Haunting at Homecoming a FxF mystery (MsBloom and Frozen Princess)

[Frozen Princess]

It all began as the first week of September came to Coolsville High School, and most sports were settling on who their starters and Captains would be. Most seemed to already be decided, but two, the main two, Football and Cheer were deadlocked amongst themselves with the teams divided right down the middle, between two of the richest students amongst a mostly elite caste, although those from the "poorer" side of town, but living in the district, had come in, to fill in the gaps.

The Football Captain frontrunner hated all the lesser "commoners" that filled the Wildcats ranks. Even the teachers and janitor, many of which were alumni themselves, he looked down on with great disdain. The janitor, a modest (in both money and behaviours) Texan, he felt was far below him, even though the janitor was the reason for the beginning of what was now a two decade long winning streak on Homecoming games the Coolsville Wildcats had against their crosstown rivals, The Junkyard Dawgs. As for his rival in the run for Captain of the Football team, that guy was much like him, in fact, if he could ignore the "commoners" he would.

While he felt disdain against many of his peers, teachers and janitor, one Daphne Blake did not hold the same feelings against them. In fact, most found Daphne to be cordial towards them, unlike most of her rich peers. In fact, her and the girl also running for cheercaptain treated everyone the same, living by the Golden Rule. The blonde and the redhead both had a lot of friends and acquaintances among the less rich classmates and even spoke to them quite often. In fact, the blonde would be responsible for one of the most unlikely pairings to ever happen in the Wildcats history, as she would start the ball rolling when an unimaginable event happened the next day: Tuesday. Here's how the caper came down.

It was the end of third bell, and class was just letting out. "I suppose you and I are brown bagging to the library," Goldie Gold asked her friend.

Daphne Blake scoffed. "If that means having Taco Tuesday delivered to the library cafeteria so we can avoid the rowdy footballers, was there ever even any doubt?"

"Daph, you're the only person I know who eats lunch in the library, just before her study hall hour is just after." Goldie rolled her eyes.

"I'm probably also the only rich person you know that is bored to tears with the humdrum Midwest life of Ohio. I really wish something exciting would happen." Daphne smirked.

Goldie shook her head. "Be careful what you wish for, Red, you may not like it if you actually get it."

They both got seated in the small bistro like mini-cafe, just got their lunches and looked around at any others who'd rather eat in the solitude of the school library when an unearthly howl echoed across the hallways followed by a baritone scream of fear along with a mop pail rolling past the library doors without the janitor.

Goldie turned to her friend with a scowl. "Dammit, Daphne! You and your big mouth! Why couldn't you leave well enough alone?!"

Daphne Blake

Goldie Gold (can't find her live action, sorry)


@MsBloom

 

[MsBloom]

Velma Dinkley

Velma Dinkley was one of those from the wrong side of town who had been recruited to Coolsville High on a scholarship, though unlike most of the other kids there who were not born with a credit card in their hands Velma was there on academic merit rather than a sports scholarship. She had tested high on every IQ test they had put her through and eventually been declared a genius. A genius with ASD and generally poor social skills, which made her both seem and feel awkward around the other students at Coolsville, most of which barely talked to her, at least not after she had refused to write papers for them in exchange for money.

Some of the OCD that came with her ASD showed in the way she dressed. She had seven sets of the same outfit, an orange turtle neck made from pure cotton, a short, burgundy, pleated skirt and black Mary Jane shoes. with a low heel. This was the same outfit she had worn variations of since she was old enough to express an opinion on her clothes.

To make things even more awkward she was also unusually tall, 5'10, and completely lacking any interest in boys, not that there were any boys at Coolsville High who had shown any interest in her either.

At school she spent most her free time in the computer lab or the library. In fact she often stayed long after school was out.

She had just unpacked her PBJ and opened her bottle of grape juice when she heard a loud howl of the sort that it didn't take an expert to realise came neither from a dog or a wolf or any other canine, at least not ones from the world outside of myth, legend and folklore. She stopped what she was doing and looked at the closed door when she heard the next scream, a much more human sound that (based on the fact that she heard the mop pail roll past the door) probably came from Mr Reeves, the janitor whose name no one else at school seemed to have bothered to learn.

She stood up and slowly cracked the door open just enough to peel through and saw the mop pail tumble over and spill its contents just outside the library.

 

[Frozen Princess]

Goldie, after hearing the computer lab door crack ajar, turned and saw the girl that was even taller than Daphne and herself, both of which were 5-7, smiled and waved to her. "Velma! I figured you were holed up in here with the rest of us more intelligent students! Come out and join the party! You heard that eerie howl too, then I take it?"

Daphne, meanwhile, started sinking in her chair going from looking 5-7 to maybe 5-0, blushing beet red. She was too nervous and shy around Velma to properly introduce herself. Always had been; but she would occasionally steal glances when she was sure Velma wasn't looking.

Goldie noticed her shrinking and elbowed her, "Oh stop acting like it's the 60s instead of the 21st century, scaredy cat, and sit up like you got a backbone and introduce yourself! Honestly, I don't mind being your wingwoman, but I won't make all your introductions! I've seen how you look at her! Here's your chance, Red!"

Daphne, still red, held out her hand, almost weakly, like she was afraid of being rejected. "Hi. Seen you around. Um. Daphne. That's me. Daphne Blake." She still hadn't fully sat up straight. "Any idea what we just heard out there...?" THWACK! "Ow! Goldie!" She rubbed the back of her head, where Goldie swatted her.

Goldie, pushing an invitation chair towards Velma, scolded her friend, "Introductions now, mystery can wait five minutes, Nancy Drew!"

The terrified janitor, originally from a small town in Texas, wouldn't come in until after the proper introductions.

 

[MsBloom]

Velma Dinkley

Velma looked curiously at the two looking at her from the other end of the library, of which the compuet lab was a separate part. They were both cheerleaders but uncharacteristically neither of them walked the halls of Coolville private high school as if they owned it. Daphne was actually one of the few students who didn't treat the less fortunate students like trash. She was always, as far as Velma knew, friendly towards everyone even if perhaps there were none of the kids from the poorer parts of town in her immediate circle of friends. As far as Velma was aware Daphne was someone who, on top of her cheerleading, took her academic studies quite seriously and one of very few who had not at one point or other approached her for a paper in exchange for money.

Daphne Blake was also the one person at Coolsville High about whom Velma had some rather naughty fantasies. She had had a serious crush on the redhead since the moment she first laid eyes on her but between her ASD, general social awkwardness and the fact that they were from very different worlds, despite having grown up less than a mile from each other.

She gave the two cheerleaders a nod and packed her lunch back in the stainless steel lunchbox, packed the lunchbox into her backpack and then opened the door fully and walked towards the two who had invited her to join them. It was indeed a first for her, even if perhaps the fact that no one had invite her to join them for lunch might have more to do with her own decisions to hide in the computer lab for lunch, and for a moment she wondered what ulteriour motives they might have.

Velma thanked Goldie politely for the invitational chair and sat down.
"Velma Dinkley. That's me," she replied a bit surprised that someone as popular and seemingly confident as Daphne Blake would introduce herself as nervously and awkwardly as she had.
She was just about to reply to the following question, one that she certainly had been wondering about for the last few minutes, when Goldie smacked her friend in the back of the head and suggested the mystery could wait another five minutes until the two had been properly introduced, not that Velma was entirely sure what that entailed beyond them both having stated their names.

She blushed as it dawned on her in that moment that Goldie's rather brutal treatment of her friend might suggest that Daphne Blake had a similar interest in her as she had in Daphne Blake. This was something Velma would never have considered a possibility. She had seen Daphne around school with various boys, mostly from one of the sports teams, and not for a moment though that she was anything but a very normal cishet high school cheerleader who despite her obvious academic pursuit would probably end up a suburban soccermom, or not, that was a bit too middle class for someone of Daphne Blake's social standings.

Not quite knowing what else to say, other than to repeat her name and what class she was in Velma simply looked at Daphne, trying very hard not to seem as if she was staring at her.

 

[Frozen Princess]

DAPHNE BLAKE

Daphne got the hint after Velma repeated her name and the computer class. "Oh, Right. Umm. So, I have study hall right after lunch here..."

