Fic: NCIS - A Long December - 3/8
Fandom: NCIS
Title: A Long December - Chapter Two
Author: Starbucks Sue
Genre: General
Rating: FRM
Characters: Mainly Jethro Gibbs, Anthony DiNozzo with a few others making short appearances
Summary: On a snowy December morning a body turns up in an alley in DC. Will Gibbs and his new Field Agent Anthony DiNozzo be able to solve the case before Christmas?
Spoilers: Although this is set pre-series there are spoilers for those who have not seen the early episodes as information not known in the early seasons is used in this story. You will find the characters a little different than in the series as this is set two years prior to Yankee White and the relationships would naturally have evolved in that time.
This is a sequel to my previous story 'Raining in Baltimore' found here
Disclaimer: NCIS and the characters portrayed in this story do not belong to me and no copyright infringement is intended.
Arriving back at the Navy Yard Gibbs called Bill Wright as they were making their way up to the bullpen. Wright and his assistant Sam Mitchell soon joined them and quickly set about running background checks on Hamilton, Warner and the security guards who were on duty that night whilst Tony checked through the membership book to see who had left at around the same time, or shortly after their victim. Gibbs took the security tape down to Abby before going on to autopsy to see whether Ducky had his report finished.
“Ah Jethro, your timing is, as usual, impeccable, I have finished with your Petty Officer, here is my report. As I am sure Abigail has already informed you the DNA analysis does confirm that he is Vincent Paulson. As I surmised, the cause of death was most certainly strangulation, the whip marks along his back and upper legs although severe haven’t done any damage, in fact I would go as far to say that they were placed with care, whoever marked our victim was very careful to ensure that the placement of the whip marks did not cause any deep tendon or muscle damage, therefore I would hazard a guess that the whipping was most certainly consensual. Again, although he was obviously penetrated the perpetrator was careful to prepare him well and ensure there wasn’t any tearing or damage. Although he was bound and there is inflammation around his wrists and ankles none of marks have cut through the skin so he obviously did not struggle.
Overall Jethro I would guess that the play was consensual and that it just went too far, whoever was playing with our Petty Officer tried to take things to the next level and ended up going too far and suffocating him.” Ducky finished with a shake of his head. “It seems that this could just be a very unfortunate accident. You know this reminds me of…”
“Thanks Duck. Abby’s still running the DNA from the semen sample, however careful he was he didn’t use a condom. She’s not come up with any hits though so it doesn’t look like anyone who’s already in the database but at least she can match it up to any suspects we may find. I’ll catch you later Duck.” Gibbs headed quickly out of autopsy before the ME could launch into any more stories, making his way back up to the bullpen.
“Okay, what have we got,” Gibbs asked stopping beside his desk.
“Three people signed out around the same time as Paulson, Boss,” Tony replied. “I’ve run background checks on them but there’s nothing in particular that stands out, I don’t know which one he left with though. I’ve got their addresses so we can interview them and see if they saw where Paulson went after he left the building.”
“We’ve run background on all of the security staff,” Bill added. “Again, nothing that stands out on any of them and by the look of the logs none of them left the building between the time Paulson left and when he was killed,” he finished.
“Right. DiNozzo, do we know how often your three potential witnesses visit the club, are they likely to be there again tonight?” Gibbs turned to his new agent.
“I did speak to Raelin and she said they are regular visitors, they go at least three or four times a week so it is a possibility,” the younger man answered.
“Okay, then we go back and interview the security staff then we’ll hang around and see if any of them show up. Bill, Sam, I’ll give you a shout if I need anything further, thanks for your help. DiNozzo, let’s go down and see if Abby’s pulled anything useful from the security tape.”
He walked towards the rear elevator, knowing without looking that Tony would be following in his wake. As the car descended Gibbs hit the emergency switch, plunging the enclosed space into a surreal blue half light. He turned to the young man beside him.
“Tony are you sure you’re okay going back there tonight?” He asked gently.
Tony looked at the ground and said nothing for a few moments, finally he took a deep breath and looked up at the older man.
“Yeah, Boss,” he replied eventually. “It’s not like I’m going in at the end of your leash, vulnerable to whatever anyone may want of me. I’ll be okay, you’re going to be there and I trust you to have my six,” he finished off far more confidently that he started, which reassured Gibbs.
“Okay. But you stay close, got it?” Gibbs demanded.
“Sure, Boss. I’m happy with that.” He quirked a grin, relaxing as Gibbs smiled back at him as he hit the switch to set the elevator in motion again.
“Hey, Abs, got anything useful from the tapes?” Gibbs didn’t stop for formalities as he entered the lab.
