Página PrincipalInternal Dating: Nov. 12, 1996
Credits Roll: The Truth Is Out There
12 Hours Earlier: At Ft. Evanston, Maryland, a Lt. General MacDougal gets into his limousine, driven by a private first-class Gus Berkholder. The Lt. General sees a death-card on the floor and picks it up. He looks up to see a man sitting in the seat across from him, right before the man kills him. The driver stops the car and sees only the dead general, the death-card laying on his chest.
At FBI headquarters, Skinner briefs a committee of agents on the case. He says the driver is being held, but is not suspected as the killer. Rather, the death-card, which was a mark left behind by Vietnam soldiers, leads them to believe there is an accomplice to the murder. Berkholder has ties to a paramilitary group called the Right Hand, whose stated aim is violent revolution.
Mulder and Scully enter the room in time to hear Skinner say that dozens of high-ranking military officials are in DC that afternoon for the Memorial's re-dedication. Such a high-profile opportunity as this cannot be wasted. He tells the agents they have 12 hours to find the killer.
Mulder and Scully go the Right Hand's compound to serve an arrest warrant on its leader, Denny Markham. When they arrive, Scully briefly sees Teager in the woods, but blinks and he is gone. Markham is uncooperative at first, but surrenders when he sees his compound is surrounded.
Markham gives Mulder a photograph of a long-haired man, and says the man is Nathaniel Teager, and he is the man who killed General MacDougal. Markham says that Teager's unit was shot down in 1971 in Vietnam and the government left him for dead. The photograph was taken in 1995, hours after the Right Hand liberated Teager from a POW camp. Scully is disbelieving, saying that in 1973 the government said that there were no more POW's in Vietnam.
At the Vietnam Memorial, a woman named Renee Davenport is placing flowers under her husband's name. She is approached by Teager, who tells her that her husband is alive and gives her his dogtags. Davenport looks down at the dogtags, crying, and when she looks up, Teager is gone.
Mulder and Scully arrive at the Memorial, to find Skinner, who says Mrs. Davenport made a positive ID on Teager, but that the search is not ruling out other suspects. Mulder is irritated at this, and Skinner says he cannot authorize an investigation of a man who is officially dead. Mulder gestures to the wall and says, "What, because his name is on a wall?" Skinner tells Mulder that Teager's remains are in the Army Central Identification Lab in Maryland.
Scully interviews Mrs. Davenport, who again ID's Teager. She is crying, and one of her eyes begins to bleed. Mulder wants Scully to get an eye exam for Mrs. Davenport. When Scully protests, Mulder says, "By all accounts, the man we are looking for has a knack for vanishing in plain sight."
At the Army ID Lab, Mulder looks at Teager's remains, which are nothing but three teeth. There is no evidence of whether the teeth were pulled pre- or post-mortem, and the doctor says to Mulder that he indicated Teager's "death" was inconclusive.
Mulder calls General Steffan, the man who signed Teager's death certificate, and warns him that he may be in danger. He tells Steffan that two FBI agents, including Agent Hill, will wait for him at the Pentagon. The two agents check out Steffan's office, and allow him inside, then wait outside.
Mulder arrives at the Pentagon himself just as Scully calls him. She says that Renee Davenport had a floating blind spot. When Mulder asks if that could be why she didn't see Teager, Scully says, "I asked the doctor that and he laughed at me." Mulder gets another call and puts Scully on hold. It is General Steffan, who says there is a death-card laying on his desk and he is worried. He says the FBI agents are outside his office, then a shot is fired.
At the Pentagon, Skinner arrives and demands to talk to Mulder and Scully. He shows them a security videotape that clearly shows Teager walking through the building, and wants to know why nobody saw him. Mulder is now convinced that Teager can hide himself from plain sight, possibly using people's naturally occurring blind spots. Skinner is angry with this, saying that the parade and dedication are providing Teager with the perfect opportunity to kill another military official.
Mulder meets with Marita Covarrubias, who is vague about Teager. She does tell him that there was a 3-man government committee, whose secret policies in Vietnam were responsible for man being left behind enemy lines for certain capture and death. Two of those men were Generals MacDougal and Steffan. It is the government that wants the men dead, which confuses Mulder. He asks then why the government asked the FBI to protect the men. Marita replies, "Because they know you can't." She tells him the third man on the committee is a General Bloch.
As the parade begins for the dedication, Scully spots Teager on the roadside, armed, and waiting for General Bloch's car. She pulls her weapon, scattering the crowd, and Teager vanishes.
After the parade the FBI agents convene in a tent behind the stage, planning their strategy. Mulder comes in and tells Scully and Skinner that General Bloch is the next target, and that they are expected to fail. Scully says that the government wouldn't kill high-ranking members of the military just to discredit Skinner and the X-Files. Mulder says that is just a secondary goal; the real aim is to maintain the government's secret policy of denial on Vietnam POW's.
The dedication begins, and an old veteran who served with Teager recognizes him, calling out to him. He is amazed to see Teager, who he thought was dead. Teager gives him a list of men, saying they are all still alive somewhere in Vietnam, then disappears from in front of the man.
Now we return to the opening scene. Mulder is unable to see Teager, and Scully comes up to him, saying Teager is gone. Skinner ushers General Bloch off the stage, and around behind, toward his car. Mulder and Scully rush backstage, and tell Skinner to stop, that Teager is in the car. Shots are fired, and Skinner is winged in the arm while throwing Bloch to the ground. Mulder and Scully cautiously approach the car, which starts and begins to drive forward, appearing to be driven by no one. Mulder and Scully rush out of the way, and Agent Hill fires several shots through the windshield. The car stops, and a dying Teager falls out of the driver's seat. He repeats his name, rank and serial number as Skinner vainly calls for an ambulance.
At the Vietnam Memorial the next day, Mulder approaches Skinner and tells him that the Pentagon is claiming the dead man was named Thomas Lynch, a man who had been in and out of VA psych hospitals. Lynch belonged to the Right Hand, and Denny Markham made a positive ID. Mulder refuses to believe this, saying that the government got to Markham, and that they are lying, and covering up the truth. He wants to pursue the case, but Skinner says that the case is no longer the FBI's. Mulder says, "Don't do this," but Skinner urges him to let it go. Mulder says, "They're not just denying this man's life, they're denying his death, too. And with all due respect, sir, he could have been you." He stares at Skinner for a long moment, then walks away, leaving Skinner to stare at the memorial in silence.
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