Bones

Brennan and Zack are called to identify victims of a plane crash at a golf course. They are informed that the crash involved a state department flight with several VIP's on board. While looking through the wreckage, Brennan finds a fragment of a femur that does not show signs of charring, indicating that it did not come from a plane crash victim.

Back at the Jeffersonian, Dr. Goodman informs his team that the manifest for the flight that crashed listed five total passengers: the pilot and co-pilot, an American businessman, and two high-ranking Communist Chinese officials. This information is problematic because Brennan and Zack found six sets of remains from the crash, plus the bone fragments (three in total) that did not appear to come from the crash. Goodman tells the team that for the time being, finding out the identity of the sixth passenger is their only priority. Brennan argues that the bone fragments should be given priority because the plane crash was an accident, and cut marks on the bone fragments indicate that their owner's death was a homicide. Goodman is not swayed however, and makes it very clear that the team's priority must be identifying the sixth victim.

Despite Goodman's orders, Brennan calls Booth in to tell him about the bone fragments. She doesn't have much to go on yet, but is sure the case is a homicide, so she asks Booth to investigate. Booth tells her that the FBI does not have jurisdiction for remains found at a golf course. Booth teasingly insinuates that Brennan only called him in on the case because she's done a few cases without him and misses him, but she insists this is not the case.

Their argument is interrupted by a Jeffersonian security guard, who informs Brennan that she has a visitor. Waiting in her office is a man named Jesse Kane. After his father's disappearance several years ago, Jesse has become something of an expert on missing persons' cases, helping to change legislation to make it easier for family members to find their missing loved ones. He has somehow heard about the bone fragments Brennan found at the golf course, and believes they may be the bones of his missing father, Max Kane.

Brennan and Booth take Jesse to Wong Fu's to discuss his claims. He tells them that his father disappeared in the vicinity of the golf course and had a connection to the place, but refuses to give details on how he found out about the bone fragments' discovery. He appeals to Brennan on the basis that she too has lost her parents and does not know what happened to them. Brennan tells Jesse she cannot release any details of the investigation to him, but does take the box of notes Jesse gives her containing all the details of his investigation into his father's disappearance, as well as his father's medical records to aid in identification. He leaves with the assurance that he will keep in contact with Brennan, whether she likes it or not. Brennan again asks Booth for his help investigating the bone fragments, and he agrees to try to find a way to claim jurisdiction so he can help her.

Back at the lab, Angela, Hodgins, and Zack come to tell Brennan about the progress they've made identifying the sixth plane crash victim. They have discovered that she was Caucasian female, 5'10" and between 20 and 25 years old. Because she wasn't listed on the flight manifest, Angela theorizes that she was a prostitute. Brennan then asks for her colleagues' help with the bone fragments. Angela and Zack are nervous about defying Goodman's orders, but they reluctantly agree.

Brennan meets with Jesse in a diner to let him know that they are investigating to see if the bone fragments found could be his father's. Her findings so far are consistent with the victim being Mr. Kane-the victim was male, middle-aged, and dead for at least five years-but she warns Jesse that the results are far from conclusive yet.

Brennan and Booth drive out to interview Max Kane's girlfriend, Karen Anderson. On the way there, Booth explains that Karen was a prime suspect in the disappearance. Because the couple was living together at the time of Max's disappearance, she is able to keep living in his house and retains access to their joint accounts in his absence. If Max's body were found, his money would go to his son, but if he remains a missing person, she can continue to live in his house and use his money for seven years before he is declared legally dead. During the interview, Karen informs them that Jesse and Max were estranged for two years before Max's disappearance, and Max had cut Jesse off financially. She insists that she had nothing to do with Max's disappearance, but knows that Jesse suspects her.

At the Jeffersonian, Angela, Hodgins, and Zack report their findings to Brennan. They have determined that the victim's body was frozen, dismembered, and fed through a wood chipper. Still nervous about defying Goodman's orders, Zack hopes Brennan will let them return to their assigned task, but she insists they keep investigating both cases and hiding it from Goodman.

Booth has Jesse come to his office at the FBI, where he tells Jesse what Karen told them about his and Max's estrangement. Jesse admits to the estrangement but says that his father was right to cut him off and he does not begrudge him this. He insists that the only reason he didn't tell Brennan and Booth this detail was that he knows he had nothing to do with his father's disappearance and would rather they not waste time investigating him.

Jesse asks to see the bone fragments, so Brennan takes him back to the Jeffersonian to look at them. They start talking about Brennan's parents' disappearance and Brennan shows Jesse the file she has on the investigation. Jesse is shocked that all she has is a copy of the official file, and never did any poking around on her own. He urges her to at least ask Booth to take a look at her parents' case. He then leans in to try to kiss Brennan, but she rebuffs him, reminding him that they are in her office. Angela enters just as this happens, and reiterates to Jesse that he shouldn't try to kiss Brennan at work if he hopes to live to tell about it. She shows Brennan a schematic she did comparing the piece of skull found at the golf course to photographs of Max Kane. Again, the evidence is far from conclusive, but shows that the skull fragments could belong to Max Kane.

