Chapter 11: The capture, explanations and the party goes on
While Fred's group were opening up the locker in the football team's locker room, over at the baseball field, Biff's group were following Elmo as he sniffed on the ground.
The bulldog's sniffing eventually led them to the dugout, where there were a couple of closed doors.
"Looks like we're gonna have to split up, guys." Biff suggested.
Pointing to the closest door, Biff continued, "How about the girls check this room while the rest of us boys check the one at the far end?"
"Works with me, as long as Bubblehead isn't with us." Shelly quipped as they went their separate ways.
Opening the door near them, Debbie peeked in before saying, "Looks like we got the locker room, girls."
"Oh swell, hope the place doesn't have that stench of sweat, can never stand that." Shelly grumbled as she and Brenda followed Debbie into the locker room.
Searching around the locker room, the girls soon come up empty-handed.
"Nothing of significance here." Debbie said. "I wonder if the boys and Fred's group have better luck than us."
"Let's just get out of here." Shelly said dismissively.
However, just as Shelly and Debbie were about to step out, Brenda stopped them as she said, "Say, isn't this Gary Bennett's locker?"
Shelly groaned as Debbie hurried over to where Brenda was standing.
"The senior class vice president?" Debbie asked as she joined Brenda.
"Yes." Brenda nodded. "And there's something sticking out at the bottom of the locker."
After reaching down to pull out the item in question, Brenda grunted as she stared at the paper in question.
"Well, what is it?" Shelly asked impatiently.
"A betting ticket receipt from a casino in Las Vegas dated September 28th, right on the Saturday on the week of the class presidents taking office." Brenda spoke.
"In which Ethan Wicker and Gary Bennett took office as senior class president and vice-president respectively." Debbie said slowly.
"Wait, aren't they too young to be going into the casinos?" Shelly suddenly asked.
"Could be that it was either one of his parents or an older sibling that did the betting." Debbie offered.
"Yes, but why hand the receipt to Gary, then?" Shelly continued. "And more importantly, didn't the student body declare that we will need to contribute funds for the yearbooks and other student activities this year?"
"Yes, and it's not like Gary's family can afford a weekend stay at a luxury casino resort on their own dine." Brenda frowned as they stared closer at where the receipt was from.
Just then, the boys and Elmo stepped into the locker room with Biff saying, "Hey girls."
"Oh hey, Biff." Shelly said. "Did you guys find anything pertaining to the zombie?"
"No, we didn't." Biff shook his head.
"What about you girls?" Mark asked.
"Nothing, but we did notice something interesting of note from Gary's locker here." Debbie spoke.
"Gary, as in the senior class vice president Gary Bennett?" Augie raised an eyebrow.
"The one and only." Brenda nodded. "It's a betting ticket receipt from a luxury casino resort in Las Vegas dated September 28th."
The boys exchanged looks with one another and Tinker said. "The same week that he and Ethan took office and announced that we will have to pitch in for yearbooks and other student activities due to lack of leftover funds from last school year."
"But Gary's dad works at a paper mill down in Watson's Pass, and combine that with Gary having 4 siblings and their mom being a stay-at-home one, there's no way they could afford to travel to Vegas and stay at such a luxury casino resort, not even for a weekend, at all." Biff pointed out.
As Biff was speaking, Elmo walked over to the locker and sniffed before growling, prompting Augie to turn towards him.
"What's going on, Elmo?" Augie asked. "Something inside the locker bothering you?"
Elmo turned towards Augie and nodded, prompting the others to exchange looks with one another.
"Elmo thinks there might be something else that doesn't smell right in Gary's locker." Mark offered.
Elmo grunted as he nodded furiously, and Biff said, "Guess we're gonna have to take a vote and decide if we should pick Gary's locker door open and see what is inside?"
"As much as I don't like the prospect of looking through a schoolmate's belongings without their consent, I really can't help but feel there's something fishy about the way the senior class student council has been operating ever since Gary and Ethan took office." Debbie spoke.
"As in there may be some collusion between them and Alice's gang like during that costume contest vote?" Brenda offered.
"Yes, and I suspect that mishandled costume contest vote, and what we're about to find here in Gary's locker, is only the tip of the iceberg." Biff declared.
Seeing no objections from the others, Shelly quipped, "I think we have just reached an unanimous decision to pick the locker door open."
"Yes, though we will need to be quick and discreet." Mark said.
Tinker nodded. "Augie and I can serve as lookouts at the door."
"Good idea, Tinker." Biff nodded.