“Hi, Gibbs, Tony. There were four people who left within a few minutes of Paulson, I’ve cleaned up the images and done prints for you so you can get the club to identify them.” She broke off and pointed towards the plasma screen. “This is interesting though, three of the guys seem to have come straight out of the club, signed out and left, the fourth looks as if he was hanging around the reception area, Paulson waved and acknowledged him but didn’t speak. Paulson chatted to some other people as he signed out and then the other guy walked out too and they’re talking at that point, he didn’t sign the book like the others did so it’s likely that he didn’t sign in either as neither of the security guards stopped him.”
“Looks like Paulson knew him, maybe they agreed to meet at the club but security wouldn’t let him in so Paulson left with him. This could be the lead we’re looking for,” Tony mused.
“Yeah, we need to find out who this guy is,” Gibbs picked up the prints. “Good work Abs. We’re going back to the club, try running this guy’s picture see if you get a hit and call me if you do.” He nodded to her as he turned and left the lab, making his way back to the elevator with Tony at his heels.
“Okay, so three people signed out and four left,” Gibbs mulled over the information aloud. “We need to put the names that you identified with the faces but I bet we discover that the one hanging around the lobby wasn’t a member of the club. We need to talk to the other three though, see if they saw anything outside that may give us a clue. They had a little over two hours between leaving the club and the time of death so they couldn’t have gone too far away to play. What hotels are in that area?”
“I don’t know, Gibbs, I’m not really familiar with the area…ah, but I’ll check, Boss. What time are we leaving?” Tony replied.
“We should leave in about half an hour, should be enough time to check, we’ve got Paulson’s picture and his, we can show them around and see if anyone recognizes them.”
They returned to the bullpen and Tony immediately started researching hotels within close proximity of the club, most were fairly upmarket and initially he ruled them straight out thinking that they would be out of the kind of price range that someone would pay for a couple of hours use, but then he thought again. If Paulson and his friend had planned to meet up and spend a few hours, or even the weekend, together and if the friend was a visitor to DC he might have booked into one of the hotels for the duration.
Tony noted down the addresses of all the hotels, plus a couple of bed and breakfast places he found tucked away in back streets nearby and was ready to leave by the time Gibbs returned from the Director’s office.
“Okay let’s get going. What’ve you found?” The senior agent asked.
“Four decent hotels and a couple of B&Bs all within ten to fifteen minutes walk of where Paulson’s body was found. I thought maybe if our guy knew Paulson and came to DC as a visitor he may have been staying at one of the better hotels. Perhaps he’d arranged to meet Paulson to have a bit of fun but it went a bit too far. In the early hours of the morning it probably wouldn’t have been too hard to slip out of a back exit with the body. Then he goes back to the hotel packs up and leaves with the excuse that he’d been called back to a business meeting or something and has to leave earlier than he planned.”
“It’s a theory,” Gibbs nodded. “Let’s see how we do.”
It didn’t take them long to get back to the club, the combination of the snow and the holiday period making the roads less busy than they normally would have been and they pulled up outside the club close to 18:30.
This time they were met by the assistant manager, Clifford Warner, a congenial well muscled man in his mid forties. After introducing himself Warner led them along a short corridor to a small office on the ground floor.
“Marcus told me about Paulson, I can’t say that I remember him well as he was only here occasionally but I can only reiterate what Marcus said earlier, we want to do everything we can to help you identify his killer.” He told them earnestly. “You can use this office, it’s fairly out of the way so you shouldn’t find it too noisy. Is there anything you would like to ask me while I’m here?”
“Actually there is. There are three people who signed out roughly the same time last night as Paulson, however, there were four people in the reception area at the time he left and all four left at around the same time, Paulson did speak to the fourth person on his way out. We were hoping you might be able to confirm the identities of those who did sign out and see if you, or anyone else here, recognizes the fourth.” Gibbs placed all five of the photos Abby had printed on the table in front of Warner, while Tony, who was standing casually against the side wall, watched the man’s reaction carefully.
“This is the victim, Paulson, isn’t it?” He looked up at Gibbs and waited for his nod. “The next one is Harvey Reynolds, he comes in three or four times a week. This is Stephen Hawksworth, again he’s in two or three times a week. I don’t recognize the next man but the last one is Cameron Fisher, he comes in almost every night just for a couple of hours. Not everyone comes to play every night, some just sit in the bar to meet up with friends, talk and watch the entertainment. I like to get to know our regular members.” He stared back at the fourth picture again before shaking his head. “I really don’t think I have ever seen this man before, but we’ll see what the security team have to say, they see more people on a day to day basis than we do.
