Bones Episode 5.04 The Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Residents of Verbena Court are gathered for the Verbena Court Luau. Children shoot water guns while the adults sip cocktails. Suddenly, the guests hear a series of small blasts from the barbeque pit. NATE GRUNENFELDER uncovers the roasting pig. Their meal seems fine but ELLIOT LINDBERGH notices an unwanted side dish: a human skull!

At the Lab, CAM and BRENNAN prepare to view the crime scene. BOOTH arrives with PARKER BOOTH in tow. Though Parker wants to see the "cooked person," Booth won't allow it. He wonders if ANGELA can watch his son. Angela leads Parker to her office, promising they can play with face paints.

At Verbena Court, Cam relates that her neighbor once cut his lawn on the diagonal. "Somebody set his garage on fire." Brennan agrees that the suburbs can be violent. Booth speaks to Nate Grunenfelder and his partner, JAMES PERRY. The barbeque pit came with their house. They put the pig in at 9:00AM. It looks like this murder is an inside job. Brennan determines that the victim is a male between the ages of thirty and thirty-five. Reflective lenses have fused to his supra-orbital margin.

Booth questions BOB SAYLES, MARY KAY SAYLES and their daughter, PAIGE SAYLES. Brennan approaches with the sunglasses from the remains. Gardener TREY JORDAN realizes they belong to KURT BESSETTE. Paige points to his house. Booth and Brennan turn to find his wife in the window. She quickly shuts the blinds. Creepy.

At the FBI, SWEETS breaks the news to KELLY BESSETTE. Kurt installed solar panels on their house and a wind turbine to be environmentally friendly but the neighbors thought they were ugly. "When the gay couple's dog peed on the wind turbine, Kurt gave the dog a laxative that nearly killed him." After that, the neighbors shunned Kelly and Kurt.

In the Autopsy Room, HODGINS speaks to Cam and ARASTOO from the crime scene. Pebbles embedded in the remains caused the explosions. They are all consistent in size and color. Arastoo suggests they are decorative, prompting Hodgins to inspect the pebbles at the base of the wind turbine. He finds copious amounts of dried blood.

Cam notices that there are pig bones amongst the remains. She realizes that, as a Muslim, Arastoo must find this work unclean. Arastoo insists he is fine and tries to concentrate but Cam won't let it go. Arastoo suddenly has an outburst WITHOUT his accent. "I'm a scientist, okay? Just like the rest of you. I can deal."

In Angela's Office, Parker explains that his friend's dad has a girlfriend with a pool. He swims there all the time. Maybe Angela could be Booth's girlfriend because Booth really needs a girlfriend. Angela politely declines, distracting Parker with his newly painted face.

In Booth's Car, Cam calls to report that Hodgins found a fatal amount of blood in the pebbles. He also found morning glory pollen on the victim. Morning glories bloom after sunrise so the murder occurred after 5:47AM. She mentions that Arastoo does not have an accent. Booth finds it strange but Brennan doesn't care.

Booth and Brennan arrive at Verbena Court to question Nate and James. Nate insists that Kurt poisoned their dog while James wishes he would tone it down: Rocky died from cancer. When Brennan points out that the poisoned dog may be a motive for murder, Nate decides cancer killed Rocky after all.

At the Lab, Arastoo presents his findings to Cam...without an accent. There is a puncture wound on the scapula and a bone laceration to the proximal humerus but neither is near a major vein or artery. What would have caused the victim to bleed so much? Hodgins arrives with the answer. There was a bullet at the bottom of the barbeque pit.

Parker plays video games on the Angelatron while Angela and Booth have a hushed conversation. Parker believes Booth desperately needs a girlfriend. Angela suggests Booth have an honest talk with his son. Cam interrupts with the bullet. Booth should check the National Gun Permit Database to see which Verbena Court resident owns a .44.

At the FBI, Elliot Lindbergh explains that he hates Verbena Court. Booth asks why Elliot wired $5000 to Kurt last month. According to Elliot, there are a limited number of phone lines in Verbena Court. Kurt bought them all and when Elliot wanted a second line, he had to pay Kurt. Elliot does own a .44 but he didn't kill Kurt. He killed the roasting pig. Bob and Elliot shot their own pig at a farm in North Carolina.

Brennan talks with Booth after the interrogation. They still have no cause of death. In the Conference Room, Sweets has a presentation. He plans to analyze the neighborhood as a single dysfunctional personality. "Identify the threat Kurt Bessette posed to their psychological equanimity. The killer will emerge." Brennan actually agrees. Booth pulls Sweets into his office. Should he be concerned about Parker? Sweets suggests that Booth interact socially with a woman so Parker can learn to be comfortable around them as well.

At Verbena Court, Booth reviews the neighbors and their alibis. Mary Kay Sayles, James Perry and Elliot Lindbergh were biking at the time of the murder. Hodgins arrives. He found particulates from three different plants in the bone laceration. Each plant is from a different yard but they were all on the same weapon. Booth, Brennan and Hodgins watch as Trey Jordan wields a reciprocating saw.

