I reviewed your case and your service record--
combat duty in Panama, Grenada,
distinguished service in the Gulf,
great triumph and great tragedies.
It's clear to me, Lieutenant Colonel,
these suicide attempts of yours are simply just...
Cries for help.
You've tried and failed
to kill yourself three times in as many weeks.
Frankly, if you wanted to...
You don't understand.
He won't let me.
He won't let me die.
Who?
Who won't let you die?
Just relax a moment.
I'll be back with something to help you sleep.
Stand down, Lieutenant Colonel!
No! Not this time!
Just let me go!
Oh, my God!
Where is he?
Down here.
He's in there.
I told you.
He won't let me die.
I don't want to talk
about it anymore.
I told them and I told them, but they won't listen.
You mean they don't believe you?
No, sir.
You said in the report that at the time of the accident
you believed somebody was in the room.
It was no accident.
Don't you understand?
But this person saved your life-- is that right?
Look at me.
Look!
I have no life.
He took it all away.
Do you have any idea who it is?
I never see him clearly,
but he looks like a soldier--
always standing at attention.
Or one of Saddam's boys
come back to hold me accountable.
Whoever it is,
he knows my name.
He speaks to you?
"Your time has come," he said.
Then he started taking it all away.
What did he start taking away?
Everything.
My wife,
my children.
And how did he do that?
How did...?
He burned them alive.
Now he makes me suffer
because he won't let me die.
Agents Mulder and Scully?
May I have a word with you?
I've been asked to have you suspend
whatever investigation you've begun here.
Asked by whom, Captain?
General Callahan,
Lieutenant Colonel Stans's commanding officer.
Is something wrong?
Protocol requires
all criminal investigation of military personnel
to be conducted through military channels
and their superior officer.
What? We didn't sign in at the front desk?
You're in breach of code and procedure.
Excuse me, but does General Callahan
have a superior officer?
Ma'am?
Assuming that we wanted to investigate him,
who would we talk to?
Investigate him for what?
Whatever.
General Callahan is the senior officer here.
Well, then we'd like to speak to him on our way out.
I don't know that he's available.
Ask him to make himself available.
Tell him that it's our protocol.
In the meantime, we would like
to finish up with Lieutenant Colonel Stans.
You never know when he might try and kill himself again.
Let's finish this, Mulder.
I keep having the same dream
almost every night.
I know a lot of crips have the same dream--
"the walk."
In my dream, I rise up out of my chair
and I can stand, and I look down the hallway,
only I'm not in the ward anymore.
I'm at home.
There's my baby girl.
Without even thinking about it,
I take a step towards her and I take another step
and I pick her up and I carry her outside
on my own two feet.
Outside is my little boy.
We run together.
Running.
Me... my legs like they were before.
We play a little bit of football,
I show him a few moves,
you know, like the old man used to do,
and then we just walk home.
No crutches, no wheelchairs.
I know I'll never walk again,
but this dream just seems so real.
I can't help but think that maybe someday...
Don't hold your breath!
I think we'd all be interested in your point of view, Leonard.
Oh, you really want to know what I think?
I pity all you guys-- I really do--
with your handicap basketball
and your wheelchair races.
You all act like we're... we're normal people.
We are normal people.
I don't know if you've had a look
in the mirror lately, my friend,
but you are missing a leg.
I-I don't have any.
Where... where'd my arms go?
We all know how you feel.
No, you don't.
How the hell could you possibly know how I feel?
There's only one way you could ever know,
and I can only pray to God that he'll come down
and take your legs and your arms away
and give you a little taste of what it feels like!
Roach.
I'm sorry, gentlemen.
Let's begin again.
What is it, Roach?
What's what?
You got that I'm-freaking-out look
on your face.
What's the matter?
It's nothing.
Bull. I spent two years
with your sorry ass in a gun turret.
I think I know when you got something on your mind.
Come on, Private, make your report.
It's the FBI, man-- they're downstairs.
They're asking questions about the LC.
The hell with the feds, all right, Roach?
You hear me?
The hell with them.
Just forget about them.
General.
Sir?
Agents Mulder and Scully to see you, sir.
Thank you, Captain.
General. I want you to know I've had
the captain contact the Justice Department
and let them know about the FBI's gross misconduct here.
I guess this isn't a good time to thank you for seeing us, huh?
Let me assure you
this matter will not go unaddressed.
I would hope not, considering the extremity
of Lieutenant Colonel Stans' case.
What case?
There's no case.
Stans is a very sick man.
Yes, so we gathered-- but his file is missing
several important facts which came out in our interview with him.
I'm sure everything germane to Stans' situation is on file.
