Chapter 02
The rest of the week-end was spent eating, playing games, watching holos, and arguing. It was a perfectly normal family gathering. On Sunday afternoon, both young families got into their P-Cars, programmed home as their destinations, and hit 'go'. In the time-honored tradition of parents and grandparents through the ages, Shaggy and Velma stood in the driveway next to each other as the cars whirred away and out of sight.
The kids, as always, pictured their parents watching the cars disappear, sighing deeply, and then trudging back into the house to wait for the next visit. In this case, not so much.
As soon as the last P-Car disappeared, Shaggy turned to Velma, "You get on the computer and track down where Amanda lives now. Are we going to give her advance notice?"
"Of course not, we don't want her to sit and think too much and start having her subconscious fabricate stuff that didn't happen."
"Or give her a chance to concoct a lie if she was involved."
Velma's eyes twinkled, "I love it when you show no trust in human nature. It means I'm finally rubbing off on you."
"I'll double check that our licenses are still active."
"They better be. We've been paying renewal fees every two years for the last three decades."
"As hard as it was to get those things, I wasn't going to let them go. I'll also pull our suitcases out of the attic."
"Don't strain your back."
"Yes dear."
It took Velma several minutes to trace Amanda's location. She searched for three names: Amanda Kitchings (her maiden name), Amanda Black (her married name when they had known her, and Amanda Westerfield (a guess based on the name of the man in the wedding announcement from 35 years ago). Amanda Westerfield had no hits in Michigan. The most recent hits in Michigan were for Amanda Kitchings. There were two people with that name: one was 48 years old and the other was 63 years old. The 63-year-old was living in Ypsilanti and showed previous addresses in Birmingham, Michigan, Crystal County, Danforth, and before that Florida. It was her.
Her marriage to Warren Westerfield, which had sent Scooby off on his solitary journey, had lasted twelve years and ended coincidental with the graduation of Elizabeth (Bettie) Black from Wylie E. Groves High School in Birmingham, Michigan. Bettie had attended Michigan State University and received Bachelor's and a Master's degrees in Psychology. She had worked as a social worker for seven years in Detroit before getting married and moving to Sandusky, Ohio with her husband.
Amanda had never taken the name 'Westerfield' and had remained Amanda Black until Bettie had gotten married and moved away. At that time, she had legally changed back to her maiden name of Kitchings. After her divorce from Warren, and with Bettie away at college, Amanda had moved around the Detroit area, usually living in apartments in lower middle-class neighborhoods. Her parents had died about four years previously and left her a small inheritance which had been enough for her to buy a house in Ypsilanti, Michigan which was her latest known address.
They had a destination.
A whump noise made Velma suddenly look up. It came from the upstairs hallway. Processing the information available, she determined that the sound was a soft-sided suitcase being dropped from the attic to the floor below. That was an acceptable noise. A whump-wheeze sound would have been Shaggy falling from the attic to the floor below which would have been an unacceptable noise. In their teens and twenties, Shaggy had recovered quickly from the sprains and occasional broken bones from Fred's traps going awry. At the age of 66, there would be no recovery. That cat had used up all nine lives.
A second whump meant that he had found both suitcases and the next noise would be the creaking of the attic steps and then the whine of the spring as Shaggy put the attic door back up. Shaggy would then find some excuse to walk past her complaining about dust. He loved to complain about dust.
His footfalls descended down to the ground floor, and she heard the empty suitcases being dropped into their bedroom. She waited. Another moment passed and he stopped in at her office door, "I need to get a glass of water. My whole mouth is filled with dust." He walked on toward the kitchen and Velma shook her head. There was just something comforting about life's little rituals.
The next sounds she heard were of Shaggy beginning to cook dinner. She had been determined to start taking over more of the cooking after they retired but after the debacle of the apple pie and the advent of a mystery, she decided that could be put off… maybe indefinitely.
With confirmation that Amanda was living in Ypsilanti, Velma made plane reservations for them both to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. Without standing from her desk, she yelled into the kitchen, "We've got reservations from Riley to Detroit for tomorrow. I would assume two nights. You need to call your hotel."
