X-Files Logo 'Underneath'

Story Code '#9X11'
by John Shiban
X-Files Cast

SCENE 1 - BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, THIRTEEN YEARS AGO

(It is late night and raining down on Brooklyn. A cable van stops outside a house and BOB, the driver, kisses a rosary hanging on the rear-view mirror with a crucifix attached. A raspy male's voice interrupts from the darkness of the back seat)

RASPY MALE VOICE:
Get going.

BOB:
Please...

RASPY MALE VOICE:
Do your damn job.

(BOB nods. He lifts the collar to his jacket, grabs the work order and tool box from the passenger seat beside him and exits the van into the pouring rain)


SCENE 2 - INSIDE

(JANET, a teenage girl is talking to someone on the phone. Her mother walks out of the kitchen and into the telephone cord)

JANET:
You can't think 'Milli Vanilli' is cool. I will disown you. You are unbelievable.

(Her mother ducks under the cord and continues through, checking the dinner)

JANET:
Okay, I may puke, but I have to ask. Which one do you intend to marry, Rob or Fab?

(The doorbell)

MOM:
Janet, get that.

(JANET glares at her mother)

JANET:
Hang on. I'm like the servant around here.

(JANET puts the phone down and goes to the door, which she opens to BOB. He has a work order and tool box with him)

JANET:
Yeah?

BOB:
Triboro Cable.

JANET:
What do you want?

BOB:
Your cable's out.

JANET:
Is it? I don't think so.

(BOB looks down at the work order in his hand. He hesitates a moment, then quickly apologises and turns to leave)

BOB:
You... okay, I'm sorry.

JANET:
Wait a sec. Maybe my Dad called you. You better... come in.

(BOB nervously enters)

JANET:
TV's in here. Dad! Cable guy's here!

(JANET leaves to get back to her telephone conversation. BOB walks towards the set and places his toolbox on top, thinking deep inside. He clearly has a problem. DAD turns around, suddenly behind him)

DAD:
Can I help you?

(BOB is startled. He turns around, the work order still clutched tightly in his right hand)

BOB:
There's a problem with your cable?

DAD:
I was just watching the game upstairs. I think you got the wrong house, buddy.

BOB:
Oh.

(BOB turns his back to DAD as if to gather his things to leave. DAD, however, stops him)

DAD:
Is... that your work order? Who called it in?

(BOB stares silently for a moment at the work order, blood splatters across it - snapping him out of his ‘trance’. Later, the buzzing of the telephone is the only sound. BOB, alone, stares down at DAD who has a screwdriver in his neck and who is lying in a pool of blood. BOB moves into the kitchen and we see MOM and JANET both lying dead on the ground. The door opens and OFFICER DUKE TOMASICK enters)

DUKE TOMASICK:
Police! Don't move!

(BOB looks DA zed and a little confused. He's silent as he takes in the crime scene before him. DUKE TOMASICK takes a good look at the living room)

DUKE TOMASICK:
Oh, god almighty...

(DUKE TOMASICK grabs the still DA zed BOB and pushes him up against the wall)

DUKE TOMASICK:
Face the wall. Face the wall! Johnny, check the other rooms.

(Another officer moves past them and heads to the kitchen, gun drawn. He sees the bodies and turns back. It is a much younger JOHN DOGGETT)

DOGGETT:
They're all dead.

(DOGGETT sees FASSL and walks determinedly toward him)

DOGGETT:
Got you. Got you, you bastard.


OPENING TITLES


SCENE 3 - FBI BUILDING

(REYES exits the elevator and moves towards the office. We can hear DOGGETT on the phone, clearly unhappy over something. REYES enters and sees DOGGETT on the phone)

DOGGETT:
D-O-G-G-E-T-T. Two Gs and two Ts. I was the arresting officer. You're making a huge mistake. I don't care what it shows! I appreciate that, but I don't care what it shows. It's wrong. I was there. We got the right guy.

REYES:
An X-File?

(DOGGETT shows REYES a newspaper, shaking his head at the same time. It tells of how BOB FASSL has been in prison for thirteen years for being the ‘screwdriver killer’. DNA evidence has proved that he is not the killer and he is being released)

DOGGETT:
I'm telling you, you let this guy go, more people are going to die.

(The person on the other end hangs up)

REYES:
Was that the DA on the case?

DOGGETT:
Assistant DA . Some jack-off who was probably in ninth grade when this happened.

REYES:
What is it exactly you want him to do?

