(Pinocchio in the Planter)

I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooo

Following Hodgins around the small meadow while the entomologist pushed a ground penetrating machine across the ground, Holtz felt that Hodgins was being too optimistic. "I mean how did he know there's a body here? As far as I know, he didn't work for Taffet and he didn't have any contact with her either, but he has these maps that may point to where some of her victims were buried. This is crazy."

"Yeah, I don't know. Angela is still looking at Pelant's computers, but he had those pieces of map on the wall and they were with his collection of news clippings about the Gravedigger. The names on the maps are of people who were reported as missing and never located. People that Taffet supposedly kidnapped . . . Somehow and I don't know how, Pelant found out where Taffet buried some of her victims . . . This is important. We might be able to give a family closure . . . it's worth a little sweat for that." Spying what he was looking for, Hodgins stopped and motioned for Holtz to come closer. "Look at the monitor."

Shocked, Holtz stared at the body below their feet. "I'll be damned."

"Yeah, either this is one of Pelant's victims and that's how he knew where the body was or it was one of Taffet's victims and I sure would like to know how he knew where it was." Hodgins felt frustrated. He felt like he'd picked up a book and started reading it in the middle of the story. Moving the machine away from the ground covering the body, Hodgins motioned towards two Jeffersonian techs he had brought with him. "Mark this area with flags and string that way we have a spot to concentrate on. I'm going to call Dr. B to let her know what we found. She'll probably want to be here to supervise the excavation of the body, you know she hates for anyone to contaminate a crime scene and this is definitely a crime scene."

While Hodgins made his call, Holtz called Booth. "Booth . . . Hodgins found a body using one of the maps we found in Pelant's house. He's letting Dr. Brennan know right now."

Got it. I'll call her and tell her I'm coming up there with her . . . Damn, I wish I knew what's going on. This is either Pelant's doing or the Gravedigger's.

"Yeah, Hodgins said the same thing." The call ended, Holtz waited for Hodgins to end his call. "Booth is going to come up here too. He's going to let Dr. Brennan know before she leaves the Jeffersonian. I hope Angela can find out what Pelant was up to on his computers, because so far, none of this makes sense."

"Not to us anyway. Who knows what that little psycho was up to." Hodgins wheeled the machine over to the van and with the help of one of the techs, put the machine inside. "I guess we'll just wait here for Dr. B. . . . Okay, Clyde, you can take pictures of the meadow and the grave site while we wait. Once Dr. B shows up, we'll drive over to the next site and see if the map I have means another body. Tommy, you can stay here and help Dr. B and whoever she decides to bring with her."

Saluting Hodgins, Tommy smiled. "Got it."

Ooooooooooooo

On the way to the meadow where Hodgins was waiting for them, Booth drove carefully around a tractor trailer traveling well below the speed limit, black smoke streaming from the engine compartment.

"Angela told me she finally got past the firewalls on Pelant's computers and she plans to inspect every file and document he has on those two computers." Brennan felt that her friend was a genius when it came to computers even if Angela's IQ was just above average.

"Good, I'm glad to hear that." Booth was hoping for a lot of answers to a lot of questions he had about the dead hacktivist. "Pelant was a serial killer, a domestic terrorist and who knows what else . . . whoever killed him should have turned Pelant in to the FBI or Homeland Security. I hate vigilantism but it's done and a serial killer is dead."

Not sure what she was going to discover at the gravesite, Brennan sighed. "I'm not sure if we're investigating a crime committed by the Gravedigger or Pelant, but I will find out who the victim is and that will probably tell us who the murderer is."

"So, Bones . . . We've been pretty busy since we started this case and with the other one, but I was hoping to take a little break this weekend and I was hoping you'd like to go to Virginia Beach with me. It's too cold to swim in the ocean, but I thought we could take walks on the beach and just relax . . . you and me." Booth waited and her answer surprised him when she responded.

"I can't Booth. The Pentagon is sending me a body that was found in South Korea and that may be a missing American serviceman. They want me to identify his body." Brennan hated to disappoint her partner, but she did have contractual obligations that had to be honored. "Perhaps we could do that the next weekend."

Trying to hide his disappointment, Booth nodded his head. "Sure, that's fine." Since he was probably going to be on his own the entire weekend, he thought about what he could do with his time. "Maybe I'll go visit Pops. I need to check on him anyway."