Goldie facepalmed and groaned. "C'mon, Watson! You can do better than that! Computer Lab, so you mention YOUR pre-college class!" Asiding to Velma, she quipped, "The girl badly needs a Sherlock Holmes in her life, if you feel me." She winked.

Daphne blushed. "Oh. Right. I knew that... (No, she didn't) So I'm taking a law course. Um. Introduction to Criminology. It's actually in here, too. Err, not the Library Cafeteria, that would be silly, in the library, over by all the dusty law books." She picked some at her soft tacos, picking one up, then putting it down, and finally picked it up again and took a bite, before blushing, "I'm sorry, didn't you have a lunch? I hardly ever eat the three tacos they give us to start. Would you like one?" She offered off her tray.

Well, at least it was an introduction, and a proper one at that, Goldie almost looked pleased with herself for her matchmaking skills.

Mr. Reeves, those that would talk to him always called him Tex, except Goldie, who seemed to know his name, also, burst in white as a sheet. "Th' junkyard dawg, he's come back to exact 'is revenge, jes scairt me clean outta all nine o' my Wildcat lives!"

Daphne raised an eyebrow and glanced at Goldie, before looking at the terrified janitor. "Come again?"

Goldie shook her head, she and Daphne had had their 18th birthdays already, "Austin, it's a month, well four weeks, before Homecoming, are you sure you didn't get pranked by a senior?"

Daphne made a face, looked at Velma and then to Goldie. "I'm not so sure, we all heard that howl. But really, are you sure it was the Junkyard Dawg, Mr. Reeves? That's a mascot."

"Daphne, he appeared outta nowheres all glowin' an' snarling, chains rattlin' Chain around 'is neck looked like sumthin' right outta Christmas Carol, only like, for a dog. A mean dog. One that should be in a real junkyard!"

Daphne frowned. She pushed her tray away. "Suddenly, I lost my appetite. However, I wouldn't be above looking for clues. Where'd this happen?"

Reeves pointed down the hall. "Where Ah go to make muh mop water. Next t' th' Chemistry Class lab. Same as always."

Daphne got up and straightened her sweater. "Care to help me look for clues?" She asked Velma as Goldie made a remark about hunting for ruins on a quiet site, not hunting for ghosts in a haunted school.

 

[MsBloom]

Velma Dinkley

Velma nodded after having analysed Goldie's question about feeling her about Daphne needing a Sherlock Holmes to her Watson. She was of course familiar with the adventures, and to some extent methods, of the Victorian detective, fictional as he was. She mostly read non-fiction, on all manner of subjects, but there were a handful of writers of fiction that slipped through, Sir Arthur C Doyle was one of them, at least his stories about Sherlock Holmes. There was a clean and often irrevocable logic to the stories (despite the attempts of Sherlock Holmes' equally fictional companion John Watson to embellish them) that she could relate to. She also saw in the fictional detective something of a mirror image and was quite sure that in a more modern setting he would have been described as also having ASD. What did bother her though was that she was equally sure that the Victorian consulting detective must also have had quite severe OCD which was never openly described in the stories, not even in the four novels where the author had had a lot more space for such descriptions.

The nod she gave meant that she understood the reference but at the same timme she was unsure whether Goldie had suggested that she, Velma Daisy Dinkley (she truly hated her middle name because it made her sound like a cartoon character), was supposed to fill the roll of Sherlock Holmes to Daphne Blake's Watson. It was for this uncertainty she added what she hoped looked like a smile. She had a poor track record of using the correct facial expressions in the correct context to give the correct response.

Velma then looked up at Daphne Blake as she explained that she was taking pre-law, as her college prep course. This was not quite what Velma had expected from someone who was also a candidate for captain of the cheer squad. It was not entirely incomprehensible though and she nodded at the redhead's explanation of where the course was and why it wasn't in the library cafeteria. That would have been ridiculous indeed Velma concluded and when reminded of her lunch she took out her stainless steel lunch box and once again unpacked her PBJ (without the crusts) and grape juice with an awkward smile as she realised that it was in every way a poor student's lunch compared to the obvious take away tacos the two cheerleaders were having. She blushed involuntarily but began to eat her sandwich in small bites, chewing each one exactly ten times before washing it down with a small sip of grape juice. It was the same lunch she had eaten since she was five years old, just as she had eaten two slices of pizza (one with pepperoni and one with mushrooms) washed down with vanilla milkshake for dinner for almost as long. It was not that she couldn't eat anything else if she really had to but the circumstances would have to be quite extraordinary for such a deviation from her diet, such as for instance Daphne Blake offering to share her lunch.

Velma finished chewing the bite she had in her mouth and then took out a steel ruler from her back pack and used it to cut away the part of her sandwich she had eaten from and held it out to Daphne Blake as a counter offer for one of her soft shell tacos. it was probably the exact opposite of a correct response but it was all logical to Velma. If she took one of Daphne's soft shell tacos then Daphne would not get her daily dose of nutrition while she herself would get a double dose (assuming she then finished the lunch she had packed for herself that same morning). It was an illogical discrepancy in the exchange of food between them.
"I made it myself," she added with a blushing attempt at a friendly smile while trying to determine how the two cheerleaders were looking at her.
She knew that most of the students at Coolsville private high school looked at her like she was a complete weirdo, some as if she was not even the same species as they were.

Luckily the moment of awkwardness in Velma's attempt at exchanging food with Daphne Blake was interrupted by something that went a long way to answer Daphne's initial question. Mr Reeves, came rushing into the library cafeteria, his face as white as a bleached sheet of paper, his hair in disarray and waving his arms about frantically.

Still holding out the sandwich Velma listened to the janitor's explanation of what had happened. It was of course absolute nonsense that some other school's mascot would come to exact revenge. She was well aware of the history between The Coolsville Wildcats and their rivals The Clearwater Junkyard Dawgs, from the poor side of town, the high school Velma should have gone to had she not gained a scholarship to go to Coolsville. She had heard the story about the curse growing up. How the snobs from Coolsville had robbed Clearwater of the regional title with mere seconds to go. At least that was the Clearwater version of what had happened. She was also well aware that the student who had scored the winning touchdown in that game was the janitor, and as such he was a man everyone who had gone to Clearwater High in the past 19 years hated more than anything and many blamed him for more than a 19 years long losing streak against the Wildcats.

She nodded, mostly to herself but also as a confirmation that she agreed, at Daphne's statement that they had all heard that howling noise in the corridor outside the library. She then nodded again, this time more directly aimed at Daphne Blake, when she was asked if she wanted to go look for clues as to what had actually happened. Goldie had after all suggested that she should be Sherlock Holmes to Daphne Blake's Watson, (would that be Joan Watson instead of John?) Velma made a face that suggested it was an irrelevant question and at the same time concluded that since it was Daphne Blake taking the lead that it was perhaps the other way around. She was Watson to the cheerleader's Holmes.

It was not until then that she realised she was still holding her PBJ as a counter offer in exchange for one of Daphne Blake's soft shell tacos.

 

[Frozen Princess]

DAPHNE BLAKE



Daphne blushed as Velma offered an exchange. "Oh no, Velma, you don't have to do that. I just said I don't finish all three of these things. Umm, it'd be different if I offered the refried beans, but I mean, they're not even fit for ghost dawg consumption little alone human."

At this point, Austin Reeves chuckled half-heartedly. "She's got a point there... Ah gotta clean up this spilt soapy water, scuse me, ladies." He righted the bucket and started mopping in front of the library.

Even Goldie smirked, before she left.

Just before they would reach the place, Daphne could see a crowd had gathered around the spot of the haunting. Grumbling more to herself though audible to Velma, she groused, "buncha gossip happy paparazzi. Always butting into anything NOT their business." She bodily shoved one of the jocks to the side (adrenaline, I guess, panzer was three times her body mass) "Out of the way, Goliath! (His real nickname!) Make way for the real investigators!"

The principal looked over and saw Daphne and Velma just as the snide remarks started, calling Daphne every bumbling detective ever created from Clouseau to Gadget, Nancy Boohoo and Clum-obo (someone trying to be funny, but wasn't) with derisive laughter scattered throughout.

