Author's note: I would like to thank those of you who've read and reviewed this new story of mine. I'm glad you're enjoying it.
Chapter Three
Having struggled through the verbal conflict assignment and the discussion it stirred up, Booth was glad the session was called short due to a phone call from Cullen, informing him that he was needed at a crime scene. He smiled at Sweets and helped Brennan out of her seat.
"Sorry, Sweets, gotta run!"
"Me, too?" Brennan asked as Booth gently pushed her towards the door.
"Yep, I'll fill you in on the way."
Brennan turned back to Sweets. "We'll have to finish this another time."
Sweets smiled sulkily at the pair. "I figured as much."
Brennan nodded, then followed Booth into the hallway and over to the elevator. Booth was the first to push the button and, to their surprise, the doors opened immediately. They stepped inside and rode it down to the lobby. As they walked over to Booth's newly issued Toyota Sequoia, Brennan made a quick call to Clark Edison, Zack's replacement, to inform him she was going to a crime scene instead of heading back to the Jeffersonian. She told him to go home, but to come in early the next morning, as she would probably need his assistance then. Ending the call, she stepped into the vehicle. As per usual, Booth drove and she rode shotgun.
"So, where are we headed?" Brennan asked as she buckled up.
"Homicide at the Cohen & Co. Fairground. A young woman found the dead body of her colleague inside the Hall of Mirrors," Booth informed her. "Sounds interesting, huh?"
"Depends on the circumstances, I would have to say," she replied with a small shrug.
"I meant where the remains were found. I loved those crazy mirrors as a kid. Didn't you?"
"Yeah, I did, too. I remember my mother taking Russ and me to the local fairground that operated just outside of Chicago. It was fun," she told him as her stomach began to rumble.
Booth looked at her. "Please tell me you ate something before you went to Sweets."
"I didn't," she said and he stared at her. "What? I told you I forgot about the time."
"Unbelievable," he responded, shaking his head as he dug up a Snickers bar from his suit pocket and handed it to Brennan. "Here, eat this."
"Thanks."
Booth flashed her a smile. "If you didn't have me…"
"I wouldn't have to go to therapy with you and I wouldn't be going to a crime scene right now. I would probably be at home, cooking."
"Right," he mumbled, but started grinning a moment later. "Mac 'n Cheese?"
"Probably not. I haven't prepared that in quite a long time actually."
"Well, when you do, invite me over. You owe me that for the Snickers."
"Or I could just give you the dollar it cost you."
"Nah, I want your cooking."
"Hmm… Angela once told me that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. That expression never made any sense to me, but I suppose on a figurative level there seems to be some truth to it."
"Yeah…" he replied, his voice trailing off. He glanced over at her for a second, before concentrating on the road ahead again, and wondered if she was aware just how true that expression was. She had captured his heart and one of the many reasons behind that was the delicious meal she had once prepared for him after finishing a case. He had, in fact, hoped for a repeat performance, another invitation, ever since.
Studying the look on her partner's face, Brennan frowned. "Did I make you uncomfortable again?"
"No," he replied as he turned the car onto the car park outside the fairground. He noticed that FBI Forensic Tech Marcus Geier had been waiting for them at the entrance and was now walking over to them.
"I wasn't talking about sex, so is this a sensitive subject for you, as well?"
"It's not. Let's just ask Geier what he knows so far, okay?" he said, hitting the door handle. He climbed out of the car and greeted said man. When Brennan had gotten out of the car as well, Geier led them inside the fairground. "Anything you can tell us at this point?"
"Very little," Geier responded. "The park had just closed for the night when the game stall clerk, her name's Wendy, discovered the body at the Hall of Mirrors. She recognized him as her colleague Hugh Everton, 69, from Rockville, Maryland."
Booth nodded and scribbled down the information on the notepad he kept in the inside pocket of his jacket. Then, the three of them continued their way through the fairground in silence, passing several attractions before they reached the Hall of Mirrors. Geier pushed the door open and held up the yellow crime tape, letting them inside. What they found was a room full of different types of curved mirrors. One of them was cracked down the side that would normally reflect the entrance door. On the floor, in a pool of blood, the body of Hugh Everton lay stomach down.
