Bones s09e11 Episode Script
The Spark in the Park
Your finger is blocking the lens.
I know how to take a picture, Bonnie.
Yeah, of your finger.
We found a dead body, Norman.
We have to document it for the authorities.
Unless you don't feel like a real American.
We've gone from bad photographer to terrorist now, Bonnie? If the shoe fits Okay, now let's get a few selfies so the kids will believe us.
Okay.
We have to cover the body.
Forensic Files says an undisturbed crime scene is crucial to solving the crime.
Right.
You know what? You shouldn't be here, not now.
This woman stole my identity, Seeley.
She was my friend.
She ruined my good name, she betrayed me.
I don't know when I'll be able to get credit again.
Okay.
And you wouldn't even have arrested her if it wasn't for what Angela did.
Okay, I got it, okay? But listen to me.
I take her into Interrogation alone.
I know.
I just want to look her in the eye, make sure it's real.
Right.
From afar.
Okay.
I'm sorry, Cam.
I didn't think.
I'm really Oh! Okay, back up! Get her in the room, okay? I'm good.
I'm good.
Thank you for that.
Didn't I tell you "from afar"? Just wait.
Booth.
Yeah.
Okay, where? Lake Anna.
Great, got it.
Okay, we have a body.
Let's go.
What about her? You really think I care if she sits in there for a while? I don't.
Do you? Let's go.
Come on.
Oh! I'm stepping over her leg, and what is that smell? Ooh! Charred tissue and bone.
It's uniquely amaroidal.
It's actually quite noxious.
Wow.
It's nasty if you ask me.
And it looks like he exploded all over the place.
Well, pelvic inlet shows that the victim is a female.
And essentially, she did explode.
This will be the first recorded case of remains being struck by lightning.
I find myself quite giddy at the prospect of discovering how it destroyed the remains.
Really? Giddy? Great, okay.
It is more acrid than one would normally find from a burnt corpse.
'Cause of these babies: stinkbugs native to wild rye grass.
Smells like cilantro.
Smell that.
Holding my, okay, bug boy? Do you have anything useful here? Excuse me for enjoying my work.
Based on blowfly larvae, the body's been here for about three days.
"Three days.
" Why can't you just lead with that? You know what? I'm gonna go talk to the uniform cops over here.
Did you see the person who stole your identity? Yes.
And I struck her.
Awesome.
Oh, you have no idea.
Judging from the size and development of this torso, the victim was pre-pubescent, maybe ten years old.
I disagree.
Note the slight eruption of the victim's third molars.
The roots are still in the process of completion.
Also, there's very little attrition.
So you're saying she was a teenager? I'd posit 16 or 17 years of age.
Definitely a body dump.
There's tire tracks and drag marks.
Why was development so stunted? And why does she have evidence of so many fractures? I'm sorry.
Wouldn't that happen when she exploded? That wouldn't account for this.
Give me your pen, Booth.
Oh, here.
Whoa! How'd that happen? The victim has a surgical plate in her scapula.
The lightning magnetized it.
How cool is that? No, that's okay.
You keep the pen.
It's got person on it now.
I'm sorry.
I'll wipe it off.
No, it's okay.
I'll just go get another pen.
What are the chances of lightning hitting a corpse? Don't ask that question in front of Dr.
Brennan.
She'll force you to find the answer.
Look what was snagged on the C-4.
Ooh a locket.
May I? Yeah.
Here we go.
Mom and dad? With the skull in such bad shape, Angela may be able to use the parents to get an approximation of what our victim looked like.
I'm seeing remodeling here.
And an avulsion fracture of the olecranon process of the ulna.
That suggests repeatedly contractions of the triceps tendon.
Stress fractures to the lumbar vertebrae indicating spondylolysis.
The epiphyses of her wrists are fused.
That's why she's so short.
Fracturing to the growth plate can cause early fusion.
The lunate's blood supply must have been interrupted, so the bone deteriorated.
That explains the need for implants.
This looks like systematic physical abuse.
And there's a fracture on the fibula that hasn't fully remodeled yet.
It's not older than seven weeks.
So she was being beaten regularly? Take a hard look at mom and dad in that locket.
One or both of them may be our murderer.
The body was placed carefully, with respect.
See the arm placement and the gs? She wasn't just dumped there and abandoned.
So the killer took some time? If it was the killer.
I mean, if the scenario involves abuse by one parent resulting in the girl's death.
So the other one got rid of the body? Oh, God.
I have to consider every possibility.
Now, see that cloth? It appears it was used to cover the victim's face, which is another sign that the killer knew the victim.
You know, looking at her was too painful.
Murdered by someone who loves you.
I'll never understand it.
Yeah, neither will I.
Lichtenberg figures.
Yeah, that's what happens when lightning hits a human being.
Even when the person is already dead? I can't imagine that it happens very often.
You should publish on this subject in the forensic journals, make a name for yourself.
Make a name for myself? You mean like the one that was stolen? They caught her.
It's over.
You can let it go now.
Let it go? I am nowhere near letting it go.
You know what Caroline told me? To let it go? No.
She said that if I can show that Haley stole my identity out of personal malice, then it becomes aggravated identity theft and it can add up to three more years to her sentence.
Are you gonna do that? Definitely.
I am plenty aggravated.
What? You won.
All evidence shows that the first step in healing is forgiveness.
I'm more of a wrath-and-vengeance type.
I'll take the clothing remnants to Hodgins if you're done.
If you think about it, identity theft is like another kind of murder.
Hey, Angie.
So, I found this in the victim's clothing, and with it being blank and everything, I thought maybe you could access the data.
Figure out what it's for.
Yeah, no problem.
The lightning must have demagnetized the card.
Okay, uh, 16-year-old Amanda Watters.
Her father, Leon, a professor at Buchanan University, reported her missing three days ago.
What about mom? Well, Sweets says that she might be in on it.
They look nice, these people, you know? They look perfectly normal and nice.
Dr.
Watters? Dr.
Watters? Just, I need one moment, please.
What's he doing? It appears to be vector calculus and something about motion, but I don't recognize the context.
I just told him that his daughter is dead, and he's scribbling on the chalkboard.
Dr.
Watters, do you understand what I just told you? Your daughter is dead.
Are you sure it's Amanda? We're certain, yes.
Would you like to finish this first? Bones.
Yes.
Thank you.
Just this one part.
No, no, no.
Excuse me, Dr.
Watters, we need to talk to you about your daughter now, please.
There.
Thank you.
We'll need to speak with your wife as well.
That's impossible.
Why? My wife is dead.
Well, that's an awful coincidence.
The concept of coincidence is erroneous.
It's possible to define a formulation of patterned interaction between all things within the universe.
I'm sorry.
Is that some kind of a confession? No, just a fact.
My wife died of breast cancer a year ago.
Can you explain why your daughter showed signs of abuse? Amanda was a gymnast, nationally ranked.
Gymnastics could definitely explain the damage to her bones.
Did your daughter have any troubles in school? Amanda didn't go to school.
She was getting her GED from an online school aimed toward prodigies and child professionals.
You are a very narrow-minded man, aren't you? I'm sorry? You have an extremely limited view of the universe.
