Bones Episode 7.03 The Prince in the Plastic

ACT ONE

Matt and Karen Garelik sift through a trash-filled ravine looking for goodies they can bring back to their antique shop. An old refrigerator shifts and tumbles down the hill toward the couple. It misses them and pushes a large crate across the open field. The couple notices a plastic wrapped gelatinous mass that was under the crate. Matt goes to see what it is and trips over some trash. He falls on top of the mass to reveal a decaying skull within the plastic wrap.

Booth, Brennan, and Sweets grab coffee at Capital Grind and discuss the possibility of Sweets becoming certified to carry a gun. Booth is against the idea, but Sweets feels having a gun would be beneficial since Brennan won't be in the field as much due to her pregnancy. Brennan supports Sweets getting his gun certification. Sweets changes the subject by asking how the couple's house hunt is going. Their hunt has come to a stall, because Brennan wants an acre of land and Booth wants a man cave.

In the lab, Brennan tells Cam and Daisy that the liquid and remains were encased in the bag when the sunlight melted and fused the bag and the plastic wrap the body was wrapped in. Cam notes that the liquefaction would have taken around two weeks. Daisy attaches an air compressor to the body bag while Cam makes small incisions on the plastic wrap. As the air enters the bag, the plastic lifts and separates from the body, as a jellied mess of flesh and bone falls into containers. They open up the bag to reveal the bones. Brennan notes the victim was a female in her thirties. Cam reaches into the bag and pulls out a Prince Charmington Doll. Brennan is not familiar with the doll, but Daisy wonders why someone would want to hurt Prince Charmington.

ACT TWO

Hodgins sifts through the goop, handing off chunks of bone and organs to Daisy. Daisy notices that parts of Mr. Charmington came out of the bag as well. Daisy pulls up some X-rays to show Cam. There are compound fractures on the victim's vertebra, scapula, humorous, and ulna that were sustained at time of death. The victim also had another set of injuries that occurred when she was a child. Cam thinks it could have been child abuse. Angela joins them on platform to pull up an image of the victim's handprint. The print belongs to Debra Cortez, who was reported missing two weeks ago by her brother.

Booth and Sweets question Debbie's brother, Rick Cortez. He explains that Debbie was not abused, but was the only survivor of a small plane crash when she was a child. Rick tells them that she was a top executive at Dillio Toy Company. Sweets sees in Rick's file that he used to work at the company as a security guard. Rick tells them he quit that job, because he was too embarrassed to be the "rent a cop."

In the Bone Room, Brennan shows Angela that she found Colles' fractures on the distal ends of the radii. This leads them to believe that the victim could have fallen and been beaten. Angela says she will scan the bones and run a simulation to try to find the murder weapon.

Angela asks Brennan if she had a Price Charmington doll when she was a child. Brennan explains to her that toys were just a distraction from science. Angela explains to Brennan the importance of playing and that she will need to play with her own daughter. Brennan picks up the Prince Charmington and attempts to play with him. Brennan enjoys incorporating science into her playtime with the prince, and Angela isn't too sure about Brennan's version of playing.

Brennan and Booth visit Dillio Toys. They speak with the CEO, Bianca Chiverton. Bianca explains how Debbie had many successful toys at the company. They head to the company's testing area where they watch children play with Debbie's latest hit, Luv Muttz. The toy is a huge success. Bianca explains how other VP's, one in particular-Lawrence Deighton, could have been jealous of Debbie's success. They watch Lawrence in a different test room where he struggles to get a child tester to play with his toy. A frustrated Lawrence comes out of the test room, and yells at Bianca, complaining Debbie didn't even show up today. Brennan tells him that he is a prime suspect in this murder case.

ACT THREE

Booth and Brennan question Lawrence. Lawrence says that he and Debbie were competitors but that he never wanted her dead. He noticed that lately Debbie had been calling in "sick" and that she was always texting during meetings. He believes that Debbie was seeing someone but doesn't know who it was.

Daisy comes to the Ookey Room to inform Hodgins that there is a piece of metal in the victim's vertebra, and Cam would like him to try to ID it. Hodgins is still sifting through the gooey remains, and finds the prince's leg. The leg seems to be burned and Hodgins finds traces of the plastic wrap on the charred area. As King of the Lab, Hodgins is determined to find what burned the prince's leg.

Brennan visits an agitated Angela in her office. Angela has been trying to put together a toy she bought for Michael for hours with no success. They decide to look at the bone scan instead. The victim has compound fractures on her T-7, scapula, humorous, and ulna. Brennan notes how all the damage is limited to one area. Angela arranges the bones for the victim's right arm above her head, and her left hand at her side. The injuries line up, but the two wonder what type of large weapon would have been able to cause such injuries.

Booth and Daisy are on their way back to Dillio Toys. Daisy is excited to be in the field, but asks Booth why he isn't supportive of Sweets getting a gun. Booth tries to make it clear that the two of them are only to talk about the case.

Booth and Daisy meet up with Bianca, who tells them that Debbie's access card was last used in the prototype lab. Bianca reluctantly takes them into the lab. Daisy finds plastic wrap and takes a sample for Hodgins to test against the type the victim was wrapped in. Booth notices a loading dock door that seems to be broken and has splintered aluminum. Daisy pulls out her UV light to survey the area. She finds blood on the floor, and believes this is where Debbie was murdered.

