 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 . 
