Chapter 6: At the library

Soon, the gang entered the main public library and as they made their way towards the entrance, they saw George Avocados campaigning near the entrance with dozens of his supporters cheering on.

"Citizens!" The mayoral candidate said as the cheering died down, while the gang stopped to watch. "I am aware about the recent doorknob thefts that has been occurring in town lately."

"Yeah!" The crowd exclaimed and cheered again.

"These strings of doorknob thefts is yet another product of Mayor Jones' negligence in real issues." Avocados continued. "Instead of focusing on urgent matters like the city's increasing crime rate and bad economy, he choose to focus more on the city's 'tourist attractions', which serves nothing more than the perfect cover for criminals covering up something illegal!"

"Of course!" The crowd exclaimed in agreement.

"Because of his negligence, the city's crime rate has rose to the point where even the most priceless items such as a doorknob gets stolen in broad daylight!" Avocados stormed. "If elected mayor, my first priority will be to clean up the house in both city hall and in the police department!"

"Yeah!" The crowd exclaimed and cheered loudly.

As Avocados finished the last statement, Velma commented, "Jinkies, Mr. Avocados sure is using these string of doorknob thefts to his advantage."

"Yeah." Fred agreed as they carried on into the library. "I wonder how will Mayor Dad respond to this latest attack."

Soon, the gang were inside the library, where they made their way to the archives section.

"Now let's see if there's anything related to that ghost truck appearance on the highway." Fred remarked as they split up and went down to search.

Everyone nodded with Shaggy going with Scooby and Daphne while Fred and Velma went together.

As the trio searched through a section of the archives, Shaggy came upon an old newspaper article dated back to 1981 with a photo in the headlines that caught his attention.

It was that of a teenage boy and girl that looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place where he had seen them before.

He scanned the caption below the photo, which read, "Ronald 'Ronnie' Jones (Left) and Linda Owens (Right) of the Mysteries Five Crystal Cove Central High School band taking part in a rehearsal prior to the concert that won the band the state school band finals"

"Shaggy?" Daphne asked, bring him out of his thoughts. "Are you alright?"

Shaggy looked up and saw Scooby and Daphne looking at him with confused looks on their faces.

It was then that he remembered the key-shaped locket on Daphne's person and his mind instantly travelled back to the time he took a look at the photo in the locket.

SHAGGY'S FLASH VISION

Shaggy looked closely at the photo of the couple in the key-shaped locket Daphne had discovered in the caves weeks ago.

The couple's faces in that photo were then copy and pasted onto the faces of the couple in the photo on the old newspaper headline he had discovered.

Closely examining and comparing the facial features of the couple in both photos, he realized that they were a match.

END OF FLASH VISION

"Like, I think I've discovered the identities of the couple in the photo in that locket you discovered in the caves, Daph." Shaggy said.

"Ruh?" Scooby asked. "Rho are they?"

Shaggy responded by showing them the photo on the newspaper headline he had discovered, with Daphne taking out the locket, opened it and compared the two photos.

"Jeepers!" She exclaimed, almost too loud. "Ronald Jones and Linda Owens are the couple in the locket!"

"Yeah." Shaggy nodded. "Like, I wonder what brings a popular school band like the Mysteries Five to the caves?"

It was then that Velma came to them and said, "Hey guys, come over here! Freddie's discovered something!"

Shaggy shared a glance with Daphne and Scooby before they went off to join Fred.

"Like, what is it, Freddie?" Shaggy asked as they regrouped.

"It's about the disappearance of several trucks entering Crystal Cove years ago, back in 1976." Fred says as he shows them the newspaper article. "Back then, the area north of the city was a crime-infested slum, and this particular criminal mastermind had a super crime in mind where he and his henchmen will loot the city after flooding it."

"Part of their plan was to divert trucks carrying large pumps into a particularly low section of the highway that gets flooded during the fall high tide, where they'll then hijack and steal the pumps so they can then pump seawater towards the city and flood it." Velma continued.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy remarked. "Sounds like the handwork of a certain dirty swamp rat."

(Does this sound familiar to those that has watched the Dynomutt, Dog Wonder episode Wizard of Ooze?)

"Yeah." Velma agreed. "However, that particularly section of the highway gets covered in thick fog frequently, and at least 30 trucks disappeared after being diverted by the criminals onto that section of the highway."

"Jeepers." Daphne remarked. "So it is likely that the ghost truck is one of those missing trucks!"

"It appears that it will the case." Fred nodded.

"Like, but then what about those missing doorknobs or the forced resignation of Theodore Avocados?" Shaggy asked.

"We've checked those out, too, specifically the resignation of Theodore Avocados." Fred replied. "The priceless diamond Dad mentioned was in the shape of a doorknob and has a large crystal structure."

"Say, perhaps whoever was responsible for the doorknob thefts must be searching for that diamond, since it was never found." Daphne offered.

"You may be right, Daph." Velma nodded before glancing at her wristwatch and added, "In the meantime, I suppose we should be getting going for your arranged date with Rung."

"Oh, yeah." Daphne sighed as they made their way out of the library.

Soon, the Mystery Machine was driving down the highway and has entered a foggy area.

"Man, I could've sworn that you can cut the fog open with a knife." Fred remarked as he tries hard to see through the thick fog with the headlights on.

"Like, better slow down, man." Shaggy suggested. "You could never know what we may encounter on the other side of the fog."

"Good idea, Shag." Fred nodded as he slowed down, but just as he did so, they came upon a familiar-looking sight.

It was a ghostly-looking tractor trailer, just like the ghost truck they encountered before!

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