Bones Episode 5.09 The Gamer in the Grease

A FATHER and SON collect grease from a grease receptacle at a fast food chain. When the hose clogs, the men open the tank to find the source of the blockage: a BLOATED CORPSE!

BRENNAN and BOOTH meet CAM on the scene. The victim has been submerged in grease for two weeks and is missing all clothing. Brennan is not pleased that the remains are fleshy. Why is she here? Booth admits he thought his partner would enjoy the find despite the lack of bone. Brennan promptly walks away. Cam enlists FBI Techs to move the corpse. All the skin slips off, revealing bone. Brennan happily returns to work.

At the Lab, COLIN FISHER shares his good fortune. He won tickets to a screening of Avatar and he is taking HODGINS and SWEETS with him. Hodgins realizes their excitement over a science fiction film may not go over well with the ladies. Fisher is not concerned. He has slept with almost a hundred women. Sweets' jaw drops.

On the Forensic Platform, Brennan and Fisher determine the victim was beaten and stabbed. Yet, those injuries are not cause of death. Cam found grease in the lungs. The victim drowned and was cooked to death. Brennan and Fisher go back to the bones. Occupational markers include a pronounced leftward lean, constant pressure on the collarbone and canine bite marks on the tibia. It seems the victim was a mail carrier.

At the FBI, Booth shows Brennan the Postal ID Card of STEVE RIFTON, 26. Booth had already determined that the victim's postal route overlaps with that of the grease truck. The partners proceed to the Conference Room where JILL RIFTON waits. She is saddened that her husband's life ended just as he was enjoying success. He recently achieved a perfect score in Punky Pong and became the reigning world champion.

In the Ookey Room, Fisher soaks the corpse in beer to remove the flesh. Sweets is fascinated but Hodgins has other things on his mind. He leads them to Angela's Office to watch the Avatar trailer. Hodgins suggests they should be in line right now. ANGELA is not happy to find her equipment is being used to watch movies. She angrily orders them out.

Steve Rifton had a clean record except for one complaint: Keith Seeger claimed that Rifton behaved oddly around his son. Booth and Brennan arrive at the Seeger Home to find fourteen-year-old DOUGIE SEEGER focusing intently on a game of Punky Pong. KEITH SEEGER explains that his son is autistic and Keith became concerned when he found Steve staring at him three months ago. Booth relates that Rifton was the Punky Pong World Champion. Steve was staring at the game, not at Dougie.

Angela gives Brennan a run down of Punky Pong. It's a classic game that has a large following. World records can only be obtained on vintage arcade machines and only 1500 in remain in operating condition. She pulls up a video of Billy Gabel, the former Punky Pong World Champion. "I am the rightful and eternal world champion and you are dead!"

At the FBI, Sweets reviews the footage of Billy Gabel. He believes that Gabel could have committed murder. Booth recruits Sweets to come with them to meet Gabel.

At the Lab, Hodgins hurriedly presents his findings to Cam while covering for Fisher. He found three particulates that were all "uncooked" by the grease, meaning they transferred to the body from the murder weapon. The particulates include part of a cricket, fescue grass and a silk fiber. Hodgins heads off to "find" Fisher, leaving a confused Cam.

Booth, Brennan and Sweets confront BILLY GABEL at his workshop as he repairs a vintage arcade game. Gabel doesn't blame Rifton for stealing his title. He blames Chris Ballinger. Ballinger is head of the Gemini Constellation, the organization that decides Punky Pong World Records. Ballinger accepted Rifton's videotape as proof of a perfect score. Rifton and Ballinger then went on tour together, traveling to tournaments and signing autographs. Now Ballinger is in business with a female gamer. Gabel thinks Ballinger killed Rifton.

Hodgins meets Fisher outside the movie theater. He encourages Fisher to get back to the lab. Cam needs him. Fisher sets up a tent and leaves Hodgins with boxed wine and meat tarts before heading off.

At the Lab, Fisher arrives just in time to tell Cam that the marks on the pelvis were made by a hollow weapon. He doubts the same weapon caused the injuries to the skull but he did find metal shavings on both wounds. Hodgins can probably determine their origin.

Booth, Brennan and Sweets stroll through The Ref's Video Arcade. Booth badges CHRIS BALLINGER. Ballinger explains that his business commitments forced him to bring on DEIRDRE RYAN as his new partner when Rifton failed to show up for work. Brennan approaches a vintage Punky Pong arcade game. She can tell it's been scrubbed but discovers blood evidence. Game over.

