A/N: here we are at the last chapter of my little story. The words I used in this chapter were evidence, evil, escape, error, equal, and equipment.


Booth glanced at Agent Volker as they silently walked down the hall toward the interrogation room, once again impressed with the younger man, especially since he'd done so much of the legwork on their current case. Of course, Derek had made his share of on the job mistakes, but that was to be expected during his first few years as an agent. He was learning quickly, however, and Booth knew the rookie would have a bright future ahead of him if he stayed with the FBI.

They stopped at the closed door before entering the room. "So...what do you think? Is he culpable?," Booth asked as he looked over a file.

"Yeah, without a doubt. The problem is that most of our evidence is circumstantial at this point." Seeing Booth's annoyance, the young agent rushed to explain. "We do have Dr. Brennan's ID of the guy…"

Booth sighed softly. "Such as it was, right? I mean, she wouldn't say that she was a hundred percent sure…"

"Right. Anyway, we know he had Coakley's credit card number, so it wouldn't be too hard for him to get a duplicate card, but explaining to a jury about why he went to all the trouble to do so would be difficult. Right now, it's basically Coakley's word againd Dr. Gladpoole's, and Coakley said he never got a name for the guy who'd hired him, so..." Volker groaned in frustration. "I think we're screwed on this one…and Ms. Julian's gonna be pissed."

"Yeah, she'd be pissed about it, but we're not beaten yet. I bet Gladpoole can't be sure that Arthur doesn't know his name, and it's probably making him really nervous." Closing the file, Booth laughed mirthlessly. "I think it's time to play a hunch. We need to get Gladpoole to confess, right?"

"Well, yeah...otherwise the prosecutor's office is gonna have a devil of a time trying to convict the guy." Studying Booth closely, Volker grimaced slightly. "You're not talking about entrapment, are you? I mean, I know you know what you're doing..."

"Of course not...I'm talking about planting a suggestion, okay? The guy's on edge...so maybe we can give him a little push, and then things will go our way." Reaching for the doorknob, Booth winked at his associate. "Watch and learn, Volker."

The agents walked in and sat down across from Dr. Gladpoole and his lawyer, Ms. Feng, who was most displeased that her client had been arrested. "Do you even have probable cause? Why are you harassing him? He just lost his husband...he's distraught…"

"Yeah, I can see that." Expressionless, Booth opened the file and showed them a picture lifted from the surveillance video. "He was so upset that he took a trip all the way to a little town called Walkersville and used another man's credit card at a convenience store to buy himself a soda."

"Really?" Scoffing loudly, Dr. Gladpoole rolled his eyes in disdain. "You can't possibly prove that's me…"

Realizing he hadn't gotten an outright denial, Booth nodded as he tapped the page. "Oh, but I can. You see, I have access to the best forensic anthropologist in the world. She just so happens to work at the Jeffersonian here in DC, and she does contract work for the FBI. When she compared this picture to your driver's license photograph, she said the features of the bone structure matched...specifically that the angle of the cheekbones was the same in both pictures So tell me, Dr. Gladpoole...how did being distraught force you into committing a felony? Why were you committing credit card fraud?"

"This is all a misunderstanding…"

"Henderson…" Ms. Feng shot him a warning glance. "You don't have to answer his questions. He's fishing..."

Her client held up a hand to interrupt her. "But it's so easy to explain, Alys. See, I had picked up the wrong card by mistake, and I didn't realize it until I got home." Gladpoole smiled unpleasantly. "Arthur had done some work for me around the house, and I guess he left his card there by accident."

Booth raised an eyebrow at the explanation. "Interesting...I didn't mention any names, Dr. Gladpoole. How did you know I was talking about Arthur?"

"Well, I just assumed...you know, he'd done some handyman work for me, and instead of cash, he asked me to pay down his credit card debt, so he gave me his card number, and I guess then he forgot it on the kitchen counter…"

Booth sat back in the chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "What kind of work?"

