Chapter 18: The investigation begins, a split-up and a chase
There was some silence as the group stared at the empty cash register.
"Jinkies!" Velma remarked. "Someone has stolen the money!"
"Indeed." Reddy agreed. "We need the detectives! Send in someone who can investigate this theft!"
"Now Reddy." Ruff said. "I'm sure the police will be called and will investigate this theft."
"There's no time for that, Ruff." Reddy said as he left the library, then as fast as a fox, he returned wearing a deerstalker and armed with a magnifying glass before proceeding to examine the cash register in a manner like a detective.
Watching Reddy doing his thing, Tom, Jerry and Ruff exchanged glances with each other before the former two shrugged.
"Like, the way Reddy is acting sure reminds me of your cousin Scooby Dum, Scoob." Shaggy remarked as they watched Reddy examining the cash register.
"Reah." Scooby nodded. "Re always wanted to be re detective."
Daphne chuckled as Velma, April, Henry, Debbie, and Biff took a closer look at the cash register.
"Was the cash register open before the lights went out, Ms. Christopherson?" Debbie asked the librarian.
"No." Ms. Christopherson replied. "To open the cash register, you need a key which I have the only copy, and unless I was handling a transaction or closing up for the day, there's no way will I ever open the cash register."
"That means someone must have taken the key from you, opened the cash register and then took the money while the lights were out." Henry offered.
"Did anyone know how long the lights were out?" Augie asked.
"Well, if I were to go by my hunch, I'd say no more than a minute." Velma said.
"Sounds about right." Ruff said as the others all nodded. "Then the question is how did the thief managed to take the money that quick while in the dark?"
"And more importantly, who was that glowing figure that was standing at the far end of the library?" Skip added.
"Supposedly that was the ghost of the missing first librarian of the school who disappeared one night while doing her rounds in the library after closing up." Taffy offered.
Shaggy, Clam, Scooby, Brenda, and Augie all gulped.
"You didn't have to say that, Taffy." Augie said.
"Not just that, but allegedly she was said to have practiced witchcraft, as there were rumours that any student that run afoul of her rules, including making late book returns past the due date, fall ill." Fred added.
Shaggy gulped again. "Like, what are the chances that she may have been prosecuted for witchcraft prior to her disappearance, Ms. Christopherson?"
"Chances are quite high." The librarian replied. "She wasn't really popular in town, so it could explain why her ghost is out for revenge."
"Well, for one thing, I don't believe that there's such things as ghosts." Velma said. "There's always got to be a scientific, logical explanation on anything unusual."
"Right." Fred agreed. "If we're going to get to the bottom of this mystery, we'd better get moving now."
"And a good place for us to start are the bookshelves at the far end of the library." Shaggy pointed out. "I just can't help but feel that there's something unusual about them."
"And the far side of the library is also where our glowing abomination was at when the lights went out." April said.
"Then, the far side of the library is where we start." Henry nodded.
"Right." Scooby barked as the group made their way to the area.
As the group proceeded to head for the far side of the library, unseen by either one of them, Ms. Christopherson made a knowing grin as she watched them leave.
Soon, the gang were standing at the area where the glowing figure was standing at when the lights were out.
"Scooby, see if you can sniff out some clues around here." Dee-Dee said.
"Rokay." Scooby nodded before proceeding to sniff the area.
After a few minutes of sniffing, the Great Dane noticed something of interest and sniffed again, then he got up and barked.
"Scooby's found something!" Shaggy said as they joined him.
"Now what could it be." Velma wondered out loud as Fred leaned down and examined the area of interest.
"Why, it's some powder!" Biff declared.
"Well, if I'm not mistaken, that powder must be luminous paint." Taffy observed.
"You may be onto something, guys." Henry said. "Perhaps that luminous paint is the same type used in the Halloween party last October, which Mr. McDabble taught us in chemistry class."
"Let me see here." Velma said as she took out some equipment from her bag and examined the powder. Sure enough, it was luminous paint.
"You're right, Taffy." Velma said. "It is luminous paint and is the type commonly used in chemistry classes."
"Sounds to me one of our chemistry teachers could be involved in this." Augie remarked. "Question is, why?"
"And also, how did that glowing abomination disappeared after issuing the warning?" Mark added. "No one was standing here when the lights returned."
