"Cover for me in case dorkface comes back around, will you?" "Where are you going?" "I need a cigarette." "You had one 15 minutes ago." "Forty-five minutes." "Why don't you get yourself one of those patches or that gum?" "What do you think i'm chewing?" "Then maybe you should just quit." "Ever think of that?" "Look, just cover for me, okay?" "Tell her i got a stomach bug or somethin'." "Thank you." "Jane, come on." "You're gonna get in trouble." "Jane?" "Hey, jane." "Number 51 of the bulldogs has just fouled out." "They lead with 4:50 left in the second half, citadel on top of eli, 83-76." "They're gonna miss... this rebound." "I'll tell you that." ""Brody, jane l." Yeah, we've got the pathologist's work, but the techs haven't gone over the crime scene yet." "Let me see what you got." "Your name?" "Special agent fox mulder." "Workin' the late shift, agent mulder?" "Yeah." "Somebody's got to." "You need to sign that." " I'm all set here." " Finished?" "Yeah." "Thanks." "No problem." "Agent mulder!" "I'm glad i caught ya." "Who are you?" "Detective thomas..." "ray thomas." "I'm the one who contacted you, who e-mailed the pictures to your office." "I ran into officer robbins." "He said you'd come down here... to take a look at some of the forensic evidence." "That's right." "So, uh, does that mean you think you've found something here?" "Something worth lookin' into?" "I'm afraid not." "No?" "I didn't find anything to recommend... my further involvement in this case." "What about the woman?" "How do you explain what happened to her?" "She walks into a bathroom." "A minute later, she turns up..." "look, you saw the pictures." "I saw 'em." "I was told you were part of something called the x-files." "You'd look into stuff like this." "So if there's really nothin' to this, why come all the way down here middle of the night?" "I'm just doin' my job, detective, same as you." "Ah, you are home." "Yeah." "What are you doin' here?" "I was tryin' to reach you." "Think your phone's off the hook." "Well, i needed some sleep." "Is that why you're takin' the garbage out at 4:00 in the morning?" "What do you want, agent mulder?" "I want some answers." "Concerning?" "The unexplained death of a postal worker... that somebody has apparently gone to great lengths to keep unexplained." "These photos were sent to me by a detective who thought i might have a fresh take on the case." "But when i went to retrieve them from my e-mail, somebody had hollowed out the files." "Then where'd you get 'em?" "From his partner." "When?" "After he finished questioning me about the detective's death." "What?" "What are you talking about?" "He was killed, shot in the head, execution style." "His body was found near the precinct two hours ago." "Possibly by the same person who forged my name to gain access... to evidence from the forensics lab." "What do you want from me?" " Well, i'd like your help on this, sir." " What about agent scully?" "Agent scully's in the hospital." "Has something happened that i should know about?" "She's undergoing some imaging tests." "Her oncologist was concerned about some microscopy results, that, uh, her tumor may be metastasizing." "Anyway, l-i'd like you to take a look at those photos, please." "Yeah, i will, first thing in the morning." "You want me to, uh, dump this on my way out?" "No, i got it." "Was it you?" "Did you pull the trigger, or did you have him do it for you?" "I'm not here to answer your questions." "You murdered him!" "You killed an officer of the law." "Keep your voice down, unless you want your neighbors to know the hours and the company you keep." "I won't be a party to murder." "I wouldn't get too comfortable on your moral high ground, mr." "Skinner." "This only happened because you left your job unfinished." "I handled him just like i've handled everything else you've asked me to do." "I've followed your instructions." "You failed to neutralize a potentially compromising situation." "You didn't have to kill him." "He didn't have to die." "You're in no position to question the terms of our arrangement." "Then we have no arrangement." "You'll find it's not that easy to walk away from, mr." "Skinner." "No?" "A man digs a hole, he risks falling into it." " Skinner." " Her body's gone, sir." " What are you talking about?" " The postal worker and the photos i gave you." "Her body was stolen from the morgue last night, along with any other evidence that might explain how or why she died." "Slow down, agent mulder." "I'm sorry, but i can't." "I'm playing catch up here, and i'm already two steps behind." "The man who impersonated me at the forensics lab last night... apparently he replaced a blood sample." "How do you