Chapter Four

One More Murder


Scully frowned as she took off her seatbelt. Mulder turned 
off the car. "This is awful. I hope it doesn't keep up," she 
said. "A murder a day."

"A neighbour found this victim. Her name is Marlene Christie. 
Camren will fill us in."

Both agents got out of the car and walked up to the small 
house. They flashed their identification at the police 
officers; the cops were rolling the yellow crime scene 
tape around the yard. They were waved up the front sidewalk.

The house was small and blue with a white front porch. 
It looked a few decades old, built in the early seventies.

Camren was waiting just inside the front door. The first 
thing out of his mouth was: "Dana, I'm sorry for making 
you angry yesterday. I didn't mean to, but I really put my 
foot in my mouth."

She smiled slightly. "Thank you, Michael. It takes a 
lot of courage to apologize." She put her hand on his 
arm. "Now, let's start here. Where's the body?"  

"In the living room. Her neighbour found her." Camren 
started walking, Mulder and Scully following close behind.

"Mulder mentioned that. What's the explanation to how 
the neighbour got in?"

"Jane Reynolds invited Marlene for breakfast often and 
she came over at seven, to see if Marlene wanted 
something to eat. The back door was open so she came 
inside, and found the body."

"Has she been questioned?" Mulder asked. He saw a 
pale hand sticking out from behind the blue couch.

"No. She had to send her kids off to school and her 
husband to work. She said she has to go into work at ten."

Scully looked at Mulder. "We'll talk to her." She'd 
agreed to it without asking her partner, and he faked 
a face of reluctance. "Just get the body sent to the 
coroner's office. I guess I'll perform the autopsy."

Camren nodded. "Fine. Can you do it later tonight, 
or do you have a date?"

"No, I'm free tonight. I'll do the autopsy and have 
a copy of the report sent to you as soon as possible." 
She scanned the room. "Mulder, let's go speak to that 
neighbour."




"It's really tragic, a beautiful young girl like that, 
murdered." Jane Reynolds wiped her green eyes with a 
tissue. "But I wish I'd found her sooner. Perhaps I 
could've helped her."

"Mrs. Reynolds, did you see anyone suspicious around 
here last night, or this morning?" Mulder asked.

"No, I didn't. I don't think Marlene had any visitors 
last night."

Scully raised an eyebrow. "Visitors? Did she have many?"

"She has the occasional friend drop by."

"Do you know if she had a boyfriend?"

Jane grew angry. "Yes. The bastard she'd been seeing was 
abusive. Marlene came to me so many times after he'd hurt 
her. They usually seemed great together but when she made 
him even the slightest bit angry, he'd lash out."

"Did Marlene ever got to report the abuse?" Scully asked.

Jane shook her head. "She said she was in love with Ben."

Mulder repeated, "Ben? Do you have a last name?"

"No. I only met him once or twice."

"What did he look like?" Scully leaned forward.

"He had short brown hair and he was tall, but just a 
tiny bit shorter than you." She motioned to Mulder.

He smiled. "That's a start, I suppose." He pulled a 
business card from his pocket. "If you can help us out 
any more, don't hesitate to call."

"Sure." Jane put the card on her fridge with a cookie 
magnet, right next to a drawing of a happy face, obviously 
drawn by one of her younger children. She looked at her 
watch. "I should be heading to work."

"We'll be leaving then." Scully pushed away from the 
kitchen table. "Thank you for your co-operation."

"Please find the killer. We can't have any more girls dying."




Mulder was startled as a file folder landed on his desk. 
He looked up and saw Scully. "It's the autopsy report," 
she said.

"Anything interesting?"

"She too died by strangulation with a rope, but it wasn't 
found, the same as the other cases. She also displayed sign 
of past abuse. She had healing bruises on her body."

"This killer has been all these women's boyfriend. Quite 
a big job."

Scully sat down. "I see one connection with all these 
cases. All these women were being beaten but they never 
left or reported their abusers. I think these women were 
eager to find Mr. Right. Perhaps they'd been rejected by 
men in the past, and they didn't want to lose this man in 
particular."

