Kokichi and Himiko walked silently up the staircase, holding their breaths as they did so. They didn't know where the staircase was going to lead to, and they didn't have anything to defend themselves with, but they knew they had to press forward for Shuichi's sake. Finally, the staircase came to an end, where a door stood in front of them. Cautiously, Kokichi opened it and peeked outside. He turned to Himiko behind him.
"It looks like a bedroom," he whispered before opening the door a bit wider. They both slowly walked through the door, Kokichi closing it behind him. As he did, he noticed that the door was actually part of the wall.
"Nyeh...that's a weird place to put a door," Himiko said.
"It's a secret door, dum-dum," Kokichi replied goofily as he examined the wall. "We came out of a secret room, so this door has to be hidden." He looked around at the bedroom. "I think this is Barty's room."
"Looks like it," Himiko grimaced in disgust, pointing at a pair of dirty underwear on the bed. "I guess he doesn't clean up after himself. And, look, Kokichi! There's a pair of frilly panties on the floor! Does he wear those, too?! What does he do in here play dress up with himself?!"
"I don't think those are his, Himiko," Kokichi said, raising his brow at her.
"Well, then, whose panties are thos-" Himiko began.
"Moving on!" Kokichi said, grabbing her waist with one arm and using his other hand to cover her mouth. He swung her around to turn her attention away from the bed. "Himiko, we have to find Shuichi. He could be in here somewhere."
"Right!" Himiko said. "I'll check under the be-"
"No, I'll check under the bed, Himiko," Kokichi interrupted, putting a finger to her lips. "You can check..." THUMP! THUMP!
"Mmmpphhh...mmpphh!!" came a muffled sound from the closet.
"...the closet," Kokichi finished as he and Himiko looked at the closet door. He then looked at Himiko and put a finger to his lips, signaling to her to stay quiet. He took her hand in his and walked slowly towards the closet door to open it. Inside, they found Shuichi bound and gagged, and looking tired and hungry.
"SHUICHI!!" Kokichi and Himiko exclaimed. Kokichi knelt down to remove the gag from Shuichi's mouth.
"Am I ever glad to see you guys!" he said with a weak, sleepy smile. Himiko wrapped her arms around him.
"Nyeh...Shuichi, you're okay!" she said.
"I'm also really hungry," Shuichi groaned. "Mmm...and sore."
"Shuichi, I know you're weak and helpless right now, but tell us what happened," Kokichi urged.
"Well, there's a secret room underneath the lighthouse that I found by accident," Shuichi explained. "I was searching around for some clues. I found Barty's construction company folder with some weird papers, but I was only able to read the first page. It had a diagram of the lighthouse on it."
"Yeah, I have the papers with me right now," Kokichi said. Shuichi's eyes widened.
"Y-You do?!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah, but that's not important. What else did you find?" Kokichi pressed.
"W-Well, ah! I found a tube of lipstick, as well, on the desk where the computer was," Shuichi said. "The color matched Ivana's lips, so I think she's involved in this somehow."
"Anything else?" Kokichi inquired.
"Actually...yeah," Shuichi muttered as he thought back. "I remember seeing a bunch of sacks on the floor."
"Sacks?" Himiko asked.
"Yeah," Shuichi muttered. "There was a gold stain in one of them." He looked up at Kokichi and Himiko. "Barty and Ivana definitely have something to do with the stolen gold. They were in here last night, talking about getting the lighthouse out of here, or something like that. I'm sure Bessie is involved, too, but I don't know how."
"Himiko and I definitely think Bessie is involved," Kokichi said. He filled Shuichi in on their encounter with Ivana earlier that morning, as well as the lie that Bessie told about the ship accident, the initials P.G. written on Ivana's jacket, the drill in Finnigan O'Malley's boat, the email from Barty, and even when Barty threatened Himiko about the scratch on the wall.
"Ah, so they're definitely hiding the gold somewhere in this lighthouse!" Shuichi concluded. Kokichi shook his head.
"Non, non," he said. Shuichi looked puzzled.
"What do you mean, no?" he asked.
"Don't you guys see?" Kokichi asked Shuichi and Himiko. "The gold isn't hidden somewhere in the lighthouse, the lighthouse itself is the gold!"
"Are you saying that...they built the gold into the lighthouse?" Shuichi asked.
"That's exactly right!" Kokichi answered.
"Nyeh...that's crazy!" Himiko exclaimed.
"It would also explain why Barty reacted the way he did when you scratched the wall, HimiCocoa Bean," Kokichi said. "He was scared that you'd find out the secret location of the gold!"
"I see," Shuichi said. "We should go warn the others! Tomorrow, they'll be trying to transport the lighthouse out of here! So, if you guys could get me out of these ropes, we can-"
"Nope," Kokichi said. Himiko and Shuichi looked at him as if he were crazy.
"W-What?!" Shuichi exclaimed.
"K-Kokichi!" Himiko stammered.
"We can't untie you just yet, Shuichi," Kokichi insisted. "We have to prove that Barty and Ivana are the culprits Scooby-Doo style. If we untie you and tell everyone else what happened, it would ruin the whole Scooby-Doo experience."
