Blood on a Parasol
Chapter Three
Susan H.
Brennan shifted in her office chair and it hissed as it accommodated her. She combed her notes. Luther never proclaimed his innocence. If Luther wasn't guilty, Brennan wondered, why didn't he shift the blame to Marisol?
"That's more Booth's area," she murmured.
"What's Booth's area?" Booth asked as he walked through her door.
"Why didn't Luther try to implicate Marisol in the murder? If he isn't guilty, and he found the murder weapon, he could have blamed her."
"Oh, Federal Government. He doesn't trust us."
"All the more reason for him to turn on Marisol."
"Sounds logical Bones. Luther doesn't operate with that kind of logic. See, to him, it's logical to withhold anything that could help the Feds. He doesn't recognize our authority."
"I was right. This is your area of expertise."
"Nah, I had to listen to him run his mouth all day Saturday. I suffered in silence to protect our cover. It felt really good to knock him down," Booth smiled.
"I thought you did that for Marisol."
"Well sure I did Bones. That doesn't mean I couldn't get a little something out of it."
Angela entered.
"Brennan, I've been looking at parasols all morning. I found the murder weapon."
She leaned over Brennan and tapped her keyboard.
"You see the handle was finished with an elongated knob. The total length is 26 inches. Looks like the vendor at the festival was selling a cheap version."
"Marisol told me it was good quality. It makes sense though."
"Why Bones?" Booth asked.
"Well, if the handle was just a straight wooden dowel," she held up a pencil to demonstrate,
"It would have required a great deal of force to break off the bottom few inches. It would be much more likely to break closer to the middle," she snapped the pencil.
"The elongated knob offered more leverage, and strengthened the end. Ange do you have enough information to run scenarios through the Angelator?"
"I think so. If not, I could have a parasol sent by overnight express. It's so pretty and delicate. Kind of hard to believe it could kill a man."
"Yes, just like the killer. Thanks Ange."
Booth stood up and adjusted his waist band, "You ready Bones?"
"Yes," she grabbed her bag and they bumped shoulders exiting her office.
