SCENE 1

THE TIP

(Night. What at first appears to be the moon, is a flickering street lamp. The streets are wet. A dark coloured car (License# 46-RFXG) pulls up in front of one of the buildings. Doggett's behind the wheel. He double checks the building number with a small piece of paper he holds in his hands. Building #1161. It matches. He gets out of the car)

(Alone, he bursts in through the door and walks into the building. The only light he has comes from his small flashlight. He goes up the stairs, the small piece of paper with the information clutched in his hand. He reaches the floor and walks through an abandoned and messy hallway.)

(Once again, he checks the room number against the piece of paper in his hand. #311. In matches. He reaches for the doorknob and opens the door. He is pushed back and against the far hallway wall by someone inside who runs down the hallway and to his escape.)

(Instead of pursuing the strange man, DOGGETT is distracted by a scratching sound coming from inside the room. He enters the room. The scratching persists. It's coming from behind the freshly cemented wall. The cement is still wet. DOGGETT brushes away the cement, the wall begins to bleed and run down its sides.)

[Fade to black]

OPENING CREDITS

SCENE 2

(FBI Academy at Quantico. SCULLY adjusts a lamp above a cadaver on an examining table. She's teaching a class. The table is surrounded by students.)

SCULLY: Jane Doe. Found last night entombed in a tenement wall by an agent who was following an anonymous tip. Time of death, approximately 2100 hours from three stab wounds to the abdomen. Dirt and clay were found under the nails of her right hand.

CADET 1: What are those lacerations on her arms and feet?

SCULLY: Predation-- from rats. The agent was led to her body by the sound of their feeding. Anyone?

CADET 1: She was killed someplace else. She clawed at the dirt before succumbing to her injuries.

SCULLY: That's possible. What else would help us I.D. This victim -- find the killer?

CADET RUDOLPH HAYES: It's obvious, isn't it?

SCULLY: What is?

CADET RUDOLPH HAYES: The chipped nail polish. The drugstore hair rinse. This is a single woman, unemployed. That's why no one's ID'd her. You found blood alcohol?

SCULLY: Point zero four.

CADET RUDOLPH HAYES: She hooked up with the wrong man in a bar. He killed her. This man has killed before.

SCULLY: And you know that because ...

CADET RUDOLPH HAYES: ... that bruise beneath her ribs? It's from the hilt of a knife. The killer intended a single blow ... the blade thrusting upward at a 45-degree angle into the heart, causing death instantly. But she struggled so, he missed. Then he got mad. Like I said ... obvious.

(SCULLY is stunned.)

CUT TO:

SCENE 3

(The Diener rolls the body into an examining room and prepares it for SCULLY. SCULLY does an examination of the corpse. She realizes that the CADET'S conclusions are accurate.)

CUT TO:

SCENE 4

(REYES and DOGGETT enter Scully's office. SCULLY is finishing up on the telephone.)

DOGGETT: Agent Scully?

SCULLY (on phone): Great; thank you.

DOGGETT: You got something?

SCULLY: Quite a lot, actually. We've identified your Jane Doe as Ellen Persich, 28, from Redland, Maryland.

REYES: How'd you make the I.D. So fast?

SCULLY: The bar that she was at last night is about a half a mile from where another woman was murdered two weeks ago apparently by the same killer.

REYES: You're saying the body John found was the second victim?

DOGGETT: This says that Rita Shaw was found in a ditch dead from a single knife wound. The woman I found was plastered behind a wall and stabbed three times.

SCULLY: That's why I didn't make the connection at first, either but that was the lab on the phone and they confirmed that it was the same knife in both killings.

REYES: Well, how did you make the connection?

SCULLY: I didn't but one of my students realized that the killer only meant to stab Agent Doggett's victim once. The other wounds were out of anger because he missed.

REYES: That's a pretty astute observation.

SCULLY: Amazingly so.

DOGGETT: This cadet have any other answers up his sleeve?

SCULLY: Like what?

DOGGETT: I want to know why someone tipped me off to this in the first place 'cause this isn't an X-File -- not by a long shot.

SCULLY: I don't know, Agent Doggett, but now that you've got this case I'd say run with it.

CUT TO:

SCENE 5

FORENSIC TRAINING FACILITY

JOPLIN, VIRGINIA

(Outside. DOGGETT and REYES are walking through the training exercise field. They pass through various cadets looking at cadavers and pieces of cadavers tucked away in the grassy field. They make their way to the lone cadet examining a severed arm. CADET RUDOLPH HAYES moves to pick up a arm invested with worms .)

