The Mystery Man in the Pool Palace

by ya-fic

Set toward the end of season 6: When a skeleton turns up at the location of an illegal high-stakes pool tournament run by the mysterious Mr. Green, Booth and Brennan must go undercover as Tony and Roxie so Brennan can examine the remains. She also uses their covers to distract Booth from falling victim to his gambling addiction. Scripted and structured like an actual episode.

1. Teaser

Author's Note: I'm taking a class where I had to write a spec script for a TV show which isn't much different than fan fiction except everywhere you want to write more, you have to write less... so much less. Anyway, this was the episode I wrote. The episode has a teaser and 4 additional acts so I plan to make each act a chapter. Please, please give me your honest feedback regarding plot and characters as I really tried to make this as authentic an episode of Bones as I could.

This is set toward the end of season 6-somewhere after the blizzard, but before Brennan gets into bed with Booth. Booth and Brennan have to go undercover at a pool tournament so Brennan can access skeletal remains. Since Booth used to bet on pool, Brennan decides she should be the one to play in the tournament. Angela steps up and makes them lots of gadgets to help with this plan, but feels left out of the adventure since she is pregnant and stuck in the lab.

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TEASER

EXT. POOL PALACE MANSION - COUNTRYSIDE - NIGHT
A giant, isolated mansion stands against a moonlit sky.

INT. POOL PALACE - DARKENED FRONT CORRIDOR - NIGHT

RICO AGENT WALT SUGARMAN, dressed in a suit and
looking better than when we left him in Vegas, enters
from outside.

WALT
(on walkie talkie)
Outside perimeter is secure. Over.

Walt flicks a flashlight around, checking out this area.

MAN (V.O.)
10-4. Find me in the northeast corner.

INT. DARKENED MANSION ROOM - NIGHT

Even in the dark, we can see the room is decorated in
an overly ornate fashion, but retrofitted with a billiards
table. Walt passes through, shining his flashlight around.

INT. ANOTHER DARKENED MANSION ROOM - NIGHT

This room also has a billiards table. BILL, 50s and in
his own black suit, waits by the pool table. Walt enters.

BILL
Okay, kid, almost done with your first
patrol. Pretty easy gig, huh?

WALT
So far, but what's with the pool
tables? Isn't this a residence?

BILL
The boys at the security agency call
it the Pool Palace. The owner, Mr.
Green, he holds a high stakes pool
tournament every Saturday night. Off
the books, if you know what I mean.

WALT
How high stakes are we talking?

BILL
Buy in's ten large.

Walt whistles.

BILL (CONT'D)
Exactly. So let's get back to work.
You take the practice room.

INT. DARKENED PRACTICE ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

The door creaks open. Walt enters, shining his flashlight
around. It's a pool room, but there is also a poker table.
A flashlight beam passes over a skull then back to it.

Fast DOLLY ZOOM OUT to a skeleton seated at the
poker table. It's dressed in a vest, poker visor and
has cards in hand.

SMASH CUT TO:

INT. JEFFERSONIAN - FORENSIC PLATFORM - DAY

ANGELA, HODGINS, CAM, BRENNAN and WENDELL
face the camera and a screen we can't see. No
one looks happy.

ANGELA
What am I supposed to do with this
exactly?

HODGINS
What are any of us supposed to do with
this?

From the other side, we see a grainy cell phone
picture of the skeleton at the poker table. Brennan
clicks through more.

WENDELL
This is creepy. Homemade skeleton
dressed up like a poker dealer...

CAM
Homemade, but real, correct?

Brennan stops on a picture of a bent leg.

BRENNAN
Of course. You can see the ligaments
are still largely intact. Here.

On the screen, she points to ligaments around
the kneecap.

BRENNAN
The cartilage must still be present as
I don't see any glue or wiring.

Everyone else leans in and squints.

ANGELA
I don't know how you're seeing-or not
seeing-anything.

They all lean back away.

BRENNAN
We will all be able to see much
better... once the remains arrive.

