“Who are you?” A pony asks me and Holly when we arrive at the manor, having travelled there without much hassle, and fairly silent.

“We are the defense for Ms. Rose,” I reply, me and Holly showing our badges to the pony.

“I see. Well then, allow me to introduce myself. I am Detective Bright, commonly brought into murder investigations, though I am called to wherever I need to go,” He introduces himself, offering a hoof to us both, which we politely shook.

“A pleasure. My name is Raven Star, and this is my partner Holly Leaf, our occupation already stated before,” I say, to his confusion.

“What occupation would that be?” He asks, looking genuinely clueless.

“Defense attorneys..for Ms. Rose’s defense..” I repeat slowly, his face showing realization.

“Oh, that is what you meant. Since you are attorneys, you probably want to see what all we have regarding the case thus far, let m-” He starts to say, before an all-too-familiar pony behind him coughs loudly to get his attention.

“There shall be none of that business,” Solid Clue says to the detective, glaring at him.

“But the-”

“I am aware of who they are, you dimwit. That information will be shown to them in court tomorrow. For now, we are going to hold onto it,” She interrupts once more, making me a bit angry.

“That is not fair!” Holly exclaims, the mare simply moving her braid to the other side of her body and chuckling.

“Welcome to the real world, hun. This is about the verdict, nothing more, and nothing less, Your little client is going to have a..fun time, by the end of this,” Solid responds, her voice dripping with the sarcasm that I once thought was only reserved to my family. Before Holly could get into a heated back-and-forth, I stepped in once more.

“Ms. Clue, if you are going to be of no help, then allow us to do our own investigation, and figure out what we need to by ourselves, and stop wasting our time,” I say to her bluntly, causing a scowl, before it returns to an expression of neutrality.

“Fine then, waste your precious time. We are done here,” Solid replies, as Lunar appears, greeting us with a nod. Solid trots off, and Lunar follows, before quickly writing a note(you can sure write a lot with magic and a pencil, apparently), and sending it over to us. With it, she heads off.

“What does the note say?” Holly asks me, as I look to it once more.

To the defense,

I must keep this note brief, so I will skip the frivolities. There is a lot of reasons to expect the guilt of your client, but there is something off that I cannot put my hoof on. Whatever that is may be of you and your client’s benefit. Inquire about the escape route, that should point you in the right direction.

-Lunar

“That is it. Hey, Detective Bright, could we examine the crime scene itself?” I ask, hoping that we were not barred entry from that place as well by that of Solid Clue. Thankfully, he nods.

“No problem at all, I will take you there, as I have to keep a watch on you,” He admits, making me a bit uncomfortable. Oh well, I suppose it cannot be helped.

When we arrive, the first thing we notice is a bit of an odd smell, and we ask the detective about it.

“That stench is some milk that was spilled in here, which seems to have been spilled by the Lady as she was attacked,” He explains, which I immediately noticed something off about.

“How are you so sure it was the Lady’s? Could it have not been Ms. Rose? We heard that she was tasked with delivering some to her quarters prior to her death,” I ask, the detective shaking his head.

“We thought about that too, but our questioning turned up nopony seeing her go upstairs with the requested milk, just preparing it, and it disappearing. The silver platter is also nowhere to be found, so we are assuming that it was hidden in the wash alongside the cup,” He explains.

Spilled Milk added to the Court Record<
Missing silverware added to the Court Record<

“What if the killer took the platter?” Holly asked before I could.

“And where would the killer have been able to take it without getting spotted? I am sure your client also told you about the fact that ‘Snake’ had come and checked on the Lady, correct?” He asked, and I nodded my head. “He did that after hearing a loud thud, from when the Lady Fell, having been patrolling the outside. He testifies to not having seen anypony leave the residence, and the only pony that he saw was Ms. Rose, inside the room, the knife also being nearby her,” He explains, as I abstain from pressing on some of that until I can figure some stuff out.

Knife added to the Court Record<

“Is there no other method for a pony to escape unseen?” I ask, him once more shaking his head.

“Not a chance, pal. There was an undisturbed window at the end of the hallway, and the staircase was travelled by Mr. League soon after the incident. No servant saw anything suspicious in the house either. Those are the only two ways that the killer could have escaped, save for the balcony, that we know was not done,” He says, me having no real objections to voice on that, simply standing there silent. Holly however, was not so sure of that.