DOGGETT: Cadet Hayes? Rudolph Hayes?

(THE CADET looks up, but doesn't get up from his crouched position in front of the severed limb.)

DOGGETT: I'm Agent Doggett. This is Agent Reyes.

(THE CADET smells the arm. He doesn't say anything. DOGGETT and REYES look at each other in reaction to THE CADET'S strange behaviour.)

DOGGETT: Is that part of the training here, Cadet -- smelling body parts?

CADET RUDOLPH HAYES: This man's flesh smells of creosote ... but his skin is soft. Untanned. He worked indoors. A hardware store, probably. The tear marks at his elbow go from left to right. He was broadsided in a car accident. His hands gripped the wheel so hard ... his thumb bone snapped on impact.

DOGGETT: You determined all that just by looking at that arm?

(HAYES stands up and turns his attention to the agents.)

CADET RUDOLPH HAYES: I see things.

REYES: We came to thank you. Because of your analysis, we were able to work up a profile to catch the man who murdered those women.

CADET RUDOLPH HAYES: What's the profile?

DOGGETT: White male, 25 to 35, ex-military. (HAYES shakes his head.) Employed near the bars where he met ... why are you shaking your head?

CADET RUDOLPH HAYES: The profile's wrong. Your killer is in his 40s. A felon recently arrived from out of state. His parole officer thinks he's looking for a job. He already has one -- working for organized crime. He's killed many people. He's going to keep on killing.

(HAYES walks away. REYES smiles.)

REYES: Kind of annoying, isn't he?

(She leaves DOGGETT standing there. He's still looking at the CADET.)

CUT TO:

SCENE 6

(Inside an unknown residence. CADET HAYES makes his way back to his home. He walks down a wide, empty hallway. He switches on a lamp. He pins a photograph of the most recent victim on a wall. He stares at the picture then walks away. The picture is one of many. Other picture of victims of bloodied, violent crimes.)

(He takes his shoes off. There are more pictures pinned on the wall - all the way down to the baseboard. He walks away. The camera pans up the wall to reveal more pictures. Dozens. Maybe even hundreds. The entire wall is covered with them. All pictures of victims of violent crimes.)

(The camera gives a front shot of the entire wall panel in front of CADET HAYES' bed is covered with pictures. The camera pans out to give a full view of the same wall. Two of the three panels are covered with pictures.)

(Further out, the camera shows a view of the entire room. CADET HAYES is sitting at this desk in front of the window. The wall in front of the desk is covered from ceiling to floor with pictures.)

CUT TO:

SCENE 7

(Outside Mark Mooney's Bar. A dark coloured car stops at the bar.)

(REYES and DOGGETT walk into the bar. REYES spots someone that they're looking for sitting at the bar. REYES nods toward the bar.)

REYES: John.

(DOGGETT pulls out two photos of the man they're looking for to do a visual comparison. Oh, yeah. It looks like the guy. The man is casually sitting at the bar smoking a cigar and having a drink when the two agents approach him.)

REYES: Nicholas Regali? I'm Agent Reyes; this is Agent Doggett.

(They both show him their IDs and badges then put them away.)

NICHOLAS REGALI: Oh, don't put them away so fast, Agents. I want to read them. John Jay... Dog... It.

NICHOLAS REGALI: (whispering) Monica Reyes.

(The agents put their IDs away.)

REYES: Mr. Regali, you're in town in violation of the terms of your parole back in New York.

NICHOLAS REGALI: Call my parole officer. She'll tell you I'm here looking for work.

REYES: You come here often, Mr. Regali? Like last night when Ellen Persich got murdered in the parking lot out back?

NICHOLAS REGALI: Last night. I don't remember.

REYES: Maybe you remember being at The Bent Oak. Bartender says he saw you there two weeks ago. The same night a woman named Rita Shaw got stabbed in the heart. What do you have to say about that, Mr. Regali?

NICHOLAS REGALI: You folks don't know what you're dealing with.

(DOGGETT grabs NICHOLAS REGALI's cigar and puts it out in his drink.)

NICHOLAS REGALI: You don't want to play this game, flatfoot. Not with me.

REYES: You like to kill women, Mr. Regali? You may think you can get away with it but that's not going to happen.

NICHOLAS REGALI: Like I said ... you really don't know what you're dealing with.

DOGGETT: I think we do.

(NICHOLAS REGALI chuckles at some inside secret joke.)

