Broken Bones

Episode 57 "Mayhem on a Cross" Part 1

Temp, Booth, Sweets and I went to the Diner to eat and talk for a bit as Booth says, "Wait a second. What do you mean Gordon-Gordon is going to quit psychiatry?" Sweets then says, "Well, I ask him to write the intro to my book about you two. He told me he couldn't because he was retiring." Temp then asks, "Is it possible he just hated your book?" "Thank you." "Perhaps now he'll find a pursuit worthy of his intellect- neurochemistry, for example." I then speak, "I bet he will become a chef. He has been telling me that his culinary skills have improved a lot since the last time we saw him." Booth then gets a call as he answers, "Yeah. Booth. Hold on, slow down." Sweets then asks us... well mostly Temp, "Why would a man with Wyatt's insights into the human psyche want to be a mere scientist? No offense." I then say, "None taken." Temp then speaks, "Prehaps because psychology is a field which is ill-defined in conception and ineffective in execution." "Thank you." Booth has finished his call as he says, "Okay, sounds great. So Cam says we got to track down a death metal band named Spew and to let Blueberry know that she should stop give Angela recommendation songs for her to listen as many people in the lab are starting to worry about Angela's mentality."

I made a small pout as Booth continued with the case, "They're totally underground- no concerts listed, no contact information." I then ask, "A death metal band?" Booth nods, "Yeah." "But the victim's skeleton was found in the possession of a Norwegian black metal band." "Death metal, black metal, what's the difference?" I chuckle, "People who are into either Death or Black metal would be highly offended right now." Sweets nods, "She's right. In essence, death metal is about brutal technical proficiency while black metal is about emotion. Now, both of 'em exploit adolescent feelings of alienation, depression..." Booth cuts him off, "Right, 'cause it all just sounds like a truck full of cymbals crashing into a saw factory for me." "Well..." Temp then says, "Historically, picayune internecine squabbles account for a huge number of deaths." "Bones, just figure out cause of death for me, all right, 'interoserine' or whatever." He then looks at Sweets, "How do you know so much about this?" "I was really into death metal... as a teenager, not anymore. Obviously." "Really?" "Oh, come on." I ask, "Come on, what?" "Raw, raw, raw. I don't like that anymore." Booth just shakes his head as I then say, "I don't understand.... I listen to that still, its very therapeutic for me honestly." Booth and Sweets look at me weirdly as Booth says, "Of course you would find something nice out of it Blueberry." I just shrug and ate my food.

Temp and I are back at the lab with Cam and Hodgins as Temp says, "According to Booth, there's no way to track down this band Spew. No bars, clubs, or high schools." Hodgins then speaks, "The cross is carved of 120-years-old black oak and was stolen from St. Benedict Episcopal Church six months ago." Cam then adds, "That is some determined desecration going  on." "Yeah, well, the bones, themselves were covered in a patina of smoke, tobacco, marijuana, meth, animal blood,  semen, and saliva." Temp then asks, "Who are these people?" I then show them a file, "Sweets sent over a briefing. But concerts are set up at secret locations, and then only insiders are invited." Temp asks, "Then, how do we find them?" I smile then nudge Hodgins as he starts bringing up our discovery as I say, "Aha.... well,  the dried mud from the treads of the boots that were duct-taped to the victim contained bovine fragments and infectious proteins." "A slaughter-house?" Hodgins and I nod as he says, "A slaughter-house closed down due to mad cow disease." Cam then says, "Death metal enthusiasts prefer morbid, horror-centric venues for performance. In addition, they tend to perform for their fans in the same place they practice and sometimes squat." Hodgins adds, "Like maybe this horror-centric, condemned slaughterhouse."

He shows us images of the building as Temp then asks, "Wait. How do we know that those are his boots? He was in Norway for months." I then clap, "I was waiting for you to ask that." Cam adds, "You are going to be so proud." We then start heading over to the bone examination room as Clark waited for us there. Once we entered Clark then starts to present his findings, "The victim's foot size is 11, same as his boots." Temp then says, "We need something more than a matching shoe size." I then speak, "It's alright Temp, he's not finished." Clark continues to speak, "Wear on his calcaneus and cuboid suggest our victim walked mostly on the outside of his feet." Cam adds, "Supinator." Temp then says, "One percent of the population are supinator's. That's a lot." "One percent of size 11 teenagers isn't good enough?" I then say, "Why don't you just check out his foot instead Temp." She clears her throat and nods doing so and asks, "This missing toe... did it fall off after decomposition, or was it preexisting condition?" Clark then speaks, "That's exactly what I was thinking." He then pulls up an image of the foot and the boot heating  sensors  as he says, "You see here? His toes left an impression inside the boot, but there is no impression corresponding with the big toe." Temp smirks as I just stay smiling as Cam asks, "Are you satisfied that this was the boot worn by the victim while he was still alive?" "It's a reasonable conclusion." Cam then looks at Clark, "You want to say, 'King of the Lab?" He shakes his head, "No." I just chuckle at the dynamic of this group.