All language subtitles for Psi-Factor-S2E07

These stories are inspired
by the actual case files

of the Office of Scientific
Investigation and Research.

How good of you to join us
for this auspicious event.

Truly momentous, wouldn't you agree?

Momentous? I was just saying that.

Or was it monotonous?
I always get those things mixed up.

You can dress him up,
but you can't take him out.

Hey, I appreciate high culture.

Just not during the playoffs.

Matthew!

What a surprise.

Lindsay, you look exquisite.

What a much-shot liver.

Ladies and gentlemen, gather round.

Please, gather round.

I'm Dr. Jeffrey Tompkins,
curator of the Abbott Museum of Art.

And I'd like to introduce Mr. Victor Tsang,
Consul General,

and thank him for assisting us in
acquiring this extraordinary piece.

I've heard it's exquisite.

Oh, don't say so.

Mr. Tsang, would you please do the honors?

The Abbott Museum has had this exquisite
sword in its collection for years.

It is believed to have come
from the Emperor's court.

That's remarkable.

May this brave warrior guard over your
distinguished museum and its generous patrons.

- Good night, Eddie.
- Good night, sir.

Is something wrong, Dr. Tompkins?

I left my glasses in my office.
I'll be back in a second, Eddie.

Dr. Tompkins?

God !

The myth and magic of ancient China has
become almost as ageless as time itself.

Chinese culture has inspired
scholars and poets alike

to create visionary expressions
in the fields of art and science.

But where do myths end and facts begin?

One story is that the first emperor,
Qin Shi Huangdi,

buried over 400 Confucian scholars
alive just to quell a protest.

Was this the political act of a tyrannical
dictator or merely an expression of pure evil?

Now if so, can evil live on through time,
adopting new forms,

lying in wait to kill again?

In case file 371211, the OSIR was
challenged by a horrifying riddle,

which brought the mysteries of the past
to a violent collision with the present.

I heard some noise, I rushed over.

Case manager's log.

The police department and the
Abbott Museum of Art have requested

that we investigate the decapitation
of Dr. Jeffrey Tompkins

and the subsequent theft
of a terracotta sculpture.

The cut's so clean,
it's as if they used a laser.

But that would mean lugging the
equipment as well as the statue.

And it must have weighed
at least 300 pounds.

Why go to all the trouble of
cutting it off at its base?

Yeah. Not to mention that guy's head.

I truly appreciate your assembling the team
and working through the night like this.

I'm still not sure why we're here.

Since when do we investigate
robbery and murder?

Since Jeffrey Tompkins
was a good friend of mine.

Sorry, Frank.

I am aware that our involvement
goes beyond our mandate.

But if the press gets wind of this,
Jeffrey's murder, the theft,

an international incident like this
could have serious repercussions.

So this is just political damage control?

Politics is the allocation of resources.
This is how I choose to allocate mine.

The guard didn't have anything
that the police report didn't have.

There's no spray pattern.
There's not enough blood for a beheading.

The posit of the body was Tompkins?

There's no indication that it wasn't.
It had his wallet and ID on him.

Have rerun the prints.

And have them forward a copy to medical
examiners report to Hendricks.

Right.

No sign of breaking and entering?
Or an accident?

Maybe this has something to do with the
mythology surrounding the Terracotta Army.

The people of the time
were highly superstitious.

Magic was part of their everyday lives.

Yeah, and remember what Isaac Asimov said.

Magic is just science we
don't yet understand.

That statue didn't
just walk out of here.

Case log update.

On the recommendation of Michael Kelly,
we're meeting with Hamilton Darwell,

a local professor of ancient Chinese studies
for further information on the missing statue.

Hey, pooch.

Stay !

His name was Clifford.

In life he never obeyed a single command.

You'll found he's not
much obedient now.

Michael Kelly said I should expecting you.

This is a remarcable collection, Mr. Darwell.

How kind.

****, a delightful fragrance, Miss Donner.

And you, Matt Prager.

Sandalwood, strong, practical, much as
I expected, given Kelly's account of you.

