Scene 14: On the movie set

[paladinsuitsyou]

Previously...

Booth's found Java the Hut, which he likes better than Starbucks. It's a little heavy on the adolescents, but during the middle of the day, it's pleasantly free of them. There are a few adults typing on laptops, but Booth's used to that. They're all over D.C., although the Royal Diner is pretty free of them.

His phone rings, and after a brief conversation, he ends the call and clicks over to dial Brennan.

"Bones! We're going back to L.A. You ready to go?"

Comments

[paladinsuitsyou]

"That's what we're here to find out. Exactly how have you been supporting yourselves, since your movie work dried up?"

Now Mr. Vickers isn't the only one who is glowering.

"TV, mostly. Some films, but low budget stuff, like this one."

She makes a face. "Apparently we're not 'cutting edge' enough anymore. I happen to think it's because CGI is replacing us. It's ridiculous. Everyone can tell the difference."

Booth raises an eyebrow. "You ever consider a career change?" Like, to blackmail? Murder? Faking people's deaths? That's totally implied here.

Andrew Vickers shakes his head. "We love our jobs, Agent Booth. There's nothing we'd rather do."

[dr_temperance]

"And you could have employed your job skills to help Lynn Echolls stage her death in order to escape her marriage. I'm sure she would have had the ability to pay you well for your services. An investigation into your financial records would tell us for certain."

Brennan looks at Booth. "How much trouble exactly can you get into for helping to stage a suicide?"

Mrs. Vickers sidles closer to her husband. Andrew Vickers looks as though he wishes the weapons he is carrying were made out of something more substantial than plastic.

"If Lynn Echolls didn't die by jumping off that bridge and now she's dead," he says, "shouldn't you be worried about who killed her instead of this kind of wild goose chase?"

He snorts.

"Typical government employees."

[paladinsuitsyou]

"Could be whoever helped her fake her own death helped make her dead for real," Booth suggests. "It's fraud, at least, to help a woman fake her own death. I wouldn't be surprised if blackmail entered into it, too. And blackmail almost always leads to murder, it seems."

He smiles at them. "Anything you want to tell us?"

They just glare at him.

[dr_temperance]

"They don't look very cooperative," Brennan says, observing the pair.

"We don't have to keep listening to this," Andrew Vickers says. "We have work to do--any other questions you have, you can ask them through our lawyer. Got it?"

He tugs his wife's arm. "Come on, hon. There's nothing to worry about--they'd have read us our rights by now if they actually had anything."

[paladinsuitsyou]

"Fair enough," Booth says. "We'll be back, don't worry."

He gets no response, just another glare.

[dr_temperance]

Outside the workshop, they stand aside to let a contingent of the Pharaoh's guards march past.

"If the Vickers helped Lynn Echolls stage her death, and if they blackmailed her--presumably to keep her secret--why kill her do you think? It would effectively cut off a profitable stream of income."

[paladinsuitsyou]

"Maybe she was refusing to pay? Threatening to go to the authorities is unlikely, but if she were threatening to stop paying, they'd be left depending on money from crappy projects like this." He waves, indicating the Pharaoh's guards and the fake pyramids. "Which can't pay well."

[dr_temperance]

"It could--and this is purely conjecture--it could be that they never intended to kill her. There might have been an confrontation in which things just got out of hand."

"We've seen it happen before."

People get mad or panic, and stupidity or tragedy ensues.

"How long will it take to get access to their financial records, do you think?"

[paladinsuitsyou]

"We just need a warrant. With what we've got so far, we shouldn't have much trouble. Then we'll bring them in for formal questioning."

He grins. "We're close, Bones. I can feel it."

[dr_temperance]

"I'm not sure it's actually possible to 'feel' an impending arrest," Brennan replies with a sidelong smile.

"I'll make sure that all the physical evidence from the body is ready to present to the judge."

Should Booth's gut prove to be right, she'll make sure the facts are in order to back him up.