//------------------------------// // The Shadow Bolt Part 3 // Story: The Anthology of Detective Pipe Glass // by The Stainmore Phoenix //------------------------------// “Luna?” “Yes?” “I'm going out. Just got a letter from a detective. Apparently he wants to question me.” “Take care, dear Sunny.” Celestia just sighed and prepared to leave. Something told her that this detective would be a pain in her rear end. Her two guards could also tell that. “Princess, just ignore it,” one of the guards said. “I can't, Sergeant Stone Axe,” she said. “He's been hired to investigate.” “By who?” the other guard asked. “I don't know Lance Corporal Titanium Bow,” she replied. “But it does beg the question, who can believe Dash is innocent?” The two gave each other puzzled looks. Saying nothing, they accompanied the Princess to her chariot and to the office. The building's exterior didn't exactly please the guards when they arrived. “Let us go in first,” Titanium Bow said. Celestia nodded. The two guards walked in and walking up the stairs, after finding Pipe Glass's office was on the third floor, the smells of must, coffee and every other conflicting scent filled their nostrils, making them choke. “Don't they believe in airing this place out?” Stone Axe complained. “Apparently not,” Titanium Bow replied, straining for fresh air. They reached the second floor and the smells of cleaning chemicals, mixed with the other unpleasant smells, started to turn their stomachs. Hurrying up, they smelt roasting vegetables, and, as a massive shock to their lungs, fresh air! “Thank the clouds and the sane mind on this floor!” Titanium Bow gasped, relieved. His partner concurred and the two knocked on door of what was the only occupied office on that floor. It was opened by it's occupant, who had a wooden spoon tucked behind his ear. “Hello,” he said to them. “May I help?” “Are you Private Investigator Pipe Glass?” Titanium Bow asked. “Yes,” he said, “And I assume your one of Celestia's guards.” “Yes,” Stone Axe said. “She got your letter and is waiting to see you. Before she comes up, can we ask why you want to interview her?” “I believe she may have seen something, but popular opinion swayed her,” Pipe explained. “You are barmy,” Stone Axe replied. “Maybe, but if it's hiding in plain sight, I want it,” Pipe said. “It'll be in the strictly confidential.” “I see,” Stone Axe said. Pipe nodded. “However, I have other witnesses, who I had to call at the last minute, as they came forward last night at 11:58 pm and told me they had information,” he added. “So, it's a mass interrogation?” Titanium Bow asked. “Yes,” Pipe replied. “Bring her up and then I'll have you two wait somewhere close.” They nodded and headed out, collected Celestia and hurried up to the office. Once inside and the door shut, Pipe showed the guards to his apartment and told them to wait. He returned in time to hear a knock on the door. He opened the door to reveal four unicorns, two gryphons, four changeling beat guards and one pegasus. “Welcome,” Pipe said. “I trust you all don't mind a mass questioning session.” “No,” Celestia replied. “Very well. Celestia, can you give me a full recount of your perspective of what you saw at the party?” Pipe asked. “Well, I arrived late, due to several miscommunication errors with the guards and chariot haulers,” she said. “Arriving, I was greeted by Spitfire and helped myself to some hors d'oeuvres and mingled with the other guests, and welcomed some new recruits.” Pipe made notes, despite this being common knowledge. He gestured for Celestia to continue. “From there, I saw Rainbow Dash mingling. She then disappeared off to the bathroom to tend to some issue, and I noticed a pony leaving a room, where jewels were kept, but thought nothing of it,” Celestia said. “Describe the pony,” Pipe said. “I could make out a silverish mane and soft red coat,” Celestia said. “I saw the same thing,” one of the Changeling Beat Guards said. The others agreed with them. Pipe tensed up and his smokey gray eyes became hard and were zeroed in. “Right, did any of you see the cutie mark or did did the pony have any distinguishing marks?” he asked. “A scar on the left eye,” the pegasus said. “Also, if it's any help, it was an earth pony,” another Beat Guard said. “That, my dear guard, is vital,” Pipe said, tapping his notepad. They were about to say more, but a bang took their attention. Pipe peeped through the glass to the left of the door and saw a familiar and unwelcome sight. “Come this way,” he said, ushering them into his apartment