After a nauseating boat ride to Elk Island (Harold ended up getting seasick and threw up off the side of the boat), the kids made their way to the cave entrance they were at last time. By now, the sun was setting, and the entrance was looking more grim with less light coming through it.
"Maybe this wasn't such a great idea?" Sid asked, "Even if Ashley was here, she couldn't have stuck around this long."
"Actually, Sid, she only went on the boat once," Phoebe replied, "So unless she swam all the way back to the pier, she would still have to be on the island."
"He knows, Pheebs, he's not always stupid," Helga interjected, "He's just a scaredy-cat!"
"Am not!" Sid cried.
"Then what's the hold-up?" Helga asked, "Let's just track her down already!"
With slight hesitancy, the kids moved forward into the cave.
Inside the aromatic coffee bar, Olga sipped from her hot latte, feeling the texture of both the coffee itself and the milk fall down her throat as she had listened to Haggard's story. As far as she knew, Haggard had a daughter named Ashley and they both recently moved to Hillwood for a job offer he had gotten.
"The job doesn't start until next week," Haggard said, "So I've been wandering around the city to get used to where I'll be living."
"And you're satisfied so far?" asked Olga.
"No complaints here," Haggard replied, "I was worried I wouldn't adjust well to city life, but so far I feel at ease. I can imagine that's why a young lady like yourself would make a life here."
"Well that wasn't always the plan," Olga said, "Until a few months ago, I was teaching abroad."
"Oh?" Haggard asked curiously, "What changed?"
"Daddy's company expanded quite rapidly and has taken up most of his time," replied Olga, "And Mom quit drinking just before I moved back, so she's been taking...certain steps to get her life back on track. She even got a job helping Daddy at the Beeper Emporium."
"Those sound like good things," Haggard said.
"They are," Olga said, "It's just...I missed my baby sister. And with all the time our parents have spent together, I didn't want Helga being left alone."
Olga didn't mention the fact that Helga was basically alone even before their parents turned their lives around. That wasn't something she was ready to divulge to someone she just met.
"You already sound like a great big sister," Haggard said.
"...I wish she saw me like that," Olga said sadly, "I just feel like she deliberately ignores me whenever I'm around."
"It could just be kids growing up," Haggard said, "I remember the first time Ashley screamed at me, she was just 9 years old and she asked her fa...favorite friend to take her to a block party. I told them no because at the time, we lived in a bad neighborhood and did not have the friendliest neighbors. But she really wanted to go, and I wasn't backing down. She argued with me the whole time until her friend said I was right. Then she said she hated us both and went up to her room screaming."
Olga could have sworn that Haggard was about to say something other than 'favorite'. But she figured it was a slip of the tongue and paid it no mind.
"I've been told that's a normal thing for parents," Olga said, "I don't want to sound spoiled, but mine never really drove me to that point. She at least apologized, right?"
"Of course," Haggard replied, "And I'm glad her...friend was there to make amends too. We didn't know it yet, but that friend...that was the very last time we saw him."
"Oh," Olga said, "I'm sorry to hear that. How did your daughter handle it?"
"Not well," Haggard said, being completely honest without telling the whole truth, "But as they say, time heals all wounds. She's been quite..."
As he spoke, he had turned to look out the window of the cafe. To his surprise, Ashley was walking right by when she too decided to look in and see Haggard sitting and talking with a strange blonde woman. Ashley turned back around and entered the cafe, walking right up to Haggard.
"Ashley?" Haggard said, "I thought you went to explore town."
"I did," Ashley said, "Got bugged by some kids playing ball, so I shook them off."
"Ashley," Haggard said sternly, "You didn't start any fights, did you?"
"Of course not, Dad," she said, "But I did mess with them a little bit..."
"Yikes!"
Sid ended up jumping into Gerald's arms at the sound of cracking wood. Needless to say, Gerald was not amused.
"Get a hold of yourself, man," Gerald told him, letting him down easy, "It's just wood."
"Heh heh, sorry," Sid replied, "It's just we've been here a while, guess I got a little jumpy."
"Over an hour, to be precise," Phoebe said.
"And still nothing," Lila said.
"I'm startin' to think we've been sent on a wild goose chase, fellas," Stinky said, "On account'a there being no sign of Ashley anywhere here!"
"Maybe you're right," Gerald said, "It was a good run while it lasted, but I think maybe we got our hopes up."
"I just don't get why Uncle Early would lie about that," Sheena said.
"So...we go home?" asked Harold.
"We go home," Gerald replied.
Gerald, as the de facto leader since Arnold's disappearance, started leading the group back the opposite direction they came in. Phoebe and Helga were trailing along in the back.
"That little skunk," Helga growled.
