Chapter 5: It All Points to One

They gathered privately once again at the speakeasy. Cheryl, Toni and Kevin told them of their strange encounters at Riverdale High.

"Are you sure there's no clue at the scene?" Reggie asked.

"We tried," Kevin replied, "But we can't figure out anything."

"Maybe you didn't look closer or you missed something," Reggie said.

Cheryl held her phone and showed a picture of the crime scene. "See for yourself then," she told him. He looked at the picture and couldn't find anything as well.

"This is insane," Veronica said with frustration as she let out a heavy sigh, "We're stuck. We couldn't figure out what's the clue. And then what? Do we have to wait for another person to die to get another freakin' clue?"

"I can't believe we're at a dead-end," FP told them, "Maybe I'll ask the police investigators whether or not they were able to take fingerprints at the crime scenes. Unfortunately, waiting for a result of the matching can take long and surely pass the deadline."

"We need to think hard," Betty suggested, "We can't let go of this clue."

"What if…" Jughead suggested as he was in deep thought of an idea, "The victims themselves are the clues."

"You may have a point there," Archie agreed. FP suddenly took out his notebook as he looked for the names of the victims. Finally, he saw the page and he said, "The first victim is Nancy Hudson who died at the Blossom Residence. Second victim is Joshua Hay who died at Pops. Lastly, Sherwin Klint at the Riverdale High. We need to investigate the three of them if Jughead is right."

Archie then suggested, "Let's split ourselves to teams so we can work faster."

"Agree," Jughead said.

"Ok," FP told them, "Just be careful, alright? I'll assign the teams. For Nancy Hudson, I want Cheryl, Toni and Kevin to investigate. Archie, Veronica and Mad Dog, you guys will investigate Joshua Hay. Lastly, Betty, Jughead and Reggie, dig up information regarding Sherwin Klint. Meanwhile, I'll coordinate with the police regarding the investigation. Tomorrow we'll meet again here, same time."

All of them nodded their heads, hopeful that they're right.

…

The following morning, Cheryl, Toni and Kevin head out to the house of their maid Nancy. They knocked and waited for a minute before the door opened. An old lady greeted and stared at them, surprised at the sudden visit.

Toni asked, "Is this the house of Nancy Hudson?"

"Yes, it is. How can I help you?" the old lady asked.

"Hi!," Cheryl introduced herself, "I'm Cheryl Blossom and these are my friends Toni and Kevin. Nancy, uhmm.. used to worked at my house, the Blossom residence."

"Oh!" the old lady said, "What brings you here?"

Toni replied, "We're hoping to ask some questions regarding Nancy. We're trying to figure out who killed her," The old lady opened the door and gestured them to come in. The three smiled at the old lady as they entered the house. "Please, do take a sit," the old lady offered, "Do you want some water or coffee?"

Cheryl smiled at her and said, "It's ok. We're fine." The old lady then sat down in the couch in front of them and said, "I'm sorry I wasn't able to introduce myself a while ago. My name is Catherine, and I'm Nancy's sister."

"Nice meeting you, Ms. Catherine!" Kevin told her.

"We're sorry for disturbing you. I also know that this might be a sensitive topic for you since she just recently died, but we really need to investigate it right now," Toni apologetically said.

The old lady sat back and told them, "I understand and thank you for worrying about my sister. You see we grew up together. We never married and only had each other, so losing her was really hard for me."

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Cheryl said, quite guilty of the fact that they might provoke the old lady to remember memories that will hurt her. Catherine took a deep breath before finally asking them, "So what do you want to know about my sister?"

"We… actually don't know where to start," Kevin said, feeling lost, "How about if you noticed anything suspicious about your sister?" Catherine thought hard of the question and said, "There was… You see, this is her second time to work at the Blossom Residence. Her first time was 10 years ago. Oh Cheryl, you were still a kid back then. She somehow got attached to the twins, but she also told me she wasn't in good terms with Penelope. Let's just say Nancy was hard-headed. She doesn't wasn't to listen to Penelope most of the time. Eventually, Penelope fired her. She came back here and told me she was unemployed. She went out searching for jobs, but due to her age, choices were limited. One day, she came home and told me she found a job. I was excited for her and asked her about her job. She didn't want to tell me, claiming her job is top secret. She guaranteed me, however, that its not something illegal. I was stupid at that time to believe her, I thought she became a spy or something. But as days passed, I noticed she was going out but wasn't bringing home any money. I told her I couldn't handle all the bills alone and we fought that day. She packed her things and never returned for a year. I reported her missing to the police, and they couldn't find her as well. I investigated her room and the things she left and noticed something weird. There was a paper with a drawing of a crescent moon imposed inside a circle, titled as 'The Farm.' I -"

"Wait, What?!" Cheryl interrupted her, "Did you just say, 'The Farm'?"

