Letting Ziva drive to Warren's apartment was probably a mistake, but Tony had lost the coin toss and it was better to give in than risk her trying to emasculate him. Not that he couldn't hold his own against her, Tony knew he could. Working out with both Sammy and Gibbs had definitely taught him how to handle himself. But having gotten no sleep last night, Tony didn't feel like fighting with her over control of the car. He'd rather save his energy for working the case.
Traffic was heavy with commuters headed for work. Tony grinned to himself thinking he should have put out an APB out to warn the commuters a mad woman had gotten behind the wheel and they were taking their lives in their hands sharing the road today. He shook his head. Ziva drove like she'd learned how in a demolition derby, but he had to admit she certainly knew how to get the most out of the car.
Not without a cost though. Tony made a mental note to check on his bet with the agent in charge of the motor pool. It was a tie at the moment between Gibbs and Ziva which one's car needed the most engine and body work. Tony was betting Ziva would pull ahead this month, which was another reason he hadn't fought harder to drive.
Letting Ziva drive also made it easier for Tony to concentrate on the copy of Warren's file he'd downloaded to his PDA. He wasn't really expecting to find anything useful that McGee wouldn't. Tony's goal in reviewing the file was to hopefully keep him from being surprised by anything the found at the Petty Officer's apartment. He didn't want any more moments like the one he'd experienced in the alley.
"Anything of interest in his file?"
"Not much." Tony shook his head, keeping his focus on the screen in front of him. If he didn't look up he wouldn't have to know just how close Ziva cut it when she merged back into the right lane.
"Warren's been in the Navy for about six years. Stationed stateside for most of that time. He's worked in accounting and finance his entire stint." Tony grimaced. "Not even a geek as much as he is a nerd from the way this reads."
"There is a difference?"
"Oh yeah, there is a difference." Tony looked up to meet her expectant gaze. "Geeks are smart, like McGee."
"And nerds are what?" She arched an eyebrow.
Tony bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. There was so much he could do with that. Tony cleared his throat. "You remember going undercover at that singles event?"
She gave him a wary look, answering slowly. "Yes."
"The guy we thought was our man, the one who took liberties with your ass...that's a nerd." Tony smiled wolfishly, still amused by both the man's utter lack of survival instinct and Ziva's reaction to him. "Socially awkward. No sense of fashion. Not enough money to be eccentric. And not smart enough or technology savvy to be a geek." Tony shrugged, eying her pointedly, knowing he was implying she fell in that category as he did so. It was just too easy to tease her for him to let it pass completely.
She opened her mouth to no doubt deliver a stinging retort about his judgment of people and her in particular, but Tony stopped her by pointing to the exit. "That one is ours."
Ziva cursed and cut off a Cadillac Escalade as she swerved to make the exit ramp. Tony had a firm grip on the 'oh shit' handle. He was very glad that all he'd eaten for breakfast was a donut and that was more than an hour ago. It had only taken three years of riding with Gibbs for him to get used to the older man's reckless driving. Tony had a feeling it would take twice that long to get truly comfortable with Ziva's.
She pulled into the parking lot at Warren's apartment building with a squeal of tires. Tony winced, grateful the lot was nearly deserted, signifying most of the residents had already gone to work. As it was, Tony was fairly certain anyone within a three block radius was aware of their arrival.
"Nothing like announcing our presence to the world," he muttered quietly as he got out of the car, resigned to there being no such thing as a subtle arrival when Ziva drove. He stuffed his PDA into his coat pocket.
"Which apartment is Warren's?" Ziva asked, shivering in the cold air, pulling on the gloves she'd removed while driving.
"Twenty-one A." Double digits made Tony think it was probably not a first floor place.
His expectation was confirmed as they noted the floor plan map mounted in the lobby. The mail boxes were all labeled with both the apartment number and tenant name. Ziva snorted as she regarded the set up.
"Not exactly the safest arrangement."
"Place isn't considered a secure building." Tony pointed with this thumb over his shoulder to the door they'd used to enter the building. "Note the absence of a locked door, or gate on parking lot entrance."
"Do we want his mail?"
Tony pursed his lips. "If he's home, we'll ask for it. If he's not---"
"I'll pick the lock on our way out."
Tony nodded. That worked. Although, if Warren got the same crap in his box Tony usually got, he doubted the man's mail would tell them much. Still, maybe they'd get lucky and a threatening letter would be there, complete with signature and return address.
As they headed up the stairs, Ziva gave Tony a side long glance. "I still do not understand why you won't talk about your new girlfriend. It's not as if you haven't shared such details before."
Tony sighed. He should have known she wouldn't drop it. She just kept asking, although usually not quite as pointedly as she'd started doing recently. Two months ago it was more like she was feeling him out, checking her observations and weighing his responses accordingly. Now, she clearly knew he was seeing someone, and there was no point in continuing to deny it. While he could obfuscate and dissemble with the best of them, Tony knew he was lousy at outright lying.
"It's complicated."
"Naturally."
