Bones FF: The girl in the video by Akarana (Chapter 7 )
I decided to post the last to chapters at once so the story is done. I hope you like it.
Thanks to Kim for betaing and thank you for reading and reviewing.
Chapter 7: Far away
"We should have booked a flight, Booth. Would have been much more comfortable," Brennan complained when she stepped out of the car and stretched her aching limbs.
"I want to have my car here. And I don't like flying in coach," he disagreed, but also stretched.
"I never ride in coach so we would have ridden in the first class anyway," she shrugged and took her bag from the passenger's seat before she closed the car door.
"You want to freshen up before we go and question the people on campus?" he asked her, feeling sweaty and gross himself.
"We're at the hotel anyway, so let's change and let me brush my teeth, then we can go," she nodded and Booth took their bags from the backseat and locked the car before they walked into the small in, in whose parking lot they had been standing. From the road Brennan had booked them a room, so they had a place to sleep once they were done with their interrogations and didn't have to drive all the way back to DC without any sleep.
An hour later they arrived on Campus and thanks to Brennan who had been there several times already they found their way easily to the office of the head of the law faculty.
"Agent Booth, I have to say I'm surprised to see you here," he greeted then and shook Brennan's hand afterwards. "I'm Professor Smith," he introduced himself.
"Dr. Brennan, nice to meet you," she replied politely.
"The Dr. Brennan of the Jeffersonian Institute?" he asked and his eyes got wide. Brennan only nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you, I've heard a lot about you. Although I always thought you were… older," he admitted with a friendly smile.
"No, I'm not. But you're not that young anymore so I can see why you would make that assumption," she replied and missed that Booth flinched slightly and shook his head. The elder man just laughed though and took a seat beside them.
"So what can I do for you?" he asked them then.
"We thought maybe you could take a look at this picture just to make sure," Booth shrugged and handed him a picture of Kira that Cam had given him.
"I'm sorry Agent Booth but I have never seen this girl before. After your call last night I pulled the files though and I meant to call you about it later today," he went on, got up and picked up a file from his desk. "I also called all of my colleagues but no one has ever talked to the girl. The surprising thing is though that while she never attended a single class she always took the most important exams and handed in homework," he said in explanation of the file.
"How is that possible?" Brennan asked.
"Honestly, I don't know. The address on registration sheet for the last exam says that she lives on campus, in one of the expensive apartment buildings north from here. Other than that I can't find anything. No parking space, which is uncommon because all the rich kids have them, no mention in the school newspaper… I did a bit of research after your call. The thought that one of my students was murdered saddens me, even if I didn't know her," the professor admitted.
"Thank you professor, we really appreciate it. I think we're gonna go and check out her apartment now," Booth replied and got up.
"Dr. Brennan, maybe you could hold a lecture here sometime? I'm sure the students would appreciate it," Smith added when they were leaving.
"I am sure that can be arranged somehow," she smiled at him and they left.
~*~
"And did you find anything?" Cam asked anxiously, wringing her hands while she stood next to Angela in her office.
"No. I managed to pull the IP, but that went to a public library in Boston," Angela shook her head. "Whoever logged in her account checked the comments, watched 'Man in the mirror' and logged off again," she finished her report.
"But who would log into Kira's account and why? These videos have no meaning to anyone but her and me," Cam asked totally confused. She felt more and more irritated, the feeling that something hadn't been right in Kira's life intensifying. Why hadn't she come to her? Or had she tried and she hadn't listened but sent her away? Booth had called and told her about the strange law studies. She couldn't picture her daughter studying law, not at all. Then again, she was asking herself more and more if she had really known her at all.
"I saw that every time someone comments on her videos on this account she gets a notification. I was able to hack into the email account, but it was obviously only created for the video websites," Angela said. "However last log in was yesterday slightly before whoever it was logged onto the video page," Angela explained.
"So you think that the person saw the alert and then went to read the comment," Cam followed her train of thought.
"Yes, maybe we could comment so the person will log in again. If we're lucky we get a private IP this time," Angela shrugged.
"Ok, then let's do this," Cam nodded.
"What do you want me to write?" the artist asked, because she didn't just want to send out some standard comment. This had been one way for Cam to communicate with her daughter and maybe she needed to say goodbye here as well.
"Her favorite singer/songwriter was Sarah McLachlan. For the last two days I keep hearing one of her songs in my head. I think Kira would have liked it if I said goodbye like that," Cam said and Angela stepped aside and left the keyboard to Cam.
