"So," Rarity said, sitting down across the small table from Crystal Bright. "Tell me about your relationship with the Baron."
Crystal Bright Looked confused, in an 'annoyed' sort of manner. "I thought you would be asking me about the murder."
"Ah, but you see, Your Ladyship, the devil is in the details," Rarity said. "And in the details, we'll find our devil."
Rainbow smirked. "See? You said it again."
"I have no idea what you're talking about, darling." Rarity turned back to her interviewee. "This is just part of my process," she said with a smile. "And I can assure you, my process has, so far, yielded nothing but results. If you would, Your Ladyship?"
"Fine," she said. "Von was a friend, that's about it."
"How did you two meet?"
"I can hardly remember. Perhaps it was in Prance."
"Ah, Prance. All good friendships start in Prance," Rarity said.
"Ours didn't," Rainbow pointed out.
"Hush, I'm waxing poetic."
"Ah, now I remember," Crystal Bright said. "It wasn't in Prance, it was in Griffonia. This was a long time ago, of course, before our relations were so strained."
"What were you doing there?" Rarity asked.
"I was on vacation," she said.
"Odd place for a vacation."
"You'd think so now, but the countryside is beautiful. And the mountains. It's a shame I can't go back."
"Quite the shame indeed," Rarity said. "And what was the Baron doing there?"
"Something to do with his weapons of war, I suspect," Crystal Bright said. "Honestly, I couldn't have cared less. And I still don't. All this military talk bores me."
"I see." Rarity nodded. "Well, let us cut to the chase then. Where were you at the time of the murder?"
"I was in the study," she said. "The General was with me, talking my ear off about something-or-other. We both heard the gunshot."
"I see. And what did you do then?"
"Well, the General ran off down the hallway, in the direction of the gunshot," she said. "I followed, even though I didn't think it was a gunshot at all."
"What did you think it was?" Rainbow asked.
"I just assumed someone had set off a firework outside," Crystal Bright said. "But I don't have any experience with firearms, and the general insisted it was a gunshot, and obviously Von was shot, so it must have been the gun."
"A logical assumption," Rarity said. "What happened then?"
"We made our way down the hall. We ran into Obtuse on the way and—"
"Obtuse is...?"
"The younger stallion," Crystal Bright said.
"I see. And had he also heard the gunshot?"
"Yes," she said. "So he joined us. We also ran into George, the griffon, a bit further down, but he didn't come with us. Eventually we made it to the room the Baron was in. It was locked, so—"
"Excuse me," Rarity said, holding up a hoof. "The room was locked?"
"Yes," Crystal Bright said. "Obtuse had to buck the door open."
Rarity leaned back in her chair. "But the only exit from that room was that door, and the only key to said door was around the Baron's neck."
"Well, the door was definitely locked."
"Hm! Very well, carry on."
"There's not much else to tell," she said. "Inside the room was the Baron's body. I didn't want to keep looking at such a horrid thing, so I walked back to the study after that. Eventually the whole mansion was swarmed with guards, and we were all told to stay in the one room, which suited me fine. I'd still like to get out of here soon, however. It has been a long night."
"I know how you feel," Rarity said. "Well, hopefully we'll finish up quickly. You may now return to the study; please tell General Bristle to come join us."
Crystal Bright nodded, stood up, stretched her long legs, and set out. The guard at the door followed her, escorting her back.
Rarity's grin grew large. She turned to Rainbow. "Did you hear that, darling? The door was locked!"
"Yeah," Rainbow said. "You seem... oddly happy about that?"
Rarity let out a little giggle of excitement. "Don't you see, Rainbow? That makes this a locked room mystery!"
"A locked what-now?"
Rarity rolled her eyes. "Really, darling, you must start reading more mysteries. A locked-room mystery is a type of mystery story where the crime appears to be impossible to commit—the victim is locked inside a room, with no other means for the criminal to enter or exit!"
She was beaming, now. "They're one of my favourite types of mystery! There's always some hidden trick to them. Oh, I've always wanted to take on this kind of case!"
