2213 West Auburn Street

3:19pm

After being provided with the address, Scully drove speedily to the location where Mulder claimed another victim had been discovered. She walked fast after parking, her auburn hair and long coat blowing in the wind behind her as it whipped around the area. A rainstorm seemed to be on its way and she glanced at the darkening sky before gaining entry to the house with a flash of her badge. The scene was eerily similar and she suppressed a sigh.

When Mulder caught sight of his partner, he began to speak immediately, filling her in, "Samantha Gayton, Twenty nine years old, last seen walking her dog into the house about four hours ago. Her sister says she spoke with Samantha on the phone less than two hours ago." He gave this information to point out, once again, the fact that the body was far more decomposed than two hours would explain.

Scully let out a sober breath and began to explain her side of things, "Elise VanDuran's body shows few signs of anything except completely natural decomposition." She began, "I found evidence of sexual assault and strangulation, but beyond that I can find no explanation as to how her body could experience advanced decomposition."

"And we're still expecting one more." Mulder sighed, frustrated.

Officer Dotson approached, his face red and his jaw set,"Samantha Gayton was positively identified by her neighbor by the clothing. He had seen her earlier today." Dotson didn't linger after this, seemingly unable to stand still in his stress and he wandered outside, mumbling to himself. There were police officers everywhere, investigators gathering crime scene evidence and Scully noticed the body as the flash of a photograph caught her attention. It was laid out neatly, but putrid and decayed. The hair remained its blonde color, but few other recognizable features remained on her face and dead flesh hung on corroded muscle.

"Did you find anything with the interviews?" Scully wanted to know.

Mulder shook his head, "Rudy, the boyfriend of Elise VanDuran's story checks out." Mulder began, "He was in Chicago until early this morning. He checked out of his hotel at three thirty with the desk clerk and caught a small passenger plane back to Indiana. He found his girlfriend at about a quarter after five. He said he was trying to catch her before she went off to work as a surprise since he was supposed to be in Chicago until this evening." Scully knew the rest, when the body had been discovered by police and a serial murderer suspected, they wasted no time in calling the FBI. Naturally, a case with such oddities would be directed at Mulder and herself.

"The rest of her co-workers don't know anything beyond the fact that she was at work yesterday. But there was one co-worker that failed to come in today." Mulder said, his hasty mind taking him further than his partner would be apt to go. Mulder had already pegged anyone unusual as a suspect, but Scully would be far more cautious about potentially harassing someone who was simply too ill to come into work, "He might be our only lead for now."

Scully knew as well as Mulder that every lead, no matter how seemingly insignificant, should be followed up. That was basic academy stuff, one of the elementary rules of investigation, like the fact that no two prints are alike.

She nodded, "At the very least we could get his statement. What's his name?" She asked.

"Bernard Tribbet." He said, looking back at his notebook.

Scully looked up at him sharply, "That's the man who identified her body." She said, knowing Mulder had been lost in the crime scene earlier and may not have heard this information. Once again, her aptitude for pure facts made them that much closer to a real lead, and Mulder watched her with unhidden admiration for a split second. The moment did not last and his FBI face masked anything else but the case.

Dotson had overheard, "Yeah, Tribbet is a nice enough fellow, but not a real success with the ladies. He's harmless though." The officer assured them, "Ms. VanDuran only had her boyfriend here in Indiana and so we sought out a co-worker as someone who had seen her that day. With the boyfriend being out of town and all."

"We had better go check it out anyway, no lead like a dead one," He said, quickly passing Dotson, trusting that Scully was behind him. She was, of course, and he glanced back, meaningfully, "It's always the 'harmless' ones, isn't it?"