[A/N: Hey all! This chapter is going to provide you with a lot of information. It's okay if you don't completely understand where it's going yet. Just keep this stuff in the back of your mind as we go forward. We're getting somewhat close to the middle of the story.

Also, this is a warning: There is a scene in which sexual violence is strongly suggested. If you want to skip over it, it is the scene labeled Flashback - 2004. It is helpful to understanding the storyline but not critical. Also, if you think I need to make it more vague/change the rating label to M, please let me know. I don't want to offend anyone even if it is important to the context of the story.

Other than that, have fun with the puzzle pieces!

I don't own Hey Arnold]

Flashback – 2010 – Arnold and Lila's Wedding Day

Lila and Arnold were having their ceremony and reception in the City Park at a more secluded section near the lake that they'd reserved. It was a bright, mild spring day and flowers were beginning to bloom, making it the perfect time for an outdoor wedding. They'd purposefully kept the guest list small and the event modest since neither side of their family had a lot of money and Lila had had her heart set on an outdoor wedding.

Arnold was downstairs in the living room, dressed and waiting for the towncar that would take him and his groomsmen over to the park. Gerald stood by with Phoebe on his arm, as well as Sid and Harold who were busying digging into a glass dish of chocolate truffles on a table in the foyer. Stinky, another groomsman, had excused himself to go to the bathroom.

"Oh, Arnold," Phoebe admired her friend. "I must say, you look positively charming," She smiled.

"She's right, man," Gerald nodded in approval. "You clean up nice,"

Arnold chuckled nervously. "Thanks guys," He darted a glance at the staircase. "I'm gonna get some water before the car gets here. Be right back," He said and disappeared into the kitchen.

Phoebe watched him walk away, then turned to her husband and sighed. Gerald could instantly read his wife's fallen expression. "Helga didn't answer your call?"

"No," Phoebe shook her head. "Olga says she's been steadily making progress with her physical therapy and she has her cell phone now but I'm afraid I haven't been able to get ahold of her once. If it hadn't been for Olga answering when I tried to call last week, I wouldn't even know that much. Apparently Helga's speech is still impaired and Olga believes she is self-conscious about it,"

Gerald reassuringly rubbed his hand up and down his wife's shoulder. "She'll bounce back. I wouldn't expect anything less from Pataki,"

"I suppose," Phoebe murmured half-heartedly before forcing herself to shake away her sullen mood. "I should probably get going. Your towncar will be here any minute and I should head to the park and get a seat,"

"Sounds good," Gerald kissed her forehead. "I'll see ya over there," He winked and Phoebe smiled.

. . . . . . . .

Meanwhile, Lila stood in front of a full-length mirror in one of the rooms of the boarding house. She was dressed in a long chiffon gown and a small veil billowed out from the bun her hair had been fastened into. Her make-up was modest and she was contemplating whether or not she was ready, swishing her dress and studying her appearance, when a gentle knock came at the door.

"Who is it?" She called, turning to the door. Her bridesmaids were in the next room getting ready and she assumed it was one of them coming to check on her. Her eyes widened in surprise when Stinky slipped into the room and quickly closed the door behind him, leaning against it as he bit his lip nervously.

"Stinky! I—what are you doing here?" Lila asked, confused. "Is everything okay?"

Stinky took a deep breath, wringing his shaking hands together. "Ms. Lila…"

"Oh, Stinky," Lila giggled. "You really don't have to call me that. We're both adults," She approached him and smiled. "What's wrong?" She noted his anxious demeanor.

He paused. "Lila… there's uh – I reckon there's somethin' I ought to tell you," He paused and Lila looked up at him expectantly.

"Well?"

"I-I—" Stinky stammered. "I know it ain't right," He said, pausing to take another breath and letting it out in a sigh as he refused to meet her gaze. "Arnold's a good friend of mine and I would never do wrong by him,"

"Okay…"

"But," Stinky tentatively glanced at Lila and tried not to get caught up in her eyes. " A-And I don't wanna get in the way or cause either of you problems, I just gotta get this off my chest,"

Lila nodded thoughtfully.

"Lila, I never told you this and I reckon I'm a fool for it but… I… I love you. I've loved you for a very long time and I know you're gettin' ready to marry my friend and I don't wanna ruin your day for you but I couldn'ta lived with myself if I didn't come clean," He looked away again. "I'm sorry I never told you and I'm sorry this ain't really a good time to be tellin' you this but I just couldn't –"

Lila grabbed Stinky's hand and he immediately turned to look at her, eyes wide.

