| “That’s fine but I’m just afraid Piper won’t last until then.” Suzanne hung up the phone and looked over at Lynn who hung up with her. Suzanne clutched her law book in her hands and sighed. She ran upstairs and Lynn listened as she slammed the door to her bedroom. In the autopsy bay, Scully had pulled on another pair of latex gloves. She thought about what Suzanne had told her but she knew she had to continue working. She would never finish by eight if she kept dawdling. In the mean time, Mulder was driving in his car towards Judy’s house. He was looking at the pictures of both crime scenes as he drove. He stared at the photo Scully had given him and knew it wasn’t hard evidence to look at. Mulder was surprised Scully even brought it up. It didn’t seem like her type of theory. Mulder turned his car into the parking lot of a large building. Mulder parked and entered the building. “Can I help you?” A man asked. He wore a badge on his lapel saying he was a field agent. Mulder looked out the window and realized he was no longer in Warwick. He saw the buildings close together and realized he was in the state capital, Providence. Mulder nodded and showed his own badge to the man. “My name is Fox Mulder. I need a photograph analyzed before the end of the day.” Mulder said. “I can help you.” The man said. “My name’s Richard Knocks, I’m a specialist in photo technology on the computers.” Richard led Mulder into a smaller room. There was a large computer in the center on a desk with chairs all around. A special scanner was next to the computer. Mulder sat down and took out the picture he needed analyzed. He handed it to Richard who put it in the scanner. Mulder waited as the scanner pulled the image into the computer. “What are you looking for?” Richard asked. “I need to blow-up this object.” Mulder said pointing to the small ornament on the ground. Richard did as told and blocked off the ornament. He blew it up once and then again. Mulder looked at it strangely trying to make out the figure. “Where did this come from?” Richard asked. “Two recent murders from Warwick. My partner seems to think this object might have something to do with the murders.” “You’re not talking about those Christmas tree murders, are you?” “Yea, why?” Mulder asked puzzled. “They’ve been in the paper for the last few days. They’re saying two FBI agents are on the scene but they’re not making any progress. It says they’ve placed a thirteen-year-old murderer in jail. Some of the stories have been pretty crazy.” “Do you know who they were written by?” “I think it was some lady named Erin Pierce.” Richard noticed Mulder’s eyebrows raise. “Do you know her or something?” “I think so.” Mulder said thinking he remembered the name. “Can I get a print out of this?” Richard nodded and pressed a button on the computer. The image printed out and Mulder took it out of the printer. “Thank you for your time, Agent Knocks.” Mulder stood up and went out to his car. He took out his cell-phone and began dialing Scully’s number but he knew he shouldn’t interrupt her while she was performing an autopsy. Besides he had other places he needed to go. Twenty minutes later, Mulder sat down on Judy Lexington’s couch. He looked into the other room and saw the black spot covered by a rug. The house was for sale so Judy’s parents wouldn’t have to relive the nightmare of what they had been through. “Do you recognize this, Mr. Lexington?” Mulder asked Judy’s father showing him the picture. “Please, call me Philip.” He paused, staring at the picture. “That was my wife’s. She died just last year. She had a tumor on her lung, it was ah…lung cancer. She did a lot of crafts during nine months at the hospital. This ornament was the last thing she made before she…passed.” “Was it particularly special to your daughter?” Mulder asked. “It is. When we would take the tree down, Judy used to hang it in her room. I think it hit her worse than it hit her brothers. It was hard for her.” “Where are your sons?” “One of them is a sophomore in college and he lives in Texas. The other is a senior in high school but he’s staying over his friends house for the week while we clear all of this up. As soon as the house is sold he’s going to come back to help me pack and then we’ll move away from all this.” “Do you have any idea who would have wanted to hurt your daughter?” Mulder asked. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He knew talking about Philip’s dead daughter was hard for him but Mulder needed all the evidence he could get to solve the murder. “Do you think this was a murder?” Philip asked rather surprised. “I take it, you don’t. What else could it possible be?” “Like I said Judy had a horrible time when her mother died. I know this seems awful for a father to say, but I think it’s possible this could have been a suicide mission gone terribly wrong. I don’t think she wanted to kill herself like that but the time was right so she had to.” “Why would she kill herself while her friends were over?” “So her family wouldn’t have to find her body. I don’t know. Why do teenagers do the things they do?” “And how would she have gotten her body under the floorboards?” Mulder asked finding more questions than answers. “The only other possible answer I can give you, is that Piper Alexander murdered her.” “I don’t think that’s an answer.” Mulder responded not wanting to talk about. “Excuse me.” Mulder stood up and left. Chapter 4 December 21, 1999 7:26 PM Scully pushed open her hotel room door. Mulder was sitting at the table, looking over a picture. Scully threw her jacket onto her bed and slumped down in a chair. Her feet were tired and her mind was whirling. “What did you find?” Mulder asked. “Both girls died from being strangled. There are significant contusions around the neck area, which corresponds to a burning of some kind. After they were choked to death, the victims were then burned.” Scully explained. She rubbed her head and looked over at Mulder. “Do you know what kind of heat or energy caused the burning?” Mulder asked intrigued. “It appears to be a light of some sort. Possibly, if a hot light was held on the surface area of the skin, it could have caused that type of damage but it can't be certain.” Scully paused. “What did you find?” “Piper said she was at Erica’s house while she was on the way to get to her own home. She heard police sirens in the background so she took a detour to Erica’s house. Upon doing so, she heard the Christmas tree come crashing down as well as then seeing the burn mark on the ground but she saw nothing else.” “Did you find out about the angel and that ornament?” Scully asked. “Yea I talked to both Judy’s dad and Erica’s parents. Each of them said the particular object meant a lot to each of the girls.” Mulder said. “What do you mean?” “In Judy’s case, the ornament was one her mother made for her. Her mother was in the hospital for a cancerous tumor on her lung. Her mother did a lot of crafts in the hospital while she was dying. That ornament was the last thing Judy’s mother made before she died.” “What about the angel?” “The angel was a gift to Erica by her grandmother thirteen years ago for Erica’s first birthday. Erica can’t remember her grandmother because she died a year later. It’s the only memory she has…or had of her.” “So each girl died next to the one thing they had left of a person they loved.” Scully said. “Well, Mulder I have something to report to you myself. Suzanne Alexander, Piper’s sister, called me today.” “What did she have to say?” “She’s a pre law student trying to get her degree as a lawyer. With one of the books she has she researched Piper’s case.” “What do you mean, her case?” “That’s the thing, Mulder, there is no case. They can’t hold Piper there. There’s no hard evidence and if what Suzanne says is true, they would only be able to hold her for a twenty-four hour period. She’s a minor in a case with no evidence against her. Not only should they not be allowed to hold her but also every minor gets to talk with his or her parents. I made a meeting to talk with Suzanne in about a half hour so we can see if we can get Piper out of jail.” “Scully, are you saying there’s more going on here than what meets the eye?” Mulder asked. “I’m thinking that the detective who is holding Piper has something to do with this. He didn’t seem too surprised that we found the bodies under the floorboards. Mulder, any police officer would have moved the Christmas tree to find out what was underneath. He didn’t, which is why I suspect him.” “I don’t think we should suspect anyone until we find out if Suzanne’s statement holds true.” Mulder said. “Hey, Scully, do you remember one of Piper’s friends named Erin Pierce?” “Yea, Piper mentioned her a few times. I think she’s Piper’s best friend, why?” |