Chapter 12 – Let he who is without sin

"Before you say anything I did not kill Anthony, I loved him, but I think I know who did" Jim said looking nervously at Booth and Brennan.

"Well Jim before you go giving us your theories I'd like to ask you some questions first" Booth told Jim wanting to get some answers out of him to get a better feel for the guy before he'd go believing his theory on the murderer of his friend.

"Were you in a homosexual relationship with the victim?" Booth asked getting straight to the point.

"Yes, but we kept it a secret from everyone, Anthony was too afraid to tell his parents, especially his mum she'd never approve of it" Jim answered, saddened by the death of the man he'd loved.

"So no one knew at all about your relationship?" Booth asked, consciously allowing Brennan to observe, he'd give her a cue when he wanted her to take part in the conversation.

"A few friends of ours, but no one outside of those friendships, we couldn't risk someone from Anthony's family finding out" Jim answered, hoping that Agent Booth would believe him. He looked curiously at Brennan wondering why she was in the room, she hadn't spoke yet just sat there watching him, it was a little unnerving.

"And where were you the night Anthony died?" Booth asked his final question before he'd direct his questioning towards Jim's theory of the crime. He had to go by the book and getting an alibi was crucial to ensuring that he knew without a doubt Jim was not guilty and he wouldn't be persuaded by Jim's story.

"I was working, as you know I'm a student at the hospital, I was on a 12 hour shift, the hospital can confirm that I was there" Jim answered glancing at Brennan nervously, he still couldn't figure out why she was there, she didn't look FBI.

"Jim, do you know how Agent Booth was able to determine that you were in a homosexual relationship?" Brennan asked finally speaking up after getting an almost imperceptible nod from Booth.

"He did his homework?" Jim answered nervously unsure where this conversation was going.

"No Jim, Agent Booth knew because I told him, I'm a Forensic Anthropologist, but I also have a doctorate in Kinesiology, I've studied human movement, and one of my papers was on the movement of homosexual males and the signs one can detect to ascertain that a male individual is gay" Brennan explained, seeing comprehension come into the man's eyes.

"So you see I was able to determine quite quickly when you walked in that you were a gay man, and given what Agent Booth observed when he was questioning Samantha, Anthony's girlfriend, I was able to come to the conclusion that you and Jim were a couple" Brennan told Jim, wanting to let this man know that she understood and she held no objections to their union at all. She'd never believed that homosexuality was abnormal due to it being found in nature many times in different species.

"So does that mean you still think I killed Anthony? I gave you an alibi?" Jim asked, unsure of where the anthropologist was going with this conversation.

"I don't believe you killed Anthony, but I believe it's possible you have a theory and both Agent Booth and I would be willing to hear you out" Brennan told him, wanting to convey that they did not suspect him at all, in fact Brennan had never suspected him, the moment she understood that Jim was Anthony's boyfriend, she couldn't explain it but she had a good idea herself of who the killer was, and the evidence she'd found in Anthony's bones, was backing that theory up.

"Anthony's mother belongs to a church that has very strict ideas of how their congregation should act, they believe homosexuality is a sin, a perversion of the spirit, they believe in the old testament and reject the new testament saying it's too 'nice' for God" Jim explained looking at the two of them to see if they were following.

"Did Anthony's mother's church condone stoning Jim?" Brennan asked and Booth turned to her stunned by this turn in questioning, wondering what his partner had seen in those bones.

"Yes, for transgressions God could not forgive, one of those transgressions was being proven to be a homosexual" Jim answered bowing his head shamefully knowing one act between him and Anthony had caused his death.

"She caught you two didn't she?" Booth asked, seeing the shame on the young man's face as he looked up at him and nodded.

"She was so angry, she roared at me to leave and then Anthony said she went straight to her church" Jim told them, guilt over getting so caught up in the moment with Anthony that they forgot that his mum would be home from work, and not hearing her open the door to Anthony's room.

"The next day I learnt that Anthony had been killed and I just knew, either she killed him or her congregation did" Jim said, tears filling his eyes as he thought of the man he'd loved and how he would never be with him again due to the hatred brought on by the misunderstanding of God's wishes for his people.

