(The Change in the Game)
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Feeling better than he had for the last few days, Lester sat in Booth's office and waited for the man to come back from a meeting with the Deputy Director. Booth had asked him to meet with him at ten, but obviously his meeting was running over.
"Good, you're here." The meeting had lasted longer that Booth had wanted it to, but the Director had interrupted their meeting and Booth had to stay to answer questions the Director had about the capture of Brodsky. Moving around his desk, Booth sat down, leaned back against his chair and stared at the younger agent. "How's your head? The headaches gone?"
"Yeah, pretty much." Lester placed his hand over the gauze still covering the laceration on his head. "The stitches are itchy, but the headache went away."
Glad to hear that, Booth nodded his head. "Good. I don't expect to have you go out in the field for the rest of the week. Your job following me around is over. Next week, you're going to partner up with Harris. You can learn a lot from him. He's been with the FBI for as long as I have and he knows what he's doing. He solved the David Porter case last year and he did it through perseverance. He had almost no leads, but he had noticed there was a soda bottle near the victim and when he found out that Porter was a diabetic he had the bottle tested for prints. When that came back negative, he had the liquid inside the bottle checked. There was enough to do a DNA test and that DNA test eventually led to the murderer. Once he's on a case, it rarely becomes a cold case. You couldn't have a better partner."
"I'll keep that in mind." He wasn't sure why, but Harris made Lester more nervous than working with Booth. Harris was a taciturn fellow and Lester liked to talk. He wasn't sure who was going to drive who crazy first. "I heard that Brodsky wants a trial and that's his right, but he knows the evidence is overwhelming, why bother."
"He doesn't care how long a trial would take. He has the time and he might be counting on finding a jury that will believe he was the good guy going after bad guys. He doesn't have anything to lose by trying that option." Booth had hoped his former brother in arms would admit his guilt and forgo a trial, but that wasn't going to happen. He was certain that Brennan was going to be recused because one of Brodsky's victims had been Brennan's intern. He hadn't told Brennan that yet. He knew she was going to fight Caroline to be included as an expert witness, but there was no way any judge would allow Brennan to testify. He wouldn't want to risk a mistrial.
The skin around his stitches feeling itchy, Lester placed his hands under his armpits and tried to ignore it. "Since he shot me, I'll probably be recused . . . Claire says that she heard that Dean Bryce may take Brodsky's case. He's a hot shot lawyer at her firm and he rarely loses a case."
"He'll lose this one." Booth was certain when it came to anyone going up against Caroline Julian, they were more than likely to lose. "Caroline rarely loses a case and this time the evidence is overwhelming. Brodsky is toast."
"I hope you're right." Lester knew that if Brodsky walked, he might set off a chain of events what would be unfortunate. Too many people wanted Brodsky dead. The courts needed to take care of Brodsky and not a vigilante. His victims needed justice even if they were scum. Their families deserved closure even if their loved ones weren't part of polite society. That was how it was supposed to work. No one deserved to be murdered in cold blood.
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It had been eight days since Vincent Nigel-Murray had died and Brennan was still mourning her intern. She had flown to England along with Cam, Hodgins and Angela for her intern's funeral and that had been a very sad affair. Mrs. Nigel-Murray had taken the death of her son very hard and had cried during the funeral and his internment. She had seemed inconsolable and Brennan had felt worried for the woman. Her husband and her younger son had stood by her side and helped when they could, but Brennan could see that Mrs. Nigel-Murray was heart broken and she might take a long time to recover.
During Vincent's wake, Mrs. Nigel-Murray had listened to Brennan tell her about Vincent, about his thirst for knowledge, his joy in science and his love affair with facts. Beatrice had listened closely to what Brennan had to say and after one amusing story about an experiment that had gone wrong for Vincent and Hodgins, the woman had hugged Brennan and thanked her. "My Vincent loved facts. He was a bashful bit when he was a youngster, but he found a way to make friends through facts. He was the one his friends came to when they had questions about how things worked. Our Vincent always seemed to know the answers to any question he was asked and if he didn't know, he'd find out as soon as he could . . . He loved you Dr. Brennan. He respected you. He loved you as his teacher and his mentor and he hoped to be as famous as you are someday . . . I guess that won't happen now." She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue and gave Brennan a watery smile. "Thank you so much for all the things you did for my boy. Thank you for coming to his funeral. He would have been so proud to know that you thought enough of him to come."
