Saturday July 14, 9:30am
Agent Nichols stepped into the Royal Diner at the time that Booth had specified, 9:30. As he opened the door, he could hear a boisterous voice in the middle of a story, and then the recognizable laughter of Booth. He looked to the side, noticing that Booth was sitting at his usual table with Temperance, Agent Fitzgerald sitting across from them in the middle of a story. Their breakfast was nearly complete, coffee being refilled by the waitress as he furrowed his brow and approached the table.
"So I stayed on the line, because you know, she had passed out, and even though Ace caught her and said she was fine, I really wanted to make sure she was okay." He explained watching as Nichols approached the table. "Oh, hey, Nichols." He said, moving to the next chair over, he slid his mug over, and watched Temperance's eyes never leave his.
"Who passed out?" Nichols asked.
"Don't worry about it." Booth said, brushing off the question. "You stayed on the line?"
"Yeah, I stayed on the line, and there was a pause, and all of a sudden, they all broke out into hysterical laughter! I kept hearing Tex telling Ace to stop it, and he was just hysterical, like absolutely beside himself laughing until she turned the shower on him." Aiden explained, a grin on his face as Temperance let out a laugh.
"Ace has a thing about laughing at inappropriate times, especially when he's panicking." Booth admitted. "Toni yelling at him probably only made it worse." Booth chuckled as he shook his head, taking a sip of his coffee. "She called you back after though? She was okay?"
"She called when they had all calmed down. The panic attack was pretty mild, and Ace was there to help her. I told her that Melody could call in the middle of the night if she wanted, but to make sure that she made her phone calls from inside the house." Aiden laughed. "I let Tex know that we'd call her sometime this afternoon after we go on our little field trip." He said, watching Booth and Temperance exchange a glance as they sipped their coffee.
"So how was your morning, Agent Nichols?" Temperance asked, watching as the agent looked between the three of them, feeling a bit out of place. He had waved the waitress over for coffee, and she motioned that she'd be over in a moment.
"Uh, not too bad." He shrugged. "Nothing out of the ordinary."
"Well, that's good." Temperance said politely. "I've decided that I am going to give it a day or two, and possibly go to see Antonia another day. I am hoping that your field trip, as you call it, will yield a little work for the lab. In the meantime, I need to meet up with Grace this morning for some last minute wedding preparation. She's the bride, so she wants to be the center of attention. I suppose we must appease her." Temperance laughed as Aiden chuckled.
"So Angela is working on that thing for Fiona, right?" Booth asked, watching as Temperance nodded and hummed her affirmation. Aiden knew what they were referring to, but they felt that keeping Nichols in the dark for as long as they could on some things was a way to control their evidence.
She took a final sip of her coffee and reached across the table to place her hand on Aiden's. "I'm glad you were there for the girls last night, Aiden. It's not easy to be away, and that little girl appears to have more bravery and spirit than all of us combined." She laughed.
"That's for sure." Aiden sighed.
"Thank you for easing Antonia's panic." She squeezed his hand and smiled into his eyes. She stood up and walked around Booth, dropping a kiss on his cheek. "Please be safe." She said, watching as Booth gave her a cocky grin.
"Always." He said, watching his wife turn to give Aiden a bit of a stare down.
"I'll be safe as well, Ma'am." He said, watching her smile start to disappear as she narrowed her eyes at him for a moment. "Temperance." He smiled.
"Thank you." She said with a smile. "We look forward to seeing you for dinner this evening, Aiden. We appreciate the invitation." She said, patting Booth's shoulder.
"No problem." Aiden smiled. "You guys have fed me plenty of times. I would like to repay the favor." He said politely.
"Agent Nichols, good luck with these two." She said with a smile, and with a wave she walked toward the door.
"You guys ready to go?" Booth asked Aiden, who nodded, grabbed a few dollars from his wallet, he put them on the table. "Nichols?"
"She didn't bring my coffee yet." He said, glancing to the waitress as Booth stood up and looked at the agent for a moment.
"Get a cup to go, we need to get going." He said, nodding toward the register, he reached across the table, grabbed the money off the tabletop and headed toward the cashier.
Nichols sighed and stood up, glancing to Aiden as the agent stood and stretched a bit. "So you're the one dating Antonia, huh?" He said the word 'dating' a bit oddly, as if there were more to it, and knowing the background between he and Antonia, Aiden was fairly certain that he understood. Aiden stood silent for just a moment watching the eyes of the agent, trying to read his intentions, and wondering silently how he hadn't 'gotten' it.
"Uh, yeah. Dating." Aiden said, furrowing his brow as he walked with Nichols to the counter, the agent ordered his coffee, and Aiden kept quiet for a moment.
"She and I went out, well… kind of, for a little while." He said. "You know, full disclosure and all."
