09x22 - The Nail In The Coffin

[bunniefuu]

Previously on Bones...

She thinks there's another serial k*ller out there.

Because that's what Pelant told her before he d*ed.

If anything happens to me, uh, she... she'll keep doing what she's doing.

And you'll never find out who she is.

BRENNAN: I believe Lana Brewster was the first Ghost k*ller victim.

HODGINS: Trent McNamara was a nasty piece of work, and that's his sister Stephanie.

We have evidence your father paid off a medical examiner to cover up the fact that Lana was m*rder*d.

You think I k*lled Lana? This family's been harassed enough.

I've seen this one before, on one of the Ghost k*ller victims.

I'd like to help, Seeley, but Dr. Brennan has no evidence to link these cases to a serial k*ller.

These are the files on all six Ghost k*ller victims.

I want you to oversee this one.

Does Dr. Brennan know you're making me responsible for these?

Why would you give those remains to Dr. Edison?

SAROYAN: A single g*nsh*t wound to the temple.

This sure looks to me like an admission of guilt.

I read your autopsy report on Trent McNamara.

Yes, his fingernail was ripped off.

Lana Brewster sustained the exact same wound.

What do you think? I think we're gonna catch her.

Her?

That's what you said-- her.

Well, you believe me?

Mm-hmm.

And the forest demon took the shape of the last man m*rder*d.

He glided through the woods on the wind, looking for new victims to feed on.

Stop, Dad, this is stupid.

You're just scared.

Am not.

Think you're going a little overboard, Mike.

That's what the demon's last victim said.

She was part of a family just like us, sitting around a campfire, marshmallows on sticks.

We should've stayed in the regular campground.

It's creepy with no one else around.

I like it, Dad.

Go on. It was quiet that night.

The family suspected nothing.

Till the leaves started rustling. (rustling)

It's just the wind, Allison. Still oozing with blood from his last victim, he catches the scent of the innocent family.

Okay, that's enough. Stop it, Mike.

Now. It's just a stupid ghost story.

It's okay, buddy. We're here to have fun.

Let's just roast our marshmallows, and sing a few songs before we turn in.

Thank God.
(branches cracking)

What was that?

DAD: Nothing, honey.

Probably just a... a bunny or a chipmunk or something.

(thud)
(girl screams)

I swear to God, Michael, this is the cruelest thing you've ever done.

(laughing): You're the best, Dad.

I-I-I...

(screaming)

(shrieking)

Awesome!

(screams)

(scream echoing away)

BOOTH:
Hey. Oh, is that my Bureau assessment you're filling out?

Yes. They wanted me to, because we're partners.

Oh.

But you're not allowed to look at it.

It's confidential. What are all those, uh, papers there? This is my answer to question 3a.

3a? They only have three little lines for that.

It says use additional paper, if necessary.

You must have at least 15 pieces of paper...

Eighteen.

18. On comportment? Well, okay, don't look.

You know this promotion affects you, too.

I was told to be objective and dispassionate.

That sounds terrible.

(phone ringing) I think your comportment is excellent, by the way.

Thank you. For the most part.

(ringing continues)
Right. Ah.

Booth.

Hey, Camille.

Don't-Don't call me Seeley.

Right. Okay.

On our way.

Oh.

I really don't think that's a good idea.

Look, I'm just saying...

Okay, it's your call.

Got it. Bye.

What was that?

It's a body in the woods. Oh.

Okay, I'll get ready.

Cam just wants me to go.

What? I always go with you to a m*rder scene.

We're partners. She's bringing Clark out on this one.

Clark? I'm the head of forensic anthropology. What is going on?

Well, she thinks that this has something to do with the Ghost k*ller.

And since, you know, Clark is heading this up...

She thinks I'm incapable of being objective about the Ghost k*ller, which is absurd.

I'm being dispassionate about you; I'm coming.

Technically, you know, she has the jurisdiction to decide which tech goes. Technically?

I laid all the groundwork for the Ghost k*ller case.

I know, but you know... you know how you and Cam got into it, last time, on this one.

What about you? Do you think that I'm the best person to investigate this case? Of course I do.

It's not my call, okay? Don't sh**t the messenger here.

You just... Just take the high road on this, all right?

Just show Cam that you're a team player.

(siren wailing over indistinct radio communication)

You know Bones is pissed, don't you?

Hey, look, I'm just doing my job.

Just tell Dr. Brennan it wasn't my fault.

Good luck with that. SAROYAN: Sorry, Seeley.

I'm not gonna have her veer an investigation off track because she wants this to be the Ghost k*ller. BOOTH: Well, you must have suspected something or you wouldn't have excluded her.

I do, but it's not conclusive yet.

The victim appears to have been stabbed.

Whoa! And the head was chopped off.

