Our tale begins deep in the bayous of southern Louisiana, amid swamp so dense you could get lost forever mere feet from civilization and fog so thick you could cut it with a knife. The calls of night birds wafted through the air as the last dying rays of the sun struggled to feebly illuminate an ancient wooden sign alongside a narrow dirt road. "Johnny's Landing: Three Miles" the sign read, guiding travelers to a settlement so tiny it made "Hole in the wall" places seem like Manhattan. Suddenly, the sign became illuminated more brightly as a new light source appeared and loomed over it. It was, or appeared to be, a man, stocky, balding, with deep jowls and an intense gaze. He was glowing (Hence the light on the sign) and inexplicably wore a pink floral-pattern dress. Looking all about, the man smirked and laughed a diabolical laugh as he sank out of sight behind a stand of swamp grass...
XXXXX
Elsewhere in the same swamp, indeed, following the same dirt road, came a van decorated in a hideous mix of colors in a psychedelic design like a refugee from the nineteen sixties cast forward in time: Mystery Machine the sides read, and she was well named considering activities of her driver and passengers. Fred Jones sat in the driver's seat, dressed as always save for the lack of an ascot. When Daphne had finally gotten her romantic intentions through his thick skull and they started dating it was the one change she had absolutely insisted on.
Naturally, Daphne herself was seated next to Fred, using her smartphone to read up to date information about the concert they were heading to while trying to ignore the loud chewing sounds coming from the back of the van, where Shaggy and Scooby were involved in yet another eating contest. Surprisingly, Velma was not up front next to Daphne. Instead she was seated with her back against the back of the driver's seat, working with the gang's newest member: A flightless orange pegasus filly named Scootaloo.
Scootaloo had fallen in with Mystery Inc. two months earlier. They had been investigating the Ghost of Mecha-Krampus (Turned out to be Old Farmer MacDonald) when she had quite literally fallen out of the sky and into Shaggy's arms. This had given the cowardly beatnik quite a fright, though in the weeks since she had grown on him, and the others as well.
"Hey guys!" Daphne said, looking up from her phone, "It says here that the concert is totally sold out now! It's gonna be standing room only!"
"I'm glad we bought our tickets early." Fred agreed.
"Like yeah!" Shaggy said from the back, where he was preparing to swallow a foot-high sandwich whole, "I wouldn't miss this for anything! Especially after all the mysteries we've had lately!"
"We have earned a break." Fred nodded.
"Can someone maybe ask Velma to take a break?" Scootaloo asked. She was covered from front to back with sensors feeding into Velma's laptop.
"I'm sorry Scoots." Velma sighed. "But how can I turn down a chance to learn more about an alien? This is the stuff Nobel's are made of."
"Yeah yeah, I get it." The filly groused, "But couldn't you at least be dividing your time between me and Scooby?"
"Ruh? Rhy ree?"
"Oh, I dunno, maybe because you're a talking dog!? I mean, dogs don't talk even on my world! And everything talks on my world!"
"Rell! I've rever..."
"Scooby! Scoots! Take it easy." Fred ordered. "I think we've got bigger fish to fry..."
As Fred slowed the Mystery Machine to a halt, everyone crowded forward to look out the windshield at what he had seen. "'Johnny's Landing: Three Miles.'" Velma read. "Freddy, there's no such place on our map... Have you gotten us lost again?"
"Oh boy like here we go again!" Shaggy complained. "Freddy, this always happens! You take a shortcut and the next thing we know we're knee-deep in a mystery with horrible creatures chasing us!"
Scootaloo popped up between Shaggy and Velma. "Shaggy's right. I mean, I've only been with you guys for two months and I've already seen Zombie Klingon Hamlet's Dad, Ghostzilla, The Atomic Skeleton, The Possessed Were-Mummy, and just yesterday the Ninja Zombie Pirate Robot!" She grinned. "Actually, that last one was kind of cool..."
"Well, there's no monsters yet Shaggy." Daphne said.
"And we need to get directions somewhere to get back on track." Velma agreed.
"So it's into town we go!" Fred concluded.
As Fred put the van back into gear, Shaggy said "Okay okay, fine. But Freddy, right here right now I'm reserving the right to say 'I told you so!'"
"Rah! Re too!"
