Shining sensed the beginning of a long night, especially if the team managed to uncover anything significant while going through the courthouse records a second time. As he looked at everypony in the room, he could see resolve and determination in them to get the job done. Arresting Gilgamesh was the first break in the case, and the only way to keep that momentum going was to keep working.
“I’ll need volunteers to go back to the courthouse.”
Rough, Skydancer, and Soft raised their hooves. Shining nodded to them. “Check into Gilgamesh’s brother Eddy and find out who Gaston is.”
As the three of them left, Shining paused and then spoke his thoughts aloud. “If we get something from their search, the rest of us will have to be ready to move. If we’re quick enough, we can get to Eddy and Gaston before they find out that Gilgamesh has been arrested.”
“Sir, what if somepony comes by Gilgamesh’s house and finds him gone?” asked Puppy.
“It might be a good idea for somepony to watch his place,” Shining allowed. “Any volunteers?”
Puppy stepped forward, and so did Flash. Shining hesitated, but nodded his consent. The two Guards went out.
“Now that Gilgamesh has been arrested, we have a reason to go back to Mr. Thrift and inspect his corn. Mag, Dim, you two would best know if anything seemed suspicious. Ace, go with them.”
Shining turned to Pikop. “I’m going to draw on your previous experiences with griffons. It would help if we understood them better.”
Pikop nodded. “I’ll tell you whatever I know, sir. I’m not an expert, but I have some knowledge.”
Airborne came up to the two of them. “I read a few foreign journals. I might be able to help.”
Shining nodded and the three of them sat down. Cyrus wandered away to go lift weights or something.
Pikop began. “I think the biggest fundamental difference between griffons and ponies is that ponies have a herd mentality. Griffons have groups, certainly, but they aren’t as close to each other overall.”
“It’s species psychology,” Airborne added. “Griffons are naturally hunters and have territorial instincts. They’re less trusting of new faces than ponies are. They also have less inclination to stick together, because as a predator species they had fewer enemies to defend against.”
It was helpful information. The usual Guard tactics might have to be modified to compensate. Shining thought about possible applications of this news, knowing that Soft had probably already run across them in her work. Perhaps the lone-wolf attitude made griffons more likely to be bold and make mistakes while being interrogated. Being less trusting made it harder to start a casual conversation with a griffon, however.
Pikop and Airborne ran through a few more tidbits before Rough, Skydancer, and Soft returned from the courthouse.
“We have an address for Gaston but not much else on him,” said Rough.
“There’s much more information about Eddy.” Soft pulled out a notepad and read from it. “He owns a casino here in Port Talon. There are a few complaints about him, noise violations and rough treatment from his staff to casino patrons, but none of it is serious. The casino is one of the city’s most profitable businesses.”
“Where’s Gaston’s place?” asked Shining.
“It’s pretty far out there, on the road to Kingdom City near the North Bridge,” replied Skydancer.
“And the casino?”
“The corner of 1st and King Kite,” provided Soft.
“All right. Skydancer, Airborne, fly out to Gaston’s place and have a look. If he’s home, call us and we’ll arrange to meet you there.”
A thought occurred to Shining and he smiled. “Rough, you’re probably itching to go pump some iron, so you stay here for now. Go find Cyrus and tell him that he’s finally going to see some action.”
While it may not have been what Cyrus had in mind for a first trip into the city, he was fidgeting excitedly at the prospect of getting off the ship. Shining, Soft, and Pikop accompanied him down the street to Eddy’s place. Dusk was settling in, but if there was one place that could be counted on to be open late, it was a casino.
It was called the Golden Feather. It was located where the river joined the sea just north of the lighthouse. The outside of the building was decorated with glittering lights that reflected off the water.
It was the first time Shining had gotten a closer look at the area. It seemed like a higher-end part of town. The lighthouse was clean and white, casting its rotating beam out to sea in the gathering darkness.
The group paused outside the casino. Cyrus put on a pair of fancy sunglasses and a grin, heading inside. He may have been the only crystal pony, but he was far from the only out-of-towner. Obvious tourists and travelers dotted the gambling hall. Some were griffons in vacation garb, others were ponies, donkeys, mules, zebras, and there were even a few minotaurs.
The abundance of species only added to the variety of sights and sounds that filled the casino: machines clanged and flashed, cards were shuffled, dice were rolled. The carpet was a cacophony of colors while the walls and ceiling were finished with exaggerated trim.
Shining took it in for a moment, watching Cyrus wade into the middle of it all, before making his way over to a griffon who was standing security. “Pardon me, I’m looking for Eddy.”
The griffon cocked an eyebrow. “Oh really?”
