Alice Story part 2

Dead and Unburied

"Make sure you capture the back of his head, too, if you would be so kind," Ducky says to McGee and Jimmy about the dead, almost decomposed body sitting in the chair in the living room of a house for sale that was found today.

"Yeah got it," McGee agrees as he begins rushing around to photo it, bumping into Jimmy.

"Sorry!" Jimmy says.

"Sorry!" McGee overlaps him.

"There's no rush, gentlemen. Our patient isn't going anywhere," Ducky explains to them.

"Well, Ducky, the old Gibbs is back."

"The old Gibbs?"

"McGee! Over here. Hands and knees. On the floor," Gibbs orders McGee as he walks into the crime scene and ordering McGee around, showing us that he has shaved his moustache off.

"Okay. Um... you're not going to step on me, are you?" McGee asks Gibbs in gear, but Gibbs gives him a quizzed look making McGee releases, "Footprints! Footprints. Looking for footprints. It's a pretty tight weave."

"It looks like sisal. It's a naturally stiff fibre, woven from the leaf of the cactus plant. It doesn't mat, trap dust or build static. Makes it ideal for carpeting but personally, I prefer a good shag," Ducky explains making us give him a look making him add, "From a criminal-investigative standpoint."

"I don't see any dirty footprints."

"I didn't think it's safe to assume that our friend didn't stroll in here on his own."

"You look happy to see me, boss!" Tony exclaims as he walks into the crime scene carrying a coffee and Gibbs grins at him. Gibbs snatches the coffee and ignores Tony making him ass, "Oh, it's the coffee. Ran the military ID our local LEOs got off the body. Lance corporal James Finn stationed at Quantico. Went UA when his unit was shipped to Iraq six months ago."

"Looks like he's got a pretty good reason for not showing," McGee comments.

"Find out where he was buried?" I ask the boys as I look out our poor victim.

"It won't be fair, McGee. Had the trip been longer, some bits would have fallen off," Ducky informs us.

"Okay, I'll check the backyard," McGee says before leaving to look for the crime scene.

"Scene's not going to sketch itself," Tony mumbles before getting the gear to sketch the crime scene but Jimmy bumps into him.

"Perhaps it would be better if you fetch the gurney, Mister Palmer. I've seen all I need to see here," Ducky orders his gremlin.

"Yes, Doctor," Jimmy says before walking off to get it.

"Tony," I call his attention before handing him my sketch of the crime scene, but I understand if he wants to do a better one.

"Thanks Alice. You make my life easier," Tony exclaims as he grabs the measure to get the crime scene measurements for the report.

"I do try."

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"IT's a tidy crime scene," Tony comments on the crime scene after a while of working it.

"Quite. It appears to be a body drop. A tertiary crime scene. Or quaternary. Or quinary. I could go on," Ducky rambles.

"Oh, you did. It's an odd decorating choice. Although the corpse does give the place a certain lived-in look."

"Don't tell Abby or she'll want one," I explain to the boys making them smile at me in understanding.

"You can see, he brushed the dirt off his face," Ducky explains to us and pointed to the brush marks on the victims face.