Chapter 4 - Clashing Viewpoints
“In order to really solve this mystery, we’re going to have to find...clues.”

June 18th - 11:08 AM
Ponyville

For the longest time, I wandered aimlessly along the streets of Ponyville with the six statues of the Council Mares still in tow. I knew I had to return them to Shamus, but surely he wouldn't mind if I took a short walk first, right?

As I walked, the only thing running through my mind was Aura’s situation. Wanting to be found guilty of murder just so that she can be safe behind bars? Was she crazy?

Then again, I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to be afraid of the outside world or keep myself locked up in the same place for fifteen years. In a way, I guess that library could be seen as Aura’s personal prison. The only differences a real prison would hold to Aura are the change in scenery and a smaller living space. So, actually, it wouldn't be that different after all. Still, purposefully finding yourself guilty, throwing your whole future away, that's something that only someone who's given up on life would do. Aura needs help. Someone’s help, pony or otherwise. I want to be the one to help her, but how can I? She probably won't let me visit her again.

My wandering eventually led me to the Princess’s castle. I looked up at the massive, crystal structure, taking in its beauty once again. I remembered being denied access to the castle yesterday by the guards posing at the front entrance. At the time, they said their reason for their denial was because the Princess and her assistant were absent. Now however, I had a new theory as to why I was turned away.

“Well, that's why I was thinking, since prison is a rather well-secured place, perhaps even more so than Princess Twilight’s castle, especially considering the recent break-in, it might not be so bad if—”

Could it be that the reason I wasn't allowed to tour the castle was because there had recently been a robbery of some sort? I was tempted to go up to the guards and ask them myself, but a voice from behind stopped me in my tracks.

“Curious about the castle break-in, are we?” I quickly turned around to see who was talking.

Behind me stood a zebra with his attention fixated on me. His grin came off as rather smug, like he knew something about the break-in that I didn't.

“Umm, yes?” I replied uncertainly.

“Well, unfortunately, that's something you'll have to deal with later,” he said as he walked up to me. “For now, don't you think you should just be focused on Aura’s case?”

“What? How did—” The zebra silenced me with his hoof.

“Worry not about that, Credo.” The zebra began to circle me, officially making me uncomfortable, even more so than him somehow knowing my name. “You need only worry about Aura at the moment. She denied your request, didn't she?”

“Uh...y-yes...she did…but how--” Right then, I noticed a severe burn mark that appeared to be extremely old on the zebra’s right flank. The fur hadn’t grown back, making the shape and presence very distinctive. The bottom of the mark depicted a spiral. The line forming the spiral began inwards and spun outwards eventually leaving and banking slightly right, left, and then right again as it moved upwards, ending above the point where it started. In between the gaps left by the oscillating line were two dots: one dot per gap.

“But even so, you still want to help her, right?” The zebra snapped me out of my gaze as he made direct eye-contact with me.

“Y-Yes?”

“Then why aren’t you at the crime scene right now? The lead prosecutor has given you full access. So why aren’t you taking advantage of that?”

“Ok, first of all, please back away unless you want me to call the police.” The zebra did as he was told and gave me my personal space. “Thank you. Now, second, how do you know all of this? Did you plant a bug on me?” I quickly searched my entire body for a listening device. I even checked the statues, but to no avail. I looked back towards the zebra who was laughing to himself. “Hey! Answer the question!” I yelled.

“Here.” The zebra held out his hoof, offering the card that was on it. Skeptically, I took the card from him and looked it over.

Fortune telling for only 25 bits at the House of Wonders!
Please send requests and payment to either Zeron or Clear Voyant.

I couldn't believe what I was reading. He wasn't being serious, was he?

“You're at liberty to believe what you want,” said the zebra—Zeron, I assume—reading the obvious disbelief written across my face. “However, that will, regardless, remain my answer. Now then, do you have any other questions for me?” Shaking my attention away from the (business?) card, I cleared my throat for my final question.

