Chapter 14: The takedown and the rescue
After flagging down a taxi, Fred and Velma had managed to reach Benson's apartment building and wasted no time finding the door to the ex-cop's unit.
The unit is at the first floor of the five-storey apartment, which apparently looked quite run-down in spite of being only ten-years old.
While Fred kept watch, Velma knelt down and started picking the lock of the door.
"This place is pretty deserted." Velma remarked. "Not to mention sketchy."
"Yeah. Sure makes you wonder just how often Benson sticks around sketchy people." Fred agreed as he kept watch. "Given that the door's locked, I suppose we're fortunate that neither the police nor Benson's bosses have gotten here before we did."
"No kidding." Velma agreed as she continued to work the locks. "Of course, that still means we've gotta work fast in finding the nexus of the case."
"For sure." Fred nodded.
Some silence followed as Velma continued to pick the lock, while Fred glanced at his watch and continued to look around.
"You know, Fred, I would never have imagined that Shaggy would change so much since the last time I've seen him back when we were next door neighbours in Brooklyn." Velma remarked.
"Guy lost his mother." Fred offered. "Can't say I blame him for getting pretty wounded up after the fact."
"Yeah." Velma agreed. "Must've been tough having to deal with the loss at such a young age."
"Though there's one thing that still bothers me about Shag." Fred frowned. "What was it that led to him becoming addicted to painkillers? I've seen him popping a pill or two at school almost everyday."
"Don't know." Velma shrugged. "He might've been involved in something serious that led to the severe pain that required painkillers."
"Like the car 'accident' that killed his mom?" Fred raised an eyebrow.
"Unless he was involved in another serious accident and survived, I'm sure the car crash that killed his mother was the trigger." Velma nodded.
Fred nodded thoughtfully as he watched Velma continue to pick the locks, during which he said, "Yeah, but I don't see him walking away from an accident like that, since his mother was killed instantly on impact in that crash."
"He must've underwent surgery after the accident." Velma interjected. "And somehow, something went wrong during the surgery, which left him with non-stop pain somewhere in his body, and so he was prescribed those painkillers to mitigate the pain."
Fred arched his eyebrows briefly before he nodded, though before he could offer a reply to the matter, the apartment door popped open.
"Ah, there we go." Velma exclaimed as she pushed the door open and walked in, with Fred following suit.
With the sun already setting, the apartment was dark without the lights, though neither of them motioned to turn the lights on.
Instead, both sleuths proceeded to turn on their flashlights and closed the door once they're inside the apartment.
"So if I were Benson, where would I hide an insurance policy?" Fred wondered out loud.
"Definitely in my bank safety deposit box." Velma replied. "Though considering that the bank safety deposit box is likely linked to the account he used for laundering money, that safety deposit box is gonna be the one of the places the feds be searching for."
"And being an ex-cop, he knows better than taking his chances with the banks." Fred nodded as they searched around. "Which then begs the question: Where would he store his insurance policy?"
Velma nodded in agreement before they proceeded to split up and search through the apartment.
While Fred searched through the desk drawers in Benson's bedroom, Velma searched around the living room.
There were photos depicting Benson with a woman, in addition to him in his Marine Corps service uniform.
As she hear Fred ravaging through the drawers, Velma was about to head into the kitchen when a chance shining her flashlight at the welcome mat prompted her to look closer when she noticed something.
Kneeling down at the welcome mat, Velma frowned as she saw what appeared to be dirt at the side of the mat that is pressed against the wall.
Pulling out her magnifying glass, Velma took the time to examine the dirt as something occurred to her.
VELMA'S MIND EYE
In her mind eye, Velma imagined Benson returning home after he finished his deed of disposing a victim to the Werewolf.
The first thing the policeman did when he got home was to wipe his work boots on the mat, during which scrapes of the brown-red dirt came loose and ended up pinned against the wall.
END VELMA'S BRIEF MIND EYE
"Find anything, Fred?" Velma asked.
"No." Fred replied as he emerged from the bedroom. "You?"
"I might have something here." Velma said as Fred walked towards her. "Take a look."
Fred knelt down beside the welcome mat and frowned when he saw the loose dirt pressed against the wall by the mat.
"Is that dirt?" The blonde asked as he pointed at the dirt.
"Yes." Velma nodded. "Dirt with rust, to be exact."
