Chapter 7

"What's this?" she asked, lowering her head and readjusting her glasses, to scrutinize the photo more closely.

"What?" Mulder answered, leaning in to see.

"Here," Scully pointed to an area next to the toilet. "There's something in the blood spilled at the base of the toilet." She reached for another photo that showed the same area, with the toilet situated at the foot of the tub. "See – Nancy's head was at this end and the blood from the wound spilled out to here, where this large spill was." She indicated with her finger.

"Hmm," she looked closer. "I don't see the object on this one. The time stamps show a few minute difference."

Mulder dug through his briefcase and brought out a magnifying glass as Andy sifted through the rest of the photos, pulling out any that had the area they were focusing on. "Let's line them up by time stamps and see if we can see what's going on."

After several minutes of intense scrutiny, they solved the puzzle. "It looks like a folded piece of paper that was originally on the towel which was sitting on the closed toilet seat, but got knocked off and landed in this pool of blood," Scully said.

Andy rubbed his lower lip. "Nobody said anything about any paper. Let me call the station. They're processing everything over there and I'll see if anyone knows anything about it."

While Andy made the call, Mulder picked up his beer and went to the kitchen to get the pizza out of the oven. Scully continued to pore over the crime scene photos.

As he quickly sliced the piping hot pizza, he couldn't help but grimace. Seeing the graphic pictures of Nancy had done a pretty good job of killing his appetite. He took a large swallow of beer and tried to think why someone would kill her and hoped that whatever it was that Scully had spotted, would give them a clue to catch the killer.

Andy hung up the phone, "Good news and bad news," he announced as Mulder walked in balancing three plates, several napkins and three beers tucked under his arms. Scully and Andy both jumped up to help.

"Don't keep us in suspense. What have you got?" Mulder asked, settling back down next to Scully. Neither started on the pizza, but they exchanged bemused glances watching Andy dig in.

"No prints at the scene," he mumbled, pulling at an errant piece of mozzarella cheese dangling from his chin. "But they found the note. Type written – no prints. 'One down'."

"One down! That's it!" Scully exclaimed.

"Jeff says it also has a drawing or a stamp of a paw print."

Mulder and Scully were dumbfounded. "Like a cat or a dog paw print?" Mulder asked, obviously puzzled.

"Jeff thinks a dog – not domestic – maybe a wolf."

"One down," Scully murmured. "Nancy's the first, but apparently not the last."

Mulder and Andy were somber as they digested that piece of news. Andy put down his pizza, his expression grim. "So this is just the beginning, is that it?" He glared at Mulder and Scully. "We've got a serial killer here? What in the hell for?" His voice rose angrily as the full implications set in. "Jesus Christ! We're just a small town! Do you know what's going to happen if word gets out?"

"Hold up, Andy," Mulder admonished him. "First of all – word can't get out. You're going to have to keep an extremely tight lid on this investigation." "I've got to protect these people," Andy retorted.

"You will," Scully reassured him. "And the FBI will help."

"FBI here?" Andy exclaimed. "Why don't we just pitch a tent and light a neon sign with an arrow to announce what we're doing," he added, throwing up his arms in frustration.

"Andy," Scully reached out and placed a hand on his arm. "Mulder and I will help keep things under control. We'll be as unobtrusive as possible. We'll personally get evidence to the FBI labs and I'll even do the autopsy."

Mulder jerked his gaze over. "Hey – wait a minute, Scully." He protested. "I don't think you're quite ready for any serious slicing and dicing."

Scully quirked a grin. "I won't be alone. We'll get the body to Quantico and I can be there every step of the way – I don't have to actually do the physical part."

Mulder relented with a silent huff. "We'll have to check all this with Skinner," he muttered, not entirely pleased. "Don't you dare overdo it," he cautioned her with one finger raised and pointed at her.

If he hadn't looked so haunted, Scully might have been a little offended, but they had both been through so much, seen so much, that she no longer tried to rebuff his concern.

With a small smile and not, she reached out to take his hand in hers. "Don't worry, Mulder," she said soothingly, pulling his hand to her lips.