Remember the good times that we had? I let them slip away from us when things got bad.
How clearly I first saw you smiling in the sun. Wanna feel your warmth upon me, I wanna be the one.I will remember you. Will you remember me? Don't let your life pass you by. Weep not for the memories. I'm so tired but I can't sleep. Standin' on the edge of something much too deep. It's funny how we feel so much but we cannot say a word. We are screaming inside, but we can't be heard. I'm so afraid to love you, but more afraid to loose. Clinging to a past that doesn't let me choose. Once there was a darkness, deep and endless night. You gave me everything you had, oh you gave me light. ILY Smiley.
Cam pressed send and Angela had trouble not to start crying. This was no funeral and still Cam had just said goodbye to her daughter in a way she had used to communicate with her.
"Hey, Cam, can you come with me, I need to show you something," Hodgins interrupted the moment of silent remembrance when he peeked into the room and was off again before Cam could follow him. He seemed really excited.
~*~
"Thanks," Booth dismissed Campus security who had opened the door to the apartment for them.
"No problem. The girl hasn't picked up her new keys yet anyway," the guy replied and dangled the key between his fingers.
"She got new keys?" Booth asked, his antennas vibrating madly.
"Yeah. About four weeks ago, last day before the break, someone kicked in her door and destroyed the lock. It was reported and so we repaired it over the break. Still few more weeks left until they show up again, so we still have the keys," he replied.
"Do you know who reported it?" Booth wanted to know.
"I guess it was her, but I can check if you want," the guy shrugged and marched off.
"Wow, nice apartment," Booth exclaimed when he saw the spacious apartment, with wooden floors, high windows and expensive furniture.
"This apartment most likely costs more than mine," Brennan nodded and looked around. "It's really clean here," she nodded appreciatively.
"I guess a cleaning lady has to be expected," Booth shrugged and found the bedroom while Brennan made her way into the bathroom.
"That is odd," Booth said when opened the closet and only found very few clothes in there. He picked up a pullover and held it out in front of him.
"Hey, Booth do you know if Kira spend a lot of time in countries of the Middle East or North Africa?" Brennan asked from the bathroom.
"I don't know, but her father is a hotel guru, so I guess it's possible. Why?" he asked, still eying the piece of clothing in his hand.
"Because there's no toilet paper in here but a small bucket next to the toilet. That's typical for those countries," Brennan replied and opened the medicine cabinet.
"Why would a young woman with an apartment like this and limitless financial resources buy all of her clothes at Wal-Mart?" Booth asked when he stepped into the bathroom, holding up a jeans and a sweater. He didn't get an answer but found Brennan looking intently at a shelf with all kinds of pills and medicine.
"Are you sure we're in the right apartment?" she asked him with a confused look on her face.
"Yeah, I'm sure," he nodded and wrinkled his forehead in the same confused way she did.
"Did Cam mention any illnesses?" Brennan asked next and took a bottle of pills out.
"No," he shook his head.
"Then this is not Kira's apartment. Whoever lived here was extremely asthmatic. There is no way one could sing or dance with this state of asthma," Brennan shook her head and showed Booth the pills.
~*~
"Before Brennan left with Booth she asked me to take a closer look at the remains again and test everything that is possible," Hodgins said when he showed Cam something on his screen that she didn't get yet. Different chemical formulas were written all over the screen, and she knew what they stood for but none of this made sense to her. Wendell rushed in a second later and immediately went to the PC on the other side.
"We were right," he nodded at Hodgins and the two men grinned at each other.
"You were right about what?" Cam asked impatiently and was annoyed that they could be happy about something they had found out. Her daughter was dead and no matter what they found, there was no way one should feel happy.
"I was finally able to reconstruct the whole skeleton. While looking at it I found a small hole in the humerus," Wendell started.
"At the same time I realized that something was odd about her teeth," Hodgins went on and Cam looked back and forth between them, her eyebrows slowly drawing closer together. "You know how we Americans love to get our teeth bleached and veneered and what not? The victim had none of that," Hodgins shook his head.
"Kira grew up all over the world, I am not sure she ever visited an American dentist," Cam replied.
"You said she studied here for three years already and she never once visited a dentist?" Hodgins asked.
"But back to the hole in the humerus. I examined it and it's Morbus Panner," Wendell said and showed her the x-ray on the screen. " From the restoration of the epiphysis I'd say she had it when she was about fifteen or sixteen," he went on.
"Kira did not have Morbus Panner. She couldn't have danced if she had that disease. The arm gets stiff and the pain gets worse with movement," Cam disagreed.
