| “No, Mulder, I don’t think it was just luck.” Scully picked up a manila envelope and searched through the contents. It held the case file for both the first murder as well as for the new case. Scully looked through the first murder case and saw what she was looking for. There was a close up picture of the entire area, including the Christmas tree and black spot on the floor. “Right here.” She said pointing to a small spot on the ground. Mulder looked at it puzzled. “What is it?” He asked. “An ornament. It’s the only one that remained intact. All the others shattered or broke.” Scully said looking the picture over more carefully. “What are you thinking, Scully?” Mulder asked. He began to lift the Christmas tree off of the floor. He pushed it to the side, trying to see what was on the floor. “I’m thinking we need to find out if these particular ornaments were at all special to these girls or their families.” Scully answered. Mulder could tell Scully was keeping something from him. Either a theory or a piece of evidence. Mulder successfully pushed away the Christmas tree so the entire black spot on the floor was visible. “What are you looking for?” Scully asked. “Another body.” Mulder answered. Mulder found a small knot in the wood and began to tug on the wood. Scully leaned down next to him and helped him tear up the wood. The officer, who was still trying to get Piper to talk, heard the noise. He walked into the room and was shocked at the sight of the two agents trying to flip up the boards. “What in God’s name are you doing?” The officer asked. “When we went to the original crime scene we found something on the floor. After pulling up the floor boards we found Judy Lexington’s body.” Mulder explained. “And look at this.” Scully said. She peeled back one more piece of wood and showed the bare floor to the officer. A body was underneath the boards. She looked the same as Judy. Her flesh was scarred and her clothes were burned in a few random spots. “Now how would Piper be able to get the body under the floorboards without the wood being splintered?” Mulder asked. “The question that needs to be answered is why Piper was at Erica’s house to begin with. That and how she was able to escape for you?” The officer argued. “That’s my fault, actually. Piper hadn’t slept in days so I decided to let her stay in the hotel room to get some extra rest while we checked out the crime scene. When we returned to the hotel, she was gone and then we got the call to come here.” Scully explained. “Well, she’s coming with us.” The officer said, walking into the other room. “By doing that, you’re endangering her life and possibly the life of other victims.” Scully yelled after him. The officer didn’t come back but Scully listened as he dragged Piper out the door. “Mulder, why don’t you go see if they’ll let you interview Piper. Oh…and you should probably talk to the families about that ornament and the angel.” “While you do what?” Mulder asked. He was taken by surprise when the words popped out of his mouth. Usually, it was Scully who had to ask him that but it seemed as if they had switched places. “While I autopsy Judy Lexington and Erica Drear.” Scully answered. Mulder nodded and walked out the door. An hour later, Mulder drove to the jail. He knew he had to interview Piper before they made the rest of her life miserable. He wasn’t sure if she would want to tell him what happened, any more than she wanted to tell the police. Mulder and Scully didn’t so anything for Piper but land her in jail again. “Piper…” Mulder said walking into an interrogation room. Piper was sitting next to the chair, which was pushed up to the table. She didn’t want to have anything to do with the prison. She didn’t want to sit in a chair that a murderer had sat in. She didn’t want to be questioned as if she was the real murderer. Mulder had been in jail himself so he knew how she felt. “I won’t talk to you, either.” Piper responded without looking up. She didn’t want to see the mysterious FBI man. Did Piper really know who he was? Did she know him well enough to trust him, or was it just an act? “Then you’ll be held here until you do talk. Or until someone finds some hard evidence proving you are the murderer.” Mulder said. He knew she would answer his questions. Mulder pulled out a chair from under the table and sat down. “Why were you at Erica Drear’s house?” “When I woke up, I realized neither you nor Scully were there. I was going to wait for you but I couldn’t stay there another minute. I couldn’t stay in a place I didn’t know. So, I decided to run. I didn’t know where, exactly but I just ran out of the hotel and down the street. I wanted to go to my house, a place that I could feel comfortable in. I wanted to talk to my mom and see my Sailor