Bones Episode 8.21 The Maiden in the Mushrooms

ACT ONE

Two young adults sneak into a warehouse searching for a clue. They are participating in an elaborate treasure hunt that was set up by their friends Ryan and Christie. While the basement of the warehouse is creepy, the two continue if only to show up their friends. In the middle of the floor is a patch of dirt covered in mushrooms. They are digging through it in hopes of finding the next clue when the young male finds something within the dirt. He pulls out what he thinks is a small bottle only to find a partially decayed skull! The two shout and run out of the room.

Brennan is working in the kitchen when Booth returns home with a sleeping Christine. Apparently Christine is something of an artist, as Booth is holding a lovely finger painting that she did in day care. While Brennan enumerates the various famous artists that her daughter's work is reminiscent of, Booth mentions that Christine's teacher would like the two of them to come in. Christine bit a kid, allegedly. Bones refuses to believe it, Christine would NEVER bite someone. Their conversation is interrupted when their cell phones go off announcing the discovery of the warehouse body.

Illuminated by work lights, the warehouse basement is now a fully functioning crime scene. Brennan, Cam, Booth, and Hodgins analyze the remains. The mushrooms growing through the body are peculiar; it would seem that the fluids from the decomposing victim activated dormant spores. The study of the mushrooms gives time of death, twenty to thirty days prior to discovery. There haven't been any missing person reports in the area, but the quality of clothing and dental work would imply that the victim wasn't homeless. Brennan identifies the body as a woman who would have been in her mid twenties. Further analysis is stunted by Brennan's refusal to stop talking about her daughters biting accusation.

ACT TWO

Michaela, Hodgins, and Finn analyze the remains in the lab. Angela takes pictures while Hodgins and Finn arrange the body on a gigantic sifting machine which should remove the copious amount of dirt that still clings to the bones. In doing so, Hodgins can't help but notice how rich the mushrooms are, and that perhaps there could be a market for them. Finn asks, in passing, if they are looking for a side business but Hodgins wasn't being serious. He is just concerned because ever since Pelant drained his accounts he and Angela must live on their salaries... like normal people! Hodgins cuts the conversation short and activates the sifter.

In Booth's office, Sweets reviews pictures of the remains and gives Booth his expert advice. Sweets has a lot to say about it, but most of his input is related to the clothing which Booth finds fruitless. Further prodding moves Sweets to talk about the way the body was buried, which was face down and thus implies the murderer knew the victim. Before Sweets leaves Booth asks after the biting. Sweets says it's normal behavior for an average child, which doesn't help because if Brennan hears someone refer to Christine as "average" she goes off the deep end.

Cam goes over the "slightly" cleaner remains in her Autopsy Room. Brennan enters and mentions some hairline fractures she found that would have disoriented the victim but not killed her. She also found some fractures that could indicate there was a struggle. Cam found some fibrous material under the nails which maybe Hodgins could get some information out of. Angela enters with the news she has positively identified the body. It is Rebecca Pierce, reported missing by the infamous Judge Trudy. Judge Trudy hosts the television show "Citizens Court."

Finn enters the Ookey Room, interrupting Hodgins who is studying grubs. Finn is furious becauseHodgins took the last of his hot sauce. Hodgins tries to calm him down but it is no use. The hot sauce was the last bottle that Finn got from his late grandmother. It was her special recipe and there aren't any more like it in the world! He storms out.

Booth and Brennan are in Booths car on their way to the Citizens Court stage. Brennan still refuses to believe that Christine bit another child. Her daughter is being maliciously maligned by the teacher, or even the other toddler! Booth does his best to calm her down without landing himself in hot water.

Booth and Brennan sit in a crowded stage audience watching Judge Trudy preside over her court. Booth doesn't take it seriously but Brennan is quite taken with it. The show is a logical progression in a long tradition of trial watching. Unfortunately their conversation is loud enough to attract the attention of the judge. When Brennan tries to explain her appreciation of the proceedings she causes even more of a disturbance. When the Bailiff, Griff, tries to eject them Booth flashes his badge and explains that they are there to discuss Pierces murder.

