The body was taken back to NCIS, along with the computer, and everything else the team had managed to find. A canvas of the neighbour turned up very little, other than the fact that Mina was known to the neighbours and the man, known as Todd Van Der Kooi, had referred to Mina as his niece on several occasions. He had been described as quiet, keeping to himself, but known for coming and going at all hours of the day, causing a few nearby neighbours to speculate as to what he might have been up to.

One neighbour did admit to seeing a dark, indescribable car, parked near Todd's house the night before, but because of his comings and goings, no one paid much attention. As for the sound of a gunshot, someone had noticed the sound of a bang, but there was a couple two doors down with a habit of fighting, which usually included throwing things, hence the noise was dismissed as being from the couple. The NCIS team wasn't so sure.

Langston brought Mina to NCIS, who was looking cleaner and happier, skipping alongside Langston. Her long brown hair was brushed and in two french braids down her head, similar to what the team was used to seeing Langston use once in a while, and Langston had managed to find a child-sized cowboy hat, like hers, which had caused more than a few double-takes from other staff members, who didn't know much about the junior agent. When she was shown a picture of Todd Van Der Kooi's DMV photo, she pointed to the picture and shouted happily.

"Unca Todd!"

"That's Uncle Todd, huh?" Langston asked.

"Yup. I stay wit him while Daddy goes on a 'portant mission," Mina said, bobbing her head.

"Okay, well, until Daddy comes back, Uncle Todd says you can stay with your Auntie Jane," Langston said.

"More ice cream?" Mina asked hopefully, causing McGee and Bishop to snicker, while Gibbs smirked.

"We'll see what happens after y've had yer lunch, alla," Langston said.

"'Kay. Promise?" Mina demanded.

"Promise. Now, we need t' see a friend oh mine, then we'll see 'bout gittin' y' somethin' t' color wit. Sound good?" Langston asked.

"Yup."

And the two of them headed for Kasie's lab, for Kasie to take a buccal swab of Mina's mouth for a DNA check.

"Thought the kid's name was Mina," Torres said, confused.

"Alla means child in Choctaw," Bishop said. "Langston's great-grandmother was supposedly a Choctaw healer, and she picked up a few words. Her grandmother, Gram, used to call her Issoba, which means horse. Langston's real proud of her heritage, just not so happy with what's going on down there right now."

"And we might have another problem," McGee said. "I've been running Todd Van Der Kooi's background, and I think I found something interesting; he was a cop with the MPD for a number of years, before he got his license as a private investigator. I'm checking the number listed on his license now, and I think I just found his cell phone." A bit more key clacking resulted in the phone's call history, which he threw on the plasma.

"That number looks like a regular," Bishop said, pointing to one number that appeared every other day or so, sometimes twice, and had also called Todd Van Der Kooi about six hours before the reported gunshots.

McGee ran the phone number. "And we have a hit; Shane Lunsden. Running him now. Aaaand… he's a Marine. Staff Sergeant Shane Lunsden, attached to Areospace Engineering, as a field tester. They're one of the military's major suppliers of technology, right now. Just out of curiosity…. Huh. Guess what? He has a listed dependent by the name of Mina Lunsden, who's date of birth would put her at about the same age as our current guest. DOB says she's three, just shy of four."

"Mother?" Gibbs asked.

"Already checking. Dead. Keesha Lunsden died about two years ago, surgery complications after being shot by a stray bullet during a drive-by shooting near the store she worked at," McGee said.

"Think I found something interesting," Bishop said, having gone back to her desk. "I'm running our victim's financials, and aside from the usual places, there's a monthly payment to a storage locker place, about half an hour away from his place, from the looks of it."

"Go. Check it out," Gibbs said. "Torres, go with her."

"Going," Torres said.

"McGee, put Sergeant Lunsden's picture on the screen, see what Mina does when she sees it," Gibbs said.

McGee nodded and did as bid. Then he got to work digging through Todd Van Der Kooi's life. Kasie had his computer and was currently processing the evidence they'd managed to bring in.

When Langston and Mina got back, Mina saw the picture of Staff Sergeant Lunsden, and she happily shouted, "Dat's Daddy!"

"That's yer daddy, huh?" Langston asked.

"Yup. He's a Mar-een," Mina said.

"And a very good one," Gibbs said, having been reading through his file.

"You a Mar-een too?" Mina asked him.

"I was, a long time ago," he said, showing her a picture of himself in his uniform, taken with some old buddies of his, during Desert Storm.

"Hoo-rah!" Mina said, causing Gibbs to chuckle.

"Hoo-rah is right," he said.

"Okay, alla, let's see what we can find fer ya t' color wit," Langston said, going through her desk for her art supplies.

