Oustide Claridge’s Stone felt the tension drain from him as he walked into the sunlight of the day. He vowed that he would have no invasive treatments against this insidious enemy that was attacking his body.
He stopped a taxi and directed the driver to an address in Hatton Garden, London’s area for diamond dealing. In the taxi, Stone handled and studied the large diamond he had brought from Nevis. Dug out from deep in the ground, he now dared to believe this glinting piece of rock was not just another jewel to hold and admire. It was the same as a large fistful of notes. Money, its own currency. Usable, tradeable. Anonymously.
The entrance to Sol’s office was next door to a sandwich shop in a side street, and Stone was always surprised at this discreet approach to a very valuable item that was traded here. It was unpretentious – for security reasons, wealth was not displayed – it was there, but it was hidden. This was a place Stone felt in tune with.
Behind his brightly lit shop façade, Sol had an office. As Stone came in, Sol looked at his friend with a questioning eye. They shook hands warmly as Sol gave Stone a pat on the back as part of his welcome.
‘Feels like yesterday, but it’s ten years since we’ve done business together. So, what are you up to now, Harry?’
‘Can’t tell you too much, but I’m pushing some cash around which has left me holding a few diamonds. I’ve got to find their value quickly, and then I maybe want to sell ’em. You might even be interested to buy, so you’re the man I need to see this afternoon,’ Stone replied.
Stone took from his pocket the small pouch, and a large, round diamond fell onto the table. Sol picked it up and held it to the light. It glinted, and he held it in the palm of his hand as if he was weighing it. For a moment, there was silence. With his jewellers’ loupe eyepiece, he studied the diamond closely.
‘It’s got a laser inscription with its provenance – I like that.’ Sol held the glinting diamond in front of Stone and showed him the place where there was a tiny mark on the diamond’s girdle. ‘So, you have the certificate to go with this piece, I presume, Harry? One from the certification laboratories?’
‘Yeah, I can get it, but it might take a few days.’
‘That’s good because it is a very nice diamond. It feels at least five carats, maybe more, and looks beautifully cut and polished. And the colours shine from it in its brilliance.’
‘Just need to find out a value. It’s not mine yet, but just give me a ballpark price.’
‘I’d like Jake, my cutter and polisher, to have a look first. Another round-cut diamond just like that with similar carat weight sold the other day, and I know it fetched good money. Tens of thousands. Does that sound good?’ Sol asked and grinned.
‘Yeah, sounds okay, but it’s got to be many tens of thousands.’
‘Leave it with me, Harry. Yes, it’s valuable, but it’s safe here rather than loose in your pocket. I hope you’re being careful carrying it around.’
‘And this small uncut diamond. Any value?’ Stone asked, holding the raw stone to Sol.
‘That’s different; it’s small – I’ll have to look harder at it but don’t expect much. Couple of thousand maybe if it is well cut to shape without losing its weight and size. Do you want to tell me where you got these pieces?’ Sol asked.
‘Some people in Nevis, little island in the Caribbean. Pay-off for some cash I’m parking there.’
Sol looked away. He knew exactly what his friend was talking about.
‘So, are you having it mounted into a piece of jewellery for some lucky lady?’
Stone laughed. He had already decided who should have the raw, uncut diamond that he had in his pocket, but he was not going to tell Sol about that.
‘Sol, we’ll strike a value first, then the big-carat one is yours. You keep it safe or sell it whenever you want. You take a small cut and give me the difference,’ Stone said.
There was silence as Sol again peered at the diamond through his loupe. This was a very special prize and he liked to handle it.
‘What do you want? A cheque, somewhere payable in dollars perhaps?’
‘I’ll get you five bank accounts, split it up over each of them. But I’ll need some notes. Can you do me five grand to take with me today? And I will come to get a bigger bundle of notes when we’ve fixed on value. I’ll enjoy doing business with you, Sol, just like old times.’
Sol disappeared into another room and came back a couple of minutes later and handed Stone a large envelope.
‘£20 notes. Cash talks when you want something. But I hope you’ve got good insurance because diamonds like this one are too valuable to leave in your pocket. Even our tight security here with alarms all over the place gets broken into. If I didn’t know you as well as I do, Harry, we’d have to keep all the outside doors locked while we talk.’
They both laughed and Sol shook Stone’s hand, happy to have the business with such a large diamond. Stone walked towards the door and turned to face Sol.
‘Sol, I’ve not been too well lately, so I’ll come around soon to have a cup of tea and collect some more cash. I need to do this business quickly and you haven’t seen it all yet. I’ve got two more rocks, bigger and heavier, which are coming from Nevis. It might take a week or two, but I’ll bring them round to show you,’ Stone said.
‘My friend, I’ve known you on and off for forty years. Of course, I’m happy to work with you. I still remember how you found someone to lend me money to buy a very big-carat diamond that I needed to be cut into smaller stones. No questions asked. That deal was good – I’ll try to repay you. Come and see me again as soon as you can.’
As he left Sol’s dingy office ten minutes later, Stone felt more excited. His money from Panama was flowing. With cash in his pocket, enough to pay off Xavier’s thugs if he needed to, Stone had an optimistic sense of security as he took a taxi back to Claridge’s. In his suite he poured a large whisky, his first of the day.
With cushions at his back, he made himself comfortable on the soft sofa. From earlier that day, he was finished with doctors talking to him about an incurable disease, and he savoured the smooth malt whisky he had in his hand. He was even now closing the wide-open gap to get the £2.5 million he needed for Marine House.
Gradually, Stone became excited that he could now close in on Marine House. Anyone asking for a meeting wanted something, and in the Reform Club tomorrow, Stone would twist the arm of Josh, tie him in, keep the titled family interested in dealing with him.
Stone started to pace the carpet of his suite. Diamonds would help, but they would not finally close the gap of £500,000. His last money-making plans were just a few months ago when he had been looking at converting a large warehouse into flats. But not being able to get the planners to agree to his scheme, he had let it run away. It now left him grasping for ideas and it was then that the words Electric Motors Inc would not go away. He opened his laptop, quickly saw their shares had recovered from dropping just a couple of days ago. For a few seconds, he was tempted still to believe that the whisper from Xavier could be right.
Easy money was dazzling Stone just as it always had done, but something held him back. He ran his hand through his hair.