"Just one more question Jim, do you believe in God?" Booth asked curiously, although he could never condone what the young man was describing could have happened to their victim, some of the things he'd said led him to think the young man did in fact believe in God. He himself had always felt torn in his Catholic beliefs and what they'd taught about homosexuality and it being a sin, but he'd read the new testament and couldn't believe a man as merciful as Jesus had been could ever believe that just because a man laid with another man, that he was unredeemable.

"Yes sir I do, and I believe that he doesn't judge me for who I am, which I cannot change" Jim said simply, done with the conversation now, all he wanted to do was go home and grieve for his lost love.

"That's all our questions, we'll be in touch if we need anything else" Booth said as he got up and left the room, Brennan following closely behind.

"Next time tell me the evidence before bringing it into the questioning Bones, I need to know everything you know when I go into an interrogation" Booth said a little sharply, he'd been blind sided a little by Bones' question and didn't like feeling in the dark on something even if the person who knew was his partner.

"I'm sorry Booth, I didn't have time to explain it to you and I couldn't resist the opportunity to have Jim confirm my suspicions" Brennan answered meekly, knowing she probably should have insisted on taking him aside to present her findings on the bones, but she was pretty sure it wouldn't have made a difference to the questioning.

"It's all right Bones, but you need to tell me what you know now" Booth said gently, realising that she'd come directly from the Jeffersonian just to be in the interrogation to support him. He didn't know if she knew exactly what she actually did for him in those interrogation rooms, but one day he'd explain it to her.

"The 20+ bone breaks I found were caused by the bones being hit with a heavy object, round in shape, but roughly edged, they were thrown at him and as soon as Hodgins finishes his analysis of the particles I found embedded in some of the breaks, I'll be able to corroborate my theory that Anthony was stoned to death" Brennan explained to Booth, deeply saddened by her findings, she couldn't believe that someone would do that to a human being simply for being who they were.

"This backs up Jim's theory that it was either the mother or the congregation, is there any way you can determine if the objects thrown at Jim were thrown by more than one person?" Booth asked watching Brennan carefully, after her dizziness before he wanted to make sure she wasn't taxing herself too much with this investigation.

"We can get Angela to see if she can input my findings into the Angelator and see if we can come up with trajectories for the objects, it would show at least the height that they were thrown, and if the height varies that could indicate more than one person" Brennan said, seeing the concern in Booth's eyes but not acknowledging it. She was fine at the moment and no matter how over-protective Booth got she was not going to allow him to impede on her ability to help solve this case. She was listening to her body for the first time in her life, really listening to it and doing everything she could to ensure that she rested enough, that she ate enough and that she drank enough, she knew she couldn't stop him from worrying about her, but she wished he'd trust her more, when it came to her taking care of herself during this pregnancy. She would not risk the baby's life under any circumstances and she was not going to give the FBI any reason to take her out of the field if she could help it.

" That sounds good, how about you head over to the Jeffersonian and get onto that with Angela, while I do some research into Anthony's mother's church, I'll come over and pick you up for dinner at about 6pm is that ok?" Booth asked wanting to take Brennan home now, but knew he needed to fight his over-protective instincts or he'd be sleeping on the couch for the majority of this pregnancy.

"That would be acceptable" Brennan said looking around before kissing Booth gently, tracing her hand along his strong jaw, before pulling him further into the kiss, she broke it off quickly when she heard footsteps approaching and smiled at him sheepishly before heading for her car.

"Angela, I need you to input the data from my findings on this case" Brennan asked as she walked into Angela's office. She looked up and saw Jack walking quickly away and then looked over at her slightly dishevelled friend.

"Did I interrupt something?" Brennan asked apologetically, while she and Booth tried very hard not to do anything in her office, they had indulged once or twice when they knew for certain no one was around. Not one to begrudge anyone their biological need for release she unlike Cam didn't frown on Angela and Hodgins taking advantage of time away from Michael to indulge in this need.

"You know you did! Next time sweetie, knock or you will get an eyeful" Angela teased looking up at her best friend and smiling.

"Now you said you needed something?" Angela asked, curious about why her best friend was here in her office and not with Booth, she'd thought they were questioning witnesses.