Tony ignored the sarcasm in her tone, eyes more focused on the apartment doors, looking for the Warren's. He stopped at 21-A. He rapped sharply on the door, immediately reaching for his gun when the door swung open. Ziva pulled her own gun, the many layers she was wearing not slowing her down much at all. Together they searched the apartment, calling out 'clear' as each room was checked.
Tony didn't breathe easy until they confirmed the apartment was empty. He holstered his weapon slowly, still eyeing the living room warily. "Haven't seen furniture this ugly since my mother redid the living room when I was eight."
"It does seem a bit...dated."
"Avocado green hasn't been popular in decades. Not sure why it ever was, truth be told."
Ziva cocked her head. "Retro is in, or so I've heard."
"There is that." Tony chuckled. The furniture itself wasn't old or worn. In fact, it looked practically brand new. There was no accounting for taste, he told himself.
Ziva gestured to the door. "You think he just forgot to lock it?"
Tony gave the door a quick once over before shaking his head. "Not if the door jamb is anything to go by." He pointed to where the door had obviously been forced at some point. When he spotted small bits of wood on the floor, Tony estimated the damage had happened in the last day or so. The lock wasn't all that substantial. One well placed kick would be enough to cause damage he was seeing.
Ziva frowned, once more looking around the small apartment. "Nothing seems out of place."
Tony nodded. Other than some of the usual bachelor living mess like dirty dishes in the sink, odds and ends piled on the counter, and a thin layer dust on nearly every flat surface, the apartment appeared to be essentially in order.
"Maybe whoever broke in knew exactly what they were looking for?" Ziva suggested. "No need to search for it."
"Yeah, but the usual MO is to still tear the place to make it harder for other people to figure out what was taken. More plausible Warren simply gave them whatever they wanted. No muss. No fuss."
Ziva shook her head. "In that case it would have been easier to kill him here, and other than the door there is no sign of a struggle. More likely they took him with them to get whatever it was and then killed him, dumping his body in the alley."
Tony sighed silently. She had a good point. "Would be easier if we knew the what and the why."
"And who." Ziva grimaced. "Shall we search this place then?"
"Yeah, maybe we'll get lucky and find something."
Warren's bedroom, like the living room, had a dated 70's decor, but was neat and organized. Tony's eyebrows rose when he opened the closet. He was expecting to find clothing that was moderately priced and a few uniforms. There were two uniforms, but the remaining space was full of designer labels. Virtually everything Tony saw would have been right at home in his own wardrobe.
Tony frowned. The clothes they'd seen on the body weren't high end. Even without seeing the tags, Tony knew that.
He checked the valet box on the dresser. The watch in it was just as expensive as the clothes in the closet. And the gold cuff links he saw rivaled some of those Tony's father frequently wore. Tony whistled softly. There was a lot of money in that little box.
"So just where does a Petty Officer with an annual salary of around $35,000 a year find the sort of discretionary income to buy stuff like this?" Tony asked himself as he headed back out into the living room to see what Ziva found.
She pointed to the desk. ?"oes it strike you as odd that he has no computer?"
Tony arched an eyebrow. "Think that might have been what they took?"
"It would make sense since so many things worth killing for could have been stored there." She looked confused. "But that would not explain why they didn't also garbage his apartment to disguise the theft."
Tony cocked his head, mouth moving as he repeated what she said before he chuckled. "Trash, Ziva. Trash this apartment."
"Trash. Garbage. Whatever." She glared, waving a hand in dismissal. "You knew what I meant."
Tony pushed open the door of the large armoire for a closer look, whistling softly. Inside was a large flat screen TV and a state of the art sound system. There was also a collection of CD's and DVD's that rivaled Tony's own collection. "It would appear Eli Warren was living rather well."
"Little too well, I think." Ziva looked up at Tony. "Rich family perhaps?"
Tony shook his head. "According to his file his family is in the lower middle class income bracket."
Tony's own file didn't go into specifics but clear references were made to the wealth his father possessed, citing the company name and net worth. It also noted the trust fund he'd gotten from his grandmother and real estate he inherited from his Uncle Salvatore. Tony had learned early on to make those details part of his official files. Doing so kept Internal Affairs from seeing anything suspicious in his spending habits. Warren may not have been as conscientious or forthcoming, but Tony doubted the Navy would have overlooked it if he were related to someone rich. Money often equaled political influence, something every military branch was increasingly more sensitive too.
"Inheritance?" Ziva suggested.
"Mother and step-father are still alive. Father is too."
"Step mother?"
Father got divorced about the time Warren joined the Navy."
Ziva clucked her tongue. "Then he is definitely doing something he shouldn?t to be able to afford such things."
"Question is what." Tony sighed.
"Espionage?"
Tony shook his head. "Warren's job wasn't the sort that gave him access to anything top secret that might be valuable to anyone else. And he didn't have sufficient clearance to get access."
"Drugs?"
"Unlikely."
"Why?" Ziva frowned. "They are certainly lucrative enough."
"True." Tony held up both hands, palms up as though balancing something between them. "But he would still need access to a supply to sell. He didn't have that. Or the wherewithal to cook is own."
"Munitions?"
