Chapter 3

Behind them, a slim man in his late twenties walked in, reading the contents of a folder he held.

Mulder indicated toward Scully. "Marv, I'd like you to meet my lovely partner, Dana Scully."

"It's a pleasure to meet you ma'am." he said, shaking Scully's hand. "I'm Marvin Branaugh." He looked at both of them. "Ok, you guys ready to see the body?"

A short walk down a dark hall in the basement had led to the Morgue. Mulder breathed out his mouth as they entered, fearing the smell of decay wouldn't agree with all the chicken drumsticks he had earlier.

The back wall was taken up by refrigerated cabinets, twelve in all, and Mulder wondered if they all held bodies. He noticed that the lower left one was broken, it's door hanging ajar on a broken hinge. Thankfully, it appeared empty.

"Well, here he is." Marvin said, indicating toward a sheet covered metal cart.

Scully snapped on a pair of white latex gloves and peeled off the blood stained sheet. Mulder winced despite himself, his face scrunching up.

"Oh!" Scully gasped in surprise. "My god..."

Sean Harris looked like parts of him had been put through a meat grinder repeatedly. The bits of organs that still remained were drying in the open air, the blood black and cracking.

Marvin adverted his eyes from the gruesome remains. "Our autopsy guy hasn't shown up for the last couple of days. Mulder tells me you might examine the body?"

"You don't have any other forensic specialists?" Scully asked curiously.

Marvin shook his head. "This is a fairly small city. The monthly death toll is pretty low."

Mulder spoke up. "I noticed the stations nearly empty today. Is it a holiday or something?"

Marvin sighed. "I don't know what's going on. Maybe the flu's going around or something. Half the station has called in sick...some others didn't call at all. Luckily, the Chief has arranged to get some more staff in."

"Anytime soon?" Mulder asked, a strange feeling washing over him. It made him uneasy that the city wasn't being protected to it's fullest, especially with the recent deaths.

"Most of them should be here next week. A rookie who graduated top of his class will be here by tomorrow. I think his name is..." Marvin closed his eyes in thought. "Oh yeah, Leon Kennedy. The boys have a little surprise party planned for him."

Mulder nodded, still feeling uneasy.

"My partner," Scully said. "Mentioned something about, um, dogs?"

"Yeah. We found Sean's friend Kevin unconscious in front of the station. He woke up hysterical, screaming that dead dogs killed Sean."

Scully nodded and continued her examination. "I'm assuming that Mr. Harris was notified?"

"Yeah," Marvin said, a hint of sadness in his voice. "I delivered the news myself. You've never seen a man so broken up before..." He took a deep breath. "Mayor Harris is still at home with his daughter. They're coming by later though to talk to the Chief."

"Well," Mulder said. "I'm going to go back upstairs and ask Kevin a few questions."

Scully looked up, surprised. "He's still here? Where are his parents?

Marvin shrugged. "We haven't been able to contact them. I sent someone over to his house, but no one answered."

"Tell me if you find anything, Scully." Mulder said as he walked out of the room, leaving her with Marvin and the mutilated corpse.

Brian Irons stood alone in the interrogation viewing room, watching Kevin through the one-way mirror. Irons right fist clenched a capped vial, a clear fluid contained within.

"Damn kid." he thought, looking at the small glass vial he held. "Damn Umbrella. They promised they wouldn't screw up again."

When Irons was implicated in the Cider District land scam back in 94', he promised himself that he'd always have a fall guy between himself and the dirt that would ruin his professional reputation. Years of planning; of finding a niche for himself in the power structure that really controlled Raccoon, had nearly been ruined.

When Irons started taking the bribes, turning his back on the wrong doings of the Umbrella corporation, he felt that his life was secure. His career advanced steadily, and soon, he would probably be mayor. But now, his carefully structured world was falling apart, and if it did, there would be hell to pay.

He poured the contents of the vial into a small cup of water. "Time to tie up another loose end." Irons thought bitterly.

Kevin has seen enough cop shows to know that he was in an interrogation room. He stared, fixated on his reflection in the mirror. The thought of being watched by unseeing eyes made him uncomfortable, but he couldn't bring himself to tear his gaze from the mirror.

When he saw Sean killed, when the realization sunk in that the world Kevin thought he knew allowed creatures like that into it...

At least his reflection was familiar, something to focus on that made sense in this new, impossible world he found himself trapped in.

"Hey there, sport." a mustachioed, heavy set man said as the metal door swung open on rusty hinges. Police Chief Brian Irons strode in, carrying a coffee mug. Kevin recognized him from the pictures in the newspaper. He had heard rumors about the man, none of them good.

Irons smiled tightly and handed him the cup. "Here, drink up. I'm sure you're parched by now."

Kevin shrugged and gulped the water down. It left a slightly bitter taste on the back of his tongue. "Probably a dirty cup."

Irons watched him carefully, and it gave Kevin the creeps. "Umm, thanks for the drink. About those dogs, I think that..." He stopped talking, feeling dizzy suddenly. Maybe he was more tired than he thought. "I'm...not f-feeling so well..." Kevin looked up at Irons grinning face. Then everything went black.

Irons watched Kevin fall to the floor as the fast acting sedative took effect. Kneeling next to him, he reached into his own shirt pocket and removed what looked like a fountain pen. Keeping an eye on the door, he took off the cap of the pen, revealing a micro syringe. Quickly, he pierced Kevin's arm with the needle and it injected a yellowish fluid automatically.

Irons had just replaced the 'pen' into his pocket when the door opened and an officer walked in. "He just collapsed!" Irons said, doing his best to sound frightened and concerned. "Call an ambulance!" The young man nodded quickly and ran out of the room. Irons watched him leave, than flashed Kevin's limp form a cruel smile.