Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah, Bellisario-cakes.
Spoilers: Nah.
Summary: Casefile-ish. The team works to solve the murder of a petty officer. Tony is frustrated because he's chained to his desk for most of the case. No, really.
Petty Officer Elizabeth Healey crouched on the floor next to her bed, struggling to open the lockbox where she kept her .22. The key was sticking, refusing to turn. She felt her level of panic rising. The gun wasn't even loaded. She hadn't fired it in years. She decided she wasn't even going to bother with the bullets. If she ever got the damn gun out of the damn box, of course.
A crash came from somewhere outside her bedroom door. It sounded like whoever had broken into her home had just knocked the lamp off the hallway table. That was from my grandmother's house, she thought, her panic beginning to turn into anger as she managed to pry the metal lid open. What kind of idiot breaks into someone's house at four in the afternoon when their car is parked in the driveway, anyway?
The gun felt clumsy and unfamiliar in her hands as she raised it, concentrating on holding it steady as she aimed at the door. The knob turned excruciatingly slowly. "Don't open the door," she called out, hoping her voice sounded more intimidating to the person on the other side of the door than it did in her own ears. "I'm warning you. I am armed and I will not hesitate to shoot you."
Her fingers dug into the cold metal of the gun as she gripped it tighter, watching the door open. "I'm not going to…" she stopped abruptly as she recognized the person in the doorway. She allowed her gun to drop heavily to her side. "You scared the bejesus out of me. Why didn't you just knock?"
She received no reply. She could only gasp as the figure raised a weapon and fired. As the world faded to black, she tried to focus on the white sneakers, partially concealed by blue scrubs, standing in front of her face.
Gibbs walked through the front door of the suburban Bethesda home; everywhere he looked he saw floral prints. Glancing through the kitchen toward the back door, it was easy to spot McGee in his black windbreaker, photographing a marker he had placed on the floor. "Anything interesting?"
"Well, I, uh, found what looks like a footprint entering the house. I'll print the back door. Doesn't look like it was forced."
"One more reason to always lock your doors. Make sure you go through the backyard."
"Yeah, boss. What exactly am I looking for?"
"Evidence, McGee," Gibbs threw over his shoulder, striding away, following the sound of familiar voices drifting from the bedroom.
"I'm just saying that they was obviously something wrong with her."
"So maybe the décor is a bit excessive, but that doesn't mean there was something wrong with her, Tony."
"Excessive? Laura Ashley's house is more tasteful than this."
"Have you two found anything that doesn't reflect your experience in interior decorating?"
Tony and Ziva immediately snapped to attention at the sound of Gibbs' voice. "We found a gun next to the body, boss."
"But it isn't the murder weapon." Ziva held up a bag containing a .22. "It hasn't been fired and it wasn't even loaded. Lockbox and unopened box of ammunition were on the bed. Perhaps she heard someone in the house and attempted to defend herself."
"With an unloaded gun, Officer David?"
"Petty Officer Healey was a dental hygienist at the dental clinic at Bethesda. From what I have encountered among the medical staff in your military, there seems to be a lack of combat training. She may have thought she could frighten a burglar by brandishing a weapon, not anticipating that she would have cause to fire it."
"Except that she was not, in fact, being burgled, Zee-vah." Tony ignored his partner's glare as he continued, "Nothing appears to be missing, boss. Jewelry, cash, purse, electronics, all still here. Doesn't even look like anything is out of place. Every last doily accounted for."
Gibbs raised his eyebrows, prompting Tony to add, "But that doesn't matter if the guy knew what he was looking for." He clicked a few photos with no regard to the direction of the camera. "No idea how that helps us…"
"Unless her friends or co-workers have some insight to offer when we talk to them." Ziva unceremoniously elbowed Tony out of her way and held up two glass jars for Gibbs to examine. "We also found a .38 shell casing by the door and we pulled a bullet from the wall over the nightstand."