Staring ahead out the windshield, Scootaloo suspected Shaggy and Scooby were right. She smiled. It was all another shot at a mystery-solving cutie mark after all, and that's all that mattered...
XXXXX
Johnny's Landing proved to be everything one familiar with the exploits of Mystery Inc. would expect: Run-down ramshackle buildings sporting busted windows, collapsed roofs, and front doors hanging loose from single hinges. A couple of the more intact homes seemed to still be inhabited, at least if the soft yellow glow of electric lights or the silvery flickering of television screens were anything to judge by, but most of the hamlet was empty, a ghost town waiting to happen.
The sole service station was boarded up. So too the mercantile and an old 'Waffle House.' Near the west edge of town though, a bright neon sign was lit, proudly proclaiming 'Fortunes Told! Palms Read!' Freddy pulled the Mystery Machine to a stop. "Well gang, it looks like this is our only option. Hopefully the fortune teller can give us directions."
A bell chimed out as they stepped though the front door and into a scene from Shaggy's nightmares. A crystal ball sat atop a table the legs of which were made of bones. Various animal skeletons lined the walls, Scooby and Scootaloo gulping as they noticed dog and horse skulls respectively. Flickering torches stood at each corner, the smoke rising from them seeming to take on ghoulish forms. "Like, this is the creepiest place I've ever seen!"
"Why thank you."
"You're welco... YOW!!!" Shaggy jumped as he realized he didn't recognize the voice. Standing in the midst of the gang was an attractive woman of perhaps thirty, dressed as a gypsy though her features suggested she was anything but.
"How did you do that!?" Scootaloo asked, eyes wide. "You just appeared out of nowhere!"
"Trade secret my dear, trade secret... So, why have you come to me strangers?"
"Are you the fortune teller?" Daphne asked.
"Indeed. My name is Margaret Rita Deville, though you may call me Margo."
"Rour rame ris Rargo Rita Rille?" Scooby asked. "He hee he he he hee..."
Margo jumped back. "A talking dog!!" She exclaimed.
Velma simply raised one eyebrow. "Again? Seriously, why is everyone freaked out about Scooby but thinks nothing of the alien pegasus?"
"Eh, fair enough." Margo sighed. "Not like I've not seen worse lately. Speaking of which, as much as I'd like the money from telling your fortunes, I think you kids had better just get back on the road while you have the chance."
Daphne said "That's actually why we're here ma'am. We're lost."
"Just keep goin' on the road you were on. It'll take you to the county seat in fifteen minutes and the highway from there."
"Great!" Shaggy cheered. "Fred, Scooby, girls, let's go."
"Hold on a second Shaggy." Freddy replied. He looked to the fortune teller. "What did you mean by 'While we have the chance?'"
"Well because of the ghost of course."
"G-g-g-ghost!?" Scooby shuddered and jumped into Shaggy's arms.
"I knew it! I knew it! Freddy, what did I say!? Huh!? What did I say!? I told you so!" Shaggy was on the verge of flying into histronics.
"What ghost?" Scootaloo asked.
"Oh yes, you aren't from around here... Well, if you must know, Johnny's Landing has become haunted. By the ghost..." (Here Margo paused for dramatic effect,) "Of J. Edgar Hoover!!" Thunder rumbled as she spoke the name.
Velma blinked. "Wot?"
Freddy chuckled. "I think what Velma means to ask is, J. Edgar Hoover was the founder and first head of the F.B.I. He lived in Washington and was wealthy and powerful. Why would he want to haunt a place like Johnny's Landing?"
"Ahh, now that is a story... I'm sure you've noticed how thick the swamp is around here, yes?"
Everyone nodded.
"Right. Now, we locals can find our way through the swamps no problem. Outsiders, not so much. Back during Prohibition, this appealed to an up and coming Mafia boss by the name of Johnny da Snitch-"
"How could he be a boss if he was a snitch?" Scootaloo interrupted.
"It's just a name." Margo rolled her eyes. "Johnny got rich and powerful through smuggling. First moonshine, then other commodities when Prohibition ended. This put him at the top of Hoover's radar. But, the swamp was as effective as Johnny hoped, and the feds were never able to catch him in anything. As the years went by, Hoover's focus mostly changed from goodfellas to commies, but he never gave up on catching old Johnny..."
"And he never did?" Daphne asked.
