Venus POV
We were called in because there was a body found and as usual Temp and Booth are having a conversation debating on random things as usual as we arrived at the crime scene and get out of the car as Temp says, "Order in successful societies depends upon enforced rules." Booth then says, "People can do the right thing left on their own." "No, history shows otherwise. A weak government will always spawn mutiny and rebellion." I nod a bit and look at Booth, "I kind of agree with her on that one Ranger." "You don't believe in human decency under any circumstances." I shake my head, "No, of course there are people like that Ranger... but the others that aren't... Well let's just say that doesn't end up good at all later on." Temp then says, "Not as a means of controlling a population, no. The result would be anarchy." I nod agreeing as well as the officer that is going to show us the scene says, "Have to say I agree with the pretty ladies on this one. Without the strong arm of the law, we're animals. Sheriff Gus Abrams. Thank you for comin' out here."
I nod, "Our pleasure. May I ask what caused the fire?" "Well, it could be arson. The fire boys say they didn't find any sign of an accelerant. The source of the flame looks like a lit candle." Temp asks, "Was someone killed?" "Well, that's why we asked for you people." He then leads us to a closet as we go around to the opening revealing a skeleton remains standing inside as Booth says, "Oh, ho. Whoa. Okay. Is that real, Bones, Blueberry?" Temp and I begin doing some examination as I nod, "Yes." The sheriff then says, "I was hoping no." Temp begins explaining, "The bones were already dry and de-fleshed prior to the fire." I add, "The victim was elderly, female." Temp then looks inside the mouth as she says surprised, "Oh." Booth asks, "Oh? Wait. You usually don't say 'Oh." "It was an indication of my surprise." I smile at that as Booth says, "Well, I know that." I then tell her, "He's just wondering why you are surprised, Temp." "The bones have been re-articulated." The sheriff asks, "Is that bad?" I then add, "The skeleton has ben reassembled quite amateurishly." Temp then points out, "See how the right ulna has been placed with the left radius?" I nod, "That's so messed up." Booth then says a bit sarcastically, "Yeah. That's shoddy. That's shoddy work."
Angie was taking pictures as she calls us, "Hey, guys." Booth then answers, "Yeah." "Hodgins noticed that there's a path all the way around the house." Hodgins adds, "And Angela noticed that it was a circle." We look around the burnt down house seeing the stone circle around the house as I say, "Looks like it acted as a firebreak." "Also dusted with some fine powder." We hear cawing as we look up at the tree branches seeing that those were crows as the sheriff noticed us looking at them as he says, "Those are crows. You city people may not be familiar." I look at him for a bit, "No, we have them as well over there. But crows are carrion birds, Sheriff. They scavenge for fresh kill." Temp begins walking towards the crow's direction as I follow as well as Booth says, "Uh-oh! When they start flopping their elbows like that, they're hot on the trail for something." Angie then says, "Well, I don't wanna think about what she's after."
We then made it to another part of the house where it may seem to be the living room as Temp and I begin looking around until Temp found something as she says, "Ven, Booth?" We go over to her as Booth says, "Yeah." We then see the skull of another body as Booth says, "Okay, hold on. Let me get this." Him and Hodgins begin moving planks and other things off until it revealed the whole body as something white was embedded onto the skeletal remains as they wore red heels. Angie was first to say, "Oh, God. Whoa." She looks at Hodgins knowing what he was going to say, "D-Don't say it." "Oh, I've got to. We aren't in Kansas anymore." We then see the shoes on the feet begin to curl upwards surprising the group as Booth says, "Whoa! Okay. I don't like it when dead things move. Did you see that? It was moving there." I nod bending down to take a better look at the cause as I say, "This is going to be a really entertaining case." Booth looks at me, "You know Blueberry, sometimes your definition of entertainment is a bit too dark and a little bit startling ya'know." I just give him my famous goofy smile as he just smiles back shaking his head.
