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Ch.5

Abby went from hating Tony to loving him in about five minutes. That was perfectly okay with him. Evidently, the girl was a huge Ohio State fan, and who could blame her. If Tony was right about her, more specifically how much she talked, then it wouldn't be long before all of NCIS knew that the guy Gibbs had drug in with him earlier that morning was Tony DiNozzo from Ohio State, as he was starting to be called by Abby. Although he did enjoy being recognized and loved talking sports he didn't think Gibbs would think too highly of it and further pissing the guy of probably wasn't a good idea. Gibbs…Where was that guy anyways? Probably still holding up the elevator.

Interrupting the conversation about 'Ohio State Tony' he asks "So how long does Gibbs usually spend in the elevator?"

Greg opens his mouth to answer but quickly shuts it after getting a hard look from Abby and Eric. Then they were all silent. And not looking right at him. More past him. Huh. That was weird.

"Seriously, what could he possibly be doing in there?" Tony questions, the possibilities flying through his mind at a million miles per hour.

"Working on the case DiNozzo!" Gibbs snaps harshly.

Wait a second Gibbs? Tony spins around quickly to find himself face to face with none other than Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Well damn. Before he has a chance to talk his way out of it Gibbs raises his hand and slaps Tony on the back of the head.

"I deserved that one didn't I?"

"Yeah, I'd say so." Gibbs says sounding rather smug.

"So Boss, we got anything?" Eric asks.

Before Gibbs answers his questions, or perhaps head slaps him for asking, his phone rings, preventing either the answer or the impending headslap. Gibbs answers the phone and after a few seconds of listening the smug look is completely gone and instead he looks pissed. He listens for a few more minutes before hanging up.

"We've got another body. Grab you're gear, we're going back to Baltimore." Gibbs says, already handing out orders. "Abs, get to work with that Evidence, Probies, DiNozzo, with me."

Gibbs walks out of the lab, the probies fall into step behind him, and Tony brings up the rear with his thoughts running wild. Another body already? Probably same killer or they wouldn't have called Gibbs. Well, they didn't actually know who the killer was yet so probably the same m.o. Serial killer maybe? Usually they didn't work quite that fast. They case had been active less than twenty four hours and the bodies were already starting to pile up. Two dead and one missing. And for some reason Tony didn't think it would be getting any easier.

When they get onto the elevator Ducky is already there, and Tony wonders if he even had a chance to leave before his and Gibbs' elevator meeting.

"We've got another body Duck, heading back to Baltimore." Gibbs says in a brief explanation.

This statement seems to start the gears turning in Ducky's head; chances were he was thinking the same thing that Tony, and likely Gibbs, was also thinking. Well, at least they would all be on the same page.

Gibbs, the probies, and DiNozzo all pile back into the car, although since Ducky has to drive the van Tony gets to sit in the front seat this time rather than in the back with the probies. To say he 'gets' to sit there might be overstating it since he practically raced the probies to the car and fought for the front seat. A few minutes into the drive to Baltimore and Tony was wishing he had sat in the back; Tony was sure that sitting up front just made Gibbs' driving seem even worse, if that were even possible. Regardless, he makes no comments about said driving because Gibbs didn't look like he was in the mood for that. Then again, this was a chance to further irritate him…

"Who the hell taught you how to drive Gibbs?" Tony quips, hoping to get some sort of reaction out of him. He doesn't get one, in fact it doesn't appear that Gibbs even heard him. Damn this guy was good. Tony supposed he'd have to step up his game a little bit. From there on out the rest of the drive is spent in near total silence, Tony's attempt to listen to music having been shot down before he'd even turned the radio on. Soon after that Tony realized that it was not the time to lighten the mood.

They arrive in Baltimore in what must be record time but for obvious reasons the Baltimore P.D. is already there. Of course. That would do great things for Tony's reputation. Showing up at yet another crime scene. Well at least he wasn't drunk this time. Even as they are getting out of the car it quickly becomes evident that Gibbs will be taking lead on this case, and strangely enough nobody argues with him. If Tony's old partner had been here they would've had quite the turf war on their hands. Of course, Tony's old partner wasn't here. He was six feet under taking a permanent dirt nap. Tony had to take the blame for that and seeing all the others here…well that wouldn't make things easy.

DiNozzo didn't know why Gibbs had dragged him here for this. He was still technically on administrative leave and all he was to Gibbs was a witness who had let the killer walk right in front of them. Yeah, he was going to take the blame for that one as well. If nobody else would point fingers he'd do it himself. He had to blame himself. He was a detective it was his job to notice things and yet a murderer had walked right in front of him and he'd done nothing.

Gibbs must've noticed Tony's hesitation because he says "With me DiNozzo." As he walks over to the crime scene. Tony reluctantly follows.

When Tony gets to the scene it's all he can focus on. All the voices around him turn to blurs, he forgets why he's even there and the only thing he sees is the scene in front of him. They were inside a beat up old house, it was rickety, run down, and probably would've soon been demolished had it not been turned into a crime scene. Three floor boards had been torn up. Under those floorboards was a dismembered corpse still dressed in a Navy uniform. The victim was once again a young woman. She would've been beautiful. But Tony wasn't thinking of that. He was thinking of the crime itself. A dismembered corpse hidden under the floorboards of an old house. It all seemed oddly familiar. It all seemed like something ripped right of a gruesome story. Suddenly it dawned on him. This was something from a story. One he knew well.

Gibbs voice snaps DiNozzo out of his trance, "What's the matter with you DiNozzo? You look like this is your first crime scene."

Tony frowns slightly and then glances up at Gibbs. "I think our killer was a fan of Edgar Allan Poe."

This earns his a look that clearly says 'What the fuck?" He ignores the look and bends down to pick up a small shred of paper off the floor. He reads it quickly and his suspicions are confirmed. On the little slip of paper was written, in elegant script, 'I admit the deed! -tear up the planks! -here, here! -it is the beating of his hideous heart.'

He hands the paper to Gibbs and says "Definitely a fan of Poe."