NCIS

The elevator doors opened and the team stepped out, Ziva and Tony already silently arguing with one another as McGee sat down at his station, ready to procure any information that Gibbs wanted him to look up; Jethro took a familiar stance, ready for the techno-jargon.

"Who's the victim, Ziva?" Gibbs asked and the Mossad liaison began talking.

"Her name is Petty Officer Tatum Ashby; she's from Virginia originally. She hadn't reported in for work a few days, so her friend, Mabella Evans, decides to check up on her and finds this," Ziva brought up the pictures of the dumpster, "She calls police and we're called in," she finished and Gibbs nodded.

"What about her current military status, can you give me anything?" Gibbs asked and McGee began typing rapidly; those lessons with Linda were paying off.

"She's currently on family leave; her mother died about a week ago," Tim said and Ducky suddenly appeared on the screen.

"Jethro, I have something that you need to look at immediately," Dr. Mallard said and Gibbs nodded towards the image as he began to turn away, slightly rushing towards the elevators that led to the morgue.

"Tony, interview the friend; Ziva, take McGee and look through Officer Ashby's apartment to see if you find anything!" Gibbs ordered and the trio merely looked at one another as their boss disappeared. Tony was the first to speak up.

"I get the hot body finder, that's so… un-Gibbs like," he admitted and visibly shivered. Ziva raised a smart eyebrow and laughed slightly.

"Would you rather have the dead officer's apartment or a live person to hit on?"

Tony shivered again.

"That's what I thought," Ziva said and headed towards the elevator, Tim close behind.

----

Jethro stepped out of the elevator, slightly anxious about what Dr. Mallard had to say about his autopsy results. "Ah, Jethro, so glad of you to join me," Ducky said and Gibbs smiled as he took a sip from his coffee.

"What'd you find, Ducky?" he asked and the doctor led him over the x-rays that had been taken of Petty Officer Ashby's body. Pointing to where the bullet had entered, Ducky didn't say anything as Gibbs eyed the x-ray.

"Execution style," he said and Ducky nodded.

"Yes, it had taken me a moment to realize this because of the damage the bullet had caused. The bullet," Ducky pointed to the x-ray and then his own neck, "had entered through the back of her neck and pierced the jugular vein. Our dear Tatum had bled to death within minutes of being shot."

"She could have survived being shot?" Gibbs asked, suddenly surprised.

"If she had been within two feet of a hospital, but there was little chance she would have come out of it alive," Ducky explained and went back to the body. Pointing to the victims knees, he pointed out they were scuffed. "I also found traces of gravel and dirt packed on her legs." Gibbs made the connection immediately.

"He had made her kneel." Ducky nodded again.

"A true gentlemen, if you ask me. There's not much else I can tell you Jethro," Ducky said and Gibbs merely smiled.

"That's all we needed to know, Duck," Gibbs said and exited the morgue.