"Okay." Shaggy yelled in return. He spoke into the air, "A-Eye Call, Mysterno Corp."
A holographic projection appeared above the stamp on the back of his left hand and remained steady in the air regardless of how much his hand moved. There was no ringing sound, but the notation floating in the air said Calling: Mysterno Corporation.
A female voice answered, "Mysterno Hospitality Corporation. How can I help you, Shaggy?"
The voice on the other end was not a person. It was a bot within the corporate A-Eye. The IT industry tried to get the colloquial name of such programs changed from bot to "Interactive AI' due to the stigma associated with the word 'bot', but, when Personal and Corporate A-Eyes came out, the term AI in its original form became obsolete. And so, these subroutines within the larger A-Eyes remained 'bots'.
It had now been proven in clinical trials that most people could have as much as a two-hour conversation with such a bot without being able to know it was not human. Corporate A-Eye bots were now competing in debate tournaments at the college level. Even the bots in most Personal A-Eyes could maintain a perfect conversation for thirty minutes.
The bots which the Mysterno Hospitality Corporation utilized knew Shaggy's A-Eye and were programmed to refer to him by his familiar name. It had been extremely cool when the company had first purchased the high-end versions but that had been ten years ago and the novelty had worn off.
Shaggy continued to cook as he spoke, "I would like a room for myself and Velma at the Detroit Mysterno Tower for two nights starting tomorrow night."
"Certainly, there is a suite available if you would prefer."
"No, we just need a normal room."
"It will be ready for you. Is there anything else you need?"
"No, thank you for the help and have a nice night."
"You, too. Bye Shaggy."
"Bye."
Although Shaggy was now officially retired, he was still the face of the organization and would continue to have his face used in advertising and even be in the occasional commercial on an as-needed (and hopefully rare) basis. He also still represented the company at roundtables and the occasional trade show. In return, he still got the perks of free rooms and priority booking at all of their facilities around the world.
One of the many blessings about being married to Velma was that Shaggy did not have to pack. Even if he tried to pack, Velma would pull everything out of the suitcase and start over again. The difference between being an intense controlling neatnik and being truly obsessive-compulsive was that she was just as likely to pull everything out of the suitcase and start over if she had packed it herself. OCD is not a joke when you really have it.
The rest of the night was spent quietly with the two of them enjoying their last night at home for a few days. They both enjoyed their home. Shaggy because he simply loved what they had built and enjoyed spending time with his soulmate. Velma also enjoyed all that, but it was more pronounced in that she disliked everywhere else and absolutely hated the process of traveling. She dealt with traveling by surrounding herself with a cocoon. Back in the old days, that cocoon had been the Mystery Machine and The Gang. Now, it was Shaggy and any one of the nearly-identical Mysterno Hospitality Corporation Hotels. When they traveled, she preferred eating at chain restaurants where everything was familiar. Shaggy's love of different styles of cuisine forced her out of her comfort zone with regularity but he didn't make her do that too often. He knew who she was.
A pre-programmed Uber showed up the next morning and took them out to the airport where the in-boarding process was accomplished dealing only with A-Eye's. While most people her age grumbled about the dehumanization of society, Velma reveled in it. They were able to blissfully get all of the way through the airport and onto the plane without having to deal with an actual human being. Of course, that stopped when they boarded. Not only were people still jammed into flight like sardines, but the airline industry had not yet been able to create robotics that would do the job of a flight attendant without it weighing twice as much as a person. And increased weight meant fewer passengers and less money.
"Do you need a hand with that?" The flight attendant stepped sideways in the tight aisle and asked the question to Velma who was putting her rollaboard in the overhead storage. Velma was short and fully grey-haired. Therefore, the flight attendant considered it a perfectly reasonable question.
"No, I'm fine, thank you." Velma gave everyone one polite response.
"I'd be more than happy to…"
The flight attendant's next statement was cut short by Shaggy pointing out the window, "Is that a gremlin?"
The flight attendant turned toward the window with a confused look on his face and by the time he turned back, Velma had her luggage stowed, without assistance.
Shaggy shrugged, "Must have been a bird. Never mind."
The flight attendant continued down the aisle without ever knowing how close he had come.
