Character-labelled dialogue prepared from the official DVD subtitle track.
I think we all feel an empty place. Everybody loved jennifer. Not just because she was a special person, but because she was the kind of friend... Who was always there for you. We'll miss you, jen. We'll miss your smile. We'll miss the times we would have spent together.
[ sniffles ]
We'll keep these memories close to our hearts... Until we meet again in god's kingdom.
[ people sobbing ]
The family has requested a graveside service now. I've rescheduled the burial to tomorrow afternoon. We'll keep the body overnight.
Such a beautiful girl.
Hello? Who's there? I said, "who's there?" oh, god. [ breathing heavily ] Donnie. What the hell are you doing here this late?
Working.
Working? At this hour? What is this? What the hell were you doing? Get out of here. You freak! Get out of here, and don't come back.
I should report you! Just go on! Get out of here!
Minneapolis p.d., saying they wanted the FBI to come out and take a look. Anything slightly freakazoid, that's the drill, call moe Bocks, as if I'm tight with all the nutcases in town. So, I shoot on down here to see what's the what, and I'll be damned if I'm not knocked on my butt by what they show me. Twenty-two years, I've never seen anything like it. I get one look at the corpse, and I'm on the phone to my pal, andy snider, down at the mutual UFO network. You know andy. He knows you. No, I don't.
Why'd you call mufon?
I wanted to see if there'd been much UFO activity in the area.
You think this grave was unearthed by aliens, agent Bocks?
Well, it has all the telltale signs, don't you think? I mean, according to the literature.
Literature?
The hair and nails have been cut away, sort of like they do in cattle mutilations.
I hate to disappoint you, but this doesn't look like the work of aliens to me.
No? How can you be sure?
I've seen this kind of thing before when I worked at violent crimes. Whoever dug this up probably used a backhoe. If you take a cast of the ground in the area, you'll probably find fresh new tracks... Leading from here to a garage nearby.
You think?
He may work here, but it's not likely. He's probably worked at a mortuary or a cemetery at one time or another. Probably even been busted, but you won't find any record of that. It has to be bad for business when those kind of stories get around.
You're saying some human's been doing this?
If you wanna call them that. You okay, Scully?
Yeah. I've read about cases of desecrating the dead before, but this is the first time I've seen it.
Nothing can prepare you for it. It's almost unimaginable.
Why do they do it?
Well, some people collect salt and pepper shakers. Fetishists collect dead things-- fingernails and hair. No one quite knows why. Though, I've really never understood salt and pepper shakers myself.
[ police radio chatter ]
Sometimes you surprise me, Mulder. Why's that? How that didn't shock you back there.
I prepared myself for it before we left Washington.
You knew this wasn't UFO-related from the start?
I suspected as much, yeah.
It took us three hours to get here. Our plane doesn't leave until tomorrow night. If you suspected--
Vikings versus redskins, Scully. Forty-yard line in the hubert h. Humphrey metrodome. You and me.
Have you lived in the twin cities long, mr. Pfaster?
I grew up here. I was away for a few years.
Oh. What kind of work were you in before?
Cosmetology. Hair and makeup.
Oh. That's interesting.
If you don't mind my saying, that's a lovely color lipstick you're wearing. Is that "indian summer"?
Yes. Yes, it is. Now, you're applying for the job as the deliveryman?
To put myself through school. I've gone back to school.
Oh. And what are you studying?
Comparative religions.
Oh. Are you a religious person yourself?
Yes. Very.
You know, I probably shouldn't say this, but mr. Ficicello feels very strongly about religious backgrounds. He prides himself on the honesty of his employees.
Can you put that on the application?
I'll attach a little note.
Thank you.
A long, long pass. Here's carter with the catch. And carter brought down by... [ indistinct ] at the Washington five-yard line for a Viking first down.
Sorry you had to miss your game, but we found more bodies dug up.
Did you get your forensics report on the first one yet?
There was somebody down there in the grave. Cut the hair with a pair of pinking shears. You got to wonder about this guy.
