Author's Announcement: In thanks to inspiration from reading Crystal Rose of Pollux's 13GSD stories, I am announcing that a prequel series focusing on the origins of Chest of Demons, Vincent Van Ghoul and Mortifer Quich as part of my reboot of 13GSD are in the works.
Basically, the magical setting for the reboot of 13GSD is going to combine aspects from the legend of King Arthur, the Greek mythology that forms part of the DC Universe with regards to Wonder Woman's backstory and Norse mythology that inspired the epic four-part opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelungen).
Stay tuned for further details.
Chapter 3: The police response and a peculiar dream
It didn't take long for the local Gardaí detachment to respond to the 999 call, and a short while later, the area had become an emergency services encampment.
As the medical examiners arrive to load the deceased onto the van, to be transported to the medical examiner's office, the Aonad Lár Bleachtaireachta (ALB) (Central Detecitve Unit (CDU)) investigators were busy assessing the scene while the Gardaí officers interviewed the witnesses.
Bleachtaire Cigire (Detective Inspector) Liam Ó Conchúir (O'Connor) listened intently as the two investigators briefed him on what they know so far, nodding and surveying the surroundings.
While the crowd began to disperse, the cigire was let into the hallway, where his hands began to curl up into a pair of fists at the sighting of the skull with a snake mark burnt on the wall.
Although it was a subtle move on O'Connor's part, it was a small detail that didn't go unnoticed by Garfield, nor did he miss the glare that subtly intensified on the cigire's face at the sight of the burnt mark on the wall.
"Seems to me that the police are suspecting someone with ties to organized crime to be responsible for this hideous act." Daphne remarked as they watched the investigators carry on with the investigation.
"Maybe, though it looks more like the senior investigating officer is suspecting that the culprit is part of something that is more than organized crime." Garfield observed.
Then, nodding towards the body that was being loaded onto the van, Garfield added, "Would be interesting to see how they rule the victim's cause of death as, because call this a hunch, whatever caused the victim's untimely demise hardly seemed natural."
"Do you think the victim was poisoned, Garfield?" Fred asked.
"Yes and no." Garfield shook his head before nodding at the skull and snake mark on the wall. "While the lack of external scars would suggest poisoning, as if the victim was killed from inside, unless the poison itself was fast-absorbing, that skull and snake mark burnt on the wall would suggest something deeper."
As Garfield made the remark, the cigire looked up towards him, even though he was out of hearing shot from Garfield and the gang.
While the move was subtle, it was a detail that also didn't went unnoticed by Garfield, who frowned as the cigire made his way towards them.
"Looks like we're about to find out if the inspector agrees with your observations, Garfield." Shaggy remarked.
Garfield grunted briefly as the cigire approached them.
"You lot the famed Mystery Inc.?" O'Connor asked with his eyes on Garfield.
"That's us, Inspector." Fred nodded. "Is something wrong?"
"No, not really." O'Connor shook his head, though his eyes remained at Garfield. "Not that I should be surprised about your tendency to stick your noses at police business, considering your reputation."
Velma frowned. "Well, it looks to me that you would like to have a word with our friend regarding his observations."
"More like I want to caution him that jumping to conclusions on the cause of the victim's death would not be advisable." O'Connor said.
"As in you need more observations and evidence to conclude that the victim was targetted by someone who's part of something that is more than organized crime." Garfield arched his eyebrows casually.
The cigire's frown deepened. "You may want to reword what you're implying, because your pursuit of that theory could open up a can of worms that would jeopardise the integrity of the investigation."
The gang shared glances with each other while Garfield folded his arms and said, "Just what exactly are you implying?"
"Only that you lot take my advice and stay out of police business for a change." O'Connor replied. "Because I wouldn't be in a pleasant mood the next time we met."
Without waiting for a reply, the cigire then turned around and returned back to his bicycle while the gang looked on.
While he conferred with the two investigators, demanding that they have the preliminary crime scene report on his desk before calling it a night, the gang turned towards Garfield.
"I wonder what on earth was that all about." Shaggy mused. "Like, the inspector seems to take offence to what you're implying about potential connections to something more than organized crime, Garfield."
"I'll say." Velma agreed. "Though what I will like to know is how is it that the inspector know what exactly were you saying initially, because he was out of earshot and couldn't have heard you when you made your observations."
"Perhaps he could read lips." Fred offered. "He could be subtly observing us while he was briefed on the case by his investigators."
"Maybe." Garfield nodded. "Either way, the main question is, who exactly is responsible for this business and how does it tie with the gryphon that Scooby, Shaggy and I spotted at the castle grounds."
"If the culprit responsible for the murder was even involved with the gryphon." Madelyn pointed out. "Not to mention what does the culprit stand to gain with the gryphon and how does the murder victim tie into whatever it is the culprit was up to."
