The Girls In The Ground
Bones / Beauty And The Beast
by Thomas Mc

Chapter 2

Early the next morning Booth, Brennan and a group of New York police officers began sweeping the area with the Ground Penetrating Radar unit. A small tight group made up of Elliot Burch, District Attorney Joseph Maxwell, ADA Catherine Chandler, and FBI Agent James McClendon stood off to the side keenly observing the whole operation. Something about those four people continued to bother Booth but he couldn't put his finger on what that might be. He found his eye often drawn to those four when his attention wasn't focused on the next body to be uncovered. Every time a new body was uncovered there would be a spate of quietly intense conversation between them.

The one time he approached them during one of these discussions they immediately stopped talking and looked at him with an air of nervous expectation.

By noon they had uncovered a total of nine skeletons. Eight of the skeletons, Brennan had identified as teenage females. The ninth skeleton appeared to be that of a tiny malformed fetus. Brennan spotted marks on the wrist bones of the skeleton found with the fetus as being common in suicide cases. Specialized crews began packing the skeletons and soil samples for shipment.

Everyone became very interested when a twelve inch by ten inch by five inch, locked, metal box was found in the mound of loose earth at the back of the site. Inside the box they found ten empty folders. Seven of the folders were labeled 'SUBJECT' and the numbers '1', '2', '3', '5', '6', '7' and '8' across the top, and had a large red [FAILED] stamped on the front. Two more folders for subjects '4' and '9' had 'Escaped' written with multiple dark underlines in a harsh angular script across the front. Booth noticed that those two folders were of particular interest to the four observers he had been watching. The folder for subject '10' had 'Suicide' scrawled across it in the same angry style as the two that said 'Escaped'.

Just as they were about to pack up the radar unit Brennan stopped them. "I want to reexamine area J4 again." She explained. A few minutes later she pointed to the screen. "There. Those irregular smudges."

"The ground is full of smudges like that." The operator complained. "It's just variations in the soil density."

"I realize that." She responded. "But those seven smudges form a nearly straight line." She pointed to the spots that she had noticed. "I want to have an area about three feet in diameter carefully removed intact from those locations."

The rest of the afternoon was spent packing the seven anomalous sections for shipment to the Jeffersonian along with the nine skeletons..

~ o ~

Late in the afternoon in a conference room at the Jeffersonian, the rest of the 'squints' crew,as Booth often called them, were in a teleconference with Booth and Brennan back in New York. Doctor Brennan was speaking. "So far we have unearthed the skeletons of eight young females, all of which were between the age of 15 and 19 when they died. With one exception they were all killed within an hour of giving birth. There is also the skeleton of a malformed fetus found with the one that had not given birth. The fetus appears to have been in the seventh month of development when the mother killed herself" She frowned in annoyance. That infant skeleton bothered her a lot for several reasons.

"Oh my God!" Angela exclaimed in horror as she shifted closer to her husband, Jack Hodgkins.

Booth spoke next. "The nine skeletons have been shipped to the Jeffersonian and should arrive by tomorrow morning. I want a complete workup on them. I want to know who they were and how they ended up here and I want to know how each of them died. I'm particularly interested in anything you find out about the fetus. Hodgkins, each of the skeletons is accompanied by the soil where they were found. We need everything that you can learn from those samples. There are also seven other containers of soil being sent to you. Bones wants you to look for anything unusual in the makeup of those seven samples." Booth paused and glanced up past the camera, nodded, then continued. "Angela, I need those identifications as soon as possible."

~ o ~

That evening Booth and Brennan were again sitting in a corner table at the diner near their hotel discussing the case. Brennan was speaking. "There doesn't seem to be much left for us to do here. According to Joe Maxwell and Cathy Chandler, the primary suspect died forty years ago. The only other possible lead was his son who died nineteen years ago. We can identify the cause of death but the most likely suspects are dead. The only thing left is to identify those girls and notify their families." She paused a moment. "I still can't get that unborn fetus out of my mind. I've never seen any type of birth defect like that before. There was something almost cat like about its skull. When I first saw it I thought it was some kind of hoax but when I examined it I could find no indications of tampering. Based on my initial examination, the skeleton appears to be complete and all of the bones fit together like they belonged." She shook her head, lost momentarily in her own thoughts. Something about the implications suggested by that infant skeleton offended her extremely rational mind

Booth was looking down at his plate and frowning as he spoke. "I don't think we're really done here yet. I'm sure there is something more going on here than what we're being told."

Brennan cocked her head at him curiously. "You still feel like there is something else going on?"

"It's mostly a gut feeling." He looked up at her. "I know you don't believe in irrational things like feelings and intuition." He took a deep breath and let it out. "And who knows how much having a chunk of my brain removed has affected my judgment . . ." His voice tailed off in self doubt.

