Scully makes a new friend

Scully stood up.

The row of washing machines stood between her and the door. To the tall, dark-haired Latina who'd just walked into the coin laundry, there was no way to tell that she wasn't wearing pants. And there was no reason for a total stranger to guess she wasn't wearing pants. Any rational person would assume that an intelligent, professional-looking woman such as herself would put on pants before she left the house, and would keep them on as she went about her day. That was the good news.

The bad news was there was no other way out of the laundry. The washing machine came up to the hem of Scully's suit jacket, just about. Her protection was precarious. If the Latina got it into her head to come around the other side of the aisle, there'd be no way for Scully to avoid getting caught. Without her pants. And that would create a whole different set of assumptions.

The worse news was, the Latina was wearing a sheriff's uniform.

"Hi," she said, looking suspiciously at Scully. "I'm Sheriff Rosario Gonzales. Haven't seen you in town before."

"Hm," said Scully. "Just here on... business."

"Business? Not much business for strangers round here. This is a small town. We like to keep things local." Rosario glanced down at the pile of lingerie spilling out across the floor, then up at Scully. Her eyes narrowed. "You have any idea where all this came from?"

"It was like that when I got here."

"How long you in town for?"

"Only a couple of days."

"And you're doing laundry?"

"I... yes," said Scully. She didn't want to have to introduce herself to the sheriff, not like this. Rosario would be bound to invite her back to the station to discuss the case, and she wasn't sure she could think of a reason to refuse. The truth would be bound to come out. She could explain the situation, but local law enforcement wasn't usually fond of the Feds. There was no way to know how the sheriff would handle an FBI agent in her underwear. She took a step forward, pressing herself up against the washing machine to be absolutely sure that not even a hint of her panties was visible, and said "Nice, peaceful town you got here."

"Usually, I'd agree."

"Usually?"

"Few strange events lately. Weird occurences, of the mysterious type. Some of the townsfolk think there might be a pervert lurking about."

"A pervert?"

"Yep," said Rosario, looking her dead in the eye. "Kind of pervert who'd steal a girl's underwear straight out of the washing machine."

"You really think somebody would do that?" said Scully, weakly.

"Well, not somebody from this town. Decent people round here. No, I reckon it'd have to be a total stranger."

"That makes sense."

"Well," said Rosario, "don't let me keep you. I'm sure your business can't wait."

"Actually, I'm waiting for my laundry to finish."

"Really? Which machine is it in?"

Scully looked around the laundry. It seemed like all the machines had stopped. There wasn't a single one left running.

"That one," she said, pointing at random.

"That one's empty."

"So it is," said Scully, thinking quickly. She had to pick a machine that the sheriff couldn't see, so she could pretend there were clothes in it. "I mean this one, over here, on this side of the aisle."

"Okay," said Rosario. "Let me come around to your side and take a look at it."

"You don't have to do that."

"But I want to."