Broken Bones

Episode 17 "The Boy in the Shroud" Part 1

-Venus POV-

We are at the crime scene searching for anything important as Booth says, "Holy mother of God! Ugh, geez!?" I chuckle as Temp and Hodgins finally caught up as she says, "Booth, what do we have here?" Hodgins then says, "I bet I know. Thats..." He starts sniffing all the trash saying, "lasagna. Fishy rotten cat food and ... vulcanized rubber." I gave him an applaud as he bows down and Cam says, "Excellent olfactory talents, Hodgins." Temp then asks, "What happened?" 

Booth and I go over to her as he says, "Well, it's obvious, isn't it? A guy tried to beat the yellow light, he got T-boned by a tractor trailer." "Well, what was the semi carrying?" "Aquarium sand, but that's not-" "No natural gas or propane? No explosion, no fire?" I then add, "No corrosive chemicals." Temp then asks, "What... do you need me for?" Cam then says, "You might want to prepare yourself. Or not." Booth then starts complaining again, "Oh, man. Okay, how bad does, uh, garbage got to stink to cover the smell of a dead body?" 

Cam then adds, "I think the victim was a minor." "Okay. well, then, if you agree then this falls under FBI jurisdiction." I nod as Temp, and I went over to the body. I start it off, "It's a male." Temp then says, "Yes. An adolescent." "Flatworms, necrophagous flies and beetles... Hodgins would love this. HODGINS!" "YES!" "I HAVE A PRESENT FOR YOU!" "YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE." "I KNOW, BUT I LOVE TO." Hodgins comes over and looks at it, "Yeah, he's been garbage for about three weeks. I didn't mean that the way it sounded." 

I nod and continue, "Fractures to the cranium, sphenoid and occipital regions. Neck's broken, and the femur is shattered." Booth then asks, "From the garbage truck flipping over?" Temp then answers, "No. This damage is more congruent with a fall." "What do you got?" Temp flips his hand as Hodgins says, "It's organic." I nod, "Whatever it is, he brought it with him from the crime scene." Cam then asks, "How much of this are you going to need?" I smile and look at Hodgins, "What do you think Hodgins, "The whole disgusting shebang." Booth then pulls out something while saying, "Ugh! Everything?" I nod, "Everything."

We are back in the lab as I stand next to Zack examining the remains with Cam and Temp on the other side. He then says, "He was wrapped in a shroud?" I nod, "Angie's analyzing the stains on the cloth while Hodgins figures out what they're made of." Cam then says, "No finger pads left for prints. How are we on dental records?" Zack says, "FBI's on it. She nods, "Multiple shards of leaded glass embedded in the remaining tissue. Massive contusions congruent with swan dive onto a hard surface." I then add, "Take a look at the upper spine." Zack looks and says, "Weighted impact against the, uh, scapula and clavicle." The two looked at us as Cam asks, "He was struck?" I nod, "Yes, but not hard enough to kill." Booth then comes up, "Private garbage hauler. They aren't real strict about their routes. Driver says he can't be sure where he picked the victim up."

Can then speaks, "No visible tats or track marks." Temp then looks at her, "You sound surprised." Booth then says, "Well, it's pretty obvious, Bones. He's either a junkie or a hustler." I then ask, "Why make that assumption?" Cam then says, "Not many kids from the suburbs end up rotting in garbage trucks. Fun factoid from the front lines." I was confused but Angie then comes up, "Hey, guys. Want to see something cool?" I look at her and see that she is getting excited, and I knew what she was excited about, "Are you finally gonna use it?!" "Yeah!" "Let's hurry up then, I can't wait to see it being used." We are in the bone room with a cloth on the table and a device connected above it. Angie then starts explaining, "I assume you're all familiar with the Shroud of Turin." Booth then says, "Image of Christ's face on the inside of a burial cloth."

Cam then says, "Right, Booth is a good Catholic boy." Temp then adds, "It was revealed to be a hoax." "Wasn't a hoax." "Okay whatever you want to believe." I shake my head as Angie continues, "This is no hoax. On the fabric covering John Doe's skull, there are tissue stains around the eye sockets, the nose and the mouth. This is essentially a photo negative of his features." Cam looks at her, "Are you saying you have enough to assemble a face?" I then speak, "I call it the Shroud of Montenegro." Angie then does her trick as she says, "I like that. I use computer tomography to create X-Ray slices of the underlying facial architecture. Selective laser centering allowed me to map unimprinted areas. Skin tone and hair color were extrapolated based on Dr. Saroyan's data." We see the boy's face as Temp says, "I'm no expert, but he sure doesn't look like a street kid." I nod.