Disclaimer: "Bones" is the property of Fox Broadcasting, Kathy Reichs, and Hart Hanson. The following story was written for pleasure only and not for personal profit in any way.
Chapter 1
They descended the stairs down into the subway station. He was filling her in on the details as they went.
"A driver thought he saw something just off the tracks. He couldn't be sure, but he said it was reflective, like an athletic shoe," Booth said, holding a ticket station gate open for her. "The driver radioed in and they sent maintenance to check it out. It is not all that uncommon to get homeless people down here; it's warm."
They reached the platform and Booth jumped the four-foot drop down to the subway tracks. She handed him her bag, then he reached up and helped her down, steadying her as she landed on the uneven ground.
"Thanks," said Brennan, taking the bag back.
They walked along the tracks a short ways until they could see lights ahead.
"We have the whole Subway shut down until we can get this cleaned up," the Agent added.
"Booth, you know I can't rush my initial inquiry," Brennan said, looking at her partner.
"I know that," he replied, smiling, "I just meant you don't have to worry about getting hit by a train, Bones."
They approached the crime scene, ducking under the yellow caution tape set up in a wide perimeter around the body. There were portable lights, flooding the tunnel with as much light as possible. Brennan slid her gloves on as she carefully approached the body. It was leaning against the wall of the subway tunnel.
"Male," she stated, as she knelt by the body. "Caucasian descent, early adolescence, I would say 13-15 years old. Advanced stage of decomposition, probably due to rats. I would guess he has been here two to five days."
"Cause of death?" inquired Booth as he stood behind her.
"I can't say," Brennan said, leaning over the body.
This was a not something Booth was used to when working with Brennan. "What?" he asked, making sure he had heard her right.
"There are multiple injuries; fractures to several ribs, femur, distal radius, compound fracture to the humerus, skull trauma, clavicle. Gunshot to the ilium and the upper thoracic cavity," she said as she worked her way though her assessment. "It's to early too determine which would have been the fatal injury."
"That's a lot of injuries. Was he hit by the subway?" Booth asked.
"No, I don't think so," she said, standing up and pointing her flashlight towards the ground at the victim's feet. "Look at the drag marks, here," she said, "and there." She moved towards the tracks, kneeling down for a better look. "There is blood here; it looks like he was beat and left on the tracks to be run over, but he managed to pull himself off and drag himself over to the wall," she said, standing back up and pointing her flashlight towards the body.
"Where he sat and died," Booth added, finishing her statement.
She looked up at him. "Yes," she said, making her way back over to the body.
"I'll need soil samples to three inches down and debris within a 20-foot radius. We also need to get pictures of everything before he is moved."
"You got it, Bones," he said, flipping his notepad shut.
--
"I've got a face for you," announced Angela, sliding her key card through the security device and climbing the stairs to the forensic area.
Brennan was leaning over what was left of the victim's body as Angela approached her. The brown-eyed woman handed her the sketch.
"Handsome kid," the artist remarked, trying to avoid looking at the skeleton on the table before her. "Who could do something like this to a kid?" she asked, to no one in particular.
"Very good, Ange," said Brennan, looking over the drawing in her hands. "Have you run a comparison between it and the photos in the NCIC database?" she asked, as she handed the picture back to her friend.
"The computer is running the comparison now," replied Angela. "Gosh, I hate the cases involving kids," she said, looking down at her feet.
"I know, Ange," said Brennan, putting her hand on the artist's shoulder. "We all do."
"Okay, what do you have for me?" inquired Booth, as he mounted the steps to join the ladies standing by the table.
"Well," began Brennan, taking a deep breath as she walked around the table, "our victim has a wide rage of injuries, all at different levels of healing. None of the fractures show signs of professional setting, meaning that they were not treated before the bones began remodeling. Based on the remodeling of the left femur, which is the one I date as the oldest injury, our victim had his leg broken three weeks ago. Stress fractures on the wrist, as well as bone markers in the shoulders, imply that he was restrained with his hands behind his back for at least that long.
"You mean he was held prisoner and tortured, then left on the subway tracks to be run over?" Angela asked, revulsion and disbelief evident in her voice.
Brennan looked at her friend for a moment, before continuing.
"The actual cause of death is here," she stated, pointing at the ribs on the right side of the body. You can see the cut marks going through the third and fourth ribs, which would have created a hemothorax."
"A hemo-what-ax?" asked Booth, looking a little confused.
