Bones

At the Jeffersonian, Dr. Goodman, Brennan, and Zack examine a recently discovered Iron Age skeleton which Brennan is to authenticate. Brennan offers to let Goodman be part of the team, as this is a very prestigious find and Goodman used to be an archaeologist, but he turns her down. Brennan directs Zack to examine the skeleton by touching it as little as possible, to which Zack replies, "Kid gloves?" Brennan is impressed at Zack's use of a metaphor.



Brennan leaves to go to her office, but upon entering, discovers Booth at her desk. He has a case in Los Angeles where body parts were found scattered at the airport. Brennan says she's busy with the Iron Age skeleton, so Booth brings the case to Goodman, asking him to make Brennan go with him. He initially denies Booth's request, but Booth brings up the publicity the Jeffersonian would get because of the case, making Goodman change his mind, to Brennan's exasperation. Brennan tries to argue, using the Iron Age warrior's importance as her reason, but Goodman says he can step in on that case instead.



In LA, Booth and Brennan are driving down Rodeo Drive in a Ford Mustang. Brennan tells Booth she'd like to drive sometime, and Booth tries to change the subject to the case, but then Brennan says she's not above blackmailing Booth by telling Deputy Director Cullen the car he rented is not exactly FBI approved. Thus in the next shot, Brennan is driving the car.



Meanwhile, at the Jeffersonian, Hodgins seems to be deliberately antagonizing Goodman. Hodgins thinks Goodman will equivocate on the authentication of the skeleton, placing the reputation of the Jeffersonian above all.



In LA, Booth and Brennan meet Agent Trisha Finn, the head investigator in the case. The body has been removed from the crime scene due to the fact that passengers in planes could see the remains. Finn has marked the locations of the body parts according to a method in Brennan's book. Brennan wonders about the dispersal of the body parts, which Finn says could be due to coyotes.



Brennan goes to inspect the body in a lab, saying all dirt and particulates found with the body need to be shipped to the Jeffersonian. Finn interrupts by telling Brennan she'd be happy, as an aspiring script writer, to help with Brennan's movie. Brennan then reveals to a surprised Booth that she's supposed to meet a producer while in Hollywood. Brennan tries to get back to examining the body, but Finn keeps trying to talk about the movie, only stopping when she has to leave the room due to Brennan's pulling the remaining flesh from the skull. Brennan finds that the victim had lots of plastic surgery done to her face, meaning she might not be able to determine who the victim was.



Brennan, Zack, and Angela are communicating via satellite. Brennan tells Angela that she might not be able to do a reconstruction, saying she'll understand when she gets the skull, leaving Angela slightly insulted. Brennan and Zack deduce the time and method of the murder, stating the victim was most likely stabbed, and noting that the victim's right leg and jaw were broken and reset. Zack then asks Brennan if she'd seen any movie stars, telling her that apparently there's a contest people participate in when they go to LA, with the winner being the one who sees the most stars. Brennan ignores Zack, warning Angela that Hodgins may not like the way Goodman theorizes over artifacts, which makes Goodman sound like he's making things up. Zack then notes dark spots in the x-rays of the body, which Brennan determines to be breast implants. As implants have serial numbers, Booth and Brennan now have a lead.



Goodman examines the Iron Age skeleton with Zack and Hodgins, theorizing in exactly the way Brennan warned Angela about, making Hodgins roll his eyes and antagonize Goodman further. Goodman retaliates by making Hodgins write a report on standard, non-spectacular findings from the spores found on the skeleton, saying the findings must withstand scrutiny from their peers.



In LA, Booth, Brennan, and Finn are on a hotel roof. They've found that the breast implants were part of a shipment that were stolen 6 months ago, hypothesizing that the victim must have had black market surgery. As such, they only have the name of the doctor the implants were stolen from. Finn then tries to talk about the movie again, making Booth frustrated. He wants to visit the plastic surgeon, dressing down Finn (who doesn't understand why he wants to go) by saying it's their only lead and leads are a good thing to follow.



Zack brings Angela the skull from the Hollywood murder and Angela understands why a reconstruction will be difficult. Zack then asks about Goodman and Hodgins, wondering why they're antagonistic, and Angela explains by saying, "They're guys. They should just lay 'em out on the table and measure," which Zack does not understand and Angela declines to explain. She then goes back to examining the skull. Zack states that at least the victim was beautiful, though Angela refutes this by bringing up Michael Jackson and Joan Rivers.



Booth, Brennan, and Finn are at Dr. Anton Kostov's plastic surgery institute. Brennan is explaining her view on plastic surgery, saying one day it'll rank with foot-binding as a barbaric practice. Finn again tries to bring up the movie, but Booth is starting to get very mad at her and tells her to remain in the waiting room while he and Brennan go to see Kostov.



In Kostov's office, the doctor notes that he doesn't know anything about the girl and says his goods were recovered three weeks ago, but LAPD would know the details. He tries to sell Brennan on getting plastic surgery, but runs into her opinion on it. He then looks at Booth, who downright turns him down.



Angela gets back to Brennan with three possible variations on the victims face. She has no clue how accurate they are, so Brennan tells her to start with the basic architecture and guess from there. She gets a little short with Angela when Angela says she doesn't know if she's suited for this kind of case. She then apologizes by asking how they're supposed to find the killer when they don't know who the victim is due to her "removing her own identity".



