Previously on WTW: They find a footprint, and not much else.

VPOV

I couldn't believe that I was doing this.

I was going to make a complete fool of myself. And why? Because I'd gotten myself roped into this whole thing, and for some reason felt obligated to see it through.

I'd just been at school on Tuesday, a little over a week since our dalliance in the woods, reading a book at the school library. It was one of the few mystery books the school had that I'd only read once, so I was excited to have picked it up again. But, I wasn't able to get very far when I was interrupted.

"Hey so, we need you to do something." Daphne had mastered the art of materializing out of thin air, apparently. I jumped at the sound of her voice, my book falling to the floor and my glasses almost following it.

"Sorry, did I scare you?" I didn't answer, I figured she could put that one together for herself. "Can I sit down?"

I gestured and she smiled a bit, taking the chair opposite me at the big wooden table that I'd previously been enjoying. As I reached down to rescue the novel, she continued, "So Fred called me last night, and he had an idea. You know, for the case."

"I don't know if you could really call it a case," I mutter. I hadn't really intended for her to hear me, but I guess I didn't do a very good job because she rolled her eyes a little. "Sorry. What was his idea?"

"Well the shoeprint was sort of a bust right? So Fred figured we should put a pin in it and come back to it later, if we need to. He thought that talking to the victim, the live one, would be a good next step."

"He get that one off of CSI too?" I asked dryly, opening my book and trying to find my page again. Ah, there it was.

"Does it really matter where he got it?" she snapped. "What's important is that he has a plan. Unless you've come up with something?"

I took a moment to look around the library before answering. And there were a few people looking our way. Looks like popular Daphne Blake talking to nobody Velma Dinkley was a puzzle that the Deacon Hill students were having trouble figuring out. Of course.

"Fred wants to get into the hospital to talk to the guy. His name is Victor Freeman, and he's still a patient there," Daphne informed me, oblivious to the stares.

"You can't just walk into the hospital and expect to talk to him," I pointed out.

"Well, obviously. That's where you come in."

"Excuse me?"

"You don't have an internship right now, right? Deacon Hill students intern at the CountyHospital all the time! All you have to do is go in there and say you're interested and they'll give you a tour. You find Freeman, then Fred and I can figure out how to get to him from there."

"Why can't you do it?" I challenged. This all seemed to be her and Fred's plan- I didn't see why I needed to be involved.

"Because I already have an internship. And honestly, my grades aren't the kind that an aspiring doctor would have. No one would take me seriously."

She might have been right there. "Fred? Shaggy?"

"Fred's so busy with lacrosse, no one would believe that he had enough time to put into an internship; plus I think he's in the same grade situation as I am. And Shaggy said he was afraid of doctors."

"So I'm the last person you asked?"

"Don't be like that," she sighed. "I know you aren't crazy about being involved in this at all, so I figured I'd cross the others out as possibilities before coming to you."

I crossed my arms, "I don't really want to do it."

She crossed hers as well. "And I don't really care. You're a part of this now Velma, whether you like it or not. That means you sort of have to."

"It does not!" I couldn't really argue that I was a part of it, but that it no way would make me do this.

"Hey Daph! What are you doing here? Don't you have lunch right now?" A bouncy, blonde girl was now standing in front of the table. I didn't know her name, and didn't care to.

"Oh, hey Ness, yeah I'll be there soon. I just had to ask Velma a favor."

The girl turned towards me, as if Daphne's pointing me out made her see me. "Oh, hi there. Velma, right? Great to see you. What were you two discussing?"

I let Daphne answer that, because the question had really only been directed at her. This girl didn't want my input. Daphne glanced apologetically towards me before replying, "She'd my tutor, Ness."

"Oh!" the blonde girl exclaimed, as if the world suddenly made sense again. And to her, it probably did.

Because Daphne Blake talking to nerds was not something that happened in this girl's world, I was sure.

Now that it was clear that I wasn't of any actual importance to Daphne, the girl felt free to ignore me thoroughly. She was talking a mile a minute about some party, and I sighed. Okay, then. I picked up my book and started reading again.

"Hey Velma," Daphne addressed me again; I glanced up and she was standing now, with bouncy blonde at her side, their arms linked. "I'm heading to the cafeteria now. But you'll be available to help on Thursday, won't you?"

