Octavia Melody got a letter a week prior to the murder mystery. It said:
Dear Octavia Melody,
My name is Pizza Margherita and I have need of your cellist talents. I'm willing to pay a handsome amount of bits if required. If you consider declining, take some serious thought into it before deciding. I am confident you will accept though.
The address is redacted.
Margherita
Behind the card was the invitation. Octavia knew of the name Margherita although not intimately. She galloped straight to the Office of Investigative Mares, the name is a work in progress, and rummaged through some files. In the back of the office lay several file cabinets with various names and cases. Luckily Vinyl wasn't in so Octavia had the whole space for herself. She quickly found what she was looking for and took it to a table and started reading.
Pizza Margherita.
Ex-leader of the Itailian mafia, retired when she met and married Roof Thatcher. They have a single child, Poof Matcher. There are some unfounded rumors that Poof is not Thatcher's child. Since she has settled down, there hasn't been anything illegal tied back to her.
Octavia leaned back in her chair and pondered for a moment. Perhaps she will go.
***
She arrived at the doorstep at the depicted time. She had her beloved cello on her back, tucked within a sturdy ash wood case. She also had her pink bowtie, never leaving home without it. Octavia took a deep breath and knocked. She barely had to wait a minute before the door opened to reveal the Itailian mare.
"Miss Pizza Margherita I presume?" The cellist bowed.
"You presume correctly. The main festivities will be in the living room, so if you could set up there..." Margherita replied with a somewhat weary tone to her voice.
"And the living room is where?" She didn't let any trace of emotion betray her.
"Down the hall to the right."
"Of course." Octavia took her leave and trotted to find the elusive living room.
When she arrived, several ponies were already there, munching away and drinking alcohol. She would like to have a glass of champagne herself, but technically she was at work. Drinking prohibited. She quickly set up at the front of the living room where a painting of a beautiful foggy mountainscape. She wouldn't mind having that on her wall, or perhaps even in the Office.
She pulled out her cello and bow, placed it on the ground carefully and with practiced ease, Octavia swung up on her backhooves and placed the bow on the strings. She took several more calming breaths and started to play. She closed her eyes and let the music drift her away into another place. She only opened them again once she was coming to the end of the piece and saw that there were even more ponies. One in particular was looking at her with almost foalish awe. It would've embarrassed her, but as said before, she was working.
From her massive mental storage she picked another piece and when the last note played, she counted a total of four seconds before starting the new one. She was a professional, much better at this than that detective nonsense. She left all of that to Vinyl.
Then without warning, lightning struck. The room flickered into darkness. Octavia stopped playing and looked up confused. Around her, guests were clamoring, demanding answers. A stallion answered them in a calm and orderly manner.
"Everypony, please calm down! This is completely normal. Whenever lightning strikes nearby the lights turn off. It will come back on soon enough." His confidence in his words seemed to calm everypony down, Octavia included.
"So, you're saying that when lightning strikes nearby, the lights will always go out?" Said another stallion. There was something in his voice that made Octavia look at him more clearly. He was looking at her in a most undisguised lustful way. It was incredibly disturbing.
"Yes, that's correct." Said the first stallion. She mused that this truly must be normal, since a few moments later, the light crystals came back on. She didn't waste time and went back to playing.
She was slowly getting back into the rhythm when that dreadful storm decided to strike once again casting the house in darkness, once again. She kept on playing, now knowing that this happened all the time. Then surprise and horror filled her when the lights flickered on. There laying on the floor, desecrated with a knife, was the stallion from earlier who had watched her with awe. Something inside her snapped as did her cello.
Octavia lay her darling in a safe place and pulled out yellow tape that she had kept on her at all times since that horrible fiasco at the market. After striping off all the obvious exits, she went back to the living room. Several ponies had seemed to have passed out but most of them were in shock. That was good news.
"Ponies! I am Detective Octavia Melody and in the name of Princess Celestia and the crown, I am quarantining this house until the murderer is found. Anypony who tries to leave will have to suffer the consequence when either Princess Celestia or Princess Luna finds you. You have been warned. Now, rest up. The interviews will begin tomorrow morning."
