What, another chapter, you may ask-hey, I had three days to think about this story, while tending to my own love life(the non-existent one, that is..^^)

I guess, you all are wondering, how Helga is going to worm her way out of this one. Well, we'll see..

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4. Tracking down the suspect

 

Her scowl was deeper than usual, as Helga G. Pataki made her way across the school yard. This was not a good morning, not only did she have a couple of bruises in places, she'd rather not mention, but her whole action had been an utter failure.

Just how could she have been so stupid, as to mistake the copy for her original?

And with the traces she left, Arnold would surely count two and two together, and-

stand at the corner, staring at the pupils feet?

Confused, Helga shook her head, taking a moment to admire her secret love, before she let her usual frown mask her face,

as she made her way towards the main enrty.

"Outta my way, geek-bait! Shove it, dork! And just what the heck are you staring at, football-head?!?" she bellowed, as she build herself up in front of Arnold, trying her best to appear intimidating, although she felt like faltering and swooning at his surprised, and slightly scared, expression.

"Uh, no-nothing, really, Helga, just, you know, looking around and stuff…" he muttered. His eyes were wide as saucers.

Helga snorted in disgust, and, shoving him aside, growled:

"Yeah, well, suit yourself, Arnoldo!"

Holding her head high and stomping down the hall, she continued her usual ritual of bullying every kid unlucky enough to cross her path.

Had she glanced back, she would have seen Arnold kneeling down, and laying a sheet of paper next to where she had stood, mere moments before…

Trudging her way towards her house, Helga pondered, how she could evade Bob's yelling tonight, when a hand shot out of the dark, grabbed her wrist and pulled her into an alley. Before she had a chance to scream, a small, yet strong hand covered her mouth, and an all too familiar voice hushed into her ear:

"Shh, it's ok, Helga, it's just me."

Freeing herself from her would-be kidnapper's grasp, she stared in bafflement at Arnold, his relaxed, half-lidded glare meeting her own fear-widened.

"Are you out of your freaking mind, football-head? You nearly gave me a heart attack there, you stupid goof! What's the big idea, huh? Are you trying to scare me to death, doofus?" Helga screeched, trying to cover her fear and insecurity with anger.

Arnold let her rant for a while, then, when she had quited down a little, he replied cooly:

"We need to talk. Let's go to the park."

Frowning, she rested her hands on her hips.

"And just what makes you think, that I would go with you to the park, Arnoldo?"

He pursed his lips, as he held up a sheet of white paper, with an odd-shaped spot in the center.

"Do you know, what this is, Helga?" he asked. She blinked a few times, before she growled:

"A Rohrschach-test?"

"This, my dear, is a footprint." Rolling her heyes, Helga huffed:

"Oh, wow, the football-head joined the Police Academy. What are you up to now, some kind of detective game, or what?"

Giving a slight, knowing smile, Arnold continued:

"Well as a matter of fact, I, or rather we, did do some criminalistic research, since this is only the copy of the footprint. I gave a second copy to Gerald, we compared it with all other ones we saw, and guess what: we had a 100% match with yours."

"Oh, doi!" snorted Helga, as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Another half-lidded look was sent her way, as Arnold replied:

"Oh, didn't I mention, that the original of this footprint was found yesterday on my bedsheet?"

Blue eyes went big as dishes, as the comment sunk in.                                                                                                     

With a small, confident smirk, he turned around, as she tried to come up with an reasonable answer .

Several moments, all was quiet, then Arnold offered:

"How about that walk in the park now, Helga?"

Nodding feebly, she followed him.

The end

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Just kidding, just kidding, of course, I will finish this story-I only wanted to ruffle your feathers, as it were…^^