Bones s02e05 Episode Script
The Truth in the Lye
[Mattress Bouncing.]
[Moaning.]
Wow! [Sighs.]
God, that was - Yeah, that was - Amazing.
And a huge mistake.
- Huge.
- Huge.
Why do we keep doing this? Well, you know, we don't.
I mean, what's it been? - Twice in the past year? - Three.
Four if you count that stakeout.
Okay, you know what? That wasn't sex.
Maybe not for you.
But this is it.
You know what? You're right.
But, I mean it's not like we're doing anything wrong.
- I mean, you and Drew are - We needed to take a break.
To gain perspective.
But, um, this isn't helping.
And that's why it's over.
- Done.
- [Cell Phone Ringing.]
- That's mine.
- Yeah.
Ow.
Oh.
Ow! Booth.
Yeah.
Address.
Hey, you know, I, uh Oh, no, no.
Me too.
I have to pick up Parker from school.
Oh, you know what? Make sure that you bring him the comic that I got him.
- He loves that.
- Yeah, sure.
[Cell Phone Ringing.]
Uh Uh Agent Booth's phone.
Oh, hi.
It's Dr.
Brennan.
Is Agent Booth available? Uh, available? Yeah, Dr.
Brennan.
I - Yeah, Bones.
What's up? - Nothing.
Just seeing if you got the call and if you were swinging by to pick me up or Oh, yeah.
Um, I'm just gonna have to meet you there, okay? Okay, bye.
You don't, uh, think she thought No.
No, we have a child together.
- It's perfectly normal for us to to be together.
- Right.
- It's not like this is ever gonna happen again.
- No.
Exactly.
Okay, um, are you done with the bathroom? - Yeah.
- Okay, thanks.
- [Siren Wails.]
- You're clear! Sorry if I interrupted anything.
What? Oh! No.
- No, you didn't.
- Good.
Okay.
But if you must know, you know, Rebecca, my ex she stopped by my place to pick up a comic that I got Parker.
- Okay.
- She just so happened to pick up the phone.
That's it.
You know? Nothing more, nothing less.
I'm sorry.
Did I say I must know? Oh, very nice.
[Groans.]
Age and sex undetermined.
Victim is immersed in a pool of [Sniffs.]
what smells like a composite of domestic corrosives.
- It smells more like, uh - Common drain declogger, acid wash, bleach.
Submerged two to three days.
All right, are you saying that he's been here all weekend just dissolving? Allowing the killer time for the corrosives to do their thing.
[Man.]
Excuse me.
Can I get in here, please? - Yeah, I'm Pete Valero.
I'm the development contractor.
- Okay.
- Yeah.
I came as soon as - [Bubbling.]
- [Vomits.]
- There could be evidence in there.
I'd say most of it's right in there.
I'll need Zack to help me extract the remains and whatever else is beneath the surface.
- Wouldn't it be a lot easier if we took the whole tub? - No, no, no, wait.
That tub is a is a Godiva 3000.
These things aren't cheap.
Oh, do you think anybody is actually gonna want this Godiva 3000 after this? - Well, would they have to know? - [Scoffs.]
Look, I'm just saying, with subsidized housing - the government wants every nickel accounted for.
- I'll get you a receipt if you can tell me why the boss of the job is just showing up right now.
I was at the dentist.
I got a call in the middle of a root canal.
Who knew I'd be better off there? - Do you know who this is? - How would I know? I got over 200 workers on this site alone not to mention all the kids and the - the vandals coming through here on the weekend.
- [Splashes.]
- Oh, my God.
- Oh, God.
Bones! - Wait out there.
- It's only skin.
Okay, I'll need that window, a forklift and a flatbed.
- Why? - You called it.
We want answers [Taps Tub.]
the tub is coming with us.
Down.
Lower, lower, lower.
Keep going.
Keep goin'.
And good! - Oh, this is gonna be fun.
- I should get my video camera.
- [Angela.]
I may need a Compazine.
- There'll be none of that.
No fun, no video, no vomit.
Ooh! - Then again - [Brennan.]
We have to hurry.
Those chemicals are eating away at our victim.
Is there any chance that he was put in there alive? If we find any rope or duct tape on the body, I'd say there's a good chance.
Okay, people.
Let's start with the who.
We'll worry about the why and the how later.
But if we find the why and the how first, we'll gladly take it.
Though "who" is clearly the priority.
The who is not going to change.
But the clues might if we don't hurry.
- What's our starting weight, Zack? - Starting weight is 542.
13.
The tub itself weighs about 200 pounds.
Capacity is 34 gallons.
Which at about 8.
3 pounds a gallon comes to 270, 275.
And two-thirds full makes it about 180 putting this guy somewhere in the 160-pound weight class.
The cream always rises.
Or in this case, melted body fat.
I'll measure its volume to determine body type.
I'll start separating all things chemical from organic.
And I know you requested a strainer of some sort, Dr.
Brennan but I thought this could be of use.
For the big pieces maybe.
After that, old MacZacky, get on the horn with the coroner's office and tell them I want two field unit water sifters sent here A.
S.
A.
P.
- They get mad when I drop your name.
- Then drop it twice.
Talk about the proof in the pudding.
Oh, even for me, this is disgusting.
Was this too much even for Booth? He's still questioning the workers at the site.
Hopefully, there's enough skull here for a partial reconstruction.
Hmm.
I've worked with less.
Right femur's pitted and brittle.
Marrow's practically gelatinized.
- Our victim's elderly.
- Well, that's a bit of a leap.
Well, not really.
Zack, hold still.
It's a hip replacement.
Don't these things usually come engraved with serial numbers? Uh, not this one.
It looks like the chemicals burned those off too.
Hey, so where is Mr.
Tub o' Lard? I figured they'd bring him here.
Lard I've got plenty of.
The rest of him's in the "ookey" room where he belongs.
Oh! Wow, so then that nasty yellow goop is Fat.
9.
3 liters so far.
Oh, good.
Booth, I'm sure you'll want to see this too.
- What is it? - Guess? - Maybe not, Zack.
- It's our victim's wallet.
Can you believe it? Leather, cash, cards every shred of identification completely emulsified.
Mmm, wow.
You know what, Zack? I'd like to go back to the old arrangement where you don't talk to me directly, okay? Have my water sifters arrived yet? - Yes.
That's how I found the wallet.
- Okay, so the point of this is? Doing what that wallet can't.
Right now, I'd say our victim's an ectomorph.
Thin, linear, narrow features.
And I hear you're back with your ex.
- I'm sorry? - Rebecca, right? - Reliving old times? - [Chuckles.]
Uh, I'll just keep sifting.
- Yeah.
Dr.
Brennan told you? - Oh, relax.
- She did, didn't she? - We all have our weak moments.
No.
Mm-mmm.
We don't, okay? - I don't.
- Please, Seeley.
Like we haven't shared enough of them for me to know better.
- [Brennan.]
I was not gossiping.
- Oh, really? So then what would you call it? - Merely sharing a point of interest.
- Great.
So now what am I, huh? - The world's largest ball of string? - Not you, your behavior.
It was a textbook example of just how helpless we higher primates can be to our biological urges.
- I am not helpless.
- [Sighs.]
- He's not elderly.
- I can control my, uh - Who? - Our victim.
You see these marrow cells? The lack of collagen indicates osteogenesis imperfecta.
Brittle bone disease.
And that's supposed to tell me that he's not old? Not necessarily.
And if you're not helpless, then why did you sleep with her? Oh, I really don't recall saying that I did.
You didn't have to.
I could hear it in your voice.
I may as well have walked in on you having sex.
- You didn't and we weren't.
- Well, it's nothing to be ashamed of, Booth.
Humans act upon a hierarchy of needs, and sex is very highly ranked.
- It's an anthropological inevitability.
- Thank you, Bones.
I really appreciate you boiling me down to your anthropological inevitabilities.
- Sure.
- Anytime.
You know, if our victim had brittle bone, there could be a Web site of some kind.
He might have been listed.
[Angela.]
Afraid not, honey.
There's no official database.
But I did track down eight cases of brittle bone in the area.
How many of them are adult males? Give me a second.
[Typing.]
What's wrong? With what? This is usually where I type and you talk.
You two are never not talking.
Well, we're not not talking.
Or maybe we're not not not.
Okeydoke.
Number of adult males with brittle bone in the metropolitan area is zero same with adult females.
- These are all kids.
- Why is that? High mortality rate? No.
When O.
