"How dare you continue to be in my house? The Mystery is over, Mystery Inc. You killed my son. Aren't you happy enough?"
Velma crossed in front of him as she reached for the door. Edward reached out and latched strongly onto her hand. He gripped her wrist very hard, to the point she was close to wincing from the pain.
"What do you think you are doing? Going to defile the body of my son while you continue your charade?"
Velma turned and looked at him coldly.
"If there is a corpse in there."
She said rather flatly. Edward looked shocked.
"You saw it yourself! My son lying in a puddle of his own blood!"
"Yes Mystery Inc. I killed the boy and now I might be able to get rid of the annoying father, then maybe you will get the message that I am serious. Get out of my house!"
Came a voice from the speakers on the hallway walls. The Gang looked up at it as it spoke and when they looked back the Ghost of John Ridmore had a razor blade to the throat of Edward Senior. Velma's look stayed unchanged.
"What… what are you doing? Save me! Save me you…urk!"
He didn't have enough time to finish his sentence before the razor came across his throat running blood down the front of Edward's shirt. Some blood poured from his mouth. Even with this Velma looked unfazed. Actually she was looking angrier. Anne couldn't believe that her hero could be so cold, and the rest of the gang wasn't doing anything to stop him.
"Are you done?"
Velma commented, crossing her arms staring at the ghost. For once he looked unsure. As the ghost turn to run, Fred was right there to land on him as the cops came up the stairs.
"Freeze! Police!"
"Geez… What is going on here?"
The police officers, with guns in hand observed the grizzly scene. The dead Edward in the wheel chair, and the Mystery Inc group all covered in bits of blood. And Bella passed out on the floor was starting to come to as Anne looked up in disbelief at Velma and the rest of the gang.
"How… How could you…. I though… I believed in you…"
Anne stuttered out. Velma turned and looked at the girl, her expression softened.
"Let me explain."
She told Anne as Fred dragged the protesting body of the ghost of John Ridmore. She walked over to the ghost and grabbed his face. Pulling at it, the wrinkles and skin pulled away with Velma's hand. Beneath the mask was the face of the allegedly dead Edward Junior. Bella and Anne gasped as they had seen the blood and from how Edward senior had looked they thought the worst had happened.
"Using a mix of cotton and Laytex, Edward Junior was able to make a mask that made him look older. Looking naturally like the late John Ridmore, it wasn't that hard to make him look the part."
The Shaggy took over some of the explaining.
"Like' At first we thought that Edward junior had been kidnapped, but as was found in the basement full of clothes and mannequins, and some discarded Velcro, we figured that Edward Junior had made a quick change from the mannequin to himself making himself wear the clothes and seem like he kidnapped himself."
Daphne then picked it up where Shaggy had left off.
"Using the hidden passage way from the study to the kitchen, he was able to stow the fake body somewhere and then come out and chase Velma and Anne into the hiding room that John Ridmore had made."
Velma picked up the explaining from there.
"We found that inside the hiding room was a collection of great movie memorabilia that taken to the right place, could sell for millions. Which must have been the reason the whole ghost thing was set up. While I was taking another hidden passageway to the living room, the ghost was chasing Shaggy and Scooby, while Fred and Daphne found the hidden passageway the ghost had used earlier. The ghost left and we all met back into the kitchen. What my hypothesis is, is that knowing that Fred and Daphne had been in the study, since Fred said he clearly noticed them, he must have doubled back and hopped back into the passageway leading to the kitchen. He must have over heard our plans and taken drastic action."
Fred then switched off as one of the cops took Edward Junior from his grip.
"Knowing that we knew, they set up this whole ruse."
Velma reached over and opened up the door and turned on the lights. The scene looked like a murder scene, but the body that supposedly had its head shot was missing, since he was standing right there.
"Edward thought he was clever. And it was a quite ingenious plan had it not been for one fact."
"And that is?"
Asked one the cops there that had been hanging on their every word.
"Blood takes a while to coagulate."
"Cowada huh?"
"Like' blood get's thicker when exposed to air."
"Yes, after a while of being exposed, blood tends to thicken, but this blood was supposed to be to fresh to have had that happen already. That's because it's not real blood."
Fred reached over and took some blood off of Edward senior to show the fake blood to the cops.
"It's a mixture of corn syrup and red food coloring, with a bit of water to dilute it. Boiled till it became a thick, it is perfect for simulating blood as long as one isn't close to it. This is usually used in theater and movies. We found a few special effects magazines and movie history books in the study, so it wasn't probably very hard for them to find things to set this up."
The cop looked in and saw how grizzly the room looked.
