Hello.
Merry Christmas!
Hello!
Hi!
Oh, my God, look at you!
Can you believe this?
How am I going to get my arms around you?
It's not going to be long now.
You're huge.
I know! Hi.
Hi. Welcome, welcome.
Hey, baby. Hi, sweetie.
Let's get you two settled.
Um, sorry about the digs, Mom.
I know you hoped like hell
you'd never have to spend another night in base housing.
Are you kidding? This is wonderful.
It's the exact same layout as our old house.
Well, that's the Navy for you.
Bill tells me, Mom,
that you're going to be staying in your old room
and the nursery's going to be in Dana and Melissa's room.
That's right.
I got it.
Bill!
Thanks.
Mom?
You okay?
Oh, yeah.
Just thinking about your dad...
and Melissa... how much I miss them.
Bill?
Scully residence.
Dana?
Yes.
I'm sorry, who is this?
Dana, she needs your help.
She needs you, Dana.
Go to her.
Who-who is this?
FBI, San Diego.
This is Special Agent Dana Scully.
My badge number is, uh,
Can you transfer me to your sound agent, please?
I'd like to trace the last number
that was dialed into this phone.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Uh, who are you?
Scully, FBI.
Uh, could you tell me what's going on here?
Well, uh, no offense, "Scully, FBI."
What's it to you?
I received a phone call from this address.
Uh, it was a woman's voice.
She said that somebody here needed help.
When was this?
About 20 minutes ago.
I've been here 30 minutes.
Guarantee you no one's called out to you or anyone else.
Phone's off the hook.
Please, can you tell me what happened here?
This is Mrs. Roberta Sim.
Age 40.
Suicide.
She's been dead at least three hours.
You got a call from her,
she must have dialed "1-800-The-Great-Beyond."
Dana.
What's going on?
They're joking about you getting a call from a dead woman.
I thought it was a dead woman, just not the one in there.
What-what are you talking about?
I know it's not possible, Bill, but it sounded just like her.
Who?
Our sister.
Melissa.
I don't know what to tell you.
Pac Bell does confirm that there was an incoming call
from this address to your brother's house,
but from this end, they show no outgoing call.
Plus, they confirm the phone here's been
off the hook for the last three hours.
What was their explanation?
A records mix-up, software glitch--
it was obviously just some kind of mistake.
Anyway, I got to wrap things up,
talk with the husband.
Listen, weird phone calls aside,
this is looking pretty straightforward.
A lot of people check themselves out around Christmastime.
Can we have some privacy here?
Thank you.
No. No, that's fine.
It's just old.
It's very, very old.
Excuse me.
Hello?
Excuse me.
Everything okay?
Yeah.
Oh!
That was a good one.
Is he kicking?
Oh, he's kicking-- kickboxing.
You had boys and girls.
So, which one kicked more?
Oh, I had some pretty tough little girls.
You know what, I can't believe I'm about to say this--
big and fat as I am right now.
I can't wait to have more.
This is our baby-- our son.
Kind of gives everything new meaning.
I can't help but think
that life before now was somehow... less.
Just a prelude.
What's the matter?
Nothing.
Mom, I'm very happy for Bill and Tara.
You don't seem to be.
Oh, Mom.
Several months ago...
I learned that as a result of my abduction...
of what they did to me...
that I cannot conceive a child.
I'm so sorry.
It's okay.
I just never realized how much I wanted it
until I couldn't have it.
Dana, where is it?
Where is that rabbit?! I'm not telling!
I'm going to find that rabbit and cook it!
I'm going to turn it into stew!
No, you're not!
Rabbit stew, here I go.
You're not going to find him.
Bill!
Scully.
She needs your help.
Who is this?
Why are you doing this?
Go to her.
Mr. Sim, my name is Dana Scully.
I'm very sorry for your loss,
and I'm sorry to disturb you at this hour.
What do you want?
I received a phone call less than an hour ago.
I was addressed by name
and told that I needed to help someone... a woman.
I traced the call, and it came from your house.
I have no earthly idea what you're talking about.
This is the second time today that this has happened,
and I'd really like to get to the bottom of it.
You were here earlier. Yes.
Yes, a detective told me
something about a screw-up with the phones.
Look, I'm in the middle of a meeting.
No one's called you from here--
not earlier today and certainly not tonight.
You can't imagine how bad a day this has been
for my daughter and myself.
I understand... Well, if you understand,
then you'll stop coming around,
upsetting me with this... nonsense.
Please.
Scully, FBI.
What can I do for you at this ungodly hour?
I'd like to see everything you have on the Roberta Sim case.
"The Roberta Sim case."
There is no "Roberta Sim case."
It's a simple suicide.
We sort of went through this before, you and I, didn't we?