ACT FOUR

Sweets practices at the shooting range. Daisy surprises him and is quite turned on by seeing Sweets with a gun. Sweets becomes distracted with Daisy around, but Daisy helps Sweets imagine his target as an attacker and it helps Sweets stay focused.

Hodgins tells Cam that the piece of aluminum in Debbie's vertebra was a match for the loading dock door. Hodgins also explains that the damage to the dock door was caused by a car jack. The murderer may have tried to prop the door open. Cam wonders if Debbie was just in wrong place at the wrong time.

Brennan allows Daisy to show her the autopsy of Prince Charmington. Daisy explains to Brennan that the leg of the doll was hand assembled. A worker would thread a rubber band through the torso. The band ripped, as if there was a fight over the doll. Brennan wonders why someone would fight over a doll, but Daisy informs her that this doll is from the original collection from 1967 and is worth over $10,000.

Angela has gone through Debbie's computer and shows Cam what she has found. On the Angelatron, they see that Debbie had an alert setup for a toy auction website to let her know when vintage Dillio toys were offered. However, Angela explains that Debbie wasn't interested in buying but in the sellers. Angela pulls up messages between Debbie and one seller, "The only original toy in existence was at Dillio HQ. You stole it. If you don't return everything you took, I'm calling the cops." The reply to her threat is "I'm warning you, Debbie, stay out of it." Angela traced the IP address of the seller - it belongs to Debbie's brother, Rick.

Sweet and Booth are on the way to find Debbie's brother. They find Rick by his car. Booth opens Rick's trunk and finds vintage toys as well as a car jack. Things don't look so good for Rick.

ACT FIVE

Booth interrogates Rick again. Booth shows Rick the Prince Charmington doll that was found with Debbie's body. Rick is overcome with emotion upon seeing the doll. The Prince was the last thing their mother gave to Debbie. Rick tells Booth he can arrest him for stealing, but he did not kill his sister.

Booth comes home to Brennan, who urges Booth to not get too attached to the case. Booth feels for Debbie who suffered through childhood to make something of herself. Brennan assures him that finding Debbie's killer will honor her memory. Brennan voices her fears about not being able to connect or play with their daughter. Booth thinks that Brennan will be a great mom, because the two of them connect as a couple.

Hodgins shows Cam a petri dish holding the victim's fingernail. He explains there are epithelial cells under the nail. Hodgins believes it may have been from a struggle. They may have some of the killer's DNA.

Cam goes to Angela's office to see her still struggling to put together Michael's toy. Angela has had enough. Hodgins enters, and Angela demands that he use his brilliant scientist mind to put the toy together. Cam leaves the couple to complete the toy for their son.

Sweets shows up at the shooting range for his test, and is surprised to find Booth is his Range Master. Booth tells Sweets he needs to be ready for anything. The test starts, and Sweets hits the targets he is supposed to. Sweets fires at his last target, but the bullet catches on a metal bracket and ricochets back to hit him in the arm. Sweets makes sure that he is finishes the test. Booth rushes over to look at Sweets' arm. Sweets will probably have a scar from the cut, but Booth is pleased and thinks Sweets definitely has his back.

Daisy comes to the Autopsy Room when she hears Cam is looking for her. Cam tells Daisy that the DNA found under the victim's nail belongs to Brock Vorback. Cam tells Daisy that Brock is a former soldier who also worked for Dillio Toys. Daisy informs Cam that Brock plays Prince Charmington. She saw him last year at the mall, dressed as the prince, signing the dolls. They both wonder if Brock is the secret man in Debbie's life.

ACT SIX

Booth and Sweets question Brock. Brock is shocked to hear the news about Debbie. Booth mentions his DNA under Debbie's nails, but Brock tells him that Debbie was a passionate lover. Brock explains that dating coworkers was against company policy, and Debbie wanted to leave Dillio on good terms. Debbie was planning to quit her job and go out on her own with her ideas. Brock assumed when he didn't hear from her that it didn't work out, and that she didn't want to have anything to do with him.

Hodgins tells Brennan and Cam that the heat that burned Prince Charmington was from lead sulfate from a car battery. This means that the plastic was burned while the victim's body was being transported. Cam thinks that there wouldn't be enough room for a body in a car engine. However, Hodgins also found fibers of Berber Wool, which is usually used in Maseratis. The wool is a liner for their trunks, and the battery for Maseratis are in the trunk. Brennan tells them she will have Booth check to see who drives a Maserati at Dillio.

Booth and Brennan corner Bianca at her Maserati in the Dillio parking lot. Booth demands her car keys. Brennan opens up the trunk and uses her UV light to look for evidence. Brennan finds traces of blood by the battery. Bianca tells them that without Debbie, the company would have suffered. Bianca claims that she tried to stop her from leaving, but Debbie tripped as the door was coming down. Brennan tells her that Debbie suffocated and that Bianca could have released the door to save her.

Daisy comes to see Sweets in his office. She is immediately turned on at the sight of Sweets with his gun.

Angela and Michael come to visit in Brennan's office. Angela admits she has been defeated by the toy. She is going to pay the toy store to put it together. Angela asks if Brennan wants to join her and Michael on the trip to the store, and Brennan happily accepts.

Booth comes home to his apartment. Brennan pops out and pelts Booth with foam balls from a toy gun. Brennan tells Booth that at the toy store she and Michael both found this toy amusing. Brennan bought two guns: one for her and one for their daughter. Booth grabs the second gun, and the couple proceeds to have a shoot out.