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"How long has she been in there?"
Angela looked over as Cam ascended the steps to the platform, her gaze fixed in the direction of Brennan's office. The artist stepped away from the computer monitor where she had been studying the images of the crime scene that Booth had beamed over and turned to face her boss.
"About an hour," she informed Cam, her face concerned. "Just walked right in and shut herself away."
"If she's not out in another ten minutes, we've got to send in reinforcements," Cam said as she grabbed her lab coat from the back of a chair and shrugged it on.
"Reinforcements would imply that we've already sent in a round of troops," Hodgins chimed in from his station. Cam glanced over at him.
"Thank you for that clarification, Dr. Hodgins," she said wryly.
"She's just stressed out," Angela said. "I think she needs some time."
"If she needs time, she can take it… at home," Cam said pointedly. "But she's here, and we have a killer to catch."
"Which we could catch faster if Brennan was actually out there with Booth," Angela said with slight irritation. She grabbed a pencil from her desk and began twirling it between her fingers. "I can't believe the FBI is making her stay here."
"It does seem rather counterproductive," Hodgins agreed, sliding another sample under his microscope.
"Regardless, we have to deal with the decisions that were made. As always, we'll do the best we can," Cam made a valiant attempt at a pep talk. She walked over to the rail that overlooked Hodgins' workstation. "What did you find in the soil samples?"
Hodgins perked up at the question, standing up eagerly and grabbing a few Petri dishes from his desk and joining the two women on the platform. He placed two of the dishes down and held the remaining one up to be viewed by Cam.
"This contains samples from the ground where the body was found," he said, his voice excited. "Huge traces of coal and oil, very typical of the region. The soil is rich in minerals from the lake, which is why it has made the area prime location for quarries, oil drills, etcetera."
"Distinctive markers, I get it," Cam said. "So the victim was killed on the spot?"
"So far, seems like it," he agreed. He placed the dish down and picked up the other two. "However, there were a few concentrated spots that contained two very interesting samples."
He grinned as he said it, drawing out the last few words to create suspense. Cam raised her eyebrows.
"Do I have to play twenty questions?" she asked. Angela smirked as Hodgins enjoyed his momentary power.
"Silica tetrahedral," he announced, flourishing the dish in his right hand like a magician presenting a trick.
"Which is…" Cam narrowed her eyes and looked closely at the dish.
"Quartz," Angela said, stepping closer and examining the slightly shimmering substance. Hodgins looked up at her, surprised. "I used to make gemstone jewelry to earn extra money."
"So how is this significant?" Cam asked.
"Normally, the presence of quartz in the soil in this area would not be significant," Hodgins explained. "In this case, though, it's the condition that's unique. It's crushed -- pulverized."
Cam and Angela both looked at him with curiosity.
"That shouldn't happen naturally," Cam posited.
"About ninety eight percent of the time, no," he said, looking down at the mineral in concentration. "Not sure what it means, yet, but it's definitely weird."
"And the second fun fact of the day?" Cam indicated the other sample.
"Ah, now this is where it gets interesting," Hodgins said, raising the other hand. "Breathe in the essence of class… this, my friends, is Prada."
"I beg your pardon?" Cam raised an eyebrow.
"That reminds me, I should check out their fall catalogue," Angela said.
"Cute boots on page thirty," Cam informed her. Hodgins watched the exchange in disbelief.
"Hello," he interrupted. The two snapped their attention back to him, apologetic looks on their faces. "As I was saying, the soil in this sample contained traces of leather that had been processed. Fortunately, manufacturing holds a bit of a blue print and I was able to trace the chemicals used."
Hodgins walked over to one of the monitors and punched in a code to access his files. A photo popped up from the Prada website displaying a pair of black leather pumps.
"Wow, nice," Angela commented.
"And also completely out of the price range for most of the people living in a mining town of eight hundred," Cam guessed.
"At twenty five hundred dollars a pop, I'm gonna have to agree with that," Hodgins said.
"So our victim is probably not local," Cam surmised, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Do we have a list of missing persons to work against?" Angela asked.
"Booth said he would send one over today. Hopefully it'll arrive at the same time as the body," Cam informed them.
"Let me know as soon as it gets here," Angela told her, walking back to her station to continue her study of the crime scene images. "I can start working on a sketch of the victim."
"That's going to be a little difficult."
All three turned to face the stairs leading up to the platform at the sound of Brennan's voice. She had donned her lab coat and her face was supremely calm and concentrated. The chirp of the sensor being deactivated broke the silence as she swiped her card and climbed the stairs.
"I just received the images of the body from the morgue in Horner," she told them. "The skull is missing. Detached at the C-4 vertebra."
"Oh my," Angela cringed. "Decapitated?"
"I don't want to jump to any conclusions until I can examine the remains," Brennan said.
Cam's cell phone ringing interrupted the discussion. Pulling the phone out of her pocket, Cam glanced at the caller ID and scrunched her face. She answered it reluctantly.
"Cam," she said, stepping away from the others as Brennan loaded the photos of the victim and they gathered around to examine them. "Yeah, I know… I know the appointment was for this morning, but we've had a murder investigation… Oh? How fortunate… you've got an extra hour this afternoon."
By this time, the others had begun to listen in on her conversation, watching her while trying to appear absorbed in their work.
"Great, fantastic," she continued, sounding far from excited. "I'll be there in half an hour."
She shut her phone and placed it back in her pocket, turning just in time to see the other three look quickly back to the screen in front of them. She sighed in defeat.
"None of you are good at that," she informed them. Caught, the three looked over at her. "I have complete faith that you'll carry on just fine without me for the rest of the day… I get to go to therapy…"
