Venus POV
I am back in the lab as we Cam got the evidence and told me that Angie and Hodgins had to wait until bail since the Sheriff made a great point, so we now are talking to them on the computer as we see them behind bars as Clark says, "Nice cell." Hodgins then says back, "It's not much, but we call it home. Angie then adds, "Yeah, we're thinking of redoing the kitchen." I chuckle a bit as I then pull up an image of what Clark found earlier as I explain, "This here is amber." Hodgins nods, "It's melted at 400 to 700 degrees Fahrenheit- temperatures easily reached in the fire." Angie then asks, "Is that a bug in there?" Hodgins then says excitedly, "Oh, yeah, baby. Check out those tibial bristles." We then see the Sheriff in the view looking at the computer image as Angie and Hodgins looks at him. This makes Cam and I chuckle a bit and amuses Clark a bit as well as Angie says to him, "There's plenty of room in here, Sheriff, if you wanna join us." We see him move away, "Oh, no. That's against regulations." I then say, "I'm fairly certain we're looking at Nedocosia naiba. But just in case I'll verify with the entomology department." Hodgins nods, "Yeah, good idea. It's a fungus gnat." Clark then asks, "Okay, does that help with time of death?"
I shake my head, "No, and this gnat would've had his last fungus about 100 million years ago. in the Lower Cretaceous." Angie then says, "So if we remove the D.N.A., we could re-create dinosaurs, right?" I chuckle, "That would be a huge discovery and not really something we should be having currently in this time and age." Angie nods a bit understandingly as Hodgins says, "It was probably an amber pendant from an ordinary piece of jewelry." Angie then asks, "What's with the hair?" We looked confused as Clark asks, "What hair?" Hodgins then says, "Oh, yeah, she's right. Check out that speck at 3:00." I move the image over a bit as we see the hair as I say, "The amber probably picked up a piece of hair when it melted in the fire." Clark then says, "But our victim's hair was gray and wavy." Hodgins then says, "Yeah, but this one is dark." Cam then says, "If the root bulb's present, it could be an indicator the hair was forcibly removed." We then hear from the Sheriff, "So that could be from the prep." I smile as Hodgins and Angie give him a look as he says, "Sorry. Caught up in the thrill of the chase." I chuckle a bit, "It's alright Sheriff, we all do when getting a new piece of evidence." Cam then says, "I'll run D.N.A. So, how are you guys doing?"
Angie was first to speak, "Uh, well, I mean, we'd- we'd like to get out of here, if that's what you mean." "I'm sure you will. Thanks, guys." We end the video call as we all get back to work as I go over to Temp and work with the victims. About two hours later Cam comes up the platform to us, "The hair in the amber gave us a hit. CODIS says it belongs to one Murray Huddler," She brings up an image of the suspect as she adds on, "convicted of assault in 2008. Paroled last October. Now, this may possible go towards a motive." She then pulls out an article that described the assault attack as it shows of him and his ex-wife on their wedding picture as Cam says, "It certainly goes toward creepy coincidence." Temp then reads out the headline, "Dumped Hubby Decks Attorney.' So this man was incarcerated for assaulting his ex-wife's attorney?" Cam explains more into it, "Huddler's wife dumped him, hosed him in a divorce, then married the lawyer that represented her. But look at this. Anything looks familiar to you?"
She zoomed into the picture as we noticed that it was the same wedding dress as our Salem witch as I say, "You're good Cam." Cam smiles, "I try." Temp then says pointing to the dress, "She's wearing this dress." I then say, "I'll tell Ranger about it and we'll see if he can find Huddler." They nod as I leave to make the call." About a few hours later Booth sends over a knife found on Huddler as we examined it as I then say in the bone examination room with the others, "Huddler's fishing knife is thin, very sharp on one edge, and has a slight curve at the tip." Temp then looks at the bone that was cut, "The blade that made these cuts is thicker, evenly tapered and sharp on both edges, like a dagger." Cam then says, "Definitely not a match." Temp notices something on one of the bones on the table, "What's this?" Clark then explains, "Fragments of the hyoid and throat cartilage, damaged by a fire and crushed by a house. The acetone probably didn't help."
