Title:  Deputy Dan
Author:  Vickie Moseley
Spoilers:  nothing through VS 11
Summary:  It's Halloween night and Mulder and Scully get caught 
up in a manhunt.
Written for Virtual Season 12 with exclusive rights for two weeks.
Category:  V, X
Rating:  PG
Disclaimer:  No copyright infringement intended.
Thanks to Lisa for speedy beta.
Happy Halloween, everyone!!

Deputy Dan
by Vickie Moseley

Clintondale Station, PA
October 31
7:45 pm

They were traveling along a deserted stretch of two-lane road in 
the deepening twilight, Mulder at the wheel and Scully playing Mr. 
Sulu.

"Are you sure the detour sign said to turn left at the crossroads?" 
Scully asked as she squinted at a small travel road atlas by the map 
light above the dash.

"Makes no difference, Scully. There's a roadblock up ahead. 
Maybe they'll send us back to the interstate," Mulder grinned at 
her.  

Scully looked at him in warning.  "Mulder, this time -- just stay in 
the car, OK?"

"What?" he whined in an ego-wounded voice.  "Besides, it's too 
dark for a walk in the woods."

"Just keep tellin' yourself that, Mulder," she replied as she slid the 
map back in her briefcase.

Mulder rolled the car up to the Deputy Sheriff and rolled down the 
driver side window.  "Evening Officer," he said congenially.  Both 
agents pulled out identification and showed them.  "We're with the 
FBI.  What seems to be the problem?"

"FBI?  Would you mind pulling over there, please?" the deputy 
directed them to the side of the road.

Mulder glanced over at Scully and shrugged.  "Some days it just 
doesn't pay to try and ignore the obvious, Scully," he said with an 
elfish grin.  He received her standard 'eye-roll' as a reply.

"Mulder, please make it clear that we are on the way back from a 
long case and we really just want to get home."

"Yes, dear," he said with the same grin.

"And don't forget to tell them that any investigation that might 
include the FBI has to go through proper channels -- they need to 
contact the regional office, probably in Philly, and request the 
involvement of any agents -- "

"Scully, you _really_ want to get home tonight, don't you?" he 
asked, finally breaking through her lecture.

"Mulder, it's Halloween.  Last Halloween you tried to scare the 
crap out of me by taking me on a ghost hunting picnic, the 
Halloween before that we were stuck on a stake out and you busted 
your ass, not just figuratively, I might add, so we ended up with a 
trip to the ER.  I just want to enjoy Halloween for a change.  I want 
to see trick or treaters on the streets and not worry that one of them 
is a drug dealer or escaped convict -- "

They were out of the car and approaching the deputy again.  He 
called over another man from the other side of the road.  The man 
tipped his hat to Scully and shook each agents' hand.  "Sheriff 
Tyler," he said by way of introduction.  "Boy, are you a sight for 
sore eyes."

"Sheriff, as my partner was just reminding me, we really can't be 
involved until you contact the Regional office," Mulder said with a 
look of sympathy.

"We got five missing kids, oldest is 12, youngest is 4," the Sheriff 
said flatly.

Mulder risked a glance at Scully and knew she'd come to the same 
conclusion he'd immediately reached, and that she had surrendered 
to their fate.  "What can we do to help out?" he asked for both of 
them.

"They were trick or treating, left the Wilsons' house about 5:15," 
Tyler explained as they walked to his squad car.  

"And you're already out searching?  Couldn't they just be out 
getting more candy?" Scully asked.  Tyler seemed to ignore her as 
he reached into the front seat of the car, pulling out a folder and 
handing it to Mulder.

"They were supposed to pick up Tommy Hendricks at 5:30.  The 
house was three blocks away.  When they didn't show up by 5:45, 
the Hendricks phoned the Wilsons'.  That's when we got involved.  
We don't mess around when it's little kids," he added dryly.

Mulder walked to the front of the car, using the headlights for 
illumination.  He handed the pictures one by one to Scully.  Five 
cherub faces, all recent school portraits, stared back at her.  Two 
girls and three little boys.  Mulder took the photos from her nearly 
nerveless fingers, a quick brush of his fingertips telling her he 
understood.

