Many writers have shared their thoughts with the public:

"There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they'll take you." - Beatrix Potter

"The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say." - Anaïs Nin

"Sharing your writing, being enlarged by others' writing, is what makes you feel famous." - Gretchen Bernabei

"Writing is not an amusing occupation. It is a combination of ditch-digging, mountain-climbing, treadmill and childbirth." - Edna Ferber

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." - Ben Franklin

"One must be drenched in words, literally soaked in them, to have the right ones to form themselves into the proper pattern at the right moment." - Hart Crane

"There are three rules for writing. Unfortunately, no one can agree what they are." - W. Somerset Maugham

The Diamond Switch

Blake sat on the floor of the deserted hallway, peered inside the dimly lit jewellery store, and smiled at the thought that in a matter of minutes he will be $5 million richer. While he waited for his accomplices, he closed his eyes and thought through the events that led to this wonderful moment.

A woman Blake knew only as Apate had recruited him for this task. An unusual name, but anonymity was necessary in this line of work. As the mastermind behind the operation, she was to receive an equal share of the $20 million in diamonds that would shortly be liberated from the jewellery store. She assigned another man, Chester, and a woman, Rose, to assist. Blake met them yesterday afternoon for the first time when they discussed the theft in detail. Both claimed they had never met this Apate either but expressed an eagerness to add a cool $5 million each to their net worth.

Blake had entered the city building at eight fifteen pm dressed as a janitor and headed up the fire stairs to level two. Once inside the janitor’s closet, he climbed into the ceiling, crawled around to the outside of the jewellery store, reached down, and disabled the hallway security camera.

Rose was to exit the gymnasium on level one at eight thirty, wait for an elevator, and feign a look of frustration when she discovered they’re not working. It would seem to anyone viewing the level one security camera that she left the gym after the elevators were switched off and forced to exit the building by the fire stairs. Once inside the stairs, she would climb to level two.

Then there was Chester, an absentminded froot loop if ever Blake knew one. Apate, however, insisted he was a tech genius. Chester was to arrive before eight thirty, dressed in delivery attire. He would wait for a delivery truck to arrive outside the rear entrance of the building and join staff as they carted food into a ground floor kitchen. He was to make his way up the fire stairs and join Blake and Rose. From there, it would be a matter of sticking to the plan.

What could go wrong?

Blake opened his eyes, stood and squinted as a shadow approached from the opposite end of the dark hallway. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

Rose was pushing a pram.

“Is this some kind of joke?”

Rose looked apologetic. “I’m sorry. This is my sister’s six-month baby daughter, and I’ve been looking after her most of the day. My sister was to pick her up around dinnertime, but her husband called to say they were delayed.”

Blake shook his head. “You brought a baby?”

Rose raised her voice. “I couldn’t leave her alone now, could I?”

Blake glared at her. “Tonight has been planned to the very last detail . . .” He wanted to continue, but words eluded him.

“I promise she won’t be any trouble at all.”

Blake ran a hand through his hair. “I cannot believe you brought a baby to this operation.”

Footsteps approached and Chester fell to the floor next to Blake. He was laughing uncontrollably.

Blake made a face. “Just what is your problem?”

“I had to go . . .” He burst out laughing. “I had to go . . .”

Blake gritted his teeth and clenched his hands. “Chester—"

“I went to the dentist this afternoon.”

“On a Sunday?” Rose said.

Chester nodded. “It was an emergency. I had a terrible tooth ache,” He lost his words in his giggling. “And the dentist gave me that gas. I guess it hasn’t worn off yet.”

Blake shook his head. “You’re crazy! Both of you, you’re crazy!”

“I need to visit the lady’s,” Rose said. “Watch the baby for me,”

“Watch the—” but Rose had disappeared into the nearby restroom. Blake’s phone chirped. He glared at Chester. “Watch that baby.”

“Hey!” Chester said. “Go into the lady’s and tell Rose . . . ha ha . . . go and tell Rose . . .”

