Trigger Happy Equines

gvter niheWnel fik ehmoi

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tihre Wvlgnemh oen eifki

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hWilm regvnton ehe ikfie

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Wihle revmiong eth kinfe

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While removing the knife

< Argument Break >

“You would’ve been able to reach the rec room with levitation, maybe even putting the rope just out of sight, but you’re right that sending it into the fire from that distance would’ve been an unbelievably difficult task. The fireplace isn't situated opposite the door, but a little off to the left, so you'd have needed to be much closer to the doorway to have a decent chance at pulling it off. But this little fact got me thinking... It didn’t occur to me at the time, but it was rather odd of you to pull the knife out of Yoko’s neck the instant we found him. But that was simply the perfect opportunity, wasn’t it? To use your magic in front of Dopple, Lancet and I, our attention focused on the knife, on Yoko’s lifeless body, all while you, with your new vantage point, could carefully lift the fireplace guard out of the way and cast the rope into the fire.”

Elsie collapsed, her body shivering with terror and panic, spluttering as she choked on tears. She pounded hopelessly at the floor with her hooves, smashing her glasses into pieces as she cried out in pain. Every ounce of confidence and gusto had been drained from her body. She was nothing more than a wreck now. “No… This can’t be!”

“That explains it,” Lancet said painedly. “I should have wondered why Elsie took out the knife before the investigation even started.”

“To tell the truth,” Dish Panner said, “I thought you had done that so you could inspect the body. Until Greyscale said so, I never even considered it could’ve been Elsie.”

“Then who?” Maribelle asked. “Who did you think was guilty among us?”

Dish Panner hung her head. “It doesn’t matter now. I should’ve known that nobody could be trusted.” She raised her head. “You did an excellent job in fooling me, Elsie. But I guess those long, thoughtful conversations we had meant absolutely nothing to you. Not that I can really hate you for it, I suppose.”

“Yeah,” Inky muttered solemnly. “She was real nice to us out in the courtyard, huh? I really enjoyed our talks, you know? I don’t have a damn clue about interior design, but it sure sounded important to you, so I liked hearing you talk about it. Not to mention how much you love your kids.”

“Kids?” Copper spoke up. “Elsie, you’re a mother?”

“Yeah,” Inky answered. “She mentioned ‘em to me and Dishy. She said she has four: one son and three daughters. Didn’t say too much about them, but I guess it must be hard to talk about.” She held a hoof up in Elsie’s direction as if to try and comfort the whimpering mare. “Elsie, I don’t have kids of my own, so I don’t completely understand, but I think if I did, I’d want to be with them more than anything else.”

“Is everyone certain?” Maribelle asked. “If we’re to cast our votes, we can’t risk being wrong.”

“I’ll make it easy for everyone,” I said. “I’ll break down everything we learned in this case, piece by piece from the very beginning. Then after that… the killer must face their punishment.”

“HERE’S EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED IN THIS CASE!”

“The killer’s plan was put into motion just after the end of the first trial. While most of us took some time out to rest after that traumatic event, the killer wasn’t about to sleep on their chance to commit murder. They snuck into the MonoMart while the rest of us were unawares. Except, as it happened, for the soon to be victim, Yoko Zuna.

“The killer took a bunch of items that they needed, including rope, a large glass container – one of the gargantuan cider bottles – as well as some flour, several crowbars, razor blades, nails, screws, glue, and a combat knife. This all sounds like a heck of a lot, far more than anyone could be expected to carry out even in multiple trips, but the killer was more than capable. Through the use of unicorn magic they were able to quickly collect and levitate everything they needed outside.

“You’d be forgiven for thinking that Yoko would have told us all about this later that day, considering he was in the same building, but the stallion had flung himself into an alcohol-fueled spiral of despair, either not caring about someone else’s presence or becoming too drunk to even retain those memories in the first place. This way, the killer remained undetected, and carried their murderous tools to the side of the hotel building and through their own window.