The guests all muttered between themselves and dragged themselves to guest rooms. One stallion even dragged the unconscious ponies. That was kind of him. Now, the living room was dead quiet, apt, considering the company she was keeping.
First things first, write a letter to Princess Celestia. She'll be able to get Vinyl her flank down here. She then did that. The letter she wrote was on enchanted paper, touched up with dragon fire. When the letter is done, set it alight and the enchanted dragon fire will trigger and send the parchment to Princess Celestia. Luckily there was a fireplace in the living rom that was still lit and roaring.
Octavia bypassed the body and dumped the letter and watched as the remnants flew out a window, despite it being closed. Then he turned her attention to the poor stallion who lay dead.
"So...who are you?"
She made careful note of the position of the body and which way the knife was facing. From deduction, it seemed that the victim was standing close to where she was performing and the killer came up from behind him. They would then stab inwards, striking the poor colt in his belly and then falling to his left. That was all that Octavia got, she was still working on her deduction skills. She was a musician, not a detective! Why was it always her that got roped into these, why couldn't it have been Vinyl?
She grumbled as she packed away her cello and found a place to lie. Her overactive brain kept her up for another hour before finally allowing her to sleep.
***
Octavia awoke groggily and stumbled off her couch and makeshift bed. She rubbed away the sleep and made her way to the living room and to her utter horror, found that it was empty. There were bloodstains on the ground that led into another room, but there was no body and no knife. She groaned and wiped a hoof across her face.
She decided to follow the bloodstains and wasn't all that surprised that the doorway led into a second living room. The blood stains seemed to have pooled around the dead fireplace. Octavia groaned once she noticed a particular large lump of ash in the fireplace.
"Stupid nobles."
There was a ding from the clock. Then a sparkle and a letter dropped in front of her. Octavia quickly skimmed through it and glanced back up at the clock. Shoot. She needed to hustle.
Octavia broke through her yellow tape and hoped to Faust that nopony took that as an invitation to leave. She galloped up the path to the train station and was heaving by the time the train pulled up. The doors opened up and Vinyl stepped down, wearing her iconic grin, headphones, and purple shades. She opened her forelegs like asking for a hug.
"Yes Vinyl, it's good to see you to. Now come on, we've got work to do." She was not going to play. Not today. She quickly turned around and started trotting. Fast. Vinyl kept up and asked a question.
"Right, so I was playing music when lightning struck nearby, causing the lights to go out. When the lights came back on, there was poor Poof, dead on the carpet with a knife in his chest. Truly, he did not deserve such a death." She shook her head, still disappointed in the nobles' lack of ability of common sense.
Vinly raised her eyebrow.
"Yes, his name is Poof. Poof Matcher in full." Octavia paused and saw the detective on the ground, giggling like a foal on candy. "Oh, grow up Vinyl. He just died! Show some respect."
To her credit, she sobered up quite fast and wiped away tears. She put her serious detective face on and kept on trotting. She nodded her apology. Octavia acknowledged it and brought her up to speed.
Vinyl asked another question, this one directed towards Branded.
"Yes, he would be the most obvious suspect, wouldn't he?"
Vinyl did a dance number with her hooves and then broke out laughing. Octavia went beet red and frowned heavily at her. Why does it have to be her. It's always her! It's never Vinyl! Why can't ponies do their crimes somewhere else! Preferably when Octavia wasn't nearby.
"YES, I KNOW! The irony is not lost on me!" The gray mare sped up, huffing and grumbling about annoying unicorns.
***
When she returned, she was overjoyed to find that nopony actually tried to escape. The two of them waited another hour for the other guests to prepare themselves for a day of questions and answers. Then once they were all gathered in the living room, did Octavia speak out.
"Alright, this is Detective Vinyl Scratch and I'm Detective Octavia Melody, we're here to solve the murder of your son, Poof Matcher."