DOGGETT:
Keep the bastard locked up where he belongs. Did you read that? My partner and I busted this guy Fassl when I was a beat cop thirteen years ago. He killed seven people. Now they want to let him go so he can kill again.

REYES:
It says here the DNA evidence proves he's innocent.

DOGGETT:
It's wrong. It's some lab mistake. It's as simple as that. My partner Duke and I, we catch this nine-one-one. Neighbour’s hearing screaming coming from this house on Flatbush Avenue. We get there. Teenage girl, mother, father- all dead. There's blood...

(DOGGETT pauses at the memory)

DOGGETT:
I can still remember the sound of the blood squishing under my shoes. This guy Fassl's just standing there.

REYES:
So you didn't actually catch him in the act.

DOGGETT:
Ten seconds earlier through the door, and we would have.

(DOGGETT and REYES turn toward the door as they hear footsteps approaching)

DOGGETT:
Tell me you got good news.

(SCULLY appears in the doorway. She's holding a thin report)

SCULLY:
I have combed through every detail of this ME's report. I have read and re-read it. And I am sorry, Agent Doggett but the DNA fingerprinting does indeed exonerate this man.

DOGGETT:
You're telling me there's no way? There's not even a million-to-one chance that these DNA tests are wrong?

SCULLY:
Actually, a hundred million.

DOGGETT:
I need the reports run again. I need you to do it yourself.

SCULLY:
Agent Doggett, you just...

(SCULLY stops, knowing that she has to believe DOGGETT)

SCULLY:
... it'd take at least forty-eight hours.

DOGGETT:
That's too long.

(DOGGETT reaches for his jacket and puts it on)

REYES:
Where you going?

DOGGETT:
New York. I can't just sit here and wait for this guy to kill again.

(DOGGETT walks toward the door. SCULLY and REYES both turn to watch him walk out the door. REYES stops him)

REYES:
John...

DOGGETT:
Look, I get it. Enough people tell you you're drunk it's time to lie down. But I know what I know. I could really use your help.


SCENE 4 - SING SING CORRECTIONAL FACILITY, OSSINING, NEW YORK

(FASSL is sitting on his bed in his cell. The door opens and FASSL, moved by this, starts crying)

GUARD:
It's time to go.


SCENE 5 - SINS SING

(FASSL's personal possessions are in an old dusty box which is now handed to him)

GUARD:
Here you are.

(The guard wipes the layer of dust off. The box contains 10 dollars, a rosary, set of keys and an ID)

GUARD:
Congratulations, Bob. Best of luck to you.

(The GUARD walks off. FASSL takes out the rosary and stares at it, almost scared. He starts saying a prayer and kissing the rosary)


SCENE 6 - KING'S COUNTY COURTHOUSE, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

(FASSL leaves the courthouse and a group of reporters gather around. The reporters start asking questions to his lawyer, JANA FAIN)

REPORTER 1:
How does it feel to be a free man?

REPORTER 2:
Are you going to sue the police?

REPORTER 3:
What do you think you'll do next?

JANA FAIN:
It goes without saying that my client is happy once more to be a free man. I myself am overjoyed. I think today is a day to celebrate. But tomorrow, we will be looking very closely at the reasons why Bob was falsely accused and incarcerated. Thirteen years of his life were stolen from him. We'll be looking at the Brooklyn DA 's office and the New York City Police Department ...

(The voice fades in BOB's mind. He looks away and sees everyone in fast forward, noticing a BEARDED MAN in the distance. FASSL seems to recognise the guy. His trance is interrupted by JANA)

JANA FAIN:
Bob... Bob, let's get you out of here. Thank you, too. Thank you.

(FASSL looks up from JANA FAIN. The man is gone. Everything returns back to normal)

REPORTER 1:
How do you feel?

REPORTER 2:
What's the first thing you're going to do?

JANA FAIN:
That's enough. Thank you. Enough.

(JANA FAIN and BOB push their way through the crowd of reporters)


SCENE 7 - HALLWAY

(DOGGETT, SCULLY and A.D.A. DAMON KAYLOR walk down a hallway)

DOGGETT:
Wait a minute. On top of springing loose a murderer you're telling me the city of New York is going to pay him off?

DAMON KAYLOR:
Hell, yes, and count ourselves lucky. We didn't spring a murderer. We sprang an innocent man. Or maybe you didn't glean that from our previous conversation.