And, for reasons still unknown to me, I'd answered her, "Sure."

Which led me here. Standing next to one of the many doctors at CountyHospital, who was explaining excitedly about the intern process. I'd called the hospital Tuesday night after my library encounter to set up the initial interview. The man I'd talked to seemed more than willing to accommodate me once I'd mentioned being a Deacon Hill student.

"We'll still need to check with the school regarding all of this, but that shouldn't be a problem," the man talked on. "We've been very satisfied with all of our Deacon Hill interns to date, and are very excited to have you joining the team."

The team? Oh lord. I zoned out again, not seeing the point in paying attention to him explain rotation schedules to me. I didn't actually need the information. I wasn't really planning on following through with this whole internship thing. I didn't even want to be a doctor! This whole exercise was for the case.

"And this is Nurse Deckett. She'll be giving you a tour of the facility. If you have any questions after your tour, please feel free to shoot me an email," he smoothly handed me off to a frazzled looking nurse. Her brown hair was pulled back into a loose bun, and that combined with the circles under her eyes and her wrinkled scrubs let me know that she'd been on her feet for much longer than I would ever want to be.

"You a nursing intern or a doctor intern?" she asked blandly.

"Uh- nursing," I found myself saying. It seemed like it would be the answer that would make her happier.

I must have been right, because her tired-looking eyes perked up a little bit. "Oh, really? We don't get many of those here. Poor thing too because nurses run this place, it wouldn't function without us."

"I've heard that they're the backbone of any hospital's infrastructure," I nod along with her.

She regards me for a moment, almost sizing me up, before continuing, "Hm. Alright then. This is the lobby and main nurses' station. Doctors receive patient files here, and people can approach and ask general questions- like if they're lost or something. Follow me, I'll show you to file room."

I had to scurry a bit to keep up with her. We zipped behind the large desk that separated the pastel scrubs from the ordinary folk and I suddenly was very aware of the fact that I was only wearing my nice jeans and an orange t-shirt. She continued moving briskly, and so I didn't spend much time among the other nurses, who all looked just as frazzled as my tour guide. We soon made it into a back room, which was appropriately names because it was crammed full of filing cabinets.
"A lot of the newer information is online for us to access, but we are still required by law to keep a paper trail of all patients for at least five years after they've last checked out of the hospital- for malpractice lawsuit defense, I'm pretty sure. But yeah, everything's here."

"Everything? Even current patients?" I checked.

"Sure," she glanced around, apparently bored. "Everything means everything, right? Anyways, we can go see another specialized nurses' station next if you want."

Before I could answer another nurse popper her head into the room. "Libby? I have a question about Mr. Green's discharge papers. I don't think Dr. Call filled them out completely."

"Of course he didn't," my guide, Libby apparently, scoffed. "I can grab his pager number for you, but I can't do much more. I'm giving this kid a tour."

"They don't bring kids back here for tours," the woman was surprised.

"She wants to be a nursing intern, she says. Figured I'd show her everything."

"Huh. I didn't even know there were nursing interns," she shrugged. "But anyways, just his pager number would be great. I really need to finish up these papers before I go home."

"You'll be okay for a second?" my guide asked- and I guess she was referring to me again.

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Okay, I'll just be a second," she repeated before hurrying out of the room, not bothering to close the door behind her.

I stood for a second before realizing that I was truly alone. This was perfect! I'd had the idea when she'd mentioned that everyone's files would be here, but I didn't really think I'd get a chance to look around. If current patient files were in here, then Victor Freeman's would be- which could provide a whole plethora of information. If that wasn't enough to satisfy Fred and Daphne, then nothing would be.

Not quite sure how long a 'second' was to Nurse Deckett, so I had to move quickly. I located the 'Faz-Ful' filing cabinet and lugged it open. Freeman. Freeman. There it was- Freeman, Victor.

There wasn't enough time to actually go through everything, so I did the only thing I could. I pulled out my cheap phone and snapped a crummy quality picture. Oh well, it was better than nothing.