We had six security guards on duty last night and all of them will be here again tonight. These are their names and addresses, as soon as the first one arrives I’ll bring him in to you and we’ll continue from there. In the meantime I’ll go and find you the contact details for Reynolds, Hawksworth and Fisher, if they all left at the same time they may have seen something. If any of them come in tonight I’m guessing you’d like to speak to them?” He looked expectantly at Gibbs.
“Yes, that would save us having to chase them down during the day. What time did you leave here last night?” Gibbs asked.
“It was around 02:30 by the time we’d got everyone out and locked up. The bar closes at 01:30 and we start rounding people up at around 01:45. Security start to do a sweep of the club from 02:00, that’s when Marcus left, and once everyone was out we started locking up. There are three fire exits on the top floor of the club, one by the offices and two in the public areas, four on the main floor and another two in the cellar so it takes a while to make sure all doors and windows are secure, myself and the six security staff all left within minutes of each other.”
“That’s helpful, thanks. I think that’s all I need for the moment.” Gibbs looked over at Tony who nodded back.
“Okay. Security should be arriving any time so I’ll send someone in and get those details for you, please let me know if you need anything further. I’ll be by the main reception desk.” He nodded at them both and left the room. There was a tap on the door moments later.
“Come in.” Gibbs called out.
“I’m Phil Daly, head of the security team. I understand you have some questions about one of the club’s visitors last night.”
“That’s right.” Gibbs pointed to the pictures still lying on the table. “Do you recognize all of the men in these pictures?” Gibbs changed his mind as to how to proceed, realizing that neither Marcus Hamilton nor Clifford Warner had told their security staff why NCIS were asking questions.
“These three are regulars,” he pointed to Reynolds, Hawksworth and Fisher. “They come in several times a week. Paulson doesn’t come in as often, we’ll see him almost every evening for a few days or a two or three week period sometimes and then not again for months. This last one isn’t a member, he arrived asking for Paulson said he’d arranged to meet him here but he didn’t want to come in. Paulson was at the bar and when Rogers told him that there was someone out in reception he came straight away and left with him.” He stopped as something obviously occurred to him. “Has something happened to him?”
“Paulson was found dead in an alley not far from here, his body was found at 06:00 this morning, time of death was 02:00. This man here,” Gibbs tapped the picture of the unidentified man. “Is very high on our list of people we’d like to speak to as it looks like he was the last person to see Paulson alive.”
Daly frowned, staring at the pictures and concentrating hard. “I didn’t speak to him myself, Rogers might be able to tell you more. I was behind the desk when Paulson signed out and he didn’t seem to be stressed or anxious, he didn’t greet his friend as you would someone who you hadn’t seen for a while though, he was very casual about it, just signed out and went. I can’t remember what he said to him, it couldn’t have been anything out of the ordinary though as I’m sure I would have remembered.” He finished with a shake of his head.
“Which way do you go when you leave here?” Tony spoke for the first time and Daly looked over surprised, as if he’d forgotten Tony was even in the room.
“I live in Georgetown so I drive down P Street to Wisconsin Avenue down Reservoir Road, I live on Winfield Lane. Would I have gone anywhere near where the body was found?” He asked.
“No, opposite direction, you wouldn’t have seen anything.” Gibbs reassured him. “Thank you for your time.
“No problem. Please let me know if I can help you further.”
Gibbs nodded and Daly left the room.
The interviews with the following four members of the security team were all very similar, Chas Dewey and Ed Hughes had been on duty on the first floor and basement of the club respectively and Lex Bailey and Don Dearborn on the main ground floor area, so neither had seen the stranger who met Paulson, neither did they remember having seen him before. Ade Rogers was the last to knock on the door.
“Evening, how can I help you?” He said looking from Gibbs to Tony before taking the seat Gibbs indicated.
“We’re investigating the murder of one of your members, Vincent Paulson. He was found a few hours after leaving the club last night and I understand you spoke to a gentleman who came in looking for him.” Gibbs explained.
“Yeah, that’s right. This is Vincent Paulson,” he pointed to the picture of Paulson on the table, “and this was the guy who came in asking for him. He came in sometime between half eleven and quarter to twelve, said he was a friend of Paulson’s and had arranged to meet him here and could a message be got to Paulson that his friend had arrived, he would be at the bar on the ground floor.” He stopped and frowned before continuing. “He didn’t give a name, just that Paulson had arranged to meet him so I guess he would know who he was, looked to be late twenties to early thirties, nothing noticeable about his accent although he was well spoken and had very well tailored clothing, designer I’d say, he was polite but not overly friendly. I went through to the bar and told Paulson his friend was here, he thanked me, knocked his drink back and came out.
