As soon as they turned onto the dirt road leading to a small, yellow lakeside house, Scully made a call for backup. When the car came to a stop, Mulder jumped out and raced ahead of the agents, ignoring their warnings to wait and stay back. He ran to the house, finding the door unlocked and rushed inside, calling out Darnell's name. When he found the house devoid of life, he continued on through it and out the backdoor.
It was in the backyard that he found his twenty-four-year-old patient sitting on a stomp, a knife in one hand and a large, dead carp in the other. Darnell looked up with wide eyes at the sudden appearance of his doctor. He dropped the fish he'd been descaling into a bucket and stood up as Mulder approached.
"Dr. Mulder, what are you doing here?"
"We've got a big problem, Darnell."
"Freeze!" Krychek's voice boomed. "Federal agents! Put down your weapon. Now!"
Mulder glanced over his shoulder and saw both agents with their guns drawn and pointed in his and Darnell's direction. He took two steps closer to Darnell and raised his arms up and out in order to shield him from possible gunfire. His opened trench coat and extra four inches of height helped to make his patient less of a target.
"Dr. Mulder, please step away from the suspect," Scully requested.
"Only if you put your guns away first. You're scaring him."
"He needs to drop his weapon," Scully replied.
Mulder looked at the small steak knife covered in fish scales that Darnell still had clutched in his right hand, amazed that the feds considered it a lethal weapon.
"What's going on, Dr. Mulder? Who are those people? Why are they pointing guns at me?"
"Darnell, it's okay. It's just a big misunderstanding. They're with the FBI and they think you've done something bad. They want to take you in for questioning."
"But I haven't done anything bad. They look like they want to kill me."
"Tell him to put down his weapon," Scully reiterated.
"Darnell, you need to throw down the knife."
Darnell raised the knife and looked at it curiously. "What, they think this is a weapon?"
Mulder heard the unmistakable click of a trigger being cocked and readied for fire. "Darnell, drop the knife! Don't ask questions. Just do it! Now!"
The urgency of the matter finally got through to him and he dropped the knife and raised his hands in the air. Scully came forward, placing her gun in her holster and pulling out a pair of handcuffs. Krychek inched forward and kept the suspect covered while she snapped the cuffs onto his wrists. Mulder stepped out of the way, receiving a death stare from Krychek who reluctantly reholstered his gun. A local police cruiser arrived on the scene just as Scully completed reading Darnell his rights. She held on to her prisoner as she instructed the two uniformed officers and her partner to search the house and grounds for the missing girl.
"What girl?" Darnell asked Mulder as Scully guided him towards the police car. "What is she talking about?"
"They believe you've kidnapped a fourteen-year-old girl and is hiding her somewhere."
"Kidnap a little girl? I would never do a thing like that. Tell her, Doc."
"Look, Darnell, I think it's just a big mistake. But for now you'll just have to go along quietly with them to jail and we'll get this all straightened out later. Okay?"
Scared but totally trusting in his doctor, the young man nodded and allowed Scully to place him into the back seat of the cruiser.
"No sign of her inside the house," said Krychek as he bounded down the four short steps of the front porch.
Scully looked to Mulder. "Would you like to try to persuade him to tell us what he's done with the girl?"
Mulder sighed, shaking his head. "I honestly don't think he has a clue as to what's going on here."
"No, you're the one without a clue," Krychek growled at him. "You're trying awfully hard to protect him. Maybe you know just as much about all this as he does. Maybe more."
Mulder took a menacing step forward. "Are you accusing me of something?"
"No, he's not," said Scully, stepping forcefully between the two men hoping to slice through the thick layer of testosterone which had settled in the air. "Dr. Mulder, would you just go and wait in the car, please?"
It took an added gentle nudge for him to deflate his chest some and return silently to the back seat of the Taurus. He looked back at Darnell in the squad car and Agent Scully questioning him from the front seat. He saw Darnell shaking his head in a negative motion each time Scully's lips stopped moving. After five minutes, she gave up.
