It was another evening at Blake Manor, and the family was getting ready for dinner. They did their best to remain punctual and precise as they finished their preparations. Things were still a little intense between Daphne and her parents, but they managed to stay civil for the time being, and the others were caught up in it.

After washing their hands, they all headed downstairs and gathered at the table. And once they did, the cooks came out with the various dishes.

"Oh, good, I'm famished," said Nancy.

Jenkins was the last one out. "And now, ladies and gentlemen...dinner is served," he declared. But before he could lift the lid...the lights flickered, and went out...and then the lid on the platter started glowing and shaking until it flew off, revealing a ghostly chef underneath.

"SACRÉ BOO!" he bellowed demonically. "Je suis revenu pour me venger!" (I have returned to seek revenge)

Jenkins' eyes widened in shock. "...Pierre?" he asked, under his breath.

The entire Blake family were shocked by the appearance of the ghost as they all sat in fear. Then as soon as the ghost had appeared, it disappeared in a swirl of smoke.

For at least five minutes, the Blakes sat in shocked silence...as Daphne got up and went to make a call.

Who was she calling? Well, you get three guesses, and the first one doesn't count.

Case File 13:
THE HAUNTING OF BLAKE MANOR!

guest starring
JAMES URBANIAK as Jenkins
GREY GRIFFIN as Nancy Blake
NOLAN NORTH as Benjamin Blake
DEE BRADLEY BAKER as Chef Pierre Ghoulash
TROY BAKER as Mr. Gantry

A few minutes later, the gang arrived outside of Blake Manor.

"...you know, this place looks friendlier in the DAYTIME..." said Shaggy nervously.

"For some strange reason, I agree with you." Velma admitted. "Then again, most rich people tend to have a whole Jekyll and Hyde thing going on with how they act."

"Well, Daphne called us for a reason," said Fred. "So no sense putting it off—let's make sure they know we're here."

They all nodded in agreement and went over to the door and knocked. They waited a moment before Jenkins came to answer it.

"Ah...good evening to you, Miss Dinkley, and Misters Jones, Rogers, and Doo," greeted Jenkins. "A pleasure to see you all again."

"Likewise, Jenkins," Velma responded.

"Like, any chance you can let us in and inform us on what happened?" Shaggy asked worriedly.

"Of course, Mister Shaggy," nodded Jenkins as he opened the door for them to come inside. "Please follow me to the dining room."

They all nodded as they went inside and followed behind Jenkins.

"You see, as of recently, the Blake Manor has been the victim of a... haunting," explained Jenkins as he led them down the hall.

"A haunting?/A raunting?" Shaggy and Scooby exclaimed in unison before they shivered together.

"That's what he said." Velma replied before asking Jenkins to continue.

Jenkins nodded. "Well...that's pretty much the long and short of it, actually," he responded. "I'll...tell further details later."

"Alright." Fred agreed as they continued on.

Soon, they came into the dining room, where they saw the Blakes, looking rather startled by the sudden door opening.

"Everyone, please calm down," advised Jenkins.

"Talk about a family freak-out!" Velma said while watching the scene.

Daphne looked up, and visibly brightened once she saw her friends. "Mom, Dad, calm down!" she insisted. "It's just the gang."

"...oh," said Benjamin as he and Nancy's fright turned to mild disdain. "...I see."

"What a warm welcome." Fred sarcastically said in a low voice.

"Around here? I'm used to it," Velma muttered in response.

"Sadly." Scooby and Shaggy agreed.

"Best we can do is be professional, and not stoop to their level," said Velma. "Anyways, perhaps you could fill us in on the situation, exactly?"

"Like, please do so." Shaggy begged Jenkins.

"And apparently...the ghost is that of our former chef, Pierre," Jenkins continued.

"A g-g-ghost chef?" asked Shaggy.

"Talk about a way to kill an appetite..." Fred commented.

"R-r-reah!" Scooby agreed as he was too scared to be hungry now.

"The point is, it's a problem, and it needs to be dealt with...somehow!" Nancy said.

"We'll look into it." Daphne assured her parents as she led the gang out of the room.

"It IS honestly impressive...this guy must've been pretty scary if he could fool your parents into thinking he was a real ghost," commented Velma once they were out.

