When Crossing The Tracks-Sweet Pea

61- checkmate

"None of this makes sense" I said and Veronica sighed "Look, I love you. But I'm not into solving crime like Jughead or Betty" she said "Veronica, it's all so strange don't you think? And if you don't care about the other kids at school playing G&G at least look around, our friends are playing it" I said and she looked behind me at the 4 Serpents "It's such a geeky game tho" Reggie spoke up "Something weird is going on. How do you explain all the seizures?" I asked "Okay" she rolled her eyes and grabbed her phone, going upstairs to the diner "Hey" Reggie said and I looked up at him. He leaned closer over the counter and cleared his throat "I heard there's a new thing that's passed around" he said "What thing?" I asked "Ever since Jingle Jangle has been out of business, everybody was been searching for something else. You didn't hear it from me but...Chuck Clayton talked about it to one of the other guys on the team" he said "What is it, Reggie?" I asked. He glanced around before whispering "Fizzle Rocks" he said "The candy?" I asked confused "Didn't Jingle Jangle look exactly like pixie sticks? Why sell a drug in tiny zip lock bags, might as well scream it from a rooftop. It's smarter to put it in harmless, low profile, kid's candy packs. Think about it" he said "Wow" I mumbled, comprehending his bright theory "That actually makes all the sense" I said "I'm not just a pretty face" he chuckled "Can you find out more about Fizzle Rocks?" I asked and he sighed "But keep it on the down low and don't mention it to him" I said and he glanced behind me at Sweet Pea "He's gonna beat me up when he finds out" Reggie said "No he won't. Come on, Reggie" I said "Okay" he said and I smiled "Good. I'll do some investigating of my own" I said.

Next day, I went over to Cheryl's. There was a thought, lingering in my mind and I think I can find a connection "So, what has brought you to my humble abode?" Cheryl asked as she let me in "I thought your boyfriends had you on lock down" she laughed "Cheryl, do you remember a few months ago when you saw your mom and uncle in the barn with Hiram Lodge?" I asked "Yeah, why?" she asked confused "You said it looked like they were finishing up a deal" I said and she nodded "Did you hear what they were saying?" I asked "No really" she said and I sighed "Tho, I think I've heard Hiram Lodge say something along the lines of 'Glad to be back in business with you' or something like that. Why?" she asked "I think there might be a new and evolved version of Jingle Jangle making it's way around Riverdale" I said "Oh my God" she said "And I think this time, it's not just kids taking it" I said "Alright I'm in" she said "In?" I asked "On the investigation of course. I can't have my name, Blossom, associated with any more illegal crimes happening in Riverdale" she said "Alright" I said "But we're gonna have to tell Toni as well. And Fangs. And ultimately Sweet Pea" she said "We can work around it" I shrugged "No, we can't" she said and I knew she was speaking the truth "Okay just wait a day or two until Reggie comes back with some information" I said and she nodded.