Actually, no. The victim was strung up after she was already dead.

Oh, wow.

Yeah. The body separated from the head during decomp.

It fell on a family that was camping.

I have a feeling they're gonna be staying in hotels from now on. Right, so... it was k*lled, then hung.

All right? There's no attempt to hide the body.

The lack of a prominent glabella indicates the victim was female. Okay, well, the body is very gooey, here.

Any, uh... you got time of death, bug boy?

Predation, blow flies and rove beetles put time of death between eight and ten days.

So far, I hear nothing that connects this to the Ghost k*ller.

Well, I need to compare this to the other potential victims.

That's gonna take time, Agent Booth. I don't have time.

And I can't start a serial k*ller investigation unless we're certain. Oh, God.

Why didn't I just wait for the pictures?

BOOTH: You know what? I know I'm supposed to be a good soldier here, and I'm trying real hard, but we all know that Bones should be here.

Which is why I am, Booth. Yes.

Dr. Brennan, I specifically told you to wait until called.

You are not to touch the rema... The third finger on the right hand has an avulsion fracture on the superior aspect of the distal phalanx. The fingernail has been ripped off, just like every other Ghost k*ller victim.

Did you not see this?

Yes, I did.

And you can check my notes.

Now can I please get back to work?

CAROLINE: Fighting among the squints can compromise the case.

You don't want this going on the report when the muckymucks are deciding who to promote. BOOTH: You know what?

I don't care about the muckymucks.

Bones should have been here from the beginning.

Seeley... This evidence should have been linked to the Ghost k*ller immediately. EDISON: I did.

I also noted the other fingers. Unless you're too arrogant to look at my findings.

BOOTH: Oh! Uh-oh.

All of them have avulsion fractures.

EDISON: Yes, all the nails were ripped out.

The Ghost k*ller's never done that before.

Those fractures are old.

Just check the remodeling.

BRENNAN: With traces of what seems to be an adhesive.

Well, that might explain these. What are those?

Well, maybe the victim couldn't grow her own nails, so she wore artificial ones.

These aren't artificial.

These nails are real.

BOOTH: Real?

Who glues on real nails to themselves?

♪ Bones 9x22 ♪
The Nail in the Coffin
Original Air Date on April 21, 2014

♪ Main Title Theme ♪ The Crystal Method

♪

MONTENEGRO: So we're finally calling it.

The Ghost k*ller exists.

Every victim has had the fingernail of the third distal phalanx torn off.

That signature suggests the work of the same k*ller.

EDISON: The X-rays show multiple sharp force trauma injuries.

SAROYAN: There are also indications of blunt force trauma on what little tissue is left.

This is a far more violent m*rder than the others. Until the bones are clean, we can't determine which are post- and which are perimortem.

So you two are cool with each other?

Oh. Dr. Edison's work has been excellent.

And I imagine he is relieved to be working with me.

As soon as Dr. Saroyan apologizes for excluding me... Which you ignored.

And which I would ignore again.

Oh, boy... I poked a hornet's nest, didn't I?

Am I the only professional here?

Well, this bladder seems to be intact, which means I'll be able to run a tox screen.

Has Dr. Hodgins returned from the crime scene?

I need these wounds swabbed.

He's still there, looking for fingernails and any other particulates that'll tell us who this victim is. EDISON: The skull is intact.

So how long do you think it'll take you to get an I.D.?

As soon as Brennan gives it to me, I can...

I don't think that'll be necessary. Can you bring up Trent McNamara's skull X-rays?

The last victim? SAROYAN: Technically, not a victim.

His death was ruled a su1c1de.

You may want to re-evaluate that ruling.

Notice the forward prominence of the lower mandible.

This is a rare genetic marker known as prognathism.

Now, bring up this victim.

Mm-hmm.

Same prognathism... I mean, albeit mild.

You think this victim is a McNamara?

Statistically, that's a reasonable conclusion, and since there was only one surviving member of the family, this must be Trent's sister, Stephanie.

SAROYAN: Excellent.

But why would the Ghost k*ller target the McNamaras?

In most of the previous cases, the remains were hidden.

Or the killings were made to look like an accident.

Hanging the victim from the tree was brazen.

It was theatrical, even.

The Ghost k*ller is upping his game.

He's thumbing his nose at us. Her.

Bones thinks that the k*ller is a woman.

She's never been wrong. CAROLINE: Good enough for me, cher.

But why two McNamaras?

There's never been a connection between the victims before.

SWEETS: That we know of.

The connections could all just be in his-- or her-- mind.

Serial K*llers often develop elaborate rationalizations to justify their actions.

Hence the creepy fingernails.

They put me off manicures, I can tell you that.

You know, what ties her actions together could be impossible for us to know until we talk to her. Or maybe the k*ller just thought that Stephanie McNamara was investigating her brother's death and k*lled her because she was getting too close.

