Please don't kill me! I know it has been a long time since I updated this story, but I had a severe case of writer's block! Well, hopefully, it has been alleviated so I can finish this story and write more NCIS goodness! So, here is the next installment.

Chapter Seven:

Suspects: Cat and Girlfriend?

"Got dust marks here and a trail of fluid. Too thick to be coffee." Ziva photographed the evidence and swabbed the fluid from the work bench. "And a tipped over bottle of fuel injector cleaner."

"There are paw prints all over this bench. Do you think this could have been an accidental poisoning?" Tony asked as he photographed and lifted the prints.

"Possibly."

"Sure. Guy is up at the wee hours working on his car, gets a little tired and groggy and disoriented from long hours under the carriage. He takes a gulp of his coffee unaware that the cat has slinked down here and knocked the fuel injector cleaner into his cup."

"Possible. But still, how does that explain how Lance Corporal Haas wound up dead outside in his uniform?"

"Why are you two speculating when you're supposed to be doing your job is the question I'd ask right now," Gibbs interrupted, stepping into the garage.

"Hey Boss. We got paw prints on the bench and a tipped over bottle of injector cleaner. Ziva and I were thinking that the poisoning was accidental, but we still don't know how he wound up smashed between his car and an oak tree."

"What are you standing around for? Get back to work. Get the evidence back to Schliemann and Abby."

"Guten Tag," Naomi greeted when Ziva walked into the garage. "You have more evidence for us to process?"

"Yeah. Abby is still in the lab, yes?"

"That would be correct." Naomi took aim at the gear shift and snapped another photo. "Have you had any luck tracking down relatives?"

"His mother is hospitalized with end stage breast cancer, father died three years ago. McGee tracked down the girl friend and is bringing her in for questioning."

"Sehr gut." Naomi smiled at her friend. "Just like old times, yes?"

"Yes. I need to get these to Abby. Catch you later?"

"Of course."

Ziva left the garage leaving Naomi alone with the white Fiero. "What a way to go out. Death by poison and MV trauma."

"You wanted to see me Ducky?" Gibbs asked when he entered Autopsy.

"Ah yes, Jethro. Naomi and Abby's suspicions were indeed correct. Our lance corporal was indeed poisoned by fuel injector cleaner. I found nearly half the bottle in his system. He would have wakened up in a few hours with serious vomiting issues. I suspected he was trying to get to a hospital when he was hit by the car."

"What injuries did the impact cause?"

"As I suspect he was bent over vomiting, he has a skull fracture from the impact of his head to the tree. He has multiple fractures to his extremities, but nothing serious. The impact crushed his stomach, perforated his spleen, and caused him to bleed out. That's your COD."

"Keep me posted, Ducky," Gibbs said walking out of Autopsy just as abruptly as he walked in. This case still wasn't sitting right in his gut. He needed to get resolution for this one fast

He walked into the bullpen. "McGee back with the girlfriend yet?" he asked the group as he sat at his desk.

"No," Tony answered. "I talked to the victim's C.O. His skipper described him as a model marine, never reported for insubordination, not so much as a single demerit on his file. Well liked by everyone. Had no enemies in the troop. Criminal record is squeaky clean. Not even a traffic ticket."

"The girlfriend, Danae Salinsky," Ziva chimed in, pulling up the Maryland driver's license of an attractive brunette in her mid twenties. "A few minor traffic violations on her record. Graduate of the University of Alabama in Huntsville, teaches high school chemistry at Langley High School. Also well liked by her coworkers and superiors. She has the means and the knowledge of poison to kill the lance corporal, but no motive."

"When McGee arrives, have him check into Ms. Salinsky's whereabouts at the time in question. Ziva, get Schliemann up here."

Gibbs watched as Ziva picked up her phone and spoke quickly. "Gibbs needs you up here, Naomi."

He didn't hear the reply, but instinctively knew that the younger Mossad Officer was on her way to the squad room.

Naomi quickly entered, still clad in a red NCIS jumpsuit. "You wanted to see me?"

"How are your interrogation skills?"

Naomi only responded with a confident smirk.

"Ziva will be in there with you."

Naomi smirked again. "Just like old times, yes?"

Ziva looked at Tony and Gibbs. "When Naomi was a rookie at Mossad, we performed several interrogations together. Her style is very effective."

"Have you ever done an interrogation without torturing the suspect?" Tony quietly asked Naomi.

"Once. But back then, I was not Mossad."

"And as Mossad?"

Naomi didn't answer, but strolled past Tony on her way to the elevator.

"Like I said," Ziva told Tony, "She is a very effective interrogator."

"Never mind," he replied.

There you go! I apologize for the length of this chapter, but better a short chapter than no chapter, yes? Anyway, you know what to do! Until next time, Maylee!