SCULLY:
Mister Kaylor, on the off-chance that that's not true what would be the harm in letting us look through your documents pertaining to this case? I mean, who knows, maybe we can save the city some settlement money.

DAMON KAYLOR:
Or maybe it gets me in an even bigger jackpot when Jana Fain starts crying police vendetta. Yelling at the papers about the disgruntled former cop who's out to get her client.

DOGGETT:
Somebody committed these murders, right? And now that you've sprung Mister Fassl, the victims' families are going to start asking who. How you going to answer them?


SCENE 8 - RECORDS ROOM

(A load of boxes are stacked up. DOGGETT and SCULLY start going through them)

SCULLY:
There's a lot of material here. Where should we start?

DOGGETT:
Right there. The original arrest report.

SCULLY:
‘Arresting officer: John Doggett.’ It must've been a career-maker.

DOGGETT:
Well, it didn't hurt when I put in for detective. The murders had been front-page news for weeks. The sense of relief everybody felt when we caught Fassl, it was ...

SCULLY:
You know, John... whatever we find here, sometimes... sometimes even good cops make mistakes.

DOGGETT:
Yeah. And I've made more than I can count but this wasn't one of them. Whatever you think... I'm not here trying to cover my ass.

SCULLY:
That's not what I think. It's not. I just... I just worry that maybe this is about you feeling guilty.

DOGGETT:
I feel guilty. Like what, subconsciously? Like I was told I sent an innocent man to prison only I refuse to accept it?

(SCULLY looks at DOGGETT)

DOGGETT:
A cop I know, a man I respect deeply he told me one time, 'you don't clock out at the end of your shift unless you know you did everything you could.' That's what this is about - me not clocking out.


SCENE 9 - FAIN RESIDENCE, LITTLE NECK, NY

(JANA and BOB enter the large house of JANA FAIN)

JANA FAIN:
Bob, I just want you to make yourself at home while you're here. Just relax. Oh!

(MRS DOWDY, the housekeeper, has appeared behind BOB)

JANA FAIN:
Mrs. Dowdy, this is Bob Fassl. He'll be staying with us for a while.

MRS. DOWDY:
Oh, I have your room all made up. I hope you'll be quite comfortable.

JANA FAIN:
Thank you very much Mrs. Dowdy.

(JANA and BOB begin up the stairs, BOB seems fascinated by the house)

BOB:
You're rich.

JANA FAIN:
Well, my parents were. I inherited this when they died. I've been very fortunate. That's why I try and use my family's resources to help where I can.

BOB:
You do good things. You're a good person.

JANA FAIN:
Well, I guess it takes one to know one.

(The two continue up the staircase)


SCENE 10 - GUEST BEDROOM

JANA FAIN:
I know some business people who are sympathetic to your situation and when you're ready we'll set up some job interviews.

(BOB doesn't seem to be listening, he sits on the bed, pulls out his rosary and starts to pray)

JANA FAIN:
I can only imagine what you must be feeling right now. I'm so sorry for everything you've been through. And I'm so happy for you now.

(BOB continues to pray and JANA leaves. He kisses the crucifix and starts praying out loud. He stops and sees a blood-stained crucifix in his palm. On the wall he sees words in blood ‘KILL HER’


SCENE 11 - KING'S COUNTY COURTHOUSE, 5:35 PM

(OFFICER DUKE TOMASICK, thirteen years older now but the same man undoubtedly, exits his car. DOGGETT approaches him)

DOGGETT:
Hey, Buddy! Did you steal that car?

DUKE TOMASICK:
(Laughing) If it ain't the FBI!

(The two hug)

DOGGETT:
Duke Tomasick. Looking good.

DUKE TOMASICK:
Well, hell, yeah. I was always the pretty one.

(DUKE puts an arm around DOGGETT'S shoulders as the two men move toward the building)

DOGGETT:
Not that I'd steal you away from even one minute of retirement, but I got to get another viewpoint on this case from someone who was there that night. And, Duke, I'm racking my brain on this thing and I'm coming at it from every possible angle. Was there something we missed?

DUKE TOMASICK:
Well, yeah, we arrested the wrong man. I'm sorry, John.

(DOGGETT is surprised that DUKE can give in so easily)

DUKE TOMASICK:
I've been torn up about this since I read it in the paper but unless there's something that you know that I don't I mean, it looks like, uh, we just got to face facts.

DOGGETT:
Duke, you were there that night! Fassl was the only one in the house! He killed those people!

DUKE TOMASICK:
John, wise up. Will you drop this thing?

