Épisode Compagnons de Route S05E15 - X-Files Saison 5

En 1990 à Caledonia, Wisconsin, le shériff d’une petite ville escorte un avocat dans la maison d'Edward Skur qui doit être expulsé de son domicile. Les deux hommes trouvent porte close à leur arrivée et pénètrent dans le domicile grâce au double des clefs que possède l'avocat. Ils fouillent la maison et trouvent, à l'étage, une baignoire dans laquelle gît un cadavre vidé de toute substance. Un vieil homme, le fameux Edward Skur, attaquent alors les deux représentants de la loi et se fait tirer dessus par le shériff. Ces dernières paroles sont constituées par un nom de famille : "Mulder". Une semaine après ces faits, Mulder (qui travaille alors pour l’Unité de Science Comportementale du FBI) rencontre un ancien agent fédéral nommée Arthur Dales. Selon ses sources, il aurait un lien avec Edward Skur qui avait aussi travaillé au FBI et en partenariat avec lui en 1952... Selon un rapport censuré, Skur a disparu il y a de cela 38 ans avant un massacre effroyable. Les victimes ont toutes été vidées de leurs substances et des leurs organes internes. Dales ne veut pas parler de l'affaire et congédie Mulder qui revient pourtant à la charge, dès le lendemain, après avoir revisionné un vieux documentaire dans lequel il voit apparaître son père aux côtés de Dales et Skur ! Il se présente donc chez l'ancien agent et exige de lui des réponses quitte à devoir l'y forcer en obtenant une assignation à comparaître. Dales débute donc son histoire...

En 1952, le jeune Edward Skur est arrêté par deux agents fédéraux, Dales et Michel, devant sa famille parce qu'il est communiste. Skur ne comprend pas comment il a pu se retrouver dans une telle situation et accuse les agents d'avoir placé dans sa poche, au moment de son arrestation, une preuve de sa soi-disant complicité communiste. Conduit en prison, Skur se pend peu après dans sa cellule ce qui perturbe Dales. Il se sent coupable et décide d'aller présenter ses excuses pour son comportement et ses conséquences auprès de sa veuve. Alors qu'il est devant chez elle, il voit Skur dans la rue. Il hurle son nom et se précipite à sa poursuite. Il parvient à le rattraper et à le maîtriser quand, tout à coup, une bête sort de la bouche de Skur et essaye de pénétrer dans le corps de Dales (brr...). La bataille est interrompue lorsqu'un voisin apparaît. Bouleversé par ce qu'il a vu, Dales rédige un rapport à l'attention de ses supérieurs mais son partenaire, Hayes Michel, lui demande de le modifier et de ne pas mentionner ce qu'il a vu car cela va à l'encontre du décès officiel de Skur. Il accepte, à contrecoeur, de le modifier pour ne pas attirer des ennuis à son entourage.

Plus tard, Dales et Michel sont appelés à enquêter sur la mort d’un médecin allemand à Chevy Chase, dans le Maryland. A son domicile règne une odeur de formol : en la suivant, il découvre le cadavre de l'Européen. Deux policiers arrivent ensuite sur place mais ils nient avoir fait appel à eux. En fouillant le domicile, Dales trouve un dessous de verre sur lequel sont inscrits les mots suivants : "come alone" (venez seul). Il se rend donc au bar dont l'adresse est indiquée sur le dessous de verre et fait la rencontre de Bill Mulder, un agent du Département d’État. Muldder lui apprend que trois hommes (Skur, Gissing et Oberman) sont des victimes du gouvernement (bah tiens, encore un complot!) qui a pratiqué sur eux des expériences scientifiques. Le gouvernement essaye de cacher ses méfaits en les accusant d'être communistes et en les faisant donc arrêter pour ce prétexte. Il précise que Gissing et Oberman se sont suicidés et que Skur veut maintenant se venger : c'est la raison pour laquelle il a tué le médecin allemand (parce qu'il avait pris part au complot) mais aussi celle pour laquelle il tuera Dales et son partenaire. Comtpe-tenu du fait qu'ils ont participé à son arrestation, il les soupçonne de travailler pour le gouvernement. Inquiet pour son partenaire, Dales lui téléphone alors même que celui-ci est en train de se faire tuer par Skur qui lâche la bête qui est en lui. Cette dernière se précipite sur Michel et le tue. Averti du décès de son partenaire, Dales enquête mais découvre que des agents du gouvernement sont passés avant lui et ont effacé toutes les preuves. Il n'a plus de pistes à suivre jusqu'à ce qu'il entende parler des affaires non classées en menant des recherches plus poussées. Un dossier X fait référence à une affaire du même genre : il décide alors d'aller examiner le corps de Gissing qui repose toujours à la morgue. A sa demande, le légiste rouvre le cadavre de Gissing et voit une immonde bête en sortir. La créature a été cousue dans la poitrine de Gissing !!

