//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Together, They Fight Crime // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// The Second Season Inn was a swanky hotel for the summer traveler that was open year round. Canterlot, being at a much higher elevation, had cold springs, cold falls, and bitter winters. There was a brief window of warmth during the summer, and many ponies flocked to the city to enjoy the view. The Second Season catered to those seasonal guests, but also to those brave souls that came at other times of the year. Yam didn’t like the building, it was built to some ultra-modern nouveau artsy-fartsy standard that he wasn’t smart enough or educated enough to understand. It was the sort of place that appealed to ponies with more money than brains. The complicated art style and architectural design made the hoity toity types (And Hoity Toity himself) faint at the very sight of it. None of the doors were square. They were all different shapes, weird shapes, with odd angles that made Yam feel dizzy when he looked at them. He blinked a few times, glanced over at Azure, cleared his throat, and then, without saying anything, he made his way for the front doors, trying to project an aire of confidence. If you looked like you belonged, the snooty door ponies wouldn’t say anything. He was almost at the door when a rather nasal and quite shrill voice said, “You there, yes, you… would you please carry my bags inside? Merciful stars, it is so difficult to find good help these days!” Yam froze and cringed. “Do I look like the fronkin’ hired help?” Azure’s voice was grating and she sounded irate. “What, just because I’m a burro, you think that I’m some common servant, here for you to command? Is that it?” “Well, yes, actually—” “Hey lady, go fronk yourself with a rusty weed wacker!” There was a loud gasp and Yam could only imagine what the mare’s face must look like right now. He didn’t dare turn around to look. Now worried, he hurried for the door and hoped that Azure was doing the same. If they were kicked out now, there would be no way to talk their potential client. Inside the lobby, a concierge wearing a garish purple fez approached. He also had a garish purple waistcoat that had strange trapezoidal buttons. Yam was all for getting dressed up, given the right time and place, but the suit the concierge was wearing was every bit as yucktacular as the rest of the hotel. “If you are looking for a job, I must insist that you use the service entrance!” “Good thing for you I’m not looking for a job,” Yam replied as the stuffy looking concierge drew nearer. “And if you say even one word about my burro friend, you’re going to catch one in the kisser.” The concierge bristled and his thin, well groomed mustache quivered. He glared at both Yam and Azure, and the corner of his eye twitched. “Well then, I must know, what business do you have here?” “We are here to speak with a Miss Bayberry.” “Ah, yes, the mare that paid with a coupon.” The concierge said the word ‘coupon’ with obvious disgust and revulsion. “She is on the mezzanine level, which is just up the stairs, there is no elevator access—” “You mean the economy level,” Yam said, being helpful. “The place where you put ponies that you don’t give two horseapples about.” As he spoke, he could hear Azure giggling. The concierge’s lip curled back at Yam’s mention of the distasteful word ‘economy.’ There were just some things one didn’t say, like coupon and economy. Such words could affect the delicate sensibilities of the wealthy and well bred. He didn’t seem bothered by horseapples though. Paying with a coupon worried Yam, but he didn’t say anything. Maybe she had money and was just being thrifty. Or perhaps, she was broke. Being broke was bad. He needed bits. It was also really hard to say no to a hard up sob story. He had to stop helping ponies that couldn’t pay. It was going to get him evicted. “Please, conduct your business and then be gone,” the concierge said in a low voice. “You will find Miss Bayberry in room G.” “Probably next to a service closet,” Azure muttered. “Just… go!” The snooty pony was at the end of his patience and he pointed at the stairs. “The sooner you are gone, the better. The both of you smell as though you live in a dumpster and I can’t imagine how our guests must be suffering. We shall need to fumigate the lobby…” “Eh, get stuffed,” Yam replied as he headed for the stairs. Always one to get the last word, Azure grumbled, “Puta madre” as she strolled past the concierge, and gave him the sort of dirty look that only a pissed off burro could give to a disgusted concierge. Room G wasn’t located next to the service closet as Yam had predicted, but by the laundry. The smell of soap and the steady ‘swish-swoosh’ of washing machines filled the air. A little whiff of soap could be pleasant, but this was eye watering and there was more than a hint of bleach in the air. This place clearly held the poor in contempt and punished them for trying to have a nice time. Yam found he that was starting to hate this place. Even worse, there were ponies who would cheerfully pay a small fortune in bits to stay here, just so they could say that they stayed at the Second Season Inn. He wondered if the Walnut Astoria in Manehattan was any better. He stood just outside the door, collecting himself, his eyes watering from the soapy stench that permeated every breathable molecule of air, wondering and hoping that there was a paid job to be had. He needed bits. And some poor mare was missing her daughter. Lifting up his hoof, he knocked. Miss Bayberry was middle aged, or thereabouts, with squinty eyes, a small mouth with thin lips, and a notched ear. Yam couldn’t help but wonder how she had a notched ear. Something rough must have happened. She stood in the door, blinking at him, looking quite surprised. “Oh… do come in,” she said, inviting both Yam and Azure inside to her tiny, cramped hotel room that looked like a converted broom closet. In the room, there was a small, narrow bed, a cot really, a wooden chair with no cushions, a small table stood near the bedside, and there was no bathroom in the room, which struck Yam as being both awful and strange. Bayberry retreated into the room and sat down on the bed to be out of the way. Azure made a beeline for the chair and sat down, leaving Yam to either stand up our sit down upon the floor. He chose to stand and he gave the distraught looking