Chapter 04
They arrived in Los Angeles the following day, checked into their room in the LA Mysterno Tower and then made their way up to one of the high-end suites which filled the upper three floors. Unlike the other floors where the elevator lobby opened onto a corridor which extended down with doors on either side. The luxury suite floors had only the elevator lobby with five doors leading off. One at each end and three along the far wall. The doors at each end accessed the largest of the suites and Velma and Shaggy went to one of those. Shaggy spoke aloud, "Access. Delilah Blake."
His A-Eye automatically sent a request for access to Delilah which she allowed. Her voice came back through the A-Eye, "We're in the living room."
Shaggy didn't spend much time in the larger suites and only had a vague idea of the layout but they walked straight forward through the entryway and into the large living room with a gas-operated fireplace which was burning brightly. The temperature in the room felt like it was well into the 80's Fahrenheit and Shaggy immediately started to perspire.
Delilah was standing at the far end of the room next to the windows and Barty was seated next to the fire wearing a thick jacket and a stocking cap. A walker was parked next to him. It seemed odd that the back two legs of the walker had tennis balls on them. It seemed like the rich would have found some more elegant solution. Delilah had tried to get him to give up his walker entirely in favor of a programmable motorized chair but he had adamantly refused. He wanted to walk into a room with his head held high. Not riding around in some glorified wheelchair. He was a Blake, damnit!
Barty had never allowed himself to be fat but he was now emaciated. His jacket sleeves hung baggily from his arms and legs and his neck seemed lost in the expanse of his shirt collar.
Delilah smiled somewhat sheepishly, "Pardon the heat."
"What's wrong with the heat?" Barty twisted around to look at his daughter.
Delilah raised her voice slightly, "Nothing Dad. It's much better than if we were inside a volcano."
"It feels good to me." Barth retorted.
Shaggy interjected, "We're fine."
Velma bumped Shaggy slightly with her elbow. She was not fine, and it was hot. But she left things like politeness and interpersonal relations up to her husband.
Contrary to her father, Delilah had gained a few pounds which softened the previously stark features of her face and showed the traditional beauty of the Blake women. She maintained her hair in its original red color and obviously spent a lot of money on it as there was no hint of falseness in the tint. She also wore her hair longer and more-styled than in her post-USMC days. She could still turn heads at the age of 67.
Delilah stepped forward into the center of the room, "You said that you had some new information about Daphne."
Barty let out a loud cough and then spoke, "Before we get into that, there is something that I would like to say."
Delilah rolled her eyes slightly, "Go ahead, Dad."
He looked at Velma and Shaggy, "I haven't seen you two in a long time."
Shaggy shrugged, "It's been a few years. I guess since Nan graduated from college."
It wasn't clear whether Barty actually heard what Shaggy was saying or just waited until his mouth quit moving, "I'm not sure if I said it then but there is something I have been wanting to tell you."
This was dragging out and Velma wanted to get down to business, but she followed Shaggy's lead and remained silent.
"Nan is a fine woman. If she chooses to lead Blake Industries, I will be proud and will know that the company is in good hands. If she chooses not to, then I know that she will have made the decision that she feels is best for her. Either way, she owes most of what she is to you, and you have done a stellar job. I don't think Fred and our Daphne could have done any better."
Shaggy and Velma held it together well until the last sentence. Tears welled up in both of their eyes and Shaggy tried to say something which came out as a croak. His second effort fared better, "Thank you, sir."
Delilah walked over to her father's side and placed her hand lightly on his feeble shoulder. Her voice remained raised just slightly, "That was beautiful, Dad. Perfectly said." She then dropped her tone to a normal speaking voice, "And we also appreciate that you are continuing to try and find my sister and Fred. To say that you are good friends is an understatement. Shaggy said that you have found something new."
Finally, Velma had her cue, "We don't want to get anyone's hopes up, but we have found some new information. Scooby had a second computer which we didn't know about, and we are beginning to find information from it on the internet."
Delilah was clearly intrigued, "What kind of information?"
"It's not much and it's coming out slowly but the first thing we found was proof that Scooby had hired the law firm whose number we found on Scooby's phone history."