Rainbow rolled your eyes. "Whatever floats your boat, Rares."
General Bristle was a small, thin, elderly stallion. Looking at him, it was as though all his youth had been sucked into his exquisitely-groomed moustache.
"It is an impressive moustache," Rainbow whispered to Rarity.
"I'm not one for facial hair, I'm afraid," Rarity whispered back. Turning to the stallion, she smiled. "So, General Bristle, what was your relationship with the Baron?"
"It was strictly business, I can assure you!" the General said. "His businesses supplied weapons and equipment to the military. I was one of his liaisons."
"I see," Rarity said. "What kinds of weapons and equipment?"
The General perked up. "Why, all kinds! His company is responsible for designing a new type of horseshoe that can allow troops to run about 1.08% faster on muddy ground than the previous regulation horseshoes. That's leagues better than those nasty boots the griffons use!"
"Fascinating!" Rarity said. “Well, may I ask you about the—"
"And these new saddlebags," the General said. "Why, you can fit almost one-tenth as much equipment inside them as the old ones! Do you know what this could mean for our military operations? Why the efficiency is staggering! If war does break out, we'll win it with these!"
"I see," Rarity said. "A good saddlebag does make all the difference. But about the—"
"Oh, and we've invented a new type of ration," he continued. "It has .001 grams more protein than those disgusting old ones, and our taste tests show it's slightly more delicious! And—"
"Hey! Mr. Military!" Rainbow said. "Did you forget we're trying to solve a murder here!?"
He blinked. "Oh. Um. Yes. Quite right."
"So," Rarity said. "Crystal Bright told me that you were the one to identify the gunshot?"
"Yes, that's right," he said. "It was easy, to my well-trained ears. I could pick out a gunshot anywhere, even in a crowded room as a train went by."
"Right. And so what did you do when you heard it?"
"I immediately leapt into action!" he said. "I knew at once from the direction of the sound that it must have come from the safe room, and so I galloped there as quickly as I could!"
"Really? That's pretty far," Rainbow said. "You don't look like you're in the best of shape, either..."
"Hardly!" he said. "It was no difficulty for a stallion with rigorous military training such as myself."
"Right..."
"That aside," Rarity said, "Did you meet anyone along the way?"
"Only Obtuse Virtue and George," he said. "Obtuse joined us; George remained where we saw him. With such a sedentary lifestyle as he leads, I'm not sure he'd have been of much use anyway."
"No one else?" Rarity asked.
The General shook his head.
"What happened once you reached the safe room?"
"We tried the door," he said. "But it was locked, as it should have been. Obtuse bucked it open. I could have done it too, you know, but he was ahead of me."
"I see," Rarity said. "What did you do after finding the body?"
"I went to fetch the guards," he said. "Crystal Bright went off somewhere else, and Obtuse stayed behind to check on his daughter."
"That filly in there is Obtuse's daughter?" Rarity asked.
He nodded. "Yes, Acute Virtue. A fine little girl."
"Alright," Rarity said. "One final question. Do you know what was in the safe in the safe room?"
The General began to sweat. "That's top secret. Classified. I can't tell you."
"That's alright," Rarity said. "That pretty much confirms my suspicions by itself. Alright; you may go. Tell Obtuse Virtue it's his turn."
Obtuse was a young, moderately well-built stallion. He spoke clearly, enunciating his syllables with care, and he wore a green jacket.
He was also quite handsome, Rainbow thought. Not that she was into stallions.
"So, Mr. Virtue," Rarity began.
"Obtuse is fine," he said.
She smiled. "Obtuse it is then. Would you mind telling me a little bit about yourself?"
"There's not that much to tell," he replied. "I am—or, was—the Baron's secretary."
"What sorts of things did you do for him, as his secretary?"
He tapped his hoof on the table. "Oh, nothing out of the ordinary," he said. "Keeping his appointments, arranging meetings, answering phone calls... that sort of thing."
"I see." Rarity nodded. "Where were you at the time of the murder?"
"I had just put my daughter to bed in our room," he said. "I was on my way back to the others when I heard the gunshot."
