| Forty-five minutes later, the girls were ready to go to school. They all piled into Mulder and Scully’s rental car and they began driving towards the school. “So what do you guys plan on doing today?” Piper asked Mulder and Scully. Scully, who was driving, pondered the question. “Actually, we have no idea.” “It might be a good idea for you guys to stick around school and interview Nick’s friends. We can make up a list.” Erin offered. “I was thinking that the murder might not be a murder at all. What if it was a suicide.” Mulder said. “Yes, but how would he have drained himself of blood?” Erin asked. Wanting to be a forensic scientist had made Erin read medical books for the past two years of her life. She had done countless reports on her career of choice and she knew basically all of the scientific technology that was out there. “It’s actually quite possible that there could have been a drug involved. There could be a black market around for suicide pills being sold illegally that drains the person of blood. It’s unheard of but plausible.” Scully said. “Would there be any reason why Mark might have wanted to kill himself?” Mulder asked. “Well, his parents recently got divorced.” Erin said. “That would be a reason for suicide.” Scully confirmed. They drove the rest of the way to school in silence. Mulder and Scully parked in the teachers parking lot in the back and walked up to the side door with Hannah, Erin, and Piper. They all entered and the girls split into their different directions. Piper had to go to her homeroom, which was right where they entered. Erin and Hannah continued walking around the building where both their homerooms were. Mulder and Scully followed Piper and walked inside her homeroom. “Hi Piper.” A man said as he saw Piper walk in. She said hello back and dropped her backpack on a nearby desk. The man turned around again towards the windows. He began to open a few but then he heard more people enter. “Can I help you?” The man asked. He wore a tacky tie and his hair was already white, though he didn’t appear to be too old. “We’re Agents Scully and Mulder with the FBI.” Scully said showing her badge to the man. “We were wondering if we could possibly follow Miss. Alexander around for the day. Observe her classrooms and other students in the school.” Mulder said. “What’s this about?” The man asked. “It’s okay, Mr. Jones.” Piper said. “There friends of mine and they just want to get to the bottom of a murder.” “You’ll have to go to the main office and sign in, but I guess other than that, it should be okay.” Mr. Jones said. Piper smiled at him to thank him for not giving her too many problems. Mulder and Scully left the room and made their way to the office. As they walked down the hall a man came out of one of the classrooms. He stood in front of Mulder and Scully. They tried to pass on the side but he blocked them. “Are you two FBI?” He asked. “Yes, who are you?” Mulder wondered. “Bob Almond. I’m an English teacher here.” He said. “I read about Nick’s murder in the newspaper. He was one of my students, poor thing. These teenagers don’t understand the value of life.” “Do you think it was suicide?” Scully asked. “Of course, don’t you?” Mr. Almond asked surprised they would think it to be anything else. “An investigation is underway, but we haven’t made any conclusive findings.” Mulder said. He put his arm on Scully’s shoulder and led her down the hall. They went into the main office and signed their names in a large book. “Mulder, what was that about?” Scully asked when they were out of hearing distant from prying ears. “That man creeped me out.” Mulder responded. The two agents got yellow identification tags and attached it to their suits. They walked back down the hallway towards Piper’s homeroom. As they entered they noticed neither Piper nor her things were in the classroom. They looked around but they didn’t see Mr. Jones either. Students stared at the two people who had interrupted their classroom. “Excuse me.” A woman said from behind them. They turned around to face what appeared to be another teacher. “Piper Alexander was in this room, where did she go?” Scully asked. “To band, but who are you?” The woman asked. “FBI.” They said together as they walked out of the room. “Is Piper in some kind of trouble?” The woman called out the door. Mulder and Scully walked down the hallway and passed the office. They kept walking until they went through a set of double doors. As soon as they entered they could hear music playing in the background. At least they thought it was music. Basically, it was just kids playing their instruments but most of them were playing different songs. “One…two…ready…play.” A man said. The instruments all began to play the same song. Scully heard a few wrong notes and obviously some students were totally clueless, but they sounded okay. The man who counted the band off was sitting on a high chair. He banged a stick on his music stand to keep the group in rhythm. His hair was a mess and his shirt untucked. He looked disheveled but content with what he was doing. Scully scanned the group of students for Piper or any of her friends. She spotted Kyla and Jo but that was it. Kyla was in the middle of doing a solo on her clarinet so she didn’t notice Mulder and Scully where as Jo appeared to be counting how many more beats she was resting for. Mulder saw the two girls, as well, but he didn’t mind interrupting. He walked in back of the stage but stayed unnoticed by most of the students and the director. He tapped Jo on the shoulder and she turned around quickly. “Hi.” She said. “Hi, Jo.” Mulder responded. He kept his voice low, not wanting anyone to hear him. “Do you know where Piper is?” Jo pointed across the stage to a small cove. Mulder nodded a thank you and walked off the stage. Scully followed, excusing herself when she hit the base drum by accident. They both stopped when they saw a large, brown door. It had a sign on the outside that read “The Flute Quartet Office, Bianca, Candy, Hannah, and Piper.” Mulder nodded and opened the door. “Ahhhh!” Someone screamed from inside. Mulder drew his gun and pushed the door open. Hannah was sprawled out on the floor. She was laying over cases for various instruments. Candy bent down to help her up and she stood, backing against the wall. Mulder put his gun back in its holster. “What do you guys point your guns when anyone makes a sound?” Piper asked remembering how the night before they had come in with their guns pointed outward. “We weren’t sure what was going on.” Mulder said. It was an obvious apology though it wasn’t going over so well. “Hannah are you okay?” Scully asked. “Fine.” Hannah said picking her flute up off the ground. She looked it over carefully, pressing the keys to make sure none of them were bent. “How about your flute?” Piper asked. Hannah put the instrument to her mouth and played a scale. The notes came out cleanly and perfectly. “It’s okay.” She said. It was obvious that Hannah was standing against the door when Mulder opened it. The force of the door made her fall onto the cases. Fortunately, they broke her fall but she wasn’t sure which was harder, the floor or the cases. “What is this place?” Scully asked looking around. Cases lined every wall. All four of the girls in the room were clutching their flutes. Folders and sheets of music were scattered around the room. In front of each of the girls was a piece of music that read the same at the top but had different notes. “This is our office.” Piper explained. “The flute quartet office.” Candy clarified. “And we’re the flute quartet.” Hannah said. “The one and only flute quartet.” Bianca said. Piper laughed but then looked at the agents. “What are you guys doing in the band room?” “We were looking for you. If it’s okay, we’re going to follow you around. Maybe you can introduce us to some of your friends.” Mulder said. “Mr. Haming will really love this.” Piper sighed but then the four girls began laughing. Mr. Haming could appear to be mean but if you got to know him he could turn into your favorite teacher easily. “So, let’s hear you guys play.” Scully said. “Okay.” Piper said. The girls all took their positions in front of their music. It was a piece that they had been working on for quite some time and they had just now gotten everything straightened out. The girls new the music so well that they hummed it in their classes and could play it without looking at their music. The girls all brought their flutes to their mouths and Hannah counted them off. When she said play the four of them blew into the mouse piece and a beautiful sound was produced when they all blended together. It was obvious that Hannah played the higher notes but all together they sounded wonderful. They played through the song, each with a different part and each having a different solo. The girls made little mistakes throughout the piece but they were easily ignored. When they had finished, Mulder and Scully applauded. The girls sounded wonderful. Their sounds blended together so well that a professional couldn’t have done better. “Do you girls practice like this every morning?” Scully asked. |