NICHOLAS REGALI: Agent Dog ... It, Agent Reyes.

(NICHOLAS REGALI takes a sip of his drink, dismissing them. The two agents leave.

CUT TO:

SCENE 8

(CADET RUDOLPH HAYES in standing in front of his window looking outside. He turns his desk lamp off and gets into bed. The camera pans the wall of pictures. The camera closes in on a series of photographs of a little boy lying face down in a grassy field. These are pictures of LUKE DOGGETT shown in *EMPEDOCLES. The final picture is of DOGGETT crouched over his son, the grieving father.)

[Fade to black]

SCENE 9

TITLE: ASHES

(DOGGETT'S is lying in his bed. It's in the middle of the night and he can't sleep.)

(He opens his closet and gets a small box out from the top shelf. The box says: "LUKE DOGGETT" / January 9, 1986 - August 13, 1993.)

(DOGGETT is sitting on his bed, holding the box.)

[Fade to black]

SCENE 10

(Day. Inside the X-Files basement office. DOGGETT is sitting on his desk, looking through a file. He senses someone watching him. He looks up. CADET RUDOLPH HAYES is standing in the doorway.)

DOGGETT: How long you been standing there?

CADET RUDOLPH HAYES: Not long.

(DOGGETT moves to stand behind his desk.)

DOGGETT: I'm glad you dropped by. Wanted to tell you we hit pay dirt with your profile. No arrests yet, but we're building our case.

CADET RUDOLPH HAYES: There's something else.

DOGGETT: There's another case I'd like you to take a look at. Seven-year- old boy rides his bike around the block. His mom's on the porch, counting his laps. He waves to her every time he goes by and after six laps, he doesn't come back around. She goes looking for him.

(DOGGETT sits on the edge of his desk. He swallows.)

DOGGETT: Lying on the sidewalk. There's no witnesses no ransom demands no clue as to who took him or why. The cops search door-to-door block-to-block for two days. Nothing. No news at all. And after three days they find him in a field.

(DOGGETT reaches over to his desk and picks up a slim file folder. He opens it and skims the contents. He gets up and starts walking toward the CADET, who hasn't moved from his position near the doorway.)

DOGGETT: It's all in here. The particulars ... about my son.

(This is very difficult for DOGGETT to admit.)

DOGGETT: I've been over this I don't know how many times but after nine years there's not a lot to go on. You were such a big help yesterday. If there's anything you see here ...

(CADET RUDOLPH HAYES glances down at the file folder in DOGGETT's hands.)

CADET RUDOLPH HAYES: Agent Doggett, that case I helped you with yesterday? That is your son's.

CUT TO:

SCENE 11

(Hayes' residence. The door opens. CADET RUDOLPH HAYES enters the apartment (2D), followed close behind by DOGGETT. He closes the door without a backward glance. For some reason, his eyes are glued to the walls in CADET RUDOLPH HAYES' apartment.)

DOGGETT: What is this?

CADET RUDOLPH HAYES: Unsolved murders. I started collecting them before I came to the FBI. I couldn't tell you why.

DOGGETT: What do you do with these?

CADET RUDOLPH HAYES: If I sit with them for a long time very quietly they tell me things.

(DOGGETT zeroes in on the series of photographs of his son's unsolved murder. From the photograph of himself over his son's body to the other photographs of his son lying in the field.)

CADET RUDOLPH HAYES: It's how I see what I see.

DOGGETT: You've been following my son's case.

CADET RUDOLPH HAYES: For a long time. He calls to me.

(Whether he believes it or not, DOGGETT turns around to look at the young CADET.)

DOGGETT: Cadet, you should know there's a real good chance you're nuts.

(The CADET hands DOGGETT a photograph.)

CADET RUDOLPH HAYES: You recognize that man?

DOGGETT: It's Bob Harvey. It's the closest we ever had to a suspect.

CADET RUDOLPH HAYES: He died. Killed in a car crash last year in New Orleans.

DOGGETT: This man killed my son?

CADET RUDOLPH HAYES: He took him. (He shakes his head, no.) He didn't kill him.

DOGGETT: Are you saying the same man that killed those women killed my son? This guy Regali?

(CADET RUDOLPH HAYES nods slightly.)

CUT TO:

SCENE 12

(AD Brad Follmer's Office. AD FOLLMER is fixing his tie while looking at his reflection in a glass painting. From behind, DOGGETT knocks on the door and enters.)

DOGGETT: Assistant Director? Can I have a minute?