Dales, alarmé apr sa découverte, décide d'aller voir Mrs Skur pour obtenir des informations et surtout pour lui exposer ses déoucouvertes. Il lui dit alors que son mari a subi, durant la Guerre, une xéno-transplantation et qu'il n'est pas le seul dans ce cas. Il souhaite faire éclater la vérité au grand jour et désire qu'elle le mette en contact avec son mari afin d'obtenir son aide pour le faire. Après le départ de Dales, Mrs Skur rejoint son mari pour lui faire part de la demande de l'agent fédéral mais celui-ci, entièrement sous le contrôle de la créature, la tue. Pendant ce temps, Dales est interrogé par J.Edgar Hoover qui lui fait tout un discours sur le patriotisme et assure que ”si nous voulons vaincre ces ennemis, nous devons utiliser ces outils et même aller plus loin, nous devons faire des choses dont même nos ennemis auraient honte.” Hoover parvient tout de même à convaincre Dales, en dépit des réticences de ce dernier qui refuse de faire arrêter un innocent pour un prétexte falcieux, de l'aider à faire venir Skur à lui. Dales est relâché puis rejoint Bill Mulder qui le conduit à un rendez-vous avec Skur dans un bar. Il désire que Skur soit attrapé vivant. Skur et Dales ont une petite discussion au cours de laquelle Skur clame avoir tué sa femme et avertit Dales que lui aussi est désormais un jouet dans les mains du gouvernement et qu'il n'est ici que parce que ce dernier souhaite qu'il le tue. Puis, Skur se jette sur l'agent fédéral mais le combat tourne à l'avantage de ce dernier. Bill Mulder et son collègue (un homme du Syndicat?) attendent dans la voiture. Au bout d'un moment, quand ils n'entendent plus de bruits de bagarre, ils entrent dans le bar et découvrent que Dales a menotté son adversaire. Celui-ci est ensuite remis à Bill Mulder.

En 1990, Mulder est stupéfait de l'implication de son père dans cette affaire. Il n’en revient pas que son père soit de mèche avec le gouvernement et se demande comment il est possible que Skur ait survécu pendant 38 années supplémentaires. Dales lui dit qu'il ne peut rien faire d'autre que supputer. Pour sa part, il pense que quelqu'un l'a libéré dans l'espoir qu'un jour quelqu'un découvre ce qui lui était arrivé et le clame au grand jour.

L'hypothèse de Dales est correcte puisque, dans un dernier flashback daté de 1952, nous voyons Bill Mulder délivrer Skur, lui rendre sa liberté et lui remettre les clefs de sa voiture. Il laisse ainsi repartir, en vie, un meurtrier...

SCENE 1

CALEDONIA, WISCONSIN
NOVEMBER 17, 1990

Day. A Sheriff’s car pulls up in front of a dilapidated old rural house. SHERIFF and LANDLORD get out of the car and face the house. POV is from inside the house looking through the window in the door.

SHERIFF: Looks like nobody's home.

LANDLORD: Oh, he's here. He knows the minute he steps out I'm changing the locks on him.

SHERIFF: He's an old guy, huh? I don't much enjoy evicting old folks.

LANDLORD: This particular one will change your way of thinking.

The two men walk onto the porch. SHERIFF knocks on the door.

SHERIFF: Mr. Skur? It's the sheriff. Will you open up, please?

Inside the house we see a man’s eyes watching and waiting. Outside, the SHERIFF pulls out his gun.

SHERIFF: (to LANDLORD) Go ahead and open it up.

Nervously, the LANDLORD unlocks the door and reacts to a bad smell emanating from the dark house.

LANDLORD: Ugh! God almighty! What the hell's he got in here?

SHERIFF: (entering) Smells like a whole lot of something went bad. (calling out) Mr. Skur? I'm armed. You're going to want to come out now.

LANDLORD: (indicating) The bedroom's back that way.

They begin walking through the house. It is filthy, windows boarded up.

SHERIFF: Mr. Skur?

The LANDLORD looks into the bathroom, gasps, then turns away and vomits in the hallway, then runs downstairs.

SHERIFF: What is it?

SHERIFF looks in bathroom and sees a hand shape on the edge of the tub.

SHERIFF: Ain't nothing but a glove. No reason to... oh, my god!

