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The Doctor in the Den

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The Doctor in the Den is the eighteenth episode of the fourth season of Bones.

Plot[]

The half-eaten body of Cam's former fiancé is found in the tiger enclosure at the wild-life park, and Booth and Brennan determine the death was no accident. The team pieces together the fiancé's final evening and questions suspects, including Brandon Casey whom Sweets and Angela hypnotize to help jog his memory. Angela takes a vow of celibacy and it's revealed that Clark is romantically involved. In the end, Cam offers to adopt the doctor's daughter.

Summary[]

A pair of rangers drives through a wildlife park and come upon a yawning tiger. The female park ranger comments that she doesn't think that Matilde, the tiger, has moved in two days. The tiger cannot move because it has eaten a whole human body. An almost fully stripped skeleton rests beneath a tree.

Booth and Brennan are soon on the scene. Booth makes a joke and Brennan rolls her eyes in response. Brennan notes that they should pack everything up and bring it back to the lab.

At the lab, where the crew welcomes back Clark, a previous intern. Brennan quickly determines that the victim was dead long before he became tiger food. Cam agrees, pointing out a deep gash that cut through the femoral artery. Hodgins notes there's a shoelace mixed in with the flesh. Just then, Angela enters with a positive dental ID. The victim is none other than Dr. Andrew Welton - news that visibly shocks Cam. She states she lived with him for two years, and flees the lab on the verge of tears.

Later, a crying Cam explains to Booth she hasn't seen the victim for 10 years. Welton also had a 16-year-old daughter. Cam volunteers to break the news to the teen. Cam thinks that she should hear it from someone who loved her father. And so Cam visits Michelle, who is crushed. Cam 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!"

Booth and Cam head to the hospital to interview chief administrator Dr. Bailey. Cam asks if Dr. Welton had any enemies. 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. Nurse Nancy Lauder explains that he wasn't one to settle down. Cam nods, agreeing from experience.

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 recently filed a malpractice suit against the good doctor after Casey's wife died on the operating table. 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.

Booth interrogates him with the question Bones asked earlier. "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 suggests. Meanwhile, Angela has determined the victim was killed by blunt force trauma with a five-foot metal pole.

Casey soon goes under and beings to recount his evening. In a hypnosis flashback, Casey is watching Welton. The doctor is arguing with a woman. Casey begins describing the female in detail while Angela sketches. Minutes later, the sketch is complete. Booth and Cam head back to the hospital where Bailey identifies the mysterious arguer as Diane Annenburg, 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.

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.

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.

Cam, in the meantime, has returned to Michelle's house to give the relationship another try. "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," Cam replies says. "Your father he was still seeing other women, even after we were engaged." Michelle begins to cry and orders Cam to leave her alone.

Back at the lab, the women gather around to complain 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. "So he was killed around that area with something like that thing," Booth says.

Booth and Cam then interview a Mr. Langston, 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, referring to Dr. Bailey.

Bailey is soon a prime suspect. "Would you be willing to give us the clothes you wore to the benefit?" 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." Brennan suggests "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. Cam and Booth soon pay a visit to the nurse, who looks guilty. "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."

Cam goes to visit Michelle. "You need a place to stay now," she says. "I would like you to come live with me." Michelle agrees and the two hug each other.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Intern of the Week[]

Recurring Cast[]

Guest Cast[]

Featured Music[]

  • "In The Jungle" - Rootz Underground

I don't know what that means[]

Notes[]

Quotes[]


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