The flight was otherwise uneventful as Velma made plans for the questioning of Amanda while Shaggy napped. Strangely, while his napping at home was filled with window-rattling snores, he napped relatively quietly on the crowded plane and Velma only had to elbow him in the side three times.
Their rental P-Car was waiting for them at the curb as they left the terminal in Detroit. Shaggy had pre-programmed the hotel address into it from the plane. It whisked them away from the airport and pulled into traffic at 60 miles per hour with less than a foot of clearance between their car and the cars around them. While the Detroit Renaissance had been completed years before and the downtown was considered spectacular, they had both seen it many times and blacked out the windows. Being the second-to-last generation to learn how to drive and control a vehicle themselves, it was nerve-wracking to sit in the small oval and watch as an unseen software program veered them in and out of traffic.
They were met at the hotel by a baggage trolley that removed the baggage from their P-car and then did facial scans.
The trolly spoke, "Welcome back, Shaggy and Velma. Your room is 7007 and is waiting for you. Do you require directions to the elevator?"
Shaggy answered, "No, thank you."
The almost perfect recreation of a human voice answered, "Your luggage will be waiting for you when you get to your room. Have a nice stay." The baggage trolley zoomed away and headed toward the trolleyvator which would be moving at speeds to make a normal human stomach heave.
The room was a Standard+ which included a slightly larger refrigerator and an inversion cooking plate in addition to the microwave and coffee maker. As in all of his hotels, there were two restaurants: one was his chain and the other specialized in local dishes. In most US cities, they weren't very different. But Shaggy's chain restaurant was comfortable to Velma so the additional cooking capacity of the room would not be used.
Since the same trolley system delivered food to the tables in the restaurants or to the rooms, there was no extra charge for room service. It was all free for them anyway, but they still were old enough to feel like they were splurging by ordering dinner in their room. They splurged a little more by getting an entire bottle of wine and celebrating their retirement again. Of course, this plus the arduous day of traveling led to them both being sound asleep by 8:30.
xXx
The P-car picked them up in front of the hotel early the next morning. Breakfast had been light since they had overeaten (and drank a little too much) the night before. The driving time from Detroit to Ypsilanti was about 35 minutes at rush hour during which time the P-cars were programmed to slow their maximum speed by five miles per hour in urban areas.
Since they had never specifically been to Ypsilanti before, they left the windows clear to see the sites. The first thing Shaggy noticed was that the Detroit Renaissance had not done much about Dearborn or Allen Park which were still pretty rundown and lived up to the name 'Rust Belt'. But then the large eight-lane interstate began to break out of the urban areas and they started to pass green fields and wooded areas. The trip was quiet and Shaggy studied the scenery while Velma reviewed her notes.
Ypsilanti itself was relatively flat with lots of trees and most of the main street of downtown appeared to have been built at the beginning of the last century. It was wooded, quaint, and well-maintained. The P-Car turned off into a neighborhood of small single-story mid-century homes which were now 100 years old. Most were well-maintained while others were showing signs of disrepair. The neighborhood was nice enough but not great. The P-Car pulled up in front of a house that was neat and clean with a 1950's-style carport attached but empty of any vehicle. In a town that celebrated the achievements of Henry Ford, that seemed something of a sacrilege.
Shaggy and Velma walked to the front door of the house and knocked. Unusual for the present day, Amanda opened the door before verifying their identities with her A-Eye. Shaggy and Velma were prepared to see Amanda and recognized her as soon as she opened the door. She had grown from a beautiful young woman to a handsome older woman. Her hair was a natural grey and she had not gained weight. She wore little or no make-up and allowed her age to show on her face.
She, on the other hand, was not expecting them, "Can I help you?"
Velma spoke, "Hello, Amanda."
It took several seconds before all of the puzzle pieces fit together, "Velma?" And then she looked up at Shaggy, "Shaggy?"
Shaggy tried a disarming smile, "In the flesh. May we come in?" Rule one of private detective school – get into the house.
Amanda stepped back and opened the door, "Certainly. Certainly. Come in."
