Tim gaped at him.

'Boss... I... I haven't lied...'

'A lie of omission is still a lie, Tim.'

'Uh... I...'

'The first words out of your mouth when you saw that body, should have been that you knew the victim.'

'I didn't!'

'Tim...' Gibbs said, warningly.

'We never met!'

'You've been exchanging emails for months.'

Tim's eyes grew impossibly wider.

'How... how did you...'

'She told her mother she met an 'Elf Lord' on-line. An Elf Lord who lives in DC and works for the Navy. That was you, wasn't it?'

Tim just stared at him.

'Wasn't it?!'

'Yes, Boss,' Tim answered, in a small voice.

'So why didn't you tell me that when we got here?'

'I really didn't recognise her, Boss! We were going to meet, but we never actually did...'

'And you never saw a photo of her?'

'No, Boss... her avatar was a portrait of Elizabeth I...'

'Her ava-what?'

'Avatar. It's an image that you use instead of your real picture, to represent your on-line identity.'

'And hers was...'

'Elizabeth I. Her screen name was FaerieQueen – you know, like Spenser's poem... and her real name was... uh... anyway, I never saw a photo. I didn't know it was her until I started going through her computer...'

'That was still yesterday.'

Tim didn't reply.

'Wasn't it.'

Gibbs steely tone made it barely a question.

'Uh... yeah.'

'And yet you didn't think to mention it, despite how many conversations about the case? Even when I specifically asked you if you'd found anything relevant on PO Black's computer?'

'I didn't want...'

'You didn't want what, McGee?'

'I didn't want to put up with Tony making fun of me for meeting a girl on-line. He's been in one of his smart-ass moods all week. And he's already been saying that everyone I'm interested in turns out to be either a psycho, or a murderer, or ends up getting killed, so...'

Tim cringed under the glare he received.

'You jeopardised an investigation because you were afraid DiNozzo would tease you?'

'Jeopar... Boss, I never...'

'How's it going to look when we find this guy, if it goes to court? Do you have any idea what kind of field day the guy's lawyer is going to have, with this? I know you didn't have anything to do with the murder, but it's not going to be hard to make a jury think you were covering your own ass.'

Tim felt the blood draining from his face.

'I didn't think of..'

'No, Tim, you clearly didn't think!'

'Boss, I...I...'

'Is there anything else you haven't been telling me, Tim?'

'No, Boss.'

'Good. You know better than this.'

Tim just nodded glumly, not trusting his voice.

'And I don't think I have to tell you that it had better not happen again.'

'It won't, Boss. I... I promise,' he managed to choke out.

'Ok,' Gibbs said, getting to his feet. 'Roll over.'