"Okay, what are we looking for here?" Rossi questioned as he and Morgan walked across the dirt road towards the area of the first sighting.
"I'm not really sure," Morgan admitted as he began strolling across the field, skirting the marshy areas. "We are still within a mile or so of that small subdivision, aren't we?"
"Maybe a little more," Rossi suggested. "If you want an exact distance, we can check with Reid when we get back to the station."
"I don't need anything that exact," Morgan protested with a smile. He bent down and looked at an area behind some low bushes that appeared to have been disturbed. "It looks like the skeleton was found here."
"Not that far off the road," Rossi looked back towards it. "Anyone dumping a body here could have been seen by someone driving by. I wonder how much traffic comes down here."
"It doesn't seem to be very busy this time of the day," Morgan observed. "If someone wanted to do some quick digging, they could easily get it done with without being seen if they timed it right."
"Is that what you think happened?" Rossi asked. "It could work."
"But why plant a skeleton?" Morgan asked. "And, where would you get one?"
"Good questions," Rossi agreed. "We need to talk with Garcia when we get back to the sheriff's office and see what she has found."
"And, again, bike tracks," Morgan observed as they began heading back to their SUV.
"Oh – Oh!" Rossi's voice echoed across the empty field. "Do you see what I think I see?"
As Morgan and Rossi watched, a caravan of vehicles slowly made its way down the dirt road. In the lead was the sheriff's cruiser that the agents had watched Dr. Hayward load his equipment into earlier that morning.
"Looks like we have company," Morgan observed dryly.
"We didn't move fast enough," Rossi moaned.
The cruiser came to a stop behind Morgan and Rossi's SUV and the passenger door flew open.
"Agents!" Dr. Hayward's voice boomed out. "How good of you to meet us here!"
"Sorry," Morgan called out as he began walking swiftly towards the SUV. "We really need to be going."
"Where is the estimable Dr. Reid?" the expert demanded as he moved to stand in the middle of the road. "I would have expected him to be here."
"He's following up on another line of inquiry," Rossi was keeping up with Morgan. "And, we need to join him."
"What does the government think about all of this?" a middle-aged woman from one of the vehicles in the convoy had walked over and was standing slightly behind Dr. Hayward.
"Are you really in contact with beings from another planet?" a college-aged woman carrying a video camera joined them.
"Can you tell us how valuable Dr. Hayward's guidance has been to your investigation?" the question came from a man who also appeared to be a college student and who was wearing a Star Trek t-shirt.
"You're David Rossi!" the exclamation came from an older man wearing a navy blue windbreaker and jeans.
Rossi noticed how the UFO expert bristled at the mention of his name and, as he explained later, he just couldn't resist.
"Yes, I am," he confirmed.
"I've read all your books," the man continued. "And I've enjoyed every one of them!"
"That's quite flattering." Rossi was now wearing his best "Meet the Public' face. He glanced over at Morgan, who had also noticed the UFO expert's reaction and was now smirking.
"I would like you to meet a colleague of mine, Special Supervisory Agent Derek Morgan." Rossi gestured for Morgan to join him at the center of the small group that was now surrounding him. "He has been with me on most of the cases I have written about."
"You're the one whose books my husband is always reading?" the woman asking the question was also dressed in a navy blue windbreaker and jeans.
"Guilty as charged." Rossi was beginning to enjoy watching the UFO expert's discomfiture.
"May I get a picture?" the woman followed up. "Him - with both of you?"
Morgan and Rossi exchanged looks. "Of course!" Morgan assured the woman, treating her to one of his megawatt smiles.
"You're a famous writer?" another two men, dressed in a motley collection of superhero sweatshirts and jeans, joined the group. "Can we get pictures, too?"
"Now, Now," Dr. Hayward interrupted the proceedings. "You need to remember why we are here. And, I believe the site we are interested in is right over there across the road."
"That's right," Rossi decided to give the expert a break. "You really need to examine the area and see what you can discover. And, unfortunately, we do need to get going."
"Actually, you might want to go slightly to the left over there," Morgan pointed to a particularly marshy area of the field in question. "I think that's where you will have the best chance of locating some trace evidence."