It is actually a badly decomposed body in the tub. SHERIFF suddenly doesn’t feel too good either. Then he is attacked by a man, EDWARD SKUR. The SHERIFF fires at him and SKUR falls down the stairs. SHERIFF follows. SKUR is muttering something over and over. SHERIFF gets close and hears

SKUR: Mulder...

SCENE 2
WASHINGTON, D.C.
NOVEMBER 21, 1990

Day. Silver late 80’s model car pulls up outside a plain apartment building. MULDER, first season hair, gets out and enters the building. As he walks down the hall, file folder in his hand we hear a baby crying. He knocks on a door. ARTHUR DALES, 60’s, opens it partially keeping the chain on.

MULDER: Arthur Dales?

DALES: (glancing down the hall) Who's asking?

MULDER: (very nervous, very green, very cute) I'm a-a profiler with the behavioral sciences unit. (shows badge, clumsily) You are Arthur Dales, former special agent with the Bureau? I need to ask you some questions about a man named Edward Skur. You opened a-a file on him in 1952.

DALES: I don't recall.

MULDER: I-I brought the case file here with me. (shows an OLD X-File 525652)

DALES: How long have you been in the bureau? (MULDER shrugs, opens mouth) Do you know what an X file is?

MULDER brushes his hair off of his forehead with his left hand giving us an oh so obvious view of his … WEDDING RING!

MULDER: It's, uh... it's an unsolved case.

DALES: No. it's a case that's been designated unsolved.

MULDER: Mr. Dales, most of your report has been censored... as you can see. (shot of the file which is half blacked out with magic marker) Now, if somebody's trying to bury this case. I'd like to know why. According to your report, Edward Skur disappeared 38 years ago, before you had a chance to arrest him for a series of stranger killings in which the victims' internal organs had all been removed.

DALES: And now you've found him?

MULDER: Yes. last week. Shot to death by a sheriff serving an eviction notice. A man was also found in his bathroom with all his soft tissue removed.

DALES: Well, if he's dead there's nothing you need from me. (begins to close door)

MULDER: (stopping him) Sir, sir, m-my name is Mulder. (DALES reacts) You know that name... and so did Edward Skur. How?

DALES: Have you ever heard of HUAC, Agent Mulder--the House Un-American Activities Committee? No, no, no, it was before your time. You wouldn't know. They hunted communists in America in the '40s and '50s. They found... practically nothing. Do you think they would have found nothing unless nothing... was what they wanted to find? Hmm?

MULDER: Uh... I'm sorry, sir. (RING shot #2 as he brushes his hair again) I-I, uh... I don't, I don't see the connection.

DALES: Maybe you're not supposed to.

DALES closes door. MULDER reluctantly turns away from the door.

SCENE 3

Evening. MULDER’s apartment. MULDER is watching a video tape of the McCarthy hearings and eating sunflower seeds.

TV ANNOUNCER: The nation's chief red hunters, senator Joseph McCarthy and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, join forces. Working through congress, the senator from Wisconsin and the legendary lawman, vow to wipe out the red menace within our own federal government. Roy Cohn, chief counsel at the McCarthy hearings, warns communist mind control can strike anywhere, at any time. It is those Americans sympathetic to the communist cause-- the so-called "fellow travelers"--who pose the greatest threat to our national security.

MUDLER unwraps the X-File we saw earlier. Not blacked out, we see words: "…Gissing … Edward Skur or Terrill Oberman" MULDER looks at old card for the Communist Party bearing SKUR’s name, address, Leesburg VA, 11-5-47, signed by "W. Schneidermann." RING shot #3.

TV ANNOUNCER: So says the young U.S. attorney--and he should know. It was Mr. Cohn that brought those atomic spies, the Rosenbergs, to justice. It was his staunch defense of the American way of life, that first brought Roy Cohn to the attention of senator McCarthy. With the support of the FBI, Mr. Cohn and Mr. McCarthy vow to work tirelessly to root out the more than 70 suspected communist spies, and the untold numbers of fellow travelers working in our own state department.

Something catches MULDER’s attention on the tape and he rewinds, putting on his glasses.

TV ANNOUNCER: ...tirelessly to root out the more than 70 suspected communist spies and the untold numbers of fellow travelers working in our own state...

He rewinds again focusing on one man in the hearing.

TV ANNOUNCER: ...and the untold numbers of fellow travelers working in our own state...

MULDER: (quietly, stopping the tape, recognizing the man) Dad.

SCENE 4

Interior DALES building. DALES opens door with chain still on.

