The Show Must Go On [Daisy&Tenor] [Dead]

[Oopsie Daisy]

Canterlot was ever so busy, as per usual. The streets were bustling with all kinds of behaviour, which Pantomime was very used to. She DID live in the royal capital after all. Closing the door behind her, she followed after Maltese, walking right next to him and matching his pace. She wasn't wearing her coat this morning because the weather didn't look too bad, and the weather was scheduled to be sunny later on. Her light blue saddlebags were hanging on her haunches, carrying all her essentials - her comb, pencil cases, purse, play scripts, and pepper spray... just in case.

They made their way through the bustling city. Ponies were coming in and out of shops, crossing the roads and pulling carriages and carts, coming in and out of buildings and opening and closing market stalls. Someone bumped into Pantomime, but quickly apologised and continued on her hurrying journey. The silver unicorn wondered briefly where she was headed too in such a hurry, but then focused more on her own journey and keeping an eye out for any more ponies that were rushing to get somewhere.

She didn't speak throughout the way walk to the theatre, because her mind was racing. She was no longer safe there.. her most favourite place in the world. No one was.. and nopony even knew about the orange unicorn besides her and Maltese. Would he find any clues? ... Of course he would, he was a brilliant detective. Would the unicorn show his face? ... Who knew? She moved even closer to Maltese as the grand building came into view, and she swallowed and prepared herself. Maybe nothing would happen at all. Maybe it'd just be a normal day. She sure hoped so. The mare turned to the handsome detective stallion next to her, smiling. "Well, Maltese... shall we?"

[Tenor]

"After you,"

Maltese honestly didn't want to stand outside for too long, especially with such a massive crowd around them. Any one of these ponies might be waiting for the opportune moment to strike, so it was wise to hurry into the building.

As Maltese opened the door, a mare limped painfully out, tears falling from her eyes. She was the one that Maltese and Pantomime had seen limping away from "OJ". Maltese, wanting to learn more about what she might have in connection with the orange pony, trotted up to her and started, "Excuse me miss, are you-"

"Just leave me alone! Can't any of you see that I've suffered enough?!" She screamed, her horn glowing a leafy green color before she vanished in a flash of bright light. Maltese couldn't help but raise a brow at the mare's sudden and spectacular exit. A dark, sky blue pegasus nearly flew into Maltese, stopping just in front of the grey stallion.

The Pegasus's face was covered with sweat, and he wore a hurriedly put on costume. It was obviously for The Pony and the Pauper, though the pegasus obviously wasn't interested in it as he asked, "Did you see Dramatica? She just came through here, green pelt, a limp?"

"She just teleported away. Don't worry, sir, I'm sure she just teleported back home to get some rest," Maltese stated, putting his hooves on the pegasi's shoulders and pushing him down to the floor, where the pegasus breathed with exasperated breaths. "Now, could you tell me who you are?"

The pegasus gave Maltese an odd glance, then replied, "S-sure thing, my name is Parodius, but everypony calls me Comedy. I can tell a decent joke, but if you'll please excuse me-"

Maltese interrupted, a social smile on his muzzle, that only quickly turned into a serious gaze, "Parodius? Oh my, a very sophisticated sounding name! Tell me, where were you around nine o'clock last night?"

"W-what?! Who in the hay-?! Pantomime, who is this guy?!" Comedy asked, his bright yellow eyes wide with fear as he had no clue who Maltese was, or why this unicorn wouldn't let him pass by. Maltese had no care for this however, and wouldn't dare let Comedy go until the blue stallion finished telling the black horned unicorn everything he knew.

[Oopsie Daisy]

Pantomime was about to step inside, when suddenly, Dramatica exited with an obvious limp and tears dripping down her cheeks. The silver mare gasped in horror, and was about to ask what was going on, when Maltese asked instead. But she didn't give him a chance to talk, and cut him off by suddenly disappearing. Her eyes widened. She didn't now Dramatica was capable of that kind of magic..