Incoming.

BOOTH: The Deputy Director?

He never comes down here.

You want a breath mint?

Breath mint? No.

Mm.

Agent Booth. Yes.

Ms. Julian.

Uh, Dr. Sweets.

I'm a profiler.

Of course. Dr. Sweets.

Just wanted to tell you we understand the importance of this case.

We'll offer you any support you need.

Because the McNamaras are involved, right?

I'm sure Agent Booth merely meant that since Stephanie McNamara was...

I know what Agent Booth meant. And I appreciate his honesty.

That's why you're on our short list for the...

BOOTH: I'm not in it for a promotion, sir, I just want to catch the m*rder*r.

Of course.

And you're right about the McNamaras.

They were a very powerful family.

Wealth has its privileges.

Yes, it does, Ms. Julian.

And there are people more powerful than I that want this resolved. Quickly.

It'll take as long as it takes, sir.

I want to give Ms. Julian a case that sticks.

I would expect nothing less.

Glad you're running point on this one, Booth.

Thank you, sir.

Hey. It took a while, but I retrieved the other nails from the crime scene.

At least pieces of all of them. Great.

I'll check for DNA under them, in case the victim scratched her assailant.

And I'll look at the rope used for the noose.

Some of the k*ller might be on that, too.

Dr. Hodgins?

Yeah. I'm sorry, by the way. I know you knew the family.

Oh, yeah.

The truth is, the family was always strange, you know?

Like they were living under a cloud. A very wealthy cloud.

Yeah, tons of money, and all that's left is m*rder, sadness and secrets.

I'm telling you, I'm doing a hell of a lot better broke.

(computer beeping, trilling)

Well, got the blood results.

Wait a minute-- she tested positive for alkaloid cytosine?

SAROYAN: Which is what? It's also known as sophorine.

It's part of the Fabaceae family, like peas, beans, legumes.

Hey, if sophorine is mixed with dimethyl sulfoxide, it becomes an anesthetic.

So, she was drugged?

It's probably how she was abducted.

Is there any way to trace where the k*ller got the anesthetic from?

No.

It has to be homemade.

Homemade and, therefore, untraceable.

There's a reason why we call the k*ller a ghost.

BOOTH:
So, the gardener at the McNamaras' compound was the last person to report seeing Stephanie McNamara alive.

You think she could have made that anesthetic?

I imagine she'd need a science background.

Well, she dropped out of high school to work for the McNamaras.

You know, I wrote seven pages on your problem-solving skills.

Wow. Seven. Which I said were excellent.

Thanks, Bones. Although, I admitted to being skeptical about your reliance on your gut.

But I explained it... Huh?

...by referencing studies showing that gut instincts are merely highly-developed observational powers.

So it's probably your eyes more than your gut.

You know, you're amazing, you know that?

Yes.

However, I'm not sure what exemplary quality you're referencing-- my intellect, or...

Your support.

Your... Thanks.

Thanks.

How could I not support you?

You believed in me, even when there's no tangible evidence the Ghost k*ller existed.

I guess it was my gut.

WOMAN: The tack room was the last place I saw her.

It was Sunday.

Stephanie left at 10:00 a.m. for her morning ride, and she never came back to the house.

Why didn't you report her missing?

I'm just an employee of the McNamaras.

I don't know her schedule.

Sometimes she'd be gone for weeks on a trip.

You just, uh, tend the garden.

That's right.

Do you have any plants in the Fabaceae family here?

Yes. Peas and beans. Why?

Well, she likes to garden, too.

Look at this, Booth.

BOOTH: What's that?

Scratch marks.

Stephanie?

I don't think so.

This dried blood is highly oxidized.

This happened a long time ago.

BOOTH: What's that?

Fragment of a fingernail.

BOOTH: A fingernail.

Okay, looks like somebody was trying to claw their way out of this.

Do you know anything about this?

No.

Hold up a second.

These markings look recent.

Someone kicked out, was trying to get away.

This is probably where Stephanie McNamara was abducted.

I've finished cataloguing Stephanie's perimortem injuries.

In total, 16 sharp force trauma injuries, most of which were concentrated on the torso and neck.

Based on the striae, the w*apon had an irregular serrated blade.

Any idea what was used in the as*ault?

Not yet. I'm having Dr. Hodgins swab the wounds for trace.

If there are plant particulates, it could help point to the McNamara's gardener.

So far, we've found nothing that ties her to the abduction or the preparation of the anesthetic.

No.

Dr. Brennan...

I just have to say how much I appreciate how accepting you've been about me working with you on this case.

Yes.

That is rare for me, isn't it?

(laughs)
Yes, it is.

And I know Pelant told you you would never be able to catch this Ghost k*ller without his expertise.

