Chapter 2 "Second Down"
Chapter 2
“Second Down”
I fell into a rage when I heard this. “You can’t be serious!” I growled, glowering at him.
“I am,” Insight said. “You have the most motive, and being a detective you would know the layout of prison. Motive and method.”
“But not oppurtunity!” Twilight said, standing beside me firmly. “Private has an alibi! The night of both murders he was with me on a date!”
“Your highness,” Insight said, as if Twilight was a five year old. “I kindly ask you to let the police handle this.”
“I won’t be ignored while you accuse my husband of murder!” Twilight shouted.
Insight ignored her and looked over to me. “Get out of my crime scene right now before I have you both arrested for disrupting the police.”
Who in the hell does this bastard think he-
I felt a hoof on my shoulder, I looked over at Twilight who slowly nodded. We both walked away, out of the crime scene and up the stairs to the hall. Once out of sight of everypony except my wife, I bucked a nearby trash can in frustration. “That no good dirty rotten son of a-
I’m uh..not exactly proud of the next part…
“He talked to us like were kids!” Twilight said, groaning. “He also completely ignored the fact that he just told off a princess.”
I sighed after finishing my rant. Now wasn’t the time to get all in a hissy fit. Now was the time to just work with the case without a crime scene to work with. “Now what do we do?” I said.
Twilight put a hoof to her chin, “Well, we should at least tell his family what happened. Only problem is, neither of us really keep track of sports.”
“I do know somepony who keeps track of everything in Manehatten though,” I said, smiling a little. “An information broker that not even Insight can get at.”
_____________________________________________________________
Outside ponies walked down the street and headed about their business. Twilight and I were at a phone booth, I was inside dialing the number while Twilight leaned against the booth. She was mindlessly watching a tv in the store while I put my ear to the receiver.
After a couple of rings I got this “AWWW YEEAH! This is the home of the one and only DJ PON-3 and her trusty sidekick Oooctavia! Who’s talking?”
I smiled and said, “Vinyl, it’s me, Private.”
“Oh hey Private,” she said, “Haven’t heard from you in awhile, how’s the nookie going with Twilight?”
I blushed brightly at that and just said, “I need to talk to your marefriend please…”
“All right, just saying I’d love to give you guys some tips,” Vinyl said nonchalantly as I facehoofed.
I heard some noises in the background. More like arguing and some few words we can’t say here. But, ultimately Octavia’s voice came on. “Ahh Private, please excuse Vinyl, she can be about as subtle as a train wreck.”
“Ya think!?” I replied.
“Anywhoo, what is it you need?” She asked in her typical upper class tone.
“You check the news?” I asked.
“About Marty Ball being murdered? Ahh yes, I got an entire rant from Vinyl about it. Apparently she tried to gamble. The money was going to be saved for a nice dinner over at Fortuna’s, but somepony had to go and bet it all!” Octavia said, obviously putting emphasis so that Vinyl could hear. I just heard Vinyl laugh on the other end.
“Listen, I’m investigating his murder,” I said.
“That’s not a surprise, you want to know about him?” She asked in turn.
“Please and thank you,” I said with a smile.
“Alright, let me see if I can remember. Ah yes, Marty was born in Hoofington. Moved here after some scouts discovered he had a talent for Hoofball. Played on some minor leagues for a while before being bumped up to the majors. Married to a lovely mare five years younger than him named Limelight a few years ago. No children as far as I know.”
“Can you get me an adress for his home? Maybe his wife knows something?” I asked, pulling out my notebook. I wrote down the address she gave me and said, “What about his coach? Any rival team mates?”
“He had a pretty nasty feud going on with his fellow player known as Quickstrike. Apparently there’s been a lot of bad blood between them.” She answered.
I heard a tap on the phone booth and stuck my head out the door. Twilight pointed at the television in the store. The news pony was speaking as a video feed showcasing some cops bringing in a large sunset colored stallion with a brown mohawk on his head. He was struggling as the police were bringing him in.
“Police have found a suspect in the recent murder of Marty Ball. Quickstrike has said several times in interviews he’d like nothing more than to see Marty kicked off the team. Police Chief Gunry Insight has cited several written threats as evidence to bring Quickstrike in for questioning.”
“Damn,” I said, shaking my head. “We’ll never be able to get at him now. Insight will come up with some sort of excuse.”
