Rebecca's past

[MD2, 10:30AM, Buena Vista Motel]

>Vanessa and Zenya had decided what to do and were >ready to leave.

>"If I get anything, I'll be straight on the cellphone, OK? >You too?"

>Vanessa smiled at his eagerness. "Don't worry, Jim. >We'll give you a call if we need you," she said with a >mischievous smile. Joe Gantry walked out with them, >with Jim already immersed in his work.

Zenya and Vanessa headed out to the car. Gantry, also headed toward the parking lot, fell into step with them.

"How is that you know Rebecca Ericsson," Zenya asked.

Gantry nodded. "I was hoping you'd ask that. It's a hell of a coincidence, but for the life of me, I can't figure how it can be anything more than that."

"What are you talking about," Vanessa asked.

"Well, Becca's folks used to live next door to Kate and me. Becca was just a little girl at the time. As I recall, they were living there when I was working that case."

"Rebecca's from Denver," Zenya asked, surprised.

"Yep," Gantry said. "Funny thing. One day, the family just up and disappeared. Their house went up for sale, and they were gone. Not a word to anyone. Her mom and Kate were notorious fence leaners. They'd stand out in the garden for hours trading gossip. But she never said anything about moving."

"Did the name Cross ever come up in your investigation?"

Gantry shook his head. "Nope. But then, we really never had a solid lead of any kind." He shrugged, then scratched his head thoughtfully. "Closest thing we had was in the second murder."

"Monica Bettencourt," Zenya said, recalling the reports. "She was last seen at a night club in the company of a young man. Someone reported seeing them leave together."

"Right, but no one had any idea who he was. And since it didn't appear that she was being coerced, no one really took much note of it."

Zenya thought for a moment. If some kind of ritual was being performed, certain qualities might be required in a victim. That they be willing to go along with it, but what else might the killers be looking for? "Mr. Gantry, what else can you remember about Monica Bettencourt? Anything at all."

"That was a long time ago," Gantry said. "Memory's not as good as it used to be, but as I recall� I think she'd only been in Denver a short while. She was from Wyoming, or Montana - someplace up north. No family in the area. Real flashy, always trying to stand out in the crowd, according to her friends. Sang with a band. They were performing at the club the night she disappeared." He thought for a while, then shook his head. "That's all I got off the top of my head. I've got my notes from the investigation at home. I'll look it up for you if you think it'll help."

In the car, Zenya settled into the passenger seat, letting Vanessa do the driving, and giving her a chance to think over the new information - what it meant and how to put it to use.

"A husband and wife team of killers," Vanessa said ponderously.

"Rare, but not unheard of," Zenya said. She looked down at the tattoo on her finger and shrugged. "Who's to say what brings two people together, or what makes them stay. Instinct, maybe. They look at each other and recognize something. In one case, maybe its a similarity of experience, the ability to understand each other, and in another, maybe its a depravity that complements their own."

"That group that Gantry mentioned, I wonder if Mary Ritchie was involved in it. Maybe her doctor will know."

[11:00AM, the Smiths' clinic]

>Vanessa introduced Zenya to the doctor, and >explained her reason for coming again.

>"Well, we are actually wondering if you have any >medical records for Rebecca Cross formerly Rebecca >Ericsson."

>"Rebecca? Why would you want that for?" Dr Smith >was surprised.

>"As a routine check on all the kins and closed friends >of the victim, Dr Smith," Zenya answerer quickly. No >use telling the woman any of their suspicsions, and >scaring half of Santa Fe with it.

>"I'm sorry, but I have to disappoint you on that."

>"Why?" Vanessa asked.

>"Rebecca never come to my clinic. Not once. "

>"Then do you know who was her regular doctor?"

>"No idea whatsoever. I do know a few other >doctors, but I cannot remember anyone of them >mentioning that she is their patient. Of course, the >fact that she was not mentioned does not mean that >she is not under one of them. "

>The agents nodded their heads.

>"Is her medical records really of importance?" Dr Smith >asked.

>"It would be better if we do not leave any stone unturned, >Doctor." Zenya informed her. "Look, is it possible if you >gave us a list of the doctors that you think might have been >Rebecca's medical doctor?"

"Sure," Dr. Smith replied, reaching into her desk drawer for a pen and paper.

"Dr. Smith, did Mary Ritchie ever mention any connection to a women's group that Rebecca was involved with," Vanessa asked.

Dr. Smith looked up from the list she was making. "Women's group? You mean Helping Hands?"

Zenya and Vanessa nodded noncommittally, unsure whether or not this was the group Gantry had referred to.

"Of course. Mary got involved with us when she was in college, volunteering her time at a home for battered women."

"Us," Zenya asked.

"Sure. I work with the group. So do most of the doctors on this list. I assumed you knew, since you asked about Rebecca. I met her through Helping Hands."

"Have you ever met her husband," Zenya asked.

Dr. Smith shook her head. "She's mentioned him once or twice, but I don't think anyone's met him."

[12:10PM, Central Hospital]

>"Its okay, Agent Lee. This is just a not a life and death >situation. Just a dead of the dead." The sheriff said, as >he turned to walk into the autopsy room.

>Zenya and Vanessa fell in behind him.

>"Did something hold you up?" Zenya asked, curious.

>Vanessa gave another one of her mischevious smile, her >eyes bright. She put her finger on her lips to signal >silence, and then opened up her bag to show something >to Zenya.

>It was a brown file titled 'Medical Records - Rebecca >Ericsson'.

Zenya decided not to ask how Vanessa had gotten the file. "Anything of interest in there?"

Vanessa nodded. "Rebecca was admitted to this hospital about a year ago. Her condition was never diagnosed, but it was very serious. Several specialists were called in, but none of them seemed to think that she would pull through. She was six months pregnant at time. They thought she was dying, so they induced labor and performed an emergency c-section. There's a note in the file that there was some kind of damage to the uterus, but they didn't go into detail. It was of no consequence since they didn't think she'd make it. Anyway, the baby didn't make it, and Rebecca's condition got worse. The final note in the file is that she was discharged to the care of her husband, because he wanted to take her home to die."

"Well, apparently she got better," Zenya said. "About a year ago, you said? How long was she hospitalized?"

"Three months."

"And six months ago, Mary thought she was pregnant, so we can assume that she'd been seeing 'Mr. Ted' for at least a couple of months."

They arrived in the autopsy bay, where the pathologist was waiting for them. Mary Ritchie's body was already laid out on the table, and the doctor had already started the preliminary external exam. The body appeared to be in fairly good condition, given the length of time between when she disappeared and when the body was found. Zenya took a good look around the room, noticing the array of surgical equipment set out on a table, and started wondering what in the hell she had wanted to be here for.

-----

Sydnie Kathryn MacElroy

SA1 Kate Calloway, X-Files, DELTA
SA2 Zenya Gorky, X-Files, ZULU
Fianna Nikal, Kal-Dixas Spaceport

Linguae quae genera distincta non habent inuriam faciunt feminis.

"It may not be apparent, but I am often amused with human behavior."