Bones Episode 4.22 Double Death of the Dearly Departed

BOOTH drives with BRENNAN, CAM and HODGINS to the funeral of HANK REILLEY, head of Egyptology at the Jeffersonian. Booth, Cam and Hodgins reminisce about their friend. Cam remembers consulting Hank about her problem with Michelle: she's been smoking cigarettes. Hodgins and Booth remember participating in Hank's fantasy football league. However, Brennan did not know "the deceased" and she dislikes "the social convention which requires us to attend a day-long grieving ritual."

At the Reilly home, mourners gather in the parlor. ANGELA and SWEETS have joined Booth and the Squints. Sweets informs the group that he is available to help with their grief. Angela indicates ANNIE REILLY, Hank's wealthy mother. BARNEY REILLY interrupts. He is thrilled Brennan chose to attend his brother's funeral. He is a fan and a writer. Before Barney can continue, funeral director FRANKLIN TUNG announces that the mourners may pay their respects and then meet in the family room for refreshments.

One by one, the Squints step up to the casket. AMY VALESKA, Hank's assistant, leaves a red rose in his coffin, much to the disdain of his wife, HELEN REILLY. Booth pushes Brennan towards the casket. She reluctantly looks in. Booth realizes Brennan is lingering too long and goes to retrieve her. Brennan reports that Hank Reilly did not die of a heart attack. He was murdered.

Brennan and Booth convene on the back porch. Booth insists on a code word so they won't upset the family: they'll refer to murder as "translation." Brennan believes Hank Reilly was "translated" because she felt rib fractures on his body. Hank Reilly will be cremated later today so they need to act fast. Brennan convinces Booth to call a judge for an injunction. She goes to the family room for the toasts. Booth downs his whiskey and dials the number.

In the family room, Helen Reilly speaks about her husband. She'll miss the little things, like brewing Hank's tea every morning. She breaks down in tears and throws herself into the arms of Franklin Tung. DR. JONAH AMAYO, head of the Jeffersonian's Caribbean department, begins his toast. Brennan is not interested and makes her way to the parlor.

In the parlor, Brennan inspects the remains. Booth arrives to tell her the judge did not grant an injunction. The paramedics and the Medical Examiner confirmed that Hank Reilly died of a heart attack. No evidence of foul play means no injunction. Brennan is not deterred. She instructs Booth to keep watch while she collects evidence. He turns to find a curious Cam.

Brennan, Booth and Cam convene on the back porch. On her cell phone, Brennan has a photograph of Hank's bruised ribs. Cam realizes this contusion was not in the Medical Examiner's Report. It must have been sustained afterward. Hank may still have been alive after he was declared dead. Next, the body then went to the funeral home for embalming.

Booth and Brennan search for Franklin Tung. They find him "comforting" Helen Reilly in the upstairs bathroom. After Helen leaves, Brennan asks about the bruise. "The infusion of embalming fluid increases the stainability of bruises on the dermis. A bruise not seen immediately post-mortem often presents itself post-embalming," he explains. Brennan is not satisfied. What about the rib breaks? Franklin believes Amy Valeska caused them. She gave Hank CPR after finding her boss unconscious in his office. Franklin leaves but Brennan isn't buying it. She wants to conduct her own examination in the lab. In the family room, Hodgins gives a toast to Hank. He recalls that Hank always had a joke to tell. Hodgins looks up and is shocked to see Booth and Brennan carrying Hank Reilly through the backyard. He tries to keep all eyes on him by giving an impassioned speech. "It's not fair, you know. We live life and we die and we don't love enough and I can't do that anymore." Everyone stares strangely. Amy Valeska is moved.

On the street, Cam meets Booth and Brennan. They load the body into the back seat of Angela's car. Cam and Brennan drive off. Booth stays behind to cover for them.

In the family room, Angela confronts Hodgins about his bizarre toast as Hodgins knocks back a drink. Before she can extract any information, Amy Valeska appears. She loved Hodgins' toast. Hodgins takes the opportunity to question Amy about Hank. Hank had lunch at a sushi restaurant before he died but Amy doesn't know with whom. She later found him unconscious in his office. The memory is too much for her. She reaches for Hodgins as she sobs. Angela is disgusted. She gives a Hodgins a look. When Amy leaves, Hodgins spills everything.

Angela finds Booth with the casket. She can't believe what he's done. At that moment, Annie Reilly walks in, wheeling her oxygen tank. She wants a minute with her son. Angela thinks quickly, telling Annie that Hank's makeup, hair and putty have wilted. The funeral director needs to fix the body before she can view it. Annie agrees to return later.

At the lab, Brennan reviews the X-rays. She now knows that CPR did not cause the fractures. Cam confirms that Hank was stabbed. She believes the wounds were caused by a medical trocar, a tool used during embalming. Seven of the stab wounds occurred before death. Five occurred post-mortem.

In Booth's car, Booth and Franklin Tung talk to Brennan and Cam via laptop. Franklin is shocked to discover they have stolen the body. He has a breakdown and admits that he stabbed Hank. He was alone with the corpse and was preparing to embalm when the body SAT UP! Franklin panicked. He attacked the body. Cam relates that no one conducted a full autopsy. The hospital declared Hank dead so the Medical Examiner signed off on it. Brennan suggests that Hank was poisoned. Some poisons can make the victim appear dead. Cam agrees. Embalming would destroy all toxins in the body except the eye. She takes a sample from Hank's eyeball.

Later, Cam reports that her sample tested positive for tetrodotoxin. This poison mimics death. However, it will kill the victim anywhere from twenty minutes to eight hours after ingestion. Franklin committed manslaughter, but someone else is guilty of attempted murder.

