Chapter Text
"This place smells like a... A raccoon's butt or something!"
"That's what we find in every crime scene, Booth".
"Nah, this one really stinks. More than that, it reeks of evil. Pure, unadulterated evil. Can't you feel it, Bones?"
"No, I can't feel an abstraction. Sorry".
Booth let it go, knowing Brennan as well as he did. But he also knew, due to his years of expertise, that a particularly demented psycho —the kind that pops up every few years— was behind this... Whatever it was. From the tombstone he stood in, he could only make out two severed heads on top of a tombstone and something that looked like an oversized raisin.
"This is a human heart, Booth", Cam informed, knelt on the ground. She was holding up the 'raisin'. "And it's very hot".
"Ugh!" Booth grimaced, trying to look away. "Was it put in a microwave or something?"
And of course, Cam had to smell the thing.
"More like... an oven. There's curry and mayo in it too. You were right, big boy, this looks like the work of a psycho".
Usually, Dr. Brennan would have frowned upon such layman terminology, but now she was busy examining the two skulls.
"Females, both in their late teens. Caucasian, similar dental work... Fractures above the eye sockets. We'll take all of this to the Jeffersonian".
***
The remains had spooked the squints pretty badly. Even Hodgins, who loved working with disgusting things, had gagged upon learning that the killer had cooked a human heart and seasoned it.
"At least the killer didn't take a bite, right?"
"No, no identifiable bite marks", Cam confirmed.
"Yet", Fisher added.
"Are you excited about this?" Angela grimaced.
"No, not excited, I just find it interesting. Could we be facing the Hearts Killer? Only time will tell..." Fisher finished his speculation in an ominous voice.
"You'd sound less creepy if you stopped saying things like that, Fisher..."
Fisher raised his hands.
"Hey, I'm just saying... We haven't had a serial killer in a while".
"Could we focus on these two murders first, please?" Cam put her squints in order. "I'm going to keep working on the heart".
***
Hours later Angela identified the skulls: they belonged to Brianna and Lynn Walsh, 19-year-old cousins from Philadelphia.
"Such young girls..." She lamented while looking at the photos of the redheads.
"Were they reported as missing?" Brennan asked.
Angela typed something quick.
"Yeah, for two weeks. Last seen in this neighborhood in Philly".
"I'll tell Booth to call the parents in..." Brennan started to leave. "I hate this part..."
***
Brennan paid the mandatory visit to her intern of the week. He had both skulls on separate tables.
"Anything else on the skulls, mister Fisher?"
"The beheadings were done with a dented object, as we can see here and here", Fisher pointed.
"Chainsaw", Brennan said.
"Most likely. But it gets more interesting".
"How so?"
"Well, at first I thought the fractures in the occipital area were the fatal blows, but then I noticed a circular cut around one of the mastoid bones..."
Fisher dragged a magnifying glass and pointed it behind the ears of one of the skulls. Brennan frowned at it.
"This type of cut is consistent with scalping practices in the first Scythian tribes", she said.
"Exactly. I found it in all four mastoids. And in order to complete the scalpings the killer had to break the ethmoid bones like THIS!" Fisher mimicked the motion with his hands.
"Was the scalping done pre or postmortem, mister Fisher?"
"Pre..." He answered and Brennan gulped. "Yeah, those are painful deaths".
"Historically, human scalpings were inflicted upon dead or dying victims. It was easier to pull out the hair that way. I'm going to take a closer look".
She grabbed the magnifying glass and squinted over the top of the skull.
"There are small red dots here... The victims fought back, they tried to escape".
"Oh, man..." Even Fisher was spooked.
"Good job, mister Fisher. I'll tell Booth about your findings".
***
Booth shuddered when the phone rang at his FBI office at 11 p.m. He had that gut feeling again.
"Agent Booth".
"Yes, hello, this is officer DiMarco from the DC police department. We received a phone call a minute ago that you might be interested in?"
"Might? Why is that?"
"Well, it came from a house near the cemetery where you guys found those body parts. We have the recording here, are you ready to hear it?"
"I am".
"Okay, here we go..."
There was the distinctive sound of someone pushing a button on a tape recorder.
"This is the DC Police Department. How may I help you?"
"I live in front of a cemetery!" An old lady shouted.
"Okay... Is this regarding the FBI and Forensics visit a few days ago?"
"Yes... Such lovely people, those investigators! It was my husband who called them in, you know? The smell, it was awful!"
"I'm sure it was, ma'am. But the reason for this call is...?"
"Oh, Robbie thinks I'm seeing things, that I'm crazy, but I know what I saw the night before those body parts showed up!"
"What did you see? Please be as detailed as possible".
"Well, I had a coughing fit, you know how sleep apnea can be..."
"Sure".
"And well, after it had passed I went for a glass of milk. Then I looked out the window, I don't know why, and I saw a truck. What do they call them? Range Rovers, yes".
"Was there someone inside the Range Rover?"
"Yes. He was wearing sunglasses and black clothes. And he... He looked at me".
"He looked at you?"
