The velvet curtain fell, revealing an opulent ballroom filled with elegant guests. A figure slumped lifeless beside a crystal vase, a dagger protruding from the chest. Regina Gaveston's sapphire necklace vanished; servants whispered in fearful awe. Detective Simon Hawthorne, with piercing gaze, surveyed the panicked room. A crescendo of gasps followed Belinda Smythe's indignant cry, "Murder! Police, sir," pointing at disheveled Lord Thornbridge. Amid champagne flutes, whispers of revenge swirled like smoke from candlelit chandeliers.