Scully changed quickly from gym babe to serious FBI agent before they took the short but hurried flight to Indiana.

With Mulder expecting two more murders, there was a time crunch to stop them, so they arrived early afternoon. Her perfectly tailored suit and heels gave her a professional appearance and her auburn hair framed her face. She kept stride with Mulder, despite being far shorter, as they approached the crime scene. The body had been removed, but a scene of struggle became apparent as they entered the small tidy house. A plate lie broken on the floor and bits of food were scattered just beyond the kitchen. A disturbance in the wall left a near hole and she knew some great force would have caused it. Scully's prompt mind was interrupted by a greeting, "You from the FBI?" A young blue suited badge asked, his tone not unfriendly.

"This is Special Agent Scully, I'm Special Agent Mulder," Mulder said, as was his custom to introduce them both.

"Dotson, I'm with the Sheriff's Office." He shook both of their hands, "Thank you for coming down so fast. No one can understand. She was seen coming home last night by a neighbor, there is no sign of a break-in. Someone, a Bernard Tribbet, positively identified Elise VanDuran's body, said he had seen the same clothes on her that day at work." He explained as he led them further inside, "We want this taken care of as quickly as possible." He looked at them expectantly, as if their simple presence would make the killer walk through the front door and give himself up.

"Well, we'll get right to work then." Scully offered, finally after an awkward silence, "I would like to see the body as soon as we're done here." She said, believing that the answer lay with what physical evidence the body could provide. She glanced up at Mulder, his serious face taking in the scene and now almost ignoring the young officer. She could tell that he was imagining the murder, hoping to look at the consequences of the struggle and damage, and create a replica of what had happened in his mind. He would know what had caused the hole in the wall, whether it be a fist or a body hitting it. Scully knew that this was not her forte as an investigator though she admired the ability in her partner. With the facts in front of her, she was brilliant at making a connection, to organize the events in her head, and be knowledgeable about the how. The why eluded her, however, but not Mulder. He was hovering at the hole in the wall, which was about eye level, as these thoughts came to a conclusion and he glanced back at her, "This is where the attack came, but maybe not the actual murder itself. The body was found in the bedroom, almost ceremoniously laid out." He commented, "The scene can't be more than a day or so old, yet the time of death is estimated to be much more than that." He straightened, "This attack happened about twelve hours ago according to the report, the food on the floor is not rotted, the plate shards are not dusty, and the victim was seen leaving work and coming home. But, for the body, months seem to have passed." He mused, his tone mystified, "What kind of mutation or power would allow someone to accelerate time on a single object?" He mused to himself.

"There are accelerates that could have been used, Mulder, even if none were readily found. Like you said, the previous investigations may have been shotty and physical evidence might have been missed in light of the fact that this town has no forensic investigative unit." His partner suggested, staying in the realm of physical possibility.

"Mhmm," Mulder said, checking out again as he studied the case file again, "Look at the previous victims, Scully." He tapped the page, his hazel eyes concentrating, "Ellie Dorch and Samantha Simmons. In that same year, Dany Easton. But, the year before Elsie Roberts, Samantha Stewart, and Deena Caine."

The dawn of Mulder's discovery had reached her as well, "He's killing the same three women."

Mulder nodded, "In his mind, he is killing them over and over again." He said, looking at her meaningfully.

She knew that a motive wouldn't help them with a physical case, though, so she said, "I will know more once I get a look at the body. I was going to suggest that I do that now." She wanted to be useful, but standing around the crime scene was wasting her talents, she knew.

"That's a good idea," He agreed, "Call me with what you find. I'm going to try and talk to the boyfriend and some of the people that she worked with. I'll catch a ride with Dotson."

That was how it worked between them, and Scully accepted it, "Okay." She turned to go after he handed her the car keys and they parted ways until one of them could make a break in the case.

Arcadia Memorial Hospital Morgue

2:39pm

Two hours later, Scully had only found what Mulder suspected. The body had decomposed quite naturally and she found no traces of accelerants. Truthfully, she was stumped and had estimated the time of death to be over six months ago, though after a few months, the timeline could be very difficult to guess. Many things could affect the decomposition of a body; heat, cold, animals, tampering, so it would be difficult to give an exact time of death unless Scully did more work on the body. Looking at the past cases, she wouldn't have time. This body still had flesh and had been stored in a cool dry place. Taking out the fact that the person had been alive less than a day ago, Scully would have guessed that the body might have been stored in a basement or somewhere out of the sun and weather. The decomposition was not so far advanced that she couldn't easily determine a few things about the person's death. What she had found so far, did not paint a pretty picture. She worked to form a theory in her mind, but what facial structure and initial evidence was left pretty clearly stated that this was the body of Elise VanDuran. Everything matched up, as far as she could deduce.

When her phone beeped, she had just sent in blood and DNA work to the FBI lab. She answered it with "Scully." And her partner's voice sounded on the other end, "Scully, it's me. We have another victim. I think you should come down here right away." Scully was speechless for a moment, the second victim had come so fast that it made her worry that much more about a third.