By the next morning, Mirror had still not turned up despite an official missing pony report going out. Surely a city full of police officers would have spotted an eccentric bat pony if she wanted to be found.
Fit lay in bed, staring at the ceiling as the morning light crept past the curtains. Lying here wasn’t going to find Mirror. There was still doubt in his mind that this wasn’t some elaborate setup. But even if it was, it was probably Mirror’s intent that he look for her.
Tree Hugger’s sleepy face appeared in the corner of his vision. “Hey. You taking a personal day?”
Fit lifted his head high enough to see the clock. He was going to be late if he didn’t get out of bed now. He pulled back the sheets and sat up. “No, I need to get going.”
“You came back kind of late yesterday,” said Tree Hugger, moving closer to touch his back as he sat on the edge of the bed.
“Yeah. Long day. My old boss - she’s a consultant now - we’re working a case together and she might be missing. I hope she isn’t, but we’re looking for her. There’s this case that’s taken a turn and Haven and I are trying to figure it out.” He shook his head. “It’s complicated.”
“Must be. You even missed the gym yesterday.”
Fit grimaced.
“Hey.”
He turned his head. Tree Hugger smiled, eyes half-closed. “I believe in you.”
Fit spared a moment to kiss her. He desperately wanted to marry this girl.
Soon.
Fit threw on a polo shirt and trotted downtown. He grabbed a bagel from the coffee pushcart on the way. A poor breakfast and a skipped exercise day wouldn’t hurt him, but he would have to be careful not to do too much of that.
He made it in the door just as Haven was arriving. She smiled when she saw him, which caught Fit off guard. “You’ll never believe what I found,” she said. She showed him a leaflet. The Great and Powerful Trixie! was spelled out in flashy letters, above a picture of the mare herself.
“Wow,” said Fit, taking it from her and reading the details. “Tonight huh?” He frowned. “Maybe under different circumstances. I’d love to take Treezie, but not when we have so much going on.”
He paused. “Well, I guess what do we have to lose from bringing Trixie in? She knows Mirror, too.”
“You were serious about that?” said Haven.
“She can always tell us no. If we don’t have any other ideas, it wouldn’t hurt to at least talk to her.” Fit glanced at the clock. “She won’t be there now, but maybe if we check this afternoon she’ll be rehearsing.”
The two of them walked into the office. Bulldog held up the newspaper he was reading. “Have you seen this?”
Fit had not. He took the paper with magic.
Federal Agent Foalnapped!
Lieutenant Cracked Mirror, of the Lunar Guard, went missing from her hotel room after working with Manehattan Police on the case of the mysterious anti-Princess Luna graffitti appearing around the city. Mirror was said to be nearing a breakthrough in the case. Her room bore indications of a fight, and nopony has seen or heard from her since.
Mirror was a graduate of the highly prestigious Night Ranger school, an elite Lunar Guard training course, and had served abroad in Echo Corps. She was said to have extensive experience with survival, escape, and stealth.
The article was by Nosey News.
“Wasn’t Echo Corps the unit that did the raid into dragon lands a few years ago to rescue some hostages?” said Haven. “I think I remember hearing something about that. Is it true that Mirror was a member?”
“Definitely not at that time, but maybe she was earlier. Maybe…” Fit frowned. “Maybe she fed Nosey this story just like she did last time.”
“Are you done with my paper?” said Bulldog. Fit gave it back.
Turning to Haven, Fit said, “I think we need to go talk to Nosey.”
As bothersome as the nosey reporter had been, they had his address on file. The newspaper office was a short walk away, which explained why Nosey was always hanging around the police station.
His hooves were up on his desk when Fit and Haven walked in. He dropped them and stood up, grinning. “Well now, what can I do for you today, officers?”
“You don’t have to play coy, you know why we’re here,” said Fit. “What more can you tell us about Cracked Mirror?”
“I was under the impression you already knew her.”
“You know what I meant,” said Fit. “What happened to her?”
Nosey shrugged. “Just what I printed. I think it’s implied that whoever she was after was who foalnapped her.”
“Any idea who they might be or what they might have done with her?”
“Nope. But rest assured, I’m following this very closely.” Nosey continued to grin.
Fit wanted to strangle him.
“Who told you this?” Haven asked.
“Can’t tell you. Sources.” Nosey winked.
“But it wasn’t Cracked Mirror herself?”
Nosey’s brow wrinkled. “How could it have been? She’s the one who’s missing.”
Haven dismissed it with a wave of her hoof. “Do you have a way of contacting this source again to ask them more questions?”
“Probably not. But if they have something to say, maybe they’ll contact me.”
“What’s that’s supposed to mean?” Fit asked.
Nosey shook his head. “Sorry folks, that’s all I’ve got.”
Fit still wanted to strangle him, but said, “Tell you want. If you hear anything, I want you to bring it to us first.”