MULDER: (holding a styrofoam cup, RING shot #4) Good morning, Mr. Dales. I brought you some coffee.

DALES: Speak.

MULDER: Edward Skur died saying a name--my name. My father's name.

DALES: Go ask your father.

MULDER: My father and I don't really speak.

DALES: I told you I can't help you. (shuts door)

MULDER: (through the door) Mr. Dales, I want the truth, and I will subpoena you to get it, if I have to.

DALES opens door again. MULDER smiles tightly.

DALES: Before his disappearance, Skur worked for the state department, just like your old man did. You had to have suspected the connection before you came here yesterday, but you said nothing.

MULDER: The man that Edward Skur killed 38 years ago--was my father involved?

DALES sighs and nods.

MULDER: How?

Later, they sit talking. There is an old picture of DALES in the file. DALES looks at a picture of a victim.

DALES: Skur killed this man the way he did all the others. All the soft tissue, internal organs, ligature--all were removed... without tearing the skin.

MULDER: (who is SMOKING!!!!!) The coroner wasn't able to determine how.

DALES: Oh, I can tell you... how. What I can't tell you... is why.

MULDER: You said in your report that uh, Skur was suspected of being a communist?

DALES: Well, that's what they said he was. That's what they said they all were.

Fade to suburban fifties house.

SCENE 5
LEESBURG, VA
JUNE 24, 1952

DALES: (VO) To us, Skur was just another name on a list, another commie spy at the state department. We had no idea who--or what-- Edward Skur really was.

1950’s DALES and his partner, AGENT MICHEL approach the house. DALES knocks at the door. MRS SKUR, 30’s, answers.

MRS SKUR: May I help you?

DALES: My name's Arthur Dales, ma'am. I'm with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This is my partner, Agent Michel. Is your husband in?

MRS SKUR: What do you want with him?

SKUR: (coming up behind her) Supper's getting cold, sweetheart. I'll take care of this. It's all right.

MRS SKUR walks toward rear of house.

DALES: Edward Skur?

SKUR: Yes.

AGENT MICHEL enters and pushes SKUR against the wall and begins handcuffing him roughly.

MICHEL: You're under arrest for contempt of Congress--failure to appear before the committee.

SKUR: I'm a family man, for God's sake!

MICHEL: You should have thought of that before you decided to betray your country, Red.

MRS SKUR: Edward?

DALES: Let's go.

MICHEL: Look what I found.

MICHEL hands DALES the same Communist Party card that MULDER looks at 36 years in the future.

SKUR: You planted that.

MICHEL: I'll plant one in your keister, Bolshevik, you don't watch your mouth.

MICHEL lead SKUR out of the house.

DALES: (looking at MRS SKUR and three children) I'm sorry. I...

MRS SKUR: (vicious) Get out.

DALES leaves.

SCENE 6

A bar, Hoot Owl, evening. DALES enters and sits at the bar.

BARTENDER: Geez, Louise, what did you do--take a swim in the Potomac?

DALES: I'd probably be drier if I had. Got something to warm me up?

BARTENDER: Where's your partner?

DALES: He's processing a prisoner.

BARTENDER: You guys, uh, still busting reds?

DALES: Till Mr. Hoover tells us different.

BARTENDER: Good for you, Mr. Dales. (hands him a drink)

phone rings

BARTENDER: (on phone) Yeah? Mr. Dales? For you.

DALES: (on phone) Yeah?

MICHEL: (on phone) You try to reach me?

DALES: (on phone) No, why?

MICHEL: (on phone) I thought maybe you heard about Skur.

DALES: (on phone) What about him?

MICHEL: (on phone) He's dead. He hung himself in his cell. The guards found him about 20 minutes ago. You figure commie central command tells these mopes to snuff themselves in the event of capture?

DALES: (on phone) I got to go.

DALES hangs up, obviously upset.

BARTENDER: Everything okay?

DALES: Oh, nothing a little bourbon won't cure.

SCENE 7
10:54 PM

Night, outside the DALES residence. DALES sits in his car drinking from a liquor bottle.

1990 DALES: (VO) I didn't know what I should say to her. "I'm sorry about your loss, Mrs. Skur. If there's anything I can do..." The words sounded hollow. No matter what I said, I was the man who'd busted her husband--turned her life upside down. I sat there for over an hour trying to find my courage in a bottle. And then, and then I saw someone I shouldn't—I-I couldn't--have seen. Now it was my life that would be turned upside down.

DALES sees a man get out of a car and walk toward the house.

DALES: Edward Skur!