"Hence the red-ish colour." Fred nodded as well. "Which would mean that Benson was frequenting an abandoned place with rusted iron or steel gates."
At the mention of "an abandoned place", Velma realized something.
VELMA'S MIND EYE - Fifteen Days Ago
October 9, 1968
Standing under a nearby tree, Velma was watching herself, Fred, Shaggy, Scooby and Daphne making the discovery of the footprint in the bush.
"That bush is where we've discovered the shoe print that day at the park." Velma narrated while watching herself taking the photo with her Polaroid. "And we were focused on the shoe type and size that we've forgotten to take into account of the direction and orientation of the footprint."
With a frown, she mused, "But wasn't the footprint oriented in a direction that would be in the opposite direction from the crime scene in which the victim was grabbed from?"
Pausing the flash vision and doing a reversal back to when the culprit walked past the spot and left behind the footprint, Velma imagined the culprit walking away from the crime scene, or more to the point, away from the nearby abandoned house.
Just then, Fred popped into her flash vision and said, "As I recall, the heels in the shoe print were deeper into the dirt than the toes."
Momentarily caught off guard by Fred intruding into her mind eye, Velma stepped back and stared at him as he made his observation before she asked, "What are you saying, Fred? The culprit was walking backwards to fool the police into thinking that he was getting away from the crime scene?"
"Exactly." Fred nodded as he turned towards Velma. "Which begs the question: Why would the werewolf be returning back to the scene of the crime?"
Velma looked again at the footprint they've discovered that day, then she frowned as she got up.
"I don't think the werewolf was returning to the scene of the crime, Freddie." She said as she got up and peered over the nearby hill.
"Huh?" Fred arched his eyebrows before he followed Velma towards the nearby hill.
After climbing to the top of the hill, Velma stopped for Fred to catch up, where the view they were at allowed them to see the houses and cabins near the park.
"You see those cabins over there, Freddie?" Velma asked.
"Uh-huh." Fred nodded. "The vic's house is over there, there's an abandoned cabin a few blocks away, and-"
Fred stopped himself when he realized something.
"That abandoned cabin is where Benson said that they've confronted the original werewolf back in '57, isn't it?" Fred asked.
Velma arched her eyebrows briefly before nodding, and immediately, the time frame of the flash vision shifted back to 1957 on the night of the confrontation.
The duo looked on as Benson and several officers raised their rifles and began opening fire when the creature inside tries to swing its claws at them.
Returning back to October 9th, 1968, the duo saw that the cabin has been abandoned since the confrontation in '57 and the yards are both overgrown with weed.
"Yes, and that abandoned cabin also has iron gates that have completely rusted." Velma nodded.
Quickly approaching the abandoned cabin, the duo picked up a sample of the soil from the front yard of the abandoned cabin and compared with the sample of dirt found at the edge of the welcome mat in Benson's apartment.
"Not to mention that the soil samples here at the abandoned cabin matches the dirt samples we've got here in Benson's apartment!" Fred added.
"Meaning that Benson was near the cabin recently, playing his part in this massive conspiracy that has turned on him now." Velma nodded.
END VELMA'S MIND EYE
"G***mnit!" Fred almost slammed his fist onto the floor in anger. "The Werewolf's hideout was right in front of us the whole g***mn time!"
"Yes, though there's still the issue regarding Benson's insurance policy." Velma said. "You said you didn't find anything in Benson's room."
"That's right." Fred nodded. "I've also checked the cupboards, anywhere before trying the bedroom, and nothing."
"He was a cop, he's smart, which means he's gotta have a perfect hiding place for the insurance policy." Velma said.
Fred murmured as he looked around, during which he shined his flashlight around before he stopped and frowned.
"Hmmm." Fred remarked as he walked towards one particular painting.
Velma raised an eyebrow as Fred approached the painting in question and leaned forward to take a closer look, during which he started adjusting the position of the painting when he noticed that it was tilted.
In the course of adjusting the painting's position, Fred was examining the surrounding wall, including the wall area behind the neighbouring paintings, before stopping.
"Say, the wall area behind this painting is considerably darker than the wall areas behind the other paintings." Fred remarked.
"So?" Velma asked.
Without a word, Fred took down the painting, revealing a safe behind it.
"Well, what do you know." Velma remarked, answering her own question. "Do you think that the insurance policy documents are in this safe?"
Eying the combination lock, Fred replied, "There's only one way to find out, Velms."
