Bones Episode 5.20 The Witch in the Wardrobe

SHERIFF GUS ABRAMS greets BOOTH and BRENNAN at the scene of a fire. He shows them to the remains: a skeleton in a white dress inside a steel wardrobe. Brennan confirms the skeleton is real. It belongs to an elderly female. She is surprised that the bones have been rearticulated with wire. Someone put them together quite amateurishly. ANGELA and HODGINS notice a circular path all the way around the house. It is dusted with powder. Crows caw overhead. Brennan believes there is a fresh kill nearby. She finds remains under fallen debris: a skeleton wearing red shoes, which promptly curl up.

At the Lab, Brennan wants to start with the recent remains. However, they are coated in ceiling insulation, which melted in the fire. CAM determines the victim was dead before the fire began. CLARK finds wire ligatures around her wrists. They turn their attention to the second skeleton. The steel wardrobe preserved the body during the fire. The victim is Caucasian and 40 to 50 years old. Brennan notes that she would have had a hunched posture. There is evidence of crushing and a puncture wound. Brennan recognizes it as a kind of torture used during the Salem Witch Trials.

Angela and Hodgins drive back from the crime scene. Angela brings up the tension between them. Is it because she is single now or because she treated Wendell badly? Hodgins sets her straight: there is no tension and he is happy to work with her in the field again. She looks at a symbol from the house on her camera. Hodgins takes a look and swerves out of his lane. Sirens blare. Uh-oh. He pulls the car over and Sheriff Gus Abrams approaches. "License and registration."

At the Founding Fathers, SWEETS is fascinated to learn they have a Salem Witch at their fingertips. His first published work concerned the Salem Witch Trials. Sweets wants to find a link between the old victim and the new one. Booth gets a call. The house belonged to CHERI BYRD. She has a surviving brother.

Booth sits with JESSE BYRD. He hasn't spoken to his sister in months. They used to be close but the witchcraft came between them. Cheri changed her name to "Zephyra." Jesse says a guy named Mario Trivisonno wanted to buy their house for a development. Cheri didn't want to sell.

At the Lab, Clark conducts an experiment to see which solvent can clean the bones. Hodgins still hasn't returned and he can't wait any longer. Cam is concerned that Hodgins is so late. Clark determines that acetone would best remove the insulation from the bones but ruins his shoes in the process.

Angela and Hodgins sit in jail. Sheriff Abrams informs them that Angela has an outstanding bench warrant. She failed to appear on a speeding charge. Hodgins also has a warrant. He escaped police custody during a protest eight years ago. Abrams can't let them go until a judge rules on their warrants. They have a long wait ahead of them.

In the Interrogation Room, Booth gets answers from MARIO TRIVISONNO. He claims he is no longer interested in Cheri's property. She put a curse on him. Mario went bald. He realized that he didn't want people to know a witch used to live on his development. He scrapped the whole project, just not in time to save his hair.

On the Forensic Platform, Clark cleans the bones with acetone. He shows Brennan that there is sharp instrument trauma to the sternum and ribs. The victim was stabbed repeatedly. Brennan asks for casts of the wounds. Clark also found a gold glob on the manubrium. Hodgins will have to identify it. Where is he? Brennan gets a call from Angela, who asks to be rescued from jail. Brennan will send Cam to rectify the situation.

At the Diner, Booth is sure Abrams had a good reason to arrest Hodgins. Sweets mentions that bad witches use animal sacrifices in their spells. Mario Trivisonno saw a dead cat in Cheri's house. Sweets suggest they talk to the local coven: the Circle of Moonwick. They have a ceremony tonight.

At the Jail, Hodgins offers to give Angela a back massage. She accepts and is moaning in pleasure when Cam arrives. Sheriff Abrams won't agree to release his criminals. He gives Cam the evidence they were transporting and says she can call them anytime but they have to wait for the judge. Cam leaves as Hodgins and Angela call after her.

Booth and Brennan trek through the forest at night to the Waning Moon Ceremony. Brennan is excited to study the Wiccans anthropologically. They hear chanting and see women in white robes. They burn a miniature effigy after sprinkling powder on the bonfire. Suddenly, all the women disrobe. Booth didn't want to see these women naked.

