08x21 - The Maiden in the Mushrooms

[bunniefuu]

MAN: See, this... this can't be the place.

Why would they leave a clue for a treasure hunt here?

Denise hired a professional to plan the game.

They know what they're doing.

Why couldn't Denise and Joel just have a dinner party?

Watch out for that step. It's... See?

Told you. Hey.

Help me get some light down here.

(man grunting)

(panting): Okay, nothing down there.

Let's go.

Seriously?

(gasps)

This is awesome.

Get a picture.

Smells gross. Man up!

Do you want Ryan and Kristy to win?

Dig.

(groans)

Wait. I... I think I found something.

Feels like a bottle.

It'll have the next clue inside.

Got to admit, winning would be nice.

(gasps)

(gasps)

(gasps)

MAN: I hate Ryan and Kristy!

BOOTH (whispers): Hey, Bones. She's sleeping.

Shh. Look at this, huh?

We have an artist.
(gasps)

This is beautiful. Yeah.

It's truly exceptional.

There are flashes of Abstract Expressionism in this.

Huh?

Abstract Expressionism.

You know, like Wassily Kandinsky or... Friedel Dzubas.

There's a real sweep to these strokes.

Right, right.

Okay, well, the school director, she wants to, uh, bring us in and talk to us.

So she recognizes Christine's talent, too?

BOOTH: Uh, no, Christine, she, uh... she bit a kid. What?!

No, th-that's impossible.

It's no big deal. I mean, kids bite. No. Not Christine.

She's not just any kid-- she's my daughter, and they made a mistake.

(chuckling): Bones, just relax.

I mean, the school director, she felt bad.

She was apologizing for bringing it up.

Well, then why did she? Well, because, you know, a kid got bit, that's why.

Which kid?

(two phones ringing)

Thank God.

Brennan. Booth.

Where is it? Text me the address.

Okay, we'll be right there.

We got a body. I know. I'll call Max to watch her.

Which kid?

(exhales)
Emma. One of the Emmas.

Emma R. or Emma C.? Emma C.

Figures. She cries when they sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider."

(exhales)

(indistinct talking)

BOOTH: Wow! Look at those 'shrooms!

Yeah. Spectacular, right?

Ganoderma, enokitake, some beautiful bunapi-shimeji, and just about the cutest little hypholoma I've ever seen.

Okay, that's great. Let's move it along. BRENNAN: The frontal eminence and the orbital margins indicate the victim was female.

Caucasian.

Cranial suturing suggests she was in her mid-20s. All right, any evidence of sexual as*ault? SAROYAN: Not that I can see.

Her pants are still on.

I didn't think mushrooms grew on bodies.

Yeah, they don't.

They are growing through it and around it.

Spores must have been laying dormant underground.

Fluid from the victim could have seeped out and reactivated them.

What proof do they have?

Huh?

Hard proof. Hard proof?

I... I don't know.

The teacher heard a scream, she turned around and she saw Christine standing next to C and she had a bite mark on her.

SAROYAN: Not about the case, I'm guessing?

BRENNAN: It could have been another child who ran away.

Let's talk about this later. Has Michael Vincent ever bit anyone? HODGINS: Yeah, sure.

I mean, th-there's nothing weird about that.

It's average behavior. BRENNAN: Average.

Exactly. Christine didn't do this.

The teacher was mistaken.

BOOTH: There was no reports of a kidnapping or an abduction in the area, so how long has Mushroom Woman been down here, do you think? Well, based on the size of the stems, I'd say somewhere between 20 and 30 days.

Hey, she could be homeless. Her teeth are pristine-- she doesn't have a single filling.

Look... at her fingernails.

BOOTH: Wow, that's a manicure.

It's a very good manicure.

She took very good care of herself.

SAROYAN: Can I... see that? Yeah.

These shoes are from Ava Lang.

Beautiful.

Incredible leather.

Sounds very expensive.

SAROYAN: So, why did a woman who could afford shoes like this end up in one of the worst neighborhoods in D.C. with mushrooms growing out of her?

♪ Bones 8x21 ♪
The Maiden in the Mushrooms
Original Air Date on April 1, 2013

♪ Main Title Theme ♪ The Crystal Method

♪

These bunapi-shimejis are full of antioxidants.

The mushrooms? Yeah.

There could be a market for these.

Yeah, mushrooms grown locally on corpses.

Are you two looking for some kind of side business?

