(The Pinocchio in the Planter)
I don't own Bones.
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Hodgins had taken the bang stick completely apart and tested every piece for blood and anything else that might point to someone being murdered with it. Once he was done, he ran several tests on what he found and knew that he could prove that Pelant had murdered at least three people with it.
"Dr. B, I can prove that Christopher Pelant was a murderer . . . too bad he wasn't on our radar before he died." Hodgins leaned against the doorframe to Brennan's office and sighed. "Who knows how many more people he would have killed before we realized what he was doing."
Turning to face her friend, Brennan nodded her head. "Booth told me about what he had found in Pelant's house and it appears Pelant was quite dangerous . . . His interest in the cases that we've solved in the past and the Gravedigger makes me believe he wasn't done with his campaign of terror . . . Booth doesn't think Pelant and Taffet were working together, but his obsession with the Gravedigger is worrisome."
"I agree with Booth." Moving further into the room, Hodgins sat down on the chair in front of her desk. Holding up a notebook, he felt that they were on the right track. "Pelant probably tried to clean the bang stick after he used it, but he wasn't thorough. After doing several DNA tests on what I found on the parts of the bang stick, I found DNA from Tina Bishop, Justin Landry and Boyd Miller, so those cases can be officially closed. Cam is going to contact the detectives in charge of those murder investigations and she plans to send them copies of what we have as soon she can . . . With what Angela came up with . . . pictures of Pelant at airports, car rental receipts in the names of the aliases he was using, hotel receipts, some pictures of him picking up his rental cars . . . she can prove that he was in the area when the murders occurred . . . I think that should settle those cases. We can also let the detectives in charge of the investigations into the murder of Barry Goldshine, Karen Lobb and Kathy Li know what we have and why we suspect Pelant of those murders. I think that if the detectives look further into Pelant's movements, they can probably connect him to their deaths too. Add to that the fact that they died from what was probably a bang stick and since that was Pelant's MO . . ." Hodgins shook his head. "He was a horrible human being and I'm not sad he was murdered."
"It is good that those murders have been solved, but we need to know why Pelant was obsessed with Taffet and Brodsky and me of course." Brennan shook her head. "When are you going to check out the areas on the pieces of map that were found in Pelant's house? Booth thinks you're right and you may find bodies in those spots . . . If they are burial sites, then it's puzzling how Pelant pinpointed those areas when no one else could . . . Booth still thinks that Pelant was not working with the Gravedigger, but something triggered his interest in her."
Hodgins rubbed his chin. "Well, he seemed to become interested in Taffet after your kidnapping and rescue were reported in the news . . . I think that's when he became obsessed with you. You're a famous author and forensic anthropologist and you and Booth are the best when it comes to solving cold cases. Angela and I think he might have been worried about that and Cam agrees with us . . . He was killing people and he might have been worried that you might have been assigned to one of his cases eventually."
"And that makes sense, but I would like to know why Pelant was interested in Brodsky. It's possible it was because Brodsky killed the Gravedigger, but why should he care?" Brennan leaned on her desk. "Did Brodsky find out about Pelant's interest and if he did then how did he find out? Why would Brodsky care that Pelant was interested in him? Brodsky may have killed Pelant, but why did he do that? We're missing something of that I am certain." Brennan glanced at the doorway then back at her friend. "Brodsky is a paid assassin and he is the one who contacts his clients and makes the offer to kill for a price . . . I have seen no evidence that Brodsky takes commissions from anyone that cold calls him . . . He is careful how he does business."
"Yeah . . . Angela is looking through Pelant's paperwork and she did find out that he had a safety deposit box at Capitol One Bank in Gaithersburg . . . She's sent Booth an email and she's hoping he can get a warrant so we can see what Pelant was keeping in the box."
That sounded like a positive turn of events and Brennan hoped it gave them more clues about what Pelant was up to. "Excellent."
"Yeah and Angela is still trying to find out where Pelant's computer is . . . he had to have one to do what he did." Angry, Hodgins shook his head. "That monitoring company that was supposed to keep track of Pelant is in deep deep trouble. Pelant traveled around the country and no one knew it until after he was killed."
