Chapter 3, Part 1: Suspicions

Honeydew knew that at any moment, the focus of her gaze could turn around and see her eyes boring tirelessly in his direction--but she didn't care. To her, it was a game. Right now he didn't know he was playing, but soon enough, he would.

Soon enough, they all know they're playing her game.

A wry smile touched her lips as she heard Lichen's anxious footsteps pacing back and forth somewhere out of the corner of her vision. He was clearly trying to make her aware of his disapproval, but letting him know she even paid attention to him wouldn't be fun--especially since toying with Lichen was slowly becoming her personal favorite pasttime.

Finally, the pacing ceased and the grey-skinned boy folded his arms in front of her line of sight. "You're being stupid," Lichen spat.

"Says you," Honeydew scoffed, leaning to the side to see past him, but he'd already begun his annoyed pacing again. "You're just jealous that he's dreamy and you're not."

Lichen froze. Although she still hadn't turned to look at him, Honeydew knew that his face had wrenched up in disgust, just like it always did whenever she said something that particularly annoyed him. "I am not," he retorted. "More like, the fact that Ol' Pappy is probably old enough to be your father."

Honeydew giggled, her shoulders shrugging up defiantly. "So?"

"So--so? Ugh, you're..." It was no use; Honeydew clearly didn't care about his opinion, nor the fact that she was making it painstakingly obvious that she wanted nothing more than to jump Paprique's bones, despite the fact she was younger than Lichen himself.

Trying to get her to look at logic wasn't going to work, but he still had one play left in the book. "Seriously, Honeydew. You don't understand what you're messing with, here. It's fine with me if you go off and get yourself killed, but I don't think you'd be so eager to jump in his pants if you knew what he's done."

"Ooooo!" Honeydew slowly slipped down off of the table she'd been perched on, her eyes growing wide with excitement. "So are you finally going to tell me how Big Bad Paprique kidnaps babies and eats them for breakfast with a side of waffles?"

Lichen rolled his eyes. "Do you  have any idea how dumb you sound when you try to be sarcastic?" He sighed, rubbing the side of his face with the palm of his hand. "I'm freaking serious, Dew. They may not have found him guilty of the murder, but only because they couldn't find any evidence. It's obvious he did it, though."

"Maybe, but you still haven't even told me what it is that supposedly happened." She gave him the foulest, most you-better-talk-mister expression she could muster. "Why even make it a thing if you're just gonna keep it such a big secret, huh? I think you're full of asparagus."

Lichen paused in his tracks, nearly causing Honeydew to bump into him, being in hot pursuit only inches behind him. "Fine. I was trying to keep him from having a reason to target me, but if you're going to be so berry-freaking nosy..."

"See, before Paprique worked here, he was a writer. Pretty closed off dude, from what I hear, but he did have one friend from high school, I guess. Some guy named Tato Pie.'

"Anyways, Tato was engaged to some foxy minx named Strawberry... up until Ol' Pappy had something to say about it, at least. A few weeks before the wedding, Tato dies, from--get this--a poisoned apple.'

"The police spent weeks trying to figure out how it got poisoned and why he ate it, but in the end they ended up ruling it a suicide because of some note they found, saying life had become too much or some other nonsense Paprique forged to make it look like he killed himself.'

"Not two weeks after the case is closed, guess who ends up hooking up? Paprique and Strawberry. A few weeks after that? Engaged.  His story was that he hitched up with his best friend's girl to ease her sorrow, but I don't buy it--and I'm not the only one. Tato had quite a few friends at Paprique's publisher... and the whole situation left them feeling uneasy, so they terminated their contract with him.'

"That's why he's working here--the whole thing left a bad taste in everyone's mouth, so no one'll take his books anymore. Can't blame them... I wouldn't want to publish a murderer, either."

An unexpected chill ran up Honeydew's spine. "Yeah... I-I dunno, I'm not sure I believe that, Lichen. You don't think Molly would hire him if she discovered that, do you?"

"Honestly? I wouldn't put it past her. She did say she hired us all because of our secrets, and my guess is is that whatever she's got planned, she needs a hitman to do her dirty work." Although Lichen's words were slightly laced with sarcasm, a vile smile grew on his cheeks as he continued, "Besides, between Molly's connections, Pappy's scandal, and Hyacinth's bat-crazy antics, I'd say all of us are probably murderers of some kind.'

"... Well," he added. "Except you, anyways. Not sure what the heck she has on you, but it's probably small fries, compared to the rest of us."

"HEY! What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Oh, c'mon--a little toothpick of a brat like you? Fine--I bet it was a murder... your neighbor's cat, maybe? Run him over while trying to learn how to use a stick shift?!"

"Of course not! I am just as... diabolical... as the rest of you, and you know it!"

Lichen smirked. "Awwww, loooook, dollface wants to be a badass tooooo..."

"TAKE IT BACK! Take it BACK, Lichen! I am JUST as capable of killing someone as the rest of you!"

They could've heard a pin drop. By now, their heated conversation had carried over the rest of the coffeehouse, leaving all the occupants staring in Honeydew's direction with wide eyes and dropped jaws.

Honeydew could feel the flush rolling into her cheeks, but even as she tried to hide her face, everyone continued to stare at her.

