Equestria Noir Case 2 "Death's Front Door"

by Jacoboby1


Chapter 4: Love's Goodbye

Chapter 4

Love’s Goodbye

“Found him in his apartment this morning. Didn’t know it was your guy until some neighbor heard him get shot in the head” Forceps said as he slid out Dustmane’s dead body. “Judging by the hole in the head I’d say it was a pretty big caliber bullet, ballistics is looking into it. It was shot at close range but the poor guy put up quite the struggle see all these bruises?” He pointed with his horn at all the bruises on his body.

“This happened this morning" I kicked the wall in frustration. "Damn! I should’ve put out an APB on him”

Forceps slapped me on the back with his hoof “None of that sonny, what do I always say whenever you bring me a body like this?”

I smiled a little “A stiff is a stiff all you can do is figure out how he became a stiff?”

“Close enough, now where’s that pretty young assistant of yours?”

“Expelling the contents of her lunch in the bathroom...did they find anything at the crime scene?”

“On the desk there” Forceps went back to work on the body. I walked to the desk and saw three objects on it. They were: a large book with a lock on it, a folded letter, and some kind of package.

“All this came from his apartment?” I said as forceps ran some equipment over the body.

“Yep, left quite a mess this one did. Real shame, the apartment had such nice carpet to”

“Your concern for your stiffs baffles me Forceps” I levitated the folded letter first. Inside was just a single sentence. I read it aloud “You’re getting too close...looks like we got our kidnapper scared”

“That a good thing?” Twilight said as she reentered the morgue looking much better than she did earlier.

“It means we are on the right track. Now let’s see what he’s got in this book...”

“It’s locked though, and the officers couldn’t find a key” Twilight said standing beside me looking at the book.

“You wouldn’t happen to have a bobby pin would you?”

“Bobby pins? Here” She levitated some out of her pockets and I wrapped them with my own magic.

“Learned this trick in college whenever somepony would lock me out as a prank” I worked the tumblers inside the lock. Luckily it was an easy lock to pick; I opened it and saw that it was a more recent journal. “Twilight, look through this and see what you can find. Look for any hint as to the identity of the kidnapper”

She nodded and walked out with the book. I turned to the package. I levitated it and looked at the label. “It’s addressed to Ponyville...to Rarity!”

Forceps looked up from his stiff “You think the kidnapper tried to send another message to her? Tell her she’s running out of time?”

I opened the package and was surprised at what I saw. Inside was a tiny stuffed pony doll that bore a striking resemblance to Rarity. “I wonder if Rarity knows anything about this. I’ll have the labs look at it to see what we can find...”

I handed the doll off to forensics and met Twilight in the waiting room. She looked over the book with an incriminating eye. She looked at me and shook her head “Nothing in here but the pitiful laments of a broken heart” She said in a matter of fact voice.

“I’m going to call Rarity about something. You know her number?”

“Sure, what did you find?” She said as she started writing down the number.

“An old doll that looks just like Rarity. Does she sew dolls?”

“I think her mom was in the business, you think that doll could be a clue?”

“It’s a possibility we can’t afford to pass up on” I walked to the telephone and started dialing the number Twilight gave me. The first ring didn’t even finish when I heard a frantic voice on the other end.

“Detective?! Is that you?! Please tell me you’ve found something on Sweetie Belle!” Rarity’s frantic but still proper voice said on the other end.

“Rarity calm down, I think we might have a lead” I said calmly

I heard the unicorn breathe a little “Sorry, please tell me you’ve found something”

I filled her in on all we’ve been up to leading up to this phone call. Rarity only really asked the occasional question but otherwise remained quiet through the whole thing. Then I decided to ask about the doll. “Uniforms found a doll that looks just like you Rarity, Does that sound familiar to you at all?”

Silence was my answer on the other end then a small sobbing was heard. “She kept it...all this time...”

“It belongs to Sweetie Belle?” I said putting two and two together.

“Yes, I have one just like it that looks like Sweetie Belle. Mother made them for us when we were younger as a birthday present. Both of our birthdays are close to each other so Mother thought she’d kill two birds with one stone. I didn’t know Sweetie Belle kept hers”

“Maybe she kept it with her to remind herself of the big sister who’s worried about her” I said trying to help.

I heard sobbing on the other end “Please...find the brutes that did this. I can’t bear the thought of Sweetie Belle being all alone without something to remind her of me. She’s probably so scared...”

