Author's note: I'm so glad the semester's over.

Disclaimer: 'Cause now I can focus a whole heck of a lot more attention on telling you guys that I don't own these characters.

"You're sure there was nothing in the ceiling space?" Booth asked insistently.

They had climbed back down and were now sitting on the edge of the platform mulling over the possible significance of the green letter M. "I'm sure, Booth."

"Okay," he said placatingly. "Maybe Leo knows something about this."

Tempe shrugged and they got up to find the owner. They found him behind the bar, pouring shots.

"'Scuse me, Leo?" Booth called over the noise.

"Yeah, be with ya in a minute," he answered, not looking up.

Booth leaned against the counter and looked at Temperance. She was staring at the board, searching for anything they may have missed.

"What else can I do for you, Agent Booth?"

Booth turned back to the manager and said, "Does the letter M mean anything to you?"

"M?" he asked, confused.

"Yeah, we found it painted on a piece of ceiling by the bell." Tempe held up the board to show him.

Leo squinted at it, then pointed and nodded his head. "Yeah, that's the sign from vanity station M. That's Dotty's."

"Show us?" Booth asked.

Leo led them to a door near the back of the club. He opened it and gestured for them to enter. Booth had to move out of the way for a woman in a gold-sequined thong and bra. He watched her, and Temperance rolled her eyes and pushed him through the door.

"Here's her station. Actually, she's supposed to be here today. Yo, Jasmine!" he called out to a group of dancers.

"What?" a girl who was in the middle of getting her bra on answered.

"You heard from Dotty today? She's supposed to be here."

"I tried calling, but she didn't answer. I figure she stayed at some John's place, lost track of the time or somethin'."

"This her?" Booth asked, pointing to a picture. It was of a woman in a blue gingham bikini, long pigtail braids, and—

"Ruby slippers!" Tempe said, pointing to Dotty's shoes. "Those are the shoes that were on the—"

"Ahem…Bones," Booth warned.

"What?" Leo asked, looking between the two of them.

She clamped her mouth shut and went back to studying the picture.

"So do you have an address for Dotty?" Booth quickly changed the subject.

"Uh, yeah…" he said. "Um…hang on; I'll get the employee list. Wait here." He walked out of the dressing room. Booth and Brennan continued to search for clues at Dotty's station.

A couple minutes later, Leo came back in. "Her full name is Dorothy Allen. Stage name's Dorothy Gale. You can probably guess her act. She lives in Yellow Brick Apartments. They're about a five-minute walk north. Here's the street addy and apartment number." Leo handed Booth a piece of paper, and Booth pocketed it.

"Alright, thanks for your help. I'm just gonna ask that nobody touch her station, okay? We'll have an investigative team here in a few minutes to check it out," Booth instructed.

"Yeah, sure thing. Nobody's gonna go near it."

"Great. Hey, do you mind if I hold onto this picture? Evidence," Booth added.

Leo gave a knowing smile. "Yeah, sure. Keep it."

"Come on," Brennan said with annoyance, pushing Booth towards the exit.

"What? It really is for investigative purposes only," he told her defensively as they made their way to the door.

"Whatever you say," she answered patronizingly.

He gave up on trying to convince her.

"Okay, Leo said north," Booth said, situating himself outside, then pointing in the right direction. "Let's go."

They made little conversation as they walked. Brennan tried to engage Booth in speculation about where the next clue might lead, but he seemed preoccupied.

"Booth, are you listening to me?" she asked, frustrated.

He casually reached out and grasped her right hand in his left and muttered, "Just act natural."

"What does that even mean?" she asked. Nevertheless, she wove her fingers through his and matched his stride.

"Don't look, but we're being followed," he said to her, tugging her hand to make her slow down a bit.

"Believe it or not, I did pick up on that," she said sarcastically.

He spared an ironic grin as they passed through a crowd of people heading in the opposite direction. Without warning, he pulled her into an alley and spun her so that her back was pressed against the wall. He pressed his body against hers to make himself less visible to passersby on the street.