"I don't know if it was actually fake or not." Daphne admitted.

"And personally... I'm afraid that if it IS my old friend...he might have a very good reason for coming back from the dead," sighed Jenkins.

"What's the story on him?" Velma asked. "It sounds like there's more to it than we know."

(credit for backstory goes to Zigwolf)

"Well, Pierre Goulache was one of the most renowned french chefs in the U.S. and while he was under the employment of the Blakes, we were very good friends," explained Jenkins. "He was in charge of crafting delicious meals for the family, but the Blake parents were never wowed by his work, and they had a habit of changing up the menu on him at the last minutes. Bringing in exotic ingredients also presented a problem for Pierre, as they were usually foods that he'd never tried before."

"That's not good..." Velma said. "That amount of sudden changes must've given him an insane amount of stress."

Jenkins nodded. "I tried to warn against this, but they insisted that he 'needed to be kept on his toes'," he sighed. "On one particular night, the Blakes once again changed the dinner choices again and brought in the Miyashima Fugu Pufferfish to feast on. There are only 7 in the world, and all but one part of it is poisonous. To prepare it incorrectly would mean instant death. Pierre had never prepared something like this before and struggled to cut it in the right way for sushi. After completing it, he personally brought it out to the Blakes to see if this could finally be up to their standards. The Blakes wanted him to taste test it first. Pierre insisted that he was confident in his abilities, but the Blakes goaded him into eating it after claiming that maybe he wasn't the chef they thought he was. Pierre ate the sushi and claimed it was his best work. Seconds later, he started vomiting blood and fell to the ground, dead. The Blakes swept this under the rug and made it seem like Pierre died in a drunk driving accident. The only ones who know besides them are myself, a few other servants..."

"...and me," Daphne added. "I don't even think my sisters know."

"Golly...this is serious!" Fred declared.

"Jinkies," Velma replied.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy added with a gulp.

"Ruh-roh," Scooby said.

"Alright...the most likely culprit is undoubtedly a former employee who knew of this event and is sore over being fired," Velma theorized.

"Well that might prove to be a problem, because they did a complete overhaul of the entire staff, save for me, so that's over twenty to thirty people that were recently let go, especially those that knew about the incident." Jenkins explained.

"...jinkies..." Velma fumed, confused and frustrated.

"We'll get the personnel files." Daphne advised. "I know where mom and dad keep them."

"Alright, maybe that should work, as long as nothing's been blacked-out," replied Fred.

So they followed Daphne to where the personnel files could be hidden.

Fortunately for them, nothing was blacked out.

"My parents are too lazy to do this stuff," Daphne pointed out. "So they delegate it to other employees."

"Rhank roodness for raziness!" Scooby exclaimed as he wiped his forehead with his tail, while he and the others ventured into the attic of Blake Manor.

It was going to take a while to sort through the files, so they needed to split up to find more information and clues.

So, each of them took a flashlight, some extra batteries, and a pile of files, and started to sort through, looking for anything that might prove crucial.

So far, they didn't find much to go on. And looking through all of these files was pretty boring work...not to mention hunger-inducing.

"...hey, guys? Scoob and I are goin' to get something to eat," said Shaggy. "We might not like Daphne's parents, but we can like their food."

"Reah! Rick it to the man!" Scooby added. "Ry ricking a fork in it!"

"Sure thing." Fred replied. "Maybe the kitchen could have some clues...it is a ghost chef!"

So Shaggy and Scooby left the attic and headed back downstairs to the kitchen. Fortunately, the other Blakes were out of the room, so they didn't have to deal with being judged or criticized for "eating like pigs".

As they made it into the kitchen, both dog and boy found plenty of high-end ingredients.

"Eh, I'm not in a cooking mood right now, Scoob," shrugged Shaggy. "Let's get something snackworthy."

"Row about rheese ruffs?" asked Scooby.

"Like, yeah! I bet they've got some pretty gourmet cheese puffs!" Shaggy beamed. "And cheese straws...and maybe pretzel nuggets! See if you can sniff out the pantry, Scoob!"

Scooby gave a salute, and started sniffing around the kitchen.

