Partners By Chance - Chapter two
For disclaimers - see chapter one.
Scully couldn't help but wonder if Mulder felt the ever-so-small bolt of electricity that had shot through her when they had shaken hands.
If he had, it didn't show on his face for he immediately sat down and turned his attention towards Bishop listening intently.
He seemed to be totally absorbed in what Bishop was saying, when it actuality it was the petite redhead across the table that had caught his attention.
Bishop quickly outlined the case for Scully's benefit and she managed to push all thoughts of Fox Mulder out of her head and actually listen to what the man said.
"There have been three killings so far. The only thing the victims have in common is the fact that they all work inside this building."
"When was the last killing?" Fraser asked.
"Two nights ago"
"Is the body still here?" Scully asked
"Yes, I had them ice it for you. As soon as we are done here I think you should head down to the morgue and check it out."
Scully nodded her agreement and Bishop continued "Fraser and Wakefield, I want you to go through the security tapes and logs and see if you can find any consistency between the dates of the three murders. And McCormick, I want you to get on the horn and arrange for Scully and Mulder to talk to everyone with whom we have already spoken and anyone else they would like."
The three Boston agents looked a bit confused at this request. "Neither Scully nor Mulder are truly familiar with this case in its entirety. Fraser, you and Wakefield were the first on it followed up by McCormick. I am figuring that fresh eyes and minds not so emotionally involved with this case may bring new facts to light."
Bishop then went about dismissing his agents after asking Mulder and Scully to remain behind.
They waited in silence as the others left the room, their thoughts no longer on each other but the puzzle that Bishop was setting in front of them.
"Agents, the main reason I brought you in on this case is because I think there is a strong possibility that this is an inside job. I trust my three agents with my own life, but I am hoping that you will find something they have missed. Along those lines, Mulder I would like you to join Scully for the autopsy."
He paused to give Mulder a rare smile for he had truly grown fond for the agent with the outlandish ideas "You are good at looking for things Mulder that no one else would even consider looking for and we are in definite need of some of your Mulder moments."
Mulder smiled back at Bishop not at all offended by his vague reference to Mulder's spooky reputation.
Bishop then turned to Scully. "Agent Scully, you have proven your abilities down at Quantico, I hope you will take this opportunity to prove them here as well."
Scully started to say something but didn't exactly know what to say. This was her first true field assignment on an important case and she didn't want to say anything to hurt the trust that Bishop had placed in her.
Bishop rose then indicating that their meeting at come to an end. Mulder followed Scully out into the hallway and pointed towards the elevator. "I just have to stop by my office to pick up my keys and we can be on our way."
Scully followed him into the elevator unaware that she was being watched.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mulder's office was quite small but was bright and cheery. He held open the door for Scully and followed her in.
The furniture consisted only of a small desk and chair as well as a chair for the odd visitor that may stop by. The desk was cluttered but the lack of all personal items on the desk and walls was a testimony to the fact that Mulder did not plan to make this his permanent home.
Only one small picture, that of a young boy and girl stood on the corner of the desk. Scully glanced at it wondering who the children in the picture were before turning to Mulder.
"No offense Agent Mulder, but how did you rate an office? I thought profilers got stuck in the bullpen with everybody else?"
"You can just call my Mulder, Scully" he started "It was part of the deal I cut before coming up here. They needed my help and I wanted to start working on some old unfinished files. We compromised by giving me my own space so I can work on those files when time permits."
He poked around his desk for his keys which he promptly put in his pocket "Besides, while I am pretty well respected, I know a lot of people here find my approach to things a bit unnerving sometimes."
"Your Mulder moments?"
He laughed a bit "Yes, that along with some of the more unique ideas I come up with when we are brainstorming a case."
"Really? Like what?"
Mulder nodded for her to lead the way out of the office "Oh, I am sure you will find out for yourself soon enough."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The drive over to the morgue was a relatively short one. Mulder filled Scully in on the particulars of the case. Not only had the women been murdered, but their bodies had been severely mutilated as well.
What Mulder had described to Scully did not truly prepare her for what she saw when she pulled back the sheet from the third victim. She couldn't help but gasp when she saw the mutilated body lying in front of her.
"Oh my God" she whispered as she quickly glanced over the body. Both breasts had been slashed and from the blood still clinging to the victim's upper thighs, Scully assumed that the slashing on been done elsewhere on the victim as well.
Mulder put a hand on her shoulder in a silent show of support before speaking. "I guess it would not take an expert profiler to know that the killer is one very angry man with not a lot of love for women - at least not this one."
Scully nodded, put on her mask, flipped on her tape recorder and started the autopsy pushing back any personal feelings she felt for the victim and becoming the professional pathologist.
