ray asked.
"Ray! Good to hear from you, and Sebastian still does lab work. What did you find?" Pride asked, grinning, as he switched his phone to speaker.
"A pair of really nice leather driving gloves in a garbage can about three blocks from the crime scene, and a pair of blue disposable gloves in another garbage can across the street," Ray said.
"Gloves? Now that's interesting. Where are you?" Pride asked. Ray told him, and he wrote down the address, handing it to Sebastian, who quickly left. "Sebastian's on his way. How've you been?"
"Day by day, brother. Been teaching myself some things, stuff partially related to voodoo, Santeria, wiccan, mostly to try and get a grip on my connection to the spirit world." Ray hesitated. "I think I found what Ensign Fontenot was looking for at the library; she showed me a couple of books, land record books, that dated back to the 1900's. I couldn't photocopy them because of how old they were, but I did take some pictures, the same pictures Ensign Fontenot took with her phone, and printed up through the computers here."
"Patton, did you find anything in Ensign Fontenot's clouds? Pictures of old land record books?" Pride asked the computer expert.
"No, because she didn't have one," Patton said.
"They were on the memory chip on her phone," Ray said. "Once Sebastian gets here, I'm going to grab him and go a few blocks down; maybe we can find her phone."
"Good idea. What about those land records? Were they of any interest?" Pride asked.
"That's the problem; they're only a fragment of the whole picture, and I think that means I'm going to have to go kiss up to the security department at City Hall again," Ray groused. "I have some ideas as to what to look for in the Records Department, if Mister Montello is still around."
"I'm sure he probably is, but don't tell Tammy that," Pride said, chuckling. "Send me what you have, and maybe Patton can find something," Pride said, as his phone chirped to let him know that he had incoming pictures.
"How about if I meet you at City Hall?" Rita offered. "I might be able to convince someone to let us in." And that would also give me a chance to find out just who this girl is.
"That was my wife, Rita," Pride said. "She's got a few connections of her own at City Hall."
"Is she afraid of things that go bump in the night?" Ray asked.
"I'll deal with the security guards, you deal with the ghosts, and we'll meet in the middle," Rita said.
"Deal," Ray said, a grin in her voice. "Do yourself a favour though; if you've got something with a cross or rosary beads, grab them on your way. I find Mister Montello behaves himself better if he thinks you're even a tiny bit religious, otherwise, he will play pranks on you, just to get your dander up."
"Fair enough. Let me know when you're on your way and I'll head towards City Hall," Rita said, smiling. Right after I bug Dwayne for more information about just who this girl is.
They ended the call and Pride sent Patton the pictures Ray had sent him.
"Okay, before we go any further, I want to know who Ray is. I'm being told she's a psychic, Christopher's former girlfriend, a paralegal, and a badge-carrying member of NCIS, even though she's not an actual agent," Carter said, having been apparently thinking the same thing. "Now, I don't believe in psychics, and while I can respect that you're protective of her because she was your friend's girlfriend, I do not like the idea of a civilian near a murder case, much less leading one."
"And I understand that," Pride said. "I understand your hesitation with regards to Ray, but believe me, she is the real deal. I've seen my fair share of fakes and scammers, and Ray is no fake. In fact, up until she started dating Chris, she didn't even like having anything to do with her gifts. Too many people had hurt her too many times, because of her abilities, and she was very reluctant to tell us the truth. In fact, the first time I met her, she was going by the name of Mercury, the messenger of the gods." Pride told him about the case that had followed, including the business with Remi Simoneaux.
"What about the First Baptist Church Field Women?" Carter asked. "Tammy mentioned it at least twice."
"Twenty women were found buried in a field near the First Baptist Church," Sebastian said. "A renowned forensic pathologist said all twenty women were tortured in such a way as to create as much pain as possible, before they died."
"The killer, Lieutenant Andrew Pettigrew of the NOPD, buried his victims, all in their twenties, three feet down, in graves exactly three feet wide by six feet long, twelve feet apart," Hannah said. "Unfortunately, we won't ever be able to prosecute him because he died about six years before, of a heart attack."
"Even more unfortunate, the twenty-first victim was actually the first victim, and she was buried in the house Pettigrew raised his son in," Tammy said.
"Was the first victim Pettigrew's wife?" Carter asked suspiciously.
"Wife, and the mother of his son, who grew up to be a detective within the NOPD, and was still living in the same house," Pride said. "Ray was able to convince him to let us search the basement by singing to him, in perfect Louisiana French, the song his mother used to sing to him when he was a child, before she disappeared, and Ray doesn't speak Louisiana French at all, especially not without an accent."
"How did Ray manage to find the women, and I'm guessing it was Ray who found them?" Rita asked.
"Ray took Chris' death real hard and it left her extremely emotionally vulnerable," Tammy said. "The things she was able to ignore, or filter out, before, she suddenly wasn't able to. She described it as like the front doors, walls, and windows of her spiritual house being blasted inward, and because of her grief, she didn't have the strength and the time she needed to rebuild her protections. The women from the field let her know, loudly, that they were tired of being ignored and forgotten about, and Ray had no choice but to answer."
"Then she said that she hurt, the world hurt, and it was going to get worse before it got better," Pride said. "The last time I saw her, she was headed down the road to a place in the bayous. She stayed in touch, let me know she was doing okay, but I haven't heard from her in a few weeks, not since our wedding."
"And on that note, the stuff you sent me? They're pictures of land censuses," Patton said. "In one, Ray's pen is underneath a line dated May 8th, 1905, that shows Charles and Eva Fontenot, and two children; Peter and Rose Fontenot. There's a place of residence listed and I checked the current maps; it doesn't exist anymore."
