Bones Episode 4.24 The Beaver in the Otter

To prepare for the big game against the Forest Lake Otters, the MIDDLESEX ARCHERS hold a pep rally. GREG HARMALARD leads his fellow students as they light a bonfire underneath their rival's mascot costume, a giant otter, and pelt it with any "weapon" they can find. The celebration promptly ends when a human corpse tumbles from the costume!

On the scene, BRENNAN examines the damaged remains. SHERIFF TINA MULLIGAN explains that the students had a cannon. DEAN VERNON WARNER believes this is a prank. One of the campus fraternities, Beta Delta Sigma, might have stolen the body from the medical school. A cadaver was reported missing yesterday. BOOTH played a similar college prank with his fraternity. According to the file, the stolen cadaver was an elderly man. Brennan reports that their victim is no older than 25. She indicates a man sitting on the bleachers, dressed as campus security. He hasn't moved all day. He is the missing cadaver.

At the Royal Diner, Booth meets his brother, JARED. Jared hands Booth a letter. It is a notice of dishonorable discharge from the US Navy. Jared was convicted of Misuse of Authority and Theft of Government Property. Booth apologizes. Jared did those things to save him from the Grave Digger. To make things right, Booth offers to find Jared a job. Brennan calls with the victim's identity: JAMES BOUVIER is a 23 year-old senior at Middlesex University. He was a member of Beta Delta Sigma.

At Middlesex University, Booth and Brennan meet in the Float Building. Students are constructing a Homecoming float. Greg Harmalard and GARY BACON admit they organized the pep rally with help from MOLLY BRIGGS. The students had no idea there was a cadaver inside the otter costume. After stealing the mascot, they filled it with cafeteria leftovers and kicked it under the float. Booth asks about James Bouvier. The students know him as THE BEAVER, a party animal with a reputation for pulling pranks.

At the lab, ARASTOO VAZIRI removes the foreign objects lodged in the body: marbles, cutlery, coins, keys, etc. HODGINS lends a hand. Arastoo locates a USB drive and then a twenty-two caliber bullet.

At Beta Delta Sigma, Booth and SWEETS meet ROBERT HOOPER, the Chapter President, and a dozen members. The guys agree that Beaver was popular though he was on academic probation. Booth notices a scoreboard. Each brother has at least one star next to his name, except for ELI ROUNDER. Beaver has only one star. Booth realizes they are counting the girls with whom they had sex. Eli discloses that Beaver's one conquest was Molly Briggs. However, Molly has a boyfriend: Greg Harmalard. Greg is in ROTC and would be livid that Beaver scored with his girlfriend.

At the lab, Brennan and Sweets agree that fraternity members are terrible people. Booth defends them: they're kids. They need to make bad decisions to develop their frontal lobes. Sweets states that three of the fraternity members were faking their grief. Brennan dismisses Sweets' theory as a guess. Cam enters with news: the bullet in the body was consistent with an ROTC weapon.

At the FBI, Greg Harmalard is shocked to learn Beaver is dead. He confesses he fired his gun at the pep rally but it was supposed to be loaded with blanks. Greg didn't want Beaver dead. Does he know Beaver slept with his girlfriend? Greg doesn't believe that rumor.

At the Float Building, Molly denies having sex with Beaver. She offers her DNA to the partners. Can they run a test proving she never slept with him? This gives Brennan an idea. They will confiscate Beaver's sheets and check them to see if Molly had sex with Beaver.

At Beta Delta Sigma, the brothers hold a memorial service for their fallen friend. They are clad in bed sheets. Brennan announces that anyone in possession of Beaver's bed sheets must hand them over or be prosecuted. The entire fraternity strips for Brennan.

Booth meets Jared outside the Royal Diner. Jared pulls up on a motorcycle, much to Booth's chagrin. Booth arranged an interview for his brother. Yet, Jared no longer needs a job. He plans to travel to India instead. Booth does not approve. He forces the interview information into Jared's hand and stalks off.

At the lab, Hodgins has analyzed the sheets from Beta Delta Sigma. Beaver's sheets contained lots and lots of his own DNA but no DNA from Molly Briggs. Hodgins did find estrogen cream on Beaver's sheets in the shape of his penis. Perhaps Beaver had sex with an older woman in another location, then came home and went to bed naked. CAM reports that Greg's bullet did not kill Beaver. The victim was dead for at least twelve hours before the rally.

At Beta Delta Sigma, Booth and Brennan search Beaver's room for anything that could identify his "cougar." Booth discovers a locked briefcase under the victim's bed. When he cracks the combination, he finds stacks of cash with an encrypted notebook. Beaver was a bookie.

At the lab, ANGELA and Booth have cracked the code in Beaver's notebook. The book specifies that three of his clients owed him $3000 each. Angela has more to report: a month ago Beaver hacked into his professor's server and downloaded a Chemistry exam for the third time.

At the lab, Arastoo has located three fractures on the cleaned bones that occurred before the victim died: one fracture to each wrist and one to the coccyx. Cam realizes that Beaver fell backwards and tried to break his fall.