"Gardening, mostly. My husband, Julius...poor soul…" Gladpoole paused to wipe his eyes with his handkerchief. "He couldn't do yard work because he didn't want to damage his hands...I mean, as a professional violinist, his hands were his work and his life, you know? And I'm very allergic to grass…"

"And yet Mr. Keeling raised African violets, which require constant care.." Volker made a note on his tablet. "Interesting."

"Here's another thing that's interesting, Agent Volker." Booth gave Gladpoole a sidelong glance. "Arthur said that someone called him about shooting that pot of violets out of the ledge with an arrow...someone who knew his aunt." Fidgeting with a paperclip, Booth grimaced slightly. "You know Mrs. Coakley, right? After all, she's your next door neighbor…"

"Only in passing." Dr. Gladpoole's brow furrowed. "I'm sorry...is there a point to this meeting? Because I have other things to do...I need to plan Julius' funeral…"

"Planning a funeral? Yeah, that can be rough. It can cost a lot of money to bury someone…" Booth studied the man sitting across from him. "How are you going to pay for a funeral, Henderson? I mean, that bow that was stolen from your house...I heard that your husband paid a pretty penny for it…enough money to basically leave you broke..."

"What? No, I'm not broke. Julius had a life insurance policy...50,000 dollars…"

"Really?" Volker made another note. "Let's add this up...50,000 dollars in life insurance...50,000 dollars from your homeowners insurance because the bow was stolen...and a 50,000 dollar refund because you mailed to bow back to its orignial owner in Austria. If you add that all together, it equals 150,000 dollars of probable cause."

Ms. Feng interrupted. "You have no proof of any wrongdoing...even if that falling pot did kill Julius, it was an accident."

Booth pretended to smile. "Oh, we have proof of wrongdoing, Ms. Feng. We have proof of credit card fraud, probable insurance fraud, and possibly mail fraud. Agent Volker talked to a Herr Bernhart Fuchs...the man in Austria who sold Mr. Keeling the bow. He's expecting the bow in the mail any day now. He said he'd already mailed a check to Dr. Gladpoole, so hopefully he wasn't cheated out of his property…"

"That's ridiculous." Interrupting Booth, Gladpoole was incensed. "I don't have any check from Fuchs in Austria. The old fool said he wouldn't send me a check until he got that stupid bow back…that I'd have to wait a couple of weeks..." The man's voice trailed off as he realized he'd given himself away. "Oh my God…that's not what I meant...it was a mistake...I never meant to hurt anyone...oh, poor Julius..." Sobbing loudly, he hid his face in his hands.

Tacitly nodding at Volker, Booth pressed his fingertips together and paused for a few seconds as the man across from him wept. "Tell us what happened, Henderson."

Wiping his eyes, Gladpoole began to explain. "It was an accident...an error in judgment, if you will." He groaned softly before continuing. "I've had some recent financial setbacks, which my husband didn't really know about, and then he insisted on buying that ridiculously expensive bow...he said he'd always wanted one, and with them being so rare, he felt like he should take advantage of the opportunity to purchase it. I tried desperately to convince him otherwise, but he wouldn't listen…"

When Gladpoole hesitated, Booth grimly prodded him. "Go on…"

"I usually handled our money, but the house is in his name alone, so he could take out a second mortgage without my approval. Can you imagine? The place was almost paid off, and then we owed more money! I've been unemployed…and I'd used up a lot of our cash reserves..."

He sobbed quietly. "I was desperate...I didn't want Julius to find out we were almost broke, so I cooked up a plan to make it look like someone had stolen the bow. I'd have Arthur shoot that pot off the ledge, thinking it would look like an accident. Julius loved those stupid violets...and while he was outside, looking over the damage and trying to take care of them, I could take the bow and hide it, and my actions would escape his notice, since he'd be worried about his plants. Then later, when he looked for the bow, I'd tell him that maybe it had been stolen, and we could collect the insurance money…"

"But the plan failed because Julius was killed when the pot fell on him.." Booth shook his head in disgust. "That's so sad…and so stupid. Such a waste..."

