The police came later that afternoon and removed the remains, the initial assessment was that it was, well had been, Velma. The confirmation from DNA and dental records would come in a few days time. Of all the group Daphne and Shaggy took it the hardest, for several hours both were inconsolable. All there was to do was to wait for the final confirmation. The gang stayed at Polly's that night, all sleeping in her living room for what little comfort each others company could provide. Daphne had a fitful sleep, images of Velma kept coming to her mind, of the times they had solved mysteries together, of the monster attack and Shaggy's attempts to save her, of how she brushed her hair and always worried about her glasses, of how she would talk about how the clues that should be there but weren't were as important as the ones that were and the need to resolve the contradictions in the evidence.

Daphne sat bolt upright "Jinkies! Fred! Shaggy! Polly!" she shouted, they were there within seconds

"What is it Daph?" asked Fred gently

"Freddie, Velma's alive, that body wasn't hers." Fred began to reluctantly protest "No Fred, it obvious, it's a fake, that's the only conclusion the evidence supports."

"Daph" asked Shaggy "Did you just say Jinkies?" Polly was already on the phone to her boss.

Daphne, though a competent applied chemist when the need arose, was not big on the scientific method, but she had spent ages in the company of Velma to know a fair amount about how it worked. Also, as Velma had said on numerous occasions, science was just like mystery solving, just without the monsters and ghouls; in both cases Scooby snacks were optional. All that experience suddenly came into focus when she thought about the skeleton they had found. It was so obviously a fake, that was the only conclusion that resolved all the contradictions. Daphne tried to remember the science word that Velma used at times like this, it was... it was parsimonious. She pondered the beauty and clarity of what she had just worked out and wondered if this was what it was like for Velma when all the bits of a mystery came together.

Polly and a number of the other chief scientists had been working overnight, Daphne had been in with them all the time, being questioned, questioning and cajoling them in return. Finally at dawn a conference was called. At Fred's insistence, Polly was with the gang, trying to be Velma, the suspicion was that it was Polly who was the intended target, so for her safety, she was Velma for the time being. The Chief Scientific Officer of the labs, Dr Nemkenstein, addressed the group. "To all intense and purposes the remains were of Velma, but following the suggestion from Miss Blake we have revisited the evidence and I concur with Miss Blake's conclusion."

"What did he say?" Fred whispered to Daphne

"It means he agrees with me" she replied

Nemkenstein outlined the reasons for their conclusion "Firstly there is no acid damage to any of the ground covered by the slime yet this was apparently strong enough to digest a human body. Secondly the substance made no headway on her clothing or glasses. Thirdly the frames and prescription of the glasses do not match the identical set kept by Mr Rogers. Fourthly we can find no trace of her hair anywhere, had her body been digested we would have expected to find some as hair is hard to digest. Fifthly, the radio tag was not at the scene, this would not have been digested and we would expect to have found it with the remains. and sixthly there are inconsistencies in the skeletal remains which do not tally with the alleged cause of death. Seventhly, biology does not scale in that way, what you saw was no single celled creature and finally that thing was huge, yet the remains were found in an area with not a twig broken and no tracks leading to or from the area. In conclusion therefore Miss Blake is right, these remains are not Velma's, they are a fabrication and, for want of any evidence to the contrary, we must conclude that she is alive and being held against her will."

All of a sudden Daphne was being clapped on the back and applauded, Daphne felt proud, soon Velma would be free.

Polly then spoke "The lab techs have knocked up a more sensitive radio detector to try to locate Scooby's radio tag, we should have the results of their first test soon" A few minutes later one of the lab techs came running in, the signal from the radio tag had been detected coming from the nearby lake area.

"We've made a more sensitive version of the device to take with you" said Dr Nemkenstein. He handed over a device to Fred. "Good hunting Mr Jones"

"OK gang, lets go" said Fred. The gang kitted themselves up and headed off in the Mystery Machine.

(Authors Note: A parsimonious explanation is the simplest explanation among a variety of possible explanations when decisive evidence is unavailable.)