Over in a dark room somewhere, Maggie was tied up to a wooden chair with her hands taped together by duct tape.
She was stirring as the effects from the chloroform used for drugging her began to wear off, then she began to open her eyes drowsily.
Maggie's memory was still a complete blank as she opened her eyes, and as she surveyed her surroundings, she tried to think how she came to be in the position she's in.
"Hello?" Maggie called out as she looked around.
Her call was met with silence in the dark room, during which Maggie noticed the fact that she was tied to the chair with her hands taped together.
"Hello, anybody?" Maggie called out. "Someone!"
As she struggled against the bonds, Maggie tried to think what was the last thing she remembered before she woke up and found herself in the dark room.
She remembered finishing looking after the Baywosenthal child earlier and was on her way home through the usual shortcut she takes whenever she finished babysitting everyday, and along the way, she stopped by to help an old lady who had dropped a bag of groceries.
What followed remained fuzzy in her mind, though as she surveyed her surroundings, it soon dawned on her that she must've been drugged while helping the old lady.
Maybe the old lady is onto her kidnapping, maybe she's not, but one thing's for certain.
As her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, she can see just how rundown the place is, and she can see traces of blood around.
"Help!" She screamed. "Someone get me out of here!"
She struggled to get herself free, but instead, her constant rocking of the wooden chair caused a leg to crack, leading her and the chair to fall over.
Grunting from the pain, Maggie noticed the sharp edge of the broken chair leg and eyed the bonds that had tied her to the chair, which had loosened.
Her hands were still taped together, and just as Maggie was thinking of something to do, the room door opened.
Instinctively, she reached for the chair leg as the door opened, revealing the half-man, half wolf figure.
"Good to see you again, Jamie." The werewolf said, not noticing his captive managing to reach the broken chair leg.
(Shaggy's Point of View)
We wasted no time arriving at the cabin at the outskirts of the Fred Quimby Park, and Scoob, Daphne and I followed Dad and Detective Chan in getting off the car and approached the abandoned cabin.
"Jeepers, this cabin sure looks haunted at dawn." Daphne remarked.
"You don't say, Daph." I agreed. "Especially since this cabin is where Benson says the shootout with the original werewolf occurred at."
"Well, since that shootout, the place has been abandoned." Chan interjected. "Based on what Pistol told us, the city had meant to get around to tearing the place down, but complications in the property ownership around here resulted in the cabin still standing today."
"And based on what that dirtbag told us, powerful interests that controls this town has had this wolf man as a muscle, supposedly to work security and run errands." Dad added.
"Speaking of which, I still think we should call for backup, Lieutenant." Chan advised.
"What, and give them the chance to tip off the culprit behind this whole mess, who can then tip off the killer, who may I remind you is holding my daug-" Dad scoffed as he turned towards Chan.
"Yeah, yeah." Chan quickly held his hand up. "I get it, Lieutenant."
Dad stared at Detective Chan briefly before he headed straight into the cabin in a huff. "Remind me to push Deputy Chief Gosnell in speeding up the processing of your paperwork, Chan, so this sort of thing doesn't happen again."
Chan only nodded as we followed Dad into the cabin, during which Dad kicked the front door open and drew his gun out.
As we quietly followed Dad and Chan and turned on our flashlights, the detective whispered, "Stay close with us, this place is dangerous."
"No need to remind us." I replied as we looked around.
As we continued to follow Chan and Dad down the main hallway, Daph and I stopped when we stopped by what appeared to be a map.
It was Gothic rendition of a map of Coolsville, circa at the turn of the century by the looks of things on this old map.
"Jeepers, this map looks...crazy." Daphne remarked at the look of things.
"Like, it sure seems like the last occupant of this cabin was into all things Gothic." I nodded. "Pretty sure this last occupant was also the one who built this house."
"Willing to bet that the cabin layout is exactly the same as the last occupants mindset?" Daphne asked.
I swallowed before I turned around, and uh oh. Looks like we've stopped for a bit too long and in the process, Dad, Chan and Scoob continued on down the hallway without me and Daph.
"Dad?" I called out. "Detective Chan? Scoob?"
There was no response from either of them, and I turned towards Daphne.
"Jeepers!" Daphne said. "I think we've lost them!"
"I think that's gonna be the least of our worries, Daph." I said as I looked around. "Assuming that the Werewolf knows this place well, we're gonna be sitting ducks if we continue to stand around in the same place."