“Rarity just let me and Twilight handle this. I swear I will get Sweetie Belle home safe and sound”

The sobbing subsided a little “Thank you Detective, I was right to let you on this case. It’s no wonder Twilight trusts you”

“Twilight what now?” I said caught off guard.

“Oh nothing, you obviously got work to do and I’ve got a lot of work to do on your trenchcoat. Good luck Detective” She hung up.

I set the receiver on the hook. “Twilight trusts me?” Well Private, I see the old charm still works. I’ve never really thought of Twilight in such a fashion. I wonder what she thinks of me. Why am I suddenly conscious of how my coat looks when she entered the room? I shook my head and looked at Twilight. She was levitating the book and the doll, her face smiling. “Tell me you’ve got something good!” I said returning her smile.

She nodded “Forensics did some tests and found traces of mining powder on the doll. I also found out by reading the journal that Dustmane had a change of heart. He wanted to send the package to Rarity so that we would also find this!” She worked one of the back stitches on the doll and carefully extracted a diamond.

“Mining powder and a gem...Sweetie Belle is being kept in a mine!”

“Not just any mine, this diamond is known as a gem cutters dream. It’s a special diamond used only in the richest of dresses and rings”

“What does that tell us?”

“This diamond can only be found in one spot in all of Equestria. A mine belonging to the Diamond Dogs”

“Diamond Dogs?” I said raising an eyebrow

“They’re a nasty gang of dogs that tried to kidnap Rarity a long time ago. I’ll explain when we get on the train!” She started running for the door. I followed with a spring in my step. Now we were getting somewhere!

_______________________________
“So let me get this straight” I said as we walked inside the old mine. “Rarity managed to defeat these dangerous hounds...by whining?!”

Twilight nodded as her horn lit the room. “Uh-huh, Rarity isn’t the one to become a damsel in distress. Much to the disappointment of a certain baby dragon”

Spike grumbled on Twilight’s back “Guy can dream can’t he...”

I looked at Twilight “Can you scry in here? Maybe find Sweetie Belle?”

Twilight shook her head “These caverns have many twists and turns. It would take me ages to find her let alone find a path that leads to her. We just gotta venture on”

I snorted “So much for an easy get in and get ou-”A scream was heard coming from a cavern. “This way!” We ran down the cavern. Spike hanging on to Twilight for dear life as we ran at top speed.

We entered a large spacious cavern. I saw a group of the biggest most disgusting looking dogs I’ve ever seen. I looked up and saw a young filly clinging to a stalactite for dear life. I looked in my pockets and pulled out Sweetie Belle’s picture. A perfect match, we’ve found our lost filly. She screamed as one of the dogs tried to grab at her. “Back off! I’m not coming down! You guys stink!”

“Why don’t you try picking on somepony your own size?!” I shouted at the dogs. I then realized...they were our size. One of them ran and tackled me before I could pull out my gun. A brawl ensued as I fought and kicked with the dog. He had size but I had magic on my side. He tried to pin me down and raised his claws to try and cut me. I levitated a rock and hit him upside the head with it. I managed to snag my gun and fired a round at the ceiling. I noticed Spike and Twilight kicking off other dogs. The Dogs suddenly held their ears. So, these dogs had sensitive hearing eh? I fired off more shots and they cowered from the sound. I pointed my gun at the dogs. “Now, you all get in that corner! Now!” They compiled and ran to where I gestured.

Twilight ran to under where Sweetie Belle was hanging “Hold still I’ll get you down!”

Sweetie Belle held as still as she could as Twilight’s magic wrapped around her. Sweetie Belle, dirty and hungry but unhurt overall, landed on the ground gently. She looked around at all of us around her. “Twilight, who’s the guy in the hat?”

I looked at the filly smiling gently. “I’m Private Eye; your sister hired me to look for you”

“Rarity! She’s probably worried sick!” Sweetie squeaked in dismay.

“What’s important is that you’re safe. Come on; let’s get you back to your sister” We marched out of the mine and I shot the gun in the air one last time when a diamond dog tried to give chase. He got the message.
_____________________________________
“Sweetie Belle!!” Rarity said as we arrived back at Carousel Boutique. The two sisters embraced each other. Tears fell from Rarity’s eyes. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again! I was worried sick about you!”

“I’m fine Rarity! I’m fine!” Sweetie said trying to push back tears that were too strong. The two sisters held each other close. We walked inside the store and the two sisters sat on a couch together. I stood in front of them smiling.