When he got to the entrance he just waved casually at his friend before signing out. He seemed laid back and relaxed, not concerned or anxious at all. Once he’d signed out he said goodnight to us and walked out talking to the other man, I didn’t hear what either of them said though.” He finished with a shrug. “Sorry I can’t be of any more help, it’s one of those situations when in hindsight you wished you’d paid more attention. You think this man is the person who killed him?”
“We don’t know yet, but it looks like he was the last person to see him alive so we definitely want to question him. Which direction do you go in when you leave here?” Tony asked.
“I live out at Cleveland Park so head up 22nd Street and Massachusetts Avenue, where was he found? Could I have seen something on my way home?”
“No, he was found in an alley further up P Street, nearer to Dupont Circle. The time of death was around 02:00 but the body wasn’t found until 06:00 so we don’t know what time he was dumped, he certainly wasn’t killed there.” Gibbs replied. “Well thank you for your help Mr Rogers, we’ll let you know if there’s anything else we need.”
“Sure, any time.” He rose and left the room, leaving the two agents contemplating all they had heard.
“Well, what Daly and Rogers said certainly ties up and if this guy was the killer Paulson knew who he was and didn’t seem concerned to go off with him, looks as if it could have been a scene gone wrong,” Tony mused.
There was a soft tap on the door and Marcus Hamilton entered the room, two mugs of coffee in his hands.
“I thought you might appreciate a drink, sorry, one of us should have thought of it earlier. I also wanted to let you know that Cameron Fisher is in tonight, He’s just talking to Daly, would you like me to send him in?”
“Thanks, that’ll be one less person to trace tomorrow,” Gibbs picked up the mug and inhaled. “Ah, good coffee.” He tipped the mug in Harrison’s direction as the club’s owner left the room grinning.
A few moments later a young man in his mid twenties appeared at the door.
“Mr Fisher, please have a seat. Thank you for agreeing to speak to us, we’ll try not to take up too much of your time.” Gibbs began. “We’re investigating an incident that occurred last night when one of the club members was killed after leaving the club. Do you know Vincent Paulson at all.”
Fisher shook his head. “No, I’m guessing this is him,” he pointed to the picture of Paulson. “I have seen him before but not to speak to. I didn’t actually see him last night until I came to leave. I start work pretty early so during the week I don’t stay at the club too late, I usually leave around eleven thirty. Paulson signed out just before I did and left with another man who I didn’t recognize.”
Gibbs placed the second picture in front of him.
“Yeah, that’s him. He didn’t say much but they left together. I got in my car and headed along P Street towards Dupont Circle, they were heading on foot in the same direction but I guessed they weren’t going far as there were cabs around but they didn’t call one and they didn’t seem in any rush, just walking along and talking.”
“They didn’t appear to be arguing or anything like that?” Tony asked.
“No, they seemed pretty laid back, comfortable in each other’s company, you know? Not awkward or anything. I’d say they were pretty familiar with each other, knew each other well.” He concluded.
“Okay, I appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. Take one of my cards, call me if you think of anything else.” Gibbs handed over his business card.
“No worries, I will do.” Fisher rose and shook hands with them both.
“Thanks again for your time, Mr Fisher, have a good evening.” Tony replied as he saw the man out.
“Hotels next, Boss?” Tony asked with a yawn. Gibbs looked over at him and grinned, glad to see his partner had relaxed once they’d started the interviews. In fact, he was pretty sure that Tony had forgotten just what type of club they were in, caught up in the case as they were.
“Yup, we’ll show the pictures around the night shift and then we may have to come back in the morning, but we might as well while we’re here. Which hotels did you pick out? They were obviously walking from here along P Street towards Dupont Circle so we’ll start with the closest and work our way outwards.”
“Hotel Palomar; Residence Inn and Radisson are on P Street; Fairfax and Hilton are both on Embassy Row, Massachusetts Avenue, they’re further away but within walking distance if you don’t mind the walk, as are The Mansion on O Street and the Hotel Madera on New Hampshire Avenue.
The nearest guest houses aren’t really within walking distance but there are a couple of bed and breakfast places on Hopkins Street. From what Rogers had to say I would guess that he would be more of a hotel type of guy than bed and breakfast, those places are usually fairly small and intimate and if they were doing what we think they were doing they would probably go for the larger, more impersonal, hotels.” Tony surmised.
“Yeah, I think I agree with you. Come on then, let’s head for the three on P Street first of all.” Finishing his coffee, Gibbs rose and put his coat back on before leading Tony out of the door and, after a few final words with Harrison and Daly, back out into the night.
