Thanks for all of the great reviews, the favorites and the follows. We are so happy you like our story.
Penny and I don't own Bones. Eh, that's the way it goes sometimes.
Ooooooooooooooooooooooo
Gibbs was sitting at his desk, looking through Perry Van Pelt's background check that DiNozzo and McGee had compiled for him when his phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID, he was surprised to see Booth's name and number. Picking up the phone, he hoped that Booth had good news. "Gibbs. Do you have any news, Booth?"
Booth chuckled. "Jethro, you'll never guess who showed up at the Hoover twenty minutes ago."
Curious, Gibbs asked him, "Who would that be?"
In the observation room, Booth stared at the object of his phone call who was sitting in the interrogation room. "Mary Van Pelt. She came here because it's easier to get to the Hoover than the NCIS building. She wants to talk to us."
Interested, Gibbs opened the drawer to his desk and removed his gun. "I'll be there in less than thirty." Ending the call, Gibbs turned and looked at DiNozzo. "Get the car, we're going to the Hoover."
Surprised, DiNozzo stood up, mimicked Gibbs and removed his gun from his desk. "What's going on over there, Boss?"
Moving from his chair, Gibbs attached his gun it to his belt. "Mary Van Pelt just showed up. Wants to talk to us."
Smiling, DiNozzo responded, "Well that's interesting." Walking towards the elevator, Tony called out to Ziva, "When Tim gets back with my sandwich, don't eat it."
Ziva laughed while she continued to type away on her keyboard. "Do not worry Tony. I am not interested in your sandwich unless it's a po-boy from Cajun Joes."
Worried, DiNozzo stepped on to the elevator. "Ziva, don't eat my sandwich."
Rolling his eyes, Gibbs punched the button for the parking garage.
Ooooooooooooooooo
Standing in the observation room, Booth looked through the glass at Mary Van Pelt. "She showed up and told me that she had something important to confess. She wants you to be here because she thinks you're the primary on this case."
His face polite, Gibbs turned to look at his cousin. "Aren't I?"
Amused, Booth laughed. "Well, technically, I guess you are."
Gibbs grinned and pointed at Mary. "Let's go talk to her." Glancing at DiNozzo, Gibbs ordered, "You stay here."
Turning towards the window, DiNozzo replied, "Sure thing, Boss."
Oooooooooooooooooooooo
For the moment, Booth remained silent and sat across the desk from Mary while Gibbs talked to their visitor.
His gaze rivited on Mary, Gibbs commented, "Agent Booth said that you needed to talk to us."
Clearly anxious, Mary bit her lower lip and then nodded her head. "I've decided to turn myself in. I killed my brother."
Surprised at the turn of event, Gibbs frowned at the woman. "Perhaps Agent Booth should read you your rights, Ms. Van Pelt."
Shrugging her shoulders, Mary responded, "Go ahead. It won't change anything though."
Booth spoke clearly while he informed Mary of her Miranda rights. As soon as he was done, he leaned forward on the desk. "Why did you kill your brother, Ms. Van Pelt?"
Determined to get it over with, Mary sighed. "Perry came home drunk and told me that he needed money. He said that he'd made a bet with someone named Marco and he'd lost the bet. He said that if he didn't come up with the money, Marco would break his legs. I told him I didn't have any money to give to him. I'd just paid the rent and it was five days before I was going to be paid again. He was furious and starting hitting me. He kept hitting me; but, I couldn't give him something I didn't have. Mom came home while he was hitting me and she tried to stop him. He told her he needed money to pay off Marco and that if I wasn't going to give it to him then she would. Mom told him she didn't have any money and he started beating her. By then, my son had come back from his babysitter and Ryan started crying and he tried to stop Perry from hitting Mom."
The thought of her baby being in the middle of that mess to much for her, Mary placed her hands over her eyes and began to weep. "He hurt my son, Agent Gibbs . . . My son. It's one thing to hurt me and Mom, but he hurt my son and I couldn't allow him to do that. I ran into the kitchen, grabbed a knife and came back into the living room and I stabbed Perry. I wanted him to die for hurting my son. I wanted him to die and I killed him."