DOGGETT:
What did you always tell me about being a good cop? You said never to clock out.

DUKE TOMASICK:
Well, I got another lesson for you, huh? Keep after this thing it's going to bite you in your ass.

(DOGGETT can hardly believe this)


SCENE 12 - GUEST BEDROOM, 10:12 PM

(As time ticks away, BOB sits on the bed praying. JANA FAIN enters and watches BOB as he finishes his prayer)

JANA FAIN:
I'm sorry, I just wanted to see how you were settling in and I should have knocked.

(FASSL stands up)

JANA FAIN:
I'd read in your file that you had once attended the seminary? That you studied to be a priest?

(FASSL nods slightly)

JANA FAIN:
I think it's wonderful that all you've been through hasn't diminished your faith.

BOB:
I pray all the time. I pray even when it looks like I'm not praying.

JANA FAIN:
I know someone's listening, Bob. Good night.

(JANA closes the door and leaves. BOB senses someone and turns, the BEARDED MAN is behind him)

BOB:
no... no! Please don't hurt her. Please ...

(The man swings at BOB, pulls out a screwdriver and leaves. BOB falls down in prayer)


SCENE 13 - RECORSD ROOM

(DOGGETT is still going through the files. SCULLY enters with a manila folder)

SCULLY:
Were you here all night?

DOGGETT:
There's got to be something here the prosecution overlooked- I overlooked- something I can hang this guy with DNA or no.

(SCULLY walks further into the room and stops in front of DOGGETT)

SCULLY:
Well, speaking of DNA ...

DOGGETT:
Awww, come on ...

SCULLY:
The re-tests of the typing confirm the original results-that the hair samples do indeed belong to someone other than Robert Fassl.

DOGGETT:
So, what do we do? We just go home? This is wrong. This is ...

SCULLY:
Well, John, there is something else. It's something that explains why thirteen years ago the science of the DA y identified the hair as Fassl's. I spoke to the forensic examiner who ran the tests and he found a match in twelve of the thirteen key genes.

DOGGETT:
What does that mean?

SCULLY:
It means that the mitochondrial DNA in the hair sample is genetically similar to Fassl's. In fact, it is remarkably similar. It is so similar that it must be from a blood relative.

DOGGETT:
Wait a minute. Fassl's an only child. His parents died when he was thirteen. He's got nobody.

SCULLY:
I know.

DOGGETT:
You know? Then you know that what you're saying's impossible.

SCULLY:
And yet, somehow it's true.


SCENE 14 - FAIN RESIDENCE

(BOB is sleeping, rosary in hand. JANA wakes him up and she is not happy)

JANA FAIN:
Would you get dressed and come on downstairs, please?

(BOB enters the kitchen where JANA is sipping a drink)

JANA FAIN:
Bob, this morning I noticed something that I have to talk to you about. The dresser drawers in my bedroom have been opened and somebody had been through my things.

BOB:
You weren't home last night?

JANA FAIN:
I think you know that I wasn't. As it happens, I was called down to county lockup on behalf of another client. If you're going to stay here then you have to respect me, my privacy, my possessions. You're a free man now and with freedom comes responsibility.

(She looks at her watch and sighs)

JANA FAIN:
I am late for a deposition. Uh... help yourself to breakfast. Mrs. Dowdy seems to be running late this morning.

(JANA leaves and BOB anxiously looks around the room, seeing blood dripping from a dumb waiter in the corner. Getting a large plastic sheet, he places the dead body of MRS DOWDY on it and starts scrubbing clean the dumbwaiter and all the blood around it)


SCENE 15 - SING SING CORRECTIONAL FACILITY, OSSINING, NY

(REYES makes her way through the corridors to meet with BRIAN HUTCHISON)

BRIAN HUTCHISON:
Agent Reyes. I'm Brian HUTCHISON, the superintendent of the prison.

REYES:
I appreciate you seeing me on such short notice.

BRIAN HUTCHISON:
Anything I can do to help.

REYES:
Great. I'm reviewing evidence pertinent to the Fassl case.

BRIAN HUTCHISON:
Whatever I can do to ensure he gets locked back up again, by all means. Tell me what you need.

REYES:
Well... thank you. That's an extremely helpful attitude. What's your reason for it?

BRIAN HUTCHISON:
I just don't think the system should have let him go.

REYES:
Why, exactly? The court says he's innocent.

BRIAN HUTCHISON:
Maybe, but there's another murder they don't know about.