As Augie and Tinker walked towards the door, the others turned towards the locker with Debbie kneeling down with her lock picks in hand.
After the lock clicked, Debbie rubbed her hands as she pulled the door open and said, "Now for the moment of truth."
Over at the football team's locker room, just as Shaggy had predicted, they have discovered costume parts and certain chemicals inside the locker.
"Well, what do you know?" Henry remarked as they examined the contents inside the locker.
"It certainly explains how the zombie was able to glow." Fred said.
"Yeah, like, with that formula on making the illuminative paint dye from chemistry class, he was able to make his costume glow." Shaggy nodded as he gestured at the notes Daphne had picked up.
"And with the handwriting of the notes and locker number, we can guess who was responsible for pulling this ghost stunt." Dee-Dee added.
"But what about the champion plaque?" Skip asked. "It's still missing."
"Not to mention why." Daphne added.
Just then, the zombie appeared at the doorway and growled loudly, prompting everyone to turn towards it in fright.
"Like, why don't you ask him, Daph?" Shaggy asked frighteningly.
When the zombie lurched towards them menacingly, Fred shouted, "Run!"
Immediately, the group took off running around the locker room with the zombie in close pursuit.
Managing to exit the room, the group headed straight for the football stands with the zombie not far behind them.
While the zombie was still busy chasing Shaggy, Scooby, Bubbles, Daphne, and April, Fred, Skip, Dee-Dee, and Henry managed to slip away and get onto the field, where Henry soon spotted the ropes used for tug-of-war and a net set aside by the stands.
"Guys, look!" He urged and nodded towards the ropes after Fred, Skip, and Dee-Dee turned towards him.
"Perfect, let's use them to trap the zombie!" Skip proclaimed as they hurried over to the net and the rope.
As the zombie continued to chase the others, Fred, Skip, Dee-Dee, and Henry wasted no time setting up a trap back at the dugout.
Eventually, back on the stands, Shaggy, Scooby, Bubbles, Daphne, and April were still running when the former spotted two noticed that Fred, Skip, Dee-Dee, and Henry were nowhere to be seen.
"Say, like, I think we've lost Fred, Skip, Dee-Dee, and Henry, Scoob." Shaggy said to Scooby.
"Rhere do rou suppose they've gone ro?" Scooby asked.
"I don't know, but the bigger question is why are we still sticking around being chased by the zombie." Shaggy said.
Looking at the others, Shaggy urged, "Come on, guys, we could probably use a change in scenery!"
"You said it, Shag." Daphne said as they followed Shaggy and Scooby's lead and darted towards the field.
Seeing Shaggy's group darting towards the field, the zombie growled and promptly followed suit.
Glancing to her back momentarily, April saw the zombie behind them and said, "Hope there is something we could use to stop that freak!"
Not long afterwards, the quintet darted back into the dugout, where Fred's group were busy setting up a trap.
"Do you think this will work, Fred?" Henry asked as he and Fred held a length of rope.
"It should." Fred replied as he prepared to tie a knot on an anchor by the door frame.
After finishing tying the knot, the blonde got up and continued, "All we need is for one of us to lure the zombie here, then once he trips over this rope..."
Fred then pointed up to the net above them, which was attached to the rope with a series of pulleys, and continued, "...the net above drops down on him."
"Just like that?" Dee-Dee asked.
"Should be." Fred nodded, but before he could continue, they heard running coming from the stairs leading to the stands and the field.
Peeking out, he saw Shaggy, Scooby, Bubbles, Daphne, and April running towards the doorway with the zombie in pursuit, and judging from the looks on their faces, it was clear neither of them were aware of the trap that was set up at the doorway.
"Guys, wait!" Fred said as he quickly waved his hands. "We've got a..."
His warning came too late, for Scooby and Shaggy were the first to trip over the rope, leading the others behind them to pile onto them and the net dropped down onto them.
"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as they were caught in the net, and Fred's group looked on as the zombie stopped in amazement.
Cackling in amusement, the zombie turned away and darted back onto the field, prompting Henry to point at him and shout, "He's getting away!"
Continuing to cackle over the gang's failed attempt to capture him, the zombie looked back and saw the gang going after him.
In the heat of taunting the gang for their failed capture attempt, the zombie didn't see where he was going and ended up tripping over a portable construction barrier fence and fell straight into the hole behind it.
Fred and the others all stopped when they approached the hole, and seeing the zombie struggling to get out of the hole, they exchanged looks with each other.