"No kidding." Daphne nodded as she grabbed my hand and tugged me along. "Come on!"
I was about to ask Daphne where we were heading when we approached a door, and the redhead gently knocked on it.
"Mr. Rogers?" Daphne asked as she knocked on the door, which then creaked open.
Sharing glances with Daph, I swallowed before we entered the room behind the door.
It was a large bedroom with a large bed, some abandoned clothes and several toys littered around, and the wooden floorboards creaked as we stepped in.
"Like, someone's sure one messy housekeeper." I remarked as we surveyed our surroundings.
Daphne didn't respond as she looked around, during which her flashlight shined onto a set of play blocks, accompanied by a group of creepy-looking dolls.
Come to think of it, those dolls, on account of the old age and their disused state, sure looked possessed.
As I followed Daphne's lead, I saw her reading the message the play blocks had assembled.
It read, "You'll all go crazy."
"Creepy." Daphne remarked.
Just then, I got the feeling that someone was behind us and I instinctively grabbed a block and threw it towards whatever or whoever was behind us.
Turned out that I just shattered a nearby mirror. Must be our reflections in the mirror that gave me that spooky feeling.
"This place can definitely drive someone bananas." I remarked.
"Yeah." Daphne agreed before she made her way towards the door. "Let's try to find your sister and the others and get out of here!"
(Third Person)
Back in the dark room, Maggie had her eyes on her captor as she managed to grab her makeshift weapon.
"Stay away from me!" Maggie shouted.
Outside, Sam, Chan and Scooby, who were on the second floor of the cabin, and Shaggy and Daphne, who were in that large bedroom, heard the scream.
"Oh no..." Daphne said.
"Margaret?" Sam asked as his daughter managed to stab the Werewolf in the leg.
"Maggie!" Shaggy shouted as he and Daphne raced off to find the room she was being held captive in.
It was then that Sam, Chan and Scooby heard someone running towards them, and the trio paused before the former two prepared their weapons as the source of the running became closer.
Swiftly turning around, Sam and Chan both raised their weapons.
"Freeze!" Sam barked as Chan also turned on his flashlight.
Almost immediately, the source of the running stopped in their tracks before a familiar voice said, "Relax, Lieutenant Rogers. It's just us."
Through Chan's flashlight, both Sam and Chan could see Fred and Velma standing behind them with the blonde holding his hands up.
"Mr. Jones?" Sam almost immediately relaxed. "Don't you know it's not a good idea to sneak up to us like this?"
"Not to mention we could've opened fire if it weren't for your timely identification of yourselves." Chan added.
"Sorry, Lieutenant." Fred shrugged apologetically. "But we have something that you both would find interesting about the werewolf case."
"Well, whatever it is, you'll have to save it for later." Sam said. "Because we're searching for someone who's being held in this cabin. She was screaming a minute ago, but we've lost the source."
Just then, they heard Maggie shouting, "No!" as the werewolf prepares to use its claws on her.
"It's just going to be between you and me, Jamie." The Werewolf said as he prepares his claws.
Scooby's ears perked up, and he quickly leaned forward towards a section of the nearby wall and listened in.
While Sam and Chan looked on, Fred and Velma promptly followed Scooby's lead and listened in, then the blonde stepped back and swung his arms back, bracing himself.
"What are you doing?" Chan asked as Sam arched his eyebrows.
Just as the Werewolf was about to slash its claws on Maggie, Fred suddenly charged through the room wall, breaking it in the process, and crashed the scene.
Hearing the crash elsewhere, Shaggy said, "Like, do you hear that crash?"
Daphne nodded. "It's coming from down the hallway! Let's go!"
In the dark room, Fred huffed as the werewolf turned towards him and Velma, still grabbing Maggie by the collar of her shirt.
Both of them could see the blood oozing from the werewolf's left leg, right at where Maggie stabbed him with the broken chair leg.
"This is a private moment!" The werewolf hissed at them. "You're not invited!"
Letting go of Maggie, the creature then charged towards Velma and Fred.
Bracing himself, Fred crouched as he prepared to tackle the werewolf.
"Careful, Freddie." Velma warned Fred as she ducked out of the way. "You know the reports about the werewolf. He's not someone to mess with."
Fred nodded as he charged towards the werewolf in a bid tackle him, but the beast managed to move out of the way, causing the blonde to crash into a nearby wall.
