Clue: Who Killed Home Body?

by DagaYemar

6. Rabbit Hunting Season

Scarlet Letter checked her appearance in the mirror one last time. Hair perfectly coifed, just a hint of make-up to accentuate, and her newest acquisition snug across her neck. She took a few moments more to appreciate the brand new necklace, taking in the way the citrine and imperial topaz encrusting it glittered in the light, framing the enormous fire opal in the center. While she usually preferred rubies when it came to gemstones, the brilliant orange of this piece called out to her when she caught glimpse of it in the market and she couldn’t help herself.

Nodding, she left her room and swept downstairs, ready to be greeted by the envied exclamations of her friends. But despite her prepared entrance the hall was empty of ponies. Disappointed, Scarlet strained her ears and heard voices coming from the conservatory. She swept into the room and leaned nonchalantly against the door with her eyes closed, tilting her neck so that her necklace would be sure to catch the light.

“Oh my goodness!” she heard Peacock Poppycock gasp, “Would you just look at that!”

“This old thing?” Scarlet sighed happily, “It’s been in my family for generations…”

“It’s so adorable!” Green Mail gushed.

"Well, I prefer dazzling..." Scarlet said, only slightly puzzled by their choice of complements.

“Just look at his cuddly little legs!” White Wash cried happily.

Scarlet stamped her hooves in irritation and opened her eyes. Nopony was paying any attention to her. She quickly trotted over to where they were huddled on the other side of the room to see just what was more interesting than her entrance.

Her ire temporarily quieted when she saw the fluffiest bunny she’d ever seen lying on his back and enjoying the rapt attention of the six ponies around him. The bunny had its forelegs crossed behind its head and a contented smile on its face as its belly was ruffled by everypony in turn.

Scarlet suddenly remembered she was being ignored and cleared her throat icily. “So who’s our little guest?”

Plum Pudding smiled at her distractedly for a moment before turning his attention back to the bunny. “We’re not sure. He just hopped in through the window a few minutes ago, proud as can be.”

The bunny’s stomach gave a loud grumble and it placed its little paws over it, eliciting more ‘Awws’ from the ring of ponies.

“Hungry, little guy?” Home Body asked, giving the critter a pat on the head, “Mrs. White, do we have any carrots?”

“I could look in the kitchen,” White Wash offered, backing out of the room with one last look.

Scarlet wavered with herself, but her ego won out and she turned away with a huff. “Well, I don’t like the look of him. Who knows where the animal has been!”

Accustomed to the pampering, the bunny glared at her and froze when it saw her necklace.

Colonel H. Mustard also caught a glimpse of her jewelry and let out a low whistle. “What a fine gemstone! I saw several of a like size in the Princess's trophy room. That one must be worth at least twenty carats!”

At the mention of carrots, the bunny’s ears gave a twitch. An orange gleam was reflecting in his little eyes.

“Thirty-four point eight carats, to be exact,” Plum said, straightening his glasses as he squinted at the gem.

Green knocked the bunny aside as he leaned in to get a closer look himself. “You could buy a whole cartful of carrots with that many carats! Or two, if you go wholesale. I know a pony…”

The doorbell rang and Home Body turned to the door. “I wonder who that could be,” he said as he left the room.

“Oh, I could never part with it!” Scarlet laughed, posing so everypony could get a better look at it. Whatever she was about to say next was lost in a mouthful of fuzz as a white blur leapt onto her face and ran over her head. The bunny turned a flip over her back and landed on the other side of the conservatory by the door. And in its tiny paws was…

“MY NECKLACE!!!!” Scarlet shrieked, instinctively putting a hoof to her empty throat. The bunny gave her a cocky wave as it strapped the necklace on like a bandolier and bolted into the hall.

“After it!” Mustard shouted, the thrill of a chase getting his blood up. He led the way, Scarlet and Peacock hard on his tail.

Green Mail laid a hoof on Plum’s shoulder before he could follow. “Let’s head him off with the secret passage to the lounge!” he said, and the two of them ran for the false wall in the tool closet.

“It looks like we had six carrots knocking about the pantry,” White Wash said cheerfully, backing out of the kitchen while cradling the vegetables in her right wing. She paused as something white ran between her legs and then three ponies bowled into her, dropping all four of them into a pile near the oven. The bunny hopped onto the counter and snickered at them.

Scarlet let out a quite unladylike howl of frustration and leapt to her hooves. She grabbed half of the carrots that White had miraculously managed to hold onto with her magic and sent two of them shooting at the bunny. It dodged them by the skin of its teeth and retreated through the serving divider into the dining room. Scarlet growled and jumped through the divider after him.

“What’s going on?” White demanded, struggling to untangle herself from the pile.

