04x22 - Elegy

[bunniefuu]

Oh, gosh, go home, Harold.

I'm not done yet.

Harold, you hear me? You should've gone home already.

I'm not done yet.

For cryin' out loud, Harold. This ain't so difficult.

I'm not done yet!

Harold, it's past your bedtime.

It's OK. And the doctors'll be worried about you.

You did a good job today. Now you go home. Come on.

37, 45,...

..63, 71,...

..86, 92...

What the hell...?

Jeez!

Oh, my God!

Oh, my God! Oh!

I'll get help!

Officer! Officer!

Go on, sir. This don't involve you.

There's a woman inside. She's bleeding. She's...

God...

That's her!

That's the girl I saw.

Yes!

Hey, Scully! Take a look at this.

What am I looking at? The pinsetter. See the way it's broken?

Yeah.

Mr Pintero said that would only happen if considerable weight was placed on it.

This is where you saw the body? Yes, ma'am.

She was caught up in the machinery. Her neck was cut.

And the blood from the victim was pooling where?

Right here.

But both the body and the blood were gone when you returned?

Yeah. But, like I said, the woman in the parking lot...

Was the same woman you saw caught up in the machinery?

That's right.

Look, I'm not making this up.

No one's suggesting that you are. I saw the look on her face.

Can I ask a favour? Can I get a soda?

A cola? Something like that? Sure. Yeah.

What is that "look", Scully?

After four years, you know exactly what that "look" is.

You don't believe in ghosts?

You're saying that what this man saw was the victim's ghost?

Sounds more like a disembodied soul.

Which is just another name for a ghost.

Except, according to Mr Pintero, this one was trying to communicate.

She was speaking as if she was trying to tell him something.

It sounds more like a death omen.

A death omen? Yeah.

It's a spirit being that arrives as a harbinger of death.

This is the third reported sighting in as many weeks. And as many murders.

Each time the victim appearing near the crime scene trying to communicate.

Communicate what? I don't know yet, but...

Thank you. If you hold on a second, I may have an answer for you.

Hey! What are you doin'?

"She is me." What?

Written onto the wax. "She is me." Look at this.

Three victims. All women.

All approximately the same age, height, weight, hair and eye colour.

All att*cked within the same six-block area of each other.

Our FBI profiling model suggests a white male, late 20s, early 30s.

His victims were probably strangers to him.

Symbols representing other women in his life.

Perhaps all women.

Hey, you, in the back. Are we boring you?

No, not at all.

Because if you have nothing to contribute...

I think that following the FBI model in this case will not only fail to turn up the k*ller...

..but will lead to more victims and more deaths.

You wanna tell us who you are and what you base that on?

I'm Special Agent Mulder. This is Agent Scully, FBI.

We're following up a lead that seems to have been dropped.

A statement made by the proprietor... The guy who claims he saw the victim.

No, no, not the victim. Her apparition.

What the Irish call a fetch. What is more commonly known as a wraith.

Oh! OK.

Were there any written messages in the other cases?

Written messages?

Do the words "she is me" have any meaning to you?

You mean Penny Timmons' last words. Those were her dying words?

According to a 911 call we received... Who made that call?

A nut. What do you mean?

There were no dying words. Penny Timmons' larynx was severed.

She couldn't cry for help even if there was help to cry for.

And no one followed up on this lead? No. But, uh...

..I'll have someone get you the number and you can follow up on it.

I'd appreciate that.

People? People?

Listen up now. I've brought some folks who wanna talk with you.

Nurse Innes, could you gather the group? All right, everyone. You know the drill.

Group seating. Go on in.

Harold? Come on.

Harold.

Good morning, everybody. Good morning, Mr Alpert.

I've brought visitors today. They're investigating a crime.

It's OK. They just wanna ask you a few questions.

Hi. I wanted to ask if anybody used the pay phone out in the hallway on Friday night.

Because somebody called the police and reported a m*rder.

Sloppy Joe night.

That was Sloppy Joe night.

Ooh! That was me. I did it.

I admit it. I did it. I'm just a human being after all.

Chuck, tell the truth.

Nah. I'm sorry.

I didn't mean it.

I lied. I lied, but... I'm just a human being.

Has anyone used the pay phone to call the police?

Does anybody recognize this woman?

That's the lady that got m*rder*d.

She's the one. I recognize her.

I know her. She was m*rder*d.

And does anybody recognize this man?

Yes. Yes, he did it. He did it.

He's the m*rder*r. He's a very funny man.

He smiles a lot.

The quiet man in the back. Harold Spuller?

The only one who didn't raise his hand. Has he ever been a problem?

No! He has a tendency to get a little worked up.

Do you think I can talk to him? Yeah, sure.

I think I found something here, Mulder.

