2
"I'm sorry, Doctor Sweets is unavailable."
"What? Sweets is always available! He has no life!"
"I'm sorry Agent Booth, Doctor Sweets is on temporary leave."
"Temporary leave? We need a profiler!"
"I apologize, Agent Booth."
"There is a psycho out there who shoots people, chops their heads off, then mulches them! Don't you think that that's more important than Sweet's little Star Trek convention or whatever he's doing?"
"Sorry, Agent Booth."
Booth
glared at his phone and snapped it shut. "Well, start looking for a
profiler, Bones. Sweets is on 'temporary leave'."
"The
FBI assigns new profilers. But Sweets was the only one."
"They have agents with profiler backgrounds, or ex-agents they can call. They'll pull one out of the woodwork."
"I hope so." Bones pulled on her gloves and surveyed the victim's remains. "Because this has got to be one twisted person."
Other than the skull, it was impossible to tell that the corpse was human. The mulcher, usually used for shredding decomposed leaves into mulch for your garden, had done a thorough job in mutilating the body. The misshapen hunks were spread out and placed where they were anatomically. Zack hadn't cleaned the bones yet, as they were still gathering particulates, and subsequently the entire scene was made worse by the smell. Even Bones was wearing a mask. She picked up what had once been a hand and squinted at it.
"There's something here-" She tore back the flesh with a nasty sound, (Booth retched) and extracted a twisted lump of silver.
"Silver embedded in one of the phalanges. It must have been a ring."
"Wedding band?" Covering his mouth and nose, Booth leaned in for a closer look.
"Wrong hand…" She said slowly, turning it over in her gloved palm. "I'll see if Angela can pull a design from it. This might give us a clue as to who the victim was."
"He was Edward Hastings." Zack came onto the lab platform, holding dental records, a picture of a man, and a file. "Angela's skull reconstruction got a hit- Dental records confirm it was Edward Hastings, age 53 from Bethesda, Maryland."
Booth took the man's records. A tall, burly man stared at him from the photo. His white hair stood in contrast with his dark skin. He was heavily built, with the look of a muscular man gone slightly to seed. He was laughing in the picture. Booth frowned.
"If he was wearing a ring, this photo doesn't help. Its from waist-up."
"Does he have any relatives?"
"A wife who lived with him in Bethesda."
"I guess we have to tell her."
"Yeah. But hey, look on the bright side Bones." He flashed his charm smile. "At least we can have our dinner tonight."
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Booth rapped loudly on the door of a large brick mansion sprinkled in vines. Spacious horse pastures surrounded the property, which seemed to go on forever. The fall air nipped at their noses as they stood on the enormous porch, listening to the wind whistle in the trees.
Booth turned to Bones. "Makes you want apple cider, doesn't it?"
"I've never had it."
He looked shocked and began to say something, but the door opened. A short, older African American woman looked curiously at them.
"Can I help you?" Bones noticed that even in the dim light, the woman was very pretty. Booth flashed his badge.
"Mrs. Hastings?"
"That's right."
"I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth with the FBI. This is my partner, Doctor Temperance Brennan. May we come in?"
"Why yes, of course. Is this about Edward?"
"Yes ma'am. I think you'd better sit down."
"He's been missing for days. The police haven't contacted me-" Her voice rose in panic as she led them through the large, echoing mansion and into an enormous sitting room with three intricately carved marble fireplaces, high, arched windows, and a huge chandelier. A piano brooded in one corner, and five armchairs rested around the various fireplaces. Booth sat in one of the chairs and realized that it was an antique. Despite all the finery, the room was still oddly bare.
"Mrs. Hastings, we've found your husband."
"You found Edward? Is he all right? Is he hurt?"
Booth shared a look with Bones. "Mrs. Hastings we…. Regret to inform you that your husband was found- not alive." He grimaced as the woman's face twisted into a look of grief.
"We're very sorry for your loss."
"Oh! Oh god. Ed-Edward!" She began sobbing into her hands. Bones, who was sitting closest to her, awkwardly patted her on the back.
"Mrs. Hastings," Said Bones, working hard to convey her sorrow, "I understand that you are in considerable grief right now, but it would be very helpful to solving your husband's murder if-"
"M-murder?" She squeaked, and Bones realized that she had again said the wrong thing. Booth answered before Bones could.
"We're still working on the details, ma'am."
Bones spoke up again. "Mrs. Hastings, could you tell us what your husband wore on his right index finger?"
"A ring." Mrs. Hastings looked confused. "But I don't see how that will help."
"What kind of ring?"
"I-I don't know. He would never tell me- but I asked all the time. He was very secretive about it."