Mulder watched from a distance obviously not liking to be too close to the actual cutting. He did offer some interesting suggestions on things for Scully to look for during her examination.
"Mulder, from what I can see, this woman was suffocated although I am not sure how. There doesn't seem to be any foreign substance in her lungs nor strangulation marks on her throat."
Mulder walked around the body a time or two before commenting.
"You said that there were signs of intercourse, correct?"
"Yes, this woman had intercourse a short time before dying and judging by the abrasions I found, it was not very pleasurable for her."
"Any physical evidence?"
Scully was not sure what this line of questioning had to do with the woman suffocating to death but answered none the same. "No sperm. Whoever committed this act with or to her used a condom."
"Would that condom leave any sort of residue?"
"Perhaps - I can swab the area."
Mulder nodded and let Scully experience her first Mulder moment "And while you are at it Scully, swab her throat too."
Scully's eyes grew huge at the thought, but nodded. "Are you thinking what I think you are thinking?"
"Probably. I think this man literally stuffed himself down their throats."
"Wouldn't that be nearly impossible? The victim was found tied up but judging by the minor abrasions on her wrists she didn't put up much of a struggle. One would think that if one was going to have something like that crammed down your throat you would fight a bit."
Mulder looked like he was going to make a crude comment but then thought better of it. "I think she was drugged."
Scully picked up the victim's chart. "They didn't do any sort of tox screening on her yet. I wonder if they did on the others."
"No they didn't. They did very little except verify the cause of death. The medical examiner wanted to return the bodies to the families ASAP with them knowing as little as possible about what happened."
"I can see why Bishop wanted some fresh eyes to look at this case then. I will order a full tox screen and swab every orifice I can find"
Mulder left Scully to wrap up the autopsy and went back to his office to start work on his profile. Standing in the autopsy bay with the victim's body seemed to start his brain on overdrive and he spent practically the entire night working and reworking the profile until, at least, at 6 am his was done.
Scully, on the other hand, spent another hour or two carefully gathering physical evidence and photographing the body. She knew the victim's family was eager to finally put her at rest and Scully was just as eager to remove herself from the victim's presence.
She returned to her hotel room and pampered herself with a long hot bubble bath before starting on her field report. By mutual agreement, it would only be shared with Bishop and Mulder for the time being.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
End of chapter two
For disclaimers - see chapter one.
Scully couldn't help but wonder if Mulder felt the ever-so-small bolt of electricity that had shot through her when they had shaken hands.
If he had, it didn't show on his face for he immediately sat down and turned his attention towards Bishop listening intently.
He seemed to be totally absorbed in what Bishop was saying, when it actuality it was the petite redhead across the table that had caught his attention.
Bishop quickly outlined the case for Scully's benefit and she managed to push all thoughts of Fox Mulder out of her head and actually listen to what the man said.
"There have been three killings so far. The only thing the victims have in common is the fact that they all work inside this building."
"When was the last killing?" Fraser asked.
"Two nights ago"
"Is the body still here?" Scully asked
"Yes, I had them ice it for you. As soon as we are done here I think you should head down to the morgue and check it out."
Scully nodded her agreement and Bishop continued "Fraser and Wakefield, I want you to go through the security tapes and logs and see if you can find any consistency between the dates of the three murders. And McCormick, I want you to get on the horn and arrange for Scully and Mulder to talk to everyone with whom we have already spoken and anyone else they would like."
The three Boston agents looked a bit confused at this request. "Neither Scully nor Mulder are truly familiar with this case in its entirety. Fraser, you and Wakefield were the first on it followed up by McCormick. I am figuring that fresh eyes and minds not so emotionally involved with this case may bring new facts to light."
Bishop then went about dismissing his agents after asking Mulder and Scully to remain behind.
They waited in silence as the others left the room, their thoughts no longer on each other but the puzzle that Bishop was setting in front of them.
"Agents, the main reason I brought you in on this case is because I think there is a strong possibility that this is an inside job. I trust my three agents with my own life, but I am hoping that you will find something they have missed. Along those lines, Mulder I would like you to join Scully for the autopsy."
He paused to give Mulder a rare smile for he had truly grown fond for the agent with the outlandish ideas "You are good at looking for things Mulder that no one else would even consider looking for and we are in definite need of some of your Mulder moments."
Mulder smiled back at Bishop not at all offended by his vague reference to Mulder's spooky reputation.
Bishop then turned to Scully. "Agent Scully, you have proven your abilities down at Quantico, I hope you will take this opportunity to prove them here as well."
Scully started to say something but didn't exactly know what to say. This was her first true field assignment on an important case and she didn't want to say anything to hurt the trust that Bishop had placed in her.
