A/N: Hey there! Remember me? Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. Between school and work I've hardly had any free time. Thank God for weekends! Anywhoz thanks for sticking with me and enjoy this next chapter of Murder in Coolsville. And remember, odontophobia is the fear of teeth...o.O
...Also I do not own Scooby Doo.
Chapter 6:
Fred was undressing in the musty locker room below the gym, brainstorming ideas of how to approach Jake with the steroid issue. Should I just confront him, tell him I know about and to start talking or else, he thought pulling a white t-shirt over his head. No…that could blow my cover, plus, I don't want to end up like Matt, he sighed, this was going to be tricky. "Hmmm…maybe I could…yeah that my work," he said out loud. He walked nonchalantly towards Jake who was sitting at the other end of the row of lockers tying his shoes.
"Hey Jake, what's up?" Fred asked with a smile.
Jake forced a grin, finding something very interesting on the floor. He didn't seem to want to make eye contact, "Not much."
Fred nodded, thinking quickly how to start this. Suddenly he leaned up the wall, acting genuinely interested in what he would say next.
"Hey you're on the baseball team right?"
Jake looked up, for some reason slightly suspicious. "Yeah, pitcher."
Fred cocked his head to the side harmlessly. "That's neat. I've been thinking about trying out for a sport, but I dunno how I'd compare with these guys."
Jake studied him for a moment, "You look like you're in good shape to me."
Fred shrugged, "Yeah, I lift weights every now and then, but I've never actually gone out for a sport before. Most of the players have been doing this since middle school."
"I'm sure you'll be fine," Jake responded, trying to blow him off.
"Man, I wish there was a way I could get stronger quicker," Fred sighed.
"Don't worry about it. You bulk up a lot on the field. It just takes practice," Jake said turning to head up towards the door.
"Yeah, but I mean without all the work. I mean….why do a million pushups when all you really gotta do is know the right people, right? People with the right tools, if you know what I mean?" He let out a casual laugh, but his eyes didn't leave Jake's, as if questioning him about such a thing. Jake's face was contorted in a mix of rage and disbelief, and he practically started screaming at Fred.
"What the hell are you talking about?! Do you have any idea how bad those are for you? Do I look like I gotta death wish? Geez how dumb can you get?"
Fred threw his hands up in a gesture of peace and threw in another laugh.
"Haha! Come on, Jake buddy, I was just kidding. I don't wanna end up with shrunken jewels and acne. Puberty is bad enough."
"Some people…don't find it so funny." And with that the boy was gone up the stairs, leaving Fred to stare at the spot he had been standing only few seconds before.
"Some people, huh?…I wonder how they really felt about it…"
* * * * * * *
During lunch, everyone except Fred was gathered under the big Oak tree outside the school, discussing the case.
"So, I did a little poking around in the administrative offices and found Matt worked there as a student assistant, meaning he probably had access to the files and maybe stumbled across something he shouldn't have," Daphne announced, setting down a photocopied sign in roster with Matt's name on it
"Well," Velma said adjusting her glasses, "That makes Mr. Anderson an even bigger suspect than I thought. Hmmm…this case just got more interesting."
"Yeah, but there's also some bad news." Daphne muttered darkly, casting an exasperated glance at Scooby.
"What?" Velma inquired.
"The lunch ladies caught Scooby trying to steal some food from the cafeteria kitchen and…long story short…Mr. Anderson took his keys away."There was a quiet whine as Scooby's ears lowered sadly.
"Scooby," Velma scolded, wiping her hand over her eyes.
"Rime rorry," He apologized, hanging his head.
"It's ok, pal, like I woulda done it too," Shaggy reassured, putting a hand on his companion's head. Scooby gave a sheepish grin and gave his best friend a big, wet kiss.
Velma sat down and rested her chin on her knees, "Shoot. I really wanted to search the theater." Velma sighed, wracking her developed brain for a solution. "How are we supposed to get in now?"
Just then Fred came running up to them, "Man, do I have a story to tell you guys," he breathed. "You won't believe how Jake reacted when I mentioned steroids…." and recounted the unpleasant incident with Jake.
* * * * * * *
After their lunch break, they resumed their usual schedule. Velma and Shaggy were in tech class, painting a piece of scenery, Shaggy was getting especially into it.
"You know, I think I'm starting to like this," Shaggy commented.
"What? Undercover work?" Velma asked curiously.
"No painting," Shaggy said cheerfully. "Like maybe I'll take up an art class in my spare time. Le Shag Gee 'as created a vondervul vork of art called Le Road of le Yellow Bricks," he said in a horrible French accent. "Es magnifique no?" He asked, motioning to the Yellow Brick Road.
"No, Le Shag Gee," Velma chuckled. "Hopefully we'll be done with this case before you get too far, Picasso. Although, I must admit, I do enjoy this kind of work- going undercover, investigating a mysterious death, searching for clues to catch a murderer. It's rather exciting, a nice break from all those ghosts and haunted houses."
"Don't jinx it! Like, what if his ghost is around," Shaggy warned, waving his arms in the air.
Velma rolled her eyes, "I doubt it. If there was a ghost, I'm sure we'd have run into it by now. We have a knack for that kind of thing. Speaking of scary things, where's Mr. Feldman? We really should be keeping an eye on him," she said, looking around.
"Feldman? I think he went out to the ticket booth to make a phone call or something," a chubby kid in red told them.
Velma gasped, "It could be something important. Let's go," she said grabbing Shaggy's arm.
The lobby area was fairly small with doors on the left and right side for entering the actual theatre area. In between the doors was a small room used as a ticket booth/coat check room. It was directly to the right of Shaggy and Velma who has opened the door a few inches to listen in on what Mr. Feldman was saying.
