Opera House Theatre

The foyer of the building was packed with almost every member of high society in Hawaii as Kate Harris slipped into the crowd; covered in a black dress, sliver high heels and a silver wrap around her head. Her eyes were covered with dark sunglasses as she made her way towards the doors.

She looked down at her watch and checked the time. Only a few more minutes and she could take her seat, and that meant now was the time to appear before her public the ones who for weeks had been complaining about Paula being the lead since Kate had her accident.

She walked over towards the bar and began to remove the wrap and shook out her long, blonde hair. A photographer from the Tribune saw her and snapped a picture, “Kate! Tell me how does it feel to be here with Paula as the lead tonight.”

Kate smiled and posed against the bar, “Darling, I’m here to support my fellow members of the company. It is with a great sadness that I won’t be a part of the show, but for this run, I will be able to watch the show. Something I honestly rarely get to do.” She gave him a quick nod as a farewell when she saw the doors opened and she took her seat in the back, with the best view of the stage.

When the show began the audience sat in awe as Paula began to give the performance of a lifetime. Her notes were clear and on target for her range. Kate was rolling her program and crumpling it in her hands, forcing herself to remain in her seat and not attack the younger singer.

Just when Kate was sure she couldn’t take anymore of it, the lights went out throughout the building. Kate could hear people scrambling on stage, and the sound of Paula screaming in terror.

Kate folded her arms over her chest and a wicked smile crossed over her face as the lights came on and Julian and Legolas were running around on stage looking for Paula. The house lights came up and the audience was in their seat completely shocked.

“Someone call the cops!” Julian yelled as Carlotta came running down the aisle.

“Where’s Paula?” she was gasping for breath as she looked up at the stage.

“She vanished in the black out.” Legolas explained as he looked up slightly to see Kate shaking her head and slipping out of the theatre.

A moment later Devon came in, and over to Carlotta, “There’s no sign of her anywhere. Her dressing room is empty, and I mean empty.”

Julian jumped off stage, “you mean all her things are gone?”

Devon nodded, “Yeah, everything is gone. Her make-up, her street clothes, all of it.” Devon looked down at his feet, “One thing was left, a ring. I think it belongs to you Julian. I left it on the make up table.”

Julian sat in the easy chair in the corner and held the diamond ring in his hand up towards the light, studying it and sighing. He could go for a nice strong vodka right now.

The door opened slightly and Legolas stuck his head in, “Julian, may I come in?”

Julian nodded a yes and Legolas entered, closing the door behind him. “I wanted to give this to you. It’s the number of a detective I used in LA. She just relocated to Hawaii, and I think she’d be perfect to help you find Paula. You know how useless the GFPD is.”

Julian stood up and nodded, “That would be great Legolas.”

Legolas took out a pad of post-its he kept in his jacket and a pen and scribbled down the number, “Just give her a call, her name is Hope Jacobs and she’s amazing. Trust me, she kept me out of the tabloids a time or two.”

Julian took the piece of paper, “thank you, this means a lot Legolas.”

“Damn she’s heavy!” Hope said as she held onto the arms of Paula Winslow and Devon held onto her legs.

“Just keep moving, God we have to get her up to the attic and chained down before this stuff wears off.”

Hope rolled her eyes, as she kicked open the door and backed into the attic. There was only one window, far to high for her to reach, especially since there was nothing but an inflatable mattress, pillow across the room was a small door that led to a small that bathroom.

The two gently put her down on the mattress and then took the chain that was connected to the floor and locked it around her ankle.

Devon glanced at his watch, “We need to get the hell out of here, she could wake up in a few minutes.”

Hope nodded and the two quickly exited and locked the door behind them, leaving Paula alone, and unconscious in the attic.

Julian stood at his kitchen counter and dropped a couple of ice cubes in a glass and then poured it half way full of cola and then opened a cabinet and took out a bottle of vodka. He unscrewed the top and then poured in a generous amount of alcohol.

He took the glass and went into the living room, sitting down on the couch he turned on the television, only to be faced with what he wanted to forget.

“Paula Winslow of the Ginger Falls Opera House Theatre has vanished this evening in the midst of a performance. Her dressing room was cleaned out, leaving nothing behind. No word yet on what the GFPD thinks of the situation, we’ll bring the latest news to you as soon as its available only here on KGFT, your local news, and weather station.”

Julian sighed and took a long, steady sip and tossed the remote down. He saw the post-it that Legolas had given him. Sighing he picked up the phone and began to dial the number.

Hope stepped out from her bathroom, her body wrapped in a soft terry cloth robe. She combed out her wet hair when she heard her cell phone ringing.

She took a deep breath as she picked up the line, “Hope Jacobs, private detective, how may I be of service.”

“This is Julian Price, I’d like to set up a meeting to discuss searching for my fiancée.”

Hope bit her lip, she was starting to wonder what insane scheme she had signed up for. “Could you give me a few more details about the case?”

“It only happened this evening, but this is not like Paula to just vanish in the middle of a performance.”

Hope nodded though she knew Julian couldn’t see that, “Well, perhaps we could meet tomorrow morning over breakfast and you could have a picture and any information I might need, ready.”

“Yes that’s a good idea, 8:30 at Jacobs?”

“Yes, I’ll make sure to meet you there. Try and get some sleep this evening, wherever your fiancée is, I’m sure she’s safe.”