(BIRDS CHIRPING)
Come on, Mom, faster.
Party's not gonna set up by itself.
That's the thing, Declan.
- If you would help... - Mom!
(EXHALES DEEPLY) I'm sorry.
Crap, there's another party.
Not for long. I reserved this space.
And if they think that they're gonna stay here,
I'm gonna give them a piece of...
(SCREAMS)
Jeez, Mom. That's how you tell someone that?
(SCREAMING)
(BOTH CONTINUE SCREAMING)
I told Christine that we're checking out a new library.
I hope she's not too disappointed when we take her to the water park instead.
Are you kidding me? Ninety-seven slides, four waterfalls,
and the biggest dunkanator in the state.
(LAUGHS) I'm very much looking forward to it.
I tell you, I was kinda surprised about that.
So, we'll hit up Go Kart World next.
No, go-cart tracks are not known for their high concentration of fecal matter.
There's fecal matter in water parks?
They're known for it.
And studies show that early exposure to E. Coli bacteria
is beneficial to the development of children's immune systems.
Fecal matter, (STUTTERS) like poop?
The longer we stay, the more there will be.
You know what? I'll tell you what. I think it's, uh...
I think we should head to the library. Looks like the weather's gonna change.
- (PHONES RINGING) - Oh.
Oh, this is yours, this is mine.
Oh, look at that. Body was found at Rock Creek Park.
- We should get there ASAP. - Well, I'm sure Aubrey can cover for you.
- No, not this time. - Why?
Why? 'Cause it's very important.
My text says nothing about that.
That's because it's very important.
We'll get your dad to take the kids to the library
and go read a book. Books are good for the soul.
Livor mortis on the remaining tissue
indicates the victim's been dead 10 to 12 hours.
- Why the balloons? - BOOTH: Well, 101, Aubrey.
To make sure the body's found sooner versus later.
Yeah. Got no ID on the corpse. Also it's fresh.
Checked the missing persons, no one reported in the last 12 hours.
There's no evidence of any blood in the vicinity of the remains.
And not in the corpse either. It's largely exsanguinated.
BOOTH: Oh, the victim was killed somewhere else and taken here.
Look at the drag marks. They lead right out to the parking lot.
Well, I got a schematic from the ranger.
Turns out that's the one lot in the park with no cameras.
Well, either the killer got lucky or he planned ahead.
My informed guess is that it's the latter.
Size of the mandibular rami indicates the victim is male.
Yeah, and the gums are in bad shape.
Inner proximal attachment loss is typical of a guy in his 60s.
The diminished tooth sockets are typical of an elderly man,
but the wear on the molars and the incisors
indicates he was in his 40s.
It looks like he had very poor dental care.
There are holes on what's left of the shoes.
It seems like this guy's fallen through the cracks.
Why did the killer choose him?
Why draw all this attention to someone who's completely down on their luck?
That is not relevant unless it helps us solve the case.
Let's get these remains back to the Jeffersonian.
Zygomatic arches indicate the victim was Caucasoid
while the length of the femur suggests
he was approximately five feet, 10 inches tall.
Whew. And rats did this to him?
There's no predation from any other animals.
I've reviewed the X-rays.
There are fragmentation wounds on the left clavicle, scapula and femur.
I've seen fracturing like this before.
There appears to be shrapnel residue.
- IED? - HODGINS: It could be.
Which means this guy might be former military.
There are multiple signs of trauma to the body.
All are consistent with battle.
This is unusual.
Both prepatellar bursae are swollen.
Doesn't both mean it's housemaid's knee?
I don't think this guy was a housemaid.
The condition arises from extensive kneeling.
It is most common in manual laborers.
Well, I've also heard of it in the devoutly religious.
Nuns, monks, priests.
Not many priests have seen combat.
What's wrong?
I need to see the ossicles of the inner ear.
(COMPUTER BEEPING)
Magnify them.
There are fractures on the stapes.
They've remodeled some time ago.
Fourteen years.
How can you be so precise?