"Well gang, I guess it's safe to say that we've got another mystery in our hands." Fred declared.
"What makes this mystery different is that it involves murder, which none of us, except for Garfield, had ever dealt with before." Velma interjected.
"Right." Garfield said. "Now, in order to get to the bottom of this murder, we must first fully establish everything about the victim: Who was he, how he died, who wanted him dead and any motivations for the murder."
"Sounds like a plan." Daphne nodded before she glanced at her wristwatch and added, "Though considering the time, we could all use some sleep right now."
"Indeed we could." Cosmo said. "Especially the seven of you, consider the train ride from Belfast, you all must be exhausted."
"Looks like we're gonna be figuring out this mystery first thing tomorrow morning." Garfield remarked, prompting Fred and Velma to nod in agreement.
It was in the dead of night as Garfield, dressed in a trench coat and wearing a fedora, ran down the village main street, where the sound of his footsteps echoed throughout the village.
The surrounding atmosphere was very much eerie as the bright full moon shined down onto the village, flanked by the dark clouds.
Although it was largely quiet in the village, Garfield knew that he didn't have time to waste. He took out his pocket watch to check the time, then he placed it back into his pocket as he continued running.
He was fast approaching the castle, where he knew that the Death Eaters have stashed their secret weapon at, and also Scooby and Daphne's last know location when they transmitted their last message to him and Shaggy a couple hours ago.
Approaching the castle cautiously, Garfield glanced around before he swiftly leaped towards the tree located near a window.
Without missing a beat, Garfield stretched his arms and grabbed onto the low-lying tree branch near the window before using the momentum to swing towards the window with his feet gliding first.
As soon as he swung towards the window, he planted his feet on the middle of the window and kicked it open, allowing him to sail through and land right inside the castle with his feet on the floor.
Brushing his trench coat and adjusting his fedora, Garfield then observed his surroundings before racing down the hallway towards the stairway leading down to the dungeon in the castle's basement.
Halfway down the stairs, Garfield approached a doorway and following a quick glance around, he swiftly exited through the doorway and onto an indoor balcony overseeing the dungeon.
Reaching into his trench coat, Garfield pulled out a pair of binoculars and looked towards the dungeon below from the support column.
There were four henchmen patrolling the cells in the dungeon, and by the looks of things, all of them were armed with a wand.
The motion of Garfield's eyebrows from him narrowing his eyes activated a spell that activated the x-ray lenses for his glasses, allowing him to scan through the cell doors and see if Daphne and Scooby are imprisoned in one of them.
As Garfield continued to scan the dungeon cells, another henchman patrolling nearby spotted him and approached him from behind.
Just as the henchman was about to grab Garfield, a pair of arms effortlessly wrapped themselves around his neck, alerting Garfield to his presence.
Without missing a beat, Garfield promptly reach over to cover the henchman's mouth before he could raise the alarm while Shaggy, who was now strangling the henchman, revealed himself.
"Still no word from Scoob and Daphne, I presume?" Garfield asked in greeting as they continued to strangle the henchman, who was struggling to break free from their grip to no avail.
"Like, afraid not, man." Shaggy shook his head. "We may have to assume that the worst has happened to them and that the fiends here have gotten wind of this. Are they locked in those cells below?"
He nodded towards the dungeon as he asked, and Garfield shook his head, during which the henchman's arms faltered.
Having had felt no further resistance from the henchman, Garfield said to Shaggy, "I think that's enough, Shag. Want to save up on your energy so we can tackle this with point one percent of your power, you know."
At Garfield's remark, Shaggy immediately loosened his grip on the henchman's neck and checked for a pulse before letting go.
As the henchman hit the ground without protest, Garfield added, "Any word on when the cavalry's gonna show up?"
"Give or take five minutes." Shaggy replied.
Garfield nodded as he and Shaggy simultaneously took off their fedoras, then he said, "That's not gonna be a lot of time for us to find Scooby and Daphne in this castle and extract them out of here before the fireworks."
Shaggy nodded in agreement without another word before he and Garfield promptly made their way back to the stairwell and headed down towards the dungeon.
The four henchmen were still standing guard, keeping watch on the prisoners in the dungeon, when Garfield approached one of them from behind and took him down.
Everything broke loose when Shaggy approached the other two henchmen directly, prompting them to get their wands ready.
"Expelliarmus!" Shaggy shouted as his hand was directed towards their wands.
Disarming the two henchmen in front of him, Shaggy immediately delivers a punch and send them tumbling towards a nearby cell door, smashing it in the process.
Meanwhile, Garfield managed to effortlessly dispatch the fourth henchman, then he turned around and raised his hand, in time for his telekinesis powers to force the first henchman he knocked out earlier, who was now attempting to ambush him with the killing curse, to direct his wand towards the light fixture above him.