Blake’s face turned red.

Chester continued. “Go in there and tell Rose . . . to drop what she’s doing and get out here.” He rolled around the floor in stitches.

Blake shook his head, walked a few steps away from Chester, and dialled. He struggled to keep his voice low. “They’re idiots. Both of them. She brought a baby, and that Chester thinks this is a joke.”

“Don’t panic,” Adate said calmly. “They are the best at what they do. Trust them.”

Rose exited the lady’s and Blake hoped she didn’t hear the conversation.

“I think the baby needs changing,” Chester said. He held the baby and screwed up his nose.

Blake’s eyes bulged. “No. No way. We have a job to do.”

Rose stared in disbelief. “I am going to change her. The robbery will have to wait.”

“I don’t believe this,” Blake said, and Chester laughed loudly. “Will you stop that!”

“I’m trying . . . but I can’t.” He handed the baby to Rose and accidentally leaned against Blake, causing him to fall against the glass door of the shop.

“Do you mind?” Blake said. He looked at his watch, clenched his fists and sighed heavily as Rose changed the baby. She waved the dirty nappy in front of him. “Don’t give it to me.”

“Well, I can’t give it to Chester. Look at him.”

Blake grabbed the nappy and jammed it in the rear of the pram. “Are you finished?”

Rose nodded.

“Are you sure? You don’t need to feed the baby now, do you?”

“Well, now that you mention it—”

“Rose!” Blake faced Chester and growled. “What about you? Can you carry on?”

Chester calmed and nodded. “I’ll be fine.”

“Well don’t just stand there. Go and disable the security alarm.”

Chester disappeared around a corner to a wall cabinet that Blake knew housed the alarm.

“Nothing else had better go wrong,” Blake said. The baby cried and Blake’s head slumped forward. “I do not believe this!”

“There, there, it’s OK. Aunty Rose is not going to leave you,” Rose said and picked up the baby.

“Are you joking?” Blake said.

“You don’t need me inside the shop.”

“You’re the only one who can tell which set of diamonds are genuine and which are for show.” Blake leaned closer and spoke through gritted teeth. “You will come into the store with me as agreed. You will black out the ceiling security camera. You will identify the real diamonds and assist me remove them from the glass cabinet. Now stick to the plan!”

Rose peered at Blake with eyes of steel. “I am not leaving the baby. Now when you’re inside the store, we’ll do a video call, and you can run your phone over the different sets of diamonds inside the glass cabinet. I’ll tell you which are the real ones. Here’s a bag into which to place them.” She held up a black, silk bag.

Blake spread his hands in surrender. “Whatever.” He put on gloves and snatched the black bag.

Chester stuck his head out from behind the corner and whispered loudly. “All alarms including those connected to the glass cabinets inside the shop have been disabled. The front doors are open. You have two minutes before the security company is notified they’ve been disabled. Hurry!”

Blake covered his face with a hand, crept into the store, and sprayed the security camera in the middle of the ceiling with black paint. He found the glass cabinet in which sat the diamonds, slid open the top and dialled Rose’s number. He slowly ran his phone over the different sets of diamonds, and his hand shook as it seemed Rose was taking too long to identify those that were genuine. “I told you I needed you here.” He wiped sweat from his forehead.

“That’s them,” Rose exclaimed.

Blake emptied the diamonds into the silk bag, slid the top of the cabinet back into place, and rushed out the store. His face relaxed into a smile as Rose closed the door behind him. He looked at his watch. He had made it in and out in just under ninety seconds.

“Chester,” Blake whispered. “You can reset the alarm.”

“Can I please see them?” Rose asked, and Blake handed her the bag.

Chester stumbled into Blake. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m still getting used to this dark hallway.”

Blake scowled. “Yeah, right!” He snatched the bag from Rose. “You two are now on your own. I need to climb back into the roof and reconnect the outside security camera. We’ll meet at the prearranged point in thirty minutes. Now give me a hand.” Chester made a foothold with his hands and hoisted Blake up to the ceiling.

