Chapter Text
The agents parked the car out on the street near the Williams’s address upon arrival in the mid afternoon. They walked up to the old white victorian with a wraparound porch after pausing briefly to stretch after the long drive. Scully reached forward and rang the doorbell, as she and Mulder looked around at the quiet neighborhood.
A petite middle aged woman answered the door, strawberry blond hair in a fashionable short cut “Oh, you made it alright, do come in!” she exclaimed. They saw a man in the spacious hallway beyond her who came forward to greet them.
After introductions were made, they followed the couple into the heavily decorated living room. Mulder and Scully took note of their surroundings. The Williams’s home looked as if it could have come from a spread in Good Housekeeping , very precise and clean except for an old dog bed in the corner of the room.
The couple themselves appeared to match the idealized look of the average middle class white family on the surface, all wholesome american pie image. However, there was a brittleness to it found lurking behind the warmth and clean lemon scent of furnisher polish, in the too tight smiles and the little touches around the home. There was a set of pictures relegated to one wall showing a smiling girl and a much younger Williams couple and two children, or even a few with another woman and the girl, unlike the entryway or around the rest of the room.
“Please, is there any news? You said on the phone that there may be something related to Sarah’s case?” Mrs. Irene Williams said. Her husband, a tall quiet man well into middle age with graying hair and face set in a grim expression, appeared less eager to talk to the agents.
This was a disparity in couples that the agents had found common in many older cases where the loved ones hope’s had been disappointed many times, Scully mused. Some people clung to hope longer than others, and it was hard for them not to let it fade. She was always amazed at Mulder’s own passion and optimism about his sister, despite the letdowns in the years she had worked with him.
“Agent Scully and I are new to Sarah’s case. We specialize in unusual investigations, and while we cannot share too many details, the pattern of a current investigation by our colleague brought her case to our attention. ” Mulder replied.
“We appreciate that you are still looking. Sometimes it seems as though no one cares anymore. Would you like some refreshments after your long drive?” the housewife asked nervously.
“That would be lovely, thank you”. Scully said, as she took a seat by the coffee table and looked about the room. Truthfully they had stopped at a diner not too far out from town, but felt it would be impolite to refuse. She suspected performing the role of hostess calmed the older woman.
Mulder had walked over to the pictures and was politely chatting with Mr Wiliam’s about them while Mrs. Williams went to grab some drinks for the for the agents. The girl in the photographs seemed happy enough, a pretty child with long dark hair and striking green eyes, she seemed to take after her actress mother more than the rugged Mr. Williams.
“This is Sarah then, with her little brother? Not too long before she went missing” Mulder asked, pointing out a photo of the family on what looked like a trip to the zoo. Sarah was holding a blond child as her parents beamed behind her, Sarah"s own smile was wide but a trifle forced while her brother appeared to be reaching up to grab her hair. “Yes” the girl"s father replied, his voice tight. Mulder turned away from studying the pictures, hands still in his pocket, his expression open.
“We haven’t heard anything since that Baker boy said he saw Sarah. Oh – I hope that another poor family isn’t going through this” Mrs. Williams fretted, she had come back in and was in the midst of setting down her coffee tray.
“There isn’t much to tell right now, but we were hoping something in Sarah’s disappearance may help our current missing persons case given the similarities. Why don’t you tell us about what happened 10 years ago? We have the case files but it would be best to refresh and see if there is anything that was missed.” Scully said diplomatically, while Mulder joined her taking a seat at one of the high backed chairs as they faced the distraught Williams couple.
“Where do you want us to start?”
“Well, how about your family life? How were your family dynamics? Did Sarah feel comfortable at home?” Mulder asked mildly, setting his coffee down on a drink coaster.
“It is a little complicated. When Irene joined the family, Sarah’s mother had been gone for two years. I had primary custody but we agreed to a generous visitation and scheduled time with her mother, and Sarah kept in regular contact, well on her part at least. I don’t think Sarah had fully come to terms with the divorce. She was a very bright child, but always a bit of a daydreamer and extremely self willed. A bit like her mother, but with more guts and kindness than Linda” Robert reached up and rubbed his face tiredly “ I just thought she would move on and would accept Irene after a few tantrums. But it wasn’t that simple ”
“Do you mean to say things were tense between Sarah and Irene? Or all of you?” Scully asked in a neutral tone.
