Epilogue

The gang was physically tired as they returned to Daphne and Fred's house just before lunch, but they were amped up on adrenaline. There would be no pre-work or pre-homework naps until some of that adrenaline-fueled energy had been burned off. Shaggy and Scooby took a head start on leaving the Black's house and missed the final details in order to do a grocery store run and were immediately setting up in the kitchen to create an enormous lunch… and some for the rest of the gang, too.

Velma, Fred, and Daphne pulled up stools to the kitchen counter so they could keep Shaggy and Scooby in the conversation. Also, so they could keep an eye on Shaggy and Scooby to make sure things in the kitchen didn't get out of hand. Everyone but Velma had to go to work later, and Velma was not a big drinker, so all celebratory toasts were made with soft drinks.

Daphne had asked Special Agent Norland about Alicia Clark who was notably absent from the day's gathering. While hesitant to talk in detail, given that he had accused her of kidnapping and pulled her financials, he felt that it might be best to assuage any perceived damages as much as possible and give her a little information.

Robbie and Chastity's plan had originally included keeping the FBI out of it as long as possible and relying on the incompetence of the Danforth PD to get them across the finish line. When Amanda had insisted on hiring the Scooby Gang, Chastity had moved the schedule forward and contacted her friend from high school, Alicia Clark, in order to bring the Bureau in on her terms. The statement from Alicia that she had not known Chastity in high school had been a lie. Alicia had considered the politically savvy and knowledgeable senior classman as a mentor.

Chastity had known about Alicia's hero worship in high school and found it annoying but tapped back into those feelings as adults to manipulate Alicia and thus manipulate the FBI. Special Agent Norland had been correct in describing the video trail left by the kidnappers as 'bread crumbs.' These had been carefully orchestrated by Chastity to lead the authorities to the simple and obvious solution. The kidnappers being tied to international organized crime and terrorism got the Bureau's attention and gave the Bureau increased powers of investigation. This was all according to Chastity's plan.

Since the Scooby Gang's participation in the investigation was not a part of that plan, Chastity had to do some things on the fly which left gaps. Included in these were the entire diversion of Velma onto the Reddings and the fact that her Daphne disguise she used for the fake photograph was a cheap costume store version. But these connivances only had to stand up for two or three days, so she felt comfortable with the risk.

She had given the fake photograph to Alicia telling her that it had come from the Danforth PD and dropped the idea that the best way to get a conviction would be to isolate Daphne and keep her from working with the rest of the Gang. Alicia trusted her friend and did nothing to double check any of this. Chastity then fed Alicia as much information which she could find on the Gang from the internet and some mutual friends and made the recommendation that the FBI look more deeply into their finances. Alicia never thought to wonder about Chastity's specific interest.

For all this, Alicia was guilty of nothing other than gullibility. She faced no charges, but gullibility was not allowable in a member of the FBI. Her career there was likely over. Given that Alicia's gullibility could have sent Daphne to prison on false charges, Daphne had little sympathy.

Daphne was smart enough to know that Special Agent Norland had also not verified Alicia's information and his neck was out there, too. She managed to work into the conversation that she appreciated his focus and was not holding him responsible for what had happened. By saying this, of course, she was telling him that she knew that she could hold him responsible but was choosing to not pursue it. He recognized the implicit agreement and accepted her business card when she offered it. It never hurt to have a senior FBI agent owe you one.

Fred was the happiest of all. Edward Black had pulled him and Scooby aside and told them that he was going to pay for all of the hours the team had spent on the case and then quadruple it for saving him $3 million. He also mentioned that a private investigation firm was an organization that could get excellent word-of-mouth advertising from their clients knowing that confidential information would be protected. Fred understood immediately that he was being offered an implicit agreement that the Gang would keep the actions of Chastity and Robbie under wraps. There was a handshake and Mr. Black wrote out a check on the spot. Fred did not know the precise total of hours, so Mr. Black rounded up. Way up. Then, on top of that, three insurance companies that were part of Mr. Black's holdings called Fred on the drive home and set up meetings to discuss service agreements. Although Fred knew that they were effectively being bribed to keep their mouth's shut, they were in business now and, as long as the bribe was legal, they would be bribed.

Shaggy was shaking something around in a cast iron frying pan which was making a sizzling sound, "Let's have it, Daphne. Give us the skinny on how you narrowed down on Chastity so quickly."

Scooby was wearing a specially fitted chef's hat which had not been in the kitchen before and adding ingredients to a mixing bowl, "Reah, the skinny."

Daphne smiled and waved her hand in the air, "It really wasn't anything."

Fred smiled, "C'mon Daph, you know the mystery is not officially over until the primary goes through all of the clues and deductions. It's required for the closing narrative."

"Okay, I guess. It boiled down to the fact that Chastity just wasn't as smart as she thought she was. Lots of little things just kept piling up. It started out with the fact that the Blacks live on a dead-end street in a box canyon town. That is exactly the last place that someone would choose for a crime of this type unless they were specifically targeting one child. Then, there was the fact that the kidnappers made no false turns inside the house and clearly knew exactly where Bettie would be. They clearly had inside information or someone directing them. Robbie's statement to the police said that the only bleeding wound he received was the last one he got as the kidnappers were leaving. But there was blood on the footprints leading up the stairs.