"He was one of my best interns, Mrs. Nigel-Murray." Brennan had returned Beatrice's hug even though hugs from strangers made her feel uncomfortable. "He learned things quickly, he was tenacious and I could count on him to provide me with accurate findings. He was about to finish his doctoral program and I could see he was going to have no trouble with the boards. He will be greatly missed by me and everyone that knew him."
Proud of her son, Beatrice released Brennan and dabbed at her eyes again with her soggy tissue. "Thank you, Dr. Brennan. Thank you for your kind words." Beatrice had talked to Hodgins, Angela and Cam and felt better knowing that her son had nice friends and co-workers while he was in America. Though still devastated with the loss of her son, she could see that her boy had been happy working at the Lab and that everyone enjoyed having Vincent's company. She would never forget her son and she knew that he would not be forgotten by those who knew him. Vincent had died, but he would live in the memories of many people, not just his family.
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"I would like to set up a scholarship in Mr. Nigel-Murray's name." Brennan sat on the couch, staring at her hands as they rested on her lap. "He will never finish his program and get his doctorate, but he deserves to be honored in some way. If I can sponsor a few students, they can finish what he couldn't. Mr. Bray could benefit from the scholarship. It would help cover his expenses, the cost of his education and he could begin to repay the neighbors who invested in his education so far. I know he worries about making money and paying them back . . . Angela told me about their investment in his education."
"That sounds like a great idea, Bones." After pouring wine into two glasses, Booth carried the glasses to the couch, handed one of the glasses to Brennan and sat down beside her. "I know it's pretty expensive to get an education. I went to college using the GI Bill. I couldn't have afforded it on my own. Wendell is a good guy and he could use the financial help."
She took a sip of the wine and placed the wine glass on the coffee table. "I was fortunate to earn two scholarships and they still didn't cover all of my expenses. I had to work part-time while I went to University, before I earned my doctorate . . . I think I will set up the scholarship and award it to one of my most deserving students each year, someone that needs financial help to help defray the rising costs of getting their education. I think a full scholarship . . . Mr. Bray will be in the program for at least four more years since it takes about seven to eight years to get a doctorate in forensic anthropology. I can pay for the last years he has before he graduates which will allow him to use the money he earns as my intern to begin repaying the people he owes money to."
Proud of his partner, Booth placed his glass on the coffee table and placed his arm around her shoulders. "Vincent was a weird guy, but I liked him . . . I'm sorry I couldn't go with you to the funeral, but I had too much work to do back here."
"Don't worry about that, Booth. I understand." She knew that he had fallen behind on paperwork the last few weeks before Brodsky had been captured and he needed to catch up so that he could return to working on other cases with her in the field. "Angela, Cam and Hodgins were with me. Hodgins' family jet was very spacious and better than first class on a normal passenger jet. The food was much better too . . . Hodgins told me that he misses Mr. Nigel-Murray and getting us to his funeral was important. He wanted to say goodbye . . . He understands that my intern is dead and that there was no one to say goodbye to . . . It's like when you talk to my mother standing in front of her gravestone."
"I get it, Bones." Booth knew that his partner didn't believe in an afterlife but he did. He found it comforting to know that someday he'd see his grandmother and his Aunt Ruth again. He missed them even though they had died over 20 years ago. He looked forward to meeting Brennan's mother and he was counting on Brennan getting into heaven since she did a lot of good works. "Still, I'm glad you weren't there alone."
Sad, Brennan knew that she would never forget her English intern. "He was really looking forward to going to the symposium. I missed it of course. I still plan to present a paper to the committee and I will give Mr. Nigel-Murray the credit he deserves for helping me gather the data. It will be the only scientific paper he will ever have his name listed in as a contributor." She felt a tear slide down her cheek and brushed it away. Leaning against Booth, she felt the warmth of his body next to hers and felt comforted. She wasn't alone.
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