"Yes I need to you to input the data I gained from the victim's bones into the Angelator, I want to see if we are able to calculate the trajectories of the objects that were thrown at the victim that caused the breaks to his bones" Brennan told Angela, watching as the artist's hands flew over the keyboard as she spoke already inputting the data. One of the things she loved about Angela was her efficiency, she could type faster than even Brennan could and she was always ready to do what was needed in any situation.

"Let's see what we get from that, okay now most of the objects were thrown from the same height and at the same angle, so they were most likely from the same person, but a few of them were thrown from a greater height and a different angle, most likely a taller person than the other assailant" Angela told Brennan as they both watched the Angelator bring up the images of Anthony's body and the heights and angles of the throws.

"Can you calculate how tall the two people are?" Brennan asked, knowing that if they could get the heights of the assailants then it would help ascertain who they were.

"Yep, I can also tell you that the one's that were thrown from the taller assailant were thrown considerably harder than the ones by the smaller one, I can use the speed at which the objects were thrown to work out the approximate weight of the two individuals too if that would help?" Angela asked looking at Brennan and seeing her staring into space for a moment.

"Sweetie?" Angela asked, recognising the look and knowing that Brennan had a fair idea of who she thought the other assailant was.

"The leader of Anthony's mum's church, he'd be the most likely person to have engaged in this act with Anthony's mum if that is what happened" Brennan posited, even though she knew she had no proof as yet to back it up, it was the only choice that made logical sense. Now all she could do was wait for the Angelator to get them the proof that he was the other person involved in Anthony's death.

"Well these results are going to take a little while and I know Hodgins wanted to show you his results, so why don't you head to your office and I'll send him into you, you look beat sweetie, it might be a good idea to head home early today" Angela suggested not knowing Brennan had already agreed to leave with Booth at 6pm far earlier than her normal finishing hours.

"I'll be in my office then" Brennan said as she squeezed Angela's shoulder, silently thanking her for her concern but trying to convey through touch that it was unnecessary. Yes she was tired, but it had been a long day and despite the two hour nap she'd taken on the lounge, biologically she knew her body was going through a process that required a great amount of energy. She was secretly fascinated by all the changes that were going on in her body every day. Due to her heightened knowledge of what the body went through when pregnant she was extremely vigilant when detecting any changes that were going on. She sat down at her desk and leaned back in her chair for a few moments sighing as she felt the relief of being off her feet for the moment. She closed her eyes and concentrated on relaxing for a few moments, knowing that as soon as Jack walked in to explain his findings she'd be completely engrossed in the science of the conversation and she'd need a little more energy to help her with that.

"Dr B?" Hodgins called knocking quietly on the door to her office even though the door was open. He'd watched her walk in and had seen her lay her head back and had decided to wait a few minutes to give her a chance to wind down a little before he bombarded her with his findings. He knew that when Angie had been pregnant, even in the early stages, just a few moments of peace were a godsend to her. Angie was just as stubborn as Dr B and he'd been unable to get her to rest as much as he'd liked, as he suspected Booth would have the same problem with Dr B, so he'd learnt to give Angie those moments and he was going to do the same with Dr B.

"Yes Jack, what have you found" Brennan asked reluctantly sitting up in her chair. She was beginning to wish for 6pm to roll around so she could go have dinner with Booth and then head straight to bed when they got home. It was going to be one of those nights where she was asleep before 8 or 9pm, even though she'd wanted things to be different, she couldn't argue with her body.

"You were right, the particles you found were broken off portions of larger rocks, I found traces of quartz, mica and feldspar these in combination would make up a granite rock, a fairly common rock so it won't be easily traced unfortunately, but we can definitely say he was stoned to death" Jack told her, and watched her process the information.

"That's very good work Jack, I think you are right we can rule cause of death as stoning, I can't believe someone would do that to someone else, his injuries would have been very painful, until the last break I discovered, which is most likely the blow that killed him and created some of the damage to the skull" Brennan told him, a single tear sliding down her face. She wiped it away sheepishly, knowing it was probably hormones, but she had to admit that she was identifying with this case a lot more than she normally did. She was feeling a lot more in this case than she normally did and it was making her feel a little off balance, she was having trouble detaching from the victim, which was unsettling for her.