“Oh it was definitely me, but she blamed Robert for taking my part” Irene interjected. “ Sarah saw me as the main villain in her life coming to break up her happy family and wished that her mother would come back. She also wasn’t overjoyed when Toby was born, at least at first. At the time she was somewhat selfish and a little immature for her age and… well, I didn’t handle it well. My therapist has helped me see that I was also insecure as a new wife and suddenly stepping into a maternal role. Sarah didn’t want to be mothered by me, but I think deep down she was scared of being replaced by Toby.”
“She blamed everyone but Linda for her mother leaving. Sarah loved and idolized her mother. I wanted her to be a happy teenage girl, but she was still hung up on that, I just wish we could have known– ” Irene broke off as her voice broke, grabbing a tissue from the box on a side table and dabbing at her eyes.
Robert continued from where Irene left off “Sarah had a hard time accepting that her mom could have simply chosen to leave, and didn’t keep in touch as much and relied on gifts, so she lashed out at Irene and occasionally me. Irene is also a bit strict and they had very different personalities” Robert shot a rather apologetic look to his wife.
“So what happened directly in the months leading up to the disappearance? We saw there was a change in behavior mentioned in the case file” Mulder asked, hoping to keep them talking.
“You must understand Sarah was still childish for her age, but also heading into teenage rebellion. She had gotten used to just me and babysitters that she could outsmart and smooth talk. It would get worse after she’d had recent contact with her mother.”
“Before this all started she had gone to visit her in New York for a month. I’d felt uneasy about letting her go that long given Linda’s rather hot and cold approach with Sarah, but with Toby still being at the crying stage and her and Irene fighting, I thought it would be for the best. She did have a great visit with her mom. And also apparently Linda’s boyfriend, Jeremy”. Scully leaned forward slightly, this was the former chief suspect from the report that had been marked as no longer of interest.
“Both Linda and he would spoil her, and he knew how to charm Sarah out of her moods. Her mother encouraged her in her fantasy life over reality and responsibilities, and it seemed to have a bad effect on her. When she came back she was even more of a handful, kept complaining about the way we treated her in comparison, we didn’t know what to do with her or how to help her. She had withdrawn from her friends after her mom left and when transitioning to high school. Sarah was also extremely possessive of her belongings and her time, which also pushed away friends and made her difficult to handle, especially around Toby. She would stick around reading after school, moping.”
“She had trouble socially connecting then? What about hobbies, did she do any group activities?” the redheaded agent asked.
“Sometimes she would go play-act in the park. She was obsessed with Shakespeare and Grimm and the Brontes and all that, and anything musical theater because of her mom. She simply loved that sci-fi and fairytale stuff. Unfortunately Sarah could be over dramatic and Irene could be intrusive trying to get her out of her fantasy world. When she started acting different, as I recall she and Irene had one of their fights, a particularly bad one”
“What exactly was the fight about, Mrs. Williams?” queried Mulder.
“Well as far as I can remember when we went over it, it was a bunch of little things that came to a head. I was hoping she’d be more mature, she was supposed to be babysitting Toby and was late that evening. And she didn’t like that I was trying to keep her wet dog in the garage. I lost my temper with her” sighed Irene.
“These were typical then?” Scully asked the blonde.
“It was like a lot of other arguments, but it was noticeable because that was the last one that bad. I shouted at her about her lack of a social life, and tried to get Robert to talk some sense into her but we left while she was sulking. I am positive something happened that night. The next morning she was acting tired and quiet but oddly sweet, I remember being pleasantly surprised when she took my apology well. A few days later she was still acting odd, mostly nice, and back to her usual energy, but so different. At the time I just thought she had finally grown up a little” Irene gave a sobbing little laugh “I should have seen the signs something was wrong. The police psychologist afterwards said that that could be a sign of abuse or adverse experiences”
“When was the day this started? The strange behavior”
“I am not sure, mid June I believe? It was after we had that dinner party with Sherri and Tom”- she said as an aside to her husband.
“Mrs. Williams, can you elaborate what exactly changed with Sarah?” Mulder tried to steer the conversion back.