She smiled up at him. "It's okay, Stinky,"

. . . . . . . .

Present Day

William arrived at the cottage the following morning with Ron and a few other men carrying large boxes.

"What's this?" Helga inquired as she watched a man she didn't recognize plop a cardboard box down next to the couch and another come in and do the same. She wiped the sleep from her eyes – she'd only woken up ten minutes ago when she heard William knocking and Rich answer the door.

"These should help you in your investigation," William explained as he watched two more boxes being added to the pile and his helpers went outside to wait by the car. "Several of Marguerite's belongings, more photos, police reports, newspaper articles,"

Helga eyed the boxes warily as Rich stood by in a pair of sweatpants and an old band T-shirt. "Thanks Grandpa," He said.

"Ms. Pataki," William addressed Helga again, drawing her attention away from the boxes. "I know this is a lot that I'm asking of you. The fact that you're willing to try and help leaves me more than grateful," Helga winced slightly but William didn't notice as he sighed. "It's been so many years so I know it's a long shot but I don't want to go to my grave not knowing what happened to her," He paused. "Or at least knowing that I tried my damnedest to find out," Helga offered a weak half-smile and William patted her on the shoulder before turning around. "Rich, have you shown her the barn?" He asked, pausing at the doorway.

"Not yet," Rich shook his head and pushing his bedraggled hair out of his face. He wasn't wearing his glasses and his eyes looked weary.

"I'll come back after lunch, then," William stated "It's probably just as well," Rich shot his grandfather a look that went unnoticed. "I'll see you both in a few hours," He said and pulled the door closed behind him.

"What did your grandfather mean by that?" Helga inquired, one eyebrow raised.

"Huh?" Rich turned to her. "By what?"

"'It's probably just as well,'" Helga repeated.

"Oh," Rich furrowed his brow and sighed. "He doesn't really want me to overexert myself,"

Because of your heart condition. Helga feigned ignorance. "How come?"

Rich rested his weight on one foot, rubbing his arm. "I have a heart problem,"

"You do?" Keep pretending you don't know anything. He's introducing the topic perfectly.

"Yeah," Rich nodded. "Congenital heart disease – I was born with it. It didn't really affect me much as a kid but over the past couple years it's gotten kinda bad…" His voice trailed off and became softer.

"Wow," Helga said, raising her eyebrows as if she was surprised to hear this news. "Can they do anything about it?"

Rich shrugged. "Not really," He said. "Aside from a heart transplant, there isn't much to do. I'm on a couple lists but I have a rare blood type so finding a donor isn't easy, ya know?"

Helga nodded understandingly. "Are you okay to keep helping with this?"

Rich let out a soft groan and Helga waited expectantly for him to respond. "I can't hike through the woods around here and I can't run a marathon but I can sit on a couch and go through a box of old stuff," He huffed impatiently and paused. "Sorry,"

"It's fine," Helga shook her head.

"No, I shouldn't snap at you," Rich ran both hands through his already-messy hair. "I'm just frustrated. It's not fair, you know?" He walked over to the couch and half-sat on the arm of it. "I've passed out a few times – just out of nowhere – and I lose my breath sometimes if I try and push myself too much,"

Helga nodded thoughtfully. "I'm… really sorry to hear that," She pursed her lips as neither of them made eye contact with one another.

"Yeah," Rich sighed. "Thanks. I think that's a big part of why I really want to help my grandfather. This means so much to him and we were always quite close when I was a kid. Besides," Rich added with a dismal tone. "He'll probably outlive me so I wanna do what I can, while I can. Does that make sense?"

Helga lifted her eyes to meet his and studied him for a second. "Yeah," She said, nodding slowly. "I think it does,"

After a moment, she turned her gaze back to the four huge boxes now sitting in the living room and exhaled a long, deep breath.

"I guess we have our work cut out for us, huh?" Rich spoke, scratching the back of his head before a yawn escaped him, reminding him he was still tired.

"Yeah," Helga sighed, sizing up the boxes one more time before undoing the flaps to the box on top. "Better get started, I guess; it's gonna be a long day,"

Rich pulled another box over to the front of the couch and sat down as he started to go through its contents. He got up a moment later to go to his room and retrieve his glasses and Helga watched him go. So far it felt like giving him her heart would be a good idea. She still wanted to take her time and make sure and it wasn't like she wouldn't have plenty of opportunity to talk to him and get to know him more.

