- While spending some time with his son, Booth finds a human finger. They find the body of a veterinarian. Hodgins starts to realize how he's been affected by the turmoil in his life.
- While Booth enjoys playing with his young son Parker, the boisterous boy accidentally finds a severed finger. Dr. Lance Sweets reassures Booth his boy is fine, not traumatized at all. The victim is a missing veterinarian, who is somehow connected to illegal dogfights, and to the death on Don Timmons's farm in the area where the dismembered corpse was found. Don's son Robbie was an apprentice at the vet's surgery and was tutored by Dr. Andrew Hopp, who vouches for the family, discrediting the vet.—KGF Vissers
- Will-they-or-wont-they-watch begins again. Welcome to "Bones."
Booth gives Parker football lessons in the park when the little nipper notices a bird's nest. Booth lifts the kid into the air to take a closer look ... and Parker discovers a human finger. Now that'll ruin a father-son outing.
Back at the lab, Camille can't get a fingerprint as its been chewed by a wild animal. Hodgins notes that the finger has elements of a certain flower on it -- a flower that is located at the nearby Jefferson Memorial. A bird has clearly carried the finger from there. "Good work, guys," Brennan says.
Booth, meanwhile, is worried that Parker will suffer from "post-dramatic stress, repressed memories" and "all that hooey." Lance tells Booth to relax. "Just call me if he shows any symptoms of distress," Lance says. "Like killing cats?" Booth asks. Exactly.
Later, Booth and Brennan find a half-eaten body near the Jefferson Memorial. They also find a PDA, a partial skull and a possum that has munched on the body.
One commercial break later, Camille examines the body. The male victim, in his 30s, bled to death and then had his body dumped in the woods. Angela partially reconstructs the face and the process yields three possibilities. Only one matches the profile: Dr. Seth Elliot, a veterinarian.
Booth and Brennan interview Dr. Elliot's ex wife. Brennan adores the woman's dog. "I never wanted to divorce Seth," she says. "He had a serious gambling problem." Booth asks for the name of the doctor's bookie, but the ex wife doesn't know. She tells the pair to visit Karen.
Karen is -- or was anyway -- Dr. Elliot's assistant ... and his lover. She says Dr. Elliot didn't have a bookie but played a lot of "online poker." Karen also says that a few months back, a man named Tucker Payne tried to steal drugs from the office and Elliot had him arrested. Booth's eyes light up.
Brennan gets a call from the lab. Hodgins has found saliva on the victim. "Seth Elliot was killed by a dog with filed teeth," Camille says. Yikes.
Booth interviews Tucker Payne, who has recently been paroled. Payne has brought along his dog, which appears fairly vicious. And guess what? The dog's teeth have been filed to a point. Why? "I'm drug dealer," Payne deadpans. Nuff said. Booth hands Payne a warrant for the dog. "That's cold," the dealer says.
Camille quickly discovers that the dog is innocent, however. Actually, the new intern -- a charming know-it-all named Mr. Starlet -- figured it out by comparing bite marks on the victim. Hodgins calls with news: the FBI has found Elliot's car along with a prescription drug used to treat acne and STDs, among other inconveniences.
The name on the bottle: Donald Timmons. Intern Starlet suggests tracking this Timmons down. "Wow, that is an absolutely wonderful idea," Hodgins snaps. Something is clearly bothering Mr. Hodgins. Could it be the emotional residue of a recent break up?
Booth and Brennan arrive to interview Timmons, who owns a pit bull. Timmons is shocked to hear news of his vet's death. He tells his son, Robbie, who worked for Elliot part time. Booth shows Timmons the pills and Robbie promptly explains that they are his --- despite his father's name on the bottle.
"I'm too old to be on my dad's insurance," he says.
The boy then explains that he last saw Elliot the same night we went to a tutor named Andrew Hopp. While Brennan tosses a ball to the pit bull, Booth notices the dog doesn't have filed teeth. Timmons asks why Booth cares.
"The murderer was a human being," Brennan explains. "The murder weapon was a dog."
Back at the lab, Lance points out that Hodgins hasn't been talking much about conspiracy theories lately. Also: Hodgins has kind of, um, let himself go -- appearance wise. "These kind of changes in a man's life indicate intense distress," Lance says. "Would you like to discuss this with me?"
"I'd rather drive a motorcycle full speed into a bridge embankment," Hodgins snaps.
Booth and Brennan visit med student Andrew Hopp, who carries a pillow with sutures on it -- for practice, he explains. Andrew confesses to not liking Elliot. "I met him twice but I'm pretty sure he was tweaking," he says. "Not sure he was the best role model for Robbie."
Was Elliot a meth addict as well as a degenerate gambler?
Angela, meanwhile, has discovered photos on Elliot's PDA: Dog-fighting matches. Brennan is disgusted. "I guess we know now where Elliot liked to do his gambling," Booth observes. Brennan then notices a ball in one of the photos -- the same ball that Timmons pit bull was playing with earlier. Uh oh.
Booth and Brennan storm the Timmons' compound with the FBI and, of all people, Cesar Millan. Before you can say "Dog Whisperer," Brennan discovers a dog graveyard. The Dog Whisperer is NOT pleased. Brennan is quite shook up as well. They find dozens of chained and barking animals inside a nearby barn. The Dog Whisperer looks as if he is going to cry. Using his Jedi-like powers, Millan quiets the animals.
Timmons denies any knowledge of the fights despite the fact that the barn was only 100 yards from his house. He had recently rented out the space -- or so he says. Timmons also has an alibi for being out of town when Elliot was killed.
Back at the lab, Millan and Brennan go from dog to dog comparing teeth imprints. Brennan finally finds a winner --the living, breathing murder weapon. "I'm so sorry," the Dog Whisperer whispers to the dog.
Starlet, in the meantime, finds a computer chip in the killer dog. Hodgins scans it and finds a name and an ID number. Booth and Brennan head back to Karen. "His owners brought him here," Brennan says. Yes. The owners brought the dog in to be euthanized, but "Seth couldn't do it." Was Elliot supplying dogs to Timmons?
Not so fast, armchair investigators. Brennan takes a closer look at photos of the animals and discovers sutures on their bodies. Someone has stitched up the dogs and then sent them back out to fight. The rub: the suture patterns look awfully familiar.
"It's distinctive," Brennan says. "And I've seen it before."
Time for the final showdown. Booth and Brennan return to the barn with Timmons, Robbie, Andrew, Cesar and Ripley the dog. "We want to know who sicked Ripley here on Seth Elliot," Booth explains. The Dog Whisperer suggests that each of the suspects clap their hands. Robbie claps but Ripley does not come. Andrew claps and Ripley comes right away. The dog's master has been identified.
Robbie then confesses that he witnessed Andrew ordering Ripley to attack Elliot because the good doctor was seen taking pictures of the dog fighting. Elliot wanted to bring the photos to the police. Case closed.
Hodgins, meanwhile, has relented to Lance's advances. He sits down on the doctor's couch and admits to "hating everyone." It's a "coping technique," Lance explains. "You're independently wealthy," he points out. "You choose to stay at work." Hodgins might be OK, after all.
Brennan announces that he has decided to adopt Ripley ... but Booth breaks the bad news. The dog has been put down. Later, the pair buries poor Ripley together. Are those tears we see in Brennan's eyes? Yes, they are. We're just breaking down all sorts of barriers this week, aren't we?
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