Lorraine jumped up. “You’re brilliant, Clay! It’s so simple, but it took you to figure it out. We have to get down there as soon as possible.”

Clay drank in her praise. It felt good to have someone compliment him these days. It seemed that everyone in his life was on his case about one thing or another. He cleared his throat. “There’s only one thing.”

“What?”

“Is there a chain on the door?”

“No. Conrad and I had talked about getting one but never got around to it. Those locks are heavy duty so we weren’t too worried. I just hope the new owners didn’t put one on.”

“If they didn’t change the locks yet, then I’m sure they wouldn’t have bothered with a chain. Those things are usually puny anyway. First thing we’ll do is try and gain access with your keys. If worse comes to worst and we get caught trying to get in, you can always say that you didn’t believe Conrad. You thought he was bluffing when he said he sold the place.”

“I knew that you were the one to call,” Lorraine said excitedly, as she fluffed up her hair and stretched out her arms like a peacock. “Yessss! You are brilliant! I’ll have those letters back in no time. You’ll have cash in the bank. We’ll celebrate!” Lorraine ran over and gave Clay a meaningful hug, similar to the ones they shared after performing a great scene together in class. You’d have thought they had just negotiated world peace.

Filled with positive energy, Clay joked, “Not that I want to run into these people of course. Who are they? We definitely want to make sure they’re not home.”

Lorraine pulled back from him, her body slumping ever so slightly. “What do you mean?”

“What do I mean? Who are these people who own the apartment now?”

“They’re just a young couple.”

“What do you mean ‘just a young couple?’ Do they have kids? What do they do? What are their habits?”

“They don’t have kids.”

“What do they do, Lorraine? You’re being evasive and, I might add, not a very good actress.”

Lorraine turned, walked back to the bar, poured herself another glass of wine, and forced a few tears to roll down her cheeks.

“Lorraine, what’s wrong?” Clay asked as he hurried to her side.

“It doesn’t matter anymore. I know you won’t want to help me.”

“I do want to help you. Let’s face it, I need the cash, and the money I’ll make from selling the jewelry. With any luck that will carry me until I land a series.”

“All right then. But you’re not going to like what I tell you.”

“Try me.”

“He’s the head of the NYPD Major Case Squad. She’s a private investigator. Regan and Jack Reilly are their names.”

Clay blinked. “My mother reads her mother’s books.”

“That’s nice.”

“She was even hoping that I’d somehow meet Regan in New York and we’d hit it off.”