9X14: IMPROBABLE EPISODE #9ABX14 ORIGINAL AIR DATE ON FOX: 04/07/2002 WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY CHRIS CARTER (Fox Widescreen High Resolution Digital TV) (presented in Dolby Surround where available) ========================== DISCLAIMER: ========================== THE X-FILES and all its characters, plotlines, quotes, episodes, etc. included here are owned by Chris Carter, and Ten Thirteen Productions, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, All rights reserved. This transcript was made without their permission, approval, authorization or endorsement and it is absolutely forbidden to use it for commercial gain. Please let me know if you find any inaccuracies. If you would like to use this transcript on your site, let me know so I can visit you, too. I do ask that the transcript and all names and disclaimers be left intact to give credit to all those who have painstakingly made this possible for your enjoyment. Feel free to add on your own disclaimer for your particular site. For corrections contact: steph@philedom2k.com or intrepidly002@yahoo.com Downloaded from The X Net - http://www.txf.net/ ========================== SUMMARY: A killer, subconsciously playing a deadly numbers game, leads Scully and Reyes into a trap; and possibly the only man who can save them is playing a game of his own. ========================== 9X14: IMPROBABLE ========================== [The songs played in the episode are by Karl Zero: "Ponciana," "La Panse," "Inouis," "Torero," "El Bodeguero," "I Love You For Sentimental Reasons" and "Io Mammate E Tu".] SCENE #01: [INT. CASINO - NIGHT] FADE IN: (A non-Vegas casino-like gaming establishment is filled with middle-aged faces. There are slot machines, gaming tables and a bar for thirsty, socializing patrons.) (The camera opens with cards being spread open-faced in three rows, then being mixed by the dealer. The screen then splits in half showing three gamblers (one woman and two men) sitting facing the dealer. They all have the same grim expression on their faces. Whatever their reasons for being there, they are very serious about it and don't appear to be having much fun. The dealer continues to dealt he cards on the bottom half of the screen.) (The camera moves across the gamblers sitting at that particular blackjack gaming table and finally settles on an expressionless gambler, a man. This is MAD WAYNE. The noticeable thing about MAD WAYNE is that he wears two rings. One huge round thing on the fourth finger of this right hand and a wedding band like ring on the third finger of his left hand. The dealer flicks cards across the table to all the players. He is dealt some pretty crummy cards: a 3 of diamonds and a 2 of clubs. Not much anyone can do with these except to play with them (and maybe win). MAD WAYNE looks over at the dealer who waits for instructions from him. As if it's her fault that he got these crummy cards, MAD WAYNE folds.) MAD WAYNE: Bitch. (MAD WAYNE stands and leave the table. He moves slowly around the room looking this way and that at the other gamers. His dark gaze finds a BLONDE WOMAN (in red) sitting at a slot machine. He moves to stand next to her. It is unclear whether he wants to attract her attention, but he stands there for a moment watching her. The BLONDE WOMAN doesn't take her eyes off of the slot machine. She constantly feeds it coins - one after the other. She doesn't acknowledge him and it is unclear whether she's just too intent on the slot machine to notice him or whether she's deliberately ignoring him. Either way, the two are like that for a moment.) (The camera view changes to a long-range POV that from the bar nearby. There is a gray-haired MAN with a moustache sitting at the bar holding a deck of cards. He's watching them. After a moment, MAD WAYNE turns and moves away from the BLONDE WOMAN. The MAN at the bar turns his attention to the BARTENDER. The MAN is MR. BURT.) (He is a jovial man who wears an easy grin on his face. Just before MAD WAYNE arrives to sit next to him, MR. BURT leans in to the BARTENDER with a knowing smile.) MR. BURT: (as if wagering he's a bet) Bartender, seven and seven, pack of Morleys. (MR. BURT returns to his game of solitaire.) (MAD WAYNE sits down next to MR. BURT. He doesn't acknowledge him. He looks at the BARTENDER, knocks on the bar twice and says ... ) MAD WAYNE: Seven and seven, pack of Morleys. (The BARTENDER sends a knowing look at MR. BURT. They both smile at each other. MR. BURT laughs and says loudly ... ) MR. BURT: We have a winner! MAD WAYNE: (irritatingly) Do I know you? MR. BURT: (surprised) Do you know me? Come on, Wayno ... I'm part of the regular game. (MAD WAYNE is just too irritated by the lunatic who's sitting next to him. He can't be bothered. He turns away from MR. BURT, trying to ignore him. MR. BURT, on the other hand, continues speaking as if he knows MAD WAYNE.) MR. BURT: You know your problem, my friend? It's not the cards. It's playing the hand you were dealt. Plenty of guys get a bad deal. It's all in what you do with it. You know what I'm saying, partner? (MAD WAYNE sends a chilling glance MR. BURT'S way. MR. BURT turns back to his game of solitaire. This is where I note that the first three columns on the right are filled (they're long) and the rest of the columns only contain one over-turned face card. I guess we're also supposed to note that as MR. BURT continues to play, the columns grow toward a winning hand of solitaire.) MR. BURT: You can think. Cards can't. They just lie there. You've got to make them work for you. Jack of hearts. (With a smile, MR. BURT turns over the next card showing it to MAD WAYNE without looking at it himself. It's the Jack of Hearts.) MR. BURT: Two million five hundred ninety eight thousand nine hundred and sixty possible five card hands. Twelve hundred and seventy seven flushes in any give suit. One million ninety eight thousand two hundred and forty ways to make two pairs. And yet ... the game can't beat a man. Man only beats himself and so on and so forth. (MR. BURT looks at MAD WAYNE to find him turned his way only MAD WAYNE isn't looking at MR. BURT, he's look at something ... or someone ... just beyond him. MR. BURT realizes this and turns to see what caught MAD WAYNE'S attention.) (Just beyond is the PRETTY BLONDE WOMAN (in red) still playing the slot machine. MR. BURT: She comes here every Friday and loses her paycheck-- cries all weekend. (The PRETTY BLONDE WOMAN feeds her last quarter into the slot machine. She hangs her empty paper bucket on the slot machine arm, gets up and moves away. MAD WAYNE perks up a bit.) MR. BURT: She's such a nice girl. I keep hoping some night her luck is going to change she'll catch a break. (THE PRETTY BLONE WOMAN walks past the bar, both men and goes into the Women's bathroom. MAD WAYNE tracks her with his gaze, his head turns as she passes them by. MR. BURT, in the meantime, has stopped playing solitaire. MAD WAYNE continues to stare off at the women's bathroom. He's thinking about something .. making some kind of a decision here.) MR. BURT: (hopefully) We going to blow this joint? Call it a night? (MAD WAYNE slowly gets up from his bar stool. He digs his hands into his pockets to pay for his drink. He still hasn't taken his gaze off of the women's bathroom.) MR. BURT: (hopefully) Hey, I know. (MR. BURT surprises MAD WAYNE by grabbing ahold of his arm. He also finally gains MAD WAYNE'S attention. MAD WAYNE turns his burning gaze onto MR. BURT.) MR. BURT: You're bluffing me, right? You're going to show me fifth street. Walk right out of here-- surprise me for a change. (MR. BURT almost sounds as if he's imploring that MAD WAYNE not do whatever it is that he's going to do. That he choose to do something else instead. MAD WAYNE shakes off MR. BURT'S hand, he tosses a couple of bills onto the bar, and heads off in the direction of the restrooms. MR. BURT watches. MAD WAYNE pauses in between the restrooms and looks as if he may not go there, then he turns and disappears into the women's bathroom.) (The camera lingers on MR. BURT whose normally easy smile is completely gone from his eyes and is instead replace with regret.) (MR. BURT returns to his game of solitaire. He flips over the first card.) MR. BURT: Three of hearts ... (He flips over the second card.) MR. BURT: Two of clubs ... (At that moment, a slot machine hits a jackpot and a man's excited voice can be heard (o.s.) yelling his joy. MIDDLE-AGED MAN: I won! I won! (MR. BURT is momentarily distracted by the sounds. He turns and sees a middle- aged man sitting at the exact same slot machine that the PRETTY BLONDE WOMAN had been playing. He's obviously hit the jackpot.) (At that precise moment, a woman runs out of the women's bathroom. She's screaming and hysterical.) WOMAN: Oh, my GOD! Help me, please! Help me! Somebody help me! There's a woman who's been murdered. (MR. BURT turns away from the slot machine and gazes straight