Twilight shook her own head, “Why arrest somepony now? It’s only been a few hours.”
“I’m guessing he wants it to look like the police are doing something,” I said with a sigh, “Seems it’s all about PR these days with the police.”
Twilight sighed, “What do we do now?”
“I guess,” I said as looked at the address on my notebook. “We make a house call.”
____________________________________________________________________
It was one of the bigger houses I’d ever seen. A bit smaller than the Rich place, back in Ponyville, but apparently Marty Ball wasn’t interested in tasteful decorating. Mind you, it wasn’t as bad Pave Diamond’s place, but the hoofball shaped topiaries didn’t help the decore. The house was painted in Marty’s team colors, and there were brass, of a light color to mimic gold, fittings everywhere. The fountain, in the yard, had a bronze statue shaped like the Hoofsman Trophy, and even the path had the hoofball theme.
Twilight and I walked up to the gate and tapped the button on the intercom. “Yes?” A polite voice spoke on the other end. It sounded like it was a mare.
“We’re here to speak to Miss Limelight please.” I said.
“I don’t believe she was seeing any appointments today.” The voice replied.
“Please? It’s really important,” I said, “We may be able to help with her husband’s murder.”
The other side was quiet for a minute, the gate then opened and we made our way up the path to the front doors. The door opened to reveal a young looking mare dressed in a maid’s outfit. “Lady Limelight will see you now.”
The interior was in considerably better taste than the exterior. The carpet was a rich red, and the wainscoting was a dark wood that accented the dark green walls. The furniture was, mostly, masculine with large lines and comfortable cushions. A few pieces showed a mare’s touch, softening the edges, and making the house welcoming. The study we were lead to held bookshelves. The shelves holding more trophies than books much to Twilights obvious disappointment.
Limelight herself was at least four years older than I was, although she tried everything in her power to hide it. Her mane was a rich golden blond that tumbled down in manufactured curls. Her eyes were a rather pretty blue and her coat was a soft gold color. Her face was caked in makeup and had slight marks that spelled botox and plastic surgery. She was clad in a very form fitting dress and diamond necklaces that could blind you with the right angle of light.
In other words, your typical celebrity wife.
She smiled as we both took a seat on a couch facing her. “I’ve heard about both of you from the news. Private Eye and Princess Twilight Sparkle I believe?”
Twilight nodded and said politely, “Yes, we are looking into the murder of your husband.”
Limelight looked down for a minute, “Oh Marty, I was worried about him. But I had no idea he would throw such a big game. Then to die after it? There’s only so much a girl can take.”
She sounded so much in grief over her loss. “When was the last time you saw him?” I asked.
She put a hoof to her chin, “I’d say noon time, we went out for lunch Uptown before I left to get my tail done. The last time I saw him was when he boarded the bus to head to his game.”
“You weren’t going to attend?” Twilight said, raising an eyebrow.
“I was busy,” She said. “Sadly, my husband and I were handling...legal matters and I had to speak to my lawyer.”
“Your lawyer?” I asked.
“Yes, unfortunately,” She sighed, “We were on our way to finishing up the divorce. I loved Marty when I married him. Dancing under the stars at parties, the fancy dinners, everything was wonderful. But sadly, his career got in the way and he and I...sort of fell out.”
“You didn’t try to fix things?” Twilight asked, her face a little concerned.
“Do you think I would be filing a divorce if I hadn’t tried?” She replied.
Honestly…
“Anyways,” Limelight said, “It ultimately didn’t work out, I was on my way to the office when I heard about what happened. They wouldn’t let me in to see my husband.” She said sadly.
Sounds like Insight isn’t letting any civilians near the body anyways. A normally good policy, but I think he would’ve at least let Limelight see the body. Then again, this is considering Insight even has a heart.
“Did he have any enemies?” I asked. “We know about his feud with Quickstrike.”
Limelight nodded, “Quickstrike is just a sore loser. He had only a quarter of the talent that Marty had. So it was obvious he would be jealous. But, Quickstrike wouldn’t kill Marty. He’s all talk.”
We’ll have to leave Insight to that one sad to say. I went on, “Anypony else? What about his coach?”
“Drop Kick?” Limelight said, “Drop Kick may be a bit, tough, but I’d never imagine him hurting Marty. Those two go way back, Marty trusts Drop with everything.”