The next day, Brennan, Booth, and Finn are speaking with the head of Aphrodite Escorts, Ms. Bardu, as another implant from that stolen shipment ended up in another escort from that company. Bardu notes that Rachel LeChance hasn't been heard from for two weeks and that her main customer was Kostov.



Angela has created a reconstruction of the Iron Age skeleton. Goodman realizes that the skeleton was a Pict, but that the skeleton was found much further south than any Pict was previously found. Hodgins once again gets angry, antagonizing Goodman until Goodman leaves the room.



Booth and Brennan have discovered that Rachel was seeing someone other than Kostov as a surgeon as Kostov is not qualified for some of the procedures done on Rachel. Brennan asks Zack to see if the procedures are sanctioned by the American Medical Association and who has been approved to perform them. Hodgins interrupts, telling Brennan that he's found particulates indicating Rachel was on a boat shortly before her death. Also, a nail with zirconium was found on the body. Zack and Brennan then discuss the broken leg, deducing that Rachel was probably in a car crash when she was young. Also, they use molar growth to determine how long she'd been in California. While Brennan converses with Zack and Hodgins, Booth takes her cell phone and calls Bardu, asking to see Rachel's closest co-worker.



The next morning, Booth meets with Leslie from the escort service. He asks about Rachel and Leslie reveals that Rachel told her her real name was Candice Hayden and that she had a boyfriend who got angry when he found out Rachel was an escort and broke the windows of her car. A security guard comes over and tells Leslie that she has to leave, but Booth covers for her, telling him Leslie's his little sister who he came to visit and have a drink with, flashing his badge for good measure. Leslie is grateful for his intervention and the two continue to sit and talk.



At FBI headquarters, Finn asks Booth why he doesn't like her. He tells her it's because he's using this job as a stepping stone to something she thinks is better, but for him, there is nothing better.



Brennan, meanwhile, is meeting with Penny Marshall, a producer, and being interviewed for TV. Brennan's answers to questions show she's clueless about the entertainment industry. She receives a call from Booth about their new suspect, leaving in the middle of the interview.



Brennan and Booth meet at the beach, where a bunch of people are playing beach volleyball. Booth tries to get their attention unsuccessfully until Brennan catches the ball and kicks it away. They call over Rachel's ex-boyfriend, Nick Carverson, who tells them he knew her as Sandra Caine and that he hadn't seen her for a month when they were both working at a function. He also says he didn't understand the surgeries as she would look beautiful after every one, but then a setback would happen with her acting career and she'd go back under the knife.



At the Jeffersonian, Goodman proclaims that their findings are inconclusive, making Hodgins say, "Told you," to Zack and Angela. Goodman gets angry, telling him that he's allowed Hodgins to be insubordinate but will not put up with it any longer. Hodgins tells Goodman that if he wants Hodgins to resign, he will. Goodman walks away, and Angela says Goodman was the bigger man.



Booth and Brennan visit Kostov, asking about his and Rachel's sexual relationship. They find out Kostov did have a boat, but he refuses to say more without a lawyer.



Zack and Hodgins are going over the stab marks found on Rachel. Zack suggests the weapon might not have been a knife but a sharpened screwdriver of sorts due to the torsion shown in the marks. Hodgins notes that Brennan said the same torsion was shown with the jaw marks from surgery, making Zack realize the weapon must have been a larger form of the surgery tools.



Booth tells Brennan they have to go back to DC the next day unless they can crack the case. He doesn't know anything about Rachel and begins to empathize with Brennan on her feelings for anonymous death. Zack then calls with his findings, telling Brennan that only one doctor has the surgical tools that could make the stab marks, Dr. Henry Atlas, and that he lives in LA.



At Atlas' office, Atlas states that he has created a new procedure to alter bone structure and that he'll be happy to release patient names and his tools if a warrant is shown. Booth shows his search warrant and notes a picture of a boat on the wall. Atlas reluctantly takes his tools out and states that he knew Rachel as Susan Sheppard.



In Goodman's office, Hodgins enters and the two men sit down. Goodman says that he does appreciate Hodgins' honesty and admits he bailed on the authentication, but it was because the only way to authenticate the skeleton would be by taking it apart. As he is now attached to the skeleton, he doesn't want to let science desecrate the remains. Hodgins understands and tells him that he could say that he's simply waiting for imaging technology to improve to the point that they wouldn't have to take apart the skeleton and the two shake hands.



Brennan takes the tools and tests the marks they make by stabbing them and dragging them through clay, finding the murder weapon. Booth and Brennan then speak with Atlas again and he reveals that he'd been seeing a specific escort regularly until that woman began to get ideas about marriage. Then he began to see Rachel. He did her surgery for free as she volunteered to be the guinea pig for the procedure. He eventually refused to do any more procedures as he saw she had become addicted to them. The girl he was seeing before was flashy and had diamonds in her nails. Booth recalls the nail found and asks for the escort's name.



Booth is at a club waiting for someone. Leslie shows up. She has diamonds in her nails. The cops come to take her away, but before she leaves, she whispers something in Booth's ear. Booth walks over to Brennan, who was standing some feet away. She asks what Leslie asked him. He says she asked him if he thought she was beautiful. He then reveals that he had a search done on girls who were injured in the northeast 10-12 years ago and they find Rachel was actually Allison Holmes. They look at a picture of her when she was young and note that she was a pretty girl. Brennan is glad that Booth went out of his way to find the victim's true identity so the remains could be sent to her family.