Gibbs came over and handed Mina a bunch of printed papers and a box of crayons he'd had hidden in his desk, causing her to squeal happily, because these crayons were big and bright, perfect for kids like Mina. A bit of dragging brought over a spare desk and chair for Mina. Then Gibbs assigned Langston the task of hunting down Mina's father.

A phone call to the number listed in Van Deer Kooi's phone records got her a recording, so she checked his file and called his commanding officer. A pleasant chat with a Master Gunnery Sergeant Zimmerman revealed a lot more information than initially planned.

"Wow," Langston said, hanging up her phone and looking at her legal pad, which was in front of her. "Okay, fer starters, Staff Sergeant Lunsden will be notified that he is t' call us asap. Seems he's a proud papa type person, an' his desk has lots of photos of 'im an' Mina. Plus, story goes tha' when Mina was born, he brought her down t' his office as soon as he could, so a lot of people know 'bout 'im. I sent Master Gunnery Sergeant Zimmerman a pic of our vic, an' he recognized 'im, but not as Todd Van Der Kooi; he was known as Private Smits, an' as far as he knew, Private Smits was a, quote, fine, upstanding Marine. He also recommended I talk t' someone by the name of Brigadier General Potter, who was supposed t' be in charge of th' Marines at Areospace Engineering. Did admit there was somethin' hinky 'bout Van De Kooi, but otherwise liked 'im. Oh, an' was seen in th' company of Staff Sergeant Lunsden on more than one occasion, but Master Gunnery Sergeant Zimmerman assumed it was jest a mentor thing."

"Could Lunsden have known what Van Der Kooi was up to?" McGee asked. "Areospace Engineering isn't something you can just walk into, which means he may have had help."

"Run him; find out what he was involved in," Gibbs said.

"Running," McGee said.

"An' I'm callin' Brigadier General Potter," Langston said, picking up her phone to dial the number that was written on her legal pad.

"Okay, Private Todd Smits does exist at Areospace Engineering, but according to this, he has limited access to anything really serious," McGee said. "He's supposed to be with Security, so he has access to the buildings, but not to the computers."

"So, he can check th' locks, but not the hardware," Langston said, as she waited for someone to patch her through to the General.

"Pretty much, yeah," McGee said.

"He's in the background," Gibbs said. "He wouldn't be noticed, especially if he claims he's just doing his patrols."

"Sounds like natural camouflage; hide in plain sight," Langston said. "File says he was a cop an' a detective, both public an' private, which means he knew how t' hide in plain sight. An' hello Brigiadier General Potter, this is Special Agent Jane Langston, NCIS. How are y'?"

Gibbs' phone rang; it was Kasie and she already had something of interest for him.

At the lab, Kasie held up a mangled bullet in an evidence jar. "This is a .32 ACP round, which Palmer pulled from our victim. What got my attention was the rust I found on the bullet and the bullet casing."

"Rust?" Gibbs asked.

"Yup. Whoever fired the gun, hasn't cleaned it in a while," Kasie said. "So, either it's an older gun that's been tucked away for quite a while, or someone is a lousy gun owner and didn't clean their weapons to the point there's rust in the barrel and the firing chamber."

"Any idea what type of gun we're looking for?" Gibbs asked.

Kasie sighed heavily. "The list is over three dozen," she said. "Some are common, some are not. Thing is, with a lot of the guns that use the .32 ACP, they're small and easy to conceal. Take a look at the Sig Sauer P230," she said, bringing up an image of the gun. "It's small, easy to conceal, and used primarily as a backup weapon by a lot of law enforcement agencies and civilians. Tuck it under your jacket, at your back, or your ankle, and no one would even notice. However, because of its small size, the shooter would have to have been within, at least, arms reach in order for the bullets to do the kind of damage they did."

"Had to be someone he knew but didn't trust," Gibbs said.

"Exactly. His gun was never fired," Kasie said.

"His computer?" Gibbs asked.

"Still working my way through it, but I did find several emails to and from a Private Sasha Anderson," Kasie said, pulling up the emails. "Last one was pretty interesting. I know the truth, and I don't care. I trust you. Please don't prove me wrong."

"She knew he wasn't a real Marine," Gibbs said. "You run her?"

"Yup. Aerospace Engineering, computer technician, knows her way around computers well enough to make McGee jealous," Kasie said, pulling up the file of Private Anderson.

"Did he reply?"

"Just two words; thank you. Sent about two hours before the reported gunshots."

"What about the rest of the emails?"

"Work related," Kasie said. "Usually requests for an escort to and from the staff parking lot, or access to certain parts of the building, which she was working on but didn't have proper clearance, hence needing Security. Sometime between the second to last email to the last email, she found out about our fake Marine, possibly what he was up to, and for whatever reason, she decided to trust him. I'd say that makes her a person of interest, because when I checked her file, it was clean. On the surface, she looks like another good, upstanding Marine, but as Jane likes to say, book, cover." Gibbs glanced at her, confused. "Cover of the book doesn't always tell the whole tale."

