A week after finishing Flora’s diary, Molly agreed to Detective Stark and Angela’s sting plan and decided to re-auction the Fabergé egg privately at the Regency Grand. On an early morning call, Molly confirmed the auction with Baxley Brown, insisted on no publicity and a one-week timeline, and casually asked about Brown’s lineage, learning his father was Algernon and grandfather Magnus. Preparations began: Stark’s team and Speedy installed hidden cameras and microphones throughout the hotel, with Mr. Snow reluctantly approving and offering the fourth-floor penthouse—code-named the Black Hole—as their command center.

The team assigned roles: Molly would attend the auction with Mr. Snow; Stark and Speedy would monitor feeds upstairs; Angela would serve as a phone bidder via a dealer (Madame Orange), backed by forged credentials; Mr. Preston would man the entrance; two officers would guard Juan and the egg; and plainclothes police would be stationed throughout. Molly demanded no display case, so Juan would hand-carry and display the egg.

On auction day, guests with Bee & Bee VIP lanyards were seated in the tearoom, with dealers working phones worldwide, including Madame Orange representing an “anonymous” buyer—actually Angela upstairs. Juan entered under guard holding the egg. Baxley Brown and Thomas Beagle opened the private auction, citing prior “irregularities” as the reason for secrecy. Bidding escalated from seven million, with active competition from room paddles and Madame Orange. The egg sold for thirteen million to the anonymous phone bidder represented by Madame Orange.

After the sale, Juan—visibly strained—exited with officers, and Mr. Snow followed. Brown and Beagle congratulated Molly briefly before heading to the greenroom to change and later join the afterparty. Molly hurried to the Black Hole to join Stark, Speedy, and Angela at the monitors and turned up the greenroom feed.

In the greenroom, Beagle praised Brown’s commission but then insisted on discussing something important. As Beagle began, “This is about me. I was the one who—” the audio cut out when Beagle’s crossed leg dislodged a plug. With the crucial confession lost, Molly had a sudden idea and pulled Angela to the tearoom to literally eavesdrop on the situation from below, leaving Stark and Speedy with the compromised surveillance.