At least he wasn't down there with his dippity-do and his blow dryer. How many bodies does that make?
Three in the last two days.
What else can you tell me about the desecration of the corpses?
The hair was cut from the heads of two of the bodies. From the third one, the fingernails were pulled out... With what looks like a pair of needle-nose pliers.
I want you to draft an "eyes-only memo" to everyone in this office... And to all law enforcement agencies in the metropolitan area.
Saying what?
That the twin cities may have an escalating fetishist on their hands.
A what?
An escalating fetishist. Security should be tightened around city cemeteries, mortuaries, funeral homes, and hospitals should be notified. A story should be issued to the press... Warning of a possible stalker in the area.
This isn't New York, agent Mulder. People still keep their doors unlocked here. This is gonna scare 'em.
You can leave out the more gruesome aspects in your press release.
Why do you want to alarm folks if this guy only preys on dead people?
Because his compulsion is growing. He may resort to homicide to procure his corpses. Once he gets the taste of a warm body, he's probably going to want more.
[ chuckles ]
Maybe I've been isolated up here in the great white north too long.
What do you mean?
People wondered why it took them so long to catch this kid in milwaukee, thought someone should have noticed he was killing all those young boys. Truth is, no one ever believed it could happen.
Well, if you catch this guy before he kills, maybe they can go right on believing that.
We don't have the manpower or expertise to move on this with any speed. It's gonna be hard to round up anybody on a saturday. It could be monday or tuesday before we get our ducks in a row.
Up and over the top. Touchdown!
We got some work to do here. I'm gonna cancel our flight out. Scully?
I'll be right there. All right.
A complete model or psychological profile... Of the death fetishist does not exist. The compulsion is the result of a complex misplacement of values... And a deviation from cultural norms and social mores. He is more likely to be white, male, and of average to above-average intelligence. Cases of fetishist with iqs over 150 have been documented. The progression of the pathology can be traced... From the fantasy stage to the eventual acting out of fetishistic impulses, including opportunistic homicide. Agent Mulder believes strongly that the suspect in this case... Is escalating towards this action. Once he begins to murder, it is the killing that draws attention away from a deeper motive, a motive which most people, including law enforcement professionals, dare not imagine. It is somehow easier to believe, as agent Bocks does, in aliens and UFO's... Than in the kind of cold-blooded, inhuman monster... Who could prey on the living to scavenge from the dead.
♪♪ [ pop ] okay, you got a date.
Hi there. Hi.
Hi.
Are you looking for a date?
Yes.
Why don't you pull up around the corner over there?
Well, actually, I was thinking of a couple of hours.
Oh. [ laughs ] what do you have in mind?
Don't you have any heat in here? It's freezing.
The forced-air unit is broken. I'd like to run you a bath.
[ water running ]
[ turns off water ]
Is your hair treated?
What?
Do you need a shampoo for chemically-treated hair?
You want me to shampoo my hair?
I'll pay extra if that's something out of the ordinary.
Well, nobody's ever asked me.
[ telephone rings ]
[ ring ]
Excuse me. [ ring ]
[ ring ]
[ ring ]
Hello.
Is this mr. Pfaster?
Yes.
This is Marilyn at ficicello frozen foods. Sorry to bother you so late, but I'm calling to say you've been hired. We'd like you to start right away.
What's going on here? The water is ice-cold. What kind of sick freak are you? Oh, my god.
Mr. Pfaster?
Yes, that's wonderful news. Thank you so much.
Don't you come near me. I mean it. Don't you touch me! Stay away from me! Keep away from me! Don't you come near me.
[ screaming ]
[ police radio chatter ]
We're still waiting for someone to ID the body. Judging from the area, I'd say she's probably a working girl watch your step.
Oh! Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Oh. Who did this to her?
Was it him?
Looks like it. Knife wound the length of the torso, cut all her hair off, took her fingernails. This time he took some fingers too. Wanna see the body? Yeah.
