On we go...hopefully I might get a few more reviews for this one...thanks nane.
Bones does not belong to me.
Brennan blinked rapidly.
"The zodiac?"
"You heard me, Bones. The zodiac."
He watched his partner take a deep breath. Oh dear. It looked as though she might know an awful lot about this particular subject. But then, it was Bones. Other than pop culture, there was very little she didn't have at least a minimal understanding of.
"The zodiac is a thin band of sky on either side of the ecliptic, which is the large circular shape the sun appears to trace in the sky when it moves against the stars. Our calendar mimics the movement of the sun around the zodiac so the cycle of twelve signs that the zodiac is divided into, each thirty degrees long, fall at roughly the same time every year. So the twelve signs, in some way, are like the twelve months of the calendar. This all means that the ecliptic is effectively and equally divided into twelve sections of celestial longitude, creating what is quite probably the first celestial coordinate system. The twelve physical thirty degree sections in the sky represent space, not time."
This time it was Booth's turn to blink. Which he did. Numerous times. Finally, he swallowed hard.
"What?"
Brennan huffed slightly. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and seemed to retreat backwards into the seat, shaking her shoulders moodily. Booth hurriedly looked out of the window; if she was to catch sight of the smile currently spreading across his face, he was certain to get a kick in a very sensitive area. He heard his partner mutter something about how people shouldn't ask questions if they're not going to bother to listen to the answers. He sighed heavily and forced her to meet his gaze.
"I did listen, Bones. I always listen. I just didn't…not that I didn't understand…I was just more talking about, you know, the zodiac signs that people use when predicting horoscopes."
Brennan's expression was mutinous. Booth had almost whispered the word 'horoscopes' as he had a pretty good idea of how his partner would react. It didn't help though. Her disgust was more than evident.
"Horoscopes?"
She practically spat the word out. She rolled her tongue off the roof of her mouth, down behind her front teeth and ended with it partially stuck out of her slightly open mouth, as though the very idea of such a concept sickened her to her core. Booth shifted nervously.
"Yeah, Bones, you know…Taurus, Aries…"
She gave him a very haughty look.
"I'm aware of the names of them, Booth. They're the same as the names of the original ecliptic longitudes. Not a particularly original move on the part of astrologers. I just think the very idea of pretending to know how someone's life will play out based on the position of…"
Booth hurriedly waved his hands in front of her face. She spluttered on for a few more seconds, but, as every syllable she uttered was punctuated with a "Shh!" from Booth, she soon gave up. She retreated back against the seat once more, glowering furiously at him. Booth let out a little gasp. God, this was exhausting.
"I'm not saying I believe in them either, Bones, it's just that this case seems to be kind of irreversibly entwined with them."
He paused for a moment. Her shoulders remained hunched, but her expression softened slightly and she gave him a barely discernable nod. Taking this as permission, he continued.
"Anyway, as you've already said, the zodiac is divided into twelve different signs. With respect to the ones used when making horoscopes, they are each represented by a different picture and symbol."
"Yes, the word zodiac, translated from the Greek "zodiakos", literally means 'circle of little animals', which in modern terms is often taken to mean 'circle of life'. This correlates with the fact that the majority of the zodiac signs are either people or animals."
Booth nodded slowly before hesitantly replying, "Right."
Brennan let out a little murmur, shoulders slumping. She made a circling motion with her hand, indicating that she'd like him to continue.
"Em, well, the zodiac…ah…cycle starts with…" he quickly consulted a sheet of paper covered with barely legible scrawls that had evidently been hastily torn from a notepad, "Aries and ends with Pisces. Each of these signs is, apparently, influenced by a certain planet and corresponds to a particular element."
Brennan nodded politely. She was rather worried about the little bubbly feelings she was getting in the pit of her stomach at the idea of Booth conducting some quick research so that he would be able to explain the situation adequately to her.
"According to these horoscopes, the individual signs will mould and influence a person's behaviour and reactions because of the force exerted on them by the planets."
He decided not to push this any further as Brennan's brow was furrowing once more. There was only so far you could push the anthropologist before she snapped. And while he normally enjoyed seeing what really made her tick, this was neither the time nor the place. It would have to wait.
