Bones s04e17 Episode Script
The Salt in the Wounds
Operations says we got a black ice alert on the bridges.
Weather guys are like psychics, man.
They don't know squat.
I went to a psychic once.
Talked to my mother.
Mom even bothered me dead.
- All of the bridges? - All of 'em.
Okay.
Fill me up! What's up? Something in the salt.
What is it? You know that Bible story about the woman who turns into salt? - Lot's wife? - I think maybe we found her.
Yes, it's cold.
What's your procedure when the roads freeze up? The weather's been warm for the past six weeks.
Wow.
So they haven't had to use rock salt.
- Whoo! - The dermis is extremely desiccated.
The salt quick-dried the tissues.
- Looks like a really big apple doll.
- It's a teenage girl.
Very tall.
Six feet.
Looks like she's been dead for about a hundred years.
No.
In fact, less than a month.
Salt is hygroscopic.
It draws moisture from its surroundings and replaces it with crystal.
You know what? I suddenly got a potato chip craving.
Cats are so disdainful.
They're independent and self-assured, like you.
- Dog.
- Aw.
Cat.
- Which you gonna pick? - Uh, this is a lion eating a gazelle.
What's with the sudden pet desire? - We're not even living together.
- Yet.
Look at him, Rox.
Look at his warm, brown eyes.
He's going to do this five times a day.
Mr.
Vaziri's Iranian.
He's an observant Muslim.
Bright side - we'll always know which way is east.
I don't know if this is going to work out, Dr.
Saroyan.
This country was founded on the notion of religious tolerance.
Well, I'm not discriminating because he is a Muslim.
I find all religions equally irrational.
Thank you for your patience.
I had no choice.
Apparently, it's a constitutional issue.
Uh, trauma to the temporal and sphenoid region with buckling on the outer edges.
Probably from being dropped from the bin.
- Bonk.
- I see some red fibers.
- Ooh, that's me.
- Mr.
Vaziri do you see the antemortem skeletal trauma? Significant remodeling of the metacarpophalangeal joint on the right thumb.
A snap.
An old fracture to the little finger.
Crack.
And a bone chip at the dorsal radial portion of the left wrist.
- Pop? - I've seen this before in cases of abuse.
A girl who was handcuffed to a radiator in order to preserve her virginity.
Well, it turns out there aren't that many 16-year-old girls who are six feet tall on the missing persons list.
Ashley Clark.
Missing three weeks.
So Roxie and I are getting a dog.
Wow.
I had Roxie pegged as a cat person.
Hey.
I'm Angela.
Oh.
Arastoo Vaziri.
Um, your-your boyfriend's name is, uh, Rocky? Like, pow? Like the famous boxer? - No.
Roxie - - Angela's boyfriend is a girl.
Perhaps your religion won't allow you to accept that.
Blood chemistry shows unusually high levels of relaxin.
Hmm.
Relaxin? That sounds like something you could get arrested for taking.
It's a naturally occurring hormone secreted during pregnancy.
So if she was handcuffed to protect her virginity, didn't work out so well.
We last saw Ashley the afternoon before her high school dance.
It was the End of Winter Dance.
I remember because we made a bunch of jam that day.
And Ashley was worried that she'd smell like raspberries.
Ashley never made it to the dance? We had to wait 24 hours before she was officially missing.
Were there any major developments in your daughter's life in the weeks leading up to her death? He means drugs.
Was- Was Ashley doing drugs? - No, we don't mean drugs.
- No.
No drugs.
Were you aware that your daughter was pregnant? Approximately 12 weeks.
Pregnant? Ashley couldn't have been pregnant.
She was.
Do you have any idea who might be the father? Is that who you think killed her - the father of her child? - We'd like to talk to him.
- My daughter and I were very close.
And it simply isn't possible that she wouldn't tell me she was pregnant.
I would appreciate some insight into the high number of injuries your daughter sustained since puberty.
So now you're saying that we abused our daughter? It's all right.
They have to ask.
My daughter was an athlete.
She grew almost two feet over the last four years.
You can confirm the injuries with her chiropractor.
We're very sorry for your loss, sir.
Then you shouldn't say such terrible things.
Ashley wasn't a victim of abuse.
She was the victim of athleticism and a competitive disposition.
See this remodeling of the right thumb the little finger, the dorsal radial portion of her wrist? - Volleyball, of course.
- That's right.
That's very good.
- Patellar tendinitis.
- Jumper's knee.
- Wow.
How'd you know that? - Athlete, Bones.
Thanks, Dr.
Fitts.
We appreciate your help.
- Yeah.
- Thanks.
Were you aware that Ashley Clark was pregnant? No.
No.
Her last appointment was about six weeks ago.
She didn't mention it.
Well, despite the fact that you aren't a real medical doctor, you have been quite helpful.
- Thanks.
- Oh, you're welcome.
Oh, and by the way.
You aren't a real medical doctor either.
Ouch.
No hematoma, meaning the skull was fractured post mortem.
Probably when the body tumbled out of the overhead bin.
Clunk.
Very descriptively put.
It has been pointed out to me that I tend towards onomatopoeia.
Dr.
Saroyan.
Why hasn't the body been de-fleshed? I'm still conducting the autopsy.
If I can't remove the flesh, I can't find cause of death.
If you remove the flesh, I can't find cause of death.
What flesh? The body is completely desiccated.
Any remaining indicators are going to come from the bones.
Not if I can rehydrate the tissue.
Paleontologists have used Ruffer's solution successfully on mummies.
But shush.
The salt arrested bacterial development.
There's no decomp.
- If I can rehydrate, I can do a proper autopsy.
- It will take too long.
- And a positive result is debatable.
- Lucky for me, I'm the boss.
I claim one of my freebies.
I claim one of my freebie declines.
Come on in.
What can I do for you, Mr.
Clark? I wanted to tell you I suspected my daughter was pregnant.
All right.
Have a seat.
And you, uh - didn't want to say anything in front of your wife? - No.
I found a pregnancy test in the wastebasket in the bathroom.
Your wife is still young enough to have children.
Sexual intercourse has not been a part of our marriage in several years.
Did you, uh, talk to Ashley about the pregnancy test? Yes.
She denied it was hers.
She said it was a friend's.
She asked me not to tell my wife.
She called it a father-daughter secret.
Was there a, uh- a boy in Ashley's life? Well, Ashley argued about a boy with her friend Becca.
I overheard it on the phone.
Didn't get a name.
Mmm.
All right, I see.
Well, I'll look into it.
Uh, I hope my wife doesn't have to find out that I kept this huge secret from her.
- I don't think she'd forgive me.
- Forgive you? Considering how it turned out.
His name is Donatello, and he's a rescue.
And he needs a good home.
One caveat though.
He's afraid of the wind.
Wow.
You really don't want this dog, do you? Is it because Donatello is a stupid name? Yeah.
You're breaking up with me.
- You don't have to say anything, Rox.
It's okay.
- I do want to say something.
Ange, you live in the moment.
I know that.
But moments are fleeting.
They pass.
Yeah, but we decide when the moments pass.
This one has passed.
Yeah.
I've gotta think about the future.
Okay.
You gotta be kiddin' me.
- Excuse me, Agent Booth? - Yeah? I'm Becca Hedgepeth.
They told me I could find you here.
Wow.
Ashley Clark's friend.
Yeah.
So you heard that Ashley was murdered on the news, right? - Yeah.
- It's my job to find out who did it.
Okay.
Well, I hope you do.
According to her father, he said the two of you got into a fight and you stopped coming to the house.
That's just because Ashley went behind my back with my boyfriend.
