Neither Mary nor Sybil could remember how many times they had conned people or stolen from men. Mary knew it had to be well into the hundreds by now, but as they stood over two passed out men she seemed bored. They would have to up their game soon; perhaps she could talk Sybil into doing something a bit more extreme.
Both women looked flawless as Mary tossed her chestnut hair above her shoulder, the act of looking enticing always easy for them. She knew her sister Sybil preferred to hide her body but Mary knew it was what really helped them in their activities. Any man would do anything they wanted at the site of their fair skin. "Goodness Mary, you should have worn more practical shoes. What if we need to run?" Sybil's voice was low as she ran her gloved fingers over an expensive vase in the flat. The quick roll of Mary's eyes was all the answer needed as she looked to Sybil then at the passed out men.
Both were equally handsome but neither captured the ladies real attention. You could tell both were posh, perhaps trying to seem wealthier than either truly was. They had taken Mary and Sybil back to an immaculate flat, either the sign of a housekeeper or someone who never stayed home. Mary couldn't help but notice how each room smelled or oranges, the stench making her nose wrinkle. "I would never have that scent allowed at Downton," she groaned out as she moved to take both men's watches.
The four had met at a local pub around the corner and Mary knew instantly they would be the perfect target. Sybil had whined about just wanting to enjoy her night out for once but they were too easy to pass up. An hour and two spiked pints later the girls had found their way back to the flat and the gentleman passed out before anything could go further.
"Make sure you have checked all their pockets and in the books, men find it humorous to hide things in them. I like to believe it's because they truly don't understand how to read." Mary knew how bitter she sounded as she held a watch up in the air, the gold shiny and new. "Mary, doesn't Papa have something similar to that?" "I believe he does, we will take it just in case." Sybil truly didn't like giving their father something they had taken from another man, she knew he would be terribly upset if he ever found out about the things they did. "Chin up Darling, it's just material items," Mary spoke as her eyes danced to Sybil's. She didn't need her little sister going soft now when she needed more to keep her excited.
"Looks like we are finished here." Mary skimmed her deep eyes around the room, double checking as she caught Sybil leaving her signature lipstick kiss on a card. "Why must you always do that silly gesture? It's going to get us caught one day." "I don't know Mary; it makes it feel slightly romantic like in those older movies. It wouldn't hurt for you to have some silly notion to believe in." A romantic notion would be the furthest thing Mary would ever believe in, considering she had all but given up in true love.
Sybil had been playing the lipstick card game since their very first con. Kemal Pamuk had been Mary's first beau and was horrible to her so the sisters schemed up a rumor to have him leave her alone. Nothing was actually done but by the time the girls finished spreading whispers around town everyone believed them. When all was said and done he begged his rich aristocrat father to send him to boarding school in America and the girls felt like they had won a grand trophy. Sybil had placed a coral lip stain on and kissed a card to send to him, silly but a mark of something they had done together; Ever since she had left each victim with a card, almost like a good luck charm.
The sisters had spent their lives doing anything they could for each other, their world full of parties and entertaining royals at their home at Downton. Others would look at them and judge instantly the rich girl title but both were so much more, that's partly why they still ran their schemes. To do something so wrong and against everything their father stood for excited them both. Sybil wanted more though now, she wanted to find someone to settle down with and leave this life behind. Mary simply wanted excitement; she wanted to do anything that could get her as far from her life at Downton as possible. The prospect of being like her mum Cora and spending her days devoted to mothering didn't seem what she wanted. Richard had trapped her into a relationship after finding out about the cons she had pulled before and now she couldn't ever imagine being happy again because of it. Every time she threatened to leave him, he threatened to expose her. Cruel and evil and rich, everything about him oozed being a coward and everything Mary hated.
Alarms screeched loudly in the air outside as Mary and Sybil jerked their heads up to look at the flat window. "We need to go now!" Mary yelled as they grabbed everything, quickly sprinting for the door. As both ladies disappeared the only sounds that could be heard were heels hitting marble floor and snores from two drugged men.
"You should have seen this broad Matty boy; she kind of looked like thatgirl from Doctor Who. She was crazy though, come to think of it. I think she may have kept calling me Rico all night." Tom was telling another one of his famous Friday night stories to Matthew as they patrolled the block in his undercover police car. They both would be ending their shift for the night soon so was tying up any loose ends for the night. "Perhaps you should lay off the women for a bit and join us for a game of Rugby. We could always use a proper Irishman on the team." Matthew did hope his best mate would take up the offer; his team could use the extra support since losing their best player a week before.
Matthew and Tom had become best mates when assigned to work for the same task force, quickly becoming partners. Both were oddly good though Matthew dreamed of hanging up his badge to be a lawyer one day. Tom couldn't think of anything better though for his life, he had started off as a taxi driver so being a detective was a dream come true. When off the clock he would spend his time at the pub or hanging with Matthew, spending every other night with a new female of choice. His best mate was the opposite though; Matthew had just got out of a long relationship with Lavinia. The long haired ginger had left him after not being able to handle his career but he knew it was for the best. Neither had loved the other the way they deserved in a long time, it was like a new life lease.
Static bounced around the car as the radio blared out a command "Detectives, there has been a call about a possible break in on Ellesmere street. Please respond." "Well looks like we have one more case to take care of before our break tonight," Matthew chuckled as he whipped the car around. "Hold on to your seatbelt." Tom's face morphed to terror for a moment before teasing, "Be careful mate before we end up in a ditch."
Matthew wanted to laugh to himself as he stood interviewing the two victims with Tom. It wasn't every day that you got involved with a case like this. Most men would have been too embarrassed to admit they were robbed by women but these two were adamant on having their stuff found. Both were chugging water to flush their systems as they told their side of the story. "They must have drugged us; I bet the taller one did it. She looked like she could pull my heart out and stomp on it but boy was she a looker." Matthew had the thought as he wrote everything down that maybe they deserved it when speaking like that, what had happened to ever being taught to be a gentleman. His mum would have given him hell even now if she ever heard him speaking like that. "Yeah but the shorter one, she did seem nice. Maybe they didn't do this?" The other guy almost seemed like he wanted to drop everything as he spoke to Tom.
Slowly Matthew began to walk along the flat, checking each room for any signs of anything else missing. Something felt off as he began to breathe in the scent of flowers, a scent so lovely it sent chills along his bones. Everywhere else in the house smelt of fruit but here he could swear one of the women's perfume still lingered. It shook him that just the littlest of things had got to him but he would remember that scent if needed.
Heavy footsteps moved to meet Matthew and he looked up to see Tom standing above him, a smirk playing on his features. "Well mate, let's get this night started and find these two."