9ABX09 Underneath

Doggett: [on phone] 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.

Reyes: An X-File?

[Doggett hands her a newspaper]

DNA Clears Screwdriver Killer
Innocent Man Jailed Thirteen Years
by Adam Smythe
New York — After serving thirteen years of a life sentence, recent forensic evidence has found Robert Fassl not guilty. Fassl was originally convicted for murder with a screwdriver. The DNA profile examiner has shown conclusive evidence that samples found on the murder weapon and Fassl's are not a match...

Doggett: [on phone] I'm telling you, you let this guy go, more people are going to die. [The other person hangs up]

Reyes: Was that the DA on the case?

Doggett: Assistant DA. Some jack-off who was probably in ninth grade when this happened.

Reyes: What is it exactly you want him to do?

Doggett: 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 13 years ago. He killed seven people. Now they want to let him go so he can kill again.

Reyes: It says here, the DNA evidence proves he's innocent.

Doggett: It's wrong. It's some lab mistake. It's as simple as that. My partner Duke and I, we catch this 911. Neighbour'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.

Reyes: So you didn't actually catch him in the act.

Doggett: Ten seconds earlier through the door, and we would have. [to Scully] Tell me you got good news.

Scully: I have combed through every detail of this ME's report. I have read and re-read it. And I am sorry, Agent Doggett, but the DNA fingerprinting does indeed exonerate this man.

Doggett: You're telling me there's no way? There's not even a million-to-one chance that these DNA tests are wrong?

Scully: Actually, a hundred million.

Doggett: I need the reports run again. I need you to do it yourself.

Scully: Agent Doggett, you just... it'd take at least 48 hours.

Doggett: That's too long.

Reyes: Where are you going?

Doggett: New York. I can't just sit here and wait for this guy to kill again.

Reyes: John...

Doggett: 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.

---

First Reporter: How does it feel to be a free man?

Second Reporter: Are you going to sue the police?

Third Reporter: What do you think you'll do next?

Jana Fain: 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... Bob... Bob, let's get you out of here. Thank you, too. Thank you.

---

Doggett: 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?

Assistant DA Kaylor: 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.

Scully: 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.

Assistant DA Kaylor: 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.

Doggett: 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?

---

Scully: There's a lot of material here. Where should we start?

Doggett: Right there. The original arrest report.

Scully: [reading] Arresting officer: John Doggett. Must've been a career-maker.

Doggett: 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...

Scully: You know, John... whatever we find here, sometimes... sometimes even good cops make mistakes.

Doggett: 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.

Scully: That's not what I think. It's not. I just... I just worry that maybe this is about you feeling guilty.

Doggett: 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.

---

Jana Fain: 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.

Mrs Dowdy: Oh, I have your room all made up. I hope you'll be quite comfortable.

Jana Fain: Thank you very much, Mrs Dowdy. [Mrs Dowdy leaves]

Robert Fassl: You're rich.

Jana Fain: 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.

Robert Fassl: You do good things. You're a good person.

Jana Fain: Well, I guess it takes one to know one. [They go upstairs to the guest bedroom] I know some business people who are sympathetic to your situation and when you're ready we'll set up some job interviews. 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. [She leaves. Robert Fassl prays and kisses his crucifix. He unclasps his hands and sees a bloodied crucifix in the centre of his blood-stained hands. Written on the wall in blood is the message: KILL HER]

---

Doggett: Hey, Buddy! Did you steal that car?

Duke Tomasick: If it ain't the FBI!

Doggett: Duke Tomasick. Looking good.

Duke Tomasick: Well, hell, yeah. I was always the pretty one.

Doggett: 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?

Duke Tomasick: 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 we just got to face facts.

Doggett: Duke, you were there that night! Fassl was the only one in the house! He killed those people!

Duke Tomasick: John, wise up. Will you drop this thing?

Doggett: What did you always tell me about being a good cop? You said never to clock out.

Duke Tomasick: Well, I got another lesson for you, huh? Keep after this thing it's going to bite you in your ass.

---

Jana Fain: 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.

Robert Fassl: I pray all the time. I pray even when it looks like I'm not praying.

Jana Fain: I know someone's listening, Bob. Good night. [She leaves. Robert Fassl senses someone behind him, he turns and sees the Bearded Man]

Robert Fassl: No... no! Please don't hurt her. Please... [The Bearded Man slaps him, produces a screwdriver and leaves the room]

---

Scully: Were you here all night?

Doggett: There's got to be something here the prosecution overlooked — I overlooked — something I can hang this guy with DNA or no.

Scully: Well, speaking of DNA...

Doggett: Aw, come on...

Scully: The re-tests of the typing confirm the original results — that the hair samples do indeed belong to someone other than Robert Fassl.

Doggett: So, what do we do? We just go home? This is wrong. This is...

Scully: Well, John, there is something else. It's something that explains why thirteen 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.

Doggett: What does that mean?

Scully: 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.

Doggett: Wait a minute. Fassl's an only child. His parents died when he was 13. He's got nobody.