MAN begins running. Dales pursues. MAN, SKUR, turns on DALES and pushes him to the ground. Out of SKUR’s mouth we see tentacles emerging. DALES, understandably, is a little freaked out.

NEIGHBOR MAN: (calling out his window) Hey! who's down there?!

SKUR runs off. DALES catches his breath.

SCENE 8
1950’s FBI HEADQUARTERS
WASHINGTON, D.C.

Video footage of Rosenburg trial.

1950’S TV: Dateline, Washington--the Justice Department vows no mercy for A-bomb spies. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg once again manage to delay their date with the electric chair. Prosecutors say they are confident Judge Kaufman's death sentence will be upheld by the highest court in the land.

1990 DALES: (VO) The world still seemed clear to me that morning. Despite what I'd seen the night before, I still thought I knew who the bad guys and the good guys were. But that was all about to change.

FBI Headquarters, interior. DALES is on phone. MICHEL comes up to him.

MICHEL: Hang up.

DALES: (on phone) Let me call you back. (hangs up)

MICHEL: What did the watch commander say?

DALES: They're going door-to-door in the neighborhood. There's no sign of him yet.

MICHEL: They're not going to find him, Artie. Open it up.

DALES opens MICHEL’s folder to see picture of a dead looking SKUR in his jail cell.

DALES: Skur...

MICHEL: Maybe you want to change your description of the suspect who assaulted you.

DALES: When were these taken?

MICHEL: Last night. Two hours before you say Skur attacked you. You had a few. You were feeling bad about what happened. It's understandable.

DALES: I... I didn't have that much to drink.

MICHEL: Just leave Skur's name out of your report. Nobody else has to know.

DALES: I already filed my report. An hour ago.

MAN: Dales. Call for you.

DALES: (on phone) Yes. I'll be right there. [to Michel] it's the Justice Department. They want to talk to me.

SCENE 9

DALES walks down hall and enters door with following words on it.

ROY M. COHN
SPECIAL ASSISTANT
TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
INTERNAL SECURITY

COHN: Agent Dales, have a seat. (sits on the edge of another chair) You know who I am?

DALES: You prosecuted the Rosenbergs. Now you're working with Mr. Hoover and, uh, Senator McCarthy.

COHN: Then you know how important my work is--how vital it is to the future of this country that these rats, these vermin, who dare call themselves Americans be exposed as the traitors they are.

DALES: I don't interest myself in politics, Mr. Cohn.

COHN: Everything is political, Agent Dales. Like this report you filed this morning. We've spoken to Mrs. Skur and the neighbors. You seem to be the only person who can identify that man as Edward Skur.

DALES: Do you believe me, then?

COHN: We are fighting a powerful enemy in a war of ideology. In any war there are secrets--truths that must be kept from the public in order to serve the greater good.

DALES: You want me to amend my report? Take out any reference to Edward Skur? I don't understand...

COHN: You're not supposed to understand. You're supposed to follow orders.

SCENE 10

FBI bullpen, DALES is typing report, suspect UNKNOWN. DOROTHY BAHNSEN, clerk, approaches with a cartful of files.

BAHNSEN: Agent Dales?

DALES: Yeah.

BAHNSEN: I pulled that file.

DALES: Oh, right. Thank you.

He takes file. It is the same blacked out X-File that MULDER has 36 years from now mentioning GISSING, SKUR and OBERMANN. AGENT MICHEL comes over to DALES’ desk.

MICHEL: Dales.

DALES follows his partner out of the office leaving the file behind.

SCENE 11
CHEVY CHASE, MARYLAND
2:04 PM

1990 DALES: (VO) I'd never so much as faked an expense report or used a Bureau car to drive home, so lying didn't sit well with me, even if I was under orders. I wanted to leave behind the business of Edward Skur and never hear that name again. But it was too late. By then, Skur had already become a murderer.

MICHEL and DALES drive up to a house and enter the house.

MICHEL: Homicide call came in from Chevy Chase PD. Advise and assist.

DALES: Well, where are they?

MICHEL: Must have come and gone.

German pop song playing

DALES: I know this song. They were playing it the day my unit rolled into Berlin.

MICHEL: The guy must be a Kraut.

DALES: Yeah. (looking at pictures on the wall with famous people) Well-connected Kraut.

MICHEL: There you go. I got six ounces of German shrapnel in my can and this Kraut got to shake hands with the president?

DALES: What's that? You smell that?

MICHEL: Yeah. Kinda. Hospital smell. Formaldehyde, maybe?

DALES and MICHEL walk through house. Find badly decomposed dead body.

MICHEL: Well-connected dead Kraut.