Irene resumed, slightly flustered “To begin with, she stopped whining to me most of the time or complaining back when I asked her to do something. She might politely ask for a compromise not to have to do it, but none of those outbursts from before. And she was more affectionate with Toby as she would cuddle a lot more, talk to him, play with him, she barely let him out of her sight. It was good to see her finally accepting her brother”.
“They didn’t get along at all before? That isn’t uncommon at first in children, especially if they are already struggling with change, but it sounds like a rather abrupt resolution” Scully remarked.
“Sarah would occasionally hold him and look after him but she got easily fed up doing it, and she didn’t like when we had to take time for it either or if he spit up on her clothes. We probably could have hired a real babysitter more often, but I hoped the responsibility would be good for her” Irene replied a little defensively.
“Where is Toby now?” Mulder tried to sooth the anxious woman.
“He is still at school, he stays late for baseball practice. We try to keep him away from this as much as possible to avoid raising his hopes. He can’t really remember Sarah, although he pretends to, he used to make up stories about talking to her and going on adventures together” Robert smiled, but his lips quivered a little and he cleared his throat loudly.
“So she changed behavior towards Irene and Toby suddenly. The file we had said there were other behavioral changes. Can you share more about that?” Scully probed.
“Yes, after that weekend she started clearing out her room, setting some things aside for Toby, others to donate. Which she had been very particular about them before. She seemed pretty happy like I said, well getting a bit less sleep, but then things got– very strange.” Irene faltered.
“How so?” Mulder asked, his attention fixed.
“She started getting jumpy. Generally in public, around strangers at the mall, when we’d go out shopping and walking down the street. I wasn’t sure at the time if it was simply because she was dressing a little older and getting more attention from boys and men. But I now wonder if it was something more”
“Don’t forget how she started closing all the blinds” Mr. Williams cut in “I thought at first it was normal teenager behavior, wanting more privacy, you know. But she started doing that all around the house, even occasionally in daylight. And she grew irritable in a different way: she started shooing the local wildlife away. We had an owl that liked to hang around the house then. I had to tell her off for throwing stones at it, it was peculiar as she used to cry at even a mouse getting caught in a trap. It was shocking to see her suddenly violent like that against some poor animal” Mr. Williams frowned.
“And you never saw any unusual visitors around the house? No neighbors who would regularly stop by? Contractors or regular delivery men?” Scully asked.
“No one, really. There was old Vi, up the street. She’d stop by for tea, chat, especially to bring by something she cooked when I was having Toby and when he was little. And when Sarah was gone and we had to go out for a while, we’d get the Jansen boy to stop by the house to care for the dog. But no one who could have been involved with her abduction.”
“How about her friends and their families? Did Sarah go to sleepovers, go to parties, Friday night hang outs after school? Any boys?” Mulder suggested in his usual mellow tone.
“Sarah had trouble making friends after her mother left, as those behavior issues tended to break up many of her middle school friendships. We thought she might be sneaking some in in the months leading up to it but it was just her practicing her plays again or talking to herself I guess, she said she was doing impressions and there is no way kids were getting in and out that fast, and she didn’t have a telephone in her room. There was one girl at school she was friends with, especially when they were younger, but Sarah was more into her daydreams and running off to play with her dog at the time that put some distance between them. And that superstitious phase scared kids off again.”
“That was one of the things that drew our attention in our records. What exactly was she doing?” Mulder’s words quickened a little, betraying his interest as he leaned forward in his seat, focusing intently on the bereaved parents.
“She started policing what we would say, wearing strange jewelry, reading more about her fairies, trolls, and occult things. Irene was worried she was joining that dragon game nonsense. Some of the other parents were concerned about kids getting into at the time, but it wasn’t that. It was more like my grandmother, who was superstitious” He paused, looked up from his hands at the agents and noted their intrigued expressions.
“You know, she was into all those traditions from the old country” he clarified.