Moon posters.” Piper stood up and walked around the perimeter of the room. She began to cry but she didn’t bother wiping the tears away from her eyes. “I still don’t understand how you ended up at Erica’s house.” Mulder said beckoning her to go on. “Erica’s house is on the way to mine. I noticed her street and I heard police sirens in the background getting louder so I decided to go to her house instead of my own.” Piper said between tears. “Why go to her house?” Mulder asked. “I was afraid. Afraid that the police were after me. The last thing in the world that I wanted was to come back here. So, I went to my friend's house. I knocked on the door but no one answered. I called Erica’s name but still no one was responding. I was going to walk away when I noticed the back door slightly open.” Piper sobbed. “I went to the back and opened the door. I went inside, calling Erica’s name as I went. The siren I heard stopped, so I was afraid they had seen me. I was going to stay in Erica’s house; I was just going to stay until the siren went away. I went farther into her house, continuing to call out her name. She finally answered but then I a crash. I ran back into her living room and saw her Christmas tree with the burnt spot under it. That’s when the police burst opened the door and found me laying on the floor.” “Why were you on the floor?” Mulder asked. “I didn’t know what else to do. If I called the police, they would find me there. Then I thought I could call and flee the crime scene but then they’d tape my call and find out the voice was mine. So, I just collapsed…almost like I had fainted but I didn’t faint.” Piper explained. “And all you heard was the crashing?” Mulder questioned. “Erica did say my name that once and then there was the shattering of the ornaments, but that was it. I was so afraid.” Piper wiped her eyes and continued to pace around the room. Pacing seemed to calm her down but everyone else found it annoying. “You can’t get me out of here, can you?” Piper asked. “We’re trying but it doesn’t look hopeful. If you didn’t run we might have been able to get you out but not now. I have to go talk to Judy and Erica’s parents. Either Agent Scully or I will come by later to talk to you.” Mulder said. As Piper was pacing, Mulder reached out his arm and patted it. She managed a weak smile but it soon faded from her face. Mulder stood up and walked out of the room. Meanwhile, Scully was standing in a small, white autopsy room. Her outfit matched the room. She wore nothing but white including a white cap on her head as well as a white apron. Scully looked at her hands and took off her bloody latex gloves and threw them on the floor. She grabbed another pair from a small, rectangular box but then heard a buzzing. She looked over at her jacket and pulled her cell-phone out of her pocket. “Scully…” She said into the phone. “Agent Scully, this is Suzanne Alexander, Piper’s sister.” The voice said on the other line. Scully could hear more than Suzanne’s breathing. Someone else was listening on the phone. Scully wasn’t sure who it was but she had to be sure no one said too much. “Suzanne, how can I help you?” Scully asked cautious not to say anything important. “I’m a double major in woman’s studies and history. I’m going into light next semester to become a lawyer and then a judge.” Suzanne explained. Scully was confused, not knowing what Suzanne was getting at. “I’ve been going over a few of my law books to see if I could get something on Piper’s case…” Scully cut her off. “I don’t think you should say too much, there’s someone listening.” “Yea, my other sister, Lynn. She wanted to know what’s going on.” “Sorry I scared you.” Lynn said, obviously on another phone in their house. “Anyway, I was reading in one of my books that it’s illegal to arrest a minor and not let them speak to parents or friends. I also found that without any hard evidence, they can’t keep the minor for more than twenty-four hours. Now, our lawyer is telling us there isn’t any evidence produced.” Suzanne explained. “Have you told your parents about what you’ve found?” Scully asked beginning to think the case went deeper than anyone could ever have guessed. “No, we didn’t want to get their hopes up but if I’m right, they can’t hold Piper to these charges. I didn’t know where else to go with this so when I was looking through Piper’s room I found your phone number hanging on her bulletin board. I was thinking you could do something to get her out of jail.” “Suzanne, I need you to meet me and Agent Mulder somewhere with that book you have.” “Where?” Suzanne asked. “I’m in the middle of an autopsy right now and when I finish I’ll be doing another one but tonight by 8:00 I should be done. I can meet you at your house.” Scully suggested. |