"This is a fresh kill, Booth. Shouldn't Cam be here instead of me?" Brennan remarked, eyeing the body. "You don't need me for this. Not my kind of case."
He shrugged. "Thought I'd give you an excuse to leave Sweets' office," he told her and she sent him a disapproving look in reply. "I'm sure you can be of use here."
"I hope so," she said, meaningfully. "I do have other work to attend to."
"The victim seems to have been stabbed in the back," Booth remarked, not wanting to get into another discussion with Brennan about her work and what it entailed. He knew he wasn't the only one who called upon her expertise, he was very much aware of that in fact, so he saw no need for her to constantly remind him of it. He looked at Geier, instead. "You found the murder weapon, yet?"
"No, the Tech Team is working on that right now. We're searching the victim's office for evidence as well."
Brennan slipped on a pair of latex rubber gloves and crouched down next to the victim for a closer look at the wound. "From what I can see, it appears to be a single posterior thoracic stab wound caused by a sharp object."
"Could it be a piece of glass that came from the mirror?" Booth wondered out loud.
"Possibly, but I can't tell you with certainty at this point."
"I know, no guesswork."
"I can tell you that, if the weapon penetrated the innominate vein, death was most likely caused by exsanguination. Cam will have to confirm that, however."
"So, one fatal stab wound?" Booth summed up, writing it down in his notepad.
"That would be my preliminary finding, yes. Again, Cam will have to do a pathological examination of the body to confirm," Brennan answered as she looked around her. "Some shards that came from the mirror seem to be missing. What's lying on the floor here is certainly not enough to make up the broken part of the mirror. Assuming at this point that you're right about the weapon being a shard of glass, we're probably looking for a larger piece."
"Yeah, the FBI's on that," Booth said and Geier nodded in confirmation. "Since the victim has been identified already, I'd like to speak with the girl who found him."
"She and her boss are in his office waiting for you," Geier responded. "It's the first building on your left after you've passed the Big Wheel and the food court. Agent Spears is with them."
"Alright. Come on, Bones, let's question them, shall we?"
Brennan stood up and removed her gloves. Booth carefully took them out of her hands and passed them over to Geier, so he could dispose of them. Then, they left the Hall of Mirrors. Following the directions the Forensic Tech had given them, the partners had no trouble finding the office. Just like the rest of the fairground, it looked a bit run down. Booth knocked on the door and FBI agent Spears opened it for them. They entered and the first thing they noticed, apart from the old furniture, was how unusually hot and humid it was inside.
"I'm special agent Seeley Booth, FBI, and this is my partner Dr. Temperance Brennan," Booth said, loosening his tie a little before he looked at the visibly upset young woman. "We understand you found the body?"
Wendy nodded. "Yes, I'm Wendy Fisher. This is my boss."
"Jacob Cohen. I own this fairground. I hope you guys will be able to solve this grim case quickly, otherwise I might have to permanently shut down operations. Business wasn't exactly booming to begin with and when this reaches the news, I'm not exactly expecting things to change for the better."
"Hmm," Booth said with a nod, now thinking about taking his tie off altogether. "Well, we have some questions for the both of you. I'd prefer to do it outside, since it's rather hot in here." He saw Brennan had already taken off her jacket as well, so he figured he wasn't the only one who couldn't stand the heat. He hooked his collar with a finger, pulling it from his neck.
"I apologize for that. The portable air conditioner is broken and Pete was supposed to repair it today. I guess he wasn't able to fix it yet and he must have gone home already," Cohen said, digging a hanky from his back pocket and wiping his glistening forehead.
"I understand. Miss Fisher, if you could step outside with us first?"
She nodded and silently followed Booth and Brennan outside, while agent Spears remained inside, keeping an eye on Cohen.
"Miss Fisher…" Booth started.
"Please, call me Wendy," she interrupted him.
"Alright, Wendy. We understand that you were the one to discover the body and you immediately recognized him as your colleague Hugh Everton?"
