Chapter 2
Phoenix Police Headquarters, Sunday at 3:00 pm, Mountain Time
Booth and Brennan entered the police station and were immediately met by Officer Chambliss who took them to see the Sheriff.
"Sheriff Bosch, this is Special Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan," the officer informed his superior.
"Thank you Chambliss. That'll be all," the Sheriff said. The younger man nodded and quickly scooted back to his desk. Bosch turned to the two partners and offered them seats across from his desk. They took them and then Booth got down to business.
"We understand you have an interesting case out here," the FBI agent said.
"That we do, although we already have some suspects in custody so I'm not sure how your assistance will be needed," Bosch was a gruff man who obviously didn't want the FBI stepping into his jurisdiction.
"You call those two jokers exploding cacti your suspects when you haven't even identified the body?" Brennan asked. She was thoroughly confused as to how the dots had been connected.
"They were shooting off illegal fireworks and exploding giant saguaro cacti, which are a protected species. Plus the shotgun is registered in Texas. Being college kids, at the end of the semester they'll go home and we won't be able to do anything about it. All those crimes they committed last night are mostly misdemeanors, hardly extradition worthy," the Sheriff explained.
"So you'd like to tie them to the murder while you've got them in custody. Well why don't we let my partner do her thing before we go charging these kids with anything else. They'd have no reason to expose the place they buried the body," Booth made an excellent point and that earned him a stare from the Sheriff.
"All right. Follow Officer Chambliss out to the scene. We left everything intact. Dr. Riley is still out there along with the crime scene unit," with that the meeting was over and the partners exited his office and met up with the officer.
"Is he always like that?" Booth asked.
"Only lately. He's six months away from retiring. I guess he just doesn't know what to do after," Chambliss shrugged as they walked out into the Arizona heat.
"I see," the G-man nodded but didn't say anything further. Brennan wondered what the significance was and reminded herself to ask him later.
Crime Scene, Sunday at 4:30 pm, Mountain Time
"Dr. Riley, this here is Special Agent Booth of the FBI and Dr. Brennan of the Jeffersonian," Chambliss introduced them to the elderly gentlemen. He was balding but still maintained much of his silver hair and wore a goatee. In order to keep cool, he wore khaki shorts and a white button down shirt under his coroner's office windbreaker.
"It's very nice to meet you although I wish it was under better circumstances," the coroner smiled and shook both their hands.
"Likewise Doc. So what have you got?" Booth asked.
"Last night upon the explosion of this cactus, our officers discovered a right hand and radius and ulna," Riley led them over to one of the tents that had been set up and showed off the bones.
"As you can see, no flesh remains. In this desert, that isn't surprising. Most desert animals will feed on a corpse at night and with the high temperatures and wind blown sand, flesh tends to decay quickly," he continued.
"I can imagine, Dr. Riley," Brennan took out some latex gloves from the pocket of her Jeffersonian jumpsuit. Booth had said she could change in the rented SUV and she had objected at first but was glad she had changed. The heat allowed her to wear nothing but her undergarments underneath the suit, a fact Booth would like to hear later, she was sure.
With the gloves on, the forensic anthropologist picked up the bones and examined them. Something troubled her and she turned to the coroner.
"Dr. Riley, where are the distal and intermediate phalanges for this hand?"
"Please call me Ted. As for those poor fingertips, they were lost in the explosion of the M80's I'm afraid. I have the forensic team looking for shards and uncovering the rest of the body," he informed her.
"Are we sure that's what happened?" Booth asked.
"Oh yes. The big desert animals such as the coyote would not go for such a boney prospect when eating and once buried the remainder of the body seems relatively intact. Plus there is this," he led them out to another tent which held the remains of the cactus.
"Do you see the slice in the truck?" Riley wondered.
"Yes," Booth nodded.
"We picked this out of it," the coroner pointed to a bone shard that lie on the table.
"Ah that would explain it," the G-man said.
"Any cause of death yet?" Brennan changed the subject.
"Without the full body exhumed from the sand dune, it is hard to say but I would hazard a guess in saying that the body has been here at least three years," Riley told them. The forensic anthropologist nodded and walked over to where the forensic unit was brushing the sand off with brushes similar to those used by an archeologist.
"I need you to send all of this evidence, including the body back to the Jeffersonian once I've had the opportunity to examine it," she said as the doctor and her partner approached her from the tent.
"Of course. As soon as we get our poor victim out of there, everything will head back to the Jeffersonian. Is there anything else you need?" Ted wondered.
"Here is my cell phone number Doc. Call me when you've got the body back to your office. We've got to check in with the Phoenix field office. I've had them running some things for me and now I can help narrow the search with your time estimate," Booth smiled and handed the older man his card.
"Excellent. With any luck you'll hear from me by sundown," the coroner smiled and headed back to the site and Booth and Brennan walked back to the SUV.
"What did you have running at the field office?" His partner asked once they were inside the SUV and headed away from the crime scene.
"I had them running missing persons cases and background checks on the two kids they arrested yesterday. Plus we have to check into our hotel and find something to eat because my stomach can't take it anymore," he explained. As if to emphasize his point, his stomach gurgled.
"I see," Brennan smirked.
To Be Continued…