The X-Files (1993–…): Season 2, Episode 13 - Irresistible - full transcript
Scully and Mulder hunt down a fetishist who collects pieces of the dead.
I think we all feel
an empty place.
Everybody loved Jennifer--
not just because
she was a special person,
but because she was
the kind of friend
who was always there for you.
We'll miss you, Jen.
We'll miss your smile.
We'll miss the times
we would've spent together.
We'll keep these memories
close to our hearts...
...until we meet again
in God's kingdom.
The family has requested
a graveside service now.
I've rescheduled the burial
till tomorrow afternoon.
We'll keep the body
overnight.
Such a beautiful girl.
Hello?
Who's there?
I said, who's there?
Holy God.
Donnie.
What the hell are you
doing here this late?
Working.
Working. At this hour?
What is this?
What the hell were you doing?
Get out of here.
You freak!
Get out of here!
And don't come back.
I should report you!
Just go on!
Get out of here!
I got the call
from Minneapolis PD
saying they wanted the FBI
to come out and take a look.
Anything slightly
freakazoid,
that's the drill:
call Moe Bocks.
As if I'm tight with all
the nutcases in town.
So, I shoot on down here
to see what's the what,
and I'll be damned if I'm
not knocked on my butt
by what they
show me.
22 years, I've never
seen anything like it.
I get one look
at the corpse,
and I'm on the phone
to my pal Andy Schneider
down at the Mutual
UFO Network.
You know Andy.
No, I don't.
Well, he knows you.
Why'd you call MUFON?
I wanted to see
if there'd been
much UFO activity
in the area.
You think this grave
was unearthed by aliens,
Agent Bocks?
Well, it has
all the telltale signs.
Don't you think?
I mean, according
to the literature.
Literature?
You know, the way
the hair and nails
have been cut away.
Sort of like they do
in cattle mutilations.
Well, I hate to disappoint you,
Agent Bocks,
but this doesn't look
like the work of aliens to me.
Oh, how can you
be sure?
I've seen this kind
of thing before
when I worked
at Violent Crimes.
Whoever dug this up
probably used a backhoe.
If you take a cast
of the ground in the area,
you'll probably find
fresh new tracks
leading from here
to a garage nearby.
You think?
Yeah, he may work here,
but it's not likely,
though he's probably worked
at a mortuary or a cemetery
at one time or another,
probably even been busted,
but you won't find
any record of that.
Tends to be
bad for business
when those kind of stories
get around.
You're saying
some human's been doing this.
If you want to call him that.
You okay, Scully?
Yeah. I've read about cases of
desecrating the dead before,
but this is the first
time I've seen it.
Nothing can
prepare you for it.
It's almost unimaginable.
Why do they do it?
Well, some people collect
salt and pepper shakers.
Fetishists collect
dead things--
fingernails and hair.
No one quite knows why.
Though I've never
really understood
salt and pepper
shakers myself.
Sometimes you surprise me,
Mulder.
Why's that?
How that didn't shock you
back there.
I prepared myself for it
before we left Washington.
You knew this wasn't
UFO-related from the start?
I'd suspected as much, yeah.
It took us three hours
to get here.
Our plane doesn't leave
until tomorrow night.
If you suspected...
Vikings versus Redskins, Scully.
40-yard line in the
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.
You and me.
Have you lived in
the Twin Cities area long,
Mr. Pfaster?
I grew up here.
I was away for a few years.
Oh. And what kind of
work were you in before?
Cosmetology.
Hair and makeup.
Oh. That's interesting.
If you don't mind my saying,
that's a lovely color lipstick
you're wearing.
Is that Indian Summer?
Yes.
Yes, it is.
Now, you're applying for the job
as the delivery man?
To put myself through school.
I've gone back to school.
Oh.
And what are you studying?
Comparative religions.
Oh.
Are you a religious person
yourself?
Yes.
Very.
You know, I probably
shouldn't say this,
but Mr. Ficicello
feels very strongly
about religious backgrounds.
He prides himself
on the honesty of his employees.
Can you put that
on the application?
I'll attach a little note.
Thank you.
Long, long pass.
Cris Carter with the catch,
and Carter brought down
by Martin Mayhew at the
Washington five yard line
for a Viking first down!
Sorry you had
to miss your game,
but we found more bodies dug up.
Did you get your forensics
report on the first one yet?
He's got to be
happy about that...
There was somebody
down there in the grave.
Cut the hair with a pair
of pinking shears.
Got to wonder
about this guy.
Well, at least
he wasn't down there
with his Dippity-Doo
and his blow dryer.
How many bodies
does that make?
Three in
the last two days.
What else can you tell me
about the desecration
of the corpses?
The hair was cut
from the heads
of two bodies.
From the third one,
the fingernails
were pulled out
with what looks like
a pair of
needle-nosed pliers.
All right, I want you to draft
an eyes-only memo
to everyone in this office and
to all law enforcement agencies
in the metropolitan area.
Saying what?
That the Twin Cities
may have a...
escalating fetishist
on their hands.
A what?
An escalating
fetishist.
Security should be tightened
around city cemeteries.
Mortuaries, funeral homes and
hospitals should be notified.
A story should be
issued to the press
warning of a possible stalker
in the area.
This isn't New York,
Agent Mulder.