"What was that all about.." she mumbled to herself in a worried tone, when her friend and fellow actor Parodius suddenly flew into view, halting just before Maltese. She saw his mask, and just from looking at it, she could tell he was in a desperate hurry. Maltese took control, and forced the pegasus to land.. which bothered Pantomime a little. She knew he was only doing his job.. but she wished he'd be a little less harsh.

Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open when the detective frighteningly demanded information from the helpless pegasus, who started demanding answers from her - which was understandable. "H-he's Maltese.. he's a detective. He only wants to help..." she mumbled nervously, as her ears lowered and her tail curled between her legs. Seeing Maltese so demanding and persistent.. it scared her. He was always so calm and cool.. but this was just harassment.

"Maltese, stop it! You're scaring him." She stepped up quickly and pushed him off of her friend. "You're not going to get any answers out of him if you act so rash! Now, Comedy.." she turned to her friend, who looked very irritated and terrified. "..answer his question. He only wants to help."

[Tenor]

To be suddenly removed from the suspect like that, to be so forcibly taken away, it hurt Maltese's pride a little. But, Pantomime knew these ponies, much more than Maltese ever could, so he just sat back and readjusted his hat, thinking of how he could approach the other cast members. And Pantomime's frightened face, while Maltese had only caught a quick glance of it, reminded him too much of another pony that he held close to his heart. He set the brim of his fedora so that it sloped down towards the ground, covering the weakness that played across his eyes.

Parodius nodded, breathing a little more steadily as Pantomime's interferrence had managed to calm him down a little. "I was walking home from the theatre, 'cause the owner roped me into cleaning the windows during the night shift. Anyways, as I was trotting along, I see Dramy...er, Dramatica, limping out onto the street. When I found her, I flew her too the hospital, and stayed with her the whole night. Thankfully, she only got burned a little bit, and the wounds weren't too serious...but she can't perform in the play now due to her limp."

Maltese nodded courteously, jotting down this alleged event into his mind, the scene playing out in his brain, up until one glaring fact made itself apparent. Maltese raised the brim of his hat, his sapphire blue and emerald green eyes relaxed, his face calm as he asked, "Did you happen to see an orange unicorn coming out of that same alleyway? Yellow mane, green eyes with bags under them?"

Parodius paused, his right hoof tapping his chin as his eyes wandered up towards the morning sky. After a few moments, he shook his head, "No, I didn't see anypony else come out of that alleyway. Now, is that all you two need? Cause if you're done, I need to go check up on Dramatica..."

It was incredibly obvious that Parodius was good friends with Dramatica, at the very least, but Maltese simply wouldn't accept this story without some kind of proof. However, Maltese couldn't just detain the pegasus, so the grey unicorn stepped out of Comedy's way, and with a frantic look on his face, the pegasus took to the skies, and flew off to the right. The black horned unicorn couldn't help but ponder why the orange unicorn hadn't chased after his victim, after all, that Mare had seen his face, and would surely tell the local authorities about such an assault.

Maltese looked over to Pantomime and frowned a little, "I apologize, I guess I'm just feeling a little rattled at the moment. I'll simply take a more gentle approach from now on."

No, Maltese wasn't rattled at all by this case. It was just like all of his other cases, except now, he felt a strange urgency, to try and solve this as quickly as possible. He knew that rushing would only cause him to make mistakes, mistakes that he couldn't afford to make. Still, he could only ponder what made him so reckless, what had driven him to try and speed up the questioning. Sadly, he couldn't think of much, and opened the door to the theatre, softly speaking, "After you Pantomime,"

[Oopsie Daisy]

"Oh my gosh...that's awful!" The mare closed her eyes and shook her head in disgust and shock. Dramatica was really looking forward to this play.. and now she couldn't even audition? Now Pantomime was REALLY angry at the orange unicorn.

After Maltese had asked about said unicorn and Comedy had answered, she watched as he flew away to go and check up on her. She found it sweet he was worrying about her so much.. she always knew how much he cared for her. They were the very best of friends, and he'd even admitted to having a crush on her to Pantomime. She had never been very close with him, but they did get along. It had always meant a lot that he had confessed something so personal and meaningful to her. She liked knowing she could be trusted.