Chapter Three
Title: A Long December - Chapter Two
Author: Starbucks Sue
Genre: General
Rating: FRM
Characters: Mainly Jethro Gibbs, Anthony DiNozzo with a few others making short appearances
Summary: On a snowy December morning a body turns up in an alley in DC. Will Gibbs and his new Field Agent Anthony DiNozzo be able to solve the case before Christmas?
Spoilers: Although this is set pre-series there are spoilers for those who have not seen the early episodes as information not known in the early seasons is used in this story. You will find the characters a little different than in the series as this is set two years prior to Yankee White and the relationships would naturally have evolved in that time.
This is a sequel to my previous story 'Raining in Baltimore' found here
Disclaimer: NCIS and the characters portrayed in this story do not belong to me and no copyright infringement is intended.
Arriving back at the Navy Yard Gibbs called Bill Wright as they were making their way up to the bullpen. Wright and his assistant Sam Mitchell soon joined them and quickly set about running background checks on Hamilton, Warner and the security guards who were on duty that night whilst Tony checked through the membership book to see who had left at around the same time, or shortly after their victim. Gibbs took the security tape down to Abby before going on to autopsy to see whether Ducky had his report finished.
“Ah Jethro, your timing is, as usual, impeccable, I have finished with your Petty Officer, here is my report. As I am sure Abigail has already informed you the DNA analysis does confirm that he is Vincent Paulson. As I surmised, the cause of death was most certainly strangulation, the whip marks along his back and upper legs although severe haven’t done any damage, in fact I would go as far to say that they were placed with care, whoever marked our victim was very careful to ensure that the placement of the whip marks did not cause any deep tendon or muscle damage, therefore I would hazard a guess that the whipping was most certainly consensual. Again, although he was obviously penetrated the perpetrator was careful to prepare him well and ensure there wasn’t any tearing or damage. Although he was bound and there is inflammation around his wrists and ankles none of marks have cut through the skin so he obviously did not struggle.
Overall Jethro I would guess that the play was consensual and that it just went too far, whoever was playing with our Petty Officer tried to take things to the next level and ended up going too far and suffocating him.” Ducky finished with a shake of his head. “It seems that this could just be a very unfortunate accident. You know this reminds me of…”
“Thanks Duck. Abby’s still running the DNA from the semen sample, however careful he was he didn’t use a condom. She’s not come up with any hits though so it doesn’t look like anyone who’s already in the database but at least she can match it up to any suspects we may find. I’ll catch you later Duck.” Gibbs headed quickly out of autopsy before the ME could launch into any more stories, making his way back up to the bullpen.
“Okay, what have we got,” Gibbs asked stopping beside his desk.
“Three people signed out around the same time as Paulson, Boss,” Tony replied. “I’ve run background checks on them but there’s nothing in particular that stands out, I don’t know which one he left with though. I’ve got their addresses so we can interview them and see if they saw where Paulson went after he left the building.”
“We’ve run background on all of the security staff,” Bill added. “Again, nothing that stands out on any of them and by the look of the logs none of them left the building between the time Paulson left and when he was killed,” he finished.
“Right. DiNozzo, do we know how often your three potential witnesses visit the club, are they likely to be there again tonight?” Gibbs turned to his new agent.
“I did speak to Raelin and she said they are regular visitors, they go at least three or four times a week so it is a possibility,” the younger man answered.
“Okay, then we go back and interview the security staff then we’ll hang around and see if any of them show up. Bill, Sam, I’ll give you a shout if I need anything further, thanks for your help. DiNozzo, let’s go down and see if Abby’s pulled anything useful from the security tape.”
He walked towards the rear elevator, knowing without looking that Tony would be following in his wake. As the car descended Gibbs hit the emergency switch, plunging the enclosed space into a surreal blue half light. He turned to the young man beside him.
“Tony are you sure you’re okay going back there tonight?” He asked gently.
Tony looked at the ground and said nothing for a few moments, finally he took a deep breath and looked up at the older man.
“Yeah, Boss,” he replied eventually. “It’s not like I’m going in at the end of your leash, vulnerable to whatever anyone may want of me. I’ll be okay, you’re going to be there and I trust you to have my six,” he finished off far more confidently that he started, which reassured Gibbs.
“Okay. But you stay close, got it?” Gibbs demanded.
“Sure, Boss. I’m happy with that.” He quirked a grin, relaxing as Gibbs smiled back at him as he hit the switch to set the elevator in motion again.
“Hey, Abs, got anything useful from the tapes?” Gibbs didn’t stop for formalities as he entered the lab.