"And did you know it was a gunshot when you heard it?"
"I was fairly certain," he said. "Of course, I'm no expert, but working for the Baron, I had some idea what a firearm sounded like."
Rarity hummed. "Could there have been some reason you might have been expecting a gunshot?"
He blinked. "Expecting...? No, not really. The Baron had been acting a little suspicious lately, but..."
"Suspicious how?"
"It's hard to put into words," Obtuse said. "Normally he'd let me take his phone calls for him, but as of about a week ago he began insisting on taking them himself. I don't know what could have gotten him so spooked."
"Fascinating," Rarity said. She shared a knowing glance with Rainbow. "Anyway, what did you do when you heard the gunshot?"
"I headed in the direction of the sound," he said. "I met General Bristle and Crystal Bright on the way; the General seemed to know that the shot had come from the safe room, so I headed towards it."
"And did you meet anyone else on the way?"
"Yes, George. He seemed... confused. We passed him and kept heading for the safe room."
Rarity nodded. "And when you got there?"
"Well, I tried the door," he said. "But it was locked, so I bucked it open. Inside was the Baron's body."
"You're the one who tried the door?" Rarity asked. "You're certain it was locked?"
"Yes," he said. "Absolutely certain."
"I see," she said. "Well, that's all I wanted from you, Obtuse. You may go back to the study now. Tell George I want to see him next."
He nodded, and stood up—then paused.
"Are you going to interview my daughter?" he asked.
Rarity looked surprised. "Why, yes, I was intending to. Why?"
His face turned troubled, then. "Well, you see... I haven't told her what happened. She's only nine years old, she's too young to know about something like this. So, please, when you talk to her... don't tell her the Baron was murdered. Just say he had an accident. I'm begging you, as a parent."
"I understand," Rarity said. "Rest assured, I'll treat your daughter with the utmost care."
A relieved smile overtook his features. "Thank you. I appreciate it."
He turned and headed for the door.
"So," Rarity said. "You are George, I take it?"
The griffon, who was a head taller than anyone in the room and quite a bit rounder, nodded. "That's me, yes."
"You from Griffonstone?" Rainbow asked. "I have some friends in Griffonstone, you know. We go way back."
"No," he said. "I'm from Griffonia, originally."
Rarity raised an eyebrow. "Griffonia? I'm surprised you're here at all."
"Yes, well..." He looked nervous. "I left before the, erm... current heads of state took power."
"I see," Rarity said. "You're a defector."
"Something along those lines."
"What did you do before you left?"
"I was a weapons engineer," George said. "I had hoped to leave that life behind when I came to Equestria, but the Baron quickly snapped me up and put me to work. He wanted the 'Griffonian perspective', whatever that meant."
"So you make weapons?" Rainbow asked. "Like, to kill griffons? Your own people?"
George winced. "I hate it when ponies put it like that. I never wanted to design weapons, you know."
"You still did it anyway," Rainbow said.
"Yes." A haunted look came across his beak. "Yes, I did."
"Regardless of your misdeeds," Rarity interjected, "I would quite like to ask you about the murder."
"Yes, please," he said, sensing the shift to an ironically more comfortable topic. "Anything I can do to help, I will."
"Where were you when it happened?"
"I was on my way back from the kitchens," he said. "I was hungry, so I helped myself to a ham."
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "The Baron had ham?"
"I assume for me," the griffon said. "Unless he himself was partaking. You'd have to ask the kitchen staff about that."
"Was there anyone in the kitchen?" Rarity asked.
"No, it was deserted. Actually, the only staff I've seen since I got here is that butler. Lots of guards, though. Funny how they all seemed to show up so quickly."
He leveled his gaze at Rarity. "Actually, the same could be said about you two. We are in the middle of nowhere, after all. Nothing around for miles, yet you were here no more than an hour after the body was found."
"We were here on another matter," Rarity said.
"I see."
"Did you hear the gunshot?"
"I... yes, I suppose I did."
Rarity cocked an eyebrow. "You suppose?"