At Mark's question, Daphne suddenly straightened when she remembered something, and Shaggy asked, "Is something the matter, Daph?"
"Just before the lights came back, I remember hearing something opening, or at least moving." Daphne said.
"That could only mean there's a secret passageway somewhere around here." Tinker said. "I'll check this bookshelf."
"Good idea." Fred nodded as they all approached different bookshelves facing the wall and fiddled with the books on them to see if either one of them could activate the mechanism leading to a secret doorway.
As Daphne looked through her bookshelf, she stepped on a certain floorboard that sounded very loose, causing the bookshelf Shaggy and Scooby were checking to open outwards and hit the duo.
"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as he and Scooby were launched into the air before hitting the adjacent wall flat.
Watching the whole action unfolding, Fred sighed, "Danger-Prone Daphne did it again."
"Are you guys alright?" Daphne asked as they all rushed over to Shaggy and Scooby.
"Like, I know the penalty for returning late books is harsh, but this is ridiculous!" Shaggy quipped as stars orbited around his and Scooby's heads.
"They sound alright to me." April remarked as Shaggy and Scooby snapped out of it.
"Well, Daph did manage to find the secret passageway." Shaggy said as he saw the opened bookshelf and the passageway entrance behind it. "I've always thought there was something unusual about that bookshelf."
"Let's go check out where that passageway leads us to, guys." Henry suggested.
"Better to equipped ourselves with flashlights." Clam said as they peeked into the passageway. "We won't be able to see our own noses in the dark like that."
"Good idea, Clam." Biff nodded.
Soon, the group were walking down the dark passageway with their flashlights on.
"Jeepers, I didn't know the school had secret passageways hidden behind the walls." Daphne remarked.
"Yeah." Shaggy agreed. "It's no wonder you feel like someone's watching you whenever you're walking past those paintings."
Eventually, the group descended a set of stairs, which led them to the basement, where a fork with two passageways leading off in opposite directions awaits them.
"The passageway splits up here!" Dee-Dee observed.
"That means we'll have to split up, guys." Fred declared. "For simplicity, let's split up like we did at the Halloween mystery event with Velma coming with us and take the passageway on the right, while the rest of you take the one on the left."
"Sounds like a plan, Fred." Biff nodded.
Fred's group looked around as they slowly made their way down the passageway with their flashlights on. There were cobwebs on the ceiling, and much of the area looked like it can use some serious cleaning.
"Like, seems like no one's been cleaning this place for a while." Shaggy observed before remembering something. "Hey, this may be the secret bomb shelter the school built for the war in the early-40s. It was intended for use in an event of an enemy air strike from the Pacific, but it was never used."
"That would explain a lot." April nodded. "No one's been using this shelter for a long while."
"Reah." Scooby nodded as they looked around on both sides of the hallway, with their lights shining into the empty shelter rooms.
For a while, there was nothing of interest until they came upon a shelter room that has a closed door.
"Say, isn't this funny." Henry said. "This shelter room has a door while the others don't."
"Maybe this shelter room was intended to house important people." Dee-Dee said as she went to try the doorknob, only to find difficulties opening it.
After trying the knob various ways, Dee-Dee turned towards the others and said, "This doorknob seems to be broken."
"Maybe it's locked." Clam offered.
"I don't think so, Clam." Skip shook his head as he peered closer to the doorknob. "This door doesn't have a lock on it."
"Like, we might have to break it down, then." Shaggy says before backing up, unaware that a glowing hand was right behind him and is about to grab him.
Then, with all his might, he charged straight for the door just as the hand was about to grab him but missed.
With the built-up momentum, Shaggy was able to effortlessly break down the door, though not without producing a large cloud of dust in the process.
"Jinkies!" Velma exclaimed as they started coughing. "This place can use a duster!"
"You don't say, Velma!" Daphne agreed as they coughed.
As the group coughed, someone suddenly sneezed.
"Bless you, Fred." April said, thinking that Fred had sneezed.
"Um, that wasn't me, April." Fred said. "Maybe it was Scooby."
"Rhat wasn't me." Scooby said as the dust settles.
"If it wasn't either of you, then who sneezed?" Velma asked.
Just then, they heard a ghost-holler.
"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as Scooby leaped into his arms. "I think I just heard something I wish I didn't hear!"
