Bones Episode 4.13 Fire in the Ice

ACT 1

BOOTH glides across the ice dressed in hockey gear and a jersey that reads Fed-Cases. His team faces off against the Firedawgs. BRENNAN, SWEETS and CAM watch from the bleachers. PETE CARLSON, a member of the Firedawgs, crosschecks a player on Booth's team. The referee doesn't notice so Booth knocks Pete to the ice, earning a trip to the penalty box. While Booth sits on the side, Pete Carlson does more damage to the Fed-Cases. Booth finally gets back on the ice. WENDELL BRAY has the puck and heads for the goal. Before he can make a "basket" as Brennan calls it, Pete elbows Wendell and sends him hard into the ice. That's the last straw. An all out brawl begins between Booth and Pete. Booth easily wins. He helps Wendell off the ice. The game is over.

On Lake Talbot, LEN and LEO prepare for some father/son ice fishing. Len is finally going to let Leo operate the augur. Leo can't believe his good fortune. He only had to endure a brief safe-sex speech to do some real drilling. Leo turns on the drill and cuts away at the ice. Everything is going fine until the ice begins to turn red. Leo panics. Len grabs the augur. He scrapes away the snow covering the ice only to discover a face frozen in horror.

At the crime scene, Booth, who sports a cast on his right hand, and Brennan regard the body. It has been freshly plucked from the lake. Brennan examines the corpse and decides violence played a role in this death. Booth approaches the remains. He recognizes the hockey pendant around the neck of the corpse. This is Pete Carlson: the man Booth broke his hand fighting last month. Booth is a suspect.

ACT 2

At the FBI, CAROLINE JULIAN introduces AGENT PAYTON PEROTTA. Perotta will step in on the case because Booth is a suspect. Brennan protests: she won't work with anyone else. Perotta decides to appease Brennan. Booth can participate in the case as an advisor. Booth advises the blonde and beautiful Perotta to question the prime suspect: him.

At the lab, Cam determines that the victim has been dead for nearly four weeks. Wendell wonders why he isn't a suspect. "This guy scrambled my brains." Cam points out that Wendell's mother was taking care of him. He has an alibi. HODGINS begins working with water samples. The victim could have drowned somewhere else and been dumped in the lake.

At the FBI, Perotta interrogates Booth. They seem to be enjoying themselves. Booth says that his argument with Pete stayed on the ice. He did not commit murder. "Do you feel that you're experience as the child of an abusive alcoholic has made you more prone to violence?" Perotta asks. Booth jumps up and leaves the Interrogation Room.

In the Observation Room, Booth confronts Sweets. He tells Sweets to back off. Sweets doesn't apologize. He was doing his job by feeding Perotta that question. Sweets has another for Booth: does Booth have his rage under control? Booth tells Sweets never to mention his father again. He slams the door as he leaves.

Back in the Interrogation Room, Booth resumes his game with Perotta. She continues the interview. "You work out much?" There's a question Booth is happy to answer.

At the lab, Wendell shows Cam the victim's X-rays. Both patellas are fractured meaning the victim fell to his knees hard. As for the cause of death, some type of weapon passed through the victim's left eye into the orbital fissure. Though the wound mimics a bullet, there are no signs of bullet fragments.

Booth, Brennan and Perotta inspect Pete Carlson's apartment while questioning his landlord, CONNIE WITHERS. Connie gushes about Pete. He may have been behind on rent but he was sweet and he loved hockey. Perotta can tell that Connie and Pete were dating. Brennan wonders about Pete's car. Connie noticed the slashed tires as well but she doesn't know how it happened. It never occurred to her that Pete was in trouble. She thought he might have been staying with friends. Perotta discovers a post-it note that reads, "ALBIE, THURSDAY, 11PM." Connie doesn't know Albie. Brennan regards a tank of dead fish. Pete couldn't even afford pet food. Connie confesses that Pete asked her for $2000.00 just before he disappeared.

