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Unconditional Love 2: Friend or Foe?
Rating: IM15 for now Summary: Harm and Mac begin interviewing their witnesses and something isn’t adding up. Disclaimer: See Part 1
“Let’s go somewhere more private. The captain has been kind enough to lend us an office.” Gibbs started down the stairs and looked back, where Harm and Mac were still standing. “C’mon. I don’t bite. Usually.”
Bemused, they followed him along narrow corridors until he turned in to a tiny office. Gibbs sat behind the desk, and Harm let Mac take the other chair, opting to lean against the wall.
“So why was PO Talbert still on board this ship?” Harm repeated, not wasting any time getting to the point.
“We were after a much bigger fish,” Gibbs replied simply. “He’d agreed to wear a wire, and help us bring in his dealer – a big gun – someone who’s connected to the deaths of several sailors in Norfolk over the last six months. Problem is, the buy wasn’t set up for Saturday night. It was supposed to happen tonight.”
“So last night- ” Mac began.
“May have been attempted murder.” Gibbs shifted in his chair. “I’ve got Abby looking over Talbert’s blood samples for anything suspicious – if she comes across anything, I’ll let you know.”
“We’d like to start interviewing some people.” Again, Harm held up his list. “Have you talked to any of these?”
“Not yet. I came in yesterday afternoon with Agent McGee to set things up with Talbert and found out. I asked the skipper to request you two come out here – I know you’re good at investigation and, frankly, I’m shorthanded right now. I just want to catch the bastard.”
“Agreed.” Mac spoke for herself and Harm. They proceeded to the ready room, where the captain had told them they could conduct interviews.
They started with PO Anderson, Talbert’s roommate. He was obviously shaken up from everything that had happened.
Mac asked him gently, “PO Anderson, just tell us everything you remember about Saturday night and Sunday morning.”
Anderson said softly, “Ma’am, Talbert went out with a group of friends on liberty. They stayed out pretty late and had had plenty to drink. By the time they got back, Ron, I mean, PO Talbert was barely standing. They dumped him in the doorway and left him for me to take care of.” His tone became resentful.
“Go on,” Mac encouraged him. “What did you do then?”
“I talked to PO Talbert, ma’am, trying to get him to make sense. He was slurring his words really bad. I’ve never seen him that messed up before, even-” and he stopped talking.
“It’s all right, Petty Officer,” Harm spoke to him. “We know about PO Talbert’s, uh, activities. Keep going.”
“Well, he seemed real tired and wanted to get in his rack, so I helped him get in and he fell asleep right away, sir. I kept checking on him through the night and he seemed fine. Snoring, even. And then, at 0530, I tried to wake him so he could get ready for his turn on watch, and, and…” Anderson’s voice faded away.
“We know what happened from there, PO Anderson,” Mac said sympathetically. “You mentioned that Talbert went out with ‘friends’. Do you know any of them?”
He did and gave their names to Harm. “Thank you, PO Anderson. You may go now – if we have any other questions, we’ll contact you.”
Relieved, PO Anderson got up and left. Harm and Mac continued their interviews, including the enlisted men from Anderson’s interview. Gradually, they got a picture of the evening’s events.
PO Talbert and his group of friends had gone out bar-hopping, drinking until they would get thrown out of the bar, then moving on to the next one. At their last stop, the Blue Iguana, PO Talbert went into the restroom. When he came out, he was totally incapacitated, and they decided to return to the ship and drop him off.
On those details, everyone was in agreement. Beyond that, the stories varied. Some people said he went in to the bathroom alone, others said someone else accompanied him. None of them could identify Talbert’s mystery companion.
“I get the feeling people are hiding something,” Harm remarked after they finished their last interview.
“Protecting one of their own, do you think?” Mac asked him, sounding doubtful.
“Not that. I got the sense that they were more, uh,”
“Exactly. I think we need to talk to Gibbs about all of this – see what he knows and hasn’t told us.” Harm stood up.
Mac followed suit. “Gibbs said he’d meet us at the hospital at 1500 - we can ask him then. Also, PO Talbert’s mother is flying in. We should talk to her about Talbert's past – see if anything ties in from there.”
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