SCENE 16 - HUTCHISON'S OFFICE

(HUTCHISON sits down in his chair behind his desk)

BRIAN HUTCHISON:
Bob Fassl's cellmate was a biker named Spud Jennings, a real bad-ass or least he thought he was.

REYES:
Jennings was murdered?

BRIAN HUTCHISON:
Oh, yeah. We found him in a hallway that Bob Fassl had been mopping. He was lying ten feet from Bob's mop bucket. Fassl nowhere to be found.

REYES:
Well, Fassl killed him?

(BRIAN HUTCHISON pulls out a thin file. He looks in it and hands it to REYES)

BRIAN HUTCHISON:
The murderer was caught on a security camera once he turned the corner. This is a videograph, a pretty clear one. You can see the blood on his hands.

(It is the BEARDED MAN)

REYES:
One problem: This isn't Fassl.

BRIAN HUTCHISON:
This isn't anybody. This man doesn't fit the description of any inmate currently incarcerated here. We haven't been able to find him since. Don't ask me to explain it. We couldn't charge Fassl with it, either, but I sure as hell know he had something to do with it.


SCENE 17 - RECORDS ROOM

(DOGGETT and SCULLY are still looking through the files when ADA KAYLOR enters)

DAMON KAYLOR:
Agent Doggett? A word, please.

(DOGGETT and KAYLOR go outside)

DAMON KAYLOR:
Don't you have something to tell me, Agent Doggett?

DOGGETT:
What do you mean?

DAMON KAYLOR:
The DNA re-tests. I understand you received the results this morning. Mister Fassl has been exonerated. Again.

DOGGETT:
The results aren't that simple. The DNA is similar to Fassl's to a degree we haven't quite made sense of yet.

DAMON KAYLOR:
I just spoke to the DA . He's authorised a settlement offer which I intend to deliver to Mister Fassl's counsel post-haste. I'll send the bailiffs down to retrieve the case files. Have a nice flight back to D.C.

(KAYLOR starts to walk away and DOGGETT stops him)

DOGGETT:
We need more time to get to the truth!

DAMON KAYLOR:
This isn't about the truth. This is about getting a conviction, Agent Doggett. And if we can't get a conviction then the truth doesn't matter.

(KAYLOR leaves just as REYES approaches DOGGETT)

REYES:
John... I may have a break in this case. A suspect.

DOGGETT:
A suspect? Not Fassl?

REYES:
You really need to see this.


SCENE 18

(DOGGETT, REYES and SCULLY are looking at the picture of the BEARDED MAN)

DOGGETT:
So, who is he?

REYES:
I'm wondering more along the line of what is he? I ran him through the known offender database facial recognition - came up with nothing. It's like he has no identity. Yet, somehow this person materialised inside a maximum security prison, killed an inmate and then vanished into thin air.

DOGGETT:
Materialised, how, like ‘Casper, The Friendly Ghost’? When Duke and I entered that house back in '89 we didn't find ‘ZZ Top’ here. We found Bob Fassl. End of story.

REYES:
Yeah, but what if the two were somehow connected?

DOGGETT:
Monica, for god's sake, this is not an X-File. Don't try to turn it into one.

REYES:
In prison, this being, this person whatever you want to call him... he acted as if he were protecting Bob Fassl.

DOGGETT:
Protecting him? How, by getting him locked up in prison in the first place?

REYES:
So, either he's doing Fassl's bidding or Fassl's doing his. However you slice it, I'm thinking this bearded man was the one who committed the other seven murders.

(DOGGETT shakes his head)

REYES:
I think we can prove it. DNA evidence in the Sing Sing murder was gathered and filed by the prison authorities. All we have to do is compare it to the DNA from the 1989 murders.

SCULLY:
No. Unfortunately, that's not going to work. The 1989 evidence has to be thrown out.

DOGGETT:
What are you talking about?

SCULLY:
The hair samples logged to your crime scene, Agent Doggett... were not there on the day the crimes were committed.

DOGGETT:
Are you accusing me? Are you accusing me of planting evidence?

SCULLY:
I am simply stating the facts okay? The DNA evidence that was used to convict Bob Fassl... was planted.


SCENE 19 - FAIN RESIDENCE

(BOB opens the door to find ADA KAYLOR)

DAMON KAYLOR:
Mister Fassl. I'm Damon Kaylor. I need to speak with your attorney. Is she here?

(BOB lets KAYLOR in)

BOB:
You were at my hearing.