"Yes yes, we know who you two are. Legendary musicians of Canterlot. But what I'm curious about, very curious, is that you claim to be detectives." Duke Embezzle, crippled in his mind, but still sharp as ever. Octavia had the pleasure of meeting him once before when he was running errands for his parents in Canterlot. He actually had a file at the Office.
"Believe it or not, Embezzle."
"That's Duke to you." He huffed, clearly offended.
"Duke...Embezzle, and the rest of you, the two of us have been chosen by Princess Celestia herself. Would you think it wise to question that? I have a direct connection to her in case of emergencies, perhaps I should use it."
"Oh no no, let's not be hasty." Lord Branded said with a desperate look on his face. He seemed to be staring at her specifically. It uneased her.
"Then let us do our jobs and investigate the murder of Poof Matcher." Octavia was getting twitchy. Vinyl took a step back, smart mare.
"Alright, if that's what it takes for you to get off our backs. But I'm telling you! It was the butler! I saw him do it!" Branded exclaimed loudly. The other nobles sighed and muttered, not looking outright hostile nor obedient. This was going to be tricky.
"We'll decide that, not you."
Vinyl made some more gestures, detailing her idea on leading one pony after the other into the dining hall so interrogations could be private.
"Right...Vinyl is right. If you could please come into the dining hall one by one, that way we can interrogate and question about the murder effectively." She then turned around and marched to the dining room, Vinyl in tow.
The two entered the room and sighed. They better get the place ready for all of the guests. Vinyl started placing various objects around the room, the most notable was of a potted plant. This plant was not your ordinary houseplant, this was a plant that could emit spores that would compel you to tell the truth. It was very effective in interviews like this.
While Vinyl was doing that, Octavia set up chairs and tables in a way so that they and the suspect could have an eye to eye, heartfelt, and most importantly private, conversation. Without all of that, the plant might not work.
7 minutes later, they were ready. Octavia glanced at Vinyl to see if she had any preferences, luckily she did. She made a hammer swinging motion as well as a climbing one. Roof Thatcher. Octavia took his name and spoke it out the doors. He trotted all nonchalant.
***
"Vinyl asks for you to recap your entire day, if you please."
"But of course."
An hour later, he finished recapping. The entire time, Octavia listened with a grimace while Vinyl looked like an impassive statue of Celestia. She envied her. When he told the tale of him and his wife disposing of the body, Octavia wanted to scream. She contained herself, there was time for screaming later.
"I can go now? That was it. I fell asleep on the couch after that and then awoke to Royal Guards keeping me on house arrest." Thatcher asked. He was smirking. Good for him.
Vinyl nodded and he stood up. He strolled out of there like he did justice. He did not. It took one look from Octavia for Vinyl to cast a sound insulation spell around the room. Octavia let loose a scream.
"That felt good."
Vinyl nodded like she sympathized.
"So what now?"
She motioned with a hoof. Continue with the next pony.
"Who?"
She lifted a hoof and chomped on it. Pizza Margherita.
Octavia sighed, opened the door once again and called in the mare.
***
"We understand your want in secrets, however it is crucial that you tell us everything in order to solve your son's murder." Octavia said.
"And why would I do that? There are no benefits for me or my husband or any of these ponies, really." Margherita tilted her head in an unconscious manner. Octavia had no other reaction other than dropping her mouth. Seriously, the gall of these ponies!
"Right. So, you do not care for your son?" The gray mare recovered slightly and glared at the high and mighty noble.
"Never have, never will. His death means nothing to me."
"Yet it did, since you and your husband dragged Poof Matcher's body to the fireplace and cremated him. Are those the actions of a pony who claims that her son means nothing to her? I think it would be wise to spare no details." Octavia watched closely to see her reaction. All she did was suck in air more forcefully. Did that mean anything?
"My! I would..." Vinyl's hoof shot out and shushed the mare. Her eyes widened in indignation. Neither detective cared.
"Like I said, it would be wise."
Through the entire story, Octavia felt a searing hatred for the mare. Never had she despised a mare quite like this one here. She was a high born through and through and then took that and brought it to a new level. She felt wrong just standing in the same room as her. It was long and painful but she was finally done with her story.