I nodded, “Could you give me an address to his office or house?” I said, levitating over the notepad. She wrote on it with her teeth and gave it back to me. “Thanks, we’ll see if we can get this matter settled as soon as possible.”
“Please do,” Limelight said, leaning back in her chair. “I do want us all to move past this. I can’t imagine what the reporters will say when they get a hold of everything.”
_________________________________________________________________
Once again, I’m assailed with memories: This time of the coach’s office back in school. What is it about these things? They end up having this homogenous feel to them, and end up looking alike. Guess it’s because they all find the most efficient lay-out and use it. That or they learn the layout when they’re learning how to be coaches. The desk, a painted gray metal rectangle, with a blank, if scuffed face toward the door. A gray filing cabinet was to the left of the desk, a bulletin board on the right. A chalkboard was against the right-hoof wall, where more plays were being planned. A scattering of papers was on the desk, and below the bulletin board was a wire waste basket.
Drop Kick himself was a pinto with a dark brown coat and light brown spots on him. He sat at his desk, muttering something as we entered. He looked up at us with annoyed green eyes. “Whaddya want?” He asked.
“I’m detective Private Eye,” I said, “This is my wife Twilight Sparkle.”
Drop Kick nodded. “Names Drop Kick, I used to be the coach of the best team in the league.” He shook his head and uttered morosely, “Now with Marty Ball dead and Quickstrike getting himself arrested I got a whole season of suck to look forward to.”
Well aren’t you a bright ray of sunshine. You and Insight should date.
I cleared my throat and said, “Um, we just wanted to ask some questions about Marty.”
“Yeah? Whaddya want tah know?” He said, not bothering to look up at us.
Twilight spoke up, “We want to know who would want to kill him.”
“Walk out the door missy,” He said rudely, “Odds are the first pony you run into would want to kill him for that shit game he pulled.”
“Was he stressed at all?” I asked.
Drop stopped in his work and looked thoughtful. “Now that you mention it,” He said. “Yeah, he did look really stressed. I thought it was because of the divorce.”
“Yeah, we met Limelight.” Twilight said, rolling her eyes.
“Regular gold digger that one.” Drop said, “I told Marty it was a dumb idea to marry her. Mares like that only bring trouble. But, they didn’t argue per say. More of just fell out of love. I figured they both realized how much of a sham it was.”
“Did they settle the pre nup?” I asked.
He shrugged, “How should I know? I never get into a players business unless it affects their game. Maybe I should’ve adopted a better policy. Anyways, Marty was stressed, he would come into practice all depressed and moody. Acted like he was gonna fall over any minute. I tried asking him what was wrong, he got defensive and suggested I focus on coaching. That got him a few laps let me tell ya.”
I looked at Twilight and we left Drop Kick to his work for a minute. “Maybe Limelight killed Marty because of the pre nup?”
I shook my head, “Would depend, we’d have to see what the agreement was. Without a warrant we can’t go looking in his legal files.”
“Thanks to Insight.” Twilight said, a dark look on her face.
I put a hoof to my chin then I said with a smile.“Wait, I think there’s somepony who could tell us.”
“Who?” Twilight asked.
“The more...responsible member of the Bolt family.”
________________________________________________________________
The apartment wasn’t anything too extravagant. Just a simple apartment that a lawyer could afford. It had some plush couches, a large tv, a full kitchen, three bedrooms, and a pair of bathrooms. Comfortable and easy to live in, Sandā wasn’t a stallion that insisted on using every bit his lawyer money can give to show off his home. Nope, most of the time, the bits go to caring for the young dark pegasus flying towards me.
“PRIVATE!” Kaze shouted as he outright tackled me. Twilight and I just got off the elevator into their home and I was knocked onto the floor by a six year old. Kaze was six right now, with a dark coat and a long green mane and cheerful blue eyes. He smiled wide as he stood on my belly, wings buzzed as he hopped up and shouted “Mama! Private is here!”
“Kaze be careful with him,” A female voice said, coming from the kitchen. Out came Kaze’s mother and Sandā’s much loved wife Mayu. She was pegaus that was a few years older than I was, her blue eyes slightly slanted to showcase her Neighpanese roots. Her coat was a verdant green and her mane was the same shade of green that Kaze sported.
Kaze fluttered over to his mom and Twilight helped me up. Mayu smiled as Kaze went to play by running around his mother’s legs. “It’s been awhile since you visited Private, and I see you brought your wife as well.”
