[Man] AJell-O salad with little pear chunks.
It's the Wednesday special at the hospital cafeteria. I can't escape it.
Listen to you. That didn't stop you from eating my dessert.
Well, all right. The profiteroles weren't bad.
- [Beeping] - You didn't want me to starve, did you?
He ate mine too.
Daddy, why don't you take this before my arm falls off.
Thanks, honey. [Grunts]
Everybody?
- One last shot. - Oh, Dad.
Do you think we can draw the line at 600 photographs?
Six hundred and one.
Quit griping. And hold up that eyesore, Robert.
God knows when you're gonna win another one.
Irv, you wanna think about staying the night?
- It's awful late to head back to the city. - Yeah.
What? I get to stay at the home of the Bay Area Doctor of the Year?
It's a deal.
Proud of you, Robert.
Up. Hold it up. Say cheese.
Presented to Dr. Robert Wieder M. D...
for the great wisdom, skill and compassion...
he exhibits in the practice of medicine.
It's gonna look awfully nice in your office.
What are you thinking?
How this is just the cherry on top.
How lucky I am.
[Beeping]
- What is it? - Downstairs motion sensor.
You think Dad tripped the alarm?
The alarm hasn't been tripped.
You got me. I'll go check it out.
Irv?
Irving, is everything all right?
What do you think, Scully? Is this a name, possibly,
or a code or an anagram?
T-H-E-E-F.
I assume it's supposed to be T-H-l-E-F. Thief.
Insert your own Dan Quayle joke here.
Lousy spelling aside, what do you think it refers to? Who's the thief?
[Scully] Well, that's certainly one question.
I've got many.
Mulder, why are we here?
Mmm, to be fair, I might have used the words,
Mulder, how is this an X-File?
You see that, Scully? You always keep me guessing.
This is Dr. Irving Thalbro, age 66, found hanged with his throat cut,
his family tucked away and in bed not 40 feet from here.
Didn't see or hear anything.
Which would certainly shine the light of suspicion on them.
Except they're the ones that called it in,
and there's no evidence whatsoever to link them to the crime.
Which is why the police are rightly wondering...
if Dr. Thalbro killed himself.
Except who, then, did this?
Blood pattern doesn't indicate that the good doctor did it,
who I am assuming could read and write above a fourth grade level.
I'll admit, Mulder, this is not an open-and-shut case.
But, uh, it doesn't make it an X-File.
Well, there is one detail that does.
This.
Dirt?
Dirt. It's a very powerful component of hexcraft,
as well as the pattern in which it was originally arranged.
Check this out.
- Looks like a human form. - [Sighs]
Hexcraft, as in putting a curse on someone?
Murdering them magically?
That's what it looks like to me. Now, I know what you're gonna say, Scully.
No, hexcraft. I mean, I'll buy that as the intent here.
It certainly jives with the evidence.
I say we talk to the family.
I'll always keep you guessing.
It was probably the greatest night of my life.
Till...
Sir, can you think of any enemies your father-in-law might have made?
Maybe inadvertently through his medical practice...
or a business dealing, perhaps?
Everybody loved Irving.
Everyone who knew him. He was...
No, I can't conceive of it.
Dr. Wieder, do you have any enemies?
I'm sorry I have to ask. There was a message left behind.
If it doesn't refer to your father-in-law, it may refer to you.
[Girl] Thief?
Are you asking if my dad's a thief?
He saves people's lives. He's a good man.
Honey.
If I have any enemies, I don't know them.
At the home of his son-in-law, Dr. Robert Wieder,
Dr. Irving Thalbro was found hanged at 1:48 this morning.
The details are sketchy. It's my understanding...
that police are treating the case as a murder.
This is due in part to core evidence left at the scene.
[TVContinues, Indistinct]
[Sniffing]
Hello? Mr. Peattie?
Mr. Peattie, I know you're in there.
Are you cooking?
You aren't supposed to be cooking.
That smell like somethin' you wanna eat?
- Well, what is it, then? - Medicine.
Oh, all right. Uh,
just so long as you're not cooking.
Seems like you could use yourself a poultice for your back.
Old Peattie fix ya right up.
Be ready later.