He concealed his illness well; if she hadn't already been privy to the fact that he was sick and if he hadn't admitted it all to her, she probably wouldn't have known. Sure, he seemed a bit pale and appeared to tire easily but he wasn't frail or incapable of doing things for himself. Considering his condition, he actually looked pretty good. He had a sweet but mature face and a small amount of facial hair that was obviously growing back from being shaved off a few days prior. His hair was usually relatively messy because he often ruffled it when he was thinking hard about something. He was a couple inches taller than Helga and had the body of an athlete, though his physicality had been impacted by his illness and thus, he wasn't as strong as he'd been in high school. When he returned from his room, Helga pulled her eyes away and turned back to her box as Rich headed for the couch.

Helga opened her box to find a framed black and white picture of Marguerite sitting on top. She had a soft smile and what Helga assumed must have been brown eyes. Her hair was dark, falling a few inches past her shoulders in loose waves, and was pulled away from her face by a thin, light-colored headband. Helga eyed the picture quizzically, trying to read the girl's expression. There was a sticky-note stuck to the frame that said 'Marguerite – 16'. "So this is what you looked like when you disappeared, huh?" Helga murmured.

It wasn't long after Helga had unearthed about half of what was in her box when Rich broke the silence between them. "Well, this is interesting," He commented.

"What is?" Helga stood up from where she'd previously been sitting cross-legged next to her box.

Rich turned around on the couch and waved a small black leather book at her. "I think it was Marguerite's journal,"

"Let me see that," Helga instructed and Rich released it into her grasp, turning around on the couch to watch her look through it.

Helga flipped through the pages quickly. "I'm gonna hold onto this and really check it out once I get through this box," She sat the small book beside her. "Your family is freaking huge," She said as she dug back into the box.

"Yeah," Rich nodded, crossing his arms over the back of the couch and resting his head against them as he watched Helga. "My grandfather had three brothers and a sister," He pointed as Helga pulled out photo after photo. "That's Elizabeth – she was his only sister, and those two there are John and Maxwell," Helga set the photos aside as she continued to pull out more. "That's Victor and Sandra - Marguerite's parents and this is Henry, Marguerite's older brother. Henry lives in the brown house down by the shore. We passed it on the way here. Maxwell's still around, too but he doesn't socialize much and he's kind of mean. Henry took over my grandfather's business when he retired,"

"Criminy, I'm gonna need a freaking bulletin board to keep track of all this," Helga muttered as she dug through the last few items in the box and pulled out another photo. "Those are the cousins – my aunts and uncles. There's Marguerite on the left and right here is Douglas, Natalie, Adrienne, and my dad, Marcus,"

"Who's that one?" Helga pointed to a young girl with shoulder-length, straight black hair.

"Hmm," Rich squinted at the picture. "I'm not sure, actually. She's not part of the family, I know that much,"

"Okay then," Helga said, setting the picture aside along with the journal and a few of the family photos. "What the hell?" Helga suddenly exclaimed, picking up another picture that was particularly alarming, primarily because of the uniforms being worn by the three men in the picture. "Your grandpa's brothers were Nazis?"

. . . . . . . .

Just as promised, William showed up at the cottage again after lunch time. After some insistence, Rich accompanied Helga and William on the drive over to the barn about a mile down the road.

"That's Henry's house," Rich pointed as they passed a large brown house surrounded by tall, leafless trees. It had warmed up considerably this morning and much of the snow had melted, leaving everything wet and muddy. "And this is the barn," He said as they parked and Helga realized the barn was right next to Henry's house.

The barn didn't look as though it had been used in quite some time but its doors and windows were still functional and solid. Helga, Rich, William, and Ron stepped out of the car and headed toward the main doors.

"Hey there!" A voice called out from behind them and they turned around.

"Hi Henry," William greeted the man. He had brown hair that was grey around the ears, thick black eyebrows and looked to be in his fifties. "Have you met Ms. Pataki yet?"

"I haven't had the pleasure," He smiled and extended his hand for her to shake.

"Hi," Helga said, unenthused as he pumped her hand and then put his hands on his hips.

"So, the famous news journalist comes to this god-forsaken island to solve the unsolvable," He chuckled and Helga rolled her eyes.

"I'm far from famous," She muttered.

"You did quite a number with the Langston embezzlement case," William piped up.

"You must have some impressive sources," Henry grinned and Helga shrugged.

"We were just about to show Ms. Pataki the barn," William said, getting them back on task.

"Ah yes," Henry sighed. "The barn,"

Rich leaned over and whispered in Helga's ear, catching her off-guard and making her skin prickle even though the content of his message was grim. "His dad died on the other side of the barn,"

Helga turned to Rich, eyebrows raised and he simply nodded solemnly.