"Yeah, that was pretty scary, I tell you. I stayed rather late and noticed the lights were still on in the Hall of Mirrors, which is unusual. I can see it from my stall, you see. I'm in charge of running the game stall. Anyway, I went into the Hall of Mirrors and found Hugh. I freaked out. It was so awful, seeing him there, in that puddle of blood… Anyhow, when I'd calmed down a little, I called the police and then Mr. Cohen."
"He wasn't here at the time?"
"No, I think he had a meeting. I'm not sure. The park had closed already, so almost everyone had gone home for the day."
"And how long have you been working here?" Booth inquired and since he was asking all the questions, Brennan felt that her presence was even more pointless. All she could do was listen to Wendy's answers.
"For a little while. I got the job through my uncle. It's helping me pay for college. And since it can get pretty quiet around here, I bring my revision books and study for my exams."
"Why do you study here?" Brennan asked, finally able to take part in the questioning.
"I can only study here. I have six roommates, it's never quiet at home. So I stay late most nights and use the time alone to get some work done. My exams are in two weeks and I'm totally unprepared."
"Do you get on with the other staff here?" Booth wanted to know, taking over again.
"Sure. The guys often argue amongst themselves, but I stay out of it. Charles is a pretty hard guy to get on with, but he's got a good heart."
"I'm gonna need his last name, too."
"Oh, sorry. Charles Ringer," Wendy said, before she continued. "I got on well with Hugh, although no one could deny he was pretty useless at his job. Sometimes I'd try to help him with repairs or give him ideas for improvements, but he'd never get anything done. It really was quite frustrating. I always figured the boss would replace him, but now look what's happened."
Booth nodded. "You mentioned your uncle. He is employed here, too?"
"Yes, his name is Peter Warner. He's like a father to me. Pete cares a lot about my well-being. Like I said, he's the one who got me the job. He knows how much I care about the fairground and since he has a lot more contact with Mr. Cohen, he always runs my ideas by him. But like I said, nothing ever gets done here. Pete definitely shares my frustration. This place is pretty run down, but with a few improvements, I know it could be so much nicer. I really think it has potential."
"You think you could have done a better job than Hugh Everton?"
"Not to speak ill of the dead, but yes. Especially if Mr. Cohen would have invested in it. But money is tight, so I understand he couldn't take the risk. It's a shame, though."
"Alright, thank you for your time, Wendy. You can go home now. We'll contact you if we have more questions for you, okay?"
"Sure."
"Thank you," Brennan said as Wendy walked off.
Booth walked back to the office and informed agent Spears that they were ready to talk to Cohen now. The fairground's owner stepped outside and the two of them headed over to Brennan.
"Mr. Cohen, Wendy told us you weren't at the park when she found the victim. I'm sure you understand that we need to know your whereabouts."
"Of course. I had a meeting with the bank this afternoon. As I told you earlier, it's difficult to keep the fairground open and pay everyone's salary on time. I went to the bank to discuss the financial possibilities. I was on my way home when I got Wendy's call. I immediately turned the car around and came back here."
"So, Wendy was alone with the victim until you arrived?" Brennan inquired.
"I suppose so. I expected her uncle to be here, too, though."
"That would be Peter Warner?" Booth said, glancing at his notepad.
"Yes. Pete was supposed to fix the air conditioner, which he obviously didn't. Since I haven't had the chance to speak with him yet, I don't know why he didn't fix it. When I came in this morning, he helped me carry the costumes to my office and we both noticed how hot it was. I told him I had a meeting in the afternoon and asked him to do the repairs then."
"Costumes?" Booth questioned.
"Oh, they're for the entertainers here. I had them all dry-cleaned and the closet in which we keep them is located in my office."
At that moment, Geier walked up to the group, carrying two evidence bags with him.
"You found something interesting?" Booth asked the obvious question.
"What we think could be the murder weapon, actually," Geier said and held up the plastic bag that contained a large shard of glass with a piece of colorful fabric wrapped around it.
"Yes, that could very well be the weapon that was used to make the stab wound. It's certainly large and sharp enough," Brennan agreed. "Where did you find it?"
"The victim's office, behind some shelves."
"It's not really an office, more like a tool shed with a desk," Cohen told Booth and Brennan as he eyed the evidence. "That fabric looks really familiar."
