A few hours later, the train from Ponyville pulled into the Trottingham station. Twilight disembarked with Flash following.

"Twi...Your Highness, we still have about an hour before the opening," Flash said, trotting quickly behind Twilight as she hurried down the platform. "There's no need to rush so much."

"I want to get there as early as possible," Twilight replied. "I have to get ready for the speech."

"You might not be giving it," said a familiar voice. Stopping in surprise, Flash and Twilight saw Phillip Finder exiting a train car and walking up to them.

"What are you doing here?" Flash asked in surprise. Phillip replied by holding up a copy of The Equestrian Times, opened to a headline that read "Trottingham History Museum opening new exhibit on Leonardo da Whinny."

"As soon as I saw that, my crime sense went off," Phillip said. "Something's happened, and I intend to find out what it is."

"Well, come on!" Twilight said, hurrying off the platform and heading down the street.

"Your Highness, wait for me!" Flash called, chasing after her. Phillip followed at a casual pace.

Behind them, a mare walked off the platform, wearing a long green dress, a large sunhat, and a pair of dark glasses that hid her light rosy eyes. She watched Phillip trotting away from her, frowning slightly in concern. It had been a long time since she'd seen the stallion with the gray trilby, and she knew that If he was back in her life, things were about to get a lot more complicated. Even more so than usual.

The trio arrived at the Trottingham History Museum only a couple minutes later. The Museum was a huge marble building that looked like an ancient temple dedicated to the worship of knowledge, with a set of white-washed steps leading up to the entrance, a pair of wide gold doors, surrounded by columns decorated with images that represented various parts of Equestrian history, from prehistoric ponies all the way to the present. Pushing open the doors, Twilight led them into the reception area. The receptionist, instantly recognizing her, pointed her down a hallway towards the da Whinny exhibit.

The exhibit room was a large room towards the back of the museum. A large banner stretched over the entrance, declaring "Grand Opening" in large letters, and a stand and podium had been set up, but there was nopony around. Moving around the podium, the ponies entered the exhibit room, which was filled with cases that proudly displayed much of the ancient master's restored paintings and sculptures and scale models of his numerous inventions, all of them accompanied with information displays.

Standing in front of a large copy of the Vitruvian Pony, nervously wringing her hooves, was a unicorn mare with amber fur, dusty brown mane and tail, and green eyes that were magnified by a pair of thick glasses. Her cutie mark was of a book and quill. She looked up in surprise when Twilight approached.

"Your Highness! We..we weren't expecting you for some time!" exclaimed Doctor Main Exhibit, the director of the museum.

"Doctor, has something happened?" Twilight asked.

"Well...we're not sure," the mare said, nervously looking at the floor. "You see, there was a break-in last night. The burglar, whoever it was, was only inside for a few minutes, and as far as we can tell, nothing was taken. We're still checking all of the exhibits to see if anything was damaged."

"Where'd he get in?" Phillip asked, already pulling his loupe glasses out of his carrying case in his pocket.

"The fire escape in the back. It has a silent alarm attached, that's how we knew...wait, who are you?" Dr. Exhibit asked.

"Phillip Finder," Twilight responded for Phillip, who was already moving towards the door at the back. "He's a friend and a detective."

"Ahem."

"Oh, and this is my bodyguard, Flash Sentry," Twilight added, gesturing to Flash, who nodded to Dr. Exhibit.

Finding nothing of use at the door, Phillip moved on to the exhibit itself, checking each of da Whinny's works for any sign of tampering or damage. Twilight and Flash, guided by Dr. Exhibit, also began to walk around the large room, examining each painting, model and statue with the aid of Twilight's magically conjured magnifier bubble, with the museum director providing a running commentary that the other three tuned out. Nothing appeared to have been touched or damaged. So why had somepony broken in? What were they looking for?

The last painting was placed on the back wall. The painting, which measured only a couple feet on each side, depicted a mare with long brown hair and a young, unblemished face sitting in the foreground, a faint smile playing about her thin lips and in her brown eyes. She wore a dark brown dress that contrasted with her pale blue fur.

"Ah, the famous Mare Lisa," Dr. Exhibit said. "Leonardo da Whinny's most infamous work, solely because of the mystery surrounding it. You have probably heard the rumors that it hides the key to finding a treasure that Leonardo allegedly hid, but those are just rumors—"

"It's a fake," Twilight and Phillip said simultaneously.

Dr. Exhibit's jaw dropped. "H-how can you be sure?"

Twilight indicated the signature, tiny and nearly indistinguishable next to the mare's sleeve. "The signature. The inking is uneven; that means whoever made the signature repeatedly started and stopped trying to trace the signature."

"B-b-but it's the real painting!" Dr. Exhibit cried. "I had five of my best art historians verify it!"

"Our burglar probably broke in to steal the real painting and replace it with this fake." Phillip said as he examined the rest of the painting. "This is a good forgery otherwise...experienced painter. Hmmm..." He thought for a moment, then turned and started towards the exit. "I have an idea."

"W-wait a minute!" Dr. Exhibit called after him. "You can't just leave!"

"Apparently, he can," Flash said to himself.

"Don't worry, Dr. Exhibit," Twilight assured the museum director. "We'll find the Mare Lisa and bring it back." And with that, the other two followed Phillip out the exhibit, leaving Dr. Exhibit standing bewildered.

After a stop at the post office to check the city registry, Phillip guided the others to the east side apartments in search of an old friend. "Baroque Brush," he said, heading up a flight of stairs. "Convicted of art forgery a few years ago, got a lighter sentence and parole for turning on his partners. Lived here ever since. Known expert on da Whinny. If he didn't do the forgery, he might know who did."