Her ears pricked and she turned to Maltese as he spoke to her, apologising for his previous actions. She smiled. "It's alright.. I understand. But you will get information from ponies easier if you don't approach them so roughly," she said, remembering the look of panic and annoyance on Comedy's face. The thought made her shudder, but she brushed it off, and stepped inside the theatre door after Maltese opened it for her, thanking him politely. Even after she had clearly put a dent in his pride, he was still being so kind and gentlemanly towards her. It made her feel relieved.

Stepping inside made her heart sink and her stomach ache with dread and nervousness. Unlike the usual pangs of stagefright she normally got before performances and auditions, this was more like worry for her own safety. The feeling was very different from how she'd acted it out on stage. There was a sense of dread in the air, and the passing ponies seemed very on-edge. After what had happened with Dramatica, Pantomime wasn't at all surprised. She sighed and magicked her saddlebags to her hook, patted her mane, and looked to Maltese, wondering what he was thinking. As always, she was standing very close to his side, feeling ever so glad he was there.

[Tenor]

The lobby of the theater was much larger than Maltese had remembered it, with two long winding staircases winding down in a quarter circle down to the marble floor, which seemed to dimly reflect the ponies as they entered. An Earthpony Mare wearing a fluffy white boa that draped down from her neck looked over to the open door, and trotted towards the door, a concerned look on her cream colored face.

"Pantomime, did you hear what haz happened to poor Dramatica? It iz horrible!" The mare said, a sad frown on her muzzle, her teal lipstick blending with her icy blue eyes. She certainly had a foreign accent, but Maltese couldn't place it. Maltese cleared his throat, garnering the mare's attention as she turned to Maltese. It was at this moment that he realized that she wasn't a pony at all, no, she was a deer, a doe to be specific.

"Um, who iz your friend Pantomime? I've never met a Mousier with zuch a...zharp horn before," It was obvious that the Doe was going to comment on the color of Maltese's horn, but must've found it to be too offensive to the stallion.

"I'm Maltese Scale, and I'm investigating the assault of Dramatica. Who might you be madam?" Maltese asked, choosing to take a more...reserved approach with the actress, as she looked over to Pantomime with a nervous glance, before taking a anxious gulp.

"M-my name iz Doeminique Satine, I am one of the actrezzez auditioning for the main role, although I would be glad if I were to even get a zmall role. If you muzt know, I have been out of Canterlot for the last couple of dayz now, as I waz attending a wedding for my brother. It iz a shame that something zo beautiful can be followed up with something zo tragic..." Doeminique replied, a happy smile on her muzzle quickly turning into a saddened frown as she looked down at the ground. She then turned over to Pantomime, as she had more bad news to report, by the looks of it.

"I zee that you two met Parodiuz. It is a shame that he dropped himself from the auditionz. Now there are only five performerz left. Pantomime, I certainly hope that nothing elze goez wrong."

[Oopsie Daisy]

Oh, it was Dominique the deer.. she was quite a good friend and co-actress of Pantomime's, so the unicorn mare smiled slightly as she approached them.. but when she saw her expression, her smile quickly faded. "Yes.. I did," she said sadly, a pained expression covering her gentle eyes and lips.

She watched as the doe addressed Maltese, staring at his unusual horn awkwardly. The snow-coloured mare didn't blame her - she had also found it very odd when the two first met just yesterday. Before she needed to, the detective introduced himself and asked about Miss Satine - who shot Pantomime an anxious expression before she also introduced herself. She had known about the doe's brother's wedding, and wanted to ask about it.. but knew it wasn't the time or the place for such a topic.

"That really IS tragic.." she sighed, feeling so miserable and upset by the sudden turn of events. A beautiful wedding followed by a terrifying crime scene.. it just was not fair. It wasn't fair on the targeted actresses, it wasn't fair on the theatre's publicity.. and it definitely wasn't fair on Dominique having to return to such awfulness after a joyous occasion. Pantomime's ears fell and her tail drooped, as she found herself more saddened than frightened by what was happening.

