The Serpent and His Girl

Something Else

The Sheriff's station was quiet, a slight draft of cold air seemingly always present. Fred Andrews and Pop Tate wait outside of Sheriff Keller's office, each man taking one of the cushioned chairs against the wall. Pop stares off into space, a troubled expression seemingly glued to his face, his kind eyes worn with worry. Fred Andrews bore the same expression, except he was checking his phone for any notifications, calls, anything from Archie. He had been doing this for days, hoping against hope every time that his son would contact him, and his heart ached every time he looked at his lock-screen: a picture of the two at Pop's.

"Fred? Sheriff Keller wants you in for questioning now," the department's receptionist calls to the two men. Fred heaves himself up with a soft groan, walking slowly to the door down the hall marked "Tom Keller: Sheriff". Poking his head inside, he sees Tom Keller sitting at his desk, a tape recorder sitting on top of the wooden surface. A file is open in front of Tom, a pad of paper on top of it.

"Sit, Fred, please." Tom leans forward and motions to a chair across the desk, a kind smile on his aging face. "I just need to ask you a few things about what you know."

Fred nods, seating himself. He looks up at the sheriff expectantly.

"Can you tell me, in your own words, what you know about the abuse to Betty Cooper inflicted by Alice Cooper, her mother?" Sheriff Keller picks up a pen, ready to not only tape record the questions, but hand record them too.

"Well, Sheriff, Betty is my son's best friend you see, has been since they were five years old. I've watched her grow up, and as she got older, I noticed some strange things sir. Looking back I should of suspected sooner, but I just didn't want to be right, I guess. Wh-"

Tom cuts him off, "What do you mean strange things, Mr.Andrews?"

"Well, she'd be playing with Archie and she'd constantly be looking around nervously, like she was afraid of something. Or, Archie would raise his hand- whether it to be to give her a high five or something- and she'd flinch. Like, hunch over or even fall over sometimes like she was afraid of being hit." Fred shakes his head, closing his eyes. "A-and there was something else."

The pen in Keller's hand stills. He looks at the man in front of him, truly. Fred's eyes are worn with exhaustion, fear, and worry. His shoulders are hunching underneath the plaid flannel shirt he's always wearing, and his hands are tightly gripping his knees.

"Fred, what else happened?" the small town Sheriff asks quietly, Fred lifts his head.

"She-she came to visit with me one day, the kids were twelve. It was a cold winter day, she had on a cardigan under her coat. She was crying, no, sobbing. Couldn't get a word out, the poor thing was just shaking. I tried everything to calm her down, even had her copy my breathing. But nothing was working. I called for Archie, thinking he could calm her down. He didn't come down right away, but that was long enough for her to take off her coat. When she was taking off her coat, her cardigan slid off her shoulder and she had her shoulder exposed cause she had a tank top underneath it. I saw...bruises, basically covering her shoulder. It almost looked like hand prints in some places, like she had been gripped too hard. I had thought it was when she had almost fallen through when we went ice skating and Archie had gripped her to keep her up and safe, so I didn't question it. But now, now I don't think Archie could've done that. The hand prints were too big for it to have been him, and too...delicate. Like a woman's hand." Fred lets out a deep sigh, his eyes filling with tears. "I should've known. Alice hasn't been herself since the divorce, and maybe even before that."

Sheriff Keller looks him in the eyes, and clasps his hands in front of him.

"Fred? What do you mean come to visit? Wouldn't she just come over to hang out with Archie, and not just require a visit?"

Fred sighs again, his frown deepening.

"Well, you see Sheriff, she would often come to me to talk. She'd visit me, talk for a while, then go play with Archie. She's been doing that since she was eight and I had to stay in bed cause I had a back injury from working too hard on a project." Keller nods, a small smile gracing his features.

"She's a sweet girl." He comments, letting it out before he can compose himself. "Thank you, Fred. That's all I need from you, please send Pop in."

Fred nods, getting up.

"Oh, and Fred?"

"Yeah?"

"We're gonna find your boy. And Betty too, and they'll be back in Pop's sharing a plate of fries before you know it." Sheriff Keller assures Fred, smiling.