"The Damned"

Episode 210
(aired the week of 12/1/1997)
Case # 90-5209

Log line: Unexplained drownings kill family members of a robber baron.

Synopsis: As heirs to the real estate development fortune of their grandfather, Senator Harrison Sheffield, Robert and Jimmy Sheffield seem to have it made. While kicking back at the pool one afternoon, Robert and his brother's wife, Katie, sneak away to take their attraction to each other to the next level. As they slip away, however, Jimmy is violently sucked under by mysteriously churning water. When his body is found, it's discovered he drowned...but also was slashed to death.

Because of the condition of the body, the local coroner can't pinpoint the cause of death and the O.S.I.R. is brought in to shed some light on the situation. O.S.I.R. Chief Science Analyst Peter Axon poses as a pool boy to collect water samples, while Senior Analyst Lindsay Donner masquerades as a potential home buyer to investigate the illicit lovers' involvement in Jimmy's death. While there, Donner overhears an exchange between Robert and an older woman named Bridget Jamieson - a thorn in the side of the brothers, since she's unwilling to sell her home to make way for the property development in which they've staked their fortune. Bridget claims to have had visions of Jimmy's death.

Digging deeper, Case Manager Matt Praeger poses as a magazine writer to get close to the Senator. Sheffield reveals that, at the precise moment of Jimmy's death, an apparition of a soaking wet little girl appeared before him. In the midst of Praeger's interview, the ghost appears again. Pointing furiously at the apparition, the Senator is sure Praeger can see it. But all Praeger sees is water dripping from mid-air and forming a puddle on the floor.

After some tests, the O.S.I.R.'s Dr. Anton Hendricks concludes that the puddle and the water found in Jimmy's lungs both contain a great deal of silt. This odd development drives Hendricks to turns his attention to Bridget, whose visions could be key to solving this case. Talking with her, Bridget has another vision; this time, it's of Katie's death. Simultaneously, Katie - relaxing alone in a hot tub - is violently tossed about by an unseen force and drowns.

After the second unexplained death, the team hurries to dig into the Sheffield's family history and uncover the legacy of the Sheffield Reservoir. While surveying the site, Axon discovers a massive box embedded in the reservoir's floor. On further investigation, the team finds the intact remains of an old Irish farmhouse and the decayed bodies of a family trapped inside when the reservoir was filled.

At Hendricks' urging, Bridget submits to hypnotic analysis and reveals that the apparition the Senator keeps seeing is actually a projection of herself, but as a child. The O.S.I.R. discovers that years ago, the Senator gave orders to barricade the Jamiesons in their home and flood the area in order to eliminate them, along with the obstacles they were throwing up that blocked completion of the Sheffield reservoir project. Based on Bridget's revelation, the O.S.I.R. must explore what seems impossible: that in a poetic display of payback, the Jamiesons are exacting deadly revenge on the Sheffields from beyond their watery grave.

Starring:
Matt Frewer - Case Manager Matt Praeger
Barclay Hope - Peter Axon
Nancy Anne Sakovich - Lindsay Donner
Colin Fox - Dr. Anton Hendricks
Dan Aykroyd - Host

Guest Stars:
James B. Douglas - Senator Harrison Sheffield
Charmion King - Bridget Jamieson
Carl Marotte - Robert Sheffield
Andy Velasque - Jimmy Sheffield
Melissa Di Marco - Katie Sheffield

Written by: Toni Di Franco
Directed by: Clay Borris