A/N: This is a little late but still two chapters in a week. ;) Hope you like it. To my American readers, I hope you had an awesome holiday weekend. :)


Chapter 7

The Jeffersonian Medico-Legal Lab, Tuesday at 5:00 pm

"Angela, how is the facial reconstruction coming?" Brennan asked from her chair in front of the desk in the hotel room she and Booth shared. The partners had returned to their room after talking with Mai, hoping to get word from both the FBI and the Jeffersonian.

"Hi Sweetie. Simon gave me the skull and I'm attempting to get a face as we speak. I've also started cataloging injuries in an attempt to separate the damage created by the digger and the damage done from actual bullet wounds. I have managed to confirm at least five wounds; one to the sternum and four grazes to the rib cage. There are what appears to be more on the lower torso and legs. As far as the weapon, I'll be looking for that once the injury analysis is complete. Cam is running a DNA test but no luck with useable fingerprints since the insects got there first," the forensic artist smiled.

"What about Hodgins? Has he found anything useful on the coffin or from the insects?" The forensic anthropologist wanted to know.

"I'll go…" Angela began before hearing footsteps behind her. Swirling around in her chair, she saw the entomologist enter her office.

"Speak of the devil," she smirked.

"He's just a conspiracy created by religion to keep their followers in line," Jack said.

"Bugs Hodgins," Brennan refocused the attention on her.

"Insect activity only confirms what you concluded earlier. What insects I did find were mostly skeletal or gone altogether. The worms weren't of much use either. However the coffin and the lacquer had something of interest," Hodgins enlightened her.

"What did you find?" Brennan was getting anxious.

"The chemical makeup of the lacquer is what makes it act like a preservative. After piecing together the lid, I discovered fingerprints on the interior. Whoever buried him didn't wait for the lacquer to dry completely," the entomologist said.

"Do you think you can match the fingerprints to someone?" Booth cut in after getting off his cell phone.

"I'm in the process of lifting prints," Hodgins explained.

"Great. Let us know when you get a hit," Booth said before closing the lid on the laptop.

"Was it just me of did he seem anxious?" The bug guy wondered.

"You'd be in a hurry too if you had your girlfriend all to yourself," Angela teased.

"I always am but you seem to be playing hard to get Miss Montenegro," Jack smirked before exiting his office.

Back at the hotel room in West Point, Booth didn't have any ideas about being romantic. His call to his office had yielded some interesting results.

"Raymond Seaford had had run ins with the Mattaponi before," he explained.

"Oh? What kind of run ins?" Brennan asked.

"The kind where he's somehow gotten legal rights to tribal land without the Tribe's consent. When my office inquired about him through the criminal database, a red flag popped up at the Attorney General's Office. They're investigating him for bribery, fraud, and larceny," Booth told her.

"Explains why the Mattaponi have men working on his job sites," Brennan nodded.

"It also gives them motive to try to ruin him," her partner said.

"You think an upset Mattaponi killed our victim, stole authentic tribal clothing, and then buried him, hoping to catch Seaford on tribal lands?" She was skeptical.

"It doesn't make much sense but the body was buried at a construction site. Also who else would have access to the clothing the victim was wearing?" Booth wondered.

"Supposing your theory is correct, why was the body not discovered back when the store was being built?" The forensic anthropologist asked.

"You said that there were Mattaponi working for this Seaford guy. Why would he be trying to steal Mattaponi land and then hire the very people he's trying to swindle?" The G-man thought about the entire situation and came up with a very simple solution.

"Money. The workers needed to make money and he was willing to pay them. They would tell him what they knew if they discovered something on a job site and before the news went public, Seaford would just not even bother to report it. Should someone report what they saw to the Mattaponi then he'd have his guys create the phony documentation required to keep the property," Booth said.

"Very plausible. In the sixties, the times were changing rapidly. If Seaford was the only one to be hiring non-whites, then perhaps his workers felt indebted to him and would do anything to keep their jobs," Brennan nodded.

"I'm calling the Attorney General. Maybe what he has on Seaford can help us get the information we need," her partner smiled.

To Be Continued…