Chapter 2 – Mystery Inc.
Darrow University Campus, Crystal Cove, January 5, 2023.
7:00 am
Velma woke up before the alarm clock. In a few minutes, she dressed and prepared her breakfast, because she knew that only the smell of food would convince Shaggy to wake up on such a cold morning. However, this time, only Scooby-Doo got up and had breakfast with her. Apparently, her sleepy boyfriend had no intention of waking up before noon. Before leaving home, she received a message from Fred, arranging a place and time for lunch, so she left a message for Norville and set his alarm for 11:30 am.
On her way to college, she read the post about Molly Becker case on True Crime Forum. Indeed, cherryred had revealed an impressive information that built an interesting theory about the crime... but, still, it was only a theory. And Velma hated the fact that silly theories were taking the well deserved place that judges, prosecutors, lawyers and law students occupied in solving crimes. So, she thought she should show cherryred her feelings about it.
"I would really appreciate seeing evidences that Roy really said that, cherryred. Or, at least, seeing a minimally logical reason to make the maniac of Redding have contact with a small town´s math teacher. Keener's victims were all adults, and police never found a pattern that links all them. What a 13-year-old victim has to do with it? Anyway, we all know that Roy Keener passed away a few days ago and left no concrete proof… so, obviously, you have nothing to sustain your theory. I mean, nothing but your fragile ego.", were the words that expressed a little bit of Velma's anger, as politely as possible. However, she did not have a True Crime Forum account to post that. Velma Dinkley would never waste her time on something so amateurish. But Mystery Inc. had one. So, without worrying about the opinion of the other two members of the team (nor about the future reputation the famous group of urban explorers would have in that forum after such harsh words),Velma logged in Mystery Inc.´s account and posted her objection without mercy. At the same moment, the college bell rang, showing that her first law school class was about to start.
Blake Manor, Crystal Cove, January 5, 2023.
7:50 am
Daphne impatiently filed her nails while Jenkins served her tea and Cosette set a small breakfast table in her room. Obviously, her anxiety wasn't caused by hunger, she was just eager to access True Crime Forum. So, when the butler closed the door, she quickly picked up her MacBook and checked the new replies to her last two posts.
Unfortunately, the messages only increased Daphne´s anxiety. With more than a thousand replies, the thread about the moon pendant mystery had gone way too far. Users had identified the naval officer who lived near the place where the crime happened: Joel Marlow , 88 years old, living in Pacific Heights. To make matters worse, cherryred 's post had gone viral in Australia, and Elandra Mahon herself had joined the discussion. Daphne's heart skipped a beat when she saw the old photos that Elandra had posted, because Allyra 's pendant was identical to Jane Doe 's pendant. "I'm sure this girl is Allyra. I doubt anyone else in this world has a pendant like this. I'll be in San Francisco on Friday, and I´ll ask local police to help me with this 40-year-old mystery. Pray for me!" , Elandra's last post said. Soon after, users posted photos of Jane Doe 's grave, filled with flowers and signs saying "Justice for Allyra Mahon ". Daphne felt a chill run down her spine. She was so nervous that she felt like deleting the post and throwing her computer into the nearest river. "Calm down, Daph, you've already done this more than sixty times, everything will be fine, no one will find out that you leaked the photo of the pendant...", she reassured herself, while breathing calmly to control the fear. "And after all, you are doing good deeds for a victim and her family. There is nothing to fear, you are right!", she said to herself, while typing messages of encouragement to Elandra Mahon.
Fortunately, the post about Molly Becker had received fewer replies. Users living around Riverdale named James Arthur as the person who likely killed Molly. Then, many people contributed with testimonies about the math teacher… until a message caught her attention. Username: Mystery Inc. Daphne shivered. Mystery Inc. was another popular profile on True Crime Forum. Like cherryred, no one knew who was behind that secret identity. Apparently, it was a group of young anonymous urban explorers. Mystery Inc. was cherryred 's indirect ally in sixty previous cases: cherryred leaked secret information about a case, Mystery Inc. found the evidence, then the police officially solved the mystery. However, to Daphne's surprise, this time, the mysterious profile did not make any relevant contribution to Molly Becker case. On the contrary, it sharply questioned the information she leaked. "… obviously, you have nothing to sustain your theory.", Daphne read aloud, with an annoyed tone of voice. Then, her heart raced with anger. Obviously, she had no evidence to rubin Mystery Inc.´s face, but she knew exactly how she could get it. And she did it, as soon as she saw her parents' cars leaving the mansion.
