| “A field agent I talked to said there’s been articles in the local paper about the murders. The files were supposed to be confidential. The agent said a girl by the name of Erin Pierce wrote the articles.” “How would Erin get the case details?” Scully asked. “I don’t know, but it’s worth checking into.” Mulder paused a moment and looked over at the clock. “Let’s go.” Mulder and Scully drove to Piper’s house, stopping to get something to eat on the way. They walked up to Piper’s front door and waited for someone to answer. Suzanne opened the door a few minutes later. “I’m sorry it took so long, I had to wait for my parents to get out of the house. I don’t want them knowing I’m meeting with you.” Suzanne said. She walked into her house, allowing the agents to enter. She led them into a large, room with green furnishings. Lynn was sitting on one of the couches, obviously wanting to hear what the FBI agents had to say. They sat down together and watched as Suzanne sat on the floor to keep their dog occupied. “How’s Piper?” Suzanne asked. “She’s lonely but she’s holding up.” Mulder responded. “What did you find, Suzanne?” Scully asked. Suzanne picked up a book that was beside her and flipped to a marked page. She gave it to Scully who read the page. “Now if I’m correct, this states that minors can only be held for a twenty-four hour period unless there is hard evidence or they’re being tried as an adult. Now, I can’t seem to find any reason why they would hold Piper because there is no hard evidence.” “No, there’s not.” Scully confirmed. “We’re going to have to bring this into the police so they can release her.” Mulder said. “I’m pretty sure they can’t ignore the law.” “That’s good work, Suzanne, neither of us would ever have thought to check on whether they can hold a minor.” Scully said. “Actually, it was Lynn who thought of it but I just aided by having the book.” “Well, you two work as a good pair. You should think about becoming FBI Agents.” Mulder said. “That’s Piper’s field, not ours.” Lynn responded. Scully stood up when she thought of something. “Girls, do either of you know Piper’s friend, Erin Pierce?” She asked. “Sure, Erin’s is my Girl Scout troop.” Lynn said. “Why? You don’t think Erin has anything to do with this, do you?” “She might.” Mulder responded. “We learned that Erin was writing for the local paper about the murders. Do you know anything about that?” “Yes. We knew she was writing for the paper about the murders.” Suzanne said. “Do you have a copy of the paper?” Mulder asked. Lynn nodded and leaned to her side. She searched through a bin of newspapers and pulled two out. “I don’t see why this is relevant.” Lynn said. “In a usual case it wouldn’t be but the case was supposed to remain confidential at the parent’s of the victims request. We don’t know how she got the information.” Scully said. Scully took one of the papers while Mulder took the other. They searched through them until each found the story about the murders. Scully read the beginning of hers out loud. “On a murky day in Warwick, Rhode Island a young girl was convicted of withholding evidence and being an accomplice to murder when her friend was murdered in her presence. The thirteen year old teenager says she has no one to turn to and no where to go. Two FBI Agents, Mulder and Scully, are on the case but so far they have failed to turn up any evidence.” She read. “The beginning of that sounds like a story.” Mulder said. “Now who do we know who writes stories?” Scully asked knowing the answer was Piper. Mulder looked down at his and began to read. “Detective, as someone shouted across the room. The girls heard a crash as the Christmas tree came tumbling down on their friend. Piper Alexander watched through a barred in room as she tore apart from her family. After escaping from a pair of FBI Agents, she found herself to another murder scene where another friend died. Is she the murderer or just an innocent bystander?” He read. “Girls, these stories have too much insight into what happened to the victims and Piper.” Scully said as she continued to read her article to herself. “Erin shouldn’t have known these details.” “Well, Erin used to spend a lot of time with Piper and around the house so she’s been around. She might have heard things we’ve been talking about.” Lynn said. “I doubt that’s it.” Mulder said. “Do you know where Erin lives?” Scully asked. Suzanne stood up and wrote the address down on a random piece of paper. She handed it to Scully who thanked her and walked out the door with Mulder behind her. They drove to Erin’s house and went inside. They sat down in Erin’s bedroom, which was in her basement, where her parents couldn’t hear. “Erin, we know you’re having contact with Piper somehow.” Scully said. “What are you talking about?” Erin asked sounding innocent. “We read the articles you wrote for the newspaper. We know Piper wrote them but that you’re just printing them.” Mulder said. “Do you think I’m incapable of writing as well as Piper?” Erin asked. “That’s not what we’re saying. We know Piper wrote those because there were details in the stories that no one knew except for the victim’s families, the police, Piper, and Agent Mulder and myself. How did you contact her?” Scully asked. Erin knew her time had come to tell the truth. “Why don’t you ask Piper?” Mulder and Scully both stood up and walked out. The got into their car and realized how tired they were of driving around to interview people. Scully was tired from doing her autopsies, and she wanted to go back to the hotel to rest. She knew, however, that they needed to talk to Piper first. “How’d you do it?” Mulder asked walking into Piper’s cell. She was still sitting on the floor not using the bed. Scully expected her to be asleep but she wasn’t. “So now you believe I killed them, too.” Piper said. “No, but we do know that somehow you got the information about the case to Erin.” Scully said. “You put on a great act, Piper. Making us feel sorry for you because you couldn’t talk to your family or friends…” Mulder began. “I haven’t talked to my family in over three days. Where did you get this from?” Piper asked. “We talked to your sisters. Suzanne thinks it’s possible that we can get you out of jail. She thinks they had no reason to keep you here in the first place. That it was against the law to do so.” Mulder explained. “Then they led us to Erin who all but admitted to having contact with you so don’t deny it.” Scully said, angry with Piper for lying to them after all they did for her. “I did have contact with Erin. I told her to print the stories I wrote so the public would know the truth.” “How did you have contact with her?” Mulder asked. “I wasn’t supposed to. When in Gym last year I mastered the art of picking locks so I could open people’s lockers. Not people I wanted to steal from but I forgot my combination so I had to open mine once and I had to open my friend’s lockers before. With the clip in my hair I managed to pick the lock of my cell to use the phone and lock it up again without anyone noticing.” She didn’t wait for Mulder or Scully to respond. “I know what I did was against the law but I needed to talk to someone and Erin had to be the one.” “Fortunately you got off lucky. No one did catch you and we have no intention to turn you in for escaping. You’ll be out of here by morning because of what your sisters found. Just don’t do anything stupid until we get you out of here.” Chapter 5 December 22, 1999 9:34 AM Piper ran into her house and threw herself into her parents arms. They were all smiling and hugging. Lynn and Suzanne came bounding down the stairs and stood close by their sister. Piper released her parents and faced her sisters. “Thank you, guys. If it weren’t for you I would still be in jail.” She said. “Well, it was Lynn’s idea.” Suzanne explained. “But it was Suzanne who found out what they did was illegal.” Lynn said. Piper smiled and embraced her sisters. She turned back and looked at Mulder and Scully. They were hanging around the doorway watching Piper say hello to her family. She turned back towards her family and smiled. They all knew she wanted to go down to her “abyss” also known as her basement. Her pictures meant so much to her, she couldn’t even express herself in her writings. Mulder and Scully followed her downstairs, wanting to talk with her in person. “Happy to be home?” Scully asked taking a seat on the couch. Piper nodded. She kneeled next to her desk and studied the pictures on the sides. Instead of the usual UFO pictures, alien reports, and Sailor Moon paraphernalia, the desk was covered in pictures of her closest friends. There were pictures of her friends and her at parties, practicing their instruments, and some pictures of Piper’s family at different events. “I want to thank you guys. Without you, I would never have gotten out of jail. You’ve helped me so many times and I’ve never given you anything in return.” Piper said. |