The characters, plotlines, quotes, etc. included here are owned by
Chris Carter and 1013 Productions, all rights reserved. The following
transcript is in no way a substitute for the show "The X-Files" and is
merely meant as a homage. This transcript is not authorized or
endorsed by Chris Carter, 1013 Productions, or Fox Entertainment.
It was painstakingly typed out by CarriKendl CarriKendl@aol.com
and made available for your downloading enjoyment by moi,
Tiny Dancer tinyd@idirect.com from my website,
Tiny Dancer's X-Files Episode Guide
http://www.insanity.com.au/td/. Enjoy.
-------------------------------------------------
Sein und Zeit 7x10 (7xAB10)
US Airdate: February 6, 2000
writer: Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz
director: Michael Watkins
Disclaimer: The X-Files and all its characters and episodes are owned by
Chris Carter and 10-13 productions. This transcript was made without their
permission and it is absolutely forbidden to use it for commercial gain.
Thanks, CarriKendl@aol.com
CarriK
[TD NOTE: The title is German, means "Being and Time" and was the title
of Martin Heidegger's Master Work. Apparently considered one of the most
important and difficult works of 20th Century philosophy. Try this excellent
link for more info on Heidegger:
http://www.webcom.com/~paf/ereignis.html
or go straight to the Being and Time links:
http://www.webcom.com/~paf/btlinks.html]
<TEASER>
(A child's bedroom. AMBER LYNN LAPIERRE, a little girl of about five, is
kneeling beside her bed saying her prayers in sing-song. Her parents, BUD
and BILLIE LAPIERRE watch her fondly.)
AMBER LYNN:
Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
God bless Mommy. God bless Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa LaPierre and Grandma
and Grandpa Dyson, and...
MRS. LAPIERRE: (with a smile, knowing some stalling is going on) Okay,
okay, Amber Lynn. Bedtime. Come on. You grab Mike, okay? Hop in.
Let's get you cozy, cozy, toasty, toasty. In the sack, snug as a bug.
(They tuck her into bed. [CarriK makes a note to call her mother tonight. *sniff*] )
MR. LAPIERRE: Night-night, Little.
AMBER LYNN: Night, daddy. (kiss) Night, mommy.
MRS. LAPIERRE: Night, love. (kiss) Headlights out, Amber Lynn.
(AMBER LYNN closes her eyes. MRS. LAPIERRE switches the light off)
MRS. LAPIERRE: That's a good girl.
(The night light is on as they leave the room. MRS. LAPIERRE pauses a moment
to look affectionately at her daughter, then leaves the door cracked open.)
(Later, MR. LAPIERRE is lying on the couch watching television. It must be a
Friday night in an alternate universe, because he is watching Harsh Realm.
Chase scene in a hallway.)
MAN ON TV: Stop right there! Weapon on the floor!
MR. LAPIERRE: This is great.
(MRS. LAPIERRE enters the bedroom and turns down the bed. Then pauses,
as if in a trance. She goes to the closet and removes a hanger with clothes on
it fresh from the dry cleaners. She lifts the plastic and rips off a section of the
paper-wrapped hanger, then goes to her desk. She opens the drawer and takes
out a red felt tip pen. There is also a Hollywood Video tape case in the drawer.)
(In the living room, MR. LAPIERRE is still watching TV.)
MAN ON TV: What is this trial I'm being put through?
(MR. LAPIERRE hears the sound of a door being shut.)
MAN ON TV: A test of my love for you?
MR. LAPIERRE: Billie?
(There is no answer. He gets up, turns off or mutes the TV, and goes toward
the bedrooms. He glances at his wife sitting on the edge of the bed next to
the bedside table. MRS. LAPIERRE is writing on the paper: "Mr. & Mrs.
LaPierre, Listen carefully! I have kidnapped your daughter and will kill her
unless you do exactly as I say. Any deviation from ...")
(MR. LAPIERRE looks in his daughter's room. He goes to her.)
(More of MRS. LAPIERRE 's writing: " ... my instructions will result in the
execution of Amber Lynn.")
(MR. LAPIERRE looks at his daughter. Her face and neck are bruised and
mottled as if she has been strangled to death. He gasps, and looks at her
again. The bruising is gone. She is just a sleeping little girl. He sighs
in relief.)
(More of MRS. LAPIERRE's writing: "Go to the police and I will strangle
her and send you the body parts one by one. Tell a stray dog and you will
never see her alive again. Don't do anything dumb. No one shoots at Santa
Claus.")
(MR. LAPIERRE tucks his daughter in again and rubs his face. He goes out
of the room. The door suddenly slams shut behind him. He tries the knob.
It is locked. He sees blood seeping under the door.)
MR. LAPIERRE: Billie! Amber Lynn!
(MRS. LAPIERRE looks up from her note. MR. LAPIERRE begins breaking the
door down. A picture falls off the wall. The door gives way. AMBER LYNN's
bed is empty.)
{CarriK: And every X-Phile with kids will be checking on them at least four
times tonight.]
