BONES AU - PART FOUR "Princess and the Pear"

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER ONE

As Scott arrived at the lab, Mitch greeted him with a smile. "How's Joe?"

"Dr. Patel suspects a herniated disc in Joe's lumbar region. We'll know which vertebrae when the X-rays get here."

"So you didn't actually paralyze him?"

"No. The vicodin seems to be working. He claims it makes the furniture feel friendly. But he'll be on bed rest for the remainder of the week."

Kevin joined them to their walk to the platform just in time to hear that last part. "So you're okay?"

Scott nodded. "Of course. I wasn't the one who was injured. Admittedly, I shouldn't have let Joe talk me into adjusting him." They reached the forensic platform to see a female agent standing with her hands behind her back. "Agent Perotta."

The agent smiled. "Dr. Hoying. Nice to see you, I was honored you requested me as a substitute for Agent Hobbs."

"The variables involved in breaking in a new person outweigh the benefit of possibly finding a better investigator." Scott shrugged.

Perotta raised an unamused eyebrow. "Aw, let's not get gushy about it."

Kevin snorted as he got out the case file. "In other news, Agent Perotta and I inspected the dump site, and I cleared the body to be transported back to the lab. We haven't determined identity yet."

Scott frowned. "Joe usually lets me conduct my own examination at the scene."

Perotta looked up at him. "Well would you like to go back, then?"

Scott shook his head. "No. I'll examine the remains here, thank you." Scott reached the examination tables to find his returning intern, Antonio 'Tony' Black. "Mr. Black, welcome back. What are your preliminary findings?"

Tony nodded and looked up from the remains. "Victim is female, twenty-five to twenty-nine years old. Severe damage to the skull; the mandible is almost completely severed."

Scott looked at the remains, nodded in agreement and looked closer. "Avulsions to the tissue at the maxillary and mandibular incisors, that's very unusual."

Tony nodded. "Almost like her face got hit with a wrecking ball."

Scott huffed. "This damage is going to make facial reconstruction very difficult." Scott grabbed his bag and on his way out, called back. "Flesh is all yours, Dr. Olusola!"

Perotta looked at Kevin. "That mean we're investigating a murder?"

Mitch shrugged. "He's just upset because he put Joe in the hospital."

"Well, I understand that, but I still need someone to officially say 'murder'."

Kevin responded to her need. "Murder."

"Thank you. So... what do we make of this clothing?" Perotta asked as she stepped closer.

Mitch followed. "Huh-- like a costume out of the Lord of the Rings, porno version."

Kevin turned to the intern. "Tony. You're into this stuff."

Tony looked over at him. "Porn?"

Kevin rolled his eyes. "Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Geek stuff."

Tony tilted his head. "Superficial judgement."

Kevin sighed and looked back at the flesh. "Both feet display erythema and heavy blistering, but no calluses. My guess is, she was standing in those princess pumps for hours. The skin here, on the back of the hand, is less desiccated than the area surrounding it. Not sure what that means yet."