sits a heavy black phone.
SCULLY
Mulder, does this look familiar at all?
MULDER
The Mystery Line commercial.
Mulder goes over to the desk. He hesitates a moment, then picks up the telephone receiver. He starts to bring it to his ear...
SCULLY
Uh, Mulder?
Mulder shines the flashlight towards Scully's voice. She is holding up the end of the telephone cord. It is frayed, wires dangling, as though it were torn from the wall. Mulder, a little embarrassed, sets the receiver back in its cradle.
EXT. MAIN STREET - EVENING
Mulder and Scully exit the ruined hall, overcoats dusty, hair full of cobwebs. Scully dusts herself off.
SCULLY
When we get back to the motel, I'm going to take a long shower.
MULDER
Looks like Fred's back.
Across the street, the Fix-It and Supply Shop's sign has been turned around to read "OPEN FOR BUSINESS." Inside, a figure can be seen working. Mulder begins crossing the street. Scully stands there, pulling long, dusty knots of cobweb out of her hair.
MULDER
Coming?
SCULLY
Sure. Why not.
INT. FIX-IT SHOP
A small bell RINGS as Mulder and Scully enter the Fix-It shop. The shopowner, FRED, does not look up. Wearing overalls and a pair of glasses, one lens of which has been fitted with an eyepiece for working on minute mechanisms, he is hunched over some obscure device, working at it with tiny tools.
SCULLY
Excuse me?
Fred still does not acknowledge them.
SCULLY
Excuse me, I'm Agent Scully. This is Agent Mulder. We're with the FBI.
FRED
(concentrating on his gizmo)
I heard about you.
Fred goes back to ignoring the agents. Scully, looking around the shop, notices a sheet of paper on the counter. She holds it up for Mulder to see: "Spectacular Display of Illusion and Ventriloquism."
MULDER
Sir, we're here on an investigation.
He holds up the receipt from Illusions of Empire.
MULDER
Maybe you could tell us how your shop's address turned up on this receipt.
With a sigh full of irritation, Fred finally gets up from his workbench to examine the receipt.
FRED
(reading slowly)
"Illusions ... of ... Empire." Magic shop? I've never been too interested in magic.
Fred squints, reading through the magnifying eyepiece.
FRED
Why, that ain't even my handwriting. Sorry, can't help you.
MULDER
Sir, I understand you're probably a very busy man, but this is kind of a serious matter.
Outside, an old van--the kind with no windows along its sides--pulls in front of the shop.
FRED
Listen, agent whoever you are. I don't belong to any militia and I ain't never done anything illegal, least not that I know of. I'm just trying to run a business here. I take whatever jobs come my way--mostly piecework.
Fred holds up his gizmo as an example. Even up close, the thing offers no clue as to what it is or what it does.
FRED
I usually don't know what the whole machine looks like, and to tell you the truth I don't much care. Now, however serious it might seem, this business that brought you here ... well, offhand I'd say someone is having some fun at your expense.
Mulder looks to his partner for some help, but the look on Scully's face says she's thinking the same thing as Fred.
Outside, a teenage KID pops out of the passenger door of the van and enters the Fix-It shop. Fred puts down his gizmo.
FRED
Excuse me, but I have a real customer.
Fred waves the kid over the the far end of the desk, away from the agents. He retrieves something from a shelf, a package of some sort wrapped in black paper and held together with leather straps. Fred and the kid turn their shoulders to Mulder and Scully and speak in WHISPERS so they cannot overhear. Fred seems to be giving the kid some kind of instructions: he grasps his left hand with the thumb and forefinger of his right, creating the image of a handcuff or shackle of some kind. He then moves both hands as if pulling a length of rope, letting it go slack and pulling it taut again. The kid nods. Finally, the kid exits the shop with his package under his arm and
SCULLY
Mulder, does this look familiar at all?
MULDER
The Mystery Line commercial.
Mulder goes over to the desk. He hesitates a moment, then picks up the telephone receiver. He starts to bring it to his ear...
SCULLY
Uh, Mulder?
Mulder shines the flashlight towards Scully's voice. She is holding up the end of the telephone cord. It is frayed, wires dangling, as though it were torn from the wall. Mulder, a little embarrassed, sets the receiver back in its cradle.
EXT. MAIN STREET - EVENING
Mulder and Scully exit the ruined hall, overcoats dusty, hair full of cobwebs. Scully dusts herself off.
SCULLY
When we get back to the motel, I'm going to take a long shower.
MULDER
Looks like Fred's back.
Across the street, the Fix-It and Supply Shop's sign has been turned around to read "OPEN FOR BUSINESS." Inside, a figure can be seen working. Mulder begins crossing the street. Scully stands there, pulling long, dusty knots of cobweb out of her hair.
MULDER
Coming?
SCULLY
Sure. Why not.
INT. FIX-IT SHOP
A small bell RINGS as Mulder and Scully enter the Fix-It shop. The shopowner, FRED, does not look up. Wearing overalls and a pair of glasses, one lens of which has been fitted with an eyepiece for working on minute mechanisms, he is hunched over some obscure device, working at it with tiny tools.
SCULLY
Excuse me?
Fred still does not acknowledge them.
SCULLY
Excuse me, I'm Agent Scully. This is Agent Mulder. We're with the FBI.
FRED
(concentrating on his gizmo)
I heard about you.
Fred goes back to ignoring the agents. Scully, looking around the shop, notices a sheet of paper on the counter. She holds it up for Mulder to see: "Spectacular Display of Illusion and Ventriloquism."
MULDER
Sir, we're here on an investigation.
He holds up the receipt from Illusions of Empire.
MULDER
Maybe you could tell us how your shop's address turned up on this receipt.
With a sigh full of irritation, Fred finally gets up from his workbench to examine the receipt.
FRED
(reading slowly)
"Illusions ... of ... Empire." Magic shop? I've never been too interested in magic.
Fred squints, reading through the magnifying eyepiece.
FRED
Why, that ain't even my handwriting. Sorry, can't help you.
MULDER
Sir, I understand you're probably a very busy man, but this is kind of a serious matter.
Outside, an old van--the kind with no windows along its sides--pulls in front of the shop.
FRED
Listen, agent whoever you are. I don't belong to any militia and I ain't never done anything illegal, least not that I know of. I'm just trying to run a business here. I take whatever jobs come my way--mostly piecework.
Fred holds up his gizmo as an example. Even up close, the thing offers no clue as to what it is or what it does.
FRED
I usually don't know what the whole machine looks like, and to tell you the truth I don't much care. Now, however serious it might seem, this business that brought you here ... well, offhand I'd say someone is having some fun at your expense.
Mulder looks to his partner for some help, but the look on Scully's face says she's thinking the same thing as Fred.
Outside, a teenage KID pops out of the passenger door of the van and enters the Fix-It shop. Fred puts down his gizmo.
FRED
Excuse me, but I have a real customer.
Fred waves the kid over the the far end of the desk, away from the agents. He retrieves something from a shelf, a package of some sort wrapped in black paper and held together with leather straps. Fred and the kid turn their shoulders to Mulder and Scully and speak in WHISPERS so they cannot overhear. Fred seems to be giving the kid some kind of instructions: he grasps his left hand with the thumb and forefinger of his right, creating the image of a handcuff or shackle of some kind. He then moves both hands as if pulling a length of rope, letting it go slack and pulling it taut again. The kid nods. Finally, the kid exits the shop with his package under his arm and
Similar Books
