Chapter 11

At the crime scene Cullen pulled up right behind Booth and Brennan. He got out of the passenger side and the car left without him. At the confused looks from Booth and Brennan he informed them he would be riding with them throughout the case. Booth and Brennan exchanged a glance before walking through a line of trees onto the scene. Cullen followed Booth, Dr Brennan and Dr. Addy. 'I really need to think of assigning an agent to Addy now that he's a doctor', he thought as they arrived at the body in the center of a clearing.

This was one part of fieldwork that Cullen did not miss, the smell of a decomposing corpse. He watched in silent amazement as Dr Brennan walked right up to the body without wavering. Booth stepped up behind her ready to take notes.

"The victim is defiantly female. Thirty to thirty-five. Causation. Time of death between ten and twelve days. Hodgins will be able to give us a more accurate time by examining the bugs."

This continued for a short while longer as they worked the scene together. Cullen watched in silent awe at how easily they worked together.

In the end they bagged the body, soil samples, some trash from around the clearing and one rock that had been found next to the body that had what looked to be blood on it.

Booth cranked the car with Bones in the passenger seat Cullen in the back.

"So," Booth started, " I think he was out in that field with someone, they got in a fight, he fell and hit his head on the rock. Whoever he was with probably freaked when he didn't get up and they just left. What do you think, Bones?" He looked at her expectantly.

"That is a very nice story. Now why don't you put away the bedtime stories for now so we can examine real evidence and then determine what happened to the victim."

"Awe, come on Bones. I am composting a scenario. You know that."

"Yes, well your scenario is pure conjecture. I would prefer to wait until all the evidence is in."

"Bones, the rock was covered in blood. Isn't that evidence?" He smiled thinking he had just gotten a point. Cullen sat in the back observing in silent bewilderment. They had obviously forgotten about him, but he decided that was a good thing. He needed to observe how they normally acted.

"Yes, of course it is evidence, but whose blood is it?" Bones argued back.

"The victims, of course."

"Oh, you carry a DNA testing kit around with you now? I don't know how I missed that." Booth was so proud she had learned sarcasm.

This continued the whole car ride. By the time they arrived at the lab they were fighting over how insisting on having every piece of evidence before making a decision leads to failed relationships. However, the second they walked through the doors they were all business. The body had beaten them to the lab so they went right to work.

Later that night they finally decided to call it a quits. The tissue markers had been put on the skull to help with identification and the bug analysis had proven that the victim had been dead for eleven days. They had found evidence of rape and between that and the severity of the defensive wounds the whole team wanted to catch this guy pretty bad.

Cullen said goodnight as Booth dropped him off at his car before heading to Brennan's. He got in his car and headed home feeling pretty good about the partners. They seemed to complement each other perfectly.

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The next day started like any other. They discovered the identity of the victim early. Her name was Marilla Carmichael. She had been missing for two weeks. She was a district attorney. It seemed within an hour of finding the ID they got a call about another body found that matched their MO. So, while they went to investigate Hodgins was to examine particulates found under the victims nails.

Upon arriving they found the same scene they had found the day before. This body was only about eight days old. Female. Thirty to thirty-five. Causation. They found her in a clearing surrounded by trees and a bloody rock sitting next to the body. It seemed they had a potential serial killer on their hands.

The drive back to the lab was tense as Booth, Brennan and Deputy Director Cullen all took in what they had just discovered.

"So," Booth said, attempting to break the silence. "I guess Marilla Carmichael didn't accidentally fall and hit a rock. Did she?" He glanced at Brennan and then looked back to the road.

"I told you to wait for the evidence."

"Yea, but even you could not have seen a second body coming."

"Well, of course not. How could I see the future? That is not logical. However, I did tell you to wait for the facts."

"Oh, right. I forgot you are always right and I am always wrong. And don't you even use the word 'doctorate'."

"I do have a doctorate."

"Oh my god!"

Cullen sat in the back completely at a loss as to how they had got into an argument. They seemed to be constantly bickering.

Once again they reached the Jeffersonian and they were immediately all business.

"What have we got, Hodgins?" Booth asked as they arrived onto the platform.

"Most of the particulates consisted of a new potting soil. Murray's Magical Grow. Whoever Murray is. This brand is supposed to have more vitamins. It was just released last month; only two stores in the area carry it." Hodgins smiled. "There was also some skin sample on top of the potting soil." The team, with the exception of Booth and Cullen, looked very excited.

"What does that mean?" Booth asked wanting to be let in on the excitement.

Brennan smiled. "That means that the skin got there after the dirt. It is most likely the killers."

Hodgins looked up from his microscope. "We have our killers DNA."

"That is good work Hodgins. We'll run it through the DNA database and see if we have a match. If this guy is raping and murdering people there is a good chance he already has a record. Hodgins give us the names of the places that carry that soil so we can go check them out too." Booth walked away flipping open his phone to track down any unsolved cases that matched theirs.

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Two hours later Booth and Brennan were looking at three more files. All causation women in there thirties, all raped and violently murdered, and all very successful. There was one more lawyer, a doctor and a college professor. There was evidence of the other victims being drugged, which explained why there was no DNA. They hadn't fought back It seemed the murder was getting bolder.

Booth and Brennan glanced at each other before getting up and heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" Cullen called.

Booth and Brennan looked at him like the answer was obvious. "To check out the two shops that carries Murray's Magical Grow."

"Oh, right. Good idea." Cullen hurried after them once again amazed at how well they worked together.

On the way to the first shop Booth's phone rang.

"Booth" he listened. "Good work. Thank you." He hung up the phone. "They got a match on the DNA database." He made an illegal U-turn picking up the phone to call for back-up while Bones filliped on the siren.

"Who is it?"

"His name is Collin Pitts. He is a gardener for the city. He mostly works around the courthouse. With all those lawyers and expert witnesses running in and out."

When they pulled up outside Collin's Booth turned to Brennan. "Stay here."

"What?! No! I'm coming with you" Bones went to get out of the car. Cullen was already out waiting on the bickering couple.

"Bones, listen to me! Successful, white woman in her thirties. You are his type. So, you are staying here and waiting for back-up."

"No, I'm not."

"Fine! We don't have time for this. Just stay behind me. And anything goes bad shoot first. Got it?"

Brennan smiled as she pulled out her gun and checked the chamber.

Two stories up Booth kicked in the door and the three barged in calling out "FBI!".

Upon walking in they saw that the fire escape was open. Collin Pitts was gone.

Cullen sighed, 'he might not have gotten away if they hadn't been arguing. They better catch him.' This did not look good for the partners.