Chapter 7

Being a dog has its good points and its less-good points. On the less-good side was lying in bed and contemplating. When a human lay in bed to think, they either lay on their back and stared up at the ceiling or lay on their side and stared at the wall – possibly even out a window. Once Scooby got into a comfortable position, he was staring at his own butt. But today, being face-to-face with his ass seemed appropriate.

His feelings were all over the place. He felt guilty. He felt ashamed. And then he felt angry because he had no reason to feel either guilty or ashamed. The people in the restaurant and the manager and even Amanda should feel guilty and ashamed. He was guilty of nothing except trying to have dinner. Those people hated him just for being on a date with a human woman. They didn't know anything about the relationship. And it was none of their business. No one was asking them to take part in anything other than serving dinner to a woman and a dog. That was the extent of it. And yet that was too much to ask.

But he was Scooby Doo and he wanted people to like him. He wanted everyone to like him. Being in a room full of people who hated him just for being him was a brand-new experience. He had always been the lovable one. The talking dog who was quick with a one-liner to make everyone laugh. Loved by one and all. Until he crossed the line.

Until last night, he had not really understood that there was a line. He had his own personal line but that was a single decision made by him about how he would live his own life. This new line which was being unfairly imposed on him by society was different. That was one group of people coming together to make him follow their rules. And maybe he wanted to follow their rules and maybe he didn't, but it was not their choice. They had no right to humiliate him. And Amanda had no right to take their side. She had made it clear that their relationship – whatever it was or was going to be – was something to be hidden away. Hidden as if they were hiding their crime, their sin.

His phone, which was lying on the floor next to the bed, began to vibrate. By the time the vibration had turned into audible ringing, he had already seen that the incoming call was from Amanda. He squeezed the stylus between two of his claws and tapped 'Ignore'.

xXx

Shaggy opened the first drawer and pictured a ride of the dust mite Valkyries rampaging straight at his face. Forcing that thought aside, he pulled out the first personnel folder, 'Ralph Barrymore' and then quickly backed away from the open drawer. Maybe the mites would all fly out and then, finding no available nose, would just wander off.

He thought of all the many shows they had done where the scene of going through files was condensed into picking up a file and a piece of paper falling from the folder to the floor. And then, when Fred, or Daphne, or Velma reached down to pick it up… voila! It was the key piece of evidence. He shook the folder. Nothing came out. He shook it again. Nothing came out. He shrugged, sat down, and opened the folder on the edge of Kyle's desk. The top sheet was a yellowed employment application from 2004. Ralph had graduated in 2001 from Fairleigh-Dickinson University, which apparently was in New Jersey and had also gone to high school in New Jersey. He showed some summer stock experience and then a job in some small off-The-Strip show in Vegas. The thoughts of the interviewer were hand-written on a separate page which was not signed or dated. Standard fare: Ralph spoke well, seemed eager to work, etc. There was one disciplinary write-up. Ralph had missed a performance back in 2004 because he was behind the storage building smoking pot. It seemed that was a long-standing tradition around the place.

Ron Tedford did not have a college degree. He was a native Nevadan who had grown up and graduated high school in Las Vegas. He apparently had started at the park in 2007 as a summer worker while he was in high school and he became full-time when he graduated in 2009 and took the job managing the temporary staff. He joined the cast of the show in 2015 when it was pared down from a cast of 18 to a cast of 5. He had two disciplinary write-ups, both for fraternizing with under-age employees. One was in 2009 and the next was in 2010. In both cases, the girls were 17.

Shaggy started looking through the files for the year 2015 to explain why, when 13 cast members were being laid off, they needed to add Ron to the cast. He found a financial report done by Billy in that year which broke down the park's income and outgo and showed that the show not only had to cut the cast size but also had to either cut the salary of the remaining five or give them additional responsibilities which required longer hours for the same pay. Of the 18, only four had accepted this deal and stayed on. Billy, Ralph, Ron, and someone named Thad Spearman.

Thad Spearman's file revealed that he had worked with the show from 2004 until 2016. The paperwork on his termination indicated that Thad was fired for embezzling. His second job at the park had been managing the restaurants and he apparently was caught stealing from the till. The explanation in the file said that Billy had found the discrepancy while doing the books. This is what had created the opening for Kyle's new stepson.