Twilight smiled, “Twilight Sparkle,” She said, “A pleasure to meet you miss,”
“Mayu, Mayu Bolt,” She replied. “I trust you’re both here to see my husband?”
“Yes,” I said with a nod, “I hope we aren’t intruding.”
Mayu shook her head. “Not at all, you’ve always been a friend Private Eye. You’re welcome to come at any time should you need anything. After all, it takes a great stallion to keep my brother in law in line.”
Of course she meant Raiden.
“My husband is in his office,” Mayu said.
“Thanks Mayu,” I said, walking towards the office. Here’s hoping Sanda can help us out here.
_____________________________________________________________
Perspective: Twilight Sparkle
Mayu insisted I make myself comfortable, so I sat on the couch as she prepared some tea. I wasn’t about to be considered a rude guest and accepted the offer. As I sat down I saw Kaze looking up at me from the floor. I smiled a little, “Hi there.” I said.
“Are you really a princess?” Kaze asked, his blue eyes filled with wonder.
I giggled a little, “Yes I am,” I replied, “Though I still got a lot to learn before I can even think about getting a castle or anything.”
Kaze climbed onto the couch and got a look at my wings, “They’re so big! I hope I have wings like these someday! I’d fly faster than anypony!”
I smiled, “You never know Kaze, you may have wings bigger then mine someday.”
Kaze smiled as Mayu came by, she set the tea down and looked at Kaze. A look of disdain passed over her face. “Kaze.” She said, then picked him up and placed him in her lap.
Kaze squirmed a little. “Mom! I preened them already!” He whined as his mother held him.
“You missed a few feathers young man.” She said, lowering her head to pluck out a some feathers.
“Ow!” Kaze said, flapping his wings.
“You’re never going to be able to fly if you don’t take care of your wings.” Mayu scolded lightly.
I couldn’t help but, look at the pair. One day, that’s gonna be me hunched over and fussing over a filly or colt. I don’t think I’d ever have to preen my kids but…
Kids...with Private…
“Twilight?” Mayu said as she let Kaze go to play. “Are you okay?”
I shook my head to refocus, “I just, I’m amazed you handled him so well.”
She smiled, “It pays to have a firm but gentle hoof.” She said.
I looked down, “Are you happy here?”
Mayu looked at me, she said “Twilight, are you unhappy with Private?”
“Of course not!” I said firmly, but then looked down. “I just, when I met a mare today. She was so casual about her divorce. It was like she was getting a doctor's check up and not losing the most important stallion in her life.”
“You’re worried if you and Private will ever come to that,” Mayu guessed.
I nodded.
“Marriage isn’t an easy thing,” Mayu said, “if it was, everypony would be doing it. It’s easy to fall in love, but a lot harder to keep that love.”
“What was it like for you and Sanda?” I asked.
She smirked a little, “Sanda was simply too stubborn. He got one look at me and did everything in his power to try and get my attention. I tried brushing him off, thinking he was going to lose interest. But he courted me for two years before I finally caved into him.”
“Talk about playing hard to get,” I said with a laugh.
She laughed too. “Yes, Sanda wouldn’t rest until I said I’d date him. I thought after the first date or so he’d grow tired. But he said to me ‘I love you, and every day I wake up and remind myself why I love you’. He didn’t focus on all the feelings that he had about love. He just focused on why he loved and cared,” She said, and held up her wing, revealing her engagement feather. “Ultimately, that’s what got me married to him all these years.”
“But, how do I keep the love going?” I asked.
“Just remind yourself every day of the things you like about the pony,” She said. “It’s easy to focus on the bad in a pony. But if you remind yourself of why you love each other, then it won’t go away. At least, that’s what’s worked so far with me.”
I smiled and said, “I’ll try to keep it going as best I can.”
Mayu smiled and nodded. “That’s all you can really hope for.”
It helps, then, that my stallion is the Element of Hope thank you.
______________________________________________________
Perspective: Private
“So that’s why I need your help Sandā,” I said, sitting on a chair opposite from him. By contrast to his brother Raiden, Sandā was tall, his mane was jet black and slicked out of the way. His wings, looking mostly unused because his position didn’t call for quick flying, were tucked at his sides. He wore a business suit that was probably more expensive than most of the stuff in my house combined. His yellow eyes took in every word of my story.
