Lessons at Diner: Gut Instinct
Authors Note: At times I have felt that Booth hasn't been given enough credit for his intelligence and his perception about a crime. Also, Brennen seems to have a fixed opinion about everything. As an anthropologist, she would study the society and accept people's choices as they are irrespective of her personal opinion about the subject. And as a scientist, she would at least listen to hypothesis put forward by others before ruling out their opinion. She sometimes comes off as a snob who simply thinks that her opinions are better than others. The conversation that Booth and Brennen have in this story simply an attempt to see both of them in their core element. He – an FBI agent and she – a scientist and an academic.
Disclaimer: Bones and all the characters therein are owned by FOX, Hart Hanson and Kathy Reichs.
"The murderer knew the victim. The kill was personal."
Booth and Brennen were looking at photographs of the remains of a victim from their latest case. They were at the diner, sharing coffee, pie and reading various reports. Over the last few months, they had picked up the habit of summarizing their respective days at the diner over coffee before parting for the day.
"There is no forensic evidence to support that theory Booth. We haven't even been able to ID the victim yet. Is your conclusion based on some evidence that I might have overlooked or is that famous gut of yours talking?"
She smiled at him as she raised her coffee mug to take a sip. He looked at her for a moment more than necessary contemplating on his answer.
"There is no such thing as gut instinct Bones."
Her coffee mug stayed in the air as she stared at him, her hands stilled.
"For the last three years, you have been using that ruse to come up with lists of probable suspects, used it during interrogation and have deduced motives for the crime. Now you are saying "gut instinct" does not exist?"
He noted with glee that there was no smugness in her voice indicating that she had always been right about scoffing at his gut instinct nor were there any traces of anger for being lied to repeatedly over the years. This is how far their friendship had come; she was giving him a chance to explain, to tell her the real reasons for his action. She had settled her coffee mug away from her and was resting her chin on her left palm; her eyes were questioning, probing and silently asking him to explain everything to her. He briefly wondered if this is how she was in her younger days, during college and high school, soaking everything the professor would say, analyzing, debating and learning. He gulped down the remains of coffee from the mug and signaled to the waitress for a refill.
"I came to the conclusion based on the behavior evidence Bones. Behavior deduced from the crime scene and the way the victim was killed."
"You know I don't believe in psychology Booth. It's simply impossible to predict the right behavior of a person based on some guide book and assuming that people behave in a predictable manner."
"You are right Bones. It's not possible to predict the right behavior of an individual. But certain actions performed by people can be a consequence of their behavior. It's like reverse engineering; understanding the basics and fundamental principles of a technology based on the finished product."
"Can you give me an elaborate scientific analysis for this theory?"
Her tone held no malice; it was just inquisitive and a little challenging. He would have been disappointed if she had simply accepted his explanation. She was a scientist at heart, after all.
"We, humans, originated from a common gene pool, correct?"
"Yes. Over a period of time, the gene pools got mixed across the early races of humans thus having more exclusive races over thousands of years of evolution."
"Everything that we are and the things that we do are programmed in our genes. Human traits are passed along from one generation to other; be it genetic or by nurturing and teaching offspring about them. Thousands of years of evolution might have diluted some of these traits due to changes in social environment. But there are some traits that are still as strong as before. For example, the unconditional love that a parent has for his or her child didn't change during evolution or with time. It simply is, be it any era or culture or tribe."
She knew all of this, of course. This was anthropology 101, something she had read in her past time during her high school years and she was an expert on the subject with couple of Doctorates to boot. But hearing it from Booth was oddly refreshing. She felt as if she was hearing all of this for the first time. He rarely showed his intellect side and she decided to give him a chance to explain whatever he was getting at. They by nature were very private people; even when it came to their perception about things. Surely they were very opinionated about everything they talked about, but she rarely included her emotions in her opinions as her answers very mostly based on her studies of various cultures over the years. He based all his answers on his feelings and faith but here he was, sharing his personal point of view about her expertise, something that he had never done before. It felt nice. It felt intimate.
"I understand this analogy very well Booth. But how is it related to psychology?"
He was mildly surprised that she had not started any arguments on his reasoning. He formulated his next reasoning until the waitress who had bought coffee refill, left their table.
"We have established the fact that humans to a certain extent carry certain traits, correct?"
"Correct. At their core, a 16 year old in America thinks along the similar lines of a 16 year old in remote Amazonian tribe."
His laughter filled the air around them as he understood the subtext in her example and she felt happy that she was able to make him laugh that way, which was not so often.
"My so called gut instinct was simply analyzing these common traits that every human share; happiness, anger, jealousy, envy, pride, love, hate etc. Crime is committed when these emotions get out of hand and cannot be subdued or convinced otherwise by logical reasoning."
"But Booth, how can you come to conclusion by simply looking at pictures of the victim and by looking at the crime scene? You haven't even seen any living people in this case to analyze emotions."
He peered at her to see if she was annoyed or getting angry. He was relieved to see that she was simply impatient with the fact that she still did not have all the answers. It was one of the reasons why he respected her; her thirst for knowledge and truth.
"When you have a multiple choice question, say with four options, there are two ways to find the correct answer. One, you know the correct answer; two, by eliminating the incorrect answers by logical reasoning. Now when you see this crime scene, try to eliminate things that wont fit in the situation rather than guessing a very generic answer. Tell me, where was this victim found?"
"Victim was found thirty miles outside a small town. The area is well hidden by trees but it's not a very well known path to the hikers. That's why the body was in advanced stage of decomposition when it was found. No one had traveled in that road for quite a while."
"So can you assume that the killer knew where to dump the body then?"
"Yes. It's safe to assume that killer is probably a local or a hiker from out of town who visits this place quite often. He is familiar with the surroundings."