"Reah, reah!" Scooby agreed as he shivered.
The group turned and saw, standing right in front of them, the glowing Phantom, who growled at them.
"Jeepers!" Daphne exclaimed. "The Phantom!"
The Phantom responded by raising its arms at them menacingly.
"Jinkies!" Velma shouted. "Let's get out of here!"
Immediately, the group took off running just before the phantom could grab them.
The group followed Scooby as they raced down the hallway, with the phantom chasing them in close pursuit.
They soon reached a section of the hallway with five doors on both sides of it, where the group quickly entered the first door on the right, followed shortly by the phantom.
Then, the group exited from the third door on the right and raced across the hallway while the phantom exited the fourth door on the right and did the same thing.
After that, the group split up with Shaggy, and Fred exiting the second door on the left, Scooby and Henry at the fifth door, Velma, Daphne, and Dee-Dee at the first door, Bubbles, April, and Skip at the fourth door, and the phantom at the third door.
Eventually, the whole scene becomes messed up as everyone involved in the chase simultaneously enters a door across the hallway, then exits a different door and races across the hallway.
The whole chase went on for a few more moments before Shaggy, Fred, and Henry, exiting the third door on the left, collides with Scooby, Bubbles, and Dee-Dee, exiting the second door on the right, and Velma, April, Daphne, and Skip, exiting the fourth door on the right.
"Ooph!" Velma exclaimed as they collided with each other.
"Like, I think we lost him." Shaggy said as he rubbed his forehead.
Just then, a familiar-sounding ghostly holler followed.
"But not for long." Dee-Dee said. "Let's get out of here!"
Immediately, the group took off down the hallway in search of Biff's group.
In the meantime, Biff's group were each looking around with their flashlights on.
"Boy, this place sure can use some cleaning." Debbie remarked as she saw the dust and cobwebs.
"You said it, Debbie." Tinker nodded.
Their idle discussion was interrupted when they heard squeaking nearby, which spooked Brenda and led her to leap into Shelly's arms.
"Golly, what was that?" Brenda asked in fright as everyone stopped.
With a gulp, Augie and Biff both directed their flashlights towards the source of the squeaking, revealing only a mouse.
"Relax Brenda, it's only a mouse." Biff spoke as Shelly glared at Brenda, who only smiled back sheepishly.
"And you never freak out whenever you see Jerry, Brenda." Shelly added as she put Brenda down.
"Geez, what a tough break." The mouse turned towards the camera. "I'm just training for the marathon and lady here just gets freaked out by me huffing and puffing. Don't suppose I've drawn her breath away, eh?"
"Yeah…I guess, just that this phantom's got my nerves on edge, if you get what I'm saying." Brenda said.
"Anyhow guys, it will help a lot if we could find a clue." Mark said as they resumed walking down the passageway.
Everyone else murmured, however Brenda continued to keep her flashlight trained at where she spotted the mouse earlier, and then she frowned when she caught a glimpse of something in the adjacent room.
"Hold up, guys, I think I found something." Brenda called out.
"What is it this time, Brenda?" Shelly asked as they joined her.
"Sheets of paper." Brenda answered, prompting Debbie to lean closer and pick up on of the sheets of paper.
Before Shelly could interject, Debbie said, "And not just any sheet of paper, guys. This looks like ballot paper."
"Ballot paper?" Shelly repeated.
Biff joined Debbie in examining the sheets of paper, and then he nodded. "Yes, it is."
Mark shined his flashlight further into the room and he said, "And there's a ballot box, guys."
All of them shined their flashlights into the room, where they see sheets of ballot papers spilling out from the discarded ballot box.
"That's one way to handle a ballot box." Tinker remarked.
"I'll say." Augie said as he picked up a ballot paper and upon closely examining it, he added, "Say, this looks suspiciously like the ballot papers we casted for that costume contest at the Halloween party."
"You're right, Augie." Debbie nodded as they examined the ballot paper. "And all still marked with the choices from the contest."
"Like this one for example." Shelly said as she held up a ballot paper. "This one clearly voted for Henry Chan."
"And not one of these votes were for Alice." Mark added after examining the ballot papers.
"What on earth is this ballot box and these ballot papers doing here?" Brenda wondered.
Before anyone else could answer, they heard running from the hallway.
"Listen, do you guys hear running?" Biff asked.