He looked to his left and saw a man sitting next to a dumpster giving them a strange look.

Booth realized how odd their position looked. So he made it appear a bit more explicable. He took her face between his hands and started kissing her. She was taken by complete surprise before responding to him.

But before it escalated into a genuine embrace, the man who was following reached the corner of the alley, and Booth grabbed him by the collar and pulled him in. He slammed the guy against the wall, simultaneously whipping out his badge and shoving it in the guy's face.

Temperance stood by, catching her breath and taking in the new situation.

"Who the hell are you, and why are you following us?" Booth growled at the man, who was cowering before him.

"Please, don't hurt me. My name is Allen Chambers. I was just hired to follow you. That's it, I swear!"

"Hired by whom?" Temperance asked calmly.

Allen looked over at her. "I don't know who he is. He approached me, offered me a hundred bucks to just follow you. He didn't need me to report to him or anything! Just said to follow you guys until you went into a building."

"What'd he look like?" Booth asked, backing away a little and putting his badge back into his coat pocket.

Allen shook his head. "I didn't see his face. He came up from behind me, pointed to you guys leaving the strip joint, waved the hundred in my face and told me to follow you. He was gone when I turned around."

"Mr. Chambers, can we take a look at that money, please?" Brennan asked as Booth got on the phone to one of the guys at The Jungle.

"Sure, here," he took the money out and held it out to her. Booth put a hand on her arm warningly, but she was already pulling out gloves.

She took the money from him and held it up so that Booth could look, too. In green ink was printed another message.

COME WITH ME

TO THE EMERALD CITY

A forensic technician walked around the corner of the alley, and Booth strolled over to greet him. They bagged the money, and Allen Chambers, being of no further use to them, was released. He didn't say a word about losing the hundred dollars.

"Do we have any idea what the Emerald City is? I mean, is there an actual place with that name?" Brennan asked Booth once he'd finished briefing the tech.

"Let's check out the apartment first, see if we can't pick up some more clues there. CSU's meeting us."

They walked the remaining three blocks and came upon the Yellow Brick Apartments.

"Well that's a misnomer," Booth said disappointedly, indicating the bland gray cement structure. "Maybe it's brighter inside."

It wasn't. The building apparently got its name because of all the friends you meet there. Brennan inched closer to Booth as they walked past a scruffy-looking man whose eyes were so bloodshot that she was sure he was on a permanent high from any number of drugs. The smell of marijuana alone almost made her lose her lunch.

They got to Dotty's apartment, 15, and Booth knocked on the door. "Dorothy Allen, F.B.I., are you in there?" He knocked a little louder and called again, "Ms. Allen, if you're there open up or make us aware of your presence."

"Booth, I'm pretty sure she's dead," Temperance said.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure she is, too, but I've got to follow procedure," he said to her, then turned to the team standing by and said, "Alright, guys, no response. Break it."

He pulled Brennan out of the way so that the officers could ram the door in. He pulled out his gun and held it at the ready.

The door was broken in, and Booth instructed Temperance to wait in the hall. Naturally, she followed the team in.

The sharp, coppery scent of blood permeated the room.

The agents called "Clear" through the apartment, and Booth holstered his gun and walked over to where Tempe was studying the pool of blood in the center of the living room.

"I thought I told you to wait in the hallway," he admonished.

She gave him a look that said, And since when have I ever listened? "I think it's safe to say that this is where she was killed."

"Good deduction," he quipped. Before she could respond, he said, "C'mere, lemme show you something else."

He led her to the apartment's single bedroom. Scrawled across the wall in the victim's own blood was another message.

PAY NO ATTENTION TO

THAT MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN

Booth let out an audible sigh. "I really hope this guy isn't gonna quote the whole movie in clues."

Tempe closed her eyes and let her head drop in exhaustion.

To be continued…

Do you hear that? It's the sound of Handel's "Hallelujah" chorus. 'Cause my exams are over! /raises roof/informed by sister that it's no longer cool/stops raising roof/