“Keeping the childrens windows closed when she visited, not saying fairy out loud, horseshoes, tying rags on trees, a lot of old wives tale things. Sarah took that to a whole new level, she’d get fairy books from the library but it was more about arts and crafts or mythology, or Freudien stuff, best I could gather. Some poetry too. Started putting little twig bundles around, hazel she said, gave each of us some iron jewelry to wear. It was almost laughable, like some sort of hippy behavior, if she wasn’t so obsessed with it. It isn’t normal for a teenager. She seemed to have moved on from idealizing Linda into this new passion, we grew a little concerned”
“Did she ever say why she did this? Did you notice anything, anyone who could have influenced her” queried Scully.
“The police looked all over the house. There wasn’t any evidence she had been corresponding with anyone apart from her mother, and some old games with her friends. She had a few notes to some imaginary characters but just around her room. Sir Didomysis or something. We looked into any school clubs or people she hung around. She used to have a bunch of stuffed animals she’d named, she was slightly obsessed with Arthurian legend, we assumed it was that. The police never found anything beyond some weird wild animal hair samples”
“Animal hair? Not from the dog?” Mulder asked sharply.
“You’d have to ask them about it. They just told us it wasn’t human after they got back the forensic report, maybe she was collecting bits of raccoon or fox fur and feathers for her charms.”
“So what exactly happened when Sarah went missing?”
“Isn’t that in your paperwork?” Mrs. Williams said, frustration creeping into his voice.
Mulder shifted in his seat, sitting up straighter.
“We have copies of the base report and we are going to talk to detectives who are working the case later, but we like to hear recent statements on the chance there was anything left out of the report at the time or that has come up since. That is partly why we wanted to talk with you today, besides the new missing persons case. Anything that you can remember is helpful”
“We appreciate it, but don’t think there is much we haven’t told the police or the FBI at this point, we had to go over this when the Baker boy reported seeing Sarah.”
“There isn’t much to tell. Sarah had decided to go out with some kids from school to a Halloween party, we were happy because it was something normal for once. She was all set to go, her friend Laura was going to drive her to the bonfire in the woods, when she saw some owl flying around. She turned around and refused to go, called up Laura and canceled. Said she didn’t feel well when it was clear she was fine a minute ago. When we kept asking she said the owl scared her. We were frustrated about her being superstitious again, I was losing my temper so we fought a little. Robert eventually cut in and said that she had been very responsible of late, and we could let her stay home and hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters. “
“We had already left Toby with a neighbor to babysit, so we were set to go for the evening. We enjoyed our evening out, and went to pick up Toby after, and were back by 10:30. When we got back she was simply gone. We thought at first maybe she had gone to her party after all, so Robert stayed up waiting for her, but by 12:30 she still hadn’t come home.” Irene’s voice shook again, as she stared into space lost in memory.
“Do you recall anything specific Sarah said that night?”
“Not exactly, it was strange to see her mood shift, but as I said she’d been that way for a while around birds. We exchanged heated words, I said that she couldn’t keep being flakey, she said she didn’t mean to be or that we couldn’t understand. I said that I wished we could just find out what she was so afraid of. That she would have to face her fears and get over them at some point, and I wish she would have to get it together and act like an adult”
“And after you called the police?”
“They came by, at first they weren’t too worried because it was Halloween. But with Robert being a lawyer with some local connections they came to look into it as a favor. They grew more serious and called in state police by evening the next day. We have spoken to them multiple times, and Robert with Linda’s help eventually was able to get the FBI involved. Linda was upset with how thorough they were, investigating her boyfriend and all, but we also had to submit to invasive personal questions. We were willing to do anything to find her. We did that TV special, which led to the most we have heard in years with the Baker kid. Then that went nowhere. We were hoping you had something new” Irene said doubtfully.
“I am afraid we can’t share too many details just yet, but another possible sighting of Sarah was reported in connection to a missing child"s case under investigation. It also shared some similarities to Sarah’s case. We wanted to let you know, and ask for more details as we re-evaluate Sarah’s case to see if there are any areas overlooked by previous investigators. We understand this is difficult for you to relive all the time, and appreciate that you took the time to speak with us. We are doing everything we can to help Sarah, and this hopefully helps our other missing child case.” Scully said.
“Is it possible that we could have a look around Sarah’s room before we leave to speak to local law enforcement?” Mulder asked.