"But isn't any information they have still privileged?"
It was Shaggy's turn, "Yes. And that's where you come in."
xXx
A request from Blake Industries for a meeting with a law firm gets a meeting set up within a week. A request from Delilah Blake, CEO gets the meeting set up within a day. A personal request from Barty Blake himself gets an invitation to come on down. That request had been made and the four of them were stepping off the elevator and into the lobby of Reynolds, Jenkins, and McNabb, Attorneys-at-Law before lunch.
In a show of ostentation, the firm had a large desk in the center of the room manned by a human receptionist. She was professional and well-trained, "Mr. Blake. We've been expecting you. Let me show you to the main conference room." She stood from her desk and waited for Barty to slowly make his way across the large lobby with his walker.
Luckily, the conference room was just behind the reception desk, and it took only a few more steps for Barty to make his way past the smiling receptionist and into the room which held four attorneys standing at attention. The law firm had a highest quality company A-Eye which provided names to the visitors as they came into the room. Velma came in last and recognized the blank stare of people listening to their earpieces.
The lawyers expected Barty Blake and were pleased and not surprised to see Delilah Blake. But seemed dumfounded when they saw Shaggy and Velma enter the room. The looks of confusion changed into masks of composure as the A-Eye updated them regarding the names of the two unexpected visitors and then gave them the corporate warning regarding Shaggy's recent call regarding Scooby Doo. The super-efficient A-Eye then brought them all up to speed about the relationship between Barty Blake, Shaggy Rogers, and Scooby Doo. It didn't take any additional information for the high-level attorneys to put two and two together.
The eldest of the four, a woman in her sixties who Shaggy's A-Eye identified as Sheila McDaniels took lead, "Mr. Blake, as honored as we are by your visit, I believe that you have come here under different pretenses than we were led to believe from your call."
Barty's A-Eye earpiece doubled as a hearing aid, but it only came into one ear which was slightly disorienting to him. He was, however, able to hear what the woman had said. "I said that I wanted to speak regarding a matter of extreme personal importance. There is nothing more important to me than finding my missing daughter. There was no false pretense."
Ms. McDaniels smiled politely, "But I am sure that Mr, Rogers has informed you that he has already contacted our firm and our position is clear and not negotiable."
"Shaggy did, indeed, give me a rundown regarding your company's official legal position on this matter. But I am here to discuss with you a more real-world perspective on the situation."
Lawyers love phrases like 'real world'. 'Real world' usually translated into cash – and lots of it. "Please have a seat but understand that we may be extremely limited in what we can say."
Delilah helped Barty move from the walker and into a chair and everyone else in the room waited until he was seated to take their own seats.
Ms. McDaniels went through the normal motions, "Can I interest anyone in something to drink? Coffee? Juice? Water?"
On cue, one of the other lawyers asked for a coffee, which opened the door for other requests. The A-Eye heard the requests and, within two minutes, a trolley appeared with the drinks.
Ms. McDaniels looked to Barty, "Mr. Blake, you wanted to give us a new perspective on the issue at hand?"
Barty let out a barking cough, "Ms. Dinkley has recently unearthed new information which confirms that Scooby Doo did hire your firm 35 years ago. While we do not have any details on the precise nature of his dealings with your firm, the timing would indicate that the information regarding those dealings could help the authorities in finding Scooby Doo and therefore also be helpful in finding Fred and Daphne Jones. The latter of which I am sure you know is my daughter."
The lawyer held her poker face, "Mr. Blake, nothing you have just said has changed the position which our firm provided to Mr. Rogers previously."
Barty nodded, "Ms. McDaniels, we are talking prioritizing a 35-year-old privilege over the potential saving of three human lives."
The lawyer remained staid, "Again, we cannot change our stance."
Barty nodded again, "Then I will inform you that I have a tremendous personal fortune and, on top of that, myself and my daughter, Delilah, have a controlling interest in Blake Industries. We are both committed to pouring everything we have into any effort which might get us a little closer to finding Daphne. That includes bringing on-going and incessant legal proceedings against your firm until such time as all of our amassed wealth is exhausted or your firm ceases to exist."