DAMON KAYLOR:
I'm the Assistant District Attorney. Is Jana home?

BOB:
She's not here.

DAMON KAYLOR:
Mister Fassl, I came to make a settlement offer on your case. It's… there's no reason to be upset. This is good news for you. Tell her to call me. We'll work it out.

(As KAYLOR goes to leave, BOB moves towards him, startling him)

BOB:
I want to go back.

DAMON KAYLOR:
I'm sorry?

BOB:
Please, send me back to prison.

(DAMON KAYLOR is surprised by what he's hearing and begins to back away from BOB FASSL)

DAMON KAYLOR:
Uh, listen, Mister Fassl, I, uh... I shouldn't even be discussing this with you without your attorney present.

BOB:
But it's my fault.

DAMON KAYLOR:
I-I... I can't be hearing this.

BOB:
It's the truth.

DAMON KAYLOR:
That's not my concern.

(KAYLOR stops, a look of pure shock on his face. BOB is in his trance and KAYLOR falls to the ground dead, blood running from his mouth. The BEARDED MAN is behind him, with a screwdriver. BOB falls to his knees, crying)


SCENE 20 - NYPD

(DUKE and JOHN are at the Police Station)

DUKE TOMASICK:
I'm sorry, John.

DOGGETT:
You framed Fassl.

DUKE TOMASICK:
You saw how it was going down. We arrested him at the scene but he-he left no prints no hair, no fibre. Nothing to actually tie him to the murders.

DOGGETT:
How did you do it?

DUKE TOMASICK:
It took a... part of a hair sample that was found at a-a previous murder and I put it in with the evidence from our crime scene. Johnny... it was the one and only time I ever did anything like that. I-I was scared Fassl would walk. I-I couldn't let that happen. Not when I knew that... I knew he was guilty. Guilty. God almighty.

DOGGETT:
You know this is going to come out. I mean, no one's going to hear it from me but... but I can't put Agent Scully on the spot. I can't ask her to lie.

DUKE TOMASICK:
I don't want you to.

DOGGETT:
Duke, you son of a bitch! This is a felony! I don't know how I can forgive you for this. You break my heart.

(The door opens and SCULLY enters)

SCULLY:
Excuse me. Agent Doggett? Damon Kaylor- I assume you haven't seen him.

DOGGETT:
No. Why?

SCULLY:
Apparently, nobody has.


SCENE 21 - SEWER

(FASSL is somewhere dark, where there is water but we cannot see where. He is burying KAYLOR in a cement wall. He moves away towards the opening of the sewer, we can see KAYLOR's hand still sticking out of the cement)


SCENE 22 - INTERVIEW ROOM

(REYES and SCULLY are interviewing BOB, JANA FAIN is also present. DOGGETT watches from another room)

REYES:
Mister Fassl, when was the last time you saw Damon Kaylor?

JANA FAIN:
Two days ago, at his release hearing. My client had nothing to do with Mister Kaylor's disappearance. No direct involvement. None.

REYES:
I think we can accept that. We're also prepared to accept that Mister Fassl had not direct involvement in the seven murders he was previously convicted of.

JANA FAIN:
How magnanimous of you. It's too bad you're thirteen years too late. Is that it?

REYES:
No. Actually, we believe this person committed the murders.

(REYES shows the photo of the BEARDED MAN, BOB has a noticeable reaction to it)

REYES:
What do you think? Do you recognise this man?

(BOB slowly begins to rock in his chair. He holds his rosary in his hands in silent prayer)

JANA FAIN:
You know we're here as a courtesy which is something the police and the prosecution never showed Bob once.

SCULLY:
Are you a catholic, Bob?

(BOB nods his head)

SCULLY:
So, am I. I remember times in my life when my rosary was a great comfort to me. Comfort in times of tribulation. And watching you now, I get the feeling that this is a tribulation for you.

(SCULLY reaches over and pushes the photo closer to BOB)

SCULLY:
This man. Is it that he won't leave you alone, Bob? Is it that you just want him to go away ? Tell us about him. Tell us, so we can help make him go away.

(BOB runs his hands over the rosary and goes to speak, but JANA interrupts)

JANA FAIN:
No more mind games. We're done.

(JANA and BOB stand and leave. DOGGETT enters)

DOGGETT:
What the hell was that?

REYES:
I don't know about you but that was me changing my theory.

DOGGETT:
What, no more ghosts?

REYES:
Uh, nope. Just Fassl.

