Mystery Inc.

Prologue

"We're closing soon." The waitress stated while tapping her foot as she stared at her guest who was sipping coffee and fiddling with his phone. "Is there anything else that you would like?"

"No, I'm good." The man replied while typing a message on his phone and muttering the words out loud. "I'm at O'Greazy's."

"Sir, we're going to be locking up soon." She repeated, the tapping of her foot getting louder.

"Right, right." He said, never taking his eyes off his phone to acknowledge her. "Can I get the check?"

"It's on the table, Sir..." She answered as her finger tapped the check on the table. "Whenever you're ready..."

"Oh, so it is." he replied while picking up the check to figure out what he owed. The man pulled out his wallet and carefully counted his money before tossing it on the table and slid out of the booth, eyes glued to the screen on his phone. "Keep the change."

"Thanks..." She muttered as she crumpled the cash into her apron. "A whole sixty cents... Yay..."

The man casually walked his way towards the exit, never looking away from his phone, using his peripheral vision to traverse his way through the restaurant to avoid walking into tables.

"After you, Sir." A man said as he held the door open.

"Thanks. Just now leaving O'Greazy's and... Send." He said as he typed a text.

A bell jingled as the door closed behind him. The road was free of cars, sidewalk echoed with the sounds of his feet with each step he took. Street lights flickered above him as made his way to the parking lot next to the restaurant. A cold breeze caressed his face, bringing the stench of rotting food, from the nearby dumpster, into his nostrils. Finally taking his eyes off his phone, the man realized that there were only a few cars in the parking lot, his being the furthest away from him, assuming the others belonged to the staff of O'Greazy's.

Gripping his phone tightly before placing it in his pocket, the man zipped up his jacket as a shiver went down his spine. The single light that barely brightened the parking lot flickered on and off as he quickened his pace towards his car, hands trembling in his pocket. He was half way through the lot when he heard sounds of shuffling feet behind him. Assuming it was the waitress, the man stopped and slowly turned his head to see who followed him. As he stopped, the shuffling of feet paused, a beat of sweat grew on his forehead as he turned, his eyes made contact with another pair of eyes hidden beneath a hood, eyes that were not that of the waitress, eyes that bore into his. The hooded figure stood in place, waiting for the man to react.

Unsure of who the hooded person was, the man fiddled in his pocket to find his keys and picked up his pace towards his car. The shuffling feet picked up as soon as the man turned his back on the hooded figure. The faster the man went, the faster the hooded figure moved. A new sound resonated behind him, his forehead dripping with sweat as the cold air pressed against his skin, the man glanced behind him to see the hooded figure holding what looked like a butchers knife, a knife that was being scraped against the wall of O'Greazy's.

Fear overpowering him, the man ran for his car, the sounds of the knife grinding the wall intensified as the hooded figure matched his pace. The man reached his car only to fumble with his keys as he tried to grab the correct key to unlock his car. Opening the door triumphantly, the man quickly climbed into his vehicle only to see that the hooded figure had vanished.

Sighing, the man placed his head on the steering wheel, taking deep breaths as he tried to regroup his thoughts. Wiping the sweat from his head, he turned the key to the ignition, and turned on the headlights, illuminating the parking lot. His confidence returning, he stepped out of the car to look around the parking lot, blaming his imagination for everything that he saw and heard. All was quiet, all was calm, his heart slowed and returned to its normal beat as he finally relaxed. He felt so relaxed that he never noticed anything strange until he felt the cold tip of the blade piercing through the back of his shoulder.

Glancing down the man could see the blade of the knife sticking out of his chest, a blade that was pulled out aggressively. Clutching his wound, the man turned to see his attacker as the hooded figure attempted to stab him again. The man stumbled backwards into the car door, barely dodging the attack. Using his foot, he managed to push the hooded figure away and tried to get back into his car only to be grabbed and tossed towards the rear of the vehicle.

The man screamed as he stumbled to his feet as the blade dug deep into his back, sending him to the ground. The hooded figure flipped him onto his back, his blood spilling from his wounds. The man's eyes bore into those of his attacker, seeing their face for the first and last time, seeing the crazed look on their face as they manically stabbed him over and over, blood splattering each time the knife pierced his body, creating a pool of blood around his body.

"This just in!" The news anchor announced. "There has been a gruesome murder last night in the parking lot of O'Greazy's."

"Do we know who the victim was?" The co-anchor asked. "Or do the police have any suspects in mind?"

"We just got word on the victim; his name is Red Herring." The anchor replied, shaking her head. "He was born and raised here in Coolsville. There is no reports on any suspects as of this time. The police are investigating and are hoping to have the perpetrator arrested as soon as possible. What a sad story, Jack."

"That's so sad, Diane, just terrible to hear anything like this to happen." Jack replied.

"He was stabbed thirty-eight times." Diane stated, shaking her head. "Who could do something so cruel?"

"Shaggy!" A man yelled. "The bathrooms won't clean themselves!"

"Ye... Ye... Yes sir!" Shaggy replied, picking up the broom he was leaning on as he listened to the news cast, and hurried to clean the bathroom.