//------------------------------// // Case File: 1247 Page: 2 // Story: Case 1247 // by Brushed Rhyme //------------------------------// Sunday, July 16th, Time: 1132 The Apples received another note, shown below: Tick Tock Apples! One orchard has already met my wrath, only 3 more to go. Ta! The Lurker We don’t know which orchard she will strike next, we only have this to work with. I have the guards reporting immediately after they have returned from Sweet Apple Acres and recording what they say so that I can find similarities. I don’t know if that will be enough though. Sunday, July 16th, Time: 1200 During the lunch break, I started to hear rumors about the whole Sweet Apple Acres incidents, I don’t know who started them but they are ranging from the culprit being the Pony of Shadows to the Culprit being a distant relative of the Apples. I can’t confirm or deny anything though, mostly because I don’t even know myself. One rumor peaked my interest though, it could possibly be the Flim Flam brothers, because they know the property from the competition that they held to try and take Sweet Apple Acres. I’m not saying that I believe it, but it is something that could be possible; at this point, though, anything is possible. Sunday, July 16th, Time: 1346 My wife called me and said that she heard somepony on the roof of our house, and started to break our windows. The criminal must’ve been using a hammer or something because no blood was found. I do believe that this is what was meant in the note that I received personally from The Lurker. Soon. Sunday, July 16th, Time: 1524 Something happened while the guard shifting occurred, The Lurker was able to go into the Apples house and managed to break a few of the support beams of their house. Next to a pile of broken glass was a piece of cloth. I sent this to Canterlot, where the Alchemist is running tests on it to see what material it is, where that cloth can be found, and when it was brought in and from where. I can only hope that it isn’t something common that can be bought anywhere. Sunday, July 16th, Time: 1647 Guards received notes of their own, a few of them requested that they not be posted there anymore, one of the notes read Dear Stupid Guard, This isn’t for you! I can’t believe that you would try and stop me! Let us just hope that you don’t, otherwise that new foal of yours might not be the star that you are hoping he will be. That would be a shame, The Lurker Whoever this pony is, she is deadly accurate with her information, I am afraid that it could possibly be someone who has a friend in the police force, but after running cross checks, none of the current suspects fall into that category. None of them live in Ponyville either, this information just doesn’t add up! Sunday, July 16th, Time: 1900 Guard change, night shift. Nothing went wrong but I know a few of the guards are on edge. Sunday, July 16th, Time: 2003 I received a letter from Mayor Mare, she was informing me that she would like this case solved, closed and the criminal responsible behind bars as soon as possible. I can honestly say that we were trying to do this beforehoof. Sunday, July 16th, Time: 2300 Guard shift, hoot owl, I am going to listen to the recordings tomorrow so that I can try and find a pattern in the description of the criminal. Will report tomorrow; I’m heading home so I can protect my family if the criminal decides to strike again. Monday, July 16th: Time: 0530 Nothing different happened at the house, but that is a different story for the guard station; the GPS files were rummaged through and put back. I wouldn’t have known this if I hadn’t noticed that 2 files were out of order in the cabinet, upon further inspection the files had all been gone through. Only 3 files were missing, 2 of which were from the last year and the other was from a long time ago, almost a decade. Nothing of importance were in these files, just briefings on what had happened during this time; the biggest of which was the Ursa Minor incident, don’t even get me started on that. Monday, July 16th, Time: 0734 The cloth sample came back, nothing helpful about it. It is just a cotton and wool based fabric that is often used in clothes. There is nothing that is extraordinary about this fabric, just a plain old red color and a very, very simple weaving style. It was made in a factory near Manehatten. This doesn’t add up to anything. Monday, July 16th, Time: 0959 After my mid-morning coffee I went back to my desk, frustrated, but I remembered the recordings and switched them on, one by one I heard what the guards had to say about their watch. One by one I realized that this pony was alone; any time that there was a snapping, it was noticeable after the one before it. This was consistent throughout the recordings until the last guards recording, where three went off in rapid succession around him. Monday, July 16th, Time:1030 I got to talk with the guard whose recording was the last one that I heard, and he took me to where it happened. Monday, July 16th, Time: 1034 The guard said that the branches were exactly where he saw them. There was something that was rather obvious to my eyes about this, they were all within 30 feet of the other. Not almost 30 feet, exactly 30 feet; at this point, I know that it is a unicorn that we are dealing with, no earth pony could’ve done this, it was too far, unless they had a rope that they were using. Unless they were using a rope. Monday, July 16th, Time: 1122 After looking at the broken branches, I noticed that there weren’t any branches, but I did find something that downed the list, a note that the guard missed. Better hope that cider season is able to keep your farm afloat during the winter, Applejack, I’d hate for your family to go down the drain! The Lurker. The criminal has to have been able to see or hear about the cider competition that was held during autumn of this last year! While this took off 2 of the suspects, it added one more if you take the letter saying that they have gotten away with crime before, loosely. Sterling Strut is out, so is Ruby Show. The one suspect that is on my list of suspects is the Flim Flam brothers. They broke the fence post every time that they came to Sweet Apple Acres, while this was never really put on record, people know about it. Monday, July 16th, 1541 A note appeared on my desk. It’s the same every time, someone naysays and then the whole guard force goes nuts. Nothing will be able to stop me. The Lurker