(SCULLY turns to REYES slightly to listen to this new theory)

REYES:
What if a man of profound faith - a devout catholic - was incapable of contrition?

SCULLY:
As in, he couldn't admit his own sins?

REYES:
Or even that he had a sinful side to him as we all do. What if he were so frightened by it that he couldn't even admit it to himself? Might not someone like that manifest a second personality?

DOGGETT:
But it wouldn't explain the DNA evidence.

REYES:
It would if he physically became that other personality.

DOGGETT:
So what, we've moved on from ‘Casper, The Friendly Ghost’ to ‘Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde’?

REYES:
There is a precedent - in the catholic canon itself. Transubstantiation: The manipulation of matter and energy.

SCULLY:
You mean, water into wine.

REYES:
Or the communion wafer into the Body of Christ.

DOGGETT:
Monica, I've slept through my share of Sunday schools but I never heard the story about the guy becoming another guy.

REYES:
It's the one explanation that makes sense. It explains what happened 13 years ago and it explains what's happening now.

SCULLY:
So what you're saying is... because this man won't face himself, won't face his own sins then he is forced to become someone else.

(REYES nods)

SCULLY:
A killer.

DOGGETT:
So, how does someone go about catching a killer who hides inside an innocent man?


SCENE 23 - FAIN RESIDENCE

(BOB is washing his face. He sees something in the mirror reflection and turns, startled. Written on the wall in blood are the words ‘KILL HER’. He turns more and sees the BEARDED MAN)

BEARDED MAN:
Do it.

(The BEARDED MAN swings and hits BOB. He hits him again)

BOB:
I don't want to hurt her!

(THE BEARDED MAN smashes BOB against the sink and BOB collapses on the ground. The BEARDED MAN bends over and looks into BOB's eyes. JANA is knocking on the door)

JANA FAIN:
Bob? Are you okay?

(The BEARDED MAN holds out a screwdriver for BOB)

BEARDED MAN:
Kill her.

(JANA FAIN opens the bathroom door and sees BOB on his back on the floor)

JANA FAIN:
Oh, my god. What happened?

BOB:
I, uh... I-I fell.

(She touches the cut on his forehead lightly)

JANA FAIN:
I'll fix you up. You're going to be okay.

(JANA opens the medicine cabinet and gets the supplies, but when she closes the door she sees the BEARDED MAN instead of BOB. She recognises him and gasps)


SCENE 24 - OUTSIDE THE FAIN RESIDENCE

(Night. Both DOGGETT and REYES are outside JANA FAIN'S residence staking out the house)

REYES:
I'll take the next couple of hours. You should get some shuteye. John, give yourself a break. You haven't slept in forty-eight hours.

DOGGETT:
I'll sleep once we make sure this guy Fassl never kills again. Fassl and his... Charlie Manson sidekick.

REYES:
They're one and the same person.

DOGGETT:
Monica, I don't want to hear ...

REYES:
Okay, but I just need to hear another theory that makes sense.

DOGGETT:
That theory doesn't make any sense. How the hell to you does that make sense? Meat-and-potatoes police work is what busted this guy thirteen years ago. And it's what's going to bust him again. And that's enough. And the day that's not enough... then I don't know what to tell you.: 'Cause I got nothing else.

(DOGGETT turns away from REYES and is staring out the car window and back at the house. The BEARDED MAN runs out of the house)

DOGGETT:
I'm going to go check it out - the front door.

(DOGGETT and REYES chase the man who disappears into the shadows of the house. DOGGETT gives chase)

DOGGETT:
Jana Fain - check on her.

(JANA appears in the doorway just as REYES goes to enter)

JANA FAIN:
Oh, my god. He was here. He was here - the man in your photo.

REYES:
The bearded man?

(JANA FAIN nods. She's still shaken by the experience)

REYES:
Where's BOB?

JANA FAIN:
Oh, he-he was right there... and then he wasn't... I don't... I don't know where.

DOGGETT:
Agent Reyes?

REYES:
(To JANA FAIN) Call the police.

DOGGETT:
Agent Reyes!

(DOGGETT pulls of a manhole and proceeds underneath..)

DOGGETT:
Fassl worked for Triboro Cable.

(REYES follows)


SCENE 25 - UNDERNEATH

DOGGETT:
Trail ends here.

(REYES flashes her light on three dark spots on the ground)

REYES:
Blood.

(REYES shines her flashlight down the long, dark tunnel)

REYES:
He could have gone either way.