"I... I was just being hypothetical, folks... Lichen and I... just goofing around... totally kidding..."

A few eyes lingered for another moment, but after giving them a weak smile and a wave, the rest went back to what they were doing previously, minus the addition of a few extra murmurs running through the restaurant.

"Oh, man... that was priceless," Lichen said in a low voice, barely able to contain his laughter. "I don't think I've seen anything that funny since that customer came in drunk and tried to order two dozen lattes for a coffee bath..."

"Uuugh, just... shut up, fudgeface."

"What are you gonna do, cry to Molly?" His face beamed when her expression soured further at the suggestion. "Yeah, like she's gonna be real happy that you've spooked all those customers when we're supposed to be on the down lo--"

"GUYS."

Lichen's mouth hung open for a moment longer as his eyes shifted to Hyacinth, who had more or less appeared out of no where. In fact, Lichen wasn't even aware she'd been assigned to work today, so it took several seconds for him to register why she was even here at all.

"What," he finally asked, as Honeydew was too busy heaving a sigh of relief at having their conversation hijacked.

"The TORCH." Hyacinth's eyes grew large, and her arms waved wildly even though her voice remained hushed. "It's a HOLE."

"The torch... is a hole." Lichen blinked several times in disbelief. This woman was nuts. "Mind telling me how that's possible?"

Honeydew groaned. "Don't encourage her, Lyke," she hissed to the side, trying to avoid Hyacinth's frantic gaze. "I really don't wanna deal with one of her monologues again..."

"No, I wanna hear this," he spat back.

"Lots of things are holes!" Hyacinth continued exuberantly. "Didn't you know that?"

"Uh... suuure... but not normally torches."

"I know. That's why it's fascinating."

Lichen sent Honeydew a "So... where is this hole, then?"

Hyacinth blinked several times in confusion. "... The floor? Where else would it be?"

"How about the back of your head, where your brains fell out?" Lichen responded, crossing his arms as he began to laugh.

"You joke, but I'm not lying," Hyacinth retorted sourly. "It's a hole, and I know it. You'll see!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure we will." Lichen turned away, idly flicking a piece of lint off his shirt to avoid making eye contact with her. "In the meantime, how 'bout you go clean the sink in the men's bathroom? Some customer left quite a mess in there, and Molly's going to be here any minute to check on things.

Although Hyacinth was clearly perturbed, she scrunched her face and walked away, muttering things under her breath as she disappeared around the corner.

The moment she was gone, Lichen's face completely perked up. "You know," he said, turning to Honeydew. "I bet that one's willing to show you a few pointers on how to off someone, if you really want to get into the big leagues--"

Groooooaaann. "You're unbelievable..."

---

The view from Bubble Buzz's patio was one of the best in all of Sugar Valley. The beach was so close that Paprique could taste the ocean on his lips, a sensation that dug up bittersweet memories he spent far too much time dwelling on when the bar didn't need his services.

Molly had done him a great service, giving him this job, especially with what she knew--but that didn't stop the humiliation of spending his afternoons behind a nectar bar from stinging his pride.

Still, as he rested his hands on the glass railing, he tried to focus on the positive: this wouldn't last forever.

Not only that, but the few details Molly had entrusted him with, over the others, made her whole operation seem... profitable. Perhaps the town would continue to see him as a laughing stock, but the opinions of others had never mattered much to him, anyways.

There had only ever been one opinion that mattered.

"Put it back."

As deep as he was in his thoughts, he'd heard her. The gentlest open and close of the door, cat-like tip toes across the floor, the light squeal on her lips as his wallet had lifted from the table into her paws; most would have missed it, but not the person who had set the trap.

Hyacinth dropped the wallet to the table in a quick *thud*. "I... what are you talking about?"

Paprique shoved himself from the railing, stalking her as she backed towards the wall like  prey from its predator. She stumbled, intensifying the wild surprise and fear in her eyes.

"Thought you'd grab a few extra dollars? Steal my credit card? Get away with it?" drawled Paprique's deep, monotone voice. "Think I'm that thick, do you."

"No, I--I--"

"Look, girl. I don't know what you did and I don't care. I don't know why Molly thinks she needs you... I don't care. You step a toe out of line, you reach your fingers into another customers pockets, you try to take advantage of Molly's trust and faith in you.... I. WILL. Be. Watching. Do I make myself clear."

Hyacinth's nails snapped noisily as she bit them, trying to soothe the anxiety from Paprique's fierce glare. "You do," she finally replied, her eyes searching his for any weakness--finding none.

"Molly has given you an incredible opportunity. Don't waste it."

He walked away, clearly having made his point, but he froze when he heard Hyacinth's sheepish voice stutter out another question.

"You... you won't tell her, will you?"

"No, I won't."

Paprique cocked his head over his shoulder, deftly looking at Hyacinth over the edge of his glasses. She winced; you didn't need to believe Lichen's tall tales to see why so many people avoided Paprique. In him laid a particular menace many believed is what turned a Berry Sweet sour--something invisible, until you saw it as Hyacinth saw it, in the murky depths of his gaze.

"But if you do it again," he continued, his voice edged with bitterness. "You won't have to answer to her. You'll answer to me."