Opening Credits
Mulder ... whooo.
Scully rocks.
<SCENE 1>
FBI HEADQUARTERS
3:14 AM
(MULDER, in jeans and leather jacket, gets off the elevator and goes to
SKINNER's office. There are lots of agents present. SKINNER is on the
phone. His ASSISTANT places a sheet of paper on his desk. He's looking
at another piece of paper as he talks on the phone.)
SKINNER: (on phone) Amber Lynn LaPierre, that's right. A federal
investigation is underway... Of a kidnapping in Sacramento, California.
(SKINNER notices MULDER in the doorway. Other agents notice him, too.
MULDER makes slight head movements to indicate he'd like to talk to
SKINNER in the hallway. [TD: Is Skinner's office off-limits to Mulder or
something?] SKINNER hangs up and goes to him. They speak softly.
SKINNER is not pleased to see him.)
SKINNER: Why are you here, Agent Mulder?
MULDER: I want this case.
SKINNER: I'm fairly certain I've got more than enough competent Agents
in here.
MULDER: (sarcastic) Ooh, I can see that.
SKINNER: This is a kidnapping, Agent Mulder. A little girl snatched from
her bedroom. Basic missionary-style FBI work. It's not an X-File.
MULDER: I'm aware of the facts.
SKINNER: We're trying to rule out all possibilities before we start making
any statements.
MULDER: That's what I'm talking about-- ruling out other possibilities.
SKINNER: I can't just give you the case. I have to follow protocol.
Behavioral gets first crack, then the people down at N.C.M.E.C.
MULDER: Two, three, four hours-- this case is going to be a circus. Every
starstruck attorney in America is going to want to represent these people for
free. If somebody doesn't ask the right questions right now they may never
get asked.
SKINNER: (pause, looks at his watch) You've got till noon. Mulder...
the agents in my office... they have a pool going.
(MULDER starts walking toward the elevator.)
MULDER: They think she's dead. Don't bet on it.
(SKINNER watches him leave.)
<SCENE 2>
SACRAMENTO, CLAIFORNIA
8:12 AM
(Outside the LAPIERRE's house. It is a crime scene and media circus.
MULDER drives up, gets out and makes his way up to the OFFICER who
is holding back the REPORTERS.)
OFFICER: Make room, make room. Back it up. Back it up. Come on,
a little more, sir. A little more.
REPORTER: (to MULDER) Excuse me, have they found the girl?
Are there any new developments in the case? Is she dead?
REPORTER 2: Are the parents suspects in the disappearance of their daughter?
(MULDER ignores the reporters and goes into the house.
HARRY BRING, a small nervous man in the house stops MULDER.)
HARRY BRING: Sorry, no press allowed inside.
(MULDER holds out his badge.)
MULDER: Special Agent Fox Mulder, FBI. I'd like to speak to Mr. and
Mrs. LaPierre, if I may.
HARRY BRING: My clients have nothing to say. (hands over his card)
Uh... Harry Bring. How can I help you?
MULDER: Mr. Bring, your ... your card says "real estate law and
conveyances." Have you ever handled a murder case?
HARRY BRING: This isn't a murder case.
MULDER: Well, it might as well be once the facts about Amber Lynn's
disappearance get out.
HARRY BRING: My clients are not murderers and ... and I resent any such
accusation.
MULDER: Yeah. If you really want to help your clients, Mr. Bring, get them
a real lawyer.
MR. LAPIERRE: It's okay, Harry.
(MR. LAPIERRE is holding his sobbing wife on the couch.)
MR. LAPIERRE: Billie and I got nothing to hide.
(MULDER sits across from them and speaks gently.
MRS. LAPIERRE gets herself calmed down.)
MULDER: Mr. And Mrs. LaPierre, my name is Fox Mulder. I'm a Special
Agent with the FBI and I have a lot of experience with crimes like the one
that took place here. I know you've made a statement to the police but I'd
like to ask you some questions about that and I'd like you to answer in as
much detail as both you and your lawyer are comfortable with. I want to
ask you about the note you found. Where did you find it?
MR. LAPIERRE: In my daughter's bedroom.
MULDER: When?
MR. LAPIERRE: When I went to check on her.
MULDER: Um, do you know what time that was?
MR. LAPIERRE: 9:30, I think. Right-right about then. I was watching TV
in here.
MULDER: What were you watching?
MR. LAPIERRE: I never heard of it before. It was good.
MULDER: What about you, Mrs. LaPierre?
MRS. LAPIERRE: (pause as she looks at her husband) I was in bed already.
MULDER: Were you asleep?
MRS. LAPIERRE: Half.
MULDER: Is that Amber Lynn's bedroom that I saw down the hallway there?
MRS. LAPIERRE: (whisper) Yes.
MULDER: Do you always lock your doors at night even if you're home?
MRS. LAPIERRE: (nodding, almost crying) Yes.
MULDER: You know most of your neighbors, I bet, up and down the street.
You're on good terms with them?
