Chapter 6: At the cemetery and the medical examiner's office

Later that night, under the full moon, Shaggy, Fred, Velma and Daphne followed Scooby down the trail through the woods with the Great Dane sniffing on the ground.

"Of all the weirdest things I've ever done that neither of my sisters are going to live me down on, this one takes the cake." Daphne remarked. "Following a dog to track down ghosts."

"I certainly get the sentiment." Fred agreed. "I mean, those two glowing green ghosts, they've gotta come from somewhere, you know? Like a projector, perhaps."

"But it certainly doesn't explain the sudden drop in temperature, the storm with everything flying off, or how they were able to close the door shut." Velma interjected. "As skeptical as I am, there are volumes of anecdotal evidence that supports the existence of the supernatural, or at the very least, the paranormal. Besides, historically canines have been proven to be highly sensitive to paranormal activity."

As Velma was speaking, Scooby ended up sniffing in two mushrooms, which became stuck to his nostrils and prompting him to sneeze them off.

While the Great Dane shook his head repeatedly, Fred and Shaggy both chuckled.

"What a ham." Velma remarked. "Though given the situation facing us, not least being possibly suspected in the librarian's death, at this stage we would have to try anything if we wanna clear our names."

"Absolutely." Fred agreed.

After a while, as the gang walked past a hooting owl, Scooby suddenly stopped at the sound of metal creaking, and then he started barking, prompting everyone to flash their flashlights at the sign.

Shaggy's blood run cold as he saw the "Cemetery" sign, and all in a sudden he felt his breathing hitched.

FLASHBACK - Six Months Ago

April 5, 2009

At the Arlington National Cemetery, the mood was solemn as Shaggy watched the Marine honour guard carried his father's casket.

The weather was especially gloomy, and as he watched the possession, Shaggy felt that his left arm was starting to act up.

It was at the exact spot where he got pinned to the wreckage in that accident in New York six months ago, and the pain suddenly brought back those painful memories from the past six months since the accident.

The non-stop pain in his left arm, the painkillers he had to take to mitigate the pain, more prescriptions to counter the side-effects.

The strain the recovery has placed on his family, his last conversation with his father before he got deployed for the final time.

And then receiving the news two weeks ago about his father's death in combat.

All of those memories were too much for him to handle, and as his father was being laid to the ground, Shaggy's knees buckled and he collapsed to the ground.

"Norville!" His mother and sister called out as they and a couple of attendees reached over to support him before he hit the ground.

END FLASHBACK

"Shaggy?" Daphne asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Shaggy blinked. Scooby, Fred and the girls were staring at him in concern, which prompted him to ask, "Huh?"

"Are you alright?" Fred asked. "You were out of it."

"Uh...like, it's nothing, really." Shaggy quickly stammered. "And...since the...cemetery is where those ghosts came from, perhaps we should...move quick and...find out who...those ghosts...are, before...they return..."

As he stammered, Shaggy quickly walked into the cemetery, prompting Fred and the girls to exchange looks with each other before following him and Scooby into the cemetery.

It certainly was dark and gloomy inside the cemetery as the gang looked around, during which Shaggy added, "Like, this is where you saw them, Scoob?"

"Reah." Scooby nodded in confirmation.

Shaggy nodded, during which Velma observed, "Some of these graves are over a century old."

Then, walking towards one particular grave, she added, "This one dated back to the Great Crystal Cove Flood of '06."

"Crystal Cove flood?" Daphne asked.

"In 1906, a massive earthquake struck San Francisco, and the aftershocks triggered a tsunami that led to a massive flood that washed away the whole county." Velma explained. "And nowhere was the impact of the flood more devastating than in Coolsville, which was subsequently rebuilt over the ruins of the old town."

"Sounds like a lot of folks lost their lives that fateful day." Fred remarked.

"Zoinks! Like, I hope there's no earthquake of that scale on the horizon." Shaggy gulped.

Before Fred or Daphne could respond, Scooby suddenly whistled.

"I think your dog found something." Daphne said as she walked towards Scooby.

"Rover here!" Scooby called out as Velma and the boys followed before forming into an arrow pointing at two specific graves, like a hunting dog right in a hunt.

Upon arriving at the two graves, Daphne read, "Sarah Ravencroft."

"Ebenezer Crabbe." Fred added. "I wonder who they are and why are they buried together?"

"Doesn't seem like there's any indication they're even related." Shaggy added with a frown.

"I have no clue." Velma shrugged before frowning as she added, "Though there is something about these names that sounded very familiar."