- What's your boyfriend's name? - Well, ex-boyfriend.
Uh, Rory Davis.
Wait.
Do you think that I was jealous enough to kill my best friend? Or are you saying Rory did it? Well, you're pregnant.
Emotions run high during that situation.
Me and Ashley would've gotten past it because she broke up with Rory too.
Looks like I'm gonna have to talk to "Love 'Em and Leave 'Em" Rory.
Okay.
Very careful.
The tissue's fragile.
All right, ready? On my count.
One, two - Now, we're gonna completely submerge her in a bath of sodium carbonate aqueous formalin and ethyl alcohol.
Good.
And somewhere between she should look practically human again.
Ready? And go.
I got the trace back on those red fibers you found in her hair.
They're trilobal.
Two red strands, one blue strand woven together.
Given the length and texture, they definitely came from an automobile.
So the killer must have transported Ashley's body from wherever she was killed into the salt pile.
Can you narrow down what kind of car? Yeah.
I'm running the fibers through FACID.
That should be able to give Booth make and model and year.
Ooh.
Time-out for Allah.
- Hey, Arastoo.
- Hello, Angela.
Hey.
Um, listen.
Do you need me anymore here today? 'Cause I could really use a - Angela.
What's the matter? Roxie and I broke up, and I just- - I'm gonna take Angela for a cup of coffee, okay? - Sure, yeah.
Go.
This is a simple murder.
Solves itself.
Okay, Rory Davis? - Yeah.
- A little warning, dude.
I'm only the Hulk when I get pissed.
Listen, we'd like to talk to you about Ashley Clark.
- It wasn't me.
- It wasn't you who what? Becca texted me saying that you think I killed Ashley, but I didn't.
Excuse me.
You wanna give me a moment here? I'd like to talk to him alone.
Dude, you're a murder suspect.
That's awesome.
Becca said that you and Ashley connected sexually? Yeah.
Her exact words were "got all over".
- This is completely not fair.
- That you had sex with two girls and they got pregnant? - We didn't have sex.
- Pregnancy is unlikely without intercourse.
- Right.
Thanks for the tip, Bones.
- We didn't have intercourse.
I'm a Christian.
I'm not gonna have intercourse until I'm married.
Okay.
So you got two girls pregnant, but you didn't have sex with either one of 'em? Well, uh, I think some of, uh, my you know, stuff, may have found its way in there.
I mean, the way Ashley came after me it's like she was really, really trying- - To get your sperm? - Yeah, well, if it wasn't for my faith in Jesus there would've been sexual intercourse.
- How did your relationship with Ashley end? - Bad.
Ashley was mad at me.
Becca was mad at me.
I did everything right, and it turned out all wrong.
Mmm.
Did Ashley have any arguments with anyone else? Or try to get their sperm? She had some sort of fight with Mr.
Hawthorne.
- I heard it from the weight room.
- Who's Mr.
Hawthorne? He's the volleyball coach.
Where would he be? Wow.
That was great.
Like I told you, I'll always be there for you when you need comforting.
I didn't need comfort.
But I needed a good tumble.
Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.
Mmm.
I'm fine about Roxie.
- People come and go in life.
- What did she say? Aside from "So long.
" Basically, she said she wants somebody who doesn't just live in the moment but who considers the future.
- What's wrong with the moment? - Nothing.
But? But it's nice every once in a while to think about the future.
So let me get this straight.
To be together then it has to be all about the future? Yeah.
So this, right now - This isn't together? It was a moment.
A great moment.
But like all great moments, it passed.
Hey - - Well, we heard you got into a loud argument with Ashley.
- With shouting.
- That's true.
Two fights, in fact.
The first one was when she failed to seduce me.
And the second a couple of months later when she threatened to name me as the father of her child if I didn't give her five grand.
- She tried to seduce you? - All right, seduce isn't the right word.
- That girl came at me like - - So Ashley Clark tried to blackmail you? In case you're thinking that drove me to murder, you can check with the principal.
I reported it.
What with the way things are, I figured that that was the smartest move.
- The way things are? - Half my volleyball team got pregnant.
- We're gonna need a team roster.
- If you wanna talk to them, go to the multipurpose room.
They're having another baby shower.
# What you got goin' on # Oh! You gotta be kiddin' me.
- This school ever hear of sex education? - Well, if so - There's gaps in the curriculum.
- That's for sure.
- These are the people I was telling you about.
- Okay.
- That's Becca.
- Hello.
Hi.
I'm Alyssa Howland.
You guys have already spoken to Becca and Rory.
- So I imagine you're here about Ashley Clark.
- Wow.
This texting thing is way out of control.
Were you, by any chance, the captain of the volleyball team? - Alyssa was the captain of all our teams.
- Yeah.
And I'm also valedictorian and student body president.
Or I was until people decided that I was a bad example.
As alpha female, you are a bad example.
- Hey.
- I'm sorry.
But in this day and age of available contraception and easily accessed information for a teen girl to become pregnant, it's clearly a lapse in judgment.
Okay, girls.
You do realize this is a murder investigation? Oh, yeah.
We understand that.
- Yeah, we're quite intelligent.
- Right.
So Rory Davis was not the father of your child? - I never said he was.
- And he wasn't the father of Ashley's baby either, was he? No.
No.
As a matter of fact, the same guy's the father of my baby and Becca's.
- And Ashley's.
- And what about the rest of them? - Jenny? - Yeah.
Um, her.
- And the others got pregnant by their boyfriends and whatnot.
- You really are showing.
So one boy is the father of four babies? - Mm-hmm.
- Okay.
And who would this stud be? - It's Clinton.
- Oh, President Bill Clinton? - Ew.
No.
- Clinton Gilmore.
The cute one in the yellow shirt.
Hey.
The one in the yellow? # Show me, baby # - Clinton.
- What? Alyssa Howland says that you had sex with the entire volleyball team? The girls' volleyball team.
And not all of 'em.
I don't like to boast.
A gentleman does not kiss and tell.
How old are you? Sixteen.
My personality is completely formed.
How did you get those four girls pregnant? You want pictures, check the Internet.
That's what I did.
Right.
You know, I show no disrespect.
I went to high school.
And high school has not changed.
The fact is, from what I remember guys like you didn't get that many girls.
- You know what I'm saying? - Wait.
You can't lift that.
Whoa.
All right.
See, the point is I can do that but I didn't get girls like that in high school.
So, what you're saying happened really didn't happen, huh? Like a conspiracy? Well, the conspiracy is that they like me.
I'll tell you something else.
More than one of them told me I'm actually very considerate and sweet in the bed department.
Ashley is dead.
She was murdered.
The prime suspect would be the person who knocked her up.
I need to know the person who did that deed.
It was me - the sex deed part.
The killing part was definitely somebody else.
You know what I think? I think those girls are up to something and they're using you as a cover.
That's okay.
We'll just do a D.
N.
A.
test and the truth will come out, right? Take my D.
N.
A.
, and, uh, you'll find out the truth.
I am the mack daddy supremo baby daddy of"Geo Dub" High School.
The Ruffer's solution is working.
I find myself wondering if the rate of tissue reclamation will accelerate over time decelerate, or hold steady.
You're worried about what to tell Dr.
Brennan.
Um, if Dr.
Brennan asks, when do you think we will have access to the bones? Tell Dr.
Brennan that unless she can think of a way to examine the bones while leaving the flesh intact, you're both out of luck.
During the investigation into the death of high school sophomore Ashley Clark it was discovered the presumed murder victim was part of a group of girls who made a pact to get pregnant and raise their children together.
No.
There was no proof that there was a pact.
