Chapter 2: A hostile encounter with the police
(Mystery Inc., William and Elizabeth)
Several moments later, the gang arrived at the Malt Shop and went with their usual orders for a light snack.
As the group enjoyed their milkshakes, William commented, "I sure can't believe that we're about to start our final year in high school."
"I agree." Velma agreed. "Time sure flies. I wonder if you guys got where you want to go to for university or college figured out yet?"
"For me, like, I'm planning on sticking with Coolsville Central College and go into the culinary arts program, medical science or journalism." Shaggy commented.
"All of those programs you mentioned sounds good, Shag." Elizabeth complimented. Turning to Fred and the girls, she added, "How about you guys?"
"Well, for me, I hope I go to the Massachusetts Institute for Technology in anything in the science and engineering field." Velma commented.
"As for me, like Shag, I'm planning on staying here and go into journalism or fashion arts." Daphne said.
"For me, I'm hoping to go into language studies or law." Fred replied.
"I see." William nodded, but before he could say something, they heard a loud crash.
"Jeepers, what was that?" Daphne asked.
"I don't know, but it sounded like two trains collided with each other." William replied.
After paying their bill, the group hopped onto the Mystery Machine and made their way down the street.
As they approached Mooresburg St. Light Metro Station, Fred saw a crowd of police cruisers with their emergency lights flashing stopped in front of the station.
"Say, there's something going on at the light metro station ahead, gang." He commented.
"Like, look at all of those police cruisers!" Shaggy commented. "Something big must be going on. Must be that crash we heard at the Malt Shop!"
Soon, the Mystery Machine stopped near a parked police cruiser and the two group of sleuths exited the van. One of the officers walked over to them as they did so.
"Like, what's the excitement all about, officer?" Shaggy asked the officer that approached them.
"Oh, there has been a collision between two Metro trains, and a guy got crushed between the two trains." The officer replied.
"Holy moly!" Fred exclaimed as the rest of the group exclaimed their catchphrases simultaneously. "We probably should check it out, gang."
The station was filled with patrol officers, and as the gang made their way to the platform, they can see the badly-crushed train ends formed resulted from the collision, and they saw a crew of emergency workers on standby right by the site of the collision, possibly waiting for the Jaws of Life to arrive to try to free a man's body from the wreckage.
As William and Elizabeth looked towards the wreckage, they spotted the Japanese teenage boy he bumped into back at the hotel and his friend.
"Say, you're the gentleman I bumped into back at the hotel!" The teenage boy said when he saw William, Elizabeth and the gang.
William nodded as he recognized the boy. "Oh, yes I remember. What happened here?"
"The train that was supposed to be arriving at the eastbound platform jumped the tracks as it approached the station, and then it collided with the stopped westbound train." The boy replied.
Just as the boy finished his description of the events that has occurred at the station, a voice suddenly said, "Oh, not you meddling kids again."
The gang, along with William, Elizabeth and the boy and his friend turned.
"Like, greetings, Sergeant Stone." Shaggy sighed as he recognizes Sergeant Bronson Stone, a patrol sergeant from the East Glensburg Division who never liked the gang's presence at a crime scene approaches them. In fact, he's one of several of the officers in the police department that disliked Chief of Police Sam Rogers' continued support of the gang.
"What do you think you're doing here?" Stone demanded as he approached the sleuths. "This place is a scene of an accident, so beat it!"
Just as the sergeant made the remark, the rescue workers equipped with the Jaws of Life arrived at the scene and wasted no time getting to work in rescuing the man crushed between the two trains.
However, when the man was freed, there was a huge gasp and a scream. It wasn't because the man was clearly dead, but because of something across his chest.
It was a bullet hole.
In panic, the boy's friend grabbed his hand nervously, Scooby jumped onto Shaggy's arms in fright while Daphne hid behind him as Fred and Velma looked on in horror. Neither of them had seen a scene like this before, and only William, Elizabeth and the boy maintained calm looks on their faces, which betrayed the surprise they felt when they saw the bullet hole.
"Like, wh-wh-what i-i-is th-th-the m-m-m-matter wi-wi-with..." Shaggy asked, experiencing a loss of words as a result of the shock of the sight in front of him.
