Author's note: thanks to those who are reading and reviewing this story. The procedural part of the story is not my strong suit, so I really hope you'll enjoy it. Constructive criticism is, therefore, even more appreciated!

Chapter Four

Booth thanked the security guard waiting outside by the door and entered the interrogation room. He took a seat across from Charles Ringer, who seemed rather aggravated. Booth studied him for a moment, then opened the manila folder he had placed in front of him on the stainless steel table.

"I've been here since seven thirty this morning. I'd really like to know what's going on," Ringer spoke up when Booth still hadn't said anything. "If you're not gonna…"

Booth didn't let him finish his rant. "You work at the Cohen & Co. Fairground as an entertainer, more specifically a clown located outside the fun house. Correct?"

"Yes. Is that why I'm here?"

"Hugh Everton was murdered last night at the Hall of Mirrors and you, Charles Ringer, are the prime suspect."

"Because I'm a clown? Who made that wonderful leap of logic?"

Booth stared at the man. "You don't seem particularly surprised your colleague is dead."

Ringer leaned forward. "Look, I know Hugh and I never got on, but I can tell you one thing… I'm not capable of murder or anything close. Look at me. Is this the face of a killer?"

Booth decided it was best not to answer that for all he could see were images of a killer clown. "If you're not the killer, I'm sure you have an alibi. Tell me where you were yesterday."

"At the fun house, of course. You know, being a clown and all that."

"I meant at the time your colleague was murdered."

"And what time was that?"

"Sometime after the fairground had closed, so between six and seven o'clock at night. Where were you?" Booth asked, putting emphasis on the last three words.

"Usually I leave as soon as my shift ends, but last night I went home around six fifteen. I had a… hold up. But I didn't see anything suspicious when I walked past the Hall of Mirrors on my way out. The only strange thing was that the lights were on. I didn't think anything of it, though. Not really my problem, you see."

"What hold up?" Booth wanted to know.

"I had an argument with another colleague. He'd hid my clown's nose and I went to get it back. He actually wanted me to think he hadn't stolen it, but that he had found it outside the Hall of Mirrors. As if I…"

"The Hall of Mirrors, huh?"

Ringer frowned, realizing that rendered him even more suspicious. "He tried to make me believe that's where he found it, but I hadn't been there, okay? I have no business being there, it's not my location. I was at the fun house the whole day."

"And the name of the colleague who'll have to corroborate this story is…"

"Ricky Velasquez."

Booth wrote the name down. "You two fight often?"

"We didn't fight. We had an argument and, yes, it happens occasionally."

"And how long have you been working at the fairground?"

"A long time. Too long, in fact."

"Too long?"

"I don't really like the way things are going around there. I've no idea why I haven't left for good. I was appalled when the boss hired Everton to look after the fun house. Not only was he utterly useless at his job, he was nearly completely deaf. It's just not practical. Still, no one deserves… well, you know."

"Do you get on with the rest of the staff?"

"Uhm… that'd be a bit of an exaggeration, I'm afraid. I don't mind Wendy and her uncle, but, like I said before, that Ricky 'I'm a top notch entertainer' Velasquez character is just too much. He doesn't even like kids. What a joke. He doesn't take any pride in his work."

"And on top of that he misplaced your clown's nose," Booth added mockingly.

"Yes."

Booth decided this was the perfect opportunity to bring up the ripped costume. "So, help me out here, Charles. Who are you to talk pride when you work in a costume that has a large rip in it?"

"I don't know how that happened, but it wasn't my fault. When I picked up my outfit from the costume closet in Cohen's office when my lunch break was over, it was ripped and part of it was missing. I actually had to use a safety pin to hold it together. Anyway, I wouldn't put it past Velasquez to do something childish like that."

"So, you took your costume off during your break?"

"We're not supposed to eat in them, especially since they just came back from the dry-cleaner."

"Right. We found the missing piece of cloth from your costume wrapped around the murder weapon. How do you explain that?"

"I can't."

"You can't?"

"I think I'll want to talk to a lawyer now."

"I understand," Booth said, pushing his chair back. He made his way out of the interrogation room, leaving Ringer in the care of the security guard, until the lawyer would arrive.