MR. LAPIERRE: Most of them, yes.
MULDER: Can you think of anyone that might have wanted to hurt Amber Lynn?
(MRS. LAPIERRE sobs loudly.)
MRS. LAPIERRE: No.
HARRY BRING: (defensively) That's enough questions. They've been very
helpful but I think you can see that these folks have nothing whatsoever to hide.
MULDER: Mr. and Mrs. LaPierre, I want you to understand something
because it's going to get very confusing from here on in. But whatever else
the FBI says or does they're going to try their damndest to find your little girl.
MRS. LAPIERRE: Okay.
MULDER: Thank you.
(MULDER starts to leave.)
MRS. LAPIERRE: Agent Mulder... do you think they will? Find her?
MULDER: (softly) Oh, I hope so. Yeah... I really do.
<SCENE 3>
10:12 PM
(Night. Car pulls up to a motel room. Bumper sticker reads "Lariat".
[TD: Yeah! Haven't seen our agents' favorite car rental agency for a while.]
SCULLY gets out and knocks at the door. MULDER is lying fully dressed
on the bed. The only light is from the television. MULDER doesn't get up.)
MULDER: It's open.
(SCULLY opens the door. She's not very happy.)
SCULLY: Mulder?
MULDER: Come on in.
SCULLY: What are you doing?
MULDER: Thinking.
SCULLY: About?
MULDER: Amber Lynn LaPierre.
SCULLY: Mind if I turn on a light?
MULDER: (softly) Yeah. I do.
(SCULLY closes the door.)
SCULLY: Skinner is royally pissed. At you.
(MULDER watches as MR. LAPIERRE is hounded by a reporter on TV.)
MULDER: I'm sure he is.
SCULLY: He expected a report at noon. He waited. Now he sent me to
find you, to get it.
MULDER: I don't have a report.
SCULLY: They had to move on the case. The media got wind of the police
findings and they're going to broadcast them. The parents are being held for
further questioning.
MULDER: They're not guilty, Scully.
SCULLY: The facts would say otherwise. There's no sign of a break-in.
Both the parents were at home at the time that the girl disappeared.
MULDER: They lied about where they found the note.
SCULLY: Why?
MULDER: That's what I've been thinking about.
(On the television, we see a news story about Susan Smith and Jon-Benet
Ramsey segue into a story about AMBER LYNN LAPIERRE.)
SCULLY: Is it the media or just our own morbid fascination with the
killing of an innocent?
MULDER: She's not dead, Scully.
(MULDER's cell phone rings. He answers it.)
MULDER: (on phone) Mulder.
WOMAN: (on phone) Fox? It's me.
(MULDER is surprised.)
MULDER: (on phone) Mom? Hi.
(In her house, MRS. MULDER is watching the same news story.)
MRS. MULDER: (on phone) I'm watching the news. That little girl in
California-- you're out there, aren't you?
MULDER: (on phone) Yes. I am. Are you okay, Mom?
MRS. MULDER: (on phone) When are you coming back here?
MULDER: (on phone) Well, I'm not sure. I... You know, I... I don't know.
MRS. MULDER: (on phone) Call when you get back, Fox.
MULDER: (on phone) Okay, I will. Um, you take care, Mom, okay?
(He hangs up. Clinton is now on the news.)
(MRS MULDER looks at the framed picture of YOUNG MULDER and
YOUNG SAMANTHA standing next to a tree.)
<SCENE 4>
FBI HEADQUARTERS
9:41 AM
(SKINNER's office. The agents are looking at forensic evidence from the
case. The note that MRS. LAPIERRE wrote is on the overhead projector.)
SKINNER: From the note we can and have determined several facts.
There is a threat of physical violence but no demand for money or ransom.
The note is short and written on a torn piece of paper suggesting haste
and little or no planning.
(SKINNER looks up as MULDER and SCULLY enter the office.)
SKINNER: The paper's a type used by dry cleaners to protect laundered
garments. The torn piece the note was found on matches exactly a piece
that was found in the garbage at the LaPierre home. The ink matches a felt
tip pen that was also found in the garbage. One set of prints were found on it--
Billie LaPierre's prints.
MULDER: Is it her handwriting?
AGENT FLAGLER: That's going to be difficult to prove due to the felt tip
pen and the quality of the paper which tends to cause bleeding and makes
the handwriting indistinct. It also looks like there's been an attempt to
disguise the writing. By using samples of Mrs. LaPierre's handwriting, you
see dominant letter forms-- the "s" in "strangle..." "Stray
dog..." Here in
"Santa Claus..." matches up with the S's in "dollars..."
"Seven" and "cents."
(Compares the writing with a check carbon.)
AGENT FLAGLER: Enough to make a connection.
MULDER: But not an indictment.
SKINNER: (patronizing) Do you have information you'd like to share with
us, Agent Mulder?
MULDER: Bud LaPierre says he'd been watching television and had gotten
up to go to bed when he found Amber Lynn missing. But according to the
police report the TV set was still on when the first officers arrived on the scene.
