Equestrian Bureau of Investigation: Indecisive

by NixWorld

Chapter 2

Manehattan

January 23

9:26 PM

Frost Light and Flare were in a car heading towards the crime scene. It was a wet night with a soft breeze. As for the rain, it died down a bit but was still audible from the inside of the car. Frost was in the driver’s seat and Flare was right next to him leaning against the window, calmly watching the raindrops as they slid down from the wet glass.

Remembering something, Frost put a hoof to his ear then down again. “Listen, I forgot to ask Shift, do you have any idea as to why the photos showed the stallion on the floor instead of on the chair? Shift said that they were both found on different chairs.”

“He told me that the pony who found the body tampered with the crime scene. Apparently, she thought that Shock Cloud was still alive so she unstrapped him from the chair and laid him down on the floor to start CPR. Not long after, she realized that he was long gone,” Wave replied.

“Who is this pony?” Flare asked.

“Crystal Moon, pegasus, age 23 and Shock Cloud’s sister. She lives two blocks to the east of Cloud’s house.”

“We’ll talk to her later,” Frost said with his deep voice as usual. He stopped the car right next to the house. “But first, we need to investigate the crime scene.”

The two agents stepped out of the car, into the rain and then walked closer to the big house. It had a brown rooftop where rain drops fell and leaked onto the yellow walls. And two big windows sealed shut with beautiful red curtains. The garage was on the right of the door and the entry to the garden on its left. The door was wide open.

After observing the house, they walked closer to it. Flare took the first step in only to be stopped by a police officer.

“What do you think you’re doing here?” He asked them.

Flare raised her badge, allowing the officer a sight of the letters EBI. “We’re with the EBI, we got this.”

Before the officer was able to respond, Flare and Frost Light walked past him as well as other ponies further into the room.

While they walked onto the brown wooden floors, they spotted a big flat television screen to their left. A few metres in front of it was a comfy orange couch. There were some shelves on the left next to the TV where shattered glass vases could be seen on the floor. There was also an entry to another room opposite the bookshelves next to a set of stairs.

They turned to the entrance of the room and saw a red coated unicorn mare. The mare noticed the agents.

“You must be EBI. Glass Code is waiting in the kitchen,” said the pony.

“Thank you,” said Flare.

As the mare stepped away, Frost and Flare walked towards the kitchen: the crime scene.

The kitchen was a big square room. There was a stove, dishwashing machine and a counter to their left. To their right they saw a couple of sinks, a counter and a wooden chopping board on it. In front of them stood a chair which held one of the victims still strapped to it. The lifeless unicorn mare just sat there with her horn damaged, eyes still blindfolded and mouth still gagged. Apart from the stallion, everything else in the crime scene was left untouched. Next to her was an empty chair and a few feet in front of Flare and Frost was the unicorn stallion on the floor. Same as the mare. Lifeless.

In the same room was a grey unicorn stallion standing beside the mare’s body. He had a formal orange shirt that matched his orange hair. He was observing the mare’s stab wound on her neck. Not long after, he noticed the two agents and walked up to them while extending a hoof.

“Hello, you must be with the EBI, good to see you, I’m Glass Code,” he said while shaking Flare’s hoof with a smile.

“Good to see you on the team,” said Flare.

“Good to be on the team,” Glass said while turning to shake Frost’s hoof.

Frost shook Glass’s hoof.

“I’m Frost Light, welcome to the team. How long have you been here?”

“About fifteen minutes. I was trying to retrace the unsub’s steps.”

“Any luck?”

“There is no sign of forced entry so it’s either that he teleported in or was invited.”

“Are there any signs of wards*?” asked Flare.

Wards*: In this case they are magic particles that spread once a spell has been casted. These particles, when collected and scanned, it reveal the caster’s physical description.

Most unsub unicorns try to avoid casting spells to prevent the possibility of being caught.

“They haven’t scanned the place yet,” responded Glass.

“So that temporarily leaves us with the fact that the unsub was invited in. But why? They were clearly being threatened so why open the door?” questioned Frost Light.

“Well it could be a family member,” Flare answered.

“Not really. I would avoid any contact with my family members if I was being threatened. You know… to avoid endangering them,” explained Glass.

