Abby sighed as several of the plastic bags from the top of the large pile in her arms slid to the floor. She deposited the stack she was holding in a gray bin before bending to retrieve the ones she had dropped. "You've been nothing but trouble all day. I hope you little cancer sticks appreciate all the work I've put into you."

"Did she just call us cancer sticks?" Abby turned to see Ziva looking inquisitively at Tony and McGee.

"I think she was talking to the cigarette butts."

"Right you are, Tony. You guys scavenged a total of forty-five from that parking lot, and I've just finished printing all of them, not to mention getting DNA from each and every one. And in between I managed to go through not one but two cars."

"That sounds like a lot even for you, Abs." Gibbs stood in the door, offering her a Caf-Pow.

"Thanks, Gibbs. Hey, do you think payroll would buy it if you told them there were actually three Abby Sciutos working here?" He gave her a dubious look. "Maybe just two. We could dress up Ziva like me and make sure they see us both in here…What, no good?"

Three heads subtly shook a silent 'no.' Ziva simply shrugged her shoulders. "I don't think I'd make the best Abby. Perhaps I could just threaten someone for you?"

"That's a nice offer. I'll think about it." The email alert sounded. "Ooh, that should be our first round of DNA results." Abby clicked on the tiny unopened envelope. Instead of the well-ordered chart of genetic markers she had expected, a black and white security video began to play. Her jaw dropped as she watched.

"Good news?" McGee asked.

"You have no idea…" She displayed the footage on the large plasma so everyone could see it.

A black Mercedes pulled into a space in a dark, empty parking lot. Two passengers were vaguely visible. Nothing happened for three minutes, then the right rear window descended a few inches. A cigarette arced through the air, hitting the pavement in a shower of sparks. A moment later, glass shattered as a bullet passed through the rear window. The car backed up thirty seconds later, moving slowly toward the parking lot's exit.

It stopped at the spot where the bodies had been dumped. A figure stepped from the left rear door and walked around the back of the car. It pulled the two bodies from the car and walked slowly back to the left rear seat. When the door was shut, the car sped away.

Gibbs pointed at the plasma screen. "I wanna see who's in that car."

Abby had already started replaying the video. She highlighted and enlarged the shadow in the front passenger seat. "Sgt. Neal." Moving to the rear window, she repeated the action. "Dr. Neal." She fast-forwarded the footage, stopping on a frame featuring the person from the left rear seat. "Body dumper."

Ziva squinted at the image on the plasma. "That's Dr. Franklin, Neal's research partner." Her voice contained a note of surprise. "No wonder he was nervous when we spoke to him."

Abby continued to scan the video. "I can't find a clear frame of the driver. This may take a while Gibbs."

He leaned close to the screen, tilting and retilting his head in an attempt to see something. He grunted in frustration. "Who sent this?"

"I don't know. Someone just emailed it to me."

"McGee?"

"I'll start tracing it." His fingers clicked rapidly on the keyboard.

"Good. Let's go pick up Franklin. Tony, Ziva with me. McGee, Abby find out who sent us the video and figure out who's driving."

Two hours later, Abby pounded her fists against her keyboard. "It's impossible. I can enhance this sucker all day, but I'm not going to be able to pull up a picture of the driver. There's just not enough on the tape." She turned to look at McGee, who had withdrawn a few steps at her outburst. "How are you coming with that email?"

"Not good. Whoever sent it really covered their tracks well. I've been trying to hack the Callaghan security mainframe, too, but no luck so far."

"Gibbs is not gonna be happy. If he ever comes back, that is."

"He hasn't been gone that long."

"Do you lose track of time when you enter the matrix? They left over two hours ago. They should have grabbed Dr. Frank and come back to find out why we haven't called with case-breaking information by now."

"It's Dr. Franklin." He checked his watch. "Wow."

"I know. They should be here."

"No, I mean I can't believe I've taken so much time to do so little."

Abby exhaled forcefully. "Maybe we just need a new perspective. How do you feel about ostrich?"

"An ostrich is going to give us a fresh perspective?"

"Don't be silly. It's going to give us much needed sustenance." She walked to her refrigerator and removed a Styrofoam box. "I ordered an ostrich burger for lunch and I haven't had time to eat it yet. Want some?"

"Um…okay. I'll try it." They sat at her table. "Hmm. Not bad. Hey, wanna see the latest feature presentation on McGee TV?"

"I already know you're a nerd, McGee. There's no need to drive the point home by saying things like that."

He snapped the phone shut. "Fine. I guess it's your choice if you don't want to see Tony and Ziva falling all over each other."

"Really?! I'll upgrade your status from nerd to dork if it's worthwhile."

"What's the difference?"

"Dorks are more endearing. They're adorkable."

"Great." He pressed play and narrated, "Tony had just been doing this really cheesy Rhett Butler impression and I said 'Gibbs' like he was coming around the corner." On the tiny screen, Tony dropped Ziva on the floor and looked up in panic. She swung her legs around and swept his feet out from under him. He yowled and flailed as he crashed to the floor. They struggled for a moment to disentangle their legs. Ziva said something about reflexes as they both looked around for Gibbs.

Abby snorted. "You are so screwed, McGee."

"What? I thought it was pretty funny."

"See how funny you think it is after they shave off your eyebrows."

"I'm never falling asleep at my desk again."