A Study in Mint

The two officers, as well as the late stallion's wife, whose name I had learned to be Roseluck, looked up with curious faces, as Lyra and I re-entered the room. Giving the mare a second evaluation, I realized the gray streaks from before really were just my imagination running away with me. Or possibly, also a product of my own nervousness. Looking at her again now, I realized she seemed hardly older than the two of us. A few years at best.

None of this made her appearance or situation less tragic, of course. As for our two officers; I could easily understand this being the part about their job they probably hated the most. All three of them were currently sitting in silence, still situated around the same table. Whether their depressing vigil had lasted all the time ever since Lyra and I went upstairs, I couldn't tell. Maybe they merely interrupted their potential conversation to hear what Lyra might have to say. All I could read from the officials' faces was a certain empathy for the widow, while also looking at us with high expectations.

"...well?"

"The murders are clearly connected, most likely performed by the same pony," my companion burst out the moment Time Turner's question came over his lips. As opposed to what she probably expected, it earned her nothing but a cold glare from the earth pony stallion, and a skeptical look coming from his colleague.

"The regulars figured as much, thanks a lot," he replied. "We're not stupid, you know. I really hope you've gotten hold of anything beyond that."

Lyra blinked, slightly cringing at the word 'regulars'. Though I could imagine where it had come from, I preferred not to find out just now. That might well wait until our return to our apartment. Also, I felt a sudden urge to hit her over the head with some kind of blunt object.

"There wasn't much for me to gather, even less than there was last time," she resumed. "But I got as much out of my examinations as possible. There are only a few questions I still need to ask. First of all to you, Mrs Roseluck: Did your husband have any extramarital affairs lately?"

Time Turner narrowed his eyes at Lyra, while the shaken mare looked up at her in horror. Roseluck's shoulders began to shake again, as she started speaking. "W-what? No, of course not! We were married just two months ago, he wouldn't...he had no reason for...anything like that."

"Well, it's unlikely he would have told you about it...but worth a shot, at best." Lyra frowned, as her horn started to glow faintly.

"I mean...I don't know, but I couldn't imagine..." Roseluck started, tears quickly forming in the corners of her eyes once again. She eventually trailed off, upon another swift interruption by my companion.

"Do you recognize this ring?" Lyra asked her plainly and straight-out, as she levitated the small piece of jewelry out from Celestia-knows-where. It was the same ring she had found with our last corpse and somewhat "borrowed" from the officials. Needless to say, while I found myself only somewhat surprised by her new strategy, the other three ponies could only gasp in shock. Especially Turner's eyes went wider than saucers at the mere sight.

"That's his," Roseluck replied without further hesitation. While the mare's own voice sounded even more horrified than before, she certainly did bring a remote smile onto Lyra's muzzle.

"Thank you," my companion said, and lowered the ring onto the desk before her. During the short silence that followed, everyone turned to look at Lyra in bewilderment. "I think...if our law enforcement friends don't have anything further to add, you may as well keep it."

All the while, Turner's eyes had sot back and forth from the two completely lost, a considerable scent of anger mixed into them. As my companion handed over the late husband's possession, he cleared his throat, loudly. All eyes immediately fell on him, including Lyra's. The magical aura around her horn disappeared the same instant.

A visibly forced smile on his face, Time Turner addressed the widow, "I...hope we could be of any help so far, of course. If you'd excuse me, but I need to talk this over with our consulting detective. We will meet back here, as soon as there's any new developments to inform you about."

He did mean to say Lyra, of course. She followed him towards the exit door without any sign of emotional response. At a quaint motion from her side, I obeyed in following the two outside. I'd had enough of this house for a good deal, as it was.

Looking back, my eyes once again fell onto the odd couple that Derpy Hooves and Roseluck made. I presumed they were somewhat acquainted to one another, since there wasn't any other reasonable explanation for Turner's partner to remain by her side all this time. I couldn't help feeling awfully sorry for the poor widow, myself. But then again, I wouldn't have had any idea on how exactly to comfort her. From what I observed, Miss Hooves was the expert in this matter, not me.