"You may go now."
"If I was innocent, I would say good luck. If I was guilty, I wouldn't even be here."
"We'll keep that in mind." Octavia tried a smile. It did not work from the looks of it.
"Well, good day then."
"Good day."
The two of them waited for her to exit and then Octavia screamed in frustration again.
"I can't do this, Vinyl! These ponies are insufferable!"
Vinyl held up a hoof and smiled slightly. Everything is under control.
"Yeah right! Maybe let's charge all of them with murder, it would not surprise me if it were actually true. And did you hear what she said? She said the bowling ball had blood on it. She must be the killer."
Vinyl shook her head slowly.
"Oh come on!"
She motioned with a hoof again. This time as if she were important and speaking. Noble Declaration.
"Fiiiiine. I want a raise though."
***
"You want to hear my story? Not whether or not I'm guilty or whether I know who the killer is?" He sounded confused. Hmm, perhaps he wasn't like all those other ponies.
Vinyl shrugged and smiled then moved her legs in many patterns and symbols. Many of which were quite inappropriate. Octavia took the time to glare at her partner before translating.
"What Vinyl is trying to say, excluding unnecessary commentary, is that she would like the full picture. The most obvious suspect might be innocent and the least likely clue might be the biggest."
Vinyl nodded.
"I see. And I assume you have Truth Incense? Odorless, featureless, and noiseless. Perfect tools for getting a suspect to confess."
Vinyl nodded.
"I see. My full story then."
Vinyl nodded.
"Alright."
This story was her favorite out of the three. He was refreshingly honest about everything as well as more analytical than the others. More clues were located to further the case. Octavia even found herself smiling during some parts of the story. Then he finished with a flourish.
"That's all I've got for now. I'll tell you if I have more."
The sincerity behind that sentence confused Octavia somewhat. What was a stallion like him doing with these stuffy highborns?
"Good luck with finding the killer." He got up and left.
"Well, that was surprisingly very helpful. Do we have enough evidence now?" Octavia asked.
Vinyl shook her head and put on a determined expression. She needed more. Something more concrete.
"Alright, who do you want next?"
Vinyl made a circular shape with her hoof and then an oval. Tomato and Mint.
"Alright. Two ponies coming right up."
***
"Our stories? Why, that's easy! I'm..." Tomato started with an excited expression. Octavia cut him off before he could get far into it.
"She wants you to start at the moment you arrived at the Thatcher's residence. And she always wants to hear from both of you."
"Alright..."
The two pony narrative was kind of confusing, but Octavia and Vinyl got the gist of it. This story was much better than that Margherita mare, but it still had an elitist sort of view.
"That's it?" The cellist asked after the two of them stopped talking. It was quite short but they did reveal lots of information. Maybe Margherita should be taking notes.
The two of them nodded. Vinyl approved for the exit.
"Okay, you may go."
"Thank you."
Once again, they waited for the couple to leave before starting a conversation.
"So, what do you think of this Fill character?"
Vinyl raised a hoof to the light and swayed the other hoof underneath the first one. Shady.
"Yeah, thought so too. I don't think he's our killer though..." She paused. "We still probably need to arrest him though, he seems like the pony to commit several crimes."
Vinyl nodded. She made a circle gesture. Bring him in.
"Okay." She trotted over and called out his name. Nopony stepped forward. "Vinyl, he isn't here."
The unicorn in question slammed a hoof down and frowned. Then made a crown with her hooves at her head and then lowered it to her chest. She did it again. Archduke and Archduchess.
***
"Our story. What do you take us for? A court jester?"
"Yes, your story. From when you arrived at the Thatcher's residence."
"I suppose we could do that. Would you like to go first, dear?"
"Oh no, you can go. I insist."
Another nonsensical story later, Octavia wanted to rip out her mane. How does Vinyl do it, sitting there calmly and attentively. The two had delusions of grandeur that baffled the gray mare. How does anypony live like that?
"Wait, that it?" She asked after the two looked at her expectantly. There wasn't that much information in that one, or perhaps there was and she wasn't paying attention over her rage. Both options are quite valid.
