Booth and Brennan investigate the scene where a car was run off the road and the victim's body deliberately burned beyond recognition. When the team hears muffled whimpering during the site investigation, they find the victim's baby miraculously perched in a tree above the scene of the crash. The team designates Brennan as the infant's caretaker, but when the baby swallows a key piece of evidence, they question her nurturing skills. The team soon identifies the victim as a laborer who worked in a tire-recycling factory in a small, impoverished town in Virginia, and Brennan and Booth venture out to investigate who might have wanted her dead. Their suspicions range from her deadbeat husband to the impecunious habitants of her town. Meanwhile, the team is fascinated by the presence of a baby in the lab and its affinity for Brennan.