Morning Meir Mysteries: Case 1: A Mad Mare Affair

by XombieSlayr

Chapter 2: "Who Done It?"

Chapter 2: "Who Done It?"

Ms. Regal sat in the chair, her head in her hooves, completely distraught. Nothing anyone could say would help her calm down. But I had to tell her what I saw. The whole chateau was a buzz with word of what had happened.

"Ms. Regal, there was another pony in the room. It was the mime, from before! He attacked me, then dove out the window!" Believe me, it sounded crazy to me, too. but it was the truth.

She looked up at me with tear stained eyes. " a mime? You expect me to believe, that a mime, killed my husband?!"

"I'm not saying that, Ms. Regal. I'm informing you that there was someone else in the room, and as they attacked me, they didn't want anyone to know they were there. This means they are a suspect!"

"And how would you know anything about that? You're not a detective, are you?"

"Well...no, But."

It's true. I'll admit. One of my most frequent hobbies is aiding the equestrian police in solving particularly complicated cases, that according to them are "Unsolvable." I've always done it, and I've enjoyed helping solve mysteries, and aiding the police in their investigations. But again, I'm no detective. I'm a doctor. I always have been. and I'm very good at it too!

"But I am a doctor. The least you could let me do, is examine the body with your blessing, so I can help the police in the investigation."

Ms. Regal looked at a loss. Finally she said "Fine. Do what you want. I don't care anymore."

The poor mare was clearly heartbroken. It would do her well, for me to investigate her husband's death. It could at least give her some closure.

'Now wait just a damn minute!" A loud voice suddenly called from Mr. Regal's office. It was Sleuth, who had immediately locked down the whole chateau and kept everyone out of the room. Beside him was his lieutenant, Goldbloom, a pretty and smart looking mare who looked positively filly-sized in comparison to Sleuth's hulking frame.

To my surprise (and fear), He was yelling at me, as he got in my face and glared down at me.

"I'm not about to let some nobody doctor from another country stick her muzzle in the business of my city, or my investigation! I'm the cop here, filly, not you!" he yelled. Sleuth seemed like the kind of pony, who's voice button was stuck at its highest volume. With every word, I swear the ground shook.

But his lieutenant stepped forward and looked me over with a glint in her eye.

Then she smiled at me. "What did you say your name was?" She asked.

"Morning Meir, ma'am."

"No way! The Morning Meir!? The Genius?"

My cheeks turned pink. "Well, I wouldn't-

"Sir! She's Morning Meir, from Equestria! She's a total genius! She can help us with this case!"

I was flattered of course. But it seems Mr.Maregold had other ideas. I got the feeling he didn't want anyone in that room. Which of course only made it more clear that I should investigate.

He looked off to the right and grumbled angrily under his breath. Goldbloom once again stood up for me. "Give her a chance. She is a doctor, Sleuth. So, she has the right to examine the body, at the very least." She said in a friendly tone.

Sleuth didn't look happy. But nevertheless he agreed, and stepped aside, letting me into the room.

Investigation (Palae De Mareiposa, 11:35 am, Mid-morning)

The scene was exactly as I had first seen it. Mr. Regal's body was in the exact same sprawled out position, and the porcelain shards of the broken vase were still around him. As far as I could tell, the crime scene had yet to be examined by anyone.

First, I examined the body.

Time of Death: By the slight discoloration of the victim, and general sag of the eyelids, I placed the time of death roughly 30 minutes ago. He had been alive when I first went to his door, and spoke to him. But what was the cause of death?

I examined the body further. His lifeless eyes stared blankly at nothing. I closed them out of respect for the poor stallion.

I looked down and saw the bloodstain, which had soaked deeply into the white collar shirt he was wearing. The wound was distinct, and narrow. he had been fatally stabbed in the abdomen, from the front as I could see.

Cause Of Death: Fatal Stab wound, Just below the abdomen. Died from Blood loss in approximately....3 minutes? He had been talking to me through the door,for no more then a minute, and I was already in the room in less than a minute after. Which meant, he had been stabbed and spoken to me, while he was bleeding out? I knew there was something off about this.

I saved the image and information in my mind, then continued to investigate.

Patting down the suit, I found he had a small object in his coat pocket. A ticket stamped "Beteaux de la Conciergerie." I had yet to hear of such a place, and taking the ticket, meant I would've tampered with the evidence.

Luckily, I completely memorized the name of the place, and had no need for the ticket at all.

That's actually another quirk of mine. I never forget anything that I memorize. It's one thing to never forget anything period, But Ive always been able to remember everything that Ive ever chosen to remember. I'm rather proud of it, myself. I'll never forget the day I have to return a book, but I can forget all about that terrible day I had last week. I remember all the letters of the zebrican alphabet, But I can forget all about that unfortunate mistake of getting on the wrong train to Manehatten a few days ago. It most certainly comes in handy.