"So they put up with his abuse, hoping that in the long run, 
it would stop. Women's intuition or something, Scully?"

"It's all too common these days where people are abused, and 
they're too afraid to say anything. But abuse should never start."

Mulder added, "Too afraid to tell, or too ashamed. Some blame 
it on themselves. They think it's their fault."

"I think that could be the case with Marlene Christie. If she 
made this Ben angry, he turned on her. She probably thought it 
was her fault she was beaten."

Mulder flipped open the autopsy report. "I think men who hit 
women aren't men at all. They're monsters. But abuse is never 
good, no matter who the abuser is."

Scully nodded. "I know. Was that drawn from personal experience?"

"Yeah. On the Vineyard, I have a friend whose parents fought 
and it wouldn't stop until his mother ended up with a bruised 
jaw. The parents divorced eventually."

"Are there going to be agents on patrol tonight? We've had 
two murders in the past two days, with no trace evidence. This 
guy's good."

Mulder said, "I'll call Camren but I'm sure he's got some 
people on patrolling detail."

"Good. We all know we have to stop these killings. Marlene's 
mother was hysterical identifying the body." 

He thumbed through the folder. "Do you want to grab something 
to eat?"

Scully glanced at her watch. It was nearly six. "I'd rather 
not. I'd like to get to bed early."

"Okay, but I want a raincheck. I owe you for the last time 
we ate in."

"Just not for tomorrow. I have another date." She picked a 
piece of fuzz off her pants.

"Same guy?" She nodded. "Wow, Scully. I'll have to meet him soon."

She smiled. "He knows about the X-files and he didn't laugh 
*or* scream."

"Then I * really * have to meet him."

She chuckled, standing up. "I'll see you in the morning, and 
don't forget to call Camren."

"I won't. See you tomorrow."




Scully awoke at eleven that night. The telephone was ringing. 
She picked it up and gave a groggy "Yeah?"

"Dana?" It was Matt. "Did I wake you?"

"Um, actually, you did, but it's okay. I've only been sleeping 
for a while. What can I do for you?"

"I've been thinking a lot, about last night. I can't read 
your mind, but I didn't want to scare you by kissing you."

Scully smiled, even though she knew he couldn't see her. 
"You didn't scare me, Matt. Don't even worry about it. 
Don't lost sleep over it."

"Well, I didn't last night and I won't tonight. I'm really 
looking forward to tomorrow."

"I am too. What's planned?" She bent her knees, curling 
up on the bed.

"It's a surprise, but wear something even nicer than before."

"Sure. Pick me up at seven, okay?"

Matt chuckled. "That's fine. I'll see you. Get back to sleep."

"Goodnight, Matt." She hung up the phone.

She put her head on the pillow. "He must not go to bed 
early." He was a writer for newspapers but Scully guessed 
he also wrote for himself. Perhaps he was writing a novel. 
She would have to ask him.

She checked her alarm clock; it was set for six. She just 
hoped that she would be allowed to sleep that long. 

Maybe the killer would take a night to rest...




"Agent Scully, nice of you to join us this morning," Special 
Agent in Charge Paul Haswell said as Scully turned to close 
the meeting room door.

"I'm sorry, sir." She glanced at her watch. She was only a 
few minutes late for the meeting to discuss the serial killer 
case. Mulder had called her while she was in the shower after 
her alarm went off. They'd wanted to start the meeting at 6:45. 
She rushed and was still late.

Mulder gave her an apologetic smile and shrugged. She nodded 
slightly before taking a seat at the long table.

Agent Haswell said, "Agent Mulder has been developing a profile."

Mulder had no papers in front of him as he spoke. "I believe 
the killer to be a Caucasian male, age twenty-five to thirty-five. 
He is highly intelligent, and quite strong. He is able to 
struggle with his victims without causing much damage to the 
surrounding environment, showing he has control of the 
situation. However, he has no control when he becomes 
infuriated. He is very violent and aggressive at those times.

