Tessa turned pale when she heard that. I can't imagine what would have happened if my gown snapped on stage! Who was it that was trying to land me in trouble?
Everyone thought the same way as Tessa did and began commenting.
"This is such an evil act to do."
"Why would someone do such a thing?"
As everyone started buzzing about this, the captain raised his voice and said, "The costumes of all performers today are provided by royalty. Miss Reinhart's gown, in particular, was extremely valuable and cost millions. Hence, I hope everyone here can cooperate with our investigation."
"Of course, we will. Please investigate thoroughly, captain," said someone in the crowd.
After all, since the captain had already said so, no one else could refuse even if they didn't want to be investigated.
At that point, Elisa, who was among those present, started to panic.
Standing next to her was her assistant, who also had a worried expression on her face.
"What should we do now? Will we be found out?" Elisa's assistant fearfully tugged on Elisa's sleeve and inquired softly.
With a frown, Elisa shook off her assistant's hand. "Don't freak out. They're only investigating and have no proof yet. Calm down," she responded.
She said nothing more and ignored her assistant.
The guards then began their interrogation.
It was soon Elisa's turn.
"Miss Elisa, please tell me where you were before the celebration began and if you saw any suspicious-looking figures," one guard asked.
Elisa shook her head, her expression calm. "I didn't see anyone suspicious. I was in the dressing room the entire time chit-chatting with the others, so I didn't notice anything else. I know nothing about this matter."
The guard then nodded and turned his attention to Elisa's assistant, who tried hard to remain calm while answering in the same manner as Elisa.
"I have no idea about this as well. I was taking care of Elisa at the time and paid no attention to my surroundings."
Thinking that neither of them appeared to be lying, the guard then moved on to the next step. "We need to check your personal belongings now."
"Sure." Elisa and her assistant were in no position to refuse and had no choice but to hand over their purses to the guard.
The guard then took everything in their bags out in front of them for inspection.
Although they had a lot of things in their bags, the guard thoroughly searched through everything and selected all sharp items.
A few seconds later, a utility knife was discovered in the assistant's bag. This was the crucial evidence. There was a sequin on the knife that matched the sequins on Tessa's original gown.
The assistant noticed this too. She became so terrified that her eyes widened in fear and her face turned pale.
"Seize her!" the captain ordered coldly without waiting for an explanation.
The rest of the guards immediately rushed forward and held onto her.
That rendered the assistant so frightened that her legs wobbled. If it hadn't been for the guards holding her, she would have slumped to her knees right now.
She shook her head and yelled, "It was not me! I didn't do that!"
However, no one took her word for it.
Meanwhile, Tessa cast a cold glance at the assistant before fixing her gaze on Elisa.
Elisa was already thrown into a panic at this point, but the moment she met Tessa's cold gaze, her rationality returned. She knew she could never let herself be implicated in this matter.
As such, before anyone else could react, she put on an angry front and approached her assistant, thereafter slapping her hard.
"Why did you do this?" Elisa glared at her assistant, but her gaze seemed to mean something more.
That took the assistant aback, but she immediately understood what Elisa meant.
Clearly, Elisa wanted her to shoulder the blame. She didn't want to, but she had no choice. After all, the gown cost millions, which was not something she could afford to fork out.
That being the case, she could only rely on Elisa.
In the end, she gritted her teeth and confessed to the act with a pathetic excuse. "I was the one who did it. So what? I just don't like how conceited she is."
Much to her horror, Hobbs, along with Prince Abott and his wife, arrived right after she finished her words.
"How's the investigation going?"
"We've already found the culprit."
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