The team entered Abby's lab to find the Forensic Specialist bouncing along to the noise she called music while typing on her keyboard. She was made aware of their presence when Gibbs turned down her music and handed her a CAF-POW! drink.
"What have you got for me Abbs?"
"Well Mr. Boss-Man-Sir, since you bribed so nicely, I'll tell you! Based on the length and curve of the tire marks left near the victim, it looks as though the driver saw something in the middle of the road and slammed on the brakes, swerving a little to make sure they missed it. But… where the marks are in relation to where to body was found, as well as the angle the car would have been facing, it doesn't look like our Petty Officer was the one they were trying to miss."
Gibbs turned around and was about to head out when Abby let out a loud whining "Giiiiibbbbsss!!!"
"What, Abby?"
Abby gave him her ‘let me finish' look, which she had perfected over the years of working with Gibbs.
"I had a look at Tony's scene sketches and measurements, and by the looks of things, that bit of blood you guys found a few feet from the victim is more likely to be what the driver was braking for. SO… I ran the sample Ziva brought back for me, as well as the fingerprints from the handle of the knife used to stab Petty Officer Connors, and sure enough, we have a match!"
Abby bounced on the balls of her feet excitedly, with a huge grin on her face.
"And? Who is it?"
Abby spun towards her computer and brought up a profile of a gorgeous young woman on the plasma screen.
"Faith Lehaine."
"That's good work Abbs."
Gibbs gave Abby a kiss on the top of her head and the team left for the bullpen, leaving Abby beaming.
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"Faith Lehaine. Age 22. Born in New Jersey, but moved a bit as a kid. Family were killed in mysterious circumstances a few years back. Lehaine was taken in by a friend of the family, who also mysteriously died not too long after that. She then disappeared for a while, but ended up in a Californian town called Sunnydale where she stabbed the Deputy Mayor in the chest with a wooden stake, of all things, and was stabbed herself not too long after that and put into a coma before the police were able to arrest her."
Again, Ziva smoothly took over from Tony.
"The police had a guard at her door at all times for the first couple of weeks, but Sunnydale is a small town, and the police force there is only a few officers, so when the doctors informed them that she was unlikely to wake up and if she did she wouldn't be physically capable of running, they abandoned her watch."
This time, McGee cut in.
"I just got off the phone to Sunnydale Memorial Hospital, where Lehaine was during her coma. They say her stats were all stable, with no change of any kind from the day she was admitted to the morning of her escape when the doctors made their rounds, 3 days ago. She was checked on that morning, and when the nurses were signing over to the afternoon shift at 0200 they found her bed empty. They called the local LEOs, who apparently came immediately."
At this point, Tony took up the thread again.
"The police arrived at the hospital at around 0215 and began searching for her. Although they didn't find Lehaine, they did find a lady of similar build unconscious and stuffed in a cleaner's closet wearing a hospital gown. Once she came around they found she wasn't a patient, but a visitor coming to see her sick father."
"Lehaine must have taken her clothes, Boss."
"Ya think, McGee?
"Sorry Boss. Umm, upon asking around the area and questioning people at the Sunnydale Bus Depot they found that Lehaine had been sighted getting on a but to Los Angeles soon after her escape. From there the Sunnydale police let the LA guys know, but were keen to get rid of the case, so didn't follow up any further."
Ziva went to her computer and put numerous photographs onto the plasma.
"These are pictures from various security cameras between here and Los Angeles, mostly bus and train stops and gas stations. It seems she was trying to throw off anyone who may have been tracking her, since she took a very zag-ziggy route, but Washington was almost certainly where she was heading."
"Zig-zag Ziva, not zag-zig."
"Are they not the same thing, Tony?"
"No. Zig-zag is how it is said. Zag-zig sounds stupid."
Gibbs slapped both of them upside the head.
"Has she been seen since the Petty Officer's death?"
"No boss. We have no idea where she is."
Gibbs gave his patented Gibbs-glare.
"…But we will find her, Boss!"
Author's Chapter Notes:
The team get Faith's specs.
Chapter End Notes:
Same as before...