Hi guys, here's the next installment! This chapter is very case-based, it had to be so I could move things along, so I'm afraid there's a little less banter, and less of the other characters but hopefully I have still stuck true to those I have depicted. This was really hard to write, getting all of the case details right, so please tell me if something doesn't make sense!

Oh, also I did some research and I was wrong about the sub dermal haematoma - it is dural, lol, so according to my fic Booth was right and Bones was wrong... and we can't have that. Chapter 2 has been corrected :-D

Disclaimer: I do actually own Bones. I'm also a pathalogical liar.

Joseph Furl was short and stocky. His silky black hair was flat, as if it clung to his head and the sides of his face, and his dark eyes shifted around uncomfortably, never settling on anything for longer than a moment. In short, Booth stated, as they eyed him from the other side of a mirrored window, he looked suspicious. He was of course sternly reprimanded for jumping to conclusions, but even Brennan had to admit, he was the shiftiest looking man she had seen in a long while, as he loosened his tie around a thick neck and drummed an irregular rhythm on the table. He was nervous. They entered the FBI interrogation room and sat opposite him.

'You own a red Chevy?' Booth began.

'Yeah. Why?'

'Are you familiar with a Casey Warren? Her body was discovered two days ago in a ditch at the side of the road - in Falon woods?'

'I don't know what you're talking about'.

'Hmm', the agent nodded slowly. 'You see, that's interesting, because she was hit by a red Chevrolet two and half weeks ago, after she ran away from her foster home'. Furl scoffed.

'You know how many red Chevy's there are? Could have been anyone hit her'.

'You know how many other people have the same DNA as you?' Booth responded, smiling. Their suspect froze for a split second, fingers hovering above the table, eyes flashing between his two interrogators.

'We found a hair containing your DNA on the victim's body', stated Brennan, 'do you have any idea how it got there? Maybe when you moved her? Hid her body in the ditch to cover up the accident?'

'No. I didn't do that'.

'Alright', continued Booth, 'I'm not feeling too patient today, so I'm gonna speed things up a bit, ok? Let's see if these uh, jog your memory'. He brought out the photographs of Casey Warren's body and the surrounding area. He had to admit he enjoyed this part of an interrogation, if only for the looks he saw on the suspects' faces.

'You're sure these don't ring any bells. You don't… recognise the location, the ditch you dumped her body in?' Joseph Furl was shaking his head but the arrogance of his earlier replies had vanished.

'What about this then, you're sure you don't recall moving this girl?' He waved the ten by eight print under the suspect's nose then dropped it to the table with the others, 'this is Casey Warren. Of course, there was a little more of her when you left her there'.

'Oh God', the round face had paled, the eyes were finally still, and Booth had him. This guy was weak.

'C'mon Joe – can I call you Joe? – Let's be honest here. You hit Casey. You then parked up, got out of your car, dragged her to the ditch, and hid her body right?'

'No! I mean… oh God. I didn't know… you make it sound like I planned… it's just, she was just there. She came out of nowhere. She wasn't there, and then all of a sudden… she must have just walked into the road. God, it was an accident I swear! OK? Yes! I killed her but it was an accident! I took my eyes off the road for a second to change the radio station, and when I looked up she was just standing in the road up ahead. I sounded the horn… slammed on the brakes… I was yelling but she didn't move. Then, she fell…' he looked stunned, 'just collapsed onto the road. And I knew I was gonna hit her…'

Booth was leaning forward over the table, papered with photographs that almost emitted the smell of death. He listened intently, a solemn expression on his face, while his partner flicked her eyes towards him, then back at Furl, her mouth slightly open in concentration as she processed this new information.

'The car slowed down but not enough'. Joseph's voice shook, 'I know, I was going too fast. The road was so narrow I couldn't swerve… it happened so fast… she didn't get up and I… hit her. And then, after…' he swallowed, 'it was horrible… she was under the front of the car, between the wheels… I – I had to move her'.

'You didn't think to, I don't know… call the police?'

'I was gonna lose my license for good, end up in jail if I called it in', two fat tears made their way over his rounded cheeks and he shook his head, 'I got a wife and kids… I'd do anything to stay out of jail! But… moving her… it was… I could hear… this crack. And like, a grinding…'

'It was probably her arm dislocating… and her ribs shifting where they were fractured. The bone edges would have rubbed against each other as the torso twisted', Brennan demonstrated the movement with her hands until the buzz of her cell phone put an end to her gruesome explanation. Furl had one hand on his mouth and his eyes clenched shut while Booth's expression suggested that he too felt a little queasy, although he enjoyed seeing this guy squirm too much to complain.

'Booth'. Brennan motioned for them to leave the room. As the door closed behind them and they were once more concealed behind the glass she turned to her partner.

'He didn't kill her'.

'What? Bones, we just heard the guy confess'.

'His car didn't kill her Booth'.

'Alright what are you saying, are you saying he's lying? That he didn't hit her? 'Cause he sounded pretty serious to me Bones, remember I'm the one that reads people?' Brennan shot him a hurt look; she hated that he thought she was no good with living people, even though she had resigned herself to the fact that it was probably true. She straightened up and briefly closed her eyes as she responded,

'Well Zach reads bones. He's very good at it. He just sent me a message – I have to get back to the lab'. Booth stared at her.

'And I didn't say that he didn't hit her', she added as she waltzed out of the room.

'Ok, Bones, wait up! Do I get to know what the Hell you're talking about, or is this one of those moments where I just… smile and nod?'

Back in the bone room Booth was finally enlightened on the findings that had caused his partner to leave the FBI building so quickly. He was none too happy at having it spelled out to him by the squint kid, but Zach didn't seem to notice as he rattled off his theory on Casey Warren's cause of death.

'When I examined the skull closer I discovered that the injury causing the subdural haematoma-' Brennan glanced at Booth and he gave an exaggerated nod to say he remembered his earlier lesson, as Zach continued, 'was sustained before the other injuries.'

'How long before?'

'Approximately one week'.

Brennan took over, 'It wasn't a long time, but the bone had started to re-grow around the injury'.

'Ok, where are we going with this?'

'The haematoma was growing for around a week before the victim was hit by Joseph Furl. The size of the staining suggests that by that time it would have created enough pressure on the brain to kill her'.

A look of understanding crossed Booth's face and clicked in his eyes.

'Wait - Furl said that Casey collapsed in the road in front of him. And she didn't get up…'

Brennan smiled at the investigation beginning to take shape as she turned wide-eyed to Booth and half whispered,

'I think she was already dead'.

Dun dun duuuuuunnn.

You know what to do :-)

tmprnc