I.
is fatal, it's mainly to infants.
- And only in severe cases.
- So our guy has a mild case.
Type I.
Near normal stature fragile bones andjoints, off-white sclera.
- Is this disease hereditary? - Mild cases can be.
The more severe forms, types II and III are often the result of a genetic mutation.
But if our guy is type I and these kids got it passed on from a parent Then all we have to do is contact these kids' families and find out which one is missing a dad.
- Well, let me print you the list.
- Print two.
We'll split up.
Hmm.
[Doorbell Rings.]
[Door Opens.]
- Mrs.
Seaver? - Yes? I'm Dr.
Brennan with theJeffersonian Institute working in collaboration with the F.
B.
I.
The F.
B.
I? Is this to do with Larry? That would be your husband, Lawrence Seaver? - Raymond's father? - He hasn't answered his cell phone in days.
I've left so many messages.
Please come in.
- [Woman On TV.]
Meerkats form - Ray, honey.
- We have company.
- Who's she? - Did they find Daddy? - My name is Temperance, Ray.
And I'm just here to ask a few questions.
- Your husband's been missing since - Thursday.
We didn't think of him as missing.
He left on his business trip like he does every week.
But he never fails to at least call us back.
- That must've hurt.
- Not so much.
I'm used to it.
Ray has brittle bone.
It's just a mild form, though, like Larry's.
- You think I could sign your cast? - Sure.
I'll get a pen.
Mrs.
Seaver, I need to borrow this photo.
Okay.
Why? Well, we found a body.
Oh, God.
Sorry I couldn't do more.
Skullcap was falling apart faster than I could put a face on it.
I'm not sure we'd have a match either way with so little to work with.
Okay, here we go.
Got our guy.
- What? - Mother and her daughter up in Maryland.
Dad missing since Thursday.
- Who's that? - Mother and son down in Virginia.
Father missing since Thursday.
Whoa.
Mine's Lawrence Turner, 35, commercial electrician.
- Oh - And I've got Lawrence Seaver, 35.
- my - Commercial electrician.
- God.
- I think old Larry's got two wives.
More like two lives.
Just make sureJenny takes her meds.
And tell her Mommy will see her in the morning.
Thanks, Betty.
- How old's your daughter? - Six and a half.
She and Larry, they have a special bond.
- Brittle bone.
- You know about that? She's type I like your husband? He's always felt so guilty about that.
He really dotes on her, on both of us.
Mrs.
Turner, your husband ever talk about any conflicts at work? Never.
Everyone loves Larry.
He's fun, smart, hardworking.
That's what keeps him out of town so much.
Yeah, about that I didn't realize electricians were called upon to be away from home so much.
There's just so much underbidding.
And it's not like we can get by on what I make.
- As? - I teach.
Eighth-grade science.
- Got it.
- So he has to travel.
- Go where the money is.
Not that he ever complains.
- [Clears Throat.]
It makes coming home to us all the more sweeter, he says.
Oh, God! What are we gonna do? Will you just excuse me for one moment.
I'm so sorry.
[Clears Throat.]
These women have to know the truth about their husbands.
- They could be in cahoots.
- Cahoots? If they somehow found out that Larry was two-timing them, they could both want him dead.
- Okay, so what now? We ask them? - No, no, no, no, no.
It's all taken care of.
Mrs.
Turner, could you please come with me? Right this way.
Just wait here in the visitors' lounge.
We won't be long.
Help yourself to a cup of coffee.
Thank you.
- That's the interrogation room.
- Not tonight.
Hmm, nice touch with the kitty posters.
- Who are you talking to? - That couple in there.
Agent Curry and Moran.
They set up the room.
I'll never drink F.
B.
I.
coffee again.
- [Phone Beeps.]
- Whenever you're ready, Charlie.
You know, I almost married her, you know? - Agent Curry? - Rebecca.
My ex.
Oh.
You can talk about her now.
Yeah, she got pregnant.
I wanted to do the right thing, but, you know, she said no.
You've told me this before.
Not that you've ever said why.
Well, issues with my job.
She wanted to start her own career.
She wanted to finish graduate school.
Alone with a baby? Logic.
Right? You're applying logic? - Do you still love her? - Not like I did.
Not like that.
Then why can't it just be sex? There's nothing "just" about sex, Bones.
But all mammals need it.
That release of serotonin.
The rush of endorphins.
Naturally, you seek it with someone with whom you share a sexual rapport.
Rapport, right.
That's the word.
I know when I'm in need of a release there's a former partner or two I'm sure I could call.
Okay, Bones.
Thanks so much.
I feel so much better now, huh? Here we go.
[Over Speaker.]
Help yourself to coffee, Mrs.
Seaver.
Oh, I get it.
Very smart.
Well, it's my job, Bones.
It's, you know, what I do for a living.
They don't seem like Wait.
Hmm, they may as well be in separate rooms.
Making them either great actresses who are in cahoots Or they have no idea what's going on.
How could these women not know? Brennan was pretty sure that they didn't.
And still don't apparently.
Booth wants to wait to tell them.
- Wait for what? To summon the nerve? - Maybe.
I just wouldn't want these women finding out at the funeral.
I'll take a front row seat for that.
Sorry.
Did I say that out loud? Have you found anything resembling a weapon in the tub yet? Not yet.
Why? These skull fragments may feel like wet cardboard but I'm pretty sure we're looking at blunt force trauma.
I'll second that.
Roughly "V"-shaped.
Corner of a 2-by-4 maybe? Specks of blood at the point of impact.
Could've been the lethal blow.
Making him dead before he was doused with lye.
Oh, happy day.
I've isolated our corrosive culprits.
Sodium hypochlorite, calcium hypochlorite, and hydrochloric acid.
- Available at your local market.
- Lucky the whole tub didn't explode.
It practically did.
Along with teeth I keep finding these tiny shards of copper from the fixtures.
Is that what this is? No.
That would be a wedding band.
Braided gold and platinum.
Preserved by true love, no doubt.
- One metal for each desperate housewife.
- People can we at least fake some sense of decorum? I can't help it.
It's so Jerry Springer.
First of all, how does anyonejuggle two spouses? I can think of ways.
Of course, byjuggle, I mean quite literally I have a scalpel.
Maybe he dissolved himself so there'd be more of him to go around.
I'm going to hell, aren't I? I'll save you a seat.
Oh, no.
Not sweet Mr.
Seaver! - It can't be him.
- Yeah.
Well, um, is that your boss in there? I mean, who would do something like that? Everybody loves the man.
Well, you know, not everyone.
Hey, what's goin' on? - Mr.
Valero, you won't believe it.
- Agent Booth.
We met yesterday.
It was Mr.
Seaver.
That's who was in the bathtub.
Wait.
Larry? The electrician? - Yeah.
Larry the electrician.
Now - Son of a bitch! Now I'm never gonna see my money.
You know, I must say, uh, Pete you're the first person I've come across who's ever had a bad word to say about Larry.
Well, the guy does have a way with people.
Or he did.
- I mean, I liked him too before he got all slippery.
- Slippery? I fronted the guy 85 grand to cover electrical supplies.
Last week, I got the inspector walking around, and she cites me for cheap materials.
Substandard circuit breakers, insufficient G.
F.
I.
's.
- Where'd the 85 grand go? - Exactly what I asked Larry.
"Show me receipts," I said.
What do I get? Sob stories ofbad bookkeeping his son's health, problems with the wife.
His wife? Yeah.
Like I don't got a wife of my own, right? [Chuckles.]
You know, you realize, Pete, that everything that you're telling me - sounds a lot like motive.
- [Scoffs.]
Great.
Do I need a lawyer? I don't know.
You tell me.
All right, look.
I can't say that I wasn't angry enough to want the guy dead.
But like always, I fell back on the old builders' code.
- "Can't squeeze money from the dead man?" - You know it.
Well, you know, as codes go, it's hardly limited to builders.
No, no, no.
It's our code.
You can look it up.
No, no.
Maybe later.
Hey, you wouldn't happen to have any of Larry's old paperwork on file? - Accounts? Receipts? - Yeah, yeah.
Sure.
[Chattering.]
I think I've stumbled upon an anomaly, Dr.
Saroyan.
It looks like a splintered ulna bone.
- But it's not.
It's ivory.
- From the tusk of a small elephant? I was hoping you'd know.
If you notice these indentations here.
Like teeth marks on a pencil.
See what Angela can make of it.
And after that, I'll need you to go back to the crime scene with the photos I'm taking.