"Yes they are in trouble." Brennan smiled. "Booth says that Caroline is furious and she is going to go after that company and hopes to put them out of business."
Standing, Hodgins placed his notebook in his back pants pocket. "Good, the sorry bastards got paid to do a job and they didn't do it. At least seven people were murdered and by a man that should have been unable to leave his house . . . he should have been in prison."
Once she was alone, Brennan stared at the open doorway for a few seconds, shook her head and returned her attention back to her PC.
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After picking Brennan up at the Jeffersonian, Booth drove to Gaithersburg, Maryland. "It wasn't hard to get the warrant for Pelant's safety deposit box. Once Judge Longino saw the evidence we have against Pelant she signed the papers. I hope the box actually has something in it that we can use."
"Angela is still trying to pin down where Pelant's computer is." Brennan observed a deer feeding on the side of the road as they passed it. "Pelant made plane reservations online as well as car rentals and hotel reservations. He didn't have a working computer in his home, so it had to be somewhere close to where he lived."
Chuckling, Booth glanced at Brennan then back at the road. "Caroline has already confronted the CEO of the company monitoring Pelant and she's informed him that she's going to press charges. The CEO could get a fine and a short prison term for negligence since his company allowed crimes to be committed by that negligence. Caroline said John Cameron is threatening to sue the DOJ for slander and some other stuff. That's a mistake and Cameron is about to find that out. Caroline is going to get Cameron's company barred from doing any more business with the DOJ and she has informed the Attorney general of Virginia and Maryland about the gross negligence. She said they're going to sever their contract with Cameron's company . . . Caroline isn't someone to mess with and Cameron is going to find that out the hard way."
"Perhaps other monitoring companies will notice what happened and tighten up their security features." Brennan was disgusted with the whole situation. "Pelant murdered at least seven people. He moved freely around the country and no one stopped him until he himself was murdered . . . it is quite disheartening."
"Yeah, it is, but at least he's not a problem anymore."
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The contents of the safety deposit box was more than Booth had hoped for. Once the box was open, they found a deed for a house located in Silver Spring, Maryland. "Silver Spring is about 25 minutes from D.C. I'm going to have to get a warrant and check that house out."
They also found a bank book for Chase Bank in Silver Spring. There was some paperwork that showed automatic payments from that checking account for utilities at the house as well as for yard service. "He had over $250,308 in this checking account . . . I think Pelant wanted the house to be kept up so the neighbors wouldn't complain to the city."
Brennan picked up a savings book with Citi bank in Silver Spring and the total sum was quite impressive. "He didn't seem to want to keep all of his ovum in one woven container."
Puzzled, Booth stared at his partner for a moment then smiled. "Yeah, eggs in a basket . . . The guy didn't trust the government and I guess he didn't trust banks either." He picked up another savings book from Truist Bank in Alexandria, Virginia. "This account has $150,314 dollars in it. The man wasn't broke and that's a fact."
"His Citi bank account has over $400,000 in it . . . Angela says Pelant was a hacker . . . It's possible this money is ill gotten gains." Brennan shook her head. "Each bank account is listed under an alias . . . He really didn't want anyone to know who he was and that he had access to a lot of money."
Flipping through other paperwork in the box, Booth knew that he'd have to get a forensic accountant to look at everything for him. Near the bottom of the box, he found a map with little circles on them and names next to the circles. "I need to find out what this map means and who these people are." Finally, at the bottom of the box, Booth found a notebook. Opening it, he read the first page and shook his head. "This is kind of a diary. I'm going to have to read it and see what's in it . . . I hope it's not some insane anti-American bullshit. The man was a terrorist and he endangered our military personnel overseas . . . He should have been in prison, not under house arrest."
"I don't know how often he wrote in the book, but he obviously could write in it whenever he wanted to since his house arrest was a joke." Brennan placed the savings book on the pile of paperwork Booth had in front of him. "It's possible that the computer we're looking for is in the house in Silver Spring."
"You're probably right." Booth checked his watch. "Let's eat lunch then we'll go over to the Montgomery County District Courthouse and get a warrant to search Pelant's house. If we find anything good, we can call in the FBI techs and your squints."
Brennan was satisfied that their investigation was moving forward. "That sounds like a good plan."
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