episode by Glen Morgan and James Wong
summary by Pellinor
Internal dating: The teaser to this takes place on September 26 1993, which is the date shown on the bank security video. Mulder and Scully are called in six hours after this. Oddly, though, the date for Howard Graves' death, as written on his gravestone, is October 5th, even though he was supposed to have died two weeks before the show started. Weirdness.
Philadelphia, HTG Industrial Technologies, the office of Howard Graves. A secretary, Lauren Kyte, is weeping in the office of her dead boss, who's recently killed himself. On the way home, she stops to get some money out, but is attacked by two men. The camera fades out to her screams.
Two hours later, the men's bodies are found.
Mulder and Scully are called in by a grim-looking man and woman, who say they want to consult their "expertise in extraordinary phenomena." "You're not FBI, are you?" Mulder asks, but gets no reply. A pathologist shows them the corpses of the two men from the teaser, pointing out that their body temperatures have scarcely dropped, even though they have been dead six hours. Mulder keeps asking questions about the circumstances, but is greeted with only a stony silence. "You guys called us down here," he says, angrily. "You want some answers, you've got to give some." Grudgingly, the man tells him the dead men travelled 60 minutes by air. The pathologist then reveals that the men were killed by having their throats crushed, but there was no sign of external pressure. "It's as if their throats were crushed from the inside." she says. Mulder asks who the dead men are, but his reply is simply another question - whether he's seen anything like this before. HE says he hasn't, and he and Scully are dismissed. "If any inquiry into this meeting is made, we request full denial," the man says. "I'd say you people already suffer from full denial," Mulder says, angrily.
Outside, Scully accuses Mulder of lying. "You have seen it before, I can tell," she tells him. "I would never lie," he protests. "I wilfully participated in a campaign of misinformation." Scully asks who the people were, but he says it doesn't matter. All that matters is what they have, and they don't know that, which is why they called Mulder and Scully in. He tells her there are lots of similar X-Files, all relating to psychokinetic manipulation. "I'm intrigued," Scully says, but asks how they can investigate without any facts. Silently, Mulder puts his arms across her shoulders, pulling her close, and shows her his glasses, which he's pressed against one of the dead man's hand, getting his prints.
Next morning, Lauren Kyte asks to see Mr Dorlund, the new boss. When his personal assistant obstructs her, her mug of coffee is suddenly knocked over. Hearing the commotion, Dorlund comes out of his office, allowing her to ask him personally. He agrees. She then tells him she's giving her notice, but he moves closer, telling her that both she and he are very upset about Howard Graves's death. He was like a brother to Howard, he says, and she was like a daughter, and the family must stick together. "I won't let you leave, Lauren," he says, rather menacingly, touching her. Suddenly his watch constricts around his wrist, leaving him gasping with pain. She makes her escape.
Mulder and Scully identify one of the dead men, discovering he's a member of an Islamic extremist group, the Isfahan, which works out of Philadelphia. Realising that Philadelphia is sixty air miles away, they travel there to consult the police.
At the crime scene, where the bodies were found, Mulder notices the cash machine, and they watch the security video. This shows them Lauren Kyte being dragged away by two men, and also a shadowy ghost-like smear in the background.
Mulder and Scully visit Lauren, who denies having seen the two dead men before. When confronted with the security video, she says she was attacked, but escaped, She denies having anything to do with their death. They point out the smeary figure in the picture and ask her if she knows who it is. "No, I can't tell you," she says, though she stares at it in amazement. Neither Mulder not Scully believe her story, but they leave anyway. As they get into their car, the doors suddenly lock and the car shoots off backwards, crashing into another car. Lauren watches from her window.
An examination of their car reveals no signs of tampering, although the lights are still on, even though they aren't actually switched on. Mulder compares it to the force that kept the bodies alive, and points out that Lauren was present at both incidents. Scully says there was no way Lauren could have sabotaged their car while they were talking to her, but Mulder thinks it's been done by psychokinesis - either that, or a poltergeist. "They're he-re", Scully says, smiling. "They may be," Mulder says. Scully thinks she has an accomplice who sabotaged their car, but Mulder gestures silently at the lights, and Scully has no answer.