She looked up as Dominique addressed her, and nodded at the mention of Parodius. "Yes I did. He went to the hospital to see if Dramatica's alright," she said, a sad gleam still clouding her usually bright eyes. "I think his friend comes before the performance, I'd drop out if the same thing happened to one of my closest friends.." She could NOT believe she just said that.. she didn't have any close friends in the class anyway, so somepony else could go if it happened again.

"I certainly hope so too, Satine. Why does this have to happen now, right before one of our biggest and most important play yet?? It's just not fair." She grunted and pawed her hoof against the ground once in frustration. These floors had only been cleaned yesterday, and she'd have to clean them again later.. no point in risking making the job harder for herself. She looked to Maltese, wondering what he was thinking by this point. Was anything making sense yet? Was he still completely stumped by what was going on? He was very difficult to read.

[Tenor]

A calm, stoic emotion was painted across Maltese Scale's face as he listened closely to Satine's story, fitting her trip into the little timeline he had formed in his mind last night. The wedding clearly made a good alibi for the doe, at least it would if it wasn't for the fact that O.J. was a hired professional. Satine could have easily sent a letter to O.J., so she wasn't completely off the hook just yet.

"When exactly did you return from your trip?" Maltese asked, wanting to get specific dates, instead of vague statements like "a few days ago". Sure, to anypony else, such information would be rather trivial, but it was the tiny details, the small flaws in a pony's testimonial, that led to the truth.

Satine paused for a moment, tapping her hoof on the floor and looking up and to the left before replying, "I returned late lazt night I believe...twelve o'clock if I remember correctly."

Cold, piercing eyes watched Satine's eye movement, observing the way she paused and looked away, as if she couldn't remember when she had returned, and that first pause was only for the date, something that should not have taken so long to answer. Not only that, but it was just after a large family reunion, surely such a doe would remember the dreadful day she would have to return to the usual, daily routine.

She was clearly hiding something, and Maltese couldn't help but press on the issue, replying, "Why did it take so long to come up with something as simple as a date, Satine? I can understand if you couldn't remember the exact time, but surely you'd remember the day you got back home, right?"

"And juzt what are you implying mousier Scale? You can't think that I would have-" Satine retorted, her anxiety suddenly turning to outrage, as if she was offended that Maltese would consider her a suspect. Then again, nopony in this whole theater was innocent, save for Maltese and Pantomime. But, even as Doeminique's anger grew, Maltese retained his calm gaze.

Maltese readjusted his hat and sighed a little in exasperation, "You don't understand Madam, to me, everyone in this theater is a possible suspect, and until I can prove that you are completely innocent, then I will not remove you from that list."

"That is ridiculouz! Pantomime, please talk zome zense into him! You know I would never hurt Dramatica-"

"I'm not accusing you of anything Doeminique. I just want to know the truth. Now, tell me, when did you return home. Tell me the truth this time, please." Maltese replied, watching as Satine shot him a glare, obviously infuriated that he would accuse her of lying. But her eyes betrayed her, portraying anxiety and fear, and after a few moments, the doe calmed down, stroking her fur boa absentmindedly.

"...It won't help my caze if I lie, no? Very well then, I'll tell you. I had returned early yesterday morning, but I could not attend auditions becauze I had to rest. Long diztance travel takes a toll on a doe like me, don't you know? Now, if you are done, I muzt go talk to the director. Oh, and Pantomime, one of the actrezzezz wanted to speak to you, something about a silver comb or zome such. She seemed infuriated, but you have a big, black horned macho with you, so I'm zure you'll be fine." Doeminique replied, all of the statements aimed at Maltese were full of poison, but Maltese continued to remain unaffected by Doeminique's verbal assault. After all, Maltese couldn't blame her. This case was stressful for everypony, which was why it needed to be solved with much more haste than Maltese Scale's other investigations.

