Chapter 6: Footage Found.
The remainder of the drive was spent in silence as Mulder lead the vehicle through the streets of the city and soon the partners found themselves standing in a disserted ally way, staring at the trashed location in which the body was initially found.
"The report says that this wasn't the location of the murder but merely the dump location," Scully stated as she read the file. "The body was found by two members of the wait staff of the restaurant that shares this ally with the apartment building in whose dumpster the body was found."
"Does the apartment hold any significance to the case?" Mulder asked looking at the building.
"Not according to the police investigation," Scully stated.
"How about the restaurant?" Mulder asked turning around and eyeing the line of dumpsters and the low lit back door.
"Again nothing," Scully stated.
"Lucky for us, some armature decided to have surveillance on the back door," Mulder stated pointed to the dim light above the restaurant door and the barely visible web camera that was attached to it.
"Lucky indeed," Scully stated eyeing the camera and then walking around the building to the front entrance.
The restaurant was busy as Mulder and Scully walked through the main entrance and were stopped by the hostess.
"For two?" she asked politely, smiling wider than was necessary,
"No, we'd like to speak with the owner," Scully stated flashing her badge at the girl and watching the change in the young woman's composure.
"Do you mind waiting here?" the young woman asked, Mulder and Scully nodded and the woman disappeared in a flash.
"We should have asked for a table, something smells delicious," Mulder stated as he eyed the specials menu that was posted at the door.
"We're still on the clock Mulder." Scully stated.
"I wouldn't bill this to the Bureau; I'd just like a little double brazed pork with figs and red wine reduction while we investigate. Is that too much to ask?"
Scully laughed, eyed the menu, but before she could reply the young woman returned with a man dressed in his chefs whites and looking flustered and over heated.
"This is my dinner rush folks, I hope I can help you," Man said politely as he reached out and shook hands with the two agents.
"We just want to ask you about the body that was found in your ally and the possibility of seeing the footage from your ally surveillance." Scully stated and Mulder watched as the man's composure changed.
"Follow me please," the chef, and owner, stated and lead the way through the backed restaurant.
Once in the back of the restaurant, away from all the patrons, and stuffed away in a little office that looked strangely like Mulder's basement office, the chef settled down at his desk and began typing away at the computer that was among all the papers.
"The surveillance was mainly for my benefit, I don't want my staff to have any idea that it is there. I suspect some of my employees are taking double and triple smoke breaks on my dime, as well as smuggling out some of my best produce. That just doesn't make for good business!" The chef stated. "Do you know how much Black Truffles are worth?" he added angrily.
"I understand," Scully stated, "we are just hoping that you may have caught the body drop on your camera."
"I haven't been able to review any of my footage for quite some time. Since the body was found and the press got wind of it, my restaurant has been packed. It's very sad for the poor girl and her family but good for business, and I suppose good for you, considering that I delete the footage after it has been reviewed." The chef stated.
"Who found the body?" Mulder asked as the chef continued to type away.
"Two of my busers found it, completely by accident mind you." The chef stated, "my dumpsters are normally adequate enough for the waist that we accumulate, but on that night we needed some extra space and my busers loaded our trash into the dumpster across the ally, that's when they smelled something that wasn't what they would usually smell, even in that ally, and they checked to see what it was. They came to me right away and we called the authorities right after that."
"You did everything you needed to do, but why didn't you give the police your surveillance?" Scully asked.
"It slipped my mind," The chef stated as he shuffled papers on his desk and came up with a stack of blank CDs. "I'll burn twenty four hours before the body was found for you. If there isn't anything there you can always come back and I'll give you more," he added impatiently, "but if that is all you need, I should really get back to work."
"Of course," Scully stated as she watched the monitor burn the information.
"Thanks for your cooperation," Mulder stated as the chef handed him the freshly burned CD.
"If there is anything else, I'm normally in the restaurant so just knock at the back door if it's locked up. It backs onto our kitchen so I usually hear it if I am here alone." the chef stated.
"Do you hear everything that goes on back there?" Mulder asked as he followed the chef out of the office.
"From about 6am to about 3pm, yes, but as soon as my other chefs and saucier show up its just too noisy in the kitchen to know what is truly going on back there. Trust me, had I heard a vehicle pull into the ally I would have checked because it is usually my deliveries but I believe that the body dump happened when my late night rush was at its peek." The man answered.
"I would have to agree with you," Scully smiled, "the body wasn't there long between being dumped and your staff finding it."
"That's a relief," the chef stated as he walked back into the kitchen and the noise of the place caught Mulder and Scully by surprised. It was far more chaotic in the kitchen than they had anticipated. "I just hope that my ally doesn't end up a popular location for the trouble makers and scum of this city," The chef yelled over the noise.