MONTENEGRO: Oh, no. Hey, I accept not being rich-rich, but I wouldn't mind being a little richer than we are right now.

We're living off our salaries; it's what people do.

Well, happiness isn't tied to how much money you make.

Thank you, Opie-- but I'd rather not have Michael Vincent eating squirrel gizzards and hillbilly broth. We had to mortgage the house to pay off a few final debts after the collapse of the Cantilever Group.

No, he's freaking out. Yep.

Totally. Okay, finished with the photos?

Right.

Let's rattle them bones.

(mechanical whirring)

SWEETS: Well, the victim's clothing suggests she had expensive tastes.

Come on, I need a psychologist for that?

The wear on her shoes indicates they didn't fit well.

Her clothes were altered at home. You know what?

You're watching way too much Project Runway.

It was important for her to look good.

She was living beyond her means.

Maybe a social climber? How's that gonna help me catch her m*rder*r? She showed a false front to the world-- it was a lie, if you will. Enough with the clothes, all right? Okay.

Do you have anything else? Um, yeah.

The victim being buried facedown-- that's significant.

How so? When the victim's turned away, the k*ller avoids a personal connection, which means the k*ller probably knew the victim.

That's good.

You know what? I can work with that.

Thank you.

Hey, Sweets, uh, biting is normal, right?

Lab didn't mention anything about biting.

Did... did you bite someone?

No. Christine bit someone. Oh.

Oh, yeah. Her age-- totally normal.

I mean, the average child...

Don't say "average."

Bones hears you say "average," it's bad.

Just... don't say "average," okay?

Okay. Don't.

(footsteps approaching)

I found hairline fractures on the occipital.

Did the victim die from a blow to the head?

No. The injury was enough to disorient the victim, maybe even lose consciousness, but wouldn't be cause of death.

I've got epithelial cells from under her fingernails.

I'll run the DNA.

If we're lucky, she fought with her k*ller.

Oh, well, multiple fractures on the distal and medial phalanges as well as the metatarsals could be indicative of a fight, yes. Some of this is not skin. What is it?

Not sure.

It's fibrous.

I'll get Hodgins to identify it.

MONTENEGRO: Hey. I ran a facial reconstruction through Missing Persons, and I found a possible match.

Rebecca Pearce, 25 years old, reported missing by Trudy Morris.

Judge Trudy?

BRENNAN: I'm not familiar with Judge Trudy.

What circuit is she on?

Citizen's Court.
Does that have something to do with the French Revolution? No. Judge Trudy has a TV show where she judges "small claims" cases.

Why? Because it's great drama.

People just fight over the silliest little things.

You should see the way that they yell and scream at each other.

Total guilty pleasure.

Like watching a train wreck.

Train wrecks are not pleasurable.

No wonder you feel guilty.

I have a huge bone to pick with you.

Check out this Synthesiomyia nudiseta.

I'm serious. I'm steaming. By the size of the larva, I can narrow time of death to somewhere between 20 and 23 days.

Thurston, please stop ignoring me.

(sighs)

Did you finish this?

There's still a bit left.

Yes. It was delicious.

This was my last bottle of hot sauce!

I didn't know it was yours.

Well, if you wanted me to believe you, you should have removed the Post-it note.

(laughing): Okay, all right, in my defense, it's a communal fridge. I'll buy you a new one.

No, no, you don't understand.

This was my granny's last bottle of special sauce. Well, call her up and tell her to, you know...

I can't, because she's dead!

♪

(quiet groan)

What have you learned about Emma?

Does she have a history of false reporting?

Oh, yeah.

Numerous occasions, police responded to reports of a monster under the bed, (chuckles): but no monster was ever found.

I know that that's amusing, but I don't feel like laughing.

Bones, come on, kids bite, and they grow out of it. Really, just let it go.

I would love to let it go. Good. Let it go.

Which is why I intend to challenge the spurious circumstantial evidence with empirical data.

You're kidding.

Not kidding. Not kidding.

Okay, th-the teacher turned around and saw Christine standing next to Emma.

Hearsay, circumstantial, and a possibly biased witness.

Look, I'm just saying, if Christine did it, I'm sure she won't do it again.

If she did it the first time.

Which, probably, you know, she didn't.

Right.

MAN:
Your Honor, if you'll just let me finish...

Let you fin...? I don't let you finish!

You let me finish!

Nowhere on this lease does it say your tenant cannot have a pet goldfish!

Well, that is just one woman's opinion.

That is not "one woman's opinion."

That is my ruling.

