At 10:00 p.m. Scully was in her apartment with her eyes fixed on thecomputer screen. Her notes from the case were on her desk. She'd readthrough Mulder's X-files and now she was writing a profile of the killer.
Once again she carefully thought about Mulder's theory. And then shewent ahead with her own.
"After a careful review of the violent nature of these murders," she wrote,"I believe the killer to be a male, twenty-five to thirty¬ five years old.
He has above-average intelligence. His method of entry has so far beenundetermined. This may be due to his great knowledge of the internalstructure of buildings and ducts ."Scully studied the slide of the elongated fingerprint. Then she put it down,feeling puzzled .She couldn't explain the odd print; instead, she dealt withanother aspect of themurder.
"The removal of the liver is the most important detail of these crimes. Theliver possesses restorative qualities. It purifies the blood."The next morning Scully presented her report to Colton and other agentsat the Violent Crimes Section.
"The taking of the liver may allow the killer to believe he's cleaninghimself of his own impurities," she said. "I think he's acting under the classicform of obsessive-compulsive behavior.""since the victims are unrelated," she continued, "we can't predict whowill be next. But we can use the fact that when serial killers don't succeed infinding a victim, they sometimes return to the site of the previous murder torecapture the emotional high . So I think we should target those siteswhere he's already killed."The stakeouts of the murder sites began that night.
Three days later Scully parked her car in the garage below George Usher'soffice building. Mulder was already there. He was examining the ductsystem because he had heard some banging sounds.
Mulder shone his light around the area and realised that the gate wassufficiently open for someone to slip through. He paced through the opengate. The ventilation duct flexed from the inside, almost as if it werebreathing.
Something was scaling the duct from inside.
"Scully!" he shouted, racing towards her car. "Call for backup and getover here!"Scully made a call on the radio and went up to him. "In there," saidMulder pointing towards the ducts.
Scully drew her gun. "Federal agent!" she shouted. "Don't move! I'marmed!"She could just distinguish a man in the darkness of the opening. Hehesitated beyond the glare of the agents' flashlights .Then he crawledout feet first .
He looked about twenty. He had a childlike face with a high forehead. Hewore a tan uniform with an emblem that read ANIMAL CONTROL.
His face glistened with sweat. He raised his hands over his head, lookingscared to death, like a rabbit caught in handcuffed.
The agents handcuffed him. "you are under arrest, you have the right toremain silent. Anything you say can and will be held against you in a courtof law... "
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