"You're right. We all saw the videos of her dancing and in none of those videos did she show any sign of pain or stiffness, at least not in her arm," Wendell said.
"Now we asked ourselves where that illness came from. I took a sample and found this," he said without mentioning from where he had taken the sample. "17-hydroxy-11-dehydrocorticosterone in a crazy high concentration. Years and years of medication," he said.
"Cortisone? Why would Kira take Cortisone?" Cam wanted to know. She really didn't understand any of this anymore.
"I also found several beta2-adrenoceptor agonists, systemic steroids, Methylxanthines and ketamine," Hodgins added, his excitement getting stronger and stronger, he was barely able to contain it.
"That's emergency medication for Asthma," Cam gaped. "Kira didn't have asthma."
"Exactly! So there are three possibilities now. Either your daughter had asthma and you didn't know about it. Or someone gave her the medication for whatever reason, maybe trying to poison her in a pretty sorry attempt," Hodgins said and Cam looked skeptical.
"Or this is not your daughter, Dr. Saroyan," Wendell finished and pointed out to the platform.
"Way to steal my thunder here, man," Hodgins said to Wendell. When he looked at Cam he found her frozen to the spot. "She might still be alive," he told her softly.
"Good job, but I don't want to get my hopes up yet. The DNA test said she is," Cam replied and looked defeated. She didn't dare to hope anymore.
~*~
"You really think this will help? We have no indication that Kira ever set a foot on this campus," Brennan said skeptically but followed Booth into the ballet studio on Campus.
"I just think that Kira loved to dance and this is the only dance studio on campus. Can't hurt to ask," he shrugged and opened the door to the room. Several heads turned of women who were rehearsing at the moment and one turned off the music.
"Sorry, to interrupt ladies. I'm agent Booth of the FBI, this is Dr. Brennan and we just have a quick question for you," Booth introduced them and they walked further into the room.
"Wow, FBI, did someone die?" One of the girls said and all ten of them made a circle around Booth and Brennan.
"Do you know this woman?" Brennan asked them and held up the picture.
"Yeah, that's Kira," one of the girls said and the others nodded.
"Oh my god, is she dead?" another one asked, clearly shocked.
"So you know her? I have to say so far you're the only ones. We showed this picture to nearly the whole law faculty and no one recognized her," Booth said surprised.
"Why did you show her picture at the faculty of law?" one of the girls asked and the others looked just as confused.
"Because she was enrolled there," Brennan pointed out the obvious.
"Kira doesn't study law," another girl protested.
"Then what did she study?" Booth asked them.
"Medicine of course. She's in the same year as I am, we started together," a brown haired girl with freckles said.
"There is no Kira Lennart enrolled in the medicine faculty," Booth disagreed. He had talked to the administration again earlier and they hadn't found anything.
"Lennart? Kira's last name is Saroyan," the girl disagreed again.
"She used Cam's name?" Booth exclaimed and couldn't believe it.
"When have you seen her the last time and what can you tell us about her?" Brennan asked, because he seemed still too stunned to question them further.
"Kira's a doll. She started medicine the same year I did and we met here at the dance studio again. She's by far the best dancer here. I saw her last about five weeks ago before the semester break. She's never here during the break," the woman started and another one went on.
"Also she can sing, boy can she sing. Every Wednesday she plays with her band at the diner just outside of campus very close to her apartment."
"Wait, she has an apartment here on campus, right?" Booth asked but the women shook their heads.
"No, she says she doesn't want to live on campus. She's living right outside, Macy's ave three, together with two other girls," they were informed and Booth felt like his head would explode.
"Ok, then thank you ladies for your help," he said and turned to leave.
"Hey wait! What's with Kira? Is she alright?" They were asked, but suddenly Booth didn't know anymore how to answer that. Was Kira really dead?
~*~
"Oh my god! Cam!" a scream rang through the Institute and Cam nearly dropped her coffee cup.
"Geez, why do you all have to yell for me these days? My daughter might be dead but that doesn't mean that I lost my hearing," she muttered and Hodgins had to grin about that. He followed her into Angela's office and grabbed another cup of coffee on the way, this one for the screaming artist.
"Angela what's wrong?" Cam asked and took a sip of her coffee. She had momentarily reached a state of calm acceptance. Basically she just felt dead inside. No matter what they could reveal or show her, at the moment she felt like nothing could shock her anymore.
"Someone uploaded a reply to you comment. Another video," Sweets said. He seemed to have moved into Angela's office over the last few days.
