Broken Bones

Episode 57 "Mayhem on a Cross" Part 1

-Venus POV-

We had just received another case as this time  the body was shipped from Norway. I signed the last papers as Temp asks, "Norway?" I nod, "Yup, they had shipped this right over to us in means to solve it." Cam then says, "We don't have enough crucified corpses of our own? Now the Vikings are sending them?" I shrug as Clark then says, "The annual murder rate in Norway is 0.7." Temp asks, "Less than one murder a year?" I add, "People must be really nice over there then." Cam then adds, "In that case, they should solve the ones they have or they'll never get any practice." Temp then speaks, "The victim is American." Clark then says, "Still, if a Norwegian was murdered here, we'd conduct the investigation." I nod as I read their file, "But  the Norwegians say the victim died here and then got shipped to Norway." Temp asks, "What's their evidence?" Cam looks at the file, "Nothing forensic. It's just police work." 

I add, "The remains were found in the possession of a Norwegian black metal band. How fun." Temp asks, "What's black metal?" Clark shrugs, "I don't know; it's Norwegian. Whole different kind of black." I chuckle, "It's almost like a genre of heavy metal in which it features macabre imagery of death and horrific violence." Temp still looked confused as I think for another way to make it understandable for her. "Ah, you know the music that you would here when you sometimes enter my office, the one you say that you don't understand the rhythm or cultural meaning behind it as you could only hear is yelling?" "Yes. I still don't understand the lyrics to your songs." I nod, "Well that's something similar to Dark Metal." She nods as the other two just looked at me as if they learned something new as Cam says, "I didn't see you as a person to be into all the yelling and heavy base music type." I smile and nod, "Yeah, I get that a lot. But I use it to get myself to calm down or when I get stressed out." Clark then comments, "Ah, nothing more relaxing then hearing someone scream right in your ears. I usually prefer a quitter environment or maybe with some jazz music."

Cam then speaks, "Skalle. That's the name of the band- Skalle." Temp and I say at the same time, "It means 'skull." She looked at us surprised, "You both Speak Norwegian?" Temp first speaks, "No, I'm a forensic anthropologist. I know how to say 'skull' in just about every language." They nod as I then speak, "I actually do know how to speak Norwegian." Cam then says, "Well, Skalle..." Temp corrected her, "Skall-eh." "Skall-ay..." "Skall-eh." Cam then stopped trying to pronounce it as she continues, "They stole the body from an American metal band while on tour in DC six months ago." Temp then says, "The remains are male, late teens." Clark adds, "Significant staining on the... 'skall-EH." Temp corrected him as well as I tried not to laugh, "SKALL-eh." "It leached into the bone." Cam then adds, "Desiccated flesh on the face and scalp. Perhaps enough for DNA." I then add, "If the scraps of clothing and the boots were actually on the victim when he died, then... either Hodgins or I can get something out of it."

Cam then asks about the rib cage being open, "What's, what's the story on this?" Clark explains, "The posterior ribs were either broken or severed." I add, "Detached at the spine and then fanned out." Temp then adds, "It's the Blood Eagle." Cam was confused, "Beg pardon?" I answer, "It was an ancient torture in which the victim was held face down while his pack was sliced open. The ribs were then broken to the spine and then spread to look like an eagle, thus you get the name." Temp nods then continues with the examination, "Absence of blood on the periosteal surface of the fractures suggests the ribs were broken postmortem." Clark then speaks, "I'll remove the bones from the cross and clean them, see if we can find the cause of death." Cam then says, "This is definitely murder." Temp then argued, "There are other possibilities." Clark then says, "I have to admit none spring to mind." "One possibility: drunken, death-obsessed, Satan-worshipping, drug-abusing teens rob a grave and reenact an ancient torture." I chuckle, "You're the only one who could come up with a scenario like that Temp." Cam adds, "Ahh, just another Saturday night."