"I believe he knew the women because there were no forced 
entries, there was consensual intercourse in some cases and 
all the victims had allegedly been abused in a previous 
relationship. It doesn't seem like a coincidence."

Haswell said, "Thank you, Agent Mulder."

Scully watched her partner lower his head. He probably 
had more to add but due to Haswell's nature to interrupt,
all of Mulder's work was not that important.

"I'd like all of you to keep that in mind when investigating 
and looking for suspects."

"Is that all, sir?" Camren asked.

Haswell nodded. "Next time, I'll schedule the meeting for a 
later time so we're all here on time." He looked at Scully.

All agents but Haswell, Mulder, and Scully got up and left.

"Sir, I must apologize again. I would've been here sooner if 
I had gotten an earlier call."

"I didn't know about the meeting until six, sir. I called 
Agent Scully as soon as I could," Mulder said in attempt to 
take some heat off Scully.

"Well, please try to be on time from now on. I don't know 
how things work on the X-files but we don't dawdle. This is 
a case in great need of your attention." Haswell left the 
conference room.

Scully was frustrated. "Did Camren tell him about our little 
argument? The one about my private life?"

"I don't think so but next time, I'll try to call you earlier."

"It's not your fault."

They walked into the hall. "So do you know where you're 
going tonight?" Mulder asked, trying to get his partner 
to talk about her new male friend.

"I'm not sure. It's a surprise."

He joked, "I suppose I have to get a life now."

She grinned. "Nobody's forcing you."

"Do you think this relationship will go anywhere?" Mulder 
asked.

Scully hesitated for a moment. She wasn't sure she should 
talk to him about her personal life but he knew about almost 
everything else. "Perhaps. He's really nice and like I said, 
he didn't run screaming when I told him about the X-files."

"He's your soulmate!" Mulder exclaimed, forcing a high-pitched 
voice. He then said normally, "Hell, I'd date him if he didn't
mind the X-files."

"I don't think he swings that way." Scully nudged him with 
her elbow. "You'll meet him soon. I'll ask about going to lunch 
with us one day."

They reached their basement office. "That was a good profile 
you came up with," she commented. "Too bad you were interrupted."

Mulder took his seat behind his desk. "I know. I've never 
liked Haswell. He's been on my ass since I left the Violent 
Crimes Unit to pursue the X-files. He thinks I'm wasting my 
talent, but I barely know him."

"I don't think you're wasting your talent because if we're 
chasing killer ghosts, it's usually a very dangerous individual 
doing the killing, not ghosts." She sat in a leather chair.

He was quiet for a moment. "Okay, then tell that to anybody 
who calls me 'Spooky', or to anybody who makes fun of us both. 
It's like school again. There are the 'in' agents and there are 
the outcasts."

Scully leaned back. "And I know where we are, but there's no 
other place I'd rather be."

He grinned. "Scully, that means a lot to me. You'd give up 
your popularity for me. That's partnership."  

"Well, nobody's forcing me to stay. I could've left a long 
time ago if I didn't feel what I was doing was worthwhile." 
She crossed her legs. "I don't think there are any other 
agents in this building who work together as well as we do...
but we could work on better communication and that ditching thing."

"What ditching thing?" Mulder asked, surprised.

She shook her head. "Never mind."

He picked up a pen and began doodling on scraps of paper. 
"Did you ever think the FBI would be the way it is? The way 
you feel about working here?"

"I thought it would be more exciting, and that there would be 
less paperwork."

"It can't get any more exciting, Scully. What could be better 
than hunting down aliens?"

She laughed. "Oh, nothing, Mulder."

"Sarcasm is not attractive, Scully."

"I only use it behind closed doors."

He yawned. "When I got the call, I thought it was another 
murder."

"Me too. That is odd. We've had murders the past two nights, 
and most of the previous murders were committed on consecutive 
nights."

