| “It’s nice to see you again, Piper.” “Same here. Where’s Agent Scully?” “She’s doing an aut…she’s running some errands.” He answered. “Please, come in.” Piper stepped out of the way and allowed Mulder to enter. He was led into a rather large room. It was furnished with a coffee table, two couches, and a reclining chair. Piper sat on the large couch while Mulder sat opposite her on the chair. “I guess you’re here because of Rose, huh?” Piper asked. Mulder nodded to answer. “I read that you were the first one to find the body. I need to ask you some questions about her. I got the police report on how you found her, how she was calling for help. Do you still wanted to stick to that story?” “Why? Don’t you believe me?” She sighed. “I figured this would happen.” “Figured what would happen?” Mulder asked. “People wouldn’t believe me. I know what I saw and I know what happened. I’m not lying.” “Don’t get upset. I do believe you. However, as you mentioned I’m sure there are people who don’t.” Mulder’s mind flashed right to Scully. She definitely didn’t believe the girl’s story. It was as bizarre as saying the sweater killed Rose. “What did you see?” Mulder asked. “I already told the police everything I know.” She argued. She didn’t want to remember what she saw. “Sometimes people change their stories when they’re talking to someone they trust.” “Who ever said I trusted you?” Piper asked snotty like. She was lying, she did trust Mulder but she felt the need to tease him. She took a large breath of air and exhaled. “I walked into the bathroom and saw Rose curled up on the floor. Her arms were outstretched and her eyes looked right into mine. Her lips moved slowly but no words came out. She was calling for help but I couldn’t help her.” “What about the sweater?” “Let me finish.” Piper commanded. “I noticed her torso was beginning to turn black. I looked at her and kneeled in front of her. Her sweater was choking her and engulfing her with black. There was no smoke, no flames, nothing. It was awful, something I don’t ever want to see again.” “How well did you know Rose?” Mulder asked. “I kind of knew her. She was friends with my best friend Erin. I never really talked to her but I saw her every once and a while.” “Who were you at the dance with?” Mulder asked. “I went with a boy named Jack Dawson, not that that makes a difference.” Piper answered. “Who’d Erin go with?” “Christopher Kaplin.” “What where you doing in the bathroom at the time?” “I had to pee.” She said rather subtlety. She noticed Mulder’s weird look and she smiled. “Do you know Anna Valle?” He asked. “Like I said, she was a friend of my best friend Erin. We each have our own little group of social friends. I’ve known Erin since first grade so we don’t need to share other friends to share our own friendship.” “Do you know how or why Rose was murdered?” “Look, there was no specific reason why I found her or why I was there. I just found her by accident. I know that for three cases I seem to be there when the murder happens but it isn’t me. I’m thirteen years old and I was at the school social. I had nothing to do with this.” Mulder stared at Piper aware that she had answered everything he was going to ask. He raised his eyebrows and heard a chirping. It was his cell phone. He showed Piper his finger to signify one minute. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and answered it. “Mulder.” He said into the receiver. “Mulder, it’s me.” The familiar voice of Scully said on the other line. “Did you finish the autopsy?” Mulder asked. “Yea. I found that the girl died of smoke inhalation. Now it’s possible that there was a fire there that night but I can’t figure out how only certain parts of the body was burned. It’s as if something was on her that was burning her. It wasn’t on her arms, her leg, her face.” “But that still doesn’t make since because any fire would spread if it were on clothing. And I would expect the surrounding environment to be burned as well.” Mulder said. “I told you it didn’t make since.” Scully was standing next to the cold, metal table. A doctor behind her was placing the body back into a refrigeration system. Scully picked up the evidence bag, which held the piece of string. “Why would she die of smoke inhalation instead of being burned to death?” Mulder wondered out loud. Piper raised her eyebrows as she looked at Mulder. “It’s possible that Rose could have been a smoker which would cause the inhalation. Without an autopsy of the lungs or heart I couldn’t tell you if that’s what causes it but that’s a possibility. If she dropped the cigarette or the lighter it’s plausible she could have dropped it on her sweater and caught herself on fire.” “Wouldn’t people hear or scream?” “Well, the music was playing loudly and the kids were having a great time.” She stopped. “Where are you, Mulder?” “I’m talking with Piper. Hang on a second.” “Did you ever witness Rose smoking?” Mulder asked talking to Piper. “So, she was running errands, huh? Sounds more like an autopsy to me.” Piper replied. “Did she smoke, Piper?” Mulder asked again. “Never. Rose is such a gooddy to shoes. She promised she would never drink, take drugs, or smoke anytime in her life and she stuck by it whole heartily.” Mulder talked back into the phone. “Piper says she wasn’t a smoker.” “Did you hear Rose screaming at all before she died?” Mulder asked speaking back to Piper. “No, I didn’t hear anything.” Piper responded. “Piper said there wasn’t any noise.” Mulder said back into the phone. “Did you see any flames or smoke to signify a fire?” He asked Piper. “No, there was no sign of a fire. It was just black.” Piper explained. “There were no signs of a fire.” He said into the phone. “Well, I don’t know what to tell you, Mulder.” "I talked to Rose’s boy friend and he said a girl by the name of Anna Valle told him Rose had gotten a ride home from her friend. Tom didn’t know Rose was dead until I told him.” Mulder explained. “Well, then Rose seems to be our number one suspect. Maybe we should talk to her.” Scully said. “I’ll be on my way to pick you up.” Mulder hung up his phone and placed it back in his pocket. He turned to Piper. “I’m going to go pick up Scully to go talk to Anna. Do you know where she lives?” Piper stood up and picked up a telephone book. She looked up her address and scanned to find her father’s name. She pointed it out to Mulder and he wrote it down on his hand. He made a little notion to Piper to say good bye and he walked out the front door. Piper sat in her living room and crossed her arms over her chest. She laughed to herself knowing that although she gave the agents a hard time she truly respected them. Meeting them those few three times made her start to think about becoming a FBI Agent. Mulder made his way to his car and drove away from Piper’s house. He drove towards the morgue and saw Scully waiting outside for him. Mulder drove up to the curb and Scully got in. Mulder drove the car to Anna’s house. The house was painted sky blue outside with pink shutters. It looked like a doll house. Mulder and Scully walked up the steps to the front door. Scully rang the doorbell. A middle-aged woman answered. Scully took out her badge and showed it to the woman. “Can I help you?” The woman asked with a concerned look on her face. “We’re here to talk to Anna Valle, is she here?” Mulder asked. “Yes, just a second.” The woman walked away for a moment. A teenage woman came back a few seconds later. “Your Agents Mulder and Scully, aren’t you?” The girl asked. “Do you mind talking out here, my little sister’s asleep.” The agents nodded and walked outside. Anna took a seat on the front steps and Mulder leaned against the car. “I knew you guys would be coming.” Mulder immediately thought of the psychic ability. “How did you know?” He asked. “Erin called me.” She explained. |