"Then the kidnappers took Bettie's training potty. A training potty would be something that a parent would clearly prioritize but a kidnapper would not. So, with that, I knew it was an inside job and that Robbie might be involved. But I gave him the benefit of the doubt since he had been hit in the head multiple times and his statement could include honest errors.

"Then I interviewed Chastity and more things felt wrong. She said that she and Robbie never discussed details of Robbie's marriage but she knew how Amanda was dressed and how she had applied her make-up that morning when Amanda and Robbie came to see us. Then, the Chastity I remember – even in her Che Guevara era - would never have gotten a haircut without touching up the roots and when Amanda said that the haircut had occurred the morning after the kidnapping, it just got curiouser and curiouser.

"And that's when we got to the insulting part. Velma?"

Velma took over, "Well, Chastity believed the old shows and assumed that I was the smart one and Daphne was the dumb one. So, when we got involved, she had to create a plot to keep me busy and force Daphne to operate on her own. The first hint that I got that everything wasn't on the up-and-up was when she refused to sign the contract. I had nothing with her name in writing. Then, when I mentioned the mistress's home, she knew that it was a gated community, even though I never mentioned that. Then, when I heard the sound of a squeak toy in the background when she was theoretically calling me from a work environment, it all came together. And now I have the images of two naked adult human beings emblazoned on my memory for life for no good reason."

Daphne picked things back up, "Then when Alicia showed up and just happened to be from Danforth, it was just too much. Too many coincidences. Alicia and Chastity even used the same phrase to describe me. At that point, I knew the whole kidnappers and Mexico ruse was a red herring to get money and prove to the world that Bettie was dead."

Shaggy was putting the finishing touches on something that was huge, brown, and smelled wonderful, "But telling a mother that her child is dead? How horrible is that? What could make them think that was okay?"

Daphne shook her head, "My best guess is that there was a lot of hurt and animosity toward Amanda about the deception before the marriage. It probably came to a head, when Amanda dropped the baby at the doctor's office. Amanda's condition would not let her show that she was upset or stricken or guilt-ridden and that was too much. Chastity and Robbie hatched the plan."

Scooby was passing out plates, "Rwhat about Aranda and Robbie? Rwhat will rhappen to them?"

Velma answered, "They'll get divorced."

Fred looked at her, "No chance of reconciliation?"

"No. When you are like Amanda, or me, there is no catharsis or release. We don't scream or hit things. And, if we do, its fake, a pretense to blend in. It's not tied to our emotions. So, hurts stay with us and trust, once lost, is almost impossible to build back."

Shaggy was somber now, "Almost."

Velma reached out and stroked his arm, "Almost." The motion was fabricated but it did match the emotions she felt.

She continued, "This is too much. There is no way that she can ever recover from an emotional wound this deep. I'm not sure anyone could."

Scooby looked back and forth between the two and exercised his rights as the male roommate, "Ree need some organ rusic, it's getting to be a soap opera in here."

With the mood lightened, the Gang settled into a meal that was enough for twenty people. Or three plus Shaggy and Scooby. The meal was followed by some brief exit conversation and several loud belches and then Daphne and Fred were left alone.

Daphne looked at the clock, "If we snuggle in now, we can catch maybe a two-hour nap before having to get ready for our shifts tonight."

Fred yawned, "Best idea that I've heard all day."

In order to maximize nap time, they didn't change clothes and just took off their shoes before crawling into bed. Fred reached out and Daphne snuggled in under his arm and closed her eyes. And was instantly wide awake.

She took a deep breath. It was now or never, "Fred?"

"Huh?"

"There's something we need to talk about."

His voice was getting fuzzy as his body settled into the bed, "What's that?"

"Kids."

And then there were two wide-awake people in the bed.

"Kids? Whose kids?"

"I guess potentially our kids."

"I… um… I… um…"

She pressed on, "I know you've been thinking about it."

"I have?"

"Yes. You brought it up."

"I did?"

"Yes! It was a few weeks ago and you looked at me and said You know, with the insurance, we can afford to have a baby now."

"I guess I remember that."

"You guess! I haven't had a decent night's sleep in a month and you guess?"

"Well, I didn't mean that I'm ready to have kids right now. Or honestly that I really feel a strong need for kids at all. I was just reading up on the new insurance and going through the things that it would pay for. They were all bad things except for having a baby. That was the only positive life event on the list. I was just kind of making small talk."

There are pauses in conversations which could launch a thousand ships. This was one of those. Then Daphne took a deep breath, "Small talk. About having a child. With your 30-year-old wife. Do you know what 'small talk' means? It means small. Talking about a baby is not small. It is huge. Huge!"

"Sorry."

"So, now that it's no longer small talk, tell me what you think about us having children?"

He paused in realizing this was probably the most important conversation that they had had in years, "I don't think I'm ready for them, yet." He thought very hard about his next sentence, "And Daphne, I'm not sure that I will ever be."

It was the answer she had hoped for, "That's good. We're both in the same place."

Then why did she feel a little disappointed?

Writer's Note:

The next episode "And One For Old Time's Sake" starts this week. In that episode, the Gang actually gets chased by a monster. Thank you for reading.