(EXHALES) Because Booth has similar fractures.
I need to see your reconstruction.
- Um, I'm nowhere near done. - Please.
Okay.
Can you fill in the hair? (EXHALES DEEPLY)
- Yeah. What color? - Black. It will be black.
(KEYBOARD CLACKING)
Longer.
The eyes are blue.
The nose, can you broaden the alar sidewalls?
- Wait, isn't that... - That's Aldo Clemens.
Who's Aldo Clemens?
ANGELA: He married Booth and Brennan.
He was also the chaplain of Booth's army unit.
Booth said that when he was in trouble, Aldo saved him.
He owed Aldo his life.
(OPENING THEME MUSIC PLAYING)
Aldo was a good man, Seeley. You have my sympathies.
Thanks.
You're right. Sympathy sucks. What do we know?
We've nothing to tie it to anyone at the scene.
Aubrey's digging for witnesses, parking tickets.
- You think anything's gonna come up? - I don't know.
I hear Aldo was in rough shape.
- What was going on with him? - I don't know, Caroline.
I hadn't spoken to him for over a year.
If I know you, you tried.
You know what? I'm not gonna let myself off the hook on this one, all right?
Anytime I needed anything,
anything, Aldo was always there for me.
I'm sure that goes for the other men in your unit, too.
What does that mean?
He took on all their troubles.
It could be he didn't want you getting pulled in, too.
Yeah, well, it's too late. 'Cause I'm gonna find out who did this to him.
Of course you are.
This is a Lepisma saccharina, a.k.a. Silverfish.
So, their diet consists of cellulose and polysaccharides,
basically anything you find in a house.
So, dinner is carpet and dessert is curtains.
So, our guy is not from the park.
No, my guess is that he hitched a ride from wherever the victim was killed.
I'll go have a little chat with him,
see if he can't help us find our way back there.
There are antemortem contusions on the right and left metacarpals.
Suggesting Aldo Clemens was getting into a lot of fights.
I don't get it. He was a priest.
CAM: Well, he left the priesthood after he came back.
Do you know why?
Booth once told me that Aldo never stopped believing in God,
but that his belief no longer comforted him, not after what he'd seen.
So, how could he make it his life's work?
Ugh...
Aubrey is worried about what this will do to Booth.
Yeah, the past is a rabbit hole.
I'm worried about him, too.
Aldo's spiral is unfortunately not an aberration.
Studies show that erratic, self-destructive behavior
is a common post-concussive syndrome
that can manifest years after the initial trauma.
I got concussed, too, Bones.
And I was in the same explosion as Aldo.
I am aware of that because of your brain tumor.
I am also quite familiar with MRIs of your cerebellum.
I'm not concerned for your mental health.
I could have gotten him help.
Perhaps.
But that's in the past.
Moving forward, there's only one thing you can do for Aldo.
Look, if you're gonna tell me to forgive myself, please don't.
Forgiveness would be ineffective.
Okay, then what? I mean, what works?
- Revenge. - That's not me.
- I mean, there are rules. - You will follow those rules.
The act of bringing a murderer to justice
is, anthropologically speaking, a form of revenge.
You have suffered a loss.
Making the killer suffer for that loss will help.
Yeah, well, I hope so, Bones.
Because right now I couldn't feel much worse.
Hey. You got something that could help with the case?
- 'Cause we can use it. - (EXHALES DEEPLY)
This is not about the case.
Where is this from?
Miami International Airport.
He used the name of a Dutch national who's long since dead,
so it took two weeks to
work its way through our fugitive facial recognition system.
He must have made some changes to his face,
but if you're asking for an ID, that's him. That's my dad.
Treasury's been tracking and closing his accounts.
They've squeezed him to the point
where he may be back to dig up whatever remaining assets he has left.
He's running a hell of a risk.
Well, if it's about money, he'll risk it.
He may reach out to you for help.
(SCOFFS) That would be a mistake.
You sound pretty confident about that.
- That man's your father. - And I already turned him in once.