See what you can find with the approximate shape and dimension of this blunt force wound.
- Like a murder weapon? - It needn't look like one.
Anything that replicates this pattern.
- I'm going on police business.
- So proud.
Wait, does he mean out? In the world? We'll pin our phone number on his shirt.
What's that you got there? Well, having finally hit the very bottom of the tub I found it plugged with a ceramic stopper, which I lifted and voilà.
What do you make of this? Bones[Laughs.]
are you ready for this? - Did you tell the wives yet? - No, not yet.
But I did some checking into two-time Larry's finances.
Under the last name Seaver, he's got a half-a-million-dollar life insurance policy.
- Assigning motive to Gayle Seaver.
- Under the last name Turner he's got a living will leaving everything to Lila and their daughter.
- Giving both women motive.
- Right.
Which is just a matter of which one needed the money more than they needed their Larry.
- I might be able to help.
- With what? A very small used condom? It's the finger from a rubber glove.
Hodgins just found it wedged under the tub's drain stopper.
Oh, it was spared the corrosive effects of the lye.
Meaning, we may be able to pull a fingerprint from the inside.
No maybes about it.
If there's a print, I'll pull it.
- And when I pull it - We'll have our killer.
It's just standard procedure, Lila.
Just press four fingers firmly and hold.
Our investigation turned up a print at the crime scene.
And wejust need yours, Gayle, to avoid any possible confusion.
This isn't gonna take long, is it? - Our tech has the print you pulled? - Ring finger, left hand.
Then this shouldn't take long at all.
Just wait here.
Wait.
Are you sure this is the best time to tell them? What does that mean? After two days of nagging me, you're just - Now you're getting cold feet? - What? I do not nag.
Well, you know, it's an anthropological inevitability for women to gossip and nag.
Can I get anyone a soda? No, thank you.
Are you on my husband's case too? No.
I don't work here.
You're the lady from the waiting room.
- You gave me a tissue? - Oh, yeah.
- That was you? - Yeah.
- Sorry.
I'm a little out of it.
- Yeah.
I know how that feels.
Actually, ladies, let me make some introductions.
Uh, Gayle Seaver, Lila Turner.
Lila, Gayle.
Hi.
Lila, that was very sweet of you.
I - I'd just lost my husband.
- You did? So did I.
Actually, that's why you're both here really.
Um, for the same reason, for the same husband.
- I'm sorry? - Yeah.
Me too.
What Agent Booth's trying to say is that your husbands, Larry are the same Larry.
[Booth.]
Uh, this will help.
A little show-and-tell.
Um Well, this is wrong.
It's a joke.
A sick joke.
- Actually, it's not - My Larry would never - Your Larry? This is my Larry! - My Larry! - He's my husband.
What are you talking about? - Just go ahead and lie like that? - Bones? - Okay.
Let's sit! Everyone just sit down.
[Lila.]
This is ridiculous.
Fine.
[Phone Rings.]
Booth.
Yeah? Yeah, I'm meeting with them right now.
- Right.
The one from the glove.
- I'm sorry.
I can't imagine - Whose kid is this? - Whose little girl is that? Are you sure? Thanks.
- What? - Um The print we found on the rubber glove at the crime scene it doesn't match either wife.
Oh, so it's back to square one.
Are you sure I can't get anyone a soda? Hey.
Dr.
Brennan, right? - Rebecca, hi.
- Is he in there? He is.
But it's not a good time.
Not that my powers of discernment have ever been particularly sharp vis-à-vis good times from bad but in this instance, it's bad.
And I thought Seeley was exaggerating about you.
- With regard to - Just tell him to give me a call.
Hey.
Can I ask you something? - Why did you say no? - Excuse me? When he asked you to marry him? I mean, he seems an ideal candidate.
Strong, alpha male, good protective instincts.
And I should discuss this with you why? It's just I'm not sure he knows.
And I think it bothers him.
I've always taken care of myself.
To a fault sometimes.
And when we got pregnant, Seeley proposed.
But I didn't want to be one of those women who gets married out of need.
So I said no.
- I can see that.
- By the time that I realized I'd made a mistake that I'd still be the same person I think there's a moment for two people.
A single moment where they can either catch fire or Seeley and I, we missed our moment.
- Do you understand? - I'm trying.
But the "single moment" thesis doesn't explain Why we still get together.
Fall together really.
Because I think that we just feel what used to be there.
And we miss it.
I think Booth thinks you didn't marry him because he wouldn't make a good father.
- What? - He worries about it himself.
What he does for a living.
His past as a sniper.
Oh, God.
Uh, do me a favor? Don't tell him that I came by, okay? Please.
Man, what I would've given to have been a fly on the wall when you told those wives.
You would've been swatted, trust me.
No match on the prints from our nationwide database either.
At least we can assume our killer was a first-time offender.
Great.
Thanks, Bones.
That narrows it down.
So I hear you're back with your ex.
- Don't look at me.
- Your son must be thrilled.
I know I may thumb my nose at the hypocrisy of marriage as a sacred institution.
- But I think a boy truly benefits - I am not back with my ex.
Let me finish.
A boy truly benefits from knowing where his parents stand, together or not.
Like I once had this dancer down in Miami whose stage name was Abbey Road.
- Anyway, she had a kid too, right? - That'll do, Ringo.
- I think I scored, Dr.
Brennan.
- Somebody just kill me right now.
Dr.
Saroyan sent me back to the crime scene.
That's a junction box with a single brown hair embedded.
- This is at floor level? - Across from where the bathtub had been.
You'll find its contours match our trauma wound.
Then let's see if this hair is a match for Larry.
Before you go, are we sure these copper bits are from the tub? I assumed they'd come off the fixtures.
Yeah, but but the drain, the faucet and the spigots - they're all pristine outside a scratch or two.
- Wait.
Let me see that.
It's bird shot.
Or it was.
It's compressed copper that's frangible so it breaks apart on impact.
- Could they kill a man? - I think our vice president disproved that possibility.
Look, any ammo at close range will do the job.
But at the very least, a gunshot would've sent Larry flying causing his head to hit this junction box.
- Which given his condition - Would be fatal.
Okay.
What you thought were teeth marks, Dr.
Saroyan turned out to be Chinese characters engraved along the side.
- What do they say? - They say "What make foolish man think I speak Chinese?" I thought you were half Chinese? And I think you're half Swedish.
Let's hear some Swedish.
What is it, Angela, please? It's a chopstick.
Only it's not the kind you eat with.
- There's another kind? - Well, you wouldn't comb your hair with a fork, would you? - My hair? - All right, look.
The one character that I was able to translate off the Internet is the word "beauty," and I realized it's meant for hair.
Where you twist it in a bun and stick this through to hold it in place? But if that's what this is, we can be pretty sure it wasn't Larry's.
Thanks.
Roommate says she went to go meet some friends at the Beltway Burger.
And you think it's this Chloe girl because Of the chopsticks, right? As soon as Cam said it, I knew it.
Because when I went to go see Pete, she had chopsticks in the back of her hair.
- And how did Hodgins find out? - I'm sorry? - "Yeah, I hear you're back with your ex.
" - I don't know.
I assume it was Cam.
I was only trying to engage her in social intercourse.
- Excuse me? - Just trying to be normal.
Congenial exchange with a coworker.
And if that's what gossip is, I don't like it at all.
Yeah, you think you don't like it? I can't stand There it is.
Beltway Burger.
[Clears Throat.]
- [Horn Honking.]
- # [Rock.]
# [Continues Over Headphones.]
Hey, Chloe.
Meetin' some friends? Oh, hi! You're that F.
B.
I.
guy! Yes, I'm the F.
B.
I.
guy.
So you worship at the temple of Beltway Burger too, huh? - Yeah, on occasion.
- Yeah, I may be 90% vegetarian but their burgers can't get enough of'em lately.
- How many weeks are you? - Excuse me? Pregnant.
I could tell by your gait.
Your ilia they've already started shifting to widen the birth canal.
- You can tell that? - So you are pregnant? Fourteen weeks.
- Booth - [Footsteps Approaching.]
- Chloe's friends.
- [Chattering.]
Chloe's friends.
Taking the kids out for a little late night snack, ladies? Don't tell me.
Larry's the father.
[Sighs.]
There's a playground about halfway between Gayle and me designed for kids with special needs.
Rubber surfacing, high-back swings.
I took Ray there last week, and Lila was there with Jenny.
The kids started playing.
We started talking.
- And one topic led to another.
