At nine thirty on the evening, Gibbs entered autopsy just as Ducky had cleared Kate as being healthy. Obviously none of them had ingested enough of the chemical to be deadly. The security guard had been less lucky. He'd been rushed to hospital when the second secutity guard who had been ready to releieve him when he got off duty at two. According to partner on duty, he'd been complaining of headaches and stomach pains since he'd arrived at 5:30 that morning. Tony, Tim and Kate had all had their hair follicles checked by Abby up in her lab whilst Palmer had been sent to hospital. His dose hadn't been fatal but he'd still been taken ill by his 'free' coffee earlier in the morning.
Kate slid off the table in Autopsy, rubbing her arm where blood had been taken. Tony and Tim had been standing close, talking and chatting as if nothing had happened. Well, Tony talked, Tim mearly day-dreamed, or purhaps thought, it was hard to tell. Kate walked over to them, joining them the same time as Gibbs and Ducky.
"They're all clear, Jethro." The ME confirmed.
"Can we get back up to work?" Tony asked, he'd been impatient to do something since he'd been cleared.
"No, they haven't let anyone onto the floor." Gibbs replied, the hint of annoyance in his voice clear to everyone.
"Well, we can brainstorm at least." Madisyn replied from her usual place behind everyone else and sitting on an Autopsy slab.
"Special Agent Kyran, what are you still doing here?" Tony replied with a shake of his head.
"Well there's nothing else to do, and this is much more interesting that paperwork." She replied with one of her usual smart-ass remarks. Tony regretted saying anything. Madisyn pulled out a pad of paper and an old Parker Pen, clicked off the lid with her finger and put it aside, scribbing on her pad.
"So...Lidren worked with his brother Tyler, who for some reason had different name, although that could have been a false name." She mused aloud.
Kate thought it was as good as any to pass the time and joined in.
"He left at half eleven and took him at least an hour before he got to the site where the bodies were dumped." Tim joined in next, thinking over the case.
"But Tyler's time of death must've been just after he left, because he died around twelve. So Lidren killed him along the way."
"So did he kill him in the car or kill him and put him in the car. Either way the car would have blood on...What car does Lidren drive?"
"He didn't. He rented an old Volkswagon Polo in California and drove it down, he was caught on the motel's survaillence cameras." Tony chipped in, determined not to be left out. Gibbs glanced at Ducky who just smiled.
Madisyn was scribbling frantically on her pad, flipping over a page as she ran out of space.
"Where's the car now?" She looked up at the three agents gathered around the Autopsy slab. Tim and Kate looked over at Tony who seemed to know about the car, but stil lkept thinking themselve. Tony tried to rack his memory.
"We had a BOLO out on it but I don't know if anything's come up."
"Call Abby and find out." Madisyn basically ordered. Tony frowned and glanced at Gibbs, who shrugged. Tony sighed and picked up the phone and hit the spe-dial to Abby's lab.
"Abby Scuito Laboritories, What We Can't Find, Isn't Worth Finding Out!"
"Abby, has anyone replied to the BOLO on Lidren's car?" There was a sound of typing.
"What's happening down there. Its like a grave yard up here, not that I really mind that, but still I prefer to stay in grave-yards when I have a party there, but solitude is fine if"
"Abby!" Tony pushed.
"Okay, Gibbs. Yes they have, found two miles from the crime scene."
"Thanks Abs." Tony replied and put down the phone. The rest of the team looked at him with raised eyebrows.
"Found two miles from the crime scene." He reported, not noticing the looks. He heard Madisyn scribbling on hert pad before finishing and clicking her tongue, thinking of something else to check for.
"So, hypothetically. Car gets a flat on something, swerves and they can't control it. Crash, bang, smoosh. Into the ditch, hence the injuries. But...there's something wrong. Why didn't the airbags inflate?" She mused outloud, posing a question for everyone.
Gibbs had to give it to her, she wasn't bad. She was incredibly cocky and annoying, but she wasn't a bad investigator. No-one had quite got round to noticing why the airbags hadn't inflated at the scene, what with the shootings. Gibbs remembered about thinking about it before Tim had called him to the other body and then with the shootings, it had all gone over his head. He should've remembered it sooner!
Madisyn tapped her pen on the paper before Kate spoke up.
"The injuries were only made to look like a car crash." She decided outloud, more thinking outloud. "All of them could've been caused manually."
"Ducky, where's the report?" Tony asked. Ducky seemed to have been thinking the same thing and handed over the file that he'd already picked up.
"The Captain died from a head wound from the impact on the stearing wheel." He muttered.
"That could easily have been created by someone smashing his head against the wheel." Madisyn continued his trail of thought. "Who was behind in the seats?"
"Hinstern."
"Injuries?"
"Broken ribs, skull smashed in." Tony provided from the file.
"Ducky?" Madisyn asked, looking up at the ME. "What would he have impacted on to create such a skull fracture."
"Oh, well any number of things. The window, the seat in front."
Gibbs finally decided to walk over.
"What are you thinking happened, Kyran?" Madisyn smiled, flicking back through the pages in her pad as if to check if anything didn't work.
"Well, if Hinstern smashed Tawmorsh's head on the stearing wheel, then it would look like he died in a car-crash, because he would obviously crash the car. But I think Hindtern turned on the other Petty Officer first, what was his name...Witther? Yeah, so Witther put up a fight, and purhaps broke a few of Hinsterns ribs. Thats how Witther recieved his broken neck. Then, before Tawmorsh could stop the car, Hinstern rounded on him and smashed his head against the stearing wheel. Smashed his head on the window or seat and died. Maybe he wasn't supposed to but his face would've been mashed up, that's why someone checked the dog-tags. If they'd been working with Hinstern, they wouldn't suspect hi mto be dead so they checked the tags before waiting for NCIS to come so they could finish the job they were going to do whether Hinstern was alive or not."
Madisyn finished, looking around at the raised eyebrows and blank expression.
"That actually makes sense." Tim concluded, running it through and not finding any reasons why it would not be right. Nothign seemed to be wrong. So now all they needed was more detail on Hinstern and make sure there wasn't another sniper or poisener hanging around NCIS headquarters ready to finish them off.
Author's Chapter Notes:
"Maybe it was luck. Or maybe it was just Abby, whoever or whatever it was. We thank them with ever ounce of our being!"