Brennan shook her head. "Intuition is a myth. Buuut . . . the unconscious mind sometimes notices things that the conscious mind misses and the conclusions are produced by the conscious mind are misinterpreted as intuition." She placed her hand over his to still its nervous movement. "I don't believe in intuition but I believe in you. You still have the ability to see things in other people that the rest of us miss and that operation did not affect that part of who you are." She released his hand. "So what is it that you have noticed?"

Booth paused in thought then began to speak slowly with deliberation. "It's hard to pin down but there was something about the looks being exchanged between Chandler, Burch, Maxwell and Agent McClendon . . . there was definitely something going on there. I would say that they know more than what they've told us. I can't forget the look on Miss Chandler's face when they found the infant. I would swear that I saw a look of recognition flicker across her face." He paused a moment in thought then he looked back at Brennan with renewed conviction in his gaze. "There is something else going on here and I intend to find out what it is."

~ o ~

On the rooftop garden of their brownstone Catherine rested her head against the frightening creature's very solid safe chest and spoke softly. "Oh, Vincent, it was horrible . . . Those poor girls . . . There were so many of them." A moment after she said those words Vincent's head dropped and she felt a deep sadness settle over him. She laid her hand on his forearm. "What is it Vincent, what's wrong?"

Vincent looked up at her, a pensive frown covered his face. "All those young innocent lives lost." He shook his head. "I'm alive because those girls died." He sighed. "It just doesn't seem right." He turned his face away from her.

Catherine shook her head as her voice took on the determined tone she used when making a point in court. "You were not responsible for those girls' deaths, Julian was!" She touched the side of his face and forced him to look at her. "Every life is precious regardless of the circumstances of its origins. We know that at least two of the children currently living in the tunnels are the result of rape and then were abandoned. Do you hold them guilty of the way they came into existence?"

Vincent shook his head. "No, they are blameless."

She smiled gently in victory. "Then you should use that same judgment in regard to your own situation."

Vincent nodded, conceding the point. He never could win against her highly trained courtroom skills. He gently stroked her back with one clawed furry hand as he paused in thought then decided on a slight change of subject. "You said that there were two folders marked 'Escaped'?"

Catherine nodded. "Yes, the ones marked 'Subject 4' and 'Subject 9'." She looked up at his face. "I wonder which one was Jennifer?"

Vincent shook his head. "I don't know if there is any way to tell." He became lost in thought for several seconds then he spoke. "There were two escapes. That means there could be another like me out there." His attention returned to Catherine. "Remember that unusual looking man we saw at the Renaissance Faire four years ago? I'm half convinced that what we saw may have been his true appearance."

She frowned up at him as she considered his remark.. "The other escapee?" She pulled back her head to see his face better. "Do you think it really could be him?"

Vincent shook his head. "I don't know. It does seem pretty far fetched . . ." He shrugged, giving her a slight smile.. "But then again . . . look at me."

Catherine nodded. "You have a point." She looked out at the park for a moment. "Should we tell your mother?"

"This will become a major news story by tomorrow. She will find out." Vincent turned to look out over the park. "She once told me that she thought she saw evidence that she was not the only one to fall victim to Julian's evil." He tightened his embrace. "She has always believed there must have been others."

Catherine heaved a great sigh. "For your sake and for the sake of that other one that might be out there I have to get this case closed quickly so that those two from Washington will go back where they came from." She shook her head, frowning. "My biggest fear is that the investigation might somehow lead them to your mother or to you."

Vincent responded. "I'm sure you will manage." He took her shoulders and turned her to face him. "But for now I would rather think about us." He again enfolded her in his arms. "Let tomorrow take care of itself." He turned and led her back into their home.

~ o ~

The next evening, eight skeletons were laid out at the Jeffersonian forensics lab. The tiny ninth skeleton was set aside for later study. Doctor Camille Saroyan, Cam to her friends, was speaking to the computer image of Booth and Brennan. "All eight girls died somewhere between 1950 and 1956. That is the best we can do after this much time. Doctor Clark found some indications that some of the girls had been restrained, possibly for months, before they died."

Booth inquired. "Have you identified a cause of death yet?"

Cam responded. "We managed to get decent samples of bone marrow from all of the victims. Seven of the girls were killed by massive doses of morphine." Her grim expression became even grimmer. "We're talking serious overkill here. The marrow samples contained five times the normal lethal level."

"You said seven of the girls?" Brennan inquired.

"Ah yes, you caught that." Cam nodded. "One of the girls showed no sign of morphine."

Booth spoke next. "Do we have any indication how she died?"

Cam nodded and continued. "We found nicks in the radius and ulna at both wrists. The damage appeared to have been made with a standard table knife. Based on the angle, they appear to be self inflicted." Cam swallowed and took a deep breath before continuing. "It looks like she committed suicide."