Agent Booth is merely applying years of statistical probabilities to the death of your daughter.
It's a very rational approach.
How's this for rational? Okay, when did you last see your "daughter"? Booth! Three days ago at breakfast.
Which is why I reported her missing.
Are we done? Why? You don't have any more math you'd like to do? No, I don't.
Look, that guy is nuts.
He's nuts.
He's a physicist, Booth.
One of the best in the country.
Those equations he had on the board? I have to admit I couldn't follow much of it.
Yeah, well, his reactions are psycho-- okay, Bones? His daughter died and all he wants to do is math.
What do I do when I'm upset? You bury yourself in your work.
If I lost Christine and you within a year of each other? The only way I would survive is to do my work.
I'm not even positive that would be successful.
You're saying you think he couldn't kill anyone because he's a massive egghead? People deal with stress in different ways.
You taught me that.
You were too hard on him.
The antemortem injuries can be explainable as occupational markers.
Gymnastics takes its toll on the body.
I'm just saying, you can't be sure that the professor didn't also abuse Amanda.
I'm stating an opinion, not a fact.
Coming from your gut, which you don't even believe in.
Booth refuses to accept the fact that I understand the professor because he and I are quite similar.
You're not a murder suspect, that's a big difference.
What I think Dr.
Brennan is saying is that she also shares this Really? Stop.
You're taking her side because your training never told you how this might end? This is none of my business.
Exactly.
You were going to agree with me-- weren't you? I just think that we should approach this case like any other and focus on only the facts, nothing else.
Your entire profession is based on subjectivity.
Facts haven't even entered into your process before.
That's a gross oversimplification.
Moving on! All right? Enough.
Emotions are difficult for people like the professor and myself.
Getting lost in our work can be a refuge.
Booth thinks that that makes us weird.
We're not talking about us! Huh? Right, Sweets? I thought I was supposed to stay out of this.
Who asked you? I just don't think you should be distracted from looking at other suspects because the professor operates on a level you can't understand.
We're not! We're gonna go to her gym.
We're gonna talk to her trainer and other gymnasts.
Yeah, and I'm getting a court order to look through e-mails and chat room conversations to see who Amanda's been talking to at her online school.
I'll be able to discern personality types and rivalries Good.
Then we should go.
What just happened there? I'm ready for the night Swings, clubs and diamond rings After boys, shoes, cars and designer jeans Lights, camera, action, I'm ready for the movie screen I'm heading to the top Would you look at that? I know special forces guys who can't get up that rope that fast.
Look at that beam.
It's barely wider than her feet.
That's what makes the balance beam so challenging.
It requires an extremely low center of gravity, which is why most gymnasts are not tall.
Hmm.
This one, flying through the air with the greatest of Ouch.
Yeah, I agree.
That's gonna hurt.
No, no, not like that, Sharon.
You'll break something.
Do you want to hurt the team like that? I've told you a hundred times.
Visualize your landing.
Hey, I'm sorry.
No parents on the floor during warm-ups.
It distracts the students from Special Agent Seeley Booth, FBI.
This is my partner, Dr.
Temperance Brennan.
Oh.
I'm Dennis McIntyre, head coach.
Is something wrong? I have to ask you a few questions about one of your gymnasts-- Amanda Watters? She's dead.
What? A-Amanda? Are you sure? Yes, I'm never wrong about an identification.
Were you close to her? We worked together for six hours a day, minimum.
And her being away for three days, that didn't concern you? I-I assumed she was home.
She was injured.
The fractured fibula from seven weeks ago? Yeah.
I-I told her to stay off of it until next week.
Look, Amanda, she was the best I ever coached.
Well, if she was the best, I'm sure a lot of these other gymnasts were jealous.
Nah, I mean, my-my girls are they're team players.
Every single one of them.
Anthropologically, that's not reasonable.
Competition is paramount here.
So, uh, how was she injured? It's not gonna sound good now.
Especially after what you're assuming about my girls.
One of the girls was spotting her.
Ellie Pitera.
Amanda was finishing a tumbling pass, and Ellie couldn't hold on.
It was an accident.
Ellie's a good girl.
Is she as good as Amanda? Amanda was ranked first.
Ellie was second.
But they were friends.
They were good friends.
And where's Ellie now? She trains in the afternoons.
Look, I-I've know Ellie for four years, Agent Booth.
She's a good girl.
Did you finished what you were working on? Dr.
Brennan.
Was I expecting you? No.
I I wanted to see how you were doing.
Losing your daughter, I can't imagine what that must be like.
Have you found who did this? Not yet.
Some people think it was you.
She was my daughter.
Although I'm sure Agent Booth wouldn't be convinced by that.
No.
Why didn't you finish what you were working on? It's not important.
It was clearly very important.
Not anymore.
The world will be no poorer for me not finishing it.
I would find it very difficult raising my daughter without my husband.
My wife Elaine, sh-she was the true parent.
I loved Amanda.
Love her.
But she was the one, more often than not, taking care of me.
Making sure I ate.
Making sure I got to work on time.
And now you blame yourself because you didn't protect her.
It's a logical extension of your reasoning.
Although I believe that contemplating suicide is an emotional rather than a rational choice.
Excuse me? People like us? We're nothing without our work.
Your daughter mitigated that.
With her gone, if you abandon your work, you'll have no reason to live.
Well, that sounds like a supremely rational thought.
However, you're leaving out a crucial part of the equation.
You do want the person responsible for your daughter's murder to be caught, don't you? Of course.
Yes.
That may not happen if you take your own life.
I don't understand.
Follow the logic.
If you kill yourself, the authorities will be convinced that you did, in fact, abuse and murder your daughter.
She took care of you so you could keep working.
Not everyone understands people like us.
Inertia demands that you keep going.
For Amanda.
Find who did this.
Hodgins found a security card with her effects.
It's degraded but he's trying to save the magnetic strip.
You think it could tell us where she went before she died? That's my hope.
Found cause of death? Not yet.
But I separated the perimortem injuries from any post or antemortem ones.
Look at this.
See the fracturing and the increased separation to the outer edges of ribs six through eight? And the fracture on the posterior plane of the sternum? Signs of a struggle.
Potentially.
That would fit with the tissue remaining on the scalp.
It showed subgaleal hemorrhaging and contusions consistent with a chunk of hair being torn out.
So she didn't go down without a fight.
Let me know if you find cause.
Are you really gonna do it? What? Up the charges against her.
Absolutely.
Why? I thought maybe I had some effect on you.
I'm sorry I'm not a saint.
I still can't get a credit card.
I get an allowance from a court-appointed accountant like a child, and I don't want to talk about this anymore.
I was persecuted in Iran.
I lost my home.
My cousin was killed so I have an idea of what it means to want vengeance.
And I held on to that anger.
I became that anger until that's all I was.
Until I decided to let it go, and realize that sometimes the world is an unjust place that we have to accept.
If I didn't decide to forgive I wouldn't have the life I have now.
I wouldn't be able to have you.
Well, I guess we now know who the good person in this relationship is.
Cam I'll let you get back to your work.
Wow.