Bishop rose then indicating that their meeting at come to an end. Mulder followed Scully out into the hallway and pointed towards the elevator. "I just have to stop by my office to pick up my keys and we can be on our way."
Scully followed him into the elevator unaware that she was being watched.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mulder's office was quite small but was bright and cheery. He held open the door for Scully and followed her in.
The furniture consisted only of a small desk and chair as well as a chair for the odd visitor that may stop by. The desk was cluttered but the lack of all personal items on the desk and walls was a testimony to the fact that Mulder did not plan to make this his permanent home.
Only one small picture, that of a young boy and girl stood on the corner of the desk. Scully glanced at it wondering who the children in the picture were before turning to Mulder.
"No offense Agent Mulder, but how did you rate an office? I thought profilers got stuck in the bullpen with everybody else?"
"You can just call my Mulder, Scully" he started "It was part of the deal I cut before coming up here. They needed my help and I wanted to start working on some old unfinished files. We compromised by giving me my own space so I can work on those files when time permits."
He poked around his desk for his keys which he promptly put in his pocket "Besides, while I am pretty well respected, I know a lot of people here find my approach to things a bit unnerving sometimes."
"Your Mulder moments?"
He laughed a bit "Yes, that along with some of the more unique ideas I come up with when we are brainstorming a case."
"Really? Like what?"
Mulder nodded for her to lead the way out of the office "Oh, I am sure you will find out for yourself soon enough."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The drive over to the morgue was a relatively short one. Mulder filled Scully in on the particulars of the case. Not only had the women been murdered, but their bodies had been severely mutilated as well.
What Mulder had described to Scully did not truly prepare her for what she saw when she pulled back the sheet from the third victim. She couldn't help but gasp when she saw the mutilated body lying in front of her.
"Oh my God" she whispered as she quickly glanced over the body. Both breasts had been slashed and from the blood still clinging to the victim's upper thighs, Scully assumed that the slashing on been done elsewhere on the victim as well.
Mulder put a hand on her shoulder in a silent show of support before speaking. "I guess it would not take an expert profiler to know that the killer is one very angry man with not a lot of love for women - at least not this one."
Scully nodded, put on her mask, flipped on her tape recorder and started the autopsy pushing back any personal feelings she felt for the victim and becoming the professional pathologist.
Mulder watched from a distance obviously not liking to be too close to the actual cutting. He did offer some interesting suggestions on things for Scully to look for during her examination.
"Mulder, from what I can see, this woman was suffocated although I am not sure how. There doesn't seem to be any foreign substance in her lungs nor strangulation marks on her throat."
Mulder walked around the body a time or two before commenting.
"You said that there were signs of intercourse, correct?"
"Yes, this woman had intercourse a short time before dying and judging by the abrasions I found, it was not very pleasurable for her."
"Any physical evidence?"
Scully was not sure what this line of questioning had to do with the woman suffocating to death but answered none the same. "No sperm. Whoever committed this act with or to her used a condom."
"Would that condom leave any sort of residue?"
"Perhaps - I can swab the area."
Mulder nodded and let Scully experience her first Mulder moment "And while you are at it Scully, swab her throat too."
Scully's eyes grew huge at the thought, but nodded. "Are you thinking what I think you are thinking?"
"Probably. I think this man literally stuffed himself down their throats."
"Wouldn't that be nearly impossible? The victim was found tied up but judging by the minor abrasions on her wrists she didn't put up much of a struggle. One would think that if one was going to have something like that crammed down your throat you would fight a bit."
Mulder looked like he was going to make a crude comment but then thought better of it. "I think she was drugged."
Scully picked up the victim's chart. "They didn't do any sort of tox screening on her yet. I wonder if they did on the others."
"No they didn't. They did very little except verify the cause of death. The medical examiner wanted to return the bodies to the families ASAP with them knowing as little as possible about what happened."
"I can see why Bishop wanted some fresh eyes to look at this case then. I will order a full tox screen and swab every orifice I can find"
Mulder left Scully to wrap up the autopsy and went back to his office to start work on his profile. Standing in the autopsy bay with the victim's body seemed to start his brain on overdrive and he spent practically the entire night working and reworking the profile until, at least, at 6 am his was done.
Scully, on the other hand, spent another hour or two carefully gathering physical evidence and photographing the body. She knew the victim's family was eager to finally put her at rest and Scully was just as eager to remove herself from the victim's presence.
She returned to her hotel room and pampered herself with a long hot bubble bath before starting on her field report. By mutual agreement, it would only be shared with Bishop and Mulder for the time being.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
End of chapter two