"I see." Bones wondered how Angela was coming with the ring design. Booth turned back to Mrs. Hastings.
"Ma'am, could you tell us if your husband had any enemies?"
"No." She dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief. Booth didn't think anyone actually had those anymore. "His whole life revolved around this home and this farm. His horses were his passion. You could never find him indoors."
"Thank you. If you have any more information, please contact us. We'll be in touch."
………………………………………………………………………………...
"Doctor Brennan!" Hodgins was waiting outside Bones' office when she and Booth returned. "Doctor Brennan, I found something. I think I know where our victim was killed."
"Good job Hodgins. That was quicker than I expected. How did you find it?"
"Well, I discovered, as Zack was cleaning the Bones, that Edward Hasting's shoes must have been put through the mulcher with him. I found a small piece of tread that had some particulates in it- there is pollen from a Kalmia Latifolia, or Mountain Laurel. They only grow in Maryland in moist, forested areas. The victim walked over the fallen flowers of one at very most an hour before his death. Are there any forests near where the victim lives?"
"Well he has a large farm- there are probably trails there through the woods. We'll ask his wife."
"If you need to find some, I'll come along- I can recognize the species."
"Alright."
"Brennan!" Angela hurried over. "I finished reconstructing the symbol on that ring! Take a look."
Bones and Booth retraced Angela's steps back into her office. On her computer screen was an image of a square and compass with a large, ornate 'G' in the center. Booth blinked.
"Free Masons." He looked at Bones. "That's the Free Mason's symbol."
Angela nodded. "I don't really get what it is…"
"It's a type of fraternal organization that uses masonry and architecture symbolism as an ongoing metaphor." Said Bones. "How did you know it was a free masonry ring, Booth?"
He shrugged. "My dad had one."
"You should ask Hodgins about it. He knows all about secret societies and stuff." Angela printed out a picture of the symbol. "Show him this."
………………………………………………………………………………
"Woah!" Hodgins' eyes glinted as he snatched paper out of Booth's hand. "Our victim was a free mason? Excellent!"
"Right, Hodgins. Lets cut to the chase; what do you know about them?" Booth ripped the paper from his hands. Hodgins calmly took it back.
"It's a fraternal society-"
"Metaphors, symbols, yadda yadda yadda. Yeah. Bones already told us the facts. What do you know?"
"Freemasons hold their meetings at Lodges which have their own jurisdiction. They use signs, grips, which are gestures, tokens, or words to gain admission to the meetings."
"And what are the meetings for?"
"Discussions."
"About what?" Booth took the paper back, more forcefully this time.
"About the stonemasonry metaphor and a bunch of other stuff. The contents of their meetings are strictly hush-hush. They aren't allowed to discuss politics or religion, though."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. They can only refer to 'The Great Architect of the Universe', because all religions are accepted. You have to believe in a supreme being to become a freemason. One of the reasons I never did."
"Great. Do you have anything else?"
"Their motto is 'brotherly love, relief, and truth.' "
"Thanks Hodgins."
"No problem."
As Booth was walking away, Hodgins called after him; "Is it true Doctor B's ex is back?"
"Yeah."
"Dude!" Hodgins shook his head sympathetically. "That sucks."
………………………………………………………………………………...
"Why yes, the last time I saw Edward he was going riding on our trails. But Whitney came back without him." Mrs. Hasting's eyes filled with tears.
"We're going to need Whitney's address." Booth looked away as she cried.
"Oh!" she gave a watery chuckle. "Whitney was Edward's favorite horse, Agent Booth. He came back with an empty saddle. He was very spooked." She sighed. "We looked all over those woods for Edward and never found a thing."
"Bones, what are you doing?"
Bones turned away from the window where she had been staring intently at the distant trees. "Mrs. Hastings, do you have any Mountain Laurel on your trails?"
"Any what? Oh. Plants." Her face fell slightly. "No, I never really had much to do with the farm or the horses… I- I'll always regret that…" She trailed off, looking troubled. Then she continued, briskly; "No, for that sort of thing you'll have to ask our foreman, Dave. He can tell you."
"Where can we find him?"
"Either at the barn or at his new house." She laughed dryly. "Edward said his "best friend" couldn't live in a double-wide while he kicked back in a mansion. His med-life crisis come a little late, you might call it. He built Dave a house almost as big as ours- and more modern." She gazed off into the distance, smiling slightly. "I called him silly at the time, but he was always doing things like that- nice things for other people. I can't see why anyone would want to kill him."
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The next chapter should be coming later today- Also, any ideas for the Sully/Booth front are welcome- I'll include the best ones in one of my later chapters! Thanks ~Lizzy88
