S01E06 – The Man in the Wall
Author Notes: I change the character highlighted on each scene. Words in italic are their thoughts.
Welcome, new reviewers! Kitten2010 and MysticParadox!
Main characters in each scene are Zack Addy (The Dental Records and The New Motto), Seeley Booth (The Pre-Shacking up Test, The Holograms and The Innocent DJ), Angela Montenegro (The Fifth Stage) and Vincent Nigel-Murray (The Letter and The Fall).
Chapter Four
In which the content on the letter is revealed and Rulz is interrogated.
Forensic Platform
Jeffersonian Institute
Brennan, Zack, Vincent, Wendell and Hodgins were working on the platform around the new remains. The dark haired American squint held up x-rays of the corpse's teeth:
"Dental records confirm that this is Eve Warren."
"Insect activity confirms she died around the same time DJ Mount did."
"Good." – Bones looked around. – "Where did Booth go? I gotta give him the news."
"I believe he and Angela are up in the lounge."
Brennan exhaled:
"Zack, clean the bones. Please."
Vincent found the request odd, and after the woman left he turned to Zack:
"We've already got cause of death and identity. What are we looking for?"
An explanation.
"It might be grasping but remember that odd mark we found on Mount's skull? I have a feeling we will find something like it on Eve's remains."
Break Room
Jeffersonian Institute
Angela was talking with Booth:
"Michigan? Why?"
"Umm, it's where Zack's parents live, and he told me all of his brothers and sisters are flocking there this week."
"Oh, you two are so ready for the pre-shacking up test vacation."
"What do you mean?"
"You have keys to each other's places. You've done the weekend away a couple times. Yeah, it's time for the ten-day vacation. You know, Michigan's like a dry run for living together only with his family and no murder cases." – She walked away with a smile.
"Yeah, see you later."
Brennan walked up to him:
"It's Eve Warren."
"Eve Warren. Ok, cause of death?"
"Same as Mount."
"Meth overdose."
"Pushed in the face, but there's more. I don't think that Rulz killed her."
Zack doesn't either.
"She was buried under his studio."
"But her wrist was broken."
Angela Montenegro's Office
Jeffersonian Institute
Angela walked from the break room to her office, stopping only to whistle loudly and motion for Zack to follow her.
"So I just heard you're taking Booth to meet the family. When are you moving in together?"
"What? Angela, we're not moving in together."
"Why not?"
"Probably because I have no idea how a relationship normally proceeds."
"Don't worry, that's why I'm here. You two are currently in stage five."
"What's stage five?"
"One, spend the night. Two, spend the weekend. Three, exchange keys. Four, sexy weekend getaway. Five, extended vacation, inevitably followed by six—move in together."
"I'm an anthropologist. I know the stages of everything, you made those up."
"I did not."
"Yes, you did."
"Fine, but you're deflecting." – Zack raised an eyebrow. – "So I'm not the smartest person in the Jeffersonian, but hey, I read." – She sat down on her couch and patted the cushion besides her. – "Come; tell your queen what ails you."
He sat down:
"I have no idea what I'm doing."
"Been there, done that, got drunk and ritual married in Tahiti. But that's a story for a whole other day. Now, does the idea of moving in with Booth make you happy?"
"Yes."
"If he asks will you move in?"
"Yes."
"Then you already know."
"Thanks, Ange."
"Ahem."
"Thank you, my Queen."
"You're welcome, Sir Zack. Now it's my turn."
I have no idea what to wear on my date.
"You should wear something sexy but comfortable. Don't torture yourself through dinner."
"Psychic powers."
Zack bowed:
"Glad to be of assistance."
The Boiling Room
Jeffersonian Institute
The Boiling Room was the room where they keep huge vats of hot water used to detach the muscles and skin from the bones. Vincent was spouting out lots of facts while Wendell placed Eve's skull inside the bubbling water.
"Vince, if you want to know what your mother wrote, why don't you just ask?"
"I don't mean to pry."
"Yeah, you do. But it's okay." – He reached inside his lab coat's pocket and gave his lover the typed paper. – "I still love you. Here."
