Chapter Two – Making a Murderer

Alice stepped out of the shower and grabbed her towel. Her palm still stung from where her nails dug in, but she figured the pain would be gone by the morning. She wrapped the towel around her body and headed into her bedroom.

Maybe Keller was right. Was she just throwing herself into these cases to distract herself from her shattered marriage? Where did she and Hal go wrong?

She was sitting on the floor of their bedroom in Boston waiting for the pregnancy test to be done. Hal pacing around nervously, glancing at his watch.

"Has it been 20 minutes yet?" she asked breaking the silence. Hal stopped pacing and sighed.

"I'll go grab it." he left for the bathroom.

She remembered their fight from the night before. Alice and Hal were fighting again about her wanting to go to law school. It would have given her something to do her just months after their marriage. She wanted to do it because this was what she dreamed of since high school. She thought life after college would be easier, but it was hard for her to find work. Beside, she didn't want to move to Riverdale to spend another waking moment with his parents, let alone work for them at the Register.

After the argument, she threw up in the bathroom for almost the remainder of the night. Then she remembered that her period hadn't come yet. She went with Hal to the drug store that morning to get a pregnancy test. Now it was just a waiting game.

Hal returned from the bathroom holding the test in his hands. Alice quickly stood up and stared at him.

"Well?" she asked, but he didn't respond. He just kept looking at the test, his face emotionless.

"Hal? What does it say?" she moved closer to him, placing a hand on one of his wrists. He looked up at her slowly, then turned the test up. There was a little plus sign on the screen.

"We're gonna need to buy a bigger studio apartment." He smiled softly.

She felt so many emotions at once. Her eyes were watering up and she placed one hand over her mouth. This was happening. She was really pregnant.

"Hal!" she cried as she hugged him. He lifted her and spun her around, laughing. When he brought her back down, he cupped her face with one hand, muttering "I love you," and kissed her.

She never wanted to admit to Hal the other emotions she was feeling that day. Yes, she was happy that she was pregnant; but it was pushing back her plans even further.

Maybe that was where it all began. Or was it the two of them and a young Chic having to move to this screwed up town in the first place, all because his parents couldn't afford to keep running the Register….

"No." she told herself. "Not now." And besides, she couldn't get her mind off the case. No, it wasn't the case, it was him. His smug look, his smirk, his cruel laughter. It all became engraved into her mind, and it infuriated her.

She slid on some underwear and grabbed one of her wool sweaters to throw on. Alice turned off the bathroom light and made her way over to her bed in the dark, tossing the towel on the floor. She would grab it in the morning; she was too tired now. She made herself comfortable under the covers before grabbing her phone to set her alarm.

Jesus, was it really 1:17? She set her phone down and rested her head on the pillow. She needed sleep, for this case, on top of everything else, was going to be one hell of a ride.

XXXXXXXX

There was someone banging at the door while FP was finishing his toast. He got up from his seat and shuffled, still somewhat sleepy, to the door.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!" he called out to whoever was outside his home this early in the morning. He needed to get to the autopsy on time or else he would get stuck facing the endless wrath of Alice Cooper.

He opened the door to find a young Serpent boy with long black hair and light eyes, trying not to freeze in the cooler weather.

"You better make this quick, Joaquin. I need to get to work soon." FP said, letting Joaquin inside.

"So is it true?" Joaquin asked, making his way over to the kitchen and sitting down at the table. "You were the one that got the Snake Charmer arrested?" FP's eyes widened.

"Who told you?" he stated through gritted teeth.

"Relax," Joaquin responded, raising his hand. "Tall Boy did after our meeting last night, in private." he emphasized.

FP joined Joaquin at the table, clasping his hand together.

"He didn't bring you up when talking to the others. They were trying to figure out how it all went down and what to do from there. But no, you weren't brought up once."

"Then what's the point of you coming here?" Joaquin looked over his shoulder, making sure no one would come bursting through the front door. He turned back to FP and answered.

"You need to be more careful, that's all. There are a handful of us who known that you're PD, but what if the rest of the Serpents found out? How do you think they're going to respond?"