At the lab, Cam tells Brennan she may clean the bones. Brennan notices that the victim is missing teeth. Hodgins enters with news. The water in the victim's throat was from an ice rink. The victim was killed at an ice rink and dumped in the lake. The rink closet to the lake was the one where Booth and Pete fought. It seems the evidence is against Booth.

ACT 3

At the Potomac Ice Rink, Booth and Perotta talk to Pete Carlson's teammates and fellow volunteer firefighters, ED FRALIC, DAVE SIMMS and ALEX PINA. They can't believe Pete was murdered. They didn't report him missing because they hadn't seen him lately. Pete got into a fight with a player from The Fuzz, LOU HERRIN, and was kicked out for the rest of the season. The guys suggest they talk to CHLOE BRATTON, a figure skater that Pete dumped.

Chloe admits she was seeing Pete but it was casual. They weren't exclusive. Booth sees through her act. Chloe slashed Pete's tires. She's caught so she owns up to it. She only did it because Pete was sleeping with someone else. Perotta asks about Albie. "Albie runs this poker game in back of a Chinese food joint off I Street," Chloe reports.

At the lab, Brennan and Wendell try to identify the murder weapon. Their progress is slow. Cam joins them on the platform as Brennan notices bruising on the rib cage. The victim was struck repeatedly. Wendell is upset he missed this important clue. He'll take another look.

At the Chinese food restaurant, Booth and Perotta make their way through the kitchen. Booth kicks in the back door. Booth and Perotta draw their guns but the men inside also have weapons. Everyone points a gun. No one budges. Booth asks for Albie. ALBIE, a young, African American woman, steps from behind the gunmen.

Over dinner in the restaurant, the striking Albie tells Booth and Perotta that she didn't kill Carlson. He didn't owe her money. Last month, Pete did lose quite a bit but he paid her in full. Albie indicates her wrist. She takes off a gold bracelet and gives it to Perotta. "I don't know where Pete got it. But it covered his debt." Albie allows the agents to keep the bracelet since they didn't break up her operation. She saunters off.

At the Potomac Ice Rink, Booth, Brennan and Perotta search for signs of a struggle. Since Hodgins found rink water in the victim's throat, there must be traces of blood on the ice. Brennan searches with her ALS wand but Booth has a better idea. He turns on the black light disco ball above the ice. There are flecks of blood all over but the trio is looking for something bigger. It's not long before Brennan locates a large pool of blood. They've found the murder site.

ACT 4

At the lab, Hodgins and Cam receive the deliveries of rink water from the crime scene. They even have scrapings from inside the Zamboni. As Hodgins searches through the vats of water, he finds human teeth. Cam isn't surprised. "It's hockey."

In the Bone Room, Wendell tries to match the teeth to the victim. ANGELA interrupts. According to her photos of the crime scene, there may be more than just the victim's blood in the water. She sees drops that are inconsistent with the way the body was dragged. It could be blood from the murderer. Angela regards a picture of the dead fish. Wendell wonders why they died. If they didn't have enough food, they would have eaten each other. Hodgins proposes a field trip.

At the FBI, Sweets speaks with Booth. It's his job to clear Booth as a suspect. Booth understands. Sweets will fill out some paperwork, send it to the Deputy Director and everything will be fine. Sweets won't let Booth off that easy. "I believe that you are ready to confront the fact that the violence you may have suffered in childhood has followed you into adulthood." Booth is not amused by Sweets' assumption. Caroline Julian interrupts. She has Pete Carlson's phone records. Booth tells Sweets their meeting is over.

Wendell and Hodgins let themselves in to Pete Carlson's apartment. Wendell is not so sure they should be there. He takes pictures while Hodgins scoops the dead fish into a baggie. When Hodgins is done, he holds up the bag. "Photo opportunity!"

In Booth's office, Perotta, Booth and Caroline review Pete's phone records. Pete made eight calls to Lou Herrin before his death. Perotta suggests getting a warrant to test Lou Herrin's DNA. Maybe they could place him at the crime scene. Caroline Julian is not happy. "You need grounds for a warrant, Cherie. Don't they teach that at Quantico any more?" Booth has his own suggestion. He can draw blood from Herrin in the hockey game against The Fuzz...tonight.