Nosey started to open his mouth, but Fit held up a hoof. “I will promise you the complete story once the case is solved. But first I need your help on this.”
“Hmm.” Nosey shrugged. “Deal.”
As Fit and Haven left the office, she said, “You didn’t have to promise him that.”
“You know Nosey. He was going to find out anyway. Heck, Mirror might just tell him herself.” Changing the subject, Fit said, “Who do you think his source is?”
“Do you think it was Mirror herself, out of disguise?”
“Maybe. Do you think it was Mare Do Well, or whoever plays her?”
Neither one of them had a good answer. The fact that they were even considering superheros showed how far off track this case had gotten. Fit pulled himself back to the present. “Maybe we could go see Trixie now.”
The two of them headed for the venue listed on the flyer. The doors were open, but nopony besides stage hands were around. Acting on a hunch, however, Fit left the building and went around back.
There was a purple wagon decorated with stars parked there. Haven evaluated it. “The paint’s nice, but I’m not sure if the wheels and axles are up to code.”
Fit shrugged. “I heard about her wagon, but I’ve never seen it before.”
Haven glanced at the flyer, which featured a prominent photo of Trixie in her purple cape and pointed hat. “It looks like hers, though. It even has a little version of her hat as the rain cover on the chimney.”
Fit knocked on the door.
“What is it? The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn’t go on for another few hours.” The voice put particular emphasis on great and powerful.
“Who’s that?” Haven said.
“Trixie. You’ll see.” Louder, Fit said to the door, “Manehattan Police.”
Hooves approached and the door was opened. A two-toned blue unicorn with her mane out of place blinked in the light. Her eyes focused on Fit. “Oh, what a surprise! I didn’t expect to see you here, Sergeant.”
“Detective now,” Fit said. “Good to see you again, Trixie.”
He introduced Haven and Trixie invited them in. It was cramped, but unicorns tended to keep their places clean, if only because doing so was relatively easy for them, particularly for a unicorn of Trixie’s apparent talent.
Fit explained briefly what had led them there. Trixie listened, her frown building.
“Trixie has to agree, getting foalnapped on purpose does sound like something Mirror would do.”
Haven’s eyes went to Fit, as if seeking explanation for Trixie’s use of third pony pronouns. What, did she think Mirror was the only eccentric pony he knew?
“But Trixie is not sure what she can do to help.”
“You know illusions, right?” said Haven. “Can you help us figure out what Mirror really looks like? That could help us find her.”
Trixie tilted her head. “Perhaps. But Trixie has to ask you: do you really want to know? Illusions only give you a sense of wonder if you don’t know how they work.”
“I’m mostly concerned about preventing harm to somepony,” said Haven flatly.
Trixie looked at Fit. “You know it’s the tail band. Maybe a spell could undo its effects from a distance.”
“I was never good with complex spells,” Fit admitted.
“Much as Trixie would appreciate good press, she is not keen to get back into Guard work.”
“A little presumptuous to assume you’d get a glamourous headline out of helping us,” said Haven.
Trixie smiled. “No assumptions required. Any press is good press. Mirror may even have learned that from me.”
Fit nodded thoughtfully. “I still think there’s a chance that she set this up herself. That doesn’t mean we should delay finding her.”
“She’s probably giving you probable cause to search anything related to Acerbic Cure and his family,” Trixie speculated. “Do you have any evidence?”
“No.”
“Motive?”
“Some.”
“Well, that’s better than nothing,” Trixie advised.
“We can’t really prove that motive without evidence,” Haven pointed out.
“Well, there’s nothing stopping you from walking into the hospital, Fit,” said Trixie. “You’re a Guard veteran.”
“Even if I could pass that off as an excuse to be there, once they saw Haven they would know we were onto them.”
“Hmm.” Trixie tapped her chin with a hoof and looked at Fit’s partner, a smile spreading across her lips, an expression that Haven seem to be trying to invert.
“You picked up Mirror’s effects from her room,” said Trixie. “You can borrow them from the evidence locker.”
“Wait, you can’t be-” Haven shook her head.
“Oh, Trixie is serious.”
Haven looked at Fit, who was still considering the plan. “Are you going along with this?”
“I’m trying to decide what would be more effective, you posing as another Lunar Guard investigating Mirror’s disappearance, or you posing as Mirror herself to hopefully confuse somepony into a mistake.”
Trixie sat back. “That...was actually better than Trixie’s idea.”
“Still, thanks for the help,” said Fit.
Trixie waved her hoof. “If you call that helping. It was mostly you talking things through.”
“Sometimes a fresh perspective is all you need,” said Fit. Though sometimes, a fresh perspective went and got herself foalnapped.
Fit asked Haven, “Are you sure you’re okay with this? I can teach you a few things about how to act like a real Guard.”
Haven crossed her hooves. “Fine, but if we’re going to do this, I’m going to wear the dress uniform. I might as well look good.”