Despite the new air filters, Velma could still smell the dust from the road. It was only a few days into May but already California had already dried out from Winter and Spring showers and was not in a dry spell. At least the oak forests which surrounded the Bravo property were a change from the mile after mile of chaparral they had to drive through on the hilly backroads through the Santa Ynez Mountains. But even though the afternoon sun was still bright overhead, the road seemed dark and their surroundings dim with a haze.
"Okay gang, I think we're here." Said Fred, as the mansion came into view around.
"That's more cars than I expected." Said Daphne, eyeing the fleet of black cars which were parked along the side of the building, from the look of the license plates, it looked like most of the east and west coasts had gathered together.
"Let's get our bearings first. Last time we were here was at night, best to get our bearings while there is still some light." Said Velma, as Fred pulled to a stop away from the other cars.
"Like, I'm getting some weird vibes here." Said Shaggy, with Scooby-Doo weakly nodding in agreement.
Getting out of the car, Fred helped Daphne step down onto the loose ground underfoot. Wincing slightly, it was clear Daphne had gotten a bit of sand in her shoe, but she ignored the distraction as they made their way to the front door, which opened as they approached.
"Friends of the family, are we? Or are you here for business?" Asked the thin doorman with hair, mustache, and lips to match.
"A little of both, I guess. We're Mystery Incorporated, Miss Jebedissa sent for us before she passed." Said Fred, who wasn't exactly sure how to answer.
"Enter and be seated then." Opening the door, the house servant motioned towards the couches lining the entry hall before walking through a door to announce their arrival to an unseen group of people in the closed-off sitting room. A moment later exited a portly gentleman in a white suit with a smile that gave everyone the sudden urge to wash their hands.
"Ah, Mystery Inc. A pleasure to meet you, a pleasure indeed. I understand you received a letter from my office. I am Barbarossa Hanne esquire, I was Miss Bravo's personal lawyer." Said Barbarossa, whose hands felt as cold and sweaty as he looked.
"We understand that Jebedissa passed away shortly after she contacted us. We hope it was an easy passing." Said Daphne.
"Yes, quietly in the night as I understand. It was just her time I suppose." Said Barbarossa.
"From the look of all the cars, we take it that her family is gathered together." Said Velma.
"Ah, indeed. Jebedissa was the heir to the estate and has many cousins and distant relatives who came all this way to help remember her passing. They are currently having a family meeting now, so I don't think you'll be available to speak with them now." Said Barbarossa, looking nervously over his shoulder.
'More like arguing over her will and property.' Thought Velma.
"We don't want to intrude on the grieving family." Said Fred. "Would it be alright if we looked around the grounds until they are able to meet with us?"
"Well, I don't think they would object to that." Barbarossa pulled out a key from his pocket and unlocked the door behind them. "You're free to the library or walk through the gardens until the family is finished."
The family library was a two-floor room with swivel ladders and glass cases arranged around couches, chairs, and desks with old-fashioned green reading lamps. Upon seeing them into the room, Barbarossa excused himself and left.
Walking up to a portrait of a man with gray hair in a purple suit, Fred examined the surface of the painting and tapped lightly against the frame, hearing a soft hollow sound echoing in the wall.
"Bryce Bravo. 1870-1922, Husband, father, orange farmer, and long-distance racer." Said Daphne, coming up to read the placard underneath the painting.
On the table was a property map, which Velma snapped a picture of on her phone before she tore out a piece of paper from her notepad to write on. When finished, she set it down on the table for all to read.
Anyone else gets the feeling that we're not wanted here?
After everyone had read the note and nodded, Velma folded up the paper and stored it away in her pocket notebook.
"Okay, gang let's split up." Said Fred, who was shocked to discover that Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby were already opening the door to leave for the gardens. A gentle pat on the shoulder from Daphne caused Fred to chuckle that everyone knew him well enough to have a sixth sense for his split-up suggestions.
"I think this is a family history library." Said Daphne, pointing out a genealogy chart on the opposite wall.
"Yeah, the glass cases seem to contain family heirlooms." Said Fred, walking up to a case which contained railroad spikes and a horse saddle with a brass placard. "In memory of Butler, 'we ride under no more desert skies'"
"Looks like the Bravo family came from Scotland, nearby the Blake Clan. That's interesting, I never remembered hearing about them." Said Daphne, remembering their recent visit to her ancestral homeland.
"Here's the family tree. Bryce Bravo, 1870-1922, Brinsley Bravo, 1892-1944, Joy Bravo, 1930-1982, and Jebedissa Bravo, 1966…" Said Fred, noticing the obvious pattern.
"They all died at age fifty-two." Said Daphne, taking out her phone she quickly took a snapshot of the entire family tree, before going back to peek at the archives.
"Daphne, check this out." Said Fred, excitedly taking her arm to lead her to a section of the library wall. "It's the complete set of the Steel Ball Run Archives. Even most universities only have one or two of these in their private collections, and they have all twenty-four volumes."
