"Is somebody in here?" "Holy Moses." "What a way to go." "Have you seen this MO before, Detective?" "Men cremated alive?" "Yeah." "Third time this year." "Eleventh time, actually." "There were three in Seattle, three in LA and two in Boston." "All Chinese men between the ages of 20 and 40." "All recent immigrants." "We weren't able to determine any of that until recently." "The other two bodies were much more badly burned." " We got lucky with this one." " Lucky?" "That's an interesting word for it." "You got any leads on this case, Detective?" "Any thoughts or ideas?" "We've got a big influx of immigrants from Hong Kong, trying to get out before 1997, and more gang activity in Chinatown." "But we can't tie the deaths to anyone or anything." "You got anybody that can read or speak Chinese?" " Yeah." "Glen Chao." "He's over there." "Why?" " Can you get him?" "I want him to read this." "Sure." "Glen?" "One second." " Detective Chao." "Glen Chao, Agent Mulder." " Hi." "Whaddaya got?" "There's something written on the ceiling." "I was wondering if you could read it." "Yeah." "It says \x22gwai.\x22" " It means \x22ghost.\x22" " Ghost?" "Mean anything to you?" "I don't know, but it's a strange thing for a man being burned alive to write, don't you think?" "What's this?" "Does anybody recognize this?" "It looks like foreign currency." "It's \x22hell money.\x22 It's used as an offering in the Chinese Festival of the Hungry Ghosts." " Is it worth anything?" " It's not money, per se." "It's a symbolic offering to the evil spirits and the ghosts." "For good luck." " Where would I get this hell money?" " There aren't a lot of places that sell it." "Good." "Maybe we just found a way to identify the body." "His name was Johnny Lo." "He moved here about six months ago from Canton." "Still in the INS application process." "He was a dishwasher in Chinatown." "How many dishes d'you have to break before you get tossed in an oven?" "I think it's pretty clear this is a horrific cult or gang-retribution killing." " Why would he write \x22ghost\x22 in the oven?" " I don't know." "What about the guard seeing three figures that vanished?" " So now we're chasing ghosts?" " \x22Who ya gonna call?" "\x22" "Ghosts or ancestral spirits have long been central to Chinese life." "So the ancestral spirits pushed Johnny Lo in the oven and turned on the gas?" "Well, it'd sure teach him to respect his elders." "I checked all the neighboring buildings." "Nobody saw anything, not surprisingly." " What does it say?" " I don't recognize that." " It could be idiomatic." "Some kind of code." " It's still tacky." " Can you copy it down for me?" " Yeah, sure." "Talk about tacky..." "Someone's been here." "This place has been cleaned out." "Look at this." " What's that smell?" " Maybe it's this new carpet." " Yeah, that's what it looks like." " Who'd spring for a new carpet in this dump?" "Looks like they saved on carpet tacks." "They didn't even bother replacing the old padding." "What's this?" "Chinese herbal medicine." " What about this?" " It's a dried frog." "I think they're sometimes used as charms." "Good health, prosperity, protection." "Looks like Mr Lo could have used a little of both." "Let's get this blood tested." "I couldn't tell you what any one of these things are." "Well, they're roots mostly." "Ginseng, turmeric." "Then you've got your more exotic stuff:" "bear gall bladder, snake, shark fin - usually prepared in a soup or a tea." "What had the victim been using?" "She says that it's skullcap root and Chinese angelica." "They're used for painkillers." "Does she remember Johnny Lo or remember selling it to him?" "Ask her if she knows he's dead." "Ask her if she recognizes those characters that were painted on his door." "What was that about?" "She says that the house was branded a \x22hong jak.\x22" " \x22A haunted house.\x22" " Haunted?" " You mean by ghosts?" " Yeah." "It's hard to give it an exact translation, but it's what I told you about before." "The Chinese Yu Lan Ji- the Festival of the Hungry Ghosts." "You see, on the 15th day of the seventh moon, in the Chinese calendar, it's believed the gates of hell are opened and the ghosts of unwanted souls roam the Earth." "Believers protect themselves by leaving gifts of food and hell money outside their homes to appease the ghosts," "to keep them from coming inside and causing trouble." "But for some spirits, the ghosts most feared by the Chinese, there's no buying them off." "The Preta, the ancient ghost of a murdered man who wanders the Earth exacting his revenge on the living, or the Wu Chun Gwai, who collects the souls of doomed men and drags them down to" "\x22Ti Yu,\x22 to the Chinese hell." " D'you think these murders could be related?" " It makes sense." "This year's festival is just about over." "What about you, Detective?" "Do you believe in Yu Lan Ji?" "I find it hard to argue with 2,000 years of