"Mm…" Aiden nodded, watching the agent pick up the coffee that the waitress offered him, he gave her the money and turned.
"She's a nice girl." Nichols said, still unable to read the other agent as he nodded his head as they walked toward the exit.
"Yes." Aiden said simply, looking down the street, he saw Booth waiting beside his SUV. "We're taking my car." He said, nodding down the street. He unlocked the car door with the remote and Booth climbed into the passenger seat.
"So you guys are pretty serious?" Nichols asked, sipping from his coffee, he glanced to Aiden, though Aiden kept his focus straight ahead.
"You could say that, yeah. Pretty serious." He said, approaching the driver's side, he left Nichols on the sidewalk as he opened the door and climbed into the car. He glanced to Booth as Nichols stood for a moment on the sidewalk. "Where the hell did you find this guy?"
"Don't ask." Booth muttered. He opened the window a crack and looked back at the other agent still standing on the sidewalk. "Let's go, Nichols, we don't have all day!"
They drove in relative silence on their way, but for Booth occasionally muttering things out of the file. "Did Bones give you Melody's mother's file?" he asked, looking to Aiden as he drove.
"Uh, no. She just summarized some stuff for us. She refused to share photos, and specific facts. Tex wasn't pleased." Aiden said softly. "She gave her the autopsy files, but nothing about Melody. I'm kind of glad she didn't. We know what we need to know. I don't need photographic evidence to prove that she was abused. I have the physical and emotional reminder of that every time she flinches when I am near her and move too fast, or when she hides in a closet with food." He sighed. "Booth, she flipped out when I put my belt on. Who the hell hits a kid with a belt? Who the hell hits anyone with a belt?" Aiden sighed, watching as Booth nodded in agreement.
"Hey, why do you call Antonia, Tex?" Nichols asked from the back seat, glancing between Aiden and Booth, the silence suddenly became extremely awkward. "Nevermind." He mumbled.
Booth cleared his throat and looked through the file. "So she lived in this neighborhood, an apartment in one of these houses here." He mumbled as they drove down the road, noting that the neighborhood was in rough shape, but not completely without some semblance of charm. There were large homes that were clearly outfitted to be multi-family homes, people sitting out on porches talking. Some homes had nicely manicured lawns, while others were boarded up, grass growing well up to knee level. It was early in the morning, so there weren't too many people out, but here and there someone was walking down the street. "I think it's this one." Booth said, as Aiden nodded and pulled to a stop in front of a large blue home.
The porch rail was falling off, and the paint was peeling. It wasn't in horrible shape, but it was clear that it could use some work. The three agents climbed out of the car, looking around at the neighborhood, Booth glanced to Aiden and noticed he was pulling at his tie. "What's wrong there, Fitz, a little warm?"
"Nobody is going to talk to a bunch of guys that look like bible salesmen." He said, listening to Booth's laugh as he too pulled his tie off and tossed it into the car.
"Touché." He said, straightening his jacket a bit, he unbuttoned the top button. "It's more comfortable too." He said, smirking over at Aiden.
"Well, well. What are you handsome fellows up to this morning?" A voice came from behind Aiden. He turned and smiled at the older woman who was sitting on the porch of the house next door.
"Well, you know, doing a little work, and enjoying the beautiful day." Aiden said with a smile.
"Well, with you lovely gentlemen visiting, the day just got a little more beautiful." She winked at them as Aiden's smile widened.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're flirting with us." Aiden teased as the woman let out a soulful chuckle.
"What can I do for you boys?" She asked, watching as Booth walked around the front of the vehicle and waved politely, as Nichols stood awkwardly beside Aiden for a moment before pulling out his badge and approaching her quickly.
"Ma'am, I'm Special Agent Sam Nichols, this is Special Agent Booth and Fitzgerald. We were wondering if we could ask you a few questions regarding a death that occurred in this home approximately sixteen months ago." He said, his voice was deep and serious, as he pointed to the home.
"Well, Special Agent Sam Nichols." She said with a bit of a sarcastic shake of her head. "I can see what I might remember. I'm not as young as I once was, not sure my memory is all that clear." Her brow furrowed.
"You're Mrs. Farrell, correct?" Aiden asked, his mind moving quickly through the file information that he did have, and his knowledge of the case. "I believe that you were the one that called the ambulance for Ms. Hunter?" He said softly.
"Why yes I am, young man. That's a pretty good memory you have there." She smiled with a grandmotherly pride.
"Guys, I'm going to talk to Mrs. Farrell here, you can check out the perimeter, see if there is anything from the story that sounds familiar, or might be what we're looking for."
"Like a wild goose, or an egg sitting on a wall?" Nichols snipped as Aiden flashed an angry glare.
"Let's go, Nichols." Booth barked. "We'll also talk to a few of the other neighbors, see if anyone has been asking around about Melody." He said, nodding to the neighbor. "Mrs. Farrell, it was a pleasure."
