Annie was busy checking her cell phone. “I thought Mr. Snowden would have reported in by now.” She clucked her tongue to show she was not happy with not knowing what was going on. “He’s got round-the-clock surveillance on Lincoln Moss. His last text at noon said Moss hadn’t left the house.” Everyone just shrugged as they went back to choosing their jewelry for the evening.

“I talked to Amalie earlier, and she was telling me how many people worked for her husband while she lived there. A very large staff, but Abner said that according to his checking-account records, Moss only has a housekeeper, at least he assumes it’s a housekeeper, and one other on his actual household staff. Two women. He pays them weekly out of a separate account. The same account he used when he had a full in-house staff. He has three people for the grounds, who maintain everything outdoors, a quasi-chauffeur who he calls on from time to time and, of course, four security guards who work rotating shifts. That means to me he has two people on security at all times. I guess you could say he downsized once Amalie left,” Kathryn said.

“That means if we hit him at home, we only have to worry about two guards, right?” Nikki asked.

“That would be my assumption. Amalie said the housekeeper and the cook go home at night, as do the maids and the gardeners. The quasi-chauffeur lives in a cottage on the premises, as does his personal trainer. No one is inside the house after six o’clock except Moss. Unless he entertains. Amalie said that was rare. She said Moss was a fanatic about everyone’s leaving the house on the stroke of six. Rosalee was the only one permitted to remain since she was Amalie’s live-in personal maid,” Kathryn said. “Also, I suppose he realized that someone needed to take care of his wife after he got through beating on her. I cannot wait to get my hands on that bastard.”

“I know this is a shot in the dark, dear, but did Amalie by any chance say if she knew the code to the electronic gate?” Myra asked.

Kathryn laughed. “She was never allowed to leave on her own, so no, it was never given to her, but Rosalee said she saw it out of the corner of her eye as one of the guards punched in the numbers, and it was four zeros. Moss might have changed it since then. We won’t know until we try it I guess.”

“Maybe what we need is an electrician or someone who can turn off the power to Moss’s house or maybe a few houses to make it look like there’s a malfunction somewhere,” Yoko said. “The alternative is I could scale the gate, slide down, and open the gate for you from the inside.”

“Now that sounds like a plan,” Annie said.