| Mulder nodded to himself and hung up the phone. He quickly grabbed is jacket, pocketed his cell-phone, and holstered his gun. Piper’s dog, Digger, ran after him wondering what all he rush was about. Mulder ignored his bark as he ran out the door. He jumped into his rental car and drove off towards Piper’s school. * * * * Scully sat in traffic, trying to peer around the large truck in front of her. She slumped back in her chair, realizing there was no way out of the mess. As she sat back, she noticed flashing lights up ahead. She carefully maneuvered her car to the breakdown lane. She turned off her car and ran over to one of the police officers. “Can I help you, ma’am?” One of the men asked. Scully flashed him her badge. “There’s been a report of a murder.” She explained. “I need to get there as soon as I can but I can’t get through the traffic.” “I think we can help you out.” The man said. He led her over to a police car. She got in and waited as he talked to another officer. He came back and got into the car. “Let’s go.” He turned on his siren and pulled out into the traffic. The cards around them tried to move out of their way to the best of their ability. As soon as they had made it out of the heavy traffic, Scully began to relax, knowing she would get there soon. “May I ask where we’re going?” The man asked. “Yea, I’m sorry. We’re going to FDR Memorial High School.” Scully answered. “Has there been gang violence or drugs around or something?” “No actually, someone was just murdered around the school. My partner and I came down yesterday to investigate an unexplained murder and apparently its happened again.” “Any suspects or evidence?” “No.” She answered quickly. She could tell him about the mysterious letters and the chalk but she chose not to. They drove the rest of the way in silence. As they pulled up to the entrance of the school, students were standing around trying to figure out what was going on. Scully looked around for Mulder but she didn’t see him anywhere. “This is the place.” The officer said. “Thank you for the ride.” Scully said as she got out of the car. “You’re welcome, agent….” “Scully.” She finished. “Agent Scully.” He repeated. She smiled at him and walked into the school. Students stared at Scully as she walked into the building. Some of them were in clusters just talking while others walked by, not giving the entrance a second glance. Scully made her way into the main office, looking around for any signs of Mulder or Piper. “Can I help you?” A man asked, walking in behind her. He walked in front of her and faced her. He was much taller than her, probably the same height as Mulder but he seemed older. “That depends.” Scully responded. “I’m Special Agent Dana Scully with the FBI.” She pulled her badge out of her pocket and showed it to the man. “You’re here investigating the murders, right?” The man asked. Scully nodded her answer. “I’m Principal Matthew Greene. Your partner told me to tell you that Piper Alexander is okay and that he’s with her now.” “Do you know where they are?” Scully asked. “I’ll take you there.” * * * * Chapter 5 2:49 PM FDR High School Scully followed him through the corridors of the school, past the Gym, outside of the school, and across the street where Mulder and Piper were. Piper was sitting on the ground, her face covered by her hands. Mulder stood only a few feet away, talking to some police officers. A large, white sheet covered a body on the ground. A crowd started to gather but the officers tried to get rid of them as soon as they could. Scully walked over to Mulder while Mr. Greene went to Piper. He tried to comfort her but she didn’t want to be comforted, especially by her principal. “Mulder, what happened?” Scully asked. “Another person was murdered.” He answered. He walked over to the dead body and knelt down next to it. Scully bent over to look as Mulder revealed the body. It was another female, face down on the gravel. A piece of chalk was clasped between her index and middle finger of her right hand. The back of her head had a large, bloody gash, much like the other victims. Scully pulled on a pair of latex gloves and pulled back a part of the woman’s shirt collar to reveal her neck. There was a small needlepoint in the base. “Looks like a copy-cat murder.” Scully concluded. “Well, you’re going to have to do another autopsy.” Mulder responded. Scully sighed. Autopsies meant one thing; standing on your feet for four hours with no break. “Were there any witnesses?” “Well, you’d think there would be but there’s not. Apparently side streets aren’t too noticed around here.” Mulder bent over and removed the piece of chalk from the victim’s hands with a plastic baggie. He bagged the chalk and sealed it. Scully looked past Mulder as she noticed a familiar figure walk over to Piper. It was her teacher, Ms. Winchell. She was sitting bent over next to Piper, talking to her as Mr. Greene went to talk to some of the officers. “What do you think she’s doing here?” Scully asked Mulder as she pointed to Piper’s teacher. “Who is she?” Mulder wondered. “That’s Piper’s math teacher, Ms. Winchell. Why would she be here?” “Maybe she saw what was going on and came over to see whether Piper was okay or not.” “Maybe.” Scully whispered. She stared at the teacher as she spoke to Piper. Two men, rolling a gurney, walked over to the body. “Are we all set here?” One of them asked. Mulder nodded. The men lifted the body onto the gurney and rolled it over to their truck marked ‘coroner’. They loaded the body inside and then drove away. Mulder gasped as he looked down at the floor. “Scully.” He said. She turned around and looked at Mulder. “What is it?” She asked. He pointed to the ground as she saw what he was pointing at. The letters CAP were written on the ground with chalk. “What do you think this means?” Mulder asked, not taking his eyes off the ground. “I think it means the killer is playing with us. Making us go on a wild goose chase.” Scully answered. She shook her head. “I’m going to go talk to Piper to see what happened.” “I’ll see if I can get one of the officers to photograph the sidewalk.” Mulder said. The two of them departed. Scully walked over to Piper, who stood as she neared. Piper gazed into the distance and saw the chalk marks on the ground. Ms. Winchell looked at Scully as she came towards them. “Ms. Winchell…Piper.” Scully greeted. “Piper, can we talk?” Piper nodded. “Well, I have to get going anyway. You hang in there, Piper.” Ms. Winchell said. She gave Piper’s shoulder a tight squeeze and then began to walk away. Scully waited until she was out of sight. “I didn’t do this, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Piper said. “I know.” Scully responded. “Piper, what was Ms. Winchell doing here?” “She said she saw all the commotion and noticed me so she came over to find out what was going on.” Piper explained. She looked into Scully’s eyes, noticing something was wrong. “No, she did not do this. I don’t care what you think…she is not a suspect.” “Okay. But I do need to know what you were doing here.” “I was walking home from school when I kicked something hard. I bent down to see what it was and I realized it was a dead body. So, I dumped my stuff and then ran back to school. I used the first pay phone and I called my house, hoping that one of you would be there.” “Did you see anything out of the ordinary?” “No but I wasn’t really paying attention, either.” Mulder walked over to them. “Piper, are you okay?” She asked. “A little shaken but I think I’ll be fine. I’ve seen worst murders.” He turned to Scully. “They’re getting a room ready for you to autopsy the body so you should probably get down there soon.” “What are you going to do?” “Write down the facts and see if I kind find a connection between the deaths. I also think we should stake out the area tonight. Whoever is committing these murders obviously is around here. I’ll meet you back here in five hours. It should give you time to finish your autopsy and grab something to eat.” Scully nodded and walked over to one of the police cars, which was ready to take her to the morgue. |