Part XI

Cam slid her card through the scanner and found her way over to where Hodgins and Clark were sitting. Clark was looking at a mis-mash of something-or-other, and Hodgins was sorting through the prizes yielded by the coffee can.

Hodgins grinned as Cam approached, "Did you know that it takes 30% less energy to make a polystyrene container than a cardboard container?"

"Fascinating," Cam said shortly. "And why do I care?"

Hodgins picked up what looked like a black blob with a pair of tweezers, "Plastic... well, in this case not polystyrene and I don't care for the word 'plastic.'"

"What is it, Hodgins?" Cam bent a little to get a better look at the blob.

"Nylon 6-6 a.k.a. polyamide. A plastic for which municipal recycling is almost non-existent. Just a little side-order there."

"Hodgins, please don't make me ask--"

Clark was quick to supply for Cam the needed information, "Nylon 6-6 has a number of applications. Carpet, apparel, airbags, tires, ropes, hoses, zip-ties--"

"Which," Hodgins cut in with a warning glance to Clark. "I think is the most likely culprit."

Cam shook her head slowly, "Which...?"

"Zip-ties. I mean, it only makes sense, right? I mean, if I were to kill someone--not that I'll kill someone, although some of these interns push it from time to time," Clark was the one to shoot a warning look this time. Hodgins chuckled and continued, "Not enough of this little black chunk for rope, so it only makes sense that it's a zip-tie, right?"

"Anything else?"

"Iron oxide."

"Rust? From the coffee can?" Cam asked, crossing her arms.

"Hey, baby--" Cam glared at him. "And I-I only use that as a turn of phrase--if all iron oxide was the same, I'd be unemployed." He clicked around on the computer in front of him. The screen brought up what looked like a series of ridges, peaks, and mountains. "This iron oxide has trace amounts of hydrogenated carbons. That and the ash both have trace amounts of carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, sulphur dioxide, carcinogens, mercury, and zinc." Hodgins sat on the edge of his seat, getting excited about the particulates he had found, "Not to mention, I found polychlorinated dibenzo dioxins, a number of semi volatile organic compounds, and several types of polychlorinated dibenzo furans. And get this: chlorobenzenes, lead, copper, chromium, polychlorinated biphenyls--"

"HODGINS!" Cam said. She blinked hard and reached up and rubbed her temple. "Don't make me throw a stapler at you."

"Dang," Clark whispered under his breath. "Boss lady's strict."

"It's scarier than you think-- flying staplers," Hodgins whispered to Clark.

"Exactly what conclusion have you drawn from this list of poly- and di- whatchamacallits?"

"A burn barrel." Hodgins replied simply.

Cam breathed in a cleansing breath, "Thank you. So, the victim was zip-tied and burned in a burn barrel--"

"Most likely made of steel," Clark said.

Cam didn't reply, she simply walked away.

Before stepping off from the platform, she turned around, "Next time, Hodgins, how about you jump straight to the point instead of throwing around scientific words, or that stapler threat will become a reality." With her back to Hodgins and Clark, Cam's eyes grew wide and she whispered, "Wow."

Clark leaned close to Hodgins, "And you're taking her to the annual banquet?"

"Hey, I like the difficult ones. You've met Ange, right?"

"Yeah... good luck with that."

Then after a beat, Hodgins replied, "She's... pretty scary, huh?"

"Some people like that." Clark shrugged.

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Next chapter is the fluffy one I was talking about. I'll post it once I have another chapter written. (I like having one chappie on hold at all times just in case.)