II
"Look, the skull has some kind of deft on the forehead" Wendell said. Dr. Brennan looked at the screen. There was a hole near the eyes.
"This may be the cause of dead. Try to identify the weapon" she said.
"Hey, Bones!"
Dr. Brennan turned around. It was Booth. He looked kind of nervous.
"Look, we're considering this as a double murder, so it's a serial killer" explained Booth.
"I haven't decided that yet: We don't know if both murders were committed by the same person."
"Yeah, well, you don't decide it today"
"Why not?" asked Brennan, visibly upset.
"Because the skeletons were meant for you," said Booth. Brennan looked at him. Deep down inside her, she knew Booth was right.
"And, the Bureau has taken some measures in this case," continued Booth. "So, a special team is going to help us finding the killer."
"Everybody! Pay attention!" someone said. Booth and Brennan turned around. Caroline was standing there and she had brought some company.
"Ok, everybody, this is agent Hotchner, from the FBI in Quantico. His work is to find the killer and you guys are going to help him," Caroline explained. Everyone looked surprised. Agent Hotchner's team looked determined.
"I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth. This are my people," Booth shaking Hotch's hand.
"Ok Agent Booth, we're going to need some space for working" said Hotch, introducing each and every member of his team.
"I was wondering where you wanted to work. Here or in the FBI building." Asked Booth.
"Since we are here, I'd prefer to work here," Hotch replied, looking around the lab.
"This is Dr. Temperance Brennan, my partner and the one who received the packages," introduced Booth.
"Wow, who are this people?" asked Hodgins.
"They are some special team of the FBI from Quantico," replied Wendell.
"What are they doing here?"
"They are going to help us with the case."
"They seem very rude." Hodgins said.
"Yeah, I wouldn't doubt it," Wendell replied.
"Dr. Hodgins, do you got anything from the paper?" Brennan asked.
"No, nothing, just Booth's fingerprints. It's quite a normal type of paper."
"Nothing on the hands and legs. The flesh was completely removed. It was very clean," said Cam approaching.
"There seem to be some stab wounds in the ribcage," said Brennan.
"There are also several broken bones," said Wendell.
"This guy is trying to confuse us with the cause of dead," said Cam.
"Ok, Dr. Hodgins, take some bones to see if you can determinate with which chemical were cleaned. Dr. Bray, find the murder weapon," ordered Brennan.
"I'll see if I can find with what the flesh was removed," added Cam. "Come on people, we have work to do."
Everyone nodded. Hodgins and Cam left. Wendell continued squinting the bones and Dr. Brennan moved to the other skeleton. That one was fresh or it wasn't cleaned well enough. She looked at the skull, and no trauma seemed to happen. She moved down to the neck and ribcage. There were three ribs broken. She noticed that the knees were also broken.
"Dr. Bray, did you notice any missing bones in the second skeleton?" she asked.
"I don't think so," Wendell replied after thinking it for a while.
"Well, come and look at this," Brennan challenged.
"What am I supposed to be searching? He asked.
"For what's missing," she said. Wendell looked at her and then to the skeleton. He tried to think about something that was missing, but he couldn't. He found the skeleton complete. Maybe, it was so obvious that he might miss it. Or, it was too small to be noticed.
"I don't know what's missing, Dr. Brennan." He gave up.
"Where's the pinkie toe?" she asked.
"Well, it's right…" Wendell couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing. Not only one pinkie toe was missing, but both of them. He looked at the first skeleton. He stared at the feet. Both pinkie toes were missing.
"What does it means?" Wendell asked feeling sort of overwhelmed.
"Means that the killer didn't just kill this people and cleaned their skeletons, he also tortured them." Dr. Brennan sentenced.