BONES AU - PART THREE "The Cannibal in Question"

CHAPTER TEN

"Yeah, Koda... I believe that."

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Scott left from the prison to talk to Dobium in the F. B. I. conference room. Dobium was not happy with this.

"Normal person gets blown to hell? They go home, pour a glass of wine, watch tv!" He said once Scott entered the room.

Scott rolled his eyes. This was not what he wanted to talk about. "Dobium, I think it should be worth something that Koda turned himself in."

Dobium raised an eyebrow. "Bumpin' into Joe at the hospital is not the same as turning himself in."

"That's not what happened."

"That's what Joe's official report says."

"No. Koda turned himself in but I convinced Joe to let him go see Hayley at the hospital."

"I did not hear that."

Scott didn't understand the sarcasm, so he spoke louder. "Koda turned himself in, but I convinced Joe to let him go see Hayley at the hospital!"

"Do I have this straight? You're a genius? An honest to goodness, dyed in the wool genius?"

"Um... Yes?"

"Dr. Hoying, I like you - on and off, anyways - but your brother is a material witness in my murder case. I cannot recommend that he be set free."

Scott thought for a second. "...Please?"

"Aww, well. Now that you said please..."

"Was that sarcasm?"

"YES."

"Oh..."

"Look, best I can do is arrange for you to speak at your Brother's parole hearing. Looking the way you do, maybe the judge will feel sorry and let him go." Dobium said as he picked up his files and walked out.

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This was not Scott's day. At all. Kirstie always had news, right? Yes, she did, so that's where he went. Right as he got there, Kirstie started talking.

"These are the marks left by Gormogons teeth. I reverse engineered a dental set. So, this is what the front plate of Gormogon's teeth look like. Top and bottom from incisor to incisor. Also, hiya Dr. Hoying!"

Scott was more focused on what was on the information rather than the greeting. "Okay."

Kirstie pointed to a different screen. "These are the teeth from the bomb." She then moved the one set on top of the other set on the screen.

"It's a match. It was Gormogons tooth lodged in my shoulder. That's a lovely thought."

"The tooth found in your shoulder, was chipped. In fact all of the teeth we found, almost a full set, were chipped."

"Due to the explosion?"

"No. These marks here? Were made by common hardware store pliers."

"He pulled out his own teeth?"

"I don't know. Certainly they were removed with pliers.

Scott shook his head. "That's what happened, Kirstie. Gormogon pulled out all his teeth - one by one with pliers - and put them in a bomb. Joe was right. He meant to kill us. Great."

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The intern walked out to the platform where Mitch and Kevin were with her new information and more.

"I was photographing the skeleton in preparation for taking it apart, when I noticed this on a rib." She pullsed up a screen showing a bone with a number on it.

Kevin tilted his head at the screen. "1026? What is it?"

Kirstie blinked at him for a moment before answering. "It's a number."

Mitch snorted. "No, Kirstie, Kevin meant, "What does it mean?""

Kevin nodded. "Code?"

Kirstie shrugged. "It could be a ordinal index automata. I could start a solution but it would extend into infinity."

"And how long would that take?" Mitch asked.

Kirstie raised an eyebrow at him. "Infinity. Obviously."

Kevin shook his head. "How about that alphanumeric business stuff or whatever?"

Mitch scratched the back of his neck. "Uh...JBF."

Kirstie groaned. "Meaningless."

Mitch lit up for a second. "No. wait a minute. I got it. He's an artist. He's finished something and It's terrible, but to him this is a piece of art. It's a signature!"

Kirstie looked confused. "1026 is a number, not a name."

Mitch shook his head. "No, I'm telling you. This is a signature."

Kevin thought about this. "The vault is like a museum of the Gormogons right? Then why don't we just look in safe deposit box 1026?"

Mitch scoffed. "Because they're all rigged to blow!"

Kirstie raised a finger. "Oh, I solved that one. In my head. While having my Cup-a-Soup!"

Kevin and Mitch looked at her and spoke at the same time. "Wow."