I moved on from the body and examined the rest of the room. The window was still open from where the mime had jumped out of it. Looking out I saw that it was at least a ten story drop. He hadn't been a Pegasus, so he could've have flown. Where had he gone then? I ducked back into the room and moved onto the vase.

It was a knock off of a traditional Ming dynasty vase. From the placement of where the shards fell, I saw it had been been dropped from about 6 feet off the ground. They had raised it up over there head, and smashed it. A distraction. For what? If the stabbing was the cause of death, why did they need a distraction? What else could they have been trying to distract from?

I looked around the room a little more, but found nothing else of interest. There were clues to this murder, I could feel it. But they were not in this room. I decided to try and look around the chateau, and hopefully try to get some answers from Ms. Regal. I hated to trouble a grieving widow, But she had to know something. She could help. Though she probably wouldn't bee too open about it.

Questioning (Ms. Pompous Regal, Wife of the Victim, 11:45 am)

Ms. Regal looked shocked. But still every bit as hostile.

"Excuse me, Ms. Regal?"

She looked up at me, her eyes sad and lost. But still had a fierce icy glare in them.

"Oh its you. What do you want?" She sounded like she didn't know what to think anymore. I didn't blame her.

"I am so sorry for your loss, Ms. Regal." I said concerned. And I meant it. She wasn't the nicest mare in the world, but still, seeing her like this, made me feel sorry for her.

She looked away. "I'm not some damsel in distress. I don't need your pity."

"Its not pity. It's called having a heart for somepony else." I said sternly. "Perhaps you should try it sometime." I added briskly. This mare was as cold as they came, and I wasn't going to get anywhere by being nice. I hated to do it, but I had to make her realize that she wasnt helping anyone by being the way she was.

She glared at me, as I expected. "How dare you! I just lost my husband!"

"And yet here you are, acting as cold and mean as ever. I'm trying to help you, and still you act like you want nothing to do with anyone. Is that how you expect to find the one who did this?" I questioned her, trying to sound even more aggressive.

She looked down at the floor for a minute. "Oh no, did I go too far?" I wondered.

Then I heard her sigh. "What do you want to know?"

Question One: "What was your husband's involvement in the summit?"

She dabbed her eyes with a small embroidered cloth. "I have no idea. His business was always just that: his business."

"He never told you anything?"

"No. And to be honest, I preferred it that way."

Interesting. For husband and wife, they didn't tell each other much. Of course she could always be lying, but I had already taken the time to study her face and looked for any involuntary body movements that would indicate she was lying. a twitching lip, rapid blinking, a slight tapping of her hoof. Nothing. As far she she knew she was telling the truth.

I decided to log the info into my memory, and asked her my second question.

Question Two: "Did you know anything about the mime?"

She looked at me for a moment, as if she thought I was joking. But she sighed again, and looked solemnly at the floor. "Alphonse had many enemies. Half the stallions in Mareiposa for example." She chuckled to herself. "But a mime? Ive never liked them, but neither me nor Alphonse had ever been so much as glared at by a mime. I can't imagine why one would want to kill my husband." She said plainly.

And I agreed with her.

"Do you want me to call anyone Ms. Regal? Friends? Family?"

She looked away from me again,as if I'd somehow offended her. "No. I have no friends nor family. Alphonse was...all I had." Tears welled up in her eyes, and she began to cry. "Not much to go on, was it?" she sobbed.

My heart went out to her. I sat beside her and comforted the grieving widow. "Ms. Regal. I know it isn't much, but you can get through this. You'll meet someone else, I know it. And your husband will rest easy, knowing you're happy again."

She continued to cry but spoke with breaking words. "Why would anyone else want me? You said it yourself, I'm mean and cold. What stallion would want a mare like that?"

"You don't have to be that pony. You can change, and meet someone new. It may take some time, but grieve now. Then someday you'll find someone else. You have to try. Have faith in yourself." I said warmly. and I smiled at her, putting my hoof on her shoulder. Deep down,I think Ms. Regal, just wanted someone she could talk to. And I was ready to listen.

She wiped her eyes and looked up at me. "W-why are you being so nice to me? After how i treated you before?"

I smiled at her again. "Because I think if things had happened differently, we might've actually been friends."

"Friends?"

"Yeah. Y'know maybe?"

She looked down at the floor for a little while, her tear stained handkerchief clutched in her hooves. Then she looked up at me. "Then I want you to do it."

"I'm sorry?"

