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replaced the scissors in a special box, lining them up beside the rest of the collection with distinctive gold handles, then turned to Nancy. “What are you, a crazy girl?” she snapped. “Popping out of the walls, scaring people out of their minds.”
    â€œI’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation,” Beau said, stepping toward Nancy. “Need a hand?”
    Beau helped to pull Nancy out. “Thanks,” she said, brushing the dust off her clothes.
    Just then Bess and Angel rushed in from the hall, looking nervous until they spotted Nancy. “You’re here!” Bess said, relieved. “I was hoping you were the cause of all the noise.”
    â€œWe were waiting for you to return to the vault,” Angel explained. “When we called into the air shaft and got no answer, Bess started to worry. Are you okay?”
    â€œI’m fine,” Nancy assured them. “A little dusty, but it was worth it.” She held up the seed pearl, then passed it to Beau. “I found this inside the air shaft.”
    Beau held the tiny pearl in the palm of his hand and studied it. “It looks like one of the seed pearls from Joanna Rockwell’s gown,” he said. “But how did it get into the air shaft?”
    â€œThe dust in the air shaft was worn clean in a single trail, as if someone had crawled through it recently,” Nancy explained. “I followed the clean trail to this vent. There’s a good chance that Joanna’s gown was removed from the vault through that vent.”
    â€œIt did pop right out when you gave it a shove,” Beau said, picking up the grate. Peering over his shoulder, Nancy saw that the screws had been removed from this vent cover, too.
    Nancy turned to Mrs. Chong. “The other night when you heard the noise in here, which room were you working in?”
    â€œSewing room,” the woman said, pointing a bony finger at the tiny room on the other side of the workroom.
    â€œThat noise might have been the thief, covering his tracks,” Nancy said, taking the vent cover and shoving it into place with a thud.
    â€œThat means the gown could have been stolen by an outsider,” Beau said, smiling. Nancy suspected he was relieved to think that his employees were in the clear.
    â€œIt’s possible,” Nancy said, knowing that the gown still could have been stolen by one of his employees. Angel or even Mrs. Chong might have dragged the gown through the shaft to divert attention from themselves.
    An hour later the studio had settled back to its usual hectic pace. Nancy needed some time in the studio to observe the routine so she had agreed to spend the afternoon in the workroom, running errands for Beau, Angel, and Mrs. Chong.
    In one corner Bess stood still as a statue, modeling while Eleni marked the rust-colored suede dress for alterations.
    Beau was working with the model named Isis. Nancy watched as he draped sheer chiffon over her arms, fashioning sleeves. Absorbed in his work, Beau seemed to have blocked out everything else.
    An assistant came in to tell Beau that Joannaand her maid of honor had arrived. Nancy followed him into the fitting room to greet them.
    â€œHi,” Joanna said, standing up and flashing them a smile. “Nancy, this is Elizabeth Baker, my maid of honor.”
    â€œCall me Liz,” the tall, rangy girl said. She had long, carrot-colored hair that was held back with two tortoise-shell combs.
    â€œYour dress is finished, Liz,” Beau told her. “You can try it on, just to make sure you’re happy with it.”
    â€œGreat!” Liz said. “But first I’d like to see Joanna’s number-two gown.”
    â€œNo problem. We’ll retrieve both dresses from the vault,” Beau said, motioning an assistant to follow him as he left the room.
    As soon as the door closed, Joanna turned to Nancy. “Any leads on my gown?” she asked.
    Nancy showed her the seed