Vincent started to read it out loud while Wendell put the ribs in the vat:
"'Dear Mister Bray, it's about time we talk again. Seeing as though as you won't leave Vincent no matter how much I offer'- What?"
She wouldn't.
"Have you ever read Jane Austen?"
"Yes, 'Emma', 'Sense and Sensibility' and 'Pride and Prejudice'. What does that have to do with anything?"
"Think of this like I'm George Wickham and your mother is William Darcy."
"Am I Georgiana or Lydia?"
"Gigi."
"My mother thinks you are corrupting me?"
"Sadly, yes. According to Morrison she did the same thing to one or two of his boyfriends."
"You talked to my brother about this? Why?"
"I needed to know how you'd react before I told you."
"Oh."
"Keep reading."
"Alright. 'My husband decided that we should start fresh, be civil to one another. What do you say? Acquaintances? Your apparent mother-in-law Juliet.' I cannot believe my mother."
Imaging Unit
Jeffersonian Institute
Brennan, Booth, Zack and Angela were around the artist's patent-pending invention, the Angelator. The female anthropologist narrated the scenario shown in the holograms:
"Bone damage indicates that Eve was taken from behind and smashed into a wall.
"Her skull shows damage to both the infraorbital and supraorbital margins and the zygomatic process."
Ouch.
"Zygo-what? Zack, you said she was killed by crystal meth."
"She was. She would've been hurt and stunned by the blow but not killed, certainly not immediately."
"A bag of crystal meth was placed over her face, actually ground into her wounds, into the airway."
"Wait, Rulz couldn't have smashed her into a wall?"
"Her radius was separated from the scaphoid and trapezium."
Booth was lost in a sea of medical terms so Zack explained it to him:
"Her right wrist was twisted hard behind her back. There is damage to both the elbow and the shoulder as well. For that to happen, Eve's attacker would have had to twist her arm up with his right hand while jamming the crystal meth into her face with the other. Both with a great deal of force."
"Ah, but Rulz had been shot twice in the right hand. I got it, he had nerve damage."
"There is no way he had the strength to kill Eve Warren."
Interrogation Room
J. Edgar Hoover Building (FBI)
Booth and Brennan were interrogating Rulz while Zack watched from behind the one-way mirror.
"You did not murder Eve Warren."
"This is a weird kind of interrogation, huh? Cops telling me what I didn't do."
"Well, then do me a favor. Tell me Bones is wrong and confess to a murder."
"Hell, no, man. What do you think, I'm some type of idiot?"
"Do me a favor, deny it."
"See, you got tricks. You're gonna twist all my words around, so I'd better not say anything at all."
"But you didn't kill Eve Warren."
"So you say. The Rulz says say nothing."
The Rulz should just tell the truth.
"He wants us to hold him."
"Why?" – Brennan was perplexed.
"Why? Because every time some rapper gets murdered, his business goes straight through the roof."
"You know, why should DJ Mount get the bump, huh? Maybe it's my turn."
Bones watched the agent and the DJ's interaction with confusion and dismay.
"I'll tell you what. I'll make you a better deal. You tell us what we need to know and I'll have those charges laid against you. Put you in the remand center?"
"For how long?"
"Oh, that depends on what you tell us."
"Wait, wait. You're negotiating to put this guy in jail?"
"To sweeten the pot, I'll charge you with Mount's death too. But you hire one of those moron lawyers and you'll be thrown in lockup for what, maybe a month?"
Rulz nodded and smiled:
"Sweet, all right."
"Where am I, in Backwards World?"
"What do you got?"
"Look, I could tell ya'll why Mount got killed, but y'all have to figure out the rest on your own."
Bones was upset, to say the least.
"Uh, we have to figure it out just from motive?"
"Ok, look, Bones, this is, you know, sort of my thing."
And Zack's.
"You know, Mount was gonna jump."
"You mean commit suicide?"
Booth could hear Zack giggling from the other room. Rulz was bewildered:
"Where did you find her?"
"Museum."
"I mean labels, jump labels."