I need a minute.
Hey, let him take a look.
Hi. I'm your new deliveryman.
Oh, hi. Come in. Did they give you skip's old route?
Yes, I think so. I've just started with the company.
Skip's been delivering to us for so long... We always took it for granted he'd always be around, since before the kids were born. Lisa, this is, uh--
Donnie. Donnie Pfaster.
He's taking over for skip.
Oh, hi. I'm going to go over to steve's now, okay?
Okay. You have a good time.
Okay. Bye.
Bye.
We have three daughters.
Oh. Pardon me. May I use your washroom to wash up my hands?
Oh, sure. There's a washroom just off the service porch. Oh. I just wanted to tell you, if we're ever not home, we always leave the back door open here.
Oh, thank you. I'll remember that.
Death is a recorded event. For reasons natural or unnatural, when a body ceases to function, the cause of the effect can be clearly reconstructed. A body has a story to tell.
The time is 11:14 a.m., monday, november 14. The deceased is a female in her twenties.
If the victim was strangled, an examination of the veins in the eyes will reveal this. If the victim was shot, entry wounds and gunpowder residue... Can be used to reconstruct the events leading to death... And help to establish a possible motive. Hair and fibers, slivers of glass, can serve to recreate the circumstances under which death occurred. It may be an irony only understood by those of us who conduct these examinations, that death, like life itself, is a drama with a beginning, middle, and end. It is my opinion, having conducted this examination, that the victim died a wrongful death... For the express purpose of extracting her hair and fingernails. The time of death cannot be accurately determined, due to what I believe must have been immersion in a cold environment, most likely water. For the record, it is also my opinion that outside of child homicide, which may be more tragic and heinous, this is one of the most angry and dehumanizing murders imaginable.
Uh-uh. I just don't know.
Look at each man carefully.
He's none of those guys. He was ordinary. He didn't look like no freak.
You remember what kind of car he was driving? What color it was?
I think it was white.
Okay, you can go. Just leave a number and an address where you can be reached.
Are you gonna catch this guy?
We'll catch him.
It might be a good week to take that paid vacation the boss owes you.
Yeah, right.
If this guy looks regular-like and he doesn't have a record, he's gonna be near impossible to find.
Until he kills again, or until we can determine what's driving him.
I read your profile. It sounds like a guy who can't make it with women, which would explain the hooker.
No. No, the hooker was just convenient. He's after trophies. His victim was a young attractive woman. The corpses he dug up were all young women. So, what's fueling his need? What's important about the hair and fingernails to him? It's almost as if it's not enough they're dead. He's got to defile them. There's a deeper psychosis at work here. It's an unfathomable hatred of women, probably going back to his mother.
I'd say she's pretty fried at him too.
I think the next thing we have to do... Is call all the psychiatric facilities in the area... And ask them if they have records of patients with similar pathologies. This kind of a monster isn't made overnight. He's been developing this fetish for years.
The necessity of the story, myth, in a culture is almost universal. We think of myths as things that entertain or instruct, but their deeper purpose is often to explain, or make fanciful, desires, wishes, or behavior... That society would otherwise deem unacceptable. Because they are conveyed in a wrapping of untruth, the story, these thoughts become harmless fiction. Take for example the stories we recite to our children-- snow white. Alice in wonderland. The subtextual themes when the queen orders, "off with her head!" or the Prince awakens sleeping beauty with a kiss, are what freud would describe as death wish imaginings.
♪♪ [ humming ] ahem. Excuse me. I'm in your mythology class.
Uh-huh.
My name's Donnie. I sit a couple of rows over. Maybe you've seen me.
I-I don't know.
I know. You sit up front. I just-- see, I was going to my car, and I saw you. Did he ask us to read chapters ten and eleven, or eleven and twelve?
Oh. I-I think it was, uh--
[ sighs ]
Oh, it was chapters ten and eleven.
Oh, thanks. Yeah. I have to go now. Don't go.
Let go of the door.