Although that was sufficient information and it was five years ago, Shaggy thought it would make the report cleaner if he at least made an effort to contact someone who didn't rely on the park for their income and ask him some questions about how they did the gallows scene back in the day. His phone battery was at 57%, so he left it plugged in while he dialed the cell phone number from the file. Hopefully, Thad Spearman had not changed phones.

The phone rang three times before it was answered, "Hello?"

Shaggy spoke quickly, "Mr. Spearman, my name is Shaggy Rogers and I'm calling about an insurance claim being made by The Lucky Luke Wild West and Dinosaur Park, are you familiar with it?"

"What? Why are you calling me? Who is this?"

"My name is Shaggy Rogers and I am an investigator working for AHJ Insurance."

"You sound familiar. Is this somebody from the park playing some kind of joke?"

"No sir. I used to be on television and people tend to recognize the voice. This is not joke."

Spearman's voice was now thoughtful, "On television…"

"Mr. Spearman, may I ask you some questions about the park?"

"Is this about that kid that died a couple of weeks ago?"

"Yes sir. That's the claim. What I was hoping to ask…"

"Whatever you think they did, those slimy, lying bastards did it."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because they fired me for something I didn't do. I never took any money. Kyle just believed Ralph and Billy over me."

Shaggy knew that Billy had filed the complaint and Kyle was the boss but, "Ralph? Why was Ralph involved?"

"Hell if I know but he was sitting their big as life when the three of them sat me down and fired me."

"Can you think of any reason that they might have wanted to fire you?"

"No! I was doing a good job. Considering that I had been just a cowboy in the show, I was working hard at managing the restaurants. I was setting up systems and getting everything organized. The profits were going up."

"Had they made any complaints about you before?"

"Nothing. Not a thing. Kyle had even congratulated me on the uptick in profits maybe two days before. Next thing I know, I'm fired without a reference."

"I'm sorry to hear that but I am more specifically interested in the trick at the gallows at the end of the show. How much involvement did you have in that?"

"I was there, I guess. I pointed my gun at Billy and he jumped off the chair."

"Did you ever set up the noose?"

"No. Ralph or Billy always did that."

"Do you ever remember there being a problem with the trick?"

"A couple of times we had a dud charge and there was no smoke."

"But it still detached properly?"

"Sure. The way it was explained to me, it was basically foolproof. Someone would have to almost try to get that to not detach."

Shaggy was nodding at his end. This hadn't yielded much he didn't already know, "I think that's all of my questions. Anything that you would like to add?"

"Me? No."

"Thank you for your time." And the call was over.

It was back to the folders, Shaggy pulled up Emma Jean. She had been hired by the park in 2015. Her resume gave the name of two different shows in Las Vegas. Each had lasted just a few weeks or a couple of months. The reason for changing jobs was listed as "Better Opportunity" in each. But the second show showed an end date about three weeks before the date on the application. So, she had considered unemployment to be a better opportunity than what that Vegas show offered. There were no disciplinary write-ups in her file.

Tommy's guess as to his start date of 2016 was confirmed. It said that he had been hired as the restaurant manager as well as cast member. But, since Tommy himself didn't seem to know that, Shaggy assumed that he was getting paid for work someone else was doing in his stead. That would have to be Kyle. Shockingly, there were no disciplinary write-ups. Nothing like being the boss's kid… or step-kid.

Billy Tripper had been hired in 2006. He had graduated in 2003 from Wynona State University which apparently was in Minnesota. He had graduated high school in Wisconsin. He had worked at three separate shows in Las Vegas before getting hired at the park. Something rung a bell and Shaggy pulled out Ralph's file. He confirmed that Ralph and Billy had worked together on a small show in Vegas before Ralph moved to the park. Then Billy followed. Shaggy checked the bottom of Billy's application. It said, 'Referred by Ralph Barrimore.' Billy also had no disciplinary write-ups.

Kyle's folder was mainly press releases and photographs.

The last two folders were Kathryn Harriman and Jerry Pollack. They were both thin. Shaggy opened them and they just had the application form and first pay stub for each. They were both from Las Vegas and both going into their senior year of high school. Interestingly, they both shared a character reference. It was the Youth Pastor at a church in Vegas. The phone number was on the form.

It never hurts to be thorough, so Shaggy called and the phone was answered immediately, "This is Pastor Mike."

