Little Filly Lost

by bkc56

4. Following the Clues

After dropping off the picture at the precinct, we walked to the nearest school on the list. She could tell from the building that it was wrong, so we headed towards the second school. As we walked down a street, I suddenly realized that she was gone. I spun around to find her looking at a window display outside some shop.

I sighed to myself. Probably spotted some toy she wants. I walked back to where she stood and realized it was a hat shop. The window on the left of the door was a display of mare hats. To the right of the door, where she stood, were stallion hats.

I moved next to her. “You want a hat? Your hats would be on the other side.”

Without looking at me, she replied, “Not me, you. You need that hat right there.” She pointed at a black felt fedora on display. I blinked a couple times as I tried to wrap my brain around this. She crossed in front of me and went through the door into the shop. I followed.

There were two employees on duty. A mare was working on a display while a stallion approached us. “May I help you today?”

I glanced at the filly. “Yes, uh, I think I’d like to see a hat. The fedora in the window?”

He smiled. “Ahh, yes, I know the one. It’s hoofmade and very high quality. It will last for years.” Using magic, he picked up a measuring tape from the counter. “With your permission…” I nodded, and he measured my head. “I’ll be back in just a moment.” He trotted off to a back room.

“Hey, kid, are you sure about this?”

“You’re a detective. You need a hat.” She sat down and crossed her legs over her chest. Even at this young age she was exhibiting the sense of fashion and confidence so typical of many mares. My fate was decided the moment she’d looked in that window.

The employee returned with the fedora floating before him. “May I?” I nodded, and he gently placed the hat on my head and adjusted the angle. “If you’d care to inspect yourself, sir.” He pointed at a full length mirror against a wall.

Windflower and I walked over. She nodded and declared, “He’ll take it.”

I looked at the employee and shrugged, “I guess I’ll take this one.”

“Very good, sir. An excellent choice. Would you like me to wrap it up, or will you wear it out of the store?”

Glancing at the filly, I replied, “I think I’m supposed to wear it. Thanks.”

A short time later, we neared the second school on the list. As we walked down the street, Windflower started to prance in excitement. “This is it! This is my school!”

We entered through the large heavy double doors and made our way down the main hallway. Our hooffalls echoed off the walls. One would probably go deaf in here when it was filled with foals chattering away between classes. I noticed a mare coming from the opposite direction.

She flashed us a large, inviting smile. “Hi. Enrolling a new student?”

I shook my head. “No, she’s already a student. This is Windflower.”

Her eyes went a little wide. “Windflower! Oh, I’m so sorry I didn’t recognize you. You’ve been absent for several days. Your teachers have been so worried about you. Where have you been?”

As her head dropped towards the floor, the filly quietly replied, “I’m lost.”

The mare tilted her head. “I don’t…” She then looked at me. “I’m sorry. I’m Principal Greenwood. I don’t believe we’ve met, at least I thought her dad was a unicorn...”

I nodded. “That’s correct. I’m Dark Steel--”

Windflower looked up at me. “He’s a detective.” The principal gave me a hopeful look.

I clarified, “Well, not with the Canterlot Police.” The hopeful look fell away.

Then the filly’s gaze shifted to the principal. “We’re looking for clues.”

I gently touched Windflower’s shoulder. “Miss Greenwood, can we please talk somewhere private?”

We left the filly under the care of one of the office mares and went into Principal Greenwood’s office. As she followed me in, she noted, “New hat, I see.”

I glanced back at her. “Yes, actually it is. How…?”

She grinned. “The tag is hanging out the back.”

I removed the fedora, snipped the tag with my teeth, and dropped it in the trash. “The kid had me buy it on the way here. It didn’t come off after I first tried it on.”

She nodded. “Windflower hasn’t been here long, but all her teachers agree that she can be a bit of a force to reckon with sometimes. Still, it is a nice hat. It suits you.”

Once we were safe behind the closed door, I went into some detail about the last few days and everything I’d learned.