So, it'll be even easier the second time.
You know how Dr. B says that the bones don't just reveal the victim's death?
They also reveal the victim's life.
Unfortunately, the only thing this body is revealing
is sadness, pain and decline.
Oh, fractures from fights, density loss from poor nutrition,
drunken falls.
And this liver tells a story on its own.
Vesicular degeneration makes it pretty clear
he became a heavy drug user.
Well, he had all his teeth, so it wasn't meth.
Well, heroin's the most likely candidate.
It has too short a half-life to show up on a tox screen.
But if we could find his dealer, that might be helpful.
Hold it. I've got an idea.
I thought these scratches on the proximal phalanges
were caused by rat predation.
I never asked why eat the toes
when there's so much good stuff left on the body.
Well, I might not have asked that one either.
Wait, are these scratches needle marks?
They are the right depth and appropriate length.
I'm hoping there's trace amounts of heroin on the bones.
Well, if so, it wouldn't metabolize the way it does in the blood stream.
Ask Hodgins to swab for particulates.
(INDISTINCT TALKING)
- Tom Ellis? - Police?
FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth.
And I'm his partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan.
We're here to ask you questions about Aldo Clemens.
- What'd Aldo do? - He died last night.
Well, if you guys are here, I assume it was murder.
You don't seem too upset about it.
I liked Aldo.
Hated having to fire him, but that's the way it goes, right?
Why'd you fire him?
He was stealing from the tip jar.
You fought with him. His facial bones are broken,
there's extensive fracturing to the ribs.
You hit him so hard, your hand was broken.
Who told you about that?
It's poorly set, which I can see.
I also checked your hospital records because I do thorough research.
She's good.
It was self-defense. He came at me.
Now, where were you yesterday?
I was working here at the bar.
I close up at 5:00 a.m.
You can check it out with any of my regulars.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
Can you think of anyone who may have wanted to hurt Aldo?
He was spinning out of control.
He would have done anything for his next fix.
Who was his dealer?
No idea. Never saw him, didn't want to.
But I heard Aldo call him, begging him, promising him anything.
He just didn't have the money.
If Aldo tried anything with him,
he might not have gone easy on him like I did.
There are fractures on the left fifth and sixth ribs, the nasal bones
and the zygomatic process of the left maxilla.
BRENNAN: They're impact fractures
most likely caused by Aldo's fight with Tom Ellis, which was a month ago.
There are additional fractures on the ribs
which appear to be more recent.
Take a look, Miss Warren.
Could those have been caused by the same assailant?
The amount of remodeling indicates
the damage is no more than two weeks old.
That is not consistent with what Tom Ellis told Booth and me.
But the directionality of the wounds indicates a left-handed assailant.
- Isn't Tom Ellis right-handed? - He is.
Someone else is responsible for these wounds.
If you're noticing a zip in my roll,
it's because I'm officially extremely excited.
I swabbed the needle marks on the proximal phalanges.
I came up with heroin particulates.
WARREN: Did you find enough particulates
to run a chromatographic impurity profile analysis?
Yeah, nine whole micrograms.
Angela's running a signature profile now.
So, Aldo was shooting a cocktail
of codeine, Phenobarbital, ascorbic acid, finely ground glass...
Glass? How does that happen?
It's actually a fairly common adulterant.
What's interesting is the high proportion of diamorphine hydrochloride.
That's the actual heroin.
It suggests Aldo's drugs came from a high-end dealer.
Oh, then we should be able to identify him.
The DEA maintains this database of known and suspected dealers in the area.
If we can just enter the proportion that Hodgins gave us,
we should be able to narrow this down.
All right, well that's a lot better than where we started.
We can narrow that further. How many are left-handed?
Uh... I don't think that's included on the rap sheets.
Hmm.
Bring up their photos.
(BEEPING)
The left clavicle on this one is higher than the right.
That's an indication of handedness.
Well, also his left deltoid is slightly more developed.
And he parts his hair to the right. I mean, most lefties do that.