DALES: What the hell happened to him?

OFFICER 1 pulls his gun in the hallway door.

OFFICER 1: Hands in the air! Over there! Come on! Now!

DALES: Whoa, fellas, FBI.

MICHEL: Credentials in my front coat pocket. Hey, easy on the material. I'm Agent Michel. This is my partner, Agent Dales.

OFFICER 1: Who called you guys out here?

MICHEL: You did, you mope. We got the call from your department.

OFFICER 2: We don't know nothing about that.

DALES pulls bar coaster off of a side bar.

MICHEL: Then who brought you guys out here?

DALES looks at bar coaster. It says "Come alone." 

OFFICER 1: One of his nurses called in. Said the doc didn't show up for surgery this morning.

MICHEL: Something tells me he ain't going to make it.

SCENE 12
BAR

1990 DALES:[narrating]: I was summoned to the bar by a man who'd already been to the doctor's house that morning. It was the man, Agent Mulder, you came here to ask me about.

DALES enters bar, pulls curtain for private booth and sits.

DALES: Skur?

BILL MULDER: No. But I came here to warn you about him.

DALES: Like you warned that doctor you murdered in Chevy Chase?

BILL MULDER: I tried to save that man, but I was too late.

DALES: Skur killed him?

BILL MULDER: He'll kill you, too.

MICHEL’s apartment. Michel enters, pops a beer, calls out the open window for his cat.

MICHEL: [looking for his cat]: Myrtle?

Cat meows and stretches on the couch. MICHEL closes the window.

DALES: (in bar) What are you talking about? what is this, some kind of communist plot?

BILL MULDER: Skur's not a communist. He's a patriot. All of these men are patriots.

DALES: What are you talking about? What men?

BILL MULDER: There were three men--veterans--working at the State Department. Skur, Gissing and Oberman.

DALES: Gissing and Oberman. I read those names on a censored report.

BILL MULDER: They're dead now.

DALES: Murdered?

BILL MULDER: No. Dead by their own hand. They couldn't live with what they'd become--what they'd been turned into--and Skur's the last.

DALES: Why did they put out that story about him hanging himself?

BILL MULDER: Because they had to do something to cover up what they'd done to him. Label him a communist--say he killed himself and put him up someplace where no one's going to look for him. But his escape threatens everything.

DALES: Threatens what? What did they do to him? Look... you asked me here.

BILL MULDER: And I risked my career and my family by coming here. But the crimes these men have committed against innocent people... I can't have that on my conscience anymore. Someone needs to know the truth.

DALES: Who are you?

BILL MULDER: My name is Mulder. I work at the State Department.

CUT to MICHEL’s apartment.

MICHEL: (watching McCARTHY on TV) Mmm... attaboy, tail gunner. Give 'em hell. (Cat meows and knocks over beer bottle.) Ah, Myrtle. Dumb cat. Damn it! Damn it, Myrtle!

CUT to BAR.

DALES: All right, then, Mr. Mulder. Who is this "they" you want me to arrest?

BILL MULDER: You can't arrest these men.

DALES: Why not?

BILL MULDER: It's... political.

DALES: What are you telling me? Are you telling me that Mr. Cohn and Senator McCarthy are involved in this? Is Skur after them, too?

BILL MULDER: Skur wants vengeance for what those men did to him. He's a killer now. He can only guess at the dimensions of this conspiracy. But he thinks you're part of it. You and your partner.

DALES walks away toward BARTENDER.

DALES: (to BARTENDER) Your phone.

BARTENDER: (giving him phone) What's the number?

DALES: Klondike 5-0133.

CUT to MICHEL’s apartment.

MICHEL: I knew I should have got a dog. [sets down gun and badge, phone ringing]

DALES: Come on. Come on.

Inside MICHEl’s apartment, we see that the phone line has been cut. SKUR attacks Michel. "Thing, a crab?" comes out of SKUR’s mouth and goes into Michel's mouth. MICHEL screams.

SCENE 13

Next day. MICHEL's apartment. Crime lab team is on the scene.

CORONER: Are you, um... are you sure a man did this? Uh, I suppose, um, he could have force-fed him a... corrosive agent of some kind, an acid maybe...except I-I don't know why it wouldn't have, uh, burned to the skin.

DALES: That account for the smell?

CORONER: Maybe. We won't know for sure until we get a toxology report. Hopefully, we'll have an answer for you in six to eight weeks. Meanwhile, we can, uh, at least start on a physical exam of the body... Such as it is.

COHN: Agent Dales... Hey, hey, where do you think you're taking that? This man's a veteran. The body goes to Bethesda. Howard, take care of this.

