The X-Files

- Oh, Daddy. Cut it out! - I knew it was you, Dad.

- Quit picking on your brother. He loves you. - No, I don't.

- I'm glad you're back home, Dad. - Not as glad as I am.

Did you see a lot of weird stuff this year?

Yep. It was the weirdest show ever.

But your mother thinks you're getting ready for bed.

If she finds you guys still in the pool, she's gonna kill me. So come on!

Quit your whinin'. Come on, or there's no bedtime story.

Out you go. That's it.

- What the he“. . f? - (squawking)

- What happened? - Nothing you can ascertain from that photo.

He suffered from ichthyosis, a congenital skin disease...

...characterised by the shedding of the epidermis as scales.

This shows the entry wound of the undetermined weapon.

No other injuries were inflicted. No organs were removed or cannibalised...

...and there's no signs of sexual molestation.

That's 48 attacks over the last 28 years...

...occurring in every state in the continental US almost...

...the first in Oregon, the last five in Florida.

Victims range from all different age groups, races. Both male and female.

The mutilations appear so motiveless one would suspect a form of ritual...

...yet they adhere to no known cult.

A serial killer would normally escalate the level of violence of his attacks...

...over such an extended period of time.

So what do you think, Scully? What are your initial thoughts?

Imagine going through your whole life looking like this.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul:

he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...

...I will fear no evil:

for thou art with me;

thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:

thou anointest my head with oil;

my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me...

...all the days of my life:

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

We are gathered here today to mourn the passing of Jerald Glazebrook...

...beloved husband, father, friend and entertainer.

We mourn not only the passing...

...of a man who overcame the obstacles of his earthly incarnation...

...but also the passing of the love that dwelled within his all-too-human heart.

We mourn the passing of the admiration and the respect...

...he instilled in all of his professional colleagues.

We mourn the passing of the laughter and the enjoyment...

...he brought each audience who saw him.

For although Jerry was a world-renowned escape artist...

...there is one strongbox from which none of us can escape.

Help me.

Put him down over there.

Not having known the deceased personally,

I'm in no position to perform a proper eulogy.

I'm sure he was a nice guy, et cetera, et cetera.

But as an admirer of his work, I am in a position...

...to perform an impromptu tribute in his honour.

Namely, ramming this spike into my chest!

- (man) Don't you have any respect? - I think I hit my left ventricle!

Get back, fascists!

Get him outta here!

I can't wait for the wake.

On his VICAP form, Jerald Glazebrook was listed as an "artist".

Jerry was an artist. The best escape artist since Houdini.

He should've been headlining Vegas, but his condition kept him on the sideshow circuit.

- I didn't realise that sideshows still existed. - There are two or three still around.

I got the impression that Glazebrook wasn't the only performer residing here.

The town was founded in the '20s when some of Barnum & Bailey's troupes...

...came down in the winter off-seasons.

This town's history might help explain our case's history.

A sideshow performer would have toured much of the country.

And their isolation from society, caused by their physical deformities...

...could have built up pathological resentment...

Now, now, hold on a second.

Around here we refer to them as "very special people".

They may be different on the outside, but it's what's inside that counts.

And on the inside... they're as normal as anybody.

Until arrest, many serial killers...

...are considered by their friends and family to be quite normal.

If you regard them as normal, you must consider the possibility...

...that they are capable of committing these crimes.

It's been my experience that other people have a harder time...

...accepting these people's deformities than they do themselves.

Sheriff, uh... what is this?

This design here. It's copyrighted by Hepcat Helm. Is that a local artist?

A bit too local. His workplace is right behind my station house.

Do you think that we could meet Hepcat?

Watch my eyes when you light them up

Listen to me whine like a heart shook up

Hepcat.

Hepcat!

I'm in a frenzy

- Who are the rubes? - These are FBI agents Scully and Mulder.

This is Hepcat Helm. He operates a carnival fun house.

Oh, man! How many times have I told you not to call it that?

It's not some rinky-dink carny ride. People go through it, they don't have fun.

They get the hell scared out of 'em. It's not a fun house.

- It's a tabernacle of terror. - It's a fun house.

