Chapter 3

Coroner's Office, Sunday at 9:30 pm, Mountain Time

Booth had received a call from Dr. Riley and they entered the coroner's office shortly after sundown. The FBI field office had narrowed their search but there were still a lot of cases to sift through. The background checks on the boys who had been arrested would be along any moment.

"Dr. Riley, what have you got?" Booth asked.

"Well it seems like a male, approximate height of six foot two, and I can say with definite certainty this was a case of murder," the coroner told them.

"Why is that?" Brennan was intrigued.

"There is a bullet hole in the back of the skull, I'd say a nine millimeter," Dr. Riley picked up the head and showed it to the forensic anthropologist.

"So our victim was killed execution style out in the desert. Do you still stand by your estimate of three years?" Booth wondered.

"I do," Riley nodded as he watched Dr. Brennan look at the skeleton.

"Bones?" Her partner had seen that look before. She'd found something that could be important.

"I concur with the timeframe but these fractures near the kneecaps are interesting as well as the fact that the victim is missing his patellae. It looks as though our killer or killers hit the knees with some sort of pipe or bat. I'll have to have Simon analyze these further," she replied.

"The patellae are small bones, it's possible they were carried away when the body was chewed upon. As you can see, there is evidence of coyote bite marks on the femur and ribs," Riley said.

"Yes it is quite possible. However, these are the only bones missing. Animal predation is not a selective process. They eat the meat or they carry some of it back to feed others. I think that once Simon closely examines the breaks and markings near the kneecap, he'll find that the patellae were removed by the use of a tool," Brennan told them. Booth was off in thought and Riley came over to see what she was talking about.

"Is it possible the body had been reburied?" The G-man asked suddenly.

"Yes, its quite possible. It would explain the lack of interest by the animals but it wouldn't explain the bite marks," Brennan pointed out. Booth just nodded and a thoughtful look returned to his face.

"The evidence seems to be pointing in two different directions," Riley was trying to make sense of it all.

"How old would you say that cactus was?" Brennan suddenly asked.

"I'm no expert on cacti but the giant saguaro cactus is a very slow grower. It couldn't have been more than a couple years old. The first one that had been exploded was much older," the coroner said.

"I need samples of both to be sent to the Jeffersonian. A coworker of mine might be able to narrow things down," Brennan instructed.

"All right. I'll have everything shipped out tonight and the Jeffersonian should have everything by tomorrow afternoon," Riley nodded and immediately got to work boxing up the evidence. The partners thanked him and headed back to their hotel to review some of the files they picked up. Booth called the Phoenix office and told them to get narrow the search of missing persons to the description Riley had given them.

"You seemed very off in thought earlier. What's on your mind?" Brennan asked him as he fired up the rented SUV.

"Nothing you'd like. Jumping to conclusions mostly," he teased.

"It's ok for you to do it. I want facts before I give information," she told him.

"All right. Then I'm thinking this was a Mob hit," Booth said.

"Is this because the victim was "kneecapped"," her use of air quotes made him chuckle.

"Something like that Bones. I'm thinking that those two kids that the Sheriff has in custody have nothing to do with the murder and that they're being used as scapegoats," the FBI agent shook his head as they pulled up to a red light near their hotel.

"So the Sheriff has a part in this?" Brennan asked, slightly confused.

"Maybe or maybe he knows someone who is connected to all this. You heard the deputy. Bosch is six months from retirement. I'm sure he doesn't want anything interfering with his pension," Booth pointed out.

"Ah, I see," she nodded as the SUV turned into the parking lot of the hotel.

To Be Continued…

I know this was short; more next week with a longer chapter, I promise. :)