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."
Sweets nods seeing where this is leading, "Yes, it was used for ceremonial purposes centuries ago in Salem. Some people think that exact substance was responsible for the hysteria surrounding the witch trials in the first place." Clark then says, "Those naked ladies were trippin'." "Add that to the rituals, and they may have thought the demon they were slaying was real." Later Booth had people bring in the 15 witches as we were in the conference room as Eden says, "Wiccans do not ingest any kind of consciousness-altering drugs." Booth then says, "Not on purpose." Sweets then explains to them, "We believe you were performing a ritual meant to keep Zephyra's evil from spreading past the circle." I add, "A ritual using rye flour." Eden then says, "We use rye flour in many ceremonies." We nod as Sweets continue to explain, "Yeah, and it has LSD fungus in it. That's what made you afraid of Zephyra. You thought that her obsession with the black arts could destroy you." I add, "You also knew that she had Ember's ancestor's bones on her side." The ladies look at each other as Booth goes up to them, "I mean, your good witches. You're nice people. You don't lie. But when you make a mistake you wanna make that mistake right. Right?"
Ember then comes forward and says, "We were just trying to help. We wanted Zephyra to live in harmony. She kept cursing at us and casting spells. We just wanted to restore the balance." After that we got the confession, we needed, and many officers took them away as we finally solved the case. Later that day we were at the bar as Wendell came over to hang out with us as we all had our drinks for another case we closed as we tell him about the whole witch in the wardrobe case as Booth then says, "They were good people." Temp then says, "Good people who butchered another human being." I then say, "Well, they were being attacked." Wendell adds, "Don't forget they weren't in their right minds either." I nod pointing at him agreeing as Booth says agreeing, "Sometimes, you know, people, they just get carried away." Temp then says, "Well, crazy people." We look at Booth as he takes out a little paper shaped doll as I smile chuckling at his creation as Temp asks, "What is that?" "This was given to me by the witches. Look, it's you- little Bones." I start chuckling more as Temp says, "No, it's not." Booth laughs with me as he says, "Yes, it is. You see, the witch said that if I burned this in your presence, then the wish I make for you will come true." Wendell then asks as Booth takes out a lighter, "You think that actually works?"
We shrug as I say, "Why not? Either way if it works then something good will happen to Temp and if not then we will just be going on with our lives as normal." Booth turns on the lighter getting the figure closer as Temp says, "You think I care, but I don't. It's just superstition, and for superstition to work, the person has to believe that he or she is cursed or under a spell." I looked at Temp amused along with Wendell as we see Booth close his eyes wishing something as he gets the figure closer to the fire actually burning it as it lights up in flames quickly burning as Temp says, "Watch you don't burn your fingers!" Booth then asks, "Want to know what I wish for?" "No. It doesn't matter. Completely irrelevant." "I wish- I wished that you could find happiness." Wendell and I looked at them and then at each other as we both had the same thoughts as we stand up as I say, "I'm getting really tired and I have a lot of paperwork to finish tomorrow and meetings that I have to attend. So I'll be heading home." Wendell adds, "Yeah, I have to go as well." He looks at me, "I'll drop you off first?" I smile nodding, "Yeah, that would be great." The other two wave us bye as we let them have alone time as we made our way to my apartment.
As we finally get there, I turn to Wendell giving him a loving kiss as he gives me one back. We then separate as I say, "Thank you for the ride bub." "I'll always be here for you doll." I give him a warm smile, "You're really the best you know." "I could say the same thing about you ya'know." We laugh a bit as I then get out of the car as he says, "I can take you up to your apartment." I shake my head, "No, it's fine. Get home safe alright. Text me when you get there?" He nods, "I will make sure. Say hi to Jupiter for me." I nod, "Of course." He watches me go inside my building before he leaves as I make my way to the top floor where Temp and my apartment lies as I open the door entering as I shut the door as I feel something off as I pace myself slowly until I feel something reaching from behind me as I quickly turn grabbing their arm and elbowing them harshly in the center of the lower ribs as I could feel the air knocked out of them as I then maneuver my leg between their leg and kicking one of their legs becoming unbalanced before throwing them over my shoulder harshly into the ground as I twist their arm behind them.