"Like you've heard them somewhere before?" Daphne asked.

"Or seen them." Velma said as she walked towards the two graves, during which Daphne turned towards Scooby.

"On second thought, maybe following you wasn't exactly the weirdest thing I've ever done." The redhead said. "Wasn't it, boy?"

"Reah." Scooby agreed. "Re-he-he-he-he-he!"

"So if Scooby saw those ghosts coming out of these graves, they must be real, aren't they?" Shaggy mused. "I mean, you can't have fake ghosts coming out of real graves no, can you?"

"I suppose not." Fred agreed before realizing something and added, "But hold on, there were three ghosts at the prep rally, weren't there?"

"The witch, you mean?" Daphne pointed out.

"Yeah, well, she claimed that we were on 'her' land, so stands to me she is supposed to be someone who died long ago." Fred said. "And yet there are only two graves here."

"Unless she was supposed to be buried in another cemetery, though then again, why would she be working with Sarah Ravencroft and Ebenezer Crabbe's ghosts if they didn't know each other from their past lives together?" Shaggy offered.

As Shaggy was speaking, Velma had finished dabbing a sheet of paper onto the gravestones and collecting the particles on them.

"Well gang, it looks like we're up to our tombstones with a mystery in our hands." Fred declared.

"Let's also not forget about the librarian's death, too." Velma added.

"Yes, that too." Fred nodded.


Soon, the gang made their way out of the cemetery, during which Velma was saying, "Let's meet up tomorrow at-"

She stopped herself when she realized something and said, "Wait. Where can we meet? We are not allowed to step foot in school while on suspension, and both my parents work a lot from home."

"My Dad's staff are also frequent at my place, so there's that." Fred said. "Not to mention we can't meet up together at the public library during school hours without raising eyebrows."

"And we can't go to my house, either, for the staff don't exactly take kindly to me inviting friends over while my parents are out of town." Daphne added.

"I guess that leaves my place as the only option." Shaggy said. "Though to be fair, with my mother at work and sister at school, it could work, plus I've got the basement all to myself."

"Then, it's settled." Fred nodded as they resumed walking. "We'll meet you tomorrow morning at your place, Shaggy."

Daphne and Velma both nodded as the latter took her leave. "See you then."

It was at the tip of Daphne's tongue to ask Shaggy if she could speak with him, but his and Scooby's fast departure prompted her to reconsider.

As Shaggy and Scooby made their way home on their own, Shaggy checked the time on his watch, only to frown.

"That's odd..." Shaggy said as he stopped.

"Rhat is?" Scooby asked.

"Didn't even realize that my watch has stopped." Shaggy remarked as he looked closer at the time.

"Rhat time ris ron your ratch?" Scooby asked.

"Like, five to 3 o'clock." Shaggy said. "What were we doing at 2:55...?"

He trailed off when he remembered that the prep rally was supposed to start at 3, before it was disrupted by him and the others crashing it, followed by the ghosts and the witch.

And before that, he and the others were running from those ghosts, after the massive storm in the library, which began when the lights started flashing.

"Zoinks, maybe there's something about those ghosts showing up that made our watches stop." Shaggy said.

"Row interesting." Scooby remarked. "Could rit be romething?"

Shaggy shrugged. "Like, remind me to ask the others if their watches had stopped at 2:55 first thing tomorrow, Scoob."


October 20, 2009

Maggie was running late for her school bus to Daws Butler Middle School, so she didn't have a chance to check in on her brother that morning.

It was just as well for Shaggy, for he didn't tell her about his suspension from school, not when he wanted her to hound him for whatever it was that led to his suspension.

At present, Shaggy was tapping his foot as he vacuumed his bedroom with the music on full blast.

He began tapping his foot in rhythm just as the introductory notes began from the beach guitar, then the lead singers began.

"If everybody had an ocean..." The band sang. "...across the U.S.A."

Seeing Shaggy enjoying himself with the music, Scooby joined him with a surfboard in hand and began playing air guitar with it while wearing a pair of sunglasses.

"Then everybody'd be surfin'..." The band continued. "...like Californi-a."

Nodding and pumping with the beat, Shaggy and Scooby seemed to be absorbed in the tasks at hand that neither of them noticed Daphne waiting at the side door.

"You'd seem 'em wearing their baggies..." The band sang. "...Huarachi sandals too."

Shaggy nodded as the band continued, "A bushy bushy blonde hairdo...surfin' U.S.A."

Even though the guys didn't answer her door-knocking, Daphne could see them dancing to the beat of the music while doing their respective tasks through the window on the door, which prompted her to smile in amusement.