As would be expected from someone with her plethora of psychological and social issues, the house was immaculate and organized to a tee. She led them to a small table in front of a bay window looking out into a fenced backyard. The day was overcast and gloomy and birds fed at two feeders that were freshly filled directly in front of the window.
Amanda may have been flustered but it did not penetrate the emotional shell which she apparently continued to wear to this day, "Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea?"
Velma answered, "Coffee would be great. I like mine black and Shaggy likes his with everything but the kitchen sink." Velma smiled to punctuate the tiny joke.
Amanda stopped and looked at her, "That was a joke. And you smiled."
Velma nodded, "I'm still me. But, after raising two kids and now grandkids, I got into the habit of faking it."
Amanda nodded, "But you do it so well. I never could."
Shaggy felt the mood taking a turn, "How did you end up in Ypsilanti?"
"I couldn't afford Ann Arbor." She turned and started making the coffee. In anyone else, that abrupt answer would have been rude. In Amanda, it was simply efficient.
Shaggy was determined to keep her talking, "How's Bettie doing?"
"She lives in Ohio and is married. I don't really like her husband and my best guess is that he doesn't like me. But most people don't."
Shaggy continued, "Does she come to visit?"
"On my birthday and then usually for a day or so after Christmas. His parents get Christmas. She comes alone. He never comes with her."
"Whatever happened to Robbie?" Robbie was her first husband.
She seemed to find that interesting, "I think that he's been married three or four times. Being put in prison for trying convince his wife that their child is dead apparently doesn't make him any less desirable as a potential husband. Being rich covers a lot of sins."
"He's rich now?"
"His parents failed to spend all of their money before they died. Once you get enough money, it's hard to outspend compounding interest. He inherited a fortune. That was about twenty years ago. He was married again within six months. I haven't been asked about him in a long time. Most people ask me about Warren."
"Your last husband?"
"Yes. He thought that he could love me the way I am but also failed."
Velma sat at the table, "People like you and me are an acquired taste." She placed her A-Eye on the table and the holographic keypad, mouse, and screen appeared.
"In my case, no one ever acquired it." She looked at Shaggy.
Shaggy was still standing, "We all know that's not true."
Amanda stopped. Just because someone doesn't show emotion doesn't mean they don't feel it, "Have you heard something about Scooby Doo?"
Shaggy sat down. His job had been to work through the small talk and get the conversation to this point. That was accomplished and now Velma would take over.
Velma shook her head, "No. We are just on kind of a quest to find out, once and for all, what happened to our friends."
Amanda didn't reply and instead worked on preparing the coffee. She spoke quietly into the machine, and it poured out three cups with each flavored to taste. She turned back, placed one in front of Velma, the second in front of Shaggy, and then placed the third at the table and sat. Shaggy waited until after she was seated to sit down himself. He was raised by old-fashioned, conservative parents and old habits die hard.
Velma tried again, "Did Fred or Daphne contact you when Scooby disappeared?"
Amanda stared at her for a moment, "It's been a long time."
Velma leaned forward, "Do you mean that you've forgotten?"
"I made promises. But that was a long time ago."
"What kind of promises? And to who?"
Amanda looked from Velma to Shaggy, "It was a long time ago. It would be okay to talk about it now, wouldn't it?"
Shaggy nodded, "Yes. It's okay to talk about it now."
Velma repeated, "What kind of promises? And to who?"
"I promised Scooby Doo that I wouldn't tell anyone."
Velma was trying to stay calm, "Tell anyone what?"
"That he had come to see me."
Velma's body language changed abruptly. She leaned forward and her voice tightened slightly, "When did he come to see you?"
"He said that he had just left Crystal Cove. He told me that he had left you a note but that you would probably try to follow him anyway. He said I couldn't tell you anything."
Shaggy interrupted before Velma could apply pressure, "Amanda, that was 35 years ago and not only Scooby but also Fred and Daphne have been missing all of that time. Fred and Daphne have a daughter and a granddaughter who are still wondering what happened to them. I think it's okay for you to tell us everything."
Amanda's next question seemed odd coming from her deadpan expression, "What are their names?"
Shaggy was confused for a second, "Whose names? Oh. Fred and Daphne's daughter is named Nan. Their granddaughter is named Nicole. She's twelve."
