Part 10: Voilà

Present day:

The falling footsteps of concerned maintenance staff approaching the scene harmonized with the cascading Adam's ale.

They regarded Balthazar with suspicion, walking upto him to ask about what is going on.

Sarfaraz intervened, fluttering over Balthazar asking him if he is alright. He then turned to the staff,

"What on earth is going in here?"

He apologized to Balthazar again, and shot an accusatory look at the staff, who were now taking a step back. Balthazar barely managed to hold back his laughter, nodding at him, he'd never been just a witness of blatant dishonesty, he always had a part to play.

He wondered if he looked this silly trying to lie.

"We couldn't find any signs of a fire on our way here and there's nothing to be seen here either," One of the staff said.

"And even if there was a fire, it should stop automatically once it's been put off and that hasn't happened," Another chimed in.

As they spoke amongst themselves, bringing out ladders and toolboxes, Balthazar and Sarfaraz backed away to the opening of the basement.

Once they were back near the opening of the basement, they noticed the Sedan driver from earlier engaged in a serious discussion with the watchman who had been absent earlier, his vehicle parked haphazardly but no longer blocking the path.

The watchman turned to Sarafaraz, asking him if he was alright before proceeding to ask him what was going on. The Sedan driver shrunk away from the pair, slinking away to hide behind the watchman.

The watchman looked apologetically at the duo, and said hesitantly, "He says he saw you fire a gun, and honestly I heard something too."

Sarfaraz pulled a gun out of his pocket, and the man shrunk again, the watchman stiffened on guard.

He chuckled slowly and twirled it around his finger.

"It's from the lifeguard, shoots blanks for the race."

It took a minute for it to sink in before the watchman started guffawing, the driver of the Sedan joined in, skeptical at first, descending it a loud uproar in his drunkenness.

"I'll hold the place down, take him down to the reception," Sarfaraz offered.

The watchman led the man down the cobblestone path after shooting him a thankful glance.

They watched the others fade into the background, just in the nick of time, as precisely at that moment a voice called out.

"Sir, there's a little hole in the floor, do you know what it is?"

Sarfaraz spun on his heels, debating between following Tushar who had started walking back, and the repairmen who were gathering around the perforations his bullets had left.

The second would lead to more paperwork if not handled with care, so he made the obvious choice.

Balthazar took his time walking to the reception, looking around to see if anything had been left behind.

There wasn't a speck to pick up on as expected, but the night was glorious and he knew he'd have to wait to get to hear from Mehar again.

He got back through the restaurant, where he noted that the black fragments from earlier had been cleared off.

The overseer recognised him and gave him a polite smile, though his eyes stared, quizzical.

Balthazar couldn't make his way out of there faster, opting for the door that directly led to the lobby.

He opened the door, his eyes landing on a lady in a periwinkle sari.

He had known she was the queen of deception but quick change? That was new.