"Well, I didn't think it was a gunshot at first. It didn't quite... sound right, you understand?"
"What did it sound like?" Rainbow asked.
"Well, it was certainly a loud bang," he said. "Some sort of explosion."
"The General and Obtuse seemed quite sure it was a gunshot," Rarity said.
"Yes, well... I suppose they must have been right. The Baron was shot, after all. Perhaps my hearing was off."
Rarity leaned back in her chair. It seemed like an idea was forming, behind those blue eyes. "Hmm... well, in any case, what did you do when you heard the noise?"
"I sort of wandered in that direction," he said. "Eventually, the other guests passed me by. They seemed to be in more of a rush than I was."
"Where did you go after that?" Rarity asked.
"Back to the study," he said. "Eventually, the others joined me, one by one. Then the guards came and told us we weren't to leave the room."
"Who came back to the study first?"
"Lady Crystal Bright," he said. "Then it was the General, then Obtuse and his daughter."
Rarity nodded. "Yes, that makes sense. Thank you, George; your account of things has been most illuminating."
"Has it?" he said. "I mean, I didn't even see the body..."
She smiled. "It has. Now, off you go back to the study; send Obtuse's daughter in after you."
As he left, Rainbow spoke up.
"You really think that guy can be trusted?" she asked. "I mean..."
"Oh, no one in this house is to be trusted, Rainbow," Rarity replied. "But that goes the other way too; everyone in this house can be trusted until the facts contradict what they've said."
This just seemed to confuse Rainbow further. "If... you say so."
Rarity leaned back in her chair.
"I do."
"And what is your name, little filly?" Rarity asked.
"Acute Virtue," the tiny unicorn said. "I'm nine years old, and I go to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns!"
"Oh, how prestigious!" Rarity said. "We have a friend who went there, you know."
"Really!?"
Rainbow nodded. "They're one of the awesomest ponies around!"
"Wow!" Acute said. "I wanna be awesome when I grow up, too!"
Rainbow looked at Rarity. "I like this kid."
Rarity giggled. She turned back to the child. "What do they teach you at school, Acute?"
"All kinds of things!" she exclaimed. "I can show you some if you want!"
They both nodded.
From her dress, Acute retrieved two glass marbles. They were about the same size, but different colours. She placed them down onto the table, orange on the right and blue on the left. She covered them with her hooves.
"Watch!" she said, in that voice children have when they're showing off to people older than them. Her horn lit, sparked, and then went dull.
"Which hoof is the orange marble under?" she asked.
"That one," Rainbow said, pointing to the hoof on their right.
But Acute shook her head. She was beaming. "Nope!" She lifted her hoof, and sure enough, it was the blue marble that was revealed.
"Wow!" Rarity said, playing along. "But where did the orange marble go?"
Acute lifted her other hoof, and there it was: the orange marble!
"Amazing!" Rainbow said. "How'd you do that?"
"It's a spell called flippus crossarnus," Acute explained, as she returned the marbles to her pocket. "It swaps two objects of similar shape and size."
"That's a very advanced spell," Rarity said. "It must have been hard to learn."
"Thanks!" Acute replied. "Daddy says I'm a prod... prodi..."
"Prodigy?"
"Yeah, that!"
Rarity's heart melted.
"Acute," she asked, gently. "What do you know about the Baron's, erm... accident?"
Acute's expression turned sour. "Nothing! Nobody will tell me what happened. They think I'm too young or something."
"They're just trying to protect you, darling," Rarity said. "The world can be a dark place. Better to leave that end of it till when you've experienced more of it."
"I already know about dying, though," Acute said. "Mommy died when I was little."
Rainbow and Rarity looked at each other. Rarity turned back to the filly.
"I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure she'd have been very proud of you."
Acute looked down at the floor. "I hope so."
"Anyway!" Rainbow said. "Where were you when the accident happened?"
"I was in my room," she said. "I was trying to sleep."
"Did you hear a loud bang, by any chance?" Rarity asked.
Acute shook her head. "No."
"What happened after that?"