[Chanting, Indistinct]
- Scully. This dirt we found? Gas pneumatograph shows... - Mm-hmm.
Pronounced spikes of methane and sulfur compounds.
The signature of decay.
It's graveyard dirt, also known as conjure dust.
It's one of the most powerful hexing elements, whether for good or evil.
Not the kind of stuff you want to be on the wrong end of.
Uh-huh.
Well, go ahead, Scully. Keep me guessing.
Kuru.
The-The, uh...
The disease that New Guinea tribesmen get?
From eating the brains of their relatives.
I thought my grandpa slurping his soup was bad.
Practically speaking, Mulder, Kuru doesn't even exist anymore,
not in New Guinea and certainly not in the U.S.
But this man's cerebellum and his triadim...
clearly show signs of it, Mulder.
I mean, these plaques... his brain is riddled with them.
Kuru makes you crazy, right?
Yeah, stark-raving, among other things. But in this case,
stark-raving mad enough to slit his own throat and hang himself.
Mulder, that's what his autopsy shows...
from the wound pattern to-to the blood spray.
- This man did it to himself. There's no question. - Unless...
it was inflicted upon him.
The graveyard dirt, the hex.
He was given this disease so that he would kill himself.
Nan? Honey?
Robert?
Look at this.
It could be they needed it as evidence.
[Chattering Continues]
I'm telling you, I'm scared.
I can't stay here, Robert. I can't live in this house anymore.
Lucy can't, not after what's happened here.
And now this picture of us is missing.
- It'll turn up. - No. It doesn't make any sense.
Nothing that's happened here makes any sense.
It does. Nan,
listen to me.
Your dad was ill.
He had a kind of progressive dementia.
That's what the F.B.I. Autopsy showed.
I reviewed their findings, and I have to agree.
Honey, we will get through this.
- Oh, my God! Nan, honey! - [Groaning]
Oh, my God!
- Nan! - Dad?
Lucy, call 911.
Call 911!
Nan!
[Chanting, Indistinct]
[Beeping]
Dr. Wieder?
We understand you've made a diagnosis.
Diffuse Cutaneous Flesh Moniliasis. Old World type.
- I take it that's rare. - In San Francisco? It's unheard of.
Maybe in Central Africa.
- Well, the rarer, the better. - What do you mean by that?
Someone directed this to happen to your wife...
just as someone directed what happened to your father-in-law.
My enemy you were talking about... the one who thinks I'm a thief?
Agent, you're a doctor. Explain to your partner...
that no one can direct a person to get sick.
The dirt you found in your bed drawn in the shape of a body,
that's indicative of folk magic.
That's what I believe is being used against you.
Folk magic?
You mean, like, Babayaga? Gypsies?
I was actually thinking less Eastern and more Celtic.
Maybe Scots-Irish or Appalachian, even.
I'm supposed to take this seriously?
Sir, regardless of the particulars,
I think it's clear that there was an intruder in your home.
And I think it would be prudent for you...
to accept our protection...
and help us to identify this person.
Prudent for me would be to continue treating my wife.
If we don't stop who's causing this, your treatments won't matter.
So modern medicine and all it encompasses...
artificial hearts, laser surgery, gene therapy, to name a few...
all of that arrayed against a pile of magic dirt?
And you tell me I'll lose.
I have M.R.I. S to look at.
Oh, yeah, Mulder, win him over.
He will lose unless we can find a way to stop it.
What do you suggest?
A second opinion.
[Chuckling]
The truth always hurts, don't it, Doc?
Who are you?
Is this you? You did this?
What do you want from me?
Don't you be frettin' none about that.
I'm gettin' my nickel's worth.
You're doin' a fine job so far.
What the hell are you talking about? What is this all about?
Lynette Peattie.
And don't you be sayin' you don't recollect her.
Uh-uh. No, no, no.
Look, if I've done anything to upset you, l...
It's no use trying to intimidate me if I don't know how I've offended you!
Tell me!
What makes me a thief?
You be a smart man.
I figure...
you ponder it a while, it gonna come to ya.
Wait!
[Keyboard Clacking]
[Sighs] No. No matter how I spell it, there's no Lynette Peattie.
- She's not in my patient file. - She's not in any doctor's patient file.
