And we did. Separately, we made several visits in the evening to familiarize ourselves with the inside, and to locate the trays of stones. At night in my room Sanc drew diagrams of the interior and the show cases. We rehearsed the thing in detail night after night. He made a neat dummy parcel and drilled me in placing it over an imitation tray of diamonds; showed me how to place it under my arm securely yet carelessly and walk out of the store with entire nonchalance.

He bought his black suit, white shirt, and black tie, put them on and rehearsed his part. We put our rooms in order, cleaning out everything that might look suspicious, protecting ourselves against a possible “pinch.” The hotel keys I had made were put away carefully against a rainy day⁠—or night. Our money was taken from the safety box, changed into bank notes, and secreted in our clothes.

I asked him about the guns. “No gun for you, Kid. You might get nervous. Leave yours somewhere. I’ll take mine along.”