"They were last sighted going toward Parson's woods.  There's a 
path through there that's a short cut to the Hendricks.  We're 
putting together a search party for the woods right now."

"If you think they're in the woods, why the roadblock, Sheriff?" 
Scully asked, having regained her professional distance.

Tyler toed the dirt and looked off in the distance.  "There was an 
escape from the local mental hospital yesterday.  The patient has 
yet to be found."

Mulder nodded slowly.  "The diagnosis of the patient?"

Tyler turned toward him and shrugged.  "Schizophrenia.  Robert 
Mandel, aged 32.  He was picked up on child molestation charges, 
but a court ordered psychiatrist got him involuntarily committed."

Mulder sighed and Scully chewed her lip.  "Has anyone gone to the 
mental hospital, looked at his records?" she asked.

"No, we just made the connection.  The hospital hadn't called our 
office until this evening.  They were conducting their own search."

"Look, I'll check out the area where the kids were last seen, Agent 
Scully is a medical doctor and might have better luck at the 
hospital," Mulder suggested.  

Tyler nodded with relief.  "I can take you out to the hospital right 
now, Agent Scully.  Agent Mulder, some of my men are already at 
the woods, if you don't mind going in your car.  Just follow this 
road, turn left when it T's and you'll see the park about a quarter 
mile on the right."

"Call me if you find anything, Scully," Mulder said as he turned to 
head back to the car.  He casually brushed the sleeve of her coat 
and she smiled.  It was as much of a display of affection as they 
were likely to get for a while.

Even in the dark of the late autumn night, Mulder was able to find 
the park and the adjoining woods.  Three squad cars, two from the 
Sheriff's department and one from the village police were sitting in 
the small parking area.  Mulder got out and went back to the trunk 
of the rental car, retrieving his flashlight.  When he turned around, 
a deputy was walking toward him.

"Hello," Mulder said amiably.  

"Howdy," replied the deputy.  "Mind if I ask your business here 
this time of night?"

Mulder smiled at the forced politeness of rural law enforcement 
officers.  He held up a cautious hand and slowly dug in his jacket 
to pull out his wallet, showing it to the deputy.  "I'm Agent Mulder, 
with the FBI.  My partner and I met up with your roadblock.  
Sheriff Tyler asked for our help finding the kids."

The deputy peered intently at the identification and then flashed his 
light up at Mulder.  Satisfied, he stuck out his hand in greeting.  
"Deputy Dan Kessman.  Nice to meet you, Agent Mulder."

"Thanks, Deputy Kessman.  So, I take it the others are out 
looking?"

Kessman glanced over at the woods.  "They went in about half an 
hour ago.  They won't find anything.  The kids aren't here," he said 
with an odd mixture of frustration and defeatism.

"You sound pretty convinced," Mulder replied.  "You have a 
theory?"

Kessman drew in a breath.  "This isn't the first time this has 
happened."

Mulder absently pulled a handful of seeds out of his pocket, 
popping one in his mouth.  He offered some to Kessman, but the 
deputy shook his head.  "You mean other kids went missing?  
Tyler didn't mention -- "

"Tyler doesn't want to mention it.  Tyler doesn't want to 
remember," Kessman ground out angrily.  "Twenty years ago four 
little girls left their homes to go trick or treating.  They were found 
two days later, drowned at the lake."

Mulder frowned.  "Was anyone caught or even suspected?"

Kessman laughed bitterly.  "If you mean 'brought to trial, no.  
Caught  -- oh, yeah.  They had a prime suspect.  Had him dead to 
rights.  But the bastard had connections all the way up to the 
Lieutenant Governor.  The case was dismissed 'for lack of 
evidence'," he spat out.  "No one else was ever brought in."

