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"I find it very strange that a body was found in the Jeffersonian gardens." Brennan removed the spoon from her cup of coffee and took a sip. "Are we missing any employees?"

Pouring more sugar in to his coffee, Booth shook his head. "Not that I know of. I checked around and all department heads say they can account for all of their employees. I need to find out when cause of death was so I can check up on employees that quit or were fired. I need a timeline to keep the inquiries down. I'm really hoping it isn't anyone connected to the Jeffersonian."

The Royal Diner at full capacity for lunch, Booth lowered his voice. "Cam seems to think that the body has been there for about sixteen months give or take a month or two. They're still doing tests, but she said that Hodgins should be able to narrow it down by this afternoon."

"Sixteen months?" Placing her cup down, Brennan stared at the muddy brown drink in her cup. "I'll check with Hodgins this afternoon and find out exactly when the body was buried. Sixteen months . . ."

Curious, Booth watched her think and he knew that something was wrong. "What's significant about sixteen months?"

Shaking her head, Brennan picked up her fork. "I don't wish to speculate Booth. I'm probably wrong and I don't wish to say anything until I know one way or another."

Worried, Booth started to fret. "Come on Bones. Do you think you know who the victim is?"

"No, I don't." Glancing out of the window, Brennan continued to speak softly. "I don't have any idea who it is. I'm just curious about the victim's time of death."

Aware that once Brennan dug her heels in there was no moving her, Booth changed the topic. "Lester plans to drop by tonight to talk to me about my job offer."

Her gaze still on the sidewalk outside, Brennan didn't answer.

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After checking and the platform, Brennan walked over to Hodgins office to look for him. Stepping inside the entomologist's office, she found him sitting on a chair next to a table containing a tray filled with rags and a pair of damaged boots.

"Dr. Hodgins, I was wondering if you've discovered time of death for the victim found in the Rose Garden." Standing near the doorway, she watched the man turn to face her.

"I think I can narrow it down to between sixteen and seventeen months ago." Curious, Hodgins folded his arms across his chest. "I thought you weren't working for the FBI anymore. Are you going to help Clark on the case?"

Her gaze on rags and shoes, Brennan shook her head. "Probably not. I'm just curious about the time of death. I have a possible theory about the victim, but I need more information."

"Well, you might find this interesting." Holding up a badge case, Hodgins explained. "I found this in the victim's jacket pocket. It's an FBI badge. The picture and ID card has been removed so I don't know who it belongs to. I dusted for prints, but it was wiped clean inside and out. Cam says the tips of the fingertips of our victim are gone so no finger prints on the body. If this guy was a Federal Agent, we may get a hit when Angela does the facial reconstruction. What I think is really weird is, why steal the ID but leave the badge? If the badge belonged to the victim then all we have to find out is who the badge number was assigned to. I'm starting to think the badge is a weird message because nothing else makes any sense. Of course burying a body in the Rose Garden is pretty stupid too so what do I know?"

Reaching into Hodgins box of latex gloves, Brennan donned a pair and then picked up the badge. Studying it closely, Brennan felt a chill run down her spine. "Actually, I'm not surprised at all." Her attention rivited on the badge, Brennan licked her lower lip. "Booth is going to be very interested in this turn of events. It might even give him the final closure he says that victims often need to move on."

Surprised and confused, Hodgins watched as she placed the badge back down, removed the gloves and enter the hallway. "Okay that was kinda of weird."

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Spying Cam on the platform, Brennan climbed the stairs briskly, swiping her card as she passed the reader. Moving across the platform, Brennan stopped next to the steel table holding the Rose Garden victim. "Dr. Saroyan, I would like to help with this case, if you don't mind."

Clark standing at the head of the table examining the skull, looked up. "Why?"

Turning to look at him, Brennan explained the situation. "Dr. Hodgins has determined that the victim died between sixteen and seventeen months ago. He says that he found an FBI badge in the jacket pocket of the victim, but no ID. I think we should check with the FBI and see if any of their agents were reported missing sixteen months ago. I think the badge is a message to us. Like Booth, I don't believe in coincidence in a murder investigation."

Not sure he was following her, Clark glanced at Cam then back at Brennan. "What's significant about sixteen months ago?"

