Sherclop Holmes and the Killer at the Gala

by UndeadSketches

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Chief Bluecoat trots down the marble hallway of the Canterlot Police Department, his hooves clicking with every step he takes.
Following close behind the royal blue coated stallion is Sherclop Holmes, who seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.

"You seem preoccupied, Mr. Holmes," Chief Bluecoat said, glancing at the detective. "You haven't said a word since we left the forensics lab."

"What?" Sherclop muttered, shaking his head to refocus. "Sorry about that, just mulling the case over in my head."

"Understandable," Chief Bluecoat replied. "You said to Trotson that you have a hunch. Care to fill me in?"

"Not until I'm absolutely sure. Talking to the culprit may give me the information I need, or it may not. Frankly, this is a bit of a longshot."

Chief Bluecoat sighed. "Well, considering that our suspect is not saying anything useful, a longshot may be the only shot we have."

They walked up to a metal door at the end of the hallway. It was locked tight from the outside. Muffled voices came from within.

"Here's the interrogation room, Mr. Holmes," the police chief said. "Just past that door, our suspect is waiting."

"Is there anything I should know about her before I go in there?" Sherclop asked.

"She's got quite the mouth on her," Chief Bluecoat chuckled. Then his brow furrowed a bit as he added, "Also, she hasn't requested a lawyer yet, which is a bit odd."

"Curious," Sherclop muttered.

The police chief pulled a set of keys from off his belt and unlocked the door.

"Good luck, Holmes."

After a deep breath, Sheclop and the police chief stepped through the door into the interrogation room. The room was small, with only a steel table and two chairs as its furniture. On the left wall, there was a two-way mirror.

Occupying one of the chairs was the suspect.
Her coat was light green in color, and her mane and tail were a bright yellow. Her eyes were amber and held a glint of amusement, almost as though this interrogation was nothing more than a game for her. Her cutie mark, which was the first thing Sherclop took a glance at, was a four leaf clover. There was a smug expression plastered on her face.

Sitting across from her was an Earth Pony police mare, who was looking increasingly irritated by the second. Her partner, an unshaven Pegasus stallion who was leaning against the two way mirror, looked mildly amused by the whole ordeal.

"Now listen here, Cloverbelle," the police mare started. "I don't know what you're up to, but if you have any common sense, you'll fess up! You were caught in the act! We just want to know why you did it!"

Cloverbelle chuckled a little bit.

"You're the detective 'ere, you figure it out," Cloverbelle said. "Maybe while you're at it, you can figure out where to find a decent hairdresser, you stupid rozzer!"

The police mare growled, her teeth grinding against one another.

"So help me, I'm going to-"

"Easy, Miss Copper Top," the Pegusus drawled. "Y'all need to calm down before you go an' do something foolish."

"I am calm, Crackdown!" the mare who was not calm at all snarled.

"That's right, listen to the country bumpkin ," Cloverbelle remarked.

"You know what? You are making me extremely peeved!" Copper Top shot back, slamming her hoof on the table. "And if the next words out of your mouth aren't an apology or a confession, I will plant my back hoof up your-" Copper looked over and saw Sherclop and Bluecoat standing next to her. "Oh, Chief Bluecoat! I, um..."

"It sounds like you could use a break, Officer Top," the police chief said with a slight smile. "Detective Crackdown, you should take one too."

Crackdown stood up straight and nodded.

"Come on, Miss Copper. Ah think there's some coffee in the break room."

"Coming," Copper muttered, getting up out of her seat. "I can't believe I transferred from Manehattan for this."

The two ponies walked out of the room, leaving Sherclop, the chief and the suspect.

"Chief Bluecoat, may please I be left alone with the suspect?" Sherclop inquired.

The police chief glanced between Sherclop and Cloverbelle.

"Well, you are working on behalf of the princesses. I'll give you ten minutes alone with her."

"Thank you, sir," Sherclop replied.

Chief Bluecoat glanced at Cloverbelle one last time, then trotted out and closed the door behind him.

Silence permeated the air for a minute, with only the sound of the heating unit kicking on to provide background noise.

"Well, what do you want, you bizzy?" Cloverbelle asked, breaking the silence.

"Language is a fascinating thing," Sherclop said, looking the mare in the eyes and making her squirm a little. "You can tell a lot about a being based on their accent and what phrases they use."

"What does 'at-"

"I wasn't finished yet," Sherclop interrupted. "As I was saying, language is truly fascinating. And very telling. Based on your Cockney accent, I guess that you grew up in Trottingham."

"La dee dah, you can tell one accent from another ," Cloverbelle said, rolling her eyes. "It's a neat skill, but it doesn't-"

"I'm still not done."

Cloverbelle folded her forelegs, getting rather tired of this whole charade.

"Bugger all, you don't shut up."

Sherclop began pacing about the small room.

"How old are you?" Sherclop queried.

"What sort of bloody question is 'at!?" Cloverbelle shouted. "I don't have to answer 'at!"

"It's no matter," Sherclop replied calmly. "I deduce from the 'Gallopvayne's Grooves' you have on your teeth that you are approximately thirty to thirty-five years old. That means that about nine years ago, you would be anywhere from twenty-one to twenty-six years old."

"Uh, what's so important about nine years ago?"

"Nine years ago was when the 'Coltenwell Crime Syndicate' was taken down. Numerous arrests were made, but even still, some members of the organization managed to slip away. One of whom was named 'Lucky Shot'. She was described as a green unicorn mare and a 'darn good shot', pardon my language. According to what records we could find, she was one of the syndicate's hit ponies."

"S-so?" the mare stammered. "There are a ton of green unicorns in Equestria."

"One of the members of the syndicate was going to testify in court. Unfortunately, while he was in a police carriage on his way to the trial, he was shot through the head from a nearby rooftop. Upon investigating it, they found a four-leaf clover, which was Lucky Shot's calling card. A four leaf clover, like the one on your cutie mark."

For a few moments, there was silence.

"S-speculation," the mare spat out, eyes darting back and forth. " 'At's all this is.
You're just fishing an' looking for a reaction!"

"Maybe it's just speculation. But I know for a fact that your aura dust was found on a rifle in Prance, a rifle used to murder a businesspony. That is an unalterable fact."

There was another moment of silence.

"I know that you wouldn't have any real motive for attempting this crime unless you were hired," Sherclop said, looking the unicorn in the eyes. "Considering the high profile nature of this crime, your employer must have offered you a sizable reward, otherwise you wouldn't even dream of doing this. I deduce that the pony that hired you must be decently wealthy. Probably influential as well, considering they were able to get you Gala tickets."

"What's the point of all this?" the suspect asked. "You seem to have all this figured out. What do you need from me?"

"I need a name," Sherclop said. "The name of the one that hired you. If you do that, I'm certain that you will receive a lighter sentence."

After a moment of quiet contemplation, the unicorn looked at the two way mirror.

"Get me a lawyer and let's make a deal."

Author's Note:

I am so sorry about my extremely inconsistent updates.

If any of you have been reading since the beginning, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I would also like to thank EverfreePony for being my editor of sorts.

Next up: The Mastermind, Revealed!