Chapter 7: A clue and the encounter
A short while later, the gang arrived at the trashed-up lab.
"So what's the plan, Fred?" Daphne asked as they stopped at the doorway to the lab.
"We're just going in to check and see what we might be able to find here in the lab." Fred replied. "The professor said that it was caused by an accidental explosion, but the damage in the lab looks like it was caused by some crazy maniac."
The others nodded, except for Shaggy as he looked around.
"Like, can we be quick on this, Freddie?" Shaggy asked. "What do you suggest we do if someone comes around and sees us in the lab?"
"And what should we do if the others find out that we're missing?" Daphne added.
"For the second question, we'll just say that we had trouble finding the washroom." Fred said. "As for Shag's question, I think you just provided us the answer."
"Huh?" Shaggy asked as he gestured at himself. "What do you mean?"
"I think he means you're going to stay at the doorway as a lookout for us while we search." Velma replied.
"That's exactly it." Fred nodded. "Shag, you'll keep watch for us and if someone comes by, give us a shout."
Shaggy swallowed. "I sure don't like the sound of this."
"Don't worry, Shag." Daphne said. "We're going to be quick."
Then to herself, she added, "I hope."
Shaggy nodded but didn't say another word, and Fred motioned the girls to crawl under the crime scene tape as he held it up higher.
Soon, the trio found themselves in the trashed-up lab and looked around.
"Be careful." Fred instructed them. "Don't touch anything on the floor and watch out for broken glass."
"Right." Velma and Daphne both nodded as they looked around. "I hope we find something."
As Fred and the girls searched throughout the lab, Shaggy was waiting patiently at the door.
He glanced at his watch, taking note that they've got just one more minute before the tour resumes.
"Come on..." He muttered under his breath impatiently. "You guys better find something soon."
Just then, a German-accented voice suddenly said, "Vhat are you doing here, little child?"
Shaggy jumped before turning and found himself face-to-face with Professor Kaufman, who was standing there with his arms folded.
"P-P-Professor Kaufman?" Shaggy asked before swallowing and looked around. "I-"
"What are you doing here alone?" Professor Kaufman repeated. "Shouldn't you be with your schoolmates and be preparing to return to the tour?"
"Well, uh, you see, Professor..." Shaggy swallowed before continuing, "My friends are actually using the washroom over here and I am, uh, waiting for them."
"Washroom?" Professor Kaufman raised an eyebrow. "There's one right by the cafeteria. You kids could've used one over there..."
"Um, it's full with a lineup, sir." Shaggy quickly said. "One of us...uh, couldn't hold much longer while waiting, so we decided to look around for another washroom and found this one here."
"Huh. I see." Professor Kaufman nodded, though Shaggy can tell that he was skeptical of his explanation. "Tell your friends to hurry up and return to your schoolmates, as soon as possible."
The professor then walked away and Shaggy sighed in relief.
"That was a close call." Shaggy thought to himself.
It was then that Fred and the girls emerged from trashed-up lab.
"Found something, guys?" Shaggy asked when he saw his friends.
"Just this piece of what doesn't appear to be human hair at all." Fred replied as he showed Shaggy the piece of hair Velma found earlier.
"Perhaps it is fur?" Shaggy offered.
"We will soon find out after school." Fred said as he put the hair in a small zip-up plastic bag before snapping off the rubber gloves he was wearing. "Now let's go back to the cafeteria, guys!"
"Right." Daphne nodded as they headed down the hallway.
Unbeknownst to any of them, Professor Kaufman was listening to the conversation nearby at a perpendicular hallway and his frown deepened.
Later that afternoon, the tour of S.T.A.R. Labs was over and it was time for the school faculty to return back to Iwao Takamoto Middle School, where the students are then dismissed from school for the day.
Walking down the sidewalk, the four discussed what Velma discovered in the lab during the search.