- And small world.
- Yeah, too small.
- What about Chloe? Well, after we got over the initial shock, like yesterday but real we decided to follow Larry to work the next morning straight to a motel where Chloe was waiting.
And if that wasn't enough to make our heads explode we then had to find out about Chloe's condition.
At which point, you knew it was time to confront Larry.
- I had no idea that Larry was married.
- Let alone twice.
But since your prints match the one left in the rubber glove we assume it wasn't long before you found out.
We checked your phone records, Gayle, and, uh you didn't leave Larry any messages after Friday night.
The night you, Lila, and Chloe told him you were going to see him together to get answers.
So you found Larry at his job.
You shot him point-blank.
And you dragged his sorry ass back to the bathtub.
Where you doused him in sodium hypochlorite, calcium hypochlorite.
Or as you and I like to call 'em, bleach and Quickie Plumber.
Which, as an eighth-grade teacher, you knew would do the trick.
- Simple earth science.
- Look, all that's true.
But we didn't kill him.
- Really? Then who did? - He killed himself.
- He killed himself.
- He killed himself.
Larry was dead when you got there? - On the bathroom floor.
- The gun was still in his mouth.
The coward must've freaked at the thought of facing us together.
If we'd surprised him, maybe he'd still be alive.
Back up.
You're saying that the gun was still in his mouth? His finger was on the trigger.
It was awful.
And where's the gun now? I buried it in my backyard.
That's a good place for it.
- Unbelievable.
- Yeah, you got that right.
- You know what? They're lying.
- How do you know? Oh, come on.
They've been lying since day one.
Between all of them, they should have a dozen Oscars by now.
- I know what those are.
- I mean, come on.
Suicide? Mm-mmm.
Bird shot or not, okay, every self-inflicted I've seen the guy shoots himself, and he drops the gun.
Right? It's an automatic reaction.
Bang, drop.
There's no way the gun ends up in his mouth.
Then we'd better go dig up that gun.
- Seeley? - I'll get the ball rolling.
- Was that Dr.
Brennan? - Uh-huh.
Why are you here? I needed to know if you were gonna coach Parker's T-ball team this year.
- You know I always coach Parker's T-ball team.
- I didn't wanna assume Okay, whoa.
What is going on here, Rebecca? Okay? Because, look, I thought we agreed here.
We cannot end up groping each other in the F.
B.
I.
closet.
We can't do that.
We're done.
- I know.
- Really? Seeley, all the excuses I gave you for not wanting to get married - my independence, your work - I know.
No, you don't.
You are a wonderful father.
And Parker is a lucky kid.
Such a lucky kid.
And obviously, we still have feelings for each other.
Do you still wanna marry me? Rebecca No, I don't.
I don't wanna marry you either.
Here are the forms for T-ball.
- I'll miss you.
- Yeah.
And I'm gonna miss you too.
You know what I'm gonna miss the most? Yeah.
But let's not go there.
Okay.
DNA on the barrel confirms it was in Larry's mouth at some point.
Yeah.
Well, I still don't buy it.
You know, the kickback alone would've forced it out.
Unless he was dead before the shot.
Well, yeah, that's true.
But, uh - Wait, what? - The inside of Larry's skull is pitted which I had always attributed to the effects of the lye.
But each tiny hole matches perfectly with the bird shot right down to these specks of copper.
Are you saying that it was suicide? I would, except these holes are void of blood which would suggest they were inflicted after blood stopped pumping trough Larry's head.
No, keep talking.
I'll catch up.
Well, unlike this blunt force trauma no shortage of blood here.
Proving he was dead before he was shot.
So now we're talking about a faked homicide to cover up a faked suicide? A faked suicide meant to cover up an actual, original murder.
Now, just when you think things couldn't get any more twisted - How's this for a curveball? - In walks Cam.
After retrieving and reassembling every tooth from that tub I now discover I had one extra.
Well, this is not a tooth.
It's a crown.
Exactly.
Any of your women happen to be missing one? - Not that I could see.
- Well, it wouldn't be theirs anyway.
- It's sized for a man.
- I knew that.
A man's tooth, and it's not Larry's.
It's not a tooth.
It's a crown whereby a dentist files down an existing tooth I know what a crown is, Bones.
Except Pete called it a root canal.
Pete.
[Man.]
Yeah, right there.
Well, look who's here.
Returning to the scene of the crime.
Funny.
I was gonna say that to you.
- Okay, boys, that's lunch.
Let's go.
- All right.
Why? No, no.
I'm talking about that.
- Look at my wall there.
Who's gonna pay for that? - Let's find out.
- Smile for me, Pete.
- Whoa! Back off! What's this about? Temporary crown, maxillary central incisor.
- Turn around, Pete.
- Like I have the slightest idea how Larry got in that tub? Actually, on that detail, we're quite sure you don't.
Making that look on your face when you saw it all the more priceless.
That's because I didn't know what happened Well, let me tell you what I know, Pete.
Okay? I know Larry owed you 85 grand.
So Friday night you come here to have a little talk to him about it.
And about the same time, he gets a phone call from his very unhappy wives.
- Wives? - Yeah.
Which puts Larry in a really bad place.
So when you asked him, "Hey, you know, where's my money?" - He pretty much blows you off.
- Like he has more important things to worry about.
Bad enough that Larry rips you off, but he disrespects you on top of it? - That's not gonna happen in this lifetime.
- So it got physical.
Larry knocked your crown loose.
And you shoved him down here where he hit his head on the socket casing.
I I I swear he didn't land hard.
With his O.
I.
condition, it didn't matter.
Wouldn't take much.
It was an accident.
I'm sorry.
So sorry you had to cover it up? Stick a cheap shotgun in his mouth, pull the trigger and make manslaughter look like suicide.
The guy had ripped me off for enough.
I couldn't let him ruin me too.
And you can live with that? A person can live with anything if they don't think too hard.
Let's try this again, Pete.
Turn around.
How did he get in the tub? It's been driving me nuts.
You know what? - Try not to think about it.
- [Booth.]
Come on.
The irony is that I cannot think of a single woman who would want three husbands.
[Hodgins.]
Good thing.
A guy would never be stupid enough to let it happen.
Excuse me.
These women were not stupid.
And that is completely gross.
But comfy.
- Welcome back by the way.
- What? Well, after two days of inappropriate comments you're back to judging me for gross behavior.
- When am I ever appropriate? - Good point.
Maybe it was just the judging me I missed.
Ah, the woman I know and love in a purely nonromantic, happy-to-be-judged way.
Well - Anyway.
- These women.
Right.
Not stupid.
And frankly, that they allowed themselves to be duped is a sad statement on how lean the market is out there.
I resent that.
I'm out there.
You certainly are.
Well, how not stupid could these women have been to think that they could get away with faking a murder? Or how compassionate were they to recognize that they were all in the same boat.
So why let Larry take his insurance money with him? Yeah.
A lot a good it'll do 'em in jail.
So you never said how it ended up with Rebecca.
Well, yeah, it ended.
The only time we'll ever spend together is with Parker.
- You sure that's what you want? - You know what, Bones? It might be all anthropology to you but there are certain people that you just can't sleep with.
I mean, you can pretend that it's just sex.
You can lie to yourself, and you can say that it's all good.
But, um, there's just There's too many strings and and too much at stake, you know? Too much too lose.
Yeah.
I can see that.
It's over, you know? I appreciate, you know, your support in that.
I will.
And if you should slip I will keep my mouth shut about it.
Thank you.
But, I mean, it's not like I'm gonna No, I mean with anybody.
I'm sure Rebecca's not your only option for satisfying biological urges.
Please tell me these women are not going tojail.
Trying to bilk the insurance system, they'll get nothing less than a firing squad.
- Not if they never filed a claim.
- Because our friends here caught them.
Well, you're both kinda right.
Given their kids and the circumstances the D.
A.
is gonna offer probation provided that all three women show remorse and attend mandatory counseling.
In exchange for movie rights I hope.
- You know they're gonna get calls.
- I hope so.
Hey, nice going by the way.
- Cam tells me you're back with your ex.
- Cam? Mmm.
Cam in her office? [Inhales.]
I said something wrong.
Ooh, would it be gossip if I told you? I hope so.
- # [Blues.]
- [Giggling, Laughing.]
Wow.
That was, uh That was - Wicked? - Yeah.
- And a huge mistake.
- Not if we don't do it again.
- Deal.
- Deal.
Not after tonight I mean.
- Never again.