"Not in this life, no. The day after Hoover died, Johnny held a grand party to celebrate. And at the stroke of midnight, right in the middle of the festivities, the Ghost of Hoover appeared! He grabbed Johnny right out from under his guards, and dragged him body and soul to the afterworld!"
"Y... You mean Tartarus?" Scootaloo asked.
"Close enough."
"What happened next?" Freddy asked.
Margo shrugged. "Nothing. At least at first... That was back in seventy-two and the ghost was never seen again... Until two weeks ago, when Hoover returned, bent on vengeance!"
"And that's our cue!" Shaggy said, "Let's get out of here!"
"No Shaggy, we've got a mystery to solve!" Velma insisted.
"And a mystery-solving cutie mark to earn!" Scootaloo cheered.
"Right, that too. So, Miss Deville, what kind of vengeance is the ghost after?"
"Well you see..." Margo paused for a moment, then reached over and cupped her hands over Scootaloo's ears.
"Hay! What gives!?" The pegasus demanded, struggling to get loose.
Margo pulled her hands back long enough to say "Stop squirming! The first part of this isn't for ears as young as yours! I'll let you hear the rest once we're past it." Re-covering Scoot's ears, she said "Now, famous as Johnny was for smuggling there's one other thing he was just as well known for around here... Philandering. Over the course of his reign, Johnny laid with and knocked up pretty much every halfway cute girl in the county. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone hereabouts who's not descended from him to some degree, myself included." She let go of the filly's ears. "And it's Johnny's descendants the ghost is after, though I don't know why..."
XXXXX
"So how do we start?" Scootaloo asked. The gang was now standing near the back of the van, figuring out how to approach the mystery.
"According to Miss Deville, the county seat is just up the road." Velma said. "They should have a hall of records, and I really wanna look into the story we were just told."
"Right." Freddy agreed. "So here's the plan: Velma, Daphne and I will go check out the historical records. Shaggy? You take Scooby and Scoots and search for clues here in town."
"Like, spiffy. Here where the ghost will be."
"Reah! Rhy don't ree go and rou ray?"
"Don't be silly Scooby." Daphne said as she climbed into the van, "Dogs can't drive."
It was only after the van had vanished into the fog that the great dane realized "Hey! Rait! Rhaggy can rive!"
"I think it's too late for that Scooby." Scootaloo giggled. "So, we're looking for clues right?"
"Like, I guess so. And what better place to look for clues than the Waffle House!"
"Uh... Shaggy? That place looks like it's been closed for years."
"Yeah, but they never bother to clean the old supplies out of these places for some reason. And thanks to the modern miracle of preservatives, it'll all still be edible!"
"I don't think that's..."
"Reah! And rest of rall, rinse rhosts don't reed to eat, Roover ron't rhow up rhere!"
"Like, that's all I needed to hear! Gangway!" Shaggy and Scooby ran headlong for the abandoned eatery, leaving the filly behind shaking her head.
"Forget them then..." Scootaloo thought, "Time to find clues and get my mystery solving cutie mark!"
XXXXX
Trotting slowly through the decaying village, Scootaloo wondered where she should start. On the one hoof, she knew there had to be some way of methodically scouring the area for clues. On the other hoof that was hardly her style, and certainly from what she had seen Shaggy and Scooby usually just stumbled across what they needed through dumb luck. Electing to go with the 'dumb luck' strategy, she poked her nose in wherever anything caught her eye, through the old filling station, a trio of abandoned houses, and a barn that looked ready to cave in if you so much as breathed on it wrong.
Finding nothing of interest in any of those places, Scoots was starting to think about just giving up and rejoining the others when she heard an odd squeaking sound. Head cocked with curiosity, she followed the sound around the corner of a brick retaining wall and to the back side of a wood frame outbuilding covered in aluminum siding. The source of the sounds proved to be an aluminum panel that had come loose from all but one of it's securing nails and was now swinging softly in the faint breeze, scraping up against the other panels as it did so. And behind the panel...
"A secret passage!" The pegasus cheered, hopping up and down. "There's gotta be a clue in there!"
Carefully timing herself, Scootaloo jumped through as the panel swung open, landing in a narrow hallway. Just ahead, stairs led down. "Secret basement. Nothing suspicious about that..." Nervous now in spite of her outward bravado, she descended three flights to a large empty chamber. Wooden pallets were propped up against the walls and everything was covered in cobwebs including a small desk tucked away in a corner. "This must be where the mobster guy hid the stuff he was smuggling!" Scoots thought, eyes wide. She went to the desk, reared up with her forehooves on the edge. There was a book. "Huh?"