Whatever you wish to call it,
I'd appreciate seeing everything that you have.
In the spirit of the season?
So, what are you looking for?
Can you even tell me?
Says here that your precinct visited the Sims before--
two weeks ago.
A domestic disturbance call?
We sent a unit 'cause the neighbors were complaining.
They were screaming at each other.
Wasn't a happy household.
Happy people don't kill themselves.
They ran a tox screen?
Yeah, it's just procedure.
Says they turned up high levels of doritriptan.
Some kind of new migraine medicine.
Apparently, you take enough of it,
you're wearing a cloud for a hat.
I figure she anesthetized herself and then...
Found a bunch of empty sample packets
in the bathroom trash.
Couple more in her purse.
I'd like to borrow this.
She's adopted.
Danny... hi.
It's me, Dana.
Yeah, merry Christmas to you, too.
I, uh, I'm wondering if you can do me a favor.
Um, I need the complete case files
on my sister, Melissa Scully.
Yeah, crime scene and-and autopsy,
along with the PCRs that we ran.
Right, but I need you
to send them to the San Diego field office.
As soon as possible.
Okay.
Thanks, Danny.
Dana?
What?
Is this where you stayed the night?
Yeah. Some of it.
It's supposed to be a vacation.
What you working on that's so important?
Uh...
just some unfinished business.
So you up for joining us this morning?
You know, I've got a little work to do.
Um, can I join you guys later?
Well, how are you going to get around?
I'll... I'll rent a car.
All right.
Lunch.
We'll hold you to that.
Agent Scully.
It's been, what, four hours?
I was getting worried.
I'd like to order an autopsy on Roberta Sim.
There's a possibility she was murdered.
What, you get another phone call?
I think it may have been the husband.
Where do you get that idea?
You want coffee?
No, thanks.
He's got an ironclad alibi.
Mr. Sim was at the doctor's office with his daughter.
He was there all morning.
I checked.
I took another look
at the police photos this morning.
There were no hesitation cuts on Roberta Sim's wrists.
Suicide victims seldom make the fatal cut on the first try.
Seldom, but not always.
Is that all you got? No.
Why was the phone off the hook
when you got to the Sims' house?
The wife took it off.
I'm guessing she didn't want to be interrupted.
Your incident report says that the husband called the police
after he discovered his wife dead.
Yeah.
But if the phone was off the hook
when you arrived, how did he call you?
Did he find the phone off the hook,
call you, and then have the presence of mind
to return it to the way that he'd found it?
Does that make sense to you?
What are you suggesting?
I'm suggesting that there are questions
which beg further investigation.
Order an autopsy.
Stomach contents appear to include coffee,
whole wheat toast and cantaloupe.
No medicine tablets.
Empty sample packets of
doritriptan succinate were found,
but I see no evidence that there were any pills ingested.
Well, obviously, there were.
Doritriptan showed up on the tox screen.
Then why didn't it show up in her stomach?
It was absorbed into the bloodstream.
No.
I don't believe that the absorption
would be that complete-- not that close to her death.
Then how did
the doritriptan get in her system, Ms. Scully?
A needle puncture.
On the heel of her right foot.
Extremely tiny and easy to miss.
It was meant to be overlooked.
I believe that this woman was injected,
anesthetized so she wouldn't fight back,
then her suicide was staged.
What do you think?
It's a possibility.
Then again, it's possible this woman simply stepped
on a tack, and the rest
is blue sky conjecture.
I'd say it justifies opening a murder investigation.
Excuse me.
This is your doing, isn't it?
You didn't have the decency
to leave me and my daughter alone...
Mr. Sim... Mr. Sim, please.
You're going to want to calm down
and let us do our business, okay?
Mr. Sim, where's your daughter right now?
Why?
She's at a friend's house.
Thank God she's not here to see this.
Detective? This was in the trash out back.
You got an explanation for this?
Yes. My daughter has a severe form of anemia.
She requires daily injections.
We'll check that out.
I want you to analyze this.
Get a PCR on the blood.
We need to identify whose it is. Okay.
Dana?
Are you all right?
It's 2:00 in the morning.
Where have you been all day?
We were expecting you for lunch.
Mom...
sit down.
The woman who committed suicide has an adopted daughter--
a three-year-old named Emily.
I got a sample of Emily's blood,
and I had the lab run a test on her DNA.
It's called a PCR test.
This...
is Emily's.
And this...
is Melissa's...
which we ran
during her murder investigation.
They match.
What does it mean, they match?
It means...
that this little girl, Emily...
...is Melissa's daughter.
It's not possible.
You can't deny that there is a remarkable resemblance.
Melissa was three years old when this picture was taken.
She was practically a baby.
All kids can look the same at that age.
Mom, it's uncanny.
Emily looks exactly like Melissa.