Booth questions witches EMBER and ROWAN, the head of the coven. He asks them about Zephyra. They explain that they were marking the end of her corporeal life in their ceremony, though she was not a member of their coven. Zephyra used her magic to make a profit. Her clients employed her to do evil.

In the Bone Room, Cam brings Clark the evidence that Angela and Hodgins collected. Clark is troubled that he will have to do his job without them. He is already having trouble with fragments of the hyoid and throat cartilage that have been difficult to clean.

Angela and Hodgins toss pennies into a cup. Hodgins has won eighteen cents. Angela recalls a cabin they stayed at in the mountains. There was no heat but it was fun keeping warm. Sheriff Abrams wheels over an old computer. Cam needs to consult with them.

Cam and Clark speak to Angela and Hodgins via computer. Hodgins looks at an image of the glob. He confirms it is amber, likely from a piece of jewelry that melted in the fire. Angela sees an insect embedded inside. Hodgins believes it is a fungus gnat, an insect that lived a hundred million years ago. Angela notices a hair. It could be from their killer.

Cam finds Brennan on the Forensic Platform. The hair on the amber belongs to Murray Huddler. He was paroled last October. It seems that when Huddler's wife left him for her attorney, Huddler assaulted him and went to jail. She shows Brennan a newspaper article with a picture of Murray Huddler and his ex-wife. Mrs. Huddler is wearing the same white wedding dress as the skeleton.

MURRAY HUDDLER faces Booth at the FBI. He hired Zephyra to put a hex on his ex-wife. He paid $2000 up front and would owe another $1000 if the hex worked. However, the hex didn't work. Murray gave Zephyra his hair and his ex-wife's dress for the spell. Booth is going to test a fishing knife found in Huddler's truck.

Brennan and Clark tell Cam that Huddler's fishing knife does not match the murder weapon. Brennan tells Clark that the small bones he has been working with are not human. They seem to belong to a small animal. When consulted, Hodgins identifies them as bat bones. Someone shoved a bat down the victim's throat.

Angela and Hodgins return to their penny tossing game. Talk finally turns to their relationship. Hodgins thinks about their breakup everyday. He regrets not stopping her from leaving the Diner that day. He panicked and lost faith that they could sustain happiness together. Angela regrets walking out on him. They lean in and begin to kiss when the judge arrives. They are saved in more ways than one.

At the Diner, Sweets informs Booth and Brennan that only one Salem Witch died as a result of pressing, a form of torture from which their second victim suffered. EMILY QUIMBY died in November of 1692. Her grave was robbed six months ago. Sweets researched Quimby's family tree. Ember is her direct descendent.

Booth interrogates Ember at the FBI. He knows that she purchased bat bones online but she swears she didn't harm Zephyra. She had no idea Zephyra had robbed her ancestor's grave.

Clark reports that he has identified the powder found at the crime scene. However, Brennan is focused on something else. She doesn't believe Ember was strong enough to murder Zephyra alone. She remembers that in the woods, the witches formed a circle similar to the stab marks on the bones. The injuries are clustered in the shape of a pentagram, an ancient Wiccan symbol. The entire coven killed Zephyra. Sweets is confused. Wiccans are good witches. Clark reveals that they were not in their right minds. The powder on the path was rye flour infested with a fungus, the natural substance from which LSD is derived. It was used centuries ago for ceremonial purposes. Some believe the exact same substance was responsible for the hysteria surrounding the Salem Witch Trials.

The Circle of Moonwick is with Booth, Brennan and Sweets at the FBI. Rowan agrees that they use rye flour in some rituals. Sweets believes they were conducting a ritual to keep Zephyra's evil from spreading past the circle around her house but the fungus made them afraid of Zephyra. Ember breaks down. They were just trying to help, just trying to restore the balance.

At the Jail, JUSTICE OF THE PEACE FLOYD BARBER releases Angela and Hodgins so they can get married. They exchange their vows and Hodgins pulls a ring from his wallet that he has kept since their first wedding. They begin kissing before the ceremony is even over. Sheriff Abrams throws confetti.

At the Founding Fathers, Booth still believes the Wiccans were good people. He produces an effigy of Brennan that the witches gave to him. If he burns it, the wish he makes for her will come true. Booth burns the effigy and it goes up in flames. Brennan doesn't put any stock in the superstition. Booth admits he wished Brennan would find happiness. She thanks him.