(As REYES shines her torch on the other tunnel, she sees the BEARDED MAN, raising his weapon at her)

REYES:
John!

(DOGGETT shoots at the BEARDED MAN retreats down a hallway)

DOGGETT:
You okay?

REYES:
Yeah.

(DOGGETT helps REYES up)

DOGGETT:
Come on.

(They both follow after THE BEARDED MAN and reach an intersection)

REYES:
I'll take this way.

(DOGGETT continues to weave his way deeper into the tunnels, stopping at a metal grate where water runs below. REYES steps onto some grating and falls through into the water. Looking upwards, she moves to the side to get out, pulling herself up she sees the head of DAMON KAYLOR. DOGGETT, meanwhile, climbs down a ladder to get to the bottom. REYES discovers a whole lot of skulls and bones in the wall, clearly this is not the first victim)

REYES:
John!

(DOGGETT continues along until he hears REYES' voice)

REYES:
John!

DOGGETT:
Monica!

(DOGGETT reaches for his gun and the BEARDED MAN appears behind him, plunging his screwdriver into DOGGETT's shoulder. DOGGETT drops his gun. REYES moves towards where she can hear DOGGETT, with her gun out. She rounds a corner where she can see the BEARDED MAN holding the screwdriver against DOGGETT's neck)

REYES:
Let him go. You hear me?! Let him go!

DOGGETT:
Don't waste your breath. Just shoot the bastard.

REYES:
Bob Fassl, I'm talking to you. I know you're in there, Bob. There's some small part of you in there that couldn't kill Jana Fain when you had the chance.

BEARDED MAN:
I'll kill him!

REYES:
I believe you, Bob, because you're a murderer.

BEARDED MAN:
Shut up! I'm not him.

REYES:
You're not just a murderer. You're a sinner.

BEARDED MAN:
Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!

(DOGGETT frees himself while he has the chance, but BOB fights back and the two struggle over the screwdriver)

DOGGETT:
Monica!

(REYES fires and hits THE BEARDED MAN in the chest. He falls into the water. DOGGETT jumps in and turns the man over, stunned at what he sees. It is BOB FASSL)


SCENE 26 - UNDERNEATH, LATER

(SCULLY is looking at MRS DOWDY's head. There are people there, digging through and clearing stuff away. JANA FAIN is also there)

JANA FAIN:
My housekeeper, Mrs. Dowdy- can I see her?

SCULLY:
It's better that you don't.

JANA FAIN:
And the district attorney?

SCULLY:
There are a lot of bodies in there.

JANA FAIN:
Oh.

SCULLY:
There are many more victims than anyone ever knew.

(JANA FAIN looks down at the dead body of BOB)

JANA FAIN:
I saw a bearded man. I know what I saw.

(DOGGETT, off to the side, knows that he saw the same thing but doesn't know what to think)

SCULLY:
Ms. Fain, I think we better get you home.

(SCULLY walks past DOGGETT, looking at him for a moment. He clearly is shaken and confused by what has just happened. SCULLY doesn't say anything, she merely follows JANA out of the sewer. BOB FASSL is placed in a body bag and removed, DOGGETT stands watching, silently. REYES comes up to him)

REYES:
John... ?

DOGGETT:
I've been forty-eight hours without sleep. I found out my ex-partner's a liar and a felon. Don't ask me to explain how this could be.

REYES:
So what happened tonight? All that was just you seeing things?

DOGGETT:
I can't accept this. If you can, God love you, but it's not the way my mind works.

REYES:
You closed this case. This time around, that was enough.

DOGGETT:
What happens next time?

[THE END]



Gillian Anderson (Special Agent Dana Scully), Robert Patrick (Special Agent John Doggett), Annabeth Gish (Special Agent Monica Reyes), W. Earl Brown (Robert Fassl), Robert Curtis Brown (ADA Damon Kaylor), Lisa Darr (Jana Fain), Pamela Kay Davis (Reporter), Alan Davidson (Bearded Man), Rick Garcia (Reporter), Carol Kiernan (Mom), Mary Margaret Lewis (Mrs Dowdy), Kelly McNair (Teenage Girl), Arthur Nascarella (Duke Tomasick), Michael Patterson (Dad), Leah Sanders (Reporter), Aaron D Spears (Guard), Paul Vincent (Warden Brian Hutchison)

Directed by John Shiban

TX:
US TX - 31st March 2002

Notes:
*Featuring Special Special Agent Dana Scully, Special Agent John Doggett and Special Agent Monica Reyes