Plot summary
Two muggers are found dead in a Philadelphia back alley after attempting to rob a woman, Lauren Kyte (Lisa Waltz), at an automated teller machine. FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) investigate the case when called in by a secretive pair of agents from an unknown federal agency. The bodies are found to have an electrostatic charge, and their throats appear to have been crushed from the inside. Meanwhile, Lauren sees her boss, Robert Dorlund (Barry Primus), and gives her two weeks notice due to her grief over the suicide of her old boss and Dorlund's partner, Howard Graves.
Mulder and Scully determine that one of the dead muggers belonged to an Islamic terrorist group, the Isfahan, and, using the ATM's surveillance video, are able to track down Lauren. A frame of the video appears to show an additional blurry figure. When the agents interview Lauren at her home, she reluctantly admits to the incident, but knows nothing about the murders. Upon leaving, the agents find their car going out of control on its own, causing it to crash. At the FBI's repair garage, the car is found to have no evidence of tampering, but an electrical charge is detected within it.
Upon visiting Graves' headstone, the agents learn of his purported suicide and the death of his daughter at a young age, who would be Lauren's age if she were still alive. Scully suspects that Graves faked his death, but after consulting the pathologist who examined his body and testing a donated organ, finds that he is in fact dead. Meanwhile, Lauren experiences a vision at night, including blood appearing in her bathtub, that leads her to believe that Graves was murdered.
At her going-away party, Lauren is threatened by Dorlund over knowledge of confidential information that could implicate him. Lauren calls the agents to her home, but before they get there, two assassins arrive to kill her. An invisible force kills both of them just as Mulder and Scully arrive, with Mulder witnessing the body of one assassin floating in midair.
Lauren is questioned by Mulder, Scully, and the two unknown agents, who believe Graves' and Dorlund's company sold export-controlled technology to the Isfahan. Lauren admits to Mulder and Scully that the sales took place, and that she believes Dorlund had Graves killed. After hearing Lauren recount the eerie circumstances she believes are being caused by Graves' spirit, Scully—the usually reserved skeptic —readily accepts her story. After Lauren leaves, Scully explains she was just humoring her.
The agents search the company's premises but are unable to find any evidence. When Lauren attacks Dorlund with a letter opener, Graves' spirit takes it and cuts open the wallpaper in Dorlund's office, revealing a hidden floppy disk. Weeks later, Lauren starts her new job in Omaha, Nebraska; it is implied that Graves' spirit may have followed her there.
Credits
Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Shadows (The X-Files). Paragraphs and formatting adjusted; illustrations, reference markers, block quotations and non-story material omitted.