ANGELA: Jake Tompkins.
I'll call Booth and let him know.
(CAR DOOR CLOSES)
AUBREY: So, this hood isn't exactly screaming drug dealer.
Are you sure we got the right address?
Well, Tompkins is not your, you know, usual drug dealer.
He runs a very efficient business.
Well, I mean, he has to have slipped up somewhere,
otherwise he wouldn't be in the database.
He was charged, but he was never convicted, you know.
Like you said, he's very careful.
(DOORBELL RINGING)
Yo.
- (DOORBELL CONTINUES RINGING) - (BOOTH WHISTLES)
Jake Tompkins?
- FBI. Special Agent Seeley Booth. - Special Agent James Aubrey.
- How can I help you? - Ask you a few questions.
When was the last time you saw Aldo Clemens?
- Sorry, I don't know him. - Look at the photo, Jake. Okay?
Clemens was found dead this morning. We know that you were his dealer.
Okay, I think we're done here. I don't know anything about drugs.
And just so we're super clear on that, I'm gonna go call my lawyer.
Okay, you do that. Call your lawyer, he'll get you out in no time.
- But that's when I get started. - What is that supposed to mean?
I'll be all over you. Whatever you do, buy, sell, I'll be watching you.
That's actually called harassment.
It is. It's called harassment.
Do you really want to do that to your business, Jake?
Look, we're just after whoever actually killed Aldo Clemens.
My hunch is killing isn't exactly your thing.
Answer some questions and I'll be out of your life.
I might have known this guy.
If I did,
I would have dropped him as a client months ago.
- He run out of money? - No.
They always find the money. Aldo had become a risk.
Some guy was following him. So, I cut him off.
Who was following Aldo? You got a name?
I can't even tell you what he looked like.
It was some guy in a crappy car. I thought he was a cop.
He drove by a few times. He never got out of the car.
Sorry, I wish I could be more help.
- Yeah, well, actually, you know what? - What are you doing?
It's one of those video doorbells that record you, right?
Yes, it is. Do you know how much that thing cost me?
A lot. They're very expensive.
But it's good for you, because then it'll confirm your story.
Thank you very much for this.
- Hey. Honey, let's go home. It's late. - Mmm-hmm.
Almost finished. I'm gonna be done in a second.
Oh, no, you won't.
Do not tell me that you are operating on a silverfish.
Well, it's more like a scenic journey through its digestive tract.
Okay. I'll be in my office.
Hold on, Angie. Look what I found.
(BEEPS)
Oh, wow. That's actually kind of beautiful.
Right?
So, this is just the sort of saccharide most silverfish love to munch on.
In this case, it's a highly magnified particulate
of professional grade acoustic foam.
So, if that bug hitched a ride on Aldo's body...
- We need to call Booth. - Oh, Brennan said Booth's busy.
What, too busy to hear about this?
Trust me, it's important.
- Sergeant. It's been a while. - Yeah, too long.
- Wish this were a different occasion. - Yeah. Me, too.
Who killed him, Seeley?
I don't know, Dave, but I'm gonna find out.
- Need my help? - No, I'm good.
But either of you two ever hear from Aldo before he went missing?
- Not me. - No, he wasn't easy to find.
Well, if you hear anything just let me know.
It's my job now to take care of things. Okay?
Sure, Booth. We'll sit and wait for that to happen.
You know what, Ted, I'm not here to get into this with you right now.
- It's about Aldo. - Guess that's what it takes.
One of us dying before he comes around here.
Oh, come on, Ted, you know he had nothing to do with Father Clemens' murder.
What did Booth do to help him stay alive?
Not enough.
We all could've been more in touch with him.
He's the reason that we're all home. At least for me, I'm grateful.
McKINNEY: For what?
He moved on, started a family.
It wasn't that easy for the rest of us.
Look, Ted, I can't make up for not being around, but I'm here now.
It's too late for that.
I'm done with you like you were done with all of us.
It's very late.