Okay, so how is that even possible? She's, like, six feet off the ground.
She couldn't stick that four months ago.
Broke three toes, but she powered through it.
It was a beautiful landing.
That was truly incredible.
Thanks.
Now, tape your ankle, Ellie.
Judging by the swelling, you may have a fracture to your talus.
I know.
This is Agent Booth and Dr.
Brennan, they want to ask you about Amanda.
Sure.
So, you must be, uh, really upset, losing someone so close to you.
I am, but we have a competition in five weeks.
Amanda would understand.
Is that right? I know why you want to talk to me.
Why is that? Everyone thinks that I let Amanda fall on purpose because I wanted to be ranked first.
But she over-rotated on a double pike.
I couldn't push her out of it in time.
The fracture to Amanda's fibula could have been caused by that.
Well, we've seen that injury before.
I didn't kill her.
We'd been training together for years.
She was like a sister to me.
Amanda was coming back to practice next week.
Ellie was going to help her with her floor routine.
I should really go over to my students.
Sure.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Just keep flippin'.
Yeah.
Wait up.
Wait up? I don't think Amanda was coming back.
What do you mean? She was skipping physical therapy, hanging out with some new kids, getting high.
She was in no shape to compete.
Right.
Thank you.
I think I found the victim's drug connection.
What? How? I trolled her online school chat rooms.
You spied on kids? You could call it surveillance if it makes you feel better.
Tell me what you found out.
Well, a kid kept asking Amanda Watters if she wanted to meet Molly.
She kept saying "no," then she said "yes," then he asked her if she wanted to meet Molly again, then she asked him to meet Molly.
Molly is a drug.
I know.
It's a slang term for a type of, uh, purified Ecstasy.
I work in the law enforcement industry.
I-I know that, okay? What was the kid's name? MadMolly.
His real name.
Right, uh Julian Anton.
Right.
Okay, you did research on the kid, so go question him.
Okay.
Nineteen? That's a little old to still be in high school, isn't it? What are you, 22? Pretty weird you're a suit.
I don't think you were there for the education MadMolly.
Whoa.
Yeah.
And we got a warrant to search your car.
You know, hiding things in a door panel that's really loose is really you're not that smart.
What is that? It's not mine.
We don't care about your drugs, Julian.
We care about what happened to Amanda Watters.
Oh, I never had sex with her or nothing.
And even if I did, she was legal.
She was murdered.
Oh, man.
Yeah.
And right now the prime suspect is her drug dealer.
I never had a problem with Amanda.
Why would I kill her? Maybe she yelled rape? Dude! I'm not evil.
Ask her friend.
She liked me.
What friend? Rachel Howes.
Was she with Amanda last time you saw her? I never saw them apart.
When was it? Okay, so, look I realize in the short time you and I have formed a relationship, you have established an opinion about me that's gonna make what I have to say seem kind of bad, but it was the same day she disappeared.
They bought Molly from you? Yes, but I refuse to answer that on the grounds that it might incriminate me.
You just all right.
Wow.
So, the first question is, uh how did you get hurt? Why does that matter? Well, forensics says that, uh, Amanda fought her attacker.
If she can explain the injuries that she got on her arm, then I can eliminate her as a suspect.
Three days ago, Rachel came home stoned.
I slapped her.
He slapped me and I fell down the stairs.
That's the truth.
I saw how high she was, then she said she was gonna quit cello, and I overreacted to both.
We work three jobs.
We've given up everything for Rachel's cello.
We're in family counseling.
Please, check it out.
So you get mad enough to slap your own daughter, who you love.
I can only imagine what you would do to someone who tried to hurt your daughter.
We've never even heard of Amanda until now.
That's true.
I met Amanda online, through school.
You and her were doing Molly together, right? We had fun.
We just wanted to stop being prodigies for a minute.
It's just it's too much pressure.
When was the last time you saw Amanda? Just before I went home, the night Dad and I had our argument.
Amanda was going to tell her dad that she wanted to quit gymnastics, too.
And Amanda was gonna talk to her father that night? We made a pact to quit.
And I never heard back from her.
So I just figured that she chickened out and that she didn't want to tell me.
All right, now I coat the magnetic strip with carbon tetrachloride, and as it evaporates That's amazing.
The second barcode should tell us where the card is from.
But it looks incomplete.
If you turn on the laser scanner, I can upload it and apply the software to repair the missing barcode.
So cello-girl's parents spend, like, a quarter of a million dollars on lessons, but she decides to do drugs and run off with gymnast girl.
They'd probably end up following One Direction or something.
All right, so, then, Booth thinks cello girl's dad might have done something worse than slap his kid down the stairs? You get something? Yeah, it's for an access card for a building at Buchanan University.
What would she be doing there? It's where her father works.
She went into his building at 7:18 on the night that she was killed.
The dad said that the last time he saw her was at breakfast.
Well, this says that he lied.
You lied to us, Leon.
I don't know what you mean.
You said you didn't see your daughter the night that she was killed.
I didn't.
I was working.
I was constructing an invariant measure of the phase space of cosmological spacetimes.
I have my notes.
Your notes aren't exactly an alibi.
You understand that, right? I am telling you that I did not see my daughter that night.
She would have had to buzz me to get into the building after hours.
There's security protocol.
Do you have your security access card, Dr.
Watters? Uh, I-I misplaced mine, but the guards know me, so Right.
Well, that security access card was found on your daughter.
According to the security logs, your daughter entered your building at 7:18 p.
m.
May I see that? Yeah.
Did you eat that night, Dr.
Watters? I imagine so, I Chicken, if it was Thursday.
I like predictability.
That's great, I'm glad you enjoyed your chicken and you like predictability, but we are talking about your daughter, here.
And it says here that she entered the building at 7:18 p.
m.
Yes.
Dr.
Brennan's right.
Amanda brought me dinner that night on her way to practice.
And you didn't remember that? I wasn't a very good father.
I think we've established that quite clearly.
Sometimes, when we're in the middle of work, even a loved one's presence can be a distraction.
An annoyance, even.
Hmm.
Maybe it was easier to get rid of her instead of be bothered by her.
I would never hurt you, Booth.
I would have gladly given up my work to be able to relate to Amanda like a normal parent.
I imagine I barely looked at her that night.
And I I'm sure that that hurt her.
But I did not kill her.
She would have gotten my dinner at the Chicken Shed on Garfield.
They knew her.
Talk to them.
Come on.
Let's go.
You were like his lawyer in there, Bones.
I believe him, Booth.
His behavioral patterns are reminiscent of my own.
And I am excellent at pattern recognition.
Okay, you know what? He lied, okay? No one forgets seeing their own daughter the night she died.
There are times I can describe a set of remains in great detail but I can't remember what month it is.
We each survive in our own way.
Yeah, but in this case someone didn't survive, got it? Oh, and next time, I'd appreciate it if you didn't take the suspect's side in the interrogation room.
Thank you.
Cam? Oh, I-I thought that was your name.
They told me I'd be seeing my lawyer.
I know.
Helps to be friends with a federal prosecutor.
What do you want? Why me, Haley? We were friends.
It made it easier.
