"But it would be so much easier if you just stayed the night," Daphne insisted as Velma put her key into the door and turned it.

"And I'm telling you there's no use," Velma replied as she stepped into the house. "So just forget it okay?"

Daphne groaned, but dropped the conversation nonetheless.

"I just need to go change my tights. It shouldn't take long," Velma whispered. "Just stay in here and I'll be right back. Whatever you do, don't talk to my-"

"Velma is that you?" a female voice called from the next room.

"...mother."

Velma made a face, which only Daphne could see as Velma's back was to the woman who entered the room. The woman, so clearly Velma's mother, had on a polka dot black and white dress and cat eye glasses.

"And who's this?" the woman said brightly as she approached the two girls.

"Ma, this is Daphne Blake. Daphne, this is my mother."

"Nice to meet you Daphne. I'm Susie, Susie Dinkley. Velma, I didn't realize you had a new friend," the woman said brightly. Then she seemed to catch herself. "Over. A new friend over."

"We're just stopping by," Velma reassured (more to herself than anyone else). "We aren't staying long. Just long enough for me to change."

"Then we're going to my house," Daphne said with a smile. "For a, uh, a study group."

"On a Friday night?" Susie asked, confused.

"Yes ma'am," Daphne answered. "We have to study tonight, so tomorrow we can go to the game."

"What game?" Velma asked, taken aback. Daphne raised her eyebrows at her.

"You know. The football game."

"Oh yes right," Velma nodded, her brow still furrowed. "The... football game."

"Oh, well... are you eating dinner here? It's nearly five-thirty. Dinner is almost ready, if you'd like to..."

"Unfortunately we can't," Velma stated. "The meeting starts at six and we have to have time to go over there."

"Alright," Susie said sadly. "Well, at least let me put together some snacks for you to take."

Susie smiled once again and left for the kitchen. Velma shook her head, and then left for her room, which was right down the hall.

Daphne used their absence to get a good look around the Dinkley's living room. The couches and armchairs were neatly covered in plastic, all facing a television with long antennas. Built-in bookshelves lined either side of a brick fireplace on the side far from the front door. Daphne stepped closer to look at the pictures.

Not a single one featured Velma past the age of five. There were several baby pictures, a few wedding photos, and one class portrait on the mantle, but nothing else. Daphne had the strange feeling as if the girl she had been spending time with over the past few days was a ghost of someone who had died as a child. Not wanting to think too much about this, she turned her sights on the class portait.

The sign in the center of the picture read Coolsville Elementary School, Mrs. Wilkinson,Kindergarten 1955-1956. It was placed in front of a teacher with curled hair and an austere expression. All around her were five and six year old kids, all with dour faces. On the end of the front row on the right was a very young Dinkley, her glasses almost identical to the ones she wore now. And three seats to her left, the only child in the class who was not white, was Daphne Blake herself.

Daphne heard movement behind her, and turned, photo still in hand to see the present day version of Velma Dinkley, seated on one of the plastic armchairs. Her tights had been replaced with knee high orange socks, and she was in the process of securing the straps of her brace back on.

"We were in the same Kindergarten class," Daphne said, holding up the photo.

"We were?" Velma asked as she bent down to tie her shoe.

"Yeah. That's you," Daphne pointed at the picture. "And then that's me."

"Huh. How about that," Velma said, impressed, as she crossed the room to look at the picture with Daphne.

"I...huh. You know I remember you in Kindergarten, but I don't remember you at all in first grade. Or, actually, any grade beyond that. I think I always assumed you moved, but, well, clearly you didn't since we're four blocks from the school."

"No, I didn't move," Velma shook her head. "Just got sick."

Daphne watched her friend, waiting to see if she'd continue or not. Velma seemed very interested in her shoes. Finally, Velma sighed.

"I got sick in June, and was in the hospital for... I think about four months. I don't remember much about it other than I read a lot. I could read when I went into Kindergarten, and, well there wasn't much else to do when you had to lay in bed for so much time. So I just read. I read every book in the hospital. And when I finished them, I'd just read them all over again. I think I read them all a total of three times. And, oh, there was a kid named Ricky. He was ten, and right before he got sick, he had been given a spy kit, with a secret decoder ring, and he had learned how to write in a few different codes, so he taught some of us how to do it. That's where I found an interest in deciphering codes," Velma said. Then the faint smile of reminiscing slid from her face. "Ricky was the only kid I knew who got sicker the longer he was there. He died right before I left, ten days before his eleventh birthday."

"But I mean, you survived. You you know, were... why didn't you come back to school?"