Help, someone! Help!
[ telephone rings ]
[ gasps ]
[ ring ]
[ picks up receiver ]
Hello.
Scully, it's me. They've arrested somebody they think may be our guy.
I'll get dressed.
[ door buzzes ]
He's got a history of assault. 911 call came in from a security officer who saw it happen. She hurt him pretty bad. Yeah, he's definitely our guy.
Who cut him?
A working girl. They're all carrying knives since what happened.
I'm agent Mulder. Have you been read your rights?
I picked up this chick and brought her home. I paid her the money. Then she hauls out this knife. What am I supposed to do? I smacked her a couple of times. Self-defense.
[ man continues, indistinct ]
He's not our guy.
I thought we had him.
We're back to square one.
Mulder, can I have a minute with you?
Oh, I'll wait out front.
[ door buzzes ]
I think I might better drive this investigation... If I could focus on the evidence.
What are you suggesting?
That I take the body back to Washington. I could run it through the fingerprint lab there. You know those guys, they can pull a print--
If you're having trouble with this case, I want you to tell me.
I'm not having trouble, Mulder.
I'd understand. I mean, it's not exactly easy to stomach.
I'm fine. Really, I just think we're a long way from catching this guy. If we could get a print, we'd have something to focus on, but right now, we're at a standstill.
I think it's a good idea. I just don't want you to think you have to hide anything from me. I've seen agents with 20 years' field experience... Fall apart on cases like this.
I have.
I'm fine. I can handle it.
[ door buzzes ]
Hey. What's your name?
You talkin' to me?
Yeah. Were those FBI agents?
Yeah.
Well, what were they asking you?
They thought I was some freak... Who's been digging up corpses. Man, I'm in enough trouble already. Who?
The younger agents.
Oh. Uh, I don't remember his name. She was Scully, like that baseball announcer.
Let's go, mr. Pfaster.
Go where?
The lady's dropped the charges against you. They're letting you out as soon as you talk to a psychiatric social worker.
At first glance, there's not much to work with. Satin doesn't hold a print real well. There may be a latent somewhere in these blood stains. I suspect the killer wore gloves.
The body was shipped on my flight. It should be here within the hour.
We'll take a look. How long you in town for, agent Scully?
I have a flight back to Minneapolis booked for tonight, but, um, I might cancel.
I've put all other work aside.
Thanks.
You think that you find a way to deal with these things. In med school, you develop a clinical detachment to death. In your FBI training, you are confronted with cases, the most violent and terrible cases. You think you can look into the face of pure evil, and then you find yourself paralyzed by it.
Are you aware that you've been talking about yourself in the second person?
No. Was I?
Do you know why?
Um... Probably as another way of trying to detach myself from it.
You're a very strong person. You've probably always felt you can handle any problem by yourself. But you feel vulnerable now. Do you know why that is?
No.
Is it your partner? Is there a problem with trust?
No. I trust him as much as anyone. I trust him with my life.
Can you talk to him about the way you're feeling?
I don't want him to know how much this is bothering me. Um... I don't want him to feel like he has to protect me.
I know you lost your father last year. And, uh, I read in your file... That you were very ill recently, that your life was threatened. These exposures can leave you extremely vulnerable.
I know these things. I'm conscious of them. I-- I know that the world is full of predators, just as it has always been, and I know that it is my job to protect people from them. And I have counted on that fact... To give me faith in my ability to do what I do. I want that faith back. I need it back.
That's great. Ah, there you are. I've been looking for you.
I had a meeting.
I got good news.
What did you find?
There was nothing on the sheets, but we pulled something nice off the body. The guy cut her fingers off, right? But not all of them. On her right hand, he left a thumb. I pulled this off the nail polish. There must have been a struggle before he killed her, before he put the gloves on.
I got to call agent Mulder.
Somebody called for you.
Who?
An agent working out of Minneapolis. I told him you were out. You had a flight booked back tonight.
Was it agent Mulder?