"I noticed those marks when I first examined that one." Brennan remarked. "It was the one found with the unborn baby."

"What?" Booth exclaimed.

Cam continued. "That girl was still pregnant when she died. We were able to get usable DNA from the marrow of all the bodies. That fetus skeleton you found near her was definitely her child. The development of the fetus places it at about 30 weeks when the mother died. The fetus DNA shows significant genetic mutations which probably accounts for the malformations in the infant's skull and phalanges."

Angela spoke up at this point. "Some maniac held these pregnant girls captive, messed around with the fetuses DNA, then killed those poor girls right after they gave birth." She shivered. "And I thought Howard Epps was evil."

"Have you managed to identify any of the victims?" Agent Booth asked.

Angela responded. "I've done facial reconstructions of the eight girls." She hit a couple of keys and eight young female faces appeared on the screen. "So far we've found three matches in old missing person reports." Names appeared under three of the pictures. "I also did a reconstruction of the fetus." She pressed a few more keys and the image of an infant appeared. The image looked almost like a cross between a human and a cat. The face had a distinctly feline appearance and it had claws where the fingernails should be. Angela's expression radiated uncertainty. "I know how ridiculous this looks but every reconstruction algorithm I have tried comes back with essentially the same thing. This is what that infant would probably have looked like if it had lived."

"That doesn't make sense." Brennan remarked. "It defies the rules of genetics."

"Nothing about that fetus makes sense." Hodgins responded. "I keep expecting to hear Rod Serling doing a 'Twilight Zone' monologue in the background. Maybe this is all part of some secret government experiment."

Brennan shook her head. "This is the real world and there will be a logical explanation."

Despite Doctor Brennan's dogmatic insistence on a rational explanation, Booth could hear a hint of doubt creep into her voice. There were aspects about this case and that peculiar infant skeleton that had challenged their certainties right from the start.

"What about those other seven soil samples I sent you?" Brennan asked.

Jack Hodgins responded. "I analyzed each of the samples and they all contained a concentrated area of ash. The ash was composed of the same elements found in cremated human remains. The volume of the ash in each sample was consistent with that of a new born child."

"Doctor Hodgins, are you certain of that?" Booth inquired.

Hodgins shook his head sadly. "There is no question. Those are the cremated remains of new born infants."

~ o ~

That evening after the teleconference Booth and Brennan went out to dinner at a popular Italian Restaurant that Hodgins had recommended to them. Though Brennan tried to keep the conversation light Booth had a hard time keeping his mind on what was being said. He kept mulling over the day's very strange events. His mind kept returning to the ones he had begun to think of as 'the four conspirators'.

Noticing his distracted state Brennan made some nonsensical comment about canaries being used as artificial bones in vasectomies. Seeing his total lack of reaction to her comment, she reached out and grabbed his hand, forcing him to look at her. "What is it Seeley? You haven't heard anything I've said in the last ten minutes."

After a pause to regroup his thoughts Booth responded. "All day Chandler has been actively pushing to have the entire case closed quickly. Early this afternoon I ran a basic background check on her. There are a lot of inconsistencies and other oddities throughout the last twenty or so years of her life." One thing Booth was certain of was that ADA Catherine Chandler knew a lot more than she was telling. He decided that, beginning tomorrow morning, he would start taking a closer look at Miss Chandler.

"What do you think it means?" She asked. "What does it have to do with this case?"

"I don't know." He responded, shaking his head. "But I'm going to find out."

~ o ~

Catherine and Vincent sat in their well appointed parlor talking about her day at work. Catherine paused and looked toward the ceiling, in the general direction of their children's bedroom. Vincent followed the direction of her gaze then placed his arm around her, pulling her close. She turned her gaze toward him and the look in her eyes softened momentarily.

She frowned. "I'm afraid that my efforts to get this case closed quickly have backfired. I think my actions may have caused Agent Booth to become suspicious of me and now he has intensified his investigation." She again glanced upward. "I hope I haven't put our family in danger."

"I believe we are safe for the time being. All he will find is the same dead ends that you have already encountered whenever you went searching for answers." Vincent responded. "Even if he does stumble across something that you have missed I doubt that it could lead to us." He gently caressed her cheek. "If some how things do get too dangerous, we can always disappear 'Below'.

Catherine leaned her face into his hand. "I hope it doesn't come to that." She mused allowed. "I've become very fond of our current life together. I really don't want to uproot our whole family like that." She paused looking at Vincent's leonine features. "But I will do it, if necessary, to protect you and our two sons."

Continued in part 3

'Bones' and its characters are owned by Twentieth Century Fox.

'Beauty and the Beast' and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures.

No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.