//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Together, They Fight Crime // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// The evapourating moisture left behind by Azure made Yam shiver and he snuggled close beside her in the narrow bed they shared. His mind was filled with a confusing jumble of memories, with both his drug-fueled vision and his recent lovemaking vying for his attention. The tiny room was cool, almost chilly, but Yam was still hot, sweaty, and breathless from his efforts. “Babe, you’re too good to me,” he said to the fuzzy, sweaty lump beside him. In response, the fuzzy, sweaty lump snorted and rubbed her face against the pillow they shared. Laying on his back, Yam felt her spine rub against his ribs and her tail thumped against the fleshiest part of his thigh as she wiggled about to try and get comfortable. He could smell her; she smelled of mare musk—but different than a pony’s—she smelled of soap, of sweat, and the permanent aroma of garlic and onions wafted up from the heat that rose from her prone body. “You’re my soul mate, Azure… I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Yam felt a bit lightheaded and he was still seeing swirls of light in the corner of his vision. Reaching down with one front hoof, he scratched at his damp belly and thought about the reassuring weight of Azure bearing down upon him when she straddled him. She was fond of pony rides and liked being on top. Of course, he was only too happy to oblige her. “It’s weird, it feels like my magic has woke up. I feel different, but I can’t say how.” “Yammy, she said that there would be some permanent effects.” One long ear twitched a bit, tried to stand up, but gave up and fell back down. “Yammy, why can’t ponies and burros be like you and I? We fit together so well. We’re not so different.” “You do have those big floppy ears—” “Yammy…” “Babe, I don’t know.” Yam sighed and all of his thoughts collapsed in a jumble. “Yammy, do you think you have another go in you?” “Baby, I’m not from Hayvana.” “Yeah, but Yammy, you’re an earth pony and this ass needs tapping.” Azure’s body shook as she let out a chuckle and the flimsy bed began to creak again as if some other activity was taking place upon it. “Spoon me, Yammy, and whisper into my ear all of the wonderful things you want for me.” Rolling over onto his side, Yam was only all too happy to oblige. An hour after dawn and it was already one-hundred-and-eleven degrees. Yam wished that he hadn’t eaten so much polenta for breakfast, because it made him feel heavy and sluggish in the heat. Every surface seemed to shimmer and shine with the heat, making Las Pegasus feel just about as hospitable as the infernal planes of Tartarus. The dream, his vision, it was still vivid in his mind and he knew, he knew that what he was looking for was in this city. If not here in this city, then nearby to the city. Something was blocking him, thwarting his talent, but he was confident that he would find her anyway. The world seemed especially bright and vivid this morning after his long, strange trip, Azure was somehow more beautiful than usual, and he was possessed with a newfound sense of hyped-up optimism. Honey Dew’s therapist, a one Miss Tweedy Penny, lived in an apartment block on the far edge of town, past the tourist district, the casinos, and the endless rows of souvenir shops that sold novelty dice and commemorative decks of cards. Between here and there was a lot of hot asphalt, which Yam wasn’t too keen on. Hot asphalt meant running or constant movement so his frogs wouldn’t fry, and nopony wanted to run in one-hundred-and-eleven degree temperatures. Already, his tacky tropical shirt was a bit soggy and his palm frond trilby had sweat stains. Since there just wasn’t enough for a cab, it was going to be quite a jog as Las Pegasus was a spread-out, sprawling metropolis, a city constructed on the ancient desert floodplain that had lots of room to expand. There was money here, plenty of money, and wealth made the city grow to an extraordinary size, almost as if it was an over-fertilised garden left in the care of over-productive earth ponies. Just as Yam rounded the corner where a busy bodega was located, he saw quite a scene. The apartment building had a huge crowd in front of it and a veritable traffic jam of wagons. It seemed that half of the city’s police force was here, doing absolutely nothing except for drinking cold drinks and eating snacks from the bodega. Frowning from seeing his taxes in action, Yam began to case the scene and saw a familiar face. Warden Owleye was an unmistakable behemoth that stood out from the crowd, towering over every other pony present. It was a relief to see her, but also a bit of a panic, as he wondered what she was doing here at this place, the same place that he was supposed to be checking up on Miss Tweedy Penny. When she saw him, Warden Owleye broke away from the officer that she was no doubt lecturing and came trotting over. Yam had to dance and prance in place to keep his frogs from sizzling. “Mister Spade… what brings you here?” the Warden asked as she approached. “Need to talk to a resident about a case. A therapist… a Miss Tweedy Penny…” Yam’s words trailed off into an irritated grunt when he saw Warden Owleye’s expression change to something unpleasant and sour. After a moment, before the Warden had a chance to say anything, he asked, “I’m guessing all of this hubbub is about her, ain’t it?” The Warden nodded. “Mierda,” Azure muttered as she too, pranced in place due to the heat. “What happened?” Yam asked while he looked at the mirrored-glass goggles that covered the Warden’s sensitive eyes. “Whatever it was that was supposed to have happened, it was meant to look like a suicide, I think.” Warden Owleye shook her head. “Something doesn’t feel right about it, and we were lucky enough to catch a break and get here while the body is still fresh. There’s a bird, you see, and it was the bird that brought the apartment manager to the apartment. This parrot, it just wouldn’t stop screaming and the neighbors complained. It was hungry and its food dish was empty.” “So, a murder all dolled up as a suicide?” Yam clucked his tongue a few times and wondered how these pieces might fit