This resulted in the henchman firing the killing curse towards the light fixture above him, snapping its support and sending it tumbling down towards him.
Garfield casually adjusted his trench coat as he watched the light fixture knocking out the henchman, then he turned around in time to see Shaggy pinning the still-conscious henchman to a nearby wall.
Without missing a beat, Garfield rushed over to Shaggy with a bottle of Veritaserum in hand and poured it into the henchman's open mouth.
"This serum will compel you to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, so I will only ask this once." Garfield said to the henchman. "Where is the Gryphon Killer?"
In spite of being pinned to the wall with Shaggy's grip near his throat, the henchman only remained defiant as he stared back at the duo blankly.
"You're...you're...too...late." The henchman said as the Veritaserum's effects start to take hold. "The...Dark Lord...has already got...what he...he...came for..."
"What do you mean the Dark Lord has already got what he came for?" Garfield demanded as he leaned closer to the henchman. "Where is the Gryphon Killer?"
"Fools..." The henchman sneered defiantly. "If the...Gryphon Killer was...indeed here...you wouldn't...be able to use...the expelliarmus...charm..."
At that last remark, Shaggy suddenly remembered something and stepped back.
"Wait a minute..." He said as Garfield turned towards him. "Like, didn't Daphne mention that the Gryphon Killer is specifically designed to drain the mana of gryphons and any other magical being in its vicinity, even when it's not armed?"
"Indeed she did, Shaggy." Garfield nodded slowly as realization settled in. "Not to mention being able to continue to drain the mana to those setting foot to its previous location unless the protective charms are used..."
Looking at Shaggy, Garfield then continued, "The fact that you were able to use the expelliarmus charm to disarm these two meant that the Gryphon Killer was never here at all."
"It's not just that." Shaggy added. "On my way in, I thought that there was a warm glow coming from the wall where the Great Seal of O'Flannery was seated at. I didn't think much about it at that time, but now that we just realized that the Gryphon Killer was never here in this castle, that could only mean..."
Shaggy didn't have a chance to finish his thoughts, for at that very moment, the entire castle was engulfed by a deafening explosion, which was then followed by a massive fireball that consumed what remained of the castle and its occupants.
March 18, 1973
Garfield's eyes snapped open as he got up on his bed, then he surveyed his surroundings and settled his eyes onto the clock.
2:07. Garfield read the time on the clock, then he yawned and stretched his arms. 我拄才(剛才)做的夢真龜怪(奇怪)。 (That was one strange dream I had.)
He then got out of his bed and frowned as he recalled the peculiar details of the dream he just had.
In particular, the Great Seal of O'Flannery he saw in his dream was giving him pause. Pretty sure it's just a coincidence that the name was seen.
Regardless, Garfield decided to shrug off that dream before making his way to the bedroom door.
Perhaps if he went to the washroom to relieve himself, he could get back to sleep and won't have his sleep interrupted by another peculiar dream.
As he got out of his bedroom, Garfield arched his eyebrows briefly when he saw Shaggy emerging from his bedroom as well.
"Hey Shag." Garfield whispered. "Having trouble sleeping?"
"Yeah." Shaggy replied as he scratched himself. "Like, in between Scooby snoring and that weird dream I had, I figured that I could relieve myself in the washroom and sleep better."
Garfield nodded, though he paused at the mention of the words "weird dream", then he frowned.
"That's odd." Garfield whispered. "I also just had a weird dream, and funny enough, you were in it as well."
Shaggy now paused. "Interesting. What did you remember from the dream?"
"Well, we were raiding the castle to locate something called the Gryphon Killer." Garfield furrowed his eyebrows. "On top of trying to extract Daphne and Scooby from the castle, and we were down in the dungeon interrogating one of the henchmen when the castle blew up, which is when I woke up."
"Zoinks!" Shaggy whispered. "Like, that was the exact same dream I had, only that I spotted the Great Seal of O'Flannery on my way to meet you in the dungeons."
Garfield was now staring at Shaggy. "That can't be a coincidence, can it?"
When Shaggy swallowed, Garfield continued, "You and I having the exact same dream and O'Flannery's name pops up."
"Do you think that strange dream we had may have something to do with this mystery?" Shaggy prompted.
"At this point, I can't say for sure." Garfield shrugged. "Maybe it was just a dream, maybe it was more than just a dream, I don't really know for sure."
Then, glancing around, Garfield continued, "Perhaps we should ask Scooby and Daphne first thing in the morning if they had any unusual dreams."
Shaggy nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
Garfield nodded back before the duo took turns in doing their business in the washroom and returning back to their respective rooms and get back to sleep.
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