Chapter 10: The aftermath and the end
A short while later, police arrived at the front of the closed down fish plant. There were dozens of cruisers at the scene as officers secure the perimeter.
Through the rear window of one of the cruisers, Shaggy and Scooby could see Drumpf and Poilievre handcuffed. No doubt that they made the pickup at the convention centre prior to arriving here.
A car soon pulled up and out came Commander Sam Rogers, accompanied by Lieutenant McCormick, Sergeant Hughes and Detective Chan, the former who was behind the wheel.
Sam walked over to the gang, where he saw Joe, James, Jelenic and Titley, all out cold. He was relieved when he saw Daphne, who remained close to Shaggy and Scooby, probably for fear of being taken away if she were to be a distance away from him.
"So these men are our kidnappers." Sam said as he approached the gang. "Joseph 'Joe' Brown, James Moran Gillies and Sebastian Jelenic, all of them former employees of Blake Industries, and soon-to-be former Coolsville police Lieutenant Richard Titley."
"That's right, sir." Fred nodded. "And Daphne's all right, although she's clearly shaken up by the ordeal."
"Indeed." Sam nodded. "At least Mr. and Mrs. Blake are going to be relieved."
"Anyways, Pops." Shaggy said as Daphne held onto him. "What is to become of Lieutenant Titley, Officers Drumpf and Poilievre?"
"For the moment, those three disgraces are to be suspended without pay while the DA's office opens their investigation." Sam replied. "Titley was the lead investigator on the Blake fraud case several years ago before being made lieutenant."
"But you guys didn't find evidence to charge Jelenic and his co-conspirators for fraud, Commander Rogers." Fred interjected.
"That's right, Fred." Sam nodded. "I suspect that once Titley got involved with those three goons, he quietly withheld the evidence of the three employees' involvements in their use of their company as a front to the protection and fraud rackets. And once those three goons were fired and planned to get even by staging the kidnapping, Titley suggested them to wait as he gathered further intelligence on how the department operates so they can pull the kidnapping and extort Mr. Blake out of his fortune."
It was then that the Blake family car pulled up, and George and Elizabeth rushed out of the car.
"Daphne!" Elizabeth exclaimed when they saw Daphne with Shaggy comforting her. "Oh thank goodness!"
"Mom! Dad!" Daphne shouted as Shaggy let go of her and rushed over to her parents to give them a big hug.
"Daphne! Oh dear!" George said as he and Elizabeth hugged their daughter. "Thank goodness you're alright!"
"Like, Daph's going to need to see a doctor immediately, Mr. and Mrs. Blake." Shaggy said as he and the gang walked over to them.
"Did you kids caught the goons that did this?" George asked as he turned to them.
"Yes, we did, Mr. Blake." Velma nodded as she gestured towards the three former Blake employees, who were now stirring. "You probably recognized them."
"Indeed I do." George's eyes narrowed as he recognized Jelenic, who had just returned to consciousness and turned and saw him glaring at him.
Escorted by two officers, Jelenic was led to George, whose disapproving frown unnerved him. There was some silence as George glared at the man responsible for the kidnapping of his daughter. He finally broke the silence.
"Well?" George asked. "I suppose you've got something to say now that your scheme to extort me out of my fortune has gone down the drain, Mr. Jelenic."
"Darn right I've got something to say, Mr. Blake." Jelenic spat. "It was a perfect plan that copper cooked up for us that would've ended with us swimming in money, not to mention that it would've been a great way for me to get even with you for firing us after you meddled in our business, if it weren't for those meddling kids and their blasted mutt and those two silent witnesses!"
"Figures." George replied. "You shouldn't have used my company as a front for your rackets in the first place, Mr. Jelenic, and you sure picked the wrong group of kids to kidnap or mess with."
Jelenic huffed but didn't say a word, and his face expression turned from a defiant look with no hint of regret to a mix of fear and frustration when he saw Shaggy's stern look. A look that warned him against messing with the Blakes when he and Scooby's around.
