Agts. Mulder and Scully were called upon to investigate the murder of Tony Oliver, one of three teenaged suspects in what appeared to be a hate murder. Oliver, Derek Banks, and Clinton Macguire were suspected of beating and killing Isaac Luria, the Hasidic proprietor of a market in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York. Robbery had been ruled out as a motive for that murder because only the surveillance-camera video had been removed from the store. Tony Oliver had later been strangled, apparently while viewing that video. The BureauÆs Civil Rights branch had contacted Agt. Scully because the fingerprints of Isaac LuriaÆs, the youthsÆ victim, had been found on OliverÆs body.
In Agt. MulderÆs office at Bureau headquarters, Agt. Scully reviewed the police and Bureau reports on both killings with Agt. Mulder. She advanced the theory that the murder of Oliver was retaliation for LuriaÆs murder and that LuriaÆs fingerprints had appeared on OliverÆs body as part of a hoax. She suggested that she and Agt. Mulder resolve the case by determining how LuriaÆs fingerprints were placed on OliverÆs body.
Agts Mulder and Scully traveled to Brooklyn, New York, and interviewed LuriaÆs fiancée, Ariel Weiss, at the Brooklyn apartment of her father Jacob Weiss. They asked Ariel Weiss to sign a consent letter for the exhumation of LuriaÆs body in order to seek evidence regarding the murder of Oliver. Jacob Weiss resentfully objected, citing Jewish prohibitions against desecrating corpses, expressing his unwillingness to protect the remaining two suspects in LuriaÆs murder, and reminding the agents that the police had failed to protect Luria. He showed the agents an anti-Semitic pamphlet that had been pushed under his door that morning. He implied that he felt admiration for OliverÆs killer. When Agt. Scully threatened to get a court order for the exhumation, Ariel Weiss consented to the procedure.
Leaving the Weiss apartment in their car, the agents speculated that Jacob Weiss already knew what the agents would find in LuriaÆs grave. Agt. Mulder suggested that the publisher of the anti-Semitic literature could identify the killers of both Luria and Oliver. As the agents drove away, a figure in a storm drain watched Ariel Weiss at her window.
Agts. Mulder and Scully then interviewed Curt Brunjes, owner and proprietor of a print shop at 1525 Avenue J, Brooklyn, New York, immediately across the street from LuriaÆs market. During the interview, Brunjes expressed anti-Semitic feelings. Shown the mug shots of Banks and Macguire, Brunjes denied knowing the suspects. He stated his pride in not being a Zionist collaborator. Agt. Scully suggested that if Brunjes withheld evidence he would be endangering the lives of the other two suspects. She also reported a rumor that Luria had risen from his grave. Unbeknownst to the agents, Derek Banks was watching the interview from a back room on the store-camera surveillance monitor. After the agents left the store, Brunjes proceeded to the back room to speak to Banks but found that Banks had left.
That night, at the Mt. Zion Cemetery, Banks and Macguire dug up LuriaÆs coffin in order to ascertain whether Luria had left the grave. While Macguire was retrieving tools with which to open the coffin, he was attacked by the figure that had watched Ariel Weiss from the storm drain. Banks opened the grave and identified LuriaÆs body in the coffin. Banks then found Macguire buried in a mound of mud.
Later that night, MacguireÆs body was examined at the scene by Agt. Scully. She identified marks on the victimÆs neck as consistent with OliverÆs killing. Forensics identified a second set of footprints at the scene. Agt. Scully speculated that Macguire and Banks had intended to desecrate the corpse of Luria. Agt. Mulder suggested that they feared Luria. The agents examined LuriaÆs fingers, which they found intact. They also noted obscure markings on LuriaÆs hands. The agents then discovered a book under LuriaÆs head. When Agt. Mulder touched it, the book burst into flames.
At BrunjesÆs print shop, Derek Banks demanded that Brunjes give him money. Brunjes expressed his dismay at BanksÆs murder of Luria. Banks angrily accused Brunjes of being content only with words. He informed Brunjes of the death of Macguire and again demanded money.
At the Judaica Archives in New York City, Agts, Mulder and Scully interviewed Kenneth Ungar, an orthodox Jewish scholar. Ungar examined the book that Agts. Mulder and Scully had retrieved from LuriaÆs grave. He described the book as a mystical text. He explained that in Jewish tradition, no objects are buried with the dead. He also said that such books are not known to combust spontaneously. Agt. Scully advanced the theory that arsine gas had been in the groundwater and had created a combustible mixture. Ungar noted the bookÆs only distinguishing mark, an engraved or stamped name on its cover. The name was that of Jacob Weiss.
Agts. Mulder and Scully failed to find Jacob Weiss at his apartment in Brooklyn but did find Ariel Weiss there. Ariel Weiss stated that that day was her scheduled wedding day. She showed the agents a communal wedding ring from Jacob WeissÆs birthplace, Kolin, in the former Czechoslovakia. Jacob Weiss had been apprenticed to the jeweler who had made the ring, which each woman in town had worn on her wedding day. She further described a 1943 massacre of 9,000 Jews in that town. Jacob Weiss had survived the massacre because his youth and training as a jeweler made him adept at working in munitions factories. Jacob Weiss had later brought the ring to the United States. He had kept it hidden until Ariel Weiss had recently announced her wedding plans.