"Five?! Do you think the costumes can be delivered any earlier? I'm gonna be out of town to get a replacement wand for the one this kid broke. I'm leaving right after school and won't be back until six. Gotta drive all the way to Lamesville to get it."
There was a pause, Mr. Feldman groaned, "Fine. All right, I'll tell the janitors to leave the door unlocked when they leave. Mm hm. G'bye," he grunted, hanging up the phone. "Can't even bring it an hour later. So much for customer value," he muttered to himself.
Shaggy and Velma looked at each other. A mischievous smile crossed Velma's face. Shaggy gulped, "Like, you're not thinking what I think you're thinking. Are you?"
"It's the perfect opportunity, the doors will be unlocked and Mr. Feldman won't be back for an hour. Besides, Scooby lost his keys, this might be our only chance to investigate the theatre."
Shaggy crossed his arms, "Ohhhhh noooooo! No, no, no, no, no!"
* * * * * * *
"No. No, no, no, noooooo," Shaggy whined as Fred dragged him and Scooby by their collars towards the theatre.
The crew snuck in a little before five and hid in the bathrooms while the deliverymen brought the costumes. When they were gone, the gang headed straight for the stage.
"Shaggy, I need you to go up to the catwalk," Velma ordered.
"Me? Why?"
"I need to you stand up there and lean back from different angles so I can best determine where exactly Matt fell. From there we can determine how hard he was pushed or how strong the person had to have been, which would narrow down our suspects."
"But why me?" Shaggy complained.
"Because your height and weight is most similar to Matt's, so it'll be the most accurate representation of what could have happened." Shaggy's eyebrows knitted together slightly, and Velma knew what was coming next.
"Nooo way, man. Like, what if I fall too?"
"That's just a chance we'll have to take," Fred grinned pushing him towards the ladder.
"Exit stage left," Shaggy announced and began running in the opposite direction.
"Wait would you do it for a- oh shoot, we're all out of Scooby Snax," Daphne sighed shaking the empty box. "Hmmm…there has to be something here," she mumbled, digging through her purse. "Aha! Would you do it for 3 Tic Tacs and a Slim Jim?"
No answer.
"Shaggy? Shag-gy!" Daphne called.
Shaggy was already half way out the door, but when it came to food, it was like he had the ears of a cat, and came running back.
The group felt a gust of wind go by and in an instant the treats were out of Daphne hand and Shaggy was in the middle of their semicircle, munching on the Slim Jim while Scooby stared jealously.
"Hey that was mine," Fred whined.
Daphne gave him an amused smile, "I will get you another one when we're done."
Fred crossed his arms and pouted, "Steal my Slim Jim," he mumbled. After tossing the Tic Tacs in his mouth, Shaggy began climbing up the ladder.
"Re rarerul," Scooby cautioned.
"Don't worry, Scoob. Careful is my middle name."
"I thought it was Ernest," Velma joked.
"Verrrry funny," Shaggy said dryly, continuing up the ladder.
When he reached the top, he looked around cautiously, making sure Matt's ghost was no where in sight. Everywhere he went, there always seemed to be a ghost on his tail
"We already know the victim's body was found among seats 3, 4, 5, 6 in row F, if Shaggy could just stand up there I can use basic trigonometry to determine what angle he fell at based on the height difference from him to the floor. With Shaggy up there, I can add his height to the distance from the catwalk to the floor. After finding the angle I can uncover if he was indeed pushed, how hard he was pushed, and even how strong the person must have been."
"Ahhhh…my brain hurts," Fred moaned holding his head.
"Ok, now move a little more to the right," Velma directed. "Perfect," as she began to scribble down the various lengths and angles. "Ok, now lean in at a 90 degree angle."
"Like this?" Shaggy asked nervously.
"Yes, just hold it for a couple minutes."
"Like, I hope you don't ask me to fall next."
"Ok, if my calculations are correct his body fell from a 23.4 degree angle. I'll need to make a few more estimates with my graphing calculator, and from there I can almost reconstruct the scene to see if he was pushed and how hard and see which one of our suspects would best match that strength," she paused."So what next?" she asked Freddie who was still lost in Velma's equation.
"Uh, right." Fred said, regaining composure. "Now, we look for clues. I'll take a second look around the catwalk, Daphne and Velma, search here, and you two, watch the doors to make sure Mr. Cranky doesn't get here early."
Shaggy and Scooby gave a mock salute and marched to the lobby where they would be able to spot him through the glass doors.
Daphne and Velma felt through the cushions while Fred searched the aisles. There was nothing but lint and the occasional used tissue. Finally, Velma got something. It was fairly thin and flat- a phone!
She flipped the red Razr open and noticed the screensaver was a picture of Matt and Ella cuddling on a bench in the park, both looking very happy. She deduced he had to be either Matt or Ella's, but judging by the Linkin Park sticker to the back, probably Matt's. "Jinkies."
"Daphne, do you know what kind of phone Ella has?" she asked over her shoulder to Daphne in the row behind her.
"Yeah, I think it was a Samsung Glyde, really cute." Well, that confirmed it, this was definitely Matt's phone.
"Yes!"Velma cheered holding the phone close to her to her, bouncing up and down. This could hold the answer to the mystery.
"Hey, what's that?" Daphne asked Velma as she flipped through several old texts and recent calls.
"The final clue," she smiled, closing the phone. "I think I have this mystery just about wrapped up."
A/N: Well there you go. Who this was my longest chapter yet. So did you liked it? Dislike it? Let me know in a review or message. Chapter 7 should be up soon because it's fairly short and I already have it partially written. Then everyone can submit a who they think did it. Thanks again guys J Lots of love 3