“Of course, Robert can show you right up. I do hope you find something, we have been waiting so long.” Irene said wistfully, standing and going to gather the coffee things from the table. The agents rose to follow the bereaved father into the hall.
“I have to warn you that you won’t find anything, the local and state police have already searched the room several times and taken anything they suspect is connected. We haven’t petitioned to collect anything yet as they said it might be helpful” Mr. William’s wearily as they climbed the stairs. “This is Sarah"s room. " he said as they reached the landing. "
They tried to put everything back as it was, and we don’t touch it much. Toby sometimes sneaks in here but he knows enough now to not disturb things.” The agents walked into the small room.
There were several Broadway posters and classic art on the walls, along with some amature sketches of fantasy creatures that were presumably Sarah’s. A bright canopied bed stood in the center complete with cozy patchwork quilt, and there was a cubby hole on the wall with a few bundles of what appeared to be dried herbs and flowers, a few small sculptures, and some curios. A desk stood against the wall, a collection of records and books atop it, although there were large gaps in the books, as well as some missing from the small bookshelf set into the wall next to the bed judging by the way others leaned in. There were a few boardgames out on a table against one wall.
Mulder stepped in the room, making his way over to the window. There was a vanity on the right with the girl"s makeup, and a window seat. There was some makeshift garland strung up over the window of what upon closer inspection was old flowers with a few nails interspersed throughout.
“Interesting decor for a teenager. You say this was new at the time?” Mulder gestured to the musty wreath.
“Yes, well Sarah would sometimes have flowers, but less of the odd ones. Her room used to be more juvenile, she had all her toys from early childhood around and was very particular about them. But she bagged most of those up to save for Toby when she started acting differently. Truth be told we haven’t given most to him, too many memories” Mr. Williams looked away, blinking rapidly.
Scully had made her way over to the desk, lifting and inspecting a bundle of twigs tied with an intricate knot and what looked like bouquets of a dried weed.
“What exactly is that supposed to be? Not sure hay is really going to stop a goblin” Mulder asked.
St. John’s Wort perhaps? Isn’t supposed to ward off the fairies, goblins are fairies” Mulder stared at Scully in surprise.
“How do you know that? I thought you said you only know Tolkien and some anthropological explanation for goblins?”
“I don’t really, Mulder, I know fairytales a bit and old wives tales. You know my family is Irish. Well, just like Mr. Williams mother” she gave a nod to the man in the doorway “I had a grandmother who was superstitious.”
“You might have mentioned that before. Anything else that might be useful?”
“Not much, I only remembered this just now. It was very localized knowledge from her grandparents and their region of Ireland. She was very Catholic but also extremely superstitious, I am sure it doesn’t mean anything. I just remember she used to tell us not to pull the plants when we visited as they were good to ward off the wee folk. She would hang a bit of it dried up in the room we slept in too, along with crucifixes.” Scully paused, lost in thought, before continuing.
“She also liked to gift us red clothes. Which my mother didn’t like as it clashed horribly with our hair. The smell brought it all back” She smiled faintly as she flourished the herbs, carefully placing them back on the shelf
Mulder was still looking at her keenly as he turned away from the window.
“I didn’t know that about your family. You know, mine didn’t even do fairytales.
Mr. Williams shifted by the door “Is all of that important? You talk like this matters, I know some of it is strange but they said it was probably just a symptom of mental issues Sarah was having. Maybe in response to trauma she didn’t tell us about, that she was repressing memories”
“That could be Mr. Williams, and why it may be important. Perhaps whatever happened to Sarah, she was trying to protect herself in the only way she knew how. Or a subconscious cry for help, or a common external influence. These peculiarities can help us notice connections between cases”. Mulder reassured him.
“This happened in the other case.” Mulder paused for a moment, Mr. Williams was apparently shrewder than he looked.
“A few of them. We are not at liberty to share exactly what. But in general, you never know what might come up on one of our investigations. Maybe your mother and Scully’s grandma were on to something, it doesn"t hurt to have a little luck in your corner”.
“It seems Sarah was still a bookworm herself? Where are those fairy books of hers” Scully asked, glancing over from the hardcovers she’d moved onto after putting the herbs down.
