Halcyon shook her head. “Unbelievable. That family is a rash on the butt of this town.”

“And a lingering one at that,” Dottie agreed. “Anyway, I’m sure you don’t want to cross that line—assuming they’d even let you in the door—but I thought I’d throw it out there. With the way they spend, Preston and Patricia will need the money at some point and those pieces will probably be some of the first things to go.”

Marina rose. “Thank you so much for entertaining our craziness. Maybe we’ll just take a girls’ trip to NOLA and look at some shops there.”

Dottie gave her an approving nod. “I think that sounds like a wonderful idea. But I’m so glad you stopped by. Please do it again when you have time to relax. I’ve been known to make a decent coffee cake.”

“My favorite,” Marina said. “And we’d love to visit again. I really appreciate all your support with everything lately.”

“Oh, I haven’t done anything,” Dottie said.

“Yes, you have. Just knowing that you think I’m doing the right things makes a difference,” Marina said. “I’ve always had a lot of respect for you, so your opinion matters.”

“Thank you,” Dottie said, and Marina could tell she was flattered. “I wish I could do more. If you come up with anything, please let me know.”

“I will,” Marina said.

They headed out and climbed into Marina’s car.

“That woman should have ‘Class Act’ inscribed on her tombstone,” Halcyon said.

“Definitely. What do you want on yours?”

Halcyon shrugged. “‘Later, bitches’?”

Marina laughed.

“What about you?” Halcyon asked.

“‘Finally taking a day off’?”

Halcyon grinned. “We could always take that trip to NOLA.”

“I can’t. I don’t have anyone to keep Snooze.”

“Ask Adelaide to do it. She’s made it clear she wants to help and it’s not like he could damage anything in her yard by digging. She kills everything.”

“And she also has five thousand cats.”

“Oh yeah. I forgot about that.”

“Besides, I don’t think the ring will be in New Orleans,” Marina said. “If Alexios is right, it will be in Last Chance.”

“Yeah, but apparently, our most viable option is the LeDoux. The only way that works is if we go back to that whole breaking-and-entering thing.”

“I know. And it was a sketchy enough idea before, but after this crap with Avery…”

“We might as well check ourselves into the nearest jail cell if we’re caught.” Halcyon held up her finger. “There is one way that wouldn’t require black masks and the potential wearing of handcuffs.”

“How?”

“That annual environmental charity auction thing. It’s held at the LeDoux estate. The whole family lives in that fake Tara, so you’d be close to everything Patricia and Preston inherited.”

“Even if I was invited—which I’m not—what am I supposed to do? Walk around the house digging in drawers for jewelry? That would get me arrested just as quickly as crawling through a window.”

“No one’s asking you to dig in their undies drawer. I just figured if you got close enough, you might feel something. If you don’t feel anything, then we know it’s not worth the risk of breaking in. Everyone wanders around a bit when it’s a house party. The ole ‘I was looking for the bathroom’ thing but really, it’s just people being nosy.”