bitter heart - a jeronica fanfic

part two

The morning after I relived my last moments with Veronica, I decided now I had to stop treating myself like garbage. She wouldn't have wanted me to become a ghost of myself - and a dirty ghost at that.

I changed into a grey t-shirt with a snake on it, and my leather serpents jacket- something I wore often. Jeans would do for today, and I wasn't motivated enough to do anything with my hair, so I shoved my beanie on top.

When I walked into the kitchen my father wasn't there, and I decided to skip breakfast and get right to investigating. I walked towards the door, and it swung open before I even got the chance to open it. Betty was standing in the doorway.

"Oh! Hey Jug- I have to talk to you," she says, and I gesture for her to come in.

"I have to talk to you too," I say, sitting down on the recliner as she politely sits down on the couch.

"Alright, I'll go first- I'm trying to find out who killed Veronica, and I need a partner. You know how we used to solve all those crimes, back when we were together? Maybe we can do that again, for Veronica," she suggests, and I can't help but feel slightly suspicious of her. She was after all, a suspect in Veronica's murder.

"I mean.. okay. Sure," I say, and she jumps up and claps.

"Okay, great! When do you wanna start, partner?" she asks, and I reply quickly and firmly.

"Right here and right now."

She tilts her head, "What do you mean, Juggie?"

"I mean, I wanna start by questioning you, Betty. You are also a suspect after all," I tell her, and her smile somewhat dims, but she remains perky- as always.

"Okay, whatever you gotta do!" she replies, and motion for her to sit back down.

"So Betty, you found Veronica's body, correct?" I ask, and she nods, keeping a tight smile on her face.

"Why did you go into the woods in the first place?"

"Because I wanted to see if you guys wanted to come hang out with us," she replies, and I internally frown and write down, "interesting reason as to why in the woods". Veronica and I made it very clear that that weekend was going to be a couples weekend for us, and to just let us be.

"Okay, and what were you doing before going into the woods?"

"I was drinking and partying like everyone- at first I thought Veronica's body was just me being crazy. That's why I screamed so loud when I found it," she replies, nodding her head in agreement to her own statement.

"Okay.. so what was everyone else doing before you left?" I ask, getting my notebook ready, to compare her story to the others and see if it checked out.

"Cheryl and Toni were in the bedroom messing around, like usual, and I was hanging out in the living room with Archie and Reggie. Both of them went outside in the period I was with them, though, so maybe they killed Veronica then?" Betty suggests, and I wince as she mentions Veronica's name.

"Okay, thank you Betty. That's all I need for now," I stand up and open the door for her to leave, and she pauses in the doorway.

"So we're partners, right Jug?" she asks hopefully.

"No, sorry Betts. You're a suspect- I can't have you interfering with the case," I close the door shut in her face, knowing I may have been being slightly harsh.

I honestly didn't care- all I cared about was bringing Veronica's killer to justice. Suddenly, my phone began to ring- it was from the coroners office.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Jughead. You wanted information about the autopsy?" the coroner asks, and I grin in excitement.

"Yes! Do you have that information ready for me now?" I ask, and I hear the coroner sigh from the other end of the line.

"No, but I do have some information you may find interesting. The family refused to give me permission to do an autopsy on her body."

"What? Why?"

"I have no idea. They said they wanted her preserved for the funeral, and said that if I asked them again they'd file for harassment charges."

"That makes it sound like they're hiding something.. does that raise any suspicion for you?"

"Of course it does, Mr. Jones. But I'm not willing to risk my career for two non-compliant parents. I'm sorry that I can't give you the answer you wanted."

"Thanks anyway," I reply, hanging up the phone.

This entire thing didn't make sense- why wouldn't Hiram and Hermione want an autopsy done on their daughter? Wouldn't they want to know what happened to her?

Unless they already did know- and were trying to cover up their tracks. I mentally slapped myself at forgetting that they also could have possibly been at the cabins. They were planning on coming up the night before, maybe they came up early and killed their own daughter in cold blood?

The gruesome scenario seemed more likely than I had hoped it would, but I needed to write this theory down and move on. Move on to my next suspect- Archie Andrews.