Then, before Fred could recover, the werewolf managed to tackle the blonde.
Locked in a struggle against the werewolf, Fred did everything he could to try to lift him, though the werewolf refused to budge.
Before Fred could react, the werewolf abruptly lifted him up and threw him towards the nearby table.
As that was happening, Sam and Chan managed to charge into the secret room and freed Maggie.
"Margaret!" Sam exclaimed in relief.
"Dad!" Maggie replied as they shared a close embrace.
At that moment, the werewolf turned his attention towards them as he asked, "Jamie?"
"Freeze!" Chan shouted as he aimed his weapon towards the werewolf. "Don't move, you freak!"
Ignoring the warning, the werewolf charged towards him and Chan fired a shot, shooting him right in the shoulder.
The bullets seemed to have no affect on the werewolf as he managed to grab Chan by the wrist and twisted it, causing him to drop his weapon in pain.
Taking the opportunity, Fred quickly rushed into the fray and locked his arm around the monster's neck.
"Go!" Fred shouted towards Sam, Maggie and Detective Chan as he tried the choke hold on the werewolf. "Get your daughter out of here!"
Sam immediately complied without question while Velma and Scooby quickly joined in in Fred's attempt to to neutralize the werewolf.
"I swear to G**...this thing isn't...human at all!" Fred gritted his teeth.
The struggle between Fred and the werewolf soon led to them crashing through the wall and fall down to the ground floor, where they landed right in front of Shaggy and Daphne as they rushed over.
"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed.
"Fred!" Daphne shouted. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Stopping this wild beast!" Fred replied as he struggled with the werewolf.
"Where's Maggie?" Shaggy asked.
"She's safe with your father, Shag." Velma replied as she rushed to the scene. "But we've gotta do something before Fred gets himself killed!"
Looking around, Shaggy found a frying pan and instinctively went to grab it.
"Like, heads up, Fred!" He shouted as he swung the frying pan right at the werewolf.
Much to everyone's horror, no matter how many times Shaggy swung the frying pan right on the werewolf's head, the creature simply wouldn't give up.
"You've got to be kidding me?" Shaggy exclaimed. "This beast wouldn't stop!"
"We can see that, Shag!" Velma shouted.
Fed up by the struggling and the whacking, the were suddenly shoved Shaggy aside, causing him to crash into a nearby wall while dropping the frying pan in the process.
As that happened, the werewolf managed to grab ahold of Fred's ascot and pulled the blonde closer to him.
"What's this you're wearing, boy?" The werewolf taunted as it prepares to use his claws on him. "A scarf?"
"It's...an...ascot!" Fred gritted, and instinctively, Velma untied his ascot and quickly wrapped it around the werewolf's neck tight.
"Argh!" The werewolf tried to struggle free, but Velma simply tightened the cloth around its neck, allowing Fred to escape.
As Daphne rushed over to support Shaggy, Scooby raced over to grab the frying pan with its mouth and raced towards Fred.
"Thanks, Scooby." Fred said as he grabbed the frying pan from Scooby.
"Hurry, Freddie!" Velma strained as the werewolf tried to break free from the chokehold she was subjecting it to.
Without missing a beat, Fred used the frying pan to hit the werewolf right in the nose multiple times, refusing to stop until the werewolf gradually stopped struggling.
Letting go of the werewolf, everyone looked on as the werewolf collapsed to the floor with a loud "Thooom!", no longer moving a muscle.
Catching their breaths, Velma turned to Fred as she asked, "Is...this it?"
"I hope so." Fred replied as they took another look at the beast, bracing themselves for a comeback by the monster.
To their relief, the werewolf laid on the floor, not moving a muscle.
"Scooby Doo, you did it!" Velma smiled. "You've stopped the werewolf!"
"Yeah!" Fred agreed. "Way to go, Scooby Doo!"
Scooby only groaned affectionately as Fred and Velma proceeded to rub his head, during which Shaggy and Daphne joined them.
"Wow." Daphne remarked as they stared at the unmoving slump of mass in front of them. "We really owe it to Scooby Doo to save the day at last."
"Indeed we do, Daph." Shaggy agreed as they joined in in rubbing Scooby's head.
"Better find something to tie the bastard up, guys, in case he wakes up." Fred suggested.