“Why do you care?” That seemed to take Zeron by surprise...finally. The look didn't last long though, as it was quickly replaced by another smirk.

“Let’s just say I have some...personal things riding on the outcome of this case.”

“Personal things?” I raised an eyebrow. “That's all you're going to say? You can't be any more specific?”

“I don't need to be.” His smirk grew wider as he spoke. “You'll find out soon enough anyway.” What in Equestria was this zebra talking about? “Now then, if that's all the questions you have for me, then I'll just be on my way.” The zebra turned and began walking.

“Hey! Hold up!” I exclaimed, catching Zeron’s attention. “I'm not done talking to you yet!”

“I know,” he said, continuing to retreat. “We can finish this when you come by my place later today.”

“And why would I do that?” The anger I was holding back began to slowly boil up inside me.

“Because I have something you need.” Without another word, the zebra ran off and disappeared amongst the ponies lining the streets.

For the longest time, I stood dumbfounded in front of the castle. There were so many things that I wanted to say, but all I could manage was, “What...just happened?” A question whose answer I wouldn’t be granted by just standing around. I took one more look at the card I’d been given. Curiosity getting the better of me, I decided to keep it. I wasn't planning on going right now, though. I had another delivery that I had to make.

June 18th - 11:23 AM
Ponyville
Ponyville Library

I managed to re-enter the crime scene without much trouble. When I did, I noticed that Shamus was currently talking to a white unicorn stallion who looked strangely familiar. I approached unnoticed, catching the end of their conversation.

“...the autopsy report,” finished Shamus.

“Good. Make sure that you give a copy to that defense attorney too,” said the white stallion with the golden justice scales cutie mark.

“Will do.” With that, the unicorn stallion began walking toward the exit while floating a yellow file in his blue magical field. As he approached, he made direct eye contact with me, still keeping his stern expression. Then he passed and left the building without saying a word.

“Ah, you’re back,” said Shamus, redirecting my focus toward him. “And I see you brought the statues.” His horn emitted a green glow that began enveloping the figures floating beside me. “I’ll just take them off your hooves if you’re done with them.” Seeing as how I was done with them, I let Shamus take the statues back to where they belonged, leaving me with nothing but the card that Zeron gave me.

I took another cursory glance around the library. The place was still crawling with cops, though not as many as before. A part of me was itching to investigate the scene, but the other part was reminding me that I wasn't going to be Aura’s attorney, so investigating would be fruitless. In the end, the pessimistic side of me won, and I decided to leave. Just as I was about to head out though, I heard Shamus call from behind.

“Mr. Credo!” he yelled. I turned to face him, noticing the yellow file floating beside him, identical to the one the other unicorn had. He quickly ran to me, the file following closely behind. Upon catching up to me, he said, “Here, I was told to give you this.” Shamus floated the file in my direction. I could already make a good guess as to what it was, but I knew I shouldn’t be taking it. I sighed deeply and began explaining to the detective.

“Listen, sir,” I began. “I’m...I’m not really Aura’s defense attorney. I only said that to get access to the crime scene. I deeply apologize for--”

“What are you talking about?” Shamus interrupted. “Prosecutor Light gave you free reign of the crime scene because you would, without a doubt, be the defense attorney in this case.”

“What!?” Whoa whoa whoa. Slow down. Those were too many facts to take in all at once. “Prosecutor Light? I’m going to be the defense attorney? What are you talking about?”

“One question at a time there, bud. I can answer, but you’ve gotta calm down first.” He was right. I took a second to collect myself before prompting Shamus with questions.

“Ok, first, who is Prosecutor Light?”

Shamus responded, “Semper Light is a prosecutor who just transferred to the Ponyville Prosecutor’s Office about a week ago. He's not that well known as far as prosecutors go, so it's not surprising that you don't know him.”

