Hey everyone! I'm sorry about the delay in posting. My computer was having issues and it had to be completely revamped. Thank goodness for portable hard drives!
Thanks again for the reviews, I always appreciate feedback! A special thanks to Jasperthepig who found some grammatical issues for me to correct. Here's chapter 6!
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Once they found directions to the observatory ("Of course the rich guy has one," Booth thought), they headed off quickly down the halls towards the south wing of the house.
"How many rooms does one guy need," Booth asked after they had been winding through the mansion for at least five minutes.
"The house was in his family for years," Bones absently answered, observing the tapestries hanging throughout the current hallway they sped through.
"But a private observatory, I mean come on," he scoffed then continued, "Oh and wings. Why does a house need wings anyways? I have two bedrooms, a bathroom and a living room and I'm just fine."
"You also live above a liquor store," his partner pointed out.
"Well, yea, but," he tried, argument dying on his lips as Brennan stopped suddenly with a huff of aggravation. She bent down and fumbled by her feet, finally throwing the silver stilettos by an end table to the right. She sighed with relief and Booth just looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, I can't very well run after a murderer in those things," she said simply and then continued down the hallway. Booth chuckled to himself and followed the woman strutting ahead.
They continued walking for a few more minutes before Booth gripped Bones' wrist to stop her. He motioned for her to stand behind him and be quiet before they proceeded. His only answer was a look of disbelief and arms crossed in irritation. After a short staring contest she heaved an annoyed sigh and let him pass in front of her. They crept close to the wall in silence, listening for any hint of the murderer in the hallways preceding the Observatory.
"Booth," Bones whispered, repeating his name when he failed to acknowledge her.
"What, Bones?" He hissed, not taking his eyes off of the door to their destination fifty feet in front of him.
"I think I figured out how he decapitated Sanders," she whispered back.
"How?" he asked, still concentrating on the entrance now forty feet ahead. His head whipped around though, when Bones' only reply was a squeak of surprise before he heard a door slam shut and lock. Every curse word he learned in the Rangers rapidly flowed through his head.
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Brennan paused a moment, letting her eyes adjust to the dim lighting in the room. She spotted a figure across the empty space, silently regarding her.
"Amitri," she finally said, realization dawning.
"I only have a minute and a half or so before your partner breaks down the door," he said, crossing the room earnestly. He stopped just out of Brennan's range as he watched her become more on guard.
"What do you want?" she asked, her eyes following every nervous movement of the man now pacing in front of her.
"Look," he said, finally turning to face her, "I'm not going to hurt you, I came to warn you. You're playing a dangerous game. This man you are going against, he's, well, he's crazy. I met him once when I was in prison before." Amitri trailed off, observing the door that shook violently as it took the brunt of the weight from the Agent trying to slam his way through it.
"I don't have time," he said, speeding up his voice, his actions becoming more agitated again, "but just know that this won't end well, for anyone, unless you can solve this murder before his big finale. Good luck Doctor Brennan, I sincerely hope to see you again."
Bones turned to the sound of splintering wood as her partner came barreling through the doorway, his eyes scanning wildly for the threat to his partner's well being.
"What happened? Where'd he go?" Booth asked with his fists raised for a fight.
"It was Amitri, and he's gone," she replied, still staring at the spot where she had last seen the con man they had captured two months prior for a job gone bad. Booth scanned the room again, but after not seeing anyone else, dropped his arms back to his side with a somewhat disappointed look.
The pair left the room, continuing to the observatory. The space was considerably cooler than the halls of the manor and a quick glance up confirmed the reason. The roof had been opened up to reveal an unhindered view of the night sky. While Bones rambled on about the hydraulics, sound system and the two powerful telescopes that occupied the room, Booth was content craning his neck upward at the view. The night was clear except for a few clouds drifting across the full autumn moon. Once the wind had ferried the clouds away, the light from the distant planet shone down upon the room, bathing everything in a silvery glow.
Booth finally dropped his head when his partner's hand came to rest on his forearm, grasping it to draw his attention to the base of the second telescope. He deflated slightly as he recognized the forms of two bodies in the darkened corner. The pair made their way silently to where the corpses rested. A woman and man, empty eyes observing the heavens with hands laced together as they lay on the floor. Booth felt his partner's hand slip into his as they shared a look of defeat. A glint from the moon's delicate glow revealed a little foil star, the next gruesome couplet imprinted on its silver surface.
Two people for the price of one,
This game just starts to get more fun.
Their romance was grand, their eyes just 'met'
But this ending reeks of Juliet.
Go back to the Beginning but don't pass go.
I hope you've catalogued what you know.
If you haven't figured it out by now, I really don't know when
Just remember you're up to B-R-E-N and N
"Any ideas?" Booth finally asked, the silence starting to wear on him. Bones let her hand slip from his as she leaned down to examine the couple.
"Blunt force trauma to the back of the female's head. Same to the forehead of the male victim." She revealed, "I believe they were about to engage in a sexual encounter when they were ambushed by our killer."
"So what does them getting it on do to help us?" he asked, looking down at the star once again.
Brennan furrowed her brow at his expression, "Well, it means that this murder was likely not as methodical as the others. This seems more of a crime of opportunity than a preconceived felony," she replied, gently searching the rest of the two bodies for injuries.
"But if the psycho didn't plan this murder, how the hell were they able to make a clue for us to follow here as well the one we discovered?"
Brennan touched the woman's skin gently, "They are cool to the touch, though that could be the open environment as well, but they must have been dead before the ballroom victims. Without proper equipment though, I can't correctly identify time of death."
"That's okay Bones, you keep working, I'll try to figure this one out," he said motioning with the star. The pair worked in a heavy silence, the weight of urgency pressing down upon them.
"Identities: Kelly Jenson and Mark Greenburg," Bones broke the silence as she handed Booth the ID's she had found on the victims.
"Anything else?" he asked, face contorted in concentration.
"Not that I can get at this stage," she replied, standing up next to him. She peeked over his shoulder at the clue, trying to ascertain the cryptic meaning.
"Does beginning refer to the ballroom, or the room with Ms. Delacue's body?" Bones asked quietly.
"I don't know," Booth ground out in frustration, desperately thinking back over the night.
"What about 'Juliet'?" she started again, "Is that a clue or just a proper noun?" Booth answered the same way as before, becoming angrier at the sick game they were currently caught in.
"Let's go to the study, find out what we can from there," Booth suggested after a calming breath.
Brennan agreed and they wound their way back through the mansion, hurrying to try to prevent what now seemed inevitable. Inevitabilities aside, neither was quite prepared as they stepped into the study's doorway.
"David," Brennan called out weakly, her eyes revealing her shock before she rushed into the room.
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What's happened to our host for the night? Murderer or simple victim? Let me know what you think! I'll update ASAP!