At Middlesex University, Booth and Brennan meet with PROFESSOR MARLENE TWARDOSH, Beaver's Chemistry professor. According to Professor Twardosh, Beaver was going to be expelled for failing her course. In the grade book, Brennan discerns that five students got a 37% on the last exam. Professor Twardosh planted a fake test online for the cheaters.

At the FBI, Sweets confirms that the three students who owed Beaver money were also the ones faking their grief. Sweets notices Booth is agitated. Booth explains that Jared is throwing his life away. Sweets suggests that Booth is jealous of his brother. He too wants to drop everything and run away. However, Booth is trapped by his responsibilities.

At the lab, Hodgins leads an experiment to determine how far the victim fell. Arastoo stands on the catwalk with a dummy. Before they can begin, Cam interrupts. She forbids the experiment. They can calculate the height mathematically. Hodgins is thwarted once again.

In Angela's Office, Hodgins and Arastoo have determined that the victim fell 1.37 meters onto a hard surface. Cam and Angela realize that Brennan will be here all night "staring" at the bones. Which one of them will babysit her?

In the Bone Room, Brennan examines the bones one by one. She finds a small hole in the sternum that is only visible when held to the light. Brennan calls Cam. She has cause of death.

At the FBI, Angela, Cam, Booth and Brennan review the case. Beaver was killed by a puncture to the chest. Something pierced his aorta and he bled to death. Angela mentions that Beaver didn't have the skills to hack into his professor's server. Someone did it for him.

At the Royal Diner, Booth meets with Jared. He lists all the dangers Jared could face in India. Jared invites Booth to come on the trip so he will stop worrying. Booth is surprised at Jared's offer. Jared leaves Booth to consider his answer.

At the FBI, Sweets speaks to Eli Rounder. Since Beaver was his mentor in the fraternity, Eli hacked into the server for him. Beaver also asked Eli to permanently erase about thirty digital photographs from his computer. Eli never looked at them but he put four of them onto a USB drive for his friend.

In Angela's Office, Angela works with the USB drive to retrieve the JPEG files. Arastoo found it amongst the shrapnel he removed from the remains. Angela partially recovers two of the photographs. The first shows Beaver making a "sex face." The second shows Beaver's cougar, a woman clad in a lacy bra and wearing the same "sex face."

At Middlesex University, Booth and Brennan confront Dean Vernon Warner with the photograph. Dean Warner is able to tell them the woman's identity: she is his wife.

At the lab, Brennan and Arastoo work to determine the murder weapon. From the puncture, they have gleaned that the weapon was uniform in thickness. It is also apparent that the weapon was pulled out. It stabbed the victim quickly, but was removed slowly. What could do this? Brennan looks at a tray of possibilities and picks up a nail. Beaver was shot with a nail gun.

At the FBI, Booth and Brennan confront Dean Vernon Warner. Beaver came to him and showed him the photographs. He blackmailed the Dean. If the Dean didn't keep Beaver in school, he would put these pictures all over the Internet. However, the pictures never went public. Booth thinks that's because the Dean killed Beaver. The Dean says he is innocent. Booth should let him call a lawyer or let him go. Booth chooses the former: he arrests the Dean.

Booth drives as Brennan shares her concern. Why would the Dean kill Beaver with a nail gun and put him in at otter costume? Booth agrees. He only arrested the Dean because he made Booth angry. Booth tells Brennan that Jared asked him to go to India. Booth doesn't know if he should go. Brennan thinks that if Booth doesn't let Jared be bad, his frontal lobe won't develop.

At the lab, Arastoo has located the murder weapon amongst the 36 nails found with the remains. The killer left it on the body. Brennan recognizes the nail immediately.

At Middlesex University, Booth, Brennan and Sweets arrive at the Float Building. They see a nail gun and decorative, bronze nails on the Homecoming float. Sweets carefully observes the students as Booth and Brennan test the nail gun. Sweets points to Molly Briggs. She is guilty.

At the FBI, Molly makes her confession. She was working alone in the Float Building when Beaver came up to her. He forced himself on her, wanting to have sex because everyone already thought they were. Molly pulled the trigger on the nail gun to get him away from her. He fell backwards and panicked because of the nail in his chest. Molly told him to leave it alone but he pulled it out and bled to death.

In the Observation Room, Brennan asks Sweets how he knew Molly was guilty. Sweets won't tell. Brennan always thinks he is guessing so Sweets leaves Brennan alone in the room.

At the Founding Fathers Bar, Booth tells Jared he won't go to India. It's time for Jared to stand alone, without him and without the Navy. He gives Jared a St. Christopher Medal to keep him safe while he travels. The brothers hug and Jared leaves. Brennan joins Booth at the bar. She confesses her dark secret: she's never done anything bad. Her frontal lobe is underdeveloped. Booth suggests they do something bad right now: Dine and Dash. Brennan is reluctant but then excited. Booth directs her out the door, leaving cash for their drinks before they go. The partners run down the street, laughing. They dive into Booth's car and drive off into the night with fully formed frontal lobes.