In the viewing parlor, Brennan explains the findings to Booth, Angela and Hodgins. Hodgins knows that tetrodotoxin is sometimes used to treat heart conditions. Angela and Booth run out to use Booth's laptop. Maybe Angela can see if Hank was ever prescribed tetrodotoxin for his heart problems.

In Booth's car, Angela discovers that three milligrams of tetrodotoxin arrived at the Jeffersonian but it wasn't for Hank. Dr. Amayo in Caribbean Studies accepted the delivery.

In the Reilly home, Brennan and Booth find Dr. Amayo. Booth remarks that he heard the Jeffersonian was shutting down his department. Dr. Amayo would have had to report to Hank Reilly. Dr. Amayo wonders what they are implying. Brennan asks about the tetrodotoxin when Sweets approaches. He hears the conversation and clarifies. "Neurotoxins are widely believed to cause the trance state in reported cases of Haitian Zombism." Unamused, Dr. Amayo moves off. Hodgins arrives. "Fugu!" he exclaims, offending Sweets and sending him on his way. Hodgins reports that tetrodotoxin comes from Pufferfish, a Japanese delicacy known as Fugu. Hank Reilly ate lunch at a restaurant called Sushi Momo before he died. He could have been poisoned there.

In the viewing parlor, Booth handcuffs Franklin Tung to the casket. He gives strict instructions: do not let anyone look in the coffin. Cam calls Brennan to tell her the body is redressed and ready for transport. However, Brennan and Booth have to stop for sushi first.

At Sushi Momo, Booth and Brennan speak to the manager, TRACI NISHIMURA. She assures them they do not serve Pufferfish. Brennan informs her that Hank Reilly has died. Traci remembers Hank. He ate lunch with a woman. Something the woman said made him upset. Traci doesn't know anything else about the woman except that she had a haircut like Cleopatra.

Booth and Brennan arrive at the Reilly home to question Cleopatra. Cam is upset that they haven't come to get her yet. Brennan promises they will be there soon. Sweets intercepts the pair. Something is up. Brennan reveals they stole Hank's body because he was murdered. They ask Sweets to take Hodgins retrieve Cam from the lab.

Booth and Brennan find Cleopatra pouring a drink in the kitchen. Booth asks Brennan to get lost so he can work his magic. He introduces himself and learns that Cleopatra's name is ERIN MILLER. She is the Reilly Family Estate Lawyer. She regrets that she and Hank argued the day he died, but it was business related. Booth consoles her. It wasn't personal. Hank would surely forgive her.

At the lab, Hodgins and Sweets help Cam "pack up" Hank. Cam tells Hodgins that she didn't find Pufferfish in Hank's stomach. His lunch didn't kill him. It must have been his breakfast. Sweets recalls that Hank's wife said he had tea every morning. The poison must have been in his tea.

In the family room, the tipsy mourners sing "Amazing Grace." Booth tells Brennan what Erin Miller said. Brennan guesses there were problems with the will. Hank and Barney are the heirs to the family fortune. Could Barney have murdered his brother? Brennan wanders over to Barney, who is elated to tell Brennan about his novel. She doesn't like the idea and suggests Barney publish the book using his inheritance. Barney realizes he will be getting the whole inheritance. He and Hank were stepbrothers. If Hank was alive, the will stipulated that Barney would only get ten percent. Now, Barney will split the money with Helen.

Sweets, Cam and Hodgins arrive with the body just as Helen confronts Amy. She accuses Amy of carrying on an affair with her husband. Amy admits to sleeping with Hank. Luckily, this provides the perfect distraction so Cam and Sweets can sneak the body into the house. Hodgins rushes off to the kitchen while Booth breaks up the catfight with a song.

In the kitchen, Brennan aids Hodgins as he tests the teas with his kit. Brennan finds a tea called Malty Orange Assam. She mixes it with water and Hodgins tests it for poisoning. Positive. Hank was poisoned by a cup of Malty Orange Assam tea.

In the dining room, Hodgins, Brennan and Booth ask Helen about Hank's tea. She has no idea what he drank the morning he died. She lied in her eulogy speech. Hank made his own tea. He was too particular to have someone else do it. The wake is now over. Helen is done talking.

Booth drives Brennan and Cam home. Brennan and Booth debate suspects: Helen Reilly, Amy Valeska and Erin Miller. They aren't close to making an arrest. Cam is off in her own world. She admits she is thinking about Michelle. Booth suggests that if Cam stops smoking, Michelle will stop. Cam realizes what she must do. So does Brennan. She has a plan to out the murderer at the graveside ceremony tomorrow.

At the cemetery, the priest finishes a few words when Brennan steps up to add her own farewell. The mourners are confused but listen to Brennan with interest. As she speaks about Hank's passions, Booth and the Squints hand out cups to each guest. Brennan explains that she can think of nothing more fitting than sharing a drink with Hank. She has prepared the same tea that he drank on his last day. Everyone lifts the cups to their mouths except for Annie Reilly. She knocks the cup from Barney's hands. Booth can't believe Hank's mother murdered him. Annie explains that Hank was her stepson. She was siphoning money into a trust for Barney but Erin Miller blew the whistle on her. So Annie had to kill Hank. She had to ensure her biological son's future. She tells Booth to do whatever he has to do. The worst is over now.

Five days later, Barney stands with Booth and Brennan at his mother's gravestone. They are the only three there. Annie Reilly used her heart medication to kill Hank but neglected to refill her own prescription. Therefore, she died. Barney is beside himself. He didn't want the inheritance this way. He asks to be alone.

Booth and Brennan walk through the cemetery. Brennan expresses her dislike of speaking to the dead. Booth asks Brennan to come to his grave when he passes on. Brennan agrees. Booth is surprised but Brennan recognizes that if she pretended Booth were still alive it might make her feel better. Booth is touched so Brennan promises to say it in her eulogy speech.