And let's get something straight, pal-- no one comes into my courtroom and tells me how to interpret the law.

People love this freak show. No. On the contrary.

You know, it's about the stern but effective administration of justice.

There has been a long tradition of trial watching.

Salem Witch Trials, the Nuremberg Trials.

This show's just a logical progression.

Logical? Are you watching the same trial I'm watching?

They're talking about goldfish.

Who is talking when I'm talking?

I, uh... I'm sorry, Your Honor.

No, I was just explaining to my partner that while these proceedings may be unconventional, they are by no means a "freak show."
JUDGE: Who is this woman, and why is she interrupting my courtroom?

I-I have no idea, Your Honor.

I'm Dr. Temperance Brennan... Bailiff Griff, eject her now. BOOTH: Uh, you can't do that.

No, this isn't even a real courtroom.

There's no ceiling. Don't even try it, pal.

Hey, look, we can either do this easy or we can do it hard.

You're not gonna do it at all.

Okay? FBI. Special Agent Booth.

This here is my partner. Dr. Temperance Brennan.

We already heard that, Bones. And we're here to ask you a few questions about a m*rder.

Rebecca was m*rder*d?

Why? By whom? That's what we're here to find out. You reported her missing.

I-I was worried; she didn't show up for work, she didn't call. Rebecca never missed a day.

When was the last time you saw her?

WOMAN: Is this gonna take much longer? The judge needs to be in makeup.

Rebecca... was m*rder*d.

Oh.

Uh... oh, my God.

BOOTH: Yeah, so you better tell makeup it's gonna take a while.

Well, what happened? They don't know.

When did I last see Rebecca? Um... looks like the post-show debrief on the 17th.

The meeting went until 7:00. I'm sorry.

Are you her assistant?

No. Jill's our intern producer since Rebecca disappeared.

So you replaced Rebecca?

No one could really replace Rebecca.

Her body was found in an abandoned building on L Street.

Do you know what she was doing there?

Probably recruiting litigants for the show.

JILL: Becca would go anywhere to get people on the show-- police stations, the DMV.

JUDGE TRUDY: She'd even camp out in parking lots waiting for fender benders to happen.

She was committed.

The night she went missing, where were you?

Home.

Alone. Just being truthful.

I was here-- I had 20 hours of video to get through.

Alone, I assume?

I liked Rebecca.

In case both of you are innocent, was Rebecca seeing anyone romantically?

Not since Griff. BOOTH: The bailiff?

Griff the bailiff and your producer were having a relationship?

They broke up last year.

But they got along fine.

They're both professionals.

One more question.

If someone was accused of biting, wouldn't you demand solid proof for a conviction?

Really?

I would like her answer.

Hey! I have got the results!

The fiber from the victim's fingernail?

What? No. No, no, I'm still working on that. No.

I have a molecular breakdown of your grandma's secret sauce.

Oh, forget it; I've moved on. No, you haven't.

You're still pissed, and I don't blame you.

All right? That stuff is awesome. Yeah.

My grandmother used to put it on my catfish.

Oh, you're k*lling me here.

I'm not gonna let that hot sauce die.

Now, look at this. I-I took a swab of the bottle and I ran it through the Mass Spec, right?

Now, I almost got everything, okay?

We've got red and yellow peppers, okay, cayenne, tomatoes, of course, garlic, onions, cumin, salt, Hodgins.... brown sugar, vinegar-- it's just, there's this one compound I cannot identify, and I was hoping you'd know what it was.

Yeah, sure.

It's the one thing you'll never find.

Okay, but I've already got a portion of the molecular chain...

Love.

It's love, Hodgins.

That's not gonna show up on your Mass Spec.

Come on, let it go.

No. Fi... come on, hey...

I-I'm one compound away!

I-I'm gonna burn the crap out of your mouth, and you are gonna love it!

Huh? What's that about?

GRIFF:
We met when the show started.

Trudy didn't want us to date each other, but I guess Rebecca and I were so in love that she didn't want to be the Grinch.

How long were you together?

Four years.

Lived together for the last two.

With Iris. Iris.

That's interesting.

Not really, Booth.

For hundreds of years, having multiple partners was quite acceptable. Oh, no, no, no.

Iris is a dog.

Uh, she's a leopard hound that we rescued.

Never mind.

So, what happened?

Uh, not much.

I mean, we saw Iris in a shelter and both of us thought she was really...

No, no, not... not with the dog, Iris; with you and Rebecca.