I'm determined to prove him wrong.

I appreciate that, Clark.

And the nails?

Oh! Well, that's actually the most interesting finding.

Oh. Next time, please lead with the most interesting finding.

Well, I guess I like the build.

I'm more of a crescendo kind of guy.

Now...

Notice the nail beds?

They're torn and remodeled. Any new nails Stephanie grew would have been irregular at best, if not totally deformed. And look at the remodeling.

BRENNAN: These nails were torn away at least 15 years ago. Bent back and torn out.

From clawing at something.

Stephanie might have been the one who was locked in that stable.

It was her.

The nail fragment you found in the wood of the stable door matches Stephanie McNamara's DNA. What about the other nails Dr. Hodgins found?

None of the DNA matches Stephanie.

I'm going through the nails now, to see if I can find any matches. So, the Ghost k*ller might have glued the nails from her other victims onto Stephanie.

But why?

The SEC?

Yeah. The McNamaras had billions.

I want to know who benefits from Stephanie's m*rder.

The Ghost k*ller doesn't care about money, Booth.

She's fulfilling an emotional need, not a financial one.

What if the gardener k*lled her? Wouldn't that give you both?

None of the other victims fit the money profile.

Lana Brewster, Chloe Campbell-- neither one was rich. I don't care, okay?

When it comes to fortunes like the McNamaras', okay, murders like this-- it's always about the money.

WOMAN: I'm still not entirely clear on how the SEC can assist with a m*rder investigation, Agent Booth.

Oh, the McNamaras-- they have been investigated by you in the past.

Eight times to be exact.

Eight. Those cases are sealed.

As are the settlements we reached.

I know there's always a turf w*r between agencies. Just remember, we're gonna win this one. So why don't you be a good girl and help? I can tell you that the formal investigations launched over the last 18 years have included allegations of insider trading, accounting fraud, market manipulation and disclosure violations.

CAROLINE: One of those cases involved $132 million in tax violations and missing funds.

But you didn't recommend prison time.

As a prosecutor, that makes me want to slap someone silly.

The responsible entity received a cease-and-desist and paid a fine.

BOOTH: Wait a second. Entity.

Okay, Giles McNamara is an entity now? We try to avoid prosecutions.

They're time-consuming and difficult to prove.

Well, it didn't take us long to prove that McNamara used one of his shell companies to pay off a medical examiner in the tune of, what, two million dollars?

In the Madoff case, we were looking at missing funds in excess of $65 billion, so excuse me if two million didn't raise a red flag.

CAROLINE: We're going to need access to the McNamara financials over the past 18 years.

Corporate filings, disclosure documents, regulatory examination reports, penalties...

That is all confidential, proprietary information.

I would like to help, but... All right, you know what?

You really don't want to push me right now, Ms. Kent, 'cause I will get Ms. Julian here to get the DOJ to issue a warrant to put you in jail for impeding a m*rder investigation.

See how easy that was, cherie?

Hey. Hey.

Booth and Caroline forced the SEC to send over their investigations of McNamara and his holding companies, his offshore entities, the works. That's great.

Well, there's three hard drives worth.

There's over a million and a half pages covering 18 years.

It just feels like we're being buried in paperwork.

So show 'em you can't be buried.

Hey, I may have found a link to the gardener for Booth.

So, look at this.

I found phosphorous, nitrates, chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium, Flumetralin, as well as organochlorides.

Oh, I know that one!

It's a pesticide.

I use it for our vegetables. Yeah.

That's right. Well, Stephanie actually had it on her clothes, so, it's enough for a search warrant to match the chemicals that the gardener uses as well as any potential weapons that Steph was stabbed with.

Well, but couldn't Stephanie just have had that stuff on her clothes just by being on the estate?

Yes.. Yes, but the Flumetralin and the pesticide was inside the s*ab wounds that I swabbed.

They were on the m*rder w*apon.

It's always the help, right?

The butler did it?

We found trace of the Flumetralin you use within Stephanie's injuries.

"Flumetramin." Right. What?

Right. Translation is, you stabbed her with your gardening tool. BRENNAN: My colleagues at the Jeffersonian are testing your tools now.

Can you turn your head to the side, please?

What?

No.

Okay.

I didn't k*ll Stephanie.

I grew up on the estate.

Stephanie and I played together as kids.

What is she doing?

I don't know, but, uh, you know, if you have nothing to hide, why would you be nervous? Why would I k*ll her?

The McNamaras were good to me.

Even if the estate sold, I still have a pension and severance package.

Maybe you felt you deserved more.

May I feel your mandible?

It'll just take a second.

Do I have to?

I would.

Fine.

Hmm.

You felt you deserved more because you're Stephanie's sister.

What?