I didn't hear you come in.
Well, I wanted to let you sleep.
Didn't go well with the men?
(EXHALES)
These guys saw hell.
And most of them are still paying the price.
You feel the effects of war, too, Booth.
Yeah. Yeah, but I got lucky.
I had a great family, a great life.
Got all this.
- You were an addict, just like Aldo. - Yeah.
Unlike him, you got help.
Yeah, but you're in my corner. That's the difference.
Aldo had no one.
- (BEEPS) - Hey. I just dropped off Jessica.
And let me guess, you thought you might check in
to see what I'm getting from Tompkins' video doorbell.
Looks like it's rough going.
I thought those things actually worked.
They do. They record everyone that comes to the door,
but it's got such a small hard drive,
so once it's full, it just records over itself.
So, it's useless.
Well, no, not exactly.
Stuff doesn't actually disappear, it just gets jumbled.
I was able to plug in this facial recognition software
to isolate the times that Aldo came to the house.
Is that him? I can't see it.
Oh, that's because you're not looking at Aldo,
you're looking at what's behind him.
I'm trying to isolate the car that was following him.
Well, that's a few too many times to be a coincidence.
Yeah, agreed.
Now we just have to figure out who's driving it.
Miss Warren, you wanted to see me?
I was re-examining the spinal column
and I found these fractures on the C1 and C2.
They suggest that the vertebrae were severely displaced.
Which indicates a hyperflexion fracture.
The neck was snapped at the C2 vertebra.
That would cause complete paralysis of all muscles below the brainstem.
Yes. The lungs cease functioning,
resulting in a complete loss of oxygen to the brain.
Cause of death wasn't exsanguination, it was this fracture.
- Uh, Dr. Brennan... - Yes?
Didn't your father come back into your life after spending years as a fugitive?
You're concerned about what Aubrey will do
if he finally comes face to face with his dad?
How can he live with himself if he turns in his own father?
My father had abandoned me and my brother,
he was a fugitive from justice.
(EXHALES) I certainly never anticipated
that we would manage to have a positive relationship.
How did you make that happen?
By opening myself to the fact that
his actions, while partially his fault, were necessitated by events.
He's a much better man than the one I had built him up to be.
So, there's a chance that can happen for Aubrey?
Statistically, there's always a chance, Miss Warren.
There's been another sighting.
- Where? - It's a financial record.
Tell me, is there any difference between a latte and a latte macchiato?
Wait. I don't understand how a financial record is a sighting.
We'll get to that.
With the latte you add your espresso shot to the steamed milk
and with the macchiato it's the reverse.
- And you taste the difference? - Absolutely.
I don't buy it.
So, where was he seen?
Well, we have good evidence, but not eyewitnesses,
from a wire office in Atlanta.
There was a transfer for $9,000 from an overseas account
that's tied to an alias previously used by Philip Aubrey.
All right. Small office, high volume.
Clientele is primarily alien laborers.
And the amount transferred is just a hair under
the FDIC notification threshold.
That's definitely him.
- Now he's got cash, he may go under. - (CELL PHONE RINGS)
He's here for a reason.
He's making his way north, he'll surface.
Aubrey.
Hey, so, I was able to filter out most of the visual noise
from the doorbell video.
Did you find the vehicle that was following Aldo?
Yeah. I'll send you a link.
It's a '97 Intrepid.
Did you get a plate number?
I couldn't from this angle,
so I went through all the traffic cams in the area.
The car belongs to Ted McKinney.
He's former military. He actually served in Booth's unit.
Booth's not gonna like this.
Me either, sir. That is not something I wanted to see.
- You think I killed Aldo, you're nuts. - I don't know what to think.
Why were you following him?
That's my business.
Well, you're in here, so it becomes my business now.
You really think Booth's the right guy for this?
- They have a history. - I can't think of anyone better.
Recognize that car?
- It might be mine. - It might be yours.
Uh, I think it's yours, because that is you inside of the car.
- Following Aldo. - That's not true.