Why'd you guys split?

Oh, well, her job.

I remember asking her if it was worth it.

I mean, she was always dealing with lunatics.

I told her, one of them could snap.

Did anyone ever thr*aten her?

Oh, yeah, every day.

Half the people who lost blamed her, because she got them all fired up before they went on.

But she wasn't bothered? Oh, she loved it.

Then after Trudy promoted her to be producer, nothing else mattered.

The only time I had a conversation with her was on set.

She stopped seeing friends and family.

Was that why you sued her for palimony? Hey, I supported Rebecca when she was carrying coffee.

By the time we split, her salary was triple mine.

You sound bitter.

As long as I got my check every month, I was happy.

Problem is, now she's gone, they're gonna stop.

So from where I stand...

Rebecca wasn't the only victim here.

I'm mad! I had every right to burn his car!

It seems like it to me.

I would've liked to have b*rned it with him in it!

That's it! That is the anger that I want to see in there!

You're not gonna win if you don't get mad.

How long have you been watching this?

Three hours. Three hours of raw footage of people screaming at each other.

The bailiff even told Booth that these contestants could be pretty nuts.

I can see that.

MONTENEGRO: One guy went ballistic on his friend for not returning a magazine.

And then he threatened to k*ll him. Well, that's good.

Um, not for the friend, but for our case.

He has an alibi.

Rebecca was the one who was really pushing it.

She went out of her way to push buttons on these crazies.

Maybe that was part of her job, to make the show more interesting.

Eh. The word I was going for was "pathetic."

The only one so far without an alibi is this one.

WOMAN: He said he was using the money for an engagement ring!

REBECCA: So he lied! Now, you go in there, and you fight for what you know is right, and you'll win. You think so?

Hell, yeah! Are you a doormat, or are you a fighter? A fighter!

Now, you go in there and you get some justice.

(fierce yell)

Wow.

Yeah.

Then she lost the case and had to be removed from the studio by security.

She blamed Rebecca for losing the case.

You set me up! You're a dead perra!

(grunts, shouts in Spanish)

MONTENEGRO: Now, this was the day before Rebecca disappeared, and this woman lives two blocks from where Rebecca's body was found.

Okay.

Sure, I got mad-- she said I would win.

Look, the show paid you more for appearing than it would've if you won the case.

It was the principle of the thing!

Ain't you got no morals?

Hey, you were betrayed by your fiancé.

Money couldn't heal that. You wanted revenge.

Yeah.

He gets it.

Revenge-- that makes things right.

Seems like you got a lot of revenge in the past.

Huh? Let's take a look, huh? as*ault, breaking and entering.

Oh, another as*ault.

Look at this one-- my favorite-- first degree m*rder. That was dismissed!

SWEETS: You seem to feel that anger's a good solution to your problems-- which I totally understand.

Yeah? Yeah. Sure.

The release of adrenaline and noradrenalin in your system causes you to feel optimistic that your impulses are causing you to make, uh, reasonable risk assessments.

It's a common correspondence bias.

Are you screwing with me? No, I'm simply pointing out that your lack of self-control can cause you to make extremely poor decisions.

You said you were on my side!

No, he said he understood why you go psycho.

Okay, I wouldn't use that word. I know.

That's why I'm here. Okay, look, I caused a scene; they threw me out.

Why they got to bring it up again now?

Rebecca Pearce was found m*rder*d two blocks from your home. She was k*lled right after you appeared on her show. You just hauled me in here 'cause I live in a crap neighborhood, and maybe ain't that smart, but I got brains.

I ain't gonna make this easy.

I got nothing more to say.

(sighs)

See how calm I could be?

Fractures to the metatarsals and phalanges.

Which suggests that the victim was defending herself.

Fracturing to the occipital.

Right. Blunt-force trauma, but wasn't enough to k*ll.

But would certainly be enough to daze the victim so the assailant could gain control over her.

And we also know that the underside of her fingernails contained her own skin cells, which would indicate that she was bound and that she tried to claw at her restraints.

None of which gives us cause of death.

Ma'am, if I could speak?

You are. Of course.

Uh, I heard about your little girl, and I just wanted to say that there's nothing special about biting.

I mean, my mama said I used to chew on folks like a cannibal at Thanksgiving dinner.

And I turned out okay.

You served time in a juvenile correction facility for stabbing your stepfather.

But I stabbed him in self-defense.

I... I went to juvie for theft and malicious mischief.

Yeah, that doesn't sound good.