DALES: Mr. Cohn, these men are going to the county morgue. An autopsy needs to be performed.

COHN: Come here. Give us a minute. (others leave) You wanna to test me--see how fast I can pull the chain and flush you. You want to see your name on a list? Are you now, or have you ever been...?

DALES: What are you talking about? I'm no communist.

COHN: You are, if I say you are. This is a matter of national security. Take this body out of here. Get it out. [to Dales, smug] See? You're a patriot again.

DALES: (VO) When your partner dies, a piece of you dies with him. I'd been threatened by Mr. Cohn, but I couldn't leave it alone... Not while Michel's killer was still out there... Not if I wanted to live with myself. I knew Skur had killed Michel out of vengeance for what had been done to him--your father had told me as much--but your father also said there were two other men who'd had the same thing done to them... Men who were already dead. Finding out what happened to them, at least might help me understand what Skur had become... understand how my partner was killed.

SCENE 14
FBI HEADQUARTERS

DALES with BAHNSEN looking at blacked out report.

DALES: What is this?

BAHNSEN: The deposition that names Edward Skur and these other two men as communists.

DALES: It's all censored.

BAHNSEN: By the committee, to protect the identity of the witness.

DALES: There was no witness. This whole thing's been manufactured. Edward Skur is no communist. Neither are these other two men, Gissing and Oberman. I wanna see their files, Gissing and Oberman.

BAHNSEN: I already checked. They're missing but I recognize one of these names. It's in an X-file.

DALES: An "X-file"?

BAHNSEN: Yes, unsolved cases. I file them under "x." (Goes to file cabinet..)

DALES: Why don't you file them under "u" for "unsolved"?

BAHNSEN: That's what I did until I ran out of room. Plenty of room in the "X"s.

DALES: Who decides when a case gets an "X"?

BAHNSEN: The director's office. It's, uh... it's kind of a dead end. No one's supposed to see them, but it makes for interesting reading. Here it is. A German emigre, Dr. Strohman patriated here after the war. He was found dead in his office last week at the VA.

DALES: Let me guess. They weren't able to explain how. His body just kind of collapsed, right?

BAHNSEN: Yes.

DALES: Gissing? His name's in this file, somewhere?

BAHNSEN: Yes. He was a patient. Found dead on the scene. Suicide. I guess he didn't much care for his treatment.

DALES: They think he killed his doctor and then killed himself? How did Gissing kill this man?

BAHNSEN: That's why it's an X-file. They don't know.

SCENE 15
CORONER’S OFFICE

GISSING’s body is uncovered.

CORONER: You're lucky Gissing's body's still here. The VA's been trying to have it transferred.

DALES: Why haven't they?

CORONER: Well, this fella's a bigwig in the State Department. His family's been kicking up a stink.

DALES: What is this?

CORONER: Well, looks like he had some surgery. Judging by the color of the scar, I'd say it was fairly recent.

DALES: I want you to cut this man open.

CORONER: (shocked) No, I-I can't do that. His family will have my head.

DALES: Gissing and a man named Skur were patients of the same doctors. I think whatever was done to this man was also done to the man who killed my partner. It may be the only way we have to explain how he died.

The coroner opens GISSING up. They see something odd.

DALES: What's that? What is that?

CORONER: I don't know. It, uh... looks like it's lodged into his esophagus. Wait a minute. Those are sutures. Whatever this is, someone put it there. Oh, geez. Whoa.

Crablike thing crawls around in the corpse’s innards.

CORONER: Oh... Oh, my god.

SCENE 16
SKUR’S HOUSEHOLD

DALES: Mrs. Skur, I hope I'm not disturbing you.

MRS SKUR: You have a lot of nerve coming here.

DALES: Your husband... You know he's not dead.

MRS SKUR: How dare you?

DALES: Your husband was discredited in order to cover up a crime. Mrs. Skur--a crime that was committed upon him, against his will.

MRS SKUR: Whatever was done to my husband, you're part of it.

DALES: According to VA Records, your husband underwent surgery for war injuries. So did two other men that he worked with at the state department, but the surgeries that they received... It wasn't what they thought it was. It had nothing to do with their war injuries.

MRS SKUR: Then what was it?

DALES: It's called xenotransplantation. It's, uh, the grafting of another species into the human body. It's a procedure that nazi doctors experimented with during the war, and I believe that they continued their work here, using your husband and these other two men as unwitting test subjects. I want to expose what was done to your husband, Mrs. Skur. I can't do that unless I have his help.