"But that was twenty years ago.  Is that man even alive now?" 
Mulder asked.  A car racing by drew his attention and he jerked his 
head toward the road.  A car full of teenagers roared down the 
pavement.  Mulder shook his head and turned back to Deputy 
Kessman, only to find the man had disappeared, apparently called 
back to the search by one of the other men.

Mulder stood looking at the woods.  In the distance, through the 
trees, he could see the bouncing beams of the flashlights of the 
deputies.  He could join the deputies; try to find the stray scrap of 
costume or child's footprint in the soft dirt.  Or he could go back to 
the Sheriff's office and try to find out about the previous 
kidnappings and murders.  He was in the car pulling out onto the 
road when he realized he'd already made his decision.

The officer on duty was not exactly thrilled that Mulder wanted to 
go searching through old files at near 10 pm on the night of a big 
manhunt, but he was efficient and professional in his manner.  
Mulder took the inch thick file into an empty cubicle and sat down 
to read.  

The photos of the four little girls almost stopped Mulder dead in 
his tracks.  None of them older than 9 or 10, one with braces and 
yet one still waiting for her permanent front teeth.  He forced 
himself to move past the pictures that would probably visit him 
again on some long night during a bad case.  He realized he hadn't 
had that many nightmares in the past few years.  His personal 
'dreamcatcher', Scully, was always within arms reach at night.  He 
smiled to himself and went back to reading.

The girls' names didn't really matter as much as the suspect.  
Mulder went straight to the report on the arrest and interrogation of 
Bailey Tyler.  It didn't escape him that the suspect had the same 
last name as the current Sheriff and he wondered if that was 
another reason why the case hadn't gone forward.  Bailey Tyler 
was a very smart man, had garnered considerable wealth and 
power in the county and his arrest made headlines in papers all the 
way to Philadelphia.  A woman had seen him near the lake the day 
before the bodies had been discovered, dumping lawn bags near 
the dam.  The evidence that connected him to the girls' murder was 
a trick or treat bag with one of the girl's names on it found in the 
trunk of his car when he was arrested.  The bag disappeared from 
the evidence room of the police department the day of Bailey's 
arraignment.  Mulder closed his eyes and frowned.  It always 
amazed him how money and power frequently circumvented the 
law.

Bailey was released, but apparently the case didn't end there.  
Although he was no longer under investigation, the accusation 
impacted his ability to find investors in his various dealings.  He 
moved to Florida a year after the murders.  

Mulder interrupted the nice desk officer one more time for the use 
of one of the computers.  After a check of the FBI database, he 
found that Bailey Tyler had, for all intents and purposes, 
disappeared without a trace.  No record was found of him in 
Florida or any other state.  No cars were ever registered in his 
name.  One piece of property remained his, and the taxes were paid 
from a blind trust.  That property was a section of lakefront and a 
cabin not far from where the girls' bodies were found.

His phone rang and startled him.  "Mulder."

"Mulder, it's me," he heard and smiled.

"Hi, me.  What's up?"  His smile got bigger when he heard Scully's 
exasperated sigh.

"We have the patient cornered.  He's in a warehouse on the far-east 
side of town.  We don't think he has the kids with him.  The Sheriff 
wants to take him in for questioning, hopefully he'll tell us where 
he hid the kids."

"Scully, I think you've got the wrong guy," Mulder said as he 
gathered his coat and headed for the door.

"What do you mean?  Mulder, there's only been one escape from 
the hospital and from the records I saw, he certainly fits the profile.  
This man has no connection to reality when he's in a psychotic 
state.  He draws pictures of dead bodies lying around playgrounds 
all the time.  And he was severely abused as a child.  It all adds 
up."

"Too neatly, Scully.  Look, I have a lead in another direction.  If 
you have this guy, they'll bring him here to the station, right?  So 
I'll go check this out and if nothing's there, I'll come back here and 
see what your mental patient says."

"OK, Mulder, but remember:  this is Halloween."

"And you're the one at the warehouse," he said pointedly.  "Don't 
fall through any rotted trap doors.  It's a pain in the ass, really."

"I'll make sure to avoid that and you make sure to be careful," she 
replied and disconnected the line.