"You blasted kid ruined everything!" Jelenic said frustratingly as he faced Shaggy. "I thought you two chickens will be the easiest to deal with!"
"Like, Scoob and I may be chickens, Mr. Jelenic." Shaggy replied calmly as Scooby growled. "But when you mess with anyone close to us, you mess with us. You better start thinking of reforming while serving your sentence, because if you go anywhere close to Daphne the next time, you'll have us and our new friends to answer to!"
Jelenic didn't say a word but was stunned silent by Shaggy's words as his friends nodded in agreement.
Having had felt enough of seeing him, Shaggy then turned to the two officers and said, "Take him away."
The two officers nodded as they led Jelenic away.
After watching the officers taking away the kidnappers involved in the scheme, George turned to the kids.
"I sure don't know how to thank you kids for rescuing Daphne." He said gratefully.
"Shag's the one you should thank, Dad." Daphne said. "He gave that man a good, well-deserved sock in the head."
"Like, don't thank me, Mr. Blake." Shaggy replied before gesturing towards the cat and mouse duo and added. "It's Tom and Jerry you should thank."
"Oh yes." Fred nodded. "They witnessed the kidnapping, and a chance run-in with Shag's family got the ball rolling, not to mention that they also saved the day when Titley stormed in with a sub-machine gun."
"Which was also why you kids should've stayed home and let us do the rescue." A voice suddenly said, and as everyone turned and looked, it came from a patrol officer with black hair and a mustache.
The officer gestured towards his badge as he continued, "There's a reason why we wear this badge, you know, and rescue missions like this one can be dangerous to you kids, and..."
"Officer Bronson Stone, bite your tongue!" Sam barked with a stern tone of authority in his voice as he faced the officer. "The victim has been rescued, the culprits involved in the scheme have been arrested and no one was injured. Things could've been worse had our victim's friend and the two silent witnesses haven't acted."
"And besides, would you think that had my daughters friends didn't get involved in this, my daughter will be rescued unharmed, given that someone within the police department compromised the whole mission?" George added.
Stone huffed and didn't reply before walking away.
"They witnessed me getting kidnapped?" Daphne asked, gesturing towards Tom and Jerry as she spoke.
"That's right, Daph." Shaggy nodded. "The two guys that grabbed you caught them snooping around and chased them to our house, where they lost them after crashing in our basement. Mom and Dad were planning to have them sent to the pet store this morning when news of your disappearance came."
"Then, they helped us with the investigation and later knocked out Titley when he attempted to turn the tables on us." Velma added.
"Oh." Daphne nodded as she turned to the duo. "I guess I really should thank you guys for rescuing me."
Tom and Jerry both nodded and smiled as if they were saying, "There's no need to thank us."
That afternoon, Shaggy and Scooby accompanied the Blakes as Daphne went to the hospital for a checkup.
As the doctor's check on the redhead, Shaggy, Scooby and George were in the waiting room waiting for Elizabeth and Daphne.
"I heard that Daphne kissed you when you kids rescued her, Norville." George said to Shaggy. "Care to tell me what was it?"
"Well, Daph told me that she was relieved that I was alright after pulling a dangerous stunt during the rescue, Mr. Blake." Shaggy replied with a shrug.
"I see." George nodded before raising an eyebrow. "What did you do?"
"Like, all I did was telling Jelenic that Dad's mobilizing the whole police department and he panicked." Shaggy replied. "He then thought that he could spite Dad by shooting me, but he didn't realize that before the showdown, I took the liberty of wearing a metal garbage bin lid and using it as a bullet-proof vest, but I pretended to get hit and collapsed to the floor to make it look like he shot me for real."
"And why did you do that?" George asked, keeping his eyebrow raised.
"I figured that if he knew that I was wearing something bullet-proof that protects my chest, then he'll aim for my other body parts that aren't protected, and you know how difficult it is for me to be able to take him down without risking getting shot." Shaggy explained. "So I played dead until the overconfident Jelenic was taunting my friends with his gun aimed towards them, then I took the right moment to lift my leg and kick the weapon away from him."
