Dorris Payne | Mixing Business with Pleasure | 2

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It's August 20th, 1974 in Monte Carlo, the ritziest district in Monaco.

The morning sun is high, bathing the French Riviera in warm light.

Doris Payne's heels click on the sand-colored sidewalk as she approaches the Cartier jewelry store.

A saleswoman steps outside as Dorris approaches.

She's about to close the place up for a morning break, but Dorris asked to go inside anyway, taking care to flash the glimmering diamond on her finger.

She spent a lot of time and effort to pass for a lady with money to burn, and just like always, it pays off.

The clerk decides her tea can wait and ushers Dorris into the store.

Inside, a glittering chandelier illuminates fine wooden cabinets, where rich velvet cushions a dizzying array of diamonds, rubies and sapphires.

Forty-three-year-old Doris catches her mouth watering, takes a deep breath.

She follows the saleswoman to a comfortable chair and asks to try on a selection of rings.

Moments later, a young man emerges from the back room, carrying the shining silver tray and presents it to Dorris.

After casting an appraising eye over the jewels, Dorris asks to see another selection and notes that the server takes care to remove the original plate of rings first.

The staff here clearly follow a protocol.

Always limit the number of jewels placed before a customer and keep track of each and every one.

It's no surprise to Doris that the Cartier employees are well trained, but it does dampen her enthusiasm.

She's the only customer in the store.

Without a distraction, it'll be risky to try and swipe anything.

Still, she didn't come all the way to Monaco from Cleveland to give up now.

As Doris tries on the jewels, she tests the saleswoman's patience.

She picks up a ring, switches it from one finger to another, replaces it on the tray in the wrong position, then grabs another one.

She repeatedly takes them on and off, checking how each jewel refracts the light, asking about the clarity and cut of the stones.

At the time, she makes small talk with the staff, finding common ground on just about any subject, from fashion to family.

As Doris carries on with her routine, the door swings open behind her, and another customer enters the shop.

Glancing over her shoulder, Dorris quickly looks the man up and down.

He looks like a hippie to her, middle-aged with long hair and an open shirt.

And Dorris has seen him before.

Just a little while ago, she caught him staring at her in her hotel lobby.

There's definitely something off about the man.

But Doris figures the guy's just an eccentric millionaire.

Anyone who can get away with dressing like a slob in Monte Carlo must be flush.

On the other hand, that also makes him the perfect distraction, and he's arrived just in time.

The server has just brought out a Whopper, a 10-carat ring that looks fit for a queen.

Doris can tell right away that it's gotta be worth at least half a million dollars.

She watches the server place the tray down in a hurry and head over to greet the hippie.

Dorris can hardly keep from shaking.

She keeps chattering away to the saleswoman in front of her, tracking the lady's eyes all the time.

Just for an instant, the woman turns her head, and that's Dorris' chance.

Her hand whips out like a viper.

She seizes the diamond ring and slips it on her finger.

Less than a minute later, the server returns.

He immediately notices one of the diamonds is missing from the tray.

A treasure like that is more than obvious.

His gaze sweeps over to Dorris and he flashes an inquiring smile.

As an answer, Doris nods to the saleswoman in front of her, implying she gave the ring to Dorris to try on.

The server nods and steps away, but Doris knows her time is already running out.

She needs to leave before the server mentions the ring to the saleswoman.

So she slides the diamond under her glove and stands up, telling the clerk she'll return tomorrow.

She's out the door a few minutes later with a half million dollar diamond ring snug on her finger.

Doris tries to remain calm while power walking back to her hotel.

She steadies her breathing while she plots out her next move.

It shouldn't be too hard.

All she needs to do is get out of the country and back home.

What could possibly go wrong now?

From Airship, I'm Jeremy Schwartz, and this is American Criminal.

By her mid-20s, Dorris Payne had enough of what she felt was a menial existence.

All her life, she wanted more from the world than the pittance that was offered to poor black women like her.

She wasn't content to merely survive.

She wanted to thrive.

