Chapter 14

The Wilds of North Dakota, Tuesday at 4:30 pm

In the back of his mind Charlie knew he should have called the Deputy Director or Booth before charging toward Evan Smythe's cabin with Fargo's SWAT team. It would have been the smart thing to do. Now he lay on the ground, a bullet hole in his left leg. The pain was unbearable but the SWAT member looking over him was doing a good job of keeping the blood flow to a minimum. He could hear the sirens of an ambulance and knew help was on the way.

"Hang in there son. We'll get the bastard, don't you worry," the SWAT officer smiled.

"I didn't think he'd have so many weapons," Charlie admitted.

"He may have us pinned down behind our vehicles but he'll run out of ammo sooner or later. That or we'll use some tear gas," once again the officer smiled and Charlie thought it was strange that the man could be smiling so much considering the situation.

"How many SWAT calls do you guys get?" The FBI agent wanted to know.

"Not a lot but most of us are ex-military," there was the confirmation he needed.

"Now enough talking. We're going to have to carry you out of here. The last thing we need is our unfriendly suspect to go shooting the ambulance," the officer continued. Charlie opened his mouth to say something and the man giving him a stern look silenced him. Another SWAT member nearby helped lift Charlie up off the ground and they walked behind the vehicles which by now had no useable tires left. Once they were clear of the vehicles, the two ran as fast as they could to get out of range of the shooter. All the jostling made the pain increase and Charlie almost passed out. The paramedics opened the back doors of the ambulance and they quickly loaded the patient inside. Then the SWAT officers ran back toward the action while Charlie was left to wonder how he was going to explain all this to his boss.

The Jeffersonian Medico-Legal Lab, Tuesday at 5:00 pm

"Wow, you work here?" Sally looked to Dr. Brennan.

"Yes," the forensic anthropologist was confused by the woman's statement. Had Sally not been told that she worked there? Her partner just shook his head. He was sure Sally had never seen the inside of the Jeffersonian and he could relate his first experience similarly though he'd never tell Brennan that.

"We'd better go talk to Cam," Booth shifted the focus back to the case. They walked up to the platform and noticed it was empty.

"Better try Angela's office," he said.

"Yes, it would seem they are all in there," Brennan nodded as they headed over to the forensic artist's office. In doing so they passed autopsy. Booth walked by and then stopped. Did he see what he just thought he saw? Turning around, Brennan and Sally followed him.

"Booth what are you doing?" His partner asked.

"Watching Cam dissect a tree, I think," he responded as Brennan saw what he saw on the autopsy table.

"Do you guys do that a lot?" The Sharpsburg Forensic Expert raised an eyebrow. She got no response as the partners quickly entered the autopsy room.

"Care to explain what this is?" Booth wondered upon confronting Cam, Hodgins, and Simon.

"The bullet that killed Sam Butter is in this piece of tree trunk. Hodgins found it and I had to promise the Federal Parks Commissioner that we'd plant another one and promise to stay out of Antietam National Battlefield once the murder is solved. We lucked out the bullet didn't hit the tree that was five feet to the right of it or we wouldn't even be having this conversation," Cam didn't look happy.

"I take it that other tree was very special?" Booth asked.

"It is one hundred years old and was donated when one of the original trees from the Civil War era was struck by lightening. The Parks Commissioner made it very clear that that tree would not be moving as the person who donated it was a close friend of President Teddy Roosevelt," the Head of Forensics explained.

"And the tree you have on your autopsy table?" Brennan wanted to know.

"Lucky for us it was only forty years old. Another replacement tree but luckily not so famous," Cam smiled.

"Are we going to crack this baby open or what?" Hodgins asked. Everyone gave him a look.

"What?" He looked confused.

"Simon would you hand me the saw please?" The intern did as he was told and Cam began to slowly cut the piece of trunk until they were close enough to the bullet to use the tweezers.

"I have to admit the guy who used the chainsaw knew what he was doing. I didn't have to go very far," the coroner was pleased that she didn't have sap all over her autopsy room.

"The bullet is covered in hardened sap and pretty mangled but Ange may be able to get something off of it," Hodgins took the bullet from his boss and gave it a once over, looking for trapped particulates. With nothing there, he headed off to remove the substance. It would certainly not make Angela's job any easier.

"I believe Booth didn't formally introduce us," Cam looked over at the guest the partners had brought in.

"I'm Sally LeRoy. The only CSI in Sharpsburg," she introduced herself.

"What brings you to the Jeffersonian?" Cam smiled.

"I found some evidence that may implicate the Sheriff in the murder of Leon Fick," the CSI explained. Before Cam could say anything, Booth's phone rang and he excused himself. Once outside autopsy, he listened intently to what Deputy Director Cullen had to say. Brennan looked at him and she could see a look of worry cross his face. Whatever the news was, it wasn't good. Her thoughts were interrupted as Angela entered autopsy.

"I have a match for the bullet that was used to kill Sheriff Boyd," the forensic artist said.

"Good, what weapon does it belong to?" Cam asked.

"Leon Fick's," Angela handed over the report.

"So his gun was taken from evidence and used to kill the Sheriff. Who had access?" Simon piped into the conversation.

"The storage is kept in the basement of the library. The keys for the locked storage door are on a hook on the wall," Brennan shook her head.

"So the librarian at the time would have access and any police officers would also. Anyone else?" Cam asked.

"I know we have a small town and all but only people who work for the library and the police know where the key is and could gain access to the shared hallway. It's behind the librarian's desk," Sally said.

"But patrons would have to know it exists. Deputy Houser, Booth, and myself walked right behind the desk and over to the wall partition. The Deputy even asked Margot if he could take us back there. Anyone standing nearby would have heard us," the forensic anthropologist sighed.

"Point taken. Still only Leon Fick would want his gun back and his wife was a librarian at the time of the Sheriff's death," Sally told them.

"Marie Fick was a librarian?" Brennan looked at the CSI.

"Yeah. She retired not long before she died," Sally said.

"So Leon knew about the key and the storage, he got his gun back and killed Sheriff Boyd," Cam nodded before turning to Angela.

"Go see if Hodgins has cleaned up the bullet we recovered from the tree. We need to verify it was in fact Leon Fick's weapon that killed Sam Butter," the forensic artist nodded and headed out the door.

"I think Booth and I need to go talk to Margot. She may have some information about Marie Fick," Brennan said. It was then that Booth walked back into the room. The look on his face told his feelings.

"What's happened?" Brennan asked.

"Charlie has been shot. He is in the hospital up in Fargo," he told them.

"Is he going to be all right?" Cam wanted to know.

"He's in surgery right now. It seems he found Jay Moore. Right now Fargo's SWAT team is having a shooting match with him," Booth explained.

"What does Cullen want you to do?" His partner inquired.

"Stay with this case, which means heading back to Sharpsburg," he told them.

To Be Continued…