ACT THREE

In the Judges dressing room Booth and Brennan speak with Judge Trudy. As the judge processes her shock at the news of the murder, their new interim producer Jill enters. Booth and Brennan question her as well. They talk a little a bit about Rebecca and her dedication. Rebecca would go anywhere to find litigants for the show, and could have been in that warehouse recruiting. Unfortunately, on the night in question, both Jill and Trudy were alone and have no one to corroborate their alibis. They also find out that Rebecca had a relationship with the bailiff, Griff.

Hodgins runs up onto the lab platform with exciting news for Finn. Hodgins has a molecular breakdown of Finn's grandma's secret sauce. It's almost a complete recipe list but he is missing just one ingredient. Finn thinks the one thing missing is love, which Hodgins won't ever find and thinks they should just drop the whole idea. Hodgins is not so easily dissuaded.

Back in the dressing rooms, Booth and Brennan talk to Griff about Rebecca. Griff and Rebecca had lived together for a couple of years with their dog Iris. They split because of the job. Rebecca became obsessed with her work, after she got promoted the only time they ever saw each other was on set. After they split Griff sued her for palimony. Now that Rebecca is gone, he is going to have a hard time making up that cash.

Cam joins Angela in the Angelatron. Angela is watching raw footage of the show looking for clues, reviewing past litigants for possible suspects. Apparently Rebecca went out of her way to push these people's buttons to make the show more exciting. Angela found one litigant without an alibi for the night that Rebecca was murdered and has a history of violence.

In the interrogation Room, Booth and Sweets interview Pabla. She is still angry about her case and talks about revenge. Booth cuts her off and reads aloud her exceptional rap sheet. When Pabla hears that she is a suspect, she claims they only brought her in because of profiling and clams up.

In the bone room Finn and Brennan review the now clean bones. They see a variety of fractures that indicate both defensive wounds, as well as wounds that would have happened when she was bound. Finn also takes this opportunity to mention that he too was a biter as a child and Brennan shouldn't think anything of her daughter's predicament. Brennan, of course, mentions Finns checkered past and that perhaps he is not the best candidate of someone who used to bite and "turned out ok". Brennan finds a wound that was a few months old, and suspects that perhaps the murderer and Rebecca had previous run ins.

ACT FOUR

Sweets and Booth step into Booth's office. Pabla's family has provided an alibi so Booth wants to take a run at another suspect. Gordie Rand, a young man Rebecca met on a dating site that developed an unhealthy obsession with her. So much so that she filed a restraining order. Additionally, the restraining order corresponds with the time of the months old injury that Brennan found. After the restraining order Gordie sent Rebecca some disturbing pictures of a dismembered Barbie to Rebecca.

In the conference room, Booth interviews Gordie. Gordie implies that he and Rebecca had something real, but Booth sets him straight. He was a stalker. When Booth asks after the pictures of the dismembered Barbie, Gordie claims they were a gift. Rebecca liked the Halloween movies. Unfortunately Gordie also has an alibi, one that can be backed up by his mother.

In the Angelatron, Brennan pulls Angela aside. She wants Angela to hack into Christine's school and pull up the records for the alleged "bite." Angela reluctantly agrees.

Hodgins and Cam walk through the lab. Hodgins updates Cam on the fabric she found underneath the victims nail. It turns out to be a synthetic fiber with purple die-some sort of nylon based fabric. They part ways as Hodgins promises to email Cam all his results.

In the Bone Room, Finn reports to Cam. Finn found some fractures on the feet and legs. They seem to be consistent with a jump down onto a hard surface. But the corresponding fractures one would find in such a case are not present. Finn postulates that she was perhaps dropped from the top of the stairs and onto the cellar floor.Brennan and Booth sit in the FBI conference room watching old footage of Citizens Court. It is that the judge was drunk on the day of shooting. She accidently smacks Rebecca in the face with her gavel! Maybe she is a mean drunk.

ACT FIVE

In the Interrogation Room, Booth shows the same footage to Judge Trudy. He and Sweets confront her about her drinking problem but Judge Trudy plays it off. Booth spots her hand shaking and makes her admit that she is, in fact, an alcoholic. Trudy softens and mentions that sometimes she needs a little help getting into character for her performance on TV. When Rebecca banned alcohol from the set it made life more difficult for Judge Trudy. Since Trudy was clearly drunk on set from time to time, Sweets and Booth want to know who was bringing her the alcohol despite Rebecca's edict.