Chinese belief - the stuff my parents and grandparents believe in." "But the truth is, I'm more haunted by the size of my mortgage payments." "What are you doin'?" "A patrolman described three men wearing the same masks as those ID'd at the crematory." " What were they doing here?" " I don't know." "They were spotted around this grave here, but we can't figure out what they were up to." " Is this a newly dug plot?" " Yeah." "There's a burial at noon tomorrow." " Chinese?" " I don't know." "We can check." "Chao, see if you can get the name of the future occupant here." "I still don't understand what anybody would want with an empty grave." "What the hell's he doing?" "Something just occurred to me." "Looks like somebody was trying to get two burials for the price of one." "What did you find?" "A lot." "And I haven't even finished my preliminary visual exam." "Look at this." "This guy's like ajigsaw puzzle." "These are all surgical incisions." "Judging by the color of the scars, I'd say they were made in the last year." " What was wrong with him?" " If you ask me, nothing." " Nothing?" "What do you mean?" " D'you know how much the body is worth?" "Depends on the body." " I don't know, a few bucks." "How much?" " It's worth a fortune." "You're saying he was selling his body parts for money?" "A kidney, a portion of the liver, a cornea, bone marrow..." "A person can lose these things and still cash his Social Security checks." "He won't be cashing any Social Security checks." "No." "But if I'm right, this is one man who left his heart in San Francisco." "Even if you're right, it doesn't figure." "There's no long-term business sense to dying." "What's the connection with the crematory deaths?" "I only saw one body, but the only thing that wasn't burned to a crisp on Johnny Lo was his glass eye." "Oh, God." " What's this?" " Maybe you can tell us." "It was found in the body cavity of the man who was dumped in the grave." " This?" " You said the frog was a symbol of luck." "Unless this is somebody's sickjoke, I'd say it must have another meaning." "I don't know what it is." "It could be a Triad symbol - something from organized crime." "Well, maybe you can tell me this." "Have you heard any word on the street about the black-market selling of body parts?" "What?" "Here, in Chinatown?" "This man with a frog in his chest was missing a cornea and a kidney." "They were taken prior to the time of death, before the final removal of his heart." "And I found what is known as sterile ice on the skin around the incision on his chest." "It is the substance that is used to preserve human organs for transplant." "I don't even know where to start." "Well, we're gonna need more help from you than that, Detective." "The implication being that I'm not trying to help?" "No." "Either you resent us being here, or feel a kind of protectiveness towards your community." "Look, you don't even know what the hell you're dealing with here." "This isn't some pretty lacquer box you can just take the lid off and find out what's inside." "You might see the face of a Chinese man here, but they don't see the same face." "They see the face of a cop." "American-born Chinese" " ABC." "To them, I'm just as white as you are." "You think, because I speak the language, I can get answers." "But what good is an interpreter when everyone speaks the language of silence?" "What's this?" "The name of the company that installed the carpet in Lo's apartment." "I just happened to run across it while I was twiddling my thumbs." "You coming or not?" "I'm Detective Chao with the San Francisco Police." "Could we have a word with you?" "I'm late for work." "It'll only take a minute." "Could we come in, please?" "Mr Hsin, can I ask what happened to your eye?" "Accident at work." "Carpet tack." "How long have you lived in this country, Mr Hsin?" " Three years." " You live here alone?" "My daughter." "Mr Hsin, you laid a carpet in an apartment occupied by a man named Johnny Lo." "I don't know the name." "The man I work for tells me address only." "We contacted the man you work for." "He said it must have been ajob you took on the side." "He has no record of a work order." "What was the name of the man who lived in this apartment?" "His name was Johnny Lo." "He's dead now." "Murdered." "And we think that the carpet was laid in an attempt to cover up evidence." "Your employer said you usually work..." " D'you remember who called about the job?" " I don't know any of this." "Thank you, Mr Hsin." "If we need you, we'll get back to you, OK?" "Thank you." "What's up?" "I'll tell you in a second." " What was that about?" " He has the back window blocked up." "I told him it was a firetrap." "D'you know what this is?" " No." " D'you know what it says?" " It's the character for wood." " Wood?" " Why?" "What are you thinking?" " That he didn't have an accident at work." "And he's missing his eye." "And I'd like