mare his best reassuring smile. “I was told that you can find anything,” Bayberry said in a raspy, somewhat emotional voice. “Anything at all. I need for you to find my daughter, if you can. She’s gone missing.” “My name is Yam Spade and this is my assistant, Azure Serape,” Yam said. “Tell me everything.” “My daughter, Honey Dew, she works for a company called ‘Northern Hemisphere Ag Tech.' They are a food research lab. They told me that my daughter won an employee vacation and that she disappeared while on vacation… and I know my daughter, she would never go on a vacation.” “Ma’am?” Yam’s eyebrow arched. “My daughter… she has severe social anxiety disorder. She doesn’t do well with crowds, or sudden changes in environment, or strangers… she’s seeing a therapist and I’ve spoke to her therapist. She never mentioned winning a vacation to her therapist. Such a thing would have caused her no end of panic.” Bayberry’s eyes began watering. “She’s autistic, but high functioning. She’s so smart. She graduated with a double doctorate at the age of twenty two, one in biology, the other in food sciences. University was easy for her, but getting the job proved far more difficult.” There was a groan of concern from Azure and Yam’s ears stood at attention. “I’ve been to the police and they don’t seem to want to help. One of them suggested that had I been a better mother, my daughter might want to talk to me. I couldn’t seem to get any help.” “That ain’t right,” Azure said in a low voice. “So… your daughter won a vacation that she likely never went on and vanished. How long has it been?” “About a week or so. I got the telegram from Ag Tech just a few days ago.” “And you showed that to the police?” Yam asked. “Sure did.” Bayberry nodded. “And one of the officers said that sometimes, ponies need a change of scenery. She might have used the vacation as a means to start over.” “Where does she work and where did she supposedly go on vacation?” “She works in Las Pegasus at the Ag Tech headquarters. Her vacation was to Vanhoover. I know she would never go. She would miss a therapy appointment if she did, and that would cause her no end of panic. She doesn’t deal with changes in routine.” “I see.” Yam sat down upon the floor, reached up, and scratched his neck with his hoof. “Ma’am, these are just questions that I tend to ask…” “Yes?” “Does your daughter have enemies?” Yam looked into the distraught mother’s eyes. “I don’t know,” the mare replied, “I have no idea. She’s smart… real smart… she might have rivals, but I don’t know… I’m not even sure if she would know. She focuses on her work… that is all she thinks about. She thinks about stuff I can’t even understand.” Bayberry’s watery eyes spilled over and tears streamed down her cheeks, causing Yam’s barrel to feel tight. He sighed, feeling bad for the mare, and glanced over at his companion. Azure looked upset, but also quiet and withdrawn. She was letting him do his job. He began to suspect that he would have little to nothing to go on. That would be asking an awful lot of his talent. While Yam depended upon his talent, his skills as a detective were second to none, or so he liked to believe, and there had been plenty of times he had solved a case without resorting to his talent. “Ma’am, was your daughter a troublemaker? Don’t be upset, I just need to ask. Did she rock the boat at work? Blow a whistle? Get somepony in trouble?” “I… I wouldn’t know. I have no way of knowing. If she did, her therapist would know. Honey Dew was the quiet sort… causing a disturbance would have been stressful… she would collapse in tears if the stress became too much. The autism, you see… she doesn’t deal well with sudden bursts of emotions.” “So basically, your daughter was some kind of genius with special needs, and Ag Tech catered to her work environment so they could exploit her?” Azure asked. “Exploit? No… I don’t know…” Bayberry blinked and her long eyelashes sent droplets arcing away. “Exploit? I never thought of it that way… I thought they were trying to help… I thought they were trying to do good… they even paid for Honey Dew’s therapist.” “Mmm, I don’t like the sounds of that.” Yam shook his head and his nostrils flared. “I hope the therapist isn’t in their pocket.” “Are you suggesting a conspiracy?” Bayberry wiped her eyes with her foreleg and then shook her head. “I… don’t know how to deal with all of this… I’m sorry, I… I—” “Ma’am, I know you are worried and scared, but Azure and I, we’re here to help.” “If this is some kind of conspiracy, is that why the police wouldn’t help me? Could they be paid off? Is my daughter being exploited? Oh my… what if she wanted to quit or something and they wouldn’t let her? I can’t believe this is happening, I just can’t—” “Ma’am!” Yam’s raised voice silenced the panicking mare. He looked at her while she looked at him. “I’ll do my best to help you, if I can, but we need to discuss my fees before we go any further.” “Yes, of course, of course.” Bayberry nodded her head while her face contorted with worry. Sighing with resignation, Yam asked, “What can you afford to pay?” “Well, I used a coupon to pay for my stay here… I won it in a raffle some time ago.” Bayberry’s eyes narrowed. “I work as a secretary in Applewood for a record producer. My pay is decent, but my rent is high. It leaves me poor… I have one hundred and twenty five bits I’ve brought with me.” Ears drooping, Yam shook his head. “The train ride down to Las Pegasus would eat up quite a bit of that and leave almost nothing for daily expenses.” “Oh… I… I didn’t think of that,” Bayberry admitted. “I… well… I don’t know what else to do, I didn’t realise that hiring a detective would be so expensive… now that I think about it, if you spent a week or two working, that would come out to a terrible hourly wage… I’m sorry.” “I never said I wouldn’t take the case,” Yam said to Bayberry in a soft voice. “Really?” Again, tears began flowing down the distraught mare’s face. “Ma’am, rest assured, I will find your daughter. It’s what I do. Now, I just need some more details, I’ll need some written permission slips from you, and if possible, a key to your daughter’s apartment so I can have a look around. Get yourself together, take a few minutes to get settled down, and we’ll get to work on getting your daughter back.” “Thank you… thank you so very much… I was starting to believe that nopony would help me… I was so scared… this means everything to me…”