1.12 "Fire"

In Bosham, England, a British lord bids farewell to his family as he
leaves home. On his way out, he stops to greet his gardener, Cecil. He
turns to wave to his family one last time, and as he does, his sleeve
ignites. He is quickly engulfed in flames and everyone stares in horror, except the gardener who watches without the slightest hint of emotion.
Mulder and Scully head to their car in the FBI parking garage. Before
they enter, Mulder notes that the door on his side was unlocked, yet he remembered locking it earlier. Inside the car, they discover a cassette
tape which is sitting on the dashboard. Curious, they play the tape, on
which a woman's voice describes how a man was killed in his car aftering playing a mysterious tape he found inside. It goes on to say that the
doors on the car were tied to the explosives so he couldn't open the
door to escape. At that point, Mulder's door opens and an attractive
woman greets them cheerily.
The woman, Phoebe Green, is from Scotland Yard and attended the same
English school as Mulder. She kisses Mulder and asks him for his help.
Her assignment is to protect a visiting Parliament member while he stays
in the US. Several Parliament members have been killed recently by being burned alive. In each case, the wife of each lord received an anonymous
love letter, as Mrs. Malcolm Marsden, the wife of the visiting lord also
has.
She calls it a "three-pipe problem," making reference to Sherlock Holmes
and something in Phoebe's and Mulder's past. Scully looks rather
uncomfortable as the two reminisce. Mulder tells her that he will
mention it to the FBI's arson experts, but she says that the previous
deaths appeared to be spontaneous combustion. Fox asks if there is the possibility that the killer is pyrokinetic.
Meanwhile, the Marsden family arrives at their temporary home in Boston.
We see "Cecil" painting the house. He lights a cigarette using his
powers, then walks over to introduce himself as Bob the house's
caretaker. As the Marsden's enter the house, they notice a portrait on
the wall, which bears a striking resemblence to Mrs. Marsden, but they
shrug it off as coincidence. They return back outside to call their dog
who is digging around the bushes and a dead body.
As it turns out, Mulder is pyrophobic. When Scully offers to help him,
he declines, telling her that Phoebe enjoys playing mind games with him.
When he was younger, he watches as a neighbor's house burned down. He is determined to face up to his fear.
Later that night, Bob is peeping in the kitchen to watch Mrs. Marsden.
Then he goes over to talk with the chauffer, who is coughing very
loudly. Bob asks him for a cigarette and then asks if there is anything
he can get for the chauffer while he goes into town. The driver asks him
to pick up some cough medicine. Bob goes to a local bar and sits down
for a drink. When a woman attempts to pick him up by asking him for a
light, he creates a small flame which emerges from his fingertip. She is delighted by the trick and points it out to everyone else in the bar.
When she turns to look back at Bob, his entire arm is now aflame which
sends everyone fleeing before Cecil sets the bar alight.
Phoebe and Fox go to the hospital where the woman from the bar is being treated for burns. She tells him about the previous night, but she is reluctant to talk about Bob because she is currently living with someone
and doesn't want them to know. But she finally relinquishes the fact
that Bob had an English accent and acquiesces to make a police sketch.
Back at the home, we see the chauffer bent over the toilet vomiting as
Cecil looks on. He also befriends the Marsden children by showing them a
magic trick with cigarettes. Mrs. Marsden comes down and asks if Bob
will drive them around since the chauffer is sick.
At FBI headquarters, Scully examines the files on the arsonist and
begins to write a profile into her journals. She claims that the
murderer is probably a 25 year old male who is psychologically
unbalanced and kills to compensate for his own sexual inadequacy. The
killer becomes obsessed with a woman who he cannot have. She is certain
that he has already arrived in the U.S.
Phoebe and Mulder book a room in a hotel where the Lord will be
attending a reception. Phoebe enters the party and Mulder receives a
phone call from Scully telling him that she will be coming up to Boston
to give him some information about the arsonist. Coming back out of the
party, Phoebe asks Fox to dance with her. Scully arrives at the hotel
and watches silently as the two dance and kiss. Jealously, Scully turns around, nearly bumping into Bob in the hallway. Bob walks past.
As she waits around the corner from the dancing couple, she glances at
the hotel's alarm system, where a fire in indicated on the 14th floor.
She interrupts Mulder and tells them. The Marsden children are staying
in a room on that floor, so Mulder runs up the stairs to save them.
Scully alerts the hotel personnel about the fire.
It is the childrens' room which is on fire. Mulder pauses before
entering the 14th floor then rushes in. He crawls along the floor of the hallway, but begins to cough as the smoke enters his lungs. His phobia
asserts itself again, and he begins to retreat back down the hall, but
he collapses. Bob then runs out of the room with the children with him.
He arrives in the lobby and is greeted as a hero. Phoebe thanks him
while Scully is busy checking on Mulder, who the firemen have dragged to safety.
When he awakens in the hotel room, he is upset with himself for
panicking. Phoebe enters the room and Scully asks her about if the
chauffer is trustworthy. Phoebe indicates that she chose the chauffer
herself and tells them that she feels the threat to the family is over
and that she will be returning to England with them.
The next day, Scully shows Mulder her findings. One of the dead lords
employed a gardener named Cecil Lively. But Cecil Lively died in a fire
in 1963 while still a child. Yet Cecil Lively obtained a visa recently.
Fox goes off to warn Phoebe in Cape Cod. After he leaves, a police fax
arrives of the man in the bar. It is clearly Bob. Scully tries to call
Mulder on his car phone, but is unable to reach him.
When Mulder arrives at the Marsden home, he rushes in the door, to
discover Lord Marsden and Phoebe kissing. He tells them to pack and
leave quickly because there is still a danger. Cecil is watching from
the top of the stairs.
Mulder returns to the hotel where Scully shows him the fax of Bob. And
they rush back to the house. Mulder goes upstairs and finds the body of
the chauffer in the bathroom. Suddenly the room catches fire and Mulder
tries in vain to beat it out. He realizes the children are still
upstairs, so goes to rescue them, but when he enters the hallway, he
finds Cecil waiting for him and with a snap of his fingers, he sets the ceiling of the hallway on fire.
Cecil goes down the stairs and is met by Scully aiming a gun at him. He
laughs at her and comes down anyway. From the side, Phoebe surprises him
by dousing him in the face with the same fuel he put in the house paint. Stunned, he stumbles out into the yard.
Mulder comes to term with his fear, and breaks down the door to the
kids' room and comes down the stairs with them safe. They run outside as
Cecil has finally shaken off the confusion. He prepares to attack them,
but instead, ignites the accelerant coating his body. Before he
collapses, he screams, "You can't fight fire with fire!"
Miraculously, Cecil survived the fire and has been admitted to a high
security hospital where he is kept in a room containing no flammable materials. He had suffered fifth and sixth degree burns but has a
remarkably fast healing rate and should recover fully in about a month.
The reports show his normal body temperature to be 107 degrees. In his
room, he looks out from his confining chamber and joking asks his nurse
for a cigarette.
Phoebe leaves without saying goodbye, but has left Mulder another
cassette tape. When Scully enters, he tells her he has no intention of listening to it. She smiles and asks him if he would like to go for
lunch.

----------------
Summary by Cliff Chen, 1993
CV,
telnet://ricksbbs.synchro.net:23
http://ricksbbs.synchro.net:8080
---
þ Synchronet þ Rick's BBS telnet://ricksbbs.synchro.net:23