Free Inheritance by Judith Michael Page B
Authors: Judith Michael
**I wasn't sure I did the wax impressions right; I was in a hurry. Leni was on the yacht but I didn't know for how long, and it took me a while to find the keys in her dresser drawer." He picked up one of them. "I think this turns off the alarm and the other one unlocks the closet."
Ben glanced at Laura, but she was gazing at the fishing
[
Inheritance
boats, her chin in her hand. He sighed. "Let's go through it," he said to Clay.
They bent over a small diagram, and Laura turned to look at their blond heads, so close they were almost touching. They looked so much alike and yet they were so different: Ben handsome and sophisticated at twenty-six, the cleverest man she knew; Clay, nine years younger, still unsure of himself, almost as handsome but without Ben's snK>othness. From their mother both of them got blond hair, a rounded chin, and heavy-lidded blue eyes, but Ben inherited from Judd Gardner, his father, a devil-may-care look, while Clay inherited from Alan Fairchild the cautious look of someone worried about all the obstacles life could throw in his way. Laura admired Ben; she felt protective toward Clay; she loved tiiem both and knew she wasn't like either of them.
"We'll be on Felix's yacht," Qay was saying. ^There's a big deal with some politicians he wants to impress, so he and Leni are giving a dinner on the boat on Sunday night. The whole family will be there, and a few of us volunteered to help out."
"So you're safe," Ben said. "Nobody can accuse you of robbing a house if you're on a boat in the middle of Nantucket Sound."
Clay nodded. "But before we go out, I'll fix the alarm. I did what you told me and bought a timer, and I found the alarm system in the basement, and I'll hook up the timer the way you said, so it goes off at one in the morning. You break in at midnight when the party is going strong; you've got my diagram of where you climb the fence, and the path to the house, and then the drainpipe to the second-floor hall window. Leni's room is to the right, at the end of the hall. You jimmy the window open, turn off the alarm with that key, and break the lock on the closet door, or use the key and break it afterwards to make it look like an outside job, whatever's fastest. Take the jewels and anything else you find, open all the other closets and dresser drawers so it'll look like you had to search around, and use a rope to rappel down the outside of the house."
Ben was smiling. "And leave the rope behind.'*
"Right. And tire tracks too, if you can, on the road outside
Judith Michael
the fence. Then, at one o'clock, the alarm goes off, the guard calls the pohce and they find all the evidence of a break-in, while Laura and I are with the hired help on the yacht.''
"What about the timer on the alarm?"
"I'll get to it as soon as we come in. I figure the guard will call the poUce first, and then the yacht, and we'll get back in about an hour, while the pohce are still checking the house and the grounds. They won't have any reason to check the alarm; as far as they know, it worked fine. I can have the tuner off in less than a minute."
"Without anyone seeing you?"
"Everybody'll be busy with the police, and nobody uses the back stairs until Rosa comes in to start breakfast around six."
Ben nodded again. "I like it. Good job, Clay."
Clay beamed. "I thought you'd like it. It's foolproof."
"No plan is foolproof! I've told you that. The minute you think it is, you've begun to make it fail."
"Sorry," Clay mumbled.
"But it's good," Ben said. "Damned good. I'm proud of you. Laura? Don't you think Clay deserves some praise?"
"Sure." Laura drew on the table with the moisture that had beaded on her glass of iced tea. "Clay's very creative. He woriced hard and he wanted you to be pleased."
"But," Ben said flatly. "What's the rest of it, LauraT'
"I don't want to do it," she said in a rush. "Please, Ben, can't we change our plans and not do it?"
"Not do it?" Clay echoed incredulously. "After we went to
Ben glanced at Laura, but she was gazing at the fishing
[
Inheritance
boats, her chin in her hand. He sighed. "Let's go through it," he said to Clay.
They bent over a small diagram, and Laura turned to look at their blond heads, so close they were almost touching. They looked so much alike and yet they were so different: Ben handsome and sophisticated at twenty-six, the cleverest man she knew; Clay, nine years younger, still unsure of himself, almost as handsome but without Ben's snK>othness. From their mother both of them got blond hair, a rounded chin, and heavy-lidded blue eyes, but Ben inherited from Judd Gardner, his father, a devil-may-care look, while Clay inherited from Alan Fairchild the cautious look of someone worried about all the obstacles life could throw in his way. Laura admired Ben; she felt protective toward Clay; she loved tiiem both and knew she wasn't like either of them.
"We'll be on Felix's yacht," Qay was saying. ^There's a big deal with some politicians he wants to impress, so he and Leni are giving a dinner on the boat on Sunday night. The whole family will be there, and a few of us volunteered to help out."
"So you're safe," Ben said. "Nobody can accuse you of robbing a house if you're on a boat in the middle of Nantucket Sound."
Clay nodded. "But before we go out, I'll fix the alarm. I did what you told me and bought a timer, and I found the alarm system in the basement, and I'll hook up the timer the way you said, so it goes off at one in the morning. You break in at midnight when the party is going strong; you've got my diagram of where you climb the fence, and the path to the house, and then the drainpipe to the second-floor hall window. Leni's room is to the right, at the end of the hall. You jimmy the window open, turn off the alarm with that key, and break the lock on the closet door, or use the key and break it afterwards to make it look like an outside job, whatever's fastest. Take the jewels and anything else you find, open all the other closets and dresser drawers so it'll look like you had to search around, and use a rope to rappel down the outside of the house."
Ben was smiling. "And leave the rope behind.'*
"Right. And tire tracks too, if you can, on the road outside
Judith Michael
the fence. Then, at one o'clock, the alarm goes off, the guard calls the pohce and they find all the evidence of a break-in, while Laura and I are with the hired help on the yacht.''
"What about the timer on the alarm?"
"I'll get to it as soon as we come in. I figure the guard will call the poUce first, and then the yacht, and we'll get back in about an hour, while the pohce are still checking the house and the grounds. They won't have any reason to check the alarm; as far as they know, it worked fine. I can have the tuner off in less than a minute."
"Without anyone seeing you?"
"Everybody'll be busy with the police, and nobody uses the back stairs until Rosa comes in to start breakfast around six."
Ben nodded again. "I like it. Good job, Clay."
Clay beamed. "I thought you'd like it. It's foolproof."
"No plan is foolproof! I've told you that. The minute you think it is, you've begun to make it fail."
"Sorry," Clay mumbled.
"But it's good," Ben said. "Damned good. I'm proud of you. Laura? Don't you think Clay deserves some praise?"
"Sure." Laura drew on the table with the moisture that had beaded on her glass of iced tea. "Clay's very creative. He woriced hard and he wanted you to be pleased."
"But," Ben said flatly. "What's the rest of it, LauraT'
"I don't want to do it," she said in a rush. "Please, Ben, can't we change our plans and not do it?"
"Not do it?" Clay echoed incredulously. "After we went to
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