Page 53 of The Maid's Secret

“We were all watching,” Mr.Snow adds.

“That’s right,” says Steve as he introduces himself to Stark. “I can’t believe the Fabergé was stolen right in front of our eyes. How can that be?”

“You tell me,” says Stark as she eyes Steve suspiciously. “You’re the showrunner, so you’ve got footage, right?”

“I do,” says Steve with a tip of his ball cap. “I can make you a copy.”

“Not a copy. The original. I’ll be leaving with it today.”

“If you insist,” says Steve.

Detective Stark addresses the others in the room. “Is there anyone here who can shed light on what the hell just happened?” she asks.

The bidders and buyers, crew members and hotel staff look at her wordlessly, shaking their heads.

“A room full of bystanders and nobody saw a thing?”

She walks up the stage stairs, pacing around the display case twice, peering through the glass at the emptiness within. The bottom of the case, where the egg was sitting, is slightly displaced, but other than that, there are no signs of tampering.

She searches her pockets, puts on a pair of latex gloves, and nudges the case. As she shifts it, what’s underneath comes into view—a round, brass outlet on the stage floor.

“Holy moly! And I mean that literally,” Angela says as she takes in the familiar hole in the stage floor.

“The vacuum port,” I say. “The display case was centered on top ofit.”

“Is that what this hole is?” Stark asks. “A central vacuum outlet?”

“We had it installed during our first-floor renovation a few years ago,” Mr.Snow explains.

“The Silent Sucker 2000,” I explain. “It makes cleaning a dream.”

“Where does the vent lead?” Stark asks.

“To the greenroom,” I reply. “There’s another port in there.”

“Show me,” says Stark.

I lead her through the hidden paneled door to the greenroom, pointing to the outlet on the adjacent stage wall. Angela and Mr.Snow soon file in behind us, leaving Juan by the stage.

“I vacuumed in here just last night, and I vacuumed the stage, too,” says Angela.

“Wait, aren’t you a bartender?” Stark says.

“I was put in charge of events when Molly became a superstar. The job sucks, and if I’m not mistaken, so does what happened here,” she says, pointing to the vacuum outlet.

“I’m not following,” Mr.Snow says as he adjusts his glasses on his nose.

“Someone—not me—left that vacuum port onstage open on purpose,” Angela explains.

“Bingo,” Stark says as she looks at the hole more closely.

“When the lights went down and the auction started, they attached the hose in the greenroom to suction the egg out of the display case,” Angela explains.

“So where’s the collection canister?” Stark asks. “The dirt’s gotta go somewhere, right?”

“The utility closet,” I reply.

Angela’s eyes light up. “Maybe the egg’s in there!”