After Gibbs talked to Abby, he called Ziva and Tony to let them know that Harper's DNA had been found at the house. They had just arrived at his apartment complex and would let Gibbs know as soon as they were on their way back to NCIS with him.

In Ducky's lab, Gibbs observed Lt. Rogers' body lying on the metal table.

"Ahh, Jethro, I knew you would show up down here very soon."

"What've you got for me, Duck?" Gibbs wanted to know.

"Well, this young man was in excellent condition, Jethro. He was a Marine in the prime of his life. However, he was strangled just long enough to knock him unconscious. Then, he was shot in the head."

"The killer must have subdued Lt. Rogers, then knocked out Elle Charlton and tied her up in the closet. Then, he took Lt. Rogers into the bedroom and shot him in the head," Gibbs surmised.

"So it seems, I'm afraid." Ducky shook his head in dismay.

In the lounge, McGee got the young woman some more coffee and a candy bar from the vending machine outside.

"Thanks," she told him, accepting them gratefully. It's been a while since I've eaten anything."

McGee checked his watch and scolded himself. Of course she was hungry. It was three o'clock in the afternoon. "Sorry," he apologized. "We uh…got busy."

Elle tried to smile, but it seemed hard and forced. "It's okay. I wasn't very hungry anyway until now." She looked down at her feet. "I guess I probably won't have an appetite for a while."

"You'll get it back," McGee assured her. "How about I order you some food from a restaurant and have it delivered here. Would you like that?"

"Some Chinese would be good," Elle admitted, looking up again. Gentle and sensitive McGee still saw the tears on her eyelashes. She was trying to be brave."

"I'll have it ordered for you and delivered here. Oh, and I'll get a guard to stand outside the door."

"Thank you, Agent McGee. You've been really great about all this. I know I must seem like a wimp, but I…" she took a deep, shuddering breath, "…I can't seem to stop crying. I can't believe that Will is gone. We were…such great friends."

"I'm sorry," was all that McGee could think of to say. For the first time in a while, he felt the urge to put his arm around Elle and tell her to have a good cry on his shoulder. Too bad that was unprofessional. McGee could just imagine Gibbs walking in on them.

Shortly thereafter, McGee headed back to his desk where he ordered some Chinese food from the restaurant down the street and instructed for it to be delivered to the NCIS building.

"Get hungry all of a sudden, McGee?" Gibbs asked, walking into the bullpen.

"It's not for me, Boss. Elle—" McGee saw his Boss give him that same glare again and he quickly corrected himself. "Ms. Charlton told me she was hungry when I went to check on her a few minutes ago. I showed her into the lounge and put a guard by the door, just in case."

"Good thinking, McGee," Gibbs commended him.

Moments later, Gibbs' cell phone rang and he answered it, "yeah, Gibbs."

"Boss, it's DiNozzo. We got to Harper's apartment, but he isn't here. The landlady hasn't seen him in a few days, but we found some interesting things in his apartment."

"McGee and I are heading out. We'll be there in fifteen minutes."

When Gibbs and McGee arrived at Harper's apartment, they agreed that things were definitely "interesting." Photos of Lt. Rogers and Elle Charlton were taped to the walls. McGee began browsing through the files on Harper's computer and found videos that he'd taken of Elle with his cell phone.

"He was definitely stalking her," Ziva commented, examining everything as DiNozzo documented it all with the camera.

"Looks like all these pictures are of Elle—Ms. Charlton doing things with Lt. Rogers," McGee spoke up.

"He was jealous," Tony guessed. "Girl meets boy. Boy gets an unhealthy fascination with girl. Girl breaks up with boy. Boy begins stalking girl. Girl files a restraining order. Boy takes out the person closest to girl."

"That is extremely complicated," Ziva remarked, her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

"Not at all," Tony replied, looking at Ziva. "It's really simple, actually. That would be great plot for horror film. No! Wait, I think that idea has already been used."

"Ziva, have you talked to the landlady about what kind of guy Harper was?" Gibbs wanted to know.

"She said that he was a private man who never talked to her except when he came to pay the rent and, even then, he was very quiet."

"If he was angry with Elle, why did he kill Lt. Rogers?" McGee mused.

"He loves her," Ziva stated very simply. "If he murdered the only person he thought stood between them, then maybe he thought they would be together."

Later that evening, when the team returned to the NCIS building, it was late and Gibbs realized his team needed some well-deserved rest. "Go home for the night," he told them. " Get some rest."

"Hey, Boss, what about Elle Charlton. She's still in the lounge," McGee pointed out. "If Harper is still out there, I'm not sure if we should let her go home alone."

Gibbs looked up from his desk. "You wanna play Secret Service, McGee. Fine, the job's yours. Take her back to your apartment."

"Mine? My apartment?" McGee echoed in disbelief. "Um…"

"Problem, McGee?"

"On it, Boss."