Twenty-six minutes later, Blake sat on a park bench waiting for Rose and Chester. He placed a hand in his coat pocket and ran his fingers over the smooth surface of the bag with the diamonds. He grew nervous. Where were Rose and Chester? For a share in $20 million, how could they be late?

Suddenly, several men and women converged on him from all directions. “Police! Don’t move an inch!” an officer growled.

Blake feigned a smile. “I’m sorry, officer, but is there a problem? I was just sitting—”

“Quiet! Now stand slowly, very slowly, and keep your hands where we can see them.” Blake swallowed and stood. Two uniformed officers grabbed his hands and put them in cuffs.

“What is this?” Blake demanded.

A plain clothes detective approached. “You are under arrest—”

“What?”

“—for robbing the Crystal Diamond jewellery store earlier tonight.”

“There must be some mistake. I’ve been sitting here most of the night enjoying the peace and quiet.”

“Save it,” the detective said. “We’ve got you on a security camera and once we take your prints, I’m sure they will match those found on the glass door to the shop.”

Blake closed his eyes. Of course! When that idiot Chester returned the baby to Rose, he bumped into Blake, causing him to stumble into the door. How could he have been so stupid not to have put on gloves before Rose and Chester arrived? Then he realised . . . “What security camera?”

“The camera built into the bottom of the cabinet, under the diamonds. You blacked out the one in the ceiling, but not the one in the cabinet. You also made the mistake of switching the alarm off for more than sixty seconds. That’s when the security company contacted us. Two officers were nearby, saw you exit the building and followed you here.”

But Chester said Blake had two minutes before the system notified the security company that the alarm had been switched off. Moron! If Blake was going down, he wasn’t going down alone. “I assume you’ve caught up with the two idiots who assisted me.”

The detective looked confused. “Two accomplices? There’s no indication that anyone else was there.”

Blake raised his voice. “Surely you saw them!”

The detective shook his head. “Only you I’m afraid. Now where are the diamonds?”

A uniformed officer frisked him and removed the black silk bag from his coat pocket. Blake’s heart skipped a beat. All that planning. For what? And those two idiots assigned to help him — where were they?

“Is this a joke?” the detective said.

Blake watched in horror as the detective emptied the bag of its contents.

Marbles!

His mind raced as the officers led him to a waiting squad car. Rose and Chester arrived after Blake had switched off the hallway security camera, so they would not have been seen. They also arrived in gloves, so there would be no trace of their fingerprints. Because Rose didn’t enter the shop, well, of course, her face would not appear on the camera built into the cabinet. And how could Chester make such a blunder with the alarm, insisting that Blake had two minutes to get in and out of the shop when he had only sixty seconds? And where were the diamonds? Inside the squad car, Blake shook his head. How could he have been stuck with such incompetency?

Or had he been?

* * *

While the plane waited for clearance, Chester smiled at the baby bouncing on his lap. “You are daddy’s little princess, aren’t you darling?”

The baby laughed and continued to bounce.

“I wonder if Blake realised you were actually the boss?” Chester asked.

“I always lowered my voice and spoke slowly, so I doubt it,” Rose said.

“Why did you choose the name Apate? It’s unusual.”

Rose smiled. “Apate is the goddess and personification of deceit. And may I say darling, your laughing almost fooled me.”

Chester smiled and glanced at his watch. “I’d say Blake is now squirming at a police station, trying to figure out what happened to us and the diamonds.”

“Quite frankly, I hope he’s locked up for years!” Rose stared at the seat in front of her and scowled. “After conning my sister out of her life’s savings.”

“Well, now you can pay her back and more,” Chester said. “By the way, your quick switch of the bags after I bumped into Blake was impressive.” He lowered his voice and smiled at the baby. “And I would suggest that there isn’t a baby’s rattle anywhere worth $20 million.” He smiled and kissed his wife.