"What?" she said surprised.
"Hurt, by Christina Aguilera," Angela said and Cam shrugged. She knew that she most likely had heard of it, but it wasn't familiar enough for her to know the lyrics.
"The video was just posted as a link. It's done by another person. Whoever posted this must have been in a hurry and most likely didn't have the time to make an own video animation," Angela said and started the video.
Seems like it was yesterday when I saw your face. You told me how proud you were but I walked away. If only I knew what I know today…
I would hold you in my arms I would take the pain away, thank you for all you've done, forgive all your mistakes. There's nothing I wouldn't do to hear your voice again. Sometimes I wanna call you
but I know you won't be there.
I'm sorry for blaming you, for everything I just couldn't do. And I've hurt myself by hurting you.
Some days I feel broke inside but I won't admit. Sometimes I just wanna hide cause it's you I miss.
And it's so hard to say goodbye when it comes to this.
Would you tell me I was wrong? Would you help me understand? Are you looking down upon me?
Are you proud of who I am? There's nothing I wouldn't do to have just one more chance to look into your eyes and see you looking back.
If I had just one more day I would tell you how much that I've missed you since you've
been away. It's dangerous, it's so out of line to try and turn back time.
"What does that mean?" Cam wanted to know, more confused than ever. Her heart was thumping in her chest and she saw the coffee cup shaking.
"I think you know what that means, Dr. Saroyan," Sweets said.
"But Kira is dead," she insisted. She had seen the results with her own eyes. Some video was no legitimate proof and she refused to get her hopes up against all other evidence.
"Then someone who knew her very well posted this video," Angela said.
"How can we find out for sure?" Hodgins asked and took the cup out of Cam's hand before she would drop it or spill coffee all over her dress.
"We need to reply again," Sweets said.
"But let's just assume for a second that this is Kira who is sending me the video, or someone who knows her pretty well. Why isn't she just calling me or sending me an email? And then who is this victim? And why does she have Kira's DNA?" she asked the others.
"Maybe she is waiting for sign that you want her here. Maybe she knew the victim and maybe she's in danger," Hodgins said quietly, his over active mind already running through several conspiratorial theories.
"Does anyone know a song that says 'I'm sorry, but please contact me or come home?'" Cam asked and looked from one to the other.
"Nickelback, Far away," Hodgins said after a moment of silence and earned surprised looks. "What? I listen to the radio from time to time," he said, apologizing for knowing such a pop song.
"Ok, uhm, maybe we should just post these parts of the lyrics," Sweets said after Angela had googled them and then read aloud. "This time, this place misused, Mistakes. Too long, Too late, who was I to make you wait? Just one chance, Just one breath, Just in case there's just one left 'cause you know,
That I love you, I have loved you all along and I miss you been far away for far too long. I wanted you to stay, 'Cause I needed I need to hear you say that I love you I have loved you all along. And I forgive you for being away for far too long. So keep breathing, cause I'm not leaving you anymore. Believe it
Hold on to me and, never let me go. That ok?" he asked Cam, who nodded.
"Ok, it's posted. The other video was uploaded ten minutes ago so if we're lucky whoever it is, is still online," Angela said just when Hodgins phone started ringing.
"Hodgins," he replied.
"Hey it's Booth. Listen I'm calling you because we found something. If you have your phone on loudspeaker please turn it off," Booth said and Hodgins got that he didn't want Cam to know yet what was going on.
"It's ok," he just said and stepped a bit away from Cam so she wouldn't hear anything.
"First: Bones looked at your findings and she agrees with you and Wendell. There is no way that girl could have danced ballet or sang. We found Kira's ballet studio here and found out that she is enrolled two times here in Princeton. One time under her father's name Lennart, the other time under her birth name Saroyan. It seems like she uses only the second name though. She has two apartments here, one her dad pays for and another she seems to pay herself with what she earns with her shows. Someone kicked in the door to her apartment on campus. Her roommate says she hasn't seen her or heard from her in weeks. Apparently she went on a tour through some nightclubs and bars to make some extra cash five weeks ago. She's an excellent student, has lots of friends, no boyfriend. I am not sure yet and I don't want you to say anything to Cam yet, but for Bones and me it looks more and more like Kira is not the victim. It is possible however that she knows something so we are trying to find her. She might have got herself into some dangerous trouble. We'll be back tomorrow," Booth reported and hung up.
"What?" Cam asked when she saw Hodgins wide eyes.
"Uhm, nothing. Booth and Brennan will be back tomorrow," he said innocently but no one in the room bought it. They knew something was up.