“Yes, that’s right, most of the books with notes in them and Sarah’s recent journals are still with the police. They were hoping to find something in all the the notes she’d written”
‘We’ll have to ask when we head over there. Speaking of which, we better do that soon if we want to make it there today”.
“Just as well, Toby is going to be home in a bit. And he can be very inquisitive about guests or anything relating to Sarah” Mr. Williams frowned.
“That is probably best, but do call us if there is anything else you remember. We will let you know if we make any breaks in Sarah’s case” Mulder and Scully walked to the door
****
They made their farewells to the Williams’ and headed down to the police station. It was large three story brick building in the center of the downtown, situated between shops. The agents walked up the gray steps to the door. Walking into to station it was clear that this was not a very busy prescient, many flyers for local events or fire safety scattered around.
“Agent Mulder, is it? I’m Judy Davis, the detective on detail for Sarah’s case. We spoke on the phone I believe” the detective brusquely shook Mulders hand as she came around the front desk to greet them.
“Hello, yes I am Special Agent Mulder, this is my partner, Special Agent Scully. Thank you for agreeing to meet with us Detective Davis” after shaking Scully’s hand in turn, she came to meet them at the front desk of the little town police office. She was an average height black woman around late 40’s a bit somber as she led them to her office at the small town police station. The wooden building looked like many they had visited, slightly shabby as older small town tended towards.
“You here about the Williams girl, there has been some attention to her case, right?”
“Yes, we wanted to ask you some questions about the case, and discuss the recent updates. I saw from the files you were the officer handling the investigation”
“That is a sad case, still think about it a lot and pull it out now and then on a rainy day. It happened when I’d recently moved back from my time in NYPD in the city. Her disappearance really shook up this community. We hadn’t had anything like that for years.” She shook her head.
“Really? This close to the city?” Scully said, surprised.
“It’s far enough away that it used to be a buffer. As you can probably tell looking around, we’re a pretty sleepy town. Even now with people moving here more, not many missing kids. Just the occasional frail elder that gets lost, a few teenage runaways but we find those quickly or know why they did. Had to get the state police involved in this one, and eventually even got the FBI involved.. We still try to put Sarah’s case on the local news now and again, but it hasn’t brought in any real leads and we aren’t getting the national reach we used to.” she sighed as she walked them to her office.
“Last updates I have heard on the case before that fax from Agent Bianchi was with that Baker kid, and that went nowhere. From what you said you have a few more updates in the same line. You want to talk to the family too?”
“We just came from there, actually. We were wondering if you could tell us a little about the details of the investigation, answer a few questions we had, let us look at the evidence. There has been another disappearance that bears similarities to the Williams case and we hoped reviewing it might lead to resolving both.”
“Well sadly not much to tell about the investigation except a lot of dead ends.” They had reached Detective Davis’s office, and Mulder and Scully took a seat.
“It’s been bothering me for years, she just didn’t seem like the type to run away, but I suppose you never can tell what is going on behind closed doors, as I am sure you know.” She grimaced, giving the agents a commiserating look.
“Was there any way she could have got out of town on her own?” Mulder asked.
“We checked public transport records and recordings, there weren’t any reports from the bus station or train, so would have likely been a car or hitchhiking if anything. But she didn’t even pack a bag. Her allowance money was left stashed away in her room, and everything left undisturbed. Not even her toothbrush was gone. Didn’t feel like a runaway”
“What about the neighbors? Did they see anything strange? Anyone with records?”
“No, all the nearby ones didn’t notice anything that night, outside of the trick or treaters, although there was a point a couple claimed they saw the lights go out. We checked and there were no power outages on the street. And no one who lived nearby was suspicious. None of them had records related to this type of crime. They all came up clean”.
“What was in the house? Anything unusual that you or the state police found?”
Detective Davis pushed a file over to them, and flipped it open to photos of the Williams house.
“You can see here there wasn’t that much out of the ordinary, probably looked the same from what you just saw. Just normal middle class family things, and teenage girl stuff in Sarah’s room. Books, records, posters, glitter, makeup. Well except with her little occult obsession, or rather fairies I guess. I believe we had a note of that in the file. She had a collection of iron nails, sticks, rock salt, and some books about Celtic mythology,German stories, all that shit.”