All I'm saying is that biting is, you know, pretty average behavior. And since my daughter is not average, I'll prove that she's being unfairly maligned.

Did you see this, Mr. Abernathy?

FINN: Uh... yes. That's an antemortem injury to the right zygomatic. Blunt-force consistent with a violent blow. Degree of remodeling indicates that the injuries occurred approximately three months ago.

Whoever m*rder*d Rebecca Pearce might have just been finishing what they started three months ago.

So, Pabla Sepúlveda's whole family is saying that she was with them the night of the m*rder. And you believe them?

I believe it was enough for her lawyer to get her released.

Right, but the techs are still seeing if there's anything at the crime scene that ties her to the m*rder? Yeah.

But until then, I got another loon for you to look at.

Gordie Rand. Rebecca and he met through an online dating service.

He looks 12. Yeah, he's 22.

Lied on his profile and put up a fake picture.

But they only met once... for coffee.

But, look, seems Gordie didn't understand the word "no."

Oh, she filed a restraining order against him.

Right, look at the date of the restraining order-- it was three months ago. That's around the time Dr. Brennan said Rebecca was hit in the face.

Right. Now, look at the admitting doctor's note for cause of injury.
"Accidental fall in home."

So here's where Mr. Shrinky comes into play.

If Gordie Rand att*cked her, why didn't Rebecca report him? Uh, fear?

She probably thought that by reporting him, she would incite him and make matters worse.

She had a restraining order-- one call, and the cops would have picked him up. Yeah, but she knew the justice system-- she knew that it didn't always work, so her survival skills kicked in.

Was there any additional contact after this, uh, incident?

Yeah. He sent her these a week before she disappeared.

SWEETS: That's... creepy.

So, what can you tell me about Rebecca Pearce?

Uh, nothing to tell.

Things got complicated, so I broke it off.

Did they get complicated around the time that you started making naked videos of her?

She was totally into it, man.

She was playing to the camera. You're delusional.

You know what? You are a stalker.

You delude yourself into thinking that there's a real relationship...

No. and then it finally sinks in after hundreds of phone calls and letters...

Romance is a dance-- you move forward, they move back, and-and vice versa. A dance? Really?

Okay, give me one example when she moved forward to you, just once.

It's a... it's a subtle thing, man.

What are these, love tokens?

Yeah.

She liked the Halloween movies.

It was on her profile. All right, so if you guys were so right for each other, why'd she take out a restraining order against you?

Well, all respect to Rebecca, that's when she took it too far.

And then you smacked her in the face.

I would never do that; I loved her.

And I followed every rule of that order.

Where were you on the 17th?

I was at-at home, I think.

You think? Do you have someone who can back up your story?

My mom. Your mom?

You live with your mom?

I bet Rebecca found that hot.

I need your help with something, but it must remain between us. Yeah.

For you, anything. Christine has been accused of something based on the word of a two-year-old whose neural connections haven't fully formed yet.

I heard.

She bit a kid.

No. Allegedly. A child was bitten, but... there's no definitive evidence that it was Christine.

You don't accuse anyone, even a child, without proof-- photographs or measurement of the alleged bite mark.

What do you need? I need you to access some records from Christine's daycare.

You want me to hack their server?

I need you to pull Emma Carter's records and see if there's any visual evidence of the alleged bite.

You know this is pretty extreme, right?

Motherhood makes demands that you can't ignore.

(sighs)

Did you identify the fiber particulate I found under the victim's nail? Copolymer of a six C diamine and a 12 C diacid.

Copolymer? It's a synthetic fabric?

Nylon-based velvet treated with purple dye.

I've e-mailed you the results.

SAROYAN: Did you find something?

FINN: When I was examining the feet, I noticed, uh, perimortem hairline fractures to the talus, calcaneus and... distal fibula. Could that result from the victim kicking her assailant?

Well, that's more consistent with damage by a jump down onto a hard surface.

But in that case, we would expect to see the tibias and fibulas pierce directly through the inferior portion of the feet.

And there are no compression fractures to the lumbar vertebrae.

So a jump, but not from a great height. Well, maybe she was dropped from the top of the stairs to the cellar floor.

Now, that's a distance of approximately ten feet, or just over three meters. So... not high enough to k*ll her, but it sure would've slowed her down.

Yeah.

JUDGE TRUDY:
I find for the plaintiff in the full amount of $243.

MAN: You said I'd win, bitch!

Why didn't you arrest this man?