Shining gestured to the ponies with him. “We’d like to speak with Eddy. It’s about his brother.”
The griffon regarded them for a few seconds and then turned, gesturing for the ponies to follow. He led them through an unmarked door into a hallway that was quieter and not nearly as decorated as the casino floor. He brought them to another door and knocked.
“Come in.”
The security griffon opened the door and gestured. Shining stepped in. There was a desk and a few filing cabinets, nothing particularly notable. The griffon that occupied the office had a slicked-back crest of feathers and an impatient expression. “What?”
“We’re here about your brother,” Shining said. “Did you know he was arrested earlier today?”
Eddy’s eyebrows went up. “For what?”
“Attempted assault,” Soft said. “The police took him away, but we were concerned that he might not be getting the emotional help he needs. We thought you should know.”
“Frankly, I’m surprised this is the first time that this has happened to my idiot brother.” Eddy rolled his eyes.
“He mentioned someone named Gaston,” Soft said.
Eddy shrugged. “I think they work together.”
“I’d be very concerned about their employee mental health benefits.” Soft paused, as if a thought had just occurred to her. “Do you know how we can contact Gaston? I think we should let him know about this situation, too.”
“No, no idea.” Eddy frowned. “Who are you ponies, anyway? Why aren’t the police telling me this?”
Soft dropped her head. “Well you see…it was me who he attacked. I just wanted to make that Gilgamesh was recuperated so that he doesn’t do something like this again. The reason we knew you were his brother was because he said you were going to come take revenge for getting him locked up.”
Eddy burst out laughing. “Seriously? Yeah, now you see what kind of problems he’s got; that’s why I try and distance myself from him. He doesn’t need recuperation, he needs about fifty more IQ points.”
“You certainly seem to have built a successful business here,” Soft said. “What sort of work does Gilgamesh do?”
Eddy shrugged. “This and that.”
“Well, we first met him when trying to make a deal for corn,” Soft said. “Is he part of some farming group? Do you know where the corn comes from?”
“Farming group?” Eddy was silent for several seconds. He shook his head. “Aw, whatever. He’s already in jail so telling you won’t hurt anything. My brother worked with pirates.”
Soft gasped theatrically. “Really?”
“Yeah, he hung out with this griffon named Anchor and they would go sailing, he told me. It took a while, but I realized what was really going on.” Eddy shook his head. “Anchor disappeared at some point. I think he was in trouble with the police.”
“So who is Gaston?” Soft asked.
“I don’t know. Gil mentioned him to me while he was asking for my help one time. He said I could make a lot of money if I talked to Gaston.” Eddy snorted. “I run the only casino in town. I’m not exactly hurting for cash.”
“Are there any other names you remember?” Soft asked him. “We might be able to go to the police. Maybe if your brother talked to them they would let him off easy.”
“No, I always tried to stay out of my brother’s business.” Eddy let out a long sigh. “I guess I’ll go down to the station in the morning and see what I can do.”
There wasn’t much else to be said and the Guards took their leave. Cyrus, who had apparently been playing well, made a hasty exit from his game to catch up.
“I made a few friends,” he said, chuckling. “Everyone seemed to want to talk to me. Apparently they think that every crystal pony is incredibly wealthy because of a thousand years’ interest in the bank. I think that I make a pretty good tourist.”
They walked back to the ship. Checking in with Puppy and Flash, up north watching Gilgamesh’s house, revealed something interesting. A griffon had come by the house and left after seeing that Gilgamesh wasn’t home. The male visitor had a black head, brown body, and a distinctive scar on his shoulder. He’d headed southwest after leaving the house. Shining made arrangements to have Puppy and Flash replaced with fresh guards in a few hours so nopony would miss too much sleep.
Mag and Dim returned from visiting Mr. Thrift with nothing to show. “All the corn from all the sources gets mixed together,” Mag reported. “If there was anything special about Gilgamesh’s corn, the evidence is gone now. Mr. Thrift even let us look in the silos, but we didn’t get anything from it.”
Shining brought them up to speed on the information garnered from their trip to the Golden Feather, using the map for reference. Mag speculated for a few moments. “The courthouse is closed now, but there might be police records for Anchor, if what Eddy said is true.”
While they were talking, Skydancer and Airborne reported in. Their radio call was scratchy, and Shining had to wait for the two of them to get closer before he could make out the words. “Sir, we inspected the property where Gaston was supposed to live, but there’s nothing here. It’s just a flat piece of land.”
Shining grumbled. They might be able to get records of the land’s deeding, but not until the courthouse opened in the morning.
The team looked to Shining for guidance. It was getting late, but he could see that they weren’t ready to quit yet. He knew what he wanted to do next.
