Joker on the Beach

Chapter 6: Intrusion

Part one

It had been a long if eventful day and Shaggy felt exhausted as he changed into his pj's. He was almost asleep before his head hit the pillow. The house was quiet at 2 am when the window started to rise. A black on black shadow entered MJ's room.

In Shaggy's room Scooby's head jerked up, awake and alert. The noise of the window being raised had been enough. The big dog's head turned to the right and left as he listened.

The shadow moved about MJ's room. She turned over and the shadow froze. Getting comfortable, MJ lay still once again. The shadow remained still until it was satisfied then continued to move.

Scooby rose, padded to the door. Something was wrong!
"Raggy!" he padded to the bed "RAGGY!" his paws trying to wake the sleeping Shaggy.
"RAGGY!!" a third time. Well, this wasn't working! He couched, then sprang onto the bed.
"Go away, I'll let you out later" Shaggy mumbled, still more than half asleep.

"RAGGY! RARY RAIN! RANGER!"
Shaggy's eyes popped open. "Mary Jane, Danger? Sorry pal...I'm right behind you...GO!!"
He opened the door to his room letting Scooby run free.

The shadow had heard the commotion coming from the other bed room and headed for the open window. Seconds later, without knocking, Shaggy entered MJ's room at a run. He was knocked onto the bed, rolling onto the floor. A streak met the shadow at the window. Scooby clamped down on the shadow's ankle. A yowl of pain, a kick and the shadow was gone.

Recovering, Shaggy went to MJ, taking her in his arms.
"Are you Ok? What happened?"
MJ never got the chance to answer as her parents burst into the room.
"What's going on here! Shaggy! How dare you! And after we invited you into our home! I should call the police!"

"Sir!...There was an intruder! Scooby scared him away!" Shaggy had risen off the bed, standing in front of MJ's father.
"Dad! That's the truth! Shaggy and Scooby probably saved me again! You should be thanking them, not accusing them! Here Scooby...Come!
The great Dane jumped onto the bed, licking her face. 'Answers that question' thought Shaggy.

"MJ! There is blood on your face!" Matt was concerned his daughter had been injured.
"Dad, look, Scooby's nuzzle is coated with blood. That proves it. Scooby got the intruder" MJ told her father.

Scooby turned around facing Matt, sat down on the bed, "Rats rite! Rot Rim!"
"Sir", Shaggy said, " Scooby wounded the intruder...now...do you call the police or do I?"
"You are right, I"m sorry. I'll call right now...Gennie, better put some coffee on. If I know the Chief, he'll appreciate some fresh coffee."

"Matt, when you call, mention 'Code Blond', I'll explain later" Shaggy told Matt.
" 'Code Blond' ? Ok."

"Well, I'm not meeting the police with blood on my face...and I might as well get dressed to run. You too Shaggy, unless you want to answer questions in your Pj's"MJ said, pointing at Shaggy.

Part two

The first cruiser arrived within minutes of Matt's call, the Chief only a few minutes after that.

Two hours later, after a thousand questions, fingerprint investigation( they really didn't expect to find any fingerprints as the intruder probably wore gloves), every one was gone except the Chief.
The Chief sat on one side of the table, sipping on his third cup of coffee. Matt and Shaggy at each end, with MJ next to Shaggy and Gennie next to her, opposite the Chief.

"First, I need to explain and maybe I owe an apology. When MJ approached me on Spooky Island, I too felt something serious was going on. So before I arrived here, I, like a good detective, checked in with the local police. We settled on 'Code Blond' just in case." Shaggy explained.

"Matt, Gennie... we've been friends for years. Shaggy owes no one an apology. It was his good sense and thinking that got the cruiser here so fast." The Chief added.

"It's we who owe Shaggy an apology for even questioning his intentions" Gennie was looking at Shaggy.
"And we owe Scooby a big 'thank you' for alerting us in the first place" MJ added.

"Well, we know this joker is hurt...need to contact doctors, hospitals, any place he could get first aid" Shagy commented.
"Already in the works" the Chief replied. "We may be a small force here in Campbell Bay but we know our jobs" the Chief added.

"No offense meant" Shaggy said.
"None taken" the Chief smiled.

"Joker?...Joker?...Joker! Call me the ditzy blond!" MJ exclaimed.
"What are you talking about?" Shaggy wanted to know.
"Remember I told you about that flat tire and nothing was wrong with it? I found a Joker playing card on the seat! I didn't think any thing about it, only threw it in my surf tote" she explained.

"Bring the tote...we need to see that card. Chief, do you need a search warrant?" Shaggy asked the Chief as MJ left the room.
MJ was back almost immediately, handing the blue tote to Shaggy.
"She's given it to you of her own free will...no search warrant needed." the chief said.

Shaggy dumped the contents carefully onto the table, picking up the playing card, turning it in his fingers.
"Gennie, do you have a tea pot?" Shaggy asked.
"Yes, an old one."
"Good enough..please put on some water and bring it to a boil" Shaggy asked as he looked over the contents of the tote. "Chief, look at the card" Shaggy said, handing the card to the Chief.

"Just an average Joker—wait a minute! I see what you mean, it's two cards stuck together!"
"Not stuck...glued" Shaggy corrected.
"Therefore the tea pot...for steam...like ungluing a letter open" MJ observed.
"Beauty and brains, a deadly combination...do you have any tweezers or the like?" Shaggy asked.

"Here, I was a good girl scout...always prepared."
"That's boy scouts but I'm not complaining" Shaggy said, laughing.

Shaggy helt the cards over the steam, turning it several times. It took several tries with the tweezers, back and forth over the steam, until the cards separated.
"Ok, let's see what's inside..." Shaggy inserted the tweezers, pulling them out slowly.

"Chief, you got an evidence bag with you?"
"I was a boy scout" he said, pulling a baggie from his brief case. Shaggy extracted two objects, placing them in the baggie.

"I knew they existed but I've never seen one, let alone two" the Chief exclaimed.
"Two 10,000.00 bills stuck between two cards. My guess is a payment for services rendered or to be rendered." Shaggy observed, turning his attention to the remaining items.

Part three

After returning some personal items, Shaggy said "What do we have here?", lifting a bikini top, raising his eyebrows.
"Not in your wildest dreams, buster!" MJ cried out, grabbing the top from his hand along with the bottoms lying on the table, stuffing them hurriedly back into the tote. Her face turning beet red and every one laughing at her embarrassment.

Shaggy continued going through the remaining items, handing each to MJ, who returned them to her tote.
"Wait a minute, this isn't mine. I've never seen it before" MJ helt up a gold colored key.
"Have you Mom?, Dad?" Her parents looked at the key, each shaking their heads negatively.

The Chief took the key, examining it with a small magnifying glass he had taken from his briefcase.
"It's a storage locker key. We only have two areas with storage lockers. The bus station and the air port." the Chief said.
"Tell me where they are in relation to the town...and Shipwreck" Shaggy asked.
"Airport to the north, bus to the south, Shipwreck is south" the Chief explained.

"Try the bus station first...This mystery is almost solved. All we need is a plan and a net. Chief, I think you can help in both areas" Shaggy announced.