It was getting dark by the time they'd arrived at Anacostia Park and they could barely see their body. Tony and Ziva were already there and in the process of rigging their outside lights so that they could see. Ducky and Palmer were on standby, ready for action once they could see the body.

'What do we know DiNozzo?' Gibbs asked as he approached the younger agent.

'Not a lot yet Boss. A woman was walking her dog when she came across the body, didn't see anything else though.' Tony explained.

'He been dead long Duck?'

'I'd say that he's been dead about two hours judging by the coagulation of his blood, but according to his liver temperature it's around three hours; however, the cold weather could have contributed to that.' Ducky said as he and Jimmy began examining the body.

The rest of the team began taking photographs of the crime scene and of the body. Penny and McGee were tasked with combing the area for any evidence. They weren't able to bag much, but they did find some cigarette butts which could be helpful.

After a few hours they'd completed their search of the scene and Ducky and Jimmy took the body back to autopsy. Gibbs didn't see much point in starting the investigation in, what was now, the middle of the night. The body would still be waiting for them in the morning and they'd probably stand a better chance of collating information.

The team were grateful of their dismissal for the night, all exhausted and ready for their bed. Penny and McGee were excited to spend their first night together in their new house, but they were both too exhausted to really appreciate it.

The next morning and they all gathered early, having only had a few hours sleep. They were all tired, but the previous night's events made sure they were all working hard to gather some information on the marine.

They'd identified him as First Lieutenant Carl Andrews, 26, married with two children, but no information to indicate why he was murdered. He had a good, clean record, had completed two tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and was due to leave for his third tour in a couple of weeks. His superiors had advised that Andrews was an exemplary marine and that they were considering him for promotion. Nothing they found indicated anything suspicious and this troubled Gibbs.

He hoped that Ducky could tell him something about the way their marine died. He figured that if they could establish how he died it would be a lot more information than what they had at the moment.

As he entered autopsy he could see Andrews' body laid out on the autopsy table with Ducky bent over him examining some abrasions on his knuckles and knees.

'As usual Jethro your timing is impeccable.' Ducky said.

'What've you got?'

'Well young Andrews here was in a fight before he died, but these abrasions on his knees are particularly interesting. He has severe bruising to his face and across his back and torso. I think he was forced to his knees after being beaten and then had his neck snapped. Whoever did this was strong to overpower him.' Ducky explained.

'So it was the snapping of his neck that killed him?' Gibbs asked.

'Yes I believe so. Even though x-rays of his skull show fractures and he had a nasty lesion on the back of his head, I don't believe the blow was fatal. However, what I can tell you about the wound was that we pulled what appear to be wood splinters from it. I've sent them up to Abby.' Ducky explained.

So that was where Gibbs headed next. Now that they knew the how, he was hoping that Abby had found more information from the crime scene to indicate the why.

'What've you got Abs?' He asked as he swept into her lab, caf-pow in hand.

'A cold! First one in almost five years Gibbs my immune system is seriously whacked…' Abby began to say before Gibbs interrupted her.

'Abs, the case.' He said simply.

'Well the dirt and grass stains on his clothing would suggest that there was an altercation, but it wasn't where his body was found. The mineral compounds aren't nearly the same as the ones in the soil at the park. My guess is that his body was dumped after he was murdered. Also the splinters Ducky pulled from the head wound are from a baseball bat, but it's way old, like twenty or thirty years old. There's something else Gibbs.' She explained as she led him to a white t-shirt and held it up for him. 'An address is written on his shirt in black marker pen.'

Gibbs examined the address with intent confusion. In all his years as an investigator he had to admit that this was a new one, even for him. The address read 3298 Elm Street, 20032.

He took the address up to the team to investigate further, knowing that it was now going to be one of those investigations where their killer was going to toy with them.

He kissed Abby on the forehead as always as he was about to leave but stopped suddenly and looked at her with concern.

'You're burning up Abs!' He said as he placed his hand against her feverish head. 'Why don't you go for a lay down for a while?'

She nodded silently and disappeared as Gibbs took the elevator back up to the bullpen.

He passed on all the information to his team before disappearing to get more coffee, stopping off at the pharmacy on his way.

'So guys it's taken me a while but I've finally found some information about the address.' Penny explained with excitement. 'About fifteen years ago it belonged to the Trescott family. The father was a Navy Captain; his two sons were Navy First Lieutenants. Seemingly one of the sons went crazy one day and took a gun to his entire family.' Penny explained.

'Was the guy caught?' Tony asked as he listened intently to what she had to say.

'Eventually he was, but not before he murdered about twenty people. According to the file he suffered from PTSD and suffered serious reoccurring nightmares. Basically the people he kidnapped and murdered he tortured first and killed them in the manners that he feared. I think he was re-living some sort of trauma he'd experienced and was acting them out in the hope of ridding himself of them.' Penny replied.

'So what happened to the guy?' Tony interrupted, only this time it was McGee who answered.

'He was finally caught thirteen years ago and sentenced to life in prison without parole.' McGee said as he read from the information on his computer.

'…and the house has been empty ever since.' Penny added.

'So why would someone leave that address at out crime scene?' Ziva asked with confusion.

'Well that's what we're going to find out.' Gibbs said as he returned with his coffee, grabbing his gear from his desk.

The team all copied, gearing up with their sidearms and rucksacks before heading down to the parking lot and out to 3298 Elm Street.