That's not true? Come on. Ted, look at this.
I can pull all these video stills up.
Come on. We have enough here to build a case.
You want to tell me what's going on?
- What happened that night? - Okay, I needed him.
I needed someone and he wouldn't even talk to me.
I understand, all right?
You felt abandoned, no one was there for you.
No one was there to listen, not even Aldo.
Like I didn't even exist.
Look, just tell me what happened that night, okay?
I can help you no matter what you did.
(SNIFFLES)
I didn't kill Aldo.
- I did something worse. - What's worse than killing?
I went looking for him in Bellevue.
He started to go there to buy his drugs.
I didn't know what I was gonna do.
Then as I'm watching him,
someone pulls up, the driver gets out and jumps Aldo.
Who was it?
- I don't know. - Come on, Ted.
Look at me, you have to remember who this was. It could save you.
Whatever happens, I deserve.
Because I froze, I didn't help him.
Aldo got taken and I just let it happen, like I wasn't even there.
CAM: McKinney served with Aldo and those men trust each other with their lives.
How can he just watch Aldo get taken and not try to help.
I don't know, but Booth believes he's telling the truth.
Did McKinney say anything that we can use?
Nothing specific.
No plate numbers, no physical characteristics.
But he did say that it was clean, precise, perfectly executed.
Perhaps someone else with military training.
Well, which means it's possible
one of the other men in his unit is responsible.
You think?
Well, they carry anger, they are taught to kill.
There are many recountings, starting with ancient Greeks,
of returning warriors murdering those they're closest to.
- Dr. Brennan. - What is it, Miss Warren?
There's something you really need to see.
I re-examined the impact fractures on the left eighth and ninth ribs.
How did your perception of the fractures change?
It didn't, they're exactly the same.
But look at these rat bites
on the anterior plane of the affected sternal ribs.
They're deeper and closer together
than the other rat bites which you've cataloged.
That's what I thought.
They appear to be both peri and ante-mortem.
Did you run an immunohistochemical test?
I did, it came back positive for fibrin clots and new bone deposition.
There is only one very likely interpretation.
What do you think that is?
That the victim was alive while the rats where eating his torso.
That is indeed the most likely possibility.
I've seen a lot of things, but this,
for the rats to get inside of the ribs like that,
it's truly horrifying.
There's no better word for it.
Note the contusions on the anterior sternal seventh and tenth ribs.
I cataloged those as defensive wounds.
That is understandable.
The pattern is also consistent
with a cage being pressed up against that section of the torso.
(BEEPING)
It originated in the Middle Ages.
The cage would be filled with rats,
one end of it is heated
so the animals are forced to burrow into the body of the still living victim.
There must be hundreds of bites.
Which indicates that Aldo Clemens was tortured for an extended period of time.
McKinney said that Aldo went to buy heroin in Bellevue.
- And if he's telling the truth... - He's telling the truth.
Then he wouldn't have any trouble finding product.
It's low quality, but there's plenty of it.
Dealers aren't too picky.
Has no one here read the report?
Yeah, we read it.
Your close friend was tortured with rats.
That is something we need to discuss.
Look, what do you say?
I was hoping you would have the words.
Something like this, there's not much you really could say.
We just move on.
And we keep looking till we find this guy and we don't stop.
That was just right, Seeley, I knew you would have it.
AUBREY: I've been reading about this kind of torture,
they say it still exists in the Balkans and parts of the Middle East.
Yeah, I heard of it.
Well, your unit served in both. McKinney was there.
No chance McKinney did it.
Look, the guy doesn't have an alibi, he's impulsive and he's angry.
He's too angry to have done it.
CAROLINE: I agree with Booth.
This was controlled, it took planning. McKinney's not capable of that.
Take a look at this, huh? Look at those tire marks.
Oh...
Yeah, they're fresh.
Yeah, McKinney was parked there a half block away.
Then it makes sense that these tire marks
are from the car that took Aldo.
And the tracks run north, there's a highway on-ramp three blocks away.