No one by that name has ever been admitted to the hospital.
You think you treated her?
What aboutJane Does?
You treated three in the last two years.
Pull the files, please.
You remember old Boon. I know you do.
This mangy, old, ugly dog.
Smart.
People-smart, and then some.
Oh, he sure did love you.
He crawled up under that house...
the very day you left.
Wouldn't come out for nothin'.
Not no ham bone, nothin'.
He just knew that his life was over.
You stole his heart too.
You shouldn't oughta left.
[Footsteps]
[Gasps] You're there.
I... wanted to thank you.
That poultice worked a miracle on my back.
I was about to knock and...
and ask if I could get a little more.
Whatever that is, it sure is stinky.
Stinky's good.
[Chimes Ringing]
[Woman] Good afternoon.
Can I help you?
Yeah, we're looking for some alternative medical advice.
Well, you've come to the right place.
I get a lot of folks fed up with their H.M.O.s.
- Well, actually, we're not here for us. - Yeah.
Oh! Chief, back in your pocket.
It's dirt.
It's goofer dust is what it is.
I don't know what your intentions are with that.
- Goofer dust? - Conjure dust, goofer dust.
How would you go about making somebody sick using that?
We're investigating a murder. That's why I'm asking.
Oh.
Speaking strictly in the academic sense,
you'd spread it on or near your victim to direct misfortune.
So you could give them any illness you wanted...
- one that you chose specifically for them? - Oh...
that's a lot trickier.
It requires something special.
- A voodoo doll. - No. They're called puppets.
Inside, you place three thorns of a blood red rose,
a strand of hair, and a photo of your victim.
Maybe other items as well. Depends on the operator.
Sew it up, say your spell.
How would you counteract one of these?
Depends on who you're dealing with.
But if the person you're looking for...
is powerful enough to bring about a murder, he's probably charmed.
Which would mean what?
It means just that.
He's drawing on the energy of a charm.
A source of magic power.
It could be any item,
provided that it's very important to him.
Something that holds great meaning for him.
And unless you can separate him from his charm,
you're out of luck.
Poppin' corn.
You gotta put the money in first.
Don't look like no poppin' corn to me.
Put it in the microwave. Then you get your popcorn.
Oh. Microwave.
I heard tell of such a thing. It's a true wonder.
[Beeping]
Radiation.
Come from the heart of the atom.
I think it be God's own glow.
You're gonna be very happy, I promise.
The drug therapy I'm giving her is working wonders.
Come on. Come see.
- Mom. - Hi, sweetie.
- You look good. - Yeah, right.
But I am definitely feeling better.
- So how come I have to go through this thing again? - Come on.
This thing gives off about as much radiation as a dental X ray.
- Nothing to worry about. - I know.
It just scares me. Wish me luck?
[Beeping]
Doctor!
Switch it off! Switch it off!
[Gasps]
[Beeping]
All done.
How could somebody orchestrate all of this?
You believe that your wife was murdered?
It was no accident. There was no malfunction of the machine.
Yes, I believe she was murdered.
And you still have no idea why?
The pathologist found this branded into your wife's chest.
Sir, we can't help you if you withhold information from us.
A man came to see me yesterday.
My age, older, maybe.
Tall.
He mentioned someone named Lynette Peattie.
I didn't know who she was at first.
Turns out she was a Jane Doe I treated last October.
She was in a bus rollover. Came in amid a wave of victims.
She was the worst off.
I could barely put fluids in fast enough to keep up with the blood loss.
We were rushing around triaging people.
Everybody knew she was dying.
It was only a matter of time.
She was in agony.
This was my course of treatment.
[Scully] You gave her morphine.
Lots of it.
I pushed it myself.
She kept screaming,
and her heart rate kept climbing.
So...
I kept pushing.
I took maybe the last 20 minutes of her life.
It was a fair trade to make for the pain.
Her father doesn't agree.
What makes you think it's her father?
He thinks you robbed him of his family.
And that's why he's systematically robbing you of yours.
What am I supposed to do? My daughter Lucy...
You don't do anything. Let us find a way to protect you.
- How? - I have an idea where to start.
[Scully] If Lynette Peattie was Carlos theJackal,
I would've had an easier time tracking her down.