ahead. He's extremely saddened by the event. The woman continues to scream. WOMAN: Somebody help me! There's a woman who's been murdered. Help me! Somebody help me! She's been murdered! (MR. BURT doesn't turn around to look at the bathroom. It's as if he's been expecting this although there's no indication that the man is psychic or anything other than normal. He sits there at the bar simply holding his pack of cards, gazing at nothing in particular, hidden deep within his own thoughts.) (MR. BURT turns over the final card. The Ace of Spades. The Death Card.) CUT TO THE TITLE CREDITS [Captioning sponsored by Fox Broadcasting Company Twentieth Century Fox Television and Toyota. Get the feeling.] TAGLINE: DIO TI AMA [TRANSLATION: GOD LOVES YOU] (COMMERCIAL SET) SCENE #02: FBI HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON, D.C. [INT. FBI HALLWAY - DAY] (MONICAL REYES rounds the corridor. She's walking and completely engrossed reading the "Metro Edition" newspaper she's holding. The article on the front page reads: Main Headline: "CASINO MURDER OFFERS NO CLUES" and includes a photo of the PRETTY BLOND (AMY). Smaller Headline 1 (left): "City Newscenter" Sub-headline 1 (left): "A really big show" Photo 1 (on left): airplanes Smaller Headline 2 (right): "SGI Sells U.S.... " Sub-headline 2 (right): "Television: SGI ... a company run by ... ") (REYES continues to walk through the hallway at a controlled pace. People pass by her. The camera shifts to a view looking down on REYES as she (and we through the camera) move down the center of the corridor. Again, she's unaware of the people who move out of their way for her. I think I need to note that the people in the corridor are moving in a criss-cross pattern. It's really noticeable when you fast forward or rewind through this part. They start on one side of her and as she passes by them, they wind up on the other side of her. They also alternate. One on the left then another on the right. Anyway, the overhead camera view gives way to the regular view and REYES still continues on to the elevator.) (REYES is the first to step into the empty elevator. Others shuffle in and file into the elevator in two perfect rows of three (plus an additional person who stands in front of her) for a total of eight people in the elevator standing in the patterned formation as dots on a playing card.) (REYES continues to read her newspaper as the doors close.) CUT TO: SCENE #03: [INT. THE X-FILES OFFICE - DAY] (REYES is sitting at Mulder's old desk. She's intent on three file folders in front of her. She taps on each one counting out something with her fingers. In her left hand, she holds a fourth folder. Okay. I'm going to be the geek right now. Just before the camera gives us the overhead view of REYES sitting at her desk, there are only TWO pencils in the pencil holder on the desk. I know, because I wanted to say that there were THREE, but I couldn't because I counted only two. During the camera overhead view and thereafter, there are now obviously THREE pencils in the pencil holder. Go look for yourself.) (SCULLY walks in. REYES doesn't notice her until she speaks.) SCULLY: Agent Reyes? (REYES looks up to find SCULLY, standing directly in front of her.) REYES: ... Three plus four is seven. Seven and six are thirteen ... SCULLY: What are you doing? REYES: Ten, thirteen, fourteen, sixteen ... (REYES taps each file folder in front of her as she says each number almost as if she were assigning a number to each file folder.) REYES: I want to ask you to open your mind to something. I don't want you to think I'm crazy, all right? SCULLY: Why would I think that you're crazy? REYES: Do you believe the universe is knowable as a mathematical calculation of the whole reducible to a single equation? SCULLY: No. REYES: Why not? SCULLY: Because I don't think that its complexity allows for it to be reduced so simply. REYES: But you accept that some people do? SCULLY: I presume you mean the so-called "Unified Theory?" What physicists often refer to as the Theory of Everything? An equation so simple, they say that it might be printed on a t-shirt. It's a Holy Grail in the world of science. Potentially, the most important question that mankind has ever asked. But that such a complex calculation is even possible is the subject of enormous controversy. (SCULLY lost REYES somewhere along the impromptu lecture. REYES gathers up the file folders on the desk.) SCULLY: Is that what you mean? REYES: (unsure but wings it anyway) Um... potentially. (REYES stands and moves off screen. SCULLY nods her head ... uhm ... okay.) OFF SCULLY CUT TO: SCENE 04: [INT. X-FILES OFFICE - CONTINUOUS] (On an overhead view, REYES slids a photo which is magnified onto the wall/screen. It is the photo of a dead woman. Her long, dark hair is twisted and tangled above her on the ground. Her nose and mouth a mixture of dried blood and bruises. In the top right written in pen on the white border is: "C. CARPENTER". In each of the other corners there is some kind of pen markings. On the photo itself is a drawn in arrow pointing to the pool of blood by the woman's mouth.) REYES: Carla Marie Carpenter, born two, one, seventy-seven [02-01-77]. Killed outside a nightclub two years ago. Her murder remains unsolved. (REYES changes the photo. She places another photo of a blonde-haired woman dead.) REYES: Judy Anne Fuller-- born three, twenty one, sixty nine [03-21-69]. Killed at a mall two years ago. Unsolved. (A third photo is shown. This is a photo of a dark-haired woman, dead in a car,) REYES: Julie Francis Gresham--born one, twenty two, eighty [01-22-80]. Killed in her parked car last month. Unsolved. (SCULLY turns to look at REYES.) SCULLY: Agent Reyes, if there's a connection that I'm supposed to be seeing, I'm not seeing it. (A fourth photo of the PRETTY BLONE WOMAN from the casino is put up on the overhead projector. She's dead and lying on the bathroom tiled floor. Her face bruised and bloodied. Her hair in a tangle around her.) REYES: And our latest victim: Amy Sheridan Aufsbergher--born four, four, seventy-seven [04-04-77]. Killed two weeks ago in a casino. Police have yet to find her killer. SCULLY: Agent Reyes, am I to presume that you've solved these unsolved murders by using some kind of numerical calculation? REYES: (by rote) Letters of names assigned values, added to birth dates reduced to the lowest common denominator. A, J, S, equal one. B, K, T... SCULLY: (disbelieving) Numerology, Agent Reyes? You're trying to solve these cases by using what is essentially a child's game. REYES: It's been in use since the sixth century B.C. When Pythagoras determined that the world was built on the power and influence of numbers. SCULLY: And, uh, when exactly did you stumble upon it? REYES: We did it as kids. (SCULLY gives her a look. As she suspected.) REYES: I still do it. You meet people at a party ask them their birth date. It's kind of an icebreaker. And as I was reading the story of this woman, I calculated she was a 14-- what they call a karmic number-- an extremely significant numerological number. Prompting me to look at all of these other unsolved cases the victims of which also work out to have karmic numbers-- ten, thirteen, and sixteen. SCULLY: So, in other words, you haven't actually solved these cases. REYES: (a resistant beat) Maybe "cracked" is a better word. (SCULLY regards REYES with polite but strained forbearance. SCULLY: Without any other evidence to directly connect them... circumstantial or forensic. (As SCULLY says this, something catches her eye in the photo over the projector. SCULLY stops speaking as she's obviously making a connection ... somewhere ... to something ... ) REYES: What? (SCULLY turns around to look at the larger projected photo on the wall.) SCULLY: Can you enlarge this? (REYES refocuses the projector to give an enlarged view of the victim's face. SCULLY takes a few steps closer to the image on the wall. She sees something. She turns to REYES, still thinking about that possible connection ... that pattern between victims ... ) SCULLY: Can I see the rest of those photos? (SCULLY moves back toward REYES who hands the photos to SCULLY.) REYES: What is it? (SCULLY quietly and quickly rummages through each of the photos. She's definitely looking for something specific. SCULLY: There's a pattern in the bruising. (SCULLY finds it in each one of the photos. In the last photo of Carla Carpenter, SCULLY turns to show it to REYES.) SCULLY: Yeah... all four of the victims have it. Three small circles. They might be from a ring that the killer wears. REYES: (with wonder in her voice) So you're saying these cases are connected. That numerology may actually be driving the killer and that I'm definitely not crazy. SCULLY: Or that maybe you're both crazy. (Gotta love SCULLY'S sense of humor. Off REYES who is unsure whether SCULLY was joking or completely serious.) CUT TO: SCENE #05: [INT. OLD RUNDOWN HOTEL