Brennan walked closer to the table, placed her hands behind her back and leaned over the rotten corpse. Studying the chest area, she finally answered. "Booth was kidnapped by the Gravedigger sixteen months ago. I never believed that Heather Taffet was strong enough to carry Booth from his apartment down the fire escape and then out to that derelict ship, but we never found any evidence that she had an accomplice. Add to that, it just wasn't possible for her to have had the strength to carry an unconscious man as large as Booth down to the hold of the ship and stuff him into the min-sub that was down there. It was more logical to assume she had help to perpetrate her crimes. Booth always thought there was an accomplice, but we were unable to provide him with any clues to allow him to look for one. When Doug Clary was arrested for the attempted murder of Booth, then the kidnappings seemed to make more sense. Doug Clary admitted that he helped with Booth's kidnapping, but what we should consider is that even with Doug Clary's help, Taffet would have still been too small to help move Booth. It makes more sense if we consider that she had at least two accomplices."

"Wait," Cam shook her head. "Doug Clary is in jail right now for the attempted murder of Booth and a couple of other murders. He's never said anything about there being another accomplice. When he gave his statement, he intimated that he and Taffet were responsible for all of the kidnappings."

Slowly shaking her head, Brennan pointed out the obvious. "I would imagine he doesn't want to implicate himself in another murder."

"So you're saying that she had more than one accomplice and that she or Doug Clary killed him and buried him in the Rose Garden?" Puzzled at the twists in the explanation, Cam tried to see the connections. "Why would they do that? Why would you even think that? What's the connection?"

Continuing her study of the corpse, Brennan grabbed a pair of latex gloves and placed them on her hands. "I think my reasoning is pretty sound as to why I think that she had more than one partner in crime. As I previously said Heather Taffet is a small woman so she is unable to carry someone as large as Booth. Second, when the FBI tried to tie her to the purchases of the artifacts that were used to bury her kidnap victims, they couldn't. That probably means that the equipment was purchased by someone else. Although those things were paid for with cash, there would still have been records showing the purchases. I believe that when we identified Heather Taffet as the the Gravedigger and we went back to see of we could find where she had bought the artifacts we limited our search when we shouldn't have. Once we identified Doug Clary, a search was done again and none of the purchased artifacts were tied to him either. It's possible that this man was her other accomplice and after we identify who he is and we do the search again I think we will be able to tie him to the purchases."

Still confused, Cam shook her head. "I still don't see why you're connecting this victim to Heather Taffet in the first place."

Turning to face Cam, Brennan crossed her arms. "When Heather Taffet kidnapped Booth, she never intended to have him found alive. She wanted him dead because she knew that his success rate at the FBI was phenomenal and her case was assigned to him after the bodies of Matthew and Ryan Kent were found in the beer vat. Because I was his partner, she kidnapped me to try to handicap Booth. The fact that I was found alive probably worried her even more. She and her partners continued to kidnap people for ransom, but she must have worried that her case file was still open. Since she was attached to the Justice Department she was able to find out about the piece of toll pass that was lodged in Hodgins' wound when she ran him down with her van. She needed that evidence and the only way she could get it was to kidnap Booth and force us into a trade. She knew that we would want to save Booth and give her what she wanted. What we didn't realize until it was almost too late was that she wanted us off of her case permanently."

"Oh, so she meant for Booth to die on the ship and that's why she set up that explosive at the drop off point." Feeling a shiver run down her spine, Cam exhaled deeply. "She meant to get rid of the evidence, murder you and Hodgins and when we ran out of time, Booth would have died too."

Letting her arms drop, Brennan smiled rather grimly. "Yes. She was cleaning up her house so she also decided to get rid of one of her accomplices at the same time. I'm not sure why, but Booth always suspected that she had help and that the person or persons helping her were in law enforcement, but once Taffet was arrested, he never seemed to find enough free time to investigate it as thoroughly as he would have liked. Then he had the brain tumor and I don't think it crossed his mind at all after that. You remember that for several months his memory was faulty and his priorities seemed to be altered."

After removing her latex gloves, Cam sat down on the chair near the railing. "Alright, that all seems possible. Now explain why you suspect our victim was an accomplice and why she'd bury him in the Rose Garden. What makes you think this man is connected to Heather Taffet? I still don't see the connection."

"It's rather simple, really." Glancing at the victim and then back at Cam, Brennan explained. "The badge that Hodgins found in this man's clothes belonged to Booth. The number on the badge is Booth's."

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