Chapter 13

The Gang was seated around the conference room table but both Mr. La Gorce and Mr. Beaman were standing. Fred remained next to the door, blocking it.

Jimmy took a couple of steps into the room, "I guess I'm fired."

Ted Beaman nodded, "Probably. But we wanted to hear from you first."

"I'm admitting nothing."

The Gang turned to Velma. It was time for her to do her thing.

She rose. "Jimmy, we've got a lot of circumstantial evidence. For instance, you lied to us twice. Once stating that you had no knowledge of when the guard was in the server room on Tuesdays when you had just traded with Sheila for her Tuesday shift four weeks ago; and the second just now when we recorded you telling Fred that the hatch into the mechanical chase was alarmed when you knew it was not.

"The first lie was the most damning because it led us to where you used your computer access to modify the metadata to try and hide the shift change with Sheila. When you modify metadata, it leaves a trail. And the trail leads back to you. That is no longer circumstantial. That is now hard evidence."

Ted Beaman chimed in, "Enough for termination."

Velma paused and let that sink in. When the dramatic point had been made, she continued, "The second lie was protecting the hatch which we had already found and opened and which concealed costumes and make-up for the ghost outfit. We touched nothing and I am guessing that your fingerprints will be all over those. Your background as a model makes you something of an expert in the application of make-up…"

"Which I respect." Daphne interjected.

"And finally…" Velma signaled Fred for the coup de grâce.

He opened the door and Anne Fisher walked in looking at the floor. She lifted her eyes for a peak. "I'm sorry, Jimmy." And then immediately looked back down.

Velma let yet another dramatic moment settle in before continuing, "We tied Anne's sudden proclivity for setting off door alarms to timestamps on the CCTV videos and found that each time that she had an alarm, there was a corresponding unexplained deletion on the video record. And, again, such tampering leaves a trail and all of those trails led back to you. Ms. Fisher then corroborated that she has been letting you in for your ghost appearances."

Jimmy's look at Anne was less angry than sorrowful. She hazarded another glance at him. He smiled softly and nodded. Daphne tilted her head and noted that Jimmy was not acting like a villain.

But now it was Daphne's turn to speak. She stood as Velma sat. They were getting good at this. "Which leads us to motive. You're Jewish. Anne is also Jewish. Why would you two work together to re-create a moderately infamous nazi and American traitor? I did some googling and came across the term 'self-hating jew'…"

"Seriously?!" Jimmy said his first word since the big reveal had started. After this small outburst, he reined himself in and said nothing more.

Daphne smiled, "No. Not seriously. It didn't fit. Then we thought about your tattoos. Someone who is trying to break into big-time modeling does not tattoo themselves on a location as visible as both wrists for some minor upbeat slogan. So, I googled the words which you have on your wrists—'now' and 'never'—and found two matches: 'now or never' (like you said) or 'never means now'."

Daphne then proved that she, too, could do a dramatic pause.

She continued, "And 'never means now' is a slogan of the Anti-Defamation League or ADL whose mission is…" she quoted, "to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all. So, your most logical motivation was not to raise awareness of Douglas Chandler. It was to raise awareness that we had forgotten about people like Douglas Chandler and, if we forget about them, then we won't notice when they come back."

Fred didn't stand, but added, "And the ADL's local office is about two blocks from here."

Ted Beaman's turn. "I spoke with them and they would provide no information beyond the fact that you two were both members."

Jimmy looked directly at Fred as he spoke. His youthful good looks were veiled in an air that seemed older and more serious. "Look around. We ARE forgetting. And it's not just about Jews. It's everybody. We now live in a country where the national religion is hatred. We divide our world into us and them. And the definition of them keeps changing with the political tides. Look at Israel. For years, one political side hates them and the other loves them. One election later, and the sides reverse. And no one even notices.

"Whole people-groups are becoming nothing but political pawns who are expendable for the amorphous political goals of the powerful few. Hatred is not a weed that is growing wild. It is being carefully cultivated and fertilized and nurtured. We have to remember what it looks like when hatred rules!"

He looked around and, when no one interrupted, he continued. "I understand that I have broken laws, but I will not apologize for what I've done. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right." Only Velma and Mr. La Gorce recognized the Henry David Thoreau quote.

Everyone expected Jimmy to speak more but he stopped and waited for a decision.