"Quite so, it was very eventful." Archduke nodded sadly which baffled Octavia even more.
"Huh, I see. Well, thank you for your time. You may leave now."
"My thanks." The two left with grace befitting their titles and closed the door behind them.
"How are you doing this, Vinyl? How?"
Vinyl shrugged. Practice.
"Oh, screw that!"
Vinyl shrugged again. What do you want me to do?
Octavia sighed and dragged a hoof across her face. "Anything helpful with those two?"
Vinyl poked her cheek. Potentially.
"Alright. Who's next?"
Vinyl made the crown again but this time lowered it even more. Their son.
Octavia called out for Lord Embezzle, and was instead met with Archduchess.
"Excuse me?"
"I'm so sorry. My son has this disease that sometimes leaves him in a catatonic state for a certain amount of time, I don't think he'll be able to answer for a while. Maybe he could be excluded from the questions?"
The cellist looked back at the DJ. She shrugged.
"Alright. Thank you for telling me. So who's next?" The last part was directed at Vinyl.
Vinyl poked her foreleg and smushed her hoof against it hard. Branded.
***
"Lord Branded, we just want to hear your story. Start from when you entered this house. After that, you may leave."
"Before we do all of that, I would like to know your names." He smiled as if that would work.
Octavia glanced at Vinyl again, she was the mare with the final say considering she's the actual detective. The unicorn shrugged.
"Detective Octavia Melody and this is Detective Vinyl Scratch. Now, please tell your story."
"But of course."
Through the story, Octavia's feelings of suspicion quickly turned into disgust and revolt. This stallion was unbefitting of Princess Celestia's kindness! How he claimed the title, she would never know and the more she thought about it, the more she didn't want to know.
"Alright, that's enough. Thank you. you may leave now." She said sharply after he finished his story. She wanted him gone and soon.
"As you wish." He grinned and trotted out of there. The doors closed and Octavia screamed again.
"I'm done. I'm done! No more interviews! I deny it! That stallion was beyond revolting." She shuddered.
Vinyl nodded and created a circle then a triangle then what looked to be a tree. She had enough evidence.
"Oh, thank Faust!"
***
"Everypony! Vinyl has figured out the killer, please be quiet as she reveals who it is. From here on out, everything she says will be translated through me."
"Well this has been quite the evening. Full of twists and turns, lies and deceptions, but I've finally examined all the evidence and have discovered some terrible things. Somepony here has been keeping a secret."
"What?" Archduke said.
"And I know exactly who it is." While Octavia was translating, Vinyl was looking directly at Lord Branded.
Nopony expected for Duke Embezzle to laugh and start stomping his hooves.
"Very good inspector, very good indeed. So you've uncovered the fact that I've been embezzling millions of bits from my business partner, Lord Branded." Embezzle grinned slyly and pointed a hoof at Branded.
The whole room gasped in shock.
"What what?" Branded asked in shock. "How could you do this to me?"
"Haha, the poor fool had no idea until this night. I must confess though that I've been discovered, it brings me no small amount of joy that he now knows that it was me, all along." Embezzle now had a pipe in his hooves and lit a match and attempted to light it.
"Uhm, I didn't know any of that." Vinyl insisted on the 'uhm' part.
"You didn't?" Embezzle looked up as he extinguished the match.
"No, I wasn't going to say that at all."
"Ah. Well......dangit."
"So what were you going to say, inspector?" Archduchess asked, her calm demeanour still calm.
"Well, I have irrefutable evidence that somepony here is not who they say they are." Vinyl trotted over to the Archduke and stared at him long and hard.
He got up, clearly angry and spoke out. "How dare you!"
Vinyl's response was drowned out by Embezzle's laughter and hoof stomping.
"Ha, very good inspector. So we arrive here at last. I knew you were onto me, but I must confess I didn't think you would figure it out. I have been posing for years as the long lost son of the Archduke." Cue gasps and cue smug smile from Embezzle.
"What? You mean you are not my son?" Archduke leaned forwards, confused and hurt.
