The body of the late Beacon Bomber lay on a table in the center of the spacious walk-in refrigerator. The cover which had been draped respectfully over him was now tossed aside, revealing the corpse. He had a white coat of fur with a red mane and tail. His bloodied shirt was partly undone, the stab wound clearly visible through the punctured tear in the fabric. There was a small, thin scar below the wound.

Dupon and Turing Test stared down at it.

It, Turing thought to herself. Not ‘him.’ Ponies have a curious way of referring to inanimate things. Things that are not ‘alive’ in the organic sense. When I was first activated, many ponies similarly referred to me as ‘it.’ Until a short while ago, Beacon Bomber was a ‘him.’ And now that he is dead, he is not. He is… It is…

Turing’s eyes briefly contracted. “Cognitive loop detected,” she whispered aloud.

“Pardon?” Dupon said, lifting his gaze from the body, his breath forming steam in the frigid air as he spoke.

“In the earliest days after my activation, I did not possess emotional responses,” she explained. “But new experiences and the rapid accumulation of experiential data allowed me to develop new cognitive abilities. When I experience a new emotion, it registers as a loop in my cognitive function. Essentially, I recognize the experience as significant and meaningful, and I process an appropriate reaction. I now have an emotional range comparable to most organic ponies… but this is new… I feel…”

Dupon furrowed his brow. “Minister, are you well?”

Turing said nothing for a moment as she stared down at Beacon Bomber. Though she had seen him before shortly after his murder, his body was now completely cold. His still eyes had a dull look, and they stared unseeingly. No heartbeat, no nerve impulses, no breath, no brain activity. Just sunken and…

“...Empty,” she said.

“Minister?”

“Twilight Sparkle’s books have occasionally mentioned that the dead have an ‘empty’ look to them. As if a cadaver were merely a shell for something vital, and once that vitality had departed, the body is nothing but an empty husk. A discarded shell. I never understood these analogies until this moment. It is…”

She again met Dupon’s eyes. “Disgusting,” she said. “I have been disgusted by ponies’ actions before, by which I mean that I found their actions morally deplorable. In contrast, this may be the first time I feel something analogous to physical repulsion.”

Dupon’s expression softened. “Oh,” he said. “I apologize, Minister. I did not think that a robot would have such a reaction to this sight. Having seen such things before, I didn’t consider that you would… oh dear, do you wish to withdraw from this investigation? I’m terribly sorry if I—”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Apologies, Inspector Dupon. I have let emotion distract me from my task. Though this sensation of disgust is unpleasant, it is of no importance. After all, it is not as though I have a stomach to be sick to.”

Dupon cracked a smile. “Well, consider yourself lucky in this particular case, then.”

She nodded. “Indeed so. If we may continue, I have scanned the body quite thoroughly and am ready to report my findings. Please be assured that I will be able to continue with this investigation. Furthermore, I now have an even greater desire for justice to be served to the pony who perpetrated such a horrible act.”

“Very good. Then let’s speak outside. It’s quite chilly in here,” he said with a shiver.

They replaced the cloth over Beacon Bomber and left the refrigerator, locking it behind them once again.

“Did you know him?” he asked her.

She shook her head. “Negative. Though I did meet him once. He was at a large charity function in Canterlot approximately six months ago.”

“What charity event was that?” he asked.

“Funds were being raised to finance updated maritime rescue equipment such as speedboats and longer-range radio communication,” she explained. “Beacon Bomber works in such a field, though I am uncertain in what capacity. That evening, he approached me and stated that he was quite grateful to ‘You and yours,’ as he put it.”

“To ‘you and yours’?” Dupon echoed.

“Affirmative. I asked him what he meant, but I was then called away to pose for an official photo before he could respond. Unfortunately, when I returned, he had departed, and I was unable to discern his meaning. But twenty-one days ago, I received a telegram asking if he could be allowed to present at tonight’s symposium, though he wished to keep the topic of his speech a secret. Because he stated he only required five minutes and no special arrangements for equipment, I acquiesced in spite of his late application. I admit that my decision was partly influenced by my curiosity about what he wished to say to me at the charity event.”

She looked back at the large, cold metal door where Beacon Bomber’s body lay.