And feeling like she didn't have any other options, she decided that the best way for her to get what she wanted was to simply take it.

Aside from anything else, Dorris figured that becoming a jewel thief was a great way to ensure her independence.

She'd watched her mother endure years of abuse and was determined to avoid the same fate.

So she was going to go it alone.

Having a husband or even just a boyfriend would only slow her down.

And in Doris' line of work, speed was key.

She couldn't have a man waiting at home for her, always asking where she was going, where she'd been.

It was a complication she didn't need.

The irony was, though, that in her mind, Dorris was doing this for the people in her life.

She wanted to provide for her mother and children to give them all the luxuries she never had growing up.

Though she made sure she had plenty of luxury that was all her own, too.

Thing was, despite all her years of practice in small-time jewel heists and small-town stores, Doris was in for a rude awakening once she went for big-time scores.

Pretty quick, she discovered that she wasn't as untouchable as she'd always thought.

And with that came a realization that would affect the shape of her life forever.

She couldn't do this alone after all.

She was going to need help.

She was going to need a man.

This is episode two in our four-part series on Doris Payne.

Mixing business with pleasure.

It's April of 1956, almost 20 years before Doris Payne hits the Monte Carlo Cartier.

The smell of fresh-cut grass floats into Dorris' shabby apartment in Cleveland, Ohio, and mingles with her high-end perfume.

It's early, but she's already dressed to the nines in a sleek, hip-hugging skirt, lovingly sewn by her mother, Clemmie.

As Doris breezes into the kitchen, her family is stunned.

Sitting at the breakfast table, Clemmie and Dorris' two young children wonder what she's all dressed up for.

On any other Wednesday morning, Dorris would be wearing the uniform for her job at the nursing home.

But this is her new uniform, her disguise to help her be a better jewel thief.

Not that she says any of that to her family.

Instead, Dorris smiles and tells the kids that she has some business in Pittsburgh.

Her mom purses her lips.

Clemmie knows that Dorris loves secrets and decides she'd rather not know where her daughter is going all decked out like a movie star.

So, the brief interrogation over, Dorris grabs a piece of toast and heads to the bus station.

But she's so excited that she's way too early.

Like an overprepared dad dragging his family to the airport.

She waits there two and a half hours, a bundle of nervous energy.

Worst case scenarios whirl in her head.

What if she gets caught?

What if she goes to jail?

Dorris has no real answers to those questions.

No contingency plan for if it all goes wrong.

All she knows is that today, she's taking a gamble, reaching for the good life.

She's desperate to prove to herself that she can take care of her kids and her mother all on her own.

After watching Clemmie suffer for years in an abusive relationship, Doris refuses to rely on anyone else, especially not a man.

Dorris takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down.

She's stolen before, but this time is different.

Today, her target is one of the most expensive jewelry stores in Pittsburgh, and she means to score big.

By the time the bus finally arrives, Doris has mastered herself.

As she climbs aboard, some admiring looks from her fellow passengers give her the encouragement she needs.

She's confident she looks good, looks rich.

That thought gets her through the long ride into the city.

When the bus pulls into Pittsburgh, she breezes out of the station and strolls up Liberty Avenue, heading for the Clark Building.

Situated in the heart of the city's jewelry district, the top floors of the building house MGM Studios, so the jewelers there are used to a certain class of clientele, including big movie stars.

They won't deal with just anyone.

Luckily, that afternoon, Dorris Payne feels like a somebody and looks it too.

She adjusts the pins holding her hat in place, and the doorman welcomes her inside.

A smorgasbord of jewelry stores occupy the building, almost too many to choose from.

Dorris doesn't have a specific one in mind, and so decides to go with her gut.

Almost immediately, she's drawn to a salesman with a smile like a golden retriever.

She thinks he looks stupid, perfect.

She beams and follows him into his shop, where tall mahogany cases filled with diamonds line the walls.

Even from a few feet away, the rings are so beautiful, they give Dorris the chills.

She slips into a comfy chair and starts chatting with the clerk.