TBC
Thanks to Kim for betaing and thank you for reading and reviewing.
Chapter 7: Far away
"We should have booked a flight, Booth. Would have been much more comfortable," Brennan complained when she stepped out of the car and stretched her aching limbs.
"I want to have my car here. And I don't like flying in coach," he disagreed, but also stretched.
"I never ride in coach so we would have ridden in the first class anyway," she shrugged and took her bag from the passenger's seat before she closed the car door.
"You want to freshen up before we go and question the people on campus?" he asked her, feeling sweaty and gross himself.
"We're at the hotel anyway, so let's change and let me brush my teeth, then we can go," she nodded and Booth took their bags from the backseat and locked the car before they walked into the small in, in whose parking lot they had been standing. From the road Brennan had booked them a room, so they had a place to sleep once they were done with their interrogations and didn't have to drive all the way back to DC without any sleep.
An hour later they arrived on Campus and thanks to Brennan who had been there several times already they found their way easily to the office of the head of the law faculty.
"Agent Booth, I have to say I'm surprised to see you here," he greeted then and shook Brennan's hand afterwards. "I'm Professor Smith," he introduced himself.
"Dr. Brennan, nice to meet you," she replied politely.
"The Dr. Brennan of the Jeffersonian Institute?" he asked and his eyes got wide. Brennan only nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you, I've heard a lot about you. Although I always thought you were… older," he admitted with a friendly smile.
"No, I'm not. But you're not that young anymore so I can see why you would make that assumption," she replied and missed that Booth flinched slightly and shook his head. The elder man just laughed though and took a seat beside them.
"So what can I do for you?" he asked them then.
"We thought maybe you could take a look at this picture just to make sure," Booth shrugged and handed him a picture of Kira that Cam had given him.
"I'm sorry Agent Booth but I have never seen this girl before. After your call last night I pulled the files though and I meant to call you about it later today," he went on, got up and picked up a file from his desk. "I also called all of my colleagues but no one has ever talked to the girl. The surprising thing is though that while she never attended a single class she always took the most important exams and handed in homework," he said in explanation of the file.
"How is that possible?" Brennan asked.
"Honestly, I don't know. The address on registration sheet for the last exam says that she lives on campus, in one of the expensive apartment buildings north from here. Other than that I can't find anything. No parking space, which is uncommon because all the rich kids have them, no mention in the school newspaper… I did a bit of research after your call. The thought that one of my students was murdered saddens me, even if I didn't know her," the professor admitted.
"Thank you professor, we really appreciate it. I think we're gonna go and check out her apartment now," Booth replied and got up.
"Dr. Brennan, maybe you could hold a lecture here sometime? I'm sure the students would appreciate it," Smith added when they were leaving.
"I am sure that can be arranged somehow," she smiled at him and they left.
~*~
"And did you find anything?" Cam asked anxiously, wringing her hands while she stood next to Angela in her office.
"No. I managed to pull the IP, but that went to a public library in Boston," Angela shook her head. "Whoever logged in her account checked the comments, watched 'Man in the mirror' and logged off again," she finished her report.
"But who would log into Kira's account and why? These videos have no meaning to anyone but her and me," Cam asked totally confused. She felt more and more irritated, the feeling that something hadn't been right in Kira's life intensifying. Why hadn't she come to her? Or had she tried and she hadn't listened but sent her away? Booth had called and told her about the strange law studies. She couldn't picture her daughter studying law, not at all. Then again, she was asking herself more and more if she had really known her at all.
"I saw that every time someone comments on her videos on this account she gets a notification. I was able to hack into the email account, but it was obviously only created for the video websites," Angela said. "However last log in was yesterday slightly before whoever it was logged onto the video page," Angela explained.
"So you think that the person saw the alert and then went to read the comment," Cam followed her train of thought.
"Yes, maybe we could comment so the person will log in again. If we're lucky we get a private IP this time," Angela shrugged.
"Ok, then let's do this," Cam nodded.
"What do you want me to write?" the artist asked, because she didn't just want to send out some standard comment. This had been one way for Cam to communicate with her daughter and maybe she needed to say goodbye here as well.
"Her favorite singer/songwriter was Sarah McLachlan. For the last two days I keep hearing one of her songs in my head. I think Kira would have liked it if I said goodbye like that," Cam said and Angela stepped aside and left the keyboard to Cam.
Remember the good times that we had? I let them slip away from us when things got bad.