"We were unlikely to find Arnold here anyway," Phoebe said.
"Not him," Helga hissed, "Ashley! Sending us all the way out here for nothing!"
"Maybe that football-headed boy she saw really wasn't Arnold," Phoebe said, "Perhaps she really was telling the truth."
"As if!" Helga scoffed, "That girl's a schemer! Next time I see her, I'm shoving my fist right down her throat and my foot up her..."
"WAAAHHHH!"
Everyone in front of Helga and Phoebe started screaming simultaneously.
"Keep it down!" hissed Curly, of all people, "They'll see us!"
"Who's they?" Helga asked, "What are you lame-brains talking about?"
Everyone pulled Helga and Phoebe down behind the rocks with them, and Gerald quietly pointed in the direction of one of the caverns up ahead. Helga peeked out and from it, she saw five figures in the distance, none of whom she could recognize...at first. The very first face they recognized was that of Dr. Graf, one of the local physicians. Only he wasn't his usual jolly self. In fact, he didn't even appear to be alive.
"Is he...dead?" asked Sid, starting to panic.
His body was being held by his collar by an all too familiar face to the natives of Hillwood...Spade. He was standing impatiently by the third man, Dr. Kroger, who was completely unknown to the kids, but still rather distinguishable. Two of Spade's fellow thugs consisted of the other two figures standing by him.
"Spade," Gerald said, "If I had a nickel for every story Fuzzy Slippers had about him..."
"Guess the good Dr. Graf was his next target in a long list of needless victims," Stinky said morosely.
"I'm oh too certain Rhonda will be devastated by this," Lila said.
"Guess it's a good thing she didn't come with us," Gerald said.
"Nonsense," Curly said, "It's never as much fun without her here."
"I'm not even in the mood to argue with that," Helga said, "But seriously, what did Dr. Graf do to Spade to deserve this?"
"If I know my criminal activity," Curly replied, "Don't ask how I know..."
"We don't actually care how you know," Helga grunted.
"Point being," Curly continued, "is that I think it's less about Spade and more about our mystery guest standing next to him."
In his own twisted way, he was right. Dr. Kroger gave the order, and Spade and this thugs dropped Dr. Graf's body into the fresh hole.
"How exactly do we explain this to the Lloyds?" asked Spade, "Buckley's not stupid, he'll see a connection."
"We say nothing to them," Dr. Kroger replied coldly, "Now that I have what I want from them, they are of little concern to me unless they threaten to go public about us."
"What about the client?" Spade asked.
"What about her?" asked Dr. Kroger, "The repercussions of Scheck's arrest is her problem, not ours. She can do whatever she wants with her share of the bargain. We have our own goals."
"Suit yourself, mate," Spade said, "But I still think we should work on a cover-up for Graf's disappearance."
"Then make one up," Dr. Kroger said, "If it makes you feel better. I have other matters to attend to."
As Dr. Kroger walked off, Spade and his thugs were whispering among themselves, no longer audible to the eavesdropping children.
"What was that about?" Helga asked.
"None of what they said makes sense," Gerald replied, "I could have sworn they mentioned Scheck at some point."
"They did," Phoebe said, "Even though he's behind bars."
"What are we supposed to do?" asked Harold.
"The logical thing, duh!" Gerald said, "We tell the police..."
"The question is," Phoebe said, "What do we tell them? And will they even believe us?"
"Oh, this is your daughter!" Olga squealed, "Hi, I'm Olga Pataki!"
Ashley didn't respond, but shook her hand anyway, sitting next to Haggard.
"Olga and I met earlier and decided to chat," Haggard replied.
"He saved me from a rather grabby meth-head," Olga said, "Quite the knight in shining armor, he is."
"You flatter me too much," Haggard replied, "Just doing what any decent guy would do."
"Well," Olga said, "There really aren't a lot of those here..."
Dr. Kroger sat in the dingy boat Earl had used to take tourists to Elk Island. Unlike Spade, who rode in on a flashy boat, Dr. Kroger was a bit more clandestine. He had even rolled up his sleeves to not look too proper for the location. But he still looked much cleaner than the scruffy fisherman taking him back to the pier. Once he arrived, Dr. Kroger steadily put both feet back on the docks, and pulled a $100 bill from his pocket.
"If anyone asks," he said, "I was never here."
"My lips are sealed," Earl told him, accepting the bribe.
As Earl put away the rest of his gear for the night, Dr. Kroger pulled out his phone when he felt it buzzing in his pocket.
"Yes?" he answered, "...oh really? Well that is interesting. And you say she's where? No, don't approach her yet, but keep me posted. This is an interesting development."
He hung up the phone and smiled smugly at nothing.
"So...Ashley Cliffe is here."