People still keep
their doors unlocked here.
This is going to scare them.
All right, well,
then you can leave out
the more gruesome aspects
in your press release.
Why do you want to alarm folks
if this guy
only preys on dead people?
Because his compulsion
is growing.
He may resort to homicide
to procure his corpses.
Once he gets the taste
of a warm body,
he's probably going
to want more.
Maybe I've been isolated up here
in the Great White North
too long.
What do you mean?
People wondered why
it took them so long
to catch this kid in Milwaukee.
Thought someone
should have noticed
he was killing
all those young boys.
Truth is, no one ever believed
it could happen.
Right.
Well, if you catch
this guy before he kills,
maybe they can go right on
believing that.
We don't have the manpower
or expertise to move
on this with any speed.
It's going to be hard
to round up anybody
on a Saturday.
Could be Monday or Tuesday
before we get
our ducks in a row.
...up and over the top!
Touchdown...
We got some work
to do here.
I'm going to cancel
our flight out.
Scully?
I'll be right there.
All right.
A complete model
or psychological profile
of the death fetishist
does not exist.
The compulsion is the result
of a complex misplacement
of values
and a deviation
from cultural norms
and social mores.
He is more likely
to be white, male,
and of average
to above average intelligence.
Cases of fetishists
with IQs over 150
have been documented.
The progression
of the pathology
can be traced
from the fantasy stage
to the eventual acting out
of fetishistic impulses,
including
opportunistic homicide.
Agent Mulder believes strongly
that the suspect in this case
is escalating
towards this action.
Once he begins to murder,
it is the killing
that draws attention away
from a deeper motive--
a motive which most people,
including law enforcement
professionals,
dare not imagine.
It is somehow
easier to believe,
as Agent Bocks does,
in aliens and UFOs
than in the kind of
cold-blooded, inhuman monster
who could prey on the living
to scavenge from the dead.
Hi.
Hi there.
Hello.
Hi.
Hi.
Are you looking for a date?
Yes.
Why don't you pull up
around the corner over there.
Well, actually, I was thinking
of a couple of hours.
Oh.
Where do you have in mind?
Don't you have any heat in here?
It's freezing.
The forced air unit is broken.
I'd like to run you a bath.
Is your hair treated?
What?
Do you need a shampoo
for chemically treated hair?
You want me to shampoo my hair?
I'll pay extra if that's
something out of the ordinary.
Nobody has ever asked me.
Excuse me.
Hello.
Is this Mr. Pfaster?
Yes.
Hi. This is Marilyn
at Ficicello Frozen Foods.
Sorry to bother you so late,
but I'm calling to say
you've been hired, Mr. Pfaster.
We'd like you to start
right away.
Hey, what's
going on here?
The water is ice cold.
What kind of
sick freak are you?
Oh, my God.
Mr. Pfaster?
Yes. That's wonderful news.
Thank you so much.
Don't you come near me.
I mean it.
Don't you touch me!
Stay away from me!
Keep away from me!
Don't you come near me!
Still waiting
for someone to I.D. the body.
Judging from the area,
I'd say she's probably
a working girl.
Watch your step.
Oh...
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God. Oh...
Who did this to her?
Who did this?
Was it him?
Looks like it.
Knife wound the length
of the torso.
Cut all her hair off,
took her fingernails.
This time, he took
some fingers, too.
Want to see the body?
Yeah.
I need a minute.
Hey, let him
take a look.
Hi.
I'm your new delivery man.
Oh, hi. Come in.
Did they give you
Skip's old route?
Yes, I think so.
I've just started
with the company.
Skip's been delivering
to us for so long,
we almost took it for granted
he'd always be around--
since before
the kids were born.
Lisa?
This is, uh...
Donnie. Donnie Pfaster.
- He's taking over for Skip.
- Oh, hi.
I'm going to go over
to Steve's now, okay?
Okay.
You have a good time.
Okay. Bye.
Bye.
We have
three daughters.
Oh.
Pardon me.
May I use your washroom
to wash up my hands?
Oh, sure. There's a washroom
just off the service porch.
Oh.
I just wanted to tell you,
if we're ever not home,
we always leave
the back door open here.
Oh.
Thank you.
I'll remember that.
Death is a recorded event.
For reasons natural
or unnatural,
when a body ceases to function,
the cause of the effect
can be clearly reconstructed.
A body has a story to tell.
The time is 11:14 a.m.,
Monday, November 14.
Deceased is a female
in her 20s.
If the victim was strangled,
an examination of the veins
in the eyes will reveal this.
If the victim was shot,
entry wounds and gunpowder
residue can be used
to reconstruct
the events leading to death
and help to establish
a possible motive.
Hair and fibers,
slivers of glass,
plastic, even insect casings
can serve to recreate
the circumstances
under which death occurred.
It may be an irony
only understood
by those of us
who conduct these examinations,
that death, like life itself,
is a drama
with a beginning,
middle and end.
It is my opinion, having
conducted this examination,
that the victim died a wrongful
death for the express purpose
of extracting
her hair and fingernails.
The time of death cannot
be accurately determined
due to what I believe
must have been immersion
in a cold environment,
most likely water.
For the record,
it is also my opinion that,
outside of child homicide,
which may be more tragic
and heinous,
this is one of the most angry
and dehumanizing murders
imaginable.