That's why I ordered the PCR test.
Because her face may change, but her DNA can't.
And that test is accurate?
There is a 60% chance
that Melissa is Emily's mother.
I'm going to order a more comprehensive test-- an RFLP.
It'll take a couple of days, but then we'll be sure.
I am already sure your sister did not have a baby.
She would have told me.
Mom...
...remember about four years ago Melissa took off?
She traveled up and down the West Coast.
We didn't know where she was half the time.
You're saying that she was pregnant
and she didn't want us to know?
That was 1994.
Emily was born that November.
She could have given her up for adoption
and none of us would have ever known.
Dana, listen to me.
I know what you're going through.
Mom, this has nothing to do
with anything that I'm going through.
It has happened to me.
When your father died,
it was a long time before he left me.
I saw him in my dreams.
The phone would ring and just for a moment,
I was sure that it was his voice.
And you're doing the same thing
with... with Melissa.
You're seeing her in this child,
but that does not make this child my granddaughter.
We're still connected to them, Dana,
even after they're gone.
Look at all the presents.
Dana, quiet. They'll hear us.
This one's for me.
You wish. That's for Billy, you dope.
This has got to be it.
It's got to be Hotel California.
Shh. You'll wake everybody.
I wonder what this is.
I don't know, but I got one, too.
You don't have to shake it, Dana.
You can open those now.
Thanks, Mom.
Your grandmother gave me a cross
just like that when I was about your age.
It's pretty.
Means God is with you.
He'll watch over you wherever you go.
Dana?
Hi.
Sorry. There's a detective here to see you.
I'll be right down.
I know it's early.
Not a problem.
Interesting tidbit on Mr. Sim.
What?
Bank deposits-- large ones.
$30,000 a pop.
Three in the last 18 months.
All the checks have been made out to his wife.
The last one was deposited yesterday--
après mort.
Where'd the checks come from?
Pharmaceutical firm in Chula Vista.
Dr. Calderon?
Yes?
I'm Agent Dana Scully with the FBI and this is Detective Kresge
with the San Diego Police Department.
What can I do for you?
We're investigating the death of Roberta Sim.
When did this happen?
You knew Mrs. Sim?
Her daughter Emily is
a patient here at our clinic.
What were you treating her for?
She's a subject in one of our clinical trials.
We're developing gene therapies here
for several blood disorders.
Emily's suffering from
a rare type of autoimmune hemolytic anemia.
She's a very sick little girl.
What's her prognosis?
I'm afraid I really couldn't say.
These are ongoing double-blind trials.
It could be years before we have any results.
You've been paying the Sim family
some sort of compensation for this?
Emily's a very special case.
We were lucky to find her.
How did you find her?
Well, her father brought her
to our attention.
Then why are checks made out to her mother?
How shall I put this?
Uh... well, these payments are a gesture of goodwill
towards Mrs. Sim.
She wasn't completely convinced
that our experimental treatment was the way to go.
She wanted to pull Emily from the program?
She filed the paperwork, but her husband later withdrew it.
Dr. Calderon, did you ever prescribe
doritriptan injections to Emily
during the course of her treatment?
No, no. I prescribed them for the husband
when he mentioned that he was suffering from migraines.
Marshall Sim, you're under arrest
for the murder of Roberta Sim.
What?
Where's Emily?
Are you out of your mind?
You have the right to remain silent...
I didn't kill her!
This is crazy...
...anything you say can and will be used
against you in a court of law.
You have the right to an attorney.
If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be...
Let's get you right in there.
Let's just get you buckled in here nice and safe, okay?
You like that, huh?
I'll see you soon, okay?
Every year, my husband insisted
on putting the angel on top of the tree by himself.
Man's work.
Yes.
Uh, Dana, can you give me a hand in the kitchen?
Yeah.
What's up?
I need you to tell me what's going on.
What do you mean?
You're not here, Dana.
You're a million miles away.
I thought you came to see the family.
I did.
Well, I thought this other thing was resolved.
I thought you caught the guy that murdered that woman.
We did.
Then it's about the girl, isn't it?
Mom told me.
You really think Melissa had a baby?
Yes, I do.
She called you from beyond the grave
to tell you that?
Sounds like something that partner of yours would say.
It does not matter where that phone call came from.
What matters is that there is a little girl who needs my help.
This isn't about any little girl, Dana.
It's about you.
It's about some... some emptiness,
some void inside yourself that you're trying to fill.
Bill, I don't expect you to understand,
but I am not going to stand here and justify my...
Dana?
There's a telephone call for you.
Hello?
Merry Christmas, Agent Scully.
Got a little present for you.
Marshall Sim just confessed.
He admitted to being at the house that morning?
I got a signed statement right here.
What about the witnesses that place him
at the doctor's office at the time of the murder?
