Title: Triangles
Series Title: Chapter Four
Author: Sarah (memorysdaughter)
Disclaimer: I don't own.
Rating: PG
Summary: A senator's husband is murdered at a special education school, and Booth and Brennan must learn new ways of looking at the world in order to solve the case.
Chapters 1-3 Triangles
“Particulates on the janitor’s jumpsuit are mostly from finger paint, powdered bathroom cleanser, and sawdust,” Hodgins reported as Brennan and Booth approached. “Now, I know sawdust appears to be the strange one in that group…”
“Not really,” Brennan said. “Sawdust is a common material in lots of different places in schools - to clean up vomit…”
“Or in an animal cage,” Booth volunteered.
“Okay, so maybe sawdust isn’t that strange,” Hodgins admitted. “But here’s one that is - fecal matter.”
“Fecal matter?” Booth repeated.
“Um, poop,” Brennan said as tactfully as she could manage.
“You’re right, that is strange,” Booth said. “What else?”
“Um! I discovered that the burn patterns on the janitor’s face were consistent with a waffle iron,” Zack said.
“A waffle iron?”
“Yes. A Honeybeam Deluxe, model number 6-dash-8551.”
“And I bet you’re going to tell me those are the most popular waffle irons sold in the tri-county area,” Booth said.
“Actually, no. They’re fairly rare. There are only two places to buy them in the tri-county area. Gourmet food stores. I got the addresses for you.”
“Good work, Zack,” Brennan said. “Dr. Hodgins, did you find any particulates on the man’s wrist at the amputation?”
Hodgins looked down at his lab report. “Finger paint, wood shavings, playground sand, and some threads. The threads are a poly-cotton blend and match the jumpsuit.”
“Any leads on the hand?” Angela asked a little dryly.
“We searched the schoolyard,” Booth replied. “No sign of the hand.”
“The amputation was performed with a serrated blade,” Zack said, putting a series of X-rays on the light box. “Was a knife found at the scene?”
“No,” Booth said. “Could this serrated blade be found at the same gourmet food stores as the waffle iron?”
“It’s likely,” Zack replied. “It would be five to eight inches in length with a wooden handle.”
“Wooden? How can you tell?”
“The wooden particulates found on the wrist were not consistent with the sawdust,” Hodgins answered.
“Good work, squints,” Booth said. “We’ve got a kid from the school coming in to give a statement.”
“Angela, could you talk to her?” Brennan asked.
“What? Why me?”
Booth hurried to answer before Brennan. “Of the squint squad, you’re the one with the most advanced social skills.”
“I sense a compliment somewhere in there, but I just can’t tell where,” Angela said, and gave Booth a wry smile.
“It would help us out,” Brennan said, giving her friend a grin. “Booth and I have to go check the gourmet food stores.”
Angela sighed, and threw her hands up. “Sure. Sure, I’ll talk to this girl.”
“Thank you.”
“Sweetie, you owe me,” Angela told Brennan.
“As always,” Brennan said with a smile. “Oh, and one more thing.”
“What?”
“You might want to give her back her sketch pad.”