The cottage became peaceful without all the guards running around the place. However, Luster Dawn could not stop thinking about her failure to see the obvious. Of course, Thunderlane was just unconscious, Derpy was the most blatant red herring ever. She had completely wasted her time with those notes. Looking upon them only made things worse by the second. "My mother could have solved this case long ago."
"Don't be so hard on yourself. Derpy is a tough nut to crack." Blueblood finished his tea.
"No, she's a pointless nut. They are all pointless." She waved her hoof over all the suspects. "And I let them make fools out of me. It is all my fault."
"No, I don't think so." He smiled and spotted that her cup was getting cold. The unicorn heated up her tea and placed his hoof on her shoulder. "We still have a few more clues to look over."
"Like what--" Luster Dawn was stopped as Captain Braeburn rushed back into the room.
"Hold on! You two need to come out here!!" He guided them over, much to Luster Dawn's annoyance.
Golden Delicious watched them leave in the direction of the cat litter boxes. She wiped her head and took a deep breath. "Babs Seed, could you go see if I have some muffins laying out."
"Too late, Derpy ate them all." Babs Seed rolled her eyes.
"Just go check!" The old mare pushed her in the other direction.
"No, I want to see what they found." Babs Seed jumped out of her chair and walked over to the exit. She ignored the old mare's pleas to stay and looked outside the entrance over at the massive stacks of cat litter. Her eyebrow raised at the guards scooping up and shaking about the clumps of the dust. Golden Delicious walked up from behind her and attempted to pull her away.
"What is the point of this?!" Luster Dawn barked at the horrible smell.
"Hold on..." The captain walked over to a separate pile and turned over the shovel. He bashed it as hard as he could on the cat litter and revealed something shocking. The shovel head broke off instantly and bounced over to Luster's hooves.
"Impossible!" The mare noted a strange shine along the side that had been bashed in.
"I understand now." Blueblood enveloped the pile in magic and spliced apart each piece until the picture became clear to all of them, much to Golden Delicious's regret. "This isn't just cat litter, but a clever cover." He turned his hoof toward the old mare and pointed boldly. "For the greatest diamond smuggling ring!" He stepped toward her and shined the thousands of tiny diamonds hidden inside the cat litter. "When I first arrived, I noted a triple G tattoo on your neck. This makes sense since there are already three strikes against you."
Golden Delicious grumbled away from behind Babs Seed and acted all innocent. "Oh, I'm not a bother to anypony. Just love my tattoos and my cats..." She was slowly backed into a corner by the guards and the detectives. "I could never harm a fly."
"Yes, but we are after somepony who stole the Crystal Heart." Blueblood presented the cuffs. "There is no greater prize for a diamond thief."
"... Damn." She turned her head to the left and right before whistling to her cats. The five cats ripped their way out of their cages with ease surrounded, Golden Delicious, and used their bodies to protect her. "Well played, but I am not going down without a fight!" The mare held up her hooves and charged at them.
Babs Seed jumped out of the way as the cats knocked the guards around. Golden Delicious tossed her hooves from side to side and bashed her way out. Blueblood wrapped Luster Dawn in his magic and blasted away the advancing forces. Captain Braeburn wasn't so lucky, getting scratches all over his body. The hardest problem was the large leopard that jumped down from the ceiling to join the forces of cats.
Golden Delicious used the chaos to escape from the house. Babs Seed raced out a window and noticed her getting away on a motorcycle. The earth pony jumped in front of the path and stopped her. "Let me pass!!" Golden Delicious asked kindly.
"No, I need to know the truth!"
"Fine, I didn't steal the Crystal Heart!!" The old mare revved her engine. "Now, let me through."
"No!!" Babs Seed grabbed her leg. "We all need to know the truth!" She narrowed her eyes at the guards swarming around her grandmother. "Please, just tell us everything."
Her ears plucked at the sounds of her cats failing to stop the detectives. The old mare's eyes drifted between Babs Seed, the diamonds she had been hoarding for centuries, and the way out. Seeing her second escape fade just as quickly as the first made the old mare cave under pressure. "Fine... I'll tell you."