Trigger Happy Equines

“Now then, let’s begin with a simple explanation of the killing game trial! During the trial you will present your arguments for who the killer is and vote for ‘whodunit.’ If you vote correctly then only the guilty will receive punishment and the game will continue. But if you vote incorrectly… Then I’ll execute everyone besides the killer, and they will earn the right to–”

“Oh, shut up!” Elsie interrupted. “We all know the score and don’t need you rubbing it in our faces!”

“Touchy, touchy!” Monobunny retorted. “It’s a tradition to reel off the rules before each trial, but I suppose I can make an exception this time.”

There it is again, I thought. If it’s a tradition, that means there were more killing games besides this one. How many can there have been?

“Hello, everyone?” Lancet spoke up. She pawed meekly at the ground. “I really don’t want to believe that one of us is to blame for this. After we spent so much effort trying to keep everyone safe, can this really have happened by our own hooves? Is there not a chance that Monobunny is the culprit?”

“I understand your concern,” Mesmer said, “but Pinkie’s death also seemed impossible at first. No matter how farfetched it may seem, I do not doubt that one of us is the killer.”

“The question is,” Dish Panner said, “how did Yoko die? He was a big guy, literally a mountain of muscle, a fighter and an athlete, but somehow he was beaten into a pulp. Who could even be capable of something like that?”

“Everyone,” I said aloud, everyone’s heads turning towards me. I took another breath. “He may have been a champion sumo wrestler, but nobody is invincible. Not a single equine in the world could survive their neck being sliced open.”

“Exactly,” Mesmer said, flashing me an approving smile. “We can’t restrict our judgement based on who we think could overpower him.”

“Oh, ho!” Monobunny gasped melodramatically. “This doesn’t have anything to do with the murder trial, but Greyscale just said something that’s completely untrue!”

“What?” I said, stunned. I relayed what I’d said over again in my mind. “What did I say that was false?”

“One of you knows for certain what it was,” Monobunny said, rubbing his paws together. “But it’s not important right now. You all have a trial to solve! Will the killer be found out or will they get away scot-free? I don’t know! Don’t ask me!”

“Let’s forget that for now,” Dopple said, stopping me before I could retort. “First, we need to consider how Yoko died.”

“Yes,” Sanscript said, shivering. “Yoko’s death is most peculiar, especially considering a particular wound that I simply can’t wrap my brain around.”

Lancet nodded. “His left foreleg was amputated with surgical precision. Simply uncanny…”

“If that’s true,” Elsie said, “wouldn’t that make you the most suspicious one among us?”

“I may be a talented surgeon,” Lancet replied without hesitation, “but even I would struggle to perform such a perfect cut, even if I had all of the required tools. The knife we found on the body wouldn’t even come close to being adequate. His muscle mass alone would cause ample issues, not to mention cutting through bone.”

“That’s something I wondered,” Maribelle said wearily. “I didn’t spend too much time looking at the body, but could this amputation have been made simply between the joints, through cartilage? If that’s the case, you wouldn’t need to touch his bones.”

“I can vouch for the Doctor,” Copper said. “I saw the end of his loose leg. Bone was definitely sliced.”

“I’m sure we can figure it out,” Dopple said. “It might even give us another clue as to what happened.”

Just as before, the stage slowly began to spin, a dazzle of lights illuminating the stage, signifying the trial’s first debate. A leg sliced clean off, I mused. It was seemingly impossible. But I wasn’t about to let it stump me!

Truth Bullets

Crowbars

Pieces of Metal and Glass

Broken Lock

State of The Body

MonoMart Stock Check

Lancet: Yoko’s leg was sliced clean off. Whatever did it cut right through the bone.

Inky: I’m no expert, but couldn’t that have beendone with a saw?

Dish Panner: I’m pretty sure there were saws in the MonoMart, so it’s possible.

Maribelle: Are we sure it couldn’t have been chopped off with the knife? After all, it was found on his body.

Copper: It’d take a great deal of force to do something like that. I don’t think even Yoko himself would’ve been capable.

Sanscript: Perhaps it was down to the killer’s secret method? It’s possible it was more than the use of a simple tool, but a much cleverer method that we might be unaware of.

Inky: Like, some kind of trap?

Button: Oh, maybe it was self-inflicted!

Elsie: What!? Why would Yoko cut off his own leg!?

Button: The killer could have hoof-cuffed him onto something, so he escaped the only way he knew how! But then he was killed anyway, so it was kinda wasted effort.

Elsie: That’s a preposterous idea. Personally, I think his amputated leg is linked to his other injuries. It could very well have been caused by the same thing.

Copper: Whatever it was, he must’ve been in tremendous pain. I can’t even imagine.

Dish Panner: His leg can’t have just fallen off! What in the world happened to him?

Mesmer: Oh, it’s quite the mystery. Right, Greyscale?

The injury seems utterly implausible, but that’s the biggest clue of all! Given what I’ve already learned, it makes complete sense. I just need to convince the others!