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'NCIS' Season 17 Episode 3 murder weapon has fans in splits with garden gnome puns

Labeled the 'Gnome murder', the team finds a garden gnome's pointy head smeared with the victim's blood when they investigate the scene.

This article contains spoilers for Season 17, Episode 3.

'NCIS' season 17 just aired its third episode and while it was yet another rivetting murder crime that our team of experts got to the bottom of, the murder weapon is what had fans in splits. The investigation focused on two brothers - Elijah and Peter - who owned a trailer park until Elijah mysteriously gets murdered by a garden gnome. That's right, you didn't read that wrong. It all started when the team was tipped off to investigate the body of a grown man found lying under an eighteen-wheeler. 

Labeled the 'Gnome murder', the team finds a garden gnome figure with the gnome's pointy had smeared with the victim's blood when they go to investigate the scene, even though the victim's body was found lying under the vehicle. The vehicle's driver had no idea of the body which had been lying there for a good two to three days, based on how decomposed it was. Suspicious as it sounds, considering the driver would have smelled the decay, he justified his lack of knowledge claiming he hadn't been around the area in the past few days.

It was only when the driver was going through a routine check with the naval yard that he found the body and the shabby state the truck was in vouched for his reasons of not having spotted the body earlier. And as the team moved on from the driver, their focus shifted to the murder weapon itself - the bloody garden gnome. Literally. Based on the theory that the garden gnome must belong to some of the other gardens, they were also able to identify the body, and subsequently, the murderer. But before they could reach their conclusion, what they poured the entire episode with, were gnome puns that fans are having a hard time digesting without rolling their eyes, and breaking into fits of laughter, in equal parts.

Taking to Twitter, fans couldn't contain their snark and sarcasm on the gnome murder as they expressed how hilarious, yet twisted the idea was. User @RoxRolls wrote: "Death by garden gnome. Man, I hate it when that happens." Jumping on the spook wagon, user @Chasing_Liz shared: "Death by garden gnome! I have a new phobia now." And on a more insightful note, user @JBraxt29 remarked: "Death by garden gnome" It was only a matter of time before those little devils woke up and made their move!"

'NCIS' season 17 airs on Tuesdays at 9 pm, only on CBS.