Once we stepped outside, Turner dropped his fake smile in an instant, looking on my companion with an expression of rage, which I could somewhat relate to. I suppose it merely is a regular set of emotions brought forth when dealing with Lyra. Some ponies would come to see past her socially awkward flaws, others...not so much.

"Alright. First of all: How?"

Lyra decided to help herself to a chuckle in response. "Did anyone ever call you gullible, Turner? Not like it's the first time I snatched evidence from you for my own research. But don't worry, I always care to put your things back where they belong, in time. Most of them, anyway."

"You do realise I could have you arrested on the spot for that single confession, right there?"

"Probably," Lyra told him, one corner of her mouth slightly twitching upwards. "Yet here I am, free as a bird."

Time Turner frowned. "This better be for a good reason, the lot of it!"

"Don't worry. By now, nearly all pieces of the puzzle are already firmly resting in my hooves."

"So, what's your diagnosis then?" I blurted out in between them.

I added a feeble "Sorry," as both ponies looked up in surprise from my sudden outburst. Only for Mr Turner to quickly tilt his head back towards my companion. He had the same question on his mind, I could tell. His expression wasn't in any way puzzling or hard to understand, even for me. After having her selfishness bath in the level of attention provided for another moment, Lyra cleared her throat.

"Well," she began, no signs of modesty attached. "Our deceased husband appears to be some sort of adulterer. Presumably cheating on his wife with our other dead body..."

"Oh, bloody hell..." Time Turner started in disgust. He quickly trailed off from the strict look Lyra gave him. The scenery seemed like the way a teacher would glare at a noisy schoolfilly. It was rather amusing, to say the least.

"Sorry, you were saying?"

"He had some sort of affair with the other mare, whom we found dead. And who came here from Fillydelphia the night before, while his wife spent her time traveling to the very same city. We may assume they both traveled by train. It is the most quick and conventional method, after all. Now, Fillydelphia. Two ponies getting connected to each other through a murder case are also connected to the same city. That could be a coincidence, though unlikely. I think we may well agree that both our victims died in the same night, and from the same pony's hooves. I observe the latter from the messages left behind, naturally. Also, he or she somehow managed to make both of them take a dose of some lethal substance voluntarily, since there weren't any marks of outside violence."

"But here's something I don't get, then," Turner interrupted her, scratching his chin. "These two murder scenes are miles away from the train station, as they are from each other. Who could have done that if he or she acted alone? Not the wife, do you think?"

"No, of course not." Lyra dismissed his notion with a wave of her hoof. "I've seen her face and heard her talk, just now. I wouldn't want to bore you with hours of explanations on mimics and their psychological essence, but believe me when I say: She has no idea what's going on in this entire matter. That much I can tell you. Whoever managed to pull all this off in one night must have either been a pegasus pony, or have access to some means of transportation, other than flight..."

Lyra paused, pondering on her narrative for a moment. Her eyes widened a bit, only seconds later. Without a warning for Turner and me to cover our ears, the word "Brilliant!" suddenly crossed her muzzle at an overly resonant volume. With a few steps, she leaped back inside the building. Turner and I didn't spare any second to rush past her.

Inside, the dead stallion's wife, as well as Miss Hooves looked up in surprise upon seeing us. Before the pegasus mare could even cast a questioning look to her colleague however, and before either of them could stop Lyra, she already started her rambling.

"Mrs Roseluck, I have one more question." I could see Turner roll his eyes from the corner of my own, but he didn't say anything to intervene, either. "When your husband accompanied you to the train station the other day, concerning your trip to Fillydelphia, what kind of transportation did you use?"

Roseluck narrowed her eyes, lost in thought for a while. Then, she answered, "if I remember correctly, we went there by hoof. I tried convincing him to get a cab, as I did, times before. He wouldn't have it, though. He preferred a walk, apparently for spending a little more time with me..." she sniffled. "You don't think he could have known, do you?"

"Maybe...he didn't show any signs of paranoia lately, did he?"