He knew Joaquin was right. FP had only rejoined the Serpents recently for the sake of doing his work with Keller. And if anyone found out why he wasn't always at the meetings, or avoiding nights at the Whyte Wyrm…

"I hear you." he said, putting his hands down on the table and getting up. He walked over to the closet and pulled out a flannel. "But you won't have to worry about that as of right now. Keller's got me doing other business. In Riverdale and Greendale."

"What's that Sheriff got you up to now?" Joaquin asked, standing up. FP grabbed his keys from the kitchen counter and turned off the kitchen lights.

"He's having me go after some killer." He walked out of the trailer with Joaquin trailing behind. He began making his way over to his truck as he continued, "Some dipshit killed a woman in Greendale, and we think he might have been behind the shooting at Pop's."

"Don't tell me you're working this by yourself." FP stopped in his tracks. Jesus, he almost forgot entirely about her. He shut his eyes and exhaled in frustration.

"I've got a partner…...she's just…"

"What?" he heard Joaquin call from behind him.

What was she? Intense? Terrifying? FP didn't know exactly how to describe Alice Cooper. She was nothing like he expected, following from their first unofficial meeting. She was attractive at a first glance, yes, but seeing her for her hyperintense personality, he was conflicted. He was almost sort of…..impressed.

FP laughed. He knew exactly what she was.

"She's a stick in the mud." And with that, FP got in his car and drove off.

XXXXXXXX

Alice was worried that she wouldn't make it to the autopsy on time. It was 8:56 and she was running to the building. Alice had overslept her alarm, and it was Chic who had to get her up. She was at least relieved that Chic was able to catch a ride with his friends to school so it could give her more time to get ready. But it still angered her that this happened in the first place.

And she thought her partner was the screwed up one.

She walked past the woman at the front counter, moving her way to the back where Keller would be waiting for her.

"Excuse me, miss?" the woman called out. Alice didn't have time for this now. She opened the door leading into the back. She expected just Keller to be there and hoped that he wouldn't be there. At least not on time.

But FP was there alright. He was sitting across from Keller holding a coffee cup in his hands. He looked at her and smirked.

"Morning, partner." he spoke. But she ignored him, immediately walking over to Keller.

"I'm not too late, am I?" Keller met her halfway and raised his hand to her.

"You're fine. Our guy's not ready for us yet. I'm gonna grab some coffee, so if he's ready, wait til I get back." He moved around her and headed back to the front area. She looked up at the ceiling as the door closed. She didn't want to look at him right now. But she could feel his eyes on her. Alice sighed and looked down at FP, glaring at him.

"What?" he asked. "Already eager to start round two?"

"Don't." she spat out, looking at the wall in front of her. They were silent for a bit, then he stood up, speaking again.

"Don't you think it's weird?" She didn't respond. She didn't look at him.

"That I'm the one out of the two of us that was here early? Look at the odds of that." She was clenching her fist and digging into her palms again. If Keller and the woman weren't out there, she would be more than willing to give this man a black eye…..or two.

"And you're the one that's supposed to be the control freak." She stared at him, cold and hard. And he just smirked. That's it.

She dropped her bag to the floor and moved forward, about ready to go at him. But then the doctor they were meeting with opened his door and came out into the hallway. FP looked at her for a moment (We don't need to be making a scene, Alice) and moved to meet the man.

"Are you two with the police?" FP was about to respond, but Alice jumped in front of him and extended her hand out.

"Yes." She shook hands with him. "Detective Cooper, and this is my…." she looked back at FP, not knowing what to label him. She raised her brow at him (You're call, partner, she thought, mimicking his voice in her head) and he moved to shake hands with the doctor.

"FP Jones. Kind of new to her neck of the woods." he stated, making the doctor lightly chuckle. Fucking asshole, she thought.

Keller came back into the hallway and joined the trio, holding Alice's purse in his free hand.

"Dr. Hopper. Are we ready to go?" he asked, handing Alice back her purse.

"Body's all set up." the doctor responded, motioning the police to follow him. Keller held Alice back for a moment while FP followed Dr. Hopper.

"Are you alright, Alice?" Keller whispered. "You're not having issues with FP, are you?"

"Please, not now Keller." Alice walked away from him and headed into the room.