- No.
# [Continues.]
What's that mean?
[Moaning.]
Wow! [Sighs.]
God, that was - Yeah, that was - Amazing.
And a huge mistake.
- Huge.
- Huge.
Why do we keep doing this? Well, you know, we don't.
I mean, what's it been? - Twice in the past year? - Three.
Four if you count that stakeout.
Okay, you know what? That wasn't sex.
Maybe not for you.
But this is it.
You know what? You're right.
But, I mean it's not like we're doing anything wrong.
- I mean, you and Drew are - We needed to take a break.
To gain perspective.
But, um, this isn't helping.
And that's why it's over.
- Done.
- [Cell Phone Ringing.]
- That's mine.
- Yeah.
Ow.
Oh.
Ow! Booth.
Yeah.
Address.
Hey, you know, I, uh Oh, no, no.
Me too.
I have to pick up Parker from school.
Oh, you know what? Make sure that you bring him the comic that I got him.
- He loves that.
- Yeah, sure.
[Cell Phone Ringing.]
Uh Uh Agent Booth's phone.
Oh, hi.
It's Dr.
Brennan.
Is Agent Booth available? Uh, available? Yeah, Dr.
Brennan.
I - Yeah, Bones.
What's up? - Nothing.
Just seeing if you got the call and if you were swinging by to pick me up or Oh, yeah.
Um, I'm just gonna have to meet you there, okay? Okay, bye.
You don't, uh, think she thought No.
No, we have a child together.
- It's perfectly normal for us to to be together.
- Right.
- It's not like this is ever gonna happen again.
- No.
Exactly.
Okay, um, are you done with the bathroom? - Yeah.
- Okay, thanks.
- [Siren Wails.]
- You're clear! Sorry if I interrupted anything.
What? Oh! No.
- No, you didn't.
- Good.
Okay.
But if you must know, you know, Rebecca, my ex she stopped by my place to pick up a comic that I got Parker.
- Okay.
- She just so happened to pick up the phone.
That's it.
You know? Nothing more, nothing less.
I'm sorry.
Did I say I must know? Oh, very nice.
[Groans.]
Age and sex undetermined.
Victim is immersed in a pool of [Sniffs.]
what smells like a composite of domestic corrosives.
- It smells more like, uh - Common drain declogger, acid wash, bleach.
Submerged two to three days.
All right, are you saying that he's been here all weekend just dissolving? Allowing the killer time for the corrosives to do their thing.
[Man.]
Excuse me.
Can I get in here, please? - Yeah, I'm Pete Valero.
I'm the development contractor.
- Okay.
- Yeah.
I came as soon as - [Bubbling.]
- [Vomits.]
- There could be evidence in there.
I'd say most of it's right in there.
I'll need Zack to help me extract the remains and whatever else is beneath the surface.
- Wouldn't it be a lot easier if we took the whole tub? - No, no, no, wait.
That tub is a is a Godiva 3000.
These things aren't cheap.
Oh, do you think anybody is actually gonna want this Godiva 3000 after this? - Well, would they have to know? - [Scoffs.]
Look, I'm just saying, with subsidized housing - the government wants every nickel accounted for.
- I'll get you a receipt if you can tell me why the boss of the job is just showing up right now.
I was at the dentist.
I got a call in the middle of a root canal.
Who knew I'd be better off there? - Do you know who this is? - How would I know? I got over 200 workers on this site alone not to mention all the kids and the - the vandals coming through here on the weekend.
- [Splashes.]
- Oh, my God.
- Oh, God.
Bones! - Wait out there.
- It's only skin.
Okay, I'll need that window, a forklift and a flatbed.
- Why? - You called it.
We want answers [Taps Tub.]
the tub is coming with us.
Down.
Lower, lower, lower.
Keep going.
Keep goin'.
And good! - Oh, this is gonna be fun.
- I should get my video camera.
- [Angela.]
I may need a Compazine.
- There'll be none of that.
No fun, no video, no vomit.
Ooh! - Then again - [Brennan.]
We have to hurry.
Those chemicals are eating away at our victim.
Is there any chance that he was put in there alive? If we find any rope or duct tape on the body, I'd say there's a good chance.
Okay, people.
Let's start with the who.
We'll worry about the why and the how later.
But if we find the why and the how first, we'll gladly take it.
Though "who" is clearly the priority.
The who is not going to change.
But the clues might if we don't hurry.
- What's our starting weight, Zack? - Starting weight is 542.
13.
The tub itself weighs about 200 pounds.
Capacity is 34 gallons.
Which at about 8.
3 pounds a gallon comes to 270, 275.
And two-thirds full makes it about 180 putting this guy somewhere in the 160-pound weight class.
The cream always rises.
Or in this case, melted body fat.
I'll measure its volume to determine body type.
I'll start separating all things chemical from organic.
And I know you requested a strainer of some sort, Dr.
Brennan but I thought this could be of use.
For the big pieces maybe.
After that, old MacZacky, get on the horn with the coroner's office and tell them I want two field unit water sifters sent here A.
S.
A.
P.
- They get mad when I drop your name.
- Then drop it twice.
Talk about the proof in the pudding.
Oh, even for me, this is disgusting.
Was this too much even for Booth? He's still questioning the workers at the site.
Hopefully, there's enough skull here for a partial reconstruction.
Hmm.
I've worked with less.
Right femur's pitted and brittle.
Marrow's practically gelatinized.
- Our victim's elderly.
- Well, that's a bit of a leap.
Well, not really.
Zack, hold still.
It's a hip replacement.
Don't these things usually come engraved with serial numbers? Uh, not this one.
It looks like the chemicals burned those off too.
Hey, so where is Mr.
Tub o' Lard? I figured they'd bring him here.
Lard I've got plenty of.
The rest of him's in the "ookey" room where he belongs.
Oh! Wow, so then that nasty yellow goop is Fat.
9.
3 liters so far.
Oh, good.
Booth, I'm sure you'll want to see this too.
- What is it? - Guess? - Maybe not, Zack.
- It's our victim's wallet.
Can you believe it? Leather, cash, cards every shred of identification completely emulsified.
Mmm, wow.
You know what, Zack? I'd like to go back to the old arrangement where you don't talk to me directly, okay? Have my water sifters arrived yet? - Yes.
That's how I found the wallet.
- Okay, so the point of this is? Doing what that wallet can't.
Right now, I'd say our victim's an ectomorph.
Thin, linear, narrow features.
And I hear you're back with your ex.
- I'm sorry? - Rebecca, right? - Reliving old times? - [Chuckles.]
Uh, I'll just keep sifting.
- Yeah.
Dr.
Brennan told you? - Oh, relax.
- She did, didn't she? - We all have our weak moments.
No.
Mm-mmm.
We don't, okay? - I don't.
- Please, Seeley.
Like we haven't shared enough of them for me to know better.
- [Brennan.]
I was not gossiping.
- Oh, really? So then what would you call it? - Merely sharing a point of interest.
- Great.
So now what am I, huh? - The world's largest ball of string? - Not you, your behavior.
It was a textbook example of just how helpless we higher primates can be to our biological urges.
- I am not helpless.
- [Sighs.]
- He's not elderly.
- I can control my, uh - Who? - Our victim.
You see these marrow cells? The lack of collagen indicates osteogenesis imperfecta.
Brittle bone disease.
And that's supposed to tell me that he's not old? Not necessarily.
And if you're not helpless, then why did you sleep with her? Oh, I really don't recall saying that I did.
You didn't have to.
I could hear it in your voice.
I may as well have walked in on you having sex.
- You didn't and we weren't.
- Well, it's nothing to be ashamed of, Booth.
Humans act upon a hierarchy of needs, and sex is very highly ranked.
- It's an anthropological inevitability.
- Thank you, Bones.
I really appreciate you boiling me down to your anthropological inevitabilities.
- Sure.
- Anytime.
You know, if our victim had brittle bone, there could be a Web site of some kind.
He might have been listed.
[Angela.]
Afraid not, honey.
There's no official database.
But I did track down eight cases of brittle bone in the area.
How many of them are adult males? Give me a second.
[Typing.]
What's wrong? With what? This is usually where I type and you talk.
You two are never not talking.
Well, we're not not talking.
Or maybe we're not not not.
Okeydoke.
Number of adult males with brittle bone in the metropolitan area is zero same with adult females.
- These are all kids.
- Why is that? High mortality rate? No.
When O.
I.
is fatal, it's mainly to infants.
- And only in severe cases.
