Chapter 4

It was mid-afternoon by the time Mulder and Carroway arrived at the FBI field office in New York. After going through the case file, they travelled to the scene of the latest murder, which was the apartment of Macey Egbert, who lived in a quiet neighbourhood in Queens.

Mulder climbed out of the car and walked towards the main door of the building. He was looking up at the windows on the upper floors, when Carroway joined him.

"Macey lived on the second floor right?"

"Yes" she answered pointing to an alleyway at the side of the building. "Her apartment is at the back facing the dumpsters. There's limited access back there for any vehicles and there's no fire escape. I can't see how any perp could manage to get through the windows from there."

"Yeah I think you're right; there would certainly be easier ways to get in. Let's take a look inside". He followed Carroway up to the entrance as she typed in the security code to open the front doors.

They took the elevator up to the second floor, and as the doors opened, he could see Macey's apartment was at the end of the hall, with the door now covered by Police tape. Carroway stepped out of the elevator first, crossed the hallway and opened the apartment door, holding up the tape so Mulder could enter.

"Thanks" he said while snapping on a pair of rubber gloves he had stashed away in his pocket. He entered the living room first, which was small and felt a little claustrophobic. There was barely any space for the couch, which was up against the far wall, and the floor was littered with empty pizza boxes and tin cans.

"This reminds me of my apartment", said Mulder as he stepped over the debris to reach one of the windows, which was covered with a dusty looking sheet. He lifted it up and looked out into the yard at the back of the building.

"Do you live alone too?" asked Carroway as she came to stand beside him.

"Yeah, but it's not quite as bad as this. I know you shouldn't speak ill of the dead, but I don't think Miss Egbert was one for cleaning up much." he grimaced as he noticed a plate of mouldy pizza on the couch, which was being devoured by two large cockroaches.

"This is nothing, wait till you see the bedroom" said Carroway as she cleared a pathway through the trash and opened a door at the far side of the room. Mulder followed and as the door swung open, he was instantly met with a wall of stench. This was a heady mixture of rotting food, sweat and the unmistakable odour of death.

"Jesus, the smell in here doesn't get any better," Carroway muttered as she pinched the sides of her nose and made way for Mulder as he walked in behind her. He swatted a buzzing fly away from his face as he got his first proper look at the room where Macey had died.

Like the living room it was filled with more take out boxes and used dishes, but there was also clothes strewn all over the floor, and every surface was covered by various bottles, sprays and empty glasses. He then noticed the window, which was teaming with hundreds of flies. They were either buzzing round the glass trying to escape, or scattered dead all over the window ledge.

"How long was Macey in here till she was found?" Mulder asked as he walked over to the bed where Macey's body had been discovered.

"I think the coroner estimated that she'd been dead at least two days when they found her" answered Carroway "The owner of the restaurant where she worked, raised the alarm when she didn't turn up for her shift two days straight. He said it wasn't like her not to call if she wasn't going to be in to work for any reason".

Mulder said nothing as he slowly walked around the bed that had since been stripped of all its covers, so only the mattress remained. He noticed the stains left behind by the removal of the body, and the blood that was on the wall at the back of the bed.

"It was a brutal attack Mulder," said Carroway who crossed over to the window "According to the post mortem, she'd been hit with a hammer at least 40 times. Now that seems to indicate that the killer either wanted to make sure Macey was dead, or that he's prone to explosive rage"

He nodded in agreement "Rage that could be attributed to a crime of passion...a jealous lover perhaps" he added, "But from reading the report, it seems like she was a bit of a loner. Not really many close friends and no boyfriend. Most of her family still live out in South Dakota"

"Exactly" answered Carroway as she began to lift the handle on the window. It was locked and secure, just as it had been the since the night of the murder.

"That's another thing" said Mulder who came up beside her "The window was closed during a heat wave, it strikes me as a little odd that she wouldn't want some air circulating around here, especially at night."

"Well it's interesting that you should mention that" said Carroway as she opened her bag and took out a copy of the crime report.

She flicked it open onto a certain page, and then handed it over to Mulder. "See here, this is the statement of John Buckle, the building care taker who found Macey's body. He said that for as long as he'd known her, Macey always kept her windows and doors locked tight no matter what the weather. He said she'd got a fear of someone breaking in"

"I'd say most people have the same fear, it's quite natural especially when living alone," said Mulder who scanned over the statement and then handed it back to Carroway.

"Yes but in Macey's case, it was an intense fear. Almost like she had a phobia about it."

Mulder nodded, appeared to ponder this over for a while before walking out of the bedroom. Carroway followed him through the apartment as he checked all the windows, finding each one still locked from the inside, with no sign of forced entry.

"Well I definitely don't see any signs of a break in," said Mulder as he ran his fingers over the locks on the front door.

"There is the possibility that the killer could have gained access by posing as a pizza delivery guy for example".

"Yes but there was no evidence to suggest there was a struggle" said Carroway who joined him at the door. "He would have had to overpower her to get through this door, but there was no marks on Macey to imply she fought back. And no fingerprints or blood in this area. It just doesn't add up".

Mulder nodded before opening the door. "Perhaps we should go back to the office and see if we can link the victims in some way. Maybe they knew each other."

"Maybe" said Carroway as she fished the apartment key out of her bag. "Hey, it's been a long day, why don't we skip the office and I'll treat you to dinner. I know this great little diner not far from here."

"Sounds great to me," answered Mulder with a smile as they left the apartment. "Anything but pizza".