One Moment in Time

One Moment in Time

Chapter Three

Brennan's friend Molly had returned her phone call then informed them that she had heard back from three of her Search and Rescue dog teams. Unfortunately, they wouldn't arrive at the crime scene until six a.m. due to the amount of travel time for each of them. Molly asked that everyone who had access to the crime scene be present in the morning. The Search and Rescue team would explain why once they arrived. Brennan and Booth agreed to meet them at Gambrill State Park at daybreak, to debrief them on the case, before each of them began searching for Amanda and her captor.

In the meantime they headed back to the Jeffersonian where Booth took advantage of the couch in Brennan's office to catch a few hours of much needed sleep while he waited for the rest of the team to examine the victim's remains. When they were done they would come and get him to discuss the evidence they had found.

Dr. Lance Sweets had been called in so he could go through the file that they had on Evan and Amanda Sinclair's disappearance. When the rest of the team was through examining the body he would study their findings before supplying Booth and Brennan with a profile on their suspect.

Several hours had passed during which time Brennan and Zach had x-rayed and cleaned the victim's bones after Dr. Saryon had examined the body. In the meantime Jack had collected his particulates for a more detailed examination. Angela had been given the victims skull tissue depth markers so she could do a facial reconstruction and once all the data had been compiled she would use the Angelator to recreate the crime scene. When everyone had gathered all the evidence they agreed to meet on the platform later to compare their findings.

Brennan walked slowly to her office, on her way to awaken Booth, so she and the team could share the results of their findings with him. She always dreaded this part of her job, especially when the victim's were children. It was always harder for Booth, especially since he was the only one of the team so far to have children. He always had a hard time separating his feelings about his son, Parker, from their current victim.

"Booth," she whispered quietly, as she bent down to tap him on the shoulder. She tried not to startle him, as occasionally when she or one of the others had tried to awaken him, he had reacted violently as a result of his former Army days, when he always had to be on high alert, to ensure he and his other Army buddies survived their tours of duty. She hated to wake him as he looked like he was sleeping peacefully tonight with no sign of any unpleasant dreams. Brennan shook his shoulder a little harder.

"What…Bones…wait I'm up. I take it you've found something?" he asked still groggy from his nap.

"Yes, we're ready to share our findings now. Dr. Sweets has a suspect profile ready to share with us. Actually, I think he's more excited about sharing his findings than the rest of us."

Booth tossed the blanket off, sat up and rubbed the last of the sleep from his eyes. "Let's go then so we can get this over with."

As they both returned to the lab platform, after scanning their security badges, Dr. Zach Addy began to rattle off his conclusions. "Dr. Brennan, Booth, it appears that the victim is male, due both to the posterior ramus of the mandible and the sciatic notch in the pelvis which is narrower in the male than in the female. I examined the x-rays, which clearly show the growth plates in all the long bones of both his legs and arms have not yet closed, indicating that the victim is under the age of twenty-five. I think that he is probably closer to preteen, due to the small amount of closure in the growth plates."

Zach paused for a moment to let this news sink in before continuing with his findings. "It appears that the victim did not die due to being burned to death. During my examination, I found that he died from a subdural bleed, due to a blow to the back of the head. There were clear signs of internal bleeding into the skull fracture."

Booth demanded, "You know for certain he was dead before he was burned? How is that possible?"

Both Zach and Brennan said together, "We know for certain because dead people don't bleed. If he was dead before he was hit in the head there would be no signs of bleeding in the skull."

"Well, I guess we can be thankful for that at least," Booth sighed in resignation. "So what caused the blow to the back of the head?"

"Zach, are you ready to share your findings of the blood stains on the tree branch we found at the crime scene?"

"Yes, I compared the head wound to the size and shape of the tree branch and I'm positive that it was used to inflict the fatal blow. I also examined the victims x-rays and found that the victim and Evan Sinclair's medical records showed the exact same single-transverse fracture of the right femur leg bone."

Booth rolled his eyes before demanding "Bones please, speak in English!"

Brennan added, "A single-transverse fracture means that it was a single long break/fracture that occurs across the long axis of the bone." She pointed at the x-rays to show Booth and the rest of the team what they were looking at.

"The amount of bone callusing that occurred as the bone healed, is correct for the amount of time that has passed, since Evan broke his leg while skate boarding two years ago. Do you concur, Dr. Brennan?" Zach asked.

"Yes."

"Dr. Saroyan added, "I matched the DNA from the blood on the branch to the sample of Evan's DNA that his parents supplied. It was a match. So, we can safely say that this is Evan Sinclair."