- So our guy has a mild case.
Type I.
Near normal stature fragile bones andjoints, off-white sclera.
- Is this disease hereditary? - Mild cases can be.
The more severe forms, types II and III are often the result of a genetic mutation.
But if our guy is type I and these kids got it passed on from a parent Then all we have to do is contact these kids' families and find out which one is missing a dad.
- Well, let me print you the list.
- Print two.
We'll split up.
Hmm.
[Doorbell Rings.]
[Door Opens.]
- Mrs.
Seaver? - Yes? I'm Dr.
Brennan with theJeffersonian Institute working in collaboration with the F.
B.
I.
The F.
B.
I? Is this to do with Larry? That would be your husband, Lawrence Seaver? - Raymond's father? - He hasn't answered his cell phone in days.
I've left so many messages.
Please come in.
- [Woman On TV.]
Meerkats form - Ray, honey.
- We have company.
- Who's she? - Did they find Daddy? - My name is Temperance, Ray.
And I'm just here to ask a few questions.
- Your husband's been missing since - Thursday.
We didn't think of him as missing.
He left on his business trip like he does every week.
But he never fails to at least call us back.
- That must've hurt.
- Not so much.
I'm used to it.
Ray has brittle bone.
It's just a mild form, though, like Larry's.
- You think I could sign your cast? - Sure.
I'll get a pen.
Mrs.
Seaver, I need to borrow this photo.
Okay.
Why? Well, we found a body.
Oh, God.
Sorry I couldn't do more.
Skullcap was falling apart faster than I could put a face on it.
I'm not sure we'd have a match either way with so little to work with.
Okay, here we go.
Got our guy.
- What? - Mother and her daughter up in Maryland.
Dad missing since Thursday.
- Who's that? - Mother and son down in Virginia.
Father missing since Thursday.
Whoa.
Mine's Lawrence Turner, 35, commercial electrician.
- Oh - And I've got Lawrence Seaver, 35.
- my - Commercial electrician.
- God.
- I think old Larry's got two wives.
More like two lives.
Just make sureJenny takes her meds.
And tell her Mommy will see her in the morning.
Thanks, Betty.
- How old's your daughter? - Six and a half.
She and Larry, they have a special bond.
- Brittle bone.
- You know about that? She's type I like your husband? He's always felt so guilty about that.
He really dotes on her, on both of us.
Mrs.
Turner, your husband ever talk about any conflicts at work? Never.
Everyone loves Larry.
He's fun, smart, hardworking.
That's what keeps him out of town so much.
Yeah, about that I didn't realize electricians were called upon to be away from home so much.
There's just so much underbidding.
And it's not like we can get by on what I make.
- As? - I teach.
Eighth-grade science.
- Got it.
- So he has to travel.
- Go where the money is.
Not that he ever complains.
- [Clears Throat.]
It makes coming home to us all the more sweeter, he says.
Oh, God! What are we gonna do? Will you just excuse me for one moment.
I'm so sorry.
[Clears Throat.]
These women have to know the truth about their husbands.
- They could be in cahoots.
- Cahoots? If they somehow found out that Larry was two-timing them, they could both want him dead.
- Okay, so what now? We ask them? - No, no, no, no, no.
It's all taken care of.
Mrs.
Turner, could you please come with me? Right this way.
Just wait here in the visitors' lounge.
We won't be long.
Help yourself to a cup of coffee.
Thank you.
- That's the interrogation room.
- Not tonight.
Hmm, nice touch with the kitty posters.
- Who are you talking to? - That couple in there.
Agent Curry and Moran.
They set up the room.
I'll never drink F.
B.
I.
coffee again.
- [Phone Beeps.]
- Whenever you're ready, Charlie.
You know, I almost married her, you know? - Agent Curry? - Rebecca.
My ex.
Oh.
You can talk about her now.
Yeah, she got pregnant.
I wanted to do the right thing, but, you know, she said no.
You've told me this before.
Not that you've ever said why.
Well, issues with my job.
She wanted to start her own career.
She wanted to finish graduate school.
Alone with a baby? Logic.
Right? You're applying logic? - Do you still love her? - Not like I did.
Not like that.
Then why can't it just be sex? There's nothing "just" about sex, Bones.
But all mammals need it.
That release of serotonin.
The rush of endorphins.
Naturally, you seek it with someone with whom you share a sexual rapport.
Rapport, right.
That's the word.
I know when I'm in need of a release there's a former partner or two I'm sure I could call.
Okay, Bones.
Thanks so much.
I feel so much better now, huh? Here we go.
[Over Speaker.]
Help yourself to coffee, Mrs.
Seaver.
Oh, I get it.
Very smart.
Well, it's my job, Bones.
It's, you know, what I do for a living.
They don't seem like Wait.
Hmm, they may as well be in separate rooms.
Making them either great actresses who are in cahoots Or they have no idea what's going on.
How could these women not know? Brennan was pretty sure that they didn't.
And still don't apparently.
Booth wants to wait to tell them.
- Wait for what? To summon the nerve? - Maybe.
I just wouldn't want these women finding out at the funeral.
I'll take a front row seat for that.
Sorry.
Did I say that out loud? Have you found anything resembling a weapon in the tub yet? Not yet.
Why? These skull fragments may feel like wet cardboard but I'm pretty sure we're looking at blunt force trauma.
I'll second that.
Roughly "V"-shaped.
Corner of a 2-by-4 maybe? Specks of blood at the point of impact.
Could've been the lethal blow.
Making him dead before he was doused with lye.
Oh, happy day.
I've isolated our corrosive culprits.
Sodium hypochlorite, calcium hypochlorite, and hydrochloric acid.
- Available at your local market.
- Lucky the whole tub didn't explode.
It practically did.
Along with teeth I keep finding these tiny shards of copper from the fixtures.
Is that what this is? No.
That would be a wedding band.
Braided gold and platinum.
Preserved by true love, no doubt.
- One metal for each desperate housewife.
- People can we at least fake some sense of decorum? I can't help it.
It's so Jerry Springer.
First of all, how does anyonejuggle two spouses? I can think of ways.
Of course, byjuggle, I mean quite literally I have a scalpel.
Maybe he dissolved himself so there'd be more of him to go around.
I'm going to hell, aren't I? I'll save you a seat.
Oh, no.
Not sweet Mr.
Seaver! - It can't be him.
- Yeah.
Well, um, is that your boss in there? I mean, who would do something like that? Everybody loves the man.
Well, you know, not everyone.
Hey, what's goin' on? - Mr.
Valero, you won't believe it.
- Agent Booth.
We met yesterday.
It was Mr.
Seaver.
That's who was in the bathtub.
Wait.
Larry? The electrician? - Yeah.
Larry the electrician.
Now - Son of a bitch! Now I'm never gonna see my money.
You know, I must say, uh, Pete you're the first person I've come across who's ever had a bad word to say about Larry.
Well, the guy does have a way with people.
Or he did.
- I mean, I liked him too before he got all slippery.
- Slippery? I fronted the guy 85 grand to cover electrical supplies.
Last week, I got the inspector walking around, and she cites me for cheap materials.
Substandard circuit breakers, insufficient G.
F.
I.
's.
- Where'd the 85 grand go? - Exactly what I asked Larry.
"Show me receipts," I said.
What do I get? Sob stories ofbad bookkeeping his son's health, problems with the wife.
His wife? Yeah.
Like I don't got a wife of my own, right? [Chuckles.]
You know, you realize, Pete, that everything that you're telling me - sounds a lot like motive.
- [Scoffs.]
Great.
Do I need a lawyer? I don't know.
You tell me.
All right, look.
I can't say that I wasn't angry enough to want the guy dead.
But like always, I fell back on the old builders' code.
- "Can't squeeze money from the dead man?" - You know it.
Well, you know, as codes go, it's hardly limited to builders.
No, no, no.
It's our code.
You can look it up.
No, no.
Maybe later.
Hey, you wouldn't happen to have any of Larry's old paperwork on file? - Accounts? Receipts? - Yeah, yeah.
Sure.
[Chattering.]
I think I've stumbled upon an anomaly, Dr.
Saroyan.
It looks like a splintered ulna bone.
- But it's not.
It's ivory.
- From the tusk of a small elephant? I was hoping you'd know.
If you notice these indentations here.
Like teeth marks on a pencil.
See what Angela can make of it.
And after that, I'll need you to go back to the crime scene with the photos I'm taking.
See what you can find with the approximate shape and dimension of this blunt force wound.