The parking lot was deserted as Mulder approached his car.  The 
hand on his shoulder caused him to jump.  He jerked his head and 
found Deputy Kessman smiling at him.

"You're going out there, aren't you -- to the cabin by the lake?"  
The man's eagerness grated on Mulder's nerves.

"Well, it beats playing siege with a psychopath," Mulder growled.  

Kessman grinned happily.  "Care for some company?" he asked as 
he headed for the passenger side of the car.

"Sure, why not make it a party," Mulder replied sourly.  "Besides, I 
have a feeling you probably know the way."

About half an hour later, Mulder was happy to have Kessman 
along.  The road was little more than a cow path that skirted the 
man made lake and had enough twists and turns to cause an 
accident in broad daylight, much less on a gloomy October 
evening.  

"How much farther?" Mulder complained as he pulled the car 
around another tight corner.  

"Just about half a mile, beyond that stand of pine up there," 
Kessman said, pointing to some trees on the lake side of the road.  
"You have to watch, the road is overgrown."

"Give me a little warning before we have to turn," Mulder 
requested.  He slowed to a crawl, watching the side of the road for 
any indication of a driveway.  

"There," Kessman said, pointing to a gravel path hidden almost 
completely by weeds and tall grass.

"Hope this car has decent shocks," Mulder muttered as he pulled 
into the drive.  The road went straight up for a short distance and 
then turned abruptly and Mulder thought it vanished entirely 
before he caught sight of it again.  Around another bend and he 
saw the cabin.  

The cabin was an A frame structure and probably quite impressive 
in its day.  Now, it looked like a caricature of how a house might 
look, if built by termites.  The shingles were mostly off, exposing 
the underlying plywood to the elements.  The upper window on the 
side of the house facing the drive was broken and tattered blinds 
hung haphazardly from the lower windows next to the door.  The 
interior was totally dark.

"Looks like everyone left for the evening," Mulder quipped as he 
pulled the car to a stop.  

"Over here," Kessman called and pointed to a set of tire tracks that 
appeared recent.  "Rained a couple of days ago, grounds been wet 
this fall.  These look fresh."

"Has there been any activity around this place in the last year or 
so?" Mulder asked.

"See over across the lake?" Kessman asked, pointing across the 
water glistening dully in the light of the waning Hunter's moon.   
'That's the Knights of Columbus boathouse.  They hold picnics all 
summer long.  If there'd been anybody seen around this cabin, they 
would have reported it to the Sheriff.  Bailey owed a lot of people 
money when he left town."

Mulder looked at his companion.  "That was twenty years ago," he 
said.

"Folks have long memories when money's concerned," Kessman 
replied with a wry shrug of his shoulder.

Mulder snorted.  Checking his weapon, he nodded to the cabin.  
"Shall we see what we can find?"

Kessman waved his arm in a courtly manner.  "After you."

"Somehow I knew you'd say that," Mulder said, striding toward the 
overgrown path to the cabin door. 

It looked like the place had once had a professional gardener, but 
the primroses and other flowering shrubs were now not more than 
brambles that caught on the coats of the two men as they tried to 
look in the windows.  

"I don't see any disturbance in the dust on the floor," Mulder told 
Kessman.  

"Try the door," Kessman suggested.

Mulder grinned at the man.  "Are you suggesting 'breaking and 
entering', Deputy?"

"Probable cause, Agent," he responded quickly.

"OK, you're local law, and Scully's always telling me to cooperate 
with you people," Mulder said with a put upon sigh.  He tried the 
doorknob and the door swung open easily.  "Just what we needed," 
he told Kessman over his shoulder.

The house was as deserted on the inside as it had appeared on the 
outside.  They found a rat's nest in the corner of the kitchen, one 
mattress standing tiredly against a wall near a fireplace in the 
living room.  Other than that, nothing.

"It's a bust," Mulder was telling Kessman when he heard a noise 
coming from below them.  "Did you hear that?"

Kessman nodded, his face grim.