The guy knows an easy sale when he sees it, or at least he thinks he does.

His eyes sparkle when Dorris asks to see a two-carat diamond.

He waves a server over, and they set an immaculate tray of rings beside Doris.

She estimates the cheapest one on the tray to be worth around $5,000.

But the piece that really catches her eye is worth at least quadruple that.

Offloading a ring like that would net Doris enough money to buy a nice house outright, with plenty of cash to spare afterward.

Dorris feels her heart pound in her chest, but she keeps her composure.

It's just like she practiced.

Legs crossed, placid smile, a slight upward tilt to the chin.

She starts slow, taking one of the rings from the tray and admiring it.

She switches fingers, then swaps the piece out for another ring.

That one bounces from hand to hand while she grabs a third jewel off the tray.

She waits, watching the clerk's eye line patiently and only switching rings when he's not looking directly at her.

All the while, Dorris jabbers away.

She's charming, funny, talking about her wealthy husband, beloved sister-in-law, a land-owning father, all of them made up.

After a few minutes of her three-card Monte with the rings, she asks to see some more pieces.

The clerk calls for two more trays without bothering to remove the first one.

Dorris has done enough research to know that this is a major mistake.

Jewelers are taught to only keep one tray in front of a customer at a time.

And this guy is about to learn why.

The next time he turns around, Doris flicks her wrist towards the diamond she's benign.

She slips it upside down onto her finger and covers it with her glove.

By the time the clerk turns back, Doris is already on her feet.

She promises to return the next day, after she's talked over the purchase with her husband, of course.

The clerk smiles and wishes Doris a pleasant afternoon.

She smirks on the way out, imagining the man turning the store inside out, searching for the missing diamond.

By the time he'll tell his superior that the ring is gone, Dorris intends to be safe and sound back home in Cleveland.

But Dorris' plan is far from foolproof.

As she hustles the few blocks to the bus station, she walks by a police officer and nearly has a heart attack.

All of a sudden the adrenaline fades away and the gravity of her situation turns her blood cold.

Then, once she gets to the station, there's a long wait for the next greyhound.

So if the jeweler calls the police, Doris will be a sitting duck.

She starts spiraling, scolding herself for not bringing a change of clothes, panicking that she'll be arrested any second now.

After just a few minutes of waiting, her cool demeanor starts to slip and she retreats into a bathroom to catch her breath.

In the stall, she stuffs the $20,000 ring into her bra.

Still, she feels trapped, a jumpy child instead of the confident 26-year-old she was only an hour ago.

She needs reassurance.

She needs help.

So she slinks out of the bathroom to a payphone and calls her mom, ready to spill the beans and ask to be picked up.

But there's no answer.

A few minutes later, she calls again.

Still nothing.

It isn't until 3 p.m.

that Clemmie finally picks up.

For a little while, Dorris makes small talk, whispering into the mouthpiece and trying to get up the courage to confess.

But in the end, she can't do it.

Saying goodbye to Clemmie, Dorris hangs up and stands there, listening to the hustle and bustle of the station.

She's terrified that if she tries to buy a ticket, she'll be swarmed by cops.

Still, she knows that the longer she waits, the more grim the situation will become.

And to make matters worse, she spent almost all of her cash on the payphone.

Now she couldn't even buy a ticket if she wanted to.

She sinks onto a bench and tries again to pull herself together as the sun dips low on the horizon.

The next few hours pass slowly, nervous agony pricking at Doris with every passing minute.

By nightfall, she still has no plan.

Tired of going in circles in her mind, she decides she needs to sleep.

She locks herself in the bus station bathroom and curls up in the tiny bathtub.

She sleeps fitfully, the stolen ring pressed against her chest.

The next morning, Doris gets a literal rude awakening.

A bus station employee shakes her out of her sleep, yelling that she has to leave.

Half asleep and disoriented, Dorris stumbles out of the bathroom.

She spends a few minutes smoothing her skirt and working up her nerves again.

Hunger pangs rumble in her gut as a bus full of newly enlisted soldiers pulls into the station.