"Did you find anything else?"

"Yes," Cam glanced over at Booth before adding, "I think that everyone needs to know that Evan Sinclair put up quite a fight with our suspect before he died. I found evidence of deep tissue bruising on his arms and legs that are conclusive with injuries one would sustain with normal defensive moves. I also discovered that he had some bruising of his phalanges on both hands. I would say he tried to defend himself from the suspect when he was hitting him with the tree branch."

"Your probably correct Cam, if the evidence Brennan and I found at the crime scene is any indication. We found a hair clip that belonged to Amanda." Booth informed the group.

"Hodgin's were you able to find any particulates that will aid us in finding how Evan's body was burned and by whom?" Cam asked.

"Since the body was burned there was not much there in the way of insect activity. However, I did find that the suspect used gasoline as an accelerant. I also found a partial matchbook with one partially used and burned match that was probably used to start the body on fire."

Booth closed his eyes, shook his head and mumbled under his breath, "This helps us how?"

"Just so you know, it's possible that Angela might be able to piece together what was written on the matchbook and where it came from. I'm also working on finding what kind of chemical mixture went into making the gasoline that was used. It's possible I will be able to figure out what area that particular brand came from."

Jack continued to explain in terms that everyone would understand. "I'm not sure if you are aware of the fact that the heads of matches are made up of diatoms, which are single-celled organisms found in the kind of earth used in match production. The shells of these tiny creatures contain silica, a tough compound that survives being burned in a fire. The great thing about this small seemingly insignificant detail is the fact that different manufactures use different materials, so different diatom species show up in their matches."

Booth once again interrupted Jack, "How is this going to help us solve the case?"

"Let me finish, Booth, because each species of diatom has a unique shell structure, indentifying the shell remnants often identifies the brand of matches used by the arsonist. No, that alone is probably not going to lead you directly to the suspect but it's a start. Like I've told all of you before, I'm all about the bugs and dirt, if you bring me more of that type of evidence I can help you break this case wide open." Jack complained with obvious frustration and irritation.

"Okay people let's focus on the case, not on knocking each others work ethics." Cam instructed.

"Well, on that note let me add my two cents worth," Angela began. "Since we've already established the fact that Evan Sinclair is the victim, my facial reconstruction is not of that much help, but never the less here it is."

Everyone nodded solemnly when Evan's photo appeared in the Angelator. Seeing the young mans innocent, smiling face brought everyone back to the task at hand.

"I took the initiative and added in all of the photos of the crime scene that were taken by the FBI before we removed Evan's remains to the Jeffersonian. I included the measurements and areas that Evan was injured and added in his height to see if I could get an idea of how tall our suspect would have to be to have inflicted the wounds that Evan suffered."

As Angela talked she was rapidly typing on her keypad which started the Angelator so that everyone could see the entire crime scene. You could clearly see where Evan's body was found, how it looked before he was beaten, when he succumbed to the fatal blow and how the fire was most likely started. Angela had also added in Amanda's body in an effort to more realistically show what the evidence told them most likely occurred.

"Since both Brennan and Zach forgot to add that the bite marks that were discovered on Evan's left leg were indeed inflicted by an animal, a black bear to be exact. According to Zach, the teeth marks were too big to have been made by a coyote, which also roam in the park."

"That's correct, Angela, thanks for reminding us that we left out that information." Zach said.

"I'm thinking that your suspect is going to be around six foot tall, maybe more maybe less. If I had a clearer foot print from the scene I might have been able to give you a more accurate height."

Angela went on talking and adding more commands to the Angelator, which had brought the scene to life for everyone, so much so that no one spoke for several minutes. It always seemed to affect everyone more emotionally when they had a visual of the crime than it did when they just read the information from the victim's file.

Dr. Sweets looked around at all of the downtrodden faces before saying, "I guess this is where my expertise comes in. I believe I have some information that, Booth, will be able to appreciate. I hope to add enough information that will enable us to begin looking through the FBI's database for a likely suspect."

Booth leaned forward with more interest than he had shown in the last half hour. "So let's hear it, Sweets."

After looking over the initial missing person reports, listening to everyone's findings and using my violent criminal profiling system I have compiled the following profile of the most likely suspect."

Sweets paused savoring his moment of glory as he watched the rapt faces of his now totally engrossed audience. Everyone was literally sitting on the edge of their seats, waiting with bated breath for him to continue.

