Chapter 9
Marcie tried to calm me down while I desperately searched for my glasses and my purse. On my way to the department, Marcie sent me the message "things will be fine, good luck", but anxiety didn´t let me answer. Captain Jones and part of our team were waiting for me at NYPD, he looked worried and he was impatiently dialing Daphne's number, but she didn't answer the phone.
Fred: Please, take charge, Dinkley. I'm going to check if Daphne is ok. She´s not answering the phone and I'm afraid she confronted Mayberry…
I nodded and Fred left us. Then, Miller showed me the samples´ details and we started some complementary tests. In the laboratory, the hours passed quickly and my heart felt each positive result obtained. Fred and Daphne not answering their phones afflicted my already aching heart, and I only felt a little better when Jones replied "I'm with her, I´m on my way".
Miller: So, doc, what did you find out?
Velma: Well, forensic hematology showed the samples are not recent, some are older than others, and they have from 10 to 12 "months of age", I´d say. Cho Sang-woo has been missing for 12 months, so our calculations are right. I don't think a slaughter happened there and all the victims died in the same day, I think they were killed one at a time, perhaps in small groups, one day a group died, two or three days after another one, and so on. Obviously, all the deaths are directly related to financial issues, considering the place where the bloodstains were found. DNA tests showed all the victims have Asian ancestry. We know that a sum of money was transferred from Liberty in NY to an island in South Korea, and Cho Sang-woo is from Seoul, so I suspect they are all South Koreans. I´m only confused about the bloodstain pattern analysis. Those stains are not compatible with any blood-spatter pattern I know, so I can´t say if the weapon was a gun, a blunt object or a knife. The stains are so unique that they look like a painting, as if someone just dropped human blood there. I still haven't inserted the DNA samples in the missing person database. Can you do this for me, please?
Miller: Surely, doctor.
I was concentrated on the samples when, suddenly, a paw touched my knee. With my glasses on, I saw Scooby-Doo next to me, trying to get my attention. Then Norville and Crystal arrived, holding Amber on a leash.
Velma: Hey, Scooby! You were right about that minibar, buddy, good job! And you too, Shaggy, you were right about Scooby's behavior, I'm sorry I didn't realize that.
Shaggy: Like, and I was right about the app too…
Velma: That´s a stretch! I am a science woman, I will never support your unscientific app.
Shaggy is not vain like Fred Jones, so he didn't care when I criticized his job. On the contrary, he laughed, thinking I was only joking.
Shaggy: Like, this may be a revenge crime… maybe done by… uh…mafiosi?
Velma: I wouldn't rule this hypothesis out, Shaggy. We have an illegal casino with a secret fridge full of bloostains, it's something the mafia would do.
Shaggy: Like, I am suspicious of Alan too, Scoob behaved badly around him and at the crime scene, remember? He's never behaved like that anywhere, so, like, surely it´s not a coincidence…
I'd forgotten about that unpleasant detail, and I shuddered when Shaggy reminded me. Apparently, all our hypotheses about Alan Mayberry were wrong, so we would have a lot of investigative work ahead. Suddenly, Scooby barked and his tail wagged in delight. According to Norville's stupid app, Scooby was saying "our friends are coming" and few second after that, Daphne and Fred arrived. Norville, again, took the opportunity to shove the accuracy of his damn app in my face, while Daphne thanked Scooby for his work with some cookies. That made Norville jealous (jealous of the cookies, obviously) and he finally stopped showing me how nice his nonsense app was.
Velma: Gang, our case took a surprise twist…
Fred: Wait, Velma, before you give us the details, Daphne needs to tell you guys what she has found out.
Velma: Don't tell me you met Alan, Daphne! We´ve told you to not do it!
Daphne: I didn't. On the contrary, I'm refusing his calls since our visit at Liberty, I don´t want him to know about the details we've got. Well, Liberty's bank accounts are all Applegate Bank accounts, so I reached out to Steven Applegate, Dad's partner and the owner of Applegate Bank. Steven agreed to see us in two hours. With the merger of Applegate Bank and Blake Bank right after Applegate´s bankruptcy, many of Applegate Bank's services came under the control of Blake Bank. That means: if Alan has that special Blake Bank key, that key may also work for Applegate Bank transactions and…
Velma: …and he may be the one who sent those millions to Silmido Island!
Daphne: Exactly! If we prove the secret key belongs to Alan, we will prove the Silmido bank transaction was made by him. And, who knows, we will also prove that he is responsible for other financial crimes, like the ones Sang-woo was accused of.
Shaggy: Like, I don´t know if Alan has something to do with other financial crimes, but I´m sure he is involved in murder. Velma has discovered those bloodstains are human blood, coming from several people. Scoob got weird when he was around Alan and told us "Get away! Killer!", so… like, surely, something is wrong…
I rolled my eyes when Shaggy mentioned again that Scooby-Doo was talking throught that stupid app, but soon I ignored and continued my line of reasoning.