She notices a couple of handsome black men among them and gets an idea.

Dorris sidles up next to one of them and offers to buy him a cup of coffee.

Despite her empty purse, she orders a huge cinnamon roll while she's at it.

She chats with the soldier for a minute and scarves down her food.

Her plan is to leave the date early and hope the new recruit covers the check out of chivalry.

Unfortunately, it backfires.

The soldier is the one who's pulled away when his bus gives a final shout for passengers.

Now, Dorris is in deeper trouble than ever.

Not only is she a penniless jewel thief, she's on the hook for a coffee date too.

There's nothing to do but dine and dash.

Doris waits for the waitress' shift to change, then bails without paying.

After that, she wanders aimlessly through the Pittsburgh streets.

At one point, she considers going back to the jewelry store and just returning the ring, claiming she forgot it was on her finger.

If she did that, she figures she could borrow the store's phone to call her mom again and ask for a pickup.

But just as she's about to give it all up, Doris stops herself.

She's supposed to be protecting her mom, not relying on her.

This isn't how a master thief acts.

They adapt.

They take what they want.

They turn nothing into something.

So, feeling a renewed sense of purpose, Dorris stops outside an upscale clothing store, where a gold robe in the window catches her eye.

Suddenly, she has a new plan.

She's not gonna back out.

She's gonna double down.

With a few steadying breaths, Dorris gets herself back in character.

She even takes out the stolen ring and wears it proudly, as if it belongs there on her finger.

Once she's ready, she enters the store with a placid smile.

A man plays the violin softly in the corner to provide ambience.

To Doris, it sounds like the soundtrack to her escape.

A saleswoman greets her as Doris examines a rack of robes like the one in the window.

Noticing that there's no robe in a size 8, she asks the clerk to check for one in the back.

The saleswoman doesn't have one, not that Dorris could pay for it anyway.

But the robe isn't the point.

With all of Dorris' emphatic gesturing, the clerk can't miss the massive rock on her finger.

She compliments the ring, and Dorris gives her a sad smile.

This is it, the woman stepped right inside her trap.

Doris launches into a sob story about a cheating ex-husband.

She claims to be desperate to sell the ring.

There are too many bad memories associated with it.

Obviously moved, the saleswoman says she'd love to try and help if she can.

She excuses herself and goes to fetch a manager.

A couple of minutes later, a stiff white man in a tailored suit comes over to introduce himself to Doris.

Asking to see the ring in question, he pulls out a magnifying glass to take a closer look.

He doesn't say much.

Dorris gets the impression that he doesn't totally buy her story, but that he doesn't much care either.

When he asks what she wants for the ring, Dorris freezes.

She can't even be sure the diamond is real.

All she knows is the price tag at the store.

$20,000.

Realizing she'll never get anywhere near that much, Dorris decides it's safe to divide by three.

She asks for $7,000.

The manager thinks, nods, and opens the store safe.

After less than 15 minutes, Dorris leaves with more than a laborer's yearly salary burning a hole in her purse.

It's more than enough for a nice lunch and a two-hour cab ride home.

Dorris rides back to Cleveland, grinning ear to ear.

Looking back on the episode, she knows she got lucky.

She'll have to prepare better next time.

But she also knows how she made it out.

Confidence, perseverance, and sticking to her character.

From now on, she'll use those lessons to take herself and her family straight to the top.

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It's April 1956, the night after Dorris Payne's Pittsburgh heist.

She sits on the small deck outside her second floor apartment, smoking in the dark.

The diamond money still is snug in her purse.

Just thinking about it elates her.

She's proud, confident now that she can take care of her family all by herself.

Her mom, Clemmie, won't ever have to live with a man like her father again.

That's who Doris thinks she's doing all this for, her beloved mother and her two children.

She wants to clear the air with her mom.

To be honest, like she planned to do over the phone.

Really, she wants Clemmie to feel safe and protected.

To know that Dorris will take care of everything.

What Dorris can't admit to herself, at least not right now, is that she's doing it for herself too.

