THE HAUNTING OF DINKLEY

Introduction and Cast of Characters Setup

This is a fan fic based on my virtual railroad simulator game. It is set in the vicinity of Springfield, Jacksonville, and Decatur, Illinois. Most of the action occurs at two places, Dinkley, a "wide" spot in the road, about 18 miles east of Springfield, and Rico, a town of 3,500, about 22 miles west of Springfield. Both "Dinkley" and "Rico" are imaginary places, but all other towns and political divisions named are real. All businesses named in this work are either fictitious, or had their names changed. All characters in this work are also fictitious. "Dinkley" is a tiny hamlet with slightly more people than one can count on their hands. It consists of a grain elevator, about a half dozen houses, a United Methodist church, and a farm supply store, Ivorson's which will be the center of attention later on in this work. Dinkley is the site of a freight train derailment involving "haz mat" (hazardous materials, in this case, chlorine gas), which sets this mystery in motion. This wreck is soon discovered to be caused by sabotage when an unknown person or persons divert the train into a siding occupied by grain cars, and a collision ensues. The gang investigates and discovers that a headless ghost of one of Velma's ancestors who was killed in a thrashing machine boiler explosion in the late 19th century haunts the place.

The other center of activity is at "Rico", which on the surface appears to be a typical Midwest farming village. What sets this town apart is that an unusually high percentage of the town's 3,500 residents (about 25) are of Puerto Rican heritage. It is also the home of the "Casa de Salsa" nightclub; an establishment that offers live tropical Latin music and dancing on Friday and Saturday nights. The club is on the town's Main Street; practically next to the railroad tracks (the same line that passes through Dinkley). The management of this club claims that the passing of trains disrupts their live shows, so they have worked out a "deal" with the railroad; when Latin music shows are in progress, all freight trains approaching Rico will stop outside of town and wait until an intermission can be scheduled, then the trains can proceed through town. The gang learns that two weeks prior, the Rico station operator failed to observe this "deal" and let a train through, disrupting the club's show, and upsetting the performers, the patrons, and the club's management. The gang wonders if someone connected with the club had something to do with the Dinkley wreck.

This story is 100 percent Scrappy free, 100 percent naked mole rat free (though there are a couple of indirect references to "Kim Possible," see if you can recognize them), and most importantly, 100 percent Verona free! The main Scooby-Doo characters, Uncle John, and Uncle Cosmo, and the "Hex Girls"are copyright and trademarks of Hanna-Barbera/Time Warner. All other characters are products of my imagination.

Cast of Characters

John Dinkley, Velma's uncle (seen in the 1977 episode "The Curse of Viking Lake") Railroad engineer. Used to live at Dinkley (in the Byron and Zelda Dinkley homestead) until his wife Edna passed away, now makes his home at Decatur, Illinois. Began his railroad career as a mortorman for the interurban; then after passenger service was abandoned, began switching cars at the Decatur yards. When the "Illinois Traction" was bought out by a big Virginia based railroad, he began making main line runs, hauling freight trains from Decatur to Moberly, Missouri.

Wendell Smith, railroad conductor and John's friend. Lives in Moberly, Missouri. Wendell was John's conductor and was in the cab of John's locomotive the night of the Dinkley derailment. Wendell was commenting about how his teen daughter, Michelle, was just accepted into Stanford, and was flying out with her to Stanford the following week. (Velma is a graduate of Stanford). Both men are badly injured in the wreck.

Dave Dikes, FBI Agent, assigned to the Chicago Regional Office. Conducted a seminar for young detectives in Chicago, which Mystery, Inc. attended. Velma has "taken a liking" to this agent, which resembles a young Scully from the "X-Files". Dikes assists the gang in their investigation.

Gil Lopez. Conga drummer, singer, and leader of his "Musica de la Salsa" Latin dance band. A native of Puerto Rico, he grew up in the barrios in New York City where he learned to play the drums and started his combo. Lopez's band has played for Daphne's father, George, at several of his social functions. Young and striking handsome, Daphne at one point, flirts with Lopez, making Fred somewhat jealous.

Oscar Martinez, owner of the Casa de Salsa club. The building in which this club is situated was originally in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in the way of a resort hotel project. Martinez had the building dismantled piece by piece and reconstructed on the site on which it now occupies in Rico.

Ricky Barretto, equipment and stage manager for the Casa de Salsa club. Maintains the sound and lights and helps with the setup before shows. He was absent from work the night of the Dinkley wreck, leading the gang to suspect him of being involved in the derailment.

Ron Richardson, Rico station operator. Knows John Dinkley well. His job is to control the signals, switches, and the movement of trains in the Rico area, under the supervision of the train dispatcher based at Decatur. He informs the gang of the incident two weeks prior in which he "let" a train through during one of the club's shows, causing the club's stage manager to call him up and scream at him in Spanish for a solid five minutes.

Pearl Mintz, Dinkley resident. A regular "Minnie Pearl" type. Pearl is the one who informs the gang that a ghost haunts the hamlet of Dinkley, which began showing up after Jerry Ivorson announced plans to expand his farm supply store. Pearl knows John and mistakes Velma for his daughter.

Jerry Ivorson. Owner of the "Ivorson Stores" chain of farm supply outlets, which specializes in animal feed, seed corn, fertilizers, and farm chemicals such as pesticides. Also has stores in the nearby towns of Mechanicsburg and Taylorville. Mr. Ivorson recently announced plans to expand his Dinkley store and move it across the road, to land currently occupied by two homes. Becomes a major suspect.

Charles O'Donnell, real estate agent. Owns City & Country Real Estate in the town of Buffalo, about three miles west of Dinkley. Mr. O'Donnell handles the real estate transactions for Mr. Ivorson.