Ted Beaman spoke first, "You're obviously fired."

Randall La Gorce followed immediately, "As a security guard."

Everyone's eyes jumped to him. This statement was unexpected. La Gorce continued, "We have to look at this both philosophically and realistically. Philosophically, you quoted Thoreau, who is one of my favorites, and you get points for that. More importantly, we do have a problem in this country right now. And the solution to the problem is not to look for yet another them to blame. The solution is to examine the us and see what role we have to play in our communal problems.

"My family and the Society have, for years, tried to sweep our responsibility for Douglas Chandler under the rug. It was, and is, embarrassing. But my forebear did commission an article on Nazi Germany and did give Chandler the instructions to keep it positive. Through his ignorance, he gave Chandler a national platform to show our nation the pictures of the Nazis that they wanted us to see. We not only requested but functionally required him to do a pro-Nazi piece. We were so fearful of being considered 'political' that we were manipulated into being political. We allowed ourselves to be a tool.

"And while no one involved in those decisions remains alive, the processes that created that opportunity for evil remain within our institution and are as strong as ever. We have to break out of that box.

"Now. for a realistic way forward—which is how I can sell this to the Board. Since the ghost sightings were first reported, our tours have been booked solid with a multiple week backlog. That hasn't happened in years. The press coverage that we have been trying and failing to control has actually resulted in increased donations and subscriptions. Our media department is informing me that most social media discussions on the topic are assuming that it is a publicity stunt. But most of those discussions are asking why. And conversations are starting which are much like what Jimmy just stated. Right now, these conversations are small and are a whisper against the roar of hatred coming from our society, but they are happening."

La Gorce turned directly to Jimmy, "Jimmy, would you be willing to work for the Society as a spokesmodel. First, to continue the hauntings until interest in them wains, and then to give talks about why we needed the hauntings in the first place?"

Jimmy's mouth dropped open… along with everyone else's in the room. "Uh-h-h-h-h yes?"

"Great! Take the rest of the week off to get your sleep schedule adjusted and report to the Media Department first thing Monday morning. I should have all of the paperwork and approvals in place by then."

He turned to Anne Fisher. "Anne, I'm not going to ask you to sign an NDA but I hope you understand the need for discretion in all of this."

She nodded, "Yes sir."

"Since you were technically breaking your employment contract and the law, I'm not going to pay you overtime for staying late this evening. Are you willing to return to work tomorrow as if nothing happened?"

Her eyes widened and her works came quickly, "Am I?! Of course I am! You bet!"

Jimmy posed a question, "What about the ADL?"

La Gorce scratched his chin, "Good point. I'll have the media department folks contact them and some other anti-hate groups. There are potentials for shared programs."

There were some continued and animated discussions planning for the new program which happened around the Gang without including them. Those conversations moved out into the hallway and they heard voices fading down toward the elevator lobby, leaving the Gang alone in the room.

They looked at each other and Velma spoke first, "That was kind of anti-climactic."

Shaggy was next, "Yeah, like, we've been here one day and everything is solved."

"But it was a happy ending, right?" Daphne sounded as if she were trying to convince herself.

Fred agreed, "Happy endings are good."

"Rut they ron't feel rormal for us. Ree ron't get rappy endings."

Shaggy stood, "Then let's enjoy this one! For once, no one got chased or hurt or kidnapped or killed. Scooby and I were never terrified. This is A WIN! Isn't it great to know that these mysteries can turn out this way?" His voice faltered, "Isn't it?"

None of them knew why they couldn't step into the happiness that they should be feeling.

Mr. La Gorce returned to then room. "Kids, there is one more thing that I would like to speak with you about."

They all turned and Fred answered, "What's that, Mr. La Gorce?"

The elder man reached to the table and picked up the television remote. He pointed it at the screen and pressed. A video came up showing the Gang in discussion.

Fred was speaking, "…with you which makes you the best equipped to handle a situation."

Scooby looked to the door and reared up on his hind legs and placed his forepaws on the table. "Rwhy are Ronrad and Reila the most rikely ruspects?"

Elsie who had waited outside until just that moment did not completely understand what was happening, but she sensed a threat and threats were her business. "What are you doing, La Gorce?"

Randall La Gorce looked around the room. "Your dog can talk."

Writer's Note: For those of you who have toughed it out to this point, the story is changing and the pace is about to pick up.