We were back at the lab with the two remains up on the platform as Cam comes up as she asks, "Who do you want to start with? The Wicked Witch of the east over here? The East, right?" Clark nods, "Right. She wore the red shoes." Temp then says, "We should start with the more recent remains." As Cam adds, "Which are sealed up. What is it with this job and corpses encased in mystery wrap?" I smile, "It just makes it the more fun." Cam hums as I continue, "Well the mystery stuff is most likely polystyrene ceiling insulation that melted in the fire and coated the body." Temp then asks, "What about the sparkle?" "Fluorescent bulbs explode afterward, shattering over the polystyrene." Temp nods as I look at Clark, "You, Hodgins, and I can find a way to unseal the remains." Clark nods as Cam then takes out a tool, "Well, let me see if I can get in here. She puts a small camera into the nose to make some evaluations as Clark puts up a zoomed in photo of the wrist, "Wire ligatures around the wrist indicate foul play." Cam then says looking into the nose, "No evidence of smoke inhalation. She was dead before the fire." Cam then looks at the other remains, "Now, that one is just weird." I nod a bit agreeing as Temp says, "These bones were found in a steel wardrobe. It preserved her in the fire."
Clark then begins explaining, "Uh, female, also Caucasian, 40 to 50 years old." I then add, "There's evidence of spinal kyphosis which would've given her a hunched posture." Temp then points up the temple of the skull, "This stain here on the forehead is the result of contact with copper. I've seen this before in disinterred bodies because of the copper hardware on coffins." Cam then says, "So someone robbed a grave, strung together a skeleton and stuck it in a wedding dress?" I nod as Temp says, "That's a reasonable conclusion." Calrk then says, "These are greenstick fractures. Extreme force was applied to the chest. And there's a clean-edged indentation of the spinous processes L2 and L3." I then say, "Thoracic crushing combined with the puncture wound. This woman was subjected to a kind of torture that was used in the 17th century." Cam asks surprised, "Torture?" I nod, "These injuries are consistent with a form of punishment used during the Salem witch trials." "She was a witch?"
Temp, Booth, and I are at the bar with Sweets as we tell him about the case as he asks excitedly, "A real Salem witch? That's awesome." I nod agreeing as Booth says, "Relax, simmer down." I then let Sweets know who is coming around to sit next to me, "The strontium isotope results verify Massachusetts." "Oh! Can I see it?" Booth asks confused, "What's the big deal?" "My first published work concerned the collective sociopathology behind the Salem witch trials. I'm a leading expert." Booth then says, "Shrinkery meets witchery. Now your head's probably about ready to explode, huh?" Temp then says, "It's a completely acceptable arena of study, even for a psychologist." Sweets smiles a bit, "Thank you. At last I feel validated." "Most cultures believe that some sort of supernatural power can be elicited through ritual." She then looks over at Booth, "Like you going to church." "Well, at least I don't ride there on my broomstick." I chuckle a bit as I then say, "Well Ranger, most witches align themselves with the Wiccans." Sweets nods adding, "But witchcraft is an extremely heterogeneous subject which encompasses the dark arts, like evil spells, sacrifices-"
Booth then says, "So you're saying this creepy old witch came back from the dead to kill this victim?" I shake my head, "No. Nothing like that Ranger." Sweets then asks me, "But we are talking about a three-century-old body that was rearticulated and costumed as a virgin, are we nod, Venus?" I nod, "Yes, given that time women were expected to be virgins on their wedding days." Sweets smiles, "I wanna work on the case." Booth asks, "What are you gonna do, cast a spell? Ha!" I then say, "He can work with me." Sweets nods, "Yeah, I wanna see if we can find a link between the old witch and the new witch." Booth finally agrees, "All right, go for it. It's all yours." Temp then says, "There's no evidence the other victim was a witch." "Aside from the fact she was wearing red slippers and her feet curled up after she was dead." He then gets a call answering as Sweets asks confused, "What?" Temp explains, "There's a completely scientific explanation for it." We listen to Booth ask he says, "B-y-r-d. Cheri Byrd." He hangs up as he then looks at us, "So that creepy house belonged to a woman by the name of Cheri Byrd, and she has a surviving brother."
Later on, I was back on the lab as Cam comes over to me, "I'm sorry and have a new appreciation for both you and Hodgins." I looked at her confused, "Thank you Cam... but why?" She then explains to me about Clark that had made his own experiment that was super boring and nothing creative at all and how she preferred seeing Hodgins and my antic ones. I couldn't stop laughing for a few minutes until I asked if he figured out how to get rid of the polystyrene and at least he did in cost of ruining his good new shoes that I know was his favorite shoes for work. After about 2 hours later Temp and I go up the platform where Clark has made progress on the remains as I look around not seeing Hodgins as I ask, "Hodgins isn't back yet?" "No. But I've made some progress. I found this."