And she wants some recognition, some approval.

She blows a puff of smoke into the night air and calls her mom over.

Clemmie comes outside and sits down, reminding her daughter not to smoke in the apartment.

In the waning light, Doris can barely make out her mother's face.

Somehow, that makes it easier.

She speaks into the darkness, telling her mom the truth about how she's been bringing in extra money over the past few years.

Clemmie sits next to her daughter, completely stone-faced.

She stays silent until the streetlights turn on.

Then she gets up and walks into the apartment without a word.

Doris can feel her heart breaking, feeling like she's disappointed the most important person in her life.

She stubs out her cigarette and follows Clemmie inside to plead her case.

She tells her mom it isn't stealing, it's taking.

She points out that diamonds come from Africa, where they're taken from the ground by poor black miners just like her father.

Doris believes that's enough to justify her actions.

But when her mom only snorts in response, she sees her flimsy excuse for what it is.

Clemmie warns Dorris to keep the secret from her children.

Otherwise, she says, they'll grow up to think stealing is okay, and it's not.

Dorris trembles as a tangle of emotions claw at her insides.

Unsure what else she can say, she leaves the apartment and goes on a long walk through the neighborhood.

All of a sudden, a hundred beautiful arguments flow through her mind.

What she should have said, all the what ifs she could have thrown in her mom's face.

But then, she walks by an A-frame house and the clever lines disappear.

The house is nothing special, just like all the other single family units on the street, except for one important difference.

It has a for sale sign out front.

Doris recognizes the phone number.

It's the landlord who owns her current apartment.

Suddenly, Doris knows what to do with all that cash in her purse.

And maybe, just maybe, it'll help her patch things up with Clemmie.

The next morning, she phones her landlord bright and early.

He's no idiot.

He knows Doris works in a nursing home.

So when she tells him she wants to buy the house, he can tell something's up.

Still, a sale's a sale.

He tells Dorris that if she pays cash, he'll sign over the home that same day.

She smiles.

Cash is the one thing she has.

That evening, Doris takes her mom on a walk.

They roam through the neighborhood in an uncomfortable silence, purple shadows crisscrossing on the asphalt.

When they get to the A-frame, Doris stops and yanks the for sale sign out of the ground.

Clemmie gasps and asks what she thinks she's doing.

That's when Doris drops the bomb.

The house is hers.

Their family won't have to pay rent anymore.

No mortgage either.

That, she says, is why she takes what she does.

For a second, Clemmie goes silent, just like before.

Then, despite herself, she smiles.

Doris takes in every bit of it, holds the picture of her mom's face in her mind.

Making her mom smile like that has always been her dream.

For Doris, though, making one dream come true only makes room for the next.

Just a few weeks after moving into her new home, she's plotting another score.

This time, she's staying close to home and hitting a place in Cleveland, where she feels more comfortable than she did in Pittsburgh.

For this outing, Doris modifies her character a little bit.

Instead of movie star Rich, she's going for upscale Ohio.

She presses her hair and curls it on the ends for a more conservative style.

She dons an expensive necklace and caps her outfit with a debutante ring, both bought with a five-finger discount.

She personally thinks the ring is hideous, but it's trendy and matches her outfit and character perfectly.

When she's in costume, Doris takes a cab to the most expensive department store in the city, Halle's, and makes a beeline for the jewelry counter.

Right away, she dislikes the salesman she's paired with.

He doesn't fit her stereotype of what a fine jeweler should look like.

He's large and stuffed into an ill-fitting suit.

He's chatty, though, and that's encouraging.

He even compliments the ring Doris hates, telling her his niece has one just like it.

Doris smiles and gets on with her routine.

The clerk brings out tray after tray the most egregious violation of standard protocol Doris has ever witnessed.

After very little effort, she ends up walking out with a small diamond ring hidden behind her debutante piece.

It feels too easy, and as it turns out, it was.

Before she can hail a cab, a police officer on the sidewalk waves Doris over to his patrol car and gestures for her to get in the back.

She freezes for a moment.