ROOM - DAY] [Start: Karl Zero's "Ponciana" from "Songs for Cabriolets and otros tipos de vehiculos".] (Close up of MAD WAYNE putting on a huge devil's face ring on the third finger of his right hand. He also puts on a shirt over his black undershirt. He stops. SPOKEN (MUSIC): Soieiens-toi Ce disque, c'est ton disque C'est mon disque C'est notre disque (Something compels him to head directly to the open window. Grim faced, he hangs out of the window looking down on the street below.) SPOKEN (MUSIC): This record is for you Este disco... Es para dio... VOCALS: Ah-h-h-h CUT TO: SCENE #06: MR. BURT'S POV TO A TALL HOTEL BUILDING (Outside, it's a lovely day. The sun is shining and the street it bustling. MR. BURT stands behind a make-shift card table playing three-card Monte with the two old Italian gents observing the game. MR. BURT looks up and sees MAD WAYNE hanging out of the window up above (from the building with the sign that says "Carmella's Grocery and Deli - since 1920". ) (MAD WAYNE is looking out of the middle of three windows. He sees MR. BURT'S acknowledgement and hastily goes back into the hotel room pulling the shade closed. At this point, the camera holds on the pattern of three identical windows each with their shades pulled down.) CUT TO: EXT. OLD RUNDOWN HOTEL - THE STREET BELOW - DAY MUSIC: Oh-h-h-h (MR. BURT smiles and starts to mouth the words along with the music.) MR. BURT (lip-sync in French): Luciole [MUSIC (singing in Spanish): Lucero ...] (He glances just beyond the two Italian gents standing in front of him and sees the young couple sitting at a sidewalk table. They kiss each other three times - light pecks on the lips - in time with the music.) MR. BURT (lip-sync): Qui prie dans le ciel de la nuit MR. BURT (lip-sync): Des yeux... [MUSIC (singing): Que brillan en el cielo alli] [MUSIC (singing): Tus ojos ...] (A mother and her child sit on the sidewalk bench. The mother shakes the baby rattle three times, unknowingly in beat with the music.) MR. BURT (lip-sync): Illuminent mon existence [MUSIC (singing): ... iluminaron mi existir] (MR. BURT resumes the three-card monte game. He glances up to see at the cafe across the street: The chef in the window shakes the container of whatever he's holding in beat with the music. The man sitting outside at the sidewalk table shakes the salt/pepper shaker in beat with the music. And the waitress wipes the balding patron's head with a folded piece of cloth in beat with the music.) MR. BURT (lip-sync): Sont tes baisers [MUSIC (singing): Sin tus besos] (Close up of the Italian Chef and his Assistant making canoles in time to the music.) MR. BURT (lip-sync): Mon coeur ne vivrait pas MR. BURT (lip-sync): Je suis toi [MUSIC (singing): Mi corazon no vivira] [MUSIC (singing): Soy tuyo ...] (Close up of the window washer washing windows in time with the music. And also of the chef's assistant inside kneading dough in time with the music. MR. BURT flips over a card and taps on it. It's the Joker. The Old Italian Gents are amused.) MR. BURT (lip-sync): Ne m'abandonne jamais MR. BURT (lip-sync): Ponciana [MUSIC (singing): ... no me abandones nunca mas] (Close up of the shoe shine vendor polishing shoes in time with the music. The patron getting his shoes shined taps his cigar in time with the music. The people walking in the background walk in time with the music. At the barber's shop across the way, the barber combs the client's hair in time with the music. The other barber sweeps the sidewalk in time with the music.) MR. BURT (lip-sync): No me abandones nunca mas (Close up of the barber shop with the barber combing the client's hair in time with the music and of the other barber sweeping the sidewalk in time with the music.) MR. BURT (lip-sync): Ponciana (Close up of the construction worker who uses his hammer in beat with the music. The other construction worker guiding traffic waves his little red flag in time with the music. The red/green bus that stops on the street is the number 3 bus.) (MR. BURT watches this unknowing street symphony with obvious pleasure and joy. He continues to play three-card Monte with the two Italian gents. He moves the cards in beat with the music and every time he taps a card and turns it over, it's always the same card. This amazes the two Italian gents who continue on with the game that's giving them pleasure. MR. BURT smiles and continues to look out at the bustling street around him.) (Close up of three pretty Italian women (triplets) fanning themselves in time with the music.) MR. BURT (lip-sync): Inoubliable étreint Behind them the window washer wipes the windows in time with the music and people walk down the sidewalk in time with the music.) (The camera lingers on several pigeons on the ground. They all fly away except for three. A mother pushes a set of triplets in a stroller.) MR. BURT (lip-sync): Ponciana (MR. BURT turns over a card. It's the King of Diamonds) MR. BURT (lip-sync): Je vais chanter pour toi. (The music ends. The two Italian gents are amused and happy with the game.) TWO ITALIAN GENTS: Bravo, Bravo. Arrivederci. Arrivederci. MR. BURT: Arrivederci. (They applaud MR. BURT enthusiastically then leave the card game, very pleased with the show they were given.) (As MR. BURT sets up for the next game, MAD WAYNE approaches the table. MAD WAYNE is dressed completely in black. He wears a grim face. MR. BURT: Wayno! Come Stai! WAYNO: Quit following me or you might find yourself dead real soon. MR. BURT: (cheerfully) Oh, come on, Wayno, that's not your style. Doesn't fit your pattern. Far be it from me to rat you out. Can't show 'em what they can't see. (MR. BURT sets up the three card-Monte game to play with MAD WAYNE. He begins the game by turning over all three cards: Two Jokes and The King of Diamonds.) MR. BURT: Now, two clowns, and a man with a crown. Want to try your luck, sailor? (MR. BURT turns the cards back over and starts to mix them up them.) MR. BURT: The king runs but he can't hide. How can you lose? Kid stuff. (MR. BURT waits for MAD WAYNE to move. MAD WAYNE stares at the cards and at MR. BURT. MAD WAYNE points to a card. It's a Joker.) MR. BURT: There goes the neighborhood but Mr. Money lives right next door. (MR. BURT flips over the next card over. It's the King of Diamonds.) MR. BURT: You know there's a secret to this game, Wayno and I'm going to tell you what the secret is. Two words: Choose Better. (MAD WAYNE looks at MR. BURT intently. The man simply doesn't make much sense to him. He takes a step closer to MR. BURT.) MAD WAYNE: You got something to say to me, you say it. MR. BURT: (quietly) Son, I just did. (Frustrated, MAD WAYNE knocks over the small table sending the cards flying onto the sidewalk. He storms away. MR. BURT remains with a sad look on his face. MAD WAYNE storms off across the street, a dark figure in a bright, sunny world. (The camera follow MAD WAYNE as he walks along the side walk. Behind him, REYES nearly walks into him. She walks around him, and MAD WAYNE storms off in the direction REYES came from.) (REYES, meanwhile, continues to walk down the sidewalk, a file folder tucked neatly under her arm. She's wearing a coat that is buttoned closed in the front showing us six well, made-up buttons. She enters the HOTEL KNICKERBOCKER, it's the same hotel that MAD WAYNE is staying.) CUT TO: SCENE #07: [INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE NUMEROLOGIST'S HOTEL ROOM OFFICE - DAY] (REYES walks through the hotel hallway and stops at a door that reads: "SUITE 33. VICKI BURDICK, NUMEROLOGIST. YOUR DESTINY AWAITS YOU." (REYES opens the door and enters a small office. Sitting at the small desk with an old computer is VICKI BURDICK. She's a blonde-haired 50-ish woman with bangs. She barely turns around when REYES enters when she launches into her introductory speech.) REYES: Hello. VICKI BURDICK: Uh, there's a clipboard over there with three forms on it. Fill out the top one, or all three if you want to unlock your most secret numbers for love, life and true personal happiness. REYES: I'm not here for a personal chart. (REYES takes another step into the small office and pulls out a business card. VICKI BURDICK turns around.) REYES: I'm with the FBI, investigating a series of deaths that seem to have a numerological connection. VICKI BURDICK: I give valuable insights to the living. The dead pretty much already know their future. REYES: These are murders. I'm looking for your help in trying to solve them. VICKI BURDICK: You may overestimate the kind of work I'm capable of here. REYES: My hope is in doing the victims' complete numerology you'll be able to draw a picture of the killer. VICKI BURDICK: I don't think you understand. I run a little business here. People come to me if they want to improve their lives how to get rich, how to marry the man of their dreams. I mean, look around. If I could actually provide that kind of information ... I don't have to draw you a picture. REYES: You don't believe in it? VICKI BURDICK: At best, it's an art. (REYES won't be denied. She holds out the file folder she carried in with her and offers it to VICKI BURDICK.) REYES: I have established an undeniable numerological connection between the victims in all of these cases. (REYES hands her a file folder, which the woman opens. She recoils at the sight of the photos we've already seen.) REYES: If I found the killer I might prevent this happening again. (VICKI BURDICK sighs.) VICKI BURDICK: Let me see what I can come up with. (As REYES' cell phone rings, she pulls it out to answer it.) REYES: Monica Reyes. INTERCUT WITH: SCENE #08: [INT. BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE BRIEFING ROOM - DAY] (The walls are filled with pictures of serial killer types. And of maps with pins stuck in them. Wanted posters, etc. Silence of the Lambs territory. DOGGETT is on the phone.) DOGGETT: Monica. You're not going to believe this. We found two more cases-- two more victims to add to this thing both with the same marks on their faces. (As DOGGETT is saying this, the camera finds two crime scene photos pinned to the wall behind AGENT DOGGETT. Both appear to have red hair, unlike the other victims we've seen.) DOGGETT: Now, I knew you were good but this ... this is career-launching. You better get back here. TIME CUT TO: SCENE #09: [INT. BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE BRIEFING ROOM - DAY] (REYES enters the room to a burst of applause that startles, surprises and embarrasses her. The room is filled with agents. Both DOGGETT and SCULLY are there.) DOGGETT: Nice work. REYES: Thank you. (AGENT FORDYCE, most probably the most senior agent on this case, speaks.) SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: Well done. Well done. REYES: Thank you. SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: By brilliantly tying these murder cases together VICAP is now working hard to develop a profile t the man we are officially calling The Triple Zero Killer. Through the identification of a pattern he leaves on his victims we have been able to connect six unsolved cases to one murderer including these two new cases. Agent Scully will act as a point person on the case forensics. (AGENT FORDYCE nods to AGENT SCULLY.) SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: That's three recent killings and three from 1999. The developing pattern now appears to be murders in threes on a serpentine trail up across the eastern seaboard. Agent Doggett will lead the task force and is ready to roll. (AGENT FORDYCE points to something on the board. We can't see what it is, but presumably, he's pointing to a map on the wall with the pattern indicated on it.) SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: (counts on his fingers for emphasis) Here's what we don't know. One: How he chooses his victims. Two: How the killer kills. And three: If he'll kill again soon or disappear as he did two years ago. DOGGETT: He may have been incarcerated during those years. We may be looking for someone with a record. SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: That's an excellent observation. SCULLY: The killer is strong. He uses his fists as weapons. Brute force. He is angry and he acts on impulse. SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: Good. Important. Agent Reyes we're all working off your lead. Give us the benefit of your special insight into this case. (A hush falls over the room.) REYES: Well ... the killer probably has a soul number of either four or six. His birth path is I'm guessing, a nine, or maybe a six. The destiny and realization numbers are definitely karmic. I'll know for sure once I've got the charts from the numerologist, but the killer is almost certainly working off numerical vibrational disharmonies. (The hush over the room has turned deafening. The assembly stares at REYES dumbfounded. The agents one by one rustle their discomfort with what REYES is saying. Then REYES'S cell phone rings, breaking the silence. She digs for it, checks the caller ID.) REYES: That's her now. Monica Reyes. CUT TO: SCENE #10: [INT. NUMEROLOGIST'S HOTEL ROOM OFFICE - LATE DAY] (VICKI BURDICK sits in front of her computer, the telephone tucked under her ear.. She's been going of the charts.) VICKI BURDICK: Agent Reyes? I've been running numbers here on the murder victims. REYES: (o.s.) Yes, uh-huh. VICKI BURDICK: And the strangest thing has come up. (Behind her, the office door opens. VICKI BURDICK turns around and begins her introductory spiel.) REYES: (o.s.) What? What is it? VICKI BURDICK: Oh, there's three forms in the clipboard. Fill out the top one, or all three if you want to unlock your most secret... (She stops as she surely must realize or recognize something about the man standing in her doorway. Whatever it is, we are not privy to it. It's MAD WAYNE.) FADE TO BLACK. (COMMERCIAL SET 2) FADE IN SCENE #11: [EXT. OLD RUNDOWN HOTEL - DAY] (The camera has an inside-the-bag view. The body bag is unzipped and we see AGENT FORDYCE looking down on us.) SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: I want her body sent to Quantico. CUT TO: SCENE #12: [INT. NUMEROLOGIST'S HOTEL ROOM OFFICE - DAY] (VICKI BURDICK'S badly beaten face peer out through the unzippered opening of the body bag. Her lower face is bloodied and bruised.) SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: I want facts, I want details. I want Agent Scully to go over this woman with a fine-tooth comb. (AGENT FORDYCE is speaking with DOGGETT and REYES. Other forensics personnel scope through the crime scene.) DOGGETT: Yes, sir. SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: And I want you, Agent Reyes to tell me who else knows about this. REYES: Knows about what? SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: About this case, about you coming to this office to see this woman. REYES: I don't think I told anyone. SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: Then how did the killer find his way here? Chance? Coincidence? REYES: I... I... SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: (interrupting) We got a guy working the whole eastern seaboard murdering up and down the coast. Tell me how it is he winds up here in this city, in this building on this floor, in this room on the same day you came here to see her if he didn't know. REYES: That's actually why I came to see this woman-- to find out who the killer is why he does what he does when he does it. SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: (his patience wearing thin) We have a reputation to uphold, Agent Reyes. The FBI doesn't go to numerologists for the same reason we don't consult horoscopes or palm readers or crystal balls. A killer kills for a reason. He lives in the world of cause and effect, as we all do. He gets an impulse and acts on it. Always the case, even if he doesn't know it and that's how we catch him. (REYES is not intimidated by AGENT FORDYCE. Logically, she explains her rationale which makes perfect sense in an X-Files-ish sort of way.) REYES: If he acts on impulses he can't understand isn't it possible we can't understand them either? Can we not accept that every killer is not driven by the same impulses and that there are some impulses that not every killer kills for? SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: No. REYES: Why not? SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: (with finality) Because it's unacceptable. DOGGETT: But if Agent Reyes didn't tell anyone she was coming here the only person who would possibly have any idea is somebody at the FBI. SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: An inside job? I don't buy it. DOGGETT: But don't we at least have to accept that as a possibility? SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: No, we don't. REYES: Why? SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: Because it's highly improbable. DOGGETT: (counters) But not impossible. SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: Six of one, half a dozen of the other. (DOGGETT seems to be losing respect for the man standing in front of him.) DOGGETT: How would you like us to proceed, sir? SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: The bottom line is I want results. I don't care how you go about it. What I want is this killer caught. (And with that he leaves.) AGENT FORDYCE (to the others in the room): All right, let's get the body out of here. DOGGETT: (to REYES) Maybe you were followed. REYES: How? If the killer didn't even know I was looking for him? DOGGETT: (frustrated) I don't know-- you explain it then. REYES: This woman called me just before she was murdered. She had something to tell me something she found in the victims' charts. DOGGETT: Their charts? REYES: Their numerology a calculation of numbers that rule their lives in thirteen different categories. DOGGETT: But a calculation based on