(Season 10 – The Light in the Life)

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He'd worked on multiple cases before, so he wasn't too concerned about doing it this time. Booth had to look into the case of someone who had been murdered and dumped in a forest that incidentally had just burned to the ground while working on the Killer Clown case. The clown case was more important as far as he was concerned, but Micah Stanbow deserved justice too.

While he investigated the death of Micah he made sure to send two FBI Agents to Ohio County, West Virginia to help the Sheriff and his deputies patrol the area around Bethlehem for the next four days. Booth was hoping the extra help and the alert to the children that attended Bethlehem Elementary school would help the situation. He also prayed that the killer didn't snatch a kid from one of the other elementary schools somewhere else in the county. The clown was following a pattern, but if he was spooked he might break that pattern and that worried Booth a lot.

In the meantime, he worked the Stanbow case and Brennan worked on both cases along with the rest of the team at the Lab. Aubrey had volunteered to be one of the agents that went to Ohio County, but Booth felt he would be of more use on the Stanbow case while they waited for the DNA tests to come back with an identity. He was pinning his hopes on the DNA tests giving them the name of the killer clown. If the tests did what they were supposed to, he would arrest the clown before the killer made his next move and Booth thought Aubrey would be a big help to him.

One of his fears was that the killer would be in costume and makeup when he was confronted. Booth worried that he might hesitate at the wrong moment in the presence of the clown and he needed someone like Aubrey to back him up. He had always relied on Brennan in the past to back him up, but she was staying out of the field more these days because of her pregnancy and that was fine with him. He didn't want to put his wife and baby boy in danger if he could help it.

Aubrey did his best to cover for Booth when he had to break to go to his meetings the next few days. They were both putting in long hours, but they both made sure that Booth had time to attend his GA meetings. Aubrey wanted his boss to succeed and return home where he belonged and if that meant he worked a few extra hours with Booth then so be it. He knew Booth would do the same for him. He was just that kind of guy.

While Booth had taken a chance and slipped out of the Hoover to get to his GA meeting, Caroline arrived looking for him. When she found his office empty, she tracked down Aubrey and entered his office. "Where's Booth?"

Surprised to see the prosecutor, Aubrey stood up and leaned against his desk. "He's at a meeting, can I help you?"

"Yeah, Cher', where are we at on the Killer Clown case?" Caroline sat down and placed her purse on Aubrey's desk.

He was still the new guy and Caroline was a little intimidating, so he grabbed a folder, sat down and glanced at it to give himself something to concentrate on. "Sheriff Weist talked to the Principal of Bethlehem Elementary school to see about warning the kids who attended the school to not go near clowns. Booth called him yesterday and asked him to talk to the principals at the other schools in the county and put out the same warning as he did for Bethlehem Elementary. He's afraid that the clown might get spooked and change his pattern and we need to be prepared for that. Also, we have two agents up there to help the Sheriff anyway they can . . ."

That was not the information she was looking for and interrupted the agent. "I know all about that. I need to know if we know who the killer is yet. Have the squints come through for us? We're running out of time."

"Not yet, but Dr. Brennan thinks she might have that information for us this evening or no later than tomorrow morning." Aubrey closed his folder and leaned forward on his chair. "That's why I'm still here. Booth had to go to a meeting, but I expect him back in about twenty minutes. We plan to wait and see if the DNA gives us what we need. If it does, we plan to make an arrest tonight. Also, we closed the Micah Stanbow case a little while ago. It was the girlfriend."

"Good. Now you can concentrate on the Killer Clown case." Caroline picked up her purse. "Keep me informed." With that she was gone.

Aubrey expelled a deep breath and rolled his shoulders trying to release the tension. "Man . . . I need a cup of coffee and maybe a candy bar or a bag of chips, maybe both."

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Hannah used to have a few informants in the District when she was working there, but she had lost contact with most of them while she had been in Iraq and then Zimbabwe and New York. Before she left New York to contact Booth, she had checked with her producer who turned out to have some informants in Washington D.C. she could use. One of those turned out to be the husband of one of the producer's cousins who happened to work in the Lab at the Jeffersonian. Taylor Jackson was very careful about how often he used that particular informant since he wanted to make sure he would be available for years to come. Before giving her the name of Brandon Green, he had made sure she knew that Brandon would balk if it looked like he was being asked to betray Dr. Brennan in any way. Brandon hero worshiped the anthropologist and had refused to divulge to Taylor anything during what had turned out to be the uncovering of a massive treasonous plot against the United States. He refused to give out any information because it appeared that no one was trustworthy at the time and he wanted to help protect Agent Booth and everyone at the Lab. Dr. Brennan's husband had been imprisoned and everyone at the Lab had known that something was really wrong with that situation. Taylor had almost pulled his hair out when he had missed the opportunity to break the Durant case, but he had understood Brandon's loyalty. Hannah knew that she had to careful how she contacted Brandon and what she asked of him.