“The bunny stole Scarlet’s necklace!” Peacock explained, as she and Mustard each snatched one of the remaining carrots. The three of them stood and ran for the hall.

The bunny had dashed out of the dining room’s far door and had just set foot in the lounge when something came whistling down at his head. The bunny jerked backwards as the weapon struck the ground with a loud thud.

“Just missed him!” Plum shouted, raising his weapon for a second try.

The rabbit gave him a look of stunned terror before shooting back out of the room into the hall. He froze as Scarlet, now armed herself, jumped out of the dining room and swung her own weapon. He leapt over the attack and the weapon hit Plum in the face as he came racing out of the lounge, knocking him senseless to the ground.

“Stand still, rabbit!” Scarlet growled as the bunny rebounded off the wall and over her head again. She ignored the downed professor as she chased after it, while the rest of the guests poured into the hall.

“No running around, you might hurt yourselves!” Body said over his shoulder distractedly as he opened the door to see who had come calling. A yellow pegasus stood timidly on his doorstep and flinched as the door opened. “Oh, hello! Aren’t you that nice mare who has the cottage on the other side of the town?”

“Um… yes…” Fluttershy said softly, glancing hesitantly over his shoulder rather than look Home in the eyes, “I was just wondering… if you’ve seen a cute little bunny around here anywhere. He’s run off somewhere…”

“There the little thief goes!” Green Mail shouted, pointing at the critter as it scampered between legs. Unfortunately, the hoof he was pointing with was currently holding the revolver. Convinced that these crazy ponies were trying to kill him, the bunny gave a tiny scream and dashed into the library.

Also unfortunately, Fluttershy had a good view of that whole scene too. “HOW COULD YOU THREATEN ANGEL?!” she shouted, knocking Body over as she shot into the room and cornered poor Green with her best Stare. “It’s not nice to threaten anypony or anybunny! And what are you even doing with such a dangerous thing!"

Meanwhile, Peacock inched her way slowly into the library towards the cowering bunny, using the knife to cut her carrot into smaller pieces. “Come on little guy, doesn’t this look delicious? Just give mommy the jewels and you can have a nice snack…”

But by this point Angel was certain these insane ponies were trying to kill him, and the wicked gleam of the knife only served to confirm his fears. He kicked a book into her face and ran through the side door into the billiard room, back out into the hall, dodged between White Wash’s legs, avoided the carrot javelin thrown by Scarlet Letter, and escaped into the ballroom.

“Aha!” Mustard shouted from his perch over the doorway, where he’d flown up to lay ambush.

He dropped down but the bunny proved faster than he’d anticipated, shooting across the smooth floor like a furry rocket. Mustard flapped his wings before he hit the ground and flew after him, carrot in one hoof and weapon in the other. The bunny hopped onto the piano chair and back flipped onto the charging Colonel’s head. Mustard dropped everything as he made a grab for him, but the bunny was already leaping away and out the other door.

“Did you get him?!” Plum asked, stumbling into the room. He picked up the fallen carrot and took a bite out of it to nurse his aching head.

“No,” Mustard grumbled, chasing his weapon as it rolled across the room, “It’s like that rabbit’s had parkour training or something.”

By this point Angel was getting very tired. He’d just come by to have a little fun and he was now so hungry and tired from running about. So when he dashed into the last remaining room of the house he hadn’t entered yet and saw the big, juicy carrot lying innocently on the ground, he couldn’t resist. After a quick look around to see that none of these crazy ponies had followed him, he hopped over to the carrot and started to chow down.

“Gotcha!” a voice cried from behind the door, and they pulled their end of the rope. The lasso around the carrot tightened and hogtied the bunny, flipping him over onto his back.

Who wrangled the rabbit? And where?

And here's a map if you need it.

Author's Note:

Answer

WHITE WASH in the STUDY with the ROPE

We learned that Green Mail had the revolver and Peacock Poppycock had the knife, so they couldn’t have had the rope. Both Plum Pudding’s and Scarlet Letter’s weapons made heavy metal sounds when used, and Colonel H. Mustard’s weapon rolled across the ground. Therefore they must have some combination of the wrench, the lead pipe, and the candlestick. This leaves White Wash with the rope. Additionally, Scarlet took three of the original six carrots from White, but threw all of them away at Angel. Mustard took one, but that one was taken and eaten by Plum, and Peacock cut hers into pieces. The final carrot remained in White’s possession and could be used for the trap.

Once Angel explained the whole situation to Fluttershy, she convinced him to return the necklace to Scarlet with an apology. But she also gave each and every one of them a stern talking to about running around with dangerous weapons, threatening innocent animals.