Semper Light… Just as I suspected. He was the white stallion who was here earlier. So he's a prosecutor, huh? I guess that shouldn't be surprising considering his cutie mark, but what is he doing here? Now that I think about it, I never asked Midnight or Aura about what happened to him after he was found ‘not guilty’ in the CS-4 Incident.

“Do you know anything else about him?” I asked, hoping to glean an answer.

“Plenty.” Shamus nodded. “But I'm not sure he would want me, or anyone, to talk about it.” Looks like, if I want answers, I'll have to ask Semper himself.

“So what did you mean when you said that I would be the defense attorney?”

“Hey, I didn't say that, bud,” Shamus said, holding up a hoof. “That was all Prosecutor Light.”

“What do you mean?”

Setting his hoof down, Shamus continued, “Well, apparently, as soon as the murder was reported, Prosecutor Light immediately requested to handle the case. Not only that, but after you were taken away for questioning, he came to me and asked that you, specifically, be allowed to examine the crime scene. When I asked him why, he told me it was because you were going to be the defense attorney.”

“He mentioned me...by name?” Now I understand why Shamus didn't seem to have much of a problem with letting me into the crime scene earlier; he had already been told to let me in. The detective’s actions, however, contained a contradiction of the facts as I knew them. Before I could posit the question however, the Shamus shoved the file he was still floating towards me.

“If you aren't planning on being the accused’s defense attorney,” he said, “you'll probably have to explain that to Prosecutor Light himself. In the meantime, this autopsy report is yours.” I stared at the file for a short while before grabbing it with my own magic. “Oh, and you might want these, too.” Shamus floated over my attorney’s badge and my saddlebags (something that I hadn't yet unpacked from my suitcase).

“I thought you couldn't give this back to me yet.” I reminded, taking both items in my own magic.

“We hadn't finished performing tests on them,” Shamus informed. “Now that we have, I can give them back to you.” Something about that didn't feel right, but even so, I didn't raise any further questions. With my saddlebags, I finally had a place to put the stuff I was carrying and give my magic a rest. After fastening the bags to my back, I placed my attorney’s badge and Zeron’s card inside. As for the file, I hesitated at first, but eventually I opened it up to see what it contained.

Inside, there was a photo of the victim’s face, right flank, and a full body shot. The photos reminded me of the ones that were taken for passports. Below the photos was some personal information and the actual autopsy.

Name: Midnight Brilliance
Gender: Female
Species: Pony
Race: Unicorn
Age: 56

The victim was stabbed in the throat with a two-pronged weapon and died from the resulting blood loss between 3 and 4:30 AM on June 18th. In addition, there was a slow-acting poison found in the victim’s bloodstream that shut down the central nervous system after entering the body. The victim, however, was dead long before the poison could take its lethal effect.

After reading through the report a few times, I opened my saddlebags and put the file inside.

“Well,” Shamus began. “What are you going do? Are you going to take a look around the crime scene?” I thought to myself for a minute. I wasn't the defense attorney on this case, but for some reason, Semper Light was convinced that I was going to be. Why was that? As much as I felt like I shouldn't, I needed to continue investigating this case. There were too many unanswered questions that were related to me.

“Yes,” I answered. “I'll give the crime scene a closer inspection.”

“Then shall we get moving?” Shamus gestured toward the back of the library and the two of us walked side by side as we made our way to the scene of the murder.

The doorway leading into the workshop that Aura had mentioned was the first stop on my investigation at the request of Shamus.

“Before we head inside,” he said, “you should see this.” He directed my attention to a card reader on the wall to the right of the door. “This is the card reader that unlocks the door to the lab where the murder took place. It can only be activated by swiping the sole keycard across the sensor.” I nodded in understanding. “Every time the card is swiped, it leaves a record that shows the date and time the card was used.”

“And do you have the record printed out?” I asked, to which Shamus merely nodded. He trotted over to the receptionist’s desk, picked up a file, and came back over to me. Opening the file with his magic, he pulled out a single sheet of paper.