"You're disappointed." Brennan placed her hand on his thigh.

Shaking his head, Booth glanced at Brennan then turned his attention back to the road. "Not really . . . well, maybe a little bit, but I do understand, Bones. You do what you need to do. I can visit Pops, so I won't be alone . . . we're good."

Since she couldn't deny the Pentagon her services, Brennan knew that Booth would accept it. "Those members of the Honesty Policy weren't really honest after all . . . I found that very disappointing. Ross Dixon was killed because he refused to help a lawyer lie about a car injury case and that lawyer . . . even though he professed to be a member of the Honesty Policy, chose to murder Dixon to continue his lawsuit even though it was based upon lies."

"Burt Iverson was looking for a big payout from the insurance company and that meant he needed Ross Dixon to lie about Dorothy's car accident. Since it was possible that Dixon was going to tell the insurance companies the truth, Burt killed him . . . People lie Bones. It's human nature." Booth shook his head. "It's better to tell the truth, because the truth is easier to remember, but some people lie to gain wealth or power or both. Others lie to protect someone or to just prevent arguments or fights . . . I know you hate lying, but it's what humans do and you just have to figure out if the lies being told to you are harmful to you or someone you love. If they're not harmful then just forget about it. That's what I do . . . well, unless I'm working on a case."

"Well, I prefer to be told the truth . . . but I do understand that people lie . . . I've seen it often enough while doing my job." Brennan turned her head and looked at the scenery passing by. "In the future, I would prefer you always be honest with me. Even if you think it will hurt my feelings or cause an argument . . . I hate to be lied to."

Since there was no way he could do what she was asking him to do, Booth lied. "Sure, you can always count on me, Bones."

"Good."

Silently sitting in the back seat of the truck, Wendell listened to Booth and Brennan and knew that Booth was lying to his mentor. He also knew it wasn't any of his business and he wouldn't get involved. He agreed with Booth that total honesty could cause a lot of harm when misused. He also knew that telling Brennan that Booth was lying to her would cause him great harm and he wasn't stupid enough to let that happen.

Ooooooooooooooo

After they arrived at the crime scene, Hodgins walked over to where Booth was standing. "Tommy and I are going to drive over to Seneca Creek near the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Why a body is buried there is beyond me, but that's where the map says Chester White might be buried."

Waving at Holtz, Booth called out to the agent. "Go with Hodgins and Tommy to the other site. I don't know what to expect, but they should have some backup. I'll stay here until this body is uncovered. If you find anything call Marcus so he can arrange for some FBI techs to process the site and you can call Cam just in case she wants to send someone to that site too."

"Will do . . . The weird thing is we don't know if this Pelant's doing or the Gravedigger." Holtz was worried about how many bodies might have been buried by Taffet that they didn't know about and hadn't been found yet. "If Pelant found another one of Taffet's gravesite then I sure as hell want to know how he did that."

"Yeah, me too." Booth sighed. "I'm hoping Angela figures it out. It might lead us to Pelant's killer."

Since Hodgins was in his van with Tommy, Holtz walked over to his truck, got in and waved at Hodgins who drove from the meadow back to the trail they'd drove on to get to the crime scene.

Curious, Booth walked over to where Brennan, Wendell and Clyde were waiting by the gravesite. He noticed an FBI van pull up and Marcus and some techs leave the van. "Hey Marcus, I need you to record this site before Dr. Brennan can start excavating this grave. Once you're done you can search the area for particulates. Agent Holtz and Hodgins have gone over to the other possible grave site. If they find anything you may have to send some techs over there."

"Got it Booth." Once his techs were busy, Marcus took pictures of the gravesite. Once he got what he needed, he smiled at Brennan. "It's all yours, Dr. Brennan."

A little impatient, Brennan gathered her kit and her intern's kit from the SUV behind her and moved over to the grave. Satisfied that everyone was doing their jobs, she and Wendell began excavating while Clyde helped the techs search the area. "The name on the map for this site was Doris Schooley. Once we have examined the remains we should be able to pinpoint who this Doris Schooley is."

"Good." Booth walked over to his SUV, got in the truck and made a few notes. He knew this was going to be a long process and he'd have to go get lunch for everyone in a couple of hours.

Oooooooooooooooo

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