Apparently the female principal rightly assumed Velma had been invited as she said in an authoritative voice, "If you aren't in the Introduction to Criminology class and you're name isn't Velma, vacate the area now!"

Daphne probably ended up helping clear the crowd while getting into trouble with the principal who was her instructor in the class as she snapped, "That means 'Get lost, losers!'"

Not happy with her student, the principal growled, looking right at Daphne. "That's not like you. Stop showing off for your computer literate girlfriend. I'm going to stay here, now, and watch how you investigate this crime scene. You have five minutes until the bell."

Daphne nodded her understanding, and looked at everything from the walls, door and where Reeves used a faucet with a hose to fill the rolling mop bucket, missing a major clue. Yes she saw the disarray of Reeves workspace, even the claw marks like a big dog had tried to open the door, since the handle was now loose, and a smudge on the wall that seemed to eerily glow, assumedly where the junkyard dawg had brushed against it. What she missed were the other claw marks, assumedly where the dog had braced itself to literally howl. Inside the claw marks were specks of red paint and a lone black thread, the latter could only be a thread from a Wildcat away jersey.

This single thread would be both a clue to the culprit, and a red herring pointing to the janitor, since the win that started 20 years of losing important games, and 19 homecoming losses for the Clearwater Junkyard Dawgs.

 

[MsBloom]

Velma Dinkley

Velma Dinkley followed in Daphne Blake's wake as she made her way through the crowd that had gathered outside the Janitor's utility closet. She didn't say anything but rather just looked around as if she was seeing all these people for the first time, Principal Mitchell included. She said nothing, not even when Daphne Blake implied not only that she herself was a real investigator but also seemed to include Velma in said implication. She still said nothing when Daphne Blake showed a much less pleasant side than the one she normally showed but which Velma had seen before. It was the side of her that dealt with bullies. It was not bad to be rude if the people you were rude to deserved that you were rude to them, at least that was Velma's own conclusion. She had however learned over the years that there were a lot of people in the world who seemed to think you were being rude for simply stating facts, and that they often told each other little, so-called white, lies all the time to avoid being rude. Velma did not understand this but had at least learned, for the most part, when to avoid stating a fact to avoid being perceived as being deliberately rude. This had of course led to an increase in awkward silences and that she spoke even less than she had before.

She still said nothing when Principal Mitchell named her Daphne Blake's computer literate girlfriend even though it didn't make any sense. She and Daphne Blake had only just been officially introduced to one another. They were not girlfriends. Girl friends perhaps but Velma wasn't sure they were even friends, even if Daphne Blake hade been nothing but friendly to Velma. Goldie Gold had indicated that Velma was Holmes to Daphne Blake's Watson. It seemed to her that everyone, if everyone was Goldie Gold and Principal Mitchell, wanted to pair them up for one reason or other.

After the other students had removed themselves from outside the janitor's utility closet Velma did not investigate the scene of the incident as actively as Daphne Blake did. She stood mostly still looking at things from a distance, taking in details without sticking her face into them. Much of the disarray of the utility closet seemed to her to be due to the Janitor's rather disorganised system for organising his tools rather than someone having disturbed it. She also saw subtle signs that she assumed were disturbances in the lack of organisation. It was as if someone had looked for something in a very specific place and then tried to make it look as if the specific place was as undisturbed as the rest of the utility closet but failed because they had left behind a trace of organisation. This assumption meant she had a question to ask the janitor but since he was at the time outside the library mopping up the spillt water she stored it in a word document she created in her mind and called Questions and Observations.

Instead she pointed out to Daphne Blake and to Principal Mitchell who was supervising Daphne Blake's investigation the clue Daphne Blake had missed. This was also the first time she moved since having begun investigating the scene of the incident. She took three steps and leaned in to look closer at the red paint and the black thread, obviously some sort of synthetic material, almost certainly nylon. She nodded to herself and opened the previously stored document in her head and edited the question she had for the janitor from: "Did you keep anything personal hidden in your utility closet?" to "Why did you hide your away jersey in the utility closet?"
She also added an observation that the fateful game between The Wildcats and The Junkyard Dawgs had been played at Clearwater high, and therefore an away game for The Wildcats. Could the whole reason for The Junkyard Dawg's appearing at the utility closet to haunt the janitor of Coolsville High (and scorer of the last second touchdown that won The Wildcats that fateful game almost 20 years ago) be to steal the jersey he had worn that day? It seemed far-fetched but not entirely improbable.

"We need to talk to Mr Reeves," she said and nodded both to herself and to Daphne Blake, to whom she was supposed to be Holmes.
This was the first thing she had said since the two of them had left the library.

 

[Frozen Princess]

DAPHNE BLAKE

Daphne did a lot of humming and frowning as she looked around for clues, with her biggest frown coming as she glanced over to where Velma was pointing. She sighed and pulled out a couple of evidence bags and a permanent marker as well as what looked like a normal pair, just on the very expensive side (as they were gold plated and an 18th birthday present from Goldie) of tweezers, plucking carefully the strand of cloth and putting it in the evidence bag. She made a face, "Professor Mitchell (remember, she's teaching Daphne's pre-college course)? When was black the away team color for us started, and remind me again what Clearwater High's are?"

The principal sighed exasperated as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Daphne! No wonder your classmates call you Inspector Clouseau! Black has been the away color since 1968. Clearwater, again for the umpteenth time, are ironically brown and a dark slate grey, which is their away color. It's almost black itself."

Daphne smirked. Handing the bag to Velma, she said, "Right, basically a dark charcoal grey, toned down a hue. A person not paying attention, would confuse the two. Just making sure."

"I have chemistry lab in seventh, Velma, don't I see you in that class? We're going to analyze this red paint, probably only five classrooms have this shade. Bing Cherry. I'm willing to stake money on it being one of the classes the football captain is doing poorly in. Can you please check this thread and see if it's dark charcoal grey instead of? I've actually got a few questions for Mr Reeves myself.... One is how he finds anything in this boys bedroom!" She pointed to another red herring to blame the janitor. An overflowing trash can of snack wrappers, old papers and fast food bags.

After gathering some of the paint into the second evidence bag, she helped the principal caution tape the room as there would be need to return to the scene of the crime for Daphne and Velma before the Coolsville Police were involved, AFTER their classes, with Daphne headed back for study hall and the principal telling Austin Reeves he would have to use the utility room near the gym while the girls investigated the alleged haunting.

A few hours later, it was final bell, and Daphne stepped into the class and looked around. The red stripe along the chemistry lab looked undamaged. Unless it had been repainted since the howl earlier (no chance of that) was this even the right class. She put some of the paint chips under the microscope and would get a startling clue that was only from the perp! Skin cells, or rather fingernail shavings!

What had Velma learned in the last few hours?

 

[MsBloom]

Velma Dinkley

"Yes! You do!" Velma said when Daphne Blake asked if they didn't have Chemistry together though she was not entirely sure that Daphne Blake actually saw her in that class.
At least she had not thought so until the awkward introduction moments ago. She was after all not good at reading social signs and was often oblivious to how people felt about her or even whether they noticed her or not. Perhaps, she thought, Daphne Blake had not only seen her in their mutual class but perhaps even looked at her. Something resembling a smile drew briefly across her face at the thought and she nodded, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically.

She then took the plastic bag with the thread in it an nodded. It was almost certainly of great importance to determine which of the two teams' away jerseys the thread belonged to. Though Velma was quite certain already that it would turn out to be from The Coolsville Wildcats. She didn't think the thread came from the jersey the Junkyard Dawg had been wearing as it haunted the janitor's closet. It was far more likely that it had come from the janitor's away jersey, the one he had worn that day when the curse, or blessing, (depending on which school you aske) had begun. She nodded to herself and since Daphne Blake had indicated that she too needed to talk to the janitor again she suggested they do so together after they had analysed the thread and the paint.
"So he doesn't feel like we are bothering him unnecessarily."
She knew that if someone had first come to ask her questions regarding an event such as the one they were now apparently investigating together, paired up by Principal Mitchell (at least that was Velma's perception of the situation), and then just a while later someone else came to ask about the same event, perhaps even to some extent to ask the same questions, she would be very annoyed with the second person, and with the first as well for not coordinating.

