Trigger Happy Equines

“NO, THAT’S WRONG!”

State of The Body <> She must have drowned!

< Argument Break >

“I don’t think she drowned,” I said, my statement stopping the stage’s movement and reverting the spotlights back to their original, static positions. “Maribelle and Doctor Scalpel undertook an autopsy and found that to not be the case. Moreover, they discovered she had a broken neck.”

“Oh, really?” Inky said, looking flustered. “I didn’t realize.”

Sanscript furrowed his brow. “A broken neck. How could that have happened? Was she struck on the head with a weapon of some kind?”

“No,” Maribelle said. “The Doctor and I found no bruises or marks on her body that would indicate such a thing. From what we could tell her broken neck was the only injury she suffered.”

“So then…” Sanscript trailed off, looking worriedly around the room. “Someone here snapped her neck with their own hooves, much like a ninja?”

“Aha!” Button cried, stomping a hoof down fiercely. “That means we can narrow our suspects down to just two: Shetland and Yoko! They’re the only ones big and strong enough to do such a thing!”

Suddenly the two stallions found themselves under harsh gazes. “Wait!” Yoko cried. “You can’t assume that because of our size!”

“He’s right,” Dopple interjected. “Even if that is indeed how Pinkie was killed, we can’t say for sure that nobody else is capable. Raw strength wouldn’t be the only thing necessary; anyone here with the relevant martial arts knowledge could have potentially done such a thing. We know nothing about each other, so can we say for sure that none of us are able simply based on appearance?”

“What about telekinesis?” Inky asked. “Wouldn’t that make it easier?”

Dopple shook her head. “The rules already stated that using magic on other participants is prohibited, so unless she was killed by some other method and then had her neck broken afterwards, none of the unicorns present could have done such a thing. And since she didn’t show any other injuries I think it’s safe to say that couldn’t have happened. Her broken neck was the cause of death.”

“I still don’t get it,” Dish Panner said, tapping her chin. “None of us saw her all morning and then suddenly she winds up dead out of nowhere.”

“The question is,” Sanscript began, “how Pinkie could have been murdered within that timeframe. If the search was completed without finding her, and each group stuck together, how could the killer have then found her and killed her?”

“Unless someone is lying,” Copper stated. “What’s to say someone here is being protected, even at the cost of the protector’s life? How can we be sure some of us here don’t already know each other and worked together for someone to go free? Either that, or some of us here have been on Monobunny’s side from the very beginning.”

“We can’t assume that,” Mesmer said. “If we start going down that path then we’ll end up speculating on wild theories forever. We should be viewing this as any normal murder scenario.”

Shetland nodded. “The problem is where to start. All we know for sure is the murder method and nothing else.”

“Oh, I know,” Maribelle said, raising a hoof. “How about her actions and movements this morning? That way we can figure out how she died.”

Elsie rolled her eyes. “But none of us saw her. How could we possibly work out what she was doing before she was killed?”

“Still,” Dopple said, “we might be able to find something out if we talk it through.”

“Agreed,” Shetland said. “One of us here has to know something.”

I began thinking hard, trying to remember if any clues to Pinkie’s whereabouts had been known prior to her body being found. Nothing came to mind. But there has to be an answer somewhere…

Truth Bullets

Pre-Meeting Swim

Pinkie’s Keycard

Pinkie’s Towel

Ladder

Scalpel: Aside from the killer, none of us saw Pinkie this morning.

Elsie: We were all in the dining hall by eight apart from Inky, so she’s the only one who might’ve seen her before the search!

Inky: But I didn’t see her, I swear!

Reph: Is it possible she could’ve been in her room during the search, which is why we couldn’t find her?

Shetland: But we searched her room, remember? She was nowhere to be found.

Maribelle: Unless she left her room before you broke the window, and walked off while we were all busy searching?

Yoko: We can’t know for sure that she made her way up to the third floor while we were distracted. We were still searching all the available rooms, so it’s possible she snuck past?

Elsie: It would be quite the coincidence in timing.

Copper: But remember before Shetland broke in he didn’t break the window at first. If Pinkie heard someone banging at her window she might’ve run off, worried that someone was there to kill her.

Shetland: The curtains were closed at the time so I couldn’t see into the room. I can’t say for sure whether she left before any of us got inside.

Maribelle: It does sound convincing. After all, there was no sign she’d left her room before then.

Button: Maybe she was hiding someplace else, though?

Sanscript: Not possible. We would’ve found her during the search.

Inky: I’ve got it! She was hiding on the roof!That’s why we couldn’t find her!

Button: What!? But how could she have gotten up there without any wings?

It’s true we don’t know exactly what Pinkie was up to this morning, but we can narrow it down based on evidence. I just need to prove it!