Double Indemnity
Round 3 Part 2
Aqualegia

After getting the location of the murder from Skinner, Scully returned to her desk, phoned the Police Department and asked to speak to the detective in charge of the case.

The duty officer took her phone number, telling her he would find out and ring her back. Not wanting sit twiddling her thumbs, Scully gave him her mobile number and left the building to view the scene of the crime.

When she had parked on the street where the murder was supposed to have occurred she looked around, puzzled, wondering what on earth Skinner had been doing meeting Cancerman so late at night, far away from the Hoover Building, on a long, featureless road with no obvious landmark to designate as a meeting point.

While she was still trying to decide whether she was actually in the right place her phone rang. She pulled the instrument out of her pocket and answered it. "Scully."

"Ah... Agent Scully. This is Sergeant Adams, we spoke earlier about a stabbing victim. Lieutenant Smith is in charge of the investigation and he has requested that you join him at Georgetown General."

"Thank you Sergeant, I'll do that." Shoving the phone back in her pocket she returned to her car feeling even more puzzled; why was Lieutenant Smith at the hospital, and was it anything to do with the tests that Mulder had asked her to run.

When she entered the hospital, Scully spotted a knot of uniformed police near the reception desk. going up to them she identified herself, and asked if they knew where should could find Lieutenant Smith.

A slim, blue-eyed blond woman stepped forward. "Agent Scully, I'm Sergeant Swenson, Lieutenant Smith asked me to look out for you. If you'll follow me, I'll take you to him."

"Thank you Sergeant. Lead on."

"Yes, ma'am."

The Sergeant lead Scully to an office on one of the upper floors of the hospital complex and introduced her to the Lieutenant who was seated behind a desk.

Smith stood up, stuck his hand out and said, "Pleased to meet you Agent Scully. Please take a seat." He gestured to a chair beside him.

Scully shook hands, then seated herself on the indicated chair and cast her eyes over the photographs spread out on the desk while she waited for the Lieutenant to speak. She frowned, and looked closer surprised to find that there were quite a few of what looked like a hospital room, as well as some shots of the street where the attack had occurred.

Smith waited until Scully looked up, then said, "So, Agent Scully, what is your interest in the case and how did you find out about the murder."

Scully raised an eyebrow, but nevertheless answered the question. "AD Skinner, to whom I report, witnessed the murder. He called in Agent Mulder and myself, since we are... er... slightly acquainted with the deceased. I have brought blood samples with me so that we can positively identify him."

"Positively identify! What do you mean?" Smith questioned, sounding pissed off.

Scully shrugged. "He's a wily old man, and he has been 'declared dead' before, only for him to turn up later, very much alive."

Smith snorted his disbelief, then asked. "Did you also bring the file your AD promised to send?"

"File? What file?" She shook her head. "No, I was not given a file to bring with me."

This time Smith scowled. "At the time of the attack, AD Skinner described the assailant as six foot, one inch, dark-haired with green eyes as well as providing us with a description of what he was wearing, he identified him as an ex-FBI agent named Alex Krycek, and said he would send us a file on him.

Scully stared at the policeman open-mouthed, momentarily bereft of speech, for only a short time before Skinner had told them unequivocally that he hadn't positively identified Krycek by name and that he didn't want to alert the Consortium to the fact that they were looking for him. Just what game was Skinner playing?

Gathering her wits she said mendaciously, "My partner, Agent Mulder, thinks that AD Skinner is mistaken, and thinking about it, I have to agree that it would be very uncharacteristic behaviour for Krycek, for although the height, eye and hair colour fit, there are other things like clothing which don't. If there's one thing he's not, it's stupid - one glimpse of Skinner and he would have turned in the opposite direction, making sure he wasn't seen. The Alex Krycek I know would not have gone anywhere near my boss, and most certainly not have attacked anyone in such close proximity."

"If he's wanted by the FBI, why haven't you caught up with him yet?"

Scully looked uncomfortable. "Despite the impression AD Skinner may have given your people, there aren't any outstanding warrants on him. We just don't have any evidence to support one."

Smith looked thoughtfully at the desk. "This case is getting weirder by the minute. We have an apparently unprovoked attack by a person who may, or may not, be an ex-FBI agent according to your AD. Also, we have three witnesses who say that the tall, dark-haired young man walked past both a large balding man, your AD, and the victim, who were standing, talking, on the sidewalk. According to the witnesses, he didn't take any notice of the two men until your AD and the victim chased after him. The knife wasn't drawn until after the victim grabbed hold of the younger man's arm and shook him - at which point the frenzied attack took place.

"Your AD tells you he has witnessed a murder, and you arrive here, not to try to solve the murder, but to make sure its victim is the person he says it is.

"In actual fact, your AD did not witness a murder, for frenzied though the attack was, it was not the cause of death. The victim was alive when he reached this hospital; he was immediately taken into the OR and patched up. His condition, though serious, was not life-threatening, so he was put in a side-ward. A short time later, Doctor McKinnon discovered the victim was dead; the nurse who should have been attending him, was found lying unconscious on the bathroom floor, so we were called in.