"Let's stop standing around.  We need to find the door to the 
basement," Mulder ordered and both men started opening all the 
doors on the first floor.

"Maybe it's on the outside," Kessman offered and they headed out 
the back door.  Mulder's flashlight immediately landed on a set of 
wooden doors on the ground next to the house.

"Rotten wooden doors.  Scully, why does this always happen to 
me," Mulder mumbled under his breath.  "OK, we go down, but 
call for back up," Mulder told his companion.

"I don't have my radio," Kessman replied and Mulder frowned, 
handing the man his cell phone. 

"Hit speed dial one.  The woman on the other end is my partner, 
Dana Scully.  Tell her our location and to bring the troops."

Kessman bit his lip and examined slowly the phone in his hand, 
but finally nodded.

Mulder turned to the door.  It wasn't locked, but the hinges creaked 
horribly in the quiet night.  Below him, past the darkened concrete 
steps, he heard crying.  Unclipping his holster, he brought his gun 
up to bear below the barrel of his flashlight.  He heard Kessman 
behind him, pressing buttons on the phone.  Mulder slowly moved 
down the stairs, announcing his presence.  "I'm with the FBI.  
Come out with your hands raised," he ordered.  Nothing moved, 
but the crying got louder.

When he reached the bottom step, he swept the room with the 
beam of the flashlight.  In the cornered, huddled together, were the 
five missing children.  One of the older kids, a boy about 10, 
looked up at Mulder and pointed frantically over the agent's 
shoulder.  At that same moment, something hard hit him in the 
back of his head.  As his vision filled with stars and then 
blackness, Mulder remembered that Kessman was just upstairs, 
getting help.  

Scully glanced at her watch and looked around at the assembled 
crowd.  A shot had been fired not long after they had arrived at the 
warehouse.  No one could tell for certain, but it was believed that 
the patient, Robert Mandel, had at the very least a rifle and maybe 
a couple of handguns with him in the office of the warehouse.  
Snipers were situated around the building, but so far no one had a 
clear shot.  It was already going on midnight and no sign of the 
kids had been found.

"If you don't take Mandel alive, it may be hours before we can 
locate those kids," Scully said evenly to the Sheriff.  She skirted 
the rumor she'd heard from the deputies.  She'd overheard that the 
warehouse was near an old meat packing plant and any of the 
several refrigeration units would have been perfect places to hide 
the children, except for the fact they were airtight.  Hours, under 
those circumstances, could mean lives lost.

"He's not listening to anyone, Agent Scully," Tyler replied tersely.  
"Care to take a crack at him?" he asked, handing her the bullhorn.

She shook her head and walked away.  It had been well over an 
hour since she'd last talked to Mulder.  She tried his cell phone, but 
got the 'out of the service area' message.  He'd said he was 
checking something out; it would be just like him to walk into 
trouble.

The explosion of gunfire caught her by surprise.  She ran back to 
where the Sheriff was standing, screaming at his men to cease-fire.  
On the ground near the door to the warehouse lay a man, crumpled 
and bleeding.  Scully shoved through the crowd yelling, "I'm a 
doctor" and raced to the fallen man.

Robert Mandel wasn't going to last long, Scully could tell that 
immediately.  "Call for an ambulance!" she shouted as she tore 
open the man's shirt trying to staunch the flow of blood.  He'd been 
hit by at least a dozen bullets and the bright red blood was 
pumping out at a rapid rate.  Mandel's eyes were open and a thin 
trail of blood dribbled down the side of his face.  He was trying to 
speak, so Scully leaned closer to hear him.

"Wasn't me . . ." he gasped out and then his eyes glazed over and 
his head lolled to the side.  Scully sought for a pulse on his neck 
and found nothing.  She tried CPR, but by the time the ambulance 
arrived some ten minutes later, she knew it was futile.

"What did Mandel say to you?" Tyler begged when she stepped 
back from the body.

"He said it wasn't him," she said tiredly, brushing a wisp of hair 
from her face with a blood stained hand.  