"I see." George nodded understandingly before frowning. "I understand why Daphne kissed you, Norville. That was one dangerous gamble if you ask me, and I will prefer that you don't try that dangerous stunt again."
"Like, don't worry, Mr. Blake." Shaggy said reassuringly. "I do hope that that's the last time I pull a stunt like that."
George nodded just as Daphne, Elizabeth and the doctor exited the examination room.
"Is Daphne..." George asked the doctor.
"She's okay, dear." Elizabeth said. "But clearly shaken up by the ordeal."
"That's right." The doctor nodded. "There has been no clear signs of external injuries, but I advise that your daughter go see a councilor once a week. Either that, or stay close with someone you feel you can trust and feel safe."
"Like, I suppose it's also advised that she doesn't hang out with the gang until she feels better, Doc?" Shaggy asked.
"Yes." The doctor nodded before noting how Daphne went over to stay close to Shaggy and Scooby and continued. "Although...given that you managed to rescue her, I think you will be doing her a big favour by staying close with her and talk to her if she experiences more trouble."
"You think you can do it, Norville?" George turned to Shaggy.
Shaggy and Scooby looked at each other before nodding. "Daph feels like a sister to me, Mr. Blake. I won't forgive myself if something terrible happens to her again."
"Don't feel too stressed out over your new role in ensuring that Daphne gets better, Mr. Rogers." The doctor said to Shaggy. "She just needs someone outside her family who she knows she could trust."
"That's right, Norville." Elizabeth said to Shaggy. "It's not that we don't trust Fred or Velma. It's just that you and Scooby-Doo understands her problems better than anyone else."
Shaggy nodded understandingly as he turned to Daphne and they smiled at each other.
Later, after arriving home, Shaggy and Scooby were surprised when they saw a middle-aged couple at the front yard of their house.
The couple were speaking to Wendy as Fred, Velma, Sugie, Tom and Jerry looked on.
"What's going on?" Daphne asked as they approached Fred.
"While you guys were away, Mrs. Rogers was about to call the pet store." Fred explained. "However, a young couple who recently moved into the neighbourhood were walking by the house and overheard her plan to have Tom and Jerry returned to the pet store and went to her."
"Yes." The man nodded. "My wife Joan and I have always wanted a pet cat and when we walked by Mrs. Rogers house, we went to her to express interest in buying the cat, especially when she mentioned that she was planning on returning the cat to the pet store."
"And they agreed to buy Tom." Wendy added. "Both him and his mouse friend seemed excited to be adopted by new owners."
"I see." Shaggy nodded understandingly before turning to the duo and added, "Like, I guess that means we've got to say our goodbyes."
Tom and Jerry nodded as they turned to Scooby with the former extended his paw, as if he was saying, "It was nice knowing you, Scooby-Doo."
Scooby nodded as he took Tom's offered paw and shook it as if he was saying, "Likewise. I'm surprised you guys get along with each other well."
Upon understanding Scooby's telepathic remark, Jerry had a mischievous grin on his face before pulling out a mouse trap and placed it by Tom's tail.
As Tom finished shaking Scooby's paw, a "SNAP!" suddenly can be heard and the cat yelped in pain.
Seeing the mousetrap on his tail and Jerry laughing at his misfortune, the cat growled as he yanked the mousetrap off his tail before proceeding to grab the mouse.
Jerry, having had anticipated the cat's reaction, raced off before Tom proceeded to give chase.
As they watched the cat and mouse duo chasing each other in the yard, the gang sighed.
"Like, I guess things don't really change when it comes to long-time rivalries, like those between cats and mice." Shaggy remarked.
Everyone else nodded in agreement as they watched Tom and Jerry going through their usual chase routines, along with the usual slapstick.
And so, this concludes Coolsville Central: Two Silent Witnesses, folks!
The adventures of Mystery Inc. continues in Coolsville Central: The Mystery Machine, which takes place about a year after the events of this story.
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