Mulder looked down at a dark-haired man that was sitting. The man stared deep into Mulder's hazel eyes.
"Did you know Nadine very well?"
"I didn't know her personally, but I knew her well enough to know that she was an excellent musician." The man, Aidan Shafer answered.
"Mr. Shafer, you do understand that you are a suspect, don't you?" Mulder asked, raising his eyebrows. Shafer ignored his statement.
"I was aware when she became one of my students that her parents were divorced, and I was very surprised when I found how good she was, musically and intellectually." Mulder stared at him, getting impatient.
"You understand that I am accusing you of kidnapping her." Mulder asked.
"Yes." Shafer answered flatly.
"So you had no personal relationship with Nadine whatsoever, is that correct?"
"I knew her as a musician, and by that, I mean that by the way she played, I knew she was a compassionate, intelligent person." He answered.
"My partner and I have gone through Nadine's journal, and she makes it seem like you two were pretty good friends."
"She was my best student, and we often talked about a lot of things. She has been interested in conducting, and I have talked to her a lot about that. She tells me a lot about her mother, and how her clarinet lessons are going, and just a lot of different subjects." Shafer answered. "She tutored several students and helped me set up for concerts. You're going to get to know someone pretty well when they are the only person in the class that tries."
"So she was an extremely good musician." Mulder said.
"I've never seen anyone like her. She's made All-District as 1st seat all through junior high, and they were ready to put her in the high school band."
"Has there been anyone that has shown hate or jealousy towards Nadine?"
"Yes. There has been one girl; the third seat clarinet, Isabelle Reynolds. She has never stopped hating Nadine for everything that she has accomplished. Isabelle never practices, never even tries, and yet she expects to be 1st seat."
"It sounds frustrating." Mulder said with a smile.
"Unbelievably. I have so many students like that, and I can barely get them to play above Nadine, because she's the only one that can play out." Shafer said, nodding his head.
"Well Mr. Shafer, I don't think you seem to be a culprit, but if you do know anything, just call me." Mulder said, writing his phone number down on a piece of paper. "By the way, would you happen to have Isabelle's phone number?"
"Yes, I have some phone numbers in my laptop in the car." Shafer answered pleasantly.
-O-O-O-O-O-
A few hours later, a pale, dark-haired girl sat in front of Mulder. She glared at him furiously while he stared into her dark eyes, trying not to lose his temper from the arrogant ways of this girl.
"I didn't do anything to her. So what if she bragged about every damn thing she could do. She pissed me off, but I'd never be stupid enough to kidnap her." Isabelle said.
"You understand why I have to question you, right?"
"Because you think that I'm a malicious serial killer." She answered sarcastically. At that statement, Mulder lost his nerve to keep his temper down low.
"Look," His voice was low and threatening. "If you want to get convicted for something you did do, fine. If you don't want to get convicted and you do anyway, fine. But we are running out of time. By now, Nadine could already be dead." Isabelle's glare had turned into a sour look of sadness. "Can you honestly tell me that even though you hate her, you did nothing to hurt her?" Mulder asked angrily. Her eyes started to fill with guilty tears.
"I told a friend of mine about her one day, and a couple of days later, he told me that I wouldn't have to deal with her any longer. That was the day that Nadine was reported missing. I swear on my life that I didn't mean for anything to happen..." Isabelle was sobbing. "His name's Carlos. He's done everything bad you can think of."
"Isabelle, is there anywhere that you can think of that he could have taken her?"
"There's an abandoned house on Elm street that he dealt drugs in and met people in. I don't know if she's there, but that'd be your best bet."
"Thank you Isabelle. I don't know if we'll find her there, but this definitely helps." Mulder said gently.
"When you find her, tell her that I'm so sorry... and that I never wanted her to get hurt in the first place."
"I'll make sure I'll tell her that." He answered, smiling. Without her knowing it, he quickly turned off a hidden tape recorder.
-O-O-O-O-O-
A day later, back in Washington DC, Mulder and Scully were in her apartment listening to the recording of the interrogation.
"I found some records on this Carlos, and he's basically everything Isabelle described him as. Arson, drug abuse, drug dealing, shoplifting, harassment, burglary, and a few charges of murder as well. Looks like this kid has put his life down the drain. She said quietly.
"And yet, he's only seventeen, and the charges started at eight years old. How can kids end up like this Scully?"
"Wanting attention, depression, child abuse... he's of course probably had an awful home life." She answered.
"Hey, before we get preoccupied with more paperwork, could you refresh my mind with some Moonlight Sonata?" Mulder asked, giving her a puppy dog look. Scully could of course not fight that look, and with a fake sigh, she walked over to the keyboard in the corner and the room was once again filled with the haunting, beautiful melody of Moonlight Sonata.