Opening the old tome, Scootaloo saw a great deal of writing that she couldn't make heads or tails of. She paged through, finding page after page of the same thing. But then, inside the back cover, there was something else. Something... The filly wasn't sure exactly what it mean, but she was positive it had to be a clue. "Jackpot." She whispered.
"Hrrrough..."
"Huh?"
"Hrrooouuuuughoouuugh...."
Scootaloo looked over her shoulder. A glowing old man in a dress stood over her.
"Ghost!" She exclaimed. The apparition reached for the filly, but she jumped straight up, flapping her wings as hard as she could, and went over it's head. She started to run for it, but realized that the ghost wasn't after her: It wanted the book. "A clue for sure... And you're not getting it!" Running as fast as she could, Scootaloo dived and slid between the ghost's legs, jumping atop the desk to grab the book, and then jumped back over it's head and tore out of the room and up the stairs as fast as she could, book clenched in her teeth, spirit in hot pursuit.
Meanwhile at the old Waffle House Shaggy and Scooby were doing what they do best: chowing down on the hideously outdated foodstuffs that never seemed to harm them. They had gotten the power on, the grill working, and Shaggy stood before it in a chef's hat. "Okay Scoob 'ol buddy, what flavor pancakes do you want?"
"Ruererry!"
"Blueberry? Like, okay, lemme see what we've got..." Rummaging around in the larder, Shaggy located a glass jar labelled "Pitted Blueberries." The contents were green. He shrugged. "Eh, how bad can they be? All right Scoob, blueberry pancakes coming up!"
The dog watched eagerly as Shaggy poured the (not) blueberries (anymore) into the batter, whipped it up, and poured round globs of the mixture onto the hot grill. "Poor Rootaroo." He said, "She doesn't rnow rhat she's rissing!"
"No kidding! Good food, good company, no ghost..." Shaggy sighed. "We should probably go find her."
"Reah! Rut rot on an empty romach."
"Right you are." Shaggy masterfully tossed the pancakes into the air, catching them one at a time on Scooby's plate in a perfect stack, simultaneously grabbing the syrup bottle and emptying in over the top. He slid the completed meal down the counter where it came to rest before the dog. He then started preparing his own plate.
Knife in one paw, fork in the other, Scooby leaned in licking his lips. "Oh boy oh boy oh boy!!!" Opening his mouth wide, the dog prepared to swallow the meal whole in spite of the flatwear he held... ...and was interrupted by the front door banging open as Scootaloo raced in.
Spitting the book out onto the counter, Scootaloo exclaimed "Guys! I found a clue!"
"Like, that's great Scoots! But why are you running!?"
"That's why!" The filly said, and motioned towards the door just as the ghost barged through.
"Hrrruuuooooouugh!!!!"
Shaggy's hair stood on end as he jumped up. "ZOINKS!!! It's the ghost of J. Edgar Hoover! Run for it Scooby!!!"
Scootaloo tossed the book onto her back between her wings and she and Shaggy fled out the back door. Scooby followed, but not before quickly downing both plates of pancakes then looking the ghost in the face and laughing nervously. When Hoover reached out for him, Scooby double-timed his speed and ran, quickly catching up to the others, with the ghost close behind.
They ran all around the town, seeking hiding places that never worked and in one instance having a surreal experience with a long hallway and a set of doors that led to random other doors in the same hall.
In time the trio were back outdoors, running straight ahead. "Like, this guy really, really wants us!" Shaggy said.
Scootaloo shook her head. "I don't think he wants us at all Shaggy! I think he wants the book!"
"Well then why don't we give it to him!?"
"No bucking way! This book is-"
"Rootaroo! Ranguage!" Scooby chastised.
Scoots blushed slightly. "Sorry Scooby! But this book is a clue! And he's not getting it!"
"Like yeah okay! But in that case, we'd better come up with a plan and I mean FAST! He's gaining on us!"
"Play keep away!" Scootaloo exclaimed, and threw the book to Shaggy who was further from the ghost than she was.
