- The murder of a doctor at a Wildlife Reserve gets a little personal for Cam, when the victim turns out to be a former paramour. Angela tries to go celibate to work on her relationship issues.
- Rock Creek Wildlife Park keepers find their tiger is eating a large adult. He's identified as Cam's ex, Dr. Andrew Weldon, so she takes an exceptionally active part in this investigation. He was drugged and killed during a hospital benefit at that zoo, which Sweets reconstructs by hypnosis. Possible motives include Weldon's infidelity, his complex relationship with his daughter Michelle and his refusal to grant a major benefactor's gifted son Dr. Rick Annenberg a hospital post, which Rick didn't want.—KGF Vissers
- We open, naturally, with zebras. A pair of rangers drives through a wildlife park and come upon a yawning tiger. "I don't think Matilda has moved in two days," the female ranger says. Why? Because the tiger is so full. Why? Because the tiger has eaten a human being! An almost fully stripped skeleton rests beneath a tree. Gross.
Booth (David Boreanaz) and Brennan (Emily Deschanel) are soon on the scene. "I guess no one told this guy it wasn't a petting zoo," Booth quips. Brennan, understandably, rolls her eyes. "We should pack everything up and bring it back to the lab," she notes.
Cut to the lab, where the crew welcomes back Clark (Eugene Byrd). Brennan quickly determines that the victim was dead long before he became tiger food. Cam (Tamara Taylor) agrees, pointing out a deep gash that cut through the femoral artery. Ouch. "There's a shoelace mixed in with the flesh," Hodgins (T.J. Thyne) notes. Just then, Angela (Michaela Conlin) enters with a positive dental ID. The victim is none other than Dr. Andrew Welton -- news that visibly shocks Cam. "We lived together for two years," she says. Choked up, Cam flees the lab.
Later, a crying Cam explains to Booth she hasn't seen her former beau in 10 years. Welton also had a 16-year-old daughter. Cam volunteers to break the news to the teen. "She should hear it from someone who loved her father," she says. And so Cam visits Michelle (Dana Davis), understandably crushed. Our lab rat then tries to comfort the teen. "Look, I don't even know you," Michelle cries. "Why don't you just do your job and figure out who killed my dad!" Now it's Cam's turn to be crushed.
Booth and Cam head to the hospital to interview chief administrator Dr. Bailey (Rebecca Wisocky). "Dr. Walton have any enemies?" Booth asks. No, but Bailey admits she had her own difficulties with Welton. A pair of nurses isn't any help either, noting Welton was on his way to a benefit at the wildlife park on the night he was killed. Booth asks if the man had a date. "He wasn't one to settle down," nurse Nancy Lauder (Dru Mouser) explains. Cam nods. She knows only too well.
Back at the lab, Brennan discovers the victim had bony growths in his hands. "It would have been dangerous for him to perform surgery in his condition," Brennan notes. Just then, Booth calls: a man named Brandon Casey (Chad Lowe) recently filed a malpractice suit against the good doctor after Casey's wife died on the operating table. Better yet, Casey bought a ticket to same benefit attended by Welton! "Why would someone who sued the hospital pay to go to its benefit?" Brennan asks. An excellent question.
So excellent, in fact, it's the first query Booth tosses at Casey. "I went to apologize," the man says. "We didn't get a chance to talk." He was arguing with a woman. Casey denies all knowledge of the murder and can't provide any further info on the woman. "See if he'll agree to hypnosis," Sweets (John Francis Daley) suggests. Meanwhile, Angela has determined the victim was killed by blunt force trauma with a five-foot metal pole. Ouch again.
Hypnosis time. Casey soon goes under and beings to recount his evening. In a HYPNOSIS FLASHBACK, we watch Casey watching Welton. The doc is arguing with a woman. But who? Casey begins describing the female in detail while Angela furiously sketches. Minutes later, the sketch is complete. Booth and Cam head back to the hospital where Bailey identifies the mysterious arguer as Diane Annenburg (Linda Purl), one of the hospital's biggest donors. Bailey is also able to explain why the pair argued. Welton, a board member at a prominent medical school, recently rejected Diane's son, Richard. "Looks like we have one unhappy mom," Booth says.
Diane is soon in the hot seat while Booth fires questions. "I was expressing my disappointment," Diane says. "Richard never wanted to be anything but a doctor ... obviously, Dr. Welton had some sort of personal issue with my son or me." Still, the woman denies having anything to do with the death. What about Richard, though? The boy was also at the benefit. Hmm.
Back at the lab, Cam theorizes the shoelace was probably used to tie off the femoral artery. In other words, someone might have tried to save the doctor after the initial injury. "Who would attack him and then try to save him?" Clark asks. The staff is just full of pertinent questions, aren't they? So pertinent, in fact, it's the first question Booth tosses at Richard. "I want to SAVE lives, agent Booth," the boy says. "I didn't even want the residency. I begged Dr. Welton to reject me." Why? "To get away from my mother," Richard says. Sounds perfectly reasonable to us.
Cam, in the meantime, has returned to Michelle's house to give the whole mothering thing another try. Does the teen really not remember Cam at all? "Yeah, I remember," Michelle says. "You said you loved me and that we were a family. And then you just left." Cam is crushed -- again. "The reason I left was between your father and me," the lab rat says. "Your father he was still seeing other women, even after we were engaged." Cries Michelle: "Just go! Leave me alone!" Way to go, Cam. Strike two.
Back at the lab, the women gather around to bitch about men when Hodgins enters with news. Snake scales were found on the victim. Brennan then examines photos of the park and notices a long hook outside the reptile house. Perhaps that was the murder weapon. "So he was killed around that area with something like that thing," Booth says. Not the most exacting summary in the world, but we'll take it.
Booth and Cam then interview a Mr. Langston (Christopher Neiman), owner of a sleezy motel where Cam and Welton used to spend afternoons. "My bet: jealous husband," says Langston of the theoretical killer. "Or jealous ex." He goes on to say that Welton was recently with a tall, good-looking woman. "With red hair," Langston concludes. Who do we know with red hair? None other than Dr. Bailey.
Bailey is soon on the hot seat. "Would you be willing to give us the clothes you wore to the benefit?" Nope. She demands an attorney and then storms from the office. "Got her on the run Bones," Booth says. Cam, in the meantime, is still fretting over Michelle. She explains to Brennan she "had to leave." Says Brennan: "Perhaps you should take her in now. She's an orphan." Cam appears to consider the idea.
Hodgins, in the meantime, has determined the snake scales found in the victim's wound did NOT come from the animal park. So, Brennan and Angela search through digital photographs of the benefit and soon notice a torn snakeskin purse! But it doesn't belong to Bailey. Instead, the purse is the property of nurse Nancy Lauder. Remember her? We barely do either. No matter, though. Cam and Booth soon pay a visit to the nurse, who looks guilty as hell. "I burned the dress," she confesses. "I was covered in blood." The nurse had an affair with Welton and was quite upset when the man strayed with Bailey. She appeals to Cam, saying: "If anyone knows how I felt it's you!" Retorts Cam: "No, Nancy, we're not the same; I left." It's an excellent point. Case closed.
But not the episode. Cam goes to visit Michelle. "You need a place to say now," she says. "I would like you to come live with me." Michelle agrees! The two embrace. Fade to black.
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