7Evidence containers were stacked hazardously as groups were not defined. Most of the cubes were easily and quickly processed, as they contained only circumstantial evidence that would be relevant to the state of the home and what had happened; these were usually pieces of wood, or charred fabric, or even some items from the fridge.
Catalogue QuickStamp was not very happy about this. For starters, he had to process a massive quantity of samples. Processing was normally one of his favorite things to do, but today his partner had been whisked away to the interrogation chamber.. something about guards.
"Dang guards." He magick’d two metal containers onto a stack to his left. "They bring me ALL this crap without a helping hoof. Do this, mark that: those bucking delivery stallions are too stupid for me to handle." He practically slid eleven boxes off of the main desk, into the debris evidence pile. "Seven hours. Bucking overtime pay isn’t even worth this."
He stopped, picking up the last containers from the current unprocessed batch. "One more delivery chariot, and I’m so dang out of here."
Fortunately, QuickStamp’s current work nearly all went into the debris pile, and he was able to uncover the last delivery. "The actual buck..." He stared at the improperly packed things. Cardboard boxes and plastic wrapped wood littered the top layer of items. There was no telling what could be underneath with how uneven the piles were stacked.
"Hopefully this’ll be interesting enough to actually be run over to the criminal investigators. Most of the other crap is just details never going to be bothered with."
He started to dig. "Ooh, that look like it hurt." The wooden shard of bedpost had a rather large amount of blood caked onto it. "That’s going to the DNA lab."
"And what’s this?" The box he had lifted out contained objects from all over Equestria. One of them caught his eye, "Oh my, squee! A collector’s edition of Tupper Ware’s cookery set!" He froze and looked around, making sure no one knew of his secret, dark hobby. "No one must know..."
The time passed rapidly, as he was quite interested in the items he rifled though. Even though he felt guilty at the end of the day from processing some pony’s personal belongings, it was always cool to see everything. Usually, the pieces would go to the DNA lab or the direct evidence pile; a lot of the assorted objects had staggering implications unless they were accidental pieces.
It wasn’t until the last few boxes that QuickStamp felt a chill. It was almost as if some pony, or something.. was watching him. Staring at the inside, he lifted an album out. The longer he held it, the more nervous he became. Accidentally dropping it on the table, the echo bounced across the room, mimicking sounds of ghouls.
He swallowed and reached with a hoof. The first page opened.
Burning words into his mind, he slammed the book closed and escaped the room.
***
Vein’s heart broke. Out of everything, it was the last thing she wanted to hear. "A-and, you’re jumping to murder.. as the best answer? All of you?"
They didn’t have to say anything, so they didn’t. Every pony brooded on their own thoughts, leaving any attempt at consoling behind.
Bone Saw was the first to respond again, contributing, "That’s four ponies Vein. We all kind of came to the same conclusion. Don’t you think that’s valid enough?"
"Yeah.. but if it’s true, then what are we going to do?"
"Well—"
"Now wait a minute, Saw. We’re the guards here, and you’re a doctor. We know what’s going to happen."
"Evershade’s right. We’re going to be doing this by the book. We’re going to take her into custody – well she kind of is already – and then we are going to investigate this. If there’s any evidence whatsoever, then she goes on trial as an adult under the charges of murder."
She gasped. "But! What? She has a whole life ahead of her, thanks to Doctor Laceration! What’s going to happen?"
"I dunno. The Princess is famed for forgiveness, but.. she has a dark side. I probably shouldn’t share this, since most of it is speculation, but I think she truly hates disharmony to the point of extreme action. I have no idea what could happen, but if she really did kill a pony, then there’s going to be some equally harsh retribution—"
Deep hacking and coughing ruined Deepsky’s train of thought. "Oh goodness. It’s Caedes." Vein rushed over to check on the ill patient. "There’s blood in this flem, but I’m honestly surprised there isn’t more. Laceration must have done a fantastic patch job on her."
The other ponies were confused and momentarily had their dark thoughts placated, just watching Nurse Vein take care of a filly, little more than a foal. Tenderly rubbing her, Vein backed off after cleaning up the bile and refreshing the rags with more cold water.
"It really reminds me about how we’re talking about all of this... and she’s over here having been nearly killed herself..."
"...What’re you all looking at me for?" Bone Saw backed up some in case of a quick escape. "I was bringing my concerns up as much as any one of you. Heck, even the guards were adding to the commotion."
"Yes, but you tried to keep it going. As a nurse, I’d say you are quite sick today, but I’m off duty. So, here’s what we are going to do." Red Cross was already on her bed, so she took the time to get comfortable under the sheet again. "I’m going to stay here for a while with every pony else. The two guards have been relieved of duty since they were admitted, so don’t even bother with their notions. You’re going to go back to work with Vein, and you’ll both be gone sometime in two hours at nine.
"I should also mention that you’re a complete arse for making Vein cry a few times, so there’s that. FINALLY, none of us are doing anything, because the situation is out of our hooves, legally, so let’s just relax and have a good ol’ time."