Chapter 6
Idaho Springs' Coroner's Office Sunday at 11:00 a.m. MST (1:00 p.m. EST)
Booth and Brennan entered the Coroner's Office to find the receptionist's chair empty. It was odd considering every time they entered the building, the warm smiling Kelly Mitchell met them. Booth reached over and loosened the buckle on his shoulder holster. It was possible that the receptionist was in the bathroom but something didn't feel right.
"Bones get behind me." The FBI Agent kept his tone low and surprisingly the forensic anthropologist didn't argue. By this time in their partnership, she knew him well enough to know when his infamous gut was acting up.
Booth removed his Glock from the holster and slowly opened the door to the autopsy room. It appeared that no one was in the room, including Dr. Saunders. It was Sunday but if he weren't here things would have been locked up. The FBI Agent made a sweep of the room with Brennan right behind him. They had almost completed their task when they stumbled upon the coroner.
Quickly, Brennan crouched down to feel for a pulse, noticing the pool of blood on the floor, and got nothing. She rolled him over and saw the hole in his chest.
"He's dead." Booth half-asked, half stated as he holstered his weapon.
"Judging from the bullet wound, I'd say death was instantaneous." Brennan stood up.
"If he's dead where is the receptionist Mitchell?" He wondered.
"I don't know. There doesn't appear to be any evidence of a struggle out in the office." She shook her head.
"Let's get the Sheriff over here." Booth said as he helped Brennan avoid the blood pool. The two of them quickly left the building and headed down the street toward the Sheriff's office.
Ten minutes later, the Sheriff, Deputy Brockman, and the CSU team followed the partners into the Coroner's Office.
"This isn't the way he should have gone. He should have been an old man, in a nursing home. Five more years and he was going to retire in five years." Sheriff Dippert shook his head.
"Right now, his receptionist, Kelly Mitchell is missing. There's no sign of a struggle or anything. It's very possible that she is still alive." Booth told him.
"I've put an APB out on her Dodge Neon and have sent some officers out to her house. I also put an alert out, with her picture." Dippert said.
"An autopsy needs to be performed as soon as possible. There isn't any exit wound, so the bullet must be lodged inside him." Brennan interrupted.
"This is a crime scene now so you can't do it here." Deputy Brockman stepped in.
"It has to be done in here. Nowhere else in town do we have the appropriate facilities." The Sheriff reminded him.
"I don't do autopsies, Cam does." Brennan told Booth.
"There's a coroner, over in Georgetown. I'll make a phone call." Sheriff Dippert said. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number.
Idaho Springs' Coroner's Office Sunday at 12:00 p.m. MST (2:00 p.m. EST)
Dr. Bateman arrived around noon, luckily Georgetown was only a few minutes away and there was no extensive travel involved. He was very business-like and immediately got to work. The Sheriff, Deputy Brockman, and the CSU team left the Coroner's Office leaving Booth and Brennan to wonder what their next course of action was to be.
"Sheriff Dippert says that he's got everyone looking for Kelly Mitchell, so we need to focus on our first victim." Booth said.
"We know that Richard Kidd is missing his right pinky and I found a frozen right pinky in our victim's right hand. We also know that Kidd was late to our appointment with the excuse of car trouble." Brennan reiterated some of the case information.
"Sally Glenn and Richard Kidd certainly acted strange when we questioned them but I don't see them working it out to kill Dr. Saunders and have all the evidence point right at Richard." Booth told her.
"This is true. That would seem to be completely illogical. But are we sure that Dr. Saunders death and the frozen victim are even related?" She wondered.
"Who else would want to kill harmless old Dr. Saunders?" Her partner gave her a confused look.
"I don't know, but until we know the cases are related we shouldn't jump to any conclusions." Brennan reminded him. Before Booth could say anything the familiar 'Entertainer' theme played and the forensic anthropologist answered it.
"Brennan."
"Hey hon. So what are you and Booth up to?" A familiar voice came over the phone.
"Hi, Ange. Any luck with our frozen victim?" Brennan ignored the question.
"Right down to business, I see. Our victim's name was Henry Wasmund. He was a thirty-year-old mechanic, who went missing from Birmingham Alabama a month ago. According to the report, his girlfriend told police that he had gone to work one day and just never came home. I took the scrapings under his fingernails and they revealed that there wasn't any ice just some dead skin, that matched the victim's DNA, and motor oil." Angela said.
"So the he was probably unconscious or already dead when he went into the freezer." Brennan sighed.
"Yes well Zach extracted some DNA from the frozen finger. I'm running it through the system. Also Zach is certain that the Henry died from a subdural hematoma caused by a blunt object. He's running the skull impressions through the database to try to get any matches." The forensic artist informed her friend.
"Excellent work. Thanks." Brennan said.
"Sure, anything for wrecking my weekend with Hodgy. So what are you and Booth up to?" Angela pried for information.
"Waiting on the autopsy of the coroner, Dr. Saunders." Dr. Bateman emerged from the autopsy room and held up a baggie with a bullet in it.
"Tell Zach, I'm sending a bullet and another body to him. Talk to you later." Brennan hung up before Angela could say anything.
"Bye, nice talking to you." The forensic artist said to the dial tone.
To Be Continued…