Daphne: Jenkins, please, tell my driver to wait for me. I´ll leave in some hours. I need to study for a test and I don't want to be disturbed, ok?
As soon as the butler nodded, Daphne locked herself in Blake Manor 's library and went through her mother's files and diaries. Twenty minutes later, she found a stack of Nan's notebooks with dates back to the year 2000. Most of them were about Roy Keener´s case. During an hour, Daphne obsessively flipped through the notebooks looking for proofs, but she only found incomprehensible scribbles, quotes from laws and information she already knew. On the last page of the last notebook, the final words written by Nan said: "motivation for all crimes? pattern linking the victims?", questions that remained without a proper answer. At that moment, frustration overcame her initial enthusiasm, and Daphne sighed. "The motivation is: he was a sick psychopath who liked to kill people!" , she thought angrily, seeing the last page of the notebook. But a sudden idea motivated her. "Come on, Daphne, all the secret clues are here! You're just making the same mistake the FBI and the courts have made: you're not being thorough enough", she thought, while she flipped through pages again. When she was reading the penultimate notebook, eureka. A photo of Roy's arm showed a tattoo written "Artmann." Next to the photo, Nan had written: Peter Artmann?
Daphne didn't know who was Peter Artmann , so she quickly searched for his name on the internet. "Peter Artmann was an American doctor who supported eugenics. He was famous for his controversial studies on human races…", were the initial sentences she read about him, and she knew she was on the right path. After all, none of Roy´s victims were white, so racism was the only thing all those deaths had in common. Plus, Molly wasn't white either. "…after teaching at Boston University, Artmann lived his last years in California, in the small town of Riverdale…", Daphne´s heart raced reading those words. "…where he died in 1962", and suddenly, all the emotion was gone. Peter was dead for more than 50 years, and Roy was born in 1969. They never had a chance to meet each other. "You're not being thorough enough!", Daphne repeated to herself again. "Well, if Peter had children, he might have taught them his nasty ideology", she thought, and she searched for Artmann's heirs on the internet. Nothing was found. She couldn´t find any piece of Artmann´s work either. So, she decided it was time to search through the head of the FBI´s files – in other words, Bart Blake´s files. "If someone was spreading racist ideas across the country, the FBI was certainly aware of it", she concluded.
The meticulous search through Bart Blake's personal files took two hours, and at the end of it, Daphne felt they were the most useless two hours she had ever lived. There were no answers. Nowhere. End of the road for her. Cherryred had finally failed. She knew one day such thing would happen, but she didn't expect (nor she wanted) it to happen so soon. Her ego was hurt, but the possibility of True Crime Forum people not taking her seriously anymore hurt her way more. After all, that Forum was her life, her real life. "Well, Mom is a little absent-minded, but Dad would never be so stupid and leave notes about cases here at home… this is the kind of thing that should be confidential", she thought. And she had a great idea. "That´s it! It´s confidential! Maybe Peter Artmann´s kids would never want people to know who was their father!", Daphne thought aloud. Immediately, she searched for name change reports on court websites. After an hour searching in vain, she found something precious: In 1990, a man named James Artmann asked California court system to change his name to James Arthur. Reason for the change: his infamous last name prevented him from having a normal life and a job.
The discovery made Daphne smile and shriek with excitement. Her joy increased when she found James Arthur's birth certificate on genealogy websites – and confirmed the math teacher was the cruel doctor´s son. With so much evidence, Daphne replied Mystery Inc., suggesting the likely connection between Keener´s crimes and Arthur´s alleged murder were their eugenic ideas. "Here is the minimally logical reason you´ve asked, Mystery Inc. Clearly, you´ve doubted my theory before researching James Arthur´s past. Now, I'm the one who needs proofs. I would love to see you getting evidences that James had the same ideas as his father. Or some evidence that Molly did something to hurt her teacher's little racist heart.", Daphne finished the text childishly, copying the original message and adding some extra irony. Then, she returned to the moon pendant mystery post and teased once more: "The place where Jane Doe was found is abandoned since 1981, Mystery Inc. It would be lovely if you could find minimally logical evidence that Jane Doe is Allyra Mahon. I´m sure you´re better than just writting fragile-ego messages.", she smiled as she finished writing. After cleaning up all the mess, Daphne left the library and went downstairs.