“This is it,” he said as I took ahold of the record.

Keycard Usage For June 17th
7:32 PM

Keycard Usage For June 18th
Never Used

I looked back up at Shamus, puzzled. “Uh, so how did the killer get into the crime scene? You're not going to suggest that they were hiding out since the late afternoon, are you?”

“Of course not. After all, you saw the accused in her room the night of the crime, right?” A bit of anger sparked in me when Shamus referred to Aura as the killer, but I let it slide for now and continued asking questions.

“So, how do you propose the killer got in then?” Shamus gave a wry smile as I put the record and the autopsy report in my saddlebags.

“Look at this,” he said as his horn flared green. I heard a soft creaking noise from behind and turned to see what it was. The sound came from the metal door as it was slowly closed by Shamus’s magic. When the door was nearly shut, I noticed that both the handle and lock on the door had completely melted. In their place was a giant hole about the size of a pony’s head that went all the way through the door.

“Whoever broke into this lab didn't use the keycard,” Shamus explained. “They simply melted the lock using an acidic concoction and pushed the door open.”

“I see…”

“However, the culprit did leave something behind.” Shamus opened the door again and pointed to the floor. Right in the middle of the doorway was a huge bloodstain, reaching from one side of the frame to the other. I remembered seeing Midnight lying in this bloodstain when I discovered her and Aura earlier. What I didn’t see at that time however, was what lay just beyond it. A set of six bloodied hoofprints led away from the bloodstain and into the lab.

I jumped over the bloodstain to get into the room and take a closer look. As I did, I was assaulted by the strong aroma of something sweet (cotton candy, maybe?). The hoofprints were clearly defined on the tiled floor. They were heading toward the long counter that was against the wall opposite the door to the lab. A quarter of the way there though, they suddenly stopped. It wasn't like they gradually became less defined and then stopped though. I mean the hoofprints just suddenly and unnaturally stopped. It was as if whoever made them just vanished after walking a few feet.

“These hoofprints are made in the victim’s blood,” Shamus explained. “We are assuming that the culprit left these to deceive us into believing that they entered the lab after the victim was killed.”

“Wait, what?” I said, snapping my head around towards Shamus. He jumped over the bloodstain to join me in the lab.

“The bloody hoofprints on the ground there are a clever disguise by the culprit.”

“What makes you think that?” I said, looking at him with scrutiny.

“The fact that the hoofprints suddenly stop. This tells us one of two things: the culprit teleported, or the culprit retraced their steps after making these tracks.”

“So, why are you eliminating the possibility that someone teleported away?”

“According to the Spell Database for Ponyville, the only three residents capable of teleportation are Princess Twilight Sparkle, Starlight Glimmer, and Midnight Brilliance. The former are both out-of-town and the latter is dead. Therefore, teleportation is out of the question.”

“The Spell Databases only have records for the town residents though, right? What if there was a pony here in Ponyville that hasn't been registered as a resident?” Shamus smirked.

“You're clever to have thought of that. Unfortunately for you though, that is also impossible.”

“How so?”

“Let’s say that the culprit came from outside. Since the library was locked, the only ways they could've gotten into the building would be either through a window, or picking the lock on the door. All of the windows in the building have collected a modicum amount of dust, meaning that none of them have been opened or cleaned in at least a week. So, in that case, the culprit must've entered through the front door, and only a unicorn could've picked the lock without leaving any traces.”

“Hold on. Couldn't a unicorn have also teleported inside? That way, there would be no need to pick the lock.”

“Nope,” Shamus continued. “This library may not be armed to defend against lock-picking, but it is armed to defend against teleportation. There is a zebra amulet built into the desk out front that casts a shield around the library. The shield was designed to prevent ponies from teleporting in to or out of the building. The amulet shows no signs of having ever been removed, so the only other way one could make it stop generating a shield is if they were to break it. Since the amulet is still whole, it's obvious that that didn't happen. Therefore, the only way a culprit from outside could've entered the building was if they picked the front door’s lock.

