𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄 ━━ 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐳𝐳𝐨

FIFTY FOUR | the mother

"What's wrong with this picture?"

Tony stands over the body with the camera in his hands. I slip my gloved hand into the pockets of the dead man in search of any form of I.D..

"You mean aside from the director being out at 4:00 A.M. and a dead homeless man in her car?"

"No, that about it covers it."

McGee approaches us after talking to witnesses nearby. "Not quite. His alley-mates don't think he's homeless." He stops short of the body. "Said he showed up last night. He looked dirty but smelled like he had just taken a bath. Didn't talk to anyone either."

"Well, he had to have talked to somebody." I put the Blackberry cellphone into a bag. "A really nice phone."

"Director's on another op." Ziva looks up at the woman sitting in the back of an ambulance with the boss.

"If she is, I'm not in on it."

"Neither am I."

"Would you tell us if you were?"

"Not now, Ziva."

After receiving a name from the reluctant director, the four of us concur in the bullpen to discuss the man of the hour: Troy Webster.

However, Jenny steps in and practically takes over the investigation, silently aggravating Gibbs to no end.

I step out of the elevator into the basement, welcomed by the electronic tones of "SoulCreeper" by The Secret Meeting.

"Thank God you're here." Abby runs over but stops. . .

When she sees Tony, McGee, and Ziva behind me.

"I told you to come alone."

"Sorry, Abbs. I don't want to keep any more secrets." I shake my head. "If it's about the current case. . .we're all ears."

She looks between all of us. "Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you." And she leads us away to the computer. "Per strict instructions from Director Shepard, I'm going over all the crime scene evidence with a fine tooth comb."

"Anything good?" Tony questions.

"Tire marks confirm the make and model of the drive-by vehicle. A limited edition Ford Excursion with tinted windows."

"Which we already know from the director."

"I'm just getting warmed up here." The forensics scientist glances back at McGee. "The striations on the slugs from the director's car match the slugs from Troy Webster. I didn't find any of the director's slugs."

"She never misses." Half a smile crosses my face.

"I did find something interesting on the window she shattered."

We follow her to the already setup table where she switches off the light, passes protective glasses, and turns on the U.V. scanner light.

"Blood."

"Even though blood splatter can travel for several meters, the S.U.V. was too far away for this to be Troy Webster's."

"She hit one of La Grenouille's men."

"Through a tinted window."

"In a car going forty miles an hour."

"Way to go, Jenny."

Abby also reveals to have found a pair of. . .underwear in the director's glove compartment and is now confused on what to do with it.

"Tony could go and ask her about it." I throw him under the bus. "After all, he's a very special agent."