what? REYES: On names and birth dates. DOGGETT: Because my name is John Jay Doggett and I was born April 4, 1960, I got some kind of magic number? (REYES is already counting.) REYES: Six. Which makes you an active, adaptive, curious person who insists on their independence loves a bargain and above all else wants to be successful. DOGGETT: Well, that describes pretty much anyone. REYES: People are people. DOGGETT: Right, they're not numbers. REYES: Then what was she calling me for? (DOGGETT is at a loss for words.) DOGGETT: I'm going to leave you here to figure that out. I'm going back to the Bureau. (DOGGETT exits.) [Start music: Karl Zero's "La Panse".] (REYES sighs and moves to the window where she pulls the shade up.) CUT TO: SCENE #13: [EXT. OLD RUNDOWN HOTEL - DAY] (When REYES pulls the window shade up, the camera reveals that there is a pattern in the larger scheme of the windows on the building. There are two rows of five windows. The inner three windows of both rows have their shades pulled up. These are black. The outer two on either side of the rows are pulled down. These are white. This pattern matches ... ) (The camera does a close up on the six dots on a domino piece with a blurred REYES still looking out the window in the background. A domino piece is held in a hand. The camera refocuses when a blurred figure walks into the background. It's MAD WAYNE.) (The person holding the domino piece is MR. BURT.) (MAD WAYNE turns and looks at MR. BURT surprised and annoyed to see him sitting there.) MR. BURT: Buon Giorno! Wayno. MAD WAYNE: Who do you think you are? MR. BURT: Who do you think I am? (MAD WAYNE is distracted by the police radio chatter coming behind him. He glances back and sees DOGGETT and two-three other officers standing by the stairway entrance to the hotel. He quickly sits down and averts his face.) MAD WAYNE: (softly) Don't say a word. MR. BURT: (smiling) Do I ever? (As DOGGETT passes by the table with the two men, MR. BURT tips the domino over which sets off a chain reaction among the other dominoes lined up in a spiral pattern. DOGGETT pauses to watch the game. He glances down at MAD WAYNE who barely makes eye contact with him. The dominos fall and DOGGETT leaves. MR. BURT smiles.) MAD WAYNE: (through his teeth) You're just trying to get me caught. MR. BURT: (shrugs) I'm just playing a game of dominoes. As long as you're sitting here, though. How are you feeling? MAD WAYNE: Go to hell. MR. BURT: Are the reservations in your name? MR. BURT: You're a card. You really are a card but I love you. MR. BURT: (smiling) Got time for a quick game? WAYNO: I don't play your games. (Suddenly, MR. BURT isn't smiling anymore. He seems uncharacteristically serious at MAD WAYNE'S words. Something that escapes MAD WAYNE'S notice.) MR. BURT: Not a truer word's been spoken. (MAD WAYNE glares at MR. BURT. He gets up and leaves. MR. BURT looks down at the single domino piece he holds in his hand. It's a 3.) CUT TO: SCENE #14: [INT. QUANTICO - AUTOPSY BAY - EVENING] (SCULLY is examining the latest victim. She's looking through a magnifying lens at the three dots left on the numerologist's face.) [The Karl Zero song ends.] (SCULLY speaks into a microcassette recorder.) SCULLY: The deceased is Vicki Louise Burdick. Upon external examination, cause of death appears to be a fatal blow to the maxilla in which a small, three-ring pattern lies. I will begin my internal examination at ... (SCULLY glances at the digital clock above. It reads: 6:06). SCULLY: ... Six o' six p.m. (SCULLY turns the microcassette recorder off and picks up a scalpel from the tray next to her. The camera lingers on the tray in which all the necessary appliances are in sets of six. There are six cotton swabs, six cotton balls on the tips of six scissors, six scalpels, six measuring rulers, six pipettes, six small bottles of whatever and a large package of something in the top right with the number "6" on it.) (SCULLY turns to work on the victim when she pauses. On VICKI BURDICK'S forehead are a few strands of her hair from her bangs curled into ... the shape of a six (6). In fact there are three curls on her forehead shaped this way: 666.) (SCULLY turns to continue with the examination, when she notices something else that stops her. A domino pattern of six freckles are on the woman's skin near where she's about to cut. SCULLY glances back up to the 666 in the woman's bangs. This is too strange for SCULLY, who lifts the microcassette recorder when something else catches her attention. The counter reads, 666.) [start music] CUT TO: SCENE #15: [INT. NUMEROLOGIST'S HOTEL ROOM OFFICE - EVENING] (REYES sits at VICKI BURDICK'S desk working alone at night. Behind her, a figure approaches the door. The door opens. It's SCULLY. REYES quickly turns around and stands to meet her.) REYES: Agent Scully. SCULLY: I've got something to show you. REYES: What is it? (SCULLY opens the file folder she carried in with her, opens it, and hands it to REYES. Inside is the close up photograph of the face of the last victim with emphasis on the triple zero patter.) SCULLY: I figured out what the triple-zero pattern on the victim is. They aren't zeros at all. It's the number 666, only worn away. (REYES looks impressed.) SCULLY: It must be stamp on the killer's ring. 666, the mark of the devil. REYES: Of course. How'd you figure that? SCULLY: I didn't. REYES: Then how'd you discover it? SCULLY: Completely by accident. REYES: I discovered something, too-- the victims' charts. When the numbers were figured, the numerologist found they were a match to her own numbers. SCULLY: How did the killer find her? REYES: It obviously wasn't an accident. SCULLY: And how does that help us find the killer? REYES: It doesn't. (SCULLY and REYES look at each other. They're stumped.) [Start music: Karl Zero's "Inouis".] CUT TO: SCENE #16: [INT. BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE BRIEFING ROOM - NIGHT] (A camera close up on a "Metro Section" newspaper clipping with the headline: "HER NUMBER WAS UP". There's also a photo of the numerologist accompanying the article. The camera pulls a little back and we notice that the newspaper clipping is pinned to the bulletin board along with photos of other victims in the case.) (DOGGETT is standing in front of the bulletin board studying the photos. DOGGETT turns to look at the map with the pins of the killer's victims stuck in them. Each pin is connected by an orange piece of string. DOGGETT points at the map and notices the pattern in the shape of the number six (6). (DOGGETT is startled by the booming voice of AGENT FORDYCE as he approaches.) SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: Agent Doggett I think we have a psychological profile on the murderer. DOGGETT: What is it? SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: Based on the amalgam of forensic detail of facts such as time and place the murders were committed and the amount of force used we believe the killer is a man in his mid-20s to late 40s of average build and looks who is driven by rage stemming from a hatred of his mother from a very early age. He was a bedwetter who was made to feel inferior which he took out on the world by killing small animals. DOGGETT: That's it? SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: Go to work. DOGGETT: That's the average profile of almost every single serial killer the FBI'S ever hunted down. SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: Is that really all that surprising? (DOGGETT seems to have a problem with this. He doesn't say anything. He simply turns his attention back to the map on the bulletin board in front of him.) SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: Is there a problem, Agent Doggett? DOGGETT: It's the way Agent Reyes found the cases. I don't think she should so easily be dismissed. SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: You don't believe in this nonsense? DOGGETT: Look at this: The path of the killer forms a number six. (DOGGETT points to the map and the orange string which shows the large number 6. AGENT FORDYCE isn't convinced.) SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: Your point? DOGGETT: I don't know. I just noticed it. SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: (mocking) Have you noticed all babies look like Winston Churchill? Same difference, Agent Doggett. DOGGETT: (regarding the map) What if this is the killer's pattern? What if the number six has some kind of significance to the murders? SPECIAL AGENT FORDYCE: It may ... to you and Agent Reyes, but not to victim number seven. (AGENT FORDYCE points at the photograph of the dead numerologist. He gives DOGGETT a meaningful look and leaves. The camera lingers on DOGGETT.) [The music ends.] CUT TO: SCENE #17: [INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE NUMEROLOGIST'S HOTEL ROOM OFFICE - NIGHT] (SCULLY and REYES leave the office, pulling the door closed