Bones

Temperance is applying for a gun permit and Seeley is filling out the paperwork. He denies the application because she's been charged with a felony and he tells her she can appeal the decision. As they walk back to Seeley's office, they argue about the necessity of her having a gun. He finds an attorney and old acquaintance, Amy, in his office. She appeals to Seeley to recheck the evidence against Howard Epps who is scheduled for execution the following evening.

Seeley visits Epps in prison and Epps maintains his innocence.

In the lab, Jack and Zack are racing beetles. Angela enters and they invite her to join them, but she declines. She tries to convince Temperance to come with her on a double date, but Temperance refuses. Angela leaves as Seeley arrives. He asks Temperance to look at the evidence from Epps' case and she agrees to do it. He tells her they have 30 hours and 23 minutes.

Temperance, Jack, and Zack examine the evidence from the case. Temperance finds particles lodged in the bones of the victim's hand that were incorrectly identified by the Medical Examiner as bone fragments. She sends Zack to take pictures of the crime scene. While she's explaining what she needs to have photographed, Seeley receives a cell phone call from April Wright's father. Seeley explains that he believes Epps is guilty but he wants them to continue the investigation. He informs them about the pubic hair that was found on the victim but was excluded from evidence at the trial and leaves.

Zack photographs the crime scene and notices the number of the parking space as he returns to the car. He photographs it and then photographs a sign that displays "Picnic Area 10."

Angela enters the lab with her date and is upset that she was interrupted. Temperance explains that a man will be executed in 26 hours and they need to have the results of their examination before that. Angela asks Troy to wait for her. Zack calls and informs Jack that the number they found on the body is not a phone number.

Temperance finds a bone shard on April's clothing and Jack analyzes it in under the microscope. They discover that it contains foreign matter. Zack races into the lab babbling excitedly. He shows them that the number on the piece of paper indicates the time and location that April was to meet someone in the park on the night of her murder. Jack determines that the substance in the bone shard is aggregate gravel. Temperance states that the body needs to be exhumed in order for them to make a definitive determination that April was killed elsewhere.

At the Wright house, Seeley meets with the family and their lawyer, David Ross. They disclose that Ross gave April a job at his law firm working on weekends. Temperance calls Seeley on his cell phone to advise him that they need to exhume the body and inform him of Zack's findings regarding the number found on the body. The Wright's are upset when Seeley tells them that new evidence has been found and Ross asks them to make some tea while he speaks with Seeley alone. Seeley presses him about his involvement with April and his whereabouts on the night of the murder after Ross mentions her having sex in a car. Ross requests a lawyer and refuses to answer any questions.

In the car on the way to the judge's house, Amy asks Temperance if she's interested in Seeley. Temperance says they only work together and Amy offers that she shouldn't have passed up the opportunity to be with him when she had the chance.

Cullen enters the interrogation room and is angry that Seeley has detained Ross for questioning. Seeley convinces Cullen to allow him to question Ross.

Amy and Temperance convince the judge to authorize the exhumation of April Wright's body.

Temperance and Amy watch Epps proclaim his innocence on television and Angela announces that April Wright's body has arrived. Angela and Temperance leave to examine the body and Amy follows even though Temperance suggested that she wait in the office.

Amy is visibly shaken by the site of April's body. As Angela begins to examine April, Troy leans over the rail from the lounge above, calls her a freak, and leaves in disgust. Temperance determines that the fragments in the hand are the same aggregate gravel found in the bone shard. Seeley arrives with a pair of Ross' underwear and asks them to compare the pubic hair found at the crime scene to the hair on the underwear. Temperance finds microscopic particles that were beaten into the skull but were never analyzed. The hairs match but DNA testing is needed to provide the conclusive evidence necessary for a stay of execution to be granted. Amy tries to convince Seeley to change his mind about Epps' guilt, but he refuses. He admits that he has doubts about the execution and decides they should go speak to the judge.

Epps sits alone on the cot in his cell as the clock counts down from 19:10:00.

At the judge's house, they try to convince him to order a stay of execution as the prosecutor argues against it. The judge denies the request due to a lack of evidence.

As they drive to the prison to inform Epps of the judge's decision, Temperance, Seeley, and Amy discuss what more can be done to try to stop the execution. Temperance and Amy debate about the death penalty after Amy declares it unjust. Temperance asks Seeley to drop her off at the Jeffersonian.

Amy and Seeley tell Epps the judge denied the stay. Epps reaches through his cell bars to shake Seeley's hand as he's thanking him but Seeley refuses to shake hands.

At the lab, the team analyzes more evidence. They find metal, silt, and pollen in the particles that were ground into April's skull. From the pollen deposits, they determine that the murder occurred in a marsh near a chemical plant, not at the park. Amy receives a cell phone call informing her that Epps has just been taken to the imminent room. Seeley explains that the imminent room is where he will have his last meal and say goodbye to his family.

Seeley interrogates Ross and gets him to admit to having sex with April the night of the murder. Ross claims that April ran from him afterwards and he waited for over two hours for her return before he gave up and left.

Temperance and Seeley meet with Cullen to get permission to use agents, metal detectors, and GPR to try to find the murder weapon. Reluctantly, he grants the request.

As Temperance and Seeley drive to the marsh, she tells the team she will need satellite images of the area when they arrive so they can narrow the search area.

A team of federal agents arrives on the scene and set up their search equipment. Jack and Temperance locate the area that needs to be searched and the agents use metal detectors to find the tire iron. Something shows up on the GPR and Temperance begins to dig. She cajoles Seeley into helping her and he begins digging in a nearby area. Temperance asks Seeley what he'd normally be doing on the weekend if he weren't working. He tells her and asks her the same question. She holds up a skull she just unearthed without answering his question. His shovel hits another set of remains.

Temperance determines that both sets of remains are females who are approximately 17 years of age and have been dead for at least 5 years. Seeley asks her if they could have been dead for 7 years and she says they could. He deduces that Epps murdered all three women and that he played them so he could get a stay of execution. Seeley calls Amy to tell her that they got her stay but she won't like what goes along with it.

Temperance, Seeley, and Amy visit Epps in prison. Initially, he maintains his innocence and thanks them for finding the evidence to grant him a stay of execution. Amy gets upset as it becomes evident that he is guilty of all three murders and leaves the room. Epps reaches for Temperance's hand but she grabs his arm and slams it into the edge of the table hard enough to break it. Epps sits holding his arm and whimpering as Temperance and Seeley leave.

Temperance and Seeley talk with Sid as they have drink at Shapiro's. She tells Seeley that it's their job to question things and find the truth and they shouldn't feel badly about it. Sid brings them food and makes a toast to simple pleasures. Sid walks away and leaves them sitting at the bar to eat their meal.