- No way he took it. - How do you know that?
'Cause he's planned, he thinks of everything.
He's calculated, okay? There's no way he's gonna take the highway.
I mean, there's surveillance cameras all over the place.
That explains why we have next to nothing to work with.
Uh, not true. We know how he thinks.
What does that get us?
We know that he takes the road less traveled, Aubrey.
We find that road, we find him. And we don't stop, got it?
So, let's keep looking.
Let's find him.
ANGELA: So, I used Booth's theory
that whoever took Aldo based their route on avoiding surveillance.
Every turn they took was weighted towards avoiding cameras and crowds.
CAM: That is elegant.
But what happens when there's more than one equal choice?
Yeah, well... (EXHALES DEEPLY)
Gets less and less useful. This is now out of control.
Well, at least it gives us a general direction.
Hey, I swabbed the perimortem striations on the ribs.
- The rat bites? - Mmm-hmm. Yeah.
So, rat teeth never stop growing.
Which means they're always having to gnaw on something
just to keep them the right length.
Good to know. What were they gnawing on?
I don't know. I found particulates of lead paint,
so maybe they've been gnawing on some cabinets looking for food.
When was lead paint banned?
(BEEPS)
1978.
So, we've got professional-grade acoustic foam and lead paint?
We need to be looking for a sound studio built before 1978.
Somewhere northwest of Bellevue.
Right, but it would have to be near Rock Creek Park,
because they had to get that body back there by morning.
(EXHALES DEEPLY) That's still a few square miles.
Well, if it's a studio, it's likely to be abandoned.
(TRILLING)
That looks like an industrial park.
Well, it was, but now it's slated for demolition.
I'll call Booth.
(GLASS SHATTERING)
(DOOR CREAKS)
BOOTH: Looks like this is where he set up shop.
Look at all this stuff.
- Booth. - Yeah?
Look at this.
Parish records, news clippings about Aldo, discharge documents.
This X-ray is not Aldo's.
- It's of somebody else. - How do you know?
There's a stellate-shaped wound directly above the right squamosal suture.
- Gunshot? - Yes.
The extent of the damage indicates a high-powered rifle.
Perfectly placed. Not too many people can make that shot.
The writing is Cyrillic.
- Serbian. - That is correct.
Where are you going?
BOOTH: Over here.
Going behind door number two.
Look at this. This is not good. (CLEARS THROAT)
BRENNAN: Oh.
- This is blood. - Aldo's?
We can't be completely sure. There are tests.
Look at that, Bones. Look. It's the cage.
BRENNAN: Ugh.
Well, Cam will want to do a blood spatter analysis as soon as possible.
(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING)
- Bones. - I need to finish...
No, look. Look!
- Booth, that's a bomb! - We gotta go. Now.
(BOTH GROAN)
(GLASS SHATTERING)
Crews are still battling the blaze at an abandoned office complex in Anacostia.
The cause of the fire is undetermined,
but fire marshals suspect a strong possibility of arson.
Booth says it was an IED.
Yeah, but do IEDs usually take this long to burn off?
HODGINS: Well, Booth saw jerry cans of gas.
My hunch is it was powered by petroleum gel.
Sticks to everything and burns at over 2000 degrees.
- Which means there won't be much left. - Close to zilch.
Whoa! Dr. B!
- Oh, my God. What are you doing here? - My work.
We can handle this. You should be home.
Yeah, at the very least, you shouldn't be watching this.
It must have been terrible, huh?
It was unpleasant.
And losing the opportunity to examine vital evidence makes it more so.
Right. Well, I uploaded the photos that you sent.
My theory is that Aldo Clemens died on that table.
Why torture him so horribly,
but end it with a relatively quick humane death?
Maybe he got the information he wanted.
Maybe.
But there's a cruelty to this killer. It doesn't fit.
BRENNAN: I agree.
Cause of death was a transected cervical spinal cord.
We need to understand how that was done.
Okay, well, all we have is a blood-stained table and a few strips of duct tape.