You see, this is what happens when all you worry about is the future.
Pregnant teenagers.
I would argue that most pregnant teenagers get that way by becoming involved in the moment.
Yeah, true.
You all right? Oh, yeah.
Totally.
It was so worth it.
Will you be able to remain B.
B.
F.
s? B.
F.
F.
s.
Best Friends Forever.
Oh.
Will you resume a sexual relationship with Hodgins? I already did.
Oh.
Well, good.
Yeah, but he can't keep it casual.
He's the marrying kind.
I am comfortable giving you advice in this area.
- Shoot.
- I think you live your life very well.
Thank you.
You are not afraid to change your mind when conditions change.
- Conditions always change.
- The successful organism is the organism that adapts.
- This is one area where we are very similar.
- I was with you until there.
Like me, you are not swept away by your emotions.
You remain rational.
You use your brain to pick someone for sex and companionship.
Uh, minor correction there.
I use my heart.
- That is not - - Metaphoric heart, sweetie.
Stay with me here, right? Love, like art, comes from the moment where two people become one.
Mmm, minor correction.
Love comes from a confluence of chemicals and hormones in the pineal gland.
Right.
But all beauty is transient and of the moment.
- Like a sunset is beautiful.
- You know, it sounds like we're in agreement which is worrying me just a little bit.
Hodgins says he found pectin in the scratches he swabbed on the victim's arm.
How did he find scratches? The victim looked like beef jerky.
Well, apparently, Cam had some limited success in rehydrating the body.
- That's impressive.
- Yes.
- Pectin is used in making preserves, right? - Sure.
I remember that from growing up a farm girl in Amish country.
Sarcasm, Brennan.
- I'm sorry.
- The victim and her mother were making jam the afternoon before she disappeared.
Have you ever noticed that a-a sunset looks more beautiful when you share it with somebody that you care about? No.
I haven't.
But I'll pay better attention next time.
Okay.
So we have evidence that you scratched your daughter shortly before she died.
I grabbed her arm is all.
Hard enough to leave marks.
Was it because you found out she was pregnant? No.
I still find that hard to believe.
Ashley and I talked about everything.
Why can't this woman face the facts? Perhaps because the facts are so painful.
You suspect the father of incest? It would explain the mother's behavior.
I didn't know about the pregnancy.
I was angry because - - You wrote your daughter a check for $5,000? - No.
She forged my signature.
I caught her before she could cash it.
- Why did Ashley need $5,000? - I don't know.
She wouldn't say.
She just was always hanging around Becca and the rest of that team.
And suddenly, I didn't exist.
And now the news is saying that she had some kind of pact.
Booth, I have a theory.
Can you, um, excuse me for one moment there, Mrs.
Clark? - What do you got? - Okay.
It's possible that Ashley Clark was killed by the pack for not coming up with $5,000.
So you think this whole pact thing is true? There have been many instances in history where women grouped together to raise their children.
And the men become nothing more to them than sperm donors.
The "walking marriages" of the Mosuo in the Himalayas, for example.
Right.
Okay, so you think that the Himalayan "Momos"just killed each other when things got dicey? Killing is a more male response.
Women tend more towards shunning.
I might be able to figure out the nature of the girls' relationship.
- How? - Let me at the alpha girl.
Psychologically, I mean.
Mr.
Vaziri, do you have any idea where all the monitors on the forensic platform have gone? I appropriated them.
I sent you an e-mail.
Well, I didn't have a monitor to check my e-mail.
You have created a virtual skeleton.
- It was your idea, Dr.
Saroyan.
- No, I don't recall - In speaking of Dr.
Brennan, you said to me "Tell her that unless she can think of a way to examine the bones while leaving the flesh intact, you are both out of luck.
" Well, I'll make sure you get the credit for this with Dr.
Brennan.
- No, no, no, no, no.
- You don't want credit? No.
I would rather not be the person to point out to Dr.
Brennan that she was incorrect about retaining the soft tissue at the expense of exposing the skeleton.
- Meaning you found something? - I would never have seen this on the actual bone.
But when I blew up the digital X-ray - Here.
In the middle ear there is a hairline fracture on the stapes.
What does that suggest to you? Violence, Dr.
Saroyan.
Miss Montenegro? Yeah.
Hi, Arastoo.
How are you? I would like to pass on to you my condolences that your heart has been broken.
Oh.
Here we go.
- Are you gonna quote the Koran? - No, no.
I put together a CD with some songs that I have found to be cathartic.
Oh.
"I Hope There is Someone" by Mr.
Antony and the Johnsons.
"Breathe Me" by Sia.
"Heartbeats" by Mr.
José Gonzáles.
"Fade Into You" by Mazzy Star.
This is not a person, but a band.
"Lullaby of Loneliness" by Adam English.
And, of course, the finest of the melancholy songs - "Dust in the Wind.
" Very melancholy, that.
Uh, I wish you peace, Miss Montenegro and I wish that you find love again.
Thank you, Arastoo.
Thanks very much.
Dr.
Saroyan? Tell Dr.
Brennan she cannot have the remains yet.
Hovering will not make this go any faster.
Dr.
Brennan required me to hover.
How's about you go bank a prayer and give me a little breathing space? I apologize.
I quip sometimes.
Believe me, it is nothing compared to the First Battalion, Ninth Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team One.
Glycerin, please? What are you going to do? Ruffer's only gets us so far.
So I'm gonna inject some glycerin around the soft tissue of the ear.
Oh.
To see if there's any tissue damage which might explain the fractured stapes.
Apact? There's no pact.
The papers totally made that up.
Okay.
But you are very close.
Well, yeah.
We played on the same team together since we were freshmen.
We've traveled a lot too.
I mean, we've been through a lot together.
- Boys - - Boys come and go.
You know.
But your friends, that's who you can really count on, right? - Count on? - Yeah.
They don't pressure you like boys like parents.
Uh, pressure? Pressure to succeed, yeah.
Well, you're a very high achiever, Miss Howland.
Student body president.
Valedictorian.
Full scholarship to Amherst.
- All of which went away when you got pregnant.
- Yeah, that's okay.
I mean, I'm totally cool with being a mother.
Is it a coincidence that once you got pregnant seven of the others on the volleyball team did the same? It's not my fault that people want to be like me.
I'm a natural leader.
They look to you as an example.
It was my idea that we all get a house together help each other raise our kids.
- Where would the money come from? - Oh.
Um, I mean, we'd all put in.
I'd figured out how much we'd need.
- $5,000 each? - That's right.
Wait.
How did you know? - You said it wasn't a pact.
- Mm-mmm.
Then how do you explain that four of you got pregnant from the same boy? He seems an unlikely choice.
Clinton wasn't a choice.
I didn't plan the baby.
I'd just found out I'd won the scholarship and my parents started to plan my whole life.
I just went to the park.
I couldn't breathe.
I couldn't think.
Too much pressure? Yeah.
And Clinton was there.
And I was crying, and I just - I felt like I was being banished.
You know? I mean, nobody asked me what I wanted.
And Clinton understood.
And he held my hand, and he let me cry.
And, you know, one thing led to another.
- And he's been great.
- Great how? Well, he's a kid.
You know, he doesn't really want to raise kids.
Right.
Maybe that's why the other girls chose him to get them pregnant.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it's going to be great.
We all are gonna have these cute kids, and we'll all be there for each other.
Except Ashley.
Yeah.
What exactly are we doing? I couldn't see any contusions around the ear.
But perimortem bruising is often only visible under certain light wavelengths.
- You're using colorimetrics? - That's right.
I read an article in a forensic journal.