Daphne: Jenkins, please let my driver know I'm ready to go.
Darrow University Campus, Crystal Cove, January 5, 2023.
12:00 am
When she left the classroom, Velma saw two notifications on her cell phone. The first was a message from Fred, saying that he would be ten minutes late. The second was a notification from True Crime Forum , saying the message she posted received a reply. Velma read the new messages while walking to the Cafe where she was meeting the boys, and felt her blood boil with anger when she realized she was the target of cherryred's irony. "How many conjugal visits with Roy Keener did you have to pay to get a photo of his arm?", was the first emotional response that Velma typed before she finished reading the entire message. Fortunately, common sense made her delete her words and encouraged her to read the post until the end. When the waitress brought the drink she had ordered, she took a sip of juice and tried to calm down before writing again. "Your theory for Molly Becker case is impressive and impeccable, cherryred, but IT´S STILL A THEORY! You can´t prove that Roy really said that. And guess what: saying that James is like Peter just because he is his son sounds a bit eugenic to me.", was the mildest message Velma could write. However, when she clicked send, she heard her boyfriend approach and shout her name angrily.
Shaggy: VELMA! Like, why the hell have you done that? You had no right to do that!
Velma: Do what, Norville?
Shaggy: Use our YOU KNOW WHAT to answer YOU KNOW WHO in YOU KNOW WHERE!
Velma rolled her eyes impatiently after hearing her boyfriend's childish words. However, he was not intimidated by her disdain.
Velma: Why couldn't I? After all, you´ve said the account is ours…
Shaggy: Yeah, like, but we're a team! And you have no right to ruin the reputation of YOU KNOW WHAT at YOU KNOW WHERE! If YOU KNOW WHO stops posting new threads about mysteries, it's your fault!
Velma: It would be great if he stopped posting shit, the world has plenty of people spreading fake news and stupid opinions…
Velma was abruptly interrupted by the waitress, who brought all the food she had ordered for lunch – including a small birthday cake for Fred. The table full of food made all Norville's anger disappear, and he smiled as he picked up a hamburguer. Seeing his tutor eating, Scooby-Doo made a crying noise and tried to release himself from the leash that tied him to a post on the sidewalk.
Velma: …and I´ve just asked for proofs, Norville. Only liars get offended when you ask for proofs. If he wants to humiliate the American justice system, he has to be better than that...Gossip and rumors don't solve crimes!
Shaggy paid more attention to his burger than to the conversation, so he just nodded and bit the burguer again. Velma sighed and understood the conversation was definitely over. When she checked her watch to see how many minutes Fred was late, she saw him parking in front of the Cafe. His fiancée, Alice May, was on the passenger seat, and Velma understood the reason for his delay – and the reason why Fred would only spend a few minutes there. Fred greeted Scooby-Doo on the sidewalk, and when he finally arrived, Velma welcomed him with a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek – and she made Alice May see that public display of affection. After finishing his second burger, Shaggy greeted his friend with hands full of ketchup.
Velma: For a moment, I thought I had bought this cake in vain...
Fred: No! No way! I told you I would come... my birthday wouldn't be the same without you both... I just had some problems, Alice's parents scheduled a lunch in family in 20 minutes, and…
"...and you can't be with your friends on your birthday because that bitch doesn't want", was Velma´s mental response. Since she couldn't verbalize it, she just rolled her eyes impatiently and sulked. Fred felt uncomfortable to finish the sentence and hurt his friends, so he stopped talking. Seeing the unnecessary tension created by his girlfriend, Norville stopped chewing and smiled.
Shaggy: Like, no problem, man! We can celebrate later!
Fred smiled when he realized his friend wasn't angry, but his smile didn't take Velma's bad mood away.
Fred: Great. I'm glad you´ll go... I'll pick you up at 10pm, then…
Shaggy: Like, Velma doesn't want to go, but I'm going with Scoob...
Velma: Of course I want to go, Norville! But this is the last time I will do this crazy shit, ok?
Fred: Really? Wow, I´ve expected to get socks as a bday gift, not Mystery Inc. gang together, exploring abandoned places again…
Velma: Don't you feel special about this, I'm not going for you, bday boy... I was one of Mr. Arthur´s special students and I want to prove that my theory about Molly Becker case is right... it would be a great experience for my future career...