Booth raised his eyebrows in surprise, hoping the man would be able to give them more information on the murder weapon. "It does?"
"Those costumes I was telling you about? It might come from the one Charles Ringer wears. He's one of the entertainers here."
"Really? Do you have it in your office?"
"It should be. We can check."
"Agent Booth, before you do that… We also found this," Geier said, holding up the evidence bag with a wire cutter inside. "It was in the garbage bin close to the Hall of Mirrors. It's not the murder weapon, but it might still have been used in relation to the homicide."
"Okay, thank you," Booth said, then looked at his partner. "Bones, you better take those with you to the Lab to have them examined first thing in the morning."
Brennan took possession of the evidence bags and then the three of them headed back into the office. Cohen opened the closet door to reveal the costumes.
"Let me see. This one is Ricky's," he said, moving aside a big bear costume to reveal the next outfit. "This one belongs to Charles." He took the hanger off the rack and showed it to them.
Booth's eyes widened when he recognized what it was exactly.
"Booth, do you see what this is?" Brennan asked him, amused. "It's a clown's costume."
"I noticed, yeah."
"You must be glad there's not a person in it right now."
Cohen frowned. "Something wrong?"
"Coulrophobia; my partner's afraid of clowns. Shot a clown's head on top of an ice-cream truck once and a real one, too, actually. Well, not real, obviously, but a man wearing a clown's costume."
"A killer clown and I don't think that's any of his business, Bones," Booth hissed.
"Maybe we should bring this up with Dr. Sweets," Brennan hissed back, from behind her hand.
"Dr. Sweets?" Cohen wondered, having heard her nonetheless. "Will he, or she, be involved in the case, too?"
"No, he's our therapist," Brennan explained as Booth shook his head at his partner. As always, she didn't know when to keep her mouth shut and, apparently, he still couldn't make her either.
Cohen couldn't help but emit a short laugh. "You two married?"
"No, we're just partners," they replied simultaneously.
"Could have fooled me," Cohen mumbled, but turned serious when he noticed something amiss with the costume. "There's a large rip here."
Brennan held the evidence bag next to the costume. "The cloth wrapped around the glass seems to have come from this costume. We'll have to take that with us as evidence as well."
"And we're gonna need you to give us Charles Ringer's contact information," Booth added, looking at Cohen.
The fairground's owner nodded and walked up to his desk. He searched in one of the drawers, took out a stack of papers and wrote down the necessary information on another slip of paper, which he handed over to Booth. "I take it this makes Charles a suspect now, but I just want to say that I've never had any problems with him. I know he's not the most easy-going man you'd ever meet and Hugh and he weren't exactly the best of friends, but he's a good man. Great with the kids, as well."
"Alright. Thank you for your time, Mr. Cohen," Booth responded.
The partners left the office and made their way back to the Hall of Mirrors.
"You need to take another look inside before we leave?" Booth asked Brennan when they reached the attraction.
"Has the forensic team taken pictures of the crime scene and the remains?"
"Of course. From every angle you can imagine."
"And all necessary investigative samples will be sent to the Jeffersonian for particulate evidence?"
"Everything will be there by morning."
"Then, no."
"Alright, then I suggest we head home as well and meet up at your Lab first thing tomorrow morning."
"Sure," Brennan said as they headed for the exit. "So, who do you like?"
Confused, Booth looked at her. "Who do I like?"
"Yeah, I heard Cullen ask you that question once in relation to who you thought would be the most likely suspect at that point in our investigation."
"And you remembered?" Booth asked in amazement. "Well, Fisher seems to have a problem with Hugh, but Ringer is looking more suspicious at this point, I think. I'll have him brought in for questioning ASAP."
"And Cohen? Did you get a good read on him?"
Booth smiled. "Wow, you're really getting a hang of the cop talk, huh?"
"I learn from you just as much as you learn from me," she said with a slight shrug.
"I like it," Booth replied as they exited the fairground and walked over to the vehicle. He dug up its keys from his pocket as he continued. "I'll have agent Charlie Burns check out his story with the bank, but my money's not on Cohen, no."
Brennan nodded pensively. "Your money's not on Cohen. I suppose I should remember that expression as well."
Booth winked. "I would."
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