I presume from you awkward silence that
I neglected to tell you I'm stone blind.

Yes, that's right.

Macular degeneration.
Damn nuisance.

Though it is remarcable how
much the fingers can see.

Hand me an object.

Anything.

Here you go.

Too light to be gold.

Silver.

Hand tooled.
Semi pretious stones.

Egyptian will be my guess.

I bought it at a bazaar in Cairo.

That's some bar trick.

It's no trick.

This is my world.

My things, my memories.

And it's all here in living colour.

Did Kelly tell you about
my latest acquisition?

Yeah, that's why we're here.

I'd like you to see if he gets this.

Michael is the only one I
trust to authenticate it.

Han dynasty?

Well done. Over 2,000 years old.

Typical TLV pattern.

Shouldn't have been a museum.

That's my point exactly.

Of course, Dr. Tompkins had
a different perspective,

or he wouldn't have sold it to me.

Unfortunate his ghastly demise.

Did you know him well?

I met him in Hong Kong
briefly in the 80s.

Burish man.

Vile cologne.

Mike says you suspect he was using the
museum as a front to sell off antiquities.

Undoubtedly.

Only a fool or a thief would sell
a priceless mirror like that.

And Tompkins was no fool.

If he was dealing in artifacts like this,
he was not working alone.

That could explain the missing statue.

I've given that some
thought since you called.

Ms. Donner, immediately behind you,

a second shelf from the bottom, you'll
find a large volume tied to a notebook.

Yeah, I've got it.

That, dearest,
is the hand-lettered transcription

of a Dower's manuscript
dating back to 200 BC.

I came upon the scrolls in a Tibetan
monastery and had it transcribed.

Ah, unfortunately I was unable to complete
the translation before the lights went out.

I think you'll find the passage on General
Tse and the terracotta army enlightening.

The site was discovered in 1974 by farmers
digging a well in the Xi'an province.

8,000 figures of horses, archers,
generals and cavalrymen,

all carrying real swords and
crossbows and no two are alike.

All that to protect the Emperor
and the afterlife. Amazing.

I've been to Xi'an myself.

They didn't see death as the end of life,
but the consummation of it.

Spirit World was very real to them.
A land of the immortals.

According to Darwell's manuscript,

General Tse was one of the
Emperor's most trusted officers,

but that's where the translation ends.

The stolen statue has a long coat
and armor plating of a general.

You think our statue
could be the same guy?

Why would the Emperor build an entire army
and not take his commanding officer with him?

I'll check with Darwell in the morning.

He must know someone who
can finish his translation.

Well, the fact that both Tompkins and
our statue are missing their heads

seems like more than a wild
coincidence, don't you think?

Ray confirmed that
the body is Tompkins.

The prints match those of
his PRC export license,

but the body has maintained almost its entire
volume of blood despite the decapitation.

It's as if the next dump
was cauterized somehow.

Looking at those faces, the artists
captured more than just their features.

22 centuries later, it's as if
they're trying to tell us something.

Do you really think we're dealing
with something supernatural here?

Every culture and religion has allusions
to the afterlife, the great beyond.

We can't prove it.

We can't disprove it either.

You guys aren't going to believe this.

It won't be the first time.

I was surfing the net trying to find some
background information on the terracotta army.

This showed up.

The police department is investigating the
decapitation of the curator of the Abbot...

How'd they get this?

I don't know.

This quotes my initial log word for word.

Let's get Ray on this.

We get a security leak.

Yeah.

Mr. Prager, coma.

I believe I have found something
that will be of use to you, period.

I've made some calls to my associates in Hong
Kong regarding the late Dr. Tompkins, period.

Apparently, at the time I met him, coma,

Tompkins was a buyer for a consortium of
high-end dealers of antiquities in Europe.

That's a man of that freedom.

Resuming.

Tompkins was a buyer for a consortium of
exclusive antique dealers in Europe, period.

Who's there?

Speak up!

I know you're there.

Mr. Darwell?

Mr. Darwell, it's Lindsay Donner.