Gibbs looked briefly at the small hole surrounded by an explosion of blood before turning his attention to the body lying in a red stain on the pink carpet. "Ducky, what've we got?"
"Gunshot to the chest, Jethro. Died instantly, I'd say." Dr. Mallard contorted his body, trying to look under the body without moving it. "From the splatter on the wall and the pooling around the body, I suspect we'll find quite the exit wound. A quick death, but unpleasant, my dear," he sighed, addressing the dead petty officer.
Gibbs ignored the aside. "Time of death?"
"Judging by her liver temperature, I'd say she's been dead no longer than an hour and a half."
"Fits with our witness statements."
Ziva glanced at her notepad. "Those kids we saw playing basketball next door?"
"They hear a gunshot, find out their neighbor's been murdered and go back to shooting hoops?" Jimmy Palmer asked, glad for an opportunity to enter the conversation before being sent to fetch a gurney.
"You just don't understand basketball, Palmer," Tony sighed, letting his camera hang around his neck as he grasped an imaginary ball. "You've gotta dedicate yourself to practice. You've gotta ignore all distractions and drive down the lane, take the contact, draw the foul, make the lay-up." He abruptly stopped acting out his monologue as he felt a familiar smack on the back of his head. "Sorry boss."
"Why don't you go talk to these dedicated gamers, DiNozzo."
"Oh, not a good idea boss. I mean one of them had a Duke sweatshirt on…." He tried to ignore Ziva's snort of laughter immediately following the sound of the second smack. "On it boss."
"Ziva, bag the lockbox and ammo, then go help McGee in the back."
McGee leaned over the chain link fence, squinting across the busy street at a strip mall, two gas stations and three fast food restaurants. He wondered if they'd be lucky enough to find some security footage at either of the gas stations that had some angle of his side of the street. "Find anything?"
He jumped, almost losing his hat in the low branches of a tree. "Now I know how Tony feels."
"Sorry, McGee. I wasn't trying to sneak up on you." Ziva smiled smugly. "Did you find anything?"
"As a matter of fact I did." It was Tim's turn for a smug grin. He held up an evidence bag. "Found this piece of fabric caught on the fence. I think our killer may have torn something as he hopped the fence on his way out."
"Or in."
"Well, yeah, I guess."
She was staring at the row of businesses across the street. "Gibbs will want us to talk to everyone in all those places."
"Better tell him so we can get started."
"Fun way to spend a Friday night, McGee, yes?"
Tony was quickly remembering why he disliked twelve-year-olds. "I know you gave a statement to the police, but just do me a favor and go over it again for me."
The shorter of the two boys gave a long-suffering groan and shot the ball, barely making contact with the backboard. Tony resisted the urge to critique his poor mechanics, looking instead to the taller boy, "Five minutes and you can go back to one-on-one. Tell me what you saw and heard."
"Uh, got off the bus around 3:45, threw my backpack in the house, grabbed my ball and met Brett out here. We shot around for maybe five, ten minutes. Heard a loud pop." He shrugged, brushing his hair off his forehead and gesturing to his friend for the ball.
Tony stepped into the passing lane. "And a steal for DiNozzo." He palmed the ball briefly, frowning at its rubbery feel, before balancing it between his hip and forearm. "You see anyone going into or coming out of the house?"
"Nope."
"Any cars parked outside?"
"Just Miss Healey's."
"Anything at all out of the ordinary."
"Dude, we didn't see anything," the shorter boy, Brett, said, trying to punch the ball away from Tony.
Turning quickly to protect the ball, he nearly collided with Ziva. "Are you almost done here?"
"Yeah, we're finished." He turned back to the boys, holding his card out for one of them to take. "Call me if you remember anything else."
"Yeah, whatever," the taller one replied, pocketing the business card. "Can we have our ball back?"
Tony casually dribbled a few paces before turning and shooting, holding his arm in his follow through position until the ball exited the bottom of the net. He winked at Ziva as they walked toward the truck. "Swish."
TBC