Without A Hitch Part 4 – The Finale!

Who wins the race for the jewels? What happens to Higgie? Read on to find out.

 In a moment like this, timing was everything. Penelope used her lock pick to open the door. It was amazing what lax security measures a hotel could get away with as long as it was historical. Entering the room, she immediately went to the painting and popped the latch. Years of practice and the best stethoscope she could buy let her find the contact areas in three tries. The safe opened, the stunning sapphire, royal blue and sparkling was hers for the taking. The moment she spent admiring the sapphire cost her as she heard footsteps in the hall.

“Don’t panic! When you panic, you make mistakes. Rule number four,” she said to herself. She closed the safe, righted the painting and hid behind the heavy maroon curtains adorning the window. With luck she would not be seen.

James tried the lock on the door and found it quite easy to open, in fact it already was. He shook his head in disgust. They were just asking for this place to be robbed. In his bellhop suit he moved into the room, purportedly to check on a leaky faucet. At least that is what he told the concierge that gave him the key. He told them what a pistol Ms. Higgenbottom was, going on an assumption that most rich women were. The concierge apparently shared his low opinion as he gave him the service key without a second glance.  It was doubtful that the man would remember his face tomorrow.

Penelope breathed a sigh of relief when she saw who it was, but she thought it might be fun to wait and see his reaction before revealing her coup. He walked to the safe and cracked the code as easy as Penelope had.

“Damn!” James muttered as he found the safe empty. He almost assumed he had been given false information. Until he saw the pair of decidedly feminine feet under the curtain in the shadows. Looking down he also spotted a pin used to pick a lock. He was trained to look, or he might have missed both. He was about to go and scare the daylights out of her when her heard voices outside the door. He closed the safe quickly and hid behind curtain opposite Penelope. He put his finger to his lips to shush her.

Mrs. Higgenbottom was feeling a little tipsy when she entered the apartment with Mr. Fodderall. She wasn’t sure exactly what he was intending, but she knew he wasn’t going to spend the night. She tried to say goodbye at the door, but the drunken, arrogant, little man pushed his way past her into the room.  Well, she would have to use her girth to get rid of him the hard way she supposed. Following him into the room, she asked him to leave yet again. Mr. Fodderall, however, had no intentions of leaving here without a smooch or at the very least a little drink to keep his mouth wet on the ride back to his hotel.

Nellie poured him a brandy and sat beside him as he drank it. He put his arm around her shoulders and tried to grope her chest, but his arm was not long enough to get there. “Alright you have had your night cap, Smidge,” his nickname, though she did not care to know why, “now it is time to say good night.”

“Well alright Nellie, but I thought we would cuddle a little before we went straight to bed. My, you are a horny little lady, aren’t you?”

Nellie blustered and huffed at his presumption. She grabbed his hand to propel him to the doorway, giving up on reasoning with him. As the scuffle and commotion took place inside, Penelope moved slowly to the center balcony door and opened the window. Motioning for James to follow her, she stood behind the window where the curtain hid them both.

“What are you doing here? This was my call.” Said James, his barely controlled anger seeping through his whispered voice.

“Ah yes, your call, but I have the goods, Ducky.” Penelope reminded him gently.

“Look,” he said, about to argue some more. This time she shushed him.

“Now is not the time to debate,” she said, and moved to the edge of the railing. Climbing over it, she noticed his skeptical look. “It is not that far of a jump. I checked it out earlier. My father always taught me to have two escape routes planned.”

“What about the people below?” he asked nervously.

“There’s no one there. Don’t look so surprised I do my homework.” she said and jumped down to the next balcony.

When James made the leap from one to the next, he felt his heart take a leap with him. It was hard not to love the woman who had out burgled him. 

With ease she made it from one floor to the next and entered her own room. James soon followed. He slowly clapped showing his appreciation. “May I congratulate you on a job well done my dear.”

“Of course, it was the perfect crime.” She said beaming. Penelope was so proud of herself.

“Well, it was almost perfect.”

“Almost?” she asked.

‘Hmm yes, you’re lucky I came in after you because you dropped your tool on the floor in front of the safe. You could have given the whole operation away. I should turn you into Niles for your carelessness. Not to mention you stole my job.”

Penelope was so embarrassed that she could have made a stupid mistake. She owed James. He prevented her from going to prison that night, she was sure of it.  “Turn me in then, he could care less about me anyway. He is never willing to give me a chance.” She said with a stomp of her foot.

“That does it!” he said and he walked deliberately over to her. She backed away not sure of his intentions. But when he brought his lips down in a crushing blow against hers, Penelope melted like ice cream on a hot summer day. In time with each other, they crossed the room together.  They made it to the bed, and he pulled her down on his lap. They sat like that for ten minutes, kissing each other fervently. Reveling in the glory of their new found love.

“Would you try it on for me?” he asked.

“What?” she asked in breathless confusion.

“The necklace.”

“Oh um of course,” she said, and she got up off his lap, all be it reluctantly, to try it on.

“Oh no dear, just the necklace.”  Penelope blushed but she had fallen under his spell

They tumbled into bed together and spent a passionate night rolling around in the pristine sheets. The next morning, he left before her with the other bellhops as they checked off their shift. 

The police arrived shortly thereafter and that was Penelope’s cue to make her exit. She rode down in the elevator and made her way over to Rupert at the front desk. Mrs. Higgenbottom was standing in the middle of the lobby and causing quite a commotion. She was loudly berating the general manager of the hotel and exclaiming to the police that she was robbed, and they best get off their arses and do something.

Penelope played it cool as she confidently patted her briefcase. “What is going on here Rupert?” she asked in alarm.

“Umm it appears that Mrs. Higgenbottom is missing some valuables. I cannot say too much about it. You understand, Ms. Sotherton.”

“Ah you are wise to keep your counsel Rupert but tell me how is it I can go back to the office and tell them that this is a good place for our gala attendees to stay and to send all of our influential clients? First you lose my reservation, and then the maid makes enough noise to wake the dead. Last night I noticed it was very unsafe in my hallway; the light was not on. And now you say this poor lady had been robbed?”

“You are right of course madam. Would it ease your mind if I discounted your visit with us and you have my personal assurance that it is not like this, usually.”

“Well alright then. If it is your assurance Rupert, I will take it.”

The commotion heightened as the poor hapless bellhop from the day before went out of his way to retrieve Poopsie. He took the animal happily to its owner, so proud was he. Only Mrs. Higgenbottom was in rare form and taking her animal from him, swiftly began to beat the poor boy over the head with her pocketbook. She was yelling the whole time about how he assured her the necklace would be safe. Penelope just stared, and in the confusion, Rupert wrote her out a receipt, forgetting to charge her anything.

She walked out of the hotel happier than she had been in weeks. She was richer, better off and in love. James stood in front of his car a few yards down with a bouquet of flowers in hand. They headed over to home base to turn the necklace into Niles, but they made a quick stop first.

Niles was happy to see James and nodded to Penelope with the same curt, off-handed nod of annoyance that he always did. “How did it go?” he asked James.

“It went off without a hitch,” he replied.

“Well almost,” said Penelope and she flashed Niles the simple gold wedding ban she wore on her hand. And yes, even stuffy old Niles had to smile at that.