"Well, how do you like it?" Fred remarked as everyone looked on in amusement.
Moments later, the school's faculty were at the football field as the gang and the principal accompanied the zombie, who was tied up.
"You kids did a marvelous job in capturing the zombie." Principal Spears said.
"Thanks, Principal Spears." Dee-Dee replied. "And while we didn't exactly capture him the way we intended, it still worked out in the end."
"Yeah." Shaggy nodded. "We sure sacked the zombie."
"Anyways, let's see who this zombie really is." Fred says as he pulls the mask off, revealing a familiar-looking face.
"Why, it's Ray, the guitarist of the Alex Super Experience Band, who's in our chemistry class." Daphne recognized.
The group all frowned as April said. "But that doesn't make any sense. Why go through the trouble of dressing up as the zombie and stealing the championship plaque?"
"Surprise!" Mr. McDabble suddenly announced as he and the rest of Ray's band arrived at the scene.
Everyone turned and Henry asked, "What's going on?"
"Allow me to explain, kids." Principal Spears said. "Throughout the history of Coolsville Central High School, every Halloween party, we hold the tradition of having a mystery-solving event during the party, right as filler in the lead up to the costume contest."
Gesturing towards Mr. McDabble, the principal continued, "This year, with special thanks to Mr. McDabble, head of the school's science faculty, as well as Randell 'Ray' Jackson, who was on the school's science honour roll for juniors last year, we were able to come up with this spectacular mystery."
"Wait, so everything we went through was just a game?" Fred asked.
"That's right." A voice said, and as everyone turned and looked, an older man with greying hair approached.
At first glance, no one could exactly place his face until Augie snapped his fingers and said, "Why, aren't you former head coach Miles O'Leary?"
"That's right." O'Leary nodded. "On my final year as school board superintendent."
"But hold on a second, weren't you dismissed from the coaching staff back in '44 in the heat of the match-fixing scandal?" Shaggy asked.
"The story of me moving to some small town in Mississippi was true, as with the scandal." O'Leary explained. "But I was actually the one that blew the whistle and the relocation to Mississippi was for my own safety from retaliation from the ringleaders."
Turning towards Shaggy, the superintendent continued, "In thanks to your father's hard work about a decade later, Mr. Rogers, I was able to return safely."
"And then you moved onto different positions in the school board before becoming the superintendent." Henry said.
"That is correct." O'Leary nodded.
"So when Principal Spears pitched to you the idea Mr. McDabble and Ray came up with for this Halloween's mystery-solving event, you agreed to come on board, since Ray does bear some resemblance to you at a young age, Superintendent O'Leary" Daphne asked.
"That is correct." O'Leary nodded again as he placed his hand on Ray's shoulder and continued. "He sure did a great job capturing my mannerisms."
"Like, so Ray, after Mr. McDabble taught us how to make the luminous paint in class, you know you can use those chemicals he used to make the ghost costume after you and Mr. McDabble were pitched the idea for this mystery-solving event, right?" Shaggy asked his classmate.
"That's right, Shaggy." Ray nodded. "It was part of the game, you know, so I got myself the costume and made the paint."
"That certainly explains why some of the chemicals from the store closet were missing." Daphne said. "You were working on the costume in the dugout for the surprise and for convenience, you kept your chemistry notes in your locker."
"That's right." Ray said. "Since my own locker at school is filled with other stuff, particularly equipment for my practice with Alex's band, I knew I had the spare locker in the teams locker room as a place for the costume."
"You even dropped your chemistry notes there to further solidify our suspicions that you were involved." Fred added as he showed the notes Daphne had picked up.
"So as Principal Spears was announcing me as the winner in the costume contest, you were getting prepared for the entry." Shaggy said.
"That's right." Ray nodded. "Once I put on my costume, I entered the balcony that oversees the entire gym during the contest, and two guys from the drama club helped get me hooked onto the cable that allowed me to appear like I was floating in the mid-air when the lights are out."
Gesturing towards the two classmates, Ray continued, "They also provided the magnesium chlorate for the smokescreen. We did plenty of practices with the cable and the smokescreen beforehand, and it was quite fun."
"Wow." Scooby remarked.
"Like, you can say that again, Scoob." Shaggy said.
"Wow." Scooby repeated.
"Okay, you can stop that." Shaggy turned to Scooby.
"Say, there's something that still bothers me." Daphne said. "What happened to the 1944 football champion plaque?"
"Not to worry." Principal Spears replied as he signalled someone. "Like the zombie stunt, that disappearance was part of the event."
