Day 13

"Finger is not a match to former agent Scully." The medical examiner announced with a weary flourish; weekends meant nothing to the bureau and he was definitely not annoyed about having to miss his family reunion for this. He especially didn't give thought to the agents who had to spend half their time in Washington DC and the other half here, at Quantico. Mulder looked up expectedly as he tried to ignore the looks of surprise across his colleagues' faces. Though he felt relief that Scully had not been subjected to torture it meant they were no closer to finding her.

Kennison pulled out a wad of papers from a brown dossier folder. Across the paper were lists of numbers, some highlighted. "These are the phone records of Will Graham, we highlighted all the numbers that showed up more than once, then cross referenced those with numbers on his 'accepted callers' list – friends, family, his doctors; those who are allowed to visit, write, whatever. Two numbers showed up multiple times but neither number appear on the safe list. One we have tracked to Italy – we can't tell where but we know it's Italian. That would suggest his former psychiatrist would be in touch still but we've been unable to locate this mystery psychiatrist or his blonde companion. Anyway this final number here, that is an unlisted landline number. We've tried calling it but it seems to be barred to incoming calls implying it's one of these modern phone boxes but we can't be certain." He explained at great length and detail but he sounded defeated. Mulder however had had less to go on before.

"What about the number that called my office?" he asked hopefully.

"Well we weren't able to complete the trace so would only be able to make a partial match." Roberts said with a half shrug.

Outside of Charlestown, West Virginia a lonely man walking his dog, an old collie that had been his only companion since his wife had passed 10 years ago, was about to discover something his eyes, failing as they were, would not be able to un-see. The man watched the dog, Charlie, cock his led against a tree then ample slowly off into some bushes. In Autumn it was bitterly cold and the man shivered as he entered an area of the park that the waning sun didn't reach. The dog loped to a stop somewhere to his left, its focus pulled to an area of freshly disturbed dirt. Despite its growing age and grey mottled fur, the dog clawed at the ground with renewed vigor. It growled weakly as it uncovered its prize. The old man felt the first spattering of cold rain and called for his dog but the animal had found something more interesting. With a tired grunt he trudged over the wet muddy grass to the where his animal had begun chewing on his new toy. When he got within 30 feet or so he could smell what he could only describe as death. When he was within 15 feet he could see the half buried body of a young girl and at 10 feet he was vomiting in a bush.

Mulder awoke to a pounding and for several minutes he sat in the hazy darkness of Autumn at dusk on the East Coast wondering whether the pounding was inside his head or his chest. He hadn't even remembered falling asleep. The last thing he remembered was laying on the couch in his office staring at the ceiling wondering what he had done with his life for the last 2 years, how he had lost the one reason for living, how he had driven her away. He had thought about her lost in the dark and in pain until he had felt sick. After a moment the door swung open and he looked up, a little confused and alarmed to see Skinner looming in the doorway lit from the low lighting in the hallway. His older face was set in grim resignation and Mulder leapt up.

"What? What is it?" Mulder, no longer sleep addled immediately thought the worst.

"They've found a body." Skinner started and Mulder's heart sank before grinding to a painful stop. "It's not her, but it's a young woman missing a right index finger." Skinner finished, watching as Mulder let a painful breath of relief before feeling immediately guilty; this was someone's daughter. Despite this thought, Mulder couldn't quell the relief coursing through his veins. It wasn't her; his friend and the woman who meant so much more. This information had significant meaning and he nodded furiously.

"Hang on," He found himself saying before he even knew what was happening and he grabbed his coat, following his superior from the office.

It was a little after 6.30 when the pair found themselves standing over the body of a young woman who had undoubtedly been eviscerated. Though the sunlight had thoroughly been swallowed by the darkness outside it was hard to tell with all the overhead bright lights. Mulder's attention was drawn to the missing finger; Skinner was right it definitely matched visually. Regardless, he had to physically restrain himself grabbing the appendage and attempting to prove his theory. He eyed the tired medical examiner carefully and found himself chomping at the bit eager to get to the truth.

"I'll compare the DNA from the finger to the body but I have to say gentlemen, it's a mighty big coincidence." The ME looked at them but Mulder gave no response. Skinner only grunted. "The autopsy can't be done until day after tomorrow – there's been a run on killings lately and I'm stacked!"

[Drawing]Mulder only smiled weakly at the man's attempts at humor.

"Alright, let me see if I can't get you some bodies to help you – we need this girl examined as soon as possible." Skinner said pushily. He knew he was being unfair but this was not an ordinary case. Mulder felt deflated however. He knew that even if the girl was connected the likelihood of evidence being left was incredibly small especially given the lack of evidence on the past victims. He stared at the young woman for a moment longer than necessary and tried not to imagine Scully on that table. He shivered and finally turned away.