By his own account both mother and father put Amber Lynn to bed and were
never more than 20 feet from her room during the period in which she was
abducted. The LaPierres know all their neighbors up and down the street --
are on good terms with them. But no one saw a stranger on a Friday at a
fairly early hour enter into a locked and lighted home and remove this little
girl undetected.
AGENT FLAGLER: Husband's lying for his wife.
MULDER: I don't think so.
SKINNER: Why?
(MULDER stares at the note, the "Santa Claus" part.)
MULDER: Because that doesn't explain what happened to this little girl.
(MULDER leaves the room. AGENTS look at each other. SCULLY looks at
SKINNER, then follows MULDER.)
(SCULLY joins MULDER in the X-Files office where he is looking through files.)
SCULLY: What are you doing, Mulder?
MULDER: There's something in that abduction note that I've seen before.
SCULLY: That's not what I mean. You're personalizing this case.
You're identifying with your sister.
MULDER: (with a soft smile at himself) My sister was taken by aliens.
Did I say anything about aliens, Scully?
SCULLY: There are a lot of good agents up there in Skinner's office who do
not have the patience for this.
MULDER: What did I do? I provided a logical counterpoint.
SCULLY: You told them that they were wrong, Mulder.
MULDER: And they are.
(He hands her a file. In it is a note that ends: "I will not hesitate to
execute this shild. Don't do anything dumb. No one shoots at Santa Claus.")
MULDER: Pocatello, Idaho, 1987. Look familiar?
<SCENE 5>
REDDING, CALIFORNIA
(A man is sitting in a car with a tiny Santa figurine dangling from the
rearview mirror. He is video taping children playing.)
(Commercial 1.)
<SCENE 6>
IDAHO WOMEN'S STATE PRISON
(Women's prison. As MULDER and SCULLY are escorted down the range,
some of the prisoners have their arms stuck through the bars. They appear
to be holding small mirrors in their hands in an attempt to check out the two
attractive visitors. MULDER and SCULLY are admitted to KATHY LEE TENCATE's
cell. She is in her late 30's, hair cut very short. She looks eager for company.
[TD: For the life of me, I can't see the title of the book she's reading as she
holds it upside down when she stands up.])
GUARD: Kathy Lee. Visitors are here.
KATHY LEE TENCATE: Oh, can you let them in, please?
MULDER: Hi, Miss Tencate, my name is Agent Mulder.
This is Agent Scully. Will you have a seat?
KATHY LEE TENCATE: It's not the Ritz.
(She sits down on the cot, MULDER sits next to her, SCULLY stands.)
MULDER: (gentle) Um, we just have a few questions. We've reviewed
the facts of your case and the facts seem to speak for themselves. Your
six-year-old son, Dean, was taken from his bed while he slept. A note was
found threatening his life later determined to be written by you. You plead
innocent at trial but you were convicted and sentenced to 12 years even
though your son's body was never found.
KATHY LEE TENCATE: Yes, that's right.
MULDER: Your story is that, uh, on the night your son disappeared you
had a vision of him dead, but you thought it was your mind playing tricks on
you but when you got up to check on him he was missing from his bed.
Is that accurate?
KATHY LEE TENCATE: Yes.
MULDER: Now, three years ago after seven years of incarceration, you
changed your story and confessed to the murder of your son in a fit of insanity.
A psychotic break.
KATHY LEE TENCATE: Yes, that's right.
SCULLY: Why did you do it?
KATHY LEE TENCATE: I don't know. I was full of rage.
MULDER: I have a, uh, copy of the note that you wrote. Do you mind if I
show it to you?
(KATHY LEE TENCATE shakes her head.)
MULDER: Now there's a phrase down here at the bottom. "No one shoots
at Santa Claus." Can you explain what that means to me?
KATHY LEE TENCATE: Uh, it means, that, uh... when someone promises
you something, a gift-- like Santa Claus-- that no one would do anything for fear
of not getting the gift.
MULDER: A little girl disappeared from her bed three days ago. This is a
note that was left at that scene. Will you take a look at that and tell me
what it says at the bottom?
KATHY LEE TENCATE: Same thing.
MULDER: Neither note makes a specific demand. In both cases, there's
no evidence of foul play or a break-in. And as in your son's case there's no
body to be found.
KATHY LEE TENCATE: I told them where the body was.
MULDER: Yes, you did, but, uh, it wasn't where you said it was going to be.
KATHY LEE TENCATE: I can't explain it.
MULDER: I think you can.
KATHY LEE TENCATE: I can't.
MULDER: You can't explain it because you didn't do anything. You didn't
kill your son and you didn't bury him. You're not guilty of anything other
than a lie just like these people. The only reason you changed your story
was to get out of here because you knew the parole board might buy the story
of a psychotic break and of your terrible remorse but they would never, never
let a woman out of jail who claimed her son just disappeared out of thin air.
Now, these people, they need someone to tell them it's okay. Someone to
corroborate their story.
KATHY LEE TENCATE: I'm not that person.