“In what seems like an attempt to either give the illusion of an impossible crime or check that nobody else could start on a murder attempt of their own, the killer then attracted the attention of Ink Slinger and Dish Panner, convincing them to join her in the MonoMart. The three grabbed some snacks before relaxing at the picnic tables in the courtyard, but not before watching Yoko skulk off, an assortment of spirits in his possession.

“A little while later, Monobunny called everyone to the dining hall. During the discussion that followed, we all agreed that we needed a way to prevent anyone from taking any dangerous items from the MonoMart while the rest of us were unaware, and came up with the preferred method – the MonoMart Stock Check. A group of us – including myself and the killer – went along, and each of the dangerous items in the store’s corner were laid out for all to see and meticulously counted. Not only that, but the numbers of each item were recorded in paint on the floor tiles below. This, funnily enough, was done by the killer themselves. We had all assumed that however many of each item there were, this was the full amount, and we would only consider an item to be missing if the number was less than what had been painted. Given the fact that we had only ever been to this section of the MonoMart once before, it was unlikely that any of us could have noticed anything was missing.

“For the next few days our group performed this stock check periodically and found no deviation from the ‘original’ amounts, meaning we had no reason to believe that anyone had taken anything at all. This would lead right up to the investigation itself, which took place before the store’s normal opening hours.

“With the items themselves, the killer had some work ahead of them. They poured away the cider from the huge glass bottle and filled it with nails, screws, razor blades, and other pieces of shrapnel. The container would also require a certain amount of flour in order to create what would become a deadly weapon – a nail bomb.

“The killer would also construct something else from their assortment of items. By wrapping a coil of rope around some crowbars in a certain pattern and gluing them in place, they had created a makeshift grappling hook. These were some rather elaborate methods used by the killer, but ironically, the one item they had brought along for an entirely different use would actually cause Yoko’s end.

“Early on the day of the murder, the killer had several things they needed to do. First, they needed to ensure that nobody would leave the hotel, as there was a chance they could be caught in the act. To do this, they drew up a sign and placed it on the inside of the entrance. It proclaimed to be an order from Monobunny, threatening them to stay inside or risk punishment. But there was a chance someone could discover this was a fake provided they summon Monobunny using the lobby’s service bell. Given that Monobunny is prohibited from lying, he wouldn’t have been able to trick others into helping the killer succeed. So the killer hid the service bell by floating it up to the roof, meaning anyone who saw the sign would have to risk their limbs in order to test its validity.

“Next, the killer set up the nail bomb in the recreation room, which we had previously chosen as a meeting place for the group in charge of the MonoMart Stock Check for that time. They had also lit the fire, likely with some matches they’d taken from the MonoMart. They had also done something else that was vital for their plan to succeed – they had opened the window.

“Next, the killer used their makeshift grappling hook to climb up to the roof. They then set it in place just above the recreation room window and lowered themselves down. This allowed them to essentially stay in mid-air, circumventing the rule that disallows unicorns from floating by simply levitating an item and then holding onto it. From this position they were able to see the exact moment someone entered the room, while also being able to manipulate the objects inside it, most notably, the nail bomb.

“Just after six, Yoko walked into the regular meeting place, and was subsequently caught in the trap. The killer used their magic to shake up the nail bomb like a snow-globe, the flour creating an explosive atmosphere inside. Then, using some kindling from the fireplace, they plunged a flame into the bottle and tucked their head behind the wall. Yoko had known something was wrong and tried to escape, as evidenced by the fact his wounds were across his hind legs and torso, but he was was caught in the blast, the room was left in shambles, and the table upon which the container had been sitting was blown to bits. The fire, however, was left intact, due to the rather solid fireplace guard being fitted in front of it.

“Next, the killer closed the window. While this normally would’ve been against the rules, since Monobunny has made it clear that only simple telekinesis is allowed, where the object being controlled is separated only by air, it was still possible to close the handle on the inside thanks to some holes in the glass caused by the explosion.

