Chapter 16

A few hours ago

"Hey Fishy… Wait up!" Heather shouted while rushing out of Hiccup's manor. She was still in the process of slipping on her coat when she flagged down Fishlegs who was about to depart.

"It's Fishlegs," The portly blond stated.

"I'm not even going to question why fish have legs but I need you to drop me off near the apartment," Heather replied. "I might know some people that can give us a lead,"

"Uhmm…"

"What? You don't trust me?" She asked with her hands on her hips. "Is it because I work for the MAN?"

Now Fishlegs just laughed. "Trust me, the "man" is firmly in our back pocket. What I don't trust is you going off on your own and blabbing were you've been. This place is a highly secured site and you've already seen way too much. The boss never brought outsiders here before and as I am his Advisor and the Head of Security I can't leave you be until I know you won't reveal any of our secrets."

"Well I never," Heather huffed. "Then if you are just going to have to come with me," she then demanded.

"Wait what?!"

"I said you're coming with me. Now chop chop. Start that car and let's go," Heather stated while clapping her hands for dramatic purpose.

"Now see here…"

"No, you see here. I am going to find my friend and I might have a lead. If you can't trust me then you are along for the ride bub,"

"And that, to any future generations, was the start of an interesting friendship." Heather remarked once Fishlegs pulled onto the freeway.

"I can't believe I went along with this," Fishlegs grumbled. "I only answer to the boss," he added under his breath.

"Just park near the apartment when you get there," she just told the man with a roll of her eye as she had still clearly heard his last sentence.

"Why are we going back to the apartment? The police are already canvasing the area and Snotlout is bribing a Judge for a warrant for any CCTV."

"Hon, we both know that in that part of town no one is going to talk to the cops," Heather scoffed. "What you need is a woman's touch and some muffins. We'll need to stop by a bakery before the apartment."

"Well you're a cop too!" Fishlegs uttered.

"Yeah, but I lived here long before Astrid moved in and I have a report with a lot of people." Heather elaborated. "The person I'm thinking of will be a lot more receptive to me than any old cop,"

When arriving at their destination Heather wasted no time. She stepped out of the sleek black car while holding a box from a nearby cafe and headed straight past the apartment building and across the street to a bit of a wornout Victorian-styled house.

"Muriel," Heather greeted the old woman sitting on the front porch. "Is Betty in?"

"She's needlepointing in the kitchen," The elderly woman uttered.

"I brought blueberry muffins," Heather then said while holding the box enticingly.

"BETTY! THE PO PO IS HERE AND SHE GOT MUFFINS!" Muriel suddenly shouted towards the screen door which made Fishlegs jump. There was some stomping and then the door was yanked open. An equally gray-haired woman was staring at the visiting duo.

"Heather,"

"Betty,"

"What can I do you for?"

"I need information," Heather replied.

"Blueberry?"

"Blueberry,"

"Well you and your boyfriend can come right on in then," Betty stepped aside.

"We're not…" Fishlegs started but was stopped by Muriel who put a hand on his lower arm.

"Son, Betty is as stubborn as a mule. Don't argue with a woman that likes to stab a piece of cloth 1000 times as a hobby."

"Uhm…"

"Fish you coming?" Heather called from inside the house. Fishlegs just nodded at Muriel and entered the home. He found Heather sitting in the living room while Betty was placing muffins on plates before going to boil water.

"She's going to offer you some tea. Don't refuse even if it tastes like leaf water," Heather commented. Fishlegs just looked at her funny.

"Why are we here?" He whispered.

"Information duh," Heather responded.

"But…"

"Look, Muriel and Betty have been living here since they were 18. They've seen shit go down in this neighbourhood you and I could never imagine. They are also very bored and like to 'neighbour watch'. So if anyone could give us a clue it might be them."

"Okayyy… shutting up now," Fishlegs mumbled.

"Now then dearie," Betty, who came in after 10 minutes with a tea tray, set it down on the coffee table and indicated for her guests to help themselves. "What do you need?"

"Well… Heather started to speak but was interrupted by Muriel shouting "DON'T YOU DARE EAT IT ALL BETTY!"

"The Doc told you to watch your sugar!" Betty shot back.

"The Doc can pound sand! I am 78 years old and I want a damn blueberry muffin!" Muriel replied.

"Fine ya old bitty!" Betty yelled back.

"Are they always like this?" Fishlegs asked in a hushed tone.

"As far as I know. They've been 'roommates' since the 60s." she replied.

"Now you were saying dearie?" Betty turned back towards her guests, completely ignoring Muriel.

"Astrid's missing. Kidnapped really," Heather stated.

"So that's what all the hubbub was," Betty mumbled. "Some of your cop friends came knocking on our door. Rude as hell they were, talking down to us like we were fools. We're old not stupid,"

"I don't have any cop friends," Heather replied. "You know how it is,"

"Idiots, the lot of them. You did the right thing but they closed ranks."

"Huh?" Fishlegs mumbled.

"Nothing Fish," Heather stated. "I might tell you another time. What I really need to know is if you've seen anything suspicious."

"From what the others were saying… last night right?" Betty frowned before calling Muriel in.

"What?" the older woman grumbled as she walked into the living room.

"You were on the porch last night while I went out for groceries. Did you see anything?"

