The Smell of Death, a grim title; but, hopefully not a grim story.

I decided to have a little fun at Hodgins' and Daisy's expense.

I don't own Bones.

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The body had been found in a piece of woods next to the Rays Hill Tunnel in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. The tunnel was part of a bike trail and drew a lot of bike riders. A bike rider, who had brought his dog with him, had stopped outside of the eastern portal of the tunnel to let his dog, Rex, have a bathroom break and the dog had disappeared into the woods. Mike Benton had followed his dog into the woods, near the tunnel and had not been very happy when he stepped on a body. In fact, he had screamed like a young girl; but, the only ones who knew that were Mike and Rex. As far as Mike was concerned, anyone would have screamed if they had stepped in the middle of someone's gooey, melted stomach.

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Brennan was on maternity leave; so, Booth had brought Hodgins and Daisy with him to Bedford County, PA. It was Daisy's turn on the squintern rotation list; so, Daisy was the luck of the draw. Booth had stopped by the Jeffersonian with some misgivings and had picked up Hodgins, Daisy and their crime scene kits. The Pennsylvania State Police wasn't really sure if the victim had been murdered or not; but, since the body was very badly decomposed and had been partially consumed by creatures of the forest, who knew. They would have shipped the body to their own crime lab; but, the Sheriff of Bedford County had claimed jurisdiction and he had called Special Agent Booth to see if he could help out. Sheriff David Messersmith had worked with Booth and Brennan before and liked the fact that Booth and the Jeffersonian specialists had helped him solve a case very quickly a few years ago. Booth had been a little bored waiting for his partner to come back from maternity leave; so, he jumped on the case as soon as the Sheriff had called him.

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Arriving in Bedford County, Booth drove over to Bedford to see the Sheriff before proceeding to where the victim was.

Getting out of his truck, Booth said, "Ok, you two. Stay here while I go talk to Sheriff Messersmith. Once I've done that we're going to go look at the victim."

Nodding his head, Hodgins said, "Sure thing."

Daisy, trying to be professional, said, "Uh, Agent Booth. I need to use the restroom."

Sighing, Booth opened the door where Daisy was sitting and said, "The next time, why don't you just buy a bottle of water instead of a couple of Big Gulps."

Nodding her head, Daisy slid across the seat, got out of the truck and followed Booth into the building.

Walking into the reception area, Booth showed his badge to the deputy at the front desk and let him know that the Sheriff was waiting for him. Daisy, looking around, saw a public restroom and walked quickly over to the door and let herself in.

Sheriff David Messersmith, notified that he had company, walked into the reception area and said, "Agent Booth. Long time no see. I have one of my deputies guarding the body and some FBI squints showed up a little while ago. They're waiting for you to arrive."

Smiling, Booth shook the Sheriff's hand and said, "It has been a long time. As soon as my squint gets out of the bathroom, we can go."

Nodding, the Sheriff smiled and walked past Booth and left the building. Booth, impatient, waited for Daisy. Eventually Daisy left the room to find Booth staring at her as she exited the restroom.

"What? I had to go." Daisy said with a blush.

Shaking his head, Booth left the building with Daisy following. Getting into his truck, Booth waited for Daisy to get into the back seat and then signaled the Sheriff that he was ready to follow him.

Hodgins, amused at Booth's expression, said, "I bet you wish you had Dr. B with you instead of us."

Turning to look at Hodgins, Booth said, "You have no idea."

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Arriving at the Ray's Hill Tunnel, the Sheriff got out of his car and waited for Booth, Hodgins and Daisy to exit the truck. Pointing to the woods on the left side of the tunnel, the Sheriff walked towards the trees and brush. Booth, looking around, noticed a bike and back pack propped up next to the tunnel, close to the woods. A sheriff's deputy was standing next to them and she was looking a little bored.

Calling out to the Sheriff and his squints, Booth said, "I'm going to look at the backpack and see what I can find. You go and look at the body. I'll be along in a bit."