She had then gone about the rest of her school day and during chemistry class she had confirmed what she had suspected ever since she discovered the thread. It was indeed Black and not a dark slate slate grey. This in turn confirmed her theory that it almost certainly came from the jersey Mr Reeves had worn on the day of that fateful game. This in turn led her to conclude that the most likely reason for the Junkyard Dawg to haunt the Janitor's closet was to steal that jersey. She also concluded that the most likely motive for this would be that someone at Clearwater was planning some kind of childish prank. Or maybe someone at the school actually believed that taking the jersey would somehow break the curse. Velma frowned. She didn't believe in curses. She could of course not explain why Clearwater High had lost the last nineteen games against Coolsville with anything other than that Coolsville was the better team. She didn't know enough about football to make an in depth analysis but it was the only one that made sense. Unless of course it was all down to some shady deal between coaches and some shady gambling organiser.

As she and Daphne Blake compared notes on what they had discovered, before then going off to talk to Mr Reeves, she informed her investigating partner about her conclusions, including the dismissal of a curse as ridiculous but adding that just because there is no curse doesn't mean that there is not someone who believes there actually is one and is acting in accordance with that belief. She had already added a few more questions to ask Mr Reeves about who he thought might want to steal his away jersey from that game and what he thought might be the purpose of it.

 

[Frozen Princess]

DAPHNE BLAKE

Daphne smirked as she listened to Velma and her hypothesis. "You have to be pretty superstitious to believe in a silly curse anyway. I don't think we need to bother any farther with that curse idea. Take a look at this." She showed the plate holding the paint. "Look under the microscope and notice the paint chips. The off-white shavings are fingernail shavings. There's two shades of red. Bing Cherry and a maroon that's fingernail polish, which almost every girl wears and some emo boys." Daphne was sporting the very same color herself, that showed signs of chipping. "My theory is a football player is our supposed ghost, and he's doing poorly in one or more of his mandatory classes. That has the brighter red on it's walls, of course. Calculus, one of the English classes, Health, here in Chemistry, and Physical Education. We could probably eliminate THAT one."

They would find Reeves in the gym, on a ladder, changing a long florescent light with a little help from an assistant. After the assistant left, and Reeves made it back down, Daphne approached, her questions would deal more with the "organized clutter" then where his jersey from the game was... Or wasn't.

They would learn Reeves never dumped his trash until the end of the week, he had a specific place for his chemicals, but things like his pushbroom, dustpans, mops, and other tools were never in the same place twice, because that's how it had always been. Even the janitor before him, who was there 20 years ago when he was a student, didn't have his tools organized. It just wasn't done.

When Velma asked about his away jersey, he motioned for the girls to follow him. There in his office, hanging in a prominent place on the wall behind his desk, still in it's framed case was ol' number 21, both home and away jerseys. "An' nobody comes in this office unless I'm present." Reeves stated emphatically. After shooing both girls back out, and locking the door again, all three heard the howl and felt the breath of the junkyard dawg.

Reeves trembled at the big bruiser of a dog before them "Why cain't cha jus' leave me the hell alone?!" He stuttered.

Daphne s eyes got huge, the dog was not dressed as the normal Clearwater mascot, this one had a chain around it's neck, at the end of it was a stake, looking as if pulled right out of the ground, a gold spiky collar just underneath the chain, big rippling muscles in a torn, dirty away jersey, #1, (supposedly, Clearwater's) and even made the panzer Goliath, three times Daphne's size, look like a ninety-nine pound weakling. The eerily glowing ghost, growled loudly, almost like a roar, at the three, showing massive sharp teeth. Drool or slobber, maybe clear slime, Daphne didn't care what it was, came out of its mouth, some flying right towards them. Daphne grabbed both the janitor and Velma by the hand, and sounding like a female version of Nick Bakay's Salem from Sabrina whimpered out a "Run away!" intending to drag them with her, right out the school!

After the near escape, the wide eyed janitor asked, "Now d'ya b'lieve me, gals?! Great horny toads, they never came THAT big in Texas!"

 

[MsBloom]

Velma Dinkley

Velma explained that she of course did not believe there was a curse on The Clearwater Junkyard Dawgs that had made them lose for almost 20 years now. That would indeed be, as Daphne Blake had said, silly. But there were superstitious people and many athletes were superstitious, just as many sportsfans were. Her own father or instance still wore the same unwashed jersey when he watched his favourite NFL team play on the tv. The fact that the still lost a few games here and there whether he wore it or not was then attributed to some other circumstance. She also explained the power of belief regardless of that which was believed was utterly impossible by any physical laws.
"A person's absolute belief in superstition should not be ignored."

She agreed of course that the fingernail scrapings Daphne had found were of interest and analysing them would be great evidence when they had a known suspect to compare it to but for the time being she wanted to focus on means and motive. Who might be able to appear suddenly in a mascot's costume and then disappear as suddenly, without being seen? Who might have a reason to suddenly start to haunt the janitor for something that happened almost 20 years ago. Most of the students at either of the two schools had not even been born on the day of that fateful game and yet Velma was fully convinced that the motive would be found in connection to something that happened that day, on or off the pitch.

Velma frowned as she saw the janitor's framed jerseys both of them and added if that was the same jersey he had worn in that game. All athletes have more than one jersey after all, in case one gets ripped, or there isn't time between games to wash it. When Mr Reeves barely even acknowledged her question but rather seemed in a hurry to get them back out of his office she couldn't help but feel there was something in there he did not want them to see, and that there was something he was not telling them. She said nothing there and then but rather decided to wait until she and Daphne could have a few moments alone to compare notes.

The Junkyard Dawg was indeed huge and as she turned around to face in the direction of the howl she concluded that it was much larger than any normal human would be, both in height and in the width of its shoulders, the size of its legs but there was something about how it moved that bothered her. It did not seem to be in complete control of it extremities. It actually stumbled momentarily as it lunged towards them. This some how convinced that it was of course a very elaborate costume. High platform shoes could certainly explain the lack of balance which she was just about to explain when Daphne Blake pulled her away so abruptly she almost lost her glasses.

 

[Frozen Princess]

Daphne stuck her head between her spread legs, face almost in her plaid skirt, breathing heavily, having both bad posture and not exactly the best way to ease her gasping for air. It was actually making matters worse, causing her to slump even more into her near fetal sitting position. She had seen the same things Velma had, including how the mascot head had moved, almost similar to a broken neck, which would, in Daphne's opinion, make this a REAL ghost! She didn't believe in ghosts, or didn't want to.

She only managed a nod to Austin as he asked if she believed him now. Yeah, something definitely spooky about this not being a normal senior prank for homecoming was in the air.

Daphne, continued to be pretty much out of it, which would give Velma time to get some more facts from Austin Reeves regarding the haunting that seemed to just have started this year.

Later, when they compared notes farther, Daphne could be approached about a blood test. She would have her own share of questions to answer.

 

[MsBloom]

Velma Dinkley

Velma was more disturbed by the brutality with which she had been pulled out of the school's main building than by the sight of The Junkyard Dawg. It had of course been an unsettling sight but it was not some ghost of football games past come back to haunt Coolsville High in general and its janitor specifically. She had seen the dance of the Junkyard Dawg so often growing up that she could have performed it almost to perfection, or at least described it to someone a bit less clumsy and with better coordination, and they were not moves made by someone who would stumble around the way The Junkyard Dawg they had faced outside the Janitor's office had. In fact, as Velma knew to be a well kept secret at Clearwater High, it was one of the girls from the cheer squad inside their mascot, not as many though a boy. Apparently it took more skill and coordination than a regular boy had to perform all those moves: The Score Strut, The Wiggle Waggle and many more. If you looked closely at them you could see that they were done by a girl.