"The man is a Casanova. Women every night." He closed his 
eyes. "Every man's dream."

"But like you said, this man is a monster," Scully said, 
causing him to open his eyes.

"I told you about my experience with a friend's parents' 
abusive behaviour. Were there some violent families living 
on any bases where your father was stationed?"

Scully bit her lip. "At least one per base but as I got 
older, things changed. Violence decreased around me."

Mulder's expression softened, his small smile disappearing. 
"How can anyone hurt someone they're supposed to love and 
protect? Abuse is such an awful thing."

"I know, Mulder."




Scully adjusted the spaghetti straps on her satin lavender 
dress. It clung to her curves and the skirt hung loosely 
around her thighs. She'd never worn the dress before but 
it had been a gift from her mother the year before. She 
figured she'd wear it at some point and invested in a 
strapless bra. Although the bra was the correct size, 
she didn't like the way it fit but wore it to avoid the 
risk of "popping out" of her dress, as a former roommate 
had put it.

Her mother had also gotten her a pair of white high-heeled 
sandals for her last birthday. "She was trying to tell me 
something," she said, looking at herself in the bathroom 
mirror. "She was telling me to go out and get a life, in 
a nice motherly way."

She put on the shoes and did up the straps. The heels were 
three inches high and even though they were the same height 
as her usual shoes, she felt strange. She knew it was probably 
the shoes teamed with the dress, her makeup and her hair.

She ran her hand through her freshly curled auburn hair. 
Her makeup was light but noticeable. The brown eye shadow 
made her blue eyes stand out. 

It was ten to seven and she was getting nervous. She hoped 
they were going somewhere fancy because she wasn't dressed 
to go to a basketball game. She picked up her small black 
purse and put some Kleenex inside.

She felt like she was eighteen again, going to her senior 
prom in her moiré taffeta dress. She was glad she'd gotten 
rid of that horrid dress, the one that had made a terrible 
"whoosh" sound whenever she moved.

Scully enjoyed wearing her expensive suits to work, but they 
were so much less feminine than her current outfit. She rarely 
did her hair up in anything but a ponytail; having her hair 
curled reminded her of when she was eight and her mother 
would help her do her hair for church.

There was a knock at the door. "I'm coming!" she called, 
taking one final glance in the mirror.

She walked quickly to the front hall and opened the door. 
"Hi, Matt." She gave him a huge smile.

"Dana!" He grinned and brought out a dozen red roses from 
behind him. "These are for you." 

"Thank you!" She took the bouquet and said, "Just let me 
put them in some water. Come in for a few minutes."

She made her way to the kitchen and she knew Matt was 
staring at her. "Dana," he called, "you look beautiful."

"Thank you." Scully ran water into a glass pitcher and put 
the roses inside. "You look very handsome."

Matt was wearing a grey suit with a white dress shirt and 
a black and white-striped tie. "Well, I'm glad you wore 
something fancy. We're going dancing."

She returned from the kitchen. "Let's go then."




The May night was warm and after they'd eaten their dinner 
of pasta and done some dancing, Matt had convinced Scully 
to go for a walk near the Potomac River.

"So how was it?" Matt asked, putting his arm around her, 
surprising her. "Sorry." He started to move his hand off 
her shoulder.

"No. It's fine," she said. "The evening was wonderful, 
very classy. It was fun."

They walked a few slow steps before Matt said, "Tell me 
about your family."

She chuckled. "A little forward, are we?"

"No. I'm just interested in getting to know you."

"Okay." She sighed. "I'm the second youngest of the four 
Scully children. My father was in the navy and my mother 
stayed home with us. We lived all over the US and a few 
places overseas."

"Wow! I was going to join the navy to get myself through 
university but I got an academic scholarship."

"Being a navy brat was hard. We moved just as I was making 
new friends, and I had a tough time making friends."

"What do your parents and siblings do now?" Matt tightened 
his grip on Scully when he felt her shiver.