"It's not likely that anything else will happen in your ally," Mulder yelled as he and Scully moved toward the door, "not with all the publicity that this murder has gotten."
"Good to know," The chef shouted and went right back to his work.
Mulder and Scully slipped out the back door into the ally and looked around once more. As the door closed behind them the silence of the ally was returned and they could once again hear their own thoughts.
"Does the police report say anything about a location for the murder?" Mulder asked.
"Not that I can tell," Scully stated flipping through the X-file.
"I'd like the check the girl's apartment," Mulder stated as he and Scully walked back toward their vehicle. "What's the address?"
"I don't know," Scully stated, "the police never looked into it."
"Alright, but we know where she worked?" Mulder asked.
"Yes," Scully stated. "The body was positively ID by the manager of the bank that she worked at. The girl is twenty four year old Leslie Shwepp and she was reported missing by her manager when she didn't show up to work on Monday morning." Scully stated.
"Then we'll have to talk to the bankers she worked with," Mulder stated.
In the police report the Mulder and Scully found the names and contact information for all of the bankers that were working at the bank the last day that Leslie worked and to further their investigation Mulder and Scully immediately called the bank manager and set up a meeting place. As the dinner hour drew on and they drove the short distance between the restaurant and the bank, they were relatively in the same area, Mulder and Scully began formulating the questions that they would be asking the bank manager.
Arriving at the closed financial institution Mulder and Scully walked back to the security doors and buzzed in as they had been instructed. A sought woman, with vibrant eyes and nervous moments answered the buzz and admitted the two FBI agents into the disserted branch.
"Good to meet you Agents," the little woman said nervously as she eyed the two figures before her.
"Good to meet you as well, Mrs. Cole." Scully smiled and flipped open her note pad, "we have a few questions to ask you."
"Ask away," Mrs. Cole stated leading the agents through the branch and into her office.
"We'd like to know if there was anything suspicious about the last day that you saw Miss. Shwepp alive." Scully stated as she settled into the seat that was offered to her around the board room style table that made up the managers office.
"Nothing out of the ordinary, it was a slow day for us, but Leslie was a bit uneasy that day. Something had transpired between herself and one of our members but it was nothing out of the ordinary. The same member comes to us weekly and isn't the most desirable character. He gives all of my girls the creeps, on a regular basis." Mrs. Cole explained.
"Can you give us a name?" Scully asked.
"We know him as Max, and he works for one of our bigger businesses," Mrs. Cole explained, "he's never caused us any problems, however, but Leslie was quite shaken that day and had asked to be escorted to her car. She left with me and that was the last time anyone saw her."
"Do you, by any chance, know if she made it to her apartment?" Scully asked.
"I can't say for sure," Mrs. Cole stated.
"Do you have an address for her apartment?" Mulder asked.
"I do," the bank manager stated and jotted down the address, she handed the paper to Mulder and waited for the next wave of questions.
"Can you tell us the name of the business where this Max works?" Scully asked.
"He is one of the full time employees of Lakeview Video and Adult Entertainment." Mrs. Cole stated in a hushed voice.
Scully glanced at Mulder.
"Yes, I know where that is," Mulder laughed.
Mrs. Cole looked at Mulder disapprovingly.
"I can understand why your girls would feel uncomfortable," Scully stated as she sharply kicked Mulder, under the desk, to warn him. "Can you tell us anything else about the victim that may be beneficial to our investigation?" Scully added after an uncomfortable moment of silence.
"She was outgoing, a hard worker and was well like by her fellow employees and the bank members. Very seldom was there any problem with the young woman, but she was a bit of a party girl and she liked to make it known. She was, perhaps, of loose morals." Mrs. Cole stated.
"And the porn guy made her uncomfortable?" Mulder asked in disbelief.
Mrs. Cole glanced at Mulder once more disapprovingly before turning to the female member of the team. "When you meet Max, you will understand why he made people uncomfortable," she stated, "but I don't know if he will be of any interest for you. He's just an adolescent looking to make some money. You can't hold that against him."
"We won't," Scully stated reassuringly, "but we are going to look into everything possible avenue to find out what happened to your employee," she added and Mulder nodded his agreement. "You've been a tremendous help today, thank you for your time." She stated finally and stood to end the interview and to lead Mulder out of the office.
Mrs. Cole led Mulder and Scully out of the branch and locked up once again. The sun had set on them, by this time, and their investigation would have to wait until they could find anything new in the locations and individuals that they had accumulated on their first day of the investigation.
Mulder dropped Scully off at her apartment and then headed back to the Bureau to review the surveillance disk that they had obtained from the restaurant. He was hopeful that they would get something off the amateur surveillance tape that might give them some leads into this case because, as of the end of day one, they had nothing.