"We know that the victims were young, white teenagers and we know that usually your serial kidnapper or sexual offender stays within his own racial lines. We should concentrate on looking for a white male, between the ages of twenty-eight and thirty-five years of age, who is close to six feet tall according to Angela's calculations."

Booth had pulled out his notebook to begin writing down the information that Sweets was sharing with the team. He paused with his pen in midair waiting expectantly for Sweets to continue.

"You should also narrow your search for someone who meets the following criteria. This person appears to be very well organized; at least he was until he ended up with two victims."

"Sweet's, this is something I can actually use!" Booth praised the young psychiatrist as he slapped him on the shoulder.

"Hang on, dude! I'm not done yet. I believe that he is well educated, has a good job, is married or possibly in a serious relationship. He's probably done this before, which means he lives in close proximity to where the children were first abducted. He appears able to adapt on short notice and is not easily panicked when his original plans have to be changed."

"I think it's highly likely that he spent some time in the military and left the service with an honorable discharge."

"Wait…what…wait a minute, next you'll be telling me that serving his country sent him off the deep end and now he is a serial murderer!?" Booth shouted angrily.

"Agent Booth, calm down. You're putting words in my mouth. That's not what I'm saying at all."

'Well, it sure sounded to me like that was where you were heading…"

"No all I'm saying is that if we add all the information we have at this point in time to the NCAVC, VICAP and PROFILER we might be able to find a match to our current suspect."

Sweet's suddenly noticed that Jack and Angela were looking at him with a big question mark hanging over their heads. "Right, I forgot not all of you know what all those initials stand for."

"NCAVC stands for National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime. It's one of the databases maintained by law enforcement personnel to add information about every violent crime that is committed in the country. It later led to the development of the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (VICAP) and PROFILER, which maintain the profiles of all known serial murderers."

"You're certain that the person we should be looking for is ex-military? Do people like him really search that close to home for their victims? Wouldn't that make it more likely for them to be caught?" Booth asked.

"I've read that it makes them feel powerful, like they're in control. They think they're smarter than the law enforcement personnel. The more times they get away without being caught, the bolder they become." Zach explained.

"Exactly Zach." Sweets said. For once it appeared that his co-workers had stopped thinking of him as a twelve year old, and were finally accepting the fact that he did have several degrees in psychiatry. For the first time he felt confident in sharing his knowledge of the criminal mind without fear that Agent Booth or the others would start to make fun of him.

"Most are driven by some type of fantasy, which they plan and prepare for by rehearsing what they will do, from picking their victims to planning the abduction, their sexual fantasies or killing the victim. They usually bring the equipment they need to achieve these goals. Most already have a plan to hide or dispose of the body. Many have a preselected dumpsite which is miles from their home."

"You were able to deduce all of that from the small amount of evidence we have so far?" Angela asked, obviously impressed.

"Yes, which is why I would like to add what we do know, to the databases I mentioned earlier. If he has committed a crime with a similar MO, it should help us narrow our search area."

"If you think it will help, then by all means start adding the info we have to the database." Booth told Sweets.

"Agent Booth, I would like to speak to Evan and Amanda's parents to learn more about the children."

"I'd prefer you didn't speak to them yet, Sweets."

"Why not?" he asked in a huff.

"Bones and I haven't had time to inform them that their son has been confirmed dead, or that Amanda is still missing. We feel there is a good chance she's still alive. We need something of, Amanda's, for the Search and Rescue dogs to use as a scent marker, so they can start searching for her."

"How long before I can speak with them?"

"We're leaving as soon as we're through here. I'll try and get them to speak to you once we have the search for Amanda underway. There won't be much they can do while the search is going on. The fewer people at the scene mean the less distraction for the dogs."

"The sooner I can speak to them the better. I'm looking for information on the children's friends, family, and any places they frequented on a regular basis. I might be able to find a person of interest through this type of information. I realize they are going to be highly emotional, but I'm a trained psychiatrist. I'm sure I can handle them." Sweets informed Booth.

"I'll let you know later today when they can meet with you. We still need to speak to Evan and Amanda's friends. It was to late last night by the time we discovered that Evan was our victim that we decided to wait until sometime today to speak with them. I saw no reason to wake them from their last night of restful sleep with the news their friend had died and we still don't know where his sister is or if she is still alive."

"I understand. It's your call, just let me know when."

"Keep your phone on. Let's go Bones. I'm not looking forward to this, but it needs to be done."

TBC

A/N Please don't forget to read then leave a review. Would love to know what everyone thinks so far of my first case fic story?