She blew kisses as the doors slid shut. She scurried to the Marcuses’ door and picked the lock. She had the floor plan memorized and headed straight to the bedroom closet that housed the stash. She flipped the plastic cover off the emergency lock, inserted her pick tool, jiggled it to the right, left, right, left. The whirring sound of the cylinders falling into place was music to her ears. She took a quick photo of the contents to be sure she placed the replicas in the same positions. After untying her sash, she laid it on the floor and unfolded it, then emptied the contents of the velvet bags. One by one, she withdrew each piece and replaced it with the fake. She had about three more minutes before she would be discovered to be MIA.

As she was closing the safe and resetting the lock, she heard a voice. The shrill of Norma was crystal clear. Hide. Where? And what was Norma doing back in her flat? She realized that Norma was on her cell phone, yammering at someone. Annie dodged behind the bedroom door, hoping the pointed dazzle of her cowgirl boots wouldn’t stick out.

“Yeah. I got to meet ’er. We chatted a bit.” Annie could hear footsteps approaching and Norma’s voice getting louder. “I forgot to wear the Cartier pendant, so I’m back at my flat. Yeah. I noticed she is wearing a Cartier diamond love ring. I want to show her I can also afford Cartier. I know it’s silly, but I don’t want her to think I’m pikey.”

Annie plastered herself behind the bedroom door and held her breath. Pikey is right, she thought to herself. Back home we call it trailer trash with fake bling. And fake it is. Annie started to lose the feeling of wanting to choke the twit. She would get her just desserts soon enough.

Norma kept babbling on her cell as she opened the safe and withdrew the fake pendant. She put the phone down as she fastened the necklace around her neck, not giving it a second glance. She practically stumbled as she picked up her phone and scampered out. “I’ve gotta go. Julian is probably looking for me, and I have to corner the countess one more time. I want to show her off to the club. Ta.”

As soon as Annie heard the click of the front door, she carefully moved in that direction. She put her ear up against the door to listen for any movement in the hallway. She heard the ding of the lift bell. That was probably Norma going back up to the conservatory. Annie slowly opened the door and peered in each direction. No one. She decided to take the steps to avoid any other possible encounters with partygoers.