BBB BBB

BBB BBB

Later that morning, Booth went over to the Jeffersonian Institute to see how far the squints had come with examining the evidence. When he headed over to the pathology room, he saw that Cam was still working on the autopsy. He walked further inside and grabbed a dust mask.

"Anything you can tell me yet?" he asked, holding the mask up to his mouth and trying not to look at the remains.

"That Dr. Brennan was right. I can confirm her initial finding that the victim has a single right-sided posterior thoracic stab wound made by a piece of glass. It penetrated the left innominate vein as well as the aortic arch. Death was caused by exsanguination. Basically, he bled out. I haven't concluded the autopsy, but so far there seem to be no other wounds. If there are, they weren't fatal."

"No defense wounds on the hands either?" Booth asked and Cam shook her head. "So, he never saw it coming. Makes sense, since he was stabbed in the back."

"Yeah. I also tested the blood that was left behind on the piece of glass. It matched Everton's DNA," Cam continued. "The glass, along with the other evidence that was brought in, is with Hodgins and Edison now for further examination."

"And Bones? She in her office?"

"As far as I know. You didn't see her yet?"

"I just got in," Booth replied and she gave him a doubtful look. "Your workplace is closest to the entrance."

"You didn't hear me say anything."

Booth pointed his thumb towards Brennan's office. "I'm gonna go see if she's busy."

"Okay."

Booth left the room, dropping the dust mask in a nearby disposal. He crossed the Lab to his partner's office. Knocking once on the open glass door to announce his arrival, he walked inside.

Brennan looked up from her work and then at her wristwatch. "It took the FBI until now to bring Ringer in for questioning?"

"No, I already questioned him this morning."

"What?"

He frowned. "What?"

"Without me?" she asked, trying to hide how much it actually hurt her to find out he evidently hadn't wanted her to be there during the interrogation. She didn't understand, for he was usually so keen on involving her in every aspect of the investigation.

"Yeah…" he said, realizing he'd made a terrible mistake not having included her. The narrowing of her eyes and the furrowing of her brows served as confirmation. He knew he was in trouble now.

"Why didn't you call me? You didn't want me there?"

"Bones, last night you said you had more important stuff to work on."

"Not more important, as important," Brennan stressed. "But then you got me involved in the case and you know I want full participation."

"Yeah, I know that. Look, Bones, I'm sorry. I don't know why I didn't check with you first. But I'm going to question Ricky Velasquez later today, if you want to come…"

"I do."

Booth nodded. "Okay."

"So, how did it go with Ringer? I take it he didn't confess to the murder?"

"Claims he's innocent and had nothing to do with his costume getting ripped. Cohen was right about him being a difficult man, though. Seems he had problems with Hugh as well as with this Velasquez person."

"What kind of problems?"

Booth snorted. "They fought over a lost clown's nose."

"You talked about clowns with him?" Brennan couldn't help but grin. "He didn't scare you, did he?"

"You know, maybe that's why I didn't want you there, Bones. Making fun of me, ruining the whole interrogation," Booth replied roughly, then took a deep breath in order to keep his calm. The atmosphere between them was tense enough as it was, without adding another item to the list to bicker about. "Anyway, you got anything to tell me on your side of the investigation?"

"The wire cutter had no blood traces on it, but we did find a partial finger print. Angela ran it through the NCIC and AFIS databases, but no match. Hodgins and Edison are searching for other evidence on the piece of cloth and the costume right now. As for the shard of glass, it indeed served as the murder weapon. We found glass particles in the wound and Cam identified the blood on the shard of glass as Hugh Everton's."

"Yeah, I know, Cam told me. Stabbed with the glass once, he bled to death."

Brennan frowned. "So, not only did you not call me about the interrogation, you spoke about the case with Cam first? What happened to us being partners?"

"The autopsy room is closer to the entrance," he mumbled for lack of a better justification, recycling the excuse he'd given Cam earlier.

"It just seems like you're avoiding me."

"I'm not."

"Is it because of the kiss?" Brennan asked, intent on finding out.

"Of course not," Booth said, his face slightly flustered just by the mention of it. "You said it, it was nothing..."

"Great, then we can just forget about it. I mean, you were being a good friend and I won't forget that. It meant a lot to me that you cared. But it wasn't a pleasant evening for the most part, so I'd rather move on."

