My Little Investigations: Marehunter

by Metool Bard


Up to Speed (O)

December 14, 12:30 PM
Lincolt Center
Performance Studio B
***

"I can't believe this. I just can't believe this. Can you believe this?"

Well, this is just sad. When we got back to the Performance Studio, I was expecting Shamus to be doing actual police work. But instead, he seems to be content with pacing around and muttering angrily to himself. Is it wrong to say that I find the idea of a professional detective doing this more than a bit disconcerting? I'm going to say no, because looking around, everypony else is having more or less the same reaction to this nonsense. Even Lockdown and Mike Check were baffled by his behavior.

"He's been like that for a while now," said Mike, shaking his head. "I only managed to snap him out of it so that I could give him my statement."

Meaning he's not going to be any more pleasant to us even though he knows the truth. Lovely.

"Um, Detective Puzzlement says that you were informed of our mission," said Fluttershy meekly.

Shamus turned to us and snorted. "Yeah, we were informed. It's legit, too. But this is still ridiculous, no matter how you slice it. That Princess of Friendship must've lost her marbles if she's sending four random broads to investigate a bunch of urban legends and factoids."

Vinyl deadpanned. "Really? That's the reaction you're going with? How about: 'Hey, girls. I know I had no real reason to think you were telling the truth until now, but you know what? Turns out you were right; sorry for making myself look like a huge prick.' You got anything like that for us? Huh?"

Shamus's eyes narrowed. "Don't test me, toots. Princess or no princess, I will arrest you if you give me a reason."

"And I'm sure Twilight would love to come all the way to Manehattan and deal with that herself," said Rarity sardonically.

Shamus opened his mouth to retort, but when he found that he had none, he simply let out an agitated sigh.

"Shamus, just drop it," said Puzzlement, adjusting her monocle. "We still have a job to do."

"Indeed," I concurred, clearing my throat. "You mentioned before that there was a death threat on Mr. Lockdown's person, correct?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Shamus grumbled.

"May we see it?"

Shamus reluctantly dug into his trench coat pocket and pulled out the note in question. Deftly, I took it from his hooves and unfolded it. It was a simple letter with no real signature or any indication of who sent it.

"'The Songbird will perish before she can sing,'" I read aloud.

"Yep, sounds like a death threat, alright," said Vinyl. "Though honestly, I never heard Sapphie referred to as a songbird before."

"It might be tied into Sweetie Belle's testimony about the assailant wanting to steal her voice," Puzzlement mused, a slight twinkle in her eye. "So, we're dealing with someone who dabbles in riddles, or at least indirect speech."

"This should be right up your alley then, Puz," Shamus snickered.

"Oh, ha ha," Puzzlement said dryly. "Must you always criticize my methods, Shamus?"

"N-now, now. Let's not drag any personal baggage into this," said Fluttershy, trying to pacify the situation.

"Ms. Fluttershy's right; we should remain focused," I said. "Now then, Mr. Lockdown?"

Lockdown perked up. "Yes?"

"Sapphire was in possession of this letter before you, correct?"

Lockdown took a moment to clear his throat. "Actually, I managed to intercept the communique before it reached Ms. Sapphire. After disclosing it to her, she said it might do some good for me to provide some extra protection at the concert today."

So Lockdown was here simply for Sapphire's peace of mind. This isn't really new information. We already know that Sapphire knows something, and that something is the reason she was attacked. We just need to find out what that something is.

"When did you intercept this death threat, exactly?" I inquired.

"This morning, at her hotel," said Lockdown.

"And, what exactly was Sapphie doing before that?" said Vinyl.

Lockdown arched an eyebrow. "I'm afraid I don't get your meaning."

"Let me rephrase it, then," said Vinyl, folding her forelegs. "Do the words 'Tengu Dynasty' mean anything to you?"

"I already tried asking him that, Scratch," said Mike. "He has no idea what it even means."

"I'm afraid Mr. Check is correct," said Lockdown solemnly. "Ms. Sapphire has never even mentioned those words to me."

Well, there's that idea up the flume. I suppose looking back on it, it would be rather ridiculous to think that Sapphire Shores knows anything about such things. She actually has a genuine disinterest in international politics, at least from the times I've talked to her. Even so, she had to have known something that would prompt someone to attack her. But what could that be?

"Actually, let's get back to Ms. Scratch's first question," said Rarity.

Lockdown tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"Well, has Ms. Sapphire been acting nervous as of late? Before getting the death threat, I mean."

Lockdown tapped his chin in thought. "Now that you mention it, she had been a bit on-edge ever since we arrived in Manehattan," he said thoughtfully. "You wouldn't know just by talking to her, but as her bodyguard, I could tell that something was amiss."

"Now we're getting somewhere," said Puzzlement, flipping open her notepad. "When did you and Ms. Shores arrive in Manehattan?"

"I'd say about four days ago, give or take," said Lockdown with a shrug.

Rarity pursed her lips and furrowed her brow. "That seems awfully early to arrive for a performance."

"It was her idea," said Lockdown. "She said she wanted some time to take in the sights. Ms. Sapphire has always loved it here in Manehattan."

Vinyl chuckled. "Yep, that definitely sounds like something Sapphie would do."

I agree. Sapphire Shores is not one to let her celebrity status get in the way of the finer things in life. That's why most ponies in the entertainment business look to her as a role model, as well they should. However, that's neither here nor there.

"So, if Sapphire arrived a few days early to pamper herself, why did she seem on-edge?" I inquired.

Lockdown's face darkened. "I'm sorry, but I can't divulge that information. It's strictly between me and Ms. Sapphire."

"I understand that you're dedicated to your job, Mr. Lockdown," said Puzzlement, adjusting her monocle. "Nevertheless, these matters take precedence."

