Ever since that day, I saw the figure wherever I went. Always watching me, never getting closer.
Don't turn around!
Mister plate's words were starting to make sense. But maybe if I ignore it, it will go away
This was my second mistake.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I got some info!" I turn to look through my window and out on the branch is bio "Let me in! It's freezing out here!"
I open the window and he jumps in, landing on my bed "That never get's old!"
"You said y'all had information?" I ask, used to his odd antics
"Oh yeah, well, My spells caught some conversations. Listen:
Do you have any idea why we're here?
Not really. All I know is that there have been a dozen strange deaths occurring in all of the towns around here, like the day before yesterday a business owner
Doesn't seem like a reason to call in all of us for a murderer
But the way they were killed is gruesome! They were all killed by some kind of lancing thing that pierced every organ and that's not the worst part. The weapon seemed to worm through their bodies! And while fully conscious!
That's sick! Who could do such a thing?!
Bio stops the playback spell "Everything for the next 5 hours is nothing but silence... Need a minute?" he looks at me as I shake in fear
"That's how Mistah Plate looked when I saw him!" I yelled
"One more spell yielded results:
Well, that was a complete waste of time
Maybe for you, but all the testimony is the same. "He kept talking about a white faceless thing stalking him... I thought he was losing it"
Yeah, sounds like he getting on in years and losing his mind
He was 23, feather head. And anyways, another thing that stuck out to me was how in depth the description was: "Whiter-than-snow, no hair... No eyes, mouth, or nose..." Sounds like whatever this is, it doesn't have a face "Long legs... at least 6 feet tall... wears a blacker-than-black pea coat and a red-as-blood tie... No tail or mane... Nothing else to describe the horror I feel when I see it watching me... but has no eyes" I wonder if Profile could draw this
So you can hang it above your bed at home?
No you idiotic excuse for an officer, to ask anypony close to the victims if they've seen anything like it. Honestly, sometimes I think that you think with your stomach and your pecker than what little brain Celestia gave you
It isn't little!
Case in point. Come on, I need to get you back to the station and you might hurt yourself
Fine...
"That's all I got, sorry it isn't much but these guards are tighter lipped than the ones in town. I plan to interrogate any that enter the canteen. I know you think that my methods are unfair but-" "Ah'll go... an' that thing they mentioned... I think that's what Mistah Plate was tryin' to warn me about" I interrupt him, jumping off the bed
"...Well, Even so, it doesn't open until 8 anyways, and It's only 6" He puts the crystals back into his pocket and fluffs one of my pillows
"What are ya'll doin with mah pillow?"
"Getting ready to sleep, I have been running ragged all day checking the spells without getting caught and mapping the patrols. I am exhausted and I need to sleep if I expect to attempt interrogating anypony" He turns over and yawns
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Okay, time to weasel out some information"
"Ah'm havin' second thoughts about this..." I mutter, looking behind me
"Too late for that now (KKKKKZZZZSSHSHSH!!!!!!!!!)" He chuckles under his breath
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Get anything?" He trots over to me, notebook in one hoof
"Well, besides a few drunken rants about how their supervisor is a 'slave driver' and several come-on's by the younger female officers, Ah have only a short bit:
Yeh, I've seen the bodies... gruesome things they were. An' I've read the 'ports too, even came up with a name for the thing too "The Slender" Not all that imaginative but heck, best I got
"What about you?" I ask, as he writes down what I had into one of his little books
"I got a bit more, even found the female officer from the recording:
Huh? The deaths? I'm not telling you a thing it's classified.
But I've got a bit of eye-witness information of the most recent attack
I'm not falling for it, now go home
Fine, Even though I know the victim's last words~ I might as well go home and risk that my memory might distort it...
...Damn You... Fine, tell me
Now now officer, I don't think just giving you my information would be fair... How about a trade? You tell me all you know, and I tell you mine? Because I am a private investigator hired by the late mister plate's wife. And you have the law behind you so if I break my side of deal, you can take me in for obstructing justice. And if you break yours, I will know because this stone detects the energy given off by somepony lying. So, what do you say officer?
...DAMN YOU! Fine! What we have so far is scraps... Who or whatever it is that's doing this is six feet tall, no features or hair, stark white and wears a black peacoat and a blood-red tie. I even have a few rough sketch copies on me. The subject also seems to have a stalking mentality... Almost like a predator. The attacks are similar in that the wounds are sadistic and nearly impossible. They all look like they've been lanced by some kind of worm-thing... but the sadistic part is in that the wounds leave the victim fully conscious while they bleed out. Here's a list of the wounds sustained on the last one
Gruesome... and all the others I've seen have similar markings but these are less severe, as if he didn't put up a struggle...
Yeah, and it can't be magic, no traces of it on any of them. No clothing scraps from the others either, I can't even wrap my mind about this... the only thing that connects them is the wounds and that they all die during the night. That's all I have
Well, I might as well tell you what I know, "'The faceless one is coming for me... OH! I'm sorry, here's your sandwich... Actually, I could use somepony to talk to' I turned to him and the sweat on his face was seeping into his coat so I nodded
"'There is this... thing that's been following me and I think I'm going to die tonight... I don't know how I know that, but I do... It is always in the corner of my eye... or behind me... I haven't slept in days because of the stress! Please, if I die, you'll tell the authorities what I told you!" I nodded, and walked out, contemplating if he was the next one to go. So I set up camp in front of his house and when the guards came with the news, I knew I had to wait a while so I wouldn't get implicated. Now I've got what I need and now I must return home to think. Have a nice evening
"Smart usin' that rock to trick 'er" I say, turning to go home
"Oh... it was supposed to be fake? I wasn't lying"
"Seriously? And now that ah think about it, how does any of what she said help?"
"We know that what we do have is true and now we can use the information without worry of it being wrong" he replies "And we got a name, character analysis, weapon choice, but the lack of magic means that it would probably be an earth pony, and the best time to set a trap! With what, however, I haven't the slightest" He looks at his notes and a small piece of paper falls out
"Oh right, the sketch she gave me" he holds it out to me while he puts his notebook away
The drawing is just like what I've been seeing