X-FILE 215 - Fresh Bones
MULDER SUSPECTS THAT A VOODOO CURSE CAUSED THE DEATHS OF TWO MARINES STATIONED AT A HAITIAN REFUGEE CAMP.
     In North Carolina, Mulder and Scully investigate when two Marines stationed at the Folkstone government processing center for Haitian refugees die in mysterious accidents. The Marines officially classify the deaths as suicides, but Robin McAlpin, the wife of one victim, believes otherwise. Private Jack McAlpin died after he lost control of his car and skidded into a tree. The agents comb the accident scene and discover a strange image painted on the tree. Mrs. McAlpin tells the agents that a Marine named Harry Dunham suspects that the murders were caused by a voodoo curse.
     Mulder and Scully visit the encampment hoping to find answers. As they survey the deplorable conditions, a young Haitian boy, Chester, sells the agents a charm to help ward off evil. Later, the agents speak with Colonel Jacob Wharton, who runs the camp. He confirms that ever since a young Haitian boy was killed in the camp, things have been chaotic. Wharton blames the trouble on Pierre Bauvais, a revolutionary held in an isolation cell. Bauvais cryptically blames the deaths on loco-miroir, the voodoo crossroads between two worlds.
     Scully obtains permission to examine McAlpin's corpse. In the temporary camp morgue, Scully and a marine physician are horrified when they discover the body of a dead dog in place of McAlpin. Later that night, as Scully drives Mulder through the rain, a bedraggled man hobbles in front of the car. Scully slams on the brakes. The agents are shocked when they get a good look at the man-Jack McAlpin.
     A blood test reveals trace levels of a poison called tetrodotoxin in McAlpin's system. Mulder speculates that someone injected the Marine with the poison, thereby making him appear dead. This leads the agents to the grave of Manuel Guttierez, the second Marine who allegedly committed suicide. The body, however, is missing. A gravekeeper explains how grave robbers regularly snatch the dead from their resting grounds. Mulder spots Chester in the cemetery. The boy explains that he collects and sells frogs that Bauvais uses for his magic. This piques Scully's interest, as certain frog species secrete a substance chemically similar to the toxin found in McAlpin's blood.
     Mulder questions Dunham. He insists that Bauvais threatened to take the souls of all the Marines, one by one, unless his people are released. Mulder confronts Wharton with allegations of prisoner mistreatment, but the Colonel insists there is no official policy of harassment. Wharton is convinced that Bauvais told the agents about his illegal mistreatment of the Haitians. In response, he has Bauvais severely beaten.
     The agents discover Dunham's corpse floating in a bathtub, blood oozing from a stab wound. They also discover McAlpin nearby holding a knife. Suspecting Bauvais is somehow responsible, the agents ask Wharton for permission to speak with him. Wharton, however, claims that Bauvais killed himself by slashing his wrists with a bedspring. The case turns more bizarre when Robin McAlpin gives the agents a photo that Dunham wanted released in the event of his death. The picture reveals Wharton engaged in a voodoo ceremony with Bauvais.
     Mulder and Scully rush to the cemetery after learning that Wharton intends to steal Bauvais' soul. As Mulder falls victim to Wharton's magic, Bauvais rises from the dead. He avenges his murder by killing Wharton. Scully, meanwhile, fends off an attack by using the special charm that Chester sold Mulder.

Credits

 THE X-FILES "FRESH BONES" #2X15
Original Air Date: 02/03/95

CAST:
DAVID DUCHOVNY as Special Agent Fox Mulder
GILLIAN ANDERSON as Special Agent Dana Scully

GUEST CAST:
KEVIN CONWAY as Private McAlpin
DANIEL BENZALI as Colonel Wharton
KATYA GARDNER as Robin McAlpin
MATT HILL as Private Harry Dunham
JAMIL WALKER SMITH as Chester Bonaparte
BRUCE YOUNG as Pierre Bauvais
ROGER CROSS as Private Kittel
STEVEN WILLIAMS as X
CALLUM KEITH RENNIE as the Groundskeeper
PETER KELAMIS as Lt. Foyle
ADRIEN MALEBRANCHE as the skinny man

WRITTEN BY:
HOWARD GORDON

DIRECTED BY:
ROB BOWMAN

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