There's no birth certificate, no social security number, nothing.
Better known to the world as Jane Doe, 6149.
Well, her name shows up once in the records...
of a Vista Inoculation Program in 1981.
- The Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia. - Deepest Appalachia.
That's when her father, one Oral Peattie,
refused to allow her to be inoculated against polio.
But there's no address for him. There's no record of him whatsoever.
Mulder, why are we exhuming this girl?
Well, I'm thinking of her dear old backwoods dad...
and where he gets all his graveyard dirt.
Here? His daughter's grave?
The occultist we spoke to said that the person...
casting these magic spells was charmed.
That he had a source of power that was very meaningful to him...
and he kept it close by.
Lynette Peattie's body?
That's my guess.
So as long as her body remains here resting in peace in the Bay Area,
he remains powerful.
But if we were to ship it off to Quantico...
Hold onto that.
Mr. Peattie?
Mr. Peattie, my pain's back.
I was wondering if I could get a little more of that poultice.
Mr. Peattie?
Oh, I'm sorry.
I didn't know you were home.
[Screaming]
All right, thank you. They'll be there before dark.
- You all set? - We still don't know where it is we're going.
We rented a cabin for you. It's important that you get out of town.
And you believe by our leaving it will somehow weaken him?
Well, what's important is that he believes that.
At any rate, if he can't find you, he can't hurt you.
How do you know he'll come forward?
Because he hasn't gotten everything he wants.
[Man On TV] Our ownJohn Gillness is on the scene.
[Man #2] San Mateo County health officials admit they're at a loss...
to explain the sudden onset of the 56-year-old woman's bizarre illness,
but insist there is no cause for alarm.
- Pretty weird, huh? - There's been no official diagnosis.
Sources say they believe the woman contracted...
the rare but deadly Group AStreptococcus...
- better known as the flesh-eating disease. - Freakin' scary.
We will keep a close watch on this story and any new developments.
[Man] Bathroom's clear!
[Man #2] Clear here!
[Cell Phone Ringing]
- Scully. - Peattie may be on to us.
- What happened? - I found out where he lives,
only he's cleared out and he's taken his magic charm with him.
At least as much of it as he can carry.
My guess is he's looking for you.
I didn't see anybody following us.
Well, just keep an eye out, Scully. I'm on my way.
Okay.
Soon.
Very soon.
[Robert] What was that?
Stay where you are.
[Chanting, Indistinct]
Oh! Oh, God!
- Oh! - What is it?
I don't know.
I can't...
- I can't see! - [Banging On Door]
- Agent Scully! - Just stay where you are.
Stay down.
[Gasps]
- Oh, Doctor! - Leave him alone!
- Daddy! - Get back!
Get back!
Don't make me hurt you!
[Peattie] Can hurt the man that ain't got nothin'left.
You know who I be now?
Maybe you can recollect my daughter.
I remember! I never forgot!
I'm-I'm sorry for your loss,
but I did everything humanly possible to save her!
The arrogant little man.
I did everything I could!
And when I couldn't do anymore, I eased her suffering!
By killin' her.
If I be there,
I save her!
You weren't there!
[Peattie] Scary death in some field.
No name on her,
far away from her people.
It wouldn't be right.
So now, little man,
I gonna show you what be possible.
I'm gonna show you...
an eye for an eye.
You're not gonna hurt my daughter!
Daddy! [Sobbing]
Baby.
- [Groaning] - Daddy! Daddy!
Doctor? What's happening?
- Daddy! - [Gasping]
Dr. Wieder!
- [Screaming] - You're killing him!
[Sobbing] Daddy!
Stop! Daddy!
- Daddy! - [Gunshot]
[Sobbing] Daddy.
[Monitor Beeping]
Lynette Peattie's body is on its way back home to O'Neal, West Virginia.
She's going back to her people after all.
You know, Mulder, I would have made the same call.
As a doctor,
if I was certain that I couldn't save her life...
and she was in that much pain,
- I would've done what Wieder did. - Mm-hmm.
It seems pretty clear cut.
Except maybe it's not.
You're wondering if maybe Peattie could've saved her life?
You do keep me guessing.
[Child] I made this!