[Oopsie Daisy]

Pantomime watched everything happen before her, standing back awkwardly as Maltese backed Satine into quite a tight corner. She bit her lip in nervousness as he pushed her to tell him the truth, as she was really starting to dislike his interrogation methods. He was actually very frightening when he was doing his job, and when the doe asked the unicorn mare for help, all she could do was look up sadly before the detective assured her he wasn't accusing her of anything. Her ears flattened against her skull, and she looked down at the floor as it continued. It was really bothering her, the way he was talking to her friend.

When Dominique admitted to not telling the whole truth, Pantomime raised her head in surprise. Maltese's suspicions had been correct. How bizarre. But she thought timing was an odd thing to lie about.. but she decided not to linger on the issue too much. It wasn't really her business. Especially when the clearly irritated deer changed the subject to speak to her. "A silver comb..?" she asked in a soft voice. "I wonder why. I'll go see what's going on." She turned to leave as Maltese followed her, feeling a sense of relief that he was with her, despite her doubts. Even though Satine was being purposely insulting with her sarcastic words, she was right.. he was here to protect her. He had promised. And she would hold him to that promise.

The aforementioned actress was Ruby Red, who was looking furiously at Pantomime. Her equally annoying friend Sugar Lips was standing right beside her, wearing a similar expression. The white mare grimaced, rolling her eyes in annoyance. Why did it have to be these two? Just, why?

"PANTOMIME!" the red-coated unicorn mare shouted, in her annoying shrill voice. "Yes, Ruby?" Pantomime replied, in a very bored and tired voice. She could not be bothered with this right now. "My beloved silver comb has gone missing, and YOU were the last pony I saw near my dressing table before it happened!!" Her voice was quite stuffy, and she talked out of her nose like most Canterlot ponies. Her parents were incredibly posh, so it was no wonder she had picked up their bad habits.

"I never touched your comb, Ruby. I have absolutely no reason to, I have my own hairbrushes! It must've got misplaced while I was cleaning the table and mirror. I swear, I did not touch it," explained Pantomime, starting to get a little frustrated.

"HMPH! Likely story! I know you've always been jealous of my talents and my perfect golden hair, which is why you stole my comb from me!" she whined. Pantomine face-hoofed, when Sugar Lips started piping in, with her equally annoying voice. "Yeah, Pantomime. You've always been jealous - you're not even a real actress! Now tell us where Ruby Red's comb is!!"

"I already said I don't KNOW where it is!" Pantomime retorted angrily, feeling a little hurt after the 'real actress' comment but using her talents to cover it up. "I never touched it, and I never would. Unlike SOME ponies, I have a little respect!" she scoffed and walked away, deciding it wasn't worth it anymore. All that fuss over a stupid little comb.. when there was a proper crime scene going on? Ugh, how insulting. Pantomime really wasn't in the mood for their ridiculousness.

[Tenor]

"Oi! Don't talk ta Ruby like t'at!"

Maltese turned his head to see where the loud, shrill voice had come from, and watched as a rather...effeminate earth stallion approached the group, his face beat rage with what the detective could only assume was anger. The stallion's mane was rather curly, and was layered with yellow and pink streaks. A pair of small, hot pink framed glasses hung off the stallion's muzzle, which was frowning as his bright blue eyes stared daggers at Pantomime's back. Maltese quickly stepped in, his dark, looming presence making the stallion falter for a moment.

Maltese could see the gold pelt on the stallion stand straight, either out of fear, or out of shock, but it was most likely the latter, as the gold stallion quickly retorted, "And who are you? Some brutish lackey o' 'ers? Or is her taste in stallions really t'at unrefoined..."

"I'm a detective, sir. And I'm here to make sure that what happened to Ms. Dramatica does not happen to any of you. You can call me whatever you want, but I would much prefer if you cooperate Mister..." Maltese paused, obviously inquiring for the stallion's name. At first, the effeminate stallion didn't want to say anything, as he obviously looked down upon Maltese Scale and his gruff appearance.