What? Half-sister probably, but she has the same slight prognathism as Stephanie, although hers was more prominent.

She's a McNamara?

Yes. I am sure that a DNA test will prove that Giles McNamara was her father.

What? You're wrong and crazy.

I assure you I am neither. I wouldn't call her wrong and crazy.

And it was common knowledge that Giles McNamara wasn't a faithful husband.

And your mother worked on the estate.

Why don't you do the math?

BRENNAN: As the last McNamara left alive, even as an illegitimate one, you stand to inherit a significant amount of money.

Billions of dollars, Bones.

Billions of reasons why you would want to k*ll Stephanie.

I ran the DNA on each individual nail that was glued on Stephanie. Mm-hmm.

You were right.

They match all the other victims you identified.

Chloe Campbell, Lana Brewster, Carla Hopkins, Timothy Monroe, Michael Windsor, Heather Mendez, Alex Webber and Trent McNamara. And since Stephanie was wearing Trent's nail, I can confirm that Trent is one of the victims of the Ghost k*ller. And the gardener would have had contact with Lana Brewster, Trent and Stephanie.

We should have her check the other victims to determine...

Angela already has.

Hey, so, these are the locations where each of the Ghost k*ller victims were m*rder*d.

Once Cam got me the names, I was able to create a timeline of who was k*lled where and when.

The McNamara family expense accounts and travel records were on the hard drives the SEC sent over.

I was able to place Stephanie at each of the m*rder sites. BRENNAN: Stephanie?

MONTENEGRO: Yeah.

Heather Mendez, California, November 2004.

Stephanie was in Los Angeles hosting a McNamara Foundation charity event.

SAROYAN: Timothy Monroe, Texas, May 2012.

MONTENEGRO: Stephanie was in town for the wedding of her college roommate.

So Stephanie put those nails on herself.

Stephanie McNamara was the Ghost k*ller.

HODGES: But who k*lled Stephanie?

The McNamaras are American royalty, for God's sake.

I mean, so what the hell prompts a princess to go on a k*lling spree? Her father's megalomania, for one thing. Giles McNamara had a pathological need to dominate and control every aspect of his life, including his family.

We found DNA and blood evidence that indicates that Stephanie McNamara was abused as a girl.

BOOTH: When we pressed the gardener, she admitted that McNamara used to lock his daughter in the tack room if she did anything wrong. And Stephanie tried to claw her way out. CAROLINE: Poor child tore her nails up so badly that eventually she had none left, to speak of.

Which is why she took the fingernails from her victims.

SWEETS: Symbolically, she was replacing something that she felt her father had stolen from her.

But you still have one nail you haven't I.D.'d.

We're working on it now. Yes, and we have to assume it's another victim we don't know about.

(sighs): My God. And through all of this, no one at the McNamara estate ever called in the abuse to the authorities?

CAROLINE: The gardener was around Stephanie's age.

She probably thought if she said anything, she'd be next.

So far this half sister's our best suspect, though?

Yes, sir.

The whole damn country believes the government lets people like the McNamaras get away with m*rder, and for the past 18 years, we have.

I want this put to bed, Booth.

I want convictions.

No loose ends.

Yes, sir.

So, I was compiling the results from the pollen and particulates I found on Stephanie...

To match them to what's grown on the McNamara estate.

Yeah, but in the s*ab wound, I found traces of Nicotiana tobacum.

Tobacco? Wait a minute, wasn't Stephanie a smoker?

Well, she was, but there was no other tobacco or traces of cigarettes found on her.

So why is there tobacco residue on the m*rder w*apon?

I don't know, I don't know. I'm gonna run everything through the mass spec again, see if I missed something.

SAROYAN: The last fingernail gave me a DNA match on the unknown victim--

Maya Zinkow.

15 years old. d*ed 20 years ago. Well, that's by far the youngest victim. HODGINS: Wait a minute.

Maya Zinkow? Well, she lived in the same town that Stephanie and I grew up in.

I mean, they were classmates.

Apparently, the m*rder*r was found and convicted.

Well, yeah. He was a teacher at the school; I remember this.

I mean, everyone said he was the nicest guy.

Well, he might have been. Dr. Brennan's having Maya's exhumed so she can link Stephanie to the m*rder.

You mean she started k*lling at 15?

I guess she was a prodigy.

BOOTH: Dr. Herman Kessler-- served 20 years for k*lling that girl.

He was her biology teacher. No prior record.

He was accused of r*pe, too. No, that wasn't proven.

BRENNAN: It only took the jury four hours to find him guilty.

No juror wants to be responsible for letting a monster go free.

Kessler was released six months ago.

SAROYAN: It sounds like he had good reason to want revenge against the person that actually committed the crime.

BOOTH: So he k*lled Stephanie McNamara to set the record straight.

