Title: Hard As a Rock Author: Claire Disclaimer: Dana Scully, Fox Mulder and others belong to Chris Carter and Ten Thirteen Productions. I borrowed them without permission, sorry. No copyright infringement intended. Story Type: X-File Author's Notes: Any mistakes made with chemicals are mine, sorry but I'm not a chemistry whiz. This may not sound like a 'mask' story it may have started out as one but now I'm not so sure.... I thought of a kind of mask forming around the body. (I know it doesn't make much sense but anyway here it is) Summary: This is a Halloween challenge story in that it's about a sorta mask. ~*~*~* 29 Philino Road Pensylvania 9.45p.m There was a knock at the door. It echoed throughout the house, like a gunshot. There was a clatter of footsteps as a barefoot man answered the door. A face that he almost recognised stared back at him. "Would you like to buy some cloths?" The stranger asked. The man felt a pang of compassion and left the room to get his wallet, although he didn't need any dishcloths. The stranger knelt down over the doormat and then seeing the man returning, quickly got up. He handed over the dishcloths and grabbed the money. The stranger didn't immediately go, he just stood staring at the doormat which the man was standing on. His mouth formed a smile and he left without a word. The man chuckled and began to walk upstairs. He ripped open the plastic bag, to take out the cloths. Upon entering the bathroom, he soaked the cloth in water and began to wash with it. Suddenly he felt the base of his foot freeze up. As he knelt down to rub his foot his hands froze in their position. Slowly, he felt his body hardening up and then he couldn't feel anything. ~*~ 29 Philino Road Pennsylvania Next Morning Mulder and Scully were led to the bathroom by two uniformed men. They stood staring for a minute at the completely still body of 'Joseph Lera'. "And he's dead?" Scully asked the question that both of them wanted to ask at the risk of sounding stupid. "Well we don't know for sure... we assume so... none of our men wanted to analyse him." said one of them, grimacing at the body. Mulder looked closely at the officer's name tag, "Well... Officer Thornton, someone is going to have to do it!!" he announced almost cheerfully ,as he pulled on plastic gloves. The officers turned their backs as Mulder checked out the pulse. "Well." Mulder said raising his head, "Looks like he wont be going to this years Halloween ball" Mulder joked. With that the officers went downstairs, leaving the two agents at the scene. "You know Scully, It's strange, this body is like a rock! It's like this body's," he paused "It's almost like it's covered in some kind of mask, I mean the skin feel it. It's dry but...." He gently took her hand. Scully, smiled. Mulder guided her hand over to the body. She breathed sharply as her hand touched the dry, mottled skin of the body. It was like touching a rock. "There, it wasn't that bad!" he said. "It was worse," said Scully as she walked out the room. Mulder looked up as Thornton rushed into the room, "Agent Mulder, We've found some evidence that might interest you." He lead them downstairs. He handed Mulder a bag, "This, is a whitish powder we found traces of on the doormat." He handed Mulder another bag, "Now this is what we found Near the victim's body." Scully looked down at her hand. A little white powder remained from where she had touched the victims skin. "Have you organised tests for these? And the autopsy? Has that been arranged?" Mulder questioned. Thornton looked uncomfortable "We were thought that. Agent Scully." She nodded. "Scully, I'll leave you to do the autopsy, I'm going to do some research phone when the results come in." ~*~ Mulder's Apartment 5.40 p.m. "You sound like you're a million miles away!" "That could be because l'm using Thornton's phone! Anyway, we have the test results. Those samples, Well they both contain abnormal quantities of Potassium Hydroxide..." "So?" "Well that creates solidity-in other words, hardens things so they become solid, but only theoretically they haven't yet dicovered the chemical that can create that kind of reaction. Causing his entire body to be covered in a mask like skin." "But how could it have reached him? How did it spread?" "Traces were found on the doormat ,so if he was barefoot, which he was, it would have absorbed into the base of his foot. Because hydrogen was present, it helped it spread throughout the body. The man must have had some kind of a cut on his foot ,so the Potassium Hydroxide could go straight into the bloodstream, quickening the