At the FBI, Booth interrogates Ballinger. He paid Rifton $12,000 for his vintage arcade game. Ballinger considers it a sound investment. Gamers are willing to pay a lot of money to play on the machine that achieved a perfect score. As far as the blood goes, many of his customers get nosebleeds. Ballinger wants a lawyer.

Sweets is reading when he is approached by TORY PAYNE, a sci-fi groupie who wants to get better acquainted. Sweets mentions that he has a girlfriend but Tory isn't discouraged. She lifts her top to show off her tattoos.

In the Bone Room, Fisher and Hodgins study the head wound. The weapon had a smooth, round edge. Hodgins relates that what he thought was silk is actually a thread from a peacock feather. He rushes to relieve Sweets, instructing Fisher to cover for him.

Angela and Cam watch the footage of Rifton's world record win. All that is visible is the screen and it lasts for three hours. Angela confirms that the tape is authentic. Cam realizes that the injuries the monkey suffers in the game mimic the victim's real life injuries.

Meanwhile, Tory Payne has made herself comfortable on Sweets' lap. Hodgins arrives just as she is about to kiss him. Sweets is a bit embarrassed. He explains that an opening in his schedule allowed him to wait in line longer so he sends Hodgins away.

Cam has discovered that the blood on the arcade game came from many different people, none of them the victim. Fisher presents Brennan with a mikrosil cast of the head wound. The team searches the Punky Pong machine to see if anything could have caused the wound to the groin. Fisher opens an access panel and reaches in, injuring himself on the control stick. Brennan notes that the resulting injury is similar to the marks on the pelvis. Billy Gabel has the exact same piping at this workshop.

When Booth and Brennan arrive to search Billy Gabel's workshop, they find Deirdre Ryan. She stopped by for vintage arcade game parts but Booth thinks they worked in collusion to murder Rifton. Gabel denies it. Brennan finds the piping that may have caused the injuries. She needs to analyze it back at the lab.

Inside the tent, Sweets and Tory drink boxed wine. Tory beings to unbutton Sweets' shirt. Sweets reminds her that he has a girlfriend but she kisses him anyway. Sweets is powerless. He calls Hodgins for backup.

Fisher and Brennan continue to work in the Bone Room. There is evidence of resorption on the scaphiod. Brennan deduces that Steve Rifton suffered from a painful condition caused by extreme stress on the wrist. He wouldn't have been capable of playing Punky Pong. Rifton must have cheated.

In the Ookey Room, Hodgins bends steel pipes from Gabel's workshop. None of the pipes shatter. They didn't cause the victim's injuries. Angela arrives, shocked to find her face tattooed on Hodgins' shoulder. She can't believe what her father has done and tells Hodgins to have it removed.

Sweets is having trouble evading Tory Payne. Fisher arrives to relieve him and Tory sets her sights on a new target. After all, Fisher works with the dead and that is hot. The two retreat into the tent, leaving Sweets on the sidewalk.

Angela has analyzed the computer chip in Steve Rifton's Punky Pong machine. One perfect game was played on it. Rifton must have done it before he developed his wrist condition. Brennan compares the video of the perfect game to Rifton's Punky Pong machine. They don't match. The machine in the videotape does not belong to Steve Rifton. The only other machine Rifton had access to was in the Seeger garage.

Brennan has both Punky Pong machines on the Forensic Platform. Hodgins arrives with news. The murder weapon was covered in excrement from the Indian Blue Peacock. The cricket, fescue grass and feather came to be on the weapon through the excrement. Indian Blue Peacocks can be found at Annapolis Valley Golf Club. The murder weapon could be a golf club.

Hodgins meets Sweets at the movie theater. Tory and Fisher are "getting acquainted" inside the tent. Hodgins can see that Sweets feels bad. How could Fisher have been with so many women? Hodgins explains that Fisher has only slept with each woman once. Sweets has been with Daisy multiple times, likely more than one hundred times. He has had a quality experience with the woman he loves. Sweets feels better and the line starts to move. They decide to leave Fisher and Tory to finish getting acquainted.

At the Seeger Home, Booth and Brennan inspect Keith Seeger's golf clubs. He is a member of Annapolis Valley Golf Club. Dougie stands in the corner, lost without his game. Brennan finds nothing amiss with the golf clubs. None of these is the murder weapon. Booth notices that the three iron is missing. Keith is caught. He explains that Rifton took the only thing that Dougie had: his game. He videotaped his son. Keith beat Rifton with a golf club until he admitted the truth but Rifton refused to credit Dougie. So he killed him.

At the Lab, Booth and Brennan decide to challenge each other in a game of Punky Pong. Brennan believes she can beat Booth, even though he may have better reflexes. If only she could figure out how to start the game. Booth tosses her a quarter.