Chapter 13
Susan Granger and Michael Snyder's Residence, Hagerstown, Maryland 12:30 p.m.
Brennan quickly ran out the front door without waiting for the police officers to return from down the hall. She ran around the side of the house toward the direction Booth had taken off in. Rounding the corner she saw movement down near the ditch that she heard the police talking about. Someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her back. She whirled around ready to fight her attacker when she recognized the man as one of the police officers.
"You can't go out there. We'll handle this." He said.
"Officer, Agent Booth…" the policeman cut her off.
"I know Agent Booth is your partner but you have to let me do my job ok? You can call me Officer O'Grady by the way." He smiled slightly and then ducked around the corner himself. Brennan wasn't about to give up that easily. Without a second thought, she ran around to the other side of the building. From the backside of the house she got a better view of the gully and better cover from the deck that was there. Again she saw someone struggling in the ditch and the forensic anthropologist moved closer. Brennan immediately recognized the color of Booth's gray suit coat and ran toward the ditch. She imagined Officer O'Grady was cursing under his breath but she didn't care. It was then that she heard Booth's voice.
"A little help here!"
"Booth!" It was the only thing she could think to say at the moment as the distance between her and her partner closed.
"Bones!" He shouted back.
"Are you all right?" Brennan asked as she arrived to find the FBI Agent shin-deep in the muck of the gully and holding onto Michael Snyder underneath his arms. Snyder was too busy writhing in pain to try to loosen the FBI Agent's grip.
"Other than the fact I'm covered in mud, I'll be fine. He'll probably need some surgery before he's better." Booth smirked as he moved his head to point at Snyder.
"Dr. Brennan!" She could hear Officer O'Grady's voice and the pounding footsteps of the other policemen. She rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Booth.
"Want some help?" She smirked.
"That would be nice considering all the trouble I went through." The FBI Agent rolled his eyes.
"Get me out of here!" Snyder spoke up for the first time. The six police officers arrived and surveyed the scene before them.
"Bauer and Visone get down there and grab Mr. Snyder. I'm sure that Agent Booth would like to get the filth off his hands. Williams, call for a bus." Officer O'Grady chuckled. Policemen Bauer and Visone started to go down the muddy slope while Officer Williams called for an ambulance. Once they reached the bottom, Bauer and Visone allowed the FBI Agent to let go of Snyder and they very unceremoniously started dragging him up the side of the ditch. The serial killer was cursing the whole way.
"Oh do be careful of Mr. Snyder's left knee. I took the liberty of shooting him after he leveled his illegally sawed off shot gun at me." Booth told him.
"No problem." Bauer said as he 'accidentally' bumped Snyder knee.
"Watch it you idiot!" The captive shouted. At the top of the slippery slope, a fifth officer began to read Snyder his rights.
"Michael Snyder you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Susan Granger, resisting arrest, and illegal weapons possession. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you can not afford one, one will be provided." While this was going on, Booth pulled himself out of the muck and began to climb up the side of the muddy slope. Towards the top, Brennan reached out and helped him escape the muck.
"Booth I'd like you to meet Officer O'Grady." Brennan introduced the two men.
"Officer, I'd like to thank you for your assistance. Unfortunately, Snyder's sawed off is still down in the mud." Booth said.
"I'll call for a crime scene unit and they can dig it out. I'm just glad that you got him before he got you." O'Grady smiled.
"So am I. Which hospital are they taking him to?" Booth wondered.
"He'll be taken to Hagerstown General. As soon as he's able to travel, I'll have him brought to Washington so you can level all the charges you want against him." The policeman assured him.
"Excellent. Your captain has my number, if he could give me a call when you do transfer him." Booth said.
"Sure. Now if you'll excuse me." O'Grady gave a nod and then headed off to get the crime scene taken care of.
"Let's go home Bones." Booth said.
"Sounds good to me." Brennan smiled.
The Jeffersonian Medico-Legal Lab 4:00 pm
Dr. Brennan sat in her office making sure that all the evidence was collected against Michael Snyder when there was a knock on her office door. Looking up form her work, she saw her partner Agent Booth standing there.
"Come in." She smiled.
"I have some good news." He said as he closed the office door.
"Oh and what's that?" Brennan asked.
"Susan Granger is going to recover. The doctor's said that if we hadn't found here when we did she wouldn't have made it." Booth told her as he plopped down on her couch.
"That is good news." She said as she continued to load the box in front of her.
"There's more. Because Snyder was arrested, we can compel him to give us a writing sample. Once that sample matches the letters he left behind, there's no way for him to avoid jail time." He said putting his feet up on her coffee table.
"Well that will only tie him to the people murdered in West Virginia. It doesn't tie him to Walters' murder." Brennan sighed.
"That's where you're wrong. You remember that search warrant? Well the CSU team combed Snyder's place. Well back when we found that message on Walters' wall you had discovered all those different blood types and you said that he would've collected the blood and brain matter in a container." Booth told her.
"Right, so?" She wondered.
"Well the CSU team found containers with organs and with blood in a refrigerator out in garage, that and they found a lot of skewers. They're matching the types and the missing organs with the West Virginia victims as we speak along with sending the skewers here so Zach can do his magic. If they do match the types in the word on Walters' wall that with Snyder's fingerprints inside the house it should be enough get him to talk. Of course if any of the skewer marks match then he won't need to talk." He explained.
"What about Mary Snyder? Will she ever get justice?" Brennan asked. Booth sighed and shook his head.
"I don't know Bones. It's one of those cases that will haunt everyone involved." He said. Brennan nodded and closed the lid on the evidence box. Then she came over and sat down next to Booth.
"I don't like it. Mary Snyder should have justice." She told her partner.
"I know she should. There are some things that bother me about the whole case though and I can't seem to figure them out. Why bother to bring Walters in on the murder spree? Another thing, why leave Susan's car in Walters' driveway? If Walters' did steal it why not take the car and dump it somewhere else? Why keep the victim's blood and organs? Do you still think that he wanted to follow the ancient Egyptians?" Booth asked as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"It's a possibility." Brennan shrugged.
"Hopefully when I get to question Snyder he'll give me a straight answer. The Hagerstown police suspect he won't be able to be sent to Washington before Saturday so I guess we'll have to wait and find out." Booth gave a small smile.
"Do you suppose we could maybe wait at my place tonight?" Brennan asked.
"If you promise to talk me through everything that happened when you and Hodgins were trapped in that car. I know that argument we had, had absolutely nothing to do with the current case. You were buried alive and I want to hear everything, ok?" He squeezed her shoulders. Brennan nodded and gave a tight smile.
"Well I have to go fill out a report for discharging my weapon and check up on the CSU squad. I'll call you. Hopefully, I'll be done by six." Booth moved his arm and started to get up.
"I'll be sure to be home by then. I'm sure that Angela won't object." She smiled and stood up with him.
"See you later, Temperance."
"Later it is, Seeley." Angela heard the two saying their good-byes and immediately left her post at the office door. Those two were getting along and it was her turn to get along and find Jack.
To Be Continued…