Lauren arrives at work to find Howard Graves's parking place being replaced (with one Tom Braidwood) and gets really angry. Mulder and Scully are watching, and go to research Howard Graves. They find he was her boos, until he killed himself a few weeks earlier. Mulder points out that this makes three people associated with Lauren have been killed in a month.
Mulder and Scully go to Graves' grave and find out his only daughter died just before her third birthday, drowning after he forgot to lock the pool gate. If she'd lives, she'd have been Lauren's age. They also find out Lauren was estranged from her family, and seems to have had a very close relationship to her boss.
Mulder develops and enhances a surveillance photo of Lauren and see an image of Howard Graves beside her. "He's alive," Scully says. "Not necessarily," Mulder replies.
Lauren wakes up to hear noises in the bathroom - someone crying "No! Don't do this to me!". Opening the door, she sees the bath water running red with blood.
Scully thinks Graves fabricated his own death. "Do you know how difficult it is to fake your own death?" Mulder asks. "Only one man has pulled it off - Elvis." Scully ignored him, saying she thinks Graves and Lauren were involved in some dodgy arms deal. "You may be right," Mulder says. Scully stops in amazement. "Wait. You think I'm right?" she asks. "Sure," he replies. "All you've got to do is prove Howard Graves is still alive."
The medical examiner, rather melodramatically, says Graves was most definitely dead, having lost most of his blood down the plug hole. His body was cremated, but his organs were given for donation, so they check these out an find they most definitely belonged to Howard Graves.
At Lauren's leaving party, Dorlund corners her. "I know Howard told you," he says, threatening her if she ever tells anyone. She accuses him of having Howard Graves killed. "He told me," she says, breaking free. She then calls Mulder, asking him to come round to her house straight away.
Lauren is attacked by a man and a woman (love these equal opportunity villains in this one!) in her house, but an invisible force beats them, throws them around and kills them. Mulder arrives in time to see a man hanging in the air, as if held up by an invisible hand. Needless to say, Scully arrives too late.
Mulder and Scully question Lauren but she won't talk. The grim-faced people who told them about the case in the first place then call Mulder and Scully out, finally revealing that they suspect Graves and Dorlund's company was selling arms to the Isfahan. They try to talk to Lauren, but she says nothing. When it's Mulder and Scully's turn to talk to her, she again refuses to talk, so Mulder says he's free to go. "I can't go back to that house," she says. "Because of Howard Graves?" Mulder asks. "He's watching over you, isn't he?"
Lauren opens up at last, telling them that Graves was really upset that the company was going under. Dorlund offered to restore it, through a deal with the Isfahan, but Graves then found out the Isfahan was involved in murder and terrorism. She had thought that was the reason he killed himself, but now knows Dorlund had him killed for threatening to put an end to the deal. Now Howard is protecting her, as he was closer than a father to her. "I can still feel his presence," she says, telling them she's leaving in the hope that he will move on. Scully urges her to show him how much she loves him by helping them expose Dorlund. "How will you ever be able to rest if he never can?" she asks. Lauren agrees to help. "What are you doing, Scully." Mulder asks, when Lauren leaves. "You don't believe." "I believe that she believes," she says, although she firmly states that there is no such thing as ghosts. Her priority is to stop Dorlund, she says, but Mulder objects, saying it would have been a wonderful opportunity to observe spectral phenomena. "I'm giving us an opportunity to solve a case that's tangible," she says, "rather than chase around after shadows."
A large team raids the company, but fails to find any evidence at all which connects it to the Isfahan. As the rest of the team gives up, Mulder tries to get Lauren to leave, as she smashes Dorlund's office. Dorlund comes in, and suddenly is thrown against the wall. The lights start exploding theatrically, and papers fly around the room. A paper knife hovers threateningly at Dorlund's throat, before slashing the wallpaper, revealing a disc hidden behind it. Just as it all goes quiet, Scully comes in.
Mulder and Scully discuss the case. "Hey, Scully, do you believe in the after-life?" Mulder asks. "I'd settle for a life in this one," she says, smiling. They drive off to see the Liberty Bell, which Mulder has suddenly decided he absolutely needs to see.
Lauren starts her new job, and another secretary is nasty to her. Suddenly the desk starts shaking and Lauren looks anxious, but it's only a truck going past. She smiles.