Seriously? I-It was easier to steal the identity of a friend? Much.
Do you even know the meaning of that word? Someone you can count on to help you? I asked you for a loan.
You're clearly doing well, but you couldn't be bothered.
I don't know what kind of money you think I have, but I'm on a government salary.
I have a daughter in college.
I didn't have a job.
The money you stole, the credit you used? You bought expensive clothes, took a vacation, bought a $5,000 watch You wanted me to give you money for that? And now I'm in here.
So we're even, right? No.
No, we will never be even.
It is gonna take me years to crawl out from under what you did to me.
Do you have any remorse at all? It was always so easy for you.
You got out of school, got a great job, got promoted.
I worked hard.
Something you clearly don't feel the need to do.
Doing what I did is not as easy as you think.
I didn't get caught for a year.
You are unbelievable.
Did you just come here to give me a lecture? Because you can save your breath.
I came here to You know what? You don't need to know.
I was reexamining the cervical vertebrae when I noticed these two extremely subtle fractures on the C-3 and C-7.
Did you measure the separation of the two injuries? They appear to be subluxations caused by hyperextension.
That would mean that she was laying on top of something elevated and was pushed.
Exactly.
I know how Amanda died.
Angela should be able to confirm it.
Wait, wait.
How? Okay, on the right is the victim.
Can you lay her on her back? Now, place a 10.
16 centimeter-wide plank underneath her cervical vertebrae.
Raise the height of the plank by two inches.
After an initial fight, the killer got the victim on the ground and knelt on her torso.
The assailant would've placed their hands around the victim's neck and pushed.
The strangulation over the plank caused hyperextension fractures in the spinous processes of the C-3 and C-7.
Precisely.
But what was the plank? Four inches.
It was a balance beam.
Look, I know how important it is for you to keep your team together so you must've been pretty angry when you found out that Amanda wanted to quit.
Or compete stoned.
I would never hurt Amanda.
And I know what you're looking for.
But do you have any idea how many athletes bleed and sweat on those things? Yes, I do.
Which is why I'm not looking for either.
Found it.
Vomit.
Amanda was strangled to death on this beam.
But that's ridiculous! She couldn't be killed here in front of everybody.
That's right, but it was late.
You probably met her here, tried to convince her not to quit.
Look, she was going through a rough patch, but she wasn't gonna quit.
What are you doing now? What do you got, Bones? During strangulation a victim will flail and convulse.
Biting themselves is not uncommon.
I believe this is a piece of Amanda's tongue.
Her tongue? I didn't kill her.
I wasn't even here that night.
I was at home.
Really? You might want to rethink that because according to the security logs here, someone used your pass code to unlock the doors at 8:30 p.
m.
Same night that Amanda Watters was killed.
Let's go, turn around.
You're under arrest.
Come on.
I was not in the gym that night.
You used your pass code.
My pass code is an open secret.
It's the word "triumph.
" The girls use it to sneak in.
Get extra practice.
Extra practice after working out for six hours a day? I find that really hard to believe.
Look, Amanda was one of my top two gymnasts.
Why would I kill her? Why? Because she was doing drugs and she was gonna quit.
I've been working with these girls for years.
Y-You-you can ask anyone, I'm-I am a patient man.
I-I've never lost my temper.
You wanted to speak with me, Dr.
Brennan? Yes, Mr.
Vaziri.
Did I miss something? Yes.
We both did.
Actually, it's time to go over the evidence again, more critically.
You want to take a fresh look? Yes, I should've said that first.
Um, in strangulation death I guess it makes sense to start with the hyoid.
I agree.
Note the fracture on the right antero-lateral area of the hyoidal body.
It's typical in strangulation.
The microfracturing is Unilateral.
Meaning? The forces were unequal.
Whoever strangled Amanda Watters was significantly weaker in her left hand than right.
I concur.
Go through the suspects, see who matches that profile.
Good job, Mr.
Vaziri.
Thank you.
Amanda Watters was strangled to death.
So you think I did it? I'm sorry.
Why would you say that? Because it would take the strength of a man, obviously, and you think I'm violent because I lost my temper and slapped Rachel.
Which is when Rachel's hand was hurt? Yes! Why are we going over this again? You want to tell your parents what happened, Rachel? We found DNA evidence that Amanda was in Rachel's car.
They were friends.
In the trunk we found the evidence.
We also have evidence that she drove Amanda out to where the body was dumped.
This is unbelievable! You're grasping! Rachel went out again the night you knocked her down the stairs.
Despite her injuries, she got into her car and she drove off.
Where'd you go? She-she just rode around.
To cool off.
No, she didn't.
She went to Amanda's gym.
Vomit.
We were both quitting.
We were gonna do it together.
Amanda changed her mind.
I had already quit.
I told my dad.
And he freaked out, but Amanda didn't keep her part of the deal.
She made it seem like like I was crazy.
Well, you were.
You killed her.
Amanda was my only friend.
It was wrong of her to lie to me.
It was gonna be great.
And then it was it was just nothing.
Still here? You know Dr.
Brennan and paperwork.
Did you see your friend? Your ex-friend I mean.
I knew what you meant.
And yes.
Feel better? Yes, I do.
I am not moving forward with the aggravated identity theft.
Really? Yes.
Is it because of what I said? Yes.
No, seriously.
Well, because of what you said, and because I spent five minutes in a room with that woman and it was Confusing? Awful.
That much anger and bile? I don't want to spend one more minute in that than I have to.
She stole my identity.
She doesn't get my soul, too.
Wonderful.
You say that like "I told you so.
" There you are.
Oh! Um You still irritated with me? A little.
'Cause I was too hard on your freakazoid mad scientist guy? Yes.
And I think you're still doing it.
Look, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
You're right.
Okay, I I didn't understand him.
And I thought he was our guy.
I was wrong.
And I was right.
Yes.
It's good to say it.
You were right.
And you're still upset.
I feel I'd like to see how Dr.
Watters is doing even though I have no excuse to check on him now that the case is over.
Well, you don't need an excuse.
I'm worried that he's gonna give up now that he's alone.
Why don't you go? Just go, all right? Go, Bones.
Being kind doesn't need an excuse, okay? All right? What should I say to him? Oh, I don't know.
Luckily you two speak the same freakazoid language.
Dr.
Watters? Dr.
Brennan.
How are you? I see you've been hard at work.
You may find this difficult to understand, but, yes, I took your advice.
I think I understand.
This is Amanda? At rest? In her crib, yes.
She's crawling.
Her first steps.
This circular motion Somersaults, yes.
Okay, this is a smooth, stable velocity in a gradual curve on a single plane Ice-skating? Good! Yes.
Here she is being carried.
On my shoulders, yes.
A bicycle.
Running.
I'm sorry, this is beyond me.
Oh, uh, trampoline.
The equations for acceleration and twisting are much harder.
And, see These must be her gymnastic moves.
Tucks, straddles, swinging.
Her life in movement.
This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
Thank you.
Better than any speech.
Any photograph.
This is absolutely perfectly beautiful.
She was beautiful.
She flew through space in perfect arcs.
Perhaps that's what people mean when they they talk about angels.
At rest.
