Chapter 4 "Citizen Soldier"
Chapter 4
“Citizen Soldier”
The police arrived about ten minutes after the killer left. Luckily he didn’t have the guts to come back for Matzo again. Matzo himself sat in a chair inside his restaurant as police combed the area. Potso came to offer us some drinks.
Matzo took a large gulp of his then smiled at me “It’s good to see you again, Private. It's a shame it’s under crazy circumstances.”
Potso’s blue eyes looked at his father then at me. “Private, who was that stallion?”
“We don’t know,” I replied. Potso deserved my honesty “All we got was that he is ex-military, and he’s offing members of a jury.”
Matzo’s eyes grew wide and he shook his head, “Non ci posso credere. To think that still haunts us after all these years.”
“What trial is he talking about, Papa?” Potso asked. looking at his father.
“A trial for the murder of Operetta Val Jean, wife of the gangster Neigh Val Jean,” Matzo admitted. “It was six years ago, I never told you about it because you were just starting your own restaurant.”
I looked right at the Bitallion Pony “Can you tell me how the trial went down?”
He nodded, “Six years ago, I was called in for jury duty on the trial. The accused was a stallion by the name of Smooth Shot. He was Neigh’s right hand pony, before Neigh died in the war.”
Octavia’s expression soured a little, “He was supposed to be in that alley to protect Operetta and her daughter. along with a cop right?”
“Yes, how did you guess?” Matzo asked, looking at her.
Octavia just shrugged, “Read about it somewhere.”
She was careful to omit the fact she was that daughter. I’m surprised that Matzo didn’t recognize her. The Bitallion pony went on “As the trial went it became clear that him, as well as the cop, disappearing in that alley was no coincidence. The evidence pointed to the connection being sospetto.”
“He was declared innocent,” I pointed out.
“He was, because the rest of the jurors were afraid to convict him,” Matzo said slowly.
“They were bribed to look the other way?” I asked, darkly.
“In a manner of speaking, yes; I was convinced he was innocent after he gave a passionate defense, so I voted honestly. Several others, however, voted for less than honest reasons.”
“How many took bribes, and who was giving them?” Octavia asked, her voice developing an edge.
“I don’t know who was giving the bribes, but I have a high suspicion that Smooth Shot had something to do with it.” Matzo, said grimly. “I know that at least six of the twelve of us took the bribes.”
“Was one of them named Lucky Zeven?” I asked looking at him.
“I’m not aware exactly who accepted the bribes. I just know they weren’t interested in seeing Smooth Shot jailed.”
“You knew about this and didn’t tell the judge or the police?” I said looking at Matzo
The Bitallion pony shrugged “I tried but for some reason the police dismissed my claims”
Odd that the police would so easily dismiss Matzo’s accusations of bribery. Something else must be going on here…
________________________________________________________
I got outside as Matzo reported what happened to the police. I looked over at Octavia, “We need to find out who was in that unit; I have a strong suspicion that Fenlock knows who was in that unit.”
“You’re not suspecting that he might be the killer?” Octavia asked.
“Fenlock would never do anything like this,” I said, in defense of my mentor. “He’s an honorable pony, and I can’t see him killing anypony.”
“You’re blinded by your bias for him,” She claimed, her eyes narrowing. “He was in the military like you said it’s logical to assume that he knows the killer or at least had somepony from the unit kill Lucky Zeven.”
“You’re just saying that because of what happened six years ago,” I spit venomously.
“Don’t make me fight you again, Detective,” She growled, frowning. “I will not hold back like I did last time if you make this personal.”
We stared at each other for a long minute. I held a deep respect for Fenlock, and I couldn’t stand anypony going around accusing him. Wait…
“Private?” I heard a voice speak behind me.
I turned to see Twilight and Vinyl standing on the sidewalk. Twilight smiled at me, “We got a list of the jurors from the trial.”
Vinyl looked past me at Octavia with a smile, “Hey, Octy! I didn’t know you and Private were working together on this case.”
Octavia simply sighed, “Vinyl, meddling in others affairs again I see.”
Vinyl just shrugged, “What can I say? I’m a helper.”
Octavia simply rolled her eyes again as Twilight handed me the list.
I looked down the list of jurors, “Where’d you get this info?”
Vinyl spoke up, “Called in a favor from Celestia, she got the list from her legal department.”
Octavia sighed again, “I’m surprised she let you do anything after the crazy interview you gave her on air”
“Hey it’s all good,” Vinyl dismissivly waved a hoof. “Anyway, all of the victims Jocvert killed were indeed ponies that were on the jury during the trial.”
I looked at the list; there were the names of all six victims. The other six included Matzo and several other ponies. I looked up at Twilight “Did you get the police on the other five?”
Twilight nodded “As it turns out, most of them moved after the trial. The police should be able to get on them now.”