It worked for awhile. As he ghost closed on whoever held the book, they would toss it to whoever was furthest away. Scootaloo to Shaggy, to Scooby, back to Scoots and then Scooby again, and so forth. But at one point, when Shaggy was holding the book, he got his wires crossed with Scootaloo. The two of the crashed into each other, and the book went flying off in a random direction.
"I rot it! I rot it!" Scooby shouted. He ran, made a long flying jump, and shouted "Rhut-Roh!" as the ghost rose up, holding a large open bag. Book and dog landed in the bag, and the ghost cackled evilly as he closed the bag, threw it over his shoulder, and shuffled off, the air filled with a muffled, plaintive cry of "Rhaggy!! Rootaroo!! REEEEEEELP!!!!!!!!!!"
"Like oh no!!! Oh Scooby!! Ol' buddy ol' pal ol' friend! I'll miss you!!"
"Really!? You're giving up that easy!? He's your best friend!" Scootaloo demanded.
Shaggy shook himself off. "You're right! But, what can be possibly do!?"
"I thought you'd never ask." Shaggy looked down to see the pegasus filly was now standing atop her scooter ("Like, where'd it come from?") and was pulling a helmet down over her head. She threw a line and another helmet to Shaggy. "Strap in and hold on tight!"
Shaggy swallowed nervously. "Like, I was afraid you were gonna say something like that!"
Whatever else he might have said was lost in the scream as they accelerated at the speed of flightless filly...
XXXXX
Meanwhile Fred, Daphne, and Velma, having completed their research at the county of hall of records, were aboard the Mystery Machine on their way back to Johnny's Landing. "So what did you girls find out?" Freddy asked.
"Well," Velma answered, "I was able to determine that the story Margo Deville told us was more or less accurate. There really was a mob boss named 'Johnny da Snitch' who ran this area from the nineteen twenties through nineteen seventy-two. He really was a major target of J. Edgar Hoover, and he really did vanish the day after Hoover's death."
"Was he really taken by Hoover's ghost?" Daphne asked.
"That's what Johnny's guards claimed when the authorities investigated." Velma confirmed, "Though of course they were of the opinion that Johnny was really assassinated by those same guards who wanted to move up the food chain and saw Hoover's death as an opportunity." She shook her head. "What about you Daphne?"
"I looked through the local genealogy records like you asked. And again, sort of like what you found, most of Margo's story checks out: Johnny da Snitch did in fact father a very large percentage of the local population. But..."
"But?"
"But... Margaret Rita Deville is not among them."
"You don't say..." Velma mused.
Freddy asked "Why would she lie about that?"
"I'm sure I don't know yet. But it has to be important... what about you Freddy? What did you find out?"
"Something weird. During his life, Johnny amassed a major fortune, estimated at in excess of fifty million dollars. Yet, not a single solitary penny of it has ever been accounted for. None of the bodyguards that the authorities think killed Johnny ever showed any signs of having any of it, and neither did any of his descendants."
"Where could that much money have possibly gone too?" Daphne wondered.
"I don't know." Velma admitted. "But, I'll bet if we figure that out we'll solve this mystery."
"Right. Well, here we are..." Freddy drove back into the town limits of Johnny's Landing. "Now where are Shaggy and the others-"
Freddy was cut off as a glowing man in a dress ran past the front of the van with a bag slung over his shoulder. A whimpering cry for help could be heard coming from the bag. "Jinkies! It's the ghost of J. Edgar Hoover!"
"And it sounds like he's got Scooby!" Daphne agreed.
"But where are Shaggy and Scootaloo?"
Moments later, announced by the loud "WHOOOOOAAAAA!!!" Of Shaggy screaming came Scootaloo, tearing along behind the ghost on her scooter, Shaggy being dragged behind.
"I might have known." Velma sighed...
XXXXX
"Like, tell me you have a plan for when we catch up to him!" Shaggy screamed.
"Yeah! Get back Scooby and the book!"
"But how!?"
"Like this!" Scootaloo suddenly slamed on the brakes, cutting to a full stop in just a few feet. Shaggy, at the end of the line she had been dragging him with, did not stop on a dime. He flew forward,past the running ghost, and began to swing around as he reached the end of the rope. The rope swung in an arc in front of the ghost's legs, tripping him up and sending him sprawling to the ground, dropping the bag, and then bouncing down a steep embankment. Scootaloo was pulled forward by Shaggy's weight, and crashed into him.