Around school, everybody seemed to be looking over their shoulder a little bit more often than before. With G&G being banned by mayor Lodge, it can't be played just anywhere. That led to kids sneaking to the boiler, janitor's closet or the bathroom on the highest floor that nobody uses, but of course teachers don't know that. I was standing by my locker, looking around the hall. People were acting pretty normal, there wasn't too much whispering "Miss Alvez" I heard and I gasped, turning around quickly "Principle Wheatherbee" I smiled. What does he want? "I have a proposition for you" he said "Okay" I said "Since Miss Cooper has temporarily been taken out of our high school and Mr. Jones missing, the Blue And Gold has been discontinued for the time being. I was wondering if you'd like to work on it" he said "Oh...yeah, sure" I said "I thought so. Here are the keys to the register. I trust you to not cause controversy by being handed this power" he said and I nodded. I shoved the keys in my pocket and watched him leave "What did he want?" Fangs said as he leaned against the lockers "Nothing, just asked me to run the Blue And Gold" I said and he nodded "You're coming to lunch?" he asked "Uh, no. I have to check the register, Jughead's pretty messy so I expect the place to look like a wreck" I said and he nodded, leaving. I shut my locker and hurried to the register. I made sure to close the door behind me and I sat down, opening my laptop. What do I even search for? My fingers typed in 'tampered candy' 'poison in candy' 'candy disguised as drugs', anything with relevancy to what I was thinking. I quickly stumbled upon articles written about candy being tampered back in the 60's and how it's been a thing up to late 1980's especially on Halloween night. Poisoned candy myths seem to have been around for decades, tho the most articles were about poison, razor blades, needles or broken glass. I groaned, deleting my previous search. I thought for a moment and typed in 'party drugs' followed by "common drugs used by teenagers' but I didn't find what I wanted. I typed in something else and my eyes roamed over all the results that came up "Bingo" I said and clicked on one of the links. It was an article in which a DEA agent spoke about drugs that are disguised as candy "Most commonly, we see marijuana and synthetics that mimic drugs like LSD, bath salts...." I mumbled as I read through the article "And even some of the most dangerous drugs such as Xanax, Crystal Meth, Heroin and Cocaine all in harmless appearing candy that most American kids consume: gummy candy, lollipops, rock candy" I said and quickly opened another tab 'rock candy'. A video showed up 'How to make homemade rock candy'. A bunch more videos came up on making homemade candy. But how can I relate this to Riverdale and my theory. I grabbed my phone and texted Reggie. A few minutes later, he walked in "Lock the door" I said and he did "What did you find out?" I asked and he came to sit down next to me "What are you looking at?" he asked "Did you know people have been tampering candy with poison and needles and even drugs since forever? In the 80's, when our parents were going to high school here, hospitals around the United States, offered the most services to check for spiked candy?" I said "Crazy" he said "I know, Riverdale, Greendale, Centerville they all had to submit candy from the stores before being able to sell them" I said "Check what I got" he said and I perked my ears "I can confirm your theory about Fizzle Rocks. At first I might've thought it was only the blue Fizzle Rocks but apparently, it comes in all the flavors" he said "Damn. How do we know which one is the candy and which one is the lace?" I asked "Here" he said pulled out something from this pocket "Told you I'm not just a pretty face" he said and laid out 2 packs of empty Fizzle Rocks on the table "What am I looking at?" I asked "They look exactly the same right?" he asked "Well yeah, at first glance at least" I shrugged "Look closer" he said and turned them around, this one has 3 dot marks below the bar code. This one doesn't" he said and I gasped "Yeah" he said "Where do they get it from tho?" I asked "I don't know yet" he said and there was a knock on the door. I looked up and Sweet Pea was standing there, looking angry "You didn't pull the blinds down?" I asked Reggie and he shrugged. I sighed and got up, opening the door "What the hell?" Sweet Pea yelled as he burst through, followed by Fangs, Toni and Cheryl "I tried to stop him he wouldn't listen, surprise-surprise" Cheryl said "Okay, just listen" I said "I asked you something Lila" Sweet Pea sighed, pinching his nose bridge before running a hand through his hair "I know but I can't let it go. So are you in on it with me or not?" I asked and he glanced around the room "I'll deal with you later" he pointed at Reggie "What?" Reggie asked "It's not his fault, I dragged him into this, as well as Cheryl. And besides, you have no room to speak. You're still playing G&G when I asked you to stop" I said "Okay fine. But no more secrets" he warned and I nodded "So fill us in" Fangs said, leaning against the table. I told them what we knew so far and as expected, they all came with their own commentary on the subject "You think Penny and those filthy Ghoulies have a part in this?" Fangs asked "That's not even a question. Remember what Hog Eye told us?" Toni asked "What?" Reggie asked "One night, he went back to the Whyrm to get some of his stuff from the back when he saw Hiram Lodge there with Penny Peabody, Minetta, your mom and uncle as well as Malachai" Toni said, turning towards Cheryl "I knew it" Cheryl scoffed "My mom doesn't have an honest bone in her body" she added "Why haven't you said anything before?" I asked "I didn't....." she mumbled "I told her not to, okay?" Sweet Pea spoke up "What were they talking about?" Reggie asked "You know how Hiram is building that prison" Fangs said "He wants to keep up his drug business and he wants to use the prison for it" he added "We thought it might be Jingle Jangle again" Toni said "Fizzle Rocks" Reggie said "Fizzle Rocks?" Cheryl asked "Hiram Lodge, of course you had to go and make it even bigger. Who knows what's in these" I pointed to the Fizzle Rock packs on the table "So it comes from the SouthSide" I said "Bet Malachai and the Ghoulies are the dealers, just like before" Toni said "Only one way to find out" Sweet Pea said, crossing his arms over his chest "I'm coming too" I said "The hell you are" Sweet Pea said and I rolled my eyes "Reggie, you think you can get us a pack of this?" I asked "Yeah, I'll get it done. But they're really exclusive" he said and left "You don't plan on taking them do you" Cheryl asked "No, of course not. But we need to find out what's in them" I said "How?" Fangs asked "Well, we have a pretty fine chemistry lab at Riverdale High" I shrugged "How would you know what to do?" he asked "You're not the only ones that have something up their sleeve" I said "Yeah, already learned that about you" he laughed "Cheryl, Toni. You two stay alert around Thistlehouse, maybe look through your mom's things. Anything suspicious" I said and Cheryl nodded, grabbing her bag "Alright, everyone stay safe tho" she said and the two left "I'll go ahead and wait by the bikes" Fangs said and Sweet Pea nodded. As soon as Fangs was out the door, Sweet Pea's eyes landed on me "Please don't be mad" I said "I'm not worried" he sighed, shaking his head. I stepped closer to him and wrapped my arms around his neck while his snaked around my waist, pulling me closer to him "You got everybody doing something, what are you gonna do?" he asked "Sheriff Minetta is missing. Ever since Archie's been out" I said "So?" he asked "Doctor Curdle's son gave me a call, he has a body in" I said "Jesus Christ. Who even is that guy" he asked "It's a long story" I said "Is it Minetta's or not tho?" he asked "I don't know yet. The body is kind of.... butchered" I said "I'll go with you" he said and I nodded "I have to talk to the Serpents first. Grab your stuff" he said and I nodded.