But, between aiding the proper authorities, and getting no protection what so ever, the Earth Pony replied, "My name is Baroque, and I'm Miss Ruby's agent. I do say, you certainly don't look loike a detective. I mean, look it your horn! It's absolutely hideous, clashing with your pelt loike tha-"

"At least I don't look like a golden fairy. Now, why don't you, Ruby, and her friend kindly leave us be for the time being. I'll contact all of you later to collect your alibis," Maltese stated, before turning and walking away with Pantomime, only knowing that it would be much harder to question the three, now that he had retaliated towards them the way he did.

He looked over to Pantomime and smirked, "They're certainly obnoxious, aren't they? They remind me of the Royal Guard...only without armor, and about half their size. No really, I never knew a mare could be so skinny! What does she eat, prunes?"

[Oopsie Daisy]

The awful shrill voice took Pantomime by surprise, and she turned around to see a very feminine earth stallion approach them. He looked ridiculous, even to her.. and she'd seen some pretty darn ridiculous costumes on stage. Of COURSE he was Ruby Red's agent.. how very typical. But when he pretty much cowered away at Maltese's very much less-effeminate presence, she had to stifle a laugh by raising her front knee to her mouth. The way the detective spoke and looked down on the agent was ever so amusing. It was ever so interesting to see how he was so different from the Canterlot ponies.. she actually found it very enticing and attractive. She could barely stand most of the snobs found in the royal city.

When 'Baroque' insulted Maltese's looks, Pantomime got a bit angry and was about to react, when the black-horned stallion said one of the funniest things she'd ever heard. A golden fairy.. that was just it. She couldn't contain her amusement anymore, and burst out into hysterical laughter.. it was about time someone had put those fancy annoyances in their places.

Still laughing, she walked away with Maltese, feeling better than ever that he had come with her."That was amazing!" she exclaimed happily, beaming at the silver stallion. "And yeah, tell me about it. I've been dealing with those prissy stuck-ups for as long as I can take. And yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if she did."

She laughed again, feeling much better than she had before. But then she remembered why they were there.. and her spirits fell. She wondered what was next on Maltese's agenda, trying hard not to think about O.J, the disappearances, poor Dramatica.. and Sugar Lips' bitter words. "You're not even a real actress!" the shrill voice continued to screech through her brain. She cleared her throat and decided it also wasn't worth lingering on.. although she wish she'd had a proper retaliation. But, she didn't.. because she wasn't a real actress. "Not yet, anyway.." she thought, trying to cheer herself up a little. It didn't matter, she shouldn't let it get to her. "So what now, Maltese?" she asked.

[Tenor]

A cough rose up from the black horned detective's throat, clearing it within a moments breadth, and allowing Maltese to respond, "Oh, on the contrary, it's rather minor. You should listen to me berate the Royal Guard. Always butting in on my cases, arresting the wrong ponies when they only have just enough evidence to assume that a pony is guilty..."

Maltese paused for a brief moment, realizing that he was starting to ramble, and that Pantomime probably didn't want to hear him whine about the guards. He turned his head back to her and chuckled, "I'm sorry, that is neither here nor there. I'll focus on the investigation from here on out."

It was all too apparent that there was some form of bad blood between Maltese and the Royal Guard, but nopony could possibly fathom what might have lead to this. It was easy to imply that the Royal Guard had intervened in one of Maltese's cases before...but that didn't really seem to fit with how Maltese was reacting to them. No, the answer was much deeper, more mysterious than just a simple butting of heads between the two...but Maltese certainly wasn't going to discuss it now. Instead, his thoughts returned to the previous query that Pantomime had presented him with.

"We still need to visit the owner of the theatre, find out who was absent from work yesterday, who was present for work yesterday, and visit the dressing rooms...preferably the mare's at this point." Maltese replied bluntly, unaware of how awkward and risky that last part of his statement was. But there would surely be more evidence in the Mare's dressing room, as most of the suspects were female, aside from Baroque and Parodius. Honestly, Maltese was above and against rummaging around through a mares belongings without some sort of logical reasoning behind it. It would be perverse and utterly illegal if he were to do so otherwise. Then again, he technically wasn't allowed to search the building for clues until he had a search warrant, but he was a detective, not a guard. He didn't have to really pay attention to that law, so long as he wasn't caught of course, which he rarely was.

