From: martin@abacus.mc.duke.edu (Michele Martin) Message-Id: <9504100101.AA10771@abacus.mc.duke.edu> Subject: The Witness part 14 Date: Sun, 9 Apr 1995 21:01:52 -0400 (EDT) scene 18 Holding cells 12:10am "It looks like your conspiracy theory may be right, Mulder," Scully said over the phone. Mulder had called her as soon as other officer's arrived to deal with the mess. He'd been rather surprised to learn that the guards weren't as seriously, well, _dead_ as he thought they'd been. They'd been taken to the hospital, but one of the officer's who'd examined them had sworn the wounds looked almost superficial. Mulder wondered if Paul had anything to do with that. Some of George Fox's reports had mentioned an ability to heal, though Fox hadn't dwelt much on that facet since it sort of contradicted his premise that the alien was a threat to all of humanity. At any rate, he'd wanted to let Scully in on what had happened so she could prepare for when the bodies arrived. And prepare poor Dr. Lambert, who probably would not take finding out that Greene...or whomever he was...was now dead. "There's something else that might interest you, Scully. Just before the assailant was going to cut off our suspect's head, he said something very interesting...and familiar." "'There can be only one?'" "Close--'There can be only one, _MacLeod_'" "MacLeod? What do you think that means?" "I think it means I need to have another talk with Mr. _Duncan_ MacLeod. And now I have something more to go on. I have a feeling we're really close to solving this one." "And when we solve this one, I take it there's something else you want to look into?" Mulder glanced over to where Paul 'Edwards' was talking with the somewhat shaken Detective Schanke. Mulder thought it also somewhat suspicious that Schanke was so affected by the incident. True, it wasn't pleasant, but he was sure Schanke had seen alot of unpleasantness in his years as a homicide detective. He wasn't sure what to make of it. "Let's just say I have a few questions for Mr. 'Edwards' that don't necessarily have to do with beheadings." "Just as long as you don't do anything to jeopardize this case. I really think you're off track here, Mulder. Paul and Scott seem like a pretty ordinary father and son...about the only ordinary thing we've seen since we got here. I still think someone's trying to set you up. Maybe in order to distract you from finding out what's really going on with these beheadings. If it is some kind of conspiracy of some kind, it may involve people with the wherewithal to pass phony UFO information on to you." "Scully, are you suggesting that there's a goverment conspiracy to cover up mysterious beheadings? You're starting to sound like me." Scully sighed. "Maybe I have been working with you to long. What do you want me to look for when these bodies arrive here?" she changed the subject back to the case, which didn't really surprise Mulder. "I think you should take a look at our mysterious assailant first. See if he has any marks indicating prior experience in sword fights, etc. It's a dangerous pasttime, after all, and there might be some scars. Actually, me and the detectives will be coming over as well. I think Knight wants to make sure Dr. Lambert is okay..." "Not surprising...there's something going on there...." Mulder smiled. "Hey, this isn't Love Connection here. Unless, of course, you think it has something to do with the case. I think I'll bring Mr. Duncan MacLeod along so I can talk to him while you're going over the autopsy. Maybe he'll know something about the other victims or the other swords...and maybe this time I can get him to talk. Especially about why the assailant called his friend 'MacLeod'. I hardly think he mistook him for Duncan MacLeod." "Unless Duncan MacLeod isn't his real name...." "Oh, I think that's his real name alright, or at least an alias he's stuck with a long time. I did a check with Interpol, and you'll never guess where else his name has turned up." "I'm afraid to ask..." "Paris, France. Yet another city where the occassional mysterious headless body surfaces now and then. It appears that MacLeod intermittantly owns a houseboat on the Seine." "Intermittantly?" "Well, for unknown reasons, MacLeod shows up at the same time every year and buys back the same houseboat he sold the year before. I don't know yet what to make of _that_. Anyway, we should be over there shortly. I'll tell you more when I get there." With that, he hung up his flip phone and scanned the room. Knight had finished talking with the officers who'd arrived to help sort out this incident and was now talking with a disgruntled looking Captain Cohen. MacLeod was being questioned now by Schanke. Mulder thought the expression on MacLeod's face was more like a "oh no, not again" look than a grieving look for the death of his friend. Of course, that could be due to the fact that his friend had turned out to be some sort of homicidal maniac, but Mulder suspected that "Greene"'s activities were well known by MacLeod. In fact, he was counting on it. Because with "Greene" and his assailant dead, MacLeod was the only real lead they had. Unless someone caught the man who'd attacked Scott, but he couldn't count on that. "Agent Mulder?" Paul's voice caught his attention. He turned and faced the man he was sure was an alien, more than a bit nervous at speaking with him. He really wished he could wrap up this other case so he had a chance to confront 'Forrester'. To ask him the question that had haunted him for 22 years--what had happened to Samantha. He didn't even consider that Paul might not know. "Um, yes Mr. Edwards?" "Do you know what's going on here? It seems that the man Scott saw was not the only man who cut off people's heads. Do you think there're more of them? Do you think Scott will be safe? I don't want another...person ...to attack Scott because of what he saw." "I wish I knew the answer to that. But I think we're