Eventually, everyone finished eating their food.
"Mike, I'm gonna snoop around this place," Jess told his niece. "I have a bad feeling about this."
"Me too, Uncle Jess," Mike agreed with her uncle. "I'm going to Fred to help them."
"Be careful." Jess advised.
"You too." Mike nodded.
Mike and Jess shared an uncle/niece hug together before splitting up to go their separate ways.
Fred looked into a barrel.
"Any idea what we're looking for?" Scott asked.
"Clues." Fred replied.
"Great." Chicken said.
"So, I'll see if I can find anything clue-shaped then." Shaggy stated.
Scooby looked up.
"Come on, Scoob," Shaggy smiled as he put his hat on. "Let's see what you can sniff up!"
"Reah! Reah! Rlues!" Scooby smiled back as he sniffed like the dog he was and he then saw a pair of feet. "Ruh?"
"Hey there, little pony." An old man said.
"Rony?" Scooby asked.
"How'd you get out? There, there, little pony, it's okay," The old man said as he grabbed a saddle. "Come with old Zeke; I'll take you back to the barn."
"Whoa there, partner," Mike stopped the old man. "Scooby's not a horse, he's a pedigree Great Dane."
"Reah," Scooby agreed. "Redigree."
"This is a dog?" Zeke asked out of confusion. "Gah... Why should I listen to a talking tree or candy cane anyway?"
"Uh, what?" Shaggy asked.
"It's a joke son, because of my near-sightedness." Zeke explained.
Shaggy and Mike could only look to each other in confusion. They both just shrugged to each other.
"Is this something?" Scott asked as he picked up something before the saddle was on his back as he was on his hands and knees. "Hey, what's the big idea?!"
"Here you go, little pony." Zeke said before holding out an apple to Scott.
"Uh, thanks, but I already had breakfast and I'm not a pony!" Scott replied.
"Consarnit!" Zeke complained as he took the saddle then. "Could you point me in the general direction of the stables?"
Everyone then pointed to the right.
"Much obliged." Zeke replied as he went to the wrong direction.
"Hey, guys, I found some powder in the grass," Scott said. "It's like some sort of tiny crystals."
"Like, what could that be?" Shaggy wondered.
"I don't know, some kind of fertilizer?" Fred shrugged.
"Maybe Tawny will know what it is." Trent suggested.
They then came to Tawny to see if she could help them.
"Looks like florid acid," Tawny observed. "We use it as a pesticide. But I dunno why it would've been where ya found it, that's right peculiar."
"Do you know if anyone has a grudge against you or the ranch?" Katrina asked.
"Oh, I sure hope not," Tawny frowned. "We're struggling enough as it is. I've worried about losin' the ranch for a long time. It's the only home I've ever known. This ghost is just the last straw."
"Well, don't worry, we'll take care of it." Lil promised.
"Thanks, partners," Millie replied. "We could use all the help we can get."
"I'm not afraid of any ghost, right, Scoob?" Shaggy asked.
"Reah," Scooby replied. "Re reither."
Carol moaned and groaned as she had a bucket on her head and she was covered in white paint as she wandered around. Shaggy and Scooby screamed and jumped into Jess's arms as he was coming back.
"I got you! I got you good!" Carol teased her sister.
Sharon took the bucket off her head with a smirk. "You totally got me! You got me good!"
The two sisters soon laughed to each other.
"And I'll get you a mop and cleaning rags so you can clean up that paint." Millie said firmly.
"She totally got us." Carol and Sharon walked away while pouting.
The Gunderson family soon came into a carriage.
"Hey, ain't you the cook?" Chicken asked the driver.
"Well, I'm also the stagecoach driver." The cook replied.
"Sorry about that," Shaggy told the others after the cook dropped them. "I just wish there was something I could do. If only Dapper Jack hadn't been so evil, maybe people wouldn't be so afraid of him."
"We'll figure this out, Shag, don't worry." Mike promised.
"Like, I sure hope you're right, Mike." Shaggy replied.
"Trust me on this one." Mike said.
"Hogwash!" Zeke muttered. "The whole town has been nuked around the legend of Dapper Jack! But that's all it is, a legend, it's all just a bunch of stories, but it's not true... None of it!" he then began to brush against the stables. "Take it from someone who knows the truth."
"Uh, do you know you're brushing a fence?" Mike asked.
"No good talkin' candy cane." Zeke grumbled.
Meanwhile in town...
People all over were getting ready to leave as it looked like a literal ghost town now. The girls, minus Mike, Lil, and Katrina noticed everyone is putting signs up.
"What kind of museum sells bait?" Ellody asked.
"One that's near fishin' and wants to make money?" Jade guessed.
"Well, yeah, it's a tourist town, come on." Cindy added.
"Actually, why don't you, Velma, and Ellody see what you can learn about Dapper Jack in there and Daphne and I can ask the local merchants?" Jade suggested as she looked at a dress shoppe.
