Synopsis for
The Bone Collector (1999) More at IMDbPro »

The credits appear over newspaper articles and photos detailing Lincoln Rhyme (Denzel Washington). Rhyme has written investigative books and gained noteriety in New York, and was also connected with a cop conviction.

We flash back to Rhyme investigating a death in a tunnel when a falling piece of concrete lands on him. He wakes up in a hospital bed, a quadriplegic. A couple Gary Swanson and Olivia Birkelund) takes a cab home from the airport, miffed that their ride wasn't there. The cabbie kidnaps them, and Rhyme wakes up before we learn more. Rhyme's medical tech Richard (Leland Orser) tells him his heart monitor is faulty.

Dr. Barry Lehman (John Benjamin Hickey) arrives to talk about Rhyme's request for assisted suicide. He agrees to help Rhyme the next weekend. The nurse, Thelma (Queen Latifah) watches.

Cut to Amelia Donaghy (Angelina Jolie), who is brooding by the window. She's a cop, and her boyfriend (Bobby Cannavale) wants her to commit to her, but she won't. She investigates a report and finds the man (from the cab) buried in the rocks, dead. His finger is missing, and there's a pile of sand, a note, and a bolt on the nearby railroad tracks. She gets Chris (Christian Veliz), the boy who reported the dead man, to buy her a disposable camera, and she photographs everything, including a footprint nearby.

The woman from the cab is being dragged through some underground tunnels, and is handcuffed to some pipes and gagged. Detective Cheney (Michael Rooker) shows up at the crime scene and meets Detective Solomon (Mike McGlone), then is directed to Amelia. She's talking to Detective Sellitto (Ed O'Neill). Cheney dresses her down for stopping a train to preserve evidence. We learn the victim is Alan Rubin, a prominent NY builder.

Rhyme is visited by Sellitto and Solomon, who describe the crime to him. Lincoln believes it's a kidnapping, and a ransom is forthcoming. Rhyme has a siezure and passes out. When he wakes up, he looks at the evidence brought by Sellitto. The note is a page (119) from a book, and there's a newspaper clipping from 1913 with 4PM circled. He summons Amelia and praises her photography. He believes the book page number and time refers to the current day's date, 3 hours from now. Rhyme asks Amelia to help on the case. She resists, but her boss overrides her.

Investigation reveals the bullet taken from Alan Rubin was from an old gun, and the bolt has NSG embossed on it. Asbestos from the crime scene is also investigated. The crime technician Eddie Ortiz (Luis Guzman) arrives and sets up his lab. He finds a scrap of very old paper on the bolt. The sand appears to be ground up oyster shells. Rhyme remembers a police case from 1913 where a body found found in crushed oyster shells in downtown Manhattan, near the Woolworth building. Rhyme asks Amelia to investigate the area, and as they drive there, we learn about Rhyme's interest on collecting eclectic stuff and examining it. He has refused contact with his family.

The killer is loosening another bolt from a steam pipe. He swings the pipe around so it's facing Lindsay Rubin. Rhyme figures out that steam pipes in the area release steam at 4PM every day, and tells Ameila to put on a radio headset and go into the steam tunnels. She can hear Mrs. Rubin, but cannot get to her, and the steam cutoff has been tampered with. Lindsay is fried.

A demo team blows the tunnel open, and Amelia goes in. She describes the scene to Rhyme over the radio, and is shaken when she sees the body. She finds a piece of wood and hair clippings, plus a bone shard. She also tells Rhyme that Lindsay was bound with old-fashioneded handcuffs and has a surgical-style wound on her forearm. Rhyme wants her to saw off the hands to preserve the cuffs, but she refuses and goes home. We learn that Amelia's father committed suicide, and she found the body. Solomon comes over and tells Amelia that Rhyme believes there's another victim.

We cut to a nightclub, where a student (Danial Brochu) is seen getting into a cab. Rhyme later learns that a witness saw him struggling with the driver. The taxi driver brings the student, bound and gagged to an abandoned structure, where he tortures him. Meanwhile, Rhyme's investigative team discovers the bone fragment was from a cow, and more old newspaper is embedded in it. The hair came from a rat, shaved. Amelia thinks the perp is a cop. Rhyme gets the team to look for old stockyards and slaughterhouses.

Rhyme sends a team to one of the old slaughterhouses, decommissioned in 1898. Amelia goes in first again and describes the scene, while the team holds off the NYC police from contaminating the area. Amelia finds the student, dead from rat bites. The student is missing a chunk of flesh from his leg. She finds a matchbox and a piece of old paper. Cheney takes Rhyme off the case, but Rhyme tells Ortiz to continue research.

Cheney's team finds a print and matches it to a taxi driver with a record, but they find out he's dead (and missing a finger). Amelia takes the evidence to Rhyme and Ortiz provides old cases of unsolved homicides with flesh missing. The paper smells like gaslone. Each old homicide has a message, but no one had noticed. Rhyme has another siezure and passes out. Thelma tells Amelia about Rhyme's request for assisted suicide, and Amelia waits for Rhyme to wake up, checking out his old bdage, awards and photos. Cheney tries to see Rhyme, but is turned away and vows to come back with a warrant.

We cut to a grandfather and granddaughter getting into a taxi at the airport. A taxi inspector pulls the taxi over, and the taxi driver kills him and roars off. The little girl screams.

Selletto calls Rhyme to report the taxi incident, while Rhyme examines the paper clippings, uncovering a logo from an old book publisher. Ameila goes to a bookstore and finds a book called, "The Bone Collector", which has stories exactly like the murders already committed. The next chapter shows a man and girl hanging from a rope over water! Rhyme thinks the odd smell from the paper links it to an old diesel refueling station on Staten Island. Ameila finds them - they are tied to a post and drowning. The man is dead, but the girl lives.

Amelia looks for clues and finds a map, a bone, and a piece of metal that looks like a cop's badge. The map shows an old subway map, and Rhyme thinks the killer is at the southernmost station. Cheney arrives and Ameila sneaks off to the station described by Rhyme. There are footprints in the abandoned station, and she finds a train numbered 78499. She tries to remember the number, and realizes it's the same as Rhyme's old badge number she saw at his house.

A man shows up at Rhyme's house and kills Cheney and Themla. It turns out to be Richard, the medical technician. He tells Rhyme he was a medical examiner named Marcus who doctored evidence to convict felons. Rhyme's testimony put him in jail. While he's trying to lower the bed, Rhyme overrides the motor and traps his hand. Richard pulls him out of the bed, and Rhyme bites his neck. As Richard tries to stab him, Amelia shows up and shoots Richard.

Time goes by, and Rhyme is living with Amelia and using a motorized wheelchair. It's Christmas, and all his friends show up, including his estranged family and neice.