The autopsy went quicker than anticipated. From Hopper's investigations, Grundy, whose real name was Jennifer Gibson, had died from serious inflictions to the head while also receiving blows to her rib cage. Hopper theorized that the man who had killed her might have been an ex lover seeking revenge. Alice, who had been recording the audio onto her phone (she always did that in case she needed information for filing later, but she never admitted that to Keller), knew that this didn't add up.

"So," Keller began to ask, "is it possible that Grundy's killer might be…"

"A Serpent?" FP interjected. "Can't be."

"Well, it would make sense." Alice commented, smirking back at him. Keller thanked the doctor and escorted the two out of the room. FP walked ahead of them, giving Alice enough time to talk to Keller.

"Keller," Alice began, "if you want me to check back up on Archie Andrews…" but Keller wasn't paying attention. He obviously wasn't interested, bastard. He moved ahead to join FP and began to talk to him. She could tell he didn't want their conversation to be heard.

"Can you look into that, Jones? Get some of your friends to find information?" she could hear him asking FP.

"Let me see what I can do." FP replied, looking back at her. He winked, and left the hallway going back out to the lobby. Alice's mouth hung open and her finger extended at him. What was going on?

She rushed up to Keller and grabbed him by the arm.

"Um, what were you two talking about? And where the hell is he going?"

"None of your business, Alice. Let's just go back to the station." Keller replied as he lead them back out to the lobby of the building.

"Hold on." she exclaimed stopping Keller in his path. "You said we had to work this case - TOGETHER. AS PARTNERS. Or did you just suddenly forget everything we talked about last night?" her voice escalated.

"Alice, I have FP working on certain things for a reason that are nothing concerning you. Now if you need something to do, we need to run through a suspect list back at the station with Archie, since he saw this masked shooter."

Alice sighed and walked out with Keller. Okay, so she could go through suspects, but FP…..what was he up to?

Maybe during her lunch break she could catch up to where he was going.

XXXXXXXXXX

FP waited outside the Whyte Wyrm in his truck. He examined the Grundy files Keller gave him and looked through witness accounts. No one according to the reports exactly saw what this freak looked like, except he mostly wore all black.

He looked up just in time to see a young girl with tan skin and cotton-candy pink hair making her way to the parking lot, examining her surroundings. She met eyes with him and hurried over to the truck. FP unlocked the doors so the pink-haired girl could climb in. She slammed the door and looked around.

"Relax, Topaz. I made sure no one followed me here."

"I'm just trying to be safe, FP." Toni looked over her shoulder before making eye contact with him again. "So is there a reason why you had Joaquin ask me to meet you here? Or were you just looking for me to have an unexcused absence on my record?" She was right. He knew how much school had meant to her. Unlike the other younger members of the Serpents, she took her education seriously.

"I need you and your crew to look into something for me." He said as he gave Toni the Grundy files. "A woman under the name Miss Grundy was murdered last night in Greendale. She used to work as a music teacher down at Riverdale High."

"Wait," Toni began. "Is this the pedo lady that was sleeping with her students?" FP's eyes widened at her.

"What?" Toni rolled her eyes and continued, shifting in the passenger's seat.

"Rumor has it that while she worked at RHS that she was having affairs with her students that took music with her.

"The fuck are you hearing all of this?"

"It's Southside High. Shit spreads around like wildfire there. Also, I know a couple of kids at Riverdale that knew it was happening." This is exactly why he recruited her to gather information for him.

"Well then…" He began, but didn't know how to finish. How was he going to report this to Keller? And what would she do if she were to find out?

"I'll have Sweet Pea and Fangs look into it with me."

"Thank you." he smiled at her.

"Okay, I'm gonna go back to school now." she opened the car door but FP put a hand on her arm.

"Wait, just one more thing. Can you grab the storage keys from the office upstairs?" he gestured to the upper half of the Whyte Wyrm, where their office was. "I need to look at something over where Peabody was arrested."

"Fine." Toni sighed. "By the way, if anymore of us find out that you're acting as a double agent-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." he waved her off. "Joaquin already lectured me this morning about it. Just do it for me, will you? And be quick."

"Okay." she sassed back at him, exiting the truck and heading into the bar. FP tossed the file onto the empty passenger's seat. He went to readjust his rearview mirror when he noticed a green convertible entering the parking lot. Shit.