Except for any mention
of the death of his wife and two children
in a house fire three months ago.
Well, it was a tragic accident.
No doubt.
But there is no record
of any criminal or arson investigation.
Stans tried to save his family that night.
Well, according to him, he was prevented
from doing so by some kind of phantom soldier.
Look, I've known Stans a long time,
and there's no doubt that he has suffered terribly.
Not unlike Staff Sergeant Kevin Aiklen.
You know Sergeant Aiklen, isn't that correct, sir?
He served under me in the Gulf, yes.
Six months ago, Aiklen also lost his family to a house fire.
Afterwards, he received psychiatric treatment
for delusional behavior--
telling the doctors that he wanted to die
but that somebody wouldn't let him.
Before throwing himself into a wood chipper
on the hospital grounds.
Now, unless that's procedure and protocol,
I'd say the coincidence of detail
has been rather strangely overlooked, sir.
Hold on. Just who's under suspicion here?
Look, I make no excuses
for the sadness of these men's lives.
They are casualties of war,
once brave men
who we can do little but feel sorry for.
If you think there's more to it,
you are seriously mistaken.
That's your conclusion, General,
but I'd hope you'd allow us the opportunity to come to our own.
You really think the general's got something to hide?
No. I think he's got everything to hide.
You don't think he's just closing ranks
to protect his men?
Mulder, I know it's not
what drew you to this case to begin with,
but I think it's very clear what's going on here.
What's that?
The general is protecting his men,
but what he's protecting them from
is prosecution for the murder of their families.
Why would he do that?
I don't know,
but I can think of several good reasons.
Because they were his soldiers and he feels
somewhat responsible for the tragedies that have played out?
That could be one.
Or maybe he knows the deeper secrets to their madness--
the biological weapons they were exposed to during the war--
cause of the effect.
Considering the government's absolute disavowal
of Gulf War syndrome, I'd say it's
a pretty good reason to prevent our investigation...
but you're not buying it.
No, what I can't figure out is why a man who so deliberately
and methodically set out to commit suicide
would leave the one entrance to the room unsecured.
But then again, I obviously
have a feeble grasp of Army protocol and procedure.
Come in.
I want to apologize, sir.
I didn't mean to put you on the spot
like that earlier.
I know that, Captain.
This whole situation is unfortunate.
Is there anything more I can do?
No. Go home and get some rest.
We'll deal with it in the morning.
Relax, Captain.
That's an order.
Yes, sir.
Your time has come, killer.
All right, that'll be fine.
Thank you, gentlemen.
General Callahan.
One of the detectives is saying
Captain Draper's death wasn't accidental.
There are bruises around her neck and her shoulder
roughly the size of finger marks.
Then someone drowned her?
The bruises and surrounding edema
are consistent with a struggle.
Will you be contacting her family?
She had no family.
The Army was her family.
I'm sorry.
Truly.
I talked with security personnel.
Other than Captain Draper, they saw no one
enter the pool last night and no one leave.
But the officers are saying she was drowned.
General, do you have a family of your own?
Yes. Why?
If the pattern we've seen is at all consistent,
you and your family may be in danger.
Based on what? The death of my adjutant?
Just keep an eye on them.
Watch out for anything out of the ordinary.
Mulder, you're serious?
This is a military base, Scully.
They've got security everywhere
and no one saw or heard a thing.
It's not so hard to believe.
Her screams would have been muffled underwater.
There would be no fingerprints.
It also fits the M.O.
of Lieutenant Colonel Stans's phantom killer.
Agent Mulder, what did you mean by that?
Well, just a word to the wise, sir.
No. I mean, "anything out of the ordinary."
Any unusual or unexplained phenomena.
Last night, I saw someone in my office.
He said my name, but when I turned around, he was gone.
Then my phone machine went all snakey again.
Again?
That's happened before?
No, not what I saw.
But the phone calls, yes.
Twice before at my home.
Mom, mail's here.
Mom!
Mom! Mom!
Mom! What is it?
What is it, honey?
Mom, there was a man here.
Who?
Oh, thank God you're home.
I was trying to reach you.
Trevor saw someone in the house--
just a few minutes ago.
Is he all right?
He's upstairs in his room, but he's terrified.
I-I'm shaking myself.
Frances, these people are with the FBI.
Is it about the break-in?
Why don't you check on Trevor.
I'll be right up.
Why? What's happening?
Frances, please. We'll talk upstairs.
This way.
It just comes on.
The phone doesn't even ring.
At first I thought it was a prank.
Did you save the other ones?
No, I erased them.
I even called the phone company--
had them check the line.
They checked the whole house.
They couldn't find anything wrong.
