Chapter 2

Ed said, "You've got the wrong guy. Probably just somebody else who looks like me."

"You're lying. Bailing someone out of jail leaves a documented trail that I could follow. It was definitely you, Mr. Machine," said Mr. E.

"All right, it was me. I bailed that little tramp out of jail," said Ed.

"But why? She kidnapped a young man, Randy Donahue. That's a serious crime. So is abetting the escape of someone accused of a felony."

"It wasn't like that. She scared him with a fright mask, then kept him tied up for a while. She told me that it was her idea of a kinky prom date. I suppose it was true. The young man didn't press charges, so it was easy to get her out of jail."

"Why did she pretend to be a ghost? Or say she was the daughter of the Creeper?" asked Mr. E.

"All part of her fun. She's a very disturbed young lady," said Ed. "The Mystery Inc. kids were too happy to have solved the case to think very hard about what she said, or they would have realized right away she was the wrong age, and that Deacon Carswell had no daughter ."

"Why did you get involved in a sordid case like that?" asked Mr. E.

"Because she was about to do the same thing to the Mayor's son, Fred Jones Junior. The Mayor knew there would be a scandal if she was prosecuted, so he asked me to handle it for him and get her out of town. The Mayor's a good friend of mine," said Ed.

"A very plausible story. Obviously you had it prepared just in case. But it's not the truth," said Mr. E.

"Yes, it is, I swear," said Ed.

"What about the magazine, then? Celebrity Weekly, Halloween issue?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Mystery Inc. was able to break a vampire theft case quickly only because someone gave them a magazine with an article about Countess Hagula's Youth Juice. It was a joke article but the criminal didn't realize that. It predicted exactly where the thief would strike next, allowing them to catch her."

"So? What does that have to do with me?"

"The bookstore of the Crystal Cove Spook museum was out of that issue. Someone matching your description was seen entering and leaving the museum just at the right time, and later spying on the kids as after they closed the case."

"I... all right, I did that. The town needs those kids to stay together. They've solved so many crimes around here. I've been monitoring them and I knew they were on the verge of splitting up. Mayor Jones told me that it was because Shaggy chose his dog over Velma," said Ed.

"Yes, that gossip is all over town," said Mr. E. "But you went to a lot of trouble to help them crack the case."

"Not really. I had that issue of Celebrity Weekly at home. I picked up on the possibility from the first theft, and I followed them waiting for an opportunity to help. When the Star Orchid was stolen that clinched it. I slipped the magazine to Daphne Blake inside a physics book."

"Why?" asked Mr. E.

"Like I said, I wanted them to stick together. I thought the rush of victory in solving another case would help. It didn't. In the end they just walked away. It was the Char Gar Gothacon case that pulled them back together as a mystery-solving team. I had nothing to do with that," said Ed.

"Other than convincing their parents to drop them all off at Darrow University at the same time, perhaps?" Mr. E. asked.

"Perhaps," said Ed. "But it was luck that another case developed just at that time. They have amazing luck to be in the right place at the right time. And the parallels with the old Mystery Incorporated that vanished are uncanny. I could almost believe in ghosts or reincarnation. They have a parallel member for everyone in the old team," said Ed.

"Except for Professor Pericles. Nobody could compare that stupid dog to the world's smartest parrot."

"What do you know about Professor Pericles?" asked Ed.

"It's time I revealed myself," said Mr. E. "You can go ahead and sit up now. The chains were only a hypnotic suggestion."

Ed Machine sat up and pulled up the blindfold. Before him perched on a chair was a large purple parrot wearing an ascot. It was staring at him with maniacal intelligence.

"Professor Pericles? You're Mr. E?"