Continuing to watch the duo dancing and doing their air guitar, Daphne was tempted to pull out her cell phone to take a picture.

Instead of doing that, she knocked on the window just as Shaggy had managed to glance towards the door.

He almost stumbled backwards when he saw her waving at the window, which prompted him to turn off the vacuum cleaner and rush over to open the door.

"Hey Shaggy." Daphne smiled when Shaggy opened the door and let her in. "I hope I'm not too early or interrupting anything."

"Like, no worries, Daph." Shaggy chuckled as he closed the door behind her. "Was just busy doing some cleaning, guess I got carried away..."

"I can tell." Daphne said. "Surfin' U.S.A., The Beach Boys, March 1963, first as a single then as the title track of the album of the same name released the same month."

Shaggy arched his eyebrows briefly as the redhead continued, "It was a rewritten version of Chuck Berry's Sweet Little Sixteen, January 1958."

"Sounds like someone's been tuned into the rock radio station." Shaggy remarked.

Daphne nodded. "In any way, Shag, nice place you got here."

"Thanks." Shaggy smiled as he gestured towards the sofa for Daphne to take a seat. "Moved in here only a couple months ago after relocating from Brooklyn, where I was born. Me and my sister Maggie."

"I see." Daphne said. "As a matter a fact, I was born in Manhattan, though my family and I moved here when I was a couple years old."

"Zoinks!" Shaggy remarked. "Small world, isn't it? Both of us being East Coasters and born in New York."

"Indeed it is." Daphne nodded.

"So what does your parents do for a living, exactly?" Shaggy wondered. "I mean, I overheard the sheriff mentioning your father being the owner of Blake Enterprises, so I suppose I should be asking what do your parents do in the company?"

"Well, for starters, my mom is the company's executive vice-president for real estate management, in addition to sitting on the board of directors." Daphne explained. "My dad's the chairman and president, while Uncle Matt is the CEO. Before joining the company, Dad's served in the Marine Corps, which is also where my sister Delilah is serving at now."

Shaggy exhaled at the mention of Daphne's father, and once again the change in his eyes' expression didn't went unnoticed by the redhead.

Scooby likewise looked concerned at the change in expression in Shaggy's eyes as the redhead asked, "Are you alright, Shag?"

Shaggy blinked as he quickly said, "Like, I'm fine. Just...that I was thinking about the whole situation with us being suspended from school because of those ghost appearances, and then being suspected of being involved in Mrs. Gates' death, it just doesn't seem fair."

"Indeed." Daphne agreed. "Though-"

Before the redhead could continue, they were interrupted by Fred knocking on the door.

"I'll get it." Shaggy quickly said as he walked over to the door, prompting Daphne sigh.

"Hey Shag, am I late?" Fred asked in greeting as Shaggy opened the door.

"No, still waiting for Velma." Shaggy replied as he let Fred in.

As soon as Fred walked in, Daphne smiled as she waved at him. "Hi."

Fred smiled back as he went to the sofa, during which Shaggy headed to the stairs and said, "You guys can sit, I'm gonna get some water. Do you guys want anything?"

"No, thanks, I'm good, Shag." Fred shook his head.

"Same here, thanks though." Daphne smiled.

As Shaggy made his way up the stairs, Fred nodded at the sofa and sat down with Daphne following suit.

While pouring himself a cup of water, Shaggy heard Fred calling out, "Nice place you've got, Shag."

"Like, thanks, Fred." Shaggy responded before gulping down the water.

While he poured himself another cup of water, Shaggy almost spilled the pitcher when an unfamiliar voice startled him.

"The book." The voice said.

Almost dropping his cup in surprise, Shaggy looked around.

"The book." The voice repeated, prompting Shaggy to raise an eyebrow before he called out, "Were you saying something, Fred?"

"No, why?" Fred called out.

Shaggy glanced around before he put down his cup and said, "Uh, nothing."

When Shaggy returned, Fred and Daphne were making their way to the door, during which he saw Velma at the other side.

"I'll get it." Shaggy said as he quickly rushed to the door and opened it.

"I found those names from the gravestones." Velma said in greeting as she walked in.

Daphne and the boys exchanged looks as Shaggy closed the door, then they gathered around Velma as she placed her laptop on Shaggy's desk as she said, "You're not gonna believe this."