AD BRAD FOLLMER: It's not a good time. I'm off to a meeting with the Director.

DOGGETT: This can't wait.

AD BRAD FOLLMER: And the Director can?

(DOGGETT doesn't move. It's not every day that DOGGETT asks to see FOLLMER. FOLLMER glances at his watch and puts on his jacket.)

AD BRAD FOLLMER: Okay, you've got one minute.

(DOGGETT closes the door and steps into the office.)

DOGGETT: When you were in New York, you worked the organized crime task force, right?

AD BRAD FOLLMER: Mm-hmm.

DOGGETT: Did you ever hear of a guy named Nicholas Regali?

AD BRAD FOLLMER: Yeah, he was ... a collector a low-level thug. Why are you asking me, Agent Doggett?

DOGGETT: When the New York office was investigating my son's death his name never came up.

AD BRAD FOLLMER: Well, why would it? You have reason to believe he was involved?

DOGGETT: I've got no evidence but somebody's telling me he's mixed-up with the suspect in my son's kidnapping, this Bob Harvey.

AD BRAD FOLLMER: Well, I never heard that. And I'm sure I'd remember.

(If it was a clear brush-off by FOLLMER, DOGGETT doesn't seem to notice. In fact, DOGGETT doesn't move at all. He's too wrapped up in his own thoughts about his son. Thinking that this may be just another dead end, DOGGETT lets out a sigh.)

(FOLLMER stops what he's doing. He notices that DOGGETT doesn't have his usual witty comeback for him. In fact, the man looks downright grieved. Whether its out of compassion or for another unknown reason, FOLLMER offers to do a little bit extra for DOGGETT.)

AD BRAD FOLLMER: You want me to ask around and pull some files?

(A look of hope for the impossible crosses DOGGETT'S face. His eyes widen in gratitude at FOLLMER'S generosity. He nods slightly.)

AD BRAD FOLLMER: I'll see what I can find.

DOGGETT: I'd appreciate it.

(FOLLMER nods his head. DOGGETT leaves.)

CUT TO:

SCENE 13

(DOGGETT is walking down the hallway in the FBI Building. He's stopped by REYES, who calls out to him from behind.)

REYES: John! Where you been?

DOGGETT: Chasing down leads.

REYES: We were supposed to meet in the office this morning, remember? To go over what we have on Regali.

(DOGGETT looks behind him and pulls REYES off to the side. He confides in her what's really been on his mind.)

DOGGETT: I think this guy, Regali may have been involved in Luke's death.

(REYES is shocked.)

REYES: What? Since when?

DOGGETT: Since I've been talking to Cadet Hayes. He says Regali knew Bob Harvey -- that they were in on it together.

REYES: How could he possibly know that?

DOGGETT: How does he know half the stuff he knows? I did some digging. I found out that Bob Harvey and Regali both did time at Walkill in 1988.

REYES: So did a thousand other men. That doesn't mean they knew each other.

DOGGETT: I tracked Regali's credit card use, Monica. The day Luke disappeared he gassed his car up two miles from my house.

REYES: Regali is a New Yorker. A lot of New Yorker's visit Long Island.

(REYES is upset by this sudden turn in the investigation. She seems more upset that DOGGETT seems to have his hopes up about solving LUKE'S murderer.)

REYES: This is not evidence not even close.

(DOGGETT swallows.)

REYES: I will never know how badly it hurt you to lose your son or how much pain you still carry. I understand how much you want to find his killer, but I don't want to see you disappointed. Not again.

DOGGETT: It's not going to happen. Not this time.

(DOGGETT walks away. REYES sighs.)

CUT TO:

SCENE 14

WOODBURY, NEW YORK

(Outside a lovely two story house, a woman is working in the yard. She looks up. DOGGETT'S standing there. We realise it is his estranged wife.)

DOGGETT: Hi, Barbara. How you doing?

(We are now inside the house. DOGGETT walks a bit into the living room. He looks around. BARBARA DOGGETT doesn't offer him to sit. She doesn't offer him a drink. She doesn't intend for this to be a long visit.)

DOGGETT: When'd you get the new furniture?

BARBARA DOGGETT: Last year. I just wanted to make a change.

DOGGETT: It looks great. You look great.

BARBARA DOGGETT: You need to call first, John. Kind of throws me when you just show up here.

DOGGETT: I'm sorry. It won't happen again. I need to talk to you, Barb.

BARBARA DOGGETT: It's about Luke.