"Daddy came to get me," she said. "He brought me straight to the study. I didn't leave until Mr. George told me to come see you."
Rarity nodded. "I see. Well, that's all I wanted to talk to you about. You may go back to the study now; thank you so much for your help!"
Acute flashed them a wide smile, then scrambled off her seat and trotted to the door.
After she was gone, Rainbow turned to Rarity.
"Can we keep her?" she asked.
"I think that would be a little unfair to Obtuse," Rarity said. "But... yes."
Rainbow squealed.
"So what are we doing now, Rares?" Rainbow asked, as they made their way back down the hallway.
"We," Rarity said, "are going to take another look around the crime scene."
She winced. "Heavens my hooves hurt. Rainbow, when I'm rich and more famous than I already am, remind me to buy a small mansion."
Rainbow rolled her eyes. "I keep telling you, you need to get out of your inspiration room more often. Why not pick up a sport, like tennis? That'd fit your image."
"I have considered it," Rarity said. "But the tennis courts in Ponyville are dreadful, and the competition is even worse. Ah, here we are."
They'd arrived back outside the crime scene. The door was still open; the body was where they'd left it, thankfully.
"I thought you said there wasn't anything left to find in here?" Rainbow asked.
"That's what I thought at the time," Rarity replied, scanning the hallway. "But new information has come to light. Rainbow, do you still smell smoke?"
Rainbow sniffed the air. "Now that you mention it, yeah, a bit."
"Let's see..." Rarity turned around and scanned the other side of the hallway. Her eyes fell upon a potted plant, some kind of fern in a great vase filled with dirt, sitting against the far wall. "I wonder..."
She walked up to it and used her magic to part the leaves. It only took her a moment to find what she was looking for.
"Ah-ha!" She lifted something out, triumphant. "Rainbow, look at this!"
Rainbow came over to look. It was a cardboard tube, singed, about an inch thick and three inches long.
"Is that a firecracker?" Rainbow asked.
"I suspect so," Rarity said. She turned her attention back to the pot. “You ‘could pick out a gunshot anywhere, even in a crowded room as a train went by’, eh, General Bristle? There's some ash here, too. And it looks as though the dirt here has recently been disturbed. Rainbow, if you would?"
"What?"
Rarity gestured to the soil. "Dig it up, please?"
"Why me?"
"I don't want to get dirt on my trenchcoat."
Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Fine." She stepped forwards and used her hoof to shift the soil aside, until...
"Rarity, there's something in here!"
Rarity lit her horn; a long, metallic cylinder floated up out of the pot. "What's this?" she asked, bringing it up to her eye. "There's a hole all the way through it..."
Rainbow was focused on something else entirely, however. "Hey, wait a minute! Why didn't you just use your magic to dig!?"
"Moi? Never. My ladylike image would never allow it."
Rainbow folded her hooves. "Whatever. Not like I care. My image doesn't get in the way of anything except being lame."
Rarity continued to inspect the cylinder, but it yielded nothing. She slid it into the pocket of her coat. Next, she crossed the hallway and examined the door of the safe room.
"That's interesting."
Rainbow craned her neck to see. "What is?"
"There's actually not that much damage to the doorframe," Rarity explained. "You'd think with a bolt as thick as that, kicking the door open would have splintered the wood. But no; there's only a bit of a scratch."
"What's that mean?" Rainbow asked.
"I don't know yet, darling. Give me a chance."
She stepped back. Hummed. Began to pace.
"I think I've got the general gist of this one," she said. "It's fairly simple, actually. I just need some time for the pieces to fall into place—and how to prove it."
Rainbow stepped back. She knew better than to get in Rarity's way when she was thinking.
Eventually, Rarity turned to Rainbow with a grin. A dangerous grin.
"I've got it!" she said. "I know who killed the Baron, and I know how they got away with it. And I may have a way to prove it, too."
"Nice," Rainbow said. "Want me to gather everyone?"
"I think you'll find they're already gathered, darling," Rarity replied. "But if you'd bring them here, that would be wonderful."
Rainbow saluted. "Will do."