As Scooby sniffed around he found pantries for just about everything until he discovered a pantry that was solely for cheese and cheese items.

"Hoo-boy!" exclaimed Shaggy. "Not only did we hit the motherlode, it's the fatherlode, brother, sister, and uncle lode!"

"Reah! Reah!" Scooby exclaimed. "Ret's rick it to 'em!"

Immediately, they went inside and started to devour whatever they saw. And anything they couldn't eat right then, they just stuffed into a duffel bag for later. As they continued eating, they didn't notice that they were about to receive some very unwanted company.

The ghost made his way into the kitchen. Then upon hearing the noise from the cheese pantry, he went to investigate. Once the door opened, he was appalled at the sight before his eyes.

"SACRÉ BOO!" he bellowed, getting the duo's attention. Looking up from licking their fingers clean of cheese dust, they turned towards the Ghost Chef.

The both of them screamed as their eyes bulged out, and their hair spiked up, then they ran away while leaving a cloud of cheese dust behind them—that Scooby came back and sucked up before getting back to running.

"I will serve YOU as the next dish!" roared the ghost chef as he came running after Shaggy and Scooby, who were hastily making tracks out of the kitchen and through the hallways. "At my BANQUET DE VENGEANCE!"

They went through various doors and hallways as the mansion was pretty big with plenty of places to go running around in.

Eventually, the ghost chef ended up losing track of the duo. "Eh? Where did zey go?" he murmured, looking around.

Shaggy and Scooby decided to try sneaking by dressed as maids. Fortunately, the maids in the Blake household wore pants.

"Ey? Have you seen a scruffy boy and a Great Dane, both of whom eat like ze pigs?" asked Chef Ghoulash.

"Nope, can't say that I have," Shaggy responded in a higher register.

"Re neither!" Scooby chimed in, also high-pitched.

Chef Ghoulash growled in frustration before going in the opposite direction. Once he was gone, Shaggy and Scooby bolted to find the others.

Fred and the others were still looking through the files when they overheard the attic door opening.

"That must be Shaggy and Scooby," Velma commented.

Naturally, who else would it be?

"You betcha! And it happened again!" Shaggy said as they got in.

"Reah! Reah!" Scooby nodded before reshaping himself to resemble the ghost. "RACRÉ ROOOOOO!" he howled.

"I guess even though he's a ghost, you'd still find him in the kitchen," Daphne pointed out. "Good thing this place is big enough for you to give him the slip."

"Yeah...lucky us," said Shaggy. "Did you guys find anything?"

"We've narrowed it down to three former employees and two current ones." Velma pointed out. "A maid, a groundskeeper, and one of the cooks were all given legal gag orders and the newest security guard and mechanic have apparently been a little sneaky for some reason."

"Hmm...maybe we should go find the mechanic first?" suggested Daphne.

"Good idea." Fred agreed. "Meanwhile, Shaggy and Scooby, could you track down that security guard?"

Shaggy and Scooby glanced at each other. In any other circumstance, they would have been glad to refuse. But this situation could put Daphne in danger.

"Sure thing, Freddy," replied Shaggy. "Just let us know where to start looking."

"Try the security room." Daphne suggested while sending Shaggy a list of directions to his phone. "You can see everything from there."

"Like, thanks, Daph," nodded Shaggy, before he and Scooby left the attic again.

So they followed Daphne's directions until they found the security room. Then, they knocked on the door to see if anyone was inside. No response. They decided to open the door and go on in.

Turning on their flashlights, they looked around inside of the security room. All they saw was an empty reclining gaming chair and a variety of TV screens with security feeds and a couple of servers in the back.

"...wow," commented Shaggy. "I don't think anyone's been in here for a while."

Suddenly, they heard commotion behind another door in the corner and the security guard, Mr. Gantry, came out and saw them.

"Oh, hey." He said as he walked over. "What do you want?"

"Just wanted to talk, ask if you've seen anything suspicious," said Shaggy. "I mean, whatnot with the haunting and all."

"Sorry, but I ate something that hasn't been agreeing with me." The security guard admitted. "I've been stuck in the bathroom all night."

"Well, alright," nodded Shaggy. "Sorry to bother you."

"No problem." The security guard replied.