"We tried. I...tried. But, I wasn't there three days after school resumed after Christmas before the Parent Teacher Association insisted that I leave. They didn't want their kids in the same classroom as someone who had had polio. It didn't matter that I wasn't contagious. It didn't matter that all their kids were vaccinated by then. It didn't matter. That... that wasn't the point," Velma sighed. "So I was homeschooled. Finished all my credits and studying by age 16. Would have come to college then, but... Let's just say it was a battle to get my parents to allow me to cross the street on my own, let alone cross town to attend class every day."

Then she shook her head and looked up at Daphne, trying to force a smile.

"Anyways, you ready to go?"

Daphne opened her mouth to speak, but at that moment Susie Dinkley returned, carrying a paper shopping bag. She handed it to Daphne.

"That should be enough to serve your group," she turned to Velma. "Just make sure you bring my Tupperware back."

Velma nodded and turned for the door. Daphne considered for a moment.

"Mrs. Dinkley, some of my friends and I are having a... slumber party after the game tomorrow night. I want her to come, but she felt it was uneasonable to ask you."

"Well... Mr. Dinkley aren't anything if we aren't reasonable," Susie Dinkley said, standing a little straighter. "That's perfectly alright. We just need to know where it will be and who the chaperones are."

"There won't be any chaperones, ma'am, because we're all adults. And it'll be co-ed, but if that's a dealbreaker, then we'll sleep in separate rooms," Daphne informed her.

Susie looked from Daphne to Velma and then back to Daphne. Her mouth was slightly open, but she didn't seem to be able to say anything. She just kept looking from one to the other and back again.

"Well... uh... well, I," she exhaled deeply. "I don't... I mean... well..."

"I told you it was worthless," Velma muttered, leaning in towards Daphne. "We've gotta go or we'll be late."

"But..." Daphne looked at Susie Dinkley, who seemed trapped in a cycle of consideration.

"It's fine," Velma whispered,before raising her voice to address her mother. "I'll be back by curfew. 10pm preferred, no later than 10:30."

Velma turned to the door again, but this time she was followed by Daphne. Daphne took one last look back at Susie, and then to Velma.

She had wondered why Velma had warned her against talking to her mother, when nothing seemed particuarly troubling about her. It struck her that maybe it had not been for Velma or Daphne's sake, but for Susie's.


Shaggy leaned against his van, absently petting Scooby as he waited for Daphne to return to her apartment.

He was still itching for a drink, or at the very least a cigarette. It was even harder now, as on the drive over he had remembered the bottle of whiskey in the back seat and the pack of Marlboros in the cupholder. But as much as his brain seemed to scream for them, the pain in chest screamed louder.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Daphne apologized as she led the three up the small stoop up to a porch. "We had to stop by Velma's house. But on the bright side, her mom gave us snacks."

"Racks?" Scooby said excitedly, his tail whipping back and forth so hard he nearly knocked Shaggy over.

"I'm sure there's plenty for you," Daphne said with a smile as she pushed the door open. The trio, and the dog, followed her lead into the apartment.

Her's was very similar to Fred's. A short hallway led straight from the door to the kitchen, with a living room off to the right. A stairway next to the hall led to what Velma assumed were bedrooms.

"Okay," Daphne said as she set the carrying the bag down on the counter in the kitchen and began unpacking it. "I say we get something to eat, and then review our notes from yesterday as well as anything new we've learned since. I know I've got some new stuff to share."

Daphne pulled Tupperware after Tupperware of food out of the bag.

"Good Lord Velma how much did your mother give us?" Daphne asked as she pulled the seventh and final container from the bag.

"Probably too much," Velma admitted. "She's never been very good at estimating how much food to give people. She once was convinced one ten pound turkey would not be enough to feed eight people for Thanksgiving. We had to stage a coup in order to prevent her from buying another one."

"Rurkey, mm-mmm," Scooby said, he licked his lips. Daphne tossed him a piece of meat from one of the nearby containers. He caught it in his mouth.

"Can we sit in here instead of out there?" Velma asked as she inched closer to the kitchen table. "It would be easier to compare notes from here than in the living room."

"Sure," Shaggy shrugged. He looked to Daphne, who shrugged too.

Velma pulled out the chair closest to the wall, and sat down. The groan she let out when the weight shifted off her leg was unmistakable to both the other people in the room.

"Here," Daphne handed her containers to put on the table.

"Like, can I get your files while you do that?" Shaggy offered to Daphne as she handed Velma several more containers.

"Uh, sure. They're on the table in the living room."

Shaggy crossed the kitchen to grab the file. Daphne handed Velma the last container, and then grabbed a few plates out of the cabinet above the counter, which she also passed to Velma.

