The X-Files s09e12 Episode Script

Underneath

[Man.]
Get going.
Please.
Do your damn job.
[Girl.]
You can't think Milli Vanilli is cool.
I will disown you.
[Laughs.]
You are unbelievable.
[Chuckles.]
Okay, I may puke, but I have to ask.
Which one do you intend to marry, Rob or Fab? [Doorbell Rings.]
Janet, get that.
[Mouthing Words.]
Hang on.
I'm like the servant around here.
Yeah? Triboro Cable.
What do you want? Your cable's out.
Is it? I don't think so.
Okay, I'm sorry.
Wait a sec.
Maybe my dad called you.
You better come in.
TV's in here.
Dad! Cable guy's here! Can I help you? There's a problem with your cable? I was just watching the game upstairs.
I think you got the wrong house, buddy.
Oh.
Is that your work order? Who called it in? [Phone Beeping Off-hook.]
[Beeping Grows Louder.]
Police! Don't move! Oh, God Almighty.
Face the wall.
Face the wall! Johnny, check the other rooms.
They're all dead.
Got you.
Got you, you bastard.
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.
An X-File? I'm telling you, you let this guy go more people are going to die.
Was that the DA on the case? Assistant DA.
Some jag-off who was probably in ninth grade when this happened.
What is it exactly you want him to do? 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 He killed seven people.
Now they want to let him go so he can kill again.
It says here the DNA evidence proves he's innocent.
It's wrong.
It's some lab mistake, simple as that.
My partner Duke and I, we catch this 9-1-1.
Neighbor's hearing screaming coming from this house on Flatbush Avenue.
We get there.
Teenage girl, mother, father all dead.
There's blood.
I can still remember the sound of the blood squishing under my shoes.
This guy Fassl's just standing there.
So you didn't actually catch him in the act.
Ten seconds earlier through the door, and we would have.
[Footsteps Approaching.]
Tell me you got good news.
I have combed through every detail of this ME's report.
I have read and reread it.
And I am sorry, Agent Doggett but the DNA fingerprinting does indeed exonerate this man.
You're telling me there's no way? There's not even a million-to-one chance that these DNA tests are wrong? Actually, a hundred million.
I need the reports run again.
I need you to do it yourself.
Agent Doggett, you It'll take at least 48 hours.
That's too long.
Where you going? New York.
I can't just sit here and wait for this guy to kill again.
John 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.
[Door Sliding Open.]
[Footsteps Approaching.]
It's time to go.
Congratulations, Bob.
Best of luck to you.
How does it feel to be a free man? Are you going to sue the police? What do you think you'll do next? 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.
[Voice Fades.]
Bob Bob, let's get you out of here.
- Thank you.
Thank you.
- How do you feel? That's enough.
- [All Shouting Questions.]
- Thank you.
Enough.
- [All Shouting Questions.]
- Thank you.
Enough.
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? 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.
Mr.
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.
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.
Somebody committed these murders, right? And now that you've sprung Mr.
Bob Fassl the victims' families are going to start asking who.
How you going to answer them? There's a lot of material here.
Where should we start? Right there.
The original arrest report.
"Arresting officer: John Doggett.
" It must've been a career-maker.
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 You know, John whatever we find here, sometimes sometimes even good cops make mistakes.
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.
That's not what I think.
It's not.
I just I just worry that maybe this is about you feeling guilty.
I feel guilty.
Like what, subconsciously? Like I was told I sent an innocent man to prison only I refuse to accept it? 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.
Bob, I just want you to make yourself at home while you're here.
Just relax.
Oh! Mrs.
Dowdy, this is Bob Fassl.
He'll be staying with us for a while.
Oh, I have your room all made up.
I hope you'll be quite comfortable.
Thank you very much Mrs.
Dowdy.
You're rich.
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.
You do good things.
You're a good person.
Well, I guess it takes one to know one.
I know some businesspeople who are sympathetic to your situation and when you're ready we'll set up some job interviews.
[Bed Creaks Slightly.]
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.
[Muttering Prayer.]
[Eerie, Raspy Whirring.]
[Horn Honking.]
[Siren Wailing In Distance.]
[Doggett.]
Hey, buddy did you steal that car? [Chuckles.]
If it ain't the FBI! [Laughing.]
Duke Tomasick.
Looking good.
Well, hell, yeah.
I was always the pretty one.
[Laughing.]
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? Well, yeah, we arrested the wrong man.
I'm sorry, John.
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.
Duke, you were there that night! Fassl was the only one in the house! He killed those people! John, wise up.