DOGGETT: I got a suspect.

BARBARA DOGGETT: Oh, god. John ...

DOGGETT: I know, I know. But this time, it's different.

BARBARA DOGGETT: Is it? He "could" be, he "might" be ... I want to find out who did this just as badly as you do. But I don't want you coming over here again unless you know ... unless you absolutely know.

(By the look on DOGGETT'S face, he's not sure.)

BARBARA DOGGETT: That's what I thought.

DOGGETT: Look, this guy may have been cruising the neighbourhood. You could have seen him.

BARBARA DOGGETT: Did you hear anything I said?

CUT TO:

SCENE 15

(Inside an FBI viewing room. DOGGETT opens the door. BARBARA DOGGETT walks in. She stands in front of the window. DOGGETT pulls the drawstring that lifts up the blinds blocking her view of the men standing in the next room for her to ID.)

(DOGGETT looks hopefully to her. NICHOLAS REGALI is there. The last one in the line up. BARBARA DOGGETT takes her time studying the men. There are about five of them all similar height and built in the line up. She looks over each man. She doesn't recognize anyone. She glances over at DOGGETT and shakes her head, no.)

(Without a backward glance at him, BARBARA DOGGETT leaves the room.)

[Fade to black]

SCENE 16

(SCULLY enters the hallway outside the viewing room. She sees that DOGGETT and REYES are talking with a police officer in the Viewing Room.)

BARABA DOGGETT: Agent Scully? I'm Barbara. John's ex-wife.

SCULLY: Hi. I'm Dana. Nice to meet you.

BARBARA DOGGETT: He said you'd be coming by.

SCULLY: You weren't able to make an identification?

BARBARA DOGGETT: I didn't expect to.

(In the Viewing Room, DOGGETT is shouting at the police officer. He's not happy about the turn of events. REYES is standing next to him.)

BARBARA DOGGETT: You know he doesn't think clearly about this. He can't.

SCULLY: He blames himself.

BARBARA DOGGETT: He thinks he failed Luke. In his mind, he can never do enough, never suffer enough for what happened. I think if you can help him find the man who did this maybe he could move on.

(BARBARA DOGGETT looks over at the Viewing Room. REYES is standing in front of the Police Officer just before he leaves indicating that she's the one who's speaking with him. DOGGETT is off to the side.)

BARBARA DOGGETT: He and Monica could really have something together. He just won't let her in.

(DOGGETT opens the door and REYES steps out. They both approach SCULLY and BARBARA DOGGETT.)

BARBARA DOGGETT: They're letting him go?

DOGGETT: For now.

BARBARA DOGGETT: I'll be at my mom's till tomorrow.

(With a smile in SCULLY'S direction and without another word to DOGGETT, BARBARA DOGGETT leaves.)

(DOGGETT moves to stand in front of SCULLY. He wants to know something.)

DOGGETT: Tell me you got something.

SCULLY: As you asked, I compared the wounds inflicted on your son with the wounds on these two women.

DOGGETT: And?

SCULLY: There are similarities between the trajectory of the wounds and the force with which they were delivered.

DOGGETT: Meaning Regali's the guy.

SCULLY: Meaning that it was a brilliant forensic deduction on Cadet Hayes's part. But that's all it is. The killer used different weapons, he demonstrated no consistent M.O, and no clear victimology.

REYES: None of it will hold up in court.

DOGGETT: Well, something out there will.

(DOGGETT walks away. REYES takes a deep breath and silently follows him.)

[Fade to black]

CUT TO:

SCENE 17

TITLE: A MESSAGE

(Inside HAYES' apartment, we see a close of up photograph of DOGGETT over LUKE DOGGETT'S body.)

(The golden glow of the setting sun casts the shadow of HAYES'S lamp across his desk. There are papers and the photograph spread out on top.)

(CADET RUDOLPH HAYES sits against the wall. He's thinking. He slowly stands and moves into the path of the filtering golden sunlight. He stands and turns his face toward the sun, his lip quivering with intense emotion.)

CUT TO:

SCENE 18

(In the X-Files office, a file with NICHOLAS REGALI'S prison ID photo is open. DOGGETT closes the file, puts it down and gets up.)

DOGGETT: Something's not right.

REYES: What do you mean?

DOGGETT: Here's a guy whose name comes up in connection with racketeering, prostitution, drugs, even murder, yet all he's got are nickel and dime convictions. Always gets off with just a slap on the wrist.