"Not really. I mean, he's been a bit strange the last few weeks or so, I give you that. Looking over his shoulder a little more often than normal, and all that. But I decided not to worry. I...I always hoped it would be nothing..." She started crying again. "I've been so blind...I'm sorry...I..."

"No need for that," Lyra told her. "And thank you for your compliance. That is all I need to hear for now. Speaking of cabs, would you be so kind as to call one for Miss Bon Bon, and myself? I suppose there's still some leftovers from breakfast, waiting for us at Bucker Street. And I don't know about all of you, but I could easily eat an entire ursa major, right now."

My turn to roll my eyes, obviously. Breakfast must have gotten way beyond cold during all the time we spent at this place. It was probably approaching absolute zero by now, at what point anything could get a little hard to chew. And it's not like we have a kitchen device to reverse that process. Simply stuff it all in a big box, and it comes out all heated up again...that had yet to be invented.

Lyra didn't seem to mind, whereas Turner apparently did do the same concerning her request. He ultimately trotted out the door with an angry snort, drawing a faint sign of amusement to the unicorn's muzzle. Shortly after he had gone, she repeated her earlier gesture, motioning towards the exit door. "We might as well wait outside, don't you think?" she asked.

Somehow, in a way I couldn't quite interpret, she had swollen in a mix of pride and anticipation. I nodded to the widow and Miss Hooves, one last time, then made my exit as well. Stepping out into the sunlight behind Lyra, I tried to somehow silently convene my confusion, but she didn't seem to mind me in any way.

"Mind explaining to me what's going on?" I thus asked, hoping to gain her attention. After all, if she would just leave me in the dark about everything, what was the point of having me brought alongside herself, anyways?

"Don't worry, you'll see in due time. I do, in fact, think of our case as almost concluded."

"Almost concluded?" I looked at her in bewilderment. "If you ask me, it couldn't be any more enigmatic."

Lyra snorted in amusement. "There's hardly any need to ask for your advice, no offense. My own suspicions have let me far enough. When the time comes, we'll see whether they are true, or not. But I feel very comfortable about my current theory." With a look to our right, she added, "and here comes our brave detective, bringing along the carriage requested alongside himself. We'll be home in no time, ready to stuff our bellies."

Time Turner did in fact trot back towards us, a cab strolling along beside him. Drawing it was the very same earth pony stallion, who had already driven us around during the past few days. Only later would I discover that the entirety of Ponyville did in fact contain no more than three or four cab drivers at any time. But back then, it would strike me as an odd coincidence.

"I found someone two blocks from here," Turner yelled at us from the distance. "Consider yourselves lucky."

"Oh, I do," Lyra replied, then turned towards the building's entrance, again. "Miss Hooves, you might like to come out here and take a look at this!"

My eyes shifted back and forth between her and the door, in which the pegasus would appear seconds later. To call either of us confused or bewildered, at that point, would have been a large understatement. It wasn't very simple to tell from Derpy's distorted facial features, but I could guess as much.

As the two earth ponies arrived back with us, Lyra and the cabbie shared a friendly nod. All the while, Time Turner appeared extremely angered, even more than his initial annoyance. Judging solely from his face, he didn't try holding it back in the least. I did guess Lyra would owe him a favor for all of this. I also realized that she probably wouldn't see it that way. Which is why I decided to make a mental note about reminding her of the matter, later on.

"Thank you very much for staying put," she eventually told our driver. "I take it, you have met my companion, Miss Bon Bon. As well as our respected officers of the law."

He nodded in agreement.

"Very well then. Mind, if I introduce you as well? No? Very well." With a victorious expression, Lyra turned towards us. By now, I almost wanted to kick her for that dumb, little grin of hers. And who would save her of Time Turner's wrath, then? Certainly not me.

"Fillies and gentlecolts, this here is Mr Crossroads. A respected earth pony cab driver of Ponyville, and formerly, Fillydelphia. He is also the murdered of our two victims in question."

And as soon as she closed her mouth, everything went by extremely quick. I couldn't make out the two officers' initial reaction to Lyra's words, but neither do I recall my own. Instead, I only saw the cabbie's head shoot around at her in a mixture of shock and surprise. The stallion managed tore his massive body loose from the carriage, and attempted to run. He didn't get very far.

