‘It’s not possible. What about the preliminary report? What about the independent valuation? The site samples alone were worth thousands.’ Edward used a handkerchief to wipe his face. The office was stifling, but there was more to his sweating brow than a stuffy room and a warm day.
At George Bentley’s insistence, their own engineers had completed a survey of the new mine site. The chief geologist stood before them, wringing his hat in his hands.
‘Cut to the chase, man.’ Edward threw the report on the desk. ‘Did you find diamonds?’
‘We did, sir. Yet, wherever we found them, we also found garnets and zircons in too neat an arrangement for a natural deposit. In addition, the stones were found only in disturbed ground. We spent three days doing tests, which included digging ten deep trenches in a dry creek bed, where diamonds should have been distributed well below the surface. Yet there were no diamonds found at depths greater than three feet.’
‘What is your explanation?’
‘My explanation?’ The geologist squirmed like a bug on a pin. He looked imploringly at George for help, and received only a shrug. ‘My explanation is that someone has been pushing diamonds into the ground with a stick.’
Edward steadied himself with a hand on the desk, then dropped into a chair. ‘Get out,’ he said. ‘Both of you.’
The two men glanced at each other.
‘Get out!’ He sprang to his feet, fists clenched, and the others hurried from the room. Edward sank back down, weak with shock and confusion. He’d been had. The Colonel’s doing? But why? He and Lucas were co-directors of the new mining company, and between them owned one hundred per cent of the shares. Only they would profit by its success. Only they had everything to lose if it failed. There must be another explanation.
Edward retrieved the report and read it again, this time more thoroughly. Hoping to find a flaw in its reasoning. It was a false hope; he couldn’t fault it. The diamond field was utterly worthless and he was the victim of a massive fraud.
Edward felt sick. On top of selling half his assets, he’d borrowed to the hilt to make this deal. He’d have to sell what was left at fire-sale prices to repay the loan. The prospect of being left penniless filled him with dread; the prospect of public humiliation even more so. He could see the headline now. The Great Diamond Hoax: How a Gullible Son Lost His Father’s Fortune. The papers would have a field day with how easily he’d been duped.