Well, because he was in county on a solicitation charge the night of the m*rder.

GRIFF: All rise.

BOOTH (chuckling): Oh, wow.

Weebles, wobbles and...

Ow!

Wow. Okay, so what do you think, Bones?

The judge might suffer from a neuromuscular disorder.

She's sloshed!

Drunk.

Oh... that.

...talking in my courtroom? Yes.

Oh! From the looks of it, she is a mean drunk.

Who's talking in my courtroom?

Yeah, that definitely looks like felony as*ault to me.

(scoffs) You don't have a good grasp of the law, do you, Agent Booth?

Since no charges were filed, legally, that looks like nothing at all. Ah, pretty cold.

Yeah, I get that way when I'm falsely accused of as*ault.

Rebecca knew it was an accident and signed documents to confirm that.

The way you stumbled and missed the steps...

You had been drinking there, hadn't you?

(exhales) I had come back from a business lunch, probably had some wine.

This line of questioning is absurd.

Move on with it. This is not your fake courtroom, Trudy.

I call the sh*ts here.

You're more than a social drinker, aren't you?

I can tell by the way your hand is shaking.

I have an occasional drink.

Occasional. Right.

Like you had the occasional DUI.

For me, it was gambling; for my father, it was drinking.

I know a problem when I see one.

(chuckles softly)

The Trudy you see on TV... that's a performance.

Some days I need help getting there.

Okay.

So it must have been difficult, then, when Rebecca banned alcohol from the set.

Nothing was banned from the set.

According to this production letter, you would've lost insurance on your show if you didn't stop drinking.

But you're still drinking.

You know, addiction is tough, even when your career is at stake.

Your judgment's impaired, you make impulsive and rash decisions. Like getting rid of the people standing between you and that drink that you need.

I didn't k*ll Rebecca.

But you did find someone to bring your booze to the set, right?

Maybe someone to get on your good side, edge out Rebecca.

(exhales) I'm not answering any more questions.

And that's your right.

But can you see the headlines now?

"TV's Judge Trudy obstructs m*rder investigation." Now, that is bad publicity.

So, these are from the little girl's file.

You can see the bite marks. Excellent. Now we can discount the validity of their allegations, and I will be able to submit evidence to Christine's daycare director.

Here.

What is this? We'll need to compare the injuries with Christine.

You actually took an impression of Christine's teeth?

Yes. I-I had her bite into an apple, and then I constructed the model.

It was actually quite simple.

And she loves apples.

Okay.

(beep)

BRENNAN: Oh. Aha! There is a laceration here, in the area where Christine's tooth hasn't yet fully erupted.

Do you concur?

Uh, well, since the flesh is malleable, the computer can't confirm or deny if Christine did this.

Well, that is absurd.

We can re-create entire crime scenes, complete as*ault scenarios... Sorry, sweetie.

The best that I can do is give you odds.

Okay.

And you're not gonna like them.

Why? What do you mean? Odds are 78 to 21 that Christine bit the kid.

21% plus my knowledge of her.

I am satisfied that Christine is innocent.

Really?

Of course. Thank you.

Oh, are we still on for Christine and Michael Vincent's playdate on Saturday? Uh... sure, yeah.

Great.

(beeps)

FINN: I hope this is important.

I'm trying to find cause of death.

What's that smell?

It is catfish, Opie.

Oh.

That wasn't necessary, Thurston.

But it was. Come here, sit down.

And this... this is the hot sauce.

Taste it.

You are gonna love it.

Uh, this is...

Oh, my God.

How did you do that?

Aframomum melegueta.
It's more commonly known as Guinea grain-- it's native to swampy habitats along the West African coast. I have no idea how your granny got a hold of it, but...

She used to trade with an herbalist in the woods.

Damn, if you haven't brought my granny back from the dead!

(laughs) Hey, I told you I'd find it, right?

And you were right-- the secret ingredient was love.

That's the only explanation for Hodgins spending so much time and... and effort to do this.

Eat. Go. Eat.

Eat.

Hey, we shouldn't keep this stuff a secret.

I mean, the world would love this.

(mouth full): Oh, very true, very true.

MONTENEGRO: You should slow down a little bit, Finn-- you don't want to get a bone stuck in your throat.

Not from a baby catfish.

That's it. What?

Cause of death.

Thank-thank you.

You see these micro-fractures on the transverse processes of the C-four and -five?

Yes. Well, they appear to be consistent with strangulation. Which is unlikely since the hyoid bone remains intact.