Having managed to free herself from Daphne Blake's grip, or rather been released from it when the redheaded cheerleader broke down and began to curl up into something of a seated fetal position, Velma shook her head at the janitor.
"I don't believe in curses," she said very matter of factly.
"Or ghosts. Residual energies maybe," she nodded, "because the law of conservation of energy. But I highly doubt it can be sentient, or consciously manipulate the matter surrounding it or which it surrounds."
She nodded again to confirm what she had just said and then, so caught up in the moment she temporarily forgot about Daphne Blake who was sinking deeper and deeper into a state of panic, she asked the question again about whether or not the framed away jersey in his office really was the one he had worn in that game. To which he admitted it was not. The actual cursed jersey had been kept in the utility closet.
"It was in the beginning, when I first got the job just a few years later but then as our winning streak started to seem like a curse had fallen over Clearwater High. I was still a hero around here then. But then things changed. Things started to go wrong and when that kid from Clearwater, their starting running back broke his leg in that motorcycle accident I started to believe the rumours that I had cursed the game so I put one of my other jerseys in the fram and was going to burn the other one but I couldn't."
The janitor swallowed, his eyes still panicked from what they had all just seen.
"So you hid it in your utility closet instead?" Velma asked and nodded as if the question was one she already knew the answer to.
"And now it's gone. Is that what you're saying lass?"
Velma nodded and continued to ask if he could think of anyone who might know it wasn't the original framed in his office, who might know where he kept the original and who might want to steal it, possibly to destroy it.
"Ye should ask the Clearwater Junkyard Dawgs' coach. He was the linebacker that failed to stop me making that touchdown in the last seconds. I'm sure he would hold a grudge."

Velma nodded again. It made sense in its own twisted way. But she also very much doubted that it was the coach for Clearwater in that costume. It was then that she realised the predicament Daphne Blake was in and concluded that perhaps she should help her investigating partner so she squatted down in front of her and with both hands lifted her head up from between her knees.
"Did you run a test for on those fingernail scrapings to determine who they might belong to?" she asked not really taking in the state in which Daphne Blake was.

 

[Frozen Princess]

DAPHNE BLAKE

Daphne had a momentarily look of "deer in the headlights" as Velma asked her question, looking her right in the eyes. She slowly shook her head. "The bell rang before I could." She rubbed a shaking hand over her face and through her hair. Her cognitive skills came partially back in, but couldn't put two and two together yet, just the clues the other two clear saw too. "Didja see his head? It bouncing like a broken neck.... Omigawd, it really IS a ghost! The stumbling...." Whimpering, she tried to spiral out of a grip someone three inches taller than her, and not currently sitting, would be able to hold her head steady and looking right at Velma. "Zombie ghost! I don't wanna believe what my eyes saw!"

Austin shook his head and tutted. "Ya gotta be made outta sterner stuff than this ya gonna be a detective, lass. Git a hold o' yerself, Blake!" He then paused, "Lotta those sposed curses happened after Arthur Fonzarelli broke his leg. That was just the start. Might wanna see whut ya c'n dig up from the Coolsville Gazette." This clue would send them in a few different directions. The downward spiral of the janitor from upper middle class to the bottom of the middle class barrel, Daphne's family's run-ins with the law, including a famous Hollywood director who had sponsored an ill-fated PR stunt with an elaborate costume, and what would eventually be the correct path of a rich spoiled guy who lost his scholarship after several pranks at an Ivy League school on the East Coast and a bored rich son picking up where daddy left off, now 16 years later.

"Fonzie used to play high school football?" Daphne blinked. "I and my family only know him as the best mechanic in all of Coolsville, whether automotive or motorcyclic. Goldie swears by his work."

Goldie Gold came by on her way to a cheer meeting by their coach. "What about Fonz's impressive motorcycle mechanical skills? Something you found out about the ghost already? I knew Velma would be the Sherlock Holmes type you needed!" She licked her forefinger and made a notch in the air, indicating one point for herself. "Unless you're gonna give me the cheer captaincy, Coach wants to see both of us, Daph. Come along, Velma, looks like she's gonna have trouble walking. What happened? The two of you look like you've both seen ghosts."

Daphne frowned. "Job's yours, Goldie. I have got to talk to my dad's friend at the police station. We found fingernail shavings in the wall of the utility room. Whole bunch of them." She looked at Velma and asked the one thing that would end up implementing herself as a conspirator. "Unless you can figure a way to maybe use, I don't know, blood type? Won't that be easier to find and something we can actually do without a forensics lab? Dad's friend is going to ask a lot of questions we're no way ready to answer, or he'll believe, yet."

 

[MsBloom]

Velma Dinkley

"It looked rubbery to me," Velma said in an attempt to calm Daphne Blake down but stopped talking when the janitor started with what she supposed was some sort of pep talk.
The question of the Junkyard Dawg's zombie ghost being real or, as she had already concluded from what she had seen (and knew that Daphne Blake would conclude as well once she calmed down from the shock of the attack), was not something she wished to discuss in front of Mr Reeves. She had also concluded that he might have reason to be involved himself and that his fear of the assumed zombie ghost was just acting.

Then Goldie came along after Mr Reeves had pointed out two potential avenues of investigation. Velma was aware of this Fonzarelli person. He was something of a legend in Clearwater, which was after all where he was originally from, as well as in Coolsville. She had not known that he too had been on the Clearwater team. Had he played in the fateful game perhaps. Had he broken his leg during some crucial play in the next game The Clearwater Junkyard Dawgs had played against the Coolsville Wildcats? Accident happen, she concluded, and football was after all a rather violent game.

She put Mr Fonzarelli's name on her list of people to interview. She wanted his version of what Mr Reeves had just suggested, that his broken leg had only been the beginning of the curse. She then looked up at Daphne Blake, having not really heard the conversation between the two cheerleaders, and shook her head.
"I think the chemistry lab has most of what you would need to do a modified absorption elution test to determine ABO groups," she said almost mechanically as she was already going through the process, step by step, in her head.
"It would of course be much easier with a chromatograph," she added with a nod.
"And quicker," she added but also understood that Daphne Blake probably had her reasons to not want to answer a lot of questions from her father's friend at the forensics laboratory.
She couldn't help but wonder what they might be though. Had Daphne Blake found something on those fingernail shavings after all, something she was not sharing with Velma.

Velma almost asked but didn't since she would soon have access to those same samples if she agreed to test them to determine blood group. She didn't move for a while, trying to evaluate which of the three clues was the most important to follow first, which clue was the most time sensitive. The Coolsville Gazette would probably keep quite well. It was very unlikely too disappear which was a definitive risk with Mr Fonzarelli (assuming he had anything at all to do with the so-called haunting). If he didn't he might of course still have useful information, he might perhaps even know who might be behind it, but be much less likely to try to avoid answering questions. The fingernails could also wait but even if they were technically not time sensitive it might still be good to have a reference against which to compare potential suspects.

 

[Frozen Princess]

Goldie looked between Daphne and Velma with her hands on her hips, waiting to see which direction Daphne was taking. Velma had clearly (in Goldie's opinion) cleared Daphne to continue trying for the captaincy, and Daphne was just sitting there like a bump on a log.

Daphne looked between Velma and Goldie and sighed. Apparently, she had already made up her mind. "Goldie, let the coach know what's going on, if she doesn't already. Looks like we have a mystery to solve, or at least, untangle the threads for the police, later." She took a deep breath and shrugged. "At least I'm not bored anymore?" She slapped her legs as she got up, pulling the evidence bag of fingernail shavings out of her purse. "Let's get back to the equipment in the school chemistry lab and get the blood type of our zombie ghost junkyard dawg."

Goldie rolled her eyes, shook her head and waved frustrated at Daphne. "Take care of Watson, you hear me, Velma? You'll never meet a more determined person. Even if her pale look still betrays how scared she is. Princess Snow White has nothing on Daph, right now."

"Grimm fairy tales, now, Goldie? Really?" Daphne complained, never mind color still was slow returning to her face. To Velma she said, "We can use the equipment in the chemistry lab as long as it's for experiments or a very good reason. And what better reason is there than discovering the identity of our culprit?" She shook the bag teasingly at Velma, smile slowly returning.