Will you drop this thing? What did you always tell me about being a good cop? You said never to clock out.
Well, I got another lesson for you, huh? Keep after this thing it's going to bite you in your ass.
I'm sorry.
I just wanted to see how you were settling in and I should have knocked.
I'd read in your file that you had once attended the seminary? That you studied to be a priest? I think it's wonderful that all you've been through hasn't diminished your faith.
I pray all the time.
I pray even when it looks like I'm not praying.
I know someone's listening, Bob.
Good night.
[Raspy Whirring.]
No.
Don't.
Please don't hurt her.
Plea Were you here all night? There's got to be something here the prosecution overlooked I overlooked something I can hang this guy with DNA or no.
Well, speaking of DNA Ah, come on.
The retests of the typing confirm the original results that the hair samples do indeed belong to someone other than Robert Fassl.
So, what do we do? We just go home? This is wrong.
This is Well, John, there is something else.
It's something that explains why 13 years ago the science of the day identified the hair as Fassl's.
I spoke to the forensic examiner who ran the tests and he found a match in 12 of the 13 key genes.
- What does that mean? - 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.
Wait a minute.
Fassl's an only child.
His parents died when he was 13.
He's got nobody.
I know.
You know? Then you know that what you're saying's impossible.
And yet somehow it's true.
Would you get dressed and come on downstairs, please? 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.
You weren't home last night? 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.
[Sighs.]
I am late for a deposition.
Uh help yourself to breakfast.
Mrs.
Dowdy seems to be running late this morning.
[Squishy Chopping, Crunching.]
Agent Reyes.
I'm Brian Hutchinson the superintendent of the prison.
I appreciate you seeing me on such short notice.
Anything I can do to help.
Great.
I'm reviewing evidence pertinent to the Fassl case.
Whatever I can do to ensure he gets locked back up again, by all means.
Tell me what you need.
Well thank you.
That's an extremely helpful attitude.
What's your reason for it? I just don't think the system should have let him go.
Why, exactly? The court says he's innocent.
Maybe, but there's another murder they don't know about.
[Hutchinson.]
Bob Fassl's cellmate was a biker named Spud Jennings, a real bad-ass or at least he thought he was.
Jennings was murdered? Oh, yeah.
We found him in a hallway that Bob Fassl had been mopping.
He was lying ten feet from Bob Fassl's mop bucket.
Fassl nowhere to be found.
Well, Fassl killed him? 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 hand.
One problem: This isn't Fassl.
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.
Agent Doggett? A word, please.
Don't you have something to tell me, Agent Doggett? What do you mean? The DNA retests.
I understand you received the results this morning.
Mr.
Fassl has been exonerated.
Again.
The results aren't that simple.
The DNA is similar to Fassl's to a degree we haven't quite made sense of yet.
Look I just spoke to the DA.
He's authorized a settlement offer which I intend to deliver to Mr.
Fassl's counsel posthaste.
I'll send the bailiffs down to retrieve the case files.
Have a nice flight back to D.
C.
We need more time to get to the truth! 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.
John I may have a break in this case.
A suspect.
A suspect? Not Fassl? You really need to see this.
[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 materialized inside a maximum security prison killed an inmate and then vanished into thin air.
Materialized 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.
Yeah, but what if the two were somehow connected? Monica, for God's sake, this is not an X-File.
Don't try to turn it into one.
In prison, this being, this person whatever you want to call him - he acted as if he were protecting Bob Fassl.
- Protecting him? How, by getting him locked up in prison in the first place? 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.
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.
No.
Unfortunately, that's not going to work.
The 1989 evidence has to be thrown out.
What are you talking about? The hair samples Iogged to your crime scene, Agent Doggett were not there on the day the crimes were committed.
Are you accusing me? Are you accusing me of planting evidence? I am simply stating the facts okay? The DNA evidence that was used to convict Bob Fassl was planted.
[Knocking.]
Mr.
Fassl.
I'm Damon Kaylor.
I need to speak with your attorney.
Is she here? You were at my hearing.
I'm the Assistant District Attorney.
Is Jana home? She's not here.
Mr.
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.
I want to go back.
I'm sorry? Please, send me back to prison.
Uh, listen, Mr.
Fassl, I, uh I shouldn't even be discussing this with you without your attorney present.
But it's my fault.
L-I I can't be hearing this.
It's the truth.
That's not my concern.
[Low Gurgling Sounds.]
[Gurgling.]
I'm sorry, John.
You framed Fassl.
You saw how it was going down.