behind them. REYES is holding the file folder and the sheets of paper with the numerologists number analysis. Her eyes haven't left the paper. She's getting herself engrossed in the figures before her.) REYES: If we could analyze these numbers I know we could figure this out. SCULLY: Well, despite what we know about the victims' numerology, about the ring that we think that he wears, we really know next to nothing about where to start looking for this man. (They stop at the elevator.) REYES: (pouring over the charts) The answer's going to come to me. (The elevator doors open, to MAD WAYNE. The elevator bell rings.) SCULLY: You going down? (MAD WAYNE nods and the women step on. REYES is lost in the charts. She barely notices the man in the elevator. The three of them stand in the elevator side by side as the elevator doors close.) CUT TO: SCENE #18: [INT. HOTEL ELEVATOR - NIGHT] (The elevator comes to a halt on their floor and the doors open. REYES is once again engrossed in the papers in her hands. She automatically steps out of the elevator. MAD WAYNE holds out a hand (in a gentlemanly fashion) to stop the doors from closing.) SCULLY: Thank you. (SCULLY immediately notices the ring on his hand. She stops and then looks back up at MAD WAYNE who is watching her intently. SCULLY smiles lightly at him then steps out of the elevator. MAD WAYNE drops his hand.) (Three steps out of the elevator, SCULLY pulls her weapon out and aims it at MAD WAYNE.) CUT TO: SCENE #19: [INT. HOTEL LOBBY - NIGHT] (In the background, REYES stands still reading. The lobby is empty. No one is there inside or behind the reception desk. REYES snaps out of it when SCULLY yells.) SCULLY: Get out of the elevator! Move! (This surprises MAD WAYNE.) MAD WAYNE: Just be cool. Be cool. All right? Everything's going to be fine. Be cool. (MAD WAYNE raises his hands and begins to move forward out of the elevator. Just as the doors begin to close, he takes a step back successfully enclosing himself in the elevator and leaving SCULLY and REYES standing in the lobby.) (They stand there watching the elevator movement above the door.) SCULLY: It's him. REYES: He's going down. SCULLY: Stairs. (SCULLY runs past REYES who drops the file to follow. SCULLY reaches the door to the stairs first. They both make their way quickly down the stairwell. REYES has her gun in her hand.) [Music starts: Karl Zero's "Torero".] CUT TO: SCENE #20: [INT. HOTEL PARKING GARAGE - NIGHT] (SCULLY and REYES burst out of the stairwell door leading into the parking garage. The skreetch of car tires and the revving of a car engine catch their attention. They quickly head off in that direction.) (A sedan pulls out in front of their view. It's not going very fast. It does, however, manage to leave the garage. By the time SCULLY and REYES hit the ramp entrance/exit, the metal gate begins to close.) (The women are too late. The gate has closed them in the garage.) MUSIC: Olé! CUT TO BLACK. (COMMERCIAL SET ) FADE IN SCENE #21: [INT. HOTEL PARKING GARAGE - NIGHT] (SCULLY and REYES head back the way they came. REYES pulls out her cell phone and tries it. REYES: I'm not getting reception. (SCULLY heads for the elevator, tries it. The elevator doesn't respond.) SCULLY: Great. REYES: (regarding her phone) "No service." (SCULLY heads for the stairwell door handle and tugs on that. It doesn't budge. She bangs the stairwell door three times in frustration. They're locked in the garage.) SCULLY: We have to get an APB out on that car. Did you happen to see a plate? REYES: No. (REYES shakes her head. SCULLY turns back to the combination lock on the stairwell and begins to randomly push the buttons hoping something will work. No dice.) SCULLY: We got all the numbers on this case except for the ones we need. REYES: Maybe there's another way out. (REYES is looking around. SCULLY checks her watch.) SCULLY: Well, it's only midnight. There's got to be somebody coming in or out soon. (SCULLY is putting her gun away when REYES turns to her.) REYES: How do we know who was driving that car? That it was even him? That's the killer's not still here? (The thought hadn't crossed their minds. They both presumed that the killer was the one who was driving the car. They both pull their guns back out and begin to search the garage.) (The cautiously walk in between the parked cars. Their guns out fully conscious of the threat this killer poses to themselves.) SCULLY: We're federal agents and we're armed. If you are here and you make any sudden moves we will be forced to consider you a threat. (In the distance, a man clears his throat. SCULLY turns and heads in the direction of the sound.) (Their attention is on the figure of a man sitting in an old green-colored car. I'm told that all the cars in the garage are "classic" cars. Just as the car that left the garage moments before was a 1960's sedan and just as I am told that the car that they're looking at is a vintage Cadillac, maybe others who are better versed and more appreciative of this would find this little tidbit fascinating. Other than that, the car seems old, huge and very, very green to me.) SCULLY: Stay where you are! Right there! (SCULLY positions herself behind a car and has her weapon on the man inside the car. REYES soon joins her.) REYES: Hands where we can see them! (The camera does seem to indicate that there is a figure of a man inside the car behind the wheel.) REYES: Get out of the car slowly. (The door opens and out comes ... MR. BURT.) MR. BURT: Did I do something wrong? SCULLY: Step around the back of the car. (Both SCULLY and REYES also move out in front of MR. BURT. They haven't lowered their guns. They're not sure whether the many in front of them isn't in on the killings.) SCULLY: I want you to show us some identification. MR. BURT: I don't have a wallet. REYES: Do you have some form of I.D.? MR. BURT: I don't think so. SCULLY: Sir, what are you doing here? MR. BURT: Waiting for a friend. SCULLY: At midnight? In a parking garage? MR. BURT: We have this regular game we play. REYES: What kind of game? MR. BURT: Checkers. (SCULLY turns to REYES. They both think they're being put on.) MR. BURT: The checkers are in the trunk if either of you play. SCULLY: Sir, does it look like we're here to play checkers? MR. BURT: No. (MR. BURT considers the question seriously. He puts down his hands as he asks .. ) MR. BURT: What are you here for? REYES: (unphased) Get your hands back up in the air. Step forward. Put your hands on the trunk. (MR. BURT moves to comply. He slowly puts his hands on the trunk and waits patiently while REYES pats him down. They don't find anything. SCULLY hasn't moved her gun from him.) REYES: He's clean. SCULLY: All right. Let's pop the trunk. CUT TO: SCENE #22: [ANGLE ON THE BIG CADDY TRUNK (THIS IS A SHORT TIME CUT)] (The trunk opens. The camera view is from the inside of the trunk so that when the trunk opens, we see MR. BURT.) (SCULLY looks in and sees a checkerboard set on top of a pile of compact disks in disarray. They're CD's that are burned and not commercial CDs. They're in their jewel cases and the labels are blank. SCULLY: What's all this? MR. BURT: Music. REYES: (facetiously suspicious) You must really like music. MR. BURT: Oh, I love it. The classics, of course. Mozart, Bach, the earlier jazz: Louis Armstrong, Sinatra, Doo-wop, Elvis, marching bands ... SCULLY: Sir, enough. MR. BURT: Don't get me wrong. I love all music but I prefer the stuff that lasts. (MR. BURT smiles.) (REYES reaches in and takes out a couple of CDs.) MR. BURT: You like them? Keep 'em. Thanks to the wondrous world of digital technology I can always make more. SCULLY: What time is your friend coming? (MR. BURT looks at his wrist as if to look at the time on his wrist watch. Only, he's not wearing any wrist watch.) MR. BURT: Soon. REYES: (to SCULLY) What do you want to do? SCULLY: I don't know. I don't know. (SCULLY shakes her head and puts her gun away. She doesn't know.) MR. BURT: I have some nice dance music. SCULLY: We happen to be here, sir because there is a serial killer on the loose. MR. BURT: How many did he kill? REYES: Seven women now. (MR. BURT shakes his head tragically at this.) MR. BURT: How are you going to catch him? SCULLY: We're not, stuck down here. MR. BURT: You sure there's nothing I can do? (SCULLY rolls her eyes. This has gone from bad to worse. Then:) SCULLY: Do you have the combination to the door? MR. BURT: No. REYES: Do you have a cell phone that works? MR. BURT: I wish I did. (There's a long beat of silence. Then:) MR. BURT: There's always checkers. (SCULLY looks at REYES who shrugs. MR. BURT smiles.) [Start music: Karl Zero's cha cha cover of, "El Bodeguero".] CUT TO: SCENE #23: (MR. BURT sitting at a makeshift portable table with the checkerboard set up on it. His hand come out and he jumps over ALL of his opponent's checkers. SCULLY can't believe it.) (MR. BURT smiles.) MR. BURT: Next victim? (SCULLY can't be humoured. She