 

[MsBloom]

Velma Dinkley

While the equipment in the chemistry lab was quite advanced for a high school it still did not have a chromatograph, nor did it have the same advanced equipment that a forensics lab would have. Still. Until she knew more Velma would have to make due with what was available and so the took the samples when Daphne offered them to her and began to set up the equipment she needed to do a modified absorption elution test. It would take some time though and she probably wouldn't have results before the end of the school day. Especially not when you also considered that she had two buses and about a half mile walk to get home. It would be better if she simply started the test now and checked the results the next morning.

She informed Daphne Blake about this and instead suggested that once the test was in progress they might as well go talk to Mr Fonzarelli to see what he had to say. If for no other reasons than to gain some deeper insight into the background of the so called curse and also to possibly eliminate him from the investigation.

At the same time Velma could not help but feel that it was somehow all too neatly laid out before them, the evidence as well as the witness statements. She could not help but wonder if perhaps someone was leading them towards certain conclusions, certain suspects, away from the real culprit.

 

[Frozen Princess]

DAPHNE BLAKE

Daphne felt a little lost as far as where they would go from there, until saying to ask Fonz about something that happened two decades ago. She shrugged, and as Velma got everything going to check the fingernail shavings (including Daphne's, unknowingly, from where she scraped them as she tweezed the actual culprit's), she got on her cell and called the family chauffeur and asked for a ride for her and a friend.

"Coolsville Garage, and maybe the library after." Velma would hear Daphne say. "And if we could take her home after?" After a few more "uh-huh"s and a raised eyebrow and dirty look at the phone, she sighed and without hanging up, asked Velma, "Well, dad figured out I got my first mystery and wants to know if it's a crime or not. I mean, so far, it seems to be a really meanspirited senior homecoming prank, from either somebody from Coolsville or Clearwater. He also wanted to know if you don't want to just stay at Blake Manor overnight. That's why I gave the phone a dirty look. The innuendo. Yeah, I'm lesbian, but we just met. If you do want to come over to get to school easier in the morning, we can try to convince him about you having a guest room near my bedroom. He's already sticking us in my room. Together." Another sigh. "Either way, he's our chauffeur, and he won't take no for an answer. It's him or we're on our own. We'll get the Bentley if it's a go."

Daphne meant a baby Bentley limousine, which could seat them, and at least four others.

When Velma accepted, they would be at the Coolsville Garage in twelve minutes, and Fonz would be happy to talk, as long as he could keep working on a customer's motorcycle. His was in a corner of his workplace, facing out the door.

"Aaayyy girls! How are you? What can I help you with, a vehicle, take a number. Busy these days. Especially since the little old lady moved from Pasadena. Now she's the terror of Coronado Avenue. Wrecked this dude's bike."

Daphne shook her head. "How does she keep avoiding the Coolsville PD blockades?!" Fonz shrugged, but got back to work. "Velma has probably a lot more questions than me, but only one is bothering me. What do you know about the Clearwater curse since Coolsville won the playoffs 20 years ago?"

Fonz jerked up and looked at Daphne surprised. "Whooah, ayyy, ayyy whooah! Why are you bringing those vibes in here, Blake?! You know I never believed in that nonsense, even when it supposedly happened to me. All because a drunk driver caused me to swerve and crash my bike? Uncool, Blake, VERY uncool."

Daphne pushed, "What if I told you the Clearwater Junkyard Dawg was haunting Mr Reeves, our custodian, and both Velma and I have seen it. It has a broken neck and stumbles around like a zombie, roaring, slobbering and howling."

Arthur Fonzarelli started chuckling. "You're funnin' me. Alright. I'll bite. What's the punchline?" Apparently, he still thought Daphne was trying to pull a fast one. It would take Velma to set him straight with the facts, before he got it wasn't a joke.

He went back to fixing the motorcycle, with an occasional glance to Daphne and Velma. "As you know, Clearwater and Coolsville have always been rivals, split down the castes with the cool cats and science nerds in Clearwater, and you elite populars having Coolsville. If you have nerds they'd be unbelievably wealthy nerds. Like the Golds and the Joneses. Dinkleys until you Velma, always came to Clearwater. You know, all this nonsense started thanks to Austin Reeves and his well executed play in the playoffs. We couldn't beat Coolsville after that. Not even the homecoming game, which we used to dominate. Problem is, I don't know if it was a result of that or not, but plain and simple, Clearwater stopped trying to win against Coolsville, afterwards. We'd be fine against everyone else, but the team just plain," he stopped and grimaced as he put both thumbs down. "After that, when anything would go wrong, the Dawgs lived in a junkyard. This BS curse crap started on my motorcycle accident, which was the fault of a drunk driver. Nothing less, and certainly not anything more. It's snowballed since then."

 

[MsBloom]

Velma Dinkley

Velma cautiously got into the large Lincoln town car, not because she had any reason to be suspicious of Daphne Blake (none that she could put into words at least) or the chauffeur but because of the implication (supposedly from Mr Blake, Daphne's father) of her spending the night at the Blake manor instead of being brought home to 1204 Oak Avenue where she lived, where she had all her clothes, where everyone knew her quirks regarding everything from food to her hygiene regiment (a half hour long shower with a good body scrub, washing her hair every third day before putting on her PJs, brushing her teeth then her hair before going to bed where she usually read for about half an hour to an hour before, checking the alarm on her phone, neatly folding her glasses on the bedside table, turning onto her right side, facing away from the window towards the wall and within minutes she was asleep). Would there be Eggos (one with blueberries and one with chocolate chips) for breakfast, with a dollop of sour cream on each?

To make things even worse Daphne mentioned her own sexuality in the context and how it seemed that Mr Blake was going to extraordinary lengths to pair the two of them up for more than just a sleepover. The idea of perhaps having to sleep in the same bed as Daphne Blake was one that did make Velma slightly uncomfortable, but not because Daphne Blake was a lesbian, Velma was unsure of her own sexuality but felt herself more drawn towards finding girls attractive than she did boys (in which she had never shown any interest at all), perhaps that meant that she too was a lesbian, although she had never actually tested that hypothesis with any sort of experiment (like for instance kissing a girl), but because it meant she would have to share a bed with someone, anyone. She would feel like she would have to lie perfectly still, maybe she wouldn't be able to sleep on her right side facing the wall the way she always did. She would have to share a quilt with someone else as well, at least she supposed so, what if Daphne Blake was the kind of sleeper who stole the quilt, or perhaps even worse what if she herself was and would leave her host without a quilt. There were just so many aspects to sharing a bed with someone before sex even entered into Velma's equation.

The entire idea of a sleepover was making Velma more and more uncomfortable the more she thought about it and she spent the entire twelve minutes it took from Coolsville High to Coolsville Garage nervously chewing the inside of her bottom lip, and rubbing her hands against her thighs like she always did when faced with sudden and unexpected changes in her daily routine.

By the time they got to the garage and found Mr Fonzarelli busy with a motorcycle she took a few seconds, maybe even close to a full minute, before she could focus on the question Daphne Blake asked him, the story he told them about his accident, dismissing it as nothing but exactly that, an accident caused by a drunk driver. She asked him if he knew who the driver was or if he remembered anything about the car, make, model, licence plate (she figured that someone working with cars might actually remember something like that even after almost twenty years). She also asked him how he could be sure the driver was drunk and not just reckless, maybe distracted by talking on their mobile phone or trying to adjust the radio to another station. Had perhaps the driver actually stopped to check on him, to at least make sure he was not dead, before then possibly leaving the scene of the accident? She also asked him what date exactly the accident had happened and made a note in her head to look for any article that might have been printed about the accident and all and any consequences it might have had in the days or weeks to come.

After a little while, after Mr Fonzarelli had answered her initial questions (which had all been asked in a quick fire fashion leaving no room for him to respond inbetween them) she shifted her weight from her left to her right foot and back again before asking if he could think of anyone wanting to sabotage this years homecoming game for Coolsville, someone who might be desperate to break the supposed curse, someone who might hold a grudge against Mr Reeves, someone who might have a reason to ty to steal, and possibly destroy, the jersey Mr Reeves had worn when scoring that fateful touchdown twenty years ago, their current coach perhaps, since he was apparently the defender who had failed to stop Austin Reeves from scoring?