When more police vehicles arrived a few moments later, Scully spoke to a plain clothes detective, apparently leaving him in charge of the area search while she and Krychek took responsibility for the prisoner. When the two agents climbed back into the car, Mulder managed successfully to hold his tongue. He didn't want Krychek to pop a vein while driving, and he could already see the fatigue and frustration in Scully's eyes. They drove in complete silence for fifteen minutes, then he was actually startled when the female agent turned partially in her seat and spoke to him.
"He's not telling us what we need to know. You're his shrink. Surely, he must have told you something. No matter how vague or insignificant it seemed at the time. Please, you have to help us. She may still be alive."
"Maybe... maybe if I could have a few words with him, I might be able to get him to talk."
Scully gave a slight nod of her head, then faced solemnly forward again. As he sat staring idly at the silky, auburn tresses, Mulder wondered to himself if he could have possibly been wrong about Darnell. Had the boy been reaching out for a different kind of help? Had he been secretly pleading with his doctor to help him stop killing young girls? Mulder shut his eyes as the heart wrenching thought tugged at his soul. How could he have so blindly missed the clues of a serial killer?
When they reached the police station, Krychek took the first stab at interrogating the prisoner. Badgering him with the same repetitive questions, shoving several pieces of evidence in front of his face and threatening him with life behind bars or the gas chamber did nothing to change Darnell's pathetic pleas of innocence. Mulder watched silently alongside Scully through an observation window as Krychek ran through the drill for a fifth time. Darnell was in tears now, swearing on his grandmother's grave that he had done none of the things of which he had been accused.
"This isn't getting us anywhere," said Scully. "You want to go give it a try?"
"I'll see what I can do."
Scully escorted Mulder into the interrogation room, reining Krychek in with a simple jerk of her head. Darnell looked up hopefully when he saw his doctor enter the room. Mulder sat down in the chair opposite Darnell while Scully stood guard at the door.
"Darnell, how are you doing?"
"They think I killed all those girls, Doc. They think I'm some kind of pervert. I don't know how those things got into my apartment. Maybe somebody else left them there. Maybe somebody else wanted me to get in trouble. But you know I'd never hurt no little kid. You know I'd never do a thing like what these say."
Darnell shoved the newspaper clippings towards Mulder and pleaded with his eyes for help. No. He hadn't read him wrong. Darnell was not a child molester or murderer. There had to be another answer. Mulder gingerly pawed through the news clippings, trying to buy a little time until he could figure out what to say to the young man whose life lay precariously in his hands.
"Dr. Mulder?" Scully called to him when it seemed as though he was lost in thought.
"Just a sec." He took a moment longer to finish reading the article which had grabbed his attention, then stood and walked over to Scully. "Would you say that the person who committed this crime here is the same one who committed all the others?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Check the date on this. Darnell, do you remember where you were on October 13th?"
"I was in Los Angeles."
"Are you sure?"
"Sure I'm sure. My mom's birthday is October 12th, but she was in the hospital having an operation and I went out there for a week to be with her. Remember I told you we kinda thought she wasn't gonna make it, but she did."
"You left on what day and returned when?" asked Mulder.
"I left on that Sunday before her birthday and came back on Saturday."
"That would have been the 9th through the 15th," Mulder pointed out to Scully. "This girl was reported missing Tuesday, the 11th. Her death was estimated to have occurred around ten o'clock Thursday night, the 13th. Darnell called me collect Friday morning from California because he thought his mother was dying. I'm sure if you check the records, you'll find that he has a pretty solid alibi."
"See, I told you I didn't do it."
"No, you didn't, Darnell. Stay right here. Everything's going to be all right."
Mulder ushered Scully out of the interrogation room and back into the observation room for a private chat.
"Look, I'm no great detective, but it seems to me that establishing whether or not a suspect has an alibi would be fairly high up on the list for arresting people. Just how did he become a suspect in the first place? Exactly what led you to him?"