I wanted to ask you about this menu illustration.

I recognise most of the historical portraits you've drawn here, but what's this here?

It's the Fiji Mermaid.

- Is that what that thing is? - What's the Fiji Mermaid?

The Fiji Mermaid. It's... it's the Fiji Mermaid!

It's a bit of, uh... humbug Barnum pulled in the last century.

Barnum billed it as a real live mermaid but when people went in to see it...

...all they saw was a real dead monkey sewn onto the tail of a fish.

- A monkey? - A mummified monkey.

It supposedly looked so bad, he had to exhibit it as a "genuine fake".

But see? That's why Barnum was a genius.

You never know where the truth ends and the humbug begins.

He came right out and said this Fiji Mermaid thing is just a bunch of BS.

Thatjust made people wanna go and see it even more. So I mean... who knows?

Maybe for box-office reasons Barnum hawked it as a hoax, when in reality...

The Fiji Mermaid was a reality.

Sheriff, we're gonna need a place to stay tonight.

There are lodgings right across the way, but, uh... what's all this about?

These tracks were found at several past crime scenes.

They've defied identification...

...but one expert speculated that they might be simian in nature.

You're not telling me these tracks were made by the Fiji Mermaid?

Do you recall what Barnum said about suckers?

Tell me, have you done much circus work in your life?

And what makes you think I've ever spectated a circus?

Much less been enslaved by one.

Many citizens here were circus hands and I thought...

You thought that because I am a person of short stature...

...that the only career I could procure for myself

would be one in the so-called big top.

You took one quick look at me and decided that you could deduce my entire life.

Never would it have occurred to you that a person of my height...

...could have possibly obtained a degree...

...in hotel management.

- I'm sorry. I meant no of fence. - Well, then, why should I take of fence?

Just because it's human nature to make instantaneous judgments of others...

...based solely upon their physical appearances?

I've done the same thing to you, for example.

I've taken in your all-American features...

...your dour demeanour, your unimaginative necktie design...

...and concluded that you work for the government.

An FBI agent.

But do you see the tragedy here?

I have mistakenly reduced you to a stereotype, a caricature...

...instead of regarding you as a specific, unique individual.

But I am an FBI agent.

Register here, please.

Tell me, have you done much circus work in your life?

I was on the stage for most of my life.

I was a headliner.

Did it not bother you to have people staring at you?

Best work I ever had. All I had to do was stand there.

Occasionally I'd say...

..."Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like you to meet my brother Leonard."

"Excuse him - he's a little shy."

Big laughs, I tell you. Big laughs.

Why did you give it up?

Mr Nutt, the kind-hearted manager here...

...convinced me that to make a living by displaying my deformity lacked dignity.

So now I carry other people's luggage.

I believe these are your trailers.

If they are not, then I am wrong.

Oh.

That's most considerate. Thank you very much.

Goodnight.

Sleep tight. Don't let the bedbugs bite.

No. No, that's not what I meant.

I didn't mean to imply we had bedbugs.

I meant to say don't let... Don't let the...

The Fiji Mermaids bite.

Yes, that's right. The Fiji Mermaids. That's right.

That's... That's exactly...

Mulder, what is this Fiji Mermaid business?

Every murder inquiry begins with a list of possible suspects.

You should try not to be so exclusive, Scully.

As long as you try not to let the atmosphere here distort your list all out of proportion.

I'm in a frenzy

Frenzy

This love gushes from my heart

Like water from a spout

You build a flame from a tiny spark

You can really knock me out - yeah!

Ease my mind with your real cool line

Daddy, fill my soul with love divine

When you say you're mine oh mine

I'm in a frenzy

What the hell...?

Uh... ma'am?

The sheriff, he wants to see you.

There's been another murder.

There's some blood on the window we should send to the lab.

- Why run a test on the victim's blood? - No, not this window. This window.

It seems to be the point of entry and there's some blood on the outside of the window.

Why would there be blood before the attack?

Why didn't the attacker just come through the open door?

For a person to crawl in and out of these windows...

...they'd have to be a contortionist.

Or just plain crazy. Or both.