He points to the sternum, "Sharp instrument trauma on the xiphoid process of the sternum. And anterior-medial aspect of ribs one and four, bilaterally." Temp then states, "She was stabbed repeatedly." "Yeah." I then say to Clark, "Make casts to analyze he striations and kerf characteristics to determine the weapon." Clark then remembered something as he quickly turns grabbing something showing us, "I also found this on the manubrium." Temp asks, "What is it?" "That's a Dr. Hodgins job, if we had him." I nod, "Yes, but since he isn't here, that leaves it up to me. Luckly I also have a doctorate on Geology/Mineralogy." I then think for a moment, "But I do wonder, neither of you haven't heard from him at all?" They shake their heads as Clark says, "He and Angela never came back last night. And since they used to be intimates, I decided not to push it. 'Cause that's none of my concern. Not at all. It's a little icky actually."
I begin to get a bit worried as Temp says, "It's not like them to just disappear. Something could be wrong." I nod agreeing as I was about to leave and figure out what happened to them until the phone begins to ring as I hand the evidence back to Clark and go answer the phone as I see it was Angie as I quickly answer having the call on speaker, "Angie?" We then hear her, "Yeah, hi." We then hear Hodgins as well, "And Hodgins. Help!" "Where are you two?" "We're in Berryville, Maryland. We're in jail." I was a bit surprised as Clark and Temp comes over as she asks, "Wh-Why are you in jail?" "Well, it goes a little like this. Uh- Hodgins got pulled over for driving like an old lady-" Hodgins cut her off, "Yeah, and Angela had an outstanding bench warrant." "Oh, you have a warrant too, Mr. Clean." Clark, Temp, and I just looked at each other as Temp then asks them, "Well, where is the evidence you collected yesterday?" Hodgins then says, "In jail with us." Angie then says, "We're stuck here until the judge shows up to set our bail. Who knows when that's gonna be." "Well, we need that evidence." I then say, "I'll tell Cam to come and get you." Hodgins then says, "Okay, a-a-a-also, uh, will you tell Clark to throw a blanket over my molting swallowtail caterpillars at 4:30, or they will die." I look at Clark as he didn't looked so amused as I just nod telling Hodgins, "Okay."
We ended the call and continued to work. Later that day Temp and I had lunch with Booth and Sweets as Booth says, "No, that sheriff out in Podunk was a decent guy. I'm sure Hodgins gettin' arrested- really good reason." Sweets then says, "I've been thinkin' about dead cats." I just looked at him hoping there was more he was going to add onto that as Temp says, "That doesn't seem like a good use of your time." He then adds liked I hoped, "Witches- the bad kind- use animal sacrifices in their spells, and black cats are particularly meaningful." Booth then explains, "I told Sweets the developer saw a dead cat on the victim's dining room table... before he went bald." Temp then asks, "What's the connection?" I then see connecting the two, "He thinks that she put a spell on him, didn't he?" Booth nods, "Yup." Sweets then says, "You should talk to their local coven." I nod agreeing as Booth says, "Wait. There's a local coven?" "Uh-huh. The Circle of Moonwick." Temp then says, "You said Wiccans were good whereas the victim was bad." Booth adds, "Yeah, they're probably competing for the same eye of newt."
I then say, "Actually Ranger, Wiccan ceremonies honor nature and the sanctity of live above all else." Temp adds, "They don't use eye of newt." I then look at Sweets, "Isn't tonight their waning moon ceremony." He nods, "Yes it is." he then pulls out a sheet of paper, "Now, I logged into their Web site using the name Lilith82. I, uh, got directions." He hands me then map as I nod impressed at Sweets as Booth takes the map from my hands as he asks, "Witches have Web sites? Gotta love the Internet, huh? So, witch hunt tonight?" I smile getting excited, "Ooh! Witch Hunter! New and exciting!" Temp says also smiling, "All right." Booth then says playfully, "You two bring the candles. I'll bring the broomstick."