Mm-mm. I just don't know.
Look at each
man carefully.
He's none of those guys.
He was ordinary.
He didn't look
like no freak.
You remember
what kind of car
he was driving,
what color it was?
I think it
was white.
Okay, you can go.
Just leave a number and address
where you can be reached.
You going
to catch this guy?
We'll catch him.
Might be a good week
to take that paid vacation
the boss owes you.
Yeah.
Right.
If this guy looks
regular-like
and he doesn't
have a record,
he's going to be
near impossible to find.
Not until
he kills again
or until we can determine
what's driving him.
I read your profile.
Sounds like a guy
who can't make it with women,
which would explain
the hooker.
No, no, the hooker was
just convenient.
He's after trophies.
His victim was
a young, attractive woman.
The corpses he dug up
were all young women.
So what's
fueling his need?
What's important
about the hair
and fingernails to him?
It's almost as if it's not
enough that they're dead,
but he's also
got to defile them.
I mean, there's a deeper
psychosis at work here.
It's an unfathomable hatred
of women,
uh, probably going
back to his mother.
I'd say she's pretty fried
at him, too.
I think the next thing
we have to do is call
all the psychiatric facilities
in the area and ask them
if they have any records
of patients
with similar pathologies.
This kind of a monster
isn't made overnight.
He's been developing his fetish
for years.
The necessity of
the story, the myth,
in a culture
is almost universal.
We think of myths
as things that
entertain or instruct,
but their deeper purpose
is often to explain
or make fanciful
desires, wishes
or behavior
that society would otherwise
deem unacceptable.
Because they
are conveyed
in a wrapping of
untruth-- the story--
these thoughts become
harmless fiction.
Take, for example,
the stories
we recite to
our children:
Snow White,
Alice in Wonderland.
The subtextual themes
when the queen orders
"off with her head"
or the prince awakens
Sleeping Beauty with a kiss
are what Freud would describe
as death wish imaginings.
Excuse me.
I'm in your mythology class.
Uh-huh.
My name's Donnie.
I sit a couple of rows over.
Maybe you've seen me.
Uh, I don't know. I...
I know.
You sit up front.
I just...
See, I...
I was going to my car,
and I saw you and...
Did he ask us to read
chapters ten and 11
or 11 and 12?
Oh. Uh, I...
I-I think it was, uh...
God.
Uh, it was
chapters ten and 11.
Oh. Thanks.
Yeah.
I have to go now.
Don't go.
Let go of the door.
Help!
Someone!
Help!
Hello.
Scully, it's me.
They've arrested somebody
they think may be our guy.
I'll get dressed.
He's got a history
of assault.
911 call came in
from a security officer
who saw it happen.
She hurt him pretty bad.
Yeah, he's definitely
our guy.
Who cut him?
A working girl.
They're all carrying knives
since what happened.
I'm Agent Mulder.
Have you been
read your rights?
I'm just
a straight businessman.
I picked up this chick,
and I brought her home.
I paid her the money,
and she hauls
out this knife.
Now, what am I
supposed to do?
I smacked her
a couple of times--
self-defense,
self-defense.
Now... see?
Nothing under
the fingernails.
He's not our guy.
I thought
we had him.
We're back to square one.
Mulder, can I have
a minute with you?
I'll wait out front.
I think I might better
drive this investigation
if I could focus
on the evidence.
What are you suggesting?
That I take the body
back to Washington.
I could run it through
the fingerprint lab there.
You know, those guys,
they can pull...
Scully, if you're having
trouble with this case,
I want you to tell me.
I'm not having
trouble, Mulder.
I'd understand.
I mean, it's not exactly
easy to stomach.
I'm fine, really.
I just think we're a long way
from catching this guy.
If we could get a print,
we'd have something
to focus on,
but right now,
we're at a standstill.
I think it's
a good idea.
I just don't want
you to think
you have to hide
anything from me.
I've seen agents with
20 years' field experience
fall apart on
cases like this.
I have.
I'm fine.
I can handle it.
Hey.
What's your name?
You talking to me?
Yeah.
Were those FBI agents?
Yeah.
What were they asking you?
They thought I was some freak
who's been digging up corpses.
Man, I'm in enough
trouble already.
What were their names?
Who?
The younger agents.
Oh.
Uh, I don't remember his name.
She was Scully.
Like that baseball
announcer.
Let's go, Mr. Pfaster.
Go where?
Lady's dropped the
charges against you.
They're letting
you out as soon as
you talk to a psychiatric
social worker.
At first glance,
there's not much to work with.
Satin doesn't hold a print
real well.
There may be a latent
somewhere in these bloodstains.
I suspect the killer
wore gloves.
Well, the body was
shipped on my flight,
so it should be here
within the hour.
We'll take a look.
How long you in town
for, Agent Scully?
I have a flight back to
Minneapolis booked for tonight,
but, um, I might cancel.
I've put all
other work aside.
Thanks.
You think
that you find a way
to deal with these things.
In med school, you develop
a clinical detachment to death.
In your FBI training,
you are confronted
with cases--
the most violent
and terrible cases.
You think you can look
into the face of pure evil...
and then you find yourself
paralyzed by it.
Are you aware that
you've been talking
about yourself in
the second person?
