Trigger Happy Equines

“ALLOW ME TO CUT THROUGH THOSE WORDS!”

Broken Window <> would’ve cut off their magical tentacles

< Argument Break >

“First of all, they’re tendrils, Inky, not tentacles. Secondly, they wouldn’t have been cut.”

“Actually,” Sanscript butted in with, “both words would suffice in describing how it works. I’m not against the use of tentacles.”

“I’ll hold you to that!” Inky exclaimed, giggling. “But seriously, why not? The unicorn would’ve needed to close the window before moving the handle, and that’s impossible from the outside! Once the window is slammed shut, it’s shut! They’d need to go through the glass or something, which is against the rules.”

“They went through the glass, alright,” I explained. “That is, through the holes in the glass that were produced when the bomb went off. Pieces of shrapnel shot through, meaning the unicorn’s tentacles – I mean tendrils – could have just gone through those. That way they could’ve locked the window without needing to be on the other side.”

“Ah, damn.” Inky threw her head back and let out a groan. “I thought I was onto something there, but I guess you were right all along.”

“This does make a whole lot of sense,” Dish Panner admitted. “I’m sorry I doubted it initially, but it all seemed too ridiculous. Now it fits, for the most part, at least. We’re still having to make assumptions.”

“A good detective needs to make assumptions,” Mesmer cut in with, breaking his silence after what felt like an age. “Questioning every little thing and considering the most minutely possible freak occurrences is rarely the most helpful strategy.”

“Does this mean I’m a good detective?” I beamed.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Mesmer replied, shrugging.

Of course. I shouldn’t have expected anything different.

“Hey, hey!” Button cried, pointing a hoof at Mesmer. “You’re doing that thing again! What’s the word? Cryptic? Yeah, it’s like you’re trying to bamboozle us, but I’m not gonna fall for it!”

Mesmer raised his eyebrows as if to say ‘whatever,’ catching an accusatory glare from Maribelle, before going silent once again.

“J-just one thing,” Reph quivered, raising a hoof. “Wouldn’t it have been a little risky to do all this? What if someone went outside and saw them?”

“They didn’t, though,” Copper said. “If it was that early in the morning, who would’ve been up?”

“This might not have happened,” Dish Panner huffed, “if we hadn’t designated the rec room as the MonoMart meeting place. We could've just left it at meeting by the entrance.”

“Wait,” Inky piped up. “Wasn’t it Greyscale who suggested it in the first place?”

“Yes, but it was Mesmer who agreed to it,” Dish Panner replied. “Something like this happened in the last trial. Copper made a suggestion for watching out over the stairs, but it was Shetland who agreed to it since it helped him recover Pinkie’s body.”

“Don’t!” Copper cried, baring her teeth in fury. “Don’t make it out like it was my fault, okay? I came up with what I thought was a good idea, one that would’ve let us keep an eye out for Pinkie. It didn’t turn out that way, and Shetland nearly got away with it because of me. Do you think I don’t regret that every minute of every day?”

“I’m sorry,” Dish Panner said, looking forlorn. “I was merely stating an observation.”

“Correlation doesn’t equal causation,” Mesmer growled. “If you’re seeing patterns like that you might as well give up trying to solve this. Besides, we’re in danger no matter where we go. It’s not as if the rec room was a death zone while everywhere else was a safe haven. That’s why I feel no guilt in agreeing to Greyscale’s proposal. If we’d agreed to meeting outside and someone was killed outside, would that also implicate me? Copper, you too shouldn’t feel a shred of guilt either. Pinkie was already dead by that point, anyway.”

Copper averted his gaze, her cheeks flaring. “Yeah. Well.”

“I r-really mean it,” Reph stammered. “The killer would have been outside, clambering all over the walls. If they were spotted, it’d all be over.”

“Yes,” Mesmer said, raising an eyebrow. “And they would’ve had to go into the rec room with a nail bomb at some point between last night and this morning. They could’ve been spotted while they were doing that.”

“That w-would’ve been easier than–”

“It doesn’t matter,” Mesmer interrupted. “Any murder requires some risk.”

“I almost went outside this morning, before the body announcement.” Maribelle looked indignant as she said it. “I can understand why Reph would consider it.”

“Why?” Mesmer asked. “This is an odd thing to bring up. What possible reason could you have for going outside so early on? You’d better not be lying just to undermine me.”

