Case 2 Chapter 5
Broken Hearts
I stepped up to the door of the Violet Rose. Twilight looked at me with this odd expression. I spoke simply. “I have an informant who spends her time here. She can help us determine if Blueblood had a hoof in what happened”
“Right, but at a bar? Is she the kind of mare I think she is?” Twilight said warily
“Not if you think she’s the kind who makes stallions forget their troubles for fifty bits a night”
“I’m just a little weary of this place. Not a lot of nice ponies go here”
I smiled “Which is what I’m hoping for” I lifted my hoof and knocked on the door. I said the password to the bouncer and he opened the door. I looked over at Twilight as we entered “Just stay at the bar and don’t draw attention to yourself and you’ll be fine”
We entered the club and we split up. Twilight went straight to the bar as instructed and tried to order something nonalcoholic from the bartender. On the other hoof I was on my way to the corner booth. There she was again as expected. Larksong smiled at me and waved as I came over. “For somepony who doesn't want to see me ever again you come here often...” She said in that voice of hers where you can’t tell what she’s thinking.
“I’m not exactly happy about it but I need your help again” I said as I slid into the seat. I didn’t order anything when the waiter came by though Larksong ordered a mug of cider for “Old times’ sake”
She took a sip from her mug and looked at me “What low life scum do you need me to dig up this time Private?”
I shook my head “Not low life this time, but high life” I set the medallion the diamond dogs had on the table. Larksong studied it for a long time. “A group of diamond dogs had this on them”
Larksong looked at me with a small smile on her face. “They must've been hired by somepony”
I raised an eyebrow “How did you guess?”
“I have a cousin in the palace who works as a scribe. He says the royal crest is only exchanged as a gesture of trust. Royals hoof these out whenever they have the utmost faith in you”
“I’ve never seen the princesses hand these out though” I said interjecting
“When I said royals I didn’t mean them. I’m talking about their various nieces and nephews. Most of them are descendants of the original royal family from hundreds of years ago. Though, the only known royals are Princess Mi’amore Cadenza and Prince Blueblood”
“So Prince Blueblood would use this sort of gesture when hiring somepony?”
“Yes, especially nowadays”
I raised an eyebrow at this “Why do you say that? I’d think royalty wouldn’t need to argue when hiring somepony for something”
“You haven’t met Blueblood. The guy is an absolute jerk and coward. I heard at the gala he tried to use this one unicorn as a shield when the cake started flying”
“This unicorn wouldn’t happen to be white with a purple mane right?”
Larksong looked at me wide eyed “You know her?”
“She’s the one who hired me. Now back to Blueblood, what happened after the gala?”
“Oh, a hell of a lot, nopony would take him seriously after that night. Royalty was always his shield you see. Now that everypony knows he’s a coward nopony is willing to work with him. He also has some...connections”
“We talking griffon mafia here?” Griffons are a rare sight in Equestria. Those that remained on this side of the border after the wars established a crime syndicate. You didn’t mess with the griffon families if you wanted to keep your neck. Griffons are fierce as well as cunning, never a good combination under any circumstances. I had my fair share of encounters with the mafia but only when they decided helping the law would be beneficial to them.
“Yes, as it turns out he’s been using them to keep the family wealth growing for years. I heard this from one of the regulars who works for the Grimwing family. He said that his highness was having a lot trouble getting them to work for him anymore”
“He owes them debts or something? That’s never a good idea when dealing with griffons”
“When nopony takes you seriously it’s hard to dole out favors to you” She replied firmly.
“Do you know where I could talk to a griffon to get the info out of him?”
Larksong smiled “Won’t be easy, I’ll ask around and see what I can dig up”
“Thanks, I got another angle I need to look at anyway”
Larksong’s eyes looked at Twilight who was arguing with the bartender about the lack of non-alcoholic beverages available. Lark looked at me and smiled “A new flame Private?”
I snorted “None of your business Larksong”
“You can’t kill me for being curious”
“It’s not like that; she’s my assistant in this case”
“I’m sure she is, and an assistant with other things as well”
I got up and walked away. I wasn’t about to have this conversation with Larksong. It’s not that I wouldn’t want Twilight and I to get close. It’s just I’ve been involved in too many cases to let anypony get close to me. Friendship was fine but anything more than that was out of the question. I collected Twilight and walked out.
___________________________________________
“This the place?” Twilight asked as we came up to a small bitalion restaurant.
“Yep, our informant said that Grimwing would be here”
“I still can’t believe we are going to the Griffon Mafia for answers”
I looked at Twilight “Just don’t argue with them about the food and we’ll be fine”
“Hey, that bartender was incredibly rude and I should sue her for providing poor services”
“Good luck” I said as I entered the restaurant. The waiter took one look at us then gestured to a small table in the back. Twilight and I walked to the back and saw a lot of griffons seated around the table. One big one stopped me and started patting me down. He took out my gun and checked it.
“.32 caliber, if you wanna assassinate the boss you should’ve come packing better heat” The griffon said suspiciously
“He’s not here tah kill me Topshot” I heard an accented voice say from behind the large griffon. “He’s just ere to talk”
The griffon stepped aside to reveal a large muscular black griffon. He was clad in a black suit and fedora. His yellow eyes looked into mine. I couldn't quite read them but I could tell he was expecting me. I also noticed the tip of his beak had a sharp metal tip at the end. I shuddered to think of what he did with the tip. He gestured for one of his boys to pull up a chair for me. The griffon did so without complaint or fuss. I could tell this guy ruled with respect and not fear by the looks he got from his fellow griffon.