Hello!

Hello, Mr. Darwell?

Hi !

Oh no !

Mr. Darwell?

Oh my God !

Tompkins !

Matt !

It's for you. Scottie.

News travel's fast.

Resume file.

Who's there? Question.

Speak up. Period.
I know you're there. Period.

What do you? Unintelligible.

The head? Unintelligible.

What? Question. Who are? Question.
General? Unintelligible.

No. Period. Please no. Period.

End of file.

Oh, it's you. You must be hungry.

Matt, the window!

You go that way.

Thanks for following up
on the translation, Mike.

I can see why you liked him.

Well, aside from you, I have few friends,

and now I have one less.

And I would consider it a personal favor

if you would find out who did this.

You think this was worth killing him for?

Oh, nothing was.

Would you pass me the pepper,
please?

You know, values, they're so relative,
they're so mutable.

This pepper.

I run out of it.

I can scurry down to the corner store.

Centuries ago,
this was as valuable as gold.

Entire trade routes of the
Far East were built around it.

Speaking of international transactions,

I checked out Tompkins Financial Affairs.

- He recently purchased a villa in Tuscany.
- Woo!

Not bad on a curator's salary.

I assume that you met the gentleman at
the Chinese consulate, Victor Sang?

Yeah, at the opening.

I'm still sifting through the details,

but I suspect that Sang and Tompkins

are in league on some extracurricular level.

Then why this head-switching gag?

And why kill Tompkins in the first place?

The statue is so unique,
you could never exhibit it.

Some art lovers are purely
interested in the prestige

of attaining the unattainable.

Yeah, like the Gardner
robbery a few years back.

Vermeer's and Rembrandt's too hot to sell.

A snatch-to-order crime.

Well, enough money or power is involved.

No life is of value.

What? Question.

Who are... Question.
General. Unintelligible.

No, period.

Please no, period.

End of file.

You think you can retrieve the text?

Well, I'm working on it.

It's not like this is a
tape that we can enhance.

I need to speak with Prager immediately.

- He's, um...
- He's out.

Yeah, he's chasing down some leads.

And perhaps you can explain this.

This just happened.

At least this one doesn't
quote our case log.

He must have been there before I arrived.

Who?

I don't know.

He was at the window with the camera.

We almost had him, but he got away.

That's most unfortunate.

Tell you one thing, whoever it is,

they try and intercept our communications
again, and we'll nail them.

Come on, we'll show you.

There are only two places he can intercept
our case logs, from Central Lab...

Impossible.

Or at the point of transmission.

I've installed a bug detector
into the communications uplink.

We send out a dummy signal.

If it gets interrupted in any way,

the scanner will track the interceptor.

That's passive,
but it's effective if it works.

Now, what about the case in hand?

Who's killing these men?
Where is the statue?

We're following up on a number of leads.

It looks like the events at the museum

are connected to Tompkins'
dealings with the Chinese consul in general.

We think they've been dealing together.

Well, you better have proof before
you make an allegation like that.

Well, we're about to get it.

Matt and I are going undercover.

We're meeting Sang at
the consulate tomorrow.

We dropped Tompkins' name as a reference,

and he welcomed us like a family.

If you get into trouble on Chinese property,

you might just as well be in China.

He's right.

You'll be subject to Chinese laws,
and we won't be able to help you.

Well, we'll keep on our toes.

Just be sure that you do.

Oh, and have Matthew call me when he
returns from visiting with Mr. Kelly.

I guess the robbery's gonna
put some pressure on you.

I mean, your government
won't be too happy about it.

I have informed my superiors.

Our hope is that the
warrior will be recovered.

How may I assist you?

Well, my wife and I are
very fond of Chinese art.

Jade carvings in particular,
and anything Ming.

I just love Ming.

She's got a Ming thing.

You must appreciate I am simply
an emissary of my government.

Have you spoken with art dealers?

Well, that's how we found Dr. Tompkins.

We have very expensive tastes,
Mr. Sang.

Then you will appreciate that vase.