But how did Kessler know that Stephanie k*lled this girl? We just found out ourselves.

SAROYAN: Well, it looks like the casket's made of wood.

Depending on how it's sealed, we may have a viable set of remains that could give us answers.

MAN: Pull that bolt out of there.

MAN 2: Hang on, there's one more.

All right.

BRENNAN: Mummified, so she wasn't embalmed.

SAROYAN: I might be able to get tox results from the tissue. These injuries seem to be s*ab wounds-- violent, like the wounds on Stephanie. Bones, are you satisfied that this is, uh, Maya Zinkow?

There's an excellent chance.

All right, let's get her back to the lab, ASAP.

Um, is Caroline having the medical examiner's report sent over?

It's gonna be at your office when you get back.

I'm gonna get Sweets; we'll try and locate Kessler.

BRENNAN: The M.E. report indicates that the victim was placed inside the casket at the coroner's office and then taken straight to the cemetery.

Explains why she wasn't embalmed.

But it raises more questions than it answers.

Standard procedure is to release the remains to the family and have them go through a funeral home.

None of the s*ab wounds have been catalogued.

Just the injuries to the C3 and the clavicle.

EDISON: Well, even cursory looks indicate that there's 12, 13, 14 wounds to the ribs, sternum...

As well as the avulsion fracture where her fingernail was ripped off. These look like almost the same injuries we found on Stephanie McNamara.

This report is as incompetent as any I've seen.

Who would sign off on a job like...

Oh, God.

What?

'Cause that sounded like a bad "Oh, God."

The M.E. who signed off on Maya's autopsy, it's the same one who worked on Lana Brewster's body.

The one Giles McNamara paid off.

Could he have known that his daughter was k*lling all these people and not done anything about it?

Oh, God.

BRENNAN: How did Kessler get this information?

Like I said, I haven't seen Kessler in awhile.

What's "awhile"?

Four or five days. Could be longer.

Kessler, he's a quiet one.

Isn't that what they always say about psycho K*llers, "He was a real quiet one"?

Nobody said anything about a k*ller, sir.

I read the papers.

So what are we looking at here?

It's gruesome, right? Like, Dahmer gruesome?

Just open the door.

Give me one detail. Something juicy.

Now, look, you're familiar with the term "obstruction of justice"?

Feds, you're always such hard-asses.

Okay, take care.

Hmm.

File boxes and nothing else.

No personal effects.

He really did not care about building a life after prison.

Look at this, huh?

Information about McNamara.

Hmm... It's like he made a hobby collecting stuff about him.

I'd say... it's safe to call it an obsession.

Obsession? I bet all these boxes are full of stuff about McNamara.

Look at this.

What do those blueprints say?

The McNamaras' estate.

Oh, my G... So Kessler used that to plan Stephanie's abduction.

What about that other set?

This is from another house.

Kessler's going after someone else.

So, Angela's looking through the Hall of Records for a house that matches the second set of blueprints.

Yeah, we now know that most of this was obtained while he was in prison.

He planned on filing an appeal, so that gave him access to everything even remotely related to the case.

He never filed for an appeal.

Yeah, that's 'cause it was never about exoneration.

It was always about revenge. You're saying that he knew the McNamaras were involved this whole time?

It's the only thing that makes sense.

Kessler knew that he couldn't fight someone as powerful as them in court.

So the man spent 20 years in prison finding a way to even the score.

SWEETS: In his mind, it was the only way he could get justice-- but here's our biggest find.

Those are the crime scene photos of Maya Zinkow.

Wait a second. I thought these never existed.

CAROLINE: According to the local police and the FBI, they don't exist.

Something about the original negatives being "damaged."

I can only assume someone was trying to bury them for McNamara.

McNamara must have someone working on the inside.

SWEETS: But how did Kessler get them?

You devote every waking hour for 20 years, you uncover a lot.

Yeah, well, I want to know who hid all this stuff.

BRENNAN: The bone defects on the distal ends of the right radius and ulna suggest the implement entered with a left-to-right trajectory.

I'm noticing the same thing on the anterior surface of the manubrium.

The directionality on the report showed a right-to-left trajectory.

We could go through this all day.

The M.E.'s report is a complete fiction.

It was clearly written to set up Kessler.

Yes, but what's most interesting is what's left out.

Stephanie McNamara's wounds mirror almost exactly the wounds suffered by Maya Zinkow.

And as far as we know, Kessler's the only one that had access to these photos.

Which leaves little doubt that Kessler k*lled Stephanie McNamara.

There was a r*pe charge in here.

Yeah, the charge was dropped.

Because they didn't want the body to be examined.

The flesh is desiccated, but I found some evidence of damage to the cervix, and microscopic sections show associated tissue disruption and hemorrhaging which is consistent with having been r*ped.

