Narrowing the Theories

"I've traced the finger paint to a company that manufactures art supplies for pre-school and primary school supply stores," Abby announced, as Gibbs walked into the lab. "That particular company supplies two stores in the D.C. area."

Gibbs grinned. "Good work, Abs," as he handed over the fresh cup of Caf-Pow. Abby smiled triumphantly. "McGee is working on finding out which schools are supplied by these stores, and who teaches at them."

Gibbs nodded. "Anything else on the sweater?" Abby sighed. "Nothing. It's turning out to be a bit hard to trace."

Abby looked over and smiled warmly as McGee strolled into the lab and joined them. "Boss, Ziva just handed Emily off to Tony. She didn't need much convincing. He went on an ice-cream run first." Gibbs nodded in acknowledgement, smiled and said, "Little bribery never hurts," then turned back to Abby. "Anything else?" he asked.

"Well, we found dog hair on Emily's clothing. Her parents' as well. But no dog."

McGee nodded. "Yeah, that's right. There was evidence of a family dog, food bowls, leashes, toys, and such… but I don't remember seeing a dog. Not even in the back yard, and it was fenced in."

"Near as I can tell, it's a beagle," Abby said, as Palmer peeked around the corner. "Guys, DNA confirms that both of Emily's parents were definitely her parents."

Abby frowned. "Well, there goes one theory." Gibbs glanced at her, curious. Abby elaborated, "Angry wife of unfaithful husband, who fathered a child with another woman. Would have been a classic motive."

Gibbs and McGee both appeared perplexed. "Why is Palmer here?" Gibbs asked. Abby shrugged. "You know how intense he is about this case. And he and Ducky finished the post-mortems on Emily's parents. He's done all he can do in autopsy. So he's here. Frankly, I really don't mind. This is a really hard case to work. From an emotional standpoint, I mean. It's nice to have a friend around who understands how hard it is."

McGee nodded sadly in agreement, then said, "What do we know about the Staff Sergeant?" Gibbs levelled a glare at him. "I don't know, McGee. What do we know about the Staff Sergeant?" McGee sighed. "On it, Boss," he said, as he turned and left the lab. "Oh, by the way," McGee said, as if suddenly remembering why he'd gone to the lab in the first place. "There are two pre-schools in the area of the base, both get their supplies from the same store. One of them employs the widow of a Marine who died three years ago in a friendly fire incident. Her name is Sofia Maddox."

Their attention suddenly turned around the corner as Palmer called out, "Abby! I think I've got a print on this painting of Emily's that we took from the house. The blue one, with the smudge."

Abby grinned again. "Good work, Jimmy!" she said with enthusiasm, as her Caf-Pow started to kick in full force. "Back to the old grind, guys," she said, as she bounced over to see what Jimmy had found.

Gibbs was about to tell McGee to check on fingerprints taken for background checks on the pre-school employees, when McGee said, "I'll check for fingerprints with the pre-schools. They do background checks before they hire people." Gibbs grinned to himself. Nothing like an on-foot trip through a car wash to teach a good, solid lesson in anticipation.

……………………………………………………………………………

Tony sat, Emily on his lap, thinking intently. He seemed to neither notice, nor mind, that she had dripped pralines n' cream ice cream on his desk, in spite of her best efforts to be as neat and dainty with her treat as a 5 year old could be.

He looked up as McGee and Gibbs returned from the lab. "That dead Marine, he had a life-insurance policy. The wife cashed in when he died, but there's absolutely no evidence that his death was anything but an accident. So much for the fraud angle."

"We know he was killed by friendly fire. How did he die, and who was responsible?" Gibbs was far from finished with pressing his Agents' noses to the grindstone.

Tony did a quick search, then glanced at Emily. "Uh, Boss… I think our little girl should go visit Abby and Palmer in the lab, for awhile." Gibbs walked over to Tony's desk and glanced at the monitor.

"Tim," he said suddenly, an odd tone in his voice. "You got that print search started yet?"

McGee looked up. Gibbs' tone gave him chills - he hadn't sounded like that since the night Kate had died. "Just getting started, Boss… why?" Gibbs looked at him, motioning him over. "Before you get into that, take Emily down to the lab. Maybe Jimmy would like to spend some time with her." McGee arrived at Tony's desk and glanced at the monitor, and his expression changed into one of terrible comprehension. "On it. C'mere Sweetness," he said to Emily, as he reached for her. She looked up at him, smiling, and outstretched her arms towards him. He plucked her out of Tony's lap and headed towards the elevator, talking softly to her all the while.

When they'd disappeared behind the closing doors, Gibbs turned back to Tony's computer screen.

The Marine investigated in the accidental friendly-fire death of Gunnery Sergeant Daniel Maddox, was Staff Sergeant Mark Tennant.