Broken Bones

Episode 78 ''The Witch in the Wardrobe'' Part 2

I look at the hyoid as I say, "These bones certainly resemble the hyoid and surrounding cartilage. But not all of these are human." "What?" I let Clark have a closer look, "You're right." I then add, "These look like bat bones." Cam then says, "Are we thinking a woman had a bat shoved down her throat?" We nod as Temp says, "Yes. That's exactly what happened." Temp and I are eating with Booth in the dinner as he asks, "Bat bones?" I nod, "Mytosis albescens. Not indigenous to the United States, but the bones are available online." "Like everything else, I'll look into it." Sweets then comes inside over to us as he quickly says, "So, I think I've identified our skeleton bride." Booth smiles, "Look at that." Temp then says confused, "You identified human remains?" "Dr. Brennan, you and Venus mentioned that the woman, was subjected to a form of torture known as 'pressing,' right?" I nod, "Yes." Temp adds, "That's how we surmised we were dealing with the remains of a Salem witch." He nods, "In fact, only one Salem witch died as a result of pressing. Well, one female. There was an 80-year-old man-" We just look at him as he says, "You don't- You don't care about the old man, do you?" Booth reads the report, "Emily Quimby. Died November 1692." "Buried in Salem in unconsecrated ground, of course, but her grave was robbed 6 months ago."

I nod, "Good work Sweets." Temp asks, "You think the victim dug up the old witch's bones to increase her own power?" "Absolutely." "Okay, this is interesting, but not pertinent to the case." "Wait for it." Booth looks at Temp as I chuckle, "Wait for it. Here it is." Sweets then pulls out some papers, "Upon finding Emily Quimby's grave, I, uh, researched her family tree. And there's a 16-generation removed but look." We see a familiar name as Booth says, "Mary Harden Trent." I add, "Direct descendant." Temp asks, "Why is that name familiar?" Sweets explains, "Mary Harden Trent is a member of the Circle of Moonwick Coven. Her witch name is Ember." Booth then says, "Oh. Digging up great-grandma's not the worst motive for murder I've ever heard." We had someone bring her in as she was in the interigation room with Booth and Temp as I watch from the other side as Booth begins questioning her, "Mary Harden Trent. That is your signature, correct?"

She looks at the paper, "Yes, though I prefer to go by Ember." "What do you say we step outside your little magical forest stay on point, okay? Our credit card records show that you purchased bat bones online. That true?" "Bat bones are an integral part of my religion." "Was that when you shoved those bat bones down her throat before or after you stabbed her?" "No, no, I swear upon the goddess that I'm incapable of such violence." Temp then asks, "How tall are you?" "Uh, 5'2?" Booth raises an old book that I lent him as he and Temp whisper something until he turns the book slamming it down on the table facing Ember. As he points to a picture, "There. That is your great-great-something-grandmother, Emily Quimby." Temp adds, "She was a witch too." Ember nods, "Yes. And she didn't deserve to die." Booth then asks, "What, did you boast to Zephyra that witchism ran in your family?" Temp adds, "And then she dug up your ancestor's bones to use in what you call dark rites." "What are you talking about? How could anyone do something like that? I-I had no idea."

Temp and I are back in the lab as there was still some puzzles missing from this case as Sweets walks from behind us as Clark comes over to us as he says, "Dr. Venus, I finally got the results back on the powder Dr. Hodgins collected on the pathway to the house." Sweets then says, "Oh, the circular pathway. Yeah, yeah. Usually, the person standing inside the circle is safe from the dark forces. But in this case, oddly, everything inside the circle was destroyed." I nod as I looked at Clark as it seems he wasn't finished talking as we were in the bone examination room, "Though the powder was des-" but he was interrupted again by Temp this time, "Angela isn't here for a computer re-creation, so we have to make do." Clark nods putting on gloves as well as Temp instructs him, "Please hold one and four in the proper position." I hand Sweets some gloves as well as Temp says, "Sweets, it's bilateral. Do the same."

I then begin explaining, "Ranger believes a witch named Ember to be the killer, but the victim was a large, heavily muscled woman. But Ember wasn't strong enough." Temp then says, "Ven and I observed her in the woods. She and the other Wiccans were standing in a circle, taking turns with their ceremonial object." Temp holds up the sternum as the other two hold up the four rib bones two on both sides as I look at them carefully as I start pointing out, "These stab marks reflect a similar pattern." They put down the bones as I go over to the X-ray's on the wall as I tart pointing out, "Now, these injuries are clustered." I use a erasable red marker marking where the stabbing points are, "Five grouping of three." Clark then says, "So a total of 15 strikes." Sweets adds, "In the same pattern as the dots on the chimney. It's a pentagram." I nod making the star shaped pentagram as I explain more, "It's an ancient Wiccan symbol that stands for solidarity." Sweets adds, "Some say sisterhood." Temp then says, "There are 15 women in the Circle of Moonwick. Ember alone wasn't the killer. The entire coven took part." Sweets then says, "No, they're Wiccans though. They're white witches. They stand for goodness." Clark then says, "What if they were stoned out of their minds?" Sweets looked at them confused as I ask, "What did you find Clark?" "The powder on the path is called secale cereale- rye flour. And it's infested with the fungus Claviceps purpurea." I nod, "Formed in the ergot stage of fungal development. it's hallucinogenic- the natural substance from which LSD is derived."