Jughead and Izzy stood outside the Sheriff's station after being practically pushed out of the place.
Sheriff Keller had not only dismissed their theory as wild conjecture, he hadn't bothered to spend more than five minutes listening to them; as he put it 'there was no way of proving what type of watch was on the shooters hands', plus there had been the blatant implication that he thought that Izzy was 'being obsessed' with the shooting and transfixing on it.
The sheriff made a point of the watch being a useless piece of evidence in the investigation as it did not preclude anyone group from investigation, it was a piece of jewellery which was more than likely a fake.
It was just a watch he stated causing Jughead to start arguing back. "Well by that same logic a shoe is just a shoe,Sheriff. If you get called to a crime scene with men's size thirteen foot prints all over the place will you still investigate the people who have size ten feet or will you be look at women cause like you said a watch is just a watch it not evidence of anyone group of people" Jughead huffed feeling frustrated.
"What if those shoes were actually high heels will you be parading men into your station trying to find your culprit knowing they couldn't have committed the crime"
"Yes and the watch isn't just a watch Sheriff, this is expensive, it doesn't hurt to look into other people in town as being the shooter." Izzy added hopping the man would listen to them.
They were onto something she was sure of it.
x.x.x.x
Sheriff Keller may have dismiss the teens out of his office as the mayor and town was using the shooting of Fred Andrews as the excuse they needed to clean up the Southside.
But Tom had worked enough cases in his life to know that witness usually held the key to most crimes and if Izzy believed that the killer was wearing an expensive watch and was from the North side of town then he was going to investigate it; starting with getting quietly getting subpoena from a judge to get the information about anyone who had bought an ten thousand watch from any near by jewellery shop in the last couple of months; it was probably a dead end especially if they bought the watch online but getting the subpoena was still a good place to start.
He couldn't afford to piss of the mayor or the town by saying he had spent days pursuing the wrong suspect and wasting police time and money, he could feel which way the political wind was blowing and the town of Riverdale had already placed the responsibility of the shooting at the doors of the Southside and trying to go against the status quo would find Tom out of a job before days end.
If he was going to investigate this new theory it would have to be alone without the help of anyone from the department.
x.x.x.x
"I ran into Archie this morning he said you left his house in the middle of the night cause something happened with Izzy, is everything okay?"
"Yeah, kinda, last night she thought she had come across a clue to help figure out who the shooter was but according to Sheriff Keller the watch means nothing and we should leave it"
"She found a watch after a week the shooting?"
"No, Izzy remembered that whoever shot Mr. Andrews was wearing an expensive watch but that apparently means nothing. It's like the whole town wants to ignore any evidence that shows that the shooter might not even be from the South side. Keller basically called Izzy an unreliable witness even though he had no problem with her statement just a week ago." Jug fumed.
What was wrong with this town when they would ignore basic evidence just because it didn't fit in with their little story of the Southside being the bad guys
"Jug, Don't worry we will deal with this. Together" Betty stated reaching over the table to clasp Jughead's hand. "What about your dad. What did Mayor McCoy say?"
"Basically there is nothing she can do and I got the feeling that even if there was she won't be lifting a finger to help him. The entire town want to throw the book at him for what happened just so they can wash their hands of it and the only way I may be able to help him is if Cheryl decides to grow a heart and speak up on my dad's behalf."
"Not the entire town. Let me try talking to Cheryl again at school tomorrow maybe I can change her mind but if that doesn't work we will start a petition or something, ask around town and change people's mind. If they felt safe your dad could come home"
"No one felt safe before and now that there is an unknown shooter talking about sin and punishment there is no way that anyone would want someone who dispose of a body on the loose."
"What can I do to help Jug?"
"Just be there. I just need you to tell me that everything is going to be okay. Mr Andrews got shot, Izzy is struggling, Archie spent yesterday looking so angry and I haven't spent any time with you"
"Jug I promise you that everything will be fine, Fred survived the shooting and is recovering, Izzy looked a lot better by the time she left yesterday and she called you so she is opening up and we are spending time together now. You won't lose me"
"What about Archie?"
"We keep an eye out. Archie will be okay as well. Everything will be okay." Betty gave Jughead's hand a gentle squeeze silently offering her support.
At that moment she truly believed that nothing would go wrong as if the universe owed them a break, she forgot that things didn't work out that way.
x.x.x.x
That same night the man who shot Fred Andrews and had gone to strangle Geraldine Grundy over at Greendale had come back to his old stomping ground back in Riverdale and was prowling the street for the next sinner who would face his judgement.
He has targeted two known sinners of Riverdale yet his message hadn't been received, the town was full of sins and if no one stopped these miscreants Riverdale may just turn into the new Sodom and Gomorrah.
His strategies wasn't working.