No.
Was I?
Do you know why?
Um...
probably as another way of
trying to detach myself from it.
You're a very strong person.
you've probably always felt
you can handle any problem
by yourself.
But you feel
vulnerable now.
Do you know
why that is?
No.
Is it your partner?
Is there a problem
with trust?
No.
I trust him as much as anyone.
I trust him with my life.
Can you talk to him about
the way you're feeling?
No.
I don't want him to know
how much this is bothering me.
Um...
I don't want him to feel
like he has to protect me.
I know you lost
your father last year,
and, um...
I read in your file
that you were
very ill recently,
that your life
was threatened.
These exposures
can leave you
extremely vulnerable.
I know these things.
I'm-I'm conscious of them.
I...
I know that the world
is full of predators,
just as it has always been.
And I know that it is my job
to protect people from them.
And I have counted on that fact
to give me faith
in my ability to do what I do.
I want that faith back.
I need it back.
Okay, that's great.
Oh, there you are.
I've been looking
for you.
I had a meeting.
I got good news.
- What did you find?
- Well, as I suspected,
there was nothing
on the sheets,
but we pulled something
nice off the body.
The guy cut her
fingers off, right?
But not all of them.
On her right hand,
he left a thumb.
I pulled this off
the nail polish.
There must have been a struggle
before he killed her,
before he put the gloves on.
I got to call Agent Mulder.
- Oh, somebody called for you.
- Who?
Said he was an agent
working out of Minneapolis.
I told him you were out, you had
a flight booked back tonight.
Was it Agent Mulder?
I didn't recognize the name.
Did you tell him
about the print?
Hadn't found it yet.
Agent Busch, look at this.
Mulder.
Hi. It's me.
We got a print.
Scully got a print.
Fantastic.
I'm going to modem it
out to you immediately
to see if you can run a match.
Are you staying on there,
Scully?
No, I'm coming back tonight.
Look, I know this is a pretty
horrific case, but if...
I'm okay with it, Mulder.
Anyway, you could use my help.
Always.
You or Agent Bocks
didn't call here
looking for me earlier,
did you?
Did you call Scully?
No.
Hmm.
Okay, well, I'll see you
when I get there.
All right.
Go!
FBI!
I'll take
the bedroom!
Move it, move it,
move it!
Go!
Team one, what is your status?
We're clear back here!
Clear!
Bill.
I think
it's human hair.
The suspect does not
appear to be at home.
Let's put out an APB
on Donald Addie Pfaster,
age 28.
Oh, take a look at this.
She should be here.
She was on the plane,
landed three hours ago.
We found Agent Scully's car.
Yeah, pull it in over here.
She was forced
off the road.
It looks like a white car.
Get one of your men
and get a sample of this paint
and get it on a
plane to Washington.
If we hurry
and we're lucky,
we can get a make and model
of the car by morning.
We're going to find her.
Nothing registered
to Donald Pfaster?
Right.
Right. Got it.
The paint is called
"Ivory Bone."
It's a two-step enamel
used by three makers of
late model, mid-size cars.
They estimate there
may be about 60,000 cars
that fit that description
in the metropolitan area.
Nothing?
No.
No one saw her
leave the rental agency?
There was no attendant
in the area?
Sorry, Mulder,
that's all we got.
You know, people videotape
police beatings
on darkened streets.
They manage to spot Elvis
in three cities
across America every day,
but no one saw a pretty woman
being forced off the road
in her rental car.
He could have
taken her anyplace.
How we going to find her?
Well, um...
we got to start
at the beginning.
You know, as nasty
as it might sound,
we got to try and get
inside this guy's head.
Where would he go?
Anywhere but
his mother's, right?
Why do you say that?
Being he's so pissed off at her,
from what your profile says.
Do we know
where his mother lives?
I don't know.
Let's find out.
The mother lives in
Boca Raton, Florida.
Huh. Correction.
She used to live there.
She died a year ago.
Did she have a car
registered to her?
Late model white sedan.
He inherited the car.
Maybe Boca Raton
was a winter house.
Does she have a residence
here in Minneapolis?
No...
Get the hell away from me!
Don't be afraid.
Is your hair normal or dry?
Where are you going?
There's no way
out, girly girl.
I know this house, girly girl.
There's nowhere to hide.
Move! Move!
Federal agent!
Hands in the air!
Hands in the air!
Stay there, Scully.
Can we get some
paramedics here now!
I'm okay.
Just help me get
my wrists undone.
We're all clear here!
How did you find me?
His mother used
to own the house,
willed it to
his sisters.
A patrolman saw
his car out back.
Get him out of here.
Sure you don't want
to sit down, Scully,
and let somebody
take a look at you?
I'm fine, Mulder.
It's all right.
The conquest of fear
lies in the moment
of its acceptance,
in understanding
what scares us most
is that which is most familiar,
most commonplace.
That the boy next door,
Donnie Pfaster,
the unremarkable younger
brother of four older sisters,
extraordinary only
in his ordinariness,
could grow up to be the devil
in a button-down shirt.
It's been said that
the fear of the unknown
is an irrational response
to the excesses
of the imagination,
but our fear of the everyday--
of the lurking stranger
and the sound of footfalls
on the stairs--
the fear of violent death
and the primitive impulse
to survive
are as frightening
as any X File,
as real as the acceptance
that it could happen to you.