"Though, to be honest, I have no idea where the dressing rooms are located in this establishment. I hope that you would be kind enough to lead the way? Please, the investigation might rely upon what we might find in that dressing room." Maltese requested, oblivious to the rather questionable implications his questions had. With the way he was saying it, it was like he wanted to go to the mare's dressing room with Pantomime so that he could look around at the various clothes, but Maltese, putting his trust in Pantomime, simply assumed that she would understand his words without him needing to explain it in much detail.

[Oopsie Daisy]

"This way," Pantomime said with a smile, leading him in the direction of the changing rooms. She instantly understood his need to search the rooms, and sympathised a little at his discomfort. It must've been a very awkward thing to propose, but she saw his need as a detective to search anywhere that might be suspicious in the building. Moving close to him, she whispered, "I know a shortcut.."

Making sure no one was looking at them, she turned and led him into the hall to the side of the room. The hall was fairly quiet, but she was aware there would be investigators searching around. But she knew all the nooks and crannies of her favourite place, and she would make sure the two got to their destination unspotted. "Come on," she said after making sure the coast was clear, leading him behind an unnoticeable curtain which led to a secret hallway. "The designers had this built for the staff and actors only, to keep the press and interviewers out of the dressing rooms," she explained. It was very dark, but she was using her horn as a torch like she always did to guide them through. The passage suddenly got wider, and a staircase lit with candles hanging on the wall appeared at the end. "Watch your step!" She put her magic torch out, and headed up the stairs.

At the top of the stairs were two large polished doors. Pantomime opened one then held it open for Maltese, making sure the coast was clear. She was sure that the manager might send investigators into the secret passage at some point to have a look around, so she kept her eyes and ears peeled for anypony that might be around. It seemed that everyone was still downstairs and outside where the crime had taken place, which certainly made sense. The light grey mare turned to the right towards a door, which led right into the female dressing area. There were separate changing rooms for each actress, and in the main area were racks full of clothes and costumes, waiting to be worn for the next performance. Just now, Pantomime's job was to clean the rooms and help the actresses get dressed. Soon, she hoped to be wearing one of those costumes.. if everything was sorted, of course.

She turned to her detective companion with a sheepish smile. "Well.. here we are," she said, closing the door over and quickly looking outside. Hopefully they'd be able to continue undisturbed, she couldn't think of why anyone would come up. "Where do you want to start?"

[Tenor]

The grey stallion's breath halted for a moment as he stared into the pitch black passegeway, a cold perspiration slowly emerging from his body. He hated the darkness, but not for what might be hiding within it's depths, no, he had a much better reason to be afraid of the darkness. Maltese swallowed audibly, and followed closely behind Pantomime, not bothering to summon a torch with his horn, though the reasoning behind it was enigmatic. After all, if he was scared of the dark, then why did he not light up his own horn?

This question, thankfully, wasn't brought to light, and the duo reached the dressing rooms with no trouble what so ever. The room was well lit, and with a silent sigh, the metaphorical ice along Maltese's spine had melted. He trotted over to the doors that led into each of the individual dressing rooms, each door labeled with the actress's name, which had been engraved on a copper plate that hung off the door at eye level. Eyeing each plaque, the black horned detective stopped in front of Dramatica's room, and deemed it as the most important, at least, for now. After all, there might be a connection between OJ and Dramatica, although Maltese had his doubts about this.

Maltese tried to open the door, but the wooden fixture wouldn't budge. However, no form of frustration seemed to show on the investigator's mind, as he simply stood back from the door, his horn shrouding itself in a dark aura. The door knob shook slightly as if it was being rocked from it's very foundations, before a soft click sounded off from the knob. Maltese was usually against such a thing, as it was just as breaking and entering was just as illegal when a pony wasn't looking for evidence, but time was of the essence, and Maltese couldn't afford to let the guards get their hands on any evidence that might aid the duo in their investigation.

