Julius continued to watch from his computer. But he didn't watch the show as much as the people. He wondered if there was anyone interesting in the audience. He glanced over them and thought he recognised some of them but it was hard now that the lights had gone out. He could turn them back on...but now was not the time. People would be alerted that there was a problem and the immediate area would most likely be investigated. Getting caught was not something he wanted.

Matt turned his eyes to the stage and watched as the first beauty queen and her sylesti pranced on stage. The outfit was not of much interest, although the sylvorpa was a pretty one. What caught Matt's interest was the display. Most of it was ancient battle moves turned into a kind of modern dance. While these sylesties were not bred for fighting, they certainly had to potential. So both explanations for the sylesti theft still held equal ground. He would have to dig deeper at the dinner tonight. Still that was hours away and it would be conspicuous if he left now. Matt leaned back settling in to endure the rest of the show.

After a while Resa began to feel uneasy. There was something not quite right but she couldn't figure out what it was. Her suspicion was confirmed when Charisma gave her a low warning growl. She looked over the crowd and noticed four people in particular. One she recognized as private detective Matthew Starr, although she had never met him personally, chief Yett had ordered all officers to not let him interfere with police business. She took note of his presence but thought he might just be here to watch the pageant. But the other three people had her slightly concerned. They'd been seated up the other end of the hall at first but during the show had edged closer to the door leading backstage.
She quietly signaled the other officers who nodded at her. They had noticed the three people too but it was still too early to act on their suspicions. All they could do for now was keep an extra close eye on them.

Matt frowned as he saw a man move into a seat in front of him. It was considered bad grace in this place to change seats during a show. Wonder what he's up to? He scanned the crowd. Seems like he's not alone. unless I miss my guess my client may not be the only one who will be missing her sylesti before long. Even if the police manage to stop these guys.

Julian stayed wary as he looked watched also picking up on the movements with interests as he positioned the cameras to get a better look at what was going on. Maybe this would be a little more interesting than he had thought it would be.

While being closely observed by the police one of the suspicious people seemed to get message on his phone. He then stood up and simply left the hall, followed by the other two but not before flashing a smile in the direction of the officer positioned backstage. Resa gave him a confused look but he just shrugged at her.
And so the show went on, at least it was supposed to... The next contestant still hadn't appeared on stage despite being called several times by the announcer. Resa began to worry.

Matt frowned and muttered several uncomplimentary things under his breath. It seemed like this case was far larger than anyone anticipated. Hearing a wail from back stage Matt's face became grim. Looks like another sylesti was now stolen.

Julian frowned. "Where where where!" Different camera views flashed up on his computer screen but he couldn't find where the person went. There was a slight moment where the next sylesti and the stranger disappeared. The scream let him know that what he had deduced had happened. The sylesti had been kidnapped. He flashed to another camera and he could see someone running off and quickly off the screen and out of view. Whoever it was was smart, they knew how to avoid being on camera as much as possible. He didn't like that though, it meant whoever was doing this wasn't just some devious teen trying to pull pranks, but it was someone with some skill in pulling off such theft. He quickly pulled up earlier footage to get a better view of the man. Like he had thought, this man was good, he knew where the cameras were but he kept his face as best covered up and away from the cameras as he could. But he had made a slight mistake as he turned to look at one of the police he had shown the side of his face. The cameras were sub-par and the picture therefore was blurry but some could still be made out. His heart skipped a beat for a moment and he grinned. Finally he had something that might actually be interesting. Maybe he could track this person down. It would surely be fun at that.

Backstage, the woman who had her puffadore stolen was crying and yelling at the two other officers. Resa wasn't too fond of dealing with victims so she happily volunteered to search the area for any possible way the thief could have gotten in. The only known ways to get backstage were either through the stage itself or the door next to it but those two places were well in sight of everyone, someone would have noticed if anyone went in that way. She started by scanning the walls of the room and quickly noticed a section that was slightly off. She traced the large square in the wallpaper with her finger.
"What do you think, Charisma, is this anything?" She asked. Charisma phased through the square and, after a moment, returned and let out a short yip.
"Is that so?" Resa drew her rapier and stuck the tip in the wall. After a bit of fidgeting she heard a click and the square panel popped out of place, revealing a secret passage.

Matt sighed and rubbed his forehead. Could this get anymore complicated? He could not drop his current case, although police involvement now looked certain. Somehow he had a strange feeling that something bigger than expected was going on here.