MULDER: They need your help.
(GUARD enters the cell. MULDER and SCULLY leave.)
SCULLY: That was utterly irresponsible, Mulder. It was out of line and it
was without any basis in reality.
MULDER: Do you think that woman could have killed her son?
SCULLY: She was convicted in a court of law.
MULDER: So how do you explain those two notes written ten years apart
could contain the same obscure phrase?
SCULLY: I can't explain it, Mulder, but you're doing exactly what I said.
You're personalizing this case.
MULDER: No, I'm going to solve this case. I am going to solve it.
SCULLY: How?
MULDER: I'm going to find those kids.
(Another GUARD lets them out of the block.)
SCULLY: What if they're dead, Mulder? Don't go looking for something you
don't want to find.
(KATHY LEE TENCATE is crying on her bed. She looks up and sees a small
boy in her cell staring at her. He is surrounded by a halo of light. The boy
vanishes. She gets up and goes to the bars of her cell.)
KATHY LEE TENCATE: Guard. Guard, please can you get them back?
Guard! I need to talk.
<SCENE 7>
MULDER: (voice on machine) This is Fox Mulder. Leave a message.
I'll try to get back to you.
(The machine beeps. In her house, TEENA MULDER is looking at pictures
of her son and daughter. She takes one out of it's frame and drops it into a
wastebasket to burn.)
TEENA MULDER: (voice on phone) Fox, it's your mother. I'd hoped
you'd call upon your return but I haven't heard from you. I'm sure you're busy.
There are so many emotions in me I wouldn't know where to start. So much
that I've left unsaid for reasons I hope one day you'll understand.
<SCENE 8>
(Police station interrogation-type room. MULDER enters and is there with
the lawyer, HARRY BRING and MR. and MRS. LAPIERRE.)
HARRY BRING: This is highly unusual.
(MULDER closes the door.)
HARRY BRING: I want to know what you're doing here.
MULDER: There's something I want your clients to see.
HARRY BRING: I want to know what it is first.
MULDER: (putting a cassette into the video player) Don't shoot at Santa
Claus, Mr. Bring. You're going to want to see it, too. (to the LAPIERREs.)
I believe you share a secret.
KATHY LEE TENCATE: (on video tape) I'm, uh... I'm doing this because
I feel that it's the right thing to do and because I know what you're going
through and I wouldn't want to happen to you what happened to me. I just
want to tell you that your little girl is okay. (MRS. LAPIERRE sobs)
And I know you're afraid of the truth because I saw things that I was afraid
of, too and I can't explain all of it except to say that I don't remember...
ever... thinking those words that I wrote, let alone writing them. It was
like they wrote themselves using my hand. But, um, what I know ... for sure
because I feel it in my heart is that my son is safe and protected and in a
better place.
(MRS. LAPIERRE cries.)
<SCENE 9>
UNKNOWN LOCATION
(Multiple monitors show children laughing and images of AMBER LYNN.
Some have news broadcasts. Others show Santa Claus seated with a
small child on his lap in a setting such as one where people take pictures.)
NEWSCASTER: Rumors and suspicions aside the parents of Amber Lynn
LaPierre were released today for lack of evidence against them and after
giving a new statement to the Sacramento police which insiders say has
authorities still baffled and confused recounting a detailed story that claims
supernatural forces were at work when their daughter was abducted.
The LaPierres, seen here returning to their home declined comment...
(A man enters the room and watches. One of the monitors shows MULDER
being interviewed on VNN.)
MULDER: (on video) ...Federal investigation of the case will continue
but will no longer focus on the LaPierres as primary suspects. We, uh,
we will intensify our search for Amber Lynn and we remain hopeful of her
eventual safe return.
(Scene changes to SKINNER's office where SKINNER and MULDER
are watching a recorded image of the newcast.)
SKINNER: (pausing the video) Intensify our search where? The twilight zone?
MULDER: I have a corroborating witness.
SKINNER: In state prison.
MULDER: There's a material connection between these two women.
SKINNER: The only connection, Agent Mulder, is you. I've got people
busting their butts on this thing, Agent Mulder. Putting together hard
evidence, real evidence while you're out gathering Grimm's Fairy Tales from
convicted murderers.
MULDER: It doesn't make sense. It's incomprehensible in any kind of a
real world way.
SKINNER: I deal in the real world, Agent Mulder. You begged onto this
case as part of the solution. All you've done is hand our only suspects the
Twinkie Defense.
(SCULLY has entered the room.)
SCULLY: Sir?
SKINNER: (very irritated) What? What is it, Agent Scully?
SCULLY: I need to have a word with Agent Mulder.
SKINNER: It can wait.
SCULLY: No, it can't, sir.
MULDER: What is it, Scully?
SCULLY: (softly) Mulder, your mom's dead.
(MULDER stares at her.)
(Commercial 2.)
<SCENE 10>
MRS. MULDER RESIDENCE
GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT
(MRS. MULDER's apartment. Some OFFICERS are investigating the kitchen.