Gibbs nodded in understanding. He called McGee. "Private Sasha Anderson, attached to Areospace Engineering. Bring her in."

At the storage locker, a badge flash and a pair of bolt cutters cut the lock on the storage locker rented to Todd Van Der Kooi. When the clerk checked the computers, it was noticed that Van Der Kooi was a regular visitor, especially as of late, and always on time with his payments. Otherwise, he kept to himself, like the majority of the customers at the storage locker.

"Huh. At least he was tidy," Torres said, looking around at the shelves that lined the ten by ten metal room, which contained several filing boxes and a lateral filing cabinet.

"Not locked," Bishop said, opening the filing cabinet drawers. "Probably didn't think he needed to. Okay. Aerospace Engineering." Bishop pulled out a file. "Case: sexual harassment being covered up. Suspects: Corporal Peter Sutherland."

"Who was he hired by?" Torres asked.

"Interesting. Brigadier General Potter, on recommendation by Staff Sergeant Lunsden," Bishop said, reading through the file.

"Seriously? I thought something like sexual harassment would have been handled by JAG, or some such department," Torres said.

"Normally, yes, or even our own Family and Sexual Violence department," Bishop said. "However, according to these case notes, Brigadier General Potter had some suspicions that it was being covered up by someone else, but he couldn't prove it, nor could he actually prove the sexual harassment, and needed an outsider to help him build a case, if there was a case. And according to these notes, it looks like Van Der Kooi was on to something. I'm seeing witness statements, victim statements, mentions of videos and recordings, stuff judges and lawyers love."

"Any names in particular stick out?"

"Yeah; Private Sasha Anderson. According to this log, Van Der Kooi talked to Anderson quite a bit and she had complained bitterly about Corporal Sutherland going after her on more than one occasion."

Curious, Torres went through the filing cabinet. "And I have Corporal Sutherland's file. And wow; look at the section labeled Complaints." It was nearly a quarter inch thick.

"Why is this guy still in the Marines?" Bishop asked.

"Because someone kept ignoring the complaints," Torres said, reading the notes on the complaints. "Van Der Kooi didn't just have a copy of the complaints, he also followed up on the complaints, and a lot of the times, the complaints were either buried or somehow disappeared." He whistled. "I don't know who this guy knew, but somehow he managed to get his hands on Corporal Sutherland's psychological file."

"Really? How bad?"

"The words grandiose narcissist is highlighted in the summary, and that does not sound good, and according to the fast bit of reading I'm doing, it's not. Guy thinks he's a god among mortals, when he ain't. What is noted is his exceptionally high IQ and his equally exceptional coding abilities."

"Could be motive for covering up the sexual harassment complaints; someone upstairs decides the needs of the many are more important than the needs of the few," Bishop said, "even at the expense of the few."

"We could turn this over to Ducky, get his input," Torres said.

"And if Corporal Sutherland complains about privacy violations?"

"Hey, it's evidence. All of it." Then Torres sighed heavily as a thought occurred to him. "Which means we have to haul all of this stuff back to NCIS. Just because Van Der Kooi was working undercover at Areospace Engineering, doesn't mean the killer was also from Areospace Engineering. This guy was a private investigator and a former cop."

"Which means our suspect list likely just quadrupled," Bishop said.

"We're in for a long night."

"And this is just the beginning of the case. Think I need to stop by my apartment on the way back."

"Why?"

"So I can bid my bed good-bye for a few days," Torres grumbled.

Back at the Navy Yard, while Torres and Bishop loaded up the car and made arrangements for everything else to be taken back to NCIS, Langston had her hands full. She had decided a break was in order and was taking Mina to a known, favorite, cafe that was in the Yard, when they were confronted by an unknown suspect in a green utility uniform and cover.

"Mina!" the man cried, seeing the little girl.

"Daddy!" Mina yelled excitedly, clearly recognizing the man, kicking at Langston, who had picked her up to stop her from running. "Daddy!"

The man rushed over and was just about within arms reach when Langston yelled, "Stop! NCIS!" Her hand on her gun caused him to halt, fear in his eyes. "You have five seconds to identify yerself! Fast!"

"Please!" the man begged. "That's my daughter; I've been looking for her everywhere!"

"Name!" Langston demanded, even as Mina struggled to reach her father, starting to get upset.

"Daddy!"

"Staff Sergeant Shane Lunsden," the man said, distress clearly on his face.

"I'll let you closer, Sergeant, but I need t' see some ID," Langston said, warningly, even though he did look like the photo she'd seen of Staff Sergeant Lunsden.

"Fair enough," Lunsden said, coming closer. Mina all but lunged into his arms, holding on to him for dear life. He laughed, relief written all over his face as he cuddled her tightly. "Oh my goodness, sweetheart! Look at you! I thought I'd lost you. You look so cute with your hat."