In these photos taken by the forensics team,...

..the third victim, her left hand, that band of pale skin?

It looks like she wore a ring. A wedding ring.

But she wasn't married.

So, what, he stole her ring? No, not at all.

He switched it.

And in all the other murders he repeated the same ritual,...

..changing the ring on each victim.

Nice catch, Scully.

Any idea about the psychology?

There's ego-dystonia, a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder,...

..where a person has the persistence and impulses...

..to change things, to organize, to reorganize.

It's not ordinarily something that escalates to a murderous impulse.

Unless there was a more complex psychology at work,...

..like pronounced mental illness.

You think the k*ller is a patient here? I'm not sure the k*ller is here.

The person that made that phone call is. I think it's Harold Spuller.

Did he cop to making the call? No. But he's about to.

I don't know anything.

I didn't do anything. Leave me alone.

You made that phone call, didn't you, Harold?

No.

Did you say the words "she is me"?

No.

Have you ever heard those words?

No!

Have you ever seen a ghost, Harold?

No. No.

No! No! No! No!

No! No! No! No! No, no, no, no, no!

No, no, no! No, no, no!

Please leave me alone! Harold!

Leave me alone! No, no, no, no!

No, no, no, no, no! Harold, listen to me.

When you're right, you're right.

17, 30, 37, 45, 53.

Harold suffers from pervasive developmental disorder,...

..sometimes called atypical autism.

He has spent his entire life in and out of facilities just like this one.

He has been medicated, has received shock therapy,...

..and has been diagnosed with ego-dystonic obsessive-compulsive disorder,...

..which would explain the switching of the rings.

So why all of a sudden? You mean what made him snap?

His outburst showed an impulse towards v*olence...

..when put in a challenging situation.

That didn't come until after I'd asked if he'd ever seen a ghost.

Mulder, the man is disturbed.

You could see the pressure building from the moment the interview began.

Yeah.

Why are you unconvinced that Harold is the man we came looking for?

I'm sure he made that phone call.

But what led us to him still remains unexplained.

"She is me"?

And the other apparitions, like the one Mr Pintero saw.

I have an idea about that, if not an explanation.

Harold Spuller is at this facility voluntarily. He can come and go as he pleases.

To k*ll those women, or to hold down a job. Or both.

Oh, Scully...

Yeah... it's OK. You sure?

Yeah, it's just... I'm fine. I just need to find a washroom.

Scully?

Scully, you in there?

Yeah.

They found another victim. A student with her throat cut,...

..just about half a block from here.

Her name was Lauren Heller, age 21. She was single.

She was on her way home from a bar that she part-timed at after school.

She had a ring on her left hand. It was switched to her right hand. Pinkie finger.

She was dead less than an hour when she was found.

That would rule out Harold as the k*ller. No, it doesn't. He's not at the home.

I don't imagine he'd be too hard to find.

Yeah, but we should be the ones to find him, if only to find out what "she is me" means.

Mulder...

What?

I think I'm gonna let you take care of that. I think I'm gonna get this checked out.

Just to be safe.

You want me to drive you? No, no, no. I'm fine, really.

I've had the doctors keep a close watch. This is just a precaution.

You're sure? I'm fine.

9,17,26,32...

No.

No.

I just wanna be left alone.

We’ve spoken about your fear.

You've been afraid to express it to others. To Agent Mulder.

This is different. How?

Several months ago I was diagnosed with a cancerous mass.

A nasal pharyngeal tumour that cannot be operated on...

..and cannot be treated by conventional medicine.

I'm sorry.

I don't mean for this to sound too dire.

My health has been good. I have been checked up on a weekly basis.

You've kept working? Yes.

It's been important to me.

Why?

Why? Um...

Agent Mulder has been... concerned.

He's been supportive through this time.

Do you feel that you owe it to him to continue working?

No.

I guess I never realized...

..how much I rely on him before this.

His passion.

What happened last night, Dana?

I saw something.

And I don't know what to trust.

If I saw it because of the stress. Because the image had been suggested to me.

Or if it was a suggestion of my own fears.

Your fear of failing him?

Maybe.

What did you see?

I saw a woman who had recently been m*rder*d.

But I saw her.

It appeared as if she was trying to tell me something.

Do you know what?

No.

Are you sure?

Hey, you're back. Yeah. I'm looking for Harold Spuller.

Harold? What for?

Suspicion of m*rder. You think Harold k*lled those women?

You obviously don't think so, huh? Harold's worked for me for ten years.

He might be crazy, but he couldn't k*ll anyone.

He's a sweet kid. You know where he is now?

He was here this morning when I arrived, arranging the shoes.

He has a key?

No, he's got some damn way of gettin' in here through an abandoned building next door.