Oh, it is lovely, but it's
hardly Ming, Mr. sang.

The blue, it's all wrong.

That underglaze is far too indistinct.

Oh, of course.
How careless of me.

Well, when Dr. Tompkins' office
told us he was, well... deceased,

we thought it best to
consult you directly.

Unfortunately, Jeffrey did not have the
opportunity to pass along your message.

Well, he did mention that you may have access
to certain items already in the country.

Items that may be of interest
to private collectors.

I would be pleased to make
some inquiries for you.

We'd sure appreciate that.
Thank you. Cheers.

Not exactly a man's side of fortune,
but...

I trust your meeting with
Mr. Sang was a success?

He bought our cover story.

All we can do now is wait
for him to contact us.

The Darwell manuscript.

Seems to recount a legend.

The emperor orders General Tzu to command his
Terracotta army in the land of the immortals.

To accomplish this, General Tzu curls himself
onto the flames that fired his own clay replica...

in order that his pole, his earthly soul,
could be fused with his counterpart.

So it is possible that the
statue was missing, is him?

The manuscript indicates that his
seal was on the base of the statue.

The serpent and the tortoise,
battling to the death.

The symbol of the dark warrior.

You got it, baby.

I missed it on the first victim.

But when I found it on Darwell's remains,

I went back and found it on Tompkins'
wound as well.

You're right.
It's definitely chromium salt.

Translation for the science impaired.

About 2,000 years ago, the Chinese used to
treat their weapons with chromium salt

so that the bronze wouldn't corrode or rust.

We didn't get around to
discovering it until the 1930s.

So these guys were beheaded
with the missing sword?

So it seems, but that still doesn't
explain the cauterizing effect.

Matt, we've got something.

This is our main
objective right now.

What have you discovered ?

***

Mr. Prager, nice to meet you at last.

Didn't your momma teach you
it's impolite to eavesdrop.

Mom ?
No, no, she was a terrible gossip.

Listen, if you're not calling the police,
I really must be going.

Are you ready to tell us what you
were doing at Darwell's office?

I picked up the call on my police scanner,
and I got there first.

The old man was already chopped up,

so I grabbed a few shots at the corpse

while you were waiting outside.

Sensitive, respectful,

that's what I like about tabloid hacks.

You didn't happen to redecorate
while you were there, did you?

Like put Tompkins' head on Darwell's body.

Make a better picture for
the paper, wouldn't it?

No.

I barely made it out of there before
the police came in, along with you.

Either that, or I'm a crazed,
head-swapping serial killer,

but that seems entirely
unlikely, doesn't it?

We haven't ruled that out.

And you call yourself a journalist, Mr....?

Tucker. Jonathan Tucker.

Look, the only difference between
what I do and what you do

is I document for public consumption

what you bury in
super-top-secret OSIR archives.

We're on the same team, guys.

We should be working together.

Oh, yeah, definitely.

Then tell us something we don't know.

First morning after
Tompkins was decapitated,

a man answering to his description

slashed a mugger with a sword
not six blocks from the museum.

No sale. We checked that lead already.

See the victim was a junkie.

A little unreliable.

What about yesterday afternoon?

A vandal who looked a lot like Darwell
was seen in a shop,

messing with the heads
in the hat department.

And that proves he's got
a thing for heads, right?

Precisely.

You didn't know that, did you?

Darwell is dead.
So is Tompkins.

That's just your point, isn't it?

I believe the statue is
searching for his head.

And he's stealing heads
in order to find it.

I know this sounds preposterous,

but it's the only conclusion we
can arrive at, logical or not.

And it certainly fits with
the legend in the manuscript.

Time out, guys.

Let's save this discussion for later, okay?

Here's the deal.

You ever use a single syllable
from one of our case files again,

your next paper will be
published from cell block five.

Got it?

Works for me.

Take care of yourself.

You believe that guy?

I'm starting to.

Resume file.

Who's there? Question.

Speak up. Period.

I know you're there. Period.

What do you? Unintelligible.

The head... Unintelligible.