hardening process." "Scully, I've found something as well. Just as I left that house, I noticed that the shop across the road had a security camera. I popped in and asked whether I could see the pictures from yesterday. Anyway I noticed that in the corner of the camera picture ,you can see part of the house. So I watched it to see if it showed something. At about 9.45 p.m, a caller dropped by, as far as I could see he appeared to kneel down over that doormat. Then he left." "Did he leave in a company van or a personal car?" "I couldn't see that far. He just disappeared off the edge of the picture." "Do you think that the caller could have planted that powder on the mat? You did say that he looked like he was leaning over the mat." "That's a possibility. But surely Joseph Lera would have seen him doing this? Right in the middle of the door?" "Unless the caller had asked a question which meant that Joseph would have to leave the room... I have to go Anyway, l have to go because David Thornton wants the phone." She hung up. Mulder replaced his phone. Mulder sat back in his seat and switched in the radio, using a remote control He yawned. The doorbell rang. He got up and wandered over to the door. "Hello?" "Would you like kitchen Utensils?" A scruffily dressed man asked Mulder looked at him. The man raised his eyebrows, "hello?" "That's it!!!!" Mulder said clicking his fingers in satisfaction. He slammed the door shut, forgetting about the caller. He grabbed the phone and tapped in Scully's number. "Come on answer............" he said impatiently. "Scully," "Scully, it's Mulder! Look l have an idea how the caller planted the stuff while Joseph wasn't looking. The caller was a salesperson. He was selling something, that Joseph wanted ,so he went off to get his money, leaving the salesperson alone by the door." "But why would he want to kill someone?" "Maybe they had a disagreement. l don't know. But I think we should check sales companies in this area, and see who was trading down this road." "But there'll be loads of people..." "Let's just wait and see." ~*~ Sellalot offices Trent Road The next day "Hi, we're from the F.B.I. Can we have some information please?" Mulder looked hopefully around the noisy office. Only one person appeared to hear him. The secretary. She beckoned for them to come to her desk. "What's the prob. then?" She snapped her gum loudly. "Can we see the manager please?" Scully said. "Oh yeah. Oi, Mal, visiters!" she yelled over to a guy in blue jeans. He came over. "Are you the manager?" asked Scully disapprovingly. "Yeah." "Can we talk somewhere? We're here on a murder investigation. We have a few questions," Scully continued. They were led into a side room. "We wanted to know if you trade round about the Philino Road area?" "Let me check." He tapped a few keys on the computer. "Yes." "Can we have names please?" Mulder asked. "You are from the F.B.I aren't you?" He rechecked the badges. "Sure. Kevin Blakely, Adam Gardener, Mark Colison and Robert Darner." "One last question, are you the only company that trades in this area?" Mulder checked. "We'd better be. I spent a fortune guaranteeing that this area would be for us only." "Have you had any workers recently fired?" Scully chipped in. "One minute..................yes one.......Edward Lirn. Four days ago." "That was the day before the murder," Scully murmured to Mulder. "Can l ask why?" Mulder asked. "We had alot of unhappy customers from his stock. They complained that the cloths he sold were soaked in chemicals." Scully looked at Mulder. "Would he have been able to keep any of this stock after he was fired?" "No way, otherwise he could have resold it." "Is there any way that he could access supplies?" "Only if a coworker supplied them to him. We have high security regarding our stock." "And lastly, where can we find him?" "12 Philino Road,Pensylvania,PT3 5RT." "Thank you very much." ~*~ Mulder's Apartment 2 hours later "Scully, would you like a drink?" Mulder offered. "No thanks." "So have you got any ideas regarding the case?" "Well this Edward Lirn, he lives down the streets to Joseph." "Yeah...he hasn't killed anyone else has he?" "To check l think we should talk to the other workers in this area." ~*~ Kevin Blakely's house 1 hour later 5p.m. Kevin looked suspiciously at the two agents. "l haven't done nothing' wrong," he said quickly. "We're not after you ,it's your partner," reassured Scully. "What has Eddie done now?" he laughed. "What 's that meant to mean?" Mulder said curiously. "Nothing'. Anyway, you coming' in or what?" he invited them in. They sat down