I was about to put the file back when I noticed the page at the back. "Approved Visitor List" was blazoned across the top in bold letters, and absolutely nothing else on the form was filled out. That made sense, the guy hadn't woken up yet- how would he was set up a visitor sheet? Well, now he would. I found a pen on top of a nearby cabinet and quickly started scribbling. I was in such a rush that my handwriting turned out to be just messy enough to have belonged to a doctor. Perfect.

I had barely gotten the proper drawer closed again when my guide returned. "Sorry sorry, Sheila had a question for me. Anyways, where were we?"

"Specialized nurses' station," I reminded her, and then we were off again.

I smiled to myself as we walked. I had gotten something- something good! And now it wasn't even a problem that I probably wouldn't be getting a chance to see where Victor Freeman was recuperating, I had everything I needed.

I would still go on the tour, though, because honestly it was all still pretty interesting.

SPOV

Was Daphne Blake pretty? Yes. Was Daphne Blake smoking hot? Yes. Was Daphne Blake super pushy and annoying as hell? Yes, again. Chick didn't know how to take no for an answer.

"Come on, Shaggy, you have to help me!" she was just standing outside my house- er, trailer- like it was no big deal. As if the Private School Princess actually had a chance of looking like she fit in here. Sure Velma went to that school but she at least managed to look like a real person while doing it. Most of those kids look like they shit diamonds on a regular basis.

She'd called me yesterday, while I was working no less, and started spouting off about need help with something. I was busy and I told her that, but she didn't seem to really grasp the concept. She just started talking faster. Okay, whatever, I hung up. And didn't pick up the next four times. I didn't know what it was like at Deacon Hill, but to me that seemed like a pretty clear 'leave me alone'.

Yet here she was, standing in her pretty little uniform, probably getting her nice shiny black shoes dirty with the brick dust that has been blowing into the Park from the baseball field my whole life. I glanced around and sure enough there was a very nice, very new looking little VW Bug parked off a ways. I'd probably bet Scooby that that was hers. That's how sure I was. No one around here would be driving a car like that. Velma was one of the only kids in the area to have a car, and that was just because her mom apparently could afford to live somewhere else and just didn't want to. Crazy lady, that one.

"Aren't you going to say something?" She crossed her arms and huffed at me.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why say something?" I clarified. "I don't have anything to say, other than to state the obvious. You're here. You shouldn't be. Your shoes are getting dirty."

While I was talking, I'd been moving towards the door and unlocking it. How had she gotten here so quickly anyways? School had just ended for us twenty minutes ago, and I knew that the private school ended earlier. As I entered- and surprise, surprise, she followed me- Scooby perked up.

"You didn't even really give me a chance to explain my reasoning yesterday!" she whined.

"Alright, explain." I moved towards the kitchen and looked into the fridge. Empty, damn. Guess I wouldn't be playing the proper host towards my unwelcome guest.

"I just think that it's a good route to go! I mean, I want a different side of this for my notes, sure, but it could also lead us somewhere interesting. And it was my idea, so I figured I could just go for it, you know? We don't have to run everything by everyone do we? But I just really need your help to make it work because I don't have a dog and-"

"Wait," I interrupted her, holding up one of my hands. "You're involving Scooby in this?"

"Well, yeah," she looked confused. "I told you that yesterday."

"Okay, lets say that hypothetically I wasn't listening to you yesterday. Care to repeat?"

She sighed, as if I were inconveniencing her oh so much, before speaking, "We don't really have sufficient background information regarding this case. So I just figured that the police would-"

"No," I interrupted her again.

"No?"

"No. No cops."

"What? You haven't even heard the whole idea!"

"I don't care. I'm not getting any closer to the cops than I have to when I pass the station on my way to school. Even then I get on the far side of the street!"

"That's ridiculous! They aren't just going to be able to tell that you've done something wrong by being close to you. They can't smell crime!"

"I'm not doing it."

"But we need to! If we don't then this whole thing just won't go anywhere and we won't get anything accomplished!"

"That doesn't bother me. I don't really give a damn if we manage to find something or someone or whatever. I'm here so that Fred Jones doesn't kill me, not for any other reason."

"Oh, come on!"

"No."

"I'm not leaving until you agree to help me," she threatened.

"You can share Scooby's bed, then."

"Shaggy! Come on! Just think about it! This is important! I had this idea, and its actually a good one and you're the only person that can help me!"

