Date: Sat, 24 Jun 1995 21:30:45 -0700 Reply-To: Naomi Hayashi Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Naomi Hayashi Subject: X-File #A274-D33 part 12 of 17 In-Reply-To: <9506250411.AA23538@mercury.sfsu.edu> This is being posted for the author, who currently doesn't have internet access. Please direct all comments you want to be passed on to the author or requests for missing parts to nhayashi@sfsu.edu X-File: #A274-D33 Part 12 of 17 by Albert Low "We should be hearing from the lab any minute," Scully said as she entered the office in the regional FBI headquarters building that had been allocated for their use. "Uh huh," Mulder acknowledged distractedly. He was leaning back in his chair, a finger tapping absently on the video tape on the desk next to him. "Uh huh," she repeated. "What's wrong, Mulder, or are you just practicing to audition for a Pepsi commercial?" "Just thinking," he told her, smiling and gesturing for her to sit down. "We've found evidence supporting my theory, but we're still no closer to finding this particular killer." "I wouldn't go so far as to say we've found supporting evidence," Scully said dryly, prompting a small smile from her partner. "What's on the tape?" Mulder grinned. "I think you'll find this interesting, Scully. It's on loan from Kominski. A recording made during a hostage situation in a Seattle courthouse about two and a half years ago." "And how does it connect with our case?" "Just watch," he said, inserting the tape into a VCR and pressing the play button. The television came to life a second later, the image just a little fuzzy but quite discernible. Three men stood in an empty room, the picture obviously being supplied by a security camera. Two of the men were armed, the other was unarmed and apparently their prisoner. Scully recognized the unarmed man as Duncan MacLeod. He stood stiffly, his back to the other men. One put away a cellular phone, walked up to MacLeod, and aimed a pistol at the back of his neck, or perhaps, his upper back, the camera angle making it difficult to discern. He pulled the trigger, and MacLeod fell to the floor, lying there motionless. Then the same man walked up to the camera, aimed the gun at it, and the picture disappeared, replaced by static. Mulder rewound the tape, freezing the image of MacLeod lying on the floor. "What do you think, Scully?" "Obviously, MacLeod wasn't dead," she said, a bit shaken by what she'd just seen. "The gun must have been loaded with blanks. It was just a display to make the police think they meant business." "That's the police's theory," Mulder said. "But it's impossible to confirm, since, after the events we just witnessed, the gunmen apparently killed each other. "There are two facts of interest, though. The gunmen didn't hesitate to use deadly force against the guards while securing the building. And autopsies on two of the gunmen revealed they'd been killed by a makeshift sword. Quite a coincidence, wouldn't you say?" "I admit it's a bit unsettling, but it's hardly conclusive, Mulder," she said, sounding more sure of herself than she felt. He was about to say something but was interrupted by the phone. Scully picked it up and identified herself. Then she listened for about a minute, only occasionally interjecting a word or two. She hung up the and turned to Mulder who was looking at her expectantly. She braced herself before she spoke, knowing how he would react to what she had to say. "That was the lab," Scully said unnecessarily. "They've just finished their analysis of the fragments. They came from a sword, all right. Test indicate the sword is approximately two thousand years old, maybe older, and is possibly of Roman origin. They think it's been reforged a number of times, and they found no evidence of blood. No traces of rust either, but that might not hold true for the entire blade, since they didn't have much to go on." Mulder's reaction was just as she had expected. "It all fits, Scully," he said excitedly. "The killer was armed with a sword, which means Franklin had a similar weapon. Otherwise, he would almost certainly have been injured before he was killed in the courtyard. And confirmation of the fight on the terrace helps explain the footprints we found. Either one or both fell over the railing or, more likely, jumped over since the flower beds themselves were undisturbed." "Just because the killer was using a sword does _not_ mean your theory is right, Mulder. It's still just a hypothesis. And, as you were saying, it doesn't bring us closer to solving this case." "Actually, I _do_ have an idea about finding our killer. The lab tests results were all I was waiting for." "And what is this idea of yours?" "I'll tell you on the way. It's a long shot, but it may pay off if we move quickly." And he headed out the door, pausing only to retrieve the video. Scully had little choice but to follow, all the while shaking her head. Stocker checked the rearview mirror one last time and saw nothing out of the ordinary. It had been five minutes since he had left MacLeod, and there was no sign that the other immortal was following him. He relaxed a bit and laughed. Everything was going just as he'd planned. MacLeod was obviously anxious and edgy, and he'd become even more so by the time they met tonight. But he had an important task to perform first. While cleaning Franklin's blood off his sword, he had noticed that part of the blade had been nicked, but he had decided to take care of it another time. After last night's aborted encounter with Ryan, though, a small fracture had developed in the blade. It would probably prove insignificant, but he saw no point in leaving anything to chance. Stocker drove on purposefully. =========================================================================