on hard yellow chairs. It was obvious this guy had no taste. After all the purple walls did not match the green sofa, which Kevin had slumped himself in. "So why are you talking to me?" "We have reason to believe that you worked with Edward Limn." "That's true. But he was fired days ago." "Do you know why?" "Yeah..." "It's all right we already know. Did you know about it at the time?" "This isn't on the record is it?" They shook their heads. He continued, "I once followed him on one of his shifts. He says he only poisons the dishcloths that he sells to certain people, that he doesn't like." "Has anyone been... killed?" "...um... two people." "Why aren't there records of this?" "He knows people in high places. They cover it up and offer an alternate view." "Have you seen him since he lost his job?" "l saw him just after the news was broken to him. He didn't take it well. said there was one more to go then, then he would disappear forever." "Do you know who this guy was? Oh and why would he want to disappear?" "The guys name... um...? He gave me a weird clue..." "Which was?" "The Multicolour Coat.......yes that's what he said." "In the bible Joseph wears a multicoloured dreamcoat." "Well Joseph Lera's dead already! Was there anyone else?" "Nope." "Do you know a Mr Joseph Lera?" Kevin thought for a while. "Eddie mentioned him a few times... yes it was his last boss when he used to work as a mechanic. He fired him." "l can understand why he wanted to kill him," Mulder joked. Scully looked at him harshly. "Well everything fits in ,but we can't prove it because we don't have the main guy." Mulder shrugged his shoulders. "Mr Blakely, do you think that any of your partners might give us more details?" "Doubt it. Eddie didn't talk much. We had the odd conversation, but that is because we are good friends." "Lastly, do you have any idea to where he is?" "Ask someone else." "Why?" "Because l don't know!!!?" "Thank you." Kevin stayed in his chair, leaving the agents to see themselves out. "One down, three to go!!!" said Scully, sighing as they left. ~*~ Mulder's cell phone "Mulder? Hello? This is Scully." "Hi." "l'm going to check out Mark Colison today. l was hoping that you would meet Adam Gardener and Robert Darner." "Sure. Don't forget to phone me with the details." "OK, good luck." "Same to you." ~*~ The Following Day (5 days since the murder) Mulder and Scully met at the roadside cafe in Pennsylvania. They gathered together all their notes. "Right Scully, what did you find?" "Mark Colison...well he seemed a nice enough guy. But he didn't really know much. As Kevin had said, Edward doesn't talk much to anyone. But Mark did say that he used to go to school with Edward, and he was a whiz at science. Everyone thought he was going to be a scientist but he became a mechanic." Scully referred to her notes, "In other words he went off the rails." "Edward could have killed Joseph because he knew something that Edward didn't want in the open. So he killed him to keep his mouth shut...forever." "Mulder ,haven't you been listening to me? Oh well there wasn't much. How about you?" "Well Robert Darner doesn't exist . I checked everywhere. l had an interesting conversation with Adam Gardener though. He used to be a mechanic. At the same company as Edward. He says that Edward always installed alternatives to petrol, in peoples cars. They didn't appreciate the advice though. He was sacked. And l also asked him whether he knew of Joseph. He said "Oh that was the one that Edward killed." l asked him why he had said that and he replied, "l was there at this murder and the others." "Is he going to testify?" Scully said hopefully. "He said he would. Lets go and see him." ~*~ Adam Gardeners house 2 hours later They stood outside the house for about five minutes, after ringing the bell. The door suddenly opened, startling the agents. "Are you Adam Gardener." "Yeah." He turned round to walk into the lounge He sat down on the only chair. "Is this about me testifying?" "Yes," said Scully relieved. They began talking about the past, Edward and his life. Mulder's phone rang interuppting them. "Mulder." He listened for a few minutes then replaced the flap. He called Scully over. "Blakely was just found in the same state as the other victims." Scully returned to the sofa, "Please continue." Adam just sat there frozen to the spot. Mulder raced over to him and checked his pulse. "Dead," he said slowly. "l think that Edward did this to stop the truth getting out." "lt doesn't help. We need evidence." "l know." They both left the building, neither of them said a word. The End