What? Question.

Who are? Question.

General... Unintelligible.

No. Period.

Please no. Period.

End of file.

I almost had it.

This software is designed to
recognize the voice of the user.

Darwell must have been too
far away from the microphone.

Why would Darwell be asking
the killer about General Tse?

I don't know.

What's this look like to you?

Here.

Uh...

Snake and a turtle.

You're right.
It's a serpent and a tortoise.

The symbol of General Tzu.

The missing statue is him.

Better get ready.
We don't want to keep Mr. Sang waiting.

We still got a lot of loose ends to tie up
before we settle on the Ichabod Crane theory.

Wait a minute.

That's it!

The computer garbled the text because
there was more than one voice.

Hang on a second.

Let's try this.

Resume file.

Who's there? Question.

Speak up. Period.

I know you're there. Period.

What do you want? Question.

The head of General Tzu. Period.

What do you want? Question.

Who are you? Question.

The head of General Tzu. Period.

No. Period. Please no. Period.

End of file.

The head of General Tzu?
Someone was after it?

That's why it was killed.

It was an answer, not a question.

This is truly a remarkable collection.

We had no idea.

However,
did you get these things out of China?

Diplomatic transport.
Indonesian freighter.

Imported through
Tompkins and the museum.

Unfortunately, both ends of that
conduit are no longer available.

Well, I guess you've seen a
lot of changes over the years.

From the Cultural Revolution to
the reunification of Hong Kong.

But it is still the same China.

I still have my little red book.

Mao gave it to my mother personally.

She said he smelled of mothballs.

Is this the head from the stolen statue?

We removed it before delivery to the museum.

So many of the figures are missing pieces.

Tompkins felt it would
not raise any suspicions.

Better to make a very rare item for
a personal collection, wouldn't it?

Most certainly.

When can we see the genuine articles?

If you're serious about buying, we can
make arrangements to view the items here.

After hours, of course.

All this is right here in the consulate?

We find it is very secure.

So, shall we do business?

Oh, I think so.

Honey.

Apparently art smuggling pays
better than rubber-stamping visas.

We already have them hooked, Frank.
I think we should go for it.

It's too risky.
There are too many ways for it to go wrong.

Just showing Interpol the pictures
isn't enough to bring in the big guns.

That thing's a Chinese official.

What's to stop him pleading
diplomatic immunity?

For all we know,
he could be behind these killings.

We won't be turning him
over to our government.

We'll be turning him over to his own.

When were you planning on telling us that?

This isn't only about exposing Sang.

What about the statue?

You can't disregard the paranormal
aspects of this investigation.

It's a little late to be chasing shadows,
isn't it, Lindsay?

I think I need to get some air.

Come on, Frank,
if you don't want us to follow up,

why are we wasting our time?

You may not like it,
but your friend Tompkins

was an art smuggler and a thief.

Maybe we should let the facts decide that.

Or would you like to check
with Michael Kelly first?

I'll use Michael Kelly
whenever I see fit.

He is not a member of this organization.

It would be better in future

if Michael Kelly no longer
interfered in OSIR business.

Understood?

Look, Frank, from day one,

I told you, I'll run my team my way.

When Kelly does interfere,

I'll be the first one to
tell him to take a hike,

but until then, I'd appreciate
it if you'd just back off.

Okay?

Is it better be good.

I've been doing some thinking about
our killer statue, General Tzu.

Somehow he's been able to target the
men who could know where his head is.

Almost like he's been using the memories
of the men he kills to track it down.

The sword is part of the legend too.

Maybe there's some connection
there with how he's reincarnated.

The entire Terracotta army was
outfitted with real weapons,

but you already know that, I'm sure.

Welcome to Tucker's Bagelrama.

Ever had a Montreal bagel?

Look, Mr. Tucker,
I came for information, not lunch.

Please, take a seat.

Please.

Okay.

The trick is,

they're blanched in honey water before
they're baked in a wood-burning oven.

Tell me, what does any of this
have to do with the Chinese legend?

Fat-free cream cheese.