“Yes, we saw some of that when we were at the Wiliams’s house“
“We thought it might show outside influence, but she wasn’t connected to any weird groups or cults,it was mostly material she scrounged out of the library and local bookshop. Not even letters corresponding with anyone into that stuff. Ruled that out fairly quickly. State troopers asked their staff psychologist and he suggested it was related to the paranoia that parents mentioned, some sort of delusion or compulsion. “
“We flipped through some of the books over the months, most of them were old or pretending to be dead serious, fighting off ghosts and vampires and fairies and hobgoblins and all those sorts of critters. There were underlined passages that at one point we thought may have been her and a kidnapper communicating with the library books, we looked at more in the library that she had checked out then. But it was a dead end. Nothing to do with anything, no hidden messages, she was just obsessed with fairies and trolls and monsters as if they were out to get her. Not quite right in the head”
“Did her family say this was common then?” Scully asked, concerned, the picture the Williams painted hadn’t shown the girls obsession to run this deep.
“They said she was always–hmm– imaginative, you might say. Just took a turn for the worse later. Linda Williams got downright mad when we suggested that she may have a mental illness.” The detective snorted a little.
“Was Linda not cooperative then?”
“Well, let"s put it this way, she always managed to make things about herself. When we tried to investigate her boyfriend, she got shocked that we would suggest that, and said we were blaming her for putting her daughter at risk and ruining her relationships. During one of the interviews with state troopers she accused Robert Williams of trying to frame Jeremy Jones to get revenge on her. She acted like she was in one of her own shows. I can see how she made it into soaps later. She did keep bothering you guys to look into it though so I suppose she did do something useful”
“About Mr. Jones, he is noted in the file and the Williameses mentioned him. They said you’d asked about him, if they knew of him paying extra attention to Sarah.” Scully commented.
The detective scowled “Right from the start he made the most sense to me. Usually it tends to be someone close to the kid in cases like these, right? There was no one else Sarah really knew that we could find. No real bullies or stalkers at school, and despite the family tension everyone knew Irene and Robert Williams would be incapable of hurting the girl or hiding her whereabouts. Linda too, as much as she was theatrical, didn’t seem the type, unless the girl had maybe tried to run away to her. But Jones seemed like a real possibility. He and Linda led a rather bohemian life, they were both erratic at times but he had a bit more of a record than her occasional stunts out partying that made it into the gossip columns. ”
“I didn’t see a criminal record on him mentioned in her file”
“Not officially. Mr. Jones managed to avoid serious brushes with the law and we had trouble finding any documentation on him let alone a criminal record, but there were some parties and crowds he had been noted as a guest at that had an ugly side. That isn’t uncommon in New York, NYPD usually looks the other way or people have them outside the city. When we interviewed him he admitted he had been to a few of these gatherings and knew some of the individuals but brought up that there was no record of him having participated in anything illegal. Threatened legal action if we tried to make them more public, as it might damage his reputation and livelihood.”
“Did her mother voice any concerns about his behavior towards her?” asked Mulder.
“Linda said he got along with the girl, she looked up to him. But she had been going through a phase where she wouldn’t talk to him when she called her mother. Begged off another weekend visit when she heard he’d be there, said she just wanted time with her mom. Linda said she wasn’t aware of any fight and Sarah was just going through a phase.”
“That seems suspicious doesn’t it?” Mulder said incredulously
“You’re telling me. He seemed spaced out some of the time, almost lost in another world, but quiet adroit at handling himself with the law. Just talking to him, he was very charming, but you know how you can tell a perp knows you suspect what they did but is just toying with you? That is what it felt like. He had the state trooper investigating eating out of his hand at first. But by the time I interviewed him with our chief, it was clear he was playing games with all of us. He kept giving evasive answers. I swear he knew something about it at the least”
“But they just dropped charges against him.” observed Scully.
“Apparently he was yanking our chain. Or at least that is what FBI and state troopers said. We found evidence that he was at a party with Linda the weekend Sarah disappeared, out on a boat until 2:00 am. It would have been impossible for him to make it out to her home and do anything, and get back in time for the rest of the evening. I thought he was still involved though, but we were told not to interview him again in case we drew fire as a department. State troopers and FBI dropped it. Nothing else makes sense though, and there was just something about his smugness that rubbed me the wrong way. It felt almost inhuman somehow, how he was able to treat it almost like a joke. It’s not so unusual to meet some of those types in the city though, men who think they are above the law or too clever for it and can get away with anything.”
