Chapter Eleven

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Charles sighed. "I was so happy that you would come here, but I feared that I had nothing to offer you. No mysteries, no ghosts, no excitement."

"Oh I have got excitement," Fred said softly.

Uncle Charles smiled.

"That's exactly what we like; right Scoob? Nothing dangerous; just rest and relaxation," Shaggy said happily.

"Res res!" Scooby added.

"So…I spiced up the story a bit telling you that Mr. Scott had haunted Mr. Backeley here," Charles said sheepishly.

"I seldom see you Velma and your friends. I wanted you to be happy here so I distanced myself from you so that you could suspect me as well," he added.

"Uncle Charles I am happy to see you and we have had a great time." Velma tried.

Fred, Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby glared at her.

"Well at least it has been exciting," she said.

"You meant no harm Uncle Charles and we would love to come back some time," Fred reassured him.

"But please leave the mysteries to us," Velma said.

Mr. Dinkley nodded happily.

"About Norville Scott…" he began.

"Donald Dinkley Jr?" Velma wondered.

"Yes, he was never found. The rescue unit first believed he had been trapped somewhere in the fire and crushed by the falling debris but they never found any evidence of him even being there." Charles explained, looking down in the floor.

"As I told you before, only one corpse was found," he added.

"The fire; how did it start?" Daphne asked.

"It was said to be a photogenic lamp in the basement," he returned.

"If the fire, as you say, destroyed everything; how come you still have all these books?" Fred wondered.

"Donald Jr. was a designer and always refurnished so the books was for safekeeping elsewhere at the time." Charles answered.

Velma was about to ask something but her uncle pressed on. "Norville Scott was found in the basement and it's believed that he in his haste to walk out and give the horses' food and water he forgot to extinguish the lamp."

"Uh like, excuse me Uncle Charles but I thought the horses lived in the stable?" Shaggy said.

He chuckled. "Yes of course but there was a tunnel leading from the old mansion to the stable. And on this particular day it must have been at least -20 degrees Celsius."

"Now wait a minute, if he went to the stable…" Fred began.

"How do they know it was Mr. Scott's body?" Velma finished catching on.

"Like do we have to speak about corpse and a guy named Norville…it feels kinda creepy." Shaggy complained.

"He came back after feeding the horses but then the fire couldn't be stopped. He died trying to kill the fire. The house was later rebuilt on the exact spot by Donald Jr.'s oldest son; John Dinkley," Charles said.

"It's built as an exact copy of how it once where…well except for one thing. John built in even more secret passageways without his wife's knowledge," Charles continued.

"The jealous type huh?" Shaggy asked.

"It seems, Uncle Charles that we do have a new mystery to solve," Velma beamed.

"Yes what really happened to Donald Dinkley Jr?" Daphne added smiling at Fred.

It was a smile which he returned happily. Velma had told him Daph had been really worried about him and he wondered if something else had happened since she always seemed to be at his side after the accident.

Frank looked at his young patient. "You do need a lot of rest; I'll come by every now and then to see how you are doing."

Charles looked at Shaggy and Scooby sitting together in the armchair next to the fire. "You must be hungry. What do you say about a full course menu? Maybe top it off with the famous village chocolate?"

Shaggy licked his lips, looking like a kid in a candy store. "Scooby and I are all for staying another week!"

"Res," Scooby said delighted.

Fred rubbed his eyes. "Well, we have another mystery to solve after all."

Daphne laid her hand on his forehead. "You are going to rest; we have a mystery to solve," she corrected him.

"Daph…" He protested.

Velma chuckled. "You'd better bring in the food Uncle Charles because it looks like we are staying another week."

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AN: And finally the story is complete.

A huge thank you goes to my beta Scooby Doo's girl for taking time to adjust my grammatical errors and other funny flaws.

I want to thank you all for reading and reviewing. It's been fun doing a Scooby Doo story but I am heading back to science fiction now.

Beta reader's note: Thank you all for reading this story as it is not only her first Scooby Doo story, but my first beta reading experience; it has been a fun one. Thank you for your kind remarks.