The wooden door slowly opened into the dressing room, and Maltese couldn't help but turn to Pantomime, and explain, "I apologize, I know that this isn't the most...ethical thing for a law enforcer to do, but we simply don't have the time to gallop over and get a search warrant. I hope you can understand,"

With that said, Maltese turned back to the room, and entered, his eyes widening a little at the...decor. Books were stacked high in piles on the floor, ranging from text books explaining the basics of emoting and acting, to surprisingly high level magic tomes. Maltese frowned, realizing all too well what this particular mare was suffering from.

"It appears that she was trying to juggle her acting career with advanced magic courses. So, if somepony did want to injure all of the actors and actresses, then Dramatica, probably being the most powerful, would certainly be the first victim. Then again, maybe she had just set all this up to try and detach herself from her acting career, and things just went too far. Either way you think about it, it's rather sad." Maltese speculated, frowning slightly for the poor unicorn's rough style of living, as he entered further into the room, looking around to see if he could find anything else of interest.

"Pantomime, would you look around at some of the other rooms please? It'll take us less time if we split up. Besides, I get the feeling that I'll be in this room for a little while..." Maltese asked, readjusting his hat with a hoof, if only so that the brim of his hat wouldn't obstruct his vision.

[Oopsie Daisy]

Waving a hoof dismissively, the light silver mare shook her head. "No need to apologise, Maltese. I know you're only doing your job and I respect that." She gave him an understanding smile, watching as he entered a dressing room and following him inside. She had a quick look around, listening as he spoke, feeling sad at what he'd said.

Pantomime then rose her head as the detective spoke to her, and she nodded at what he had requested. "Oh course, Maltese," she said, as she left the room to go to the room next to it. The star on the door read "Ruby Red". The unicorn winced as she entered, really not looking forward to being inside that prissy snob's room. But, it was for the sake of the theatre and the actors and actresses.. and for the sake of Maltese. So, she reluctantly opened the door and went inside.

The dressing room was incredibly messy.. with make-up and hair products cluttering the mirror table and clothes and costumes all over the floor. It was not a pretty sight. Pantomime pulled a face, not looking forward to cleaning this room up at the end of the week. But it was strange, Ruby's room was usually incredibly clean.. unlike Sugar, she was a total clean-freak. Pantomime immediately began investigating, knowing that this was not a good sign. It was almost as if she had been frantically looking for something..

So, she began her search. Batting away clothes with a hoof and keeping her eyes peeled for anything unusual or suspicious, she wondered what she could find amongst all this mess. Or if she would even find anything at all. Using her magic, she carefully moved them out of the way, keeping a close eye on what was hidden underneath the sparkly blue hue. But it was just more costumes, and then the wooden floor. "Hmmmmm.." Pantomime moved to the dressing table, once again using her magic to carefully search through the beauty products. Combs, hair gel, lipstick, eyelash curlers.. all kinds of rubbish to further prove how full of herself Ruby was. Again, there was nothing unusual to be found. So, she decided to check the drawers.

Top drawer.. just a pair of scissors and a roll of mostly used-up cello-tape. Pantomime pulled open the other drawer.. and something caught her eye. It was a note, written in scrawled writing on a piece of lined paper. Magicking it out of the drawer, the unicorn levitated it in front of her face and read it to herself.

My dearest Ruby Red,
You are the most beautiful and most talented pony I have ever laid eyes on.
You're so graceful and so perfect, and everypony wants to be like you. But no one could ever match up to you.
That is why I must have you.
You don't know who I am, you don't know what I look like. But I am always there, in every audience, watching you.
And no one else but you.
The reason I am writing this? So that you know I at least exist.
Who am I? That does not matter.
As long as you know that I am always there. Watching you.
Lots of love and admiration,
You-Don't-Know-Who

Pantomime's eyes widened. This could definitely be important. Still holding it in the air with her magic, she backed out of the room and ran back into Dramatica's, where Maltese was still investigating. "Maltese! You have to see this!" she exclaimed, holding it up so he could read it.