At the crime scene, Mulder meets with the LAPD detectives investigating the case, explaining that Lorre's murder is the latest in a series of seemingly vampiric serial killings that have spanned two other states. The following day, before departing for Los Angeles, Fox Mulder stores the missing Dana Scully's FBI badge in an X-File and files it under her name. Two other men join the woman, helping her kill Lorre by repeatedly stabbing him using hypodermic needles. However, as they are having sex in his hot tub, the woman bites Lorre to drink his blood. In Los Angeles, Garrett Lorre, a middle-aged businessman, embarks on a one night stand with an anonymous woman he has met at a corporate party. However, it turns out that the perpetrators are a group of vampires. In the episode, Mulder is brought in to investigate a series of ritualistic murders in Los Angeles, which he first believes were the work of a cult. The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. The episode earned 9 million households during its first broadcast, and received mixed reviews from both critics and the show's cast and crew. Following on from the abduction of Dana Scully in the previous episode, " Ascension", "3" was the first episode of The X-Files not to feature series star Gillian Anderson. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. First broadcast on the Fox network on November 4, 1994, the episode was written by Glen Morgan, James Wong and Chris Ruppenthal, directed by David Nutter, and featured guest appearances by Perrey Reeves and Malcolm Stewart. " 3" is the seventh episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files.