Did you ever get lane six working? No. Not since I saw the girl.

Harold?

Harold?

Harold, I just wanna talk to you.

Harold?

She is me. She is me. She is me. She is me.

She is me. She is me. She is me.

Harold?

She is me. She is me. She is me.

She is me. She is me. She is me. She is me.

8, 17, 30, 37.

I wanna make this clear from the start.

My client is suffering from a mental disorder.

He will not answer questions regarding his guilt or innocence.

I'd be real happy if he'd quit talking right now.

Any time Harold becomes upset or unwilling to cooperate, this interrogation will end.

Detective Hudak?

Tell me why you did it, Harold. Tell me why you k*lled those women.

What did I just say? This is totally unacceptable.

I am prepared to tell my client not to cooperate.

Harold?

Harold, you knew those women who were m*rder*d, didn't you?

That's why you're scared.

You're afraid they've come back to visit you.

Penny Timmons. 8, 17, 30,...

..37, 45, 53, 71,...

..80, 92, 99, 108...

Mrs Schipiro. 14, 29,...

..38, 57, 71, 79, 88,...

..101, 117.

Michelle Chamberlain. 17, 32,...

..49, 69, 78,...

..87, 99.

What was her shoe size?

Six and a half. There you have it.

This is not a confession. He k*lled 'em.

Harold, I advise you not to respond. He fixated on 'em,...

..and he slit their pretty little throats. Nor to cooperate any further.

There are people who think you m*rder*d these women. I'm not one of them.

But I need your help for me to prove that.

You think you can do that?

I think you can.

Mr Pintero, I'd like to search the building for any ways in or out that Harold might know.

Sure. Thanks.

You OK, Harold?

The shoes are out of order, Mr Pintero. I'm sorry.

Hey, it's OK, buddy. Don't you worry about it.

Get this straightened out with these folks, then come and keep me in line.

OK, Mr Pintero.

I wanna know why we're being led around like this.

I'm hoping it'll become clear to us when we find it.

Is that right?

He's gonna show us something that's going to exonerate him?

I think so.

Here.

Here what?

My God.

They're all here. Every victim.

This proves nothing. He fixated on them.

I see hundreds of scorecards up here. Thousands of names.

Choose a name.

Pick a name. Pick any name up there.

Fred Graham.

17,42, 67, 88,...

..107, 122,...

..131, 166,...

..178, 201.

200 game. That's not bad.

He has all these scores in his head? Including the victims'.

You said this proves his innocence. How?

I'm not sure exactly, but I think that... No!

No!

No, no, no!

Breathe!

One, two, three, four, five. Breathe!

He just keeled. Fell right over. I've done all I can.

Must've been a heart att*ck.

Hey, Scully. Is it too late?

No. What are you doing, Mulder?

I need your help on something. I need your medical expertise.

On what? Harold Spuller.

Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't even ask you. What did your doctor say?

I'm fine. Good.

What's up, Mulder? Angie Pintero, the bowling-alley guy?

He's dead. How?

Natural causes. Heart failure. Just keeled over in the bowling alley.

You need my medical opinion on that? No.

Harold Spuller had a premonitory vision of his boss's death.

I don't understand. He saw an apparition.

Pintero's disembodied soul at the moment of or just prior to his death.

How do you know? I was there when he saw it.

But you didn't see it yourself? No.

Why? I don't have that facility.

That connection to the victims that would make a vision possible.

What's Harold's connection?

I don't know, but I think it's to do with his autism.

That he had a profound attachment to these victims...

..but was unable to express the depth and power of those relationships.

So somehow a psychic bond was formed that went beyond the temporal.

Harold knew the people that were k*lled? Yeah, from the bowling alley.

Harold wasn't the only one who claims to have seen these apparitions.

But he has something in common with those who've had the visions...

..that is powerful in its own right.

Which is what? They were all dying.

One of emphysema, one of cancer and, uh... now Angie Pintero.

Harold Spuller's dying too?

That's what I need your medical opinion on.

Well, what if he isn't? I would be very surprised.

What is a death omen if not a vision of our own mortality?

And who among us would most likely be able to see the dead?

Harold's at the resident home right now.

I'll meet you there.

Harold?

Agent Mulder will be sending a doctor to examine you.

Well, you're back. It's gonna be all right now, Harold.

They just want us to keep you here for a little checkup.

There's nothing to worry about.

Thanks, Officers.

All right, Chuck.

Go to bed. You can see Harold in the morning.

See? Everyone's so glad to see you back, Harold.

You can talk to Chuck in the morning.

You still have to take your meds, though. Keeps you flyin' straight and level.

80, 88, 92, 99.

Come on. It's the way we always do it.

78... 87...

Attaboy. Good stuff.

Lucas brought him back. Is he acting up?