Nodding their heads, all three proceeded into the woods. Booth, walking over to the bike, nodded at the deputy, took a latex glove out of his jacket pocket and put it on his right hand. Using his gloved hand, Booth opened the bag and rummaged around seeing what he could find.

The deputy, curious and a little interested in the handsome FBI agent squatting next to her said, "The State police looked it over; but, left everything as they found it. Sheriff Messersmith told them not to take anything."

Nodding his head, Booth continued to look at the contents.

Not getting the response that she was looking for, Sheriff's Deputy Jay said, "There's only clothes, some food and a map of the bike trail in there."

Smiling, Booth looked at the deputy and said, "I'm going to have to take this with me when I go."

Standing up, Booth asked, "Do you know where the guy is who found the body?"

Smiling, Deputy Jay said, "Sure. He's staying at a motel in Breezewood. Sheriff Messersmith wanted him to stick around for awhile just in case you wanted to talk to him. I get off of my shift at 5 p.m. Would you like to go out for drinks? I know a bar that has a pretty good live band and they're playing tonight."

Shaking his head, Booth said, "Thanks; but, I'm pretty sure my partner wouldn't like it."

Frowning, Deputy Jay said, "You're not wearing a ring."

Looking at his left hand, Booth said, "Yeah, I know."

Taking off the latex glove on his right hand, Booth walked over to the woods and stepped in amongst the trees and brush.

Deputy Jay, shaking her head muttered, "Damn."

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Hodgins and Daisy had been examining the body when Booth walked up to them. Booth looking down at the body found a very badly decomposed body. Parts were missing and the head had been separated from the body and was lying over near some nearby bushes. The FBI squints were busy looking for the missing body bits and were recording everything they could find. Booth satisfied that everyone was doing their jobs walked over to where the Sheriff was standing.

Scratching his right ear, Booth asked, "Why didn't you just hand this over to the state police?"

Smiling, Sheriff Messersmith said, "The head of the state police, in this district, is my brother-in-law. He's divorcing my sister right now and I don't feel like dealing with him or his people."

Nodding his head, Booth said, "I'd like to interview the guy who found the body."

Looking at Daisy walking over to where the head was lying, Sheriff Messersmith said, "No problem."

Booth watched Daisy lean over the head and then saw her quickly straighten up.

Turning, Daisy said, "Dr. Hodgins, could you come here for a minute?"

Looking up, Hodgins stood up and walked over to where Daisy was standing and asked, "What's up?"

Pointing at the head, Daisy said, "The head is missing its mandible. I think I see it in the bushes. Do you want me to fish it out of the brush or do you want to look at where it's laying first?"

Smiling, Hodgins said, "I better look at it first. "

Getting on his hands and knees, Hodgins leaned over into the bushes and parted them to get a better look at the badly mangled jaw bone. Frowning, Daisy also got on her hands and knees and joined Hodgins in his examination.

Pointing at the mandible, Daisy said, "Something has been chewing on that."

Hearing a low growl, Hodgins and Daisy sat up on their knees. Looking at each other, Hodgins said, "Did you hear that?"

Nodding her head, Daisy said, "It sounded like a growl."

Before either could move, a skunk darted out of the bushes and sprayed Hodgins and Daisy. After confusing his enemy, the skunk waddled back into the bushes.

Coughing and gagging, Hodgins and Daisy stood up and scrubbed at their faces. Walking over to his crime scene kit, Hodgins took out two bottles of water. After throwing one at Daisy's feet, Hodgins opened up his bottle of water and poured it over his head, wiping his face down and then scrubbing his hands on the back of his coveralls.

Booth, gagging, walked a few feet further away from his squints and said, "If you think I'm letting you into my truck after this then you're out of your damn squinty minds."

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Well, what do you think? Does this sound interesting? Is it something you might want to read?

For those of you who are interested, I will be updating "Booth's Diary" tomorrow morning.