Total Drama Lab Chapter Five: "The bride in the oven"
Bones, Booth, and Cam are all at the crime scene, at the after math of a wedding. Booth is talking to the guests. Bones and Cam are checking out the body, if it can be called that.
"This is bad, the flesh has boiled and burned too much for any facial recognition." Cam says. "Good news, the family won't have to pay for cremation."
"There also appears to be what looks like cooking oil on the flesh." Adds Bones.
"The guests and family have identified the victim as a Ms. Harriet Turnboll, who was going to be a Mrs. Harriet Kennedy." Booth says after walking up. "So, what's the plan?"
"We need to bring this oven back to the lab for further investigation." Bones says.
"Fine, back to the lab it is." Booth says.
In the Jeffersonian lab…
Bones and Cam are looking at the body and are stumped as to how to remove the remains without compromising evidence. Booth is off to the side.
"I say we just scrape it out." Says Cam.
"We can't. That will cause contusions that don't already exist and will be problematic." Bones says.
"Not to mention the dress."
"Dr. Saroyan, there is no dress."
Cam takes a closer look into the oven. "It was her wedding day, why isn't she wearing a dress."
"Yeah, I've been wondering that myself." They turn around to see Sweets behind them.
"How long have you been standing behind us?" Bones asks.
"Long enough to notice the victim wasn't wearing a wedding dress. Since Hodgins and Angela have left for vacation, I figured I could lend a hand in the case. The dress, it's the thing a bride wears before she gives up the life she lived for herself, to live her life for her partner, too. Whoever has the dress is someone who didn't want her to move on and possibly the killer."
"Huh, good catch Sweets. I'll have the guests brought in for questioning. Care to aid with interrogation?" Booth asks.
"Dude, sweet!" he says. The two of them leave the lab table area.
"So, how do you suggest we remove the remains carefully?" Cam asks.
"I have an idea, but I'll need some additional help. Which intern is scheduled for today?"
"None of your interns were scheduled for today, although, Hodgins called in one of his interns to help out today. His name is Harold. Hodgins assured me that he would be a help to us."
"You're more take charge without Hodgins around."
"I know, but I'm going to start being more of a boss now. I'm not useless, and I'll get all of you to understand that, starting with this case." She says proudly.
"Hello," Says a dorky looking red head with his finger up his nose.
"Can you please remove your finger from your nostril? It is very disgusting." Bones asks him.
"Okay." He takes his finger out and rubs it on his pants. He walks up to them. "I'm Harold, Hodgins' intern." He extends his hand to Cam who looks at Bones.
Meanwhile, in the interrogation room…
Booth gives the four suspects each a glass of water. Sweets leans forward and looks at each of them as they take sips of the water.
"So, what were your relationships to the victim?" he asks them all. Booth sits on the edge of the table next to Sweets.
"I'm her father, Anthony Turnboll."
"I was her mother." She looks at Anthony with sharp eyes. "I'm Julia Turnboll."
"I was going to marry her. I'm Jason Kennedy."
"I was her sister. My name is Claire Turnboll."
"So, was Harriet showing any signs of stress before the wedding? Nervousness? Anxiety? Anything?" he asks.
"No, she wasn't stressed. She was ready to marry me, I knew that. All she talked about was the wedding!" yells Jason.
"Hey, don't upset him. His fiancée just got murdered." Says Claire who rubs his shoulders.
"What about you, Mrs. Turnboll?" asks Sweets.
"Look, I was cooking.." she says.
"Ahh, 'cooking' huh?" Booth says mockingly.
"Look, Harriet seemed nice and ready for the wedding. Her killer probably was someone jealous. Did you check the rest of the guest list?" Anthony Turnboll asks.
"Yes, we did. And after a preliminary background check on each of the guests, you four were the only ones who knew the victim well enough. We checked every facet of interaction between her and every guests, and not a one besides you four came up." Booth says forcefully. "But here's the kicker. We linked each of the four of you to each of the other guests in some way. So, maybe Harriet wanted a small wedding with just her family and fiancée there. I think one of you killed her, and not one of you are leaving until we find out who. Let's go, Sweets." Booth and Sweets exit the room.
Meanwhile, at the lab table…
Harold is studying the oven while Bones and Cam are sitting in chairs waiting for him to say something.
"Okay, to get this body out, I will have to compromise some of the evidence, but the flesh will remain intact. The bones will be compromised unfortunately." Says Harold.
"But if the bones are compromised, then I'll have no way to solve the case." Bones says.
"That's true, but with flesh, I'll be able to. Harold, you have my permission to remove the remains as you have planned. The Empress of the lab has spoken." Cam says and smiles and Bones pouts and folds her arms.
Harold grabs a spatula from the tray begins scraping out the flesh. He scoops it into trays and places them on lab table. He grabs window cleaner and sprays the remains that can't easily be removed. "I'm applying the window cleaner to the flesh to irritate it and cause it to retract on itself, pushing off of the bone, but the acid from the solution will affect the results from any x-rays we may take, and there's no way to read how the bone was affected. However, in the top screen of the flesh, we can just simply ignore the compound elements listed on the back label." He stands and points to the label.
"Excellent work, Harold." Says Cam. "Now, help me get these trays over to the autopsy room so I can perform the top screens." Her and Harold grab the trays and leave.
Meanwhile, in Booth's office…
"So, who do you think the murderer is?" Booth asks Sweets.
"I'm thinking it's the mother, but the dad seems a likely candidate, too. He looks down every time we asked a question about his daughter."
"It's either out of guilt or he just misses his daughter. Can you determine which if we interrogate him alone?"
"Yeah, I can do that."
Booth's phone rings and he answers. "Booth."
"Hey, I just got the top screen back on the flesh of the victim. It wasn't just covered in cooking oil, but also in vinegar. Also, the victim ingested anticoagulants, metal phosphides, and calciferols consisting of vitamin D. In English, it's rat poison." Cam says over the phone. "Search the house for rat poison, Booth."
"Thanks, Cam." Booth hangs up. "Okay, Sweets, time for a field trip."
Hours later, at the interrogation office…
Booth and Sweets enter with the rat poison bagged. Booth drops it on the table and Mr. and Mrs. Turnboll look up at him. Claire Turnboll flinches and Sweets notices.
"We learned your daughter was poisoned with this, and your fingerprints are all over it, Mrs. Turnboll. How do you explain that?"
Mrs. Turnboll chokes up before saying "Look, I didn't kill my daughter. We have rats and I am the one who spreads the poison on the traps. I would not kill my daughter on her wedding day."
"Then who…" booth begins to say.
"Booth! It's not the mother we're after. It's the sister." He turns to her. "Isn't that right, Claire?" he asks.
She starts to cry. "I loved Jason first! She stole him from me on our wedding day!" she pauses to sniffle. "So, I'll take her from him! It's only fair!"
Sweets turns to Booth who pats his shoulder and smiles. Booth whispers "Good job, Sweets."
Later, at the Founding Fathers…
"Cheers, to Sweets and Cam! For without them this case wouldn't have ended in success. Cheers!" Booth exclaims. They all bang their glasses together and drink.