I made this!
an empty place.
Everybody loved Jennifer--
not just because
she was a special person,
but because she was
the kind of friend
who was always there for you.
We'll miss you, Jen.
We'll miss your smile.
We'll miss the times
we would've spent together.
We'll keep these memories
close to our hearts...
...until we meet again
in God's kingdom.
The family has requested
a graveside service now.
I've rescheduled the burial
till tomorrow afternoon.
We'll keep the body
overnight.
Such a beautiful girl.
Hello?
Who's there?
I said, who's there?
Holy God.
Donnie.
What the hell are you
doing here this late?
Working.
Working. At this hour?
What is this?
What the hell were you doing?
Get out of here.
You freak!
Get out of here!
And don't come back.
I should report you!
Just go on!
Get out of here!
I got the call
from Minneapolis PD
saying they wanted the FBI
to come out and take a look.
Anything slightly
freakazoid,
that's the drill:
call Moe Bocks.
As if I'm tight with all
the nutcases in town.
So, I shoot on down here
to see what's the what,
and I'll be damned if I'm
not knocked on my butt
by what they
show me.
22 years, I've never
seen anything like it.
I get one look
at the corpse,
and I'm on the phone
to my pal Andy Schneider
down at the Mutual
UFO Network.
You know Andy.
No, I don't.
Well, he knows you.
Why'd you call MUFON?
I wanted to see
if there'd been
much UFO activity
in the area.
You think this grave
was unearthed by aliens,
Agent Bocks?
Well, it has
all the telltale signs.
Don't you think?
I mean, according
to the literature.
Literature?
You know, the way
the hair and nails
have been cut away.
Sort of like they do
in cattle mutilations.
Well, I hate to disappoint you,
Agent Bocks,
but this doesn't look
like the work of aliens to me.
Oh, how can you
be sure?
I've seen this kind
of thing before
when I worked
at Violent Crimes.
Whoever dug this up
probably used a backhoe.
If you take a cast
of the ground in the area,
you'll probably find
fresh new tracks
leading from here
to a garage nearby.
You think?
Yeah, he may work here,
but it's not likely,
though he's probably worked
at a mortuary or a cemetery
at one time or another,
probably even been busted,
but you won't find
any record of that.
Tends to be
bad for business
when those kind of stories
get around.
You're saying
some human's been doing this.
If you want to call him that.
You okay, Scully?
Yeah. I've read about cases of
desecrating the dead before,
but this is the first
time I've seen it.
Nothing can
prepare you for it.
It's almost unimaginable.
Why do they do it?
Well, some people collect
salt and pepper shakers.
Fetishists collect
dead things--
fingernails and hair.
No one quite knows why.
Though I've never
really understood
salt and pepper
shakers myself.
Sometimes you surprise me,
Mulder.
Why's that?
How that didn't shock you
back there.
I prepared myself for it
before we left Washington.
You knew this wasn't
UFO-related from the start?
I'd suspected as much, yeah.
It took us three hours
to get here.
Our plane doesn't leave
until tomorrow night.
If you suspected...
Vikings versus Redskins, Scully.
40-yard line in the
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.
You and me.
Have you lived in
the Twin Cities area long,
Mr. Pfaster?
I grew up here.
I was away for a few years.
Oh. And what kind of
work were you in before?
Cosmetology.
Hair and makeup.
Oh. That's interesting.
If you don't mind my saying,
that's a lovely color lipstick
you're wearing.
Is that Indian Summer?
Yes.
Yes, it is.
Now, you're applying for the job
as the delivery man?
To put myself through school.
I've gone back to school.
Oh.
And what are you studying?
Comparative religions.
Oh.
Are you a religious person
yourself?
Yes.
Very.
You know, I probably
shouldn't say this,
but Mr. Ficicello
feels very strongly
about religious backgrounds.
He prides himself
on the honesty of his employees.
Can you put that
on the application?
I'll attach a little note.
Thank you.
Long, long pass.
Cris Carter with the catch,
and Carter brought down
by Martin Mayhew at the
Washington five yard line
for a Viking first down!
Sorry you had
to miss your game,
but we found more bodies dug up.
Did you get your forensics
report on the first one yet?
He's got to be
happy about that...
There was somebody
down there in the grave.
Cut the hair with a pair
of pinking shears.
Got to wonder
about this guy.
Well, at least
he wasn't down there
with his Dippity-Doo
and his blow dryer.
How many bodies
does that make?
Three in
the last two days.
What else can you tell me
about the desecration
of the corpses?
The hair was cut
from the heads
of two bodies.
From the third one,
the fingernails
were pulled out
with what looks like
a pair of
needle-nosed pliers.
All right, I want you to draft
an eyes-only memo
to everyone in this office and
to all law enforcement agencies
in the metropolitan area.
Saying what?
That the Twin Cities
may have a...
escalating fetishist
on their hands.
A what?
An escalating
fetishist.
Security should be tightened
around city cemeteries.
Mortuaries, funeral homes and
hospitals should be notified.
A story should be
issued to the press
warning of a possible stalker
in the area.
This isn't New York,
Agent Mulder.
People still keep
their doors unlocked here.
This is going to scare them.