"Agent Booth…," Ms. Feng began. "While it's true that my client may have committed some crimes, surely you can't hold him accountable for his husband's death. There was no evil intent…no deliberate plan to murder Julius..."

"You know better." Gathering up the papers, Booth exhaled slowly. "He made a plan to circumvent the law, Ms. Feng, and in carrying out that plan, someone was killed. That makes him as responsible as the man who shot the arrow. Dr. Gladpoole is under arrest."

After speaking to the marshals, Booth and Volker left the room. Sensing that Booth was upset, Volker kept his thoughts to himself as they entered the elevator, and they rode up to the fourth floor in silence.

As they left the elevator, Volker turned to go to his desk in the bullpen, but Booth stopped him. "Let's go get a cup of coffee."

"Sure."

They entered the breakroom and Booth poured two cups of coffee. He handed one to Volker and stirred sugar in the other. "It's a goddamn shame, you know?"

"Um...what's a shame?" Volker grimaced as he sipped his coffee. "You mean Dr. Gladpoole?

"Yeah. I mean, if those two guys had just been honest with each other...if they'd talked things over, this whole sad situation could've been avoided. As it is now, we've got a dead man and 2 guys going to jail." Booth tasted his coffee and stirred in another packet of sugar. "Let me tell you something, Derek...you have to know a lot to do this job right, but you can learn a lot, too, okay? See, when you're dealing with someone you love, you've got to be honest with them. Lying to them, or trying to hide things from them so they don't worry...that just leads to more problems, and then those problems stack up on each other. Remember that, okay? Be sure to always tell Gina the truth...unless she asks you what you got her for Valentine's Day…"

Both men chuckled as they drank their coffee. They chatted for a few minutes before Volker threw away his cup. "I'm gonna go finish up the paperwork on the case so I can leave on time. I've got a big weekend planned…" He grinned at his mentor. "What about you and your wife? You gonna celebrate?"

Wearing a broad grin, Booth gave Volker a thumbs up. "Oh yeah...we're definitely gonna celebrate. I'll talk to you Monday, okay?"

"Right." Volker chuckled to himself as he walked back to his desk, hoping he was going to be as lucky as Booth was planning to be.

Booth smiled happily as he walked into his office and opened the top drawer of his desk. Pulling out the box, he chuckled, hoping she'd appreciate his little joke. He slipped the box into his pocket and grabbed his coat, phone, and keys. It was time to go home so he could celebrate Valentine's Day weekend with his family.

Oooooooooo

The family had enjoyed a lazy Valentine's Day watching the kids' favorite movies before ordering pizza for dinner and then having strawberry ice cream sundaes for dessert. After playing a few rousing games of Ready Set Fun, it was time for Hank and Christine to take their baths so they could be tucked into bed.

Booth was wiping down the kitchen counter when Brennan joined him. "Are they asleep?'

"They will be shortly." She gently ran her hand down his broad back. "I enjoyed our family Valentine's Day tremendously. It was nice to have some family time."

"Yeah, I did, too. I'm glad we decided not to go out this evening." He smirked at his wife as he folded the dish rag. "It seems like Tom Foolery was the big winner tonight…"

She smiled as she embraced him. "He may yet win again, Booth. Shall we adjourn to the sofa?"

"Of course." He poured a glass of wine for her and a scotch for himself before sitting down next to her. "So...I know you've been curious…" He put a small box in her hand. "Happy Valentine's Day."

"Oh...thank you, Booth." She smiled sweetly as she opened it. "It's lovely…"

The box held a gold chain attached to either end of what appeared to be a set of intersecting lines which formed abstract triangular shapes.