"Same situation." Tony shrugged. "No real access. He wasn't working supply or handling shipments of any kind."
Ziva nodded grimly. "If it were a drug deal or sale of arms that had gone bad, I doubt the killer would have shown any hesitation in taking his hands. Ducky said it looked like the work of an amateur."
"They'd have also taken anything easily made into cash."
Ziva scowled. "So where does that leave us?"
Clear sign of forced entry but wherever Warren was killed, assuming the stiff in the alley was him, it wasn't here. We got evidence that Eli Warren was definitely living above his means, but no real indication of how. And his computer seems to be missing, but we haven't found any reason why someone would want him dead or hate him enough to bludgeon his face beyond recognition."
Ziva's scowled deepened. "Gibbs is going to love that."
Tony winced. "Well, if we're lucky, Ducky, Abby or McGee will have come up with something more substantial."
"Perhaps if we came back with coffee it would help."
"Little bribe never hurts." Tony grinned. It rarely helped either, but there was no reason to tell Ziva that. She'd figure it out on her own soon enough. "Let's see if any of his neighbors are home before we help ourselves to Warren's mail."
Tony closed the door, doing his best to make it secure. He called NCIS and requested they send a probationary agent to swing by and keep an eye on the place. He made sure they had a 'do not engage' order should anyone come by. Last thing Tony wanted was for a junior agent to do was get involved in a potentially dangerous situation without back up. But a little stakeout time would be good experience for someone still learning the job.
There was no one home on Warren's floor, or the floor below his. So while Ziva picked the lock to Warren's mailbox, Tony made a note of the names on the other boxes. If they needed to they could come back later and talk to his neighbors. Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll have a busybody in his building like I have in mine, Tony thought.
Ziva pulled out the mail in the box, holding it up for Tony to look at as she sorted through the half dozen envelopes. As Tony suspected, it was mostly just junk. One letter caught his eye though. It was a bank statement. It had the right address but the wrong name. Instead of Eli Warren it was addressed to Earl Kinsac.
"Former tenant?"
"Warren's file had this as his address for the last three years." Tony told her. "Roommate maybe?"
"One bedroom place," Ziva countered, arching an eyebrow. "All the clothes you saw were the same size, yes?"
"Yeah."
"Everything in the kitchen was single serving." Ziva pursed her lips, taping a finger against her chin in thought. "Even the arrangement for furniture in the living room suggested a solitary resident who habitually favored the recliner over anything else in the room."
Tony nodded, thinking about the lay out of the living room. The remote for the TV and stereo system was within easy reach for someone in the recliner. As were several magazines. The only light other than the one overhead was on the end table. Ziva was right, it was definitely a one person set up.
"Well, let's see if we can find out who Earl is then and why he's having his mail sent here. Maybe he can shed some light on what our Petty Officer was doing that made it possible to live so far above his means."
Ziva nodded, putting the junk back in the mailbox, keeping only the bank statement. Technically, they should have had a warrant to even enter Warren's apartment or rifle through his mail. But Gibbs wasn't too big on technicalities, and they could justify their actions if needed. They didn't have definitive proof that it was Warren's body they found in the alley, but the damage to his door and his ID on the body implied his life was in danger if he was still alive. It was a gray area that Tony would have someone in the legal department working on as soon as they got back to the office. It was one of the things he was responsible for as Gibbs' senior agent.
Tony pulled out his cell phone, hitting one on the speed dial as Ziva pulled out of the parking lot. He smiled when he heard Gibbs gruffly bark out his name, answering on the second ring.
"Hey, Boss."
"Tony." Gibbs' tone softened noticeably, warming from curt to welcoming. "Warren at home?"
"No." Tony changed his phone to his left hand so he could grab the 'oh shit' handle with his right hand, preparing for Ziva to merge with traffic. "Signs of forced entry but definitely not the kill site."
"Damn."
"Yeah." Tony sighed. It couldn't be that easy. If they knew where the vic had died they would have a better chance of getting more evidence to pin down who had killed him. "You want us to swing by his office?"
"Yes. Talk to his CO. Coworkers."
"Will do." Tony cast a quick glance at Ziva before giving her the address. He tightened his grip on the handle, bracing for the expected acceleration.
"And---"
"Get his computer and anything he was working on. Will do, Boss."
"Good." He could hear the smile in Gibbs' voice. "Still don't have confirmation the body is Warren."
"Waiting on DNA?"
"Abby says she'll have it in about three hours." Gibbs' impatience carried clearly through the line. "Want you back here by then."
"Understood."
"And Tony?"
"Yeah?"
"You watch your six because I expect you to be in one piece when we get home tonight.? The soft growl promised so much. "We clear?"
Tony fought to keep the grin off his face. :Crystal, Boss." He waited until Gibbs cut the connection before he shut his phone. "He wants us back in three hours."
Ziva nodded and pressed the accelerator to the floor. Hearing the engine whine in response, Tony figured he might win that bet this month yet.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Tony and Ziva investigating Warren's apartment.
Chapter End Notes:
Small spoiler for Singled Out, but nothing major