Scooby Doo! Meet Ellie Machine

Escape from Mystery Manor (Part 1)

My father stared at me, then motioned for me to sit in the chair in front of him. I sat down, not breaking eye contact. "What do you want to know?" he asked me.

"Everything," I said immediately. He nodded, took a deep breath, and began. "As I'm sure you're aware, Mystery Incorporated was a little club that a few teenagers started years ago so that they could solve mysteries. Professor Pericles was their mascot. Mr. E. was also one of the original members. And, well, your mother, Elizabeth, was friends with all of them and they considered her a part of the group. We all went to school together."

I felt like my heart stopped. My dad never talked about my mother. I thought he was done, but he kept going. "Mr. E. and I were especially good friends, and I would help on the occasional case they all had. Elizabeth and I fell for each other, and when we started dating, they let me into their club. For as long as I'd been good friends with them, they would talk about a treasure under Crystal Cove. They never got too into details about it with me, but I got the general idea of it. One night, I couldn't go with them to investigate some strange guy going in and out of the old Spanish Church, and the next thing I know, they have plans to leave town and never return."

I leaned forward, captivated by the story but not quite sure how to wrap my head around it. "Elizabeth asked me to go with her, and I did. A year after we graduated, we had you. And Mr. E. had a business opportunity that he let me in on. We came back to Crystal Cove, and we built Destroido together. But, when we came back, Elizabeth died."

Dad choked up and had to take a moment to breathe. I didn't ask him to stop, though. I needed the whole story. "Mr. E. wanted to keep going with Destroido, and I helped as a way to get over Elizabeth's death. But, when you kids found the locket Brad gave to Judy, he took an interest in the treasure again. I started doing little favors, here and there, but now I'm invested again too. E. and I just want the treasure before Pericles gets it. If he gets the treasure, who knows what power he could unlock."

I waited a moment in case he wasn't finished, but he was. A few more questions were still left on my mind. "Why did they need to leave Crystal Cove?" I asked. Dad sighed. "That, even Elizabeth wouldn't tell me, and Mr. E. refuses to say anything on the matter anymore," he told me. I nodded. "Thank you for telling me. That couldn't have been easy. Just, one more question... Were you the one to put the chest of papers in the Mystery Machine for me to find?"

Dad nodded. "I had them in the attic. I never knew what was in them, but when we left Crystal Cove, Elizabeth refused to leave it. All I knew was that it held things passed down from her family, and so I left it for you to figure out. I know how much you like mysteries, and I figured this would give you a chance to see where your mother came from," he explained. I was satisfied with that answer. "I hope you realize that now that I know you work for Mr. E., I can't really trust you much," I said to him. He looked down and nodded. "I do."

"I'm going be at Daphne's place for a while, or at least until everything is sorted out. I'll text you, and keep you updated on how I am," I continued, and stood up. "Alright."

I walked around the desk and hugged him. "Thank you for telling me. I love you," I said to him. He hugged me back and kissed my forehead. "I love you too. Good luck."

With that, I went upstairs and started packing. I sent a quick text to Daphne, asking if I could stay with her and as she always does, she said yes. I packed a week's worth of clothes and grabbed my go-bag that I always have on me, then looked at the chest and bulletin board I had everything set up on. I quickly took it all down and packed it into the chest as well.

I sent a text to Jones to see if he could drive me to Daphne's, and in a few moments, he said he was on his way. I grabbed everything and went downstairs and out the door. I waited a few minutes, and Jones pulled up in the car. I climbed in, and we rode in silence to the Blake Mansion. Daphne was already waiting for me there. "Have a good night, Jones," I called, and got out of the car.