Amanda's at rest again.
What's that mean?
I know how to take a picture, Bonnie.
Yeah, of your finger.
We found a dead body, Norman.
We have to document it for the authorities.
Unless you don't feel like a real American.
We've gone from bad photographer to terrorist now, Bonnie? If the shoe fits Okay, now let's get a few selfies so the kids will believe us.
Okay.
We have to cover the body.
Forensic Files says an undisturbed crime scene is crucial to solving the crime.
Right.
You know what? You shouldn't be here, not now.
This woman stole my identity, Seeley.
She was my friend.
She ruined my good name, she betrayed me.
I don't know when I'll be able to get credit again.
Okay.
And you wouldn't even have arrested her if it wasn't for what Angela did.
Okay, I got it, okay? But listen to me.
I take her into Interrogation alone.
I know.
I just want to look her in the eye, make sure it's real.
Right.
From afar.
Okay.
I'm sorry, Cam.
I didn't think.
I'm really Oh! Okay, back up! Get her in the room, okay? I'm good.
I'm good.
Thank you for that.
Didn't I tell you "from afar"? Just wait.
Booth.
Yeah.
Okay, where? Lake Anna.
Great, got it.
Okay, we have a body.
Let's go.
What about her? You really think I care if she sits in there for a while? I don't.
Do you? Let's go.
Come on.
Oh! I'm stepping over her leg, and what is that smell? Ooh! Charred tissue and bone.
It's uniquely amaroidal.
It's actually quite noxious.
Wow.
It's nasty if you ask me.
And it looks like he exploded all over the place.
Well, pelvic inlet shows that the victim is a female.
And essentially, she did explode.
This will be the first recorded case of remains being struck by lightning.
I find myself quite giddy at the prospect of discovering how it destroyed the remains.
Really? Giddy? Great, okay.
It is more acrid than one would normally find from a burnt corpse.
'Cause of these babies: stinkbugs native to wild rye grass.
Smells like cilantro.
Smell that.
Holding my, okay, bug boy? Do you have anything useful here? Excuse me for enjoying my work.
Based on blowfly larvae, the body's been here for about three days.
"Three days.
" Why can't you just lead with that? You know what? I'm gonna go talk to the uniform cops over here.
Did you see the person who stole your identity? Yes.
And I struck her.
Awesome.
Oh, you have no idea.
Judging from the size and development of this torso, the victim was pre-pubescent, maybe ten years old.
I disagree.
Note the slight eruption of the victim's third molars.
The roots are still in the process of completion.
Also, there's very little attrition.
So you're saying she was a teenager? I'd posit 16 or 17 years of age.
Definitely a body dump.
There's tire tracks and drag marks.
Why was development so stunted? And why does she have evidence of so many fractures? I'm sorry.
Wouldn't that happen when she exploded? That wouldn't account for this.
Give me your pen, Booth.
Oh, here.
Whoa! How'd that happen? The victim has a surgical plate in her scapula.
The lightning magnetized it.
How cool is that? No, that's okay.
You keep the pen.
It's got person on it now.
I'm sorry.
I'll wipe it off.
No, it's okay.
I'll just go get another pen.
What are the chances of lightning hitting a corpse? Don't ask that question in front of Dr.
Brennan.
She'll force you to find the answer.
Look what was snagged on the C-4.
Ooh a locket.
May I? Yeah.
Here we go.
Mom and dad? With the skull in such bad shape, Angela may be able to use the parents to get an approximation of what our victim looked like.
I'm seeing remodeling here.
And an avulsion fracture of the olecranon process of the ulna.
That suggests repeatedly contractions of the triceps tendon.
Stress fractures to the lumbar vertebrae indicating spondylolysis.
The epiphyses of her wrists are fused.
That's why she's so short.
Fracturing to the growth plate can cause early fusion.
The lunate's blood supply must have been interrupted, so the bone deteriorated.
That explains the need for implants.
This looks like systematic physical abuse.
And there's a fracture on the fibula that hasn't fully remodeled yet.
It's not older than seven weeks.
So she was being beaten regularly? Take a hard look at mom and dad in that locket.
One or both of them may be our murderer.
The body was placed carefully, with respect.
See the arm placement and the gs? She wasn't just dumped there and abandoned.
So the killer took some time? If it was the killer.
I mean, if the scenario involves abuse by one parent resulting in the girl's death.
So the other one got rid of the body? Oh, God.
I have to consider every possibility.
Now, see that cloth? It appears it was used to cover the victim's face, which is another sign that the killer knew the victim.
You know, looking at her was too painful.
Murdered by someone who loves you.
I'll never understand it.
Yeah, neither will I.
Lichtenberg figures.
Yeah, that's what happens when lightning hits a human being.
Even when the person is already dead? I can't imagine that it happens very often.
You should publish on this subject in the forensic journals, make a name for yourself.
Make a name for myself? You mean like the one that was stolen? They caught her.
It's over.
You can let it go now.
Let it go? I am nowhere near letting it go.
You know what Caroline told me? To let it go? No.
She said that if I can show that Haley stole my identity out of personal malice, then it becomes aggravated identity theft and it can add up to three more years to her sentence.
Are you gonna do that? Definitely.
I am plenty aggravated.
What? You won.
All evidence shows that the first step in healing is forgiveness.
I'm more of a wrath-and-vengeance type.
I'll take the clothing remnants to Hodgins if you're done.
If you think about it, identity theft is like another kind of murder.
Hey, Angie.
So, I found this in the victim's clothing, and with it being blank and everything, I thought maybe you could access the data.
Figure out what it's for.
Yeah, no problem.
The lightning must have demagnetized the card.
Okay, uh, 16-year-old Amanda Watters.
Her father, Leon, a professor at Buchanan University, reported her missing three days ago.
What about mom? Well, Sweets says that she might be in on it.
They look nice, these people, you know? They look perfectly normal and nice.
Dr.
Watters? Dr.
Watters? Just, I need one moment, please.
What's he doing? It appears to be vector calculus and something about motion, but I don't recognize the context.
I just told him that his daughter is dead, and he's scribbling on the chalkboard.
Dr.
Watters, do you understand what I just told you? Your daughter is dead.
Are you sure it's Amanda? We're certain, yes.
Would you like to finish this first? Bones.
Yes.
Thank you.
Just this one part.
No, no, no.
Excuse me, Dr.
Watters, we need to talk to you about your daughter now, please.
There.
Thank you.
We'll need to speak with your wife as well.
That's impossible.
Why? My wife is dead.
Well, that's an awful coincidence.
The concept of coincidence is erroneous.
It's possible to define a formulation of patterned interaction between all things within the universe.
I'm sorry.
Is that some kind of a confession? No, just a fact.
My wife died of breast cancer a year ago.
Can you explain why your daughter showed signs of abuse? Amanda was a gymnast, nationally ranked.
Gymnastics could definitely explain the damage to her bones.
Did your daughter have any troubles in school? Amanda didn't go to school.
She was getting her GED from an online school aimed toward prodigies and child professionals.
You are a very narrow-minded man, aren't you? I'm sorry? You have an extremely limited view of the universe.
