-1When Tony shut the door to the interogation room Gibbs was already halfway down the corridor so Tony trotted to catch up, "Yeah boss?"

"She say anything?" he asked taking a swig of coffee as they walked.

"Well yeah actually," Gibbs came to a sudden stop and fixed his icy stare on Tony,

"And?"

"She says that she didn't do it." He paused awaiting a reaction,

"Uh-huh" was all he got

"Well anyway she said that her best buddy Akim seemed groggy when she got their, said that he hadn't heard anything. Even though there was a dead body in bed with him." Gibbs looked thoughtful for a moment, "So either they were drugged or he's lying, or she's lying" Tony added quickly.

"I doubt that a mossad officer would need to drug his girlfriend in order to cut her throat Tony."

"So . . . What you think we're looking for someone else then boss?" just then Gibbs' mobile began to vibrate on his belt.

"Yeah"

"Hey boss, No sign of the wine bottle but I did find something in the trash,"

"What is it McGee?"

"A cork, looks like it came from a bottle of red wine."

"From the wine in Donnelly's stomach?"

"I dunno boss but it's the only thing I can find, the glasses are all clean but I'll take them back too just in case."

"Ok" Gibbs snapped his phone shut and slipped it back into its holster as they reached the lift. "Go and see if Abby has anymore for us." Gibbs ordered as Tony stepped inside.

"Uh ok, where are you going?" Tony asked as the doors started to shut.

"Out" was all he heard before Gibbs disappeared behind the doors.

"Well ok then, glad we're all being so open and clear." he grumbled as the elevator reached Abby's lab.

"Well DiNozzo, I hope that you have had a thorough attitude adjustment because this area is strictly for Ziva fans!" she was looking at him critically, eyes narrowed.

"Ok, ok, maybe I was wrong to believe she was involved so easily, I admit it." he sighed, Abby squealed and lurched towards him to pull him into a rough hug,

"Ah-I knew you'd come around, you would never abandon her." she grinned at him widely, she could always be relied upon for swift forgiveness.

"Yeah well I'm still not happy she's been lying to me all day." he grumbled.

"Not lying exactly Tony, just not talking right, there's a difference." she began to type something into her computer,

"Well she's not keeping quiet anymore," Abby snapped her head round to face him,

"Ooooh, what she say? Tell me, tell me!" she scrambled excitedly into her chair and looked at him excitedly, "Ok, I want a blow by blow account."

By the time McGee arrived back Abby was fully u to speed and grinned welcomingly at McGee as he came in clutching evidence bags.

"Guess what Timmy?" she said eagerly.

"What" McGee looked at her suspiciously,

"You're little pep talk turned Tony around,"

"Really?" McGee asked brightly,

"Well that and y'know, Ziva talking to him again but I reckon it was mostly you and your big scary man voice." McGee turned to Tony,

"She said something, what did she say?"

"Well not a whole lot just that . . ."

"GUYS! Hello, is that not some evidence that needs my urgent attention?"

"Oh right yeah, here you go Abbs," McGee handed over the bags, "Gibbs says to start with the cork,"

"Ok then." she placed the bags on the counter and then removed the cork and began to peer at it intensely before turning back to them, "Ladies, you may continue your gossiping while I get some real work done."

Tony had just finished repeating Ziva's words again when Abby shouted out for them to come over.

"Look, look at this!" she yelled brandishing the cork under their noses.

"Uh yeah I just see the cork Abbs what is it?" Tony screwed up his face while McGee craned his neck trying to get a better look at it.

"uh fine do you see now?" she placed the cork back under her microscope and the image was displayed on one of the computer screens, "Look jujus here." she pointed at a dark speck on the wine stained bottom.

"What is it?"

"THAT my friends, I believe, is a puncture hole." she proclaimed proudly. "Someone injected something into the wine, I assume a solution of the sleeping pills."

"Huh that's good work Abbs," Tony squinted at the screen, "Any prints on it?"