How clearly I first saw you smiling in the sun. Wanna feel your warmth upon me, I wanna be the one.I will remember you. Will you remember me? Don't let your life pass you by. Weep not for the memories. I'm so tired but I can't sleep. Standin' on the edge of something much too deep. It's funny how we feel so much but we cannot say a word. We are screaming inside, but we can't be heard. I'm so afraid to love you, but more afraid to loose. Clinging to a past that doesn't let me choose. Once there was a darkness, deep and endless night. You gave me everything you had, oh you gave me light. ILY Smiley.
Cam pressed send and Angela had trouble not to start crying. This was no funeral and still Cam had just said goodbye to her daughter in a way she had used to communicate with her.
"Hey, Cam, can you come with me, I need to show you something," Hodgins interrupted the moment of silent remembrance when he peeked into the room and was off again before Cam could follow him. He seemed really excited.
~*~
"Thanks," Booth dismissed Campus security who had opened the door to the apartment for them.
"No problem. The girl hasn't picked up her new keys yet anyway," the guy replied and dangled the key between his fingers.
"She got new keys?" Booth asked, his antennas vibrating madly.
"Yeah. About four weeks ago, last day before the break, someone kicked in her door and destroyed the lock. It was reported and so we repaired it over the break. Still few more weeks left until they show up again, so we still have the keys," he replied.
"Do you know who reported it?" Booth wanted to know.
"I guess it was her, but I can check if you want," the guy shrugged and marched off.
"Wow, nice apartment," Booth exclaimed when he saw the spacious apartment, with wooden floors, high windows and expensive furniture.
"This apartment most likely costs more than mine," Brennan nodded and looked around. "It's really clean here," she nodded appreciatively.
"I guess a cleaning lady has to be expected," Booth shrugged and found the bedroom while Brennan made her way into the bathroom.
"That is odd," Booth said when opened the closet and only found very few clothes in there. He picked up a pullover and held it out in front of him.
"Hey, Booth do you know if Kira spend a lot of time in countries of the Middle East or North Africa?" Brennan asked from the bathroom.
"I don't know, but her father is a hotel guru, so I guess it's possible. Why?" he asked, still eying the piece of clothing in his hand.
"Because there's no toilet paper in here but a small bucket next to the toilet. That's typical for those countries," Brennan replied and opened the medicine cabinet.
"Why would a young woman with an apartment like this and limitless financial resources buy all of her clothes at Wal-Mart?" Booth asked when he stepped into the bathroom, holding up a jeans and a sweater. He didn't get an answer but found Brennan looking intently at a shelf with all kinds of pills and medicine.
"Are you sure we're in the right apartment?" she asked him with a confused look on her face.
"Yeah, I'm sure," he nodded and wrinkled his forehead in the same confused way she did.
"Did Cam mention any illnesses?" Brennan asked next and took a bottle of pills out.
"No," he shook his head.
"Then this is not Kira's apartment. Whoever lived here was extremely asthmatic. There is no way one could sing or dance with this state of asthma," Brennan shook her head and showed Booth the pills.
~*~
"Before Brennan left with Booth she asked me to take a closer look at the remains again and test everything that is possible," Hodgins said when he showed Cam something on his screen that she didn't get yet. Different chemical formulas were written all over the screen, and she knew what they stood for but none of this made sense to her. Wendell rushed in a second later and immediately went to the PC on the other side.
"We were right," he nodded at Hodgins and the two men grinned at each other.
"You were right about what?" Cam asked impatiently and was annoyed that they could be happy about something they had found out. Her daughter was dead and no matter what they found, there was no way one should feel happy.
"I was finally able to reconstruct the whole skeleton. While looking at it I found a small hole in the humerus," Wendell started.
"At the same time I realized that something was odd about her teeth," Hodgins went on and Cam looked back and forth between them, her eyebrows slowly drawing closer together. "You know how we Americans love to get our teeth bleached and veneered and what not? The victim had none of that," Hodgins shook his head.
"Kira grew up all over the world, I am not sure she ever visited an American dentist," Cam replied.
"You said she studied here for three years already and she never once visited a dentist?" Hodgins asked.
"But back to the hole in the humerus. I examined it and it's Morbus Panner," Wendell said and showed her the x-ray on the screen. " From the restoration of the epiphysis I'd say she had it when she was about fifteen or sixteen," he went on.
"Kira did not have Morbus Panner. She couldn't have danced if she had that disease. The arm gets stiff and the pain gets worse with movement," Cam disagreed.