Agent Booth is merely applying years of statistical probabilities to the death of your daughter.
It's a very rational approach.
How's this for rational? Okay, when did you last see your "daughter"? Booth! Three days ago at breakfast.
Which is why I reported her missing.
Are we done? Why? You don't have any more math you'd like to do? No, I don't.
Look, that guy is nuts.
He's nuts.
He's a physicist, Booth.
One of the best in the country.
Those equations he had on the board? I have to admit I couldn't follow much of it.
Yeah, well, his reactions are psycho-- okay, Bones? His daughter died and all he wants to do is math.
What do I do when I'm upset? You bury yourself in your work.
If I lost Christine and you within a year of each other? The only way I would survive is to do my work.
I'm not even positive that would be successful.
You're saying you think he couldn't kill anyone because he's a massive egghead? People deal with stress in different ways.
You taught me that.
You were too hard on him.
The antemortem injuries can be explainable as occupational markers.
Gymnastics takes its toll on the body.
I'm just saying, you can't be sure that the professor didn't also abuse Amanda.
I'm stating an opinion, not a fact.
Coming from your gut, which you don't even believe in.
Booth refuses to accept the fact that I understand the professor because he and I are quite similar.
You're not a murder suspect, that's a big difference.
What I think Dr.
Brennan is saying is that she also shares this Really? Stop.
You're taking her side because your training never told you how this might end? This is none of my business.
Exactly.
You were going to agree with me-- weren't you? I just think that we should approach this case like any other and focus on only the facts, nothing else.
Your entire profession is based on subjectivity.
Facts haven't even entered into your process before.
That's a gross oversimplification.
Moving on! All right? Enough.
Emotions are difficult for people like the professor and myself.
Getting lost in our work can be a refuge.
Booth thinks that that makes us weird.
We're not talking about us! Huh? Right, Sweets? I thought I was supposed to stay out of this.
Who asked you? I just don't think you should be distracted from looking at other suspects because the professor operates on a level you can't understand.
We're not! We're gonna go to her gym.
We're gonna talk to her trainer and other gymnasts.
Yeah, and I'm getting a court order to look through e-mails and chat room conversations to see who Amanda's been talking to at her online school.
I'll be able to discern personality types and rivalries Good.
Then we should go.
What just happened there? I'm ready for the night Swings, clubs and diamond rings After boys, shoes, cars and designer jeans Lights, camera, action, I'm ready for the movie screen I'm heading to the top Would you look at that? I know special forces guys who can't get up that rope that fast.
Look at that beam.
It's barely wider than her feet.
That's what makes the balance beam so challenging.
It requires an extremely low center of gravity, which is why most gymnasts are not tall.
Hmm.
This one, flying through the air with the greatest of Ouch.
Yeah, I agree.
That's gonna hurt.
No, no, not like that, Sharon.
You'll break something.
Do you want to hurt the team like that? I've told you a hundred times.
Visualize your landing.
Hey, I'm sorry.
No parents on the floor during warm-ups.
It distracts the students from Special Agent Seeley Booth, FBI.
This is my partner, Dr.
Temperance Brennan.
Oh.
I'm Dennis McIntyre, head coach.
Is something wrong? I have to ask you a few questions about one of your gymnasts-- Amanda Watters? She's dead.
What? A-Amanda? Are you sure? Yes, I'm never wrong about an identification.
Were you close to her? We worked together for six hours a day, minimum.
And her being away for three days, that didn't concern you? I-I assumed she was home.
She was injured.
The fractured fibula from seven weeks ago? Yeah.
I-I told her to stay off of it until next week.
Look, Amanda, she was the best I ever coached.
Well, if she was the best, I'm sure a lot of these other gymnasts were jealous.
Nah, I mean, my-my girls are they're team players.
Every single one of them.
Anthropologically, that's not reasonable.
Competition is paramount here.
So, uh, how was she injured? It's not gonna sound good now.
Especially after what you're assuming about my girls.
One of the girls was spotting her.
Ellie Pitera.
Amanda was finishing a tumbling pass, and Ellie couldn't hold on.
It was an accident.
Ellie's a good girl.
Is she as good as Amanda? Amanda was ranked first.
Ellie was second.
But they were friends.
They were good friends.
And where's Ellie now? She trains in the afternoons.
Look, I-I've know Ellie for four years, Agent Booth.
She's a good girl.
Did you finished what you were working on? Dr.
Brennan.
Was I expecting you? No.
I I wanted to see how you were doing.
Losing your daughter, I can't imagine what that must be like.
Have you found who did this? Not yet.
Some people think it was you.
She was my daughter.
Although I'm sure Agent Booth wouldn't be convinced by that.
No.
Why didn't you finish what you were working on? It's not important.
It was clearly very important.
Not anymore.
The world will be no poorer for me not finishing it.
I would find it very difficult raising my daughter without my husband.
My wife Elaine, sh-she was the true parent.
I loved Amanda.
Love her.
But she was the one, more often than not, taking care of me.
Making sure I ate.
Making sure I got to work on time.
And now you blame yourself because you didn't protect her.
It's a logical extension of your reasoning.
Although I believe that contemplating suicide is an emotional rather than a rational choice.
Excuse me? People like us? We're nothing without our work.
Your daughter mitigated that.
With her gone, if you abandon your work, you'll have no reason to live.
Well, that sounds like a supremely rational thought.
However, you're leaving out a crucial part of the equation.
You do want the person responsible for your daughter's murder to be caught, don't you? Of course.
Yes.
That may not happen if you take your own life.
I don't understand.
Follow the logic.
If you kill yourself, the authorities will be convinced that you did, in fact, abuse and murder your daughter.
She took care of you so you could keep working.
Not everyone understands people like us.
Inertia demands that you keep going.
For Amanda.
Find who did this.
Hodgins found a security card with her effects.
It's degraded but he's trying to save the magnetic strip.
You think it could tell us where she went before she died? That's my hope.
Found cause of death? Not yet.
But I separated the perimortem injuries from any post or antemortem ones.
Look at this.
See the fracturing and the increased separation to the outer edges of ribs six through eight? And the fracture on the posterior plane of the sternum? Signs of a struggle.
Potentially.
That would fit with the tissue remaining on the scalp.
It showed subgaleal hemorrhaging and contusions consistent with a chunk of hair being torn out.
So she didn't go down without a fight.
Let me know if you find cause.
Are you really gonna do it? What? Up the charges against her.
Absolutely.
Why? I thought maybe I had some effect on you.
I'm sorry I'm not a saint.
I still can't get a credit card.
I get an allowance from a court-appointed accountant like a child, and I don't want to talk about this anymore.
I was persecuted in Iran.
I lost my home.
My cousin was killed so I have an idea of what it means to want vengeance.
And I held on to that anger.
I became that anger until that's all I was.
Until I decided to let it go, and realize that sometimes the world is an unjust place that we have to accept.
If I didn't decide to forgive I wouldn't have the life I have now.
I wouldn't be able to have you.
Well, I guess we now know who the good person in this relationship is.
Cam I'll let you get back to your work.
Wow.
Okay, so how is that even possible? She's, like, six feet off the ground.
