It was getting close to suppertime. The gang decided now was the best time to meet everybody else at the office like they agreed on.
"Should we meet with Perry, Paul and Della now?" Daphne asked.
She hadn't forgotten about meeting with them.
"That's the plan, Daph. Let's get going, gang."
There wasn't much of a conversation during the drive over to Perry's office.
"I think the kids are on their way over," Paul said.
"How can you know that?" she asked.
"Just a guess. Time is almost up," he answered, looking at the time.
Perry saw the clock himself.
"He's right, Della. They should be here shortly."
"What do you think the answer should be when they show up and ask, Perry?"
"How about no? They don't need to watch me in the courtroom. These people know nothing about the contest anyway," Perry pointed out.
"True. I know they'll be disappointed, but will get over it. We did make an agreement with them if we say no, they go back home."
"That's true. I don't know how they do while working on their cases," Della replied.
"Neither do we, but they look like they've had experience over the years."
Perry and Della agreed with Paul.
"Well, Paul, this was how you planned the contest, right?"
"Yes, Perry. I only did it for the fun of it. I don't know how they come up with their own questions. They did ask your mother stuff, right?"
"Yes, they did. For some reason, I have that feeling they think my mother is the one who murdered my father."
"That's crazy, Perry. It's not like that all the time," she said.
Fred found a parking spot near the office.
"I wonder if they think they could prove me wrong it was my mother. I think they guessed I could be part of it too. That's why I called you earlier, Paul."
"You're out of character for that, Perry. You would never do such a thing since you're always in the courtroom half the time."
"Exactly. I have a feeling Mom would never forgive me if they made her and myself the suspects of my father's case."
"Looks that way. How did she react to that thought?" Della asked.
"She looked like she thought I would lock her up for something she didn't do and would never talk to me again."
"That's a wonderful answer, Perry. Let's just turn them down about your mother. We don't want her to get into trouble for that."
"Agreed," Perry said.
Even Della nodded in agreement.
"He's right, Perry."
"I know he is."
They kept talking about the case when they heard Fred knock on the door.
"I'll get it."
"Thanks, Della."
So she did. Even Scooby was part of it.
"We're back," Shaggy told the three of them.
"We talked about it, kids."
"What's the answer, Paul?"
"We decided to turn you down by not being able to watch me in the courtroom with all the action about my mother. I was just telling Paul and Della here I think you have agreed to this I was part of it besides my own mother. She would never forgive me me for this."
"Is that why you turned us down?"
"Yes, Daphne. I just plan to keep you out of sight from the courtroom. I decided not to have my mother on the witness stand. How did you come up with the idea of me being a suspect?"
"It was just a thought. We know it's not your character for getting involved since you're in the courtroom most of the time," Fred replied.
"That's what we were just talking about before you walked in. Remember the agreement we came up with?"
"Yes, Paul. We go home when the answer is no."
"I think you should go home in the next day or two."
"We don't fly, Mr. Drake. We drive our van that you saw when warning us about somebody following the van just yesterday."
"We would hate to leave since it feels like to us the case isn't solved. We never lose a case," Velma reminded them.
"That's how it is when I'm in the courtroom with those clients."
"Maybe we can show you tonight that Scooby helps me out in the kitchen. How about I cook this time, Perry?"
"All right, Shaggy. I remember you saying something about having a dog in the kitchen helping out. We had a good laugh about it."
"I'm sure you did. Let's go to your house and we'll do it."
"We'll follow you, Perry. We've only been in your house for one meal so far," Shaggy added, remembering Della bought dinner over the other day.
They haven't forgotten.
"Just let me lock up the office and we'll drive out together. You can ride with me, Della."
Once everybody went into the parking lot, Perry and Fred both unlocked their vehicles at the same time.
When Perry opened the passenger's side of his car, he helped Della get inside.
"Thank you, Perry."
The gang watched them.
"He's quite a gentleman."
"For sure," Fred agreed as they drove behind Perry and Paul.
The gang had only been at Perry's house for a short while, so they didn't know their way to the house without his guidance.
They didn't take very long to show up at Perry's place. Paul was in front of them, so they knew they weren't lost.
So everybody made it without any trouble, thanks to Perry and Paul.
"Let's park here in the curb," Fred said as Paul, Della and Perry got out of their cars in the driveway.
"We'll stay one more night, Perry. Thanks for letting us stay here at your place."
"You're welcome, Shaggy. Happy to do it."
He unlocked the front door and all of them walked in, and that included Scooby Doo so that way they could demonstrate the dog in the kitchen with cooking.
"What should we do for the meal?" Shaggy asked.
"Whatever you can find. I have plenty of food in the kitchen."
"Let's get to work, Scoob and see what we will make up."
"Yeah."
Everybody else stayed in the living room until Shaggy was ready to call them in so the demonstration would begin.
"What does he have here in the fridge?" Shaggy asked, opening the door.
"I don't think there's much of anything, Raggy."
"You could be right, Scoob. He said there was plenty of food. Maybe we can go to the grocery store and find something else."
"Good idea," Scooby agreed.
They both returned to the living room.
"Perry, you said there was enough food. Scoob agrees with me we should go to the grocery store and find something even better than your fridge."
"You guys don't need to go to the store, Shaggy. We're not wasting our money for his refrigerator," Velma said.
"We'll keep looking. When we find something, we'll call you," Shaggy said, getting back into the kitchen.
"They never go without ideas," Velma said.
They just heard pots and pans coming out.
"They like pots and pans," Daphne added.
Fred had to agree.
Within the next minute or two, Shaggy called them into the kitchen.
"What are we having tonight, Shag?"
"Glad you asked, Freddy. How does spaghetti and grilled cheese with soup? That's the best we could do."
"Do your stuff, Shaggy."
So they did. Neither of them said a word, but only watched.
"Looks like the cooking is a great way to end the vacation," Shaggy whispered to Scooby.
"You're right, Raggy."
Within ten minutes or so, dinner was ready.
"Thank you, Shaggy and Scooby Doo for making dinner tonight," Della said.
"It's our pleasure. We're the best cooks, right, Scoob?"
"Yeah," he said a second time.
"Help yourselves and let us know what you think."
"Ice cream and cake seems to be popular with these two. One time they made a cheesecake with bananas and Rice Krispy treats."
That wasn't funny, so there was no reason to laugh.
Once everybody had something, they ate a few bites and Shaggy asked, "What do you think?"
"Delicious," Della answered.
"I knew you would like it."
Since they were leaving tomorrow afternoon, tonight was the best way to end the contest.