"He probably believed that," Tyler said sadly and looked around 
the huge warehouse complex.  "We need to think this through.  
Maybe he hid them over at the meat packing plant."

"My partner is the one who can get into people's minds, but he's 
checking something else out."

Tyler looked surprised.  "Did he say what?"

"No," Scully replied, not wanting to reveal Mulder's theory before 
she knew all of it.  "He was going to meet us back at the station 
once we brought Mandel in.  I tried to call his cell phone but can't 
get through."

"We have really lousy reception around here.  My men and I rely 
mostly on radios.  You're welcome to take a squad car and go on 
back to the station, Agent Scully.  He may be waiting for you."

Scully nodded.  For a second she thought about just going to the 
packing plant, just a half mile up the road, and helping search for 
the kids.  But her lack of contact with her partner was nagging at 
her.  "I think I'll take you up on that, Sheriff.  Thank you."

Mulder awoke to the sound of sniffling.  It was dark in the cellar 
and almost impossible to see, but he could feel that his hands were 
shackled to a cement or cinderblock wall with heavy chains and 
iron cuffs.  He could hear the kids just a few feet away.

"Hey," he called out softly.  "Are you guys all right?"

"mm, yeah," came a tearful voice just to his left.  "He went away.  
He said he'd be back soon."

Mulder bit on his lip.  "My friend was just outside.  He's getting 
help.  We'll get out of here, I promise.  You guys just stay calm 
and it will be all right."  He prayed that Kessman would get Scully 
and the troops out to them soon.  He didn't want to lie to the kids.

Scully had just pulled into the station parking lot when she saw a 
deputy running toward her car.  She rolled down the window as he 
waved frantically in her direction.

"Are you Agent Scully?" the man asked, running to the passenger 
side door and sliding in.

"Yes, I'm Agent Scully.  Who are you?"

"Dan Kessman, Deputy Sheriff.  I've been with your partner.  He 
needs you right away."

Scully cursed and hit the steering wheel.  "I knew it," she huffed.  
"Where is he?"  

"Out at the lake.  We found the kids," Kessman replied.

"Are they all right?" Scully demanded.

"They won't be if we don't hurry," Kessman told her flatly.  "And 
you better call for back up and an ambulance."

"When it's Mulder, I always do," Scully growled.

On the way to the cabin, Kessman filled Scully in on what they'd 
found at the cabin and gave her a description of Bailey Tyler.  By 
the time they turned into the drive, Scully was frantic with worry.  
The deputy directed her to pull up next to Mulder's rental.  She 
killed the engine and got out, checking her weapon.  

"You go around that direction," she pointed to the left side of the 
house.  "I'll go this way.  Wait till I'm there to enter the basement."

Kessman nodded and took off in the direction Scully had indicated.  

She stopped at the rental for only a moment to retrieve her 
flashlight from the trunk.  A glance at her watch told her it was 
already after 2 in the morning.  She'd called the Sheriff before 
they'd left the parking lot of the station.  She hoped it wouldn't take 
him too long to get the troops out to the cabin.  She listened 
intently, hoping to hear the sirens but all she heard was the wind 
and the lapping of the lake water at the shore just yards away.

She found the door to the cellar easily.  Looking around, she 
wondered where Kessman had gone.  She waited for a few 
minutes, holding her breath.  When she heard the sirens in the 
distance, she decided she had to make a move.  

Before she could reach for the handle, the cellar doors flew open 
and a man as tall as Mulder and twice as wide came barreling up 
the stairs, screaming at the top of his lungs.  He glanced over at 
Scully and raised a gun to aim at her.  The distance was short, but 
his aim was wild and he missed her completely.  Scully, on the 
other hand, aimed carefully and caught him directly in the chest.  A 
look of surprise crossed his face before he slumped to the ground.

She was breathless as she checked the body for a pulse.  Then she 
heard the sounds coming from the cellar.  Children -- crying.  One 
voice stood out above the sounds of terror.  Her partner called up 
to her.  "Scully that better be you."