"Right." O'Leary nodded as two of the school's maintenance staff arrived and carrying a visibly shinier plaque.
"Wow!" Biff whistled. "The plaque is as clean as a whistle."
"That's right." Principal Spears nodded. "Our two maintenance staff members used a special drill that unscrewed the bolts attaching the plaque to the wall."
"And that drill noise made a special whistling sound that sounded like a ghost howling when Ray appeared in the darkness in his zombie costume." Dee-Dee nodded understandingly.
"Yeah." Shaggy agreed. "Like, while Ray was doing his act, the two maintenance staff members removed the plaque with the special drills with aid from the luminous light provided by Ray's costume. They must had gotten some of the paint on their boots, because Daph and Freddie later discovered some footprints that led outside."
"Those footprints must have led to where their pickup was parked at, because we soon lost the trail at the parking lot." Fred added. "And since they also used the truck to haul fertilizer for the football and baseball fields, when Scooby and Elmo sniffed it out, they ended up leading us to the fields."
"That's right." Mr. McDabble nodded as they wrapped up the mystery. "You kids sure did good in taking part in the event."
"And we sure did had some fun." Fred said. "Right, guys?"
"Yeah." Shaggy nodded.
"We sure did." April added as everyone else nodded in agreement.
"Coolsville Central has always took pride in setting up these mystery-solving events in the annual Halloween party each year." Principal Spears said. "Each year, there's always a group of students that takes interest in the mystery, just like in last year where the Mysteries Five solved the disappearance of the school mascot in the Halloween party's mystery-solving event."
"Cool." Henry remarked. "So I suppose the party resumes?"
"Yes it does, Mr. Chan." Principal Spears nodded, prompting everyone to head back to the school building.
However, the principal stopped them when he added, "But before returning to the party, I figured you all would like to know the results of the costume contest."
"Ah yes, the results have been counted, Principal Spears?" Skip asked.
"Indeed it has." The principal nodded, prompting everyone to exchange looks with each other in anticipation.
Seeing the excited looks on everyone's faces, the principal continued, "It was a close one, but in the end, the winner of this years Halloween costume contest goes to..."
There was a long pause before Spears gestured at Henry and said, "Henry Chan!"
Immediately, the group broke into an applause and Shaggy patted Henry in the shoulder. "Like, I knew you'd make it, Henry!"
"Your goeng-si costume sure did it!" Mark added as they all took turns congratulating Henry for his win.
The band Shaggy had arranged to perform at the party were already starting to perform their hit piece, Soul Bossa Nova, in the gym with the party in full swing when Shaggy and the students involved in the mystery event returned to the gym.
The remaining faculty were partying on when Shaggy led the way back into the gym, his walking and arms in full swing and following the rhythm of the opening chords.
Shaggy was waving his hips as he walked forward with Scooby in tow, and as the keyboards began playing, he began swinging his hands and legs, pointing and waving, to the cheer of his schoolmates.
As soon as the brass came on, Shaggy and Scooby both excitedly leaped into the air and the former promptly grabbed onto the flying rings and did a spin around as the main theme with the flutes and winds coming on.
Finishing his spin, Shaggy promptly let go of the flying rings and sailed towards the ground, where Tinker, Clam, Tom, and McWolf were waiting with a safety net.
Holding onto the safety net, the quartet pumped their fists as Shaggy hit it and the elastic effect of the net propelled him back into the air.
As Shaggy did a spin and tipped his cowboy hat while sailing through the air, Biff, Debbie, and Dee-Dee were doing his walking dance from earlier and swinging their hands and arms.
The quartet paused at the return of the brass section and Shelly walked into view with a duster in hand, only to resume dancing as she promptly joined in and swung her arms with them.
"Smile for the school yearbooks, guys!" Arlene chirped as she took out her camera and began taking several photos of her schoolmates.
As the photo shots rang out, the photos appeared one by one in sequence showing the various students in various costumes and in different poses.
The photo shots paused when Arlene took a photo of a grumpy-looking Mai Le, who had her arms folded.
"What are you lookin' at?" Mai Le scowled.
Exchanging looks with Alexandra, Arlene shrugged, "Thought you'd be interested in getting your photo in the yearbook."
"Thanks, but I think I'd take a pass." Mai Le said dismissively and thumbed towards a deeply-frustrated Alice and added, "Alice isn't in the mood to have her photo taken, saying that it means nothing when she didn't win the contest."
