Nine thirty comes quickly and I don’t have long. I head back to The Chase and hope that everyone has left as usual. James will have left by seven to catch the train to London. Arabella leaves just before nine to be at the country club by nine thirty. Anthony is always at work, it seems, and Matthew always leaves at seven thirty on the dot. Fleur is still away and Venetia is on a trip. Perfect.
As I drive through the electric gates, my heart thumps and I feel the adrenalin kick in. I pull up on our drive and head back through the front door and call out, “James, are you home?”
The silence greets me and I smile to myself. I pull on my gloves, then I head to his study and quickly open the safe, removing all the carefully placed contents and scatter the papers around the room. I put the items in a bag and then make sure to open the drawers and spill the contents to the ground. Anything of value in my sight, I add to the rest in the bag and then look about me with relief.
Job done.
I move through the house and ransack drawers and remove any valuables until I have quite a haul. Then I head to the back door and carefully unlock it, but leave the key in its place. Next, I smash the window above the lock with the torch we keep in the cupboard and relish the sound of breaking glass all around.
If I have any guilt about burgling my own home, it’s well hidden. All I feel is euphoria because this way I get to sell the valuables and James never finds out that I replaced his mother’s jewellery in the first place. I’ll then have enough money to buy back the Rolex, which I put back in Fleur’s home at the earliest available opportunity. James gets the insurance money, and no harm is done. I’m a genius.
I head back to my car and carefully lock the front door behind me and as I drive away from The Chase, I congratulate myself on a well-executed plan. Now I just need to stop at my usual pawnshop and recover the Rolex, and then it will be straight to the airport to begin an adventure that promises so much pleasure.