"Before I get here I'm told that you are asking about the dead man, and that you want to sit in on the autopsy so that you can positively identify the victim." He looked up and caught her eyes. "What is going on here, Agent Scully?"

Scully stared at the photos on the desk, sorting through the apparently conflicting stories she had heard this morning. She was, however, saved from answering by the arrival of two members of the forensics' team to report on their preliminary findings.

Smith looked pointedly at her, and she murmured that she needed to contact her partner, and left the office.

Finding an empty room further down the corridor, she phoned Mulder.

-oo0oo-

All three occupants of the car jumped when Mulder's cell phone rang. Pulling over, Mulder reached into his pocket and answered. "Mulder."

"Mulder, it's me."

"Ah... Scully, what news do you have?" he asked, conscious of the twins leaning forward to try to hear what Scully was saying to him, and he turned his body to make it easier for them.

"I haven't been able to see the body yet, but whomever Skinner saw attack Spender didn't kill him...."

"What! DIDN'T kill him?"

"That's what I said: Didn't kill him. They operated on Spender as soon as he arrived at the hospital and patched him up. Later, a doctor found him dead and a nurse was left unconscious. From the timing, it would appear that the second attack took place either just before, or during our meeting with Skinner."

"Okay. We still need to know if the corpse really is Spender, so to get the results as soon as you can... I'm getting an uneasy feeling that someone, somewhere is playing games with us."

"Okay, Mulder, I'll get back to you as soon as I learn any more."

"Thanks. "I'll be in touch if I learn anything useful, too."

He put the phone away and looked at the two men in the back seat, wearing identical expressions of concern.

"I guess you heard all that." Two heads nodded. "It would seem that you didn't kill Spender after all, Anson. But sometime later, someone else did."

Anson pouted. "I wanted to kill him because he took Alex away from me."

"Yeah...." Alex looked sideways at his supposed twin. "About that...."

Mulder's stomach growled, he looked at the twins apologetically, then said, "Look guys, this is not the time nor the place for this conversation. When we reach the next gas station, I want you both to crouch down. I'll fill up, and get us all something to eat, then we can find somewhere away from prying eyes to eat and consider out next moves."

Alex's face now wore an identical pout to Anson's, but he backed off and said, "Okay, Mulder. We'll all be better for a meal."

Mulder nodded, then pulled back on to the highway. He drove in silence for another twenty minutes before coming across a sign which advertised gas and shopping 5 miles. "Make yourselves as comfortable as possible on the floor, I don't want you to be seen on any CCTV so keep still." There were rustles of movement as the two men tried to get comfortable, which stilled as Mulder started indicating for the turn.

He pulled up at one of the outer pumps, and filled up with gas. Going into the shop, he picked up a basket and put a six-pack of coke, a box of tissues, three bottles of water, a selection of sandwiches, two packets of chocolate cookies, and a bag of Hershey's Kisses in it. Going up to the counter he handed over his credit card to cover the bill, wishing he had enough cash in his wallet to cover this expense as well as the cost of the ferry.

The clerk swiped the card and wished him a safe journey as he handed card, credit slip and paper sack to him.

Mulder said, "Thanks," put the card and slip away, then walked unhurriedly back to the car. Putting the sack on the front passenger seat he pulled slowly away looking for a suitable place to stop and eat. Once they were out of the brightly lit area, Alex and Anson sat back up, stretching their bodies to get the kinks out of them from the cramped positions they had been forced to adopt.

Spotting a clump of trees which looked as if it would screen the car from the road, Mulder pulled over, drove around back of them, cut the engine and the lights.

Switching on the light in the passenger compartment, he emptied the contents of the sack on to the seat beside him. Opening three can of coke, he handed over two and took a swig out of the third before doling out the sandwiches and tissues. "There wasn't much choice, so I hope you like the same kinds of things that Alex does, Anson. I got three BLTs and three Dolphin Friendly Tuna salads."

There was a companionable silence while they each alternately sipped and chewed their early breakfast.

Once he'd finished his sandwiches, and a cookie, Alex asked, "Where are you taking us, Mulder?"

"Well, originally, I was thinking of going to what used to be my father's place on Martha's Vinyard, but now I'm not so sure that it's a good idea to go on the island, it would be too easy to get trapped on there. Instead I think it would be an idea to call the Gunmen and see if they can come up with any way to hide our whereabouts, and to access my money without leaving a paper trail behind me, in case anyone should connect your disappearance with me."

"Why are you doing this, Mulder?" Alex asked. "Why go to all this trouble... why don't you abandon me... er... us and go on your way?"

Mulder grinned. "One, I want to continue from where we were forced to leave off earlier: Two, Skinner seems to have been a little economical with the truth when he was giving Scully and I our assignment: Three, we need to find out if Anson really is your brother, though I don't think there is much doubt that he is related to you in some way: Four, I think we need to follow up on what Anson said about the 'bad man' being your Mom's father. True or not, maybe we can find out a lot more about Spender through that connection." He leaned forward so that his lips were near Alex's ear. "And Five, I want to do it because I love you, Alex."

He smirked at the stunned expression on Krycek's face, then got out his cell phone to call the Gunmen.

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