I didn't recognize the name.
Did you tell him about the print?
Hadn't found it yet.
[ man ] take a look at this.
Mulder.
Hi. It's me. We got a print.
Scully got a print.
Fantastic.
I'm gonna modem it to you to see if you can run a match.
Are you staying on there, Scully?
No, I'm coming back tonight.
Look, I know this is a pretty horrific case,
But if-- I'm okay with it, Mulder. Anyway, you could use my help.
Always.
You or agent Bocks didn't call here looking for me, did you?
Did you call Scully? No. Hmm. Okay. Well, I'll see you when I get there.
[ hangs up ]
All right.
Go! FBI! I'll take the bedrooms!
Move it! Move it! Move it! Team two, go. Go! Around back. Team one, what is your status? We're clear back here! Clear!
Bill.
I think it's human hair. Suspect does not appear to be at home. Let's put out an a.p.b. On donald addie Pfaster, age 28.
Moe, take a look at this.
She should be here.
She was on the plane. It landed three hours ago.
We found agent Scully's car.
[ siren wails ]
Pull it in over here.
She was forced off the road. Looks like a white car. Get one of your men. Get a sample of this paint to Washington. If we're lucky, we can get a make and model of the car by morning. We're gonna find her.
[ siren wailing ]
[ water running ]
Nothing registered to donald Pfaster? Right. Right. Got it. The paint is called "ivory bone." it's a two-step enamel used by three makers of late-model, midsize cars. They estimate there may be about 60,000 cars... That fit that description in the metropolitan area.
Nothing?
Nope.
No one saw her leave the rental agency? There was no attendant in the area? That's all we got. You know, people videotape police beatings on darkened streets. They manage to spot elvis in three cities across america every day, but no one saw a pretty woman being forced off the road in her rental car.
He could have taken here anyplace. How are we gonna find her?
Well, um, we gotta start at the beginning. You know, as nasty as it might sound, we gotta try and get inside this guy's head. Where would he go?
Anywhere but his mother's, right?
Why do you say that?
Being he's so pissed off at her from what your profile says.
Do we know where his mother lives?
I don't know.
Let's find out.
[ typing ]
The mother lives in Boca Raton, Florida. Correction. She used to live there. She died a year ago.
Does she have a car registered to her?
[ sighs ]
[ typing ]
Late-model white sedan.
Maybe he inherited the car. Maybe Boca Raton was a winter house. Does she have a residence here in Minneapolis?
[ moaning ]
Get the hell away from me!
Don't be afraid. Is your hair normal or dry? Where are you going? There's no way out, girlie girl.
[ footsteps ]
I know this house, girlie girl. There's nowhere to hide.
[ clicking ]
[ door squeaks ]
Oh! Aah!
Move! Move!
Federal agents! Hands in the air! Hands in the air!
Step over and cuff him. Let me get some paramedics here now!
Just help me get my wrists untied.
We're all clear here, chief.
How did you find me?
His mother used to own the house, willed it to his sisters. Patrolman saw his car out back.
Get him out of here.
You want to sit down, let somebody take a look at you?
I'm fine, Mulder.
[ sobbing ]
It's all right.
The conquest of fear... Lies in the moment of its acceptance... And understanding what scares us most is that which is most familiar, most commonplace. That boy next door, Donnie Pfaster, the unremarkable younger brother of four older sisters, extraordinary only in his ordinariness, could grow up to be the devil in a button-down shirt. It's been said that the fear of the unknown is an irrational response... To the excesses of the imagination, but our fear of the everyday, of the lurking stranger... And the sound of footfalls on the stairs, the fear of violent death and the primitive impulse to survive... Are as frightening as any X-File, as real as the acceptance that it could happen to you.
Try another character, phrase, or keyword.
The dialogue comes from the official DVD subtitle track supplied by Boggsfiles. Speaker and scene attribution was cross-checked against character-labelled reference material. Subtitle wording is preserved while capitalization and spacing are standardized for easier reading.