A Japanese scientist published his study.
We read the same article.
Could you turn on the U.
V.
light? Look at that.
- Are you switching teams, Mr.
Vaziri? - No, no.
My preference is forensics anthropology.
But Dr.
Saroyan's use of colorimetrics was thrilling.
Look at the monitor.
Assuming sufficient force that perimortem bruising explains your stapes fracture.
The bruise is directly on top of the vagus nerve.
- And? - Cowabunga! - What? - When the vagus nerve is triggered with enough force the victim will go into cardiac arrest and die.
You have discovered the cause of death.
- The tissue damage is distributed evenly.
- What does that indicate? That it was a single blow.
Whatever did this is completely flat and round.
- Some kind of hammer? - Anyone interested in our mysterious red fiber? You identified the vehicle? Late model German sedan.
Mercedes or BMW.
Let Booth know.
And, uh, just so you know, Arastoo is praying again.
- Either that, or he's doing a very repetitive yoga move.
- Is that appropriate in the lab? Some of us take coffee breaks.
Some of us take smoke breaks.
- Mr.
Vaziri takes a spiritual break.
- Who smokes? Nobody.
Not very often anyway.
Just very rarely in times of great stress.
If you had released the remains to me when I'd asked and Mr.
Vaziri had removed the flesh, then we'd never have found cause of death.
- Thank you.
- Why are you thanking me? I'm simply stating a fact.
I'm thanking you for stating the fact that you were wrong.
Oh.
You're welcome.
The odds of hitting the vagus nerve by accident are very slight.
So do you think this was done by someone who knew what they were doing? Yes.
Someone who's very familiar with human anatomy.
Like a physiologist or a doctor or a chiropractor.
Let's check out the victim's chiropractor's ride.
So Dr.
Fitts drives a 2007 BMW sedan.
- So you got a warrant? - There are 1,208 BMW sedans in D.
C.
- So you didn't get a warrant? - But how many of those drivers know how to kill using the vagus nerve? And how many of those drivers had access to the victim? And owned chiropractic tools we might be able to match with the murder weapon? Guys, no warrant.
If Booth and I hadn't questioned Dr.
Fitts, we could mount one of our clever undercover operations.
Hey, not me.
But I do have a great idea.
How long have we been married? Just concentrate on your symptoms.
That's all he's gonna ask about.
- Okay.
- I'll look for this thing here.
Brennan says it's the murder weapon.
So you heard about me and Roxie? Yeah.
I'm sorry.
Oh, no.
Really, it's absolutely fine.
- Okay.
- I also had a little afternoon delight with Hodgins.
But let's just say it's not really his thing.
Again, I'm sorry.
No.
It's totally fine.
Then why are you telling me? Brennan approves of the way that I conduct my love life.
Oh.
Yeah.
What's wrong with living in the moment? Nothing.
Nothing, as long as it's working for you.
Oh, it is, definitely.
- If it weren't - - No, it-it-it is.
- Well, if it weren't - - It is.
If it weren't, I'd suggest to you - - What? - You won't like it.
Oh, no.
I'm-I'm - I'm happy living in the moment.
What you say is merely interesting.
Well, what I would advise you to do is remove sex from the situation.
I don't like that.
You're a beautiful woman.
You're confident in your sexuality, which is laudable.
- But you need to connect with people on another level.
- Why? Why? Because sexual attraction's only one facet of the human romantic experience.
So don't have sex? I-I'd suggest you be celibate for, say, six months.
Oh, my God.
Six months? Why not 10 years? You asked my opinion, and that's it.
Forego sex in favor of other connections.
Shouldn't we have, like, a cover story in order to reassure the chiropractor that we're married? Mr.
Sweets? - Yeah.
- Um - Okay, honey.
We're up.
This is us- a happily married couple.
Uh, help me, please.
- Okay.
- Thank you.
So you've had some discomfort in your lower back? Uh, yeah, yeah.
As a fireman, I often have to carry heavy - - Oh! - Oh, that's very tight.
That's very tight.
- What are you- Oh, God! What are you doing? - Okay.
Um, frankly, these knots I feel in your lumbar region are more congruent with sitting hunched over a desk than they are pulling people from a burning building.
Well, he's not a fireman yet, Dr.
Fitts.
- He's just training.
- Oh.
Yeah, almost.
Another week.
He spends a little too much time on the Internet.
Well, I feel knots in your lumbar region.
I'm gonna give you a minor adjustment.
Now, this won't hurt.
But you will feel some pressure.
Not as much as you.
# One night to be confused # # One night to speed up truth # # We had a promise made # # Four hands and then away # # Both under influence # # We had divine sense # # To know what to say # # Mind is a razor blade # # To call for hands of above # # To lean on # # Wouldn't be good enough # # For me, no # # One night of magic rush # # The start, a simple touch # # One night to push and scream # # And then relief # # Ten days of perfect tunes # # The colors red and blue # # We had a promise made # # We were in love # Ashley needed $5,000 to leave home and raise her baby.
So she tries to blackmail her coach.
But it didn't work, because he'd never had sex with her.
Right.
So she has to go and seduce the chiropractor and threatens him with statutory rape if he doesn't pay up.
- He killed her.
- God.
That's horrible.
Wow.
So, um, are the rest of the girls still renting a house together? Right.
You know what I don't get? How is it that eight beautiful girls could just give up their whole lives during high school? - It's a rational decision.
- On what planet? - Earth.
- Earth? Given the current environment, the paradigm within which a group of girls band together to raise their offspring has merit.
Without their fathers? Anthropologically speaking, those girls have grown up in a culture that reinforces the sad truism that women cannot count on men.
Don't say "men" like that.
Men do not like a world without responsibility.
But that boy whom those young girls chose as their sperm donor he seemed more than happy with the arrangement.
- Booth? - You're right.
I know.
Who you calling? Clinton.
Listen, it's Agent Booth.
I need to talk to you.
- The kid? - Listen, meet me at the Royal Diner in 20 minutes.
Yeah, just get there, okay? Thanks.
I'm buying.
- Look, I know you want to come along and all, but - No, I get it.
Go alone.
It's a guy-to-guy thing.
Thanks.
Why did the chiropractor kill Ashley? Well, Ashley seduced him and tried to blackmail him.
- So he murdered her? Dude.
- Yeah.
You know, Ashley needed money to raise her baby.
Your baby.
You didn't think those girls would have sex with me because I can't bench-press enough.
You know what? D.
N.
A.
tests, they proved that I was wrong.
- Yes.
- So-Yeah.
- I owe you an apology.
- I did - - I told you.
- Yeah.
You know what? You are a smart kid.
- I know.
- You're also a real smart-ass kid.
Okay? There's something I want you to think about.
All right? Sex is never free and easy.
- I beg to differ.
- Because the fact is any one of these girls, they could change their mind and you would be paying child support for the rest of your life.
You are responsible for bringing their children into the world.
Whether they think so or not, they are your responsibility.
Your children, your responsibility.
Do you understand? And what you do about that will define what kind of man you are.
- No.
Hold on a second.
- But if you ignore that ignore your children, that's exactly what you're gonna become.
A loser, a deadbeat for the rest of your life.
You know what? There's something else that you should think about.
Ashley Clark.
She was gonna have your baby.
According to our pathologist, it was gonna be a boy.
A boy? Mm-hmm.
A son who died with his mother.
Why'd you have to tell me all that for? Because you needed to hear it.
Do you understand? Yes.
# Sharing different heartbeats # # In one night # # To call for hands of above # # To lean on # # Wouldn't be good enough # # For me, no # # To call for hands of above # # To lean on # # Wouldn't be good enough # What's that mean?
