Broken Bones

Episode 72 "The Dentist in the Ditch" Part 1

Venus POV

We are at the crime scene as Booth explains to Temp and I about Jared, "Jared's only known her for a month. One month." I nod listening as Temp says, "The Confederate soldiers at Farmville were so hungry... they scavenged seed and corn from horse excrement. Booth nods, "Tasty. But who marries someone after a month?" Temp then says, "I thought you believed in love at first sight." I then say, "I think Ranger only means it in the movies Temp." Booth nods, "Exactly. Not for Jared." We arrived looking down at the skeletal remains as he says, "Oh! Look at this. What is with the red dirt?" 

I was about to answer as someone from outside the yellow tape says who's wearing a rebel uniform says, "Well, the pine needles left behind tannic acid, which acts like red dye." Booth asks, "Who are these guys?" I shrug, "I'm not sure. But he's right. And years of tobacco farming drained the land of nutrients." The other soldier who's a Yankie says, "Which caused the topsoil to wash away, which left behind hard clay." I nod smiling, "Yes, that's right. You two know your stuff." Temp adds, "You're better informed scientifically than your apparel might suggest." The Rebel guys say, "Well, as amateur historians, we've studied this battle, the terrain, military maneuvers." Booth then says, "You don't say." The Yankie asks, "Could you by any chance tell us... if that's a fallen Union soldier or a dead rebel?" I brush a bit of the dirt off the skull as I say, "The angle of the jaw indicates a male. Otherwise, we can't tell anything until we get the remains back to the lab." Booth nods as he yells out, "All right, we're gonna need a backhoe." I add, "And a cement cutter." "And a cement cutter. You and Bones really love the heavy machinery." I smile, "What can I say, I love my gadgets."

Temp and I are back with the remains with Cam and Vincent as Temp says, "This trauma to the sternum is degraded. It's as thought the bone has demineralized over time." Cam suggests, "Maybe he got bayoneted, and then the clay leached out the calcium." Vincent then says, "During the American Civil War, diseases such as typhoid fever, dysentery... and tuberculosis killed twice as many men as battle wounds." Cam nods, "That could be relevant." I input some things on the computer and looked at some x-rays as I say, "Sadly its not. Sorry Vincent." Cam asks, "Why?" "That is not a Civil War casualty." I show them the x-ray as Vincent says, "Ah. Reconstructive surgery." Temp adds, "Titanium screws." Vincent continues, "Which were not introduced until the mid-60s. Completely relevant to the matter at hand, I believe." Temp then says, "It's going to be very difficult to extract the remains from this clay. without damaging the bones."

Vincent suggests, "Perhaps we could spray it with liquid nitrogen? Give it a short, sharp shock?" I shake my head, "No. Freezing the clay with gas would make the bones brittle and could destroy evidence. It would be rather better to get Hodgins and let him work on it." I see Cam looking at something as I walk over to her as Vincent still try's to come up with an idea with Temp as I ask Cam, "What is it?" She shrugs pointing the light at a certain opening as we see something. We both looked at it confused until we see so many spiders coming out as we both scream backing away holding each other startling the other two. Temp asks, "Wh-what happened?" Cam points, "Spiders." I add, "As you realized we don't like spiders. And there are thousands of little spiders coming out-" I look at Vince, "Go get Hodgins." He nods, "I'll go get Hodgins." He leaves as Cam says, "I really don't like spiders." Temp then says, "I don't mind them actually." I nod, "I know you don't Temp, that's why you are the one to take care of the bugs in the house."

Hodgins was sucking up the spiders as he explains, "Spider eggs were on the body before it was encased in the clay. And the heat in the lab caused the eggs to hatch, and when Cam shone your flashlight, they headed for the light." Vincent then says, "Based on mandibular dentition, the victim is late 20's, early 30s." Cam then says, "Dr. Hodgins, I can, uh, still see one in his mouth." He nods, "Yep. These bad boys are Frontinella communis. They're nonposinous." I nod, "Yup... Still with those gross spider faces and legs though." Hodgins then says, "This spider's not found in the area where the body was discovered." Vincent adds, "Indicating that the victim was probably offed elsewhere."