“While the killer clambered back onto the roof and dropped down into their own room, something was happening on the inside that they could never have expected. Yoko, thanks to his immense body mass, was able to survive the explosion that would have obliterated any normal pony. He crawled with the last of his strength towards Reph’s door, trying to get help, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

“He hammered on Reph’s door a few times, trying to get the stallion’s attention, but Reph was scared into submission, having already heard an explosion happen right next door. Yoko was hitting it hard enough to buckle the door itself, but made a mistake when he accidentally broke the door’s magnetic lock, which is against the rules. Seeing this, Monobunny appeared and sliced off one of Yoko’s legs, leaving him helpless.

“On the inside of the room, Reph was frozen in fear, not having any idea what could be causing such a ruckus. While he didn’t look out through his peephole, he kept a keen ear out, confirming that aside from Yoko, there were no hoof-steps outside during this time. This would go some way to discounting the idea that a different killer had struck while Yoko was weak and unable to defend himself, but there was another piece of evidence that sealed the deal completely.

“Once the killer had climbed down from the roof and through their window, they began cutting apart the grappling hook. If we’d found it intact during the investigation, we’d have been able to figure out their method with relative ease, meaning the killer had to find a way to take it apart. They did so using a combat knife that they’d taken from the MonoMart.

“Thanks to two pieces of information, we can deduce that this was the only knife of its kind that wasn’t accounted for by the stock check, and also that it was used for this very purpose. Firstly, thanks to a comment made by Monobunny, we found out that there were eight of each type of knife kept in the MonoMart, with seven combat knives on the stock check, leaving this as the only missing knife. Secondly, thanks to an experiment by Mesmer during the investigation, we know that razor blades couldn’t have been used in its place, as they were a poor tool to cut the rope. Even if the killer had chosen to use them instead of a knife, that would mean in the short amount of time between the explosion and the discovery of Yoko’s body, they would’ve been incapable of severing it in time. As such, we can know for sure that the knife was used by whomever set off the nail bomb.

“The rope was cut from the crowbars, but still left behind some residue from the glue and a few fibers. Pushed for time, as it was expected that others would investigate the explosion, the killer levitated the crowbars outside and around the corner of the hotel, letting them fall to the ground. This alerted Maribelle and she went to investigate, only to be stopped by the sign at the entrance.

“With Yoko thrashing about in the corridor, the killer heard this and looked out through their peephole to see what had happened, to find that to their shock, Yoko was still alive. Their murder attempt had failed, so they did the last thing they could think of – fire the knife like an arrow and stab Yoko’s neck until he bled to death. Whether through panic or as a part of their plan, the killer also sent the rope they’d been carrying to the end of the corridor as well, and hurled it into the recreation room. Given the distance and the fact that they wouldn’t have been able to see the fireplace from that viewpoint, being able to dispose of it in that way wasn’t possible at the time.

“At around this time I was searching the gym and listening out for anything suspicious. I met up with Lancet in the hallway and got the attention of Dopple, and we went to investigate. Once we’d turned the corner, we saw the body, and Lancet let out a scream. Upon hearing this, the killer burst out from their room, pretending to believe that Lancet was being attacked and coming to her rescue.

“We approached Yoko’s body and stared in dismay. But the killer still needed to get rid of the rope. It would’ve been suspicious if their horn lit up without us seeing anything move in front of us, meaning they had to find another way. And so, in order to distract us and take our attention, they placed themselves in a spot where they had a better view of the inside of the recreation room and pulled out the knife from Yoko’s neck, holding it in front of us. Considering the great lengths we’d gone to in order to prevent the use of weapons, not to mention the bloodbath before us, we were in total shock. Taking advantage of the situation, the killer also used their magic to unclip the fireplace guard and lift it out of the way, allowing them to toss the rope into the still burning fire. Unfortunately for them, a small piece of it survived unscathed. They then feigned fainting, dropping the knife. Everyone came to the corridor because of the body discovery announcement, and the investigation was underway.

“This was an elaborate murder attempt gone wrong, but in doing so added another layer to our search. The killer must have decided upon it before the end of the first trial and kept the items in their room, keeping them for when the time was right, with the meeting place offering the perfect opportunity. There’s only one of us here who could’ve been capable, and who would’ve been able to witness certain events. And that’s none other than the Ultimate Interior Designer, Elsie De Pone!”