Chapter 7: Diving further deeper

(Fred, Velma, Daphne, Shinichi and Ran)

After Shaggy, Scooby, William and Elizabeth took the Mystery Machine and left the station house to return to police headquarters, the others were introduced to Detective Shaun Weldon, who was seated at his desk. From what Lieutenant Welker told them before he left, Weldon is the junior partner of Strickland.

"So you kids are having questions related to Anthony's death, huh?" Weldon asked as the lieutenant left.

"That's right, Detective Weldon." Velma nodded. "Lieutenant Welker mentioned that you guys had caught a case a few days ago and he was becoming moody after that."

"We were wondering about what was that case about." Fred added.

Weldon nodded before speaking.

"It was the murder of a civil rights attorney named Donald Clay, who had previously sued the department for brutality countless times before." The detective sighed. "Anthony was partnered with a detective from Internal Affairs for the case."

"And he had a lot of run-ins with Internal Affairs during his service." Shinchi interjected.

"That's right." Weldon nodded. "He wasn't very happy about the assignment, nor was he happy with the case, but he didn't have much of a choice, as it was Deputy Chief Harold Briggs that made the decision to have him partnered with Detective James Roven, the guy from Internal Affairs who had investigated him before."

"Jinkies." Velma remarked. "No wonder he was moody in the days leading to his untimely demise."

"I can tell." Weldon agreed.

(Shaggy, Scooby, William and Elizabeth)

Meanwhile, on the way back to police headquarters, William asked Shaggy about the bullet.

"Did they get the model of the gun in which the bullet was fired from, Shaggy?" He asked.

"Like, yeah." Shaggy nodded. "The killer was smart in not leaving behind any fingerprints, but the model of the gun used in the murder is the one authorized by the department for duty carry by its officers."

"Uh oh." Elizabeth remarked. "I'm not liking the sound of this at all."

"Me neither." William agreed as Shaggy and Scooby nodded in agreement. "Either one of the officers is the murderer or someone stole the weapon from an officer and used it to murder Detective Strickland."

"With this thing about the lieutenant's mistrust of the department's Internal Affairs, I won't be surprised if one of the officers was the killer." Shaggy said.

There was some silence in the Mystery Machine after the last remark before Elizabeth decided to change the channel.

"By the way, I heard that Daphne's 17th birthday is coming up soon." She said to Shaggy and Scooby.

"Like, yeah." Shaggy nodded. "Scoob and I got a surprise for her."

"What is it?" William asked.

"Like, it's going to be a party." Shaggy replied. "With a chamber orchestra performing."

"Wow." William remarked. "Sounds good for me, and I'm sure Daphne will like it."

"I think the better thing for us to do is clear this case before her birthday." Elizabeth suggested.

"Great idea." William agreed. "Last thing I want is having this case still in our minds during her birthday celebration."

It was then that they arrived back at police headquarters.

Swiftly, the four got off the van and headed into the building, anxious on what they might discover or encounter.

(Fred, Velma, Daphne, Shinichi and Ran)

Back in the station house, the others continued with their interview with Weldon.

In spite of the younger detective's close association with Strickland, he disapproved of his partner's involvement in dirty work and suspected that his partner's death may have something to do with his involvement with his rackets.

"So what was the gunshot like?" Weldon then asked. "Was it right through the chest from the back to the front?"

"That's right." Fred nodded. "Stone insisted that he was killed after being crushed between the two trains."

"That guy is always looking for trouble." Weldon shook his head in disapproval. "I just hope that the chief figures out a way to get rid of that parasite without getting a blow back from City Hall."

"Say, Detective." Velma said. "Do you think that he may be involved in the death somehow? Perhaps the reason why he refused to let us through is because of his involvement in the murder?"

"Well, I have to say that while that guy can be a real jerk, he will never cross the line of murdering a fellow officer." Weldon replied as he folded his arms.

The sleuths looked at each other before Shinichi suggested. "Perhaps it will help if we can take a look at the case file of the Clay murder case, Detective. Maybe he was on to something that got him murdered."

"Sure." Weldon nodded. "You can have a look of the murder book, but I doubt you might find anything useful to the case."

The detective then took the murder book and handed it over to the sleuths.

(Shaggy, Scooby, William and Elizabeth)

Meanwhile in police headquarters, the four sleuths were in the office of Internal Affairs, accompanied by Tucker.

A detective was seated at the reception desk at the front, and when he saw the approaching sleuths and the lieutenant, he frowned.

"How may I help you?" The detective asked.

"You'll be doing us a favour if we can get a copy of Detective Strickland's Internal Affairs file, Detective Miles." Tucker said.

"Let me guess: You're investigating Strickland's untimely demise, huh?" Miles asked before snorting and added. "Well, we've already investigated the death, and there's nothing suspicious about the circumstances behind his death. You're only wasting your own time, Lieutenant."

"And this detective is supposed to be policing his own." William thought to himself as he folded his arms.

"Look here, Detective." Tucker said. "I don't have time to deal with your behaviour. Something's not right about the circumstances behind Strickland's death, and we're here to find out what has happened. If you continue to insist that there's nothing wrong, then be my guest, man."

"Unless you want to end up finding yourself explaining to the chief how you let a bunch of 'meddling kids' completing your job and get all the credit." William interjected.

"Like, my father may be very supportive of the gang and us in meddling, Detective Miles." Shaggy added. "But you should know that there's a method behind his madness. He actually wants to make sure that this department fulfills its job in keeping the city safe without the need of our 'meddling'. So unless you want us to continue meddling, you can start with telling us who should we go to for Stickland's file."

There was some silence from the Internal Affairs detective. Finally, he relented.

"To tell you the truth, I myself am suspicious about the circumstances behind Detective Strickland's death." Miles confessed. "Don't get me wrong, I wasn't a fan of what he had done during his service, but he was a classmate of mine while we were in the academy and was good friends with his brother. I'm sure he will like to know what really happened to Anthony."

Elizabeth nodded before saying, "Do you know who has Detective Strickland's file, Detective Miles?"

"Yes. His partner in his latest case: Detective James Roven." Miles replied before pointing down a certain direction and added. "His cubicle is right down that way."

"Thank you, Detective." Tucker nodded before they carried on down.

The five soon came upon a cubicle with Detective Roven's name on the wall, only to find it unoccupied at the moment.

"I wonder where is that detective?" William wondered.

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