“Oh, that poor little filly. She had such a hard time when she lost her mom. I know her dad is trying, but he wasn’t prepared for the instant responsibility and is so busy with work.” She shook her head and grabbed a tissue to dab at her eyes.

I gave her a moment to compose herself. “Do you know what her dad does for work?”

“No, I don’t. I just know he’s gone a lot, especially at night. Poor Windflower has had to grow up so fast and take on so many responsibilities she shouldn’t have to at this age.” Her eyes drifted to the office door behind which Windflower was waiting.

“How long has she been with her dad?”

Her attention snapped back to me. “Oh, not long. Less than three months. And now this. I don’t know…” She dabbed at her eyes again.

“I assume you have registration records, parents’ names, addresses, that sort of thing?”

“Oh, absolutely.” She went to a filing cabinet and in a few moments brought a file back to her desk. “Yes, it’s all here. His name is Shadow Justice. It also has their home address.”

“Can I please get a copy of that? I’ll need to pass that on to the Canterlot Police.”

She thought for a moment. “That’s a rather unusual request. But I guess given the circumstances, I can provide you with some of the information.”

---

Later, as Windflower and I walked down the street, I considered the new information. Shadow Justice didn’t sound like a pony who would be involved in anything illegal. But you can never tell. Names can be a mask that ponies hide behind, just like a fake cutie mark.

“So, your dad’s name is Shadow Justice.”

She grinned up at me. “Yes, that’s right. I remember that.”

I grumbled to myself, You remember it now, when you hear it. I wish you could have remembered it before when I asked.

“Where are we going now? Are we still looking for clues?”

“In a way, yes. I now know where you live, so that’s our next stop.”

“Two blocks, left, and two more blocks,” she added with a grin and confidently led the way.

It was another apartment building, and we went up to the second floor where they lived. When we got to the door, I noticed the latch was broken, and the wood on the doorframe splintered.

“Hey, kid. I want you to go down to the end of the hall and wait until I call you.”

“But, why? This is where we live.”

I turned to glare at her. One look at my expression, and she trotted down the hall without further comment. With her at a safe distance, I carefully nudged the door open. The room was a mess with belongings cast all over the floor. This place had been tossed by somepony looking for something.

“Hey, kid. Run down to the building manager and have them contact the police.” She stared at me. “Move!” She startled and then bolted down the stairs.

It was no longer my job to sweep a crime scene, so I sat in the doorway to keep an eye on things. The layout was pretty typical. The door opened into a large living area. At the far end was a small kitchen and a breakfast nook. A hallway to the left no doubt led to a bathroom and a couple bedrooms.

It didn’t look like they owned a lot of stuff, but what they had was dumped into a few piles around the room. It appeared that every drawer, every cupboard, and every closet was opened and emptied on the floor. This was a mess. I couldn’t see the kitchen due to the counter that divided it from the rest of the room, but I could see the living area just fine. Couch and chair cushions had been removed. Chairs had been flipped over. It was a thorough job.

As I sat there, my mind drifted back to the case. What was Shadow into that caused somepony to search the apartment? And how was the filly involved? I was now thankful she didn’t know where she lived. I winced at the thought of what might have happened if she had been found here by whoever did this.

Some time later, I heard somepony clear their throat. I turned and saw Windflower standing in the hallway with Citrine next to her. They were flanked by two more police ponies.

“How did you get this call, Citrine?”

She smiled and tilted her head at the filly. “It came in as a message from you.”

I glanced down at the filly and winked. “Smart.” She grinned back.

I moved out of the doorway as Citrine stepped up next to me and looked in. “I haven’t cleared it,” I cautioned.

“Right.” She nodded to the two officers and the three of them went in. Despite the clutter, there was plenty of open space on the floor, so it didn’t take long to check the main room, kitchen, and down the hallway. “It’s clear,” she declared as they returned. The officers took up positions, one just inside the door, the other in the hallway.

Citrine glanced at me. “Would you like to come in and check the place? You’ve always been a wizard at crime scenes, and you know enough to not disturb anything.”

I smiled. “I hoped you’d ask.” I looked down at Wildflower. “You wait here, kid. Okay?” She nodded.

