I don't own Bones, I know I have 206 in my body, but the Bones from Fox isn't mine.

A Clue

They went to her home to gather evidence, although they didn't think they would find any. Then they drove to her son's house to talk to the family.

They arrived at John Peacock's house early that evening. Booth called them earlier in the day, so they were expected. John answered the door, inviting them inside.

"Hello, I am Agent Booth and this is my partner Dr. Brennan. Are you Suzanne's family?"

"Yes, I'm her son John, and this is her daughter, Marie. Have you located our mother?"

"Yes, I'm sorry to tell you that she is dead."

Booth was getting very tired of saying that.

"What happened?"

"Someone found her body in the dining room of an abandoned house."

"Was she was the victim of the serial killer that has been on the news?"

"Yes."

"Is it true what they say?"

"What is that?"

"That the victims are difficult to identify, because of the abuse from the killer?"

"Not all the victims have been abused, to use your words, but we have identified your mother by a break to her humerus that she received when she was seven years old." Bones added. "We have no doubt as to the identity."

John sat down, "I was hoping, but you are correct, she was injured in a car accident when she was seven."

"Can we just ask some questions?"

"Sure, whatever you need."

"Did your mother live alone?"

"Yes, our father died, six months ago. She took it hard, and was very depressed."

"Was she on any medication?"

"Yes, I know she was taking sleeping pills, and something for depression, but I don't know about anything else. I can give you her doctor's name and phone number, so you can call him."

"Thank-you, that will be helpful."

They talked for a few more minutes, then left to go home.

.

.

As they were driving, Bones' phone rang.

"Dr. B., are you coming back to the lab?"

"Yes, Booth still has work to do. Why?"

"I may have found something."

"In the case?"

"Yes, there were some particulates on her clothing; I am running an analysis now. I'm not sure what it means, but I think it may be traces left behind by the area where she was killed."

"Hodgins, are you sure?"

"I'm sure that the particulates are aggregate which is used for road construction, but I'm not sure why they are on the victim, or what they are composed of."

"We'll be right there."

She turned to Booth, "Hodgins found something."

"What?"

"Aggregate from the road, he doesn't know what it means. He is running an analysis on it now."

"Finally, we may have a lead."

.

Booth followed Bones into the lab.

"Ok Hodgins, what you got for me?"

"Booth I am still waiting for the analysis, it may not be done until tomorrow.

"Well, how about you tell me what you do know, and I'll see if I can use it."

"Wow, you're testy today."

"I'm just tired of chasing this guy. This is the first trace on anything we have found."

"Yeah, I hear you man. Ok, Cam found traces of something embedded in her arm, and she told me to analyze it. When I looked at it under the microscope, I realized it was composed of carbon, hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, nitrogen, and trace amounts of iron, nickel, and vanadium. I knew that was the ingredients in asphalt, so I thought if I could run an analysis on it, maybe we could find out where she was killed. The mass spec is still running. Sometimes it takes a few hours."

"So this asphalt could tell us what driveway was near the house?"

"No this was from a road."

"Why was she in a road?"

"I'm the bug and slime guy, you need to figure that out. One thing I can tell you, it was somewhere in Virginia. That is the only area that has the type of slag I found."

"Slag? I thought you said asphalt."

"Slag is an ingredient in asphalt."

Booth walked away mumbling.

"Ok, now if she lived in Denton, Maryland, and the slag was from Virginia, then that would mean… oh Bones, I'll see you later ok?"

"Yes Booth, call me when you're ready to leave."

He left still mumbling.

When he got to the Hoover, he called the task force together.

"Ok, we know the last victim possibly died somewhere in Virginia, and we know she lives in Denton, Maryland. I need to know every way to get from point A to point B. We know he drives the victims over long distances, and that he may have a cabin or something in the woods. Find remote areas and a correlation between them and the Maryland address. Let's connect the dots, and see what you can give me on this. We're not leaving until I have some type of lead."

.

Two hours later, they still didn't have anything of significance. Booth looked at the clock, it was close to eight, and he knew Bones must have been getting tired. Many nights he had to wake her when he went to the lab to pick her up. He knew this wasn't good for the baby, but he didn't want her home alone. He wished she would go home with Angela, but she was so stubborn. He was getting ready to stop for the day, when his phone rang.

"Booth."

"Booth, this is Hodgins, I think she was near Front Royal at one point, there is a stretch of road there where they are trying a new experimental roadway. But Booth, there aren't any houses in that area. It is very secluded."

"Thanks Hodgins, we think he may have a cabin or something. Maybe it's off the road a ways. Will you do me a favor?"

"Sure Booth, what?"

"Get Bones to go home with you. I think I'm going to be very late tonight. I don't want her hanging around waiting for me."

"Ok, Booth, I'll try, but you know how stubborn she is."

Booth laughed.

"Don't I know it."

Booth got the task force back in and they compared notes. An hour later, Hodgins called, Bones went home with them, but Hodgins said she threatened that he had better come get her before he went home, or she would never do it again.

They worked for hours trying to find something in that area, but nothing came up.

"Agent Booth?"

"Yes, Agent Shaw."

"On route 55, there was a complaint about someone having a flat tire. It was in the general area. I'm not sure if it's important, but I thought maybe it could help."

"Let me see that."

He read the report; it was a simple call by a passing motorist that saw a man changing a tire. By the time, the police arrived to check it out; the car was gone. Booth knew this was it; he felt that niggling that he got at the back of his mind that told him this was important. He had that feeling before, sometimes as a sniper just before he took his shot, but recently when he was close to finding something.

He cleared a spot on the table, and then laid out all the information from the case. He sat and reread the files. The rest of the agents just watched. They knew not to disturb him. They all knew how good he was. He jumped up and yelled.

"I got it. I don't know how it will help, but I think I got something."

He opened the profile from Sweets.

"Ok, Sweets said the killer hit her in a rage. Maybe he had the flat tire, and while changing it she woke up, so he beat her into unconsciousness." He was pacing the floor.

"We have to go out there tomorrow. Shaw, I want you on the team. We will meet here at eight. Mitchell, contact the cop, and see if he can get us the exact coordinates of that call. Also, find out the name of the caller, I want to talk to him tomorrow. Ok, people, good job, let's go home and hope we catch this guy tomorrow, and remember not a word of this gets out. I don't need to scare him off when we may be close."

The agents slowly left the room. Booth looked at the clock, it was after midnight, and he wondered if he should get Bones, or leave her there. He turned off the lights, and slowly walked out to the parking lot, exhaustion written all over his face, but deep down, he had hope for the first time in weeks.

Please review. I know where I'm going with this, but I want some input on how it sounds.