know?" "I had them run a test." "The blood sample in the police forensics lab... is b-positive, as is the postal worker's." "She suffered from a mild form of anemia characterized by folic acid deficiency." "The blood sample at the police forensics lab has a normal folate serum level." "Are there any suspects?" "No, but i do have a place to start." "The gun that killed detective thomas... ballistics has identified it as a sig sauer p-228." "I'm having ballistics run comps on all weapons... registered to federal agents and local officers." " Sir?" " Let me know what they find." "I will." " Yes." " You can't do this." " You sound agitated, mr." "Skinner." " Was it my gun?" " Your gun?" " Used to kill the detective." "Well, if it was, i'd think you'd want to report it to the police immediately." " Oh, don't think i won't." " Then why are you calling me?" "Perhaps because you realized that you'd be admitting to the obstruction of justice, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence." "The consequences can be very serious for you, even in the unlikely event that you were able to persuade the authorities... that you didn't kill the detective." "What did you have me cover up?" "I think the less you know, the better, under the circumstances." "I need to know what that man died for." "He died for you, mr." "Skinner." "He died so you could have what you wanted." "A cure for agent scully." "Isn't that what you want?" "Agent scully is in the hospital." "If youcando anything for her, i want it done now." "I'm fully aware of agent scully's progress." "If anything happens to her, i will expose you." "I'll turn state's evidence." "I don't care what happens to me." "Agent scully stands to live a long and healthy life." "I would hope the same for you, mr." "Skinner." "Right in here." "The police said we could put the bathroom back in service." "But the truth is, no one wants to use it, not after what happened yesterday." "You mind my asking what you're looking for?" "I need a hammer." "Is there any reason you're not running this through the fbi lab?" "This evidence is classified." "We've had some controversy over security at the bureau." "I'd appreciate your discretion." "Certainly." "Can you tell what kind of bees made that?" "Oh, it's hard to tell with just the comb, but i might be able to give you an answer." "If i told you there was a chance the bees that made that could be lethal, would that be helpful?" "Any kind of bee can be lethal, provided you get stung by enough of them." "Even africanized honey bees..." "so-called killer bees... basically have the same venom as the european honey bee." "It's just that they tend to attack in swarms." "Huh, you may be in luck." "What is it?" "Royal jelly..." "a highly nutritious secretion... of the honeybee's pharyngeal gland." "It's fed to the very young larvae in a colony." "Here, see for yourself." "Is that gonna hatch?" "Once they pupate, i should be able to give you... some definitive answers." "The minute you learn something, i'd appreciate a call." "Is this related to that other case?" "If you don't mind my asking?" "What other case?" "I got a call from another agent about six months ago, asking me all about killer bees." "Who was it?" "Uh, name was fox mulder." "I wonder if there's any connection." "No." "Anyway, i'll call you." "Sir?" "You looking for me?" "I was just writing you a note." "Where have you been?" "First nations bank of virginia." " What am i looking at?" " The bank is adjacent... to the police headquarters where the detective was killed." "Their parking lot surveillance camera caught this image." "That man there?" "That's detective thomas." "This man in the baseball hat... he was identified... by the officer on duty at the forensics lab as "agent mulder."" "Can you get a usable image off this?" "I'm going to hand-deliver it over to special photo right now." "What did you want to talk to me about?" "You were writing me a note." "I was, uh, i was just checking on your progress." "Ms. Covarrubias?" "This is walter skinner..." "an assistant director at the fbi." "Yes?" "I was hoping you could help me." "I understand agent fox mulder has been in contact with you about a project." "A project?" "A canadian agricultural project involving bees or bee husbandry." "Yes, but i wasn't able to give him any information." "Why was that?" "The project he cited turned up no viable evidence." " Evidence of what?" " Bee hives or bee husbandry." "What if i told you i had access to that evidence?" "You have access to these bees?" "I may." "Soon." "Very soon." "Agent mulder?" "Thanks for gettin' down here so quickly." "What is it?" "A break." "Maybe even a lead." "I wanted you to get a look