All right, well,
then you can leave out
the more gruesome aspects
in your press release.
Why do you want to alarm folks
if this guy
only preys on dead people?
Because his compulsion
is growing.
He may resort to homicide
to procure his corpses.
Once he gets the taste
of a warm body,
he's probably going
to want more.
Maybe I've been isolated up here
in the Great White North
too long.
What do you mean?
People wondered why
it took them so long
to catch this kid in Milwaukee.
Thought someone
should have noticed
he was killing
all those young boys.
Truth is, no one ever believed
it could happen.
Right.
Well, if you catch
this guy before he kills,
maybe they can go right on
believing that.
We don't have the manpower
or expertise to move
on this with any speed.
It's going to be hard
to round up anybody
on a Saturday.
Could be Monday or Tuesday
before we get
our ducks in a row.
...up and over the top!
Touchdown...
We got some work
to do here.
I'm going to cancel
our flight out.
Scully?
I'll be right there.
All right.
A complete model
or psychological profile
of the death fetishist
does not exist.
The compulsion is the result
of a complex misplacement
of values
and a deviation
from cultural norms
and social mores.
He is more likely
to be white, male,
and of average
to above average intelligence.
Cases of fetishists
with IQs over 150
have been documented.
The progression
of the pathology
can be traced
from the fantasy stage
to the eventual acting out
of fetishistic impulses,
including
opportunistic homicide.
Agent Mulder believes strongly
that the suspect in this case
is escalating
towards this action.
Once he begins to murder,
it is the killing
that draws attention away
from a deeper motive--
a motive which most people,
including law enforcement
professionals,
dare not imagine.
It is somehow
easier to believe,
as Agent Bocks does,
in aliens and UFOs
than in the kind of
cold-blooded, inhuman monster
who could prey on the living
to scavenge from the dead.
Hi.
Hi there.
Hello.
Hi.
Hi.
Are you looking for a date?
Yes.
Why don't you pull up
around the corner over there.
Well, actually, I was thinking
of a couple of hours.
Oh.
Where do you have in mind?
Don't you have any heat in here?
It's freezing.
The forced air unit is broken.
I'd like to run you a bath.
Is your hair treated?
What?
Do you need a shampoo
for chemically treated hair?
You want me to shampoo my hair?
I'll pay extra if that's
something out of the ordinary.
Nobody has ever asked me.
Excuse me.
Hello.
Is this Mr. Pfaster?
Yes.
Hi. This is Marilyn
at Ficicello Frozen Foods.
Sorry to bother you so late,
but I'm calling to say
you've been hired, Mr. Pfaster.
We'd like you to start
right away.
Hey, what's
going on here?
The water is ice cold.
What kind of
sick freak are you?
Oh, my God.
Mr. Pfaster?
Yes. That's wonderful news.
Thank you so much.
Don't you come near me.
I mean it.
Don't you touch me!
Stay away from me!
Keep away from me!
Don't you come near me!
Still waiting
for someone to I.D. the body.
Judging from the area,
I'd say she's probably
a working girl.
Watch your step.
Oh...
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God. Oh...
Who did this to her?
Who did this?
Was it him?
Looks like it.
Knife wound the length
of the torso.
Cut all her hair off,
took her fingernails.
This time, he took
some fingers, too.
Want to see the body?
Yeah.
I need a minute.
Hey, let him
take a look.
Hi.
I'm your new delivery man.
Oh, hi. Come in.
Did they give you
Skip's old route?
Yes, I think so.
I've just started
with the company.
Skip's been delivering
to us for so long,
we almost took it for granted
he'd always be around--
since before
the kids were born.
Lisa?
This is, uh...
Donnie. Donnie Pfaster.
- He's taking over for Skip.
- Oh, hi.
I'm going to go over
to Steve's now, okay?
Okay.
You have a good time.
Okay. Bye.
Bye.
We have
three daughters.
Oh.
Pardon me.
May I use your washroom
to wash up my hands?
Oh, sure. There's a washroom
just off the service porch.
Oh.
I just wanted to tell you,
if we're ever not home,
we always leave
the back door open here.
Oh.
Thank you.
I'll remember that.
Death is a recorded event.
For reasons natural
or unnatural,
when a body ceases to function,
the cause of the effect
can be clearly reconstructed.
A body has a story to tell.
The time is 11:14 a.m.,
Monday, November 14.
Deceased is a female
in her 20s.
If the victim was strangled,
an examination of the veins
in the eyes will reveal this.
If the victim was shot,
entry wounds and gunpowder
residue can be used
to reconstruct
the events leading to death
and help to establish
a possible motive.
Hair and fibers,
slivers of glass,
plastic, even insect casings
can serve to recreate
the circumstances
under which death occurred.
It may be an irony
only understood
by those of us
who conduct these examinations,
that death, like life itself,
is a drama
with a beginning,
middle and end.
It is my opinion, having
conducted this examination,
that the victim died a wrongful
death for the express purpose
of extracting
her hair and fingernails.
The time of death cannot
be accurately determined
due to what I believe
must have been immersion
in a cold environment,
most likely water.
For the record,
it is also my opinion that,
outside of child homicide,
which may be more tragic
and heinous,
this is one of the most angry
and dehumanizing murders
imaginable.
Mm-mm. I just don't know.