So, Shaggy and Scooby left the security room.

"Well, another dead end, Scoob," said Shaggy. "Maybe we oughta go regroup with the others again?"

"Ri ron't row, Raggy." Scooby replied. "Romething reems rishy ro me."

"Hmm...how do ya figure?" inquired Shaggy.

Scooby whispered to Shaggy about how it seemed too convenient that the security guard was having bathroom issues while there was a ghost in the house.

"...I guess that IS a good point," nodded Shaggy.

Scooby nodded as they decided to check back later. In the meantime, they would go and meet up with the others.

Fred, Daphne, and Velma had just spoken with the mechanic and found out that he mainly snuck away to feed some ducks that lived at a nearby pond.

"So it looks like he has an alibi," commented Velma. "How long has he been feeding those ducks, and how often?"

"It all matches up with when the ghost strikes." Daphne pointed out.

"Like, Scooby might've figured something out about the case!" Shaggy said as he and Scooby returned.

"Hey, what's this?" Fred asked as he picked something cloth-like up. Velma got out her magnifying glass and looked it over: it was a white handkerchief with some sort of code on it.

"Let me see that, please?" Daphne suggested.

"Sure," replied Fred as he handed Daphne the handkerchief. Once she had it, she took a good look and recognized the numbers. "These are codes to get into the emergency escape train," Daphne revealed.

"You have an escape train?" Shaggy asked, surprised.

"Mom and Dad liked the idea of having a quick getaway for emergencies," Daphne replied. "I'll bring you to it."

So, the gang followed Daphne down into the basement, where the escape train was. Once inside the train itself, they discovered a lot of items that would normally be found in the mansion.

"Hmm...these are all a bunch of paintings, silverware, and all sorts of valuable things." Velma pointed out. "Daphne, I think your family has been getting robbed."

"And from the inside, too..." Daphne added. "Sheesh! You can't trust anyone these days!"

"Um, we like, have an idea on who did this." Shaggy mentioned.

"Reah," Scooby agreed.

"Really?" Velma inquired.

"Like, yeah." Shaggy replied.

But before he could inform them, Chef Ghoulash suddenly appeared in the train cabin. "I WARNED YOU WOULD FEEL ZE WRATH OF THIS WRAITH!" he bellowed.

"ZOINKS!" exclaimed Shaggy. "Like, it's the Maitre'D of the Dead! Let's bolt before he makes an entreé out of us!"

"We're with you!" Fred agreed as the gang took off running, with Chef Ghoulash coming after them.

They had to be extra crafty to avoid the ghost as they went in and out of the train before finding an elevator to go back up with.

But as they were heading up, they saw across from them was Chef Ghoulash inside another elevator, hot on their proverbial heels! Fortunately, this time they had more room to run as well as hide.

The kids scurried out of the elevator mere seconds before the ghost chef's elevator caught up.

Then they got to hiding in various spots. Shaggy and Scooby got into a large pottery vase. Daphne hid in a broom closet. Velma got into a trunk. Fred slid behind the curtain.

After they hid, Chef Ghoulash came floating up the hallway, his eyes glancing around, looking for telltale signs. Unfortunately for him, he didn't find anything and left the area, muttering in French to himself all the way as he went.

Once he was gone, the gang came out of hiding.

"At least he took off..." Shaggy commented.

"For now, but he'll be back." Fred pointed out. "We need to set a trap."

"Any ideas?" Shaggy inquired.

"I spotted an emergency net in the train," Fred pointed out. "If we lure him into it, then we'll get him."

"Also while you'll be running, you'll also be safe and not the bait." Velma told Shaggy and Scooby. "All we need are a couple of pieces of the stolen items and the ghost won't risk destroying them."

"...rit's as rood an idea as any," Scooby relented.

"Well, at least we'll have protection," Shaggy pointed out.

They then turned to their friends. "Just tell us where to go," said Shaggy.

A short while later Shaggy and Scooby were both carrying a painting from the looted stuff and were looking for the ghost.

"Easy does it, Scoob," said Shaggy. "Like, you gotta lift with your legs."

"Rokay," Scooby replied as he did his best.

As they continued lifting it along, they soon found that they had some company...in the form of the ghost chef!