"But it did in 1905, and the next logical step would have been to hit City Hall Department of Records for maps of the area at the time and compare them to current maps," Hannah said. "But why was Ensign Fontenot looking here? Weren't her cousins in DC?"
"She may have been trying to figure out what happened to the family before 1902," Carter said.
Tammy's computer chimed and she checked it. "And thank you, Ray. The library just sent me the security camera video from around the time Ensign Fontenot was murdered." She sent it to the plasma and they watched as Ensign Fontenot entered and exited the library, an hour apart, and sure enough, the ensign was carrying a zippered binder both times. "There's your proof," Tammy said. "That binder was not at the crime scene."
"Which begs the question of why someone thought that binder was so special," Hannah said. "Was anyone following her?"
"Give me a bit and I'll find out," Tammy said, getting to work.
"Someone had to have been watching her for her to be attacked that fast," Carter said.
In the city, Sebastian spotted Ray waiting for him. She smiled when she saw him and accepted his hug. "Hey there," he said. "How've you been?"
"Ah, getting by. I'm doing online paralegal work these days; it's not much and the health insurance sucks, but it pays the bills and my rent," Ray said. "What about you?"
"Same as you; getting by. I'm still doing lab work, because I'm good at it, and working with Carter can be interesting, the whole former Marine thing. Rumor has it he and Hannah were getting it on for a bit, might still be. Oh, and Tammy's living with her girlfriend, Kara Valentino, and apparently they just adopted another cat they're calling Tornado, hopefully to keep up with the one they call Lunatic, although I'm not sure if that's possible."
Ray laughed. "Sounds like fun. I adopted two small mutt kennel brothers from a rescue organization and a cat that wandered onto my porch and made herself at home." While Sebastian bagged and tagged the suspected gloves, Ray showed him pictures of two small dogs and a mixed brown short hair cat with a perpetual scowl on its face, on her phone. "That's Charlie and that's Champ. The cat is Hera, queen bitch supreme." Charlie, in Sebastian's opinion, looked like someone had electrified a mixed brown shag rug, but this shag rug came with triangle ears and a skinny body. Champ was a terrier mix in brown, butterscotch, and white, with floppy ears and an undershot bite. Both dogs had bright eyes and equally bright neck scarves and apparently loved playing on the beaches. Hera looked like she disapproved of everything, including the sunshine she was bathing in. "They're a bunch of snuggle bugs and I had to upgrade my bed to a King because of them."
"Translation: they're spoiled rotten and you love them anyway. How are they with your nightmares?" Sebastian asked, having seen what happens during one of Ray's psychic-related nightmares, when she fell asleep at NCIS one evening; Sebastian had gotten a bloody nose when Ray had come awake screaming and swinging, when he'd bent over her to check on her.
"I've woken up to Hera's tail wrapped around my face and both dogs against my chest and back," Ray admitted. "They've helped me heal and find balance again by loving me unconditionally."
Sebastian smiled. "That's good. I'll let Rita know we're on our way, drop you off at City Hall, and head back to the lab with these. Hopefully we can get some DNA off of them, and hopefully our killer is in the system."
At City Hall, Rita was introduced to Ray by Sebastian.
"So, we're looking for land records?" Rita asked, as the two women made their way through the building.
"Yup. If we can locate the land or the house Eva and Charles Fontenot lived on, maybe we can figure out what was worth killing over," Ray said. "Or it may be a literal dead end and you guys may have to go to Politic City and find the cousins."
"Patton said the location from the land census doesn't exist anymore," Rita said.
"Which is why we need a map from around that time. If we can find some landmarks, maybe we can find a reference point for Patton," Ray said. "It's a long shot, especially if those gloves don't turn up anything."
"Oh, I have faith in Sebastian," Rita said.
"So do I, just not faith in the bad guy actually being in the system," Ray said.
"Point, unfortunately. Well, whoever he was, it could be racially motivated, based on the text messages Ensign Fontenot was getting," Rita said.
"They're the worst," Ray said, scowling. "I've dealt with a few dead racists, and there is no logic to their hatred." She sighed heavily as she stared at the long rows of records. "I did not miss this."
"Neither did I," Rita said. "Any chance you might know where to start?"
"Way back there? If I remember right, the older records are thataway," Ray said, pointing in one direction.
"Depends on how far back you need to go," said a young man with neatly parted dark brown and thick glasses, as he joined them. "Rayhanah. Surprised to see you here. Still talking to ghosts?" he snarked, pushing his glasses up his nose.
"Andy. Still got that burr up your pecker?" Ray shot back calmly. "This is Rita Devereaux, a very good lawyer and a friend. We're looking for land maps of New Orleans around 1905."
"Why?" Andy demanded.
Ray held up her badge. "It's called a murder investigation, sugar, with the classification of NYOB, but I could add Obstruction of Justice, if you'd like."
Andy glared at her. "Row Eighty-Two," he said, before stalking off.
"He doesn't like you," Rita commented, as they made their way through the rows.
"Because he overheard me talking to Mister Montello a few times and was convinced I was a fake and a nut. He tried to slander me through the rumor mill when attempting to blackmail me for sex in exchange for his silence didn't work," Ray explained. "He was a Hamilton fan; I was a Hamilton Nope."
Rita nodded thoughtfully. "I might have access to a long hat pin, if you want to borrow it. It's very sharp, if you get my meaning."
Ray's eyes glittered with mirth. "I do indeed."