"Wait, you're saying that Deejay mount was gonna leave Basement Records."
"Look, all he needed was the money to buy himself back. That's why he got himself killed. Now, if Hall even finds out that I told y'all that much, I'm gonna end up some dried-out mummy in a wall."
"But what about Eve?"
"Man, Eve couldn't kill nobody. You know, sex 'em to death maybe, but that's about it. There's one more thing. The next day, Hall built me a new studio. He took it out of my money too."
Booth and Zack exchanged a look through the mirror.
"So, you gonna put me in jail?"
"Well, you know, hey, it's the least we can do, hmm?"
Doctor Temperance Brennan and Mister Zack Addy's Office
Jeffersonian Institute
Zack walked in and poured himself on the couch. Exactly where Vincent had been lying down. Both dark-haired squints scrambled to the floor, barely avoiding the coffee table.
"Ow!"
"Vince? What is the problem?"
"I fell."
And my mother is evil.
"That's not what I mean and you know so. Did you know that after 200 meters in depth, light no longer penetrates oceanic water, creating a zone called aphotic?"
"No. Thank you. The reason I am upset is that I am Gigi Darcy."
"Okay."
"My mother is William and Wendell is Wickham."
"I highly doubt Wendell would corrupt anyone."
"Later in the novel."
"Your mother offered Wendell money? He didn't accept it, did he?"
"No, he did not. But I am still upset about the fact that my parents tried to bribe the best thing in my life away from me."
"Oh." – Zack kissed the top of Vincent's head.
"Why did you…"
"It seemed like the right way to comfort you. It works on me when Seeley does it." – Zack paused for a bit and bit his lip awkwardly. – "Did it work?"
"Surprisingly, yes."
"Great! Come on, let's go back to work."
Vincent took the hand Zack offered and got up. Neither of them noticed the blond man walking away from the office and towards the boiling room.
Forensic Platform
Jeffersonian Institute
A picture of Mount and Eve was on the computer Zack and Vincent were using when Booth and Brennan walked up the stairs to the platform.
"How about this? Hall's got motive to kill Mount. Why? Because he's jumping labels, and he's running away with some girl who's stealing Hall's meth and money."
Bones put on white surgical gloves:
"I'm starting to see how this whole motive thing works."
"Thank you."
"It's still murky psychological guesswork though."
"Doctor Brennan, we found a mark on Eve Warren. Here, on the manubrium." – Noticing his lover's uneasiness with the jargon, Zack pointed to his chest.
"Compare it to the mark on Mount."
The British and the American squint shared a sarcastic look that said 'Gee, why didn't we think of that?'
"Ok, Eve tells Mount that she wants to start a new life, so she rips off the dope and the cash thinking she can build a new future with him.
"That's a story, Booth. You need to find something real."
Stories are real.
"But why? It feels real to me. I mean, Eve is a woman in love who is trying to escape a world that's just crushing her. All right, Mount finds out how much trouble the woman he's in love with is in so he gives up his own life to protect her."
All the while, Zack had gotten up and walked over to Booth. When he was inches away from his lover he completed the theory:
"Only his death turned out to be not enough. Whoever murdered him found a way to get to her. The crushing reality she had been running from cost her everything: her family, her love and ultimately, her life."
Zack was panting when he finished speaking; Booth just murmured 'That was so hot' and kissed his lover hard.
Vincent turned ruby but nonetheless cleared her throat and showed the others the images he'd pulled up.
"It is a match."
"Thanks, good job."
"What the hell's that, Zack?"
"I'm not sure, it's a bone dimple. But they both have it, so it is not genetic. Something external caused it, but I'm not sure what."
"Randall Hall, he's behind this. Randall Hall, ok? He killed these two people. We know it, he did it. We just can't touch him, and there's no evidence linking him to the drugs, the cash or either body except for a couple of damn bone dimples."
"We'll keep looking at the remains, maybe find the evidence we need, Seeley."
"I can't let it stand."
Brennan was mildly startled by her partner's rising voice tone:
"What?"
"You know what? I'm gonna spread the pain, all right? That's my new motto."