There was no r*pe kit in evidence.

And how would Stephanie be involved?

I mean, she certainly didn't r*pe Maya before k*lling her.

Well, it appears that someone did.

You're going to retrieve a sample from the victim?

It's been 20 years.

Seminal DNA yielding a complete pattern after 20 years of decomp is a long sh*t, but it's not impossible.

And we don't have any other options.

Hey, Cam, I think I found something that you might want to see.

I'd been searching the Hall of Records and Building and Safety for DC and Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware, and I finally found a match for the blueprints Booth sent over.

SAROYAN: 515 North Alfred Street, Arlington, Virginia.

Who lives there?

MONTENEGRO: Congressman Steven Palter.

SAROYAN: Why would Kessler be going after a congressman?

BOOTH: Turns out that Congressman Palter used to be Judge Palter.

He presided over the Maya Zinkow case.

Two years later, the McNamaras helped fund congressional campaign.

Uh-huh-- through shell companies.

Of course it was through shell companies.

Cam got a viable semen sample from Maya Zinkow's remains and she got a DNA match.

Well, I'm guessing it's not Kessler.

No, it was Giles McNamara.

Stephanie's father r*ped Maya Zinkow?

Wait-- why would Stephanie want to k*ll Maya?

It's sick, but the victimology makes perfect sense. Stephanie had an abusive relationship with her father, right? - Right.

She would do anything to gain his attention.

So... she was jealous that he r*ped someone?

Right. To her, someone else was getting her father's attention.

It could've easily triggered a psychotic break, leading to the first m*rder. Right, and McNamara paid off the M.E. and the judge to make all this go away.

Yeah, except he didn't care about protecting Stephanie, only himself.

No wonder Kessler wants revenge.

Congressman, uh, Palter is next in line.

Tell Stark, will you? Okay.

(siren wailing) BOOTH: Geez! There's no answer at Palter's.

I hope he's out playing poker or something.

How did the Deputy Director react when you told him that there might be someone at the FBI who protected McNamara? Well, he wasn't surprised, which was surprising.

But he gave me a blank check. Told me to find out who was behind it. Whoever it is let nine people die.

(tires screeching)

BOOTH: Looks like a struggle.

Locked.

Booth? Yeah.

All right, stand back, will you?

(g*nsh*t)

HODGINS: So any particulates from the w*apon will be on the shirt as well as on the wounds.

EDISON: The left external carotid was severed.

Yeah, after he was stabbed in the chest and spine.

Well, Kessler clearly wanted him to suffer.

BRENNAN: There are clean incisions in the third costal cartilage as well as the clavicle.

And C3.

SAROYAN: One long slash from the neck, across the chest to the abdomen.

BRENNAN: I see a total of 16 wounds.

It's the same number we saw on Maya Zinkow and Stephanie.

More vengeance from Kessler.

EDISON: This wound track is deeper and more definitive than anything we ever saw on Stephanie.

Dr. Hodgins, can you swab the wound?

Then Clark can make a mold.

I'm not done examining the... We don't have the time.

Finally getting a w*apon I.D. could lead us to Kessler.

Okay, I'll cut away the tissue.

STARK: You were supposed to handle this, Booth.

Now I got a dead congressman on my hands.

Look, I'm willing to take full responsibility, sir, but I'm more concerned about who's next.

Next?

You got to be kidding me. If Kessler sees this as a conspiracy... Which it is.

You don't know that, Ms. Julian. McNamara gets away with paying off a judge and a medical examiner to protect his daughter, frames Kessler for m*rder, he escapes prosecution by the SEC, somehow he gets the FBI to lose vital pieces of evidence.

Do I have to go on, sir? Because I think I'm on a roll.

You really think this Kessler guy is gonna k*ll again?

We have to assume that, sir.

I've been through almost 1,000 pages Kessler compiled on the m*rder case, as well as McNamara's business dealings, all right? Kessler suffers from post-traumatic embitterment disorder, dysthymia, as well as a comorbidity... Okay, okay, the guy's a sick bastard--
I get it.

Who's next on his list?

No idea, sir. We're trying to find him.

And? Well... he's too smart to run, so he's got to be hiding someplace.

I'm guessing you have no idea where that is.

No. Which is why we should get back to work.

Then go. Get the hell out of here before Congress hangs me from the Capitol Building.

You wanted to see me, Dr. Hodgins? Yeah, more tobacco, Dr. B.

It was in the wound and on his shirt where it was cut by the w*apon.

Was he a smoker like Stephanie? No, as a matter of fact, his last piece of legislation was an increase in the tobacco tax.

So the tobacco was transferred from the m*rder w*apon.

No other explanation.

I'm also seeing methoxychlor. It's a pesticide.

