Ethan Mercer did not swing the heavy auction hammer at anyone.

He brought it down on the polished wooden block.

BANG!

The sound exploded through the ballroom.

Champagne glasses trembled.

The auctioneer froze with his mouth half open. The orchestra stopped playing. Every wealthy guest turned toward the quiet father standing beside his crying daughter.

Bianca Vale, the woman in the red backless gown, stepped backward.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded.

Ethan placed the hammer on the table.

“Stopping the sale of stolen property.”

A nervous laugh moved through the ballroom.

Eleanor Vale, the silver-haired matriarch of the billionaire Vale family, stared at him coldly.

“That bat has belonged to the Vale Foundation for eighteen years.”

“No,” Ethan replied. “It belonged to Samuel Mercer.”

The laughter stopped.

Several older guests immediately looked away.

Ava wiped her tears and pointed toward the baseball bat inside the glass display case.

“There’s a moon under the handle,” she whispered. “Grandma showed me.”

Eleanor’s expression changed.

Only for a second.

But Ethan saw it.

Bianca folded her arms.

“A child’s imagination proves nothing.”

Ethan walked toward the display.

“The auction catalog says this bat was donated directly to the Vale family after the 1998 championship game.”

“That is correct,” the auctioneer said.

Ethan looked at the certificate beside it.

“Then why is Samuel Mercer’s signature dated three days after he disappeared?”

Silence covered the ballroom.

The auctioneer looked down at the certificate.

Eleanor’s face became hard.

Security guards began moving toward Ethan.

Ava grabbed her father’s hand.

“Daddy…”

Ethan did not move.

He stared through the glass at the worn black handle of the famous bat.

Then he noticed something that made his blood turn cold.

The small silver ring around the handle had been removed and replaced.

Someone had already opened the hidden compartment.

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And whatever Samuel Mercer had placed inside it…

might now be somewhere in that ballroom.