"So first, I heard an interesting conversation at the library earlier," Daphne began. "Two guys, football players, were there behind the shelves talking about something. One of them kept talking about keeping quiet, and the other guy said he couldn't. Then the first guy told him to hide stuff to make him feel better. The other guy said something about organizing something... uh... jeepers, well I can't remember now."

"Like, a vigil?" Shaggy asked.

"Yeah, yeah," Daphne nodded vigorously. "A vigil."

"Tony Sanders and Lex Dixon," Shaggy stated, sitting back in his chair.

"That's who it was?" Daphne asked.

She looked around for a moment, looking for something to write with. Velma, noticing this, pulled a pen out of her pocket and handed it over. Daphne scribbled the names on a sheet of paper in her folder.

"A friend I saw at the commons today told me about it. Said it was gonna be at Casem Hall. Danny always did like Casem Hall. He was a big fan of late Jacobean architecture," Shaggy added wistfully.

Then, out of nowehere, he slammed a fist on the table. All the notes, clues, and containers jumped, as well as Daphne and Velma.

"Those little shits," Shaggy spat. "They probably took him out and stole his stuff. Now they feel bad about it so they want to hold a damn pity party."

Daphne genly laid a reassuring hand on Shaggy's arm. His chest was heaving, but she wasn't sure if he was going to scream or cry. Neither was he.

"Well, if they're trying to cover up their tracks, going to that vigil is the best place to confront them," Daphne said slowly, her hand still on Shaggy's arm. "If they're put on the spot, they might be more honest with us. We just have to put together enough pieces of evidence in order to tie them to the murder."

"If they have Danny's stuff, as in, the stuff that wasn't found with the body, isn't that...isn't that evidence enough?" Velma asked slowly.

"Not necessarily," Daphne shook her head. "If the stuff was...I don't know, given away or even if it was stolen, that doesn't exactly place them at the murder. It's suspicious, but circumstantial at best. We have to find something more concrete, and that starts with the last person that saw him alive."

"Or people," Shaggy said through gritted teeth.

"Yes, or people," Daphne agreed, nodding.

"Who all saw him as he walked across campus?" Velma asked, trying to steey the conversation in a different direction.

"Well, there were ten people who report seeing him throughout the time he left Gregor's Restaurant at 3pm and when he was pulled out of the water around 9:30. Those reported to have seen him were Dana Applebee at 3:30pm, Jace Kinser and Michael O'Brien aroun 4:10pm, the Callum sisters Ivy, Opal, and Janet around 4:35pm, Justin Vincent at 5:25pm, Kevin Flaherty at 7:05pm, Wanda Johnson at 7:30pm, and Kim Paulson at 7:45pm."

"So there was a gap between Justin and Kevin of approximately one hour and a half," Velma noted as she wrote down the names and times Daphne listed. "And the a gap between the last person to think they saw him, which was Kim at 7:45 and the time that he was found."

"Correct. I've already tried talking to Kim. She said she was passing by on her way home from the library and saw a big guy that she thought looked like Danny coming out of the student union. And both Wanda and Kevin saw him in the student union."

"Well, if he was inside, like wouldn't he have taken off the winter coat and stuff?" Shaggy offered. "These people all i think/i they saw Danny. If he was inside, they'd have seen his face, wouldn't they?"

"That's a good point," Daphne said, jotting down the observation. "Perhaps that's something we should ask tomorrow at the game."

"The game?" Velma's brow furrowed. "Like, the football game? I thought that was just something you said to lie to my mother."

"No. I'm serious abotu going. It's a great chance to interrogate witnesses without people questioning why you're talking to people who aren't normally in your circle. Everyone are friends at football games," Daphne explained. "We just need to work out who is worth approaching."

"Well, like I can tell you now that the Callum sisters were probably high as kites. so they aren't very realiable witnesses," Shaggy said. "Like, they appear all goody two-shoes, but like they like their pot. And, like Justin Vincent too. We've run into each other at like more than one party."

"Noted. That leaves Dana, Jace, Michael, and Kevin. They'll probably all be in the student section tommorow at the game. I think it would be worthwhile to find them," Daphne said. Then she clapped a hand to her forehead. "How could I be so stupid? I don't have tickets."

"Like, I've gotcha covered," Shaggy assured her. "Like let me take care of that."

"So we're actually doing this?" Velma bit her lip. "We're actually going to interrogate people? At the football game?"

"Yep," Daphne nodded. "It's simple. The star quarterback on campus dies. Where better place to find who killed him then at a football game?"