We arrested him at the scene but he-he left no prints, no hair, no fiber.
Nothing to actually tie him to the murders.
How did you do it? I took a part of a hair sample that was found at a-a previous murder and put it in with the evidence from our crime scene.
[Sighs.]
Johnny it was the one and only time I ever did anything like that.
L-I was scared Fassl would walk.
L-I couldn't let that happen.
Not when I knew that that he was guilty.
Guilty.
God Almighty.
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.
I don't want you to.
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.
[Door Opening.]
[Scully.]
Excuse me.
Agent Doggett? ADA Kaylor I assume you haven't seen him.
No.
Why? Apparently, nobody has.
[Water Rushing.]
[Plastic Rustling.]
[Water Rushing.]
[Reyes.]
Mr.
Fassl, when was the last time you saw Damon Kaylor? [Jana.]
Two days ago, at his release hearing.
My client had nothing to do with Mr.
Kaylor's disappearance.
No direct involvement.
None.
I think we can accept that.
We're also prepared to accept that Mr.
Fassl had no direct involvement in the seven murders he was previously convicted of.
How magnanimous of you.
It's too bad you're 13 years too late.
Is that it? No.
Actually, we believe this person committed the murders.
[Reyes.]
What do you think? Do you recognize this man? You know we're here as a courtesy which is something the police and the prosecution never showed Bob once.
Are you a Catholic, Bob? 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.
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.
No more mind games.
We're done.
[Door Opens And Closes.]
What the hell was that? I don't know about you but that was me changing my theory.
What, no more ghosts? Uh, nope.
Just Fassl.
[Reyes.]
What if a man of profound faith a devout Catholic was incapable of contrition? As in he couldn't admit his own sins? 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? But it wouldn't explain the DNA evidence.
It would if he physically became that other personality.
So, what, we've moved on from Casper, the Friendly Ghost to Dr.
Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde? There is a precedent in the Catholic Canon itself.
Transubstantiation: The manipulation of matter and energy.
You mean, water into wine.
Or the communion wafer into the Body of Christ.
Monica, I've slept through my share of Sunday schools but I never heard the story about the guy becoming another guy.
It's the one explanation that makes sense.
It explains what happened 13 years ago and it explains what's happening now.
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.
A killer.
So, how does someone go about catching a killer who hides inside an innocent man? Do it.
I don't want to hurt her! [Knocking On Door.]
[Jana.]
Bob? Are you okay? Kill her.
Oh, my God.
What happened? I, uh l-I fell.
[Gasps.]
I'll fix you up.
You'll be okay.
[Gasps.]
I'll take the next couple of hours.
You should get some shuteye.
John, give yourself a break.
You haven't slept in 48 hours.
I'll sleep once we make sure this guy Fassl never kills again.
Fassl and his Charlie Manson sidekick.
They're one and the same person.
Monica, I don't want to hear Okay, but I just need to hear another theory that makes sense.
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 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.
[Sighs.]
'Cause I got nothing else.
I'm going to go check it out the front door.
Jana Fain check on her.
Oh, my God.
He was here.
He was here the man in your photo.
The bearded man? Where's Bob Fassl? Oh, he-he was right there and then he wasn't I don't I don't know where.
Agent Reyes? Call the police.
Agent Reyes! "Cable access.
" Fassl worked for Triboro Cable.
[Grunts.]
Trail ends here.
Blood.
He could have gone either way.
John! [Gunshots.]
You okay? Yeah.
Come on.
I'll take this way.
[Water Dripping.]
[Water Rushing.]
[Metal Clanking.]
[Screaming.]
John! John! Monica! - [Screams.]
- [Pistol Plopping.]
Let him go.
You hear me?! Let him go! Don't waste your breath.
Just shoot the bastard.
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 killJana Fain when you had the chance.
I'll kill him! I believe you, Bob, because you're a murderer.
Shut up! I'm not him.
You're not just a murderer.
You're a sinner.
Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Monica! [Gunshot.]
[Grunts.]
[Sniffles.]
My housekeeper Mrs.
Dowdy can I see her? It's better that you don't.
And the district attorney? There are a lot of bodies in there.
Oh.
There are many more victims than anyone ever knew.
[Sighs.]
I saw a bearded man.
I know what I saw.
[Sighs.]
Ms.
Fain, I think we better get you home.
John? I've been 48 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.
So what happened tonight? All that was just you seeing things? I can't accept this.
If you can, God love you but it's not the way my mind works.
You closed this case.
This time around, that was enough.
What happens next time? [Child.]
I made this.
!
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