| Ms. Winchell looked up from the papers she was correcting and saw Piper, Max, Erin, and Mulder cautiously walk in. She watched as each girl took a seat on the tops of a desk. Mulder watched the three girls intently. Piper shot him a look. He gave a lame excuse for leaving and walked out of the room. “Piper, what happened?” Ms. Winchell asked. “We caught him.” Piper answered. “I guess that gets me off the hook.” Ms. Winchell commented. “How did you know you were a suspect?” Erin questioned. “It’s kind of hard to ignore the facts that every time I saw Scully she glared at me. I mean, part of the murder weapon was found in my room. What would you like me to think?” “I don’t know.” Piper confessed. “We tried so hard to clear your name but all the evidence pointed to one thing.” “Who is the killer?” Ms. Winchell wondered. Piper didn’t have the heart or the strength to answer. “It was Dr. Greene.” Erin answered. Ms. Winchell’s eyes grew wide. “How did you know?” She questioned. “The idea came to me in History. I kind of went out on a limb and guessed. Then I went to tell Mulder and Scully me theory and I agreed to take over their stakeout. He came to the car and threatened me. We have a confession on tape.” Piper explained. “I’m glad you’re all okay.” Ms. Winchell said. “Well, I have to go. My mom’s probably waiting.” Maxine said. She stood and began to walk out the door. “Call me if you need to talk, Piper! Oh and I'll even chase squirrels with you!” She yelled as she exited the room. “I probably should go, too. I have to stay after for Mr. Robertson.” Erin said. “Bye.” She left the room, leaving Piper and Ms. Winchell alone. “Are you really going to be okay, Piper?” Ms. Winchell asked. “I think so. I’ve gotten through worse.” Piper replied. “I'll just have to remember the good times and chasing squirrels." "What? You've really chased squirrels before?" Ms. Winchell wondered out loud, some what amused. "I thought Max was joking when she said that." "She was. Last night Max told me we should chase squirrels when really I made her stay up all night to find out who could possibly be the murderer. I think I owe it to her to actually go out and do it. We've both seen our school principal turn into a monster trying to kill me and trying to frame you." "Well, the important thing is that you're okay and I think Max will get over the whole squirrel thing." "Well, I'm not sure about her getting over squirrels. She can be pretty persistance but as for me, I better meet Mulder. We have to go to the ER and make sure my arm isn’t broken.” “Did he do that to you?” Piper nodded. "I'm sorry that he did this to you, Piper. If it weren't for me..." "Don't worry about it, Ms. Winchell. I love staring danger in the face and it wasn't your fault. Aside from the constant fear that I lived with these past few days and the broken arm, I had a good time." "Well, that's good to know. Will I see you in class tomorrow?" "Wouldn't miss it for the world." "Not even if you got to chase squirrels?" "Not even for squirrels. Although, I don't know about Max." Ms. Winchell laughed. "No, I don't know about Max, either but after what you've both been through I think she'll calm down her squirell hunting for a while." "Yeah, I think so too." Piper stood. "I’ll see you tomorrow in class.” Piper walked out of the room. * * * * Piper laughed as the nurse wrapped up her arm. She was right, it was broken. The wet material of the cast clung to her arm. It tickled her, causing her to laugh uncontrollably. Mulder stood by, watching, trying not to laugh himself. He looked at Scully as she walked up and stood next to him. “How is she?” She asked. “Her arm’s broken but besides that she’s okay.” Mulder informed her. “Looks like it.” Scully commented as she listened to Piper laugh. “What happened to Dr. Greene?” Mulder questioned. “I handed over the tape that Piper had of his confession. His trial’s in a month. He signed a confession. He’ll go to jail for life without the possibility of parole. They want us, Piper, and her friends to testify at his trial. I’m having the poison found in the needle analyzed. I’m assuming it’ll be the same thing that we found in every other victim.” “Did you happen to find out what the significance of the chalk was?” “I did have the chance to question him. He said it had something to do with being a teacher. That chalk is part of a teacher’s career. It was part of the plot to put suspicion on Ms. Winchell.” “I guess she was right all along.” “And again she saved the day.” The nurse, who was dressing Piper’s arm, walked over to Mulder and Scully. “Ms. Alexander’s arm should be all set. You can come to take the cast off in about six weeks.” “Thank you.” Mulder said as the nurse walked away. Piper walked over to Mulder and Scully. “Well, what happened with Dr. Greene?” She wondered. “We’ll talk about it when we get you home.” Scully said. “Did you talk to Ms. Winchell about her being framed?” “No.” Piper answered immediately. Scully cocked an eyebrow at her. “There was no reason to. She doesn’t need to think that this was her fault. The point is that this is over now and things will be back to normal tomorrow.” “Isn’t that what you always say and then something else weird happens?” Mulder asked. Piper nodded and smiled. “I like being weird.” The three of them began to walk away. “You know, this would never have happened if I hadn’t jumped out that first story window.” Mulder looked to Scully and then to Piper. The three of them laughed as they walked out of the hospital. Well, that's it - there's no more. The title of this story was modeled after Alfred Hitchcock's "Third Story Window". I was trying to think of a name for this after my sister and I went to see the movie and it just fit. I'd like to extend a special thank you to Ms. Wnuk for inspiring me for this story. She's the best math teacher that anyone could have and she's always there for me. I had such a good time making perogees. Hope to do it again some time! I'd like to thank Ashley and Meghan for being the two best friends that I could ever have. Yeah Meg, I added in the squirrels just for you (did I spell that right? Lol) I knew you'd appreciate it and oh, glad you liked the whole holding of the gun thing. Thank you to Breanne, Kristin, Sara, and Heather for always being there and just "chilling" with me. Thank you to my two sisters Laura and Jess for always inspiring me and despite their busy lives, they always make time for me. Thank you to Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny for being the best actors that I've ever seen and for continuing to make the greatest show ever. Well, don't know what else to say. Hope you enjoyed my story. Please e-mail me comments and suggestions! Oh and long live the squirrels! |