Chapter 10: Taking Off The Sugarcoat

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Down at an empty shack loaned by the Sweetypies, Mao Mao was conducting his interrogation.

"So, Pinky," he began, "As you know, you're here because you're under suspicion of vandalism regarding toilet paper, a crime which you've easily branded yourself guilty for with the presence of rolls in your hands!" He slammed an unused roll of toilet paper onto the table for emphasis.

While the action indeed startled Pinky, it didn't really register in his head that Mao Mao could do anything to him under the federal laws of Pure Heart Valley. After all, he didn't care at all what happened as a result of his actions. However, in this situation, he had no idea what the sheriff was talking about. "Yeah, that wasn't me," he responded in his characteristic nonchalance, "so I literally don't know what you're talking about."

"Ah, of course. Keep denying the obvious truth in front of you," Mao Mao hissed. "With your propensity for causing chaos and whatnot, you compulsively absolve yourself of any responsibility." He then took the toilet paper roll and shoved it closer to Pinky. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"That I'm not the only one who enjoys this kind of thing?" Pinky wildly guessed while reclining himself on his metal chair with his hands behind his head.

"Oh, so you're going to keep denying it," Mao Mao glowered more intensely. He put a hand on the table and leaned closer at Pinky in a similarly relaxed posture. "Like who? Slim Pigguns?"

"Maybe?" was Pinky's sole reply. "Ask him, not me."

Mao Mao huffed at the lack of a straight answer from the troublemaking Sweetypie. He had to resort to more drastic measures. "Oh, I already talked to him, and he tells me that you took all his toilet paper from behind his back." He made sure to play the part well by sitting on the table next to Pinky, even pretending to examine his manicure. "Unlike you, Slim doesn't have the reputation of a repetitive willful troublemaker, so what reason have I got to believe you over him?" He leaned in even closer to Pinky's face, relishing his increasingly tense and sweaty expression that included him biting his lower lip. He was now on the home stretch. "I'm sure Pure Heart Valley's pie-cutting ceremony would go off without a certain pink Sweetypie for a hitch..."

Pinky couldn't take it anymore. "No! No, please! I swear it wasn't me!" he cried out in absolute earnest, completely devoid of the smug demeanor he usually expressed. "I only TP'ed two and a half houses when I saw a ghost flying around leaving trails of white paper stuff all over a bunch of other houses. I'm not lying, I swear!"

That definitely threw Mao Mao for a loop there a bit. "Bah! A ghost? You're going to have to try harder than that to make me give you mercy."

But once again, Pinky bounced back from begging to sincere insistence. "No, really! I saw a ghost! It was flying in front of the moon with a trail of white cloth behind it! It came from behind that magic school!" He then jumped off his chair and landed on the table on his knees with his hands held and shaken together in front of the startled sheriff. "Please, I swear it's the truth and nothing but the truth! Please don't boot me from the pie party!"

Mao Mao said nothing, as he was officially out of ways to get the answer he wanted. It seemed that he may as well move forward with the rest of the investigation.

Momo and her friends waited outside the shack, wondering how long it was going to take for Mao Mao to finish his 'interrogation'. They passed the time by playing catch with few of the candies from their baskets, even occasionally counting how many of each ingredient or flavor they had in their possession in categories. Eventually, Momo heard Mao Mao coming out the door, so she and her friends got right to him.

"So, is Pinky guilty?" Momo spoke first.

Mao Mao first replied with a visual display of exasperation, pinching the brow between his eyes as a temporary stress reliever. "Well, Pinky's a troublemaker and usually a just-as-easy squealer, but he's sticking with the same story, surprisingly enough considering how honest he was being."

"What did he say?"

"He claimed a ghost TP'ed all the houses back near the school and that he saw it flying through the air," Mao Mao huffed, his arms crossed. "Like he would try and pull the ghost card. He never takes responsibilities for his own mischief..."

Momo looked at Mao Mao with concern, feeling for the sheriff's need for enforcing justice and the law, but like everyone else, felt that he was taking this a little too hard. Now she wasn't an expert on knowing everybody in Pure Heart Valley, but she's familiar enough with Pinky's antics that she could gauge them realistically. Pinky was only a small Sweetypie who didn't have the physical abilities as the Sheriff's Department did. From what she saw back at the scene of the 'crime', there were multiple strands of what she thought was toilet paper falling from the sky. It stood to reason that perhaps this time, Pinky wasn't lying.

"You know, sheriff? I don't think Pinky was lying to you."

"What?" was Mao Mao's response, having approached Momo rapidly in semi-disbelief. "You're seriously thinking Pinky, of all Sweetypies, is innocent of this kind of crime?"

"Well, think about it. Pinky's too small to be able to launch loads of toilet paper over a whole bunch of houses, and it's doubtful he's smart enough to find a way to either. Maybe he's not lying this time?"

Mao Mao thought long and carefully, maintaining eye contact with Momo when he noticed her continuing to stare up at him. He sighed. "Okay, then. What if it was a ghost?"

"Well, there's nothing else to suggest it isn't," Momo answered. "Madam Camille always said that the ghosts at our school were an annual problem, but we should be prepared for anything. In my opinion, a ghost should be doing more than just dunking toilet paper to be dangerous."

"But how can that be?" Mao Mao turned away to walk in some other direction, swaying his cape. "Ghosts are just malevolent spirits, existing only to cause harm. That's my impression."

"Well yeah, those ghosts were the only ones you saw that time," Momo conceded, taking off her hat and fiddling with it as she sat back down on the grass. "But I've read about what ghosts are, and from what's been discovered, they're just like us – some good, some bad. We can't just attack every single one of them."

"Well, not that I can anyway," Mao Mao growled sarcastically when he heard that, sneaking a glance at his golden sword Geraldine hanging at his hip.

Momo laughed a little at that remark. "Well yeah, that too. But still, let's not be quick to judge if this is a ghost we're dealing with here. If that ghost tries anything," she winked and gently elbowed Mao Mao, "then it's all yours."

Mao Mao smiled back, letting out a little chuckle while rubbing the top of Momo's head, squishing her hat flat a little. "Sure thing, Momo, but I'd also like to allow you to do the honors of helping me out with that too, since..." he scratched the back of his head, "...I'm not a magic fighter. You're the one with the wand, after all."

Momo's eyes widened at what Mao Mao was suggesting, then allowing a huge open smile to creep up on her face. She got right in front of the sheriff. "Does that mean I'm the sheriff now?"

Mao Mao turned his head and stuck out his lower lip. "Pah! Of course not! The title of sheriff still belongs solely to me! I'm just appointing you my negotiator!"

Hearing that, Momo then slinked closer to Mao Mao until she was right at his side. "Then you don't mind if I use diplomacy on the ghost first before I do my magic?" She blinked rapidly to convey the look.

Not knowing how to respond to Momo based on how she asked him that, Mao Mao let out a sarcastic sigh, not feeling the debater in him at the moment. "Sure," he replied unenthusiastically, "do whatever works."

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