After Mai Le joined Alice and their gang and walked away, Arlene and Alexandra glanced at each other before the latter quipped, "Sour grapes."
"So I've noticed." Arlene nodded as she resumed taking photos while Shelly joined Alexandra and clinked glasses.
Meanwhile, Henry was doing his best to avoid getting mobbed by his adoring schoolmates and when he looked up briefly, he saw Shaggy doing acrobatics on the flying rings.
"Shag!" Henry shouted as the brass and winds approached their peak note.
Without hesitation, Shaggy reached down and as son as Henry leaped into the air, he promptly grabbed his hands and lifted him up into the air.
The brass and winds hit the peak note as Henry spun in the air before sailing back down, and Augie, Mark, Yogi, and Ruff rushed over to catch him with the safety net they were carrying.
The minute Henry successfully landed on the floor, the whole faculty applauded before the band repeated the main theme.
Henry's relief was short-lived, for the adoring band of schoolmates came stampeding over for him, prompting him to take off running again.
As the brass returned, Shaggy had landed and promptly joined Daphne in grabbing Henry by the shoulder to get him out of the gym before he could get stampeded over.
"That was a close one, Shag." Daphne spoke as soon as they were out of the gym and the flute solo began.
"You said it, that sure is getting wild." Shaggy agreed as Henry caught his breath.
"Say Shag, where's your cowboy hat?" Henry asked.
Feeling the top of his head, Shaggy realized that his cowboy hat has gone missing and said, "Zoinks, I gotta go back!"
Back inside the gym, Shelly, Alexandra, Bubbles, Debbie, Dee-Dee, April, and Brenda were doing their dance routine, swinging their arms and tapping their feet to the flute solo performed by the band.
Just then, Shaggy came back into the gym with a mace in hand and leading the school marching band as the brass returned.
At the sight of Shaggy returning with the school marching band, Fred and Biff proceeded to do cartwheels while Scooby looked around and spotted Shaggy's missing cowboy hat.
"Raggy, rour hat!" Scooby shouted as he picked up the hat.
Hearing Scooby's voice, Shaggy turned in time for the Great Dane to toss the hat like a frisbee, and as the band reached the peak note, he caught it with his hand and put it back on his head.
When the band began returning to performing the piece's main theme, all the students joined Shaggy in the gym as they reprise his earlier dance moves.
(This sequence takes inspiration from the opening of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery on account of the usage of Soul Bossa Nova as the opening theme music.)
As the faculty continued dancing along with the music, Fred, Biff, Debbie, Henry, Dee-Dee, and April were having refreshments at the refreshment stands.
"Must say this is quite the party, Fred." Henry was saying as he gulped down his bottle of cream soda.
"You said it, Henry." Fred agreed. "The band Shaggy arranged to come here for the music is superb, coupled with the dancing, partying, and that mystery event we just had."
"Also great that you came out on top at the costume contest, Henry." Dee-Dee added.
Henry nodded with a smile. "Thanks, Dee."
Debbie and Biff were mostly silent during the exchange, and noting the heavy looks on their faces, April asked, "Say Debbie, Biff, what's seems to be the matter?"
"Yeah, you guys haven't really taken a sip of your drinks." Fred added.
Biff and Debbie exchanged looks briefly before the former said, "Fred, Henry, Dee-Dee, and April, do you guys have a minute?"
Seeing the serious looks on their faces, Henry briefly glanced around before he said, "We do, does it have something to do with what you've found during the mystery event?"
"Yes, and I think it's best that we find someplace else to chat about this discreetly." Debbie said.
Fred nodded. "I know just the place, guys. Follow me."
On the way out of the gym, the sextet discreetly motioned Shaggy, Scooby, Daphne, Brenda, Shelly, Clam, Skip, Augie, Elmo, Mark, Tinker, Bubbles, Tom, Jerry, McWolf, Droopy, Ruff, Reddy, and Yogi to follow them out.
In no time did the group arrive at a late-night diner called the Malt Shop, where Fred's older brother Geoff works as a waiter.
With the diner deserted, Biff and Debbie picked two of the seats at the counter and the rest of the group gathered around them.
"Biff, Debbie, what's going on?" Reddy asked as soon as they settled in their spots.
"You guys didn't find any clues pertaining to the zombie at the baseball team's lockers, did you?" Fred asked.
"No, we didn't." Biff and Debbie both shook their heads. "However, we did found something of note in Gary Bennett's locker."
"Gary, as in the senior class vice president?" Bubbles asked.