We are now in the forest with flashlights looking for the location in the night as Temp whispers, "Could you not walk so loudly?" Booth then says, "Come on. Don't tell me you're afraid of witches." I smile trying to not laugh at the two as Temp corrects him, "Wiccans. No. But why waste an opportunity to observe them when they don't know they're being observed?" I nod agreeing, "Yeah, I agree with Temp ranger. This is really a rare and once in a lifetime opportunity to see a ceremonial up close like this." "You two wanna spy on witches?" We correct him, "Wiccans." Temp then says, "No, I want you to spy on them while Ven and I study them anthropologically." We see some sort of light up head not too far from us as we then hear people begin to chant. We get closer seeing people in white clocks around a fire chanting together in a circle as Booth says, "Ground zero." We hide behind bushes watching them at work as we watch as Temp says, "That's fascinating." I nod agreeing as we duck a bit more down to not be seen. We see one of the woman holding a straw doll as Booth asks, "What are they doing with that Blair Witch thingy?"
I explain, "It's a miniature effigy." We see them burning the doll up and put it inside of a stand. We then begin hearing drumming as they begin doing their ritual dance as they then take off their robes all of them being naked continuing the ritual dance as Booth says, "Wow." I blush a bit as Booth then says to us, "Okay, why is it when things like this happen, it always happen to people you don't wanna see naked, huh?" I smile trying not to laugh as Temp gives him a small glare as we then continue to watch until it was over. We are finally walking with two of the woman who now have their robes back on as Booth says, "Okay, so we have Rowan and Eden, right?" "Ember." "Ember. Exactly, Ember." Eden then says to us, "We'll give you the names society assigned to us, but not while in the sacred grove." "Oh, okay. Dancing naked is okay, but Christian names are forbidden. Got it." "We weren't doing anything wrong. Why are you disrupting a religious service?" "You know what happened to your friend Zephyra?" Temp then asks, "Is this by any chance a totem representing her?" Temp shows the burned-up doll as Ember says, "We were marking the end of Zephyra's corporeal life." Eden adds, "Celebrating the reunification of her spirit with the elements." I then ask, "Why would you do that unless she was a member of your coven?"
Eden shakes her head, "She was not one of us." Booth then says, "A bad witch." Eden explains, "Sadly, Zephyra performed magic for profit. She was known to use human relics." I ask, "Such as the body of a Salem witch?" "I don't know where she would get something like that, but that would be an immensely powerful relic, yes." Booth then says, "So she has other clients. We're gonna have to talk to them." Eden then adds, "The dark arts are fragile, Agent Booth. Zephyra's clients employed her to do evil." "Bad people getting other bad people to do bad things." I nod, "Yeah, I understand that one very much."
We came back as I was in the lab starting to do test work and other stuff Hodgins would normally do as Sweets called me in as I left it for both Clark and Cam to work on together as we were digging through some books and scripters of everything historical that has to do with witches and the Salem Witch herself as we go to Booths office as he sees us carrying piles of books and writing as he says, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." Sweets then says, "Cheri Byrd was a dark witch, perhaps even a Satanist." "Yeah. Well- The Wiccans really seemed afraid of her. What is all this?" I give him a big excited smile, "Sweets and I found the transcripts of the Salem Witch trials and we thought maybe we could identify the remains that Cheri Byrd dressed up in the wedding dress." Booth reads the highlighted lines, "Prudence Sullivan, female 48 years of age, small stature, 'with back bent as though burdened by great weight of guilt.' Guilt." I then say, "This here matches our descriptions of the Salem witch in our lab."
Booth nod, "Old, short, hunched over. Sounds like every other witch." Sweets then says, "No, no, no. That's a stereotype. Forty-eight is old?" "Well, it was back then. I can't believe you two got all this stuff." "Okay, trust us. A Salem witch doesn't just show up in Maryland. Her grave was robbed for a reason." I nod, "We know our witches." Booth tries grabbing a pile off Sweets hands as everything falls over as he apologizes, "Sorry." I just placed my pile down on the seats across from Booth's desk as Booth says to Sweets, "Just put it down. Relax. Slow down." "Just- I did so-" "Sit- Shh!" "So much reading." I then get a text from Cam saying that the results came in as I quickly excused myself from the two and went back to the lab.
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DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN "BONES". IT IS OWNED BY JOSEPHSON ENTERTAINMENT, BY HART HANSON. I ONLY CLAIM MY CHARACTER VENUS BRENNAN. I ALSO DON'T OWN ANY OF THE IMAGES. THANK YOU.