Shaggy: Like, no way! She wants to go because cherryred humiliated her on True Crim… I mean, like, YOU KNOW WHO humiliated her on YOU KNOW WHERE…
Velma sighed disdainfully and Fred laughed at her attitude.
Fred: I hear you, Shags… after all, cherryred has a huge fragile ego…
The two boys laughed while Velma grimaced.
Velma: I want to see your faces and your egos when the FBI catches this guy for vandalizing the American justice... when you realize that you´ve been following a psychopath, you will know what humiliation is...
Fred: This guy? No, cherryred is a woman, and she surely is a member of the FBI…
Shaggy: What? Like, shut up! He's a guy... like, he writes like a guy... he doesn't write cute like girls...
Fred: Damn, she´s on the FBI, she can´t write girly…
Shaggy: Like, Velma is almost a judge now, and she still writes cute! Cherryred is a guy!
Fred: She is very observant and she feels empathy for the victims, typically feminine things...
Shaggy: Like, but women don´t like crimes!
Fred: Have you ever heard of Agatha Christie?
Velma sighed loudly on purpose to stop the argument before it hurt her ears.
Velma: I would love to put my two cents in, but your sexism and your ridiculous gender stereotypes made all my neurons commit suicide…
Fred: It's really time to stop, Shags. Velma started speaking democrat…
Both boys laughed again, but on the following moment, Fred got serious. He noticed that Alice was coming toward him, which meant he had lingered way longer than 20 minutes. When he got up, he kissed the top of Velma's head and shook Shaggy´s ketchup hands again. Before leaving the table, he argued again.
Fred: The pseudonym says it all: CHERRY RED! She is a FBI agent, red-haired, beautiful, hot and intelligent, just like Dana Scully.
Shaggy: Shut up! Like, the guy just wants to say that he's the icing on the cake! Like this cherry here, which is on top of this cake... the guy knows everything, he's above the law... like unabomber...
Before leaving the Cafe, Fred made a scornful thumbs up to show how stupid was his friend's theory. Shaggy responded showing his middle finger, then he looked goofily at his girlfriend, who was looking at him disapprovingly.
Velma: Wow, so Mystery Inc. has a pervert and a sexist terrorist… like I´ve said, I really need to build tin foil hats for you both…
Shaggy: No! Like, use all tin foil to wrap this cake... like, what a shame, Fred didn't even eat a little piece of it...
Then, Shaggy looked at his girlfriend caninely, hoping she would feel some compassion and allow him to eat the cake. Velma sighed and laughed.
Velma: It would be a waste of tin foil and time, since we both know that this cake won't survive until the end of this afternoon inside our fridge...
Darrow University Campus, Crystal Cove, January 5, 2023.
10:30 pm
Fred was 30 minutes late. Looking at his stories photos on Instagram, Velma understood that Alice was the cause. Before she could type a message hurrying him up, she heard a car honk outside. Scooby-Doo got excited with the noise and ran between the furniture in the living room – to Velma's despair. Immediately, Shaggy grabbed the backpack full of equipment and held the dog by the leash, to prevent him from irritating his girlfriend (more). On the passenger seat, Velma waited to hear Fred justify the delay, but he didn't.
Fred: So? What do we know about Mr. Arthur? I mean, other than his father was worse than mine…
Shaggy: Like, he was always angry... he enjoyed sending kids who didn't do homework to detention... and he used to give candies to encourage those who had learning difficulties...
Fred: I mean, other than the obvious, Shags…
Shaggy: Oh, ok… uhhh… like, cherryred said he was racist… but, like, I always saw him treating all kinds of people equally badly…
Velma: I said he was racist! Last night I told you he had eugenic ideas, it was way before this cherrylunatic´s theory! I was one of the kids who used to go to his house after school, and during those classes, he said some nasty things, like: "you are the best ones in the human race, don't mix with those who are less intelligent than you!". And that's why I´ve decided to come. I really think he's a suspect in Molly Becker case, and I think I know the motivation for the crime...
Fred: But according to True Crime Forum, Molly was very intelligent... why did she become a victim and you didn't?
Velma: Because I'm part of the ethnicity that Mr. Arthur liked, and Molly wasn´t... racist people can get furious to see someone from an ethnicity they hate winning national math prizes...
The argument was interrupted when the car stopped next to a completely dark, abandoned house. When Fred left the car, Shaggy grabbed Velma's arm, but she ignored her boyfriend's fear and left too. As soon as he got the equipment and the flashlights, Fred opened the door for Scooby, and Shaggy was pulled out of the car by his girlfriend.