"Well . . . No" there was a couple of moments of silence before Gibbs appeared behind them.

"So?"

"There's a puncture hole in the cork,"

"Someone injected something into the wine." he finished off her sentence.

"So what now boss?" asked Tony.

"Donnelley's sister said that she had no intention of going back to her husband."

"What? When did you find that out?" Tony exclaimed.

"Just now, when I was out." Gibbs replied calmly.

"Huh right." he looked back at the screen, "Oh wait, so what does this mean, they're not getting back together, no holiday, so the admiral lied then soooo. . ." he trailed off.

"So go get him then." Gibbs gestured towards the door.

"Right yeah we'll go get him." Tony and McGee headed out of the room.

An hour later the admiral was sitting in an interogation room, his face black with fury.

"He does not look happy." McGee commented to Tony as they watched him through the mirror.

"Well it's about to get worst for him." Tony added as Gibbs entered the room, as soon as he did the admiral sprung to his feet.

"Agent Gibbs, just what the hell do you think you're doing? You can't just send your people to arrest an admiral with no evidence." Gibbs sat down and looked up at the irate figure.

"We didn't arrest you, you're assisting with our inquiries." He paused and took a sip out of his coffee, "Don't you want to find out who killed her?" The admiral seemed deflated and shifted from foot to foot,

"Well yes of course I do." he sighed and sat back down, plastering a wide smile onto his face. "How can I help."

"Well, we're just confirming your wife's relationship with Akim Caspit."

"HE was her boyfriend, but she was leaving him though, coming back to me."

"Oh yeah , you two were going away is that right."

"yeah." the admiral began to seem less sure of himself, nervously flicking his eyes around the room.

"You see, I spoke to her sister and she says Mary had no plans to come back to you at all., she did not seem to have a very high opinion of you at all," Gibbs leant forward in his chair,

"Yeah well that bitch never liked me, Mary probably just hadn't told her since, since, since she new Jessica doesn't like me. She probably didn't want her to start sticking her nose in you know?"

"Oh yeah, I know all about in-laws." Gibbs paused, "The thing is," he opened the file and began leafing through it, "We can't find any record of a holiday in your bank records," He looked back up, staring the admiral right in the eye, "Your bank doesn't like you either huh?" he asked incredulously.

"Well I, I, we only just decided to go, we hadn't booked it yet."

"You hadn't booked a holiday that you said you were going on next Wednesday?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah you know, it was a spontaneous decision."

"Really? You know when I think you made spontaneous decision? When you decided to slit your wife's throat." The admiral jerked his head back in shock,

"WHAT?? That's it, I'm leaving." He leapt to his feet,

"SIT BACK DOWN!" Gibbs voice caused the admiral to stop in his tracks and sneer at Gibbs,

"Who the hell do you think you are? What gives you the right to talk to ME like that?"

"The fact that you murdered your wife." Gibbs answered without missing a beat. "Her sister said that she had been drinking since your split, a bottle of wine most nights, sometimes more. Which you knew, so you decide to lace her wine with her pills so it looked like she killed herself."

"No"

"But then you go round the next day to plant a suicide letter, but you find her still alive, but not alone. You didn't expect Akim to be their but then you realised you could use this to your advantage, kill her and frame him, two birds with one stone."

"No, no that's not true!"

"You realised they must have split the wine, that they had enough in their system to keep them knocked out for a while so you slit her throat, leaving him to take the blame." Donnelley lent back, folding his arms across his chest.

"You can't prove anything, you have no evidence."

"You sure?"

"Yeah because it-wasn't-ME"

"You know, when you write something on your computer and then think you delete it, it doesn't actually always disappear." the admiral's face froze,

"So"

"So when you faked your wife's suicide note, you sent it to the recycle bin instead of deleting it." The admiral sank slowly back into his chair, shaking his head. Gibbs shut the file and got to his feet, stepping towards the door.

"Wait, I just don't understand. Who was the woman that was there this morning?"

"I think, she is the least of your concerns at the moment, admiral."