Something the gardener used? No, methoxychlor was banned.

It hasn't been used in decades, so... Hey, any luck with the m*rder w*apon? The mold gave us kerf marks on the blade-- they're bent and irregular.

The w*apon seems to be quite old.

Well, that would explain the pesticide.

All right, I got to get back to work-- I'm also seeing some fibers embedded in the wound that might help us.

I'm doing MRI scans on both sets of remains.

We don't have time to clean the congressman's bones, but this should give us a clear view of the damage done to both victims.

Kessler had more information than the FBI.

All right, look, McNamara might be dead but whoever protected him could still be alive.

Unless that's who Kessler's going after next.

I want to know who McNamara bought. From all the information Kessler got, he knows. Look, Stephanie and Palter were k*lled within ten miles of each other, so he should be close. I agree.

He's revisiting the scene of the crime, reliving it.

Rewriting it, actually, so it comes out the way he feels it should.

So you're saying that he's home.

Psychologically, yeah.

These "V" nicks on Stephanie's third and fourth ribs, if we measure the intercostal space, the distance between the ribs...

It'll give us the width of the blade.

(beep)
4.19 centimeters.

Now the striation on the right anterolateral surface of the body, on the sixth thoracic vertebra.

So the length of the blade would have been 20 centimeters.

Please rotate Stephanie's torso.

The scrape on the posterior aspect of the fourth sternal rib seems to have been caused by trying to extract something with a hooked end.

As if caught and then someone turned it.

SAROYAN: I see where you're going.

The width of that scrape could give us the size of the hook.

BRENNAN: Can you see if the same kind of hooked blade was used on the congressman?

Yeah, give me a second.

BRENNAN: They're an exact match.

He used the same blade on both of them.

Asbestos. The fibers were asbestos.

Tell us why you're happy.

Oh, I understand.

I am also happy.

Okay. now this is not fair. Tobacco, asbestos and a banned pesticide.

Well, asbestos was also banned in the '50s.

It was used in the manufacture of cigarette filters, as if cigarettes didn't k*ll you fast enough.

So the w*apon came from an old tobacco factory?

MONTENEGRO: It makes sense. Look at this.

The w*apon was a tobacco scythe.

(siren wailing)

Old Dominion Cigarettes.

They went out of business in '68.

The factory is abandoned.

And it is eight miles from the McNamaras' estate and 15 miles from Palter's house.

You know what? That's a perfect location for Kessler to retreat to after an att*ck.

You guys did a great job, Bones.

I'll only accept that compliment if no one else dies.

Have you called for additional support?

No, no, no. Look, I know guys like Kessler, all right? The quieter we are, the better chance we have in getting him.

His light is on.

Don't do it, Kessler.

I did what I needed to do.

I set the record straight. That's what I wanted.

If he jumps from that height, his neck will snap.

We wouldn't have time to cut him down.

You have information that we need-- you can help.

I have nothing.

I've had nothing since they put me away.

You had missing files on McNamara.

On the cover-up. And you think you can get justice?

The law isn't for people like them.

You've got to try.

We can help.

I'm sorry.

I'm tired.

Why did you do that?

They'll never let me live, anyway.

You'll live.

I promise that.

♪
♪

♪
♪

Hey.

Booth.

Look at that.

Oh, beer?

Well, it's all they had at the convenience store.

And we have to celebrate 'cause we caught the Ghost k*ller.

Are you hungry? Because I am pretty sure that... beer from Missouri goes very well with leftovers. Eh, just drink the beer from... Missouri, huh?

Alexander's Famous.

So, um, Stark and Caroline, they're trying to figure out a deal so Kessler will cooperate.

He's a k*ller. Yeah, but who he k*lled.

In the Old West, they would've made him a sheriff.

So, um, Stark has finally recommended me for that promotion.

Course, I have to be confirmed by the House subcommittee.

Congratulations, Booth.

This calls for a toast. Mmm.

To you. No, no, wait.

To us, okay? 'Cause I told him no matter what happens to us, we're still a team.

Well, that's basically the definition of marriage, isn't it?

Does that mean I... don't have to finish filling out this questionnaire?

No, you know what, uh, you should still do it.

The government, they love their paperwork.

Okay. There was one question asking if we had a relationship outside of work, so...

You should probably just skip that one.

Oh. Um, I wrote all this.

You wrote all this.

Whoa! About our sex life?

Well, are you suggesting that it isn't interesting?

No, no, but... They told me to be thorough.

I also put that you never throw your socks into the hamper.

In case the floor is cold, I put the socks on so my feet stay warm-- but they don't really care about that.

What if I'm called before Congress to testify, and they ask why I ignored the question? Just ignore it for now, okay?

Here's to catching the Ghost k*ller.

To Missouri. Beer from Missouri.

What's that mean?