at this body before somebody tried to steal it." "See these pocks and blisters?" "They're the same as we saw on the photo of the deceased postal worker." "Symptoms of what?" "Smallpox." "The first reported case in over seven years." "Smallpox?" "According to the coroner, an especially virulent strain, caused by a mutated variola virus." "Caused how?" "I mean, how could this man... have contracted a disease that doesn't even exist anymore?" "From these." "What are they?" "Bee stingers and venom sacs... recovered subcutaneously from the victim's face, arm and neck." "You're saying this man was stung by bees carrying smallpox?" "He was a forensic entomologist." "I consulted with him several months ago... about a similar fatality." "Then you've seen this before?" "Yeah, but i've never had any hard evidence." "Not until now." "I think that's what somebody's gone to great lengths to try to prevent." "Why?" "I can only guess." "But i think that somebody is trying to engineer a method of delivery... for a disease that has killed more people throughout history... than any other contagion known to humankind." "If you want me to suggest an appropriate response, i will." "Can they be stopped?" "How can we stop them?" "We don't even know who these people are." "And we won't until we know the identity of that shooter." "How close are you?" "Hopefully, very." "I've got one of the photo techs pulling an all-nighter on that surveillance video, so he can show me something this morning." "I told him that you'd authorize the overtime." "Of course." "I'm gonna go over there right now." "Tell me what you find." "Oh, sure." "See you tomorrow." "Just grabbing' a cup of coffee." "Misty nagatta?" "My name is walter skinner." "I was just getting up." "They only give us a ten-minute break, and my supervisor's pretty strict." "I need to talk to you, misty." "About your coworker." "If this is about what happened to jane, i already told the police everything i know." "Everything?" "I don't wanna lose my job." "You're not gonna lose anything." "I'm asking you to cooperate in a criminal investigation." "Jane?" "What do you mean?" "Jane's death may not have been an accident." "What?" "She was my best friend." "I'm sorry." "We worked it out so that our vacations overlapped." "We were going to palm beach." "Both of us were tryin' to lose weight, so we could buy new bathing suits." "The men who came here... they said if i talked to anyone, i'd lose my job." "Did these men say who they were?" "No, and i didn't ask." "They just wanted the package." "What package?" "Damaged packages are routed here for inspection, before they get reshipped." "The place where these damaged packages are kept... how close is it to the restroom where you found jane?" "It's just the next door down the hall." "They've got a storage room." "The damaged package that they wanted... do you remember where it was being sent?" "No, not off hand." "Is there any way of finding out?" "I can look up the tracking number." "That would be a big help to me, misty." "And maybe to jane." "We went through every inch of that tape... to find the best angle for identification purposes." "Now, remember, it was videotape shot at a distance under extreme low light." "So this is the best you could do?" "It's better than i thought it would be, believe me." "I tried every trick that... i'm not trying to be difficult." "This is very important to me." "I need to be sure." "I need you to print out a hard copy of that for me." "This is the last remaining specimen." "The bees from the scientist's house..." "they've been contained and destroyed." "And the body?" "It also has been sanitized." "How did this happen?" "It's been taken care of." "The details are unimportant." "Details are everything... much more important than your vague assurances." "Well, you'll have to trust my assurance that any other breaches have been handled." "Handled by whom?" "I have a man in place... a man with no other choice but to succeed." "What assurance can you give us that he can be trusted?" "We can't risk even the slightest exposure." "He has nothing to expose, except his own duplicity." "Should we assume that the trial run is proceeding as planned?" "It's already begun." "Hey, it's my turn." "No, it isn't." "Ow!" "Ow!" "Ah." "Mrs. Kemper!" "Billy got stung by a bee!" "Mrs. Kemper!" "Mrs. Kemper!" "Everyone!" "Everyone, inside!" "Inside!" "Move it, move it!" "Come on, inside!" "David!" "Oh, my god!" "David!" "David, come on!" "Quick!" "Come on!" "Run!" "Oh, god." "I'm sorry." "Please help me." "Dr. Linzer?" "My name's walter skinner." "All right, thank you." "The administration office informed me you're overseeing the treatment of these