Case Report #70085
Recipient: Enigma
Agent: Slim
Date: 05/30/88 TR
Subject: What follows is a detailed report of the interview with one 'Detective Hutch' who was apprehended yesterday at 2100.
Suspect was found allegedly attempting to flee the city. Suspect was found stowed away in the hold of cargo ship 'Cherry Picker' along with Suspect Lexicon (see report from Agent Shady).
Suspect was arrested under suspicion of (REDACTED) and possession of an illegal weapon.
Description of suspect:
Name: Hutch
Gender: Female
Age: 30 (approx.)
Race: Earth pony
Occupation: Detective at Manehattan police department
Physical Description: Average height, typical earth pony build. Brown coat, dark brown mane and tail with teal highlights (both cut short), orange eyes. Cutie mark in the shape of copper 'justice' scales. Was wearing a black cotton shirt and police standard saddlebags when apprehended (see further notes for contents).
Did not resist arrest and has not requested a lawyer.
No previous violations.
The following was found in the aforementioned saddlebags:
1 spiral notebook
1 black ink-pen
1 earth pony cellular phone (with headset still intact)
Enough food and water for one day
1 pair of brass horseshoes
(Personal Note: At your request, Princess Twilight has not been informed of the arrest. However, I believe it would be in our best interests if she were enlightened. We have more than enough evidence and I fear she will become suspicious given this latest development. The final decision is yours, as always.)
--Slim
"Please state your name for the record." Slim nodded toward the small tape recorder on the table and the mare scowled.
"Detective Hutch." Her voice was quiet and gravelly and Slim moved the recorder a little closer to her side of the table.
"Thank you. I'm sure you know how this works, so I'm not going to bother explaining the process unless you have specific questions for me." He paused expectantly.
Nothing.
"Alright then. So why don't you start by telling me--"
"Am I under arrest?"
Agent Slim glanced up from his papers to regard the mare with mild interest. Her gaze was powerful, almost haughty, he could only imagine what being on the other side of an interrogation with her would be like. It was a 'just what do you think you're doing?' kind of look. Like he had been caught doing something naughty by a strict school teacher. She had probably cracked a lot of ponies with that glare.
"That's what the officers said when they apprehended you, isn't it?," he said, choosing his words carefully, "you're being detained and questioned regarding your possible involvement in our case."
"Apprehended?" the corner of Hutch's mouth jerked up into a wolfish approximation of a smile. "And what was I doing when you 'apprehended' me?"
"You were stowed away on the Cherry Picker."
"Are you sure? How do you know I didn't lose an earring in one of those crates of cherries and was just looking for it?"
"Were you?" Slim asked, knowingly taking the bait.
"No," Hutch answered with another brief smirk, "but you can't take my word for it. Did you search the ship? Look through every crate of cherries?"
"This isn't your case, Detective."
"So I'm a suspect?""
"Not necessarily--"
"Yes or no?" Hutch's rough voice sharpened into an icy dagger and her mouth was pressed into a hard line. She was challenging him--testing his mettle. He wasn't going to get away with trying to talk in circles. She wanted to know if he knew his way around an interrogation as well as she did. If he couldn't answer to her satisfaction there wasn't going to be an interrogation at all. She wanted to see him squirm in his seat like an anxious greenhorn and bask in the knowledge that she had him pinned firmly under her police issue horseshoe.
Too bad for her.
"Yes," he said flatly, never breaking eye contact. This wasn't his first time interrogating a difficult suspect, and it definitely wasn't his first time interrogating a pony from law enforcement either. He could play this game for as long as she could--maybe longer.
The mare didn't blink but her eyes narrowed slightly. She didn't look surprised. A pony like her would have to know that she was a suspect. She ran her tongue over her teeth and leaned back in her seat with a curt nod. He had passed her test and had her permission to continue.
Or he thought he did.
"I assume you're questioning Lexicon too?"
"You're friend is being questioned in the interrogation room next door, yes."
Hutch glanced at the door and her neutral expression briefly crushed into a faint frown. Slim almost expected her to say that he didn't know anything, that they should leave him alone, or something like that. Suspects always got upset when their accomplices were being questioned without them. It was always easier to weasel information out of ponies when they didn't have backup after all.
But Hutch was a detective. Of course she wouldn't give herself away like that. Her frown faded back into a blank stare that she turned on the agent again. He almost shivered under the frost of it and almost wished he was questioning the other pony instead.
"Let's start at the beginning," Slim began again, "tell me everything that happened beginning from April 18th to now."
Hutch gave a humorless snort, "How much time do you have?"
"We can continue tomorrow if we have to," Slim assured smoothly, feeling a swell of satisfaction at having cut her down so easily. This might be easier than he thought.
Hutch's chest rose and fell in a noisy sigh and she leaned closer to the recorder.
"From the beginning?"
From: Enigma
To: Agent Slim
Please refrain from talking about THAT even in private correspondence. Secrecy is of the utmost importance until everything is perfectly in order.
Your concern regarding the princess has been considered and rest assured that the correct procedure will be implemented. Her Eternal Majesty is a very busy mare and will only be troubled if it becomes unavoidable. I will personally see to the matter myself should it arise.
--E
Author's Note
It's finally starting!! This first chapter is VERY short but I wanted to set the stage and have the next chapter begin the story proper. Consider this a prologue of sorts. A tiny appetizer to get you ready for the full story! Please let me know what you think (even though there's not much to read yet).
You can find a picture of Hutch here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CdhZZJNj4I3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