“Now, suppose that happened. The culprit would've came inside, committed the crime, and left these tracks, right?” I nodded to show that I was still following along. “But how did they then escape without leaving more bloody hoofprints?” I had to think for a moment on that one.

“Well...they, um...uhh...teleported near the door and then walked out?”

OBJECTION!

“Sorry, but that's impossible, bud.” Shamus wasted no time in shooting down my remark. “If the culprit teleported to the front door and walked out, then there should be bloodstains there, right? But did you see anything when you walked in earlier?” I couldn't deny that I saw nothing of the sort.

“W-Well, maybe the culprit wiped them away afterwards.”

“Nope.” Shamus said rather confidently. “If that were the case, then our luminol testing would've revealed that to us. However, all of the luminol tests in this building have turned up negative. The only bloodstains that exist at this crime scene are those in the lab that you can see with your own eyes.”

“Ngh!” My face contorted, causing me to bare my teeth for a split second. I didn't want to admit it, but this detective had me cornered.

“And that leads us to the only logical conclusion,” Shamus began. “The killer didn't come in or leave through the door, they didn't climb in through a window, and they couldn't teleport in or out of the building. So then, where did the killer come from?”

“They must've...come from inside…” Uh-oh.

“Exactly, which means it was either you or Miss Aura. Seeing as how you were completely free of blood, that proves that it couldn't have been you.”

“Well, what if I had just washed the blood off in my room and came back downstairs?” I realized I was incriminating myself, but I needed to see just how confident this detective was in his findings.

“That's something that we considered,” Shamus replied. “But we know now that that's also impossible. We know you can't teleport thanks to your registration into the Ponyville Spell Database at the train station yesterday, so if you had washed the blood off, you would've left bloody hoofprints on your way to do so. Now Miss Aura, on the other hoof, was covered in blood over her entire front side and on all four legs and hooves.”

“That's only because she was crying over her mother’s body!” I pleaded, even though I had a feeling it wouldn't be enough to convince Shamus.

“Or is it? Perhaps the reason she even did that was to create a reason for her hooves to be blood-caked.”

What!? No! Aura… Aura wouldn't have…

“You see, Mr. Credo?” Shamus said. “It could only have been Miss Aura who committed this crime.” As the detective concluded his argument, my body froze in place. My mouth stood agape as the rest of my face went pale.

“I… I won't believe it…”

“Hm?”

“The pony I spoke to in the detention center… There's no way someone as fragile as her could commit a murder like this. I refuse to believe it!” Shamus gave a long sigh.

“I guess I shouldn't expect someone as naïve as you to understand,” he said, fueling the fire that was already building up inside of me. “But a pony’s ‘personality’ means nothing as evidence. Everyone is capable of murder, be it foe, friend, or family.” Shamus’s gaze drifted off to the side. “It doesn't matter how close you are to someone, they can always stab you in the back.”

“I am not NAÏVE!” I snapped, having been so focused on that part of what Shamus had said that I missed everything else he said. My sudden outburst snapped Shamus’s attention back to me. There was a long pause as the two of us merely stared at each other. Finally, I couldn’t take the silence any longer. “I think I’ll investigate the rest of the crime scene by myself.”

“Very well.” Shamus made like he was going to leave, when he suddenly turned around and floated another piece of paper from the file he had grabbed earlier over to me.

“What's this?” I asked, looking at the document.

“These are the crime scene floor plans; I thought you might find them useful.”

After looking over them, I reluctantly placed the floor plans in my saddlebags.

“Thank you,” I said instinctively, turning away from Shamus and toward the crime scene. “Now, please leave me be.”

“As you wish.” Shamus hopped over the bloodstain in the doorway, leaving me to investigate on my own.

Ok, first crime scene investigation. Remember, check every nook and cranny, and leave no stone unturned. Aura’s counting on you.

