Thank you for the reviews, I am very grateful for them! This chapter is a little dull – I find writing specifically about the crime a bit difficult. I'm trying not to have pieces in the story and make it all come together... hope you guys find it alright, anyway :)

Chapter 15: The Suspect in the Student

Martin looked frazzled as he paced around the first floor of the dorm rooms, having just heard from the head forensic that they hadn't found any evidence as to which room would be a crime scene, and that it would be unfeasible to comb through every single one to the extent that would be needed to find anything.

When he saw Brennan and Booth approaching, he turned towards them, arms raised as if in defeat.

'We're not going to find anything here,' he said when he reached them, sighing. 'The forensics have started to move out.'

Booth was surprised at the speed in which they'd searched the floors.

'Tell them to check room 2C before they leave. Thoroughly. If they don't find anything in there, then I doubt we'll find anything here.'

Martin frowned, wondering what Booth had worked out that would give him such confidence. Regardless, he jogged over to the forensics, telling them what Booth had asked them to do, and grudgingly, they agreed. Martin headed back over to Booth and Brennan, both looking slightly smug.

'Okay, why is that room special?'

Booth handed Martin the photos, and it took him awhile to see what they'd seen, but they hadn't needed to explain.

'The beds,' he said, nodding. 'The mattresses. One is new, clean, where the other is old and... pretty mangy.' He looked at Brennan, grinning. 'And you said that the victims were murdered on a bed. The murderer must have replaced the mattress...'

He held his hand out, indicating for the pile of photos Booth was holding. Booth handed it to him, and Martin sifted through the photos, nodding.

'It looks like the newest mattress in here is ten years old, besides this one,' he said, holding up the picture of the room with the very new mattress.

He looked at the photo, muttering under his breath.

'It's obvious, but not really something that sets of alarm bells in your head... we would have missed this,' he said, looking at them both. 'I can see why you're regarded so highly.'

'Thank you,' they said in unison, before turning each other, grinning. Martin could tell that they wanted to kiss, and had to really refrain from rolling his eyes.

He cleared his throat, hiding his smile. 'Shall we use Dr Brennan's superior intellect to check out the room?'

They turned back to him, still grinning. Brennan nodded, smiling at Martin.

'That would be wise,' she said, before heading to the stairs, Martin and Booth in tow.

.-.-.-.-.-.

There were four forensics buzzing around the room, looking like they'd finally been validated. When they saw the three walk in, the lead forensic stopped, heading over with a couple of evidence bags.

'We've found traces of blood under the mattress, marks on the wooden head conducive with the stabbing, and –' he pointed at the catch on the door. 'Traces of blood on the catch. It may have been any student, but we figured that the killer might have nicked himself on it after he killed the couple, or somewhere in the process.'

Booth was ecstatic. This looked like the crime scene, and that there would be enough evidence here to convict the murderer – they'd just have to find whoever that might be. It wasn't going to be the easiest of tasks. Martin had talked to the parents and the closer friends of the couple, but little had been found.

He looked at Brennan who was talking to the forensic, pointing at the floor.

'If they were killed on the bed, why aren't their traces of blood? How would the murderer have gotten them out of the room?'

The forensic shrugged, swabbing the floor. There was no reaction.

Booth walked over to them, standing beside Brennan. 'You said that the murderer was likely to be a student – medical, anthropology, something along those lines, right? I'm sure they'd know enough about forensics to know not to... drag a bleeding body out of the building. They were probably wrapped up in some sheeting, or something.'

Brennan nodded, looking serious. 'True.'

Booth straightened out his tie, frowning. 'All this possible evidence is great, but we still don't know where to start with who might be the killer. I mean... there would be hundreds of the students fitting the category. We need something else.'

Brennan nodded, her forehead creased. She was trying to think of something, something she might have missed or considered unimportant.

'Everything I could discern from the remains is in my report. Obviously I'll look at the remains again, but I'm not sure how much information about the killer we can find out that hasn't already been discovered.'

Martin walked over to them, checking his watch. 'I'm going to get the details on who lived in this building, with a special focus on this floor who also studied the disciplines you mentioned. It's a long-shot, but I think it's one of the only starting points we've got.'

Booth agreed, nodding. 'We can interview the students together, while Bones looks over the remains again, and deals with all the scientific stuff, if you like.'

Martin nodded. 'Sounds good.' He pulled his phone of his pocket, ringing up someone – no doubt to get the information he required. He walked off, leaving Brennan and Booth standing in the room.

They looked at each other before Booth grabbed her hand, heading out the door of the crime scene.

'I hope this is going to be enough, Bones,' he said, leaning against a wall.

She smiled at him warmly, giving him a punch on the shoulder. 'Come on, Booth. We're doing great. The case should be a gust.'