"You're right. We all saw the videos of her dancing and in none of those videos did she show any sign of pain or stiffness, at least not in her arm," Wendell said.
"Now we asked ourselves where that illness came from. I took a sample and found this," he said without mentioning from where he had taken the sample. "17-hydroxy-11-dehydrocorticosterone in a crazy high concentration. Years and years of medication," he said.
"Cortisone? Why would Kira take Cortisone?" Cam wanted to know. She really didn't understand any of this anymore.
"I also found several beta2-adrenoceptor agonists, systemic steroids, Methylxanthines and ketamine," Hodgins added, his excitement getting stronger and stronger, he was barely able to contain it.
"That's emergency medication for Asthma," Cam gaped. "Kira didn't have asthma."
"Exactly! So there are three possibilities now. Either your daughter had asthma and you didn't know about it. Or someone gave her the medication for whatever reason, maybe trying to poison her in a pretty sorry attempt," Hodgins said and Cam looked skeptical.
"Or this is not your daughter, Dr. Saroyan," Wendell finished and pointed out to the platform.
"Way to steal my thunder here, man," Hodgins said to Wendell. When he looked at Cam he found her frozen to the spot. "She might still be alive," he told her softly.
"Good job, but I don't want to get my hopes up yet. The DNA test said she is," Cam replied and looked defeated. She didn't dare to hope anymore.
~*~
"You really think this will help? We have no indication that Kira ever set a foot on this campus," Brennan said skeptically but followed Booth into the ballet studio on Campus.
"I just think that Kira loved to dance and this is the only dance studio on campus. Can't hurt to ask," he shrugged and opened the door to the room. Several heads turned of women who were rehearsing at the moment and one turned off the music.
"Sorry, to interrupt ladies. I'm agent Booth of the FBI, this is Dr. Brennan and we just have a quick question for you," Booth introduced them and they walked further into the room.
"Wow, FBI, did someone die?" One of the girls said and all ten of them made a circle around Booth and Brennan.
"Do you know this woman?" Brennan asked them and held up the picture.
"Yeah, that's Kira," one of the girls said and the others nodded.
"Oh my god, is she dead?" another one asked, clearly shocked.
"So you know her? I have to say so far you're the only ones. We showed this picture to nearly the whole law faculty and no one recognized her," Booth said surprised.
"Why did you show her picture at the faculty of law?" one of the girls asked and the others looked just as confused.
"Because she was enrolled there," Brennan pointed out the obvious.
"Kira doesn't study law," another girl protested.
"Then what did she study?" Booth asked them.
"Medicine of course. She's in the same year as I am, we started together," a brown haired girl with freckles said.
"There is no Kira Lennart enrolled in the medicine faculty," Booth disagreed. He had talked to the administration again earlier and they hadn't found anything.
"Lennart? Kira's last name is Saroyan," the girl disagreed again.
"She used Cam's name?" Booth exclaimed and couldn't believe it.
"When have you seen her the last time and what can you tell us about her?" Brennan asked, because he seemed still too stunned to question them further.
"Kira's a doll. She started medicine the same year I did and we met here at the dance studio again. She's by far the best dancer here. I saw her last about five weeks ago before the semester break. She's never here during the break," the woman started and another one went on.
"Also she can sing, boy can she sing. Every Wednesday she plays with her band at the diner just outside of campus very close to her apartment."
"Wait, she has an apartment here on campus, right?" Booth asked but the women shook their heads.
"No, she says she doesn't want to live on campus. She's living right outside, Macy's ave three, together with two other girls," they were informed and Booth felt like his head would explode.
"Ok, then thank you ladies for your help," he said and turned to leave.
"Hey wait! What's with Kira? Is she alright?" They were asked, but suddenly Booth didn't know anymore how to answer that. Was Kira really dead?
~*~
"Oh my god! Cam!" a scream rang through the Institute and Cam nearly dropped her coffee cup.
"Geez, why do you all have to yell for me these days? My daughter might be dead but that doesn't mean that I lost my hearing," she muttered and Hodgins had to grin about that. He followed her into Angela's office and grabbed another cup of coffee on the way, this one for the screaming artist.
"Angela what's wrong?" Cam asked and took a sip of her coffee. She had momentarily reached a state of calm acceptance. Basically she just felt dead inside. No matter what they could reveal or show her, at the moment she felt like nothing could shock her anymore.
"Someone uploaded a reply to you comment. Another video," Sweets said. He seemed to have moved into Angela's office over the last few days.
"What?" she said surprised.
