Thanks to Kay for betaing
If you want too brighten my weekend then please don't only read but review as well. I appreciate it.
Oh and yes, chamsin means 50 in Arabic.
Chapter 3: Women With One Dentition
8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dental Clinic Agdal, Rabat
Brennan was standing in front of X-rays depicting a human skull. Booth stood beside two men, one of them a Moroccan police officer, the other the dentist whose office they were currently in.
"He's right, Booth, the dental records match," Brennan nodded, turning to face them.
"How likely is it that two people have the exact same teeth?" he demanded. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, frustrated. Everything had gone so smoothly until now. Now they had two women with the same teeth.
"It's impossible," Brennan shrugged.
"So we have only two possibilities," Booth started.
"Two? I can only see one: This is the same woman," she interrupted.
"Or the X-rays got mixed up. Look around; I think that's definitely a possibility," he said as he glanced around the room. Dossiers were everywhere, papers were scattered all over the desk, and the computer had a small, overflowing ashtray on top of it.
"Possible, but not likely. The police had the same X-ray in their files from 13 years ago. It's highly unlikely that there was a mix-up."
"Except if someone swiped them," Booth pointed out, stabbing a finger in her direction for emphasis.
"Again, possible, but this is pure speculation and you know I hate that," she argued, wishing he would stop speculating and get back to the facts.
"But it doesn't make any sense," he insisted, turning to his Moroccan colleague. "Can you tell us anything about this woman and her case?" he asked, but the man just stared back at him.
"Vous pouvez nous dire quelquechose de cette femme?" Brennan translated, pointing to the X-rays. The officer smiled at her as he launched into a lengthy explanation in French that made Booth tap his foot impatiently on the floor. When the man finally stopped, Booth looked to Brennan with raised eyebrows, his arms once again crossed in front of his chest, for interpretation. "Mia Kellerman was 27 years old when she vanished 13 years ago. Her father was the American ambassador back then. She went out to a private playground one day with her husband and the five-year-old daughter of some friends. They were the only ones at the playground at the time because it was quite early. The security guard there received a phone call and left for a few minutes. When he returned, Mia, her husband, and the girl were gone and there was blood on the floor. Mia's husband was found two weeks later on the steps of the American Embassy. He'd been beaten pretty badly and couldn't remember what happened. He returned to the States shortly after that. Neither Mia nor the girl were ever found." Brennan gestured to the Moroccan officer and continued. "He says that at first, they thought it was a kidnapping since the girl was the daughter of a Saudi prince, but there was never any ransom demand," she finished.
"So let me get this straight," Booth said. "A woman disappears with a little girl and then turns up dead in a garden 13 years later, but she's only been dead a few months and has an entirely new identity?" He shook his head. "Nah, something doesn't smell right."
"Est-ce qu'on peut avoir le dossier?" Brennan asked the Moroccan police officer.
"Bien sur. Et le prince Karim a demandé de parler avec vous," he replied.
"The prince wants to talk to us," Brennan translated.
Booth nodded. "Let's pay him a little visit before we speak to General Meyers again," he said. "How do we find this prince?"
"Oú est-ce qu'on peut trouver le prince?" Brennan asked the officer.
"A l'embassade de l'Saudia, il vous attends," he replied. They shook hands and then Booth and Brennan left the policeman, the dentist, and his office behind.
9:00 p.m. Wednesday, Saudi Arabian Embassy, Avenue Imam Malik, Souissi, Rabat
"Whoa, look at that castle," Booth said as they drove up to the guard house at the gate.
"You should see the Iranian Embassy," Brennan said. She slid closer and then leaned over him to look out his window and get a better view of the building. Booth pressed himself further into his seat, desperate to put a little space between them. The driver, meanwhile, had gotten out of the car and was talking to one of the armed guards at the gate. Brennan scooted closer to Booth, supporting herself with a hand on his thigh, and he groaned quietly. She completely misunderstood him. "I am not that heavy, Booth," she insisted, sitting up as their driver returned to the car.
"They won't let us in," he told them.
"What? I'm FBI, they have to let us in," Booth said and sat up straight, his hand already on the knob to open the door.