"We had an anonymous tip."
"An anonymous tip?"
"Yes. We get them all the time. The ones that sound like they have potential, we follow up."
"So someone called in and said, 'I know who your killer is, here's his name and address.'"
"Yes. And we checked it out and we found the evidence."
"You must have been getting too close."
"What?"
"To the real killer. He must have felt that you were getting too close, so he decided to throw you off the trail. The guy you want is probably just the opposite of what you have sitting in there. The man you're looking for is probably Caucasian, nearly twice as old, a family man with daughters of his own around the same ages as his victims. He's probably the guy next door, a pillar of the community. All the kids in the neighborhood know him. They wouldn't be afraid to accept a ride from him and no one would think to question it if they saw him chauffeuring around other people's kids. The fact that he takes the kids on a Tuesday and kills them on Thursday may indicate he's on a strict schedule. Tuesday may be his day to carpool and Thursday is probably his bowling night, the only time the wife lets him have to himself. And whoever this guy is, he knows Darnell well enough to frame him. Now have you come across anyone like that in your investigation so far?"
Scully gave it some thought, then looked at him with a sudden gleam of realization in her eyes. "Stanley Coogan."
"Stanley Coogan? That's Darnell's boss."
"We questioned him yesterday because one of the neighborhood kids thought she saw Tina with him Tuesday afternoon."
"And today you get an anonymous phone call to check out Darnell."
Scully took out her notebook to look up a number, then placed a call on her cell phone. "Hello, Mrs. Coogan? This is Agent Scully with the FBI... Yes we talked to you and your husband earlier. Is he at home, by the way...? When do you expect him...? Well we have a suspect in custody and he's using your husband as an alibi. He claims to go bowling with him on Wednesdays...." Scully eyed Mulder meaningfully as she listened eagerly to Mrs. Coogan's words. "Yes, I see.... Well no, that won't be necessary now. You've been a great help. Thank you."
"Well?" asked Mulder as she hung up.
"Mr. Coogan goes bowling every Thursday night. He comes home from work, has dinner, then it's off to the bowling alley at eight. Usually doesn't make it home till after midnight."
"Where is he now?" asked Mulder.
"On his way home from work.
"Hey, what's going on?" asked Krychek, making a sudden appearance. "I thought you were suppose to be interrogating--"
"He's not our man, Krychek," Scully informed him.
"What?"
"We're going after Stanley Coogan."
"Maybe you should just stake out his house," Mulder suggested. 'Chances are he'll lead you right to her when he leaves to go bowling."
"Way ahead of you, Dr. Mulder."
Mulder stepped aside as Agent Scully went about making a new plan of action. Before leading her task force out to do battle, she instructed a detective to stay with Darnell and take down a detailed accounting of his whereabouts during the times of all the previous murders and to check them out thoroughly. Mulder was sure that all would pan out in Darnell's favor and decided to hang around until his release was issued.
Three-and-a-half hours later, half the task force returned with Stanley Coogan in tow. Mulder approached Agent Scully when some of the hubbub of the precinct had settled down.
"The girl?" he spoke apprehensively.
"You were right. He led us straight to her. She's been taken to the hospital to be checked out. Other than a few minor cuts and bruises, she appears to be unharmed."
Mulder blew out a deep sigh of relief. "That's great news. Fine work, Agent Scully."
"Couldn't have done it without your help. At least not in time. Needless to say that Darnell is free to go now. They'll be bringing him out soon. I regret that we acted so hastily in arresting him but--"
"You were racing the clock. I explained that to him. He understands but I'm afraid this little incident is still going to set him back a few paces in his therapy."
"Sorry."
"It's okay. Maybe you can make it up to him by pulling a few strings and getting someone to drive him home and drop me off back at the office to get my car."
"I'm sure that can be arranged. Just give me a few minutes."
It was another ten minutes before Darnell was finally declared a free man and joined his shrink near the front exit. Mulder was pleasantly surprised to discover who their chauffeur would be.
