Nemkenstein briefly left to make some calls and, for some unknown reason, took Velma's trainers with him. The group reconvened in a more relaxed atmosphere to continue debriefing each other.
"What caused the explosion?" asked Polly
"My home-made explosives" replied Velma "I had stored them where Daphne dropped the tree, I thought they were unstable, looks like I was right…" she stroked her chin in thought "…I guess I need more practice at making them..." she saw the look of horror on her friends faces "... but not in my lab at home" there was a collective sigh of relief from the rest of the gang. "How did you figure out the body was a fake and get to me so quickly?" asked Velma "That was impressive work guys"
"Well the two heroes in this are Shaggy and Daphne" said Fred, "Shaggy went one-on-one with that monster to get you that radio tag. Once the lab rigged up better detector for us we soon found you. And it was Daphne who figured out that the body was a fake."
"Indeed" interrupted Dr Nemkenstein "Her insistence on the re-examination of the data was crucial to your prompt rescue. It was no wishful insistence on you being alive Velma, she backed it up with evidence. Her approach was most methodical and rigorous and is to be commended given the stress she was under at the time." For once it was Daphne's turn to feel uncomfortable in the spotlight
"I just can't thank you both enough. That radio tag was a real ray of hope for me" said Velma "and Daph, what gave the game away. It looked all too real to me."
"It did to us as well. I must have been mulling over it in my sleep when it all became clear that it was a fake, It was so obvious I don't know why we didn't see it before" replied Daphne
"She even said Jinkies" said Shaggy. Velma beamed a huge smile at both of them.
"Why did he take you though Velma?" asked Polly.
"It was clear that he thought I was you Polly, I was in the lab wearing one of your lab coats with your ID, you were with the Mystery Machine feeding Scooby" replied Velma. She described how she had been engulfed by the blob and transported to the lab, there she had been threatened with being digested alive in the blob unless she worked for him. "I was forced to change my clothes, then shackle myself. He said I would be working 16 hours a day, the chain would ensure that I could never leave the lab and had to depend on him for everything..." Velma stopped when she noticed Polly had gone as white as a sheet.
"Polly?" said Velma
"That's.. just... horrible..." Polly blurted out then ran out of the room.
"Leave it to me" said Velma as she dashed after her. They returned a few minutes later, Polly looking better, but still pale. "Polly has claustrophobia, she can't stand being enclosed, even the description was enough to trigger a panic attack" said Velma
"I can barely stand to hear what happened, there is no way I could have put up with it I would have to had given in there and then" said Polly
"We need to keep you safe" said Fred "We need another look at that building, Daphne and I will go"
"I agree" said Velma "And I'll carry on pretending to be Polly and Polly can pretend to be me. There should be a spare jumper of mine in the van."
After their visit to the building Fred and Daphne reported back to the gang so a plan of action could be worked out.
"We need to get this guy once and for all, Velma's not safe until we do" said Shaggy
"OK gang, we need a plan. We need to lure McKleef and his monster where we can deal with them. We'll need the following for a trap..." Fred began to outline his plans "There's a radio controlled plane in the Mystery Machine, we can attach a video camera to it to give us warning of the monster. So all we'll need then is for Shaggy and Scooby to lure..."
"No Fred" interrupted Velma "I need to be the bait." everyone looked at Velma, she continued "It's Polly he's after, and we look enough alike at the moment that he'll fall for it again, we can't allow Polly to fall into his hands. Besides Shaggy has still not recovered from his first encounter with the monster and I won't see him put in any danger. Fred we have a whole science lab to use, so I think we can make a few additions to your trap"
There was a pause, Shaggy eventually broke the silence "What you got in mind Velma"
"First we hold 'Polly' to ransom..." Velma winked at Polly and outlined the changes to the plan. The group left to get the necessary things for the trap Daphne found Fred standing in the corridor eating from a box of Scooby Snacks.
"Why are you eating Scooby Snacks Freddie?" asked Daphne,
"Well, I'm getting confused with all this role swapping, Velma was you, then me and is now Shaggy, Shaggy went one-on-one with the monster without any Scooby Snacks for encouragement and you've been Velma so I guess that makes me Scooby" Daphne inwardly groaned, Scooby perked up, perhaps they would let him drive the van for once.
Velma was taken by Dr Nemkenstein to a different area of the building. "Aside from what Polly does, we also do a lot of specialist work for the military, the biological digestion of unstable explosives for example." Velma listened, she knew Polly was not all that happy with some of what the company did, but they respected her views and never asked her to work on something she was unhappy about. "What I have had made for you is in here" he said pressing on a key pad then opening a door. In the room was a table on which rested her trainers and some other items, also in the room was a woman in army uniform. "I am not comfortable with you making your own explosives again, so here you are." he passed Velma her trainers and lifted up the inner-sole "As a great philosopher once said, 'when in doubt, C-4'. The laces are the detonators. Sergeant Williams here will show you how to use them." In the end Velma felt like the hero in a spy film, explosive trainers, escape kits taped to her body with tape colour matched to her skin tones of course, and all other manner of tools and gizmos concealed in her clothing. All she now needed was a Martini and an Aston-Martin and she'd be set for Hollywood. But first she had a score to settle.