The Case of the Cheese Thief

The Case of the Cheese Thief
Description
Publisher	Capstone
Date published	February 1, 2014
Part of	You Choose Stories: Scooby-Doo
# of pages	112
Writer	J.E. Bright
Illustrator	Scott Neely
Chronology
Next story	The Mystery of the Maze Monster

The Case of the Cheese Thief is the first novel in the You Choose: Scooby-Doo series, published by Capstone.

Premise

The secret recipe for a million-dollar mozzarella is stolen aboard a train trip through Europe!

Synopsis

Beginning
The gang is on a European train that's currently going through Italy. The trip has been been given to them as a thank you present from the Prime Minister after the gang found his missing parrot. 

Scooby asks where the next destination is on their trip. Velma explains that they left Rome a couple of hours ago and that their next destination would be Florence, followed by Bologna.

Scooby expresses confusion over the word "Bologna." Fred explains that its an Italian city and speculates that baloney could have been invented there. Velma explains that baloney is based on mortadella sauce, which was first made in Bologna. She then explains that they will eventually be going through Venice and Milan. After that, the train then reaches the Alps and will then cross the mountains and go into Switzerland. The train will then finally end up in Paris, which is where the gang will fly home.

The gang then head to the dining carriage of the train. Daphne approaches a maitre d' and tries to get a table for the five of them. The maitre d' is unable to fulfill Daphne's request and explains that it customary to share tables with others. The gang are OK with this as they love meeting new people.

The maitre d' then ushers the gang to different tables. Shaggy and Scooby get seated with a man and woman who look a like. The woman introduces herself as Rosa Robbiolo and explains that the man is her brother Roberto. Rosa asks Shaggy if he and Scooby are travelling to a cheese convention. Shaggy says that him and Scooby aren't, but says that a cheese convention sounds like somewhere that him and Scooby should go.

Shaggy then asks if Rosa and Roberto are going to the convention to taste cheese. Roberto explains that him and Rosa are going there becaise he has been enetereed into a competition to find the greatest cheese. He then says that he has created a mozzarella that is so creamy, it makes men weep with joy. Rosa then explains that the prize for winning the competition is a million dollars, with many more millions in sales afterwards. Roberto then explains that it has taken him twenty years to perfect the recipe and that it's his life's work.

A man who is sitting with Daphne, Velma and Fred then interjects. He is Georges Fromage, who is also taking part in the competition. Georges brags about the cheese that he plans to enter and states that he thinks it will cause him to win. Roberto and Georges then start arguing. However, the two are interrupted by Alexander Iskender (who has a monkey on his shoulder), a cheese merchant who is known as "the King of Cheese." Georges explains that Alexander can make a cheese famous throughout Europe.

Roberto expreeses embaressment and not recognising Alexander and his famous monkey Zips. Alexander tells Roberto to not let it get to his head and explains that he can't make friends with him in case Roberto tries to sell him his cheese. Roberto defends himself by saying that he would never play games to hype his creation. He then describes his mozzarella as pure, milky beauty.

Intrigued by what Roberto has just said, Alexander tells Roberto to give him a sneak-peak of his cheese. Georges protests and states that this is against the rules of the cheese competition. Alexander defends himself and that he is not a judge of the competition and merely a merchant interested in selling good cheese. Roberto agrees in allowing Alexander to have a glimpse at his cheese. Him, Rosa and Alexander then head to the kitchen carriage of the train. 

Endings

1. The gang solves the mystery and it's revealed that Alexander Iskender was the culprit.
2. Georges Fromage traps the gang in super-stretchy cheese.
3. The Ghost Cow causes the gang to fall off the train. Roberto Robbiolo waves goodbye to them.
4. The Giant Rat causes the gang to fall off the train. Georges Fromage waves them goodbye.
5. A tunnel collapses, causing the train trip to be over. The culprit is never caught.
6. The police think that the gang stole the mozzarella.
7. The gang mistakenly think that Georges Fromage is the culprit. This turns out not to be the case, which angers the police. The the gang are sent home.
8. The gang mistakenly think that Rosa Robbiolo was the culprit. This turns out not to be the case so the gang is sent home.
9. The gang are in a carriage that is used by the guard. Alexander Iskender uncouples it from the train.
10. Scooby eats the mozzarella and the gang is banned from entering Europe.
11. There is no mystery to solve.
12. The gang try to catch Alexander Iskender but they fall from the train in their attempt.

Characters

Main characters:

• Mystery Inc.
  • Scooby-Doo
  • Shaggy Rogers
  • Fred Jones
  • Daphne Blake
  • Velma Dinkley

Supporting characters:

• Great-aunt Ida ^{(only appearance)}

Villains:

• Giant rat ^{(only appearance)(no lines)(Georges Fromage's disguise)}
• Georges Fromage ^{(only appearance)(redeemed)}
• Ghost Cow ^{(only appearance)(no lines)(Rosa and Roberto Robbiolo's disguise)}
• Rosa Robbiolo ^{(only appearance)(redeemed)}
• Roberto Robbiolo ^{(only appearance)(redeemed)}
• Gremlin ^{(only appearance)(no lines)(Zips' disguise)}
• Zips ^{(only appearance)(no lines)}
• Alexander Iskender ^{(only appearance)}

Other characters:

• Train passengers
• Police

Locations

• Europe

Objects

• Roberto Robbiolo's mozzarella

Vehicles

• Train

Suspects

Suspect	Motive/reason
Rosa Robbiolo	Motive/reason
Roberto Robbiolo	Motive/reason
Georges Fromage	Motive/reason
Alexander Iskender	Motive/reason

Culprits

Culprit	Motive/reason
Georges Fromage as the Giant rat	To get back at the train's cooks for not making pizza with Muenster cheese.
Rosa Robbiolo and Roberto Robbiolo as the Ghost Cow	To protect their cows from thieves.
Zips as the Gremlin Alexander Iskender	To steal Roberto Robbiolo's mozzarella.

Notes/Trivia

• This is the first book to have twelve endings.
• This is the first book in the series written by J.E. Bright.

Miscellaneous

• Disguises:
• Traps:
• Clues:
• Scooby Snacks bribe:
• "Ruh-roh" count:
• "Zoinks" count:
• "Jeepers" count:
• "Jinkies" count:

Coloring mistakes

• None known.

Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities

• When Fred unleashes the milk geyser, we are told that all five members of Mystery Inc. are drenched, but the picture shows the hose pointed away from a completely dry Fred.

Quotes

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