Shaggy shook his head slightly in wonderment. Barty Blake was old and feeble but he was still Barty Blake.
Ms. McDaniel's face hardened, "Is that a threat, Mr. Blake?"
His voice softened, "No. It is just one human being telling another how much he loves his daughter and what he is willing to do to be able to find out where she is and what happened to her before he dies."
Delilah spoke up, "And should my father die before we have successfully found my sister, then I am just as committed to this goal. You may not know that Daphne has a daughter and a granddaughter who are in line to the Blake fortune and will be just as committed. We understand the ethics of your profession, but we also understand that the best attorneys find loopholes. Your choices are clear. Assist in what is a humanitarian endeavor or expect a minimum four-generation long adversarial relationship with the Blake Family. My version may have been a threat."
The senior legal partner stood, "I believe that it is time to adjourn this meeting. I assume that you can find your way out." She nodded to Barty, "Mr. Blake." And the lawyers left the room.
The four made their way slowly out of the building without speaking and got into the P-Car.
When the door shut, Velma spoke, "That didn't go very well."
Barty smiled, "Every battle starts with a single shot, Velma. That shot doesn't end the battle. It sets the tone."
"Well," Shaggy asked, "What do we do next?"
Barty continued with his plan, "You and Velma go track down the next clue. Delilah goes back to keep Blake Industries running. And I stay here and keep the pressure on."
"Dad," Delilah placed her fists firmly on her hips, "You can't stay here by yourself."
"Then hire a nurse for me. I'll be fine."
Delilah thought about that for a moment, "Okay. I'll stay until we have a nurse in place that both you and I are comfortable with."
"Excellent! Now, it looks like we're at the hotel and it wouldn't hurt me at all to get some rest."
The P-Car pulled up in front of the hotel and Barty started the laborious process of getting out and back on his feet.
As Shaggy was helping with that, Delilah leaned down and whispered to Velma, "There was no way that I would let him stop working on this. That's the first time I've seen him act like himself in a long time. I think he had forgotten what it's like to have a purpose."
Velma looked back at her, "Shaggy and I couldn't have done what he did. We needed the help."
"And you'll get more. When Dad sets his mind to something, he is a force to be reckoned with."
xXx
Back in their hotel room, Shaggy turned to Velma, "What's next?"
"Sifting through all of this stuff on the Dark Web is slow and tedious. I don't have much."
"What do you have?"
"He made a hotel reservation in Vancouver shortly after he left Detroit."
"That's something. There were calls to burner phones in Vancouver before he left from Crystal Cove. Does the hotel still exist?"
Velma had already checked that, "Yes, it's still there."
Shaggy grabbed the suitcase and opened it on the bed, "Start packing and I'll make the reservations."
"But it's just a hotel. What do we hope to accomplish?"
"I have no clue. But we can't accomplish anything sitting here. It's all we've got right now, so that's where we're heading."
There were vacancies on a flight that afternoon which would get to Vancouver just after dinner. Shaggy also had no problem booking rooms for the next two nights. Although there was a Mysterno Towers Hotel in Downtown Vancouver, they would forego the benefits of familiarity and stay in the same hotel where Scooby had stayed all the years before. Who knows? Maybe they would get lucky. Really, really, really lucky.
xXx
There are a lot of songs about how there were more important things than being rich. But none of those songwriters was trying to get multiple bureaucratic entities to move quickly. Barty Blake was thanking his lucky stars that he was rich since that money had gotten him a nurse, a plane to take Delilah (and her mother hen instincts) away, and an audience to see an Assistant District Attorney for Los Angeles County. Money can't buy everything but it sure can grease a few skids.
The nurse, whose name was Bert, had joined in with Delilah in the motorized chair argument. After Barty's joke about the number of people that had recommended the electric chair for him through his life fell flat, Barty had promised that, if they would allow him his walker for the meetings in Los Angeles, he would give in and ride around in an electric chair like some kind of invalid when he got back to Crystal Cove. Maybe he would keep that promise and maybe he wouldn't. But, for now, it enabled him to be Barty Blake when he needed to be Barty Blake.