CAM
Well... actually...

WENDELL
I'd say the flesh was removed maybe
four months ago? Maybe less?

BRENNAN
There is very little to be gained from
maybes and speculation, Mr. Bray. When
will the actual remains arrive?

They all look to Cam.

CAM
About that...

HODGINS
No body, no bugs. Buh-bye.

Hodgins trots off toward the Ookey Room.

ANGELA
Send these to me, but no promises.

Angela speeds away toward her office.

BRENNAN
The remains?

Brennan gives Cam an impatiently expectant look.
Wendell does not look hopeful. Cam grimace-smiles.
Off Cam's hesitance...

INT. FBI - BOOTH'S OFFICE - DAY

Booth sits at his desk. Brennan stands before him.

BRENNAN
What do you mean we don't have access
to the remains? Do we need a warrant?
Is this a jurisdictional problem? Is
there an injunction?

BOOTH
No, not exactly.

BRENNAN
Then what exactly? You can be very
intimidating, Booth. Now would be a
good time to go... intimidate.

WALT (O.S.)
I'd like to see that.

Walt enters. Booth hops up and moves to shake
Walt's hand.

BOOTH
Bones, you remember Agent Walt
Sugarman here. From Vegas?

Booth turns Brennan to Walt. She eyes them
both suspiciously.

INT. JEFFERSONIAN - ANGELA'S OFFICE - DAY

Cam stands with Angela at her screen. A program searches
for a match to a computer-generated face, but is unsuccessful.

CAM
No matches in the missing persons,
criminal or military databases?

ANGELA
No, but I wasn't exactly working with
great source material. What gives?

CAM
That was all the RICO agent Booth
knows could get without blowing his
cover as a security guard.

INT. FBI - CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY

Walt stands in front of a large monitor while Brennan and
Booth sit together on one side of the table. Walt holds a
presentation remote and clicks through skeleton photos.

BRENNAN
You suspect this man, Mr. Green? The
one who hosts the weekly billiards
tournament in his very large mansion?

WALT
Right. He's the only one who has full
access to the house at all times.

BOOTH
No regular staff?

WALT
Not long term. He rotates temporary
employees from various agencies:
cleaning, delivery, armed security-
which is how I finally got in.

BRENNAN
What is the origin of the remains?

WALT
Bill, from the security firm, he
thinks it's a gag. A dig at poker.

BRENNAN
Mr. Green doesn't like poker?

WALT
He used to hold a poker tournament.
Switched to pool three months back.

BOOTH
Why's RICO trying to take this guy
down? Who is he really?

WALT
I got nothing close to an ID. All I
know is this is Mr. Green.

Walt clicks to a surveillance picture of a man dressed in
a suit. He also wears gloves and a green luchador-style mask.

WALT
He never takes off that mask.

Booth and Brennan trade a curious look.

BOOTH
Financials? How does he pay for stuff?

WALT
Credit card owned by a shell company.

BRENNAN
Is he agoraphobic?

BOOTH
Why would it matter if he's afraid of
spiders?

BRENNAN
The fear of spiders is called
arachnophobia. Agoraphobic means-

WALT
He hates crowds, yes. The tournament
is organized into a bracket. The top
player faces him. Head to head only.

BRENNAN
Is the tournament illegal?

WALT
Yes, but we aren't just looking to
bust up his tournament here.

BOOTH
(to Brennan)
Normally stuff like this goes hand in
hand with all of RICO's favorite
charges: racketeering, money
laundering, organized crime...

WALT
Problem is, I'm struggling to pin much
of anything on Green so murder charges
wouldn't be the worst thing for me.

BOOTH
Your ass is in a sling. Got it.

WALT
Which is why I need to know if this is
just a skeleton from a party store.

BRENNAN
The skeleton is not a prop. It belongs
to a recently deceased human being.

WALT
Yeah? Recently? What else ya got?

He clicks until the skull appears. Brennan studies it.