"What, you couldn't sucker anyone else into it?" asked Mulder.
"I didn't try. Actually, it's the best excuse I have for getting out of paperwork. Krychek's stuck with it now. Let's go."
When the car pulled to a stop in front of Darnell's apartment building, Mulder took a few moments to walk his patient to the main entrance door and give him a few parting words of encouragement. Scully sat behind the wheel and watched in silent admiration as Dr. Mulder showed the young man brotherly-like affection and concern. When he climbed back into the car next to her, she offered him a raised brow and a quirky smile.
"What?"
Scully started the car in motion as she answered his one word question. "I was just wondering, do you go out of your way for all your patients like this?"
"Not all my patients are arrested for a murder they didn't commit. Of course, if you're asking if I always take such a personal interest in my patients, I find it almost impossible not to. These people are bringing me their problems. Sometimes, I virtually hold their lives in my hands. I could be the only thing that stands between them and an overdose of pills or a razor at their wrists, or them doing serious harm to others. It's a big responsibility and I take it very seriously."
"From what I've see so far, you're very good at your job."
"Well, it's not just a job anymore, it's an adventure," said the doctor with a big grin.
Scully chuckled lightly then asked, "What did you mean earlier when you said that if Darnell was going to kill anyone, it would be someone like my partner?"
"Hey, I didn't mean to give the impression that Darnell was violent. He's not at all. I guess I was merely imposing my own feelings about your partner. Not that I'm the violent type either, but I don't think it was just this case that was making him seem like an arrogant, bigoted, chauvinistic prick -- excuse my French. You were under just as much pressure as he was, if not more because you were in charge of the whole thing. You were in charge, weren't you? Or are you just the bossy type?"
Scully grinned and nodded. "Yes, I was in charge."
"Your partner despises that fact. He doesn't like being bossed around by a woman. He probably tried to seduce you with his good looks and charm when you two first met, but you've worked hard to get where you are and earn the respect of your superiors and coworkers. You weren't about to throw it away for some snot-nose, buy-off-the-rack, brown-noser who believes that more than just a little dab of Brylcreem'll do ya."
Scully was partially in awe and partially amused at the accuracy of his words. "How do you do that?" she asked, having to take her eyes off the road momentarily to view him with amazement.
"How do I do what?" he asked innocently.
"Pinpoint people so accurately? Like what you did with Stanley Coogan. How were you able to give such an accurate profile so instantly?"
"Oh, that. I don't really know. I guess I'm just constantly analyzing people. I often do it without even thinking. Unfortunately, not everyone is as impressed by it as you."
"Well, all I know is that you helped saved a life tonight. I find that pretty damn impressive."
Mulder considered his part in the day's chain of events and its outcome. Smiling shyly, he stated softly, "I'm just glad it all worked out."
It didn't take long before they were pulling to a stop outside the office building in which he worked. Upon saying farewell to Agent Dana Scully, Dr. Mulder felt somewhat regretful. At some point through the hectic day and evening, he had developed a mild attraction to her and thought that perhaps she felt the same for him. However, the hour was late, their day had been long and the circumstances of their meeting had been far from ideal. He didn't think that asking her for a date now was an appropriate thing to do. He knew where she worked and decided to give her a few days to rest up before contacting her for personal reasons. He climbed out of the car and walked around to the driver's side to bid her good-night.
"Although I would have preferred happier circumstances, it's been a pleasure meeting you, Agent Scully."
"It was a pleasure meeting you too, Dr. Mulder."
Her tired but mesmerizing blue eyes held him transfixed for a moment. The thought of a good-night kiss raced wildly through his mind for a few scant seconds, but he managed to shake the impulse off when the earlier image of her fiercely aiming a gun in his direction came to the forefront. He swallowed hard and croaked, "Well, good-night."
"Good-night."
Copyright © 2019 · All Rights Reserved · Fran Glass