We've Been Discovered!

Camicazi didn't bat en eye as she finished Hiccup's sentence. "...the other dragon who battled the Red Death."

Astrid's jaw dropped. "How did you know?" Camicazi had taken even less time to figure it out than she had!

"Simple," Camicazi replied. "Hiccup couldn't possibly have been wearing armor, because he's too skinny to support the full weight of it. Also, if he had been crushed underneath the building when it collapsed, the armor would definitely need to be rebuilt. He's been prattling on about armor ideas for the rest of you for the past week, but mentions nothing for himself. And who else would need a hideout in someone's basement?"

"You make it sound so simple," Hiccup said miserably, his respiration having slowed down to a reasonable rate from the shock.

Camicazi smirked. "All that and the fact that you dozed off at your desk the other day and scales started appearing. Don't worry, I won't turn you in, even if the reward is a good bargain. I could use new tires on my motorcycle. Drag racing isn't kind on them. "

"No, no!" Hiccup was quick to assure. "I'm sure your car tires can wait. So that's why you dumped water on me. They're no longer offering a reward, by the way. That's all cleared up." He slumped back onto the couch. His dragon ear flaps appeared in his hair and the scale patterns began to flit across his skin, turning him into the Dragon Boy that Astrid was familiar with.

"I thought you might get upset if I told you the truth," he explained, taking green-colored, non-prescription contacts out of his eyes. "Astrid punched me when she found out. I'm so glad I don't have to wear these anymore. After a couple of hours, everything starts to look blurry. I don't even need glasses."

"So where were we?" Astrid asked.

"Righty. Alvin. Let's see." Camicazi scrolled down an offender alert web page. "Died at age - AGE FORTY-TWO? Odin's beard, he was old. My grandfather – may he rest in peace – was at least sixty when he died. Positively ancient! Used swallow fire at a circus. Burned his larynx." She continued reading silently for a second. "Oh, goody! Alvin was held once in suspicion for the murder of-"

"We know all of that," Hiccup interrupted. "Anything else?"

"Yeah. He had a mother who got out of jail about a month ago. I don't see what charges were placed against her on here," Camicazi reported.

"The apple doesn't fall from the tree," Astrid sagely remarked. Now they had a suspect. "She has the motive and a past crime record. What more could we ask for? A signed confession?" Astrid made a mental note to look more into Alvin's mother later.

Suddenly, loud snores reverberated from the couch Snotlout was on.

"He fell asleep!" Hiccup exclaimed in disbelief.

"He has an allergy to working. He should have stayed home. That reminds me." Camicazi turned towards Astrid. "Can I move in tonight?"

"Tonight?" Astrid wasn't sure if she would be able to cope with the company immediately.

"Yeah. My landlady is kicking me out because some of her silver teacups from the Dark Ages went missing. I have to be out by noon tomorrow or she's calling her brother-in-law, who also happens to be a WWE champion."

Brilliant. Astrid made another mental note to hide all of her valuables. "Fine." She sighed. It's not like she had much of a choice. She could either take Camicazi in or throw her out in the street, and the latter was out of the question no matter how much friction Camicazi caused.

"Great! I already parked the rented moving van in your driveway." Camicazi shut her computer, completely unaware of the bombshell she had just dropped.

"EXCUSE ME?!" Astrid shouted, waking up Snotlout, who had a dribble of drool trailing down the corner of his mouth.

"Ze Great Camicazi always has a plan!" Camicazi began to pack up her stuff, not noticing Astrid's sputtering of rage.

Sensing the tension rising like a flood, Hiccup got up. "Uh, you know I think I forgot about a car Gobber wants me to fix. Gotta go!"

"Now, just wait a second!" Astrid ordered, but he was gone. Astrid turned back to Camicazi. "I suppose you stole my key and made duplicates, too?" she drawled sarcastically. She would be shocked if Camicazi hadn't. The woman had no sense of personal boundaries!