“Did anyone check to see if he had arranged to meet up with Sarah somewhere? I know her family said she was avoiding him, but maybe that was deception on her part. Or he could have been threatening her. “ Scully mused.
“I am afraid nothing turned up. No associates that we could trace either who could have been involved then.”
“Have you tried to question him again and see if he might be more helpful?” Mulder asked.
Davis gave them a look “Haven’t been able to, at least last time with the Baker boys report. He went off traveling a few weeks after we questioned him. By all accounts he dumped Linda shortly after Sarah’s disappearance, she blamed it on the police and her ex setting us onto him. I doubt it was fear though. It seemed he was growing bored with Linda Williams. His lawyers said he hadn’t been in contact since settling accounts, and had simply left word he was out of the country and instructions to hold mail for him. Hasn’t shown up on interpol from what we can find or in the news that I have been able to see, although attempts to find contact information for him outside his lawyers haven’t turned up much.”
“That is an area that we may look into.” Scully gave a meaningful look to Mulder, it was clear he was finding her serial mundane offender theory more credible.
“May we see what is in evidence?” She continued.
“Sure, hopefully you can make something out of it.”
They followed the smalltown cop down to the old building"s basement where the evidence room was, she flipped on a switch, flooding the room with sickly fluorescent light. There were stacks of gray metal shelves in the center and filing cabinets.
Judy gestured to a table “I had Jim pull those down for you earlier; that is what we kept from the investigation that the Williams haven’t collected. Personal police records are right here, although you all should have copies of most of the relevant reports.” she left several manilla envelopes on top of the boxes.
“If you have any further questions, you know where to find me”
“Thank you Detective Davis, we will try to make sure you are informed if we make any headway in Miss Williams case” Mulder told the departing officer.
Scully walked over to peer at the boxes, grabbing a folder. “So what are you thinking Mulder? Still of the opinion that it is little green– gray” she hastily corrected “men?”
Mulder gave her a dry look, as he went to join her in digging through the boxes “I admit that it is looking more like a straightforward kidnapping. However, we know from our own experience even those with a mundane perpetrator involved can still have connections to the supernatural. Although the methods Sarah used to protect herself from attempted abduction doesn’t match the usual profile for abductees; it is strange that her and Charlotte have the same unusual coping mechanisms. So no, probably not one of the usual alien abduction cases”. He frowned a little.
Scully pursed her lips as she pulled the box closer towards her “I think you are right about a connection with these cases though. More than the birds, the obsession with fairytales may mean there was some sort of connection to the perpetrator.”
“Okay okay, you don’t have to say it, you were right Scully, the boyfriend does seem suspicious. We will have to check him out in our own database. I wonder if he is still in New York? We could even try to find him ourselves.”
“I would like to do that if possible, but Detective Davis did say he was out of town last time they tried to contact him about the Baker boy"s sighting.” Mulder said lifting a loose cardboard lid.
“Judy and Mr. Williams mentioned a diary, any sign of that?” Scully asked.
“I have some of the books here, but I am not seeing it. Maybe further down” Mulder coughed slightly as dust was stirred up off the stacks of hardcovers.
“Yeats, MacDonald, Doyle"s Coming of the Fairies, oh look she even had Jack Zipes and von Franz” Mulder said approvingly, noting books from his own collection. Scully was busy pulling out a stack of letters, mostly between Sarah and her mother or her father from the looks of it.
“Ah– found it! I definitely want to check this out and scan some copies before we go.” Mulder reached in to grab the blue and gold leather bound journal, but something else seemed to catch his eye.
“Hey Scully, you know literature, have you ever heard of this book before?” Mulder held up a bright red book that showed signs of heavy wear, threads bared here and there on the cloth binding. It was overflowing with bookmarks and post-it notes, some tape along the spine.
Scully looked up from the letters “The Labyrinth? No, but it looks like Sarah must have loved it” she replied, intrigued.