- Like a murder weapon? - It needn't look like one.
Anything that replicates this pattern.
- I'm going on police business.
- So proud.
Wait, does he mean out? In the world? We'll pin our phone number on his shirt.
What's that you got there? Well, having finally hit the very bottom of the tub I found it plugged with a ceramic stopper, which I lifted and voilà.
What do you make of this? Bones[Laughs.]
are you ready for this? - Did you tell the wives yet? - No, not yet.
But I did some checking into two-time Larry's finances.
Under the last name Seaver, he's got a half-a-million-dollar life insurance policy.
- Assigning motive to Gayle Seaver.
- Under the last name Turner he's got a living will leaving everything to Lila and their daughter.
- Giving both women motive.
- Right.
Which is just a matter of which one needed the money more than they needed their Larry.
- I might be able to help.
- With what? A very small used condom? It's the finger from a rubber glove.
Hodgins just found it wedged under the tub's drain stopper.
Oh, it was spared the corrosive effects of the lye.
Meaning, we may be able to pull a fingerprint from the inside.
No maybes about it.
If there's a print, I'll pull it.
- And when I pull it - We'll have our killer.
It's just standard procedure, Lila.
Just press four fingers firmly and hold.
Our investigation turned up a print at the crime scene.
And wejust need yours, Gayle, to avoid any possible confusion.
This isn't gonna take long, is it? - Our tech has the print you pulled? - Ring finger, left hand.
Then this shouldn't take long at all.
Just wait here.
Wait.
Are you sure this is the best time to tell them? What does that mean? After two days of nagging me, you're just - Now you're getting cold feet? - What? I do not nag.
Well, you know, it's an anthropological inevitability for women to gossip and nag.
Can I get anyone a soda? No, thank you.
Are you on my husband's case too? No.
I don't work here.
You're the lady from the waiting room.
- You gave me a tissue? - Oh, yeah.
- That was you? - Yeah.
- Sorry.
I'm a little out of it.
- Yeah.
I know how that feels.
Actually, ladies, let me make some introductions.
Uh, Gayle Seaver, Lila Turner.
Lila, Gayle.
Hi.
Lila, that was very sweet of you.
I - I'd just lost my husband.
- You did? So did I.
Actually, that's why you're both here really.
Um, for the same reason, for the same husband.
- I'm sorry? - Yeah.
Me too.
What Agent Booth's trying to say is that your husbands, Larry are the same Larry.
[Booth.]
Uh, this will help.
A little show-and-tell.
Um Well, this is wrong.
It's a joke.
A sick joke.
- Actually, it's not - My Larry would never - Your Larry? This is my Larry! - My Larry! - He's my husband.
What are you talking about? - Just go ahead and lie like that? - Bones? - Okay.
Let's sit! Everyone just sit down.
[Lila.]
This is ridiculous.
Fine.
[Phone Rings.]
Booth.
Yeah? Yeah, I'm meeting with them right now.
- Right.
The one from the glove.
- I'm sorry.
I can't imagine - Whose kid is this? - Whose little girl is that? Are you sure? Thanks.
- What? - Um The print we found on the rubber glove at the crime scene it doesn't match either wife.
Oh, so it's back to square one.
Are you sure I can't get anyone a soda? Hey.
Dr.
Brennan, right? - Rebecca, hi.
- Is he in there? He is.
But it's not a good time.
Not that my powers of discernment have ever been particularly sharp vis-à-vis good times from bad but in this instance, it's bad.
And I thought Seeley was exaggerating about you.
- With regard to - Just tell him to give me a call.
Hey.
Can I ask you something? - Why did you say no? - Excuse me? When he asked you to marry him? I mean, he seems an ideal candidate.
Strong, alpha male, good protective instincts.
And I should discuss this with you why? It's just I'm not sure he knows.
And I think it bothers him.
I've always taken care of myself.
To a fault sometimes.
And when we got pregnant, Seeley proposed.
But I didn't want to be one of those women who gets married out of need.
So I said no.
- I can see that.
- By the time that I realized I'd made a mistake that I'd still be the same person I think there's a moment for two people.
A single moment where they can either catch fire or Seeley and I, we missed our moment.
- Do you understand? - I'm trying.
But the "single moment" thesis doesn't explain Why we still get together.
Fall together really.
Because I think that we just feel what used to be there.
And we miss it.
I think Booth thinks you didn't marry him because he wouldn't make a good father.
- What? - He worries about it himself.
What he does for a living.
His past as a sniper.
Oh, God.
Uh, do me a favor? Don't tell him that I came by, okay? Please.
Man, what I would've given to have been a fly on the wall when you told those wives.
You would've been swatted, trust me.
No match on the prints from our nationwide database either.
At least we can assume our killer was a first-time offender.
Great.
Thanks, Bones.
That narrows it down.
So I hear you're back with your ex.
- Don't look at me.
- Your son must be thrilled.
I know I may thumb my nose at the hypocrisy of marriage as a sacred institution.
- But I think a boy truly benefits - I am not back with my ex.
Let me finish.
A boy truly benefits from knowing where his parents stand, together or not.
Like I once had this dancer down in Miami whose stage name was Abbey Road.
- Anyway, she had a kid too, right? - That'll do, Ringo.
- I think I scored, Dr.
Brennan.
- Somebody just kill me right now.
Dr.
Saroyan sent me back to the crime scene.
That's a junction box with a single brown hair embedded.
- This is at floor level? - Across from where the bathtub had been.
You'll find its contours match our trauma wound.
Then let's see if this hair is a match for Larry.
Before you go, are we sure these copper bits are from the tub? I assumed they'd come off the fixtures.
Yeah, but but the drain, the faucet and the spigots - they're all pristine outside a scratch or two.
- Wait.
Let me see that.
It's bird shot.
Or it was.
It's compressed copper that's frangible so it breaks apart on impact.
- Could they kill a man? - I think our vice president disproved that possibility.
Look, any ammo at close range will do the job.
But at the very least, a gunshot would've sent Larry flying causing his head to hit this junction box.
- Which given his condition - Would be fatal.
Okay.
What you thought were teeth marks, Dr.
Saroyan turned out to be Chinese characters engraved along the side.
- What do they say? - They say "What make foolish man think I speak Chinese?" I thought you were half Chinese? And I think you're half Swedish.
Let's hear some Swedish.
What is it, Angela, please? It's a chopstick.
Only it's not the kind you eat with.
- There's another kind? - Well, you wouldn't comb your hair with a fork, would you? - My hair? - All right, look.
The one character that I was able to translate off the Internet is the word "beauty," and I realized it's meant for hair.
Where you twist it in a bun and stick this through to hold it in place? But if that's what this is, we can be pretty sure it wasn't Larry's.
Thanks.
Roommate says she went to go meet some friends at the Beltway Burger.
And you think it's this Chloe girl because Of the chopsticks, right? As soon as Cam said it, I knew it.
Because when I went to go see Pete, she had chopsticks in the back of her hair.
- And how did Hodgins find out? - I'm sorry? - "Yeah, I hear you're back with your ex.
" - I don't know.
I assume it was Cam.
I was only trying to engage her in social intercourse.
- Excuse me? - Just trying to be normal.
Congenial exchange with a coworker.
And if that's what gossip is, I don't like it at all.
Yeah, you think you don't like it? I can't stand There it is.
Beltway Burger.
[Clears Throat.]
- [Horn Honking.]
- # [Rock.]
# [Continues Over Headphones.]
Hey, Chloe.
Meetin' some friends? Oh, hi! You're that F.
B.
I.
guy! Yes, I'm the F.
B.
I.
guy.
So you worship at the temple of Beltway Burger too, huh? - Yeah, on occasion.
- Yeah, I may be 90% vegetarian but their burgers can't get enough of'em lately.
- How many weeks are you? - Excuse me? Pregnant.
I could tell by your gait.
Your ilia they've already started shifting to widen the birth canal.
- You can tell that? - So you are pregnant? Fourteen weeks.
- Booth - [Footsteps Approaching.]
- Chloe's friends.
- [Chattering.]
Chloe's friends.
Taking the kids out for a little late night snack, ladies? Don't tell me.
Larry's the father.
[Sighs.]
There's a playground about halfway between Gayle and me designed for kids with special needs.
Rubber surfacing, high-back swings.
I took Ray there last week, and Lila was there with Jenny.
The kids started playing.
We started talking.
- And one topic led to another.
- And small world.
- Yeah, too small.