He kept his eyes on the convertible for what seemed like minutes, waiting for something to happen. He couldn't make out who was in the car.

He didn't notice Toni tapping on his window dangling the keys from her fingers. FP rolled down the window and took the keys from her hands.

"Thanks. Now get back to school, Topaz. We might need you as the next Snake Charmer some day."

"That is if I decide to go to law school." Toni stated. "I'm still set on going to art school for photography."

"I know." he smiled. Toni waved goodbye and walked off. FP rolled back up his window and flipped through the keys. Four keys later and he landed on the set to the storage unit where he and Tall Boy met Penny.

He was about to pull out of the parking lot when he heard a slam on his window. He looked up and saw Alice glaring at him. He practically jumped in his seat and set his hand down to keep him upright.

"JESUS!"

"Sorry!" she exclaimed with an angry smile on her face, "Was I interrupting you in the middle of your Serpent activities, FP?" He took the pressure off his hand and rolled down his window. He leaned out the window looking up at her.

"I take it that's your piece of shit vehicle behind me?" he asked gesturing to the green convertible behind him. "And how exactly did you take time out of your precious schedule to stalk me?"

"First of all, that piece of shit vehicle is a 2013 make and has been with my family for the past few years. Second, your truck is no expensive carriage either. It wasn't hard to drive down every corner of the Southside to find it." Alice crossed her arms in front of her and smirked.

"Wow, good sleuthing Sherlock." he complimented sarcastically.

"And who, pray tell, was that young woman you were conversing with?" He slowly raised his finger at her.

"First of all, she's in high school, so don't you get any fat ideas. She's one of a few kids I recruited from the Serpents to help me look into some of my cases. I needed to get some information from her." She crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow at him. He groaned and continued, "So yes, I'm doing my damn job, Warden Cooper." Alice rolled her eyes at her.

"You don't believe me? Think I'm just slacking off in a bar? You really want to be nosy and figure out what Keller has asked me to do?" She didn't respond. FP grabbed the files from the seat and put them up on the dashboard. He patted down on the seat and smirked at her. "Why don't you come join me then, partner?"

He watched her as she internally debated on whether to go with him. She took a deep breath in then tilted her head towards her vehicle.

"Fine. But we're going in my car, partner." Wow. That's a first.

"Glad we're on the same terms, but…." he stated as she began to walk away, stopping her in her tracks. She looked back and glared at him.

"Out of the two of us, I'm the only one who knows where we need to go." he smirked.

XXXXXXXX

He waited for the Serpent and his female companion to leave. He remembered seeing them in Greendale the night before. He wasn't sure whether to stick around the crime scene after murdering Jennifer Gibson, but he was too curious to see who was onto him.

They seem like an odd pair, the hooded figure thought to himself. Why would the town Sheriff pair these two together?

They pulled out of the parking lot and drove off. He waited a few minutes to let them have a head start. Then he followed after them.

XXXXXXXXX

Ten minutes later of driving and awkward silence, they arrived at the garage. Alice spent the minutes of the uncomfortable car ride glancing at the autopsy reports, not daring to look at FP once. She glanced up at the garage, which for the most part had been roped off with caution tape. FP turned off the ignition and began to exit his truck. She looked at him as he was about to leave.

"You coming, Cooper?" he asked, breaking the silence. She huffed, and left the truck.

They made their way to the garage door and he took out the keys to unlock the door.

"Warning you," he said as he fiddled with the lock, "this place has shit for lighting, so watch your step."

"I can handle myself, Jones." she spat out. He looked at her as the lock became undone.

"Okay." he muttered as he pushed the door open. Alice stood there in the cold. She could feel the temperature dropping, even though it was only around noon. Alice stared at him as he gestured for her to enter.

"After you." She didn't respond; she just walked in, taking the ring of keys from him.

The room had been cleared out for the most part, except for a few crates. FP was right about the lighting being shitty; some of the overhead lights began to flicker and one went out.

"Over here." she could hear FP calling from behind her. She turned around and rushed over to where FP was standing. He glanced over a desk behind one of the empty crate piles, trying to pry it open.

"What exactly is it we're looking for?"