Weather guys are like psychics, man.
They don't know squat.
I went to a psychic once.
Talked to my mother.
Mom even bothered me dead.
- All of the bridges? - All of 'em.
Okay.
Fill me up! What's up? Something in the salt.
What is it? You know that Bible story about the woman who turns into salt? - Lot's wife? - I think maybe we found her.
Yes, it's cold.
What's your procedure when the roads freeze up? The weather's been warm for the past six weeks.
Wow.
So they haven't had to use rock salt.
- Whoo! - The dermis is extremely desiccated.
The salt quick-dried the tissues.
- Looks like a really big apple doll.
- It's a teenage girl.
Very tall.
Six feet.
Looks like she's been dead for about a hundred years.
No.
In fact, less than a month.
Salt is hygroscopic.
It draws moisture from its surroundings and replaces it with crystal.
You know what? I suddenly got a potato chip craving.
Cats are so disdainful.
They're independent and self-assured, like you.
- Dog.
- Aw.
Cat.
- Which you gonna pick? - Uh, this is a lion eating a gazelle.
What's with the sudden pet desire? - We're not even living together.
- Yet.
Look at him, Rox.
Look at his warm, brown eyes.
He's going to do this five times a day.
Mr.
Vaziri's Iranian.
He's an observant Muslim.
Bright side - we'll always know which way is east.
I don't know if this is going to work out, Dr.
Saroyan.
This country was founded on the notion of religious tolerance.
Well, I'm not discriminating because he is a Muslim.
I find all religions equally irrational.
Thank you for your patience.
I had no choice.
Apparently, it's a constitutional issue.
Uh, trauma to the temporal and sphenoid region with buckling on the outer edges.
Probably from being dropped from the bin.
- Bonk.
- I see some red fibers.
- Ooh, that's me.
- Mr.
Vaziri do you see the antemortem skeletal trauma? Significant remodeling of the metacarpophalangeal joint on the right thumb.
A snap.
An old fracture to the little finger.
Crack.
And a bone chip at the dorsal radial portion of the left wrist.
- Pop? - I've seen this before in cases of abuse.
A girl who was handcuffed to a radiator in order to preserve her virginity.
Well, it turns out there aren't that many 16-year-old girls who are six feet tall on the missing persons list.
Ashley Clark.
Missing three weeks.
So Roxie and I are getting a dog.
Wow.
I had Roxie pegged as a cat person.
Hey.
I'm Angela.
Oh.
Arastoo Vaziri.
Um, your-your boyfriend's name is, uh, Rocky? Like, pow? Like the famous boxer? - No.
Roxie - - Angela's boyfriend is a girl.
Perhaps your religion won't allow you to accept that.
Blood chemistry shows unusually high levels of relaxin.
Hmm.
Relaxin? That sounds like something you could get arrested for taking.
It's a naturally occurring hormone secreted during pregnancy.
So if she was handcuffed to protect her virginity, didn't work out so well.
We last saw Ashley the afternoon before her high school dance.
It was the End of Winter Dance.
I remember because we made a bunch of jam that day.
And Ashley was worried that she'd smell like raspberries.
Ashley never made it to the dance? We had to wait 24 hours before she was officially missing.
Were there any major developments in your daughter's life in the weeks leading up to her death? He means drugs.
Was- Was Ashley doing drugs? - No, we don't mean drugs.
- No.
No drugs.
Were you aware that your daughter was pregnant? Approximately 12 weeks.
Pregnant? Ashley couldn't have been pregnant.
She was.
Do you have any idea who might be the father? Is that who you think killed her - the father of her child? - We'd like to talk to him.
- My daughter and I were very close.
And it simply isn't possible that she wouldn't tell me she was pregnant.
I would appreciate some insight into the high number of injuries your daughter sustained since puberty.
So now you're saying that we abused our daughter? It's all right.
They have to ask.
My daughter was an athlete.
She grew almost two feet over the last four years.
You can confirm the injuries with her chiropractor.
We're very sorry for your loss, sir.
Then you shouldn't say such terrible things.
Ashley wasn't a victim of abuse.
She was the victim of athleticism and a competitive disposition.
See this remodeling of the right thumb the little finger, the dorsal radial portion of her wrist? - Volleyball, of course.
- That's right.
That's very good.
- Patellar tendinitis.
- Jumper's knee.
- Wow.
How'd you know that? - Athlete, Bones.
Thanks, Dr.
Fitts.
We appreciate your help.
- Yeah.
- Thanks.
Were you aware that Ashley Clark was pregnant? No.
No.
Her last appointment was about six weeks ago.
She didn't mention it.
Well, despite the fact that you aren't a real medical doctor, you have been quite helpful.
- Thanks.
- Oh, you're welcome.
Oh, and by the way.
You aren't a real medical doctor either.
Ouch.
No hematoma, meaning the skull was fractured post mortem.
Probably when the body tumbled out of the overhead bin.
Clunk.
Very descriptively put.
It has been pointed out to me that I tend towards onomatopoeia.
Dr.
Saroyan.
Why hasn't the body been de-fleshed? I'm still conducting the autopsy.
If I can't remove the flesh, I can't find cause of death.
If you remove the flesh, I can't find cause of death.
What flesh? The body is completely desiccated.
Any remaining indicators are going to come from the bones.
Not if I can rehydrate the tissue.
Paleontologists have used Ruffer's solution successfully on mummies.
But shush.
The salt arrested bacterial development.
There's no decomp.
- If I can rehydrate, I can do a proper autopsy.
- It will take too long.
- And a positive result is debatable.
- Lucky for me, I'm the boss.
I claim one of my freebies.
I claim one of my freebie declines.
Come on in.
What can I do for you, Mr.
Clark? I wanted to tell you I suspected my daughter was pregnant.
All right.
Have a seat.
And you, uh - didn't want to say anything in front of your wife? - No.
I found a pregnancy test in the wastebasket in the bathroom.
Your wife is still young enough to have children.
Sexual intercourse has not been a part of our marriage in several years.
Did you, uh, talk to Ashley about the pregnancy test? Yes.
She denied it was hers.
She said it was a friend's.
She asked me not to tell my wife.
She called it a father-daughter secret.
Was there a, uh- a boy in Ashley's life? Well, Ashley argued about a boy with her friend Becca.
I overheard it on the phone.
Didn't get a name.
Mmm.
All right, I see.
Well, I'll look into it.
Uh, I hope my wife doesn't have to find out that I kept this huge secret from her.
- I don't think she'd forgive me.
- Forgive you? Considering how it turned out.
His name is Donatello, and he's a rescue.
And he needs a good home.
One caveat though.
He's afraid of the wind.
Wow.
You really don't want this dog, do you? Is it because Donatello is a stupid name? Yeah.
You're breaking up with me.
- You don't have to say anything, Rox.
It's okay.
- I do want to say something.
Ange, you live in the moment.
I know that.
But moments are fleeting.
They pass.
Yeah, but we decide when the moments pass.
This one has passed.
Yeah.
I've gotta think about the future.
Okay.
You gotta be kiddin' me.
- Excuse me, Agent Booth? - Yeah? I'm Becca Hedgepeth.
They told me I could find you here.
Wow.
Ashley Clark's friend.
Yeah.
So you heard that Ashley was murdered on the news, right? - Yeah.
- It's my job to find out who did it.
Okay.
Well, I hope you do.
According to her father, he said the two of you got into a fight and you stopped coming to the house.
That's just because Ashley went behind my back with my boyfriend.
- What's your boyfriend's name? - Well, ex-boyfriend.