"What the hell?! Are you out of your mind, Kokichi?!" Shuichi exclaimed.
"What are you worried about, Shuichi?" Kokichi asked with a cheeky grin. "After all, this is only a dream, remember?"
"I'm starting not to think so, anymore," Shuichi said. "This whole thing seems a bit too consistent to be a dream! Things don't really seem fuzzy and confusing like they would in a dream. Not to mention, I got knocked out by the perpetrator, and it hurt! My head is still sore!"
"Quit whining, Shuichi! Nobody likes a whiner!" Kokichi said. "You're a detective, aren't you? You should be used to stuff like that!"
"I-I'm actually not!" Shuichi stammered.
"Well, first time for everything," Kokichi replied. "Listen, the others are going to notice that we've been gone for a while, and are gonna come back here to look for us. I'll loosen the ropes around your wrists and ankles, but you have to stay in here for the time being until we expose Barty, Ivana, and Bessie. Besides, I've got a plan that'll not only expose them, but the gold, too!"
"What plan is that?" Shuichi asked.
"Ssshhh," Kokichi said, putting the gag back over Shuichi's mouth. He then loosened the ropes around Shuichi's wrists and ankles a bit, but not too much to avoid suspicion from Barty, Ivana, or Bessie, should they decide to check up on Shuichi. "You just get niiiice and comfy, Shuichi. When I give the signal, you'll untie yourself completely and join the rest of us, 'kay?"
"Mmph, hmm nnph mm mmphmm fff?" Shuichi asked in a muffled voice through the gag. Kokichi lowered the gag.
"What was that?" he asked.
"I said...how will I know what the signal is?" Shuichi gasped, frowning at Kokichi in annoyance.
"You're a detective, you'll figure it out!" Kokichi answered, shoving the gag back into his mouth. "Now, wait there and listen for the signal!" Shuichi rolled his eyes and nodded in response. Kokichi stood up, and helped Himiko up.
"Bye, Shuichi," Himiko mumbled sadly as Kokichi slowly closed the closet door. Shuichi nodded to her in reassurance before Kokichi closed the door completely. They left Barty's room and headed downstairs to the living room. "Do we have to leave Shuichi by himself, Kokichi?"
"He'll be fine, Monkey Buns," Kokichi assured, stroking Himiko's cheek. "If anything, you and I are in more danger than Shuichi is. Especially if Barty, Bessie, and Ivan suspect what we're up to."
"Well, that makes me feel a lot better," Himiko huffed sarcastically, crossing her arms. Kokichi merely smiled and placed his hands behind his head.
"Hey, if you're that worried about Shuichi, it should," he pointed out. Suddenly, the front door to the lighthouse burst open to reveal Barty with the others behind him.
"Hey, what are you two doing in here?!" he demanded angrily. Kokichi shot Himiko a brief, significant look, which Himiko understood immediately. He then drooped his shoulders in sadness.
"While you guys were talking to that O'Malley guy, Himiko and I wanted to look for Shuichi," he mumbled in a melancholy voice. Himiko drooped her shoulders, as well.
"Nyeh...but we can't even find him anywhere," she mumbled, too.
"We even looked everywhere," Kokichi added.
"Y-You looked...everywhere?" Ivana asked, glancing quickly at Barty.
"Even upstairs?" Barty asked. "In our rooms?"
"Yeah, but he wasn't there," Kokichi replied glumly.
"Whoever's hiding him is doing a real good job," Himiko added. She pretended to wipe her eyes. "Nyeh...poor Shuichi!" she said, feigning a sob as she buried her face into her hands.
"Jinkies! I wonder where he could be!" Velma said.
"I don't know, but maybe we should stay another night, just to search for him," Fred suggested.
"Oh, I don't know," Barty said, nervously rubbing the back of his head. "We usually don't like guests staying around here for too long, and...if you didn't find your friend here, chances are, he's somewhere else."
"But it's only for one more night!" Kokichi pleaded, folding his hands and dropping to his knees. "Please! Let us stay this one last night to find our dear friend!"
"Please!" Himiko begged, dropping to her knees and folding her hands, as well.
"Jeepers!" Daphne exclaimed. "You know, maybe we should stay for only one more night. And if Shuichi doesn't turn up, we can always call the police."
"No, no! There's no need to get the police involved," Barty replied quickly. The others looked at him in confusion and surprise. "Er...what I mean is...look, we have enough problems as it is. We just had that ship accident last month. I don't want another incident to happen where some kid ended up missing at this lighthouse. Listen, you guys can stay for one more night, okay? But, if you don't find your friend, you'll have to look somewhere else."
"Like...one more night in this creepy lighthouse? Great! I was hoping to spend our vacation looking for a lost detective while trying to avoid a freaky fisherman!" Shaggy said sarcastically.
"Raggy! Rink about Ruichi!" Scooby scolded.
"Like, you're right, Scoob, ol' buddy, ol' friend, ol' pal," Shaggy said, petting Scooby's head.
"So, we all agree that we're spending one more night here?" Fred asked. Everyone agreed.
"Oh, thanks, you guys!" Kokichi said, smiling gratefully. Then, he turned to Himiko with a smug and mischievous grin. Everything was going according to plan.