He nodded, “I understand, Insight isn’t the friendliest of ponies. Talked my ear off before I could even see Quickstrike.”
“You’re on his case?” I asked.
He nodded, and replied, “Yep, turns out when you are the best, even scum come looking for you. But I can tell you right now the arrest is a lousy sham. There’s no way Quickstrike could’ve killed Marty.”
“He has an alibi?” I asked.
“Solid,” Sanda replied, “I got three witnesses saying they saw Quickstrike signing autographs after the game. Plus there were his teammates who were with him before the murder occurred. They were all getting chewed out by the assistant coach for the lousy plays.”
I decided to explain why I came, “I was hoping you would know if the prenup was settled with his wife. She could be a potential suspect.”
Sandā shook his head, “Pre nup? No way in hell that went through.” he said.
“Why’s that?” I asked.
“Because a will overrides everything,” Sanda said. “Nopony gets anything out of a divorce if it wasn’t finalized.”
“And because Marty died before it was finalized, they have to adhere to the will,” I concluded.
“Celestia bless bureaucracy I guess,” Sanda said, leaning back in his chair.
“Do you have the will?” I asked.
Sanda rolled over in his chair to look at the filing cabinets. He looked through them and said, “I do have a copy from when my friend wrote it for him. It was years ago and my friend transferred, but I still have some of his old files here.” He pulled a file out and set it on his desk.
He dusted it off and opened the file. He pulled out a long slip of paper and read it aloud. “I, Marten Ball, do hereby give all my earthly possessions to…” He stopped and gave it another look.
I raised an eyebrow and asked, “Limelight?”
“No,” He said, and looked up at me, “Says here, everything he has goes to a mare named Hazy Spot.”
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Interesting... *contemplates*
3141247*Smiles cheekily*
Damn it! I can't get my gender-bent Private up on the comments.
Whatever but we do need a case like that though.
And so the plot thickens. Also memo to Private. i.qkme.me/36j2en.jpg
3141251 That was already planned wasn't it? I sill cant get my blasted mare Private on this site because its labeled as a file.
3141503Wait...what?
For gender swap Private Eye enter this Code in the pony creator.2S2S000100969696FFC49D00401424242UN1837000000000214F240552525102107F3FCC004CB2
The chapter begins and it just makes Insight even more of an ass than I already thought he was. As for the case, should be interesting to see where it go.
Hmm... I have a feeling that Insight has some good reasons, other than the fact that the two ponies he arrested were murdered, to be very hostile and an ass towards Private... Something tells me he may have his own agenda to himself like Vegas did... but why? Private did nothing to him, but he is about hell bent on keeping him off cases that end up being solved...
This... is going to need a conspiracy board... because I KNOW that Insight has some sort of agenda... but I don't know if it deals in corruption, personal issues, or if he wants to make the police look good. But I will try to figure out what is it about Insight that puts him against private...
You would think Twilight could just report Insight's behavior to Celestia, but that would make her seem like a whiny princess, which would be bad.
Sanda: 'Quickstrike's arrest is a lousy sham.'
SHOCKER!
Me:
And now I'm wondering if Limelight knew about the will, but I don't think she's the murderer. If she were, she probably would've waited until after the pre nup was finalized. Otherwise, what would she have to gain from killing Marty?
i just thought of something...
what if voidera is "Big Brother"?
3142446
Dundunduuuuuun!
But on a serious note, that is something to look into,
TO THE BATMOBILE!
Another great chapter can't wait for the next one.
3142944 don't ya have anything else to say besides "Another great chapter can't wait for the next one."? Expand your literature man!
(Other than that good chapter Jake.)
3141251 I swear Gunry Insight reminds me so much of J. Jonah Jameson from
Spider-Man
3141591 Is this the pony creator for the HUB?
3145477Nope! General Zoi's should have clarified that.
it would be too easy to assume that haze spot might have had a hand, or hoof (pony puns), in marty's death, but at the same time anything could happen in these types of stories. heck, quick might end up having a twin brother that we don't know about who ended up doing the deed and is using the will and per nup to cover his tracks......though, thinking about it, that sounds way too farfetched.
Oh? I do believe that the excrement is going to exist in the near future, my good sir!
Surely I'm not the only one who thought of Beast Wars Quickstrike when that name was mentioned?