Velma: The stupid idea of coming here was yours, why are you scared now?
Shaggy: Like, what if Mr. Arthur's angry ghost is here? What if he chases us? What if he finds out that I´ve cheated on all his tests?
Velma: Ghosts don't exist! And there's nothing to fear... our visit will be quick, I know exactly where we have to search.
Fred: Great... because this house is falling apart. Be careful where you step.
Shaggy calmed down when he entered the house. The decaying setting and the forgotten furniture distracted him, and soon he started taking photos, making videos, and wandering around the rooms. Velma was more objective. As she passed through the main door, she went straight to the door that led to the basement and opened it. Before going down the stairs, Fred tried to stop her, but she didn't let him do it.
Velma: I know what I'm doing! This is the place where he brought us kids, there is a classroom and a secret library downstairs.
Immediately, Shaggy made a disgusted face and signaled that he would stay there and explore the place with his dog. The horrid scene of the dark basement, full of fungi and cobwebs, made Fred shudder. Even so, he followed his friend cautiously, fearing that something would happen to her. Reaching the last step, the two flashlights revealed that there was a small children's classroom, with tables, chairs and math games. On the wall, there was a blackboard with inscriptions from 2016, and around it, many books.
Fred: I think Mr. Arthur's death year is really 2016...
Velma: Exactly! And that's why we're here. He died of a heart attack, an unexpected death. Which means: if he has done something wrong, he didn't have time to hide it before dying…
Fred looked at his friend with admiration, but she ignored the silent "compliment" and started searching through the books. Immediately, he started doing the same, and twenty minutes later, Velma found James Arthur's teaching archives. As she flipped through the pages of his school diary from the year 1997, she found exactly what she needed.
Velma: Jinkies! See, it's Molly's signature! Mr. Arthur made us sign these diaries at the end of all classes here...
Fred: So, we proved that Molly was here in '97...
Velma: And we proved that there was something odd between Molly and Mr. Arthur... see, he crossed out her name all the times… and he has done it only with her…
Fred: Well, it´s a strange attitude…a bit childish, and very passionate, I´d say…
Velma: …as if he wanted to eliminate her for some reason? I thought it too.
Fred: But he couldn´t do it. Nor could he prevent her from being a genious, so he put all his anger on a stupid line on her name…
Velma: Yeah, strange… but, still, it´s only a supposition… I´ll try to find if it happened to other kids…
Fred took photos of the place and the diaries, while Velma continued looking for clues. When he was taking pics of the books, he noticed something strange.
Fred: Hey, Vel, check this out…he had a creepy collection of newpaper articles about his students…all articles about students who got severely ill…some of them died, look… "September 1, 1994 - Bryan Mason, 10, of Anderson, died suddenly from unknown neuropathy"… "May 3rd, 1999 - 12 year-old Shasta student in coma with unknown neuropathy"…
Velma immediately left what she was doing and checked the pieces of paper Fred had found inside a book. After some minutes reading, she got in shock.
Velma: Jinkies… seems like Mr. Arthur´s classes caused mysterious neuropathies… And I doubt he kept these articles because he cared about these kids…
Fred: You mean… they´re souvenirs?
Velma: Yeah, seems like souvenirs of secret murders to me… I bet these kids weren´t as smart as Mr. Arthur wanted… I just don´t understand how he has done it…or better, what he has done to these kids…
Fred: Well, in fact, we still don´t know if he has done it… we still have no prove that he is a sick genocide…
Both stopped talking when they heard Shaggy's scream coming from upstairs. Terrified, they ran to help their friend, but when they arrived in the house's kitchen, they realized there was no danger.
Shaggy: Like, you won't believe what I´ve found inside these closets! Fruitmeir!
Velma sighed loudly to show how annoyed she was, while Shaggy opened a glass jar with a greenish jam inside and started eating it. Meanwhile, Scooby-Doo licked the remaining jam inside a jar.
Velma: Did you scream just to let me know that you´ve found this disgusting shit that must have expired ten years ago?
Shaggy: No! Like, it has expired only seven years ago! The jar was sealed, so it´s safe to eat it...look, it's brand new! Want some?
Velma: Norville, this is disgusting in so many ways! The factory that used to make this crap closed in 2018!