Uh, Rory Davis.
Wait.
Do you think that I was jealous enough to kill my best friend? Or are you saying Rory did it? Well, you're pregnant.
Emotions run high during that situation.
Me and Ashley would've gotten past it because she broke up with Rory too.
Looks like I'm gonna have to talk to "Love 'Em and Leave 'Em" Rory.
Okay.
Very careful.
The tissue's fragile.
All right, ready? On my count.
One, two - Now, we're gonna completely submerge her in a bath of sodium carbonate aqueous formalin and ethyl alcohol.
Good.
And somewhere between she should look practically human again.
Ready? And go.
I got the trace back on those red fibers you found in her hair.
They're trilobal.
Two red strands, one blue strand woven together.
Given the length and texture, they definitely came from an automobile.
So the killer must have transported Ashley's body from wherever she was killed into the salt pile.
Can you narrow down what kind of car? Yeah.
I'm running the fibers through FACID.
That should be able to give Booth make and model and year.
Ooh.
Time-out for Allah.
- Hey, Arastoo.
- Hello, Angela.
Hey.
Um, listen.
Do you need me anymore here today? 'Cause I could really use a - Angela.
What's the matter? Roxie and I broke up, and I just- - I'm gonna take Angela for a cup of coffee, okay? - Sure, yeah.
Go.
This is a simple murder.
Solves itself.
Okay, Rory Davis? - Yeah.
- A little warning, dude.
I'm only the Hulk when I get pissed.
Listen, we'd like to talk to you about Ashley Clark.
- It wasn't me.
- It wasn't you who what? Becca texted me saying that you think I killed Ashley, but I didn't.
Excuse me.
You wanna give me a moment here? I'd like to talk to him alone.
Dude, you're a murder suspect.
That's awesome.
Becca said that you and Ashley connected sexually? Yeah.
Her exact words were "got all over".
- This is completely not fair.
- That you had sex with two girls and they got pregnant? - We didn't have sex.
- Pregnancy is unlikely without intercourse.
- Right.
Thanks for the tip, Bones.
- We didn't have intercourse.
I'm a Christian.
I'm not gonna have intercourse until I'm married.
Okay.
So you got two girls pregnant, but you didn't have sex with either one of 'em? Well, uh, I think some of, uh, my you know, stuff, may have found its way in there.
I mean, the way Ashley came after me it's like she was really, really trying- - To get your sperm? - Yeah, well, if it wasn't for my faith in Jesus there would've been sexual intercourse.
- How did your relationship with Ashley end? - Bad.
Ashley was mad at me.
Becca was mad at me.
I did everything right, and it turned out all wrong.
Mmm.
Did Ashley have any arguments with anyone else? Or try to get their sperm? She had some sort of fight with Mr.
Hawthorne.
- I heard it from the weight room.
- Who's Mr.
Hawthorne? He's the volleyball coach.
Where would he be? Wow.
That was great.
Like I told you, I'll always be there for you when you need comforting.
I didn't need comfort.
But I needed a good tumble.
Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.
Mmm.
I'm fine about Roxie.
- People come and go in life.
- What did she say? Aside from "So long.
" Basically, she said she wants somebody who doesn't just live in the moment but who considers the future.
- What's wrong with the moment? - Nothing.
But? But it's nice every once in a while to think about the future.
So let me get this straight.
To be together then it has to be all about the future? Yeah.
So this, right now - This isn't together? It was a moment.
A great moment.
But like all great moments, it passed.
Hey - - Well, we heard you got into a loud argument with Ashley.
- With shouting.
- That's true.
Two fights, in fact.
The first one was when she failed to seduce me.
And the second a couple of months later when she threatened to name me as the father of her child if I didn't give her five grand.
- She tried to seduce you? - All right, seduce isn't the right word.
- That girl came at me like - - So Ashley Clark tried to blackmail you? In case you're thinking that drove me to murder, you can check with the principal.
I reported it.
What with the way things are, I figured that that was the smartest move.
- The way things are? - Half my volleyball team got pregnant.
- We're gonna need a team roster.
- If you wanna talk to them, go to the multipurpose room.
They're having another baby shower.
# What you got goin' on # Oh! You gotta be kiddin' me.
- This school ever hear of sex education? - Well, if so - There's gaps in the curriculum.
- That's for sure.
- These are the people I was telling you about.
- Okay.
- That's Becca.
- Hello.
Hi.
I'm Alyssa Howland.
You guys have already spoken to Becca and Rory.
- So I imagine you're here about Ashley Clark.
- Wow.
This texting thing is way out of control.
Were you, by any chance, the captain of the volleyball team? - Alyssa was the captain of all our teams.
- Yeah.
And I'm also valedictorian and student body president.
Or I was until people decided that I was a bad example.
As alpha female, you are a bad example.
- Hey.
- I'm sorry.
But in this day and age of available contraception and easily accessed information for a teen girl to become pregnant, it's clearly a lapse in judgment.
Okay, girls.
You do realize this is a murder investigation? Oh, yeah.
We understand that.
- Yeah, we're quite intelligent.
- Right.
So Rory Davis was not the father of your child? - I never said he was.
- And he wasn't the father of Ashley's baby either, was he? No.
No.
As a matter of fact, the same guy's the father of my baby and Becca's.
- And Ashley's.
- And what about the rest of them? - Jenny? - Yeah.
Um, her.
- And the others got pregnant by their boyfriends and whatnot.
- You really are showing.
So one boy is the father of four babies? - Mm-hmm.
- Okay.
And who would this stud be? - It's Clinton.
- Oh, President Bill Clinton? - Ew.
No.
- Clinton Gilmore.
The cute one in the yellow shirt.
Hey.
The one in the yellow? # Show me, baby # - Clinton.
- What? Alyssa Howland says that you had sex with the entire volleyball team? The girls' volleyball team.
And not all of 'em.
I don't like to boast.
A gentleman does not kiss and tell.
How old are you? Sixteen.
My personality is completely formed.
How did you get those four girls pregnant? You want pictures, check the Internet.
That's what I did.
Right.
You know, I show no disrespect.
I went to high school.
And high school has not changed.
The fact is, from what I remember guys like you didn't get that many girls.
- You know what I'm saying? - Wait.
You can't lift that.
Whoa.
All right.
See, the point is I can do that but I didn't get girls like that in high school.
So, what you're saying happened really didn't happen, huh? Like a conspiracy? Well, the conspiracy is that they like me.
I'll tell you something else.
More than one of them told me I'm actually very considerate and sweet in the bed department.
Ashley is dead.
She was murdered.
The prime suspect would be the person who knocked her up.
I need to know the person who did that deed.
It was me - the sex deed part.
The killing part was definitely somebody else.
You know what I think? I think those girls are up to something and they're using you as a cover.
That's okay.
We'll just do a D.
N.
A.
test and the truth will come out, right? Take my D.
N.
A.
, and, uh, you'll find out the truth.
I am the mack daddy supremo baby daddy of"Geo Dub" High School.
The Ruffer's solution is working.
I find myself wondering if the rate of tissue reclamation will accelerate over time decelerate, or hold steady.
You're worried about what to tell Dr.
Brennan.
Um, if Dr.
Brennan asks, when do you think we will have access to the bones? Tell Dr.
Brennan that unless she can think of a way to examine the bones while leaving the flesh intact, you're both out of luck.
During the investigation into the death of high school sophomore Ashley Clark it was discovered the presumed murder victim was part of a group of girls who made a pact to get pregnant and raise their children together.
No.
There was no proof that there was a pact.
You see, this is what happens when all you worry about is the future.
