| She scanned the area, not noticing anything. She began to climb the few stairs to Piper’s back door to the house when she heard Piper’s dog barking. That’s weird, she thought, why would Piper leave Digger out? Erin walked over to the fenced in pool. She pulled on the gate and it opened, slowly. She looked at the pool and screamed. She ran across the backyard and into the house. She went into the kitchen and picked up the phone. She looked at her hand where she had scribbled Scully’s cell-phone number. She dialed it with frantic fingers. She couldn’t get the sight out of her head. Come on pick up, she said to herself. * * * * “Hang on just a second.” Scully said as she took her cell-phone from her pocket book. She clicked a button and then put it to her ear. “Scully.” She said. “Agent Scully, this is Erin Pierce I need you to come to Piper’s house as soon as possible please this is an emergency and I don’t…” “Woah….Erin slow down.” Scully said. “I can’t understand you. What happened?” When Piper heard Erin’s name, she listened intently to Scully’s every word. Doggett looked at Scully and then Piper, unaware of who Erin was at all. “It’s Piper’s dad. I think he’s dead.” Erin said. Scully looked over at Piper, who swallowed a large lump that had formed in her throat. “Where are you, Erin?” Scully asked. “I’m at Piper’s house. Please get here.” Erin said. Scully could tell she had started to cry. “Stay where you are. Don’t move and don’t touch anything. We’re on our way.” Scully said as she hung up her phone. “What happened?” Piper asked as she stood up and reached for her jacket. “Come on, we have to go.” Scully said. “Wait a minute, what’s going on? Who’s Erin? Where are we going?” Doggett asked as he dropped some money on the table. He raced after Scully and Piper who were already halfway to the car. Piper and Scully arrived at the car and tried to open the doors but they were locked. Scully began to dig through her purse for her keys as Doggett came up behind her, jingling them. “Give me the keys.” Scully said. “Tell me where we’re going.” Doggett said. “For God’s sake, Doggett, give her the darn keys.” Piper whined. “We’re going to Piper’s house. Please, give me the keys.” Scully said. Doggett paused, and thought. “I’ll drive.” He finally decided. “Fine, just hurry.” Scully said. Doggett opened the door and power unlocked the others. Scully and Piper quickly got into the car with Doggett taking his time. He started up the car and drove away. Chapter 6 5:17 PM Alexander Residence Piper scanned her backyard as at least a dozen police officers were swarming around. Erin sat right next to her, afraid to even move. Piper put her arm over her shoulder. They both watched as two EMT’s rolled a gurney out of the pool area with a body bag on it. Piper began to cry, knowing immediately what had happened. “It appears as if Mr. Alexander died from drowning.” Scully announced. Doggett and another police officer, who had previously been to Piper’s house, were standing around her. “But that almost doesn’t make sense. How does a six foot eight inch man drown in a four foot pool?” Doggett wondered out loud. “Nothing about this entire thing makes sense.” Scully reminded him. “Who was the girl who found the body?” The officer asked. “Her name is Erin Pierce. She’s the best friend of Piper, Mr. Alexander’s daughter.” Scully answered. Doggett, who had yet to find his answer of who she was, was finally content. “Do we know why she was here in the first place?” The officer asked. Scully shook her head. “I think the obvious suspect in all three of these instances is Piper.” “How could you say that?” Scully asked, alarmed. “Today, she was out at lunch with Agent Doggett and myself when this happened and when her mother died, she was in our presence the entire time.” “Maybe she orchestrated it but it was her friends who actually committed the crime.” Doggett added in. “I was thinking about that myself.” The officer commented. “I’ll have my men check it out.” He said, about ready to walk away. “That won’t be necessary. Agent Doggett and I will speak to the girls.” Scully said. The officer gave her a strange look. “I know them. I’ve worked with them in the past.” “Well, keep in touch, then.” The officer said as he walked away. He gathered up the rest of the officers and they all left. Scully and Doggett walked over to Erin and Piper, who were sitting in the snow. “What’s going on?” Piper asked. She stood up as Doggett and Scully approached. Erin did the same. “We need to question your friends.” Scully said. “My friends? What for?” Piper asked. Scully looked over at Doggett. “The officer seems to believe that your friends might be on this. We just need to talk to each of them separately to see if they each have an alibi. And since you’re here, Erin, we should start with you.” “Wait a minute. Before you give us an alibi on where you were. Why are you here?” Doggett asked. “Piper called me because she thought something might happen. I promised her I’d come over to see if anything was going on. Then I walked into the pool area, found the…body, and then called you.” Erin explained. “Piper, you had a feeling that something was going to happen?” Scully asked. “Why didn’t you tell us?” Piper shrugged her shoulders. “I thought I was just being paranoid. I didn’t really think anything was going to happen.” “If you have that feeling again, I want you to tell us.” Scully said. Doggett decided to change the subject. “Erin, where were you yesterday at around 6:00?” He asked. Erin thought for a moment. “I was making my sister some macaroni and cheese.” She finally answered. “How old is your sister?” Doggett asked. “Eight.” Erin answered. “Was there anyone else home with you that night?” Scully asked. “No, I was baby sitting.” Erin responded. “What times were you baby sitting until?” Doggett asked. “Well, let’s see. My mom left at three to go shopping and my dad left at four to visit my grandmother. Then they both came home around eight, so about four hours.” Erin said. “Do you baby sit a lot?” Scully asked. “Yea. At least four times a week.” Erin replied. “Okay.” Scully said. “Look, Erin we’re going to drive you home…” “I have my bike with me.” Erin said. “I don’t know if it will fit in your car.” “We’ll manage.” Scully said. “After we drop you off, we’ll go question your friends. Piper, we’re going to need their addresses and some directions.” “Yea, I have them inside.” Piper responded. “Doggett, you help Erin get her bike inside the trunk and I’ll get the information from Piper.” Scully commanded. Doggett nodded and walked off towards the side gate with Erin. Piper and Scully walked inside the house. Piper ran upstairs and into her room. She grabbed an address book and then brought it downstairs with her. She jotted down the addresses that Scully needed on a napkin and then handed it to her. “You’ll want to go to Candy’s after Erin’s. She’s the closest. Erin can direct you how to get there once you drop her off.” Piper said. “You’ll probably want to go to Kyla’s and then Hannah’s. Maxine’s the farthest away but I couldn’t give you directions.” Piper thought for a moment. She ran down the stairs and then came back up with a small map. “This should help you.” She said. She grabbed a highlighter from the drawer and highlighted the streets that each of her friends lived on. “Thank you.” Scully said. “Are you going to be okay by yourself while we’re gone?” “Yea.” Piper responded. “I’m going to call Lynn and then Suzanne to let them know what happened. Lynn will probably come down so I won’t be alone.” “Okay. You take care.” Scully said. Doggett walked into the kitchen. “We’re all set.” He said. Scully looked over at Piper again and then walked out of the house. Piper ran to the window and watched as the car drove away. She closed the curtain and began to cry. |