“Hi, Gibbs, Tony. There were four people who left within a few minutes of Paulson, I’ve cleaned up the images and done prints for you so you can get the club to identify them.” She broke off and pointed towards the plasma screen. “This is interesting though, three of the guys seem to have come straight out of the club, signed out and left, the fourth looks as if he was hanging around the reception area, Paulson waved and acknowledged him but didn’t speak. Paulson chatted to some other people as he signed out and then the other guy walked out too and they’re talking at that point, he didn’t sign the book like the others did so it’s likely that he didn’t sign in either as neither of the security guards stopped him.”
“Looks like Paulson knew him, maybe they agreed to meet at the club but security wouldn’t let him in so Paulson left with him. This could be the lead we’re looking for,” Tony mused.
“Yeah, we need to find out who this guy is,” Gibbs picked up the prints. “Good work Abs. We’re going back to the club, try running this guy’s picture see if you get a hit and call me if you do.” He nodded to her as he turned and left the lab, making his way back to the elevator with Tony at his heels.
“Okay, so three people signed out and four left,” Gibbs mulled over the information aloud. “We need to put the names that you identified with the faces but I bet we discover that the one hanging around the lobby wasn’t a member of the club. We need to talk to the other three though, see if they saw anything outside that may give us a clue. They had a little over two hours between leaving the club and the time of death so they couldn’t have gone too far away to play. What hotels are in that area?”
“I don’t know, Gibbs, I’m not really familiar with the area…ah, but I’ll check, Boss. What time are we leaving?” Tony replied.
“We should leave in about half an hour, should be enough time to check, we’ve got Paulson’s picture and his, we can show them around and see if anyone recognizes them.”
They returned to the bullpen and Tony immediately started researching hotels within close proximity of the club, most were fairly upmarket and initially he ruled them straight out thinking that they would be out of the kind of price range that someone would pay for a couple of hours use, but then he thought again. If Paulson and his friend had planned to meet up and spend a few hours, or even the weekend, together and if the friend was a visitor to DC he might have booked into one of the hotels for the duration.
Tony noted down the addresses of all the hotels, plus a couple of bed and breakfast places he found tucked away in back streets nearby and was ready to leave by the time Gibbs returned from the Director’s office.
“Okay let’s get going. What’ve you found?” The senior agent asked.
“Four decent hotels and a couple of B&Bs all within ten to fifteen minutes walk of where Paulson’s body was found. I thought maybe if our guy knew Paulson and came to DC as a visitor he may have been staying at one of the better hotels. Perhaps he’d arranged to meet Paulson to have a bit of fun but it went a bit too far. In the early hours of the morning it probably wouldn’t have been too hard to slip out of a back exit with the body. Then he goes back to the hotel packs up and leaves with the excuse that he’d been called back to a business meeting or something and has to leave earlier than he planned.”
“It’s a theory,” Gibbs nodded. “Let’s see how we do.”
It didn’t take them long to get back to the club, the combination of the snow and the holiday period making the roads less busy than they normally would have been and they pulled up outside the club close to 18:30.
This time they were met by the assistant manager, Clifford Warner, a congenial well muscled man in his mid forties. After introducing himself Warner led them along a short corridor to a small office on the ground floor.
“Marcus told me about Paulson, I can’t say that I remember him well as he was only here occasionally but I can only reiterate what Marcus said earlier, we want to do everything we can to help you identify his killer.” He told them earnestly. “You can use this office, it’s fairly out of the way so you shouldn’t find it too noisy. Is there anything you would like to ask me while I’m here?”
“Actually there is. There are three people who signed out roughly the same time last night as Paulson, however, there were four people in the reception area at the time he left and all four left at around the same time, Paulson did speak to the fourth person on his way out. We were hoping you might be able to confirm the identities of those who did sign out and see if you, or anyone else here, recognizes the fourth.” Gibbs placed all five of the photos Abby had printed on the table in front of Warner, while Tony, who was standing casually against the side wall, watched the man’s reaction carefully.
“This is the victim, Paulson, isn’t it?” He looked up at Gibbs and waited for his nod. “The next one is Harvey Reynolds, he comes in three or four times a week. This is Stephen Hawksworth, again he’s in two or three times a week. I don’t recognize the next man but the last one is Cameron Fisher, he comes in almost every night just for a couple of hours. Not everyone comes to play every night, some just sit in the bar to meet up with friends, talk and watch the entertainment. I like to get to know our regular members.” He stared back at the fourth picture again before shaking his head. “I really don’t think I have ever seen this man before, but we’ll see what the security team have to say, they see more people on a day to day basis than we do.
