Stolen Ribbons (Otherwise Untitled)

Story by Moriar on SoFurry

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#177 of Short Stories

Detective Clip, Jackalope of the Law, eats some corn.


~ The colony fair was a turmoil of excitement and mirth, as Detective Clip found herself seated at one of the long tables in the dining tent. The jackalope was not entirely displeased with the pile of boiled corn on the cobs that she'd collected onto a plate, grinning across the table to Bell who was muddling with trying to ascertain the complete nature of the soup he'd picked up at a booth.

~ The tall synth, while carefully extracting a slice of mushroom from his soup, "So, we already knew the rules. An undisclosed number of judges taste the pies, and they announce first, third, and second place."

~ With her third ear of corn consumed, Clip took a break to reply, "And I've figured out that the plan was to have twenty-three judges, except that two couldn't make it due to an issue with their transport. Why do they only announce the percentage for first place?"

~ Scooping a bit of rice from the bottom of the soup, Bell grinned down to Clip, "To keep it all friendly; we get to know how vigorously first place won, but don't know how hard anyone else lost. So, was I right that someone cheated?"

~ Picking up her fourth ear of corn, the detective nodded, "Yup. First place got sixty-one percent, yeah?"

~ The synth nodded, tapping the third place ribbon he'd pinned to his chest. "I kept up with the results, yes."

~ Pausing halfway through the corn, "That's not a possible result, since two judges didn't show up. It'd be either fifty-seven percent, or sixty-two percent."

~ Bell blinked.

~ With a grin, the jackalope explained, "Someone did the math for twenty-three judges, and kept shoving in votes for their own pie until it was one of the possible results when having that many judges."

~ The third place baker leaned in close to Clip to inquire, "Well.. what do we do about it?"

~ The jackalope, "Well, I'm going to eat corn. I assume you'll figure out that soup."