The Writer at the Lincoln Memorial

The Search

Over at The Jeffersonian, Cam looked up Laney's parents' contact information and texted it to Booth, who in return, had the gut wrenching task of delivering the news of their daughter's death. They told Booth that they'd be on the next flight out. As Meredith sat in Bones' office, trying to figure out how Laney's remains traveled all the way from Mississippi to Washington, D.C. without raising any red flags, she became increasingly frustrated because she wasn't getting the answers that she desperately needed to help solve the case. "How's it going, MC," questioned Bones as she entered her office. "I'm getting nowhere, Mom," Meredith replied. "Dr. B.," said Hodgins as he rushed into Bones' office. Bones replied, "What is it, Jack?" Hodgins answered, handing a Petrie dish to Bones, "I found the tip of a latex glove between Laney's third and fourth intercostal ribs." On a hunch, Meredith took the Petrie dish, carefully removed the tip of the latex glove from the dish, turned it inside out, and placed it into an airtight chamber with heated superglue. This process, known as cyanoacrylate fuming, will determine if a print is present by reacting with the amino acids within the latent print, and will produce a sticky, white material that will form along the ridges of the fingerprint, which can then be scanned into AFIS or Automated Fingerprint Identification System— and it worked.

Meredith placed the print under an electron microscope and discovered that the print, presumably that of the killer, was that of a right index finger. She took it to Angela, who then ran it through AFIS— there was no match. Cam suggested, "We could send the print over to the crime lab in Mississippi and let them run it through their database to see if they get a hit." Bones, Angela, Hodgins, and Meredith nodded their heads in agreement. Bones said, "I'm gonna go call Booth and get him up to speed on our findings and let him know about our decision to contact the crime lab in Mississippi." Cam, Angela, Hodgins, and Meredith nodded as Bones stepped out to call Booth. "Thanks for the update, Bones. I love you. Tell Mer I love her, too. Okay, bye," said Booth. "You're welcome. I love you more. I'll tell her. Okay, bye," Bones replied.