Scully: I know.

Doggett: You know? Then you know that what you're saying's impossible.

Scully: And yet, somehow it's true.

---

Jana Fain: 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.

Robert Fassl: You weren't home last night?

Jana Fain: 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. I am late for a deposition. Uh... help yourself to breakfast. Mrs Dowdy seems to be running late this morning. [She leaves. Robert Fassl looks around the kitchen and notices a dumb waiter, there is blood dripping from it's closed door]

---

Superintendent Hutchinson: Agent Reyes. I'm Brian Hutchinson, the superintendent of the prison.

Reyes: I appreciate you seeing me at such short notice.

Superintendent Hutchinson: Anything I can do to help.

Reyes: Great. I'm reviewing evidence pertinent to the Fassl case.

Superintendent Hutchinson: Whatever I can do to ensure he gets locked back up again, by all means. Tell me what you need.

Reyes: Well... thank you. That's an extremely helpful attitude. What's your reason for it?

Superintendent Hutchinson: I just don't think the system should have let him go.

Reyes: Why, exactly? The court says he's innocent.

Superintendent Hutchinson: Maybe, but there's another murder they don't know about.

---

Superintendent Hutchinson: Bob Fassl's cellmate was a biker named Spud Jennings, a real bad-ass or least he thought he was.

Reyes: And Jennings was murdered?

Superintendent Hutchinson: 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.

Reyes: Well, Fassl killed him?

Superintendent Hutchinson: 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 hands.

Reyes: One problem: This isn't Fassl. [It is the Bearded Man]

Superintendent Hutchinson: 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.

---

Assistant DA Kaylor: Don't you have something to tell me, Agent Doggett?

Doggett: What do you mean?

Assistant DA Kaylor: The DNA re-tests. I understand you received the results this morning. Mr Fassl has been exonerated. Again.

Doggett: The results aren't that simple. The DNA is similar to Fassl's to a degree we haven't quite made sense of yet.

Assistant DA Kaylor: Look, I just spoke to the DA. He's authorised a settlement offer which I intend to deliver to Mr Fassl's counsel post-haste. I'll send the bailiffs down to retrieve the case files. Have a nice flight back to DC.

Doggett: We need more time to get to the truth!

Assistant DA Kaylor: 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. [He leaves and Reyes arrives]

Reyes: John... I may have a break in this case. A suspect.

Doggett: A suspect? Not Fassl?

Reyes: 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 materialised inside a maximum security prison, killed an inmate and then vanished into thin air.

Doggett: Materialised, 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.

Reyes: Yeah, but what if the two were somehow connected?

Doggett: Monica, for god's sake, this is not an X-File. Don't try to turn it into one.

Reyes: In prison, this being, this person, whatever you want to call him... he acted as if he were protecting Bob Fassl.

Doggett: Protecting him? How, by getting him locked up in prison in the first place?

Reyes: 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.

Scully: No. Unfortunately, that's not going to work. The 1989 evidence has to be thrown out.

Doggett: What are you talking about?

Scully: The hair samples logged to your crime scene, Agent Doggett... were not there on the day the crimes were committed.

Doggett: Are you accusing me? Are you accusing me of planting evidence?

Scully: I am simply stating the facts okay? The DNA evidence that was used to convict Bob Fassl... was planted.

---

Assistant DA Kaylor: Mr Fassl. I'm Damon Kaylor. I need to speak with your attorney. Is she here?

Robert Fassl: You were at my hearing.

Assistant DA Kaylor: I'm the Assistant District Attorney. Is Jana home?

Robert Fassl: She's not here.

Assistant DA Kaylor: 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.

Robert Fassl: I want to go back.

Assistant DA Kaylor: I'm sorry?

Robert Fassl: Please, send me back to prison.

Assistant DA Kaylor: Oh listen, Mr Fassl, I, uh... shouldn't even be discussing this with you without your attorney present.

Robert Fassl: But it's my fault.

Assistant DA Kaylor: I... I can't be hearing this.

Robert Fassl: It's the truth.

Assistant DA Kaylor: That's not my concern. [Blood appears at the corner of his mouth and he falls to the floor dead. The Bearded Man is standing behind him holding a bloody screwdriver]

---

Duke Tomasick: I'm sorry, John.

Doggett: You framed Fassl.

Duke Tomasick: You saw how it was going down. We arrested him at the scene, but he left no prints, no hair, no fibre. Nothing to actually tie him to the murders.

Doggett: How did you do it?

Duke Tomasick: It took a... part of a hair sample that was found at a previous murder and I put it in with the evidence from our crime scene. Johnny... it was the one and only time I ever did anything like that. I was scared Fassl would walk. I couldn't let that happen. Not when I knew that... I knew he was guilty. Guilty. God almighty.

Doggett: 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.

Duke Tomasick: I don't want you to.

Doggett: 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. [Scully arrives]

Scully: Excuse me. Agent Doggett? ADA Kaylor — I assume you haven't seen him.

Doggett: No. Why?

