Chapter 2: "I don't know if it'll make any change, but I figure it's time for me to start playing ball"

That afternoon they took a jet
from DCA to LAX
and under sunny So-Cal skies
they found their hotel in three tries.

The morning came; they woke up early
Mulder, cheerful; Scully surly.
Mulder, ready to begin
Scully, to go home again.

The'nvestigation then began
as Mulder guided their sedan
Along the hated 405
(barely keeping them alive)

As he drove, Scully seething,
to where the man was last seen breathing.
Mulder tried to cheer he mood
and failed and left her free to brood.

They reached the bank at 10:15
and met the manager (Eugene)
and got the tape with the withdrawal
and left and made a few phone calls.

The facts they found were quite routine
but from them some truth could be gleaned.
On Friday he had worked his shift,
but Monday came and he was missed.

His credit card account had nothin'
To connect him to Wisconsin.
No flight, room, or rental car
They gave up after just one hour.

There were no signs to show him planning 
(A trip to see. . . Payton Manning?
Against the Packers; in Green Bay?
No, that's silly. . . nada. . . nay.)

His phone calls gave no indication
of a Wisconsin connection.
There was no reason that he'd go
Or any sign that he did so.

Except that there his corpse was found;
Fox tried to get his mind around
how all this could have come to be;
there was no reason he could see.

Friends and family watched the tape
confirming that it was the flake
(said of course, with marked affection
and with solemn resignation)

Fox and Scully went to lunch
He said, "I think I've got a hunch.
I want this guy's place to be dusted
Find me someone quite well trusted!"

"Fingerprints, I'm looking for
on walls, on handles, on the door.
Something subtle, something small
that most wouldn't see at all."

"Now we must be Milwaukee-bound
for answers wait there to be found"
He said, she shot back a reply,
"I hate that place, I'd rather die"

"That hated state, that hated city
I'm not asking you for pity,
but my last time there I learned
I never wanted to return"

Scully stopped and Mulder started,
"Scully don't be so faint-hearted.
Your trip was as bad as mine,
but far beneath you is to whine."

"I seek the truth, it may be there.
Would you stop now? Would you quit here?"
Scully sighed, "OK, let's go"
Fox paid the bill, they hit the road.

They packed up all the things they'd brought
and left their rooms just as they ought.
They checked out of the rooms they'd used
and hit the road (no time to lose!)

Fox drove them to return the car
the drive was long, though not that far.
Scully booked them on the flight
to MKE, to land at night.

She reserved their rooms and car
She told Skinner where they were.
Fox just wore a stupid grin,
(when you need him, where's the CSM?)

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The next chapter will be Chapter 3: "One other thing ... I play, coach stays, he goes, I go."

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