ACT 5

At the Potomac Ice Rink, Booth saws his cast in preparation for the game. Wendell's job is to collect any blood and pass it to Dr. Brennan. Booth stresses the importance of getting Lou Herrin's blood, as he breaks free of his cast.

In the bleachers, Perotta asks Brennan about Booth. Does he flirt with many women? They see Booth and Wendell on the ice scoping out Lou Herrin. He's rather intimidating. The game begins and Booth does all he can to draw blood. Wendell collects sample after sample but none of them are from Herrin. Booth finally elbows Herrin so hard that he spits blood. Before Booth can celebrate, Herrin knocks Booth unconscious.

Booth lays flat on the ice. When he comes around, he sees LUC ROBITAILLE standing over him. The rink is empty. It is just the two of them. Luc starts a game of hockey, one-on-one. Booth tells Luc he can't play. He has to solve a murder. Luc gives Booth some advice. Forget the blood. Look at the team. The game resumes and Luc knocks Booth to the ice. "You're not your father, okay? You protect the ones you care about on the ice and off the ice. That's who you are," Luc says as he fades away. Booth comes back to reality to find Brennan hovering over him. She and Wendell help him up. Wendell tells Booth he got what they wanted. The blood is in the bag.

At the lab, Hodgins tells Angela the fish died of ammonia poisoning. "Maybe the victim washed his aquarium with window cleaner?" Judging from Pete Carlson's messy apartment, Angela doesn't think Pete cleaned anything. Hodgins asks about Roxie. Angela responds that they're taking it slow but things are going well. Hodgins admits he had a date last night. They both feel a little "twinge" now that the other has moved on but they are happy for each other.

Booth ices his head in Brennan's office. Sweets enters. Brennan reports that Booth has a concussion. He can't fall asleep but he will be fine. Booth isn't convinced. He had a hallucination about Luc Robitaille. Cam enters. The second set of DNA from the rink does not belong to Lou Herrin. Booth realizes Luc was right. He mentions that Luc told him something else, something important. Sweets is eager to know what but Booth won't say.

At Pete Carlson's apartment, Wendell and Hodgins take another field trip. Hodgins searches the fish tank underneath the gravel and discovers a fistful of treasure, necklaces and bracelets. Why was Pete Carlson hiding this in his fish tank?

ACT 6

At the FBI, Caroline Julian gives Hodgins and Wendell an earful. They shouldn't have gone to the victim's home alone. Cam and Perotta defend the squints. According to Caroline, the "treasure" was reported destroyed in a fire. The bracelet recovered from Albie was also supposedly destroyed in the same fire. The victim was a fireman. Pete Carlson profited from a fire he and the Firedawgs extinguished.

Booth works in his apartment. He looks at the Firedawgs website and discovers that Ed Fralic, Dave Simms, Alex Pina and Pete Carlson also played on the same high school hockey team. Brennan arrives with soup for Booth and finds him deep in thought. One of Pete's teammates must be the murderer. They all worked the jewelry store fire. Brennan notices Booth's hockey bag. There is a lace puller inside. Brennan thinks it could be the murder weapon.

At the FBI, Perotta, Booth and Brennan speak to Alex Pina, Dave Simms and Ed Fralic. None of them want to say anything. Booth confronts Ed with newspaper clippings. He almost made it to the NHL. What happened? "I got injured." Injured by Pete Carlson. Ed confesses to the murder. "I told him to give back the stolen jewelry." Pete called Ed a coward. Pete wrecked Ed's life and Ed couldn't stand up to him. Ed proved Pete wrong.

At the Potomac Ice Rink, Booth and Brennan skate. Booth has to stay up all night because of his concussion and this is how he plans to pass the time. Brennan wonders what Luc told Booth in his hallucination. Booth replies that Luc said he wasn't like his father. Brennan agrees. She thinks Booth is made of good stuff. He assures her that nothing will change between them. They will always work together, no matter how many blonde FBI agents get assigned to their cases.