"Hi Pastor Mike, my name is Shaggy Rogers and I'm an investigator working for AHJ Insurance. Do you have a minute for a couple of questions about Jerry Pollack?"

"Are you working on his parents' claim?"

"No, the insured in this case is The Lucky Luke Wild West and Dinosaur Park."

This was not the correct answer, "Oh."

"Do you have a couple of minutes to answer some questions?"

"You're working for the park?"

"I work for a private detective agency that works for AHJ Insurance Company who insures the park. The park is insured against lawsuits due to accidental injuries and deaths. It's my job to determine whether or not this death was an accident."

"As opposed to what?"

This discussion was heading toward adversarial. Shaggy took a breath and said in his calmest voice, "As opposed to not an accident."

"So, you want to prove that it's not an accident so that the insurance company doesn't have to pay up."

"No. I want to get enough information to write a report that tells my client whether I believe this is an accident or not and then go home. I have no stake in the outcome and the insurance company only holds me to a standard of providing them with a complete report."

"There's something familiar about you. What did you say your name was?"

Shaggy sighed, "Shaggy Rogers."

"Is this a joke?"

"No. Our show was based on our real experiences although the network took a lot of license with reality and we are presently working as private detectives."

"The same people?"

"The entire gang, including Scooby Doo."

"So, he's real… and can talk."

"Yes, and technically, he's my boss."

"I heard that you had split up."

At least the adversarial feel of the conversation was being diffused, "We did for several years but got that sorted out."

The preacher sighed, "What are your questions?"

Progress, "How well did you know Jerry Pollack?"

"Very well. I was his Youth Pastor for three years. He was very active in the group and I considered him a friend."

"Did he talk much about his job at the park?"

"As much as he talked about anything. It was his first job and he was pretty proud of it until about a week before he died."

The pastor stopped talking. Shaggy knew that he was being led down a specific path but decided to go ahead and follow it, "What happened a week before he died?"

"He got all quiet. I mean, he was a quiet guy by nature but this was more than quiet. It was shut down. I asked him how work was going, he would say he didn't know and change the topic. When I pressed, he walked away from me. That wasn't like him. That was on Wednesday night eight days before he died. On the Wednesday night right before he died, he came in, said hello, told me that he wouldn't be here for teen group, and then left. That was the last time I saw him alive."

"And you have no idea why he was acting this way?"

"Not really. No."

Stab in the dark time, "Do you have any thoughts or assumptions?"

"Not really good ones. I mean, I work with teens. At the time… Well… he had been hanging around with Kathryn a lot and even helped her get a job out there. They lived out there for the summer and spent six nights a week in the park. He had Wednesday off and she had Thursday off to come home. Like I said, I work with teen-agers. I assumed at the time that maybe he and Kathryn had slept together. Or maybe she had missed her period. That is pretty common in my world."

"Seems like a reasonable guess. Have you spoken with Kathryn about it?"

"Not directly. After he died, there was no good way to bring it up. My job was just to console her and the other kids."

"Was she pretty broken up?"

"Yes. He and she were close but I never got the feel that they were boyfriend/girlfriend. They could have been. I get fooled all the time."

"Teen-agers are crafty."

"That they are."

The call ended and Shaggy sat for a moment looking at his phone, he then dialed in Kyle Masterson's number, "This is Kyle."

"Hey Kyle, it's Shaggy."

"Are you done looking through the files?"

"I'm done with the personnel files and about to dive into the financials. I was wondering if I could set up an interview with Kathryn Harriman."

"Who's she?"

"She's one of your summer workers."

"Oh okay. I'll get with Ron. When do you want to see her?"

"In about an hour."

"At my office?"

"If that's okay."

"Whatever you need. Anything else?"

"Well, I'd also like to speak with your wife."

"Rachel? What the hell for? She wasn't even here that night."

"Her name comes up a lot in the interviews. And I have just a few questions for her."

"Fine. I'll call her and see when she can get here."

"Thank you."

Shaggy opened up the financial reports and wished that Fred or Scooby were here. Math was not his thing.

xXx

Fred was still working at the hardware store on week-ends and he had the early shift which started at 6:00 AM and ran until 4:00 in the afternoon. Daphne had woken up just enough to feel Fred's kiss on the top of her head and then turned back over. It was Saturday and sane people are not awake at 5:30 AM on a Saturday. When her bladder woke her up at just before 9:00, that was more reasonable.