She had met Brandon at a little coffee shop that served his favorite cheesecake. Hannah had presented him with all she knew about the clown case. She had asked him to help her if he found out the identity of the clown and she would make sure that the killer was caught. She had emphasized that she had no intention of interfering with the FBI, but the clown had been killing children all over the east coast and they might not be able to track him down in time. Her newspaper had numerous contacts with many police departments and she had tried to assure him that she would be an asset to the case not a hindrance. Brandon had hesitated, but in the end he agreed that if he heard a name he would pass it on to her. She did have to promise that if she found the clown before the FBI, she would have to tell them as soon as possible. It was Agent Booth's case and he needed to be kept informed. Brandon didn't want to ruin his case.

Hannah had been swift to make that promise and three days later, she was given that name, Keith Miller. The suspect was not a professional clown, but worked in a bakery. She found that very odd and wondered if the scientists at the Lab had made a mistake, but she felt it was her duty to look into it. Miller lived and worked in Altoona, Pennsylvania and the only time he'd ever come to the attention of the police is the time he had been charged with bashing in a few mail boxes while he was in high school. Of course, the police hadn't liked the fact that the boy had targeted policemen and fireman's homes.

Altoona was three hours away from Washington, D.C. and Hannah meant to track down the man before Booth and any other FBI agent could get there. Her idea was to observe the man from a distance, take a few pictures, interview some of his neighbors and build a picture of how the man ticked. She intended to be there when he was arrested and then break the story as quickly as possible. Hannah was sure the other news services would pick up on the story as soon as they realized that the serial killer dressed as a clown when he murdered his young victims. It would be sensational story.

It seemed odd to Hannah that the killer lived in Pennsylvania. Only one of the murders had happened in Pennsylvania so far, but maybe that was the idea. He probably wanted to be as far from his victims as possible. She had been certain that the serial killer would be found in the state of New York, but she trusted the people at the Jeffersonian and if they said it was Keith Miller then she believed them.

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The reporter didn't waste any time getting to Altoona. Hannah was certain that Booth was on the way and she probably only had an hour to find Keith Miller and do the things she hoped to do. She knew that her ex-lover was going to be very unhappy when she showed up at the arrest, but she hadn't promised to keep out of the way and she did have a job to do.

She found Miller working at the bakery. She had taken a few discreet pictures of the man and then left the bakery. After she was out of the store, she walked across the street and took a picture of the bakery and that caught the attention of the store owner behind her, who was cleaning the windows in front of his building. "It's not that old of a bakery. I know of older buildings in town."

Hannah smiled and decided that the store owner might be just the person she was looking for. "I'm a food reporter for the New York Times. I travel around, look for great places to eat and write about them. Do you know the owner of the bakery?"

"Oh sure, Susan Campbell." Howard rubbed his rather fat stomach. "She makes great cupcakes. She's the reason why my doctor yells at me all the time." The store owner laughed.

Hannah chuckled and pulled a notebook from her jacket pocket. "Do you mind if I take notes?" When Howard shook his head, she asked a few questions. "What's your name?" If there was a hint that his name would be mentioned in a newspaper Hannah knew that the store keeper would be even more cooperative.

"Howard Gale."

"The bakery owner is Susan Campbell . . . can you tell me the names of the people that work for her?"

"Oh sure . . . there's Patsy Herbert and Keith Miller."

Before Hannah could ask more questions, Howard pointed across the street. "Hey there's Keith now. I wonder where he's going? He normally works until eleven."

Certain that she didn't want to lose Keith, Hannah waved at Howard and started to shadow Keith as he moved down the sidewalk. When he reached the alley next to the bakery, he jumped in a car parked on the side of the building. As fast as she could, Hannah raced back to her car and decided to follow the baker. She didn't know where he was going, but she would follow him and see what he was up to.

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