"It's the cops! Fred's dad is literally the Chief of Police, why wouldn't you just ask him?"

"Fred won't be able to do anything without raising suspicion. The whole station knows him, he can't just walk in and snoop around without them noticing!"

"No one can! It's a police station- they're kind of trained to notice that sort of thing!"

"I have a plan, okay? You wouldn't even be the one doing to snooping!"

I was going to reply, to tell her that my answer was still a firm no. Because there was no way in hell that I would willingly be entering a room full of cops. Nope, no way. I might have been stupid enough to sell to Fred Jones' little brother and get myself roped up into all of this, but even I had a line.

Then a crash sounded, making the whole trailer shake. Something had run into the door. I went over to it and swung it open, and there he was. Dad, drunk as a freaking skunk. Figures.

"Doors open," he said to me by way of greeting.

"Yeah, it is."

He meandered in, tripping a little here and there but always catching himself. He made his way into his room, without a single word offered to Daphne. Ah well, it was probably better that way.

"Is that your Dad?" she whispered, flinching a little as another crash come from his room. I'd have to check that out later.

"Yeah. That's Pops."

"He's really young," she commented, her eyes still on his closed bedroom door.

"I guess."

"Is he- I mean does he do that a lot?"

I didn't answer because I didn't like where she was going with that. And I knew where she was going with that- right where any rich kid would be going with it.

"Because I mean, you could tell me," she looks to me finally, probably expecting that I'd be tearing up or some shit.

"He's fine," I say to her, because he was.

"If you don't want to talk to me, I understand, but there are plenty of other people who would be there to listen. A teacher? Or a guidance counselor? Or just another friend."

"Shut up Daphne, this isn't a thing. He's fine. I'm fine."

"Its three-thirty in the afternoon, Shaggy," she said to me sadly, as if I were a kicked puppy or something.

I could have told her that he only went out when he didn't have work the next day. I could have told her that the only reason he was home at such an early hour was that his sleep schedule was all messed up because he worked weird shifts. But I really didn't want to have to explain everything. It was a lot of talking- and I'd already talked to her way longer than I'd planned on. I didn't speak too much during the day, and this conversation was pushing it already.

"If I agree to help you with whatever, will you drop this?" I bargain, because it seems like the quickest way of getting her out.

"You have to promise to talk to someone about this, too," she countered.

"Sure," I lie easily. "Just call me tomorrow and we can figure things out."

"Alright, but you have to pick up this time!"

"Okay, I will."

And then, thank god she was out the door and driving away.

l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-

"Come on Scoobs, it isn't a big deal," I spoke to my dog. We were out walking- out putting Daphne's stupid plan into play- and Scooby wasn't crossing the street. We hadn't walked on that side of the street, the side with the station, for years and he was hesitant to start now. I didn't blame him- I was hesitant too.

To her credit, Daphne had actually kept my part in all of this pretty simple. I just had to walk in, make sure to go up to the female cop on duty, and start asking her questions. Easy-peasy.

I left Scooby out front with the command to 'stay' and headed in. Just walking in through the front doors gave me chills. This wouldn't end well.

The lady cop was furiously typing at the front desk and I made a little face. She would probably be mad when I interrupted. Great.

"Uh, excuse me."

"Can I help you?" Yep, definitely mad for being interrupted.

"Uh, I think so?" Damn, did my voice just crack? Not cool. "You see I've got this dog and I was just wondering if I needed to like, file a report on it or something."

"File a report?" she asked me like I was an idiot, which I sort of was. I should have maybe focused less on the there being cops part and a little more on what I was actually going to say.

"Like, a permit or something?"

"You don't need to get a permit to have a dog sir. Unless you think the dog could be considered a weapon?"

"Oh, no, Scoobs wouldn't ever hurt anyone."

"Well, then you're fine. If that's everything?" she turned back to her screen before finishing her sentence.

"Um, no its not actually." Crap, Daphne had been very clear. I was to distract the woman until she finished up and she hadn't even arrived yet!

"What else can I help you with, then?"

"Oh, um, poop-scooping. I have a question about poop-scooping." Bless Velma for having yelled at me for not picking up Scooby's shit two weeks ago.