"Just Mr. Handson getting freaky. He should really close his blinds,"

"I did not need to know that," Heather made a gagging motion.

"If your friend was kidnapped she didn't pass by Muriel and you know how 'Hawk-eyed' she can be," Betty stated.

"Astrid's gone?" Muriel asked with a frown.

"Kidnapped apparently. It's why we didn't see her leaving for work today and why those coppers came round,"

Muriel was silent for a moment as if she was putting some pieces together. "Betty remember Connie?"

"No, no, we are not talking 'bout Connie,"

"Who's Connie?" Heather now asked.

"It was a long time ago," Betty grumbled.

"And you were eyeing her up like a piece of meat the day she moved in," Muriel deadpanned before sitting down next to her sputtering friend. "Connie was… something else," Muriel began.

"It was the roaring 80s and we were around 40 at the time," Muriel explained. "Betty and I had worked long and hard as lounge singers and waitresses to buy this place and had settled in comfortably. Across from us was one of Berk's first apartment buildings when the city was just a quaint town. It was just being built when Betty and I first came into town so we stayed at a smaller inn. But anywho back to the 80s. Connie was a dream you see. More businesses were moving to Berk and the town was getting busier. Connie rolled into town with that white Cadillac of hers and her son. All blond-haired and blue-eyed. Remind you of someone?"

"You and your conspiracy theory!" Betty admonished.

"Well you can't explain her disappearance either," Muriel retorted. "No way in hell Connie would have abandoned her son and skipped town. No matter what everyone else's opinion was,"

"I'm kind of lost," Fishlegs spoke up, grimacing after he had taken a sip of the 'tea'.

"Connie was this real classy lady. We all could tell even if she tried to act down to earth." Betty explained. "Anyone who really got to know her would figure out that she was from a well-off family and was running from something,"

"Probably an abusive bastard," Muriel growled. "She never would tell me but I just knew. No woman that refined would throw it all away to come to a backwater-ish town for fun. I pulled some strings and got her a job as a waitress. Everything seemed to go alright for about a year before she just up and disappeared. Left her son alone in the apartment. Neighbours called the cops after finding the boy nearly starved after two days."

"What's even weirder was that her Cadillac was found driven off a cliff the next state over but nobody was ever found," Betty explained. "Muriel here is of the notion that she never left the apartment building,"

"I'm still sticking to my guns," Muriel stated while crossing her arms. "It's just too weird if you ask me. Connie wasn't even the first to go missing in that building,"

"That had nothing to do with any of this Muriel!"

"And how do you know, Betty?" Muriel retorted. "I might be old but I'm not stupid. You might want to ignore the signs but they are there,"

"We don't even know if that is related,"

"Think about it," Muriel grumbled. "Blond hair, blue-eyed women with a son going missing. Twice is a coincidence, thrice is a damn fucking neon sign,"

"What are you guys talking about? There was someone else that went missing?" Heather now frowned.

"Well… uhm… I don't know for sure," Betty muttered. "Muriel seems to think so,"

"I'll loan you Fishlegs to do work around the house if you tell me everything you know,"

"HEY!" Fishlegs tried to protest but Betty and Muriel shouted "DEAL" right away.

"Right so," Betty smirked "We have some lightbulbs that need changing,"

"Fine," Fishlegs sighed. "You got a deal,"

"Now about this story," Muriel began. "It's sort of like a folktale between us old people in the community,"

"Oh?" Heather questioned.

"This was way back in the 60s when we first came to town. It was awkward as we knew nobody. Our first job was slinging coffee at a roadside dinner," Muriel laughed. "Gods those uniforms were uncomfortable,"

"But that's where we got to know 'Them'," Betty added. "At the time we thought nothing of it. Just your average well-off guy that moved his family out here after buying a piece of land to put up an apartment building, a lovely son, and a pretty wife,"

"Betty, his wife was more than pretty," Muriel uttered. "Her hair was always neatly in a bun, so well put together with her shirtwaist and swing dresses. If I didn't have you I'd seduce her on the spot,"

"You're this close to losing your muffin dear," Betty retorted.

"Anywho," Muriel deflected. "The family would often come to dinner to eat while construction was going on. Like clockwork, every Saturday at noon. There wasn't much to do in this town then so I guess that was their fun outing."

"Until we didn't see her again," Betty added while Muriel nodded.

"Betty wouldn't understand what I saw that day," Muriel continued. "She was busy in the back helping with the grill because the cook burned his hand. Only the father and son came in that day. The guy was pretty friendly like always but the kid looked near catatonic—no happy greeting unless his old man prompted it and just picked at his fries the whole time. Betty didn't see what I saw but that boy did not want to be there that day," Here Muriel sighed. "When I asked how the missus was I was told she was sick that weekend."

"Which wasn't uncommon," Betty interjected.

"Yes, being sick is unavoidable but that's the last time we saw that family in there right Betty," Muriel remarked. "Never saw his wife in town again either,"

"Rumor around town at the time was that she couldn't handle staying in this small town anymore and just drove off in the middle of the night," Betty added. "Leaving Mr. Dain to raise his young son all on his own. Hard times especially with the Cold War scare going around."

"Why Mr. Dain was nice enough to build a big enough Bunker under his building for the whole street if worst came to worst." Betty then added.

"Wait, the building has a Cold War bunker?!" Heather exclaimed.