slowly gets up from the victim's chair and moves past REYES.) SCULLY (to Reyes): How did we get ourselves into this? (REYES looks over at MR. BURT who nods his head that he's ready.) CUT TO: SCENE #24: (The same checker layout is on the board for REYES as was for SCULLY. MR. BURT once again jumps over all of his opponent's pieces.) (REYES looks shocked. She jumps just as THREE gunshots are fired somewhere in the garage. Their sound deafening in the empty garage.) [The music stops.] (Behind them, SCULLY stands with her gun drawn on the locked stairwell door. Her gun still smoking, she tries the door again ... but it's still locked. Awww, shucks.) [The music resumes.] (SCULLY throws a glance at REYES and MR. BURT and continues to pace the floor in the background.) CUT TO: SCENE #25: [INT. STILL IN THE GARAGE] (A new checker game has started. REYES playing red on one side and SCULLY playing black on the other. Each of them playing the same moves. Meanwhile, MR. BURT is dancing the cha cha around their game.) MR. BURT (to the music): ... cha cha cha -- (As they play the game, REYES realizes something. She reaches over and turns the board around so that SCULLY is playing red and she has the black.) SCULLY: Agent Reyes? (REYES stands. MR. BURT stopped dancing and stands next to her. The music has faded down to nothing. She's looking down at the board.) REYES: Your hair color. (SCULLY reaches up and touches her own hair. She, too, sees the connection.) SCULLY: I don't believe it. MR. BURT: What? REYES: What if we're his next victims? MR. BURT: You? REYES: The seventh victim was a blond. MR. BURT: But neither of you are blondes. REYES: He kills in threes. Blond, redhead, brunette. The next victims will be a redhead and a brunette. MR. BURT: Amazing-- from a game of checkers. (SCULLY looks suspiciously at MR. BURT. She suddenly pulls her gun out on him.) SCULLY: Who are you? MR. BURT: Obviously someone you are very lucky to have run into. SCULLY: No. No. You're part of this. MR. BURT: How do you figure that? REYES: No, it's all in the numbers. It makes perfect sense. The numbers led us to the killer the killer led us to the garage and now all we've done is recognize the killer's real serial pattern. MR. BURT: So you're saying I didn't have anything to do with it. SCULLY: Hey, keep your hands up. MR. BURT: Why? SCULLY: I don't know. (SCULLY puts her gun down. MR. BURT puts his hands down now.) MR. BURT: What's this s about numbers? SCULLY: (raises her gun on him again) Will you just... ? MR. BURT: I'm very good with numbers. (SCULLY puts her gun down.) REYES: The killer is driven by an impulse we believe is numerological. MR. BURT: Of course. He's a serial killer. SCULLY: No, that's not what she means. She thinks that his acts are determined by a calculation of numbers. MR. BURT: So the killer's not in control of his actions the numbers are? REYES: Yes. MR. BURT: Well, are the numbers helping you catch him or are they helping him not get caught? REYES: That's a good question. MR. BURT: So, it's a kind of a game. SCULLY: No, it's not. REYES: No, maybe it is. Maybe that's what this is about-- who wins the game. MR. BURT: I think she's onto something. SCULLY: Agent Reyes, you can't reduce a complex factor as physical and psychological into a game. REYES: You're a scientist, Agent Scully. Your world is ruled by numbers: Atoms, molecules, periodicity. MR. BURT: Wow! REYES: And wouldn't it follow that everything made from those things is ruled by numbers, too: Genes, chromosomes, us, the universe. MR. BURT: Go, girl. SCULLY: Agent Reyes, that is utter nonsense, okay? It would mean that all we are are checkers on a checkerboard being moved around by some forces completely outside and unbeknownst to us. REYES: What did Einstein say? MR. BURT: Einstein-- now there's a winner. REYES: "God does not play dice with the universe." SCULLY: Nor does he play checkers. Look, Agent Reyes, you can't reduce all of life all creation, every piece of art architecture, music, literature into a game of win or lose. REYES: Why not? Maybe the winners are those who play the game better; those who see the patterns and connections like we're doing right now. MR. BURT: (snaps his fingers) Free will. REYES: (realizing now) Maybe we're not the next victims. Maybe we're here because we saw the numbers and read the patterns and we're here to catch the killer. SCULLY: But the killer is outside, killing and we are stuck in a parking garage. REYES: What if he's not? What if we didn't look hard enough? What if the killer's still down here? (REYES draws her weapon. A shadowy figure hiding behind a car withdraws quickly into the shadows. SCULLY looks perturbed. MR. BURT smiles.) SCULLY: What are you looking at? (The lights suddenly go out. Leaving all of them in darkness.) MR. BURT: Same thing you are. (LOL!) FADE TO BLACK. (COMMERCIAL SET) FADE IN SCENE #26: [INT. HOTEL PARKING GARAGE - NIGHT] (The garage is cast in darkness. The only light is the natural light coming from the street outside. MR. BURT starts stacking checkers and putting his stuff away. Both REYES and SCULLY have their guns drawn.) MR. BURT: So what now? (Continue adjusting to SCULLY, drawing her gun now, too.) SCULLY: You go left, I'll go right. SCULLY (to MR. BURT): You, you stay right where you are. MR. BURT: Oh, there's no getting rid of me. (Both women split and start searching the garage once more.) (REYES cautiously moves past the elevators. A hand comes out from behind and grabs her, muffling her yell. SCULLY is still making her way in the darkness unaware of REYES' situation.) (At this point, it's unsure whether MR. BURT knows what's going on with REYES. Chances are that he does. SCULLY notices that the breaker box is open and heads toward it. REYES struggles desperately to free herself from MAD WAYNE and to keep her gun away from his grasp. She's not about to give up on this one.) (REYES and MAD WAYNE fall to the ground. REYES' gun sliding away from them. MAD WAYNE crawls toward the gun and reaches it first. He picks it up and swings around to take aim at REYES.) (REYES looks up at MAD WAYNE ... straight down the barrel of her own gun.) (When suddenly, a shadowy silhouette from above and behind her fires three shots into MAD WAYNE. The lights go on. It's AGENT DOGGETT.) (He stands behind her, motionless. The smoking gun still held in his hand. AGENT SCULLY reaches them.) (DOGGETT moves toward REYES to help her up. SCULLY checks on MAD WAYNE who is lying in a pool of blood. He's still alive. But barely.) SCULLY: H's going fast. (With an arm around her waist, DOGGETT helps REYES to her feet.) DOGGETT: Are you okay? REYES: Yeah, I think so. (They approach MAD WAYNE. SCULLY and REYES in close and DOGGETT a safe distance away, his gun still in his hand. SCULLY: Can you hear me? REYES: Why'd you do it-kill those women? (MAD WAYNE shakes his head and struggles to speak. He shudders and dies before giving any explanation.) (Both REYES and SCULLY turn to look at AGENT DOOGETT.) SCULLY: How did you ever find us? DOGGETT: I saw something in his pattern. It made me realize there's going to be nine victims. Maybe you two were going to be eight and nine. (The coincidence is just mind boggling. Both SCULLY and REYES realize something at the exact same time. The each jump to their feet and run back to the garage area where they last left him.) REYES: Where'd he go? [Music starts: Karl Zero's "I Love You For Sentimental Reasons."] (MR. BURT'S Cadillac is gone.) CUT TO: SCENE #27: [INT. BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE BRIEFING ROOM - DAY] (The camera has a close up of AGENT FORDYCE and the entire team of agents standing in the background. AGENT FORDYCE has a perplexing look on his face.) (The camera cuts to what AGENT FORDYCE is looking at. It's the map with the pattern of kills in the shape of the number six (6). Once again, the camera switches back to AGENT FORDYCE who begins to tilt his head to the left. A little further than one would expect.) (As his head tilts, the camera on the map also rotates to match the movement of AGENT FORDYCE'S head to show us what he's looking at ... and presumably also at what AGENT DOGGETT saw that sent him back to the garage. It's the six (6) upside down ... making it the number nine.) (The camera switches back to AGENT FORDYCE and the entire team of agents who all have their heads tilted left. Dunno why they just don't turn the crazy map over. Nah, this is much more fun to see.) CUT TO: SCENE #28: [INT. SCULLY'S APARTMENT - NURSERY - NIGHT] (Camera close up on William who is looking cute as a button. He's lying in his crib and SCULLY is settling him in for the night. He's smiling and waving his arms. She's rubbing his cheek and patting his chest.) (SCULLY is looking down on her son. She moves out of the nursery and leaves the door ajar on her way out.) (The camera cuts to SCULLY settling into bed and turning out the light to go to sleep. Only she