After having been swatted a few times as he poked at Barty, Bert the nurse had figured out that his client preferred a more hands-off approach and followed behind as Barty made his way into the District Attorney's office. The Government Office had far fewer bells and whistles than Reynolds, Jenkins, and McNabb, Attorneys-at-Law. Instead of a receptionist's desk, there was a simple interface console for the office A-Eye.
The computer voice which greeted him sounded tinny and unrealistic and was not able to detect his identity from his A-Eye and facial recognition, "Please state your name."
"Barty Blake."
"That name is not recognized. Please restate your name."
This model was an old one. Barty tried again, "Bartholomew Winston Blake."
"Mr. Blake. Please proceed ahead to Conference Room 3 and Assistant District Attorney James Eldridge will be with you shortly."
Barty was a little winded by the time they made it to the table but controlled his breathing because he wasn't going to let anyone (even his nurse) know it. He did, however, appreciate the opportunity to sit down. He hadn't done so much walking in one day in years. Bert stayed on his feet and leaned against the wall where he could watch Barty's face for signs of distress.
The wait was a long one and Barty was beginning to feel the calling of his bladder when the door flew open and a harried-looking, overweight man in his mid-to-late forties came bustling in. He plopped into a seat catty-corner from Barty, put his A-Eye down on the table and waited for the holographic computer to enfold before him.
"Mr. Blake, I'm Jim Eldridge and I'll be taking your statement. I believe that the message you left stated that there was new evidence in the Scooby Doo disappearance which is tied to our jurisdiction."
Barty placed his A-Eye down on the desk and said "File Dinkley One". The A-Eye presented multiple documents in holographic form tying Scooby Doo to the law firm of Reynolds, Jenkins, and McNabb.
Eldridge looked over the documents for a moment and asked, "May I have a copy of those?"
"Yes," Barty said clearly so that his A-Eye would detect both speakers and send the appropriate documents. It happened within a second.
The lawyer now pulled it up on his own computer and spent several minutes scrolling through those documents and several others. Barty was not, by nature, a patient man and he wanted desperately to get up in this bureaucrat's face and force him to move more quickly. But he knew that government employees were paid far less than private sector employees and, in return, they got two things: first, a complete lack of personal accountability which made them immune to threats; and second, the ability to wield petty power plays like a cudgel and sap the energy out of anyone who needed to make progress. So, he sat quietly and waited.
After the silence dragged on for even longer (punctuated by the fact that the lawyer sucked his teeth when he concentrated), Eldridge brought down the holographic screen which had obscured his face and looked across the table, "Mr. Blake, I don't see how we can help you. All of this was, of course, long before my time but, in the case of Scooby Doo, there was never a crime committed and the missing person case which was opened was closed over three decades ago due to the clear and undisputed evidence that Mr. Doo had deliberately disappeared and did not wish to be found. The fact that he hired Reynolds, Jenkins, and McNabb proximate to the timeframe of his disappearance is immaterial."
This was expected, "What about Fred and Daphne?"
"Who?"
Also expected. Barty spoke for his A-Eye, "Send to Mr. Eldridge information on Fred and Daphne." From context, his A-Eye interpreted precisely what data and sent it over which prompted another long, tooth-sucking wait for the lawyer to finish his review.
"While there are active missing persons cases open for these two people and I see that they were private detectives investigating the Scooby Doo disappearance. They are in no way directly tied to Los Angeles which puts them outside our jurisdiction. Further, there is nothing here which is strong enough to force a court order for Reynolds, Jenkins, and McNabb to release those documents."
"But this is a missing person case and human lives may be imminently in peril. There are workarounds for that, aren't there?"
"Given that 35 years have passed, your interpretation of the word 'imminently' is very broad. Again, there is nothing here which I could take to a judge.
Barty nodded, put his A-Eye in his pocket, and struggled to his feet – making it without Bert's assistance, "Thank you for your time, Mr. Eldridge." He and Bert slowly made their way across the noisy lobby and down the elevator.
To the outside observer, the meeting would look like a failure. Barty Blake knew that it was another rung on the ladder to what he wanted.
