NCIS
"I cannot believe we're stuck doing this," Ziva mumbled as they looked about the victim's apartment, searching for more evidence. Tim took a picture of the broken deadbolt lock; the flash alerted Ziva, but she continued working.
"Well, someone was in a hurry to get in here," McGee said and also snapped a picture of the dented door, hoping he could manage a boot print from it. Ziva snorted, picking through the drawers that were on the stand beside the couch.
"She had a lot of bills to keep up with, but I'm not seeing any late envelopes," Ziva said and saw a notepad at the back of the drawer. Fishing it out, she saw the first page was blank. "But this should end up interesting," she said and Tim made his way over to her to take pictures. Ziva tilted the notepad in the light and saw faint words scattered across the page. Attempting to read it, Ziva gave up and held it in her hands so Tim could take some pictures.
"Hmm, I wonder what this is all about," Tim asked himself and snapped a picture of it, hoping that Abby could lift the words off the paper. Ziva sealed it in an evidence bag and they moved onto the next room, which was the main bedroom. The bed was made and clean, the trash had been taken out, and there was nothing out of place; Ziva seemed quirked about it.
"She certainly liked things tidy." Tim looked under the bed and found a can of pepper spray.
"Well, not everything," McGee said and struggled to reach the small can. Having gloves on helped as it didn't make the slick can roll further away from him. Taking care, he brought it into the open and Ziva took the pictures this time.
"Do you think she had time to defend herself?" Ziva asked and Tony shrugged as he placed the can in an evidence bag.
"I think she would be alive if she had," McGee said and the two exited the apartment.
----
Tony sat across from Mabella Evans and smiled; she tried to smile back but was deterred by the events. "Hello, Miss Evans, my name is Tony DiNozzo, I'm here to clarify some information," he said and brought out a notepad. Mabella nodded and began her story.
"Well, Tate…"
"Tate?" Tony interrupted.
"It's Tatum's nickname, sorry if I confused you."
"It's fine, continue," Tony encouraged and Mabella nodded.
"Anyway, Tate hadn't come into work for a few days and we were beginning to get worried that something else had happened in her family. So, this morning, I went to her apartment to ask Tate if she wanted to go to breakfast. I had a key she had given me, but I noticed that the door was broken. I called the police and went to the street; it just happened I saw a leg hanging out of the dumpster. I almost passed out when the police arrived. I was brought here because Tate was a Navy officer," Mabella finished and sighed, tears threatening to spill down her face. Tony took notes and nodded.
"Thank you, Miss Evans, for your time. We'll call upon you again if needed," DiNozzo said and Mabella nodded, left to her grief as Tony left the interrogation room to run into Gibbs.
"Did you get her statement?" Jethro asked and DiNozzo held up a notepad.
"Every word, boss," Tony said and Gibbs snatched the yellow pad away from Tony, looking it over. Giving DiNozzo glances now and again, Jethro finally handed Tony back the pad.
"Very good, DiNozzo," Gibbs said and walked back towards the main stations when Ziva and Tim walked by with evidence for Abby to process. The hurried look he saw on their faces made Jethro turn on his heels and return to the elevator to go to Abby's lab. Gibbs, Tim, and Ziva disappeared from site as Tony stood in the hallway, dumbfounded that Gibbs approved of his note taking, despite the doodles that littered the margin of the paper.