"No. No, I simply wanted your inheritance."
Archduke gasped and looked up. "I knew it! I knew it, because we have different color...eyes." Octavia looked and confirmed it. Embezzle had green eyes while Archduke had blue.
"Bravo inspector, very...impressive." Embezzle lit another match and prepared to light his pipe.
"Yeah, I didn't know that either."
"Seriously?"
"No. Though to be fair, I probably would have figured that out on me own. Different colored eyes is a dead give away." Archduke gave Vinyl a knowing look.
"Well it seems like I gave myself away there. Again." Embezzle looked downtrodden as his match unlit itself. "Carry on inspector, please don't let me interrupt you."
"Well, it appears that somepony here has blood on their hooves." Octavia rolled her eyes at this, of course somepony had blood on their hooves! Embezzle started laughing and stomping again.
"Aaaah, this time we're on the same page inspector!" Embezzle looked too happy to have been caught. "It was I who murdered the maid, yes." He smiled and pulled out a bloody bowling ball. The others gasped for the fourth time that night. "Irrefutable evidence. Speaking of which, she had irrefutable evidence that I was not the Archduke's son, so naturally she had to be taken care of. 'Course, I didn't realize that I would be revealing that secret myself just a few hours later, but at the time, it seemed very important to keep her quiet." Embezzle was reaching for another match. "Bravo inspector. However, did you trace it back to me?"
"I didn't."
"What."
"Yeah, there's no way I would have figured that one out." Not to mention, nopony's ever mentioned a dead maid.
"Inspector, I'm beginning to wonder if you know how to do your job." Embezzle asked, looking straight up at Vinyl.
"Well, I dunno. So far you've confessed to three crimes." Vinyl said, glancing knowingly at the stallion.
"Touche."
"Inspector, pleaase, tell us what the actual secret is!" Major Tom spoke out.
"Very well. I have discovered..."
"that I have been bribing the prime minister!" Embezzle lit a match with a grin.
"NO!"
"That I impersonated a priest!"
"Noooo."
"That I am not disabled!" Embezzle shook off his dizzied look and stood up with yet another lit match and his pipe.
"Oh myyy." Tom drawled.
Vinyl just shook her head.
Embezzle threw the match to the ground and stomped on it. "Dangit, dangit, dangit!"
"But I have found out that you were responsible for the murder of Poof Matcher!" Vinyl looked very confident in her answer.
"...I had nothing to do with that."
"Really?"
"No, in fact I was out of the country when that happened!" Everypony gave him a confused look. "Committing a totally different crime."
"Oh, well I must've missed something then."
"Ha, indeed!" Embezzle took up his victory smile and reached to light another match. "Looks like the game's to me, inspector."
"Well, I'm still arresting you for those other things." Vinyl took out hoofcuffs and started tying them around Embezzle's hooves.
"But...oh, right" Embezzle hoofed over his pipe to Van Dime.
The two mares walked out of the house pushing Embezzle in front of them and exited the house, heading in the direction of the train station. But before they rounded the corner, they quickly ducked into the bushes much to Embezzle's confusion.
"What's happening?"
"Shush." Octavia's throat was aching from all the rapid fire translating she had to do. This part of the plan Vinyl had enacted was the trickiest part. This was where the culprits revealed themselves, and sure enough, he did.
"I'll hold onto this." It was an unknown voice, one that could only mean two things. Either Fish Fillet or Van Dime. And since Fill had disappeared and since the voice did not have a Caneighdian accent, that only left one pony. "Because I was the one that murdered Poof Matcher! HAHAHAHA!" There were gasps from the others, Thatcher and Margherita being the louder ones. This was Octavia's cue.
She whipped out hoofcuffs and stormed into the house and hoofcuffed the butler before anypony could blink.
"AHA! I WAS RIGHT, it was the butler!" Lord Branded laughed and pointed. Octavia ignored him and pushed the sputtering butler out of the house and followed Vinyl and Embezzle to the train station.
"Another case closed." She smiled to herself and boarded the train with prisoners in tow, ignoring looks from the passengers. It was finally over.