She couldn't stick that four months ago.
Broke three toes, but she powered through it.
It was a beautiful landing.
That was truly incredible.
Thanks.
Now, tape your ankle, Ellie.
Judging by the swelling, you may have a fracture to your talus.
I know.
This is Agent Booth and Dr.
Brennan, they want to ask you about Amanda.
Sure.
So, you must be, uh, really upset, losing someone so close to you.
I am, but we have a competition in five weeks.
Amanda would understand.
Is that right? I know why you want to talk to me.
Why is that? Everyone thinks that I let Amanda fall on purpose because I wanted to be ranked first.
But she over-rotated on a double pike.
I couldn't push her out of it in time.
The fracture to Amanda's fibula could have been caused by that.
Well, we've seen that injury before.
I didn't kill her.
We'd been training together for years.
She was like a sister to me.
Amanda was coming back to practice next week.
Ellie was going to help her with her floor routine.
I should really go over to my students.
Sure.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Just keep flippin'.
Yeah.
Wait up.
Wait up? I don't think Amanda was coming back.
What do you mean? She was skipping physical therapy, hanging out with some new kids, getting high.
She was in no shape to compete.
Right.
Thank you.
I think I found the victim's drug connection.
What? How? I trolled her online school chat rooms.
You spied on kids? You could call it surveillance if it makes you feel better.
Tell me what you found out.
Well, a kid kept asking Amanda Watters if she wanted to meet Molly.
She kept saying "no," then she said "yes," then he asked her if she wanted to meet Molly again, then she asked him to meet Molly.
Molly is a drug.
I know.
It's a slang term for a type of, uh, purified Ecstasy.
I work in the law enforcement industry.
I-I know that, okay? What was the kid's name? MadMolly.
His real name.
Right, uh Julian Anton.
Right.
Okay, you did research on the kid, so go question him.
Okay.
Nineteen? That's a little old to still be in high school, isn't it? What are you, 22? Pretty weird you're a suit.
I don't think you were there for the education MadMolly.
Whoa.
Yeah.
And we got a warrant to search your car.
You know, hiding things in a door panel that's really loose is really you're not that smart.
What is that? It's not mine.
We don't care about your drugs, Julian.
We care about what happened to Amanda Watters.
Oh, I never had sex with her or nothing.
And even if I did, she was legal.
She was murdered.
Oh, man.
Yeah.
And right now the prime suspect is her drug dealer.
I never had a problem with Amanda.
Why would I kill her? Maybe she yelled rape? Dude! I'm not evil.
Ask her friend.
She liked me.
What friend? Rachel Howes.
Was she with Amanda last time you saw her? I never saw them apart.
When was it? Okay, so, look I realize in the short time you and I have formed a relationship, you have established an opinion about me that's gonna make what I have to say seem kind of bad, but it was the same day she disappeared.
They bought Molly from you? Yes, but I refuse to answer that on the grounds that it might incriminate me.
You just all right.
Wow.
So, the first question is, uh how did you get hurt? Why does that matter? Well, forensics says that, uh, Amanda fought her attacker.
If she can explain the injuries that she got on her arm, then I can eliminate her as a suspect.
Three days ago, Rachel came home stoned.
I slapped her.
He slapped me and I fell down the stairs.
That's the truth.
I saw how high she was, then she said she was gonna quit cello, and I overreacted to both.
We work three jobs.
We've given up everything for Rachel's cello.
We're in family counseling.
Please, check it out.
So you get mad enough to slap your own daughter, who you love.
I can only imagine what you would do to someone who tried to hurt your daughter.
We've never even heard of Amanda until now.
That's true.
I met Amanda online, through school.
You and her were doing Molly together, right? We had fun.
We just wanted to stop being prodigies for a minute.
It's just it's too much pressure.
When was the last time you saw Amanda? Just before I went home, the night Dad and I had our argument.
Amanda was going to tell her dad that she wanted to quit gymnastics, too.
And Amanda was gonna talk to her father that night? We made a pact to quit.
And I never heard back from her.
So I just figured that she chickened out and that she didn't want to tell me.
All right, now I coat the magnetic strip with carbon tetrachloride, and as it evaporates That's amazing.
The second barcode should tell us where the card is from.
But it looks incomplete.
If you turn on the laser scanner, I can upload it and apply the software to repair the missing barcode.
So cello-girl's parents spend, like, a quarter of a million dollars on lessons, but she decides to do drugs and run off with gymnast girl.
They'd probably end up following One Direction or something.
All right, so, then, Booth thinks cello girl's dad might have done something worse than slap his kid down the stairs? You get something? Yeah, it's for an access card for a building at Buchanan University.
What would she be doing there? It's where her father works.
She went into his building at 7:18 on the night that she was killed.
The dad said that the last time he saw her was at breakfast.
Well, this says that he lied.
You lied to us, Leon.
I don't know what you mean.
You said you didn't see your daughter the night that she was killed.
I didn't.
I was working.
I was constructing an invariant measure of the phase space of cosmological spacetimes.
I have my notes.
Your notes aren't exactly an alibi.
You understand that, right? I am telling you that I did not see my daughter that night.
She would have had to buzz me to get into the building after hours.
There's security protocol.
Do you have your security access card, Dr.
Watters? Uh, I-I misplaced mine, but the guards know me, so Right.
Well, that security access card was found on your daughter.
According to the security logs, your daughter entered your building at 7:18 p.
m.
May I see that? Yeah.
Did you eat that night, Dr.
Watters? I imagine so, I Chicken, if it was Thursday.
I like predictability.
That's great, I'm glad you enjoyed your chicken and you like predictability, but we are talking about your daughter, here.
And it says here that she entered the building at 7:18 p.
m.
Yes.
Dr.
Brennan's right.
Amanda brought me dinner that night on her way to practice.
And you didn't remember that? I wasn't a very good father.
I think we've established that quite clearly.
Sometimes, when we're in the middle of work, even a loved one's presence can be a distraction.
An annoyance, even.
Hmm.
Maybe it was easier to get rid of her instead of be bothered by her.
I would never hurt you, Booth.
I would have gladly given up my work to be able to relate to Amanda like a normal parent.
I imagine I barely looked at her that night.
And I I'm sure that that hurt her.
But I did not kill her.
She would have gotten my dinner at the Chicken Shed on Garfield.
They knew her.
Talk to them.
Come on.
Let's go.
You were like his lawyer in there, Bones.
I believe him, Booth.
His behavioral patterns are reminiscent of my own.
And I am excellent at pattern recognition.
Okay, you know what? He lied, okay? No one forgets seeing their own daughter the night she died.
There are times I can describe a set of remains in great detail but I can't remember what month it is.
We each survive in our own way.
Yeah, but in this case someone didn't survive, got it? Oh, and next time, I'd appreciate it if you didn't take the suspect's side in the interrogation room.
Thank you.
Cam? Oh, I-I thought that was your name.
They told me I'd be seeing my lawyer.
I know.
Helps to be friends with a federal prosecutor.
What do you want? Why me, Haley? We were friends.
It made it easier.
Seriously? I-It was easier to steal the identity of a friend? Much.