"SACRÉ BOO!" he bellowed as he manifested behind them.

"That's him!" Shaggy pointed out.

"Run!" Scooby advised as they managed to bolt while carrying the painting. Chef Ghoulash whirled and came right after the duo, who were somehow managing to keep ahead of him. To keep the painting safe, Chef Ghoulash didn't chase them as fast as he usually would. "Relinquish zat painting!" he bellowed at them.

"Like, no way, Cordon Boo!" Shaggy called back as they went into an elevator. Chef Ghoulash didn't want to wait for the elevator, so he had to run down the stairs.

Eventually, Shaggy and Scooby got out of the elevator and waited for the winded ghost chef. After a few minutes, he arrived, panting and sweating, at the bottom of the stairs as he clutched his knees, leaving a trail of sweat behind him.

Shaggy and Scooby waited for him to recover a bit; once he was no longer struggling to catch his breath, he continued his pursuit of the duo, who were off and running again.

Shaggy and Scooby led him down a specific path. Soon they made it past where the net was hidden and waited for the others to do their thing. Chef Ghoulash glowered as he made his way down the path. Soon, the team caught him with the net, and he screamed and flailed while he was trapped.

"And that's one chef that's off the menu!" Fred declared.

"I think it's more like there's one chef who's been kicked from the kitchen!" Velma corrected.

"Yeah, that's better." Fred agreed.

"And now, to unmask this head chef," said Daphne as she went over to unmask the ghost chef.

After Daphne removed the mask, they saw the tired face of the security guard. "Mr. Gantry?" She exclaimed.

"Damn, I've been found out!" He exclaimed on frustration.

"But I don't understand," said Daphne. "Why were you trying to steal from us?"

"That's because it's what he does." Velma said after checking something out on her phone. "Apparently there's someone going around acting like a great security guard, but what he actually does is rob his rich clients without them noticing anything."

"It's bigger than that," responded Mr. Gantry. "Pierre Gouache was my cousin. And I couldn't just let his death be swept under the rug. To put it simply, I wanted revenge. Also, valuables."

"We'll deal with what happened to your cousin, but for what you did you have to go to jail." Fred advised.

"Yeah, yeah..." groused Mr. Gantry. "I would've gotten away with it...if it wasn't for you pesky kids and your dog."

And so, the case was solved...but it was a bittersweet victory.

Soon afterwards, Mr. Gantry was arrested. As he was led out of the Blake Manor, Nancy and Benjamin watched him go.

"Honestly...some people can be so ungrateful," Nancy commented.

"Oh, definitely," agreed Benjamin, shaking his head. "You give someone an opportunity, and then they turn around and spit in your face. Dreadful, really."

Daphne was fuming and stormed up to her room and grabbed a few things before coming out with a couple of packed bags.

"Do I dare ask, Miss Blake?" inquired Jenkins.

"I'm going out for a month." Daphne replied as she also had some other things in her bags as well. "I need time away to decide on a few things."

"Of course," nodded Jenkins. "I wish you the best of luck, Miss Blake."

"Thanks, Jenkins." Daphne replied before leaving with the gang.

And so he watched her go as the Mystery Machine pulled away, leaving Blake Manor in its wake.

During the ride, Daphne revealed some things she had gathered. Specifically security tapes and documents.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Shaggy and Scooby, awestruck.

"This should be everything from that night, but we need to bide our time before we expose them," Daphne explained.

"Good point," said Fred. "It'd be pretty easy for them to turn that against us."

"Once we're ready, we'll bring down my parents for what they did." Daphne advised.

"Right!" the rest of the gang agreed.

They drove off with Daphne joining them as they were starting their journey on settling a long awaited sense of justice. As they left, Daphne could've sworn she saw someone behind Jenkins—someone who almost looked like old Chef Pierre...but instead of looking frightening or scary, he looked calm, and he waved to her as she left.

"Something big is coming, Daphne," he said, his voice echoing in her head. "I hope you and your friends are ready..."

Daphne nodded, as the Mystery Machine drove out of sight.

On a hill, a cloaked stranger watched from afar, and then walked off into the shadows.

CASE CLOSED...

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right?