Lockdown shook his head. "I gave Ms. Sapphire my word not to tell anyone about this. If you want to know more, you need to ask her."

"Well, she's not exactly here right now," said Vinyl firmly. "So it's all on you, big guy. You're our best chance of catching the sicko that attacked her."

A low growl emanated from Lockdown's throat, followed by a mutter of something indecipherable.

"What was that?" asked Fluttershy.

Lockdown muttered again.

"Please speak up, good sir," said Rarity.

"Centrot Park," Lockdown spat out.

Puzzlement raised an eyebrow. "What about it?"

"Ms. Sapphire's first stop was Centrot Park," said Lockdown in a strained tone. "After that, she was on-edge. That's all you're getting out of me."

Shamus knitted his brow. "You sure? 'Cause we haven't been called to Centrot Park for a month now."

"Perhaps more," added Puzzlement.

Lockdown snorted. "Look, I told you; that's all I'm saying. If you want all the details, you need to ask Ms. Sapphire."

Mike rubbed the side of his head. "Sorry, Lockdown, but something about this doesn't make sense."

"What's that?"

"Are you saying that Ms. Shores saw something bad going down in Centrot Park? 'Cause if that's what you're saying, why didn't she tell the cops?"

Lockdown growled again, this time without saying anything else. While it appears that we're not going to get much else out of him, Mike does bring up an interesting point. If Sapphire Shores did see something in Centrot Park like a crime being committed, there's only one reason I could think of for her not going to the police. That reason is the same one I had for keeping (or trying to keep) my investigation a secret at the Manehattan Music Festival. If the culprit found out she was poking her nose where it didn't belong, she'd be in grave danger. So whatever she saw, it must've been quite horrible. Brr~. I shudder just thinking about it.

"Uh, are you sure you can't tell us more?" asked Fluttershy, twiddling her hooves. "I mean, it's okay if you can't, but we would be very grateful if you did."

Shamus rolled his eyes and threw up his hooves. "You gotta be kidding me. You gotta be bucking kidding me! The Princess of Friendship sends these four to do detective work, and one of them doesn't even know how to conduct a proper interrogation!"

"First of all, there's no need to swear," said Puzzlement, wincing at Shamus's epithet. "Second, at least she's not arresting him prematurely."

It's strange, but I actually agree with both of them on this one. Fluttershy's methods are hardly ideal, but at least they're not reckless and completely devoid of logic.

"Listen, I wish I could tell you guys more; really, I do," Lockdown sighed. "But I gave Ms. Sapphire my word that none of this would get out. I can't just go back on that."

"Well then, that leaves us at a bit of an impasse," said Puzzlement, furrowing her brow. "The only way around it is to talk to Ms. Shores herself, but we don't know if—"

She was interrupted by a loud blast of static coming from Shamus's trench coat. Shamus let out an exasperated groan.

"Great, what now?" he muttered, taking out a walkie-talkie. "This is Shamus. Over."

He then placed the walkie-talkie close to his ear so that none of us could eavesdrop. After a pause, his eyes bugged out.

"Th-that's impossible! Sh-she's supposed to be... But... But... Ugh, fine. I'm sending somepony down to take care of it now. Over and bucking out."

Puzzlement winced again. "Wh-what was that all about, Shamus?"

"You're not gonna believe who's waiting downstairs in the lobby right now," said Shamus.

Something tells me that I will believe it, actually. I've seen this play out before.

"Alright, we'll bite," said Vinyl. "Who is it?"

"Sapphire Shores. She's outta the hospital faster than we expected."

Fluttershy and Rarity gasped. I, however, was not astonished in the slightest. The same thing happened at the Manehattan Music Festival. As I mentioned before, Pan taught Sapphire a spell from his Music Code that was meant to heal her, and I highly doubt she forgot it; even after all this time.

"Did they say why she was here?" asked Puzzlement.

"I don't know; I cut 'em off before they could say anything else," Shamus sighed. "This is definitely not going in my memoirs."

Puzzlement smacked her forehead. "Shamus, we talked about this. You can't always be in such a hurry. At least let them say 'over' before you transmit your response."

"Again, that wouldn't be a problem if you didn't always insist on taking your damn time," Shamus snarled.

Puzzlement flinched. When she recovered, her face darkened. "I'm warning you, Shamus. If you swear one more time, I'm washing your mouth out with soap when we get back to the station."

"Am I the only one here who kinda wants to see that?" said Vinyl, raising her hoof.

"Yes. Yes, you are," I said flatly.

Vinyl shrugged. "Just checking."

Ugh, Celestia help me. "Look, the important thing is Sapphire is here, right? So we should go downstairs and get her story."

"Agreed," said Puzzlement, adjusting her monocle. "Will you be joining us, Shamus?"

"G-give me a minute," said Shamus, sounding completely exhausted. "Man, this is one crazy case, eh Puz?"

"Quite the understatement, if I do say so myself," said Puzzlement. "Well, let's not dally any longer. If any of you wish to come with me, now's the time."

"I'll be fine up here," said Mike. "I figure I'd keep an eye on my assistant and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid again."

"I'll join you," said Lockdown, clearing his throat. "If someone is still targeting Ms. Sapphire, I need to be there to stop them."

"Fair enough," said Puzzlement with a nod. "And I take it you four will be coming as well?"

"But of course," I said.

"Right then," said Puzzlement. "We're off."

With that, we all rushed out the door. Finally, some concrete answers. At least I hope. Although I will admit that I'm a bit apprehensive about this upcoming conversation. Not only because of what Lockdown said (though goodness knows that's bad enough), but honestly, I have no clue what's going to happen once Sapphire sheds some light on the entire situation. And while part of me doesn't want to find out, I will persevere. Not just for her sake, but for Mare-Do-Well's sake as well.