Broken Bones

Episode 79 ''The Boy with the Answers'' Part 2

Venus POV

Booth then says to us both, "Look, I'm sorry, Bones, Blueberry. I'm sure this is the last thing you both wanna deal with." We nod as I joke a bit, "Honestly, dealing with this seems much easier than our case." I sigh a bit as Temp then says, "A part of me wishes he'd done it." I add, "It's not too late." Booth then flicks my forehead, "Not something you should say. And not the good part, so let's just keep our eye on the ball." I nod rubbing my forehead at the small pain as he asks, "So, any news about the boy?" I then say, "We're getting an accurate re-creation of the assailant... from the fracture patterns on his remains, and it's a match for Taffet." Temp then adds, "I'm putting a presentation together for court." "The kid put up a good fight?" I nod, "There's evidence of strong resistance, yes." "Yeah, at least he didn't go easy. Parker, he'd do the same thing." I smile nodding looking at his photo as I say, "I know I did when I was younger." They looked at me as I add, "When some of my foster parents would try to get me in the 'quite box' they'd try to stuff me inside that small dark box and I'd kick, scratch, and bite them." Temp seemed to realize something as she asks, "What, you'd bite them?" I nod, "Many times." Booth nods, "Ten-year-olds- it's kinda their thing. Bite." Temp grabs my arm as she says, "We have to get back to the lab." I looked at her, "Okay... for?" "Bite." It clicks in me as I smile and grab her hand as we begin running back to the lab with a stunned Booth trying to figure out what we did.

We are back to the lab looking at the boy as Temp says, "If the boy bit her, there should be some evidence on his maxilla, mandible or his teeth." I zoomed the camera into the teeth as we look at the screen as Hodgins says, "The teeth seen to have been cleaned. Taffet probably wiped them off." I then noticed something, "The second left premolar is chipped." Temp adds, "There might be some trace in the abrasion, maybe some tissue from Heather Taffet." Hodgins shakes his head, "Saliva contains amylase. It would have broken down any bits of tissue." I then say, "Not if it were embedded between the teeth or under the gum line."

We were back in court again as Angie was presenting her evidence as we listen to the audio she decrypted, "If I don't receive the money in the numbered account within eight hours, your child will die. This is the last time you will hear from me. There will be no further communications." Caroline then asks Angie, "And in your expert opinion, Ms. Montenegro, whose voice is that?" "It's Heather Taffet. The frequency and vocal patterns are an exact match... when compared to unencrypted recordings of her voice." "Thank you. No further questions." Taffet then stands up, "That was very impressive, Ms. Montenegro. Could you share your credentials with the court." "I have a bachelor of fine arts from the University of Texas with a minor in computer science and I've also studied biomedical illustration at American University." "But you do not have a degree in sound engineering is that correct?" "No." Caroline then says, "Objection. Ms. Montenegro has numerous pattens pending from her work in auditory forensic reconstruction." "The homeless man on my street has a patent pending for a time machine. That doesn't mean I'm gonna ask him to testify in court." The judge then says, "That's enough, Ms. Taffet. Do you have anything else for this witness?" "Yes. Your Honor, I'd like to introduce into evidence item 461-B... which is a deconstruction of the same ransom tape... by former F.B.I. Special Agent Graham Steele who has a PH.D. in forensic auditory analysis from the University of Pennsylvania."

She then begins playing the recording that sounded like Angie, "If I don't receive the money in the numbered account... within eight hours..." Angie then says quickly, "That isn't me. He obviously manipulated the pitch and the timbre of the voice." "Isn't that what you did?" "No. Those sound waves have an underlying pattern of frequency modulation- like a fingerprint." "Whatever the technical jargon, it seems clear that anyone, even someone without any credentials, can make one voice sound like another." Caroline stands up, "Objection! Counsel is making speeches." "Sustained." "I'm sorry, Your Honor. No further questions." We then take a break as I wait outside with Wendell talking a bit as we then see Booth and Temp coming over as I say, "You got it?" She nods, "Yes, I did." "Good because she just rebutted Angie's recording." She nods as we were called back in to continue.