Trigger Happy Equines

“NO, THAT’S WRONG!”

With a towel? <> no way to avoid being seen!

< Argument Break >

“The answer is simple,” I declared. “Shetland used a towel.”

“A towel?” Elsie balked. “Are you trying to insult us!?”

“Not at all,” I replied. “We need to remember the specific rules set out by Monobunny concerning the machine gun cameras. All four of them are independent from each other. For example, the machine gun camera pointed at the male locker room won’t react if a stallion tries entering the female locker room and vice versa. So in order to bypass this you only need to prevent yourself from being seen by that one camera that blocks your path. While the doors leading from the corridor into the locker rooms require a relevant keycard to gain access the doors in the swimming area itself are styled like the entrance to a saloon, meaning anyone can physically enter.

“The next step is deducing a method of evading the camera itself. What’s important to remember is the stipulation. If the cameras should see you trying to enter a restricted area the machine gun will cut you down. Monobunny said this explicitly.”

“And as an added security precaution, if the camera should ever see anyone trying to get into the incorrect locker room, this machine gun will mow then down, no compromises!”

“And so,” I continued, “provided someone is not seen by a particular machine gun camera, they won’t be shot. The cameras can’t be maneuvered or switched off, so the only way to get past them is to obstruct the camera’s view.”

“Which means…” Scalpel pondered on my statement, deep in thought. “If you put a towel over the top of the camera lens–”

“–it wouldn’t be able to see you,” I finished. “That’s how Shetland was able to get into the female locker room.”

“Utter nonsense!” Shetland bellowed. “You really think I would risk something like that!?”

“Yes,” I said matter-of-factly. “Or maybe it isn’t really a risk if you’re taking Monobunny’s words at face value. He’s repeated over and over again that he strives to be honest, and so if we’re to accept that, the machine guns would never activate if the camera was obstructed, even if he knew full well that you were in a restricted area. None of the other cameras in the area are privy to this rule, only the ones aimed at specific entrances. Plus, unlike most of the cameras in the dome, those cameras sit atop tripods, making it easy to cover the lenses without the need to fix the obstruction in place to stop it from falling.”

“Wait a second,” Dish Panner piped up. “If Shetland pulled this off, wouldn’t he have needed to access Pinkie’s locker twice this morning? Once just after he killed her and then once again just after Scalpel left the locker room. He’d need a towel in both instances, wouldn’t he?”

“Pinkie’s towel!” Sanscript cried in shock. “Shetland and the Doctor found it hidden during the search, so he would’ve had one in that very moment! Doctor, did Shetland keep hold of Pinkie’s towel when you left?”

Scalpel was shaking nervously, looking as if she could vomit at any moment. Her eyes were glazed over and she refused to look anywhere but the floor in front of her. “Y-yes. I found it, but, he took it.”

“Doctor!” Shetland called hysterically. “Please, you know I wouldn’t do this!”

“That’s it then!” Sanscript affirmed. “After killing Pinkie he took her towel and hid it away in the storage room, then set up the search so that he could go back there. He pretended it was a vital clue pointing to her whereabouts but really it was left there so he could get to her locker and bring the body out into the open!”

“Hang on a second,” Elsie said. “If that’s the case then surely Shetland would’ve needed a towel this morning, before the meeting, if we’re to assume that he killed Pinkie before the search.”

“Not only that,” I said, “he would’ve needed one before the swimming session between myself, Dopple and Yoko.”

“But that’s strange,” Dish Panner said. “I understand he could’ve used Pinkie’s towel after taking it from the storage room, but if he needed it this morning, how did he get into the locker room in the first place?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Think about it,” Dish Panner continued. “The fact that the inflatable ring was there shows that Pinkie went to the swimming area by choice. She wasn’t dragged against her will to the third floor. Could Shetland really have followed her all the way there without being noticed and killed her just before she went into the locker room?”

I furrowed my brow. “Why would he need to get to her before she reached the locker room? Couldn’t he have just entered through the male entrance and then attacked her on the other side?”

Dish Panner shook her head. “No, that wouldn’t make sense. Why would Pinkie take her towel with her into the swimming area? Surely she’d keep it in her locker for after the swim. If that’s the case, how would Shetland have even covered up the camera in the first place?”

“Maybe we’re overthinking things,” Copper piped up. “Couldn’t Shetland have just taken his own towel with him?”

“That would work!” I blurted out. “So then, he kept hold of a towel while he was following her? I suppose it wouldn’t have been suspicious to keep a towel if you were going that way.”

Copper shrugged. “What’s to say they didn’t meet up to go swimming together? That way it makes sense how it could’ve all happened before you three went swimming. Why would someone go skulking around with a towel just hoping for someone to go swimming so they could pull off a murder? If Shetland’s the killer, surely he could’ve just agreed to go swimming with her and then attacked while her guard was down.”

I couldn’t help but cringe. It was all so obvious, and I’d not even considered it. “Yeah,” I said, avoiding eye contact with Mesmer. I was sure he was enjoying my minor screw-ups. “That must be it.”

“No way!” Inky cried. “Don’t forget about her Pinkie sense! She would’ve known if someone was planning to murder her. She can tell if someone is lying and can sense other’s intentions! The killer must have snuck up on her!”

“Miss Slinger, please,” Sanscript said disdainfully. “We can’t take such outlandish claims at face value. Pinkie didn’t have special powers; she just claimed she did.”

“But she wouldn’t have lied about that!” Inky shot back.

“Then chances are,” Sanscript said, “she truly believed she had this ‘Pinkie sense’ but was merely deluded.”

Inky folded her hooves together and turned her nose up. “Nope. I’m still willing to believe.”

While I wasn’t entirely convinced by the existence of Pinkie sense, it did seem odd that Pinkie Pie – someone who had proven to be exceptionally good at reading others and so confident in her abilities – would decide to go swimming with someone else and not consider the prospect of being murdered. Something felt off. I kept this thought to myself, however, for fear of derailing the trial.

“I’m a… little confused about something,” Reph said. “Greyscale, you said Pinkie’s keycard was glued back together and then put back around her neck, b-but that had to have happened just after Dr. Scalpel left the locker room.”

“Yes,” I replied.

“That’s what I don’t get. That means as he was walking into the swimming area he would’ve needed some glue and Pinkie’s cut keycard. But how can that be? We were all together when the search began and you, Copper and Dr. Scalpel were with him heading up to the third floor. Surely someone would’ve noticed him grab something like that on the way.”

“That’s easy,” Button piped up. “He could’ve just left that stuff in the locker room!”

Yoko shook his head. “No, that’s not right. All the locker doors had been removed, remember? Me and Greyscale passed through there twice and would’ve seen if something like that was stashed there.”

“Exactly!” Shetland roared. “This whole theory is insane!”

“No,” I said forcefully. “There’s definitely something you could’ve done.”

“Well!?” Shetland shot back. “What is it!?”

I closed my eyes and thought for a moment. I’d figured this part out already. The answer was on the tip of my tongue.

How did Shetland sneak items into the swimming area?

P E C K I S H T R O T