I slowly walked through the main room as I looked around. I’d already checked it pretty well from the doorway, so I was mostly just looking at areas behind furniture I hadn’t been able to see. I spent some time in the kitchen and moved to the hallway. As I’d figured, there were two bedrooms and a bathroom, which I checked. I lingered in Wildflower’s room for a bit. She didn’t have much stuff, so the room didn’t look too bad. Her school saddlebags were dumped out in a corner with papers scattered about. The mattress was leaned up against the wall. And everything else was dumped in a pile in the middle of the room. I've seen teenage pony rooms that looked like more of a crime scene than this.

I made my way back to the main living area where Citrine was waiting. As I entered, she immediately asked, “So… what do you think? Any ideas?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I have a few thoughts. Nothing definite that’ll break the case, but they might help.” I poked the brim of my new fedora to tilt it back some. “First, I suspect there were multiple ponies here. The way things are piled suggests at least two ponies tossing stuff on the floor at the same time.” I pointed to a specific pile. “Notice how stuff from the kitchen is intermixed with items from that book case?”

She looked at the indicated pile for a moment. “Yeah, I see what you mean.”

“Next, notice the pictures on the walls?” I pointed at several close to the front door. “They’re disturbed, but not taken down and ripped open. So they weren’t looking for something thin, like paper or a photograph.”

I moved to the kitchen, and she followed. “Third, I think they were looking for something small.” I tilted my head to a counter covered in food. “You don’t empty the sugar bowl, or dump out the dry cereal if you’re looking for something the size of a hoof or larger.”

We moved out of the kitchen again. “Finally, I realize something you’re looking for is always in the last place you check. But they’ve checked everywhere. My guess is they didn’t find it, or they’d have stopped looking.”

I turned to look at Citrine. “No guarantees on any of that of course, but those are my thoughts after a quick walk through the place.” I noticed she had a slight grin on her face. “And what’s so amusing?”

Citrine lifted a hoof. “Nothing, nothing at all. It’s just so much fun to watch the wizard at work.”

Feeling a little self-conscious, I lowered my head a bit and looked at the floor. I was rescued from the awkwardness as Windflower came over.

“Miss Citrine? Can I get some stuff from my room? I don’t have anything.”

Citrine turned to face her. “Sure, honey. Just be careful to only touch what you need to.”

I added, “Your school saddlebags are in the corner, although everything was dumped out. Pack them up again. Your other saddlebags are hanging from a corner of the bed frame. Get whatever else you need and come right back.”

With a smile, she scampered down the hall to her bedroom as we watched. She let out a gasp when she saw the room, but after stomping a hoof with a harrumph, went in.

Citrine turned to face me. “So, how’d you find this place?”

I pulled out the information from the school. “We found her school. The principal gave me a copy of her registration information, which I am now, officially, passing on to the Canterlot Police.” I hoofed the paper to her.

“I gotta say, Steel, you haven’t lost your edge despite… I mean, you still got it.”

I didn’t react, but I knew what she meant. The filly emerged from her room with her two saddlebags. I reached out to take one of them. “Got everything you need?”

“Uh-huh.” She looked around the room and then up at me. “Why did they do this to our home?”

Citrine answered for me, “We don’t know, honey, but we’re going to try and find out. Why don’t you two go on now and let us get to work. Okay?”

The filly nodded and started for the door. As I followed, I called back, “Thanks, Citrine. Let me know if you discover anything.”

Comments

[Rawislon03]

I’m gonna bet you have them meet Princess Celestia for the ending. You’ve already had him reject the medal he got form his first meeting with her because he was just one of the whole squad of ponies there, but now I’d imagine her attention would be focused squarely on him.

[ArcherStern]

I'm not a cop, or a detective, but from my experience as a veteran reader of various stories, I can say I like your approach.

Most of the time when I come across characters who happen upon a ransacked room/home, it is quick and details are slim or are a reach in logic. But this chapter, as well as the story thus far for that matter, feels believable.

It is nice to finally see Mr. Steel in part of his element.