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Booth couldn't recall the last time he had been in a school. Rebecca never informed him of any of Parker's school activities so there was no reason that he could see for stepping into such a life sucking place. The walls were an almost blinding fluorescent orange with a lime green stripe going directly down the center of it. Coke machines lined the front entry hall as you entered into the building, and directly to the left was the administration office complete with fake ficus trees and dingy carpet that had seen the bottom of too many teenage shoes. His own curiosity had him wondering how long exactly it would take before someone noticed a strange adult walking the halls scoping it out like a hit man on a mission, when he heard a voice behind him.
"Can I help you sir?" The women looked exactly like a stereotypical lunch lady. Short, a little on the heavy side, and wearing horrible yet occupationally functional white shoes.
"Um yes actually.. my name is Agent Seeley Booth with the FBI, I need to speak with whom ever is in charge of your security cameras throughout the building."
"Well, sir, that would be Mr. Helms, but he isn't in today. I can lead you to Mr. Handsfield's office though; he may be able to help you with whatever you are needing."
"Who is Mr. Handsfield." Booth questioned wondering who exactly would have access to the tapes other than the team in the security office.
"The principal sir."
"Wow, twice in one week." Booth scoffed remembering his comment earlier in the week.
"Sorry sir?"
"Nothing… nevermind."
Booth hated being there by himself, Bones always had a way of sniffing something out that he missed, irritated him sometimes, but that is what he admired about her the most, her attention to ridiculous detail.
The squatty lunch lady, Betty, according to the name tag that she bared led him straight to Mr. Handsfields office.
The office was typical, or at the very least consistent with the depiction that Booth had conjured in his head. Diplomas and letters of certificate hung halfhazardly from the office's badly wallpapered walls, papers collected in numerous mounds on top of what one only could presume at one time was a beautiful and ornate mahogany desk. Booth made his way over to the wall to investigate the diplomas.
"Dartmouth….hum interesting."
"Really? And why exactly is that interesting Mr. Booth?" The man had come out of the wood work; Booth may not have been as sharp as he once was, but there was no way that this guy was that damn quiet walking into a room.
"Agent Booth," Booth replied just a little irritated that his presence had been informed, however without the ranking "And I just find it interesting that a man of such high dollar education would be the principal at the 15th ranked high school in the DC area."
"Well I'm sorry to disappoint you Agent Booth with my "high dollar" education as you put it. I understand you were looking for Bradley Helms, correct?"
"Indeed." Booth realized straight away that he would have to be on his A game to deal with Mr. Handsfield. There was something about him that irked Booth, but he had yet to figure it out. "I understand that Mr. Helms is in charge of the video surveillance of the school is that correct?"
"Yes sir, he has been in charge of it for the last 2 years. If I may ask, what exactly is all of this about?"
"I'm assuming you are a smart guy Mr. Handsfield what with your Ivy League education and all, so let me ask you this.. Do you know Cameron Biggs?" Booth stared closely at Handsfields eyes hoping to see some flicker of recognition or coherence to her recent situation.
"Yes sir, I am aware of Miss. Biggs as well as her horrific death that has been splattered all over the news."
"Well, then you understand that we are just trying to follow any leads that we may have discovered to help us close the case and catch her killer."
"Yes, I understand that, but what I don't understand is what that has to do with the school, or the surveillance tapes."
"We found Ms. Biggs's body at the residence of one of your former teachers, Mr. Hibbert, as well as the bones from several other previous students, we would like to review the tapes and see if he had any connection to them while they were still attending this school."
"Well, I really would like to help you but I'm afraid that we erase and reuse the tapes every 3 months, Mr. Hibbert hasn't been employed at this school for approximately a year."
"Well, in any case, I would like to see the tapes anyway, search the room where the tapes are held."
"Agent Booth, I'm not sure what you are hoping to find"
"That is why you do your job, and I do mine, if you would like me to obtain a warrant I would be happy to."
Booth saw the flash of panic in his eyes.
"No, that will not be necessary, right this way."
The room was stuffy, and the ventilation was poor. It had a faint smell of burning rubber from the concentrated amount of equipment that was stuffed into such a confined space. Booth was actually astounded by the amount of surveillance the school had. There were cameras set to focus on all four of the main halls of the school, accompanying them were five sub-cameras that covered various other student activity areas such as the lunch room and gym.
"How many cameras are there in all?"
"9"
"Hum…. 9 cameras yet there are 11 screens. Why is that?"
"They must be new; I will have to ask Helms. We are building a new addition onto the rear of the school; they must have already bought the equipment for the new areas."
"Hum…Where is this?" Booth asked pointing to one of the black and white TV screens.
"Looks like the hall outside of the science wing; although I don't know why we would have a camera there it isn't a main hall."
Booth knew why, yet he remained calm and continued his search.
"Can you show me where the tapes are stored please."
"Sure." Handsfield led Booth to a series of wooden cabinets that lined the east wall of the room. "Each of these cabinets represents a month, and inside, each shelf represents a week. There are two tapes for each week, one is the feed from the main corridors, the other is from the sub-cameras."
Booth took count of the tapes. Handsfield was correct; the number of tapes matched the weeks and months for the last three months. There was no way they were going to get the evidence they needed from the tapes. While it would definitely be noted that there were an additional cameras set up in the science wing there was nothing there that was hard evidence. Booth decided that Bones and he were going to have to find another way to get what they needed. He closed the cabinets and started walking towards the door when he noticed a stream of light coming from underneath one of the cabinets.
"What is that?" he asked Handsfield.
"Don't know."
"Help me move this cabinet." Booth demanded
"Um, how about I get the maintenance department to help you with that." Handsfield started to exit the room.
"Stop. Now turn around and help me move this cabinet." Booth had a demanding presence about him when he needed to and at this moment it seamed like appropriate timing.
Both men grasped the side of the cabinet and scooched it forward about 3 inches, just enough to see behind it.
"Where does this door lead?" Both asked.
"Not sure."
"You know, for such a smart guy you don't know very much do you." Booth was growing quickly dissatisfied with the answers that he was getting from Handsfield and decided that is was time to just take charge and see what he could muster up for himself.
"Ok, you are going to have to stop worrying about your manicured hands and help me move this cabinet the rest of the way, or I am going to arrest you for obstruction."
"There is no need to be rude Agent Booth, I will help you the best that I am able."
Finally after ten minutes Booth had access to the mysterious door behind the video cabinets.
Booth jiggled the door knob wishing for at least an ounce of good karma. No such luck, the door was locked.
"I will call maintenance; they should have a key to that door." Handsfield offered up.
"That's ok, I'll get it myself." After 30 seconds Booth had the door ajar and a stunned look on his face.
"What in heavens is this" Handsfiend pondered aloud also standing with his mouth gaping open.
"I was just about to ask you the same question Mr. Handsfield."