Shaggy: That's why I have to enjoy the remaining ones! There is no more Fruitmeier to buy…nowhere…
Fred: Fruit…what?
Shaggy: Fruitmeir! It's the best tutti-frutti jam in the world!
Velma: Actually, it´s a tutti-frutti jam made of fruit that was certainly planted and harvested in Chernobyl... it's disgusting!
Shaggy: It's delicious! And look, I´ve found these sugar gummy bears too, they´re incredible! Mr. Arthur used to give them to students who couldn't learn… like me!
Velma: Jinkies! I think… this is not sugar!
Fred was rummaging through a closet when Velma's phrase made him approach her. Without saying a word, she showed a package of gummy bears, a jar containing a fine, odorless white powder, and another jar filled with gummy bears covered with the same white powder. Fred photographed everything before Velma took the jar full of sugar-covered gummy bears and opened it.
Shaggy: HEY! MYSTERY INC.´S RULE IS: NEVER TAKE OBJECTS FROM THE EXPLORED LOCATION! BUT IF YOU'RE GOING TO TAKE IT, KNOW THAT I´VE FOUND THESE BEARS FIRST!
Velma: If I'm correct, the FBI will take this jar, honey. I think this white powder is arsenic!
Velma's words startled Shaggy, and he immediately dropped the Fruitmeir jar. Velma laughed and handed him the jar.
Velma: Don´t worry, only the gummy bears are poisoned... the jam is harmless... I mean, except for the fact that it has expired seven years ago...
Fred: So Mr. Arthur gave children with learning problems poisoned candy?
Velma: Apparently, yes. Surely, this powder is not sugar… and all the children´s symptoms coincide with chronic arsenic poisoning. Plus, this heinous act of poisoning kids is consistent with the crazy idea Mr. Arthur taught us: highly intelligent people are a superior race and should not mix with common people.
Shaggy: Like, what a jerk... he wanted to kill kids who couldn´t learn, but he failed miserably! I'm here, healthy, alive and kicking... and finishing all his Fruitmeir supply…
Velma: I think he didn't want to kill them, Shags. He just wanted to prevent these children from having a healthy adulthood, so they would not have descendants to continue their lineage, that's how crazy eugenicists think! Now, tell me, how many children in Crystal Cove Middle School have become seriously ill? Some of them ended severely disabled! And we´ve found dozens of articles about other kids too…
After hearing Velma's theory, Fred and Shaggy were silent for a moment. Scooby noticed that his friends were sad and he made a crying noise, but soon he stopped and licked the jam inside the jar in Shaggy's hand.
Velma: If this is really arsenic, I think we have enough evidence that Mr. Arthur was guilty. I'm going to return to the library and try to find something else.
Distracted by the new posts on True Crime Forum, Fred nodded positively when Velma left her friends and returned to the basement library.
Fred: Hey, I didn't even have time to ask people about our mass poisoning theory! A few hours ago, three users reported that, strangely, some of Mr. Arthur's students became seriously ill...
When he took his eyes off his cell phone, Fred finally noticed Velma's absence. Shaggy was so excited with Fruitmeier's jars that he didn't even pay attention to what he had said, so Fred decided to look for more evidence. For almost an hour, he explored the other rooms of the house and took photos of everything. When he finished, he went down to the library, and there he found empty shelves and Velma among hundreds of books.
Velma: I flipped through all diaries and Mr. Arthur didn´t cross out other children´s names. Unfortunately, the most suspicious thing I´ve found here was his personal diary, full of delusions of grandeur about himself and insults against some students and their parents... it's an offensive content, but I agree with him at some points... like here in this page, when he says Red Herring is a waste of organic matter…
Fred: It's offensive, but it's not enough to say that he committed a crime motivated by racist ideas…
Velma: Yeah, unfortunately we'll never be able to prove our theory...
Fred: Well, we did our best. And maybe that's enough. Maybe the information and the clues we´ve found can help other Forum users and Molly's parents... we have a testimony that he was racist and asked intelligent white children not to mix with others... we also have evidences that he poisoned students… So, we can assume that he killed Molly because she was a living proof that his "superior race" theory was a total bullshit…
Velma: "Assume" is not "prove", Fred! We need proofs! Otherwise, it's just a crazy internet theory...
