Chapter 02

Right after calling the Sheriff's Department, I called my parents. If the police were going to be involved, then I decided they needed some advance notice. Fred called his father and Daphne called her security detail. All were on their way.

Shaggy watched us make our calls. Scooby whimpered softly. Shaggy looked at his dog. "I guess I better call Dad." He wandered away into the woods to make his call.

We stood around awkwardly for a moment before Fred spoke up. "As long as we're here, we might as well look around."

Daphne turned to him. "For what?"

"Clues, I guess."

To say I was hesitant was an understatement. "This again?" I was the one that got kidnapped the last time. "We're not sleuths."

He shrugged. "If you want to sit out here and be bored…"

I did not know how this pompous buffoon knew what buttons to push and I hated the fact that I was so easy to manipulate but I cannot tolerate boredom. "Okay, we'll look around a little." I picked up my phone and started videoing anyway. My ego was a little bruised by the loss in listenership on my podcast.

Daphne opened the passenger side door, reached into the glove compartment and pulled out the vehicle registration. "It says here that the truck is registered to Jonathan White from Metairie, Louisiana."

While Daphne was climbing up on the back of the truck, I read the stenciled lettering on the side of the big wooden box. "Orleans Parish Museum of Western Civilization. It's reasonable to assume that the armor was in the box. But who would take it out in the middle of the woods… and why?"

Daphne pulled a slip of paper out of the box. "This says 'From: New Orleans Museum of Western Civilization. To: Mr. Elmer Wickles, Crystal Cove Chamber of Commerce. White Trucking Company'. Why would the Crystal Cove Chamber of Commerce want a suit of armor?"

I was always willing to state the obvious. "We seem to be getting more questions than answers here."

That was when a very pale Shaggy came out of the woods and the first deputies showed up. The deputies took turns asking us questions and berating us for touching anything. The blood stain was their main interest, and they called in a request for a CSI unit. They grumbled when their radios responded that the CSI unit out of Riley wouldn't be on site until after 8:00 AM, which was still hours away.

Fred's father showed up then. Followed by my parents and a Blake family security team of two. We sat there being bored (at least I was) while the deputies placed crime scene tape and otherwise milled about. Another squad car showed up and a deputy got out with a box of doughnuts and a thermos of coffee. No one offered us any. I hate coffee but I would have killed for a doughnut.

No one asked about my phone, so I kept filming.

My parents fussed over me and kept asking the deputies if they could take me home. The oft-repeated answer was "Just a little longer."

At around four o'clock in the morning, Sheriff Bronson Stone showed up with another smallish man. The man was balding with a fringe of black hair and thick, horn-rimmed glasses. He had obviously dressed in a hurry.

"Elmer?" It was my dad who had spoken.

The new arrival looked over at my dad. "Dale, what are you doing here?"

"My daughter and her friends found the truck. What are you doing here?"

"My name was on the shipping bill. The suit of armor was for the chamber."

"Why did the Chamber of Commerce need a suit of armor?" I stepped closer. My father was onto something.

Mr. Wickles became more animated. "It's not just any suit of armor. This is the Black Knight. Legend has it that every full moon, this armor comes alive and wreaks havoc. There have been reports of strange happenings at the museum in New Orleans. It is a perfect centerpiece for the new Chamber of Commerce building for The Most Haunted Place on Earth."

I guess the Director of the Chamber of Commerce had to bring up that wretched slogan.

I was surprised when my dad's voice raised slightly and got an edge to it. "It seems that a piece like this would better fit the Crystal Cove Spook Museum."

"Nothing personal, Dale, but the Crystal Cove Spook Museum is really a glorified souvenir stand. The Chamber of Commerce is a brand-new state-of-the-art building which is designed around projecting the image of Crystal Cove as a tourist destination point for thrill-seekers, ghost-chasers, or those just looking for an unusual vacation getaway."

This guy was definitely a chamber of commerce director.

Winkle continued. "I designed and built that building myself and the lobby was specifically laid out for the Black Knight display."

My father was actually turning red. "Elmer, I'm barely staying afloat. You've got that fancy new building. Something like the Black Knight could really turn things around for me."

"Dale, a rising tide lifts all boats."

"Well, maybe the chamber could lift the tide under my boat just for once!"

Sheriff Stone stepped away from a gaggle of deputies and gestured. "Mr. Wickles, if we could have a moment of your time, please."

Wickles smiled at my dad. "I'll be glad to talk with you about what the chamber can do for your shop, Dale. You are a dues-paying member, and we take that very seriously. Just give me a call." He stepped toward the truck.

Shaggy, Scooby, Daphne, Fred, and I were all being kept together, and everyone overheard the conversation. I was busy on my phone. "The full moon was two nights ago."

Daphne looked at me incredulously. "You think the suit of armor came alive?"

Scooby jumped into Shaggy's arms. "Rid roo say rhat the ruit of armor came arive?"

"Of course not. But it is a data point."

Fred seemed to actually enjoy this stuff. "It seems that, if we're going to get to the bottom of this, we need to focus on the suit of armor."

Daphne turned the incredulous look on Fred. "Who said we were going to get to the bottom of this?" He gestured to the small army of police professionals surrounding us. "Isn't that what they do?"

Fred focused his attention on Daphne. "Aren't you even a little curious?"

She smiled. "Maybe just a little."

Shaggy jumped in. "I'm not. I've got enough problems without empty knight suits walking around under the full moon and pools of blood."

"Reah, renough roblems." Scooby echoed.

At that point, a deputy walked up to us. It was our turn to get interviewed.