I guess they were mistaken.
Maybe they weren't.
Where is he now?
County lockup.
Did they identify themselves?
They said they were his lawyers.
How long were they here?
Ten, 15 minutes tops.
Damn it.
When did you get back?
Uh, just now.
Well, you're just in time.
I was on my way over to the neighbor's.
Mom and Tara are already there.
What?
What happened?
Marshall Sim, Emily's adoptive father, is dead.
They made it look like a suicide, just like his wife.
Oh, my God.
Do you know who did it?
No.
Do you think it has something
to do with that little girl?
I think it might.
Dana, I have to show you something.
Look at the date on the back.
Does Melissa look pregnant to you in that picture?
It's about four weeks before the girl was born.
Bill, that doesn't prove anything.
Melissa didn't have to get pregnant to have a baby.
There's-there's in vitro fertilization.
There's surrogate motherhood...
Dana, listen to yourself.
You're creating this whole scenario
to fulfill a dream.
What dream?
To have a child.
Look...
I understand.
I know the need.
God knows Tara and I tried for years.
But making this girl
into Melissa's daughter is not the way.
You're only going to end up hurting yourself.
Hi.
Hi, I'm here to see Dana Scully.
Um, may I ask, um...
Oh, I'm Susan Chambliss
from the county.
It's about the adoption.
Dana.
Hi.
Thanks for coming in on Christmas Eve.
Oh, not at all.
I don't understand.
I mean, I think I have a right
to know why you're rejecting my application.
It's not mine to accept or reject, Dana.
We only make recommendations to the judge.
But at this point,
I'd advise against you becoming an adoptive parent.
You're a single woman who's never been married
or had a long-term relationship.
You're in a high-stress, time-intensive
and dangerous occupation--
one that I sense you're deeply committed to
and one which would overnight become a secondary priority
to the care and well-being of this child.
I'm not sure this is a sacrifice you're prepared to make.
Well, it's one that I've given a great deal of thought to.
I mean, to be honest,
I've started to question my priorities
since I was first diagnosed with cancer...
...and I feel like I've been given a second chance.
Ever since I was a child,
I-I've never allowed myself to get too close to people.
I've avoided emotional attachment.
Perhaps I've been so...
afraid of death and dying
that any connection just seemed like a bad thing.
Something that wouldn't last.
But I don't feel that anymore.
I know you're a trained physician
and are aware of Emily's medical condition.
I want to stress to you, Dana,
Emily is a special-needs child.
According to her doctors, her condition is incurable.
She requires constant care, both medical and emotional.
The good news is:
you have firsthand experience of grave illness.
The bad news is:
you'd have to relive it through the eyes of a child.
I realize that.
And I feel like I'm ready.
We'll review your final application
and make our recommendations.
I wish you luck.
Merry Christmas.
I'll show myself out.
Dana?
Melissa?
Didn't know anybody else was up.
I couldn't sleep.
How come?
You worried about Quantico, or...
who gets the most presents this year?
I guess I'm afraid I'm making a big mistake.
I could tell Dad sure thinks I am.
Oh.
Well, it's not his life, Dana.
Yeah, I know that.
But, you know, when I started med school,
it felt so right.
It just seemed like that's where I was supposed to be,
and...
then, by the time I graduated, I just knew it was wrong.
But now the FBI feels right,
and... what if that's wrong, too?
There is no right or wrong.
Life is just a path.
You follow your heart,
and it'll take you where you're supposed to go.
God, you sound like a greeting card.
I don't believe in fate.
I think we have to choose our own path.
Well, just don't mistake the path
with what's really important in life.
Which is what?
The people you're going to meet along the way.
You don't know who you're going to meet
when you join the FBI.
You don't know how your life is going to change...
or how you are going to change the life of others.
Hey!
Good morning.
Hey, sleepyhead.
Merry Christmas.
Did Santa come?
Santa's still here.
She always had to be first up for Christmas.
Hey, merry Christmas.
Hey, okay, enough pleasantries.
Listen, I'm dying to know what's in this box.
I've waited for a month.
Let me open it.
This one's from Charles.
From Charles?
Don't open anything. Don't open anything.
I'll be right back.
Excuse me.
FBI courier. Agent Dana Scully, please.
Here, I'll sign for it.
Oh, no, I need Agent Scully's signature, sir.
Oh, all right.
Sorry, I need you to sign for everything with this.
Merry Christmas.
This is for you.
What is it?
It's the DNA test on Emily Sim's blood.
What does it say?
It says definitively
that Melissa is not Emily's mother,
but that they found
striking genetic similarities between Emily and Melissa--
so many that they ran a test
against another sample that they already had.
What sample?
What are you trying to say?
According to this...
...I am Emily's mother.