Shaggy sat up and shook his head. "Like, I'm glad Scoots gave me that helmet." He said. Looking around, he saw the bag Hoover had been carrying open on the ground. The book lay next to him, and Scooby's rear end and tail stuck up out of the ground. What he couldn't see any sign of was...
"Scootaloo!!! Where Are You!?!?"
An orange head popped up next to Shaggy. "I'm here! Did you get the book?"
"Like, right here... Look, I saw Freddy and the girls getting back... Let's dig Scooby out and get back to them before ghostly gruesome comes back!"
XXXXX
Velma paged through the book Scootaloo had found. "Scoots, I'm not sure this is actually a clue..." She said. "From the look of it, it's just an old copy of Johnny da Snitch's smuggling logs."
Scootaloo grinned. "Right. But look inside the back cover."
"Hmm?" Velma flipped to the back and began to read:
August 5 1965: Derned fool kids! Not a one of 'em worth my fortune! Lazy cretins all! Derned if I'll leave it for the feds though! What to do, what to do...?
October 11 1965: Think I've got a plan... Got's t' chew it over more though....
February 2 1966: Hellz yeah, it'll work... Just gotta figure out which three are the least lame of 'em...
1: The location.
2: The traps.
3: The code.April 27, 1966: Which three...? Which three...?
Velma closed the book and looked down at the filly with a smile. "Scootaloo, this is excellent work..."
"Then it is a clue?"
"Not just a clue Scoots... The clue... It all makes sense now..."
Shaggy, Scootaloo, Scooby, and Daphne all looked at Velma in shock. "It does!?"
"It sure does." Velma confirmed.
"And all we need now," Freddy said, "Is a trap..."
XXXXX
"So here's the plan." Freddy said a short time later, "The Ghost of Hoover probably doesn't know yet that we've figured out why the book is an important clue. So, we're going to bait him with it. Shaggy, Scooby, the two of you will take the book and walk to the center of town, talking loudly about how you have it. When the ghost comes for you, run to this point" (He indicated a position on the map.) "That's where you come in Scootaloo. As the fastest one we have, you'll zip out, grab the book away from Shaggy, and lead the ghost into our trap."
"What is the trap?" Scootaloo asked.
Freddy pointed to an "X" on the ground. "Be sure you pass directly over that 'X.' When the ghost passes over it behind you, Daphne and I will be up there (He pointed to a balcony) ready to drop this coil of rope on him."
"Neat, simple, and straightforward." Velma said.
"Like yeah, what can possibly go wrong?" Shaggy smiled.
What indeed?
Shaggy and Scooby slowly walked through the town, carrying the book. "Like, I guess it's time to do this thing Scooby..."
"Reah, right."
"Okay, so here goes:" Shaggy spoke loudly, "Like, wow Scooby! I'm sure glad we got this book back!"
"Reah! Reven if re don't rnow rhat it reans!" Scooby said just as loud.
"Yeppers, I sure hope the Ghost doesn't come after it again! That would be the worst!"
"Hrrrrooouuuuughhhh!"
"ZOINKS! It's him!"
They ran as the ghost gave chase, winding around houses and through overgrown yards, slowly getting closer to the place where Scootaloo would be waiting for them. As they reached the intersection, Ghost mere inches from catching them, Scootaloo appeared,zipping along at full speed. She grabbed the book, stuck out her tongue at the ghost, and was off, Ghost now on her tail rather than Shaggy and Scooby's.
"Whew!" Shaggy said, wiping his brow. "Like, I'm glad our part in this is over Scoob!"
"Rheh!" Scooby agreed. Then his sensitive canine hearing caught a noise he didn't recognize. "Hey Rhaggy? Rhat's Rhat?"
"Like, I dunno... It sounds like it's coming from..." Shaggy looked down. Around his and Scooby's feet was a rope, the rope Scootaloo had thrown him earlier, the one attached to her scooter. It was wrapping around their feet. They looked each other in the eyes. "Uh-oh." And then they were gone.
Up on the balcony, Fred and Daphne waited with the ropes to throw around the ghost as he passed under them. "Here she comes Daphne! Get ready!"
