Bones Episode 5.18 The Predator in the Pool

At the Lab, DR. CATHERINE BRYAR of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration explains that a dead tiger shark washed up on Rehoboth Beach. Upon dissection, they found a human leg in its stomach. She wonders if BRENNAN can identify the victim. Catherine is also interested something else: BOOTH.

Brennan believes the leg belongs to a male who was between 5" and 5'6". She finds bites from multiple predators. Catherine identifies them: a red snapper and a hammerhead. How can that be? HACKER suggests investigating the aquarium.

At the Aquarium of the Atlantic, Booth and Brennan discover that a tiger shark was recently released into the ocean. MARILYN STODDARD of the Animal Husbandry Department shows them to the tank where the tiger shark was housed. No one is missing and the only unusual thing to happen was the facilities department lost an expensive filter. One of the visitors screams when a giant grouper suddenly regurgitates a human skull!

Brennan has changed into SCUBA gear and is ready to retrieve the skull. HODGINS is dressed to accompany her. Staff member BEN MARCUS escorts them to the tank. Booth watches from behind the glass. Once the skull is recovered, the Squints locate a human skeleton nestled in the tank's reef.

Catherine visits Booth at the FBI. She asks if Booth would like to go out with her this weekend. Booth is surprised and states he can't date her until the investigation is over...but once it is, a date would be great. Catherine can't wait.

In the Autopsy Room, CLARK estimates the victim is between the ages of 30 and 34. It seems he suffered a spinal cord injury. There is evidence that the shark attacked while the victim was alive. It also appears the victim was stabbed in the eye and there is trauma to the throat. Based on the damage, CAM rules the death a homicide.

Hodgins has been able to pinpoint time of death using brain coral from the tank. He found a spike in ammonia and nitrate within the creature's skeleton. Something died in the tank on Friday night between midnight and 6AM.

Booth and Brennan have lunch at Founding Fathers. There were 28 people at the aquarium on Friday between midnight and 6AM. Hacker calls to tell Booth that JAZZ GUNN, number 19 on the list, cannot be located. He also has a message for Brennan: he is looking forward to their date. Brennan explains they are having coffee. Booth admits he has a date with Catherine Bryar.

At the FBI, SWEETS, Brennan and Booth watch a video of Jazz Gunn. Jazz is an inspirational speaker. He was paralyzed in a car accident in 1993 but was cured after swimming with sharks off the coast of Brazil. He claims that by forcing himself to face his fears, he gained the strength to walk again. Booth reports that Jazz spent Friday night setting up for a seminar but never showed up for his speech. Sweets pauses the video on TAD BENEDICT. Tad used to be Jazz's assistant but they had a falling out. Brennan spies a metal stylus in Tad's hand. It could have been used to stab the victim in the eye.

Tad is in the hot seat at the FBI. Tad admits that he argued with Jazz over compensation but they made amends. Jazz hired Tad back a few months ago and gave him the pay he deserved. Their troubles were behind them.

In Angela's Office, ANGELA has created a live feed of the tropical reef tank on the Angelatron. It has an interactive interface, which indexes anything organic. Brennan is impressed. Hodgins arrives. He also admires Angela's work a bit too enthusiastically.

Clark believes that the grooves on the victim's bones were caused by a hypodermic needle so Booth and Brennan question Marilyn Stoddard at the Aquarium. Marilyn doesn't have the needle Brennan is looking for in her supplies. Plus, she wasn't here that night. Brennan notices she is observing angelfish. Marilyn reports they are sick. Brennan decides to confiscate the fish. Booth remembers Marilyn actually was here on the night of the murder. Marilyn explains she wasn't with the fish. She was helping the teacher with the school children.

Booth sits with GRACE REDMON in the Conference Room. She explains that she is a fourth grade teacher. Her class spent the night at the aquarium, sleeping on the floor of the lobby. The lights were on in the tank until midnight. No one saw a man being eaten by a shark but all the kids were given disposable cameras. Maybe one of the pictures contains a clue?