"You know Dr B, it's okay to feel saddened by acts of cruelty, and it's even more okay to show it, I know that as your pregnancy progresses, you are going to feel a lot more than you normally do because of the hormones, just know Angela and Booth aren't the only people you can talk to, I went through this with Angela, sometimes after a really hard case, I'd just hold her while she cried until she fell asleep, sometimes the pain and the hormones overwhelmed her, I just want you to know I'm here for you if you need someone" Jack told her, hoping she'd take him up on the offer at least once during her pregnancy.

"Thank you Jack, that means a lot to me, I'm not sure why this case is affecting me as much as it is, I just can't seem to compartmentalise at the moment, I don't know if it's because of the baby or something else" Brennan told him, admitting something she hadn't even admitted to Booth yet.

"It's probably the hormones Dr B, just make sure that you let others help you, I know you are a strong independent woman, and that you can take care of yourself, but pregnancy can be hard on a woman, and I can already see it's been difficult for you, there isn't any shame in letting others help you when you need it, that being said if Booth gets all over-protective on you, let me know and I'll straighten him out" Jack said winking at Brennan as he walked out of the room leaving her to mull over what he'd said.

She sat there thinking for a while about what Jack had said, and about how she was feeling and why she was feeling so much for this case. After about twenty minutes of mulling it came to her why she felt so strongly about this case, about how this young man's mother had killed her son for being who he was. Her best friend was a woman who had been in a same sex relationship at one stage, and she couldn't imagine anyone ever wanting to hurt Ange for that part of her, she herself had even had attractions to women when she was younger, attractions she'd never acted upon, but had felt nonetheless. How senseless this murder was, to kill someone simply for being who they were.

She doubted anyone knew, but she regularly donated money to anti-discrimination organisations and LGBTI organisations, especially after she had learned of Angela's relationship with Roxy. She'd wanted to support her friend and also to understand more about the troubles her friend might experience being in a relationship with another woman. She'd been very pleased when she'd learnt that Washington DC supported same sex marriage, and that her best friend would not be treated like a second class citizen and have to fight for that right. Although she didn't believe in marriage personally, she didn't believe anyone deserved to have to fight for the right to have a legal marriage if they desired it.

"Ready to go Bones?" Booth asked as he walked into her office, seeing her deep in thought. He wondered what was going through that brilliant mind of hers to have her so deep in thought she hadn't heard him walk in.

"Bones?"Booth asked again walking up to her desk and placing his hand on hers. He felt her jump a little and looked at her concerned.

"Sorry Booth, I was thinking about the case, Ja- Dr Hodgins has confirmed that the particles we found were granite rocks, and my official finding on the cause of death is stoning" Brennan told Booth, shaking off her thoughts from before. She knew she needed to talk to Booth about why the case was affecting her, as she was sure that today's display of emotion in front of Jack would not be her last, and he would want an explanation for her behaviour. Hormones could only explain so much.

" Good, are you okay Bones, you were pretty out of it just then" Booth asked worried for the woman he loved.

"I'm fine Booth, I was just going over the case in my head trying to figure out if I'd missed anything" Brennan told him, hoping that the partial lie would appease him, she really didn't want to get into a deeply emotional conversation right now, she was too tired for that.

"Okay well, how about we go get some dinner, and then get you off to bed, and no I'm not being over-protective, you look beat Bones, and I don't think you're going to argue with me" Booth said glancing over her as covertly as he could and taking in the paleness of her skin and the exhaustion he could clearly see in her expression.

"As you are correct, it would be fruitless for me to argue with you, let's go Booth" Brennan said as she gathered her coat and her bag and began to move towards the door. She didn't get very far before she was engulfed in his arms as he took her into a hug and she sighed as a feeling of complete safety enveloped her. She didn't know how he knew she needed this right now, but this was one of those times she felt very lucky to be partnered with such a wonderful caring man. She knew he was probably going to drive her crazy as this pregnancy progressed, but for now she just allowed herself to be enveloped by his warmth and his strength.

"Let's go home Bones, I'll make you that soup you love, the one that's been helping with the nausea, and then we'll both have an early night" Booth said as he ushered her out of the lab and down to the parking garage. They were home within ten minutes, Booth opting to head to his place because it was closer and also because he knew he had the soup she liked at his place. He banished her to the lounge expecting her to protest, and was greatly surprised when she didn't. She turned on the discovery channel, a channel she and Parker watched a lot when he was with them.