REYES: You know as well as I do mob cases are hard to build.

DOGGETT: What I'm saying is I don't think anyone's even trying. I think this guy Regali's greasing somebody.

REYES: As in bribery?

DOGGETT: What else could it be?

(REYES is silent. She's thinking. Making connections. Something is worrying her.)

DOGGETT: What? What is it?

(REYES glances down. When she looks up at DOGGETT, she knows what it is.)

CUT TO:

SCENE 19

(Someone is knocking on FOLLMER'S office door. FOLLMER opens the door. REYES and DOGGETT walk in. FOLLMER turns and walks back into his office.)

AD BRAD FOLLMER: Agents. I was just coming to see you.

REYES: We need to talk to you, Assistant Director. About New York.

AD BRAD FOLLMER: Oh, didn't you get the case files?

REYES: I mean when we were working in the New York office. You and me.

AD BRAD FOLLMER: I'm not following.

(REYES walks inside and sits on a chair.)

REYES: I used to get take out from a place on 11th street. A little hole- in-the-wall. Maybe you remember it. Carlo's.

(FOLLMER glances over at DOGGETT who is standing silently by the door. FOLLMER moves to sit across REYES.)

AD BRAD FOLLMER: Is it me, or, uh is this becoming an odd conversation?

REYES: One night, three years ago, I'm waiting for my order. I wandered toward the kitchen.

(FOLLMER turns again to look at DOGGETT, who still hasn't moved. Only DOGGETT has a grim look on his face. FOLLMER doesn't have a choice but to turn his attention to REYES.)

REYES: And I saw you.

AD BRAD FOLLMER: Me?

REYES: Talking to a man. A mob guy. I saw you take money from him, Brad. A stack of it.

AD BRAD FOLLMER: Three years ago? So, instead of asking me to explain it or even reporting me to the bureau you broke off our relationship and moved away?

REYES: I cared about you, Brad. I'm not defending my actions.

AD BRAD FOLLMER: And now you've come here because you think I'm on the take. Maybe I was on the take when Agent Doggett's son was murdered.

DOGGETT: Somebody gave Regali inside help. Covered his role in my son's death.

(FOLLMER doesn't like the implications made about him. He doesn't take his eyes off of REYES, who is also just as grim as DOGGETT is. Hell, she seems downright angry.)

AD BRAD FOLLMER: The man you saw me with was a confidential informant. I was giving him the money.

REYES: That's not what happened.

AD BRAD FOLLMER: We were buying his help to infiltrate a crime family. It's all documented. The entire operation.

(DOGGETT is listening to the explanation and looks at REYES. REYES breaks eye contact with FOLLMER to glance at DOGGETT. His story seems plausible.)

AD BRAD FOLLMER: Now I can prove what I'm saying. Can you? You should have come to me, Monica. Especially given what I know now.

(FOLLMER is through with that line of questioning and stands up to get the file on his desk. REYES remains sitting. DOGGETT turns his attention to FOLLMER.)

DOGGETT: What do you know?

AD BRAD FOLLMER: When you raised concerns about Regali I looked into the source of these allegations -- uh, a cadet, right?

DOGGETT: Rudolph Hayes. He's been very helpful in this investigation.

AD BRAD FOLLMER: Rudolph Hayes died in 1978 in a car accident.

DOGGETT: What? Let me see that.

(DOGGETT grabs the file that AD FOLLMER holds out to him.)

AD BRAD FOLLMER: Cadet Hayes's real name is Stuart Mimms of Mendota, Minnesota. Last known residence the Dakota County Psychiatric Facility.

REYES: He was a mental patient?

AD BRAD FOLLMER: Diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic voluntarily institutionalized in 1990. In 1992, he checked himself out and disappeared. There's another thing. We can also place him in New York city in 1993 ... the year your son was murdered.

(FOLLMER is clearly implying something about CADET RUDOLPH HAYES. DOGGETT is surprised at the implications.)

CUT TO:

SCENE 20

(HAYES' residence. A team of armed FBI men walk down the hallway leading up to RUDOLPH HAYES' apartment. It's daylight outside, light shines through the window. DOGGETT and REYES are there in their kevlar jackets. DOGGETT still has a confused look on his face. He gives the signal for the men to go into the apartment.)

(The team bursts the door in. DOGGETT and REYES take up the back.)

(RUDOLPH HAYES is in a plain white shirt and long pants. He's sitting in the swivel chair in front of his desk, but he's facing the door as if awaiting their arrival. His back is to the desk and the window. It doesn't appear as if the men surprised him at all.)