"The one and only, Bubblehead." Shelly nodded with her arms folded. "It started with a betting ticket receipt from a casino resort in Las Vegas dated September 28th, which was sticking out at the bottom of the locker."
"Even though Gary's too young to be in the casinos." Henry frowned.
"Yes, not to mention his family cannot afford to spend a weekend at a luxury resort like the one shown on the receipt." Mark pointed out.
"Well, he could've been invited by a family friend who has the money." Daphne offered.
"Maybe, but surely he wouldn't be foolish enough to leave behind a betting ticket receipt in his locker like that." April said.
"Exactly." Augie nodded. "The next thing we found, well, actually, it was Elmo who sniffed it out."
The animals present all turned towards the bulldog, who explained, "I smelled peaches from the locker."
"Peaches, as in Alice Carswell's perfume?" Scooby asked as he held his nose.
"Yes indeed." Elmo nodded.
"So that means either Alice was frequenting Gary's locker, or Gary has something that belonged to Alice in his locker." McWolf offered.
"Did you guys found out what was inside the locker that had the smell of peaches?" Shaggy asked.
"We did." Debbie nodded as Mark produced several photographs. "Take a look."
The group took turns examining the photos, which appeared to be pages of a ledger.
"If I'm not mistaken, this is the ledger for the student council's finances." Dee-Dee declared.
"Indeed it is." Mark nodded.
"That doesn't make any sense." Tom said to the other animals. "What is an accounting ledger doing in Gary's locker?"
"Given how sensitive the information is, it's mighty careless for him to be storing the ledger like that." Jerry added.
"Yes, but what spurred us was the faint smell of peaches on the pages." Elmo spoke.
"Makes sense, since Alice was appointed as the auditor for the student finances after Gary and Ethan were elected senior class president and vice-president." Yogi said.
"But how on earth did we have to contribute more to the yearbooks and other student activities compared to last year?" Tinker frowned.
"Yes, and based on the balance from last year's finances, stands to me that the student council could continue with the activities and yearbooks for this year without raising contribution costs for us." Daphne pointed out.
"Like, how much was the balance from last year, Daph?" Shaggy asked.
Squinting her eyes briefly, the redhead turned and replied, "A surplus of about $2,500."
Tinker, Augie, McWolf, and Tom all whistled and the latter exchanged looks with Jerry.
"Figured as much they didn't need to raise the price for us to order yearbooks." Jerry remarked.
"And when's the most-recent entry?" Henry asked.
"That's also the thing." Shelly spoke. "Whatever the date and balance is, the page containing them has been torn out of the ledger."
"And that missing page is nowhere to be found in Gary's locker." Ruff said, though it was more of a statement instead of a question.
"That is correct." Biff nodded.
"So where does all of this leaves us?" Clam asked.
"Only that we've somehow stumbled ourselves into another mystery, guys." Fred declared. "The mismanagement of the voting process for the costume contest, Gary mishandling the ledger containing the accounting balance for the student council's finances, of which the page containing the most-recent entry and balance is missing, there's something big going on."
"Rhat are the chance rall of ris reads us to Alice Rarswell?" Scooby asked.
"I don't know, Scooby, but I don't like what we've seen so far." Fred replied.
"Seems to me this is something we're gonna have to figure out before the graduating class of 1969 graduates." Henry spoke. "Before Gary, Ethan, and Alice can get away from the scene of the crime."
Everyone else nodded and Reddy asked, "Do you think this should be brought forward to the principal?"
"We probably should, but as to the extent of this, well, it's hard to say for sure how much we should tell Principal Spears, considering the...way we stumbled upon the ledger and the betting ticket receipt." April spoke.
"As Henry said, we'll definitely have to figure this one out before the end of the school year." Shaggy declared.
Everyone else nodded in agreement as the scene slowly panned to the outside of the Malt Shop.
So the groups that will eventually become Mystery Inc. and the other teams has solved their first case, only to stumble onto another one.
At this stage, for Mystery Inc., there's one piece of the puzzle missing.
That's right. That missing piece is Velma! Where is she? How is it that she didn't make an appearance?
Well, in The New Scooby-Doo Movies Season 2 episode The Spirit Spooked Sports Show, it was revealed that Velma had attended a different high school than the rest of the gang prior to transferring to their school.
So far, this story takes place before her transfer to Coolsville Central High School, but don't worry, the story isn't over yet.
In fact, considering what the kids have stumbled upon, the real mystery has only begun.
Stay tuned, and as always, please read and review!