"Well, my father passed away about five years ago. My mother 
lives in Baltimore. My eldest brother Bill lives in San Diego 
with his wife and their five-month-old son. My younger brother 
Charles lives in Virginia with his wife and two kids. Both 
brothers are in the navy."

"And I'm guessing you have an older sister?"

Scully bit her lip. "Yeah. Her name is Melissa. She also 
passed away, about three years ago."

"I'm sorry about your losses. My mother died, but I could 
never imagine what it would be like to lose a parent 
*and* a sibling."

"My family is close but not tightly-knit. Due to careers and 
geography, we only get together at Christmas and maybe 
Thanksgiving. It would be different if my father was alive." 
She paused. "But I'm sorry about your mother. My mom is the 
only person I see regularly. Like I said, she lives in 
Baltimore and we occasionally go shopping or to lunch."

"I was devastated when my mom died but I got over it. It's 
the only way you can go on."

Scully changed the subject. "So you're a writer. Working on 
the great American novel?"

He shrugged. "I'm working on something. It probably won't 
be great, just mediocre."

"Well, I'll have to read it." She put her left arm on his 
back and received a wonderful smile from him.

"Since you're interested, maybe I will let you read it. I 
work on it as often as I can, which is nearly a half-hour a day."

Scully felt another shiver coming on. She knew she 
should've worn a jacket. Matt noticed the chill. "Here. 
Take my coat."

He slipped off his suit jacket and draped it over Scully's 
pale shoulders. "Thanks." She felt her face getting warm and 
Matt kissed her cheeks.

"Don't be embarrassed." He pushed his lips against hers 
and embraced her tightly.

Scully's mind raced as Matt broke her lips apart with his 
tongue. She put her hands on his back and closed her eyes. 
She started tasting his mouth.

Before she knew it, he pulled away and kissed her forehead. 
He said, "Dana."

She didn't respond for a moment. "I'm sorry. I'm used to 
being called by my last name, Scully. That's all anybody 
calls me, except my family."

"But your name is great. Do you mind if I call you Dana?" 
Matt smoothed some red hair behind Scully's ear.

"Sure, but I may not answer right away. Like I said, I've 
gotten used to 'Scully'. Everybody in the FBI is called by 
their last names."

Matt kissed her again before asking, "Do you want to go 
home now?"

She nodded. They turned on the path and started back to 
Matt's car. "Dana, if ever I do something you don't like, 
tell me to stop. If I kiss you and you don't want it, pull 
away." He took her hand.

She said, "Such a gentleman. That's very kind of you to say 
but I already knew what to do if I felt uncomfortable."

He laughed. "I just wanted you to know I'm not that kind of 
guy that 'takes' what he wants."

"I never thought you were." Scully knew it: she was falling 
for Matt, if she hadn't fallen all the way already.

"You know, this is so romantic. Just us, walking on a warm 
night, the moon shining on the water," Matt said, trying not 
to laugh. He put his arm around her waist.

"Matt, you are too funny, but a moonlit stroll is always 
romantic."

They arrived at Matt's Ford* Mustang and he opened the door 
for her.

Once they were on the road, Matt surprised Scully. "Dana, 
would you like to come to meet my family on Friday night? 
My stepmother makes wonderful meals."

Scully couldn't believe it. It was going to be their third 
date and already, she was meeting his family. She wondered 
if his father and stepmother would approve of her. "Um, okay. 
Friday's fine."

There was silence before Matt confessed, "Dana, I really like 
you and I hope we can have some sort of relationship. I've been 
single for about a year, and my last girlfriend broke my heart."

She put her hand on his thigh. "I'd like to pursue something 
in any free time I have. I enjoy spending time with you. I'm 
glad I met you."

"Well, I told my dad about you and he wants to meet the 
woman who has made his son happy."

Scully grinned. "You told him that? I'm happy to please."

"Maybe I can meet your mother soon. I'd like to."

"I'll talk to her later and see about the weekend."

Matt turned on his CD player and they listened to the Rolling 
Stones as he drove Scully home.