“It seems that now I will never learn the truth.”

Dupon hummed to himself, stroking his chin. “Well, perhaps. Or perhaps we’ll discover the truth along the way. But let us begin teasing this mystery apart.”

Turing nodded. “Agreed. Shall we begin with our observations of the body?”

He nodded.

“Then I will begin: I scanned the abrasions on his cranium and bruising on his chest. The pattern of trauma on his head is narrow, as if the object that struck him had an edge. The damage to his chest, however, is more blunt.”

“Yes, I noticed that as well. Tell me, Could the damage be done by hooves? Perhaps the killer struck him?”

Turing considered that. “The abrasion on his head is small and could potentially have been caused by a pony’s hoof, but only if he were struck by the edge of it.”

“Possible,” Dupon said, “but most ponies do not attack others in such a fashion. They strike more bluntly, bludgeoning with their front hooves or bucking with their hind legs. So the murderer may have used a weapon.”

“If so, then they might have possessed a second weapon—”

“—which would explain the different trauma pattern on his chest,” Dupon surmised, giving a nod. “Yes, two wounds, two different weapons, in addition to the letter opener. Or possibly more than one assailant.”

Turing’s eyes contracted. “Then there may be more than one murderer on the island?”

“Well, if Beacon Bomber flew here, then his assailants could have done the same. They might have done the deed, then fled and are already gone.”

Turing lowered her head. “But if that is so… then we cannot exonerate Gadget…”

“Ah, let’s not be hasty, Minister,” Dupon said, holding up a hoof. “We don’t know all there is to know yet. For one thing, why wait until he arrived on the island to kill him? He could have been killed anywhere on the mainland. Or even over open water, which would have been much more advantageous. If he had been killed there, finding his corpse would have been delayed, assuming it was not simply lost at sea. Nopony would have even known he was dead until a significant time had passed. No no, I find it far more likely his killer was waiting for him and struck when he arrived.”

“That is a logical conclusion.”

“Also, did you happen to notice the scar on his chest?”

“Affirmative. It does not appear to be the result of a wound. I believe that it is surgical.”

“My thoughts exactly! Perhaps heart or lung surgery?”

“I am unable to determine that. My knowledge of medical practices is broad but not encyclopedic.”

“Well, either way, it is a curious and possibly significant tidbit, given that he was murdered by being stabbed in the heart.”

“Then both his murder on this island and the method may have been deliberate,” Turing said. “He was killed here for a specific purpose. Is that your conclusion?”

“Hardly a ‘conclusion,’ Minister. Merely conjecture.” He smiled and held up a hoof. “Ah, but here we arrive at an opportune time for me to give you a lesson in detective work. Are you quite prepared, my robotic rookie-in-training?”

Turing sat down and raised her head with exaggerated eagerness, her coiled tail swishing back and forth. “Affirmative, Professor!” After a beat, she added, “Apologies if my reaction is inappropriate. I have often found that ponies appreciate when their levity is reciprocated in a fashion that shows appreciation, sometimes defined as ‘getting as good as they get.’ Have I successfully done so?”

Dupon chuckled. “Oh yes, quite successfully, Minister,” he said. “My my my, you are just full of surprises. But to my point, here is my lesson:

“Means, motive, and opportunity. The three components one should consider when determining suspects.

“Means: who had the means - the tools and skills - necessary to kill Beacon Bomber?

“Motive: who had sufficient motive to kill him?

“And opportunity: who had the chance to do so?”

“Chief Inspector Neighstrad’s conclusion that Gadget is responsible seems primarily based on the third of those. She did indeed have the opportunity.”

“And perhaps the means,” Dupon said. He reached into his suit pocket and removed a small plastic bag containing the letter opener - the murder weapon - and held it aloft.

“I noted this letter opener earlier, Inspector Dupon,” she said. “The handle is carved from ivory of indeterminate origin. Furthermore, I see now that the handle has a small engraving at its base that reads ‘BRHWF.’ My memory banks contain no such initialism or organization associated with those letters that would be significant to this case.”

“None at all?”

“Not unless you wish to discuss the social club known as ‘Big Red Horses With Frogs,’ Inspector,” she replied. “My friend Big McIntosh was briefly a member. He was expelled when his frog was in actuality determined to be a toad.”

