“There must be a panel in the back,” Paige said, feeling the sudden fear that she and Christopher were about to lose their suspect thanks to a magic trick. That a killer was going to get away because of some false door that let him get to a secret way out.
She set off out of the small workspace, trying to get to the area behind it, but Christopher called her back.
“Paige, wait!”
Paige frowned. Their suspect was getting away and he wanted her to wait? Was this some attempt to keep her safe?
“I don’t think that’s how this trick works,” Christopher said. “I’ve seen it online. There are definitely versions where you use a panel at the back, but for this one…”
He wrenched open the door to the cabinet, and started to poke around the interior. Paige saw a look of triumph cross his face, and he pulled at a section of the floor, lifting the thin metal of a trapdoor and stepping back with his gun trained on the cavity it revealed.
Zane Caister was crouched there rather pathetically, blinking up at them from the cramped space. Paige realized that if she’d gone with her instinct about the trick, she and Christopher would have gone away from the workshop space, giving Zane a clear path to escape. Only Christopher’s understanding of the trick had stopped him from escaping.
While Christopher kept his gun trained on the cavity, Paige moved forward, hauling Zane from it.
“Zane Caister,” she said. “You’re under arrest.”