Chapter Nine:

"Well this is it," Tempe thought the house was entirely unremarkable as she got out of the car, she felt a bubble of excitement rise. Would they finally be able to get this guy? She knew the police had already searched the building, just incase he had a victim there. She wondered where he left his victims, and hoped to hell he didn't have one now, and if he did, that they'd find the person alive.

Tempe felt Booths hand on the small of her back, and usually she would have shrugged it off, but she decided she needed a little bit of comfort right now. He led her up the short path to the door, and she pushed it open with a loud creak. It sounded as though the heavy wooden door was going to fall off its hinges sometime soon…

Searching the house came up with nothing; Tempe felt disheartened and sat at a café inside the Westfield Shopping Mall. Booth was at the counter buying muffins and coffees for them. She looked around the crowded mall, and saw a bunch of laughing teenage girls, one girl hung back a little, seeming unsure of something.

Eventually the girl who hung back walked past the open café where she sat and found a table not far from hers and Booths, she looked utterly lost, and the laughing girls didn't notice one of their friends was missing.

"Booth," She said standing up, he was half way there. "If we can find a connection between-"

"Not here Bones!" He said, putting the tray down and pushing her gently into her seat. "Sorry but we don't need the whole café to hear." He said softly.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. "But if we can find a connection between the girls, then we could get a warrant to check Mr. Tile's fathers place, where ever he makes the coffins." She said excitedly, Booth chewed his muffin, lost in thought. He swallowed.

"Those finger bones, the extra ones. How big were they?"
"Fairly big…" Tempe answered, not sure where it was going with this.

"What if… Robert killed his father, and buried him in one of his own coffins, because remember no ones been able to contact his father in years now; his work shop has been closed since even before Jillian…"

He was thinking out loud, and he knew Bones didn't really like theorizing, she needed facts. But he wasn't going to leave and carry on with the case until he'd seen her eat. "Eat; then we can leave." Bones was staring at a girl a few feet from them, at a table.

"No, it's recorded that his father was brought here from DC, in one of his own coffins." Then on impulse, she followed on with her thoughts; "I wonder if he picked the girls who tended to be alone a lot…" Bones said, and Booth raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Girls tend to go around in packs; he must have chosen to take the girls who liked to be alone. Neither of girls were overly pretty, maybe that's something about the girls we can connect…" Booth nearly laughed at her comment of girls going around in packs, but as he looked around the shopping centre, he realised she was right.

xx

"Hello Mrs. Ridges," Booth smiled kindly at the woman staring at them through a crack in the door, a chain across it. "My names Special Agent Seeley Booth, and this is Doctor Brennan" The woman nodded and the chain slipped away and the door squeaked open.

"We'd like to ask you a few questions about Jessica, if that's okay with you," Booth said, the woman nodded again and they followed her into a well lit lounge, it was tidy but comfortable, and they sat on a couch covered with a sheepskin rug.

Tempe sat closer to Booth than she usually did, she couldn't understand why but she felt a need for him to be close right now. She pretended that she always sat close enough to her partner that her thigh was touching his.

"I was wondering if Jessica had a lot of friends, or did she go out on her own a lot…?" Jessica's mother looked at Tempe warily.

"She… Liked to be alone a lot of the time; but she had plenty of friends… and I'm sure she wasn't alone that day; until she went for her walk." The mother covered her face with her hands, but when she looked up her eyes were dry. Tempe could tell the woman was past tears, the pain was too deep for that now. She felt a pain in her chest, this poor woman, her poor daughter – she had to find a way to convict Robert Tiles, she was certain it was him.

"Do you know a man named Robert Tiles?"

"You think he did it?" The woman asked immediately. And her face paled,

"You know him?" Tempe asked, feeling her own face pale.

"He helps the ranger at Belmont Regional Park," The lady said, hands shaking. "I shouldn't have let her go for that walk!"

"Thank you, you've been a great help." Tempe said standing, and Booth touched the woman's shoulder briefly. "We'll get him… She will" He pointed to Tempe, and she felt herself blush slightly. Jessica's mother nodded and showed them to the door.

"Thank you for doing this, for my daughter – for me." The woman said before she shut the door again, and the lock clicked in place.

"Let's find this park ranger then,"

"Good idea," Booth said and he made a quick dash to the driver's door before Tempe could, and she pouted.

"Look who's sulking now!" She grinned, and crossed her arms across her chest as she sat down in the passenger side. "We'll see," she said mysteriously. And she saw a look of fear cross Booths face, revenge is ever so sweet.

xx

"I'm going to do the talking this time, is that okay Bones?"

"Yeah, fine." She said distractedly, as she touched the wooden door of the conference centre; apparently the ranger was in there. But as they settled around the wooden table inside, that matched the walls, Tempe spoke first, earning herself an exasperated sigh from Booth.

"Who built this?" She asked waving her arm to show she meant the building.

"Richard Miles, he helps out here," The lady said, eyes glinting, a smile on her face. "He used the wood left over from his father's coffin making-"

"Do you mean Robert Tiles?" Booth asked confused, the rangers smile dropped off her face.

"No, I said Richard Miles. See here…" The lady showed them the man's contract he'd signed it Richard Miles.

"He's such an idiot changing his name to something so similar." Booth said, shaking his head. He started wondering if he wanted to be caught.

xx

"Can you get the people in here to check for blood?" Tempe whispered to Booth outside the centre a little while later.

"Why?" Booth questioned,

"We thought they might've been put in coffins, but what if the wood splinters we found were from this building? Maybe he built one in the park back home, where we found Jillian."

"But it was from the very same pine tree," Booth stated, a little disappointed that they still didn't have enough to get Robert.

Tempe chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. "Your right; But the coffin theory could become useful… See his father was back in Washington DC, when he died, and he had his body flown here in one of his very coffins, and Robert had a private ceremony. That's on his file,"

She said tucking her hair behind her ears, and still biting her lower lip, deep in thought.

"You don't usually do this, you usually search for facts." Booth pointed out.

"It's easier when I have my own lab, and more to go on that what we have here." She replied, tiredly.

"We're going to need back up." Tempe said suddenly; she opened the door and stepped back inside. Terri the ranger looked up in fright; she was holding open a trapdoor.

"I think you should call the police," Terri said, eyes watering. "I thought Robert built the trap door because – because, I don't know." Terri dropped the trap door and sat her head leaning against the wall, and Booth stormed in a few seconds later.

"They're coming; apparently Robert was released about an hour ago. Terri pointed to the trap door, and Booth growled like an animal.

"Why the hell was he realised, he attacked Ivory!" Tempe said angrily, eyeing the trapdoor.

"He came in just before you arrived, I didn't know – I swear." Terri said nervously. Tempe nodded curtly and before Booth could do anything she'd lifted the trap door and slid herself into the dark hole.

A/n: I don't usually leave cliff hangers… These past two chapters were kind of rushed, so point out any mistakes to me… And please, please review! This chapter is kind of short, but again – I need to write my monologue now!