After two feet or so, Lyra's horn lit up, while an aura of golden magic wrapped itself around the stallion's left hindleg. As she pulled the entire limb outwards with a yank, Crossroads stumbled, before eventually getting flung down on his side. He crashed into the dirt and rubble of the street with a loud thump, sending small cobbles and chunks of soil flying everywhere.

A sole groan escaped his muzzle, one foreleg slightly twitching. Not before long, Time Turner stood over him, pinning the muscular stallion down. Miss Hooves spread her wings without a moment's notice, and came sailing over an instant later. From there on out, our suspect ceased to show any larger signs of resistance.

"You want a confession?" he asked them, sorely getting back up. "Well, there you have it."

The two officers shared a questioning look, immediately. Turner was the one to break it, saying, "Alright, I'll do it." His strict gaze wandered back to the stallion in front of him, as he stated his case.

"Very well, then. Sir Crossroads, you are hereby under arrest, according to the federal laws of the Kingdom of Equestria. You have the right to remain silent. Everything you say or do can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. Should you fail to provide an attorney for whatever reason, one will be provided for you. Are these rights perfectly understood and clear to you?"

"Right out of the textbook, they are," Crossroads grunted with a frown.

"Then let's get you somewhere safe. My colleague will make sure you get a decent transport to Canterlot. I imagine there will be a suitable confinement open for you." He motioned to Miss Hooves. "One that should be appropriate. Since it would hardly be a proper approach keeping you waiting alongside Mrs Roseluck the entire time, I suggest we await said transport elsewhere."

"We may as well take him to Bucker Street," Lyra replied. "It's right on the way. Plus, we still have some leftover food for everypony."

I facehoofed.

Despite my own certainty of all this being a completely senseless decision, the four of us quickly made for 221B Bucker Street. We arrived a good twenty minutes later, all of us carrying their very own fears and worries alongside ourselves. All of us, except for Lyra, who was obviously beaming with a sense of self-satisfied pride.

Derpy Hooves had left us at our departure from the scene to arrange a transport to a high-security prison in Canterlot. Being placed in these kinds of institutions sounded only reasonable for somepony who had repeatedly committed first-degree murder. Considering what probably lay beyond the upcoming trial, I didn't want to be standing in his horseshoes, nevertheless.

As soon as we got ourselves settled back in, our prisoner decided to raise his voice once more. "Miss Heartstrings, throughout these past weeks, I have come to know your judgment and reasoning to a certain degree. I take it, you would probably like to hear the background story of all this?"

"I'd love to, certainly," Lyra answered him. She had placed herself in the armchair opposite from him, once again resting in her usual, odd position.

"Then you might want to take up some quilt and parchment, and write down what I have to say. In short, I would like to state my case."

"There won't be ay need for that," Turner interrupted him. "You'll have plenty of time to do so in court."

"No, I don't think so," the stallion replied, shaking his head. "There probably won't be a court case, since I very certainly won't live that long...I don't think any of you have received any higher medical education?"

We could all but deny his request.

"Well, it doesn't strike me. Truth is, I have a few days left to live, at best," he continued, then suddenly raised a forehoof, pointing at his chest. "Right in here, there's a nice little aneurysm, that's been constantly expanding outwards for months now. From all the symptoms I've gotten rather recently, I can tell I won't last much longer. In fact, every new breath I take in now could be my last."

He turned slightly, looking Time Turner dead in the eye. "If you need to consult a medical pony for prove, don't let me stop you. but I'd like somepony to know about the truth as long as that's still possible. I would like to be remembered as a stallion with a reasonable motif and background. I'm not some cold-blooded psychopath, who doesn't have a reason for his actions. I think, the world deserves to know as much."

"As you wish," Lyra said, after no further objection came from Turner. The necessary writing gear quickly hovered over towards her, enveloped by her magic. "Tell us what you know, then."

And without further ado, Mr Crossroads took a deep breath, before he began to tell his story. All of it.