I nodded, “I want you three to do some background checks on the victims. See if anypony was in trouble financially at the time.”
“Why do you want to know that?” Vinyl asked, lifting her shades.
“I want to know if anypony was desperate enough to accept bribes,” I replied walking away. “I’ve got some ponies I need to track down. We’ll meet at Central Park later.”
They all nodded while I ventured off alone. I didn’t want to believe Fenlock had anything to do with this.
Then again, everypony thought Shinebadge was solid until Vice…
________________________________________________________
“He was in my unit?” Fenlock asked, as he sat down in his chair. “Unbelievable…”
Fenlock’s apartment was humble by most standards. He only had a small kitchen, one bedroom, and a living room with a couch and an old TV. I was sitting on the couch as my mentor looked at me with his brown eyes. “You’re thinking that I might have be Jocvert.”
“Fenlock I-“
“Don’t lie to me Private, I would think the same thing,” He interrupted, in that tone I was used to hearing from him. The kind when a teacher tells a student something he should learn “However, I didn’t kill them. I have no reason to kill a bunch of ponies I don’t know.”
“Well, somepony from your unit does.” I said, leaning forward on the couch “Fenlock, I can imagine…”
“You want me to talk about the war don’t you?” He asked, taking the words right out of my mouth. “I know you too well, Private”
“Way too well for your own good, old timer.” I rolled my eyes at him.
He chuckled a little then got up and went into his closet. He came out with a large box and set it on his kitchen table. I looked inside and saw all manner of old war items. A uniform, a helmet, a pair of old pistols and a lot of pictures filled the box. Fenlock reached in and pulled out an old black and white photograph of his unit “We were the 221st special forces division, called ourselves the Hell Hounds”
I looked at the old picture, I barely recognized a young Fenlock. “How old were you when you entered the war?”
“Nineteen,” Fenlock shook his head. “Didn’t want to be a farmer anymore; so I did what all colts did when the war broke out. I joined the fight”
“Nineteen,” I looked at Fenlock “You were fighting wars at the same age I was starting to solve crimes.”
“Our unit was mostly comprised of young guys like me,” Fenlock explained. “Bunch of kids who grew up fast on the battlefield”
“Where is Neigh Val Jean?” I asked
“Right there” He said pointing to a young earth pony leaning on a machine gun “The Thompson was always his favorite weapon. He and I were buddies in the war, always gave the sergeant hell”
“Your sergeant?” I asked curiously.
“Yeah, guy by the name of Tamper Cable.” He explained pointing at the only stallion standing at attention “Complete and utter hard ass, always wanted everypony to play by the rules. None of us listened to him, and for some reason he always liked to pick on Neigh. Heard he became a lawyer after the war.”
“What about a pony by the name of Smooth Shot?” I asked, looking at my mentor “Somepony who was a friend to Neigh?”
Fenlock pointed to an earth pony smiling while sitting on wagon back. He had a sniper rifle in his hooves “That’s him, came into the unit a few weeks after Neigh got shot up the first time. Nice guy, had a decent sense of humor.”
“Do you know where he is now?” I said looking at Fenlock
“Nah,” He shook his head. “We all just drifted apart after the war, haven’t heard from him in a long time.”
“Then I know who to ask next,” I said grimly
“Private, you know she can find anypony”
“That doesn’t mean I’m going to look forward to talking with her,” I said with a sigh.
“You’re going to anyway?”
“I have to talk to Larksong if I want to get anywhere,” I admitted with another sigh. “I gotta go find her.”
Fenlock nodded and was putting away his stuff before I asked, “Fenlock, where were you at midnight last night?”
Fenlock paused for a minute, then spoke firmly, “I was here at my apartment all night. My neighbors and doormen can tell you I never left. I was watching the Red Chaps game.”
“Sorry, Fenlock,” I said guiltily. “I had to ask…”
Fenlock came to me and smiled, “That’s good. You didn’t let the fact I was your mentor cloud your duty as a detective. No, I didn’t kill those poor saps, but I am glad you asked.”
“I would think you would be mad at me for asking.”
“Nah,” He said dismissively. “I would have been mad if you didn’t. The thing you gotta remember Private is that, in a case, anypony is a suspect. Could be anypony connected with this whole business.”
I smiled at my mentor, “Thanks Fenlock, I’m glad you had nothing to do with this.”
“Eh I’m not suave or sexy enough to be a criminal,” He said dryly.
I chuckled a little and turned to walk out
“Private,” Fenlock’s voice said behind me. “Remember, sometimes you need to look for the crime that didn’t happen, to find the crime that did.”
“Always cryptic as hell” I smiled.
“Would I be a mentor if I told you everything outright?”
“No I guess not” I replied, as I left my mentor behind.