Scully: Apparently, nobody has.

---

Reyes: Mr Fassl, when was the last time you saw Damon Kaylor?

Jana Fain: Two days ago, at his release hearing. My client had nothing to do with Mr Kaylor's disappearance. No direct involvement. None.

Reyes: 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.

Jana Fain: How magnanimous of you. It's too bad you're 13 years too late. Is that it?

Reyes: No. Actually, we believe this person committed the murders. [She presents the photo of the Bearded Man] What do you think? Do you recognise this man? [Robert Fassl gasps and starts praying]

Jana Fain: You know we're here as a courtesy which is something the police and the prosecution never showed Bob once.

Scully: Are you a catholic, Bob? [He nods] 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.

Jana Fain: No more mind games. We're done. [She leaves with Robert Fassl, Doggett enters the room]

Doggett: What the hell was that?

Reyes: I don't know about you, but that was me changing my theory.

Doggett: What, no more ghosts?

Reyes: Uh, nope. Just Fassl. What if a man of profound faith — a devout catholic — was incapable of contrition?

Scully: As in, he couldn't admit his own sins?

Reyes: 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?

Doggett: But it wouldn't explain the DNA evidence.

Reyes: It would if he physically became that other personality.

Doggett: So what, we've moved on from Casper, The Friendly Ghost to Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?

Reyes: There is a precedent — in the catholic canon itself. Transubstantiation: The manipulation of matter and energy.

Scully: You mean, water into wine.

Reyes: Or the communion wafer into the body of Christ.

Doggett: Monica, I've slept through my share of Sunday schools but I never heard the story about the guy becoming another guy.

Reyes: It's the one explanation that makes sense. It explains what happened 13 years ago and it explains what's happening now.

Scully: 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.

Doggett: So, how does someone go about catching a killer who hides inside an innocent man?

---

[Written on the bathroom wall in blood is the message: KILL HER]

Bearded Man: Do it. [He hits Robert Fassl]

Robert Fassl: I don't want to hurt her! [There is a knock at the door]

Jana Fain: Bob? Are you okay?

Bearded Man: Kill her. [He holds out a screwdriver]

Jana Fain: Oh, my god. What happened?

Robert Fassl: I... I fell.

Jana Fain: I'll fix you up. You're going to be okay. [She opens the medicine cabinet, when she closes cabinet she sees the Bearded Man in the mirrored door]

---

Reyes: 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.

Doggett: I'll sleep once we make sure this guy Fassl never kills again. Fassl and his... Charlie Manson sidekick.

Reyes: They're one and the same person.

Doggett: Monica, I don't want to hear...

Reyes: Okay, but I just need to hear another theory that makes sense.

Doggett: 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 13 years ago. 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. 'Cause I got nothing else. [The Bearded Man walks out through the front door] Monica, check it out — the front door. [He chases the Bearded Man] Jana Fain — check on her.

Jana Fain: Oh, my god. He was here. He was here — the man in your photo.

Reyes: The bearded man? Where's Bob Fassl?

Jana Fain: Oh, he was right there... and then he wasn't... I don't... I don't know where.

Doggett: Agent Reyes?

Reyes: [to Jana Fain] Call the police.

Doggett: Agent Reyes! [He is struggling to remove a cable access manhole cover] Cable Access. Fassl worked for Triboro Cable. [They enter the tunnel] Trail ends here.

Reyes: Blood. [There are blood spots on the ground] He could have gone either way. [She shines her flashlight the other direction and sees the Bearded Man] John! [The Bearded Man retreats]

Doggett: You okay?

Reyes: Yeah.

Doggett: Come on. [They follow the Bearded Man until they come to an intersection]

Reyes: I'll take this way.

---

[The Bearded Man is holding a screwdriver against Doggett's neck]

Reyes: Let him go. You hear me?! Let him go!

Doggett: Don't waste your breath. Just shoot the bastard.

Reyes: 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 kill Jana Fain when you had the chance.

Bearded Man: I'll kill him!

Reyes: I believe you, Bob, because you're a murderer.

Bearded Man: Shut up! I'm not him.

Reyes: You're not just a murderer. You're a sinner.

Bearded Man: Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!

Doggett: Monica! [Reyes shoots the Bearded Man in the chest, he falls into the water. Doggett jumps in after him, he reaches the body and turns it over, it's Robert Fassl]

---

Jana Fain: My housekeeper, Mrs Dowdy — can I see her?

Scully: It's better that you don't.

Jana Fain: And the district attorney?

Scully: There are a lot of bodies in there.

Jana Fain: Oh.

Scully: There are many more victims than anyone ever knew.

Jana Fain: I saw a bearded man. I know what I saw.

Scully: Ms Fain, I think we better get you home. [She escorts Jana Fain away]

Reyes: John...?

Doggett: 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.

Reyes: So what happened tonight? All that was just you seeing things?

Doggett: I can't accept this. If you can, god love you, but it's not the way my mind works.

Reyes: You closed this case. This time around, that was enough.

Doggett: What happens next time?