to know how he lost it." " I say we monitor Hsin's movements." " I doubt they're to the ophthalmologist." "You look like you saw a ghost." "No, I'm justjumpy." "Any more firecrackers go off, I'm gonna get out and shoot somebody." " He hasn't left?" " No, but I'm glad you're here." "I was about to ask Mr Hsin if I could use his bathroom." "You can use the one at St Francis's Hospital." " What do you mean?" " Chao was attacked in his house tonight." "Lieutenant Neary says he's cut up pretty bad." " Who cut him?" " I don't know, but we should check it out." " How is he?" " He's gone." " I went to see him." "He's not in his bed." " Did anybody see him get up?" "A nurse said they sewed him up, he went to the bathroom." "That's the last they saw of him." "Why would he just take off?" " Can I see his chart?" " His chart?" "Sure, I guess." " You wanna see what his injuries were?" " No, his blood type." " His blood type?" " Why would he run?" " You think Chao's involved?" " Maybe the heel-dragging's a diversion, that ghost story's a ruse." "What was the hemo-type of the blood we found on the carpet padding?" "Thank you." " O-negative." " Glen Chao." "O-negative." " That's a coincidence." " Wait a minute." "What are you saying?" "That the blood on the carpet padding in the victim's apartment was Chao's." "And I'd be willing to bet he's the one that asked for it to be installed." "Mr Hsin." "Yeah." "That conversation they had wasn't about any firetrap." " We're looking for Mr Hsin." "Is he home?" " No, I'm sorry." " Are you his daughter?" " Yes." "May we talk to you?" " What's your father involved in, Kim?" " I don't know." "He goes out." "I know he does it for me." "Because of me." "You're sick, aren't you?" "I was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia six months ago." "But that's a treatable form of cancer." "We have no money or insurance." "Now I fear that my father has done something illegal, that he made mistake and something bad is coming." "Who are these men that visit your father?" "I don't know them." "I just know my father say he want out." "He want out, but of what I don't know." " Do you know what this is?" " No." "Do you know what it says?" "I found it over there by the TV before." "It is the symbol for wood." "But in Chinese it also correspond to the eye." "Like fire to the heart and earth to the flesh." "This is a human leukocyte workup." "Was your father rejected as a bone-marrow donor?" "Yes, several months ago." "This is from the Organ Procurement Organization." "It's dated only a month ago." "Your father had an HLA, but he also had his kidneys measured, his liver..." "They're playing some kind of game." "Agents Mulder and Scully?" " Thanks." "We need some information, fast." " What kind of information?" "You had a man named Shuyang Hsin." "He had an HLA workup and..." " I think I may know what this is about." " What?" "A number of Asian men have come in for antigen workups, but when we find a compatible recipient for them, their doctor says they've left the area." "D'you have a number for this doctor?" " 311 Porter, right?" " Yeah." "That's where the doctor's phone is registered." "Hey, Scully, look who's here." "This must be the place after all." "It's definitely not Chinese food I'm smelling." "It smells like rubbing alcohol." "Or sterile ice." "What's this?" " What is that?" " Sounds like it's coming from upstairs." "Chao." "Hands in the air." "He's still alive." "What did he say?" "He said \x22The game's not over.\x22" "My people live with ghosts." "The ghosts of our fathers, and our fathers' fathers." "They call to us from distant memory, showing us the path." "No ghosts called to those men." "You did, by preying on their hopelessness and their desperation." "Yes, they were desperate." "Just as I was desperate when I first came to this country." "But I committed no crime." "You cheated them out of life, by promising them prosperity when the only possible reward was death." "In my belief, death is nothing to be feared." "It's merely a stage of transition." "But life without hope?" "Now, that's a living hell." "So, hope was my gift to these men." "I don't expect you to understand." "I understand this." "You are going to prison for a very long time." "Can I talk to you for a minute?" "I just got back from the hospital." "Hsin's still in intensive care." " And his daughter?" " The donor procurement organization" " has put her on the recipient list." " That's great." " What's wrong?" " It's our case against this guy." "We've interviewed everybody we busted at the gaming parlor that night." " And?" " They put up a wall of silence." "They claim to be members of a social club, that they saw nothing." "What about Chao?" "His testimony would be enough to lock this guy up." " We can't find him." " He was supposed to testify this morning." "When he didn't show, they went to his home." "He's vanished." "Like a ghost."