Chapter 2: The police investigation

September 27, 2008

That morning, Sam was reading the weekend newspaper at the dining room table after finishing his breakfast. The first thing that caught his attention was the headline of the paper, which read:

"IWAO TAKAMOTO MIDDLE SCHOOL SKELETON MEN LEGEND TRUE?

Disappearance of school janitor at the middle school prompts speculation on ghostly legend"

Sam narrowed his eyes at the headline and looked up at his wife Wendy, who was doing the dishes.

"Wendy, you may want to take a look at this." Sam said to her.

Wendy came over after putting a plate away and Sam nodded at the newspaper.

She gasped after reading the headline of the newspaper, noting that the disappearance took place at Shaggy's middle school.

"I don't believe it, Sam." Wendy said after reading the headline. "How could something like this happen?"

"Beats me." Sam replied with a shrug. "One thing for sure is that Norville is going to have to be vigilant at school for the next while."

However, before he could continue, the telephone rang.

Swiftly, Sam went over to answer it. "Hello?"

"Morning sir." It was Sergeant McCormick at the other end of the line. "I sincerely hope I did not interrupt your morning, sir."

"Don't worry about it, Nelson." Sam replied. "What have you got?"

The Major Crimes Division Homicide Unit is currently covering for the skeleton crew on duty at Dawsburg Division, and he then remembered that the skeleton crew has caught four cases during the week, leaving McCormick and his junior partner Hughes to take the case when the two janitors reported the disappearance to the police.

"Not a lot, sir." McCormick replied. "The night-shift janitors were about to finish their shift when one of them decided to go relieve himself in the only washroom that is open for them. He then disappears and when his two co-workers went to investigate when he failed to return, they discovered his flashlight and a note in the washroom. The man was nowhere to be seen."

"I see. Who else is at the scene besides you and Nathaniel?" Sam asked.

"Lieutenant Waddel, sir. He's currently conferring with Captain Stephenson." Nelson replied.

As Sam carries on with his conversation with McCormick, Shaggy and Sugie had just entered the dining room for their breakfast with Scooby.

As the trio enjoys their breakfast, Wendy spoke to Shaggy. "Norville, I think it will be best if you and your friends can stay out of the school's playground for the next few days."

"Like, why's that, Mom?" Shaggy asked.

"Apparently, someone has disappeared last night at your school. Your father's investigators are currently investigating the case." Wendy replied.

Shaggy and Sugie both shared a look with Scooby and they swallowed.

Later after breakfast, Shaggy, Sugie and Scooby met with their friends at the tree house their fathers helped build in the front yard of their house this past spring.

"I heard that someone disappeared at our school last night, gang." Fred said as they were gathered in the main room of the tree house.

"Like, yeah." Shaggy nodded. "My father's got investigators working on that right now."

"The newspaper said something about a legend of the 'Skeleton Men'. Is it possible that they were behind the disappearances?" Madelyn asked.

"Like, it mentioned the note those janitors found in the washroom, warning them to stay out of school grounds. We probably should do the same." Sugie replied.

"There's no such things as live skeleton men, Sugie." Daphne said calmly. "Besides, just because that note was left on the ground doesn't fully meant that the so-called 'Skeleton Men' are responsible for the disappearance of that janitor."

"Well, Maggie does have a point, Daph." Shaggy said. "Our mother told us to stay out of the school's playground for now until they get to the bottom of this."

"True." Daphne nodded.

"What should we do in the meantime, though?" Fred asked. He seemed quite determined to investigate the case on his own.

"Like, I think we should at least take Scoob out for a walk." Shaggy suggested.

"Good idea, Shag." Daphne agreed.

"And perhaps walk by the school and see if we can find anything." Fred added.

Soon, the gang were out on a walk through the neighbourhood and were near their elementary school when they ran into Sergeant McCormick, who was doing a neighbourhood canvass with his partner.

"Ah! Norville, Maggie, how are you kids doing?" The detective asked.

"Like, we're doing alright, uh, Uncle Nelson." Shaggy replied as he and Sugie shook their father's trusted detectives hand.

"What brings you two and your friends here?"

"Like, we're bringing Scooby out for a walk." Sugie smiled.

"I see." McCormick nodded before adding, "In the meantime, I strongly suggest you kids stay out of school grounds other than during school time."

"Is it because of that disappearance, sir?" Fred asked curiously.

"Yes." McCormick replied. "It's rather dangerous for kids like you to be hanging around at a place near a scene of a crime without your parents, so I suggest you kids take a different route to walk Scoobert."

As he finished speaking, his partner Detective Hughes came to him with a man.

"Nelson, I've got this gentleman who claimed that he might have saw something odd last night near the school." Hughes said to him.

"Awesome." McCormick nodded before turning back to the group. "Well, I've got some work to do, kids. Stay safe and have a nice day."

"Like, you too, Uncle Nelson." Shaggy nodded.

After McCormick and his partner left together to question the witness, Shaggy turned to his friends. "Like, Uncle Nelson does have a point in asking us to stay away from our school for now, guys. Let's take a different route, just to be safe."

"But what about the legend?" Fred asked.

"Well, Shaggy's right about taking a different route to be safe. And besides, I don't want him or Sugie to get into trouble with their dad, and I'm pretty sure that none of you guys wants to get into trouble with your parents." Daphne replied, agreeing with Shaggy's idea.

"You got that right, Daphne." Velma agreed as her sister Madelyn nodded in agreement.

Turning back, Sugie said, "Let's head back to the treehouse."

"Roaky." Scooby nodded as the group of children turned to head back to their treehouse.

As Fred followed the group back to the treehouse, he turned to take one last look of their school before walking away with his friends.

Please read and review.