 When Kearns is reported missing ten weeks later and a witness claims to have seen foxfire near Dudley, Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) investigate. At the site of the alleged foxfire, the agents find the ground burnt and a witch's peg staked into the ground. Arens, the local sheriff, arrives and disclaims anything unusual occurring in Dudley. After visiting Kearns' wife, Doris, the agents discover that he was about to recommend a local chicken plant, Chaco Chicken, to be closed down for several health violations. While giving the agents a tour of the plant, floor manager Jess Harold claims that Kearns held a vendetta against Chaco Chicken. After hearing this, a hallucinatory Paula, who works at the plant, grabs and holds Harold at knife point. Mulder and Scully attempt to reason with Paula until she is shot and killed by Sheriff Arens. The plant's physician, Dr. Vance Randolph, later claims that Paula was suffering from consistent headaches, which Kearns had also reported.