"Steel Ball Run?" Daphne was searching her memory to remember. "Wasn't that the big horse race back during the old west where a hundred people died?
"Yeah, it was just a horse race, followed by one of the biggest cover-up operations in history." Said Fred. "You know I'm not really into conspiracy theories…"
"Not since your addiction to tabloids when you were a teenager." Said Daphne, teasing him. "Come on, it's not a big deal. Let's see what else is in here while we wait."
"Alright, Daph." Said Fred, quickly scanning through the first volume's list of racers before putting the book back on the shelf.
Outside, Velma and Shaggy had reached the "gardens" only to find a large lot of sand with shriveled fruit trees and the outline of a hedge maze grown into leafless thorn bushes.
"Whoa, creepy." Said Shaggy.
"Reah, reepy." Agreed Scooby-Doo, who gently bent down to sniff at the ground before letting out a weak sneeze.
Checking with her phone, Velma zoomed in on the property map and began to get her bearings. Last time they were here they had spent all of their time inside the house, but apparently, the Bravos owned hundreds of acres in these hills alone. Though the thorn maze was not on the map, there did seem to be a building somewhere inside that area which was marked "MAS".
"This way Shaggy." Said Velma, leading them into the maze. The corridors were overgrown and gave the impression that this was not a place that was cared for. "Despite Jebedissa taking on the guise of a Ghostly Gardener, I don't think she actually did any gardening."
After a few minutes of wandering through the maze, and Shaggy getting the shoulder of his shirt torn by a particularly long thorn, they reached the center where stood a white marble building in an ancient Greek style. Corinthian columns twisted their way down into the ground, revealing a stairway leading underground. Opposed to the rest of the maze, there were rose bushes in bloom and soft grass underfoot here in the center. Scooby-Doo walked over to the give the flowers a smell and let out a sigh of contentment.
"This part is tended to strangely enough." Said Velma with a frown. "The map has this labeled MAS for mausoleum. I guess that makes sense." Walking around the perimeter of the building showed a glass observation room which held a table with a single chair. What was odd was that there was no apparent door leading inside.
"Scoobs? Where'd you get to Scoobs?" Asked Shaggy, looking around to see that Scooby-Doo had gone.
"Did he go underground on his own?" Velma wondered. That seemed uncharacteristic of the dog, and she followed Shaggy down into the crypt. Just as she stepped down she felt her phone buzz with a text from Daphne.
The lawyer told us to leave, the family doesn't want us around. We have an appointment to meet with him tomorrow.
"Shaggy is Scooby down there?" Velma called from the top of the stairs, but after a moment with no answer, she was forced to go down as well.
Strangely, the crypt was not as dark as she had expected. Like there was still natural light filtering down through cracks in the stones, which should have been impossible. At the bottom of the stairs, the main room opened into two side rooms. Pulling out a pocket flashlight to illuminate the dark corners, Velma saw neither Shaggy nor Scooby down either side. However, sealed concrete boxes were labeled, seemingly containing the remains of members of the Bravo family. A bright yellow reflection on the far wall caught her flashlight, and she walked towards the flat wall which looked more like granite than marble.
As the light spot faded from her vision, she clearly saw the bit of metal which lay indented on the surface of the stone.
"A keyhole?" Said Velma, pulling out the key they had received from Jebedissa in the mail she checked to see if the size and shape of the key were a match and was disappointed when they seemed perfect. "It can't be this easy, this almost feels like a setup."
For a moment Velma was tempted to just toss the key to the ground and forget the whole thing, perhaps it was an impulse of frustration which compelled her, but she put the key into the hole and turned.
A shock of electricity ran up her arm accompanied by a mechanic gear turning and finally ending with a loud snapping sound. As the noises died down, Velma looked back at the key, seeing that the handle had been cleaved in half. It was a little awkward to pull out the key, which was falling apart in her hand, and as soon as it was out, the remains of the key practically turned do dust in her hand. All that remained was the single bronze wheel.
"Velma, there you are," Shaggy called from behind her. "Took me a while to find Scoobs down here. It's bigger than I expected, but there honestly isn't much down here, just a lot of dust."
Velma turned around to see Scooby-Doo proudly holding a bone in his mouth. Opening her mouth to object, Velma remembered that all the funeral placards on the wall were interment places for funeral urns. The Bravos only buried by cremation, so it was unlikely Scooby had found a human bone. Why did that seem weird though? Shaking her head to focus herself.
"We got a text from Daphne, they want us to leave the property." Said Velma.
"Like Bummer, I was hoping we'd could have stayed in this creepy old mansion for the night. Instead, we'll have to settle for some nice hotel with complimentary continental breakfast." Shaggy said sarcastically, prompting an oddly energetic approval from Scooby-Doo.
Letting the metallic dust in her hand fall to the ground, Velma pocketed the gear that had been inside the key and followed Scooby and Shaggy up the stairs and out of the maze.
By the time they had all arrived back at the Mystery Machine, Velma looked back at the mansion and saw faces looking down at them from practically every window in the house.