During prayers at the Park Street synagogue, Agts. Mulder and Scully sought out Jacob Weiss, who had retreated to a darkened attic. The agents pursued Jacob Weiss there and found the body of Banks hanging from a rafter. Observing a running figure, the agents drew their firearms. Agt. Mulder was struck from behind and fell to the floor. Then Agt. Scully was also struck. Agt. Scully announced the presence of federal agents and aimed her gun. Jacob Weiss surrendered. As the agents led Jacob Weiss from the attic, the figure watched from the shadows. On its hand were marks like those on LuriaÆs body.
At the 21st Precinct holding area, Agt. Mulder interrogated Jacob Weiss. Ariel Weiss arrived at the precinct and spoke to Agt. Scully in the corridor. Agt. Scully suggested that Ariel Weiss hire an attorney and expressed sympathy for Ariel Weiss. Under interrogation by Agt. Mulder, Jacob Weiss confessed to the murder of Banks and claimed he had been attacked in the attic and had killed in self-defense. Agt. Mulder asked Jacob Weiss about the book found in LuriaÆs coffin. He also asked Jacob Weiss who else had been in the attic. Jacob Weiss was uncooperative. Agt. Mulder noted mud on Jacob WeissÆs clothes. Agt. Mulder then met Agt. Scully in the observation room. Agt. Scully showed Agt. Mulder the background check she had run on Jacob Weiss, whom she described as a former terrorist. Agt. Mulder expressed his conviction that a second person had been in the attic. When Ariel Weiss entered the interrogation room, Agt. Mulder left the observation room. Agt. Scully heard Jacob Weiss tell Ariel Weiss that he had confessed to the murders in order to protect Ariel Weiss. He also informed her that his book had been found in LuriaÆs coffin.
At BrunjesÆs print shop, Brunjes was printing anti-Semitic literature in a room displaying a swastika when he was strangled to death.
At the Judaica Archives, Agt. Mulder interviewed Ungar concerning a creature of Jewish myth known as the golem. Ungar explained that the golem is a living being fashioned from mud and clay. Certain letters bring a golem to life. Jacob WeissÆs book contained instructions for inscribing the letters alef, mem, and tav on the hand of a corpse. The word spells emet, or truth. According to Ungar, the golem is a monster, said to run amok. He showed Agt. Mulder that by erasing the first of letter of "emet," the word "met," or death, is formed and the golem is destroyed. At that point Agt. Scully phoned Agt. Mulder and informed him of the murder of Brunjes.
At BrunjesÆs print shop, a detective scanned the store-camera surveillance videotape. He showed Agts. Mulder and Scully the video image of the perpetrator. The video image resembled Luria. Agt. Scully called the coroner, who confirmed that LuriaÆs dental records proved that it was indeed LuriaÆs corpse in LuriaÆs grave. Agt. Scully suggested that the videotape had been planted as part of a hoax. Agt. Mulder asserted that the perpetrator was a golem.
Agts. Mulder and Scully proceeded to the apartment of Jacob Weiss, seeking Ariel Weiss, who was not in the apartment. The communal wedding ring was also missing. The agents recalled that that day was her scheduled wedding day.
Jacob Weiss arrived at the Park Street Synagogue and found Ariel Weiss in the attic wearing a wedding dress. Jacob Weiss warned Ariel Weiss that she had brought back to life an abomination with no place among the living. Ariel Weiss recalled the day of LuriaÆs murder, when immediately before being murdered, Luria promised to call her back. She told Jacob Weiss that she had wanted to say goodbye to Luria. The figure resembling Luria appeared in the attic. Jacob Weiss urged Ariel Weiss to stay in the attic.
Agts. Mulder and Scully entered the building and found Jacob Weiss hanging from a rafter in the sanctuary, still alive. The agents cut him down. Agt. Scully examined him and summoned paramedics. Agt. Mulder proceeded to the attic, where he discovered Ariel Weiss. Agt. Mulder reassured Ariel Weiss that her father would live. As Ariel Weiss and Agt. Mulder attempted to leave the attic, the figure resembling Luria approached them. Agt. Mulder fired his weapon but failed to prevent the figure from advancing. The figure then struck Agt, Mulder, knocking him to the floor. The figure attacked Agt. Mulder but was interrupted by Ariel Weiss. Ariel Weiss gave the figure the wedding ring and recited part of the Jewish wedding ceremony. The figure put the ring on Ariel WeissÆs finger. She expressed her love for him. As Ungar had described to Agt. Mulder, Ariel Weiss rubbed the hand of Luria, removing the first letter from the word, "emet," inscribed on it. The figure turned into mud.
Having heard the shots, Agt. Scully entered the attic to find Ariel Weiss reciting the Kaddish over the mud figure.
No arrests have been made in the case to date.