"Yeah." Debbie nodded. "It's coming from the hallway. Could be Fred's group."
Sure enough, Fred's group were running down the hallway and stopped when Augie and Tinker flashed their flashlights at them.
Before anyone in Fred's group could react, Augie said, "Relax guys, it's just us."
"What happened?" Biff asked. "You guys looked like you've just seen a ghost."
"We did." Velma said as she catches her breath. "It chased us around the old bomb shelter, but we managed to lose him."
Shaggy nodded just as he noticed Biff's group hunched in the room.
"Say, what did you guys find?" Shaggy asked.
"Would you believe us if we told you that we found a ballot box with votes from the final round of the Halloween costume contest?" Debbie asked.
That prompted everyone in Fred's group to exchange looks with one another before Henry peered into the room and nodded.
"I do see a ballot box alright." Henry said.
"And this is a sheet of ballot paper for the final round of voting." Daphne added as she examined the paper in question.
"What on earth could it be doing here in this creepy old bomb shelter?" Clam asked.
"Search me." Shelly shrugged.
It was Dee-Dee and April who shined their flashlights towards the ceiling of the room, and then the former said, "I think we have our answer, guys."
As the others joined them in looking up, April added, "This looks like the end of a ventilation pipe, large enough for the ballot box to fit inside."
"I wonder where it leads to?" Fred wondered out loud.
Just then, they heard some squeaking and turned, in time to see the mouse from earlier with a few companions comprising of two more mice and two squirrels.
"Oh, hey Dawson, Cathy, Vicki, Neil, and Cheryl." Scooby greeted as he recognized the mice and squirrels as his classmates. "Could you do us a favour?"
"Of course, anything for you, Scooby." Dawson the mouse replied.
His tail pointing to the end of the ventilation pipe, the Great Dane explained, "We've got this ballot box containing the ballot papers from the Halloween costume contest, and we think it may have fallen through from that ventilation pipe. Could you guys climb through the pipe to see where it leads to?"
"Of course, Scooby." Neil the squirrel nodded. "Is this related to the vote-rigging at that contest?"
"I'm afraid so." Scooby replied.
The mice and squirrels all nodded and Cathy the mouse said, "If this means doing our part to uncover what was going on in that rigged contest, which thankfully Henry beat despite the rigging, then we don't have a moment to lose."
"Thanks a lot, guys." Scooby nodded as he leaned down to help them up.
Watching Scooby interacting with the mice and squirrels, Shaggy said, "Like, I think Scoob's asking them to see where that ventilation pipe leads to."
"It would seem that way, Shag." Daphne nodded.
"Let's give them a hand." Augie offered.
Once the mice and squirrels were in the ventilation pipe and hurried off, the group turned around, which is when Skip noticed another object at the hallway near the doorway.
"Hey, what's that?" He asked as he pointed to the object.
Everyone looked towards where he was pointing at.
"It looks like a five-dollar Note." Daphne said as Henry picked it up and examined it.
"Maybe someone dropped the Note while trying to run away from the phantom." Brenda offered as Velma took the bill from Henry and examined it in closer detail.
"It's not a five-dollar Note, gang." She said after close examination.
"It isn't?" Shelly asked as everyone arched their eyebrows.
"That's right." Velma nodded. "If you take a closer look at the Note, you will notice that there's a misprint of President Lincoln's hairstyle."
Everyone leaned over to take a closer look, and sure enough, the hairstyle of the sixteenth President was out of place when compared to a real five-dollar Note.
"Holy moly!" Fred said. "That could only mean one thing, that this Note is counterfeit!"
"Indeed, it is, Freddie." Velma agreed. "I also noticed that several features on a real Note are absent on this Note."
"So that means someone is using this old bomb shelter to produce counterfeit money!" Dee-Dee said.
"Definitely, Dee-Dee." April agreed. "Whoever produced this counterfeit Note must have used the Phantom disguise to scare away anyone who may be suspicious."
"And I'll bet that this door will provide further proof." Henry added as his flashlight shined onto a nearby door leading to a neighbouring room across the hallway.
"Then, let's open it." Taffy said as they went over to help Henry with the door.
"Let's hope that there aren't any spooky surprises waiting for us behind the door." Tinker said as they watched Henry turn the doorknob and opened the door.
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