"Hemorrhaging in the pleural cavity," Brennan stated, trying to clarify.
Booth looked at Angela. "Bleeding in the where?" he asked, in a quiet voice.
"Bleeding in the chest cavity, the space between the lungs and the walls of the chest," Brennan stated, giving him an incredulous look.
Booth spread his hands apart, shrugging slightly. "There. Would that really have been so hard to say to begin with, Bones?" he inquired, somewhat exasperated. They had been partners for over three years now, and while his medical jargon vocabulary had increased dramatically, he still found her hard to follow at times.
She gave him a patronizing look before continuing.
"The puncture here," she indicated the ribs again. "When the weapon went in, it lacerated the lung and the pleural cavity began filling with blood. It was not a large puncture, but over time, in this case four days, the area filled with blood and began putting pressure on the lungs, collapsing the right one and putting added strain on the heart. Eventually his body went into shock due to blood loss."
She paused, "It would become increasingly hard to breath and each breath would be excruciating," she said, almost to herself.
There was silence for a second or two before she shook her head slightly and continued. "This, coupled with extensive bleeding from several other injuries, mostly stab wounds and a subdural hematoma… he bled to death over the space of several days," She finished, clearly uncomfortable with the scenario. "I put this injury at six days ago, which corresponds with Hodgins' estimated time of death as two days ago.
"Oh my gosh," said Angela, putting her hand to her mouth. "He was just a kid…" she trailed off in a quiet, horrified voice.
"Ange," began Brennan, in a concerned and sympathetic tone.
"I'm sorry," the said artist quickly. "I'm okay, I just… I'm going to go check on the computer, see if it has found a match," she said, as she headed for the stairs.
Booth turned and walked a few paces towards the rail, a calculating look on his face.
"What?" inquired Brennan. "Have you seen something like this before?" she asked, watching him pace.
"It is hard to be sure, people are beat all the time and left for dead, but we have had a couple cases like this where the beating can really be considered torture; it spans several weeks and then the body is left where it will be smashed. We found one in a wrecking yard; the crew was smashing cars and found a body shoved in one," He said, still puzzling over the information. "It's almost impossible to get a lead in these case, but we suspected a drug lord who works the coast area.
"Trace element analysis complete," announced Hodgins, coming up the stairs. "I found all the normal bugs and slime from the subway, as well as rat activity. I also found traces of heroin in his hair, but not in the concentrations that suggests use."
"What do you mean?" asked Brennan, folding her arms across her chest.
"With Cam on vacation, the tox screen will take longer. However, my findings suggest that he used heroin, worked with it, or was around it; but either stopped using it months ago or just has residual particulates from handling or being around it. I also found traces of Pheynl-2-Propane, Phenylacetone, Phenylpropanolamine, paint thinner, freon, acetone and gasoline," he said, looking at Booth.
"All common ingredients in making meth," stated the Agent.
"Exactly," continued Hodgins. "I also found traces of polyolefin, a polymer used in synthetic lubricants, more commonly known as two stroke oil."
"What is two stroke oil?" asked Brennan.
"It is oil used in two stroke engines" he replied.
Hodgins loved it when he knew something that Dr. Brennan didn't. Smiling in a self-satisfied way, he continued. "Two stroke engines don't work the same as four stroke engines. They have to have oil mixed with the fuel before they are run, to help lubricate the moving parts.
"What has two stroke engines?" she inquired.
"Chain saws, motor cycles, outboard motors, lawn mowers- they are fairly common. However, I also found E-glass fibers, marine fiberglass. Our victim spent some time on a boat, likely one with an outboard motor, shortly before he died," he finished, handing his file to Brennan.
"I found him," said Angela. She had come back and was standing at the top of the stairs.
Everyone moved to follow her, as she walked to a computer and began pulling up the match from the NCIC database.
"Meet Evan Jensen," she said, turning to look at the group gathered around her, "he was 14."
"He was picked up for shoplifting three years ago," said Booth, leaning closer to the screen to read the details next to the picture. "Come on, we can pick up the file on the way," he said, moving towards the stair.
"On the way where?" asked Brennan, quickly taking off her lab coat as she followed the taller man towards the exit.
Booth stopped and turned back towards the anthropologist. "On the way to tell his family we found him and find out why, if he has been held captive for the last three weeks, there is no missing person's report," he said, before continuing out the door.
To Be Continued…