She had a scanned newspaper page from the Crystal Cove County Archives opened, and right off the bat the gang were staring right at a large black and white photo of the two ghosts, back when they were alive, which was accompanied by a headline that read:

"COOLSVILLE INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION OPENS TOMORROW
Founders to Bury Time Capsule to Mark the Occasion"

The scanned newspaper was dated April 17th, 1906, which was the year that was carved on the marble wall at the main entrance of Coolsville Central High School.

"Sarah Ravencroft and Ebenezer Crabbe." Velma began. "They were the founding faculty of the Coolsville Institute of Education, precursor to Coolsville Central High School. "

Velma then pulled up a second scanned news article, which was published a couple days later, and continued, "According to this article, they were about to open the school when the ceremony was disrupted by shaking from the aftershocks of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake."

"The same aftershocks that subsequently triggered the flood that destroyed the Institute." Fred interjected.

"Correct, and they both drowned as a result." Velma nodded.

As Shaggy and Scooby both gulped, Daphne remarked, "That certainly is a spooky beginning for the school."

"It gets even spookier." Velma said. "As with the rest of the town, the new school was built over the ruins of the old school and legend has it that their restless spirits continued to haunt the school's hallways to this day, even after it became Central High in 1947."

"This is great, Velma." Fred said. "It certainly explains two of the ghosts. Now if we could identify the witch responsible for conjuring them up, we will certainly be much closer to clearing our names on the prank."

"And what about Mrs. Gates' death?" Shaggy asked. "Like, is there anything that could conclusively point the cause of her death to those two ghosts or the witch or both?"

Immediately, Fred pointed at him and said, "I got just the thing, and for that, we're gonna take a trip to the medical examiner's office."

This prompted Shaggy and the girls to exchange looks with each other as Velma closed up her laptop.


Shaggy wasn't sure what propelled him to follow Fred and the girls into the main autopsy suite in the medical examiner's office right around lunch time.

He didn't realize that it would involve seeing Mrs. Gates being all cut up, and seeing all those organs and all that blood made him felt queasy.

As it turned out, Fred had helped the son of the Medical Examiner of Crystal Cove County, Dr. Bell, get out of getting squeezed by a drug ring.

The blonde had also took a role in seeing the ringleaders of the drug ring getting locked up, and since then, Dr. Bell was more than eager to return the favour, which is how they were able to pay a visit to the medical examiner's office.

Given the proximity to lunchtime, Dr. Bell gave them ten minutes to meet with Dr. Wymils before her lunchbreak, which Fred said is more than enough for them.

And now, here he is with his legs threatening to give out in any given moment as Dr. Wymils explained everything.

True to her preliminary assessment, the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head with substantial damage to the skull at the top back.

And from the rigor, she was able to narrow down the time of death to shortly after 3.

In addition, she recovered some fibre from the wound, and while final confirmation will be needed from the sheriff's forensics, Dr. Wymils has hazard a guess that the fibre is from paper.

But the fact that the paper fibres were found in where Mrs. Gates was struck and killed was also indicative of some contradictions surrounding the object responsible for her death.

For starters, there are no books that have the mass or density to cause such damage even if dropped from a tall height, not to mention the death was instantaneous.

Second, the sheriff's have reported no damage in the form of holes were discovered in the ceilings near where Mrs. Gates was found, or anywhere else in the school for the matter, even if the book did kill her after falling from a tall height.

And third, Mrs. Gates was killed by a single blow. Of course, pending the results from the forensics analysis of the fibre, it could be something else.

But if her guess is accurate, then they will be looking at a death that is suspicious in nature, yet with no particular suspects.

All this talk about death has made Shaggy anxious, not least the sight of the body being cut up and the description of the injuries in the head.

Feeling like he has to go relieve himself before his legs completely buckled, he raised his hand.

"Yes?" Dr. Wymils asked.

"Pardon me, like, where is the washroom?" Shaggy asked.

"When you go out of the door, turn right and continue to the first hallway with the exit sign, the washroom's right by there." Dr. Wymils responded.

"Okay, thanks." Shaggy nodded as he hurried out of the suite, prompting Fred and the girls to exchange glances.

Soon in the washroom, Shaggy finished relieving himself at the urinal and proceeded to wash his hands at the sinks.

While applying soap on his hands, he looked at his reflection in the mirror.

There was something about all of this that was bothering him, not least the fact that it has been triggering those memories from his accident a year ago.

Immediately, he gathered some water from the faucet and splashed himself in the face to recover his composure.

Convinced that he is alright, Shaggy then turned around and reached over to dry his hands with paper towels.

While drying his hands, he looked up and almost immediately, he came close to dropping the paper towel in his hand.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy involuntarily exclaimed in surprise.


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