Look at each
man carefully.
He's none of those guys.
He was ordinary.
He didn't look
like no freak.
You remember
what kind of car
he was driving,
what color it was?
I think it
was white.
Okay, you can go.
Just leave a number and address
where you can be reached.
You going
to catch this guy?
We'll catch him.
Might be a good week
to take that paid vacation
the boss owes you.
Yeah.
Right.
If this guy looks
regular-like
and he doesn't
have a record,
he's going to be
near impossible to find.
Not until
he kills again
or until we can determine
what's driving him.
I read your profile.
Sounds like a guy
who can't make it with women,
which would explain
the hooker.
No, no, the hooker was
just convenient.
He's after trophies.
His victim was
a young, attractive woman.
The corpses he dug up
were all young women.
So what's
fueling his need?
What's important
about the hair
and fingernails to him?
It's almost as if it's not
enough that they're dead,
but he's also
got to defile them.
I mean, there's a deeper
psychosis at work here.
It's an unfathomable hatred
of women,
uh, probably going
back to his mother.
I'd say she's pretty fried
at him, too.
I think the next thing
we have to do is call
all the psychiatric facilities
in the area and ask them
if they have any records
of patients
with similar pathologies.
This kind of a monster
isn't made overnight.
He's been developing his fetish
for years.
The necessity of
the story, the myth,
in a culture
is almost universal.
We think of myths
as things that
entertain or instruct,
but their deeper purpose
is often to explain
or make fanciful
desires, wishes
or behavior
that society would otherwise
deem unacceptable.
Because they
are conveyed
in a wrapping of
untruth-- the story--
these thoughts become
harmless fiction.
Take, for example,
the stories
we recite to
our children:
Snow White,
Alice in Wonderland.
The subtextual themes
when the queen orders
"off with her head"
or the prince awakens
Sleeping Beauty with a kiss
are what Freud would describe
as death wish imaginings.
Excuse me.
I'm in your mythology class.
Uh-huh.
My name's Donnie.
I sit a couple of rows over.
Maybe you've seen me.
Uh, I don't know. I...
I know.
You sit up front.
I just...
See, I...
I was going to my car,
and I saw you and...
Did he ask us to read
chapters ten and 11
or 11 and 12?
Oh. Uh, I...
I-I think it was, uh...
God.
Uh, it was
chapters ten and 11.
Oh. Thanks.
Yeah.
I have to go now.
Don't go.
Let go of the door.
Help!
Someone!
Help!
Hello.
Scully, it's me.
They've arrested somebody
they think may be our guy.
I'll get dressed.
He's got a history
of assault.
911 call came in
from a security officer
who saw it happen.
She hurt him pretty bad.
Yeah, he's definitely
our guy.
Who cut him?
A working girl.
They're all carrying knives
since what happened.
I'm Agent Mulder.
Have you been
read your rights?
I'm just
a straight businessman.
I picked up this chick,
and I brought her home.
I paid her the money,
and she hauls
out this knife.
Now, what am I
supposed to do?
I smacked her
a couple of times--
self-defense,
self-defense.
Now... see?
Nothing under
the fingernails.
He's not our guy.
I thought
we had him.
We're back to square one.
Mulder, can I have
a minute with you?
I'll wait out front.
I think I might better
drive this investigation
if I could focus
on the evidence.
What are you suggesting?
That I take the body
back to Washington.
I could run it through
the fingerprint lab there.
You know, those guys,
they can pull...
Scully, if you're having
trouble with this case,
I want you to tell me.
I'm not having
trouble, Mulder.
I'd understand.
I mean, it's not exactly
easy to stomach.
I'm fine, really.
I just think we're a long way
from catching this guy.
If we could get a print,
we'd have something
to focus on,
but right now,
we're at a standstill.
I think it's
a good idea.
I just don't want
you to think
you have to hide
anything from me.
I've seen agents with
20 years' field experience
fall apart on
cases like this.
I have.
I'm fine.
I can handle it.
Hey.
What's your name?
You talking to me?
Yeah.
Were those FBI agents?
Yeah.
What were they asking you?
They thought I was some freak
who's been digging up corpses.
Man, I'm in enough
trouble already.
What were their names?
Who?
The younger agents.
Oh.
Uh, I don't remember his name.
She was Scully.
Like that baseball
announcer.
Let's go, Mr. Pfaster.
Go where?
Lady's dropped the
charges against you.
They're letting
you out as soon as
you talk to a psychiatric
social worker.
At first glance,
there's not much to work with.
Satin doesn't hold a print
real well.
There may be a latent
somewhere in these bloodstains.
I suspect the killer
wore gloves.
Well, the body was
shipped on my flight,
so it should be here
within the hour.
We'll take a look.
How long you in town
for, Agent Scully?
I have a flight back to
Minneapolis booked for tonight,
but, um, I might cancel.
I've put all
other work aside.
Thanks.
You think
that you find a way
to deal with these things.
In med school, you develop
a clinical detachment to death.
In your FBI training,
you are confronted
with cases--
the most violent
and terrible cases.
You think you can look
into the face of pure evil...
and then you find yourself
paralyzed by it.
Are you aware that
you've been talking
about yourself in
the second person?
No.
Was I?
Do you know why?
Um...
probably as another way of
trying to detach myself from it.