"How did the killer come to the crime scene?"
"He could have hiked or have come here by car."
"If I ask you to eliminate one of them, then what would be your deduction?"
"I really cannot do that Booth because I don't have enough evidence to choose the right answer. And since we are not guessing here, am not sure of the possibilities in this case."
"OK. Tell me what one thing that a criminal is afraid of is?"
"Leaving evidences at the crime scene which would eventually get him caught."
"Correct. If you want to get someone out of a small town, irrespective of the victim being dead or alive at that stage, will the killer be hiking? Won't there be a lot of witnesses?"
"Well, the killer might have simply snatched this victim from the hiking trail when no one was around. So he could have dragged the victim to the crime scene, finish the kill and walk back to the town. No one would suspect a thing." She liked the way they were challenging each other with logic. She had to admit that she liked this side of Booth very much.
"Yes, that's a probable scenario. Tell me about the victim now and we will revisit this scenario again, OK?"
"OK. The victim is a 27 year old Caucasian female and 165 centimeters tall. When we found her, her hands were tied at her back. She was shot in the head. After examining her, I can conclude that she was a very healthy woman and kept herself fit."
She sighed and looked outside the window. No matter how many times she had seen dead bodies on her examination table, every time she saw a new one, it felt like her first time. Sure, she had developed a clinical detachment to not to let it affect her sanity, but it came back to haunt her at odd times; while buying grocery, when she crossed a street or when she simply looked at people around her. Nightmares, she could deal with by giving some psychological hogwash as a reason; but it took her breath away when her work meddled with normalcy of everyday life. She felt a warm hand covering hers. He was looking at her with compassion and understanding. She smiled and nodded him to pick up the conversation.
"The victim and the killer were in a secluded hiking trail. Even if she had screamed, then there was no one to listen. So why did he tie her hands then?"
"It could be because she was a fighter and much stronger than the killer."
"In that case how did the killer drag her all the way to this secluded area and managed to tie her hands in the process?"
"The killer might have surprised her when he snatched her. He could have made her unconscious. Since there was no indication of trauma on her skull so it could have been chloroform."
"It could also be possible that she knew the killer and she went willingly with him. Isn't it? Did you find any traces of chloroform?"
"No, no traces of chloroform or any other chemicals for that matter."
"Now what does this conclusion leave us with?"
"The killer either knew the victim very well to go to the crime scene willingly or she could have been abducted by the killer."
"Now tell me Bones, how was the victim killed?"
"She was shot in her head which resulted in her immediate demise."
"Did your team find any evidence of torture?"
"Well, the body was highly decomposed when we received it. Cam's initial analysis didn't report a sexual abuse or any torture which could have reflected on the remains. If there were any superficial torture like cigarette burns or shallow cuts on her, then it's something that we cannot determine at this point. But given the level of decomposition, the results cannot be conclusive. Her bones show no evidence of fracture which could have happened in last one year."
"If I rule out the possibility of sexual component to this murder since it's not conclusive from forensic report anyway, then what other motive could the killer have? And why a gun shot? Why not stabbing repeatedly or bury her alive or burn her. They were in a secluded place, her hands were tied to her back and she was completely at her killer's mercy. Yet, the killer gave her a non-painful death. Well, as non-painful it can get."
"Do you honestly think I can answer this Booth? All this while I am simply giving you answers based on basic reasoning after understanding and analyzing your questions. I guess this is a stalemate now. I have no idea why the killer chose to shoot."
He smiled at her gently. He knew that she was rarely ended up in a situation where she had no answers or conversations where she had no control on. He took pride in the fact he was one of her friends' with whom she could let her guard down and be a human first and a forensic anthropologist later. And he didn't forget that she had only two close friends and he being one of them.
"We know how the victim was killed. Instead of questioning why the killer didn't kill any other way, let's try to find a reason why he chose to shoot. Who kills people by shooting at their head?" She thought for a moment.
"Soldiers. When the prisoners of war are executed, then they are shot in the head. It's a merciless way of killing a human without leaving any room for probability of a person actually making it alive. It's impossible for a person to be alive after being shot in the head and it's a quick way to execute."
"Either the killer was in a hurry or he didn't want to attract attention when he killed her in some other fashion. If he was in a hurry, then he could have killed her in the main hiking trail itself. He had gun with him; he could have simply ambushed her from behind and fire couple of shots and walked away."
"Maybe because he did have time and he wanted to tell her something before he killed her. He wanted complete privacy for this and so he took her to the crime scene. She was strong and fit and perhaps tried to scratch or hit him. So he tied her wrists behind her. He shot her because he didn't want to give her any option of living."
She looked as if she was asking him if she was correct in her analysis. He knew that no analysis is accurate, even in the current one had lots of loop holes. She knew that too and maybe that's why she was uncomfortable with her reasoning. She was a scientist; her observations are always based on presence or absence of physical entities that are tangible and can be quantified and measured. In her line of work, hypothesis to this extent was unheard of. She was looking at him expectantly for his verdict.
"Yes. That's how I came to the conclusion that the murderer knew the victim and it was personal." He paid for coffee and pies and they walked towards his vehicle.
"Hey Booth. Is it possible that some sick guy kidnapped this girl from some other town, killed her, accidentally discovered the spot, dumped her there and drove to other part of the country?" She was egging him.
"Yes, it's possible. There are thousands of possibilities for any given scenario Bones. Sometimes, solution lies in the simplest one."
"How will we know that?"
"We will know that when we solve this case Bones. For now, all we have to know is that a woman has been killed and her killer is out there."
"We will catch him Booth, like we have been doing all this while."
They had seen a little glimpse of each others perception; the way they arrived at a conclusion. He was happy to teach her something that he always took pride in and she was glad that it was he who taught her that.