Booth's detective friend from Tokyo, Ken Nakamura, calls him when his sister, Sachi, goes missing while in Washington, D.C. With Brennan, Booth investigates her disappearance.

Brennan and Booth are asked to investigate the death of a man who was murdered for the secret contents of his briefcase. They suspect that secret operatives are at work, and their theory is proven correct when they find the liquefied remains of a CIA agent in the trunk of a car. Meanwhile, Brennan's new best-selling book causes tension between her and Booth, and Wendell loses his scholarship.