We had six security guards on duty last night and all of them will be here again tonight. These are their names and addresses, as soon as the first one arrives I’ll bring him in to you and we’ll continue from there. In the meantime I’ll go and find you the contact details for Reynolds, Hawksworth and Fisher, if they all left at the same time they may have seen something. If any of them come in tonight I’m guessing you’d like to speak to them?” He looked expectantly at Gibbs.
“Yes, that would save us having to chase them down during the day. What time did you leave here last night?” Gibbs asked.
“It was around 02:30 by the time we’d got everyone out and locked up. The bar closes at 01:30 and we start rounding people up at around 01:45. Security start to do a sweep of the club from 02:00, that’s when Marcus left, and once everyone was out we started locking up. There are three fire exits on the top floor of the club, one by the offices and two in the public areas, four on the main floor and another two in the cellar so it takes a while to make sure all doors and windows are secure, myself and the six security staff all left within minutes of each other.”
“That’s helpful, thanks. I think that’s all I need for the moment.” Gibbs looked over at Tony who nodded back.
“Okay. Security should be arriving any time so I’ll send someone in and get those details for you, please let me know if you need anything further. I’ll be by the main reception desk.” He nodded at them both and left the room. There was a tap on the door moments later.
“Come in.” Gibbs called out.
“I’m Phil Daly, head of the security team. I understand you have some questions about one of the club’s visitors last night.”
“That’s right.” Gibbs pointed to the pictures still lying on the table. “Do you recognize all of the men in these pictures?” Gibbs changed his mind as to how to proceed, realizing that neither Marcus Hamilton nor Clifford Warner had told their security staff why NCIS were asking questions.
“These three are regulars,” he pointed to Reynolds, Hawksworth and Fisher. “They come in several times a week. Paulson doesn’t come in as often, we’ll see him almost every evening for a few days or a two or three week period sometimes and then not again for months. This last one isn’t a member, he arrived asking for Paulson said he’d arranged to meet him here but he didn’t want to come in. Paulson was at the bar and when Rogers told him that there was someone out in reception he came straight away and left with him.” He stopped as something obviously occurred to him. “Has something happened to him?”
“Paulson was found dead in an alley not far from here, his body was found at 06:00 this morning, time of death was 02:00. This man here,” Gibbs tapped the picture of the unidentified man. “Is very high on our list of people we’d like to speak to as it looks like he was the last person to see Paulson alive.”
Daly frowned, staring at the pictures and concentrating hard. “I didn’t speak to him myself, Rogers might be able to tell you more. I was behind the desk when Paulson signed out and he didn’t seem to be stressed or anxious, he didn’t greet his friend as you would someone who you hadn’t seen for a while though, he was very casual about it, just signed out and went. I can’t remember what he said to him, it couldn’t have been anything out of the ordinary though as I’m sure I would have remembered.” He finished with a shake of his head.
“Which way do you go when you leave here?” Tony spoke for the first time and Daly looked over surprised, as if he’d forgotten Tony was even in the room.
“I live in Georgetown so I drive down P Street to Wisconsin Avenue down Reservoir Road, I live on Winfield Lane. Would I have gone anywhere near where the body was found?” He asked.
“No, opposite direction, you wouldn’t have seen anything.” Gibbs reassured him. “Thank you for your time.
“No problem. Please let me know if I can help you further.”
Gibbs nodded and Daly left the room.
The interviews with the following four members of the security team were all very similar, Chas Dewey and Ed Hughes had been on duty on the first floor and basement of the club respectively and Lex Bailey and Don Dearborn on the main ground floor area, so neither had seen the stranger who met Paulson, neither did they remember having seen him before. Ade Rogers was the last to knock on the door.
“Evening, how can I help you?” He said looking from Gibbs to Tony before taking the seat Gibbs indicated.
“We’re investigating the murder of one of your members, Vincent Paulson. He was found a few hours after leaving the club last night and I understand you spoke to a gentleman who came in looking for him.” Gibbs explained.
“Yeah, that’s right. This is Vincent Paulson,” he pointed to the picture of Paulson on the table, “and this was the guy who came in asking for him. He came in sometime between half eleven and quarter to twelve, said he was a friend of Paulson’s and had arranged to meet him here and could a message be got to Paulson that his friend had arrived, he would be at the bar on the ground floor.” He stopped and frowned before continuing. “He didn’t give a name, just that Paulson had arranged to meet him so I guess he would know who he was, looked to be late twenties to early thirties, nothing noticeable about his accent although he was well spoken and had very well tailored clothing, designer I’d say, he was polite but not overly friendly. I went through to the bar and told Paulson his friend was here, he thanked me, knocked his drink back and came out.