pretty close to finding it out. The autopsies might tell us more..." "Autopsies?" *Let me guess--he doesn't know what an autopsy is* "Yes...Agent Scully will examine the bodies and see if she can find anything that gives us clues to this case." "That sounds interesting. May I come with you?" Mulder was caught a little off guard by that request. Not something _most_ people would ask, especially in such a gruesome case. Then again, Paul 'Edwards' was not most people. Besides, it would keep him where Mulder could see him. Why not? "Okay...I don't have any objections. Just don't get in the way." At that moment, Knight signalled that they were ready to head over to the Coroner's office. Mulder motioned for Paul to follow him. Both Knight and Schanke seemed a bit surprised to see Paul coming with them, but neither objected. Which saved Mulder from having to come up with a good explanation. scene 19 Coroner's Office 12:30 am Scully was glad when Mulder and the detectives finally arrived, though she was somewhat shocked to see Paul Edwards tagging along as well. She'd been a bit worried about Natalie Lambert, who hadn't taken the news of Greene's death very well. Scully couldn't blame her--it had probably been an emotional roller coaster of a night. Though she was a bit confused about why someone like Natalie would be attracted to someone like Greene...of course, she hadn't really seen his good side that night. Knight and Lambert made a much nicer pair...though she really shouldn't be indulging in matchmaking at a time like this. Though seeing how well Knight seemed able to talk to Natalie... Mulder showed her the sword the assailant had, which was an altogether different type from the one found at the scene of the incident earlier that evening or the one found on Greene. No similarities there. However, there was something interesting Mulder needed to know about the first two swords...and their connections to the murders. As she motioned for the body of Greene to be temporarily stored in the morgue adjacent to the examining room she intended to use, she called Mulder over. She and Mulder made their way to the examining room where the unidentified assailant was being prepped as she revealed the findings she'd made earlier. "Mulder, we just got the lab results back comparing the metal fragments in the bodies with the metallic contents of the swords..." "So soon?" Scully paused...now that she thought about, it was quite an amazing turnaround time. In fact, it was downright incredible. Hmm. That was odd. Oh well... "Anyway, the fragments from tonight's victim match the metal in Greene's sword, which in combination with Scott's testimony, proves he did kill that man. However, the fragments from the bodies of the other victims matches the metal in the sword found at the scene of tonights' slaying. The sword Scott claims belonged to the victim." "So that means that Greene killed the man who killed the other victims..." "Maybe he is...or was...the good guy," Scully suggested. "That's a pretty scary thought, you know...someone cuts off someone else's head and that makes him a _good_ guy?" "Well, let's face it Mulder. We really don't know what's going on here." At that point they arrived in the examining room. The mysterious assailant's body was laid out on the table. The assistants had just finished up and were on their way out. One of them informed the agents that Greene's body was in the adjoining room, along with the first two swords, in case they needed any of those...items...later on. Scully nodded and proceeded to glance over Greene's body. "Do you have everything you need? I'm going to go back and see if I can get MacLeod to tell us anything more. I think the detectives are as fed up with his silence as I am, given that we _all_ heard Greene referred to as 'MacLeod'. Maybe with the three of us there we'll break his stubbornness." Mulder grinned mischievously. "Maybe I can get Paul to give us some help as well." "Why exactly did you bring him along?" "He wanted to come--said it sounded interesting." Scully just shook her head. She knew perfectly well why Mulder had permitted him to come along. He didn't want to lose track of his 'alien'. She turned to look over the body in front of her as Mulder made to leave the room. Suddenly she gasped. "What is it, Scully?" Mulder asked as he came up behind her. "The chest wounds...where Schanke shot him...they're gone!" "Gone?" Mulder asked. He looked at where she was pointing. She turned to face him. The movement exposed her gun, which the Canadians had somewhat reluctantly let her keep. Suddenly, the arm of the supposedly dead man on the table reached up and grabbed her gun. Before the stunned agents could do anything, the man leaped off the table and grabbed Scully around the throat with his other arm. Mulder reached for his own gun, but didn't get very far. The man shot him at close range..in the stomach, however, since Scully's struggling made him miss his aim. Mulder staggered back against the wall and crumpled to the floor. "Mulder!" Scully screamed in horror. Suddenly, the door to the adjoining room burst open. The apparantly not-quite-so-late Robert Greene stood in the doorway, brandishing his own sword. "Let her go, Murdoc! This is between you and me!" Greene said as he slowly advanced on them. The man apparantly called Murdoc backed toward the doorway of the room, holding Scully against his chest. From her vantage point, Scully couldn't tell if Mulder was still alive or not. She feared the worst. Murdoc laughed as he pressed the gun against Scully's temple, confirming her fears that her own life was also in danger. "Forget it, MacLeod," Murdoc said. "I don't stand a chance against you in a _fair_ fight, and I know it. So I'm not going to play fair. She's my ticket out of here. I'll just have to deal with you later....because I really _hate_ people named 'Mac'." "We're not very fond of you, either," said a voice behind them.