She's hardly ever spoken to a policeman before, but she does what she's told.

The officer climbs in the front seat and starts driving without a word.

Dorris suppresses the panic in her voice and plays dumb.

She asks what's going on.

The cop smirks and tells her he knows she took some jewelry.

Without missing a beat, Doris launches into a rehearsed excuse.

First, she feigns surprise that the ring is on her finger.

Then she says it's all a misunderstanding, a simple mistake.

The policeman peers at her in the rearview mirror and mulls it over.

He takes in her fancy dress, the primped hair and the teardrop necklace.

That alone is worth more than the ring she's accused of stealing.

After a tense silence, the cop nods and pulls over.

Doris hands him the ring and he tells her to be more careful in the future.

Then he hails a cab for her.

Dorris climbs into bed that night with her heart still pumping like she's just run a marathon.

Another near miss, even closer than her crisis of confidence in Pittsburgh.

Even so, she's exhilarated.

She didn't end up with the ring, but now her escape plan has been field tested.

She feels bulletproof.

As long as she sticks to her script, she figures she can't really be caught.

Doris continues to test her skills over the next few weeks, hitting jewelry stores all over Cleveland and falling back on her forgetful act if anyone gets wise.

Once she has a jewel in hand, she brings it to a pawn shop to get what she can, or convinces gullible people she meets to buy the piece.

For the most part, things go pretty well.

Then, one day, she picks up the newspaper and reads a story about a robbery in the city.

According to the article, a woman posing as a customer stole a $5,000 ring in broad daylight.

But Doris knows better than anyone the price tag said it was worth $1,500.

Suspecting the error is more than a misprint.

Dorris starts doing some research.

She learns that the jewelers have to follow the strict protocol she's already familiar with in order to keep their insurance.

They're supposed to restrict the number of jewels presented to customers at once to reduce the risk of theft.

Additionally, any piece they report missing can make their rates go up, so stores don't always take the trouble.

Dorris realizes that most of her robberies so far haven't been reported to the police, but there's no guarantee that'll always be the case.

Relying on pawn shops and impulse buyers to offload her stolen goods may not be an option if more of her crimes get reported.

She needs to widen her circle of trust and find a solid fence, someone who can move the merchandise she brings them.

The trouble is, she has no idea where to start.

She's terrified to reveal herself as a thief to someone outside of her family, but she can't see another way forward.

Not for the first time, she's got to take a risk.

It isn't until more than a year and a half after her Pittsburgh caper in the fall of 1957 that Doris strikes gold.

One morning, she chats up a fashionable older woman named Ava Lurch.

Dorris is drawn to Ava's bright red fox fur and her bold yellow suit, and figures she could be a potential buyer from one of Dorris' jewels.

But it turns out Ava's got more to offer than that.

After only the briefest of small talk, Ava reveals that she just got out of jail.

She did a little bit of time for owning a broth.

Doris feels at ease talking to a fellow criminal and decides this is her chance.

She tells Ava what she's been doing, and explains how badly she needs a reliable fence.

Without even needing to think about it, Ava gives Dorris the address of a nightclub in the city and tells her to show up on a Monday afternoon.

Dorris takes the next week to prepare.

She wants to meet her new contact with a piece on hand to show that she's serious.

Wary of becoming a familiar face in Cleveland stores, she decides her next target will be across the border in Montreal.

She travels some 600 miles to the city, awestruck by the towering cathedrals and old historic buildings.

Unfortunately, she can't take the time to go sightseeing.

She's paid for a private car to bring her all the way there and she wants to get her money's worth.

She directs her driver to an upscale jewelry outlet and gets into her movie star character.

She notices admiring glances from the Canadians around her and knows she's doing something right.

Nosed in the air, she glides into the store like she owns the place.

From there, she pulls her familiar routine on the clerk.

After only a few minutes inside, she walks out with a two-carat diamond ring surrounded by a halo of sapphires.

She hops back in her car and heads for the border.

She's likely out of the country before the store even realizes the ring is missing.

