Tim led his team, Tony, and Gibbs towards the front door of Jane Richards' home. He showed his badge to the officers when they walked in and then headed towards the man that looked like he was in charge. "Detective Carver?"

"Agent McGee," the detective said before shaking his hand. "I heard you were looking into stabbing victims. I figured it was probably a coincidence, but I figured I should call just in case."

"I appreciate the call," Tim said.

"We received a call from a neighbor about a disturbance. Patrol officers found her as she was and called it in. I called you as soon as we arrived and made sure no one touched anything. Figured you'd want to gather everything yourself," Detective Carver said.

"Thank you. Who was the neighbor that called it in?" Tim asked.

"A couple next door to the right, James and Diana Morgan. They heard yelling and things breaking. I already spoke to them. They didn't actually see anything," he said.

"Was there any signs of breaking and entering?" Tim asked.

"No, but there was definitely a struggle. There's broken glass on the floor near the body."

"Okay, thanks. We'll take it from here," Tim said.

"Okay. Call if there's anything else we can do," the detective said before heading to the door, beckoning his officers with him.

Tim turned to the others. "Alright, Ducky should be here soon. In the meantime, Ralph start taking photos. Brooks, you start bagging and tagging. Ziva, Tony, I want this place completely dusted for prints. Make sure to cover every surface."

"Of course, McGee," Ziva said while Tony nodded. They both watched as Tim walked away and then got to work.

Tony got out the necessary tools and started dusting the coffee table. "So there was no sign of a struggle. She let him in. You think she hired him to kill her husband and his friends and he took her out to protect himself?"

"There is no evidence to prove that," Ziva said shortly as she worked on the end table a few feet away by the couch.

"Yeah, but it's a workable theory," Tony said.

"So is that she was killed because the killer worried that Christopher Talen shared whatever information he had with her. She is the one that told me he had a lead," Ziva said just as coldly.

Tony stopped and turned to his former partner. "I'm sorry, Ziva. I know that I hurt you all and I am really sorry."

Ziva turned and glared at him. "You were not sorry when you arrived. Brooks said something to you during your coffee run. I will kill him."

"He was looking out for you. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt anyone," Tony said.

"You did not care," she said coldly.

"That's not true. I was just hurt. I didn't think I could handle being in Gibbs' spot. I didn't want to be there when he wasn't," Tony said.

"Neither did we! We all had to move on after Gibbs' abrupt retirement. We did not run away like cowards!" Ziva yelled.

"Hey."

Both of them turned to see Tim looking none too pleased. "Do the two you get that this is a crime scene?"

Tony sighed and looked down.

"I am sorry, McGee," Ziva said.

Tim beckoned Ziva towards him and led the way into a corner. "You know better than to go at it with someone at a crime scene."

"He brought it up," Ziva said.

"I don't care. He's not on my team, you are, and you know I won't put up with this kind of thing. The case comes first, another thing you know very well. I should be able to trust you to at least remain civil while in the field!" Tim said firmly.

"You are right. It will not happen again," Ziva promised. She knew that he was right. She should not have allowed this to happen in the middle of a case. She should have ignored Tony or found some way of stopping the conversation.

"It better not," Tim said before walking away. He went back over to Tony. "You let your people bring personal business out in the field?"

"No," Tony said in an apologetic tone. He too knew this was the wrong venue for them to have it out. He just didn't want to go any longer without saying it. He still didn't, which was why his next words had a double meaning."I'm sorry."

Tim could tell that the apology wasn't just for the fight with Ziva, but he refused to think about it right now. It was not the time. If Tony wanted to talk about the past, he'd listen, but not while at a crime scene or even on the job.

Luckily, Tim didn't need to respond to Tony because Ducky and Palmer came in at that moment. "Hello, Timothy. Where are we going?"

"Kitchen," Tim said before leading the way in there. They found Gibbs kneeling over the body.

"Hello, Jethro. Some room please," Ducky said politely.

Gibbs stood up and took a few steps back.

"Well, from the looks of things, it's seems it's definitely the same killer," Ducky said as he bent down to examine the body.

"Yeah, there's a lot of blood," Palmer said.

"She also has some bruising on her neck, indicating that he choked her," Ducky said.

"Well, that's our first anomaly. None of the other victims were choked," Tim said.

