SHADOWS

                         What is most troubling is the throat area - all crushed yet no abrasions or tissue damage - as                           if it  had been crushed from the inside.

We begin at a company named Industrial Technologies in Philadelphia, where one Lauren Kite grieves the passing of her former boss Howard Graves. It would seem that he committed suicide two weeks previously, and that she, as his secretary, shared a close friendship with him. As she leaves work she goes to an ATM to deposit her paycheque - however she is violently grabbed by two males and dragged away - the next shot is of two dead bodies being discovered - the two men who attacked her.....

We then switch to Bethesda Naval Base in Maryland - Mulder and Scully have been called in to offer their expertise in extra-terrestrial phenomenon. The two bodies found, although clearly dead, were still responding to exposure to high levels of electro-static charge, yet there were no surface burns. Furthermore despite being dead for some time the body temperature had yet to drop below 98.3 degrees. On further investigation the agents are told that the throat area had been crushed, yet there was no tissue damage or abrasions - almost as if the throat had been crushed from the inside. Mulder tells the investigating team (NSA/CIA?) that he has had no such experience relating to the symptoms outlined - and leaves. Later we learn from Mulder that X files cases exhibiting some of those symptoms do exist - yet no such case have the elements combined. Whilst he can only speculate about factors relating to psychokinetic manipulation he does have a lead - the fingerprints of one dead male. Mulder learns that the male is part of an extremist group and upon inspecting the ATM machine camera sees the two males grab and seemingly attempt to rob Lauren - but why???

Meanwhile the viewer sees Lauren being manhandled by her new boss and former partner to Graves, Mr Doreland. He insists that she remain with the company - however as he becomes more forceful we see an invisible entity tighten his bracelet until he has to let go of Lauren. He immediately agrees that she can leave the company.

Mulder and Scully pay a visit to Lauren's home, and whilst she acknowledges that the two men had grabbed her, she had managed to escape - offering the agents no more information. As the leave Mulders car seems to gain a life of its own and the agents crash into another car. At the garage the mechanic confirms that nothing is wrong with the car - although Mulder notices that the headlights are on even though the lights are not actually switched on - an electrostatic charge. Scully acknowledges that Lauren's presence at such scenes is linked to the deaths - but feels that she may have an accomplice. #

Further digging as to the background on Graves reveals that he killed himself in the bathtub, and the agents follow Lauren to the grave of Graves and learn that his young daughter had died after he left the gate to the pool open - and that she would be Lauren's age at this time. It becomes clear that Lauren and graves shared a father/daughter relationship, and that Lauren had no contact with her biological parents for years. There is a belief at this time that Graves may actually still be alive - and the agents discover that it was Lauren who actually identified Graves' body. However a medical doctor confirms that Graves did die, and that some of his organs had been donated to five other people.

As Lauren prepares to leave the office she again has another meeting with her boss Doreland, telling him that she knew he had something to do with the murder of Graves. Before she leaves to go home she calls Mulder and asks him to go to her house. However two hired yobs get to the house first and it seems that Lauren will follow her old boss - until an invisible force again emerges and kills both male and female trespassers. As the male is suspended in mid air seconds before his death Mulder walks in and witnesses it. Lauren is taking to the FBI office for questioning, and reveals that Doreland and the extremist group were doing business, selling parts through the company. She tells them that Graves had found out about this and was deeply upset - resulting in his death.  The FBI and NSA/CIA storm the office looking for evidence - and there seems to be nothing until Doreland threatens Lauren. The entity, believed to be the ghost of Graves, locates the evidence for the FBI and the case is solved.....

Copyright(c) 2007 - 2025. All rights reserved