"I am afraid not, sir. This isn't the United States. You have no jurisdiction here," he said matter-of-factly.
"But this prince guy called and he wants to see us. Doesn't that count?" Booth asked.
"Prince Karim," Brennan said.
"As long as he doesn't inform his guards, I am afraid not, sir," Hassan replied with a helpless shrug.
"What is this? Now the guards make the decisions?" Booth said angrily. He opened the car door and stormed out.
"This is not a good idea," the driver told Brennan, spurring her to action.
She hurried after her partner, who was already yelling at the guards. "Your boss has called us, okay guys? Look, it's late, I am tired and jetlagged, and I have a gun, so you better –" He didn't get much further because at the mention of the word gun, both guards poised their guns at Booth, who immediately threw his hands up in the air.
"Okay, everyone, calm down. My partner here won't shoot anyone, so you can put those guns down. What he was trying to say is that Prince Karim wants to see us because we have news concerning the disappearance of his daughter Rana," Brennan explained, opening the folder to ensure she got the girl's name right.
"You found Rana?" one of the guards asked, dropping his weapon.
"No, but we found the woman who disappeared the same day. Prince Karim already knows about all this and that is why he invited us here to talk to him," Booth continued, realizing they'd found a weak spot.
"Rana is my cousin. I was supposed to marry her one day," the young guard told them. He turned to his colleague while Booth and Brennan exchanged looks. "They can pass," he told him and finally the second man lowered his weapon. Slowly, Booth and Brennan got back into the car and closed the doors behind them.
"You really want to get shot again, don't you?" Brennan asked him, shaking her head.
"I'm tired and hungry," he replied.
She smiled at the pout that formed on his face. "After talking to his Royal Highness, we'll get something to eat," she promised him, patting his hand reassuringly. She left her hand on top of his and gave it a squeeze.
They were led to a side wing of the embassy and entered a huge salon that had several sofas along the walls, expensive carpets on the floor, and a ceiling covered with ornaments. The butler signaled them to sit down on a couch in front of a small wooden table. Seconds later, another man entered the room with a tray of tea and cookies. When he was gone, a third man appeared. He was tall with dark hair and sported jeans and a polo shirt.
"I apologize for the trouble you had at the gate. I had to tell my wife that there was something new about Mia and I forgot to inform the guards that you would be arriving," he explained. He shook Booth's hand and nodded politely at Brenna, laying his right hand briefly over his heart as he did so. He sat down opposite them and held up the plate of cookies. "Please, eat," he said, setting the plate in front of them.
"I am Special Agent Booth and this is –" Booth began his usual introductions, but the prince interrupted him.
"I know who you are. What can you tell me about my daughter?" he asked. His tone was polite, but it held an air of impatience.
"I'm afraid we can't tell you anything about your daughter. We haven't found her," Brennan replied. She took a sip of the sweet mint tea.
"I guess that's supposed to be a good thing, right? If you were here because of my daughter, Dr. Brennan, she would be dead," the prince replied and looked down, focusing on his hands. "Thirteen years ago I kissed my daughter goodbye in the morning and went to work. She walked me to this door like she did every morning and waved after my car," he said, pointing to the entrance they had just come through. "It was a weekend and usually my day off, but we had some trouble at the office, so I had to go in. My wife called me around eight and asked if it would be okay if Rana went to the playground with our friends Mia and Stephen. Of course, I said; why not? Then around ten, I got a call telling me that there had been an incident at the playground, that there was blood all over the floor, and that my daughter had disappeared. We reported her, Stephen, and Mia missing the same day and never hear from any of them ever again. We lost our best friends that day, but worse than that, we lost our only daughter," he finished. He took a deep breath when he was done before he looked back up.
"I am very sorry for your loss," Booth said softly.
"Please don't say that; it sounds so final. We still hope that she will come back to us one day," the prince said, fiddling with his teacup.
"We found the body of a woman that could be Mia Kellerman in the garden of the American Embassy," Brennan said.
Prince Karim flinched visibly. "The inspector said you found her with the help of dental records. Aren't those pretty exact?" he wondered.
"Yes, they are. But in this case we had two matches to those dental records. Do you know a woman named Katherine Meyers?" Booth asked.
