The Beginning In The End - Season 5, Episode 22
In order to solve the mystery of his death, the team works to uncover clues buried under a life's worth of possessions saved by a hoarder; Angela's father has a specific purpose for his most recent visit; and Brennan and Booth are confronted with unique opportunities.
Dylan, a young boy, jumps up and down on his bed: It's snowing! His mother comes to the doorway, sees cracks forming in the ceiling, and pulls him out of the room... just as the ceiling collapses. Paper, water bottles, books, furniture, and a human skeleton are dumped into Dylan's room. Dylan calls dibs on the skull. Later, Brennan and Booth inspect the remains in Dylan's room. The victim is male and in his forties. Brennan is distracted. A full set of interspecies hominid remains were found in the Maluku Islands. It could be a crucial link in the evolutionary chain. Booth is more interested in information on the dead guy. Brennan notices injuries to the skull. Upstairs, landlord Morgan Finley opens the door to the victim's apartment. Finley tried to get Timothy Murphy to clean his place, but he wouldn't listen. Tim was a hoarder, which is quite clear from the chaos Booth and Brennan encounter inside. Cam regards the remains. He must have been dead for a while. Brennan isn't so sure. Hodgins found insects and rodents, which could have eaten the body quickly. Booth calls them from upstairs. They need to see something. Hodgins turns on an ALS light. Cam and Brennan see blood everywhere.
At the lab Daisy Wick assembles the bones in anatomical order. Dental records confirm the victim as Timothy Murphy, 48. Brennan finds two sets of parallel cleft wounds to the parietal and temporal bones, consistent with a blade. Daisy can't contain herself any longer: she's been accepted to go to the Maluku Islands! Brennan is a little jealous. Meanwhile, Sweets reviews photographs of the victim's apartment as Booth buys breakfast. Sweets believes that Tim may have been agoraphobic. He would only have contact with a small number of people in the outside world. Booth notices an Army Ranger Colonel standing nearby. Booth confronts him, and the soldier, Col. Pelant, says that Booth could save soldiers in Afghanistan by training them: His country needs him. Booth walks away angrily. He already serves his country.
Sweets joins Hodgins at the crime scene. There was extensive termite damage, which is why the floor collapsed. Sweets counts six fans and multiple air fresheners. Timothy was trying to cover the stench. Hodgins sees Billy F. Gibbons standing on the street, and panics: "He's back." Meanwhile, Booth interrogates Morgan Finley. He received complaints from all of his tenants about the smell from Tim's apartment. He tried to have Tim evicted, but Tim ignored every summons. Booth thinks this is a motive for murder, but Morgan went through proper channels, and has paperwork to prove it. Later, on her way to the diner, Brennan sees Colonel Pelant hand Booth a letter and leave. Brennan approaches Booth, who reluctantly shows her the letter. The Secretary of Defense wants Booth to go back into the Army as a Sergeant Major, training soldiers to apprehend insurgents. Booth insists he isn't going, though they offered him a promotion. Booth has things to do here, and so does Brennan. Neither of them is going anywhere.
Daisy tracks down Brennan at the lab, and points out that Brennan made a mistake. She wrote in her report that there are apparent perimortem injuries to the temporal and parietal bones and the squamosal suture. Daisy shows her that the wounds started to heal before the victim died. They have no clear cause of death. Brennan asks Daisy to run a histological study of the bones. They feel strange. Daisy picks up one of the bones, and agrees that it feels light. She wishes Brennan was coming to Maluku. Meanwhile, Angela creates a map of the apartment on the Angelatron. Brennan believes they can construct a picture of the victim's life from his effects. Tim had been hoarding for four years. Angela senses something troubling her friend. Brennan confesses that she wants to go to Maluku. Murders will never stop, but this find is unique. Brennan needs a break from her current life. She needs perspective... and the Army wants Booth to go to Afghanistan. Brennan turns talk back to the case. They need to locate Tim's most valuable possessions.
Booth drives Parker home from his Little League game. Parker wonders if his dad is going to be a soldier again. Rebecca said the Army called their house. Booth assures his son he isn't going anywhere, but Parker wants his dad to save lives. Meanwhile, Daisy tells Sweets that she's going to the Maluku Islands. Sweets wonders about their wedding. Daisy wants to elope in the Maluku Islands. Her career means everything to her, just like it does to Brennan. She will be gone for a year, and hopes Sweets will follow her. Sweets is speechless. Hodgins is still digging around Tim Murphy's apartment. He finds a box containing accounting records, and calls Booth. Tim used to be an accountant. Maybe the traumatic event that turned him into a hoarder was work-related. Booth hangs up, and Hodgins turns around to find Billy Gibbons. He yelps. Billy asks his new son-in-law a favor.