Back home, Dorris admires her new ring in the moonlight streaming through her bedroom window.

The familiar thrill surges through her.

She feels powerful and clever, like she's beating a rigged game.

It's intoxicating.

And as she drifts off to sleep, she catches herself wishing she had someone to share it with.

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It's a Monday afternoon in the fall of 1957, and a chill zips through the air.

Doris Payne walks the streets of Cleveland, heading for the nightclub she's been told she can meet a fence for her stolen jewelry.

She pushes open the heavy front door and squints in the low light.

A few hard drinking men sit at the bar while a jazz quartet rehearses on the stage, but Dorris is drawn to the man sitting in the center of the room.

Clad in a tailored gray suit that plays nicely against his olive skin, the guy has an unmistakable air of confidence.

Doris smooths her dark green coat and introduces herself to the tall, dark and handsome stranger.

She tells him she's come with a business proposition.

The man's name is Harold Braunfield, but he tells Dorris that everyone calls him babe and he pulls out a chair.

He's in his early thirties, the kind of guy who knows everyone, but who likes to fly under the radar.

Doris finds babe incredibly handsome, but she's all business, determined to impress him while making sure he's a straight shooter too.

Without much preamble, she launches into her spiel.

She'll bring him hot jewelry that she'll sell to him for a third of the sticker price.

If he can flip it for more than that, he's welcome to keep the difference.

Neither party works for the other.

It's a simple business agreement, a partnership.

To prove her worth, she shows him the diamond she stole just a few days ago from a store in Montreal.

The pitch works.

Babe is taken by Doris' moxie and buys the diamond on the spot.

But before they start anything permanent, he wants to go with Dorris on a job.

He wants to see how the sausage is made before he can trust her beyond this first deal.

Doris agrees, if only because she wants to spend more time with Babe.

She's always been happy to fly solo, but now she's starting to think that working with someone may have its perks.

Babe offers to take her to a jewelry store in Philadelphia, and it isn't long before they're on a road trip together.

On the way, Babe tosses a few friendly barbs to Doris' way.

He can't believe she can just swipe a ring out from under an experienced jeweler's nose.

There's no way!

Doris only smiles and promises to show him how it's done.

To establish a cover story in case they get caught, Babe stops at a hotel first and books a single room for the two of them.

They want to look like an innocent couple out for a weekend getaway, not a pair of thieves looking to score.

A light snow blankets the ground outside the hotel and despite herself, Dorris starts thinking about romance.

As always though, work comes first.

Babe takes her to the story staked out and Doris walks in alone.

A few minutes later, Babe heads inside to pose as another customer and distract the salespeople.

Dorris appreciates the help, but can't totally fight off her nerves.

She knows that she needs to prove herself here and the situation feels off.

Her biggest problem is that she's been paired with a female clerk.

In general, Doris prefers to deal with men.

She finds it easier to charm and distract them.

Because the saleswoman is really on the ball, it takes Doris almost an hour to catch her off guard.

Finally, after a long discussion about fashion, she seizes her chance to slip an emerald cut diamond onto her finger.

A subtle nod to Babe is all it takes from there.

He diverts the saleswoman, giving Dorris enough time to walk out of the store unnoticed.

An hour later, the two meet up back at the hotel and skip town.

The atmosphere in the car is electric.

Babe's never met anyone like Doris before.

He flies across the snowy highway, singing along to a Count Basie song on the radio.

Ever so slowly, his right hand drifts from the wheel and his fingers interlace with Dorris'.

She feels like she's in a movie, especially when a breaking news report interrupts the broadcast.

Interracial couple robs Philadelphia jewelry store.

All of a sudden, Babe goes cold, pulling his hand away from Dorris'.

He's a shady nightclub owner, so he's always got his fingers in a lot of pies, but mostly as a middleman.

To the outside world, he presents as a nice married Jewish man.

This might be the first time he's been implicated in a crime himself, and he doesn't handle it well.

But Doris, she's thrilled to be in a Bonnie and Clyde situation.