"Daphne, you want that outfit, don't you?" Cindy asked.
"IT'S SO CUTE!" Daphne gushed.
"Oh, my gosh, it totally is!" Lisa agreed.
"All right, fine." Brianna gave in.
Daphne and Lisa squealed out of excitement.
"Just don't take too long." Ellody told them.
"Come on!" Daphne giggled as she ran with Lisa into the shop.
"I better go in there too." Jade decided as she followed the two girls.
Brianna, Ellody, Cindy, Velma, and Trish soon went inside of the museum.
"Hello? Hello!" Velma called out.
"Oh, hi," Cindy said as she saw the clerk putting worms into a cup. "We have some questions."
"$5 to look all you want, flash photography's okay, but no video." The clerk replied.
"Well, here's my money, but we're curious about Dapper Jack." Velma said as she held out a five dollar bill.
"Dapper Jack was the foulest, vilest, lowest, lowdown, dirtiest, no account human being to ever walk the Earth, and you will find many fascinating artifacts of his life and times presented herein," The clerk replied. "$5, flash photography's okay, but no video."
"No, no, I got that, but we're just wondering if you could tell us more about him." Velma put her dollar down.
"Lady, this is what we got," The clerk told her. "You got money, you go through the stuff, that's it."
Some of the worms fell onto Cindy's face which made her squirm nervously.
"Come on, there must be more to the museum than that." Ellody told the clerk.
"Yeah, there's bait," The clerk replied. "Night crawlers or red worms?"
The doors soon opened to show Daphne and Lisa in their new cowgirl outfits.
"Howdy, partners!" Daphne called out.
"Looking good, Daph." Brianna said.
"Thanks." Daphne smiled.
"Phew!" Jade said as she came into the shop as well in relief. "I've never seen them shop like that."
"Well, howdy, ladies." The clerk smiled brightly as he handed the can of worms to Cindy.
Cindy shuddered nervously.
"Exhibit's $5, look all you want, flash photography and video are okay." The clerk told the girls.
"You told us no video!" Velma folded her arms with a glare.
The clerk glared at the girl.
Daphne winked and pulls out five dollars and then cleared her throat. "I was wondering if you could tell us more about Dapper Jack~"
"I don't know much myself, ma'am," The clerk smiled as he took the money from her and put it in his pocket. "You can look around back if you'd like. There's some stuff from the exhibit."
"Why, thank you kindly." Jade replied as she slammed the table on his fingers.
"You're right welcome-OW!" The clerk groaned and pulled out his hand. "Man, look at that... That ain't gonna heal right."
Cindy giggled as something bad happened someone other than her for a change.
They all came into the back and were surrounded by boxes.
"Ugh, I give up," Velma complained. "This place is messier than Shaggy's closet. There's nothing interesting here!"
"Are these fish real?" Cindy wondered as she picked up one fish before fishing poles fell on top of her. "That didn't hurt! Maybe today must be my lucky day."
"Hold that thought, look at this." Daphne said as she moved a box to show a locked trunk on top of another box.
"Rufus Carmichael's diary." Cindy pointed out.
"That's the sheriff who caught Dapper Jack." Trish memorized.
"Reading this should shed a little light on Shaggy's ancestor." Brianna suggested.
"Someone broke into it!" Ellody gasped.
"They must've used bolt cutters." Cindy said as she took the lock which looked broken.
The box was then opened only to be empty.
"It's gone!" Velma and Ellody gasped.
"They stole the diary!" Lisa added.
"Someone's really going into some effort to keep Dapper Jack's past a mystery." Brianna commented.
"Let's see if our new buddy knows anything." Jade suggested.
They then came back to the front to talk with the clerk about Rufus Carmichael's missing diary.
"Someone stole the sheriff's diary, huh?" The clerk asked as he bandaged hiss hand. "I didn't even know we had that. I really focus on the bait side of things. We've got minnows now. Bass really go for minnows."
"Any idea on who could have taken it?" Ellody asked.
"Just about anyone," The clerk shrugged. "I don't even lock the place up anymore. I've been fixing to sell out to that Black Rattler company that's been buying up the town and it'll probably just sell all this old junk out. Now, can I interest you nice ladies in some leeches?" he then took out a cup of the blood sucking critters.
The girls groaned and walked out of the store.
"We couldn't get anything out of that clerk until you and Lisa showed up." Velma said to the prettier girls.
"Oh, forget that guy," Daphne scoffed. "Let's dress up and have some fun, it's like going undercover." she then put her hat on Velma's head.
"No way, maybe you guys can, but there's no way I'm dressing like that!" Ellody winced.
"Let's invite my Uncle Penn so he can be the bull!" Cindy laughed as she took out her jump-rope.
"Challenge accepted." Daphne replied.
"I know I shouldn't have said that." Ellody sighed.
"Yer darn tootin' you shouldn't have." Lisa smiled.