Chapter 9
Sharpsburg Police Station, Monday at 3:30 pm
The three had taken an unoccupied interrogation room to spread out all the paperwork they were sifting through for the past hour. Booth and Houser were deciphering Sheriff Boyd's notes and Brennan was looking at the murder case of the same man.
"Here's something," Houser spoke up and both partners turned their attention to him before he continued.
"Leon Fick called again today complaining about holes in his corn field. Says he caught Sam Butter and his father looking for Civil War relics. There has to be something else going on though because Sam and Greg know better and would never trespass. I'll make a trip to their house later today,"
"It seems even Sheriff Boyd thought something bigger was going on," Booth said.
"Here he explains some more a little further down the page," the Deputy informed them.
"It seems the Butters think that Fick killed their dog, Sandy, and they wanted to prove it. Sandy went missing a few days ago and it seems no one has seen her. I did have a report of gunfire near there the other day where nothing panned out. I thought it was a hunter out in the crops looking for quail. The Ficks and Butters have been neighbors a long time, never fought before until now," John filled in.
"So they were out there looking for Sandy's body to prove Leon Fick killed their dog. How many weapons does Mr. Fick own?" Booth wondered.
"A couple of hunting rifles and a nine mil. Why?" Houser asked.
"A nine millimeter round was used to kill Sam Butter and it always matches the coroner's description of the bullet hole and fragments found in Sheriff Boyd's head," Brennan said.
"And Sheriff Boyd was killed shortly after Sam Butter went missing," Booth was starting to put the pieces together.
"You think Leon killed Sam and then killed the Sheriff? What reason could he have to kill Mark Boyd?" Houser was unsure of the connection.
"Sheriff could have been onto him maybe. If he could prove that Fick purposely murdered Sandy and that Sam's disappearance was tied to it then when he started asking questions Fick lost it. He would have been the only one who knew Sam was dead but there's no way he could have known that until after the Sheriff was dead and no one found Sam's body," Booth explained.
"Point. I'll look into Fick's background before we go over there to talk to him," the Deputy nodded and quickly headed out of the room.
"So what to you think Bones?" Her partner wondered.
"I think it's a remarkable coincidence that Sam disappears and the Sheriff gets a bullet to the back of the head within a two week time frame. I also would like to know more about the Donaldsons. Seems to me they had the most motive for wanting Sheriff Boyd dead," the forensic anthropologist told him.
"He did kill their son. We'll have to see if either of them is around," Booth nodded.
"Why did Fick report the Butters the first time and then send that note to Sam?" Brennan wondered.
"Could be he did kill the dog. Fick hoped a warning from the Sheriff would be the end of it but it wasn't. Sam refused to let it go. He comes back to the supposed scene of the crime and Fick catches him. Although that would lead to Sam being shot on Fick's property not out at Antietam," he said.
"True but Sam's belongings were found at his apartment including his car. Hard to get to Fick's place without it," Brennan pointed out.
"So maybe Fick paid him a visit. He takes him out to his car at gunpoint and drives to Antietam. Still he would have had to use a silencer or something. Same if he shot the Sheriff," the gears in Booth's head began to turn. It was then that Houser came back into the room.
"I have everything we know on Leon Fick in this file," he said as he plopped the small file onto the table. They were about to start reading it when Brennan's phone rang. She excused herself and answered it.
"Brennan,"
"Hi sweetie, I have some information for you," it was Angela.
"Hi Angela. What exactly do you have?" Her friend asked.
"Well Simon discovered that Sam was in fact shot from the front. Something about the vertebrae not showing enough damage and that there would be no way to pull off breaking the sternum the way it was. Also Hodgins has still come up empty on fingerprints on the buckle," the forensic artist explained.
"All right well we hope to have some fingerprints to get you soon. As for the body that was delivered, Cam has finished the autopsy right?" Brennan wanted to know.
"I was just getting to that. Cam has confirmed that the man was killed by blunt force trauma. The pattern in the skull indicates the butt of a gun was used repeatedly. I'm still working to match the fragments to the thirty-eight that is still missing. As for the dirt that Cam found under the victim's fingernails, Hodgins discovered that the soil originated from North Dakota. Cam called Cullen up and Charlie is heading to Fargo. The picture I drew of the victim went out to both North Dakota and Minnesota news stations. Also Sam confirmed the shinbone was from Anna Smits," Angela filled in.
"Thanks Ange. Do you think you could take bullet fragments and piece them together on the Angelator?" The forensic anthropologist wondered.
"I could try but it will be difficult depending on the shape of the fragments," her friend replied.
"I'm going to send you some fragments and I want Hodgins and Simon out at Antietam looking for a bullet," Brennan said.
"You'll have to narrow it down hun, I'm sure there are plenty of bullets out there," Angela told her.
"Not nine millimeter ones. Thanks again," Brennan ended the conversation and turned to Booth.
"So lots of good information I hope," he smiled. She quickly recapped and Booth shook his head.
"Jay Moore is certainly keeping things interesting. He killed a man and then moved over state lines to bury him. He wants to make sure the FBI is involved,"
"Who is that?" Houser asked.
"Another case we're working on with the help of one of my fellow field agents. Now Leon Fick?" Booth shifted the focus back to the current investigation.
"Other than complaining about crop circles and the Butter's incident, he record is clean," the deputy explained.
"How tall is he?" It was an odd question from Brennan but he answered it nonetheless.
"At his prime he was six foot two,"
"Tall enough to make the shot. Does he have a silencer?" Booth wondered.
"You have to report that stuff but even if he didn't he could always use a plastic bottle or potato. We have those in plentiful supply," Houser said. Something struck Brennan and she went back to Sheriff Boyd's file.
"The coroner discovered starch in the Sheriff's wound but nothing was found at the scene to explain it," she told them.
"I think we just did. Our shooter used a potato to silence his weapon and picked up the pieces before leaving the scene. He couldn't get the pieces that were lodged in Sheriff Boyd's skull," Booth said.
"We didn't find starch with Sam Butter's body but it would have decomposed with the body by then," his partner explained.
"It'd still be in the gun if it wasn't cleaned properly," Houser caught onto their line of thinking.
"Its slim but we might be able to pull it off. I would like the Jeffersonian to examine the fragments discovered in Sheriff Boyd's body," Brennan said.
"I'll have to ok it with Sheriff Townshend first. Meantime I say we find out what Leon has been doing with his nine millimeter lately," the deputy nodded.
To Be Continued…