"I understand," Booth replied quickly, although he felt disappointed that she still regarded the kiss as a friendly gesture of consolation. Since she had so obviously misjudged his intentions, he agreed it was best to forget about it altogether, although he wasn't sure if he could. "So, you wanna come to the fairground with me now?"

"To question Velasquez?" Brennan said as she rose from her desk chair. "Yeah, I have time."

"Great, let's go."

BBB BBB

BBB BBB

Booth and Brennan walked through the fairground and could easily perceive why the park was in financial trouble. There were visitors, but certainly not as many as there had been in its glory days. Brennan mentioned to Booth that this situation was a good example of circular cause-and-effect. The lack of visitors meant a lack of profits, which in turn meant there was no money to invest in improvements. No improvements meant the inability to attract more visitors. Booth could only agree.

The pair reached Cohen's office and informed him of the process so far. The victim's family—his only relative being his daughter—had been informed of his death, Ringer had officially been interrogated and was still a suspect at that point. They further informed Cohen that the glass from the Hall of Mirrors was indeed the murder weapon and that exsanguination due to a single stab wound was the official cause of death. Cohen, in turn, informed Booth and Brennan that, now the Hall of Mirrors had been cleared and cleaned by the FBI, he had placed an order for a new mirror, for which he didn't actually have a budget. He was, however, desperate to open the fairground to the public again, so as not to lose too much income. Booth then told him they needed to speak to Ricky Velasquez and asked where said employee could be found. After Cohen had given them directions, they went on their way.

Finding Velasquez at the designated location, wearing his bear costume, the partners waited until he finished his act with the two children that were with him. Noticing their presence, he seemed to cut the act short, sending the children back to their parents. He removed the bear head, putting it under his arm, and walked up to Brennan and Booth.

"Can I help you?"

"FBI, special agent Seeley Booth and my partner Dr. Brennan," Booth said, holding up his badge. "We'd like to ask you a few questions."

Velasquez nodded. "About the murder."

"That's right. We need to know everything you saw. In as much detail as you can manage."

"Okay. Let's see. I went home right after I'd returned my costume to the office, so that must have been around six fifteen, six thirty at the latest. On my way out I saw Hugh outside the Hall of Mirrors… that's where it happened, right? He was heading inside actually, mumbling something about someone leaving the lights on. I guess he went in to switch them off. I went home myself. I can't believe that was the last time I'd see him."

"You didn't see anything else? Nothing suspicious?" Booth pressed.

"No, nothing."

"How do you get along with your colleagues?"

"We're all one big happy family."

"Are you being sarcastic?" Brennan asked him, not sure what to make of his answer.

Velasquez glanced at Booth for a second before elaborating. "Well, things haven't exactly been easy around here lately, so yes, sometimes we take our frustrations out on each other. We don't always get along. For instance, a few people thought Everton was a waste of space, but he kind of was. I mean, take the fun house. It's a tip. It's not really safe. I remember Fisher saying she could do a better job of running it. Anyway, I just kind of keep to myself, usually."

"Usually, because sometimes you pick a fight with Charles Ringer," Booth remarked.

"He said that?"

"He referred to a lost clown's nose," Brennan elaborated.

"Oh, that. Yeah, I found it at the Hall of Mirrors yesterday and he accused me of hiding it there, while all I did was find it and return it to him. Ringer can be real immature sometimes. No wonder he's a clown, he's just a kid himself."

"And you're a teddy bear," Booth pointed out.

"Okay, you got me there, but I don't stoop so low as to hide his red nose."

"Would you stoop so low as to rip his costume?"

"He said that, too?" Velasquez exclaimed, getting angrier by the minute. "It's not true, okay? I did no such thing. I wouldn't even have the opportunity to do that. It's either on him or in the closet. Since he comes in earlier in the morning and we don't have lunch at the same time, it couldn't have been me. I didn't have access to his costume."

"Alright, that's it for now. We'll contact you if we have any more questions," Booth said with a nod, indicating he was finished taking his statement, even though he hadn't heard what he had hoped for.

Velasquez put the bear head back on and left, in search of children to entertain with his act. Booth and Brennan shared a look, then headed back to the car park, discussing ways to find out how the piece of clothing had found its way around the shard of glass. They figured that solving that mystery would most likely lead them to the killer.

Love to hear what you think!