"Booth, I think we should tell Parker this weekend" Brennan called out knowing they were due to have Parker on the weekend and she wanted him to know, especially as the last time he'd been with them she hadn't been experiencing morning sickness. She didn't want him to think she was getting sick or for him to worry and although she was still not through her first trimester, and knowing that if they told him now and she lost the baby, which could still happen he'd be upset, she had a feeling that everything would be okay.

"Are you sure? You're still not through your first trimester" Booth said, not wanting to influence her decision at all, he secretly hoped she was serious about this, part of him was bursting to tell his little boy that he was going to be a big brother, but he'd understood her wariness, he knew that the risks of miscarriage lessened once a woman was past their first trimester and that most people waited to tell people after that period.

"Yes, I don't want him to worry if I get sick, if we don't tell him about the pregnancy he might think I'm getting sick and I don't want to worry him unnecessarily" Brennan said her hand unconsciously resting on her stomach and stroking it lightly. All of the evidence suggested that this was a healthy pregnancy, and although they still had a week or two to go before they could see evidence of a healthy baby, she knew that the morning sickness she was experiencing, coupled with her other symptoms, suggested that her hormone levels were sufficiently high enough to maintain the pregnancy.

"Well then that's settled, we'll tell him this weekend, he's going to be so excited to be a big brother, he's been asking his mum and Drew for a baby brother or sister for ages" Booth said, getting excited again about the prospect of telling his son about this wonderful news.

"Booth, I think we should involve Parker with as many aspects of my pregnancy as we can, maybe we can talk to Rebecca about letting Parker come to some of my ultrasounds and appointments?" Brennan suggested, knowing from the books she'd read about siblings, that they'd made the same suggestions especially when they age gap was going to be this big. Parker would be 10 years old when the baby was born and she knew there was a possibility that he would feel threatened by the baby especially when the baby got to be here with his Dad all the time. She wanted to involve him as much in the pregnancy as she could so that he would bond with the baby, to hopefully eliminate some of that threat. She knew jealousy would probably occur at some point, due to Parker only getting to be with his Dad some of the time, but felt that if they were able to help him bond as much with the baby as possible, that the little jealousy he felt would be fleeting. She was hoping now that they were having a baby, that Rebecca might be a little more lenient with the time that Parker spent with them.

"You are amazing you know that? Now your soup will be ready in about 15 minutes so you rest up and watch whatever it is that you are watching" Booth said taking a look at the program she was watching and not being able to make heads or tails of it. He walked back into the kitchen to finish preparing her soup and to make himself a grilled cheese sandwich, it was one of the only things he could safely cook inside the apartment at the moment without making her sick. He'd had to give up his bacon and egg breakfasts in favour of pancakes or waffles because the smell of the bacon and even the eggs cooking had her running for the toilet. It was a small sacrifice he believed considering everything she was going through and what she still had to come in order to have their baby.

When he brought in her soup, with a couple of slices of her favourite toast, he found her asleep on the lounge. He'd never known her to conk out like that so quickly, normally it took a fair amount of time for her to fall asleep. Just another change, he thought as he gently woke her. When he was satisfied she wouldn't fall asleep and go head first into her soup, he went and retrieved his sandwich and sat down next to her to eat it. When they were both finished eating, he helped her up and they walked slowly to the bedroom. There was a small protest from her when he insisted on helping her out of her clothes and into pyjamas to sleep in, she'd wanted to just collapse into bed as she was, that was how tired she was.

Once she was dressed and in bed she drifted off quickly, not even getting a chance to say good night before sleep was claiming her and he spent a few moments just watching her sleep. He yawned and realised he was tired enough to sleep too, so he laid down next to her curling himself around her and placing his hand on her stomach, marvelling at the soft firmness of her stomach, you still couldn't tell she was pregnant just from looking at her, but at 8 weeks he was finally feeling some sign that there really was a baby in there and he lay there thinking about their baby and his son and how they were going to make a great family once the baby was here, before drifting off to sleep wrapped around the woman he loved.

So... we know who did it, but how do Booth & Brennan go about proving it. Will Booth be able to get a confession out of not only the Mother but the Priest! And we will have Parker to look forward to in the next couple of chapters :) Thanks for reading as always. Mel