"Yes," Catherine said, surprised that Cheryl knew of the Farm.

Kevin then said, "Then it means she was a member of the Farm. The crescent moon is the symbol of the Farm."

"No wonder," Toni added, "When Nancy came to our house, she somewhat looked familiar."

"This is strange," Cheryl said completely shocked at the revelation. "Anyways," she ordered Catherine, "You may continue."

Catherine nodded her head as she continued the story, "One day, someone came knocking at my house in the middle of the night. I came to see who that might be, and to my surprise, it was Nancy. I was surprised and I hugged her. I asked her where she was the whole time and she couldn't tell me once again. She just told me that she shouldn't had left me. I felt that she was sorry for what she had done and then she decided to look for a job. That's when she came back to you, Cheryl, when she heard you were looking for a maid. She was slowly healing for all the years she was with you and I was happy for her. But one night, the phone rang, and she answered it. I heard her screaming at the phone as she said, 'No! Never in a million years I'll be going back to you! I believed you but you were all evil. I felt so guilty taking it from them all this time.' She put down the phone and I asked her who it was, but she wouldn't tell me. Her healing stalled and she became bothered lately. 'They want me back. They're looking for me,' she kept on telling me. But when I ask her questions, she wouldn't answer. After a week of acting strange, she died." As soon as Catherine finished her story, she started to cry as Toni and Cheryl comforted her. They apologized to her again as they said their thanks and goodbyes.

Once outside the house, the three discussed the revelations they heard. "The Farm…." Toni said, lost in deep thoughts. "This is big," Kevin told them, "We're finally getting into something."

…

Alice was disappointed noticing that her daughters are still not talking to each other. She suggested that they all go and eat at a restaurant. However, Betty refused and told them she doesn't feel well and wants to stay at home. They eventually decided that Betty will stay, while Polly and Alice will have a bonding time together at a well-known restaurant.

"You take care, Betty" Alice told her as they were going out of the house. "Call us if you need anything." Betty simply nodded and they closed the door, leaving her behind.

"Something seems really weird about Polly", Betty told herself. "Is it just a coincidence that she's here? If she really missed us all these years, why not call us? Better yet, show up earlier."

Sensing that something was not right, she went up to Polly's room to investigate. She looked around hoping to find a clue or anything suspicious. She opened the drawers, opened Polly's bags and looked under the cabinets and bed. She saw a box underneath the bed and opened it. Inside it were documents, pictures and items from her time at the Farm. "Why is she keeping this?" Betty asked herself. She returned the item and the box underneath the bed before continuing her search. She went inside Polly's bathroom and opened a drawer. Inside it, she found a paper of The Farm and its logo, besides it was a picture of Betty and Polly. Strangely, Betty's face was erased by a marker. She was puzzled by what she found, so she took the picture, closed the drawer and went back to her own room.

As soon as she got inside her room, she dialed Jughead's number. The phone rang for half a minute before a voice on the other line said, "Hello, Betty?"

"Jughead!" Betty said as soon as she heard his voice, "Mom and Polly went out, so I sneaked into Polly's room and found something really weird. I saw a box of her items during the Farm as if she was treasuring it. And you know what's weirder? I saw a picture of both me and Polly with a logo of the Farm. My face erased by a marker."

"I thought the Farm was over after Edgar's death?" Jughead asked.

"I know, Jug," Betty said, "I know it's too early to conclude but I still don't trust Polly."

"Ms. Detective," Jughead said quite seductively, "Do you want to go on a mission date with me?"

"What do you mean?" Betty asked.

"We're going to stalk Polly," he told her, "You must know when she is going out alone. We need to see where she goes and what she is doing."

"You're right, Jug. I'll keep you updated."

….

"Does Archie know about this?" Reggie nervously asked.

"Of course, he does," Veronica assured him, "Besides, even if he doesn't know, what's wrong about it? It's not like we're really dating. We're just here as undercovers."

"Ok," he said as he looked at the building in front of him. It was said that the new speakeasy is hidden inside it, and the two plans to know the secrets of Hermosa by disguising themselves. They entered the building and found their way to the speakeasy. They entered and were quite unimpressed with what they saw.

"I see nothing special here," Reggie commented.