"Scully –"

"Mulder – ssh." Still holding his fingers with one hand, she reached out with her other and placed her index finger on his lips.

He stilled instantly at her touch.

"I won't overdo it. I promise. But we're living here now and I want us all to be safe and until we find out why Nancy was first and who's second – we're not safe."

Mulder relented and gathered up the photos and jotted down some of his own notes and thoughts. The killer knew the victim in some way, he thought. "Canvass the neighbors and I'll interview Connie," he told Andy. "I can't stress enough how important it is to keep a firm rein on all this."

"The people around here know there's been a murder – they'll want to know what's going on to take care of this." Andy stated.

"They'll be extra cautious and extra vigilant. But that note is key. Under no circumstances can the contents of it get leaked."

"I'm on it," Andy said morosely, slumped down in his seat, his pizza long forgotten. "Anything else?"

"Keep the scene secure," Scully told him gently, leaning forward. "We'll have a couple of techs come in and go over it thoroughly and pick up all the evidence."

Andy nodded, his gaze wandering to the window and the darkness beyond. This is Quonochontaug, for God's sake, he thought. We're all family here. He felt numb and shocked. A monster among us. A monster in human form. "Well, I guess I better get going. I'll make sure that everything's locked up at the station." He stood up and swallowed the last of his beer.

"Andy, has there been anything else happening around here? Even if it doesn't seem connected – just anything?" Mulder asked, standing as well.

With his hands in his pockets, Andy shuffled his feet as he thought carefully. "Someone broke into Doc Anderson's last week. Nothing was taken, but it looked like the records had been rifled through. No prints were found and Doc is chalking it up to a kid's prank. A couple of shoplifting incidents, minor hit and run – no one was hurt. That's about it."

Mulder nodded. "We'll get right on it, okay, man?"

Andy headed towards the door. "Yeah. And thanks. Nice to meet you Dana, and thank you too, for all your help what with your leg injury and all."

Scully glanced down at the large brace she wore and wrinkled her nose in distaste. "I hope to be rid of this thing soon. I've been working with Jane Houndeford for rehab."

"Yeah, my wife told me she was back. Had a rough spell of it for a while in the romance department." He looked over at Mulder. "How times have changed, huh, Mulder?"

"What do you mean?" Mulder answered with a puzzled expression clouding his face.

"Oh, come on, man – we all knew how you and Tommy felt about her trying to hang around you two," Andy laughed.

Mulder ducked his head in shame. "That was a long time ago, Andy, we were just teenagers."

"Yeah, yeah – I know. Just ragging on you – trying to lighten the mood." He stuck out his hand and Mulder readily took it. "But seriously – thanks for agreeing to help out."

Mulder gave him a shake and escorted him to the door. "Call us if anything comes up, otherwise I'll see you in the morning and we'll talk with Connie. I'm going to call A. D. Skinner right now."

"That your boss?" Andy asked.

Mulder was about to answer but Scully, who had managed to silently step over to Mulder's side, answered for him. "And friend," she interjected with a look at Mulder. After a beat, Mulder nodded and smiled, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

The three said their goodnights and Mulder and Scully watched Andy step over to his car. "Be careful," Mulder said with his arm still protectively around his partner.

"You too," Andy responded. "Damn," he muttered, shaking his head, his boot kicking up a small cloud of gravel on the driveway. "I just can't believe this."

Mulder and Scully were quiet, also stunned by the turn of events.

Scully hugged Mulder as they stood in the doorway, watching Andy's headlights disappear down the road. "I'm going to take a shower – I didn't get a chance to clean up after Jane left." She took his hand and led him inside.

"You want some company?" He asked, his eyes purposefully wide and inviting.

Scully grinned. "Let me get started and you call Skinner first. And please don't forget to tell him that I'm going to want to see the autopsy first hand."

"Ok. You start on the front and I'll help you wash your back."

"I'm counting on it," Scully said sweetly and headed for the bathroom.

Mulder watched her with concerned eyes as her limp seemed a touch more noticeable tonight and he made a mental note to question Jane about it the next time he saw her.