"A client list." he responded not looking up at her. "Keller thinks whoever killed Grundy must have been connected to the Serpents, whether it was buying drugs on helping with smuggling. Where are those keys?" he asked, holding his hand out. Alice looked down at the keys for a moment before slamming the ring into his hand. He tested the keys out on whatever was keeping the desk locked. Alice looked around the garage, making sure that no one was going to follow them in and attack them.

"Did you know that she was sleeping with her students?" he asked as he worked with the lock. She glanced down at him.

"What?"

"Had a thing for kids in her classes. Thought of it grosses me out." He finally got the desk open and examined the different piles of paper, looking for any sign of a client list.

"Are you high on fumes?" she bursted, joining his side and grabbing him by the arm. He stopped his search and glared. "Where did you hear this lovely piece of information?"

"My sources, Coop." She glanced up at him slowly, then released her grip off his arm. They didn't speak to each other for a moment, just staring at each other. Maybe FP was proving his worth after all.

"The list?" Alice asked, breaking the silence.

"Right." FP said, coming back to his thoughts and turned his attention back to the pile on the desk. He scowled through until he found a smaller piece of paper with scribbled handwriting.

"This might be something useful." he handed the paper to her. Alice took it and looked through.

"Anything about a Gibson?" he inquired.

"No, just...I can't read what any of this is saying." And that was the truth. The handwriting on this paper was too difficult to read.

"Let me see. I can probably decode shitty handwriting." he took the paper back.

"Remind me again why we're looking for this Gibson guy?"

"This might sound crazy, but something's bugging me about this killer."

"And that is?" she tilted her head up at him. He sighed and continued.

"I think whoever killed Grundy is the same person who shot Fred Andrews at Pop's." She didn't say anything. She was stunned more than anything. He was coming to the same theories she was. Maybe this FP guy was smarter than she thought. She straightened her head, not letting her eyes off of him. FP glanced over behind her and his eyes widened.

"What?" He didn't answer. "FP, what is it?"

"Get down!" He shouted as he shoved her to the side. A gun shot rang through the air.

XXXXXXXXXX

It was FP who saw the dark figure walk into the door.

"What?" he heard Alice ask him, but the dark figure was coming towards him. The figure was wearing a ski mask and all black, wielding a gun.

"FP, what is it?" The figure raised the gun at them.

"Get down!" FP shouted, taking Alice by the arm and shoved her out of the way before the attacker could shoot at them. They both landed on the ground as the figure shot the window above them, shattering the glass. FP placed his hand on her shoulder and helped her up.

"What the fuck-" Alice began to ask, but the attacker fired another shot.

"Come on!" FP gritted as he grabbed Alice and ran off behind the crates.

Alice and FP hurried to the other side of the garage, keeping themselves distant from the shooter. They pulled over to a crate where they were out of sight and stopped for a moment to catch their breath.

"Please tell me you're carrying." FP whispered as he glanced over his shoulder to see if the figure was following them. Alice took out her gun from her belt and cocked it back.

"You're an idiot if you think I'm not carrying on me." she retorted back. "Move." She pushed him behind her as she stepped out the open space.

"Hey! What are you doing?" The figure appeared from the other end of the space and moved closer to them. Alice raised her gun and fired a shot, but the figure dodged the bullet.

"Shit." she cried. The figure cocked his gun and raised it at her. Alice was about to fire again when FP dragged her away.

"Are you trying to get us both killed? Let's go!" The figure fired another bullet above where they were. The two made a run for the entrance and came back out into the open. They ran to FP's truck and jumped in. FP fumbled with his own keys for a moment before he turned on the ignition. The figure came out of the garage and raised his gun again.

"Drive! FP, FUCKING DRIVE!" Alice screamed. FP put the truck in drive and sped away from the scene as the figure fired more shots.

XXXXXXXXXXX

He almost had them. The figure attempted to shoot the escaping truck, but to no avail. Now he knew what exactly he was going against.

The man is intuitive. The woman is cocky, for sure, but she was brave.

This was going to be fun.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

FP decided to go to Pop's. He knew it would be risky to come here after what had happening, but he figured Pop would help keep them safe for now. Besides, he was hungry.

The two didn't speak until they reached Pop's. He turned off the ignition then looked over at Alice.

"You okay, Coop?" She looked at him, nodding slowly.

"Let's just eat."