Camicazi grinned, slinging her one-strapped backpack over her shoulder. "I thought of it. See you at home, roomie!" She breezed out of the room.

Astrid shook Snotlout awake with more force than necessary before following at Camicazi's heels, driving fast as the speed limit allowed.

"She's worse than toe fungus," Astrid snarled at her own reflection in the rear view mirror. "Parasitic microorganisms come at better times than she does!" Somehow, she miraculously beat her new roommate home.

A tiny moving van was, indeed, in the driveway. Astrid hurried inside, threw her coat and scarf onto her couch just as the sound of a motorcycle motor rumbled outside.

Camicazi leaned against the porch post when Astrid opened the door. "Don't worry about helping me," Camicazi said in way of greeting. "I can manage by myself and I imagine that you have work to do. Psychology or whatnot. Whatever you normally waste your time doing every evening!"

Without bothering to correct Camicazi about her occupation, Astrid took her word for it. "The room is all cleared out. I assume you want to junk it up in your own personal way. We can draw up the contract later." She set about making lunch out of the turkey leftovers her mother had forced upon her from Thanksgiving as Camicazi lugged boxes to the bedroom.

They ate lunch in silence together, and then Camicazi announced that she was going to return the moving van before she procured a late fee, make a duplicate of the house key that had mysteriously disappeared from Astrid's pocket, get herself vaccinated for Ebola in case Astrid didn't clean her toilets, and procure a turbine and twelve ounces of iodine for something work-related. The front door slammed shut, and Astrid was left to enjoy her last few hours of living alone, which she sure wasn't going to spend scrubbing her already pristine bathroom to appease Camicazi.

So naturally, she decided to do some investigating.

Taking a sip of a fresh cup of coffee, she fetched out her computer and booted it up. She pulled up a more specialized crime website than the one Camicazi had been on earlier and found Alvin's mother.

"Excellinor. That's a weird name," she mused aloud. Even though it was uniquely Viking, it should have been on the "Top Ten Names Not to Give Your Baby" list.

Excellinor had recently been released from prison for robbery, although Astrid's detective intuition told her that the woman had gotten away with much, much more.

There was a photo of Excellinor, but it was taken years ago and not much help. The woman's black beady eyes made Astrid want to defend herself, although from what was a mystery. Astrid read on for a little until she came across a bit of news that made her jaw drop. She grabbed her phone and dialed Hiccup immediately.

"Hello?" he answered.

"I know why your prosthetic hasn't come in yet," Astrid cut to the chase, not wasting any time on formalities.

"You do?"

"I looked up Alvin's mother – her name is Excellinor, by the way – and guess what?" She didn't wait for him to guess. "She's the CEO of Axe Metal Incorporated."

Hiccup processed this for a second. "The company I contracted to make the prosthetic?"

"Exactly! There's a reason your leg hasn't come in yet. If Excellinor wants you out of the way, it's a lot easier to get the job done when you're handicapped."

Barking and growling came over their phone connection. "Hold on," Hiccup said. "Toothless, what's the matter, bud?"

Toothless barked again, sharper.

"Hiccup, what's going on?" Astrid asked, voice rising at the end of the question.

"I don't know. Toothless is really acting weird. He – oomph!"

"Hiccup?" Astrid's fingers dug into the protective case on her phone. "Are you there?" The phone call was disconnected. Astrid didn't hesitate for a second and raced out the door without grabbing her coat.

The streets were dark and the typical seasonal traffic was crowing the streets. The town's decorating committee was in the middle of putting up holiday décor such as banners, ridiculously huge wreaths, and lights, but Astrid hardly noticed any of it as she ran. A thousand images of what could have happened to Hiccup flashed through her head, each one worse than the last. Think straight, Hofferson! She thought, sucking in breaths. She didn't have the time to panic!

"Toothless!" The Border Collie's familiar black and white form was lying prone on the sidewalk along the edge of the street. He lifted his head a little bit off the ground and whimpered.

"Where is Hiccup?"