BRENNAN
The supraorbital ridge is obscured by
the visor, but the acute jaw angle and
square chin indicate male. Narrow
nasal aperture suggests Caucasian.

WALT
Was he murdered?

BRENNAN
It is impossible for me to answer that
without first examining the remains.

WALT
Which is why I want you two in the
tournament tomorrow night. Undercover.

Brennan's face lights up. Booth is less enthused.

WALT
We'll sign you up online and transfer
the buy-in. You just have to show up.

BRENNAN
Booth and I are quite good undercover.

Booth catches her eye a moment, but looks away.
He fidgets.

BOOTH
Isn't there some other way?

WALT
Fine. Tell me how to get Dr. Brennan
in front of those remains.

Booth is stumped.

WALT
Come on. You've won more than a few
bucks from me over a pool table.

Brennan looks at Booth now, but he won't look at her.

BRENNAN
I would like some coffee.

Booth looks to Walt who nods his approval.

INT. FBI - HALLWAY - DAY

Booth and Brennan walk and talk.

BOOTH
If you're not comfortable going
undercover here, just say so.

BRENNAN
You know that's not the problem.

They reach the open doorway to the break room.

INT. FBI - BREAK ROOM - CONTINUOUS

Booth follows Brennan in, then rummages
through the cabinets.

BRENNAN
Walt said this is a high stakes pool
tournament. What does that mean?

Booth digs deeper, moving coffee cups around.

BOOTH
(stalling)
Well, you know... it means the
stakes... they're high. It means...

BRENNAN
Gambling, Booth. It means gambling.

He pulls out a (his) Steelers mug and hands
it to her.

BOOTH
'Kay, good, sounds like you got a firm
grasp on the concept. I say we go back
to our roots with Tony and Roxie.

BRENNAN
Booth, you're a gambling addict.

BOOTH
Recovering.

He picks up the coffee pot. She holds out
the cup. He pours.

BOOTH (CONT'D)
Bones, I appreciate your concern-

BRENNAN
It's not concern. It's probability.
Statistics. Do you know the percentage
of addicts who relapse, particularly
when presented with triggers and
stimuli related to their addictions?

BOOTH
What triggers? What stimuli? It's not
like we're going to a casino.

Brennan sips the coffee. She can't do it. She hands it back.

BRENNAN
You were a pool dolphin, correct?

BOOTH
If you're trying to accuse me of being
a pool shark, I'm insulted.

BRENNAN
Because I got the sea animal wrong?

BOOTH
Because I never had to hustle anyone,
okay? I played my games fair and
square. The fairest and the squarest.

BRENNAN
Fairest and squarest... for money.

Booth adds creamer and sugar. He tastes and adjusts.

BOOTH
Walt's in a tough spot, and he trusts
me to get you to those remains.

BRENNAN
No... he trusts our undercover work.

BOOTH
He trusts my pool game.

BRENNAN
Perhaps he should trust my firm grasp
of plane geometry and the physics of
motion instead of assuming I'll go
along as your arm treat girlfriend.

BOOTH
Arm treat? No. It's arm candy.

Booth tastes the coffee. Finally, it's good.

BRENNAN
Okay. Great. You can be the arm candy.
I'll play in the pool tournament.

BOOTH
You know what? Let's run it by Walt.

He hands her back the coffee. She tastes it. It's good.

BRENNAN
(off the response and the coffee)
Thank you.

BOOTH
By the way, Walt's going to hate it.

INT. FBI - CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY

WALT
I love it.

Walt sits opposite Booth and Brennan.

BOOTH
What? Wait, no-

WALT
You just pitched me the idea.
Now you're mad that I agreed to it?

BOOTH
She doesn't even play pool.

WALT
She's a genius. She can learn.

BRENNAN
You can teach me, Booth.

WALT
Look, if she's just posing as your arm
candy girlfriend, she might get closed
out. If she's the player...

BOOTH
(begrudging agreement)
She can't get closed out.

Brennan's smile is pleased. Booth's look is concerned.

END OF TEASER