Unlikely, yes, but not impossible.

The victim was in her mid-20s, yes?

At that age, the hyoid bone is still very flexible.

And if the conditions were right, she could've been strangled without breaking her hyoid.

The flexibility of the young, semicartilaginous hyoid, combined with a wide ligature, could very well have caused these micro-fractures.

Well done, Mr. Abernathy.

Well, you should be thanking my granny. (laughs)

Rebecca made it clear, if there was any booze on set, I'd be fired, and then Trudy said, if I didn't figure out a way to get her some vodka, she'd fire me, too. So you picked the judge.

It was just a matter of time before Trudy fired Rebecca.

This job meant a lot to me.

I'd say it worked out pretty well for you.

Your show is still going on, you got Rebecca's job-- sounds like a motive to me.

Rebecca was my mentor. Oh, right, yeah.

She treated you like crap, you got paid next to nothing, and she took all the credit.

That's how everyone starts out.

Trudy said that you and Rebecca used to fight all the time because she wouldn't give you a promotion.

Sometimes I have a temper.

I can... get impatient, that's all.

I think you ran out of patience-- I think you told her to go to this abandoned building to interview this fake guest, and... you strangled her... with this.

Where... where did you get this?

Got a search warrant for your apartment.

You see, the team at the Jeffersonian said that Rebecca was strangled.

We found a fiber underneath her fingernail.

No. No, you've got this all wrong.

Rebecca lent me this scarf... Oh.

That's Rebecca's scarf.

Oh, I didn't know that; thanks for that.

Wow, this is looking worse and worse for you, isn't it, Jill?

BOOTH: Look, Jill Roberts has motive and opportunity.

Hell, she even got her promotion courtesy of Rebecca's death.

I believe our k*ller acted on impulse and obsession.

Jill Roberts is methodical and calculating.

Okay, you're saying that she's innocent because her desk is neat?

No, I'm saying that Jill is only aggressive professionally.

She didn't try to hide her feelings.

She seemed genuinely upset about Rebecca's death.

Hodgins identified the fiber that was under the victim's fingernails.

Some kind of a nylon, okay?

This scarf... probably matches it.

No, see, this is wool.

This is South American vicuña-- it's very expensive.

What? It's not a crime to appreciate nice things.

Okay. Doesn't mean that she's not the m*rder*r, okay?

Just means that she didn't use this.

I think you're reaching, Booth.

BRENNAN: Our assumption was that the victim was strangled at the top of the stairs and then tossed over the railing.

But Finn and I tried that every possible way.

The yellow fractures show the injuries from the simulated falls... and the red show the actual fractures to your victim.

FINN: Yeah, we couldn't match the same fracture pattern that we found.

What if the body dropped at a 90-degree angle?

Well, how could that be possible if she was thrown over the side?

It wouldn't.

The calcaneal fractures indicate that her feet hit the ground first and absorbed most of the impact.

So if I adjust the direction of her body... and adjust for the dead weight...

Add a ligature around her neck.

(beeping)

Well, I'll be damned. She was hanged over that rail.

And then cut down after she d*ed.

Hairline fracturing matches. But the victim's neck wasn't broken.

Wouldn't your neck break if you were hanged?

It depends on the length of the ligature, and if the noose was wide enough, like so, it wouldn't break Rebecca's neck.

But... it would cause tremendous impact to the jawline.

Look.

What are those? Three small nicks on the anteroinferior aspect of the mandible.

Uniform and equidistant. Small spikes.

This could tell us how she was strangled.

And by what.

I'll have Dr. Hodgins swab.

MONTENEGRO: They do seem to be spikes.

Like maybe from a bracelet.

Like a punk would wear. Exactly.

SAROYAN: So you think the victim was struck in the throat by someone wearing a bracelet? Impossible.

There would be scraping, as well as the indentations.

These marks were made by applying consistent pressure.

Got it! So, I swabbed Rebecca's mandible; I found dander.

Dander, like from a dog? Yeah, exactly.

It's a dog collar. HODGINS: Mm-hmm.

Angie, can you call up the file that I sent?

HODGINS: So, I even found the breed.

It was a leopard hound.

Yeah. It's a Catahoula leopard hound, to be exact. How did you...

BOOTH: That look familiar?

What are you doing with Iris's collar?

We got a search warrant for your home.

Telling you, you've got quite a shrine for your dog.

BRENNAN: The purple velvet matches perfectly with the fibers we found under Rebecca's fingernails.