He grinned at her mistake, and she looked at him, smiling back. 'Why are you smiling at me like that?' She asked, moving closer towards him. He grabbed her hand, pulling her closer to him. She took the hint, and leaned against him, her body pressing against his. She kissed him, and he raked his fingers through her hair, his hand in the small of her back, pulling her closer to him. She didn't mind, placing her hands around his waist, before running her fingers up and down his back. Booth moaned a little before pushing her away, looking slightly sheepish. She still remained wrapped up in him, and kissed his neck delicately, making him groan again.

'Bones!' He said, holding her back. 'You're really insatiable, aren't you?'

She grinned at him, kissing him again, but not as deeply. 'I find that I can't control myself as well as I should be able to around you,' she said, smiling sheepishly.

He pulled her into another kiss, smiling into her mouth.

'Me either,' he said as they broke apart.

The smiled at each other for a moment before Martin reappeared, and they slowly separated, straightening themselves out.

'Got the details,' he said, considering the way they were straightening their clothes and flattening their hair, and felt the urge to roll his eyes again. 'We're lucky. This dorm is predominantly engineering students – there are only five students that had the knowledge Dr Brennan thinks the killer needed. One of those students, Paul Wentworth, lives in the room that we think is the crime scene,' he said, sounding quite pleased.

Booth and Brennan looked at each other, and Booth had to resist the urge to give her a high-five. He turned back to Martin, grinning.

'This is a done deal,' he said, pulling his poker chip out of his pocket and flipping it. He squeezed Brennan's hand, before heading over to Martin. 'Bones'll check out the forensics, we'll question the kid, and this is all going to be solved by tonight!'

Brennan was pleased at the thought, but didn't think she'd jump to the same conclusion as Booth just yet. Martin, however, seemed happy at the thought.

'I'll drive,' he said to Booth, turning to leave. Booth looked back at Brennan, before patting his pockets, realising he had the keys to Al's car. He pulled them out and threw them over to Brennan, which she caught.

'See you back at the lab,' he said, winking.

She nodded, waving him off as he disappeared down the hall after Martin.

'Good luck!' She called out after them, before heading back into the room to check things over once more.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Booth and Martin climbed into Martin's beaten up Sedan, discussing the case and how they were going to question the boy. They wouldn't be able to bring him in just yet – not until the evidence had been processed, but Booth thought that what they had would be enough to get a warrant for the kids blood – especially if the kid had a visible bite mark scar on his body.

'It's that scar that's going to be the clincher,' Martin said, turning his stereo down so he could talk with Booth without having to talk over the music. 'I just hope it's visible. We'll be able to make the arrest there and then if we can actually see it.'

Booth nodded. 'I wonder what the kid's motive was? With so little information it's hard to really figure out...'

Martin considered for a moment what might have made a university student kill two people, but like Booth, came up dry due to the lack of information. He decided to change the topic.

'Are you enjoying your stay in Australia?' He asked Booth, looking across at him.

Booth grinned at Martin, unable to contain the extent of his enjoyment of his time in Australia.

'It's been absolutely amazing,' he said, still smiling broadly. 'New favourite destination.'

Martin laughed, turning onto a highway. 'You haven't really had the opportunity to see much of our country though, experience the sights,'

Booth shrugged, he didn't need all the touristy stuff when he had Brennan by his side. 'I don't really need to do all those things to have a good time,' he said, looking out the window at the view of Sydney. 'It is a beautiful city, though.'

'Best city in the world,' Martin agreed.

'So, why aren't you working with your usual partner?' Booth asked, turning back to face Martin.

'She's off on maternity leave,' he said, smiling. 'Gorgeous kid, too.'

'So you're just working solo until she comes back to work?' Booth asked.

'Something like that,' Martin said, taking another turn off.

Booth felt as though there was more to the story, but then he supposed, there always was. After all, everyone had their own stories. He hoped Martin's was a happy one.

'So, you and the Doctor,' Martin said, grinning at Booth. 'How longs that been going on?' He asked, hoping he wasn't overstepping any boundaries.

Booth didn't mind at all. He shrugged again, not really sure how to answer the question. 'As long as I can remember? But it's taken us this long to finally get our acts together,' he said, grinning.

'Well, good luck to you both...'

They'd just pulled up in front of a small house in one of the outer suburbs. It looked pretty average – clean, well kept. The men exited the car, walking up the small pathway to the house. Only the flyscreen door was shut, and classical music drifted outside it.

Martin rang the doorbell, pulling his badge out of his pocket, smoothing down his tie. Looking each at each other, they waited for someone to answer the door.

Wonder what this Paul Wentworth's story is? Until next time, eh :)