"Good thinking, Fred." Daphne agreed, prompting Shaggy to take Scooby to search around on the main floor.
"There is a long chain at the front gate, I think it would do." Shaggy said.
As Shaggy directed Scooby to go fetch the chains, Velma sniffed and then asked, "Say, is it just me, or does this place smell...like death?"
"It's not just you, Velma." Fred agreed after taking a sniff. "This place definitely reeks of death."
Shaggy and Daphne both sniffed and nodded in confirmation just as Scooby returned with the chains in his mouth.
Once they have tied the Werewolf up by the wrists and ankles, the gang surveyed their surroundings.
"Where do you suppose that smell is coming from?" Daphne asked.
At Daphne's question, Scooby's ears suddenly perked up before he broke away and sniffed the floor.
Everyone else looked on as Scooby continued sniffing at the floor, eventually reaching a closed door under the stairs before stopping and whining.
Shaggy was the first to walk over and he reached down to pet the Great Dane and asked, "Hey Scoob, what's the matter? You find something?"
Scooby nodded as he continued to scratch on the door, and Fred and the girls soon joined in.
"Must be something behind the door." Fred said.
Shaggy nodded before he took a deep breath and reached over to open the door.
The minute he opened the door, the horrendous smell of death became more pronounced, forcing everyone to wince and cover their noses.
"Jeepers, this place could sure use a good cleaning up." Daphne exclaimed as she covered her nose.
Behind the door was a set of stairs heading downstairs towards the cabin's basement, and the gang turned on their flashlights and shined downwards.
Outside the cabin, Sam was busy comforting Maggie at the car while Chan radioed back to headquarters regarding the need for a pickup at the cabin.
For a while, there was some silence between father and daughter, except for Chan and the radio voice from the inside of the car.
Maggie looked at her father, and she exhaled.
Looking back at the cabin, Maggie was wondering what fate awaits the long-abandoned cabin, especially since this was where she was held captive by the werewolf.
It was then that Sam sighed, and Maggie turned towards him.
Finally looking at his daughter in the eye, Sam sighed again before he said, "I'm so sorry, Margaret."
"There's nothing for you to be sorry for, Dad." Maggie replied. "You managed to find me alive and well, that's all that matters."
"No, I mean about everything." Sam said. "Since your mother died, I've been trying my best to bring you and Norville up, though everything that we've went through in the past few days demonstrates-"
"Stop it, Dad." Maggie placed her finger at her father's mouth. "There's nothing for you to apologize for, you were trying to protect us, that's all."
Sam sighed again, then he smiled sadly. "When did you become so nice?"
"Let's just say that I still have a thing or two from Mom." Maggie responded.
Sam nodded thoughtfully, then Maggie asked, "How did you guys find me anyways?"
As that was happening, a voice was heard pounding the trunk from the inside and shouting, "Let me outta here!"
Sam snorted and nodded towards the trunk, and Maggie nodded thoughtfully as the voice continued, "I said I was sorry!"
It was then that Chan stepped out of the car and said, "Sir, I just spoke to Claphammer, he and Neville are on their way with the wagon as we speak."
Sam nodded, though before he could say something, their idle conversation was interrupted by several loud shrieks from the cabin.
Suddenly alert, Sam and Chan stood up and raced towards the cabin with Maggie following.
When the trio entered, they saw the gang hunched at the door leading to the basement, and they promptly rushed over.
"What's going on here?" Sam asked as he, Chan and Maggie joined the gang, though the trio soon had a sense of something being very wrong when they saw the horrified looks on each of the gang's faces.
Without missing a beat, the lieutenant joined them in looking down towards the basement, and what he saw immediately made his blood run cold.
Even after what he had witnessed in the aftermath of that fateful raid on Iwo Jima, nothing could prepare Sam for what he was looking at in the basement.
Chan followed his gaze, and he almost dropped his flashlight in shock.
"What happened?" Maggie asked as she attempted to join in, only for Daphne to cover her eyes.
For a while, the scene was unusually still as everyone, except for Maggie, tried to process what they were seeing in the basement.
Finally, Sam broke the silence as he muttered, "Blessed Mother of J**us."
Echoing Sam's sentiment, Chan offered, "I think...I'm gonna head back to the car and...tell Claphammer to contact the medical examiners, sir."
Sam only nodded as he continued looking down towards the basement, and Chan immediately broke off, visibly disturbed by what he and the group had just saw.
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