Pregnant teenagers.
I would argue that most pregnant teenagers get that way by becoming involved in the moment.
Yeah, true.
You all right? Oh, yeah.
Totally.
It was so worth it.
Will you be able to remain B.
B.
F.
s? B.
F.
F.
s.
Best Friends Forever.
Oh.
Will you resume a sexual relationship with Hodgins? I already did.
Oh.
Well, good.
Yeah, but he can't keep it casual.
He's the marrying kind.
I am comfortable giving you advice in this area.
- Shoot.
- I think you live your life very well.
Thank you.
You are not afraid to change your mind when conditions change.
- Conditions always change.
- The successful organism is the organism that adapts.
- This is one area where we are very similar.
- I was with you until there.
Like me, you are not swept away by your emotions.
You remain rational.
You use your brain to pick someone for sex and companionship.
Uh, minor correction there.
I use my heart.
- That is not - - Metaphoric heart, sweetie.
Stay with me here, right? Love, like art, comes from the moment where two people become one.
Mmm, minor correction.
Love comes from a confluence of chemicals and hormones in the pineal gland.
Right.
But all beauty is transient and of the moment.
- Like a sunset is beautiful.
- You know, it sounds like we're in agreement which is worrying me just a little bit.
Hodgins says he found pectin in the scratches he swabbed on the victim's arm.
How did he find scratches? The victim looked like beef jerky.
Well, apparently, Cam had some limited success in rehydrating the body.
- That's impressive.
- Yes.
- Pectin is used in making preserves, right? - Sure.
I remember that from growing up a farm girl in Amish country.
Sarcasm, Brennan.
- I'm sorry.
- The victim and her mother were making jam the afternoon before she disappeared.
Have you ever noticed that a-a sunset looks more beautiful when you share it with somebody that you care about? No.
I haven't.
But I'll pay better attention next time.
Okay.
So we have evidence that you scratched your daughter shortly before she died.
I grabbed her arm is all.
Hard enough to leave marks.
Was it because you found out she was pregnant? No.
I still find that hard to believe.
Ashley and I talked about everything.
Why can't this woman face the facts? Perhaps because the facts are so painful.
You suspect the father of incest? It would explain the mother's behavior.
I didn't know about the pregnancy.
I was angry because - - You wrote your daughter a check for $5,000? - No.
She forged my signature.
I caught her before she could cash it.
- Why did Ashley need $5,000? - I don't know.
She wouldn't say.
She just was always hanging around Becca and the rest of that team.
And suddenly, I didn't exist.
And now the news is saying that she had some kind of pact.
Booth, I have a theory.
Can you, um, excuse me for one moment there, Mrs.
Clark? - What do you got? - Okay.
It's possible that Ashley Clark was killed by the pack for not coming up with $5,000.
So you think this whole pact thing is true? There have been many instances in history where women grouped together to raise their children.
And the men become nothing more to them than sperm donors.
The "walking marriages" of the Mosuo in the Himalayas, for example.
Right.
Okay, so you think that the Himalayan "Momos"just killed each other when things got dicey? Killing is a more male response.
Women tend more towards shunning.
I might be able to figure out the nature of the girls' relationship.
- How? - Let me at the alpha girl.
Psychologically, I mean.
Mr.
Vaziri, do you have any idea where all the monitors on the forensic platform have gone? I appropriated them.
I sent you an e-mail.
Well, I didn't have a monitor to check my e-mail.
You have created a virtual skeleton.
- It was your idea, Dr.
Saroyan.
- No, I don't recall - In speaking of Dr.
Brennan, you said to me "Tell her that unless she can think of a way to examine the bones while leaving the flesh intact, you are both out of luck.
" Well, I'll make sure you get the credit for this with Dr.
Brennan.
- No, no, no, no, no.
- You don't want credit? No.
I would rather not be the person to point out to Dr.
Brennan that she was incorrect about retaining the soft tissue at the expense of exposing the skeleton.
- Meaning you found something? - I would never have seen this on the actual bone.
But when I blew up the digital X-ray - Here.
In the middle ear there is a hairline fracture on the stapes.
What does that suggest to you? Violence, Dr.
Saroyan.
Miss Montenegro? Yeah.
Hi, Arastoo.
How are you? I would like to pass on to you my condolences that your heart has been broken.
Oh.
Here we go.
- Are you gonna quote the Koran? - No, no.
I put together a CD with some songs that I have found to be cathartic.
Oh.
"I Hope There is Someone" by Mr.
Antony and the Johnsons.
"Breathe Me" by Sia.
"Heartbeats" by Mr.
José Gonzáles.
"Fade Into You" by Mazzy Star.
This is not a person, but a band.
"Lullaby of Loneliness" by Adam English.
And, of course, the finest of the melancholy songs - "Dust in the Wind.
" Very melancholy, that.
Uh, I wish you peace, Miss Montenegro and I wish that you find love again.
Thank you, Arastoo.
Thanks very much.
Dr.
Saroyan? Tell Dr.
Brennan she cannot have the remains yet.
Hovering will not make this go any faster.
Dr.
Brennan required me to hover.
How's about you go bank a prayer and give me a little breathing space? I apologize.
I quip sometimes.
Believe me, it is nothing compared to the First Battalion, Ninth Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team One.
Glycerin, please? What are you going to do? Ruffer's only gets us so far.
So I'm gonna inject some glycerin around the soft tissue of the ear.
Oh.
To see if there's any tissue damage which might explain the fractured stapes.
Apact? There's no pact.
The papers totally made that up.
Okay.
But you are very close.
Well, yeah.
We played on the same team together since we were freshmen.
We've traveled a lot too.
I mean, we've been through a lot together.
- Boys - - Boys come and go.
You know.
But your friends, that's who you can really count on, right? - Count on? - Yeah.
They don't pressure you like boys like parents.
Uh, pressure? Pressure to succeed, yeah.
Well, you're a very high achiever, Miss Howland.
Student body president.
Valedictorian.
Full scholarship to Amherst.
- All of which went away when you got pregnant.
- Yeah, that's okay.
I mean, I'm totally cool with being a mother.
Is it a coincidence that once you got pregnant seven of the others on the volleyball team did the same? It's not my fault that people want to be like me.
I'm a natural leader.
They look to you as an example.
It was my idea that we all get a house together help each other raise our kids.
- Where would the money come from? - Oh.
Um, I mean, we'd all put in.
I'd figured out how much we'd need.
- $5,000 each? - That's right.
Wait.
How did you know? - You said it wasn't a pact.
- Mm-mmm.
Then how do you explain that four of you got pregnant from the same boy? He seems an unlikely choice.
Clinton wasn't a choice.
I didn't plan the baby.
I'd just found out I'd won the scholarship and my parents started to plan my whole life.
I just went to the park.
I couldn't breathe.
I couldn't think.
Too much pressure? Yeah.
And Clinton was there.
And I was crying, and I just - I felt like I was being banished.
You know? I mean, nobody asked me what I wanted.
And Clinton understood.
And he held my hand, and he let me cry.
And, you know, one thing led to another.
- And he's been great.
- Great how? Well, he's a kid.
You know, he doesn't really want to raise kids.
Right.
Maybe that's why the other girls chose him to get them pregnant.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it's going to be great.
We all are gonna have these cute kids, and we'll all be there for each other.
Except Ashley.
Yeah.
What exactly are we doing? I couldn't see any contusions around the ear.
But perimortem bruising is often only visible under certain light wavelengths.
- You're using colorimetrics? - That's right.
I read an article in a forensic journal.
A Japanese scientist published his study.
We read the same article.