Her brow furrowed as she lifted it from it's box. "An interesting design…"

Booth laughed softly. "It took me awhile, too. It's mountains, see? The way the lines cross each other it looks like a mountain range."

"Oh, yes! I see that now…" She held it up to her throat. "I really like it…it's quite unique..."

"But you're wondering why I picked it out?" He shrugged as he reached over to fasten the clasp. "Well, you said you'd reached a sexual peak, right? And we've been celebrating that a lot here lately, so I thought this would be a nice way to remember it…" Seeing her confusion, he paused. "Dumb idea, huh?"

"No, of course not." Smiling, she ran her fingers across the pendant. "I love the sentiment...and it's a very attractive piece of jewelry, too." Her smile faded a bit as she continued. "However, I'm afraid that the gift I've purchased for you is going to seem very strange in comparison…"

"Really? What is it?" He nudged her with his elbow. "When do I get to open it, huh?"

She took his hand and pulled up from the couch. "It's in our bedroom…"

"Okay." He followed her to their room and looked around. "I don't see anything…"

"Sit down and close your eyes." When he complied, she put a small package in his hands. "No peeking, Booth."

"Aw, c'mon…"

"No. I'm going to step into the bathroom for a few minutes. While I'm in there, you need to put your gift on."

"What? I don't get it…"

"Please? Just follow the directions…please? For me?"

"Oh, okay...but hurry up, okay?"

"Okay."

Hearing the bathroom door close, he opened his eyes and reached into the small red gift bag and was shocked when he pulled out its contents. "What the hell? Bones? What is this?"

She opened the door part way and peered around it. "It's your gift. Put it on…"

He eyed the tiny garment suspiciously. "Um...I'm not sure it's gonna fit…"

"Go ahead. Call me when you're ready…'

"Um...okay." He quickly undressed and then tried to pull on the tiny garment. "Jesus...this just barely covers the equipment…" Tugging at it as he tried to adjust it, he called out to his wife. "What the hell did you get me?"

She stepped out from behind the bathroom door. "Lingerie. I suppose you didn't realize they made lingerie for men, but they do, so I got us matching thongs…"

Booth hadn't heard a word she'd said. He was too busy getting an eyeful of his wife wearing her thong, her new necklace, and nothing else. "What?"

"See? Matching prints. I hope you don't mind that I got the leopard pattern...I was going for a jungle theme…" She did a model twirl. "Do you like it? I thought perhaps they would be fun to wear if we ever wanted to do some role play. I know how much you enjoyed watching Tarzan as a boy…"

"Yeah...um, I suppose so." His heart was pounding as he walked over to embrace her. "But it seems I'm probably not going to want to wear it too long…it's kind of uncomfortable…"

"Let me see…" She looked him over carefully. "It looks very good on you, but yes...I can see why you're uncomfortable…"

"You have that effect on me all the time, Bones, but I gotta say...I love the way that little thong thingy looks on you, too...wow! You are so hot!" Pulling her closer, he growled softly before nibbling her ear. "Who says the lion is the king of the jungle? I think tonight the leopard's gonna be king. C'mere."

She squealed, laughing in surprise as he picked her up and tossed her gently onto the bed. Plopping down next to her, he ran his fingers across her necklace and then down between her breasts.. "You know what? I hope your sexual peak lasts about forty more years…"

"Oh, I'm sure it won't last that long…" She caressed his cheek. "Maybe, if we're lucky, it might be as long as five or six years...but no matter how long it lasts, I'll always find you to be a very attractive man, Booth, and I'll always want you to make love to me…"

"Yeah, but still...if we only have five or six more years, we'd better get busy. I don't want to waste another minute." He kissed her tenderly. "I love my gift, and I love you, Bones. Happy Valentine's Day."

"I love you, too. Booth." She giggled as he pretended to roar like a jungle cat. "Happy Valentine's Day."


Thanks for reading. If you have time to review, I'd appreciate it. Laura.