I took the seat provided and Twilight was smart not to say anything as she sat beside me. “I’m no assassin. I’m Detective Private Eye and this is my partner Twilight Sparkle. We’re investigating a murder”
The griffon looked at me as if trying to read me “Grimwing, that’s ma name and my family killed by the dozen. I see no reason to talk to you. There’s a briefcase filled with 5,000 bits under the table. You have the option to just walk away. I highly suggest it if you wanna keep that head of yers…”
“I don’t accept bribes from anyone, griffon or pony” The other griffons looked at me as if I said I slept with his daughter. Grimwing looked at me for a long moment...then started laughing. I looked at the griffon my eyebrows raised. They were just as astonished as I was. He then looked at me with a smile on his beak.
“Ya got balls kid, I’ll give ya that. Any other detective would’ve walked out when they saw my boys”
“Let’s just say I’m not the kind of detective you can scare” I said a smile of my own on my face.
“I like ya kid. But just so you know, I got friends in high places and somebody else has already taken the case on my man. So don’t expect me to testify against my boys” He said digging into his food. I shuddered when he took a tear at a mouse that was mixed in with his pasta. I like many ponies have never understood the appeal of meat.
“I have proof that one of your boys killed a suspect in another case though” I said avoiding any glance at his food.
“What kinda proof?” He said raising an eyebrow.
“The caliber of gun used to kill him. It’s the kind of caliber only used in griffon made weaponry. Ballistics can match the bullet with the weapon of your assassin. Forensics also found griffon feathers near the body”
The griffon smiled “You’re good kid, I’ll tell my boy not to be so sloppy next time”
“But that’s not why I’m here” I said flatly
“I figured as much. So, Whaddya here for? If not to bust one of my boys”
“The victim is a suspect in another case. Mine, you are aware of the filly that went missing a couple of days ago”
“I heard of that, but I heard she was found and everything was okay” He said in a neutral voice.
“I want to know who the mastermind was behind the fillynapping”
The griffon looked at me “Ya think the guy who hired my boy was trying to cover up the kidnapping?”
“I’d say so, now who hired you?”
Grimwing looked thoughtful for a moment. “I didn’t get his name, but about two days ago he shows up at this very restaurant and offers a deal. 10,000 bits for a simple assassination job and I was supposed to not tell anybody about him”
“Did you see his face?”
“Well, if you put him in front of me I would remember his face. He was a royal for sure. Even handed me this after the deal was done” He reached into his suit and pulled out a medallion with the royal crest on it.
Twilight looked at me “This proves that Blueblood hired the assassin to kill Dustmane”
I looked at Grimwing “Why are you telling me this? I’m a cop”
“You’re a good cop that’s why" He spoke firmly "You aren’t afraid to go through with a case. Unlike my more conservative griffons I’m willin to work on the other side if necessary”
“I’ll admit you aren’t what I was expecting from a mafia boss” I said a slight smile on my face.
“I get that a lot, so you willin to take down this bastard before he has a little accident?” He said a grin coming to his beak.
“Yeah, but I want to know why you’re willing to tell me this stuff” I was careful to ignore elaborating on the “accident” comment.
Grimwing frowned “So the job was done this morning and everything was going great. That is until I called the stuffy suit and asked about the reward” He suddenly got in my face. My nose was inches away from that sword of a beak. “He said ‘I’m willing to give you half now and I’ll give you the other half when I feel like it’. Can you believe the bastard? Nobody crosses the Grimwing family and gets away without at least one leg broken”
“He cheated you out of the deal.” I said
He backed up and sat back in his seat “Yes, you wanted ta know why I’m helpin ya? That is the reason why”
“You got an address on where this guy lives?”
“I don’t...but you do. It’s conveniently hidden in your gun holster” He said smiling.
“Thanks that should be all”
Twilight and I got up ready to leave. When we got outside I looked in my holster and sure enough there it was. “1242 Mariposy Lane” I said reading the note left in my gun holster.
“He’s willing to give us the address?” Twilight said curiously
“You don’t cross the griffon mafia and get away with it. I guess he wants to make sure Blueblood goes legitimately” I said thoughtfully.
“So what do we do now?” Twilight said.
“We still don’t have proof to connect Blueblood to the kidnapping. The evidence we have is all circumstantial. Whitecloud won’t talk about anything. Dustmane is dead so he can’t testify his story in court. Unless we have evidence that is concrete Blueblood can just walk away”
Twilight smiled “Maybe we do have evidence after all” Twilight reached into her saddlebags and pulled out Dustmane’s journal.
“What have you got?” I said as Twilight opened the book.
“Our proof, listen to this”
Dear Journal
I’ve grown tired of this. I don’t know if I can go through with what the prince asked me to do. I just look at the filly and I see my love. I feel guilt weighing on my very soul. I’m not going through with this. Blueblood can go buck himself. I’m not willing to let an innocent filly go through any more pain. She’s been taken away from Rarity against her will and I will have no more part in it. I’m sending Sweetie Belle’s doll of Rarity to her sister. I also planted a diamond inside it that I know Rarity will recognize. She’ll get help to save the little filly. I know I don’t have much time to do so. Blueblood will send somepony to kill me for sure. I at least want to die knowing I helped Rarity in some way. Rarity...forgive me for everything I’ve done. I enter the arms of death for you my love. I hope what happens next will put that damn prince behind bars for good.
Dustmane
“He really did have a change of heart” Twilight said after reading the entry.
“He just gave us the proof we need. Let’s go fulfill his last wish” I said as we walked for the train station.