Going after adults seemed not to affect the town but maybe if he went after more innocent looking resident of Riverdale the town would finally hear his message; no sinner -old or young- would escape his judgment.
He needed to cast a wider net and teenagers were the perfect way of delivering his message, they seemed innocent enough to the majority of people, yet within those mini adult bodies were a bunch of hormones and ill thought out impulses that run rampant causing all sort of destructive and sinful actions to occur on a daily basis.
x.x.x.x
"What can I get you?" Izzy asked already placing the strawberry milkshake down in front of Cheryl while sliding into the booth, knowing her friend wanted to talk but she usually spent twenty minutes throwing up random conversations before getting to the heart of things.
"Is about FP's trail, Jughead just came over and he wants me to speak up for for that murderer and let him get a lighter sentence as if JJ isn't dead. As if my life hasn't been ruined."
Well coloured her surprise. Cheryl had just come out and said what was bothering her without spending hours ignoring the issue.
"I, I... I have no idea what to say." Izzy stood flabbergasted "I didn't even know about the trail
"Probably cause he doesn't want to put you in an awkward position"
"What FP did was messed up Cheryl but you've got to remember that he wasn't the one that killed JJ, that was your dad and punishing FP because you can't punish Clifford also isn't fair. You know jughead-" That sentence caused Cheryl to glare over her milkshake at Izzy causing her to chuckle. "You may not like it but you know Jughead and you know that he doesn't deserve to lose FP to the prison system."
"JJ is dead and no one is getting punished for it"
"... JJ is dead and the person who should be punished for killing him took the coward's way out and let FP to take all the blame and maybe he should" Izzy declared looking at Cheryl trying to see if playing it the other way might get through to her..
"FP could have come forward at anytime, there was nothing stopping him. Your dad wasn't some all powerful monster FP could have just gone to the station and told Keller that Clifford shot Jason and saved months of investigation that your dad forced this town to endure. He watched as your dad bought and harassed the sheriff's department and pushed them to conduct a bogus town wide investigation.
He was being selfish because he knew the investigation will show that JJ was dealing drugs for him. Even if he couldn't go to Keller he could have told you or your mum I mean you would have believe him right.
You would have believed FP if he came and told you that Clifford killed his own son, that not only is he a murderer but he spent months lying to everyone, you won't have assumed that he was the one that killed Jason, right Poppy"
Izzy sat quietly as her words sunk into Cheryl.
"I knew I shouldn't have come here, you want me to let that- that- murderer off the hook when he killed JJ"
"Cheryl your dad killed JJ, I want you to not punish FP because you can't punish your dad but the decision is up to you. Your dad killed Jason and left the body for someone else to deal with, what FP did was messed up but he didn't kill Jason. Just take a minute and play it out… FP wasn't there when your dad killed Jason nor could he have stopped it, he was just a guy on the"
"You just want me to forgive him because of Jughead, you talk a good game about being my friend but when it comes down to it you care more about Jughead."
"Cheryl I am not trying to get FP off the hook for what he did but I don't want to see him punished for something your dad did. FP is an alcoholic and a crappy father most of the time, he shouldn't have helped your dad cover up JJ's murder but he shouldn't be charged with a crime he didn't commit"
"He need to pay"
"Yes he does but for the crimes he actually committed, you get that right. They can take him to trail for accessory after the fact or even abuse of a corpse but the town wants him to rot away in jail just because he is a Serpent."
Izzy watched as Cheryl took a deep breathe while she sized Izzy up, she seen that look before, she knew what Cheryl was like when she wanted to attack someone, whatever she was about to say was designed to hurt Izzy one way or another
"I wonder if you will be saying that if the police found out who killed your mum"
"Cheryl" Izzy began warning her friend, there were some issues that the didn't mention and Izzy's mum or more specifically her mum's death was on that list.
"No, no. You want to sit there talking about how FP doesn't deserve to be in prison when he stayed quiet for months letting daddy get away with murder just so Jughead can keep his dad around. JJ is dead and FP stuffed his body into freezer and then threw him into the lake like a piece of trash. Now you may not care when someone kills your mum but I care about JJ and I want justice"
"You know the only reason I am not slapping the dog shit out of you right now is cause I know you are lashing out…. but that being said GET THE HELL OUT of my diner and don't come back. The next time you need advice go ask all the other friends you have lined up willing to help you out." Izzy stated sliding out of the booth leaving Cheryl behind.
x.x.x.x
Authors' note: Sorry about the wait but i have been off flying from London to Beijing to Boston and now back to London. Hope you enjoy the chapter; i think is my first POV from the shooter.
Also i might be slow in updating this story as i just started writing a fanfic for Grimm (Nick/ Adalind) which I will try posting before the end of December if anyone is interested they can check it out. i am just having an easier time connecting with that story than with Riverdale as of late cause let's be honest season 3 is off the rails.