| “Agent Mulder, this is Daisy.” “We have three more dead bodies, Megan Roster, Jill Smith, and Eileen Washington. I think we need to close down the camp and evacuate the surrounding households.” Scully said pulling the walkie-talkie from Mulder’s hands. “Agent Scully, that will take weeks. The lake is rather large. Many people go fishing around here and swimming. I’m afraid most units don’t even know what’s going on. We didn’t want to scare the younger girls. We didn’t’ think it was that necessary. Things like this could happen all the time. A girl gets lost in the woods and a rabid animal attacks her.” “Yes but you have five murders in a week.” “We don’t have the kind of power you’re talking about needed to close down the lake. I’m afraid Rhode Island doesn’t get too many weird murders. Not at a Girl scout camp, anyway. I can offer to at least close down Woodston.” “I’m afraid if we close down Woodston this thing or murderer will prey on another unit or leaders. I’d like to stay over night as soon as possible.” Mulder said, stealing the radio back from Scully. She walked down towards the water and stared at the body. Mulder turned off the walkie-talkie and returned it to Drippy. He walked back to Scully and began to talk. “So, I guess this rules out the possibility of rabies.” Mulder said. “Mulder, why would a murderer hide its victim in the lake. It doesn’t follow its murdering patterns.” Scully responded. “I don’t know, Scully. The only thing I can think of is that we’re getting closer. That our investigating has led us some where.” “We have no plausible theory, we have no suspect, we’ve gotten no where on this case. What are we going to do?” “That’s one of the many things I can’t answer.” Mulder said. Scully waited for a moment and thought. “You know, Mulder, the camp is closed for the day. Why would they call a lost swimmer after the camp closed? More than that, how did they know that a girl was missing?” “There’s only one way to find out.” Mulder said. He walked over to Drippy who was passing out towels to the wet leaders. “What can I do for you?” She asked as she handed a towel to a leader. “I’m Agent Mulder and that’s my partner Agent Scully. We’re with the FBI.” Mulder said showing his badge to the woman. “Oh, so you’re who Piper and Trinity were blabbering about. How can I help you?” She asked, sitting down. She took off her shoes and dumped the water out of them. “There’s something that isn’t settling with Agent Scully. Why is it that after camp they would call a lost swimmers drill? Most of the leaders must have gone home by now.” “That’s true. Each bus has a monitor who takes attendance in the morning when the girls load the bus and in the afternoon when they leave. I’m assuming that Megan’s bus monitor saw that she was here this morning but not in the afternoon. She probably called Daisy who said she had no clue where Megan was. When there’s a girl missing, we call a lost swimmers drill. Fortunately, it was the right call.” Drippy explained. Piper and Trinity sat at the meadow. Trinity was picking at random pieces of grass, just thinking. It was so peaceful at the camp but the recent murders made her afraid. Piper sat next to her, thinking about her own things. Had Thumper been the murderer? Piper asked herself. Did Thumper know she had been seen? Then Piper thought harder and harder about what she saw at every crime scene. Then she realized that she had always had a glimpse of Thumper. It was either her distinguishing changing eyes, or her long brown hair. Piper wasn’t sure if she should tell anyone about this. After all Thumper had been so nice and had treated Piper so well. Mulder and Scully decided to stay near the crime scenes. They had decided if three girls were murdered near the same spot, then the murderer may return. Besides, they had to wait for the coroners to come. Scully knew that she would probably be up all night trying to complete the rest of the autopsies. Chapter 5 3:57 A.M. July 18, 1998 Holiday Inn Motel Scully stood outside her hotel room door. She fumbled through her many keys, looking for the one that belonged to the room. After a while, she gave up trying and started using every key she had in the lock. She was tired and was about ready to drop the case. With more nights like this, she was never going to make it through the case. Scully was happy that the next day was Saturday. At least it would give her time to collect her thoughts and get caught up on her sleep. Scully looked behind her as she heard a car pull into the parking lot. She hoped they were having a better time in the state than she was. As she was about to put another key into the lock, someone from inside opened the door. Scully was ready to pull out her gun when she noticed it was Mulder. “Mulder, what are you doing in my room?” She asked angrily. “This isn’t your room.” Mulder said. “This is room 12, you’re in room 14.” Mulder said. By the look of Mulder’s attire Scully guessed he was sleeping. The only thing that he wore was striped red boxer shorts. His eyes looked as if he were just as tired as she was. “I’m sorry, did I wake you?” She wondered. “Yea, but that’s okay. You look awful, come on in.” He said. Scully walked slowly into the room. She walked over to the unmade bed and fell backwards onto it. Mulder grabbed a robe that was on the floor and he slipped it on. He took a seat in a chair that was opposite the bed. “Let me guess, loss of blood.” He said. Scully nodded. “Actually, that’s how Jill and Eileen died but Megan seemed to have inhaled water, causing her to drown before she was scratched. Now, Mulder, what kind of witch would have drowned her victim first and then would have drained her of blood?” “Like I said before I think the murderer knew we were coming on to him or her. I think he or she needed to dispose of the body before we found it. At least that makes more since than an animal who would have drowned the victim and then scratched it.” Mulder said. “Isn’t it more plausible to just say that she drowned from natural causes and then got stuck in twigs and weeds at the bottom of the lake, causing her scratches?” Scully wondered. “Come on, Scully. That would be a little more than a coincidence.” Mulder said. “I think we need to talk to Trinity and Piper. This time separate. They were the ones that found these bodies.” “Do you think they could be connected some how?” “Well, I do know they’re the only ones closest to the crime scenes. I think that they’re so close together, one will just follow the other. I think interviewing them separately should give us something to go on.” “I think you’re right, Scully. Tomorrow we’ll go down and question the girls.” “We can’t tomorrow, the camp is closed. It’s Saturday remember?” “Well, then we’ll talk to them on Monday.” Mulder said. “For right now, though, I think you should go to bed.” Scully nodded and got up to walk to her own room. * * * * Mulder sat down on a small, black couch. He picked up a remote control and pressed a button. Three familiar faces showed up on a large white screen. They called themselves the Lone Gunman. Mulder went to them for help when he couldn’t get information through his regular channels. “So Mulder, what are you up to now?” One of the members, Frohike asked. “Well, I’m in the smallest state with the longest name. What can you tell me about it?” “Rhode Island doesn’t have much to tell. They’re the second state with the most people per square mile. They have a nice sized zoo somewhere in Providence. You don’t usually hear too much about them. They’re often considered…” Byers explained. “Why are you in Rhode Island?” Langly cut off, not wanting to hear the entire history of the small state. “Five Girl Scouts have died in the past week.” Mulder explained. “What have you found so far?” Langly asked. “Each girl, except one, died of blood loss. The murderer leaves no clues or symbols of any kind. I believe the murderer drank or took the victim’s blood, like vampirism. Agent Scully believes it was rabies. However, the latest victim died of drowning, before the murderer could drain her of blood.” “Are you at a Girl Scout camp, Mulder?” Byers asked. “Yea. Camp Kowena. The only thing the victim’s have in common is they’re all from the same unit. A unit called Woodston. Two girls have volunteered to help Scully and I. They have been the only ones associated to the crime scenes.” “Hey Mulder, any interesting, young leaders there?” Frohike asked. He and the other two members were all sitting on three stools back in Washington DC where their office was set up. The three members were very unlike each other in every way. Byers was the formal one while Langly was more rowdy. "Yeah, just your type, Frohike." "Did you say Kowena, Mulder?" Byers asked. |