"I'm positive that this piece of fabric is fur." Daphne said. "Could be our friend who's been trashing all the research labs across town."
"Maybe." Fred said. "But we're going to need some help if we want to identify it."
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Shaggy asked. "If I may say something, we can't obviously tell someone like Pops that we picked it up in a lab that was trashed up."
"My parents have the lab equipment at home for their research." Velma said. "But they always keep track on what equipment has been used, and I can't tell them that we found this fabric in the trashed-up lab."
By this point, it was getting cloudy in the sky with weather reports calling for evening showers that day.
"You kids should have stayed out of the trashed-up lab earlier during lunchtime." A voice suddenly said.
The quartet stopped dead in their tracks when they heard the remark.
"Uh...Shaggy?" Daphne asked. "This is probably not a good time to practice your ventriloquism."
"That wasn't me, Daph." Shaggy quickly said. "I haven't been practicing my ventriloquism since the first day of school."
"If it wasn't you, who was it?" Fred asked as they looked around.
"That will be me, kids." The voice said as its source emerged from the dark alleyway, revealing a dark-greyish-blue demonic-looking hound.
"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as everyone jumped in fright. "It's..."
"Never mind who I am." The hound said as he approached the kids in a menacing fashion. "A friend told me that you kids had picked up fabric in a lab that is obviously too dangerous for you kids to enter, and I simply cannot allow that to happen again."
"We were just curious about what had happened in that lab, Mr. Hound." Fred said nervously. "The professor told us that it was caused by an accident, but from what I saw through the open doorway while we were walking by the lab earlier this morning, it looked more like it was caused by a wild animal trashing up the place."
"Like what has happened in other research labs across the city this past few weeks." Velma added.
"I see." The hound nodded. "You kids should've known that it's dangerous to be playing detective like that, especially when the place you've searched is where dangerous chemicals are stored, not to mention that the fabric you picked up could've been tainted with something dangerous. Something radioactive, for instance, and I don't suppose you kids are trained on how to handle stuff like that, are you?"
The quartet looked at each other before shaking their heads.
"We were wearing gloves when we picked up the fabric." Daphne said.
"Rubber gloves, to be precise." Fred added.
"And we have it stored in a small plastic zipper bag for it to be examined." Velma added.
"So you kids have taken precautions." The hound said. "Good for you, though I would like it if you kids don't take such dangerous risks again. What would you do if another staff member caught you kids in the act?"
The quartet looked at each other and shrugged.
"Anyways." The hound stretched out its paw. "I will have the fabric examined for you, if you don't mind, but next time, stay out of trouble."
Seeing the paw and the hound's eyes demanding that they hand over the fabric, the quartet looked at each other. Then, Fred sighed as he produced the small plastic zipper bag containing the fabric and handed it over to the hound.
The hound nodded as it stored the fabric in a compartment, then without another word, it activated its rocket boosters and took off as it shifted into the size of a small bird.
Watching the hound-turned-bird flying away, Fred turned to the others.
"Well, there goes our only clue into the attack in the lab, gang." Fred sighed.
"Then, what should we do next, Freddie?" Daphne asked.
"I guess the only thing we could do next is wait for the hound comes back with the analysis complete." Velma said. "I hope."
"And I've got a feeling that if we don't stop what we're doing, we're not going to hear or see the last of that hound that's clearly no Scooby." Shaggy added.
In that same time, the bird produced a wireless radio communication device and spoke. "I got the fabric, Professor."
"Good." Professor Kaufman replied from the other end while seated in his car. "Hopefully, this fabric can tell us more about the attack in the lab."
"As well as telling us about the disappearance of Professor Henry Kaufman, BF." The bird added.
"Right." "Professor Kaufman" nodded as his shadow formed into the shape of a giant falcon.
So the mystery deepens. In addition to the attack in several research labs across Coolsville, Professor Kaufman is also missing!
Is there a connection between the two cases? All I can say is stay tuned, and please read and review!