I then hear a familiar voice as they say, "Ow!" I quickly get off them and go turn on the light to see that it was Patrick Jones as I question, "Jones?" He gets up rubbing his arm giving me a small painful smile, "Hey there little Lioness. I see you still got it after all these years." I nod going to him giving him a hug as he hugs me back as I ask, "I haven't seen you since that party. What are you doing here? How did you get in?" "Well, there are some things that haven't changed and found that spare key of yours hidden inside the cut-out wall. Very well hidden I must say." I nod a bit, "Well since you're inside you want something to drink?" He shakes his head, "No, thank you. I rather have something important to give you and thought I should be the one to do it instead of someone else. Let's take a seat." I nod a bit curious and confused on what the matter could be since he didn't look so pleased on giving me whatever news it was.
We take a seat as I then ask, "What's wrong Jones?" He takes a deep breath sighing, "I really didn't want it to come down to this and I even argued about it but..." I looked at him confused, "But...?" He then hands me a letter as I take it as it shows on the side of the envelope was stamped classified as I start getting a chilling feeling running down my spine as I ask, "Are-are they calling me back?" He nods sadly, "Yes... I'm not sure of the exact details on why they want you back, but it'll be different from just going back to service." I look at him before opening the letter, "Is it some sort of mission?" He nods, "It seems so. It's best to look what's inside." I nod as I open the envelope pulling out some papers as I begin reading it as Jones wait patiently. After a few minutes of silence reading the letter, I start getting a bit mad as I scrunch the sides of the pages a bit as I then say, "Those assholes... I can't believe they're sending me on a solo mission to retrieve stollen information." He looks at me curiously, "Stolen information?" I nod, "Yes." "If it is like that, shouldn't we be sending special forces team to retrieve those stollen information?" I nod, "They should, but it seems the problem is that they can't track down the group nor their leader behind it." "Why would they send you alone, if you don't even know what or who they are?"
I take another deep breath, "It's because the information they stole was about me and everything that happened during those five years." It seems that he understood as he then says, "That means they are looking to create that same dose that is imbedded in you." I nod, "Yeah, it does." He gives me a sad look, "But you going alone is suicidal. They still shouldn't put you to do it alone!" He then stands up, "I am going to have a hearing with them, because you don't need this anymore after what you already been through for them! All they are doing is taking advantage of you and using you like a toy!" I quickly stand up trying to calm him down, "Jones! Calm down! It's going to be okay." He looks at me calming down a bit, "But it's not. You already done so much for them, and they can't even let you go and enjoy your life." "I know, Jones.
But I signed to those agreements when I first left, and I can't be seen as someone who breaks their promise or disobey their commands. You know that I will be in serious trouble if I do." He sighs a bit nodding as we sit back down on the couch as Jupiter comes over to us and lays his head on my lap as I pat his head in comfort as we stay silent for a few seconds as he then says, "Doing this mission will take years since you don't know where to start looking." I nod agreeing as we sit quietly for a few moments as I get an idea as I say, "Or maybe not." He look at me curiously as I continue, "I think I can complete this mission in about three months?" He looks at me shocked, "Three months?" I nod, "It will be dangerous and may very well take my life to do this. But it's something I'm willing to do, but I'm going to need your help, Jones." He looks at me for a bit seeing my determination as he nods agreeing, "I'm with you little Lioness, what do we do first?" "We need to start planning carefully and strategically as well as take care of things here for when I am gone for three months or prepare for the worst even." He nods agreeing.
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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.