Trembling, Mary shook her head and sobbed. "Perry was evil. He was evil and I had to stop him . . . I know what I did was wrong and I'm willing to pay the price for what I did."
Rubbing his bottom lip, Gibbs asked her, "Your mother witnessed this?"
Unable to stop crying, Mary nodded her head instead of answering.
Not sure he believed her story or at least all of it, Booth stared at Mary trying to get a feel for what was going on. "Why did you cut up your brother's body and dump it in the dumpster behind the NEX?"
Removing her hands from her face, Mary replied softly. "I didn't want to go to jail for murder; so,I thought that If I cut up his body and disposed of it somewhere that we could just claim that he left and we didn't know where he was. He hung out with bad people and we knew Marco would be looking for him for the money Perry owed him. I stuffed his body in the garbage bags and drove it over to the NEX after hours. I knew that the trash would be picked up early the next morning. I threw the bags into the dumpster. I didn't leave then next to it. I don't know how they ended up on the ground next to the dumpsters."
With a quick glance at Gibbs, Booth turned his attention back to the distraught woman. "Did your mother help you chop up your brother's body?"
Shaking her head, Mary wiped her hands across her cheeks. "No, absolutely not. I had her take Ryan away from the house and I did it by myself. The only one that committed a crime was me. I killed him. I chopped him up and I dumped his body. It was all me. No one else was involved. Just me . . . I admit it."
Gibbs jotted down a few notes and placed his notebook in his jacket pocket. "Do you have a lawyer?"
Staring at the top of the desk, Mary shook her head. "I can't afford a lawyer. I don't need one any way since I admit I did it."
Oooooooooooooooooooooo
Standing inside the observation room, Booth stared at Mary as she continued to weep. "I don't think she did it."
Disgusted with what was going on, Gibbs watched Booth lean against the room's window. "There isn't a lot we can do if she confesses to the crime. We can try to talk to her and see if she'll change her mind, but any forensic evidence in the Van Pelt house will probably prove that Perry was killed there. Just not by who. If she's gonna confess . . ." Gibbs let the sentence trail off as he watched the younger man.
Nodding his head over towards DiNozzo, Booth responded, "I think Special Agent DiNozzo should call Tricia Van Pelt and tell her that Mary has confessed to the murder of Perry Van Pelt."
Interested in that idea, DiNozzo glanced at Gibbs then back at Booth. "You suspect Tricia Van Pelt murdered her son?"
Booth folded his arms against his chest and nodded his head. "I think Tricia was being beaten and when Perry realized that his mother wasn't going to give him any money he went after his nephew. Tricia snapped and killed her son to protect her grandson."
Curious, DiNozzo turned to stare at Mary. "Why don't you think Mary did it?"
Glancing back at Mary, Booth saw she still crying. "She said that her son had just come back from his babysitter. Mary works the afternoon shift, 3 p.m. until closing. Her mother Tricia works the early shift. She gets off at five. I called the manager of the NEX yesterday to verify the times Mary and Tricia Van Pelt work and he checked their time cards. The body was found behind the NEX on a night that Mary didn't have to work. I believe that she dumped the body of her brother. But, if we go back to time of death, Perry had been dead five days before his body was discovered. We know from the dumpster divers when they found the body, that they had been there between time of death and when the body was found and it wasn't there. That means that Perry was killed on a day when Mary was at work. She wasn't in the house when her brother was killed."
Gibbs shook his head. "So she's trying to take the blame to protect her mother."
The FBI agent unfolded his arms and turned to face the interrogation room. "We need to get a search warrant for the house in Chesapeake. Might even have the local LEO's handle that. I think the house is the crime scene and I'm guessing they may have stashed the body in the garage until they decided what to do with it. How to handle it." Booth shook his head. "I'm sure she helped her mother by disposing of the body. I don't know if she helped cut up the body, but I'm pretty sure that Tricia was the one that killed Perry not Mary. We need to check the house and garage. I'm sure we'll find what we need."
Sadly, Di Nozzo watched the distraught woman. "It must be horrible to live in a house like that."
Looking down at his clenched hands, Booth closed his eyes momentarily. "Yeah, it must be."
ooooooooooooooooooooooooo
What do you think about our story now? More surprises to come. Let us know what you think so far. We really appreciate the kind reviews we've received.