“No decapitation,” Jacob scolded. “We’ve been over this.”
“Tommy said I could attack if the situation called for it,” Elizabeth grumbled.
All gazes swung toward Tommy, who held up her palms.
“It’s a contingency plan,” she protested. “What if the modiste starts the fight?”
“Then I finish it,” Elizabeth said with satisfaction, drawing her index finger across her throat.
“No fighting, no decapitating,” Jacob said sternly. “This is a Heist Club.”
Philippa covered her face with her hands. “It’s not a…”
“Here.” Sybil passed her thick journal around the room. “These are the descriptions of the missing dresses, given to me by Mme. Blanchet.”
Marjorie Wynchester nodded. “I’ll create a single-page illustration containing small sketches of each dress.”
“Can you create multiple copies?” Graham asked. “That way every member of our crew can have it at hand.”
The reading circle clapped in excitement.
Tommy looked at her brother in alarm. “All thirty of us can’t be on the recovery team.”
“Why not? It’s our Heist Club,” Florentia said hotly.
“Listen to my words,” moaned Philippa. “It’s not a heist club. Please stop calling it Heist Club.”
“More importantly, I’m not part of any teams,” said Elizabeth. “I’m the decapitation lieutenant.”
“Elizabeth…” Jacob warned.
“I won’t actually decapitate anyone,” she assured him. “Decapitation Lieutenant is an excellent title and a good distraction. Whilst Mlle. LaChapelle worries about her pretty neck, I’ll—” Elizabeth made several jabbing motions with her rapier. “—poke a few new holes in her midsection. She’ll never see me coming.”
“Because you are not going to do that. I hereby, unequivocally, forbid you from—”
“I would usually make costumes to sneak us in,” Tommy said. “But in this case, there’s nothing particular to disguise ourselves as.”
“Customers?” Philippa suggested.
Lady Eunice shook her head. “We should wait until they’ve gone. The fewer witnesses to our counter-burglary, the better.”
“Not to mention fewer opportunities for plans to go horribly awry,” Graham added.
“But if we wait,” Sybil put in, “we risk the dresses no longer being there. If Mlle. LaChapelle moves the merchandise from the premises, we won’t know where she’s taken it. And if she destroys the gowns…”
“Then I’ll destroy her.” Elizabeth punctuated her words with several grandiose swipes of her rapier.
“No destroying,” Jacob said.
Elizabeth widened her eyes innocently. “I will lightly inconvenience her with bloodshed.”
“Rather than break in from the bottom, I might be able to sneak into the building from the top,” Graham suggested.
“And fly back out carrying a wooden trunk large enough to hold all twenty-five stolen dresses?” Marjorie said doubtfully.
“They must already be in some sort of container,” Tommy pointed out. “A trunk, an armoire, a collection of burlap sacks. Whatever they’re in, we’ll steal that.”
“Burlap sacks would be nice,” said Graham. “I could toss them out a window to the street with a minimum of noise, and you could collect them below.”