You're a very strong person.
you've probably always felt
you can handle any problem
by yourself.
But you feel
vulnerable now.
Do you know
why that is?
No.
Is it your partner?
Is there a problem
with trust?
No.
I trust him as much as anyone.
I trust him with my life.
Can you talk to him about
the way you're feeling?
No.
I don't want him to know
how much this is bothering me.
Um...
I don't want him to feel
like he has to protect me.
I know you lost
your father last year,
and, um...
I read in your file
that you were
very ill recently,
that your life
was threatened.
These exposures
can leave you
extremely vulnerable.
I know these things.
I'm-I'm conscious of them.
I...
I know that the world
is full of predators,
just as it has always been.
And I know that it is my job
to protect people from them.
And I have counted on that fact
to give me faith
in my ability to do what I do.
I want that faith back.
I need it back.
Okay, that's great.
Oh, there you are.
I've been looking
for you.
I had a meeting.
I got good news.
- What did you find?
- Well, as I suspected,
there was nothing
on the sheets,
but we pulled something
nice off the body.
The guy cut her
fingers off, right?
But not all of them.
On her right hand,
he left a thumb.
I pulled this off
the nail polish.
There must have been a struggle
before he killed her,
before he put the gloves on.
I got to call Agent Mulder.
- Oh, somebody called for you.
- Who?
Said he was an agent
working out of Minneapolis.
I told him you were out, you had
a flight booked back tonight.
Was it Agent Mulder?
I didn't recognize the name.
Did you tell him
about the print?
Hadn't found it yet.
Agent Busch, look at this.
Mulder.
Hi. It's me.
We got a print.
Scully got a print.
Fantastic.
I'm going to modem it
out to you immediately
to see if you can run a match.
Are you staying on there,
Scully?
No, I'm coming back tonight.
Look, I know this is a pretty
horrific case, but if...
I'm okay with it, Mulder.
Anyway, you could use my help.
Always.
You or Agent Bocks
didn't call here
looking for me earlier,
did you?
Did you call Scully?
No.
Hmm.
Okay, well, I'll see you
when I get there.
All right.
Go!
FBI!
I'll take
the bedroom!
Move it, move it,
move it!
Go!
Team one, what is your status?
We're clear back here!
Clear!
Bill.
I think
it's human hair.
The suspect does not
appear to be at home.
Let's put out an APB
on Donald Addie Pfaster,
age 28.
Oh, take a look at this.
She should be here.
She was on the plane,
landed three hours ago.
We found Agent Scully's car.
Yeah, pull it in over here.
She was forced
off the road.
It looks like a white car.
Get one of your men
and get a sample of this paint
and get it on a
plane to Washington.
If we hurry
and we're lucky,
we can get a make and model
of the car by morning.
We're going to find her.
Nothing registered
to Donald Pfaster?
Right.
Right. Got it.
The paint is called
"Ivory Bone."
It's a two-step enamel
used by three makers of
late model, mid-size cars.
They estimate there
may be about 60,000 cars
that fit that description
in the metropolitan area.
Nothing?
No.
No one saw her
leave the rental agency?
There was no attendant
in the area?
Sorry, Mulder,
that's all we got.
You know, people videotape
police beatings
on darkened streets.
They manage to spot Elvis
in three cities
across America every day,
but no one saw a pretty woman
being forced off the road
in her rental car.
He could have
taken her anyplace.
How we going to find her?
Well, um...
we got to start
at the beginning.
You know, as nasty
as it might sound,
we got to try and get
inside this guy's head.
Where would he go?
Anywhere but
his mother's, right?
Why do you say that?
Being he's so pissed off at her,
from what your profile says.
Do we know
where his mother lives?
I don't know.
Let's find out.
The mother lives in
Boca Raton, Florida.
Huh. Correction.
She used to live there.
She died a year ago.
Did she have a car
registered to her?
Late model white sedan.
He inherited the car.
Maybe Boca Raton
was a winter house.
Does she have a residence
here in Minneapolis?
No...
Get the hell away from me!
Don't be afraid.
Is your hair normal or dry?
Where are you going?
There's no way
out, girly girl.
I know this house, girly girl.
There's nowhere to hide.
Move! Move!
Federal agent!
Hands in the air!
Hands in the air!
Stay there, Scully.
Can we get some
paramedics here now!
I'm okay.
Just help me get
my wrists undone.
We're all clear here!
How did you find me?
His mother used
to own the house,
willed it to
his sisters.
A patrolman saw
his car out back.
Get him out of here.
Sure you don't want
to sit down, Scully,
and let somebody
take a look at you?
I'm fine, Mulder.
It's all right.
The conquest of fear
lies in the moment
of its acceptance,
in understanding
what scares us most
is that which is most familiar,
most commonplace.
That the boy next door,
Donnie Pfaster,
the unremarkable younger
brother of four older sisters,
extraordinary only
in his ordinariness,
could grow up to be the devil
in a button-down shirt.
It's been said that
the fear of the unknown
is an irrational response
to the excesses
of the imagination,
but our fear of the everyday--
of the lurking stranger
and the sound of footfalls
on the stairs--
the fear of violent death
and the primitive impulse
to survive
are as frightening
as any X File,
as real as the acceptance
that it could happen to you.
I made this!