 

[Frozen Princess]

DAPHNE BLAKE

Daphne had noticed Velma's nervousness throughout the 12 minute ride, but decided against asking or remarking on it for the time being. She glanced at Velma as she shot off her questions in rapid fire succession to the witness. She grimaced slightly enough not for it to be noticeable (at least, she thought and hoped). She sighed as she realized she may have to talk to Velma about badgering the witness, especially if there wasn't any proof of guilt. Even if there was, it was something that just wasn't done.

Luckily for her, Fonz was cool about it, chuckling good naturedly and waving his hands, "Whoa, there, slow your roll, kiddo. Let's see if I can't answer your questions. Now, keep in mind, girls, this happened a coupla decades ago, so the grey matter may not be completely as good as if it had been more recent. There is a police report from when it happened, that Daphne could probably pull a few strings and get."

Daphne scoffed, and folded her arms (like pic, but without the smile), "Gee, thanks a lot. Statutes of limitations, and unless we can prove a crime has been committed in this case, completely irrelevant." Someone HAD been awake in class!

Fonz raised an eyebrow, looking at Daphne. "It's part of the history of the supposed curse, Daph, it very well could be relevant." He turned attention back to Velma and straightened his black leather jacket with a little shake. "It had happened so fast, I didn't catch a whole lot, Velma. Even twenty years ago, all I do know was he ran the stop sign, had been swerving back and forth, and I swerved myself, to keep from being sent over his hood. I thought I recognized him as a fellow football teammate, Colton Rogers, though I couldn't be sure then. He was in his dad's car. One of them small things with the weird cat eye headlights. Dodge Neon, I believe. Dark blue almost black. His grandfather picked him up from the police station in a panel van straight outta the 60s with flowers and everything. Green. Colton was definitely drunk, hit the street lamp after running over a fire hydrant. I know he was had for underage drinking and reckless endangerment. License plate, again, happened to quick, I don't remember if I even saw one, but knowing the Rogers family it was Ohio and had something to do with the school. They've always been a fanatical family when it comes to Dawg football." He sighed and pinched his nose. "As far as when? That I'll never forget. Rainy, overcast, miserable Saturday late morning, right after homecoming Friday, our first one after that fateful postseason, we were thoroughly trounced by Coolsville for the first time in recent memory, up to that point. If I'm not mistaken, the Coolsville Gazette started the sensationalism, with the headline Is Clearwater Cursed?, or some such nonsense." He shook his head.

He put a hand to his chin, rubbing it thoughtfully. "Colton coaches the Dawgs now, and he strongly believes in that curse crap. Never did take responsibility for missing Reeves in the playoffs, or the accident. I still say Colton also holds a grudge against Reeves. Never did grow up. His son Norville sure didn't fall far from that tree. Probably heard that trash all his life, since Colton doesn't gripe about anything else but the," he used air quotes, "curse." He shrugged. "Wouldn't put it past him to pull some kind of thieving stunt to break it, or put his son up to it."

With all the questions answered from the two girls, Daphne had to shake her head. "I'm horrible at shorthand, but I think I can get this written down, or at least the gist, once we get back in the car." She paused and made a face. "Do you have a specific breakfast every morning? Mine consists of blueberry waffles, homemade, drowned in blueberry syrup with real blueberries and topped with whipped cream. About 500-550 calories for them. I finish it off with French vanilla coffee, and some orange juice. I wish we could check out the reference materials regarding the papers from 20 years ago, but not even mom and dad have that much clout." She checked the time. "About an hour and a half until dinner, what say we do as much investigating the time period Fonzie gave us, to get a better idea on when we're actually dealing with. Luckily, we only have the Coolsville Gazette for local papers, unless we want to see if the Coolsville/ Clearwater feud spilled over into national headlines after the post-season. Oh, and what would you like for supper?"

Daphne would end up losing her appetite because this would be the time one of the national papers, a Los Angeles sensationalism paper would carry the ill-fated PR stunt that went horribly wrong and injured an actress of Daphne's uncle's movie, with apeman costume and special effects involved, which would not paint Daph's family in a very good light. Was DAPHNE hiding something? How much did she know about the current supposed mascot zombie ghost? This would also be the time Austin Reeves would be passed over for a scholarship. Could the haunting be self inflicted? Had the Texan hired a senior to prank himself?

 

[MsBloom]

Velma Dinkley

The name Colton Rogers registered in Velma's mind and she nodded to herself. He was infamous in Clearwater for his drinking and the many near misses when driving under the influence. She also nodded at the mention of Norville, Shaggy as he was called due to his usually ragged clothes and unkempt hair (goatee included). He was equally infamous in Clearwater as a stoner who seemed to have no other interest in life than getting high and hanging out with his Grand Danois sharing dog treats with him. She kept nodding and wondered if Daphne Blake would even know who Shaggy was. Probably not, she concluded. Why would she? Unless of course she had made the trip some of the other Coolsville kids had made, across the river to buy marijuana and other assorted illegal substances. Velma had seen quite a few of them skulking about behind the old fire station when she walked home from the bus, many of the players from The Coolsville Wildcats among others. She then stopped nodding and made a note to check out the headline suggested by Mr Fonzarelli.

Things were starting to make sense in her head now. This was actually about the curse, or rather in the belief in it. She would definitely want to talk to Coach Rogers, perhaps at first without mentioning him being a suspect in the accident that started the whole thing, or at least fuelled the fire. She would however not be entirely surprised if in the end it turned out that the solution to the mystery she was helping Daphne Blake investigate somehow involved Coach Rogers. She had concluded from what Mr Fonzarelli had told them that he (and possibly his stoner sone) were the only two who actually believed in the curse being a curse rather than what Velma (if anyone had asked her) would have explained as a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Clearwater Junkyard Dawgs had (after that fateful homecoming loss to The Coolsville Wildcats) begun to expect to lose the homecoming game and so they did and the longer it went on the harder it was to break. Players could come and go, coaches as well but the mindset, the expectation, remained and so the curse was perpetuated.

On their way to the Coolsville public library, after having left Mr Fonzarelli to continue working on his motorcycle, Velma first said that she could write it down from memory, word for word later.
"Eidetic memory," she explained and tapped her left index finger to her left temple and then began to answer Daphne Blake's questions regarding both dinner and breakfast preferences as well as mentioning all of her other requirements for spending the night away from home.

When they got to the library it didn't take the assistant librarian long to locate the requested period of the local news paper which was in microfilm and the girls had to read it on one of those large machines you almost never saw anymore except in old films. It was of course a lot more work to find what you were looking for because you had to scroll through every page rather than just entering a few search parameters. The issue of The Coolsville Gazette in which the main headline in the sports section read: Are the Dawgs cursed? also had another eye-catching headline on the front page. Famous actress Holly Bell injured in PR stunt. Below it, in a smaller print was the name of the Blake Productions, below that a photograph of a man in an Ape suit like the ones you sometimes see in fake Sasquatch videos.

Velma raised her eyebrows at the latter of those two headlines and looked at Daphne as if to ask what if anything she knew about it. Velma already knew that Daphne had an uncle in the movie industry who had once begun his career by producing low budget horror films. She also raised the question in her mind whether someone local with the knowledge and resources to make a costume like the one in the photograph might perhaps have also been involved in making the costumes for the two rival schools' mascots.

 

[Frozen Princess]

DAPHNE BLAKE

While Fonz was talking about "Norville", Daphne started looking more and more lost. Who was this Norville? From the way Fonz talked and the way Velma was nodding, she rightly assumed "Norville" was Colton's son. She knew nothing more than what was in the papers about Colton's run-ins with DUI offenses, and Colton was clean, in a relative fashion, since becoming the coach of the Clearwater Junkyard Dawgs when she was still in Clearton County (fictional Clermont County for any Ohio readers) Private Middle School, five years ago (already established, Daphne is currently 18). Coolsville, just by being bigger, was the county seat, which had to be yet another sore spot for Clearwater residents. The county was Clearton not Coolton.

Daphne, although lost as far as all the goings on, regarding The Rogers family still nodded along, Hoping Velma didn't decide to quiz her on all this later. Her embarrassments were just getting started...

