Detective Hooves: Burning Apples and Avarice

Walter Hooves could do nothing else besides wait for Applejack to regain her composure. She had been weeping for approximately five minutes. Walter, who felt uncomfortable in moments of extreme emotion, tried to ignore her sobbing and concentrate on his notes. Mercifully, Applejack rose her head and wiped the last drops of tears from her eyes.

"Are you all right, miss?" he asked.

"Yes... sorry about that. I just can't get over my grandmama's death. If somepony really did arson the place, I sure hope he chokes on the next apple he eats."

The detective was still missing a vital portion of evidence. "Just one more question, is that okay?"

"Yes, fire away, sugarcube." Her tone was back to normal again.

"Can you tell me the history of this project? I mean the plans for this Applewood Refinery."

"Sure thing. This here apple business is quite a successful business in Equestria. One day, we all got together and decided to build some offices outside of Ponyville. After all, requests came from all across the land, and we figured it would be faster shipping if there were another location in some other city."

"So, it was a group effort?"

"Mostly. My good ole' brother Macintosh suggested it. Quite a resourceful fellow if I do say so myself. He's always looking for ways to increase our revenues. Anyway, with the new building, each worker in this here apple company could be paid at least twenty more bits than before."

"Twenty more bits?"

"Yeah. It's all about fairness. We take the profits for the year and split them up evenly amongst our crew members. Done so since the industry opened up years ago."

Walter Hooves finished jotting down the last of his notes. "Thank you, madam. You were very helpful."

"Good luck, partner. Hope you find what you're looking for."

Once the door closed, Walter was left out in the hallway. A chill ran down his spine as he made his way back down to the hotel lobby. On the elevator, however, he met one particular pony whose cutie mark was an apple cutter, or something along those lines.

To his surprise, the stranger pony started first: "Hello, I'm Apple Slice. What's your name?"

"Nice to meet you," was all he could think of. "Say, do you happen to know Applejack? She lives on the second floor." Anypony could be a valuable witness.

"Indeed I do. Great friend of mine, actually. Have you read the news lately?"

"Yup, and I'm wondering," he got out his notepad again and continued, "if you have the time..."

"Sure," she replied just before the elevator door opened. They found themselves red fabric chairs in the lobby.

"I work for the detective agency from the police station in this town, and I'm conducting the investigation for the fire that..."

"Really?" she interrupted, "It's about time. I ordered a pizza on that same night, and it came sooner than you did."

"Can you tell me everything you remember from that night?"

Ms. Slice hesitated. "Strange for you to ask, because I did see something unusually on that very night. I was outside when the party started, just a few minutes late. The sky was dark, and fog was everywhere if I remember correctly. Yes, that's right. There was plenty of fog, but in the midst of it, I saw a little yellow glow. I had to squint my eyes to see it, but I thought it was a torch."

Now we're getting somewhere. "A torch you say," Walter said with interest; "do you suppose...?"

"I don't see why anypony would want to burn down such a lovely house, but I saw the torch move toward the house. I couldn't see who was carrying it, but he galloped pretty quickly. Maybe you're right; maybe it was an arson with an attitude."

A spark activated itself inside the detective's head. "Just one second... was the torch held horizontally or vertically? I mean, while it was moving, was the handle held sideways, or did the flame sit right on top of the vertical handle?"

"I think it was sideways, but what good does that...?"

"And was it moving across the ground, or was it floating high in the air?"

"It was moving on the ground, but what does that have to do with anything?" Slice asked skeptically.

Detective Walter Hooves thought for a moment, and after a few seconds, finally said, "The arson and culprit we are looking for is an earth pony."

"How do you know?"

"It was foggy outside. If a pegasi were the arson, he would surely attempt to be discreet. The fog would've covered up his tracks quite easily. I don't see why a pegasi wouldn't be flying while carrying the torch."

"Makes sense to me," said Slice, but she still looked confused.

"And torches burn weakly when tipped on their side. It would be ideal to carry it vertically, just in case the flame died out."

"What does that have to do with anything?" she asked again.

"Any sensible unicorn would have carried the flaming torch with her magic vertically, but the torch on that night was held horizontally. It must've been an earth pony, who can't fly to hide himself in the fog and has to carry the torch in his mouth."

Apple Slice was in a daze, but she was confident that this case had a good chance of being solved, especially with a detective like him on the job.