“Sweetie Belle was unhurt and all she’ll need is a bath and some dinner” I said

Rarity wrinkled her nose “That would explain the smell of wet dog”

“Hey!” Sweetie Belle said

We explained to Rarity everything that happened leading up to finding Sweetie Belle. Rarity nodded then thought for a moment “But why would the Diamond Dogs have Sweetie Belle?”

Twilight smirked “Because you may or may not have used your great powers of...persuasion on them”

Rarity let out a nervous laugh “Right, that might be the case”

I looked at Sweetie Belle “Did you see any other ponies with the dogs Sweetie Belle?”

The little filly shook her white head “No, but I do remember hearing them argue with this really old sounding pony”

Twilight looked at me “That might’ve been Whitecloud”

“Yeah, I remember now! He sounded just like the pony that kidnapped me” Sweetie Belle said. She then looked at me and reached into her pocket. “He also gave this to the dogs. I snagged it when I managed to escape”

I raised an eyebrow “How did you escape your cell anyway?”

“I just did what Rarity would do" She smiled mischievously "I whined until they would open the door for me”

Rarity looked at her sister with narrowed eyes “I don’t know whether to be proud of you or to smack you”

Sweetie Belle let out a giggle then she pulled out something from her pockets. She showed it to me. It was a small medallion with a design of Celestia and Luna in a circle.

Twilight’s eyes widened “That’s the crest of the Canterlot Royal family!”

“Royal family?”

“Yeah, my sister in law has one just like that. Medallions like this were handed out at every royal event”

“You think there’s a connection here?” Rarity said looking at the medallion

I looked at Rarity “Any chance somepony of the royal family would be p-” I remembered there were virgin ears in the room. “Ticked off at you?”

Rarity’s eyes slowly narrowed “I can think of one pony that would...”

“And that pony is?”

“Prince Blueblood...he’s the only royal I know of who has a grudge against me”

“What did you do to tick off a member of the royal family?” I said my curiosity getting the better of me.

“I simply refused to let him get away with using me as a shield against the flying cake”

“Flying...cake?” I said dumbfounded

Twilight looked at me “It was at the last Grand Galloping Gala. I remember that Rarity made quite the scene”

“That over hyped event? I’m surprised you guys even went” I said

Twilight looked at me “Have you ever been there?”

“Four times each one as bad as the last one. I swear they overhype it and everypony is disappointed afterwards when they realize it’s really a glorified garden party” I said my friend shocked.

Twilight sighed “Wish I could’ve told myself that when I got the tickets”

I looked back at Rarity “So anyways you think Blueblood has something to do with this?”

Rarity narrowed her eyes “I’d bet my best dress on it”
_____________________________________

“So how is it you’ve ended up at the gala?” Twilight said as we walked down Ponyville’s street. Spike would’ve come with us but he insisted on staying with Rarity. Said he wanted to make sure nopony tried to take Sweetie Belle back. So we left the love struck dragon back at the dress shop.

I looked at Twilight “I’ve gone to a lot of fancy parties in my life”

“Not just anypony gets a ticket to the gala let alone four times” Twilight said inquisitively. “Everypony was willing to fight tooth and nail to get the two tickets I had”

“Let’s just say I was born into some old money” I said flatly

“You’re rich?! But you lost your apartment because you couldn’t pay rent”

“I’m not rich, my dad is. Let’s just say whatever money I do earn goes to a good cause”

Twilight raised an eyebrow “What kind of cause...?”

I stopped in my tracks and Twilight did as well. I looked at Twilight in the eye “Is this some kind of interrogation?”

Twilight shook her head “No, I just wanted to know more about you”

“Why?”

“Because we are working together and you shouldn’t keep secrets from your friends”

“How’s knowing whether or not I have money qualify as a nasty secret?”

“I just want to know what’s so important that you would spend all your money on it and not on a decent apartment or office. Celestia spent a lot of money on that office and I want to know why you can’t afford it yourself”

“So you're asking this because you feel like I’m taking advantage of your teacher?”

Twilight shook her head furiously “That’s not it at all! Quit putting words into my mouth!”

“Just saying things how I see it” I said flatly

“Just tell me what you’re sending your money to”

I looked at Twilight for a long moment. “I’ll tell you once the case is done...but until then no more questions. Got it?”

Twilight snorted “Fine, but if I discover you’re doing something illegal...”

“Don’t jump to conclusions without evidence to back it up...” I said as I walked on.