"Pleasure is all mine, young man." She smiled sweetly. As soon as Booth and Nichols turned to walk away, she looked to Aiden and smiled.
"I'm Aiden, by the way." He said, watching her smile, he handed her his card.
"Have a seat, Aiden, ask me some questions, grill me if you have to." She said with a humored giggle as she held his business card in her hand.
Aiden laughed as he sat on the porch beside the older woman, his long legs stretching out down the steps as he sighed. "I really like the daisies in your flower boxes." He said politely.
"Why thank you." She said happily. "My grandson comes over and takes care of them for me. He told me that I needed something pretty to look at when I'm not lookin' in the mirror." She winked.
"Smart kid." He smiled.
"He's a kiss ass like his father." She laughed, listening to Aiden's sincere laugh. "So what can I do for you, Aiden?"
"Well, as I said, this is in regards to Sarah Hunter's death."
"Yes, I do remember very clearly that morning. Her little girl, such a sweet little thing. She came running out of the house in her nightgown, panicking and crying, carrying on. She was moving her hands so quick, I could barely keep up." She said, shaking her head.
"You sign." Aiden said, a statement and not a question, the woman laughed.
"I used to teach the deaf, back when most people just took them and tossed them into institutions, you know? It was a shame. Sarah came home with that baby, and she just didn't know what to do with her half the time. So I would go over, and teach her some signs here and there, and that little thing…"
"Melody." He nodded, signing her name to the older woman, he watched as she let out a laugh.
"So you've met her?" She said, the smile on her face was so happy and bright, it nearly made Aiden blush.
"I am quite familiar with her, yes." He said, thinking about the early morning phone call.
Mrs. Farrell let out a laugh as she continued. "Melody spent many days in my home, and playing out here in my yard. She is a strong, willful child. You said you're familiar with her, is she alright?"
"She's doing well." He said, sighing a bit as he pulled his legs in and sat up, leaning forward he looked toward her. "Mrs. Farrell, do you recall anyone being around the night before Melody found her mother? Anyone suspicious, or anything like that?"
"Well, Sarah was quite popular." She said suggestively. "She did have quite a few people who would visit her from time to time. Not all of them appeared to be upstanding citizens, if you understand what I mean." She said, watching Aiden nod his head. "There was a man who did return several times after she passed on, asking questions about Melody and such. He didn't look like the other men though, he was cleaned up like you and your friends there." She said, nodding toward Booth and Nichols as they spoke to another neighbor.
"Did you talk to him? Catch a name?"
"Well, he wasn't as friendly as you. Not many folks are willing to sit with an old lady on her porch and chit chat." She said with a laugh. "I can call you if I see him around again, or do one of those police sketch things that I've seen on my television programs." She nodded.
"We may take you up on that." He said with a smile.
"So tell me, why are you asking about Sarah? They say she died because she was using."
"Well, we do have some evidence that may contradict that. More immediately though, we think that whoever was involved, may be trying to get information from Melody."
"Melody?" She said with a scoff. "What on earth would a five year old child have that these awful excuses for human beings would be looking for?" She asked, watching as Aiden shrugged his shoulders slightly.
"We're not sure." He said with a sigh. "There was a family that was in the process of adopting Melody." He said, looking at his fingers as he spoke. "The husband and wife were killed." He said, glancing to her to see her shocked face as she shook her head disapprovingly. "The little boy in the home was taken. He was tortured, and interrogated." He sighed.
"Oh, my word!" She exclaimed.
"He was released and has survived." He said with a sigh. "Melody evaded them during the assault, hiding under the bed, and in a closet in one of the bedrooms. She was found by one of our crime scene investigators, and has been in protective custody since. The little boy indicated that they were looking for Melody, and that she might have information on something they are looking for. That led us to looking into her mother's death." He said with a sigh.
"And you suspect that she was killed for something she had?"
"We don't have a lot of information on Sarah, we only have her police records, so we're kind of grasping at straws here." He sighed.
"And I guess I'm one of those straws." She chuckled as he let out a laugh.
"I guess so, yeah." He laughed. "Maybe you can help me with a little bit of a puzzle that we have here."
"I'm pretty good at puzzles, what do you got for me?" She said with a laugh.
Aiden smiled and pulled his phone out, carefully looking through the contents, he shifted over a bit closer to Mrs. Farrell. "I'm going to show you a video of something, and if you don't mind, recite back to me what she's saying, okay?"
Mrs. Farrell gave him a bit of a perplexed look, but nodded.
"You'll see in a second. Here." He said, handing her the phone, he pushed the play button.