"I figured it would help her find insight," William said. "Marguerite spent a lot of time up in the loft,"

"Yeah," Henry said simply, then brightened as an idea struck. "Rich, would you and Ms. Pataki like to come to the house for dinner tonight?"

"Okay, for the love of all things holy, can everyone please stop calling me 'Ms. Pataki'? Helga works perfectly fine," Helga said, the formality of it all finally breaking through her threshold.

"Of course," William smiled warmly. "However you would like to be referred to, that is what we will use,"

"Thanks," Helga said gratefully. How ironic that my own father couldn't do that. She thought flippantly.

"Come by the house around seven tonight," Henry said, "I've gotta get going," He waved before walking up a hill to the side of his house.

The foursome entered the barn and Helga looked around, listening as William talked about how Marguerite would spend time tending to the animals and sitting up in the loft writing. The pens were empty but there was still a lot of hay scattered around the dirt floor of the barn. A wooden ladder led up to the loft where Helga could imagine the young girl relaxing and writing – perhaps in the same journal she and Rich had found?

"Hey, um," Helga, emerging from her thoughts, interrupted William. "I just remembered I wanted to ask you – your brothers were Nazis?" She quirked a suspicious eyebrow and William sighed.

"You certainly work quickly, Ms. – erm, Helga," A small smile traced his lips before deepening into a frown as he clasped his hands together behind his back. "Yes, John and Victor were part of the Nazi party. Maxwell was a member of the Hitler Youth," He looked down, letting out a deep breath through his nose as this was obviously something he wasn't proud of. "My parents and grandparents left Germany after the first World War and my family lived in Poland during the second. We didn't move to the United States until after the war and I was only five years old at the time,"

"That explains why you don't have an accent," Helga commented and William nodded before continuing.

"I was the youngest of the boys and my sister Elizabeth was the baby of the family. Victor was the eldest but he died many years ago after falling from that window up there," William pointed to a window up on the loft level. "I don't know if you noticed this but this barn rests at the edge of a hill. Down at the bottom is the shoreline,"

Helga winced at the thought as William continued to explain. "Victor was an alcoholic, I'm afraid. We believe that was the reason he fell from the window," William sighed. "Maxwell, Sandra, and I are the last living elders of the family. John died in the war, Elizabeth in a car accident, and my dear Claudia lost her fight with breast cancer five years ago,"

"I'm really sorry to hear that," Helga offered pitifully and William nodded, going on.

"Maxwell lives a couple miles farther down the island and Sandra lives right around that spot as well. This house-" William pointed to Henry's brown house. "—was the house he and Marguerite grew up in. After their father's death and Marguerite's disappearance, Sandra moved into her current house and left this one to Henry,"

"That sounds nice of her," Helga remarked and William scoffed.

"It wasn't for him. Henry was eighteen when Marguerite disappeared and Sandra had never been the mothering type. She wanted her own space,"

"Hmm," Helga hummed.

"Sandra was a terrible mother to Marguerite – to both her and Henry. She neglected them often and did not speak with them unless it suited her purposes," William muttered, his brow furrowed.

That sounds familiar… Helga thought, pushing down memories of her own troubled childhood.

. . . . . . . .

Flashback – 2004

Lila's vision was hazy as she slowly began to wake up. Her body jostled against something cold and she realized she was on the floor of a van. She tugged at her arms but they were tied to the sidewalls of the van. A piece of fabric – maybe a sock – was stuck far down the back of her throat and she wrestled with her gag reflex as she tried to scream. There was an opening between the back of the van and the front seats but as hard as she tried, she couldn't turn around to see who was driving the van. It was dark and her eyes were still adjusting to being awake. Each time the truck hit a bump in the road, Lila winced from the pain radiating inside her head.

She looked down and groaned – she was still only wearing her bathing suit. Tears brimmed in her eyes as fear settled in. What was she going to do? How could she get out of this? She had no way to contact anyone for help and she wasn't even sure where she was at the moment.

Suddenly the car stopped and Lila gasped against the sock in her mouth as she heard the driver's side door open and shut. The back doors opened and Lila cinched her eyes shut, her heart racing in her chest and her sobs coming out muffled.

Her eyes, finally able to focus, widened as the man who'd attacked her earlier looked down at her with cold, hungry eyes. She kicked at him fiercely, wildly, and he dodged each strike, eventually grabbing one ankle at a time and tying them both down so that she was facing down. She did her best to turn back around to face him so she could see what he was doing but the ropes only allowed her to turn on her side at most.