“Could Snake not have been either lying or mistaken, since it was at night?” She asks, the detective putting a hoof to his chin at that.

“The likelihood of the latter is unlikely, due to his..questionable connections, and the former would be likely under normal circumstances, but considering the party murdered, I doubt it,” He says after a moment.

“Why is that?” I ask him.

“Regardless of who Snake is as a pony, it is undeniable the care he had for the Lady and the house, even though he is known to be a thief, allegedly of course. Nopony really knows why he cares so much, but that is irrelevant to the case,” He responds.

“I suppose that is all we really need to ask at the moment. Do you have a copy of the Autopsy Report though, perchance?” I ask, the detective nodding in response, hoofing me a copy of it.

Autopsy Report added to the Court Record<

“Thank you. I suppose it is time to begin the investigation then,” I say, looking around the murder scene in question, Holly doing the same.

-Investigation start-

Looking at the place where the Lady was stabbed, I consult the Autopsy Report, noticing an oddity.

“Detective, the Autopsy Report mentions a bruise on the mare’s head, yet it is apparently ‘not pertinent to the case.’ How can you be so confident about that?” I ask.

“It was reported that she had recently had an incident of tripping, leading to her banging her head on a table downstairs. Due to the recent nature of it, the bruise was tied to that incident, and there is no evidence to the contrary,” The detective replies. At that, I nod, and move to the balcony, the other potential escape route. First analyzing the door, I notice that the lock was broken.

Broken Lock added to the Court Record<

“Noticed it too, huh? We were wondering about that as well, but as far as this case is concerned, it is not likely that it involves this case, due to Snake’s testimony,” The detective says as me and Holly look at it.

“How can you be so trusting of an alleged thief?” Holly asks bluntly.

“Already told you pal, regardless of his actions, he cares about this residence. It is highly unlikely he would lie like that, if it meant getting revenge on the killer of the Lady,” The detective retorts, Holly simply turning away, ending the conversation.

Deciding it best to analyze the balcony area, I first look to see if there was any reasonable way down, yet finding no way of doing so, unless a pony was to fly off. After that, I look for any disturbances from a bird's-eye view, finding nothing but well-kept bushes and freshly-cut grass below. Not seeing anything else worthwhile, I return inside, trying to find anything of note, yet not finding anything, as all pertinent evidence has been taken to be analyzed.

“Done, pals?” The detective asks us, me nodding my head.

“Actually detective, any chance we could trot around the outside of the house, since that was where Snake was at the time? It may be important,” Holly asks, the detective looking confused at that.

“I guess, knock yourselves out. The outside is unrelated to the case, so it is clear for you to look around,” He says after a moment, Holly nodding with a smile, before practically dragging me out of the room, the detective simply shrugging and turning away.

-Investigation pause-

“Holly, why exactly are you dragging me? I can walk just fine,” I say after a moment or so after they left, Holly gasping and cutting her magic, blushing.

“S-sorry, I got a bit carried away. I think I figured something out regarding that note, but we need to head below the balcony to confirm it,” She responds, still smiling, but me cocking my head in confusion, yet continuing to trot with her, as to not waste time.

“What would that be? I saw nothing but undisturbed bushes, and the detective sai-” I begin, before getting cut off.

“I am aware of what the detective said, and I am not blind. However, the detective has to be wrong, if Silver is truly innocent. Thus, that is the only place worth looking around at at this point,” Holly explains, as we make it out the front door.

“I suppose so,” I agree, as we arrive at the place in question, and we begin our investigation.

-Investigation resume-

The first thing I do is look up at the balcony from below, once more seeing that there is no feasible way for somepony to leave without flying.

“Still no way to have left, and if Snake is correct..” I say, trailing off.

“Then Silver Platter is guilty..” Holly completes, looking at the balcony herself. “However, that cannot be the case. There must be something here, otherwise Ms. Sonata would have never pointed out the Escape Route!” She continues, as I look at her doubtfully.

“She could have been simply trying to throw us off, you know. Make us waste time and everything,” I say, to her shaking her head and giving me a firm expression.