I have enhanced the stains here.
Well, the largest concentration of blood will be
where the rat cage was fixed to the ribs.
Can you align the body accordingly?
Yeah, I'll center the stain on the eighth and ninth rib.
(BEEPING)
The remaining tape matches up with the arms and legs.
Uh, this doesn't make sense.
The skull would need more range of motion for the spinal column to be transected.
Okay, let me recreate the fracture to the C2.
You're right. His skull would have had to go right through the table.
- The body's in the wrong position. - Was that tape torn?
I'm sure this is important, but why?
Because if I'm the killer, and I wanna get a dead body off my table,
I'd cut the tape.
It was torn. Which suggests Aldo tried to break free.
So, perhaps he was killed somewhere else.
They're at the sound studio combing through the wreckage.
- What's left? - (SCOFFS)
What's left is you could fit into a beer can, is what's left.
So, we're back where we started.
Who is this guy and why did he target Aldo Clemens?
- Yeah. Hold on. - (PHONE RINGING)
(GROANS)
Yeah.
There's one possible explanation for how Aldo died.
Well, does it get us any closer to finding out who killed him?
Let me show you what we have.
Hold on.
What have you got? (GRUNTS)
From the position of the body and the fractures,
the killer couldn't have snapped Aldo's neck while he was restrained.
So, what's left?
The most likely explanation is that Aldo killed himself.
He was fastened to the table by duct tape,
but he managed to loosen it.
Not enough to escape, but enough to give him some range of movement.
If he pushed himself back on to the table, he could raise his upper torso,
which made it possible for him to generate a whip-like motion.
And sever his spinal cord.
I don't know.
The man was once a priest and suicide is a cardinal sin.
It wasn't a suicide.
Booth, the facts clearly indicate that it was.
A sacrifice. It was a sacrifice.
- Sacrifice? - He was trying to protect someone.
And if you figure me out
You better keep your mouth shut
You can see I'm living in my orange tree now
And if you figure it out
I will come down and show you my face
AUBREY: (SIGHS) Look, so, um, sorry that I haven't been exactly present.
Well, we've all been working hard. I haven't been that available either.
No, I'm talking mentally present. I've been distracted.
Oh, yeah, it's about your father.
I understand.
You must be worried about what happens when they find him.
I am. It's not as cut and dry as I thought it was gonna be.
- I'm glad you're seeing that now. - (EXHALES DEEPLY)
Look, there's something else that I've been thinking about.
I want you to know that I'm not him.
I know that, Aubrey.
He left his wife, he left me, you know. I would never ever do that.
- What are you saying? - I'm saying that
when I commit to something, it's real, that I'm serious about us.
- Did I say the wrong thing? - No.
Of course not, Aubrey.
- But there's a lot going on. - I know.
And when it's all taken care of, I'm gonna feel the same way.
I know this is difficult, Booth, but you're gonna get through it.
Yeah. Feels like something Aldo would have said.
- He was right. - (BOOTH GROANS)
Yeah, but this is different, Bones. He, um...
He died 'cause he was trying to protect me.
What do you mean?
You know, that X-ray that we saw in the sound studio,
I know who that was.
There was no name on it. I looked for that.
He died of a gunshot wound to the head, center core, 3,000 feet away.
I'm the one who made that shot.
That is a ridiculous assumption.
- There are other snipers capable... - Bosnia, 1995.
The General. Remember, I told you about him?
The warlord? That you had to shoot?
- You saved a lot of lives doing that. - I killed him.
(STUTTERS) I killed him right in front of his own son.
He's got allies and family. This is about revenge.
You can't know that, Booth. It was just one X-ray.
And Aldo knew that I as the shooter.
He killed himself so he wouldn't have to give me up.
That's one possibility. There are others.
It's the only thing that makes sense, Bones.
And whoever this is, they're not gonna stop until...
(INHALES DEEPLY)
- What should we do? - Just be ready.
(CLOSING THEME MUSIC PLAYING)