William and the boy looked at each other after examining the body.
"I know that wound in that man's chest." William said. "That is clearly a bullet wound."
"Indeed." The boy agreed. "The ruins around the hole suggested that something in the speed of a bullet has entered the man's chest."
"You don't suppose this is..." Elizabeth trailed off.
"I'm afraid it is." The boy replied.
"Yeah." William agreed. "Looks like a murder to me."
"Exactly what I'm thinking." The boy said.
"Murder?" Stone asked as he over heard the boys' comments. "What do you mean it's a murder?"
"Are you blind, officer?" The boy asked. "There's clearly a bullet hole in that mans chest!"
"Listen, just because there is a hole in the man's chest doesn't mean that he was shot, Mr. Kudo." Stone retorted as he recognized the boy. "He could've gotten a sharp object like a pole right through his chest during the accident, and all of the wounds on his body pointed to being crushed by the two trains. You may be a famous detective back in your home country, wherever that is, but here, even with that Interpol Special Police Services badge you've got, you have no authority."
"I beg to differ, sergeant." William crossed his arms as he came to the boys defense. "If you take a closer look at the body, sergeant, particularly at the injuries sustained during the crush, you will notice that there has been no sign of a struggle. Either the victim was completely pinned by the two trains to the point that he couldn't move, or he was dead even before the trains collided, which then brings us to the hole on the victim's chest and the pool of blood on the seat where the victim was seated at prior to the collision."
Putting on his laser pointer ring on his left index finger, William pointed at the wreckage with the laser beam pointing at it as he continued, "Now, if you take a closer look at the wreckage area where the victim was crushed, you will notice that there isn't much blood on the steel. But then, when you take a look at the seat the victim was seated at prior to impact, you will notice that there is a pool of blood." By that point, he was pointing at the exposed seat of the eastbound train.
"That pool of blood on the seat where the victim was seated at is large enough to make it likely that the victim was already bleeding prior to the collision, and adding in the gunshot on the chest further indicates that the victim was already dead before the trains collided. Therefore, when you put two and two together, you can conclude that the man was a victim of murder, sergeant." The teenage boy added and concluded as William nodded in agreement. "Which also means that you should call in the detectives to investigate this."
In spite of the conclusion the sleuths have made, Stone refused to back down. "Oh, is that right? Then how is it that any of the witnesses didn't hear a gunshot? If there hasn't been a gunshot, that could only mean one thing: The man was stabbed right in the chest when the trains collided, period! There's nothing to worry about, other than the cause of the derailment."
"Nothing to worry about, eh?" Elizabeth asked. "I disagree. That hole in his chest clearly indicates that he was shot, and yet you still believe that he was stabbed in the chest when the two trains collided?"
"Like, I wonder how did you get your badge if you can't tell whether the man was a victim of a homicide or not?" Shaggy added, the tone in his voice indicating that he will inform his father about Stone's conduct, while Scooby growled at him.
The duo may be chicken-hearted, but they never hesitated to stand up for their friends whenever they faced a corrupt police officer that tries to discourage them from investigating a crime scene.
"Well, either way, this man's death was caused by the accident. That theory of yours on him being murdered before the trains collided is total garbage." Stone retorted.
"Yeah, right." William replied. "Say that again and in the next minute, you'll be seated in Chief Rogers' office and explaining to him on why you didn't ask your lieutenant to bring in the detectives from your division."
Before Stone could respond, an officer approached him from the wreckage with a bag containing what appeared to be a bullet.
"The transportation safety investigators found this bullet in the wreckage, sergeant. Thought you may want to call in the guys at the murder table to take a look at this." The officer said as he showed the bag to Stone.
Stone examined the bullet in the bag before tossing it into a nearby garbage bin, shocking the group of sleuths.
"What are you doing with the bullet?!" The teenage boy exclaimed. "That's evidence for murder!"
"Listen. Just because that bullet was discovered in the wreckage doesn't mean it was the bullet that killed the victim. In fact, last year, we responded to a shooting on a Metro train. One of the bullets were nowhere to be found, so this bullet may be the blasted bullet that was from last years shooting." Stone retorted. "Now get lost!"
That sure was one hostile encounter with the police. Wonder how will the gang be able to investigate the murder?