MULDER enters, followed by SCULLY, and goes over and speaks to the
OFFICERS in the kitchen. SCULLY watches MULDER with concern.
The oven is open and there is tape along the edges of the front door.
[TD: This is to trap the gas fumes inside to be sure this method works.]
One of the CORONERS hands MULDER an empty prescription bottle.
MULDER goes into the bedroom area. SCULLY follows.)
SCULLY: Mulder?
MULDER: Over here.
SCULLY: What is it?
MULDER: (indicating the prescription bottle) Diazepam. She used them
to sleep.
SCULLY: Was there a note?
MULDER: (sighs "no") She called when I was in California. She wanted
to talk, but, uh... I never called her back.
SCULLY: Mulder...
MULDER: (confused) I didn't .... Why would she do this? It just doesn't
make any sense.
(MULDER wanders over to the dresser.)
SCULLY: We never truly know why.
MULDER: No, she wouldn't kill herself. (looks at empty frames)
Why are these pictures gone? There were photos here. There were photos
of my sister and I. This is all that she had left of us and they're missing.
Why...?
(MULDER sits on the bed next to the bedside table, closes his eyes and
releases a heavy sigh. SCULLY sits on the foot of the bed behind him.)
MULDER: She saw me on the news. She wanted to talk about the missing
girl, Amber Lynn. She wanted to tell me something about her, or maybe she
couldn't tell me over the phone because she was afraid that they would do
something like this to her.
SCULLY: Who?
MULDER: (rationalizing, grasping) Whoever took my sister. Look at
this place. I mean, it's like... it's-it's all staged-- the pills, the oven, the tape.
It's like a bad movie script. (He gets up.) They would ... they would have
come here and they would have threatened her. She would be upset; they
would have to sedate her. I would look for a, uh... a needle puncture mark
or something else in her system besides these pills.
SCULLY: (rising, pleading) Oh, no, Mulder. Please don't ask me to do this.
MULDER: Scully, who else can I ask?
SCULLY: An autopsy, Mulder? I mean, it's one thing on a stranger but
you're my friend, and she's your mother...
MULDER: I know, but if you don't do it, I might never know the truth.
(They look at each other. SCULLY sighs. She will do it.)
<SCENE 11>
(Prison. The GUARD lets MULDER into KATHY LEE TENCATE's cell.
He stands in the open doorway as he speaks to her.)
MULDER: (tired, quietly) You've seen things. I need to understand them.
KATHY LEE TENCATE: Something's happened to you.
MULDER: My mother is dead. You know why.
(She shakes her head.)
MULDER: Look, I can help you. I can talk to the parole board for you.
But right now, I need you to help me.
KATHY LEE TENCATE: I don't understand what you want.
MULDER: I'm not here by accident. My sister was taken away from me ...
when she was eight years old... like your son was taken away from you.
KATHY LEE TENCATE: Where's your sister now?
MULDER: (soft laugh) I don't know.
KATHY LEE TENCATE: Your mother knew, didn't she?
MULDER: Why do you ask that?
KATHY LEE TENCATE: She was trying to tell you.
MULDER: Tell me what?
KATHY LEE TENCATE: She'd seen them.
MULDER: Who?
KATHY LEE TENCATE: The walk-ins. Old souls looking for new homes.
Your sister's among them.
MULDER: You can see them?
KATHY LEE TENCATE: (smiles) Yes. But sometimes it's very difficult
because they live in the starlight.
MULDER: (pause, perhaps not believing her) Is my sister dead?
KATHY LEE TENCATE: They took her to protect her soul from the great
harm it would have suffered in her life just like they did my little boy.
MULDER: Where do they take them? Your boy? This little girl, Amber Lynn
LaPierre?
KATHY LEE TENCATE: I don't know. But they're okay. I'm sure your
sister's there, too.
(MULDER sighs.)
<SCENE 12>
(Arched gate with two big painted candy canes on either side for "Santa's
North Pole Village - Where It's Christmas All Year Round". Sound of children
laughing and talking as a station wagon pulls up, kids get out and run in to
see some reindeer in a pen. WORLD WEARY DAD follows.)
LITTLE GIRL: That's not Rudolph.
YOUNG BOY: Do they all have names?
LITTLE GIRL: Is not. Is not.
YOUNG BOY: (singing)
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer
Had a very shiny nose
CHILDREN: Like a light bulb! Red-nosed reindeer!
YOUNG BOY: You can't say it.
LITTLE GIRL: Yes, I could.
YOUNG BOY: No, you can't.
LITTLE GIRL: I could.
YOUNG BOY: No, you can't.
(A PAUNCHY MAN, late 40s, walks up to the pen.)
WORLD WEARY DAD: Hey, buddy. The kids want to see Santa.
What about it?
PAUNCHY MAN: He's just flying in.
LITTLE GIRL: We're going to see Santa!
(The kids cheer. The PAUNCHY MAN walks into a building all decorated for
taking Santa pictures. "Good King Wenceslas" is playing softly on a piano.