In Angela's office, the team gives a report of their findings on the plane crash victims to Dr. Goodman. They have positively identified all the known passengers and have a facial reconstruction for the mystery sixth passenger. Hodgins reports that the victims' tox screens show the Chinese officials had Viagra in their system and the girl had high levels of alcohol and cocaine. Zack also found occupational markers on the woman's feet that showed she spent a good deal of time in stiletto heels. Goodman suspiciously asks if they are indeed giving the identification of the sixth victim sole priority, and the team insists that they are.

Outside the Jeffersonian, Booth has brought the team a wood chipper to investigate. It is the only wood chipper in Virginia Beach of the model they were looking for. Booth tells Brennan that the FBI forensics team didn't find any blood, but Brennan tells him this is to be expected since the body was frozen when it went through the machine. Brennan assigns Zack and Hodgins to investigate whether the wood chipper's blades match the marks on the bone fragments, while she and Booth go to interview the only person who had both access to the wood chipper and a criminal record.

Hodgins finds a frozen pig to feed through the wood chipper. A crowd of Jeffersonian employees gathers to watch the experiment, and Zack worries about the crowd attracting Goodman's attention, but Hodgins assures him that Goodman is off-site at a business lunch. They put the pig through the chipper just as Goodman returns early from lunch. He knows the wood chipper experiment is not relevant to the plane crash investigation and warns Hodgins that while Hodgins may think he is a "kind and fair man", he can be vindictive and petty, and will show that side of himself should Hodgins defy him again.

Meanwhile, Brennan and Booth attempt to interview their suspect but he flees out his back door as soon as they knock on the front door. Together, Brennan and Booth corner him in the back yard and bring him to the FBI building for questioning. Booth asks the suspect, Ray Sparks, if he knows Max Kane or Karen Anderson. Ray says he doesn't know Max but knows Karen because she is a bartender at the golf course where the bone fragments were found, and Ray goes there for lunch a few times a week. Booth questions how Ray was able to afford such a nice house on his limited salary, and Ray tells him the house was left to him and his brother Frank when his mom died five years ago. Booth remarks that Max Kane disappeared five years ago, but Ray has an alibi for Max's disappearance, as he was in prison at the time.

Using the data from the wood chipper experiment, Angela and Brennan attempt to figure out where the wood chipper was placed when it was used to chop up the body. They discover that there is a small access road along the side of the golf course that would have put the wood chipper in perfect position to deposit the bone fragments where they were found, while assuring most of the evidence washed away in the bordering stream. Goodman enters Angela's office to ask for an update on the plane crash victim's identity. Hodgins follows him in and gives Goodman a list of potential matches, which he has already sent over to the FBI to follow up on. With that done, Goodman gives the team permission to turn their attention fully to the bone fragments.

Brennan goes to see Jesse at his motel to retrieve the file on her parents and tell him they will be searching the golf course for more bone fragments. Jesse asks Brennan if she thinks he killed his father. She says no, but confesses that she doesn't think it's healthy the way he has put his whole life into searching for his father. Jesse challenges that it's not healthy either the way Brennan has put nothing into searching for her parents.

After their search of the golf course, the Jeffersonian team finds several more bone fragments. One of the fragments shows signs of a non-malignant bone tumor. Brennan requests the most recent bone scans from Max Kane for comparison, but before she can look at them, she gets a phone call saying that Jesse Kane was just arrested for assaulting Karen Anderson.

In the SUV on the way to the police station, Booth fills Brennan in on the details of the assault. He reminds Brennan that just because Jesse attacked Karen doesn't mean he didn't kill his dad; he could have done it to throw suspicion off himself. Brennan asks Booth if he thinks Jesse killed his father. Booth confesses that his gut tells him Jesse didn't do it. Brennan then admits that the bone scans proved that the golf course victim was not Max Kane, and she was just testing Booth's instincts. Once they arrive at the police station, Brennan breaks the news to Jesse that the remains found were not those of his father, and Booth promises he'll do his best to make the assault charges go away.

Back at the lab, the team is going over the evidence to try to decide how best to proceed. Booth realizes that while Ray Sparks had an alibi for the time of Max Kane's disappearance, because the victim is not Max Kane, Ray Sparks could still be the killer. He remembers what Sparks said about inheriting his mother's house along with his brother, and suspects Sparks' brother could be the golf course victim.

While the rest of the team tries to track down the victim through local hospital records, Booth and Brennan go to search Ray Sparks' house. They find a large freezer, the inside of which is covered in bloody scratch marks, indicating that the victim was locked in the freezer alive and froze to death.

Brennan visits the motel again to let Jesse know that they closed the case and express her sympathy that Jesse has not gained any closure. Jesse asks how she lives with the knowledge that no one is looking for her parents, and she tells him she never thought of it that way until she met him.

Brennan visits Wong Fu's to find Booth enjoying his usual post-case drink at the bar. She gives him her parents' missing persons file and asks if he would be willing to take a look at it. He agrees and tells her he is honored she asked him.