"All the other victims were men," Gibbs pointed out.

"True, but he shouldn't have needed to do it. Aside from defensive wounds, the others didn't put up much of a fight, and the first time he took on three at once," Tim said.

"Never got that. Never got how he got all three of 'em so easily. They weren't drunk or drugged,so it shouldn't have been so easy, unless there was more than one killer," Gibbs said.

"But we don't really know for sure that they were killed at once," Tony said from the doorway, drawing everyone's attention to him. "Gibbs, you and I figured they were all killed at once because they were found together and they were friends, but we don't know that for sure."

Tim thought for a minute. "So they were lured one by one to the warehouse and murdered. I guess that's a possibility. It's the only way I can see these guys not putting up a huge fight."

"Unless there was more than one killer," Tony said.

"Killer or killers, we need to find answers. The body count is already at five. We don't let it get to six

"Boss, I think I've got something," Brooks said from a few feet away.

Tim immediately went over and knelt by his agent. "What is it?"

"These drops of blood are separate from the rest. Our victim may have gotten the drop on our killer before he got her," Brooks said.

"That might explain why he was pissed enough to try to choke her. We'll get it to Abby and hope she can identify him," Tim said before standing up. Finally, it looked like they might have a promising lead.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Tim turned to Ziva as they walked through the bullpen. "Ziva, I want the families of all these men brought in and put into protective custody. I don't know if he's going after the family members of the original victims or it was just the last two, but we take no chances."

"I will get on that right away," Ziva promised as she got to her desk.

"I'll help," Tony offered.

"Good. The rest of you, find me something. I don't care how," Tim said.

"McGee."

Tim turned to see Jenny leaning over the railing. He immediately walked up the stairs. "I don't have anything good, Director."

"I know you have another body," Jenny said.

"Yeah, Jane Richard's. She was married to one of the original victims, Samuel Richards," Tim said as they walked down towards her office. They walked into the outer office and straight into the director's office itself.

"Are we dealing with a serial killer?" Jenny asked as she walked behind her desk and sat down.

Tim sat down in front of the desk. "Well, he's got the body count, but no, I don't think this is a typical serial killer. There's no pattern like with a serial killer, no real MO except that he seems to like stabbing and serious bloodshed. I have no doubt that we're dealing with someone who likes to kill, but he doesn't fit the profile of a serial killer. We're leaning towards an overzealous hitman.

"Nothing that can tell us who he is?" Jenny asked

"We found some blood at the last crime scene that might belong to him. We also dusted for prints. I'm hoping Abby can tell us who he is," Tim said.

"I know you know this, but this case needs to be solved soon. We don't need another murder on our hands," Jenny said.

Tim nodded.

"Are Tony and Gibbs any help?" Jenny asked.

"Tony is actually going out of his way to be useful. He hasn't questioned a single order, which is surprising. Gibbs is making up for that," Tim said. He really did appreciate Tony's cooperation. He would've thought the man would at least question his lead like Gibbs did. He did a little when he first found out, but he quickly seemed to get over it. That's why Tim had decided that at the very least, he would listen to whatever it was Tony had to say later. He couldn't guarantee forgiveness, but he would hear him out. He deserved that much.

Jenny chuckled. "That does not surprise me. I'm guessing he's already tried and failed to get you to hand the case over."

"The first thing he did. I'm handling him," Tim said. He wasn't enjoying trying to keep him in line, as it was a full time job he didn't have time for, but he could handle it.

"I heard. Scuttlebutt is on high alert when Gibbs' former junior agent tells him to 'get over it'," Jenny said. She'd heard that news. Some had been surprised, despite having seen McGee change and toughen up over the last five years. She wasn't one of them. She knew damn well he'd stand up to him.

Tim sighed. "I tried to keep it calm, but there had just been a murder and I was tired of controlling Gibbs while also trying to solve this case."

"I'm not going to lecture you. Gibbs doesn't listen to rationalization when he thinks he's right. A lot of times, you have no choice but to loudly force him to hear you. Anyway, you should get back to it. Find out who's doing this before anyone else dies and this gets leaked to the press as serial killing. No one wants that kind of panic getting out," Jenny said.

"On it, Director," Tim said before getting up and heading out of the room.