Do you even know the meaning of that word? Someone you can count on to help you? I asked you for a loan.
You're clearly doing well, but you couldn't be bothered.
I don't know what kind of money you think I have, but I'm on a government salary.
I have a daughter in college.
I didn't have a job.
The money you stole, the credit you used? You bought expensive clothes, took a vacation, bought a $5,000 watch You wanted me to give you money for that? And now I'm in here.
So we're even, right? No.
No, we will never be even.
It is gonna take me years to crawl out from under what you did to me.
Do you have any remorse at all? It was always so easy for you.
You got out of school, got a great job, got promoted.
I worked hard.
Something you clearly don't feel the need to do.
Doing what I did is not as easy as you think.
I didn't get caught for a year.
You are unbelievable.
Did you just come here to give me a lecture? Because you can save your breath.
I came here to You know what? You don't need to know.
I was reexamining the cervical vertebrae when I noticed these two extremely subtle fractures on the C-3 and C-7.
Did you measure the separation of the two injuries? They appear to be subluxations caused by hyperextension.
That would mean that she was laying on top of something elevated and was pushed.
Exactly.
I know how Amanda died.
Angela should be able to confirm it.
Wait, wait.
How? Okay, on the right is the victim.
Can you lay her on her back? Now, place a 10.
16 centimeter-wide plank underneath her cervical vertebrae.
Raise the height of the plank by two inches.
After an initial fight, the killer got the victim on the ground and knelt on her torso.
The assailant would've placed their hands around the victim's neck and pushed.
The strangulation over the plank caused hyperextension fractures in the spinous processes of the C-3 and C-7.
Precisely.
But what was the plank? Four inches.
It was a balance beam.
Look, I know how important it is for you to keep your team together so you must've been pretty angry when you found out that Amanda wanted to quit.
Or compete stoned.
I would never hurt Amanda.
And I know what you're looking for.
But do you have any idea how many athletes bleed and sweat on those things? Yes, I do.
Which is why I'm not looking for either.
Found it.
Vomit.
Amanda was strangled to death on this beam.
But that's ridiculous! She couldn't be killed here in front of everybody.
That's right, but it was late.
You probably met her here, tried to convince her not to quit.
Look, she was going through a rough patch, but she wasn't gonna quit.
What are you doing now? What do you got, Bones? During strangulation a victim will flail and convulse.
Biting themselves is not uncommon.
I believe this is a piece of Amanda's tongue.
Her tongue? I didn't kill her.
I wasn't even here that night.
I was at home.
Really? You might want to rethink that because according to the security logs here, someone used your pass code to unlock the doors at 8:30 p.
m.
Same night that Amanda Watters was killed.
Let's go, turn around.
You're under arrest.
Come on.
I was not in the gym that night.
You used your pass code.
My pass code is an open secret.
It's the word "triumph.
" The girls use it to sneak in.
Get extra practice.
Extra practice after working out for six hours a day? I find that really hard to believe.
Look, Amanda was one of my top two gymnasts.
Why would I kill her? Why? Because she was doing drugs and she was gonna quit.
I've been working with these girls for years.
Y-You-you can ask anyone, I'm-I am a patient man.
I-I've never lost my temper.
You wanted to speak with me, Dr.
Brennan? Yes, Mr.
Vaziri.
Did I miss something? Yes.
We both did.
Actually, it's time to go over the evidence again, more critically.
You want to take a fresh look? Yes, I should've said that first.
Um, in strangulation death I guess it makes sense to start with the hyoid.
I agree.
Note the fracture on the right antero-lateral area of the hyoidal body.
It's typical in strangulation.
The microfracturing is Unilateral.
Meaning? The forces were unequal.
Whoever strangled Amanda Watters was significantly weaker in her left hand than right.
I concur.
Go through the suspects, see who matches that profile.
Good job, Mr.
Vaziri.
Thank you.
Amanda Watters was strangled to death.
So you think I did it? I'm sorry.
Why would you say that? Because it would take the strength of a man, obviously, and you think I'm violent because I lost my temper and slapped Rachel.
Which is when Rachel's hand was hurt? Yes! Why are we going over this again? You want to tell your parents what happened, Rachel? We found DNA evidence that Amanda was in Rachel's car.
They were friends.
In the trunk we found the evidence.
We also have evidence that she drove Amanda out to where the body was dumped.
This is unbelievable! You're grasping! Rachel went out again the night you knocked her down the stairs.
Despite her injuries, she got into her car and she drove off.
Where'd you go? She-she just rode around.
To cool off.
No, she didn't.
She went to Amanda's gym.
Vomit.
We were both quitting.
We were gonna do it together.
Amanda changed her mind.
I had already quit.
I told my dad.
And he freaked out, but Amanda didn't keep her part of the deal.
She made it seem like like I was crazy.
Well, you were.
You killed her.
Amanda was my only friend.
It was wrong of her to lie to me.
It was gonna be great.
And then it was it was just nothing.
Still here? You know Dr.
Brennan and paperwork.
Did you see your friend? Your ex-friend I mean.
I knew what you meant.
And yes.
Feel better? Yes, I do.
I am not moving forward with the aggravated identity theft.
Really? Yes.
Is it because of what I said? Yes.
No, seriously.
Well, because of what you said, and because I spent five minutes in a room with that woman and it was Confusing? Awful.
That much anger and bile? I don't want to spend one more minute in that than I have to.
She stole my identity.
She doesn't get my soul, too.
Wonderful.
You say that like "I told you so.
" There you are.
Oh! Um You still irritated with me? A little.
'Cause I was too hard on your freakazoid mad scientist guy? Yes.
And I think you're still doing it.
Look, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
You're right.
Okay, I I didn't understand him.
And I thought he was our guy.
I was wrong.
And I was right.
Yes.
It's good to say it.
You were right.
And you're still upset.
I feel I'd like to see how Dr.
Watters is doing even though I have no excuse to check on him now that the case is over.
Well, you don't need an excuse.
I'm worried that he's gonna give up now that he's alone.
Why don't you go? Just go, all right? Go, Bones.
Being kind doesn't need an excuse, okay? All right? What should I say to him? Oh, I don't know.
Luckily you two speak the same freakazoid language.
Dr.
Watters? Dr.
Brennan.
How are you? I see you've been hard at work.
You may find this difficult to understand, but, yes, I took your advice.
I think I understand.
This is Amanda? At rest? In her crib, yes.
She's crawling.
Her first steps.
This circular motion Somersaults, yes.
Okay, this is a smooth, stable velocity in a gradual curve on a single plane Ice-skating? Good! Yes.
Here she is being carried.
On my shoulders, yes.
A bicycle.
Running.
I'm sorry, this is beyond me.
Oh, uh, trampoline.
The equations for acceleration and twisting are much harder.
And, see These must be her gymnastic moves.
Tucks, straddles, swinging.
Her life in movement.
This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
Thank you.
Better than any speech.
Any photograph.
This is absolutely perfectly beautiful.
She was beautiful.
She flew through space in perfect arcs.
Perhaps that's what people mean when they they talk about angels.
At rest.
Amanda's at rest again.
What's that mean?