Blue Blaze of Evidence

"What have you got, Abs?" Tony asked, as he strolled into the lab with McGee in tow.

"Finger paint. Came from the scrapings from Emily's fingernails. Cobalt blue, from what I can tell. I'm running analyses to determine what's in it, what brand it is, where it's manufactured, and where it's sold."

"Anything else?" McGee asked, hopefully. Abby looked at him, with a sly grin. "Well, since you mentioned it, Very Special Agent McGee," she said coyly, as Tony rolled his eyes heavenward, "Ziva found some hairs on Emily's clothing, and she combed one out of her hair as well."

"And you know it isn't Emily's hair… how?" Tony asked. This time it was McGee who rolled his eyes. "Because, Emily is strawberry blonde, and these hairs are chestnut brown. The bad news is, that's a common shade. The good news is, Emily had some of that same hair in her little fist. She fought back, and hard."

"And?" McGee asked, gazing imploringly at Abby. "And, because she ripped it out… the skin tags were intact. That means DNA. That's the good news. The bad news is, there are no matches in any of the DNA databases. It's a totally unknown sample."

"But, it's a start, right?" Tony was beginning to sound desperate to find out who'd done this.

"Okay, there is one other thing."

She waited a moment, savouring having both Tony and McGee gaze at her expectantly, like sweet little boys waiting for a promised treat.

"Not what you're expecting, I know… but the hair from Emily's fist is female."

……………………………………………………………………………

Ducky had no idea where his assistant had gotten to.

He had a suspicion, but that's all it really was. The fact of the matter was, Jimmy was absent from autopsy, and Ducky didn't know why.

Then he remembered. Jethro had gone to the hospital, to retrieve Emily and bring her back to NCIS, so that she could be properly protected by his team of agents. Most likely, Jimmy had gone with him.

Ducky thought back sadly to what Jimmy had told him, when they'd gotten home with Emily's parents. He'd had no idea that that was why the young man had chosen this rather unusual path. But it made perfect sense, knowing what he knew about him, from the time he'd spent working with Jimmy Palmer.

Ducky took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then headed upstairs to the squad room.

When he arrived upstairs, he was just in time to see Jethro enter the squad room through the elevator, carrying a sleepy little girl, and closely flanked by one formerly-UA Morgue Assistant.

Palmer blushed slightly. "Sorry, Doctor. I should have told you I was going with Agent Gibbs."

Ducky smiled reassuringly. "No worries, my boy. I had pretty much guessed where you had gone, that is to say, you went to provide a medical escort for Jethro when he went to retrieve little Emily from the hospital. A wise decision."

"I'll be sure to let you know first, if it ever happens again," Jimmy said. Ducky nodded as he turned around, steering Jimmy towards the elevator. "Another wise decision, Mr. Palmer," he said, as they walked towards the doors.

"McGee, come take her for a minute, will you?" Gibbs said. McGee looked up, surprised, then stood up and walked over.

"She been sleeping long?" he asked the boss. Gibbs shook his head. "She's knocked out. The doctor thought it best to tranquilize her before we took her. Less trauma for her that way. He said it would wear off soon though."

McGee nodded, as Gibbs handed her over. "Now what, Boss?"

"Now, you watch over her until it's Tony's turn. Then it's Ziva's turn. Then it's mine. Then it's yours again. Got it, McGee?"

The young man nodded. "Got it, Boss. Wow, she's no bigger than a minute, is she?" he asked, as he cradled her carefully but easily. Gibbs shook his head. "All the more reason to be extra conscientious with this protection detail, Tim." McGee turned and returned to his desk, carefully positioning the small girl in his lap so that he could continue working. "Abby has some news for us, by the way," he said softly, not wanting to disturb Emily.

Gibbs looked up. "Well? Spit it out, McGee." McGee spat it out, and Gibbs sat, stunned. "She's sure it's female?"

McGee looked over as Tony and Ziva entered the squad room and sat down at their desks.

"Abby likes to say, DNA doesn't lie, Boss." Gibbs frowned. Tony cleared his throat carefully. "Boss, if we look at the crime scene, it kind've makes sense. I mean, Emily and her mother were both strangled. But the Staff Sergeant was bludgeoned to death. It's a less hands-on method. Maybe whoever killed Emily's parents bit off more than they could chew with her father. So they used a weapon on him. Strangulation wasn't an option."

Ziva looked thoughtful. "This would seem to indicate that the killer was either a woman, or a small, slightly built man. But the hair that Abby and I found on Emily was female."

McGee paled. "What kind of woman could do this to…? he asked, not wanting to finish the sentence, and instead pointing to the young child sleeping in his arms. Gibbs shook his head. "A heartless one. They do exist, you know, Tim. Not all women are all soft and sweet and nurturing. Trust me on that."

They all looked up as they heard the elevator doors open, and Abby breezed in. "Found something else. Or rather, Ziva found something else. You know that fibre that was stuck in her hair, with the blue substance? We already know the blue substance was finger paint. The fibre is from a sweater. A cashmere sweater, to be exact."

"This paint, is it permanent once it dries?" Tony asked. Abby nodded. "Most paints are, even if they're non-toxic and water based. We're looking for an avocado green cashmere sweater with one blazing blue stain on it."