"Entertainment is boring as well," Veronica said as the two settled down in one of the tables. They observed the customers as they noticed they were unusually loud. A waiter approached them and asked them their orders. "We'll have your bestselling drink," Veronica said. Once the waiter left, she told Reggie of her plan, "It's hard to go behind the bar, someone is always there. I decided I'll spy the storage room. You see that door over there? I believe that's the storage room. I saw someone pulled out ingredients from there. Reggie, you stay here while I go there. Notify me when you see someone coming in. Better yet, distract that someone if you can."

"Ok," Reggie said, "Goodluck!"

Veronica stood up as she made her way towards the door of the storage room. She made sure no one else was looking before entering. Meanwhile, the waiter came to the table to serve the drinks they ordered. Reggie said thanks as his eyes never left the storage room door. He took his glass and sipped a little, all the time still watching it.

Finally, Veronica successfully entered the storage room. She opened the lights and saw the rums, wines, alcohols, utensils and other ordinary stuffs. She opened every suspicious container she sees, but nothing out of the ordinary. She was about to give up when she saw pile of boxes in the corner. She investigates the boxes as she found white powdery substances. She took a sniff and read the label. Realizing what she found, she was shocked to learn of Hermosa's secret "Oh my gosh!" she told herself, "They're putting drugs on their drinks! No wonder people kept coming back because of the addiction." She immediately returned the drugs back inside the boxes, but she took a sample and hid it inside her pocket. Suddenly, the door opened behind her.

"Hey!" a man shouted. She turned her back to see guy staring at her. "Damn, Reggie. He's not doing his job!" she complained to herself. She gulped as she slowly faced the guy in front of her. "Hi!" she said with a smile, trying to keep it simple as she continued, "I was looking for the bathroom. They told me it was somewhere here." The guy continued to stare at her, not believing her. She sensed it as she continued, "I was surprised as well. I don't think the bathroom's here, but I tried anyway just in case. I'm sorry I didn't mean any harm. I'll be going out."

She made her way to the door, all the time smiling at the guy hoping he won't notice anything suspicious. She closed the door behind her and let out a sigh of relief. Her nervousness was gone, but this was replaced by anger towards Reggie. She went to their table and saw Reggie already high, "Hey, Veronica!" he said as he laughed out loud for no reason.

"Reggie!" she scolded him, "I told you to guard the door, I almost got caught!"

"You what?" he asked back, unable to comprehend what she said.

"Idiot, you're high!" she told him as he dragged him towards the exit. They were about to leave the place, when she caught a glimpse of a girl who passed them by. She stopped midway with disbelief at what she saw. She turned her head behind her, only to lose the girl in the crowd. "Was that… Evelyn Evernever?" she asked herself.

…

Archie and Mad Dog went back to the shelter the following day after they saved Christopher. Together with Mr. Bill, they interviewed the kid to know of his background.

"How are you?" Archie asked Chris.

"Better," he replied, "I made some friends today."

"That's great!" Archie smiled, feeling proud, then he continued, "So we're here to talk about you and to get to know more about you. Can you tell us where you came from and how you got involved with Dodger and his gang?"

The kid nodded but stared at the table blankly. They patiently waited for him to talk. Once he got more comfortable, he started talking. "I was born in a poor family," he said, "My parents were in debt big time. Without a job, they don't know how to pay. They eventually decided to give up, so my mother mixed poison in our food one day. They both knew, but I didn't. At that time, I pretended I drank it. But honestly, the smell puts me off. I wondered at that time why was my mom hugging me the whole time after dinner as she slowly drifts in sleep. I waited for them to wake up, but they never did. Realizing they were dead, I left the house as I don't want my relatives taking care of me. After two days, I met a girl who offered me food and shelter as long as I do errands for her."

"What kind of errands?" Mad Dog interrupted.

"Well, more of a household errands," he replied.

"Why a kid? Why not someone old enough to be hired?" Archie asked.

"Being a kid, I was naïve to the fact that something strange was happening," he answered Archie, "For the longest time I thought everything was ok until I went to a forbidden room. She got mad at me and threatened to kill me."

"What did you see inside?" Mr. Bill asked.

"Preserved organs," the kid replied, "I was so scared, I begged her that I would not say anything. She didn't forgive me, and I knew she was going to kill me. So, I ran away, and for days I lived in the street. Then Dodger and his gang came up and adopted me. I was with them for years. It was hard but I had to do it to hide. For years, I had not heard any news from her. But recently, I heard rumors that she's back and trying to reform her cult."

Puzzled, Archie asked him, "This sounds familiar. Do you know the name of the girl who adopted you?"

"Yes," Chris replied, "Her name's Evelyn Evernever."