Authors Note: Thank you for the reviews! Again: Tell me what you think!

Chapter Six:

Mulder watched Scully carefully the next morning, watching for any sign of distress. But she kept her usual mask on… Apart from when he was so busy watching her dress, that while he walked towards his own room, he tripped over a pair of his shoes on the floor. Her face broke into a huge smile, and he had just muttered something about the shoes being out to get him – which made her smile even bigger. She came over and cupped his face in one hand, and ruined the moment by telling him he was a big baby and walked back over to finish getting dressed.

Now as they sat waiting for Officer Clyde to arrive he watched as she flicked through the local newspaper. He watched her squint at a picture, and then held it out to show him a little boy grinning and holding up a trophy. "Spelling Bee, I won one of those once," she said with a quiet laugh.

Officer Clyde rushed in a few minutes later looking harassed. Scully and Mulder stood as soon as they saw how truly harassed he looked. "He's done it again, he's kill – he's killed again." He was slightly out of breath as if he'd been running. Mulder doubted that Officer Clyde was unfit, he was tall, and he'd even seen Scully checking him out when they'd first arrived – he definitely caught the attention of most females.

"Where is it? We'll leave now." He told the officer.

"13 Gracefield Road," he said distractedly looking over their shoulders. "I've told them that you'll be examining the bodies, is that right Agent Scully?"

"Yes, thank you." They moved out of his way as he strode past, and Scully snatched up a map sitting on the coffee table along with the newspaper and some old magazines. "We might need this," she told him, holding up the map; as she caught up with him on the stairs outside the station.

"Might do," he said unlocking the car.

--

The crime scene investigation team seemed to be finishing up by the time they'd arrived. Mulder and Scully were hurriedly taken through the crime scene, and various things were pointed out – but again there seemed to be no forensic evidence. The only prints in the house were the victims; Stella and George Hamilton.

Stella lay on the couch, her arm hanging off the side of it. George looked about six, but was apparently ten years old. He was far too skinny, and pale. He lay in a fetal position to the side of the couch. Her first impression for cause of death was asphyxiation, but she needed to do an autopsy first so she could confirm it. The mother, Stella, seemed to have bled to death.

Mulder was talking intently with one of the officers at the scene, so she wandered over closer to the bodies. She crouched next to the boy, snapping on some rubber gloves she moved the collar of his top away from his neck. Again, looking at the finger marks around the boy's neck. Who ever it was, who had done this had large hands, and of course she assumed it was a man who had done this.

She moved from her crouched position, and took a closer look at the woman. She tried not to think of the victims as 'Stella' and 'George' because she knew she was going to become too involved in the case, she had to find a way to distance herself. Gently, as if the woman was alive, she rolled up the sleeves of her top, and checked for defense wounds, nothing. She checked for bruises on the rest of the body, but it seemed someone had only, rather carelessly like the other victims – removed her uterus. Why would someone do that? She thought back to Tooms who had removed people's livers. But this was nothing like that, this seemed much more personal.

"Scully," She sat back on her haunches, and looked up at Mulder. "They're going to get some suspects in for questioning. Apparently there are several ex-husbands still in town, though not all connected to these cases." He looked at the bodies, and then back at her, his eyes pained.

"Okay, shall I do the autopsies while you talk to them?" Scully questioned.

"Actually I was hoping you would come too this time. We're talking to them this evening, which gives you time to complete the autopsies."

"Why do you need me?" He gave her a sheepish smile.

"You seem to be fairly close to this case. In most ways it's a bad thing – I don't want to see you hurt, and it is possible for it to cloud your judgment." He paused, but continued before she could get upset over his comment. "But I'm not saying that's what's happening to you. I just need someone who knows what we're looking for in a suspect." He held his hand out to her to help her up, but she grabbed the edge of the coffee table and pulled herself up.

"Okay. I don't think I'll be of any help… But I'll see you at the station tonight then?"

"Yeah, I'm going to stay here a while, and then I'll get the files on the men they're bringing in and go over them. See you tonight," he touched her shoulder before she left, and spoke with his eyes, he was concerned for her. He thought she couldn't do these autopsies. She frowned, strangely hurt that he thought she was so weak.

--

"Stella Hamilton," she said into the Dictaphone, and began pulling the sheet off Stella's body. "Thirty Eight years old. Female." She continued listing all the basic information, then moved onto the injury to her belly. "It seems an incision was made into her belly, instrument used – unknown. Uterus was ripped from the belly; killer seems to have no medical knowledge." She took a deep breath before continuing. "Victim bled to death, period of time, unknown. Time of death, within the last six hours…" She re-covered the body and wheeled the gurney into the cooling room where the medical examiners assistant took the body from her.

She found a new pair of gloves, and washed up before moving onto the boy. It seemed the assistant had brought him in for her. She again gave the basic information, and turned to the injuries he sustained. "It appears he was strangled, hyoid bone is fractured." She felt a little sick cutting into the thin flesh of the boy's neck, but without doing that she wouldn't have been able to see the extent of damage to the neck.

Sighing, she finished the autopsy. She had found nothing. How would they catch this killer? How could he be smart enough to leave no trace whatsoever? They couldn't lift any fingerprints from the boy's neck; that was the first sign that the killer was even human – the finger marks around his neck. Wait, of course it was human… She was beginning to sound like Mulder.

Hungry, even after doing two autopsies, she hurried back to the Motel, using the rental car. She knew she had to meet Mulder at the station in a couple of hours, and she wanted time for a long hot shower and get some food into her stomach.

--

No matter how hard she scrubbed at her skin, no matter how strong smelling the soap, the smell of death seemed to stay on her. But it was probably all in her mind. Dressing in a black skirt that reached below her knees, a white blouse and a black suit jacket over her blouse she blow-dried her hair, and put on a small amount of make-up. But no amount of make-up or neat, business-like clothes was going to make her feel confident about meeting these men tonight. What if one of them was the killer?

TBC