On the Angelatron, Angela reviews the hacked files from Christine's day care. She has pulled pictures of the bite mark and analyzed them. Brennan, overjoyed with the opportunity to clear her daughter's name, produces an impression that she took of Christine's teeth. Angela scans them and inputs the scan into the computer. She then programs her computer to compare the scan of the impression to the bite marks. Angela finds that the odds are 78 to 21 that Christine was in fact the biter. But Brennan takes that the 21 percent, coupled with her own knowledge of her daughter's character, as more than enough evidence to prove her point.

Finn enters the Ookey Room wondering why he has been pulled from his work. Angela and Hodgins are making fried catfish. Hodgins found the final ingredient of the hot sauce and wants Finn to try it. Finn does and is amazed. The missing ingredient was an obscure and hard to find herb. It occurs to Hodgins that perhaps they should try to sell the hot sauce. Finn agrees between large gulps of catfish. When Angela tells him to slow down before he gets a bone stuck in his throat Finn has an epiphany. He knows the cause of death!

Finn excitedly escorts Brennan into the Bone room. The victim was strangled! The fractures are consistent with such an event but it remains unlikely because the hyoid bone remains intact. But what Finn reveals, which was inspired by the soft pliable catfish bones, is that the hyoid bone would be flexible in someone of the victims age. Thus she could have been strangled without breaking it.

Back in interrogation Booth questions Jill. Jill was the one who was sneaking booze to the Judge despite Rebecca's orders. She wanted to earn good will with Trudy and pave the way for her own future success. Rebecca and Jill used to fight all the time because Rebecca wouldn't promote Jill. Booth thinks that Jill lured Rebecca to the warehouse and then strangled her with a purple scarf, which they found when they searched Jill's apartment.

ACT SIX

Booth updates Sweets in Booth's office. Sweets doesn't agree with Booth deduction concerning Jill. Jill just doesn't fit the psychological profile. Furthermore, when Sweets takes a look at the scarf Booth found he realizes that it is made of wool. Not nylon, which was the fiber Cam found underneath the victims nail. Booth sticks to his guns but Sweets thinks he is reaching.

In the Angelatron, Finn, Sweets, and Brennan look at simulations of the body being thrown down the stairs at the warehouse. None of the simulations run by Finn and Angela match the fracture pattern. Brennan suggests that they try a different angle. One that would imply Rebecca was hung over the rail by her neck, and then dropped; rather than thrown over the edge as previously thought. This new set up matches the fracture patterns. Upon further inspection, Brennan has an epiphany of her own.

She runs into the bone room and takes a closer look at the mandible. Angela and Finn follow. Brennan's hunch is right. Underneath the mandible are three small nicks which could explain what the victim was hung with. Finn heads out to find Hodgins.

Later in the Angelatron, Angela and Brennan bring Cam up to speed. The nicks came from spikes, like the ones found on a bracelet that a punk would wear. The wound implies that the marks came from constant pressure, not a quick hit like a punch. As they consider it Hodgins comes running in. He swabbed the newfound wounds and found animal dander. The bracelet wasn't a bracelet, it was a dog collar.

In the interrogation room Booth slams down a dog collar in front of Griff the bailiff. The collar belongs to his dog Iris, the one he had shared with the deceased Rebecca. The purple velvet of the dog collar matches with the material found underneath the fingernails of the body. Further discussion reveals that the dog, Iris, died. Griff had gone over one day to pick her up. Rebecca had been working late hours and just left the dog tied up on the porch. Iris had fallen off and hung herself on her own collar. Griff breaks down and admits to killing Rebecca in retribution.

At Nolita restaurant, Booth and Finn ambush Chef Susan Feninger with Finn's hot sauce. She tries to blow them off, and while Finn seems willing to accept that, Hodgins won't let up. If she would just try the hot sauce then she'd realize what a find it is and maybe they could go into business distributing it. After some kind words from Finn she softens and agrees to try it. One taste and she is sold. A little dickering and the three of them are in business. Together they are going to market "Opie and Thurstons" hot sauce with Finn and Hodgins getting an eighty percent cut.

Booth and Brennan have a night cap at the Founding Fathers bar. Booth congratulates Brennan on keeping her cool when talking to Christine's teacher. They speculate on the trials to come in raising their daughter. Brennan seems amenable to this because after all "acceptable behavior can only be learned through the experience of unacceptable behavior." Booth wonders why the big change of heart but his curiosity is sated when he sees the bite mark on Brennan's neck.