(DOGGETT goes into the room and glances about him in shock. The swat team pull RUDOLPH HAYES down to the ground. They apprehend him. He doesn't resist.)

(DOGGETT still can't believe his eyes. All the photographs that graced the walls are gone. The walls are completely bare. The men take RUDOLPH HAYES away. DOGGETT turns and shakes his head at REYES, who his standing by the door.)

(DOGGETT doesn't know what to think.)

CUT TO:

SCENE 21

(Night. Just outside Mark Mooney's bar, NICHOLAS REGALI gets into a car. He's smoking a cigar. We see the car belongs to AD BRAD FOLLMER.)

NICHOLAS REGALI: Nice car. I remember when they had you banging around in a ten-year-old Impala. Now look at you. Mr. Assistant Director.

AD BRAD FOLLMER: You got lucky. He has another suspect.

NICHOLAS REGALI: You came down here to tell me that?

AD BRAD FOLLMER: There's something I need to know. Were you in any way involved in the death of John Doggett's son?

NICHOLAS REGALI: Since when do you ask me questions?

AD BRAD FOLLMER: Were you involved!

(AD BRAD FOLLMER is upset. He turns his head to look at NICHOLAS REGALI. This casts half his face in the darkness and half in the light. NICHOLAS REGALI turns to answer him also casting his own face half in darkness and half in light.)

NICHOLAS REGALI: Course not. What kind of guy do you think I am?

AD BRAD FOLLMER: That's it, I'm done, Regali.

NICHOLAS REGALI: Done?

AD BRAD FOLLMER: With you, with this, with this whole thing.

NICHOLAS REGALI: And if I say no, what are you going to do? You know, if I'm you, right now I'm thinking "I could bop this guy right here and who's going to know it's not self defence?" Well, let me remind you anything happens to me a videotape lands at the Washington Post showing a young Brad Follmer taking cash from yours truly to make an indictment go away. You're done when I say you're done.

(NICHOLAS REGALI exits the car.)

[Fade to black]

SCENE 22

(Another suspect line up. As was done before, DOGGETT pulls up the blinds to the viewing room. He turns around. BARBARA DOGGETT moves up closer to the window. In the line up stands RUDOLPH HAYES.)

(BARBARA DOGGETT looks closely at all the men in the line up. She recognizes RUDOLPH HAYES.)

CUT TO:

SCENE 23

(FBI interrogation room. RUDOLPH HAYES pulls out the chair with his cuffed hands. He sits down.)

(SCULLY pushes the thin manila file toward RUDOLPH HAYES.)

SCULLY: It's all in there. How you defrauded the FBI with a false identity in order to gain admittance to the Academy. We know who you really are. We know about your history with schizophrenia. We know that you orchestrated this entire thing in order to get close to Agent Doggett.

(DOGGETT is standing off to the side of the interrogation table.)

RUDOLPH HAYES: I've been recognized by Agent Doggett's ex-wife who failed to identify Nicholas Regali in that same room yesterday.

SCULLY: Because Nicholas Regali did not kill Agent Doggett's son. You did.

RUDOLPH HAYES: That's one explanation.

DOGGETT: It's the explanation.

RUDOLPH HAYES: No.

(DOGGETT is angry and frustrated.)

DOGGETT: Then what is? What is?!

RUDOLPH HAYES: I told you before, Agent Doggett. I studied the photos of your son's death. They called to me. I don't know why, but it was a message, and I listened.

SCULLY: And then, you killed Agent Doggett's son.

RUDOLPH HAYES: I studied his case obsessively. I'm a schizophrenic. That's what schizophrenics do. Obsess. I watched Agent Doggett. I watched his ex- wife, too. She can't tell you how she recognizes me just that she does.

DOGGETT: You're a liar. You lied to the FBI. You're lying now.

RUDOLPH HAYES: Would you have listened to me otherwise? A mental patient with insight into your son's death? I wanted to get close to you, Agent Doggett. To help you.

DOGGETT: You gave me that tip. To find the woman's body in the wall.

(RUDOLPH HAYES does not deny giving DOGGETT the tip. HAYES, however, is through playing games with them.)

RUDOLPH HAYES: Regali associated with the man who abducted your son. I called you so that you could catch him.