"Auntie Janey said you on a 'portant mission. Come home now?" Mina demanded.

"That's right, I'm home now," Lunsden said, stroking her hair.

"And Auntie Janey needs your daddy to show her something," Langston said warningly.

Lunsden quickly dug out his wallet and handed it to her. She flipped it open and found a USMC card, driver's license, credit and bank cards for a Shane Lunsden. She quickly snapped some pictures of the cards and sent them to McGee with a request to verify, as well as a note that Mina had loudly identified him as her father. While she waited, she showed Lunsden her badge.

"Special Agent Jane Langston, NCIS. Who is Todd Van Der Kooi?"

"My half-brother. Mina was supposed to be staying with him, but the neighbors are saying Todd had to go somewhere, and you guys took Mina. My commanding officer, Master Gunnery Sergeant Zimmerman told me to contact you guys as soon as possible, so I headed here."

"We found her hiding in the garden shed; she said Uncle Todd told her to go hide in there. He's currently with our M.E, and Mina is in protective custody with us," Langston explained. Her phone chimed; it was a message from McGee, confirming Lunsden was legit. Then a picture popped up; it was a file photo of the man in front of her. She sent back a confirmation. "I promised Mina ice cream and lunch, but then we have to head back to NCIS; we have some questions for you."

"I understand," Lunsden said, even as Mina yelled, "Ice cream!", causing her father to laugh.

Gibbs was waiting for them at NCIS, and father and daughter were taken to a conference room for Mina's sake, but Lunsden knew this was no conference, but an interrogation.

Gibbs showed Lunsden a file photo of Todd Van Der Kooi. "You told Agent Langston that this is your half-brother. Why was he impersonating a Marine?"

"Because Brigadier General Potter asked him to, on my recommendation. Todd is, was, a former cop who became a private investigator," Lunsden said. "I work with Areospace Engineering, and it's contracted to the Defense department. I'm the guy that helps field-test the latest idea or prototype the lab grunts come up with this time, and I admit, I'm brutal. One of my teammates told me she was being stalked and harassed by another guy, another Marine, by the name of Corporal Peter Sutherland. Problem is, the USMC doesn't have a very good track record when dealing with guys like Corporal Sutherland, especially since he's considered a rising star amongst the Marine nerds because he's a, supposedly, genius coder. He once bragged that he was so good, he could get Sirius to give him a certain job below his belt."

Both Langston and Gibbs cringed at that. While they were there, McGee was tearing through Lunsden's life.

"Several other women had filed complaints against this guy, but he either got off light, or the complaint was made to go away, and according to Todd, sometimes it was at the expense of the other person," Lunsden said. "Brigadier General Potter were and I were trying to get evidence against Corporal Sutherland, the kind the higher ups wouldn't be able to ignore, and when I last spoke to Todd, he said he may have found something in an area that required my clearance level. Unfortunately, I was out field-testing a new communication device and didn't get back until yesterday."

"Why was Mina with her uncle?" Gibbs asked.

"Mina's mother, Keesha, died during a drive-by shooting, about two years ago," Lunsden explained. "Most of the time I have Mina with a daycare group, or someone else I trust, but this latest field-test was unexpected, and Todd was taking care of Mina for me."

"Do you know where he kept his information or what it was he wanted to show you?" Gibbs asked.

"I don't know what he wanted to show me, but I know how to find out. If I can get near a computer, I can check a private Google Doc that was accessible to only him and me," Lunsden said.

"We noticed something about Mina's DNA," Langston said, having spoken to Kasie once they got back, before going into the conference room.

"You did, huh? Let me guess; Mina is Todd's biological daughter, so why does she call me Daddy, and not Todd?" Lunsden asked. "Keesha and I both wanted a baby, but my sperm count is so low it's almost non-existent. When I admitted my problem to Todd, he had himself checked, and offered to donate his sperm." He smiled at his daughter, who was coloring happily on the floor. "Mina had two daddies, both of whom loved her very much. After I lost Keesha, Todd did what he could to help, and I was grateful. If Todd told Mina to go hide, then he was trying to protect her from whoever it was he was dealing with."

"Did anyone else know about Mina?" Gibbs asked.

"I don't know," Lunsden said. "On my side, yes, because when she was born, I was yelling my head off, and every chance I got I was showing off her pictures. There's even pictures of her in my office, and I once brought her to the office, after she was born."

"Do you know who might have wanted Todd dead?" Gibbs asked.

"I don't know. Like I said, Todd was a private investigator and very good at what he did. I can tell you or take you to his office, where he kept everything," Lunsden said.

"We already found his storage locker and we've brought back everything that was in it," Langston said. "Our team is already going through it now."

"That's going to be fun," Lunsden said, grinning. "Todd was as meticulous a private investigator as he was a cop."