and running back to open the door. They attempted to peek out to see the caller, but heard an explosion. “YOU ARE REALLY TESTING ME!” “I know, my dear Moors. I have bravado unrivaled to you, don't I?” “DON'T GET SMART WITH ME!” “Am I? I didn't know you were a teacher.” “YOUR ALWAYS COCKY!” “Of course I am, I have a right to be. I'm a colt of my word.” They heard a chomping noise and grumbling, then the door open and bang shut hard enough to rattle the pans. Thirty minutes passed and Pipe came back. “Alright, come on out. The danger has left,” he said. “Who was that?” Stone Axe asked. “Police Inspector and Van Hoover Moors Changeling Hive Queen to be Moorland Mist,” Pipe said. “She and I go round and round.” They nodded. Once seated, he continued to question them until quarter of six in the evening. Once done, he sent them on their way and sat back, considering his notes. “Something's funny here,” he mused. “And we're not in a funny farm.” He grabbed his hat and coat and ran out of his office. He had one place to be and that was the crime scene. “If there's any clues to be had, it's there,” he muttered, making a stop off to grab a package of envelopes from the general store. Once he had a pack of 65, he made his way to where the party was held, in the city's government center. He was admitted and looked around the main room where the party was held. “Great,” he grumbled, noticing the state of the room. It had been cleaned in the intervening time and there was no way any form of oddities left to collect. That was until he noticed something. A storage room door had a damaged lock. Going over and examining it, he saw it wasn't broken by any means of overuse. Being careful, he removed it and placed it in an envelope. The door swung open and the stolen goods toppled out. “Whoever pulled this crime's a bungler,” he muttered. He trotted out and found a beat cop from the precinct and reported he found the goods and turned over the lock. The cop took it and after following Pipe in, the two examined the goods. “I'll call it in, stick here and don't let any pony near that,” the cop said and galloped off. Pipe stood, waiting for eons before the cop returned with two sergeants and two Hive Beat Guards. He was dismissed by one of the Hive Beat Guards and he began to scan an opposite corner of the building, where he found several clues despite the room being cleaned. “Well, Hearts Warming came early,” he thought. Pulling the envelope package out, he tucked the clues inside and then tucked the loaded envelopes into another pocket and he left. He wanted to examine the evidence before he was interrupted by Moorland or Desk Jockey. Returning to his office, he emptied the first envelope onto his desk. It's contents, used contact lenses, clattered out onto the desk and he noticed that there was all sorts of stage makeup on the edges. He pulled out a book and flipping through it, found the brand of make up and found out who carried it. Noting that, he turned his attention to the second envelope, and emptied it's contents. Bits of mane fell onto the table and he noticed some strands were of a burnt copper color and the rest were a dyed violet color. He jotted that down and put that back into it's envelope. The final envelope held folded papers. Unfolding them, Pipe saw they were safe combinations and the contents of all the safes. “Okay, this had to be a two pony job. One a bungler and the other a cold, calculating individual,” he muttered and scooped the papers back into the envelope and put them in his lock drawer. He stood up and after stretching, he walked over to his bookshelf and scanned it. “If only I had the collection of books on Moorlings and Swamplings,” he mused. “That'd be an easier case to crack right now.” He chuckled at his own wit. After scanning the bookshelf, he pulled down a novel on a romance gone wrong. Meanwhile, in Moorland's office, she was getting a report from the officers who brought in the stolen goods. When it came down to who had found it first, and the name Pipe Glass left one of the beat guard's mouth, her eyes became narrowed and her face hardened with rage. “Get back onto your patrols,” she snarled. They nodded and hurried out. “She's definitely on the war path now,” one of the beat guards said. “After you spilled that Pipe was the one who found it, Compound Wing,” the other grunted. “Now come on, we have a downtown patrol to take up.” They left and she stormed out. She had one destination on her mind and this time, she wouldn't cut short the barrage of questions she had.