"Find them. Whoever took my beloved Alphonse away from me. Find them and bring them to justice. I want you to do it, not the police or anypony else."

"B-but, I'm just a doctor! I can't-"

"No, Ms. Meir. You are not just a doctor. I could tell by that spark in your eye and the brightness in your heart. You're special. Unique. A natural born and true genius. You can solve this. I know it."

"But-

"Please. For me. and for Alphonse."

She was right. The police would take weeks to find the killer, and in that time, Ms. Regal and Celestia knows who else would be in danger. I had to take the case. I had to bring this killer to justice. For the both of them.

"......Okay. I'll do it. I'll take the case."

"Thank you Ms. Meir. I trust so few ponies anymore. But I know you will solve this. I know it."

And then she smiled at me. As I smiled back she handed something to me. A key.

"This is the key to the Drawing Room- next to the library at the end of the hall." She said lowering her voice. "it was Alphonse's room. You should be able to find more clues there. Anything, that'll help find his killer. I never went in there. I was...afraid at what I'd might find."

My eyes widened. "Afraid? Afraid of what, Ms. Regal?"

"I don't know. Perhaps that's what I was afraid of: Not knowing what was in there."

She shook the thought from her head then looked at me again. "If you find anything in there that can help you, please use it however you can."

I thanked her for her time, then went to go investigate this mysterious Drawing Room. I trotted down the hall making my way to the door next to the library. I checked to make sure no one was watching, then I unlocked the door and slipped inside, closing the door shut behind me.

Investigation (Drawing Room, Palae De Mareiposa, 12:04 pm)

The room was dark but even in the absence of light I saw that it was very beautiful and must've cost a fortune. The furniture was covered up but the paintings and drawings of maps that hung on the walls were still clearly visible. The faintest pinprick of light shined in through the heavy curtains over the window.

My eyes wandered to the large painting on the wall, and I quickly found myself investigating it, looking for anything that looked off or out of place.

The painting showed the Regals together, in love. As the poet once said: "The past is a different country." I scanned the frame and found a small switch embedded in the frame.

I pressed it and heard the faintest of clicks, as the painting opened like a door, and revealed a sturdy looking safe behind it. a model Mariner A276 Crack bolt Finance safe. For storing items of extraordinary value as well as large amounts of currency. They are said to be nearly impossible to crack.

Luckily I didn't need to, as shortly after the painting had opened, the safe had opened as well.

Inside, I found a strange stone cylinder. There were strange symbols on its surface. It looked like a large printer block used by artists or printing press machines. It was also very old, as the wear of the surface and visible cracks along the bottom, suggested that it had been through quite an ordeal over the past 100 years.

If there was one thing I knew about symbols...they are always important. But these symbols- scratched into stone- were impossible to read.

I needed to find a way of printing them. Perhaps there was something in here I could use? I was in a Drawing Room after all.

I spotted some unfinished maps and beside them a large stack of graph paper. Beside that was a large jar of ink.

"Perfect!" I said to myself.

Working rather quickly I layered some paint onto the cylinder and rolled it across a large sheet of graph paper.

It had worked, as a large design was left on the page. A secret coded message of some kind. I could make out only a single phrase across the top in extremely complicated looking calligraphy: "Sub-Judice."

Latin. It meant "Under Judgement."Interesting...

Below the phrase was a sequence of letters that were obviously some sort of code. An early Caesar Cipher, If my brief knowledge of cryptography was to be correct: "SDSSDSS."

I then remembered that the ticket in Mr.Regal's pocket had been stamped with exact same phrase, just below the name of the place: "Sub-Judice." Perhaps this place held some sort of connection to this mysterious message, and with it, Mr.Regal's death.

I decided I would follow this lead, and hope it would lead me to some answers. I logged it all away in my memory, than used some water from the sink to wash away the message. I had to make sure that no one else found this. After all, it was hidden for a reason. (Plus I felt self conscious about using this stuff without permission, even if the owner of these things was dead, it still bothered me somewhat.)

I locked the cylinder back in the safe, closed the painting, then left room, locking it as I returned to the hall.

Investigation complete. (12:53 pm) Result: One of the most important stallions in the world, had been murdered in his own home. At the request of his wife, Ms. Regal, I have taken up the case, and began investigating the scene. I found a clue which would lead me to a place that Mr. Regal had recently attended: The Beteaux de la Conciergerie. It had some sort of connection to all of this, and I decided to locate the place and continue my investigation.

Still so many pieces of this puzzle left. But I was determined to find them all. Why had all this occurred? And why today on the day of the Mareiposa Intelligence Summit? This was no mere coincidence. This had been all planned out, from the start.

But by who? And more importantly: Why?