"What became of Nan and Nicole?"
"We raised Nan, and she is a fine woman who is raising a great daughter. They've been loved."
Amanda was looking down into her lap. They could see a slight nod before she looked up, "I'm going to tell you everything. You've earned that."
Neither Shaggy nor Velma spoke, there was nothing they needed to say. They waited.
"Warren was a lawyer and made a very good living. When we got married, we lived in a nice house in a nice part of Birmingham. It was a lot like Danforth in a lot of ways. The yards were so big that they really didn't need neighborhood parks. But going to the park had become such a big part of Bettie's life. She loved it. First in Riley and then in Detroit when we had moved here. She was just starting school so we could only go on the weekends but we would go every Saturday and every Sunday. I would have to drive over since it was so far from the house.
I would sit in the grass and she would run and play with the other kids just like she did back in Riley. One day, she had gone running off, but I could still clearly see her in the distance…
"Herro Aranda."
"I wasn't expecting to hear my name and I jumped."
Scooby laughed, "Remind roo of anything?"
"The first time we met. I scared you and you jumped up into the air."
"Roo ridn't rump as high."
"I only have two legs."
"It's rice to see roo."
"Scooby, I'm…"
"Rarried. Rye know. Rye'm happy for roo."
"Then why are you here? And why are you on a leesh?"
"Rye hired that guy over there to pretend to ree rye master. Rye am pretending to be a normal dog."
"Why?"
"Recause it is time for ree to go."
"I don't understand. Go where?"
"Rye'm not roing to tell roo that. Rye just reed to be alone. At reast for now."
"What about your friends and your detective agency?"
"That rill only rast so rong. Red and Raphne have a baby and Relma and Raggy are about to have a raby."
"Velma is pregnant?"
"Res. So, she rill have the baby and finish college. Raggy has the restaurants. Raphne is getting interested in rer father's company. Rhey don't really reed ree anymore. Rye reed to figure out where Rye fit in. Rye can't do that in a crowd."
"Why are you here?"
"To see roo and Rettie one rast time."
"Please don't talk to Bettie. It would… confuse her."
"Rye understand. Rye want nothing but the best for roo and Rettie. That's all Rye wanted to say."
"I appreciate that."
"Ree happy."
He stood and walked slowly away with his head held low. The paid dogwalker picked up his leash and the two walked away.
Neither Amanda nor Velma nor Shaggy had touched their coffees. They were just props in this play. The story was clearly over but no one spoke. Amanda lifted her eyes and watched the birds outside the window. A squirrel tried to climb the birdfeeder stand but was foiled on his first effort by the squirrel guard.
Using the prop, Velma took a sip from the coffee. It was tepid.
"And that's all that Scooby said to you?"
"I have replayed that memory in my mind every day since it happened. The memory is as fresh today as it was all those years ago. I realized that day that I had made a mistake – which was confirmed twelve years later when Warren left. He was a good man. He knew that the marriage wasn't going to work within the first year but held on to get Bettie through high school. He even paid her tuition for college after the divorce. When Warren left, I tried to look up Scooby Doo to see if he had ever returned. He hadn't"
Velma checked her A-Eye to make sure that it was getting everything, "What about Fred and Daphne? Did you see them?"
"Yes, just two or three days later. They were waiting at my house after I had taken Bettie to school. Warren was at his office. I lied to them and told them that I hadn't seen Scooby since the lawyer's office in Riley. They left but I thought I saw Daphne sitting in a car down the street the next day. That's the last I saw of any of them."
Velma finished typing.
Shaggy completed the dialogue, "Is there anything else you can remember?"
Amanda shook her head.
He stood, "Amanda, thanks for the help. I'm not sure that I know where this puts up but at least we know more than we did yesterday. Please let us know if you remember anything else."
The two women stood, and Amanda led them to the front door, "If you find Scooby, please tell him that I never stopped loving him. I just… I just wanted to be normal."
Velma's face showed no emotion, "Most of us do."
Shaggy said their goodbyes, "Thanks again, Amanda."
As they were walking back toward the P-Car, they heard Amanda's final words, "If Scooby hates me, I'll understand."
They didn't turn back.
