It didn't take long, before the evidence they required was in front of them.

"Cindy," Booth said with a welcoming smile. "Thank you so much for coming in to talk to us today. We are really stuck on this case and were hoping you could provide some information that would help us."

Brennan joined Booth, placing a cup of coffee in front of Cindy before sitting down across from her. They'd discussed how to approach this interrogation before entering the room and both knew their parts.

"I'm so glad to help," Cindy answered. She took a sip of the coffee before placing the cup in front of her and wrapping her hands around it. "What can I help you with?"

It was difficult for Cindy to hide her excitement at gaining inside knowledge of the case. She would know more than anyone in the building and could hold it over their heads as she saw fit.

"What time do you usually leave work days?" Booth opened with.

"Four," Cindy volunteered quickly. "But sometimes I stay later than that to get work done. It's so much easier to accomplish things when there are fewer people in the building."

Remembering Mrs. Abernathy's comment about Cindy copying files, Booth knew exactly what kind of work she was finishing.

"And what time did you leave the night Mr. Stanton was killed?" he asked.

Tilting her head back, Cindy thought back to the previous week. "About five," she finally decided. "I left work, grabbed some dinner, and went home for the evening."

"So you were in the building when our victim was killed?" Brennan asked.

Widening her eyes in shock Booth was sure was fake, Cindy nodded her head slowly. "Yes, it seems like I was. Wow. I hadn't realized that. I might have seen the killer in the building."

It took everything Brennan had not to roll her eyes. "Were you in the office the entire time?" she asked.

"No," Cindy said, lowering her voice. "I was in the hall at one point. I saw Abby Johnson leave and Gabe followed not long after. Neither of them saw me, which was probably a good thing. Gabe might have killed me, too."

"So you think Gabe killed Mr. Stanton?" Booth asked.

Cindy nodded slowly. "Of course, he did." Her voice remained low and Brennan wondered why she felt the need to whisper. "He was the one who had the most motive." Cindy placed a hand on her chest. "Did I see Gabe just after he committed the murder? That's terrible."

So is your acting, thought Booth.

"No one else had motive to kill our victim?" Brennan asked. "Not even you?"

This time, the look of shock was a bit more genuine. "Me?"

"Mr. Stanton didn't catch you copying files in the office the night he was killed? He didn't confront you for it?" Booth asked. They didn't have any proof that's what had happened, until they'd searched Cindy's desk and found the drawer with the false bottom. There were files there with Friday's date, the copies hidden beneath the originals.

The principal had certainly enjoyed watching the technicians take the desk apart.

Cindy stuttered, but didn't come up with a coherent response.

"And then you followed him upstairs," Brennan continued, "and heard him arguing with Gabe in Abby's classroom."

"No, no I didn't," Cindy denied.

"When I asked Mac about the compasses, he told me it was your job to retrieve those items from the classrooms when finals were complete and store them in the supply area. That would have been your excuse, had anyone seen you upstairs that afternoon. But no one did," Booth said.

During the pause, Cindy pressed her lips tightly together, until nothing was visible but a thin line.

Brennan took up the tale. "When Gabe left, you entered Abby's classroom, the box in your hand. You were angry with the man. Angry he'd caught you copying files. So you stabbed him with one of the compasses."

"I left the rest of them in the box in the hall." Her eyes focused on something that wasn't in front of her. "He laughed at me," Cindy said softly. "The first time I stabbed him, he laughed at me." Her eyes lost focus as she thought back to that afternoon. "He told me he knew what I'd been doing. If the truth got out, I was sure to be fired."

Nodding, Brennan continued. "It probably hurt a little, that first wound, but it didn't do much damage. You were much more effective the second time."

"I was tired of him laughing at me. So tired of it. So I put more force behind the second one. I didn't want to lose my job." Cindy looked back and forth between both of them. "This time I got to laugh as he was bleeding on the floor."

"You scratched your hand the second time," Brennan said.

Holding out her hand, Cindy showed them the wound. "It pinched me. I bled on the compass."

"That's how your DNA was found when we took the compass apart at the lab."

"Gabe had a bat in his cupboard, which you also knew about," Booth pointed out.

Long past denying what she'd done, Cindy confirmed Booth's suspicion. "It was a graduation gift to be given out during the ceremony. I had to put it in the program so I knew Gabe was holding on to it until then."

"Why did you destroy his face?" Brennan asked.

"He laughed at me," Cindy said. It made perfect sense to her. "If he didn't have a face, he couldn't laugh at me anymore. Nor could he threaten to take my job away from me." Taking another drink of her coffee, figuring it would be the last she'd get for a long time, Cindy decided to finish the tale. "I saw the referral about Gina and the fight. Figured it was a good place to put the body, since she wouldn't be back and people would suspect her. Then I used my master key to get custodial supplies and clean up after myself."

Booth and Brennan locked eyes before looking back at Cindy.

Taking a last drink, Cindy pushed the cup away. "I don't know why you have to arrest me for this. It's not like anyone will miss the guy anyway."

BBBBBBBBBBBB

"So you caught her," Mrs. Abernathy said. Booth had returned on the last day to help his former teacher load everything into her car. They had come full circle he figured, as he helped her clean out her classroom one last time.

"We caught her," Booth confirmed. "Mr. Stanton treated her very poorly, apparently. When he caught her with the files, Cindy correctly assumed she was going to be fired. Add in the abuse and it was enough to send her over the edge."

Shaking her head, Mrs. Abernathy unlocked her car. "I always tell new people around here that it's not the students you have to worry about, it's the adults. Guess I was right." She cast a look to the side. "Guess I was right all those years ago about you, too."

"You were right," he agreed. Somehow, he managed to shove the last box in the back seat and close the door. "What are you going to do now?"

Her look was wistful. "I've always wanted to see castles."

"Castles?"

Nodding, she managed to get into the driver's seat. Every other inch of her car was filled with boxes and projects she'd refused to leave behind.

Just as she'd refused to leave him behind all of those years ago.

"I'm going to Scotland. To Ireland. To see castles and go on an adventure. In all of my life, I've never been on an adventure. This case, that luncheon with you, was the closest I've ever come. I think it's time to have a real one."

Booth looked across the parking lot to where Brennan waited for him. "I did plenty of adventuring in my time. I like being home now."

Looking past him, Mrs. Abernathy smiled. "You are a very lucky man, Agent Booth, even if I think quite a bit of that luck is due to plain old hard work. I have a feeling every day of your life is an adventure in some form or another. It does my heart good knowing I didn't waste my time on you all of those years ago."

Slapping the top of her car, Booth stepped back. "Have a great adventure, Mrs. Abernathy."

She smiled, and though Booth was sure she would, she didn't look back as she pulled away.

Stepping up beside her husband, Brennan hooked an arm through his. "What's she doing now?"

Looking down with a smile, Booth led her back toward the SUV. "Going to Ireland and Scotland. She wants to see castles, and mermaids, and fairies. Maybe take their picture."

Brennan narrowed her eyes. "She seemed rational enough to know most of those things don't really exist."

With a twinkle in his eyes, Booth disagreed. "Sure they do, Bones. Luck of the Irish and all of that jazz. Maybe she'll see a leprechaun, too."

"Booth," Brennan argued. "There are no such things as leprechauns either and you don't find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow."

"Have you ever found the end of a rainbow?" he asked.

"Well, no, but the end of a rainbow," she tried to explain.

"Is where the gold is," Booth finished for her. "And since you can't find it, how do you know there's no gold there?"

The bickering pair closed the doors to the SUV and continued their good natured discussion all the way back to DC.

A/N: Thank you for reading and for the reviews. Until next time.