Have you noticed any other type
of electronic interference
like the radio or the television?
No. Nope, not a thing.
There's someone in the backyard.
I saw someone out here-- I'm sure of it.
Look.
You better call the police, General.
You're going to feel a little stick here.
Yeah, that's fine.
I'll be back in a little bit.
It was too close, man, too close.
I ain't doing it anymore.
You understand? What?
I said I ain't doing it anymore.
You owe me, Roach.
I wouldn't be in this damn chair if it wasn't for you.
Hey!
This isn't about you and me, man.
This is about all the grunts and all the crips
and all the boys that came home in a box!
The enemy must be defeated
and we're going to do it.
You're going to do your part, and I'm going to do mine.
Nurse!
Hey.
What do you do, man, when I rap on the tank?
Get some, get some, fire at will.
Good.
You're all right.
Nurse!
Come on.
This is killing me here.
What a mess.
You got to learn to sit still.
How about you learn to do it right?
There. That ought to hold it.
Find anything?
No, but I'm really beginning to like the tape.
Well, we've been a bit luckier.
Whoever's targeted the general didn't just leave footprints.
They left fingerprints as well.
Really? Where?
Forensics just lifted two matching indexes and a thumb--
one on the mailbox next to the front door
and one on the door leading to the backyard.
We better go run them.
They're on their way to the NCIC as we speak.
FBI! Open the door!
Hands up! Hands over your head! Don't shoot! Don't shoot, man!
Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. Turn around. Turn around.
Put your hands down behind your back.
Cuff him.
Quinton Freely,
you are under arrest for suspicion of murder.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be held
against you in a court of law.
If you want an attorney, we'll give you one.
If you don't...
"Captain Janet Draper."
"Staff Sergeant Kevin Aiklen."
"Lieutenant Colonel Victor Stans."
"General and Mrs. Thomas Callahan."
We've got him, Mulder.
Watch your left flank there.
Okay.
Trevor?
Hey, Trevor!
We have enough evidence to place you
at each of the crime scenes.
In addition to accessory to murder,
you're looking at conspiracy, breaking and entering,
commission of a felony on federal property... Can I get a cigarette?
No. We know you weren't
acting alone, Quinton.
We know you had an accomplice.
How did he do it, Quinton?
I don't know.
I don't know what you're talking about.
How did he get past the guard?
How did he kill him?
Trevor was only eight years old.
I don't know.
I didn't kill anybody.
I'm just the mailman.
What does that mean, you're "just the mailman"?
I'm... Rappo's mailman.
Leonard Trimble, right?
If that's the man they call Rappo.
Well, that's him. What's he done?
He's a suspect in two homicides.
Rappo? You must be making some kind of mistake.
How's that?
There.
See for yourself.
He's a quadruple amputee.
Damn it.
He lied to us.
He said he was a mailman.
What did he mean by that?
I don't know, but I'm adding it to the list.
Are you coming?
I'll catch up with you later.
He knows this place.
He can find me here.
He knows this place.
He's been here before!
I'm not safe here!
Hey! Keep it down in there.
Let me out of here!
He's going to kill me!
I'm a dead man!
Let me out!
I'm not going to tell you again.
You're going to kill me!
He's here!
He's... here!
You don't want to get him started again.
He was pretty worked up about an hour ago.
Not as worked up as I'm going to be.
Visitor.
On your feet.
God Almighty.
How did it happen? Suffocation.
The bed sheet was stuffed down his throat.
Nobody had been in the cell with him?
He did it all by himself. Not likely.
Not likely? Yeah, he had help, Scully,
and he wasn't lying, because I think the man
that killed him was Leonard Trimble.
Rappo? Yeah.
He can't even walk, let alone kill somebody.
You see this? This is a dental X-ray plate.
I know. You've been walking around with it
since we got here. No, actually,
the ones I've been walking around with,
I already had developed at the hospital.
See, this is the one I was carrying
when we first met Stans, this one in the rehab room,
in the pool, in the general's office,
and this one at the general's house.
All of them exposed to some kind of radiation.
From what?
From Stans's phantom soldier.
I came down here wondering if it could be true,
if what Lieutenant Colonel Stans
was describing was a case of astral projection.
What you're saying is this man Rappo is leaving his body
and floating around town killing people?
Practitioners claim that during a self-hypnotic trance
the astral body can actually detach itself
and float virtually anywhere, sometimes invisible
but sometimes appearing as an apparition.
They even claim that the astral body has
psychokinetic capabilities far greater
than the corporeal body.
Mulder... then why would he need Quinton Freely?
Maybe he needs a psychic connection to a place--
a thing or an object, a letter.
That's why Quinton called himself the mailman.
