| “What exactly did you see when you saw Will’s body?” Scully asked. “Well, we were sitting down in this room doing our homework. We had seen Will previously and he told us he had to go to the bathroom.” Erin answered. “In not so many words, of course.” Piper said. “We heard a scream coming from somewhere in the middle wing. So we went to see what it was.” Erin explained. “I had a thought that it was probably Will so then we knew where to look.” Piper said. “We opened the bathroom door and there he was. He was lying on his back and his eyes were open pleading for help.”. “He was turning black. Well, at least his upper half was. Anyway, we could see the arm of the sweater behind him also turning black.” Erin explained. “Just like before there were no flames or smoke or anything.” Piper said. “You said the sweater. What sweater are you talking about?” Scully asked. “Well Rose was wearing a sweater before she was murdered and I had complimented on how ugly Will’s sweater was before he…died.” Piper explained. “He said it was a gift from Rose’s parents and that he was going to eat dinner over her house after with Tom.” Erin said. “So then I felt really bad because I totally ditched him.” Piper said. “Did anyone else see the victim?” Scully asked. “Yea, Mrs. Atwell went to see what we were looking at. She’s in 206.” Erin answered. “Well, school has been canceled, so you girls should go home.” Mulder said putting his notepad away. “Come on, Erin, my mom will take you home.” Piper said. The two girls stood up and walked to Piper’s mom’s desk. “Let’s go look at the crime scene.” Mulder said. Scully stood up and followed him to the boy’s bathroom. The door was closed and police tape crossed the entrance. They obviously didn’t want anyone to pass by and see what was inside. Mulder knocked on the door and a police opened it. “You the FBI?” He asked. Mulder nodded and Scully laughed to herself. The man’s English was a little less than perfect. She ducked under the tape and followed Mulder to where the body was laying. “Scully, I never thought you’d go so far as to follow me into the men’s bathroom.” Mulder said. Scully didn’t even bother to smile. Mulder’s jokes were definitely getting old. She ignored it and bent down next to the body. Another police officer was outlining the body of the teenage boy. “Did you get the girls to talk?” One of the officers asked. “Get them to talk?” Scully questioned while putting on a pair of latex gloves. At this point any finger print that might lead to a murder or any piece of hair could prove vital to the investigation and she didn’t want to mess it up. “Yea, they told the police they wouldn’t talk. We almost had to read them their rights but they said they’d talk when you two got here. So, did they give you any leads?” The officer asked. “There are no leads here.” Mulder said. “Those girls are more petrified than anything. I doubt that they have anything to do with the deaths besides that they constantly appear to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.” “Piper Alexander found the other body, as well. Were you aware of that?” Another officer asked coming up behind Mulder. “Piper Alexander is a good girl. We’ve worked with her previously and this poor girl had seen more death in her life than she needs to.” Scully said. “Now if you’ll excuse us, before any evidence is messed up we’d like to investigate.” Scully stared at the body. The boy had died with his eyes open. He did look like he was pleading for help but there was nothing they could do for him. Scully fingered his dead body and looked at Mulder. She pealed back a layer of what appeared to be skin and saw pieces of green fiber. “What is it, Scully?” Mulder asked seeing the look she gave. “This is the same kind of material I found on Rose’s body. It’s wool.” Scully said picking up a piece of the fabric. “Let’s have this body autopsied.” Mulder said. Two coroners who were waiting outside walked into the bathroom. They put the young boy’s body into a bag and placed him on a gurney. Scully listened as they wheeled him down the hall. She looked out of the bathroom door and saw Piper and Erin standing in the hallway staring at the body. Scully went back into the bathroom and looked around. Mulder was searching inside the stalls while Scully went to the sink area. She looked above and below the sink but didn’t find anything. She began to turn around when she saw a glimpse of something in the corner of her eye. Scully walked over to a small spot on the floor, which was under an old sink. She knelt down beside it and fingered it with her hands. She brought her gloved hand to her nose and smelled it. “What did you find?” Mulder asked walking up behind her. “It smells like gasoline.” She said. She lifted her fingers to Mulder’s nose who smelled it, as well. He nodded to signify it was gasoline. “What would it be doing here in the school?” Mulder asked. “They’re could have been a spill, or possibly a prank that kids were playing. There’s a dozen reasons why it could be here.” Scully said though she wasn’t sure she believed what she was saying. “We didn’t find any near Rose.” “We didn’t look, either.” Mulder reminded her. Scully took off her latex gloves and threw them on the ground. She walked out into the hallway. “Where are you going?” Mulder asked her. “There’s nothing here, Mulder. This is just like the other murder. There’s no evidence, no suspects.” “Except for Piper and Erin.” He reminded her. “Do you really believe they did this?” Scully asked. Mulder sighed and looked down at his feet. The girls may have been present at each crime scene but they certainly weren’t capable of murder. “No, I don’t think they would have done it.” “Neither do I. I’m going to see if I can talk to the social studies teacher Piper and Erin talked about. Why don’t you see if you can find any gasoline where Rose was murdered.” Mulder nodded and walked down the hall. Scully watched as he disappeared down the stairs. Scully walked into a nearby classroom that read 206 on the outside. She walked inside and saw a short, middle-aged woman sitting at a desk. “Mrs. Atwell.” Scully said. The woman looked up at Scully and nodded. Scully took out her badge and flashed it to the woman. “I’m Special Agent Dana Scully with the FBI.” “How can I help you?” The woman asked though she knew Scully was there to ask questions about the murder. “Piper Alexander and Erin Pierce told me you had seen the body.” Scully said. The woman nodded. “Can you tell me what you saw?” Scully asked. She took a seat on one of the student desks and put her feet on the chair. “I walked into the bathroom after I saw Piper and Erin go in there and slam the door shut behind them. It struck me as weird why they would be in the boys bathroom. I went inside and saw the boy on the ground. His entire chest and back was turned black while everything else was in contact.” She explained. “Did you see any sweater on or around the boy?” Scully asked. “No.” The woman answered finding the question to be a little odd. “Did you notice any fire or smoking of any kind?” “No, I don’t think so.” “Okay, thank you for your time. I’ll contact you if I have further information. If you can think of anything later I want you to give me a call.” Scully pulled a small piece of paper from her pocket. She gave it to the woman who read it carefully. She smiled and put it on her desk. Scully stood up and walked out of the room. She smiled at Piper and Erin who were standing by the window looking out into the beautiful morning. Scully walked down a flight of stairs to the bathroom where Rose had previously been murdered. Mulder was standing outside the bathroom kicking the door. “Mulder, what are you doing?” Scully asked frantically. “The police locked the door. They didn’t want any kids to disturb the evidence that might be left in the bathroom.” Mulder explained. He stopped kicking the door and turned to Scully. “Hey you don’t happen to have a key, do you?” “Yea, but I left them in the car.” She said teasingly. “Tell me again why I drag you along.” He said. “So you’re not out of a job.” She reminded him. “I knew there had to be a good reason.” He smiled. Scully shoved her hand into her pocket and took out a bobby pin. She placed it into the lock and began to fiddle around with it. Mulder looked down at her unimpressed. After a few minutes of fiddling, the door opened. “Nice job, Scully.” Mulder complimented. “I used to pick locks as a side job when kids would get their lockers stuck in high school.” |