Cristal Blanc: Murder in Manehattan

It was six o'clock in the morning in the city of Manehattan. It's said that this city never sleeps, and I'm beginning to think that it's true. The sun was barely rising, but the traffic in the streets was already crazy.

I was sitting in a booth in Café D'amour, the only artisanal Prench coffeehouse in Manehattan, staring out the window and in the café. As a private detective, it's a habit for me to observe everything; even the smallest detail can turn the tables in a case.

The café was nearly empty, although it wouldn't be for long. The morning rush would be coming in about a half-hour. Currently, there was three customers in the café, excluding myself, and a pony working at the counter.

Two ponies sat together at a table across the café, obviously in love. One was a navy stallion with a dark orange mane. He wore a trench coat and fedora, which obscured most of his features, including his cutie mark. He was a pony that didn't want to be identified. His friend, however, didn't share that feeling. She was a bright pink Pegasus with a rainbow sherbet-colored mane. Around her neck hung a blue opal necklace, and her cutie mark was a basket full of gems. She was a rich pony, probably spoiled. The stallion was most likely deeply in love, and the feeling was reciprocated by the mare, but the mare's family probably disapproved of him, causing them to have to date in secret.

The third pony was a Unicorn. He was old and had a grey coat, although he had nearly no hair. He wore a tweed jacket and read the Manehattan Monologue, the city's newspaper, through thick black glasses. His cutie mark was obscured by the numerous chairs between my eyes and his flank. However, I could tell that he was a pleasant man, with more than a few cats at home.

The pony at the counter was a teenage mare with a green coat and black hair. She wore her eyeliner thick and had several piercings. This was a part-time job for her, and she hated every second of it.

I took a sip of my coffee. It was bitter, but with sweet notes, and very creamy. The steam condensed on my muzzle as I sipped it, making it cold, despite the heat coming off the beverage.

The door to the café swung open, the bell above it jingling like mad. A cyan Earthpony walked in. She wore a pine-colored windbreaker jacket and held her lavender hair back with a yellow headband. She looked around the café, her face brightening up when she spotted me. I brushed the loose hairs from my mane out of my face as she approached.

She took a seat in the booth seat across from me. She seemed like a pony that didn't waste time, always doing something. She only supported that theory when she began talking to me. Her words poured out of her mouth almost faster than I could comprehend them.

"Hey! I'm Bubble Runner. I heard you were a good private detective, and I've got something for you to investigate. You dig?"

I thought for a minute, taking in the mare in front of me. "What kind of case?"

"Somepony I know's been murdered, even though the police say it was a suicide. I don't believe 'em, since I've known Sunny Side since high school, and she never once acted depressed in the ten years since then. I'm gonna hire you, and you're going to prove 'em wrong. Deal?"

Despite myself, I felt a sense of intrigue. I had never solved a murder in Prance, and it had always been one of my dreams to do so. That's how I found myself saying, "When do you want me to start?"

The apartment in which Bubble Runner said Sunny Side lived in was an old brick building. Police tape surrounded the entrance. Cop cars were parked at various angles in the street, and police personnel scurried about. Showing an officer my badge, I ducked below the police tape and entered the building.

The halls were narrow. The floorboards creaked with every step I took, and the greasy wallpaper peeled away in the corners. Dust danced in the air, backlit by the solitary window at the end of the hall. Sunny Side's apartment, room 312, was at the end of the hall. Officers stood by the door, guarding the room. I entered, immediately moving towards the head detective.

"Bonjour," I said, showing him my badge. "Cristal Blanc, Private Detective. Might I ask your name?"

"Detective Carl Lass. I don't remember hiring a private detective, so why are you here?"

I already disliked the detective, and I had just met him.

"A friend of the victim is convinced that this was more than a suicide. Do you mind if I look at the body?"

"Yes, in fact, I do." The detective made the mistake of turning around and ignoring me. I crept over to the body of Sunny Side, beginning my detective work.

The Earthpony laid on the floor on her back. One arm was laid on her stomach, and the other stretched right past her head. Her yellow coat was stained red on her neck and the top of her chest, and a puddle of blood had formed on the floor between her head and shoulder. A generic kitchen knife was stuck at an awkward angle in her jugular vein. A trail of blood ran down the side of her face, beginning at the corner of her mouth closest to the floor. Her eyes were wide open, and she was staring directly at the window, which was open.

"What did I tell you about checking out the body?" Detective Lass said, coming up behind me. I couldn't help but smile at his feeble attempt to stop me.

"This was not a suicide, Detective," I said definitively.

"And just how do you know this?" the detective said, impatiently tapping his left forehoof.

"Look at the angle the knife is at. That is a very hard angle to stab yourself with. Unless she was double jointed. Was she?" I began, spinning towards the detective.

I managed to catch him off guard. "Uh... no. She wasn't."

"Well then! Notice how her eyes happen to be staring at the open window. It's said that the brain stays alive for a few seconds once you've been killed. What if our dear Sunny Side was giving us a clue as to how our murderer escaped?"

"You don't have any scientific proof to that claim."

"I'm simply using all of my resources." I walked toward the window. "Have you dusted this for hoofprints?"

"Not yet, no."

"Well, don't bother. You won't find any. Our murderer wore gloves, as to conceal their escape. However, they are obviously a hefty horse, as you can see by the stress on the window ledge."

"This complex is old. Anybody could put stress on the pane."

"Well, they'd have to be large to leave this behind!"

I pulled a pair of tweezers out of my front coat pocket, followed by a little plastic bag. With practiced caution, I pulled the single hair that had been caught on the window's handle and placed it in the bag. It was thin, long, and yellow.

"You can't take that! That's withholding evidence from the authorities!" Detective Lass shouted, walking over to snatch my hair. I skillfully kept it out of his reach; Unicorn magic is helpful that way.

"How about a truce?" I said. "I get any and all of the information you have and find, and I help you prove that this was not a suicide."

Detective Lass looked torn. "Lemme guess, if I don't say yes, you're going to keep that hair from me, huh?"

"Mm-hm."

"I could arrest you for that, you know."

"Oh, I've only been in Equestria for a few weeks. I still haven't had time to check out the laws here." I made a mockingly innocent face.

The detective sighed. "Fine. Give me the hair, and I'll get it analyzed at the lab. Come by tomorrow for the results and the rest of the information on this case."

"Thank you." I said, walking up and giving him the hair. I then left the apartment, heading outside.

Once I exited the building, I looked straight in the direction of the window that I found the hair on. There was no evidence that any rope had been tied there. So, either I was dealing with a crazy Earthpony that jumped from fourth story windows, or, more likely, a Pegasus, or even a Unicorn. Noting everything I'd seen, I began walking toward my own apartment, getting ready to think up some hypotheses.