Brennan took a few steadying breaths to try and curb her annoyance. The very idea of horoscopes, of ludicrous predictions like that, went against everything she believed in. They could never be irrefutably proven or measured nor closely examined first hand. And the fact that some people tried to refer to it as a science… She growled softly to herself. She may have finally realised that she hated something just a little bit more than psychology. She was about to relay this little development to Booth when their food arrived. The pretty blonde girl quickly returned with their drinks, apologising profusely that she hadn't done so earlier. Booth flashed her a smile and told her that it was fine and that it really didn't bother them. The girl believed him, one hundred percent.
The next few minutes were spent in silence. Booth was silent as he was stuffing his face with anything and everything on his plate and a couple of things from Brennan's plate also. Brennan was silent because she was smiling to herself, pleased to see that it wasn't only her who was affected by Booth's charm smile. Although, a very small, secret part of her was a little disappointed that it didn't just work on her alone. That it's powers of persuasion weren't just her unique weakness. She despised vulnerability…but when it came to Booth, a certain element of weakness was inevitable and, in most cases, necessary.
Eventually, Booth leaned back with a satisfied grunt. He felt completely and utterly sated. He cast a heavy-lidded glance at his partner. Brennan was slowly but steadily making her way through the plateful of food. She was more of a picker whereas he was most definitely a stuffer.
In between mouthfuls of lettuce, Brennan managed to gurgle, "So what has all of this got to do with the case?"
Booth rested his elbows on the table and laced his fingers together in front of his chin.
"Have you ever heard of the Zodiac Killer?"
"Sure. It's an unsolved case involving someone killing people in the sixties and sending taunting letters to the police and press up until…I'm not sure, some time in the seventies."
"That's right. Until 1974. Despite the fact that over twenty five hundred suspects were investigated, the forensic technology at the time wasn't sophisticated enough to convict anyone. The Killer first struck in October of 1966 in San Francisco. I'm going to call the Killer a 'he' just for ease of explanation."
Brennan nodded vehemently. "Most serial killers are white, middle-aged males who…" At Booth's slight clenching of his jaw she trailed off. "Sorry."
"Anyway, he killed an 18 year old girl by slashing her throat…in much the same way as our victim."
Brennan visibly perked up at this. He grinned at this; her attention was undeniably and truly piqued.
"About a month after the girl's death the Riverside Police and the Riverside Enterprise both received carbon copies of an anonymous letter entitled "The Confession". In this letter the Killer took credit for the girl's death and threatened that there would be more to come. The Killer then murdered a number of other people, frequently by shooting them, and sent numerous other letters to the authorities, often containing specific details that hadn't been leaked to the press. Instead of a signature, a few of his letters ended with a 'z' joined to a number '3'. He was never caught. Then, in 1990, there was a copycat killer in New York. He had sent a letter to the police the previous year beginning with the words "This is the Zodiac"."
Brennan shook her head a number of times. She took a few deep breaths and raised her eyes to meet Booth's.
"Right…so…you think we've got a copycat killer on our hands?"
Booth pursed his lips.
"Not exactly. I don't really understand it but our profilers seem to think that our guy respects, perhaps even idolises, the Zodiac Killer but is not necessarily copying him. He may even feel he is not worthy to mimic his actions. The profilers seem to think that he is imitating his hero's method in order to get us interested. Once he knows we're focusing on him, he may change his tactics completely. Which makes this whole thing very dangerous."
Brennan nodded slowly. Something was flickering behind her eyes that Booth couldn't comprehend. She pushed her lips together and moved her gaze to the tabletop. When she looked up once more, the evasive flickering had disappeared.
"Ok, well, what do you think?"
"I'm not sure. The copycat killer from 1990 seemed more interested in the actual zodiac signs than the original killer. I just don't know about this new guy. We'll have to wait and see."
Brennan chewed on the inside of her lip. They both knew, without Booth having to explicitly spell it out, that "wait and see" really meant, "wait until another victim dies".
Brennan sighed and laid her palms flat on the table.
"Tell me about this letter."