Babs Seed watched all the suspects get pulled back into the main room. However, she couldn't take her eyes off of Golden Delicious. Just how could she be connected to so many evils? Deep in her heart, while the mare didn't want to admit it out loud, she was starting to believe her own granny was the villain this whole time.

All the guards walked by, eating the pie they found earlier, grabbing all the suspects. Except strange enough, her. Lightning Dust walked past Babs Seed five times yet never took note of her. The pegasus did show distress as if she was looking for somepony but could not find them. Instead, the pegasus caved and left Babs Seed behind among the rest of the stuff.

Shockingly, Babs Seed found herself utterly alone now. It was an odd feeling as it was the first time since this whole crime scene stick started. It was nice to not hear all those crazy commotions. She wanted a break from all of Manehatten's loud noises and found herself trapped in this cottage with even more loud noises and hissing cats and stuff.

Wait, with all of them in the other room, why couldn't she hear any of Golden Delicious' many cats? Her hoof tapped on the wooden floor. Not even a single hiss was heard. Babs Seed looked around, her entire side of the cottage was dead quiet. She had no idea what was going on or how she got mixed up in this crazy mess. But now, things were getting stranger.

Her eyes scanned over the room for several seconds and noticed something very odd about the bookshelves. No, something was hidden behind them, the longer she looked the more it became obvious something was hiding in plain sight. After a solid two minutes, she stood up and slowly approached the bookshelves, revealing a shaking shape near the bedroom. With great care, she peeked around the corner and saw a giant cage filled with a bunch of cats.

Babs Seed's eyes widened as an anthromorph hand, a literal hand, descended from the ceiling and picked up the cage. It lifted the massive weight with ease and vanished from her sight. It was at that same moment, she noticed the closet door in the bedroom was wide open and a familiar pair of eyes stood in the blackness.

"Wait... is that Lil Cheese--" In an instant, the whole cottage went black, and screams echoed through the place.

******

Minutes earlier, Blueblood gathered all the suspects into the kitchen with all the guards and even some newsponies. He couldn't see all the suspects but trusted they were all here. He was ready to unveil the truth and as an honest showpony, he wanted everypony to hear his reveal.

"Thank you for arriving." Blueblood stood behind the table, ready to present the final details. "As you know, this case has complications at every turn." He placed images of each of the suspects in order of their stories. Babs Seed, Sombra, Derpy, Golden Delicious, and three other images, face down. The soldiers, Captain Braeburn and Luster Dawn took note of three extra photos, curious where he was going with all of this.

"At the very start, the Crystal Heart was stolen, a major crime and a major mystery," Blueblood explained. "But it wasn't until after the fact that I learned of its connection to everything else and the darker crime hidden in plain sight." He slapped his hoof on the middle hidden image but dared not reveal it until he was ready.

"Another crime?" Luster Dawn raised an eyebrow and looked over her notes. "You mean the diamond robbery."

"No," Blueblood flatly disagreed. "Another crime that we never consider. It has been motiving one of three true suspects the whole time. And we've been getting clues through every single story. And for us to realize it, we need to work backward." He gestured to the image of Golden Delicious, glaring his eyes at her.

"You think I'm connected to all of this? I'm a thief, but not stupid enough to steal that prize." The granny huffed at such bold assumptions.

"No, you aren't the villain, but you do work with one." With that word, he revealed the first hidden image. "Ahuizotl: One of the greatest historical thieves in the world."

"Yes, he would be perfect!" Captain Braeburn assured.

"No, he wouldn't." Luster Dawn denied him the effort of jumping ahead. "He's only involved in one story."

"Not true." Blueblood flipped over to the image of Derpy, turning her gaze to her. "While he is a criminal mastermind. In the public eye, he owns a cattle prong company and sells cat litter."

"And that traces him to Derpy and Golden!" Braeburn jumped ahead again. "All three of them are working together."

"No!" Blueblood slammed his hoof and demanded the captain stop interrupting him. Once that was settled, he moved his hoof over Sombra's image. "There are other details to consider, like the former king." His sight landed on Sombra's ghostly form and asked before the captain could rudely interrupt again. "Tell me, why was Luna trying to defeat a bunch of... pedos."

"Outside from the obvious logic of enforcing the law?" Sombra raised an eyebrow, curious about where he was going in this direction.

"Humor me..." Blueblood gestured with greater kindness in his voice. "Why?"

"Because..." Sombra's eyes slowly widened. "They were about to make a major deal with Ahuizotl."

"Exactly." Blueblood held up a new file and floated it over to the former king. "Examine these details carefully." All were shocked to see him including Sombra in the investigation now. However, the former king was happy to finally be useful again.

The former king opened the file and read the details out loud. "Ahuizotl has been doing business deals with all sorts of criminals. He is not only a master thief but also a master salesman."