DALES leaves the house. Car pulls up. COHN exits and confronts DALES.

COHN: Get in. Just get in.

DALES gets in the car and it drives off. MRS DALES goes down into bomb shelter.

MRS SKUR: Ed? Oh, god. Are you all right?

SKUR is in corner of shelter gasping, obviously in distress.

SKUR: I told you not to come down here.

MRS SKUR: That FBI Agent came back.

SKUR: I'm getting worse.

MRS SKUR: He says he wants to help you.

SKUR: It's too late to help me. I can't help myself anymore.

Sound of MRS SKUR screaming.

SCENE 17
FBI HEADQUARTERS
WASHINGTON, DC

COHN: You sit there.

HOOVER: Leave us alone.

COHN: Mr. Director...

HOOVER: Leave us. [guards leave, to Dales] In 1945, at the time of the first conference to map out the peace, after the second world war, there lived within the Soviet orbit 180 million people. Lined up on the anti-totalitarian side at that time were one billion, 625 million people. Today, Mr. Dales, just seven years later, there are 800 million people under the absolute domination of Soviet Russia--an increase of over 400 percent. On our side the figure has shrunk to around 500 million. In other words... in less than seven years the odds have changed from nine to one in our favor, to eight to five against us. The threat of global communist domination is a reality that can be ignored only at the risk of our own annihilation.

DALES: The men we arrested weren't communists.

HOOVER: If we are to defeat the enemy, we must use their tools. We must go further. We must do those things which even our enemies would be ashamed to do. It is only through strength that we can make our enemies fear us, and thereby ensure our own survival. You have one chance, Mr. Dales, to save yourself--to demonstrate that you have the strength to serve your country.

SCENE 18

Night. Car pulls up in front of bar. BILL MULDER and DALES are inside the car.

BILL MULDER: Make your meeting with Skur. Let him think you're alone. Put him at ease. We'll be in when the time is right.

DALES: Is this why you came to see me, Mr. Mulder? Make me your stalking horse?

BILL MULDER: I follow my orders.

BILL MULDER takes DALES’ gun.

DALES: I might need that.

BILL MULDER: We want him alive.

DALES enters the bar.

DALES: Here you go.

Hands bartender wad of money.

BARTENDER: I turned the lights off out front. Just pull the door shut when you go.

DALES: Thanks for your help.

BARTENDER: Anything to help out the Bureau. (leaves)

DALES pours a drink.

SKUR: Did you come here to kill me or save me?

DALES: I'm here to help you, just like I told your wife.

SKUR: My wife is dead. I'm dead, too, inside, (We see that BILL MULDER is listening to the conversation out in the car.) because of this thing they put in me. For what? To turn me into some kind of killing machine, or just to see what would happen? They're not coming, you know. They wanted me to kill you, or you wouldn't be here. You're part of their test now, too.

DALES: I don't want to kill you.

SKUR: I know.

Skur attacks Dales. "Thing" comes out of Skur's mouth. Out in the car, BILL MULDER starts to exit the car. He is restrained by a companion - [First Elder? CSM?] Thing almost reaches DALES. DALES handcuffs SKUR to bar rail. BILL MULDER, listening to sounds of attack on tape finally exits car and finds SKUR handcuffed, and DALES missing.

SCENE 19
1990 DALES’ apartment

Ring shot #5.

MULDER: (brushing hair out of face, Ring shot #6) I can't believe my father threw in with these men. He let them dictate his conscience.

DALES: Oh, don't fool yourself. None of us are free to choose. I was ruined for my insubordination. You keep digging through the...The X-files and they'll bury you, too.

MULDER: Skur died saying my father's name. Why?

DALES: I haven't the faintest idea.

MULDER: (putting on jacket) Well, there was, um... there was one thing you didn't explain. It was, uh... how Skur was able to get away... how he was able to live in obscurity for the last 38 years.

DALES: 38 years? My God. Well, I kept hearing things through the years, you know. Uh, people tell me things. I heard that he was dead-- that he'd been kept in some secret lab while they finished up the, uh, experiment. I even thought that maybe... maybe some poor innocent bastard--somebody with a conscience--might have let him go.

Flashback 1950’s, car on deserted rural road. Man gets out of driver’s side. It is BILL MULDER. He tosses keys to a surprised SKUR who is handcuffed to the window, and walks away.

MULDER: (VO) Why would anyone do that? Why let a killer go free?

DALES: (VO) In the hope that by letting him live, the truth of the crimes that were committed against him and the others might someday... be exposed.

Car drives away as BILL MULDER walks down the road the opposite direction.

THE END