"But.. but… you don't get it looking that realistic with just pouring blood about."
Velma nodded. She pointed to the big splatter that looked like it was created from someone's head being blow to bits.
"Anne found… Embarrassingly enough, a box of empty condoms. Though it's original use for why it was created for is not what happened here. I looked up online and found that Condoms are used in the movie industry a lot for making squibs. A squid is a packet of blood that is specially placed on a limb to simulate and impact wound. With a small explosive charge, like something you could create from gunpowder like, say… from fireworks. You would be able to simulate a headshot easily if you know what you were doing."
Bella spoke up, her voice shaking.
"But… But what about Edward?"
Her hand pointed to the limp figure in the wheelchair. Velma looked over at him.
"The razor was also a trick. It was dull and there is a tube attached to Edward juniors arm that provided the fake blood running down as if a throat was cut. If a real throat was sliced, it would have bleed a whole lot more. I think you are found out Mr. Ridmore."
He still didn't move. So Velma walked over and opened up his front jacket and pulled out a piece of paper. That made him move. He snapped up and grabbed Velma's wrist, pulling her close. He pressed her into the bloody mess on the front of his shirt. He wasn't paying any attention that Freddy was behind him and he grabbed and forced His hands off of Velma. Velma fell back, clutching the paper in hand. It was a bit blood stained but the inside should have been good. She coughed a bit as the police struggled to cuff the bloody Edward. Velma handed the note to Anne.
"Cough… I think that Edward had found the will in your grandfather's case and found himself not on it. This is why he set all this up. If the will wasn't found, then he could get the house by default. The Ghost of his brother was well set up. And we would not have figured he was behind it since he was in a wheel chair when the ghost could run around."
"But how did you know Uncle Edward was in on it?"
"It was the foot prints here that clued me in."
Velma pointed to the steps that a few of the cops were still standing on. She motioned the cop that was in mid step to stand still.
"Stop and look at your feet if you will officer."
The cop looked down and didn't notice anything different then how he always had stepped up steps. Only part of each foot on the steps at the edges as he was rushing up the stairs.
"I don't see what your getting at?"
The cop mentioned look down. Velma pointed at the prints that the supposed ghost left. Unlike the cop's footprints, the footprints left by the ghost were fully on the step.
"You don't pay much attention to how you step do you? But someone who regularly goes up steps did not make those prints. How else would it explain that Edward Senior had gotten all the way up stairs? While junior planted the footsteps quietly outside our door while we slept, Senior Edward walked himself up the stairs making the prints. Junior must have taken up the wheelchair and helped his father get all set up as they put their plan in order. Knowing we would go cautiously, they had time to gag and bound each other and Edward senior set off the squib making the bang sound we all heard."
The Shaggy spoke up.
"What about the ghost that jumped out the window and disappeared?"
Velma walked in the door and walked across to the place where Edward had made himself fall over. She searched as everyone watched and she was successful in her find. She held what looked like a garage door opener. With a press of the button, they heard a thumping and saw a hanging body outside the window. Bella was about to pass out again thinking someone was now hung outside the window when it stopped swinging and they could see it clearer. It looked like one of the mannequins that Shaggy had found.
"This was also used as the body double for Junior when he was 'kidnapped'. Fred showed me one of the books and in it had a small piece of paper. It was marking the spot about wenches and mechanical pulleys. So you see officer, these two were trying to cheat their relatives out of this house and all that was inside of it."
The two of them struggled in the arms of the cops as they were being taken away.
"I would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for you meddling kid and that stinking mutt!"
Scooby growled and took a swipe at Edward senior before Shaggy reined him in. Bella got up and walked over to Velma.
"Oh… I can't thank you enough."
"Oh! Grandaunt!"
Anne gasped as she ran up to her with the will in hand.
"Grandfather Ridmore left everything to you and my father! He even included me! No wonder Uncle Edward was hiding it, he's not even on here."
Bella scooped up Anne and then swung around laughing. The gang joined in, the tension broken from the whole ordeal. Anne ran over and gave the nearest Mystery Inc member a big hug, which turned out to be Scooby.
"Scooby Dooby Doo!"
----------------------------------
Anne couldn't stop waving as she watched the mystery machine fade from view. She would never forget the hero's that saved her grandfathers collection, or the adventure that she had. It was one neither her nor the Gang would forget.
"Bye!!!! Bye bye!!!!"
Even as the van faded into the setting sun, she couldn't be happier. Sitting in a case beside her as she waved was a brand new hubcap, and a picture. The picture was of her with the Gang. She couldn't wait till she could place it where it belonged… In the house that Mystery Inc saved.
End