"What do you have, Ducky?," Gibbs asks, walking in to autopsy, with Tony, Ziva, and McGee following behind him.

"I thought our General might have had a pulmonary embolism because of the swelling in his lower extremities, but, I found no clots in his lungs. However, I found a couple of surprises. I haven't found any traces of poison as of yet, but, upon examining his abdominal cavity, I found tumors spread everywhere in his abdominal cavity and casing part of the bowel. They range in size from the width of a penny to as big as a half dollar."

"How can that be?," Ziva asks. "Commander Chase told me the wife told him that he didn't have any health problems."

"That's probably because he and his wife had no idea there was anything wrong. That often seems to be the case with pancreatic cancer. It tends to spread quickly and the unfortunate ones who get this horrible disease, do not get many symptoms from it. And by the time they figure it out, it is usually too late and they usually die within a few months to a couple of years of being diagnosed. And, I found that the tumors began at the beginning of the pancreas."

"So, he died from pancreatic cancer?," Tony inquires.

"Not exactly. I also found that the pericardial sac, surrounding his heart, was filled with blood, which was caused by a half-inch tear in a soft yellow patch of dead heart muscle. And the dead heart muscle is evidence of a heart attack. I also found a clot in one of his coronary arteries. Plus, I found that he has coronary artery disease, which is a build up of plaque in his coronary arteries, which would have caused the clot I found to form. Basically, this trumps any possibility that our General was poisoned."

"Well, if he had a heart attack, wouldn't it have been more obvious than just him collapsing?," McGee inquires.

"Not necessarily. Some heart attacks are silent and I would say he had a silent heart attack anywhere from 5-10 days before he came here."

"I'm not quite following," McGee says.

"Well, the way I see it, the cancer is not what ultimately killed him. It certainly could have played a role in the clot forming in the coronary artery because with the pancreatic cancer, he'd be even more prone to form that clot in his coronary artery. So, basically, anywhere from 5-10 days ago, he had a silent heart attack, due to the clot I found in his coronary artery, and that segment of the heart muscle died. So, this morning, our General's body just couldn't take it anymore. His heart continued to pump, but it was just too much pressure and it tore open the patch of dead heart muscle and blood spilled out in the pericardial sac and the blood surrounded and compressed the heart. Therefore, his heart couldn't expand anymore to keep pumping. With his heart having been so compressed, it finally ceased to beat. So, therefore, he collapses and dies."

"So, there was no poisoning involved?," Gibbs inquires.

"I don't think so, Jethro. It is certain he died of natural causes. Abby is still running a few tests, just to be on the safe side."

"Oh, speaking of Abby," Ziva says to Gibbs. "She said she wants you to call her or come to the lab."

"Okay, you three go start the paperwork to wrap up this case and I'll see what Abby wants." He picks up Ducky's phone and dials,.

"Alright, Abs. Thanks," Gibbs says and then, hangs up the phone. He turns and leaves autopsy. "Thanks, Duck," Gibbs calls out.

"You're welcome," Ducky calls back.