together. “The police coroner is pretty insistent about calling it a suicide. Warden Dread Drop is upstairs with him, arguing. The police don’t want us here. Miss Tweedy Penny contacted the Wardens and said she had info about something, but wouldn’t say what in the telegram. Police keep saying that she was a troubled head shrinker.” “Mind if I look around?” Yam asked. “Actually, I’d feel better if you did. Consider yourself conscripted, Mister Spade. I’ll see that you get a few bits if you need them.” “Gracias,” Yam replied, nodding and grateful for Warden Owleye’s kind consideration. The apartment building was an oasis of air conditioning and the cold air was like a cool drink of water for Yam’s lungs. His hot frogs got sweet, sweet tender kisses from the chilly tile floor and he shivered a bit as the cold air tickled his sweat-soaked body. Two police officers stood in the hall near the open door to the apartment, no doubt to block entry. Warden Owleye pushed past them without so much as an acknowledgement. Yam followed and was relieved when neither officer caused a hassle for Azure. Just past the door, he halted to have a better look at his surroundings. It was an efficiency apartment, with a tiny kitchenette just off of the sitting room. There were two big windows in the sitting room because this was a corner apartment, which probably tacked on a considerable sum to the monthly rent. Along the far wall, just beneath one of the large windows was a loveseat, just two cushions wide, but there was no coffee table because the space was just too small. “Mister Spade, Mrs. Serape, am I glad to see you.” “Warden Dread Drop,” Azure replied while she nodded her head and her long ears bobbed. “It’s been a while.” “Indeed, it has.” Warden Dread Drop stood near a bird cage where a parrot was busy eating seeds and he had a dour expression on his face. “The body is in the bathroom, if you wish to look. Watch out, it’s bloody. Hot bath, sliced arteries. Don’t think it was a suicide though.” “Have a hunch?” Yam asked. The Warden shrugged, but had nothing to say, nothing else to offer. “Where did the coroner go?” Yam began looking around and his critical eye started its hunt for clues. “Off to find a judge to get Warden Owleye and I removed.” Warden Dread Drop extended a wing and gestured at the space around him. “If she had secrets, I want you to find them.” “Yammy and I needed to see Miss Tweedy Penny about a client of hers, a one Miss Honey Dew. She’s gone missing and we’ve taken a job from her mother to find her. The Las Pegasus police department doesn’t seem to want to be too helpful and refuse to do anything.” Azure moved into the room, sniffed a few times, and then sidled over to stand next to her husband. With calm concentration, Yam engaged his talent and willed himself to find where Miss Tweedy Penny kept hidden all of her secrets. Almost right away, he felt a tug, a pull on the inside of his brain, and his hooves wanted to move in several different directions all at once. Lifting his head, he looked up at the ceiling, thinking that something might be in the vent. If not there, then someplace else. Another location was elsewhere nearby, probably in the bedroom. There was something else too, a third faint tug that he would have to concentrate upon. Reaching up with his foreleg, Yam adjusted his sweaty hat, unsticking it from his head, and then his eyes continued to scan the room. “Check the vent, that seems to be the most obvious hiding spot.” Feeling another tug, Yam turned around to face the fridge. With his lips pressed together in concentration, he focused on the ice box, and felt his eyes pulled to the freezer. “Check the refrigerator, too.” A helpful unicorn police officer removed the vent from the ceiling, but nothing was found inside. Something had been there though, because the paint on the screws holding the vent in place had been disturbed. Even if her secrets were there no longer, this place had once kept something precious to the late Miss Tweedy Penny. Yam, who was allowed to look but not to touch, watched as Warden Owleye rummaged through the boxes of frozen foods pulled from the freezer. One was not like the others—it showed signs of careful opening and then had been closed with a strip of tape—and Warden Owleye was photographing it now before opening it. After a few photographs, the box, which had held a frozen dinner, was opened. Warden Owleye used the clawed thumb that protruded from her central knuckle to tear open the strip of tape, and then with great care, she opened the cardboard flaps. Inside was a cheap faux-velvet covered box, the sort of box that jewelry came in, and some folded papers in a plastic bag. Inside the box there were some diamond earrings, just big enough to be valuable, and Warden Owleye set the now open box down upon the kitchen counter. Now, she turned her attention to the plastic bag full of folded papers, and Yam turned to eyeball the curtain rods over the windows. “Get those rods and shake them out,” he said to the unicorn officer. “Right,” the unicorn replied, and he went to work to pull down the big brass curtain rods. “Something was hidden in the vent, I think we can all agree on that. It was the most obvious hiding space and if somebody did this to Miss Tweedy Penny, then they probably took whatever was in the vent. The freezer wasn’t checked at all, and I can feel other things in this apartment. There are things hidden here.” To Yam’s utter lack of surprise, rolled up papers fell out of the curtain rods. Standing still, he made no move, knowing that he wasn’t supposed to touch them. He thought about the body in the tub with the sliced open fetlocks and the bathwater stained scarlet. This was a bad scene and it made him worry all the more about Honey Dew. “Looks like stock certificates, or maybe ownership deeds,” the unicorn said after a cursory glance. “We’ll have to check the bedroom,” Yam said and he peered out from beneath the short, stingy brim of his hat. “Escort me.” His command was met with an eager nod, and he had no doubt that this helpful officer wanted to get down to the bottom of this as well. With a twitch of his tail, Yam followed the itch in his brain, hopeful to uncover more of Tweedy Penny’s secrets.