No. I think he's just a little scared. I've been tryin' to get him to take his meds.

14, 29, 37.

Why don't you let me sit with him for a bit?

OK. Sure.

Take your poison, Harold.

Go on.

What you got to live for now, huh?

What did you tell them, Harold? Did you tell them about your little girlfriends?

Huh?

Did you tell them how you were in love? No!

Did you show them your pictures?

No.

What do you think those girls thought of you, Harold?

Do you think they loved you back?

No one could love you, Harold.

Look at yourself. They looked at you and saw an ugly toad.

A ret*rd.

Agent Mulder. Thanks for accommodating us again.

Not a problem. We're all concerned for Harold. You're bringing a doctor?

Agent Scully's a doctor. If you could have Harold's medical records available...

Oh! What's happened to you?

Oh!

Don't touch that. Don't touch that. It's just a cut.

He just went wacko. I was tryin' to get him to take his meds and he went berserk.

He jumps me, starts pounding me like he wants to k*ll me.

Did he say anything?

No, he just started screaming like a lunatic.

Something's gone wrong with him. I think he's lost it for good.

I'll be damned if I'm gonna take care of him any more.

I think you should get this cut on your head looked at.

Maybe just give me a few minutes to get my nerves back.

OK, everybody, everything's fine now.

Come on, back to bed. That's right, dear. Go on now.

We'll see you in the morning. Night-night, everybody.

What can I do to help? Call the police. Ask for Detective Hudak.

Tell him to look for Harold down at the bowling alley.

Are they gonna arrest him? I don't see any way around that. Sorry.

Maybe you were wrong.

That's a superficial head wound. He didn't mean to k*ll her, or maim her.

That's not the work of a m*rder*r. Then why would he do it?

Maybe he's sicker than we thought.

Maybe. We won't know until we can examine him.

There's someone you can talk to.

Why don't you talk to his roommate, and I'll see what I can do about finding Harold.

Oh, hi.

Is your name Chuck? Yes. Yes, it is.

Chuck Forsch. F-o-r-s-c-h.

Chuck Forsch.

Do you share this room with Harold? Yes. He's my friend.

Do you know where he is? He's dying, isn't he?

Harold is dying. Why do you say that?

Nurse Innes. She's... she's trying to poison him.

Who told you that? Harold.

He said she told him she was putting poison in his meds.

Harold hasn't been taking his medication? I don't know.

I don't know everything. I'm only a human being.

But I do know that... that Harold's my friend. He wouldn't hurt anybody.

You know...

..he really loved them.

Who?

Harold... he gave them to me.

He was afraid.

Does anybody else know about these pictures, Chuck?

Nurse Innes.

How are you feeling? I'm... you know, shaky.

Understandable.

Working with these people, it starts driving you crazy too.

I'm looking forward to going home.

Will your family be a comfort? I live alone.

No children? Just the one my husband ran off with.

Nurse Innes, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to step out into the hallway.

Stay where you are!

Drop it!

Let it go!

She's alive. Let's get a paramedic in here.

Yeah.

You're cut. Yeah, she att*cked me.

You might wanna bag that. I'm pretty sure it's the m*rder w*apon.

She had been taking Harold's meds, clonazepam and clozapine,...

..the effects of which are v*olence and unpredictable behaviour.

But why did you suspect her?

Harold's roommate said that Harold thought she had been poisoning him.

So I went in to confront her and she just went off.

Why would she k*ll those women? I don't know.

Maybe in some drug-addled way she was trying to k*ll happiness.

Harold's happiness. His love for those women.

Maybe trying to destroy something she thought she'd never have again.

"She is me."

Have they found Harold? Yeah.

They found him in an alley, face down on the pavement.

They worked on him, but he couldn't be revived.

What happened?

Preliminary diagnosis is apnoea: respiratory failure.

As a result of what? The paramedics can't explain.

But if Harold stopped taking his medication, that could've been a factor in his death.

At least in the visions he was seeing. Harold wasn't dying.

He was k*lled as a result of what that woman took away from him.

That your medical opinion?

I saw something, Mulder. What?

The fourth victim.

I saw her in the bathroom before you came to tell me.

Why didn't you tell me? Because I didn't want to believe it.

Because I don't want to believe it.

Is that why you're here? To prove it wasn't true?

No. I came down here because you asked me to.

Why can't you be honest with me? What do you want me to say?

That you're right? That I believe it, even if I don't? Is that what you want?

Is that what you think I wanna hear?

No.

You can believe what you wanna believe, but you can't hide the truth from me.

If you do, then you're working against me.

And yourself.

I know what you're afraid of.

I'm afraid of the same thing.

The doctor said I was fine.

I hope that's the truth.

I'm going home.

I made this!