Well, so? She was her dog, too. BOOTH: That's true.

So, where's Iris?

She... d*ed.

Before Rebecca was k*lled?

Look, we know you had a palimony agreement which gave you joint custody of the dog.

How did the dog die?

BOOTH: Rebecca was always working, so the dog that you loved so much probably d*ed of neglect, am I right?

BRENNAN: There's a tribe in Southern India that felt that a man's animal was a part of him.

Like his arm or his heart.

If another man k*lled his animal, he was put to death... in the same manner as that animal.

BOOTH: Our FBI shrink agrees-- Iris was hanged, wasn't she?

That's why you hanged Rebecca.

BRENNAN: We found the grave in your backyard.

We can dig up the dog, and it'll be easy to determine cause of death.

I'll do that.

Don't.

Don't what?

Don't... dig up Iris.

Please.

I went to pick her up... on Saturday, and... nobody answered the door, so I... went around back.

Rebecca was working, like usual?

She left Iris chained to the porch.

Who would leave a dog tied up like that?

I told her that I would take her.

But she said the... custody agreement was a... legal contract, that the law was the law.

Everything always went back to that... stupid show.

Iris was... she was more than an agreement.

She was all I had left.

And there she was... hanging off the... patio railing... dangling by her collar.

Probably went after a squirrel...

(sniffles) or something.

I couldn't... let Rebecca get away with that.

That's what the law is all about, right?

♪
♪ In the hearts of men

♪ In the arms of mothers

♪ In the parts we play

♪ To convince others

♪ We know what we're doing

♪ We're doing it right

♪ They've written books on the subject ♪
♪ But then you may still be surprised... ♪

WOMAN: Listen, you guys, I thought you were here to do an article.

You know, my assistant never would have set up this meeting for a tasting if my team hadn't tasted it first.

Especially if you want me involved in the marketing.

Come on, you guys, let's go, get that food up.

You're right, ma'am.

Please accept our apologies...

Okay, uh, but they do not have your palate, and we could not let you miss an opportunity like this.

That's sweet, but you need to talk to my staff.

Come on, let's go, let's go. You're right, ma'am.

Okay? We're sorry... Okay, what you can't see is that he is actually the best of what this country has to offer.

Did he k*ll bin Laden?

Wow, you are a tough sell. Taste it.

Relax, it's just a hot sauce we're talking about.

No, it's not just a hot sauce.

My granny made this sauce, and she took the recipe with her to her grave.

Look me in the eye, kid.

Look me in the eye and tell me that you think this is the most amazing hot sauce I'll ever taste and I should make an exception.

Ma'am, I promise you... to my everlasting surprise that this sauce tastes every bit as good as when my grandmother made it for me.

Now, men fought for this sauce.

And I-I ain't proud to say it, but my cousin lost his hand because of it.

All right, give me a taste.

Not bad.

All right, 60 me, 40 you, and we'll market it with my name, my logo, maybe we'll make a little bit of money. HODGINS: Please, we're gonna be rich-- 80/20, our favor, and... it's called "Opie and Thurston's Hot Sauce."

Okay.

Now, I got to hand it to you, Bones, you always find a way to amaze me.

I'm proud of you.

Solving this case was a group effort.

But I am the most valuable, so thank you.

No, I meant I'm proud of you for not losing your cool with the preschool director, and Emma's mom.

Well, when it comes to settling conflicts, it's always better to be rational.

And the abundance of forensic evidence against Christine was clearly tainted by multiple sources.

Yeah, but the part where it became the O.J. trial was a bit much.

But it worked.

Yeah. You know, Christine, she's gonna misbehave again.

She's gonna break curfew, she's gonna have a cigarette or two, she's probably gonna skip school.

I know.

It's a natural part of maturing.

Natural? Yes.

Really? Yes. Acceptable behavior can only be learned through the experience of unacceptable behavior.

Why the big change of heart?

I haven't changed.

What's that? What?

On your neck. Is that a bite mark? Nothing.

Christine bit you. No... oh...

Christine got excited.

It doesn't mean that she bit Emma.

Better not take her to daycare for a while.

I'll just tell them that you did it while we were making love.

No, you won't.

Well, it's a believable explanation, Booth.

What...? What, that I gave you a hickey?

No, I'm not in eighth grade.

(horn honks)
Ooh.

Seriously? You got to slow down.

Boy, she really did lay into you there, huh?

It is a bit sore. Yeah.

What's that mean?