He walks past all the festive decorations and unlocks a door. It is the room
with all the video monitors that we saw earlier. Walls of bookshelves are
filled with videotape boxes. The PAUNCHY MAN hangs a Santa suit on a
mirror and begins changing clothes.)
<SCENE 13>
(MULDER's apartment. He is in jeans and his gray t-shirt. He is rewinding
and listening to the message on his answering machine over and over.
It's not easy for him.)
TEENA MULDER: (voice) Fox, it's your mother. I'd hoped you'd call
upon your return but I haven't heard from you. I'm sure you're busy.
There are... so many emotions in me I wouldn't know where to start.
So much that I've left unsaid, for reasons I hope one day you'll understand.
(He rewinds again and puts his head close to the machine as if trying to
hear any noise in the background.)
TEENA MULDER: (voice) There are... so many emotions in me I wouldn't
know where to start. So much that I've left unsaid for reasons I hope one
day you'll understand.
(He leans his head on the machine. There is a knock at the door.
MULDER opens it for SCULLY. She looks very sad and tired.)
MULDER: I'm glad you're here. My mother was trying to tell me something.
I think I figured it out. It's something about my sister that she was never
able to tell me.
(He plays the tape for her.)
TEENA MULDER: (voice) So much that I've left unsaid for reasons
I hope one day you'll understand.
MULDER: She knew what I'd find with this case out in California.
SCULLY: How could she know that, Mulder?
MULDER: A child disappearing without a trace-- without evidence-- in
defiance of all logical explanation? She knew because of what's driven me--
what I've always believed.
SCULLY: (walking toward him) Mulder...
MULDER: Scully, these parents who've lost... (swallows painfully) ...
who've lost their children... They've had visions of their sons and daughters
in scenarios that never happened but which they describe in notes that came
through them as automatic writing and words that came through them
psychically from old souls protecting the children. My mother must have
written a note like that herself. Describing the scenario of my sister's
disappearance of her, of her abduction by aliens. Don't you see, Scully?
It never happened. All these visions that I've had have just been... they've
been to help me cope, to help me deal with the loss but... I've been looking
for my sister in the wrong place. That's... what my mother was trying to
tell me. That's what she was trying to warn me about. That's why they
killed her.
(SCULLY is sitting facing him.)
SCULLY: Your mother killed herself, Mulder. I conducted the autopsy.
She was dying of an incurable disease. An untreatable and horribly
disfiguring disease called Paget's Carcinoma. She knew it. There were
doctor's records. She didn't want to live.
(MULDER stares at her a moment, then puts his face in his hands.
Suddenly he stands and shakes the desk violently. SCULLY touches
his arm to calm him down. He pulls away in agony, starting to break down.)
SCULLY: Mulder ...
MULDER: She was trying to tell me something. She was...
(voice breaking as he cries) ...trying to tell me something.
(SCULLY is almost crying herself.)
SCULLY: Mulder, she was trying to tell you to stop. To stop looking for
your sister. She was just trying to take away your pain.
(MULDER turns to her desperately and holds her tightly around her waist
and cries. SCULLY holds him and puts her lips against his neck.
She rocks him gently.)
<SCENE 14>
LAPIERRE RESIDENCE
11:17 PM
(Bedroom. MR. LAPIERRE gets into bed and puts his arm around his wife.
MRS. LAPIERRE looks up and gasps as she sees AMBER LYNN standing
in the bedroom surrounded by a faint light. AMBER LYNN's lips move as
she says something.)
(Commercial 3.)
[TD: In a promo for Global Television here in Toronto, Mulder smiles as he
pulls his hand out of his jacket pocket and the Global logo magically appears
from a ball of light in his hand.]
<SCENE 15>
(Next morning. Knock on MULDER's apartment door. SCULLY goes to the
door and opens it for SKINNER. She is still wearing the clothes from the night
before minus her jacket. She looks very tired.)
SKINNER: Hi.
SCULLY: Hi.
SKINNER: (looking into the apartment) How's he doing?
SCULLY: It's been a hard night for him.
(Pause. Small face off.)
SKINNER: Billie LaPierre is asking for him. She's got something to say
and she'll only talk to Mulder.
SCULLY: It's not a good...
(SCULLY stops and looks over her shoulder as MULDER comes up behind her.)
MULDER: What is it?
SKINNER: This case has heated up. I've booked two flights for us.
(SCULLY looks up at MULDER. MULDER nods and goes back into the apartment.
SCULLY looks at SKINNER.)
SCULLY: Well, then you better book three.
<SCENE 16>
(The LAPIERRE's bedroom. MRS. LAPIERRE is asleep.
Her husband gently wakes her.)
MR. LAPIERRE: Honey, wake up. He's here.
MRS. LAPIERRE: Come in, Agent Mulder.
(MULDER enters followed by SCULLY.)
MULDER: (indicating SCULLY) It's okay. She's here to help.
What happened here, Billie?
