The Repo Man in the Septic Tank

Season 9

Episode 17

Air date

March 17, 2014

Production code

9AKY15

Written by

Michael Peterson

Directed by

Jeffrey Walker

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The Repo Man in the Septic Tank is the seventeenth episode of the ninth season of Bones.

Synopsis[]

A repo man's remains are found in a septic tank, and the Jeffersonian team must work together to figure out who the killer is. When the team discovers that the victim had a troubled past, some key witnesses from his earlier days become potential suspects. Meanwhile, handsome and charming Rodolfo Fuentes has defected from Cuba, where he was a forensic anthropologist, but now needs an internship to complete his degree. Brennan agrees to try him out as an intern on a case, and Brennan and Booth discuss whether or not Christine should have a religious upbringing.

Summary[]

A man is found in a septic tank, and Brennan calls for the tank to be delivered to the Jeffersonian. There, she is introduced to Rodolfo Fuentes, a new intern from Cuba. Dr. Fuentes is Brennan’s equal in (most) knowledge, but his forensic science credentials did not transfer to the US. Brennan is less than pleased, but she agrees to allow Dr. Fuentes the opportunity to assist on the case.

She sends him down into the septic tank, where he discovers a fingernail from the victim. The victim drowned trying to escape the septic tank.

The victim’s body shows he suffered several injuries, possibly during fights as a prison inmate. A tattoo on his skin provides his identity — Benny Jergeson. His parole officer, Officer Fowler, tells Booth and Sweets that Benny was on the straight and narrow after being released from prison.

Primary Suspects:

Georgia, Benny’s boss at a car repo site. She is aggressive and violent, but insists she didn’t kill Benny. She cared about him and even let him sleep in her building.
Graham, a food truck driver who came after Benny when he repossessed his truck. Booth and Sweets nail Graham in a drug bust as well.
Horatio Mancini, Benny’s friend from prison. Officer Fowler tells Booth that Benny was released from prison early because he gave up information on Horatio and that Horatio was released from prison a week before Benny was murdered.

Georgia tells Booth and Sweets that she required all of her workers to carry around digital recorders, but she doesn’t know where Benny’s is.

Booth figures out that Graham has an alibi (going on a drug run), and Brennan and Dr. Fuentes determine that damage to Benny’s skeleton was caused by a car accident.

At the lab, Hodgins has found tree particulates on the victim. Fuentes suggests that Benny was chased after the car accident.

Booth and Sweets discuss the mangled car. It was registered to Benny and it was scrapped a week after it was found. Brennan later points out that Benny wasn’t alone in the car — there was also a passenger.

Fuentes asks Brennan to reenact the accident with him. He suggests the damage indicates Benny had one arm in the direction of the passenger. She agrees (and also takes the handsy Fuentes down) and they discuss damage to Benny’s ribs. The fracturing was caused by something on his body or in a coat, because the damage is localized to that area.

Booth and Brennan pay a visit to Horatio at a restaurant where he works as a valet. He tries to escape them, but B&B chase him down until they end up in the restaurant kitchen. Horatio grabs a knife on Booth, who responds with various items including a whisk and ultimately the broad side of a frying pan.

When B&B question Horatio at the FBI, he tells them Benny was like a brother to him, that he told Benny to rat him out in prison in order to help him get out. Booth is still suspicious, especially because they know Horatio was stealing entry system info from the cars of restaurant patrons. Horatio tells them that Benny was on the right track, that he wanted Horatio’s help stealing on BMW and that he refused because he figured Benny had a better future without him in the picture.

Angela, Hodgins, and Fuentes are able to take a piece of silicone chip from the victim’s rib and identify it as part of the digital recorder. Angela pulls up 11 seconds of Benny arguing, but the other person’s voice isn’t heard.

Sweets talks to Georgia and accuses her of killing Benny but keeping quiet about it on the recording. She denies it and refuses to say anything else.

At the lab, Brennan realizes she and Dr. Fuentes can gain insight into the killer’s identity by thinking of the killer as the passenger of the car. Angela runs a possible scenario to show impact. The killer was facing the victim, and they were fighting and they went off the road. There were fractures to the right side of the body, especially the skull and right arm. Whoever has arm damage is likely the killer.

Georgia and Horatio both agree to arm x-rays, which prove their innocence. Sweets points out to Booth that the dates of recently stolen cars correlate with when Benny met with Officer Fowler. He tells Booth there is no way to arrest Fowler with that little evidence, but Booth has an idea. He brings Fowler to the FBI where Brennan is posing as a security guard. They keep him in the metal detector and Brennan notices the possibility of damage to the front, right side of his scalp. It’s enough for Booth, and he makes an arrest.