‘What time do you want to leave?’ Joel Williams called to his wife. A muffled ‘In about half an hour’ came from the bathroom, where Laura was putting on her makeup. ‘OK,’ Joel answered. Joel wasn’t much of a one for office parties, but it wouldn’t look good to miss Tilton University’s School of Social Sciences party. And Laura didn’t mind going. After all, he was going to be her plus one for the party the DA’s office was hosting next week. Within twenty minutes, Laura was ready to go. ‘What do you think?’ she asked Joel when she came into the living room.
‘You look beautiful,’ he responded. ‘But then, you always do.’
‘You get points for that.’

They got into Joel’s Dodge and went to the Tilton campus. One of the large meeting rooms in Suffolk Hall had been converted for the evening to a ballroom with a number of round tables covered with dark green ruffled tablecloths. Each one was decorated with a pot of poinsettias and a candle. Directly outside the room was a small table where guests signed in. Next to it was another table holding glasses of champagne. As they walked towards the room, Laura murmured, ‘They’re giving us the classy treatment.’ Joel grinned and then suggested, ‘Why don’t you get us some champagne while I sign us in?’ Laura agreed and a minute or two later, they were in the ballroom.

Joel and Laura spent the first twenty minutes or so catching up with the other members of Joel’s department.  Fortunately, Laura got along with Joel’s colleagues, so it was a pleasant catchup session. As they talked, the catering staff walked among the guests offering champagne and hors d’oeuvres. Most people gathered in small groups or went to sit at one of the tables. The hum of conversation mixed with the piped-in sound of instrumental holiday music.

Joel looked around the room, taking in the atmosphere. All of a sudden, something caught his attention. One of the waiters was standing at one of the tables, and Joel could have sworn he saw the young man take something off the table. It seemed odd, since no-one was sitting there, but Joel didn’t jump to conclusions. He did take a mental note, though. Then, a woman Joel recognized, but didn’t know, walked up to the table. She stopped, glanced around it, and looked at the seats. Then she moved away quickly.

A minute later, Laura touched his arm. ‘I’m going to the ladies’ room,’ she told him. ‘Be right back.’
‘I’ll be here.’
Five minutes later, Laura rushed back to Joel. ‘You won’t believe it!’ she gasped. ‘I was in the ladies’ room, and someone came in and said her purse was stolen!’
‘Stolen? Do you know who it was?’
‘No, sorry, I don’t know her. Oh, wait, there she is!’ Laura indicated the same woman Joel had just seen. ‘Should we tell someone?’
‘I think we should,’ Joel replied. ‘And I have an idea about what’s going on. Let’s go.’

Laura went with Joel as he approached one of the waiters. ‘Do you know who’s managing everything tonight?’ he asked. The waiter pointed. ‘It’s that tall guy in the dark suit. The one with the moustache.’ Joel thanked him and went over to the manager as quickly as he could without calling attention to himself. Laura followed, trying her best to keep up with her husband.
‘….and my wife said someone’s purse was stolen. It could be the same guy,’ Joel was explaining when Laura caught up to him.
‘You saw the guy?’ Laura’s eyes widened as she spoke.
‘I think so.”
‘I can call campus security,’ the manager explained. ‘But it’s not going to help much if we don’t catch the guy actually with the purse.’
Joel nodded slowly. He understood how things worked.
‘Why don’t you keep an eye out,’ the manager suggested. ‘And come and get me if you see anything else.’
‘Oh, we will,’ Laura promised. Joel almost felt sorry for the purse thief once he heard Laura’s tone of voice.

Joel and Laura headed back towards the groups of guests. Neither felt much like mingling, but they didn’t feel they could leave just yet. A passing waiter offered them glasses of champagne. As they sipped, Laura looked over Joel’s shoulder at the tables. ‘I wish there was something we could do. That poor woman! Her ID, her cards, everything gone!’
‘I know. We’ll just have to pay attention and see if we see anything.’

Just then, Laura handed her champagne glass to her husband. ‘Hold this a minute,’ she said as she quickly walked towards one of the tables. A second later, Joel heard her call out, ‘Hey you! Put that down. I said put that down now!’ The chatter died as people watched Laura stride up towards the table. She was glaring at a waiter who was standing there, and it only took a second for Joel to understand why. On the table in front of them was a soft blue leather clutch purse. Laura turned to Joel. ‘This guy tried to steal that purse!’ she pointed towards the purse. ‘And I’ll bet he stole the other one, too.’

The waiter looked frantically from one to the other and turned to leave. But his way was blocked by the manager, who’d come over when he heard Laura yell. ‘You,’ he barked at the waiter, ‘Come with me.’ Then he turned to Laura and Joel. ‘I’ll take it from here. The police will be here soon.’

An hour later, the party was breaking up. The police had come and done interviews, and the missing purse had been returned to its owner. Now, an exhausted Joel and Laura were on their way to their car. ‘That wasn’t exactly the party I’d imagined,’ he said. ‘I hope yours next week isn’t quite so eventful.’
‘It won’t be. Who’d be stupid enough to try to steal from a bunch of prosecuting attorneys?’