Velma: Unfortunately, Shaggy is right. We´ve found DNA of thirty-five victims in the samples we took, including Cho Sang-woo´s DNA. I imagine the deaths are directly related to financial issues, but I can't imagine what really happened. Shaggy suggested the possibility of being an organized crime group, maybe an international group, and I think it's plausible.
Shaggy: Like, if it's really a mafia, Alan can be the leader. He is very rich and he can access two banks to make secret transactions…
Velma: Perfect, Norville, I think Alan's profile fits a mob leader profile.
Fred: Velma, were you able to find anything about the other victims?
Velma: I´ve asked Miller to check the missing person database, as well as other databases at military installations, prisons, police stations and at immigration department. I myself will collect some civilian data from hospitals and morgues for a careful analysis.
Fred: Great. We need as much information as possible about the victims. Meanwhile, what do we know about Sang-woo?
Shaggy: Like, not much. He is from South Korea and had a green card, he was a brilliant investor and worked in four different countries and… uh… he was accused of embezzlement and fraud in those countries. Like, I don't have information about wife or children, the only family link is his mother, who is a market vendor and lives in Seoul. She reported local police that her son went missing last June.
We got surprised with all the information Shaggy gathered. He usually contributes to our cases bringing us some bags of chips. Or asking if we have coins for the chips machine.
Shaggy: C´mon, guys! Like, do you think you are the only ones who have reliable sources?
Daphne laughed and patted him on the back.
Daphne: The name of his "reliable source" is Liang Flim Flam, a chinese Interpol agent we met when we visited Tibet years ago.
Shaggy: But, like, I had to ask him all the information! It counts as a detailed investigative work!
Daphne: Of course it does, Shaggy!
Fred: Well, I think the mother doesn´t know about her son's financial crimes. If she knew, she wouldn't report police her son is missing…
Shaggy made a wait gesture with his index finger and dialed agent Flim Flam to ask the information he wanted to know. Daphne laughed again and ended the call before the agent answered.
Daphne: No, Shaggy, she doesn't know, Flim Flam had already told me. And that´s so very sad, since we will have to tell her that her son is na international embezzler and he is dead.
Daphne is the heart of the team and she always brings out the emotional side of our cases. I never cared about it at all, but this time, that detail caught me deeply.
Fred: In fact, until we find his and the others' corpses, we're not sure he's dead, Daph.
Shaggy: Like, of course they are dead, Jones, their blood splattered everywhere on that room... why would thirty people randomly bleed at the same time in one place, Fred?
Fred: I agree with you, Shags, but the law says we need the corpses to prove Sang-woo and the others are dead. By now, we only know they´re missing. And, somehow, they bled in that place.
Daphne: Fred is right, the judge will not consider "murder" without a corpse…
Fred: To find the corpses, we need to know where the victims were taken. So, I need you and Scooby to go back to Liberty building right now. You will have to make him sniff around again and show the right places.
Shaggy: What? Are you crazy, Jones? I won´t go back there alone! Like, have you forgotten how dangerous it is?
Velma: So… what's your price in food?
Shaggy gazed open-mouthed and wide-eyed when he heard the offer.
Daphne: Wait guys, Shaggy's right, it's dangerous to go back there. Besides, we will meet Mr. Applegate at his office soon, and we'll need Scooby there to sniff out Applegate Bank…
Daphne annoyed Shaggy deeply when she spoiled his chance to get free food.
Shaggy: Like, I'll take Scooby there, but my price is two boxes of cookies, three donuts, two pretzels and…
Velma: You're not going there anymore, Norville. Daphne´s right…
Shaggy: Yeah, like, but there's a price for the Applegate Bank visit too!
I rolled my eyes impatiently while Daphne laughed and paid the amount of cookies required to take Scooby to Applegate Bank. Suddenly, Miller came to us to report that he couldn't find information in those databases, so I started to search information in the civil records. To my great surprise, right after I inserted the samples´ data, the computer revealed fifteen records in hospital databases.
Fred: What do we have, Velma?
Shaggy: Like, are they alive?
Daphne: Are they okay?
When I clicked on the first record, an unpleasant feeling took controlo f every inch of my body. The reason: DNA found in one of my samples matched the DNA of an "anonymous donor" in a kidney transplant record. The transplant was done at a luxury private hospital in Boston. All other records were similar: they showed different organ transplants occurred in different hospitals, and the DNA found in my samples always matched the DNA of the "anonymous donor".
Velma: Jinkies!
Fred: What? Oh no…
Daphne always says "Jeepers", and Shaggy, "Zoinks", but this time, they couldn't say anything.
Velma: They're still alive, gang… I mean, at least part of them still is.