The lady cop looked at me, and I looked at her. After a beat or two, she sighed and prompted me, "Your question?"

"Yeah. I was just wondering, if I was walking my dog in the woods, and he pooped, would I have to pick it up? I mean, its not on the trail or anything, so he wouldn't be where most people walk. And that stuff's good for the ground, right? Like, fertilizer?"

"You have to pick up all of your dog's poop, sir," she said firmly.

"But wouldn't it actually be better for the environment in the long run if I left it? I mean, the grass would get greener. That can't be a bad thing."

"It's a fineable offence to leave your pet's feces laying around and not picking up after it," she explained.

"Well, I guess I think that that should be changed. Its an unjust law. For the environment. Who can I speak with about changing that law?"

She sighed again, "Let me go get you a pamphlet on our regulations regarding pets, okay? I'll be back."

As she walked away, I heard a chime from behind me. I turned, and there was Daphne. Excellent timing, that girl had.

She waltzed up to the guy cop who was also manning the front desk and leaned over, knowing exactly what it was he was seeing when she did. Gotta give the guy props, he tried his best to keep his eyes on her face.

"Excuse me, my name is Daphne Blake and I'm with the town paper. My boss wanted me to come down here and talk to someone about the fantastic job everyone did with the Victor Freeman case? Do you know who I could talk to?"

His chest puffed up a little bit and he replied, "Well, I'd be happy to talk to you. I was on patrol when the Freeman case was called in the first time."

"Oh really? That would be wonderful," she gushed. "Is there somewhere else you would want to hold the interview?"

"Oh, uh, we can go into the conference room over there," he pointed and then followed happily as she led the way. Poor guy.

My watching of the goings-ons was interrupted when Lady Cop returned, pamphlet in hand. "Just read this over. Its got the answers to most of your questions."

"Uh, I think I'll just read through this here in case I need more clarification after I'm done with it," I say, hoping that lady cop wouldn't make me leave.

She was already typing, though, so I guess she was okay with it. I started pretending to read the pamphlet, but really I was just trying to listen into the conference room. Daphne had left the door open, but I still couldn't make anything out.

It was taking a while! Lady Cop probably thought I was the slowest reader ever. I'd been standing here for almost fifteen minutes and I was still studying the same four page pamphlet intently. When was this thing going to get wrapped up?

"Uh, you know, this pamphlet really only covers dogs," I get her attention again. She looked up at me disbelievingly.

"You said you had a dog," she pointed out.

"Well, yeah. But I have been meaning to get a… a rabbit."

"You don't need a permit for a rabbit either."

"Do you have any pamphlets on rabbits back there? I'd like to be as educated as possible before making my purchase." Wow I sound like a dweeb.

She sighs, but gets up from her chair, "I'll check."

Just then, none other than Fred Jones waltzes through the back doors. He almost knocks over Lady Cop, too. Papa Jones is right behind him, too. Oh, I didn't like this one bit.

"Shaggy?" Fred recognizes me, of course.

"Uh, hey man."

"You know this kid?" Chief looked me over then glanced at his son questioningly. Apparently my type is not the sort he's used to hanging around his son. My not being of the meat-head variety, I can't say I blame the guy's confusion.

"We go to the same school," I rush to clarify. Don't need Freddie giving more away than would be prudent.

"What are you doing here?" Fred asks me.

"Here is your pamphlet on small animals," Lady Cop is back, answering Fred's question for me. "Will there be anything else?"

"Er-" is all I manage to get out before another voice interrupts me.

"Thank you so much for your time, Ralph, its much appreciated."

"Daphne? What are you doing here?" Freddie looks a little mad now. Guess he's figured out that I'm not actually at the police station to inquire about small animals.

"Gorman? What are you doing away from the front desk?" the Chief asked Ralph, who was looking more and more red by the second.

"Listen, I'm just going to duck out. My dog's waiting outside," I make my excuses and hurry out, with a little wave to Lady Cop, who isn't even looking.

As I'm walking away, Scooby's leash in one hand and my new pamphlets in the other, I see Daphne hurrying away. Well, looks like she got out alright. Good. My part was over and now I could go home and eat, because I was starving.

AN:

Sorry for so long to update, real life's a bitch