After psyching myself up, I first gave a cursory glance at the crime scene from just in front of the doorway.

In front of me was the counter where the bloody hoofprints were leading. Below the bare, green countertop were several brown cabinets that were all closed. To my right were two cupboards with glass lining the front of each case. Inside were various herbs, powders, liquids, and minerals, each labeled for ease of retrieval. The only other thing in the lab that caught my eye was an open safe in the far right corner of the room, though from the angle I was at, I couldn't tell what was inside.

From my perfunctory examination, the layout I saw was not much different than what the floor plans described, but it doesn't hurt to familiarize oneself with the scene before giving it a closer inspection. Taking a deep breath, I readied myself mentally to begin that inspection. Feeling confident, I marched on over to the counter in front of me.

As I approached, the sweet smell that I had noticed earlier became stronger. Once I had reached the counter itself, the smell was almost overbearing. There was a sink built into the far left end of the counter from which the smell was emanating. I looked inside to see if whatever was creating the smell was still there, but when I looked inside, I found nothing. Sick of smelling the sweet aroma and seeing nothing of particular interest, I turned away from the sink and continued my search of the counter.

The entire countertop had been nicely wiped, without a single speck of dust in sight. I guess that shouldn't be too surprising though. After all, Aura said that she had practiced making potions in here. Since the countertop seemed to offer nothing of interest, my attention shifted to the cabinets beneath. I opened each one with my magic and looked inside. There were several pieces of equipment like bucksen burners, mortars and pestles, beakers, test tubes, and many others that I couldn't even hope to attach a name to. Everything was neatly organized. Not a single piece was out of place...except for one thing. There was a cabinet on the right side of the counter that held a row of what looked like test tube holders. Each one looked exactly the same: a black base holding up a black pole that spilt into two about a quarter of the way up the stand so that a ring that was attached to both poles could hang in-between while the two poles continued upwards until each one finally came to a sharp point at about the length of a grown pony’s knee. There were nine holders lined up in front of the other equipment stored in this cabinet. If it weren't for the dust mark left where another one should've been, I might not have realized that one was missing. Smiling to myself, I closed the cabinet along with the others.

Yes! I just found my first clue! I could barely contain my excitement, but I managed to remain calm, cool, and collected on the outside even if, on the inside, I was jumping for joy. After getting over my discovery, I continued my examination of the crime scene.

The next things I checked were the two cupboards behind me. If my logic was sound (and the floor plans didn't lie), then these held the ingredients used for the potions made in this lab. I tried to open the doors with my magic, but they were locked. Luckily, the key was hanging on the wall to the left. After unlocking the doors, I opened them both and looked over the various items inside. It looked like every ingredient had been used at least once, evidenced by the varying levels of ingredients left. I carefully checked every bottle, jar, and bowl for any signs of their potential use in the crime, but unfortunately, I found nothing. The cupboards themselves didn't offer up anything new either. Saddened, I locked up the two cupboards and returned the key to its rightful place.

The last thing to check was the safe. I turned around and slowly made my way over to it, sweeping the floor with my eyes as I did. When I arrived at the safe, the first thing I did was decide to check its contents. Inside the safe was...nothing! What a shocker! Totally didn't see that one coming.

Well, I guess I can't say that the safe was completely empty. A fine layer of dust covered the entire interior, even more so than the cabinets beneath the counter. In a similar fashion though, there was one area that was free of dust: a small, rectangular area near the back wall. I leaned in closer to get a better look and ended up smacking my head on the top of the safe.

