🅧 Please explain to me the scientific nature of 'the whammy'

[faithfulskeptic]

[ n a m e ; ]	Dana Katherine Scully
[ c a n o n ; ]	The X-Files
[ g a m e ; ]	spicy times in noctiumrp

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[bigfootfetish]

Fox Mulder knows weird. At this point, it's what his brain is wired for: the patterns everyone else misses or discounts or insists can't mean the obvious, because "the obvious" is not only obvious to them but ludicrous. And the death of Glenda Maraniss is a weird one.

Maraniss' coroner, on the other hand, is seated at her desk, seeming normal even if you don't grade on a "well, you're talking to someone who does autopsies all day" curve. She's a pretty woman, possibly a few years his junior, wearing a little smile that looks like it doesn't want to be there on her face but is determined to stick all the same. She could as easily be in a corporate office, or the back of an outpatient clinic, if she wanted to be.

"I saw your report on a Mrs. Glenda Maraniss," he says, offering his hand to shake before he pulls up a chair on the other side of her desk. "It made for some interesting bedtime reading, Ms. Scully - and I was hoping you could tell me a little more about what you think killed her."

[faithfulskeptic]

Not werewolves, she thinks, reflexively. Ridiculous that the thought ever occurred to her-- since of course that's what happened. She thought, what could possibly have done this, and her mental image of the wide-eyed woman lying on the table said a werewolf!. And she'd written inconclusive, because werewolves are no more real than ghosts.

"Blood loss," she says automatically. "And shock didn't help. If you've read the report you already know how extensive the antemortem wounds were; I'd say the damage to the tendons in her left leg left her immobile. Even if her carotid artery hadn't been severed, I suspect she would have bled out in minutes."

But it's not what he means, she knows. Still, it's the correct answer; the best one she can give him.

"The wounds themselves... I'd say some kind of animal attack. I did say, in fact, in my report. And that the type of animal was not possible to determine."

[bigfootfetish]

"You did say that," he agrees, all pleasant demeanour and professional bearing. He remembers the details from the report - his copy's marked up with notes and question marks. "But you must have had a theory, right? Even if you couldn't make it the official story, you had an idea of what did that."

As buttoned-up and professional as she is, Mulder doesn't want to push too hard - not yet. But there's something about prim Ms. Scully that makes him suspect that friendly curiosity might not convince her to spill the details without more prompting.

Only one way to find out.

[faithfulskeptic]

"I'm a coroner, not a detective."

Which is to say: isn't this your job, Mr. Mulder?

Actually, it's a little strange that it's his job; this doesn't seem like it should be a high enough profile to warrant federal involvement. But everything is a little off about this case, isn't it?

"Escaped zoo animal, maybe?"

[bigfootfetish]

Mulder laughs. "Think a tiger caught the train up from D.C.? Or are we assuming it escaped from Baltimore?"

She might not be a detective, but she's smart. Most of the coroners he's worked with don't have half the credentials Dana Scully can claim, and none of them have featured in as many solved cases. Police officers namecheck her in interviews when reporters ask where they found the key evidence that led to an arrest; they thank her in press releases and mention her at press conferences. That's how she came to his attention in the first place, her name showing up over and over again.

And that's why he has to believe she knows more than she's saying right now.

[faithfulskeptic]

"Maybe it hitchiked." She manages a deadpan delivery, hands folded calmly before her. Tigers' jaws are too short, she doesn't say. She tries not to even let herself think wolf. Much less--

No.

"Black market exotic pets, maybe? Coyotes aren't unheard of in semi-urban areas, but I've never heard of one big enough..." Her brow creases slightly; she admittedly can't entirely resist the mystery. The problem is she doesn't have a plausible answer.

"I doubt I have any leads you haven't already come up with."

[bigfootfetish]

"Try me."

It's a gambit that might not pay off, but he's willing to try: sitting there, leaning toward her across the desk, a pleasant look on his face. He doesn't have her on the hook - that much is obvious - but if he lets her ruminate on it, maybe something unexpected will come out.

She's already shown a propensity for talking out the possibilities. Now he just needs her to think about the ones she didn't put in her report.

[faithfulskeptic]

For a long moment she just sits, silently, looking at him. Trying-- perhaps obviously-- to puzzle out what he's actually here for; what he's hoping to gain from this conversation. It's more than due diligence, showing up here to talk to her; either he's got no clue about this one, or he's fishing for something.

And she's got... nothing, she's got nothing. But saying so hasn't made him leave yet. She manages-- barely-- to bite back a sigh, and pulls her notebook from a drawer. Her report was thorough, but sometimes distance offers some clarity on conclusions. (Not that she believes there's anything here; but she'll think through it better with something in her hands.)

"I considered the possibility of a human assailant trying to make it seem like an animal attack, but the punctures seemed decisively organic, and there's no way a person could simulate the necessary jaw strength," she muses. "My best guess would be canine rather than feline, but that's just conjecture. Maybe-- a wolf-dog, trained to attack?"

She doesn't really sound convinced herself.

"If the autopsy were always enough, you wouldn't have much to do, Agent Mulder." She shrugs.