"Correct," Blueblood confirmed.

"It is rumored that he has the entire criminal underworld under his tail-hand. However, it was clearly, especially to the princesses that he was always working under a far darker power."

"Yes, a long-forgotten power I never considered until I heard the details hidden in Babs Seed's story." He flipped his hoof to the final image of Babs Seed, but slowly widened his eyes upon noticing she wasn't in the room. "Wait a minute... Where is she?"

It was at this moment all of them finally realized she wasn't in the room at all. In fact, none of them remember bringing her into the room. The soldiers began to panic. Captain Braeburn jumped on the table and stood over the images, demanding for this foreplay to end. "There is no way. No proof at all that my cousin is the final image, the true criminal!" It was shocking to hear him say this despite where the evidence was leading as he spent the entire case so determined to find the real villain.

And yet, Blueblood firmly agreed with him. "You're right. It is not Babs Seed at all, but the only reason you all can't see the full truth is because there is another story we have yet to hear this entire time." He threw the captain off the table and gestured to the middle hidden image again. "Yes..." His eyes intensified upon the final truth. "There is another pony we never considered in this case as the most important piece of them all."

His horn glowed and images flowed above their head. Blueblood wasn't just a masterful detective, but also a brilliant magical sketch artist. He played out perfectly each scene the other suspects foretold in their stories with perfect detail. This revealed things they never considered until now.

"Somepony has been hidden in plain sight." His voice raised as the truth became clear with each passing image. "One who made the suggestion to Tender Taps about the dance recital? Who knew that Babs Seed was leaving in an airship before she ever mentioned it, helping her aboard and vanishing only after it was sent crashing down? Somepony knew a shortcut to Golden's house, through a cave where something horrible had happened Giving the details to Sombra, Luna's trusted ally on this case? They also knew an old mare to be not just the greatest diamond thief but also a brilliant diamond appraise. Able to see the real from the fakes. Golden Delicious." He stopped and pointed to the bedroom. "You kicked the basket into the closet, knowing the true contents from the beginning."

Her eyes widened at such an accusation. "Yes... I sensed it while trapped in the closet." She conceded.

"However, even you didn't know the full scope of things." He tapped on the image louder. "One little filly did."

"Are you saying Babs Seed is our thief?" Captain Braeburn couldn't handle the suspense.

"I knew it was the filly!" Sombra grumbled in defeat.

"No, Sombra, you called Babs Seed a mare, but your target was always a filly. Luna knew about Babs Seed being a mare, therefore, if she were the criminal then the target's description would be different." He was right, utterly so.

"What are saying? That leaves no of these as suspects." Sombra looked back over the file and his own thoughts on the matter."

"No, there is a filly," Blueblood assured them. "And just like "Are you saying Babs Seed is our thief?"

"I knew it was the filly!"

"No, Sombra, you called Babs Seed a mare, but your target was a filly. Luna knew about Babs Seed being a mare, therefore, if she were the criminal then the target's description would be different."

"What are saying? That leaves no of these as suspects."

"No, there is a filly, mentioned in each of the stories," Blueblood assured all of them with a final calming spell. "A filly that knows cheese and balloons inside and out. And who offered the cops catnip and cattle prongs stolen from Derpy to ensure they could arrest the wrong suspects? The same cattle prongs used to knock out Thunderlane and steal the Crystal Heart." All their eyes widened as the truth finally hit even the dimmest of minds.

Yet none of this revealed the truth of the final image that had never been touched this entire time. "Yes..."Blueblood narrowed his eyes on the final image while slowly revealing the second image. "Our first true suspect Ahuizotl... Our second true suspect is... Lil Cheese."

At that same moment, the lights in the cottage went out. Screams and panic came from the soldiers followed by other seemingly random noises. First, a cage shaking uncontrollably. Second, multiple cats hissing and growling. Third, somepony rushed into the kitchen and knocked stuff down. And finally, Blueblood screamed in horror.

The lights flicked on and the worst came. Blueblood, the files, and the last image of the true villain were gone. In their place was a single note under the second face revealed to be Lil Cheese. With no idea who the third face was, they could only read the final message, written in a perfect strangely lyrical format.

Blueblood thought he was ever so clever that unfortunately, his will must be severe.

The Crystal Heart is mine and with it... this song will finally end, now and forever.

******

Author's Note

No, I'm not pulling a rug over your head. This was always the angle from the beginning. I've been leaving big clues the whole time. I even had Blueblood point one out directly.

But in all fairness. Yes, it was my plan from the very beginning to have Lil Cheese play Boingo's role in the story. However, it was also my plan to reveal Lil Cheese was just a cog in a bigger plan, one that I subtly revealed with each story and gave the biggest moments in both Babs Seed's and Golden Delicious. If you want the truth before the reveal next month, I suggest you reread those sections a second time with the knowledge given here.