children." "Yes." "I think you'll want to hear me out." "I'm right in the middle of it." "If you've been treating these children for bee stings, you've misdiagnosed them." "Then what should i be treating them for?" "Smallpox." "Is this a joke?" "Every child in this town who hasn't already been infected... needs to be vaccinated immediately." "We don't vaccinate kids against smallpox anymore because there is no smallpox." "Run whatever tests you need if you don't believe me." "I don't need to run any tests." "Smallpox has an eight-day incubation period, and these kids were stung a few hours ago." "How do you reconcile that?" "I can't." "Excuse me." "Let me know when you come up with an answer." "In the meantime, i've got things to do." "Doctor!" "Mr. Skinner?" "How do you know who i am?" "Because you contacted me." "I'm marita covarrubias." "What are you doing here?" "Your call about those bees prompted me to make inquiries." "Into what?" "Seven packages that were sent from canada... to a p.o. Box in payson, south carolina." "I came here to find out what was in those packages." "You're a little late to do anything about it." "So are you, apparently." "What brought you here?" "You came to me for information, mr." "Skinner, but you still haven't told me what you know about this." "My office has to answer to the secretary general of the united nations." "This is a very serious matter." "I need to know what's going on." "I think it's some kind of experiment." "An experiment?" "Using bees as carriers." "And that's what was in those packages?" "Have you told agent mulder this?" "Not yet." "Why not?" "I can't." "Why?" "Are you involved in this, mr." "Skinner?" "I didn't... no, i'm not involved." "Then what are you doing here?" "What aren't you telling me, mr." "Skinner?" "Nothing." "If you know who's behind this, you have to come forward, mr." "Skinner." "No one else can." "Put the gun down and move away from the desk." "I was just calling..." "i said put the gun down!" "You don't understand." "No." "I do now." "No, you don't." "Is that the gun you used to shoot the detective?" "No." "How does it feel to shoot an innocent man in the head?" "I didn't kill him!" "You're a liar!" "You've been working with the smoking man all along." "You knew when he had my father killed, and you knew when they took scully." " Listen to me." " I've heard enough of you." "He set me up!" "He stole my gun!" "Then he put it back." "Which means the police are probably on their way right now." " I don't believe you." " Look at my desk drawer, agent mulder." "Look at it!" "Why would i force my own lock?" "If i lied to you... i have lied to you, and i won't make excuses for those lies." "But there's a reason i did what i did... one that i think you're in a unique position to understand." "I advised you against a certain course of action some time ago... concerning agent scully." "I didn't follow my own advice." "Give me the gun." "How soon will you be able to determine if that's the weapon that killed detective thomas?" "As long as it takes me to put one of these slugs into a scope and run a comp." "This is the slug we recovered from the detective's body." "You see this stria here and here?" "They're rifling patterns, imprinted from the barrel of the same gun." "So this is definitely the murder weapon?" "If i were called to testify, i'd say without a doubt." "So where'd you find it?" "In a sewer grate, around the corner from the crime scene." " Mm." " Sometimes you get lucky." " Sometimes you don't, right?" " What do you mean?" "The serial number..." "it's been filed clean off." "Now, unless forensics pulled a print, this gun's virtually untraceable." "Leave it off." "I'm starting to get used to the dark." "Is this part of our deal?" "We never had a deal." "No?" "Agent scully is dying, and you haven't done a thing." " You think that's funny?" " Just enjoying the irony, mr." "Skinner." "Only yesterday you said you wouldn't be party to murder." "And now here you are." "Yours isn't the first gun i've had pointed in my face, mr." "Skinner." "I'm not afraid to die." "But if you kill me now, you'll also kill agent scully." "You have no intention of saving her." "You never did." "Are you certain?" "I saved her life once before when i had her returned to agent mulder." "I may save her life again." "But you'll never know if you pull the trigger, will you?" "Now, unless you intend to kill me, i'd like to answer my phone." "Yes." "He was just here." "He threatened to kill me." "I'm sure mulder will be contacting you." "He'll want to know if skinner has seen all there is to see." "I'll tell him what you want me to tell him." "Tell him what he wants to hear." "I made this!"