MRS. LAPIERRE: I saw my daughter right in this room.
(SCULLY reacts.)
MRS. LAPIERRE: Standing right there. I swear to God. She was right
over there in the pajamas her grandma gave her... saying something to me.
MULDER: What was she saying?
MRS. LAPIERRE: I don't know. Her lips were moving but I couldn't hear.
(sobs) I thought... I thought she was saying "74."
MULDER: "74"? The number 74? Does that mean anything to you?
(MRS. LAPIERRE shakes her head. SCULLY quietly leaves the room.)
MULDER: (without much hope) 74 mean anything to you, Mr. LaPierre?
(He shakes his head.)
(MULDER joins SCULLY and SKINNER outside the house.)
MULDER: Let's go home.
SCULLY: Mulder, we just got here.
MULDER: We're not gonna find these people's daughter alive.
SCULLY: How do you know that?
MULDER: What we're hearing-- it's the delusional talk of people that don't
want to accept the truth.
SKINNER: You think they know what happened to their child?
MULDER: Maybe, maybe not but you can't see a ghost and still hope to
find her alive. Both things can't be true. And if this little girl's spirit really
did appear to her mother then there's probably only one explanation.
SKINNER: You think their daughter's dead.
SCULLY: Well, what about the handwritten note?
MULDER: (sad, tired) I don't know what that means. I don't know what
is the truth and what isn't anymore. I'm way too close to this case to make
any kind of sound judgment. In fact, I would like to ask for you to let me off
this case, please, and I'd like to take some time off.
(SCULLY and SKINNER look at each other as MULDER walks to the car.)
(Later, SKINNER is driving SCULLY and MULDER along a rural road.
MULDER is in the back seat staring out the window. SCULLY, in the
passenger seat, glances back at him with concern. They pass a highway
sign for Route 74. SCULLY thinks for a moment then pulls a very good
road map out of the glove box.)
SKINNER: What is it?
(SCULLY follows Route 74 on the map to Santa's North Pole Village.)
SCULLY: Santa Claus.
MULDER: What?
SCULLY: Stop. Turn around.
(SKINNER does.)
(They arrive at Santa's North Pole Village. SKINNER parks next to a sign
reading, "Reserved for Comet". They all get out and start walking. SKINNER
tries a couple of doors that are locked as SCULLY follows MULDER to
another building. The place appears to be deserted. MULDER and SCULLY
pass the Christmas decorations and go into the room with the videos which
is now unlocked. They see SKINNER walking around outside on one of the
monitors. MULDER looks over one of the bookshelves full of labelled videos.)
MULDER: Some of these tapes go back to the '60s.
(SCULLY puts a tape in the VCR.)
MULDER: I think I know what we're going to find here. It's what my mother
was afraid of. My sister.
(They watch one of the tapes. Children are looking at the reindeer.
One of the little girls is AMBER LYNN LAPIERRE.)
SCULLY: It's Amber Lynn LaPierre. This tape was dated two days before
her disappearance.
(MULDER sees someone on one of the monitors and turns just as the
PAUNCHY MAN slams and locks the door. MULDER begins trying to break
down the door. SKINNER sees PAUNCHY MAN running and follows him.)
SKINNER: Hey!
(SKINNER chases PAUNCHY MAN. MULDER breaks open the door,
which we now see is marked, "Elves Only", and he and SCULLY follow.
Either SKINNER needs to work out more or MULDER and SCULLY should
qualify for the Olympic sprinting team because suddenly they are right behind him.)
SKINNER: Stop!
(SKINNER fires his gun into the air and the PAUNCHY MAN freezes and
drops to his knees.)
SKINNER: Keep your hands up.
(SKINNER holds a gun on him as SCULLY cuffs him.)
SCULLY: What's your name?
PAUNCHY MAN: Ed... Truelove...
SCULLY: You're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent.
If you give up the right to remain silent anything you say can and will be
used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak with an
attorney and to have the attorney present during questioning. If you so desire...
(MULDER looks around at the ground with growing horror.)
MULDER: Scully.
(SCULLY and SKINNER look. All around them are what look like child-sized
above-ground graves.)
The End
Transcribed by CarriK
Cast:
David Duchovny as Agent Fox Mulder
Gillian Anderson as Agent Dana Scully
Guest Cast:
Mitch Pileggi as Asst. Director Skinner
Megan Corletto as Amber Lynn LaPierre
Shareen Mitchell as Billie LaPierre
Mark Rolston as Bud LaPierre
Spencer Garrett as Harry Bring, Esq.
Rebecca Toolan as Mrs. Mulder
Martin Grey as Agent Flagler
Marie Chambers as Guard
Kim Darby as Kathy Lee Tencate
Dylan Stjepovic as Kathy Lee's Son
John Harnagel as World Weary Dad
Randall Bosley as Paunchy Man
Nancy Tiballi as News Anchor #1
John Bisom as News Anchor #2
Nick Lashaway as Young Mulder (in picture)
Ashlynn Rose as Young Samantha (in picture)