Velma was interrupted by Shaggy´s scream again. She thought it was another stupid food discovery, so she didn't care. However, seconds after the first scream, a loud crashing noise echoed through the house, and by the tremor it caused in the library's ceiling, Fred and Velma understood that one of the house´s walls had fallen. Both them ran towards the kitchen, and they got scared when they saw Scooby Doo pacing back and forth and barking. When Fred approached, he saw that a large hole was formed under the sink, inside a wooden cabinet, and Velma called desperately her boyfriend´s name.
Shaggy: Hey, calm down, gang! Like, I'm fine! I tried to open a trapdoor under the sink and the floor gave way... like, relax, this is just a mini basement full of trash…
Velma: Are you hurt? Be careful, honey, it must be full of fungi and rusty nails…
Fred: Don't move, Shags, I'll find a rope to get you out…
Shaggy: Relax, gang! I fell on a pile of books and clothes… there's even a duvet here! Like, the place is not very deep, if I climb a little you can pull me up, Fred.
Velma: Jinkies! Is it a duvet with pink and blue stripes?
The light that appeared in the hole suggested that Shaggy was using his flashlight to check out the place. When he let out a quick moan of fear, Velma and Fred got worried.
Velma: Answer me, Shaggy! Is it a girly striped duvet that has a rainbow in the middle of it?
Shaggy: Yeah... and, like, there's worse stuff here... a sinister white outfit... you know, with a hood... and look, there's even a book written by that german guy who had a mustache...
Before Fred could stop her, Velma entered in the small cabinet and jumped into the secret room. Instead of helping his girlfriend investigate the horrible things that were there, Shaggy climbed the wall and asked Fred to get him out. When he was removed, Scooby Doo jumped on him and licked his face.
Velma: Fred, we´ve found all Peter Artmann´s work, studies, essays, experiments... and also Molly's killer... we´ve finally solved this mystery!
Fred approached using his flashlight and he saw the duvet and the pajamas that the girl was wearing when she was taken out of her bed and murdered.
Velma: There are some envelopes full of photos here, but I refuse to see what's inside them...
Fred: Molly's belongings had never been found, so Mr. Arthur is the killer.
After removing his friend from that place, Fred entered the secret room to photograph all the evidence. Immediately, Velma dialed the local police number to submit an anonymous tip, reporting everything she had discovered. As soon as she finished, Shaggy called the phone number displayed on Molly Becker's website to tell the girl's family that her belongings had been found. When Fred finally left, Velma cleaned up some of the mess and they decided to leave. When she saw Shaggy filling his own backpack with jars of jam, she scolded him.
Velma: Norville, you know the rules, give it back right now!
Shaggy sighed and gave the jars back while whining compound swear words. When the gang left the house, Scooby-Doo walked away and ran towards the garage. Shaggy ran after him, and inevitably, Fred and Velma followed them. At the garage, the dog sniffed out around obsessively, until he found a large brown stain on the floor. Scooby froze and sniffed that stain for several minutes, and while he did it, he showed fear. The delay irritated Velma.
Velma: Come on, gang, police will arrive soon, we can't stay here anymore!
Shaggy: Calm down! Like, I think Scoob has found something…
Fred: Seems like the floor was burned...
Shaggy: Like, wasn't Mr. Arthur found dead inside this garage?
Fred: Maybe that's exactly what Scooby is sniffing out...
Shaggy: Like, or maybe there are more dead bodies here...
Velma: Whatever it is, it's none of our business. The FBI will find out... now, we need to go!
Fred and Shaggy continued looking around the place, until Fred found the number 6102016 scratched right next to the strange stain. Both boys only took Velma seriously when they heard siren sounds approaching the place. In panic, everyone ran to Fred's car and they left the place at high speed. Everyone was excited with the mystery solving, and they talked the entire way back. When leaving the dog and the couple of friends in front of their house, Fred thanked them.
Fred: Thanks for the night, gang… it was the best birthday gift I could have. Just like high school times!
Velma responded with a kiss on Fred's cheek, while Shaggy patted his friend´s back. Scooby-Doo squeezed through the window, and then Fred left. When they got home, neither Shaggy nor Velma could sleep. Just like high school times, they spent the rest of the night posting photos and videos of Mr. Arthur's abandoned house on the Mystery Inc.´s channel . When Shaggy finally went to bed, Velma logged into True Crime Forum to respond cherryred´s provocative post. Unfortunately, Fred had already posted the photos and the evidence of the Molly Becker case hours ago, so she just added: "cherryred, wait for breaking news in the morning. Mystery Inc. has solved this mystery for you!".