Part Two
"For the last time Mr Herman, what happened?"
"I ain't saying nothing!" replied the grumpy old farmer "I know that it was you who put that crop diamond in my field and you're not going to use quotes from an interview with me to make clues to cover your tracks!"
"Far out!" exclaimed Shaggy "Your theory that is"
"Mr Herman, why would we travel mile upon mile in a van that all the town hates to spend all night with ropes and boards making a meaningless crop diamond?" Daphne asked sharply.
The defiant farmer was silent for a second. "I see I have thought this through" he said "So I'll tell you what actually happened on the night. Lord knows SOMEONE has to make sense of it all"
Last Saturday I received a phone call from some wacko who tried to call in to a radio station but got the wrong number. He said something like "Mystery Inc don't solve mysteries that excite me anymore and I think what Buddy Ford is doing with them this time around is much more better and I'll be paying a lot more interest in their activities"
"Jinkies" Velma remarked "Who's Buddy Ford and what's he doing with us?"
"And why don't our mysteries excite people anymore?" asked Daphne, annoyed.
"This mystery is getting more mysterious by the minute" said Fred
Shaggy grinned "And I thought you said you only had one catchphrase"
"Sometimes I feel like a side of beef," sighed Fred
"3 catchphrases! Keep 'em comin' Fred!"
The gang climbed back into the Mystery Machine. "Don't worry Mr Herman" Said Fred "We'll get to the bottom of this mystery, or we're not Mystery Inc!"
"Actually not being Mystery Inc would be quite a good idea!" Bradley replied "Best to lie low with all the town hating you n' all!"
"Never!" ordered Fred defiantly "When the going gets tough, Mystery Inc gets going! And we don't change our name!"
And with that, he reversed the van onto the dusty road and set off again.
"Ok," Said Velma "Here are our suspects so far"
Glenn Gibbs – He's the one in charge of promoting the new kind of Scooby Snacks, maybe he put the crop diamond in the field as a publicity stunt
Dave Ward – He welcomed us with open arms and told us about the crop diamond. He sided with us and thought we were framed, but is he trying to cover up a secret agenda?
Bradley Herman – Dave told us that Bradley acts on impulse; lord knows what this could lead to.
Archie Martins – He's in charge of making all the copies of the Mystery Machine, he's a very likely suspect.
Buddy Ford – He has some connection with us but we just don't know what.
"Or is it Suspect Number six?" said Velma slyly.
"The news reporter" said Fred "Could he be giving us bad press on purpose?"
"We'll soon find out, the television studios are up ahead!" pointed Daphne
Shaggy rubbed his stomach "Like, I hope they have a good canteen"
Welcome back to the Coolsville News. In every Television Executive's life there is a group of people or team of specialists that give you priceless information that could earn you millions of dollars. They are the writing staff, the idea team; the one's who come up with all those kick-ass ideas. And it is they who truly control your TV. It is to them who you must bow down and admit your ignorance every time you do something stupid in daily life and let them pass it off as observational humour. You're right to fear them, for they can destroy some of television's best loved characters just by writing in their death in a twenty-page script. And so the 12th August is to be declared 'Buddy Ford Day' by the Mayor, government and anyone who has a say in the matter. You are encouraged to buy the famous writer a lunch or install a home theatre system in his office. He insulted you by churning out ill-fated reality shows such as 'The celebrity-lock-in-a-room show' or 'loose weight or I'll kill you' and now he wants an appreciation day! Well I for one say, "Let's give it to him!" It's not like we have a choice. I'm Eddie Holloway, I won't be back tomorrow.
Mystery Inc had entered the studio while Holloway was reading this and now that the report was over they went up and congratulated him.
"Wow! You sure can tell it like it is!" Shaggy said "You remain my favourite journalist to this day!"
"Shaggy we're supposed to be grillin' him!" whispered Fred and then to Holloway "Let's make one thing clear. I know, well, um... I strongly suspect that you're the one behind all this bad press Mystery Inc have been getting lately"
"But Mr Jones, I merely read the news!" protested Eddie "Look, it's on the screen up there!"
"Rurprise reviction ronight at ren pm?" Scooby read off the autocue.
"Oh, that's Ford's new scheme to get back into the television industry" Eddie groaned "This time he seems to think that horror sells"
"Horror? Zoinks!"
"Yeah, he traps twelve people on a bus for ten weeks and then convinces them they're being eaten one by one when it's actually a surprise eviction by public vote" explained Holloway
"That's horrible!" Daphne remarked "I bet he's not popular around here"
"Well not really" Eddie replied "But he has got this new show in development that he says is going to be really big and everyone seems to agree!"
"What's the show?"
"Oh, nothing you'd be interested in" Eddie quickly replied "Now run along now. The commercial break is almost over"
Velma turned to the gang "Guys, I think we just eliminated our first suspect"