She smiled as she hurried down the steps.  Mulder was the first 
person she encountered, shackled to the wall.  She ran her light 
around the room and was relieved when she saw all five children, 
unharmed.  She released the bindings that held the kids' hands and 
then tried to release Mulder.  It proved a more difficult task than 
she'd assumed.  "We may have to wait for the Sheriff on this," she 
told him.

"And a lock pick," Mulder supplied.  Since he was at her mercy, 
Scully checked him over for injuries.  His wrists were raw and 
would be bruised by morning, he had a knot on the back of his 
head, but otherwise, he was fine.  The kids were shivering, but also 
without obvious injury.

"Was that Bailey Tyler?" Scully asked.

"Had to be.  He fit the description Deputy Kessman gave of him.  
Where is Dan, by the way?  I figured he'd be with you," Mulder 
commented.

"He was," Scully said, looking toward the top of the stairs.  "He 
was going around the other side of the house.  I wonder what 
happened."  She started up the steps and was met by Sheriff Tyler.

"Is everyone OK down here?  The ambulance is right behind us," 
he told her.  

"We're fine, we just need to get my partner out of these chains," 
she explained.

Tyler had one of his men get a toolkit from a squad car and the 
Sheriff made quick work of the shackles.  Mulder was helped up 
the stairs and was treated by the EMTs, narrowly escaping a trip to 
the hospital only when Scully vouched for him.  In the throng of 
deputies, neither agent was able to find their friend.  When Tyler 
came by to check on Mulder, Scully took the opportunity to ask 
him directly.

"Sheriff, we can't find Deputy Kessman.  Did he leave to go back 
to the station?"

Tyler looked first surprised and then confused.  "Where did you 
hear that name?"  Then he turned to Mulder.  "You were looking in 
the old records, weren't you?" he accused.

It was Mulder's turn to be confused.  "I read the old report from 
twenty years ago, Sheriff.  I'm wondering why you didn't make the 
connection with Bailey Tyler to begin with."

Tyler shook his head.  "Bailey was in a sanitarium out west.  I'd 
been assured he'd live out his days there," he said sadly.  "I had no 
idea he'd been released two months ago.  I just got the fax at my 
office before I got Agent Scully's call.  Believe me, if I'd thought 
he was within a hundred miles of this place, I would have come 
here first."

"Deputy Kessman knew.  Why didn't you listen to him?" Scully 
asked, crossing her arms.

Tyler looked at her with a perplexed expression.  "Agent, I don't 
know who you think you've been talking to, but I can assure you 
that it wasn't Dan Kessman."  He watched Scully shoot a look to 
Mulder.  Tyler shifted his weight and looked each agent in the eye.  
"Dan Kessman was a deputy back when I came on the force.  He 
died, 20 years ago this very month.  His youngest daughter was 
one of the girls murdered back then.  He had a massive coronary 
when he discovered her body."

Scully hissed out a breath and reached over to take Mulder's hand.  
Mulder just squeezed her fingers.  "Thank you for clearing that up, 
Sheriff."

Clintondale Station Cemetery
November 1
12:45 pm

Scully pulled the car up to the curb next to the neat row of 
tombstones.  Mulder got out and waited for her as she leaned into 
the back of the car and brought out a bouquet of fall flowers.  He 
reached for her hand and together they walked to the center of the 
lawn.

Daniel Kessman's grave was next to a more recent grave for his 
wife.  To the left of the joined headstones was a small stone lamb 
marking the grave of their daughter, Amelia.

"His granddaughter was one of the kids Bailey kidnapped last 
night," Mulder commented as Scully placed the flowers against 
Kessman's stone.  

Scully nodded.  "Her name is Amelia.  I never made the 
connection because her last name is Anderson.  Her mother is 
Kessman's older daughter."

"Maybe he came back because it was his chance to save the 
Amelia he lost," Mulder said pensively.

Scully squeezed his hand and looked up into her partner's eyes.  
"I'm just really thankful he helped us, Mulder.  And I hope that 
now he's at peace."

the end