"I could feel his eyes on me, even through the sunglasses... I can't explain it, but I know! He noticed I was staring down the window and looked at me for a terrifying moment".
"Can you describe this man?"
"He was white, that's all I could make out in the dark. But I remember his license plate very clearly".
"Wow, you must be good with numbers, then!"
"No, there were no numbers. His license plate said 'BASTARD MAN' in capital letters".
"Bastard Man? And this driver just took off?"
"Yes!" The old lady's voice trembled. "He sped right into the highway... I know I should have called sooner, that man looked evil! And when me and my husband woke up we had that stench in the cemetery..."
"Alright, ma'am, calm down. We'll do everything in our power to catch this murderer. Be rest assured that you have been very helpful, and we'll be reporting this to the FBI".
"Don't tell the evil man that it was me, please!"
"We won't ma'am, don't worry, these calls always remain anonymous. Take good care now, okay? A backup unit will be send to your home just in case".
"Thank you, thank you!"
"You're welcome. Goodbye now".
The recording ended there.
"Agent Booth?"
"Yeah, sorry, I was thinking. It can't be hard to track down someone with that license plate, right?"
"Well, even if he changed it during his escape, we can track down who bought it, yes".
"Excellent. I'll tell my people to be on the lookout for that Range Rover. Thanks for your help, officer".
"My pleasure. Have a good night, agent Booth!"
"Night".
Booth got up and closed the blinders in his office. Just in case.
***
The following morning, doctor Sweets was called in. Both and Brennan had him standing before the Walsh girls alive photographs for minutes.
"Now would be a good time to point out something 'interesting', Sweets", Booth said, doing the air quotes.
After a sigh, Sweets spoke:
"The victims had red hair, which is a very rare genetic trait, as Dr. Brennan surely knows—"
"Of course I know".
"Okay, so to me that is not a coincidence. I think the killer might have targeted these girls specifically for their hair color, and he had to be very patient to find them. It explains the beheadings and scalpings".
"You think he kept the hairs as trophies?" Booth said.
"Most likely".
"Wait, how are you two so sure it's a he?" Brennan asked.
"Bones, the old lady phone call?" Booth reminded her.
"Could be anecdotal".
"Well", Sweets butted in, "there are zero documented cases of this type of murder being committed by a female, Dr. Brennan".
"Alright, moving on", Booth said. "The cooked heart. What do you make of it, Sweets?"
"Oh, that is..." Sweets chuckled in fear. "That definitely enters the realm of paraphilias. But we won't know in which way until we find more about the murderer".
"Okay", Brennan said. "That helps us little, but thank you!" And she started leaving.
"Aw, c'mon!" Sweets whined.
"Yeah, Bones, give him some credit", Booth added, patting Sweets on the back. "I think it's a good starting point. My guys can find all the redheaded women in Philly".
"Alright..." Brennan conceded from the door. "We'll keep working in finding the killer's DNA".
***
Hodgins wasn't surprised to find no traces of the murderer's DNA on the victims. He kept clicking his tongue as he analyzed the organic matter he'd gathered from the skulls, until a new image popped on his computer screen.
"Yes!" He fisted the air in triumph.
"You found something?" Fisher approached him by rolling his computer chair.
"Hell yeah, baby!" Hodgins pointed at the screen. "Saprophytic mold. Commonly found in dead animals. In this case I found it in one of the victim's eye sockets".
"Okay, but how will we know which animal?"
"This type of mold usually leaves DNA traces. So I'll just send the sample to Zoology..." He typed on the keyboard.
As they waited, Fisher popped in a Tic-tac.
"You're actually enjoying this, aren't you?" Hodgins asked him.
"Hey, it's not every day you get to see murders like the ones in the movies".
Hodgins smiled.
"So you're thinking we're dealing with a Michael Myers type?"
"Yeah. It'll be good publicity for the lab if we solve this case".
"If? No, no, don't jinx us, man... When. Say, when we solve this case".
Fisher did a thumbs up as he chewed on the tic-tacs.
"Fine. When we solve it".
In that moment Cam barged in, breathing heavily and with a tray in her hands.
"Finally finished with the heart", she announced. "Found this herb in it. Your call, Dr. Hodgins".
Hodgins put the tray to rest and stared at the small herb.
"I can't believe the killer actually seasoned the heart", Fisher commented.
"Mr. Fisher, please..." Cam said. "There were no bite marks, so don't get too excited". Fisher just raised his eyebrows, surprised. "Did you find anything, Dr. Hodgins?"
"Saprophytic mold in the eye sockets".
"Dead animal. Okay".
"Yeah, I sent the samples to the Zoology department..." Hodgins' computer let out a beep. He had a new email. "Oh, they've just replied..." He started reading in silence. "They say there's DNA from a capuchin monkey in the mold".
"Those are illegal as pets", Fisher said.
"Not in all states", Hodgins pointed out, a smile forming in his lips. "And you know which state is very flexible about exotic animals?"
"... Pennsylvania", Cam cringed.
"Exactly. Looks like it all points to Philly".
***
Two days later, another female head was found on the border between Washington and Maryland. The team had to hurry.