Comments

[Inspector Brown]

I was wondering whether or not there would be cameos from the Mane Six. Asked and answered, I suppose.

[DagaYemar]

8526253
I considered making them show up quite often, but in the end decided not to. It's kind of takes away from the story if every other chapter has a "celebrity guest", like episodes of Scooby Doo. On the other hoof, not much point in placing this in a mansion "just outside of Ponyville" if they didn't make the odd appearance, eh?

While they aren't the focus, there will be little mentions of our favorite ponies here and there. Like our favorite mailmare two chapters back! There will be a few more too...

[Kinrah]

I like the inclusion of guest characters too - while their participation could only be another layer of the puzzle to unravel, and not part of the final solution, it keeps things from becoming stale.

Who wrassled the rabbit?

Everypony (and Angel) started in the Conservatory. Green and Plum took the secret passage to the Lounge, while Scarlet, Mustard and Peacock chased Angel to the Kitchen, where they collided with White.

Angel darted into the Dining Room. Scarlet picks up three carrots, and throws two of them at Angel before following. White, Mustard and Peacock also have a carrot each at this point. (Pointless detail? We'll see.)

Angel proceeds to the Lounge, where Plum has acquired one of the blunt instruments (Wrench, Lead Piping, Candlestick). Angel moves back out again, at which point Scarlet (still with a carrot) has acquired another of the blunt instruments, and hits Plum with it. (Plum now out for the count for the moment.)

Everypony passes through the Hall, Fluttershy comes into the picture, and by this point Green has the Revolver.

Peacock continues the chase into the Library, using the Dagger to dismantle her carrot. Angel kicks a book into her face and leaves.

Angel moves to the Billiard Room, then just as quickly out of it. He dodges White and Scarlet's carrot projectile (two carrots left, White and Mustard) and moves further to the Ballroom.

Mustard attacks here, but misses, dropping both carrot and weapon. Plum re-enters the picture, and eats Mustard's carrot while Mustard's weapon rolls away. The only weapon capable of rolling is the Lead Piping (again, Mustard?), which means that between them, though it's unimportant by now, Scarlet and Plum have the Candlestick and Wrench, probably respectively.

Angel heads for the last room, the one he hasn't been in yet, and the last carrot. The only pony to still have a carrot is WHITE, and the only room Angel hasn't been in yet is the STUDY.

It was WHITE, in the STUDY, with the ROPE.

[DagaYemar]

8526416
I have to ask, are these notes what you are writing as you are reading, or are you writing down your thought process after you are done figuring the puzzle out?

[Kinrah]

8526429
I tend to read it through first, so I get an idea of what I should be expecting, then I write down my working for the second read through; from there just apply the logic, reread sections if I need to, then once I've arrived at a sound conclusion, I see if I got it right. The only changes I make after that are spelling fixes for the comment, and in the case of the previous chapter, a double check on the math.

[DagaYemar]

8527415
I'm not shouting!
.... Alright, I am shouting! I'M SHOUTING! I'M SHOUTING! I'M-(thunk)

8527365
White's cutie mark is a rope with three clothespins on it. The wing is in the way, but you can see it a little better (if you squint) by looking at the list of suspects at the bottom of all the chapters.

[TitaniumTao]

I'm happy with this one cause I figured it out. Moving on to the next.

[Captain Snark]

Because somebody has to make this reference...

I found the easiest way to do this was separate it into two parts. 'Who has what weapon?' and 'Angel's path.'

First, we'll cover the weapons. In alphabetical order...
Green has the Revolver, as stated when Body opens the door for Fluttershy.
Mustard's weapon rolls across the floor when he drops it. Meaning it's probably the Lead Pipe, but it could be the Candlestick.
Peacock is stated to be holding the Knife as she chops up a carrot to try and lure Angel over.
Plum's weapon hits the ground with a thud after he swings it at Angel, meaning he either has the Pipe, Candlestick or Wrench
Scarlet has the Carrots... um... wait... She also has one of the three bludgeoning weapons.
That leaves the Rope for White and since the Rope is what's important, it really doesn't matter which specific weapons Mustard, Plum and Scarlet have.

Now on to Angel. Simply a matter of following his trail through the story.
He starts in the Conservatory, moves on to the Kitchen, then the Dining Room, Lounge, Library, Billiard Room and Ballroom. During this chase, he bounces in and out of the hall since, as mentioned in the prologue, it connects the other rooms. The only room left is the Study. Since he's captured in a room he hasn't visited before that means...

White Wash lassoed Angel in the Study, with the Rope.

"Oh, no you don't. Not this time! Wait till you get home."

[ExplosionMare]

I think it was White Wash in the kitchen.

Well, I got it HALF right.