"No, I have never heard that name before. Is that the other woman?"
"Yes. Her husband is working for the American Embassy. Maybe you know him?"
"No, I am sorry, I do not. Mia's father worked for the embassy back then. After they disappeared, I stopped working with the Americans. I am working internal affairs now," he replied.
"You said before that you never heard from the Kellerman's ever again. Stephen Kellerman was found two weeks after the disappearance on the steps of the American Embassy. Didn't you talk to him afterwards?" Booth asked.
The prince's head snapped up. "What? I didn't know that Stephen was found. Why didn't anyone tell me?" he asked, upset, and began pacing. "What did he say? Did he say anything about Rana?"
"No, he couldn't remember anything at all," Booth replied.
The prince stopped his pacing abruptly. "Where is he now? Why didn't he ever call? I want to talk to him! I want him to tell me to my face that he doesn't know what happened to Mia and Rana," the prince demanded angrily.
"Our colleagues in the U.S. are trying to find him as we speak," Booth said, sounding sympathetic.
"What am I going to tell my wife now? That you found something but nothing about our daughter? That Stephen is alive but doesn't remember? She is not doing very well, Agent Booth. I can't tell her that. Please, please find something and tell us what happened to our daughter. Sometimes I think not knowing what happened is worse than anything else," he said desperately.
Temperance grabbed Booths' hand without realizing it. "It is," she said. "Not knowing is worse than anything else. I speak from experience," she told him quietly.
"Please, help us," the man said, looking straight at her, his eyes shining with tears.
"We'll do everything we can," Booth assured him. He gave Temperance's hand a squeeze and stood up.
10:45 p.m. Wednesday, Hilton Hotel, Souissi, Rabat
"No, Parker, we haven't seen any camels yet. What? Yeah, sure, I'll take a picture. I don't know if she'll do it, but I'll ask her. Just a second," Booth said and turned to Temperance. She was lying on her stomach beside him on the bed, reading police reports. "Parker wants a picture of both of us riding a camel. Would you do it?" he asked.
"Sure, if we see a camel," she shrugged and went back to reading the reports.
"You heard her? Okay, buddy, sleep well…Oh, right…Okay, sleep well later and be good, huh? Yeah, love you, too," Booth told his son and hung up. "Parker says hi and Agent Sanders told me that we don't have the necessary security clearance to get information on Stephen Kellerman or his wife," he told his partner. He'd talked to Sanders before Parker had called.
"Not surprising; she was the daughter of a diplomat. These reports are full of holes," she said, rolling onto her side to look up at him.
"What kind of holes?" he asked, taking the file from her and scanning the parts she had highlighted.
"Basically, they never did a thorough investigation. They saw the blood, took some pictures, and cleaned the place up. Two weeks later they found the husband, took some pictures of his injuries after they fixed him up, and then they just let him walk away after he said he didn't remember anything. No DNA samples and no real crime scene pictures were ever taken. They never really looked into what happened to Mia and the only reason they searched for the girl was because Prince Karim insisted on it. He donated quite a lot of money to welfare organizations here in Morocco over the years," she explained.
"To keep the investigation open," Booth nodded and handed the file back to her. "Can you tell what he had been beaten with?" he asked, pointing to a blurry picture of an injured Stephen Kellerman.
"No, the picture isn't good enough. I think we should mail all the pictures to Angela and see what she can do with them," Brennan suggested, flipping through the file again. She looked up at Booth. "Do you know what else is weird?" she asked.
"Okay, you can't read or speak Arabic. What could you possibly find in a file you don't even understand?" he asked, grinning.
"There's no picture of the girl in there, not one. How can you look for a child without even knowing what she looks like?" Brennan asked.
Booth opened the file, perplexed, looked through it himself, and whistled. "You're right. Guess we have to talk to the prince again tomorrow. But right now, I just want to sleep," he replied and tossed the file onto the floor next to the bed. He slid down and lay flat on his back.
"Me, too. You know, your bed is comfy," Brennan said, closing her eyes. She just stayed there, seeing no point in getting up. They fell asleep together in Booth's bed, exhausted from their long day.
TBC