“No, I’m not,” she said sharply. “It was the noise.”

Mesmer scoffed. “What noise? If you’re talking about the nail bomb, which I’m sure most of us heard, you would have clearly heard it coming from inside the building, unless something’s wrong with your hearing.”

“I’m not talking about that,” Maribelle continued. “I didn’t mention it before because I wasn’t sure what it was, but now I’m pretty sure. It was the crowbars.”

“The crowbars?” Copper parroted.

Maribelle nodded. “I heard some kind of metallic clatter outside my room. I have the window open at night, so that’s probably why I heard it.”

“Reckless,” Mesmer chided. “Anyone could find their way into your room and you wouldn’t stand a chance. But anyway, continue.”

“After I heard the noise, I went to investigate. I don’t know why I did it, really. I knew the danger, but a part of me thought perhaps the exit door had opened, and I’d just heard the mechanism. I rushed to the lobby, but could go no further. Monobunny had forbidden it.”

“What!?” Sanscript exclaimed. “Whatever for? Was the exit truly open?”

“I don’t think so,” Maribelle answered, a tinge of anguish in her voice. I felt as if I now understood her sudden change in mood since this morning. She had gotten her hopes up only for them to be dashed in an instant. Even now, she was fighting with herself, coming to terms with our dire situation. Since the last trial she’d become more prone to emotional outbursts. Her incredible beauty had been eclipsed by dejection and panicked fervor. In that moment, I desperately wanted to hold her. Not in a sensuous way, but as an act of protection. She was a tragic sight. “Even if it was, I would have surely been cut to ribbons by Monobunny for breaking the rules.”

“He was blocking the way?” Elsie asked.

“It’s obvious,” Dish Panner said. “If Maribelle went outside and spotted the killer in the act, it would’ve been one short trial. My guess is he wanted to make things more exciting, at least in his own warped sense of reality. Having the killer be caught before an investigation has even started would’ve ruined his fun. Though isn’t that cheating, somewhat?”

“Well,” Maribelle muttered, cupping her jaw. “He wasn’t blocking the way, but he had a warning sign put up.”

“Well yeah,” Button said, looking bemused. “He needed to be around to cut Yoko’s leg off when he smashed up Reph’s lock, so he couldn’t have been in two places at once.”

“I don’t buy it,” Copper fumed, her ire pointed directly at Maribelle. “Did anyone else see this sign she’s talking about?”

“Yes,” Dopple said. “A small group of us encountered such a thing stuck to the inside of the entrance, but Monobunny tore it down and allowed us to search the grounds and MonoMart.”

“In that case,” Copper continued, “I still don’t buy it. I feel like Maribelle is hiding something!”

“Why would I?” Maribelle shot back, sounding offended. “Dopple already backed up my story, so what is your problem?”

“I think you know,” Copper said annoyedly. “You’re not an idiot, so don’t try and act like the ditzy dolt all of a sudden.”

What’s gotten into her? I wondered. Copper looked as if she was ready to fight. “Copper, is everything alright?”

“Grey, do your thing,” she said, giving me an affirmative nod. “We need to get to the bottom of this.”

Truth Bullets

Threatening Sign

MonoMart Stock Check

Service Bell

Reph’s Account

Piece of Rope

Copper: Something stinks about Maribelle’s story.

Elsie: Are you sure? I can confirm Dopple’s statement. Monobunny put up a signto stop us from heading any further.

Copper: Did it occur to you that may not have been the case?

Sanscript: I knew it! The killer put up that sign, making us think it was Monobunny’s doing!

Dish Panner: If it wasn’t Monobunny who put up the sign, the threats would’ve been meaningless.

Button: You know, it makes me wonder…

Copper: Exactly. Maribelle’s statement doesn’t add up. She could’ve easily checked with Monobunny if it was real or not!

Button: No, I mean, what if the killer had some secret method of getting stuff from the MonoMart!If they scared everyone off, nobody could see what they were doing!

Copper: It doesn’t matter what was behind the door, what matters is Maribelle’s testimony!

Reph: If only the group who went to the MonoMart before the rest of us saw the sign, Maribelle must have seen it before then.

Maribelle: Of course I did. I’m not lying to any of you!

Is Maribelle really trying to lead us on? There’s something I need to clarify in order for us to reach the truth!