______________________________________________________________
I walked in St. Ponel’s cemetery. Two days ago I walked here to visit the grave of my mother. Today though, I’m looking for the grave of somepony else’s mother. There laying flowers on a gravestone was Larksong, My ex-marefriend, and information broker.
Her gold coat shone in the autumn light, her light green mane blowing in the breeze. Her blue eyes opened slightly as she spoke to the grave of her mother. I remember something like this years ago…
___________________________________________________________
4 years ago:
“All right, Lark, you said we were going to meet your parents today” I said looking over at Larksong. She wore a simple jacket to accommodate the increasingly cold Manehattan air.
She smiled at me, “I am.”
“We’re at a cemetery,” I pointed out. “Not only that, but my mother is buried here…”
She pressed herself to me in comfort “I’m sorry, Private, had I known your mother was buried here too…”
“Too?” I asked looking at her as we entered the graveyard.
She nodded as we walked the aisles of gravestones “My mother died when I was only two, Father raised me by himself ever since.”
“He sounds like a good man.”
She gave me a very odd expression, before stopping in front of a gravestone. She smiled and spoke to the gravestone, “Mother, this is my coltfriend Private Eye.”
I looked at the gravestone, then at Larksong who encouraged me to speak. I decided to humor her and spoke to the gravestone “Hi, I’m Private, a pleasure to meet you.”
Larksong’s expression changed again as I spoke.
“You got a great daughter here; she’s beautiful, smart, and an incredibly good singer. I would have loved to have met you. I’ll bet you were just as amazing as your daughter.”
I heard crying behind me and I looked back to see Larksong with tears in her eyes. I tilted my head in confusion, “What’s wrong?”
“Nopony has actually spoken to her before,” Larksong said, wiping her eyes. “It’s just so like you, Private”
I smiled and nuzzled her on the cheek, “Hey, no need for tears okay. I’m here…”
________________________________________________________________
“I’m here,” I said looking at Larksong.
“Long time no see, Private,” She said getting up and smiling at me “You here to see mother?”
“Not really, to be honest,” I said with a shake of my head, “I’m here to see you.”
“Don’t you think Twilight would be worried about you seeing your ex behind her back?” Larksong asked, in that voice where you can’t understand what she’s thinking.
“This isn’t about that, Lark,” I replied, not giving in.
“I knew romance would spark between you two” She said with a sly smile
“Lark...”
“She’s absolutely adorable; I think she’s perfect to keep you from breaking down like a rusted building.”
“Lark I didn’t come to banter with you” I said firmly
“Yet, that is what we do every time we meet.” Larksong walked towards me. “I do so enjoy it.”
“I need to find somepony,” I said, ignoring her comment. “Guy by the name of Smooth Shot.”
“Smooth Shot, eh?” She said tapping her hoof on her chin. “Yeah I’ve heard of him. He lives over in the Broncox, has a fishing business by the river.”
“Thanks, you got an address?” I asked, holding out my notebook.
Larksong’s horn glowed a pale blue and she wrote down the address on my notebook. “You aren’t going to ask how I got this information?”
“Something tells me I don’t want to know,” I replied, looking at the paper. “1985 West Street.”
“Private, is that a friend of yours?” Larksong pointed behind me.
I looked and saw Octavia running off behind me. When did she get here? Oh no, she heard the address. She was going after Smooth Shot…
Stats
Page generated in 0.017 seconds
Total duration
872 users online
1,305,355 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Damn Octy. Always the troublemaker.
Intriguing...
I wonder what will happen if Octavia kills Smooth Shot, and he isn't guilty...
Damn, Octavia's stealthy!
Great to see more lore to the series! Larksong is always nice to see, although she fits a bit awkwardly in Private's life going out with Twilight. I have a feeling she will interfere more at a later date in this series, after this "7 Elements" arc. Still, awesome to see the past, although don't you think it's also time that Private returned that call to his dad?
Also, will there be a side story with Scootaloo and Tailspin at the dance?
1468384Wait till case 15...shiz will go down
1468897 Well, somebody's feeling cryptic today!
1469313I'm having too much fun being cryptic, I love it when everypony speculates about my cases...
Also you might want to look at that conspiracy board again...
1469358 Psycho Me is analysing it.
Ey! What have we got?
HMMM...WELL...MAYBE...
Oh give me that!
Private is going to reach Smooth Shot either
A) Octavia about to enter the house and Private pins her down
B) Private will reach them mid struggle
C) Octavia is actually trying to HELP Smooth Shot.
Also, we've got that Larksong probably knows more than she's letting on.
1468384And yes I plan for the dance one to be after case 13
ITS A TRAP!!!!
Octavia=James Bond.
adventuresofalostboy.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/eeyup.gif
Vinyl Scratch Tapes FTW!!!!