At the FBI, Trey denies any wrongdoing but Brennan knows his hedge trimmer was used during the murder. Trey confesses that he was sleeping with Paige Sayles and Paula Lindbergh. Paula was trying to get pregnant so her husband would stay in the suburbs. Kurt found out. However, Trey has an alibi: he was with his real girlfriend.

Booth and Brennan sit down with Paula Lindbergh. Did Paula commit murder to keep her affair secret? Paula admits that she has regrets but only about moving to the suburbs. When she brought her husband to an environment where he felt impotent, he became impotent. Paula had no motive to kill Kurt. As a trained therapist, she could tell that Kurt was sleeping with Paige Sayles. She blackmailed Kurt to get their $5000 back.

Across the street, Paige admits to sleeping with Kurt. She saw something special in him. He was cute and committed to saving the environment. Booth wonders if her father or Trey murdered Kurt because Paige was sleeping with him. Paige is suddenly very troubled.

At the FBI, Sweets meets with Arastoo. He understands that as a devout Muslim, Arastoo is different from his colleagues. Arastoo would have to defend his beliefs to everyone if he didn't hide behind an accent. Sweets advises Arastoo not to change himself.

In Booth's Car, Cam updates the partners via phone. There was potassium nitrate in Kurt's system. Booth recalls that the nuns put potassium nitrate, or "saltpeter," in their milk at school so the boys "could concentrate." Brennan dismisses that old wives' tale. Saltpeter is a blood thinner, not an anaphrodisiac. It would cause Kurt to bleed internally from his injuries. They now have cause of death. But who would dose Kurt with saltpeter? Cam suggests they question his wife.

At the FBI, Kelly Bessette admits her husband was cheating on her. She was hoping to make him impotent. "Nate and James have stump remover. That's 98% saltpeter. I figured that might be enough to remove Kurt's stump from her garden." She reveals that Kurt was sleeping with Mary Kay Sayles.

Booth and Brennan interrogate Mary Kay. She is shocked that Kurt was also bedding her daughter. Since Mary Kay has a solid alibi, Booth believes that Bob Sayles killed Kurt.

At the Lab, Angela and Hodgins are stunned to learn that Arastoo does not have an accent. Arastoo explains that people were more apt to accept his religious convictions if he spoke with an accent. Hodgins tells the Squints there was lubricant on the victim's skull fracture. Arastoo observes that the fracture is curved.

Meanwhile, Booth asks Brennan for a favor. Will she join Booth and Parker for dinner? He needs to fool his son into thinking he has a gratifying life. Brennan decides to help. Sweets interrupts. He told Bob Sayles about the sexual exploits of his wife and daughter. Bob was truly shocked.

In the Interrogation Room, Bob wonders how his wife could cheat on him. He was a good husband and a good provider. He worked two jobs: he is the CPA for an airline and he started an Internet venture with Kurt...selling sex toys.

In the Sayles Garage, Booth and Brennan survey the sex toys. Booth sees a bottle of Love Lube. Could this be the lubricant from Kurt's skull?

At the Lab, Angela and Arastoo analyze the contents of the garage. Further analysis has shown they are looking for bicycle chain lubricant. Arastoo notices a stack of Neighborhood Watch signs with pointed stakes. It could be the weapon that caused the puncture wound. They need to check every sign on the street for blood.

On Verbena Court, Hodgins finds blood on the sign in Kurt's yard. Mary Kay watches as she tends to her bicycle. Brennan notices that she is wearing curved bicycle shoes. Her shoe could have caused the fracture to the victim's skull. Mary Kay has an alibi. She was with James and Elliot, meaning they were in on the murder. Each dealt a separate blow, stealing the hedge trimmer and sign as weapons. Booth takes them into custody.

Later, Sweets reviews the motive with Booth and Brennan. They each had a reason to dislike Kurt but they didn't snap until this moment and the weapons do not suggest premeditation. They didn't know he was full of blood thinner and would die. But what was the motive?

Brennan recalls that Cam's neighbor had his garage burned down because he cut his lawn on the diagonal. They are suddenly very aware of the creaking windmill in Kurt's yard. The neighbors killed him because of the windmill!

At the Lab, Hodgins serves the Squints illegal moonshine. Arastoo refuses. Hodgins wonders how Arastoo reconciles his religion with being a scientist. "Allah created the mystery of the world and science struggles and mostly fails to explain it. But the search for truth is honorable. I honor Allah through the search for truth."

At the Diner, Brennan eats with Parker and Booth. Parker wonders if Brennan will be Booth's girlfriend. "Why do you think your father needs a girlfriend so much?" Though Booth is afraid of what the answer might be, Parker is clear and concise. He wants a pool. His friend Lasky got a pool because his dad married his girlfriend and they moved to a house with a pool. Brennan gives Booth a key. There is a pool in her building. Parker and Booth can use it anytime as her guests. Booth and Parker agree that Brennan is awesome.