Silent Crimes

Premise: Abby's sister, a deaf teenager, helps the gang solve a mystery.

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone you recognize. Everyone you don't recognize probably belongs to me, including Ellie.

"Gibbs! Gibbs! I have the hugest mega favor to ask you ever," Abby said breathlessly, darting into the bullpen.

Kate and Tony looked up at the lab tech. So did McGee from his position on the floor underneath his computer, where he was reattaching a Zip drive. The only one who didn't look up, in fact, was Gibbs. Characteristically dressed in a tweed sport coat and khakis, he sat at his desk, scribing on a yellow pad.

"What is it, Abbs?" he asked without looking up.

"My sister. She needs to come here."

"You have a sister?" Kate asked, at the same time Tony asked, "She's coming here?"

"Yes!" Abby said in response to both questions. "Well, that is, if it's okay with Boss Man here."

"Doesn't your sister go to school in Chatterock?" McGee asked.

"Yes, McGee," Abby said patiently, "but they've discovered a dead naval officer there and they're sending the kids home. Only, they called my parents' house and discovered that my parents are chaperoning my brother's Boy Scout camp-out this weekend. So, they called me. And that's why," she concluded triumphantly, "I need Ellie to come here."
"Ellie? That's your sister?" Kate asked.

"Short for Elspeth," Abby replied, nodding. "What do you say, Boss Man? Can Ellie stay here?"

"I guess so," Gibbs said, finally looking up from his yellow pad. "Is she going to need an interpreter?"

"Why would she need an interpreter, boss?" Tony asked.

"Think logically, DiNozzo," Kate said. "If Abby's parents are deaf, doesn't it make sense that her sister might be deaf too?"
"I can interpret for her!" Abby said brightly. "She can help me in the lab. She was here last year on a field trip with the Chatterock School for the Deaf, so she basically knows where everything is. I just need someone to meet her at the elevators at nine-thirty and bring her upstairs to me, because I have a date with Chad from Mail Fraud."
"Chad from Mail Fraud?" McGee asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, McGee, it's not a real date," Abby reassured him. "We're going to talk about a canceled stamp on a letter."

"If you say so," McGee said grudgingly.

"That's fine, Abbs. I'll get her off the elevator and bring her upstairs to you," Gibbs offered. "What does she look like?"

"A little version of me?" Abby suggested. "Except, darker eyes, and the last time I saw her, the bottom two inches of her hair was dyed blue… and… a little shorter."

"Okay," Gibbs agreed. "I'll see you at nine-thirty."

"Good!" Abby said happily. "I'm off for my date with Chad from Mail Fraud."