Scootaloo zipped along on her scooter, directly over the 'X' and kept going. The Ghost appeared in her wake. But then, just as it reached the 'X', Shaggy and Scooby came, unwittingly towed by Scootaloo, moving faster than the Ghost and reaching the 'X' at the precise moment the Ghost did. Fred and Daphne dropped the rope, which entangled all three of them.
"Oh no!" Daphne exclaimed. "Now what!?"
"I don't know!" Freddy said, "I've got no more ideas!"
Ahead, Scootaloo braked to a stop. "All right! It worked! It worked! It..." She looked behind herself. Saw the cobbled mass of Ghost, Beatnik, and Dog, coming right at her. Let out a yelp just as they slammed into her and the scooter, creating a mass of tumbling bodies that rolled over and over before crashing to a stop against a stone fence...
XXXXX
The gang stood with the local Sheriff, all gathered around the tied-up ghost. "So you kids actually caught whoever this is running around pretending to be J. Edgar Hoover's ghost?" The Sheriff asked. "I'm impressed. But, I'd sure like to know just what all this is about."
"That's simple." Velma said. "Johnny da Snitch had a huge fortune, And he knew he was going to die someday and would have to leave it to someone. But none of his many descendants were good enough for him."
"So," Daphne continued, "He hid it all in a vault with a combination lock and booby traps to guard it. That's what he was writing about in the book Scootaloo found: Johnny picked the three descendants who came closest to pleasing him. One was told where to find the vault, another how to get past the traps, and the third the vault combination. But none of them were told about the other two."
Freddy added "Johnny's hope was that if they ever got more worthy by his standards, they would put their heads together, figure it out, and work together to retrieve the fortune."
"But they never did." Scootaloo said.
The Sheriff asked, "But whoever's under that mask did put it together?"
"Like right!" Shaggy said. "They got the answers from Johnny's family members, then pretended to be Hoover's ghost to scare them away so they could have the treasure all for themselves!"
"But... who...?"
"There's only one possible answer:" Velma said, "The one person who everyone around here goes to, the one person they tell everything to:"
Everyone spoke at once: "Margaret Rita Deville."
The Sheriff cocked his head slightly. "I hate to burst your bubble kids, but it can't be Margo.. She's standing right over there!" He pointed towards the Fortune Teller's shop, where Margo was indeed standing in the doorway, watching.
"But wait!" Shaggy exclaimed, "If she's her, then who...?" He motioned towards the tied up ghost.
"I don't know, but it's time we found out!" Freddy said. "Let's see who the Ghost of J. Edgar Hoover really is!" He pulled off the mask.
The results were an almost unanimous state of shocked confusion and statements of "Who!?!?" Unanimous, that is, save for Scootaloo who stared at the unmasked individual and loudly shouted "PINKIE PIE!?!?"
The pink mare narrowed her eyes and angrily spat out "And I would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling humans, and your dog!" She smiled and spoke in her normal cherry voice, "Oh! And you too Scoots! Good work!"
Scootaloo shook her head. Rubbed her eyes. Blinked. Then suddenly started yelling "Now wait just one apple-bucking minute! I know I'm not the smartest mare around, but even I can see that this makes absolutely no freaking sense at all!! Pinkie Pie! Why would you be the Ghost of J. Edgar Hoover!?!"
"Well, I knew how much you wanted to get your mystery-solving cutie mark, so I thought I'd help things along!"
"Um... Thanks I guess... Too bad it didn't work."
"If it didn't work," Pinkie asked, "Then what's that?" She pointed at Scootaloo's flank.
Scoots looked, and jumped for joy wings buzzing as she saw a mark in the form of a magnifying glass over foot prints. "WHOO-HOO-HOO!!!!!" She cheered.
"Well I'm glad she's happy." Freddy said, "But what about this Pinkie Pie?"
The Sheriff shook his head. "Technically, I don't think she's committed any crimes. And even if she had, I doubt I have jurisdiction over alien ponies..."
"So I'm free to go?"
"Yeah, I guess so-" Before the Sheriff could finish, Pinkie was free of the ropes, setting off a party cannon that appeared out of nowhere.
"Cutie-cereina time!!! Party!!!" She exclaimed.
As balloons and streamers fell from the sky and tables fully laden with treats appeared out of the blue, Scooby cheered, "Scooby-Dooby-Doo!"
Scoots jumped up on the dog's back. "And Scootaloo too!"