“Ow!” A sharp pain shot through my head causing me to flinch backwards. As soon as I did, another pain shot through me, though this one hurt less than the first. Once I had recovered a bit, I examined the safe again to see what happened. It felt like some of my mane had been ripped out when I flinched back. Sure enough, when I looked at the top of the safe, I found some of my black mane caught in the area where the roof of the safe met its front. As I pulled my lost pieces of mane free, I noticed I wasn't the only one who had hit their head on the safe. After removing my hair and placing it in my saddlebags, I began pulling free the hair of another individual. Once I got the pieces out, I looked over them to see if they held any clues. The only thing I was able to gather from them however, was that they were orange...the same color as Aura’s mane. Unfortunately, this won't prove anything, and certainly not anything in my favor. Still, I held onto the pieces of hair to give to Shamus when I was done. I couldn't go around hiding evidence, even if it could be detrimental to my case.

Still holding the pieces of hair with my magic, I continued my examination of the safe. I began by moving the safe door into view with telekinesis. Like almost everything else in this room, the safe door was covered with dust, including the 10 digit keypad and wheel that I guess were used to open the safe. Looking a bit closer at the wheel though, I noticed one section of it was free of dust (that also seems to be a running thing here). The wheel had about the circumference of an average wall clock with three spokes jutting out from the center and leading to the twelve o’clock, four o’clock, and eight o’clock positions. The section of the wheel that lay between the four and eight was the area that was free of dust. Curious, I used my magic to rotate the wheel which caused three bars to slowly emerge from the right side of the safe door, most likely used to keep the door shut when it was locked. The wheel stopped turning after only spinning it halfway around. The clean part of the wheel was now between the spokes that would point to the two and ten on a clock. Taking note of this, I returned the wheel and the safe door to their original position. The rest of my examination of the safe turned up nothing of value or interest.

Seeing nothing else in the lab that caught my attention, I called my investigation to a close. I looked at the pieces of hair that I held in my magical field, knowing that still I needed to deliver them to Shamus.

When I returned to the library portion of the building, Shamus was right there waiting for me.

“So. Do you feel like you have a good understanding of the crime scene?” Seeing him act so smug made my temper flare just a bit. I was still bitter over his earlier comment, but now wasn't the time to go down that road.

“Yes,” I replied. “And I think I even found something that you overlooked.” Acting a bit smug myself, I floated over the pieces of hair to the detective.

“Oh? And what are these?” He asked, taking them with his own magic.

“I'm pretty sure they're pieces of somepony’s mane. I found them caught in the roof of the safe.”

“I see…” The detective carefully inspected each piece, taking his time doing so.

“I’m sure a DNA analysis will reveal exactly who they belong to.”

“And you honestly believe they won't belong to Miss Aura? I mean look at the color.”

“Yeah, I know. It's the same color as Aura’s mane. But even if it’s revealed to be hers, I don't know what you can prove with it. Aura told me that she uses that room all the time, so it's not unusual to find her hair there.”

“Given the prosecution’s case,” Shamus continued as he floated over a coin envelope. “Her hair could certainly prove something.” He placed the hairs inside the envelope and sealed it shut, making sure to get all the air out.

“What would it prove?” I asked, curious as to what Semper was going to claim in court.

“I'm afraid I can't tell you that.” Shamus refused without even a thought. “Knowing the prosecutor’s approach to a case ahead of time gives you an unfair advantage. All you can know is that he will try to find Aura Sensory guilty of her mother’s murder.” He answer enraged me, bringing to the surface a question that I have had on my mind for a while.

“But why?” I asked, trying to control my temper. “Why is Prosecutor Light trying to find his own sister guilty? He should know that Aura doesn't have the demonic and selfish black heart of a criminal. So why--”

“You're saying Aura isn't selfish?” Shamus interrupted. “The mare locks herself away for fifteen years despite the pleas from her mother and older sister to come out. She doesn't care about anyone else, all she wants to do is secure her own safety.”

“That's not true!” I yelled. “She tried really hard to get her cutie mark for her sister!”

“And how did she try to do that?”

“W-Well… she tried making potions, learning magic, being a librarian, and becoming an attorney.”