It's insane.
Sometimes the only sane response
to an insane world is insanity.
You know anything about backwards masking?
You mean messages recorded backwards in songs?
Yeah, or on the general's answering machine.
Check this out.
Your time has come, killer.
Your time has come.
♪ ...polka ♪
♪ You can steal a kiss to this polka ♪
♪ She'll be shy when first you try ♪
♪ But by and by ♪
♪ She'll say "ja..." ♪
Leonard Trimble?
No. It's Fred Astaire.
Mr. Trimble, we'd like to ask you a few questions
about Quinton Freely.
Roach?
What's he done now?
He's dead.
Hmm... well...
serves him right.
How's that? How's that?
Oh, he's only the guy who turned me into second base
by getting my arms and legs blown off.
Other than that, he was a real good guy.
Then why'd you kill him?
What's wrong with this picture?
We read your medical records, Leonard.
We know that you've refused all efforts at rehabilitation.
You've even refused to be fitted with prosthetic limbs.
Big deal. Maybe I don't want any of that crap.
Maybe because you don't need it
because you can leave your body
any time you want, kill anybody you want to kill.
If I could leave my body right now,
I could think of something else
I'd rather be doing.
Like kill General Callahan's boy?
Lieutenant Colonel Stans's family?
Sergeant Aiklen?
You're a real trip.
Oh, I'm a trip? Because I figured you out?
You're a soldier. You knew what
you were getting into when you enlisted.
Now you want to blame everybody else.
Why you want to blame your C.O.'s?
I blame them for what happened to all of us.
You don't know what it was like.
You... you sat at home and watched the war
on cable TV like it was a damn video game.
You had no idea about the guys that died,
about the blood and the sand--
what it feels like when a hit comes.
The thing is you just don't care, do you?
You got your crude oil.
Just change that station, right?
Killer got his prime time.
LC got his fancy little medals.
Now take a good look at me.
What did I get?!
Nobody knows how I feel.
They took my life away.
Yeah, so you took theirs.
If I only could.
Now, if you're through questioning me,
I'd like to get a little shut-eye.
No sleepwalking.
That's good.
I haven't heard that one yet.
Hardy-har-har.
What do you want to do?
Call General Callahan
and warn him to stay out of his house.
Frances?
Honey, leave that.
I... I know how it upsets you
when his toys are spread all over the place.
We can handle this, Frances.
I don't want to handle this.
I want my son back.
Frances!
Oh...
My God.
No one's answering.
The machine's not picking up.
General?
Lieutenant Colonel?
What are you doing?
You were right, victor.
He won't let you die.
Sir?
He kills our wives and children, but he won't let us die.
I know who he is, General.
I know who he is.
General Callahan, sir.
I've been waiting for you.
Who are you?
One of your boys, General.
You killed my wife.
That's right, sir, I did.
And the boy, too.
Come on, killer.
Come on, Killer Callahan,
get some! Get some!
Come on, killer, do it!
Fire at will!
Come on, killer, do it!
Come on, killer! You can do better than that.
Come on!
You're going to suffer like the rest of us.
Oh, you think I'm going to let it end this way?
Do you? Is that what you think?
General?
He wanted me to kill him.
I stood down.
I'm done here.
Scully?
He's having some kind
of a seizure.
No, I don't think so.
Nurse!
General Callahan!
Killer...
Come on, killer.
Your time has come.
General Callahan!
He's non-responsive.
Come on.
Put him on the monitors and prep the crash cart.
He's going into cardiac arrest. Okay.
And make sure the TV...
Lieutenant Colonel!
Uh... get the keys.
We have to open the door.
Open the door!
Lieutenant Colonel, open the door!
General Callahan, are you hurt?
I'm okay.
No physical evidence was found linking Leonard Trimble
to the deaths of General Callahan's wife and son.
Officially, the investigation remains open,
the murders unsolved.
Leonard Trimble's family requested his burial
at Arlington National Cemetery.
The Army denied this request.
Trimble was cremated,
his ashes interred at a civilian cemetery
in Tannersville, Pennsylvania.
Leonard Trimble's mission was not to kill his enemies,
but to shatter their lives, to keep them alive
to suffer the pain that he felt...
to see the view from his wheelchair.
Amputees sometimes feel the pain of phantom limbs--
ghosts of hands still clenching,
legs still aching.
Is it not possible
that Trimble developed a phantom soul--
a malevolent psyche that took its violent revenge
on those he held accountable?
It was war that destroyed Leonard Trimble's body...
but his wounds went deeper than the loss of his limbs.
What destroyed those parts of him
that make us human beings,
those better angels of our nature?
I cannot say.