“I do not believe she would do that, she is not like that other one!” She retorts, turning around to continue her search.

Mares, I will never understand them. I think to myself, shrugging before looking around once more, noticing Holly looking through some bushes. With nothing to lose but time, I decide to do so myself in the bushes in front of the balcony, and I find a black feather within.

“What is that?” Holly asks, as I take it out of hiding and look at it.

“Looks to be a feather, probably from some kind of bird or something,” I respond, prepared to disregard it before Holly levitates it over to her with her magic, looking at it.

“I would not be so quick to judge it, this may be just the clue we need to crack this case!” Holly exclaims, myself not as hopeful.

“You do know this is not some video game where a simple ‘OBJECTION’ can completely destroy the prosecution and lead to a Not Guilty, right?” I ask her, her giving me a flat stare in return. “Alright, alright, we will keep it! Geez,” I continue.

Black Feather added to the Court Record<

“I do not think there is much else we can find here,” I say to Holly, she seeming to be in agreement. Just then, Solid Clue comes in, looking furious.

“What are you doing here without the detective? I told him to keep a good eye on you both!” She exclaims, eying us intensely.

“Ms. Clue, this scene was apparently declared unrelated, so we were free t-,” I say, before being cut off.

“Says who? Leave the premises immediately, I must have a word with the ‘good’ detective. If you are still spotted here after I depart, you will be taken into custody. Begone!” She retorts, before turning around and storming to the location of the detective.

“Poor detective bright..” Holly mutters, myself sharing the sentiment, but refusing to show it.

“Come now, he will be fine. We will not be if we do not hurry up and leave though, so we may want to go do so,” I say to her.

“Right. Back to the Inn, I guess?” She asks.

“I suppose so. There is not really anything to ask Silver about,” I say, to which Holly nods.

“Yep. Hopefully she is okay,” She worries, me smiling in an effort to try to comfort her.

“I am sure she is as okay as she can be, let us get going,” I say, as we both trot back to the Inn.

Meanwhile..

“DETECTIVE BRIGHT!” Solid Clue shouts, causing said detective to become alert at once, looking at the poor door that might have just broke with her slamming it.

“What is it, pal?” He asks, oblivious to her anger, yet becoming all-too-familiar when she drags him face to face with her using her magic.

“I said keep an eye on those two, I do not want them snooping around unsupervised!” She says, glaring at him.

“The area outside was declared unrelated, save for the witness, so I assumed-”

“That is your problem, assuming! If this case gets messed up because of you, I would expect some severe penalties headed your way. Get back to work!” She responds, pushing him away and storming out of the room.

“Geez, it is like she expects me to control everypony everywhere at all times in the investigation or something,” He mutters, returning to doing nothing more than watching over the crime scene.

Later that night..

“Hey, Raven?” Holly says, hoping I was still awake, which I was.

“Yes, Holly?” I respond, curious as to what she was wanting.

“I am scared about tomorrow..what if we fail?” She asks, her voice trembling. Hearing as such, I stand up, and go over to her, sitting down on a spot on the bed she made for me as I approached.

“We will not fail, I promise you that,” I say, Holly not being convinced.

“How can you promise something like that? It is as you said, this is not a videogame with some definitive end or anything,” She replies, me closing my eyes for a moment in thought.

“That may be the case, but we know the truth of the matter. As long as we know what the truth is, we simply have to prove it. No matter what happens, we simply have to keep that goal in mind, and we will be fine. We cannot do anything if we do not get some rest though, so stop worrying, and go to sleep, okay?” I respond, trying to console her, and, at least for now, partially succeeding.

“You are right..thank you Raven. Goodnight,” She says with a smile, wiping away some tears from her fur.

“Goodnight to you as well, my dear Holly,” I say to her, turning to head to my own bed, not noticing her blush as I start drifting into sleep.

Before I manage to do so though, I think to myself: Now if I can only convince myself of the same..

Author's Note

Hey, remember this story? Me neither. I wanted to try to complete a halfway competent chapter though, and publish it, to gauge whether or not I should actually get back to writing this properly.

This would also be the part where I put the Court Record, but I am on my phone, and it is almost impossible to publish this chapter to begin with, so I will put that here later, if I think about it.

Have a blessed one!