A/N: Change of perspective again guys. Hope you like this chapter, it was fun to write. F.
Tony was already at his desk when Ziva arrived the next morning. She deposited her things at her own desk, and then perched on the corner of his.
"How is Abby?" she asked "She was asleep when I went to visit her last night"
"She's pretty rocky. Physically, she'll be ok, but right now she's terrified. When I was there last night she wouldn't let Probie out of her sight. We didn't realise she'd come around and she overheard us talking about his little encounter with Jacobi. I think she's worried about him trying to kill Jacobi"
"McGee was there when I went to see her, asleep" she commented "At least he is getting some rest"
They were interrupted by the entrance of Gibbs
"DiNozzo, I need you to follow up on the information Jacobi gave us yesterday. Ziva, I want you to trace all of the wire transfers to and from this Agency to Jacobi's accounts. We need to make sure his story checks out"
He disappeared up the stairs and into MTAC. Tony and Ziva exchanged looks. They were short handed with McGee on forced leave, but they both knew that Gibbs' computer skills were seriously lacking. This was going to be a long day.
...
There was something hinky about Jacobi's computer. It was too easy, Tony thought to himself. He knew he didn't have half the tech skills that McGee had, but he was having no problems getting the information he needed off the laptop's hard drive. The only thing even remotely similar to security on the computer was the normal Windows login password, and even that had only taken him 5 minutes to figure out.
Jacobi had been methodical about recording his thefts, unusual in a crook, but perfectly normal for an accountant from the Finance department. Tony worked steadily, gathering the electronic evidence that they needed and becoming more uneasy as he did. He'd expected to hit snags somewhere along the line. Truth be told, the case against Jacobi was pretty cut and dried, but no one felt like taking chances with this one. It was a good thing McGee hadn't done anything but run evidence for this one; otherwise the case could have been compromised with his stunt in the evidence garage the night before.
It was around mid morning when the hinky feeling about Jacobi's computer finally coalesced into an actual hunch. His computer was much too easy to crack. It was as if Jacobi had about as much computer knowledge as, well, Gibbs.
"Hey, Boss?" he called out across the bullpen "I think we've got a problem"
Instantly Gibbs was at his desk, leaning over his shoulder
"What is it, Tony?"
"This computer, it's too simple. There's no encryption, no passwords, no attempt at concealing anything. Nothing but basic programs; word processor, spreadsheet programs, a few simple games, the usual stuff"
"You got a point, DiNozzo?"
"The Trojan Jacobi used to trace Abby's searches was pretty sophisticated stuff, Gibbs. It would have taken someone with a decent knowledge of computer programming to do it. From what I can tell, Jacobi doesn't have much computer knowledge at all. I think he had an accomplice"
"Ok, start pulling phone records on Jacobi; cell, house and office. If he had an accomplice, we need to find them and fast" he paused "Good work, DiNozzo"
...
Tony grumbled to himself as he ran the phone records for the Agency switchboard. He'd found a strange number of calls from Jacobi's office phone that had been routed through the NCIS switchboard; he worked in the Agency, he could have just dialled the intra-Agency phone numbers directly, instead of going through the switchboard. It would have been faster, and less frustrating. It looked like he was trying to disguise who he was calling. So now Tony had to try and match the phone calls to the switchboard records and figure out where the calls were to. It was possible that Jacobi just hadn't known the direct numbers for the offices he was calling, but Tony's gut said otherwise.
He made a few wrong turns, trying to get the records he needed. This was normally Probie's area of expertise; Tony was rusty. Finally he got the date and timestamps to match up. When he saw who the calls had been routed to, his heart sank.
"Boss, I've got something, but you're not going to like it"
He stood and grabbed the clicker for the plasma, using it to bring up the phone records he'd been working on
"A bunch of calls made by Jacobi in the last 30 days were routed through the Agency switchboard, instead of direct dialling the offices he needed. Probably an attempt to cover his tracks. I matched them to the corresponding switchboard records, and I found that 15 of those calls went to one person" He hit the button, bringing up the NCIS identification for the person
"They went to Wayne Townell from Cybercrimes, Boss. He hasn't reported for work since yesterday"
"Address?"
He scribbled it down on a piece of paper and handed it to Gibbs, reaching for his pack in anticipation of Gibbs' next order
"Grab your gear"