Guilt-free.

Just like me.

You know,

as a journalist, you've become numb to
all the usual horrors of the world.

You know, wars,
natural disasters, death.

Just to think I've seen it all.

Is that when you quit Clarion?

Yeah.

I knew I'd heard your name before.

I used to read your bar line
when I studied in London.

You were good.

Well, I still am.

But now I call my own
shots a paranormal beat.

That picture of me
you put in your paper.

Why did you do that?

Oh, it's a first rule of photojournalism.

In case the headline doesn't sell a story,
throw in a picture of a beautiful woman.

You are good.

I'm stunned. I can't believe you met
with that joker. He's a total slime.

He's a Soros mat.

It's no different than you and Kelly.

Besides,
he has some interesting theories.

I'm sure he does.

I mean about the missing sword, Anton.

The sign of the Dark Warrior
appears just below the hill.

Now that confirms that it
belonged to General Tse.

A legend claims that the General slew
a dragon with it, and since that time,

the blade was cured with the dragon's fire.

Which ties in with the
cauterization of his wounds.

I thought dragons were supposed
to be good luck to the Chinese.

Exactly. So to kill a dragon
is an act of evil incarnate.

It's hard enough to accept a living
statue could be responsible for all this,

but you're still talking
about a magic sword?

Well, the natural law can't
answer strange questions.

There's nowhere left to
turn but the supernatural.

Yeah...

I gotta get ready for
the Sang surprise party.

You've reached Tucker's cell.

Leave your hot tip after the tone.

Cheers.

John, it's Lindsay.

You were right about the connection
between the sword and the General's power.

Call me later, but then I might
have located what he's been missing.

TAPS TAPS

This is why I always wear sweaters.

Okay, this conceals a digital camera.

That'll broadcast still frames back
to us on half-second intervals.

And this has a condenser mic in it.

And that'll give us audio
to go along with the stills.

You guys, good luck.
And watch yourself.

Thanks Peter.

Be careful with this.

There's $100,000 in there.
I signed for it myself.

Drain the office coffee fund?

Relax, Frank.

We'll just flash the cash to
prove we're serious buyers

and then we'll hand the pictures
over to the Chinese government.

Rest is up to them.

Impressive, Mr. Donagon.

Not as impressive as your merchandise.

Where do you want to start,
sugarplum?

Anything Ming.

What about that?

This is like watching an infomotion.
Is that the best you could do?

Any bigger camera that
might have been detected.

Let's see what else you've got.

That's all you get for $25,000 these days?

This item is very rare.

Its companion piece is on display
in the People's Museum in Beijing.

Very rare.

Oh, we hate break up the set.

Oh, I don't know.

It all looks so much more
impressive in the photos, don't you think?

What about that head from the statue?

Of course.

He's so handsome.

There's the man of the hour.

He's so much more handsome in person.

How much do you want for him?

Sixty thousand.

That's a little stiff.
I don't know if...

Perhaps we'd like some time to
consider what you're interested in.

We've lost the signal.

Look, we gotta do something.

We can't.

What's happening?

Please remain where you are.

Oh boy !

John ?

Oh my God !

General !

Final case log.

Consul General Victor
Sang survived his wounds

and was deported to China to face
the justice of his government.

Chinese officials sealed the consulate,

denied access to local authorities,

and rejected our efforts to
recover any pertinent evidence.

Officially, the murders of Tompkins,

Darwell, and Tucker remain unsolved.

Prager out.

The actual tomb itself of
the great Qin Shi Wang Di

remains unopened to this day.

According to ancient legend,

his resting place beneath
a man-made mountain

contains untold riches and a topographical
recreation of his kingdom,

including rivers of pure mercury.

Yet his tomb has remained
untouched for over 2,000 years.

Is it just a lattice of
deadly snares and traps

which still guard the
emperor 22 centuries later?

Or is it also the legion of clay soldiers

who continue to protect him on
the plains of Shen and beyond?

For PsI Factor, I'm Dan Aykroyd.

Subtitle made by Adr1an