She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, got up, and stretched. Doing this when she was alone was just stretching. When Fred was there, she knew that he was watching her through the stretch and she gave it a little more drama and a definite increase in sex appeal. She never let him know that she knew he was watching. That would spoil the fun for them both. After taking care of her biological needs, she looked at her bare face in the mirror. She watched as her hand reached up and touched the scar on her left cheek and felt the slight unevenness of the bone and traced out the area of her face which was forever changed.

She had been told by everyone she knew that these changes were unnoticeable. And her response was always that it didn't matter. She was alive and had Fred and had friends and that was what was really important. With each passing day, she became more aware of how big a lie that was. At first, it had been easy to feel proud of herself for not being so superficial as to let a disfiguration become a major issue in her life. She was better than that. But then, as time had wore on, the reality that this was forever began to set in. She would never look like her old self again. The scar and the disfigurement would be a part of her for the rest of her life.

The scar was not hard to hide with base and some properly applied concealer but there was nothing she could do about the cheekbone. Enough of her friends had had plastic surgery that she knew that it was just about a coin toss as to whether such surgery would make it less or more pronounced. It was not worth the risk. Fred never mentioned it and it certainly hadn't impacted his libido. If anything, he had been more amorous since the injury. The gang had told her how worried they had been that she might have died that night. And then the fears that she might go into a coma and not wake up. That probably accounted for Fred's romantic attention.

Except, of course, for last night. Last night had been Fred's first chance to really look at the new electrical panelboard that had been installed in their house. He had looked forward to his quality time with the panelboard all day. If he was going to make love to anything last night, it would probably have been that electrical box. And, in his excitement, he wanted to explain every part of it to her. And she had to remind herself that she had asked (no, demanded) that he teach her about these things. On the plus side, she now understood everything he was talking about. On the minus side, she totally didn't care. She wished she could go back to being Mrs. Cleaver and electricity could go back to being magic. But that genie was probably out of the bottle for good.

She was still standing in front of the mirror and noted the slight grin which she wore thinking about Fred's child-like excitement over the electrical installation. But now, she had that rarest of rare things, a few hours to herself. This brought on another abrupt train of thought. If she considered time for herself rare now, what would it be like if she had a child? Or two? Three wasn't up for consideration. Did she really want that? And why was it that every time she asked herself a question like this where the logical answer was clearly 'no', her heart answered 'yes'. She hoped Fred got over his jitters soon. Her biological clock was ticking away.

And she was still standing in front of the mirror in her pajamas. If someone were watching her, they would think she was the vainest person in the world. And she wasn't, she was maybe top ten. But not number one. She smiled at her internal joke, walked over to her phone, and called Velma.

Velma answered, "Hi Daphne, what's up?"

"How much advance notice do you need for me to come over and see your place?"

There was silence at the other end and Daphne pictured Velma looking around a normally untidy apartment and calculating clean-up time. Calculations complete, "90 minutes?"

"That will give me time to shower and have breakfast."

"I haven't had breakfast yet. I was trying to cook Shaggy-style and the smell drove my hunger away for a while. Could you maybe pick something up on your way? I'll pay you back when you get here."

"Why were you cooking Shaggy-style?"

There was a pause and then, "Let's just say its good timing for you to be visiting. I'll fill you in when you get here."

Velma ended the call and walked to Scooby's door, "Scooby Doo? Daphne's coming over in an hour and a half."

The door didn't open but Scooby's voice came from the other side, "Rhy?"

"I don't know. She hasn't seen the apartment yet and she called and asked if she could."

"Roo ralled her." It was an accusation.

"No, I did not."

The door opened and Scooby looked directly at her, "Roo ralled her to come and ralk to me."

"I did not. It's exactly as I said."

Velma was a terrible liar and could not stop herself from blushing when she made the effort. Scooby waited and stared at her cheeks. This intense gaze almost made her blush in and of itself but it held off long enough that he was satisfied. At least, sort of.

"Arazing roincidence." And he turned and went back into his room.

It would take about an hour to get the place ready for company and Daphne saying she would be there in 90 minutes meant she would leave her house in 90 minutes. With a stop for breakfast, the drive over would be 15-20 minutes. So, Velma had plenty of time to get showered and ready.