To share the adrenaline with someone else, she tries to comfort babe, rekindle the romantic mood, but it's a no-go.

When they get back to Cleveland, he takes Dorris' newest ring and drops her off at her place, alone.

Still, Dorris can't help feeling good about the whole experience.

The next morning, however, the fantasy comes crashing down.

Babe calls Doris to let her know the Philadelphia police are looking for her.

Because Dorris spent so long talking with the saleswoman, the cops have a precise description of her, and unless she turns herself in, things will go south, fast.

Now it's Dorris' turn to panic.

She considers going on the lamb and secretly wonders if Babe's been setting her up the entire time.

She unloads on him, blaming him for drawing attention to them in the store.

But Babe's smooth demeanor doesn't crack.

He claims he's got connections to the DA in Philadelphia.

He'll call a lawyer to meet her at the police station.

All she's got to do is turn herself in, keep her mouth shut, and she'll be back on the streets by the evening.

Dorris mulls things over long and hard.

Either this man she barely knows is about to save her life, or he's gonna ruin it completely.

Not wanting to abandon her children, she decides to do as Babe asks.

She catches a flight to Philadelphia and goes to the police station he specified.

As promised, there's a slender attorney waiting for her outside.

Doris follows him into the station where the officers take her photo and fingerprints.

Just when she's sure that she's gonna be locked up, they tell her she's free to go.

There isn't a single question about the ring.

Dorris has to fight to keep a smile off her face as she walks out of the station.

Babe wasn't lying after all.

That seals it.

He's the perfect partner for her.

He's clearly got the connection she needs, and it doesn't hurt that he's handsome either.

A week later, Babe manages to flip the ring from Philly, and Doris gets her cut.

When he stops by to deliver the cash, she asks how he got her out of that jam so easily.

He explains that wheeling and dealing is all part of the game.

All he had to do was call his friends in the DA's office.

Then those guys collude with the cops and a lawyer's on hand to make sure everything goes smoothly.

Hearing this, Doris realizes then that she's not as outside the system as she thought.

The criminal underbelly has rules and customs, just like the regular world.

Really, she's traded the restrictions and expectations of one society for another, but she can live with that.

So far, she likes the rules of the underworld a lot better than going to a regular 9-to-5, especially now that she has Babe looking out for her.

It isn't long before they take their relationship to the next level.

In addition to planning jobs together, Babe starts coming over to Dorris' place during the day.

She doesn't mind mixing business with pleasure, as long as he follows her one rule.

No man will ever stay at her house overnight.

It's a red line for her, one that she believes is necessary to keep her mother safe from the violent nature she believes is inside all men.

Still, Doris can't keep Babe at a distance forever.

A few months of occasional rendezvous transform quickly into daily visits.

Pretty soon, Babe starts to feel less like a fling and more like a permanent fixture in her life.

Someone she can rely on.

Slowly she opens up.

Babe gets to know a side of Doris Payne that no one else does.

But with her man taking care of selling the stolen jewels, Dorris is free to push herself more and more.

Each time she reaches a financial goal, there's always another one on the horizon.

Too much is never enough.

With Babe around, Dorris feels like she can get away with anything.

But she can't.

And pretty soon, her luck's gonna run out.

From Airship, this is episode two in our series on Dorris Payne.

On the next episode, Dorris takes her career to the big time.

But with more money comes more problems.

If you'd like to learn more about Dorris Payne, we recommend Diamond Doris, the true story of the world's most notorious jewel thief by Zelda Lockhart, the documentary, The Life and Crimes of Doris Payne, as well as reporting in the Los Angeles Times.

This episode contains reenactments and dramatized details.

And while in most cases, we can't know exactly what was said, all our dramatizations are based on historical research.

American Criminal is hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Jeremy Schwartz.

Audio editing by Mohammed Shazi.

Sound design by Matthew Filler.

Music by Thrum.

This episode is written and researched by Terrell Wells.

Managing producer, Emily Burke.

Executive producers are Joel Callen, William Simpson, and Lindsey Graham for Airshed.