“Unless,” Flare spoke. “It was a high authority or at least somepony who looked like a high authority. Maybe a disguise.”

Everypony thought for a moment. Not long later, Frost Light walked outside of the kitchen and into the living room. Flare and Glass followed him.

“And where are you going?” asked Flare.

Frost walked for a few seconds and stopped at the front door. “Let’s just say I’m the unsub. What would I do? Surely the pony who let him in didn’t know that he was a murderer. The victim would greet him then bring him to the kitchen to offer something to eat or drink.” Frost entered the kitchen, Glass Code and Flare stayed in the living room. “The unsub would subdue and strap the victim.” Frost walked back out. “Then go for the kill.”

They were all silent for a moment. Glass had a hoof bellow his chin looking down. He then shook his head.

“But there were two victims. Surely the murderer wouldn’t be able to strap two victims at once,” Glass disagreed.

“The unsub could have had a gun and could have forced the husband to tie his own wife up. And after that the unsub would have tied the husband,” Frost said.

Glass kept shaking his head slowly. “No, there’s more to this. Like, why puncture the unicorn’s horn and not the stallion’s?”

“Glass is right, this crime must have had more to it than just being a cold blooded murder,” Flare agreed.

The room suddenly fell quiet. Dead quiet, as the agents were deep in thought. The silence was broken when suddenly a lightning strike was heard then Frost spoke.

“I heard of a myth talking about unicorn horns.”

“Do you remember it?” Glass asked.

“Not really, Wave?”

“Sup?” Wave is heard once again through their earpieces. Except Glass’s.

“Who are you talking to?” Glass questioned, unable to hear her.

“I’ll give you an earpiece later,” answered Frost. “Wave, type in the search engine, ‘unicorn horn myths’.”

After a few seconds passed, Wave spoke.

“There’s only one.”

“Read it to us,” ordered Frost.

“It talks about unicorn horns representing the unicorn’s personality, behaviour, thoughts, family, friends, and etcetera. And that every sparkle in a unicorn’s horn was a memory

that briefly escaped the unicorn’s mind. This was 2000 years ago.”

Everybody stood silent for a while…

“Ok Wave, now search Dark Pupil,” said Frost.

Wave did so. “You want me to read the whole Wikipedia?”

“No, just how he was buried.”

“Okay then. Dark Pupil, AKA the most hated pony in the world back then, was burnt in the Zebrican land 1800 years ago in the plaza of the Stripe city.”

“Read me the condition that his body was in before he was burnt.”

“Once Dark Pupil died the citizens wanted to humiliate him so they carved-“ Wave stopped speaking.

“Wave?” Flare asked.

“They carved 4 holes in Dark Pupil’s horn,” she added. “Isn’t that the condition of Star Swift’s horn?”

“Indeed it is,” said Frost.

“Indeed what is?” asked Glass in confusion.

Frost quickly walked back to the kitchen, the two agents followed him. “Dark Pupil had 4 holes punctured in his horn.” Frost stopped. “The same as Star Swift’s,” he said while pointing at her head.

“Okay, so this reveals that the unsub disliked Star Swift. It wasn’t just a random cold blooded murder.” Flare clarified. “But why did he kill her husband?”

Frost kept looking at the bodies then spoke. “This doesn’t only reveal that the unsub disliked Star Swift for some reason, it also reveals that he is disorganized.”

“How?” Glass questioned.

Frost looked at Glass and Flare. “Star Swift let the unsub inside the kitchen. When given the chance, the unsub subdued and strapped Star Swift to a chair, blindfolded her, gagged then murdered her.” Explained Frost.

“How about Shock Cloud? Where was he during all this?” Asked Flare.

“He must have been nowhere near the kitchen or living room within the first 5 minutes of the unsub’s entry. This action proves that the murderer is disorganized since he had absolutely no idea that Shock Cloud was in the house with her. He didn’t bother to look at their daily routine, he just went in for the kill. So while the crime was happening, Shock Cloud entered the kitchen only to find his wife strapped and an unknown pony in the room with her. He then tried to stop the killer but the unsub stabbed Shock Cloud in the gut. After that he strapped the husband to the table and made it look like Star and Shock were killed in the same manner or to confuse.”