can't. Something's bothering her. She turns the light back on and reaches for the phone.) CUT TO: SCENE #29: [INT. REYES' APARTMENT - BEDROOM - NIGHT] (The phone rings. REYES, in her nightgown, moves to pick it up. The digital clock next to her bed reads 9:09.) REYES: Hello? SCULLY: All right, I need to know. REYES: What? SCULLY: What my numerology is, and what my number ... whatever you call it. What am I? (REYES smiles at the curiosity.) REYES: You're a nine. SCULLY: Which means what? REYES: Nine is completion. You've evolved through the experiences of all the other numbers to a spiritual realization that this life is only part of a larger whole. (Wow. SCULLY sits silently. She's really affected by this.) REYES: Dana, are you there? SCULLY: There's something else that's bugging me. REYES: What's that? SCULLY: Who was that man? REYES: (doesn't know) God knows. [The song ends and another beings: Karl Zero's "Io Mammate E Tu".] CUT TO: SCENE #30: [EXT. OLD RUNDOWN HOTEL] (Cops direct the removal of MAD WAYNE'S body bag from the hotel to a waiting vehicle. There is a crowd there.) [SONG SPOKEN: Michelangelo ... ! ... ] (Standing there watching are the two old Italian Gents. They sing the lyrics to the song and walk through the streets.) OLD ITALIAN GENT (in gray suit): Ti avevo detto dal primo apputamento Di non portar niscuino appresso a te HEAVY ITALIAN GENT (in blue sweater): Invece vonn'o frate na sora e nu nepote Solo nun sta' na vota ascimm sempre a tre OLD ITALIAN GENT: E m'hai promesso domani chi lo sa Vegghi sultanto, sultanto con mamma HEAVY ITALIAN GENT: Pa-a, pa-a, pa-pa-pa-pa (Behind them, they walk past various booths and activities that are a part of the San Gennaro Festival that was being prepared for earlier in the episode. The two men simply walk, talk/sing to each other oblivious to the festivities around them. In the background there is a canole eating contest in front of the cafe.) BOTH: Io mammate e tu HEAVY ITALIAN GENT: Sempre appriesso,cosi pazzi Ch'esta viene pur'i pur'i O' viaggo nozze (In the streets there is a large ferris wheel. The dancers stand around waiting for the parade to begin. The two old Italian Gents continue walking, talking/singing down the street.) HEAVY ITALIAN GENT: Vuo ballone OLD ITALIAN GENT: Vuo a baba HEAVY ITALIAN GENT: Nun'e file OLD ITALIAN GENT: A cammera HEAVY ITALIAN GENT: Guardo ... OLD ITALIAN GENT: Guardo o'mare HEAVY ITALIAN GENT: Sto piensando a me mamma BOTH: Tu m'enguaiate M'e spusa n'ate Non ve vede chiu Mammate, sorrete e tu (The beautiful young woman, AMY, and her beau, GUIDO, run into the two old italian gents and tell them to get out of the way as the parade is about to begin. They argue back and forth and turn and eventually lead the parade themselves.) AMY: Igo I guai ch'aggia passato Mammate, papate, fratete, Sorrete, ziate Ma iatevinne (The dancers stand in the streets begin to dance, the observers on the side watching the parade begin to dance also. ALL of them participating in the celebration going around them. OLD ITALIAN GENT: Sto pavannu andai alla HEAVY ITALIAN GENT: Mire nara chi me da OLD ITALIAN GENT: O ve laso fra n'u mese Sto cercando HEAVY ITALIAN GENT: A carita BOTH: Tu m'enguaiate M'e spusa n'ate Nun ve vede chiu Mammate, ziate e tu (The camera slowly rises to the air and angles down upon the festival celebration below. The camera continues to rise higher and higher. BOTH: Nun ne pozzo chiu Patete, fratete e tu (It pulls back rapidly to show a bird's eye view oft he entire city, pulling back even further to show an image of the entire area.) BOTH: Nun me fire chiu Patete, fratete e tu The image of which takes on the features and the likeness of a familiar face: MR. BURT. He's smiling at us.) BOTH: Mamate, sorrete e tu FADE TO BLACK BOTH: Nun me spose chiu. ========================== THE END ========================== [Captioning sponsored by Fox Broadcasting Company Twentieth Century Fox Television and Toyota. Get the feeling. Captioned by media access group at wgbh access.Wgbh.Org] For corrections / inaccuracies contact: steph@philedom2k.com or Transcriptionist: intrepid (intrepidly002@yahoo.com) ========================== TV BEGINNING CREDITS & OS SITE CAST INFORMATION (where available) ========================== 9X14: IMPROBABLE #9ABX14 ORIGINAL AIR DATE: 04/07/2002 WRITTEN BY CHRIS CARTER DIRECTED BY CHRIS CARTER Starring: GILLIAN ANDERSON as Special Agent Dana Scully ROBERT PATRICK as Special Agent John Doggett ANNABETH GISH as Special Agent Monica Reyes Created by CHRIS CARTER Special Guest Star: BURT REYNOLDS as Mr. Burt Guest Starring: RAY McKINNON as Mad Wayne ELLEN GREENE as Vicki Louise Burdick JOHN KAPELOS as Special Agent Fordyce BETH WATSON as Woman (in casino) Music by MARK SNOW Editor: SCOTT JAMES WALLACE Production Designer: COREY KAPLAN Director of Photography: BIL ROE, ASC Producer: HARRY V. BRING Supervising Producer: DAVID AMANN Supervising Producer: PAUL RABWIN Co-Executive Producer: KIM MANNERS Co-Executive Producer: MICHELLE MacLAREN Executive Producer: JOHN SHIBAN Executive Producer: VINCE GILLIGAN Executive Producer: FRANK SPOTNITZ Written and Directed by CHRIS CARTER ========================== TELEVISION ENDING CREDITS ========================== Produttore Esecutivo: CHRIS CARTER TEN THIRTEEN PRODUCTION (in association with) 20TH CENTURY FOX TELEVISION: a news corporation company Executive Story Editor: STEVEN MAEDA Story Editor: THOMAS SCHNAUZ Co-Starring: ERNESTO GASCO as Heavy Italian Man BENITO PREZIA as Old Italian Man AMY D'ALLESSANDRO as Amy ANGELO VACCO as Guido / Bartender NICK DE MARINIS as Pizza Man SHANNON MAUREEN BROWN as the Pretty Blonde LARRY UDY as Middle-Aged Man TRAVIS RIKER as William Songs Performed by KARL ZERO Casting by: RICK MILLIKAN, C.S.A. Unit Production Manager / Co-Producer: TIM SILVER First Assistant Director: LYNNE D'ANGONA Second Assistant Director: NINA JACK Visual Effects Producer: MAT BECK Art Directors: SANDY GETZLER / PHIL DAGORT Set Decorator: TIM STEPECK Assistant Set Decorator: RON FRANCO Leadman: DAVE NAPOLI Script Supervisor: ANNE MELVILLE Gaffer: JONO KOUZOUYAN Key Grip: TOM DOHERTY Special Effects: BOB CALVERT Stunt Coordinator: DANNY WESELIS Visual Effects Supervisor: JOHN WASH Make-up Department Head & Special Make-up: CHERI MONTESANTO-MEDCALF Special Make-up: MATTHEW W. MUNGLE Hair Department Head: DENA GREEN Make-up for Ms. Anderson: LAVERNE MUNROE Costumer for Ms. Anderson: NADINE HADERS Costume Designer: LUELLYN HARPER THOMAS Costume Supervisors: ROBERT JACOBS / JENNIFER SOULAGES Property Master: TOM DAY Camera Operator: JIM ETHERIDGE Steadicam Operator; STEPHEN COLLINS Location Managers: ILT JONES / MAC GORDON / MICHELLE LATHAM Transportation Coordinator: STEVE DUNCAN Construction Coordinator: DUKE TOMASICK Sound Mixer: RON COGSWELL Production Accountant: NANCI ETCHELLS Production Coordinator: JASON A. SCHOMAS Script Coordinator: MICHAEL DALEY Researcher: KATRINA CABRERA ORTEGA Writers' Assistant: GABE ROTTER Post Production Supervisor: JASON HARKINS Original Casting by: RANDY STONE, C.S.A. Casting Associate: KIMBERLY NORDLINGER Casting Assistant: ELISHA GRUER Extra Casting: CENTRAL CASTING & CENEX Second Unit Director of Photography: BOB LABONGE First Assistant Director: XOCHI BLYMYER Second Assistant Director: STACI LANKIM BOGGERI Gaffer: DON BIXBY Key Grip: JOEY KRAFT Assistant Editors: DEBORAH CHALEW / JEFF CAHN Scoring Mixer: LAROLD REBHUN Music Editor: JEFF CHARBONNEAU DaVinci Colorist: ANTHONY R. SMITH Dallies Colorist: PETER RITTER On-Line Editors: KIP GIBSON / MARTY ROSENSTOCK Post Production Sound: WEST PRODUCTIONS, INC. Sound Supervisors: HARRY ANDRONIS Re-Recording Mixers: DAVE WEST / HARRY ANDRONIS / BRIAN HARMAN Vice-President, Ten Thirteen: MARY ASTADOURIAN Office Manager, Ten Thirteen: JANA FAIN Assistant to Chris Carter: BRAD FOLLMER Assistants to the Producers: SANDRA TRIPICCHIO / GENNIFER HUTCHISON / BLAKE MCCORMICK / GINGER WADLEY / STEPHANIE M. HERRERA Main Title Design by IMAGINARY FORCES Original Main Title Concept by: CASTLE / BRYANT / JOHNSEN Processing by DELUXE LABS Telecine & Electronic Assembly by HOLLYWOOD DIGITAL Presented in DOLBY SURROUND where available Camera Systems by PANAVISION This production has not been approved, endorsed, or authorized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Copyright (c) 2002 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All rights reserved #9ABX14 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation is the author of this motion picture for purposes of copyright and other laws. The characters and events depicted in this photoplay are fictitious. Any similarity in actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Ownership of this motion picture is protected by copyright and other applicable laws, and any other unauthorized duplication, distribution or exhibition of this motion picture could result in criminal prosecution as well as civil liability. Dated: 06/09/2002~lky