They left the truck and headed into the diner. The bell rang as they entered. Pop Tate stopped mopping the floor and noticed them.

"You two hungry?" he asked the pair. "Go ahead and sit yourselves down anywhere you like. I'll grab some menus."

"Thanks." FP replied. He gently guided Alice to a booth near the bathrooms and sat down.

"Surprised you two came in." Pop spoke as he brought them their menus. "I haven't had anyone come in since…..well, yesterday. If you need to answer me to come into the station for questioning..."

"Not now, but thank you." Alice calmly returned. "I'm sorry about everything."

"It's alright, Miss Cooper." He took their orders then went back into the kitchen. FP and Alice sat in silence as they waited for their orders.

Their coffee came out first. Alice was about to speak, but closed her mouth and sipped on the bitter beverage. She put the cup down and spoke.

"FP, I…"

"If this is about me leading you into a death trap, then-"

"Will you just shut up and listen to me?" she snapped. She took a deep breath and continued.

"Maybe I was a little too harsh to you in the beginning. I didn't want to come to terms that I would be working with someone…..of your caliber. But you proved me wrong. You're doing your damn job, and you saved my life today. If you weren't there, I probably would have been dead." She stopped speaking and took another sip of her coffee. She was clearly shaken up by what happened, and FP could see it in her face.

"So…..is this a you need to be more careful where you take me next time?"

"No." she responded, slowly meeting his eyes. "This is thank you."

Her eyes were vulnerable but steady. She had meant this. She was being real with him.

He gave her a soft smile, and drank his coffee.

They ate their meals and paid the bill at the front counter. They walked out of Pop's and jumped back into FP's truck.

"Do you want to grab your car?"

"Might as well." she answered as she buckled in. "Also…"

"What?"

"My car kind of is a piece of shit. Hal's the one who picked it out."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

They arrived back at the parking lot of the Whyte Wyrm when they noticed something on top of Alice's convertible.

"Is it just me, or is there something on your car?" FP asked. Alice left the truck and walked over to where her car was parked.

There was a small brown paper bag filled with something sitting on the hood of her car, and a piece of paper was wedged in between her windshield and wipers.

"What the fuck?" FP joined her side and went to reach for the bag.

"Wait!" she cried, holding her arm out to stop him. "Slowly." She lowered her arm and reached her hand out to the bag. She grabbed it and pulled it to her. There was something in there causing it to weigh. She opened the bag and FP put his hand in.

"Well?" Alice asked. FP pulled out three things - a brown wallet, a pair of red heart-shaped sunglasses, and the small paper of scribbling they found at the garage.

"Jesus…." FP muttered. They both glanced over at the paper on the windshield.

"Do you think…" Alice began. FP grabbed the paper and unfolded it. It was a letter. Addressed directly to them.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"He calls himself the Black Hood." Alice explained to Keller back at the station. Tom read over the letter as Alice and FP reported what happened to them. "He confessed to shooting Fred Andrews and killing Jennifer Gibson."

"He claims that they were both sinners." FP picked up. "He wants to "cleanse the town of its sins." It's completely fucked up."

"Sounds fucked up." Tom finished the letter and placed it down on his desk. "And you're saying the Black Hood attacked you two?"

"Where I arrested Penny Peabody, yeah." FP replied.

"Jesus." Tom stood up and gestured for Alice and FP to follow him out of his office. "We need to submit this into evidence and run any DNA tests to see if we can get a match."

"Do we need to come out with a public statement?" Alice questioned as they walked down the hallway.

"Not until we get more information. I'm just glad you two are okay. And I'm shocked that you're finally getting along."

The three made their way to the main room where the other officers and detectives were busy at work. Tom pulled aside another officer and headed out to evidence. Alice then turned to FP.

"FP, do you think you could start filing this into the system?"

"Huh?" he asked, confused. Alice sighed and spoke.

"Shit, sorry. I keep forgetting you're not used to this part of the PD. Okay, I'll show you how to file it in real quick." she began to walk to her desk when she stopped in her tracks.

A man who looked around their age with blond hair and hazel eyes stood by Alice's desk.

"Alice?"

Alice stared at him. FP looked back and forth between her and this man. Oh, this must be…

"Hal?"

XXXXXXXXXXX

End of Chapter Two