“Er… well, perhaps the meaning of those letters will become apparent later,” Dupon said. “Let us put that aside for a while. Consider that a letter opener is a very odd choice for a murder weapon; it’s not very sharp or long. To drive it into somepony’s chest would take a great deal of physical strength. Gadget, though small in stature, is quite sturdy and an earth pony, and therefore likely to possess the necessary might. Furthermore, Gadget does, in fact, have the capability to sabotage the electrical system, as Neighstrad pointed out. Thus she does technically possess the means to commit the murder.

“Which leads us to Neighstrad’s proposed hypothesis: Gadget sabotaged the electrical system, snuck out in the darkness with the plausible alibi of repairing it, and assaulted Beacon Bomber. There might have been a struggle where she bludgeoned him before using the letter opener as a finishing blow. And then… well, the rest would be just as Neighstrad described.”

Turing shook her head. “But to do so would serve no purpose. Of the three components you listed, Gadget has no motive to kill Beacon Bomber. She does not know him, nor would she do anything to spoil Mr. Vanderbull’s investment into this event. She is extremely loyal to him.”

“And now we have the essential weakness in the current theory,” he said. “Ergo, who else might have had the means, the motive, and the opportunity?”

Turing tilted her head back and forth as she considered this. “A great many of the attendees tonight have the technical expertise - the means - to sabotage the electrical system. Though most of the attendees remained in the ballroom during the blackout and murder, a few were not present and therefore had the opportunity, though that also may include the kitchen and service staff. As for motive… I am uncertain, but there is one pony who openly expressed disdain for Beacon Bomber: West Walnut.”

“And he fled the ballroom shortly before the blackout, as I recall. Followed shortly by that pegasus… Rio Grand, I believe she was called?”

Turing nodded. “Though I am not certain what cause she might have had to harm Beacon Bomber. Although…”

Turing then related the incident between Rio Grand and Mr. Vanderbull to Dupon.

“...So she may have no grudge against Beacon Bomber but does have one against Vanderbull. Perhaps enough to sabotage his attempt to ingratiate himself with the rising stars of the technological world and spoil his investment in sponsoring the symposium?”

“I am not certain. But it is possible.”

“And what about that unicorn mare, Sea Dweller? Aside from West Walnut, she seems to be the only one who directly knew Beacon Bomber, at least as more than a passing acquaintance. And, though this might sound contradictory, most ponies are killed by someone close to them, rather than a stranger.”

Turing raised her head. “Sea Dweller did inquire about Beacon Bomber’s arrival earlier this evening. And, to consider a motive, she bears a grudge against me personally. However, though she dislikes me, I cannot conceive that she would murder another simply to spite me. Especially given her reaction to Beacon Bomber’s death. She appeared genuinely distressed.”

Dupon raised an eyebrow. “Though this may cast us in a bad light, organic ponies are prone to some truly despicable acts borne out of hatred. Though uncommon, such acts cannot be ruled out. Unless you are 100% certain that Sea Dweller’s reaction was genuine.”

Turing considered that. “Very well. I was not closely observing Sea Dweller at the time. I cannot rule out the possibility. However, unlike the other two suspects, she was present in the ballroom during the blackout, and thus possesses an alibi.”

“True, but she could have had an accomplice. It could even have been one of the other two.”

Turing didn’t think that Sea Dweller would work with West Walnut, but then she considered the possibility that their earlier confrontation was meant to divert suspicion. She voiced this and Dupon smiled.

“Now, Minister, you are thinking like a detective.”

“Compliment acknowledged,” Turing replied. “Should we now question the suspects?”

“Not quite,” Dupon said, putting the bag with the letter opener back in his coat. “First, let’s question the closest thing we have to a witness: Gadget.”

To be continued…

Author's Note

Hello there, junior detectives! I hope you’re enjoying the mystery so far! 🔎

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has liked the story, added it to a bookshelf, and especially left a comment for me. I’m so glad the story is being received well, and I look forward to your reactions in the coming days!

By the way, unlike a lot of my previous Iron Horse stories, I’m leaving my References Lists out of the author’s notes, but you can check out the ones for Chapter 1-5 HERE if you’re interested to see what you missed!