"Oh my goodness, is that Melody?" She whispered. "She's grown so much, and she's so beautiful, happy." Mrs. Farrell said, tears springing to her eyes as she drew in a deep breath. "I'm sorry." She whispered, watching as Aiden remained patient with her. "Show me what you were going to show me." She said, swiping at the tear in her eye.
"Just watch." He said with a smile, as the video from the night before played. Mrs. Farrell watched, and interpreted each sign, and when the video stopped, she looked to Aiden. "So what is the puzzle?"
"That's not the story." He said, nodding toward the phone, as he took it and put it back in his pocket. "There are things she added to it, and insist are part of the story, but they're not."
"I don't understand." Mrs. Farrell said, watching Aiden carefully.
"Melody read the book at least eight times to us. Each time she read it, she added the line about the oak tree, a box with a surprise, and a cat with yellow green eyes." He said, shrugging. "When we correct her, she insists that her mama read this story to her, and that was how it goes."
Mrs. Farrell thought for a moment, sighing as she looked up and her eyes scanned the yard. Aiden watched as she started to stand up, and he too stood up, helping her to her feet as she took the two steps off the porch and onto the sidewalk in front of her house. "There used to be an oak tree over there." She said, pointing to an area on the lawn in front of Melody's house. "It was a big oak tree." She said, smiling as she nodded her head. "There was a storm in the spring, and they had to take it down." She said, walking toward the spot where the tree had been, Aiden followed behind her. Their movement had attracted the attention of Booth, who was starting to walk over with Nichols from across the street.
Aiden stood, looking around from that spot, he could see Booth's shadow appear beside him. "What do we got, Fitz?"
"Just thinking." He said, looking around as he glanced to the spot where the tree had been, when his eyes lit up. "Right there." He said, pointing toward the side of Mrs. Farrell's house. "Right there." He said, walking toward the longer grass that was along the side of the house.
"Oh dear, don't go over there… my grandson has still yet to bring out that old weed eater to take care of that grass. I am so embarrassed." She said, sighing as he continued to step by the house. He reached over and pulled some of the grass away from the foundation of the house, looking up at Booth as he stood over him. He grinned, as they looked at what he found.
Hidden in the grass, against the house was a small ceramic planter shaped like a cat. "Fitz." Booth whispered.
"Look at the eyes." He grinned up at Booth, feeling the excitement in his stomach as he shook his head.
"One is yellow, the other is green." Booth said, smiling as he nodded and turned. "Nichols, get the shovel out of the truck." He then realized it wasn't his truck, but Aiden's. "You have a shovel in there?" He asked.
"There's probably something." He shrugged.
From the back of the truck, Nichols shook his head. "Are you serious?" He called over, holding up a pink sand shovel.
"Whatever, just bring it over here and stop whining." Booth snapped, as the other agent walked over and handed the shovel to Aiden.
Aiden looked up at Mrs. Farrell as she stood by watching, her eyebrows arched in curiosity. "Do you mind if I dig here?" He asked, watching as she smiled.
"Dear, you can dig up this whole yard if it means that little girl is safe." She chuckled as Aiden looked up at Booth.
"Go on." He said, nodding his head.
Aiden paused for a second, reaching into his pocket, he pulled out two latex gloves and snapped them onto his hands.
"For the love of…" Booth grunted, watching Aiden glare at him. "Fitz." Booth growled as he watched the younger man begin to dig with the shovel. He moved several inches of dirt, before it became evident that there was something beneath it. Dropping the shovel, he began to dig with his gloved hands, sending dirt flying as he gripped the box, yanking it from the ground.
"Oh my! What is that?" Mrs. Farrell exclaimed as she looked at the three agents. "I've never seen that before in my life!" She whispered.
Aiden stood with the box in his hand, eyebrows raised at Booth and looked to Nichols. "Just a kid's book, huh?" He said, shaking it a little, they could hear the contents of the box moving.
"Let's get this to the lab." Booth said, nodding toward the car as he watched Aiden for a moment as he stared at the box. "You okay, Fitz?"
"Uh, yeah. Here." He said, handing the keys to Booth, and turned to kick the dirt back into the hole that he had dug as Booth and Nichols headed back to the car. He paused for a moment, holding the box in his hands. "Mrs. Farrell, thank you."
"It was my pleasure, Aiden. You be sure to take good care of that little girl."
"I promise I will." He smiled. "If you need anything, remember anything, you have my card. Please do not hesitate to call. We may need a little more help." He said with a smile.
"That's fine, dear." She said happily. "If you don't mind me asking, who was the young lady in the video with Melody, the one that was signing to her?"
"Ah, that would be the other love of my life." He said, "Antonia." He smiled.
"Be sure to bring both of your girls by sometime. I'd love to see Melody again."
"I will definitely do that, Mrs. Farrell. Thank you for your help." He said, nodding toward her, he waved, and then turned, carrying their box with a surprise with him toward the car.