"See what happens when you put up a fight?" He said, approaching her on his knees and pulling a small switchblade from his back pocket. Behind him, one of the doors was still half open and Lila could see they were on a highway but she wasn't sure where. The road wasn't busy and one or two cars passed by the van. "You only make things harder for yourself," The man gently pressed the tip of the blade against Lila's face, not hard enough to cut, and trailed it down and along her neck, her collarbone, her chest.

Lila's eyes flushed a new set of tears and she tried to squirm away from him but with her limbs immobilized, she couldn't get away. She bit into the sock when she felt the blade press harder, this time surely drawing blood, though she couldn't see for sure. Her breath was sharp and punctuated by sobs as she felt hands on her hips, pulling away her bathing suit. It was quiet for a moment and Lila turned around slightly to see he was just staring at her with eyes that chilled her to the bone. He noticed her looking and threw a fist at the back of her head, sending her forehead into the floor and making her dizzy again. The last thing she heard as she fell into unconsciousness once again was the sound of a belt buckle and a zipper.

. . . . . . . .

Present Day

"Hey Rich," Helga said, walking over to where Rich was lounging on the couch looking through one of the many photo albums William had sent over. "Check this out," She leaned over the back of the couch and put the open journal in front of his face.

Rich laid the photo album down on his lap. "Huh…"

"What do you think this is supposed to mean?" Helga asked. "Do any of these names look familiar?"

"No, I don't think so," Rich shook his head. "That's weird," He sat up to better inspect the entry, bringing the two of them closer together in the process since Helga was still leaning over.

Helga read off the names on the entry, mostly to herself but loud enough for Rich to hear. "'Magda 30112; Sara 32016; BJ 32027; LI 31208; Mari 32018,'"

Rich studied the entry for a couple more minutes before handing it back to Helga. "Yeah, I'm not sure. Not off-hand, at least," He turned to lean over the back of the couch as Helga walked back over to the kitchen table.

"And another thing," Helga said. "She keeps mentioning some girl named Brooke. Who the hell is Brooke?"

Rich shrugged.

"Whoever she is," Helga sighed. "It looks like she and Marguerite spent a lot of time together,"

. . . . . . . .

Flashback – 10 Months Ago

"Why on earth didn't you tell me sooner!?" Rhonda exclaimed to Lila over the phone.

"I tried," Lila whined. "But you were in Aspen for a month!"

"True," Rhonda conceded. "But still, I simply can't believe it!"

"I know," Lila said sadly, crossing her legs on the bed. It was daytime and Arnold was at work, leaving her with the apartment to herself. "I never really had an issue with Helga. Yes, it bothered me that Arnold seemed ever so caught up in what was going on in her life in high school and yes, I know he felt guilty after the car accident since he's the one who hit Helga's car and pinned it against the other one, but I just…"

"This is unacceptable," Rhonda said indignantly. "I mean, being concerned for the girl, sure. But hacking into her computer? That is just not right,"

"I don't know what to do," Lila sighed. "He's been so distant lately and I'm afraid… Oh, Rhonda, I don't really want to say it,"

"If he's cheating on you, trust me he will have hell to pay," Rhonda said fiercely.

"But I don't actually know if he has cheated or not," Lila said. "And I don't want him to know that I found out about him hacking into her computer. Not yet,"

Rhonda paused for a moment then chuckled. "I have the perfect idea,"

"What is it?"

"Let's put Arnold's faithfulness to the test, shall we?" Rhonda snickered and Lila furrowed her brow as she listened intently.

"How can we do that?"

"Let me call my cousin Katie and see if she can come to town for an extended visit," Rhonda said. "I'm sure she'll have fun with this one. I'll be in touch,"

[A/N: Oooooh! So what do you guys think? I'm gonna hold off for now on explaining too much just so you guys have the chance to try and connect the dots. I'm just giving you guys puzzle pieces here. If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll address them in my next author's note (if it was something I wasn't clear about) and/or as the story progresses.

So Stinky was in love with Lila? How are we feeling about the case of Marguerite? The relationship between Helga and Rich? It seems like he's 'passing her test' so to speak in terms of whether he'll get her heart or not. I'm really sorry if that scene with Lila's abduction was disturbing to anyone. I watch a lot of Law & Order: SVU. If I need to change the rating/make it more vague, please let me know. And how about that last scene with Rhonda talking to Lila? Whaaaaat? :)

Hope you enjoyed! Please review!]