While in the limo, being driven to their next stop at the Coolsville Library, she paused her writing as she glanced at Velma. "Eidetic? You mean like Batgirl, eidetic?" Her mouth and eyes stayed on wide. "Oh man I am sooooo jelly, right now. Mint flavored." She just admitted to being green with envy of Velma's abilities, when she was no slouch herself, running weekly on the posted Dean's List of top students at Coolsville. Since the list was alphabetical, Daphne was only one or two names above Velma's on that same list (Blake, Dinkley)!

The phishing search with the old machines was yet another thorn in Daph's side. While Velma began the search through the newspaper films, Daphne once again went toe to toe, questioning where all the moneys for the library was going if not to get this history on the Internet. Once again, Daphne was told to take it up with City Hall.

Daphne, red-faced as her hair, shot, incensed, "Even with all our money, the Blakes can't fight City Hall!"

"Then stop griping about it, and keep your voice down, this IS a library!" The librarian retorted.

Daphne was pouting and not really paying attention, as she was addressed and faced yet her third embarrassing Blake moment. This time from a B-thriller from when her uncle was doing that twenty years ago. "I don't know, I wasn't born yet!" She gasped, getting shushed by the librarian, before she read the article. She frowned. "Great. Now I have like a ton of questions for my Uncle John."

She sighed. "Well, now we know why Holly Bell is a famous voice actor and doesn't do live action anymore. I'm good with makeup and costuming but nowhere near as good as the costume designer for that Bigfoot." She read further. "Frederick Jones? That has to be a misprint. He's the teen jock with traps on the brain. I gave him a piece of my mind last homecoming, when he caught me and fellow cheerleader Grey Delisle¹ in one of his jury-rigged contraptions! He's very capable of pulling that kind of stunt today, but like me, he wasn't born yet when this accident happened!"

Daphne wasn't thinking clearly. Fred might not have been, but his full name IS Fred Jones Jr.!

"I think this is enough for now. We're getting more questions than answers." Or was her reveal of costuming and makeup, though not professional, and her uncle being involved in a PR stunt gone wrong, putting her as a likely suspect, giving her a guilty conscience? Although, not involved in the costuming of the mascot, so would clear her of the mystery eventually, a quick search, or remembrance of the play last year of "The Tempest" by Shakespeare, in the Shakespeare in the Park series over the summer, and if Velma had the program, Velma would learn Daphne HAD BEEN in charge of that cast's makeup!


1- Shout out to Daphne's current voice actor.

 

[MsBloom]

Velma Dinkley

Even despite the obvious reference to the Blake family, to Daphne's strange uncle, the thought that Daphne might in any way be involved in the so-called haunting of the Junkyard Dawg at Coolsville High did not cross Velma mind other than as a brief Hmm Could It Be moment which she then quickly shook away, quite literally shaking her head to dispose of the thought. There was a lot about it that made no sense. First of all Daphne had been with Velma when the costumed prankster first appeared, and then they had both been there for its next attack. It was of course entirely plausible that Daphne was the brains behind it and this jock from The Coolsville Wildcats that Daphne seemed to know (presumably through being a cheerleader for the team) be the one inside the costume. Maybe it would still be best to actually ask Daphne about it though Velma did not know how to, not without it sounding like an accusation based on coincidences and loos assumptions.

though perhaps if it really was Frederick Jones father who had made the original Junkyard Dawg (which in Velma's mind was more than plausible considering he was local and ha worked as a make up artist in the movie industry, mostly on low budget horror films true but still) it would definitely make sense that the jock could be involved, one way or another. She concluded that if Fred Jr was a jock at Coolsville High then it was likely that his father too lived locally and she suggested to Daphne that perhaps they should talk to him about who might have the skills and resources to make a duplicate, or rather a zombiefied, Junkyard Dawg costume, (other than himself of course). That was a conversation they would have to, like the one with Norville Colbert, have at a later time, preferably the next day, after they had checked the results of the blood type. It would be convenient to have as a source of reference when questioning the two who were now in Velma's mind the main suspects.

Satisfied that there was nothing more to find at the library, not without further leads anyway, Velma put everything back in order and then suggested they should probably move on. She was still trying to figure out how to talk to Daphne about the possible link between her and the so-called haunting.

 

[Frozen Princess]

During the trip home, to Blake Manor, Daphne made more notes inside her three by six purple colored steno notebook (the kind Columbo and newspaper journalists use). "Oh, before we get there, you should know I have four quadruplet sisters, older than me, also still at home. Why Delilah still is, is beyond me. She's in the military. Navy, I believe. She's home on leave."

She paused, tapping her pen against a cheek. "Daisy is a medical intern with Coolsville Hospital. Dawn is a model, and Dorothy is a pro race car driver at the local short track. Dawn is probably the most snootiest, and a bit valley girl vapid and nasally. Not even miss stuck up wannabe doctor likes her, so that's saying something. If you've seen Totally Spies, think Mandy but with red hair." She looked right at Velma, "Oh. Dorothy both works for and is sponsored by Antonio's, a local pizza restaurant. Don't be surprised if we have pizza tonight. She races in a heat Wednesday (it's either Monday or Tuesday. If it's Tuesday, Daphne could be reminded her sister is racing tomorrow)."

Daphne would help Velma out of the car, to the chauffeur's chagrin... And her family, with Dawn's annoying and mocking nasally laugh being heard until Delilah swatted the back of her head. Velma would notice Delilah was in a green Marines uniform, not the blue naval one that would be expected. She was also the most erect, standing at attention. Daisy didn't bother shaking Velma's hand and when told her name, called her Thelma. As Daphne tried to correct her, she got a dose of the rudeness, too, as Daisy held up a hand and said sharply, "Don't care."

"Rude much?" Dorothy shot at Daisy. "That kind of bedside manner, I hope I never have you as my attending physician!"

"Then don't crash your car, and you won't have to worry about it." A bored yawn, "Okay, I'm done here." She turned and walked off.

Dawn shook her head. "And you all call ME rude!" She scoffed. "I mean, hello? Daphne's little friend even said Velma. As in Vee!"

Daphne introduced Velma to her mom and dad next, and immediately after, Jenkins announced dinner was served.

At the table, on one end, were several boxes of Antonio's pizza, "We've got several different kinds, what's your favorite?" A server asked, plate at the ready.

Daphne and Dorothy picked a few slices of supreme, Dawn went vegetarian, Daisy complained about it not being a balanced meal, rather rudely, which would be her character, making one wonder what kind of doctor she would even be. Delilah shrugged and finally asked, "Any meat lover's?"

George Blake, Daphne's dad said, "Since we have a full house, Velma, I hope it's not too much trouble that you're rooming with Daphne. We did move a daybed in there once we heard, to accommodate you, Velma." Was he saying it that many times to get it through Daisy's thick skull? Every time he said Velma's name, he would look directly at Daisy, who already mispronounced the name, and told Daphne point blank she didn't care. "We'll try to accommodate you the best we can. Or rather, Jenkins here, will."

Jenkins gave Velma a little bow. "I'm at your service, Ms Dinkley."

Dawn's annoying laugh cut through the dining room. "So posh, Jenkins!"

Daphne seemed to be turning a brighter and brighter red. She almost glowed as if she was a lit up Christmas light. "I'm so sorry for my sisters, Velma, at least my astronaut sister and her husband isn't here," she whispered over to her. "You only have to deal with this tonight. I have to constantly. Especially mini-Mandy over there, and House MD." She indicated Daisy and Dawn. "Not to mention Sergeant Snorkel over there." Apparently her race car driving sister was the only one without an appropriate Daphneism. Or mocking nickname.

Dawn couldn't help but ride Daphne some more, this time about her preference. "Watch out for that one, Vel, she only likes girls... Especially smarties!" Aaaand insert annoying nasally laugh, here. Delilah again whacked Dawn upside her head, causing George to sigh, shake his head, as he pinched his nose. "Girls, can't we have one meal without all this drama?!"

When Velma would have had enough pizza, Daphne would show her to their shared room and still bright red. "I can't apologize enough for the way Daisy and Dawn acted. I'll promise anything, and answer anything to make up for this!"

Be careful what you promise, Daphne.