"Alright" Sweet Pea said and cleared his throat "I'm gonna need eyes on the SouthSide, especially eyes lurking around that new prison Hiram Lodge is building. Look at any and every place the Ghoulies migh have taken in their possession and that includes the Whyrm" Sweet Pea said "I thought we aren't gonna risk our lives anymore" one of the remaining Serpents spoke up "Just cause she-" he continued but Sweet Pea cut him off "What she says, fucking goes. If you don't like it, you're free to leave. She's a Serpent just like any of us" Sweet Pea said "Yeah, but none of us spread their legs wide for you" the guy said and stood up "Hey!" Fangs pushed him back down "I suggest you watch it" Sweet Pea said "Yeah whatever" the guy scoffed and spat on the ground "Fangs, you're in charge" Sweet Pea said and put an arm around my shoulders "I don't want anyone ever talking about my girl like that anymore. Or I'll make sure they talk at all anymore" Sweet Pea said and walked us to the car.

Once we got to Doctor Curdle's place, we got out "This place gives me the hibbie jibbies" he said as he walked behind me "Yeah" I agreed "It's even more creepy that you know your way around here so precisely" he said "Miss Alvez" Doctor Curdle's son spoke "Hi, doc" I said and handed him the envelope "You brought company" he noticed the tall Serpent behind me "I suggest you both put these on. The smell is vial" he said and handed us two sanitary masks which we put on "Follow me" he said and opened the door. On one of the tables, there was the body, covered with a white sheet of fabric "I'm warming you, the sight might make your stomach sick, if you're not used to seeing things like this of course" he said and removed the fabric "God" Sweet Pea whispered "Doctor Curdle, is it Sheriff Minetta?" I asked, looking at the body "I can confirm that, yes" he said and handed me the file "I'll need a copy of this" I said and he nodded "This is so fucked up" Sweet Pea said "What exactly was the C.O.D?" I asked. He had his arms and head cut off, but that takes time so he must've been restrained or previously wounded "There's a deep wound on the back of the body, gunshot. You can also see it right here, on his leg" he said and I nodded "But that didn't kill him. It's most likely a result of decapitation" he said "Any ligature marks?" I asked "None on the ankles but right here, on the wrist you can see them" he said "Rope?" I asked "Handcuffs most likely" he said "Fitting" Sweet Pea spoke "Any other markings on the body?" I asked "No" he said and cleared his throat "The body has been found upside down, in a ditch. Most of the blood drained out" he said "Do you know how long he's been dead?" I asked "Roughly a week add or take a day" he said and I nodded "I'll be right back, I'll just make a copy of this for you" he said, grabbing the file and leaving "I think I'm gonna throw up" Sweet Pea said, clutching his stomach "Just a little longer" I said "How come you know exactly what to ask?" he asked "I don't, I'm just going off of things that I want to find out. He's been dead for a week so Hiram Lodge probably got to him as soon as Archie was out" I said and he nodded "What next?" he asked "We wait a little, until we have more information and then we put everything on the board" I said and he nodded "Here" Doctor Curdle said as he came back with a copy of the file "Doctor Curdle, thank you so much. We'll keep in touch" I said and he nodded.

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