When he got to the entrance he just waved casually at his friend before signing out. He seemed laid back and relaxed, not concerned or anxious at all. Once he’d signed out he said goodnight to us and walked out talking to the other man, I didn’t hear what either of them said though.” He finished with a shrug. “Sorry I can’t be of any more help, it’s one of those situations when in hindsight you wished you’d paid more attention. You think this man is the person who killed him?”
“We don’t know yet, but it looks like he was the last person to see him alive so we definitely want to question him. Which direction do you go in when you leave here?” Tony asked.
“I live out at Cleveland Park so head up 22nd Street and Massachusetts Avenue, where was he found? Could I have seen something on my way home?”
“No, he was found in an alley further up P Street, nearer to Dupont Circle. The time of death was around 02:00 but the body wasn’t found until 06:00 so we don’t know what time he was dumped, he certainly wasn’t killed there.” Gibbs replied. “Well thank you for your help Mr Rogers, we’ll let you know if there’s anything else we need.”
“Sure, any time.” He rose and left the room, leaving the two agents contemplating all they had heard.
“Well, what Daly and Rogers said certainly ties up and if this guy was the killer Paulson knew who he was and didn’t seem concerned to go off with him, looks as if it could have been a scene gone wrong,” Tony mused.
There was a soft tap on the door and Marcus Hamilton entered the room, two mugs of coffee in his hands.
“I thought you might appreciate a drink, sorry, one of us should have thought of it earlier. I also wanted to let you know that Cameron Fisher is in tonight, He’s just talking to Daly, would you like me to send him in?”
“Thanks, that’ll be one less person to trace tomorrow,” Gibbs picked up the mug and inhaled. “Ah, good coffee.” He tipped the mug in Harrison’s direction as the club’s owner left the room grinning.
A few moments later a young man in his mid twenties appeared at the door.
“Mr Fisher, please have a seat. Thank you for agreeing to speak to us, we’ll try not to take up too much of your time.” Gibbs began. “We’re investigating an incident that occurred last night when one of the club members was killed after leaving the club. Do you know Vincent Paulson at all.”
Fisher shook his head. “No, I’m guessing this is him,” he pointed to the picture of Paulson. “I have seen him before but not to speak to. I didn’t actually see him last night until I came to leave. I start work pretty early so during the week I don’t stay at the club too late, I usually leave around eleven thirty. Paulson signed out just before I did and left with another man who I didn’t recognize.”
Gibbs placed the second picture in front of him.
“Yeah, that’s him. He didn’t say much but they left together. I got in my car and headed along P Street towards Dupont Circle, they were heading on foot in the same direction but I guessed they weren’t going far as there were cabs around but they didn’t call one and they didn’t seem in any rush, just walking along and talking.”
“They didn’t appear to be arguing or anything like that?” Tony asked.
“No, they seemed pretty laid back, comfortable in each other’s company, you know? Not awkward or anything. I’d say they were pretty familiar with each other, knew each other well.” He concluded.
“Okay, I appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. Take one of my cards, call me if you think of anything else.” Gibbs handed over his business card.
“No worries, I will do.” Fisher rose and shook hands with them both.
“Thanks again for your time, Mr Fisher, have a good evening.” Tony replied as he saw the man out.
“Hotels next, Boss?” Tony asked with a yawn. Gibbs looked over at him and grinned, glad to see his partner had relaxed once they’d started the interviews. In fact, he was pretty sure that Tony had forgotten just what type of club they were in, caught up in the case as they were.
“Yup, we’ll show the pictures around the night shift and then we may have to come back in the morning, but we might as well while we’re here. Which hotels did you pick out? They were obviously walking from here along P Street towards Dupont Circle so we’ll start with the closest and work our way outwards.”
“Hotel Palomar; Residence Inn and Radisson are on P Street; Fairfax and Hilton are both on Embassy Row, Massachusetts Avenue, they’re further away but within walking distance if you don’t mind the walk, as are The Mansion on O Street and the Hotel Madera on New Hampshire Avenue.
The nearest guest houses aren’t really within walking distance but there are a couple of bed and breakfast places on Hopkins Street. From what Rogers had to say I would guess that he would be more of a hotel type of guy than bed and breakfast, those places are usually fairly small and intimate and if they were doing what we think they were doing they would probably go for the larger, more impersonal, hotels.” Tony surmised.
“Yeah, I think I agree with you. Come on then, let’s head for the three on P Street first of all.” Finishing his coffee, Gibbs rose and put his coat back on before leading Tony out of the door and, after a few final words with Harrison and Daly, back out into the night.
Chapter Three