- What about Chloe? Well, after we got over the initial shock, like yesterday but real we decided to follow Larry to work the next morning straight to a motel where Chloe was waiting.
And if that wasn't enough to make our heads explode we then had to find out about Chloe's condition.
At which point, you knew it was time to confront Larry.
- I had no idea that Larry was married.
- Let alone twice.
But since your prints match the one left in the rubber glove we assume it wasn't long before you found out.
We checked your phone records, Gayle, and, uh you didn't leave Larry any messages after Friday night.
The night you, Lila, and Chloe told him you were going to see him together to get answers.
So you found Larry at his job.
You shot him point-blank.
And you dragged his sorry ass back to the bathtub.
Where you doused him in sodium hypochlorite, calcium hypochlorite.
Or as you and I like to call 'em, bleach and Quickie Plumber.
Which, as an eighth-grade teacher, you knew would do the trick.
- Simple earth science.
- Look, all that's true.
But we didn't kill him.
- Really? Then who did? - He killed himself.
- He killed himself.
- He killed himself.
Larry was dead when you got there? - On the bathroom floor.
- The gun was still in his mouth.
The coward must've freaked at the thought of facing us together.
If we'd surprised him, maybe he'd still be alive.
Back up.
You're saying that the gun was still in his mouth? His finger was on the trigger.
It was awful.
And where's the gun now? I buried it in my backyard.
That's a good place for it.
- Unbelievable.
- Yeah, you got that right.
- You know what? They're lying.
- How do you know? Oh, come on.
They've been lying since day one.
Between all of them, they should have a dozen Oscars by now.
- I know what those are.
- I mean, come on.
Suicide? Mm-mmm.
Bird shot or not, okay, every self-inflicted I've seen the guy shoots himself, and he drops the gun.
Right? It's an automatic reaction.
Bang, drop.
There's no way the gun ends up in his mouth.
Then we'd better go dig up that gun.
- Seeley? - I'll get the ball rolling.
- Was that Dr.
Brennan? - Uh-huh.
Why are you here? I needed to know if you were gonna coach Parker's T-ball team this year.
- You know I always coach Parker's T-ball team.
- I didn't wanna assume Okay, whoa.
What is going on here, Rebecca? Okay? Because, look, I thought we agreed here.
We cannot end up groping each other in the F.
B.
I.
closet.
We can't do that.
We're done.
- I know.
- Really? Seeley, all the excuses I gave you for not wanting to get married - my independence, your work - I know.
No, you don't.
You are a wonderful father.
And Parker is a lucky kid.
Such a lucky kid.
And obviously, we still have feelings for each other.
Do you still wanna marry me? Rebecca No, I don't.
I don't wanna marry you either.
Here are the forms for T-ball.
- I'll miss you.
- Yeah.
And I'm gonna miss you too.
You know what I'm gonna miss the most? Yeah.
But let's not go there.
Okay.
DNA on the barrel confirms it was in Larry's mouth at some point.
Yeah.
Well, I still don't buy it.
You know, the kickback alone would've forced it out.
Unless he was dead before the shot.
Well, yeah, that's true.
But, uh - Wait, what? - The inside of Larry's skull is pitted which I had always attributed to the effects of the lye.
But each tiny hole matches perfectly with the bird shot right down to these specks of copper.
Are you saying that it was suicide? I would, except these holes are void of blood which would suggest they were inflicted after blood stopped pumping trough Larry's head.
No, keep talking.
I'll catch up.
Well, unlike this blunt force trauma no shortage of blood here.
Proving he was dead before he was shot.
So now we're talking about a faked homicide to cover up a faked suicide? A faked suicide meant to cover up an actual, original murder.
Now, just when you think things couldn't get any more twisted - How's this for a curveball? - In walks Cam.
After retrieving and reassembling every tooth from that tub I now discover I had one extra.
Well, this is not a tooth.
It's a crown.
Exactly.
Any of your women happen to be missing one? - Not that I could see.
- Well, it wouldn't be theirs anyway.
- It's sized for a man.
- I knew that.
A man's tooth, and it's not Larry's.
It's not a tooth.
It's a crown whereby a dentist files down an existing tooth I know what a crown is, Bones.
Except Pete called it a root canal.
Pete.
[Man.]
Yeah, right there.
Well, look who's here.
Returning to the scene of the crime.
Funny.
I was gonna say that to you.
- Okay, boys, that's lunch.
Let's go.
- All right.
Why? No, no.
I'm talking about that.
- Look at my wall there.
Who's gonna pay for that? - Let's find out.
- Smile for me, Pete.
- Whoa! Back off! What's this about? Temporary crown, maxillary central incisor.
- Turn around, Pete.
- Like I have the slightest idea how Larry got in that tub? Actually, on that detail, we're quite sure you don't.
Making that look on your face when you saw it all the more priceless.
That's because I didn't know what happened Well, let me tell you what I know, Pete.
Okay? I know Larry owed you 85 grand.
So Friday night you come here to have a little talk to him about it.
And about the same time, he gets a phone call from his very unhappy wives.
- Wives? - Yeah.
Which puts Larry in a really bad place.
So when you asked him, "Hey, you know, where's my money?" - He pretty much blows you off.
- Like he has more important things to worry about.
Bad enough that Larry rips you off, but he disrespects you on top of it? - That's not gonna happen in this lifetime.
- So it got physical.
Larry knocked your crown loose.
And you shoved him down here where he hit his head on the socket casing.
I I I swear he didn't land hard.
With his O.
I.
condition, it didn't matter.
Wouldn't take much.
It was an accident.
I'm sorry.
So sorry you had to cover it up? Stick a cheap shotgun in his mouth, pull the trigger and make manslaughter look like suicide.
The guy had ripped me off for enough.
I couldn't let him ruin me too.
And you can live with that? A person can live with anything if they don't think too hard.
Let's try this again, Pete.
Turn around.
How did he get in the tub? It's been driving me nuts.
You know what? - Try not to think about it.
- [Booth.]
Come on.
The irony is that I cannot think of a single woman who would want three husbands.
[Hodgins.]
Good thing.
A guy would never be stupid enough to let it happen.
Excuse me.
These women were not stupid.
And that is completely gross.
But comfy.
- Welcome back by the way.
- What? Well, after two days of inappropriate comments you're back to judging me for gross behavior.
- When am I ever appropriate? - Good point.
Maybe it was just the judging me I missed.
Ah, the woman I know and love in a purely nonromantic, happy-to-be-judged way.
Well - Anyway.
- These women.
Right.
Not stupid.
And frankly, that they allowed themselves to be duped is a sad statement on how lean the market is out there.
I resent that.
I'm out there.
You certainly are.
Well, how not stupid could these women have been to think that they could get away with faking a murder? Or how compassionate were they to recognize that they were all in the same boat.
So why let Larry take his insurance money with him? Yeah.
A lot a good it'll do 'em in jail.
So you never said how it ended up with Rebecca.
Well, yeah, it ended.
The only time we'll ever spend together is with Parker.
- You sure that's what you want? - You know what, Bones? It might be all anthropology to you but there are certain people that you just can't sleep with.
I mean, you can pretend that it's just sex.
You can lie to yourself, and you can say that it's all good.
But, um, there's just There's too many strings and and too much at stake, you know? Too much too lose.
Yeah.
I can see that.
It's over, you know? I appreciate, you know, your support in that.
I will.
And if you should slip I will keep my mouth shut about it.
Thank you.
But, I mean, it's not like I'm gonna No, I mean with anybody.
I'm sure Rebecca's not your only option for satisfying biological urges.
Please tell me these women are not going tojail.
Trying to bilk the insurance system, they'll get nothing less than a firing squad.
- Not if they never filed a claim.
- Because our friends here caught them.
Well, you're both kinda right.
Given their kids and the circumstances the D.
A.
is gonna offer probation provided that all three women show remorse and attend mandatory counseling.
In exchange for movie rights I hope.
- You know they're gonna get calls.
- I hope so.
Hey, nice going by the way.
- Cam tells me you're back with your ex.
- Cam? Mmm.
Cam in her office? [Inhales.]
I said something wrong.
Ooh, would it be gossip if I told you? I hope so.
- # [Blues.]
- [Giggling, Laughing.]
Wow.
That was, uh That was - Wicked? - Yeah.
- And a huge mistake.
- Not if we don't do it again.
- Deal.
- Deal.
Not after tonight I mean.
- Never again.
- No.
# [Continues.]
What's that mean?