“The problem is.” Frost continued. “I still have no idea how the vases fell. The shelves are pretty sturdy and well placed, it would need a big enough force to make something fall from it.” He said while trying to shake the shelf, testing its heaviness. “If we do not come up with a theory we won’t be able to put the murderer’s steps into consideration which will eventually lead us back where we started.”

Frost and Flare thought for more than a few seconds. It felt like half a minute. One thing that they teach agents in training is that every single detail counts. Glass Code knew that seasoned agents such as Frost Light and Flare would not leave until they figured out how those vases fell.

“The unsub could have fallen on the shelves causing enough force to shake the vases off,” said Flare.

“How? The living room floor looks pretty dry and there is no liquid to cause a slip,” argued Frost pointing at the floor briefly.

While Frost and Flare kept talking about possibilities, Glass just stood there thinking harder and harder. Suddenly, it hit him.

“The unsub was nauseous after the murder of Shock Cloud.”

The two agents stopped speaking and just turned to look at him. It was pretty clear that they wanted Glass to continue his explanation. So he did.

“According to the unsub, Shock Cloud was innocent. Some murderers find anypony except their victims innocent. If this unsub is in fact one of those murderers, he would have felt awful for killing Shock Cloud since he wasn’t the primary victim. My theory is that Shock Cloud lunged towards him and the unsub stabbed him accidentally. He then was nauseous and stumbled onto the shelves.”

The two agents just stood there, silent for a few seconds.

Frost walked towards Glass and offered a hoof shake. “Good job, looking forward to working with you.” He shook his hoof again but this time it felt a bit more energetic. “But.” he stopped shaking his hoof. “I think that the unsub was in fact nauseous because he was close to Shock Cloud.”

“Family member?” Flare asked.

“Maybe but it could always be somepony from work or a close friend.” Frost put a hoof up to his ear. “Wave, I want information on every single family member of Shock Cloud who lives in Manehattan. While you’re at it tell me where they work.”

“Got it. I’ll narrow down the possible suspects then contact you ASAP.”

“Thanks Wave.” Frost turned to Glass and Flare. “Wave will have the possible suspects in a few minutes. In the meanwhile we should split up. Glass Code, search the house, contact me once you find something.”

“I’ll ask Crystal Moon, Shock’s sister, some questions” said Flare. “Where are you going?”

“I’ll go to the police department to profile the unsub.”

“Didn’t you say that we’ll have the possible suspects anytime soon?” Glass asked.

“There is still a big possibility that the unsub doesn’t have any connection family wise with the victims. In the meanwhile we should have all our eyes open,” Frost explained.

Glass and Flare nodded. Frost turned then walked outside with Flare. It was no longer raining.

---

Manehattan

January 23

9:44 PM

Shift stood outside an antique shop. The sky was still grey, the roads wet but the drizzle had completely stopped.

“This is the last antique shop in the vicinity. There are other squads checking the rest of Manehattan,” said Wave.

“Okay, thanks,” responded Shift.

Shift checked out the shop before entering. The bell on the door frame rang as he opened the door. The shop was small and smelt of wood which was coming from the wooden walls and shelves that surrounded the place. There were glass cases to his left containing different statues and artefacts that shone thanks to the powerful lights that were located on top of the glass panels. To his left he saw a counter with a blue unicorn standing behind it. Glass walked towards the counter where he saw different armour types on the wall next to a wooden door behind the cashier.

“What can I get ya?” Asked the blue unicorn.

“I’m with the EBI, I wanted to know if you sold any gyropicks recently,” said Shift in a serious tone.

“Oh, well let me check. I’ll be right back.” The pony walked through the door behind him.

While he was gone, Shift scanned the room. He looked at the different types of guns which were displayed on the wall, the artefacts inside the glass cases and the statues as well. He noticed how perfectly detailed the statues were and was impressed. But apart from the magnificently carved figures, he noticed something else. In one of the glass cases he saw a sign that said:

Gyropick

Price: 800 bits

Below that sign was an empty space. Realization hit Shift. And hard. Without wasting any time he vaulted over the counter then slammed open the door. He found himself in a tight alley. Buildings surrounded him. His eyes darted left and right trying to figure out where that unicorn escaped to. He noticed fallen boxes to his left then galloped in that direction dodging trash cans and jumping over shattered glass.

He needed to find and catch the cashier and he needed to do it now.