Coming up to the third floor landing, they proceeded to room 306. Phillip knocked on the door. "Baroque, this is the Guard. Open up." No response. He knocked harder. "Baroque! We just want to talk." Still nothing. Phillip tried the door and, finding that it was unlocked, proceeded through it.

"Hey!" Flash protested. "That's breaking and entering! You need probable cause!"

Phillip paused, then opened the door wider, revealing the living room. "That's our probable cause," he said, gesturing to the corpse lying in the center of the room with a switchblade in his back. Twilight gasped in shock. "The late Baroque Brush, mates. Doesn't appear to be dead long." He looked around the room, then looked at Flash.

"You wanna do this yourself?"

Flash blinked. "You sure?"

Phillip responded by stepping aside and gesturing into the room. Flash stepped forward, bending over the body. Twilight, in the meantime, decided to ask the neighbors if they had seen or heard anything.

"The knife's in deep," Flash said, examining the fatal wound and noting the brand of the weapon. "Indicates the killer's strength. From the angle, it looks like the killer was left-hooved. There are no signs of a struggle and the door hasn't been broken, so it was probably somepony they knew and trusted." He looked at the ashtray. "These two cigarettes are his: I can tell because of the crimping on the ends. He used that cigarette holder on the table there. This one is probably from the killer: Blue Camel."

He looked up at Phillip, but his mentor gave him no sign of encouragement, simply gesturing for him to continue. Flash continued his examination of the apartment, checking for anything that seemed out of place. Moving into the hallway, he spotted a gray fedora hanging on the hatstand.

"That doesn't belong to Brush," he said, noting that the hat was covering the only other hat on the stand, a small green cap, and that it was too big for the deceased artist's head. He reached out to grab it, but Phillip stopped him, gently shaking his head and gesturing to his eyes. Flash understood: look first, then touch. He peered at the hat. "Looks pretty new...and expensive. I see bite marks in the back rim from when he picked it up, so probably not a unicorn." He looked at the ear holes in the brim. "Tan hairs." His external examination complete, Flash gently picked up the hat by the very edge of his hoof and began to more closely examine the interior. "Let's see...brown hairs inside the brim. What's this?" Noticing a strange lump on the interior brim, he gently pulled out a small blue matchbook. It had a name on it: Skinny's. Flipping open the matchbook, Flash found "Baroque Brush" written on the interior flap.

"I'd be willing to bet our killer hangs out at this bar," Flash said.

Twilight returned at that moment. "One of the neighbors saw Mr. Brush with another pony once," she said, purposefully avoiding looking at the body. "All he remembers is that the other pony had a cutie mark of a pair of boxing gloves. I told him to call the Guard."

"Good," Flash said. "We should wait for the Guard to arrive and secure the scene."

"If we wait, we might lose this lead we've got," Phillip stated. Twilight and Flash looked at each other, making up their minds.

"All right," Twilight said, lighting up her horn and casting a barrier spell over the door to the apartment. "That'll fade when the Guards arrive, but in the meantime, nopony's going in that room."

"Good. Let's go." Phillip led the other three back out of the apartment and down the street towards Skinny's bar.

The mare in the sunhat and dress, who had been waiting in the street outside, followed them.

Skinny's bar was a rundown joint not far from Brush's apartment, the owner's name displayed in blinking red neon in the window next to the door. When Phillip opened the door, he and his friends were greeted with the stench of cheap cider, chewing tobacco, and several ponies who had not showered for a few days. As they made their way through the dimly-lit bar, the other patrons went unusually quiet, turning to watch their progress with open hostility. The bartender, a reed thin earth pony with greasy black bangs, stared at them with an owlish gaze.

Looking around, Flash touched Phillip's shoulder and nodded to a tan earth pony with a generous build sitting alone at a table, nursing a drink with his left hoof and sucking on a Blue Camel cigarette. He had a tan coat and was wearing an expensive gray suit and tie. His flanks displayed the image of a pair of boxing gloves. His eyes weren't focused on anything; he seemed to be unaware of anything around him. The trio of ponies approached, aware that the other patrons were still staring at them in silent hostility.

"You left your hat at Baroque Brush's place, mate," Phillip said to the tan earth pony quietly. The culprit slowly turned and looked up, his eyes widening in fear as he realized that he'd been caught. "Listen up. We're gonna walk outside, nice and easy, and you—"

He was interrupted by the snap of breaking wood. Looking up, Phillip, Flash and Twilight saw a bulky dark blue pegasus with red hair stalking towards them, having just broken a billiard stick over his knee. "You gotta lotta nerve, coming back to this town, flathoof," he growled, slapping the heavier end against his hoof threateningly as he advanced, his glaring eyes on Phillip.

"And even more nerve bringing a princess and one of her dogs in here," a yellow unicorn with dark glasses snarled from the bar, grabbing a bottle of cider with his magic and smashing it against the bar to make a makeshift knife. The other patrons began to approach, several drawing their own weapons, everything from blackjacks to butterfly knives to lengths of chain that rattled threateningly. Flash and Phillip automatically stood in defensive stances, placing themselves between Twilight and the threats.

At that moment, the door flew open and every head turned to see a mare enter the bar, wearing a sunhat, a long green dress and sunglasses. She paused, frowning as she took in the situation. Then, with a sweeping gesture of her hoof, she threw off the clothes, revealing a dark green shirt with several pockets, a pith helmet that covered her greyscale rainbow mane, and glaring rosy eyes. The image of a compass rose stood out on her flanks.

Twilight and Flash both gasped in astonishment. "Daring Do?"

Author's Notes:

This gonna be good...

(Sorry for the wait.)