Angela and Brennan review the photographs from the field trip. Brennan wonders about her relationship with Hacker. Angela believes her friend belongs with someone else but since she can't figure out her own personal life, Brennan can have coffee with Hacker. Brennan comes across a picture of a figure standing above the tank. It's not the victim but the Squints can't make out a face. The timestamp is 2:38AM. Is this the killer?

In the Ookey Room, Hodgins makes an angelfish smoothie. Clark can't believe that Hodgins killed the angelfish. Hodgins declares that they died on their own from a generic, organic protein-based neurotoxin. Hodgins thinks they ingested it. Clark turns to leave but Hodgins warns him that Angela and Wendell broke up. Angela may be looking for a new intern. Clark advises Hodgins not to channel his frustrations into snide remarks. Hodgins shifts gears. He gives Clark a "hairball" from the filter, complete with bone fragments.

In Angela's Office, Angela shows Cam and Brennan that she made the face slightly visible using warping software. Brennan recognizes the man. It's Ben Marcus from the Aquarium.

In the Interrogation Room, Booth wonders why Ben didn't clock in for work on the night of the murder. Ben admits he switched shifts with someone and didn't clock in with his own card. Booth discovered that Ben deposited a check for $10,000.00 the day after the murder. It is from Dmitri Vladov, a Russian mobster. Ben won't say another word. He is too terrified of what Vladov might do to him.

At the FBI, Hacker tries to dissuade Booth from questioning Vladov. The man is already under surveillance by five federal agencies. Booth will just make him angry. Booth won't back down, so Hacker relents and hopes Booth survives the interrogation.

Brennan and Hodgins are combing the tank filter for particulates when Booth calls. He needs a strong piece of evidence before his meeting with Vladov. Hodgins realizes that Vladov smuggles vodka using an old trick. He adds blue dye to the alcohol and imports it as glass cleaner to avoid the high tariff on booze. Once in the country, he needs to remove the blue dye. The only way to accomplish that is with a reverse osmosis filter. Marilyn mentioned that a filter went missing from the Aquarium.

Booth sits with DMITRI VLADOV at the FBI. Vladov denies everything, even that he signed a check that clearly bears his signature. Booth is frustrated but Vladov stays collected. He won't say anything.

At the Lab, Brennan is interested when Clark discovers embryonic cells in the "hairball." Brennan rushes into Angela's Office. Is there a blue shark in the tank? Angela tells her there isn't. So where did the embryonic cells come from? Brennan explains they were IN the victim. He had them implanted in his spinal cord and that restored his ability to walk. The Squints also realize that the spike from a lionfish caused the grooves in the bone. It is similar to a hypodermic needle.

At the Aquarium of the Atlantic, Marilyn introduces Booth and Brennan to Bob the Lionfish. The edge of his tank is cracked. The victim was forced into the lionfish tank. The lionfish stunned the victim with his venomous spikes. Bob is the murder weapon.

Brennan reenacts the murder for the Squints. Jazz Gunn was "facing his fear" by coming face to face with the venomous lionfish. The murderer pushed his face into the tank. Jazz was incapacitated and easy to drag into the tank where he drowned.

Booth tells Brennan that Jazz Gunn flew to Brazil every six months to receive treatment for his spinal cord injury. He pretends to swim with sharks but instead he gets maintenance injections. However, someone else also visited Brazil this year...

Grace Redmon is in the Interrogation Room. Booth wonders why she traveled to Brazil. Grace confesses that she attended nine of Jazz Gunn's seminars. She has fibromyalgia. He lied to her. He said that facing her fear would cure her pain. Maybe he was onto something. She hasn't felt any pain since she killed him.

The case is solved and Brennan is off to meet Hacker for coffee. Booth will be going out with Catherine now that the case is closed. They wish each other well, although Brennan is smarter than Catherine and Booth is better looking than Hacker.

After their dates, Booth and Brennan have a drink at the Founding Fathers. They talk about their new relationships. Brennan is happy for Booth and vice versa. He deserves a good woman.