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“What is it?”
“It’s the mansion of Sir Henry Allsebrook. He’s a duke or earl. Something like that. Rich British upper class,” he clarified. “And inside is a piece of Russian history.”
“And what is that?”
“A Fabergé egg,” he grinned. “Czar Nicholas II gifted many to his wife and his mother-in-law. There were fifty made in total for the Imperial family. However, after the death of the Romanovs, the palace was raided and the eggs were sent to the Kremlin. Eight of them went missing,” he grinned. “They never arrived at the Kremlin.”
“And you think one of those Fabergé eggs is in that mansion.”
“Not one. Three. It’s the collection of a lifetime. Individually, they’re worth millions, but a collection of them is worth at least fifty million.”
I tore my eyes from his and looked into the distance at the mansion. “How did you find out about this?”
“Whispers over the years,” he shrugged. “It’s something I’ve been following for a long time, but I didn’t have any confirmation they were really there. And then two months ago, I met a woman at a party.”
“What kind of party?”
“The kind you need a fancy invitation to get into,” he winked with a shrug. “I was in the mood for a little hobnobbing.”
“You mean you were looking for your next score.”
“And I happened to overhear this woman talking about these diamond-encrusted eggs that were supposedly famous.”
That didn’t make any sense. “If she knew these were priceless treasures, she wouldn’t have been discussing them.”
“Exactly what I thought! But I was curious. I wooed her and made sure I got an invite back to Château de Allsebrook for a little peek around the house.”
“She just invited you back there,” I said incredulously.
“Well, it took a lot of wooing. And I may have pretended to be a rich duke with castles in Scotland and Ireland.”
“How did you pass for a duke?”
He adjusted his mustard-stained shirt, standing up taller. “I’ll have you know I clean up very nicely. This isn’t my first rodeo.”
It wasn’t, and despite appearances, I knew Snatch was something of a chameleon. “So, what’s the play?”
“Well, there’s no way we’ll get an invite back there for just anything. This woman has gone back to her princes and ivory towers.”
“Wait, you still haven’t said who this woman is.”
“She’s the rich guy’s niece! Yeah, she was here on vacation or something. See the States and what-not.”
“So, we’re going to break in.”
“Nope.”
“If we’re not going to break in, how do you suppose we’ll steal these priceless artifacts?”
“With an invitation to the annual Allsebrook Ball. Pretentious, I know, but we can make it work. I’ve already secured us two invitations.”
“You want us to steal priceless artifacts during a ball? Do you realize how high security will be?”
“Actually, the eggs will be put away in a safe that’s nearly impossible to break into. See, the eggs were stolen, and if they’re ever found, they would be returned to Russia. That’s our in.”
“To break into an uncrackable safe,” I reiterated. “That’s your big plan.”
He grinned widely at me. “And I have the best on my side.”