“All of which do not require her to leave the house. Not even in obtaining her attorney’s badge did she have to leave this place as Miss Midnight managed to arrange her bar exam to be taken here in the library.” My eyes narrowed, flaming with fury, while my teeth clenched as I let out a growl.

“And what's she doing now, might I ask?” Shamus continued, not caring about the expression I was giving him. “Could the reason why you said you weren't going to be the defense attorney for her be because she denied your services? Even after she made you run an errand for her? Tell me, Mr. Credo, who's really the selfish one?” It took every bit of power within me to hold myself back from attacking Shamus.

“What is your problem?” I resorted to questioning to relieve my anger. “First you call me naïve, and now you taunt me?”

“You claim that criminals are ‘selfish, demonic, and black-hearted.’” Shamus said, looking away. “Yet you seem to believe wholeheartedly in Miss Aura’s innocence despite her selfishness. By your logic, you should at least be questioning whether or not to trust this pony. You've only just met her. She could be a changeling in disguise for all you know. Your immaturity has led you to trust this mare based on nothing but her own words. That kind of attitude is just asking for betrayal.” He turned back to face me. “I have no issue with you, personally. I am merely pointing out the flaws in your own logic.” Words could not describe how angry I was. He had insulted me beyond what I could allow. Payback was in order, and I knew just how to deliver it.

“You're right, ” I told him. “I shouldn't be so openly trusting...especially not to liars like you.”

“Wh-What!?” Shamus flinched back in shock.

“You want to find the flaws in my logic? Then how about I find the flaws in yours.” Shamus stared at me, his smirk wiped clean off. “You told me earlier that the reason you let me into the crime scene was because Prosecutor Light told you that I was going to be the defense attorney. What I bet he didn't tell you though, was what I looked like. When I came up to the door and asked to examine the crime scene earlier, you didn't even ask me my name, but you still let me inside. I doubt someone as untrusting as you would've let me in just because I said I was going to be the defense attorney. You only would've let me in if you knew for a fact I was Credo.” Shamus stood silently, not showing any outward signs that I was getting to him. “So tell me Shamus, how did you know who I was?” There was a period of more silence before Shamus spoke again.

“I think it's about time you left,” He said, pointing towards the exit.

“Oh, I don't think so,” I replied, standing my ground. “You're going to answer my question first.”

“You misunderstand, little pony.” I felt myself suddenly surrounded by magic and lifted off the ground. “As the head detective of this crime scene, I have the right to remove you whenever I please.” Shamus walked toward the exit with me still in his magical grasp.

After opening the doors, Shamus set me down outside. I tried to rush back in, but his magical grasp still surrounded me and was too strong for my muscles to overcome. “I don't want to see you again until tomorrow. If I do, I'll charge you with tampering with the crime scene.”

“What!?” Shamus answered my perplexed outburst by floating up the coin envelope containing the hair I found.

“You removed these hairs from the crime scene without my permission, did you not?” The detective’s signature smirk had returned to his face.

“W-Well…” Shoot! I forgot about his warning.

“That's a crime, Mr. Credo. I'm willing to overlook it for now because you brought me the evidence and told me where you found it, but should I see you around my crime scene again today, I won't be so forgiving.” Now it was my turn to be stunned into silence.

“I see that you understand.” Shamus said, releasing me from his grasp. “Now please go away, and don't come back.” With that, the smug detective shut the doors to the library, leaving me angry and alone.

To be continued...

Author's Note

Proofreaders: PeerImagination and 0_0

Now that Season 7 has started, I feel the need to make this known: ONLY EPISODES UP TO AND INCLUDING SEASON 6 ARE CANON TO THIS STORY. It's certainly possible that a future episode in Season 7 may render the plot of this story impossible, so I just need to make sure everyone knows that episodes that aired after "To Where and Back Again Part 2" are not going to be canon to Ace Attorney: Heart of Justice and should not be thought of as such.

There, now that that's out of the way, I hope you enjoyed and are looking forward to Chapter 5!