Could you turn on the U.
V.
light? Look at that.
- Are you switching teams, Mr.
Vaziri? - No, no.
My preference is forensics anthropology.
But Dr.
Saroyan's use of colorimetrics was thrilling.
Look at the monitor.
Assuming sufficient force that perimortem bruising explains your stapes fracture.
The bruise is directly on top of the vagus nerve.
- And? - Cowabunga! - What? - When the vagus nerve is triggered with enough force the victim will go into cardiac arrest and die.
You have discovered the cause of death.
- The tissue damage is distributed evenly.
- What does that indicate? That it was a single blow.
Whatever did this is completely flat and round.
- Some kind of hammer? - Anyone interested in our mysterious red fiber? You identified the vehicle? Late model German sedan.
Mercedes or BMW.
Let Booth know.
And, uh, just so you know, Arastoo is praying again.
- Either that, or he's doing a very repetitive yoga move.
- Is that appropriate in the lab? Some of us take coffee breaks.
Some of us take smoke breaks.
- Mr.
Vaziri takes a spiritual break.
- Who smokes? Nobody.
Not very often anyway.
Just very rarely in times of great stress.
If you had released the remains to me when I'd asked and Mr.
Vaziri had removed the flesh, then we'd never have found cause of death.
- Thank you.
- Why are you thanking me? I'm simply stating a fact.
I'm thanking you for stating the fact that you were wrong.
Oh.
You're welcome.
The odds of hitting the vagus nerve by accident are very slight.
So do you think this was done by someone who knew what they were doing? Yes.
Someone who's very familiar with human anatomy.
Like a physiologist or a doctor or a chiropractor.
Let's check out the victim's chiropractor's ride.
So Dr.
Fitts drives a 2007 BMW sedan.
- So you got a warrant? - There are 1,208 BMW sedans in D.
C.
- So you didn't get a warrant? - But how many of those drivers know how to kill using the vagus nerve? And how many of those drivers had access to the victim? And owned chiropractic tools we might be able to match with the murder weapon? Guys, no warrant.
If Booth and I hadn't questioned Dr.
Fitts, we could mount one of our clever undercover operations.
Hey, not me.
But I do have a great idea.
How long have we been married? Just concentrate on your symptoms.
That's all he's gonna ask about.
- Okay.
- I'll look for this thing here.
Brennan says it's the murder weapon.
So you heard about me and Roxie? Yeah.
I'm sorry.
Oh, no.
Really, it's absolutely fine.
- Okay.
- I also had a little afternoon delight with Hodgins.
But let's just say it's not really his thing.
Again, I'm sorry.
No.
It's totally fine.
Then why are you telling me? Brennan approves of the way that I conduct my love life.
Oh.
Yeah.
What's wrong with living in the moment? Nothing.
Nothing, as long as it's working for you.
Oh, it is, definitely.
- If it weren't - - No, it-it-it is.
- Well, if it weren't - - It is.
If it weren't, I'd suggest to you - - What? - You won't like it.
Oh, no.
I'm-I'm - I'm happy living in the moment.
What you say is merely interesting.
Well, what I would advise you to do is remove sex from the situation.
I don't like that.
You're a beautiful woman.
You're confident in your sexuality, which is laudable.
- But you need to connect with people on another level.
- Why? Why? Because sexual attraction's only one facet of the human romantic experience.
So don't have sex? I-I'd suggest you be celibate for, say, six months.
Oh, my God.
Six months? Why not 10 years? You asked my opinion, and that's it.
Forego sex in favor of other connections.
Shouldn't we have, like, a cover story in order to reassure the chiropractor that we're married? Mr.
Sweets? - Yeah.
- Um - Okay, honey.
We're up.
This is us- a happily married couple.
Uh, help me, please.
- Okay.
- Thank you.
So you've had some discomfort in your lower back? Uh, yeah, yeah.
As a fireman, I often have to carry heavy - - Oh! - Oh, that's very tight.
That's very tight.
- What are you- Oh, God! What are you doing? - Okay.
Um, frankly, these knots I feel in your lumbar region are more congruent with sitting hunched over a desk than they are pulling people from a burning building.
Well, he's not a fireman yet, Dr.
Fitts.
- He's just training.
- Oh.
Yeah, almost.
Another week.
He spends a little too much time on the Internet.
Well, I feel knots in your lumbar region.
I'm gonna give you a minor adjustment.
Now, this won't hurt.
But you will feel some pressure.
Not as much as you.
# One night to be confused # # One night to speed up truth # # We had a promise made # # Four hands and then away # # Both under influence # # We had divine sense # # To know what to say # # Mind is a razor blade # # To call for hands of above # # To lean on # # Wouldn't be good enough # # For me, no # # One night of magic rush # # The start, a simple touch # # One night to push and scream # # And then relief # # Ten days of perfect tunes # # The colors red and blue # # We had a promise made # # We were in love # Ashley needed $5,000 to leave home and raise her baby.
So she tries to blackmail her coach.
But it didn't work, because he'd never had sex with her.
Right.
So she has to go and seduce the chiropractor and threatens him with statutory rape if he doesn't pay up.
- He killed her.
- God.
That's horrible.
Wow.
So, um, are the rest of the girls still renting a house together? Right.
You know what I don't get? How is it that eight beautiful girls could just give up their whole lives during high school? - It's a rational decision.
- On what planet? - Earth.
- Earth? Given the current environment, the paradigm within which a group of girls band together to raise their offspring has merit.
Without their fathers? Anthropologically speaking, those girls have grown up in a culture that reinforces the sad truism that women cannot count on men.
Don't say "men" like that.
Men do not like a world without responsibility.
But that boy whom those young girls chose as their sperm donor he seemed more than happy with the arrangement.
- Booth? - You're right.
I know.
Who you calling? Clinton.
Listen, it's Agent Booth.
I need to talk to you.
- The kid? - Listen, meet me at the Royal Diner in 20 minutes.
Yeah, just get there, okay? Thanks.
I'm buying.
- Look, I know you want to come along and all, but - No, I get it.
Go alone.
It's a guy-to-guy thing.
Thanks.
Why did the chiropractor kill Ashley? Well, Ashley seduced him and tried to blackmail him.
- So he murdered her? Dude.
- Yeah.
You know, Ashley needed money to raise her baby.
Your baby.
You didn't think those girls would have sex with me because I can't bench-press enough.
You know what? D.
N.
A.
tests, they proved that I was wrong.
- Yes.
- So-Yeah.
- I owe you an apology.
- I did - - I told you.
- Yeah.
You know what? You are a smart kid.
- I know.
- You're also a real smart-ass kid.
Okay? There's something I want you to think about.
All right? Sex is never free and easy.
- I beg to differ.
- Because the fact is any one of these girls, they could change their mind and you would be paying child support for the rest of your life.
You are responsible for bringing their children into the world.
Whether they think so or not, they are your responsibility.
Your children, your responsibility.
Do you understand? And what you do about that will define what kind of man you are.
- No.
Hold on a second.
- But if you ignore that ignore your children, that's exactly what you're gonna become.
A loser, a deadbeat for the rest of your life.
You know what? There's something else that you should think about.
Ashley Clark.
She was gonna have your baby.
According to our pathologist, it was gonna be a boy.
A boy? Mm-hmm.
A son who died with his mother.
Why'd you have to tell me all that for? Because you needed to hear it.
Do you understand? Yes.
# Sharing different heartbeats # # In one night # # To call for hands of above # # To lean on # # Wouldn't be good enough # # For me, no # # To call for hands of above # # To lean on # # Wouldn't be good enough # What's that mean?