"Hurt, by Christina Aguilera," Angela said and Cam shrugged. She knew that she most likely had heard of it, but it wasn't familiar enough for her to know the lyrics.
"The video was just posted as a link. It's done by another person. Whoever posted this must have been in a hurry and most likely didn't have the time to make an own video animation," Angela said and started the video.
Seems like it was yesterday when I saw your face. You told me how proud you were but I walked away. If only I knew what I know today…
I would hold you in my arms I would take the pain away, thank you for all you've done, forgive all your mistakes. There's nothing I wouldn't do to hear your voice again. Sometimes I wanna call you
but I know you won't be there.
I'm sorry for blaming you, for everything I just couldn't do. And I've hurt myself by hurting you.
Some days I feel broke inside but I won't admit. Sometimes I just wanna hide cause it's you I miss.
And it's so hard to say goodbye when it comes to this.
Would you tell me I was wrong? Would you help me understand? Are you looking down upon me?
Are you proud of who I am? There's nothing I wouldn't do to have just one more chance to look into your eyes and see you looking back.
If I had just one more day I would tell you how much that I've missed you since you've
been away. It's dangerous, it's so out of line to try and turn back time.
"What does that mean?" Cam wanted to know, more confused than ever. Her heart was thumping in her chest and she saw the coffee cup shaking.
"I think you know what that means, Dr. Saroyan," Sweets said.
"But Kira is dead," she insisted. She had seen the results with her own eyes. Some video was no legitimate proof and she refused to get her hopes up against all other evidence.
"Then someone who knew her very well posted this video," Angela said.
"How can we find out for sure?" Hodgins asked and took the cup out of Cam's hand before she would drop it or spill coffee all over her dress.
"We need to reply again," Sweets said.
"But let's just assume for a second that this is Kira who is sending me the video, or someone who knows her pretty well. Why isn't she just calling me or sending me an email? And then who is this victim? And why does she have Kira's DNA?" she asked the others.
"Maybe she is waiting for sign that you want her here. Maybe she knew the victim and maybe she's in danger," Hodgins said quietly, his over active mind already running through several conspiratorial theories.
"Does anyone know a song that says 'I'm sorry, but please contact me or come home?'" Cam asked and looked from one to the other.
"Nickelback, Far away," Hodgins said after a moment of silence and earned surprised looks. "What? I listen to the radio from time to time," he said, apologizing for knowing such a pop song.
"Ok, uhm, maybe we should just post these parts of the lyrics," Sweets said after Angela had googled them and then read aloud. "This time, this place misused, Mistakes. Too long, Too late, who was I to make you wait? Just one chance, Just one breath, Just in case there's just one left 'cause you know,
That I love you, I have loved you all along and I miss you been far away for far too long. I wanted you to stay, 'Cause I needed I need to hear you say that I love you I have loved you all along. And I forgive you for being away for far too long. So keep breathing, cause I'm not leaving you anymore. Believe it
Hold on to me and, never let me go. That ok?" he asked Cam, who nodded.
"Ok, it's posted. The other video was uploaded ten minutes ago so if we're lucky whoever it is, is still online," Angela said just when Hodgins phone started ringing.
"Hodgins," he replied.
"Hey it's Booth. Listen I'm calling you because we found something. If you have your phone on loudspeaker please turn it off," Booth said and Hodgins got that he didn't want Cam to know yet what was going on.
"It's ok," he just said and stepped a bit away from Cam so she wouldn't hear anything.
"First: Bones looked at your findings and she agrees with you and Wendell. There is no way that girl could have danced ballet or sang. We found Kira's ballet studio here and found out that she is enrolled two times here in Princeton. One time under her father's name Lennart, the other time under her birth name Saroyan. It seems like she uses only the second name though. She has two apartments here, one her dad pays for and another she seems to pay herself with what she earns with her shows. Someone kicked in the door to her apartment on campus. Her roommate says she hasn't seen her or heard from her in weeks. Apparently she went on a tour through some nightclubs and bars to make some extra cash five weeks ago. She's an excellent student, has lots of friends, no boyfriend. I am not sure yet and I don't want you to say anything to Cam yet, but for Bones and me it looks more and more like Kira is not the victim. It is possible however that she knows something so we are trying to find her. She might have got herself into some dangerous trouble. We'll be back tomorrow," Booth reported and hung up.
"What?" Cam asked when she saw Hodgins wide eyes.
"Uhm, nothing. Booth and Brennan will be back tomorrow," he said innocently but no one in the room bought it. They knew something was up.
TBC