(The implications of RUDOLPH HAYES' meaning hits DOGGETT hard. Even SCULLY understands what is being said. DOGGETT was so concerned with getting REGALI for LUKE'S murder, that they failed to get REGALI for the other two women's. In short, REGALI (Luke's murderer) still walks free because of that failure to "catch him". As far as HAYES' involvement is concerned, it's over.)

RUDOLPH HAYES: I've received another message. I'd like to go back home now to the institution.

CUT TO:

SCENE 24

(REYES and AD FOLLMER are waiting patiently in the hallway outside the interrogation room.)

(DOGGETT bursts through the door nearly running into the two. He is upset. Without a single word to either of them, he heads out the door. He ignores REYES as he leaves.)

REYES: John? John!

(SCULLY slowly walks out of the room.)

AD BRAD FOLLMER (to SCULLY): Well?

SCULLY: Well, he told us his story. Whether it's true ...

REYES: In other words, we're nowhere. Again.

(REYES sighs and goes after DOGGETT. FOLLMER is left in the hallway alone with his thoughts.)

CUT TO:

SCENE 25

(Daytime outside Mooney's Bar. A black car parks in front of the establishment. DOGGETT gets out.)

(Inside the bar, NICHOLAS REGALI is sitting alone at the bar when DOGGETT approaches him. REGALI has his drink in front of him and his cigar in his hand.)

NICHOLAS REGALI: Well, well. It's the FBI agent.

(DOGGETT sits on the stool next to NICHOLAS REGALI.)

DOGGETT: I'm not here as an FBI agent. I'm here as a father.

NICHOLAS REGALI: Whoa. What could that mean?

DOGGETT: I want to know what happened to my son.

NICHOLAS REGALI: I don't know who killed your son. But I like you, FBI. I really do. I'll tell you how it could have happened, hypothetically.

(DOGGETT'S listening.)

NICHOLAS REGALI: Say there was this guy - a businessman. And say this businessman -- in the course of doing business -- has to associate with any number of thugs, sickos, perverts. Like Bob Harvey, for example. And say this Bob Harvey likes little boys. Yeah. Disgusting. Say one day, Bob Harvey sees a little boy riding a bike, and he can't stand it. He grabs the boy. So, Harvey takes the boy back to his place only he doesn't tell the businessman what he's doing. So, the businessman walks in on him. You see what I'm saying, FBI? The boy sees the businessman's face. The businessman who never did nothing to this little boy. That's a problem. Well ... every problem has got a solution, right?

(NICHOLAS REGALI is finished with his story. He walks out leaving DOGGETT behind at the bar.)

(DOGGETT sits there thinking for a moment. He pulls out his gun and follows NICHOLAS REGALI. He manages to take a couple of steps when a gunshot from outside is heard.)

(DOGGETT comes out of the bar, his gun in his hand. REGALI is dead on the ground with a gunshot wound to his right eye.)

(A woman exits a car in front of DOGGETT and begins screaming in DOGGETT'S direction.)

WOMAN: Oh, my God. He shot him. He just took out his gun and shot him.

(Standing behind DOGGETT with his gun still grasped in his hands is AD BRAD FOLLMER. He has a wild look in his eye and blood splatters on his clothes and face.)

(DOGGETT is standing there staring at FOLLMER. FOLLMER drops his gun. It clatters onto the pavement.)

[Fade to black]

SCENE 26

TITLE: RELEASE

(Day. It's a beautiful, sunny day at the beach. The waves roll into shore. DOGGETT and his ex-wife BARBARA stand inside the tide holding the small box containing their son LUKE DOGGETT'S ashes. They are holding on to each other and staring at the distance while the waves continue to roll at their feet. A private, spiritual service for their son ... and for themselves.)

(DOGGETT is holding the box with the bare inscription: "LUKE DOGGETT" / "January 9, 1986 - August 13, 1993". He turns to look at BARBARA -- sharing a moment with her -- perhaps finally connecting with her for once in a very long time. He opens the box and releases their son's ashes into the wind, scattering them into the ocean. DOGGETT cries freely. After all these years, it's finally over.)

(They stand there for a moment, then BARBARA walks away taking the empty box with her.)

CUT TO:

(REYES is leaning against DOGGETT'S white truck waiting patiently for him. In the distance, DOGGETT climbs the sand dunes to her. REYES sees him, turns and goes to meet him.)

(DOGGETT reaches the top and waits for REYES, who stops in front of him. They look at each other. DOGGETT wraps his arms around her and buries his face in her hair -- sharing his grief with her. REYES holds on to him as DOGGETT continues to cling to her.)

[Fade to black]

[THE END]