Booth questions Elaine Akusta, who worked with Tim for eight years. Tim left the firm a year ago. She hasn't seen him since, though they did speak over the phone. The records from the apartment have her signature on them. Elaine explains that Tim had problems. His coworkers tried an intervention, but Tim wouldn't let them into the apartment. About a month ago, Tim told her a guy offered him fifty-thousand dollars for something. She didn't believe him. Meanwhile, Brennan reports that the victim starved to death. The histology report shows demineralization in the bones. Cam is confused. Tim had food in his apartment. Brennan explains that he starved to death after being hacked. He was trapped under a collapsed pile of his hoardings. It would have taken him several days to die. Daisy runs in, bursting with excitement. She heard that Brennan was asked to head the Maluku Island project: Yay! Brennan tells Daisy that she must first discuss things with her partner before she decides if she is going to Maluku, and then asks her to measure the amount of remodeling since the attack. They can then determine when the attack occurred.
Hodgins, Sweets, and Booth work at the apartment. Hodgins is surprised that someone offered Tim fifty-thousand dollars for something. Booth notices splintered wood on the door. It was pried open. The murder could have occurred during a robbery. Sweets confesses that Daisy is going to Indonesia, and doesn't care if he goes along. He tells them that Brennan was asked to head up the expedition. Hodgins tells them that Billy Gibbons was cheated out of a car in a card game, and wants Hodgins to steal it back. Sweets, looking to be "Mr. Adventure," offers to help Hodgins get the car back. Angela uses her recognition program to scan the apartment. If someone came in and disturbed the hoarder's system, things would look different. Angela locates a pile that was rearranged. She guides Hodgins and Sweets to the pile. Hodgins spies silverfish eggs. Something was on top of these eggs, preventing them from hatching. He takes a sample.
Brennan tells Booth that she has been asked to head up the Maluku project. She wants to accept. Booth admits that he wants to go back to the Army. Brennan will be gone for a year, as will Booth. They toast to change. Caroline Julian reviews the case with Booth. It is weak. Booth tells her he is leaving. She doesn't think it's a good idea, and tells him to at least finish this case properly before he goes. Later, Hodgins tells Cam and Brennan that radiation rendered the silverfish eggs infertile. The particulates suggest it was a 1941 Fiestaware Christmas Gnome. Uranium was a common ingredient in the glaze on these gnomes until WWII. What's more, the gnome is worth fifty-thousand dollars. Booth confronts Rocky DeKnight with a Fiestaware Gnome. Phone records indicate that Rocky called Tim Murphy several times before he died. They last spoke on the day of the murder. Rocky admits that he found out about the gnome from the Fiestaware Message Board, but didn't kill Tim. He just pushed him, and took the gnome.
Hodgins and Sweets scale the wall of the bikers' compound. Hodgins tells Sweets that if Angela went to Maluku, he would follow her. Back to the task at hand: how will they get past the dogs? How will they start the car? Hodgins has no plan, but jumps into the compound anyway. The dogs attack, so Sweets makes cat noises to distract them. Hodgins runs to the car… where he finds Billy Gibbons, waiting with the keys. It was all a test. Billy didn't need Hodgins to help; however, they do need to run. They escape in the car before the bikers come after them. Brennan works all night, and determines that a fan caused the injuries to the skull. She confirms to Cam that she's leaving. She can give Cam a list of people that can take her place, but Cam doesn't believe anyone can do the job half as well as Brennan.
Hodgins supervises the collection of fans at Tim Murphy's apartment. He apologizes to Sweets for leaving him at the bikers' compound. They walk to a bookshelf with books of exotic locales. Angela's program determined that this was the area that was most cared for. Perhaps these books were an escape to the outside world. Hodgins finds pictures of Tim Murphy and Elaine Akusta inside one of the books. They are kissing on a beach. Later, Brennan tells Elaine that they found her fingerprints on the fan at the crime scene. Elaine can't hide the truth. She loved Tim, but he was sick. She wanted a real life with him outside that apartment. She ripped down his curtains to show him the world, and Tim lost it. He attacked her, so she pushed the fan at him and ran. She had no idea he died as a result.
Billy Gibbons gives Hodgins the car they recovered as a gift. Hodgins has more news for Angela: He has no desire to break in a new forensic anthropologist and FBI agent, so they are going to travel for a year. At the airport, Sweets and Daisy say their goodbyes. Daisy wonders if Sweets will wait for her. Sweets sadly tells her that he doesn't think he will, and tells her not to wait for him either. Cam tells Brennan she has enjoyed working for her, confusing Brennan: Cam's her boss. Cam says they both know that's not really true. Hodgins gives Brennan an insect guide so she can avoid being stung or bitten. "I love you too," says Brennan, stunning Hodgins. Angela hugs her friend, and Daisy tells Brennan they have to go. Brennan spies Booth in military fatigues, and runs over to him. He had to sneak away from the base to come say goodbye. He asks Brennan to be careful. She asks Booth not to be a hero. They promise to meet one year from today at the reflecting pool on the mall. They part ways, but look back at each other as they walk away.
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